RAW ONION

my blog to Google Blogger.  I’m still organizing and cleaning house, but you can view it here:

http://chocolateonion.blogspot.com/

 

See you there!

Even though I love to cook, the whole idea behind it is to have food for several days so that I’m not cooking from scratch every single day.  That’s why I make a different sandwich spread every week and extra amounts of my recipes. 

For lunch today before I went to the library, I warmed a whole wheat pita in the toaster oven at 200 degrees for about 3 minutes, then spread the black bean/artichoke spread on it, added baby greens & slices of avocado, then rolled it up. The toothpick is Jim’s trick to keep it together, just like in a restaurant.  And that’s the last of the wonderful chickpea toss from the other night, served at room temperature.  Delicious!

 

 

And, of course, my double shot of espresso with a scone.

in Michigan.  Spring is teasing us very, very slowly.  Last Saturday it was nonstop sun and in the fifties; Monday night it dipped into the thirties with snow flurries yesterday.  So I felt like soup.  Something to warm me up completely, right to my bones.  Soup does that (so does herbal tea).

This is  the Tomato Chickpea Soup with Tiny Pasta and (Fresh) Herbs (I used dried from my garden), adapted from Vegan Express:

2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
4 C water
1 C tiny pasta (I used ditalini)
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes (I used diced)
1 15-16-oz can of chick peas, drained & rinsed
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried dill
sea salt & ground pepper to taste
1 tsp of sugar

1. In a soup pot, heat the oil & add the garlic.  Sauté until golden (be careful not to burn).

2. Add 4 C water, bring to a boil, then add pasta & cook until al dente.  I actually cooked it until it was not quite done, since it would cook with the rest of the ingredients later.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, except salt & pepper.  Return to a boil, then cover, lower heat & simmer gently about 10 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.

 

And because soup is so good with homemade biscuits, I made these Basic Baking Powder Biscuits, adapted from La Dolce Vegan:

2 C flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 C vegan margarine
3/4 C soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, & salt.  Stir in margarine (I cut it in with a fork), then add soy milk & vinegar until well blended.  Knead dough lightly.  I HATE rolling out & cutting biscuits (or cookies for that matter), so for fun today I took a muffin tin, lightly sprayed it with Pam Cooking Spray, then rolled the dough into little balls placing 3 in each muffin tin.  When they cooked, the balls formed together to make little cloverleaf rolls.  So cute.  They were the perfect accompaniment to the hot soup!  See for yourself.

 

On Sunday I made a batch of Artichoke & Black Bean Dip for sandwiches, adapted from The Garden of Vegan:

1 15 oz can of black beans, drained & rinsed
1 clove garlic
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper to taste
1 6 oz jar marinated artichokes, drained (I eyeball this, I don't use the whole jar)

Combine all (except artichokes) ingredients in a food processor & blend till smooth.  Add artichokes & pulse briefly to incorporate.

 

For dinner last night, Jim made spaghetti with his Neapolitan grandmother’s sauce (aka Josie’s Tomato Sauce) while I made a quick Chickpea Toss adapted from The Garden of Vegan:

1 15 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp dark (toasted) sesame oil
1/4 C olives (your choice; I use Spanish w/pimientos stuffed in them), chopped (but I just leave them whole)
1/2 tsp sea salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp curry powder

In a large pan on medium-high heat, sauté the onions & garlic in oil until onions are translucent.  Reduce heat to medium & add olives, chickpeas, & spices & simmer for a few more minutes.

 

Josie’s Tomato Sauce

1 large can (28 oz) of high quality tomato puree or crushed tomatoes, preferably organic
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried basil (or 1/2 C fresh in summer)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp olive oil , plus another 1/2 tbsp for finishing

In a saucepan, sauté garlic at very low temperature in the olive oil, until softened but make sure you don’t brown it.  The idea is to release the aroma not burn it.   Add the basil & sauté a bit longer, then the tomato puree & sugar & bring to a boil.  Immediately reduce heat to low then simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.  Add water if you want a thinner sauce during this time.  You can even use the pasta water that you use to cook your spaghetti so it has a little bit of starch in it.  Salt to taste, or even pepper, too.  Just before serving, add 1/2 tbsp more olive oil & stir.

Other variations on this sauce include, onion & oregano (instead of garlic & basil) or olives & oregano, whatever you like!  But Jim says never combine basil & oregano together because their very different tastes will cancel each other out.

Scrumptious w/some crusty Italian bread!

