BEAN VEGAN

How To Lose Weight Without Hunger - article

2010-08-28T11:27:00.003-05:00

The following article is by my good cyber pal Erin, who knows all kinds of wonderful things to do with vegan food. It is published with his kind permission and encouragement.

How To Lose Weight Without Being Hungry All The Time

Many people find it hard to stick to a diet. There are a lot reasons for this, including social pressure from friends and family urging you to indulge in a false sense of moderation. (You know, the “Just this one treat won’t hurt” line?) But, perhaps the biggest reason for giving up on a diet is feeling hungry. However, hunger is not a requirement to losing weight!

Now, you’re probably thinking I’m going to recommend sweating it all off in an exercising frenzy, but that’s not it at all. Instead, there’s a simple, healthy, trick to what you eat that ensures you won’t be hungry and yet still consume fewer calories than you currently do (which means weight loss will follow naturally).

The secret is to consume only whole foods in their original, unprocessed state. For example, instead of a slice of apple pie, grab an apple — or even two if you want! Instead of carrot cake, some carrots.

The thing is, in both cases, the sugars in the whole foods are carried along in a complete package of fiber and nutrients, thus slowing their absorption and leaving you satiated (i.e., feeling satisfied) versus loading you up with empty calories that do nothing to physically fill you up.

Better yet, eat LOTS of green, leafy vegetables, like kale and collard greens, and cruciferous veggies, like broccoli and cauliflower. These wonders of nature pack an even greater concentration of nutrients into still fewer calories, and their extra volume makes it almost impossible to overeat!

And, don’t just add them to your meals, start out your meals and snacks with these foods. Serve up a huge salad or a big bowl of bean soup with kale, and before you know it, you’ll be so stuffed you won’t even want to think about a greasy burger or sugary and fat-laden dessert. It really works. Give it a try!

By the way, you can even have “pasta” on a diet too. That’s because there exists such a thing as calorie free noodles made exclusively of fiber. They have zero net carbs and are very filling. Just add a hearty vegetable pasta sauce or stir-fried veggies and maybe some tofu for protein, and you’ve got yourself a delicious, healthy, and satisfying meal.

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Erin Dame is the author of Vegan Done Light, a low-calorie, low-sodium cookbook and long-running monthly nutrition newsletter, as well as several guides on health and diet.
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Getting Back To Blogging

2010-08-28T11:19:00.002-05:00

It's been a strange summer. We've done some travelling - New York and Paris plus various places in Canada - and we've moved house, selling one and buying another within days of each other, refurnished, etc. etc. It all takes time and somehow this blog got lost in the shuffle :(

I am, however, back 'at it' as it were, and just today arranged for organic produce to be delivered to our door each week to inspire me to new recipes. With all the lovely things growing right now there's so much opportunity to eat well, whether it's simple salads and cold soups or gourmet meals.

Hope everyone has enjoyed a good summer - next weekend is Labour Day so it's officially over, I guess, then, unless you are very trad and wait until the 21st to declare the onset of autumn. If you drop by this blog, please leave a brief Hi so I know you've been here, okay? All comments (well, almost all :) but you know what I mean!) very very welcome.

Happy compassionate eating,

River

Red Chard On Wheatberries, Tofu Stir-Fry Two Ways.

2010-05-09T21:03:00.009-05:00

Simple meals: Vegetables solo or combined with others are quick and easy to prepare and full of flavour. A little tofu or tempeh can provide an interesting contrast of texture. We try to eat lots of greens.

RED CHARD ON WHEATBERRIES

This was a lovely twist on steamed greens. For this I used red chard, because it's so pretty (and was available at the market, let's face it!), which I cooked very lightly and treated with Japanese seasonings - rice vinegar, light soy, a little wasabi, a touch of pickled ginger and a few drops of sesame oil - all to taste. The seeds are just a scattering of sesame seeds more for appearance than anything else (although I love sesame).

This was all tossed together while the chard was still hot and placed on a bed of previously cooked (and hot) wheatberries - in lieu of rice.

Most successful, and to be repeated :)

Stir-fried vegetables with tofu are a stand-by when there's not much else hanging around the refrigerator and I lack the energy or time to make something inventive.

BUTTERCUP SQUASH STUFFED WITH TOFU AND STIR-FRIED VEGETABLES

Obviously the squash had been previously prepared and was waiting in the refrigerator to be discovered and made the centre of attention. While reheating the baked squash in the oven, I quickly chopped bell peppers/capsicums, onions, mushrooms, celery and whatever else I had lying around and stir-'fried' (okay, cooked in a little water) them together with cubed tofu, garlic, ginger and a little light soy sauce. These were kept pretty crisp, stuffed into the hollow part of the squash then returned to the oven while we had our salad course. This is tasty and the presentation, which is no trouble at all, makes it seem rather more special than just a plain stir-fry. You could serve this with rice or another grain, but we don't usually bother except to add sometimes some steamed spinach or kale.

GREEN BEAN AND TOFU STIR-FRY

Another simple meal. Left-over Chinese vegetables - bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and if you have them handy some of those baby corn cobs (I didn't have them here), are added to green beans and some onion and quickly stir-'fried' (I try not to use oil, as you know) with the usual suspects - ginger, garlic, crushed chilies and light soy. There are a few walnut pieces on top for crunch and interest. Serve with rice, alone, or with some homemade bread (as below).

HOMEMADE RYE BREAD

In our house, it goes with whatever we're serving, although we have it much less often than we used to do. I usually save it for one of those evenings when soup seems the simplest and most obvious choice.

Getting lazy you say? Too right! LOL.

Rapini With Spiced Turtle Beans, Tuscan Beans With Kale And Craisins, Bean-Stuffed Squash, Oven-Baked Tofu

2010-04-26T11:31:00.013-05:00

RAPINI WITH SPICED TURTLE BEANS

Way back when, I posted a variation on the bean recipe HERE - using back then soy beans rather than the turtle (or black) beans pictured here. I may have added a few extra little bits of this and that for interest, but the idea is the same: spicy hot (but not too hot) beans gently simmered with a sweetener (maple syrup works nicely, as does agave nectar, but I like organic molasses for this one to go with the rich taste of this kind of bean.) along with various spices (see recipe) to produce a delicious bean dish that keeps well in the refrigerator and can be used for a variety of dishes.

In this case, I served rapini (broccoli rabe), lightly done with a little garlic, to complete the Beans 'n' Greens meal. The contrast of the slight bitterness of the rapini with the beans is sensational.

TUSCAN BEANS WITH KALE AND CRAISINS

This is an old favourite, but I can't resist adding it in here. The recipe I have posted before, as HERE, although I, like most of people reading this blog, don't follow the recipe slavishly. Using lightly cooked shredded kale steamed with a touch of onion or garlic and some dried cranberries (craisins) not only looks wonderful and is good for us, but the slight sweetness of the cranberries turns the kale into something even more special than usual. As you will have gathered by now, I love putting slightly sweet dried fruit with 'cabbage-like' vegetables. One could used chopped dried apricots here, or raisins, currants - whatever. Again, it's Beans 'n' Greens in a simple but not boring way.

BEAN-STUFFED SQUASH

Now this was nearly a disaster. I used the photo to make the point that either of these bean recipes would be good, if there are any leftovers, in all sorts of ways - on toast, on a split baked potato, etc. Our preferred way is to stuff them into a small pre-baked squash (you choose your fave) and serve with whatever other leftovers or salad seem appropriate. In this case, I had some tofu that needed to be used quickly, the baked squash and the beans (and a green salad - always have the makings of a green salad here). But it was indeed nearly or perhaps actually a disaster. I left them in the oven that bit too long and the tofu, which was also marinated and then baked, got too much heat and the edge of the squash turned a little darker than was aesthetically desirable. Wanna see my disaster in the uncropped version? Here ya go:

Not a dish I am proud of! I actually can bake tofu successfully, however (and usually don't scorch my squash). Later in the week I made tofu to go with greens (much more sensible than adding it to beans, but as I say it needed to be used) and managed bake my marinated fingers of tofu enough to get just the right degree of colour and texture.

OVEN-BAKED TOFU

So simple, but it is easy to answer the phone and let it over-do. This was frozen tofu (makes a different texture) lightly squeezed to removed excess liquid after defrosting, then marinated in minced garlic (you can used the dried flakes if you are in a rush), ginger (powdered is a different taste, but it works for heat), crushed or powdered chilies - totally optional - a little mirin or other sweetener (just about half a tsp, but to taste), a shake of Bragg Liquid Amino/All-Purpose Seasoning, and a little water to help it not be too strong. Marinate in a flat dish and turn a couple of times while you're preparing something else, then put in a 375 F oven for as long as it takes - it depends on how thick you have cut the tofu strips or logs or fingers - turning once. You can used a light spray of oil on an oven tray or cookie sheet or put it all on top of a sheet of parchment paper. I find the spray of oil works better.

Serve hot with a drizzle of whatever you fancy and decorate according to your whimsy. Leftovers make great additions to a wrap or, cubed, a salad. We rarely have leftovers. *sigh*

Wheat Berry Squash Salad, Cauliflower Corn Curry, Tofu and Pea Tops in Black Bean Vinaigrette

2010-04-16T14:12:00.012-05:00

Wheatberry Squash Salad

This was a meal fairly recently (so, I'm a little behind), the recipe gleaned from a non-vegetarian cookbook by Canadian Chef Bill Jones, Chef's Salad. This one required cooked wheat berries (delicious and tender and chewy all at once) plus Squash, garlic, and a wonderful maple-sunflower dressing. We cut down on the amounts (just for two persons rather than the four to six the recipe aimed for) and did a little tickling for flavour but it was a hit even before we started messing with the recipe. Served at room temperature, the apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and sunflower seed dressing, carefully blended with a little water and garlic, just enhanced the already delicious roasted squash something to shout about. We want this one again!

Cauliflower Corn Curry

This recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook - a must for anyone who loves good food from around the world. We had made it before then forgotten about it (how could that happen!) until I looked at half a cauliflower in the vegetable crisper and wanted something special. I keep a can of corn niblets up the cupboard most of the time, for 'just in case', and that was what we added here, along with the usual (Indian) things plus some chopped cilantro at the end. We made enough for four, by accident, and had the delight of enjoying it again at another meal. What I like about this one is that by cutting the cauliflower into small florets and using the already-cooked corn, it is all ready in a hurry and can be served with salad and crusty bread if the traditional rice, raitas, etc., isn't on the cards.

Tofu and Pea Tops in Black Bean Vinaigrette

This is another of Bill Jones's warm or room-temperature salads, and I must admit I had my doubts about this one - until I tasted it! - and was luckily talked out of my hesitation by my husband.

Black bean paste, balsamic vinegar, sesame oil (I used just a smidge, and only at the end, for the aroma) are put into a pan with ginger, chopped cilantro, hot sauce and a spoonful of water until looking cooked, then tofu and pea tops (pea tenders) are added just enough to wilt along with bean sprouts. Toss the lot together and garnish with cilantro and green onion. The result is a warm salad which is also good at room temperature. A very nice way to take your sprouts!!!

There's more to find in this excellent book.

For my next trick . . . . :)

Catching Up

2010-03-17T07:03:00.003-05:00

This is embarrassing. I had meant to publish here what I am eating, whether or not it was accompanied by a recipe (some things are made up on the spur of the moment and don't get written down at the time), with the idea that it might make other people interested in eating our way or, at the very least, it may explain to family and friends the kind of foods we like to eat. It might also reassure a few people that there is no reason to go hungry just because you're eating vegan!

What has happened is that I've got busy about some things and lazy about others. This blog has been neglected. But here at least are some quick pix I took of some of the things on the menu in the last while, with a promise of more up-to-date postings in future.

NOODLES AND VEG IN MISO BROTH

First of all, I can't call this Miso Soup with a straight face and any Japanese cook could and should laugh me out of the kitchen. But this is a tasty way to have a healthy snack in a hurry.

There's no real recipe here. I cheated, in this case, and used a vegan miso stock cube, which has, in addition to miso, various vegetable flavourings in there to help things along. Added to this can be a number of things, but the most usual things I now add are: sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced celery, pieces of baby spinach, ginger, tamari, chilies, skinny noodles, sea vegetable of some kind and anything else I fancy, all barely warmed through let alone 'cooked to death'. There was more of the broth to add to my bowl here (and I did add it), but I photographed it as you see it so that the ingredients would show a little better. I love quick and easy things, and this certainly qualifies.

BANANA BREAD

Okay, don't panic, it isn't meant to go with the soup above :) I just thought I'd remind you and myself that the Banana Bread recipes found in the excellent Barnard and Kramer cookbooks are not to be beaten. This is one that took the most bananas and is somewhat adapted from the original (but maybe not quite enough to make it fair to publish the recipe here). Lovely stuff!

ROOT VEGETABLE AND BARLEY STEW

I make a lot of variations on this theme, and it isn't quick although it is indeed easy. I take a varied mix of carrots, sweet potatoes, potato, whatever, and cut up smallish. Then I add onion, garlic, perhaps some grated ginger, vegetable broth or water, Bragg liquid aminos, herbs (varies), chillies (always like to use chillies), a little turmeric when the spirit moves me, and barley. This cooks, usually in a slow cooker but can be made on the top of the stove, until well and truly done, at which time I add such frivolities as vegan Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, more garlic and/or fresh chopped herbs to give zing to the dried herbs previously added to the pot, and maybe even a little red or white wine. It all depends and there truly can be no recipe, although I'll be happy to write it all down next time I make it.

A few more minutes to let the newly added ingredients spread throughout the stew, and it's ready to serve (or for that matter to keep until later - all the better as a 'leftover'.

A good variation on this is to add some cauliflower florets, chopped green beans or the like to the roots, but I prefer to keep the 'roots' theme on this one.

The whole dish is rather old-fashioned, unglamorous, thick and hearty. True comfort food.

EGGPLANT AND TOMATO BAKE

This is almost too easy to mention, but it works just fine. I had an eggplant begging to be rescued from my fridge and I had some homemade tomato-based pasta sauce in my freezer. I sliced the eggplant thinly and baked it in the oven on a flat tray until just tender. (In the past I have simply softened the slices in a pan on the stovetop.) Thawed, the pasta sauce was put in a pan to heat. While waiting for this, I took panko crumbs (but any kind would do, I should think, as long as they're not sweet), some crushed cashews (optional), and nutritional yeast and mixed them together in fairly equal parts, along with sprinkles of herbs and spices, salt and papper - all to taste. (These mixes keep well in a jar in the fridge, by the way, if you need such toppings on a fairly regular basis.)

When the pasta sauce was warmed and the eggplant softened, I layered it in a baking dish, sprinkled with the crumb topping and popped it in the oven at about 375, covered at first and then, half-way through cooking, without its cover. This shouldn't take long - half an hour or so (keep an eye on it) until it bubbles around the edges and the top is a little crisp. Ovens vary and sizes of baking dish vary, so it's hard to be exact, but we all know when things are 'done'.

This simple casserole goes well with green vegetables or a crisp salad - or simply with crusty bread.

I've also made this with a mixture of eggplant and zucchini or eggplant and mushrooms, but I don't put more variety in there because I'm not trying to fake up a ratatouille (although not a bad idea, eh!). Red wine with this one :)

I have more photos still in the camera and I'll post again as soon as I rescue them.

Bean-Stuffed Acorn Squash, Mexican-Spiced Veg on Beans, Faux Chikken Dinner

2010-02-22T16:47:00.007-05:00

BEAN-STUFFED ACORN SQUASH WITH BRAISED KALE

Right now I am enjoying eating the mostly greens and beans way (with some apologies to Dr Joel Fuhrman since I do enjoy my spices and other condiments). I had found a lovely little organic acorn squash at the market, had some home-cooked black beans (unseasoned) in the freezer and a lovely bunch of dinosaur kale in the crisper. This had to make a good meal.

First the squash, which I simply halved and baked, face down and lightly covered, at 350 degrees for around half an hour. While this was happening, I tossed a little onion and garlic into a pan to get the onions to a translucent state (using a little water to sautee, as usual, although I have been known to 'cheat' and use a teaspoon of oil), and added a chopped tomato. In went the black turtle) beans, about 1-1/2 cups, along with a tablespoon of tomato paste from a tube, a tablespoon of organic pure maple syrup, a squirt of Bragg liquid aminos/all-purpose seasoning, a shake or two of thyme and oregano, a sprinkle of red chili flakes and just enough water to let it all simmer while the squash baked. The kale was stripped of its coarse stems, sliced crosswise into ribbons and lightly braised with a little garlic in a very little vegetable stock with a few raisins.

This all came together before I knew it, and with a quick baby spinach and orange salad to start we had a delicious meal. You'll be seeing more of my beans 'n' greens meals in the next little while.

And this one is also about beans, pureed as I like to do sometimes now, with some mixed vegetables. Have a look:

MEXICAN-SPICED BROCCOLI, MUSHROOMS AND RED BELL PEPPERS ON BEANS

As you see, the beans (I used lima beans here, cooked with garlic, onion, bay and a little chili) are well pureed, not too soupy but placed in a shallow old-fashioned-style soup plate for presentation rather than from need. I water-sauteed broccoli florets with some red bell pepper/capsicum, quartered mushrooms and sliced onion. These I seasoned with Mexican Chili Spice Mix with a little extra cumin and cayenne. When the beans were heated through again after being pureed, the vegetables were ready, with any liquid absorbed. I sprinkled some vegan parmesan-style cheese on top.

This next one does not, however, use beans, but there's still something green there :)

FAUX CHICKEN DINNER WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES AND ASPARAGUS

Coming home too close to mealtime meant I reached for a package of PC Meatless Chicken Breasts (the fake meat is made by Gardein, I note). Iit comes in a sealed pouch with sauce included, intended to be microwaved or boiled in the bag, but I pop it into a baking dish in the oven while I do the rest of the meal, although I'll probably reconsider that option if I'm still using it when the weather gets hot. In this case, the baking option worked fine, since I quickly chopped some potatoes and carrots to roast on the same shelf. While this was happening, a salad was in preparation and, while we were consuming that, I put on the water to steam the asparagus you see in the photo. That takes about two or three minutes while the plates are being changed and the glasses recharged.

This fake meat is very tasty, and seems to come in just a couple of flavours (the sauce, remember?). One Tuscan (i.e. tomato and herbs) and the other, which is pictured above, is Dijon (more French and with a mild mustardy sauce). Both are very good. I went for years 'not approving' of faux meats, mainly because I didn't like the taste, I think. Good products have me rethinking me stubbornness, and I do now keep one or two on hand (watching the expiry dates carefully) as a change or for emergency use. This would go well just with a big green salad too.

Chili Almond Asparagus

2010-02-18T13:46:00.006-05:00

This is what we had yesterday for lunch - along with some rice and marinated tempeh - and it was so good I am going out for more asparagus so that I can repeat it tomorrow!

The recipe is not mine but was posted in May of last year on the blog of Vegan YumYum here:

http://veganyumyum.com/2009/05/chili-almond-asparagus/

Do check it out, because she gives her recipe and very very good directions, including photos, for every step. It's remarkably quick and could be on the table in 10 minutes. It makes an excellent side dish or imho a great light lunch or supper with a salad and/or some crusty bread.

Sadly, I had to deviate at the last minute from her recipe, since I was shockingly out of almonds (used cashews instead) and vegan soup stock powder. Nevertheless, the dish was superb, and I am keen to try it exactly as she intended it, although as ususal scaled down to feed only two persons.

We loved the toasty-roasty crispiness of the vegetables along with the flavour of the nuts and lemon. Truly delightful.

And that's why I'm giving this a post all of its own :)

Sushi Rice Salad, Avocado Carrot Sushi Rolls, Miso Soup

2010-02-11T13:54:00.004-05:00

WARM SUSHI RICE SALAD

When I saw a recipe for Sushi Rice Salad I was unimpressed, but just perhaps it could be interesting (I thought) if I tweaked it a bit and, after all, I did have some left-over sushi rice in the refrigerator . . . .

It was sensational!

I hadn't been able to use all the rice I'd cooked for sushi, and, ever frugal about such things, I'd stuck it in the refrigerator for another day. It was therefore already seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. I carefully separated it out with a fork (it hadn't clumped together as much as I'd have thought) and put it with a tsp or two of water on low at the back of the stove to heat through. (Next time, though, I'll do it 'properly' and cook the rice fresh and keep it warm until the rest of the 'salad' is made.

I used about half a pound of asparagus, cut in thin rounds, which I stirred around in a skillet in the tiniest bit of oil for around three minutes tops. (I rather like young raw asparagus, the the recipe had said to lightly cook it so I did.) It needs to be still quite firm, I think. The avocado was diced and the seaweed chopped into small pieces. The real trick was a wonderful dressing of wasabi, tamari, miso, lemon juice and zest, and chopped pickled ginger.

With the dressing in a bowl large enough to contain all ingredients with room to toss them, I added the asparagus and avocado, mixed well, then added the warmed rice and tossed it all together carefully. The topping was some lightly toasted sesame seeds.

I found the recipe in Bill Jones, Chef's Salad (2003), which I should add is not a vegetarian cookbook but has lots of good recipes suitable for vegetarians and vegans (and others could be adapted).

I'll be making this 'salad' again and again. Wonderful!

AVOCADO AND CARROT SUSHI ROLLS

Just for the record, I am continuing with practicing the fine art of rolling my own sushi - so quick once I got the hang of it. I'm working on getting the shape right, sort of squared off, now. These are still rather rounded, and tasted none the worse for that. It's simply strips of avocado and matchsticks of carrot together. These are of course served with wasabi, tamari and pickled ginger. I'm likely to be showing you more and more of these pretty things, so bear with me!

