Tostadas

This is a fun lunch I make for housemate.

Ingredients:
2 corn tortillas
some beans seasoned with chili & cumin powder
little bit of tomatoes chopped
little bit of cilantro chopped
little bit of lime juice
little bit of avocado

Use these to make the shells:

My tortillas are in the freezer.  I thaw for 10 sec in the microwave, then smash them between two of these pans and heat in the oven (350 F) for, say 10 minutes, then take the top pan off and toast for, say 5 minutes--the longer the better without burning.

Cream of Tomato Soup

I've been making this a lot for housemate.  I think I have it perfected so I'd better write it down before I forget!

Ingredients:
1 medium-large onion, cut into chunks for cooking (will blend later)
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks for cooking (will blend later)
1 medium red bell pepper (optional), cut into chunks
3 deglet noor dates or 1 medjool date
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 16-oz cans of tomatoes (ours are from the garden!)
3-4 fresh basil leaves (or to taste) and/or other fresh herbs (dill, chives), or some dried
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (optional)

1.  Soak the cashews and dates covered in water for 1 hour or overnight.   (If you forgot to soak, you can do a quick load by covering them with waterm microwaving them until hot, and let set for a minute or two).
2.  Strain the juice from the tomatoes and use that to cook with the onion and carrot and red bell pepper until soft.  You'll probably need some water too, but don't use too much.  I usually use a pressure cooker, set for 3 minutes.
3.  Blend the cashews and dates in their water on high until creamy.  Then add the tomatoes and blend again until creamy.  Then add the onions and carrots and blend again.  Add the salt.  Add water if needed for desired thickness.  By this point, my blender container is about 50 oz full which is just about right.  You can add a little more liquid if you want, say 1/2 cup.  Then add the herbs and blend just until they are chopped.
4.  This makes 4 servings, each about 1.75 cups.

macaroni and...creamy orange sauce (or cabbage and creamy orange sauce)

I gotta write this down before I forget!  

This was invented out of ingredients I'm trying to get rid of from my fridge before I go out of town.  There was a butternut squash, a head of cabbage, onion, and a lot of home made soy yogurt.   I also was inspired by the vegan macaroni and cheese posts on the blogosphere, many of which use butternut squash.  They add things like lemon and mustard for tartness and non-dairy milks for liquid, so I figured yogurt would make an excellent substitute (even better in fact).  They also add a lot of salt, so I wasn't expecting mine to taste good without it.  That's why I was so surprised when I tasted it and liked it!  If you add salt, I know it will taste even better but this still tastes good without it.  Also I tend to go light on the spices so you will probably want more.

Ingredients for the sauce:
1 butternut squash
1-1.5 cups soy yogurt (to taste)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (note the word "smoked", this adds a nice flavor)
1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (I was closer to 1, others will want more)
~1 cup veggie broth or water, as needed to thin the sauce

The "noodles":
cook up noodles of your choice
or
cook up cabbage and onions in a pot or pressure cooker

Preparation:
I baked the butternut squash last night, cooled it in the fridge overnight, then cut it in half and scooped out the seeds.  The skin peeled off easily with only a little help from me.  Cut that up  and put it in the blender with the soy yogurt and broth.  I used the liquid from cooking up the cabbage and onions and that tasted good.  Then add the spices and blend some more.   I tasted it and exclaimed "wow" because as I said before, I was expecting to be underwhelmed without the salt.  It was good on noodles, but guess what, it was even better on the cabbage and onions!   The noodles have some nostalgic appeal (reminiscent of macaroni and cheese), but the cabbage and onions have more flavor.

Salad Dressing Ice cubes

I don't eat much salad dressing and to make a batch usually requires enough ingredients to make the blender work which is then usually too much for me at one time.  So the solution is to freeze them into ice cubes!  This worked well.  I used for inspiration StraightupFood's vinaigrette salad dressings.

