pea shoots

the first (and only other) time i ate pea shoots was (maybe a year ago?) at burma superstar. there, they saute them with garlic and white wine and they are amazing. i didn't see these greens anyplace else after that but i definitely did not forget about them. then, this week, as i was paying for scallions and carrots at the tuesday ferry building farmers market i looked down and what did i see? big bunches of leafy green pea shoots with their funny little curly sprigs, the perfect final component to a farmer's market dinner feast!

to prepare them i used burma superstar's dish as a starting point and added a few things here and there and ended up with a big bowl of fresh, bright green deliciousness. pea shoots are just a little bit bitter and were wonderful with a touch of sweetness from the sake i used to cook them. i don't recall seeing pea shoots at the grocery store but if you happen upon them someplace do buy them....you won't be sorry and i bet they'll be welcome in your greens rotation.

sauteed pea shoots

ingredients:

1 large bunch pea shoots, roughly chopped

1 cup (ish) shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 scallions, thinly chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

sweet sake

salt to taste

heat olive oil in a pan and cook garlic, scallions and mushrooms over medium heat until scallions and mushrooms begin to soften. add the pea shoots and a splash of sake. cook until the shoots are just wilted and bright green. add salt to taste.

thaw phyllo...fast!

my birthday recently passed which means i have a nice new crop of cookbooks to play with. last night kris and i were excitedly making the baked samosas from yellow rose recipes. all was going well, the filling was almost done cooking when, yikes!!! i realized i never took the phyllo out of the freezer to thaw. an internet search for fast thawing tips proved shockingly unhelpful. but that's when an idea popped into my head and i must say i think it's pretty brilliant. so, next time you need to thaw some phyllo in a flash here's what to do:

place the unopened phyllo package in a ziplock bag and make sure it's sealed nice and tight.* place the bag is a baking dish and fill it up with hothothot water. refresh the water every now and then to keep it hot, turn the phyllo a few times and you should be good to go in 30 minutes or less!

*i didn't use a ziplock bag but would highly recommend it, apparently my package had a little hole somewhere. and if you thought regular phyllo dough was finicky just try working around soggy spots.

-d

falafel

everytime i see a new falafel recipe i am compelled to try it. maybe it's just because i love falafel or maybe it's because i have yet to find the one, my go-to, never fail falafel recipe. i think i'm still looking. while this recipe certainly made a good falafel i can't say that next time i happen across a falafel recipe i won't have to try it immediately.

when i was blending everything up in the food processor it seemed extra dry to me....but that worked itself out and actually formed into balls very nicely with no threat of crumbling apart. the recipe called for frying which is best when someone else, say sunrise deli, is doing the work but at home i prefer to bake my falafel. the instructions said to roll the balls in flour before cooking, i rolled them in a flour/sesame seed mixture then brushed them lightly with olive oil. next time i'd skip the flour if i'm not frying them but keep the sesame seeds cause they're yummy and add an extra little crunch.

falafel
(changed ever so slightly from bon appetit, march 2010)
ingredients:

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons all purpose flour plus more for dredging

2 1/2 teaspoons salt-free garlic pepper spice blend

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (packed) chopped fresh Italian parsley

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Falafel-with-Hummus-357351#ixzz0hzdTl0rK

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (packed) chopped fresh italian parsley
sesame seeds for coating

preheat oven to 350 and lightly oil a baking sheet.

puree canned chickpeas, chopped onion, flour, garlic pepper spice blend, ground cumin, baking powder, and salt in processor until coarse puree forms. add chopped italian parsley; process just to blend. roll level tablespoonfuls garbanzo bean mixture into balls; flatten balls slightly. coat each side in sesame seeds and brush lightly with oil. bake about 13 minutes on each side or until browned a crispy.

