You are what you eat

Quick vegetarian meals, part one

This post is in response to a friend who asked for some fifteen-minute vegetarian recipes. I laughed and said, "Well, maybe 30-minute recipes ..." and she replied that even that would be helpful.

I was a vegetarian for nine or ten years, and believe me, it was no hardship (except, as my friend pointed out, in restaurants, which can be a problem in that you always end up having a pasta dish or the meatless pizza or some such). At the time I didn't object to soy-based meat substitutes, but today I'd balk at that, so I'm not going to include these in my menus or recipes.

Most vegetarians depend on legumes for much of their protein. I love beans, lentils, and split peas, and I relied on them for many of our meal plans. During my vegetarian years, I didn't have a pressure cooker, which was foolish of me. A pressure cooker makes fast work of dried beans, even if they're unsoaked.

But let's start at the beginning. (I want to state right here that my friend probably knows all this, and I'm just throwing it out there for anyone who hasn't stopped to consider these points.) I'm a believer in meal planning, and I plan meals covering one to two weeks. This simplifies grocery shopping, I never have to wonder "what's for dinner," and I don't rely on those nasty processed foods. I have all the ingredients I need to make dinner on a given night. It also ensures variety and gives me the advantage of being organized, so that I know I have to soak beans on Tuesday night for Wednesday's dinner. I'm not rigid about this stuff, but having a general plan works great for me.

So, the first thing to do is to plan your meals around your schedule. A busy day followed by an evening of work or social obligations is not the time for an elaborate dinner. Save that for weekends or whenever you have the luxury of time.

Second, I can't emphasize enough how much a pressure cooker can help. I can whip up split-pea soup in under half an hour, including chopping the veggies. In the smaller of my two pressure cookers, I make risottos whose taste cannot be differentiated from the time-consuming stove-top, constant-stirring-required version. Dried beans are cooked through very quickly compared to the hours of simmering they otherwise require, and they're far superior to canned beans (cooked dried garbanzo beans, in fact, seem like an entirely different vegetable from the canned variety). Vegetable broth is done in a matter of minutes.

The slow cooker (crock-pot) is also extremely valuable, especially for the working person. I had forgotten this handy tool until one summer when I had so much to do out in the garden that I never felt like cooking at the end of the day. Putting dinner in the slow cooker before noon meant that we were guaranteed a decent meal after the busiest (and grimiest!) of days. And it doesn't heat up the kitchen much, either. Among other conveniences, the crock-pot cooks previously soaked dried beans overnight so that they're ready for the next day's meal.

Next, let's consider the meal itself. Your meal should include protein, so if you're having, say, spaghetti with marinara sauce, it's a good idea not only to sprinkle your pasta with parmesan, but also to have a side salad that incorporates feta and chickpeas, or whatever cheese and bean varieties you like. To simplify putting a balanced meal together, it's helpful to have the following on hand:

• Washed salad greens. Either buy pre-washed salad greens, or wash the greens, spin them dry in a salad spinner, lay them on paper towels, roll them up in the toweling, and put them in a plastic bag. Don't add juicy veggies like tomatoes and cucumbers until you put the actual salad together, as they will cause wilting and sogginess.
• Cooked dried beans, or canned beans. These can be added to salads and pasta (and pasta salads!) and soups and casseroles ... you get the idea. Having a bean salad in the fridge is even better; use two or three kinds of beans for variety, throw in some scallions, tomato, bell pepper, sliced black olives, celery, or whatever, and toss with a vinaigrette, and you've got lunch or a dish to round out a dinner. Add cooked pasta for a great main dish salad.
• Hummus, if you like it. Spread it on a pita, topped with some fresh veggies and/or sprouts and some good yogurt, and you've got an instant lunch.
• Cheeses that you like. These can be shredded into salads, rice, pita sandwiches, quesadillas (I'll get to that), refried beans, vegetarian chili, etc. to complete the protein in a meal.
• Hard-cooked eggs. These add protein to a tossed salad, fit well in many pasta salads, and are good to eat out of hand or as deviled eggs. I love egg salad, which can be used to stuff a tomato as well as serving as a sandwich filling.
• Tofu, if you like it. I don't, but I wish I did. It can be used in all manner of dishes, including salads, soups, stir-fries, breakfast eggs or shakes, etc.
• Better Than Bouillon, vegetarian or mushroom type. This is somewhat expensive, but even a little really strengthens the taste of soups and stews. You can also make a good mushroom gravy using fresh mushrooms and the Bouillon.

