The Daily Tannenbaum

I think I’m really clever. That’s why in all my previous Whip It Up posts, instead of saying “serves 4,” I’ve been saying “serves one, four times.” That’s because most days I live and eat alone. Actually, one of my pie-in-the-sky dreams is to write a cookbook for all the single people of the world. It will include tips like: when buying broccoli, just get what you need for the recipe from the salad bar at the grocery store. No single person in the history of the world has been able to finish an entire head of broccoli before it goes bad without some serious gas issues. Hey publishers: call me.

But sometimes, a body just wants to share some good cooking with some other people. So because this week’s theme was “appetizers” and one rarely eats an appetizer alone (unless you count the crackers I nosh on immediately when I get home from work to tide me over for the three minutes until the Ramen is done) I invited some friends over to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I took this recipe from the fantastic Vegan With a Vengeance cookbook, which created some confusion with my friends, who thought that the whole meal was going to be punk rock themed. It sort of was. Because it’s hard to justify a dinner party with just some stuffed peppers, I also made Polenta with sun-dried tomatoes, and served it to my meat-eating friends

Black Bean, Mushroom, Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

Serves 2 vegetarians and 3 omnivores

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
• 1 tbsp. chile powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 (15-oz) can tomato sauce (I used 2 8oz cans, which was better.)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 5 peppers that will stand up on their own, tops cut off and seeds emptied
• 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp. pure maple syrup
• fresh cilantro for garnish

METHOD:

Sauté the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to get clear. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the mushrooms get soft. Add the chile powder, salt, 1 cup of tomato sauce, water and quinoa and simmer for another 20 minutes. <—- I did this the day before, and kept it in the fridge, which both saved time before the party and kept my kitchen from getting too hot on the day of. Next, boil a stockpot of water and add the peppers. Boil for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add the black beans and maple syrup to the quinoa mixture. When the peppers are done, arrange them in a baking dish <— note, I would line the baking dish with foil, as my brand new one is now permanently stained. Fill the peppers with the quinoa mixture and top with the remaining tomato sauce. Cook at 350° for 15 minutes. Top with cilantro, or some other herb, which I totally forgot to do.

So, what else do you want to know?

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Oh, totally. And there was lots of stuff I was able to do ahead of time, so when I knew the people were coming at 7:30, I just popped everything in the oven at 7:15. Breezy!

Did the dish taste good?
Yes! And don’t just take my word for it… The Dutchess of Kickball declared it so, as did her man Teach, who hates mushrooms and peppers, but ate it all anyway. Okay, maybe he left some pepper behind, but still. And his bro enjoyed it, and I don’t think he’s ever been given a proper vegan meal in his life, and Chatie, despite not being a pepper fan, ate the whole of the stuffed part. Everyone was very full at the end of the meal.  So success.

Would you make the dish again?
Hells to the yes. This was my favorite WIU recipe so far, and it pleased a group of people. I don’t think I’d even do anything differently in the preparation. I only wish I had a bigger dining room table so I could invite over my whole crew. Flick & Tucker, it’s your turn next!

Left to Right: Teach, Product Placement, Dutchess, Chatie, lil bro

Bonus after the jump:

Polenta with Sun-dried tomato pesto

polenta;

• 1 cup polenta
• 4 cups water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbs rosemary olive oil
• 2 tbs fresh rosemary

sun-dried tomato pesto:

• 1/2 cup tightly packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup water (I suggest using the reserve water from the tomato cooking)
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• goat cheese (optional)
• shredded Parmesan (optional)

Method:

Boil the water.  Add polenta, garlic, olive oil and herbs and stir with a whisk until thick (about 5 minutes).  Add to a baking dish and cool for 2 hours or more in the refrigerator.  When ready, cut the polenta into squares.  Fry the polenta in a skillet and arrange on a baking sheet so the squares are touching.  If using, slice the goat cheese and put on top of the polenta squares.

The pesto: add the sun-dried tomatoes to a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, and then set aside for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, chop the almonds in a food processor.  Add all the other ingredients and process until smooth.  Use the pesto to top the polenta squares.  Cover with the Parmesan, and bake at 350º for 15 minutes, which is TOTALLY CONVENIENTLY the same amount of time needed to cook the peppers!