-d

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons all purpose flour plus more for dredging

2 1/2 teaspoons salt-free garlic pepper spice blend

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (packed) chopped fresh Italian parsley

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Falafel-with-Hummus-357351#ixzz0hzdTl0rK

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons all purpose flour plus more for dredging

2 1/2 teaspoons salt-free garlic pepper spice blend

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (packed) chopped fresh Italian parsley

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Falafel-with-Hummus-357351#ixzz0hzdTl0rK

baked quinoa

i stole the idea of baked quinoa from kate. i had never thought of cooking it this way before and after talking about it with her i was excited to give it a try. i used kate's method as a general guideline and then started winging it and i think it turned out quite well! however mine took twice as long to cook as hers did (an hour rather than 30 minutes) so, while it was tasty, i couldn't help thinking that i could have made this normal quinoa-bowl style in a third of the time. still! a fun experiment and a great solution if you're in the mood to just throw a bunch of stuff together and forget about it for awhile while you go about your business.


for vegetables i used red onion, scallions and rainbow chard and then bulked it up with maple-mustard marinated tempeh and sprinkled almonds on top for crunch. the flavor was good but i felt that it was missing something. kris suggested that indian spices might be a nice addition and i completely agree so that might be a fun avenue to explore.

baked quinoa
ingredients
for tempeh marinade:
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
quinoa ingredients:
8 ounces tempeh, cubed
3 scallions, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 bunch rainbow chard, finely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

preheat your oven to 350. mix together the marinade ingredients in a baking dish (i used a 1.5 quart oval dish) and let tempeh marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

heat a splash of oil in a pan and saute the onion and scallions until softened, add the chard and cook until just wilted. add the broth to the pan and when it boils add the quinoa a stir. season with salt and pepper. pour into the baking dish with the tempeh and marinade and mix to combine. cover with foil and cook for about an hour or until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is soft. sprinkle toasted almonds on top and serve!

-d

mexico mexico mexico!

kris and i just returned from a wonderfully relaxing and very delicious trip to hot, sunny puerto vallarta.

after a long day of traveling (well, ok, the flight wasn't long...but the customs line was!) the complimentary bottle of champagne in our room really hit the spot. enjoyed from our balcony overlooking the ocean, now we were on vacation!

and that was only the beginning of the many oceanside beverages enjoyed over the next four days.

we enjoyed one of the best tapas meals we've had in a long time at a place called barcelona tapas. the tables were all on an open balcony and we were lucky to get one right on the edge overlooking the city. we all know that you can't have tapas without a little sangria. or in our case a lot of sangria.

note to any couples who may find themselves dining here and pondering the whole pitcher vs. half pitcher order conundrum, go for the half. despite our most dedicated efforts we just. couldn't. finish. the whole pitcher.

of course, we ate while on our trip too, it wasn't all sangria, margaritas and pacifico. in fact i think i am going through guacamole withdrawal.

lots of yummy salsa too. i don't know what it was, but this salsa was amazing. better than any salsa ever. the chips were fantastic as well.

as vegetarians, we mostly relied on vegetable fajitas for our "real food," i feel like i became a bit of a connoisseur. the same place with the amazing salsa won my vote for favorite fajitas as well. maybe it was just because i put the salsa in the fajita, but the broccoli and cauliflower didn't hurt either.

however there was one place that allowed us to break away from fajitas and stuff our bellies full of all kinds of goodness. a tiny hole in the wall hidden along this rubble strewn street.

what's that we see?

ahhhhhh, our tiny little vegetarian oasis. this place was awesome! for $7.50 you get a vegetarian (vegan really) buffet where you can eat to your heart's content without a second thought as to what may be lurking in the food. we first went for dinner where they had the most delicious falafel, frijoles with two kinds of rice, pesto pasta, salad bar, bread pudding and bunches of other things that i am forgetting. we went back a second time for breakfast the morning that we left and filled up on pancakes, scrambled tortillas, scrambled tofu, potatoes, green stew with seitan, more frijoles and fresh fruit. we're certainly not lacking vegan food in san francisco but i'm going to miss this place.

-d