My husband makes the best granola I’ve ever had.  We eat this for breakfast or a snack sometimes as a change from muesli. We’ve experimented over the last few years with different recipes, but since becoming vegan, he’s the one who has taken the time to really come up with the best recipe.  Here it is:

5 C rolled oats
1/2 C raw sunflower seeds
1/4 C whole flax seeds
1 C coarsely chopped walnuts
1 C chopped pecans
1/2 C unsweetened medium shredded coconut
1/2 C pure maple syrup, grade B (cheaper than A, good for baking)
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all dry ingredients & stir well.  Combine wet ingredients & stir well then add wet to dry & stir to coat.  On jelly roll pans, spread out the granola.  The thinner you spread it out the crunchier the granola, the thicker the chewier.  Jim uses one 9 x 12 inch pan & then another 10 x 7 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes, remove & stir well.  Then bake for another 10 minutes, remove from oven, & stir again.  Let cool then store in closed containers.  Jim uses old oatmeal cans or large glass jars.  Enjoy with soymilk for breakfast or a snack. If you want at this point (or even later when you’re ready to eat it), add any dried fruit like cherries, cranberries, or chopped apricots.  In the summer, this is wonderful with fresh blueberries or strawberries, sprinkled on fruit or even on ice cream!

I’m really into this book right now:

 

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg, the creator of the addictive food blog, Orangette.

Wizenberg is not vegan by any means (in fact, her recipes make me almost cringe with their enormous amounts of butter, milk, eggs, and cream), but it’s her stories & reminiscences that are so beautifully written, they make me nod my head in complete agreement and understanding.  As someone who also loves to cook and eat well, I associate many of the recipes I make with my own memories of family, situations, and childhood.  This book perfectly captures that. 

I first heard about this book on another blog I read, The Angry Chicken.  That blogger is a stay-at-home mom/crafter/artist who lives in Oregon.

A Homemade Life would be the perfect gift for that cook you know who is in love with food.

 

Today I made some more biscotti (recipe posted on Feb. 7).  Here are some pics of what the process looks like:

the dough as I form the “logs” pre-baking

 

cutting them after they’ve cooled for 10 minutes

 

And the finished delectable-ness of it all as they cool on the pan!

 

I also made a batch of scones (recipe also posted on Feb. 7):

The recipe made 12 scones in all. 

 

Here’s my original 1951 kitchen—many people would be horrified but I find it charming in a June Cleaver/Donna Reed sort of way:

Look what was waiting for me when I got home from work today:

Jim gets home earlier than I do and he was apparently in a cooking mood!  And I thought I was going to have to come up with my own dinner.  As it was, I only had to do the dishes.

Like most recipes in Dreena Burton’s cookbooks, this one takes a few steps to put together but, hey, if Jim wanted to, hooray for me!

This recipe is adapted from the Brown Rice Pizza from Vive Le Vegan:

After cooking 3/4 C brown rice and 1/2 C millet in 3 1/4 C water, he mixed it with some olive oil, oregano, basil, marjoram, sea salt, & black pepper.  He then spread the mixture on a lightly oiled baking sheet until it stuck together like dough, even up the rim of the pan.  He then baked it for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.  He made a quick tomato sauce and smoothed that over the rice “dough.”  Earlier, while the grains were cooking, he roasted some mushrooms & onions spiced with sea salt, olive oil, & balsamic vinegar on a parchment paper covered baking sheet, then cut them up & added them to the pizza, along with some roasted red peppers, martichokes, & Spanish olives.  Then he baked it once again for another 15 minutes.

It was delicious & very different.  The vegetables were the perfect complement on top of the sticky, firm grains underneath.  This isn’t like bread dough pizza, however, and it isn’t supposed to be.  If you try to pick it up with your hands it will fall apart.  You eat it with a fork and knife.

As you can see, this would be a great recipe for any leftover rice you might have & tomato sauce.  It would come together a lot quicker. 

I wouldn’t call it a spring salad, though, since it doesn’t have any seasonal vegetables in it.  It’s not quite the growing season here in Michigan.  But soon the Royal Oak Farmer’s Market will be filled with the farmers & all their delicious produce.  I can’t wait.  I’m starting to get impatient.  I really miss the taste of a fresh tomato.  I hate grocery store tomatoes out of season so I haven’t had one since the fall.  Cucumbers, too. Jim’s got his seeds started under grow lights in our dining room & they’re already getting their secondary leaves.  We’ve got lemon cucumbers (I swear they’re shaped like lemons but they are cucumbers), Riverside onions, Arkansas Traveler  & Ropreco Paste tomatoes, & Fino Verde & Greek basils.  He also plans to grow lettuce, potatoes, & beets.

