March 15th, 2015
Spring is in the air, I can tell by the volume of the birds outside my window, which gets louder every morning. Daylight savings was a great help – having that extra hour of light in the evenings feels amazing and allows me to be much more productive towards the end of the day. Soon there will be peas, favas, rhubarb and asparagus. For the time being though, while winter produce is on its way out and spring produce is not quite ready, there are root vegetables.
We’ve been eating variations on this stew for the last couple of weeks, and this version is one of my favorites. It is a hearty one-pot meal that is very simple in preparation.
This dish speaks of both winter and spring, when the earthiness of roasted carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes is combined with the bright notes of lime juice, ginger, turmeric, cardamom and coconut milk. Red rice and lentils bring substance to the dish, and spinach delivers a good dose of green. Enjoy!
Roasted Root Vegetable, Red Rice and Lentil Stew
serves 6
3 medium carrots
2 medium parsnips
2 small sweet potatoes or 1/2 small winter squash
3 tablespoons coconut oil – divided
few sprigs thyme
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
2 teaspoons cumin seeds – freshly ground
4 green cardamom pods – seeds crushed in mortar and pestle
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
large pinch red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
1 small red chili pepper – sliced (optional)
1 large yellow onion – chopped
3/4 cup red rice such as Ruby Red or Bhutan – rinsed under cold water
handful kaffir lime leaves – bruised with the back of a knife (optional)
1/2 cup green lentils – preferably soaked
1 14 oz can Thai coconut milk
1 large or 2 small limes – zest and juice, plus more for serving
4 cups packed chopped spinach leaves or baby spinach
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Peel and chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl or right on the baking tray with 1 tablespoon coconut oil and thyme leaves, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a single layer for 20-30 minutes, stirring at halftime, until soft and caramelized.
2. Meanwhile, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add spices, ginger, and chili if using, stir around for about a minute, until fragrant. Add onion and saute for about 7 minutes, until translucent.
2. Add rice, big pinch of salt and kaffir lime leaves, if using, stir to mix. Add 4 cups filtered water. Increase the heat, bring to a boil and decrease to a light simmer. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse lentils and add them to the pot with rice with a pinch of salt. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Test lentils for doneness, if you did not soak your lentils, they might need to be cooked a little longer, cover and simmer for another couple of minutes until lentils are cooked. Add roasted vegetables, coconut milk, zest and juice of lime and another pinch of salt. Stir to mix and let simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to mingle.
4. Remove from heat and stir in spinach to wilt. Taste for salt and pepper, adjust as needed. Serve immediately with more lime juice squeezed over.
Tags: carrots, coconut milk, lentils, parsnip, red rice, rice, spinach, stew, sweet potato, vegan, vegetarian
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January 31st, 2015
This winter I rediscovered parsnips and have been roasting them weekly, unable to get enough of their unique, sweet flavor. Pomelo (the citrus) is in season right now, and Paloma (the daughter) and I like to play a game of who can find the biggest one at the Asian market. Some of them come almost as big as her head!
The earthy and grounded flavors of parsnips combine well with the bright and juicy pomelo in this salad, but feel free to use grapefruit or orange to get a similar effect if you don’t have access to a pomelo. Walnuts and raisins toasted and plumped in spicy coconut oil add a nice finish, full of warming flavors, perfect for winter. This salad is very simple to prepare, and the parsnips make it filling enough for a light lunch or dinner. Enjoy!
Roasted Parsnip and Pomelo Salad
3 large parsnips – scrubbed clean, cored, cut lengthwise into long wedges
coconut oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon paprika, depending on how hot your paprika is
2 handfulls walnuts – roughly chopped
2 handful raisins
1 pomelo – segmented
4 cups baby spinach
1. Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Add 1tablespoon of melted coconut oil to parsnips, toss to coat thoroughly. Arrange them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until soft, flip at half time.
2. In a large bowl or in individual serving plates, combine spinach, roasted parsnips and pomelo segments.
3. In a medium pan, warm 2 tablespoons coconut oil over medium low heat, add paprika, large pinch of salt and walnuts. Toast for 5-7 minutes, until golden. Add raisins at the last couple minutes to plump them up. Spoon nuts, raisins and spicy oil over the salad. Serve immediately.
