Even Better The Next Day

We've been enjoying more vegan and vegetarian meals per week in our household -- even for the omnivore, who's now outnumbered.  Though not gluten-free, this delicious one-pot meal made good use of spring vegetables.  First, four cloves of garlic and a package of white mushrooms, both sliced, were sauteed in coconut oil and olive oil.  Whole grape tomatoes were then added and all was cooked at medium-high heat until the tomatoes' skins split.  Sliced brussels sprouts and asparagus were then added, along with a tiny pinch of salt, a shake of tamari and a couple shakes of cumin.  Then a scant 1/4 cup of good tomato sauce and cooked pasta were stirred into the mix and the pan was taken off the burner and covered.  The green veggies cooked perfectly in the remaining steam.

This was so easy and enjoyed by all.  The vegetarian and omnivore added parmesan cheese to their bowls and I added capers.  After sitting overnight, the noodles had soaked up the goodness, making the whole thing even better.  

"This is Her Broccoli Face"

--That's what my daughter said as she shared this photo she took of Ellie, our veggie-loving dog.  This little old sophisticated lady instantly morphs into an eager pup when she hears the crisper opening.  Then, she's under foot, with that big smile, batting those lashes, until I toss a chunk her way and she leaps to catch it out of thin air.  Broccoli, kale, celery, romaine . . . as long as it's green, she's all in.

Gluten Free Parsnip Tabouli

When reading Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Kitchen, her tabouli recipe blew my mind. Who'd have thought raw parsnips could sub for couscous? I didn't follow her recipe here -- I couldn't find it -- long story. I just tried to remember what I'd read and mixed that with my Dad's old recipe from his days working in the  Middle East. From memory, here's last night's Tabouli:

Parsnip Tabouli
1 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
6 raw parsnips, peeled if not organic, cut into large chunks
1 large clove of garlic, peeled
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper
In a food processor, mince the parsnips and the garlic, scraping the sides periodically so the parsnips are all minced evenly. Keep pulsing and scraping until the vegetables are the consistency of cooked couscous. Combine the parsnips with all other ingredients and mix well.

This salad was really delicious, and was a big hit with the meat-eaters too. The parsnips are such a light, lovely consistency and are very subtly sweet, which goes surprisingly well with garlic. This morning I did find Kris' recipe and discovered that she doesn't use parsley at all -- cucumbers instead, and her proportions are different -- lots more garlic. I'm sure hers is delicious, and look forward to trying it soon. I bet this salad would be good, and different, with other herbs as well. Maybe I will try it with fresh dill next time, which always goes so nicely with lemon.

I will be making some changes to my diet, including reducing or eliminating gluten, and this recipe is perfect for that. More news on the diet changes as they evolve.

Colcannons

I'm a little late getting my Irish on the screen, but here it is. We did get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. For a jaunt to a local Irish pub with friends, I enlisted the styling services of my teenage daughter since I was at a loss for something festive to go with my surgical boot. She suggested I wear her black watch plaid jumper with a pair of leggings. It did the trick. Incidentally, the plaid was pretty close to the McKenzie plaid of my mother's people, so I felt I was honoring her as well.

The delicious plateful above was created later and was actually an accidental colcannon -- it was just a couple of side dishes I'd made to go with my husband's grilled beast of the day, but once I got them on my plate I realized how Irish the combo was. Actually, that kale may either be a little Italian or Mexican too -- I don't remember if that's an olive or a bean down there under those greens. While the kale prep has slipped my mind, I remember the potatoes. Simply prepared, I boiled large chunks of new potatoes for about 15 minutes, then drained and slightly mashed them with earth balance, a little veganaise and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. They were amazing and got compliments from the carnivore too.

Missing the accidental colcannon as soon as the leftovers had run out, I endeavored to create a more purposeful one. I prepared the potatoes the same way, but then incorporated them into a panful of shredded cabbage I had sauteed in olive oil with large chunks of baby Vidalia onions with the greens still attached. Mmmmm.

Erin go bragh!

Odds-n-Ends, Early Autumn

It's an odd season right now, with temperatures swinging drastically from 80 degrees to the 40's and back again.  This is still in my garden:

Yes, my wonderful gardenia bush that was on its last leg last year is back to robust health, thanks to my tender loving care (it needed an acidic food -- the pH was off). This wonderful plant began blooming in the spring and is still producing these amazing blossoms. The heady, intoxicating fragrance is like nothing else and it always effectively transports me back to Greece in my mind.

So, we have summertime in the yard even amidst drastic cold snaps when I need this:

Mmmm . . . homemade split pea soup! I made a huge vat of it in the slow cooker and put half of it in the freezer for future enjoyment. I used the recipe on the back of the pea bag, except instead of the pound of ham, I used a teaspoon of liquid smoke. It did the trick. I also added my favorite bonus: kale torn into little pieces. All major vegan food groups are represented here, kids. A bowlful is so nourishing and filling, and addictive in flavor. I usually want another bowlful a couple of hours after I have it, and there's no guilt! Yippee! This goes wonderfully with a pair of fuzzy slippers and a blankie.

