Month: August 2022

Vegetarian Farro Chickpea Stew

Stealthy Recipes by JESSICA0 comments

Well I’m officially feeling better. Praise baby Jesus! After 3 days with minimal movement and human interaction, I was starting to question my sanity. I’m pretty sure at one point Mac started talking… that may have also been the 27 ibprofin I took to rid myself of omgtheworstheadacheever.

 

But about this stew. I made it about 2 weeks ago as “lunch for the week”, and it was my first tango with farro. Farro is an interesting little grain. Much like quinoa, it’s a very versatile grain, and a fantastic source of protein (7g per serving). I used the pearled variety, which basically means the outer husk has been removed, making it much easier (and faster!) to prepare. I feel extremely smart right now. (Don’t be fooled, though, I’m sure to say something completely air-headed in the next few seconds.)

 

In fact, in middle-school, people used to pull on my ear and make a hissing noise, as if to let the air out of a balloon. Only because I was such an airhead, I didn’t even get what that meant. I also earned the nickname “Duh, Jessica” after an unfortunate incident in gym glass where I shot a hockey puck into the wrong goal. And yes, I realize it’s pretty funny, but dude, middle school was hard enough without adding fuel to the fire.

Really, I could talk about how much I loathed grades 4-7 all day. I mean, how is it possible that between the ages of 8 and 11 human beings are capable of being pure evil? Yes, I was smart and maybe I was the kid who raised their hand a lot. And ok, so I had glasses and was freakishly tall, but whatever. Excuse me for being enthusiastic about learning and wanting to be friends with my teachers, is that so wrong? Stupid mean kids…

Can you even imagine if we had Facebook back then? Oof. It literally gives me the chills.

Speaking of, you know what’s good for chills?

Offff course you do.

 

Vegetarian Farro Chickpea Stew
Serves: 6
Cook time: about 40 minutes
You’ll Need:
1 T olive oil
1/2 cup frozen chopped kale
1/2 a medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
1 T garlic, minced
15 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
6 cups water + 2 T Better Than Bouillon vegetable base (or sub veg stock)
1 cup farro, rinsed and drained
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions: In a large soup pot, heat oil over med-high heat and sautee onion, kale, crushed red pepper and garlic until onions are translucent and kale is softened. Add diced tomatoes, cumin and paprika, and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add vegetable broth, chickpeas and farro. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until farro is al dente. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve with crusty bread.

 

This soup was way better than middle school.

Happy Monday!…

Wheat Berry Salad (Veg Challenge Kick Off)

Stealthy Recipes by JESSICA0 comments

Oh hey, have you heard about my exciting 28 Day Vegetarian Challenge? If you work with me, are my friend or are married to me, chances are you have and get the idea. K, just making sure.

 

Now that we have that out of the way, let me introduce brand new ingredient number one:
Wheat Berries, come on doowwwnnnn!

And oh, hello, what do we have here…?

Wheat Berry Salad

Ha…tricked you, its fakon. (Fake+bacon). While thinking about this recipe, I couldn’t deny that bacon would be the perfect add-in, but alas, not allowed in the challenge. Enter facon. (Which I’ve also never used…might count that in week 4 if I’m lazy, just sayin.)

Then I had the brilliant idea to sautee my kale in the facon oil as to not waste any of the essence of meat. Hmm..maybe this challenge is going to be harder than I thought.

I did spend like $200 at the grocery store yesterday in preparation for this, so I should probably go ahead and get excited about it. At least when my husband is looking…
Yes, dear, I absolutely needed 47 bags of frozen vegetables. I know that’s a lot but, I can’t have meat, and am going to be super hungry. Yes, fine, you can get a new Xbox game.

 

Plus as long as I can still use olive oil and goat cheese I think I’ll fair just fine. (Check in with me in about three weeks to confirm that statement.)

Wheat Berry Salad
(Inspired by Macheesmo)
You’ll Need:
1 cup uncooked soft white wheat berries
2 cups roughly chopped kale
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 orange bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 strips vegetarian bacon substitute
1 avocado
1 lemon
1-2 tbsp goat cheese
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Cook wheat berries according to package. (I placed mine in water with a 1/4 tsp of salt, brought to a boil, reduced to simmer and cooked for about 70 minutes.) When finished cooking, drain and set aside.
Evenly dice onion and pepper, slice the avocado and combine in a large bowl. Sautee bacon over medium heat for about 4 minutes in a coated pan. Remove and crumble into bowl with peppers and onion. Add about a tsp of coconut oil to pan over med heat, and sautee kale with the oil from the bacon. Sprinkle nutmeg over kale, then sautee, stirring to distribute flavor. Once fairly wilted, remove from heat and combine with other ingredients. Add about a tbsp of lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon and toss. Spoon in cooked wheat berries and drizzle with olive oil. Crumble goat cheese on top and toss all ingredients to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

So yeah, this was pretty fantastic. Who knew wheat berries were so delicious? They have a really unique texture and flavor to them that I really like. I will most definitely be eating this for lunch all week. Lots of good flavor and very filling, which is key, especially when you take meat out of your diet. Or if you are a chronic afternoon snacker. Which I am. (You can take my meat, but you’ll never have my Nutella.)…