Hey Fantastic Readers!
North African Vegetable Stew
Ingredients
Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 15oz can vegetable broth
1/2 cup water, more or less
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 small zucchini cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp curry powder
pinch of cayenne powder
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped parsley
optional: garnish with peanuts
Directions
1.) In a large witch's cauldron, sauté the onion and pepper in oil until they soften. About 8 minutes.
2.) Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetable broth, water, lemon juice, butternut squash, garbanzo beans, and sweet potato. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer until squash and potato are tender. About 20 minutes depending on how small the squash and potato chunks are.
3.) Add the zucchini and spices. Cover and let simmer until zucchini is tender. About 10 minutes.
4.) Stir in raisins and sprinkle parsley on top. Let simmer another 3 minutes.
5.) Serve over baked potato (or on the side if you prefer). You can sprinkle on crushed peanuts for garnishing.
To go along with the stew, I decided on kale chips. I’ve never made kale chips before this time, but the food intrigued me. I got this simple recipe from the area Co-op newsletter.
Kale Chips
Use kale or some other leafy green if kale isn't available. Brush lightly with oil and season with salt or seasoned salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
Birdman’s Reflections:
The North African Vegetable Stew turned out just as good as Café 27’s in my opinion. It’s a tasty combination with butternut squash and sweet potato and spices. It all adds up to a sweet tasting stew. I used 1 tsp of cinnamon and that seemed like too much, so I reduced it in the recipe I provided. I might also add more paprika and cayenne pepper in the future to give it more kick. I also added the garbanzo beans too early on accident. I meant to add them with the zucchini, but it turns out they were still fairly hard so I made that change to the recipe too. I think this stew would taste just as good without the garbanzo beans if you’re not a fan of them. This is a very thick and hardy stew. I’d give it 5/5 and it’s something I’d make again in the fall or winter season.
The kale chips, eh … alright. I should have peeled the leaves from the stalk part first, because the stalk part is too thick to bake through so it just ends up really chewy. The leafy part was pretty good. I made them like I make sweet potato fries. I put a little oil and Mrs. Dash in a bowl, then added the kale and mixed it all together until everything was evenly coated. So they didn’t turn out too great this first time, but I think there’s potential. I might try it with other leafy green next time. I give it a 3/5, just because it seems just as easy and healthier to eat the kale raw with a salad.
For a movie this week I watched The Royal Tenenbaums, which is #10 on that movie website I’ve been referring to. This movie was decent, but certainly not fantastic in my opinion. It stars Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Billy Murray, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson. It might be worth a watch, maybe, haha. I’m not going to watch it again, but I can’t say it’s a bad movie.
Hey, here’s a picture of my awesome apron that Giggles made me for Christmas! It’s so thoughtful and it encompasses many of the major things involved with our friendship. Like Spongebob! Heehee. And we love sangria and ketchup! Then the “P-I-Z-Z-A” and “Whipcream like waterfalls” is from one of our favorite videos online (it’s at the end of the clip). We have a picture of us in a heroic pose J. And “Mindfullness” represents our passion to become more mindful of what we eat and how we live our lives. In the center is a drawing representing my life philosophy. The drawing is based on a sketch for a possible tattoo I sent to Giggles way back last summer.
My life philosophy is all about what I call the 4 L’s of life: love, listen, learn, and laugh. Loving is about loving and respecting everyone around you. Listening concerns listening more than you talk (which I need to work on) and being open-minded to everything in life. Learning deals with learning as much as you can about life and seeking new experiences for self growth. And laughing deals with having fun, making the best out of every situation, and bringing laughter into the lives of others. I believe following this philosophy will improve the quality of my life, and also the lives of those around me. And it’s a philosophy, not a goal. It’s not something I’ll ever achieve and be finished with. It’s something I’ll be striving to live with every moment of my life until the day I die.
This is Birdman, ready to finish catching up on all the posts. We’re up to our most recent dinner on Feb. 17. It was my turn this week and I decided to go with a couple of recipes that I had been inspired by that week.
Just before this dinner I was volunteering at our Local Food Fair. At the fair, there were many area farmers and community members with booths set up, talking about all sorts of food related topics, such as organic farming. There was also a meal served. 550 people from the community showed up to this event and all received a free baked potato. Then they could buy tickets for a number of different toppings that were provided by area restaurants. As a volunteer, my job was to help set up the food stations and then serve the food. Lucky me, I was assigned to serve food from Café 27. Café 27 is one of the many fabulous restaurants where Giggles and I enjoyed breakfast. They serve many vegetarian dishes and I believe all locally grown, organic food. It’s the type of restaurant I would have if I ever opened my own. Anyway, I got the opportunity to serve up some incredible North African Vegetable Stew from Café 27. After I finished my time serving I had the chance to try it with a baked potato and it was incredible. I knew I had to make this! So I chose it for this week’s recipe.