So, now that you know about the dramatic temperature fluctuations in the deep south this time of the year, in my typically random fashion for "odds-n-ends", I'll share this:

This is just a pile of the peelings from the veggies I ate tonight. As I was cleaning up and chopping the vegetables, I was struck by how pretty vegan garbage is, so I had to take a picture of it.

And here's the finished product! These veggies got a vote of approval from the meat-eater! These really were especially delectable. As per usual, I didn't measure, but I don't really think it matters too much with food like this. It's just a large couple of handfuls of collard greens without their stems, a large handful of sliced cabbage, about half a cup of purple onion, slivered, and half a leek, carefully washed and cut into pieces. I cooked them all quickly on medium high heat in olive oil and a little bit of earth balance, onions and leeks on the bottom of the pan with the greens on top for a minute or so, then I stirred and tossed the veggies like crazy for another minute, then took the whole thing off the heat and set it aside, covered, while I prepped the other food. It was perfectly cooked -- tender but still bright and fresh.

The other food, in this case, was chicken for the man, and vegan mashed potatoes for all of us. I just boiled and drained four peeled potatoes, and mashed them with vegan butter, sour cream and cream cheese, about a tablespoon of each. Diet food, this ain't. I loved this dinner. I got my protein at lunch with the pea soup. Happy early autumn to you! 

Odds-n-Ends, Food I've Been Eating

In my typically random "odds-n-ends" fashion, here's a bit of what I've been enjoying. Above is carrot, daikon and winter squash (I know, it's out of season!) from Christina Pirello's This Crazy Vegan Life. This stew is actually very bright in flavor, like sunshine. It is finished with fresh lemon juice and Italian parsley. It's light, yet sustaining, good hot or cold.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, before . . .

 . . . and after. Olive oil, salt, pepper and a tangle of fresh thyme and oregano from my herb patch (Buster hasn't yet figured how to climb into that pot, which is up off the ground, so the herbs are living the good life, unmolested!) I loved the crunchy brown parts on these sprouts. The bowl is one of the few surviving pieces I have left from my grandma Eula's everyday collection. The blue-and-white inspired me to fill in with more of the same color scheme for my own everyday. I also have her full set of fine china, but we rarely use it since we are such a rough and tumble bunch.

Collard greens sauteed with a bit of red onion, chick peas and GOBS of garlic (at least 10 cloves!) I encourage all you vegans out there to try going overboard with garlic. You'll love it! This was a full meal on its own, and I munched it for days.

Here's a shot of the above two featured dishes, along with a baked sweet potato. We've recently added a roof to our patio, which allowed me to move some furniture around and unclutter the screened porch. I've set up a small dining table out there. This was our first alfresco meal. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I had to save a lot of this plateful, but none of it got wasted.

Homemade miso soup with daikon, onion, cabbage and tofu. This was a big batch, and I enjoyed the leftovers for several breakfasts. Having miso soup in the morning sets the tone for the day. The soup imparts a grounded, centered energy. If you ever find yourself with leftover miso soup, remember not to bring it to a boil when reheating it. Boiling kills the beneficial enzymes.

Here's a plateful of polenta with broccoli rabe, roasted peppers, onion and garlic. I LOVE broccoli rabe, also known as broccoli rape (!) and rapini. The checkout clerk tried to charge me for broccolini, another veggie which is actually a genetically modified hybrid. Broccoli rabe is more bitter than broccolini. Personally, I prefer the bitter note of this delicious vegetable. It tastes as if I've gleaned it from a meadow in Tuscany. Not only is broccolini of a less pure origin than broccoli rabe, it is also more expensive! I enjoyed the polenta for the corn that it is, but the omnivores found it to be bland to their sugar-addled taste buds.

This says summer to me -- just a homegrown tomato, veganaise, salt and pepper on good, crusty bread. This will likely be the last tomato sandwich from my garden this year. Buster easily climbs the thick stems of the heirloom vines now, and he takes the tomatoes before they have a chance to ripen. At least I still get all the grape tomatoes I want. those stems are too flimsy to hold buster's weight. I'll be buying the occasional heirloom tomato at $4.99/lb. so that I can continue to savor this late summer treat.

Stay tuned for a feature on Buster's least favorite vegetable -- the aubergine (eggplant). Aubergine is a lot more fun to say than eggplant, porridge is better than oatmeal, and polenta is better than cornmeal mush. Do you have a favorite gastronomical delight that can be elevated with loftier nomenclature? If you do, play along and share. I love expanding my vocabulary!

Cleaning Out the Crisper

Here's an example of what a vegan makes to feed herself and all the omnivores with whom she resides. I had already thrown together a tuna, noodle and cheese casserole with frozen organic mixed veggies for the omnis. In trying to get inspiration for vegan food, I opened the 'fridge and began pawing through the crisper. I was sad to find a rotten, forgotten bunch of watercress and a couple of moldy halves of lemons which I donated to the "round file" as my husband calls it (the trashcan). Pawing deeper still, I happily encountered an unopened carton of mushrooms and half a cabbage, all still in fine shape despite the fact that I couldn't really remember when I had purchased them or what I had done with the other half of the cabbage.

I am going to get organized -- I really am now that the kids are back at school. This first week was mostly a catch-up on backed-up laundry, bills and untended issues such as "maybe it's time again to consider another refi" -- 3.25% anyone?? The whole thing makes me begin to twitch, but it must be addressed. I digress . . .

