Tribeca Yummy Mummy

Last winter when we created a kid-friendly chicken tagine in class, a few of the vegetarian parents asked how they could make the dish without the addition of meat.  While vegetarian cooking does take more thought for flavor development and, at times, more creativity to bring up the protein level to make it healthful for children, this tagine was very easy to adapt.

The mini-chefs dove into the task of making the spice broth and adding in the vegetables, and besides the preparation it took to get everything ready for them to create the dish, they did all of the assembly themselves.  What a fun and hearty dish.  We prepared cous-cous to go underneath our tagine and soak up some of its flavors.  It was a hit with the kids, even the pickier eaters who would not try certain parts of the tagine.

One ingredient that we left out for class but which would definitely add more earthiness and flavor is eggplant.  Japanese eggplants, if you can find them at your greenmarket, would be a tasty and easy choice.  Eggplant has been added to the ingredient list below as optional.  If you do choose to use it, simply put in a bit less squash and sweet potato or use a bigger pot to cook in.

This would make the perfect Thanksgiving main course for a vegetarian family or vegetarian guests.  It feels incredibly lavish and hearty while not being at all difficult to make.  If you do not have a clay baker, which are pretty inexpensive if you can find them locally, then make the dish in a large dutch oven, placed in a preheated 375 degree oven.  Cook till the vegetables are tender, about 1 1/2- 2 hours.

Fall/Winter Vegetable Tagine with Cous-Cous

• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 T. tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 T. cumin
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 T. fresh ginger, minced (or 2 t. ground ginger)
• 1 t. coriander
• 1 t. paprika
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 mini-chef handfuls of raisins (golden, regular, or a mixture)
• 2 mini-chef handfuls of dried cranberries
• 2 mini-chef handfuls of  dried un-sulphured apricots
• 2 mini-chef handfuls of pitted prunes
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 medium yams or sweet potatoes, skin scrubbed well and cut into large chunks ( 1-inch to 1 1/2-inch chunks)
• 2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeds scooped out with a spoon, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1-2 japanese eggplants or 1 small eggplant, scrubbed, top cut off and cut as above with the sweet potato
• black pepper, to taste

1. Soak your clay baker in cold, clean water for at least 15 minutes.
2. With your mini-chef, place the stock, tomato paste, bay leaves, spices, salt, onions, and garlic into the base of the baker and stir the liquid a bit.
3. Gently add the rest of the vegetables and the chickpeas, tossing very gently with your hands or a big spoon to mix.
4. Place the top on the clay baker and place in a COLD oven.
5. Turn the oven on now at 480 degrees and cook your tagine for about 60-75 minutes.  The vegetables should hold together well still but be tender all the way through.
6. Be careful when you pull the baker out of the oven and the top off of it.  Lots of very hot steam will escape!

For the Cous-Cous:

• 4 c. cous-cous
• 4 c. vegetable stock
• 2 c. water
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Bring the stock and the water to a boil over high heat.
2. Add the cous-cous and stir for a few seconds.
3. Turn off the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and let steam for 5 minutes
4. Uncover and season, to taste.
5. Serve a big scoop of cous-cous topped with a big scoop of tagine on top.  Enjoy!

This week’s Corner View is all about Vacay pictures or, in Brit terms, “Holiday Pictures”.  So, after digging into the archives, here are some shots from our trip to Vermont last August.  We may be city folks, but we know how to live it up in the country while we are there.

Was this really just a couple of months ago?  It could have been a year ago!  Right in the middle of our vacation, we found out about our pregnancy, and just this week we got to hear the mini-nugget’s heart beat for the first time.  We have come a long way, baby.

Want to see other exciting views of Holiday?  Check out these blogs around the world:

Mira, beanpole, has grown out of nearly every stitch of clothing she had last Winter despite my buying and sizing up in hope that we could eek out at least another Fall.  In particular, her closet is bare of her favorite clothing items: dresses.

It took me a month to sew her this little Jump Rope Dress from an Oliver + S pattern because all my big sewing plans were put on the back burner, what with the morning sickness and fatigue of early pregnancy.  The plaid fabric is from French General, and the floral is something that just appeared in my sewing stash.  People sometimes donate things to our sewing cause, and I am fairly certain that this little floral falls under that category.

Mira got dressed up in her new outfit, had her picture taken, came home, took off her dress, hung it up neatly, and announced that she was saving wearing it for school this week.  My little clothes horse!  Smart, too.  It makes me want to sew her an entire closet full of pretty school dresses.

A couple of years ago, a friend from Zimbabwe mentioned that they love to eat peanut butter and pumpkin there ground together in a sort of mush or puree.  Loving both of those ingredients, I kept the idea of that mixture in my back pocket until this Fall.

