April 2013
Volume 12 Issue 4

Featured Recipes
By Heather McDougall

Wraps are great. Especially in the summer when you don’t feel like cooking and are eating outdoors a lot more than usual. Wraps do well on picnics and in lunchboxes. They are delicious warm or cold. I like to keep a variety of tortillas in my refrigerator such as whole wheat, corn, or corn/wheat varieties. I heat them up individually on a dry non-stick griddle until warmed on both sides (about 30 seconds per side), then smooth on a layer of spread, a starch (beans, rice, potatoes), fresh and sautéed vegetables, add a sauce and top with hot sauce, if desired. If you always have a number of spreads and veggies on hand, a quick meal is never far off. I have included a few of our favorite wrap recipes below, and there are a number of other wrap ideas in the June 2010 McDougall Newsletter.


ASIAN WRAPS

You can easily skip the tortilla and just have this in a bowl, but my family likes to make their own wraps -- tortilla, rice, tofu, coleslaw, veggies, peanut sauce, and Sriracha sauce.

Serves 4-6

2 cups cooked brown rice
8 spinach tortillas
2 cups fresh vegetables, sautéed and raw

  Options Include:
    Bean sprouts
Kale
Bok choy
Scallions
Mushrooms
Carrots

Coleslaw:
You can make this even easier by using a bag of already shredded cabbage and carrot mixture in the pre-packaged lettuce section of your grocery.

2 cups finely shredded cabbage (red & green)
1 cup finely shredded carrot
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon agave

Put the cabbage and carrot in a large bowl. Mix the rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce and agave in a small bowl, add to the cabbage-carrot mixture. Stir well. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Marinated Tofu:
20 ounces extra firm tofu (Wildwood is my favorite)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons light miso
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons mirin

Drain the tofu and cut into small cubes.

Place the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.  Pour over the tofu and toss to coat well.  Let rest for at least 30 minutes, mixing occasionally to make sure the tofu is well covered with the marinade.

Turn the tofu and the marinade into a large non-stick sauté pan.  Dry fry for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally with a spatula to make sure the cubes are well browned on all sides. 

Thai Peanut Sauce:
This is a higher-fat sauce because of the peanut butter. However, I have recently discovered PB2, by Bell Plantation. This stuff is amazing! It’s basically powdered peanut butter, with 85% of the fat removed. You mix it with water and use as you would regular peanut butter. You can’t tell the difference.

½ cup vegetable stock
¼ cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
½ tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  Pour into a saucepan and heat through before serving.  Serve warm.

Asian Ginger Sauce:
If you do not want to use a peanut sauce, the sauce below is a good low-fat alternative.

½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon white miso
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and whisk until smooth.  Bring to a boil while stirring and cook and stir until thickened.  Serve warm. 

To assemble wraps; warm the tortillas, place a line of the rice down the center of the tortilla, add coleslaw and whichever vegetables you choose, a few cubes of the tofu and top with either or both of the sauces.  Roll up and eat.

 

BARBECUE TOFU WRAPS

This may be made ahead and reheated just before serving.  It is wonderful as a leftover for lunch the next day or two.

Serves  6-8

16 ounces extra firm tofu
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 teaspoons rice vinegar
½ cup vegetable broth
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1  15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1½  cups cooked brown rice
1 cup barbecue sauce
8-10 corn or flour tortillas

Drain the tofu and cut into small cubes.  Place in a shallow bowl and sprinkle with cumin, chili powder and vinegar.  Stir gently to mix.  Set aside, mixing occasionally.

Place the vegetable broth in a large non-stick frying pan.  Add onion and bell pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.  Stir in corn, black beans, brown rice and barbecue sauce.  Cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Add tofu and continue to cook about 3 minutes longer, stirring gently when needed.

Warm tortillas.  Spoon about ½ to ¾ cup of the mixture down the center of the tortilla.  Fold up bottom of tortilla, roll up sides and eat.

 

HUMMUS WRAPS

A fast, delicious, no-cook meal for those hot summer nights during the next couple of months.

Serves 4-6

Spinach, Whole Wheat or Corn Tortillas
Hummus
Shredded Carrots
Kalamata Olives, chopped
Pickled Sweet Peppers, chopped
Alfalfa Sprouts
Cucumber, diced
Avocado, diced
Lettuce, Shredded
Sriracha Hot Sauce or salsa

Prepare all the vegetables ahead of time and place in individual bowls. Let each person assemble their own wrap, placing a line of the hummus down the center of the tortilla, and then layering on their choice of vegetables and hot sauce, if desired. Roll up and eat!

Hummus
1  15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon tahini (optional)
dash sea salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until very smooth.