This week I vow to clean out the refrigerators and pantry, and with the knowledge of what is there already, will strive to proactively plan some menus rather than just throwing what looks pretty into my shopping cart.

But the other day, prior to the big Salinas pantry clean-up, I just needed to salvage whatever still contained nutritive properties. I warmed up the rest of the sourdough bread (I know -- I've got to stop eating that white bread -- I will, this was the last bit of it!) and made two sautees -- shallot, mushroom and white bean with lots of earth balance, and cabbage and leeks with shoyu and the juice of half a lemon (fresh, not moldy!).

Beans on bread are really satisfying and shockingly delicious. That's what my main course was, with the cabbage mixture on the side, and the omnis ate the tuna casserole with my vegan food as their sides. The husband particularly liked the cabbage, which he deemed, "an investment in tomorrow," I know he means that quite literally, which is probably too much information.

After the meal, when the bread was finally all gone, I decided to reinvent the mushroom melange again.   Stay tuned to see its next incarnation. Waste not, want not!

My Tomato Knife

My mother-in-law sent me a wonderful present for my birthday It is a Yoshi Ceramic knife. I thought this was a very thoughtful, sweet gift, since she knows how important cooking for our health is to me. Thanks, Mutti C.!

When I called to thank her, she told me to be very careful because the blade is sharp. She also said it shouldn't be used on hard foods like bones (no problem there!) and it is important to treat it like any other ceramic thing, i.e. don't put too much pressure on it. The knife was packaged along with a ceramic veggie peeler, which my mother-in-law said was a waste of time. I thought I would be the judge of that, but she is right. It doesn't peel anything fibrous. I think it might be good at making ribbons of something soft, like zucchini, but it is too delicate for a carrot.

Back to the knife -- it doesn't work on onions. It works like a charm on tomatoes, so henceforth it shall be dubbed "my tomato knife" The china blade gracefully slides through the skin and flesh of a very ripe tomato,without smashing it in the slightest. The tip of the blade dispatches the stem with equal aplomb.

I made salsa with this tomato. I tried to chop a few of the other veggies with "my tomato knife" but I was worried I would shatter it, as I was using a bit of pressure, so I had to pull out other knives. This is not the knife with which to smash a clove of garlic!

Here's my delicious salsa. Since I am still working on solving my B12 deficiency mystery, I am walking around without much oomph, so I find myself putting protein in everything in order to compensate. So I had to put chick peas in my salsa. Hey -- don't knock it 'til you try it! It was a big hit with the omnivores too. Here's an approximation of this version of my summer salsa:

Cheryl's Summer Salsa
Ingredients:
One large ripe tomato, diced (I used heirloom)
A big handful of grape tomatoes, halved
one jalapeno, minced
1/4 c. minced purple onion
one can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
a large handful of cilantro, chopped
juice of two limes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Just throw it all into a bowl and stir it up, season with salt and pepper and stir again.


This was delish -- we noshed it with brown rice chips all weekend, then I ate it on a baked potato and also on a salad of mixed greens and avocado:

I love my tomato knife for chopping tomatoes, and I look forward to using it on other kind, gentle veggies like mushrooms or summer squash. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Odds-n-Ends, Random Eats

Without a cohesive theme today, since life has been flying past at breakneck speed, I nevertheless want to share with you some pretty fantastic, if simple, food I've been eating.

You know what the above photo represents -- peach season in Georgia! Mmmmm. Here I enjoyed an overripe fruit on Ancient Grains cereal, topped with organic granola and almond milk.

This is what I did with my Macaroni Grill leftovers. Have you tried their "Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables" appetizer? Well, that's what I ordered as my entree last week on a night out with the family. I had my husband take a photo of the appetizer since it was so pretty and I had not brought my camera. I've yet to see the photo, but will share it if I do. The appetizer was so large I could only eat half of it, so I brought the rest home and put it on top of Tinkyada brown rice pasta with a bit of olive oil and some freshly torn herbs from the garden. Don't get too excited about the appetizer. Our waiter excitedly informed us that the new menu comes out soon at Macaroni Grill. To me that means higher prices and a likely deletion of some of my favorites, but maybe I'll be happily surprised. I'll keep you posted.

This rice dish does not look too different from the above pasta dish, and I'm guessing I created it becaused I missed the pasta dish so much after it went away. This was lighter in flavor though, with only  my garden veggies and a can of navy beans. My grape tomatoes have been in full swing since mid-June, since Georgia has been Sahara-hot for months now. Normally I see nary a tomato before July. I will post a full garden update soon, since we are starting to become prolific.

I roasted a head of cauliflower and ate it all by myself over the course of a couple of days. These folks around here don't know what they are missing! It was just cauliflower, olive oil, salt, pepper at 450 for 20 minutes. I ate it hot, cold, covered in nutritional yeast and added to canned soup. Cruciferous veggies represented!

