Sara's Vegan Kitchen of Wonder and Discovery (and Parethetical Afterthoughts)

salad and beans

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:57:51 GMT

For years I did fancy math to make sure I didn't cook more beans than
I needed for a recipe. This Sunday during The Vortex we needed some
lentils and some black-eyed peas. We were in a hurry. I measured a cup
of beans into the pressure cooker (LOVE!) and set it to do its thing.
In my rush I said, "It'll make more than we need. I'll have the rest
on a salad."

Then I stopped. Why had I never thought of this before? Leftover beans
on a salad. Of course! What a great way to taste the beans. Different
beans with their different textures and flavors will make such
interesting salads! Now that we've entered the season of lettuce and
mesclun, I'll need interesting and filling salads. Beans to the
rescue! We already love the taco salad, which has refried beans on it.
Why not other beans?

No reason why not.

return to the cooking vortex

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:14:15 GMT

For the past few eeks we've either slacked off the Sunday cook-a-thon
or relied on standards. Nothing worth documenting. We were in a
sleepy, hungry rut. Then I got Appetite for Reduction. Duuuude. The subtitle says
it all: "125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes".

I prefer low-fat recipes since it's always easy to get more fat in my
diet. If I start low-fat, I can always happily add some. Hard to scale
it back from a recipe that relies on the fat. Also, fast is what we
need! We cook three to five recipes each Sunday. It's a lot of work
and one elaborate recipe is enough derail the whole project. When we
end up staying up late to do actual dishes, no one goes to bed happy.

We decided to make three things this week and maybe fava* cutlets on
Monday. Adam chose 4 recipes. I vetoed the pasta-based dish since
pasta always finds it way into our rotation on its own. We settled on
Eggplant Provencal, Mango Bar-B-Q Black Beans, and Spinach Potato
Curry with Tamarind Coconut Quinoa. Strictly speaking, that's 4, but
it's OK because it was way easy. After we went food shopping we
figured out what order to do things in and got set up to do a week's
worth of cooking.

Since I'm in charge of onions, I set up with a cutting board by the
stove. He set up with a cutting board, measuring spoons and bowls, and
the cookbook at the kitchen the island behind me. I tended stuff on
the stove and he kept us on track with the recipes. It was wonderful.

We started the rice first. Starting the rice is like preheating the
oven in our kitchen. I could start two cups of rice before we even
know what we're cooking. Actually, that's a good idea. The beans
needed to cook for an hour after 10 or 15 minutes of prep, so we set
that as the first recipe. While the rice and the beans simmered, we
got the quinoa going. Then we started prepping the ingredients for the
eggplant stew. This all went smoothly, with things finishing as other
dishes were getting prepped. These Sunday afternoons in the kitchen
together are paying off.

Beans, rice, and quinoa done, we took a little break before starting
the eggplant stew and spinach curry. The stew would simmer for a
while, so we started that. While it simmered, we started the curry.
The eggplant stew finished around when the curry started its 20 minute
simmer. I made some couscous and some bulgur (Do you see how sneaky
that pasta is?) for the stew, and then everything as done. We
portioned it all out into containers, had a little for dinner, did
dishes, and went to bed happy.

We were a little concerned when we finished the beans, because the
recipe says it makes 6 servings. But it really looked more like 4,
even with rice. We hoped the other recipes would yield more, but were
ready to make alternate plans. It all turned out fine, though, because
the stew and the curry made bigger batches.

My favorite thing about this was how quick and easy it was to make
these recipes together. My favorite food thing about the recipes,
though, is the strong flavors. Like I said, we were in a rut for
awhile. A French style stew with lots of herbs and a curry with
fresh-popped mustard seeds filled the house with delicious smells that
we don't get often. I'm ready to cook my way through this whole book,
three or four recipes at a time.

*shut up

breakfast of late

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:51:18 GMT

I'm a creature of habit. I go on long jags of eating the same thing
for a meal. It's often because of what's in season or coming from the
farm-share. Regardless, I get into a habit and stay there for a while.
I've noticed my brother does the same thing. Anyway, I've been having
the same smoothie for breakfast a few weeks now.

6 or 7 frozen strawberries
1/4 C frozen blueberries
1/4 C frozen raspberries
a medium banana, frozen in large chunks
1 T ground flax seed
1 T cocoa powder
1 serving powdered wheatgrass juice
1 1/4 C soy milk

It makes about 20 ounces. I top it with 1/4 C Kashi 7 grain nuggets
(the not-grapenuts)

Actually, I have toast for breakfast. I make the smoothie and bring it
to work with me.

