Simple Falafel

Falafel is not something I grew up eating, but at some point a few years back, hubby must have decided to order some and I discovered how delicious it is.  I have had it a few times since, but it never occurred to me to make it at home.  That is, until I signed the munchkin up for a cooking class this spring which had a different country theme each week.  When it came time to learn about Israel, the food of the week was falafel, served with hummus and pita bread.  The recipe had to be easy and quick in order for 2 year olds to be able to make and eat it within the 45 minute class time, and the result was delicious!  Well, the munchkin really was only interested in the pita bread, but I didn't mind finishing off her portion :).  When I got home I did a quick internet search and found a recipe that sounded just like what we made in class.

I ended up making a few changes.  The biggest was that I'm really not up for deep frying at home, so I pan fried my falafels instead.  I also left out the garlic and used dried parsley instead of fresh.  Happily, my home version was just as good as the ones from class.  The only problem is it's a little tricky to keep them from falling apart when not deep frying, but I'm totally willing to overlook that for a healthy non-meat based meal!

Simple Falafel
adapted from mideastfood.about.com

1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon coriander

3/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

oil for frying (canola or vegetable)

Combine all ingredients (except oil) in a food processor to create a thick paste.  Preheat a large (non-stick) pan over medium heat.  Add enough oil to just barely cover the bottom of the pan.  When the oil is hot, drop 2 tablespoon balls of the mixture into the pan and flatten slightly (I did this with a large cookie scoop).  Don't overcrowd the pan.  Gently flip when the first side is brown and crispy, approximately 5 minutes, and cook another 5 minutes on the other side.  Repeat additional batches with remaining mixture as needed.

Serve with pita, hummus, salad, yogurt/lemon/tahini sauce, or eat on their own.

Makes approximately 20 falafel patties.

Edamame Hummus and Spiced Pita Chips

I love to entertain, but at some point I got into a rut where every time I had people over and needed snacks and/or appetizers, hummus with veggies and pita chips from a bag appeared on the table.  Yummy, but boring.  So a couple of years ago when I volunteered to bring munchies to a potluck lunch, I decided I was going to find something interesting AND healthy to bring.  I took a risk with two Ellie Krieger recipes and got the most amazing feedback - the group seemed genuinely impressed.  The best part was, not only was this recipe healthy, but it was also incredibly easy to make - the hardest part was cooking the edamame in the microwave!  

This past weekend I was having a few friends over, so I decided to dig up the hummus recipe and found that it is no longer on the Food Network website!  Ack!  Fortunately another blogger out there had it posted on her site, and now I'll share it with you :)  I didn't make the chips this time around, but I'm including that recipe below as well, just in case it disappears one day too!  I highly recommend this winning combination when you're entertaining or just as a healthy snack/lunch to have around for yourself - it's really that easy!

Edamame Hummus
adapted from Food Network, found reposted here

2 cups (1 10 ounce bag) shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions
1 cup silken tofu, briefly drained of excess liquid
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1-2 cloves garlic (original recipe calls for 3 cloves, but this was WAY to overpowering for me!  I used 1 this time around and it tasted great; you could also try roasting 3 cloves for a more mellow garlic flavor)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice, plus more, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, plus more, for garnish
Add all ingredients to a food processor and process for 2-3 minutes, until smooth.  Adjust seasonings (salt, cumin, lemon juice) as needed.  Garnish with extra edamame and/or cumin if desired.

 
Spiced Pita Chips
adapted from Food Network
 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 whole-wheat pitas, cut into 1/8's

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine olive oil and all spices in a large bowl. Add pita wedges and toss to coat, Spread in 1 layer on a baking sheet (I have allowed for some overlapping and they still worked) and bake for about 15 minutes, tossing once, or until pita is brown and crisp. Cool completely before serving (chips will crisp up more as they cool).

Lentil Salad with Grapes

A few weeks ago I made Avocado Lentil Salad, and promised another favorite Lentil Salad recipe.  Well, I finally had a chance to make it last night!  This recipe is adapted from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network and is delicious.  The two recipes are very similar - both have grape tomatoes, pistachios, and a lemon dressing, but this one has grapes instead of the avocado.  There are also some cucumbers and scallions for added crunch and flavor.  I don't know what it is about the combination, but the grapes in a lemon dressing mixed with all of the other ingredients is really great.  In my mind the lentils are kind of irrelevant - just some extra nutrients added to a really yummy combination of fruit, veggies, and nuts - how can you go wrong?

