Once A Week Vegan

Crock-Pot Chowder For Busy Days

2012-01-27T23:36:00.000-08:00

I have mixed feelings about my crock pot. Sometimes I absolutely love it; sometimes I hate it. The love part comes in when I know I have a busy day ahead and won't feel up to dealing with dinner. That's when it's good to toss a bunch of odds and ends into its great abyss, set the cover in place, and turn it on to do its thing while being ignored by me.

The hate part comes about because after a while everything begins to taste the same. That's when I relegate the vessel to the large cupboard that sits on my back porch. It's been residing there nearly two years now.

But then the rain rolled in and decided to stay. I wanted soup, but figured I wouldn't feel like going to all the trouble at the end of the day and began thinking of a way I could indulge my senses without having to spend much time in the kitchen. It was then that the light came on. Crock pot something. So I brought the unwieldy appliance into the house, cleaned it all up, and set about throwing things into it that I thought might go together. Nobody was more surprised than I was that the resultant chowder actually tasted great.

Next time you want dinner without much work, give this recipe a try. Let me know if it works for you. I want to warn you in advance that this soup isn't the prettiest one on the block. But it sure tastes great. Happy Slurping!

CORN, BEAN, & COLLARD CHOWDER

Place into the crock pot:

2 cups of frozen corn

1 can of any favorite bean, undrained

1/2 cup diced onion

1 diced Anaheim chili or chili of your choice

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

1 cup frozen collard greens

1 cup soy milk

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup of quinoa, millet, amaranth, or grain of choice

1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
2 garlic cloves, minced

Few drops of your favorite hot sauce

2 Tbs. agave nectar

Salt and pepper to taste

Turn the crock pot to low and ignore it until you get hungry. I served this tummy-filling chowder with biscuits, but any bread of choice will be good for sopping up the last bits of juice. Serves 4

Happy Slurping!

Juicing for Better Health

2012-01-26T21:56:00.000-08:00

The bright color of 1/4 beet almost takes over the orange carrots

This is the second blog along the way of my juice fast. I made it through the first two days, extended to three because of my digression at a dinner party. Now, see, I could have just given up, but my resolve is better health and hopefully longevity. So back up on that horse I trod.

After the two days of only fruit and vegetables (steamed or raw), the only seasoning would be soy sauce, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or lemon juice; its time for juice, water, and herbal teas. As outlined in my previous blogs here, every morning you must gulp down 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil mixed with 1/2 a lemon (or a whole small one). This recalls the horror tales of cod liver oil forced on my mother's childhood or the beef liver she thought would be good for mine. I sat alone at the table long after my brothers were excused, obstinately looking at that disgusting organ. Luckily for me, we had a dog, who patiently waited for me to sneak pieces between my bare toes. Regardless of the taste, the oil and lemon juice cleanses your liver and gall bladder. Lord knows they need it, right? Just rinse your mouth with a strong tasting chaser: fruit juice or very strong flavored tea (like Good Earth original).

Every day you will also need to take a natural fiber supplement. Rota Rooter time people! There are many products to choose from at your health food store. I've used Perfect 7 in the past, and bought Organic Bowel Cleanse by Renew Life this time. One scoop in 8 ounces of water either morning or night or both! Once you stop eating solids, bowel movements slow down. Increase your fiber if you don't "go" for two days running.

Drink as much water as possible, at least one quart. Try for 2 or more! This cleans your biggest organ, the skin and helps to clear the kidneys. Also every day, drink one ounce of wheat grass juice. Most juice bars serve these up, although I did notice powders and pills in the vitamin sections of your average health store, if you have trouble finding fresh. I've been told wheat grass oxygenates the blood, and gives one energy. Maybe I need to imbibe more wheat grass on the first two days of this diet. I wonder if I could battle my dragging fatigue better with more of it?

Day three, time to juice. It's perfectly fine to start out the gate juicing, but I wait because after a few days of nothing but, your taste buds get real tired of it. Besides, what a nuisance to clean your juicer! I learned a lot about nutrition and good recipes by reading Jay Kordich's Juice Man. Generally don't mix fruit and vegetables, with some exceptions. Carrots, apples, celery, pears, grapes are special. Mix away. Only incorporate one fourth greens (except for celery and cucumbers, which you can drink perfectly safely) into your drink, too much is actually toxic. After all, we're not cows! Kordich also warns against too much beet. Never drink more than 1/4 of large or 1/2 of a small. Again, too potent! I will get into some of my favorite recipes next time.

Here I start with the pungent garlic, onions, radish, and earthy sweet potato.

After you juice some good greens, fill out the balance with carrots

Buttercup Squash

2012-01-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Buttercup Squash is a boxy, squat, dark green, solid looking vegetable. But it's light. (This one was anyway, maybe some are heavier, maybe it depends on what kind of a rain year we are having.) I didn't get a picture of it before I cut it in half, sorry. You can see from the pictures below that the flesh is not thick. So when I cut this Buttercup in half and dug out the seeds, it presented me with two bowls. What should I do with these two bowls?

This is what I did. I looked around, in the pantry, in the refrigerator, in the fruit bowl. I checked my spices. I was determined to go savory, not sweet. I didn't want the maple syrup/ brown sugar and butter squash of my past.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

A drizzle of Olive Oil in each pumpkin bowl (1 Tablespoon each)

Followed by a generous shake of salt, pepper and cinnamon.

I had a small package of chili pepper that comes with pizza when it's delivered and divided it between the bowls.

I chopped up 4 small apples - about 3 cups and about 1/2 cup of walnuts and stirred them together before spooning them into the squash halves.

Cover with aluminum foil and put into the oven for 30 minutes.

Then uncover for the remaining 30 minutes.

So Pretty.

YUM

You could use pears instead of apples. You could add celery, onion or cranberries. You could change the spices. It's a dish the lends itself to experimentation.

To take advantage of the oven heat, I also roasted 2 head of garlic at the same time and served them alongside the squash. It was a very nice compliment to the natural subtle sweetness of the squash.

A Juice Fast takes Planning

2012-01-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

Once or twice a year I commit to a juice fast. See last year's blog (http://7shadesofvegan.blogspot.com/2011/01/cleanse-with-juice-fast). It cleanses my body. Totally clears my pallet from salt, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol cravings. The emotional and mental addictions to food or alcohol isn't exactly cured. When I go back to regular eating, I slowly slip back into bad habits and gain back all the weight lost. I'll be honest, it's not easy. The first two days are the most difficult for me, but I've heard that it's the fourth day or sixth day for others. If you drink caffeine, then you will get a headache for at least a day. Why bother? I feel that I take years off my aging body. Everyone enjoys a clean house no matter how onerous the task is. Once a year I like to clean out my pipes. It rejuvenates my cells, mind and spirit. Yes, it is a huge exercise in self discipline too, which if anyone knew how self indulgent I usually am, they would have to applaud my efforts. Okay, it's enough for me to pat my own back then.

The first thing is make a plan and mark your calender. This year I proposed a date to fast in tandem with my Hula instructor who, has in the past organized her students to juice together because not everybody had a juicer. Then the morning of I realize that I haven't done the shopping for organic fruits and vegetables that I needed. Yipes! So at 6:00 in the morning I frantically text my guru an FYI. Fast delayed by one day. Then, because I didn't consult my social calender, I forgot that my husband and I were invited to a very high class dinner party on the second day of my diet! Ahhhrrrrg. What do I do? Feign illness and stay home? Not my style to miss a party, so I thought I should pack a salad in case all the veggies were too rich. My husband was dead set against bringing my own Tupperware, besides I was running late getting ready, scratch that idea.

Now to get the body ready for a purely juice diet, you must prepare by only ingesting raw or plain cooked fruits and vegetables for a couple of days, so there is some wiggle room in social occasions on those days. Aiming to stick to the veggies, hoping no one would notice....I managed to avoid the fried bitter ball (some Dutch concoction) appetizer. But soon the smells of the prime rib roast and mushroom gravy was too much for me to resist the smallest portion I could taste. Oh well, I blew it; may as well have that glass of wine too!

As my mother was fond of saying, "Do as I say not as I do." Let's review, plan your ten day juice cleanse around any special occasions. Then shopping is your next step. I like the variety of organic produce in some of the higher end food chains that cater to the green movement. Obviously the Farmers Market is a good venue to buy beautiful food too. Here is what you need....

A good quality extra virgin olive oil that tastes good to you.
A high quality fiber/ colon cleanser found in health food stores
Herbal teas, if you like them (instead of black teas or coffee)
Soy sauce, or better yet Braggs Liquid Aminos to season (instead of salt)
A good pro biotic to replace the beneficial flora of the intestines. Check the refridgerated vitamin section.
Lemons, at least a half dozen
Carrots, buy the largest quantity available unless you just buy carrot juice by the quart as you need it.
Leafy greens, I like parsley, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, etc.
Celery, tomatoes, pears, grapes, as much as 5 pounds each, what ever you can afford.
1 bunch of red beets, a bit of garlic and ginger, one or two onions,
Broccoli, cabbage, radishes, are strong tasting so don't need more than one each, if you like them.
Cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple --- leave skins on for their vitamin content (only if organic)
Citrus fruits pare off skins, leaving as much pith for health benefits

My day to day juicing adventures will be posted soon.

Breakfast Burrito Bonanza

2012-01-20T04:28:00.000-08:00

Many people say breakfast is their favorite meal of the day. While I've never been a big breakfast eater, I do love what's come to be known as "Brunch." Mid-morning is when I get hungry. And breakfast is what I want.

Imagine my joy when I found a scrambled egg recipe in the Happy Herbivore cookbook that turned out to be so delicious I adapted it to my version of a breakfast burrito. My mid-morning tastebuds jumped up and did the Mexican Hat Dance. Honest. Can't you just picture it?

The interesting part is that this completely eggless recipe ends up looking just like scrambled eggs. Not only that, it has the mouth feel of scrambled eggs and a flavor reminiscent of the same. But it's all crumbled tofu with some added spices and a few vegetables tossed in for good luck. I loved it and so did my guests. Happy dancing.

MEXICAN BREAKFAST BURRITO

1 lb. firm silken tofu, drained and crumbled with fingers to look like feta cheese. See the above photo.
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. adobo seasoning (I got mine at www.penzeys.com)
1 red jalapeno, diced, seeds and ribs removed
1 small zucchini, diced
8 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a shallow pan. I used one of my cast iron skillets for better heat conduction.

Crumble the tofu into a large bowl. Stir in the nutritional yeast along with all of the seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well so everything combines. Let it sit while you pre-cook the vegetables.

Cook the vegetables in a small skillet, about 5 minutes or just long enough to take the hard bite out of them. I cooked all of mine together, but if you prefer, you can cook each one separately. Add the vegetables to the tofu/spice bowl. Stir together till everything is mixed.

Put the tofu mixture into the greased or sprayed skillet and pat down firmly so there is good contact with the bottom of the pan. Bake uncovered about 25 minutes or until the top is firm and slightly brown. Let it sit a few minutes while you prepare the tortillas.

Warm 6 flour tortillas in the oven, microwave, or stove top. Spoon a generous portion of the scramble mixture down the center of each tortilla. Pour 1 Tbs. of red salsa over the top and sprinkle generously with chopped cilantro. Roll the tortilla into a burrito shape and serve immediately.

Makes 6

I served red rice as a side and baked apples for dessert. We were all too full to move, but our tummies were doing a happy dance.

These burritos will set your feet 'a-dancin'.....

Caramel

2012-01-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Caramel showed up in my childhood home twice a year. First on Valentine's Day when Mom made Dad a decadent caramel / pecan pie with a graham cracker crust. Then again on Halloween, when we made dozens upon dozens of caramel apples, with apples from our trees, for the trick or treat-ers.

Caramel is sugar and milk and corn syrup and butter. Not vegan. But this recipe is vegan and I'm asking you now to promise to brush your teeth after eating this treat. It is sooooo good, you may have trouble not having a second or third piece, so I'm asking you a second thing, eat your healthy food first.

The origins of this recipe is from the Saveur website. I threw in some pecans as a tip of the hat to the Valentine's Day tradition, and to add some food value. And I added a little chili powder to make everyone wonder, besides the coconut flavor, what's different about this caramel? It's a wonderful addition. Sweet with a Hot undertone.

I found an error in the Saveur recipe - they say to cook the sugar and water in an 8 quart sauce pan. Eight quarts of pan to cook 1 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water. Ladies and gentlemen, my candy thermometer can not reach to the bottom of that pot. What could they be thinking? That the sugar water is going to roll and boil and spit in my eye? I assure you a 2 quart saucepan will be sufficient.

One more thing before we get started. Making caramel involves a lot of stirring and stirring and waiting and waiting for the sauce to get to 240 degrees. So grab a few music CDs or a book on tape to keep you from wandering away from the stove and burning the caramel. Keep the phone close if you are one to answer it every time it rings. That's everything. Let us begin.

Spicy Nutty Coconut Milk Caramels

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

16 oz coconut milk

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder (more won't hurt)

1 3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Line an 8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper and brush with vegetable shortening. Pour the chopped pecans over the paper and spread evenly, set aside.

Combine the coconut milk, corn syrup, salt and chili powder in a 4 quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is warm and coconut milk clumps have dissolved. Turn off heat.

Set aside.

Combine sugar and water is a 2 quart saucepan, stir to combine. Heat over medium heat, without stirring, until the sugar turns light amber and candy thermometer reads 210 degrees F. (Saveur says 310 degrees F, another error I think). Remove from heat.

Pour the sugar mixture into the coconut milk mixture and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. Keep stirring until the caramel becomes thick and candy thermometer reads 240 degrees F.

Not quite there yet. Patience is a virtue.

Pour the hot caramel over the nuts. It will find its way to the corners and level out nicely. Now the hard part. Allow to cool. This will take at least an hour. Enough time to do the sticky dishes and walk the dog. Then cut into 1 inch squares and wrap in wax paper squares. Store at room temperature.

I'm tagging this recipe for next years holiday treat bags. Who makes caramel that tastes this good? Who? You do.

Faux Chicken And Dumplings

2012-01-14T01:54:00.000-08:00

My aunt made the best chicken and dumplings I've ever eaten, although I've learned to make a dish that tastes reasonably like hers. The chicken and vegetable part is easy. It's getting the dumplings to cook up into huge fluffy clouds that are dry in the center, but saucy on the outside that stumped me for a time. After a lot of experimentation, I finally figured out her secret. Read on....

Noodle-like dumplings

Through the years, I've tasted many chicken and dumpling offerings. For the most part, the broth and veggies were fine. The problem has always been the dumplings. Now I know a dumpling war rages, with some people liking those flat, thin things that look like dried pasta and taste just about as good. Others like those tiny balls that resemble gnocchi except that they are firm to the tooth and bear no semblance to anything fluffy or cloud-like.

Gnocchi-like dumplings

But I wasn't raised on those versions. I come from the other side of the dumpling tracks and for me, nothing but what I consumed as a child will do. So here's what I'm saying: Begin your soup as I suggest and then try my light as air dumplings and see if they please your taste buds. Made right, their consistency will remind you of those huge bakery muffins we all relish, albeit savory. If the other kind suit you better, you can always make this dish again and use your dumpling of choice.

Since chicken and dumplings has always been a favorite dish, I've been working on a vegan version for nearly a year and with the inspiration of a few vegan cookbooks, I finally came up with a recipe that's heart-warming, filling, and reminds me of those cold winter days in Minnesota when all a body wanted at dinner was something hot to warm you from from the inside out. This recipe does that for me. My hope is that it not only warms you up but makes you smile.

FAUX CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Soup part:

1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup pea and carrot mix (I used frozen)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. dried parsley (fresh if you have it)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbs. nutritional yeast (a must for flavor)
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 cup drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, often called chickpeas
dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper

Brown the vegetables in 2 Tbs. canola oil. Add the spices, milk, and beans, along with 1 1/2-2 cups of No Chicken Broth from the Health Food Market. Use Vegetable stock if the above isn't available. Set the pot on a back burner, cover, and simmer about an hour. Taste for seasoning before adding the dumplings to the broth. If the broth has gotten too low, add more stock. Dumplings need a good bath of liquid to cook right.

Once the pot is bubbling, drop the dumplings by teaspoon-full into the hot broth. Adjust the burner so the liquid simmers and leave the pot uncovered for ten minutes. Then cover and simmer another ten minutes. No cheating on the time or the dumplings will not turn out right.

NO PEEKING ALLOWED! If the built up steam escapes, the dumplings will not be fluffy. Trust me on this. It's where I made my mistake. When the time has elapsed, uncover the pot. Put one or two of those big fat dumplings in a large bowl and ladle the soup over the top. Sprinkle with minced green onions or fresh parsley. Go back for seconds!

Serves 3-4

DUMPLING DOUGH

1 cup white flour (wheat just doesn't make a good dumpling)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. vegan margarine, melted

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

Stir all ingredients together with a fork until the dough just comes together. It will be wet and sloppy. That is how it should be. Drop by rounded teaspoon fulls into the bubbling broth. They will look small now, but will be huge when finished as they expand a lot. Cook as directed above. Serve immediately.