Hints: Add other ingredients to this basic Hummus, for flavor and variety.
½ cup roasted red peppers plus ½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup chopped parsley or cilantro
1-2 teaspoons chopped jalapeno pepper

 

MEDITERRANEAN GARBANZOS

My mom came up with this recipe on the same day that she made the Cheezy Baked Macaroni (March 2007 Newsletter), thinking that my son, Jaysen, would love the pasta and that this dish would be too spicy for him.  He ate 6 bowls of this dish and only a few bites of the pasta. You never know.  This would be great in a wrap with brown rice or whole wheat couscous, or without the tortilla and in a bowl.

Serves 6-8

2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup vegetable broth
2  15 ounce cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1  28 ounce can crushed tomatoes with basil
1 large fresh tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups packed chopped fresh spinach
freshly ground black pepper 

Place the onion and garlic in a large pot with the vegetable broth.  Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is tender, about 4 minutes.  Add beans, tomatoes, oregano and red pepper flakes.  Mix well, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the lemon juice, spinach and several twists of freshly ground pepper.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes, until spinach is tender. 

 

BROCCOLI BISQUE

This is such an easy recipe to make and re-heat. I love this over brown rice and steamed cauliflower.

Serves:  6-8

4 cups broccoli florets
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups frozen chopped hash brown potatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
2 ½ cups non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
dash white pepper
Salt to taste

Place the broccoli, broth, potatoes, onion and dill weed in a medium pot.  Bring to a boil, cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.  Process in batches in a blender.  Return to pot, add the non-dairy milk, the mustard and the white pepper.  Heat through and serve at once. Add salt to taste.

HINTS:  I make this in a stainless steel pot and process it with an immersion blender directly in the pot.  (An immersion blender is a small, hand-held appliance that will blend foods without removing them from the cooking pot or bowl.  Do not use an immersion blender in a non-stick pot.) If you buy the broccoli florets frozen in bags it saves quite a bit of the preparation time.

 

SIMPLE MARINARA SAUCE

We eat pasta often in our house. We have it in all shapes and sizes, but usually with the same sauce – a simple red. The one below is so easy to make and great to have on hand. We have this with garlic bread and a salad. I also pack this over pasta in my sons’ school lunches. They like this hot or cold. You can also use this on pizza. My boys love to help make pizzas and we have pizza dinners at least once a week during the summer, made outside on the grill.  See recipe below.

Serves 6-8

1 onion, coarsely chopped
4-6 whole garlic cloves
1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves
2  28-ounce cans chopped tomatoes with their juice (San Marzano is my favorite)
1 ½ cups tomato juice (a tomato-vegetable blend is a good choice)
salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours.  Puree in batches in a blender until it reaches desired consistency.

Hint:  Keep this covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, if it lasts that long in your house. 

 

PIZZAS HOW YOU LIKE ‘EM

This is a bit labor intensive, so I make a double-batch of this dough and put it in the freezer. This way, I always have it on hand and can make more when I have the time. You can make this pizza dough any size and shape you want. My boys like to make their own pizzas, so I give them personal-sized dough balls and they roll it out and add their own toppings.

Serves 8-10

7 cups unbleached white flour or whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 – 4 teaspoons salt
3 cups water, plus more if dough is too dry

In a stand mixer with dough hook, add flour, yeast and salt and mix on low speed until combined. Slowly add water until combined, then knead with dough hook for 2 more minutes, or until dough starts to pull away from bowl and form a big ball on the hook. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit more water.

Put this mixture in a large clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap or silicone cover and a towel and place in a draft free area for 18-24 hours.

The next day, turn mixture out onto a floured work surface. Shape into a long oval shape and cut into 6 even sections, or 3 if you like your pizza thicker. Next, take each section and fold the ends towards the middle, flip over, shape into a ball and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Do this with all pieces. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a towel and let sit for one hour. If you don’t want to use the dough right away, simply place in plastic baggies and place in the freezer.

After one hour, take each ball and roll out on a floured surface until it is the thickness you like your pizza. Transfer to a large wooden pizza spatula with parchment paper on it. Next, I put all of the toppings on and bake on a preheated pizza stone in my BBQ as high as it will go, for about 8 minutes. The parchment paper makes it so easy to transfer to the pizza stone. Simply pull the paper and the crust right onto the stone. Yes, you can cook the parchment paper.

Some of our favorite pizzas:
Mexican: refried beans, black olives, onions topped with lettuce, tomatoes and salsa after cooking
Thai: peanut sauce, red peppers, baked tofu, onions topped with cilantro and/or greens after cooking
Veggie: tomato sauce, red peppers, mushrooms, black and green olives, onions, pepperoncinis
Greek: hummus, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, red onions

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