1. Holding the chiles one at a time with metal tongs, quickly toast them by turning them an inch or two above an open flame for a few seconds until the aroma fills the kitchen. (Alternatively, toast chiles in a dry pan over medium heat, pressing them flat for a few seconds then flipping them over and pressing again.) When cool enough to handle, stem and seed the chiles, break them into pieces and put them in a blender along with tomatoes and their juice. (A food processor will work, though it won’t completely puree the chiles.)
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden. Add the onion and garlic to the blender with the tomato mixture. Process until smooth.
3. Return the pot to medium heat. Add the puree and stir continuously until thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes. Add broth, water and epazote. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Add the beans and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add the greens and season with salt to taste. Cook until the greens are wilted, about 2 minutes, depending on the type of greens.
5. Serve garnished with cilantro, avocado, and a squeeze of lime.

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno, garam masala, amchoor powder, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes longer.
2. Stir in lentils, broth, and bulgar and bring to a boil. If you are using additional vegetables other than greens (e.g. carrots, bell peppers, etc.), add them now too. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for about 45 minutes. Add water, if necessary, if lentils get too thick- you can serve this thinner as a soup or thicker like chili.
3. Discard bay leaves. Stir in cilantro, lemon juice, and spinach. Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Fall Vegetables with Tempeh and Farro

• Several cups of chopped autumn veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes/yams, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, etc.)
• 5 or so garlic cloves
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning (or fresh herbs like thyme and oregano), to taste
• Several shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 package of tempeh*, chopped into 1/4 inch squares (*you can substitute another protein, such as chicken or white beans, if you wish)
• 1/3 cup lightly toasted pecans, chopped
• 1 bunch of hearty greens (such as rapini (broccoli rabe), kale, or turnip greens)
• Cooked farro

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Line a large baking dish with parchment paper (for easy clean up). Toss the chopped veggies lightly with olive oil then season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. If using fresh herbs, wait until about half way through the cook time to add them. Tip: I don't peel or chop the garlic cloves. I roast them in their skins and then squeeze them out when they are fully cooked to keep them from getting too brown.
2. Pour the veggies into the prepared pan and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until soft and lightly browned in places, stirring occasionally.
3. While the veggies are roasting, saute the mushrooms in olive oil or margarine until well browned and set aside. Lightly brown the tempeh in olive oil then add the greens and saute until they are bright green in color. Combine the mushrooms, greens and tempeh, pecans, and roasted veggies and serve over farro or another grain.

• Pot of pinto beans with brown rice and avocado
• Vegetable soup with "Harvest Grains Blend" (grain and bean combo from Trader Joe's)
• Whole wheat pasta tossed with chard, sundried tomatoes, white beans, and a creamy pesto sauce (cashew-based)
• Pita pizzas with cashew ricotta (there it is again- love it!) and steamed green beans
• Veggie burgers and chipotle sweet potato oven fries
• Stir fried bok choy and turnip greens with tofu, wild rice, shiitake mushrooms, and toasted pecans
• Roasted turnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes with farro, tempeh, pecans, and shiitake mushrooms (this is a repeat- it was SO GOOD last week)
• Potato leek soup with white beans added for protein
• Breakfast dishes: Apple cinnamon crockpot oats and persimmon apple breakfast crisp

*A tip: Portion out leftover dinner meals into single-serving reheat containers and refrigerate or freeze for easy grab-and-go lunches.

I love these containers: link

I will share a few recipes from this list as I cook these meals. Today, I'll share a super fast split pea soup recipe that I made last week.

Did you know...? Split peas area fantastic food- they don't require pre-soaking and they are loaded with iron, fiber, and protein!
Simple Split Pea Soup
1 1/2 cups split peas (green, yellow, or a mix), sorted and rinsed
6-8 cups of water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1-3 tsp liquid smoke (to taste, optional)
Sea salt (about 1 Tbsp) and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and add the onions and carrots. Saute until the onions are lightly browned.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer, partially covered, for about an hour. Serve the soup topped with homemade croutons.

To make croutons, I chopped up the heals of a few loaves of bread that were lingering in my fridge for just such an occasion. I tossed them with olive oil, salt, fresh chopped parsley, and minced garlic and baked them at 300 degrees until they were crunchy (about 25 minutes, turning once or twice).

