Spiced Fruit Compote

This is one of those times in which I wish the internet could convey a sense of smell. I made this compote this morning, and hope to serve it over oatmeal to a brunch guest. I also hope there will be leftovers!

For Chinese medicine buffs: people with "cold" constitutions, who would sometimes find it difficult to eat fruit in the morning, cooking the fruit really helps.

Spiced Fruit Compote

1 fuji apple
2 bosc pears
1 cup cherries
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups apple juice
1/3 cup port wine (optional)
zest from 1/2 lemon
2 cinnamon sticks
5 cloves

Core fruit and cut to large cubes. Place in large pot with apple juice, wine, and spices. Cook for about fifteen minutes. Eat over oatmeal or on its own.

Quick Tomato Soup with Rice

The weather in the magical city of San Francisco has been, well, unpredictable. This morning started with more than a drizzle of rain, then the sun came out, and now it's foggy again. And quite cold, too.

One sure way to overcome the cold is eating soup. At first I thought I'd make some lentil soup, but then I remembered the delicious tomato soup with rice that the lovely people at the Tel Aviv University cafeteria used to make. I decided to do the same, with three healthy twist: using about a cup of leftover ratatouille from yesterday (it was delicious and one day will merit a post of its own), cooking the soup with brown rice, and using quinoa. Here goes.

3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 can Muir Glen diced tomatoes (the fire roasted variety is particularly yummy)
1 large heirloom tomato
1 cup leftover cooked vegetables (optional)
1 healthy handful of parsley

Mash up the garlic, chop up tomato and parsley. Place all of them, and the leftover vegetables, in a big pot. Add the grains and the water. Bring to a boil, then cover pot and cook for another 30 mins. or until grains are soft. Do not be afraid to overcook; the rice holds up quite nicely in the soup, and the comfort food taste actually improves if the rice is nice and soft.

Stay warm! When Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever had was the summer he spent in San Francisco, he wasn't kidding.
6 cups water

Kelp Noodle Salad

The lentil sprouts have grown! They have little happy tails and a crunchy taste. Over the last couple of days I have eaten them in tortillas with tofu spread and in salads. Here's one colorful possibility, made with slippery translucent kelp noodles.

Kelp Noodle Salad
1 package kelp noodles
4 romaine lettuce leaves
4 tbsp chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup lentil sprouts
juice from 1 lime
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil

Open kelp noodle package. Place noodles in a colander and rinse in warm water. Place in bowl with lettuce, green onions, cilantro and sprouts. Mix lime juice, soy sauce and sesame oil; pour over salad and toss lightly.

Sprouting Lentils

I've posted here before about sprouting, and thought that some might appreciate a step-by-step guide of the process. This is a batch of lentil sprouts that I started yesterday night. I soaked them overnight, and this morning have rinsed them in fresh water and placed them in a colander over a pot. You can't see any little tails yet, but the lentils are already very soft; the sprouting process has begun.

Online Vegetarian Cooking Class with Zehoreet Sheikhi-Bloom!

Hebrew speakers will likely enjoy these recipes! Zehoreet Sheikhi-Bloom teaches how to make rice and chickpea "meatballs" (the secret ingredient: raw tchina) and curried vegetables.

http://www.animal-tv.org/html/movie_wmp_08_04_zoharit.html

Vegan Bolognese Sauce with TVP

Despite the heat and moisture floating around the Tel Aviv area, we felt like having spaghetti bolognese today. The recipe is rather easy, and if you make a large quantity, you can freeze it for future use. It uses soy flakes, or TVP, which is a lovely (and cheap!) substance. It's important to use the smaller TVP pieces that have a similar texture to ground meat. While the taste may not be exactly the same (honestly, I wouldn't remember; I've been vegetarian for fifteen years), great things can be achieved using organic canned tomatoes and herbs.

1 1/2 cups soy flakes/TVP
2 tbsps olive oil
4 large, chopped garlic cloves
1 tbsp schug or hot sauce
3 large, ripe tomatoes
1 can organic canned tomato cubes
2 tbsps fresh oregano
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp rosemary
a bit of salt (optional)

Place soy flakes in a large pot with fresh water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat somewhat and cook for a few minutes, until flakes are soft and the whole thing looks like a (rather unappetizing) porridge. Strain out the water in a collander.

Heat up olive oil in a large pan or wok and add chopped garlic and schug or hot sauce. Sautee a bit, until fragrance is released. Then, add the cooked and drained soy flakes. Mix them up with the other ingredients and keep cooking, stirring occasionally. The less water in the flakes, the faster this will happen. Do not expect the flakes to brown like meat; just dry'em up a bit and mix well with the aromatics.

Then, add the chopped fresh tomatoes, the canned tomatoes and the herbs (and salt, if desired). Continue cooking for about ten to fifteen minutes, or until most liquids evaporate and you're left with a lovely vegan sauce. You can cook your pasta at the same time, then mix'em together in the wok, or layer pasta in the place and place sauce on top. Enjoy!

Persian Brown Rice with Spice Mixes

Today we made, for the second time, a successful and fragrant batch of Persian brown rice! We owe our success to two sources: Mira Efrati's new book Tasty from Nature, and our inspiring visit to the fantastic spice store in Beit Lechem HaGlilit this afternoon. I urge all Israeli readers to head there when they can and buy some lovely blends; there are delectable and unique herbal tea blends and some wonderful mixtures for rice, soup, and other yummy foods.

Mira Efrati's book, which aims at providing macrobiotic foods, actually makes great strides toward making healthy food palatable; to be honest, it does so at the expense of health, and includes sugar (albeit brown) in many of its sweet recipes. I think it would be particularly useful for people making the transition to healthy whole foods who don't have a lot of experience cooking. It does, however, offer fabulous tips on how to make a basic sourdough and yeast whole grain bread, and on how to make various types of rice based on a basic Persian recipe.

We modified the recipe a bit, so that the rice wouldn't burn the bottom of the pot, and used one of the delicious spice blends; this one included, in addition to a variety of "red" spices which gave the rice a wonderful reddish hue, onions, pine nuts and pecans. But I bet you could use the basic recipe with any spice mix you have. Here goes.

2 cups long grain brown rice
lots of water for stage 1
1 cup water for stage 2 (possibly a bit more)
a pinch of salt
2 tbsps olive oil
5 tbsps dry spice mix

Rinse rice in water several times, then place in pot with tons of water and salt. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until rice is barely chewable but not ready yet. Drain rice into a collander.

Then, coat bottom of pot with olive oil. Layer half the rice on top, then layer spice mix and other half of rice. Make a "hole" in the rice hill, so steam can escape. Drizzle about 3/4 cup water on top.

Place a towel on top of the pot, then place the lid. Cook for about 15 minutes, then check if water has evaporated; if rice is still dry, add the rest of the water. Cook until soft and fragrant. Yum!