Speaking of cruciferous veggies, awww! Isn't that just the cutest little baby bok choy you have ever seen? I bought a huge carton of about 60 of these little guys (no joke) at Costco for $4.99. I used the first 20 of them last night in a repeat performance of my decadent baby bock choy with mushrooms and black truffle oil. This time, since these tiny things were so tender, I did not steam them. I just added them at the end to the sautee pan full of funghi, "butter" and truffle oil. It was delicious and very impressive. We have out-of-town guests, so I have been cooking a lot, but unfortunately not remembering to take a lot of photos. Sorry. This dish was beautiful, but you will have to take my word for it. Also featured at this meal was a wonderful green salad with cucumbers, avocados and tender lettuces, and the fabulous "Caesar Chavez Dressing" from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Appetite For Reduction. My non-vegan guests LOVED the vegan dressing! Sorry again for no photo.

As hostess to our guests -- the lovely and talented sister-in-law, Liana, and her wonderful friend, J.P., I have just been putting piles of food on the table, especially for breakfast -- breads, bagels, every kind of topping one can imagine, potatoes, fruit, scrambled eggs, juices, coffee, etc. It has been fun, but I really wish I had thought to take more photos. No matter, I'll work with what I've got here. This is my plateful, since I'm not an egg-eater. It sort of reminds me of Alicia's "Full English Breakfast" from The Kind Diet.
Of course I didn't prepare any meats, real or vegan, since there was already so much on the table, but the important part here is the bread with beans. On artisanal rosemary bread slices I layered a smear of earth balance, a dollop of hummus and a bean and corn salsa. If you have never tried good bread with beans, you must go do it right now. The result is so much more shockingly delicious than one would expect! I actually put a little Italian twist on my "English Breakfast", featuring succulent tuscan melons (crazy-good!) and a "Florentine" treatment to the eggs I didn't eat -- I threw a handful of spinach and parmesan cheese in there. Everyone loved it and nothing got wasted.

Summer can feel lazy and easy for many folks, but not so much for a full-time mom. The house is always full of people and animals, which I love, but darned if I can finish a train of thought. This is "plate-spinning" season, folks. I've got to keep looking up, no matter what I am trying to accomplish, to see which spinning plate on a dowel rod is getting a bit wobbly and about to topple. If I deliver the proper spin, I can avert disaster  until the next plate starts slowing, and so on. Is anyone else out there in my shoes? If so, how do you handle it?

Thanks for bearing with me in this season of discombobulation! I'll try to remember to take more photos, since the season is flying by too fast.

I Like Tempeh Now!

Look at this hearty, healthy, rustic panful! Inspired by Isa Chandra Moskowitz'"Smoky Tempeh & Greens Stew" from Appetite For Reduction, I actually followed a recipe instead of perusing it and doing whatever the heck I want in my usual, lazy pattern. I followed the recipe because I was working with an unfamiliar ingredient.

Heretofore, I've been under the impression that I am not a tempeh kind of girl. Accustomed to the lovely, bland, homogeneous nature of tofu, tempeh did not appeal to me the one time I attempted to cultivate a taste for it about a year ago. I had bought a shrink-wrapped portion of tempeh with no plan in mind, and cut into it and popped a chunk of it, cold and unadorned, into my mouth. Not knowing anything about tempeh at the time, I was put off by the slightly sour flavor of this fermented soybean product. I was not entirely sure I did not have a bad batch of it, so I am ashamed to say it went into the trash, and I resolved to stick to beans and the occasional tofu meal.

I'm so glad I finally bothered to actually follow Isa's recipe! This stew is positively delicious in an uber-wholesome way. So I am a big fan of tempeh now! Even more shocking, my omni-husband also enjoyed the stew. Knowing how my husband's psychology works, I am better off not asking him about whether he indulged in any tempeh chunks. He's more likely to eat "funky" vegan food if I keep it under the radar and just sneak it in there stealthily. So, I don't know if he ate any or not, and I don't really care. He liked the stew!

We ate the stew with some jasmine rice, which I know my daughter loves.

Some notes about my actually following a recipe:  Isa says the active time for this prep is 15 minutes and the total time is 45 minutes. I agree with the 45 minute figure for the actual cooking time, but only 15 minutes for the prep time? No ma'am! I spent at least half an hour chopping, but that may be because I didn't actually weigh my gigantic sheaf of collard greens, and I may have prepped much more than a pound of them. My collards were at least as large as the biggest Miss America congratulatory bouquet you can imagine. That's how we grow 'em down here in the deep south, I guess. No matter, as the greens cooked down, I was able to work all of them into the pot. Otherwise, I think most measurements matched the recipe's. I did use full-grown organic carrots instead of the baby ones (which aren't really babies anyway - they just carve 'em that way).

In shopping for smoked paprika, I had no luck. I went to the ethnic aisle first (I can call it that because my kids are ethnic) because the spices are soooo much cheaper than in the baking aisle.

There was only this regular paprika in the ethnic aisle, so I went to the expensive aisle in search of the smoked paprika. There was no smoked paprika in the expensive aisle either, so back to the ethnic aisle I went. The ethnic paprika cost $1.53 and the ethnic bay leaves cost $.59! You won't find any spices in the non-ethnic aisle for less than $3! Marketing -- pricing can be so random.  My ethnic spices did the trick, with the addition of a few drops of liquid smoke.

I love Isa's recipes and am grateful for this chance to expand my vegan ingredient repetoire.

