Creamy Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

I've been on a soup kick ever since Thanksgiving.  This past week I've made Minnesota Wild Rice, a Tunisian Vegetable-Garbanzo Bean with Spicy Harissa, and a New Orleans Farro Gumbo.  But wild rice soup is definitely one of my favorites.  I just love the texture and the nutty flavor.  Plus it's gluten-free and packed full of nutrients such as B vitamins niacin, riboflavin and thiamine, as well as potassium and phosphorus. It is also considered a complete protein, containing all of the essential amino acids.  Unfortunately, most stores sell a cultivated-hybrid version of wild rice, which is what I used.  But I'm definitely going to seek out the real deal even though it's more expensive so that I can do a comparison.  Either way--it's definitely a grain that you want to keep in your pantry and use often!

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1 cup small diced carrots

1 cup small diced celery

1 large leek, white and light green parts only, small diced and washed

1 tbsp finely minced garlic

1 tbsp finely minced fresh thyme

1/4 cup pale dry sherry

8 cups low-sodium vegetable stock (I used Rapunzel)

1/4 cup vegan "chicken" flavored seasoning (found in the bulk section of Whole Foods), optional

3/4 cup organic wild rice

2 tbsp cornstarch

3/4 cup cashew cream or soy milk (if you use soy milk you may want to add a little more cornstarch to thicken to your liking)

1/4 cup minced chives

Kosher salt and black pepper

Method:

• In a large dutch oven or stock pot, heat olive oil and add leeks, garlic and thyme and cook until leeks are soft, about five minutes.
• Add dry sherry and reduce for a couple of minutes and then add vegetable stock, along with flavored seasoning (if using).
• Bring broth to a boil and stir in brown rice along with celery and carrots and salt and pepper to taste.
• Reduce to a simmer and cook until rice is tender about 45 minutes.
• Five minutes before serving, whisk together cashew cream or soy milk with cornstarch and add to soup, stirring slowing for about 3-4 minutes until soup thickens.
• Check for seasonings and add more salt and pepper to taste.
• Garnish with minced chives.

Cashew Cream:

1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least four hours, drained
1/2 cup filtered water

Method:

• Drain cashews and place in a blender along with filtered water and blend on high for about 4 minutes until creamy.  
• Strain mixture.  You should have about 3/4 cup of cream.  If less, add additional water.

 

Ooey-Gooey-Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

Growing up macaroni and cheese was a staple at our dinner table.  Except my mom never purchased the boxed stove-top version.  She always made it from scratch using a blend of aged white and yellow cheddars, along with parmesan and a creamy bechamel sauce.  It was a killer mac and cheese (seriously--it's a wonder my family doesn't have heart disease), but it was my most favorite dish growing up as a kid.

So when Anna of Green Talk sent me a message a couple of weeks ago asking me what soy cheese I use to make macaroni and cheese I told her I would send her my recipe.  She said that her kids really don't like fake cheese substitutes and I guaranteed her that they would love this version using Daiya cheese.  By the way, Anna's site is phenomenal--anything and everything you ever wanted to know about eco-friendly, green-living is all in one place on her website.  I use it as a reference all the time--great articles and very informative!  And Anna if you're reading this, definitely let me know if your kids like the recipe!

So getting back to the mac and cheese--this recipe is really versatile.  You can dress it up or dress it down depending on who you're serving it to.  If making it for kids, just use yellow cheddar and skip the herb-panko topping and of course serve it with an organic ketchup.  For a spicy version, use both cheddar and pepper-jack cheese, along with a couple splashes of your favorite hot sauce, and for a more sophisticated adult version, add minced rosemary, or chopped black truffles and a drizzle of white truffle oil.

