Mighty Leftover Loaf

Oh, the joys of a vegan buffet. All the different colours, tastes  and combos on your plate. Mmmm! Spectacular! So what to do with all of these leftovers when your company has gone home, and you're tired of eating the same dish over and over? Grasshopper stumbled on this Mighty Leftover Loaf, that tastes better than the separate dish it once was. And as a bonus, it makes a mighty fine cold pâté.

Mighty Leftover Loaf

For the base, grasshopper ground together a  Summer Bean Medley Salad, roasted garlic, fennel/radish salad, lemon juice, and bread crumbs, then added a sprinkle of chia seeds, dash of black pepper…cumin-ground and whole, and grind once again.

Oil glass loaf pan

Spread mixture in loaf pan.

Grind steamed carrots, and Easy Sweet Potato Dip.

Spread on legume mix.

Top with a thin layer of salsa.

Bake 375 till it smells right…30-40 minutes, and blackens slightly around the edges.

Love Grasshopper

Fresh Summer Herbs - Dressing Up the Dullness of Winter

        Ah summer! Veggies in season! Fresh herbs for some culinary alchemy?  Basil plants have particularly had a good year. Olive oil infusions - every day! yes!!! to dress up the bean and the grain!!! Dismiss that feeling that a long winter brings on your food choices.  Garden plan early in february or march or later!! in a pot, a bird bath, window, you decide, and go for it!  A summer herbal smorgasbord of fresh basil, parsley, thyme, cilantro, dill, and mint is divine!!!  Everything tastes ... Mmmm, mmmm! If growing isn't an option, then shop! it's all here, now it's comparably fresher!!!

Here are some easy July staples from the Grasshopper Kitchen.

Golden Beets - peeled, quartered, and steamed - served warm with fresh dill weed

Black-Eyed Peas Salad - cooked beans, celery,  grate a radish peeled beet and garlic clove, add chopped green beans (or substitute carrot for example...go for texture and crunch), a handful of pumpkin seeds,  chopped basil, cilantro and parsley, ground or grated fresh ginger, black pepper, salt, cumin -  olive oil and vinegar (your choice) Mix all together, cover and let flavours meld in the fridge for a couple of hours. Serve cold or at room temperature.

                  AND

Easy Fall Herbal Medleys

String Beans in Herb Vinaigrette - Wash and lightly steam green beans along with cauliflower florets, quickly cool and toss in a bowl. Add thinly sliced red onion or chives, sprigs of dill, chopped basil, cilantro or parsley, and halved grape tomatoes. A glug of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, with a pinch of salt and black pepper to finish.  

Delicata Squash and Cilantro - the squash is washed, sliced, and roasted at 400* for 15 minutes each side. Chill, peel if desired. Serve with lots of fresh chopped cilantro. Mmmm!

Love Grasshopper

Roasted Snack Beans

    Grasshopper has discovered a way to reinvent the bean into a tasty, crunchy mid-day snack food. Any bean, any size, will roast (time is adjusted for size) and voila, an excellent topping for salads or satisfying the munchies, while retaining protein and mineral content.
   Chick peas, whole green peas, and black-eyed peas each have there own amazing texture. the smaller beans like navy, black bean, and adzuki tend to 'explode' and burst their skins, producing a dry crunchy crouton sensation. The cooked beans are dried and spread over a baking sheet, so grasshopper finds the easiest way to do this, is to roast the beans just after cooking them. They dry up naturally from being hot and steamy, fresh from the pot. Otherwise, a paper towel will suffice to dry the beans.
   Spices to use are from your own creativity and taste. Choices are endless. Grasshopper enjoys salt and herbs de provence, or an indian spice blend (slow-heated in a pan first to release flavours into the oil). Make big batches of these, as they don't last. From a crunchy snack perspective, these are the ultimate tastiest way to eat large handfuls of beans. Enjoy!

