Black Bean and Shallot Salsa

Lately, I've been on a real Mexican food kick. It may be due to the fact that I'm doing my best to avoid eating peppers and corn, which makes eating authentic Mexican food quite a trick. Really, it's impossible to avoid both of those ingredients at a restaurant so I've been adapting many of our favorite foods to my dietary restrictions and, believe it or not, coming up with some really fabulous results!

There's also something about Mexican food that lends itself beautifully to the hot weather we've been having lately! Not to mention an excellent way to use up all those delightful, fresh tomatoes that I cannot seem to get enough of, buying them at every conceivable opportunity. I've been using those especially to make salsa (we got sick of just slicing them and eating them with salt and olive oil) and we currently have three kinds in the fridge. Ooops! I guess you can never have too much salsa; it is one of the vegetarian's favorite snacks after all and he makes sure to keep us well-stocked with chips.

This particular salsa is hearty due to the black beans and also a little sweet from the shallots. I was inspired by a Black Bean and Corn Salsa recipe from Eat to Live, a great all-but-vegan cookbook by Joel Fuhrman that has lots of neat, healthy tricks and ingredients that I don't use nearly as often as I should. Since shallots bring a sweetness, I used them as the other main flavor in the salsa and I really like the results! While wonderful with chips, we also enjoyed it over some sprouted-grain quesadillas. Bon appetit!

Black Bean and Shallot Salsa
inspired by Eat to Live

• 1 can cooked black beans
• 1 small shallot, quartered
• 4 slicing tomatoes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small yellow onion, quartered
• 3 large cloves garlic, halved
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients except for lime juice, cumin and garlic powder in a food processor and pulse until just combined and desired consistency (this well be a softer salsa due to the black beans and olive oil). Remove and place in a serving bowl. Stir in lime juice, cumin and garlic powder. Serve with raw vegetables or tortilla chips, if desired. Enjoy!

Got leftovers? This is delicious mixed with scrambled eggs.

Links:

• Avocado-Lime Black Beans from The Kitchn
• Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette from Once Upon a Chef
• Mexican Cornmeal Pancakes with Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa from Midwest Living
• Corn and Black Bean Salsa with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette from Made from Pinterest
• Easy Avocado-Lime Black Bean Salad from Oh She Glows
  
  

Lime Shrimp (or Tofu) "Ceviche" with Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips

Happy Summer! I know -- we still have a few weeks astronomically-speaking but I just can't wait! And with temperatures in the 80s and Memorial Day behind us, I'll ignore the ever-present rain, slip on my sandals, open all the windows and start making summer meals!

Ceviche is, to me, a quintessential warm-weather dish -- barely-cooked light, refreshing fish or seafood mixed with refreshing vegetables and lime juice, what's not to love? And this was a perfect excuse to showcase those first heirloom tomatoes of the season. So why, you may ask, is this a "ceviche" and not just a ceviche? Well, although I have no problem eating raw fish, seafood and even beef in restaurants, I'm always a little nervous about making it myself. So I boiled my shrimp for not-quite two minutes before chilling them and marinating them with lime juice and other goodies.

For the Vegetarian, I used new (to us) tofu cutlets: organic tofu that's already been cooked so you just have to cut it up and either heat it up or eat it cold. Very convenient! 

The one note I'll make with this ceviche is to make sure you cut everything up as small as you can. That makes it easier to scoop up and eat with these homemade tortilla chips, see. Oh and do use fresh lime juice. I'm a big fan of convenience but, in this case, bottled lime juice just won't cut it. I guess that's two notes. Ah, well. Bon appetit!

Lime Shirmp (or Tofu) Ceviche

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (or firm tofu)
• 3/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 small cucumber, finely diced
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1 avocado, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips

• 6 sprouted tortillas
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 teaspoons garam masala

First, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook shrimp for 1-2 minutes, until they just turn pink. Drain and let cool, then chop them into pieces small enough to be scooped up with a tortilla chip. If using tofu, just cut up into small pieces and pat dry.

In a large bowl, coming lime juice and red onion. Stir in shrimp or tofu. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

After an hour, stir in cucumber, tomato, avocado and cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips (homemade are best).

For Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips:

Preheat oven to 350. Lay a tortilla on a cutting board. Brush one side with olive oil. Top with another tortilla and brush it with olive oil as well. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Cut into 8 equal pieces. (Since they're all stacked one on top of the other, this becomes really easy as you can cut them all at once.)

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly oil it. Place tortilla pieces on it in a single layer, oiled side up. You may need as many as 3 baking sheets or to cook these in batches.

Sprinkle with salt and garam masala. Bake for 10 minutes, until crispy. Enjoy!

Links:

• Tequila Shrimp Ceviche from We Are Not Martha
• Chipotle Chicken Salad from KUTV.com
• Tofu Ceviche Tacos from TonieGirl
• Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
• Tofu Ceviche Tacos from Epicurious Community Table

Monthly Cooking Adventure: Stuffed Potatoes

We have too many cookbooks. Which shouldn't be that surprising, considering my mom's a trained librarian (and cookbook author) and the vegetarian's parents are bibliophiles. Some might say that, really, it was inevitable. But when you live in an apartment and have resorted to piling books up next to the bookcase and have completely given up on arranging them in alphabetical order (I told you my mom's a librarian), it's time to admit you have a problem.

So I've made a rule -- I have to use my cookbooks more. And I'm not allowed to buy any more unless I'm planning on using that one within the week. Which brings us to this month's Monthly Cooking Adventure, affectionately titled "We survived Hurricane Sandy."

