Moroccan Fava Bean Dip

My parents gave me two 1-gallon bags full of unshelled fava beans.  Yeah, pass them off to the unemployed person because, my god!, they are labor-intensive.  I decided to make a dip with them.  I probably spent about 45 minutes shelling them (part 1).  Then another 45 minutes squeezing them out of their secondary skins (part 2).  The dip is pretty good, so I guess it was worth it.  What else was I going to do, anyway?

Here’s how to prep the fresh beans.  Step one, shell the beans.  Once you rip the pod a little, the beans slide out easily.  There are 4-6 beans per pod.  This is what the beans look like next to their empty pods.

Step two is to cook the beans to soften the secondary skin part (I’m sure there’s a correct name for it).  I steamed mine, but you can also parboil them.  I steamed them for about 4 minutes, until the outer skin was shriveled and the bean was tender.

Next, I slipped the skin off the beans.  This takes awhile because you have to do each one individually and there are TONS.  Now your beans are ready!  This dip comes out a beautiful green color.

Moroccan Fava Bean Dip

• about 2 cups fresh fava beans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 Tb water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika (I did 1/2 tsp smoked and 1/2 tsp sweet paprika)

Put all ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth.  Adjust seasoning as needed.  Served garnished with paprika.

(Adapted from “Moroccan Fava Bean (Broad Bean) Dip Recipe – Bessara”)

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(Vegan and Gluten-Free) Maple Shortbread Bars

Being unemployed, I have lots of time on my hands to experiment with recipes.  I’ve also been desperately wanting to bake something these last few days, probably due to the cool, overcast February-esque mornings.  So, I rifled through various cookbooks and decided on something from the Flying Apron with the rationale that I should probably learn how to bake what they bake before I move far, far away and can’t get my fix.

Vegan without fake butter and gluten-free without being heavy, these Maple Shortbread Bars are delicious, buttery, flakey, moist, and tender.  It may be difficult to stop eating them.  They are also very simple.  The recipe that follows is how I made them, instead of with the standard mixer in the book.  Someday I will own a KitchenAid standard mixer and will make these recipes as directed.  Someday.

Maple Shortbread Bars

• 2 3/4 cups brown rice flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup coconut oil or palm oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the rice flour and salt in a medium-size bowl.  In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.  (The coconut oil might be solid, so I put the bowl on the stove for a few minutes as the oven pre-heated to melt the coconut oil.  Worked perfectly.)

Add the flour mixture to the liquids, a little at a time, stirring until well mixed.

Spread the batter evenly into a parchment-lined 9 x 12 baking pan.  Bake until edges harden slightly, about 15 minutes.  While the dough is still hot, score it into 12 pieces with a knife.  After it has cooled, slice the rest of the way through and remove from pan.

Yum!

(Adapted from the “Maple ‘Butter’ Bars” recipe in Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book by Jennifer Katzinger)

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Japanese Soba Noodle Bowl

Jamie and I got home from our whirlwind roadtrip to Colorado, desperate for veggies!  Traveling can get very tiring where food is concerned.  It’s exciting to try new foods and new restaurants but it can be difficult to find healthy, light, vegetarian fare.  We encountered many a vegetarian plate where cheese was used as a substitute for meat.  Cheese is not a substitute for meat!  Too much cheese.  The Mexican food we had in Yakima on the long drive back was the last nail in that coffin.

Anyway, I was very much looking forward to cooking.  I thumbed through The 30 Minute Vegan for inspiration (and for something quick).  I came across this recipe for a Japanese Soba Noodle Bowl that I had been eyeing since we bought this book in the fall.  Here’s an adaptation of that recipe.  It’s quick, simple, delicious, and light.  Yum!  I think it would also be good over rice or another grain.

Japanese Soba Noodle Bowl

• 8 ounces soba noodles
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used cremini)
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 + 1/4 cups water, separated
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tb minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tb pickled ginger, minced
• 1 Tb agave nectar
• 2 Tb wasabi powder
• 1 Tb arrowroot powder
• 1 Tb sesame seeds
• 1 sheet nori
• 2 green onions, sliced thinly

Prepare the soba noodles as directed on the package.  Strain and rinse with cold water.

Meanwhile, place the mushrooms, onion, zucchini, carrot, 2 cups of water, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, pickled ginger, and agave nectar in a pot over medium heat.

In a separate bowl, whisk the wasabi powder, arrowroot powder, and remaining 1/4 cup of water.  Add this to the vegetables, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until veggies are as you like them.

While the vegetables cook, toast the sesame seeds in a saute pan over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until they smell toasty and are light brown.  Cut the nori with kitchen scissors into thing strips.

To serve, add the soba noodles to the veggies and broth or ladle the veggies and broth over the noodles.  Garnish with green onion, nori, and sesame seeds and eat.

(Adapted from the Japanese Soba Noodle Bowl recipe from The 30 Minute Vegan by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray)

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