Scrambled Pintos...

This morning I was feeling a ravenous hunger. I knew my typical breakfast of a bowl of fruit or a smoothie just wasn’t going to cut it, and besides I was really craving something savory. Tofu scramble was sounding really good to me, the only problem was that I didn’t have any tofu. I briefly considered making a tempeh scramble until I realized I was all out of tempeh too! I flipped through my wealth of cook books in desperate search of another breakfast option but everything I saw was sweet, or bready and I didn’t want that. Then I remembered Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Mad-Genius invention of Chickpea Scramble from her latest book “Isa Does It” and I knew that was what I wanted.

I went eagerly to the kitchen, opened up the pantry and would you believe I didn’t have a single can of chickpeas. The girl who loves chickpeas, who eats them all the time, had somehow unknowingly ran out! Now I was beginning to get frustrated. I took a look around the kitchen and saw a few things I had a lot of were potatoes, spinach, and onions, but how to make a breakfast out of that. I took another look in the pantry, took inventory of the beans I did have, and thought to myself “Hey, if a scramble can work with chickpeas, why not another bean?” and that, is how the Pinto Scramble was born.

Man, this exceeded all expectations, and even my husband - who’s a notorious bean-hater, but getting better on that front - loved it. Now I want to try making different kinds of scrambles with all sorts of beans to see what kind of awesome combinations I can come up with. In the meantime I hope you try this one out, it’s super delicious, healthy, hearty and comes together in a flash. Serve it however you like - on a piece of lightly buttered toast with some fresh sliced tomatoes, on it’s own, or as I did with some fried potatoes, corn tortillas and extra hot sauce!

Scrambled Pintos 

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Garlic Cloves Minced
½ Red Onion Minced
1 15 oz Can Pinto Beans rinsed and drained
½ tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Ground Cumin
½ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Sea Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1-2 tsp Hot Sauce (or to taste)
1-2 Tbsp Fresh Dill Minced
8 Cherry Tomatoes Halved
1 Large Handful Baby Spinach Chopped

- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

- Add the garlic, and onion and saute for 5-6 minutes until softened.

- Add in the pinto beans, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Mix to combine and saute for 3 minutes until the beans are warmed through.

- Using a potato masher mash the beans right in the pan, so that they turn into a thick chunky paste. You do not need to get all the beans, leave some whole. Mash about two-thirds of the mixture.

- Add in the dill, tomatoes and spinach and saute for about 2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted.

- Taste for seasonings and add additional hot sauce if desired.

*** Note - If you want a more 'Mexican' feel you can omit the dill and add in an equal amount of minced cilantro instead. Though I quite like the unique flavor that dill brings to the overall dish.*** 

Brussels Sprout and Red Potato Hash...

This breakfast was born out of a strong desire to ‘change-things-up.’ I’ve said before that I’m not typically a breakfast person, or a morning eater, but for some reason this week I’ve been craving a large morning meal. Monday I had scrambled Chickpeas - have you done this? It’s delicious. Tuesday it was leftovers from Monday night. Yesterday it was pancakes. Today I really felt like a scramble, but I wasn’t really in the mood for tofu. I wanted something quick and easy that I could whip up in no time that was savory. Except, so many of my favorite cook books include savory breakfast recipes that contain spinach, and peppers - neither of which I had. So I had to start thinking about what I did have, and suddenly that 2lb pound bag of Brussels sprouts in the fridge, and the 5lb bag of organic red potatoes sitting on my kitchen counter started calling to me.

Originally I was calling this a scramble, but since nothing gets scrambled per-say I suppose it’s more of a hash. Whatever you decide to call it, it’s amazingly delicious. It was a super savory way to start my day and came together really quickly. The vegan sausage is totally optional but makes a nice addition. I strongly suggest using your own homemade sausage as opposed to store-bought - as I did, I had one homemade seitan sausage leftover in my fridge and what a way to use it up! - that’s just me. I prefer the taste of home-made, but whatever floats your boat. The salsa too is optional and not imperative, if you don’t have it don’t sweat it. It’s just that the hash might get a bit dry unless you add a bit of extra oil, and the salsa’s a nice way to moisten it up, plus it adds a kick of extra flavor. Also a great way to use leftover salsa that’s been kicking around your fridge.

This can feed two people, or maybe just one very, very hungry person. Enjoy!

