Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh from The Conscious Cook

L'Shanah Tovah!  Today marks the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  It is a time to reflect on the past year, as well as to reflect on life's blessings - friends, family and community.

Traditionally, Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with a meal with family.  Growing up, I remember eating brisket, roasted potatoes and apple cake with my parents and grandparents.  Now that I follow a vegan diet, I wanted to capture the same sort of celebratory meal for my husband and me.  The exact elements of the meal don't matter as much as the intangible ingredients - care and love.  And, as our rabbi's remarks spoke about the importance of compassion, I find a vegan meal to be very appropriate for this holiday!  Philosophy aside, I also knew that getting home from services mid-day would give me plenty of time to whip up something special for us for dinner.

With all that in mind, I decided to crack open Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook.  In his introductory chapter, Chef Ronnen notes that his goal has been "creating vegan food that was just as mouthwatering and delicious as anything I'd ever had as a meat eater" and that "if you like hollandaise sauce, rich wine reductions and meat-like textures, you'll love these recipes."

I let my husband flip through the book to select what I was going to make.  I thought he would go for the Peppercorn-Encrusted Portobello Fillets with Yellow Tomato Bearnaise and Mashed Potatoes, but, to my surprise, he suggested the Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh with Smoked Tomato Sauce, Green Chile Relish, Black Bean Puree and Braised Kale.

This recipe has multiple steps and involves a lot of pots and timing, so I'll walk through some ways I multi-tasked throughout the two-hour (yes, you read that correctly) prep and cooking time.  If you're a beginner cook, you may want to pair up with a friend and use multiple kitchen timers.

Simmering the tempeh

The recipe has seven parts: pre-cooking the tempeh, making the smoky tomato sauce, making the black bean puree, making the green chile relish and breading, braising the kale and pan frying the tempeh.  The recipe is very clearly written out, so if you follow the steps as they're written, it won't be stressful.  Note that you'll have a lot of idle time while the tempeh and sauce are simmering, so I suggest doing a good amount of prep then, as the final minutes of the recipe will go by quickly.  For me, this included chopping the kale, chopping the onions and the garlic for the bean puree and green chile relish, and roasting the chile pepper for the relish. 

Since I was only cooking for the two of us, I halved the entire recipe, except the black bean puree (which I thought I'd use in a burrito or another dish).  I prepared the tempeh according to the recipe directions.  The broth, which included soy sauce, ginger, garlic, peppercorns, dried ancho and chipotle peppers and bay leaf, smelled fantastic.  While the broth was coming to a boil, I made sure to start chopping the veggies for the sauce.

The recipe said to reserve the cooking liquid from the tempeh, but I read through the recipe multiple times and couldn't figure out why it needed to be reserved, so I rinsed out that pot and used it for the black bean puree.

Another time saver was using an immersion blender.  Rather than putting the tomato sauce in the blender and putting the black beans in a food processor, I used the immersion blender to puree them.  I had better luck with the beans than the sauce (my guess, not enough liquid), but both came out fine, and this saved some dishwashing for us later.

Since we don't have a gas range, I roasted my pepper in the toaster oven, rotating it with tongs so it would blacken on all sides.

The recipe for the braised kale is in another part of the book.  I found it made sense to make the kale in one pan and fry the tempeh in the other concurrently, as the timing on both of them is similar.

Unlike some of the other recipes in the book, there's no accompanying photo, so I'm not sure what Chef Ronnen intended for plating.  I decided to do three "zones" - the tomato sauce, the bean puree and the kale, then layered the tempeh over the "zones" and sprinkled the top with the chile relish.

The tomato sauce definitely has a smoky flavor, and the black beans were surprisingly and pleasingly sweet.  Simmering the tempeh in broth very much improves the flavor and texture, and for once, I managed to pan fry something without the breading falling off.  If you want to simplify this recipe further, I think you can omit the chile relish.  I don't think it will make or break the dish. 

Quinoa and Black Beans, Or Being Vegan Doesn't Need to Be Hard

I stayed at work later than I expected today, and, by the time I got home, I was most definitely not in the mood for doing much cooking.  My husband wasn't really up for making anything either, so I threw something together based on what I had in the fridge.

Fortunately, we have a well stocked pantry.  When you're busy, making grains in bulk really helps.  As I mentioned on Monday, I made a big pot of quinoa this week.  Last week, we had a big pot of farro.  The week before that, it was wild rice.  We buy our grains in bulk now as it's cheaper and cuts down on packaging.  If you vary your toppings and sauces, having the same grain several days in a row won't seem monotonous.

We also always have multiple cans of beans on hand.  Sure, they take up a lot of room, and they don't quite compare to the flavor of cooked dried beans, but you can put them in anything, and they're good in a hot dish or in a salad.  We rinse ours first to cut down on sodium and get rid of unappetizing "bean goo."

Finally, we always have tons of fresh vegetables on hand, and good knives to chop them with.  To save even more time, you can pre-chop your veggies over the weekend.  If you'd rather use frozen, that's fine, but we prefer fresh.