Of course, I never had all these things on hand at all times, but having some of them, at least, does make things easier when time is at a premium.

Other things to consider:

• When you cook dried beans, cook more than you'll need, and freeze the rest in some of the cooking liquid for another recipe down the line. Toss cooked beans into salads, rice dishes, pasta, soup, etc. for a protein boost.

• Cook more rice than you need for a recipe, and plan to use it as fried rice in the next day or two (more on this to come).

• Freeze leftover soup, or dishes like lasagna or eggplant parmesan, in amounts suitable for lunch or for another dinner. The freezer is your friend!

• Make veggie stock when you have time and freeze it in amounts you're likely to use for your favorite recipes.

• Think about how to use one recipe two ways. For example, leftover vegetarian chili is great as a burrito filling (just simmer the excess liquid away) or even an omelet filling.

Neither of the above lists exhausts the possibilities, of course, but it should give you some ideas about planning, using ingredients efficiently, and so on.

Next up, I'll post some ideas and recipes for quick meals.

Deciding what's for dinner, and making it work

I wonder how many people who read this are like me when it comes to making dinner plans. Sometimes I've made a menu plan for a week and I've shopped accordingly and stuck to the plan. And sometimes it's a matter of using what's available in the fridge and pantry, or of using fresh ingredients before they spoil.

Yesterday I thought about the sweet potatoes I'd planned to use a week ago and didn't. Sweet potatoes aren't like white potatoes in terms of storage: they're more delicate than they look. Rough treatment or prolonged storage take a toll on them.

I waste more food than I like to admit to, and one of my New Year's resolutions is to be better about that, particularly when it comes to fresh vegetables (which I'm trying not to buy in the first place, for the most part, due to my commitment to eating locally). So I wanted to use those sweet potatoes.

In a vegetarian crockpot cookbook I found a recipe for a stew incorporating sweet potatoes. Alas, I was missing some ingredients, like canned cannelini beans. But I did have dried lima beans on hand. I had no collard greens, but I did have spinach--I'd bought a big container of it, thinking of both salad and sauteed spinach. I had no canned tomatoes, but this is never a problem as I have pounds and pounds of tomatoes in my freezer. I didn't even have the amount of sweet potatoes called for, but I did have white potatoes to make up the difference.

I had to cook the lima beans first, so I got out my smaller pressure cooker. I was in the kitchen intermittently anyway, having decided to bake bread. The pressure cooker did its thing while I ran the stand mixer to knead the bread dough (basic whole wheat). I rinsed and drained the beans after the pressure came down, then refrigerated them.

The spouse wanted to go out to lunch, so I decided to put everything in the slow cooker before we left. I chopped and sauteed onion, pepper, and garlic, defrosted tomatoes and chopped them, and added all the ingredients to the slow cooker. I refrigerated the bread dough after its first rising. Off we went.

To my dismay, upon my return (after running errands and such following lunch), I found that I'd forgotten to plug in the slow cooker! Not the first time that's happened, alas. I had to transfer everything to a pot on the stove after all. I got the bread dough out to let it come to room temperature. It had risen quite a bit even though refrigerated. I chopped the spinach and added it to the stew. Hubby went off to a township meeting. It was going to be one of those nights when dinner was fashionably late.

I proofed the bread in the loaf pan and preheated the oven. The dough rose nicely and achieved some spring when I put it into the hot oven.

We took our bowls of stew and slices of freshly baked bread downstairs to watch the New Hampshire primary returns. Everything tasted wonderful despite the stops and starts of its making. Sometimes you just have to make do--with ingredients and with timing. Sometimes "making do" results in serendipitously good food.

Here's the recipe for the stew as I adapted it from the original recipe.