Tempura

2012-01-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

Gluten free vegan - there's a challenge. If the recipe calls for wheat flour, it doesn't get a second look from me. But in the fine print of all the tempura recipes I read, it says, don't stir this batter too long or you will activate the gluten in the flour and the batter will be too sticky. That means that here is a recipe that lends itself to gluten free flours. Yahoo.

I love the crunch and versatility of tempura. It's a technique that uniquely modifies a vegetable. Tempura provides texture and a certain mystic to a meal. It's just plain fun to eat tempura. Even a wary child will be intrigued.

Warning: Deep frying requires your full attention. Hot oil and a batter are a spitting, popping combination. Be careful and mindful. Keep the small children out of the kitchen. If you are dipping vegetables like bell peppers, that have a skin on them, score the skin before you batter or it may blister and explode in the hot oil. Wear an apron. Safety goggles aren't out of the question. But a helmet is going a little too far.

Tempura (mushrooms, spinach and sweet potato) and rice

Tempura
(deep fried vegetables)
1 cup flour (for gluten free, use brown rice flour or chickpea flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
and very important
1 cup ICE cold water

Vegetables
(such as: sweet potato, mushrooms, spinach, kale, eggplant, carrot, green beans, potato, okra, pumpkin, snow peas)
Peanut oil
(traditionally sesame oil is used, you can also use canola or vegetable oil)

Prepare the vegetables. Wash and cut into bite size pieces. Dry.

Heat the oil. It is ready when batter dropped into the oil turns golden brown. (325 - 350 degrees F)

Mix the batter last so you are working with cold batter.

When oil is hot, dip the vegetables into the batter to coat lightly, then carefully put into the hot oil to fry. They will be ready in 2-3 minutes.Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and rain on paper towel.

Serve hot with a soy or plum dipping sauce, or just give your vegetables a splash of lemon.

Serve with a green salad and a bowl of steaming hot rice.

Health Nut Apple Pie

2012-01-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

We don't eat many rabbits here in the USA, but in Europe they do. My Dutch sister-in-law even served it up for dinner for us. Knowing that I haven't ever tried it, she thought it would be a nice gesture of hospitality. I was a little grossed out, but I did try it. I thought it tasted sour and gamy.

I felt conflicted at the time, wanting to be a polite guest, grateful to her efforts to please my husband and I. Yet, I have owned pet rabbits, and my dear friend is on the board of BUNS (Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter) here in Santa Barbara. She refuses to eat at restaurants that serve rabbits. I felt that I betrayed her too. Well, now at least I can say that I tried it once and I don't like it.

This rabbit pictured finally got adopted after a few months in the limbo of lost and found pets with the city of Carpinteria. When he first came to our facility, he was smaller, with dirty, yellowed and matted fur. I gave him a bath, and over time brushed out the ugly dead fur clinging to his hide. He patiently let me do what ever I wanted to him. Just happy to have the attention, any attention! I kind of miss seeing him on the weekends when I check in on the animals, but so relieved that he found a loving home. I bet he's glad we don't eat a lot of rabbits here.

Health Nut Apple Pie

Okay, this turned out delicious and hearty. Yes there is a little sugar but the whole wheat flour and walnuts kick up the protein, while the dried blueberries take the traditional apple pie into a new flavor direction. You really need to make your pastry, though. Yes it is convenient to buy those frozen pie shells, but homemade tastes so much better! The standard recipe for a one crust or two crust pie shell always leave me with barely enough dough to flute the edges. Here is a doubled recipe I use because I like to have extra dough to freeze or make turn overs with. You can wrap and refridgerate the dough for a couple of weeks too.

Pastry Shell                                                             Filling
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour                                       6 cups thin-medium sliced apples
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour                                    1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt                                                      1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup vegetable shortening                                      1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8-10 tablespoons ice water                                      1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
                                                                                 1/4 teaspoon salt
                                                                                 1 cup chopped walnuts
                                                                                 1/2 cup dried blueberries
                                                                                 2 tablespoons vegan margarine

1. Sift the flour and put into large mixing bowl. Stir in salt a few quick turns. Cut your cold, straight from the fridge margarine or shortening into smaller pieces and drop into flour. Use a pastry blender or two knifes to cut and mix up smaller and smaller pieces of shortening with the flour. When the mix looks like the two are well distributed together, (take off your rings) and add 4-5 tablespoons of ice cold water. Use your fingers to mix and knead. Exposing the dryer flour underneath and adding more water, 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough balls into one mass. You do not want it sticky! Don't put in too much water!

2. Divide the dough into two balls and flatten one with your hands, before you turn it onto a floured surface. I use a large cutting board, or just the flat counter top itself. Keep flour handy, roll it twice as flat, then gently pick it up, smooth more flour on your surface to keep the pastry from sticking. Turn the dough over and again roll up to twice as big. Repeat until you have a enough to line the bottom layer of the pie dish. You can check by gently folding it into fourths and then transferring to the dish, not big enough? Roll out some more. When you position the dough over the pie dish, gently lift the edges to ease the dough down snug against all sides. Cut off the excess dough.

3. I didn't put a top layer on my pie, but it probably would have worked better with one. Some of the apple slices got pretty brown-black. Either roll out the next ball to lay on top after you fill the pie, or save the second ball and simply finish the edges by rolling and pinching, or rolling under and pressing with a fork. Don't over fuss. It's supposed to look homemade!

4. Mix sugar, flour, spices, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples, walnuts and blueberries. Fill pie, and dot with margarine before covering with top shell (optional). You need to cut strips of aluminum foil to cover the edges of your pie before baking. If you don't, your pie will have very brown or black edges.

5. Bake in a 425 degree F. oven for 40-50 minutes. Poke a few holes into the pie if you have a top crust using a fork or knife to let steam out. You will smell it and want to eat it when it turns lovely brown.

Salad Too Pretty To Eat

2012-01-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

You all know how family potlucks are. Everyone brings something to share and chances of finding anything vegan on the table is slim to none. But that isn't what happened to me on my family Christmas Eve get together. In all, about thirty-five of us showed up and I was glad my sister has a three-story house because we seemed to fill it to the rafters.

The appetizer table alone was so full of goodies I wondered how it remained standing on it's skinny legs, but with all the people gathered around it, I think all the bodies helped hold it upright. I didn't graze that table because I was pretty sure there was nothing there that I could eat. How wrong I was. One niece had brought a big tray of jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon and a small dish of poppers stuffed with vegan cheese and no bacon so I could partake too. I have to say they were delicious.

In order to keep the big tables for sitting, my sister laid all the food out on her two big kitchen counters, loading them down with all manner of goodies in every color. Thanks to another of my nieces, there was a small pot of vegan chili on the back of the stove and thanks to one of my sisters, another small pot of vegetable soup with dumplings sat on another burner. One cousin came with her family-famous and vegan friendly salad, which I love and knew I could eat with relish. I did, too.

How grateful I am for family that takes my vegan diet into their plans in order to make sure I have something to eat at our get togethers. I know not every family is like that and I thank God for giving me relatives who love me enough to take special care that I have food on the table. They know how many years I have spent in and out of the hospital with intestinal disease and how many bowel resections I've had.

They know that since the doctor changed my diet to vegan that I've been doing well, feeling well, and lost weight. They care about me to the point that they take extra time to cook a small dish of something I can have. So while everyone else filled up with big bowls of turkey chili and chicken and dumplings, I was content with the vegan renderings they'd cooked just for me. It doesn't get any better than that. Food is just food. But food cooked for one single person at a gathering of thirty-five relatives, says a lot about family ties and the love that binds.

I like this salad so much I purposely asked my cousin to bring it. She made enough so that I could take some home with me.

FRESH SALAD TOO PRETTY TO EAT

4 bell peppers, all colors, chopped

2 limes, juiced

1-2 garlic cloves, pureed or grated

1 jalapeno, minced

1 small red onion, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch cilantro, minced

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of corn, drained and rinsed

Mix everything together about a day before you want to serve it. This dish is crunchy, spicy, fresh, and addictive. Trust me on this.

Salad photo and recipe courtesy of Lydia Buchanan

Pumpkin Soup

2012-01-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

Holidays are meant for social gatherings no matter how big or small. Whether you buy specially prepared foods and drinks or spend hours on making it all yourself. The play between traditional, seasonal, and something new on the table never ceases to delight me, my friends and family. As we taste, savour, and veer into pure gluttony, we always discuss what it is we are eating and drinking. How it compares to last year's feast. What small mistake or forgotten step needs to be forgiven. Oh the cranberry sauce didn't quite make it into the cranberry sauce hall of fame! However, that easy side of southern greens was voted into the next special occasion that involves mash potatoes.

Maybe the topic of food is a truly safe subject. Even with close friends and family, politics and religion will quickly heat up a conversation. This year my Christmas dinner at my brother's house was surprisingly copacetic and pleasant, considering past uncomfortable situations at their place. I think we only talked about the food and wine. Then again, on New Year's Day alone with my long time dear friend, we only talked about the food. Not because it was safe or the easiest topic, but because...Damn, it was so good! I took a picture and made her divulge everything she did, so that I could share it here.

Pumpkin Soup
3 1/2 peeled and cubed raw pumpkin
2 cups vegetable broth
1 3/4 cups diced roma tomatoes
1 cup water
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 cup (coconut) milk
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup vegan yogurt (optional)

Throw the first six ingredients into a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Blend in blender only filling it half way at a time, or use another mode, like a hand held blender or food processor. Put back into the pot and add in the milk substitute and margarine. Bring to another simmer for 3 minutes. Serve with a dollup of vegan yogurt and cilantro if desired. If the pumpkins have all dissapeared, you can easily use another hard squash instead, like butternut or acorn. My friend found this recipe on www@ehow.com. The original recipe said that canned tomatoes could be used if fresh were unavailable and its okay to play around with the spices. Ground ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon were suggested to try. My friend increased the coriander to suit her taste (and mine) since the recipe only called for 3/4 teaspoon. We both put ground pepper into our bowls too. This was the best pumpkin soup I've ever had!

Sassy

2012-01-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

The Italian taught me how to make fresh tomato sauce in her tiny condo kitchen in the late 80s. Even as I watched her, I didn't quite believe it. Fresh garlic in olive oil, fresh peeled and chopped tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper. It was so good. So fresh and simple and good. And no recipe.

For a young cook, no recipe was a little problem. It took a long while to throw my cares to the wind and experiment with quantities and trust my nose. The Italian had been cooking for a long time. You could see her connection to food when she chopped and stirred and served. She's the one who first told me that if you eat right you will save on medical bills.

I was thinking of her as I was learning this pepper sauce. I found it in a cook book that said things like one onion, one yellow bell pepper etc. This still bothers me. Put two onions side by side and tell me, how can my sauce be good each time if one time I chop that onion and it turns out to be one cup and the next time I chop that onion and it is one and a half cup? Small, Medium and Large are not helpful measurements. So I set about to make my own recipe.

Sassy Pepper Sauce

(Yields 4 cups sauce)

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups chopped fresh Roma tomatoes (no need to peel them)

1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 cups chopped onion

2 Tablespoons chopped garlic

Heat the olive oil in a heavy sauce pan. Add the chopped vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes.

That's it. 10 minutes. The vegetables should be soft, the onion translucent and your feet should lift about two inches off the floor when you inhale it's rich goodness.

Now this is the part I can't help you with. This is the individual taste part. Add salt, pepper and chili powder to your particular taste. Start with a 1/2 teaspoon of each. Stir it in, taste it. Wait a bit. Not right? Add. You can not subtract from a sauce, so take your time.

What to do with this sauce? Add it to a pot of beans. Spoon it over pasta. Just look at it. It is a feast for the eyes. And just before you serve your sassy dish, dash some fresh parsley over the lot for good measure. It's the color wheel trick. Colors across the wheel from each other compliment each other. Just like peppers and tomatoes compliment each other, red and green are friends.

Ghosts Of Christmas Past

2011-12-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

The old Ball and Claw table, with it's four extra leaves, stretched the length of our large dining room. It would sit ten easily, more if we needed to snuggle our chairs closer together. The once-a-year Irish linen tablecloth and matching napkins--all fastidiously ironed--concealed all the scratches and dings the old table had been subjected to over its many years of use. Only six of the chairs matched. The rest had been brought in from other rooms in the house, but the table itself was so attractive, nobody noticed or cared that everything wasn't matchy-matchy.

Mom never used a centerpiece at Christmas. It was enough that her colorful Fiesta Ware graced the table with the same colors that decorated the tree. The sterling silver came out of hiding, polished up by my middle sister and myself. It was a job we hated. But we were kids and kids could polish silver because we weren't old enough to be much help with the cooking.

By the time mom called everyone to the table, it was laden with a huge ham or roast beef or a roasted goose, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots drizzled with a ginger sauce, cranberry salad, fresh made dinner rolls, gravy, real butter, cream for the coffee, and sugar--the original stuff since artificial sweeteners were way off in the future.

How I love that image of Christmas past. It reminds me to be thankful for the childhood I had and the home I grew up in. It reminds me that mom loved to entertain and taught all three of us girls how to do it right. We learned how to cook, how to set a grand table, and how to handle those fragile dishes that came out of the china cabinet but once a year. It wasn't mom's fault that only one of we girls ended up liking to cook. And it wasn't me. Even so, I'm a great cook. And I can set a pretty table. I just don't find the whole scenario to be a lot of fun.

At my own home, the table will have all its leaves in place and a nice tablecloth atop it. It isn't Irish linen. I actually have one, but have never used it. It was a wedding gift more than fifty years ago. There are matching napkins too. Never used those either. The thing is, the linen is so beautiful I could never bring myself to subject it to spills and tip-overs. Gravy is difficult to remove; so is cranberry. What I use instead, is an inexpensive tablecloth that won't drive me to tears if something gets spilled on it. Why set myself up for stress? My napkins match. They are wash and wear. That works for me.

These days, with the doctor changing my diet almost a year ago, the Christmas table with its load of vegan dishes, has lost all the charm I recall from Christmas past. What is there about seeing a table filled with calorie laden, cholesterol heavy, butter-loaded foods that evokes such fond memories? Tiz a puzzle. My table is loaded too, but the whole ambiance is different. This table screams "healthy." That doesn't set well in many people's minds. Some even get testy about having nothing but "good for you" dishes on the table.

This year my table will look like something out of a vegan magazine. The chicken won't be chicken, but the vegetables will be real, roasted with garlic and rosemary or ginger and sage. The potatoes will be mashed and infused with soy milk rather than dairy and the green bean casserole will be cast of beans and mushrooms in a tofu yogurt and topped with sliced almonds. The sweet potatoes will be roasted and peeled, then topped with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. The food will be good and my guests will be amazed. They may even ask for the recipes.

As much as I adore my ghosts of Christmas past, my health demanded I make changes and I remain so thankful for the doctor that finally diagnosed my longstanding intestinal disease and changed my diet to vegan. I'm nearly a year vegan now and no more emergency surgeries or long stays in the hospital with tubes down my throat and into my stomach, trying to get a twisted intestine to go back to normal. No more being cut open and dissected and put back together again, with the hope that the intestines will still function as normal. The best part is how much better I feel, what with the constant abdominal pain and nausea now a thing of the past.

I continue to understand that not everyone wants to eat vegan. I'm fine with that. Personally, I don't feel it's wrong to eat meat or dairy. I just know it's wrong for my own health, and I give others any leeway they need to eat as they choose. Had I not been diagnosed correctly and instructed to change the way I eat, I would still be eating the way I used to. But I wouldn't have lost forty-five pounds or had skin so soft and dewy people ask me what I'm doing to make it look so good. When you're over seventy years old, almost wrinkle-free with young looking skin, and all you've done is change your whole diet to vegan, the results speak for themselves.

My wish for each of you this year is that you have a wonderful Christmas, surrounded by those you love and who love you back. I pray that whatever you choose to eat nourishes your body and infuses you with a feeling of well-being. May the God of Peace surround you with love and may we all pause to remember that it is Jesus who is the reason for the Season.

My family will all be in town within the next couple of days, so I won't see you again till next year. God bless you and keep you.

Merry Christmas

Sandy

Leche (del lat. lac, lactis)

2011-12-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Creo que muy pocas veces nos hemos detenido un Segundo para pensar en lo que estamos ingeriendo dia a dia. En el caso de la leche me llevo a refleccionar cual es la razon por la cual nuestra especie ha dependido de nutrimentos que provienen de la leche maternal de otra especie. La leche de cabra y la leche de vaca son las mas communes, siendo la de vaca una industria multimillonaria. La leche de los mamiferos tiene una function unica, de proveer nutrientes importantes para el desarrollo del infant no importando la especie. En el caso de los humanos, despues de los primeros anos en las cuales ingerimos la leche de nuestras madres inmediatamente cambiamos hacia la leche de una especie diferente. Pero no termina en nuestra infancia, continuamos hasta convertirnos en adultos.

