{IHCC} Monthly Featured Chef: Mark Bittman

While we are cooking with Ellie Krieger for the next 6 months with I Heart Cooking Clubs we take a break and have a monthly Featured Chef. This month – Mark Bittman. I love cooking with Bittman. His recipes are healthy and delicious. And this recipe fits right in with his ideas of Conscious Eating – lots of veggies and whole grains.

Curried Lentil Soup with Potatoes

2 tblsp oil
1 medium onion, roughtly chopped
1 tblsp minced garlic
1 tblsp minced peeled fresh garlic
salt & freshly round pepper
3 tblsp curry powder
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, chopped
1 cup dried lentils (wash and picked over)
1 quart vegetable stock or water
1 can light coconut milk (or another 1 1/2 cup of water)
2 medium or one large potato, peeled & cut into chunks {Bittman says you can just about any root vegetable here.}
1 small zucchini, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or mint leaves

Heat oil in deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium high heat. When hot, add onion and cook until soft/translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add garlic & ginger and cook for another minute.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir in curry powder – stir frequently until darkened and fragrant, about 1 or 2 minutes
Stir in tomatoes and lentils. {I used red lentils and they will fall apart unless you put them in with the potatoes.}
Add stock and coconut milk.
Bring to a boil, partially cover and turn down heat to simmer.
Stir occasionally until lentils are just becoming tender; stir in potatoes and more stock if needed. Cook another 10 minutes, then add the remaining vegetables. Cover and cook until all the veggies are done.

Stir in cilantro or mint, adjust seasoning & serve

I really enjoyed this soup. It is filling, hearty, spicy, and delicious. I’m glad I made the full recipe.

Visit IHCC for the rest of Bittman’s dishes.

This recipe is on page 204 of Bittman’s Food Matters and you can find it several places on the WWW.

 

{IHCC} Potluck – Roasted Mushroom Quesadilla

It’s POTLUCK week with I Heart Cooking Clubs. I seem to gravitate back to Bittman for Potlucks. [So many recipes, so little time.] This time it was for something simple again. It’s just too hot for complicated!

Simple. Quick. Tasty.

A whole wheat tortilla {mine was spinach and herb}filled with melty cheese, mushrooms, and sage it was the perfect breakfast. YES! Breakfast. I just wasn’t in the mood for eggs or cereal.

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
About 1 pound button or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 fresh hot chile (like jalapeno), minced, or pinch of red chile flakes, or to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
2 large whole wheat tortillas
1/4 cup grated Mexican-style melting cheese (like cotija or Monterey Jack){I used more.}

Heat the oven to 400°F. Put the 2 tablespoons oil in a large ovenproof skillet and put it in the oven for a few minutes. When it’s hot-fragrant, but not smoking-add the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir. Return to the oven and check after 20 minutes or so; the mushrooms should be releasing their water.

Stir in the garlic, chile, and sage. Continue to roast, stirring every 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are fairly dry and deeply colored; total time will be about 40 minutes. {I found, if you roast them THIS long they get very dry. I would recommend using only about 25 – 30 minutes total. They will still be moist but well roasted.}
Meanwhile, generously grease a large baking sheet and spread the tortillas on it. (It’s okay if they overlap a bit.) Sprinkle the cheese over both. When the mushrooms are done, taste and adjust the seasoning and scatter them over the top.

Bake the tortillas until the cheese begins to melt, about 10 minutes. Fold each tortilla in half and press down gently. Bake for another 5 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 3 minutes until toasted and crisp.

These were really good and well worth turning the oven on for 30 minutes or so.

What did the others choose for POTLUCK? Visit IHCC.

 

{IHCC} Potluck with Bittman’s Pizza

If I crave anything it is usually Pizza. I don’t know why. Maybe because I don’t get to have it very often. But I do love it. Usually it is full of sauce and cheese and lots and lots of calories. But then Bittman gets into the act and suddenly I can have a nice healthy pizza anytime I want.

What we have here is a No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Chewy! Lots of healthy toppings. Chewy! I love a chewy crust and I really don’t care for lots of tomato sauce so I simply left it off. Call it the “artisan” in me but you get so much more flavor when there is no sauce.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup AP or Bread Flour
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2 or 3 tsp Italian seasoning
2 Tbl olive oil, plus more for greasing.

Mix together the flours, yeast, Italian seasoning, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in l 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups water.
You will have a relatively sticky and wet dough, like biscuit batter. If it’s two dry you can add a little more water {which is why I put a range of water}.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and put it in a warm spot for at least 6 hours but up to 12 hours. {More hours = more complex flavor.}
Heat the oven to 500C. Generously oil a baking sheet or large ovenproof skillet. Dust your hands with a little white flour and lightly fold the dough over in the bowl a few times. It will be sticky, but resist the urge to use too much flour; dust your hands again only when absolutely necessary. You can make one large pizza or divide the dough into 1/2 or quarters for smaller ones. Gently, you don’t want to tear the dough, Press the dough into an oven proof skillet or baking sheet;.
Brush or drizzle the top of the pizza or pizzas with 2 tablespoons oil, cover, and let sit while you get the toppings together, but no more than 60 minutes or so. Toppings can be just about anything you want.
Mine:

mushrooms
roasted red pepper
spinach
black olives
Mozzarella Cheese

So Colorful!!

The addition of the Italian seasoning added more flavor to the pizza since there was no sauce where the seasoning usually is. (Does that make sense?) The amount of the fillings are up to your tastes. You caould also add goat cheese or ricotta. Anchovies or Sardines. Broccoli or cauliflower. It’s your choice.

The recipe is from Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook on page 533.

For more Potluck dishes visit I Heart Cooking Club