Hearty Risotto & Peace Beets

My once-Beatnik uncle sent me a link, http://www.intentionexperiment911.com/, because he thought I might like to participate in a guided peaceful meditation that happened on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. He was right, I immediately signed up. My hope was that a massive, global effort by ordinary people, like myself, would counter some of the violent impulses that drive otherwise ordinary people in this troubled world. Just like how I feel the all-consuming peace when praying together with many, as in a church or solemn gathering. I was hopeful that my mental and heartfelt focus on peace in Afghanistan would help in some unseen way.

At the appointed time, I got comfortable and followed the website guidelines to think about peace using all the senses. Visually, I conjured a verdant sun dappled forest scene, redwood and ceder trees. Next I allowed the chirping birds outside my window join this imaginary scene. A peaceful smell would have to be floral. I imagined the sweet, tropical whiff of plumeria. How would peace feel like if I could touch it? Water and air, so very precious to our bodies. I pictured a cool stream to dip my hand into and a light pleasant breeze to inhale. Lastly there is the taste of peace.

Probably nothing too spicy or tart. Bland? Creamy? Sweet? My favorite cookies would make too much noise crunching in my mouth, which strikes me as too aggressive an action to represent peace. I needed to think of a taste that didn't involve chewing. When do we eat, or drink most quietly? A breast feeding baby doesn't even have teeth yet and is perfectly at peace. Mother's milk has to be the taste of peace. Too bad we don't remember this taste after toddler hood.

Speaking of milk, I found a fake cheese that is fresh and creamy tasting: Lisanatti brand of Original Almond, The Good Cheese Alternative, Garlic Herb Style. The texture is right, it melts well too. Its practically fat free and very low calorie. I added it into a wild and whole rice mix to make a creamy delicious dish very like risotto. I call the next side dish Peace Beets, because it is made with equal part onions, which are the most prevalent and popular vegetable on this planet. Beets purifies blood and helps circulation. The red beets even looks like a heart. It will take more courage than might to build peace on earth, don't you think?

Hearty Risotto

1 cup Lundberg Wild Blend rice (or 1/4 cup wild rice and 3/4 brown rice)

2 cups vegetable stock

1 tablespoon margarine

1 teaspoon salt

4 ounces Lisanatti almond, garlic style "cheese"

Mix all ingredients into a large sauce pan except the cheese. Bring it to a boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Let stand 10 more minutes with lid on. Add cheese by cutting it into small pieces, waiting a minute or two then blending it all together.

Peace Beets

Equal parts onions and beets.

Olive oil (1-3 tablespoons depending on how much you cook)

In a large stock pot, boil washed beets for 30-45 minutes. Drain and when cool enough to touch, peel skins off of the beets. Meanwhile, peel and slice onions medium, thin. Heat them in a large fry pan, (or maybe you could use the large stock pot?) then add oil and heat another minute before adding the onions. Fry until they start to caramelize. Turn off heat, if beets are not ready yet. When beets are cool enough to handle, grate them into tiny pieces. Yes your fingers will turn red. By the way, eating a lot of beets might darken urination color too! Next mix beets with the onions in the pan. Heat through. Season to taste.

Greek Appetizer

My inspiration came from the Celebrate! cookbook by Sheila Lukins. In her Greek Easter section, there are several appetizers that are vegan. Pictured above are skordalia, baba ghanoush, bean and beet salad, and pita triangles. Their rich, snappy flavors wowed my husband and brother. However, the preparation of these dishes was labor intensive. So set aside 2 hours and put on some Mediterranean polka music (Lukens suggests Nikos Gounaris, or Nana Mouskouri).

Skordalia

1yukon gold, red, or white potato (4 0z)

4-5 slices stale white bread

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 cloves garlic

1. Cut potato into quarters and boil until tender; I used a microwave oven. Once potato is cool peel off skin and put into your food processor or strong blender.

2. Dip your stale white vegan bread ( I needed to use up some sourdough and it seemed to work, if you like that added taste) into water to saturate, then squeeze gently until bread is no longer dripping profusely. Your bread is not stale? I put mine out on the stove while the eggplant was baking. Or put some slices out of it's package a day ahead, or toast it slightly. Set aside.

3. Mix the lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt and sugar together and set aside.

4. mash the garlic through a garlic press and add this and the almonds to the

potato. Pulse your machine on and off just until smooth. Don't over mix.

5. With the machine running, add a little of the lemon juice mixture and bread, alternating between until all is processed and smooth. Transfer to serving bowl.