En mi caso, no solo este cuestionamiento me ha llevado a considerer dejar de beberlo para siempre. En estos anos he desarrollado alergias estomacales y respiratorias. Despues de decider dejar de beber leche de otra especie llego la gran pregunta: hay opciones para beber mi café on “leche”? Despues de publicarlo en mi facebook, la respuesta de mis amigos, quienes han sido un gran apoyo para mi trancicion al veganismo, llego de manera inesperada, ya sea de arroz o de almendras. La leche de soja esta fuera de la “competencia”, es una dura para mi estomago. La leche de almendra ha sido la major opcion para mi, buen sabor, me he acostumbrado rapido al cambio, y no pienso volver a beber la leche maternal de una vaca, no considero que sea lo mas natural para nosotros.

Anti-Fruitcake Bars

2011-12-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

How many people do you know actually likes fruitcake? My husband does, the only one I've ever known to eat it and relish it. I've wondered more than once if I could make a fruit cake that isn't made from artificially colored over processed dried fruit, and perhaps more wholesome altogether. So when he brought home dried persimmon and golden raisins from the farmers market this weekend, I felt that this was my time to act while the holidays raged on all around me.

Today I found he took the raisins with him to work, but I still had several dried fruits in the pantry. Anyway it was the dried persimmon that intrigued me anyway. Looking at fruit cake recipes I noticed they took several eggs. Then I happened on a bar cookie that originally was supposed to have jam spread on top. I used the same ingredients but added 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of mixed dried fruit, however, the mixture was now a little dry. What to do about a binder? My brother looked over my shoulder and told me to put in some treacle, better known as molasses. It worked like a dream! These cookies are incredibly wholesome, dense and sweetly delicious. Let these bars replace all those mass produced granola or energy bars in your lunch boxes from now on.

Anti-Fruitcake Bars

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup whole grain rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup dried blueberries

1/4 cup dried dates

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup chopped dried persimmons

1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)

2 tablespoons molasses

Combine all the dry ingredients, including the walnuts and dry fruit. Feel free to play with the dried fruit combination. Then melt the margarine before adding it to the dry mixture. Add the molasses and stir only until just combined. Press into a 8x9 greased square baking pan or into two loaf pans sprayed with oil, as I did because I gave away my square pan at some pot luck long forgotten. (Why do I never remember to replace it?) Bake at a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting into bars.

Chickpea Tikka Masala

2011-12-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

I've fallen in love with something new. It's a spice called Tikka Masala and I buy it online at My Spice Sage. I've always had Garam Masala in my cupboard, but this one was new to me and the first time I used it, my taste buds stood up and danced. Honest.

In the beginning, I purchased the smallest amount for a small amount of money, just to see what it tasted like. Since then, I put it in just about everything that comes out of my kitchen. There is no vegan dish that's safe anymore. The depth of flavor Tikka Masala gives is perfect for my palette since it is the spices and herbs that makes eating vegan a delight rather than disgusting.

I put a pinch of Tikka Masala in my soups.

And on my veggie burgers.

And in my vegetable stews.

And in my rice.

And in my stir frys.

And in my oatmeal. Oops, got carried away. I don't do that one.

I discovered a Tikka Masala recipe in Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon and I have to say that not only did I love it, but so did my company. We all went back for seconds. If you like the flavors of India, you'll adore this dish. Be warned: it is spicy. But not the kind of heat that hurts the mouth or the lips as does Mexican food. I served some vegan yogurt alongside for no other reason than to cool my mouth down every now and then.

CHICKPEA TIKKA MASALA

In a blender, mix:

6 oz. silken tofu

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Continue blending until the mixture looks creamy

Put into a saucepan:

1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. garam masala

1/8 tsp. turmeric

dash of cayenne pepper or hot sauce.

Cover and heat until hot. Stir in the blended tofu. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add chickpeas and continue to heat until everything is warmed through. Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro and a dollop of vegan yogurt.

OR: In place of all the above spices, except for the garlic and onion powders, use 1 Tbsp. of Tikka Masala spice mixture. Saves a lot of measuring and not so many bottles sitting on the counter.

The only other exception I made to this recipe was to add 1/2 cup of diced tempeh, which I added with the chickpeas. The tempeh gave the dish a meaty mouth feel and added an extra layer of flavor that I found pleasing.

Roasted Brussel Sprout leaves

2011-12-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

I'm an expert at cooking frozen food in the oven on a cookie sheet. My best friend, who is a great cook, had trouble judging how long to cook frozen french fries once. Luckily she had my expertise to fall back on. What a role reversal. So when my hula dance compatriots explained how good roasted Brussels sprout leaves are, I knew I could whip them out myself.

Here's what I did. Peel yucky outer leaves off of the Brussels sprout and discard. Cut the bottom 1/4 or 1/3 off the bottom of sprout, and peel leaves away starting at the bottom. Drizzle leaves with grape seed oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 425 degrees F. for 25 minutes, stirring once midway through the cooking time. They browned a lot faster than I expected but I kept roasting because my classmates said that the leaves get crisp like little green potato chips. The only crunchy parts of my leaves were the brown-black unappetizing parts. I will have to get back to you on what I did wrong. My dinner mates probably ate just enough to be polite, while I ate the lion's share out of sheer effort in finding that magic Brussels sprout chip. I couldn't find it no matter how much mastication. What I had made was a wilted over cooked vegetation. Good luck if you want to try your hand!

Busy Day Stir Fry As Good As Take-Out

2011-12-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas I ask myself the same question: If Santa has elves to help him get ready for the big day, why can't I? I never receive an answer, so this year I took myself seriously and began hunting for elves for rent.

I looked in the yellow pages, the want ads, Googled elves for rent, put an ad on Twitter and posted my desires on Facebook. Not a single elf to be found. I suppose Santa has them all tied up this time of year. Personally, I think that's being selfish. But then again, the elves are likely thrilled. Seems they are the only ones who never have to deal with being unemployed.

My wishes were few: elves to make the presents or shop for the presents; wrap the presents; write the Christmas cards and get them in the mail; fill the candy dishes with goodies; put up the tree and decorate it; then make the cookies for Santa and make sure they were on the table Christmas Eve, along with a glass of milk. After all, sliding down chimneys has to be hard work.

After reaching the conclusion that no elves were available, I picked myself up and decided to do things myself. Just like always. I'm busy, busy. Just like all of you. That's why I dug out a favorite vegan cookbook and stirred up a favorite recipe. I like Robin Robertson's "Vegan On The Cheap", not only for its tasty offerings, but because everything in it is economical to make.

Since I love Chinese food, and Robin's recipe for stir fry that's as good or better than take-out is not only a favorite dish, but quick to make, I thought you might like to give it a try during this busy season. I made a few adjustments, as I always seem to do. You know me by now. I always have to change something for my own palette. You can do the same. Oh, and by the way, if you hear of any elves for rent in your neighborhood, send me a note so I know where to find them next year.

BETTER THAN TAKE-OUT STIR-FRY

3 cups broccoli florets, cut small

1 large carrot, thinly sliced

1 pound extra firm tofu, drained and pressed

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs. cornstarch

4 green onions

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbs. brown sugar

2 Tbs. rice vinegar

2 Tbs. dry sherry (I left out since I didn't have it on hand)

1 Tbs. ketchup

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1/2 tsp. Asian chili paste

2 Tbs. water

Freshly cooked rice

I used my big wok since it makes stir-frying a cinch.

The recipe calls for steaming the broccoli and carrots until tender, but I don't care for steamed veggies, so I stir fried them and placed them aside till later in the recipe.

Cut the tofu into small dice and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of the corn starch over the tofu and toss to coat.

In the wok, place a thin layer of vegetable oil and set the heat to medium. Add the tofu and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove the tofu from the wok and set aside.

Heat another tablespoon of vegetable oil in the wok set over medium heat. Add the green onions, garlic, ginger, and cook till soft. Stir in the stock, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sherry, ketchup, sesame oil, and chili paste.

Combine the remaining 1 Tbs. of corn starch with 2 Tbs. of water and pour into the wok, stirring to thicken. Add the tofu and cooked vegetables back into the pan and cook long enough to heat everything through. Serve over hot rice.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do. Even the non-vegans I've served it to always go back for more.

Serves 4

These are the non-vegans who ate my stir fry. Don't they look happy?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

¡Tapas!

2011-12-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

España es reconocida a nivel mundial por las “tapas”, las cuales no son tipo o clase de comida, sino un estilo de vida. La simplicidad y la variedad de sabores en cada mordisco es inimaginable, y me llevó a preguntarme si es posible eliminar el jamón, chorizo, morcilla y los boquerones y reemplazarlos con productos veganos. Una idea termino en más ideas, y éste ha sido el resultado: garbanzos y judías en calabacines.

Ingredientes:

Garbanzos

Judías

Soyrizo

Perejil

Alcaparras

Calabacines

Ajo

Cebolla

Pimentón dulce

Aceite de oliva

Vinagre de vino tinto

Sal

Pimienta

Preparación:

Se cortan los calabacines en rebanadas, agregarles un poco de sal, pimienta y aceite de oliva. Ponerlos en el horno a temperatura media hasta que se cocinen completamente. En una sartén freir con un poco de aceite de oliva el soyrizo, un poco de cebolla y ajo. Después de que el soyrizo esté bien cocido agregar los garbanzos, las judías, alcaparras, sal, pimienta y el pimentón dulce. Cortar finamente el perejil y mezclarlo con las judías y garbanzos. Por último, hacer una vinagreta muy sencilla de aceite de oliva y vinagre (por cada dos cucharadas de aceite agregar una de vinagre), tiene que batirse por lo menos un minuto y mezclarlo con el resto. Las judías y los garbanzos se ponen encima de los calabacines y listo, sencillo y rápido.

Deli Take Out

2011-12-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

There is always so much to do between Thanks Giving and the New Year. One good thing about my man refusing to participate or even taste anymore Vegan food is that I only need to worry about my own needs on my day to eat Vegan. Furthermore, whenever I don't have to cook, why would I bother? It's not as if I live to experiment with food recipes. Besides there are several high end grocers in Santa Barbara to pick up ready made vegetarian or vegan meals.

As pictured, I found these dishes in the deli section. A marinated tofu dish and a red, whole grain rice salad. I have to tell you, I was ready for bland and tasteless, but, surprisingly, I actually dug in with gusto! I wrote down all of the ingredients for a future blog. However, marinating bite-sized pieces of firm tofu is a no brainer! Just buy a pre-made marinade, how could you go wrong! My Japanese friends grew up on tofu sitting in plain soy sauce, and it's great tasting too.

The whole rice salad had raw onions, white corn kernels, bell peppers, green onions, cilantro, and spinach. The vinaigrette, had olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper as its ingredients. The nutty Bhutanese Red Rice was fabulously hearty and satisfying. The bright corn kernels crunched sweetly inside the balance of other savory flavors. I mixed a fruit drink out of cranberry and one of those berry mixes that Naked Juice or Odalla puts out. I had all my protein, carbs, and vitamins to last me all day, practically.

Well, got to festoon my house inside and out, because I volunteered to host the Animal Clinic's Christmas dinner party. The doctor is ordering catered food. Yippee. Since his wife is vegetarian, I'm sure to find some yummy vegan options too. Now, I All I have to do is clean, decorate, move some furniture around to fit long tables in my living room, and clean some more. Happy Hustle and Bustle to you and yours!

Tiz The Season To Be Busy; So Dinner Must Be Easy

2011-12-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but at my house it always seems that Christmas falls on the woman in the family. Perhaps I'm wrong. But around here it was me who made the cookies and cakes, shopped for all the gifts, wrapped every package, planned Christmas dinner, shopped for all the food, then cooked all the food, decorated the tree (all but the lights, hubby put those on) and then got out a step stool to get all the good dishes down from the top cupboard where they resided most of the year.

I was the one who hollered for help to put all the leaves in the dining table, then by myself, I set the table with the good dishes I'd drug out and washed and the good silverware I'd dug out and polished and the crystal glasses I'd taken down from a top shelf and scrubbed till they sparkled. Hubby's job consisted of putting up outdoor lights and heading out on December 24th to find me a present. Oh, and putting the star on top the tree, simply because he could reach it and I couldn't.

Now I don't know how you do things, but Christmas at my house was exhausting. Even now that I'm alone, what with kids married and hubby graduated to heaven, this time of year is still busy. And while my daughter has taken over my duties and is having dinner at her house, there is still a lot for an old lady to accomplish. Gifts still need to be conjured up, purchased, and wrapped and, in some instances, mailed off to other places. Considering that I'm not a young chick any longer, the things I have to do are enough for me.

Busy as I was, I cheated on my cooking this week and will likely be cheating till after the first of the year. I can't seem to find time to create another vegan recipe and accomplish everything else I have to do. Having a few vegan cookbooks on my shelves comes in handy. Tonight I began with an offering from Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon. I love black-eyed peas, and once I saw the recipe, I looked no further. I made a couple of changes in the original recipe and next time, I'll make a few more. But just as it is, it has lots of flavor, fills the tummy, and is quick to make. I labeled it just right for those times of the year when dinner has to be fast or none at all.

CARIBBEAN PEAS AND RICE

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 bunch green onions

2 celery stalks, minced

1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger

4 fresh thyme twigs (1/4 tsp. dried)

1 1/2 tsp. green Tabasco sauce

2 tsp. jerk seasoning

1 cup brown rice (I used white rice as it's faster cooking.)

2 Tbs. ketchup

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 bunch kale, chopped small

1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

In a large saucepan, pour a layer of vegetable broth and saute the onions, celery, garlic, ginger, thyme, hot sauce, and 1 tsp. of the jerk seasoning. Cook over high heat until the celery is soft. About 3 minutes.

Add the remaining jerk seasoning and stir to coat. Stir in the black-eyed peas. Cover and move the pot to a back burner to simmer and let the spices meld. Do not let the pan go dry. Add more broth or water as needed to retain moisture but not to drown. In all, you'll likely use about 1/2 cup of the broth.

In a small saucepan put:

2 cups of vegetable broth, the ketchup, and turmeric. Stir to combine.

Add the rice. Bring to a boil and cover. Turn heat down to very low and ignore it for 20 minutes. (If you use brown rice, cook for 45 min.)

About 10 minutes before serving, add the kale to the black-eyed pea mixture. Cover and cook till the kale is wilted.

To serve, place big serving of rice on a plate and top with the black-eyed pea/kale mixture. Sprinkle with some green onion tops if desired.

I used Swiss chard instead of kale because the chard looked fresher. Any green would work. Your preference.

The fresh ginger was too strong for my palette. Next time I'll cut it by half.

Jerk seasoning is available in the grocery store's spice aisle. Buy it and make your life easy. Otherwise you'll be mixing this and that and twelve other spices together to get what someone has already bottled up.

Dinner was on the table in about 30 minutes. Can't beat that for a busy day.

This Christmas season, share your table with someone less fortunate than you. I don't remember a holiday as a child growing up when there were not strangers at our table. Sometimes it was a teacher who was alone or a couple from our church who had no one and once we moved to CA, there were always two or three marines who were far from home who ate with us and thanked my parents over and over for allowing them to be part of a family on Christmas Day.

Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad

2011-11-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

This delightful side salad was adored by all (except for my picky nephew)

I think of myself as a turkey. Probably because my birthday lands close to Thanks Giving. I tend to be a scattered in thought and action. In my tween years I was also marked by an uncle who over used the pet name "turkey lips." I mean he actually worked it into every verbal interchange, but we couldn't get irritated. He delivered "Turkey Lips" with a feigned stern look and a glimmer of hilarity, and quite possibly a slur of alcohol. Then he would make sure we young ones understood the absurdity. "Because you know turkeys don't have lips!" Now that I'm officially middle aged, my neck is starting to resemble that wattled, stringy neck of my mascot too. Why is letting go of my vanity is so hard?

For the last eight years, ever since my brother married and spawned I've hosted Thanks Giving feast, while they put on Christmas dinner. We two sister-in-laws enthusiastically embrace our respective holidays. She enjoys decorating her house for Christmas whereas I don't. I adore the traditional Thanks Giving feast so much that I'm willing to cook and clean for three days straight. No, I'm not ready for tofurkey yet. My mom comes over to help me every year, shouldering most of the fare herself. The fun part is trying out new recipes and sides.

Last year my friend raved about a simple side of pomegranate seeds and persimmons in a vinaigrette. I didn't have a recipe to go on but would you believe, I happen to have pomegranate vinegar on hand? However, with 14 guests for dinner, I was running out of time to get everything done. Here my middle brother, self made gourmet, offered to put this dish together for me. I trusted him completely, besides he's not one to tolerate micro-management anyway. This salad was so fresh; with a perfect balance of sweet, acid, and touch of mint. You need to add this salad to your menu while this fruit is in season!

Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad

2 pomegranates

4 persimmons

1dozen mint leaves

1/4 cup pomegranate vinegar

1/8 cup grape seed oil

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

dash of cinnamon

pinch of salt

1. Peel and chop your fuyu persimmons and put into a bowl. The hachiya fruit is too soft, look for the squat tomato shaped persimmons. These stay firm and slightly crunchy when ripe.

2. Cut open and scoop out the pomegranate seeds to add to the bowl.

3. Measure out the rest of the ingredients into a container with a lid so that you can shake it up to mix. Pour onto fruit just before serving.

Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup

2011-11-29T08:12:00.001-08:00

The days have been warm and windy in my Southern California city, still, when the sun goes down at 4:45pm, I'm thinking about soup. Light sends messages via the neurotransmitters in my brain, telling me that the winter blues are eminent, best find soup and fast.

Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup

"Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?"Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Lewis Carroll was eating green soup - I think golden soup will make me happier today. I'll serve a green salad with a citrus dressing on the side. It will be cheery and fresh. It will wake me up for a lovely evening of reading or a movie or even a few chores.

Chop three to four sweet potatoes to measure 4 cups.

Leave the skin on for extra nutrition.
The skin will disappear in the blend later.
(sneaky nutritional cook)

Boil in 4 cups salted water until soft.

Measure 4 cups cauliflower florets - one
medium head cauliflower.

Spread out on a parchment paper
lined cookie sheet and roast
at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes -
until they are slightly browned and
smelling sweet.

Chop one small sweet onion and 3 cloves of garlic and saute until transparent.

Let everything cool.
Combine all ingredients, reserving some cauliflower florets for garnish, blend until smooth.

I garnished mine with smokey paprika and parsley. You might try turmeric.

This soup is loaded with Vitamins A, C, K, B6, Manganese and protein. It will surely drive the winter blues away.

Ten Things You Don't Know About Me

2011-11-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

You can imagine that this past week has been a busy one. In lieu of my usual Saturday vegan post, I've decided to tell you ten things about myself that you might not know. If you want to write back and tell me ten things about yourself, I'll be a happy camper. God bless each of you as we gear up to celebrate the greatest holiday of all--Christmas, the time we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.

1. My mom was determined that we three girls would have every advantage she didn't have, what with growing up during the Depression. Thus, I can tap dance, play the piano and clarinet, twirl a baton, and sing a choir solo.

2. My father was a "gentleman farmer" a phrase used while I was growing up that meant the family lived in town, but dad farmed the family acres. Thus, I think of myself as a farm kid that's been slightly city-fied.

3. I have two younger sisters and although we are all grandmas, we remain close in proximity and spirit. We get together as often as possible and within our family, we are known for creating a certain amount of fun trouble and then laughing so hard, everyone else laughs too, even though they aren't sure what they are laughing at.

4. I grew up eating chicken and pork because that's what dad raised on our farm. We always had a ready supply of eggs and while my friends thought I must hate chicken, I loved it and still do, even though it is now off the menu.

5. I eloped with the boy across the street when I was barely seventeen. People said it would never last but I knew they were wrong. We were married 53 years till his unexpected passing eighteen months ago. How I miss him.

6. I had three children but only two lived. Those two gave me seven grandkids. I consider that a good return on my investment for the time spent walking like a duck, tossing my cookies for nearly nine months at a time, and having to wear slippers because my feet were so swollen.

7. I love all sorts of crafts and am harboring so many unfinished projects that I'll need to live to be 200 in order to finish them all. My favorite craft is knitting, followed by quilting, then sewing, then cross-stitching, then needlepoint and finally, acrylic painting.

8. I wanted to be a writer since childhood, but my parents laughed at my aspirations, so I went underground and hid my work. When I began selling my writing, guess who was standing first in line to take credit for encouraging me? My folks. But it was really my hubby who told me to "go for it." You'll find some of my books on Amazon.com on my author's pages.

9. I love animals and don't remember a time when I didn't have pets. Right now I have four cats and a very big dog who lives in the house, sleeps in front of the door, and drives everyone away, even some visitors I would like to see.

10. I have not been a vegan very long. Less than a year. But I have spent at least 15 prior years in and out of the hospital and in four colon surgeries for intestinal disease. Last hospital stay, the new doctor the hospital called in diagnosed the cause and changed my diet to vegan. I didn't think it would do any good, but I've never felt better, have lost weight, and haven't been in the hospital since.

Blessings for each one of you,

Sandy Keith

vegan durante el dia de accion de gracias

2011-11-25T15:31:00.000-08:00

Lo siento, no hay tildes en este blog... mi computadora se ha descompuesto y he prestado esta para poder cumplir con mi obligacion de llevarles una historia de mi veganismo.
Hemos recibido la visita de mi madre, su mejor amiga y de la hermana de mi esposa con sus dos hijas. La celebracion del dia de accion de gracias en los Estados Unidos hace posible reunir familias que estan separadas por la distancia. Mi madre y su amiga han llegado del sureste mexicano, de la ciudad de Campeche y mi cunada y sus hijas de Nueva Orleans.
Ahora, la parte dificil es sobre la comida, ya que el dia de accion de gracias no es reconocida por ser vegan o vegetariana, la cultura culinaria se basa exclucivamente en el pavo. Asi que tuve que preparar mi propia comida, tuve que improvisar y decidi preparar comida mexicana, ya que mi suegra hace los mas deliciosas tortillas de Texas. La mejor parte es que mis sobrinas ofrecieron su ayuda y aprendieron que es posible evitar comer carne e un dia como el de accion de gracias. Aqui la receta:

masa para tortillas
chile poblano
chile Anahaim
pimiento amarillo
chile jalapeno
tomate
aguacate
cilantro
cebolla
limon

La receta es sencilla, pero deliciosa. Tan solo se preparan las tortillas en un comal, los chiles y pimientos se asan, se prepara una salsa de pico de gallo y se puede acompanar con una ensalada al gusto. Sencillo, delicioso y... vegan...

Considerations when making pies from store bought crusts for your holiday feast.

2011-11-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen?

2011-11-21T09:38:00.001-08:00

No way.

Elbow to elbow. "Behind you." Excuse me." "I think your water's boiling." "What's in this bowl?" "Did anyone bring cranberries?"

"F - U - N" This is what memories are made of.

A wise person told me that if you want to keep your family close, create new memories. It's wonderful to sit around the table and enjoy a delicious feast. It's memorable to bump into each other in the kitchen and drop the only pumpkin pie to it's death on the kitchen floor. It's memorable to watch your daughter taste the mashed potatoes with the same spoon she stirs the gravy. It's memorable to wash a few dishes as you go with your 6 year old granddaughter and make soap suds beards. It's memorable to turn the music up and do a group dance while you chop measure stir baste.

On Wednesday evening the LA family will arrive. I asked them if they had any requests for dinner. "Whatever you fix will be fine."

"It might be vegan," I said.

"Oh." then there was silence.

I'm fixing Mary's stuffed portobello mushrooms and my chopped salad. They'll love it. They have big appetites so sometimes vegan sounds like "not enough" to them. They'll see. It will fill them up.

And on Thursday we will all roll up our sleeves and fix a Thanksgiving to remember. I'm pouring over some vegan, gluten free cookbooks, looking for a surprise side dish. Also I need a gluten free roll that everyone will love. It's only Monday. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know what I find. I want to do a little baking before the crowd arrives - shhh - I'm going to refrain from saying "gluten free" on Thanksgiving. I'll just say, "pass the rolls please".

NOTE: It's Wednesday now. I'm not satisfied with any of the vegan gluten free roll recipes I've found. It's a very difficult combination - no gluten - no egg - the binder is missing and most recipes load up on starches like sorghum flour to compensate. I haven't stopped looking. Maybe I'll settle for a cracker. Anyway it's Wednesday and the LA family will be here soon. I GIVE UP for now.

Just what's in your breakfast?

2011-11-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

Once A Week Vegan: Who are you calling a Fruit Cake?

2011-11-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Once A Week Vegan: Who are you calling a Fruit Cake?: Well, it's that time of year again. Time to feast, say thanks, deck the halls, wrap the gifts and tell Aunt Agnes with a straight face that ...

Caldo Verde--I Did It My Way...

2011-11-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

You've heard me say it a dozen times: I hate cooking. I read recently that those who hate to cook are always bad cooks. No one should make blanket statements like that because the blankets are never big enough to cover everyone. Just because I find cooking to be boring, time consuming, and about as much fun as falling down four flights of stairs doesn't mean I can't do it. Truth is, I'm a really good cook. I just don't think it's fun.

With Christmas on the horizon, I've been sitting in my chair knitting up a storm. That's what you do when you're a senior citizen on social security. Keeping those needles flying leaves me little time to cook--as if I'd spend any time on it anyway. Because it's easy for me to knit and listen to television at the same time, I've got my channel set to the cooking shows. Truth is, I learn something new nearly every day without having to pay too much attention to what's actually going on. At least once a day, I hear one chef or another say that in order for food to taste good, it has to be made with love. I don't think I've ever put love into anything I've ever cooked. In fact I know I haven't. Well, maybe popcorn on the stove. The old time kind with melted butter. But that's another story.

I came across today's recipe in a vegan cookbook. It was called Caldo Verde. As I understand it, that translates into green broth. So I followed the recipe. Personally, I thought it looked boring. I also thought it tasted boring. Now my rule is if I'm gonna spend time cooking, the end result jolly well better taste marvelous. So I went to work on the Caldo Verde and when I finished fixing it, the aroma filled the house with such a tantalizing expectation of something good that the two guests I'd invited for dinner came snooping into the kitchen to see what was cooking.

"It's soup," I told them. "It used to be boring but I fixed it." They know me so they understood what I meant. I took the hot garlic bread from the oven, dished up steaming bowls of my version of Caldo Verde and we all declared it a winner. Now I have a reason for telling you this story. I want you to know that even if you find cooking a necessary drudgery, that doesn't mean you have to be a bad cook. And if anyone suggests that you should put more love into your food, look them in the eye and tell them the only love you feel toward food is the eating part. I can't tell you how many guests I've served in my many years of living who have eaten my food and said to me, "I thought you didn't like to cook. This was delicious."

I don't know who made up the rule that someone has to like doing something in order to do it well. Whoever it was, they lied.

No more nutritional yeast; used real Parm
to show what the finished dish looks like.

Caldo Verde

Into your soup pot put:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 medium potatoes, cut into small bites

1/2 cup celery, sliced small

1 tsp. marjoram

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper or to taste

Cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes

Add:

1 15.5 oz cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I used canned)

4 cups vegetable stock

4 cups water

1/2 cup dry white wine

Bring the soup to a boil then turn the heat to low, cover the pot and let the soup simmer about an hour, stirring every now and then.

Approximately 15 minutes before serving add:

1/2 cup tempeh that's been cut into small pieces

1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped

Turn the heat to medium and allow the soup to simmer 10-15 minutes. If desired, individual servings can be sprinkled with a bit of nutritional yeast to add a sort of Parmesan cheese taste to the soup.

This recipe serves 4-6, depending on whether it is used as a main course or a side. Any leftovers are even better the next day.

115/88

2011-11-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Hace algunos meses, aproximadamente siete meses atrás, visité a mi médico para una consulta de rutina, especialmente para descubrir la raiz de ciertos problemas gástricos, las cuales estaban molestándome de manera continua en esos días. Su mayor preocupación no fué, sin embargo, sobre mi sistema digestivo, fué sobre mi presión arterial. La enfermera le entregó los resultados y fueron muy altos como para no considerarme una persona saludable. Los números que el doctor me dió fueron de 165/125. Este número podría agravarse y ayudaría a desarrollar enfermedades que incluso podrían ser irreversible o fatales. Su recomendación fué que tenía que hacer cambios drásticos en mi vida: ejercicio y dieta.

Nunca he sido una persona demasiado activa, pero tampoco tengo un estilo de vida sedentaria. Decidí pagar una membresía en el gimnasio de la universidad donde trabajo, ejercitaba por lo menos tres veces a la semana. En cuanto a la dieta, la principal recomención fué seguir una basada en bajas calorias y sobre todo bajo en sodio.

Por espacio de cuatro meses seguí esta dieta rigurosamente, ejercitando cada vez menos por tener cada día más obligaciones laborales. Después de tres visitas al médico no hubo muchos cambios, la presión arterial aún continuaba en números demasiado altos: 145/115. No sabía que hacer, asi que decidí ejercitar aún más, a pesar de que un par de veces no podía ni caminar o incluso llegué a lesionarme la espalda y tuve que pedir unos días de descanso para recuperarme del dolor intenso que me aquejaba.

Otra visita al médico y nada, simplemente no podía creer que a pesar de todo el esfuerzo puesto en dieta y ejercicio no habian cambiado mucho aún, los índices continuaban siendo altos, a pesar de que existía una mínima mejoría (145/99), pero la hipertensión aun continuaba conmigo, estaba viviendo con el “enemigo silencioso” y tal parecía que no podría quitarmelo de encima.

Después de llegar a un punto de desesperación durante el último chequeo decidí cambiar radicalmente mi dieta: de la omnivoría al vegetarianismo. Después de algunas semanas comencé a ver buenos resultados, era más activo, no me cansaba con tanta facilidad, mi peso por fin comenzaba a controlarse y lo mejor de todo es que me sentía cada día más saludable. Otro cambio fué de que no solamente seguía una dieta vegetariana, el ochenta por ciento del tiempo he seguido una dieta vegana, me he acostrumbado bien a ella e incluso he encontrado recetas las cuales me han ayudado a descubrir un mundo nuevo. Al mismo tiempo descubrí que existen muchos platillos latinoamericanos basados en el concepto vegano de utilizar tan solo productos vegetales, tengo que mencionar que el maiz, las papas o patatas, el tomate y las diferentes variedades de chiles son las contribuciones más grandes del continente americano a la dieta mundial. Así que es posible continuar con un estilo de vida similar a la que siempre he tenido, claro está, sin productos animales.

Lo más notable recientemente es que hace alrededor de un mes visité por última vez a mi médico, con alegría recibí la noticia de la enfermera la cual me dijo que los números mostrados por el artefacto que mide la presión arterial fueron de 115/88, estoy finalmente dentro de un número dentro de lo normal. Después de esta visita me hizo reafirmar una idea, la de continuar con el estilo de vida que me devolvió el aspecto personal normal más importante de mi vida: mi salud.

© Photography EZ Cambranis

Ask for Vegan Menu Options

2011-11-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

Lunching with a friend, especially when they sneak off to the bathroom and pay for it before you know what is happening, is so nice. She surprised me with an early birthday present too. I felt spoiled with kindness, and admired the forethought. My generous friend suggested Zookers because we always get good meals there. The absolute best soup I've tasted in a while is pictured below. We ordered it after the waitress agreed to bring us a taste. My lunch date needed to be sure this dish wasn't polluted with unnecessary butter or cream. Wow. Fresh and bright, like a tomato soup except minus the acid. Ginger compliments the pureed carrots so perfectly. Zookers, located in Carpinteria, has a few vegan offerings. Their hummus or portabello burgers are my favorites on vegan days.

Carrot ginger soup ordered at Zookers.

Since I've been committed to eating vegan at least one day every week, I habitually scour restaurant menus for vegan fare. Easy to do, once you understand what vegans eat. No animals or any products harvested or taken from them, as in milk, eggs, or honey. The devil is dairy! Man, it's in everything, so ask if you are not sure. Eggs hide in baked goods, some noodles, and Asian wraps. Cheese is liberally added to salads and vegetables as if no one would bother eating them if they stood alone!

I call the fall and early winter birthday season. Between August and December most of my friends and half of my family celebrate theirs. At the end of October I had three dear girlfriends to congratulate. They have been in my life for a long time. I treasure their friendships, but somehow their birthdays came and went without any acknowledgement from me. Am I so easily distracted? Or is my reliance on procrastination as a coping skill really not working for me (to paraphrase Dr. Phill). It's so much harder to catch up with a person after the fact. Reminding me that every paper I stayed up all night long writing in college, was turned in after the deadline. My family gives we some leeway due to the fact my birth date was two weeks late. My mom said she had given up all hope of my arrival, by the time her lower back pain clued her in to her impending labor. So contrast my early birthday surprise lunch with the nine day late-birthday dinner night out for my high school buddy.

Pictured below is the only vegan offering at Santa Barbara Brewing Co, black bean tacos. No I didn't buy the entire meal for everybody, but I did give a nice gift. I shared the side of french fries with my husband...too bad they showered them with Parmesan cheese! Oops. Pay attention when ordering innocent looking vegetables! Brew Houses and Grills might not be a good place to find vegan food. I know that Joe's Crab Shack in Ventura had not one menu item without fish, crustaceans, or mollusks. Obviously most of my people are not vegan, so these are the places they go. However, there are many restaurants that cater to vegetarians scattered all over the central coast of California that I need to try. That means more dates, goody!

Vegan tacos served at SB Brewing Co.

Tipsy Baked Caramel Apples--Oh My!

