Tag Archives: veganism

Mendocino and Babycakes

15 Feb

I have been obsessed with Mendocino Farms lately, and I must blame Lynn for it. And thank her heartily.

Here’s the menu. So far, I have tried the: Tempeh Bacon Melt (excellent), Vegan Spicy Soyrizo & Black Bean Wrap (very good), Traditional Vegan Club (my fave, below)

Vegan Picnic Sandwich (my second fave), and the Caprese (with veggies added, below).

There are only two meat-free options left that I haven’t tried, and the only one that doesn’t appeal to me is the Drunk’n Goat on Highway 128. I’m not really into chutneys on a sandwich, but I’m sure my perfectionist nature will win out eventually. I recommend anything from Mendocino that involves their tempeh bacon. I’m borderline obsessed with it. It is smoky and delicious without trying to hard to taste like dead pig.

I really need to do a full Mendocino review, but I will have to wait until I manage to photograph their delicious side dishes. Somehow they almost always disappear before I remember to whip out my picture-taking device . . .

Also on the menu this weekend were some vegan treats from Babycakes.

That’s a maple doughnut and a Wonder Bun (gluten-free and like a denser cinnamon roll). Both were incredible! We polished them off for breakfast Saturday morning.

All hail the “Eat Me” plate.

What is your favorite breakfast pastry? I’m a cinnamon fiend, so a big, doughy roll is my fave.

Embrace the ugly: Mexican lasagna

7 Feb

It’s been a bit dull in the meal-planning department here recently, but I wanted to share a delicious recipe that has quickly become part of our tasty-quick-and-ugly repertoire: Mexican Lasagna.

Yep, looks vommy, but tastes yummy. I promise. Pictured above is a slice of my vegan, cheese-free serving. You can also add the shredded stuff, which is how Mr. X likes it:

Ever-so-slightly more photogenic.

So here’s how you make it:

Mexican Lasagna

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, de-stemmed, seeded, de-veined, and chopped
  • 1 container mushrooms, chopped
  • 10 corn tortillas
  • 1 14 oz can vegetarian refried beans or 1 can black or pinto beans, drained and mashed
  • 1 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • 1 jar salsa of choice (less watery is better)
  • 1 cup shredded cheese OR 1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (optional)

Preheat oven to 375° F. Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and cook until it softens to desired consistency, about 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for another minute or two, until they reduce. If your veggies are taking too long to soften, you can add a pinch of salt to draw out the liquid. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a 9×13 baking dish, lay out your bottom layer of tortillas. I actually make this using two 8x8s, since I don’t have a bigger one. To make the bottom layer in my small dishes, I cut all the tortillas in half and use 2.5 in each. Just do it however it works best for you. On top of the tortillas, spread 1/2 the refried beans. You can heat them slightly if it helps, but I am too lazy to clean an extra dish. Now add 1/2 the green chiles, 1/2 the salsa, 1/2 the sauteed veggies, and 1/2 the optional cheese or nooch. Repeat starting with the rest of the tortillas and working your way up.

Put the lasagna(s) in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, until either the cheese melts or they’re heated through.

Serves 4ish as part of a larger meal. He eats it in two servings, and I make three out of mine.

This recipe, obviously, is very flexible. You could saute the veggies with garlic and onions (which I would do if that didn’t take extra time). You could add jalapenos or chopped chipotle peppers. You could ruin it by throwing in black olives — it’s all up to you. I can say we love this with blue corn tortillas, refried black beans, and Trader Joe’s Garlic Chipotle salsa. It’s warm, comforting, and filling, and it reheats nicely.

Embrace the ugly and give this recipe a try.

Super Bowl Snacks

1 Feb

2012 will be my second year watching the Super Bowl ever. My first was last year. Mr. X and I were fresh into our relationship, and the idea of being away from him for 10 minutes at a time was heartbreaking, so I did my best to get interested. Over the past year — after asking a lot of pretty stupid questions — I have come to understand the game play a whole lot better than I ever did as a high-school cheerleader. Sometimes I make astute observations, and I’m always instrumental in changing the sexist/homophobic slurs used against the teams and players into something sillier and more appropriate.

