Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Chickpea VI + Tahini II

Chickpea <3 Tahini, Chickpea Hearts Tahini, Valentine's Day, Plant Power Couples

The month of February is often associated with Valentine's Day and all things love-related. Regardless of your affection or disdain for this holiday, we can probably all agree that we love food, especially our plant friends.  In honor of plant foods that pair well together, all of our February cartoons will feature plant power couples.

We end our month of plant power couples with the greatest love story of all--chickpea and tahini. As you may recall in our Hummus is a Food Group post:
"Hummus" means "chickpea" in both Arabic and Hebrew, and many folks from the Middle East insist that that hummus is, in its purest form, a smooth spread made from chickpeas and tahini.  Hummus lovers outside of the Middle East, on the other hand, sometimes refer to any smooth bean spread (throw in other ingredients! with or without tahini!) as hummus.
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi share a strong point of view on tahini's major role in hummus, as illustrated in their Basic Hummus recipe from their cookbook, Jerusalem (via Food52). Personally, we would like to thank them for teaching Westerners how to make a proper batch of hummus.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Buckwheat II

You and me are like kash & varnishkes; roasted buckwheat, Valentine's Day, plant power couples

The month of February is often associated with Valentine's Day and all things love-related. Regardless of your affection or disdain for this holiday, we can probably all agree that we love food, especially our plant friends.  In honor of plant foods that pair well together, all of our February cartoons will feature plant power couples.

I would venture to say that we cook up kasha varnishkes (toasted buckwheat and bow-tie noodles) nearly once month here at Kale Crusaders Headquarters. The toasted buckwheat, nearly-burnt onions, starchy noodles, and generous splashes of olive oil make this a satisfying and comforting Eastern European-inspired dish. 

We encourage you to cozy up with a bowl of homemade kasha varnishkes and this Kasha Varnishkes recipe (with the olive oil option) by Olga Massov at Sassy Radish is similar to the informal recipe that we follow.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Rice + Beans

We belong together like rice and beans, Valentine's Day, plant power couples

The month of February is often associated with Valentine's Day and all things love-related. Regardless of your affection or disdain for this holiday, we can probably all agree that we love food, especially our plant friends.  In honor of plant foods that pair well together, all of our February cartoons will feature plant power couples.

The bond between rice and beans suspends borders, cultures, and kitchens. Across the globe, rice and bean dishes come together with an incredible amount of variety in preparations and spices. We will barely scratch the surface here but, to whet your appetite, here are a few samples of delicious rice and bean dishes from countries around the world:
Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Collard Green III + Black-Eyed Pea II

Collard Greens & Black-Eyed Peas: Two peas in a pod; plant power couples; Valentine's Day; plant power couples

The month of February is often associated with Valentine's Day and all things love-related. Regardless of your affection or disdain for this holiday, we can probably all agree that we love food, especially our plant friends.  In honor of plant foods that pair well together, all of our February cartoons will feature plant power couples.

For good luck, we would like to introduce collard greens and black-eyed peas as our first plant power couple. A customary combination enjoyed on New Year's Day in the Southern United States, collard greens and black-eyed peas represent money and eating them can ensure wealth in the new year.  It is never too late to whip up some collard greens and black-eyed peas, so check out this Lucky Stew by Amy Stefani at No Whey No Cow.