As a bonus, have tons of dried spices and seasonings, as well as shelf stable hot sauces and other liquid condiments.  As in two shelves full of them! (Perhaps we could consolidate, or get those spice stacker thingees.  Yep, just ordered one on Amazon.).  A little of those goes a long way and it's easy to add variety to your food.

With all this in our arsenal, I made a quinoa, black bean, green onion and kale saute seasoned with salt, pepper and cumin in about 15 minutes.  Husband had his as is, and I added a bit of mozzarella daiya.  Since it was a one pot meal, we also had minimal dishes - the pot, a cutting board, a knife, the container for the quinoa and our plates and forks (no knives needed!).

Lemon and Kale Inspiration Brightens Up My Leftovers

Kimberly Wilson, the founder of my yoga studio and home away from home, Tranquil Space, has a wonderful blog called Tranquility du Jour.  Recently, she added a new feature to her blog, Meatless Mondays, that features a vegetarian friendly dish every, well, Monday.

This Monday's recipe was Kale + Quinoa Pilaf, which looked scrumptious.  Since I've been promising my husband to make better use of our leftovers, I decided to incorporate the flavors from the pilaf into a dish that used the farro I made earlier this week.

First, I made a dressing with one finely chopped shallot bulb, the juice of half a lemon, two tablespoons of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.  Next, I chiffonaded some tuscan kale into ribbons.  Once the kale was ready, I put the farro in the microwave for one minute to warm it, stirred in the kale, and microwaved it for another minute.  I then poured the dressing over the hot kale and farro and stirred it well until it was well combined and I could smell the lemon.

The lemon and olive oil dressing is extremely simple and makes a huge difference in flavor!  It's bright, crisp and light, and made our whole kitchen smell like lemony goodness.  Husband ate and enjoyed as well.  Note to self - use lemon and olive oil dressings more often!

This dish is a great example of how you don't need a ton of time to prepare a healthy meal.  It took a whopping five minutes to put together.  Having the some farro pre-cooked definitely helped, but if I had made this with quinoa, it wouldn't have taken much longer.

A Day of Eating in Reverse - Pete's A Pizza, More Whole Foods and Java Green

 Yes, I ate out for three meals today.  Not my normal routine, but with a early morning doctor's appointment and a date night before I fly out of town for a week, that's what I did to make the day work. 

Let's work backwards from dinner.  Since I'll be gone for eight days for back to back work trips and we had a hectic weekend last week, my husband and I had a date night tonight.  Husband knew I was dying to try the vegan options at Pete's-A-Pizza, so we went to the Friendship Heights location.  As an AU grad, I'd say it's more in Tenley than Friendship Heights, but it's equidistant from both metros, so I won't quibble too much over the description.

I had known about Pete's since their Columbia Heights location opened a few years ago, but never got around to trying it when I was still eating dairy products.  They're known for "New Haven Style" pizza.  I figured I had missed the boat on trying their pies, but then the Washington Post ran an article about the DC's essential vegetarian eats that mentioned Pete's Edge of the Woods Pizza.

After reading that article, I did some more research.  Pete's website is very vegan friendly.  There's a whole section of their website devoted to vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.  The website also notes that the owners' son has been a vegetarian since he was five, and that their chef and co-owner has a history of working with special diets.  To be safe, before we went to the restaurant, I called to make sure they were indeed able to make the vegan version of the Edge of the Woods pizza, and the manager confirmed they had everything on hand to make it that evening.

I did have one funny moment when we actually ordered the pizza.  When I asked for the vegan version, the woman said to me "Do you still want the eggplant?"  I asked her if the eggplant wasn't vegan for some reason.  "Well, it's fried."  My immediate response?  "Was it fried in an animal?"  After a good laugh, I let her know that when I called earlier, the manager said all the ingredients were vegan friendly. 

The pizza was very good.  The pie was topped with daiya, as well as caramelized onions, spinach and the aforementioned fried eggplant.  The eggplant was so thinly sliced that it reminded me of a potato chip.  I forsee some fun with the mandoline and "eggplant chips" in my culinary future.

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I had a craving for Whole Food's Kamut Citrus Salad for lunch today, but, alas they didn't have it on the prepared foods bar.  So, I made do with the pictured mishmash of various items off the salad bar.

Starting with the upper left, we have a vegetarian samosa, creamy kale, mango, raddicchio, cucumbers, kamut, black beans and raw shredded beets.  It is a curious mix of foods to be sure, but I enjoyed all of it, particularly the creamy kale!

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I mentioned earlier in this post that I had a doctor's appointment.  It was my annual physical, which meant bloodwork, which in turn meant fasting, which in turn meant no breakfast.  I knew from my regular lunch stops that Java Green serves breakfast, so I decided to pick up something there after my appointment.  I went with the vegan grilled breakfast sandwich, which is essentially a grilled cheese sandwich made with daiya.  Although the menu didn't specify it, it the woman making my sandwich added some tomato.  I was pleased, but those who dislike fresh tomatoes beware. 

