Rustic Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

We had a large number of cherry tomatoes we bought at Riverdale Organic Farmer’s Market, mostly from a momentary lapse of brain function (I forgot that I had bought some just five minutes earlier, but, in my defence, there are so many good looking and interesting fruits and vegetables at the Market, it’s hard not to take some of everything home). We also had some very nice basil, so we decided to make this pasta sauce. I call it rustic, because I left the cherry tomatoes mostly whole, only cut them in half, and did not blend them, so they have retained their shape. Not only are these cherry tomatoes good looking, but they are good tasting, and this pasta sauce was quite good. We enjoyed this on spaghettini with some vegetarian sausage.

Rustic Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce
1 medium onion
2 large cloves of garlic
1 tbsp oil
35-40 cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh basil, plus more for garnish
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Dice onion and mince garlic and add to pan; sautée until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, cut cherry tomatoes in half. Add them to the pan, along with the basil, salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are very tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Kale and Chickpea Stir-Fry

The recipe that I got from the 'Net was adapted from another, which I found out has tofu in it; I think that it would be a good addition to this stir-fry vegetable dish, adding protein and some "meat". Even without the tofu, it tastes pretty good, the kale, often bitter, gets mellowed out by the chickpeas and lemon flavour. This is an easy recipe to make, and makes a good side-dish or even alone, for lunch or dinner. It can be eaten cold as well.

Kale and Chickpea Stir-Fry
1 can chickpeas
1 bunch Kale, tough stems removed and chopped
1/4 cup shallots, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 Tbsp oil
juice of 1 lemon

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. In a wok, heat the oil and saute the shallots and garlic till soft. Add salt and the chickpeas and saute till the chickpeas turn golden and crusty, about 8-10 minutes. Add the red pepper and mix well. Add the kale and saute for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and mix well. Season with more salt if needed.

Restaurant Review - Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen

I read in the latest Eye Weekly about Jean Seow, the owner of Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen, she is one of several Chefs in Toronto that they admire, and I want to add my second to that (or thousandth to that...). Her restaurant is located on the Danforth near Greenwood (on the north side and east of Greenwood), and is all vegetarian, yet she serves mock-meat (made from soy) dishes that are almost as good as the thing it replaces. Certainly the dishes are Thai and Malaysian, in flavour and style, and my beautiful Bride and I went there, because it serves Thai food, and because it serves vegetarian dishes, and because it serves delicious food.

We've only been there a few times, (it is too far for us to travel from our end of the city - but well worth the trip), and had occasion to try some of their offerings. We've tried their Crispy Spring Rolls, which were good; their Mango Salad, fresh and tasty; Malaysian Curry, my beautiful Bride enjoyed it; Mee Siam, which I enjoyed; Garlic Mustard Greens, very tasty; and their Honey Lemonade, interesting and tasty. I don't recall any dish not being at least good, and there are a lot of dishes that I have not had the opportunity to try but wanted to.

As I've said, Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen is a little far for us to go, but it's easy to get to if you are in Toronto, take the TTC Subway to Greenwood station on the Bloor-Danforth line, from there it's a short walk. There's also lots to check out on the Danforth, a lively part of Toronto.

Nelakee Vegetarian Ham

This is the vegetarian ham that we normally buy, it's made of soybean protein and vegetarian spices and is produced in Taiwan. It's a very versatile "meat"; you can steam, fry, boil, grill or stir-fry it. It's quite good tasting as well.

Roast Squash, Onion and Garlic Soup

This is a good winter soup, the natural sweetness of the butternut squash is brought out by roasting. I definitely like the yellow colour of the finished soup. I also like roasted garlic; they become sweet and delicious. Put in a good chicken broth for even more flavour. Serve hot with a good hunk of bread.

Roast Squash, Onion and Garlic Soup
1 butternut squash (1/2 kg)
1 onion
1/3 bulb garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp dried rosemary leaves, crumbled
pinch coarse sea salt and pepper
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Preheat oven to 190C/375F.

Peel skin from butternut squash, cut into half, then scoop out seeds and seed membranes from inside; cut into 2-inch chunks. Cut onion into wedges. Separate cloves of garlic (about 7-8), but do not remove skin.

In medium bowl, toss vegetables with oil, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Spread onto a large shallow roasting pan and roast for 40-45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven.