And finally a simple soup:

MISO SOUP WITH TOFU, MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH

I had found some miso soup cubes that were vegan (not easy to get cubes or powder without the bonito) and wanted to give them a try. One cube for two of us worked fine, and I added some miso paste too - brown miso, as it happened. After heating the broth with a couple of 'coins' of fresh ginger, a shake of chili flakes and the sliced mushrooms ( mushrooms therefore a little less raw but still good and firm), I added the miso (which I dissolved in a couple or so tablespoons of the broth first), careful not to let it boil. Silken tofu went into the bowls with some shredded baby spinach (just a handful) and a little finely sliced green onion. Next time (which just happens to be this evening, I think) I shall probably add more tofu and also some noodles.

The thing about these kinds of soups is that they are most forgiving. Japanese style is, of course, a little at variance with my own method, but I was working for taste and enjoyment here rather than trying to copy a cuisine. Well, that's my line and I'm sticking to it :)

CHILIED ASPARAGUS WITH QUINOA AND TOFU, SPICED LIMAS WITH GARLIC BROCCOLI

2010-02-03T14:18:00.005-05:00

Chilied Asparagus With Quinoa And Tofu

This way of doing asparagus is a hit in our household, since we love Asian-inspired dishes, especially the hot and spicy ones. Here I chose for lunch today to do the asparagus in the quickest possible way, stir-'fried' (without oil and just a little liquid) in a skillet with a little finely chopped ginger and garlic, a dash of low-sodium tamari, a pinch of sugar, dried chili flakes, and to finish about 1/8 tsp of oriental sesame oil put drop by drop over the top of it all. (The dish is originally from Hong Kong via Madhur Jaffrey's excellent Vegetarian World Cuisine.) Traditionally it would be served with rice, but I chose quinoa for its wonderful nutty flavour (not to mention the nutritional value). Additionally I had marinated some firm tofu slices in a little Braggs amino into which I had stirred some cayenne, powdered ginger, garlic granules and onion flakes (I like to use these dried rather than fresh versions for marinades sometimes, but it's a toss-up which I use.) I baked the tofu in the oven until slightly brown and firm. When the tofu was almost ready, we had our salad and then, while the salad plates were being cleared I tossed the asparagus around in the skillet until barely cooked - still crisp is sensational with asparagus. A good meal.

Yesterday, I did a variation on a previous idea (see my last blog entry).

Spiced Limas With Garlic Broccoli

Remember the fava beans? Well, yesterday I cooked white limas, added some dried herbs and spices (including chilies), pureed the lot and served it surrounded by stir-'fried' (as before) broccoli with garlic and just a few chili flakes thrown in for a little bit of interest. Since I had allowed the bean puree to be much thicker than I had used before, I had the fun of piling them up like pureed potatoes in the centre of the plate. The tiny spoonful of liquid remaining the the skillet from cooking the broccoli was drizzled over the beans at the last minute. This was a big hit - and of course almost any vegetable would have worked well here - just trying to get our greens, though, especially at this time of year. And our beans. Hmmmm, what bean to try next I wonder!

Belated Happy New Year!

2010-01-24T14:55:00.012-05:00

Well here I am, after more than three months, persuaded that it is better to blog than not (for the time being, eh?). But where to resume???? I had photos that I have just junked because I couldn't remember what any of them were about - and most looked pretty boring to my eye anyway. I mean, without a recipe, what's one stew as against another? On the other hand (and there is usually one around here) this is as good a place as any to talk about food faves and food places as well as new products and restaurants.

For this post, then, I am simply going to give you a few snapshots of foods that we have particularly enjoyed recently.

OK, here's an easy dessert we make when we have the ingredients:

PEARS IN RED WINE WITH VEGAN ICECREAM

Obviously, one sweetens the wine a bit, adds a selection of spices and (for my taste) a little orange zest to help it all along. The icecream was commercially made, but was made of coconut milk rather than soy - something I'd not had before. We buy this when we can and have just a little with fresh fruit. Excellent.

There have also been two major vegetable 'discoveries' for me. I'm not saying I'd never had these before - of course I had - but I certainly hadn't cooked the first in my own kitchen or prepared the second in the way I've done here.

And what's that? Well, the more clear-sighted will spot that this is broccoli rabe or rapini. Lately (and I do mean since New Year) I've gone quite mad over it. Funny how tastes change.

RAPINI WITH FAVA BEANS

This is an Italian dish, and I got the recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook (one I swear I'd choose to take to a desert island with me). Its quite simple, all oniony and garlicky, and the rapini is cooked separately and heaped on the pureed bean mixture (served at the bottom of an old-fashioned wide soup bowl, as above). Excellent.

Actually, we liked the fava beans (something else I'd not cooked at home, now that I think of it) enough to have them a couple of times more this month, the next time with chopped kale (not photographed - looks much the same) and after that with bokchoy and a more 'asian' hint to the flavourings.

BOK CHOY, MUSHROOMS, ETC. ON PUREED (FAVA) BEANS

The other thing I hadn't actually tried at home, folks, was roasted Brussells sprouts. Now this might have something to do with the 'kept-warm' dishes that awaited my after-school ramblings to my grandmother's house yea these many years ago. Her Brussels sprouts were like dark little bullets by the time I got them, and if it wasn't for the fact that I was an amenable child they might not have got eaten at all. However, a good pal on a group (thanks, Beth) assured me that I should try roasting Brussels sprouts deliberately rather than accidentally. I thought there was no way of improving on the delightful taste of this vegetable (yes, I'm one of those who love anything even remotely resembling cabbage), but I was sadly wrong and have been blaming myself for being too stubborn to try these before.

OVEN-ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Since I try to be careful about oil, I simply sprayed the bottom of a roasting tin very lightly indeed, popped the sprouts in and rolled them around along with a little oregano, then roasted them as I was told to do: until they turned a lovely dark caramel-like colour. If you've enjoyed these, you're laughing at my amazement. If you haven't had them before, then you're in for a treat. They turn so sweet and the tiniest bit crisp on the very last outside layer. Good hot from the oven, room temperature or cold. There won't be leftovers.

And to finish of this mad post, here's my first and second attempt (don't laugh!) at making/rolling my own (dah-dah-dah-daaaaahhhhh!) SUSHI!

CUCUMBER AND WASABI THIN ROLLS

And . . .

CARROT AND AVOCADO THICK ROLLS

There were more than a little ragged, but oh they tasted so very very good. I made some for New Year and we just wolfed down every bite and never quite got round to more than casually sampling the other snacks. I was surprised how easy it was after the first couple of times (this is genuinely the first and second try shown here - as I say, pretty ragged!) and how much better they taste being made of your own fresh ingredients in your own kitchen just before serving. Of course the adventure improves the appetite too.

I'll come back to this in future blogs (consider yourselves warned).

And now, continue to try to enjoy this new year of 2010. If you, like us, get off to a bit of a shaky start, remember there's the lunar new year (Year of the Tiger) coming up mid-February and we can all start fresh.

And as for me, I (like King Arthur and Macarthur) shall indeed return ;-)

P.S. The pic at the top of this blog? Oh, just an attention-getter and my belated New Year gift to you all. Cheeky aren't I?

Kreative Blogger Award

2009-10-18T18:02:00.003-05:00

I want to thank Linda on her karlinda for stunning me with her kindness in awarding me the Kreativ Blogger award!

The rules for the award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each.

Seven things you might not knowabout me:

1. My dh and I both got our degrees in the same week from the same universities (in Canada and in the USA) way back when - and all in English Lit.

2. We spent 25 years of our lives in Sydney, Australia, and returned to Canada upon retirement.

3. I am mad for miso and mushrooms, separately or together.

4. I still get homesick for the UK after 60 years whenever I smell chips with vinegar.

5. My favourite flower is the rose and favourite scent is lavender - so old ladyish.

6. I never had a dog as an adult until I was 60 when I rescued two beagles.

7. I nearly always wear black - because I like it - and am never seen without earrings.

My nominations for Kreativ Blogger Awards:

1. Linda at Karlinda (turn-around is fair play LOL) - for her frank and heartwarming insight into the world of domestic infant adoption in California.

2. Kristen Suzanne at Kristen's Raw - for her wonderful recipes there (and excellent uncookbooks).

3. Erin at Zenpawn - for his varied and intelligent approaches to veganism, rawfoodism, and CRON.

4. Carrie at The House of Simon - for her varied 'all-purpose' blog with veggie food, Canadian music and sports and insights into the mind of a Jack Russell Terrier.

5. Susan V. at Fat-Free Vegan - for her inspired recipes which have kept me going for years with a healthy, tasty, vegan diet.

6. Veggie Girl at, well, Veggie Girl - for giving me a fantasy life in which I imagine I get to sit in her kitchen and taste her tantalizing baked goods without adding inches. Fantastic.

7. Jessica at Raw Food With Jessica - For an aesthetic thrill and total inspiration.

Okay, and now to post at each site. What fun!

Cajun-Spiced Portabellas

2009-09-28T21:09:00.003-05:00

CAJUN-SPICED PORTABELLAS

Yesterday’s mushroom dish was based on Kristen Suzanne’s “Cajun Portabellas With Wild Rice” recipe from her Easy Raw Entrees. Although I usually like to make a recipe according to the original the first time around, except perhaps for making a smaller quantity for just the two of us, but in this case I nervously cut way way down on the amount of oil required for the recipe – and ran into a bit of a problem. I corrected it another way, but neglected to write down the exact amounts of ingredients, changes in procedure, etc. (I’m naming the dish slightly differently since I took liberties with the recipe.)

A small problem with raw recipes is that most raw chefs use a lot of oil and/or nuts and seeds, and as you know I don't usually do that. I have tried the recipes at first with a little of the oil, to get the 'right' taste, but generally find away around that afterwards for successive 'repeats' of the dish. I just don't see the need for all that fat as well as all those calories - but that's just me.

Anyway, here goes:

CAJUN-SPICED PORTABELLAS (Raw - but don't run away!)

Okay, here’s a rough idea of what this dish was about:

Portabella mushrooms cut into strips, salted and left to marinate in olive oil for a while. Chopped tomatoes. A mix of spices, onion powder, garlic powder, and various herbs. After tossing the drained mushrooms with the spice mixture, they were placed on dehydrator sheets for about an hour and a half, at which time I deviated yet again from the recipe and added the tomatoes, mixing them in with the mushroom slices, and dehydrated for about another half hour. A squeeze of lime finished it off. I doubt that they are like what Ms Suzanne intended, but they were very very good and I will make these again and write down exactly how I did it for this blog.

With the Cajun-Spiced Portabellas we had some old faves: Avocado and Strawberry Salad plus a side dish of thinly sliced (raw) green beans with red bell peppers and a little green onion - all very tender and delish. We finished up with berries - strawberry and blueberry. I can never get enough berries.

Thanks for listening! ;-)

About My Raw Adventure

2009-09-26T16:39:00.003-05:00

Above: OLIVE-STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS (RAW)

I have been neglecting this blog while sending all kinds of results of my raw adventures to my Rawly Vegan blog on Wordpress - and I'm sorry. Perhaps I should publish some of the results here, but I'd now have to go back quite a way to catch up on that :( But you can click into the title of the photo above for its recipe if you like and of course I can offer you more and more raw recipes, if anyone's interested, in future. (Previous recipes are, as I say, on my Rawly Vegan blog.

The thing is, I hadn't expected to be keeping on with this rawfood lark. I thought that I'd like it for a while - as an excuse, perhaps, to eat lots and lots of lovely fresh fruit while it was in season, but that I'd quickly tire of eating raw instead of the delicious cooked meals I used to concoct each day. I do so like to cook! Well, I still 'cook' or, I should day, prepare food, and I am absolutely loving it. There are some great recipes out there, including some wonderful recipe books (I have only a handful), and I'm just not prepared to stop eating raw for a while yet!

Now I don't mean that I'm 100 per cent raw. We still choose to eat non-raw food for around 10 to 15 per cent of our daily calories on the occasional day, and my condiments, herbs and spices are not yet all raw. But the experiment, as I used to call it, has worked out find and for the time being, at least, I have no intention of going back to the way I used to eat - nor, I should add, has my husband, who delights in preparing some of our dishes himself (and this after his thinking, like myself, that it would be boring old salads all the time).

Some raw dishes are worth knowing about whether you're raw or not: Some raw soups are much better than their cooked counterparts if they even have cooked counterparts and can be served to anyone at any time that, say, a chilled soup would be appropriate. They're so very quick to make that it makes me wonder why I ever fussed with soup pots etc. And raw crackers? Fantastic. I have a (new) dehydrator, and if anyone has access to one raw Flax Crackers, Hummus Crackers, and Dulse Crackers are all easy to make and soooooo delicious. I keep a couple of containers full of them all the time now.

So prowl through my other blog, if you will, and see if there is anything there to tempt you. Not all the photos have recipes attached, but that's fairly easily remedied, since I'm developing my own variations on other people's recipes all the time now. Such fun!

And did I say how bright and alert and energized I feel since eating high raw? Fantastic pay off! Now that absolutely stunned me!

Okay, back again later with more - and some recipes. Cheers, everyone.

New Blog In Town

2009-09-06T18:03:00.006-05:00

This recipe is't here, is it? Nope. Why not?

Well, I shall be posting here again soon (truly) but I want you all to know of my two other blogs:

River Rambles at http://river-rambles.blogspot.com

This blog is for my adventures outside my own kitchen - when I feel the need to comment on good meals in usual or unusual places - and also holidays (which often centre around restaurants!) here and overseas, complete with pics. Have a look! (That's River Rambles - okay?

And my other blog is my notes with pics on my new adventure into raw food, Rawly Vegan Some of you might be interested in that too.

I should mention, however, that it is not at this time my intent to turn 100 per cent raw foodist. But I am aiming for highly raw - and in my book that means somewhere around 20 per cent of calories or less of non-raw food. As for eating out and holidays, well, one does what one can but there's no way I plan to travel on an apple and a handful of leaves, no matter what the diehards do LOL I love you all, but that's just not quite for me - yet! Nevertheless, having promised myself 'baby steps' in this endeavour (and so far it's working brilliantly for around 2 weeks now, maybe more), I intend to make this a long-range project which will bring me to a comfortable lifestyle for me. That's Rawly Vegan

Therefore, now and then (each week at least) I shall be actually cooking a dish or two and, to keep things lively around our dining table I shall be experimenting with new recipes and adapting old ones, either mine or someone else's. Those will be posted here!

Thanks for your understanding and patience - and do, please, visit my other blogs. They could stand the scrutiny!

Best to all, River.

What Happened To Summer? Some Faves.

2009-09-01T16:20:00.016-05:00

(Above: Bell Pepper, Mushroom and Faux Chicken 'Stir-fry')

For all kinds of reasons (don't ask!) this has been a lost summer, more or less. As a result, I've been shockingly lazy when it comes to developing new recipes or even trying other people's recipes (but see the seitan dishes below). Mostly, it has been comfort food of the kind you have seen on this blog time and again, or it has been something fast made with the help of faux meats from the local supermarket (I know, I know!). Between that and being away (see my other Blogspot blog at http://river-rambles.blogspot.com, which is where I ramble on about trips away from home, mostly, and post photos for family and friends. You're welcome to look!) . . . So you see above one of the many stir-fry (read 'stir-steamed') dishes which came in handy.

Then there were the inevitable curry-style dishes, because they are easy to make if you cheat a little and add some commercial curry paste to the array of spices to the whole and because we love all these hot and spicy dishes. Yes, even in summer.

The Thai Coconut Curry with Root Vegetables, Zucchini and Eggplant above used coconut milk in the original, but I cheated and used non-dairy milk and a little coconut extract in order to cut back on the fat calories a bit. It tasted fine - handy to remember if you run out of coconut milk.

There were the usual salads, soups (both hot and chilled), and quick pasta dishes - as I say, it was a lost kind of summer. I did however work on something else.

EXPERIMENTS WITH SEITAN

I did a little experimenting with my seitan fish recipe (see previous post) and I think I nearly have it right. I shall try again soon and give you the measurements. What I did in effect was to halve the recipe but to keep the seasonings etc. as is (or even to add a little extra, except for salt). I also put the cooking liquid (you know, seaweed, dried mushrooms, etc.) in a pan and let it simmer ahead of time and then cooled a little of it off to replace the water to be added to the gluten flour to make the seitan. (I replaced the 'stolen' cooking liquid with the same amount of water so that there's be plenty to cover the seitan on the stovetop.) That addition of cooking liquid got flavour into the seitan from the start. You might have to experiment a bit yourself, and much depends on how strong you like this kind of dish to be in 'taste of the sea'.

Having made this dish a few times, I have tried in in three or more ways:

(Above: Home-made Seitan Fish in Panko Crumbs)

I lightly sprayed the pan with canola oil and then browned the seitan on both sides. In this case I simply served with a squeeze of lemon and served with vegetables in the western manner. Lovely.

Not to be boring the next time I served it, I cut it in small pieces and made a Southeast Asian-style sauce with peanuts, soysauce, ketjap manis and sambal oelek.

(Above: Stir-'fried'Home-made Seitan Fish with Indonesian-style Peanut-Chilie Sauce.)

This was stronger in flavour and went superbly with rice and other appropriate accompaniments - your choice.

And finally, the inevitable 'finishing up what's in the fridge' dish - Rice with Vegetables, Home-made Seitan Fish and Commercial Faux Chicken Pieces. . .

. . . seasoned Asian Style with chilies thrown in for good measure. This kind of thing is one of our favourite kinds of meals ;-)

And no, we didn't eat all these in the same week! Although my dh assured me that he wouldn't mind a bit. It was good seitan.

Fortunately now that September is here I have no further excuse, and I shall be posting on a regular basis both on this blog and on my blog.

I am also starting another blog elsewhere - another food blog indeed, but that story for another time.

I hope everyone enjoyed their summer. My best to you all!

THE FAUX FISH CAPER - FISH-FLAVOURED SEITAN

2009-07-10T07:41:00.006-05:00

Some time ago I enjoyed a fake 'fish' dish at Montreal's ChuChai vegetarian restaurant - well, several times, actually, along with fake prawns and fake chicken etc. etc. They did it very well, and all went brilliantly with the Thai flavours. Since then I have had soy and wheat meat substitutes of various kinds at Candle 79 in New York, at Toronto's Fressen, and in London, Ontario, including most notably at Veg-Out on Richmond Row. It was Veg-Out's renowned 'Fish' And Chips and (not to mention a delightful Daily Special of tempe Red 'Halibut' In Cashew Crumbs) that made me want to try to create my own version of faux fish. Just for the fun of it!

FISH SEITAN

I had been hoping to find someone with a tried-and-true recipe for a fish-flavoured wheat meat (seitan) or soy meat on one of my groups, but it's a bad time of year to be asking people to be in their kitchens or even thinking of it. One kind person sent me a link to this page (thanks, John!): http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/1197/Seitan-Seafood-Scallops-Fish-Clams-Shrimp/

I settled for the simple seitan formula in the above link and made half a recipe in the fillets of fish shape - although I made them a bit smaller than what is usual, I think. The photo above shows the fish, lightly pan-browned, before adding the sauce which I made with peanut, coconut, sambal oelek, mirin, and basil etc. Lovely. I'll put a photo of my plate, with sauce added, below.

As you may be able to see, we had it with small potatoes, steamed kohlrabi and new peas - eschewing traditional rice accompaniment for once.

A couple of days later we finished it off with a slightly different combination of vegetables - cut into smaller pieces and sort of stir-fried with mushrooms, onion, halved cherry tomatoes and cilantro (coriander leaves) and very lightly sauced with low-sodium tamari and mirin. The image is, I'm afraid, blurred - but the flavour was not.

I'm going to work on this recipe. When I've got it right or as close to being right as I can get, I'll post on it again :) I fancy some seitan salmon and seitan scallops and maybe even seitan smoked trout or whatever. Just for fun!

Aparagus & Tomato Pasta, Three Thai Dishes

2009-05-18T13:02:00.011-05:00

ASPARAGUS & TOMATO SHELL PASTA

There has been some lovely asparagus in the market lately, both the green kind and the purple. Being a little conservative for colour for this dish, I chose the green and teamed it with some lovely little grape tomatoes, basil, and green onions to mix with baby shell pasta. It was so good.

The recipe is just about what I've said above:

Shell pasta for two persons (I use about 100-120 grams or 3-4 ounces)
1 slice of onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. fresh asparagus, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1/2 lb. grape tomatoes, halved
pinch of crushed chiles - or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
half a bunch of fresh basil, lightly chopped
2 green/spring onions, chopped
basil sprigs for garnish

While the pasta water is coming to the boil and the pasta is cooking (according to package instructions), put the onion and garlic in a little water in a skillet (large enough to contain all the ingredients in the recipe) and cook until soft.

Add the asparagus, tomatoes and chopped basil with the seasonings and stir over medium-high heat until the tomato skins start to look as if they are loosening up a little. Stop there. Don't overcook. If the pasta is not ready, remove the vegetables from the heat until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta and add to the vegetables in the skillet, toss them together and return to the heat if necessary for a moment or two to make sure everything is heated through. Remove from heat, stir in the green onions and transfer the pasta to a warmed serving dish. Garnish.

It doesn't get much simpler than that :)

THREE THAI DISHES

I've also been playing around at making more Thai food - we both love it! This one in the photo above is EGGPLANT WITH BASIL. I usually like to add a little cubed tofu to this dish as well as the red bell pepper.

And this one . . .

. . . is a SWEET POTATO AND POTATO COCONUT CURRY. Tofu goes nicely in this one too.

And then there was the day I made (dah-dah dah-dah!) . . .