I made some changes from Giada's original recipe - she includes red bell peppers, which hubby and I don't love, so I subbed tomatoes.  Also, she uses hazelnuts, but the first time I made this I didn't have any around and ended up using pistachios instead - I loved the results so I haven't tried it the original way.  But I'm sure you could include whatever veggies and nuts appeal to you if you don't like my substitutions!

We ate this salad for dinner with some whole wheat bread, but it would also make a great side dish for a party or barbeque, especially if you have vegetarians in your crowd who will appreciate something hardy.

Lentil Salad with Grapes
adapted from Food Network

1 pound cooked lentils
2 scallions, chopped
2 cups seedless grapes, cut in half (red, green, or a combination of both)
1/2 English cucumber, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios (I use roasted and salted)
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)

Dressing
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 1/2 lemons)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk well.  Pour over salad and toss until all ingredients and dressing are well distributed.  Serve, or refrigerate for later - this is one of those salads that gets better with a little time.

Makes approximately 4-6 main course servings

Garbanzo Burgers

Here we go with another recipe from my Weelicious list!  While I often have a hard time eating whole beans because of the texture, once they are mashed up or pureed I am happy to indulge.  Which makes these Garbanzo Burgers a great way to add more legumes to my diet.  I first made this a few months back, pre-blog, but wanted to make it again so that I could get a photo for you all :).  The burgers are so flavorful that you really can't tell there are beans in there, they come together really easily, and they got rave reviews both times I made them (from hubby and me; the munchkin is still a bit skeptical).  Plus, they are packed with healthy ingredients.  In my home that make this recipe a winner, and I'm happy to have another vegetarian meal to add to the rotation.

I served them on a bun with avocado, tomato (a big tomato would have been better, but as you can see I only had grape tomatoes at home so those worked in a pinch!) and a lemon yogurt sauce.  But feel free to take liberties - I'm sure there are tons of way these can be enjoyed!

Garbanzo Burgers
adapted from Weelicious

1 15 Oz. Can Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1 Small Carrot, cut into chunks
1 Garlic Clove
1 Small Onion, cut into chunks
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Bread Crumbs
2 Tsp Sesame Seeds
Oil (up to 1 tbsp)

Place the first 6 ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Move mixture to a bowl and stir in bread crumbs and sesame seeds. 

Heat oil in a large saute pan (or spray a large skillet) over medium heat.  Place approximately 1/4 cup of the mixture in your hands (I used the 1/3 cup measure that was out for the bread crumbs and didn't quite fill it), and form into a patty.  Place on hot pan and repeat to make 8 patties.

Cook the patties for approximately 5 minutes on each side, reducing the heat when you flip them or if they are browning too quickly.

Makes 8 patties

Avocado Lentil Salad

As I've already mentioned, I really like Michael Pollan's philosophy on food and eating, and have been trying to make changes in my life to "eat food, not too much, mostly plants."  The "eat food" part I'm in good shape with, as you can probably tell by my blog!  But "not too much", well, that's a bit of a struggle.  Most of the first year of the munchkin's life was spent nursing and pushing a stroller around Manhattan, which basically meant I could eat as much as I wanted and STILL lose the babyweight!  Unfortunately that's starting to catch up with me, so I've had to set some guidelines for myself - 3 meals a day + 2 small snacks, no eating the munchkin's leftovers (a tough one since I feed her such yummy food!), no seconds, and a very small dessert (e.g., a few bites of good dark chocolate).  It's been a week, and so far so good!

The "mostly plants" part is a bit of a challenge, too.  Grains and potatoes are easy, but eating vegetables and legumes is not something that comes naturally to me, and I've had to work very hard over the last few years to even remember to include vegetables in my meal planning (thank you hubby for the reminders!).  But I'm even more committed now, which means I'm always on the lookout for hardy meals that don't include meat.  Lentils are really high in protein and fiber, so they make a great meat replacement.  I've already shared my lentil soup recipe, but another way I've found to enjoy lentils is as a salad.  I first tried this recipe from Food Network, which came out delicious (I will share my modifications another time!). 

