Hummus-Tomato Vegetable Sauce

This is sorta like "gravy" and I'd thought about it when I saw the MoFo "Iron Chef" contest with the secret ingredient..... CHICKPEAS! But I didn't see the contest until too late to post enter. Watch for next week's though, I'll be ready!

Anyway, I'm still posting, because this is a fave sauce/gravy type recipe and one that's a little unique too! This is how I use up that last bit of hummus when I have "extra" (haha). Doesn't happen often, as hummus goes faster than ice-cream in this house.

This sauce is mostly vegetables, held together with a bit of really tasty sauce, but it goes great over rice, orzo pasta or polenta.

(A note on hummus, if you've never made your own, PLEASE DO!!! Here's my hummus recipe. It is only 999 BILLION times better than store bought. And super easy. And cheap. Especially if you cook your own garbanzos. Which makes it sound difficult, and it's really not. I digress.)

Easy Vegetable-Tomato-Hummus Sauce

• olive oil
• 1 eggplant (about 12 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 10 med mushrooms, sliced
• 1 smallish zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 bunch broccoli rabe—stems cut into small pieces, leaves coarsely chopped
• Salt
• 3/4 cup vegetarian "beef" flavored broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 -3/4 cup hummus (use store bought if you must, or make your own and save the rest for snacking and such!)
  
  
• In a large (I use cast iron) skillet, heat a little olive oil over high heat. Add the eggplant and cook for 1 minute.
  
  It'll absorb all the oil, so add a little more (sorry!) and add the mushrooms, onion, zucchini and broccoli rabe stems and cook for about 5 - 7 minutes or until vegetables are getting soft.

Stir in the broccoli rabe leaves, cover and cook until wilted, about 4 minutes. Put the veggies in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and set aside.

In the same pan, turn heat to med-high and whisk together the vegetable "beef"-flavored broth and tomato paste and cook until the liquid is reduced about in half, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the hummus. It will thicken a bit and form a sauce.

Stir in the reserved vegetables, season with salt and pepper if you think it needs it (sometimes I add other herbs, but it's fine as is) and serve over rice or orzo pasta or a tofu scramble.

SO YUM!!

Vegan Munchies!!

Vegans don't eat tofu and sprouts all the time. (OK, you know I just had to say that).

Seriously, these last couple days we've been busy with back-to-school shopping and appointments and as a result, have had rather unstructured mealtimes.
So, we've done a lot of shameless snacking. But hey - I figure snacking is worth blogging about too.

First up, we have Indian spiced, crunchy roasted chickpeas. You know they're the same as garbanzos, right?

(Yes, there are 565767 versions of these in every veggie cookbook and blog out there, I have no idea where I got the original recipe, but it's morphed so much from the original I think it's fine to post...).

Crunchy-Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

-- 2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained well and blotted dry (Note: I have always cooked my own chickpeas/garbanzos from dry beans, so I have no idea how this would work with canned, but I assume very much the same..)
-- 2 tsp. olive oil
-- 1/2 tsp. Indian Black Salt (which adds a rich smoky, sulphuric Indian taste, or just use regular salt if that's all you have...)
-- 1/2 tsp. cumin
-- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
-- 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
-- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
-- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don't like things too spicy)
*Pretty much, just use 2 - 3 teaspoons of whatever spices you like. These just happen to be my favorites.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss the chickpeas with olive oil in a bowl, until coated. Then sprinkle on seasonings and spread chickpeas on a nonstick bakingsheet.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and crisp, stirring several times.

And next we have a summer-garden inspired Italian twist on a Mexican-ish snack. Pesto may sound totally bizarre in a tortilla but it's a huge favorite in this house. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

Pesto Quesadillas

-- 3 Tbsp. your favorite pesto (here's my Pesto Recipe)
-- 1 smallish portbella mushroom, sliced thin (optional)
OR 1 garden-ripe tomato, sliced very thin
-- 6 large flour tortillas
-- 6 slices vegan cheese, your choice (I used Galaxy vegan Rice Slices 'cause they melt pretty well)

Spread pesto thinly on 3 tortillas - aprox 1 Tbsp. each.
If using mushrooms, sautee portabella slices briefly over high heat in a lightly greased skillet until lightly cooked. Lay mushroom (or tomato) slices on top of pesto.