Exploding Cereal, Rice Cakes and Dinosaur Kale

I'm continuing to focus on simple, easy vegan meals.  Here are some highlights from today's eating adventures.

Breakfast - Or How I Was Traumatized By a Box of Exploding Cereal
I really like cereal, but cereal often does not like me.  Hidden soy can often turn this treat into a sneeze fest.  But, after careful perusal of ingredient labels, I decided to try Nature's Path Flax Plus Multibran Flakes.  This cereal has a lot going for it - it's got 5g of fiber and 4g of protein per serving.  And, since a "serving" is 3/4 of a cup, and 3/4 of a cup would barely feed a squirrel, I figure I'm getting a lot more than that!  The flax in the cereal also is a source of Omega-3.  It's not vitamin fortified, but since I get my vitamins from a variety of plant sources and a vegan friendly supplement, that's not a big deal.

Milk and I also don't get along, but I've enjoyed experimenting with milk substitutes.  Having tried rice milk and almond milk, I thought I'd try coconut milk, specifically So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk.  This product is fortified with a number of vitamins and minerals, Vitamin B12 (50% DV) and Vitamin D (30%). 

So, where does exploding cereal come in?  Well, this morning, when I went to open the cereal, I found the plastic bag a bit challenging to open.  I got a tiny hole in it, so small that basically a flake at a time was coming out.  So, I decided to try and open the bag a little more.  The next thing I knew, cereal was flying everywhere - the counter, the stove, the floor, my hair, my husband's hair and pretty much everywhere but in my bowl.  It was an avalanche of cereal. 

Five minutes of sweeping later, I sat down to enjoy my cereal with coconut milk and blueberries.  I would definitely make sure you add fruit to this cereal or use a vanilla flavored milk substitute, especially if you're used to eating things that are very sweetened.

Snack - Or Rice Cakes Don't Need To Stay in the 80's

I know.  Rice Cakes.  Really?  If you grew up in the 80's, like I did, you probably have not so fond memories of rice cakes, or as some people called them, diet cardboard.  But, recently, when I saw a fellow yogini snacking at them at a yoga workshop, my curiosity was piqued.  I like crunchy, salty things, after all.

The brand I tried was Lundberg's Wild Rice Cakes.  I like Lundberg's rice products, so I felt confident that these would be worth buying,  I was pleasantly surprised with how good these are - nutty and just the right amount of salt.  It was yummy with my giant fuji apple, and the combination made a good pre-yoga snack.

Dinner - When Dinosaur Kale Walked in My Kitchen

I got home later than usual this evening since I was having fun chatting with friends after yoga.  I was tempted to try one of the frozen meals, but I figured I could cook something very fast.  Since I finished the curly kale I bought on Sunday, I decided to make something with dinosaur kale.

Dinosaur kale goes by many names - laccinato kale, Tuscan kale, cavolo nero, etc.  It's flatter and darker than curly kale, and the texture does look scaly, so the dinosaur name is appropriate.

I had half a yellow onion in the fridge, so I minced some of that up, along with a clove of garlic.  I sauteed those in olive oil on high heat for a minute or so.  Meanwhile, I sliced the kale into thin ribbons and then cut the ribbons into smaller pieces.  When I was done cutting the kale, I added in a can of chickpeas and a few scoops of my leftover rice and seasoned the mixture with sea salt and some generous turns of ground black pepper.  Then, I tossed in the kale, gave it a stir and turned off the heat the second it began to wilt, which was pretty fast.  A few shakes of red pepper flakes and it was done.  Fresh, filling and I have leftovers tomorrow.

Keep It Simple: What I Ate Today

So, one of the reasons I haven't been blogging lately is that I've been a bit overwhelmed by the exercise.  For someone with my Type-A tendencies, I was getting wrapped up in making something different and inventive every night, photographing it perfectly and writing something semi-interesting about it.  If cooking and eating was my full-time job, that would work for me.  But between working, commuting, frequent traveling, yoga and other pursuits, sitting down to cook something, take pictures of it and write about it while eating it was wearing me out a bit.

But, does blogging have to be so complicated, or am I over analyzing the situation?  One might ask the same question about going vegan, actually.  On the surface, it might seem overwhelming to go on a vegan diet.  If you start looking at books and blogs, you'll see a range of choices and advice.  Soy or no soy?  (Well, for my soy-allergic self, that was easy).  Raw?  Gluten-free?  Macrobiotic?  GMOs?  BPA?  Organic?  Low-Glycemic?  Alkaline foods?  Meat substitutes?  Nut milk or rice milk or coconut milk?  Nut cheese?  "Clean" foods?  Sprouted bread?  Convenience foods?  Oil is okay!  Wait, oil is not okay?  Local!  Carbon footprint!  Is your head spinning yet?

Whether it's blogging or eating, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the myriad of options you have in front of you.  And I know that, when I get overwhelmed, all I want is macaroni and cheese.

So, what it comes down to is that the "diet" that works for you is one that you can realistically sustain.  And that looks different for everyone.  For me, maybe it's a nicely photographed, colorful, homemade dish one day, and a frozen meal the next.  

