Socca with Leeks and Herbed Almond Spread

There is nothing more rewarding than making a delicious meal out of the little odd's and end's kicking around the kitchen.  Although I work in a health food store and can easily pick up whatever I want after work, sometimes I like to challenge myself by using up whatever I have at home. Now, I'm not one of those people that has a well stocked pantry, mainly because I tend to avoid pre-packaged and canned food and I only buy fruits and vegetables, as needed for a recipe. I could probably tell you everything in my fridge and cupboards, meaning the list isn't very long.  So, the challenge of making something out of nothing isn't always easy.

It's especially not easy when you didn't make it grocery shopping last weekend, pulled your back out, have been out of work for several days and can't make it to the store.  The challenge of cooking is also there.  It has to be made it less than 20 minutes, and not involve any heavy lifting. 

Luckily, I had some farmers market loot leftover from the weekend so I was able to throw together a couple of decent salads. I'm still thanking sweet baby Jesus that I remembered to pick up some eggs at the market because they probably saved me from near starvation. Poached, scrambled, fried or hardboiled, served with some toast, and you've got one hell of a half assed meal.

When I attempted to throw something together last night, things were looking slim. REALLLLL slim.  Of course my husband volunteered to get me whatever I wanted at the store, but I was cranky and indecisive and told him I would find something around the house. He ended the call with a reluctant ohhhh kayyyyy, knowing there wasn't a dang thing in the house to eat.

So, I accepted this challenge, and dammit I won.

I wanted something high in carbs. You gotta coat your stomach with starch when you're downing pain killers and muscle relaxants like it's your job. All I had kicking around was a stale loaf of sourdough and I had already had toast for breakfast.

Then a lightbulb went off.... SOCCA!

Huh, you say...

Socca is a chickpea flour pancake cooked in a skillet, much like a crepe.  Basically, you combine chickpea flour, water, salt, pepper and a little olive oil to make a thin batter. Let it rest, then pour it into a hot cast iron pan and bake until lightly browned. It's kinda chewy, kinda crispy, and really delicious. 
I usually eat socca straight up, cut into pieces drizzled with olive oil with flurries of black pepper and flaky salt, but I've also seen it used as a "pizza crust" all over the internet, so I figured I would try something new.

Since I primarily follow a vegetarian diet, I always have a variety of nuts or seeds in the house, for snacking, adding to salads or for making my own nut butters or nut cheeses. Inspired by this recipe from Love and Lemons, I decided to whip up a quick almond spread to use as a base. Almonds, garlic, lemon, a little miso and nutritional yeast and some fresh herbs.  

I topped it with some quickly sauteed leeks that were lodged in the back of my fridge and the last of the pea shoots from the farmers market and I had dinner.

Socca with Leeks and Herbed Almond Spread (serves 2-4)
Slightly adapted from from Love and Lemons

Socca:

1 c. chickpea flour
1 c. lukewarm water
1 t. sea salt
1/4 t. cracked pepper
2 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking the socca
1 clove garlic, grated

Mark Bittman will talk you through making socca here.  You can see I used his recipe, but omitted the onion and rosemary and added garlic. This will either make one thick 12" round or two thin 10" rounds.

 Almond Herb Spread:


1 c. almonds, blanched or soaked overnight, skins removed*
1/2 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1 t. miso paste
Juice and zest of one small lemon
2 t. nutritional yeast
1/2-3/4 c. water (less water if you soaked your nuts, more if you blanched them or used them raw)
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. mixed chopped herbs, I used scallions and parsley, but I inagine dill or chives would be good too
salt & pepper, to taste


To blanch almonds, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add almonds, cook for 30 seconds and drain. When cool enough to handle, slide the skins off with your fingers. If you are planning on making this the following day, you can also soak almonds overnight in enough water to cover, drain and rub the skins off. 
Place all ingredients (except the water and herbs) in a food processor and blend. Slowly stream in water (you may not use all of it) until the mixture is well combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in 1/4 c. herbs, saving the remaining 1/4 c. for topping the socca.

Leeks:

2 Small leeks, sliced into rounds

Heat a little olive oil in a sautee pan. Add leeks, a pinch of salt and some cracked pepper and cook for a couple minutes until soft.

After your socca has cooled a bit (about 5 minutes), slather on some of the almond herb spread (you won't use all of it). Top with the sauteed leeks, some fresh herbs and pea shoots or your favorite sprouts.

Summer Rolls

As soon as temperatures rise above 70 degrees, I eat summer rolls like it's my job.

