Witchy Kitchen

Tag: vegan

  • Tomato Rice Soup

    Tomato Rice Soup

    This month’s MENA Cooking Club is hosted by Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz. This month’s country was Jordan, and the recipe I chose was Jordanian Tomato and Rice Soup – although it veered into desi territory as I used ghee since I have a fresh made batch, and I ended up adding a few more spices (I opened up the cabinet for a cinnamon stick and…well, you know how it goes).

    This soup is warm and wintry: spiced tomato broth thickened with basmati rice, and it’s completely simple, made from ingredients I mostly have on hand – which is great, because we are having a streak of frigid weather (how do you Canadians/Chicagoans/etc. do it?!) and I am happy warm and cozy over the stove and refuse to venture out for procurement. We are out of coffee, my life blood, that’s how much I don’t want to go to the store.

    Anyway, the kids loved it and so did I, so thank you Evelyne for the lovely suggestion!

    Tomato Rice Soup

    • 1/3 cup basmatic rice
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 onion, chopped
    • 2-3 garlic cloves, grated
    • 1 teaspoon cumin
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • 1 teaspoon garam masala
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • red chili (just a pinch because kids…you can add a little more if you like)
    • 4 roma tomatoes, chopped
    • salt
    • limes for serving

    Rinse the basmati rice well and soak as you prepare the rest.

    Heat ghee on medium high in a heavy-bottomed pot, and saute onions until they are beginning to turn golden. Add garlic and saute a minute or two, being careful not to burn, then add cumin, paprika, garam masala, turmeric and red chili and saute for a minute. Add tomatoes and a good couple pinches of salt and cook until they are well broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.

    Add about 6 cups of water, scraping the bottom of the pot and stirring well, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

    Bring back to a boil and add rice. Keep at a high simmer for about 15 minutes, gently stirring often. Add more water if necessary (I didn’t need to).

    Lower the heat, adjust seasoning if necessary (another pinch or two of salt), and serve brightened up with limes.

  • Cajun Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

    Cajun Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

    So with all the pumpkining there is clearly an excess of pumpkin seeds that need attention. These are fragrant, warming, and just a little spicy (but not so much that my kids aren’t devouring them).

    Unlike my sister, who lived in Baton Rouge for several years and is never without Tony’s in her cabinet, I usually just throw together a few of the spices typically found in cajun spice mixes. And to be honest, although I do like Tony’s, most mixes are so salty it’s hard to get the spice you want without salting the whole thing to hell. The next time I make gumbo maybe I’ll make a homemade Cajun Masala – but for now a little paprika, cumin, coriander and of course cayenne with do!

    Cajun Spice Pumpkin Seeds

    Slightly adapted from About.com

    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp paprika
    • 1/4 tsp each cumin, coriander powder and cayenne
    • few turns cracked black pepper
    • sprinkle cinnamon
    • 1 tbsp butter, melted
    • 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 cup pumpkin seeds, cleaned and dried

    Heat oven to 300°.

    In a medium bowl, mix salt, paprika, cumin, coriander powder, cayenne, black pepper, cinnamon, butter and Worcestershire sauce.

    Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast, turning occasionally, for 45 to 60 minutes (mine only took 45) until nicely brown and crunchy.

  • Crockpot Apple Butter

    Though apple butter originated in the Middle Ages as a way to preserve the fruit, and is traditionally eaten all over Europe and North America, in my mind it’s about as Southern as it gets. That’s probably because I grew up eating it at Cracker Barrel and at mountain apple festivals. Making it in the crockpot is less romantic than outdoors in the traditional huge copper pots, but isn’t all life a tradeoff between romance and convenience? This still manages to perfume your entire house while you sleep, making for apple dreams and a delicious autumn scent to wake up to.

    Things to eat apple butter on include: biscuits, French toast, bagels, latkes, pumpkin bread, pork chops, almond butter sandwiches, oatmeal, turkey and brie sandwiches, pancakes, yogurt, salad dressing, bbq sauce, sausage, pound cake, panfried salmon, sweet potato fries, ice cream, fingers, spoons.

    Crockpot Apple Butter

    • 5 large mixed apples
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup brown sugar
    • 1/2 a cinnamon stick
    • seeds from 1 green cardamom pod
    • a couple slivers of fresh ginger
    • juice from half a lemon
    • 1 cup apple cider or apple juice

    Core apples and chop into large chunks. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook covered and bubbly on high for 1 hour (you will need to babysit it during this time and stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.

    Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered slightly, for 8-10 hours until dark brown and thick. Remove the cinnamon stick and blend half in the blender if you want to keep some chunks (make sure to get the ginger in there), or blend the whole thing to make it smooth (my preference).

    Return to crock pot and cook on high one more hour, stirring once in awhile to make sure it’s not burning. Cool.

