get kinda excited about a big pot of tasty carbs!

Yeah, this is a weird recipe. It's got a ton of steps, it uses up every freakin' burner on your stove and then it has the gall to use up another, plus it's not even that pretty too look at. After all this work, you don't want to serve this to guests unless they love you like the dickens. This recipe is adapted from Gourmet and it sucked me in with Francis Lam's snappy writing. The good thing is that while this meal may ask for your first born child, it is tasty comfort food and I'll make it again.

I made this meal a couple of weeks ago when it was cold and dreary outside and it looked like spring would never arrive. But now it's short-sleeve wearing & bare legs in skirts kinda weather so I probably won't make this again until next winter, but it's here waiting like a good friend.

The flavours are solid and hearty and I added the kale for brightness and extra nutrition points, but the tastes in your mouth won't take you on a wild roller coaster ride. Instead, they are subtle and I bumped everything up a notch with a squeeze of my favorite hot sauce and a dollop of chutney. I felt it needed a bump or two.

So are you going to make this after all my warnings? I think you should. So there. Oh, and a few other things of note. This site is listed along with a whole bunch of other wonderful food blogs on Gourmet's list of favorite food sites. Oh my!!! As well, I have a new post up on the Food Network Canada site about my new favorite breakfast place, Deacon's Corner. Please note that all the crazy over-zealous bolding was not done by me.

big pot o' carbs
(adapted from here)
3 large onions, sliced thin
3/4 c dry lentils de puy
1 c alphabet pasta (or other tiny shapes)
2 c brown rice
4 c water (for rice)
2 sticks cinnamon
6 cardamom pods
1 t toasted cumin seeds, lightly crushed
1 t coriander
1/2 t chili flakes
1 bunch of kale, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

1. Caramelize the onion in a large cast iron pot. Cook 'em slowly in the olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons), sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and let them get brown and glisten-y. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, cook the lentils in enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, turning down heat to med-high until tender. Drain and set aside.

3. Get another pot out and put in some more olive oil...about 2 tablespoons worth and heat over med-high heat. Add in cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and let it get fragrant. Throw in rice, cumin, and chili flakes and saute for a few minutes until about half the rice turns opaque. Add in water and cover. The rice should boil almost immediately so turn down heat to med-low and simmer until rice is done.

4. Get out another small pot (aren't you glad you have a 4 burner stove??) and cook up the pasta. It won't take long since it's so tiny. Drain and set aside.

5. In a large pan or pot, add in some more olive oil...just 1 tablespoon and add garlic. Saute until it smells good and add in the kale and some salt. Cook down until tender.

6. Dump everything into the caramelized onion pot and give it a good stir. Heat everything up if need be, but otherwise grab a few bowls and dig in. Serve with chutney and hot sauce for added goodness.

brown rice bowl with vegetables & roasted chickpeas

Sometimes when I'm getting dinner ready I don't even have a plan about what's going to happen. A few frantic moments to quickly catalogue what's the cupboard and fridge and something should happen. But sometimes it doesn't. The other weekend, I cooked up some brown rice with the intention that whipping up some fried rice the following evening would be perfect. But I didn't have a clue what I was going to make for dinner that night. I took stock and let a few ideas germinate and this is what I came up with.

This rice bowl is simple and delicious and I've really been digging on these healthy bowls lately as they're filling and really quite flavourful. The roasted chickpeas added a spicy, nutty crunch to the dish while the vegetables were just simply sauteed. I used what vegetables were in my crisper but this is highly adaptable, so throw in what you like! Cornelius topped his dish with a bit of soy sauce, but I used some mango chutney and a bit of hot sauce on mine. Delicious!

Oh, and if you want to get to know me a bit more, Scout Magazine did an interview with me. Take a look!

brown rice bowl with vegetables & roasted chickpeas
1 c brown rice
2 c water
1 t salt

1 can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 T curry paste
1 T olive oil
1 T cumin seeds, toasted & lightly crushed
1/4 t salt
1 t hot sauce

1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch bit of ginger, diced
1/2 zucchini, sliced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 c leftover diced chicken or tofu (optional)

1. Boil water and add in salt and brown rice. Simmer covered over medium heat until most of the water has been absorbed. Turn down heat to low and simmer until ready.

