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North African Chickpea Kale Soup

Not truly North African, of course. But it does feature some nice warm spices.

This recipe makes enough to feed 2 people for a couple meals (it's only 4 cups of stock). To feed more people, double it.

Ingredients	Step
1 small onion, diced 1 carrot, diced	Brown in the bottom of a soup pot.
2 cloves garlic, diced	Add the garlic to the onion. Let cook about 1 minute.
¾ t. cumin ¼ t. paprika ¼ t. ginger ⅛ t. allspice ⅛ t. cayenne pinch saffron, lightly crushed 1 bay leaf ½ cinnamon stick	Add. Let cook about 1 minute, stirring.
1 can chickpeas, rinsed	Stir into spiced onion mixture.
4 c. stock	Add. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes with a lid.
4 c. kale, torn to bite-sized pieces	Add & stir. Ensure the kale is submerged. Serve once the kale is cooked to your liking (maybe 5-10 minutes?).

Source: Fat Free Vegan

Lentil Pierogi

It's a good amount of work to fold dumplings. But then again... dumplings.

It is worth the extra step to fry them.

Start with the filling so it has a chance to cool completely:

Ingredients	Step
¾ c. brown lentils 2 bay leaves	Boil in a large pot for 30-40 minutes. Season at the end. Drain the lentils and discard the bay leaves.
2 T. butter 1 onion, diced	Cook in skillet until soft.
3 garlic cloves, sliced ¾ t. coriander, ground ½ t. cumin, ground	Add. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
½ c. sundried tomato, rinsed if needed and chopped finely 1 T. soy sauce	Add. Stir to combine. Remove from heat, then add lentils. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely, then use as filling in dumplings.
	Boil in well-salted water containing a splash of oil. Once the filled pierogi float, set a timer for 1-2 minutes more and then remove them to drain.
1 T. butter	Heat butter in skillet. Fry pierogi.
parmesan	Serve with parmesan.

You'll also need a dough:

Ingredients	Step
450 g. AP flour 1 t. salt ¼ c. / 60 ml EVOO 1 c. warm water	Combine the dry ingredients, combine the wet ingredients, and then mix both together. Knead 4-5 minutes, until smooth and supple. Invert a bowl on top of the dough and let rest 15 minutes.
	Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Roll each to ~⅛" thick. Cut out 2.5" circles, then roll each circle even thinner. (Don't stack them; they'll stick together.)
	Fill pierogi into each dough circle by tablespoonfuls. Press edges to seal. (Using water shouldn't be necessary — the dough should want to stick to itself.)
2 floured towels	Transfer each filled pierogi to a floured towel covered with another floured towel. Then boil in salted water with a bit of oil until they float, plus 1-2 minutes more.

Source: Michal Korkosz in Fresh from Poland

Ingredients	Step
⅓ c. brown basmati	Cook the basmati (perhaps soaked, then boiled with ⅔ c. water, then lid added to steam over simmer for 30 minutes until the water is gone, then let stand).
½ c. wild rice	Cook the wild rice (perhaps boiled 45-60 minutes with 1½ c. water).
½ c. sushi rice	Cook the sushi rice (perhaps rinsed well, then boiling ½ c. water without rice, then adding rice and stirring for 2-3 minutes, then simmering with lid for 10-15 minutes, then let stand).
1½ medium onion, diced	Saute.
1 c. carrot, diced 4-5 stalks celery, diced	Add and continue to saute until the vegetables are fully relaxed.
¾ t. thyme, dried ½ t. red pepper flakes	Stir in and saute a bit longer. Then remove vegetables from skillet.
8 oz. tempeh	Crumble into the now-empty skillet. Cook over high heat until golden brown. Maybe start with a splash of water to get some steaming too. When cooked, stir the vegetables back in and heat through.
balsamic vinegar soy sauce/tamari	Pour atop. Let sizzle. Stir together. Taste and repeat as necessary.
½ c. sunflower seeds, toasted ½ c. parsley	Sprinkle atop and/or stir together.

Broccoli Spoon Salad

A lovely salad that works as a side dish for omnivores and an entree for vegetarians. The raw broccoli tenderizes in the vinegar and doesn't eat like raw broccoli.