We haven’t yet decided what to do for the game — shall we stay home and watch a pirated stream, go to a sports bar, invade a friend’s house . . . ? Unless we’re at a sports bar, I plan to whip up some goodies. Here’s a few ideas from the blogosphere that whet my appetite (and anything I don’t use might be recycled for my locals-only wedding reception/open house):

Peas and Thank You’s Black Bean and Roasted Corn Nacho Bites with Avocado Crema. These look incredible! All I need is a mini muffin tin.

Spabettie’s Quick Buffalo Dip looks perfect for a sports-themed party.

I am terribly intrigued by this Spicy Nori Popcorn Seasoning from Herbivoracious. We’re some popcorn-eating fiends over here.

And of course, something patriotic:

Lemon Berry Cake from Fragrant Vanilla Cake. So pretty, so fresh, so vegan, and so appropriate since it’s the red-white-and-blue Patriots taking on the red-white-and-blue Giants. As for my house, we worship the Giants. Amen.

What’s on your menu?

Call me the pizzaiola

20 Jan

That’s me! Or at least it was last night.

Delicious vegan pizza on a whole wheat crust. I asked for crust recipes last week and gave one submitted by my fellow former Scrippsie Jessie a whirl. Here’s her recipe, and below are my modifications:

  • I used one cup of unbleached white flour and one cup of whole wheat
  • I used a Fleischmann’s yeast packet, which has slightly more than two teaspoons
  • The seasoning was oregano and thyme only
  • I reduced the olive oil to 1 tablespoon
  • I subbed two pinches of raw sugar for the honey (and mixed it with the dry instead of the wet)

The tweaks sound like a lot more than they really were. We followed the instructions to a T, except that I “rolled” the dough out by hand since I don’t own a rolling pin. It was actually really fun, but obviously it resulted in oddly shaped pizzas. The dough came together super quickly and tasted incredible. Seriously. I can see spicing it up differently and using it like a flatbread with all kinds of toppings: hummus, refried beans, pesto pizza, etc. If you’ve never worked with yeast before, I highly recommend this recipe. It was foolproof, even with the small changes I made. Thanks so much, Jessie!

We decided to whip up a homemade sauce to go with it. This is more of a method than a recipe, since most of the measuring was to taste, but I’ll share anyway.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • Two drizzles of olive oil
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 2-6 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly (depending on your preferences)
  • Dash (maybe 1/4 cup) dry red wine, optional
  • Pinch of salt
  • Dried oregano
  • Crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 400° F. Wash and dry the tomatoes, then place them in a small baking dish (not a cookie sheet — use something with sides) and drizzle on a little olive oil. Toss to coat, and stick ‘em in the oven until they get soft and start to shrivel. It’ll take 10-15 minutes, or longer if you like ‘em thoroughly roasted.

Heat the other drizzle of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt, and saute until they soften. Add the tomatoes as well as the juices they released in the baking dish. Use your stirring implement to mash the tomatoes and stir it all together so it becomes saucy. Add the wine, if using. I only threw some in because we were drinking an old-vine Zinfandel. Now add the oregano and crushed red pepper to taste. Stir and reduce the heat to low while you finish preparing the rest of your pizza ingredients. If you like your sauce pureed, feel free to throw it in the blender or use an immersion blender.

It was a really tasty and easy sauce. It’s a little oniony, though, so if that’s not your thing, feel free to use less. I’m pro-onion myself. Same goes with the garlic. I may have used more than six cloves honestly, but I do have a love affair with the stuff. The recipe made the perfect amount for two people, plus a little extra for today’s lunch, which I’ll talk about below.

We each had our own incredibly delicious, filling pizza topped with the sauce, fresh cremini mushrooms from the farmers market, artichoke hearts (from a can, but packed in water), and caramelized onion (thanks for the suggestion, Lynn!). These totally made the pizzas!). His also had mozzarella cheese, but I went with a healthy sprinkle of nooch. These were a meal in themselves, and I can’t wait to make them again!

Ways to reduce the fat from this meal:

  • I will use less oil in the pizza dough next time. The result wasn’t oily-tasting at all, but I think I could get away with a teaspoon.
  • Tossing the tomatoes with oil before throwing them in the oven wasn’t necessary. I was worried about them sticking, but a shot of cooking spray would have done the trick.
  • I might even try sweating out the onions and garlic in a little broth next time.

The best part about making pizza for dinner last night is today’s experimental lunch. I set aside a small amount of the dough and some toppings to throw together a calzone of sorts.