Squeeze roasted garlic cloves out of their skin. Remove any burned vegetables. Puree roasted vegetables with vegetable broth until smooth (or leave a little chunky for more texture). Heat in saucepan until bubbling and hot.

Bua Loy

This Thai dessert can be found throughout Central Thailand, certainly in Bangkok, though it mostly likely features only ones made from taro, and sometimes sweet pumpkin. It's also served sometimes with a poached egg. My beautiful bride decided to try her hand at making five different kinds (and she actually made six, but the one with avocado did not turn out) - though she tells me it wasn't her favourite dessert in Thailand. Each of these kinds requires a different amount of rice flour, add about half the 100 g, then keep on adding until the dough becomes smooth and is no longer sticky. Make very small balls, smaller than a marble; they cook better and thus taste better. Probably one of the more labour intensive desserts we've made, at least rolling the little balls, I guess you'd get good at it if you do it enough! The end result - delicious! And interesting colours, the sweet potato and beet root turned out especially well. You can get frozen pandan leaves in some Chinese supermarkets.

Bua Loy
100 g of each peeled potato, taro, sweet potato, japanese sweet potato or beet root
100 g glutinous rice flour per each of the above
1 cup warm water
1 can coconut milk
1 cup water
1 piece palm sugar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 pandan leaves

Cut all root vegetables into smaller chunks and steam them separately until soft. Once they are done, mash each of them finely using a potato ricer or masher (if using beet root, use a food processor to chop finely).

Knead each root vegetable with up to 100 g glutinous rice flour (start with half the rice flour, and add more as needed); gradually add 1 tablespoon of warm water and knead until it becomes a smooth and not sticky dough (for sweet potato, add 1/2 tablespoon of water); if the dough is sticky, add more flour - don't add more than 1 tablespoon water at a time. Break off small pieces of the dough and roll between your two palms to become a small ball (smaller ones tastes better).

Tie 2 pandan leaves into a knot and put into coconut milk. Add water, palm sugar, brown sugar and salt and bring to boil. Tie another 2 pandan leaves into a knot and put into a pot of water to boil. Have a pot of cold water by the side. Boil each of the small balls separately; once they float it means they are cooked. Put the cooked balls into the cold water to stop them cooking and to prevent them from sticking together.

Put some of each of the different balls into bowls and top them with prepared sweet hot coconut milk.

Sweet Potato Fries

I got the idea of using rice flour to coat sweet potato fries, to make them crunchier, from the Thai fried chicken recipe I recently made, and I also read that one of the major fast food chains uses it to cook their potato fries. Well enough, whether they use rice flour or not, it did help to make them crunchier and less soggy. Make sure your oil is not too hot, otherwise the outside will cook faster than the inside, and they will look like they're done, before they actually are.

Sweet Potato Fries
large sweet potato, sliced into thin "fries"
rice flour, enough to coat
vegetable oil for frying

Cut the sweet potato thinly, into fries, using a sharp knife or mandoline. Coat the sweet potato with rice flour (no need to wetten the sweet potato).

Place oil in wok or heavy-bottomed pan to 2 inches deep, or use a deep fryer. Heat oil to 350F, on medium heat. Cook fries for 6-8 minutes in small batches, until they are golden brown in colour. Lower heat if fries turn brown too quickly. Place cooked fries on paper towel to drain oil. Salt as desired.

Stir-fried King Oyster Mushrooms, Snow Peas and Black Moss

Being Chinese New Year last week (26 January), we wanted to make some traditional dishes with food that is thought to bring luck, or wealth, or happiness for the next year. This is the year of the Ox, time for hard work. Black moss, also called fat choy or faat choy, sounds similar to the popular Chinese New Year saying in Cantonese, Gung Hei Faat Choi (congratulations and be prosperous), so is thought to bring wealth and is a popular ingredient in dishes served during the Chinese New Year. The proper black moss looks like black hair (though is dark green) and is a little disconcerting but tasty, and cooked properly has a consistency similar to thin cellophane noodles. I have found it to be an interesting taste, and this dish is tasty, but I have also read that black moss might contain a certain toxin which could impact your health (it brings you wealth but not health, I guess). Eat only at Chinese New Year, I would say.

Stir-fried King Oyster Mushrooms, Snow Peas and Black Moss
1/2 oz (14 g) black moss
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 lb (340 g) king oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
6 tbsp chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 lb (340 g) snow peas or sugar snap peas, trimmed
Salt to taste

Soak moss in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse and squeeze dry. Tear into 2-inch lengths and set aside.