Baba Ghanoush

2 eggplants (about 2 pounds)

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon tahini (sesame paste)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

salt and pepper to taste

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. 
   
   Poke the eggplants with toothpick or tines of a fork a few times. Wrap them in aluminum foil. Place on baking sheet and roast for an hour until very soft.
3. 
   
   Finely chop the garlic with the salt and set aside.
4. 
   
   Remove the eggplant from oven. Carefully unwrap the foil as soon as possible to expedite cooling. When safe to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the seeds. Yes they are tiny and pervasive! You will end up throwing away much of this fruit, but the seeds will make the dip bitter. Scoop out the remaining flesh or peel off the skin, which ever is easier and place in a food processor or blender.
5. 
   
   Add all remaining ingredients, except salt and pepper. Blend just until mixed. Transfer into serving bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bean and Beet Salad

Vinaigrette

1/4 red wine vinegar

2 small cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoons coarse (kosher)salt

Fresh ground pepper

Salad

1 can cannelini beans, 14 oz.

1 can sliced beets, 8 oz.

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 /2 cup chopped walnuts

2 scallions, chopped

1. 
   
   Mince the garlic into the salt. Put into a closeable container. Add vinegar and oil and shake vigorously before pouring half into the salad.
2. 
   
   Drain and rinse and pat dry the beans. Mix with the parsley and toss with the vinaigrette dressing.
3. 
   
   Drain beets and cut into fourths. Gently fold in beets. Transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle walnuts and scallions.

These dips should be served with warm pita bread. I covered and refridgerated all of them. They kept for a few days. Today I ate them for breakfast just before a road trip. My companion did not partake, therefore she will be subjected to my garlic breath. Sometimes I am so cruel. Bru Ha Ha.

Roasting

Here you see Spaghetti Squash with Cilantro Pesto Sauce and Beets with Greens.

Now we are going to flash back to what they once were:



A beautiful Spaghetti Squash -

A handsome beet trio:

Punctured and wrapped, then roasted for one hour at 375 degrees.

It could be the beginning of a murder mystery. But it's the story of an adventure in the kitchen.

Spaghetti Squash with Cilantro Pesto Sauce

serves 4

1 medium spaghetti squash

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro, large stems removed

1/2 cup roasted macadamia nuts or pine nuts

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lime juice

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons each cilantro leaves and pine nuts for garnish.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Pierce spaghetti squash shell several times with a large fork, and place in a baking dish. Bake 25 minutes, turn squash over, bake until flesh is tender and yields gently to pressure 20-35 minutes more

NOTE: For my dinner, I wanted to dress the plate up with some vibrant color, so I chose beets. Roasting beets preserves the color and the sweet flavor. I am linking you here to beautiful beet roasting instructions by About.com. It's a good idea to use the oven as efficiently as you can. Roasting 2 vegetables at the same time will make you stand a little taller, knowing you've done your bit to use energy efficiently.

3. While squash is cooking, strip cilantro leaves from stems and set leaves aside. Finely chop thin stems and place them in a blender or food processor.

4. Add nuts, garlic, lemon and lime juices, oil and salt. Puree. Add the cilantro leaves and process until leaves are coarsely chopped.

5. Once squash is cooked, let cool 10-15 minutes, then cut in half and use a spoon to remove seeds and strings from the center. Pull two forks lengthwise through flesh to separate into long strands.

6. Pile the Spaghetti into a large bowl, add pesto sauce and mix well.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and pine nuts.

The Beets

I love beet greens. So, I removed the greens from the stems, chopped them a bit, and set them aside. When the beets came out of the oven, I let them cool, then slipped off their skins and sliced them into beautiful crimson coins. In a small sauce pan, I heated a couple of tablespoons of oil, sauteed a chopped shallot, added the beet greens and tossed them while they wilted to about half their original volume. I added the beet slices and heated through. Done. 

About.com suggested that you can use the oil and beet juices that collect in the aluminum foil pocket for your dressing. Brilliant. I did just that. My dressing was a little lemon, a little olive oil, a dash of salt, and the beet drippings. I drizzled this over the beets. Yum.

A crunch texture was missing from this meal. Maybe next time I'll reserve more pine nuts for the garnish. Maybe a bright carrot salad would be nice. And maybe I won't toss all of the pesto into the squash, but serve it as a sauce on top of the squash. Yes, the flavors are all there, the presentation needs a little work.