Whole Foods Cooking Class

Posted on January 18, 2015 by davidmacleodburt

Chef David is offering the 4-part series on Whole Foods Vegan Cuisine, at the NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids starting next Thursday. Each class can be taken individually or as a series.

Registration is through Kirkwood Continuing Education. Details of the class and links to the other classes in the series are detailed below.

This 4-part class can be taken individually or as a series. We will discover a wealth of techniques and recipes to give flavor to a base of nutritious and healthful foods. The whole foods philosophy maintains that minimal processing maintains nutritional integrity. The vegan philosophy maintains that removing (and at the very least limiting) animal products in the diet is beneficial for the body of the individual and the body of the planet.

The series is split into 4 sections: Vegetables, Beans and Grains, Soy foods, Soups and Sauces, and draws on culinary traditions from around the world.

1. Vegetables
The vegetarian diet is ideally suited to having vegetables at its center. Using vegetables as a focal point allows us to eat seasonally, and therefore locally, which I maintain being the healthiest way to eat. The range of phytonutrients is wide and varied over the year, fiber and micronutrient content is maintained. Take home recipes will be included and general guidelines discussed.

SEE DETAILS OF ALL 4 CLASSES HERE.

Four Square Meals – January 20

Posted on January 15, 2015 by davidmacleodburt

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Available for pick up Tuesday January 20.

Tempeh Cauliflower Cream – vegan take on cauliflower cheese sauce
Campfire Pilaf – Aged basmati, faro, sweet corn and smoked paprika

Mushroom Harissa – spicy mushrooms with seasonal vegetable in a spicy North African red lentil sauce
Two-Tone Rice – pink and black rice with seasonal vegetable, walnut and ginger

New Delhi Tofu – curried tofu in tomato-ginger sauce with seasonal vegetable
Golden Glazed Potatoes – with seasonal vegetable, garlic, ginger and turmeric

Black bean chili – with tomatoes and sweetcorn
Athena salad – Brown rice, barley and red cabbage tossed with olive oil, sunflower seed, nori

To order click here. For newsletter sign up, click here.

Menu January 27.

Produce and grains purchased locally at New Pioneer Food Co-op, Echollective Farm, Organic Greens and Grinnell Heritage Farm

Four Square Meals – January 13

Posted on January 9, 2015 by davidmacleodburt

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Korean Winter Stew – Kidney beans and seasonal vegetables with spices
Sweet Tooth Pilaf – basmati rice and rye with pear and green onion

Tofu Dijon – marinated in rich mustard sauce with seasonal vegetable
Exotic Tabouli – barley and jade cloud rice with Roma tomatoes, sunflower seeds, oregano and lemon juice

Aromatic Black Eyed Peas – a rich dal spiced with coriander, cumin and turmeric
Macro Mash – millet, cauliflower and amaranth with roasted garlic and nutritional yeast

Tempeh Slaw – with cilantro and crunchy vegetables
Potato chukander – Potato and beet in onion-cumin sauce

Recipe – Classic Gravy

Posted on December 30, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

Gravy
Yield 1.5 quarts

Wine   0.5 cup
Garlic, chopped   6 clove
Stock   6 cup
White wine vinegar   3 T
Tamari   0.33 cup
Paprika   1 T
Oregano, dried   2 t
Sage, rubbed   1 t
Thyme, dried   2 t
Salt   2 t
Roux   0.5 cup
Nutritional yeast   2 T
Black pepper   1 t
Flour, white or whole   1 cup
Sunflower or canola oil   0.67 cup

Make your own stock, or use vegetable bouillon cubes. Put the wine and the garlic in a pot and simmer until about half the liquid is gone. Add the stock, vinegar, tamari, paprika, oregano, sage, thyme and salt and bring to a boil. Try to reduce to a simmer as soon as it boils. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile make the roux.

Add the flour and oil to a pan and heat to medium, stirring to mix. Once it starts to sizzle stir constantly. Heat for about 5 minutes until a slight toasty aroma comes off. If brown spots appear, turn the heat off. Ladle half a cup or so of the simmering broth into the pan with the roux. Whisk quickly to smooth out. Continue adding broth half a cup at a time another three times. Then transfer this back into the main broth pot, whisking to mix and avoid lumps.

Bring back to a simmer for another 10-30 minutes to let the gravy thicken. Check for salt. This keeps well in the fridge and freezes too.

Corn starch slurry can be added instead of a flour roux. Use 4 T corn or potato starch in ¼ – ½ a cup of water.
For newsletter sign up, click here.

Four Square Meals – December 16

Posted on December 10, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

We’re taking two weeks off after next week. Happy Holidays! Back on January 6.

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Masoor Dal – spiced red lentils with spinach
Moroccan Barley Pilaf – with quinoa, sweet corn and seasonal green

Mushroom Umama – roasted mushrooms in a savory miso sauce with seasonal vegetable
East-west Rice – Brown and pink rice with seasonal vegetable, brown mustard seed and nori

Kansas Avenue Tempeh – lemon marinated in a creamy roasted cumin sauce with seasonal vegetable
Aloo Gobi – Indian spiced potato and cauliflower

Levantine Green Lentils – with seasonal vegetable and spices
Persian Rice – basmati rice with amaranth seasonal vegetable and sumac

To order click here.
For newsletter sign up, click here.