In wok or large frying pan, heat oil over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 10 seconds – don't let it brown. Add mushrooms, cooking wine, soy and stock.

Stir-fry until mushrooms are limp, about 3 minutes. Add snow peas and stir-fry until crisp tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and transfer with slotted spoon to serving dish. Add moss to liquid remaining in wok and stir-fry just until hot. Mound moss in centre of mushrooms and serve.

King's Vegetarian Food

My beautiful Bride had know about King's Café, a vegetarian restaurant, with an outlet on Augusta Ave. in Toronto, and others in the Maritimes, but they are part of a larger family of food companies, including Zen Gardens restaurants, with many outlets including one in Mississauga; The King's Tea Inc., seller of many fine Chinese teas (which are also sold at Zen Gardens) under the name of Zen Tea; and King's Vegetarian Food, maker and seller of Chinese-style soy-based vegetarian food substitutes (mock chicken, etc.). I suspect that their products are used by Zen Gardens. They have an outlet, and packaging facility, in Mississauga, located at 355 Brunel Road (905-501-8366). Their soy-based mock meat products are varied, I've seen mock chicken, pork, bacon, turkey, mutton, salmon and tuna. Their chicken is quite tasty and works well in recipes calling for chicken; I'm hoping their mutton is as good. They also sell their Zen Tea line there. As to their hours, Monday to Friday they are open normal business hours (I believe), and, while they are closed Saturdays, in our experience, if you call them during the day and they are working, someone will open the door and allow you to purchase what you'd like.

Mixed Vegetables with Sweet and Sour Sauce

We've made this recipe several times, it's so tasty (my beautiful Bride especially likes it), since we found it in a recipe book called Fresh Thai (restaurants would just use vinegar to make it sour, this is a better and healthier version - and fresher). You can use any combination of vegetables you have on hand, today's version includes brussel sprouts. For a totally vegetarian version, substitute light soy sauce for the fish sauce. The recipe in Fresh Thai calls for pineapple in light syrup, we prefer pineapple in its own juice, it's not as sweet and you can add more sugar if you want. If you have a 14 oz can of pineapple, like we normally find, use 2/3 of a can. This is a quick and easy vegetarian recipe, and one we made for our recent Christmas Dinner feast.

Mixed Vegetables with Sweet and Sour Sauce
adapted from a recipe from Fresh Thai by Oi Cheepchaiissara
1 lb mixed vegetables, such as baby corn, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, zucchini and red and yellow bell peppers
1 onion
2 tomatoes
8 oz canned pineapple slices in its own juice (or light syrup)
2 Tbsp vegetable stock or water
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1-1/2 Tbsp tomato ketchup
1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp sunflower oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
boiled rice, to serve

Prepare the vegetables. Cut the baby corn and green beans in half lengthwise at an angle, if using. Cut the carrots into matchsticks. Cut the unpeeled zucchini in half lengthwise and then into thick slices. Core and seed the bell peppers and cut into bite-sized pieces. Cut the cauliflower into larger pieces. Cut the onion into 8 slices and the tomatoes into quarters.

Drain the pineapple (reserving the liquid) and cut each slice into 4 pieces. Mix the pineapple juice (about 6 tablespoons) with the stock, cornstarch, ketchup and fish sauce in a small bowl to make a smooth sauce.

Heat the oil in a nonstick wok or skillet and stir-fry the garlic over medium heat until it is lightly browned. Add the corn, beans, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, peppers and onion and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.

Add the pineapple pieces, tomato and pineapple juice sauce and stir together for another minute.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately with fragrant rice.

Black Beans in Sweet Coconut Sauce (Tua Dam)

This is a simple, yet delicious dessert, the combination of black beans with coconut is quite good (I'd have thought of black beans as a savoury dish ingredient, and mostly in Western food, though it works well as a dessert).

Black Beans in Sweet Coconut Sauce
1 cup dry black beans
3/4 cup coconut milk
salt to taste
1/3 cup palm sugar
2 Tbsp cane sugar
1/2 cup sliced young coconut meat
2 cups water

Soak the black beans in water overnight. They will swell to approximately double their size.

Place the beans in a steamer and steam for 30 minutes, until they are slightly tender.

Put the sugars, coconut milk, water, salt and young coconut meat together in a pan and boil on a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the beans are tender.

