Veggie Might: Wild Rice Salad with Edamame (or Fresh Fava Beans and Three Hours)

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

I’ve been so bored by my lunches of late: repeat appearances of grain-bean-green bowls, salad after endless green salad, and I’ve been looking for something new and exciting, but simple enough to make quickly or ahead in bulk. I was seduced by the photograph accompanying this recipe Wild Rice and Edamame Salad at Chow.com.

Mmm...wild rice and edamame. So pretty! So healthy! So springy! But when I clicked through, the secondary and tertiary ingredients were woefully disappointing. Dried fruit and nuts? Five tablespoons of oil? Honey? So sweet! So oily! So blechy! (I probably hold the minority opinion here, but bear with me.)

But I was inspired. I tossed out the original recipe and recreated the dish based on what I wanted it to be: a savory and tangy, high-protein, high-fiber salad I can take to work for lunch or serve at a picnic. I replaced almost everything except the primary wild rice and edamame.

My first attempt was still a little oily (at 2 tablespoons), so I cut back even further and found success. I’d happened on fresh fava beans at my local market and thought they’d make a delicious alternative to the edamame for my second go. I was right, but here’s the thing. You really have to want fava beans.

It took me six episodes of the Big Bang Theory to shell two pounds of beans. Do you want to know the yield of my three-hour effort? One cup of fava beans and 10 pruney fingers. While the resulting salad was delicious, it was not better than the edamame version, and certainly not worth the toil if time is precious.

Third (and fourth) time was perfection. Back to edamame, I achieved the right balance of oil to lemon juice, dressing to salad, and bean to rice. And though I found my flavor grail, I think this recipe would be equally good with leeks or shallots, parsley or mint, and lemon juice or lime—whatever your taste buds desire. Maybe even dried cranberries and honey.

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If this recipe tips your canoe, swim on over to:

• Black Bean Salad with Fresh Corn
• Chopped Salad Rules
• Making Friends—Fava Beans Redeemed

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Wild Rice Salad with Edamame (or Fresh Fava Beans and Three Hours)
inspired by Wild Rice and Edamame Salad at Chow.com
Serves 6

1 1/4 cup edamame, shelled (or fresh fava beans, shelled and hulls removed*)
1 cup uncooked wild rice
3 cups water
1/2 cup carrot, grated
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon leek, minced
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon black pepper

*Check out this informative slide show for easy, if labor-intensive, fava bean management.

1) Cook 1 cup of wild rice in 3 cups of boiling water for 40 minutes or until fluffy and tender.

2) Make dressing by whisking together 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, leeks, salt, pepper, and mint in a large mixing bowl. Allow to meld while thawing your edamame or shelling fava beans, if you’re going the martyr route.

2a) Remove fava beans from pods, and then hulls from beans. This can take a couple of hours if you're alone. Netflix helps.

3) Quick-sautee edamame or fava beans in garlic and 1 teaspoon olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes. In a mixing bowl, toss dressing, rice, and beans with carrots and celery.

4) Serve at room temperature or chilled as a side or over salad greens.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price per Serving
Edamame-style: 176.5 calories, 5.4g fat, 2.5g fiber, 3.8g protein, $49
Fava Beany: 168 calories, 4g fat, 2.3g fiber, 2.4g protein, $.61

Calculations
1 1/4 cup edamame: 236.3 calories, 10g fat, 10g fiber, 21.3g protein, $0.74
[1 cup fava beans: 187 calories, 1g fat, 9g fiber, 13g protein, $1.50]
1 cup uncooked wild rice: 571 calories, 2g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $1.33
1/2 cup carrot: 26 calories, 0g fat, 2g fiber, 0.5g protein, $0.16
1/2 cup celery: 6 calories, 0g fat, 1g fiber, 0g protein, $0.08
1 tablespoon olive oil: 159.6 calories, 18.6g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.11
1 tablespoon lemon juice: 6 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.12
1 tablespoon leek: 54 calories, 0g fat, 2g fiber, 1g protein, $0.25
1 tablespoon fresh mint: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.04
2 teaspoons sea salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1 tablespoon black pepper: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
TOTALS (with edamame): 1059 calories, 32.6g fat, 15g fiber, 22.8g protein, $2.87
PER SERVING (TOTALS/6): 176.5 calories, 5.4g fat, 2.5g fiber, 3.8g protein, $49