White Bean and Sweet Potato Stew with Spinach

1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
1 small green pepper (or half of a large one),
        chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 medium potato, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 tsp. peeled minced fresh ginger
1 lb. tomatoes, peeled and chopped, OR
        1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, with juice
3 cups cooked dried lima beans, or other white bean,
        OR 2 cans (15.5 oz.) white beans, rinsed and drained
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. (or more to taste) ground cumin
2 bay leaves
3 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chopped spinach

Heat the oil in a large skillet; saute the onion, pepper, and garlic until softened. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add all other ingredients except the spinach. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

About fifteen minutes before serving time, stir in the chopped spinach. Cook until the spinach is somewhat wilted but still bright green. Adjust seasonings and serve.

If you want to do it on the stove instead of in a slow cooker, simply saute the onions, pepper, and garlic in a soup pot and add the other ingredients. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until the veggies are tender. Add the spinach as above and serve.

Two fast, off-the-beaten-track soups

It's April 5, and here in Michigan, it's snowing. And it's been snowing most of the day.

That's probably what made my thoughts turn to soup. I recently tried two soups new to me, both of which were quickly made, a little different from the usual, and quite delicious. Don't be put off if they sound strange--just give them a try.

African Chickpea and Spinach Soup

For this one, I'm going to use a little more peanut butter next time. If you want a spicier soup, simply add more cayenne.

2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup smooth unsweetened peanut butter
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth. divided
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1  15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1  14-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 oz. (about 2 cups) fresh spinach, chopped (remove any tough stems)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft and golden.
Add garlic and cook another 2 to 3 minutes.

Blend peanut butter and 1/2 cup of the broth in food processor to make a smooth paste. Blend remaining broth into the paste.

Add paprika, coriander, and cayenne to onion/garlic mixture; saute for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Stir in peanut butter mixture, chickpeas, and tomatoes. Simmer for five minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in spinach and simmer just until spinach is wilted but still bright green. Serve at once.

Green Chile, Chicken, and Navy Bean Soup

The recipe calls for canned mild green chiles, but I'm lucky enough to have roasted chiles in my freezer, some of last summer's bounty, so that's what I used. Next time I'll use hotter chiles; the roasted Anaheims I used didn't give it quite enough zing (I used more ground chipotle to compensate).

The original recipe called for cooked and cubed chicken breast, but I had leftover roast chicken and this was a great way to use some of it.

The recipe is adapted from one in Penzey's One magazine.

2   15-oz. cans navy beans, drained, but with liquid reserved
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cumin (or more to taste)
1 and 1/2 tsp. chili powder
ground chipotle to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 tsp. Tabasco (opt.)
1/2  tsp. salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2   4-oz. cans mild green chiles, drained and chopped
1 cup cooked and cubed chicken

In a large soup pot, melt the butter and saute the onion until softened. Whisk in the flour, cumin, chili powder, and chipotle. Cook, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Gradually add broth, milk, and reserved bean liquid, whisking constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Add beans, chiles, and cubed chicken. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring gently, about 20 minutes.

Middle Eastern pureed lentil soup

I love any kind of lentil soup, but I especially love those with Middle Eastern spicing. This particular recipe is wonderful on a cold, wintry night when you need to be warmed.

Most pureed lentil soup recipes are on the thin side, which I assume is the traditional way to prepare the soup. But I like mine a little thicker. I worked from a couple of recipes that called for only a cup of lentils, but over time I've discovered that a cup and a half, or even two cups, of lentils suits me better.

Split lentils are more traditional, if you can find them, as are red lentils. But plain brown lentils work just dandy as long as you puree them thoroughly.

I like to use a pressure cooker for my soups. If you do, too, then after adding the appropriate ingredients to the cooker, bring the soup to high pressure and cook for 11 to 12 minutes--you want the lentils to be falling apart. Let the pressure come down naturally.

2 T. olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 small hot pepper, chopped (I use jalapeno, but it's up to you)
8 cups water
1 cup lentils, picked over, rinsed and drained (more for thicker soup)
1 tsp. ground cumin (I like a little more)
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
pinch of saffron
2 T. raw white rice
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup lemon juice

Heat the oil in a soup pot or pressure cooker. Add the onion and hot pepper; saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except for salt and lemon juice. Cover and cook over low to medium heat for an hour and a half (about half an hour if you're using split or red lentils), or cook according to my note above if you're using a pressure cooker. The lentils should be very soft and falling apart. Puree the soup in batches and return to the pot. Add salt and lemon juice, and reheat for a few minutes before serving.
 

