Sunday, October 21, 2007

Chickpea Not Tuna Salad and Rob's Risotto

This was originally going to be Yeah That Vegan Shit's recipe Mock Tuna Salad, but I don't think I've ever eaten tuna salad and of course the kids haven't, but they love hummus so I thought I'd change things a bit.


Chickpea Not Tuna Salad

Ingredients:

25 oz. can chickpeas
2 Tablespoons Vegenaise (you can add more if it is too dry)
2/3 cup minced celery
4 Tablespoons dill pickle (I think relish would work well too, but might be too sweet)
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 green onions, chopped (use the green part as well)
1 Tablespoon tamari (you could use 2 tsp., but I had my tablespoon out and used it)
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional...I like to add them for calcium and because they were handy)
pepper to taste

Put it all in a bowl and use an immersion blender until it is the consistency you like. The original called for mashing with a fork, but I had Josie in my arms and the fork thing was not happening. I shredded carrots on top served on Mirabelle's Ciabbata. Parker wanted black olives as well. Parker's addition of olives made me try it on Mirabelle's Olive Rosemary bread, which was very good. Next time I will play with adding roasted pumpkin seeds.


Rob's Risotto

16 oz. Arborio rice
2 medium yellow onions (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (sliced)
4 cups vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons olive oil
28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 jar/can of tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
2 Tablespoon fresh basil (destemmed and chopped)
1 teaspsoon fresh oregano (destemmed and chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Last week he made Simple Tomato Risotto from Vegan Family Favorites and it was very Vegan Family Favorites (cookbook)
good if you are in a hurry. This time he did his own thing combing what he learned from the last risotto and reading other recipes.

Heat the stock and chopped tomatoes and simmer. In another pan, heat olive oil and gently saute the onions, garlic, and rice (medium heat or slightly lower as you go). As the rice begins to stick a little (3-5minutes), add a 1/2 cup of tomato/stock liquid to the saute. Stir in well and then stir often until absorbed and add another 1/2 cup of liquid.

When the stock is almost all consumed add the tomato paste, basil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper to taste. When most of the stock has been added cover to allow more heat build up and cook the rice. After all stock is added cover and allow it to cook 5-10 minutes to get the rice completely cooked.

We had the risotto with sauted kale and garlic and Mirabelle's Ciabbata again. This is a very tasty dish and a nice change from pasta, but I wish it was whole grain instead of white rice, but it wouldn't have the creaminess if a brown rice was used.

Just for fun, here is a picture of Parker and Josie talking.

3 comments:

Loretta said...

Yum! I am starving and was trying to decide what to eat. I am so headed right into the kitchen to make this chickpea not tuna salad. The only ingredient I'm missing is green onions--I'll fiddle around with things and see what I can sub in for it. :)

VeganLinda said...

I hope it turned out well without the green onions!

Loretta said...

It's funny about your latest post because it turned out that, unbeknownst to me, someone in this house ate all the pickles that were in the refrigerator, so I had to go to the store anyway so I picked up some green onions while I was at it. You would think that David would know to leave the pickles for the pregnant woman...

This was so delicious. It will definitely become a part of our repertoire. :) And, it tasted a lot like regular tuna salad, just without the mercury...