Now I have to be honest, I have never made this recipe without using my Vita-Mix for the cashew cream.  So if you don't have a high-speed blender you really need to soak the cashews overnight and blend them for about 4 minutes and then strain afterwards.  This will help prevent the cheese sauce from separating if the mac and cheese sits out for any extended period of time--but I don't think that will be an issue.  Also, this is a non-bake version and so cook your noodles until completely done--no al dente here.  And no, I don't recommend using another nut milk other than cashew.  Soy milk imparts a strange flavor, almond milk has too much of a distinct flavor and rice milk is just too thin.  You want it creamy without using any flour or cornstarch and I find that since cashews have a high-fat content they work best...now on with the recipe already!

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 large head of garlic, roasted (see instructions below)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced fresh thyme, optional
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable stock
2 1/3 cups cashew cream (see instructions below)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric 
1-2 tsp Dijon or spicy brown mustard, depending on taste
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (more or less to taste), plus more for cooking noodles
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds, divided
Herb-panko crumb topping (see recipe below), optional
1 lb macaroni noodles, cooked and drained
2 tbsp Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks

Method:

• In a small sauce pan add olive oil, onions, garlic and thyme and cook for about 10-15 minutes until really tender.  Add vegetable stock to keep onion mixture from burning, but cook until stock is evaporated.
• Once onions are soft, add cashew cream and roasted garlic puree to the pan and heat until scalding--you do not want to boil the cream or it will get too thick.
• Immediately pour the mixture into a blender and add turmeric, salt, pepper, mustard and 1 cup of Daiya cheese and blend until smooth.  If too thick add a little more cashew cream if needed.  Keep mixture covered and warm.
• Cook macaroni noodles per package instructions in salted boiling water, drain really well, place in a large bowl and stir in Earth Balance Butter until melted. 
• While noodles are still hot, add warm/hot cashew cheese mixture, along with another cup of Daiya cheese and mix well to combine.  The Daiya will start melting and the noodles will start absorbing the sauce.   
• Check for salt and pepper and add more if necessary.  
• Cover and keep warm until ready to serve or serve immediately.
• Top with herb-panko topping if desired.
• The macaroni and cheese can be reheated in the microwave.  If too thick add a little more cashew cream to thin it out.

Cashew Cream:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight, drained, blended and strained
2 cups filtered water

Method:

• Drain cashews and place in a blender, along with filtered water and blend on high for about 4 minutes until creamy.
• Strain mixture and measure out 2 1/3 cups cashew cream for the recipe.
• Reserve remaining cashew cream in case you need to thin out the recipe.  
• Cashew cream can be frozen and used for another recipe.  Thaw in the refrigerator and blend before using.

Roasted Garlic Puree:

1 large head garlic, top cut off
Olive oil to drizzle
Kosher salt and black pepper

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut off top of garlic and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrap in foil.
• Roast in the oven for about 60-75 minutes until soft and caramelized, checking after 45 minutes.
• Let garlic cool to touch and then squeeze out puree and set aside.

Herb-Panko Topping:

1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp assorted minced fresh herbs of choice:  parsley, thyme, chives, rosemary
Kosher salt and black pepper


Method:

• In a small saute pan, heat olive oil and add minced herbs and cook for a couple of minutes to soften.
• Add bread crumbs and cook for a couple of minutes until lightly golden brown.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a bowl to cool.

 

French Apple-Custard Tart

Today is my last post for my Thanksgiving Series.  When I mentioned my series back in late September I posted a photo for an Apple-Riesling Tart.  I did not post the recipe because I felt that it was too complicated.  And so I simplified the recipe by using a store-bought apricot jam and left out the Riesling reduction altogether.  The added cost for the Riesling really didn't provide much to the recipe--even though it sounded good.   I also experimented with a gluten-free version of the crust, but it was just too crumbly to hold up against the weight of the apples.  But I will continue experiment with a gluten-free crust for future posts, so stay tuned.