I did this a couple of months ago and made 3 different dressings and then I froze them into ice cubes.  I logged the recipes in cronometer so I have the measurements for everything except the water.   Here's what went into each:

Strawberry vinaigrette:
3/4 lb strawberries
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 medjool date
1 tsp chia seeds
little bit of onion (1/2 oz)
water?  maybe none

blend in the blender.

Hemp mustard date lemon dressing
1-2 oz lemon juice
2 Tbsp mustard (no salt)
1 medjool date
1 oz hemp hearts
don't recall how much water.

Orange mustard dressing
1.2 cup orange juice
1 oz hemp hearts
1 Tbsp mustard

The amounts of liquid and hemp hearts don't matter that much--you can do anywhere from a 1:4 to 1:8 ratio.  Just be careful with the mustard and vinegar--start with less then add to taste.  And any fruit will work, and you can use mustard or vinegar as you wish.

I didn't take pictures at the time, but here is one from today where I just decided to clean out the fridge and combine them all together!

Chef AJ's Yummy Sauce

I finally made Chef AJ's yummy sauce today and I concur, it is yummy!   You can find the recipe and video here.   I used a half-pound of dried white beans (soaked and cooked), which is more than 1 can, so I increased the other ingredients:  2 lemons, extra garlic, 3 Tbsp of mustard,  2 medjool dates.  For garlic I used green garlic--that's early garlic, it's like chives.  I blended the white parts, then added the greens at the end for a quick chop instead of blend.  Since 1/2 lb of beans usually lasts me 3 days, I added enough water to fill 3 16-oz jars:

That will nicely cover 2 salads a day.   I wonder what else I should put it on.

tomato dressing

I want to use up the rest of my canned garden tomatoes before the fresh ones arrive!  This makes a good dressing.

Ingredients:
1 16 oz can tomatoes
1-2 Tbsp hemp hearts
some scallions or radishes
fresh herbs or dried

Blend the tomatoes and hemp hearts in a blender until smooth.  Add in the other ingredients and pulse until they are chopped some but not totally blended in.  Right now I've got cilantro, chives and dill in the garden so that's what I'm using for herbs.

I served this up over a bed of lettuce and jicama.  It was good!  That's grapes on the left for dessert.

Today's food

Breakfast was some pineapple topped with a little bit of coconut shavings.

I ate a bunch of raw carrots throughout the day.

Lunch was a big salad.   I made up a new batch of my seed mixture where I grind up flax and sesame seed and add that to hemp hearts and chia seeds and mix it all up.  Then I can top that on various things.  Today I mixed it with orange juice and balsamic vinegar to make a dressing for my salad.  Here's my salad before and after a little work on the jigsaw puzzle.

I also made up a batch of split pea soup from this recipe.  I love this recipe!  I added extra cumin and curry because I love it.  I had a couple of small bowls already.

For dinner I'm going to a potluck.  I'm bringing a bunch of baked sweet potatoes and some cooked broccoli.   I'll heat up the potatoes, cut them in half, and put the out on a plate next to some butter, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice.  And I'll put out the broccoli on another plate.  Then I can eat some too, yippee.  It's hard to beat that for a meal.  I won't partake in the butter and maple syrup but I'm sure others will prefer it.

Hearty chili stew

This chili is just another version of what I made last week with beans and beets and grains--just a change of starch and spices.  Housemate hates beets so I felt sorry for her and decided to make something she would like.  So now I have two different entrees in my freezer for variation.  This makes it really easy during the week.

