OMGooey

I have fallen in love again. With another cookbook. Chloe's Kitchen, by young vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli, is AMAZING. While maybe a touch less healthy than Color Me Vegan, this is such a fantastic cookbook for the newly inducted/those transitioning from a SAD (Standard American Diet) to a healthier, plant-based diet. And Chloe's vegan mac and cheese (which I also made gluten free!), while certainly a treat, isn't all that unhealthy--and it's actually amazingly delicious, comforting and gooey. Mine came out of the oven picture-perfect--and Matt flipped over it! (Well, so did I. But he made himself ill. :)

Though the recipe says elbow macaroni, I used spiral pasta because I ordered a bulk shipment of Tinkyada Organic from Amazon. This saves money on a pretty pricey pasta (about $3/pack instead of $5). Also, the organic version isn't available yet at my local co-op, though I requested it so hopefully it will come in soon. I think elbows, shells, spiral or penne would all work pretty nicely. I used almond milk, because rice milk seems like it would be too thin and jury is still out on eating a lot of unfermented soy, so no soy milk in my house.

*I am tweaking this every time I make it, so I will add my notes in italics. :)

Best Ever Baked Mac and Cheese

We were too hungry to remember to take the picture first.

Ingredients
1 lb elbow macaroni(Use Tinkyada and only Tinkyada if you want this to be gluten-free; but note that a package is 12 oz, or 3/4 pound. Get a second package!)

¼ cup vegan margarine (I use organic Earth Balance)

1/3 cup flour or gluten-free flour

3 cups soy, almond or rice milk

½ cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp lemon juice (I replaced with cooking wine for a slightly more 'fermented' cheese flavor)

                                                                                    1 tbsp agave
2 tbsp white cooking wine

                                                                                    2 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 pan if metal/aluminum. Glass and ceramic don’t need it.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. I do 2 tsp per quart of water, and use about 3 quarts of water, so--6 tsp. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions.  Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium/large saucepan, whisk margarine and flour together over medium heat until it forms a thick paste. (I use a fork for this, then switch to a whisk or beater attachment from the hand-held mixer to blend the forthcoming ingredients.) Add non-dairy milk, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Don’t walk away or it will stick to the pan! Reduce heat and let it simmer for a few moments if needed to thicken. Adjust seasoning to taste and whisk in the cooking wine and agave. Toss noodles with the sauce and transfer to the prepared pan. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of the pasta and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and crisp and the edges are bubbly. Remove from oven and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving. YUM.

A perfect meal.

I love this meal so much. Just made it for dinner tonight and thought I should post. I discovered it over a year ago, and it's been a constant favorite ever since. It's quick, easy, nutritious, super tasty, and there are plenty of leftovers (well, when cooking for only two or using as a side dish). It manages to be hearty AND refreshing at the same time. Kind of a miracle meal.

I used to make it without onion and it came off as too lemony, so I reduced the amount of lemon juice. But since I've become obsessed with raw red onion (very, very wisely obsessed, since raw red onion is SO DELICIOUS), the original amount of lemon juice tastes just perfect; setting off the sweet and slightly spicy onion with citrusy goodness. Try it!

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

3 Cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dried)

1/3 Cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoons sugar

1-1/2 Cups canned black beans, rinsed

1-1/2 Cups corn kernels (about 2 cobs) or defrosted frozen

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

11 fluid ounce cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 Cups slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup chopped green or black olives

1/4 Cups chopped fresh mint

1/4 Cups chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1.Cook quinoa, according to package instructions.

2.While quinoa is cooking, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and sugar into a vinaigrette in a small bowl.

3.Combine quinoa and all remaining ingredients, except fresh herbs, into a medium-sized bowl.

4.Drizzle with vinaigrette. Toss to combine.

5.Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavours to combine. Add fresh herbs just prior to serving. May be served at room temperature.

Nutrients Per Serving

Nutrients per serving: 407 calories, 17 g fat, 14 g protein, 56 g carbohydrates, 11 g fibre. Excellent source of vitamin E, folic acid, thiamin, iron, zinc, phosphorus and magnesium.

Gardening, smoothies and tempeh

It's been so busy around here and it's hard keeping up with a blog--I've made so many things I want to share, been working on my new garden and going to yoga almost every day. So I'm going to cheat and take elaborate blog posts and combine them into a super quick catch-up:

Gardening!

My garden. (This is supposed to be about 'home ec' after all, and what's more home economical than investing in a garden??) We put in a mixture of seed and seedlings, planters and raised beds. All told, we have in the ground: basil, thyme, mint, lettuce, arugula, mizuna, kale, spinach, bok choy, pumpkins, watermelons, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, climbing beans, malabar spinach, red bell peppers, jalapenos and carrots.  It's beautiful and cute, see? And I have this handsome guy to stand guard:

And this handsome guy as a chore boy:

 

And I love everything about it. *sipping lemonade from the sidelines* *...yeah, right.*

I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long and beautiful love affair between gardening and I.

 Smoothies! I've been drinking one every day as my first meal of the day. It's my first effort towards getting more fruit, greens and raw food into my diet--not to mention probiotics (from almond yogurt), omegas (from flax) and maca root. It's convenient and fast to be able to consume all these things quickly so I have more time in my day to do what I do best: write. And make dinner. :)

Side note: for a long time I didn't understand or care to understand the "raw food" movement. If you're like I was, you don't either, so here's the quickie, super-simplified explanation (it's actually interesting!)--your body needs enzymes to do everything, including to digest food. So, food already has enzymes in it, if you don't cook 'em dead. If you're not eating your enzymes, the enzymes elsewhere in your body are all 'Aw, man! I was just in the middle of stopping this cancer cell or healing this inflamed joint! And now I have to go help digest this food! Sorry to abandon you, Other Lifesaving Work, but basic nutrition trumps all!' So. Make sense? Increasing raw foods, if not going on a pure raw diet (kind of pointlessly rigid, in my opinion), is good for you. The End.

Smoothies have been very experimental and some have been better than others. I made a post-workout smoothie the other day that was outstanding; it tasted like a delicious chocolate covered raspberry dessert. But, and I quote from the source: "The walnuts in this shake provide heart-healthy fats and about 4.5 grams of protein, as well as potassium and magnesium, essential electrolytes for muscle function." So drink up, workout junkies!

Raspberry Walnut Smoothie:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/3 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 frozen banana

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao nibs

1 tsp vanilla

dash of lemon juice

dash of agave syrup

Ridiculously good.

And tempeh! 

My new staple food! I think I've had it maybe once before, but I couldn't really remember so I definitely didn't have it as good as I made it last night. Why I love it: it's super high in protein, it's a fermented soy product (assuaging my soy do-I-or-don't-I? anxiety--Google "fermented soy" if you're like 'huh?'), and it's really freaking yummy.

Recipe for the salad I made for dinner last night, from Food 52.

Snow Pea, Cabbage, and Mizuna Salad with Marinated and Seared Tempeh

By Gena Hamshaw • April 3, 2013 •

Photo by James Ransom

Serves 4 (or 2 if making as a dinner salad)

Basic Marinated Tempeh

• 2 tablespoons apple cider or rice vinegar (apple cider is my preference)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon grated or minced ginger root
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 8 ounces tempeh, sliced into thin strips (about 1/4 inch or a little less)
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil (optional, for frying)

Snow Pea, Cabbage, and Mizuna Salad with Miso Mustard Dressing

• 6 ounces snow peas, trimmed
• 2 cups red cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup carrot, shredded
• 2 cups mizuna
• 2 green onions, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup cilantro, diced
• 2 tablespoons mellow white miso
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

1. To prepare the tempeh, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, water, ginger, and sesame oil. Arrange tempeh in a large, shallow bowl (a small casserole will also work) and pour the marinade over the pieces. Allow them to marinate for 2-3 hours (or over the course of a day, refrigerated).
2. You can either bake or pan fry the tempeh. To fry, heat the coconut oil on a skillet pan or in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Cook each side for about four minutes, and serve hot. To bake, heat an oven to 375 degrees and bake them tempeh pieces for 25 minutes, flipping once through.
3. To prepare the salad, heat a small pot of water to a boil and boil the snow peas for about thirty seconds. Rinse under cold water and let them dry, then cut the peas in halves or thirds.
4. Mix all remaining salad ingredients.
5. To make the vinaigrette, blend the miso, mustard, lemon, oil, garlic, and syrup in a blender till smooth or whisk together briskly. Dress the salad to taste, and top with the seared tempeh. 

Wow is all I have to say about that dish. Just vegan perfection on a plate. (I opted to fry my tempeh in coconut oil, FYI.) I couldn't find mizuna anywhere, however, so I mixed arugula with more mellow spinach figuring I'd get a similar flavor profile. I was also in a huge hurry and forgot the snow peas. OOPS. And STILL amazing. Here's what mine looked like:

 

And that's all she (me) wrote! Off to the library for some novel research...

Fatty McFatson

I was craving some serious fatty fat tonight. SO, I hauled out the coconut milk, pine nuts, peanut butter and olive oil, and threw a party. I made the summer squash and tomato dish yet again (a new family favorite) and indulged us all in some noodles with spicy Thai peanut sauce topped with shiitake mushrooms (fresh from the farmer's market!) and broccoli.

I love making peanut sauce because it's easy to do without a recipe. If I want a quick and sweet peanut sauce, I melt peanut butter in veggie broth, adding brown sugar and curry powder to taste.

If I want a more decadent sauce, like I made tonight, I still start with a little veg broth, melt the peanut butter, add some red Thai curry paste and a can of coconut milk, and then salt and cayenne to taste. (I could use more expensive curry paste for the same kick, but I like to cut a cash corner here and cheat with cayenne instead.) It's one of the few things I make without measuring...I eyeball it and taste through the whole process. (Oh, it's tough tasting peanutty coconutty sauce, but somebody has to do it.)

Then for dessert (of course this meal needed a dessert!) I made DELICIOUS Kiwi Banana Muffins from (what else?) Color Me Vegan. The muffins were tart and delicious (and made with gluten free flour they turned out great!), and the zest from one divine Minneola tangelo really made them special...oh, yum.

None of these food items matched, or even coordinated. But they were all delicious. It was all so worth it. Salads and smoothies tomorrow. :)

Kiwi Banana Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Gluten-Free All Purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
zest from 1 medium orange (or tangelo. :) )
3 ripe bananas, peeled
8 ripe kiwis, peeled and divided (maybe less; read directions before peeling)
1/2 cup non-dairy butter, softened (I used Organic Earth Balance)
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil muffin pan (or two; recipe makes 12-14 muffins)

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, orange zest, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl or in a food processor or blender, mash/puree the bananas and 5* of the kiwis.
(*you are looking to get about 1/2 cup of kiwi puree. My 5 kiwis gave me a whole cup; so try 2 or 3 at a time and see if you need more.) Add the butter and sugar and stir to combine. Your non-dairy butter will probably look chunky in the mix; that's okay.

Chop the 3 remaining kiwis into bite sized pieces. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the chopped kiwi, and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into individual muffin tins. If using GF flour, feel free to fill the cups pretty high...mine didn't rise too terribly much. Or at all, even. The book didn't specify, so I went on the generous side of 1/2 full, but could have done more. If you're using regular flour, I can't vouch for it.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took 20) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of your muffins comes out clean.

Cool for ten minutes on wire rack. (Don't cave to temptation and dig in, those kiwi chunks inside are HOT!) Slather with Earth Balance butter for a sweet, tart and salty decadent treat. :)

A thousand words. (Not posed.)

An accidental pizza alternative

I really don't like gluten-free, vegan pizza. Too many replacements, too much fake food. I'm a food snob and it just doesn't work for me. So I figured I was just going to have to face the loss of pizza like a big girl--and I do, but I happily happened upon a recipe the other day that will satiate my cravings, should they ever appear. And in a very non-pizza incarnation.

Spicy Black Bean and Olive hummus! Stay with me, here. When I ate meat, my very favorite pizza was pepperoni and black olive. All the saltiness and spiciness and tangy-ness that you could ever want out of a pizza. I loved this dip as soon as I laid eyes on the recipe, but connecting it to pizza? That didn't happen right away.

The recipe (from Color Me Vegan, with my alterations noted)

Stealing other people's awesome food photos because I'm lazy...mmmm, cilantro would be so good with this too!

Spicy Black Bean and Olive "Hummus"

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
10 black olives, pitted (I did 14 because I'm an olive freak. :)
1 small jalapeno pepper (the key to my discovery! By happy accident, I could not find a fresh jalapeno, so out of hunger and frustration I grabbed a jar of whole pickled jalapenos and headed home.)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp lemon juice (I only needed 1, I think because of the effect of the vinegar in the jalapeno)
1 1/2 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt (you can omit this if your beans came salted; I probably should have!)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I did a bit more; didn't measure though.)
Paprika or chili powder, for garnish (I didn't bother.)

Put everything in the food processor and blend until smooth! Add more lemon juice, salt, and garlic to taste.

I put the finished product on lentil chips, and today when I was eating leftovers for lunch, I topped each chip with a black olive. That was when it hit me that the taste of this salty treat was exactly what I loved about pepperoni and black olive pizza! And the heavens opened up and the angels sang.

The lentil chips I use

Now, if you want to tone down the salt (or spice, if making for kids), it's easy to do--use a fresh jalapeno instead of a pickled one and take out all or some of the seeds. I bet it's still delish--and note that it packs quite a bit of protein. Give it a try!

P.S. A word of warning--this dip does kind of give you dragon breath. So eat it as a family and chew gum when in public after eating! :)

Food for thought, today.

Instead of recipe, here's something else to chew on. Excerpt from EATING ANIMALS, by Jonathan Safran Foer, which is the single most important book I've ever read. In the words of a young anti-factory farming* activist.

I'm not a radical. In almost every way, I'm a middle-of-the-road person. I don't have any piercings. No weird haircut. I don't do drugs. Politically, I'm liberal on some issues and conservative on others. But see, factory farming is a middle-of-the-road issue--something most reasonable people would agree on if they had access to the truth. [...]

Look, I'm pro-life. I believe in God, and I believe in heaven and hell. But I don't have any reverence for suffering. These factory farmers calculate how close to death they can keep the animals without killing them. That's the business model. How quickly they can be made to grow, how tightly can they be packed, how much or little they can eat, how sick they can get without dying.

This isn't animal experimentation, where you can imagine some proportionate good at the other end of the suffering. This is what we feel like eating. Tell me something: Why is taste, the crudest of our senses, exempted from the ethical rules that govern our other senses? If you stop and think about it, it's crazy. Why doesn't a horny person have as strong a claim to raping an animal as a hungry one does to killing and eating it? It's easy to dismiss that question but hard to respond to it. And how would you judge an artist who mutilated animals in a gallery because it was visually arresting? How riveting would the sound of a tortured animal need to be to make you want to hear it that badly? Try to imagine any end other than taste for which it would be justifiable to do what we do to farmed animals.

If I misuse a corporation's logo, I could potentially be put in jail; if a corporation abuses a billion birds, the law will protect not the birds, but the corporation's right to do what it wants. That is what it looks like when you deny animals rights. It's crazy that the idea of animals rights seems crazy to anyone. We live in a world in which it's conventional to treat an animal like a hunk of wood and extreme to treat an animal like an animal.

Before child labor laws, there were businesses that treated their ten-year-old employees well. Society didn't ban child labor because it's impossible to imagine children working in a good environment, but because when you give that much power to businesses over powerless individuals, it's corrupting. When we walk around thinking we have a greater right to eat an animal than the animal has a right to live without suffering, it's corrupting. I'm not speculating. This is our reality. Look at what factory farming is. Look at what we as a society have done to animals as soon as we had the technological power. Look at what we actually do in the name of "animal welfare" and "humaneness," then decide if you still believe in eating meat.

(*Less than 1% of animals killed for meat in the US are family farmed.)