Yes, very rustic. I didn’t pre-bake the dough like I did for the pizzas. Instead, I just piled sauce, veggies, nutritional yeast, and crushed red pepper in the middle of the dough, folded it, and coaxed the edges together. I baked it for about 15 minutes by accident (did I mention the old-vine Zin?), but it survived the cooking time admirably. Today, I reheated it for 1:30 in the microwave, and it was delicious! It didn’t get mushy or anything. The flavors had time to meld and mingle overnight, and it was really a mid-day delight. I served it up with some farmers-market lettuce topped with salad dressing (TJ’s balsamic vinaigrette) stolen from the work kitchen again.

Delicious and a lot more exciting than yesterday’s PB sammie.

Love that juice

17 Jan

I was so happy to have yesterday off in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very well, so I spent most of the day languishing in bed watching Felicity for the first time. Blame lady troubles and a random fever. I did manage to wash the dishes — to which Mr. X exclaimed, “But babe, that’s the one chore you should never do!” Apparently I’m the worst dish washer ever — and walk to Trader Joe’s for some sustenance. However, dinner last night was chips and salsa and a root beer float, so it’s not really worth documenting.

Today I feel so much better, and it’s a good thing because I’m back at the office. Work work work. I didn’t get lunches for the week made last night because of how craptastic I felt, so I allowed myself a trip to Rainbow:

An apple-cucumber-ginger juice and a salad bar run. My concoction included spring mix, artichoke hearts, red pepper strips, shredded carrots and beets, a little eggless salad (vegan, made with tofu), avocado, mushrooms, Follow Your Heart Vegan Lemon Herb dressing, and raw sunflower seeds. I’m officially in love with the juice combo and am now in “need” of a juicer. I also adored the salad, as always. I love shredded raw beets but am way too lazy to do them myself.

I had to photograph it in the car because I knew the juice wouldn’t last the drive back to work! Also, proof that I should never be allowed to wear nail polish.

I had a snack at 2 p.m. of tea and chocolate:

My favorite bar ON SALE! Except I only had a little:

For the record, I only put the chocolate on my cup like that for the photo. However, the warm tea slightly melted the chocolate, which was awesome. I’m sure other people like to hold wrapped chocolate in their hot hands before eating them, right?

Dinner will be another salad with avocado and mushrooms, but I promise it will be a creation unto its own.

Goals

I’ve really been working hard to attack all the goals I lined up for myself and, almost more importantly, the things I admitted to putting off. Aside from the ones I’ve already mentioned, here’s some more points of progress:

  • Something involving my car that I’m afraid to post until it’s actually done for fear the man might come bitchslap me. I made an appointment with the DMV for Friday so I can cross this one off my list — and stop driving in fear.
  • Be a better friend/Call a friend just to chat. I chatted on the phone with my dear friend who is recovering from a major health scare. She called me, but it to return a call I’d originally placed to her. I’m so glad to hear that she’s doing well. She’s seriously the strongest, smartest woman I’ve ever met.
  • Clear my name at the library. I paid them off, dammit, and just in time to pick up my copy of Mama Pea‘s cookbook! I’m so excited!

How’s your week starting off? Did you have Monday off?

Taco salad

10 Jan

Dinner #1 (to be repeated tonight) this week is taco salad.

Taco salad isn’t sexy or fancy or ground-breaking, but it is delicious and healthful, when prepared lovingly. And if you have cooked beans on hand, it qualifies as a quick and tasty meal suggestion!

Here’s our variation on Taco Salad this week:

  • 1 bag of organic greens (the crunchier, the better, but we used baby romaine this time), squeaky clean and dry
  • 3 cups cooked pinto beans, warmed and tossed with spices (cumin and chili powder) – optional
  • 1 large or 2 small avocados, sliced
  • 1 jar prepared salsa (anything low in sugar, sodium and salt — I’m in love with Trader Joe’s garlic chipotle salsa)
  • 1/2 a bunch green onions, washed and sliced
  • Baked tortilla chips*

Just layer everything in order (or your preference) in a large bowl. Toss and enjoy! Serves 4.