In the kitchen garden outside my side door, I see the parsley popping up & the chives are already several inches tall (& very green).  And our mints are poking up so it will soon be time to put them in pots again for the summer (otherwise they will take over the gardens). 

I decided to make this salad because I had some soft wheat berries I want to use.  Wheat berries are yet another grain out there in the big wide world of grains.  I first heard about wheat berries in this wonderful cookbook I own called Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson.  It’s a gorgeous soft cover cookbook filled with recipes made from whole foods.  She talks about so many different grains—I can’t wait to try them all.  They have beautiful names like amaranth, teff, & farro.  And they look so pretty in salads & soups.  Best of all, they are very high in fiber so when added to recipes, they can be very filling.

For this salad I used a recipe on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill bag that looked really good.  I’m usually not a fan of package recipes and, as always, I didn’t follow it exactly, mostly because I didn’t have all of the ingredients.  The important thing is that it came out pretty and it tastes good.

Wheat berries take forever to cook so I thought I’d save some time by soaking them overnight; well, let me tell you that that didn’t help much.  They still took about 45 minutes to soften completely.  They look like fat rice-shaped pasta & are kind of chewy like pasta, too.  I like the color & different look they give to this salad.

While the wheat berries were simmering, I made the dressing (or “vinaigrette” as the package called it).  It specified 1/2 cup of olive oil which I always think is too much, so I used a 1/3 cup instead.  Then I added 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, some dried parsley (because I didn’t have fresh—not yet anyway), 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (it called for honey mustard but I didn’t have), a sprinkling of minced onion (it called for 1 tbsp minced shallot—now that I think of it, I could have used garlic), 1/4 tsp sea salt, & ground black pepper to taste, & whisked it with a fork. 

When the wheat berries were cooked, I drained them then put them in a large bowl.  I then took 1 15-oz can of white kidney (cannellini) beans & drained & rinsed them.  I added the beans to the bowl, as well as 1/2 cup of chopped onion & 1/2 cup chopped celery.  I then poured the dressing all over the salad & tossed to combine.  I chilled it in the refrigerator for a few hours to blend the flavors.  Isn’t it beautiful?

See? It does look spring-like, doesn’t it?

 

I served it on a bed of mixed greens.

It’s still cold here in Michigan, even though the calendar says it’s spring!  I feel like I need a little bit of extra love today (read, comfort food) so I made a soup.  This is a Chipotle Corn Black Bean Soup from Vive Le Vegan:

1 1/2-2 tbsp olive oil
1-1 1/2 C onion, chopped
3 medium to large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 C celery, chopped
1 1/2 C carrots, chopped
4 tsp cumin (I used 3--this is a strong spice)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4-1/3 C sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (I didn't have so I left out)
3 1/2 C cooked black beans (about 2 14-oz cans)
2 C vegetable stock
1 1/2-2 C water
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp tamari
1/2-1 tsp chipotle hot sauce (I used 1 tsp Tabasco)
2 bay leaves (I used 1)
1 1/2 C frozen corn kernels
fresh lime wedges (for serving)
1 avocado, sliced, for garnish (I didn't have anymore today! :( )

I didn't measure any of the onions, celery, or carrots--I just eyeballed it. 

In a large pot over medium heat, heat the oil.  Add onions, garlic, salt & pepper. Stir, cover & let cook for a few minutes.  Add celery, carrots, spices, & tomatoes, stir, cover, & let cook 5-7 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.  Add beans,stock, 1 1/2 C water (reserve 1/2 C), balsamic vinegar, tamari, hot sauce, & bay leaf.  Increase heat & bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer, cover, & let cook for 15-20 minutes.  Remove bay leaves, & using a hand blender, puree the soup until somewhat smooth but still has chunks of goodies in it.  Stir in the corn &, if you want to thin the soup, the reserved 1/2 C water (mine didn't need this).  Cover & let soup simmer for a few more minutes.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and/or hot sauce.  Serve with lime wedges & avocado. 

We ate it with a side salad of the warmed potato salad I made yesterday.

As a librarian, I read a lot, about three books a week, but sometimes more, in addition to online sources such as newspapers, blogs, & other information for my job.  But I’m finding that I think I need to read even more about veganism.  I have never, ever been a person who is quick with the comebacks and that is why I sometimes get tongue-tied when people ask me direct questions about myself.  Even though I’m a librarian and work on a busy reference desk every day, I can handle questions about other topics but when it comes to me and my life, I find it harder. 

