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What a week and two recipes

10 Oct

WOW. The last week did not go the way I had planned. I envisioned a lovely week of cooking a variety of new vegan recipes and enjoying “fall” in LA. But things did not go that way. Instead, I was sick most of the week and, even worse, we got into a huge, nasty fight with one of our roommates, which almost saw us moving into the first vacant apartment we could find. Seriously. As a result, my mood was in Hades, and we cooked about three times total. Yeah, it was bad, and I feel puffy and broke. I kept sitting down to blog, but it just wasn’t going to happen. However, I am not abandoning Vegan MoFo, or this little blog at all – I promise!

Before everything went down, we made two recipes from the cookbook of the week. (Well, actually, I was cooking when the fight happened. Bad times.) Then, when we were feeling a little better, we made a third based on the book, too, which I’ll share soon. See? I did my homework – I just neglected to turn it in on time. Drop me a letter grade.

For the record, I used my shiny new LA Public Library card to pick up Myra Kornfeld’s The Voluptuous Vegan as this week’s selection. In all honesty, it was really hard to choose what I wanted to make from her book for three reasons: 1. all the recipes are higher in fat than I prefer, 2. many include unusual and/or expensive ingredients (kudzu and burdock are just not on my usual grocery lists), and 3. most contain too many steps and ingredients. I like a fancy meal as much as the next gal, but I’m pinching pennies these days, and I’m too starving by the time I get home to spend two hours over my cauldron.

Sidebar: wouldn’t it be bad-ass if I actually cooked over a cauldron?

Anyway, I’ll give a full review another day this week (no, really!) and get straight to the food. Our first meal involved a bastardized version of two recipes:

It was Kornfeld’s Butternut-Lemongrass Soup, made with her Southeast Asian Stock. I made a lot of changes to both recipes, so I’m sharing my versions with you.

Asian-Inspired Soup Stock

  • 1 onion, peeled and diced*
  • 1 leek, cleaned thoroughly and diced*
  • 2 celery stalks, diced*
  • 1 carrot, peeled (or scrubbed, if you’re lazy) and diced*
  • 1 small or 1/2 a large sweet potato, peeled and diced*
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
  • Zest from one lime, cut in long strips and lightly bruised
  • 1 shallot, peeled and diced*
  • 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
  • 8 cups of water

*Feel free to leave all these veggies pretty chunky. Since you’re making stock, they’ll be fished out at the end anyway, so size and shape aren’t very important.

Toss everything into a large stock pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Taste to test for flavor development. When done, drain out the chunks and store the stock in a large container with a tight lid. It makes about six cups when done.

Sorry for the lack of pics. It was a seriously bad day.

OK, four cups of that goodness went into our soup:

Butternut-LemongrassKabocha Lime Soup

  • 1 medium or large kabocha (or other) squash
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large shallot, peeled and chopped
  • About 1/4 cup diced leeks
  • 2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 small or 1/2 a large sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 14-oz can low-fat coconut milk
  • 4 cups Asian-Inspired Soup Stock
  • Zest from one lime, cut in long strips and lightly bruised
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Juice of one lime

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Stab the squash with a knife or fork several times all around – I usually do about 6 stabbings. Bake it in the oven until it’s fork tender, about 45 minutes. Let it cool, then cut it in half, discard the seeds, and scoop the flesh into a bowl.

Heat the oil in a medium or large pot over a medium flame. Add the shallots and leeks and sauté for about five minutes, until they become soft. Add the garlic and stir for three additional minutes.

Add the squash, sweet potato, coconut milk, stock, lime zest, and ginger to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cooking, covered, for about 15 minutes. When the potato is softened, remove the lime zest. Now you have a choice: either do the less-weird thing and blend the soup in a regular blender or with an immersion blender, or, since the blender belongs to the roommate you may or may not have just called a naughty word I won’t write on this blog, use a potato masher to break down the sweet potato and squash directly in the soup pot. Add lime juice and black pepper to taste.

