Great Northern Beans with Baby Collards and Spinach

I love my garden! I don't have a whole lot of space in the garden, but I have nice rows of collards and spinach just getting ready to pick, and a few nice basil and cilantro plants. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks. This dish is sort of a variation of the lemony linguine I made a couple days ago. This is the first time I've grown collard greens, and in the process of thinning out the plants to allow the bigger collard stalks to grow, I've learned that baby collards are delicious. They're joined by spinach, lemon juice, olive oil, and basil.

Great Northern Beans with Baby Collards and Spinach
2 cups great northern beans (or whatever beans you fancy), soaked overnight, cooked for about 45 minutes, and drained
2 cups baby collard greens, very loosely packed
2 cups spinach leaves
a little fresh basil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
salt and pepper to taste

1. While the beans are cooking, wash your greens and prepare the other ingredients.

2. Saute the garlic in 1 tbsp. olive oil, until the garlic just begins to brown. Remove from heat, as always being careful not to burn your garlic.

3. Right after draining the beans, add the garlic and accompanying oil, along with the greens, lemon juice, and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix everything well, and leave covered for just a couple of minutes - the greens will soften a little as the lightly cook in the steam the beans are giving off. Season with salt and pepper, and you're ready to eat.

Mushroom and Tempeh Stir-Fry

I make a lot of stir-frys, which rarely show up on this blog. They're a great way to get a variety of veggies and protein into a simple meal, and require very little work, which lazy people like me appreciate. This is a good sample - crispy fried tempeh, zucchini and fresh mushrooms, and a sauce heavy on ginger and garlic. This was served over pearl couscous, mostly because couscous requires so little cooking time, and it's hot up here on the second floor.

Mushroom and Tempeh Stir-Fry
1 8 oz. package tempeh, cut in one-inch cubes
1 cup zucchini, coarsely chopped
1 cup white mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. tamari
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. sesame oil

Stir-Fry Sauce
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. vegetable soup broth powder
1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp. tamari soy sauce
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1. In a large non-stick frying pan, fry the tempeh cubes in the combined sesame and canola oil until lightly browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. When the tempeh is browned, add a tbsp. of tamari soy sauce - the sauce will spatter and crackle in the oil, but will quickly be soaked up by the tempeh cubes. Continue frying for another minute or so until the tamari is incorporated into the tempeh cubes. Remove from heat, and place tempeh cubes in a separate bowl until later.

2. Combine the stir-fry sauce ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.

3. In the same frying pan, heat a little more sesame oil and canola oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so. Add the zucchini and mushrooms, and stir-fry just until the vegetables begin to soften and release their moisture. Both of these veggies cook very quickly, so don't overdo it.

4. When the veggies begin to soften, add the fried tempeh and the contents of the stir-fry sauce mixture. Continue stirring over medium heat. The cornstarch in the sauce will thicken pretty quickly. As soon as the sauce develops a thick consistency, remove from heat. Serve immediately, or cover until your grain/pasta of choice is finished cooking. Serve the stir-fry over your grain or pasta, and finish with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and hot pepper sauce.

Lemon-Spinach-Zucchini Linguine

It's getting to be the time of year to cook greens at any opportunity. This simple pasta dish features fresh spinach and zucchini, tossed with a good-quality linguine I spent a little extra on. It was worth it, though I usually opt for cheaper pasta that doesn't pretend to emulate the hand-made stuff. Anyway, the very lightly cooked vegetables are finished with a liberal amount of lemon juice, making the dish a refreshing option on summer days when extensive cooking isn't going to happen.

Lemon-Spinach-Zucchini Linguine (isn't that fun to say?)
1/2 pound linguine noodles
1 bunch (10 ounces or so) fresh spinach leaves, cleaned and stems removed
1 smallish zucchini, sliced lengthwise and thinly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil

1. Cook the pasta in lightly salted water. Meanwhile, saute the minced garlic in just enough olive oil to coat your pan, over a medium flame.

2. Add zucchini to the garlic saute, and cook for about a minute. Add the spinach leaves, and cook just until wilted. Stir frequently to speed the wilting of the leaves. There is no reason to overcook these - in fact, this would work just fine raw, but I like what happens when the veggies cook a little in good olive oil.

3. When your linguine is al dente, drain it. Add the noodles to your frying pan (which should be off the heat by now), and toss to evenly distribute the spinach and zucchini. Finish by mixing in the lemon juice, and feel free to add a little more olive oil too right before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mango-Coconut Ice Cream Sundae

The ice cream maker made another appearance this week, whipping up this delicious coconut milk ice cream, flavored with lime juice and flecks of mango. The sundae topping is a simple mango syrup I made on the stove - just mango, sugar, and a little water simmered for 15 minutes and pureed in the blender. Top with some unsalted roasted peanuts, and make every day a sundae.

Butternut Squash Smoothie

I acknowledge that my postings this summer have been kind of...well...lazy. Not many detailed recipes, and the things I have posted have been pretty simple. But that's ok. Here's an example. It took about 2 minutes to put together, but tasted damn good. In my book, that's a success.

Butternut Squash Smoothie
1 cup roasted (and cooled...do I even need to say that?) butternut squash, or whatever squash or pumpkin you have hanging around in the fridge
1 cup nondairy milk (soymilk here)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. sugar or other sweetener

1. Blend that shit.

Quinoa and Friends Veggie Burritos

Someday I'll write a memoir about my experiences with veggie burritos. Today, just this photo. These veggie burritos came together almost by accident. On Tuesday I rushed home from a job to take the dogs out and whip up a quick lunch. I had a pot on the stove with a leftover quinoa stir-fry from the night before, and added a can of black beans, some shredded zucchini, and a little salsa (home-made by Mom). I grabbed a few flour tortillas and headed outside for a little picnic in the backyard with the dogs, and realized I had a pretty mean veggie burrito on my hands. Ingredients include quinoa, edamame, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, onions and garlic, followed by those black beans and zucchini.

Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper

Hummus is a humble thing, and that's why I like it. Simple ingredients come together with satisfying results. This is my basic hummus recipe, with a few pieces of roasted red sweet pepper for color and taste. Enjoy with fresh veggies for dipping, or spread on your bread of choice, like I did here. If it's lunchtime around here, there's a good chance hummus will make an appearance.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
1 14 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup roasted red pepper pieces
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure everything is well blended.