2 Mallung Recipes: Brussels Sprouts & Kale

Mallung (chopped leaves mixed with grated coconut) is a staple dish in Sri Lanka. Tonight for dinner I used Brussels sprouts from my bountiful basket and kale from my garden to pretty much wow BandMan (and even myself). 

I couldn't decide which mallung I enjoyed more: the sprouts mallung made me think of couscous: it was dry and grainy (in a good way), and the kale, although still dry, was much creamier and meatier. The kale out of our garden is the kale of all kale (thanks BandMan!).

BRUSSELS SPROUTS MALLUNG

1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts, shredded
3-4 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 onion chopped
1/2 c coconut
1/2 tsp turmeric
cayenne, to taste
 1 stick of cinnamon
3 tbsp basil
2 tsp panch phoron
salt, to taste

1. Heat up some oil. Once you feel like its sizzling, add in you panch phoron, cinnamon, and basil. It'll get all poppy after a second or two (think popcorn) and that's good. 
2. When that starts happening add in the onion, salt, and red pepper flakes. 
3. Once the onions soften up, add in the turmeric, sprouts, and carrots; cook for about 5 minutes. 
4. When it starts to get tender in the pot add in a tad bit more oil and coconut. Fry it up for a few more minutes and then eat it up.

KALE MALLUNG

1 onion, chopped
red pepper flakes, to taste
12 oz kale, stemmed and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 c coconut
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat some oil up and softened your chopped onions and red pepper flakes. 
2. Add the kale, cumin, salt and pepper. 
3. 5 minutes and a lot of wilted kale later, add the coconut and lemon juice. 
4. Eat your heart out.

Lemon Blueberry Brown Sugar Cookies

These cookies are so hot right now. Mainly because you can eat them anytime of the day and feel no guilt what so ever. How's that? Well they are filled with fruit and have the consistency of a muffin, so you can basically eat cookies for breakfast. Do it...no one is going to judge you.

3/4 c oil
3/4 c brown sugar
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 3/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pint blueberries

1. Mix together the oil, sugar, banana, vanilla, and the lemon stuff in your blender. Give her a good blending until it's all combined all creamy like. 
2. Mix that with the rest of your ingredients and put in the fridge for half an hour or so. 
3. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375. When you're ready, use an ice cream scoop to make your big cookie dough ball into smaller dough balls, and put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
4. Cook for 10 minutes or so and let those suckers cool all the way before you try and consume them...they'll burn you.

Creamy Quinoa with Rainbow Swiss Chard and Crimini Mushrooms

Sunday dinner with my family is such an exciting experience for me. Something about it really revs my engine. This particular Sunday was a small get together: VegKid, BandMan, NightHawk, and me. Feeding two dudes and myself requires a whole lot of food, and a whole lot of food is what you get when you make this dish. That being said, I recommend if you are cooking for 2-4, cut this recipe in half. 

2 c quinoa
2 tbsp olive oil
2 bunches rainbow chard, chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
12 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
red chili flakes, to taste 

1. Boil the quinoa in 4 cups of water with a hefty salting. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover, and let that shit go until the water is all absorbed and the quinoa is all light and fluffy.
2. Meanwhile on another burner, get some oil good-n-hot and toss in your chard. Give her a lil salt and pepper and cook it all down until it's tender to your liking.
3. In another pot, saute up that garlic until it starts to make you wanna face dive in it. Add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook the shit out of those mushrooms until the garlic is crunchy and the mushrooms are extra well done (black).
4. Mix together the quinoa, chard, and nutritional yeast. Top with the mushrooms and red chili flakes.

White Balsamic Maple Roasted Carrots and Green Beans

Here's a yummy spin on one of my favorite Southern dishes, glazed carrots. I recently posted about a yummy carrot side dish and was feeling the lust for it today. I ran into a problem mostly comprised by a lack of carrots; so this is what became of that craving. It's awesomeness was inspected and approved by the whole VegFam and friends. 

8 oz diced carrots  
8 oz tailed green beans
olive oil  
1/4 c white balsamic
2 tbsp maple syrup  
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 350. 
2. Toss the carrots and green beans in olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Put that jazz in the oven for about 30 minutes or so. 
4. Heat the white balsamic and maple syrup on low until it's heated through and the veggies are tender. 
5. Combine and eat.  

Mushroom and Onion Savory Oatmeal

Every once in a sweet tooth moon, I'll indulge in some pancakes or some other type of breakfast pastry, but generally I don't love sweets for breakfast. Or really for any meal. I'm a savory girl. So I'm a bit shocked that I haven't made a savory oatmeal yet. 

Not shocked. Ashamed.

1/2 c oatmeal
1 c vegetable broth
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Stir together the oatmeal and the broth and let the broth cook all the way down over medium-high heat. 
2. In a separate pan, get that oil nice and hot. Add in the onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until you're happy. 
3. Add in your Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to the oatmeal and give it a whirl. Mix in your cooked veggies. Sprinkle some nutritional yeast flakes on top for a little extra pazazz. 

Mustard Roasted Carrots

When I was in my formative years and ChefMom would ask what I wanted for supper, I can pretty much guarantee that I almost always said "squash and onions," and "carrots."

But not just any old carrots; ChefMom always made Southern carrots that were coated in lots of brown sugar and butter. Mmmmmm. Droolz.

As I got older, I realized that vegetables are happiest when they're roasted. Not microwaved. Not frozen. Not steamed, or boiled. Roasted.

So this is my attempt to recreate ChefMom's bomb ass Southern carrots. Success.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbs whole-grain mustard
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 lb of carrots, cut up
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat that oven to 400.
2. Whisk together the oil, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper; add in the carrots and toss 'em up. Throw that mess on a cookie sheet and roast for about 35-40 minutes. 

Cilantro Pesto on Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Greens

So I've been on a losing streak in the kitchen. I can't say that the dishes I made weren't good, because they were. Damn good. But, they were ugly. Or didn't plate well. Or fell apart when they were being moved from the cooking zone to the eating zone. Anyway, not that important. I just wanted you to know where I've been in case you were wondering; which I am sure, you weren't.

I super recommend making this dish in it's entirety because it was the bomb dot com. Roast some beets until they are tender and saute the beet greens with olive oil, garlic cloves, and red pepper flakes. Top it all off with this cilantro pesto.

Upon first bite, open your eyes real wide, and watch your world expand.

Cilantro
1/3 c cashews
juice of 1/2 lime
1/3 c olive oil
salt

1. Pulse all ingredients together until it looks like pesto. 

After we ate this stupid-good dinner, we ran off to band practice. We worked on music stuff until about 1:00am and naturally I was starving. So I pan-fried up a slice of homemade bread and topped it with a variation of hummus, beet slices, and the cilantro pesto. Holy shit! So great. Make this pesto.

my late night/early morning snack