Consider cutting the honey if it's broccoli season. Leave it at the whole amount if it's late spring/summer and the broccoli isn't at its prime. (More often than not, I've thought the full amount of honey was too sweet overall when attached to sweetened cranberries.)

Do not sub cranberries with pomegranate seeds. The texture doesn't work.

Consider wild rice instead of quinoa. (I haven't tried this yet but it should be delicious and still protein-packed.)

Ingredients	Step
1 c. raw quinoa	Wash. Boil in well-salted water until plump and tender, about 15 minutes. Drain in sieve, rinse with cool water, and drain well. (Don't treat it like rice with the cloth and lid; it will retain too much heat in the salad.)
zest and juice of 1 lemon 3 T. olive oil 3 T. Dijon mustard 2 T. honey 2 T. apple cider vinegar	Whisk together in a very large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2 heads of broccoli (~1½ pounds)	Finely chop the broccoli and add to dressing. Let it macerate as you prep the rest.
1 tart green apple 4 oz. sharp cheddar	Finely chop the apple and cheese. Add to broccoli. Toss to combine.
cooked quinoa ¾ c. pecans ½ c. dried cranberries	Add. Toss to combine. Taste. Add more lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

Source: Sohla El-Waylly (NYT)

On Quinoa

I usually buy quinoa from the bulk section at Sprouts, in whatever color(s) I'm feeling.

I wash it first until the water runs clear (well, clear enough), similar to basmati. Some people run water over it in a fine sieve for a few minutes, but my sieve loses a lot of grains. I tend to swirl and rub it in the saucepan before putting heat under it, with 3-4 changes of water. (Yet other people argue you don’t need to wash it at all, but that's dangerous — depending on your quinoa producer and your taste buds, you might end up with a bitter/soapy/ugly flavor rather than a vaguely earthy grain.)

This recipe boils the quinoa like pasta. That makes it easy to taste-test and see when it is done to your preference. The final texture you want is similar to fine couscous. Maybe up to half of the grains will have unfurled little tails as they cook, and all the grains will plump up and no longer be at all crunchy.

Pan Pizza

Makes 1 (tall, bready) pizza. This is the one we made after Halloween at History San Jose in 2022. It does a bit better in a non-convection oven, so that the cast iron gets more direct heat.

Ingredients	Step
240 g. (2 c.) AP flour 3/4 t. salt 1/2 t. yeast 170 g. (3/4 c.) water, lukewarm 1 T (13 g.) olive oil	Stir together to make a shaggy dough with no dry patches. Gather into a ball, and cover for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (first fold). Recover. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (second fold). Recover. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (third fold). Recover. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (fourth fold). Recover. Let sit undisturbed on counter for 40 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator. Chill for 12-72 hours.
1.5 T. olive oil	About 3 hours before serving time, pour oil into a 10" cast iron pan. Tilt to cover the entire bottom, and spread oil up the edges as well.
	Transfer dough to pan. Turn it to coat both sides. Press into pan with dimples (resting 15 minutes between attempts if needed). Cover the crust. Let it rise 2 hours at room temperature.
	Arrange 1 rack near bottom and one near top. Preheat oven to 450. Non-convection ovens may deliver better heat for this recipe.
scant 1 cup mozzarella (~4.5 oz)	Sprinkle evenly on crust, no bare dough showing.
1/3 c. to 1/2 c. pizza sauce 1/4 c. mozzarella (~1.5 oz)	Dollop sauce atop, then sprinkle remaining mozarella.
	Bake on bottom rack for 18-20 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and bottom and edges are rich golden brown (use spatula to check bottom). Continue for another 2-4 minutes on either top or bottom rack depending on its needs.
	Remove from oven and immediately run a spatula between the pizza and the pan so it won't stick. As soon as you're comfortable, transfer it to a cooling rack so it doesn't get soggy.

Source: King Arthur Flour

Pamela Toman

North African Chickpea Kale Soup

Lentil Pierogi

Wild Rice Dressing

Broccoli Spoon Salad

On Quinoa

Pan Pizza

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