The New Hummus

Dare I say it, this dip is tastier and easier than making hummus. Goodbye, soaking chickpeas for hours. Goodbye, blending them until smooth. Hello, eggplant.

Ingredients

• 1 American or Globe eggplant (the large, purple kind we usually see at the store)

• 1/2 cup of tahini

• Juice of one lemon

• 6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon paprika or to taste

• 1 teaspoon harissa seasoning or to taste

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Steam the eggplant until soft.

2. Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

3. Using a fork, mash the eggplant and mix everything together.

4. Enjoy warm or cold with crackers, carrots, or on top of…anything :)

Options

• Steam eggplant and zucchini

• Add curry powder

• Add chili sauce as garnish

Going Brothless

I used to think that a good soup needed good broth and I’m learning that that’s just not the case. While pre-made broth (whether store-bought or homemade) will always be a delicious base for a soup, I’ve grown tired of its requirement.

I’m not thrilled about the plastic cartons of broth at the store or the bouillon cubes made with preservatives. I don’t have the fridge space, the containers, or the time to make my own broth at home. Because, the truth is that soup will taste delicious if you season it right.

Why do we want soup anyway? We crave something warm and comforting. Something light yet filling and nourishing.

Here is a quick and delicious vegetable soup that doesn’t require a predetermined broth and can be thrown together with the veggies in your fridge/freezer. It can also be altered with a different set of seasoning (e.g. fresh dill and a splash of white vinegar).

Ingredients

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

2 medium yellow potatoes, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1/4 yellow onion, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen green beans

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder or to taste

1 teaspoon harissa seasoning or to taste

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Fill pot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil.

2. Add the seasoning, potatoes, carrots, onion, and tomatoes; cook until the vegetables are tender.

3. Add the corn and green beans.

4. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Enjoy!

The Pasta-bilities

Without much success, I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of dairy and gluten in my diet. Really difficult to do while in quarantine and seeking comfort. Though delicious while consuming, I often feel sluggish and bloated afterwards.

BUT, I recently discovered the gluten-free pastas by Jovial Foods and was so excited to see that their pasta boxes have compostable windows! (Plus, their diced tomatoes come in BPA-free glass jars.) Now this is a company I can get behind.

Wondering what to do with my Jovial pasta, I came up with the recipe below, which is super easy to make vegetarian/vegan. While emptying the freezer, we found some frozen chicken and bacon that we purchased months ago. The version in the photos has crispy bacon (baked in the oven on a cookie sheet between parchment paper) and crispy chicken thighs (pan fried in avocado oil until golden brown on both sides). The vegetables I added were ones that had been in my fridge all week and needed to be eaten pronto. This is a great end-of-the-week dish to use whenever whatever in your fridge is near end-of-life.

Ingredients

1 package (12 oz) of Jovial Foods GF farfalle pasta

1 can of coconut milk

2 cups of frozen peas

2 cups of diced asparagus

2 cups of chopped broccolini

1 package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs

6 strips of bacon

1 tablespoon of avocado oil

2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 tablespoons of dried onion granules

2 tablespoons of dried thyme

Salt, pepper, and chili flakes to taste (I used A LOT of freshly ground black pepper)

Instructions

1. Bake the bacon at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to cool.

2. In a dutch oven, heat up the avocado oil on low-medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are hard to dry out, so don’t worry about over-cooking them. Leave them on one side to sizzle for about 8 minutes. When that side is crispy and caramelized, flip them onto the other side. When the chicken is crispy and cooked to your liking, set aside to cool.

3. In a separate pot, start cooking the pasta according to the instructions on the box.

4. In the dutch oven, leave the oil and chicken drippings on low-medium heat. Add the veggies and stir until the asparagus and broccolini are tender.

5. Add the can of coconut milk and the spices. Turn off the heat once the coconut milk has dissolved. The dish will continue to cook with the residual heat.

6. Drain the pasta and add it to the dutch oven.

7. Shred or dice the chicken thighs and bacon. Add them to the dutch oven.

8. Have a taste to see if additional spices are needed. My love for black pepper might differ from yours :)

9. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

10. Enjoy with a cold glass of lemonade.

Mushroom Tacos

I really wanted to make Jamie Oliver’s mushroom shawarma dish but realized it was too hard and the ingredients were difficult to find. Where am I going to find a jar of preserved lemons in rural Illinois during a pandemic?!

Nope, I needed a simpler version. Luckily, Steve found portobello and oyster mushrooms at the store. For my easier take on Jamie’s dish, cook in a skillet:

• 2 sliced portobello mushrooms

• 1 sliced cluster of oyster mushrooms

• 6-7 sliced button mushrooms

• 1 teaspoon of paprika

• 1 teaspoon of cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

• Chili powder to taste

• Salt and pepper to taste

While the mushrooms are getting soft, I did use Jamie’s recipe for flour tortillas, which were SO easy to make. I’m never buying tortillas at the store again. For 4 small flour tortillas:

• Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of filtered water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

• Knead into a dough, adding more flour or water depending on whether the dough is too sticky or dry.

• When the dough is workable and no longer sticky, cut into four even pieces.

• Roll out each piece with a rolling pin.

• Add about a tablespoon of oil to a skillet on high-medium heat.

• Place two tortillas on the skillet at a time (depending on how big your skillet is).

• Flip when one side starts to form brown blisters.

Chickpeas Please

Still on my vegan spree, I made these five-ingredient-chickpea cookie dough balls that were a cinch. The title is longer than the ingredient list, which is:

• 2 cups of chickpeas

• 1 tablespoon of tahini

• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

• 1 cup of chocolate chips

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Blend everything but the chocolate chips with an immersion blender.

Mix in the chocolate chips.

Roll into bite-size balls.

Chill and enjoy!