2011-11-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I'm experimenting in the kitchen, things go terribly wrong. I just don't tell you about them. Yet every so often, my experiments turn out better than I'd expected and today's recipe is one of those.

Last week I baked some apples. They were plain old apples done the plain old way. And while I thought they were delicious, I began wondering if I could step them up a bit. Later in the week, I bought a caramel apple and enjoyed every sticky bite. Then I got to thinking. Could I come up with a baked caramel apple? How would I go about it? Would it be successful or toss in the garbage bad? The only way to know was to give it a try.

I thought on it for three or four days before I decided to try my luck. Surprisingly, I came through with a happy discovery that I'm passing on to you. And even though I'm still trying to figure out how to step-up the caramel taste, this is as close as I've gotten for now.

I would have to say that if you are a baked apple lover, you're going to like this recipe. Those wanting more caramel can experiment themselves or wait for me to come up with a better plan. In the meantime, try these apples that are stuffed with fruit and nuts, topped with gooey caramel, and baked in rum-infused apple cider. You won't be sorry. I promise.

This is NOT my baked caramel apple but a stand in. I cannot find my camera, though I've looked everywhere. Imagine this apple covered in caramel. Can you see it?

BAKED CARAMEL APPLES

Mix together in a small bowl:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice, lightly toasted

1/4 cup raisins

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

Core 8 apples of your choice; I used Fuji. Stand them in a baking dish that is no more than 2" high. Fill each apple with the brown sugar/nut mix. If some falls to the bottom of the pan, leave it.

Pour 2/3 cup of apple cider into the bottom of the pan along with 1 jigger of rum. I used spiced rum. Toss about 6 whole cloves into the liquid. They won't be edible, but they'll give the juice a lovely fragrance.

Top the apples with a spoonful of the vegan caramel sauce (recipe follows)

Cover with foil, bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes. To serve, ladle some of the cider/rum sauce into a bowl, add the apple, and top with a bit more of the caramel sauce. Add vegan whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

Serves 8

VEGAN CARAMEL SAUCE

Into a saucepan put:

2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup agave nectar or white corn syrup

Bring to a low boil, swirling to keep things moving. Do NOT stir with a spoon. Cook about 12 minutes.

When the mixture is a golden brown, stir in:

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 Tbs. vegan margarine

pinch of salt

Stir carefully as the golden caramel mixture will bubble up. That is how it should be. Turn off the heat and let the caramel cool a bit before using.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."

Psalms 100:4

Lentils with Cabbage

2011-11-10T23:18:00.000-08:00

East Indian lentils with cabbage

This week I picked out an interesting recipe. Something outside my usual cuisine. I followed fairly closely the instructions inside an Indian Cookbook. I didn't have exactly the same ingredients due to my addled brain thinking that I did, plus the local grocer did not carry red lentils (they only had regular brown lentils/16 oz.). I substituted curry spice for the 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric you put into the pot of boiling beans after you first scoop out any scum that formed when they first boil. (How gross!) Fortunately, I didn't see any in my pound of legumes. Then instead of parboiling one large tomato and peeling it before chopping (really?), I just opened a can of organic chopped tomatoes. Basically it was a long process. I usually don't like spending too long on a cooking project. Honestly, I always enjoy other people's cooking more because I just like to eat good food, not really enamoured with the labor involved. Trying out a new recipe, it is rather risky business anyway. How do you know you are doing it right? Will the results match the high expectations?

Cooking lentils from scratch does take a lot of care. The cook book advised to pick over the lentils, wash with several changes of water and drain them before you begin to cook with them. What am I looking for when I pick through them? (My brother thinks one has to look for small pebbles.) And should I waste so much water? Can't I just wash them quickly in a mesh strainer under the faucet, because that's how I did it. After they simmer for an hour, add 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, the 15 oz can of tomatoes, and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger. Then continue cooking for 20 minutes. (I recall spying pre-cooked lentils in the refridgerator section of Trader Joes, which is probably where I will procure them in the future!)

In a separate skillet, you heat 5 tablespoons oil and fry 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds just a few seconds before you add the 4 cloves of minced garlic cloves. As soon as the garlic starts to brown, like one minute, you add the sliced onion, half a head of shredded cabbage, and 2 hot green chilies, seeds removed, sliced finely. Keep frying for about 10 minutes until the mixture begins to to brown and crisp. Salt as desired and set aside. When your lentils are done, stir this cabbage mixture into the pot for a few minutes until it is heated through. Serve immediately.

Now maybe your life experience has illustrated the gaseous properties of ingesting crucifix vegetables, one of which is cabbage. Certainly everyone knows the legendary effects of beans on ones digestion, right? Well, you put the two together and you are really asking for it! Having lived through that plate pictured above, I cannot recommend it to my worst enemy. But if you are sure you have an iron gut, the flavor was authentically Indian. Just need some warm naan bread on the side.

Super Fudge

2011-11-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

John's last post mentioned that he had bought a lot of sesame seeds at a co-op. His post stirred up a memory. I knew I had a recipe that called for a lot of sesame seeds. What was it? Where was it?

It is called Super Fudge and the recipe was right where I put it - in the stack of miscellaneous recipes that sit in the corner of my cookbook cupboard.

This is a recipe my mother used to make for us when I was young. She probably found it in a Prevention Magazine or Mother Earth News or one such publication she was reading at the time. We all loved it. I have a copy of the recipe on an 8.5 x 11 piece of regular white paper, typed by Mom, smudged by me.

The recipe calls for honey. I know, I know. Honey is not in a vegan diet. You can substitute agave nectar. Agave nectar is a little thinner than honey, you may need to add a little extra carob powder or nuts to get the texture right. I was gifted two bottles of Wisconsin honey and I couldn't resist using it today. Thank you bees. I honor your efforts. I marvel at your expertise.

Carob Super Fudge

Grease an eight inch square pan liberally.
Assemble these ingredients:
1 cup honey (or agave nectar)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup carob powder
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds or a mix of chopped seeds
1/2 cup dried fruit (raisin, currants, dates)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

heat honey and peanut butter - I used the micro wave
quickly add the carob powder and mix well
add the rest of the ingredients and dump into an eight inch square pan -
spread evenly into the pan with your fingers
refrigerate for about an hour to firm the mixture
cut into small squares

This fudge is very rich. I have seen a fudge that looks very similar sold in small cubes, about 1x1x1 inch. If you have more will power than I have, this recipe will last a long time.

Autumn in the Ozarks

2011-11-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Northwest Arkansas almost two years ago I have had to change my food buying habits dramatically. We live twenty three miles from the nearest grocery store that carries any sort of decent selection. Almost thirty miles from one that carries good produce on a consistent basis. There is a fine coop in town too. But as much as I love their mission and their food, nowadays I have to think twice about shopping there though due to financial considerations. I do want to buy their organically grown bell peppers but right now just can't justify spending four dollars for a bell pepper.And if you are living out in the woods like I am, you just don't hop into your car and drive to the grocery store everyday.

Summertime is a completely different story though. Locally grown fresh produce is plentiful, near and inexpensive. Eating vegetarian and/or vegan is cheaper than eating meat and especially so in the summer. But now with autumn in full swing and winter approaching, I have to alter my menus and plan accordingly. I am lucky to know a local couple who grow greens all winter long in a hoop house. The taste of spinach that was harvested the same day is really quite different than that of spinach cut a few weeks ago and trucked a few thousand miles in refrigerated semis.If you are lucky enough to live near a source of locally grown produce, it's just the best option.

Here in the mountains there is a small Seventh Day Adventist church that has a food buying club that I take advantage of. I don't know anything about Seventh Day Adventists or what they believe but I think they are vegetarians if not vegans. At least the local pastor and his wife are. They are a healthy looking lot! Each month we order from a natural foods catalog and it is delivered to the church a week later. Some items are in large quantities but many are not. This is important to me as I am living in fewer than six hundred square feet of house. Storage space is at a premium.The church offers this service to anyone wanting to purchase and there is no markup on the food items. I wouldn't call it wholesale but it is cheaper than retail, the food is of extremely high quality and I don't have to drive to town to get it. And I get to see some wonderful neighbors and have a nice chat when we get the call to come and pickup our boxes.

Sure, I have learned some lessons and made some mistakes when buying through the church. Twenty pounds of rice is much more than I am going to use quickly and I have no place to store that much. This week I bought five pounds of sesame seeds. It cost eight dollars for five pounds. Such a deal! But really, do you know what five pounds of sesame seeds looks like? Quite a lot. Probably more than I will use when making Christmas cookies but I know the birds will love them come winter. It's nice to have this option for buying food though when living so far out in the country. And we still have winter squashes, potatoes, onions and other root vegetables for sale at the farmer's markets for a few more weeks. I can stock up on those items to keep in the pantry for a month or more. I have a great source for locally grown turnips that taste like spring radishes when just plucked from the ground but no one seems to share my love for them. Where I come from we eat the turnip roots and throw the greens to the pigs but here in the South, it is just the opposite. When you roast them in the oven with their skins on they are as sweet as candy. Yum!

One of my great discoveries when buying through the club has been La Chicky seasoning. It is a powdered broth mix that does give a chicken taste but it contains no salt. Have you ever bought a bouillon or broth cube or powder at the supermarket that wasn't almost all salt and MSG? No. La Chicky makes a great stock. My only complaint is that it does not come with directions or recipes. You have to figure out through trial and error just how much to use. To my taste, about two tablespoons to a cup of water is just right. And if you are going to make a soup (like I am tonight), you will probably need to add salt. But you get to salt it to your taste.

Tonight, split pea soup. Adapted from a recipe from Jacques Pepin. A great soup for a cold autumn night. No chicken broth, no cheese, no ham. But oh, so good!

Split Pea Soup with Croutons

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 tablespoon or more chopped garlic
2 cups or more of diced, peeled russet potatoes
2 diced carrots
1 pound green split peas
7 cups stock made with La Chicky seasoning
2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme or dried herbs de Provence
salt to taste
a dash of hot sauce such as Sriracha or Tabasco

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes over moderate heat to soften but not brown. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Cover and simmer for one hour. If the soup is too thick, add water or more stock to thin.Taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish with croutons and serve.

Easy, inexpensive and tasty. And like many bean based soups and stews, even better the next day!

The Old Man Is Snoring Tortilla Soup

2011-11-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

"It's raining, it's pouring,

The old man is snoring

He went to bed,

Covered up his head

And didn't get up till the morning."

Where I learned to sing this childrens' rhyme remains a mystery, though it was most likely my mom who taught it to my sisters and me. In any case, we three girls would stand at the living room window, watching the rain come down in sheets and we'd all chime in, singing about the snoring man who slept through the rain.

As a kid, I always figured the man slept because he was too old to do anything else. My sisters and I had no intention of sleeping through the rain. We loved a good storm, though even a gentle drizzle made us happy. If it was a summer rain, which came often in Minnesota, mom would allow us to put on our swimsuits and go outside and play. If lightning bolts accompanied the storm, we were confined to the house, lest we be struck by electricity and die. I never figured out how something way up in the sky could kill me but the three of us girls understood that mom believed it so we had to be content to stand at the window and watch. There would be no snoring for us.

As I've mentioned before, rainy days and snowy days were soup days at our house. It was a tradition I carried into my own family and which my children have taken into their families. Somehow inclement weather and home made soup go hand in hand. At least on my family tree. And since I woke up today to gentle rain, hard rain, and intermittent rain, I instantly knew what sort of day it would be.

Not wishing to go to the grocery store but wanting to stay inside, wrapped in my comforter, a cup of hot cocoa at my side, my knitting in hand, and a good movie on television, I scrounged around the refrigerator and pantry to see what might be available for a hearty soup. I was in luck. There was just enough of this and that to fashion a hot, steamy tortilla soup. As it cooked on my simmer burner for at least an hour, the aroma filled the house and according to the mailman, even wafted out to the mailbox.

I suppose it was the spices I used. You know how heavy handed I can be with adding zing to any dish I conceive. Odd for a girl who grew up in the heart of America where food is usually boring. I give my mom credit for teaching me to have shelf upon shelf of spices and herbs in my pantry. And I credit my husband for teaching me to add assorted chili powders to those things that would benefit from a touch of heat. Try this easy knock-off tortilla soup and then tell me what you think. My tummy loved it.

THE OLD MAN IS SNORING TORTILLA SOUP

Rehydrate 1 cup of TVP (textured vegetable protein) with 1 cup of hot vegetable broth. Set aside.

Mix 1 small can of tomato paste, at least 6 oz, with 1/2 cup of soy, rice, or almond milk. Set aside.

Into a large soup pot put:

2 Tbs. oil

2 small jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed and then diced

3/4 cup of diced onions

1/2 cup of diced celery

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. ancho chili powder (use regular chili powder if you have to)

1 cup of fresh or frozen corn

1 Tbs. siracha

Stir together until the onions are translucent.

Add:

1 medium sized can of diced tomatoes with juices (about 15 oz)

4 cups of vegetable stock

The tomato paste/milk mixture

Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Allow the soup to cook till it bubbles, then cover and move to a back burner or simmer burner, stirring it occasionally. Allow it to simmer 45 minutes to an hour so the flavors have time to blend. Add the rehydrated TVP during the last ten minutes.

Fill a soup bowl with the tasty goodness

Top with lightly crushed tortilla chips

Sprinkle with minced cilantro leaves

If added toppings are desired, you can use:

Vegan yellow cheese, shredded

Diced green onions

Avocado slices

Dig in.

Now wasn't that easy?

Serves 4 as a main course; 6 as a side dish.

YES - Cream of Broccoli Soup

2011-11-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

The stork dropped me off in Wisconsin in the late 40s. I lived in the Dairy State until the late 60s, then I found my way to the other Dairy State, California.

In Wisconsin, in the beginning, the milkman came to the back door. I loved it when Mom would meet him there and order cottage cheese and sour cream. That meant she had something special planned. We drank a lot of milk, whole milk. We poured cream over our berries and butter was used in everything.

Our Kansas friends were aghast when they saw us pour cream on our cereal. (They talked funny. They said meilk and we said melk. They said lawyer and we said loiyer. ) They were even more surprised when we rolled our corn-on-the-cob over a pound of butter to load it up with sweet goodness that found its way down our chins.

The local bakery sold a bran muffin with a caramel pecan glaze. We ate those muffins with a knife in our hands. Every bite got a slice of butter. We buttered our hamburger buns, we melted butter into every square of our waffles, we mashed our potatoes with cream, butter and sour cream for extra flavor. We baked with butter, fried in butter, garnished every vegetable with butter. Nary a day without dairy. In fact, if you wanted to use margarine you had to cross the border into Minnesota to buy it.

And here I am to present you with Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup. It would be dishonest if I didn't tell you that it is no where near as delicious as a Scandinavian recipe I have in my files. The texture is right, it is good. It is good in a different way than a Wisconsin Creamy Soup is good. To be honest, I will rename it.

Good and Silky Broccoli Soup

In a heavy soup pot, heat: 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Add and cook until translucent: 1/2 onion, chopped and 2 cloves of minced garlic

In a small pot cover 1 large cubed potato with water and bring to a boil. Cook until soft. Drain reserving potato water.

In another small pot steam 2 cups broccoli florets. Reserve the water under the steamer.

Measure the potato water and the broccoli water and if necessary add water to make 2 cups. (Or you can use 2 cups of vegetable stock)

Now, add the cubed potatoes, the broccoli florets and the water to the soup pot with the onion and garlic. Cook together for a couple of minutes. Puree. (You can use your blender or an immersion blender). Season with salt and pepper. Serve piping hot.

Pumpkin Seeds

2011-11-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

As a toddler I loved to play in dirt, my mother tells me. Eventually my delight in tactile sensations found an outlet in my ceramic classes through out high school and beyond. But let me tell you, nothing is better than feeling the innards of a pumpkin! Separating the seeds from its entrails is a cheap thrill for me to this day. Preparing pumpkin seeds is a serious endeavour. So don't fret if you have already thrown yours out.

The very best way to flavor your seeds is to soak them in a brine solution overnight. I know a little bit about brines because of my husband's interest in smoking his caught fish. You don't want to use iodized salt because it can lend a metallic flavor. So if you look carefully in markets you can find table salt without it. Pickling salt is finer and will dissolve easy in water, or you can use Kosher or Sea salt, which won't have iodine in it either. The basic brine solution is 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 quart water. You can mix in luke warm water to help with dissolving, if necessary. After soaking overnight, you will need to dry your seeds all day on a cooking sheet. What ever you do don't put paper underneath! My seeds adhered to the paper towels and I had to peel each off individually (not a pleasant task at all).

Next roast your seeds in a low heated oven at 250 degrees F. for one hour. You can salt again as you see fit before during or after this. At the end of the bake time feel free to sprinkle plain or cinnamon sugar to taste. If you prefer salty flavors, Martha Stewart suggests putting them at this point into a heated fry pan with peanut oil (1-2 tablespoons). Then you can add any spice that suits your fancy. I put ginger, chili pepper, and curry seasonings into mine. Fry for a few minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the spices start to color but not burn. The whole house will smell wonderfully fragrant if you do.