Produce and grains purchased locally at New Pioneer Food Co-op, Echollective Farm, Organic Greens and Grinnell Heritage Farm

Four Square Meals – December 2

Posted on November 28, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

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Andalusian Pinto Beans – with roasted Roma tomatoes, carrots and spices
King’s Rice – brown rice with rye, seasonal vegetable, toasted sunflower seeds and nori

Tom Kha Tofu – rice noodles with Thai mushroom broth
Roasted Garlic Mash – potatoes with carrot and black pepper

Moong Dal – with spices and seasonal vegetables
Old World Pilaf – barley and einkorn wheat with green cabbage and caraway

Seitan Diable – tangy sauce with seasonal vegetable
Green Paella Nori – with jade cloud rice, seasonal vegetables and mixed nuts

To order click here.
For newsletter sign up, click here.

Produce and grains purchased locally at New Pioneer Food Co-op, Iowa City Farmer’s Market, Friendly Farm, Echollective Farm and Muddy Miss Farm.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Posted on November 20, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

Somehow we still had tomatoes on the vine a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a nice way to use those green tomatoes

1 3/8 c all-purpose flour
2 T corn starch
1 T Baking Powder
1 tbs coriander
2.5 tsp cumin
2.5 tsp paprika
1 t salt
1 ½ c beer or seltzer water
Flour for dredging
4-5 tbs vegetable oil (eg sunflower, organic canola, safflower)
1-1.5 lbs green tomatoes

Wash, dry and slice the tomatoes crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. If the tomatoes are small, just half or quarter them.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and measure out liquid. Heat a pan to medium then add oil. (If using teflon add oil before heating.) While the pan heats, put a cup or two of flour in another bowl and set aside. Add the measured liquid to the dry ingredients from recipe, to make the batter. It should bubble slightly.

Keeping one hand for dry and one hand for wet. With the wet hand, pick up a few slices of tomato and gently toss into flour. Shake bowl to cover tomatoes with flour. Using dry hand, take out tomato slices, and gently toss into batter. Turn them with your hand to make sure they are covered in batter.

One by one place the tomatoes into the hot oil. Leave for a few minutes to sizzle and turn. When golden, remove from pan onto paper towel to drain. Use the same pan to go through the tomatoes, adding a tbs or two of oil if it begins to run low.

Serve with potato salad or kraut.

Four Square Meals – November 11

Posted on November 8, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

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Subterranean stew – black beans with root vegetables
Patates Bravas – with seasonal vegetables and chili peppers

Tofu Zeera – marinated tofu and beet in roasted cumin sauce
Green Rice Pilaf – jade pearl rice and spelt with seasonal vegetable and herbs

Masoor dal aur band gobi – spiced red lentils with green cabbage
Chinese Parsley Pilaf – brown rice and barley with seasonal vegetable, cilantro and lemon

IC Tempeh – marinated in garlic and coriander with seasonal vegetable in cilantro-lime sauce
Curried Rice – basmati and black rice with seasonal vegetable

To order click here.
For newsletter sign up, click here.

Produce and grains purchased locally at New Pioneer Food Co-op, Iowa City Farmer’s Market, Friendly Farm, Echollective Farm and Muddy Miss Farm.

Eggplant Steak with Mushrooms and Sage

Posted on November 6, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

1 or 2 globe eggplant
Salt
¼ c extra virgin olive oil
Flour for dredging
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
8 oz mushrooms
1 small clove garlic
1/4 tsp choped sage
2 tbs balsamic or white wine vinegar
Large pinch salt
2 tbs water

Cut eggplant lengthwise into ¾ – 1 inch “steaks”. Sprinkle liberally with salt and let stand in a colander for at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour. Wash off salt and dry with towels. Heat a pan to medium and add half of the oil. Dredge the eggplant in flour and shake off. Add to pan. Try not to mess with them too much, just let them cook. After 5 minutes check that they are not burning.

If they are charring turn them and add oil to pan (not to eggplant), let oil heat up and then turn heat down slightly. Cover. If they are not charring or browning, let them cook another 5 minutes then add oil to pan (not to eggplant), let oil heat up and then turn heat down slightly. Cover.

Check after 5 minutes by gently pressing eggplant. When done it should be very soft to the touch. Ripeness affects cooking time greatly, so it could take another 10 minutes. When done, place on paper towel (or towel) to drain off excess oil and serve.

While eggplant cooks, prepare the mushrooms and sage. First, take 1 tbs of the flour from the eggplant dredging and whisk with 4 T water. Set this slurry aside. Heat a pan to medium-high, add 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil followed immediately by onion and garlic. Sautee 2 minutes, sizzling and stirring. Add mushrooms and continue stirring until oil is evenly spread. Cover, turn heat down and cook 1 minute. Remove lid and add vinegar. Cook 2-3 minutes at a simmer, then add slurry. Continue stirring until sauce thickens a little.

Vegetarian Pop Up Dine Out – November 15

Posted on November 5, 2014 by davidmacleodburt

Four Square Meals is hosting a Thanksgiving-themed plant based dinner at the Universalist Society at 20 N Gilbert Street at 6pm on Saturday November 15.

Come and try out Four Square Meals in a social setting and see if you might enjoy our meal service

Mixed nuts and raisins
Kale and spinach salad with herbed dressing and apple

Seitan “roast” with gravy
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Spiced beets and carrots
Aronia berry sauce

Pumpkin pie bars

$18 including tax

Reply below to reserve a space. reservations are required.

Go back

Four Square Meals

Potato pancakes at the Iowa City Farmer's Market

Whole Foods Cooking Class

Four Square Meals – January 20

Four Square Meals – January 13

Recipe – Classic Gravy

Four Square Meals – December 16

Four Square Meals – December 2

Fried Green Tomatoes

Four Square Meals – November 11

Eggplant Steak with Mushrooms and Sage

Vegetarian Pop Up Dine Out – November 15

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