This held me until about 10:15 or so. I'd eat lunch at 10:30, snack on
fruit in the early afternoon and get home famished by 4. That's not
the balanced way I want feel.

Then I discovered overnight oatmeal. You combine steel-cut oats 1:3
with water, bring it to a boil, and leave it to sit covered overnight.
Perfect oats in the morning. I start with 1/2 C oats and a handful of
dried cranberries or sultanas. Truly perfect. And I can heat it up or
eat it at room temperature. Turns out I really like them at room
temperature.

First I tried making a parfait with half of the prepared oats and
saving the rest for the next day or as a snack later. It wound up a
chunky smoothie. I preferred my smoothie on it's own with crunchy bits
on top. This morning I brought the whole batch of oatmeal with me in
its own bowl and wasn't hungry until 11:30. Woot!

You'll never need another peanut butter cookie recipe.

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:52:31 GMT

The Four-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie

1 C peanut butter (smooth or chunky, whatever you like)
1 C sugar (any granular sweetener you want. I sued sucanat)
2 T ground flax seeds
1/4 C water (optional)
1 t vanilla

preheat over at 350F
Mix the ingredients together until uniform.
Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.
Spoon onto a baking sheet. I used a tablespoon measure.
Mash them flat as you go. These don't spread. I made alternating rows
of three and two and filled two cookie sheets.
Bake 5-10 minutes. They'll puff up a little (then fall flat if you
used the optional water)

I made mine thin and small because I made fluffernutter cookie
sandwiches with these and Ricemellow Creme.

Next I'll do it with no-bake cookies.

another cooking vortex

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:13:41 GMT

Butternut Saag from Veganomicon. We tweaked this. The original recipe
was for pumpkin. Butternut works just fine.

Fava Cutlets from Veganomicon. We tweaked this, too. The recipe calls
for chickpeas. Favas work better.

home recipe for pad thai with tofu. Next week with seitan!

roasted Brussels sprouts and tofu (sprouts-n-fu)

It took us 3.5 hours and now we're fed lunch and dinner for the week.

wintry oatmeal and coffee

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:58:24 GMT

It's not officially winter here yet. So what if it's 26F outside this
morning? It's still autumn, dangit.

This morning's winter-y oatmeal was steel-cut oats soaked overnight.
This morning I added chopped dried apples and flame raisins. When it
was cooked through I added some cinnamon and walnuts. I also sprinkled
some maple sugar on Adam's portion.

I even made coffee at home this morning, including grinding the beans.
I never have time for that on a Tuesday morning. Ah...

Tasty warm breakfast. Love it.

first December Sunday Vortex of Cooking

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 14:30:23 GMT

I lost MoFo this year. I got sick, then flew to FL for a funeral. I'm
not connected enough to post on the fly. Oh well. We now return to our
regularly scheduled programming.

We cooked three dishes this Sunday. I think we'll be fed for the week.

1- Stuffed Acorn Squash

2- Butternut Fava Stew (my variation on fatfreevegan's Moroccan Fava Bean Stew recipe)

3- Cabbage, Potatoes, and Parsnips in Black-bean Sauce

First we roasted the squash. While that was in the oven, I prepared
the stuffing for the acorn squash.

Stuffed Squash

the squash

2 acorn squash
heat oven to 375F.
cut squash in half.
scoop out the seeds.
place squash cut side down in a shallow baking pan (but not a cookie sheet).
pour 12 oz water in the pan.
bake 35 minutes.

You'll know they're done when you can easily pierce the skin of
the squash with a fork.
When the squash are done, pour any remaining water out and set them
aside. When they are cool enough to handle, flip them over.

I appreciate winter squash with stuffing. Hearty, tasty, and flexible.
The basic formula is a grain + a protein + something to contrast the
texture and flavor of the rest of it. quinoa, apples, and bitter
greens; long brown rice, chestnuts, and seitan; wild rice, dried
cherries, and walnuts; large couscous, pine nuts, tomato paste, and
currants. So many options!

stuffing

1 onion, minced
1/2 C dried cranberries
1 large apple, chopped
1 bunch of collard greens, chopped
1 C quinoa, rinsed
3 C vegetable broth
thyme, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste
saute the onion until browned.
mix in the apple and cranberries.
add the collard greens.
add the quinoa and broth.
bring to a boil.
season with thyme, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste.
lower heat.
cover and simmer until the quinoa is done, 20-35 minutes.

The other recipes we've done many times before. I've posted them
before. We roasted the butternut squash with the acorns. I sliced the
length of the butternut into disks approximately the same width as the
walls of the other squash so they cooked at the same time. We have
lots of leftover butternut squash. I'll have pumpkin pie oatmeal for
breakfast a few times this week.