Akara

Hoppin' John is a traditional New Year's Day dish among Southerners, eaten on that day to bring luck in the new year. It is thought to have evolved from a Northern African dish, taking on more or less its present form--black-eyed peas, rice, and ham hocks or other smoked meat--from the slaves who prepared the dish.

In honor of the new year, I bring you black-eyed peas in a completely different, but still African, form. Akara is a dish popular in western and central Africa. We like these fritters as a main dish, with sauteed greens and perhaps sweet potatoes on the side, but they would make excellent appetizers as well. If you want to get fancy, you could serve these with a homemade spicy dipping sauce, but we find that mustard or Dijon-style mustard suits us fine. Some like these with seafood cocktail sauce, ketchup, or salsa. Any way you serve them, akara are wonderful.

The peas need to be soaked overnight. For reasons that will become obvious, you can't use the stovetop "quick soak" method. So plan ahead, but don't let the necessity of forethought stop you from trying these. You do need a food processor for this recipe, although it might be doable in a blender.

You may add some cayenne pepper if you want a spicy version, or do as I do and add a jalapeno pepper or two, chopped into two or three pieces, to the food processor when you process the beans.

2 cups black-eyed peas
1 medium onion, chopped
4 or 5 T. water
1 tsp. salt (or more, to taste)
black pepper to taste
peanut or canola oil for frying (palm oil was traditionally used)

Soak the peas overnight, or for about 16 hours, in cold water. Drain the peas and place them in a large bowl. Rub the peas between your hands so that the pea skins loosen and fall off. Fill the bowl with more water. Many of the skins will float. You can either pour off the water and the loose skins, being careful not to pour out the beans, or you can use a sieve or slotted spoon to skim off the skins. I usually pour, refilling the bowl and pouring several times, giving the peas a quick swish with my fingers before pouring. I don't find that the skins always float as they should, so this method is the one I think works best. You may think differently, so try both methods.

Drain the beans well. Place them with the onions, salt, pepper, and, if desired, cayenne or jalapeno in a food processor. Scrape down the sides of the work bowl as necessary and process until you have a grainy paste. Continue to process while you slowly add water until the mixture is one that will fall easily from a spoon without being too runny. It should look light and airy but still grainy. You're going to fry these, so keep in mind what kind of "body" the paste will need for that.

Put about an inch of oil in a deep skillet and heat it until it's very hot (I test by dropping a minute amount of paste in and seeing if it starts to sizzle immediately). Working quickly, give the mixture a stir and drop a tablespoon of the batter into the skillet. Repeat until the pan is full. Fry for about a minute at medium heat, turning them over as they darken, and then turn the heat to low. Continue to fry for another 6 minutes or so, turning now and then.

When you have fritters that are a reddish-brown color and are cooked through--they will feel firm--remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Turn the heat under the frying pan back up and let the oil become very hot again. Give the batter a stir, and repeat the process outlined above. Do this until you've used up all the batter.

Serve with or without a dip or condiment of your choice. If you have leftovers, place them in a closed container in the fridge, and tomorrow you can eat them in a pita like falafels, if you want. Just heat them up a bit in the microwave, and don't forget the lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini or yogurt sauce!

Lima beans? Surely you jest!

Oh, I know how many of you feel about lima beans--yech!

But have you tried the dried kind? Their texture--which is what so many people seem to object to--is completely different from that of fresh (or frozen fresh) limas, and so is the taste. This recipe, in which the beans are first cooked to tenderness and then baked with oil, vegetables, and herbs, results in a buttery, silky texture. The dish is so simple that unless you try it, you won't believe it's so tasty.

The recipe is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's in World Vegetarian, and she attributes it to "the nuns at the Ormylia Monestary in Macedonia." They serve it as a main dish (as do I), but it would be a lovely side dish as well. Said to serve four, the amounts given here seem just a bit skimpy to me for four as a main dish--I use it to feed three.

