Winter Soups and Bread

It's now January and the snow has started to really fall down now.  In these cold winter months, there is nothing like a nice bowl of hot soup and some bread that makes for a great meal.  Here are two easy, quick soup recipes along with a new bread recipe for you to enjoy.  All are from Cooking Light so they're pretty healthy too.  Let it snow!

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

                1 tablespoon olive oil

                2 cups chopped onions

                3 garlic cloves, minced

               

                4 cups water, divided

                2 tablespoons sugar

                2 tablespoons chili powder

                2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

                2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

                1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed & drained

                1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed & drained

                1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, rinsed & drained

                1 can (16 oz) cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed & drained

                1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

                ½ cup (2 oz) reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Directions

1.     Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic.  Sauté 3 minutes or until tender.  Add 3 cups water and next 8 ingredients (through cannellini beans), stirring to combine.

2.       Combine remaining cup of water and tomato paste in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended.  Stir tomato paste mixture into bean mixture.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Ladle into soup bowls and top with cheese if desired. 

Yield: 8 servings (serving size is 1.5 cups soup)

Calories 276 (11% from fat), Fat 3.5 g (sat 0.3g, mono 1.3g, poly 1g), Carbs 49.7g, Fiber 14.7 g, Chol 0 mg, Iron 4.2 mg, Sodium 587 mg, Calc 107 mg.

Vegetarian Chili, served with Sangria

Southwestern Chicken Soup

Ingredients

                Cooking Spray

                1 cup chopped onions

                3 garlic cloves, minced

                6 cups fat free, less sodium chicken broth

                ¼ cup uncooked white rice

                1 teaspoon ground cumin

                1 can (16 oz) Great Northern beans, rinsed & drained

                3 cups chopped, skinless, boneless, rotisserie chicken breast

                ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

                ½ teaspoon black pepper

                ¼ teaspoon salt

                1 cup chopped seeded tomato

                ¾ cup diced peeled avocado (about 1 medium)

                1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

                6 lime wedges

Directions

1.       Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add onion and garlic, and sauté 3 minutes.  Add broth, rice, cumin, and beans, then bring to boil.  Reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir in chicken, cilantro, pepper, and salt, then simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated. 

2.       Remove from heat, stir in tomato, avocado, and juice.  Serve with lime wedges. 

Yield: 6 servings (serving size 1 2/3 cup soup and 1 lime wedge)

Calories 274 (25% from fat), Fat 7.7 g (sat 1.5g, mono 3.9g, poly 1.3), Protein 28.4 g, Carb 23.1 g, Fiber 6g, Chol 60mg, Iron 2.6mg, Sodium 516mg, Calc 65 mg

Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread

Ingredients

                1 tablespoon olive oil

                1 cup diced onion

                3 cups all-purpose flour (about 13.5 oz)

                3 tablespoons sugar

                2 teaspoons baking powder

                1 teaspoon salt

                1 cup (4 oz) grated fontina cheese

                1 bottle (12 oz) beer (such as an amber ale)

                Cooking Spray

                ¼ cup butter, melted & divided

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.       Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, and sauté 6 minutes or until tender.  Cool to room temperature.

3.       Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, making a well in the center of the mixture.  Add onion, cheese, and beer, then stir until just moist.

4.       Spoon batter into a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons butter.  Bake at 375 for 35 minutes, brush with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.  Bake an additional 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes in a pan on a wire rack, remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size 1 slice)

Calories 149 (30% from fat), Fat 5g (sat 2.3g, mono 2.1g, poly 0.3g), Protein 3.5g, Carb 22.2g, Fiber 0.8g, Chol 12mg, Iron 1.2 mg, Sodium 259mg, Calc 61 mg

Double Dessert

Since we haven't had many breakfast recipes on the blog so far, I thought that I'd start this post off with a delicious breakfast scone recipe. In addition to the scone recipe below, I found and made a great cake with a unique combination of flavors.