TOM YUM SOUP! This was my first time of making it, and I think I got a little carried away, putting in enough vegetables and tofu to make it into something approaching a stew rather than a soup. That is, however, easily corrected.

These dishes are keepers here. Actually, we love Thai spices and like to flavour all kinds of things with them. My problem, however, is being able to get fresh kaffir lime leaves (although I keep a good supply of dried ones up the cupboard) and fresh lemon grass, not to mention fresh Thai basil, which is so important to the taste. It's a bore to have to substitute other things :(

Now that spring is here I'm looking to more and more lovely vegetables to put into my stir 'fries' and curries. I remind myself that they have snow out west!

Zucchini-Lemon Soup. Thai Curries

2009-03-02T18:09:00.009-05:00

ZUCCHINI-LEMON SOUP

This is a very forgiving recipe, and you can adjust the amount of zucchini used according to your appetite and to the desired thickness of the finished product. Although I have included tofu in this recipe, I often make it without tofu altogether and it is delicious that way too.

3/4 lb zucchini squash, sliced but not peeled
1 or two slices onion, chopped, or to taste (less rather than more, in this case)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
zest of half a lemon
4 cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock
crushed chilies to taste
juice of half a lemon
half a pack of soft tofu, roughly cubed

Put all except the lemon juice and the tofu into a soup pot and cook until the zucchini is just done.

Blend the soup with a wand blender but preferably in a blender jug along with the lemon juice and the tofu. The soup should be creamy and a lovely fresh pale green colour. You may need to add a little water to get it to the consistency you wish.

Return soup to the soup pot and reheat gently. Serve garnished as you will - I used cilantro for the soup in the photo because we like the taste and it also goes very well with the lemon.

Variation: you may wish to use fresh or dried herbs along with the zucchini etc. in the soup pot. Italian herbs go well, but be careful not to overwhelm the fresh taste of the zucchini and lemon.

And now for a change of pace :)

THAI CURRIES

Wanting some Thai curry (yes yes, the whole thing with - gasp - coconut milk and all!) I decided to make my own for the first time in ages. The impetus was seeing some lovely fresh Thai basil and some fresh kaffir lime leaves along with lemon grass at our local asian shop. I also picked up some of their tofu - a real treat when we can get it. Stopping at another shop, I got a small jar (yes, I know it's cheating) of Thai
yellow curry paste - the kind without fish paste of creatures of any kind in it. It's good to make your own paste, but this was to be a relatively quick meal and I didn't think I'd have the time. I found organic light coconut milk at my health food store, so all was set.

No real recipe here, except to shred a few kaffir lime leaves, grate some ginger, peel and finely chop the lemon grass, chop a little onion and garlic, and defrost and chop some Thai red chlies which I always have in the freezer. This all went into a large pan with some cubed eggplant, a diced potato, and (a little later so that it didn't get overcooked) a red bell pepper - and of course the Thai basil and enough of the Thai curry paste to make it just right (which in our lexicon means HOT).

By the time the rice was ready, so was the curry!

We've had variations on this over the last week - including one with sweet potato and green snap peas - and it's been lovely every time. I do so love Thai food.

What Have These Vegans Been Cooking?

2009-03-02T16:14:00.012-05:00

Original recipes have been in short supply around here lately (the cold weather has frozen my creative side), but that doesn't mean we've been having take-out food. We have been doing the usual salads, fresh fruit and lots of greens, but doing them simply. Soups have been important, because of the weather, and lately more stews and bakes than earlier in the year (or so it seems to me right now). Check below:

PASTA BOLOGNESE

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. This is another case of taking one's favourite recipe for home-cooked pasta sauce, adding a little crumbled tofu or tvp, simmering until blended and putting atop one's favourite kind of pasta. Have a lovely green salad first (in the North American way) or after (in the Italian way) and you've got a lovely meal, right? Yumm!

Below you have two similar ideas:

VEGETABLE STEW WITH LENTILS

LENTIL SOUP WITH VEGETABLES

They were made at quite different times, but I recall flavouring each with Indian spices and herbs. And both were what I call spicy hot! Eggplant was important to each (it blends so nicely with lentils) and apart from that and some carrot, perhaps a little sweet potato, it's more or less a free-for-all as far as the vegetables go.

The soup made a lovely light meal with a salad, and the stew was consumed as a main course with crusty homemade whole wheat bread. What a treat! Shall work on these some more and post the recipes when I'm happy with them.

More soon - I'm still having trouble with the photo thingie on this new computer :(

Kudos for a Fellow Blogger - and a link to watch it happen!

2009-02-21T17:39:00.008-05:00

GREAT NEWS: PCRM's Food For Life TV has actually highlighted - AND done their cooking segment on - my dear cyberfriend, mentor and publisher Erin Dame's own _Vegan Done Light_ e-cookbook and in particular on his incredibly innovative recipe for Cherry Hummus (believe it or not, it's delicious!). Congratulations, Erin! That's a huge feat. Fantastic, my friend!

See the video on Erin's site at:
http://www.zenpawn.com/vegblog/2009/02/21/pcrm-food-for-life-tv/

I don't know about the rest of you, but I think something like this kind of kudos for another vegan blogger vindicates all of us for our huge efforts in trying to maintain and develop healthy recipes that are low in fat and, in Erin's Case, gluten-free as well as low-cal and full of all good things.

So have a look at the video - and while you're at it have a listen/look to all the excellent advice for vegan health from the Food For Life TV team. It echoes so much that Erin and many of the rest of us strive for in our recipes.

Oh, and write down the recipe for that cherry hummus as it's playing - it's a winner :)

Exciting!!! Way to go, Erin!!!

Mushroom Crepe, Spiced Mushrooms - and chat

2009-02-17T10:55:00.006-05:00

[Edited because this got posted before I had finished! Slight changes to food descriptions, etc.]

It's a while since I recommended anything on this blog - other than great food - but the following article (see link below) on the vegan diet, its 'stick-to-it-edness' and its benefit for those with diabetes or at risk for the disease is very important. Published in Canada's national daily 'The Globe and Mail' 4 February. Do please have a look - it will lighten your heart, brighten your day, and give you loads of ammunition against all those omnivores and even some vegetarians who are suspicious of a vegan diet.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090204.wlbeck04/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/

And now on with the lovely safe and healthy vegan food! I love mushrooms and eat them almost daily.

MUSHROOM CREPE

This made a lovely lunch, along with a green salad. I took some mushrooms, enough for two persons (although I show only one crepe), seasoned them with a little chopped onion, two or three cloves of garlic, a tsp or so of grated ginger root, a little mirin (I was out of sherry), a dash of low-sodium soy sauce, a dash of cayenne pepper, some mixed herbs and put them all together in a skillet, adding a tsp or so of water at a time to keep them from scorching. I kept them pretty plump - dried-out mushrooms aren't my idea of fun.

The crepes I made of a mixture of wholewheat flour and cornflour (plus liquid of course) but you could use a mix of your choice. I made them very very thin and did not attempt to flip them. I gave the pan a hint of cooking spray (olive oil) and I slid each gently onto a plate when cooked to keep it warm, covered, at the lowest possible oven setting. Then I simply scooped the mushroom mixture onto the centre third of each crepe and rolled the other two sides to enclose it. Delicious.

For my next trick -

SPICED MUSHROOMS

This time I mixed cremini mushrooms with portobellos and shiitakes and added 4 cloves of garlic, a healthy pinch of crushed chilies, 1 Tbsp grated ginger root and a good shake of dried tarragon (had no fresh) to the pan before I started the steam-sautee process. I made a little mix of warm water and about half a tsp or so of dark miso (to dissolve the miso), a small amount 1/2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce, 2 Tbsp tomato paste and 1/4 cup of red wine and added it to the half-cooked mushroom mix.

When the mushrooms were just done (and the sauce well reduced) I stirred in a couple of chopped green onions and some chopped home-roasted peppers and used the mushroom mixture to top a heated wholewheat wrap - this was to catch what sauce remained. (I use Weight Watchers wraps, low fat and only 90 calories each, for things like this. They keep well in the freezer.)

I topped the mushrooms with a couple of strips of the roasted pepper too - and wished I'd had some nice fresh herbs to add, but perhaps that would have been painting the lily.

I was in a terrible hurry to get a meal on the table, so I had raided my emergency bin in the freezer right at the beginning and thrown some tiny potatoes, baby peas and miniature corn into a pan to steam so that I could serve them alongside the mushroom dish. Worked just fine! I think this is a major way we will have mushrooms from now on.

Althoughhhhhh, I'm still working on my mushroom paprikash/stroganoff recipe. It's good too!

Bonus with 'Wake Up To Spice'

2009-02-13T10:04:00.006-05:00

[EDITED TO CORRECT AN AMBIGUITY IN THE TIMING FOR THE BONUS OFFER]

Just to inform you all that my e-cookbook Wake Up To Spice now has a bonus attached: When you buy the cookbook this month (February) you get, free, Erin Dame's special report 7 Strategies to Successful Weight Loss! (This is normally a $5.00 cost, given for the rest of February to those who wish to dowload WAKE UP TO SPICE.)

In any event, you can sign up for Erin's free newsletter and download a sample recipe from my collection for only a click of the mouse. Not a bad deal!

Take a look and see what you think! You can find the whole deal HERE.

Baked Eggplant & Tomato Casserole, plus some old favourites

2009-02-05T16:42:00.011-05:00

BAKED EGGPLANT & TOMATO CASSEROLE

Around four days ago I had an eggplant that was burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak, and a yellow sweet bell pepper that was threatening to leave home. So I decided to put together a mix of compatible vegetables with some Italian-type herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme, you get the idea) and a hastily chopped chili and the usual suspects, including half a large can of tomatoes.

I heated the oven when these were cooked (in a little stock in a skillet) and made a quick cheezy sauce from a package of tofu which was soon to be past its prime. The eggplant mixture went into a round baking dish, the tofu topping (with some lovely spices in it) went on top and I popped the whole thing into the oven while I was fixing the salad.

I had one serving (Okay, it was a big one) and my dh polished off the rest (shock horror!). So I guess it was a success and yet so easy. Oh I'm too modest - It was great!

I promised myself, and probably you, that I'd post what I was eating from time to time - apart from salads and fresh fruit. The thing is, we have been going more in favour of old favourties, including one my dh adores: POTATO PEA & MUSHROOM CURRY from India. This is a good standby for us whenever we find we're in a hurry, want something comforting, and have no special ingredients in the house. Potatoes? Sure, always have a few lying around I guess (although I have been known to run out). Peas? Always in the freezer, just in case. Mushrooms? They're a staple. As for the rest of the things - garlic, ginger, onions, spices, well they're in the fridge and cupboards all the time too. So this meal can be had ready for the table in the time it takes to chop the veggies and cook the potatoes (the smaller the dice, the quicker the meal). We had this about three days ago. Lovely as always.

Another quick and reliable recipe is this soup - TOMATO CABBAGE SOUP Which is usually ready in twenty minutes from start to finish.

It's hot, it's light and it's satisfying. Eat it with cornbread, wholewheat rolls, muffins or, as here, with a simple salad (and faux hamm) wrap.

We'll be finishing off the soup this evening!

Dry Cauliflower Curry with Dhal

2009-02-01T16:36:00.006-05:00

This is something I thought I'd try again (after some years) after having it in New York just over a week ago. (See http://river-rambles.blogspot.com) Well, I had something like it, and this version was indeed good, but I'm going to have to mess around a little with the spices to recreate the original, if that's at all possible. Still, my husband raved about this and we ate every scrap, so perhaps the other we had was simply different :)

DRY CAULIFLOWER CURRY

1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger root
1-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground fennel
large pinch or more of crushed chilies (to taste)
approx. 1 lb cauliflower (trimmed pieces, a little over bite-sized)
water to cook
pinch of salt, optional
garam masala to taste
2 or 3 spring/green onions, chopped, to be stirred in at the end
handful fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) - optional - to serve
fresh squeeze of lemon to serve

Put the onion, garlic and ginger root into a skillet and add a little water to 'saute' until onion is translucent. Add the cumin seeds and stir until they decide to pop. Add the other spices quickly along with the cauliflwer and, again, just enough water to steam the pieces nicely without overcooking. (The cauliflower in the photo had a bit longer to cook than was needed.) Add the salt if using. You want the cauliflower to be just done, and you want the curry to be pretty well dry, so only allow for enough water to cook - the vegetable should be moist but there will be no sauce.

When the cauliflower is cooked, taste for seasoning and add a shake or two of garam masala. Add the green onions, the lemon juice and stir. Add chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) if you like them and serve.

We had ours, as you see below, without the coriander leaves - which we love - because we found we had none at all in the refrigerator. What a disaster! Nevertheless, it tasted great and I shall be sure to make this simple dish again.

We also made a dhal from an old Australian Women's Weekly cookbook, using red instead of brown lentils. It was excellent.

The thing about dhal is that it keeps so well and it is a nice counter to dry curries because of its usual wetness. Besides that dhal is GOOD!

I think it's so easy to forget that cauliflower is a 'green' vegetable full of all the good things that cruciferous veggies offer and yet low, very low, in calories. Not being as strong in flavour as, say, broccoli, it also lends itself to a variety of flavour additives - spices! - to ring a change on it from time to time. From crudite to soup to main dishes, the humble cauliflower shines.

APOLOGIES

2009-01-25T20:37:00.003-05:00

My apologies for neglecting this blog yet again! I have some new recipes and ideas for good food to post any day now AND I have just returned from New York where we had some fab dining experiences which I am going to want to try - just try - to reproduce at home.

For those curious, interested, or simply bored, try going to my other blog - River Rambles - which has a rather longish account of where we were and what we ate - photos and all for the most part :)

You can find it HERE - headed by this rather silly pic of me at the airport after waiting hours and hours for a flight out!

Best to you all.

Dithering :) - Plus Some Food Pics

2009-01-04T19:15:00.004-05:00

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

Here was lunch today :) I did two of these - but we couldn't finish them at all - too much salad to start, I'm afraid. But oh my they were really good! I didn't write down all the ingredients nor do any real measuring, so I'll have to save the recipe for another time. However, there was long-grain brown rice, wild rice, mushrooms, some marinated tofu, onions and garlic and chilies, green peas, water chestnuts and I forget what else all steam-sauteed together in a pan then stuffed into the peppers with various herbs and spices (which is what made it all so very good) and put in the oven with a seasoned crumb topping.

We must have been in the mood for stuffed dishes lately, because the other day I made

CRANBERRY-STUFFED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

This was a pale imitation of a recipe from Erin Dame's Vegan Done Light e-cookbook found here. Great as a side dish with a whole lot of things, I guarantee.

Somewhere along the line lately I made a couple of versions of stroganoff - one using faux beeef strips, one using portobello mushrooms, but somehow that photo has been lost while moving things from one computer to my new one :( (The photos in this post were still on the camera, however, so that's how these came about.) Never mind - it was good (if a bit bland for me) and I will be making it again and posting photo and recipe.

Meanwhile, I have been dithering, hence the title of this post, about to Raw or Not To Raw. I had decided, with help from the dh, that it was too difficult to do it the way we would like in the winter (this part of Canada is not all that far from Michigan, but a long way from California and Florida!) and, also, we weren't ready to forego our hot meals in icy weather. As a result, when I came to the end of the cookbook recipe testing, rather than going back on raw food (well, highly raw food) as planned we continued with the cooked variety, making all sorts of things again that had not been in the cookbook, especially things with soy in them. Around this season a lot of good food is tempting!

And now? Well, we looked at each other today and decided that as much as we think we'll be making a few cooked dishes during the week - and perhaps even a hot soup in the evening - we are going to slowly revert to our attempt to go raw. So satisfying! Now how's that for an about-turn!

NOT ANOTHER STIR-FRY!

My last photo is of the kind of stir-'fry' dishes I like to make now and then - no recipe really needed, perhaps, although I sometimes do do a twist on the usual ingredients. I may not be making so many of these, although the are wonderfully quick and easy, don't you think! Asian food lends itself so well to a vegan lifestyle, and spicy vegan food makes vegan eating a delight!

Cheers, everyone. And continued good wishes for 2009. Make it a good one!

WAKE UP TO SPICE! (My new e-cookbook)

2008-12-30T17:44:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited - I have just this afternoon received word that my e-cookbook, Wake Up To Spice, has its page up and running.

You can find it here: http://www.vegandonelight.com/spice/

And that's also the place to get a free sample recipe from the new e-book plus some other freebies when you sign up for the free newsletter my enabler put out :) Have a peek!!!!!!

Love and hugs, River (aka, as you'll see, another name)

New Things Happening

2008-12-19T16:27:00.004-05:00

Hello to you all, and my apologies for not posting for so long! The sunflowers, photographed at a New York market in early October, are my peace offering to you :)

The thing is that events have rather overtaken me this autumn, and I have found myself planning forthcoming happenings in a big way (some of them now past, cuz that's what they become when they're done with, right?) and trying to decide just which direction I want to take.

Most of you who have been following this will know that I have been playing around with eating raw vegan. And it is true that I think it's a wonderful idea and would be very beneficial. Right now, however, hasn't seemed quite the right time to make this switch for me and my dh. Undoubtedly, were either of us having any health problems we would probably make the change overnight and receive all the wonderful benefits, but that's just not the way of it. We are both in startling (to our doctors) good health, feel terrific in ourselves, are happy, mobile, active and full of good ideas for our lives as well as enjoying an eating style that includes raw foods but also depends to some smaller degree on cooked vegan yummy dishes. We like that.

So why not new recipes? In addition to enjoying our tried and true family favourites, I have been working on a project:

Early next year will see the online publication of an e-cookbook by yours truly (under my 'real' name rather than a nickname). Thanks to the encouragement of a dear cyber friend (Erin, that's you) I have put together a series of new recipes which are - wait for it - not only low salt and low fat as usual with me but also spicy, soy-free and gluten-free. Hey, what a challenge, eh? I loved (almost) every minute of the creation of these (about) two dozen new recipes and the revamping of the three or four which had their inspiration in recipes I had made before.If I got frustrated sometimes, it was only a small indication to me of the frustration those of you must feel who cannot eat all the things that the rest of the world takes for granted even in a vegan regime.

So there you have it. Meanwhile, I do have a few dishes I have made that are newish and not included in this forthcoming e-book, and I shall be letting you know about those in the next day or two.

For those who want to know what I'm up to when I'm not blogging on BeanVegan or posting on my groups on Care2 and Yahoo!, I remind you off my other blog - River Rambles: http://river-rambles.blogspot.com/

Chat again soon! Please watch this space for any new news about the coming e-cookbook!What an adventure!!!!

Thanksgiving Dinner, 13 October 2008

2008-10-13T17:10:00.004-05:00

Canadian Thanksgiving is today - and I just have to tell you about a recipe I found. Bryanna Clark Grogan came to my rescue when I wanted to make a 'traditional' (well, you know, the vegan version of traditional) Thanksgiving Dinner for the two of us. Going to

http://www.vegsource.com/articles/bryanna_xmas_print.htm

I found a whole series of possible recipes and finally settled on Bryanna's Seitan and Soy 'Turkey' along with a version of her stuffing. You'll need to scroll down past the first few recipes to find what I made.

The seitan and soy 'turkey' I did in a simple version, just as a roast, but next time I'll actually stuff the make-believe 'critter' and even, perhaps put the beancurd 'skin' around it. Her directions are pretty clear, and it'd be fun to try something a little more challenging visually.

The roast was succulent, tender, and to my vague recollection almost realistic. The flavour? Out of this world! Here it is below, in a boring rectangular shape (as I say, next time . . .) and topped with some mushrooms.

The stuffing I cooked a little more than she said (because it wasn't going into the roast), substituting sage for other herbs, and piled it into a halved and pre-cooked buttercup squash. This I popped back into the oven to crisp up on top. Lovely.

With this, apart from the mushrooms, we had fresh brussels sprouts, lightly steamed, fingerling potatoes, mushroom gravy and homemade cranberry sauce. Very simple, very good.

For the record, this weekend's weather has been out of this world - 26 C today - so I made the 'turkey' roast yesterday and baked the squash early this morning, leaving me only to reheat these items. All this was so that we could get out and enjoy the sunshine - a luxury here at this time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving to any Canadian readers!

GREENS: Spinach, Potato & Chickpea 'Roti'; Collards with Rice; Collards With Potatoes and Mushrooms; Chard with Tortillas

2008-10-12T19:17:00.004-05:00

SPINACH, POTATO & CHICKPEA 'ROTI'

One of my favourite things to eat when we're out is Chickpea and Potato Roti - Jamaican style. Well, I don't know anything about that (never having been there) but as you know I love hot and spicy food. So one lunchtime I scrambled together some spinach out of a frozen pack, added onions and garlic browned in a pan to go with it, and tossed in some pre-cooked chickpeas out of my freezer along with a sprinkling of this and that from my Indian spices. Well, so far we had a 'stew' (smelling wonderful, I admit) but nothing to set it off. Fishing in the freezer for some tortilla wraps (desperate, wasn't I?), I quickly steamed them up and used them as an impromptu 'roti' to enclose, more or less, the vegetables that were simmering in the pan.Needing some salad-type things, I sliced heirloom tomatoes and, for the sake of the greens, quartered a lemon. The result was delicious - and quick to prepare. I have made it, with various greens from the refrigerator, several times since :) Leftovers work well too!

The next dish, also inspired by the perceived need to Eat More Greens was simple:

COLLARDS WITH POTATOES AND MUSHROOMS

Rather than curried, this dish had the advantage of chilies and cumin to spice it up. The usual suspects - garlic and mushrooms - worked together with some lovely fresh collard greens from the market, and a lone 4 or 5 ounce potato was finely diced to cook with them in the same amount of time. Mushrooms, barely cooked at all, completed the picture. A little garnish, and the very simple meal was a delight.