So, as I was standing in line at the grocery store, I had an epiphany.  I can't be the only person out there that's trying to make going vegan work with a decently busy schedule.  What does someone like me eat every day?  Would it be helpful for me to share how I make doing the vegan thing workable, even if it doesn't involve a lot of fancy cooking?

So, hence, for the time being, I will bring you what I ate today.  I'm hoping this will show the variety of ways you can make a plant-based diet work for you. 

On Sunday, I used our rice cooker a huge batch of Rice Select Whole Grain Blend, which is wild rice, brown rice and rye berries.  This grain blend will be in my meals throughout the rest of this week.  By varying the veggies and proteins I incorporate with my dinners, I'll give myself the variety I crave, but still save time by having pre-cooked rice on hand.

In the fridge, I had some kale and red onion leftover from Sunday's dinner, along with cremini mushrooms.  At Whole Foods, I picked up some multicolored grape tomatoes.  I chopped everything in small pieces and gave the veg a very quick saute in olive oil.  I personally like it when my cooked veggies still have a little crunch, so I often don't saute for more than 5 minutes or so.  Good seasoning is also a must for me, so I included sea salt, ground black pepper, Italian seasoning blend and red pepper flakes. 

For dessert, I had a big bowl of grapes.  I'm partial to seedless green grapes, and there was a huge display at the store today for $2.99 a pound.  Sold!

The Green Frankenburger

Burger more green in person than in picture.  :)

There are food bloggers out there with fail safe recipes and gorgeous photography.  And then there's me - someone who loves cooking, isn't afraid to experiment and sometimes turns out something slightly bizarre and isn't afraid to admit it.  Tonight was definitely more Lucille Ball than Julia Child.

Some of my more fun posts to write are when I have a kitchen debacle, such as my Passover cake drama.  Tonight, I decided to try and wing my own black bean burgers.  Now, I have made black bean burgers before using Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook recipe several times, so I thought I'd be ok winging it.

As many of you know, I love kale and have been enjoying making kale chips. I usually put a bit of kale in my version of Tosca's recipe.  Tonight, I thought it would be a good idea to put in, oh, five giant leaves.

It all started off well and good - I put the kale, some red onion and two garlic gloves in my food processor.  A lovely green juice aroma came out.  A pesto like substance emerged.  So far, not so bad. 

I added oats, sunflower seeds and carrots, measuring as I went, thinking to myself, "This will be a great recipe!  I will put it on my blog with actual measurements!"  And then I noticed the mixture was bright green.

"I just need to add the beans," said I.  So I did.  The mixture, at that point, became greenish gray.

"Screw the measuring," I sad, and I added in more oats, more beans and some nutritional yeast until the burgers became . . . somewhat less greenish gray.  At that point, I decided I had put so much food into them that I had to eat them, no matter what awful color they were.  So, I seasoned the mess with salt, pepper and cumin, formed them into six patties and popped the thing in the oven for 25 minutes and hoped for the best.

My intention was to serve this with a baked sweet potato.  However, when I went to prepare my sweet potato, it was . . . slightly mutated and looking dangerously inedible.  While I was willing to try the Green Frankenburger, I wasn't sure I was willing to risk this sweet potato.  So, I rummaged through the fridge for side replacement and ended up with some leftover corn kernels and scallions.  So, I heated them up in a pan with some olive oil, tomato paste concentrate and salt and pepper.  

With five minutes to go with the frankenburgers, I decided to take pity on myself and cover them with cheddar daiya, hoping it would make them more attractive.

The result of the actual food - not that bad.  They could have been a little firmer.  And while the color was definitely weird, I didn't mind the flavor.  I may try and disguise the leftover patties in something else this week.

The result of the cooking itself - I had a good laugh.  Life isn't perfect - why should your kitchen be?  I had fun, I tried something new and nothing caught fire.

While I may not make the Frankenburger again, I'm glad I made it.  Not only did I get my green veggies for the day (and perhaps the week), but I got a reminder of what cooking for me really is, and that's fun.

So, if you want to try cooking, but are intimidated, let this blog be an inspiration to you.  Sometimes even good cooks (and I consider myself a good cook, and so does my mother) have strange things happen in the kitchen.  Cooking is an art, but it's also a learning process, a way to enjoy time with family and friends and a way to discover what you need to nourish yourself.  Most of all, it should be fun. 

What fun have you had in the kitchen lately?

Vegan Black Bean Quesadillas and Kale Chips

Yesterday, I cooked up a large batch of black beans to use for this week's meals.  Tonight, I used some in my vegan quesadillas.

To make the filling, I cut 1/2 a red onion and one yellow pepper into strips.  I sauteed them on high heat until they were soft and slightly browned, a little over five minutes.  I then stirred in the black beans and some minced garlic, and generously seasoned the mix with cumin, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro.  Once the mix was heated through, I removed it from the heat and stirred in a few handfuls of baby spinach.