Cranberry-Almond Scones

Ingredients

2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (or milk)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Slivered almonds

Additional heavy whipping cream

Additional sugar

Instructions

• Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
• Stir Bisquick mix, cranberries, 1/3 cup whipping cream, 3 tablespoons sugar, the egg, and vanilla until soft dough forms.
• Pat into 8 inch circle on cookie sheet (if dough is sticky, dip fingers in Bisquick).
• Brush circle with additional whipping cream, sprinkle slivered almonds, then sprinkle with additional sugar.
• Cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate.
• Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown; carefully separate. Serve warm and enjoy!

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

(original recipe found here)

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup spelt flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking power

3/4 teaspoon (kosher) salt

Wet Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup olive oil

3/4 cup whole milk

Other Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

5 ounces (140 grams) dark chocolate (70 - 82 % cacao), irregularly chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tablespoons sugar for top crunch

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Rub a 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with olive oil.
• Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring any bits of grain or other ingredients left in the sifter back into the bowl. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly.
• Add the olive oil, milk and rosemary and whisk again.
• Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, gently mixing just until combined. Stir in 2/3 of the chocolate.
• Pour the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly and smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate and run a fork along the length of the chocolate so that the batter envelops it just a bit. Sprinkle with the second sugar.
• Bake for about 40 minutes (even a little less because cake can dry out easily), or until the top is domed, golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
• The cake can be eaten warm or cool from the pan, and garnished with whipped cream, fruit (strawberries or raspberries), and some chocolate syrup. Enjoy!

A Mediterranean Meal

While browsing through my favorite bookstore, Schuler Books & Music, I found a great cookbook with recipes from some of my favorite countries' cuisines. The book, The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook, was on sale for a steal, so I bought it and decided to experiment. After the recipes turned out so well, I am excited to try more.

I selected Psari Plaki, a Greek fish recipe, for the main dish (found on page 38) and a North African cucumber, feta, mint, and dill salad to accompany it (found on page 251). Find the recipes retyped below and enjoy!

Psari Plaki - baked fish with tomato and onion

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

1 small stick of celery, finely chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

13 oz (400g) can of chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato passata (I couldn't find this, so I used tomato paste)

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 oz (50g) day-old white bread (I used packaged bread crumbs instead)

1 lb 2 oz (500g) white fish fillets, such as snapper or cod

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in frying pan. Add onion, celery, and carrot. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, or until soft.
• Add garlic, cook for 2 minutes, then add chopped tomato, passata, oregano, and sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes, occasionally stirring, until reduced & thickened.
• Stir chopped parsley and lemon juice into sauce. Season to taste.
• Arrange fish in single layer in baking dish. Pour sauce over fish. Scatter breadcrumbs all over the top, then drizzle remaining olive oil over fish.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until fish is cooked.

Cucumber, Feta, Mint, and Dill Salad

Ingredients

4 oz (120g) feta cheese

4 cucumbers

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1.5 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped

1 tablespoon dried mint

3 tablespoons olive oil

1.5 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

• Crumble feta and place in large bowl. Peel and seed the cucumbers, cut into 1/2 inch dice. Add cucumbers to bowl along with the onion and dill.
• Grind mint in a mortar and pestle. Combine with the oil and juice, then season with salt & black pepper. Pour over salad and toss.

Summertime Couscous

Last week, my family and cousins from out of state got together for a big summer cookout. Although we had only one committed vegetarian in our midst, the family chefs ended up selecting a vegetarian dish for our entrée. We copied the recipe from Food Network's website, and the dish was a hit with the whole crowd. Total preparation and cooking time was under a half hour, and since we doubled the recipe (and our grill died out), we sauteed some of the veggies. We also used 3 boxes of Near East couscous (2 boxes of Near East Parmesan couscous and 1 box of Near East Garlic & Olive Oil couscous).