I've made versions with either large or small limas, and both are good (though I prefer the large ones just a bit over the small). The beans should be soaked overnight--actually, I often forget to do this, so I start them soaking when I get up in the morning, letting them soak at least 5 or 6 hours; then cook conventionally for 45 to 60 minutes, or in a pressure cooker for about 3 minutes with natural-release pressure (don't run cold water, just let pressure come down by itself).

1 cup dried lima beans, picked over and washed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
I medium onion, chopped not too coarsely
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
2 good-sized tomatoes (6 or 7 oz. each), chopped
      finely (or substituted diced canned)
1 1/4 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 tsp. dried oregano

Soak as described above in water to cover by 5 inches of water. After soaking, drain the beans and discard the soaking liquid. Put the beans in a pot with 3 cups of fresh water and bring to a boil. If any scum rises to the top, skim it off. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer gently 40 to 60 minutes, or until just tender. If pressure-cooking, use slightly less water, bring to a boil with lid fastened, and cook 3 minutes. Let pressure come down naturally.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes. Put in the carrot and cook another couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

When the beans have finished cooking, place them and their cooking liquid in a casserole along with the contents of the frying pan. Add salt, pepper (don't skimp on pepper!), parsley, and oregano. Bake UNcovered for 2 hours (and it needs two hours).

Enjoy!

Indian-spiced split-pea soup

A wonderful alternative to traditional split-pea soup, this recipe adapted from Lorna J. Sass's Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure is a boon for those vegetarians who miss the smoky flavor of pea and bean soups flavored with ham or bacon. It's not that the spices add smokiness--they don't--but that the intense, deep flavor makes comparison not only impossible but irrelevant. And if you like Indian spices but can't find the traditional Indian dals at your supermarket, this will satisfy your cravings.

I haven't tried it, but I think some finely chopped jalapeno or other hot pepper would be great in this.

2 T. canola oil
1 tsp. whole fennel seeds
1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1 tsp. black mustard seeds (if you can find them)
1 T. finely minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. finely minced garlic
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups green split peas, picked over and rinsed
2 tablespoons sweet (mild) curry powder
3 large carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 quarts water

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Sizzle the seeds over medium-high heat just until they begin to pop, about 5 or 10 seconds. Stir in the ginger, garlic, and onions; continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onions are glazed and softened. Add the peas, carrots, curry powder, and water.

Bring to a boil (watch carefully--they foam a lot if allowed to boil much). Turn down the heat and simmer until the peas have fallen apart. Don't add salt until the soup is thick and the peas have broken down. This should take a couple of hours on low heat. If the soup gets too thick, add a little water or vegetable stock, but you don't want it too thin.

Enjoy incredible aroma while soup is cooking.

Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Mmmmmm.

Cooking beans

As vegetarians, we eat a lot of beans. And that's good: beans are a great source of protein and fiber. If you look at a package of dried garbanzos, for example, you'll discover that 3/4 of a cup of cooked beans provides over half your recommended daily intake of fiber, while it provides 8 grams of protein. Beans have a low glycemic index, making them a good choice for eaters who have to take that into account. They contain no cholesterol and can actually help lower cholesterol because of their high soluble fiber content.

Because beans are such an important protein source in a vegetarian diet, I use them often. I didn' t like buying so many cans of beans, though. The more a food is processed, the more energy is used. We recycle the cans, but still, that's a lot of packaging compared to a bag of dried beans. And worst of all, canned beans often contain sugar, not to mention a tinny flavor that doesn't disappear even with assiduous rinsing.

But cooking dried beans can be problematic, and not just in terms of the time it takes to cook them. You have to think ahead, because beans must be soaked, either a long soak (say overnight) or a quick soak (bringing them to a boil on the stove, covering, turning off the heat, and letting them sit for an hour or two). Without soaking, beans will not cook evenly. Thoroughly rehydrating dried beans makes them faster to cook, which means more nutritive value is retained; if the soaked beans are drained, rinsed, and drained again, the indigestible sugars that contribute to flatulence will be reduced; and you'll save energy by shortening the cooking time.

But even with a proper soaking, beans can be difficult to soften properly. I know I've found it impossible to cook garbanzos to a desired texture, while even black beans have often lacked a consistent softness.

