SOS Vegetarian Life

If you are in the Naperville (western suburb of Chicago) area on Saturday, please join us for a free cooking class.  Gregg and Nona Bajamundi will be demonstrating dishes from their homeland of the Phillipines.  the menu includes:

• Oriental Noodle Soup
• Veggie Shrimp with Mixed Noodles
• Yucca Root Cake

All of the cooking classes at the Science of Spirituality Meditation Center are free.  Included are samples of all of the dishes and the recipes for you to take away.

• Where: Science of Spirituality Meditation Center, 4 S 175 Naperville Rd, Naperville IL (Corner of Naperville and Warrenville Roads)
• When: Saturday, May 12, 2012

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Yesterday I helped to facilitate a workshop on prayer at Science of Spirituality in Naperville, IL. We provided lunch for the attendees and decided to make hummus and quinoa tabouli, two of my favorite recipes. They were a big hit and the good part was that I made enough that I didn’t have to cook dinner, which was nice after staying up very late working on a project and doing the workshop during the day.

I have posted the Tabouli recipe before but am re-posting it here. This time, I did not use the chickpeas and feta cheese.

The hummus recipe is from my friend Gaye. It is as good as any hummus that I’ve had anywhere.

 Hummus

The secret to hummus is a good quality tahini. We purchased ours in a Middle Eastern grocery store. This dish is very rich and you will only want to savor it a few tablespoons at a time. You could cut down on the tahini but you will be sacrificing the taste and the reason why we all love it. I would rather limit the quantity I eat than deny myself the experience!

 Ingredients

• 1 28 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 cup tahini
• juice of 5 lemons (add more to taste)
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed garlic (or more to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Put garbanzo beans in a food processor and pulse until they are smashed. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Place the hummus on a plate. Drizzle it with a good quality olive oil and garnish with finely chopped tomatoes. Serve with pita bread.

Quinoa Tabouli

This salad is a take on a Mediterranean salad that is traditionally made with cracked wheat. Quinoa is an ancient pseudo-grass from Peru. It is very high in protein and potassium and has a mild nutty flavor and a light fluffy texture. It can be used to replace rice and other grains in casseroles and salads.

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• juice of 2-3 lemons (add 2 and taste before adding the third)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup sweet onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 English cucumbers, chopped
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bunches parsley, chopped (curly or Italian)
• 1 bunch mint (about 1/3 – 1/2 cup), chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 15 ounce can chick peas (garbonzo beans), drained and rinsed (optional)
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Add quinoa and water to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

When the quinoa cools, add the lemon juice and olive oil and set aside. Wash and chop all of the vegetables. Use some of the stems from the parsley and mint but not all. Pick the tender ones. The easiest way to chop the herbs is to use a food processor. Pulse until chopped, but not pulverized. Add to the salad.

Drain the chick peas, cheese, and salt and pepper. Toss and taste. The salad should be lemony with just a hint of garlic. Another nice touch is to add kalamata olives, sliced.

This salad is hearty enough to serve as a light supper. Serve with hummus and crackers or pita bread.

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I am a regular Facebook reader mainly because I keep up with my busy family and the grandkids that way.  When I found this recipe as a link on Facebook, I knew that I wanted to try it.  It is from one of my favorite blogs – Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/05/rasedar-rajma-kidney-beans-in-curry.html

I have been reading Susan Voisin’s blog for years and trust that her recipes are always going to be delicoius.  She adapted this dish from a recipe from Neelam Batra’s The Indian Vegetarian.  The recipe looked so good that I ordered the cookbook from Amazon, used because new it cost $65!  I can’t wait to get the book and look through it.  This recipe is called Rasedar Rajma or Kidney Beans in Curry Sauce.  It is delicious and I will definitely serve it again.

Susan made some changes to the original recipe and I changed it again.  It called for 1/4 cup of yogurt for the sauce.  She changed it to soy yogurt but I never have that in the house so for the creaminess factor, I substituted 1 tablespoon tahini and for the tart factor, I added 1 tablespoon lemon juice.  It blended very nicely with the spices.

We served the beans with brown basmati rice and a sliced avocado that was deliciously ripe and creamy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried kidney beans
• 6 cups water
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon ginger root
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 onion,minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ajwain seeds
• 2 cups tomatoes, finely diced (I used roma tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (more to taste)
• chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

Preparation

Rinse the kidney beans and put them in a large pot with 6 cups water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and allow the beans to rest, covered, for at least 1 hour.  Drain the liquid, add 6 cups vegetable broth, and bring to a boil.  Add the ginger root, and the salt.  Simmer until beans are tender, about an hour.  When the beans are done, leave them in their cooking liquid while you make the sauce.  As you are cooking the beans, you may need to add more broth or water.

Add olive oil and heat on medium-high.  Add the minced onion, and cook until it’s beginning to brown, stirring constantly.  Add the garlic and ajwain and stir for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and cook until their liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the tahini, lemon juice, and the coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, garam masala, and cayenne pepper.

Drain and reserve the liquid from the beans.  Stir 1 cup of it into the sauce.  Add the sauce to the beans and stir.  If the sauce is too thick or dry, add some or all of the reserved bean cooking liquid.  Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and flavors have blended.  Check seasonings and add salt to taste.  Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with cilantro if you like, and serve with basmati rice.

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Do you love Greek salad as much as I do?  It’s so easy to make that you can keep the ingredients in your kitchen and have it as often as you like.  I often have it as a meal at lunch time.  This recipe has one non-traditional ingredient that you may opt not to include – an avocado.  It just adds a nice creaminess to the salad and I often add one.  This will serve 2-3 hungry adults as a meal with some bread or crackers or 6-8 as a side at dinner.

Ingredients

• 8 cups (or more) mixed lettuce (spring greens, romaine, etc.)
• 3 tomatoes, diced or equivalent cherry tomatoes quartered
• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 4 baby Persian cucumbers, sliced
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 avocado, cubed (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Juice of one lemon or 1/4 cup
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Put vegetables and feta cheese in a big salad bowl.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over the salad.  Toss and serve immediately.

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