COLLARDS WITH RICE

Similar to the dishes above, above is another dish with lots of lovely greens, cooked with the usual suspects and probably a few more:)

Well, someone put me onto the idea that not everyone is as lucky as we are and is able to tolerate gluten. (That's the stuff in many flours, folks, which plays riot with some systems.) We don't eat a lot of bread, but I was feeling rather smug about using the whole wheat tortilla wrap earlier (see above) and thought maybe I should get out of that. What to have instead? Well, I can't buy corn tortillas easily here (perhaps I shop in the wrong places), so I was going to have to make corn tortillas myself. I got a little yellow corn flour (that I _did_ find) and found recipes on the net.

Whoooooooo-ooooo! Are you all laughing now??????? Did I have any clue as to how difficult it was to make a corn tortilla? Nooooo, I did NOT! LOL So here, a very humbling admission, is my first attempt at tortillas.

Not a pretty sight, are they? ;) What didn't fall apart got stuck to the pan or got overcooked! However, I still have some corn flour left and I will - I definitely will - keep trying, because the taste was great all the same.

I put a couple of the more acceptable results to have as flatbread with my lunch of greens with whatever (can't recall just now). Not bad. Truly, not bad!

By these little acts of humility shall thee know them!

ADVENTURES IN RAW: Tabouli Longstocking, Raw Beets & Greens, Minted Potatoes & Peas

2008-10-09T08:09:00.006-05:00

Apart from some enormous salads, platters of crudite, bushels of fruit and the like,this summer has been pretty well a wash-out as far as brining this blog exciting recipes. The market produce has been fabulous - from tiny bokchoy barely twice the size of a single clove of garlic -

- so delicate that cooking seemed a shame, to wonderful heirloom tomatoes, purple and golden cauliflowers

and all manner of greens, we have had a great time. But we haven't done much cooking. Here are a couple of things:

TABOULI LONGSTOCKING (RAW)

Not wanting to use cooked grain, I made this from sprouted lentils and seeds, plus some of the usual things people put into various kinds of tabouleh. Beautifully dressed with fresh lemon (who needs ooil!), it was welcome and refreshing! I plan to do it this way more often. (Why 'longstocking'? Because 'longlegs' sounded too, er, anatomical!)

BEETS WITH THEIR OWN GREENS (RAW)

I have one or two variations going on my Beets Cooked With Their Own Greens elsewhere on this blog and other places, but RAW? Yup. I grated the beets and tore the delicate greens into bit-size pieces and dressed the salad as if it were for the cooked dish.

This next is, if anything, a very simple 'hybrid' dish - cooked plus raw, so very plain that it seems foolish to include it, but oh with the lovely fresh veggies it was outta sight! So here you have

MINTED POTATOES & PEAS

Tiny new potatoes (lightly steamed) with newsly shelled peas (at room temperature) and lots of garden mint :)

And my plate on one occasion:

As you see I had added a tomato salad.

And now off to the market to find some lovely greens for today's lunch!

(The little guy in the above photo is our co-resident Misha.)

Aloo Gobi (Indian-Style Cauliflower & Potatoes)

2008-10-07T14:09:00.002-05:00

ALOO GOBI

FROM: http://www.quickindiancooking.com/2007/03/16/aloo-gobi/
and posted with kind permission of Mallika, who originated the recipe there.

Photos are mine taken in my own kitchen.

This recipe serves four:

400gms cauliflower, cut into large florets
4 large new potatoes halved or two large normal potatoes peeled and quartered
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
Half inch ginger, grated
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Half tsp garam masala
Quarter tsp turmeric powder
Half tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
Fresh coriander to garnish
Salt to taste

Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic and ginger. Throw in the potatoes, all the powders apart from the garam masalas, add a tiny bit of water, cover the pot and cook the potatoes.

Don’t add too much water but make sure there is just enough to cook the potatoes.

When the potatoes are almost cooked (you will be able to insert a fork into the potatoes with some difficulty), add in the cauliflower.

Again, cover the pot and cook until the cauliflowers become soft and a fork can be inserted into them easily.

It’s very important to add the cauliflower when the potatoes are almost cooked or they’ll be overcooked.

Add salt and sprinkle garam masala and fresh coriander to finish. This dish should be served bone dry, ideally with some naan or roti.

River's Note:
Excellent quick version of this dish - I'll be making it this way now Those who don't enjoy their Indian dishes quite as hot and spicy as we do, however, should be aware that the chilli powder in the recipes means powdered chillies (I used cayenne) and might find it a bit HOT. Please add your chilli powder with due caution.

ASPARAGUS 2 WAYS: Raw Asparagus & Tomato Curry; Spicy Asparagus Stir-fry

2008-07-13T16:21:00.005-05:00

Sometimes we have great produce at the Farmers' Market, sometimes not so good. It all depends on the weather, right? But this last while we have been pretty lucky. Recently we had some great stuff available (see above) which we carted back home. Then the question comes: What to make with all this delightful produce! This is what we came up with in our house.

RAW ASPARAGUS AND TOMATO CURRY

Before you run away, remember that asparagus is very VERY tender when eaten young and fresh, and of course tomatoes only need a little coaxing to render up their wonderful juices and flavours. Okay - with me so far?

This recipe is adapted from one by Kate Wood in Eat Smart Eat Raw. Since tastes differ and, in any case, we tend to cut way WAY down on or cut completely out added oils and unnecessary oily ingredients, we didn't try this recipe as originally intended. Instad we came up with the following:

For The Sauce:

4 sundried tomatoes, soaked
3/4 lb tomatoes
1 stick celery
1/4 pound carrots
1 or two thick slices of onion, to taste
1 red thai chili
2 Tbsp garam masala, or to taste
a little liquid (soaking liquid from the sundried tomatoes will do fine)

For the Vegetables:

1/4 lb carrots, peeled into long 'noodles' with a vegetable peeler
1 bunch young asparagus (around a dozen stems), cut into bite-sized pieces
4 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 lb spinach, finely shredded
2 tsp pumpkin seeds/pepitas
1 ounce sprouts (I used mixed 'salad sprouts') - and save a few more for garnish

I made the sauce first, putting everything into the blender, adding as much of the tomato-soaking liquid as was needed to make blending possible. This should be a nice smooth puree.You can chill this, but I preferred it at room temperature..

Next the vegetables. The only trick here is the carrot preparation, and that's easier than it looks. Simply use a vegetable peeler and peel thin strips down the carrot to make 'noodles'. When you can't peel any more, chop the tiny nub that's left as best you can and start on the next carrot.

See them below:

Add all these lovely carrot 'noodles' to the rest of the veggies, mixing them into a bowl. Then dump in the sauce.

The sauce is wonderful, but you may want to taste for more seasoning. It can be as salt and/or as spicy as you want it to be.

After adding the sauce, few stirs to coat all the vegetables with the great curry flavours..

That's it. It is easy and it tastes - well - WONDERFUL! Try it :)

For my next trick, I'll just give you my standard

SPICY ASPARAGUS

(serves 2 for a light meal)

This is cooked, I assure you, although 'stir-fried' is an exaggeration, since I prefer to stir-steam (you know what I mean).

This recipe was inspired by a very similar one in Madhur Jaffrey's _World Vegetarian_ cookbook. The dish is from Hong Kong.

In this version, oil is at a minimum and the flavours at a maximum ;=) Since this was for a light meal I used only one bunch of asparagus for the two of us. Obviously, all measurements are to taste, but if you really don't like spicy food this just won't taste the same without lots of ginger, chillies and garlic.

1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
A little water or stock to 'sautee' the vegetables - or you can use a little oil if you prefer
3 thin slices of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 or 2 dried hot red chillies, crumbled
2 Tbsp (or so) vegetable stock
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional for those cooking low fat)
1/2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish and flavour
springs of cilantro for garnish and flavour

Soak asparagus in cold water to keep crisp while chopping the other ingredients. Put stock (or oil) in skillet/fry pan over high heat and stir in ginger, garlic, and crumbled chillies. Stir well and then add asparagus pieces (well drained) and stir quickly to coat with spices. Add the extra stock, soy sauce, sugar and salt and when it comes to the boil (almost immediately!) turn the heat to low and cover for about four minutes, being careful not to let it burn. Remove cover. Asparagus should be almost but not quite cooked - in the Chinese way. The liquid should be absorbed, but if not let it evaporate over the heat. Add the sesame oil (if used) and stir. Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro and serve over steamed brown rice.

Note, timing is approximate and depends on the weight of your pan and the heat of your stove. The point is: don't let is burn, don't let it go limp, whatever you do. The vegetables should be hot but not losing their very crisp texture.

Enjoy!

.

Chinese Hawker-Style Noodles and More Catching Up

2008-07-02T17:23:00.008-05:00

The thing about street food, in places like Singapore and elsewhere, is that it has to be cooked quickly over charcoal (at least originally - goodness knows what they use now, as it's been a over ten years since we have been there) and, therefore, in a modern kitchen is sinfully quick to prepare. Get your veggies chopped early, then heat your stock (I am usually in a hurry and use a powdered stock or cubes) with the spicy ingredients in there to add more flavour, then pop most of the stuff in the bowls as directed. Now this can all wait until you're ready to eat. Then cook the noodles, add them to the bowls, and pour on the scalding stock. Top with whatever you've chosen for garnish and you're done. A simple and easy lunch or supper, any time of the year!

HAWKER-STYLE NOODLES - BO MEIN

This is my basic recipe - one doesn't really need to write it down, but it's nice to have a base from which to work. Variations, two of which I have used recently, work just fine.

For two persons (and halve or double or treble etc. as needed).

3 - 4 cups Vegetarian stock
3 - 4 slices of ginger root or to taste, cut into matchsticks
3 chilies finely chopped (more or less to taste)
2 - 3 green onions, sliced crosswise very finely
1 tsp asian sesame oil
6 mushrooms, sliced (if you have time, soak a couple of dried ones too)
50 gr. (or so) medium tofu, sliced into bite-sized thin strips
NOTE: for the photos pictured above and below I used some vegan hamm.
100 gr. fine noodles (angelhair kind - often in 'nests' in asian groceries)
NOTE: for the photos you see I used japanese-style buckwheat noodes. Ya use what ya got!
2 - 3 handfulls bean sprouts
coriander, chopped, for garnish (optional)
peanuts, for garnish (optional) - I used raw cashews this time
soy sauce as needed

And here are most of the ingredients (I think!) just as I was ready to make the whole thing.

Heat your vegetarian stock together with the ginger root, the mushrooms and the chilies. (If you do use some dried mushrooms, add the soaking liquid to the stock.) Slice onions and divide between two large soup bowls together with the sesame oil and the tofu slices.

When stock comes to the boil, break the noodle nests in half and throw into the stock, separating the strands as soon as you can with a couple of forks or a spaghetti server. Noodles should soften very very quickly. Don't let them overcook. Remove from stock with spaghetti server, dividing between the two bowls. Toss the beansprouts into the stock, swirl around for a few seconds then divide between the two soup bowls.

Finally, divide the stock and any mushrooms, etc., that remain in the noodle pot between the two bowls.

Give each bowl a stir to bring up the flavours and ingredients from the bottom and disperse them through the noodles. Garnish and serve.

NOTE: The ingredients are barely cooked - the tofu heats from the hot soup, the beansprouts likewise. The mushrooms are still crisp. You can do variations on this, as I've noted above, but this is how we've eaten it for years. I have also made it using vegan chikken pieces instead of the tofu. Works fine too :)

AND for the rest of this 'catch-up' round?

Well, have a quick look at some photos I have on file.

Here are a few things we've been eating lately:

Above is STIR-FRIED TEMPEH WITH VEGETABLES (well, again, steamed). This is always a good and quick dish, with or without the rice. I like to make sure I always add some ginger root, garlic, onion, chilies and a little celery to give a good flavour to whatever else I'm using. And I generally marinate the tempeh in soy sauce and a little minced garlic and giner before adding to the rest.

And oh yes, above is my SPLIT PEA SOUP that I keep making again and again, enhanced this time with extra spices (mostly mexican style) plus some chopped vegan hamm and coriander and some dear little baby corns cut into coins AND cilantro. Very nice. You can do almost anything with split pea soup as a base. Actually, you can also do it more quickly with red lentils, but that's not what I used here :)

GINGERED CARROT-SQUASH SOUP (above) is exactly that - some onion (not too much) with carrot and squash and flavoured with fresh ginger root and varied herbs etc. Excellent. You can play with the ingredients and flavourings to your heart's content here and not go wrong!

An just above is of course a simple side SALAD. Gotta get your fresh raw veggies as often as possible, especially if you're having a touch week or month or year!

And here comes a favourite standby:

Variations on my STUFFED AVOCADO recipe abound. It doesn't really matter what you use in the way of stuffing as long as it tastes good to you and doesn't fight with the avocado. I usually base mine on carrot, celery and onion, then add all sorts of things like lime or lemon zest, lime or lemon juice, dark or light miso, a little Braggs, plus some seeds (generally pumpkin or sunflower) to give it texture after I've pureed the rest. Any stuffing left over makes a great spread for anything you've got a mind to put it on.

Take care now!

Catching Up - and Spiced Tempeh-Stuffed Shells

2008-06-29T13:11:00.008-05:00

[POST EDITED TO CORRECT OMISSIONS IN ORIGINAL, WITH APOLOGIES.]

Is it really possible to catch up after such an absence! Whew!!!!!

Well, first, let me say thank you to everyone who wrote in to say lovely words about the loss of our little beagle Made' aka Maddie, our second (though older) dog-daughter on 14 June. She is so sadly missed by us all, but your thoughtfulness and kindness has somehow made it easier to bear. Meanwhile, our younger girl, Casey, is reaping the benefits of having full-time attention of both her parents. Well, you can imagine!!!

Soooooo, you ask, what have you been cooking/eating since your last food post??? Good question. I seem to have taken some photos, wobbly ones mostly (so what's new there? LOL), but nevertheless they remind me that we have eaten a few things other than salads and wraps and fresh fruit. Not that those three things don't make for very nutritious as well as tasty eating, but they don't exactly make for an exciting food diary!

So here goes on one of the things that seem to have come across our table since arriving back from Paris a month ago.

SPICED TEMPEH-STUFFED SHELLS

These are, you guessed it, another version of my Stuffed Shells recipe, which you can see HERE in my first experiment with such a dish and HERE as the then preferred version. I still like both of those, but I decided to branch out just a tiny bit and make this lot from tempeh and add much more creative spice to the mixture. I followed the same basic method as before, but rather than basil or spinach I used handfuls of chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) and used chopped jalapeno, ground cumin seeds, lime zest and juice, miso, nutritional yeast and goodness knows what else (it was a while ago - I must make it again to get it right!) to the stuffing. The result was amazing. The tempeh was mashed to make it like ground, er, ground stuff.

Here it is at the point I'd just put it into the shells.

At this point it still needed a sauce, right? I had none ready in fridge or freezer, so I grabbed a can or tomatoes, added onions and garlic to them with some cayenne, zapped them in a blender and poured it over the dish like this:

The crumby topping, above, is a mix of wholewheat cracker crumbs zapped in a mini-processor with some cashews and nutritional yeast plus varied dried herbs and paprika.

The baked result you have already seen - somehow it never looks quite as nice as the unbaked version when I do things. But it was excellent to eat, and here you have, below, a quick snapshot of my plate before I took it to the table.

The taste was more fusion than Italian, but that's the joy of being able to please oneself in the kitchen. My husband voted for this version over the two others, so that's good enough for me :)

More later :)

In Memoriam: Made'

2008-06-16T16:28:00.003-05:00

(I have to tell someone who will understand, and who better than fellow animal lovers.)

Our beautiful (older) beagle girl Made' died in my arms Saturday morning. We are devastated.

Made' came to us by luck and by golly: Another dog guardian who had seen us in the park with our beagle Casey found us one day (stalking us on his bike, as he said) to say that he had to give up his lovely girl because they now had a baby in the household and did we know someone who might want a beagle so that he wouldn't have to blah blah blah. We said we would take her and did, and she was with us from the morning after that meeting for nearly six wonderful years.

Made' was 10 years 7 months and some days old. She was a dear sister to our now blind (SARDS, two years ago) beagle Casey, whom she protected so carefully and to whom she acted much in the role of a seeing-eye dog, and a loved companion of our cat Misha as well as being our darling dog-daughter.

She will be so missed.

Thanks for listening.

Love and hugs, River

Spicy Beanburgers with Salad

2008-06-12T10:50:00.005-05:00

Spicy Beanburgers with Salad [NOTE: Recipe edited to correct oversight re preparation of beans and a missing ingredient in the sauce!]

The thing about coming back from holidays (more about that later) is that one goes shopping (at least I do) without actually getting everything needed for eating ordinary meals. Using up what's left in the fridge the last few days before leaving means being out of everything on return, and of course shopping lists for recipes rather assume that you'll have basics, blah blah blah. Well, frankly, I blundered and, not feeling like going out again to shop, I hit the freezer and the few things I had in the fridge to make a quick meal.

Beans? Yes - but only just plain boiled in the freezer. Okay, let's work with that, I said (bored with the whole idea of cooking again after being away and having had the delight of eating other people's food!)

Ingredients (all is approximate and to taste - but you get the idea):

2 cups (you could use 1 can, rinsed and drained) beans (I used my own frozen pino beans)
3 cloves garlic
a large stick celery, chopped finely
half a carrot, finely chopped or grated (I used a handful of those 'baby' carrots)
2 slices onion, finely chopped
a few mushrooms, finely chopped (optional)
2 Tbsp ground coriander seeds, or to taste
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 Tbsp paprika, or to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne powder, or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
dash or two of cinnamon (I love cinnamon in things)
a few drops of liquid smoke
salt and pepper
dried wholewheat (or other) crumbs
fresh cilantro - divided in two - a handful chopped and more to garnish

Thaw your beans and drain, or drain and rinse your canned beans - then set aside in a large bowl.
Saute the vegetables until just soft. Add the spices and flavourings and stir until the vegetables are well coated.

Mash or puree about two-thirds of the beans, so that you have a gooey texture plus some more-or-less whole beans to make it interesting.

Add the vegetable mix to the beans in the bowl, stir, and add enough crumbs to keep everything together.Add the chopped cilantro.

Shape into patties and refrigerate until ready to use.

Spray a pan with a tiny bit of oil and brown the patties nicely.

I added roughly chopped mushrooms to the pan - because I like mushrooms with almost everything.

The Sauce? Use your favourite topping sauce or salsa. I used a mix of lemon juice and equal parts plain horseradish and dijon mustard with a little low-sodium soy. (Mix this to taste.)

Serve with any kind of green or leafy salad. These would also go well as open-faced sandwiches.

Potato, Pea and Mushroom Curry

2008-05-15T18:53:00.004-05:00

POTATO, PEA AND MUSHROOM CURRY (INDIA)

This recipe had its origins around 25 years or more ago with one by Charmaine Solomon. It has then of course been transmuted somewhat :)

3/4 lb small red potatoes (the kind that look the size of new potatoes)
3/4 lb mushrooms (button and cremini is what I use, mixed)
1 cup peas, shelled (ok to use frozen - but save them for the last ten minutes)
1 smallish onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic or to taste, finely chopped
1/3 cup or so chopped fresh coriander / cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp or to taste grated ginger root
1-1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp cayenne or to taste
3/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
1-1/2 tsp garam masala (your own mix or a good commercial blend)

Scrub the potatoes and if there are any larger ones halve them to about the size of the button mushrooms. If you only have larger potatoes, that’s okay - just cut them lengthways a couple of times and then across to the same rough size as the button mushrooms.

Wipe the mushrooms and, if there are larger ones, halve them. But the dish requires a chunky look rather than a ‘chopped’ look.

Put the onions in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook in a little water (or, if you prefer, you can use a couple of tsp olive oil) until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and the ginger and throw in the the coriander leaves and give it a stir around for one minute or two. Add the turmeric and cayenne. (If you’re not sure about how ‘hot’ this will be with the cayenne, you can add a quarter tsp and then, later, add the rest if you think it would be good.) (If you are using fresh peas add them now and stir these quickly with the other vegetables). Add the water and salt, if using, and cover, lowering heat to simmer, and cook for 15 minutes.

After that 15 minutes, add the garam masala and stir well and, if you have decided to use the frozen peas instead of the fresh ones, add these now. Add a little water if you think it needs it before covering the pan again for another 10 to 15 minutes. You want the potatoes to be just cooked, not broken or mushy.

When the potatoes are done, the liquid should be just about evaporated but the dish should be coated in a light sauce containing the spices. Taste for seasonings and adjust, stir well.

Garnish with more chopped coriander leaves.

You can serve with basmati rice or, like we do, with brown basmati rice - or of course your favourite Indian bread. Add a small ‘salad’ or two and you’re well away!

This one, which we decided to have today, was just tomatoes with chopped onion, a tiny dash of salt, lemon juice and a sprinkle of ground cardamom. The green leaves of course are coriander/cilantro :)

Enjoy!

Red River Raw Borscht, Cauliflower Salad, Tomato Plate, Kale and Apple Salad

2008-05-12T08:40:00.010-05:00

If you've been reading this blog at all, you know that my dh and I love beets - hot, cold, pickled, in soup, in salads, however they come and the redder the better. Recently I made a raw beet salad - and was absolutely amazed at how good it was. And I have tried a few raw soups with similar success. But raw borscht??? I didn't think so. I did, however find a recipe for a raw borscht with garlic and dill and a cup of soaked-overnight almonds (which would have 'creamed' it), and, of course, cabbage and beets in Brigitte Mars's Rawsome! and thought, well, it can be done. So I turned to my previous variations on conventional cooked borscht, thought of some amendements, and within minutes had a raw version chilling in the refrigerator. My dh pronounced it excellent, and I must say I enjoyed it thoroughly too.