Basic but delicious. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll note that X topped his salad with low-fat sour cream, but mine remained dairy-free. I made the pinto beans from scratch — actually, Mr. X did! And the kitchen didn’t catch on fire! I’m so proud. I also baked the tortilla chips myself using an incredibly simple method. You just preheat the oven to about 375, cut tortillas (I use whole wheat from Trader Joe’s) into 1/8ths, lightly toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt (and optional cumin and/or chili powder), and bake for a little under 10 minutes. I like to flip mine after a few minutes, but I think it’s unnecessary. I’m just paranoid of burning the chips, having done so on several occasions in the past.

It was lurve — healthy, spicy, beany love. Mr. X revealed to me this weekend that he loves salads, just not basic lettuce-tomato-dressing ones, so expect more slightly jazzed-up versions in the coming weeks.

On a slightly related subject, I’m aching to try making pizza next week, so I was hoping some of you might have homemade dough recipes to share. I prefer it to contain some whole wheat, and it cannot require a food processor or mixer, as I’m totally technology-less in the kitchen still. I’ll keep Googling, but a tried-and-true recipe from a reader would be great!

PB&J Cookies and more planning

9 Jan

First, let’s get to the good stuff: PB&J Cookies. These were created by looking at a bunch of different recipes, and the end result is a tasty, fluffy, fairly fiber-loaded treat.

PB&J Cookies

  • 1/2 cup unbleached flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if peanut butter contains salt)
  • 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • About 1/4 cup warm water, as needed
  • 3 teaspoons (or a little more) jam, flavor of your choice

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, 1/4 cup of sugar, and salt. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, vanilla, oil, and 2 tablespoons of water, mixing with a fork until combined. Add the wet to dry and mix until just combined. If the dough won’t hold together, add water a tablespoon at a time until it’s workable. I used my hands.

Pour 3 remaining tablespoons of sugar on a small plate. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, roll them in the sugar, and place on the baking sheet. Flatten each ball slightly. Grab your 1/4 teaspoon measure and use it to make an indentation in each cookie. Now use it again to fill each dent with your jam of choice (mine was a strawberry-raspberry-blueberry blend from the Hollywood Farmers Market). Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes. Do not over-bake. Mine were perfect — lightly browned on the bottom and not runny) at 12 minutes.

Makes 12 cookies.

These will go fast! They have the classic flavor of America’s favorite sandwich but with a grown-up sophistication.

I wanted to talk a little more about meal planning. We finalized our plan for the week (after realizing we aren’t allowed to grill on-site — boo!). The plan outline:

Monday: lunch — quinoa soup; dinner — taco salad
Tuesday: ditto
Wednesday: lunch — quinoa soup; dinner — chili
Thursday: lunch — zucchini wrap; dinner — chili
Friday: lunch — zucchini wrap; dinner — leftovers?

I want to prepare all my legumes from dried this week, so I decided to take my meal plan a step further by writing a daily schedule of when to soak or cook what. This will be especially helpful as I use the slow cooker multiple times. Here is the plan

Sunday: day — make quinoa soup in the slow cooker; night — soak pinto beans (for taco salad)
Monday: day — X makes pinto beans on the stove; night — soak black beans
Tuesday: day — make black beans in the slow cooker and soak chickpeas; night — cook chickpeas on the stove
Wednesday: day — make chili (containing chickpeas and black beans) in the slow cooker; night — cook zucchini and make cilantro spread (for wraps)

I’m hoping this plan will keep me organized and de-stressed. I’ll let you know how it goes (and the meals, too!).

Empty pantry scramble

8 Jan

My bank account is so close to empty right now that every In N Out order – and, heck, dollar in the parking meter – stings. So I decided to spend no money yesterday (which addresses my financial goal) and cook using only what we had in the fridge and cabinets (touching on my dairy-free one, since we have very little in the apartment). Here’s what I was working with:

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Food cabinet. This is where I keep my beans, grains, peanut butter, oils, vinegar, and such. Eventually this will go in the pantry . . . once it has shelves.

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Grapefruit and tomato (that ended up being rotten – blech) on the counter.

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Spice cabinet. I also keep tea and a few random things in here. This, incidentally, is my favorite thing about the kitchen.

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Fridge scariness. Normal things, plus really old takeout.

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Freezer. Apparently it only contains, flours, sugar, vodka, and ice.

For breakfast, I decided to go with a classic bowl of oats:

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Ugly but delicious. In the mix: Trader Joe’s hot breakfast mix (oats, barley, rye, and wheat) with peanut butter, homemade pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, a splash of coconut milk, six (yes, six) chocolate chips, and a pinch of raw sugar. ‘Twas delicious. A couple of hours later, I made Mr. X a slightly different oat combo (jam instead of PB) and we split the grapefruit.