Tags: citrus, parsnip, raisins, salad, walnut
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January 31st, 2014
I must admit that I’m not very skilled when it comes to proper cake making. I could tell you about several disasters, like that time when my cake unexplainably exploded all over the refrigerator, or that other time when the cake fell on the floor right as I opened the refrigerator door, or I could mention many of my multilayered cake creations that sadly leaned to one side like the Tower of Pisa, or about the beautiful pink icing (Paloma’s birthday request) that discolored and became brown right before serving. Each time these kinds of things happen, I swear to never make cake again but never stick to my resolutions. And every time a cake I make actually comes out well, I find it to be enough reason to celebrate and dig right in.
Carrot cake is the darling of the cake world, what’s not to love? It’s classic and simple. But how about parsnips, the carrot’s albino cousins that show up among other hearty winter root veggies this time of year? I grew up snacking on raw parsnips right from the garden, and they were a mandatory ingredient in my mom’s famous borsch. I also love a good parsnip mash as a side dish to anything. This time the parsnips went into a dessert – a fairly simple cake topped with home candied kumquats.
I find the candied kumquats essential to experience the full flavor of this cake. If you can’t find kumquats, substitute with Meyer lemons, sour oranges or any other candied citrus. This was my very first time working with kumquats, and I can attest to their perfect balance of sweet, sour and orangey notes that make for a beautiful cake topping or marmalade. And take a look at more kumquat recipes over at my latest food blog crush, Princess Tofu, here, here and here.
Many thanks to everyone for your thoughtful comments on the Wholistic Chakra system giveaway. It has now been closed and the winner (The Rose Journals) has been emailed. Elena of Wholistic drew the winner herself!
Candied Kumquats
¾ cup honey
½ cup water
1 vanilla bean – seeds scraped out
2 pints (about 4 cups) of kumquats – sliced
In a small to medium saucepan, combine honey with water, vanilla seeds and bean, bring to a gentle boil. Add in the kumquats and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool down and keep the kumquats in the syrup, refrigerated.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages of plain Tofutti cream cheese
fat from 1 can full-fat unsweetened Thai coconut milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
generous squeeze of lemon juice
Place the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight. The fat and water should separate and fat should accumulate on top. Carefully scoop it out and combine with the rest of the ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat it with a hand mixer until well combined and fluffy. Keep refrigerated while baking the cake.
Gluten Free and Vegan Parsnip Cake
¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup ground chia seeds or flax seeds
¾ cup (105 g) buckwheat flour
¾ cup (90 g) millet flour
¾ cup (90 g) tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup coconut sugar
1 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
about 3 cups grated parsnips
1 ½ cups walnuts or pecans – chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Bring almond milk to a boil, mix with ground chia in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Combine all the flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices in a mixing bowl, set aside.
3. Add sugar to the milk-chia mixture and mix using a hand-mixer. Continue by adding in olive oil and vanilla extract, then orange zest and juice. Mix to combine thoroughly with a hand mixer.
4. Add dry ingredients into the wet, mixing them in with the mixer.
5. Fold in the parsnips and walnuts.
6. Prepare a 6-inch cake pan or a spring form. If using a cake pan, cover it with parchment paper. I using a spring form, generously grease it with olive or coconut oil.
7. Spoon ⅓ of the batter at a time into the pan/form and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Repeat with the other two thirds. You can also bake two 8-inch cakes if you don’t have a 6-inch pan, or even bake all the batter at once like a thick cake (you may need to increase the baking time in this case) and then cut the cake into layers horizontally. Make sure that the cakes are completely cool before cutting or frosting them.
8. Place one layer of the cake onto a cake stand or plate. Generously cover with a layer of cream cheese frosting and a thin layer of candied kumquats. Carefully place a second layer of the cake on top following by another frosting and kumquat layers. Finish with the third cake layer and frost the entire cake.
9. Garnish with candied kumquats and let the cake rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Slice and serve with more candied kumquats.
Note: Candied citrus is essential to the flavour of this cake. If you can’t get kumquats, candy Meyer lemons, sour oranges or other citrus.
Tags: cake, citrus, dessert, gluten free, parsnip, recipe, vegan
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