My Legume Love Affair #79 - January 2015

I am glad once again to be web hosting My Legume Love Affair, an occasion celebrating the ever popular legume that so shines in our meals. Thanks to dear Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook, who is the brainchild in the back of this occasion. She passed the baton to me and thanks to all the other bloggers who keep the engine rolling with their creativity and aid. Here we are into 2015 ? Legumes are never boring and offer happiness and essential protein in our diets.

To share within the legume love affair, all you need to do is:

Prepare a vegetarian dish targeted on legumes. Link back to this declaration, my weblog and also Susan's weblog, as she changed into the original founder of the occasion. Share your advent the use of the linky device at the end of this put up by the quit of the month. Use of the lovely brand, designed by Susan, is non-compulsory, but favored.

Because I very own and maintain a vegetarian cooking web page, most effective entries which might be freed from meat, chicken and seafood can be usual. Please handiest one submission consistent with month, in step with blogger. Recipes from your information will be common if reposted and updated. You may additionally put up your recipe to other activities, however please take a look at to look if the ones hosts have restrictions.

For your dish to be protected inside the roundup, it must incorporate extra than just a few tablespoons of legumes. The slight exception to this are legumes such as fenugreek or tamarind that generally are used in smaller quantities. Fresh or dried beans, lentils, pulses, and the now and again safe to eat pods that contain those seeds, and spinoff products such as tofu or besan, along with fenugreek, carob, and peanuts are all appropriate. The opportunities are infinite. Please simply ensure that your shining component is in truth a member of the legume own family. All types of cuisines and courses are welcome, as long as the potent legume is the key component.

Thanks for your concept and participation. I am searching out hosts for 2015. Send me an e mail at legume.Lisa AT gmail DOT com or go away a comment on this submit if you would like to host.

Avocado Blackberry Smoothie

The holidays are often a time of indulgence. Larger meals and more chocolates. Once the festivities are over, a lot of us turn to healthier and cleansing answers for meals. Smoothies are always a good preference to begin the day, specially while creamy avocado and berries take the shining role, as they do here along side banana, almond milk and hemp seeds. In addition, not most effective is that this smoothie packed with nourishment, but it takes rarely whenever at all to whiz up. If you want your smoothies sweeter, virtually add more honey.

Other smoothie recipes to attempt:

Beet and Top Green Smoothie with Apple, Orange and Ginger

Frozen Mango Lime Lassi

Pomegranate & Blueberry Oat Smoothie

On the top of the reading stack: Delicious Mornings: Comforting Breakfasts Baked from Scratch

Audio Accompaniment: Chantal Acda

Drumstick Sambar with Seared Eggplant

When I first commenced cooking Indian food, maximum of my dishes were inspired from conventional north Indian cuisine. As I have become greater snug with spicing and my curiosity elevated, southern Indian creations soon became a passion. Sambars are a signature part of south Indian eating, commonly serving as the first path of the meal along with rice, followed up by using a brothy rasam and other veggies dishes, inclusive of poriyals. These thick soup-like creations may be made with any quantity of veggies and are generally served with rice and other accompaniments. But sambars are giant sufficient to function the principle path of a meal, mainly whilst served with rice and a few Indian flat breads.

Drumstick features in this sambar. This is best the second one time I actually have cooked with this vegetable ? The primary time it starred in a vegetable coconut sambar, however I'm already a fan. A long skinny inexperienced pod, they may be typically utilized in Indian delicacies, often featuring in sambars as they do here.

The flavor and texture of drumsticks is pretty precise. If viable, it's far quality to discover immature drumsticks as they have a tendency to be even woodier and more fibrous the older they are. As it's miles, maximum of the skin is eliminated before cooking and they are sliced into portions earlier than cooking as it's miles the gentle pulpy interior that makes the vegetable so fun to consume. They're also pretty nourishing as sources of calcium, iron, phosphorus and vitamins and used for use to treat malnutrition in Asia.

Drumsticks can be discovered at Asian and Indian grocery stores. Look for the smoothest pods you may find. If you can not find drumsticks you may use any vegetable that you have available, together with carrots, green beans, radish, asparagus or candy potato. This dish might nonetheless be scrumptious, but I might noticeably recommend the seared eggplant even though no longer using drumstick. It provides a completely unique final cute texture and contact.

You also can without problems locate prepared sambar powders at Indian grocers, however it's easy to make at home too.