Roasted Snack Beans
Preheat oven to 400*
-cooked beans (dry with a paper towel)
-a drizzle of olive oil
-salt (choice of spices)

Dry the cooked beans, spread on a baking sheet (don't layer), drizzle with oil, stir in spices and roast for 15-30 minutes. Keep an eye on these, as they will tend to burn in some ovens and pans if not stirred. Grasshopper stirs every 5-7 minutes. Larger beans take a longer time. 
 When beans are cooled down, keep at room temperature for 24 hours to keep their crisp, then store in a glass container. Avoid storage in plastic as it may soften the bean.

Love grasshopper

Noodles Mock Thai

Want a quick, easy, delicious meal? here it is! Grasshopper discovered a new use for a vinaigrette salad...turn it into a delightful thai dish with noodles. The lentil/mung bean mix is pre-cooked, and the vinaigrette from the salad give this dish a sweet taste.
Inspired by finding prepackaged food bags with large bags of dried lentils to buy and donate to the local food bank. Grasshopper is comforted that these wonderful vegan proteins can be nutritious and affordable for all.

Noodles Mock Thai 

Carrot salad
2 grated carrots
2 diced celery stalks
1 cup cooked lentil/mung bean mix - see December 2012, Lentil Mung Bean (LMB) Perfect Combo
2 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs olive oil

Mix together, add to cooked kamut or any whole grain spaghetti noodle and that's it! Warm it all up in a skillet.

Love Grasshopper

Grasshopper's Vegan Pizza

This culinary treat was inspired by the creative kitchen at a wee cafe in Toronto. Vegan delights abound in many torontonian foodplaces. Grasshopper has incorporated their olive tapenade idea as a base, but has chosen a navy bean tapenade instead to ensure protein. Toppings remain the choice of the cook as always, and pesto is a delight. Prep time can be done a day or two before, which includes making the bean tapenade (can keep in the fridge up to a week as a fabulous dip) and the chapati  (the crust). Grasshopper prefers to use light spelt flour for chapati, and you will need a large cast iron frying pan. A pita bread is a suitable substitute for chapati if pressed for time.

Grasshopper's Vegan Pizza 

Navy Bean Tapenade     
     3/4 c cooked navy beans or black bean 
     1 garlic clove chopped
     1 Tbs chopped parsley
     1 Tbs chopped basil
     1/4 tsp salt
      1/4 tsp black pepper
      1 Tbs balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
Mash all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Chapati      (makes enough for two chapati = one serving)
       Chapati consists of flour and water, and is measured more by feeling the texture. That's all it needs besides the love and patience to watch them puff up in the cast iron pan. 
        For 2 chapati you will need about 3/4-1 cup of flour.  Place 2 chapati-size mounds of flour in a mixing bowl, add water slowly until a soft, pliable dough can be kneaded. Add more water if it is too firm, and more flour if it is too sticky. On a floured surface, knead the dough briefly, then separate into pan-size little balls. With a floured rolling pin, roll the balls out to from a large circle of dough.
       Cook in a medium cast-iron frying pan (no oil). When one side gets a little brown, flip it, and begin pushing down on the dough. (Grasshopper uses the flipper) this pushing down helps move the air pockets around which cooks the middle of the dough. Flip it one more time when brown, then remove from pan, and cook the next one.

Toppings - suggestions only
pesto
julienne sliced green string beans
finely chopped or grated cauliflower
mounds of chopped frozen spinach
sliced tomato
chopped mushroom

Assemblage
   Preheat oven broiler to 375*.  Place the chapati on a large baking sheet, spread the tapenade liberally onto the chapati being careful to coat right to the edges (otherwise they may burn) Add toppings. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until toasty. keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Serve as is, or fold over like a calzone.

