Inspiration Soup III

It's been a while since I made inspiration soup, but a recent freezer reorganization reminded me of some neglected chickpeas and their cooking water. We also had some leftover potatoes Jerusalem artichokes/sunchokes in the fridge from a previous root veggie roast, and I wanted to get them into something. In case you are unfamiliar with them, Jerusalem artichokes are not from Jerusalem, nor do they resemble artichokes in any way. They are very knobby and kind of look like ginger. The taste is very reminiscent of potatoes, but they are a little sweeter and hold their texture better than potatoes do. The soup itself is vegan, but I like to finish it with a little parmesan cheese or a poached egg, as pictured above.

Inspiration soup III (Return of the inspiration):

Makes about 4 servings

Vegetable oil

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 new potatoes, diced

1/2 pound Jerusalem artichokes, well scrubbed and diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 quart chickpea cooking water

1 1/2 tsp salt

About 2 tsp total of dried basil, oregano, rosemary, and other such herbs you've got lying around

Big pinch cumin

Big pinch smoked paprika

Black pepper to taste.

1 cup cooked chickpeas

4 kale leaves, washed and coarsely chopped

Saute onion in vegetable oil for about five minutes. Add garlic, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and carrot and saute a few more minutes. Add chickpea broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes are tender. Add cooked chickpeas and kale, and heat until kale is wilted.

What I ate for dinner last night

This is just a quick meal I made with some stuff I had in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Since Jon has left and I will be out of town for a lot of the summer, I have been trying to eat through a lot of the food we've accumulated. I call it the freezer/pantry reduction diet. So this is what I had for dinner last night. The seasonings are Indian, but I don't know that the ingredients are particularly authentic. That didn't bother me, though. It was delicious over basmati rice. I tried to figure out a short, descriptive name for this but failed.

Indian-spiced chickpea, sweet potato, tofu skins, and kale stir-fry-ish thing

Vegetable oil for sauteing
1/2 tsp whole mustard seeds
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp amchoor powder, optional
1/2 tsp kalonji, optional
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
4 oz tofu skins, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 bunch kale, washed, large stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds and let them pop for about 45 seconds. (This can be slightly dangerous and is not advised for children or the shirtless.) Lower the heat to medium, add the cumin seeds, and let them sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add the rest of the spices, the onion, and the sweet potato. Stir to coat vegetables with oil and spices. Pour about 1/4 cup water into skillet to deglaze and put the cover on to let the sweet potato steam. Check on it periodically, push it around a little, and add more water if the pan gets dry and the spices start to stick.

When the sweet potato is tender, add the tofu skins and chickpeas and cook until heated through. Add the kale and cover the pan to let it steam. Check after a couple minutes and push it around a little to help it wilt. When the kale has wilted, remove pan from heat and serve.

Chickpea-artichoke salad

Why yes, when I'm in my office, I do eat my lunch off of an old frisbee that a dog chewed on, decreasing its flyability but not affecting its plate-ishness.

This is a salad in the style of egg salad or tuna salad, not a green salad or even a lentil salad. And it is also the answer to a prayer. OK, maybe it's not that dramatic, but I've been looking for a good savory sandwich spread. Sandwiches are a cheap, easy lunch to throw together in the morning, but as a vegetarian, I often feel limited to peanut butter and jelly. While it's good once in a while, I find that I don't really like sweet lunches. Egg salad and pimento cheese are also good sandwich spreads, but they can be pretty heavy, and the calories add up quickly. (I don't count or try to limit my calories, but I also don't like to throw them around like they're nothing, and eating pimento cheese for lunch every day adds up.) I felt like chickpeas should be an integral part of my ideal sandwich spread, but I couldn't figure out what would go with them. Mashed up chickpeas and mayo just didn't sound appealing. Then this month's Vegetarian Times had the answer: Chunky chickpea-artichoke salad. It's made with jarred or canned artichoke hearts, and the artichoke texture really makes the whole mixture remind me of tuna salad. (I don't eat much tuna salad these days, so take it with a grain of salt.) I used chickpeas I had cooked because I think the texture would be too mushy using canned chickpeas.