While the squash roasted, I worked on the stuffing and Adam made the
cabbage dish. Once the quinoa was simmering, I started on the stew. We
cooked the beans a while ago. Between that and the squash already
roasted, it was a snap to pull that together. This stew is a great
winter dish. I always want to make it extra-spicy because it's so good
with yogurt on top. I refrained and used a responsible amount of
master sauce instead of a toast-your-toes amount of sriracha.

It took us less than two and half hours, with clean-up, to get three
dishes done. Now we're fed for 6 days, not including breakfast. Maybe
we'll make some greens as a side dish, but blanching broccoli is no
big deal when stew is already done.

MOFO 11

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:11:44 GMT

I was not impressed with these, but they got praise at work from
omnivores, so there you go.

Chocolate Chip Bars

2 fleggs (2 T ground flaxx with 6 T warm water)
1 C crystalline fructose
1 C sucanat
1 t vanilla
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C applesauce

4 1/2 C whole wheat white flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 C chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Start the fleggs in a medium bowl.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large separate bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the fleggs and stir to combine.
Add wet to dry.
Add chocolate chips if you haven't already.
Spread, smoosh the dough into the parchment-lined pan. It's very
sticky, so use wet hands.

Bake 20-30 minutes, testing for done-ness after 20 minutes.

They are kind of bready. Not a cookie. Not a blondie. Just a...bar.

Someone pointed out that these would go well under ice cream. I think
buttercream frosting would also go well.

MOFO 10

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:08:05 GMT

Spicy Gingerbread

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 t powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 t cayenne

2 maple fleggs (that's 2 T ground flax with 6 T maple syrup instead of
the usual 6T water)
1/2 C molasses
1/4 C oil
1/4 applesauce
3 T grated ginger

oil and parchment a loaf pan.
preheat oven to 350F.
mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
add wet ingredients.
mix thoroughly.
bake one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Wait until it cools completely to cut into it. Otherwise it's very crumbly.

This is really spicy. It sneaks up on you. You should have this with a
glass of nut or soy milk, something smooth and rich. Maybe chai or
cocoa. It's also excellent with plain yogurt or yogurt cheese..

Changes I'd make for next time: 1/8 t cayenne instead of 1/4, because
YOWZA. I might use 1/2 C oil instead if 1/4 oil and 1/4 applesauce to
make it less crumbly.

MOFO 9

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:02:52 GMT

We didn't cook enough for this week on Sunday. Now I need to make
something tasty, filling, and fast. I think it's going to have to
be...

Chili Bean Macaroni

1 pound of pasta
1 large can of tomatoes (diced, crushed, pureed: whatever you like)
1 can of mixed chili beans, drained and rinsed, if salted.
1 chopped onion
2 or 3 cloves garlic, pressed
chili spices, to taste
1 T parsley flakes
1-2 t basil leaves
black pepper to taste
2 T mushroom soy sauce (or Braggs, or tamari, or soy sauce)

Cook the pasta and set it aside. Toss it with a little olive oil to
keep it from sticking.
Caramelize the onion.
Saute the garlic until fragrant.
Add the canned tomatoes.
Add the canned beans.
Add the soy sauce and the spices.
Stir.
Heat through.
Add pasta.

Serve warm.

optional add-ins include:
chopped pitted black olives
chopped kale or collard greens
hot sauce (I'll be putting Folk Foods' Master Sauce in mine)
sauteed mushrooms

MOFO 8

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:28:58 GMT

I have the last of last week's split pea soup and the first of this
week's butternut squash soup for lunch today. We didn't make diner for
the week yesterday, so we're making Cheezy 'fu and Garlicky Sprouts
tonight.

CHEEZY 'FU

1 onion, minced
1 pound extra firm (NOT SILKEN) tofu
Cheezy Sauce

Start with Isa's Eazy Breezy Cheezy Sauce. We usually make a double
batch, because cheezy sauce is good stuff to have around. When there's
Cheezy Sauce in the fridge, we'll snack on broccoli.
Press a block of tofu to get the moisture out, then mash it up. I use
a potato ricer. It renders the tofu really dry.
Saute the onion.
Add the pressed and mashed tofu.
Mix it up a bit.
Add Cheezy Sauce until you achieve the desired consistency. Heat through.
Serve with chopped tomatoes.

GARLICKY SPROUTS

1 pound brussel sprouts, cleaned and halved
olive oil
salt
garlic powder and.or fresh garlic

Preheat the oven to 425F.
Toss the sprouts with a little olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and
garlic powder to taste.
For extra garlic fun, crush a few garlic cloves over the sprouts and toss again.
Bake 10 minutes, flip them over or mix them around so they brown evenly.
Bake another 10-15 minutes util they are browned.
Serve hot.

