Gluten-Free Mid-E Platter

So, the other day I went to The Grit and had their Mid-E Platter. It's a tasty dish that comes with hummus, pita points, raw veggies, tabbouleh, and a lemon-tahini sauce. Oh, and two falafel. Well, I was really craving that Mid-E Platter, but was (and still am!) a little short on cash, so I thought I would make my own version at home. I decided to do a gluten-free version this time around though. I really wanted to make some GF pita, since I have a recipe, but I didn't. Because, after making the soyogurt sauce, tabbouleh, and falafel, and making the salad, I was a little tired lol. But in all honesty, these recipes are quick. I did all that in exactly one hour and have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.

Pictured: Tahini-Yogurt Sauce, Baked GF Falafel, GF Quinoa Tabbouleh, Hummus, sliced cucumbers, and carrots on a bed of romaine lettuce.

The Falafel is a revised and perfected version of my previous falafel recipe. The hummus was store bought, the tahini-soyogurt sauce needs a little work (it's not quite right), and the quinoa tabbouleh is my version of the basic way to make it gluten-free. So you get two recipes tonight, my friends. 

Gluten-Free Baked Falafel:

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tb. tahini
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. fresh grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tb. minced onion
1/8 c. water
1/4 c. gluten-free cornflake crumbs (be sure they're vegan)

1. Pulse chickpeas, parsley, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and peel, cumin, corianger, chili powder, onion, water, and salt in a food processor until mostly smooth, but still a little bit chunky.
 

2. Transfer chickpea mixture to a bowl and stir in bread crumbs.

3. Make about 15 small (ping pong-sized) balls and place on a nonstick baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (if not nonstick). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Be sure to flip it over once while baking.

Stats for one falafel (if 15 are made): 55 calories, 1.7 g fat, 1.6 g fiber, 2.2 g. protein, and a little bit of Vitamin A, C, calcium, and iron.

And they still hold together pretty nicely as well. You can eat them as part of a platter or you can stuff them in a pita or a wrap. Your choice!

The tabbouleh is made gluten-free with the use of quinoa (a seed). It's a pretty powerful little seed and definitely good for you. I think it makes a fine substitution for wheat grain. Also, I know that authentic tabbouleh is more parsley than grain, but I still like a little grain with my parsley. If you catch my drift. This recipe is based off of one from Bon Appetit.

Quinoa Tabbouleh:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large English cucumber, chopped
1 1/2 c. mini heirloom tomatoes (or reg. tomatoes), halved
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/4 c. onion, minced

 

1. Bring quinoa, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

2. Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Add cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, and onion to bowl with quinoa; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Once quinoa is completely cool, add the the bowl with the dressing and the chopped veggies.

 

The nutritional stats on this one is an estimated cause I'm not quite sure how many servings I'll get out of this one. I'd say about 6 servings at about 210 calories and 9 grams of fat. 

So that was my lunch today and will be my lunch tomorrow! It was quick delicious, and like I said, if you make all the pieces on one day, you can have very quick leftovers the next few!

I'll be making some stuff from Viva Vegan here shortly (I've already prepared my sofrito and bought the produce!) and I even tried my hand at yuca. I made Cilantro-Lime Yuca and it was delicious. Especially when served with Cuban Black Beans and a corn tortilla. More tasty things to come!

Quick Pickles and a Tour of My Place!

Hi, everyone!

I think I've finally gotten myself completely settled into my new apartment. It took me almost a month, but I guess sometimes that's how long it takes!

My place is a little 600 square feet den in the basement of a log cabin. I have windows in my bedroom (so that birds can wake me up at 5:00 am... but I love it!), so it's still nice and light inside there. I love the fact that it's "earth-sheltered" because the temperature stays fairly consistent and because I feel all safe. I have a horrible fear of storms/tornadoes and even now, as an adult, when I'm back home and I see the clouds start to darken I start to freak out. So long story short, that's why I picked a graduate school that was NOT in the Midwest (also because I'm a plant biologist and I'm not interested in studying corn or soybeans). And, when I was looking for an apartment and I found this cute little nook, I knew I had to live here. It's got an open kitchen/dining room, a bedroom, and a bathroom.

As you can see, it kind of looks like a log cabin on the inside. Lots of pine woodwork and trim. I'm also cooking with gas now. I love cooking with my gas stove, lol. The other side is just my comfy chaise that I sit in and a small tv. Oh, and I think maybe you noticed that I have a new member of my family?

This is Zoe (or Zoey). She's a four-year-old-ish lab mix. A friend of my also got accepted into grad school, but he was gonna be moving into a large apartment complex in Houston. He made the painful decision to hand her over to me so that she could be happy. You know, so she could run around on the farm all day and play with the other dogs here, rather being cramped up in a small apartment all day. She loves it here. I don't even need to put her on a leash. She just runs around and comes inside when I call her.

I normally wouldn't care too much about showing y'all my bathroom, but I have to because I have the most awesome shower curtain ever. It was sold out for ever, so I was put on a waiting list for this biatch but I eventually got one. Best $30 I ever spent!!

I got it at Plasticland (www.shopplasticland.com). Pretty much everything they have there is like it was made for me, and don't even get me started on those clothes or those shoes!!