Tear or cut cheese slices into strips and distribute over mushrooms/tomatoes. Place additional tortillas on top of the three "filled" ones.

Wipe skillet out after browning mushrooms. Heat to medium-high. Carefully (carefully!!) place filled tortilla in pan and cook several minutes until browning. (Or do these in a "George Forman" type grill, I don't have one but friends do and they are GREAT that way!!)

Turn and cook on the other side until cheese is melty and tortilla is crispy and browned, lowering heat if necessary. Repeat with other two tortillas.

Cut into wedges and serve with whatever dipping sauce. We opted for marinara tonight.

Purslane and Garbanzo Salad

If you read my blog much, well - I'm amazed that you keep coming back.
No, I'm glad you're here. So have you noticed my frequent references to purslane?

I promise I'm not quite a weed-growing hippie farmer, but I've been fascinated with purslane for several years and finally this summer I'm growing my own. Safely in a large pot so it doesn't escape and take over my back yard which I guess it CAN do, though I've never seen it around here. (That's the only weeds I grow, promise!)

Here is the best use of my little purslane leaves so far!! I don't usually rave about nutrition, I'm all about "Does it TASTE good?"... but this salad tastes good AND it's loaded!

Wonderfully refreshing, packed with protein, good fats in the avocado, iron and calcium in the arugula, and as I've reminded everyone repeatedly, LOADS of Omega 3's from our lovely purslane!

Due to the evil Blogger-demons refusing to upload my pictures at the moment, I'll just leave you lovelies with this recipe and strictest instructions to rush out and raid your neighbors purslane-patch and make this salad tonight! You don't need no picture!

Purslane Salad with Garbanzos
(Chick-Peas) and Arugula

1 cup drained cooked or canned garbanzos/chickpeas
1 - 2 teaspoons capers (Please use these. Don't say you don't like them.)
1 avocado, cubed
3 cloves garlic or to taste, pressed or minced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Salt
3 cups baby arugula leaves
1 cup purslane leaves

1. In a bowl, combine garbanzos, capers, garlic and scallion. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Gently toss in avocado cubes.
2. Mix arugula and purslane leaves. Top with garbanzo mixture. Oh, and if you're not vegan? Some crumbled feta cheese (*gasp*!!) would be awesome here I imagine!!

Ratatouille

Tonight's supper. Plain ol' easy comfort food.

I know, I know, people get freaked by eggplant sometimes, I think. In this recipe I 'salted' and drained the eggplant cubes (see recipe) so they aren't supposed to be as bitter.

I add garbanzos/chickpeas for a little protein and usually serve over couscous or quinoa.

Oh - and the blue bowl? I made it in a pottery class in college. It's my favorite "comfort food" bowl, wide, deep and easy to hold.

Ratatouille

1 eggplant, cubed
1 Tb. salt (for eggplant!)
1 can (or 2 cups) garbanzos
2 small onions, cut in quarters
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 red bell peppers, de-seeded and cut in bite sized pieces
4 tomatoes, cut in large pieces
1 zucchini, cut in bite sized pieces
1-3 tbs. olive oil
2-3 teaspoons herbs de Provence
(OR: whatever blend works for you - rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme etc...)
salt to taste
dash of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup stewed tomatoes

Directions:
Cube the eggplant, toss with the 1 Tbsp. salt and put in a colander for 20 min.
In a large frying pan, place the olive oil and saute the onion.
Add the bell pepper and zucchini.
When they begin to soften, add the garlic and raw tomatoes.
Rinse eggplant cubes and drain/blot well on a paper towel.
Add eggplant to frying pan.
Add the seasonings, garbanzos/chickpeas and enough stewed tomatoes so the vegetables don’t stick to the pan, but not so much that they are swimming in liquid.
Cook until vegetables are done to your preference.

Serve over couscous or rice.