Recipe Review from 2/23/09

With the Husband off at annual training for a couple of weeks, I get to make more vegetarian dishes. Not that he doesn't like the vegetarian choices, he just prefers a bit more meat in his diet whereas I could go just about meatless and not even notice (I do like my seafood tho!).

The downside with him being gone is I don't get to make as much - it's only me eating those leftovers!

Ramadan Soup (Ckng Lght, Jan/Feb 09)
Preparation just doesn't get any simpler. Saffron threads are not integral to the dish so if you don't have them, don't worry about it. I don't do lima beans so I subbed peas. Edamame would work great too. The lemon wedges are to "brighten" the dish just before serving, and can be omitted as well, or just add a splash to the whole pot before serving. This became my lunch for the week.

From Ckng Lght magazine:
Traditionally, this satisfying soup includes meat and is offered to break the sunrise-to-dusk fasting period during the month of Ramadan, the Muslim holiday. Harira's hearty, rich flavors, abundant protein, and sultry seasonings translate well into a vegetarian interpretation with chickpeas and lima beans. Serve with Moroccan Country Bread, a salad, and fresh dates for dessert.

Yield
8 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup soup and 1 lemon wedge)

Ingredients
2 cups water
2 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Emeril's)
1 3/4 cups diced yellow onion
1/2 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup organic no-salt-added tomato puree (such as Muir Glen)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
8 lemon wedges

Preparation
1. Place first 8 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in beans and next 5 ingredients (through chickpeas); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve with lemon wedges.


Banana Flax Muffins (Vegetarian Times, Feb 09) 3.0
I tried finding the recipe on the website, but it either wasn't posted yet or my search prompt was off by a dash or something. Either way, it doesn't matter, I found these to be just so-so. They are a combination of bran cereal, ground flaxseed, buttermilk, eggs bananas, flour (I used AP and WW), and sugar. Pretty simple really.

They were easy to make, which is usually the case with muffins, but for a "vegetarian" recipe, I was quite shocked at the amount of sugar it called for - a cup! for 12 muffins! I scaled back to 3/4 cup and thought I should have done 2/3.

The recipe also called for 4 bananas - three to be mashed into the batter, and one to be sliced and baked on top of the muffins. That seemed to be a bit of over kill, so I skipped 'naner number four and sprinkled the top with walnuts for extra omega-3's.

I also found it odd they didn't incorporate any WW flour. Come on! How easy is that? I did one cup AP and 1/2 cup WW.

And last (though first in the recipe), it called to soak bran cereal in buttermilk for 30 minutes. We had a box of bran cereal on hand (Fiber One - looks like worm poop) from a different bread recipe so I used that. Well, I don't think I soaked long enough because much of the cereal maintained its shape through the rest of the baking process. I've got worm poop in my muffins! Tastes fine, looks odd.

I think there are better, healthier, recipes out there.