To cook the quesadillas, I used my griddler.  The griddler is essentially a combination of an electric grill pan and an electric griddle.  Using the panini setting on high gave me grill marks on both sides.  Before I put the top layer of tortilla on, I added cheddar and mozzarella daiya.  I then let the quesadilla cook until brown grill marks appeared on top and the quesadilla was flat.

While the quesadillas were cooking, I made a quick salsa with heirloom grape tomatoes, minced red onion, fresh cilantro and lime juice.

I  also made my own kale chips, using this recipe as a guide for prep and cooking time (300 degrees, 20 minutes).  I decided to amp up the seasoning by adding minced onion instead of salt and pepper.  I think I added a little too much olive oil, but the seasoning mix was spot on.

The quesadillas were very filling.  Granted I overstuffed the second batch, which is what I had for dinner tonight.  I ended up eating three of the four slices.  The first one was a little flatter, and that's likely what I'll eat for lunch tomorrow.

Pasta with Kale, White Beans and "Cheese" Sauce

I had a bunch of random things in my pantry and fridge to use up, so I decided to do an easy pasta dinner tonight.

For the pasta, I used the remaining Quinoa pasta shells I bought awhile ago.  You can use any type of pasta for this dish, but I would recommend something on the smaller side - small shells, orichette, macaroni or orzo, mini fuslili, etc. - as I think it will hold the sauce better.

While I was bringing the water up for the pasta, I sauteed some red onion, kale and garlic in olive oil.  When the veg started to stick to the bottom of the pan, I added some vegetable stock.  I also stirred in the last of the navy beans from earlier this week and seasoned the mix with black pepper.

Meanwhile, I made the "cheese" sauce, which I got from Happy Healthy Life's Spinach Alfredo recipe.  Since I was only making enough for my own lunch and dinner, I scaled the recipe down a bit.  I used the nutritional yeast that I picked up from the bulk aisle, soy-free veganaise, dijon mustard, some of the pasta water and the seasonings the blog recipe recommended - garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

After I drained the pasta, I put it in the pan with the veg and then stirred in the "cheese" sauce.  The creamy texture was spot on, but I think I'd cut back on the mustard next time, as it dominated the other flavors in the dish.  I also wish I had had more beans leftover, as the small amount I had got lost in the dish.

This also might be a good time to mention that I am going to be posting my on 2012 Vegan Kickstart Page in conjunction with PCRM's 21-Day Vegan Kickstart.  The page will include both meals I prepare and meals I eat out.  At the end of the 21 Days, I'll have a customized vegan meal plan that hopefully anyone can follow!  PCRM also provides a sample menu you can use to follow along as well.  While the kickstart technically started today, I encourage you to try going vegan for any 21 day period and see how the experience goes for you.

Kale Simmered in Tomato Shallot Broth

Our local market always has a ton of kale, so I cook with it a lot.  Kale is a form of cabbage - it comes in green and purple, as well as curly and flat leaf varieties.  You may also see Dinosaur Kale, which is also known as Tuscan Kale or black kale.

Kale is "very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein and reasonably rich in calcium."  Fun trivia fact from Wikipedia - "During World War II, the cultivation of kale in the U.K. was encouraged by the Dig for Victory campaign. The vegetable was easy to grow and provided important nutrients to supplement those missing from a normal diet because of rationing."

Since still had some leftover lentil cakes,  I decided to make a quick kale side to go with them.  I sauteed some shallots and garlic in olive oil, and then added a few dollops of concentrated tomato paste.  I then added a head of flat leaf kale, ribs removed and leaves coarsely torn, and two cups of vegan bouillon.   I put the lid on and let everything cook down, seasoning it with black pepper and red pepper flakes before removing it from the pan.  The whole process took about 15 minutes total. 

I liked the flavors, especially the kick of the red pepper flakes, but if I do this again, I'd change two things.  First, I'd use a lot less liquid - it essentially became a quick soup.  Second, while the kale cooked down quite a bit, I think I'd chop it up more to make it more manageable to eat.

Vegan Eggplant Rollatini with Daiya Cheese

I can't recall exactly what brought about my craving for eggplant rollatini this week, but I decided to indulge myself and give making it a shot.  I also decided I'd try and do a vegan version.

Eggplant rollatini involves taking thinly sliced eggplant, frying it, stuffing it and baking it in sauce.  Since I've never made it myself before I consulted two recipes to get a sense of the techniques involved.

I used my mandoline to slice the eggplant.  The advantage of using the mandoline is that you get uniform pieces and the slicing goes very quickly.  I then salted the slices and let them drain on paper towels.

I then set out to make my sauce.  I chopped a medium size yellow onion and a large handful of sliced cremini mushrooms, seasoned them with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and sauteed them in olive oil.  I then added five cloves of minced garlic.  Since there were some brown bits on the bottom of my saucepan, I deglazed it with a bit of wine.  I then chopped up 10 roma tomatoes and added them to the pot, along with some very generous sprinkles of Italian seasoning.  When it came to a vigorous bubble, I turned the heat down and let it simmer.