Now, really, what better way to celebrate surviving a natural disaster than with comfort food? And, to me, comfort food means Jewish food. I wanted something really celebratory but not tied to any particular holiday. So I bought a new cookbook, Jerusalem: A Cookbook, filled with Palestinian and Jewish recipes from that mythical city. Beautiful photography and evocative spices -- this is one of the most taste-inspiring cookbooks I've ever seen.

So for our Monthly Cooking Adventure, we made two dishes: Stuffed Potatoes and Latkes. Ottolenghi and Tammi stuffed their potatoes with beef but I vegetarianized ours with chickpeas (half I still stuffed with beef). We had some stuffing left over which was delicious fried up as mini veggie (and beef) sliders. Serve over couscous, rice or rustic white bread with a spicy Cabernet Sauvignon.

I'm submitting these to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Gluten Free Fridays.

Stuffed Potatoes in Tomato Sauce
adapted from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 chile colorado, finely chopped (optional)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds, ground in a coffee grinder
• 1 teaspoon allspice, ground
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
• 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Stuffed Potatoes:

• 1 pound ground beef (or 1 can chickpeas, blitzed in a food processor until crumbly)
• 2 cups cracker crumbs (blitz crackers in a food processor)
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 13 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Start with the tomato sauce. Heat olive oil in a large, lidded frying pan (if you're doing two batches, do two pans) over low heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrot and chile (if using) and saute 10 minutes. Add caraway seeds, allspice and paprika and cook another 2 minutes, until very fragrant. Add tomatoes, lime juice, lemon juice, salt and pepper and bring to a boil then remove from heat and set aside while you make the potatoes.

In a bowl, combine beef (or chickpeas), cracker crumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper and eggs. Mix them very well, using your hands to make an even paste. The consistency should resemble meatballs or veggie burgers.

Using a teaspoon, hollow out potatoes (this is best done with a friend as it's mindless work but time-consuming), leaving a sturdy enough shell that the stuffing won't escape -- about 2/3-inch thick. Save potato innards for latkes or soup (they're in small enough pieces that you won't have to grate them). Stuff meat (or chickpea) mixture into potatoes, pushing it down so it's packed well and completely fills potato.

Return tomato sauce pan to a low flame and add potatoes, pushing them snugly into the sauce, filling facing upward. You will probably have to squeeze them very close together (or even use two pans). Just make sure they don't overlap. Add water (pour it gently!) to the sauce so that it just reaches the tops of the potatoes but doesn't cover the stuffing. Cover and let cook, simmering, for 1 hour. Remove lid and reduce 5 more minutes. Serve over rice (if desired), garnished with cilantro. Bon appetit!

Links:

• The Ultimate Stuffed Potato from Food Network
• Papas Rellenas Con Chorizo or Chorizo Stuffed Potatoes from Spicie Foodie
• Wonderful Stuffed Potatoes from SparkRecipes.com
• Vegetarian Stuffed Potatoes from Food.com
• Crockpot Cheddar Stuffed Potatoes from Southern Food and Recipes

BED: Moroccan Fava Bean and Vegetable Soup

Two and a half years ago, not long after the vegetarian and I started dating, I came down with mononucleosis. Being over 21, and therefore past the age at which people normally contract this disease, I was hit particularly hard and all-but confined to bed-rest for the next eight months. What a way to start a relationship!

Once I was allowed to resume my normal life, I did so with my usual gusto. Much to my chagrin, however, I found that my energy stores were much lower than they'd ever been before. Not to mention the fact that my immune system was now totally shot. So I experimented with different things -- vitamins, vegetarianism, a higher protein diet -- and, while there were glimpses of more energy, nothing worked long-term.

About a month ago, I was killing some time in Barnes & Noble and happened upon a book that promised to "rebuild my immunity": the Body Ecology Diet book. A skeptic, I nevertheless began reading the introduction and, much to my shock, I felt as though Donna Gates was describing my very symptoms. So I've put myself on the Body Ecology Diet, at least as well as it can fit into my hectic life.

The basic tenets of the diet are no sugars (including most fruits, some vegetables, no dried beans, no dairy and no gluten) and 80% of your plate should be non-starchy vegetables. Obviously some days (and meals) this is easier to follow than others. And living with a vegetarian who prefers grains and beans to vegetables has made cooking and meal-planning a challenge.

The good news, however, is that, frustrating as this has been, I've felt more consistently stronger and happier in the past three weeks than in the past two years. So, at least for now, this is the way to go. And don't worry -- our monthly cooking adventures will still be my monthly permission to myself to venture off. But for now, enjoy this soup with a Lemon-Chive Potato Salad and bon appetit!

Moroccan Fava Bean and Vegetable Soup

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 leeks
• 1 spring onion, (or garlic scapes), chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 radishes, diced
• 2 red-skinned potatoes, diced
• 1/2 pound frozen or fresh (not dried) fava beans (or green garbanzos), double peeled and (if frozen) defrosted
• 8 cups water
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 6 sprigs Italian parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot until it glides like water. Add leeks, onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add radishes, potatoes, fava beans, water, 1 teaspoon salt and parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes.

Puree using an immersion blender. Add 1/4 teaspoon pepper, turmeric and cilantro and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring, 30 minutes. Add remaining salt and pepper. Serve warm, garnished with cilantro and remaining olive oil. Enjoy!

Inspirational Links:

• Moroccan Fava Bean and Vegetable Soup from The New York Times
• Moroccan Fava Bean and Vegetable Soup from Nourish