Eat. Enjoy. Makes 4 servings.

It was a tasty soup, which Mr. X liked more than I did, but I suspect blending it would taste a lot better – as would using lemongrass. I swear I saw it in every grocery store one week, and then last week, the shelves were bereft of it. Sad, no? I asked what the deal was, and one store representative told me they hadn’t received any due to the “weather change.” Hmm . . . it was 80° one day and 75° the next. Brrr? Anyway, the stock was quite good, and I plan to use some in our dinner tonight. I probably wouldn’t make the soup again, but I’m glad I experimented.

Waffle Sunday #1

2 Oct

The house we moved into came with a waffle iron, which was really exciting. I’ve never made waffles at home before, so I jumped at the chance to find an excuse to use it. Enter Sunday football. I’m not much of a sports fan, so a day of ball-playing is a good enough excuse for me to take to the kitchen. Enter my first vegan waffle attempt:

My love is a big New York Giants fan, so I swung with a red-and-blue theme. My recipe is based on one from Mama Pea, but with my own spin.

X’s Giant Waffles

  • 1 1/2 cup flour (I used a combination of unbleached white and whole wheat pastry)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 t. baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 1/2 c. non-dairy milk (less approximately 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup (the real stuff)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 cup frozen or fresh mixed berries

Preheat your waffle iron and spray with oil.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

In a liquid measuring cup, combine milk, maple syrup and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.

If you have a large Belgian waffle maker, pour about 1/4 of the batter in. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of berries on top. Ours was a mixture of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. Cook according to your maker’s settings. Mine beeps. Continue until you’ve used all the batter, remembering to spray the waffle maker each time. Serve and enjoy.

Makes four big-a$$ waffles.

We topped ours with real maple syrup and served some meat-less sausage alongside. Oh yeah, and we enjoyed these:

Homemade mimosas! Easiest recipe ever:

(Wo)Manly Mimosas

  • 10 oranges (or about 3ish cups of pre-squeeze orange juice)
  • One bottle of prosecco or other white sparkly vino, chilled

Juice your oranges. We have this really awesome old-school juicer that I’ll show you sometime. Fill Champagne flutes about halfway or so with juice, then top with chilled prosecco. Enjoy!

All together now:

Heaven.

And now I leave you with this very important video. (Fast forward to 6:15 if you just want to hear the amazing song.)

Pesto lovin’

25 Jul

Today I had some less-than-stellar service from what used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Tulsa. I had a Living Social deal for Pita Place that expired today, so I decided to get lunch for today and tomorrow with the $20 I had to spend. It seemed like a good idea, especially since I didn’t go grocery shopping on Sunday as I prefer to do. I was spoken to rudely (he said as I was about to order, “decide what you want” and then almost went back to the kitchen even though I never indicated I hadn’t figured it out), half my lunch order was ignored, and it took him 30 minutes to prepare my to-go order even though there were only two people there when I arrived and I ordered it at the same time as my lunch. Plus, when I opened it up, he had left a couple of things out. I have no idea what caused this 180 – he used to be really friendly to me. I wasn’t rude or anything either. He was polite to others even. I know I can be a pill, but I swear I wasn’t in this instance. All in all, I will never go back. It was really that unpleasant. I love, love supporting local restaurants, but I still demand professional, courteous service. Do you ever choose to stop patronizing a business because of curt – not necessarily terrible – service?

Anyway, the real point of this post is to share tonight’s dinner.

Sha-boing. This, my friends, is a love affair with local produce. Everything vegetabley you see came from the farmers market, other than the red bell pepper. Plus, the pesto is very low-fat but still incredibly delicious. Here’s how to work the magic.