I then dried off my eggplant and prepared to fry it.  Sometimes, eggplant rotini is breaded, but I didn't like how my test breaded piece came out.  So, instead, I just pan fried the eggplant plain.  I used some olive oil in the pan, but also spritzed the eggplant pieces with olive oil cooking spray.

Once the eggplant pieces were done frying, I set them aside and began work on my filling.  I had some leftover kale from earlier this week, so I sauteed that with some garlic.  Once that was done cooking, I used tongs to put a small heap on the edge of the eggplant, and topped the heap with daiya mozzarella and fresh thyme and parsley.  

I then rolled the eggplant into tight little packages and put them in a square glass baking dish.  I had a little kale & garlic left over, so I sprinkled that, along with the leftover herbs, on top.  Then, I covered the eggplant rolls with sauce and a generous sprinkle of daiya.  

I let the whole thing bake for just under 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven, the point at which the cheese had melted and the sauce was bubbling.  It was a little hard to get out of the pan - in hindsight, I probably should have used toothpicks and let it sit longer, or perhaps made a chunkier sauce or let it cook longer so it was less wet.  But, the flavors were nice and it was a filling dinner, so I am counting this experiment as a success.

 

Adventures in Kabocha Squash

Now that we are in the midst of Fall, all the local markets have an abundance of squash to choose from.  There's the familiar butternut and acorn, but also carnival, hubbard, turban and other lesser known varieties.

This means, of course, that I finally was able to procure kabocha squash.  I wrote in a previous blog that I had a delicious preparation of kabocha squash at SEI back in March and that I've been stalking it ever since.  Now that squash is available in abundance, I was able to procure one.  Granted, once I bought it, I didn't have the foggiest idea what to do with it.

So, I did some research.  Kabocha is also known as Japanese Pumpkin, likely because of it's pumpkin-like shape and the fact that it is primarily grown in Japan.  It is also a popular component of vegetable tempura, which means many of us have probably had it without realizing it.  Kabocha, like many bright orange vegetables, is rich in beta carotene, and also a nice source of iron, vitamin C and potassium. 

I did some googling to see how kabocha is often prepared.  I saw a lot of soups with thyme, and I figured I could get the same flavors by cubing and roasting the kabocha and seasoning it with fresh herbs.  This was an excellent plan, but I didn't take one thing into consideration.  The kabocha is the Fort Knox of vegetables.  I even had trouble hacking through it with my trusty Wusthoff.  So, after I finally got it in half, I scraped out the seeds, put it face down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and roasted the kabocha halves in the oven at 400 for 40 minutes.

I took the kabocha out of the oven to cool.  In the meantime, I minced a shallot, prepped the fresh thyme and shredded some kale.  When the kabocha was cool enough to handle, I began cutting chunks of it from the shells.  It had an almost crumbly texture - possibly, I let it cook for too long, but it had a nice flavor.

I then put the shallots to work in a gob of soy-free Earth Balance, and then added the kabocha chunks, thyme, salt and pepper, kale and fresh parsley.  I then added in some leftover freekeh from last night.  It looked a little dry, so I added a splash of wine to moisten things up. 

The result was a nice, filling cold-weather meal.  The kabocha was similar to butternut squash, but nuttier and creamier (the latter creaminess may have come from the large hunk of faux butter I cooked it in).  I put just the right amount of salt in to enhance the flavor of the whole shebang as well.

Adventures in Random Vegetables: Cherry Bomb Peppers

After practicing yoga very regularly the last several years, I've noticed I'll often get odd ideas in the middle of a particularly vigorous class.  Granted, one of these weird ideas was "I don't want to eat meat anymore," and clearly, that's worked out well for me.

Tonight, after a particularly creative warrior sequence, I got fixated on the following idea - "I want to cook with a vegetable I've never eaten before."  Given that I'm an adventurous eater, this was no small challenge. 

However, the Safeway next door to my yoga studio actually has a nice produce section with a variety of more exotic items - rambutans, dragon fruit, quince, etc.  Given the bevy of fruits available, I was confident I'd find a vegetable that would suit tonight's yoga induced craving.

Cherry Bomb Peppers

I decided to go with Cherry Bomb Peppers, which, coincidentally, were featured on a rerun of Chopped I watched this weekend.   I wasn't sure offhand how hot they were, so I only grabbed two.

After I, along with a platform full of red line refugees, was abandoned by an impatient metro driver who shut the doors before all the passengers could even get off the train and left with a TWENTY minute wait for a train (yoga only gives me so much beatific patience - I. WAS. MAD.), I had time to do a little culinary research on the Cherry Bomb before I got home and got cooking. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Scoville Units, it's a measurement of how much capascin is in a pepper.  Capascin is the chemical that gives peppers their "heat."  The higher the amount of capascin, the more heat a pepper has.  According to this chart, a Cherry Bomb has 2,000 Scoville Units, which puts it solidly ahead of a bell pepper (10 units), but still less spicy than other familiar peppers such as Jalapenos (4,000), Serranos (8,000) and Habaneros (200,000).  Since I regularly use Serranos in my guac, I had better sense of the heat I could expect from the Cherry Bombs.