I like to eat it on homemade pumpernickel bread with sprouts and/or lettuce. Relatedly, if anyone has a really good pumpernickel recipe for a bread machine, I'd love to try it. The one I'm using has a great flavor but is very short and dense. I know a high-rye bread is not going to rise like a wheat bread, but I'd like a little more rise without sacrificing flavor or too much texture. I tried adding more yeast and a little gluten, but it didn't do much good.

When I'm not eating my food off a frisbee, I sometimes use a paper towel from the bathroom.

I think I have found my lunch solution for the days when I don't have leftovers. Yippee!

Chickpea-artichoke salad
adapted from Vegetarian Times
This recipe is vegan if you use a vegan mayonnaise replacement.

1 16-oz jar artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 15-oz can)
1/4 cup chopped green onions, green and white parts, plus a little more of the green parts for garnish
1/4 cup chopped cornichons or other slightly sweet pickles
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (I omitted it because peppers are kind of expensive at the supermarket right now, but they'd probably be good)
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay*
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients (except green onion garnish) and pulse in food processor until desired texture has been reached. Serve like you would tuna salad. Garnish with remaining green parts of green onion if desired.

*I had never heard of Old Bay seasoning, so I just sprinkled various spices I thought would be good in: black pepper, marjoram, tarragon, dill, thyme, oregano. I plan on playing with the spices to vary the salad a little each time. I think a lot of different spices and spice combinations could be used to good effect. Next time I might try smoked paprika, garlic powder, and cumin.

Fresh chickpea salad

Last year I discovered you can buy fresh chickpeas for a little while during the spring. They look like this.
Usually there is just one chickpea in the pod, but occasionally there are two, and they look like this.
Sometimes you think there are two, but instead there is a surprise like this.

When you peel a whole bunch of them, they look like this.

It takes a while to peel them, but if you're listening to a good radio program or having a nice conversation with a friend, it's no big deal. After peeling, cook them for just a few minutes. Then you can add them to salads or pasta or just eat them on their own. This is a fun salad we made this year. We received some clementine-infused olive oil as a wedding present, and it paired really well with the chickpeas. I'm sure regular olive oil would be good too. We used sorrel as well. Sorrel is a lemony green we have growing in the garden. You can probably find it in fancy grocery stores too. This salad is like spring in a bowl: fresh, simple, and zippy.

Fresh chickpea salad

1 lb fresh chickpeas, shelled
Handful of sorrel or baby lettuce, julienned
Parmesan cheese, optional
A little clementine-infused olive oil (or regular olive oil and some tangerine zest)
Salt
Black pepper

Put the chickpeas in a pot with water to cover by about an inch and boil until they have a nice texture, about seven minutes. Place in a bowl with sorrel and use a vegetable peeler to shave a little Parmesan over the top. Dress with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

Inspiration soup II

After my last batch of chickpeas, I had a ton of chickpea cooking water, so I decided to make an inspiration soup. It was a cold and rainy day, so I wanted something hearty and comforting. Instead of the vaguely Indian spice route I usually take, I decided to go Italian with some rosemary and Italian seasoning blend. I may have overdone it a little on the rosemary, but it was pretty good. I had a gorgeous bunch of Swiss chard to use, and of course some chickpeas. I also wanted something starchy. I decided on some "rice stick" noodles I had in the pantry because I didn't really feel like potatoes, and I didn't have much in the way of regular pasta. I think the rice noodles were perfect. They soaked up the broth flavors very nicely. My chard had pink stems, and the color leached out into the broth, giving it a gorgeous warm oragey hue. I think the carrot helped with that too.

I'll be busy most of the day tomorrow, so this is my last vegan month of food post. It was fun to eat a little more vegan for the month and learn a little bit about some vegan foods I had never tried before. I definitely ate fewer eggs and dairy products because of the theme this month, which was probably good for me and the earth.

Inspiration soup

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 carrot, diced
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated, stems diced, leaves cut into thin strips
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp Italian seasoning (blend of thyme, oregano, basil, etc.)
2 quarts chickpea cooking water
1 tsp salt
1 cup cooked chickpeas
4 oz. rice stick noodles

Saute onion, garlic, carrot, and Swiss chard stems in the oil for about five minutes. Add spices and stir briefly. Add chickpea water, salt, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Add the noodles. When the noodles are almost soft enough for you, add the Swiss chard leaves. They will wilt very quickly. Stir through, make sure the noodles are cooked to the consistency you like, and serve. You might want to add a little salt at the table.