But, as a new-ish vegan, I find myself sometimes stymied when people ask me questions about why I’m vegan, what I eat, etc.  Now that I think about it, it’s only some people that have that effect on me.  They seem genuinely confused, sometimes even angry, & bewildered that anyone would want to be a vegan.  They think it’s limiting, boring, weird, etc.  But this is why I need to read more so that I can talk about it easier.  On my blog, I at least have time to think about what I’m going to say and phrase it right. 

Jill Ovnik (of the Vegan Gal DVD) gave me the advice of reading more, especially information by Dr. McDougall.  She said you probably won’t change anyone’s mind or convert them to veganism, but you will give them something to think about and ponder.  For example, where do cows get their protein & calcium?  How much protein is in breast milk?  Or, what species drinks the milk of another?  Or, as Dr. McDougall asks on his site, “Ever consider Diet vs. Drugs?; Oatmeal vs. Obesity? or “Peas vs. Pills?”

What I’m finding more and more is that most people only think of food and eating when they’re hungry, and then as a nuisance, another task in a busy day, instead of the nourishment and necessity that your body needs to keep working well.  So if it seems like a lot to think about, it is.  Most people don’t think about their body and what they put into it until their body isn’t working right (indigestion, headache, etc.), then they go to the doctor and ask for drugs.

And I know vegans are in the minority.  A quick perusal of this site and it was ALL meat or seafood every single day for all meals!  http://food.yahoo.com/everyday/dinner/  It’s crazy.

I’ll let you what I’m reading and what I learn in the process.

 

In the meantime, today I made this super delicious warm potato salad, adapted from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan:

1 1/2 lb new potatoes or fingerling potatoes (I used an unspecified amount of red potatoes, & it was a lot more than this recipe called for--good for leftovers!)

Vinaigrette:

2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp sea salt
ground black pepper to taste
4 tbsp olive oil
1/8 C pine nuts (I didn't have so I left it out)

Salad:

2 1/2 C loosely packed baby spinach leaves
1/4 C packed fresh basil (I didn't have so I left it out)
3/4-1 C artichokes chopped (I used marinated, drained)
1/2-3/4 C red bell peppers, diced (I used green)
1/4-1/3 C pitted Kalamata or green olives (I used green), halved or chopped
2 tbsp pine nuts (again, I left out)
1/2-1 tbsp olive oil (optional if need for more moisture)

Boil potatoes in a large pot of water.  Reduce to simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced, about 12-15 minutes.  If using the pine nuts, blend all vinaigrette ingredients in a blender until smooth; just stir together in a small bowl if not.  When potatoes are done, drain & allow to cool just enough to handle, then cut in half or in quarters (I cut mine into bite-sized pieces).  I then returned potatoes to the cooking pot (no need to dirty yet another bowl), then tossed in vinaigrette & salad mix & tossed that all together.  I ate some warm after making it but it’s also just as good chilled or at room temperature.

and a whole lot more!

I realized today that even though I’ve mentioned J.’s fabulous pancakes in the past, I’ve never posted any actual recipes.  Most people wonder, how in the world can you make pancakes without eggs?  Or butter? Or milk?  But he does and they are so good, smooth, moist, & hearty.

Banana Bliss Pancakes (adapted from Vive Le Vegan by Dreena Burton)

1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 C barley flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 C + 1 tbsp soymilk
3 tbsp water*
1 tbsp egg replacer*
1 tbsp almond oil
1 medium-large ripe banana (slice HALF of it)

In a large bowl, add the flour & baking powder.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg, & salt, & stir to combine.  In a blender, add HALF of the banana, the soymilk, & oil & blend well.  Add the wet mixture to the dry & fold in the other HALF of the banana, sliced. 

Heat a lightly oiled skillet (J. uses soy margarine) over medium high heat (on our electric stove, we set it to #4 on the dial).  Using a ladle, scoop the batter into the skillet to form pancakes.  Cook for a few minutes until small bubbles start to form on the outer edge of the pancakes and then the center.  Check bottom to see if golden brown, then flip to cook other side for a couple minutes.  Keep warm in a pan in the oven (set to 170 degrees) until all batter is gone. 

*These are NOT in the original recipe but J. adds it because he finds that it helps keep the pancakes from sticking, since we don't use nonstick pans.

We served them with some Gimme Lean vegan “sausage” patties.  A treat on Sundays!