I still haven't decided what I'm going to serve on Thanksgiving, but I'll post my final menu next week.  Until then, thanks for following along with me and I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Flaky Pastry Crust Ingredients:
(Makes enough for 2 9" Tart Pans)

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp unfiltered sugar
12 tbsp or 1-1/2 sticks Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, cut into small cubes, frozen
4 tbsp or 1/2 stick Earth Balance Natural Shortening, cut into small cubes, frozen
1/4-1/2 cup cold filtered water

Method:

• Add flour, salt, sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Using the pulse mode add butter and shortening and pulse until the texture is crumbly and the fat resembles small peas.
• While still in pulse mode, drizzle in water slowly until dough sticks together when pressed in your hand.
• Remove dough from bowl and place on a cutting board.  Divide dough into two 1" high flat disk/circles.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour before rolling out.  If only making one tart, wrap the second disk in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and store in the freezer for up to three months.

Cashew Cream:

 

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in filtered water

2 cups filtered water

 

Method:

• Drain cashews and place in a blender and cover with 2 cups filtered water.
• Blend on high for about 4 minutes until creamy.  You'll need to strain the cream if you don't have a high speed blender.
• Measure out 1 cup for the custard and reserve the other cream for other uses.

Tart Filling:

3-4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced in half and then thinly sliced

1 cup cashew cream

1/3 maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup apricot glaze (I used 100% pure fruit apricot jam, heated it and then strained it removing any solids) 

 

Method: 

• Peel, core and slice apples and decorate top of tart shell.
• In a blender mix together 1 cup cashew cream, maple syrup, vanilla extract and cornstarch.
• Pour over top of tart/apples (see assembly instructions below).

Assembly:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and position oven rack in the middle of the oven.
• On a lightly floured cutting board, roll out the dough to 3/8" thick and line a 9" tart pan, pressing along the sides and removing excess from the edges.
• With the prongs of a fork, prick the bottom of the dough several times and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill.
• Remove tart from the freezer and place on a sheet tray.
• Brush the bottom of the tart pan with a little apricot jam and then start overlapping apple slices starting at the top edge and working around to complete the circle.  You want the apple slices to cover the edge of the tart.  Follow the same pattern for the second and third layers, using any small apple slices to fill in the holes.  
• You want the entire surface of the tart covered with apples.
• Move the tart/sheet pan to the oven rack and then slowly pour in custard in a circular motion.
• Carefully slide in oven rack and bake tart for about 1 hour and 15 minutes until golden brown and custard is set.  If apples start to brown too much you can drape tart with foil or turn oven down to 350 degrees, but you may need to adjust your cooking time with a lower temperature.
• Remove tart from oven and let cool on rack for about 15 minutes before removing tart ring.
• While tart is cooling, brush with warm apricot glaze.
• Let tart cool for about 30 minutes before cutting and serve with your favorite vegan ice cream or sweetened cashew cream (see below).

Sweetened Cashew Cream:

 

1/2 cup cashew cream

1/4 cup apricot glaze

 

Method:

• Mix ingredients together in a bowl and chill until ready to use.

 

 
 

Roasted Potato, Mushroom & Kale Torte

This torte is very similar to the Potato and Spinach Gratin that I made about a month ago but it is more substantial.  I know that on Thanksgiving some people like to serve a dish that is the center piece of their meal and this dish could fill in for that purpose.  For me however, it has always been about the variety of the side dishes.  Nothing makes a Thanksgiving plate more beautiful than an array of fall colors, and different flavors and textures. 

For the torte I made the same cashew cream sauce that I used for the gratin, but changed up the other ingredients and served it with a Mushroom-Marsala Jus.  Whether you serve this as a side dish for Thanksgiving, or for a simple dinner when you have a craving for warm comfort food, I know that you and your family will really like it!

Cashew Cheddar Sauce:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in filtered water, drained
1 1/4 cup filtered water
1 bulb of garlic, roasted until soft
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on taste
1 cup Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Note:  You may have cashew cheddar sauce left over depending on the size of the casserole dish you use.  Place it in a container and freeze for up to three months.  To use, thaw in the fridge and blend before using.

