Very simple meal with mustard sauteed veggies

This meal is so simple that it might not even be worth mentioning, yet maybe somebody needs just that little bit of inspiration…

I grated three different root vegetables – celery root, carrot and parsley root, and sauteed them on some pumpkinseed oil, on a low flame for quite some time, towards the end adding tamari and a spoonful of organic mustard (the kind where apple cider vinegar is used).

On the side I blanched some cabbage and sprinkled it with ume plum vinegar. As a grain I had creamy teff.

Baked teff dumplings with horseradish kinpira and sauteed greens

 

Long description but simple meal!

All I did was that I cooked up a batch of brown teff (the world´s smallest grain originating in Ethiopia), in a 1:3 grain to water ratio, with a pinch of salt. Then I mixed enough rice flour into the hot grain so that the porridge-like consistency got transformed into a tougher dough and I let it cool.

Meanwhile I prepared kinpira by slicing carrot, parsley root and soaked dried burdock into matchsticks, I sauteed them for a few minutes on a bit of oil with a pinch of salt, in a heavy-bottom pot. When they softened, I added about 1 cm of water into the pot, covered with a lid and let the veggies cook for half an hour on a low flame, using a flame tamer. Towards the end I added a splash of tamari and about 5 cm of finely grated horseradish which I actually mixed in when the flame was already off and just let it steam through.

I also cut up some carrot tops, curly cabbage and white cabbage and sauteed them on a tiny bit of oil with minced garlic and a pinch of salt, just shortly so that they stay crisp.

When the dough cooled off, I formed round dumplings (you might need to wet your hands slightly to prevent sticking), lined them up on a greased baking pan and baked them on 200°C until their surface got crispy. They were a bit bland as I didn´t add any flavour to the dough, so we ended up spreading some coarse mustard on top 😀

 

Hiziki with tofu, carrots and green beans

As a sidedish for my lunch I picked another recipe from Wieke´s cookbook (I am trying out several recipes from this cookbook lately, as I really need new meal ideas), this time a hiziki seaweed recipe (actually the recipe called for arame, but I didn´t have that one). I soaked a small handful of hiziki for about half an hour (but less will do), then I changed the water (you can use the soaking water, but then the fishy seaweed taste is stronger, which my boyfriend dislikes :-D) and placed the seaweed in a little pot, with water just to cover. I added half a tablespoon of shoyu and half a tablespoon of mirin and simmered for about half an hour until the liquid evaporated. Meanwhile I shortly blanched chopped up green beans and carrot matchsticks, keeping them crispy. In another small pot I crumbled up about 100 g of firm tofu and simmered it under a lid with 1 tablespoon of ume plum vinegar (you can add water if it sticks too much). At the end I mixed all together. It looked something like this….

 

Yummy!!

I ate the hiziki with nishime vegetables flavoured with barley miso, a carrot top condiment (made by long simmering of chopped carrot tops with shiro miso and water) and with teff. Don´t you think the tiny teff grains looks supercute??

Mashed teff with chickpeas

Somehow it occured to me to mash my teff * with cooked chickpeas and I think it was a nice idea so I am sharing it 😀 For flavour I added a tablespoon of tahini paste, chopped fresh parsley and salt. For mashing I used a potato masher.

I served the mash with quick sauteed vegetables: red radish, leek, carrot, daikon, green beans, green cabbage, chopped kombu (leftover from cooking the chickpeas), seasoned with tamari and lemon juice and topped with a sprinkling of hemp seeds.

* pressure cooked for half an hour with a triple amount of water

Scrambled tofu eggs

On 23.11. I attempted for the first time to make scrambled tofu, something that is supposed to remind you of those good ole days of yellow scrambled eggs from the pan 😀 I got a pretty good result, and it´s sooooo quick and easy! First I sauteed a large amount of onion and leek slices on olive oil, until soft. Then I crumbled in a big block of firm tofu (you really have to squish the tofu in your hand, otherwise you won´t get the desired texture) and seasoned it with turmeric (for the yellow colour and also flavour), piri-piri (chilli flakes), black indian salt and ginger powder. Next time I will put LESS turmeric – the colour was pretty, but the taste was too overwhelming.

As accompanying dishes I had cooked teff (the smallest grain the world!), nishime of pumpkin, and steamed veggies (daikon, red radish, carrot and onion).

23.9.

I love the “macrobiotic plate” with islands of different types of food. It is a bit like creating a symphony 😀 Some time ago I finally got my order of 5 kg (!!) of teff in the mail, so I cooked it for dinner. Teff is a super-nutritious grain from Ethiopia, actually the smallest grain in the world. It reminds polenta a bit when cooked. It has a very fine delicate texture and I really like the taste and aroma…and it´s done in 15-20 minutes! Together with the teff I steamed broccoli and daikon (steaming is a hit in our household lately) and served them with a quick sauce made by diluting rice brown miso with some warm water. I also did a stir-fry in a wok – leek, green beans, carrot, chinese cabbage and celery stalk, with added sesame seeds and a dash of tamari and water. Simple yet satisfying dinner 🙂