Omni-Hit!

Who'd-a-thunk-it? Of all the things I could have presented to my omnivore-man, who'd have thought this would appeal? I don't know where I got the gumption, but I kept "arranging" this salad until it was pretty as a picture. But would it translate to delectable?  Yes! And further, while I was waiting for him to come to the table, my even more picky son looked wide-eyed upon it and asked if he could nibble on part of the blossom. I told him he would have to take it up with his father. Dad relented and both of my guys ate flowers for dinner!  My husband said the salad was really delicious, and my son did not seem offended by the experiment.

The salad is simply a tangle of fresh watercress topped with half an avocado, a couple of pansies, salt and pepper and a little drizzle of blood orange olive oil. That is all. The peppery watercress and creamy avocado were perfect foils for one another and the mildness of the pansies did not upset the balance. The light, flavorful oil was lovely on the mix. Food-styling lesson to self -- add the blossoms after the oil. Oil on a pansy spoils its velvety texture, but not its luscious, mild flavor.

Be brave -- eat flowers!  (only the edible ones!)

Beefless Stroganoff!

I adapted this from the Beef Stroganoff recipe in The Joy of Cooking. Here's the recipe:

Beefless Stroganoff
Ingredients:
a package of Gardein "Beefless Tips" 9 oz. ("Joy" calls for 1 1/2 lb. of beef!)
2-3 Tbsp. Earth Balance butter
1 large diced onion ("Joy" only calls for 3/4 Tbsp. of onion!)
3/4 lb. of sliced mushrooms, or as much as you want
salt, pepper, fresh nutmeg
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 c. dry white wine
1 c. tofutti sour cream


In the butter, saute the onion and mushrooms until onion is transluscent, about 5 minutes, stirring periodically. Add "beef" and wine and saute another 5 minutes or so over medium-high heat, stirring so it won't stick. Season with salt, pepper a generous grind of nutmeg and basil. Add sour cream, warm through and serve over noodles or potatoes, whatever you like.
Serves 2 


This recipe was very easy and quick. The Joy of Cooking version serves 4, and you could double the "beef tips" to achieve that amount, but I didn't, since I wasn't even sure if my carnivore would go for it, "fake meat" and all.  Guess what?  He DID! He even ate seconds and called it delicious! I'm so excited!!

We had the stroganoff over whole wheat linguine. I really wanted brown rice fusilli, but didn't want to overload my good-sport carnivore with new experiences!

Another meal that I wasn't going to feature since it is only a different combo of lots of the same leftovers I've been eating lately is this:

See those big bite marks all along the front edge? I was well into the nirvana that is assorted-vegan-leftovers-on-a-flatbread when my son walked in and said, "Wow."

"What? It's good!" I responded.

"Yeah, I think if I were vegan that would be good to me too. It just looks really healthy." he said.

"That's part of what makes it so good!" I continued.

"Seriously, it looks like you just scooped that out of a really healthy jungle," he added, diplomatically.

I started to giggle.

"That looks better than that Yoda-food you were eating the other day!" He continued.

He meant this:

One of my radicchio pizzas extraordinaire -- my very most favorite thing to eat of late. It looks even more like Yoda-food after it's been under the broiler for a couple of minutes.  I'm not offended.  Very wise, Yoda is. Honored to dine with him, I would be!  I'm just glad my son is noticing.

He Liked It!

Not superhero, but veggie-filled and luscious, here's a yummy recent meal that my carnivore really loved. My husband famously prefers most foods straight out of the jar, so I always offer everyone that option as well, and I don't mind so much if it is something as healthful as Barilla Marinara.

Imagine my surprise when I jazzed my Barilla up with well-chopped collard greens and smashed garlic cloves and the carnivore came running! He liked my jazzed up version better! I'm happy. I don't have a recipe for the sauce, but I used about 4-5 fresh collard leaves, minus the stems, and two big garlic cloves. I added the garlic while the sauce was warming on the stove, so they got a little cooked, and then I just stirred the collards in as I was pulling the pan off the heat. When I first added collards to a sauce, in days gone by, I thought it would be cool to create lovely chiffonade ribbons. Yeah, don't do that unless you want your chin all wrapped up like a very healthy Italian mummy. Little pieces of collards are better in a sauce!

Under the featured sauce is gnocchi, which is beloved around here. Gia Russa makes gnocchi that is vegan, both the whole wheat and the white varieties. But I picked up an Italian brand that I found at Wal Mart because I was curious. This Italian gnocchi has spinach in it. It was lovely and luscious. I have to fess up and admit that I am not sure the Italian gnocchi was vegan. My one semester of Italian did not afford me the ability to decipher the ingredients. I was looking for some reasonable facsimile of "huevos"  (though trying to use Spanish in place of Italian has gotten me into trouble in the past -- long story) but I didn't see anything that looked like "egg". I apologize to the Italian chickens, though, just in case. I liked the mystery gnocchi, but it wasn't any more fabulous than the kind I know to be vegan, So there ends my straying.

This meal was most satisfying, while being effortless. It takes hardly any time to add piles of veggies to something. Start chopping!

Paella!

On Sunday, while I was cleaning/organizing, my husband came over and said, "What were you thinking about for lunch?"