Then finally, we have the bedroom. I was gonna do blue and brown, but my bed and dresser turned out to be super dark, and I didn't want to buy new blankets, so I went with purple and dark brown.

So there you have it! My apartment. It's nice and quiet. I don't have noisy neighbors, or busy streets, or anything to distract me from my studies. Heck, I don't even have a roommate to distract me (thank goodness!). I hope to stay here for a long time, and I definitely wouldn't mind staying here the entire duration of my grad school career.

Anyway, enough about me! I promised y'all a recipe in my last post and I'm here to deliver! I'm going to a cookout today and I'm bringing along my Poppy Seed Coleslaw and these Quick Pickles. That coleslaw recipe is better than before since I finally got around to updating it. I used Reduced-Fat Veganaise, but regular or another brand is okey dokey too.

These pickles are super easy to make and stay good in your fridge for two weeks. They're crispy and crunchy and just tasty. You'll be surprised at how fresh they taste when you make them! And just a word of note, I sterilize my jars before I make anything like this. I do that by boiling a canning jar and the lid for 10 minutes. I'm a little paranoid, I suppose, but it's not necessary because of the vinegar. Another bonus: homemade pickles like this have less sodium than jarred ones.

Quick Refrigerator Pickles:
1 med. sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 medium English cucumber, thinly sliced (the long skinny ones with edible peel)
1 c. rice vinegar
2 Tb. sugar (whatever kind you like, just not something with too much flavor)
2 bay leaves
1  1/4 tsp. brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1. Place onion and cucumber into a heat-proof nonreactive bowl. Glass pyrex is best. Set aside.

2. Bring vinegar, sugar, bay leaves, mustard seeds, salt, and 1/2 cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

3. Pour over onion and cucumber. Cover loosely with a clean towl and let cool completely. Make sure you stir occasionally to submerge the vegetables. Once cool place in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

This recipe doesn't make a whole lot, but I'd definitely say a large Mason jar full (though that depends on the size of your onion and cucumber! If you like pickles (and especially the bread and butter kind) you will definitely like these. Also, it's kind of fun to say you made your own. Have a great evening!

Vive Vegan and Other Good Eats!

So my Pantry Challenge has been going quite well. I managed to use up some of my pantry basics, like brown sugar and rice noodles, and a few boxed items, like GF pancake mix. I was even able to give away a few ingredients to my mom so that she could make some homemade peanut butter doggie biscuits. Progress has been slow, but steady, and after this week's cooking bonanza from Terry Hope Romero's Vive Vegan, I was able to knock a LOT of stuff out of my pantry. More about that in a minute. But first, let's talk about Whole Foods!

I had the day off the other day and I realized that I was out of tea (Republic of Tea's Vanilla Almond to be exact). Apparently in my book, being out of tea (and craving the WF salad bar) makes a 65 minute drive completely justifiable. Of course, I also needed some groceries, so I took this trip as an opportunity to do a little stocking up (on things that I would actually use over the next six weeks!!). Since I love the salad bar, I decided to take the salad bar home with me! I got a to-go box of all the things I love on my salad (shredded beets, zucchini, daikon; marinated gigante beans, and green onions.. because I felt lazy) and then I bought the lettuce parts separately. WF has much cheaper organic produce than my HyVee so I got a bag of romaine hearts and a 50/50 box of spring mix and baby spinach. While I was over in the refrigerated section, I also noticed my favorite dressing: Follow Your Heart's Organic Tamari-Miso. I had looked all over the store for that stuff, at least everywhere but the produce aisle!

Then I did something I've always meant to do but have never gotten around to doing. I prewashed and chopped all my salad greens and tossed them together in a huge bowl. That way, when I wanted a salad, all I had to do was grab my greens out of the big bowl. I used a salad spinner so that the greens were nice and dry before they were stored. Please don't store wet greens. Food poisoning really sucks. Trust me on that one! I also ate them within 3-4 days of chopping.

Once home I cooked up quinoa and toasted up some pepitas to complete my WF salad. Two pantry items knocked out!

Then, during a fit of serious PMS, I wound up craving a milkshake (which I haven't had in years and have never made a vegan one!). I went a little Thai with this one though, and blended together coconut milk ice cream, ginger beer (it's non-alcoholic), a banana, and enough coconut-almond milk to get it to the consistency I wanted. It was quite warm that day, so it really hit the spot. It was different (taste-wise) but it was exactly what I wanted! Bonus: it used up the ginger beer I had stashed back for who knows how long and one of my many frozen bananas!

Frosty!

So here's the biggest use of my pantry by far. I've packed up most of my cookbooks, but I left out a couple that I thought I might use. One of the ones I left unpacked was Vive Vegan. I'm definitely a Latin-food lover and I knew that with all the beans and spices I got hanging around that it would be a good book to cook from. In just this past week I've made two of her recipes, plus I've prepped to make two more. That way, when leftovers run out on Tuesday, I'll have stuff ready to just toss together.