This is my pretty plate (with butterflies & strawberries on it, one of three that I found at the Salvation Army).

 

 

For lunch yesterday I made a chickpea salad (see blog post from Jan. 13) served in whole wheat pita bread with lettuce & avocado.  I also made this Lemony Couscous with Broccoli from Vegan Express:

 

3/4 C couscous
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, quartered & thinly sliced
3 C finely chopped broccoli florets (I didn't measure, I just used all 3 bunches I bought)
1/4 C minced fresh parsley
2 tbsp minced fresh dill (I used 1 tsp dried)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 C oil-packed sliced sun-dried tomatoes or chopped pitted black olives (I didn't have so I left out)

1.  Combine couscous w/ 1 1/2 C boiling water in a heatproof container.  Cover & let stand 10 minutes, then fluff w/fork.  I just boiled the water in a saucepan, then removed it from the heat, added the couscous, covered & let stand for 10 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet.  Add onion & sauté over medium heat until golden.
3.  Add the broccoli & just enough water to keep the bottom of the skillet moist, then cover & allow to steam until broccoli is bright green & tender-crisp, about 4 minutes.
4.  Add the couscous to the skillet along with parsley, dill, lemon juice, the other 1 tbsp olive oil, & tomatoes.  Stir together well, cook for 2-3 minutes more, then serve.

I added a little salt to taste but when I reheat this, I will add a few tablespoons of tomato puree as it needed a little more flavor.  I also might try cooking the couscous with a vegetable bouillon next time instead of just plain water to infuse more flavor.  And I prefer my broccoli in bigger chunks than this recipe called for to taste it better.  Trial & error.  I like my food flavorful and this was a 5 on a scale from 1 to 10.

This afternoon, I also made an Apple Crisp from The Garden of Vegan to use up some apples that I didn’t really care for on their own:

6 apples of your choice, cored & chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C soy margarine
1/2 C flour
1/2 C sugar
1 C rolled oat flakes (I used quick-cook oats)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place apples in a 9-inch baking dish (I used a round glass pie dish).  Sprinkle the cinnamon on top of the apples.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the margarine, flour, sugar, & oat flakes.  Sprinkle that mixture on top of the apples & bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.

 

I haven’t eaten dinner yet, so I’ll have to let you know how this tastes, but it looks & smells wonderful, doesn’t it?!

I know.  What a boring title to today’s blog entry.  I’ve been browsing other vegan blogs lately & think that maybe I need to add some pictures to show you what delicious food I eat?  Or to make it more exciting?  The problem is that I’m usually too eager to eat whatever I’ve made to take the time to photograph it!  And, besides, it might get cold.  I’ll think about it.

The other day while grocery shopping at Hollywood Market, I picked up some frozen Jerusalem Foods Falafil (that’s how they spelled falafel, with an “i”).  I cooked them in the toaster oven & I crumbled them & ate them in a pita with lettuce, onions, avocado, & Vegenaise.  It was good but I think I will try sautéing them in a skillet in a little oil next time.  I prefer to make my own but it takes extra time so I thought I’d give these a try.  Not bad but mine are better.

I also found some Olga’s flat bread in the freezer section & for lunch today, I warmed one in a lightly oiled skillet & spread it with J.’s bean hummus, baby lettuce, onions, & sliced avocado.  It was delicious.  But it’s weird that you only get 5 flat breads in the package, so it was a little expensive at $3.99.  But good to enjoy once in a while.

Last night we made another stir fry, this time using roasted cashews, zucchini, onions, carrots, baby spinach, & green pepper with a sauce from the Moosewood Cookbook.  We ate it with a mix of jasmine & basmati rice.

And, for dessert yesterday I made the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake from Nava Atlas’ Vegan Express.  It came out great & was the first dessert I’ve tried from her book.  Instead of applesauce though (which I didn’t have) I used a small banana.  I could also have used soft tofu if I didn’t have the banana. 

Oil for pan (I use Pam Organic Cooking Spray)
1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C applesauce (or banana or soft tofu)
1/2 C rice or soy milk
1/2 C natural peanut butter AT ROOM TEMPERATURE (my favorite right now is Parkers’ All Natural Creamy found in the butter & cheese section at Hollywood Market)
1 C vegan semisweet chocolate chips (Trader Joe's sells them for only $1.99)
1/3 C chopped peanuts, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch square or round cake pan.
2.  Combine flour, baking powder, salt, & sugar in a mixing bowl & stir together.
3.  Combine applesauce, rice or soy milk, & peanut butter in another bowl & whisk together until smooth. Because I used banana, I used my blender.
4.  Pour liquid mixture into flour mixture & stir until well blended.
5.  Stir in chocolate chips & optional peanuts.  Pour into prepared pan.  My batter came out thick so I just spooned the batter into the pan. 
6.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top & toothpick inserted comes out with chocolate but no batter.
7.  Allow to cool to room temperature or just warm, then cut into squares or wedges to serve.