Peanut butter, while maligned now, was one of the most comforting, nourishing foods on the planet for me when I was a child and still is, it seems,  for so many children we know.  For many years every single day, I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread that my grandmother would make with freshly ground peanut butter and cut into four triangles.  If not for those sandwiches, it is doubtful whether I would have survived at all, and to this day, I love peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  They are like mother’s milk, or perhaps grandmother’s milk.

In New York, I discovered sesame noodles, a grown up version of my childhood love, with that luscious sauce, both sweet and salty, and the little bite of the noodles.  Delicious.

To bring this dish to the mini-chef’s table, we used soba noodles, packed with much more protein than your average noodle. We topped our peanut butter-sesame noodles with one of the best ingredients of the Autumn, butternut squash, roasted with a little bit of maple syrup to bring out its natural sweetness.

The sauce for this dish is definitely a balancing act.  For adults, I strongly suggest adding some chili ginger sauce or Sriracha, on top or right into your sauce.  This flavor might be too strong for Yummies’ tender palates, so try making it as in the recipe below and adding some heat only if you know that your mini-chef is up for it.  These noodles are so good at any temperature, warm, cold, or in between.  If you prefer to use some other roasted vegetable or, if serving the dish cold, a shredded cucumber, carrot, or beet, substitute to your heart’s content.  The butternuts are satisfying, though, and work really well to balance the drama of the sauce.

Soba Noodles with a Peanut Sauce and Roasted Butternut Squash

For the Butternut Squash:

• 4-5 lb. butternut squash, peeled
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 2 T. maple syrup
• one pinch of salt and some black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cut the peeled squash in half length-wise and scoop out all the seeds with a spoon or an ice cream scoop.  Cube the seeded squash into 1-inch chunks.
3. With your mini-chef, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place the squash down onto the parchment in one layer.  Pour the ingredients on top and toss with your hands to coat evenly.
4. Big Person: cook the squash for about 45 minutes, or until tender but not falling apart.  Cool for at least 5 minutes before serving atop the dish.

For the Soba Noodles and Sauce:

• 2 lbs. soba noodles
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 T. peeled and chopped ginger
• 1 t. mustard (yellow or whole-grain)
• 1/3 c. soy sauce
• 1/3 c. maple syrup
• 1 T. toasted sesame oil
• 3/4 c. peanut butter
• 1/2 c. tahini
• 1/4 c. rice vinegar
• the juice of one lime (or the juice of 1/2 lemon)
• optional: chili ginger sauce or Sriracha, to taste
• for garnish: the green tops of 2-3 scallions

1. Set up a big pot with water (no salt since the noodles are already very salty), cover, and bring to a boil while preparing the sauce.
2. With your mini-chef, place all of the ingredients into the bowl of an UNPLUGGED food processor (or blender).  Secure the top, turn on the processor, and blend until completely smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Unplug the processor, and pour the sauce into a large serving bowl.
4. Prepare your noodles according to the directions on the package.  We suggest running cool water over the noodles (I know! I know!  But…) since soba noodles are very glutenous and have a tendency to stick together.  Make sure to save some of the cooking water (scoop out about a cup of it before you drain the noodles)to thin the sauce if need be.
5. When the noodles are ready, drain them (and run them under cold water), and pour them right into the  serving bowl over the sauce.  Toss the noodles and sauce together gently.  If the sauce is too thick, add some of the cooking water, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it, checking to the consistency after each addition.  The sauce should be thick but not so thick that you cannot toss the noodles properly.
6. Top with the roasted butternut squash chunks, the scallions, and serve the hot sauce on the side.  Enjoy!

Aren’t you glad I didn’t say banana?  We’re hearing that infamous knock knock joke a lot around here these days.

For other ORANGE, check out these Corner Views hosted by Otli:

jane, ian, joyce, kim, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., ritva, francesca,state of bliss, denise, cabrizette, isabelle, janis, kari, jgy, lise, cate,otli, nicola, vanessa, b,kristina, sophie, mcgillicutty, sunnymama,daan, juanita, ibb,gillian, pienduzz, kelleyn, ninja, guusje, sammi,theresa, cherry b, juliette, mulot, helene, shokoofeh, cole, lucylaine,lynn, skywriting, anna, dorit, kenza, conny, l´atelier, kamana, anne marie, rosamaría, marinik, elisabelle, victoria, the yellow door paperie, tikjewit, juniper, annabel, andrea, valerie, merel, soisses,angie, mlle paradis, cacahuete, wander chow, barbara, emily, tally,nadine, matilda, don, flowtops, susanna, katy, castor, tania,tzivia