Low-fat Pesto Pasta Extravaganza

  • Large bunch of fresh basil, or about 3 cups
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • Juice of one lemon
  • Small handful of raw almonds (somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 cup)
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • Black pepper to taste
  • 1 pound whole wheat linguine
  • 1 pound green beans, ends snapped off and broken into bite-size pieces
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1.5 to 2 cups summer squash, diced (I used baby patty pan, zucchini, and yellow crookneck, but any would be great)
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 to 2 cups cherry or other small tomatoes, cut in half, quarters, or left whole

First, make the pesto. Add to a blender or food processor the basil, garlic, lemon juice, almonds, nutritional yeast, black pepper, and water as needed to blend/process. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the linguine until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the green beans: either steam them until tender or add them to a large pan sprayed with a little olive oil and/or some water until tender. Set aside. Re-spray the pan with olive oil or add some water and the onion. Cook until translucent. Now add the squash and bell pepper, and cook until softened and/or lightly browned. Add the cherry tomatoes and the green beans and cook about two minutes longer. Now add the pasta and the pesto, tossing to combine.

Serves 4 (or 2.5 in my household!). It’s also tasty cold as a pasta salad.

My boyfriend asked me to note that this is pesto Genovese (despite the absence of pine nuts — it’s either a pound of them or my water bill), since I take most opportunities to school folks on the fact that pesto has nothing in particular to do with basil. The green stuff is in the style of Genoa. The more you know.

And now I must remove some very fragrant banana bread from the oven. More on that soon.

I did it!

18 Jun

Friends, readers, country(wo)men — I took the leap. You are now viewing this little blog on her own domain: www.veggingoutinttown.com! Eek! I’m excited, as you can tell. One day, I will upgrade to my own hosting, too, but for now, I’m basking in this first little victory.

I told you about my first foray into diabetic meal planning two weeks ago but was remiss in sharing the actual eats. My apologies. Between the ShakeDown in T-Town Shakespeare Festival 2011 and the crushing pain that refuses to leave my head (16 migraines in 35 days and counting — for realsies), I’ve been a bit negligent. So here’s what we’ve been eating round these here parts lately. I will note that I still consider myself a failure at the diabetes thing. It’s really, really hard and contrary to how I — a carb-loving borderline hypoglycemic — normally plan meals. I am picking up Dr. Barnard’s book on diabetes today, though, so hopefully I will gain some insight.

OK, here was the boy’s favorite meal of last week:

Clockwise from left: Swiss Chard with Garlic Chips (topped with a splash of balsamic instead of the reduction), Refreshing Cucumber Salad with Creamy Mint Dressing (minus the onions), and “Dry” Red Lentils (recipe below). He raved about the whole meal. I enjoyed it, too, though the following morning’s repeat Swiss chard performance was not ideal. (For the record, I blame my own acid reflux problems, not the green or the recipe.) I adored the dressing on the cucumber salad and plan to use it again on something else. Here’s the super-easy-basic lentil recipe.

“Dry” Red Lentils (adapted from World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey)

  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 medium onion, cut into fine half moons
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Rinse and drain lentils, then place them in a bowl with water to soak. The original recipe says three hours, but I only did one and it was totally fine. Drain when you’re ready to cook.

Place a medium pot over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onion and garlic, stir frying for about 4 minutes, or until the onion browns a little. Add the lentils, stirring for a minute. Add 1 cup of water and the salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Now cover, reduce the heat to very low, and cook until lentils are tender mush, about 20 minutes.

The recipe is pretty much fool-proof, and it’s completely delicious, despite the very small ingredient list. I recommend trying it as is before you start spicing things up.

After dinner, I whipped up some Pumpkin Pie Mousse.

I am total crap at food styling, but this was my attempt. Almost pretty, eh? The mousse is layered with banana slices and topped with a little coconut cream (from the top of the can of coconut milk) and cinnamon. The only changes I made to the original recipe were omitting the maca (didn’t have any) and sweetening with a little honey.

Another successful meal was what I’m calling Continential Breakfast for Dinner.