It turns out Weelicious has a couple of lentil salads, too - one of them includes avocado, which sounded really yummy to me, so I decided to give it a try.  The main change I made was to add pistachios because there were nuts in the Food Network recipe, and I really liked the combination.  The result?  Big hit, especially with hubby who called it one of his favorites!  The creaminess of the avocado with the lemony dressing really worked well, and what a great way to eat so many healthy foods!

The only thing I struggle with is how to eat this as a main course - I served it with a green salad (using the other half of a lemon to make a quick vinaigrette) and some grainy bread, but I'd love to hear any other suggestions you might have!

Avocado Lentil Salad
adapted from Weelicious

1 1/2 cups cooked lentils (this was the amount in an 8 ounce package of pre-coooked black beluga lentils from Trader Joe's)
1 avocado, cut into 1/2 inch squares (this is most easily done if you cut the avocado while still in the skin, and then scoop out with a spoon)
3/4 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Place all ingredients in a bowl and gently toss to combine.  Serve!

Makes 2-4 servings, depending on what you're serving it with and if my hubby is present

Tacos!

I love tacos.  As a kid, I was so excited when my mom told me it was taco night.  I remember the taco shells nested together in the oven, the little bowls of shredded cheese and salsa, and of course the yummy taco meat.  As delicious as this meal was, it was made using the packaged taco kits, which included huge amounts of sodium, partially hydrogenated oils, msg, and a host of other scary chemicals and preservatives.  As you can probably guess, I just can't bring myself to eat this kind of food anymore.  Which means I had to find a replacement - a way to enjoy tacos without compromising my standards for what I will put into my family's bodies.  I tried improvising by just seasoning ground beef with chili powder and cumin, but it never tasted very good.  I looked for recipes, and was having a hard time finding something simple enough and with the same flavor profile as the taco seasoning packets of my youth (and even my early 20's!). 

I finally came across this recipe on MyRecipes.com, originally from the magazine Southern Living.  It has a simple enough ingredient list, is made all in one pan, and, as a bonus, includes beans.  As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of beans, but appreciate how healthy they are and am trying to find ways to incorporate them into my diet.  Plus, in a recipe like this, they help the meat to go further, helping us to be less dependent on animal sources of protein - a good thing for our health and the environment.

I made a few modifications from the original recipe to make a simple recipe even easier, but I'll note where I took shortcuts so that you can be more diligent if you choose :)

Tacos
adapted from Southern Living

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground beef (grass-fed if possible)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
 
In a large skillet, sautee onions in olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften.  Add ground beef, chili powder, cumin, and salt.  Break up meat and cook until no longer pink and onions are soft.  (This is one area where I cut corners - this method does not allow for draining the beef, but my grass-fed beef is so lean I don't worry about that.  If you'd like to be able to drain the fat, first brown the meat, drain on paper towels, then sautee the onions in oil, adding beef and spices back in after a few minutes.)
 
Add beans, tomato sauce, water, and salsa to the pan.  Use a fork to mash the pinto beans, leaving some of them whole.  Once the mixture comes to a boil, simmer over low heat until thick.  (At this point you can melt some cheese over the meat mixture by sprinkling with shredded cheese, turning off the heat, and waiting a few minutes for it to melt.  I chose to just use cheese as a topping).
 
Serve in whole grain tortillas/wraps, taco shells, or over salad greens (like in my photo) with whatever toppings you like.  We used additional salsa, cheddar cheese, and avocado with some whole grain blue corn chips on the side.  Other ideas are lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sour cream - whatever makes you happy!
 
Makes approximately 6 servings.

Lentil Soup

Something that makes me very happy is having a freezer stocked with home cooked, ready to go meals.  I actually have a dream about having a walk-in freezer one day that's full of things I've made!  Well, maybe not a walk-in, but a freezer bigger than the apartment-sized one I have now :).  Some foods lend themselves particularly well to freezing and reheating, like muffins (as I've already talked about many times), and soup.  I like soup a lot and it has the potential to be really healthy, but prepared soups can be incredibly high in sodium and scary ingredients (hydrogenated fats, preservatives, flavor enhancers, etc).  So recently I decided to see if I could make my own soup at home so that I could control the ingredients and add it to my freezer stockpile.

My first stop was lentil soup.  It is delicious, and so full of fiber, protein, and veggies, making it a perfect lunch or light dinner with a big chunk of bread.  Plus, I've been looking for ways to eat more legumes.  I have a bit of a hard time with beans in general, but am starting to find some ways to work them into my diet.  First stop was chili, and lentil soup is also something I really enjoy - maybe it's the small size of the lentils or the fact that they break down so much in the soup?

