1-Pot Blanched Spigarello with Vegan Chorizo Seitan atop Reginetti Pasta (No Added Fat)

I picked up some organic spigarello from Open Door Farm at the Carrboro Farmers' Market and thought I'd make a dish with blanched spigarello. I had some tasty reginetti (we love its texture and firm bite!) pasta from Sfoglini, and thought I'd use it as the base. This is what I did.

I started by blanching the greens. I rinsed the spigarello bunch and put it in heavily salted boiling water. I let it boil for 2-3 minutes till the greens were darkened in color. In the meantime, I had a large bowl of ice water ready. I plunged the spigarello into the ice bath and let it sit for a few minutes till cool, about 10 minutes, then drained.

I used the water that the greens had been boiling in to cook the pasta for its 9-10 minute cook time. When it was done, I drained and rinsed the pasta, then plated it. I used the same pan to saute over medium heat:

• 2 cloves garlic (coarsely chopped into 1/4" pieces)
• 1/4 cup onion cut into 1/4" cubes
• medium bell pepper cut into 1/2" chunks

for about 5 minutes. Then, I mixed in:

• 6 of the 8 ounces of a container of Upton's Naturals brand vegan chorizo seitan sausage
• half of a small 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1/4 t garlic granules
• 1T nutritional yeast

I let it cook on low heat for about 7-8 minutes, then coarsely chopped the greens (into maybe thirds), mixed them in with the heat off, and immediately served atop the pasta.

I offered a bit of grated Violife brand Just Like Parmesan to top the pasta; I had a little bit (maybe I should count this dish as almost no added fat, but the "parmesan" is only 5g of fat per ounce, and we had maybe 1/10 of an ounce. It went well with the sauce.

Results

We all enjoyed the meal! I quite enjoy this pasta's rugged texture. The combination was good and it was fun to blanch the spigarello.

Ideas for the future

I should blanch greens more often. I wonder what it would be like to blanch greens and then do a quick blend of most of the greens, mixing in to get a textured green sauce.

Jacob's Cattle Beans Stew with Hard Red Winter Wheat Berries

Last weekend, I picked up some fresh, organic, locally grown
Jacob's Cattle Beans from the Carrboro Farmers' Market. They looked good and I thought I'd cook them tonight with hard red winter wheat berries.

I rinsed and then soaked the beans (I had a quart bag full) for about 8 hours; since they're fresh, I didn't really need to soak them or, at least, not for so long. But it doesn't hurt and was convenient. I drained the beans and put them in the Instant Pot pressure cooker with just enough fresh water to cover them. I thought that I'd cook them for 20-25 minutes under pressure.

Wheat berries cook in a 1:3 ratio under pressure for 25-30 minutes. So, I measured out about a half cup of the wheat berries and three times (i.e., 1 1/2 cups) water, and added to the Instant Pot. I also mixed in:

• a medium carrot cut into approximately 1/4" slices
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (into maybe 1/4" pieces)
• 1t ginger, finely (1/8") minced
• 1/8 t turmeric
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1/8 t lemon pepper
• 1/8 t onion powder

Then, I cooked under pressure for 30 minutes. I waited a few minutes for the pressure to come down, then I carefully opened the pressure cooker. I mixed in:

• 1/4 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1t lemon juice
• 3/4 t salt
• a touch of hot sauce

I had a little bit of crisp lettuce left, so cut the lettuce into 1/2" pieces and mixed it in, as well.

I served along with Jade Pearl rice and, atop lettuce leaves, small sweet peppers and blistered Greek peppers - I picked these up from the farmers' market, as well; they're a lot like shishito peppers that I quite enjoy, and also have almost no heat - that I sprinkled salt (I recently bought Portugese fleur de sel with citrus that I quite like) atop.

Results

Dinner was good! My wife had been traveling for a few days but just returned tonight and enjoyed the meal. My daughter had a friend staying overnight with us, and both children enjoyed the meal. I was pleased; the beans had a nice flavor and the combination was quite good. The proportion of bean to wheat berry was also pleasing, with the wheat just giving a bit of bite and texture.

Ideas for the future

I don't know why I don't use wheat berries more often - I should. I would like to get more Jacob's Cattle Beans! Maybe I could try another bean dish with ample crispy lettuce pieces mixed in at the end.