Pasta/Noodle/Rice

by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Reviews, Root vegetable, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Roasted Veggies
ロースト野菜のせモロッコ風ひよこ豆シチュー

Last week Terry and I took a whole week off and enjoyed a few mini trips.

The destination of one of the trips was our favorite city, Chicago.

We LOVE Chicago for so many reasons, but one of the things we really enjoy doing there is trying different restaurants because there are so many options!

People come home from their trip with souveniors, but I come home with food ideas (lol).

We are having more and more vegan friendly restaurants in the Twin Cities, but Chicago has so much more options, so consequently I find more cool vegan food ideas.

One of the restaurants we like to visit when we are in Chicago is Native Foods Cafe.

We stayed at Virgin Hotels Chicago(we had a very cool suite!), so we were only a few blocks from the restaurant.

We ended up dining at Native Foods Cafe twice during our 3-day stay in the city!

One of the meals I had there was Moroccan Bowl.

To tell the truth, I did not love the bowl because the tofu which was supposed to be marinated with Moroccan spices had little to no flavors and some of the veggies were a bit under-cooked.

But I did like some of their ideas.

One thing I really liked was their large pieces of roasted veggies.

So here is my big batch of roasted veggies.

These are some of my favorite vegetables to roast: carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower.

So here is where my Moroccan bowl starts to greatly differ from the restaurant’s.

Well, it’s not fun to re-create exactly the same thing after all, right?

So the main part of my Moroccan bowl is this chickpea stew.

And I didn’t forget raisins.

I used golden raisins for my bowl because just in general I prefer golden raisin to regular darker raisins; the restaurants’s Moroccan Bowl had regular raisins.

I think the golden ones are more plump and fruity.

Voila!

This is my Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Roasted Veggies.

It was served over brown rice.

I was pretty happy with the final result.

This is why taking a trip is a good thing, and it’s okay to come home without a T-shirt or a shot glass but with food idea notes!

Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Roasted Veggies

roasted vegetables
– canola oil
– 2 carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
– 2 cups Brussels sprouts
– 2 cups cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
– salt and pepper
Moroccan chickpea stew
– canola oil
– 4 cloves garlic, chopped
– 1 onion, chopped
– 2 celery stalks, chopped
– salt and pepper
– 1~2 tablespoons flour
– about 1 cup water
– 1 28oz can whole tomatoes, pureed with hand blender
– 2 bay leaves
– 2 cinnamon sticks
– sugar
– spices (ground ginger, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, ground cayenne, ground allspice, paprika)
– 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
– 1/2 cup golden raisins
– 2 tablespoons toasted almond slices
– chopped cilantro

1. Roast vegetables. Preheat oven to 400F. Place vegetables on a pan lined with foil. Drizzle oil. Salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 20~30 minutes or cooked through.
2. Make stew. Sautee garlic and onion in oil. Add celery and continue to cook for a few minutes. Salt and pepper. Put flour and continue to cook while stirring for a few minutes. Add water. Boil and then turn down to low heat.
3. Add tomatoes, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks. Boil and then turn down to low heat.
4. Add sugar, spices, chick peas, and raisins. Add salt and pepper.
5. Serve with the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle almond slices and chopped cilantro.

The best thing I had at Native Foods Cafe was their Oatmeal Cream Pie.

It was DELICIOUS, and I still dream about it (lol).

September 14, 2017

by : Reiko Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tempeh Ragu Spaghetti with Eggplant
テンペ茄子スパゲッティ

Spaghetti is one of my absolute favorites.

We had lunch served everyday at elementary school when I was growing up in Japan.

It was not a cafeteria style they have in the U.S., but a set menu was served to everyone, so there were no choices available.

We can certainly talk about pros and cons about this system, but today I want to focus on what were served.

You may think we had a lot of rice because rice is the most important food item in Japan; when we learned early, maybe in st or 2nd grade, that Japan would never import rice, even a piece (my google search today, however, indicates that they now do import some from other countries).

Surprisingly, we had bread 70% of the time, rice about 20% of the time, and some type of noodles 10%.

I so looked forward to non-bread days, and it made me so happy when we had spaghetti.

It was always served with ragu type meat sauce, and it was forever associated with my happy mood (lol), I guess.

Things have changed since the time, including my diet.

Because I don’t eat meat anymore, I use tempeh sausage.

I make my own tempeh sausage, which leads to an extra step but it’s so worth it.

Doesn’t it look tasty?!

I happened to have this beautiful eggplant from the local farmers market and decided to fry and add them to the sauce.

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables and whenever I see slim eggplant like this one in the picture, I buy them.

They are similar to the Japanese eggplant I grew up with and I like that their seeds are much smaller.

Lots of sauce please.