I suggest a large fruit salad to accompany the couscous. I used half a watermelon (diced), one honeydew melon (diced), 2 mangoes (diced), 2 boxes of strawberries (sliced), 2 boxes of blueberries, and 2 boxes of raspberries.

Toasted Israeli Couscous with Grilled Summer Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

• 1 cup olive oil

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

• 2 green zucchini, quartered lengthwise

• 2 yellow zucchini, quartered lengthwise

• 6 spears asparagus, trimmed

• 12 cherry tomatoes

• 1 red bell pepper, quartered and seeded

• 1 yellow bell pepper, quartered and seeded

• 1/4 cup basil chiffonade (stack leaves, roll in a cigar shape and cut crosswise into thin strips)

• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 pound Israeli couscous

• 
  

Instructions

• In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard and garlic, slowly add the olive oil and whisk until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cut the zucchini and peppers into 1/2-inch pieces, cut the tomatoes in half.
• Pour 1/2 the marinade over the vegetables and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Preheat the grill.
• Remove the vegetables from the marinade and grill the vegetables until just cooked through.
• Follow the instructions on the Near East box for preparation of the couscous itself. Boil 1.25 cups of water (per box of couscous) with some olive oil (optional, but 1-2 tablespoons total recommended) and the contents of the spice packets. When boiling, remove from heat and add all couscous. Cover completely and leave sit (for about 5-10 minutes) until water is absorbed. Couscous is now ready.
• Place in a large serving bowl, add the grilled vegetables and herbs and toss with the remaining vinaigrette.

Ta-Da!

Homemade Pasta

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flower

1 cup all-purpose flower

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup of olive oil

good pinch of salt

water

Directions:

In a food processor combine the flower, egg yolks, olive oil and salt. Mix, breaking down the egg yolks. The reason I use cake flower instead of only using all-purpose flower is because it keeps the pasta lighter. Using only all-purpose flower is fine, but your pasta will be heavier and denser. The olive oil is going to keep the pasta moist and add depth to the flavor. Once combined you will begin to pour in the water while the processor mixes. Now, it's difficult to say how much water you will actually need because it depends on the consistency of the flower. You want enough water so that when you grab some dough out, if you press down on it you can form a ball that stays together, but you do not want it so wet that it gets goopy and sticky.

Remove the dough from the processor. Lightly flower a work service and using the palm of your hand kneed the dough until the dough is relatively smooth, finish by rolling into one big ball. When finished, wrap the dough and place it in the fridge for at least a half hour to allow the dough to rest.

After a half hour bring the dough out. I cut my dough into 4-6 parts so that it is easier to work with. Make sure to flower both your hands and the surface of your work space throughout. If you have a pasta machine you may go ahead and thin the pasta out and used the machine to form whatever type of pasta you wish. If you do not have a pasta machine you can also do it by hand.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough. I roll it out to be thin enough that I can just barely see through the dough to my work surface below. Fettuccine is one of the easiest pasta to make when making pasta by hand. Once you've rolled out the dough, roll it up (long-ways, as you would a towel or blanket) and slice across the roll of dough. Once you finish cutting, unroll the pieces you've cut up and lay flat on a baking sheet or counter. You can allow the pasta to dry for later use or use after you finish cutting the fettuccine. If you want to make ravioli, roll out a much larger piece of dough and use a cup or cookie cutter to cut out circles or whatever shape you wish. Place filling in the center of the circle. Now you can either do half circles, wetting one edge of the ravioli with water and then folding the other side to meet it and finishing by scoring it with a fork or you can use your finger to wet the edge of the entire circle, place another circle of dough over it and score with a fork. If you do raviolis, make sure to allow the dough to rest after filling them and sealing them in order to allow the seams to really stiffen up so that they do not open during the boiling process. Finish with your favorite sauce. Hope you have fun with this recipe and the process!