Clean Out The Frig Stir Fry

2011-10-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

This stir fry is so good
it can be eaten as is
or with the teriyaki
sauce poured over top.

I love nearly every ethnic cuisine. You've seen me post veganized Mexican and Italian dishes but not many Asian ones. I particularly learned to appreciate Asian food when we had a Filipina nurse who took care of my husband with his advanced Parkinson's Disease. She is likely one of the best nurse/cooks we ever employed. Her recipes were awesome. Little wonder. Her mom is a caterer in the Philippines and whenever Maryann wasn't sure of an ingredient, she'd call her mom for advice.

I learned much just by watching as she stirred things together. So yesterday, when I decided I once again needed to use up leftover things hiding in the frig's deep recesses, I purposely put an Asian twist on them by doing no more than creating a sauce that screamed Chinese, Japanese, or Philippine. At least that's my opinion. Whatever I named it, the resultant product was decidedly delicious--or so the people I served it to said. Let me know what you think.

VEGGIE, SEITAN, AND TOFU STIR FRY

Boil 2 cups of water or vegetable stock in a saucepan. Add 1 cup of jasmine rice. I used white because I was out of brown. Bring everything back to a boil, cover, turn the burner to its lowest point and let the rice steam for 15 minutes. DO NOT PEEK. Lifting the cover will destroy the steam build up that will cook the rice. Follow these instructions and you will end up with fluffy rice that's soft and tender. This recipe works every time. You do not need the expense of a rice cooker.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients for stir frying.

1 cup carrots, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup broccoli florets, in bite sized pieces

1 cup of sugar snap peas, left whole

3 green onions, chopped, both green and white parts

1/2 cup seitan, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup extra firm tofu, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 of a small jalapeno, diced, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 of a small red bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

Stir fry the above ingredients in 4 Tbs. neutral oil in a large wok or skillet, adding the vegetables in order of their cook time. I began with the carrots and added the rest in increments, ending with the seitan and tofu. Cook the mixture till everything is lightly brown. To serve, put a large amount of rice in a bowl, top with the stir-fry ingredients. Drizzle the sauce over the top, as much or as little as you like.

TERIYAKI SAUCE

Into a small bowl, put:

1 Tbs. corn starch

1/2 cup water

Mix together and set aside.

Mix together in a small saucepan:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup mirin

1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated

1 garlic clove, grated

1/4 cup agave nectar as a replacement for honey

Place the saucepan on a burner and bring to a low boil. Add the corn starch slurry, beating as you add it in. Continue stirring until the sauce thickens. Don't leave it unattended or you'll have a lumpy teriyaki sauce. Place the sauce in a gravy bowl so those who want it can pour on the desired amount.

Serves 2

You can use any vegetables hanging out in the refrigerator. I added the seitan and tofu because it was there and needed to be used. It was a good choice because the stir fry had the mouth feel of meat in it.

Winter Squash Couscous Salad

2011-10-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin and butternut squash pair well with couscous

Recently, my husband made it oh so clear that he will not stand for any more rabbit food. So I experiment and try out vegan recipes late evening or mid-afternoon when I can. Last night we had a friend over for dinner, where we ate fresh caught fish, but after dinner the two of them chatted with me while I prepared an amazing couscous salad. They helped me taste test the two squashes and decide which dried fruit to use. By the time I had the finished product, my husband asked me to pack him a large portion for his lunch! Little did he know that I literally had to add some dandelion greens from the bunny's stash (out of the fridge-not his cage!), as I was out of parsley. Tee Hee.

So it was unanimous. Butternut squash had denser color, texture, and flavour. The pumpkin was lighter and milder. Just look at the picture below. Wouldn't you enjoy roasted squash instead of boring potatoes as your next side dish. You could cut them into french fry lengths just as easily as cubes. I drizzled olive oil on top, seasoned and tossed them. Popped them into a 400 degree F.(or 200 degree C.) oven for 30 minutes, stirring once half way through cooking because they get quite brown on the pan side.

Does anyone else have trouble cutting open hard squashes? If I had a ban saw I would employ it for this purpose! For some reason the notion hit me to first peel them, to make it easier to cut them open. It does take hand strength to peel raw winter squash, but I think it helped. The hardest, and most dangerous part is splitting them in half. Your knife gets stuck in the middle...I don't have a cleaver, maybe that would do a better job. Anyway, good luck with yours.

These butternut and pumpkin squares are yummy already, just roasted with olive oil, salt & pepper.

Couscous & Winter Squash

1/2 a pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (about 2-3 cups)

4-6 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups instant couscous

1/2 cup dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, or cherries

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

1/3 cup cilantro or parsley, chopped

1. Preheat oven and prepare the raw squash and roast it as described above.

2. Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil in a large sauce pan. Cook the onions and garlic over moderate heat 5-10 minutes until soft, but not brown. Add stock and bring to a boil.

3. Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let it steam for 10 minutes. Then fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

4. Mix in the squash, fruit, nuts, and greens. Serve warm, but can be eaten cold too.

I found this recipe in a beautiful coffee table cook book called Made in Morocco. The photographs alone kept my rapt fascination. My hostess in New Zealand shared it with me last summer. It called for raisins, but I only had dried cherries and blueberries in my cupboard. My tasters preferred the cherries. They were tart and sweet, like cranberries would be. I personally don't favor cilantro, which was originally called for, so next time I make this I will use parsley, although the dandelion greens I used in my desperation (not to run to the store), stayed bright and savory even in the leftovers. Maybe you find it hard to follow recipes exactly too. Happy taste trails to you.

Pumpkin Cake

2011-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Nordic Ware Pumpkin Patch Pan

The details are unclear. Driving to an appointment, listening to NPR, I heard snippets of an interview with Adam Gopnik, author of the book the Table Comes First: Family, France and the Meaning of Food.

The interview triggered memories of the table my husband and I made when we were first married. We balanced a piece of plywood over two saw horses and covered it with a table cloth. Later we replaced it with a table from the thrift store. On one end of that table he built a guitar and at the other end I made clay pots. We ate in the middle. We abused that table. One day it cried Uncle and warped, then cracked.

I thought of the oak table I bought at a garage sale 12 years ago. The man selling it told me that his family had shared a meal at that table every evening and after dinner his father would do fine sculpture work there, evidenced by the pock marks in the wood on one side. I sense that table could tell me stories and when I sit down to write at that table, I listen.

BOO
Tables are for gathering around. Offer a little food and we linger together for awhile. It's bonding in it's best form. Sharing a meal builds memories. When the forks are set down, elbows find the table. After a satisfying meal and a couple of glasses of wine, the tongue loosens and connections are made.

BOO
Tomorrow we will celebrate a birthday. The grand finale will be Pumpkin Cake made with pumpkin from my garden and baked in the Nordic Ware pumpkin cupcake pan my Mom gave me for a birthday years ago. 6 cups make the bottoms of 6 pumpkins and 6 cups make the tops of 6 pumpkins. A little frosting to wed the two and you have 6 round pumpkin cakes. One a piece. A stomach ache memory.

PUMPKIN CAKE

1 2/3 Cup Flour
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup water
1/2 Cup Pumpkin
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vinegar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients and sift together. Add remaining ingredients.
No need to grease the pan. Pour the batter into an eight inch square cake pan - or into muffin pans.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes, until a spaghetti noodle inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool.

Frost. Or sprinkle powdered sugar over the tops. Decorate

Come to the table, stay for dessert. There's no telling what will happen.

Easy Autumn Salad

2011-10-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

It's turned cool in S. California. Again. October weather is typically up and down. Right now it's down. I so love the cold nights and sunny, breezy days. Now you realize that when I say the word "cold" I'm not referring to my part of the world as being like N. Idaho or MN, where I grew up. What I mean is "cold" for us. And with that cold comes the changing of the leaves. Finally. I'll have to head up to the mountains to see a lot of trees changing colors but for right now, those around town suffice.

Oddly enough, when autumn shows up, my nature is to head toward home made soups and hot out of the oven cornbread or rolls or biscuits an inch high slathered with all good things. Today I decided to be different. I made a cold vegetable salad I found in a magazine, so I tweaked it to suit my own palette by adding some heat and it turned out so good I just have to share it with you. Try it and let me know what you think. I served it with my knock-off version of Marie Callendar's portobello hamburger. The recipe for that is at "Ah, Bella, How I Love Thee."

EASY AUTUMN SALAD

Into a small bowl put:

1 tsp. Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Mix

1/2 tsp. dill weed

1 tsp. water

Stir together and let it stand for five minutes.

In another small bowl mix together:

2 Tbs. vegan mayonaisse

2 Tbs. soy buttermilk (I made my own by mixing a dash of vinegar with my regular soy milk and letting it sit till it curdled.)

Mix well. Set aside.

Into a large bowl place:

1 1/2 cups fresh corn (I used frozen, uncooked)

1 cup peas and carrots frozen mix, thawed, then blanched for two minutes and cooled.)

1 tomato, seeded and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup green pepper, small dice

1/2 cup cucumber, small dice

1/2 cup red onion, small dice

Pinch of red pepper flakes
Pinch of cayenne

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix the Ranch Dressing and Buttermilk mixture together, then pour over the vegetables. Stir to blend. Let sit in the refrigerator, covered, at least an hour. Several hours is better. Stir occasionally to keep the ingredients mixed with the dressing. Serve cold.

6 servings.

NUTS

2011-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Same old, same old. That has been my menu lately. It occurred to me that since nuts were healthy, there must be a vegan recipe out there that used nuts as a main ingredient that I could add to my repertoire. So today I bring you a very simple Walnut sauce.

My two go to places to check out nutrition, World's Healthiest Foods and Dr. Michael Greger's website say that walnuts are high in omega 3 fatty acids. They rave about many benefits of eating walnuts. The one that really caught my eye was the idea that a handful of walnuts everyday will reduce weight gain around the mid section.

This very simple sauce reminds me of pesto. The prominent flavor is garlic. If you don't like garlic, other spices will work very nicely. Substitute the garlic with peppers or celery seeds. I imagine cilantro and chopped cherry tomatoes would be lovely.

Walnut - Garlic Sauce

3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 small garlic clove
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup boiling water
pepper

Put walnuts, garlic, olive oil and salt into a blender and blend until smooth. Add 1/4 cup boiling water. Check the consistency. Add water if needed.

Serve over noodles.
Nest time I will garnish with chopped walnuts and chopped parsley.

I chopped up some beet greens and fried them quickly in olive oil and a little chopped garlic to serve with the pasta. It was wonderful. A surprisingly satisfying break from rice and beans.

Pasta Sauce or Soup?

2011-10-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

My American-Italian friend, who used to be married to a vegetarian, wrote down her basic marinara recipe for me. She didn't put any measurements but I will for you. There's a can of garbanzo beans pureed into the mix which gives more protein and fiber. I tried brown rice pasta for the first time (pictured), and it is much lighter than whole wheat, you hardly know it is a whole grain pasta at all. This recipe is mild, but with a bright punch of tomato flavor, very kid friendly.

As suggested by my Italian friend, I used the left over sauce for a soup base. I baked butternutt squash in a pan of shallow water in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes. When the halves cooled enough to handle, I peeled and cut them into cubes. There was too much for this soup, but now I have extra in the fridge. I also threw in about 3 raw cubed zucchini into the pot and simmered until tender. I tried some of the soup with couscous, and some with quinoa. The couscous absorbs the sauce, so it is less soup like of the two. The quinoa is nice, with a little bit of texture and tiny crunch.

Tomato Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 chopped carrots
3-5 chopped shallots
1-2 chopped onions
3-6 cloves of garlic
2 large cans of good tomatoes ( Muir Glen or San Manzano)
1 can organic garbanzo beans
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 ounces fresh basil

Heat stock pot over med-high heat, add oil and chopped vegetables. Cook until onions and shallots are translucent. Add canned ingredients. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes and then puree with a hand blender or food processor. Add the basil just before serving. Make your choice of pasta according to the package instructions.

A Whole Lotta Enchilada

2011-10-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

San Diego's Old Town is home to the best Mexican restaurants in the city. If any of them were vegan, they'd be hounding me for my enchilada recipe. Hey, it could happen!

I've outdone myself. Yes, I created an enchilada that tastes every bit as good as if it came from your favorite Mexican restaurant. Please understand that I love Mexican food and enchiladas in particular. I had not yet tried creating a vegan one because I wasn't sure how to go about it. So on one especially ambitious day, I began mixing this with that and threw in a pinch of spice and a smidgen of herb and by the time everything was mixed together, it tasted pretty doggone good. So I went ahead and stuffed it into my corn tortilla shells, covered the whole thing with enchilada sauce and a flurry of vegan shreds and stuck it in the oven. Guess what? It was so good I thought I'd been time-warped to Mexico City.

Remember now, I like my food spicy, so if you don't I suggest you cut down either the chili powder or the jalapeno. I recommend you leave some spice in or it won't taste like Mexican food and you'll blame me for blogging a yukky recipe.

I served my enchiladas with a small garden salad and it was just the right amount of food. At least for me. I made extra enchiladas because I like them warmed over the next day. I think they're even better if they sit a bit.

VEGAN ENCHILADAS

10 corn tortillas

1 24 oz. can enchilada sauce, any brand

3/4 cup black beans, drained, rinsed, and slightly mashed.

1/3 cup corn, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup diced zucchini

2 Tbs. chopped cilantro

1/2 cup chopped green onions, both white and green parts

1/2 cup vegan cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. ancho chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1 roasted jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

Mix everything together except for the enchilada sauce. This is enough to stuff 10 corn tortillas. Soften the tortillas in the microwave then fill and roll and place seam side down in a greased casserole dish. Pour the enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of shredded vegan cheddar.

Bake at 450 for 20 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered. Serve immediately.

Brown Rice with Garlic - Simply Delicious

2011-10-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

It's human nature to be skeptical and critical about things foreign to us. If you had told me three years ago that you were a vegan I would have worried about your sanity. Did you get enough protein? Is it your religion or your ethics that prevented you from eating meat? Are you one of those fad followers? Are you eating vegan to lose weight? I would have given you the look and shaken my head.

It didn't surprise me at all when the lady sitting next to me at a recent party expressed her disappointment when attending an all day conference, to learn that they would be served a vegan meal. Her tone suggested that this was not a good thing. With a little nervous laugh, she continued. She thought it was a vegetarian meal but there was no cheese (tsk, sigh) on the dish. Her friend explained that it was Vegan. "It was soooo BLAND. A little salt and pepper would have helped." She carried on for awhile. And then a little longer. Not good.

I'm here to tell you, it doesn't have to be like this. Vegan can be healthy and delicious. Dr. Michael Greger, a vegan, makes a video a day at his website nutritionfacts.org to educate his readers about healthy choices. Each video is a 3-10 minutes mini course in nutrition. Coupled with this blog, you can begin to experiment with a vegan meal now and then, with confidence.

Brown rice combined with beans, makes a complete protein. Each time I fix rice and beans, it's a little different because I get a little braver. Here's an example of my brown rice recipe that is just a little better, a little more nutritious and a little tastier than the recipe on the brown rice bag.

Oven Brown Rice with Garlic
preheat oven to 350 degrees

One Cup brown rice
Two Cups HOT water (or vegetable broth) *
One whole head of garlic, cloves peeled
One half teaspoon salt

Pour the brown rice into an oven proof casserole dish. Add the liquid, peeled garlic and salt.
Cover and put into the preheated oven for 50 - 60 minutes. Serve. (A little fresh parsley or cilantro is a nice addition just before you take the rice to the table.)

* When I boil potatoes (skin on) I save the water - it makes a wonderful broth for this recipe. You can also use the water you steam your vegetables in. Simply cool the liquid and freeze in a plastic zip lock bag in the freezer until you need it. Added flavor and added nutrition. Nothing is wasted. It's so satisfying to be a little hippie now and then.

Oven brown rice gets gutsier when you add onion, cabbage, spinach, parsley or other vegetables. Have at it - your imagination is your only limitation.

Chilly Enough For Chili

2011-10-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, okay, so maybe it didn't snow,
maybe it just felt like it was going to. Do
you buy that?

Even Southern California gets cold. Stop laughing. Believe me, when your blood gets as thin as ours does, what with living in a temperate clime, when that thermometer hits sixty something, it's time to turn on the furnace and put on another sweater. Now add pouring rain into the mix, skies as dark as dusk, and clouds hovering low, and you have perfect chili weather. Just like today.

Wouldn't you know, my favorite recipe for this thick, watch a spoon stand up in the middle of the bowl, concoction isn't vegan. Yet I wondered if I could change things around a bit, delete a little of that and add some of this. So I gave it a try. Doggone, it's every bit as good as my non-vegan recipe. I kid you not. I served the heady mixture in big, steamy bowls and sprinkled the top with vegan sour cream, minced green onions and Daiya cheese shreds. Corn muffins hot from the oven were my only side. I ate two. Since I was now too full to move, I rolled myself into the living room, covered up with a favorite afghan, and laid on the floor to watch the Movie Channel.