I'm really excited about dinner tonight.

MOFOs 6 and 7

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:17:46 GMT

6

Saturday. The first winter farmers' market of the year. Last year and
the year before, they were once a month. This year, we get a farmers's
market twice a month. It's close to the house. too. I bought a pound
of brussel sprouts and garlic from Lewis Creek Farm from Starksboro,
and we got lunch. A Nepali yellow lentil (daal) dish over rice with
potatoes and green beans. We should start cooking Nepalese food. We
still had leftovers from the great cooking adventure last weekend, so
we didn't need to cook. Plus, we had a vegan pizza for dinner.

7

Sunday. The day we cook dinner and lunch for the week, more or less.
We made roasted butternut squash soup and mujadara. Easy tasty recipes
with minimal work. Bake all the vegetables; add liquid and spices;
puree. Saute and onion; add lentils, rice, and water; simmer; season.
We need open more meal to get us through the week. That's MOFO 8.

recipes

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

3 pound of butternut squash
1 carrot or parsnip
1 onion
1/2 of a medium celeriac root
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
a little oil
1 C broth
1 C soy milk (or coconut milk if you feel decadent and skinny)
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
up to 1 Tbsp each salt, pepper, and sugar, to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 425F
gut and chop the squash into 1/2" cubes
chop the other vegetables
mince the garlic
toss the above with a little oil

Bake at 425F for 20-35 minutes, or until everything is cooked. If you
want a roasted flavor, toss mix it up when the top layer browns.
After the vegetables are done, puree with the rest of the ingredients.
The immersion blender is heavenly for this. Voila, it's soup.

MUJADARA

1 large onion, in this slices
1 1/4 Cups green or brown lentils
3/4 Cups brown rice
1 quart water or broth
salt and pepper to taste
cumin and cinnamon to taste (traditional and option) (I recommend 1
Tbsp and 1 tsp respectively)
lemon zest to garnish (optional)

Caramelize the large onion
Traditionally, you're supposed to set aside the onion. I like to cook
everything together for convenience.
Add the lentils and rice
Add water
bring to a rolling boil
Cover and simmer 45 minutes, or until rice is done.

Dinner for many.

Vegan MOFO 5

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:13:41 GMT

eating at work

I'm going out for lunch with a colleague today. We're going to A
Single Pebble. It's an expensive dinner place, but lunch is under
$10. What a treat.

Eating with coworkers is probably one of the most awkward social
things about being vegan. Friends are, by nature, willing to work with
me. Coworkers are a diverse group. The larger the group, the less I
plan on getting vegan food. The rising profile of veganism helps,
certainly, as does living in a liberal town. Still, I know there are
some combinations of people with whom I simply cannot get a meal. It's
OK, since we just work together. But it's not OK, because we're all
people who deserve respect for our choices.

This is another way that being vegan isn't just about food. When I
started telling coworkers that I'm vegan they had lots of questions,
all of the standards. Being vegan out in the open means that every
thing I eat gets inspected. If I'm snacking on carrots, it's because
I'm vegan. Well, actually, it's because we got a boatload of them from
the farm share. If we got cookies from the farm I'd be eating those.
(Ooooh, I should plant a cookie tree.) Almost three years later,
people at work now look forward to the baked goods I bring in and ask
for recipes. But they were really skeptical at first and had to know
what was in everything. No special ingredients? Impossible! Three
years ago, mine was the only soy milk in the fridge. Now there are
half gallons of coconut milk (mine) and soy milk (not) alongside the
lowfat cow milk and non-dairy creamers.

For better or worse, no one has ever stolen my lunch, though.

Vegan MOFO 4: on the go

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:57:03 GMT

I'm really busy today.

6:30 out of bed

6:30-7:40

let the dog out
empty the dish washer
let the dog in
feed the cats
feed the dog
take a shower
get dressed
pack lunch and gear for practice
have breakfast
go to work

8-4 work

4-4:45

get some gear for practice (maybe)
eat dinner
feed the cats
change into practice clothing
warm up for practice

4:45-6

pick up husband and dog at work
get winter tires out of the car
load band gear into the car
drop off the boys at the studio for band practice
get to derby practice by 5:40 (5:30 would be better)
stretch and get the new gear all set, maybe lay the track for practice before 6?

6-8

practice ( = roller skating, et al, for 2 hours)

9PM bedtime.