I was real proud of myself here: I used all my dried black beans (which was only about a pound, lol). With most of them I made the Homestyle Refried Beans (subbed black for pinto), but I set aside two cups to make Isa's Black Bean-Zucchini-Olive Tacos from Appetite for Reduction. It's definitely one of my favorite taco recipes. I then mixed up some Curdito (from VV) which is a vinegar-based slaw, some homemade pico (my recipe), and two kinds of seitan. I did a half recipe each of the White Seitan and the Chorizo. It was quite a day of cooking! Right now I'm munching up the tacos with a side of curdito, refried beans, and pico. It's sooo good:

Please ignore the dry refried beans!

Since the seitan has a longer shelf life, I'm saving those dishes for later in the week. Next up, I'm making the Chorizo-Spinach Sopes (also served with a side of refried beans and curdito), and then Tuesday (or so) I'm making the Green Posole, which is kind of a corn and bean-based soup with spinach, seitan, and pumpkin seeds, and lots of garnishes (tortilla chips, avocado, slaw). I'll post all those pictures on here as well.

With all this cooking, I've been able / will be able to use a lot of stuff: dry and canned beans, frozen greens, spices, posole (dried corn), canned tomatoes, masa harina, vital wheat gluten and other various flours, and I even used up the last of my olive oil (at least I still have coconut and canola! LOL.) If all else fails and I don't get stuff used up, I'll probably give some stuff to my mom and donate others.

But lastly, I couldn't send you away without a recipe. This recipe is the only pico I make and it can easily be adjusted for your taste my adding more or less jalapeno, salt, or lime. People get excited when I bring out the homemade pico and guac!

Jess's Only Pico Recipe:
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped (I use these because they have less seeds/juice)
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/4 a large yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 a fresh jalapeno, minced
juice of 1/2 a fresh lime
a pinch of sugar (about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp.)
about 1 tsp. kosher salt (or to taste. I don't usually measure)

Put the tomatoes into a small bowl or serving dish and drain off any extra juice that settles to the bottom. Add the cilantro, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, sugar, and salt, and mix well. Let chill for at least an hour for the flavors to blend, and always taste test! You can also blend the ingredients together with a touch of olive oil to make a sort-of salsa fresca for your tacos or what not.

Buen provecho!

Long-Forgotten Falafel

Yesterday I realized that I've never posted my recipe for falafel on here. It kind of blew my mind. I mean, here I have this awesome vegan recipe and I've never even bothered to mention it!

My old roommate turned me on to falafel. I don't think I would have tried it if it wasn't for her, just because it would be one of those recipes that I'd "get around to" eventually. Well, I'm glad she got me to make them because they're awesome. I've made this recipe dozens of times, it's one of my keepers, and better yet, I now pronounce the word "falafel" correctly!

The first time I made these, I didn't have a food processor. I hand-mashed the chickpeas in a large bowl with fork. I later put the recipe away for a time when I could get one. However, $3 and two garage sales later I had myself a fancy new food processor and the recipe was pulled back out with much fanfare (I put out a need in the universe... it's the thrift store mantra. Ask and ye shall receive!).

In my recipe, the falafel is baked instead of fried. I've never really ate fried food, it's not my thing. My mom never made it as a kid and we never went out to eat, so it wasn't really around. I'm not gonna lie either, I could fry stuff in those big restaurant fryers, but when it comes to frying at home I don't know what to and I don't care to learn, so that's that! These babies are baked!

This recipe makes about 24 falafels (is that right? With the "s" on there like that?) and I usually do three falafels per pita.

Falafel:
1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Tb. tahini
1 Tb. flax seed meal + 2 Tb. water
1 tsp. minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. parsley 1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tb. minced onion
1/4 c. fine (vegan) bread crumbs

Yogurt Sauce:
1 c. plain soy yogurt (or yogurt of choice)
1 Tb. lemon juice
1/2 Tb. cumin
1/4 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. grated lemon peel

Pita bread, warmed
Red onion slices
Tomato slices
Cucumber slices
Lettuce

1. Pulse chickpeas, tahini, lemon peel, cumin, garlic, lemon juice, coriander, chili powder, and salt in a food processor until mostly smooth, but still chunky.

2. Transfer chickpea mixture to a bowl and stir in bread crumbs, onion, and parsley.

3. Make small meatball-sized balls and placed on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Be sure to flip it over once while baking and flatten it down.

4. To make Yogurt Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a serving bowl.

To serve: Fill warm pita halves with a few falafels (is that right? Falafels?). Then stuff the filled pita with lettuce, tomato slices, red onions slices, cucumber slices, and a couple tablespoons of yogurt sauce. Enjoy!

Variations:
1. To make this falafel gluten-free, simply sub 1/4 c. gluten-free breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can toast about two slices of GF bread in the oven at 350 until browned and pulse into fine crumbs using the food processor (do this before you make the falafels). You may need to put them on a baking sheet back in the oven for a couple minutes to toast them a little more. You'll also need to sub out the pitas. I like to use romaine hearts and serve it in romaine "boats". You could also use GF pitas (there's a recipe here, but I have yet to try it).

2. To use fresh parsley in the falafel, simply sub the dried for one cup of fresh (stems removed). You'll need to give the food processor a few extra whirls to get it chopped and incorporated.