Anyhow, I decided to finely dice my Cherry Bombs with my Oxo chopper.  I didn't get them as small as I'd like, but had I been less hungry and cranky from my metro debacle, I  would have worked at them a little more.  I then put some minced yellow onion in olive oil and let that cook up, and then added the peppers, shredded kale and black beans.  I seasoned the mixture with a healthy amount of cumin and oregano.  We put it on top of brown rice that my husband made in the rice maker while I was stuck waiting in tunnel and hungry (yes, still bitter two hours later), and I put some mozzarella daiya on mine to balance out the heat a bit.

Husband was a big fan - he finished his meal before I even got halfway through mine, and I'm usually the faster eater.  I liked it also but I think it would have been improved with more of a "sauce."  I was hoping to use some vegetable broth to make one, but our carton in the fridge smelled off, so I didn't use it.

As for the heat, it was satisfying, but not overwhelming.  My lips are still a little tingly a few hours later.  If you like hotter salsas or spicy guac, you'll enjoy cooking with Cherry Bombs.

Concoction Again: Farro with Kale and Mushroom Sauce

I was in concoction mood tonight, and decided to hit our local market after work.  I picked up yellow onions (I prefer red, but they were looking sickly), kale, cremini mushrooms and some pale yellow peppers from Scenic View Orchards, which supplies a number of produce items to the market in the summer months.

I finely diced half of the onion and sliced the mushrooms.  While those were cooking up in some olive oil, I seasoned them with freshly ground black pepper.  Then, I finely diced the peppers and tossed them in as well.  I added some minced garlic, and once it was fragrant, squirted in some tomato paste.  From there, I added white wine, oregano, red pepper flakes ,sea salt and basil.

Yellow peppers from our local market.

As that bubbled, I chiffonaded (is that even a word?) some kale.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this technique, it's cutting greens into ribbon like strips.  Here's a helpful tutorial.  The curly kale was a little challenging to roll, but I made it work.  I was hoping the chiffonade would help it wilt faster and I was semi-successful in this regard.  However, I decided to throw a lid on it to help it along.

We served this over leftover farro.  It was spicier than I intended (methinks the peppers were not "sweet" as advertised), but husband and I like spicy, so I was ok with that.  If you don't have farro or aren't into it, I think this would also make a nice pasta sauce.

Adventures in Vegan Convenience Part II

My weeklong vegan adventures continued this week with a few meals out and cooking with our new pots and pans.

Last night, we went to Evolution Burger.  While a majority of their menu items include beef patties, they also offer a vegetarian burger (Veggie Burger #1) and a vegan burger (Veggie Burger #2).  If you have allergies, ask the counter for the ingredients list.  That's how I discovered the vegan burger was soy free and thus safe for my consumption.

A while ago, I did a post about salad options in Downtown DC.  At that time, I neglected to mention Devon & Blakely, since I primarily went there for pre-made sandwiches, namely their English cheddar and avocado on whole grain.  But, it has a terrific number of vegan options as well.  There's a selection of soups, all of which are clearly labeled to note if they are vegan or vegetarian.   Anyone with any sort of food sensitivities will feel comfortable eating here  - I also saw labels for gluten-free and dairy free.  There are also a number of vegan sandwiches.

The salad options are a lot of fun.  You can opt for a small or large salad, mixed leaf or spinach.  You then take your bowl of greens to the counter.  At that point, you choose from a variety of toppings, including tons and tons of fresh veggies, as well as beans, sunflower seeds, nuts and other vegan friendly toppings.  There are also a number of dairy-free dressings.  Today, I opted for a spinach salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I also had a cup of the vegan lentil soup, which was hearty and full of veggies.

So, while I've been enjoying all of these convenience foods, tonight, I was determined to cook with our brand new ginormous saute pan, as well as some of our other new cookware.  We had an eggplant in the fridge, so I diced that and sauteed it in olive oil with red onion and yellow and red grape tomatoes.  I then threw in some chopped kale, added vegetable broth, and put a lid on the whole thing to steam the kale down.  I seasoned it with salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder (alas, we were out of fresh garlic - I thought we had a few cloves) za'atar and fresh parsley.  I then stirred in some whole wheat rotini (and yes, it was vegan) and the last of my current stash of mozzarella daiya.

The broth added an extra dimension of flavor to the dish, so I think I'll try that trick again soon.  However, it had a higher pasta to veggie ratio than I would have liked.  Rather than making two cups of pasta, next time I'll cut back to a cup and a half.  We'll still have multiple servings, but the veggies will stand out more.  White beans or chickpeas might also be a nice addition, and this mixture can also nicely go over quinoa, farro, couscous or the grain of your choosing.

The First Dish of Kitchen 2.0: Sauteed Seitan with Mushrooms and Kale

You might have noticed a lack of actual cooking posts recently.  There's a good reason for that.  We've been reorganizing our kitchen, washing, assembling and putting away our culinary wedding gifts and packing up our old cookware and accessories to donate.  (Mom, I know you're reading this - I finished the thank you notes today).  So, for the past week, the kitchen has been essentially a construction zone, which meant no cooking for moi.