Long ago I learned that neither salt nor acids (such as tomatoes, vinegar, or lemon juice) should be added to the pot until the beans are thoroughly softened. And still my beans wouldn't soften properly.

Recently I began to think that perhaps hard water was the problem, and in fact, a little poking around on the web  confirmed it. The calcium in hard water makes tenderizing beans difficult. We do have a faucet in the kitchen that's connected to soft water, so all I have to do is remember to use the right sink and, eventually, with a long enough cooking time, the beans ought to soften ...

But still--that long cooking time required by many types of beans makes canned beans look so much more convenient. What to do?

Well, my son-in-law, on a quest for the perfectly cooked chick pea, decided that he must have a pressure cooker. I heard about how chick peas could be cooked in just twelve minutes, how they tasted so much better, how delectable they were compared to the canned ones. And that decided me on a course I'd toyed with since buying a pressure canner a couple of years ago: it was time once again to try pressure cookery.

So I bought one, and the results are fantastic. The beans cook in a fraction of the time, and they taste so much better than canned (particularly chick peas). The only additives are whatever aromatic herbs I add to the cooking water, and perhaps a little oil to prevent foaming. I don't have a zillion empty cans to dispose of, and my pantry shelves aren't as crowded.

I'll be adding some bean recipes to the site soon--just click on "Beans" in the list of categories. (Don't worry, the recipes will use canned beans and/or conventional cooking of dried beans, not just pressure-cooked dried beans.) Whether in salads, soups, stews, wraps, or casseroles, the humble bean--properly cooked, of course--can provide delicious fare.

Black Bean Burritos

Here's a recipe some of you will know from my cookbook. It's a staple at our house. Hard to believe this rich-tasting meal is so low in fat. If you're not concerned about fat, top the burritos with shredded cheese and heat in the oven, or sprinkle the filling with cheese before wrapping. You can heat the burritos all at once in a 350-degree oven, tightly covered with foil, or you can heat them in the microwave, one at a time, covered with plastic wrap.

1 large onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 or more jalapenos, minced
2 T. vegetable oil
3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
12 8-inch flour tortillas, warmed
salsa, if desired

Cook the onion, garlic, and jalapeno in oil over moderately low heat until the onion is softened. Make sure the rinsed beans are well drained. Add the beans to the pan and mash about half of them with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon. Add the tomato sauce, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the mixture, stirring often, for at least five minutes (I usually let it simmer for 10 or 15 minutes). Warm the tortillas one at a time in the microwave, 5-10 seconds or until they are soft and pliable. Take the warmed tortilla and spread about 3-4 T. of the filling down the center of it; roll up tightly, enclosing the filling but leaving the ends open. Now you can bake them for ten minutes in a lasagna pan, with or without cheese but tightly covered in either case, or you can heat individually in the microwave. Top with salsa, if desired (and/or sour cream, if you're not watching your fat intake!).

Basque Skillet Beans

This is from Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics and is quick to make, no exotic ingredients, just good food.

Instead of canned tomatoes, I used a pound of frozen ones, since that's what I had on hand. You can use white kidney beans (cannellini) instead of garbanzo. I used 1 can of garbanzos and one of black-eyed peas because I didn't have enough garbanzos. It tasted great!

1/4 tsp. crumbled saffron threads
1/4 very hot or boiling water
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 C. chopped onions
1 minced fresh green chile (I used jalapeno)
1 14.5-oz. can tomatoes with juice
1/2 C. dry sherry
3 C. cooked chick peas (two 15-oz. cans, drained and rinsed)
10 oz. fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed, and chopped
2-3 T. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
ground black pepper

In a small bowl, cover the saffron with the hot water; set aside.

In a 12-inch skillet, warm the oil over medium heat and then saute the garlic, onions, and chiles for 5 minutes or so. Crush the tomatoes into the skillet using your hands or break up the tomatoes in the skillet with a wooden spoon. Add the juice from the can, the sherry, and the saffron in its liquid.

Stir in the chickpeas and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Arrange the spinach on top and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, maybe more, until the spinach is wilted but still bright green. Remove from heat, stir to mix in the spinach, add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, stir again, and there you are. Only 229 calories per 10-ounce serving!