Really.

After over indulging in rich, comfort food all winter long, I feel the need for a little cleansing of sorts. That usually involves eating my weight in asparagus, drinking lots of fresh juice and preparing some variation of summer rolls at least three times a week.

The great thing about summer rolls is they are cheap, healthy and you can fill them with whatever you have kickin' around in your fridge and it's an easy and tasty way to incorporate more raw vegetables into your diet.

This time around I filled them with some shredded carrot, red bell pepper, pea shoots, smoked tofu, cilantro and some ginger onion paste. 

But, really.. you could stuff 'em with lots of goodies.

Some of my favorites are:

cabbage (red or white)
lettuce (butter lettuce, romaine or leaf lettuce)
avocado
sprouts
mango
cucumber
red bell pepper
carrot
tofu
tempeh
fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, mint, chives, scallion)

A peanut sauce is fantastic with these, but you could also spread the inside with a thin layer of hummus or other bean dip or a nut/seed pate.

Get creative!

Once you get the hang of it, making summer rolls is easy peasy.  The most time consuming part is prepping all the ingredients.  The actual rolling takes about 20 seconds, kind of like making a burrito.  Also, don't be discouraged if your first few look a little wonky, they will still taste delicious!

Summer Rolls  (makes 8 large rolls)

8 rice paper wraps
1 1/2 oz. vermacelli noodles (aka rice stick noodles), soaked and drained
1 c. shredded carrot
1/2 large red bell pepper, julliened
1 c. cilantro leaves
2 large handfulls of pea shoots
6 oz. baked tofu, cut into matchsticks

ginger onion paste (adapted from this recipe at 101 cookbooks)

2 scallions, sliced
2 shallots, diced
3" piece ginger, grated
1/2 t. fine grain sea salt]
5 T. sunflower oil

Place scallion and ginger in a food  processor with the salt and pulse to make a rough paste. Heat the oil in a small saucepan. When the oil is warm (not hot) add the onion/ginger mixture and heat for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small container. (the paste can be made a day or two in advance, stored in an airtight container in the fridge)

Bring a small pot of water to a boil.  Add the rice stick noodles, remove from heat and allow them to soak for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain again and set aside.
Fill a large bowl (big enough to fit your spring roll wrappers) with warm water.
Place one of the wrappers in the warm water for 10 seconds. Remove and place on a cutting board, carefully stretching it out to make a round shape.  Working quickly, place 1- 1/2 t. of the ginger/onion paste (drain off as much oil as possible) in the middle of the wrapper. Pile on a small handful of pea shoots, followed by a small amount (1-2 T.) of rice noodles, carrots, 2-3 bell pepper strips and 3-4 pieces of tofu, and 5-6 cilantro leaves.
Fold the bottom over the filling, fold in the sides and continue to roll.  When you are done it should look like a mini burrito. 
Repeat with the remaining wrappers.
When ready to serve, cut in half and serve as is or with your favorite dipping sauce.  Scroll down this page to find the sauce I used here.

Little Quinoa Patties

Quinoa in patty form.

Genius.

I've made patties with lots of different grains: millet, oats, bulgar and couscous, but never thought of using quinoa.

I stumbled upon a recipe for quinoa patties in Supernatural Everyday and had to make them at once!


Little quinoa patties (makes 12) supernatural everyday

2 1/2 c. cooked quinoa at room temperature
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. chives
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. fresh parmesan
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 c. whole grain bread crumbs
water if needed
1 T. extra virgin olive oil or butter

Combine quinoa, eggs and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir in chives, onion, cheese and garlic. Add breadcrumbs and let sit for a few minutes to absorb some of the moisture. (err on the very moist side.. add more breadcrumbs if too wet, more egg or water to moisten).
Heat oil in large heavy skillet over medium low heat. Add 6 patties, cover and cook 7-10 minues, until bottoms are deeply browned. Carefully flip and cook for another 7 minutes, until golden. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Quinoa mixture keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

First time around I served 'em with some fresh pea shoots from the farmers market and some feta cheese with a little champagne vinaigrette drizzled on top.  Perfection.  Filling but not too heavy.

The next day I served them along a huge salad with spicy mesclun mix and mustard roasted potatoes.  The potatoes were like crack, thanks Deb from Smitten Kitchen!

Mustard Roasted Potatoes (from Smitten Kitchen) 

Makes 10 servings
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick or 1/2 ounce) butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges

Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, lemon peel, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. Spread potatoes in single layer. Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.

Transfer potatoes to serving bowl.