Clockwise from left: Italian-style Eggs, salad with homemade goddess dressing, and French-inspired Breakfast Potatoes. I didn’t use a recipe for the former, just sauteed two yellow squashes in olive oil and garlic then added four beaten eggs (sourced locally and cruelty-free), two chopped scallions, five or six chopped and seeded cherry tomatoes, Italian seasoning, dried oregano, and a little shredded Asiago cheese. It was incredible, if I do say so myself. I will share recipes for the other two dishes in a separate post so this one doesn’t get too cray-cray.

For my lunches, I made a nutrient-dense salad:

It was inspired by the salad I always get at Chipotle, but mine was awesomer. I made black beans from scratch in the slow cooker, precooked some red bell pepper and portobello mushrooms in a little olive oil, and made salsa. When it was time to eat, I heated up the cooked stuff, piled it on top of greens, and topped it all with salsa and sliced avocado. *Heavenly.* If anyone would like the full recipe, I’d be happy to do a separate post. I was a nice girlfriend and shared this salad for one of my diabetic love’s lunches, but it was hard to part with.

So those are a few of last week’s mostly healthy meals, and I promise there is more to come as I finagle this bidness. On an exciting note, I FOUND MY CAMERA CHARGER! Now all I have to do is find . . . my camera. For real. Sigh. Soon, though, I promise pictures will improve.

What’s your favorite breakfast-for-dinner meal? I’m not a big pancake fan, so I usually stick with something savory.

Lentils on FoodistaLentils

Summertime Cobbler

5 Jun

This recipe is making me very, very sad that my camera is still incapacitated (i.e. I can’t find the charger). It’s such a lovely dish, but all you get is this lousy cell phone pic. I am so sorry.

I am, however, incredibly happy with how it turned out — the cobbler, not the picture. I got my latest edition of ReadyMade magazine yesterday, flipped immediately to the recipe section, and declared aloud, “Oh my God, doesn’t Cherry & Nectarine Cobbler with Cinnamon Cream Biscuits sound incredible?” to which the boy could only say, “Uh, yeah.” A few hours later, he left for rehearsal, and I went right out to purchase a few missing ingredients, namely cherries and nectarines. I decided to be bold and veganize the recipe, too. It calls for butter, buttermilk and heavy cream. The latter was my concern. After some Googling, I decided to take the plunge with coconut cream. I’m incredibly happy with the outcome.

Even in crappy lighting, she’s beautiful, eh?

In addition to veganizing the recipe, I made used half whole wheat pastry flour to add a little fiber. The original recipe appears in the June/July issue of ReadyMade. Edit: It’s now on their website here!

Cherry-Nectarine Cobbler with Cinnamon Biscuit Topping

The filling

  • 2 pounds (about 3 1/2 cups) fresh sweet cherries
  • 1 pound (about 3 medium nectarines, or 3 cups) fresh nectarines
  • 1/4 cup vegan sugar
  • 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 lemon, zested and half juiced
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
The biscuits
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 cup vegan sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (i.e. 1 stick or 8 tablespoons) Earth Balance
  • Sprinkling of vegan sugar

Settle onto the couch with your favorite show. Cover your lap and any nearby exposed couch cushions with a towel. Using patience and your favorite method, de-stem and pit all the cherries. It took me 35 minutes or so using a fork (insert two prongs halfway through the cherry to one side of the pit, then lift upwards to remove it). Cut the cherries in half. Now slice up the nectarines and add them to the bowl. At this time, heat the oven to 375° F. Combine the fruit with the sugar, flour, lemon zest and juice, and cinnamon. Pour into an 8×11 baking dish and cook for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, open the can of coconut milk and scoop all the cream at the top into a measuring cup. If it doesn’t quite measure 1/2 cup by itself, add a little of the milk underneath. Mine was almost exact, however. Set it aside. Now measure 1/4 cup of the milk and add the vinegar. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Take the stick of Earth Balance from the fridge and cut it into small pieces. Add them to the bowl and mix with your hands just until the dough forms large crumbles — do not overmix! Now pour in the coconut “butter” milk and the coconut cream and mix until it just comes together. It will be sticky and fun.