Brussels Sprout and Red Potato Hash

1-2 tsp Olive Oil
12 Small Brussels Sprouts Halved (or 6-8 Large ones quartered)
3 Small Red Potatoes Diced
½ Red Onion Diced
4 Garlic Cloves Minced
1 Vegan Italian Sausage homemade or store-bought. (I Used Homemade Seitan Sausage)
1 tsp Dried Oregano
½ tsp Dried Basil
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
½ tsp Chili Powder
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Siracha to taste (I used about 1tsp)
Water as needed
2-3 Tbsp of your Favorite Salsa

- Heat the Oil over medium-high heat in a heavy bottomed skillet. Preferably cast iron if you have it because it gives the best sear. When the oil is sizzling drop in the brussels sprouts and diced potatoes. Let cook on medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Then flip with a spatula and cook another 2 minutes. This may take a couple of minutes longer depending on your pan and on how hot it gets. If your Sprouts and potatoes aren’t getting golden, and even a bit brown they need to cook a bit longer. 2 minutes in my cast iron is about all it needs but it may be different for you.

- When your veg is nicely seared lower the heat to medium and add in 1 cup of water. Cover the pan with a lid and let steam for 5 minutes. Check for doneness by poking the veg with a fork and if they’re not quite tender enough let steam another 3-4 minutes.

- Once veg are tenderized to your liking remove them from the pan and drain off all the excess water.

- Return the pan to the stove and add the red onion. You may want to add in a little splash of oil or water to get things going here, but if’s not necessary in a cast iron pan. Saute the onions for 5 minute until they begin to soften and golden. Add in the garlic and vegan sausage if using saute another 2-3 minutes.

- Add in the Oregano, Basil, Smoked Paprika, Salt, Pepper, and chili powder. Stir to combine. If you didn’t use any oil or water in the previous step you may need to add a bit now as the spices can dry things up.

- Add the Sprouts and Potatoes back into the pan and stir to coat evenly with spices. Saute for about a minute just to marry the flavors then fold in the siracha and salsa if using.

- Transfer to a plate, and serve with extra Siracha, salsa, or even a diced avocado if desired. Enjoy!

NOTE: Though my version of this hash was not gluten-free you can easily make it so by using a gluten-free vegan sausage or omitting the sausage altogether.

Spanish Style Scramble with Piquillo Peppers and Spinach...

A few months ago I was in the grocery store and I just happened to stumble upon a large jar of Piquillo Peppers. I immediately became excited about this because I had a recipe for Stuffed Spanish Peppers that I really wanted to try out but it called for Piquillo’s and I couldn’t find them anywhere. Then suddenly here they were. The jar however was massive, and my recipe only called for six peppers. No matter - I bought the jar anyway and thought I’d figure out something to do with the rest another time.

Well strangely even though I was super excited to try out these Piquillo Peppers, once I got the jar home and put away in the pantry I kind of forgot about it. Until earlier this week anyway when I finally made that stuffed pepper recipe. Which was phenomenal by the way, the only problem was what was I going to do with the rest of the peppers?

Piquillo Peppers are a really delicious sweet chili, cultivated in Northern Spain,  though their flavor is more reminiscent of a roasted red bell pepper then a spicy chili. After they’re picked they’re roasted over embers which gives them a distinct smokey and even slightly spicy flavor. Though when I say spicy, think Paprika not Jalapeno. Once roasted they’re seeded, peeled and packed into jars or tins for sale, and if you can find a jar or a can anywhere definitely pick it up because they are divine. I could eat them plain straight out of the jar, they’re that delicious! Of course I didn’t want to just eat them all straight out of the jar, because what If I never find Piquillo peppers again? I wanted to take advantage of them while I had them, and so I started dreaming about Piquillo pepper combinations.

The first thing that popped into my head was spinach. Piquillo’s and spinach I thought would make excellent partners and then from there I began thinking about onions, and olives. Eventually I worked my way around to Piquillo’s for breakfast and naturally came to the conclusion that they’d be excellent in a scramble. Though Piquillo’s are typically stuffed and eaten as tapa’s in Spain I wanted to do something a little bit different, besides I was really in the mood for a scramble, and who doesn’t love a good hearty veggie stuffed scramble?

The Piquillo’s really add a unique flavor component to a scramble, making it slightly sweet and slightly smoky, combined with the earthy mushrooms, the leafy spinach, the cheesy nooch, and the tart olives it’s a winning combination. You can serve your scramble over toast, or for a really heavy and hearty breakfast do what I did and serve it with avocado toast. A super simple and delicious way to eat your avo. Mashed with lime juice, sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes spread nice and thick on a piece of crunchy toasty bread. YUM!