What does any of this have to with Vegan MoFo? First of all, while
this is busier than a typical Thursday because I'm picking up and
dropping off the boys and the tires, I do the rest of it three days a
week, and I do it on a vegan diet. Nobody can convince me that vegans
don't get enough protein or whatever for energy. As long as I get 8
hours of sleep, I have plenty of energy.

The main MOFO point here is that I need to eat dinner on the go
tonight. I need something quick, healthy, nutritious, vegan, and FAST.
I brought lunch and dinner portions of leftovers to work. I eat lunch
early, and can get a head start on dinner before 4PM. But I need to
eat between 4 and 5 if I'm gonna make it through practice.

Burritos are good at times like this. There are three good burrito
places in town: Bueno y Sano, New World
Tortilla, and Boloco. They all make tasty vegan burritos. I
favor the Eastern-inspired ones with cabbage plum sauce slaw at New
World, or the barbecue seitan at Bueno y Sano. Good food on the fly.

Also, Stone Soup makes good BIG vegan muffins. If I'm lucky, they have
a couple slices of vegan pizza left. I'm not above a muffin or dinner.

Ahli Baba's Kabob Shop is not as healthy, but it's good food and super-tasty.

I'd always rather have something made at home with love and time. But
it's good to know that I can get food quickly when I need to, and stay
vegan. That's an important part of sticking to it for me.

Vegan MOFO 3

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:25:00 GMT

entertaining

I love hosting gatherings. I love to cook for people. Every Wednesday
we try to have a little gathering for a movie. We started with a
series of Tim Curry films, an adventure I highly endorse if you can
find a group of people who love Tim Curry. And how can you not love
that voice? I just want to roll around in it.

Anyway. Wednesdays.

A small group gets together. I'm the only vegan in the group, but I
try to feed everyone anyway. Other people bring vegan munchies or
their non-vegan dinner along sometimes, too. Here's a list of just
SOME of the vegan comestibles I've offered and other people have
brought. They all gone over well. Most of these things are really
easy. Feed people tasty food and they don't care if it's vegan.

drinks
iced teas
hot teas
coffee drinks
mulled cider
sparkling cider
beer
seltzer sorbet floats

snacks
pumpkin cake with chocolate chips
pumpkin spice cupcakes with tofutti pumpkin frosting sauce
cherry-fudge brownies
hummus
black bean hummus
carrots
apples and peanut butter
garden fresh cucumbers with lemon-pepper
chips-n-salsa
roasted root vegetables with sticky rice
squash stuffed with rice pilaf
baguette with olive oil and garlic
water crackers with cream cheese and jam spread
curried lentils

Vegan MOFO 2

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:06:34 GMT

Dinner was leftovers last night, since we have enough for the week.
Ditto for lunch today.

Breakfast was toast with Nayonnaise and tomatoes. Pardon me while I
wax poetic about he synergy of tomatoes and nayo.

(it's a silent exercise)

...

Breakfast is usually in two phases. I have toast or oatmeal or
something at home, then make coffee at work. I don't hear people talk
about coffee when they talk about veganism.

I could be Jitter Girl.

I might dress as my coffee addiction next year for Halloween. I could
crochet a monkey.

I'm not just a user, I'm a coffee snob and love making it. It all
started when I worked in a coffee shop in Boca Raton.* I started
drinking coffee when I started working there and it was good stuff. I
worked as a barista for years and if I could make my mortgage payments
as a barista, I'd still be doing it.

But this is about veganism. Coffee is vegan, except for that stuff
processed by the palm civet (who poops the beans out). Vegans and non-vegans
alike can enjoy coffee together, bonding over energetic conversations
and jittery giggles.

I make lots of super-tasty coffee drinks, and a few bizarre ones, but
feel like those don't somehow "count" because they are not actively
vegan, whatever that means. That's ridiculous. Everything I make that
is free of animal ingredients is vegan and therefore "counts". Dur.

Celebrate the simple everyday veganism of coffee! I drink it black or
with soy milk. I drink espresso, lattes, mochas, press, aeropress.
It's a vegan thing you can do with all of your non-vegan friends. It's
easy to be vegan when you go out for coffee. How often is it easy to
be vegan in a mixed group? Coffee will bring us all together and solve
all of our problems.

* Ah, Liberties. The musical or sitcom (or musical sitcom) of the
independent bookstore-coffeeshop-musicstore should get called "Taking
Liberites"...or maybe I'll Nano it sometime.

Vegan MOFO 1

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:01:49 GMT

We did the Sunday cooking storm thing yesterday. We made three large
meals and will feast on the leftovers all week.

1) split-pea soup from fatfreevegan
I love this recipe. We almost always have everything we need for it in
the house. The work-to-food ratio is awesome because it makes a lot of
tasty soup that I never get tired of before we run out.