Chinese Spaghetti Sauce Soup

Chinese spaghetti sauce a vegetarian sauce, we first encountered this dish when we went to the Buddhist Temple in Mississauga, we tried to near-duplicate their noodle-soup dish. The sauce is mostly soy and wheat gluten in oil with a little green bean, mushroom, sugar and spices. You can use it directly on spaghetti as a sauce, but it works well as a ingredient in soup.

You can use any kind of noodles in this dish, we had egg noodles on hand. To make it non-vegetarian, you can use heated chicken stock. To finish the soup, stir together so that the sauce permeates throughout the stock. Quite delicious.

Chinese Spaghetti Sauce Soup
egg noodles, enough for two
mushroom stock, made with boiling water
baby bok choy, a handful per person
julienned carrot, a handful per person
Chinese spaghetti sauce, 2 Tbsp per person

Cook the noodles until they are done. Place noodles in the bottom of a big soup bowl. Blanch the bok choy for 2 minutes, until they are slightly soft. Place a handful of bok choy leaves on top of the noodles. Place a handful of julienned carrots on top of the noodles. Carefully cover the soup ingredients with the stock. Place a couple of tablespoons of the Chinese spaghetti sauce on the side. Serve hot.

Happiness Soup

This is a recipe that I knew would be good when I saw it, and, seeing yellow zucchini at the Farmer's Market last week, I decided it was finally time to make it. And, it turned out as good as it looked. The zesty lemon taste coupled with the turmeric along with the zucchini gives it a slightly sour flavour which is refreshing. I like the combination of the chewy rice and the slightly crunch zucchini. I would say that this soup could make me happy.

Happiness Soup
adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson
4 medium yellow zucchini
zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 litre vegetable stock
100 g brown basmati rice
salt and pepper

Finely dice the zucchini. Put them into a pan with the lemon zest and oil, stir to coat, then cook on medium low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they've slightly softened.

Stir in the turmeric and pour in the vegetable stock and lemon juice and then drop in the rice. Bring to boil, then cook, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes, or just until the zucchini and rice are tender.

Restaurant Review - Zen Gardens Vegetarian Restaurant

We were in Cambridge on the weekend for my brother-in-law's birthday, being late for his birthday dinner, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity to try a restaurant we had seen several times but never gone to, the vegetarian restaurant Zen Gardens, located near the old City Hall on Water Street. The decor as we entered, and in the main room is designed to be soothing and calming, Japanese architecture. The tables were arranged prettily, each set of chopsticks lined up perfectly next to the menus. We perused the menu, seeing lots of choices, some with vegetables and tofu and rice (what I would call normal vegetarian dishes), and some with the "fake" soy protein version of chicken. There were also a fair number of interesting teas, some health-oriented, some green teas, some served cold. We decided each to take a lunch combination meal, I chose the Kung Po Soy-Chicken, while my beautiful Bride chose Enoki Mushroom balls. We each selected a Health-Tea, mine was something called Gynostemma Pentaphyllum (also known as jiaogulan or the Herb of Immortality); hers was Red Zizyphus-Longan tea (also more commonly known as Red Date). We found the service to be a little slow, at least in taking our orders, but, once they were taken, the food came quickly. First, that came as part of the Combination Lunch, was Wonton Soup, which, along with wonton filled with mushrooms and vegetables, has carrots, mushrooms and bok choy in a vegetable broth, very simple and delicious. Our teas were served next, the Gynostemma had an intriguing smell and a good taste, the Longan tea was quite sweet but good. The rest of our Combination Lunches arrived in Bento box format, there were several side dishes along with the main meal - 2 soy chicken nuggets with plum sauce (which I found to have an odd texture); a lettuce salad with grapes, cucumber and carrots, and a fruity, tangy dressing; and steamed rice made from wild rice, brown rice and red rice. My Kung Po chicken was very delicious, the "chicken" had the mouthfeel if not the flavour of chicken, there was also pillow tofu, celery and green peppers and bamboo chunks, and a very spicy sauce that was very good. The Enoki Mushroom balls were deep-fried, very interesting in flavour and texture, pretty good. My beautiful Bride also ordered a dish to go, to eat later, one that she was contemplating selecting earlier, Fried Bean-Curd and Veggies, a house specialty, which has beancurd with a seaweed crust, but ended up not tasting so good. We were served 2 complimentary desserts, one was an orange mousse cake, mine was a chocolate-coffee mousse cake, both tasted pretty good. After the meal, we perused the many teas available for sale, I selected a tea that smells wonderfully of peach, called Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong. Overall, we enjoyed our visit to Zen Gardens, and would go again, perhaps to the one on Augusta Avenue in Toronto, it's a little closer.