Cous Cous Creation No. 1

One of my favorite things to make is cous cous. For those who don’t know, cous cous is just a type of pasta from Morocco and northern Africa. It’s so incredibly simple to make and so versatile that you can put almost anything in it to make an amazing dish. Generally, a jar of cous cous is the first grocery item I buy. I tend to just throw together things that I have and this is what I came up with tonight.

Ingredients:

- Meat:

o stew cuts of tender beef (aka beef tips; this is optional and I used pre-cut meat because I try to avoid touching raw meat)

o Nature Seasoning

- Cous Cous:

o Equal parts (about one cup each) water and dry cous cous (do NOT mix together)

o About a tablespoon of olive oil

o Diced Roma tomato

o Chopped Onion

o Peas

o Corn

o Basil

o Parsley

o Nature Seasoning

Directions:

The meat is optional. So if you’re a vegetarian like 75% of the authors of this blog, skip right on past this part. Otherwise, I just put the beef in a pan, sprinkled some Nature Seasoning on top (although onion and/or garlic powder will also taste good), and cooked it on the stove until well done (personal preference, again).

While the meat was cooking, I put all of the ingredients for the cous cous mix EXCEPT the actual dried cous cous. Bring this mix to a boil, then remove from heat. Now, add the dried cous cous. Cover immediately so that the steam stays inside the pot. Let sit covered off of heat for about 5 minutes, or until the cous cous has absorbed the water.

I cut up the beef and then added into the cous cous dish, mixing everything as I went. I coupled this meal with a mixed greens salad topped with a sliced Clementine orange and a dressing (personal favorite: equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil). And cous cous creation #1 with side salad is now complete.

Roasted Eggplant Caponata and Fresh Peach Cake

Anybody watch the food network? One of my favorite shows is Barefoot Contessa with Ina. Here are two great recipes from her repertoire. Roasted Eggplant Caponata is a wonderful appetizer and vegetarian dish. Fresh Peach Cake is simply delicious and a wonderful way to complete a homestyle meal.

Ina Garten's Roasted Eggplant Caponata -

Ingredients:

-1 large eggplant (1 1/2 pounds)

-Olive oil

-4 ounces jarred roasted red peppers, chopped

-1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and chopped

-1 cup chopped yellow onion

-1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

-1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

-3 tablespoons minced parsley

-2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

-2 tablespoons drained capers

-2 tablespoons tomato paste

-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

-2 teaspoons kosher salt

-1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

-Toasted pita triangles, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.

Place the whole eggplant on the pan, prick with a fork in several places, and rub with olive oil. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, until the eggplant is very soft when pierced with a knife. Set aside to cool. Halve the eggplant, peel, and discard the skin. Place the eggplant, peppers, and olives in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until coarsely chopped. Pour into a mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minutes, and add to the eggplant mixture. Add the parsley, pine nuts, lemon jice, capers, tomato paste, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop. Taste for seasonings and serve at room temperature with toasted pita triangles.

If you want to make your pita triangles - buy pita. Cut into triangles. Brush each with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for about 10 minutes or until chips start to become golden. Serve with the caponata. Enjoy!

Ina Garten's Fresh Peach Cake -

Ingredients:

-1/4 poind (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

-1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

-2 estra-large eggs, at room temperature

-1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-3 large, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced

-1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan. Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of the sugar mixture. Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans. The batter layers will seem very thin, however, the cake will rise a lot due to the combination of baking soda and baking powder.

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Society/Economy/Politics: A great issue you can talk about while serving these dishes? Supporting local produce. Both recipes can be made with fresh, locally grown produce. It's a great way to help support your local economy and the quality of your produce will be much better than that of imported produce.

Paula Deen Strikes Again (Pumpkin Cheesecake)

Paula Deen is a superhero if her arteries can withstand her own food. For another professor dinner we made a pumpkin cheese cake. After the recipe, stick around and read a little public service announcement.

Our version, with fresh raspberries!

Ingredients

Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For crust: In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling: Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined. Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

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I feel sort of bad that I keep posting Paula Deen recipes, since they guarantee eventual diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. So here's a free public service announcement for the Let's Move Campaign.