Method:

• Cover cashews with filtered water and soak for up to 8 hours or overnight.  Drain cashews and place in a blender, along with 1 1/4 cups filtered water.  Blend on high until creamy, about 4 minutes.  Strain mixture if you are not using a high-speed blender like a Vita-Mix and then place back in the blender.
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice the top off the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, wrap in foil and bake until soft about 45-60 minutes.  Let garlic cool and squeeze out soft garlic cloves and set aside.
• Heat a large saute pan on medium heat.  Add olive oil, onions, minced garlic, and fresh thyme and cook until onions are soft, about 5-7 minutes.  
• Add to the blender and cashew cream, the roasted garlic, onion mixture, cayenne pepper, Daiya Cheese and salt and pepper to taste and blend until smooth and creamy.  It should be thicker than heavy cream, more like the consistency of a loose custard.  However, if too thick add a little more water.
• Set sauce aside until ready to use.

Torte Ingredients:

3 lbs organic Yukon Gold Potatoes, washed and sliced into 1/4" slices, roasted

1 1/2 lbs assorted mushrooms (I used 8oz each, cremini, oyster and chanterelle), roasted

1 bunch organic green kale, stems removed, cut into bite sized pieces and washed

3 tbsp minced fresh thyme

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 bunch minced fresh chives

3/4 Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds

1 to 1 1/2 cups Cashew Cheddar Sauce

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Note:  I used a 9x9" casserole dish which makes about 6 servings.

Method: 

• Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
• Toss mushrooms together with 1-2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp thyme and salt and pepper.  Spread out mushrooms on two baking sheets and roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
• Toss potatoes together with 1-2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp thyme and salt and pepper.  Spread out on two sheet trays (trying not to over-lap) and roast for 25-30 minutes, flipping potatoes half way through the cooking process and rotating trays.  If the potatoes stick to the sheet plan when trying to flip, place back in the oven for a couple more minutes.  Once the starches become caramelized the potatoes will easily lift from the sheet pan.  Remove from oven and set aside.
• In a large saute pan, heat olive oil on medium-low and add garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes until the garlic starts to sizzle.  Add chopped kale, and salt and pepper and cook for about 3-4 minutes until kale is wilted, but still bright green.
• Remove from heat and set aside.

Assembly:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly butter casserole dish and spread with 1/3 cup of cheese sauce on the bottom.  I made 4 layers so divide your ingredients to make sure you have enough for each layer.
• Layer the casserole with roasted potatoes, mushrooms, kale, a 1/4 cup Daiya cheese, 1/3 cup cheese sauce, chopped chives, salt and pepper.  Repeat this process three more times, except for the top layer do not use the Daiya cheese, only the cheese sauce.
• Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about 45-60 minutes until bubbly, turning once half way through the cooking process.
• Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.
• Just before serving, garnish with herb panko topping and additional chopped chives.

Herb Panko:

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
2 tsp minced fresh thyme
1 tbsp minced chives
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

• In a small saute pan, heat olive oil, add bread crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper and cook on low until panko is lightly golden brown.  Stir frequently and be careful not to burn.  When finished do not leave in hot pan, transfer to a bowl and then sprinkle on gratin.

Mushroom-Marsala Jus:

8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
1 small yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup Marsala fortified wine
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
1 tsp Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1 tsp a/p flour
1 tbsp extra virgin olive
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• In a small sauce pan, add olive oil, and mushrooms and cook on medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes.
• Add onions and garlic and cook about five minutes longer.
• Deglaze with Marsala and cook until liquid has been absorbed.
• Add vegetable stock, thyme, and bay leaf, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 30 minutes.
• Strain broth into a bowl, pressing solids with the back of a spoon.
• In the sauce pan add butter and flour and cook for about 1-2 minutes until bubbly.
• Whisk in mushroom broth and simmer for a couple of minutes until thickened.
• Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Mango-Cardamon Smoothie

It has been over two weeks now and I'm still sick with my cold.  I actually think that it has turned into bronchitis or something and a trip to the doctor's office is in my near future.  Anyway, totally bums me out...I'm so over it!  So the last thing I wanted to do was cook tonight and so made myself a delicious and healthy smoothie.  I could drink this smoothie anytime, day or night--it's that good, plus it really helps soothe my sore throat and my hacking cough.
 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight, drained

5 dates, pitted, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh or frozen mango

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cardamon

1 1/2 cups filtered water

1 cup crushed ice

Note:  Instead of using raw almonds and the water, you can use 1 1/2 cups already prepared almond milk.  Just look for a low sugar version, or cut back on the dates or it might be too sweet.

