Asian Nuggets with Sauteed Greens & Tahini Sauce . Sprouted Kitchen

“It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'. And mostly, against all odds, they do.”

―Anne Lamott

I feel very adult this week. We bought a crib and we made an offer on another house and our health care got more complicated and expensive and I'm trying to read books about birth without my chest tightening so much I feel faint and that quote makes me feel better about the normality of all this. There is a beautiful mess in the figuring out of things. I'm scared. About everything, and mostly without reason, but when I do get stressed, I can typically trace it back to fear. Fear of failing, of loosing or of being in pain. My dad met with me a few nights back so I could show him my numbers for our potential house purchase and he could confirm it was a good idea... at least on paper. I think I just wanted his blessing for the biggest purchase of our lives, even if this whole thing doesn't go through. I get a lot of my worry tendencies from my dad, and it felt nice to have someone of like mind, 30 years ahead in this game, tell me it was going to be OK. Maybe we'll have super tight months or there will be a huge leak in the floor or our new neighbor will be creepy or maybe this will be the house we slowly make ours and grow old in, but no matter how the story goes, it will all be OK. How come that is so easy to overlook? Today, I will believe it.

A sweet mom-to-be asked me for a few suggestions on freezer meals she could prepare in advance while waiting for her wee one to arrive. I realized that while clicking through our site, I don't have many options. A good handful of breakfast baked goods that could freeze well, but a limited amount of stone cold meals as I look back. I had a pretty good response to the lentil meatballs from years ago which also made it into the last cookbook, so I figured I'd try something similar to that. In the same way I make my veggie patties, I start with nearly a 1:1 ratio of cooked grains and legumes (in this case, brown rice and lentils) and then I build from there. Always garlic. Usually onion, either raw or cooked. I use egg to help bind here, but I'll often use cheese for binding power as well. I blitz in a ton of herbs, a cooked vegetable and bold spices and flavor to doctor them up. For this Asian nugget, I went with soy sauce, sesame seeds and chili sauce. Miso would be great in there too but I wanted to save that for the sauce. All veggie balls need a good sauce. A veggie ball is really only good with a sauce, if you ask me, but I think you could put them along with anything that sounds good to you.

ASIAN NUGGETS WITH SAUTEED VEGGIES + TAHINI SAUCE // Serves 4-6

The Asian nuggets can be completely cooled and frozen in plastic bags until needed. I got about 26 nuggets. This just leaves you with needing to prepare veggies and sauce which could be whipped up in 15 minutes.

As for substitutes, I think you may be able to replace the egg with flax meal and a little water but they may come out a little drier. To keep them gluten free, replace the panko with a coarse oat flour but note they will be more delicate to work with. If going the GF route, I would try to keep the egg in, if possible, to keep everything together.

3 cloves garlic
1/2 a yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 eggs
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sambal oelek (chili paste)
2 cups cooked and completely cooled brown rice
1 1/2 cup cooked and cooled lentils (a few varieties will do though I'd avoid red and green, they get too soft)
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 bunch of cilantro
pinch of salt
sesame seeds, for garnish

/ veggies /
1 tablespoon sesame oil, as needed
3 green onions, roughly chopped
5 ounces shitake mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
1 head broccoli
splash of rice wine vinegar
pinch of sea salt

/ tahini sauce /
1 minced clove garlic
1/2 cup tahini
2 teaspoons white or yellow miso
2 tablespoons orange juice
squeeze of fresh lemon juice or splash of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375'. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a food processor, combine the garlic, onion, eggs, sesame oil, tamari or soy sauce and chili paste and pulse a few times until the onion and garlic are well chopped. Add the rice, lentils, panko, cilantro, pinch of salt and pulse a few more times until just combined. You want to still distinguish nubs of rice, but it should look pasty enough that you could roll it in a ball. Let the mix sit for ten minutes.

Roll the dough into 2'' balls and line them up on the baking sheet. Brush them with a thin coat of oil and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Bake on the middle rack for 15-18 minutes until browned and dry on the outsides.

For the veggies, in a large skillet, heat the sesame oil. Add the green onions, mushrooms and a pinch salt and saute for 4-5 minutes until just softened. Roughly chop the broccoli and add it to the pan along with a splash of rice vinegar and saute another 5-10 minutes until softened to your taste.

For the sauce, whisk all ingredients together until smooth and set aside. The sauce can be made up to three days in advance and kept covered in the fridge.

Assemble your meal with a scoop of veggie, some asian nuggets and a generous drizzle of tahini sauce.

* All photos in this post were shot with film

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Appetizer, Entrée, Gluten Free, Summer, Salad

MACHE + PEACH SALAD WITH JALAPEÑO VINAIGRETTE

Sara Forte · June 28, 2013

"Have patience with everything that remains unresolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

-Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to A Young Poet

Living the questions. I love the image of "living everything" (thank you, Sarah, for sharing this quote with me!). I want to keep moving when fear paralyzes me. When big decisions seem too big, or I seem stuck or defeated within them before I've even truly lived them through - before I've lived my way to the answer. As someone who assumes the outcome of circumstances before they actually play out, I need to be doing a lot less projecting and choosing more joy in the process. Oh, the process. But I love answers! Anyway, wanted to pass on the quote to you too.

