I like what others don’t like–or do I?

I know I’ve been writing about eating out lately, but I have been cooking at home. It’s just not as exciting! I’ve made some real flops (keep reading), but I did make one recipe that was unexpectedly delicious.

I’ve been trying to use up things in my pantry and freezer. In this recipe, I used some lentils I’ve had for a while, as well as some frozen artichoke hearts. I found the recipe on the Whole Foods Market recipe app, and you can view it here.

The recipe is Linguine with Spinach, Artichokes, and Red Lentil Sauce. I ate a heaping helping on a salad plate, and I even finished the leftovers for breakfast. This was delicious, and one of my favorite new discoveries. The sauce starts with mustard seeds, onion, garilc, and lentils, and finishes with lightly cooked spinach and artichoke hearts. Add some lemon juice, salt and pepper and whole wheat pasta, and you’re good to go. 

I was surprised to look up the recipe online and see that it only got 2 of 5 stars. I mean, people who wouldn’t like the ingredients wouldn’t choose to make this, right? To state the obvious, I used spaghetti, not linguine. Maybe that’s why I liked it better – no, that’s a stretch.

I really started to question my taste (or, the rating system) when I checked out another recipe I tried, Quinoa Loaf with Mushrooms and Peas. That recipe earned 4 of 5 stars.

This was not great, but I took lots of photos, so I’ll share. This is how you know I don’t lie to you: this looks good, so I could rave about this and trick you all! Don’t worry, I would never do that. Plus, even though the star rating is high, most of the comments agree with me. And I didn’t write them all. Actually, I didn’t write any. Maybe 4 of 5 stars is a poor rating, and 2 of 5 is a good rating?

Alex and I both thought it was bland, which is strange because it’s packed with flavorful ingredients, including quinoa, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and red onion. These goodies were bound with a paste of pureed chickpeas and oats, plus some green peas and parsley.

After baking for a long while in a loaf pan, this sliced pretty easily. Alex enjoyed his with ketchup, and I doused mine with sweet onion mustard (not pictured). This looks good, served with a baked potato and brocolette, so trust me when I say it was bland.

In eating this, I was really puzzled about why my preferences were nearly opposite the online ratings. I guess I’m glad I didn’t see them ahead of time! How about you out there – do you like what everyone else does? Do online ratings inform your choices?

Culturally Schizophrenic

I committed last time to share the results of my experimentation in the kitchen, and I’m tickled to announce that things turned out super tasty!

Behold, my Middle Eastern Inspired Taco.

I had some frozen baked falafel, and I made hummus with cilantro, garlic, and “taco” seasoning and wrapped it all up in a whole wheat tortilla. I use these spices in my taco seasoning: chili powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Now, I didn’t have many frozen falafel. Alex admitted that he sometimes takes a ball from the freezer and eats it cold. I don’t know if that’s flattering or not. Anyway, we had more than enough food.

The reason there was so much food was because I made baba ghanoush, too. (When everyone spells things differently, how do you decide what to use? Just pick one and stick with it?)

Lately, I’ve had a hankering for baba ghanoush and decided to go for it when I saw a Food Network chef make it on television. Sometimes, that’s all it takes (thanks, Aarti Party!). I was tempted to buy some ready-made from the grocery store, but it was chock-full of mayo (really, Sabra?).

Instead of making regular baba ghanoush, I riffed from the Horizons cookbook recipe for Mexican baba ghanoush. The recipe included roasted eggplant, cilantro, lime juice, and jalapeno. It actually called for pumpkin seed butter, which sounds really good – but I didn’t buy (or even look for) any. Instead, I used tahini but tossed in some pepitas for good measure.

I’ve been enjoying this in pitas for lunch the past two days, stuffed with more cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and onion. I can tell you for sure I’ll be making more homemade baba ghanoush.

I’ve Got One, You’ve Got One

January was all about eating tried-and-true favorites, like tofu stir fry with peanut sauce:

One of my favorite soups – Moroccan-Style chickpea and lentil from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker:

By mid-January, a month after returning from Italy, I was ready for pasta again, my way. I made my own chunky tomato sauce over a small portion of whole-wheat pasta, with spinach and mushrooms and a salad:

I split the tomato sauce in half and turned half into tomato soup. Goes well with a Rice Vegan grilled cheese:

Now that it’s the end of the month, I’m coming out of hiatus and getting ready to try new things. Like going to a pond hockey game downtown. Standing in the cold for 45 minutes wasn’t much fun, but these minor league hockey players were having a great time. And when one team got to an early lead, the mascot blocked their goal.

After watching some of the game Saturday night, we headed to Honey, a restaurant we’ve been to a few times. It’s a special-occasion kind of place. We thought that arriving around 8 would help our odds of getting a table quickly, but instead we sat at the bar for a long while, munching on fries. There are rumors that the restaurant is closed or will be closing, but it was packed when we were there.

No, the bucket is not filled to the bottom. These fries are good – tiny shoestrings of three kinds of potato. By the time the fries arrived, we were ready to eat. I had one of those moments where I was happy to be with Alex: there was a couple sitting next to us and neither of them touched the fries they ordered. I think they were on an early date. I’m not certain if I was ever a shy eater, but I think there have been plenty of times when I was shy. Saturday night was not one of those nights.