2. Turn oven to 400F. In a bowl, mix up the chickpeas, curry paste, cumin seeds , salt and hot sauce. Spread onto a baking dish and bake for 30-45 minutes, until chickpeas shrink and get a bit crunchy. Shake the dish a few times to get things moving.

3. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat, adding garlic, ginger and onion. When soft, add in remaining vegetables and protien. Saute until the vegetables are bright and crisp and the protien is heated through.

4. Dish out brown rice into deep bowls and top with roasted chickpeas and vegetable mixture. Serve with soy sauce, mango chutney or hot sauce, if desired.

born in the 70's: braised green cabbage / brown rice with mushrooms

I curse the Vancouver winters for the short amount of daylight. Many days, we don't even get to see the sun...just grey, grey, grey. The lack of natural light (along with our apartment's low-energy bulbs) makes my photos brown and looking at them right now makes me feel like I'm back in the 70's. Throw on the corduroy, cozy up in an afgan and settle into an evening of orange and brown. The seventies weren't so bad, really. My mom took yoga and made her own yogurt and even took a self defense class where she could bust up a 2x4 with a swift kick and a power yell.

I made this brown meal after our trip to Portland. Too much good IPA and a stop (or two) for a Reggie Deluxe and we were glad to be back to the healthy drizzle of Vancouver. Portland was all about excess and this meal is about scaling back while still meeting the oh-so-important comfort quotiant. I've made Orangette's braised cabbage a few times and it's delicious. Sweet and soft and a meal in it's own right. And even if you are a bit ho-hum on cabbage, the braised carrots alongside are so rich and yielding that you can't believe that you just got all excited for a carrot.

But I didn't think the husband would be all that happy with a hunk of cabbage on his plate, no matter how bejewelled the carrots were, so I made some brown rice. After a quick look on the computer to see what I could add to make the rice a tad more appealing, I stumbled upon this recipe. Kalyn uses farro, but subbing in the brown rice was a perfect choice. The balsamic added a nice sweetness and tang to the dish and the brown mushrooms just multiplied the earthiness factor to the max. I threw in some barely steamed broccoli for crunch and colour and put on a little Jackson C Frank on the hi-fi. If a meal could make you feel healthy, wealthy and wise, this could be it. Ahhh, much better.

brown rice with balsamic, thyme and mushrooms
(recipe adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)
1.5 c brown rice
3 c vegetable broth
1 T olive oil
1/4 c diced red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 c sliced brown or button mushrooms
1 T fresh thyme, chopped (stems removed)
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

1. In a medium sized pot, bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Add brown rice, cover and turn heat down to medium. When all the broth has been absorbed, rice will be ready.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive in a large skillet. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms and add in the thyme. When the mushrooms are soft and have released their juices, stir in the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add the brown rice into the mushroom mixture and mix until all the rice has been coated with the mushroom balsamic sauce. Serve.

braised green cabbage with onion, carrot and hot peppers
(adapted from Orangette)
1/2 green cabbage, cut into quarters with most of the woody core removed
1 onion, quartered
4 carrots, cut into 3 inch chunks
1 hot pepper, seeds removed and diced
1/4 c vegetable stock
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven at 325F. In a large oven proof dish, place vegetables into an even layer and cover with stock and olive oil. Give everything a good sprinkle of salt and pepper and cover tightly with a lid or foil. Bake for 1 hour and turn vegetables over if necessary, adding water if dry. Bake for another hour and then serve.

keep it simple stupid: quick n' easy rainbow chard & chickpeas over rice

Funny, I made a very similar meal last July. You'd think bringing out the heavy duty Le Cruset casserole pot would mean one thing: winter. But look at me? I defy the weather. It's hot, it's mid-July, and I'm cooking up a storm. I guess I really love the combination of chickpeas and chard. Don't mess with success...they just work so well together.