It's been overcast and humid over here, so the 4th celebrations may not be as sunny and glorious as we hope for. Regardless of the sunshine, there will be a beach, friends, a BBQ and a weekend with both work and family. Because I am always "the salad girl" I made a big batch of this dressing to have on hand for all the get togethers. I am a fan of the salad construction below. It is a perfect use of all those ripe peaches this time of year, a bit of heft from the lentils and avocado and a spicy yet slightly creamy dressing. I have not burn out on my good quality sheeps feta phase, so I couldn't help myself here either. We used mache for a tender texture that wouldn't compete with the peaches, but the lettuce choice isn't strict here.

Wishing you all a nice holiday weekend. May there be fresh and tasty salads between all the bbq's and chips!

MACHE + PEACH SALAD WITH JALAPENO VINAIGRETTE // Serves 4-6 as a side

Dressing recipe inspired from Bon Appetite

I doubled the dressing because I like to keep extras on hand. It was great drizzled on some grilled vegetables and livened up a bowl of quinoa. You could halve everything if you want just enough for one or two salads. I added creme fraiche to the original because I prefer things a little creamy, but a vegan version would be fine without, or even substitute some vegan mayonaise.

1/2 cup tangerine or orange juice
1 jalapeno
1 shallot
1/2 tsp. sea salt
generous handful of fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. creme fraiche

6 cups mache or tender green of choice
1/2 cup micro greens
2 avocado, cubed
2 peaches, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cooked lentils (French or Black hold up well)
2 oz. / 1/3 cup crumbled sheep's milk feta, optional

Simmer tangerine/orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to roughly 3 Tbsp., about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Cook jalapeno, turning occasionally until blistered and charred all over. About 8 minutes. I did this over the stove, you could use the grill or even a toaster oven to scorch that guy. Let cool, remove stem, skin, seeds and finely chop. In a small blender or food processor, pulse together the reduced juice, seeded jalapeno, shallot, salt, cilantro, vinegar, oil and creme fraiche. This can be done by hand if you like things chunky. The dressing can be made in advance and kept covered in the fridge for up to a week. Note that it may get a bit stronger in flavor and spice over time.

To assemble the salad, toss the greens, half the avocado, lentils and peach slices in desired amount of the dressing. Finish the salad with remaining ingredients on top, and crumble the feta to finish. Serve immediately.

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Appetizer, Entrée, Fall, Gluten Free, Soup, Spring, Winter

SPICED LENTIL SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK

Sara Forte · October 2, 2012

It is not fall in my pocket of the world. Summer is still lingering with warm ocean water, people in shorts and tank dresses and tomatoes at the farm stand. Sure there are pumpkins at the market and the sun sets earlier but those are the only telling signs the season is changing. The weather makes me crave salad and fruit, but a big pot of soup intrigued me for some emotional reason. I feel a bit drained lately, and there is something about soup that is comforting. Just a bowl and spoon. No stabbing bits of lettuce or cutting with a knife. Just simple eating. The kitchen is a place of solace for me - a place to be creative, to give, to appreciate small things, to refresh or to be pointed towards something in myself that I haven't taken the time to recognize. And in this case, that awareness came from wanting to make a pot of warm soup on a 97' day. I knew when I saw this soup on The Travelers Lunchbox that I would make it and like it. At first taste, it seemed all the spices didn't marry, but after a bit of sitting in its own goodness, my mouth was filled with warmth, spice, a bit of heat and lentils just tender to the tooth. I garnished it with some toasted coconut because I'm a sucker for a nice garnish, but this is certainly optional. The recipe makes a good portion of soup, which is not inconvenient because it is actually better the next day. So, maybe you're wearing a sweater or maybe you're still in shorts, but soup is never a bad idea.

SPICED LENTIL SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK // Serves 6

Recipe adapted from The Travelers Lunchbox who adapted it from Once Upon a Tart

The recipe calls for green lentils. I used a mixture because I have a large amount of them and they worked just fine. Split or red lentils will likely get too mushy here. I used 4 cups broth because I like my soups on the stewy side, if you prefer more broth to you soup, add another cup or two when cooking the lentils.

1 1/2 cup lentils, rinsed (green suggested)

4 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1 1/2 tsp. tumeric OR curry powder

2 tsp. dried thyme or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 stalks lemongrass, outer layer removed, lower portion finely minced

1 tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp. cardamom

1/2 tsp. cinnamon pinch of red pepper flakes to taste

pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

1 1/4 cup coconut milk (use full fat, just believe me)

3 Tbsp. lemon, lime or orange juice

a few handfuls of swiss chard, spinach or kale

1 cup flake coconut, toasted (optional)

chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Add the rinsed lentils, broth, thyme and tumeric or curry powder to a large pot. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.

While the lentils cook, heat the coconut oil in a pan. Add the onion and saute until just browned. Add the lemongrass, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, pinch of red pepper flakes and some fresh ground nutmeg and saute another minute. Add the onion mixture to the lentils and stir, keeping the heat on a low simmer.

Add the coconut milk and greens and simmer another five minutes, stirring occasionally until just wilted. Taste for salt and spice and add as you prefer. Finish with the citrus juice and serve warm with toasted coconut flakes and cilantro on top.

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