Spanish Style Scramble with Piquillo Peppers and Spinach 

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ Large Yellow Onion Diced
6 Garlic Cloves Minced
3/4 C Baby Bella Mushrooms Chopped
14oz Extra Firm Tofu drained and pressed
1/8 C Nutritional Yeast
½ tsp Thyme
1 tsp Black Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp turmeric
3oz Fresh baby Spinach
5 Jarred Piquillo Peppers Chopped
1/3 C Spanish Olives with Pimento sliced


*** Note -  To press the tofu either use a tofu press or place it between two sheets of paper towel and load some heavy objects on top of it. ***

- Heat olive oil in a medium sized pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute for 4 minutes until beginning to get soft. Add in the garlic and the mushrooms and saute another 4-5 minutes until fragrant and mushrooms are soft.

- Crumble the pressed tofu in to the pan, and add the Nutritional yeast, thyme, chili powder, paprika, turmeric, cumin, black salt and pepper. Stir until well combined and the tofu mixture begins to look the color of scrambled eggs.

- Add in the Spinach and Piquillo Peppers. Stir to incorporate then cover and cook until the spinach has wilted. 3-5 minutes. Fold in the olives and serve.

Enjoy!

Black Quinoa, Arugula Bowl with Chickpeas and Capers

Need something quick and easy to throw together for either dinner or lunch that tastes great and has a lot of nutrition? This is the dish for you. Last weekend I needed to make something to take with me for lunch at work, but didn’t have a lot of time - or ingredients for that matter -  to prepare anything. So I took a look around the kitchen hoping for inspiration. I had onions and garlic of course - always a good base I thought to myself, - and I had a ton of arugula. - Now we’re getting somewhere! Quite often when I need a meal in a pinch I make some variation of sauteed greens, onions, and garlic and throw a can of beans into the mix. It’s quick, easy and delicious and very, very satisfying. On this particular day however I was looking for something a little more - well, creative and filling. That’s when I opened up the pantry and found a solitary can of crushed tomatoes, chickpeas and a big ‘ole bag of black quinoa. Perfect!

So I grabbed up all this stuff, dumped it onto my kitchen counter and without thinking too much about it employed my twin brother E’s favorite method of cooking. Which is “Throw some stuff in a pot and see what happens.” Well, what happened was magic. Seriously this is such a simple dish and yet ti’s so filling, satisfying and bursting with flavor. I love the flavor of arugula, love it’s bitterness, and the capers add a really neat element to the overall dish. I also love that this is a plate of all wholesome whole foods ingredients so you can eat it, and not feel guilty because you know you’re nourishing your body in the right way. I strongly recommend the black quinoa, it’s delicious and I love it! It’s really my favorite type. However if you don’t have any, or can’t find any you can always sub in Regular quinoa, or red quinoa. The contrast won’t be quite the same but it’ll still taste fantastic! The best part is you can throw this together in under 25 minutes, how awesome is that?

Black Quinoa, Arugula Bowl with Chickpeas and Capers

1 C Black Quinoa
2 C Water
1 tsp Olive Oil
10 Cloves Garlic minced
1 Large Red Onion diced
1 tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 14 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes with Basil
4 Cups Arugula
15 oz Can Chickpeas Drained
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
2-3 Tbsp Capers
2-3 Tbsp Liquid from Capers

- Add Quinoa and water to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes then lower to a simmer. Simmer until all the water has been absorbed roughly 15-20 minutes.

- Meanwhile minced the garlic and dice the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and once hot add in the onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes until starting to become fragrant and a little soft. Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Saute for another 3 minutes. The onions should be tender but still a little crisp.

- Add in the crushed tomatoes and lower heat to medium-low. Stir to combine with the onions and garlic and then add in the arugula. Stir until arugula has been worked into the tomato mixture and has wilted. About 3-5 minutes. If the quinoa hasn’t finished cooking by this time lower the heat to the lowest possible setting and let sit.

- Add in the cooked quinoa, the chickpeas, capers, caper liquid, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste for flavor and adjust seasoning as needed. Then spoon into large bowls and enjoy!

PS: If you don’t have crushed tomatoes with basil you can just use any crushed tomatoes and add in an additional 1-2 tsp of dried basil. Also this is a perfectly filling and delicious meal on it’s own but for a bit more substance you can serve it with some lightly roasted squash as I did. I used Acorn squash. To roast squash cut into slices, sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and basil and roast at 425'F for roughly 30 minutes.