I wasn’t able to find a recipe online that I liked, so once again I created my own based on what was in Café 27’s stew and some of the recipes I found online. I came up with this:North African Vegetable Stew
Ingredients
Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 15oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 15oz can diced tomatoes1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 15oz can vegetable broth
1/2 cup water, more or less
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 small zucchini cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp curry powder
pinch of cayenne powder
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped parsley
optional: garnish with peanuts
Directions
1.) In a large witch's cauldron, sauté the onion and pepper in oil until they soften. About 8 minutes.
2.) Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetable broth, water, lemon juice, butternut squash, garbanzo beans, and sweet potato. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer until squash and potato are tender. About 20 minutes depending on how small the squash and potato chunks are.
3.) Add the zucchini and spices. Cover and let simmer until zucchini is tender. About 10 minutes.
4.) Stir in raisins and sprinkle parsley on top. Let simmer another 3 minutes.
5.) Serve over baked potato (or on the side if you prefer). You can sprinkle on crushed peanuts for garnishing.
To go along with the stew, I decided on kale chips. I’ve never made kale chips before this time, but the food intrigued me. I got this simple recipe from the area Co-op newsletter.
Kale Chips
Use kale or some other leafy green if kale isn't available. Brush lightly with oil and season with salt or seasoned salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
Birdman’s Reflections:
The North African Vegetable Stew turned out just as good as Café 27’s in my opinion. It’s a tasty combination with butternut squash and sweet potato and spices. It all adds up to a sweet tasting stew. I used 1 tsp of cinnamon and that seemed like too much, so I reduced it in the recipe I provided. I might also add more paprika and cayenne pepper in the future to give it more kick. I also added the garbanzo beans too early on accident. I meant to add them with the zucchini, but it turns out they were still fairly hard so I made that change to the recipe too. I think this stew would taste just as good without the garbanzo beans if you’re not a fan of them. This is a very thick and hardy stew. I’d give it 5/5 and it’s something I’d make again in the fall or winter season.
The kale chips, eh … alright. I should have peeled the leaves from the stalk part first, because the stalk part is too thick to bake through so it just ends up really chewy. The leafy part was pretty good. I made them like I make sweet potato fries. I put a little oil and Mrs. Dash in a bowl, then added the kale and mixed it all together until everything was evenly coated. So they didn’t turn out too great this first time, but I think there’s potential. I might try it with other leafy green next time. I give it a 3/5, just because it seems just as easy and healthier to eat the kale raw with a salad.
For a movie this week I watched The Royal Tenenbaums, which is #10 on that movie website I’ve been referring to. This movie was decent, but certainly not fantastic in my opinion. It stars Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Billy Murray, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson. It might be worth a watch, maybe, haha. I’m not going to watch it again, but I can’t say it’s a bad movie.
Hey, here’s a picture of my awesome apron that Giggles made me for Christmas! It’s so thoughtful and it encompasses many of the major things involved with our friendship. Like Spongebob! Heehee. And we love sangria and ketchup! Then the “P-I-Z-Z-A” and “Whipcream like waterfalls” is from one of our favorite videos online (it’s at the end of the clip). We have a picture of us in a heroic pose J. And “Mindfullness” represents our passion to become more mindful of what we eat and how we live our lives. In the center is a drawing representing my life philosophy. The drawing is based on a sketch for a possible tattoo I sent to Giggles way back last summer.
My life philosophy is all about what I call the 4 L’s of life: love, listen, learn, and laugh. Loving is about loving and respecting everyone around you. Listening concerns listening more than you talk (which I need to work on) and being open-minded to everything in life. Learning deals with learning as much as you can about life and seeking new experiences for self growth. And laughing deals with having fun, making the best out of every situation, and bringing laughter into the lives of others. I believe following this philosophy will improve the quality of my life, and also the lives of those around me. And it’s a philosophy, not a goal. It’s not something I’ll ever achieve and be finished with. It’s something I’ll be striving to live with every moment of my life until the day I die.
In an attempt to add a little more substance to this blog and our posts, besides just delicious food and good movies, I’m going to include something I want to focus on each week. Readers, I encourage you to do the same. A great strategy to improve yourself is to become aware of exactly what you want to improve in your lives, and then set goals for yourself. My focus starting this week is becoming an early riser. I’ve never been much of a morning person, but I’ve often heard how people who wake up early tend to be more successful. So I’ve decided to give it a try. Wait, I’m not just going to try it; I’m going to do it! I’ve also read some great blog posts on the subject of early rising from other blogs that I follow. One is from Prolific Living, and the other is from Steve Pavlina. By the way, these are two great blogs that talk a lot about living better (like our goal here, but these are much more professional blogs than ours).
No comments:
Post a Comment