Love Grasshopper

Spicy Chick Pea Deep Dish Bake

   The fall season brings us wonderful opportunities to marvel at the bounty of local fresh vegetables and herbs, and a good reason to put on the oven, warm up the house, and enjoy a baked casserole. For Grasshopper, chick peas have always held an untapped culinary mystery and so kitchen experiments on the art of alchemizing the chick pea with veggies began. Hence the discovery of how well the magical chick pea mashes and tastes with cooked squash was born.
    It is the adaptability, taste and texture of the chick pea that make it so accessible as a baking ingredient. Once cooked, Grasshopper often will mash 75% of the pot when warm as they get very creamy this way. The other 25% is left whole just for variety's sake in other recipes. They freeze well both ways, and having a store of mashed chick peas is always handy for a quick protein addition to a meal, be it hummus, Roasted Snack Beans, or adding to a soup.
   This mashed chick pea recipe has gone through a few incarnations, starting out as being baked into a simple legume loaf, Grasshopper wanted to create a complete meal, so cooked and drained seasonal vegetables are added. The ingredient list may appear daunting however the squash and non-starch veg were pre-cooked, (any veg leftovers will do, or frozen) and the spices create this wonderful deep-dish meal to enjoy with a bottom and top chick pea crust that tastes like a falafel,  sandwiching veggies. Mmmmm.
 

Spicy Chick Pea Deep Dish Bake
Crust
1 1/2 c  cooked and mashed chick peas
1/3 c  pumpkin seed (grasshopper pre-soaks and drains these for 5 hours)
1/2 c  cooked and mashed squash
1/3 c  parsley
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 c  olive or coconut oil
1/2 c   buckwheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2  tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger, or a thumb-nail size of grated ginger root
1 tsp caraway seed
1 very large (or 2 medium) grated garlic clove

Veg Filling
Cook any non-starch veg combo and drain moisture out onto a paper towel.
 1 c  spinach
1/2 c peas
1/2 c green beans

Process all crust ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Pre-heat the oven to 375* F.
 Oil a 9 or 10 inch square baking dish, or pie plate, or line with parchment paper. 
Spoon and spread about 1/3 of crust batter on the bottom. Pre-bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Cover this layer with the drained veg mix. Spoon and spread the rest of the crust batter evenly over the veg to form the top crust.
Bake in oven until top crust is brown and your kitchen smells divine, 45 min- 1 hour.

Love Grasshopper

Summer Bean Medley Salad

      Grasshopper enjoys conserving energy, both personally and environmentally. On hot summer days the last thing anyone would ever want to do is heat the living space up by putting the oven on, or cooking  beans for hours! Grasshopper saves these tasks for those fall or spring days when it's too early to put the heat on, but the mornings are quite cold from the evening's temperature drop. then a cooking spree happens!
    The bean medley for this favourite summer staple is a variation on Grasshopper's earlier post from December 2012, Lentil Mung Bean (LMB) Perfect Combo with the addition of adzuki beans for more colour and variety. Soak for a good 24 hours for best results, then please refer to the cooking method described in the 12/03/12 post, regarding changing the cooking water. It's that white frothy stuff you want to get out of your cooking water, so you can digest these beans easier. Cooking time must be very slow, never a rolling boil,  and will be done anywhere between 15-35 minutes depending on the age of the beans that you've used. Don't take your eyes off of these tiny morsels, or you'll have floating skins and mush! Try to mash an adzuki to see if it's done. It'll take the longest.
    Soaking pumpkin or sunflower seeds in water in the morning is enough to prepare them for a lunch or evening salad. The salad improves in flavour as it marinates. Grasshopper makes it in the morning, and by evening the flavours have infused.
    Summer brings us so many shades of colour and taste in our herb and vegetable gardens. There is not a real recipe to this salad, as Grasshopper creates a new salad depending on what the season and gardens bring to us. This bean medley provides a base to your taste. Make your vinaigrette as you prefer and add vegetables that you enjoy that are in season. Let it all marinate until you are ready to eat. These are suggestions that have worked for Grasshopper and guests. The salad denies a 'crunchy chewy' factor  (without hard, raw veg ) so you and your guests can enjoy large helpings of this wonderful vegan protein.

Summer Bean Medley Salad 
   cooked french lentils, mung beans and adzuki beans - enough to feed you and your guests
  a handful of raw, pre-soaked pumpkin and sunflower seeds (about 5 hours)
  sliced red onion
 toss with any chopped garden herbs - thyme (definitely)
                                                     fennel, parsley, cilantro, coriander, basil
vinegar or lemon juice (suggestions are coconut, balsamic,  apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice )
organic olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
vegetables (suggestions are  cooked diced string beans, sliced raw mini zucchini, roasted                   red pepper)

Love Grasshopper