Hope's Edge_ The Next Diet for a Small Planet - Frances Moore Lappe [127]
Complementary protein: rice + milk + sesame + beans
3.
Middle Eastern Specialty
Menu:
Eggplant spread on crackers (well-cooked eggplant blended with sesame butter, garlic, lemon, and herbs of your choice)
Sweet and Sour Couscous for Arabian Nights
Tossed salad
Sesame Dream Bars (this page)
Sweet and Sour Couscous for Arabian Nights
Serves 6
Couscous is a light, partially refined wheat product that is a basic ingredient in many Middle Eastern dishes. It gives a very special quality to this recipe.
Oil for sautéing
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 medium carrots, sliced
1 to 2 teaspoons dillweed
1 bay leaf
1 to 2 teaspoons parsley
1 to 2 teaspoons horseradish
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 clove garlic, mashed
2 cups Seasoned Stock
½ to 1 cup dry white wine
2 to 3 cups cooked garbanzos (¾ cup uncooked) or one 20-ounce can
1 egg
1 cup milk
½ cup instant dry milk
¼ cup brown sugar
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
¼ cup vinegar
5 cups cooked couscous (2 cups uncooked, prepared according to directions on package) or bulgur or rice
Heat oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven and sauté onion, celery, mushrooms, and carrots until onion is translucent. Add herbs, horseradish, salt and pepper, ½ teaspoon mustard, and garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add stock and wine and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Add garbanzos, taste for salt and pepper, and adjust seasoning. Consistency should be like that of a thick soup; if necessary, you can thicken with cornstarch.
Over simmering water in a double boiler, beat the egg and liquid milk together. Add dry milk, sugar, and tomato sauce, then vinegar and remaining ½ teaspoon mustard, stirring with a whisk all the while.
To serve, put a portion of couscous on each plate and top with the garbanzo-vegetable mix and then the sauce. This dish has a flavor unlike any other—definitely worth the trouble!
Complementary protein: beans + wheat + milk
4.
Brazilian Evening
Menu:
Feijoada (Tangy Black Beans)
Rice with Green Chili Sauce
Greens with Sesame Seed Topping and Orange Slices
Feijoada (Tangy Black Beans)
6 servings
This recipe was one of my favorites from the last edition. A Brazilian friend embellished it for this edition.
Oil for sautéing
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon cilantro (optional)
1 cup black beans
3 cups Seasoned Stock (or substitute wine for up to half the stock)
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon vinegar (omit if using wine)
1 orange, washed but unpeeled, whole or halved
½ teaspoon salt
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 carrot, chopped (optional)
½ sweet potato, diced
Heat oil in a large heavy pot and sauté onion, garlic, green onions, green pepper, tomato, and cilantro until onion is translucent. Add beans, stock, bay leaf, pepper, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Take off stove and let sit, covered, for 1 hour.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer, with lid ajar, for 2 to 3 hours more, until beans are tender. Remove a ladleful of beans, mash them, and return them to the pot to thicken the mixture.
I have done the whole thing in a pressure cooker, after first sautéing the onion and garlic. It is much quicker and still very good.
Rice with Green Chili Sauce
Rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
About 4½ cups cooked brown rice (2 cups uncooked)
Heat oil and sauté onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add tomatoes and simmer a few minutes. Stir in the cooked rice and keep warm over low heat.
Sauce
1 tomato, peeled and seeded
California green chiles, seeded, to taste (start with half a 2-ounce can)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, cut in chunks
Scallions and parsley to taste
¼ cup vinegar
In a blender, purée tomato, chilies, salt, and garlic until smooth. Add lemon juice,