Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Marrakesh Stew

This stew uses warm winter vegetables, and is great on a snowy yucky New England night like tonight. Marrakesh is a city in Morocco, and the Moroccan spices in this stew give it a sweet and spicy unique taste.

Marrakesh Stew

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice
4 large carrots
2 parsnips
2 russett potatoes
1 acorn squash
salt and pepper
1 can diced tomatoes (15.5 oz)
3 3/4 cups veggie broth
2 small eggplant
1 can chickpeas

In  an 8 quart pot heat oil. Over medium heat cook onion until soft. Add spices and cook for one minute. Chop all veggies to 1 inch pieces. Add  carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and squash. Saute until starting to brown. Add tomatoes and broth (the liquid should just cover the veggies). Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add eggplant, simmer 20 more minutes. Stir in chickpeas and simmer 5 min. Serve with couscous or rice.

Better Brownies

I made these brownies the other night when David and Mindy came over. They are made with whole wheat flour, and apple sauce, and of course tons of chocolate. Better for you, but still REALLY good.

Whole Wheat Brownies

6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
1 egg
8 oz chopped semisweet chocolate

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees. line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper leaving a two inch overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl whisk together flours, cocoa, wheat germ, salt, baking powder, baking soda.
2. In a large bowl combine sugar, apple sauce,and egg. Place butter and 6 oz chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until melted. Stir chocolate mixture into sugar and applesauce mixture. mix in flour mixture. Pour into pan and top with remaining 2 oz. chocolate.
3. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares.

* if you don't have a double boiler you can use a heatproof bowl that fits into a saucepan, and boil a small amount of water in the saucepan beneath it. It is very important that the water does not come in contact with the chocolate, and the bowl sits snugly in the saucepan.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Fun with Fish Again

Tonight I tried cooking Talapia again, and it was awesome. It is such a good fish to cook with, very forgiving and not too strong. This recipe is really awesome too because everything is all in one pot. Not too many dishes.

Talapia with rice and broccoli.

4 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced
1 cup basmati rice
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about one half a lime squeezed)
2 cups chopped raw broccoli
3 talapia fillets
asian spice rub (recipe to follow in next posting)

melt butter  in a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until opaque, about 4 minutes. Add rice and sesame seeds, and stir for 1 minute. Add broth, broccoli, lime zest and juice, bring to a boil. Cook for 13 minutes on low heat, covered. While rice is cooking, sprinkle fish fillets with rub. After 13 minutes lay the talapia on top of the rice, cover and continue to cook for 5-8 minutes until fish is flaky and cooked throughout.

Super easy and delicious. Joseph ate half of all the fish, Keith ate his broccoli, and Aaron ate some of everything. Tim was a bit opinionated about most of it, but I made it up to him with fruit salad.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

There is a Vitamix in my life!

I got a Vitamix for Christmas folks! If you don't know what it is, research, but in a nutshell it is a blender that has a gigantic motor attached. It allows you to make smoothies with greens and seeds (and still smooth), nut butters, soups, dressings, sauces etc.... I am excited. You will probably find it in a lot more posts. We have already made lots and lots of smoothies which everyone loves, and I can sneak spinach and flax seeds into now more easily.
This is the one we had for breakfast:

1 cup frozen strawberries
2 frozen bananas
1 cup frozen mango
1 juiced orange
1 cup baby spinach
2 tbsp flax seed oil
water
-blend it up and love it