Tempeh Ragu Spaghetti with Eggplant

tempeh sausage
– 1 package tempeh, crumbled into small pieces with hands
– 75ml soy sauce
– 75ml maple syrup
– 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
– 1/4~1/2 teaspoon paprika
– 1/2~1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
– 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
– salt and pepper
olive oil
1 eggplant, sliced
salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1 28-oz whole tomato can, pureed with hand blender
3 oz tomato paste
a pinch of baking soda
sugar
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
Italian seasoning
cooked spaghetti
Chopped basil, for serving

1. Make tempeh sausage. Marinade crumbled tempeh in the marinade overnight. Drain and pat the tempeh with paper towel to remove excess liquid. Fry it in olive oil until browned. Salt and pepper if needed.
2. Cook eggplant in olive oil. Salt and pepper.
3. Cook garlic and onion with olive oil. Salt and pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients. Boil and then turn down to low heat. Simmer. Add tempeh sausage and sauteed eggplant. Serve over spaghetti with freshly chopped basil.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

September 9, 2017

by : Reiko Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Vegan, Vegetarian

Veggie Paella
べジ・パエリア

Terry recently had a little-over-a-week road trip that included a business trip and an eclipse viewing.

While he was on the road he would text me about all the wonderful vegan food he had at various restaurants.

One of the things that caught my attention was the vegan paella he had at one of the vegan restaurants in Chicago.

It just sounded so good.

I don’t think the restaurant actually used saffron, but for me paella has to have saffron which create the very unique flavor.

I used both the rice cooker and the pan both to make my veggie paella, and it turned out wonderful!

You can see the rice soaking up all the great flavors from the vegetables, saffron, and all other things cooked together in the rice cooker.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice is a must!

It really brightens up the whole dish.

Veggie Paella

olive oil
3~4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
salt and pepper
2 cups brown rice
1 can diced tomatoes (petite)
paprika
1 bay leaf
1 slice freeze-dried lemon
1 teaspoon saffron
dried oregano
sugar
Louisiana hot sauce
salt and pepper
2~3 tablespoons black olives, chopped
1/2 cup cooked peas
1/3~1/2 cup fried onion
chopped parsley
lemon wedges1. Sautee garlic, onion, and peppers. Salt and pepper. Remove from the pan.
2. Sautee zucchini and yellow squash in olive oil. Salt and pepper.
3. Place brown rice in a rice cooker. Add the juice from the tomato can. Add water together with the tomato juice to reach the line for cooking two cups of rice. Add half of the cooked garlic/onion/peppers. Add the tomato pieces from the can, paprika, a bay leaf, a slice of freeze-dried lemon, saffron, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook the rice. Follow the directions for your rice cooker.
4. When the rice is cooked remove the lemon slice and bay leaf.
5. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Put the rest (rice and vegetables) in the pan. Push it down with a wooden spoon to lightly brown the rice.
6. Add sugar, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
7. Add the rest of the garlic/onion/peppers, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash, olives, peas, and fried onion.
8. Sprinkle chopped parsley.
9. Serve with lemon wedges.

August 29, 2017

by : Reiko Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Turmeric Tofu Pad Thai
ターメリック豆腐パッタイ

I have to say I probably like any type of noodle dish.

If there are noodles in my bowl, I’ll eat it.

I grew up eating lots of fried noodles in Japan, but when I first had Pad Thai (in the US), I fell in love with its unique flavor.

So when I got these beautiful fresh bean sprouts at the local farmers market, I knew that was what I wanted to make.

I was probably a bit too excited, because I ended up with so much; later I realized it was no problem finishing it in a few days.

It’s not a fancy dish, but it’s a great meal for me.

Lots of veggies and again the sweet and tangy flavor combination is so good.

Squeeze fresh lime right before having your first bite.

You can share it with someone.

Or you can keep it all to yourself, too.

You usually serve with peanuts, but I didn’t have any peanuts, so I used macadamia nuts, which was perfectly fine.

Happy Tuesday evening, everyone!

August 22, 2017

by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Vegan, Vegetarian

Natto Radish Soba
納豆ラディッシュ蕎麦

This was my quick meal.

I always enjoy a soba bowl like this.

Easy to make and very satisfying.

I happened to have natto beans and fresh radishes, and they always make a great addition to my soba bowl.

Drizzle soy maple sauce (dressing).

Set the table.

Bon Appetit.

Natto Radish Soba

100g cooked soba noodles
1 package natto beans
2 radishes, grated
2 tablespoons chopped scallion
3 tablespoons chopped tomato
1 tablespoon pickled eggplant (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped Shiso Japanese basil
soy maple sauce
– 1 tablespoon soy sauce
– 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
– 1 tablespoon maple syrup
– 2 drops sesame oil
– salt

1. Serve soba noodles with the vegetables.
2. Make soy maple sauce. Mix all the ingredients well.
3. Serve the soba bowl with the sauce.