More Pictures from Tea House - Fo Guang Shang Temple of Toronto

We were at the New Year Fair at the Fo Guang Shang Temple of Toronto in Mississauga, and we decided to again partake of the wonderful vegetarian fare at the Tea House, simple yet flavourful.

Here is a noodle soup with sauce, the noodles are wheat noodles.

Here is the same as the above dish, except the noodles are made from rice.

Here are two different pictures of the Fresh Fruits tea. See how lovely an orange colour it is.

Rachel Ray's Stoup

We made several changes to the recipe that Rachel Ray makes Chicken Cacciatore Stoup; Stoup because it is thicker than a Stew, and thinner than a Soup. We replaced the chicken breasts (about one pound) with mock chicken, we used Yukon Gold (yellow-fleshed) potatoes rather than russet, we didn't add the 4 ribs celery hearts (because we didn't have any), we used Ontario Merlot rather than dry Italian red wine (it was what we had on hand), we used regular crushed tomatoes rather than the fire-roasted ones it calls for (does anyone know where one can find fire-roasted tomatoes?), and we used vegetable stock rather than the chicken stock it calls for. Basically, we made a vegetarian version of her recipe. It still tasted quite good. We had it alone, with rice and with noodles as a spaghetti sauce. All worked well.

Rachel Ray's Stoup
Adapted from a recipe by Rachel Ray
1 package mock chicken, 270 g
Coarse salt and black pepper
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-inch squares
4 portobello mushroom caps or 16 crimini mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered lengthwise, then thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and quartered lengthwise, then thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup Ontario Merlot red wine (eyeball it)
1 can diced tomatoes (15 ounces)
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
2 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary (3-4 sprigs), finely chopped
1 cup basil or arugula or baby spinach leaves, shredded or torn

Heat a deep skillet or a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons olive oil and the chicken. Season it with coarse salt and pepper.

While the chicken cooks, chop up the veggies.

When the chicken is evenly and lightly browned all over, about 3-4 minutes, remove it to a plate and reserve.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil. Add the potatoes to the pan. Cook a couple of minutes, then add in the mushrooms and onion and cook another couple of minutes. Add in the peppers and garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.

Add chicken back to the pan. Toss it with the vegetables. Add red wine to the pan and deglaze it, picking up drippings. Add tomatoes and stock to the stoup and stir to combine. Stir in rosemary and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook, 8-10 minutes.

Turn off stoup and ladle into shallow bowls. Top with basil (for a sweet finish and to balance the spice in the soup) or arugula (for a peppery finish) or with spinach (for a woodsy finish). At the table, pass grated cheese for sprinkling on top of the stoup and bread for mopping up the bowl.

Restaurant Review - Tea House - Fo Guang Shang Temple of Toronto

Having been asked to google a good vegetarian restaurant, I found only a few listed, solely vegetarian anyways, one of them was auspicious, in that my beautiful Bride was looking to go to a Buddhist Temple for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations. Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto is located on Mill Creek Drive, just off of Erin Mills Parkway in Mississauga. One of its attractions, beyond what it provides for Buddhists as a Temple, is its Tea House, which serves vegetarian meals, snacks, and different teas and coffees. When we arrived there, we found a large bright building and parked at the back. A Buddhist Service was already in progress, so we decided to look around a little, then have lunch. Tours of the facility can be arranged; there is also a museum of Buddhist sculpture upstairs, and a Buddhist book store and library.

