how to recover

How to recover from a long weekend of too much?

Buddha bowls, of course!

Quinoa topped with chickpeas, shredded carrot, shredded purple cabbage, red and yellow bell pepper, green beans, cilantro, avocado, sesame seeds, and homemade peanut sauce.  (I really like the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, but using only half the water called for.)  The awesomest news?  Plenty leftover for work lunches this week!

odds-n-ends stir fry

Last night's dinner was truly an exercise in using up odds-n-ends -- 3/4 of a package of leftover tofu, some broccoli and green onions, and just about every other leftover veggie I had lingering in the fridge, including red onion, ginger, garlic, cabbage, white button and shiitake mushrooms, celery, carrots, and red bell pepper!



Between stir-fry and beans and rice, it has been a week of brown rice for me.

I made my sauce from scratch, too -- here's the recipe:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

I just combined everything, and then added it to the wok at the last second, folding everything together until the sauce thickened and coated the veggies nicely. It didn't seem spicy at first, but it "caught up" with me halfway through the meal. I don't really like commercial stir-fry sauces, since they always seem too sweet and/or too salty for my tastebuds, so I have been playing around with making my own. This one was a super-success! I think I will keep the sticky note I jotted the ingredients on next to the scrap of paper I have written my homemade pasta sauce variations. :) More stir-fry in the future!

saucy!

Wow.

I. Am. Tired! Today was baking day, and boy, was it a lot of fun, and a lot of hard work! I finished the last five batches of Christmas cookies/candies today, including all of the packing, wrapping, decorating, and dish-washing involved. I somehow managed to run a couple of errands, too, and then found myself with more time to spare after dinner. Time to "get saucy!" (Ha, ha.)



My parents are coming up for Christmas this year, and I decided on tamales for Christmas dinner! Now, we can't have plain ol' jarred salsa on our tamales, and I wanted to mimic the three sauces Mexican restaurants offer with their tamales, so it was time for a sauce-a-thon. On the left is Melody's recipe for homemade salsa, with a few modifications of my own. (I cut back on the spices she calls for, since I really prefer a strong tomato flavor with an undertone of spices, used 4 jalapenos, cut down the salt, and used a can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes. The crushed tomatoes allowed me to skip pureeing the salsa, which is a good thing -- I like my salsa chunky!) Middle, Tomatillo Salsa Verde, and on the right, Three Sisters Black Mole. Holy "mole," did that recipe yield a lot of mole! Good thing we're having tacos this week . . . and tamales next week . . . and tamales again for New Year's . . . and good thing, too, that the sauce freezes well! I got about nine cups of sauce from the recipe . . . whew! I think I'll send a jar home with my Dad. :)

I'll post a photo of the cookies soon -- I just don't want to plate a whole trayfull for no reason, other than to snap a picture. (You understand, right?) I plan to take cookies to work on Monday, though, so expect full disclosure later in the day!

Hope you are having a nice weekend!

VCON-athon, part II

I can't stop cooking!! Aaaaaaa!!!

I guess that's really okay, in the end. Lunch today:

Veggies and Seitan in Mole, courtesy of VCON. I sort of combined both mole recipes, wanting a little seitan and a few veggies, too. This was INCREDIBLE! Dan had two helpings -- he has a thing for mole. Unfortunately, most moles aren't vegetarian, so I can't ever join him . . . until now! Woo!

I did discover, however, that in order to effectively brown the seitan, I should have used a nonstick pan. The seitan totally stuck to the bottom of my stainless pan . . . grumble. It came off later when I added liquid, which turned out fine, but a little crumbly, in the end. Also, if you make the veg recipe, definitely salt the zucchini -- it totally held its shape, as you can see!

Dinner tonight:

Curried Tofu from VCON, (panfried, since I don't have a grill and didn't want to turn on the oven,) sliced tomatoes, steamed broccoli, and garlic-mashed potatoes. The tofu is fantastic! I have a feeling it will become a repeat visitor at my house -- and probably Dan's, too, since it's so easy!