Deconstructed hummus

This post has three parts. In the first, I wax poetic about bulk spices. In the second, I wax poetic about dry chickpeas. In the third I give you a recipe.

The Central Market near me recently (past six months or so) started selling bulk spices. Oh my goodness, it's awesome. I have often read that buying spices in bulk was the way to go, but there weren't many places for me to do that. I could get a few things in gigantic bags from Indian, Middle Eastern, and Chinese grocery stores, but while I saved in the unit price, I had to get a lot at one time. Now I can get exotic spices tablespoons (and cents) at a time, saving me money and storage space and keeping my spices fresher. Combined with my recent acquisition of a spice grinder, I lead a charmed life.

Since I love listening to Saturday morning radio (Car Talk, Wait Wait, and even the insufferable twits on Says You) and have an HD radio in the kitchen, I like to have cooking projects on Saturday morning. This past Saturday, I made a batch of granola and cooked up a pound of chickpeas I had soaked overnight. I am always amazed at how cheaply I can make food from dry beans. I can buy a pound of dried chickpeas for 99 cents at my Fiesta. Cooked, that's about six and a half cups. I made two cups of the chickpea salad below and used two cups in Mark Bittman's roasted chickpea dish. (It's quite nice, and I might post it on here later once I play with it a little more.) I had two cups leftover. Some have gone on salads, and I used some in a delicious "inspiration soup" last night. I probably have about a cup of chickpeas still left in the fridge. I saved the cooking liquid and used it as the base of the soup. All those recipes for under a dollar's worth of chickpeas! It's great. Canned chickpeas are also quite cheap compared to meat or restaurant food, but the dried ones are unbeatable.

Deconstructed hummus

2 cups cooked chickpeas
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp za'atar (to make your own, see next recipe)
Salt to taste

Combine ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste. I wanted to let you know whether it was better the next day, but Jon ate it all before I had a chance. It was really good.

Za'atar (from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp sumac

Toast the sesame seeds in a toaster oven or a dry skillet until golden. Allow to cool. Combine spices.

Chickpea crepes with tomatoes, olives, and feta

I've been on a Bon Appetit recipe kick lately, as you may be able to tell. This was in the July 2009 issue. It's not really a crepe, but it's not really a pizza either. It's similar to socca, which we tried in Nice. It's made with chickpea flour, which you can find at a health or fancy food store or an Indian grocery store. (It's called besan in Indian stores.) The recipe from the magazine is rather involved. You cook the crepe on the stove until it's mostly set. Then you put it under the broiler and brown the top and whatever toppings you put on there. You have to add a ton of oil to keep it from sticking, and it's still pretty messy. I had really tasty results when I made it that way, but it was time-consuming, difficult, messy, and very hot. Standing in front of a stove and broiler in August in Houston is not a lot of fun. I would recommend that technique if you really want to knock someone's socks off and aren't on a diet.

Convinced there must be an easier way, I decided to see if I could make them entirely on the stove using my nonstick crepe pan. I don't have to oil the pan at all. I played around a little and came up with this technique, which saves a little time and a lot of heat and effort with very little compromise in flavor. I even got pretty good at flipping the crepe without breaking it, but don't fret if you can't. It'll still taste good. Of course, the toppings below are just a suggestion. The first time, we used beet greens instead of the tomatoes, and those were good too. Plain with a little olive oil and pepper would work just fine, but adding some more toppings makes it a real meal. I think putting a full salad on top would be fun, too.

A nutrition note: 1 cup of chickpea flour has about 21 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber. More nutrition info here.

