Nacho Sauce

Years ago some Vermont friends made this wonderfully filling and surprisingly healthful spin on nacho sauce for us. We've been hooked ever since. The cheese-laden original (3 or 4 cups Cabot Extra Sharp!) is still a favorite, but a few years ago I adapted the recipe to accommodate our less dairy-centric diet.

Nacho Sauce
adapted from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook, New Revised Edition
serves 4 to 6

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
cayenne pepper, to taste (or a fresh jalapeno if you prefer)
1 large bell pepper, diced
1 or 2 tomatoes, diced (fresh or canned)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup corn (I almost always have frozen on hand, but fresh or canned work just as well)
1, 16 oz. can refried beans
6 oz. beer
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 cups brown rice
1, 15 oz. can black beans, drained

Place rice and three cups of water in a medium saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil. Once the rice is boiling, turn heat down to low and cook, covered, for 45 minutes.

While rice is cooking, heat oil in a medium-sized, thick-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add onion and salt and saute 5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, bell pepper, and tomatoes and stir well. Lower heat to medium low, cover pot and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce begins to stick, turn heat down a bit and stir more frequently.

After 25 minutes the vegetables should be very tender and bubbling contentedly in their juices. Add the garlic, corn, and refried beans. Stirring well at this stage will remove most of the lumps of refrieds. Add the beer (and drink up those remaining 6 ounces, if you haven't already done so) and stir well. Cook over medium low heat until the sauce bubbles. Remove from heat, carefully stir in the cheese, and set aside for just a moment while you turn your attention back to the rice.

The rice should be done at this point, so turn off the heat, uncover, and stir in the drained black beans.

To serve, spoon rice and bean mixture onto a pasta plate and ladle nacho sauce over the top. Scoop it up with your favorite tortilla chips and wash it down with an ice-cold bottle of beer.

Chickpeas & Rice

It's been a long time, and who knows when I might post another simple supper, but this is one of my favorites, a vegan variation on Jeanne Lemlin's Rice with Chickpeas, Herbs, and Sun-dried Tomatoes (Quick Vegetarian Pleasures).

It has 4 ingredients--

rice, chickpeas, parsley, and sundried tomatoes--but it tastes way more sophisticated than that.

1/2 cup dried tomatoes

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, washed, stems removed, and leaves minced

1, 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked brown rice rice, cooled

olive oil

salt & pepper

Soak the tomatoes in approx. 1/2 cup of boiling water. While tomatoes are soaking, prepare the chickpeas and parsley and set aside. When tomatoes are softened, drain, reserving water, and chop.

Heat enough olive oil to cover bottom of non-stick skillet. When oil is heated, add chickpeas, parsley, and tomatoes,

sauteing for a few minutes.

Add rice, reserved water from soaking tomatoes, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir well and heat over medium heat until rice is hot, 8-10 minutes, then enjoy with your favorite steamed vegetable.

Risotto

My kitchen hasn't been used for much of anything lately, other than refrigerating the orange juice and creamer and offering a space in which to heat up takeout. For a self-described cook, this seems oddly lacking in, well, honest-to-God cooking. There isn't much of an excuse, but I did start a new job at the beginning of the year. Anyway, tonight I got out a knife, the cutting board, the dutch oven, a wooden spoon, and a few odds and ends of ingredients. The result:

Risotto
adapted from Recipes for Dairy-Free Living, by Denise Jardine
about 4 large servings

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 to 1 cup white wine (the lesser amount if the wine is sweet, a full cup if it's dry, or no wine at all if you happen to be a teetotaler)
6 1/4 to 6 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (whatever you need to total 7 1/4 cups liquid)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (about 1/2 pound) pre-cooked sausage (I had veggie sausage.)
6 ounces fresh baby spinach

Heat stock in large saucepan until hot but not boiling.

While stock is heating, saute onion and garlic in large skillet or dutch oven (non-stick is great if you have it) over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until onion softens. Add rice to onion and toss to thoroughly coat it with oil. Stir in the wine a 1/2 cup at a time until it is absorbed. Add the stock to the rice, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly after each addition until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock, a ladleful at a time, until a creamy sauce has developed and all the remaining stock has been used. This should take 20 to 25 minutes.

Stir in the salt, pepper, sausage and spinach and continue stirring until the spinach is wilted. Taste to correct seasoning. Serve immediately with the rest of the wine.

Enjoy!