• Split pea soup with added veggies and warm bread
• Baked penne with cashew ricotta and sauteed green beans
• Butternut squash and leek gratin (also with cashew ricotta...I'm hooked!)
• Roasted root veggies with tempeh and farro

Farro is a hearty grain that lends itself well to combining with all kinds of foods. It will make a great vehicle for my roasted veggies this week and leftovers reheat well for a healthy and filling breakfast (just add a little milk of choice and top with fruit, nuts, seeds, etc.). One serving of farro contains 5 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and 10% of the RDA for iron.

To cook: soak the farro in cool water for at least an hour. Bring fresh water to a boil and add farro (1 cup of water for every 1/2 cup of farro) and simmer, partially covered, for 25-30 minutes (or until all liquid is absorbed).

What are some of your favorite fall meals?

Super Fast Pizza with Cashew Ricotta "Cheese"
Serves 2

2 whole grain pitas
~1/2 cup (or more) jarred pasta or pizza sauce
~1/2 cup (or more) cashew ricotta
1 clove of garlic, pressed
Veggies of choice

1. Top the pitas with sauce, cashew ricotta, garlic, and veggies or other toppings. Place in oven and turn heat to 425°F (218°C). Bake until toppings are cooked, ricotta is golden, and bread is toasted.

I drizzled my cooked pizza with olive oil then sprinkled fresh-cracked pepper and chopped basil on top. YUM!

Dissolve the yeast in the warm (not hot!) water then add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Set aside to "proof" for 10 minutes. It should foam up if the yeast is active. If it does not, your yeast may not be active or the water may have been too hot.

Combine the olive oil, cool water, 1 tbsp sugar, and salt.

Put the flour in the bowl of a mixer or food processor. With the mixer/processor running, add the oil mixture then the yeast mixture.

When the dough forms a ball, remove from the mixer/processor and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for about 1 hour.

For our luxury dinner, I set the table with my grandmother's China. This China has been in my family since my grandmother purchased it for her mother in the 1920s. It is a soft shade of yellow with a delicate flower pattern and gold trim:

Sharing a meal with friends and family is about more than just eating. It is about connection and sharing and bonding. My grandmother passed away at age 97 in 2006. Whenever I use this China, I almost feel like I've invited her to the table. I love that!

Some words on planning: When I was creating my menu for this dinner, I wanted to include seasonal produce but I also wanted to create some unique flavors that went well together.

My tips for pulling this off:

• Choose produce that is in season for the best flavor. Also, shop locally if possible. The closer the produce was grown to your table, the better it will taste!
• When creating your menu, select dishes that include similar ingredients. For example, my pate and soup both contain thyme; my salad and dessert are both centered around pears; etc.
• A well-planned menu should draw its variety from multiple ingredients that go well together. Varying textures (crunchy, creamy, chewy, etc.) are okay, but the foods should have similar flavor profiles. No one course on the menu should drown out the others with over-powering flavor.

On wine: With our meal, I served a light white wine (Elva from Jodar Winery which was, coincidentally, named after the vintner's grandmother). For those who prefer a sweeter flavor, an orange muscat would be great (especially with this dessert).

Cheers!

Let's get started!



We began our meal with a baby greens salad with red pears, pomegranate arils, and pine nuts. I tossed the greens in a light pear vinaigrette of my invention and the result was colorful and delicious!

For the pear vinaigrette: In a blender, combine 1 ripe pear (peeled and cored), 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Blend until very smooth. The dressing was a pretty pale yellow that looked so much like the yellow of my China!

Allow me to pause here to talk about feeding children. My kids are two and four and they are not yet into eating so luxuriously. Planning to feed them isn't tough, though.

Here are two tips to consider when you have little people to feed:

• Younger kids prefer foods that are disassembled or in pieces. For example, instead of serving my boys a salad, I gave them a plate with pears, pomegranate arils, nuts, etc. that they could enjoy one thing at a time.
• Serve sauces on the side in a dish that facilitates dipping. Kids are sometimes suspicious of sauce, but they love to dip!

Back to our meal!