"The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake." - First Lady Michelle Obama at the Let’s Move! launch on February 9, 2010

Obesity by the numbers

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. One third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives; many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma.

How did we get here?

Thirty years ago, most people led lives that kept them at a pretty healthy weight. Kids walked to and from school every day, ran around at recess, participated in gym class, and played for hours after school before dinner. Meals were home-cooked with reasonable portion sizes and there was always a vegetable on the plate. Eating fast food was rare and snacking between meals was an occasional treat.

Kids today lead a very different kind of life. Walks to and from school have been replaced by car and bus rides. Gym class and school sports have been cut and are often replaced now by afternoons with TV, video games, and the internet. Parents are busier than ever and families eat fewer home-cooked meals. Snacking between meals is the norm, not the exception.

While kids thirty years ago ate just one snack a day, they are now trending toward three–so they’re taking in an additional 200 calories a day just from snacks. And one in five school-age kids has up to six snacks a day.

Portion sizes have also exploded. Food portions are two to five times bigger than they used to be. Beverage portions have grown as well. In the mid-1970s, average sweetened drink portions were 13.6 ounces. Today, kids think nothing of drinking 20 ounces of soda at a time. In total, we are now eating 31 percent more calories than we were forty years ago–including 56 percent more fats and oils and 14 percent more sugars and sweeteners. The average American now eats fifteen more pounds of sugar a year than in 1970.

And the average American child spends more than 7.5 hours a day watching TV and movies, using cell phones and computers for entertainment, and playing video games, and only a third of high school students get the recommended levels of physical activity.

That’s the bad news. The good news is by making a few simple changes we can help our kids lead healthier lives–and we already have all of the tools we need to do it. We just need the will.

So eat Paula Deen's recipes sparingly.

21 Dangerous & Deadly Dishes

Here is a nice list of interestin­g and exotic dishes from Huffington Post!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Dinner Conversation

Since the header of this blog does say "food and politics," I figured that I should contribute a little bit to the politics section of our tagline. Of our many discussions while making these recipes over the past semester, Wikileaks and Julian Assange have both been very frequent subjects. This post is a little older (from November 30, 2010), but the ideas in it are still as relevant as ever and with the recent developments, it might add a bit more to a dinner conversation. Welcoming your thoughts!

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A Tangle in the Loom: WikiLeaks and Iran


The recent thread of WikiLeaks sheds light on a foreign policy problem of nuclear proportions.

In the past week, thousands of important documents and information have been leaked from various U.S. government agencies on WikiLeaks. The leaks are controversial, not only for their sheer number, but for release of cables and conversations between U.S. and very high-ranking officials from other countries. The leaks even prompted Barack Obama to enact new sanctions on Iran today. These sanctions blacklist 10 Iranian businesses connected to the Islamic Republic’s national bank and shipping lines, as well as five executives of these businesses.

On Monday, November 29, 2010, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad referred to the leaked documents as “American psychological warfare that would not affect his country’s relations with other nations.” While Ahmadinejad and his administration might be crediting the U.S. bureaucracy with a bit too undeserved organizational skills by calling the leaks “organized to be released on a regular basis,” the leaked documents definitely confirm prevalent theories about the relations between Iran and its Arab gulf state neighbors and its aspirations for regional hegemony.

It is well-known that Saudi Arabia and Iran are vying for regional hegemony, with Iran’s relative conventional military power and sphere of influence giving it a strong edge over the Saudi kingdom. Not only does this allow Iran to influence the trajectories of Iraq and Afghanistan, thus extending its regional influence, its status as a regional hegemon tips the regional balance of power away from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that have alliances with the United States. Feeling threatened by such expanding Iranian influence even in the face of decades of sanctions, it is hardly surprising that the Saudi regime harbors strong animosity for the Khamenei’s. However, it was previously unknown that the Saudi-Iranian enmity went so far that Saudi Arabian King Abdullah repeatedly begged the United States to “‘cut off the head of the snake’ by launching military strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program,” one of the final pieces of Iranian policy that would enable it to secure the role of an undisputed regional hegemonic power. In order to curb Iranian influence, the United States announced in October of 2010 that it will sell $60 billion worth of military aircraft to the Saudi regime.