And lastly, a snack:

I baked the Banana Date Scones, also from VCON. My first impression of these scones was . . . holy cow, they are HUGE! (And I got nine scones out of the recipe, even though the yield said eight.) Also, they were slightly fussy to prepare, since I had to chop both the dates and the walnuts, mash the banana, and then mix everything together, but it was worth it! Moist, dense, and slightly sweet -- perfect, if you ask me. These would make a great portable breakfast, since they are so substantial, and chock full of good-for-you ingredients.

Tomorrow, we enjoy leftovers.

VCON-athon, part I

I've been cooking like a madwoman lately!

Lunch last Sunday:

Green Onion Egg Drop Soup on the left, and fried rice on the right. (We had leftover rice from dinner out a day or two earlier.) The rice was excellent, but the soup was just okay -- I probably wouldn't make it again.

Yet MORE cobbler:

Straight rhubarb this time. YUUUM. I will be sad when rhubarb season is over for the year. :(

Dinner Thursday night:

Tempeh fajitas! I sliced a package of three-grain tempeh into sixteen slices, and marinaded it for a couple hours along with thickly sliced red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and half a red onion, in the following:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder
zest and juice of two small limes
3 cloves garlic, crushed (no need to peel or chop)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
After their soak, I pan-fried the tempeh and veg in a hot cast-iron skillet, and served them in homemade flour tortillas, (recipe from the Joy of Cooking), garnished with Chile-Chocolate Mole, (from VCON,) sliced avocado, and mixed baby greens.

P.S. I used a new kind of flour in the tortillas. My co-op carries all-purpose flour in bulk, but also something called "white flour," which is milled from wheat that has had the bran removed, but not the germ, so it has a better nutritional profile. This may be my new all-purpose flour from now on! It sure made heavenly tortillas.

I've been missing prepared breakfast cereals with my whole "five or less" rule, so I decided to try a new granola recipe:

I've been kind of displeased with homemade granola in the past, but this recipe did not disappoint! This is the best homemade granola I've ever made, the simplest recipe by far, and the closest-tasting to "commercial" granolas, in my opinion. (But without all that extra yukky stuff, of course.) I loosely based it on a recipe for Apricot-Almond Granola from Cooking Light, but with several modifications. Here's my version:
1. Combine in a mixing bowl: 2 cups quick oats, 1 cup puffed brown rice cereal, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots, and 1/3 cup golden raisins.
2. Melt 1/2 cup agave nectar and 1/3 cup Earth Balance together. Pour over oat mixture and combine well.
3. Spread the granola in a greased 9X13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees Farenheight for fifteen minutes. Stir, and bake an additional 10 minutes. Allow the granola to cool in the pan before stirring again. Transfer to an airtight container for storage.

And here, finally, is the VCON-athon:

Sauteed chard, Shredded Parsnip and Beet Salad in Pineapple Vinaigrette (from VCON,) Broccoli Polenta (from VCON,) and Louisiana Crowder Peas from the Farmer's Market last weekend. Both the salad and polenta are incredible -- make them NOW, if you haven't already!

Here's the (vegetized) recipe for the peas, if you can get your hands on some:
1. Rinse 1 lb. peas, and place in a pot. Cover with water and soak for 30 minutes.
2. Drain the peas and return to the pot. Add 8 cups of water, 1 canned chipotle in adobo, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, and 4 tablespoons Earth Balance. Bring the peas to a boil, then allow to boil for two minutes. Then lower the heat, cover partially, and allow to simmer for one hour.
3. Saute 1 large onion, chopped, in a small amount of oil. Add to the peas with 2 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs, (I used Fines Herbes,) a bunch of freshly-ground pepper, and 1 clove garlic, peeled. Continue to simmer the peas for 30 minutes, or until soft.

And, I finally, finally, broke out the ice cream maker:

Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Cream from Cooking Light. This is an unusual sorbet-ice cream hybrid, and is addictive and delicious! Sweet, tart, creamy, and refreshing, it sort of reminded both of us of lemon cheesecake. My only complaint is the yield of the recipe -- it made so much, I had to freeze it in two batches! I'll just cut the recipe in half next time.

Stay tuned, because I have more cooking planned for the remainder of the weekend!