Patrick Recommends: Herbed Chickpea Crackers

• Herbed Chickpea Crackers
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• I bought some chickpea flour at a local Middle Eastern market
• when I had the grand idea of becoming the Chicago King of
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• baked falafel. In the process, I found a boxed mix that does a
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• better job than I ever could. In researching uses for the
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• chickpea flour, I found this cracker recipe. These are savory
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• guilt-free crackers that impress.
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• Time 15 minutes
• Serves 4

Ingredients

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• 1/2 cup chickpea flour, sifted before measuring
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tbsp pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• 3-5 tablespoons water

How to make it

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• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Mix all dry ingredients together well.
• Begin stirring in water one tablespoon at a time. When the dough can be formed into a ball, you have added enough water.
• Knead the dough several times to distribute the ingredients, and then roll it in plastic wrap and let rest 15-20 minutes.
• Dust your work area and rolling pin well with the gluten-free flour.
• Divide dough in half, put half on the floured surface, and sprinkle the top with flour.
• Roll it out extremely thin, and cut it into 1" squares.
• Place crackers on a non-stick cookie sheet and repeat with other half of dough.
• Prick each cracker once or twice with a fork.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then turn off oven and allow them to cool inside.
• http://www.grouprecipes.com/40591/herbed-chickpea-crackers.html

Alexandra Recommends: Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 large garlic cloves, halved

1 cup dried black beans, washed and picked over

6 cups water

1 14-ounce can tomatoes, drained

2 teaspoons lightly toasted cumin seeds, ground

1 canned chipotle pepper, rinsed, or 1 serrano pepper, coarsely chopped (optional)

1. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add half of the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, and add two of the garlic cloves. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, and add the beans and the water. Discard any of the beans that float, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours until the beans are tender.

2. While the beans are simmering, combine the remaining onion, drained tomatoes, cumin, chile and remaining garlic in a blender, and blend until smooth. Heat the remaining oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot enough for a drop of the puree to sizzle upon contact. Add the puree, and cook, stirring, for five to 10 minutes until the mixture is thick and leaves a canal when you run a spoon or spatula down the center of the pan. Stir in a cup of liquid from the beans, and simmer over medium heat for five to 10 minutes until thick and fragrant. Scrape into the beans with a rubber spatula. Season the beans with salt, and simmer another 15 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

3. Blend the soup coarsely using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender (cover the top with a towel to avoid hot splashes) or a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Return to the pot, and heat through, stirring. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: The soup will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/health/nutrition/26recipehealth.html

Patrick Recommends: Ranch Style Beans

Ranch style beans
Ingredients:

16 oz. of dried pinto beans
6 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 15 oz. can of tomatoes (or 2 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 cup of water
6 cups of beef broth
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
1. Soak the beans covered in water—either overnight or the quick soak method in which you place the beans in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat and let sit for one hour.
2. Drain the soaked beans.
3. In a cast-iron skillet heated up to medium high, cook the anchos on each side for a couple of minutes (or until they start to bubble and pop), turn off the heat and fill the skillet with warm water. Let them sit until soft and rehydrated, which should happen after half an hour or so.
4. In the pot you’ll be cooking your beans, heat up a teaspoon of canola oil and cook the onions for ten minutes on medium. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Throw the cooked onions and garlic in a blender and add the tomatoes, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, paprika, cumin, oregano, water and hydrated ancho chiles. Puree until smooth.
5. Add the pinto beans and beef broth to the pot and stir in the chile puree. On high, bring the pot to a boil and then cover; turn the heat down to low and simmer for two and a half hours, stirring occasionally. At this point, I check my beans for tenderness as depending on the freshness of the beans I find that the cooking time can be as short as two and a half hours and as long as four hours. When you're satisfied that the beans are done, salt and pepper to taste.
Feeds four to six.
Notes: If you can’t find dried ancho chiles, you can substitute either ancho chile powder or regular chili powder. I’d use 1/4 of a cup. These are not fiery beans, but if you want a bit more heat I'd throw in a bit of Cayenne. And I always add a pinch of baking soda to my soaking beans to help with digestion issues. You may do the same.

Dan Recommends: Sauteed Kale with Tahini Sauce

Oh my, this is a good one. I never would have thought to pair kale with tahini (thank you to my friend Peg for the suggestion), but it's great. Sort of reminiscent of a popular Japanese dish with spinach and sesame gomasio. The slightly bitter green kale does a happy dance with the acidic lemon and salty richness of the tahini sauce. Very easy to pull together. Would make an excellent addition to a Thanksgiving or holiday spread. Enjoy. (And as my dad says, eat your greens!)

Sautéed Kale with Tahini Sauce Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound kale, well rinsed

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• Salt

• 4 Tbsp tahini (use tahini made with toasted sesame seeds, not raw)

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

• 3-4 Tbsp water

• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish

1 Using a sharp paring knife, cut out the rib of each kale leaf. Discard or compost. Slice the leaves roughly 1/2-inch thick.

2 Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large sauté pan. When hot, add the chopped onion. Cook for a couple of minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.

3 Add the kale to the sauté pan. Even if you have a pretty large pan, the kale will be practically falling out of it. Put in as much as you can and use tongs to turn over and mix with the oil and onions. After a couple minutes the kale should wilt a bit so you can add the rest of the raw kale. Cook, turning the kale leaves over occasionally until the kales leaves have wilted and are tender. Sprinkle a little salt over the kale leaves while cooking.

4 While the kale is cooking, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and dark sesame oil. Add more salt and sesame oil to taste.

5 Once the kale is done, toss in the sauce, reserving a little to drizzle on top. Serve, topped with a little sauce and toasted sesame seeds.

Yield: Serves 4.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sauteed_kale_with_tahini_sauce/