Remove the fruit from the oven and drop the dough in six large biscuits on top of the mixture. Leave space between them. Sprinkle with a little more sugar. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through. It took closer to 30 in my oven. Serve warm. Makes six servings.

My version isn’t exactly healthy, but it does have 6 grams of both protein and fiber. Plus, it’s delicious.

What is your favorite fruit combination for cobbler? I’m usually a strawberry-rhubarb girl, but this is my new go-to.

Asian Noodle Salad

31 May

In addition to the chili, we had another delicious dinner this week: Asian Noodle Salad inspired by the Pioneer Woman’s recipe. When I asked what the boy wanted to eat last week, he remarked that this massive beast is his favorite. Woo hoo! Salad as the meal of choice elates me. Anyway, as you can see, I take a lot from my fellow Okie blogger’s method, but I’ve cut down on the fat (though I’d still like to cut down further — working on it) and the sugar and made a few substitutes based on our preferences. Here’s the recipe:

Asian Noodle Salad

  • 1 package soba or whole-wheat noodles
  • 1 head Napa cabbage, cut widthwise
  • 1 bag/container baby spinach, torn slightly
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 4-5 large radishes, sliced thinly
  • 1 bag mung bean sprouts
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1/3-1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon natural sweetener (honey, agave, or brown sugar)
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, minced (and seeded, if you want less heat)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons ginger root or 9 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 cup raw cashew nuts
  • Bunch of cilantro, chopped

Begin by cooking the noodles according to package directions. If using soba noodles, keep an eye on them. Mine always overcook when I follow the time listed. Drain, rinse with cool water, then place in the fridge. Now add all the sliced, chopped, and torn veggies to an enormous bowl. Place in fridge. In a separate container, combine the oils, soy sauce, lime juice, sweetener, jalapenos, garlic, and ginger and mix well. I like to use a jar, ’cause you can just shake it shake it. Place in fridge. Heat a skilled over medium-low heat and add the cashews. Stir or shake the pan frequently to toast them but prevent burning. When they are lightly browned, remove from the heat. Remove the salad components from the fridge. Add the noodles to the salad, breaking them up as necessary. Now shake the dressing once more then pour on top of the salad along with the cilantro, tossing to combine everything. Serve topped with the toasted cashews.

This makes a ton — I’m talking six gigantical servings. If you don’t want soggy salad tomorrow, put half the dry salad in the fridge and top the rest with half of the dressing. Or you can do it like I do and only make half the salad at a time because otherwise the bottomless pit I call a boyfriend will eat every last bite.

Failures and successes

30 May

I don’t document many kitchen failures on this blog. Truthfully I don’t make a lot of terribly risky things, so that’s part of the reason. However, so as not to be disingenuous, today’s post will spotlight two not-so-successful endeavors of the past week. The first:

Um, yeah. Yummy? Blech. This was a certifiable vegan overnight oats failure. I mixed 1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup of water, and a few frozen blueberries into a tupperware container in the fridge overnight, assuming they would absorb all the liquid. Yeah, not so much. Instead, my bowl was filled with soggy, liquidy oats. Not appetizing. This was Monday morning, and I showed you in my last post the oatmeal I made my lazy way. That night, I made stab number two at overnight oats, which was far, far more successful:

I combined 1/2 cup of oats with 3/4 cup of homemade almond milk and half a mashed banana. Oh, and blueberries again. The result was still a little liquidy, but it was delicious. At work, I topped with Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter and a splash of coconut milk creamer.

So tasty and soothing. I highly recommend.