I whipped this up for a quick lunch because I was staaaarving and all the colours just looked so pretty together. I really thought about adding tomatoes to this dish, but in the end I decided to do without. In the ingredient list, I did add that you may want to add a lil' spoonful of fresh salsa to your bowl, but it really doesn't need it one bit. As for the feta, well, I love feta so I added some, but you can choose to top with another kind of cheese or just skip it altogether. This is a super easy meal to pull together. Just put the rice on first and then start with the rest. You should be eating in 30 minutes flat (or less if you skip the rice and just choose some crusty bread).


quick rainbow chard and chickpeas over rice
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 t red chili flakes
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 t kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1 bunch of rainbow chard, chopped
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 c vegetable broth
1 juicy lime, juiced
1 sprig of fresh thyme, leaves only
1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped
crumbled feta, optional
fresh salsa, optional

Saute onion, garlic, jalapeno and red chilis in the olive oil over medium-high heat until fragrant. Throw in the chopped orange pepper and chard (stems included). Stir until chard becomes somewhat wilted. Pour in vegetable broth, thyme and chickpeas and combine everything. Squeeze in lime juice. Let simmer for 5 minutes so that all the flavours combine. Snip in some fresh parsley and if using, the feta and salsa to top. Serve over brown rice.

my lazy sunday

The weekends are typically times to relax, get stuff done and enjoy life a little more. This weekend was no exception. Every year around this time, there is a huge 30 block garage sale that I go to every year and this time I managed to find some pretty sweet scores. I bought a pretty 1950's teal n' green floral tablecloth for $3, a great pack for 3 day hikes in the woods for $5 and a complete speedball screenprinting kit for $3! But somehow in the kafuffle of thrifting and biking around for groceries, I managed to break the screen on my camera, so this will be a no-picture post.

On Saturday night, I met up with the EMB (Electric Moon Banana) crew at a nearby park at 11pm sharp for a full moon bike ride around the city and although I cut home early in the ride, I still didn't make it to bed until 3am. Sunday was rough and tiring, so I needed something bright and simple to make the day move along a little faster. A brown rice curry salad and some grilled chicken fit the bill. This would make a great picnic meal.

This is a great way to prepare chicken and you can use the meat to add to salads, natchos, burritos, etc. and this chicken is even tasty cold.

lemon & garlic grilled chicken
4 chicken bone-in parts (I used thighs)
1 lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T ground cumin
2 T chili powder
salt & pepper

1. Wash chicken peices in cold water and remove skin and visible fat. Place chicken in ziplock bag with lemon juice and spices. Refrigerate for 2 - 4 hours.

2. Spray cast iron grill pan with a light coating of oil and heat on high. Add chicken, presenation side down. Turn when chicken is slightly blackened, about 15 minutes or so. Repeat on the other side for another 15 minutes.

3. Cover the pan with foil and place in a 400 degree oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

+++

This salad tastes great the day it's made....but it's almost better the next day as the flavours get real tight! If you've got some chopped almonds, I think they'd be a lovely addition to this flavourful salad.

brown rice curry salad
2 c brown rice, uncooked
4 T curry paste (I use Patak's "korma" paste)
1 T ground cumin
1 t sesame oil
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/3 c major grey or mango chutney
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 c raisins
1 granny smith apple, diced
1 bunch of parsley, chopped fine

1. Cook rice according to package directions. When all the water is absorbed, pour rice into a large bowl.

2. In a small saucepan, heat vegetable oil with the curry paste until well mixed and add the onion. Cook until translucent. Add the cumin and sesame oil and mix well. Turn off heat and add the chutney, stirring until everything is combined. Add mixture to rice, mixing well. If you want more curry taste, cook up some more oil and curry and add it to the mix.

3. Add in all the finely chopped vegetables and the raisins and blend everything well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

4. Stir in chopped apple and parsley and stir the salad once again to combine. Serve.