I answered, "Well, I just finished breakfast, so I wasn't. You want some soup?" as I pointed to the cans in the pantry.

"Can you make Paella?"

"Um, sorta,'"

So my vegan paella, complete with optional seared chicken was born. I am sorry, it was a rush job so I did not write the recipe as I went. Here is what I remember:

Paella
Ingredients:
1 c. brown rice
2 1/2 c. broth or water with a bouillon cube
6 shakes of turmeric (I didn't own any saffron)
half a large white onion, diced
a clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
a large handful of grape tomatoes, sliced
half a cup of sliced raw spinach
1 c. frozen peas, unthawed
optional if you are catering to your omni-brethren: three frozen chicken tenderloins (for one omni-serving)
Serves 4


Start the rice and broth/water and bouillon -- I just lazily put it all in together and stirred it a little as it came to a boil. Then I lowered the heat to low and covered. From here the rice took about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients. Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste. Cover and continue to cook. I found I needed to add some more warm water about 30 minutes in, as the rice was still too firm and the evaporation was happening too early. You could add half a cup here or just start out with 3 cups instead of the 2 1/2 that are on the rice package. In a separate pan, cook the frozen chicken in some olive oil over medium-high heat until browned on both sides. Keep the pan covered since the melting ice will create spatters. Once the chicken is browned, turn the heat to low and leave covered so it can finish cooking through as the rice finishes. When the rice is finished, take off the heat and stir in the frozen peas and spinach. The heat will thaw and wilt everything together. Serve it up!


Obviously, with a little heads-up, I would have had the opportunity to make this much more spectacular and much more vegan -- sausages, gardein, but my husband loved it as it was, I thought it was pretty good and, as a bonus, my picky but sometimes veganly (could that be a word, please?) adventurous daughter loved it, and opted for it sans chicken (I only put the chicken in my husband's bowl - the rest stayed vegan). She even wolfed down the leftovers on her way to workout the next day after school! (they feed them lunch at school at 10:30 -- crazy, huh?) I warned her she might get a cramp during workout, but she was starving so I let her have the healthy leftovers. As luck would have it, she had a very good workout and was no worse for the eating schedule.

This "paella" was something I wasn't inspired to do, but I was proud to have been able to bring it all together spur-of-the-moment. I was also proud it was another healthy option for my little girl!

Comfort Food

 Golly, looking at this photo again, I'm drooling. I am so sorry the leftovers are all gone! Branching out and getting into my "vegan freaky" foods I am drawn to lately, I picked up some brown rice pasta. I hadn't tried it previously because, pre-vegan, I used to love Eziekiel bread but did not care for the Eziekiel pasta. I assumed any non-wheat pasta would be a disappointment. How wrong I was! I don't know if it's because my tastes have changed so much or that I just happen to love brown rice pasta, but I like this so much that I am actually inspired to give the Eziekiel pasta another go to find out.

I love the texture of the rice fusilli. If you try it, don't skip the cold-water rinse. It makes this pasta springy and tender. Interestingly, the cold leftovers from the fridge were inedible to me as the springiness had turned into hard waxiness, but as soon as I warmed it up again I was relieved to find it resumed the desired tenderness.

Assembling cheezy rice fusilli before baking

After preparing this pasta I stirred in about 4 tablespoons of my cashew cheez sauce, a sprig of tarragon and a handful of grape tomatoes, sliced thinly. I then baked it all for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Mmmmm.

To me comfort food is necessarily warm, especially in winter, and needs a little something starchy or at least substantial. Here are a couple more comfort food meals I put together:

This is a potato gratin that started out being a way to use up my cashew sauce. Not that I will be eager to see it go, but I just don't want it to go to waste. Baked, the sauce turned out strange on top, but soft and cheezy between the layers. I actually liked the strange crispy-cheez topping, but would not likely serve it to omnivores. I am always careful not to give them fodder for any ridicule of vegans.

To make this gratin, I sliced a large russet potato very thinly along with a large shallot. I layered the dish thus: one-slice thickness of potato, shallot, a grind of pepper and a couple of spoonfuls of sauce. I repeated until all ingredients were used. The sauce was salty enough that I did not feel the need to add more salt. I baked the dish at 375 for half an hour.

The next dish I want to feature as a comfort food is nothing new, you have seen it on this blog in various guises many times before, but it does comfort me so here it is:

Greens-n-Beans:  A can of canellini beans, rinsed very well and added to a panful of collard leaves and shallot slices that were cooked in olive oil on medium-high heat. The key is to use the highest heat you can without burning and stir, stir stir. It only takes about 3-4 minutes. My favorite part is the little bits that form from the few beans that fall apart and get crispy in the oil. I scrape it all up with wooden spoons. Not a speck gets wasted as I (privately after dinner as I'm loading the dishwasher) sit down and scrape it all out with spoons, fingers, whatever necessary in a bit of a feeding frenzy. Ahhh!

It seems the body is in diversification mode lately, craving a wide variety of plant foods. It seems to me, as in any investment, diversification is good! Invest in your own good health -- keep feeding your body and soul what is luscious and pure -- you're worth it!

Bunco!