Another failure was my lunches for the week. I thought a little snack plate featuring lettuce wraps would be fun:

Looks pretty enough, right? It was a fail, pure and simple. Clockwise from top left, you have lettuce from the farmers market, white bean spread, sugar snap peas from the farmers market, chopped pepitas, and Chipotle Brown Rice. The bean dip is based on the White Bean Aioli from Veganomicon, and it’s just not that tasty. I wanted to like it: navy beans, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice — what’s not to like? There’s just something off about it. Maybe it was too thin? Here’s it wrapped up:

I think I failed at bringing enough food, too. That’s why I included some of the rice intended for book club. Speaking of the rice, book club was cancelled due to the threat of imminent death (i.e. scary tornado warnings following the Joplin disaster), so the rice is ours. Woo hoo! It came out crazy spicy, but I love it. Here’s how you make it. The chipotle sauce is borrowed heavily from Veganomicon, by the way.

Chipotle Brown Rice

  • 1 1/2 cups brown rice
  • Half a large onion, chopped
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 chipotle peppers, minced
  • 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the peppers
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Cook the rice the way you like. I’m lazy and use a rice cooker. When rice is done, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sautee, stirring frequently, until both have softened, about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir for about 30 seconds. It’ll smell incredible.
Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly. Then puree it in a blender, food processor, or in a bowl using an immersion blender (my method of choice). When fairly smooth — a few chunks are fine — mix into the brown rice, stirring well. Adjust for salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.
This was delicious on its own. My favorite, though, was topped with some of X’s Spicy Portobello Chili and nutritional yeast.
Spicy, savory heaven.

Lentil Tacos and a return to vegging out

22 Mar

I’m baaaack! Did you miss me?

Life has been pretty crazy since January. Between closing my play, breaking up with my (now former) taller half, moving in with my new boyfriend, taking over managing director duties for a Shakespeare festival, and everything else in between, I’ve been chasing my tail for a while now. I am finally getting into the swing of things, though, and the internet has returned to me, so expect more updates. Yay!

The only thing I still lack is a camera. OK, I have two cameras but still haven’t located a charger for either, so you’re stuck with cell phone pics for a while. Did I mention I upgraded to a smart phone? I love my Droid. :)

So what better way to get back into my life as a food blogger than by showing you some comestibles. Enter my lunch this week: Lentil tacos and carrots with tahini dip.

Oh yes, desk photos have returned. Holla.

The tacos are a highly bastardized version of the one found in Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook. I am not exaggerating with the phrase “highly bastardized.” Also, I am smirking over typing two of the naughty “B” words in that first sentence. Tee hee.

Anyway, here is my recipe for Lentil Tacos with Fresh Salsa:

  • 1 cup dried red lentils
  • 2 tablespoons white or yellow onion, chopped finely
  • 3 cloves plus 2 cloves of garlic, minced and divided (or to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon of olive oil plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1-2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1-2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes, diced (and seeded if you abhor those little bugger as much as I do)
  • 2 tablespoons red onion, chopped finely
  • 1/4 of a jalapeno pepper, minced (and seeded if you want less spice)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 4 whole wheat tortillas
  • 1 large avocado, flesh sliced

Bring two cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add lentils and white or yellow onion. Return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. Mash lightly (or, conversely, overcook them in too much water like I did and watch them mash themselves when you try to drain off the extra moisture) and combine with 3 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, tomato paste and spices. I found this pretty easy to do with a giant spoon, but you can use a blender.

While the lentils are cooking, make the salsa (this is almost identical to Skinny Bitch’s): combine cherry tomatoes, 2 minced garlic cloves, red onion, jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro and 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a bowl. Mix well.

Heat up tortillas either in a warm, dry skillet or in the microwave between damp paper towels (about 15 seconds per tortilla). Spoon 1/4 of the lentil mixture into each tortilla and top with 1/4 of the fresh salsa and – yes – 1/4 of the avocado chunks.

Makes four servings.

I nooched the heck out of mine before eating:


I gotsta say, the fresh salsa makes this recipe. Oh man, it’s delicious! This attempt was actually my first ever making salsa, but it will not be my last. Maybe some mango-pineapple action will rear its head next? Also, the avocado was luscious and wonderful.