Life doesn't get any better than that.

Vegan Chili for Chilly Weather

No vegan sour cream left for this photo-op.
We used it all during the actual eating.

Into a soup pot put:

2 Tbs. oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small jalapeno, minced, seeds and ribs removed

Cook until the onions are translucent, about five minutes.

Add to the pot:

1 14 oz. can red beans, drained and rinsed

1 14 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice

1/4 cup vegetable stock

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. paprika

2 Tbs. chili powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

pinch of cloves

salt and pepper to taste

Cook everything together over medium heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, turn it to low, cover, and let simmer for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. I let mine simmer an hour. If the chili is too soupy, remove the lid and continue cooking till the mixture thickens to your liking.

Serve with vegan sour cream, minced green onions, and vegan cheese shreds.

Yummy.

Perhaps I ought to warn you that this is a spicy chili. It won't make your mouth burn to eat it, but it you don't like any heat at all, leave out the jalapeno and the cayenne pepper. But be warned! You'll be turning a GREAT chili into a mediocre one.

Pumpkin Chili

2011-10-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Flipping through my first issue of OPRA magazine ever sent to my address. I spy a recipe for this chili. Appropriately, this October issue proposes a few pumpkin recipes. Now, would you ever think of putting canned pumpkin into chili? What about Cinnamon? Mmm? Sounds Indian. I don't know about you, but I have trouble following a recipe exactly. I get out my grape seed oil instead of canola because I saw Bal Arneson use this oil on her Spice Goddess show. Then I used white kidney beans and added rinsed black beans for color. I must admit that I was a little sceptical about this actually turning out.

Pumpkin Chili
2 Tbsp. oil

1 chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1-15 oz can of kidney beans

1-15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1-6 oz can of corn
1 cup uncooked whole bulgar
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 serrano chilies, chopped, seeded for less heat
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. bk. pepper

Heat large stock pot, add oil. Once oil is hot, add onions and garlic. Saute about 4 minutes until soft. Add all the other ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for another 30 minutes until bulgar is soft. Serve hot. Season with salt and pepper.

Although I was very happy with the thickness and texture of this chili, the taste for me was lack luster. If you are normally content eating vegan main courses, than perhaps you could appreciate the subtle oatmeal-lish bulgar with the hint of pumpkin flavour under the mild chili and serrano spices. If I were to make this recipe again, I would leave in the serrano seeds or try jalapeno peppers instead. I'm not convinced cinnamon was necessary, or that the Spice Goddess wouldn't redress the balance of these spices.

Live Avocado Soup

2011-09-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

I entertained five family members last weekend. It was a veritable Dutch invasion! I showed them the Santa Barbara points of interest: the wharf, State Street shopping, the Mission, the Botanical Gardens, etc. Pictured above is the youngest and fairest on her way back to her college via SB train station. The famous Morton Fig tree in background. Once left alone to nurse my cold and weariness, I flipped to Andrew Zimmern's Bizarrre Foods.

His show was taped in Arizona and featured the vegetarian restaurant D'lish in Sedona. I watched them make an avocado based raw soup, which was my inspiration for this recipe. The concept of eating live or raw foods, is that when you cook plant food, you diminish their nutritional value. Now, I like the taste of vegetables. I even find wheat grass juice palatable. Whereas, my husband was afraid of a raw cold soup, and didn't appreciate the subtle flavors. I thought it tasted great. This would be a classy first course when entertaining, served with tortilla chips, of course.

If you can afford to, buy organic kale, parsley, cilantro, avocado, garlic, and lemons. Fill a basin with cold water to soak out any bugs and soil from the greens, spin dry or dry with towels. Get out your food processor and maybe even your juicer too. You'll need to cream your avocado, but if you juiced the greens and garlic, you would have a perfectly smooth soup. I put my handful of greens into a little food processor to chop very finely. When I added these to the avocado, I could feel and almost chew the texture of the vegetables. The tartness of the lemon juice and hot pungent taste of garlic balance the creamy coconut milk and avocado flavors.

Live Avocado Soup

3-5 leaves of kale

a handful each of parsley and cilantro

1 small clove of garlic
1 large ripe avocado
1 small lemon
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce to taste

Juice or chop very fine your washed greens. Pour into your soup bowl or simply add the garlic, avocado, and the juice of lemon into the processor and puree. Mix this into your green juice. Add enough coconut milk for a good soup consistency. Spice with salt, pepper, and soy product. Garnish with a cilantro leaf. Serve with tortilla chips

Off To Morocco--Vegan Style

2011-09-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

While I've never set foot in Morocco, I've always enjoyed photos of the area, what with the colorful street vendors crammed against the dun-hued architecture. It seems a study in beauty set against the starkness of a desert landscape. And even though I have visited the country only in my imagination, the foods of Morocco have been reality on my taste-buds.

It isn't that the dishes are so unusual, for many of the ingredients are familiar to us. The secret to their tongue-tantalizing recipes are the spices used in every dish. The interesting thing is, these are spices we are familiar with. Yet the Moroccans blend them together in a way I would never have thought of and maybe you wouldn't have either. Give this recipe a try and see if you don't become a Moroccan vegan. Who ever would have thought such a thing existed?

I let my bean mixture get too dry. Don't make
the same mistake. Your bean mixture should look
brothy but not like a soup.

Moroccan Medley

Into a saucepan put:

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

10 oz. of couscous
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. turmeric

Bring vegetable stock and spices to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Set aside till later.

In a big skillet put:

1 Tbs. oil
1 big onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs. minced jalapeno or more if you like lots of heat
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
Cook till the vegetables are soft.

Add:

1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup of chopped dates or figs
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. paprika, not the smoked kind.
pepper to taste

Cook over medium heat until the spices marry. Turn heat to low and simmer about 1/2 hour. If the mixture gets too dry, add some vegetable stock. The resulting product should be a bit on the saucy side rather than dry, but it should not look like soup.

Fluff the couscous with a fork till it is light and fluffy. Center big scoops of the couscous on a dinner place. Pour a good portion of the bean mixture on top.

Sprinkle the dish with chopped cilantro and pine nuts (optional)
Drizzle with a bit of good olive oil

Serves 2 hungry people or 3 not so hungry ones.

Serve this dish with naan bread or any other flatbread that you like.

There will be couscous leftover. I made extra so I could make another Moroccan dish. I'll post it next week.

Happy Eating....

Storms And Soups

2011-09-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

I never met a storm I didn't like. Now please understand that I am talking about a thunder and lightning extravaganza. I wasn't crazy about the three Minnesota tornadoes I lived through or the multiple earthquakes that have rattled my California home.

I love storms. Especially the thunder and lightning ones. Growing up on southern Minnesota's farmlands, my sisters and I got used to lightning bolts renting the sky and thunderous claps that seemed to jangle the whole house. I credit my mom with teaching us not to be afraid but to take pleasure in stormy days. How I remember my sisters and I sitting in front of the living room windows, watching the exciting displays and complaining when they were over.

Now we are all southern California girls and have been for a long time. Each one of us loves storms, has taught our kids to love storms, and they, in turn, have taught their children to love storms. I mention that only because these sissy native Californians are mostly so afraid of thunder and lightning that they draw the drapes, lock the doors, and hide in the closet till it passes. At least that has been my experience.

Since we don't get many good storms in San Diego, I have taught myself to be content with drizzly days, overcast skies, and foggy gloom. In my opinion, it's better than nothing. These days, all it takes for me to get in the mood for home made soup like mom used to make is a bit of a drizzle, a cloudy sky, and a lack of sunshine for most of the day.

That's what it was like yesterday. And the first thing I wanted was mom's Navy Bean soup. Being a vegan, I had to leave the ham bone out. Surprisingly, the soup was still delicious. Next time, I'm going to add just a little liquid smoke. I think that might make up for the smokiness the ham bone would have added.

Need I say that this soup recipe has been around a long time. Whether mom created it or got it from her mom or out of a magazine, I can't tell you. What I can say is that every spoonful reminded me of a childhood spent watching storms roll by. You can imagine any scenario you wish. As for me, I enjoy thinking about my times past, those simple days when all I had to worry about was whether last year's raincoat and rubber boots would still fit.

STORMY DAY WHITE BEAN SOUP

Into a large soup pot put:

1 Tbs. oil

2 carrots, small dice

1/2 cup celery, small dice

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, chopped thin, all of the white and a bit of the light green

Saute until the vegetables are soft and translucent.

Add to the pot:

2 15 oz. cans of white beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup corn, frozen or fresh

3 1/2 cups of vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. tarragon

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. cumin seeds

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes or two dashes of hot sauce

Bring all the ingredients to a simmer. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to break up about half of the beans so they will work as a thickener. Move the soup pot to a back burner, cover, and let it slowly simmer about an hour so the spices have time to marry.

Serve steaming hot with garlic toast or biscuits or any other kind of bread that sounds good.

This recipe serves 4 hungry people.

Author's note:

My mom cooked her beans from scratch. I was just too lazy and used canned cannellini beans because I was out of canned navy beans. You do what pleases you.

Last Summer Salad

2011-09-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

At most restaurants, I first check out the salad selections. I enjoy fresh green lettuce mixed with nuts and fruit. Above is pictured a salad I ordered up in Los Olivos, CA at a popular lunch stop called Panino. Of course, I had to ask that the gorgonzola cheese be left out. Honestly, though, I missed the taste and creamy richness of cheese in this salad to balance the sweetness of the cranberries and pears. Twice now I've been priveledged to homemade candied pecans in a salad with pears and cranberries at parties and decided to make my own. How hard could it be? However, what could I substitute for the rich cheese?

Last week I featured an almond "cheese" made by Lisanatti Foods in my risotto, so I cubed the remainder of this garlic herb flavor alternative to cheese into my salad. I put in red grapes and discovered how incredibly easy it is to candy walnuts too. Truly a delicious combination. Quick, make this fabulous summer salad before we refer to this week as last summer!

Candied

Walnuts

Super easy! Throw a cup or two of walnuts or pecans into a skillet. Add a half cup of sugar. Cook at high heat until sugar melts, stirring constantly. When the sugar and nuts start to brown, turn off the heat and continue stirring while pan is hot. They will burn if you cook them too long, so watch them carefully and use your nose to sniff any burning smell! Cool and toss into your salads.

Fajita Fiesta--Baby Bella Style

2011-09-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

I love fajitas. I especially like ordering them in a restaurant because the food comes to the table on a cast iron plate that sizzles all the way from the kitchen to my table. I know that for sure. I've heard it sizzle time and again.

But woe is me. Now I'm a vegan and sticking to it. Not only has the intestinal disease I've battled for at least 15 years subsided, but I've lost 45 pounds in the process. In addition, my 70+ year-old skin has never looked fresher or dewier. People who have known me for a long time stop and look, then look again, then just plain stare. One of my doctors told me I looked like a whole different person. Another doctor told me that obviously the vegan diet was just what I needed. Acquaintances not only stare but outright ask me what I've done to myself.

When I tell them I've given up eating meat or dairy, they grimace like I've just forced a lemon down their throat. Then they insist they love meat and cheese so much they could never give it up. I just smile. I refuse to argue the points of being vegan. After all, I was an omnivoure all my life till recently. And I'm still not a dedicated vegan, for I wear leather shoes and carry a leather bag. Yet healthwise, I'm in far better shape than I was in my younger years. Last week a long-time friend insisted she would never become vegan because she liked her fried foods and sauces and butter too much. My sister said she liked steak and fish and couldn't even think about going without. My neighbor suggested being vegan was too expensive and she didn't know any vegan recipes anyway.

Now mind you, I'm not the one bringing this vegan business up in conversation. It just happens when I mention that I'm now a plant eater. I'll be honest and say it was hard to make the change. I had no idea how to put a meal together that would satisfy and nourish me. But I learned by scouring the net for vegan blogs and websites and Googling "vegan recipes" till my fingerprints no longer existed. I've learned how to make my own vegan dishes and gotten good enough to create some new ones. All this from a person who really hates to cook. Figure that one out.

As I was saying, I was in the mood for fajitas so I took my favorite chicken fajita recipe and tweaked it. Then I had the nerve to serve it to guests--all without first tasting it myself. By the raves I got, I guess everyone liked it. I know I sure did. Let me know what you think.

My recipe made four overstuffed fajitas. I served home made refried beans alongside and then had to roll into bed because I was too stuffed to walk.

FAJITA FIESTA

Use a resealable plastic bag for the marinade and put into it:

1 pound mushrooms, sliced. I used baby portobellos

2 Tbs. neutral vegetable oil

2 Tbs. lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Dash of hot sauce, I used Frank's

Salt

Black pepper

Let set for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat a large cast iron skillet until it is sizzling hot.

Add 2 Tbs. oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced--I used a fresh jalapeno

Cook till the vegetables are translucent.

Add the marinade ingredients to the skillet and fry everything together, still at a high heat so you get that sizzle.Stir fry till all the liquid evaporates.

Warm 4 flour tortillas in the oven or the microwave.

Stuff 1/4 of the fajita mix into each tortilla.

Top with chopped cilantro, guacamole, a drizzle of lime, red salsa, vegan sour cream, and vegan yellow cheese, shredded.

As a side, serve refried beans or red rice or a bean/corn salsa.

Enjoy!

Quinoa with Raisins and Nuts

2011-09-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

Quinoa.

What?

Quinoa.

How do you spell it?

Q U I N O A.

How did you say it?

Keen wa.

Oh. I always wondered what that word was.

And so it went. Before she ate it she had to know what it was. I explained that it was an ancient grain, eaten by the Incas, now grown in the US, packed with protein iron potassium magnesium and lysine. By many it's considered one of the Super Foods. JUST TRY IT.

I was getting impatient with her reluctance to dig in. Her fork finally made it to her mouth and she was surprised. Quinoa is really mostly about the texture. The flavor is mild nutty and easily embellished with herbs and sauces. I admit that the little pop quinoa makes when you bite into one is a surprise at first. And yes, they get stuck between your teeth. Alone it taste a little like nothing, why bother. You must bother, with herbs and spices and fruit and whatever it takes, because it's so good for you. Aren't you tired of the same old same old?

This recipe has a little Indian twist to it. Because I had a guest with a certain resistance for things new, I went easy on the spices. You could easily adjust the recommendations here, doubling them even.

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed

salt, pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

1/4 teaspoon cumin, ground

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ground

1/4 teaspoon ginger, ground

1/4 teaspoon coriander, ground

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1.4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup raisins (or currants)

3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or almonds

1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest

Cook quinoa in 1 1/2 cup water with 1/4 tsp salt.

Saute onion in olive oil with the spices until soft

Drain quinoa and toss with the onion, spices and cilantro, raisins, nuts and zest.

Serve on a bed of the salad green of your choice.

Hearty Risotto & Peace Beets

2011-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

My once-Beatnik uncle sent me a link, http://www.intentionexperiment911.com/, because he thought I might like to participate in a guided peaceful meditation that happened on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. He was right, I immediately signed up. My hope was that a massive, global effort by ordinary people, like myself, would counter some of the violent impulses that drive otherwise ordinary people in this troubled world. Just like how I feel the all-consuming peace when praying together with many, as in a church or solemn gathering. I was hopeful that my mental and heartfelt focus on peace in Afghanistan would help in some unseen way.

At the appointed time, I got comfortable and followed the website guidelines to think about peace using all the senses. Visually, I conjured a verdant sun dappled forest scene, redwood and ceder trees. Next I allowed the chirping birds outside my window join this imaginary scene. A peaceful smell would have to be floral. I imagined the sweet, tropical whiff of plumeria. How would peace feel like if I could touch it? Water and air, so very precious to our bodies. I pictured a cool stream to dip my hand into and a light pleasant breeze to inhale. Lastly there is the taste of peace.

Probably nothing too spicy or tart. Bland? Creamy? Sweet? My favorite cookies would make too much noise crunching in my mouth, which strikes me as too aggressive an action to represent peace. I needed to think of a taste that didn't involve chewing. When do we eat, or drink most quietly? A breast feeding baby doesn't even have teeth yet and is perfectly at peace. Mother's milk has to be the taste of peace. Too bad we don't remember this taste after toddler hood.

Speaking of milk, I found a fake cheese that is fresh and creamy tasting: Lisanatti brand of Original Almond, The Good Cheese Alternative, Garlic Herb Style. The texture is right, it melts well too. Its practically fat free and very low calorie. I added it into a wild and whole rice mix to make a creamy delicious dish very like risotto. I call the next side dish Peace Beets, because it is made with equal part onions, which are the most prevalent and popular vegetable on this planet. Beets purifies blood and helps circulation. The red beets even looks like a heart. It will take more courage than might to build peace on earth, don't you think?

