Thursday, February 23, 2012

Kitchen Makeover and Falafel

Last week, I went a little overboard. For months now I've been talking about getting new kitchen appliances. My original plan was to buy good quality items, one at a time to save money. However, this was before the shopping gods delivered a 30% off voucher for Kohl's to my door. For those who don't know, Kohl's is the most awesome department store, where everything is on sale and store card holders always get either 15%, 20% or 30% off everything. Plus, for every $50 spent, you get $10 back to spend on anything in-store.

Oops.
I ended up with a Cuisinart food processor, a Cuisinart waffle iron and a Kitchen Aid hand mixer. I figure if you're going to go crazy, it's best to do so with quality brands that should last a while.

Blueberry waffles

So, last weekend I tested out my new toys. I made waffles in the waffle iron (using the hand mixer to mix the batter), then I brought out the king of all food processors. I made homemade vegan nutella (see recipe here), then I made some falafel for dinner. The verdict? I love all my new kitchen gadgets and want to use them every day!

Better than the original... although the photo looks quite disgusting

Last but not least, I had $40 Kohl's cash to spend, so I went back and got a Cuisinart griddle/grill/panini press dealy that is also most awesome. Not looking forward to that credit card bill!


Falafel
Recipe from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1/4 cup dried parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons hot sauce
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Process chickpeas and garlic in food processor until finely chopped. Add shallot, parsley, olive oil and hot sauce. Process until smooth, then decant chickpea mixture into a separate bowl. Add the spices and flour, and mix well to combine. Form into 12 balls, then squish to make patties.

(If you don't have a food processor, chop onion small and mince garlic, and smoosh chickpeas and other ingredients in a bowl. The mixture shouldn't have any chickpea lumps in. Then proceed as usual, or go buy a food processor because they are awesome).

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes on a cookie sheet sprayed with oil. Flip, then bake another 8 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, use a skillet or grill to cook the falafel. Enjoy with pita bread, tzatziki, spinach, or whatever tickles your fancy.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Quiche Delight

I know it's Valentine's day next week, so technically I shod be planning cards, gifts and romantic surprises for my hubby. But I honestly don't really care for Valentine's day. I'm just not the romantic type, nor did I marry Mr. Romantic... Thank God! So rather than planning some ridiculously over-the-top evening of luuuurve for me and the man, I decided to just cook something nice and have a night in. Which, come to think of it, is what we do most Saturdays. Fine with me!

I decided to make a quiche tonight. I had a leftover whole wheat pie crust in the freezer from when I made pumpkin pie over Christmas, so it was begging to be used up. The hubby is a huge quiche fan so he was just fine with this plan. He suggested using cheese and tomatoes as a filling. I had grape tomatoes on-hand, and we took a trip to Trader Joe's to purchase some good cheese. We ended up buying gruyere, a personal favorite of mine. This means we can have French onion soup with the leftover gruyere, yum!

What could taste bad with these ingredients? :)
I didn't really follow a recipe for the quiche, except to figure out how much liquid to use. The recipe I looked at used heavy cream and ricotta, but I had neither so I made some slightly healthier replacements with what I had on-hand -- plain Greek yogurt and skim milk.

Before baking
We had a salad on the side, which was yummy but had some slightly odd ingredients. Ben requested grated carrots and olives, and I wanted mushrooms. With the addition of some Greek dressing, we had ourselves a weirdly wonderful side salad.

After baking -- deliciously golden
All in all, a successful meal, no doubt finished off by something Ben sneakily picked up at Trader Joe's... not that I put much effort into stopping him!

Trader Joe's, you've done it again!
Tomato and Gruyere Quiche

Pie crust, either homemade of store-bought
1 shallot, sliced
4 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup gruyere or other cheese, grated, plus some for the top
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Approx. 15 cherry or grape tomatoes, halves and the seeds squeezed out

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Sprinkle the sliced shallots into the bottom of the pie crust. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a medium bowl, then add the milk and yogurt. Beat until well-mixed. Add the salt, pepper, cheese, basil and oregano and mix to combine.

Pour the mixture over the shallots, then place the tomatoes, one by one, cut-side down, into the mixture, pressing down slightly on each one to ensure it's nicely emerged in yumminess. Sprinkle with the rest of the grated cheese and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the quiche is golden and set. Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 mins before cutting.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Superbowl? What Superbowl?

I am a self-confessed football hater (American football of course). I hate that there are commercials every two seconds and that a one hour game takes about six hours to complete. I hate that it's called "football" when it has very little to do with feet, meaning that football as I know it has to go by the name "soccer." I hate the commentators (although that is true of every sport). I hate the drawings they do on the TV to show you exactly what they're talking about. I especially hate the fact that it's on every Sunday for months on end, resulting in my DVR recording the wrong shows. So today is a celebration for me -- the end of football season for at least a few months!

Another reason I like Superbowl Sunday is that we always eat chili, which is one of my favorite things to do. Usually we make a chicken taco chili in the crockpot which is to die for, but that was out since I don't eat meat anymore. So Ben found a recipe for veggie chili that sounded delicious. The addition of chocolate and beer to chili? Score! We followed the recipe to a T, and I made some cornbread and guacamole to go on the side. And you know what? It was good! The tempeh gave it a meaty texture, although we couldn't really taste the mushrooms. Next time I'd either omit the mushrooms or use more, and I'd add corn to the chili, which is a personal favorite of mine.


We got the recipe from Slate so I won't reprint here, but click on the link if you want to check it out... which you should.

Apart from "football," today was about making beer (for Ben) and making hummus (for me).


Tomato Herb Hummus

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon tahini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon powdered chile
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Handful sundried tomatoes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, or a mixture of basil, oregano or whatever your tastebuds tell you
1/2 cup water

Dump all ingredients into a food processor and blend. Add water a bit at a time until you get the desired creamy consistency. Eat!