2) chili
We don't have a family chili recipe. I feel like most households have
one. We've been experimenting with recipes but nothing has really
stuck. I think we're finally on the road to Rabin Chili. It started
with a recipe from shespilledthebeans. We improvised a bit and took
some good advice. So far so good.

3) stuffed squash
We got a few big acorn squash from the farm and I them to stuff them.
I thought we'd stuff them with quinoa but we had a bag of veggie
crumble from Folk Foods. We made that, got overwhelmed by how much
there was and how salty it is. We added some bulgur, dried
cranberries, and garlic powder, then filled roasted squash halves with
it. We froze the leftover crumble and will have it with pasta of some
kind later.

We got 6 servings each of soup and chili and 4 servings of squash. 16
servings! I'll have leftovers for lunch and dinner. Adam will have
leftovers for dinner. That's most of our meals for the week. It took
less than two and a half hours.

pumpkin butter cakes

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:40:15 GMT

I made Kittee's non-chocolate cake from PapaTofu (http://www.pakupaku.info)

Here's one of her recipes with my alterations in bold.

Cake

mix together
3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cups chopped candied ginger

add
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
~~4 teaspoons vanilla extract~~ 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups water
~~3/4 cups vegetable oil~~ 2/3 cups pumpkin butter

Mix to get all the lumps out. Makes 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350°F for
about 25 minutes.

I cut the centers out with a paring knife, poured in some
frosting-sauce, and replaced the cut out pieces.

Frosting Sauce

2/3 C Tofutti cream cheese
2/3 C pumpkin butter
2 T Earth Balance
1/3 C powdered sugar

Blend and whip until smooth. Refrigerate to chill.

cooking up a storm

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:11:22 GMT

Last night we made:

roasted red peppers

roasted beets

baked potatoes

steamed broccoli

easy breezy (stinky) cheezy sauce

steamed acorn squash with rice and mixed vegetables

cabbage and potatoes with black bean sauce

in under two hours.

Start the rice.
1 C long brown rice.
2 C water + 2 T broth powder
or 2 C mushroom broth
All in a pot with a tight-fitting lid on a back burner. Do that rice
thing with it.

ROASTING THINGS

Set the oven to 425F.

Wash the beets, peppers, and potatoes.
Cut tops off the peppers, remove the seeds, and cut the sides off to
make large flat pieces of peppers.
Rub potatoes, beets, and peppers with a little oil.
Arrange potatoes on a baking sheet, put that on the very bottom of the
oven (I have a third shelf that sits just above the heating elements).
Forget about the potatoes for a while.
Wrap the beets in an aluminum foil pouch. Please the pouch on a baking
sheet. Arrange peppers around it. Place on top shelf.

STEAMED ACORN SQUASH WITH RICE AND MIXED VEGETABLES

The rice is already going. See how clever?
Fill a large pot (for which you have a lid) with a few inches of water
and start it toward boiling.
Put a steaming basket in there.
Cut an acorn squash in half.
Scoop out the seeds.
Place the squash in steaming basket.
Roast or toss the seeds.

Start CABBAGE AND POTATOES WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Dice two handfuls of potatoes. Toss with a little oil in a 9*13 baking dish.
Bake 20-30 minutes.

Prepare the black bean sauce. It's a mix of 2 1/2 T black bean sauce
you get at the store with wine and rice vinegar. To taste.

Chop 1 1/2 # of cabbage into 1" squares. Toss with a little oil in a large bowl.

Make Cheezy Sauce while the stuff in the oven cooks.

EAZY BREEZY [STINKY] CHEEZY SAUCE
Makes 2 cups

3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons onion flakes
1/4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/8 ground turmeric
2 tablespoons broth powder (I used Frontier chicken-style broth)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
Add nutritional yeast, flour, garlic, onion flakes, salt, turmeric and
broth powder to a bowl and mix together. Add 2 cups water and use a
fork to mix and beat out any big lumps. Once relatively smooth, pour
into a 2 quart sauce pot. Turn heat up to medium high and stir often
for about 5 minutes. Once boiling, bring it down to a slow boil. It
should start bubbling and thickening. Cook for another 5 minutes,
stirring almost constantly, until it has a thick, smooth melted cheese
consistency.
Mix in mustard and taste for salt. Serve hot or warm.
http://theppk.com/blog/2009/08/18/tempeh-helper-just-like-mom-used-to-never-make/

Set aside the cheezy sauce, covered.

checkpoint one

Check on the stuff in the oven. The timer might go off soon.
The squash should be done when the timer goes off. Remove the squash
from the steamer and set it aside.