Ingredients:
1 lb dry beans
1/2 cup lentils
1/3 cup spelt berries
1/3 cup hulled barley
1/3 cup brown rice (I mixed forbidden rice with that)
1/3 cup oat groats
1 large onion or 2 medium
several garlic cloves
1 large sweet potato or 2 small, peeled and chopped
1 large rutabaga or 2 small, peeled and chopped
mushrooms, 1/2 lb or so, whatever you have
two 16 oz cans tomatoes
chili powder, 2 Tbsp (or more, to taste)
cumin powder, 2 tsp
oregano, 2 tsp
smoked paprika, 1 tsp
chipotle powder, a sprinkle to taste (it's hot but has an awesome flavor so I just put in a little)
lime juice, say 1 oz
fresh cilantro (optional)

Soak the dry beans overnight in one pot.  Soak the spelt berries and barley overnight in another pot.  In the morning, add the rice and oat groats to the grains with enough water (too much is okay since it's going into a soup), cook them up for an hour.  Add the lentils and spices to the beans and cook them up for 2-4 hours (varies depending on beans and freshness).  In the afternoon, or whenever you get to it, fry up the onions (dry, add water as needed), add the sweet potato and rutabaga, add some water, cook until tender.  Add the mushrooms and tomatoes near the end.  Combine everything into a very large pot, and let the flavors soak in as it all cools.  Add the lime juice and a bunch of chopped cilantro.   eat and enjoy.   I might add some soy yogurt to mine tomorrow though it's not needed at all.

Awesome chili

This chili was inspired by Chef AJ's Red Lentil Chili, but in the end I think I only had a few overlapping ingredients, ha.  Well I didn't have red lentils, and I had a bunch of wonderful veggies I wanted to cook up and...so it went.  I did like her spices though and followed them pretty closely.  Here's my version, and as usual, the amounts and even the ingredients don't matter too much, use whatever you like or have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 lb of beans.  I used 1/2 lb pinto, and 1/2 lb lentils (half green, half brown).
2 15-oz cans of tomatoes
1 large onion
1small bulb of garlic or 1/2 large
a bunch of your favorite veggies:  I used eggplant, carrots, zucchini, and a giant red bell pepper.
Something sweet:  1 large beet (or 2 medium) or a sweet potato or some mango or some pineapple, or some dates or some maple syrup (take your pick or picks)
spices and herbs:   I had some fresh parsley, sage, chives and rosemary
1.5 Tbsp salt-free chili powder or to taste
2 tsp smoked paprika (smoked is key)
1/2 tsp chipotle powder (also gives a smokey flavor)
more chipotle if you like it hot, and some crushed red pepper if you like it hot (I don't really).
2 Tbsp apple basalmic or apple cider vinegar (more if you want).
I forgot scallions but that sounds pretty good as a topping if you want it.

cook up the beans in a large pot (soaked overnight, or do a quick soak:  boil then sit for an hour) or open up a few cans of beans.
prep the veggies:   cut them up, peel as desired.    I cooked the beets separately because I wanted to blend them.  the rest I put in a large pan with 1 cup water, covered in foil, baked at 375 for 1 hour.  don't bother cutting the garlic, just put the bulb in (see picture).

When this was done, I blended the beets and one cat of tomatoes and the garlic.  For the garlic, cut off the bottom, and then sqeeze out the garlic--super easy!  I took the rosemary out and poured the veggies into the bean pot.  I added the beet/tomato/garlic puree and the other spices and herbs.   It was delicious before adding the spices so I knew it was going to be good.  

Here is a bowl served up with lunch.  Someone else got a brat so everyone was happy.

Zeb's Waffles

Now that the E2X Captain's Challenge is over, I had my Zeb's waffles from "My Beef with Meat" and I wasn't disappointed! Here is a picture of our waffle iron from the 1950s!

I was worried it wouldn't be up to the task because it doesn't have a modern day non-stick surface. Well, it turns out the 1950s no-stick surface works just as good. It's probably iron for all I know.  But the real reason these turned out is because this baby gets really hot! Here is one of the waffles:

I made a half-recipe which made 3 waffles and I ate them all!  (yes I am a pig, yes I am the only plant-strong person in the house). Another thing that thrills me is that this is the first time I didn't OD (overdose) on maple syrup with waffles or pancakes. I had this clever idea to heat up frozen sour cherries and blueberries in the microwave until nice and hot. They release a lot of juice and taste mighty fine too. I added 1 Tbsp of maple syrup and it made a nice fruit topping, enough for all three waffles. I was most pleased.  