My photo of my entrée makes it look unappetizing, and it wasn’t – it’s actually what I’ve gotten each time we’ve dined there. It’s soft tofu in a crispy basil crust on top of green beans and a root vegetable puree, with coconut milk sauce. The portion of tofu seems to be shrinking, but it’s still generous.

Sunday night we did something else new – we went to The Comet for bluegrass night. I’m not a bluegrass aficionado, but the band was good and enthusiastic. The food was pretty good, too. They serve a small menu with burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. I got a jerked tofu burrito, which included rice, black beans, salsa, and tofu. The prices are low and the portions are hearty. I think I ate 3/4 right away, and nibbled on the rest as I sipped various IPAs the rest of the night.

The bar got really crowded even 45 minutes before the band started, and I noticed an acquaintance standing around with no place to sit. Okay, someone I’ve met precisely twice. I went up to him and he had no idea who I was, but he was happy to take me up on the offer to come sit with us. I have a decent memory for faces and names, but it’s new to me to be friendly like that.

One other new thing I did was make a dessert. I’ve been wanting to make Hummingbird Cake (evidently also called Dr. Bird Cake, as I learned from a co-worker). This is a dense, moist cake, made with banana and crushed pineapple, with pecans and cinnamon. This turned out wonderfully, although it was maybe denser than it would normally be. I used flax eggs and my banana was frozen and then thawed, so either of those could be the culprit. The frosting was delicious, though – Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese makes a great cream cheese frosting!

One more new thing – I’m in a new decade! Yes, that is my birthday cake. I turned 30 on Sunday, can you believe it?

Mr. Potato Pants

For supper I had the chickpea patty from Veganomicon with Road’s End shiitake gravy and some steamed broccoli. And yeah, some fingerling potatoes (steamed, then finished in the oven with a little olive oil, smoked salt, and black pepper). The gravy was a Thanksgiving tester (from a packet) and although it’s better than anything I’ve made before, I’m tempted to try my hand at something truly homemade after reading what Tofu Mom has been up to this month. 

This potato is nothing, though, compared to the Ten Naughtiest Vegetables from the Organic Authority. No, it’s not quite like the dirty dozen.

Peer Pressure Pumpkin Chili

I’ve been seeing lots of pumpkin recipes all over. I’m sorry to say that although they all look good, I am not really a fan of pumpkin. Please don’t ban me from the blogosphere! I want to be open to trying new things, and maybe there’s a little bit of peer pressure, so I bought four cans of organic pumpkin puree. I read about people hoarding cans and stores running out, so I figured I should get plenty just in case I liked it.

I didn’t grow up eating pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. My mom would make pumpkin cheesecake. Instead of venturing into that (maybe later!), I decided to make pumpkin chili like I get at Loving Hut. Mine was much chunkier and it turned out really well. I combined so many recipes that I’ll share what I did, as I do consider it my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 15 oz. diced tomatoes
• 15 oz. pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and simmered
• 1/2 cup dried kidney beans, cooked
• 1/2 cup bulgur
• 1 cup water or broth, or more, for desired consistency (I used the sweet potato boiling water)
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or small amounts of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice)
• A shake of cayenne, or more if you like it hot. Chipotles or fresh peppers might be good here, too.

Method:

This was pretty simple. My beans were prepared, so I boiled the sweet potatoes and sauteed the onions, then just combined everything else and cooked until heated through and the bulgur is done.

I wanted to take photos of the cooking in-progress, but unless you need to see my chopped onions or my sweet potato cubes, this is pretty much it. This was a quick and easy chili that was delicious. I like the two kinds of beans and the sweet-heat, as well as the chunks of sweet potatoes.

So, am I pumpkin convert? Maybe. What’s your favorite thing to do with pumpkin? Or, do you fall for peer pressure?

Sweet Chickpeas

Give me just a couple more sentences in praise of Trader Joe’s. Back in the day, one of my favorite convenience foods was TJ’s frozen channa masala. I liked it because it was spicy but also very sweet. I know many people make channa masala at home, but a quick web search for recipes was very, very fruitless. One recipe included ketchup and a sideways joke about authenticity. Although I appreciate the joke, I didn’t give that recipe a second glance.

I abandoned the search for simple authenticity and decided to make a sweet chickpea dish on my own without worrying about whether I can call it channa masala. I made a the Urban Vegan recipe aptly called Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach, and I would have put a sweet twist on it but it already includes a teaspoon of agave!

Chickpeas, spinach, tomato, and onion over brown basmati rice

I used cherry tomatoes in addition to crushed tomatoes, and between the sweetness of the tomatoes and agave, this was a really good dish. I feel like I’ve graduated to a stage of cooking where I’m able to seek out a recipe I want to make and adapt it slightly to suit my taste. I still need the guidance, but I can distinguish good from bad advice.

I’ve only cooked from that cookbook once before and, well, kind of laid it aside as other things caught my eye. Plus, I will admit to judging a book by its cover and I get totally distracted by the Whole Foods plastic bag dispenser front and center, even blocking the author’s arm. I also wonder if anyone recognizes the woman in back coming in to work. However, this tasty dish will have me looking a little more carefully at the recipes and trying some more soon.

And you know what, I can’t even really remember what that first recipe was that didn’t turn out well for me. Who says you can’t change first impressions?