TOTALS (with fava beans): 1010 calories, 23.6g fat, 14g fiber, 14.5g protein, $3.63
PER SERVING (TOTALS/6): 168 calories, 4g fat, 2.3g fiber, 2.4g protein, $.61

Peanut Dipping Sauce: Allergies Unwelcome

Sweet readers! Thanks very much for being so patient with us last week while we got drunk on Jagermeister worked on work-stuff. It was fun doing the wayback recipe thing - I hadn't looked at some of those in quite awhile, and it made me want lassis.

I had a different post set up for today, but instead, my entire body has been possessed by a zombie demon a nasty case of hives. So, instead of going to work and bringing home the bacon (mmm...bacon) like a boss, I'm sitting at HOTUS' computer, awaiting a swift and merciful end to my pain callback from the doctor. It's very exciting, unbelievably itchy, and also kind of weird, because this has never happened before, and I don't have any allergies, as far as I know.

And now there's one on my face. ARG.

Considering the circumstances, I figured this was as good a time as any to broach the subject of allergic reactions, especially since today's dish, Peanut Dipping Sauce from Catherine Walthers' Soups + Sides, should not be eaten by those with an aversion to nuts (doy). For those without allergies, it's an easy, relatively inexpensive sauce that pairs well with satay, vegetables, and dumplings, and makes for a nice changeup to straightforward soy sauce. One batch lasted us three different meals, and I'd make it again right now if I wasn't furiously attempting to scratch my elbow off my body.

Anyway, back to that allergy thing. It's a topic we've covered only briefly here on CHG, but a very important one, since it affects the way some buy, prepare, bathe in, and consume food. I know several people with dairy issues, one or two with severe peanut allergies, and I grew up with a girl who was allergic to sugar. At the time, her condition seemed inconceivable and tragic (NOTE: I was eight), but now similar immune system reactions are pretty commonplace.

Happily, there are more foods and food products available for folks with allergies, though there can always be more. We'll hit that topic in tomorrow's Ask the Internet, but in the meantime: Do you have any food allergies yourself, or have loved ones with shellfish, nut, soy, or similar issues? How do you cope?

And with that, I'm off to find a spiky hairbrush, so I may vigorously remove my epidermis. Happy Monday!

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If this looks dang tasty, you will also find mucho happiness with:

• Aromatic Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce
• Chicken Fried Rice
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal

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Peanut Dipping Sauce
Serves 6
Adapted from Catherine Walther's Soups + Sides

6 tablespoons natural creamy peanut butter
½ cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1-2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (optional)

Mix everything thoroughly in a small bowl until smooth. Add more of any ingredient to taste as needed.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
110 calories, 8.7 g fat, 1 g fiber, 3.9 g protein, $0.30

NOTE: These calculations are without sriracha.

Calculations
6 tablespoons natural creamy peanut butter: 540 calories, 48 g fat, 6 g fiber, 21 g protein, $0.62
½ cup light coconut milk: 75 calories, 7 g fat, 0 g fiber, 1.5 g protein, $0.85
1 tablespoon soy sauce: 8 calories, 0 g fat, 0.1 g fiber, 1 g protein, $0.09
1 tablespoon brown sugar: 34 calories, 0 g fiat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.01
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice: 3 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.13
1-2 teaspoon grated ginger: 2 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.10
TOTAL: 662 calories, 52 g fat, 6.1 g fiber, 23.4 g protein, $1.80
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 110 calories, 8.7 g fat, 1 g fiber, 3.9 g protein, $0.30

Eggplant and White Bean Soup, Alanis, and Me

In the autumn of 1996, I heard Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” approximately 12,457,233 times.

(In the years following, the only tunes that came close to that number were the Goo Goo Dolls “Iris,” “Smooth” by Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas, and that godawful Nickelback song that you couldn’t escape if you blew off your ears, stuffed socks in the resulting head wounds, and then set those socks on fire.)