Method:

• Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high-speed until smooth and creamy.
• Garnish with additional cardamon and a mint sprig.

Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Candied Orange Syrup

I was flipping through my cookbooks trying to find a dessert recipe that would go well with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, or potentially My Moroccan Thanksgiving and I came across a recipe for a Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Candied Orange Syrup.  This happens to be a perfect recipe for both because it uses pumpkin, but also uses spoon sweets (fruits cooked in syrup), which is a typical for dessert served in Middle Eastern countries.  So after veganizing the recipe, and also by adding cardamon spice to the syrup, I think that it turned out great and it is definitely a contender for this Thanksgiving!

Candied Orange Syrup:

2 cups unfiltered sugar

2 cups filtered water

1 large seedless orange, thinly sliced

1 tsp ground cardamon

5 black peppercorns

Note:  Kumquats would also work really well with this recipe; however they are very labor intensive because you need to remove all the seeds after slicing.

Method:

• Add water, sugar, cardamon and peppercorns to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
• Add orange slices and stir to coat each slice.
• Reduce heat to medium low, and cut out a piece of foil and place directly on top of oranges to slow the evaporation.  Cover pan with another piece of foil and slowly simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until syrup is the consistency of honey.
• Remove from heat and let oranges cool in syrup before removing.
• Once orange slices are cool enough to touch, strain syrup into another bowl, pressing the orange slices lightly to remove excess syrup and chop orange slices and set aside.  You'll need a 1/2 cup for the cake and 1/4 cup for garnish. 

Ingredients:

2 sticks softened Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, plus 1 tbsp for pan
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus a little more for dusting pan
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 cup pure maple syrup
4 1/2 tsp Ener-g Egg Replacer, plus 3 tbsp filtered water
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied orange slices

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 and position oven rack in the middle of oven.
• Butter an angle food cake pan and dust lightly with flour and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices and whisk until combined, set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg replacer and water until frothy and set aside.
• In a large bowl, using a mixer whip butter until fluffy.  Add maple syrup and mix again.  Next add egg replacer and pumpkin puree and mix until combined.
• Slowly add flour to pumpkin mixture, and mix just until smooth.
• Fold in chopped candied orange and walnuts.
• Using a spatula, spoon cake batter into pan and smooth surface.
• Bake for about 1 hour, turning half way through the cooking process.  Cake will be finished when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove cake from oven and let cool on a baking rack for about 20 minutes.  Remove from cake pan and let cool further on rack, positioned over a sheet tray to catch syrup.
• Spoon syrup over cake and then carefully lift cake to a serving platter or cake stand.
• Garnish with candied walnuts, candied orange and additional syrup. 

Candied Walnuts:

10-12 whole raw walnut halves
2 tbsp powdered sugar

Method:

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add walnuts.  Blanch for about 1 minute and then drain and toss in powdered sugar to coat evenly.
• Place walnuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until sugar has caramelized, turning nuts over half way through the cooking process.
  

Acorn Squash with Cinnamon, Maple & Fried Sage

This side dish for Thanksgiving couldn't be easier.  It's also delicious and makes for a beautiful rustic presentation for your dinner table.  The hardest part about making this dish is cutting the squash and Mother Nature makes that simple for you too by providing you with predefined ridges on the surface.  Acorn squash is my favorite winter squash because of its sweet yellow-orange flesh.  And by roasting it and tossing it with maple syrup it makes it absolutely irresistible.    

Ingredients:

2 acorn squash, blemish free, washed, cut, seeds removed and sliced into wedges
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, divided
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Fried sage leaves (see below)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a large bowl toss squash with cinnamon, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup and salt and pepper.
• Divide squash between two sheet trays and bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, rotating trays and turning over squash half way through the cooking process until soft, caramelized and golden brown.
• Remove from oven and place on serving platter and drizzle with sage oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup and crumbled fried sage leaves.