For lunch, I was excited to use up two little zucchini (and the tomato and partial onion, but both ended up being deceased). I decided to give farinata a new twist:

It was incredible. I know I said the last one I made was the best, but this one was even better. It contained: garbanzo flour, water, garlic, nooch, oregano, zucchini, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper. I sauteed the zucchini and topped the farinata with it after about a minute on the stove.

I dusted off the slow cooker (literally — the thing was pretty dirty inside) to make dinner:

Weirdly glowing barbecued lentils and rice with steamed Swiss chard. The meal contained: dry brown lentils, dry brown rice, water, garlic, a tad of zucchini, barbecue sauce, chard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. For the entree, I added half a cup of lentils, a cup of brown rice, three cloves of chopped garlic, and three cups of water to the slow cooker and set it on high for about three hours. When everything is cooked, I added a small amount of zucchini (what was left over from lunch) and about a half cup of barbecue sauce. I didn’t measure, just pouring and mixing until it coated everything well. Then I put the lid on and set it to low for another three-ish hours, when we were ready to eat. It made a lot! Probably four servings.

Just before eating, I prepared the chard: set a pan over medium-low, washed the chard, tore it, and tossed it in the pan without drying it. About a minute later, it was lightly wilted. I plated it and squeezed a little lemon juice on top, as well as salt and pepper. Yum!

While dinner simmered in the slow cooker, I decided to throw together some dessert:

PB&J Cookies! These contained: unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour, oats, raw sugar, peanut butter, canola oil, water, salt, vanilla, and jam. I’ll share the whole recipe tomorrow, but I will tell you now that they are awesome!

All in all, I was really excited about the success of my experiment and plan to try the challenge again soon. Not next Saturday, though, since we’ll be celebrating our anniversary. :)

Plannin’ and linkin’

7 Jan

Plannin’

In an effort to make 2012 a ballin’ year, I’m taking the goals I outlined (plus a few others, too) seriously and getting to work on progress. One step that tackles several goals at once is my old friend, meal planning. I wrote a whole post about my method a year and one day ago — ha! What a coincidence. I’m so far out of my normal routine, however, that I decided to get it going the old-fashioned way: with pen and paper.

At the top, I wrote some ideas and then had my mister pick two dinners he’d like to have. I then started to plan out when we would eat what at the bottom. I wrote a grocery list on the next page to make it easier. Basic but easy. I’ll give more details on any successful recipes this week.

I am excited that meal planning addresses more than one of my goals: reducing my dairy (everything I cook this week will be vegan), prioritizing diabetic-friendly meals, making progress on my financial goals (cooking at home is obviously cheaper than eating out all the time), and cooking dinner at home at least three days a week. Hurray for productivity!

Linkin’

I wanted to share a couple of links I loved today:

(from wilton.com)

25 clever ideas to make life easier. (Thanks to Sasha of the amazing Global Table Adventure for the link on Facebook!) I’m all about the walnut, the baby powder, the magnet, the cupcakes in a cone (having first read about them in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan), and the cookie bowls.

Speaking of Global Table, did you hear Sasha on Rick Steves this week? Go listen right now! Sasha’s an amazing cook and blogger and also a great person (and fellow Tulsan).

In some happy news, the Fitnessista is having her baby! Possibly right now. Wow!

I am planning to re-line the drawers in my kitchen because they’re, well, grody. I hit up my friend Google and found this design*sponge tutorial from the Wayback Machine. Easy, cheap, and adorable? Heck yeah!

I was looking for a vegan hot and sour soup recipe that wasn’t full of crazy stuff, and I stumbled onto Kathy’s Slow-Cooker recipe on the FatFree Vegan Kitchen. How amazing does that look?!

Alright, friends. I’m off to do tackle my some more goals (cooking dinner and doing yoga — did I mention I’m sick? From whence comes this energy?). I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Progress and (im)perfection

6 Jan

I woke up with allergy nonsense today: itchy dry eyes, burning throat, the snufflies, and the sleepies. Blech. It’s just about 9:30 in the morning here, and I’m already on my fourth hot beverage of the day (one cup of black tea with honey followed by two mugs of miso soup and now a cup of DeTox tea). They are helping somewhat, but I’m in still in that yucky days that accompanies the sickies. If anyone has good, natural allergy remedies, please let me know. I’m using my neti pot, gargling with salt water, drinking hot liquids and cold water, and putting raw local honey in my tea.