RED RIVER RAW BORSCHT

3/4 pound red beets, peeled and chopped
1 large clove garlic
two large handfuls of fresh spinach (I'd have preferred beet greens, but it's early in the year for that)
1-1/4 cups cranberries (I used some I'd frozen earlier)
zest, juice and chopped flesh of 1 orange (blood orange, if you have it)
4 sundried tomatoes, soaked and chopped (soaking liquid reserved)
large handful dulse, lightly rinsed, chopped (other sea vegetable would be good, but I was keeping with red.)
1-1/2 tsp miso
2 or 3 dashes cayenne (optional, but it gives it a nice extra zip)
enough water to blend the ingredients and to reach the desired consistency

Set a few cranberries aside for garnish, if you wish, and put the rest of the ingredients with the soaking liquid from the dried tomatoes and a cup or more of water into a blender. Puree well, adding more water as needed. Add any extra water to bring to your preferred thickness. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Regrigerate until needed, for a cold soup, or serve at room temperature.

Garnish with cranberries and, if you like, fresh herbs, etc. Serve chilled with freshly ground black pepper.

And - oh yes, the name of the soup? My very first taste of borscht was in the late '40s and came from the kitchen of a lady who had migrated to Manitoba from the Ukraine. The soup was strong (not, I imagine, vegetarian!), chunky, full of many wonderful things, and was like no soup I'd ever eaten before. I loved it! This soup is named in honour of that long-ago hospitality. Thank you, Mrs B.

And now for some raw vegetable dishes we've been enjoying - nothing tricky, nothing fiddly, but all fresh and delicious!

CAULIFLOWER SALAD

This was pretty simple and almost embarrassingly easy, but it was good enough to pass on for a quick and easy dish to add to any array of salads or to have alone with some chunky French bread if you prefer. The addition of the sea vegetable adds a dimension I wouldn't have believed. Lovely :)

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 or 3 green/spring onions, cut across into chunky rounds
handful of dulse, lightly rinsed and chopped into small pieces
a couple of handfuls of 'baby' carrots
1 or 2 tsp Bragg's Aminos / All-Purpose Soy Seasoning, or low-sodium soy (not strictly raw)
Zest and juice of one lime

Whisk the last two ingredients together and pour over the vegetables. Toss to lightly flavour all the vegetables with citrus and the soy. Serve with more lime wedges if you wish.

And sometimes the simplest methods sometimes escape me when I'm hassled for time. This is one of those. Tomatoes are great, just sliced and passed at the table, of course. When I'm thinking ahead even half an hour (an hour if I can), however, I like to increase the flavour a little this way (not a great photo or a very classy presentation, but you get the idea):

TOMATO PLATE

1 large tomato or as many as you wish to serve, thinly sliced
2 thin slices of onion, separated into rings or half-rings
sea salt
large handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime
freshly ground black pepper
ground cummin to sprinkle to taste

At least half an hour before serving, sprinkle the tomatoes in a bowl with a little salt, layering with the onion and, if you wish, a little of the chopped cilantro. Squeeze a little lime juice over the lot.

Give the tomato mixture a couple of gentle turns in the bowl during the next half hour or so (being careful not to break up the tomato slices).

Arrange the slices of tomato and onion on a plate, add freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkle or two of ground cummin and the rest of the cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Everyone knows how much I love eating kale. It's full of good things, including loads of calcium, but it's also so good in flavour. There are different kinds of kale, but this lovely green curly kale is what is available to me now. I'm always making salads from it these days, and I just vary the ingredients and the seasonings to make it a little different each time.

KALE AND APPLE SALAD

1 head of kale
1 or 2 slices of onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 sweet red apple
small handful of raisins
raw cider vinegar, to taste
tsp raw agave syrup
Squeeze of lemon or lime juice to taste
sprinkle of Braggs Aminos, to taste (optional) - or you could use low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
dash or two of cayenne (optional)
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Strip the leaves only from the kale stems, wash, and tear into small pieces and place in a large bowl. 'Massage' these with your hands, deliberately bruising and wilting the leaves for a few minutes, until they take up less volume in the bowl and have turned darker green (as if lightly cooked). Don't worry about overdoing this - this pseudo-cooked texture is nice - taste a little as you go along!

Chop the onion, garlic and add to the kale when it is ready. If you're not going to serve immediately, chop/slice the apple just before adding the dressing - to avoid having the cut apple go brown - or sprinkle it with a little lemon juice meanwhile while it waits. Add the raisins.

Mix together the cider vinegar, agave syrup, lemon or lime juice, Braggs or soy sauce with the cayenne, if using.

Pour this dressing over the rest of the ingredients and toss. Serve in your favourite salad bowl (if you're not already using it!) with other salads or as a first course.

You'd be amazed at how lively we feel with eating so much raw food (although we're not 100 per cent raw - and our condiments are not yet completely raw) - and it certainly saves a lot of time in the kitchen! Next acquisition will be a dehydrator - than watch out!!!!!

CABBAGE SALAD ROLLS

2008-04-29T13:09:00.000-05:00

Cabbage Salad Rolls

Today I was going to make a cabbage salad for part of our lunch, but once I got out the ingredients the thought was boring for once (we love cabbage salad, so this was distinctly odd!). As a result I ended up fiddling around with the makings for the salad but somewhat reconstructing it and changing the flavourings a little (it was chilly out, so I wanted something warmish).

Ingredients:

Six leaves of savoy cabbage, with the little V-shaped stem bit cut out of the base of each

The Stuffing:

2 carrots
1 oz sunflower seeds
1-1/2 tsp white miso
2 slices onion
3 cloves garlic
1 red apple
1 stick celery
1/3 of a thai chili (but make this to your own taste - thai chilies are hot!) - or use cayenne to taste
zest of half a lime
juice of half a lime
Tbsp raw cider vinegar
ground cummin to taste
salt and peppeer if needed

Garnish: I used a handful of alfalfa sprouts, but you could use anything you like :)

Put all ingredients except for the cabbage leaves and whatever garnish you're using into the food processor and chop to a fine texture. Mix well and taste for seasoning. You may need to add salt, pepper, lime juice or vinegar, whatever.

Put a couple of Tbsp of the stuffing onto the centre of each cabbage leaf, fold up the bottom and each side and roll away from you, snugly, until the cabbage forms a package for the filling. If it oozes out you have either not rolled tightly enough or you have used two much filling, so try again :)

Secure each roll with a toothpick if needed (I needed) and place seam-side down on a platter.

Garnish and serve. Eat with knife and fork or with fingers (like a wrap).

Here it is cut on my plate - but I'm so sorry the pic is so blurry. I'd have tried another photo, but there were no more models to pose for it!

We pronounced it a success! And of course it's raw :)

And now here's the apple blossom I immortalized on Saturday!

And those dear little baby maple leaves are so welcome when so many trees are still bare.

Chat: Blossoms and Kitchen Talk

2008-04-29T10:59:00.002-05:00

[Blog edited because of malfunctioning or incorrect photo code thingie (excuse technical jargon), now possibly pur right.]

Two days ago when my dh and I went walking I had the sense to bring along a camera for once. We went along the river and through a park and saw the baby maple leaves bravely bursting from their buds on the trees, the apple blossoms (oh I could become rhapsodic!) and of course my personal favourite - the magnolias!!! These are on an old tree which I often admire just outside historic Eldon House.

It was a good thing we did enjoy the walk when we could, because by yesterday the chill had certainly settled in (I remind you: this is southwestern Ontario even if it is the end of April), and we were into warmer jackets and not in a mood for lingering on the river bank or elsewhere. This morning it was only 2 C when I took my little beagles out for their morning walk (well, run really - they were in a hurry!), so I enjoyed seeing these again and dearly hope that the minus degrees forecast for tonight won't destroy the blossoms.

And speaking of colder temperatures - and because I am new to even trying to be somewhat a raw foodist - I was intrigued to find a link to How to Make Raw Food Taste Hot , which may come in handy over the next couple of weeks here (if we are to believe our weather person) and for any readers in the southern hemisphere (helloooooo all readers in Australia!).

Chat: Of Cabbages, Cheezes and Cats

2008-04-27T16:15:00.000-05:00

Well I couldn't resist telling you all about the reason for the lovely green kale behind the photo of the beet, apple and seaweed salad I posted earlier! We eat a lot of kale here - any kind we can get our hands on. And this one was for the kale salad I've posted before as Raw Kale Salad, what else :) to which I added the garnish of a little crumbled/grated vegan blue cheez - or more correctly Sheese (which is the brand name) from Scotland.

I have never much cared for faux cheezes - except those individually wrapped Tofutti slices (and Tofutti is very good - esp. its cream cheeze and sour creme) in a huge sandwich which disguises the fact that they're not really the real thing. But someone on the Care2 network recommended Sheese and I found it at my local cheese shop and I had to try. Well, I dunno about you guys, but I thought it was wonderful. I always swear that I don't want to eat faux foods, but both my husband and I have made an exception for this product (and another, which is PC vegan chicken strips, but only VERY occasionally) - which I swear we could become addicted to really really quickly. It comes in many flavours, so you might want to see if it's in your shops. (And no, I don't own the company or get money from them for saying this!). Find them at: http://www.buteisland.com/ - and they have recipes there too, I see.

The next photo is an indulgence of mine. We are eating more raw (I know - am I letting you guys down? Sorry. I'll probably get over it! I do these kinds of things now and then!!) and so the top of our stove is getting used for everything but cooking lately. Yesterday we brought the groceries home and dumped them on the stovetop while we put them away. I put the last item in the refrigerator and turned around to find that my dear little cat had actually dared to jump up there and had decided that the shopping bag would make a nice little hidey hole :)

RAW BEET SALAD

2008-04-27T10:18:00.000-05:00

Here I am, gnawing and crunching away at raw fruits and vegetables - and loving it. I had recently bought a kilogramme of beets ('beetroot' to any of you in the UK and what I used to call them until recently), which we usually cook for salads, soups, other dishes. But I ran across a recipe that suggested one could grate them raw with apple for a salad, then use a raw vegan almond 'mayonnaise' to dress it and sprinkle it with sesame seeds. Simple :) Being me, absolutely determined to pervert the course of true cuisine, however, I went in a slightly different direction:

RAW BEET SALAD

3 Tbsp wakame seaweed, soaked and finely chopped
1/2 kg beets, peeled and grated (I used a food processor attachment to my wand blender to do mine)
1/2 kg apples, peeled and grated
1 Tbsp white miso
1 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos / All-Purpose Liquid Soy Seasoning (instead of Tamari, which I'm sure would taste fine)
handful of Italian parsley
good pinch of cayenne
ginger root (your choice how much), finely chopped
squeeze or two of lemon (optional)
salt and peppe (if needed) to taste
GARNISH: sesame seeds (optional - but they look pretty against the colours of the

Throw all into your blender, except for the garnish. Chill and serve with those sesame seeds if you like. Good food.

NOTE: the dressing (everything except the first three ingredients and the garnish) is entirely up to you. We love to use seaweeds in salads and soups and anything else we can stick them into - or much them on our own, but if you don't care for them (have you TRIED them all? Wunnerful!), then by all means skip.

SUNSET SOUP (Raw)

2008-04-25T17:30:00.001-05:00

This soup I invented because I didn't want to serve even the very delicious Raw Tomato Soup twice in a row. I had seen in Brigitte Mars' book Rawsome! a recipe for Carrot-Ginger Soup which needed carrots, some left chopped, not pureed, white miso, grated ginger, garlic and water. I figured I could branch off from that and brought out a few more ingredients (and skipped the garlic for this one), fiddled with proportions, kept tasting and came up with:

SUNSET SOUP (Raw)

1 orange
1 cup chopped raw carrots
1 cup chopped raw butternut squash
3/4 cup raw cranberries (ok, I'd frozen mine from a while ago, but they were still raw)
1 Tbsp grated ginger root
1-1/2 to 2 cups water (This is approximate. Fiddle around until it's the right consistency for you.)
1 Tbsp white miso
1 Tbsp Braggs amino/all-purpose seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt (if needed) to taste

Zest the orange, remove the white pith with a sharp knife and discard, slice and chop the orange flesh, removing seeds as you go.
Put all ingredients (including the orange zest, unless you want to reserve a few strands for garnish) into your blender and puree, adding more water if needed to get to the right consistency for you.

Garnish if you like with some of the orange zest - and a few dried cranberries would be pretty, I think.

Enjoy!

RAW TOMATO SOUP

2008-04-25T14:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, here we go, guys! It's letting me upload one photo (only one, it seems, although I tried for another for a 'soup show' item, as it were). So this keeps me happy for now - Yesssssssss!!!!!

RAW TOMATO SOUP

NOTE: not all my condiments are strictly raw - eg. the soy sauce and nutritional yeast, but I see them used in raw cookbooks.
I adapted this from recipe from a Tomato Soup in Kate Wood's _Eat Smart Eat Raw_ book.

6 tomatoes
1-1/2 sticks of celery
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp dried basil
2-1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp low sodium soy
a handful of parsley
juice and zest of half a lemon (or more to taste)
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
4 rehydrated sundried tomatoes
and as much water as I needed to make it work
fresh black pepper to taste
more salt, if you like, to taste

GARNISH: Well, maybe a little parsley and a twist of lemon? I also rehydrated a little wakame for garnish (that's the funny dark green circle of love around the lemon and lemon zest) - love any excuse for using sea vegetables! - but you can skip these if you like.

Chop what needs to be chopped and dump everything except the garnish in the blender, puree and chill. Garnish and serve. Delish!

The Raw Truth

2008-04-25T13:58:00.000-05:00

Anyone looking around this blog would think either that I have become incredibly lazy or that I have stopped cooking and eating. The first is probably true: I have been slacking off something fierce! And the first half of the second possibility is, well, half true: I have been cooking about half, or even less, as much as usual. BUT that does not mean I haven't been eating. I've just been eating different things, salads and other raw things. Call it a culinary experiment, call it a whim, call it trial at dietary change, call it a swoop into madness or a sudden breath of sanity!

Anyway, armed with a couple of books, advice from some cyberpals who like to eat raw or mostly raw (and encourage it for the health benefits too), and a refrigerator full of vegetables and fruit, I've been using the stove top because of its cool flat surface lately more than for the heat elements hidden somewhere there under that black glass (how do they DO that?!). I've yet to find a secondary use for the oven that would also allow me easily and quickly to change my mind and turn a salad into a casserole. You see? Here I am, covering all bets (or my derriere, depending upon your preference).

I have to confess, however, that I haven't really experimented much. I don't have a dehydrator for a start, I make do with NOT the horrendously expensive kitchen gadget that would put my blender to shame, and I have no juicer. My nod towards a food processor is a gadget that holds at most a couple of cups of veg or whatever and comes as an attachment to a wand blender I find useful. My attempts at sprouting were dismal, although I remember doing it way back when and finding it no problem. (Note to Self: Keep Trying!)

Soooooooo what I've been doing happily is varying salads and salad dressings, still trying to keep away from added oils (maybe a tsp of sesame oil for flavour here or there, but it is rare). My condiments are not as yet entirely raw, and probably never will be, but I'm not letting that bother me :)

I photographed several of these salads, and in the spirit of waste-not-want-not I tried to stick them in here along with a rough description of what went in each. Sad to say, Blogger will not let me upload anything right now :( So I shall have to wait until a more auspicious day. Miserable luck, dammit!!!! (Now how often - lately, that is - have I sat down with a clear morning free to spend on the blog! Not ----ing often, I tell you.)

Meanwhile, we had a lovely raw beet salad for lunch which will have to wait for another day. Your loss!!!! Heh heh heh!

Cheers, all!!!!

Stuffed Avocado

2008-04-13T20:43:00.001-05:00

This recipe has been adapted from one in Kate Wood's Eat Smart Eat Raw and it's definitely a keeper for our house, although I'll probably continue to tweak it a bit :)

STUFFED AVOCADO

For each avocado:
1/2 oz sunflower seeds
1/2 oz pumpkin seeds
1/2 medium carrot, chopped
4 sundried tomatoes, rehydrated
1 tsp white miso
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 slice onion
1/4 thai chili (you might want to adjust this down a bit - we like it hot!)
a shake or two of dried basil (or use fresh - I didn't have any)
juice of half a lime
Garnish: handful of alfalfa sprouts, slice or quarter of lime, few strands of lime zest

Puree all ingredients except for the avocado and the alfalfa sprouts. halve the avocado, remove seed. Fill the hollow in each half with the mixture and then spread it across the avocado. Garnish with the alfalfa sprouts, top with the lime zest and add the lime to the plate for squeezing.

NOTE: You may have some of the stuffing left over - just refrigerate and use it for dip or sandwich spread or whatever in the next day. Delish.

Bok Choy With Tofu

2008-04-12T16:03:00.000-05:00

BOK CHOY AND TOFU

I'm putting this in as representative of all the quick and easy dishes to be made with bok choy - apart from just steaming it up, which is also delicious - and a package of medium or firm tofu. If we can find the very tiny baby bok choy, that's our favourite. They're so delicate and are just brimful of good things! Also, they don't take much time :)

For best results, I like to cut the tofu into manageable strips and gently press out any excess liquid between my palms before cutting into bite-sized pieces. Then I mix a quick marinade: a little Bragg's Amino or some low-sodium soy sauce, a little finely minced ginger and garlic (the jarred stuff works fine if in a hurry), a TINY shake of crushed chilies OR half a tsp or so of sambal oelek (a fiery Indonesian condiment which is mostly chilies but has other flavourings in it - excellent to keep in the fridge!). I stir this altogether in a bowl large enough to hold the tofu pieces (we use about a third of a package for two of us) and leave it to soak up the flavours while I do the rest.

Here I have taken a couple of big slices of onion, some sliced mushrooms and some finely chopped garlic and cooked them in a pan (large enough for the whole dish) with a little more soy sauce and some water. When the onions are soft, I am ready to add the rest of the ingredients.

While the above veg are cooking, I prepare the bok choy. I like to cut the tiny bunches in half lengthways and add them to the pan over medium heat again, turning them gently to coat them in the flavours of the mushrooms and onions.

Next comes the tofu with its marinade, turned gently so that all is mixed together and left just long enough to warm through. The bokchoy leaves will wilt, but the stems should remain nice a crisp.

Easy-peasy, as someone I know likes to say :) I usually serve with brown rice or noodles.

NOTE: If you like a thicker sauce, you can add a tsp of cornstarch to a little water and stir into the tofu marinade before you add it to the pan.

Somewhere I have other similar recipes photographed - perhaps using snowpeas instead of bok choy - or using a mix of vegetables that were in the fridge - anything other than those bags of frozen 'oriental' or 'stir-fry' vegetable mixes that one sees in supermarket freezers. They are limp before they even get started.

Curried Vegan 'Chicken' in Tomato and Coconut Sauce

2008-04-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

First, dear friends, a warning: This recipe has no added fat - UNTIL you add the coconut milk! You can indeed make it without the coconut milk, you could fake up the coconut milk with a little coconut extract and a soy product which has less fat in it, or you can indulge. In lieu of vegan chikken I often use tempeh or pressed and marinated tofu, but this looks more authentic and the texture is pleasant.

CURRIED VEGAN 'CHICKEN' IN TOMATO & COCONUT SAUCE (SRI LANKA)

This dish was inspired by one from, I believe, Charmaine Solomon many years ago now. Her original recipe was of course not vegan in any way. I have tweaked it to suit our tastes as well as veganizing it :) Note: the dish is from Sri Lanka, and although it doesn't have the couple of dozen red chillies that I am told would have been in the original, it is still HOT and SPICY.

For two persons:

1/2 pkg fake chikken strips (or more if you're hungry), cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
10 curry leaves (these are an aromatic leaf, used in some curries; I get mine dried)
1 onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne or ground chillies (ADJUST to taste and expectation)
1 tsp ground coriander seed (or a little more if you really love this taste)
1/2 tsp ground cummin
1/4 tsp ground fennel
2 tsp paprika
salt to taste (1/2 tsp to 1 tsp, but remember the chikken strips are salty and so might the tomatoes be)
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 a 14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes, with juice (sodium-reduced if possible)
5 cardamon pods, gently hit to slightly split them
1/2 stick cinnamon
2 big strips lemon zest or 1 stalk fresh lemon grass if you have it
1/2 can thick coconut milk
GARNISH: Lemon or Lime wedges, cilantro (coriander leaves), etc.

Over medium high heat, in a pan to hold the whole recipe: Cut the fake chikken into bit-size pieces and set aside.

Put the ingredients up to (but not including) the tomatoes in a little stock and let them soften and mix their flavours. Stir well.

Now is the time for the rest -

Add the tomatoes, whole spices and lemon zest (or lemon grass), lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan for around 10 or fifteen minutes or so.

Add the pieces of fake chikken and make sure the pieces are well coated. Warm them through. Then, shortly before serving add the coconut milk and stir BUT do NOT cover the pan while you warm the dish (the dish will otherwise curdle).

Serve with rice and appropriate accompaniments and enjoy!

Vegan 'Chicken' with Yellow Peppers, Vegan 'Beef' in Chinese Black Beans

2008-04-12T08:01:00.002-05:00

After telling the world (or at least all who couldn't escape me) of my dislike for the various fake vegan 'meats' on the market, I finally succumbed to trying them once again. Either they have improved amazingly or my taste buds have changed! Not that I'm suggesting for a moment that they are necessarily a gourmet delight or that they even vaguely approximate the 'real thing' (what a relief!), I found the PC (President's Choice) brand, which is all I could find in my local supermarket, very tasty indeed - tasty enough to try them more than once.