Now I have an even better idea for next time using a recipe from Ann Esselstyn (not posted, just word of mouth--it's just banana, oats, water and cinnamon).  I'll post that whenever I make it.   

Cathy's Ketchup

This is really good.  I wrote a post yesterday on an instant ketchup that is definitely good in a pinch.  That got me curious to try Cathy's recipe.  It's really good.  I thought the apple would make it not taste like ketchup but it's great.  I didn't have lemon so I used fancy-pants apple infused balsamic vinegar.  I suspect that's even better!  

Now the only problem is, it makes more than I need for a day or 2, and what if it gets old before I'm done with it?  I decided to divide it into two bowls and freeze one.  I'm not sure how it will be after thawing.  I'll find out soon enough!

Instant homemade ketchup

I'm finding that I don't like much added salt.  I bought some sugar free ketchup but it has 70 mg sodium per Tbsp.  That doesn't seem like much but if I have 2 or 3, I notice the effect--my fingers swell up and I find that a little disturbing.   Now Cathy Fisher has a home-made ketchup recipe here.  I will try this sometime because it does look good.  But in the meantime, if you need a quick ketchup fix in a small amount, and don't want salt or sugar, here's an option.  It only has 2 ingredients!    You need a fancy-pants vinegar, probably apple-flavored.  Here are some websites with fancy-pants vinegars:  Cuisine Perel (they make the best d'angou pear vinegar),  Olive tap,  Vom Fass.  The other is a tube of tomato paste.  Those are nice because you can use small portions and the rest doesn't go bad.   Mix them together, add a little water.

Tonight, housemate was serving up a meatloaf dinner to her brother.  I was able to eat pretty much the same dinner, just subsituting my veggie burger (with ketchup and mustard) for the meatloaf and topping my potato with soy yogurt and chives.   It was fun. I had to pass on the dessert though (cake and ice cream).  

Speaking of veggie burgers, fat-free vegan just posted one that looks really good:  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/09/savory-lentil-mushroom-burgers.html

At the bottom of that post are links to some of her other burgers.

Butternut squash veggie mash

This has been my favorite meal this week.   The amounts of veggies depends on how big the butternut squash is.  For small to small-medium ones, I make it all one serving and do a little less of the beans and rice.  If it's a big squash and I want to split it into two, then I do 1/2 cup for the beans and rice.

Ingredients:
1/2 baked butternut squash
1/3-1/2 cup cooked brown or forbidden rice
1/3-1/2 cup cooked beans
1/2-1 cup sweet corn
1 small onion
1 red or green or both bell pepper
1 stalk celery (optional)
some mushrooms (optional)
1/2-1 tsp rubbed sage
1/4-1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (optional)
cinnamon to taste (1/4-1/2 tsp?)

Bake the squash in the oven.  I wrap in foil (is this bad?).   400 F for 1 hour.  Let cool.  I usually bake it the night before and then put it in the fridge overnight.
Chop and cook up the veggies--start with no water, but keep the lid on.  then add water if it looks like it's burning (I usually don't need it).  Add the corn if you need to thaw it or cook it slightly--only needs a few minutes to warm up.

Peel the squash.  (I usually eat the peel as it's soft).  Smash it with the rice and beans and almond milk using a potato masher.  add the veggies and sage and cinnamon.  mix.  serve.

Here was a batch I made for lunch and dinner:

macaroni and "cheese"

(and peas).
This may need more perfecting but it was easy, and cheese-eating housemate liked it.  I based this on Happy Herbivore's recipe from her recent cookbook, but I substituted soy yogurt for yellow miso (because I don't have it and it's high in sodium) and I used different amounts of things.