    If you’re into canning, you can double or triple this recipe for pretty holiday gifts and homemade apple butter all year round!

  • Pumpkin Juice

    Pumpkin Juice

    My twitchy, witchy girl, I think you are so nice.
    I give you jars of pumpkin juice, with stripey straws and ice.
    potter-week-gold2-600x240

    October is here, best month of the year, have decked the halls with pumpkins and black cobwebs, falalalala.

    Yesterday, I was dressed in a long purple dress with the crescent moon necklace I wear almost every day (my general look is woods witch gets an office job), and I stepped out of my house into a thickly misty morning (this is North Carolina, not the Pacific Northwest, so this weather is a little unusual), and what should flutter past me but two crows (some kind of omen, obviously). I almost cackled.

    I am keenly and irritatedly aware that pumpkin is passé, but just as dressing like you are on Charmed is strangely back in style nowadays (yay!), we’ll just power through this dark time and one day it will come back around. I will continue to go pumpkin crazy every October, starting with pumpkin juice.

    I saw some versions that stuck raw pumpkin straight in the juicer, which sounds delightful. However, if you only have a blender, this is a good alternative and you can still feel like a Hogwarts kid having afternoon snack.

    Pumpkin Juice

    • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
    • zest and juice of two oranges
    • a couple slivers of ginger
    • 4 cups apple juice or apple cider

    Blend everything and pass through a fine mesh strainer. Serve cold.

  • Summer Squash Salad with Roasted Tomatillo Vinaigrette

    After Ramadan (during which time I did not fast, but did eat pakoras for almost 30 days straight) and my sister’s wedding week (during which time I drank lots of wine and ate delicacies such as burgers and cheese fries – it was a classy wedding, I swear), my body was screaming at me to put something green in it. Anything.

    So I made this enormous, gorgeous rainbow salad with sweet summer squash, pretty purple cabbage, crisp radishes, juicy tomatoes, creamy queso fresco, toasty pumpkin seeds, the ubiquitous avocado, and this awesome experiment of a roasted tomatillo vinaigrette that came out even better than I had hoped – nailed it! After weeks of crap this salad is a rainbow in my heart.

    Summer Squash Salad with Roasted Tomatillo Vinaigrette

    • 2 small or 1 large summer squash, thinly sliced into half or quarter moons
    • 2 small or 1 large tomatillo, thinly sliced
    • olive oil and sea salt for roasting
    • 1 small head green leaf lettuce, thickly shredded
    • 1/4 head purple cabbage, shredded
    • 3 red radishes, thinly sliced
    • 2 roma tomatoes, sliced into half moons
    • 5 oz queso fresco, crumbled
    • 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
    • 1 avocado
    • 1 clove garlic, grated
    • several sprigs cilantro, finely chopped
    • 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
    • zest and juice of 1 lime
    • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
    • sea salt & pepper
    • 1/3 cup olive oil

    Heat oven to 400° F.

    Coat squash and tomatillos with a little olive oil and sea salt. Spread squash on one foil-lined baking sheet and tomatillos on another, making sure they are all in one layer. Roast approximately 15 minutes for the squash (until soft, no or little color) and 20 minutes for the tomatoes (until they are just getting starting to get caramelized).

    For the vinaigrette: finely chop the roasted tomatillo and mix with garlic, cilantro, honey, lime juice and zest, and red wine vinegar, and season generously with salt and pepper. Drizzle in olive oil while stirring.

    Toss together lettuce, cabbage, radishes, tomatoes, queso fresco and pumpkin seeds. Slice or scoop in avocado right before you lightly dress the salad with the vinaigrette (you can serve extra on the side).

  • Money Penne

    The pesto has lots of symbolic prosperity ingredients: basil for prosperity, almonds for money, leafy greens for bills and sweet corn for coins. It’s super healthy, and the sweet corn, which is deliciously in season, makes it the perfect easy end-of-summer recipe that’s a little more interesting than your average pesto. You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the parmesan altogether or subbing in some nutritional yeast.

    Money Penne

    1 ear sweet corn
    1/2 lb whole wheat penne pasta
    1 large clove garlic, chopped
    1/4 cup almonds
    zest of 1 lemon
    2 large leaves kale, destemmed and roughly chopped
    packed 1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped
    juice of 1/2 lemon
    2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
    salt & pepper
    1/4 cup olive oil

    Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Drop in corn and cook (only 2-3 minutes) and remove. In the same pot, cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

    When the corn is cool, chop off the kernals and reserve.

    Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine garlic, almonds and lemon zest. Add kale, basil, lemon juice, parmesan, half of the corn, and salt and pepper to taste. Combine well (you may have to scrape the sides a couple of times), then drizzle in olive oil with the food processor running. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

    Return the drained pasta to the pot and combine with pesto and the rest of the corn. Serve with a little grated parmesan on top.

    Plus the name is cute, yes? 😉