Like every other not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman at the close of the 20th century, Alanis appealed greatly to me. Her voice was rockin’, her hair was pretty, and I totally let it pass when she mistook irony for sheer bad luck. But even I, a headstrong Labatt’s lover who listened to the first track from Jagged Little Pill as if it held all the secrets of the universe, grew tired of Alanis after awhile. It wasn’t anything she did. It was just … her songs, though strong, were mercilessly overplayed. It got so bad that my friends would switch the radio station when “You Oughta Know” came on, because – really? Dave Coulier? In a theater? Cut. It. Out.

Time passed. I graduated, got a job, started dating this guy. Several guys, even.

And then, years later, right around the time she released her cover of Black-Eyed Peas “My Humps” (a song surely co-written by Satan), I got to digging Alanis again. Like an old friend who had gone away to grad school in Saskatchewan, it was really nice to see her happy, not to mention gleefully taking the piss out of herself. Plus, I don’t think I had heard “Ironic” in about a year, so that helped.

Eggplant is like Alanis.

Hear me out here. About two years ago, it seemed as if every other recipe I tried involved eggplant. Its versatility and low cost were tremendously appealing, as was the idea that it could actually taste good. An eggplant hater early in life, I discovered its purple majesty far too late, and wanted to make up for lost time. After awhile, though, I started getting a little sick of the vegetable, and as a result, didn't go near it – in any form – for months and months.

Then, last week, this recipe for Eggplant and White Bean Soup appeared at stonesoup. Eggplants aren’t quite in season in the U.S., but that creamy, fibery, deeply flavored-looking concoction was just too tempting.

So, I made it last night, following Jules’ original recipe fairly closely, with one big exception: Instead of using the bean juice for the soup broth, I subbed in chicken stock. Not having tasted the bean juice version, I can’t definitively say the stock variation is better, but it was dang good. Dang good. Like, Alanis-good. And with it, I've arrived back in Eggplantville.

Isn't it ironic?

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If you like this, you’ll love:

• Broiled Eggplant Japonais
• Pasta e Fagioli
• Roasted Eggplant Spread

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Eggplant and White Bean Soup
Serves 2 or 3
Adapted from stonesoup.

1 eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 can cannelini or small white beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup chicken broth, plus another 3/4 cup set aside
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1) Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with Pam. Place eggplant cut-side down on foil and bake 25-30 minutes, until eggplant is tender and a little browned on the exposed flesh. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.

2) Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add beans and 3/4 cup chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

3) Scrape insides of eggplant halves into bean mixture. Heat for 1 or 2 minutes. Using a hand blender or a regular blender, puree into desired consistency. (Be very careful if using a regular blender that it doesn’t splash.) Add more chicken broth if you’d like it soupier. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in lemon juice and serve.

NOTE: This can easily be made into a vegetarian/vegan soup by using vegetable broth. Try it!

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price Per Serving
2 servings: 349 calories, 9.6 g fat, 20.4 g fiber, 19.6 g protein, $1.64
3 servings: 232 calories, 6.4 g fat, 13.6 g fiber, 13.1 g protein, $1.09

Calculations
1 eggplant: 132 calories, 1.1 g fat, 18.7 g fiber, 5.6 g protein, $1.26
1 tablespoon olive oil: 119 calories, 13.5 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.10
1/2 large onion, chopped: 32 calories, 0 g fat, 1 g fiber, 0.7 g protein, $0.25
1 can cannelini or small white beans: 385 calories, 0 g fat, 21 g fiber, 28 g protein, $0.79
3/4 cup chicken broth, plus another 3/4 cup set aside: 25 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 4.9 g protein, $0.60
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper: negligible calories, fat, fiber, and price, $0.02
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice: 4 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein, $0.25
TOTAL: 697 calories, 19.1 g fat, 40.7 g fiber, 39.2 g protein, $3.27
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 349 calories, 9.6 g fat, 20.4 g fiber, 19.6 g protein, $1.64
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 232 calories, 6.4 g fat, 13.6 g fiber, 13.1 g protein, $1.09