Cook up some macaroni (I started with 2/3 cup dry for 2 small servings).  I used corn macaroni.  About halfway through, I threw in some peas because housemate and I love peas and macaroni and cheese.

While doing that, make some sauce (the measurements aren't exact yet)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
2 Tbsp soy yogurt 
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cornstarch (optional, I didn't have any but it might be a good idea)

Whisk it all together, heat up a bit on the stove.

Drain the water from the macaroni and peas, add the sauce, stir, serve.  This makes two fairly small servings.  If you want more than a side dish, double the recipe.

Hash browns

This tasted as good as I've ever had at a restaurant.  I admit, I wanted to put salt on it because that's how I remember it.  I could have put a little on, but I don't want to get attached to it again.   Maybe a little lemon zest would work as well.  Or I could try celery in it.

The ingredients are some vegetables, herbs and potato.   It doesn't matter too much what, or how much.  The method probably matters more.  I used an already-baked potato (cold in the fridge), and non-stick pan.  I started by cooking the onions and mushrooms with no water (or oil).  The liquid from the mushrooms provides plenty of moisture.  Then I added green pepper.  I chopped the potato, and added fresh herbs from the garden:  chives, rosemary, and parsley.  The rosemary is a great addition.  Otherwise, you can do any variety of dried or fresh herbs.  Yesterday I used a pasta sprinkle which consists of basil, oregano, garlic and thyme.  Penzey's mural of flavors would probably be great too and the lemon peel (and citric acid?) in it is reminiscent of salt.

Hojo burgers

My friend Holly has been inventing great burger recipes.  She gave me permission to share.  I haven't tried them yet but will.  They are gluten-free.   One is based on a recipe by Lukas Volger, who has this book:  Veggie burgers every which way.

Holly's Pueblo CakesMakes 7 patties
 

4 cups diced raw sweet potatoes, or 3 cups cooked

1 15-oz. can small white beans, low sodium, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups homemade)

½ medium red onion, finely diced (about ½ cup)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor OR 1/2 cup oat bran

1 poblano pepper, roasted, deskinned and chopped

4 T chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Prepare the whole poblano pepper by laying over an open flame or putting on a hot grill you are using for something else, or under the broiler.  Get it charred on all sides and then lay it to rest under a dish towel until ready to use.   When ready to use it, rinse under cold water and the skin will slide right off.  Remove stem and seed pod and chop pepper.

If using raw sweet potatoes, cook in microwave until soft.  You need 3 cups cooked to work with.  In large mixing bowl add sweet potatoes and white beans and mash with potato masher to break up the beans somewhat.  Mix well and add the onion, garlic, poblano pepper, cilantro and oats.  Mix well and add dried spices and cooca powder, again mixing well.  Form into equal sized patties (I got 7 4 oz. patties from this batch) and bake on foil-lined cookie sheet in hot (400*) oven for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 15 more.  The patties will be golden brown when done. 


Quinoa Beet Greens Burgers
modified from this recipe
Makes 8 burgers
 

I used red and black quinoa and beet greens for this.

2 bunches beet greens, stemmed and washed (12 oz)

2 cups cooked quinoa, preferably colorful   

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2/3 cup finely chopped cooked beets

2/3 cup finely chopped cooked onion (I had roasted onions on hand, so I used those.  Otherwise a quick dry saute would work here.)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 garlic cloves

1 15 oz can no salt added chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 T chopped fresh dill

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Either steam the beet greens for 2 minutes above 1 inch boiling water, or blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, drain, squeeze out excess water, and chop medium-fine. Place in a large bowl with the cooked quinoa.

2. Mix cooked beets and cooked onion and add the ginger, cumin and the garli nto the quinoa and beet greens mixture and stir well.    

3. Using a potato masher, crush the chickpeas along with the lemon juice Add to the quinoa mixture and stir everything together. Add the chopped fresh dill.