If the peppers are starting to blacken, they are done. Pull them out.
If not, give them more time, ten minutes at a time. The beets will
take longer than the peppers, guaranteed.

If the diced potatoes are soft but not mooshy, add the diced cabbage
and cook for 20 minutes.

Check on the rice. When it's wet but not soupy, add a bag of frozen
vegetables and up to 1/4 C water. Cover and leave to cook for another
20 minutes.

prep the broccoli

Chop up two stalks of broccoli. Use the water and steaming basket from
the squash. A minute or two should do. Set that aside, or start eating
it with cheezy sauce. SO GOOD.

checkpoint two

When the cabbage is soft and slightly browned (this should be after
that 20 minutes mentioned above), pour the black bean sauce over the
cabbage and potatoes, stir to coat, and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

BREATHE FOR A FEW MINUTES, OK?

checkpoint 3

The peppers are probably done by now.
The beets and baked potatoes can and probably stay in the oven until
after the black bean sauce cabbage and potatoes is done.
The rice should be done about when the black bean sauce cabbage and
potatoes is done.

wrapping it all up

Serve the rice with the squash.
Black bean cabbage and potatoes is lunch all week.
Save the baked potatoes for later.
Serve the beets with salad, quinoa, or pickle them. Roasted beets are
awesome any way.
Cheezy Sauce makes broccoli and baked potatoes a meal

cherpumple

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 03:21:16 GMT

I made a trial version of just two layers. It went over very well at
work. Today I asked Adam to--on his way home--buy three pies and four
tubs of Betty Crocker Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting, which contains no
dairy ingredients. He came in with the bags and told me I'm a sick
monkey. I prefer evil genius, thank you.

Anyway, the experiment overflowed the regular cake pan. So I thought a
springform would be the way to go. I have two sets of springforms. But
this is a three layer cake Diane kindly brought over a BEAUTIFUL
non-stick springform (which I want to steal so badly that it can only
be a symptom of a compulsive baking disorder).

I baked the pies. They cooled while we hung out with friends and hit
the Art Hop briefly.

Then I ran to he store and got the missing ingredients for the cakes.
I was not happy with the box mixes. And really, why use a box when
cake from scratch is so simple? Got home with the goods and got to
prepping. I measured out all the dry ingredients for all the cakes in
three different bowls. Then I set aside the wet ingredients for each.
Believe it or not this did not use all of the mixing bowls in my
kitchen.

Layer one filled the spring form perfectly when it was done baking.
It's cooling on the counter now. Unfortunately, the pie in that one
broke when it went into the cake. It's gonna bleed cherry as soon as
we cut into it.

Layer two, the pumpkin layer (hang on, am I doing these in portmanteau
order? Oh dear. I can hear T laughing as she reads this) is in the
oven right now. As soon as it comes out I'll mix up the cake for layer
three.

Then I'll liberate the first layer and get it into the fridge. That's
the plan, anyway. We'll see how it goes.

stunt baking

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:37:34 GMT

Two things does not a trend make, but I might be on to something.

I made a test chermuple, just cherry and apple, and it worked well for
a test. It's on the table in the break-room now, hopefully getting
eaten by my coworkers.

I'll make the full cherpumple for a party on Saturday, and maybe with
a serious chocolate something.

For my next trick, I have my eyes on the Igor Bars.

Let the fall baking commence!

cold drinks and cooking again

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:39:42 GMT

Cold Drinks in the Shaker

Disclaimer/Warning: I want to, but don't enjoy drinking alcohol. I
enjoy drinking it but never enjoy having drunk it. I'm also a
lightweight. I can get a buzz off a pint of kombucha, if that's any
indication. A margarita (rocks please) will leave me flu-ish for a few
a days. My cold drinks are just not gonna be boozy. Skip down to
"Cooking Again" if you are looking boozy cold drinks.

Have I posted before about the cocktail shaker? I frelling LOVE my
cocktail shaker. It live in the freezer year-round, but gets most of
its action in the summer. Cold drinks in a snap. Celestial Seasonings
teas brew cold and I always have coffee of some kind at-hand whether
it's espresso, cold-brew, or a decent instant on-hand. Tasty cold
beverages are never more than 45 seconds away. Keep the bowl of ice
full and it's a delicious hydrated summer in my house. Fill the shaker
halfway with ice, add any of the following, and shake for 30 seconds:

I.
4 oz espresso or cold brew (replaceable with 2 tsp instant esp or 2 T
instant coffee)
4 oz soy milk
4 oz water
optional sweetener to taste (try 2 tsp crystalline fructose to start)

II.
replace sweetener with 1 ounce chocolate syrup in the above to make it a mocha

III.
2 tea bags of any Celestial Seasonings blend
optional sweetener to taste

Popular Celestial Seasonings in our house this season include:
Caffeine Free Herbal Tea: I cannot stress enough
how tasty this is. It tastes like the caffeinated stuff without
tearing your brain up or boosting your heart rate. Drink it at bedtime
and you'll still fall asleep!
Tension Tamer: I'm late to the Tension Tamer
party, but I'm here to stay. Just enough lemon, just enough sweet.
Roastaroma: We have a on-again off-again
relationship. It seems we're on for the summer.