Chickpea crepes with tomatoes, olives, and feta (based on Bon Appetit)
1 1/3 cups chickpea flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups water, divided (2/3 cup and 1 1/3 cup)
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary

1/2 tomato per crepe, cut into wedges
6 kalamata olives per crepe, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 tbsp feta per crepe
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Mix chickpea flour with salt. Gradually add 2/3 cup water, whisking until smooth. Whisk in 1 1/3 cups water and rosemary. Let stand 30 minutes. (Note: I don't know why it needs to stand 30 minutes, but I haven't tried omitting that step.) While you're waiting you can pit olives or make a salad. You should also smell the batter because it smells delightfully beany with lovely rosemary notes.
Heat a crepe pan or other nonstick skillet over medium heat until water sizzles in it. Pour in about 3/4 cups of batter. (That was for a 9-inch crepe pan. If you have a smaller one, use less batter.) Tilt the pan if necessary to get the batter to coat the whole thing. It should be 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, more a pancake thickness than a crepe thickness. Cook until mostly set on the top. Pierce bubbles if they form. Carefully loosen crepe from pan and flip. Cook about 30 seconds to a minute on that side. Repeat with remaining batter. You might have to turn the heat down a little as you go along.
Top each crepe with tomatoes, olives, and feta. Drizzle with olive oil as desired.

Inspiration soup

It's August in Houston, a.k.a. NOT SOUP WEATHER. But I have a small freezer, and I had four quarts of chickpea cooking water in it, which meant that at least one quart would fall out every time I opened the freezer. So on Sunday, I pretended it was cold outside and made a nice hearty soup. I call this inspiration soup because I didn't have much of a plan when I started. I knew I was using a chickpea broth base. The rest of it just happened to be in the fridge. The tofu skins were really nice in this. I used the ones labeled fu bao. I don't know if this is the "official" name. I cut them into thin strips, and they kind of reminded me of the egg in egg drop soup. They were savory and protein-full and slightly chewy. Here is the recipe, but if you make inspiration soup, you should just let your fridge be your guide.

Close-up of some tofu skins in my soup

Inspiration soup
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp curry powder (I used Penzey's Balti seasoning)
3 leaves kale, washed, thick center rib removed, and cut into thin strips
4 oz tofu skins, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 qts chickpea cooking water
1 3/4 tsp salt

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and saute until onion is translucent. Add the paprika, cumin seeds, curry powder, and kale. Cover and saute/steam until kale is wilted. Add the tofu skins, chickpeas, broth, and salt. Heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste as deemed appropriate at the table.

Spinach-chickpea-tofu skin curry

This is the curry that we served with the salad from the last post. I was just going to use the spinach and chickpeas, but I learned that one of our guests isn't big on beans. It turns out she likes chickpeas just fine, but I wanted to make sure she'd have something substantial even if she picked around the beans. The tofu skin was perfect for that. For this recipe, I used the wet kind. It was labeled "fu chang" at the store. I don't know if that's the official name for it. It is wrinkly and has a nice chewy texture. Like regular tofu, it doesn't have much flavor of its own and picks up the flavors of a dish nicely.

Spinach-chickpea-tofu skin curry

2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp curry powder (I used Penzey's Balti seasoning)
1 1/2 tsp amchoor (powdered sour mango)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 small tomato, diced
2 cups cooked chickpeas, or one 15-oz can
1/2 cup chickpea cooking water, if you have some
2 oz tofu skins, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 big bunch of spinach, washed thoroughly*, or one 10-oz bag of spinach

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about two minutes. Add the garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Add the curry powder, amchoor, salt, and cumin seeds and saute for one minute. Add the tomato and saute for one minute. Add the chickpeas, chickpea water, and tofu skins and cook until liquid is reduced by about 1/3. Add the spinach in batches and cook until wilted. Serve with naan or basmati rice. You'll probably want to add a little salt at the table.

*Greens can be pretty dirty. They do, after all, grow in the ground. Gritty food is extremely icky, but this technique gets them really clean. Fill a large bowl about halfway with water. Put your unwashed greens in there and fill the bowl most of the rest of the way with water. Most of the dirt will sink right down to the bottom of the bowl. To make sure you've got everything, rinse the leaves under a light stream of tap water before wringing them out and cooking them. Of course, if you buy the pre-washed bagged stuff, you don't have to worry about this. But it's a bit more expensive, and you might get salmonella. (Note: you probably won't get salmonella.)