VEGAN 'CHICKEN' WITH YELLOW PEPPERS

This dish looked prettier on the platter than is apparent from my photography, and had a pleasing texture. It was a simple stir-fry (well, stir-steam) of all the usual things you'd expect to find in such a dish at your local Chinese restaurant, allowing for regional differences: onions, garlic, yellow bell peppers, probably some celery or bok choy stems, etc., the 'chicken' pieces (cut into thirds by me) added towards the very last, and all married in a light soy sauce and cornstarch sauce - enough to glaze the ingredients. I served with wild rice mixed with brown rice. There were no leftovers.

Next I tried the so-called 'beef' strips.

VEGAN 'BEEF' IN CHINESE BLACK BEANS

This 'stir-fried' dish had much the same composition as the 'chicken' dish above, except, as you see, for the substitution of green bell peppers for yellow and the addition of mushrooms. The sauce, however, was somewhat different in that Chinese preserved (salted) 'black' soybeans were used (not to be confused with the black turtle beans that are used in some southwestern USA and/or Mexican-style dishes!). After soaking a Tbsp or a little more of the beans in hot water and mashing them in with a few cloves (heh heh we LOVE lots of garlic here, although a couple of cloves is what this recipe usually gets) of garlic, the mixture was stirred into the pan with the vegetables, the 'beef' pieces (cut into bite-size bits) added towards the end.

This also had no leftovers, although imho the fake beef has a texture that is not as appealing as the chicken - but that might be a matter of mood.

[TECHNICAL SIDENOTE: I am still having trouble with adding photos to this blog, so I am doing it through Photobucket. If you encounter any problem whatsoever, please leave a comment to let me know. Many thanks!]

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2008-04-11T17:11:00.001-05:00

Well, this site seems to have let me upload one photo, and has now dug in its little heels and said Nevermore. Hmmm! Well, here's the first offering!

Here we have STUFFED ACORN SQUASH - with steamed baby bok choy. I stuffed the squash (having steamed it up in the oven first) with a sort of unfried rice mixture: leftover brown rice and various chopped vegetables (the usual suspects) spiced up a bit with (inevitably with me) chilies, ginger, garlic, etc. I think I sprinkled a sort of crumb topping on the whole thing before putting it back in the oven to brown a bit, thus utterly confounding any attempt to identify the dish according to any one or two ethnicities! Another time I used Indian spices and a sprinkle of raisins in the rice mixture (quinoa or barley works well too - or a combination of wild and brown rice) but skipped the crumbs. These things tend to be a bit different every time with me - always an adventure to come to our dinner table. This served two of us for lunch (our main meal), preceded by a leafy green salad.

Need I say, all this was as usual done with no or minimal salt and no added oil or other fat.

Stand by, if you will, for my experiments with faux/fake vegan chikken and beeef. I say experiments, because I've never taken these products seriously and always claimed to dislike them :)

Slacking Off

2008-04-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

I am so very far behind with this blog that there is no way I can possibly catch up with what I've been cooking here. But I do have a few pics for you, and I think you might get a kick out of some of them LOL I'm such a poor photographer, but I do like to take a photo of what I enjoy most, and that's rather revealing, isn't it? ;)

Right now, however, I find that blogger won't let me click in to add a photo - and this is sooooo annoying, since that's what I'm here for :(

Thanks to all who have been patient with me while I've been slacking off - and thanks to everyone who has kindly left comments. I shall be posting as soon as the site allows!!!

Raw Kale Salad

2008-03-28T15:27:00.007-05:00

This recipe is an adaptation of an adaptation of a cookbook recipe, the variation from which I worked being found here:
http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=10159&pst=588393
- although you'll have to scroll down a bit and look for it under the title of Cavolo Nero from my friend Linda.

The recipe was meant to be Raw Food, but I'm nowhere near raw yet so I have no qualms about using condiments that have seen heat. Additionally, I have now made this recipe on three separate occasions and each time I found I was out of one or the other ingredients, I omit oil from salad dressings, and of course I tend to throw in a bit of something extra now and then. That said, there's only so much you can do with a salad that is going to be different.

RAW KALE SALAD

1 bunch kale, washed, leaves stripped off the stalks and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 bell pepper, chopped (the coloured ones look prettier than the green)
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, chopped (optional - it adds a pretty colour if you need more 'red')
1/2 cup dried cranberries
organic shoyu or tamari, to taste (or use a little Bragg's amino or, if you only do raw, sea salt)
raw apple cider vinegar, to taste (I have also done a mix with a little rice vinegar)
raw agave syrup, to taste
pinch cayenne pepper :)
a small handful raw pepitas or raw sunflower seeds

Put the bite-sized pieces of kale (save the stems for soup or stock or whatever another day) in a bowl and get your hands in there to rub and knead it until the leaves turn a darkish green - the way it looks when cooked. This should take a few minutes at most - and it's neat to do! This wilts it and softens it nicely.

Add the other vegetables plus the cranberries.

Mix the liquid ingredients for a dressing and toss with the salad.

Sprinkle with the pepitas or sunflower seeds and serve as a first course or with other salads and/or raw foods. Lovely!

And below you see it in another variation. Always delicious - and so tender!

Algerian Chili - Crockpot Style

2008-01-26T11:14:00.000-05:00

Here is my crockpot version of Algerian Chili which can be found several places on the net - eg.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/15/Algerian_Chili18936.shtml and others, such as:
http://www.gourmet.gr/recipes/algerian/1/26/5377/Algerian-chili.htm

http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/1148/Algerian-Chili-Loubia-B-Dersa/

It was recently offered to a group I own on Yahoo! and was immediately popular. Perhaps it was the name 'Chili' attached to an Algerian dish rather than Mexidan, although it is good to remind that 'chili' in both names refers to the spice itself, not to the whole recipe. What it is, of course, is a white bean stew with lots of wonderful flavour and 'heat' - depending on how much of the latter you like.

What I did, apart from omitting oil and salt from the recipe, was to put the whole lot at once into a crockpot, with the exception of half of the herbs (and I used half cilantro and half parsley). The rest I added right near the very end of cooking. I also used canned tomatoes, but that would make little difference, I think - except that next time I'd hold back from putting them in until after the beans had had a chance to become soft LOL - I forgot myself in my hurry, so the beans took forever to cook! Other changes were minor.

Here it is all dished up ready to go on the table with a bowl of couscous. We had started with a salad, so apart from a little fruit to follow this was our main meal.

While the dish does resemble Mexican-style 'Chili', the differences here are sufficient to recommend it be tried by anyone who loves spicy food - although you can adjust that to suit yourself, obviously.

There was far too much for two little people, so I divided it up and froze some. It reheats nicely too! Just add more parsley, cilantro, whatever you have to give it a nice fresh taste ;)

Definitely a winner. We'll be making this again!

Catching Up . . .

2008-01-18T10:57:00.000-05:00

I always seem to be behind with things here. This last couple of weeks my older beagle Made' has been ill - the poor little dear has never been a well dog since we adopted her some (nearly) six years ago. Fortunately we have an excellent vet who is very near to us, and right now this little girl has been in a cage for three days at the animal hospital being tested, x-rayed and ultra-sounded, treated for pain and fever, rehydrated, starved and whatever else it takes to diagnose and get her out of a serious and sudden collapse from what turns out to be acute pancreatitis. They're trying her on a little food today and with luck we might be able to bring her home today or tomorrow. We miss her and our other little beagle and our cat are at a complete loose end with her out of the house. Well, so are we.

Meanwhile, we must eat. I've been robbing the freezer of already-made yummies, and making a few already tried dishes. Wanna see some of them? You might as well! LOL

Pasta With Ratatouille This was the result of making too much ratatouille (and you all know what this is - I needn't elaborate) - so after eating it twice (very nice) I turned the leftovers into something to toss with pasta - with the aid of a little this and that, ya know how it is - right? LOL

This next one is a variation on a recipe offered from a member of a group I'm on - it is very good and can easily be adapted to taste.

It's an Orange Quinoa Salad - made here with some leftover red quinoa and more oranges than called for plus some shredded ginger root. Lovely!

Having a lot of mushrooms - we love mushrooms, but you must be on top of your game and not get distracted or the blamed things seem to almost multiply in the fridge and one day you just have to cook 'em or lose 'em. Here's what I did with one lot of portabello mushrooms:

Portabellos Over Spinach. Spinach cooked with onion, garlic and nutmeg makes a bed for the sliced mushrooms 'sauteed' in a little stock with sherry and low-sodium soy and loads of minced garlic. I thickened the sauce a little, as you see. Very nice with some black pepper!

We had the other mushrooms the next day as

Rotini With Mushrooms - cooked in much the same way, but with nutritional yeast added to make them a little different - as well as some dried chili flakes :) ('Not too much, but just enough!')

I also made a mushroom stroganoff, but that's something which I'll add here another day - with the recipe, if I can find it!

One day when I had eggplant overabundantly in my fridge, I also tried a lentil variant of a one of our favourites:

Moussaka! It was very good, as always. I begin to think you can't go wrong with this dish :)

And now back to virtual nail-biting and waiting by the phone. Take care, everyone, and if you have little puppers, give them a scritch from me!

Haggis!

2008-01-05T19:47:00.001-05:00

This is a veggie haggis - all baked and ready to be enjoyed by those who, for reasons known only to ourselves, feel that something particular to our heritage (or part of it) should be consumed at some time during the year. Sound familiar? :) The haggis (in its distinctly non-veg version) is traditional on Burns Night, 25 January, in honour of the Scottish poet. In our household, we like that too - but my husband also asks for it for New Year. Why not! so I make enough to do for both and freeze half!

HAGGIS

I’ve made this a couple of times now - it is a work in progress, evolving, etc. There are soooo many recipes for this dish that you really can’t go too far wrong. Here’s my latest version:

ASSEMBLE THE FOLLOWING:

1-1/2 cups cooked kidney beans (homemade or from a can, drained)
3 oz (by weight) green lentils
2 oz (by weight) pot barley
2 bay leaves
2 oz (by weight) steel-cut oats
1/4 cup regular rolled oats
1/4 cup dried TVP granules
4 oz carrot (by weight), minced
6 oz onion (by weight), minced
4 oz mushrooms (by weight), minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp Marmite (optional)
1 Tbsp low-sodium soysauce
1/3 cup Scotch
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried parsley
grating of fresh nutmeg
1/4 tsp or so of cumin
1/4 tsp tumeric
sprinkle of cinnamon
salt and black pepper - to taste
dash of cayenne or two - to taste (optional - I’ve made it with the cayenne and without it)
You’ll also need water or stock to rehydrate the tvp and to soak the oats as well as to ‘saute’ the vegetables (if you don’t use oil) .

TO MAKE THE HAGGIS:

Pre heat oven 375F

Put the oats and the tvp together in a bowl and add enough stock or water to come up to about 3/4 of the contents. Leave until the mix has absorbed all the liquid and is dryish. This can take about 45 mins or so - but it all happens quietly while the lentils and barley are cooking.

Cook the lentils and barley with bay leaves. When done, remove leaves, drain pan very well, and set aside.

Puree most of the Kidney beans except for about 1/3 cup to add whole.

‘Saute’ the onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots in a little water (or stock if you have it) until they go a bit soft - 5 to seven minutes should more than do it.

Add the lemon juice, Marmite, soy sauce, scotch, spices and stir well. Add the pureed kidney beans, the whole kidney beans, the oat and tvp mixture, and the lentil and barley mixture. Stir well and taste for seasoning.

Add more water or stock if it looks a bit dry, but you won’t want it soupy.

Put into an lightly oil-sprayed ovenproof casserole and cover. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. If you would like a crispy top (it’s nice :) ) you should remove the cover for the last 10 minutes.

While the haggis is in the oven, now's the time to cook the potatoes and turnips that go with it! I add all kinds of things to mashed potatoes - and that includes nutritional yeast, turmeric, and goodness knows what else. You please yourself. The turnips I like pretty well plain.

Glamorous it is not, but it certainly was good to eat! My husband was delighted - and that's what it was all about! ;)

NOTE:
You could use just one kind of oats - I chose two for added visual interest and texture. Barley is a nice touch, but many recipes don’t have it. Other beans? I think you need the darker colour of the red kidney beans for this kind of dish. Use brown lentils rather than green if you prefer, but I wouldn’t advise using red lentils - too soft. Save some scotch for a toast.

Variations On A Theme: Baked Pasta With Spinach, Gluten And Mushrooms

2008-01-02T18:37:00.000-05:00

[Edited because I mistakenly added in part of another recipe - would ya believe!!!! Time for a rest!]

A little while ago I posted a pic and recipe (sort of) for something I whipped up on a slow day in the kitchen (or was it a frantic day? Point is, I made it from what I had on hand - AND I was feeling relatively lazy!). It was a Mushroom Pasta Bake and it was GOOD :)

Shortly thereafter I did a variation on that one. Feeling that I needed to use up some things in the freezer (in this case, some seitan/gluten I had made) and the refrigerator (in this case mushrooms - I always have mushrooms and use any excuse to use them up!), I decided to do another 'bake'. Tofu I usually have in because I buy some of those shelf-stable aseptic packs of silken tofu that I use whenever I run out of the regular tofu. Besides, silken is great for sauces and such - so there!

So here's my 'Variation On A Theme':

BAKED PASTA WITH SPINACH, GLUTEN AND MUSHROOMS

Following the previous recipe, more or less (see above) I assembled the following:

3 or 4 ounces quinoa macaroni, boiled just short of al dente and drained (or use whatever small pasta you prefer)
4 or 5 ounces mushrooms, chopped small
1 10-oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained very very well
A few ounces (about 1 cup measure) of my own homemade gluten roast (seasoned as if for roast b**f), minced
Liquid from cooking the gluten roast (half a cup or so you could substitute a good strong veg stock)
1/2 pkg low-fat tofu (you might want to use more so that you have extra sauce to pass at the table)*
soymilk and/or stock - enough to thin out the tofu to a cream consistency*
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce (optional but we like it most of the time)
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 - 2 Tbsp lemon juice
black pepper
1 Tbsp white miso
herbs according to taste
salt and pepper throughout to taste
Nutmeg for the spinach
crumbs or vegan parmezan cheez for topping (I used my own mix that I keep on hand)

I cooked the pasta and while it was doing its thing I sauteed the mushrooms in a little stock and low-sodium soy. My spinach wasn't completely thawed, so I put it on a low heat at the back of the stove to finish defrosting. I had previously chopped the wedge of gluten roast (you could use some kind of commercial seitan - depending on flavour) very finely - to make it seem like soy crumbles.

When the mushrooms are shrunk to half their size and looking good :) add the gluten/seitan and its cooking liquid or stock. At this point you might need to add a little wholewheat flour to thicken this mixture (stir quickly so it doesn't glom) and add more stock, a bit at a time, until you have a good consistency for a gravy. Let this cook a little to take away the raw taste of the flour. Everything tasting good? (Need salt and pepper? More stock?) A nice rich 'gravy' is ideal here. Okay, set it aside.

For the tofu topping:
Mix the tofu with the remaining ingredients (except for the nutmeg and crumbs) until it tastes the way you want it to. This is a subjective matter and I even change my mind from day to day what I like to have in this kind of dish. You decide. You will want this to be nice and creamy - sort of like a thickish yoghurt.

* Alternately, you could simply whisk a some silken tofu with whatever you like of the same ingredients for an easier topping.

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE:

Pre-heat oven to 375

Spoon the spinach into the bottom of a lightly oil-sprayed casserole, grate on a little nutmeg.

Add the macaroni-mushroom-gluten mix in a nice even layer over the top of the spinach.

Next comes the tofu sauce.

As you see, I kinda dump it in spoonfuls over the top then spread it with the back of a spoon to more or less cover. If there's more than you need, fine - it makes a good sauce to pass at the table. If not, then don't sweat it.

Finally top with crumbs, a mix of nuts and nutritional yeast or vegan parmezan cheez - whatever your heart desires :)

And here it is

- all ready to go in the oven for (how long did I say?) 20 minutes, lightly covered with foil, then remove the foil for a last few minutes to brown a little. The timing will depend a little on the heat of your oven (they all differ a bit) and the size and shape of your baking dish.

This had a rich 'meaty' taste - and the spinach was a pleasant complement to the rest of the dish. I'll do it this way in future.

NOTE: I tend to make things a little on the dry side by some people's standards, because we don't care for 'soupy' dishes - unless we're having soup! LOL You may want to add more liquid to everything, more sauce, depending on your taste. Just note as you go along whether or not it looks right to you, okay?

Mushroom-Coconut Curry

2007-12-18T09:34:00.001-05:00

We almost always have mushrooms here, and lately I have been cooking up recipes for which mushrooms are the primary focus. I'm not quite sure where I originally found this one - it was at least 10 or 12 years ago 'and in another country' etc. - possibly it originated with Charmaine Solomon. Because I try, as much as possible, to cook without added fat/oil and without a lot of high-calorie ingredients, I've adapted this recipe so that it won't quite be as Mrs Solomon (or whoever it was) would wish. For example, the soymilk plus cornstarch plus coconut extract replaces the same quantity of coconut milk. In making it for only two persons, the proportions have also changed a bit - and of course seasoning adjusted to my taste. Method is my own. Nevertheless . . . .

MUSHROOM-COCONUT CURRY

* for TWO persons *

1/2 lb (250 g) mushrooms, quartered
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1 tsp grated ginger (I used some from a jar - not as nice, but it was quick)
6 curry leaves (I used dried. If you don't have these, don't worry. It's a subtle flavour.)
1 tsp (or to taste) of curry powder (your own mix, preferably, or a good commercial blend)
1/4 tsp salt, if you use it, or of course to taste
1/2 tsp garam masala (again, your own mix or a good commercial blend)
1/2 cup low-fat soymilk
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
few drops coconut extract
2 tsp lemon juice

'Saute' the mushrooms, green onions, garlic, ginger and curry leaves in a little water until softened. Add the curry powder, salt (if used) and mushrooms and continue to cook over low heat, adding a little water as needed, until the mushrooms are softened and the flavours are nicely blended.

Meanwhile, mix together the soymilk, cornstarch and coconut extract.

Sprinkle with the softened mushroom mix with garam masala. Add the soymilk 'coconut' mix and stir until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Garnish, if you wish, with a few sprigs of something green or another green onion chopped and another dash of garam masala.

Serve with brown rice.

Mushroom & Tofu Pasta Bake

2007-12-14T10:05:00.000-05:00

I'm always searching for new ways to take a lazy way out of cooking - which by the way I profess to love most of the time - without compromising my promise to myself to cook from scratch (well, I don't make my own pasta anymore and never make my own tofu or soymilk, so . . . .LOL ). Somehow - it must be because the oven makes the place so warm and cosy - I've taken to popping pasta dishes and other kinds of things in the oven and then sitting back and waiting for them to be ready!

Here's what I did the day before yesterday - and I'm including a lot of photos cuz someone asked me to do step-by-step and so here it is LOL

But first a word about the pasta itself. I found the most delectable kamut spirelli in one of my favourite shops and thought I'd try it out:

I'm sure it comes in many other brands, but this one is organic and is actually available in Ontario! Anyway, here we go:

MUSHROOM & TOFU PASTA BAKE

(for 2 hungry people or 3-4 lighter eaters)

125 g (4 or 5 ounces in weight?) spirelli (you could use penne or whatever) pasta, set aside until ready to cook.
250 g (1/2 lb.) Mushrooms, sliced (measurements can vary - use what you have)
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
150 g (around 5 or 6 ounces in weight?) Zucchini, chopped (ditto)
1/2 pkg low-fat tofu (you might want to use more so that you have extra sauce to pass at the table)
soymilk and/or stock - enough to thin out the tofu to a cream consistency
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 - 2 Tbsp lemon juice
black pepper
1 Tbsp white miso
crumbs or vegan parmezan cheez for topping (I used my own mix that I keep on hand)
herbs according to taste

Method of sorts:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Saute your mushrooms - I do it in a little water with a Tbsp low-sodium soy, since I avoid using oil if at all possible.

While you are doing the mushrooms (only a short while - you'll want them to shrink to half size and look 'cooked'), boil some water and drop your zucchini into it for a couple of minutes only - or you could lightly steam them. You don't want them to go at all mushy. When these are done, drain and set aside.

Cook that pasta before you forget!

This kamut pasta is so pretty, isn't it, and it only takes a few minutes. Here it's still in its raw, dried state, but I thought the colours were nicer than I'd ever seen! Pop it into boiling water and keep an eye on the time - I only did mine for about half the time it called for, but you be the judge. You'll want your pasta, regardless of which kind you use, to be a little underdone because it will cook more in the oven.

When the mushrooms are ready, add the zucchini (I cut mine into small pieces so that they didn't take long to blanch and so that they'd mix in with the size of everything else. You might want to decide to do it differently)

and season to taste - but remember that you're going to have a seasoned tofu sauce over the lot, so go easy on salt etc.

Here we are again, all ready for the sauce.

For The Sauce:
Crumble the tofu, add enough soy milk or other liquid (do this a bit at a time) to make it possible to blend into a creamy sauce with a blender or a wand blender. Blend in the garlic and all other ingredients. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Sometimes it's the addition of a little vegan worcestershire sauce that helps a whole bunch, sometimes it isn't needed. Your choice.

Er, no pic of the sauce being made. We're going to just have to live with that. Imagine white. Got it? Okay, onwards!

Stir the sauce, pasta and vegetables together and turn into a baking dish which has been sprayed or lightly wiped with a faint film of olive oil. Here it is:

Top it, if you like, with crumbs, vegan parmezan cheez, or other appropriate crumby topping - or leave it plain. Your choice.