I found the original recipe on Epicurious and made some changes based on the reviews to make it more flavorful.  The end result is delicious, easy to make, freezes well, and has gotten good reviews from everyone I've served it to - doesn't get any better than that! 

Lentil Soup
adapted from Epicurious

1/4 cup extra–virgin olive oil
2 medium-large onions (approx 4 cups)
2 cups celery
2 cups carrots
4 garlic cloves
8 cups low sodium, fat free chicken or vegetable broth (read ingredient lists on broth - some of them have the scary ingredients we're trying to avoid by making soup from scratch!)
1 16 oz bag red lentils (approx 2 1/2 cups), rinsed and drained (I have also used green lentils - the color isn't as pretty and the cooking time is about double, but the end result was just as delicious)
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 teaspoons cumin
Balsamic vinegar*
Parmesan or romano cheese

Heat oil in a large pot over medium–high heat.  Chop onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in a food processor and add to the pot.  (As a side note here, on one occasion I added broccoli and cauliflower to the veggie mix because I had it around and was looking to use them up, and the soup still came out great, so feel free to add whatever veggies you like!  You just may need to add some extra broth if it gets too thick.)  Sauté until vegetables soften, about 15 minutes.  Add broth, lentils, tomatoes with juice, and cumin and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium–low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 25 minutes (or about 45 for green lentils).

At this point you can either call the soup finished, or if you prefer a thicker consistency, use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot to your liking (recently I've been pureeing entirely; hubby prefers it chunkier).  Alternatively, you could transfer some of the veggies to a blender, puree, and add back to the soup.  Lightly season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve the soup with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of parmesan or romano cheese.

Makes approx 12 bowls of soup

*In my opinion, the balsamic vinegar really makes the soup.  But if you choose not to use the vinegar, you may want to season with a little extra salt and pepper to make it stand on its own.

Chili and Cornbread Muffins

In addition to hosting a birthday brunch for the munchkin last weekend, my in-laws were staying with us for the weekend.  We got a babysitter and went out after the baby's bedtime Friday night, but Saturday night we decided to stay in.  My goal was to find something that everyone liked but could be made ahead so that I didn't have to first start cooking after my daughter's birthday party.  The menu I came up with was chili with corn bread muffins and a tossed salad. 

I have made turkey chili twice before, and the result was good, but tasted more like a meat sauce than chili.  So this time I made a few changes:  I doubled the chili powder, added cumin, and used beef instead of turkey because I had enough grass-fed ground beef in my freezer to double the recipe.  Increasing the spices definitely helped, but I'd imagine the recipe would still work just as well with turkey.

Cornbread is something I've never made before, but after looking at the ingredient lists of some premade ones I decided it was worth the effort!  I made cornbread muffins in a mini-muffin tin earlier in the week and froze them in a freezer bag.  Saturday night I just popped a bunch in the microwave on a plate and we had "fresh" cornbread!  The recipe I found is fairly healthy - low in sugar, no butter, and has whole grain corn meal.  They were a drop on the dry side, but tasted delicious warm with a shmear of butter and dipped in chili.

Here are the recipes:

Chili
adapted from Food Network

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped sweet onions (approx. 1 small onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (approx. 1 large clove)
1 pound ground turkey or lean beef
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with juices
1 (16-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (this is half the original amount - I am very sensitive to heat, so I prefer to use less in the chili and then serve Tabasco on the side for those who prefer hotter food)
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon dried basil (my crushed tomatoes had basil so I left this out)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock (or less, especially if you're limited on cooking time)

In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add ground meat and cook until browned.

Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour or until desired thickness, stirring occasionally.

This tastes better the next day, so it is a great choice to make ahead!  I assume it would also freeze well, although we never seem to have enough to bother :)

Makes 4-5 bowls

Mini-Cornbread Muffins*
from Weelicious

1 3/4 Cup Cornmeal
3/4 Cup Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Agave
1 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix the first 5 dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Whisk the remaining wet ingredients in a separate bowl until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour the cornmeal mixture into the wet ingredients and thoroughly combine with a whisk.
5. Pour into 24 greased mini muffin cups.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted inside.
7. Cool and serve.

Makes 24 mini-muffins

*Check out this recipe for another cornbread option!