Having never been to the Tea House before, we were unaware that you needed to purchase coupons (essentially donations) for each food item that you ordered. Each coupon can be purchased for $5 in the hallway at one of the two information booths. On the recommendation of our server, we selected two dishes and a tea, each of these were very popular items. The first to arrive was a dish called Noodle in Red-cooked Soup, which had wheat noodles (spaghetti) in a red sauce, with baby bok choy, preserved mustard and imitation meat in a red-cooked soup (red cooking is a method of cooking, mostly meats, with certain spices such as Chinese five spice or star anise, the meat turns "red"). You could also have this dish with rice noodles, if you preferred. This dish tasted quite excellent, very simple, and was clearly my favourite of the two. The second of our dishes was a dish called Bean Sauce and Noodle, which contained cooked chopped red beans and more of the spaghetti noodles. This dish tasted pretty good, though not as good as the red-cooked soup. Last to arrive, a few minutes after the other two dishes had arrived, was our Fresh Fruits Tea, which was quite delicious when we tasted it. We've been to the Tea House once more, and had this again. The fruits in there are a mixture of orange and apple and some other ones, the tea itself was orange in colour, and more citrusy in flavour. Overall, it was $15 for two people, perhaps a little high for the amount of food, but, as it was a donation to the Temple, it felt good to pay that amount. They also serve good coffee (again $5 for a cup) and have desserts, including cheesecake. I think we would eat here again, especially if my beautiful Bride wishes to go to a Buddhist Temple.

Chickpea and Tomato Stew

My sister introduced me to this Mediterranean-style dish, I immediately got the recipe from her, as it tasted so good. Looking for a quick recipe to make last night, I decided to introduce my beautiful Bride to the same recipe, and she enjoyed it as well, not even adding her normal spice to try it as it was intended. We did make one change, we upped the amount of fresh herbs, originally it called for 1/3 cup parsley, instead we put in basil and cilantro. This makes for a quick and tasty lunch, we ate it with some whole-wheat Naan that we also wanted to try, pita bread or roti also would work well.

Chickpea and Tomato Stew
6 medium-size tomatoes or 1 can diced or whole tomatoes (28 fl. oz)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium-size onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 cups boiled, drained chickpeas or drained can chickpeas (19 fl. oz)
1 cup very finely chopped fresh parsley or basil or cilantro
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 cup water

If using fresh tomatoes, drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon and peel. Mince the tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a 7- to 8-inch wide pan over a medium flame. Put in the onions and garlic. Stir and fry for 3-4 minutes or until the onions are soft.

Put in the tomatoes. Stir and cook them for 3-4 minutes or until they are soft and paste-like.

Add the chickpeas, herbs, thyme, salt and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes.

Asian-style Noodle-Vegetable Salad

I came across this interesting recipe on the Food Network for a quick Asian-style cold noodle-vegetable salad, and decided to make it as part of my contribution for our Christmas Eve meal. We increased the amount of basil and mint and cilantro, as my beautiful Bride likes veggies, and used the juice of half of a lime in the dressing, rather than the teaspoon it called for. You can use any kind of noodles in this dish, it's better to use a shorter noodle. I would think that this dish could work better hot, though it did taste pretty good. You can increase the amount of chilli if you like it spicy, this dish as it stands is not.

Asian Noodle-Vegetable Salad
Adapted from a recipe by Ellie Krieger
4 ounces soba noodles
1 large shallot, very thinly sliced
1-1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 red pepper, julienne
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup shredded fresh mint leaves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp light muscovado sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp lime zest
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp fish sauce
Salt

Boil noodles according to package directions. Drain and cool.

In a medium bowl, combine noodles, shallot, carrot, red pepper and herbs.

Combine all dressing ingredients, season with salt to taste. Pour dressing over noodle mixture, and toss lightly.

Baked Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

I have been trying to eat more sweet potatoes, rather than potatoes, I find they are better for me, and looked for recipes that duplicated the sweet potato fries that I ate recently. These don't, but are quite tasty. They are baked, and the fries end up being very soft, only slightly crunchy. Add more chipotle powder, or any other dried pepper powder, if you want it more spicy.

Baked Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
Adapted from a recipe from Epicurious
sweet potatoes, 1 large per person
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp spice mix (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 425F. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into strips about 3 inches long and 3/4 inches thick.

In large bowl, toss together cut sweet potatoes, olive oil, and spice mixture.

Spray flat roasting pan with non-stick spray, or line with parchment paper. Spread out sweet potatoes in single layer. Roast 30-40 minutes, turning about every ten minutes. until sweet potatoes are softened through and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Spice Mix:
2 Tbsp coriander seed
1 Tbsp fennel seed
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 Tbsp Chipotle Pepper
2 Tbsp sea salt

In mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind together coriander, fennel, oregano, and Chipotle pepper. Mix in salt.

This makes enough for several batches of sweet potatoes, so you'll need a small jar to store the extra.