 

It came out very moist.  They would also make good cupcakes. 

J. is the real gardener around here.  I love a few pots of flowers but starting things from seeds grown indoors under plant lights in early March, transplanting them (oh, so carefully) into the garden beds in May, & managing them once they start producing veggies seems like lots of work to me (and a little boring, too).  But I’m grateful to have them & eat them and they are very pretty & good tasting!  So I wouldn’t change anything.  Thank goodness my husband loves doing it so I can reap the benefits of home grown veggies.  He’s the one who even plants the jalapeno, cherry tomatoes, herbs, & pepper plants I buy.

To give you an example of how dedicated J. is, he not only grows the beans, he dries the pods & then removes the beans to dry—usually on the counter for several days (although it would be nice to have a little indoor porch off our kitchen since we don’t have much counter space).

On Monday, he soaked a blend of beans in water to cook & make a hummus on Tuesday.  He adapted a recipe from the Chipotle Lime Two-Bean Hummus from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan:

2 C cooked beans
4 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2-2 tbsp tahini
1 clove garlic, sliced
2-2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp chipotle hot sauce (we use Tabasco)
1 tsp agave nectar
1/16-1/8 tsp allspice
1-2 tbsp water (to thin dip as desired)

In a food processor, combine all except water.  Puree until very smooth, gradually adding water as needed to thin dip.  Stop processor & scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.  If serving to guests (or just for fun), add chopped fresh cilantro & stir in.

Yesterday, after grocery shopping, I made a pan of roasted red potatoes, zucchini, carrots, & onions with 3 tbsp olive oil.  I used a 9 x 12 size pan & lined it with 2 sheets of parchment paper, tossed in all the chopped veggies, then drizzled the olive oil, adding sea salt & the juice of 1/2 of a lemon & stirring it all together.  Then I baked it for 45 minutes.  I served it with chopped Tofurkey brand Italian soy “sausage” that I sautéed in a skillet with a tbsp of olive oil.  We also ate the hummus on crackers.  So good!

I’m very lucky in that my husband also enjoys cooking as much as I do.  I worked on Saturday and, when I came home, he had made a Vegetable Biryani adapted from La Dolce Vegan:

1 onion chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 stalk celery
1 14-16 oz can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1/2 C dried red lentils
1/2 C basmati rice (rinsed in a strainer first)
2 1/2 C water
Half a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 C frozen peas

In a large sauté pan on medium-high heat, sauté onions in oil until translucent.  Add garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, pepper, ginger & salt & sauté for 1-2 minutes.  Add celery, chickpeas, lentils, rice & water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.  Cover & cook for 15-20 minutes or until rice is cooked.  Turn off heat, stir in tomatoes, peas & let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Yesterday I made a quick dish of Kidney Beans, jasmine rice, & leftover reheated tempeh:

In a skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil & sauté 1/2 of a chopped onion, 1 minced garlic, & 1 stalk celery until onions are translucent.  Then add 1 tsp cumin & sea alt & pepper to taste.  Add 1 can of kidney beans (with liquid), & we added the other half can of diced tomatoes from yesterday.  Then add 1 tbsp white wine vinegar & cook until beans are warmed through.

Finally, after I made some biscotti, J. made some of his wonderful Scones:

2 C flour (he used white whole wheat flour)
1/4 C ground flaxseed meal
1/4 C ground walnuts (use grinder)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 stick of cold soy margarine
1/2 C sugar
2/3 C soy milk
1/4 C dried cranberries, cherries, or other dried fruit of choice or even nuts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine flours, flaxseed meal, walnuts, baking powder, & salt.  With a pastry cutter, cut in margarine until mixture resembles fine granules.  Add milk & stir with fork.  When dough forms, knead with hands.  Either roll out with rolling pin & cut with biscuit cutter or form with hands into 1/2 inch thick rounds.  Bake on a baking sheet w/parchment paper 12-14 minutes until golden.

