vegetarian

Comfort food: Romanesco Rice

This summer, one of the dishes that I made countless times for the volunteer groups was cauliflower rice...and, people liked it! I certainly didn't invent the recipe (as The Kitchn recipe proves), but I was first introduced to this sneaky trick by a farming friend who was on the Paleo diet and broccoli and cauliflower happened to be in season and in abundance. The gist of the recipe: you can use cauliflower as a substitute for rice, couscous or any other starchy grain with the help of a trusty food processor or blender. Brilliant, right?

My local grocery store randomly had a sale on romanesco - a beautiful type of broccoli (see cover photo), identical in taste to cauliflower and most other things in the brassica family. So, it was Romanesco Rice time. The recipe below is adapted from many other wise people before me, but this is what I do and it's a good primer. It's great for a quick meal, especially when topped with a poached or fried egg (my fave), crispy tempeh or any other protein of your choice:

Romanesco Rice 

Ingredients

  • 1 small head of romanesco, chopped into large cubes
  • 2 carrots, chopped into large cubes
  • 1 large onion, red or white, chopped into quarters
  • 1 large clove of garlic, chopped in half
  • 6 small mushrooms of your choice (baby bella, button, shittake, etc.)
  • 2 tablespoon of coconut oil, or fat of your choice
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 pinches of black pepper
  • 1 tiny pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 1-2 tsp of toasted sesame oil (optional and depending on your taste)
Pulse Romanesco and other vegetables until you see a fine, grainy texture like this. 

Pulse Romanesco and other vegetables until you see a fine, grainy texture like this. 

  1. In a food processor, pulse onions and garlic until fine but not a paste. 
  2. In a cast iron skillet, heat coconut oil over medium heat and add the onions and garlic.
  3. Return to food processor and pulse romanesco, carrots and mushrooms until the size of rice or a fine grain. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may want to do this in batches.
  4. Transfer the pulsed vegetables into the pan with the onions, add salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.
  5. Season to taste: add more salt, pepper, or I added a dash of toasted sesame oil. This is a very strong flavor, so only use a little.

There you have it: Romanesco Rice. Yum! Try with other brassicas and mix and match other vegetables and seasonings that you included in the dish. Now, go eat some vegetables.

 
 

Recipe: Coconut curry sweet potato soup

Here's a tasty, quick and dairy-free recipe to use up those mashed sweet potatoes from Thursday's festivities. If you don't have sweet potatoes on hand, winter squash works as well:

Coconut curry sweet potato soup, sprinkled with roasted-salted pumpkin seeds. (November 2013, photo by Zach Gross)

Coconut curry sweet potato soup, sprinkled with roasted-salted pumpkin seeds. (November 2013, photo by Zach Gross)

Add some heat and a kick to your leftovers with  fresh hot peppers, including cayenne. (November 2013, A.Gross)

Add some heat and a kick to your leftovers with  fresh hot peppers, including cayenne. (November 2013, A.Gross)

Coconut curry sweet potato soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbl. olive oil or coconut oil
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped or 1 c. leeks (cleaned and chopped)
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes or finely chopped cayenne pepper
  • 1 Tbl. fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • black pepper
  • course sea salt
  • 2 c. roasted and/or mashed sweet potatoes (sorry, the one's topped with marshmallows don't work!)
  • 1 15-oz. can of coconut milk (I used light/reduced-fat)
  • water
  1. Heat the oil in a soup pan over medium heat. Add the onion and/or leeks, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add pepper flakes, minced garlic and ginger. Season with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add 1/4 c. of water, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  2. Add sweet potatoes and coconut milk. Add water to the empty coconut milk can to remove any milk and add to the soup pot. 
  3. Bring the pot to a rolling boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes, with the lid slightly ajar. 
  4. Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or carefully transfer the soup into a standing blender until creamy and well blended. Heat more, if desired, and add salt and pepper if needed. Eat!

Optional: Top with toasted/roasted pumpkin or squash seeds.