I hosted our bunco group in my basement pub the other night. It was a wonderful opportunity to flex my "vegan ambassador" muscles. Though I personally enjoy "freaky" vegan food as much as the next vegan, it's nice to show folks that vegan food does not necessarily need to be so very different from the food they are used to. Featured here are Alicia's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from The Kind Diet, fresh dipping veggies with my avocado aioli, crostini with "butter" and olive tapenade and with artichoke spread. Here are my easy recipes:

Artichoke Crostini
Ingredients:
1 can artichoke hearts in water
5 Tbsp. Vegenaise
5 drops umeboshi vinegar
salt and pepper
1 baguette, sliced thinly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spread the bread slices on a cookie sheet. Toast the bread until lightly browned, turn the slices over and  toast the other side. Meanwhile, drain the artichoke hearts and press in a colander with a bowl and something heavy on top for several minutes to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Combine all remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency is achieved. Top each toast with a spoonful of artichoke spread. I then garnished with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds.
Variation: Butter each toast and top with olive tapenade. I bought mine at Costco. The butter is a nice compliment to the oily/vinegary tapenade. 

Avocado Aioli
3 avocados
6 Tbsp. Vegenaise
Juice of 1 lime
salt
Process all ingredients in a food processor.


I have featured this aioli several times on "A Midlife Vegan", and each time it is different. It's that kind of a recipe -- hard to mess up.  The proportions don't matter so much. This version was more avocado-centric than others. The lime is crucial.

It was so fun to get together with the girls and I love feeding friends healthy, kind food. After rolling the dice, I didn't personally win any money, but everyone loved my food so I still felt like a winner!

New Football Party Food

We went over to our friends' house last night to watch the Falcons game, along with a few more people. It was a tough game to watch after the first quarter. But no matter. I mostly enjoyed being in the company of dear friends, and eating delicious food.

The hostess had picked up barbeque, along with sauce, buns and cole slaw. So I volunteered to make a salad. This is something simple and delicious I came up with that is omni-friendly, i.e. sweet, no bitter greens. It turned out to be great. My preference would have been to throw the bite of arugula into the mix, but it's hard to find lately with the ice storm.  The salad is simply a head of butter lettuce, a head of romaine lettuce, some sliced strawberries and hearts of palm. I created a delicious dressing from a blood orange-steeped olive oil I received as a christmas gift. I used 2 tablespoons of that, along with 4 tablespoons of vegenaise and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. The flavor combo was really delicious, especially with the salad ingredients. I find the pairing of strawberries and balsamic vinegar to be a winner every time!

It would have been fine if I'd only brought the salad, since we were a small group and the hostess had provided plenty of carnivore food, but I was coming off a day of not much protein (tapas the night before, where the best I could hope for was bruschetta without the feta cheese). So I brought a bonus dish of Veganomicon's Quinoa and Chick Pea Pilaf. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it, and the pilaf is one of my tried-and-true dishes which has received accolades from friends and family alike. Though nutritionally superior in its protein and fiber content, Quinoa can be a bit of an acquired taste, unless you prepare it in an inventive way like Isa Chandra and Terry do in this recipe. The key is to infuse the grains with the flavor -- in this case, onion, garlic, olive oil, broth, tomato paste, cumin and coriander, rather than first cooking them in water and adding the flavor later. I am looking forward to looking into Isa Chandra Moskowitz' next book, Appetite for Reduction, which is coming out at such an appropriate time of year!

So here's the Quinoa and Chick Pea Pilaf:

Sorry the photo is a bit blurry -- I've got to go back to the Opthamologist -- it's been too long!

The food I brought was perfect for me, and a few of the others liked it too. Best, I had the opportunity, in describing the contents of the pilaf, to discuss the amazing protein punch that quinoa affords. I was the only one in the room going back for thirds (my husband felt bloated after his pork sandwich). The tastes were addictive and I knew my body was hungry for this healthy food, so I fed it! I love the very clear signals a vegan body sends -- they take all the guilt out of indulging.

Well, it was a bad night for Atlanta football, but a good night for delicious food and fun with friends. Stay tuned for my next vegan/omni-friendly recipes for bunco, which I will be hosting on Wednesday. I always like to be a vegan "ambassador" first, presenting something that anyone would love, but am also tempted to push the envelope just a little.

Backwards Barley, Pea and Lentil Soup

We're in the thick of the Christmas planning season here, kids, and there doesn't seem to be much time to come up for air. Because we have been beset with illness this month, we got a late start, but truthfully I never really feel prepared or organized anyway this time of year and something invariably falls through the cracks, but when all is said and done, every year we have fond memories of the season and whatever fell through gets forgotten. This is the perspective of a mid-lifer. I understand that, while I may have lofty aspirations, none of it matters as much as good health and peace of mind.