The main changes I made to the original recipe were reducing the amount of olive oil (and actually I think it can be omitted entirely, especially from the lentil mixture); subbing red lentils in for the green, which changed the texture, but I much prefer the flavor of red; using whole wheat tortillas instead of crunchy corn ones; and, of course, adding more spice.

The tahini dip I ate with my carrots was incredibly basic: about 1/4 cup tahini mixed with the juice from one lemon, 3 minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper to taste, and enough hot water to thin out the consistency. I made it originally to top an Edamame Corn Salad (literally just 12 ounce of frozen, shelled edamame and 1/3 cup frozen corn, plus salt and pepper), but there was enough extra for some dipping action. No complaints.

So how’s that for my first post back in the game?

Pro-Immunity Chickpea Noodle Soup

14 Jan

For the record, I don’t like the word chickpea. I like garbanzo bean. It has a much more whimsical sound, and it’s more literal. They are beans, not peas.

All the same, I couldn’t resist some light pun action in titling this soup.

It’s cold this week. I know this isn’t the Great Snowy North, but Oklahoma gets its share of inclement weather, especially ice. This week, we had ice’s less offensive, more powdery friend in the air. Of course, with highs not about the middle 30s Sunday through Wednesday, that seemingly innocuous visitor could have quickly turned nefarious.

All of this is to say that it’s cold, and weather changes give me allergy/sinus/cold/whatever problems, so I decided a nice pro-health soup was on the lunch menu. I based it lightly on the Chickpea Noodle Soup from the Happy Herbivore and very, very loosely on the Mellow Lentil “Sniffle” Soup from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. Here’s the result:

Brigid’s Pro-Immunity Chickpea Noodle Soup

  • 1/4 cup plus 1/4 cup plus 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 green onions, chopped, white and light green parts divided from dark green tops
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 4 large crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, rinsed, destemmed and chopped (about 1/2 cup total)
  • Cracked black pepper to taste
  • 3 1/2 cups water
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 6 ounces soba noodles
  • 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed, or 1 3/4 cup freshly cooked
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons white or yellow miso

First, get everything cleaned, chopped, and ready to go.

Once all the veggies are  ready to go, heat 1/4 cup vegetable broth in a large pot over medium to medium-high heat. (My electric stove runs hot, so I always err on the side of low heat.) Once the broth is hot, add the carrots, celery, garlic, the white and light green parts of the green onions, and the thyme. Heat, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, until everything is lightly softened.

Now add the mushrooms, the cracked black pepper, and another 1/4 cup of broth. Stir, and let cook until the mushrooms lightly soften.

Add the water and the bay leaves, and allow the mixture to reach a boil.

Once the soup is boiling, add the soba noodles. I broke mine in half, but I’d even recommend cutting them in thirds or quarters. Stir, then let the liquid return to a boil. My noodles took about 3 minutes, but refer to the cooking instructions on your package. When they are cooked to your preference, remove the pot from the heat.

Stir in the dark green part of the green onions, garbanzos and miso until everything is thoroughly combined. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your palette. I added more pepper and thyme at the end. Makes four large servings.

This soup does not taste like the condensed chicken noodle of my past, but it has the same comforting feel plus the added benefits of not being a fat, sodium, and chemical bomb. It’s also a rarity in my kitchen: a dish that is neither spicy nor dessert.

Of course, the top photo shows me enjoying it with some of my coworker’s homemade “Wicked Hot Sauce.” I just wanted a little extra oomph that day.

“Pro-immunity?” you say. “I scoff at you.”

I call this a pro-immunity soup because of a few things.

1. Garlic. In addition to making almost everything taste better, it’s been linked in studies to boosting the immune system, fighting off viruses, promoting wound healing, and preventing infection. It may even prevent cancer. I’ll take it! I actually could have added about twice as much of the stuff to this soup, but I’m trying to be a good friend and neighbor.

2. Carrots. The beta carotene in this beloved rabbit food boosts T cells and helps fight infection. Carrots also just belong in soup.