Yeah, well, you're right - it's the same image you got at the top of this post. Life's full of surprises, eh?

Bake for around 20 minutes. I cover mine with a layer of foil, very loosely, and take it off in the last few minutes.

And here it is baked. Now a warning for those like me who like to leave it in the oven until they've finished the first course:
If you leave it too long, it will dry out - but hey that's what that extra sauce I mentioned in the ingredients list is for. This recipe is so forgiving of absent-minded cooks!

Serve with whatever you like - we had ours plain the first day. But we did have a salad beforehand! :)

Spicy Hot Pot

2007-12-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

SPICY HOT POT

Today I felt as if we needed some serious veggies for our midday meal! I had been looking at a recipe in Barnard & Kramer's The Garaden of Vegan a while back, and thought that might be a good idea. Unfortunataely, as luck would have it, I didn't have any home made veg stock in the freezer, I had no green beans, no chickpeas, no cashews, and precious little cilantro, etc. etc. What I did have was an appetite. This is my adaptation of their Spicy Vegetable Hot Pot, simplified in method (don't need to fuss around much if you're not sauteeing in oil, after all). The mushrooms were added for nutrition and for added flavour, considering the kind of stock I was reduced to using.

2 cups vegetable stock (I used a low-sodium cube *sigh*)
5 or 6 ounces onion (half a large one), chopped
2 carrots (about 7 or 8 ounces), chopped
2 potatoes (around the same as the carrots in weight), chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp curry powder (I actually still have some left over from summer!)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1 small red thai chili, minced (seeds and all for me - you might want to remove them)
1 Tbsp grated ginger (I used the kind from a jar)
1 cup cauliflower, chopped (from my freezer)
2 cups cooked soybeans (from my freezer)
2-1/2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 apple, chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped

I scrubbed but didn't peel the potatoes, carrots or apple.

Pan went on a medium-high heat with the vegetable stock. Onions went in next, quickly followed by the carrots, potatoes and garlic. Then the spices, chili and ginger and the heat was lowered to a simmer. After around 10 minutes the root vegetables were no longer hard. I added the cauliflower and soybeans (still feeling the chill) and the mushrooms and raised the heat. Another 5 to 8 minutes and they all seemed ready to have the apple, peas and cilantro join them. These took only a couple of minutes or so, because they really only needed to be heated through.

I served a salad to start, as usual (I'll spare you the photo this time!), and accompanied the hot pot with some wholewheat couscous. There's enough left for one enormous meal for two persons (and probably even three meals for two, depending on how much grain is consumed with it).

NOTE: It was very good. I'll do it again, probably tweaking the spices to make it a little 'hotter' and adding a little more of this and that. But bland it was not; it lives up to its name. Also I liked it with the peas - probably better than I would have liked the green beans, and the mushrooms must stay in, for me, regardless of what kind of stock I use. I love soybeans, but I also like chickpeas. I'm not sure what I'd use next time :)

Eggplant Spiced North Indian Style, Baked Macaroni Bolognese

2007-12-03T15:35:00.000-05:00

Those who know me know that I am essentially a lazy cook. I cook from scratch, but I take short cuts and I prefer things that can be left to cook themselves while we relax a bit before the meal. It helps if they can be kept warm on stovetop or in the oven (crockpot too) while we have our salad course.

These two meals were easy for me - and for that reason I'm likely to have them on the menu again and again.

EGGPLANT SPICED NORTH INDIAN STYLE

I thought a bit about what to call this dish - it originated as one of Madhur Jaffrey's in her Eastern Vegetarian Cooking. However, I adjusted the seasoning quite a bit so that it probably violates the whole idea of naming it after any region. In additiion, I made it for two persons, which always messes with a recipe (you can rarely just cut a recipe by two-thirds anyway, and I didn't), and of course I omitted any added fat/oil, as per usual, and omitted the salt. The proportions of spices were adjusted to suit our taste (and to compensate for the lack of salt). The method and the seasonings changed, that's what :) but the eggplant and onion stayed. The results were very pleasing to us. Here's my renamed version.

1 lb eggplant, cubed (I left mine unpeeled - looks so pretty that way)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste, if used

I put all ingredients except for the lemon juice into a large skillet (I can see what's happening better that way) and stirred over medium-high heat with enough water to keep it all from burning, allowing the spices to get thoroughly mixed through and to coat the vegetables. Then I added around half a cup of water, covered, and lowered the heat for around 20 minutes to half an hour - well, it might have been a little longer - until the eggplant was cooked through but not mushy. Stirring every now and then helps - and it lets you keep any eye out to add more liquid if it looks as if it's going to burn. During one of those stirrings I added the lemon juice.

When done - and you know how you like your eggplant to be - taste for seasonings (you might have wanted salt, so add a little more if necessary).

Serve with brown rice and whatever salad-like things please you. Indian accompaniments would be best, but it's a versatile dish. Lovely way to take your veggies!!!

The next one is a really lazy dish -

BAKED MACARONI BOLOGNESE

Yesterday I was stuck for ideas, so I thought why not just re-run Saturday's lunch - spaghetti bolognese (or is that 'bolognaise'? Never mind!). I had made this from mushrooms and tvp plus all the usual suspects required for a good tomato pasta sauce. It had been very good. You can find the recipe HERE - except this time I had lots of mushrooms and therefore used more.

I cooked some quinoa macaroni (love that stuff!) - or I should say I deliberately undercooked it - while I reheated the bolognese sauce and added a little more tomato paste and stock along with another half dozen or so quartered mushrooms, jazzing it up with more chilies and more nutritional yeast - this dish was not going to be boring! I then mixed together the sauce and macaroni, saving a little sauce for the top, and dumped it into a casserole.

As you see I also added a cheezy crumb topping and paved the surface with some sliced mushrooms. Lightly covering with some aluminum foil, it went into the oven (375 F) for around half an hour then spent a little time with its cover off while we had our salad. Easy. (Okay, so it was just 'leftovers' - but it was still good and still easy! LOL)

Catching Up. Cauliflower-Tofu Bake, Spinach- & Tofu-Stuffed Shells

2007-11-30T17:28:00.000-05:00

I have been a very naughty blogger, and now it's the end of the month and I haven't posted anything here in over three weeks! Shame on me!!!! I have no excuse except for having such a good time that cooking something new took second place to life with a capital L. The middle of the month we were in New York to see friends, attend opera and ballet, visit museums, wander around, and visit restaurants. Restaurants? Yes, we especially liked Candle 79 (not to be confused with Candle Cafe) and Franchia (sister restaurant to HanGawi, which we visited last time, but less formal). And I mustn't forget Dawat (not vegan like the others, but vegan-friendly), which belongs to actress, chef, and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey (our kitchen saint).

Since then and even just before then, I have been either raiding the freezer for previously cooked yummies or re-running old menus and recipes. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it does mean rather lean pickings for blogging here.

But here are a couple of things you might like.

CAULIFLOWER-TOFU BAKE

Here's a simple thing we did with cauliflower the other day. It was easy to partly cook the cauliflower, cut into flowerets, then make a sauce from some silken tofu, flavouring it with sodium-reduced soy, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, white miso, and various kinds of pepper - probably including cayenne ;) I used, for the two of us, about a package and a half of the tofu and thinned it to the right creamy consistency, and half a head of cauliflower. Some chopped onion gives a nice zip. Mix the sauce and the cauliflower together and bake until the top browns. Around half an hour should do it, depending on how much you use and how hot your oven is. I topped mine with some flavoured crumbs - ya know, the old ground-up nuts, crumbs, nutritional yeast, paprika, blah blah blah mix I keep in an airtight jar in the refrigerator all the time. You probably have your own favourite.

SPINACH- & TOFU-STUFFED SHELLS

I have posted a Stuffed Shells recipe here before, but this one, also in the nature of an experiment, was even more successful. That may have been because I made a few changes to my previous recipe. I did however use the same very nice brand of brown rice shell pasta I used before.

Following the basic idea of my previous attempt, I substituted a couple of big handfuls of fresh baby spinach for the basil. This I chopped and then zapped with the wand blender along with some garlic, the tofu, mushrooms, etc., to which I also added a good squeeze of lemon juice, some herbs (what? Probably thyme or oregano), a little vegan worcestershire sauce, pepper (Cayenne too? Probably - just a dash) and two or three Tbsp nutritional yeast. These additions made for a similar looking but stronger tasting stuffing. If there was something else in there, I forget, but I tasted as I went along and kept going until it tasted right :) Proceding as before, this is what it looked like as plated.

You might want to keep some sauce to pass at the table.

And yes, thanks, we had a lovely time in New York! Here we are in Fort Tryon Park on our way to see The Cloisters for the first time in something like 35 years or so. Lovely day!!!

Cranberry Borscht, Cranberry Bread, Eggplant & Okra Stew, green salad

2007-11-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

CRANBERRY BORSCHT

This recipe is such a hit here that we have made huge batches of it twice now and can see no way of improving it. It comes straight from Finlayson's 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes - with the difference that, for some reason or other, we have always made it on top of the stove instead.

Here you see it, returned to a pan to reheat a portion for the two of us after being blended. So rich and creamy! And that colour!!!!!

What is different and nice about Finlayson's recipe is that instead of cabbage it uses the greens of the beets you use for the soup. No other vegetables, barring garlic, are added, but cranberries, orange and orange zest, etc., instead. Look it up - it's a winner!!!

Oh - I should add that once we didn't have the beet greens to go with the beets ;) so we used chard instead. It was also very good, and okay to remember in a pinch, but the use of beet greens is something I've not run across before (all my borscht recipes have used cabbage) and it's a real treat in this recipe. I haven't found a recipe in here that I haven't loved!

CRANBERRY BREAD

This bread comes from Sarah Kramer's excellent La Dolce Vegan! and is called there 'Jen's Raisin Soda Bread'. The use of cranberries instead of raisins and the addition of orange zest is a suggested variant. Otherwise, it is a standard soda bread (but the best recipe I have tried for it!) with caraway seeds. Absolutely delicious! We've made it twice now and it is absolutely no-fail.

EGGPLANT & OKRA STEW

Again this recipe started out to be another one entirely, but really I rarely follow a recipe (except for baking - and not always then) and I like to use what I have in the refrigerator and cupboards - unless of course it's for something special. I had a large eggplant and I had green bell pepper - and some frozen okra, a large can of tomatoes. Sounded like a stew to me, and so it was.

In a hurry as always, I cut the eggplant into smallish pieces and didn't bother with sweating and draining it first.

1 onion, chopped
1 large eggplant, chopped into 1-inch or less pieces
1-1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 large can low-sodium tomatoes (28 ounces)
1 Tbsp Annie's vegan Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp crushed dried red chilies
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
1 pkg (10 ounces) frozen okra, thawed and trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, diced

Cook onion in a little wataer until softened in a pot large enough to hold everything. Add all but the last two ingredients and bring back to the boil, reduce heat and cook until nearly done. Be careful not to overcook the eggplant - you don't want mush. Add the okra and bell pepper and cook until just done - these should still give a little resistance to the bite. Taste for seasoning and serve with your favourite grain, alone, or with a crusty bread.

And here's a quick photo of the salad we had too - my little bit of propaganda just in case it converts one more person to eating salads too! ;)

Beet & Apple Salad With Avocado, Red Quinoa & Lentil Medley, Tofu Red & Green Pepper Stirfry

2007-11-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

BEET & APPLE SALAD WITH AVOCADO

[Edited to correct seasonings, etc.]

This salad was the star of the meal, I think, and appropriately we almost always have our salad first these days. (Okay, we used to always follow our main course with a salad course, and that's how I still stubbornly have pictured them in this blog, but lately, well, we have switched back to the North American custom. But don't hold me to it!!!! LOL

I took the time to slice three or four small cooked beets (we were making soup with the rest) and marinate them in garlic, a mix of vinegars (I think I used rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, but cider vinegar might have been there instead of the red wine - I winged it!), 1 tsp or a little more of Dijon mustard, and some pepper (I generally use a mix of red, black, green which I grind fresh). Then the rest was simple, as you see. Some lovely greens on each plate, a few sliced onion shreds on top of them, and sliced red apple (sprinkled with a little lemon juice to keep them fresh looking) and then the beets arranged with avocado over it all. The marinade from the beets - a lovely thick red mixture - I spooned over the top. Simple and delicious.

RED QUINOA AND LENTIL MEDLEY

To follow, we had a 'medley' of some leftover plain cooked red quinoa (so pretty) plus some leftover lentils (previously cooked with herbs, onion, celery and carrot in the Tuscan style) and a few extra vegetables that were hanging around the crisper - celery, no doubt, onion, crushed dried chilies, etc. (I forget exactly - it was nearly a week ago). The vegetables cooked first in a little water in a skillet, the lentils and quinoa to follow with, I think, a Tbsp low sodium soysauce and/or a Tbsp Annie's Organic Vegan Worcestershire Sauce. Very pretty, very tasty - and very nutritious too I suppose ;)

And to accompany it -

TOFU AND RED & GREEN PEPPER STIRFRY

But of course we don't 'fry' but steam or water-'sautee' the vegetables. The tofu was marinated in a Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce, minced garlic, minced ginger, minced red chilies, then added to the 'stirfry' at the end, just to heat through. (Tofu doesn't need to be 'cooked'.) Celery, onion, ginger root, garlic, red and green pepper, etc., were the vegetables that day. Maybe mushrooms too - I usually do something with mushrooms whenever I find the excuse - just love them and always have a bag of them in the fridge.

Sweet Potato & Carrot Casserole With Apple, Spiced Chickpeas, Salad

2007-11-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday lunch was a comedy of errors! I foound this great (I thought - and no doubt it is!) recipe in Finlayson's 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes (a book I highly recommend, by the way.) and thought Why Not! It takes a can of (crushed) pineapple (which we don't use, but all the better reason for trying the recipe), so my dh said he'd run down to the Convenience Store (we have two of them in this block alone) for it. Meanwhile I started on the recipe - tried to give a shout out the door to pick up some carrots too (I said it was a comedy!) since it required six, but he'd already left in the elevator. Never mind, I had a couple of small carrots plus lots of sweet potatoes. I was okay for a chickpea topping, since I tend to keep cooked chickpeas in the freezer. Well, wouldn't you know it: neither shop had pineapple - crushed, sliced, chunked or in any form whatsoever, and there wasn't time to wait for the market to open. Also, of course, no time to use the slowcooker anyway - AND we had an appointment early afternoon so had to have our lunch earlier than usual (I remembered just in time).

So what I did was use sweet potatoes and a little carrot, sliced, mostly cooked in a pan on top of the stove. Deciding to abandon any idea of Finlayson's interesting recipe, I flew by the seat of my pants. I layered the veg in a casserole with three apples (I believe they were galas) sliced but not peeled, sprinkled each layer with nutmeg, cinnamon, the zest of a big orange and heaven knows what else, mixed a little flour with a little sugar and a little orange juice to drizzle through the whole thing and put it in the oven to bake for however long I thought it'd take. When I figured it was nearly ready I put some orange chunks on top and a sprinkle of sesame seeds to add 'interest'.

Didn't have a hope! But it started to smell wonderful and we found it was delicious - and it's worth going back to soon to try to work this recipe out properly. It took a couple of days to get through, but we didn't leave a scrap.

I paired this dish with a spiced chickpea dish (the recipe I couldn't make required a chickpea topping and I'd already thawed them). The Indian spices were a nice match with the fruity taste of the sweet potato and apple dish, if a little unconventional. (Er, just a bit!)

This was quickly thrown together - onion, celery, green pepper, coriander, cummin, cayenne, fenugreek, turmeric, and whatever else my hand lighted on, topped with coriander leaves (cilantro).

We had a salad while we waited for the main course to finish cooking.

Sweet Potato & Carrot Stew Pie

2007-10-29T17:07:00.000-05:00

SWEET POTATO AND CARROT STEW 'PIE'

You may remember the Sweet Potato and Carrot Stew With Chard I posted earlier - well, it was good, but what was on that big square platter was only half the stew, although it was all of the chard that I had cooked. The leftover stew was weighing heavily on me - it improves in flavour, of course, but it lacks something in presentation and novelty. Still, 'Waste not, want not' as my long departed grannie used to say!

I had stored it in a couple of these small oval dishes. While it was in the oven reheating, I thought it looked boring so mixed a kind of 'muffin' or biscuit (in the American sense of the word) topping. I put half a cup of spelt with half a cup of barley flour, added in a pinch of salt, baking powder, paprika, oregano - whatever - mixed in a little soy milk until it looked right. When the mini-casseroles were getting pretty hot, I hauled them out and spread the topping on them and whooshed them back into the oven. Around 20 minutes or so later it was ready. The photo above shows one such dish - the other photo was blurred but, well, was the same.

The photo shows a small serving I set aside for the camera LOL It is sharing a plate with Wild Rice With Tomatoes And Chard - which I'll post next :)

Wild Rice with Tomatoes and Chard

2007-10-29T15:23:00.000-05:00

I have actually turned over a new leaf, as it were (lettuce?), and am going to post here even if I have to be boring and show you my mistakes, my leftovers, and my days when I don't eat as well as I should. This next meal was a bit heavy in grain, but it had lots and lots of greens in it and I just adore yellow vegetables so . . . .

WILD RICE WITH TOMATOES AND CHARD

We love wild rice, and we mix it half and half with brown long-grain rice and have it with almost anything we would use rice for - not all the time, but often. A couple of days or so ago I had some leftover 'wild' rice (well, wild and brown) - plus half a bunch of chard in the crisper, half a can or plum tomatoes with juice - guess where I'm going with this!

Reminder: We cook for two. (Hence the leftovers too.)

1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
Half a large can of Italian plum tomatoes (around 12 or 14 ounces), roughly chopped
1 tsp oregano
good pinch of crushed dried chilies
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy
half a bunch of chard, chopped (stems thinly sliced)
1-1/2 cups or so (I didn't really measure it) of pre-cooked rice - half wild rice and half brown long-grain rice

Soften the onion and garlic in a little water or stock in a large skillet or with the sliced chard stems. Add the tomatoes, oregano and chilies and simmer for a little while until it all starts to look a little less than raw. Add the rice and keep stirring until all is coated in the mixture. Add the chard leaves and keep turning them to wilt them. Make sure the rice is hot and that the chard is dispersed throughout the rice and tomato mix. Taste for seasoning and serve.

We hadn't finished the menu yet, however - we had some with the Sweet Potato and Carrot Stew 'Pie' of my last post (Blogger is giving me a problem today, as you might have realized, hence separate posts). And of course we preceded with a salad -

Gotta show you our salads - no matter how mundane - because it helps me to be pleased that I'm eating my raw greens (I used to hate salads!).

And oh yes, we finished up with some fresh fruit as usual. Who'd want to eat pastries when there's fresh fruit in the house!!!

See ya later!

Sweet Potato & Carrot Stew With Chard, Red Quinoa, Salad

2007-10-28T17:23:00.000-05:00

[EDITED - to allow insertion of missing ingredient]

About three days ago (?) I had this urge to cook up some lovely root vegetables - I get this way in the autumn, just as I go crazy over Anything Green in the spring. I found a recipe in my slowcooker cookbook, but soon found I didn't have all the ingredients - short on carrot, no parnips, not even half enough mushrooms - oh dear! So the above dish is what I finally made, bearing about as much relationship to the original as a cat has to a dog. The idea for using caraway seeds, however, belongs to the original. Adding green leaves to the pot (in my case chard) was mine. It looked and smelled fabulous, and it tasted lovely, just lovely, with no fancy spices (unless you count the caraway seed), letting the flavour of the vegetables shine through. NOTE: Although I made this in my slowcooker, it could just as easily be cooked on the top of the stove. Your choice.

We had it with red quinoa and preceded it, as usual, with a lovely crisp salad.

What went in the pot:

1 small onion, chopped very fine
3 large stalks of celery, also very finely chopped
3-1/2 ounces mushrooms
2 carrots
1 sweet potato
3 dried mushrooms, soaked for 20 minutes and finely chopped (stems discarded)
1/2 cup TVP chunks
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1-1/2 tsp caraway seed
2 Tbsp wholewheat flour
2 cups homemade vegetable stock
salt and black pepper to taste
1 green bell pepper (red would be nice for a change too, I think), chopped
half a bunch - about 7 ounces - fresh chard leaves, cut or torn into manageable pieces

I put all but the last two ingredients (the green papper and the chard) into the slowcooker and left it on high for three hours. At that time I gave it a quick stir (my it smelled good!) added the chopped green pepper, gave it another stir, then laid the chard leaves over the top, snapped this photo . . .

. . . and put the top back on quickly, timing it for 15 or so minutes, since I guessed the pepper would still have texture at the end of that time and that the chard wouldn't have disintegrated but would certainly have wilted. (Guess who had never done this in a slowcooker before! LOL)

Well, it worked just fine. To serve, I pulled the leaves out with a large fork and laid them a large (in this case square) platter, saving the ones that had been in contact with the stew for the centre of the platter. Then I piled the root vegetables etc. in the centre (yes, the green pepper was just right!) and cut a few wedges of lemon juice for the chard.

We had it with red quinoa and preceded it, as usual, with a lovely crisp salad.

The quinoa is the kind I was writing about in an earlier blog this week. It was the first time I had used it - or even tasted it - and I have been given some hints on how to cook it very nicely by the person behind the counter. I decided, however, that for the first try I would like to see what it tasted like on its own, not 'messed around' with other flavours! It's lovely and nutty and imho a welcome change from plain ol' white quinoa! I LOVE the colour as well as the taste! And I keep thinking what a hit it would be on a buffet table.