Cook the burgers.  I cooked these on the grill and they held together ok.   I think next time I will just put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet or silpat and cook in the oven, perhaps pan-frying first as the orignal recipe states:

4. Begin heating a heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Seasoned cast iron is good, and so is a heavy nonstick pan that can go into the oven. Moisten your hands lightly and shape 8 large or 4 smaller patties. Working in batches if necessary, cook the patties for 1 to 2 minutes on one side, until nicely browned. Carefully turn the patties over and place the pan in the oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the patties are lightly browned; if they fall apart you can patch them together with some pressure from the spatula. Remove from the heat and serve, with or without buns, ketchup and the works. (I thought mustard went really well with these)

Yield: 8 appetizer sized or 4 large burgers.

 

oatmeal

I've tried different ways of making oat breakfasts and this is one I like (which also means it's pretty easy).  

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup soymilk

1 prune

a small piece of fruit (or half a large one).  e.g., peach, apricot (in season right now), banana.

cinnamon

two methods to make this:

1)   chop the prune.  soak the oats and prune in the water and soy milk overnight.  heat in microwave for a couple minutes until hot, (time depends on your power setting).  Chop the fruit and add, along with cinnamon  If it's a hot summer say, you don't have to heat it much.

2)  chop the prune.  combine the oats, prune, water and soy milk.  heat in microwave for a few minutes until very hot.  wait about 5-10 minutes.  heat again.  Chop the fruit and add, along with cinnamon.

Here's this morning's with a peach:

salsa

I was checking the ingredients on store-bought salsa and, besides the usual tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and cilantro, the two main flavor ingredients are salt and sugar.  I taste-tested a few of these, one with less salt, the other with less sugar (hard to find one with less of both); and decided I could do better.  I can, and it's easy.  But I got a good idea from the store-bought salsa, and that is to add a fruit of some sort to sweeten it up, since I don't use salt.  I'm sure there are lots you could use, but I found grapes work great.  Mango would probably be good too.

Ingredients:
1 can tomatoes (no salt)
a little bit of chopped red onion
a little bit of got pepper, or I just use a little chipotle powder
cilantro if you like it
bell pepper (any color) if you happen to have one around
a handful of grapes, chopped
anything else you think would be good

Combine it into a bowl, stir, serve. It tastes as good or better after sitting for a while in the fridge but is good at any point.

Yesterday's version before stirring:  tomatoes, orange bell pepper, cilantro, red onion, grapes, chipotle powder:

after stirring:

today's version--can tomatoes, cilantro, grapes, some chopped yellow tomato (didn't have bell peppers), chipotle powder:

today's lunch

Today I got back from kayaking a little later than I'd planned, and didn't know what I was going to do for lunch besides some onions and kale and a sweet potato I'd baked earlier this morning.  So I started up the onions and kale, and took a shower.  Then I thought about my work snack:  rice, edamame and corn.  So I mixed that up (I usually have cooked rice in the fridge, and edamame and corn in the freezer).  Then I thought, ooh, throw that into the kale and onions and I'll have it for both lunch and snack.  and here it is:

Easy and yummy!   Housemate wanted some too.  Here it is with my baked sweet potato, to which I added some cinnamon and soy yogurt.  

A very yummy lunch and a yummy snack later on.  Great for building muscles after my intense kayak ride--we went out in a tailwind and curiosity always makes it hard to turn around at a sensible time.  The return trip was quite an endurance test.

chili beans

These are good in tacos, or just about anything.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb dry beans, soaked overnight

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

If you want, you can dry-fry the onions first.  then add the beans and everything else, cover with water, and start cooking.  Or if you don't want to dry-fry the onions, just combine everything and start cooking.   cook for 3 hours.  Add water as necessary but not too much (to keep the flavors more concentrated).   If you like a sweet flavor, you can add a little sweetener of your choice (e.g., maple syrup, brown sugar).  I've also seen mustard included in some recipes.