Girl Time

Ed is off to fish at The Juniper Club this week. Mary and I are left at home to fend for ourselves – which we do quite well. While we dearly miss Ed, life goes on pretty much as usual except 1) I have to get up and fix my own coffee in the morning instead of Ed bringing me a cup in bed and 2) instead of watching the ABC World News and Jeopardy, we tune into reruns of Gilmore Girls and Indie movies from Netflix: last night's choice was Cyrus and tonight was The Other Side of Sunday.

3) Our other indulgence is to cook all our favorite vegetarian meals. Her senior year in high school Mary declared that meat was off limits and, in support of that commitment, I discovered some delicious meatless recipes. (A year later, she was back to a full omnivore diet.) While Ed is happy to go meatless every once in a while, I suspect multiple days straight would be a bit much for him.

So while he is enjoying fried chicken, barbecue, fried fish, pork chops, etc., Mary and I are enjoying Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry, Black Beans and Rice Your Way, and City Cafe Stew.

For breakfast this morning, we even whipped up a Wheat Berry Breakfast Bowl,
courtesy of 101 Cookbooks – one of my all-time favorite food blogs.

I'm happy to share our recipes with you.
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Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry
This is Mary and my favorite vegetarian recipe. It is also good with roasted cauliflower added in. I think it originally came to us from 101 Cookbooks.

ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
fine grain sea salt
1 small onion or a couple of shallots, diced
1 cup cooked chickpeas
(canned is fine)
8 oz. extra-firm tofu
1 cup chopped kale
2 small zucchini, chopped
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

preparation
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. In a large skillet over medium heat and stir in a big pinch of salt, the onion, the chickpeas. Saute until the chickpeas are deeply golden and crusty. Stir in the tofu and cook just until the tofu is heated through, just a minute or so. Stir in the kale and cook for one minute more. Remove everything from the skillet onto a large plate and set aside. In the same skillet heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil and add the zucchini and saute until it starts to take on a bit of color, two or three minutes. Add the chickpea mixture back into the skillet, and remove heat. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, taste, and season with a bit more salt if needed. Turn out onto a platter and serve family style.

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Black Beans and Rice Your Way
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, April 2007

ingredients
For roasted sweet-potato cubes
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
For rice and beans
2 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cans black beans
For toasted pumpkin seeds
1 cup hulled (green) pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas; not toasted)
2 teaspoons olive oil
Accompaniments
cubes of avocado tossed with lime juice; tomatillo salsa; lime wedges; chopped white onion; fresh cilantro sprigs

preparation
Roast sweet-potato cubes
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.
Toss sweet potatoes with oil and salt, then spread in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan. Roast, stirring and turning over once or twice, until tender and browned, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cook rice while sweet potatoes roast
Bring water, rice, and salt to a boil in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat and cook, tightly covered, until rice is tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Let stand, covered, off heat 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Toast pumpkin seeds while rice is cooking
Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry 10- to 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick; preferably cast-iron) over moderate heat, stirring, until seeds are puffed and pale golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in oil and salt to taste.

To serve
Heat black beans, thinning with water if necessary, then serve along with rice, sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds, and accompaniments, each in a separate bowl.

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 City Cafe Stew
Served at Louisville’s City Cafe. In tonight's dinner, we substituted chicken broth for the vegetable broth.

ingredients
1 medium butternut squash
1 tablespoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 medium shallot, peeled and minced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 15-ounce cans Great Northern white beans, drained
1-2 cups vegetable broth
Parmesan cheese

preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel the butternut squash, cut in half and scoop out seeds. Cut the squash into 1-inch cubes. Put in a large bowl, sprinkle with thyme and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Toss to coat squash with oil and seasonings. Place squash in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast 45 minutes, or until browned and tender, turning once. Wash Swiss Chard well. Pinch off stems from leaves. Chop stems and leaves separately. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy pot. Add minced shallots and garlic and chopped chard stems. Saute until tender 5-8 minutes. Add drained beans, roasted squash and 1 cup vegetable broth . Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15-20 minutes. Add chopped Swiss Chard leaves and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes more. Add more vegetable stock if the stew seems too thick. Serve in bowls with shaved Parmesan cheese.