Anyway, despite being sick on top of the awkwardness of settling back into my routine, I’ve been working hard this week to made progress on both sets of goals I mapped out. Here’s how it’s gone so far:

January:

  • 1. a. Cook dinner at home three days a week every week in January. So far, I’ve cooked dinner twice (see details below) and plan to do so again tonight! I’m proud of myself. I love cooking, but the long days make having the energy difficult. Still, the rewards are worth it.
  • That’s it so far, but I have plans for the others.

This Week (things I’ve been putting off):

  • 2. Do more yoga. The night I wrote that post, I went home and did one of my favorite 20-minute podcasts from Yoga Download! It felt incredible. My arms are still a little sore from it today, which is a good thing.

Not a ton of progress, but not bad either for only a couple of days.

Now back to that cooking thang. I can’t tell you how excited we are to have our stuff in our new apartment. Not that it’s all (or even mostly) unpacked yet, but we’re working on it. Slowly.

One thing I was happy to be reunited with was my rice cooker. Not that cooking rice on the stovetop is terribly burdensome, but I like being able to ignore the little cooker and have it not take up real estate on my cooking area. Well, we decided to do a simple, cheap stir fry of mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, onion, broccoli and tofu over brown rice on Tuesday night. My rice cooker is very unsophisticated (it doesn’t have any settings other than cook and warm, so nothing special for different kinds of rice or grains), which means I have to guesstimate how much water to use when I cook up brown rice. Apparently I was rusty. The result was a total disaster. The rice was all waterlogged, and then I stupidly thought to add more rice to soak up the rest. I don’t recommend it. I would have taken a picture, but it was really, really gross. Instead, I had to send Mr. X to the Chinese place up the road to get some precooked rice. Dinner was saved, thankfully, but the rice was one exciting kitchen failure.

The next night, I planned to make my Gnocchi with Arrabbiata Sauce, but X ended up getting booked for a show that filmed later, so he didn’t get home until after 9. I knew better than to make myself wait that long, and when he said they were feeding him dinner on set, I decided to make something I haven’t in a very long time: farinata. Also called socca, it’s kind of a chickpea flour “pizza,” though I use that term loosely. Maybe “pancake” would be more accurate. Anyway, I used to make it all the time in my previous life but haven’t attempted it in over a year. It’s crazy-easy, though, and requires few ingredients, so I gave it a whirl. The result:

Seriously the best one I’ve ever made! Somehow my cheap-o IKEA frying pan has a perfect nonstick coating that made removing the usually sticky result so easy I couldn’t believe it. The spices were spot-on, too, and I devoured every bite after my yoga session. Here are the basics of making farinata:

Basic Farinata

  • 2/3 cup garbanzo flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 cup water
  • Spices to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

In a medium bowl, combine the garbanzo flour and salt (I use Bob’s Red Mill garbanzo/fava flour combination because it’s tasty and also the only kind I’ve ever found in a store) with about 1/4 cup of water until it forms a paste. Slowly add the rest of the water, stirring vigorously with a fork until all the lumps are gone. Cover the bowl with a towel (or whatever) and let it hang out on the counter for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Stir the batter from the bottom and add any spices you want. I like to go Italian with mine and this time threw in dried oregano, nutritional yeast, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Now heat two teaspoons of olive oil in a 12-inch frying pan (make sure it’s oven safe!) over medium or medium-high heat. When warm, pour in the batter. Drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of oil. Let it cook for about four minutes or until it’s set. It’s a little like eggs in texture, if that helps, and you don’t want any runniness.

Now stick it under the broiler for about four minutes or until light brown spots begin to appear. Cut into triangles, like a pizza, and serve. Makes enough for one hungry person or two as part of a larger meal.

You can really add any kind of herbs and spices you want to the batter, but I pretty much always use this combination. A generic Italian seasoning is great in place of the oregano, and I suspect herbes de Provence would be great, too.

So while my rice cooking was a total, unequivocal disaster, the next night I managed to make the best farinata of my life. Go figure.

Have you had any major kitchen mishaps or successes lately?

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