Hearty Risotto

1 cup Lundberg Wild Blend rice (or 1/4 cup wild rice and 3/4 brown rice)

2 cups vegetable stock

1 tablespoon margarine

1 teaspoon salt

4 ounces Lisanatti almond, garlic style "cheese"

Mix all ingredients into a large sauce pan except the cheese. Bring it to a boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Let stand 10 more minutes with lid on. Add cheese by cutting it into small pieces, waiting a minute or two then blending it all together.

Peace Beets

Equal parts onions and beets.

Olive oil (1-3 tablespoons depending on how much you cook)

In a large stock pot, boil washed beets for 30-45 minutes. Drain and when cool enough to touch, peel skins off of the beets. Meanwhile, peel and slice onions medium, thin. Heat them in a large fry pan, (or maybe you could use the large stock pot?) then add oil and heat another minute before adding the onions. Fry until they start to caramelize. Turn off heat, if beets are not ready yet. When beets are cool enough to handle, grate them into tiny pieces. Yes your fingers will turn red. By the way, eating a lot of beets might darken urination color too! Next mix beets with the onions in the pan. Heat through. Season to taste.

Posole--Mexico In A Bowl

2011-09-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Try this authentic
Mexican recipe and I
bet you'll feel like
dancing too.

I've told you before that I have a housekeeper who comes to help me every week, largely because osteoporosis and arthritis in my spine have made it incredibly difficult to walk. Every so often I take advantage of her cooking skills and ask if she'll create something wonderful for my supper. She always agrees.

Because she's seen me grow so slim and healthy by eating vegan, she has done the same thing and while she's lost weight, it is her teenage daughter who has really slimmed down. All by eating vegan with only a few exceptions, such as family parties or church picnics.

To be honest, I've never eaten Posole. Yet I knew if Irma cooked it, it would be great. She grew up in Mexico City, taught to cook by her mom, and knows how to make original Mexican food that teases the tongue with spice and tickles the back of the throat with heat. Because I'm a sissy, she doesn't make the food she cooks for me as spicy as she would for her own family. If you're a diehard heat fan, add more chili powder and some jalapenos when you make this dish. I like it as is. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

POSOLE--MEXICO IN A BOWL

In a large soup pot, combine:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large poblano chile, chopped (sometimes called pasilla)

Cook until the vegetables are soft and the onion is translucent, about 8-10 minutes.

Add:

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. ancho chile powder (regular chile powder can be substituted)

1 24 oz. can of diced tomatoes with juice

1 15 oz. can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can of white hominy, drained and rinsed

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. lime juice

1 Tbs. browning sauce--I used Kitchen Bouquet

black pepper to taste

Simmer the soup on a back burner, uncovered, for at least an hour so the flavors have time to marry.

Serve piping hot with avacodo slices and fresh cilantro as garnishes.

Irma warmed flour tortillas over an open flame so they had a slightly charred taste, which went great with the posole.

The whole masterpiece was good to the last drop.

If you don't have ancho chile powder, do yourself a favor and buy some. The depth of flavor this spice brings to the party is so much more than that of regular chile powder.

A Brief Summer Squash Soup

2011-09-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had to get ready to step out on the last hot day of summer? Maybe you're sweaty and feeling sun burnt too? Well I needed a smooth look under a sexy Hawaiian cocktail dress today. After showering off the sand on my feet, I surprised myself with my resourcefulness.

Last summer we hosted five of our Dutch relations, including two of their friends traveling with. One or two nieces here, a brother there. Now, the two young couples in the middle left us with many gifts, of sorts. Since they all suffered terribly from shopping-i-tus, they needed to unload half of what they packed to fit the new stuff into their luggage.

Swap meets and Dumpster diving are familiar forms of acquisition for me. My friends and I bought and sold our worldly goods at the local Sunday swap meet growing up. My friends and neighbors used to find all sorts of perfectly good dairy food still sealed in the grocery store dumpsters back in the 70s. Not to mention all the "found" objects of refuse incorporated into artists' work that I studied in school. Although I have never lowered myself into an actual dumpster, I'm never too proud to accept other peoples' cast offs.

So here we have the young upwardly mobile Europeans leaving behind practically new fashionable men's tops and socks that my dear husband looks smashing in. However, he neglected the one pair of lilac colored boy short briefs. This piece of men's hosiery, if you will, lay static in his drawer.

You get the picture, right? The thought of something feminine and lacy gave me a visible shudder. How do women wear this without it getting permanently wedged? All manner of women's undies dig into my skin to scream PANTY LINES, over here. Spanks? Are you kidding me? How do women breathe wearing those? That pretty pair of boys underwear called to me. Mmm. Do I wear it backwards of forwards, since there is so much excess room in the front? Unwelcome visuals of the last owner of these briefs surface in my mind, so I quickly match the cotton crotch to mine and threw on my dress! I would wager that men's intimate apparel is a fraction of the cost of women's. If you fore go buying meats, you can save even more money.

Summer Squash Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2-4 lbs of yellow squash, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 red bell peppers, chopped bite sized
4-6 ounces crimini mushroom, sliced

Heat stock pot and add olive oil. Fry chopped onions until translucent. Put into pot the squash and add water to fill the spaces between but not to completely submerge. Puree with a hand blender or by whatever means available. Heat another skillet and add 3 more tablespoons of olive oil. Fry the bell peppers and mushrooms until tender. Mix these into the squash puree and season to taste.

This Spud's For You!

2011-09-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

I seldom eat potatoes. I grew up eating them at nearly every meal, but once I was doing my own cooking, I discovered I much preferred rice or grains or pasta. Even so, there come times when I yearn for a giant baked potato, burst open to expose its fluffy, white interior and then stuffed with all manner of tantalizing delicacies. Since the usual trappings of butter and sour cream were out of the picture, I wondered if I could even create something akin to all that non-vegan goodness.

Then came the day I looked into the refrigerator to find a bevy of vegetables that needed to be used. I tossed them on a large sheet pan, drizzled them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and put them in the oven. My plan was to make pasta primivera. But then I had this off the wall idea: why not make potato primivera? Figuring it might be a tasty solution to my stuffed potato quest, I tossed a well-scrubbed Idaho spud into the oven with the veggies. Hey, what could it hurt?

While I was waiting for everything to get done, I made my usual vegan bechamel sauce. Once the vegetables were roasted, I tossed them into the sauce, along with a few dashes of cayenne pepper and a couple drops of hot sauce, and then I poured all that creamy goodness into the potato and atop and then let it run down the sides. I sprinkled it all with fresh chives. Doggone, it sure looked inviting. But would it taste good? Give it a try and let me know what you think. Far as I was concerned, it was the best stuffed potato I ever ate.

My stuffed spud turned out great but wouldn't you know, the battery in my camera is dead, so no pix because I ate all the evidence while I waited for it to recharge. I guess you'll just have to imagine how it looked. Of course you know what I have to do now. Make it again so I can take a photo. Life is hard.

STUFFED SPUD

What You'll Need:

Baking potatoes, large

Vegetable medley, roasted

Vegan Bechamel sauce

The following recipe makes enough sauce for 2-3 large potatoes. If you cook for one, as I do, you'll have enough left to use in another recipe.

2 cups roasted vegetables. I used zucchini, yellow squash, onion, tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic. I cut them in pieces, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and fresh thyme and rosemary and spread them on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 for 20-30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut the vegetables into small pieces so they'll fit into the baked potato easily.

Make the bechamel sauce while the veggies are roasting. You'll find the recipe in my post called Seitan, Onion, and Mushroom Pasta, which I posted on 7/29/11.

Stir the roasted vegetables into the creamy white sauce, give a stir to marry the flavors and add a bit of cayenne and hot sauce if you like things spicy. Stuff the results into a fluffy hot potato.

It doesn't get better than this.

The Carrot Experiment

2011-08-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

My friend learned that carrots were a super vegetable. (Indeed they are. You can read the raves here.) And so she ate, and ate, and ate them. Until she turned orange. It is possible to eat too much of a good thing.

The six year olds were at the house yesterday and I had an experiment ready for them. I wondered if texture influenced taste in a six year old. Sure enough.

The shredded carrots got one vote and were eaten up.

The carrot coins were a bust. I ate those myself.

The carrot sticks were the winner, with two votes. They quickly disappeared.

Then I poured three shot glasses of carrot juice. Just the right size I thought for the second part of the experiment. What would these apple juice drinking kids think of carrot juice? I introduced the carrot juice as a sweet drink. I didn't pretend it was anything but carrot juice. They sipped. They shook their heads and handed it back to me. Too weird.

Why weren't they impressed with the color? The color alone calls "try me." That's what I love most about cooking with carrots. They add color and sweetness to the meal.

Savory Roasted Carrots

This recipe takes the lowly carrot from it's picnic vegetable tray, child's lunch box staple, root vegetable status and elevates it to elegance. While roasting in the oven, the house will fill with the combined sharp fragrance of garlic, the musty smell of thyme and the sweetness of carrots, calling your family to the table. Open the windows, let the neighbors know there's something special going on at your house tonight.

1 1/2 pounds of organic carrots, scrubbed

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

10 or more cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole

several sprigs fresh thyme

2-6 tablespoons water

fresh thyme leaves for garnish

While you scrub the carrots, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line the carrots up in a large baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil over the carrots and shake the pan back and forth, rolling the carrots until they are covered in oil. Add the garlic cloves, the thyme sprigs and season with salt and pepper. Now add about 2 tablespoons of water.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and put into the oven for about 25 minutes. Check the water level. If you don't have a good seal on the aluminum foil, you may have a dry pan. Add water, put carrots back into the oven and set the timer for another 10 minutes. Take the aluminum foil off, and roast in oven another 5-10 minutes to allow the carrots to brown up a little.

Transfer to a serving platter. Discard the thyme springs and garlic, drizzle any infused olive oil left on the bottom of the baking dish, over the carrots. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

The next time I make this dish, I am going to roast several heads of garlic at the same time. I think the flavors will compliment each other. Carrots don't get enough compliments.

The 6 year old I shared my dinner with was not crazy about these carrots. "They're OK", she said. She did love the way they were smelled while cooking. Maybe she didn't think they would taste so much like a carrot. I suspected that she would prefer raw carrot sticks and had some ready for her. She ate those right up.

Curry Rice and Sweet & Sour Stir Fry

2011-08-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Teachers and children weep, while parents rejoice that school is back in session. I have dabbled in the teaching profession off and on over the years. So when I don't work in a school I feel like I am playing hooky. I feel mostly relieved, actually, not to be involved anymore. Now my year doesn't revolve around school holidays. Traveling is easier and much cheaper when school is in session. While having lunch with my best friend, who, by the way, created the above floral arrangement, we both dicided to make curry rice for dinner. Both our families loved it. I will follow up with how she did hers in the future. Here is my recipe.

Fried Curry Rice

1 cup Jasmine rice

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup raw slivered almonds

1/2 teaspoon yellow curry spice

1/2 teaspoon red curry spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup coconut milk

Make rice on stove or in rice cooker according to package directions. When rice is cooked, heat skillet and add oil. Fry the almonds a few minutes, then add spices and continue cooking for another minute or two, careful not to burn, stirring constantly. Add the cranberries and coconut milk. Stir until it is mixed well, then turn off the heat. Combine this mixture to your cooked rice, serve immediately.

I made a fresh salad to go with, while my husband cooked some freezer ready chicken to go on his plate. Marriage is about compromise, right? We both enjoyed the nutty curried rice very much. Yes, you can easily substitute golden or regular raisins for the cranberries. Super easy to do. There was so much left over, because I made a double recipe, that my brother ran with it tonight, and made a lovely sweet and sour stir fry to go with. This paired so well that I asked him if I could share his recipe too:

Sweet & Sour Stir Fry

3 tablespoons oil

1 large carrots, sliced thinly

2 onions chopped

3 bell peppers any and all colors chopped

1/2 a cauliflower or 3 stems broccoli chopped

(Or what ever feature veggie you want-eggplant-zucchini?)

1/2 cup plum jam or preserves

1/4 cup sweet chili sauce ( Mae Ploy brand was used tonight)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons corn starch

Whisk together the sauce first and set aside. In a bowl, mix together plum jam, chili sauce, vinegar, and spices. In a small cup, whisk or beat the corn starch into cold water before combining it to the plum jam mixture.

In a heated wok or heavy large skillet, pour oil in pan, continue heating for a minute. Add carrots for 2 minutes. Throw in chopped onions continue frying one minute. Add the cauliflower or what ever main vegetable you decided on, continue stirring another minute. Lastly add the bell peppers and cook for another minute or so. Never over cook your stir fry. The veggies should be crisp yet hot and half way tender. Add the sweet and sour sauce heating until it thickens, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately. The picture was from the first night's dinner.

Okra--Outcast Of The Veggie World

2011-08-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

Say the word "okra" in any group setting and chances are, the majority of the people will either turn up their noses while uttering a yukky sound or outright comment that the vegetable in question isn't worth consideration. Unless those people are from the South. They've eaten it all their lives and they like it. Most of us can't figure out why.

As for me, I've never been able to get past the slime. I've tried okra on occasion, but the feel of that gelatinous liquid going down my throat always made me want to gag. So when my friend Ann asked me if I'd like some jars of her pickled okra, I politely thanked her and said no. She wouldn't let it go at that. "Why don't you like okra?" she asked. So I had to tell her. After all, she was a near and dear pal of mine. She had a huge garden and grew all her own vegetables. She had so much okra she'd taken to putting it up in jars.

"Okra pickles aren't slimy," she informed me. I think you'd like them. She sent me off with three jars and dared me to give them a try. I was lucky to get any of those incredibly crunchy pickles because once the rest of the family discovered them, they disappeared nearly overnight. All three jars.

And guess what? Not one bit of slime anywhere. In fact, the pickles were so addicting, I contacted her for the recipe so I could pass it onto you. If you have never liked this outcast vegetable, these pickles will change your mind, just as it did mine. If you are an okra lover, you'll enjoy this simple vegetable as the delicious commodity it can be.

What my friend knew and I didn't is that it is the cutting that releases the slime. Fried whole, roasted whole, or pickled whole and there is no yukkiness involved. If you're one of those okra haters, as I was, give this easy recipe a try. My guess is you'll come to love okra as much as I do--especially pickled.

What you will need:

2 pint-size canning jars that have been sterilized in boiling water and are still hot to the touch.
1 pound of fresh, firm okra with pods no longer than 3 inches
Dill seed
Apple cider vinegar
Water
Salt, either pickling or non-iodized

(If you choose to use larger jars, remember to increase the pickling liquid accordingly.)

Wash the okra and cut the small stems off the top. Do not cut into the okra or you'll release the slime factor.

Place the pods in the jars, crowding them a bit. This is easier if some of the pods go in upside down.

Sprinkle 1 tsp. dill seed into each jar
Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. mustard seed into jar (optional)

In a saucepan, bring to a hard boil:

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. salt without iodine

Pour the boiling liquid over the okra, covering the pods but leaving 1/4" headroom in the jar itself.

With a clean, damp towel, wipe the rim of each jar, making sure it is clean and dry. Place the lids on the jars and seal tightly with the rings.

Allow the jars to sit out overnight to completely cool. Test the lid to make sure the jar has sealed. Push in the center of the lid, if there is no give, the lid has sealed and you can move the pickles into a cupboard.

Canning jars, lids, and rings must be sterile. If you aren't sure how to sterilize them, see the instructions on my previous blog, You Can Can Summer's Bounty.

My friend Ann told me she made only a few jars at a time, as the okra ripened in her garden. If you want to make a larger batch, double or triple the recipe.

Optional Add-ins:

celery seed, garlic cloves, small dried red chiles, whole pepper corns.

Personally, I thought the pickles were fantastic as they were. But don't be afraid to experiment if you'd like them spicier.

Superfoods

2011-08-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

NBC Nightly News ran a feature story about Super Foods this week.

Super foods are in the news quite often. The top ten list varies article to article, report to report. We mention super foods quite often on this blog, but we don't call them out. Maybe we should. First I thought I should call out a little list of super foods I've written about. Then you could click on the food and it would lead you to the post where you will find a recipe. Like this: cucumbers, fresh fruit and nuts, greens, chia seeds, beans, brown rice, quinoa, watermelon.

Then I remembered that we have a search box in the right hand column. I tried it out. It works beautifully. Want to know what to do with blueberries? Type blueberries in the search box and several articles with blueberries in the recipes from this blog will be suggested. Modern technology blows my mind.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC's chief medical editor reported that Dr Clinton at Ohio State University is working in the lab to harness the power of super foods and create products (lollipops, pills) that target certain diseases. My reaction was, "are you crazy?" How about eating those super foods just the way they are? Nature has it all figured out. Give me a break.

J. Morris Hicks agrees. "Whole foods in nature's package," he says. Reports like the NBC report just confuse us.

J. Morris Hicks has a website called Healthy Eating Healthy World . Everything on this planet connects to everything on this planet. What we eat matters. I paraphrase: "The brightest minds are missing the point", he says, "to have a healthy body, to live on a healthy planet, we need to eat more plant based foods."

Once a week is a good start. Thanks for joining us here.