Other sambar recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen to relish:

Butternut Squash Sambar

Tamarind Sambar

Black-Eyed Pea and Mung Bean Sambar

Bitter Melon (Bitter Gourd) Sambar

On the pinnacle of the analyzing stack: browsing the cabinets

Audio Accompaniment: candy silence

Eggplant, Mushroom and Cheese Quiche

I'm rather off and on again when it comes to eating eggs, but when an egg dish is done well it can be a real treat. So when I saw an egg recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi's latest cookbook, Plenty More , I knew it was time to interrupt my latest break from eggs … especially when eggplants are involved.

But it's no longer simply the eggplants or the mushrooms ? Which I introduced to the recipe ? Or the sheep's milk feta cheese, child plum tomatoes or jalape?Os that I also brought for a little kick that make this quiche such an attractive and tasty dish. It might be delicious anyhow, however what clearly elevates the taste is brushing the top of the quiche with za'atar, a tangy, zesty and salty combination of herbs and toasted sesame seeds it really is smooth to make at domestic. Do make a sparkling batch of this combo. It will no longer handiest make your quiche a fantastic lunch or light dinner but you'll have plenty left over to dip bread and olive oil into for a high-quality deal with. It keeps nicely within the fridge in a properly sealed jar for an awesome whilst, if it does not get eaten up right away.

Other cheesy delights to experience from my kitchen:

Cheese Potato Puff with Dried Mushrooms

Cheddar and Mushroom Shirred Eggs

Cherry Ricotta Cr?Pes

Greek Feta & Olive Frittata

Raw Pistachio Cashew Halva

After the indulgences of the holidays, many of us flow faraway from decadent treats and desserts. But that does not imply a candy teeth need be denied, mainly whilst it is as smooth and wholesome as this homemade halva.

If you have ever had the opportunity to experience the specific texture of fudgy and grainy halva, probabilities are you may not forget it. In my case, halva can be pretty tons irresistible on the ones activities once I indulge the craving. A famous sweet inside the Middle East, the number one additives are tahini (sesame seed paste), nuts and sweetener, such as honey. Often it's far flavored with chocolate and once in a while it's far made with flour and simmered in a syrup. Halva isn't especially complex to make at home, even though many of the recipes I've come across comprise extra processed sugar than I care to devour and a few require simmering time.

This uncooked version simplifies the entire system and contains best a modest quantity of honey to satisfy the candy enamel. Pistachios, cashews and complete sesame seeds shine here with nutty tahini, honey and vanilla. A portion of the sesame seeds may be floor if favored for a smoother version.

My choice for unadulterated halva become satisfied in hardly ever each time at all and a few small bites are all this is wanted though the temptation to eat a couple of little chew is menacing.

Other raw treats no longer to be passed over:

Raw Peanut Butter Cookies

Raw Peanut Butter Maple Squares

Mini Tahini Cups with a Creamy Coffee Date Filling

No Bake Coconut Oil Fudge

Millet and Chickpea Flour Crêpes with Spinach

I've often noted that millet is an under-appreciated grain. And that's strange, because it has a unique and nutty texture that is a bit lighter than rice and a fine accompaniment to any meal requiring a grain side. In addition, it works well as part of a main entrée too.

A substantial meal accompaniment, chickpea flour, spinach, carrot and spice shine along with the millet in these Indian crêpes.

I served them up with a mushroom curry for dinner.

Other Indian quick breads you may enjoy:

Fenugreek Leaf Dosa

Sri Lankan Coconut Roti

Makki Di Roti (Griddle Cooked Corn Bread)

Indian Rice Flour Pancakes

Mexican Tomato and Jalapeño Salsa

For the most part, I make all of my own sauces, salsas and chutneys. Preservative laden store-bought varieties usually pale in comparison to the ones made in our own kitchens with fresh ingredients. Most of the ones I make are relatively easy to prepare too, requiring little time or fuss. This fiery salsa is a fine example and can be made as spicy or as mild as you please, simply by adding more or fewer jalapeños and some spices.

Very easy to make up, this salsa can also be made ahead of time as it keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of days … or just in time for Super Bowl Sunday where it will make a great dip for nachos or many other football snacks. It's thick and chunky, with fresh heat from jalapeños and tanginess from the tomato and lime juice, and also makes a great condiment for your favorite baked or fried savories, bean cakes or vegetable burgers.

Other salsa recipes to try:

Basic Fresh Salsa

Black-Eyed Pea Salsa

Feta and Olive Salsa

On the top of the reading stack: The newspaper

Audio accompaniment: John Lee Hooker