IV.
brew a double-strong cup of your favorite hot tea
This takes a little longer, but really, is 5 minutes so long?
Double the tea or double the time. It's your call and depends on your
taste and budget. I've been known to brew a pot of tea and leave it
steep all day, icing it one cup at a time as the day goes on. Now
there's a Sunday for you.

Cooking Again

I read a recipe for Peaches and Banana Cream Pie yesterday and it got
me all excited about cooking. Now that The July That Owned Me is
ending, I have more time to cook. So far this week I've cooked:

Garlic-Roasted Eggplant Puree: roast the thing with garlic, puree
it with tahini. Serve in bread, fingers, carrots, cucumbers.
Optioanlly have it with lemon pepper (props to Norm for bringing the
lemon pepper back into my life)
Banana Bread: two ways. with chocolate chips and without.
Pasta with Mustard Sauce and Yellow Squash: saute onion. add
sliced squash. add enough soy to make a sauce. add twice as much
yellow mustard as seems prudent. black pepper to taste. Stir, heat
through, and add cooked pasta. So much more than the sum of its parts.
Various Salads: with roasted beets, zucchini, cucumber, local
flavored tempeh, and little plums.
Bread and Butter Pickles: Alton Brown's, but with double the
non-sugar spices. These were my first pickles ever and they were
successful.

Last week I made Uncle Steve's Szechuan Baked Tofu with Chard and
Gazpacho Verde from Vegan Planet. I used ripe
heirloom tomatoes that were green instead of unripe red ones. The soup
was out of this world.

Today is Farm Share day, so it all starts again. A co-worker pointed
out that if we get to the farm early on pick-up days we get extra
tomatoes. The way to this girl's heart is with a steady supply of
tomatoes. ...or eggplants.

go roast beets

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:31:52 GMT

I forget how DIVINE roasted beets are. I'm here to remind you. Go
roast some beets now.

ROASTED BEETS

preheat oven to 400F

6 beets, cleaned
1 tsp sesame oil or a light one you like
1-2 tsp dried rosemary or a sprig
a pinch of salt

Rub oil on the beets
place a large sheet of foil
sprinkle beets with rosemary and salt
form a pouch out of the foil (with the beets inside it!)

bake 40 minutes on a baking tray to catch any juices.

Once they cool you can peel them if you like, but what's the point?

Serve on a salad or a sandwich, as a plain side dish, or pickle them.
Make a soup. Add one to a balsamic vinegar and white bean dip. Stick a
fork in one and eat it like a caramel apple.

I can eat these until I get sick and go back for more. Oh, roasted
beets, you're so tasty.

dessert shake

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:54:18 GMT

Dessert Shake

frozen strawberries
soy milk
cocoa powder
sweetener

Fill the glass/es you''ll use 2/3 full with frozen strawberries
Transfer berries to blender
Completely cover berries with soy milk and just a little more
Add 1 T each cocoa powder and sweetener for each 16 oz glass you'll use.

Blend until smooth.
Add soymilk as needed to keep things moving and to achieve your
desired consistency.

Optional: add a T or 2 of chocolate chips and blend to grind them up a little.

Cherries or bananas would also be wonderful.

Now that I think about it, vanilla soymilk with peaches or mangoes or
pineapple (no chocolate) would probably be amazing, too. Add a little
sugar and some extra vanilla. Mmm. maybe rice milk to keep it light.

red beans a new way

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:45:14 GMT

Red Beans

2 C cooked red beans
1 large onion, chopped
1 or 2 carrots, chopped
1 T tomato paste
2-3 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground black powder
red wine

Saute onions, garlic, tomato paste, and carrots. Deglaze with the
wine. Add pepper and salt to taste. Add water and mash a few of the
beans to make it saucy.

Serve over brown rice.

Serve with cheesy sauce of your choosing. I like the Eazy Breezy Cheezy Sauce In our house, it's called
Eazy Breezy Stinky Cheezy Sauce. Better description. Better rhythm.