I was craving homemade soup yesterday, and I wanted to try several protein sources in the same soup. Christmas shopping ran late for me, and by the time I made it back home everyone was hungry. So I made the soup "backwards" putting the longest-cooking parts in first, and then prepping the veggies while the barley and legumes were getting a headstart. Here's the recipe:

Backwards Barley, Pea and Lentil Soup
7 c. broth or water with bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. yellow split peas
1/2 c. pearl barley
1/2 c. green lentils
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 c. chopped fresh spinach
1/4 c. sherry


Bring broth, peas, barley and olive oil to a boil, then reduce heat to a rapid simmer and cover. Cook for 10 minutes. Meanwhile prep other ingredients (and clean up the kitchen from breakfast and lunch if you are me during this time of year -- put in a load of laundry too!) After 10 minutes, add lentils and vegetables except spinach, stir and turn heat back up to high to bring it back to a rapid simmer. Once the simmer is re-achieved, lower heat, cover and cook an additional 30 minutes. Finish soup by stirring in spinach and sherry. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Last night I found the soup to be a little salty for my taste, since I am very sensitive to salt these days, but my husband said it was perfect. I may add one less bouillon cube next time. I had used 3 bouillon cubes for 7 cups of water. But today for lunch, once the broth had been fully absorbed by the barley, the salt level was just right for me. I really loved my bowlful on this grey day, with crusty eziekiel "buttered" toast torn into pieces and dunked into the healthy soup. Mmmm!

I'm now fortified to deck my halls with boughs of holly, and prep our downstairs pub for a Christmas party tomorrow. Stay tuned for photos from the event!

Heavenly

Yes, that's right, heavenly! See the Godly rays of sun gracing this bowlful's pretty face? Sometimes my food really feels like such a blessing, and today's lunch would be one example of that feeling.  Simple, like so much of what I eat, this salad was born from my timing being off last night as I impulsively, midway through other dinner prep, decided to make another batch of my favorite Raw Kale Mediterranean Salad from Little House of Veggies (http://littlehouseofveggies.blogspot.com). By the time everyone else's dinner was ready, I had only completed the first half of the salad preparation. That is, I had washed and spun the kale and removed the stems, and had massaged the leaves with olive oil, half a lemon, salt and pepper. So I put the salad on the table as it was, without the additional ingredients (red bell pepper, black olives and pine nuts), and you know what? It was wonderful anyway! I had made fish tacos for the others, and ate up some delicious vegan leftovers for myself, along with the salad.

So today for lunch, leftoverless except for the salad and the vegan avocado aioli I had made for the fish tacos, I combined the two and the result is above. The vegan avocado aioli, a recipe I came up with myself, is published in a prior post, and I did not consult it, instead recreating it from memory. I believe this version is more avocado-centric than the last, so I will note the proportions here:

Avocado Aioli
1 avocado, mashed
juice of half a lime
3 Tbsp. vegannaise
Mash all together.


That's it. Really, really good. Isn't it funny how I made vegan aioli for my family's tacos even though I wasn't having any last night?  I didn't even think about it, knowing that nobody has ever complained about the flavor of vegannaise. I just can't see using regular mayonnaise if I don't have to. Avocado aioli is great on everything!  Go make some!

When I say this salad is heavenly, of course I mean the flavor and texture -- the sharpness of the lemon and kale juxtaposed with the rich, buttery avocado-mayonnaise. But I also want to go deeper now into why I feel personally blessed to have found a way to be good to my body. Since February, but mostly more recently, I have been amazed by how strong my immune system has become. There is illness all around me, in my own home my husband and daughter have been sick with colds for days. Sneezers and coughers abound in all the grocery stores and malls. Sometimes I feel the wake of a germ giving me a glancing blow -- I feel a little tired or mucousy for an hour or two, then it is GONE! I don't even worry anymore about getting right in the face of my sweet, sick little girl. I know I am safe. I don't want to mess with hubris here, I just want to say I am thankful and grateful for my health, and grateful for this vegan lifestyle which has afforded this bounty of blessings. This is a very big deal. I have a compromised immune system because of my MS. And yet I am well. I am grateful. Heavenly.

He Loved It!

Yep, you guessed it -- my carnivore husband actually LOVED this vegan stew! And it's a big deal, because he opted to try it with the optional vegan sausage bits (I had served them on the side, since I was sure he wouldn't want them). He did love this Barley Mushroom Stew, from a wonderful blog called "Foods For a Long Life" (http://foodsforlonglife.blogspot.com/), sausage and all!

My husband's reaction to this vegan creation really made my night.   He has always enjoyed the "non-freaky" vegan dishes I've made.  By "non-freaky" I mean dishes not utilizing meat- or cheese-substitutes. But in the past when I tried serving my husband a fabulous dish utilizing Gardein's "Chick'n" cutlets, he did not care for them AT ALL.  He did eat the whole plateful, all the while giving me an earful about his disapproval. So you can see why I've not been eager to foist all my choices on the man. Looking at my vegan journey from my husband's point of view, I can see that the abrupt change that has been so necessary for me must have been threatening pertaining to his own relationship with food. I suspect his dislike for my gardein experiment was due to his being "ambushed" as he saw it. When I served the meat substitute on the side, he could take it or leave it.  And he not only took it, but liked it!  So I am learning about the psychology of food for certain personalities. Very interesting . . .

"Long Life"'s delicious stew calls for a Field Roast smoked apple sage vegan sausage link, which I didn't happen to have on hand.  I did, however, have Tofurkey Italian sausage so I crisped up one of those instead.  This delicious stew was very "meaty" wholesome, filling and comforting, and it was instrumental in my learning how to better work the vegan offerings in this household.