Along side the salad, I served a walnut mushroom pate. This pate was out of this world! It tasted great on the warm bread and would also make an excellent sandwich spread.



For our next course, we enjoyed a rich and velvety smooth butternut squash soup with crispy sage leaves. The fresh thyme in the soup went well with the thyme in the pate and the smell of the onions and sage cooking together for the soup was heavenly. It is one of my favorite things this time of year!

Fresh thyme in my garden.
<photo removed>

Injera bread:
I didn't have teff flour, so I processed a small amount of teff grain in my VitaMix to make flour (1/2 cup teff made about 3/4 cup flour).

Recipe:

3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cups all-purpose flour plus 4 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp salt)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup teff flour
1 Tbsp dry active yeast
3 1/2 cups warm water

1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the water and mix well. Add the water and mix until well combined. Cover and let sit for 3-6 hours (for traditional sourdough, the dough is let rest for 3 days).
2. After the rest period, stir the dough again to incorporate any liquid that may have separated. Add the dough to a blender 2 cups at a time along with about 1/4 - 1/2 cup water and blend to mix for a few seconds. The dough should be very thin- thicker than crepe batter but thinner than pancakes.
3. In a non-stick skillet heated over medium heat (no oil), pour the batter 1/2 cup at a time. Move the pan in a circular motion to spread out the batter so that it is no more than 1/8 inch thick. Cover the pan and let the injera cook until it is cooked through (don't flip). Remove from the pan and stack the breads as they are made. They will initially be a little crispy on the bottom but will soften up.

Misir wat (wat or wot is a stew and misir wat is a common lentil stew that is seasoned with traditional berbere spices).
I made my own berbere using:

¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
¼ tsp allspice
1 tsp fenugreek
1/2 tsp cardamom
½ tsp coriander
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cayenne
¼ tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt

Squash tibs (tibs are sauteed veggies or meats).

Kik wat (a stew made from yellow split peas).

Sauteed greens (I used turnip).

Put on some Ladysmith Black Mambazo, get out your copy of The Ladies #1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, pour the African red bush (rooibos) tea, and dig in...with your hands, of course!

I really love the ceremonious nature of traditional dining in other cultures. I am also fascinated by traditions such as the Japanese tea ceremony. In Ethiopia, one very simple such ritual is goorsha, which is an act of friendship. During a meal, a person might roll a piece of injera bread in sauce and place it in a friend's mouth. The larger the goorsha, the stronger the friendship. Amesege'nallo' (thank you)!

If you have the chance, I encourage you to expand your horizons and give Ethiopian or other new-to-you foods a try. After all, life is too short for frozen pizza!  

Gnocchi is an excellent "vehicle" for the pesto cream sauce. The textures are perfect together. The shiitake mushrooms add an extra dimension of flavor, texture, and richness- I love them! I also sauteed some kale to go on the side and the meal couldn't have been better!

Gnocchi: Cook according to package directions. This typically means boiling for about 2-3 minutes.

Mushrooms: Slice and saute in Earth Balance margarine (or olive oil) until browned and the smaller ones are beginning to get a little crunchy.

Kale: Saute 2 minced garlic cloves in a bit of olive oil until beginning to brown. Add kale (washed and chopped) and saute until it is bright green and the thicker stems are somewhat tender. I season mine with red pepper flakes, a squeeze of lemon juice, and gomasio (lightly toasted sesame seeds processed in the blender with sea salt until it is a course powder like ground parmesan cheese).

Pesto cream sauce
Serves about 3 to 4 people

1 cup water or unsweetened non-dairy milk
1/3 cup raw cashews
~1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp gomasio (or 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp tahini)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 cloves garlic
Dash of fresh cracked pepper

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Taste and add more sea salt, if necessary. To serve, place the hot gnocchi on a plate and top with the cream sauce then add the mushrooms over the top.

My husband and I enjoyed this delicious comfort food with a very smooth glass of zinfandel from Parducci Winery. Ahhh, the perfect way to kick off a long weekend!

For oven chips: Leave the peels on the potatoes for extra iron and fiber (try to find organic potatoes- they are one of the "dirty dozen"!) and thinly slice. Toss them with olive oil and salt, spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (or lightly oiled) and bake at 400 degrees until browned.