green bean, chickpea, and peanut curry with grilled lebanese flatbread

Oh man, a twofer! I meant to post this forever ago, and then I forgot that I'd written it up. Whoops.  

Slightly tweaked from "Green beans with chickpeas in groundnut sauce", from 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles

Ingredients:

6 T. low-sodium veggie broth instead

1 small yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

1 1-inch section of fresh ginger (~1 T. ginger paste from tube)

2 t. curry powder

1 t. ground coriander

1/2 t. salt

1 T. veggie oil

4 c. whole green beans, ends trimmed, ~3/4 lb.

1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk (a whole 14 oz. can wouldn't ruin it)

1/4 c. PB

2 c. chopped tomatoes (I was lame, used one 14 oz. can of no salt added diced tomatoes)

1 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 t. dried basil or 2 T. fresh basil (2 T. from tube)

blob (~1 T?) of sambal oelek

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine 2 T. broth, onion, garlic, ginger, curry, coriander, salt, and sambal. Cover and blend until smooth. (Magic Bullet = most underrated kitchen appliance ever!)

2. In a 3-qt saucepan, heat the oil over med-hi heat. Add the spice mixture; cook, stirring, until heated. Add the green beans, cook, stirring until coated with spices. Stir in the remaining 4 T. broth, coconut milk, and PB until smooth (I usually add the coconut milk and PB to the used blender container and then run it in order to get all the remaining spicy goodness off of it and into the pan. That way you don't have to babysit the PB so you don't make an icky chunky sauce).

3. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and basil. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.


*And now, for the flatbread....*

I thoroughly agreed that although rice goes well with this, flatbread is really the thing to serve with your green beany goodness. The basic recipe comes to you from the New York Times (thanks, newspaper!). They call for za'tar, but I don't have any, so I arbitrarily decided to add a shake of paprika and parsley instead. The first time we made it we used the grill, but hey it is winter in Minnesota, so using the grill pan inside is just as good. I think the grill marks are key...

one for the pups: cream cheese dog biscuits

     I've pretty much owned my kitchen this weekend. It's so funny,  I can't seem to find the balance of fun activities like I should. You know, friend time + cooking + crafting. But noooooo. I have just been blasting through all the clean dishes at a most impressive rate. At least I got some sweet photos so I can post some stuff here...

So I decided to bake some treats for my dog. I've been really excited about using my new cookie cutters, so this opportunity was too much fun to pass up. Here, check out our silly gingerfolks:

We're trying to get away from buying treats so much. When Tess was a puppy, we went through treats like it was going out of style -- such is life with a growing pup going through obedience class. So now we want to cool it with having so many kinds in the house. And really, I'm sure making them ourselves is going to be the cheapest option. Her enthusiasm for devouring homemade treats is encouraging as well.

Here's my dog showing off for a cookie. Her default move in hopes of getting the cookie faster is the 'solid sit':

Oh, the anticipation!!!

Easy Cream Cheese Dog Biscuits

from You Bake 'Em Dog Biscuits Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 1/4 t. dry yeast (one package)

1/4 c. warm water (100-110 F)

2 1/3 c. whole wheat flour, plus more for rolling

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

4 oz. cream cheese (leave it out to soften beforehand)

1 egg

1/4 c. powdered milk, plus extra for rolling

1 t. garlic powder 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Dissolve the yeast in a large bowl. Combine with all ingredients and mix into the dough (I used a hand mixer, adding the flour 1/2 c. at a time). 

3. Roll out onto a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. 

4. Sprinkle dough with extra dry milk to make it easier to roll out.

5. Cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters.

6. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (note: I am getting silicone mats for the next round of these -- it's handy that dogs won't judge you if the bottoms of their cookies are a little too dark!! So be sure to check on them.).

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a light, golden brown.

8. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

lemon & lavender sugar cookies

I have most definitely been meaning to post this ringer since, uhmm, before the holidays (derp!). It suits my all-encompassing obsession with all things lavender these days. It is getting pretty silly, honestly. It matches my lavender-mint tea tree shampoo and conditioner, hippy-dippy lavender shea body wash, fancy lavender tea, and my most recent -- and probably most ridiculous find: lavender lattes right up the street at the cupcake bakery and cafe! Selling point: the syrup is purple, and really, who doesn't want to try a latte that's purple?! Oh yeah, and I'm pretty danged sure my new lotion that my super-thoughtful sister-in-law got for me is lavender-chamomile-vanilla-rose-delightfulness. She and I probably agree about 75-90% of the time, so it doesn't surprise me that she picked out something that I'm so in love with. In fact, given her recommendation, I've become a pretty big fan of Lush products in general (even on facebook; then I must really mean it). It makes me feel quality.

Right, so yes, COOKIES. Here's the scoop: The recipe comes from the Nov/Dec 2010 edition of Cook's Illustrated for 'Chewy Sugar Cookies', and the lemon and lavender idea comes from their Holiday 2009 special edition, under 'Glazed Butter Cookies'. The butter cookies kind of freaked me out (so. much. butter!), and the sugar cookies looked really pretty with a perfect crackle texture on top, so I went with it.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar, plus 1/3 c. for rolling
2 oz. cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
6 T. unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/3 c. veggie oil
1 large egg
1 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. lemon juice
2 t. grated lemon zest
1 t. ground dried lavender (cheap-cheap in bulk spice as dried flowers -- makes your pantry smell awesome! Mash 'em up with a mortar and pestle, or the MacGuyver way, with the butt end of the ice cream scoop in a small bowl. Nobody judges a person who puts flowers in their cookies!)

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 F. Line two large rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and slat together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Place 1 1/2 c. sugar, cream cheese, anad lavender in a lage bowl. Place remaining 1/3 c. sugar along with the lemon zest in a shallow baking dish or pie plate and set aside. Pour warm butter over sugar and cream cheese and whisk to combine (some small lumps of cream cheese will remain but will smooth out later). Whisk in the oil until incorporated. Add egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla, continue to whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula until soft homogeneous dough forms.

3. Take 2 T. of dough at a time. Using hands, roll dough into a ball. Roll the ball in the zest/sugar mix to coat and evenly space onto prepared baking sheet. There will be 12 balls per sheet (no joke!).

4. Here comes the fun part! Using the bottom of a drinking glass (a juice glass is perfect for this), flatten the dough balls until they are two inches in diameter. Fix any massive cracks in the dough, then sprinkle with any leftover zest/sugar mix.

5. Bake until edges are set and just beginning to brown, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the trays halfway (switch racks plus a 180 degree turn). Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.