Tonight I tried tempeh for the first time.  Tempeh is soy, made from soybeans that have been cooked & cultured.  It looks like a rectangular cake form.  I bought the Lifeline brand at Trader Joe’s which was a three grain style made with organic soybeans, organic brown rice, organic millet, & organic barley.  I cut up the entire cake into 1/4” thick slices then sautéed it in a skillet (like I do the firm tofu to make tofu sandwiches) with 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil & 2 tbsp Bragg’s.  I also sprinkled one side with my all-purpose spice mix (see blog post dated Feb. 12th) & cooked until both sides were nicely browned. 

All of my cookbooks had lots to say about tempeh.  One said that it had a “strong flavor” while another said it was an “acquired taste” with a “slightly nutty” flavor.  Well, I loved it!  My husband wasn’t so sure.  The texture was almost meat-like which got me thinking it might work for when I convert my old Cuban arroz con pollo recipe, which requires browning the chicken before it is cooked with the rice.  Next time, I will buy some seitan to try which is another soy protein.

We ate the tempeh with leftover brown & jasmine rice mixed together and steamed baby spinach. 

I work all day tomorrow so I will take some of the leftover tempeh, reheat it at work, then make a sandwich with Vegenaise, lettuce & onions in a pita bread.  I’ve also packed an antipasto salad of onions, roasted red peppers, pepperonicini, martichokes (my slang for marinated artichokes), & Spanish olives; Clementines; mixed nuts, & of course, my latte.

I know, you’re probably thinking, man this girl eats a lot of hummus!  But I love it.  And I make so many different kinds there’s a great variety.  For you meat eaters out there, think of it as your lunch meat, always in the fridge for a quick meal when you don’t feel like cooking. 

I’ve always loved sandwich spreads (and, no, I don’t mean Miracle Whip—we were a Hellmann's Real Mayo household).  I still remember the chicken spread that my grand aunt Sonia used to make when I was a little girl; I’d feel so special that she always had some just for me to take home.  My mom also bought a ham spread from Farmer Jack that I liked.  And, of course, tuna mixed with all the fixings was also a staple for sandwiches.

Since becoming vegan, hummus & other bean spreads are my delicious alternatives.  I’ve even found some great recipes for avocado & roasted garlic spreads.  The variety is endless.

The hummus I made today is adapted from Vive le Vegan:

1 15-16 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 small or medium clove garlic, sliced
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (dark)
1/2 tsp sea salt
3-4 tbsp water (or less/more as desired)
ground black pepper to taste

Combine all in a food processor or blender & puree until very smooth, adding a little water at first, then more if desired to thin it.  Scrape down sides of bowl several times throughout & puree again until very smooth.  Season to taste with more sea salt, pepper, &/or lemon juice.  Serve in a bowl drizzled with more extra-virgin olive oil.

Well, yesterday I had some extra hours at the library so I packed a lunch of leftover split pea soup, a rice & bean salad I made, a Clementine, some mixed nuts/dried fruit, & a vanilla cupcake.

Today I’m off so had time to cook.  I made jasmine rice, black beans, & a little stir-fry of carrots, peas, & corn. 

I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they have a hard time making rice without a rice cooker.  I received a rice cooker as a wedding gift over 15 years ago but I didn’t like how dry it made the rice; I prefer it a little sticky like in the Chinese restaurants.  After I dropped the rice cooker & broke it, I decided to learn how to make it in a regular saucepan.  I looked up a basic recipe in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook & it was so easy & came out so well that it’s how I’ve made rice ever since.

Usually, since it’s just the two of us, I take 1 cup of whatever kind of rice I’m cooking & rinse it well in a strainer.  Then I put 1 1/4 cups (2 cups for brown rice) water in a saucepan, cover it, & turn heat on high.  When it boils, I add the rice, lower the heat to simmer, stir it once, cover it, then set the timer for 15 minutes for jasmine (or basmati) rice or 40 minutes for brown rice.  That’s it.  When the timer dings you lift the lid & all the water is absorbed & your rice is perfect.  This works EVERY time.  Even my dad tells me this is how he prefers his rice but my mom still uses her rice cooker.  I don’t find it any different; you still need to wash the pan of the rice cooker just like you have to wash your saucepan.  It’s just another appliance to clutter up the kitchen in my opinion.  My relatives in Miami use this a lot but I don’t get it.

I made my usual black beans(see blog dated Feb. 10).  The carrot stir-fry is made by cutting up some washed & scrubbed carrots & putting them in a skillet with maybe a few tablespoons of water.  I covered them & set the heat to 5 on my electric stove, setting the timer for 10 minutes.  Then I drained any leftover water, added 1/2 tbsp. olive oil, some frozen corn & some frozen green peas, then sautéed it all until the carrots started to slightly brown.  A quick easy way to get extra vegetables. 

