iBelin

Butternut Squash and Red Potatoes*

// February 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // LENT, recipes

Here is a very tasty recipe for the Daniel Fast purist

1 vidalia onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
6 small red potatoes
3 small butternut squash
salt and pepper to taste
cumin to taste
thyme to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
2 tablespoons safflower oil

saute thinly sliced onions and peppers in safflower oil
add thinly sliced potatoes
add thinly sliced peeled butternut squash

cover and simmer until potatoes break easily with fork

*Thanks to Toni Belin Ingram (@tenayebi) for this Recipe

Nigerian Spinach Stew (or Soup)

// February 18th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // LENT, recipes

Just got a recipe from Minister Colette Walker! Enjoy:

Here’s a new recipe given to me by a friend who just returned from Nigeria in Janruary. I will be trying it very soon…maybe Sat!
“An old Auntie showed me how to make this so there are NO PRECISE measurements.”

Ingredients:
1 can of diced or pureed tomatoes
1 bag of baby spinach
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 small onion diced
1 medium carrot cut in very small pieces
1 teaspoon basil in olive oil
dried crushed red pepper to taste

1. Clean spinach – take off stems
2. Cut spinach in small pieces/slices (like you do collards)
3. place spinach in a large deep bowl
4. Pour boiling water over spinach cover let sit for 5 minutes.

In large pot
1. sautee onion with basil and garlic in olive oil
2. add tomatoes and cut carrot. Sautee until carrot is tender.
Taste then add salt or more hot pepper
3. Add spinach.
4. Taste

It’s done when the spinach is tender.

You can add more water to make it soupy or you can add less and just eat it like spinach and tomatoes. I use diced tomatoes when I want it as spinach and tomatoes. When making soup I puree the tomatoes like I’m making spagetti sauce.

Spicy Dhal w/ Tomatoes

// February 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // recipes

1 cup lentils or yellow split peas
2 ½ cups of water
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp mustard seeds
¼ crushed red pepper
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
2 or 3 jalapeno peppers, split lengthwise (remove seeds if you wish)
1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned, drained
½ tsp salt
2 tbs chopped cilantro, optional

In a medium saucepan bring lentils (or yellow split peas), water, and turmeric to a boil; turn heat down, cover, and let simmer for about 30 minutes (45 for split peas), watching for spilling. (Remove cover to let bubbles subside if spilling occurs.)

While lentils/peas cook over medium-high heat, in a heavy covered saucepan, heat cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and crushed red pepper in oil until mustard seeds begin to pop. Turn heat down to medium, add onion, garlic, and green chilies, and fry for about 5 minutes until onion is soft.

Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until they are soft. Do not overcook; tomato pieces should hold their shape.

When lentils/peas are cooked and completely tender, mash with a potato masher or back of a spoon 6-8 times, to break up roughly. Add tomato and spice mixture, stir in salt, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes, adding more water if necessary for a pourable consistency. Taste for salt.

Remove from heat and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Thanks to Rev. Karen McGhee for this recipe!

Black Bean Soup

// February 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // LENT, recipes

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
3 15-ounce cans black beans, drained, 1 cup liquid reserved
2 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt vegetable broth
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

Preparation
Heat bay leaf in oil in large pot over medium heat until bay leaf begins to brown. Add onion, garlic and thyme; sauté until onion is golden, about 8 minutes. Add beans, reserved 1 cup bean liquid, broth, tomatoes with juices, cumin and hot pepper sauce. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors blend and soup thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Working in 2 batches, purée 2 1/2 cups soup in blender until smooth. Mix purée back into soup in pot. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls.

Thanks to Rev. Karen McGhee for this Recipe

Breakfast of Champions

// February 18th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // LENT, recipes

Thanks to Rev. Karen McGhee for this post!

Want to be adventuresome and try a different whole grain for breakfast.  Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa), Amaranth, or Millet are great whole grains that can replace your morning oatmeal, grits, or cereal.  Quinoa is a traditional whole grain found in South America prized for its high mineral and fiber content as well as having a protein content equal to or higher than wheat.  Amaranth is a traditional African whole grain higher in protein than oats, wheat or rye.  Millet is a traditional Asian whole grain also rich in minerals having the same protein content as wheat.  Many grocers (Krogers, Costco, Ralphs, Trader Joes) carry quinoa.  Local health food stores as well as Whole Foods carry amaranth and millet.

These whole grains are gluten-free and cooked similarly to whole oats or grits.   Try topped with fresh/frozen berries,  almond milk and cinnamon, or nuts and raisins.

Healthy and Delicious Greens

// February 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // LENT, recipes

An alternative to cooking collards, kale, and turnip or mustard greens with pork or turkey is olive oil.  Try out the following recipe.

¼ cup of olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 or 2 dried hot peppers

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp of baking soda  (greens keep their bright green color)

1 large bunch/1lb collards, kale or greens

Salt & pepper

Water

In a large pot heat hot peppers and bay leaves in olive oil over medium-high heat until bay leaves start to brown.  Add onion and garlic til they become soft. Stirring occasionally.  Next salt and pepper to taste.

Add enough water to cover onion and garlic.  Bring to a boil.  Sprinkle baking soda and stir.  Add greens.  Reduce heat to medium low, cooking til tender.  Stir from time to time.

(The above recipe works well for peas as well as beans.)

Thanks to Rev. Karen McGhee for this recipe!

Delicious Squash

// February 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // LENT, recipes

1 1b zucchini, quartered

1 1b yellow squash, quartered

1 large onion, chopped

Dried basil or other mild herb

Salt and pepper (optional)

¼ cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Placing zucchini, squash, and onions in a baking dish cover with olive oil, turning to coat.  Next sprinkle basil to taste.    Cook until zucchini and squash are crisp and dark brown on the outside.  (20-30 minutes)

Remove from oven and mash with a potato masher or fork.  (If too watery for you, return to oven until water has evaporated.)  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add more basil if desired.

(The above recipe works well with carrots and parsnips.  A good way to cook turnips also.)

Thanks to Rev. Karen McGhee for this recipe!

Sweet Potato Fries

// February 18th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // LENT, recipes

1 or 2 large sweet potatoes (yams), peeled or thoroughly washed and scrubbed, cut into 1/2-inch-wide slices, then again into 1/2-inch-wide strips

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt/pepper/ cayenne/allspice or basil/thyme/parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Toss sweet potatoes with oil in large bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt/pepper or basil combination.  Spread sweet potatoes in single layer on non-stick baking sheet. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning after 12-15 minutes.   Total cooking time 25-30 minutes.

Thanks to Rev. Karen McGhee for this recipe!

Why I Love to Cook

// October 16th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // family, recipes, storytelling

The best days of my life were summers when my grandmother would come to visit from Baton Rouge for long periods of time. My cousins Connie and Karlean would come too. When I was very young they would come on the bus. I would always look for the hatbox in my grandmother’s hand because that was a sure sign she had brought a cake with her. Somehow she had rigged the box so the cake wouldn’t move. Around the cake sometimes would be teacakes or pecan cookies that had the texture of a dense cake and were browned just on the edges where there was a slight buttery crunch.

I was always surrounded by family in Summer when my grandmother visited. Stories and laughter were always a-plenty. Connie and Karlean, 10 years older than us, would tell stories about high school friends. Grandmama would tell stories about how she met and came to marry “Rev. Belin” (which is what she always called my grandfather who was 30 years her senior) after the love of her life, Ellis Pressley, died leaving her alone with my Aunt Mae Ellis. My father would tell us how he began to work in the 1930′s at age 7 or 8 on the back of an ice truck (much of this, I suspect, was to emphasize how, comparatively, we were living on “flowery beds of ease”) and was kicked off once while the truck was in motion by the evil “white man.” My mother often demurred from telling stories unless prompted by a direct question, but when she started, her eyes glistened while she talked about listening to her “Poppa” (which she called her grandfather) tell them stories from his rocker by the wood stove. Henry, Toni and I shared stories on various subjects too, but we were (and still are) at our best with bathroom humor, to Grandmama’s dismay.

The best family time seemed to always be spent in the kitchen. It was here the stories were told. I still see the pictures I created in my imagination of what Poppa’s “front room” must have looked like and the street where Grandmama was standing when she asked, “what’s old Rev. Belin looking at me for?” and my father as a little boy crying and hurt as he lay in the street behind the ice truck while the evil “white man” laughed. These pictures come back when smell greens cooking. Every time I hear the cornbread sizzle as it hits the grease heated to “smokin’” in the oven in a black skillet I am transported to another place in time. When I stew tomatoes down with way too much sugar to go along side my breakfast, I bring a wonderful time in my life into my present.

Last night, I cooked a pot of soup: stew beef with vegetables. I hoped and prayed I remembered how to do it like Mama does. It took the better part of the evening waiting on the beef to get tender. But later, when it had simmered long enough, I began to smell a familiar smell that signaled that the soup was done. Then, I heard my mother’s voice in my head say, “it’s time to make the bread.” And so I did.

Here’s how I made the soup (don’t ask for amounts, you just have to pray as you go):

Beef Vegetable Soup

Cornbread

• Put your oven on 400
• Pour your oil into a black skillet and put it in the oven until the oil is smoking
• Get some self-rising white cornmeal
• Add an egg
• Add some oil. Add some more.
• Add enough buttermilk to make it like pancake batter
• Open the oven, pull the rack toward you and pour the batter in the hot smokin’ grease. If it doesn’t sizzle, you screwed up and I wouldn’t eat that.
• Close the oven door and cook until the bread is good and brown. Don’t nobody want no high yella bread!
• When you take it out, we professionals just flip the bread into our hands and back into the skillet, those with tender hands flip onto a plate. This is so you can have that magical crunch of the edge of the bread. If you don’t flip it, it will get soggy.
• Slice it in wedges and eat it down off in your soup.

Be sure to come back on this page and thank me when you make this ’cause this is perfect for this time of year.