The salad is of course another one of my crazy concoctions that helped me to get over my general dislike for 'boring old greens'. Snowpeas, craisins (dried cranberries, to those who live on the other side of the world, maybe) and apple made it a little different - but that doesn't stop me adding onion. I feel greens never taste quite right without at least a little onion, red onion being a favourite of mine (and boo-hoo I was out of them too!) The dressing - can't quite remember that now, but a good guess would be rice vinegar and balsamic vinegar with, maybe, a little pureed fruit? Or did I use a little sherry or mirin? Hmmmmm!

Orange Soup, Barley Banana Cornbread, Boston Brown Bread

2007-10-27T08:11:00.001-05:00

The best Orange Soup I have tasted was in Austria last month at a little veggie (around 95 per cent of the menu items vegan) restaurant - Die Bio Bar Von Antun - in Vienna. I suspect that they put lots of orange juice in it, but it also had a certain something that made it absolutely delectable. I recognized most of the ingredients (since they had very finely grated or chopped but hadn't actually pureed their soup), but . . . Barley, yes. Carrot, yes. Pumpkin? Orange zest? yes, maybe. Or was that . . . ? And before I could work it all out my spoon had unaccountably moved rhythmically until it was all gone. We went back, but it wasn't on the menu the next time, although other delicious and satisfying things were. Siggggghhhhhh.

Still, orange soup is a wonderful idea, and I am grateful to many recipes I have glanced at on the internet and one by Lisa Walford (in Roy Walford's The Anti-Agin Plan which I have modified considerably to suit our particular taste prejudices. With all respect to the original recipe, when we first tried it we found we were unable to enjoy it because the flavours were too strong even for us - and that's saying a lot, since we tend to use very powerful spices in our cooking for ourselves. (In modifying the original, I hasten to add, I will no doubt of destroyed the delicate balance of nutrients in the Walford version. So be it. Those who want the Real Thing can turn to his book.) My modifications are along the lines of suggestions I have read elsewhere :)

And I'm still hanging out for the orange soup I tasted at the Bio Bar Von Antun!!!!!

ORANGE SOUP

1/4 cup barley
1 cup water
1 large sweet potato, freshly cooked and chopped
2 medium- large carrots, freshly cooked and chopped
2 cups canned pumpkin (the UNsweetened, unspiced kind - not the pie filling! LOL) - or use fresh cooked squash
kombu - a strip approx 3 by 2 inches, or a little more if you like it, soaked in boiling water then finely chopped
2 cups of low-sodium vegetable stock - homemade if possible - or a little more if you have it and need it
3 Tbsp nutritonal yeast
pinch of dried rosemary
1-1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground dried ginger
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch dried chilies
2 Tbsp wheatgerm
2 or 3 Tbsp wholewheat flour
2 Tbsp wheatgerm
freshly ground pepper to taste
Zest of two oranges
2 oranges, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped

Cook the barley for about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, cook the sweet potatoes and carrots in some of the broth if you haven't already done so (the smaller you cut them, the quicker they'll cook, eh?). Combine these with the rest of the ingredients, including the barley and softened soaked kombu, in a large pot or bowl and start pureeing (in batches), adding the rest of the stock as you go along. You may need to add more stock or water. Reheat, test for seasoning and serve. Garnish if you like with a curl of raw carrot or orange zest or a bit of greenery such as coriander/cilantro leaves - wonderful taste with the cumin, ginger and orange.

BARLEY BANANA CORNBREAD

This is on our table in the evenings more often than not - it must be one of three quickbreads that my husband counts among his favourites (one of the other two is pictured further down in this entry)! It has the virtue of cooking as quickly as a tray of muffins and of being both tasty and nutritious. (I put 'tasty' first because no matter how healthful something is there's no point in recommending it to anyone unless it also tastes good. Tastes vary, of course, but it's a good rule of thumb for me to follow.) This is a variation on a variation on a variation on a traditional cornbread, which I understand is cooked in an iron pan on top of the stove, not in a ceramic oven dish! (But what would I know??)

The suggestion to replace the traditional oil in cornbread with banana comes from a post to (and I hope I remember this correctly!) Susan V.'s Fat Free Vegan group last winter, and I have noted that the poster also referred to hers being a variant on Dr Neal Barnard's. My use of barley flour instead of all-purpose or wholewheat flour, which other 'diet' gurus suggest, came from Dr Barnard's website. Dr Barnard used applesauce instead of oil in one recipe I saw (and tried - very good, but different!) - and apple is also lower on the glycaemic index for those who have a problem with sugar. The additions and slapdash method are more or less mine, but as I say there are soooooo many variants around!

Preheat over to 425 and lightly spray a 9-inch by 9-inch baking pan or equivalent.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups light soymilk (keep aside a Tbsp or two to help puree the banana)
1-1/2 Tbsp vinegar
1 medium to large banana, pureed with Tbsp or two of the soy milk)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup barley flour
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar (optional if you have a problem with it, but it's traditional, they tell me, for some sweetener to be included)
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of crushed chilies (optional)
3/4 cup corn kernels (either canned and drained or defrosted frozen - I use the latter) - this is optional, obviously, but it goes so nicely with the flavour of the corn and, yes, the banana.

Put all but a couple of Tbsp soymilk in a small bowl with the vinegar and let it sit while you blend the banana (I use a small container and one of those near-indispensible wand blenders).

Carefully combine the dry ingredients (including the chilies, if you're using them, since you don't one them to be clumped in one part of the finished dish) in a large bowl (I use one of the french whisk things that non-vegans use to torture eggs), whisk the banana into the soymilk mixture, and turn the whole lot into the dry ingredients and stir. You will not want to over-mix this, but stir until just mixed together without any dry clumps :)

Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and pop it into the oven for 25 minutes or 30 minutes, depending on your oven, and serve it HOT! :) Lovely with anything that is even remotely South Of The Border, and with most robust soups and stews.

As you see below, it isn't your traditional yellow-coloured cornbread at all, which comes as a surprise (but I hope not disappointment) to some people. It's a lovely mellow caramel colour, smells glorious and tastes like heaven. (The one in the photo was made without the corn - we were out of it yesterday - and chilies.)

Heh heh, I mentioned the colour (although the colour of baking - indeed the difference in appearance and texture - shouldn't come as a surprise to most vegans!) because we had out-of-town visitors here earlier this year who were being re-introduced to veganism (they are omnis) at our table. We usually dine out so that we are spared the kitchen hassle and can talk more, but I had everything hot and waiting in the oven or on the stove.

I had made a lunch which included brown rice, a bean casserole, etc. etc., and cornbread - which I brought out last because I suddenly remembered 'Whoops - the cornbread!' as I was sitting down. They exclaimed that they loved cornbread and blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. When it appeared a couple of moments later there was puzzlement because it 'isn't yellow!'. I explained that I used a different flour from the usual white flour with the cornmeal. They said it was lovely - and seemed to enjoy it (well, it disappeared!) - but I guess I'm going to have to dream up another name for it when serving it to omnis in future! LOL Best not to risk dashing anyone's expectations!

BOSTON BROWN BREAD

We make this so often, that I thought it was time I mentioned it on this blog. (Thought I had, but a quick search of the archived posts shows nothing, nada, zilch for Boston Brown Bread. How could that be? It's a staple here! It's not made in the conventional way for this traditionally-named loaf, but it is excellent and
My recipe for this is lifted straight from Baranard and Kramer's The Garden of Vegan, with minor exceptions. I make mine with spelt flour rather than any variation on regular wheat flour and add a quarter tsp more baking powder than called for; I sub sultana raisins for the currants and/or sometimes even craisins (dried cranberries for those who don't live on this continent); and I use organic rolled oats - sometimes some of the flakes are actually highlighted in the photos by the camera flash ;)

This bread freezes well, carries well, goes with most soups, stews, is great with chilies and would only be a stranger to asian food :) - and I'm not so sure it might not work there too! It's somewhat sweetish in flavour (the fruit and molasses). It's grrrrrreat for breakfast! and, if you like vegan sliced cheez, I remember it was lovely sitting with a little cucumber on top of a slice of this bread for any time of day.

Hmmmmm! Next time I make it (I still have some in the freezer) I'll do one of my way-out versions so that I CAN post the recipe, okay? It's worth knowing!!!

Pasta Bolognaise, Field Greens Salad With Orange & Apple

2007-10-25T14:50:00.000-05:00

PASTA BOLOGNAISE

I kinda threw this together yesterday lunchtime, a quick pasta sauce (since my freezer was bare of any at all - catastrophe!) with quinoa pasta, preceded by a Field Greens Salad With Orange & Apple.

About the quinoa pasta: this is really really good! For those who know quinoa, you know how nutritious and tasty it is, and those who don't, well you need to discover it soon! It's usually seen as a tiny grain, and comes usually in white. I discovered the red quinoa recently, and that is a real treat! The pasta I bought is macaroni, made from both red and white quinoa - not together, but half of them are the red quinoa noodles and half made from white. It's delicately pretty to look at and delicious in taste!

The package says to cook for 13 to 15 minutes, but that's far too long imho. I give it around 8 or 9 and find it's good.

Now the sauce:

1/2 cup tvp granules and equal boiling water to rehydrate them
1 small rib of celery, chopped very finely
1/2 carrot, chopped very finely
1 small onion, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 or 5 medium mushrooms, chopped
12 or 14 ounces canned plum tomatoes (and a little of their juice)
Oregano to taste (or an Italian mix of herbs, if you prefer)
black (or mixed, your choice) pepper, freshly ground
pinch of crushed chilies, again to taste
1 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

I boiled the kettle, poured the required water on the tvp granules and chopped the vegetables.

I put the celery, carrot, onion and garlic into a skillet with enough water to soften them.

While the veggies were cooking, I crushed the plum tomatoes and then used the wand blender to puree around 2/3 or so of them - your choice as to how chunky you want it to be.

When the veggies were softened I added the mushrooms, tomatoes, oregano, pepper, chilies, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. After stirring these simmered until they had blended nicely - it depends how much time you have. We were hungry, but not desperately so, so I guess they got around half an hour in the pan. Part way through cooking I realized it was going to be a bit watery, so I thickened with tomato paste. That worked just fine.

We had the salad (see below) as a first course, so I put those to cook while we had that.

When the pasta was cooked, I drained and tossed it with the sauce and garnished it with cilantro (not trad but we like it!). I used a sprinkle of my own cheezy crumby mixture on top, but vegan parmezan-type cheez would be fine.

And here it is:

About the salad:

FIELD GREENS, ORANGE & APPLE SALAD

This doesn't really have - or need - a recipe, but I figure that I pick up ideas from other people's books and websites and maybe someone who sees this who isn't keen on salads might be attracted to trying some of our combinations. Besides, we all oughta eat more salads, and here I am being a good girl and eating mine and I'm taking their photos and posting them, by golly!

One salad looks pretty much like another once you get it reduced to a tiny photo, and if you eat salad as often as we do, then the trick isn't so much in the mix of things (although variety and a few surprise elements help a lot!) but in the dressing. Not using oil in dressings, I find that the lighter the better, but sometimes I break out. This one took a little sweetener - mirin - and orange juice along with some seasoned rice vinegar. Otherwise, you can see that we love to mix fruit into our salads (and match the dressing to it - or even just use a squeeze of lemon juice or a sprinkle of one of the vinegars we keep in.

Breads

2007-10-24T08:20:00.000-05:00

RYE BREAD

I have been rather slack about taking photos of my/our baking these last weeks. We bake our own, er, 'baked goods' - never buy them. Even in an emergency - what would that be? - it takes less time to throw a quickbread together and into the oven than it does to go to a shop (and there is a 'Convenience Store' right next door to our building). Well, maybe our elevators aren't that slow, but by the time I would have given the dogs a treat, donned my outdoor shoes, tidied my hair and found my purse . . . .

Not much to say about this lovely loaf of rye bread - except that I grow more in love with breads using more than one flour each time I bake!

I put my recipe for rye bread on this blog back in March, I see, right HERE, but this one was made a little differently and I think it is nicer - the method and recipe has been evolving over the months. (Translation: 'I don't use a recipe for yeast breads.') Next time I make it I will write down the ingredients as I go along. I use mostly rye flour now, for example, since we like a dense loaf, and I like to add some carob powder for flavour and colour. (I know it's supposed to be cocoa powder, but . . . ) The 'seeds' added - whether fennel, aniseed, poppy or caraway are always a last-minute decision. Some call that creativity, others call it indecision, still others call it forgetfulness! Me? Oh I'm easy - I call it versatility ;)

I prefer to make sourdough rye if possible, but my starter died when I wasn't paying it attention so I have to, literally, start over on that.

So no new recipe for Rye Bread now - but it's in the works. It will have to be - I'm down to the nub end of this one - and that means about two or three slices, and since the doggies beg for the last piece . . . .

OAT BREAD

I like Barnard and Kramer's recipe books! Here is a photo of their oat bread, to be found in their The Garden of Vegan - except that I leave out the oil and add maybe a spoonful more water, depending on how the flour is behaving. I used wholewheat flour for this one. I long ago stopped using all-purpose or any white flour, and for some reason I don't much like wholewheat pastry flour. I love the colour of brown flours, don't you? And they smell and taste so rich! For my next baking of this recipe, however, I plan to use spelt. (I also like tossing barley flour into a lot of things that don't expect it - wonderful flavour!)

These loaves look a little rustic, but they tasted wonderful. We baked two, as you see, and cut each in half and froze the halves separately, since there are just the two of us here. We like this bread for breakfast - or with soups, stews, etc. Great bread - but the last crumb disappeared yesterday! More needed soooooon - an emergency!!!

BANANA BREAD

This is another variation on a recipe from Barnard and Kramer, found in their How It All Vegan - with the slight changes (which probably make it a different recipe, of course) of doubling the amounts (so we could halve the loaves and freeze three half-loaves), subbing an extra banana for the half cup of oil, cutting down on the salt, using a little more baking powder and using a mix of barley flour and spelt flour in addition to the wheat germ. The added carob chips was suggested by a note in the recipe that a half cup of chocolate chips could be thrown in 'for added sweetness.' You can't go wrong with their recipes, I've found! I personally found it a bit toooooo sweet with the carob chips, but hey, whatever floats your boat - and my dh loooooooves it this way! Well, actually, I helped to eat it too. More than once (two loaves, remember??)!

I took a photo of the bread cut, to show the prettiness of the dates and carob chips within the slice, but we were so impatient (the aroma of this bread is absolutely intoxicating!) that the carob was still melty and we got chocolatey-coloured streaks all through that slice and the pic was blurry from hands trembling to grab the first taste - as you see here. Ain't greed a wunnerful thang??!! We finished off the very last of it out of the freezer yesterday *sigh*

Rainy weather yesterday, not so today, but more predicted later in the week. Good time to be baking, I'd say ;)

Beans 'n' Greens, Avocado and Apple Salad

2007-10-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I tried a recipe for Red Beans and Greens from Judith Finlayson's 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes (2004). It took 2 cups of dried red kidney beans, plus the usual suspects :), and simmered forever. I followed her recipe, except for sauteeing in oil. Then she asked that 2 pounds of steamed greens (such as collard or kale) be added, tossed with 'butter' and balsamic vinegar (See NOTE below). Again I skipped the oily ingredient and since I can't buy collard greens and was out of kale I used chard.

It was very good and quite the nicest way I've had my greens in a long time. I dished it (except for the garnish of tomatoes and cilantro I chose) and kept it warm until we'd had our salad. Garnished, as you see above, I served the beans and greens simply an oven-baked sweet potato in its jacket, which we like to eat plain.

NOTE: I should mention that I took out the portion needed for the two of us and used a proportionately smaller amount of chard to mix with it. The rest of the beans, without the greens, was saved for another time!

Here's the salad that preceded the main course - avocado, apple, celery, chunks of heritage tomato, tossed with a homemade 'vinaigrette' and served on a bed of baby spinach, garnished with a handful of beansprouts. Lovely!

Spiced Split-Pea And Spinach Soup

2007-10-23T13:57:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I made a lovely Yellow Split-Pea Soup inspired by one I had found among recipes by Roy Walford. Actually, it's very similar indeed to a cross between my own recipe HERE (except for the herbs and spices) and his (although I tweaked his spices to my taste). To my own recipe I added some dried kombu (softened in boiling water, then chopped), 1 tsp ground coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1-1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger root, a couple of dashes of cloves (not in Walford), 1 tsp ground cumin, a little fenugreek (can't remember how much, but perhaps half a teaspoon, but that wasn't in Walford either), a tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne (not in Walford), and skipped his oil as usual. Ya get the idea, eh? LOL In other words, I kinda curried it, but didn't make it very hot with chilies.

The method was pretty much as in my own - just throw the whole thing into the soup pot and cook - although in this case I added the spices towards the last twenty minutes of cooking.

The major difference, which is something I haven't tried before ('Well, DUH!' I hear you say. 'Ya need to get out more!') was to throw in a package of frozen spinach, defrosted, chopped, at the end. These days I'm doing everything I can to incorporate greens into meals more and more. I mixed the whole thing well, then scooped out a couple of ladles or so of the mixture and set aside. I put the rest of the soup in my trusty blender, returned it to the pot, then stirred the unpureed mix back into the soup - for texture - and reheated to serve. The result was thick and a little chunky with a lovely blend of flavours.

Always soup here, isn't there? Well, we love soups and stews and one-pot meals! More and more they - plus salads and fresh fruit - are the mainstay of our daily menu.

Mostly Leftovers plus Salad with a Sherried Vinaigrette

2007-10-19T15:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we ate mostly leftovers - so many recipes make enough for four or six and sometimes we make the whole thing to save ourselves time. So yesterday we had the more of my version of the lovely millet dish that has been bandied around the net for some years now (with great gratitude to the ladies who provided the original version!). I had simply taken what remained in the slowcooker and pressed it into small baking dishes, as you see, and then, when I wanted it again, popped it into the oven to reheat while I put away my other groceries and made the salad. It was if anything even nicer for having sat for a couple of days. (It freezes pretty well too, although rarely lasts long enough for that, since it makes a great quick meal, even breakfast.)

To go with that we had some Italian-style brown lentils (well, they're french lentils, those tiny ones, but the recipe is Italian.), a recipe which my husband has adapted from one in Vegan Italiano by Donna Klein.

He had made these lentils some time ago and frozen half of them, so you see they're pretty good for a lazy meal too! Again, in an ovenproof dish they could be defrosted overnight and then popped in the oven along with the millet dish. I must hassle him for the exact recipe soon so that you can have it here!

I steamed a little broccoli with that - lovely, just fresh from the farmers' market that morning. And while we were waiting for the broccoli to steam and the other dishes to re-heat, we enjoyed a quick salad, made of the rest of a bag of arugula, some beansprouts I'd bought for something else, some snowpeas (we love them raw - so crisp!), the rest of the yellow cherry tomatoes (not many left as I thought, but a few to add 'colour') and a few slivers of onion.

SHERRIED VINAIGRETTE FOR TWO (FAT-FREE)

This was a combination of a couple from other people's cookbooks plus an idea of my own :) bearing in mind what was in the salad.

1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp balsamic, 1 Tbsp sherry (I had some Amontillado in the sideboard, so that added a nice not-too-dry but not-too-sweet touch, finely minced garlic and ginger (I dunno - a little scoop of each, maybe a little less than a tsp of each - I tasted as I went), a tsp of smooth-style Dijon mustard (which is all I keep in) and that was probably it - all whisked together quickly.

Okay, not much of a recipe I know, but you can't say this entry was devoid of ideas after that ;)

For dessert? Honeydew melon - no photo, sorry!

Beanthread Noodles With Tofu and Green Vegetables

2007-10-18T15:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's lunch?

BEANTHREAD NOODLES WITH TOFU AND GREEN VEGETABLES

This is not the most glamorous dish in the world, but it has the virtue of being a quick one-pot meal that it tasty and nutritious. I find that stir-fried (so-called - I used stock, not oil) vegetables are so quickly done they barely take longer than a salad. If you then throw them together with already-cooked brown rice or with quickly cooked noodles, then you have a filling meal in no time.

In this case I boiled the kettle and poured boiling water on around 90 to 100 grams (enough for two people) of beanthread noodles - the ones that are sometimes called glass noodles - which are, as their name says, made from the soybean. There's no need to cook these more than that, and it's best not to do it too far in advance of wanting to eat them because they can get a bit on the soggy side! Mine did yesterday - which was really too bad. But, hey, we ate 'em anyway! Best to give them around ten minutes at most.

I had put around 1/4 pkg. of firm tofu to marinate with a Tbsp reduced sodium soysauce and a little minced garlic and minced ginger (when I'm in a rush I grab all this from jars) and some sambal oelek, which is an Indonesian crushed chili
in vinegar and other things. Then I chopped a stalk of celery, some bok choy stems (saving the leaves for a little later in the preparation), a few 'coins' of fresh ginger cut in slivers, finely chopped clove of garlic, a few sliced mushrooms and some onion and set them into a skillet with a little water to soften a tiny bit.

Then I added around half a green pepper and, at the last minute, snowpeas cut on the diagonal along with some previously opened canned sliced water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, a couple of handfuls of beansprouts - and those shredded bokchoy leaves. Oh yes - AND the tofu! (There may have been something else in there, but I think that's it.) I stirred these around, popped the lid on for a minute or two to wilt the leaves, then rescued the noodles, quickly snipping them into shorter lengths with the kitchen scissors and tossing them in the pan with the veggies.

I found I hadn't made it as spicy as I wanted, so I added crushed red chilies at the table.

Gotta work on how to use beanthread noodles a bit - it's been years since I have cooked with them and one does indeed lose the knack!