Fried Sage Leaves:

6 sage leaves
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Method:

• In a small sauce pan, heat oil on medium, add sage leaves and cook for about 1 minute until crispy, turning over once.
• Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with a little salt.
• Pour sage oil over roasted squash and garnish with minced fried sage leaves.

My Moroccan Thanksgiving

I'm really struggling about what I'm going to serve for Thanksgiving this year.  Do I go with a traditional menu, or something a bit more interesting like Moroccan.  I have about five more posts to do using traditional recipes and then I'm going to make my decision.  But both my husband and I are leaning towards Moroccan and we think our dinner guests will like it too!

There are a lot of different components to this dish.  It's basically your entire meal served on one plate--very much like a traditional Thanksgiving.  If I do serve this dish as our main course, I will start the meal with a salad of roasted chioggia beets, shaved fennel, baby greens, marcona almonds, candied orange peel and a toasted fennel-blood orange vinaigrette.  And for dessert I'll serve a spiced pumpkin cake with a cardamon-orange syrup and candied oranges (which I'll post this week)...Yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards Moroccan!
 

Saffron-Tomato Broth:

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 stalk celery, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 14oz can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp saffron threads

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Crumble saffron threads in cold vegetable stock and let sit for about 10 minutes to bloom.
• In a large dutch oven or stock pot, cook onion and celery in olive oil on medium heat until soft.
• Add garlic, red pepper, thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes, and saffron vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil.  
• Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about one hour until broth has reduced by half and is flavorful.
• Strain broth, keep warm and set aside.

Tomato-Pistachio Chutney:

1 lb pearl or cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup raw pistachios, toasted
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tbsp minced mint
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Toss tomatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes until charred, tossing half way through the cooking process.
• Remove from oven and let cool.
• Once tomatoes are cool, remove skins and roughly chop.
• Place tomatoes in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
• Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use, return to room temperature before using.

Lemon Scented Lentils:

1 1/2 cups French green lentils
4 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp ground sumac
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Add lentils, bay leaf and vegetable stock to a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 17-20 minutes until lentils are soft but still retain their shape.
• Drain lentils well and then return to sauce pan.  Add olive oil, lemon juice, ground sumac and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well, cover lentils and set aside.  

Couscous:

2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 1/2 cups filtered water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 tbsp minced preserved lemon (optional)

Method:

• Place couscous in a medium sized bowl.
• Add olive oil and salt and using your fingers, rub the olive oil through the couscous grains.
• Bring water to a boil and pour over couscous--just enough water so that it covers the couscous by about a 1/4".
• Cover bowl with a plate and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Remove plate and fluff couscous with a fork and fold in raisins and preserved lemon peel. 

Roasted Acorn Squash:

1 acorn squash, cut into about 8-10 wedges depending on size
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp extra virgin olive
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Toss squash with cinnamon, maple syrup, olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for about 10 minutes until soft and caramelized, turning half way through the cooking process.
• Remove from oven and keep warm until ready to use.

Sauteed Spinach:

1-2 lbs organic baby spinach, washed, dried
1 tbsp minced garlic
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• Heat a large saute pan on medium-low, add olive oil, garlic and saute until just starting to bubble.
• Immediately add spinach and salt and pepper and saute until just wilted.
• Keep warm and set aside.

Mint Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup vegan sour cream or cashew cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp ground sumac
2 tbsp minced fresh mint
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

• I made a cashew cream from scratch (1/2 cup cashews, 3/4 cup filtered water, blended until smooth).  But you can purchase your favorite vegan sour cream (I like Follow Your Heart).
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until ready to use.

Assembly:
(Serves 4)

• Place couscous on the plate, followed by lentils, spinach, chutney, squash yogurt sauce and then ladle over saffron broth.
• Garnish with additional mint and preserved lemons.