Who's The Boss?

       In January, I started a new job. A dream job. And it's been wonderful. For two months I've just been reveling in the newness of it all; Constantly captivated by the intensity and passion of my colleagues, and continuously in amazement that I was lucky enough to earn a spot among them. But my new schedule has brought with it some new challenges. It's been a test of time-management just to fit in the lifestyle habits I am used to enjoying. Not to mention the much tighter budget I must now adhere to.

     To manage it all I've moved my yoga sessions to 6am, I make sure I spend quality time with my friends on the weekends, and on Sundays, I cook. I work in Beverly Hills, and to stay on track financially, it's essential that I pack my lunches, or else I'll get caught up buying a $13 salad at the closest cafe.

     At first it felt a little overwhelming to have to come up with a week's worth of meals on one grocery run, but I've turned this weekly chore into quite the recipe exploration. I pick two new recipes on Saturday, usually large, one pan-type meals, and then on Sunday, I go to work. Most nights I can also fit in my laundry while something is baking or simmering and it makes me feel something like a wonder-woman.

     So for the next few entries, I'll be posting large, well-rounded, filling meals to influence your weekend meal planning and maybe even help you stay on budget. 

Brussel Sprouts & Organic Sprouted Tofu

(Adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi)

 

Yotam Ottolenghi never disappoints. This recipe comes from his book, Plenty, a collection of meat-less recipes from a chef who takes his vegetables just as serious as his meats. Ottolenghi calls this dish "utterly addictive." I myself was so impressed by the explosion of flavors, I was practically howling in my kitchen. I guarantee you will love this or something is seriously wrong with your taste buds.

Ingredients:

• 2tbsp sweet chile sauce (or paste)
• 1 1/2  tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 3tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1tsp rice vinegar
• 1tbsp maple syrup
• 5oz firm organic tofu (optional for sprouted)
• 1lb brussel sprouts
• about 3/4 cup sunflower or grapeseed oil
• salt
• 1 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 small fresh red chile, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms, halve, quartered, or diced
• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 1tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)  

Tips: 

Most of these ingredients I had in my pantry because I love Asian flavors. I didn't have a fresh chile so I used a canned chipotle pepper that I had bought for another recipe. And I used a Thai chili paste that I had in my fridge instead of chile sauce. To spread your dollar even further, serve over steamed rice or make into lettuce cups. 

Instructions:

step one.Whisk together in a bowl the chile and soy sauces, 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil, the vinegar and maple syrup. Cut the tofu block into 3/8-inch slices and then into squarish pieces. Gently stir into the marinade and set aside. 

step two. Trim the bases off the sprouts and cut each from top to bottom into three thick slices. Take a large nonstick pan, add 4 tablespoons of oil and heat up well. Throw in half the sprouts with a little salt and cook on high heat for about 2 minutes or more. Don't stir too much. You want the sprouts to almost burn in a few places and cook through but remain crunchy. Remove to a bowl. Repeat with more oil, salt, and the rest of the sprouts. Remove all the sprouts from the pan. 

step three. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pan, heat up and saute the green onions, chile and mushrooms for a few minutes until the mushrooms are golden (I like mine really crispy). Transfer to the sprouts bowl. 

step four. Leave the pan on high heat. Use tongs to lift half of the tofu pieces from the marinade and gently lay them in the pan (be cautious of spitting oil). Space them apart in one layer. Reduce the flame to medium and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until they get a nice caramelized color. Transfer to the sprout bowl and repeat with the rest of the tofu. 

step five. Once all the tofu is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and return all the cooked ingredients to it. Add the remaining marinade and half the cilantro leaves. Toss everything together and allow to cool down slightly in the pan. Taste and add salt if needed. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil and garnish with sesame seeds and the rest of the cilantro. 

** sorry for so few pictures, I was just having so much fun tasting every step along the way that I forgot. 

Hummus

Hummus

     If you've got a food processor, a blender, or even a magic bullet, you should be making your own hummus. About a year ago, I challenged myself not to buy anything at the grocery store that I could make myself, and hummus was one of the first contestants. It's so easy to make a hummus that's exactly how you like it, why would you continue to buy the store brand with all those preservatives? 

Choose your chickpeas

The first step to hummus begins with chickpeas, or as their known in Spanish cultures, garbanzo beans. If you're looking for the grand satisfaction of making your hummus completely from scratch, buy dried chickpeas in bulk. Not only does this save you money, but it allows you to an additional opportunity to add flavor to your beans. If time is more valuable to you than a few dollars, canned chickpeas do just fine.

For dried chickpeas:

Soak completely submersed in water for approx. 8hrs or overnight is best. Cover them with clear plastic wrap and punch a little whole just to give them some oxygen.

Drain your chickpeas and prepare some boiling water. This is your first chance to bring flavor into these beans. Adding salt to the water will do, or something like a bay leaf, but I like to add my favorite Rapunzel vegan bouillon cubes. Once I added carrots and onions to the water, the way you make a vegetable broth, and later pureed the same carrots into the hummus. Feel free to replace the water entirely with your favorite stock.

Simmer the beans until tender. Drain, but try to keep some of your boiling liquid to help thin out the hummus later.

For canned chickpeas: 

Rinse, drain, and set aside.

 One cup of garbanzo beans contains 10.6 g of fiber and 11.88 g of protein. -livestrong.com

This hummus was spread on gluten free wraps and topped with fresh basil and roasted veggies for the Catalina Yoga Retreat

Julian's Favorite Hummus

This recipe is my sister's favorite. In fact, for the yoga retreat, I put her completely in charge of making the hummus, only involving myself when it came to tasting for seasoning. 

(This recipe comes from 'The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook' by Nancy Harmon Jenkins)

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 1 cups water (Tip: use the water that the beans were boiled in)
• garlic1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
• 1 tablespoon (dark) sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (or sometimes I use pimentón)
• juice of 2 lemons (or more to taste)
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle on top)
• OPTIONAL: pinch of ground hot red chili

Special Equipment: 

• food processor or blender (depending on size, you may have to blend in small batches)

Instructions: 

step 1. 

    start with beans, water, salt, and oil in the food processor. Then slowly add lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and the rest of the ingredients. Tapering in more oil or water until you get the consistency you like.

step two.
   Taste. Add more garlic if you like it garlicy. Try adding basil, pine nuts, or roasted bellpeppers, even.

step three.
    Dip or spread. I love dipping some freshly cut yellow bellpepper into a cold batch of hummus. Warm pita bread is great too. For presentation, drizzle a little olive oil on top and sprinkle some feta cheese and cilantro.
    For the retreat, I roasted veggies (bellpepper, red onion, eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash), and rolled it up in a wrap with fresh basil and hummus for Saturday lunch. I also do this in the summer on toasted sandwich bread, adding some cucumber & sprouts. Thinking of hummus as a spread and not just a dip has expanded my snacking horizons greatly.

 

Have fun making this hummus your own.