Once again, since I don’t work until this evening I have time to make something a little different.  Sort of burritos, but I’ll have little bowls of ingredients out to make each one individually.  I will reheat some brown rice I made on Sunday & make some refried beans to serve on corn tortillas with baby spinach & homemade salsa (see blog post from Jan. 23rd).  When I was a child (& come to think of it, she still does today) my mother used lard to reheat cooked homemade pinto beans.  Since I’m now vegan I do not use lard & have found several vegan alternatives in my cookbooks.  The one I’m using today is from The Garden of Vegan:

2 tbsp soy margarine
Can of pinto beans (I use Trader Joe's organic)
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp sea salt
Black pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan (I use a skillet), melt margarine until bubbly.  Add beans & cook for 3 minutes.  Add onions, salt, & pepper but don't stir.  Reduce heat to medium/low & cook until onions are soft.  Mash with fork or back of a spoon. 

The baby spinach is an addition by me to add extra greens; growing up I don’t recall many greens added to the Mexican dishes my relatives made, except maybe some fresh cilantro. 

Time to go cook!

Let’s catch up this blog since I didn’t have a chance during my busy weekend. 

Last Friday evening, we ate at Steve’s Backroom in St. Clair Shores.  I usually get Steve’s Salad (which I incorrectly thought was called the Five Bean Salad) but decided to try something different.  I ordered the Falafel salad (after asking if it was made with eggs—it isn’t) & it was delicious.  I would have preferred the abundant variety of vegetables in Steve’s Salad but it was still good.  We also ordered an appetizer of the hummus, tabbouleh, & baba ghanoush.  I found out that they make their hummus from chickpeas that they cook from scratch but that they toast first.  It has a unique flavor & is so very creamy & smooth.  I make my hummus with canned chickpeas for convenience, but I might try it from scratch someday.  The tabbouleh is made of parsley, bulgur, mint, tomato, & other herbs with lemon juice.  And the baba ghanoush was mashed eggplant with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice & garlic.  Of course, it was all served with my favorite warmed pita bread.  My husband had never been to Steve’s Backroom & is often on the east side meeting his friend; he was happy to learn of another restaurant alternative to the Sprout House on that side of town.

Yesterday morning I made the red pepper hummus I mentioned a few blogs ago.  I hadn’t seen my parents in awhile & always like to take something to them when I visit.  We enjoyed it on sandwiches.

When I got home, I made a split pea soup adapted from a recipe in La Dolce Vegan.  It is so flavorful, I doubt meat eaters would even miss that blasted ham bone! 

1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery hearts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tsp turmeric
Pinch of dried rosemary
2 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
2 C vegetable stock
3 C water
1 C dried green split peas

In a stock pot, sauté the onion, garlic, celery, & carrots in the olive oil until onions are translucent.  Add the remaining ingredients & bring to a boil, then lower to simmer, & cover for 45 minutes (stirring occasionally) or until peas are cooked. 

Finally, I made another batch of vanilla cupcakes, which I adapted from the vanilla cake recipe in How It All Vegan:

1 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C oil (I use vegetable)
egg replacer equal to 1 egg (I use 2 tbsp ground flaxseed meal w/3 tbsp water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, & sugar.  In another small bowl, add the egg replacer mixture, stir together & let sit about 2 minutes.  Then add milk, vanilla, & oil to flaxseed mixture & stir well to combine.  Add wet mixture to dry then mix all until just combined.  I then spooned the batter into a muffin tin lined with papers (if you're making a cake, pour into a lightly oiled cake pan) & bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Ice when cooled if desired.  Makes 12 cupcakes.

Today we had minestrone soup (that we froze from that huge monastery soup batch) & I reheated the herbed oven fries from the other night.  But I cut mine up & made a sort of warmed potato salad with mixed baby greens & herbs, sliced onions, & avocado with lemon juice, sea salt & pepper.  Delish!

Yesterday I met a friend for lunch with takeout from Steve’s Backroom in St. Clair Shores on Jefferson.  I had the Five Bean salad with lettuce, onions, dried cranberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, green peppers, rice, avocado, red beans, black beans, kidney beans, lentils, & white beans with pomegranate dressing & pita bread.  Wow!  We’re meeting another friend tonight on that side of town & will eat at Steve’s again since my husband wants to try it out.  I’ll have to try something new, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow.