Collard Green Saute

Ok, this recipe isn't very specific but I'm pretty sure it won't really matter how much of each ingredient you throw in the pan.  I leave it up to personal preference!

 

Sauté olive oil, minced garlic, peapods, and 1 bunch collard greens, chopped, for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add chopped mushrooms, continue stirring for about 3 minutes.

Add ¼ cup raisins and ½ cup walnuts; cook for about another 3 minutes.

June Vegetable Soup

“It’s like 90° outside and you’re making soup?!?”

Yep.

That’s right.  A few weeks ago when it was hitting about 90° outside, I was, in fact, making soup.  Really good soup, I might add.  This one I just made up as I went along, tossing whatever veggies I had in the house into my pot.

6 cups water

3 carrots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 red pepper, sliced and chopped

1 red onion, halved, quartered lengthwise and chopped

green beans, chopped (however many you’d like)

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 oz tomato paste

1 TBSP fresh cilantro

2 TBSP fresh dill

dried basil, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

2 small bay leaves

4 cups kale

frozen corn

1¼ cup cooked lentils

1.  Heat the water and carrots in a pot over med heat.

2.  Chop each vegetable (except the kale) in order and add them to the pot.

3.  Stir in tomato paste, cilantro, dill, basil and salt and pepper.  Add bay leaves and allow soup to simmer for a bit.

4.  As vegetable begin to become softened, add the kale, corn and lentils; cook until vegetable reach your desired tenderness and kale has softened.

5.  Remove bay leaves and serve.

I served mine up with some brown rice one night, and quinoa another.  Mix it up with either or maybe some couscous.

Tempeh Spinach Rustic Pie

I went on a bit of a cooking spree last week.  I went through a stack of recipes, photocopied from various books, and made a smaller pile.

From there, I started off with a Tempeh Spinach Rustic Pie from "500 Vegan Recipes" by Celine Steen & Joni Marie Newman.  (Link to the recipe: http://500veganrecipes.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/tempeh-spinach-rustic-pie/)

I did make a few changes:

I used reduced sodium Tamari in place of the soy sauce.

I left out the red pepper.

I only used 1 tsp of ginger instead of 2 (I'm not a huge ginger fan).

I didn't have any peanut oil or light spelt flour so I used almond oil and then 1 cup of garbanzo bean flour and 1/4 cup brown rice flour instead.

Came out delicious!!

Roasted Red Peppers

Since we're on the subject of roasting...

Store bought is fine, but roasted red peppers are quite easy to do home-made:

As many red peppers as your heart desires

1.  Preheat the oven to 500°.

2.  Place the peppers on a baking sheet (I cover my sheet with foil since I’m going to burn the skins and don’t want to leave any more marks on the sheet) and place in the oven for about 40 minutes, until the skins are completely wrinkled and the peppers are charred, turning them twice during roasting. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately cover it tightly with aluminum foil. Set aside for 30 minutes.

3.  Remove and discard the skin, stem and seeds from each pepper and cut into quarters or strips. Place the peppers in a bowl along with any juices that have collected.  Cover and refrigerate.

My Quest For Hummus Perfection Continues!

This batch came out really tasty, but the texture just isn’t there yet.  So, try again I will.  This is still good though :-)  (Sorry, no photos… I kinda forgot to take any.  Oops)

2 cups cooked chickpeas

¼ cup each fresh parsley and cilantro

1 TBSP dried basil

3 TBSP tahini

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP ground flax seed

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

sea salt, to taste

½ cup water

Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Process, adding more water if necessary, until desired consistency is reached.

Notes:

1.  I think I have to cook my chickpeas longer.  Next time I will make sure they’re a bit softer than they were.  I just REFUSE to use canned!

2.  I may also try using more olive oil and less water.  I think that will help smooth out the texture.

3.  And maybe next time I’ll have some fresh basil.  That would be awesome :-)

Great on sandwiches or crackers or use it as a dip with veggies… oh, the possibilities.

Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes and Turnips: Oh My!

I spent one night last week roasting.  I figured I had the oven on so I might as well go all out.  I made three dishes:  roasted potatoes, a roasted potato/sweet potato/turnip dish, and a maple sweet potato dish.

The maple sweet potato dish was inspired by something I had at a co-op (which became my go-to for food) while I was away.  The description sounded delicious, but I was quite disappointed when I ate it.  There was too much ginger.  Well, there probably wasn’t too much for someone who likes ginger, but since I don’t like it, there was too much of it and it ruined the entire dish.  The thought, however, of how this dish would have tasted fabulous if only… had been swarming my head, so I went ahead and made my own version.  How it turned out is what I had been hoping for!

Here's how it went down:

 

1 - Roasted Potatoes

10 potatoes

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

1.  Preheat oven to 450°F.

2.  Scrub the potatoes and cut into wedges.  Toss with olive oil and divide between two 9 x 13 baking dishes.  Season with sea salt.

3.  Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Simple enough right :-)

2 - Roasted Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes and Turnips

3 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges

7 small potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges

3 turnips, cut into wedges

2 red onions, cut into wedges

1 yellow onion, cut into wedges

6 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 TBSP dried basil

2 tsp dried thyme

1 TBSP oregano

peppercorn

1.  Preheat oven to 450°F.

2.  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl, toss to combine.  Divide between two 9x13 baking dishes.

3.  Bake for about 55 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Notes:

1.  Maybe spray the pans with cooking spray, so if things get a little crispy it doesn't stick to the pan.  (I thought the olive oil would be enough, but apparently not.)

2.  Next time I make this, I will wait to put the onions in.  Some of them got a tad overcooked.  I would probably cook the mixture for maybe the first 30 minutes and then add the onions for the rest of the time.

And of course…

3 - Maple Sweet Potatoes

3 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges

½ cup pure maple syrup

½ TBSP cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp allspice

¾ cup raisins

¼ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup walnuts

1.  Preheat oven to 450°F.

2.  In oven save bowl, combine sweet potatoes, maple syrup and spices.  Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.  Add the raisins, seeds and walnuts.  Bake for 10 minutes more.

Enjoy hot or cold, either way it's delicious!  (I’ve been eating it cold as a snack at work)

Soda Bread

 Tunes:  Warren Barfield – various albums

Speaking of soda bread, yep, I made that too!

I got the recipe from Ripe From Around Here by Jae Steele (Oatmeal Soda Bread with Walnuts).  I absolutely LOVE this cookbook.  Get it!  No, really, I think I made about 5 recipes out of it the first week I had it.  Apple Spice Ice Cream, I mean, Come On… Incredible!

I did change two things in the recipe: 1 - it called for 2 cups of spelt flour but I was out, so I replaced it with 1 cup each brown rice and garbanzo bean flours.  2 - it also called for 1 cup of walnuts.  Now, the recipe didn’t call for any raisins and I’m one of those that I like my soda bread with raisins, so I left out the walnuts and replaced them with raisins.

I’m no expert on copyright laws and such, so, I don’t think I can actually put the recipe on here.  I did try to find it online so I could at least post a link, but I couldn’t find it.  I can, however, post a photo :-)