Saudi Arabia is not the only gulf state feeling pressure to eliminate Iranian challenges to the current balance of power. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain argued in favor of forceful action by any means necessary to eliminate the Iranian nuclear program. Bahrain, a tiny kingdom on the Persian Gulf that is home to the American Fifth Fleet’s naval base, has been feeling Iranian pressure and influence for years. In July of 2007, Iranian advisor to Khamenei Hossein Shariatmadari stated that “The public demand in Bahrain is the reunification of this province with its motherland, the Islamic Iran.” An unnamed senior Omani military official (Oman being the country that helped secure the release of American Sarah Shourd from Evin Prison), is cited in a correspondence as unable to decide which would be worse – “a strike against Iran’s nuclear capability and the resulting turmoil it would cause in the Gulf, or inaction and having to live with a nuclear-capable Iran.” In a December 2005 meeting with American military commanders, United Arab Emirates defense chief and crown prince Mohammad bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi lobbied for American military action against Iran either “this year or the next.” Bin Zayed also expressed fears of a nuclear Iranian state, declaring that “any culture that is patient and focused enough to spend years working on a single carpet is capable of waiting years and even decades to achieve even greater goals.”

While Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, on MSNBC Live is not the best interviewer, the answers provided by Doctors Juan Cole and Trita Parsi in this brief interview are very informative and discuss the fears of changing regional balances of power.

Meanwhile, tensions in the region build as Israeli public opinion and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu perceive a growing, intolerable Iranian nuclear threat. Ehud Barak and prominent members of the Israeli intelligence community argue that Iran is not an existential threat nor is Israel the primary target of Iranian ambitions. Even Syrian president Bashar al-Assad argues that Iran will not use a nuclear weapon against Israel, stating that “an Iranian nuclear strike against Israel would result in massive Palestinian casualties, which Iran would never risk.” However, Iranian weapons purchases from North Korea does little to convince the public and Israeli politicians writ large of this understanding. Netanyahu views the WikiLeaks as something positive for Israel, confirming his suspicions about Iranian nuclear ambitions and showing the extent to which Israel and Arab states share a strong mutual interest in preventing Iranian hegemonic aspirations.

Tensions continue to escalate between these states and power blocs in the Middle East. Yesterday, two prominent Iranian nuclear scientists, both professors at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University, were attacked in different parts of Tehran. Assailents on motorcycles managed to attach and detonate magnetized car bombs to the cars of scientists Majid Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi, the former killed and the latter injured with his wife. Shahriari was involved in a major project with Iran’s nuclear agency, and Abbasi is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and listed as one of several involved in secret nuclear activity in a 2007 U.N. resolution. Abbasi was formerly an expert for Iran’s Defense Ministry and a top specialist in nuclear isotope separation. The Iranian regime currently blames Israel and the United States for orchestrating these attacks. Intelligence analysts blame Mossad for the 2007 death of top Esfahan uranium plant scientist Ardeshire Hassanpour. In January of 2010, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was also killed, but it is unclear whether his death was related to his support of Mir Hossien Mousavi or an Israeli/American operation; he also died in a car bombing similar to that of Shahriari.

The WikiLeaks available thus far clearly confirm the fears of Arab gulf states and seem to perpetuate Israeli public opinion and Netanyahu’s threat perceptions of Iran. In moving forward from the latest sanctions on Iran, the United States must decide how to manage these states’ interests to balance with its own in the Middle East and avoid yet another military conflict that would have, in Barak’s words, “unacceptable collateral damage,” on all sides.