3. Miso. It’s touted to have many of the same health benefits of garlic (immunity-building, cancer-fighting, infection-beating). It’s also a much better way to add delicious salty flavor to foods than the white powdery stuff. It also contains B12, which vegans especially have trouble getting in a normal diet.

4. Mushrooms. More and more studies link shroomies with disease prevention, especially cancer. They also ward off infections, both viral and bacterial. And they are tasty.

5. Pepper. Yes, once again, studies link the spice to immune-system-boosting and all that good stuff. Plus, it’s delicious on any savory dish.

In addition to these claims, I amped up the nutrition by using soba noodles instead of whole-wheat. I actually prefer the texture of soba in soups, but they also have the added benefit of being gluten-free (as long as they are made with buckwheat only) and lower on the glycemic index. The garbanzo beans also add protein, texture, iron, and fiber.

If you eat one quarter of the recipe, you will take in 10 grams of protein, 48 grams of carbs (8 from fiber), 2 grams of fat, 690 mg of sodium, 17% of your daily iron, and 12% of your magnesium needs. Not too shabby for a tasty, comforting bowl of soup.

Suggestions:

  • I would go even heavier on the garlic and mushrooms, but then I’m like that.
  • Feel free to add other favorite veggies: regular onion, peas, spinach, zucchini, etc. I wouldn’t go with anything too sweet (butternut squash, corn), but pretty much anything else would be tasty. You can also use more celery. I’m just not a big fan of the stuff.
  • Before adding to the pot, dissolve the miso in a little bit of hot water or a bit of the broth from the soup. It was a little hard to combine when I added it with everything else. When I make quick miso soup, I usually dunk it in the bowl with a couple of tablespoons of hot water and whip with a fork. Otherwise, it can sink to the bottom in a big clump. I didn’t think of it this time, but I highly recommend it. Just don’t add it any earlier than I did. Miso’s flavor degrades when exposed to prolonged heat.

How I spent my Sunday afternoon

10 Jan

I thought this post would be a nice follow-up to the last one on meal planning. Since I know I haven’t been eating well enough lately, I embarked on a large prep-work journey yesterday. The result:

And that doesn’t include the almond milk or the Pumpkin Boatmeal I made later in the day.

Before you are Spicy and Lemony Mushrooms, Pecan Dirty Brown Rice, two containers of my Pro-Immunity Chickpea Noodle Soup (recipe soon), and a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (recipe follows). Expect a report on the different dishes soon.

I think I spent about 4.5 hours in the kitchen Sunday, though that’s just an estimate. Not bad for all that yield, especially since it was mostly from-scratch cooking. The best news: I have very little cooking to do this week. At breakfast, all I have to do is reheat a serving of the oatmeal and grab a banana. At lunch, I will reheat some of the soup, rinse my salad greens, and grab an apple. For dinner, I will heat up rice with mushrooms and then roast some broccoli. Dessert will be – yes – reheated crisp.

Let’s go ahead and talk about the crisp. I’ve had strawberries and rhubarb on the brain for a while now. My original intent was to make a pie, but I opted instead for the more immediate gratification of a crisp. This recipe is adapted from one I found online.

Low-ish Sugar Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

  • 1 package (about 2 cups) frozen strawberries
  • 1 package (about 2 cups) frozen rhubarb
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup vegan sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray an 8×8” glass baking dish with oil.

In a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl, heat the frozen fruit in the microwave for two minutes. Stir, and heat for two more minutes. Drain any excess moisture. Now add maple syrup and stir together. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

In another (or the same, whatever) bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Spoon crisp mixture over the fruit evenly, so all is covered.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the fruit layer is bubbling and the crisp is toasted. Eat warm. Makes 6 servings.

This crisp did not change my life, but it is tasty. It’s both sweet and tart, and I think it would be awesome with (vegan) ice cream. I have none, so I shall eat it by itself.

With that recipe, I just realized that I am eating totally gluten-free this week, quite by accident, but hey, I’ll take it.

I will share some other meals with you soon.

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