Valentine’s Day from Four Square Meals

Posted on February 7, 2015 by davidmacleodburt

If you are looking to avoid the elbow bumping and non-intimacy of a restaurant on Valentine’s Day, have a look at our 4-course feature, available for pick up or delivery to enjoy at home by the fire…

Canapés – sliced bread with toppings: fried shallot-gold beet and curried white bean
Coconut Corn Soup – creamy and slightly spicy
Tempeh Cutlet Zeera – breaded marinated tempeh in a rich creamy roasted cumin sauce
Persian Rose Pilaf – aromatic basmati rice, amaranth and seasonal vegetable infused with sumac and rose petal essence
Herbed Ragout – carrot, red beet and baby greens with tarragon
Sweet Potato Sorbet – with berry jam

Recipe – Cilantro Pesto

Posted on February 2, 2015 by davidmacleodburt

This is a quick and easy topping for bread, pasta or anywhere else where a little zing is required.

4 T sunflower seeds, toasted
6 T extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 t salt
Cilantro 2 cup tightly packed (1-2 bunches)
3/4 t fresh squeezed lime or lemon

Put the sunflower seeds in a food processor with 2 T olive oil, 1 clove of garlic and 1/2 t salt. Blend until fairly smooth.

Clip and inch or two off the stem of the cilantro and discard. chopped the rest roughtly (1-2 inch) and place in processor. Run the processor, pouring in 4 T olive oil as it runs. Stop and scrape sides. Pulse for a few seconds and scrape. Repeat several times. Try to run the processor as little as possible.

Remove pesto from processor and stir in lemon juice.

Upcoming Class – Making Beans and Grains Sexy

Posted on January 31, 2015 by davidmacleodburt

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It is said that bean soup was considered such an aphrodisiac that it was banned from the Convent of St. Jerome in the seventeenth century

Beans and grains maintain the healthy protein balance essential for life. Eating a wide variety of beans and grains ensures that the body has available all the essential amino acids. We will provide techniques and recipes for cooking a very wide variety of different beans and grains.

What: Learn how to make any bean and/or whole grain taste heavenly.
Where: Kirkwood kitchen at NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids
When: 6:00-8:00pm, Thursday, February 5, 2015
Who: Taught by David Burt

This class is part 2 of a series on whole foods vegan cuisine. View full series description.

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

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.

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.

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Four Square Meals

Potato pancakes at the Iowa City Farmer's Market

Tag Archives: david burt

Valentine’s Day from Four Square Meals

Recipe – Cilantro Pesto

Upcoming Class – Making Beans and Grains Sexy

Whole Foods Cooking Class

Four Square Meals – January 20

Four Square Meals – January 13

Recipe – Classic Gravy

Four Square Meals – December 16

Fried Green Tomatoes

Vegetarian Pop Up Dine Out – November 15

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