But, today, the last of everything was put away, which mean the kitchen is back open for business!  I decided to inaugurate Kitchen 2.0 with something special, but not so special that my husband,  who has spent the whole week washing dishes, wouldn't have a pile of dishes in the sink when I was done.

Over the weekend, I had picked up a copy of Veganomicon, which bills itself as "The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook."  Veganomicon contains over 250 vegan recipes, as well as 70 pages of basic preparation and cooking techniques for fruits, veggies and grains, as well as suggestions for kitchen accessories for the vegan kitchen. 

I've been wanting to make something with seitan other than my vegan cheesesteak.  There are a number of good vegan recipes in Veganomicon.  I was torn tonight between page 174's "Seitan Piccata" and page 186's "Sauteed Seitan with Mushrooms and Spinach."  In my meat eating days, I loved a good piccata.  However, piccata involves dredging in flour, which meant more dishes and a mess.  So, I turned to the Sauteed Seitan recipe, which was billed as "how Julia Child would have cooked if she was a vegan."

I did decide to make some swaps.  The recipe called for onions, but I've been dying to make something with leeks lately, so I decided to use those.  I used cremini mushrooms rather than white.  And, since our local market has some incredible kale and grape tomatoes, I decided to incorporate those as well.  And, in honor of the piccata, I decided to use a little lemon.

Soaking sliced leeks prior to cooking.

If you're not familiar with leeks, here's a quick primer.  Leeks are a member of the onion family.  They look like a green onion on steroids, but have a milder flavor than their tiny cousin.  They also should be cooked, rather than eaten raw.  Since dirt gets trapped in their layers as they grow, you want to clean leeks after you slice them, rather than before.  An easy way to do this is to soak them in a bowl of water, breaking up the slices with your fingers to ensure all the hidden grit escapes. 

To slice all the veg, I used our new santoku knife.  Santoku loosely translates from Japanese to English as "'three virtues' or 'three uses', a reference to the three cutting tasks the knife performs well: slicing; dicing; and mincing."  It alleges to provide more balance than a typical chef's knife, especially when prepping veg.  True to the promise of the Santoku, I was able to get thin, precise slices of everything with minimal effort.

The original recipe called for something with a good lid, so I decided to prepare everything in our new french oven, which can be used both stovetop and in the oven.  I also was so excited to have a french oven that I decided to use it, despite never having cooked with one before.  You're not supposed to use this type of cookware with "dry" cooking, so I made sure to use plenty of olive oil so as not to damage the enamel prior to adding the vegetable broth and wine.  I did panic a little when the seitan and leeks started to stick to the bottom of the cookware, but the nice brown bits came right up when I incorporated the liquid and scraped them gently with a wooden spoon.

Hooray for not destroying the good cookware!

I was glad to make the extra effort of using the sauce and broth, as well as some fresh lemon juice.  It added an extra flavor dimension.  But, in my "oh crap, I broke my big girl cookware" moment, I may have added a little bit too much broth, which overwhelmed the wine a bit.  I also think it would have benefited from being served over some brown rice, farro or barley.  I may add some when I reheat the leftovers, which would soak up the leftover broth quite well.  But otherwise, a filling, hearty dish!

Adventures in Farro

If you haven't tried farro, you are missing out.  When I googled it to provide you with a definition of this tasty whole grain, I encountered a number of articles that discuss how people often argue about what farro really is.  In my mind, this NY Times Article provides the best description:

Farro is not wheat, but a plant and grain all its own. A grain of farro looks and tastes somewhat like a lighter brown rice. It has a complex, nutty taste with undertones of oats and barley. But lacking the heaviness of many whole-wheat grains, farro tastes more elegant than earnest.

Farro needs to be soaked and then boiled, so if you are planning on including it in a quick dinner, I recommend doing what I did, which is to make a big pot of it on Sunday and stick it in the fridge.  The cooked farro will keep well.

When I got home from yoga, I heated some olive oil in a large saute pan.  When the oil was ready, I added chopped portabello mushrooms, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, pinto beans, minced garlic and kale.  To help the kale along, I put a lid on the saucepan so it would steam down.

I seasoned the dish with a pinch of sea salt, some freshly ground pepper, za'atar and smoked paprika.  I had thought about adding some goat cheese, but after starting my copy of Forks Over Knives on the metro this evening, I asked myself whether or not the dish really needed dairy and decided it would be fine without it.

The result was hearty and filling, with a nice dash of spicy-smokiness.

Adventures in Spices: Smoked Paprika and Za'atar

Awhile ago, I had bought some smoked paprika and za'atar with the intention of using them to season homemade pita chips.  I still haven't gotten around to making the pita chips, but I did decide to experiment with the seasonings in tonight's concoction.

Smoked paprika is sometimes  referred to as "Smoked Spanish Paprika."  It's made from "smoked, ground pimiento peppers," and, not shockingly knowing it's alias, it can be found featured in Spanish cusisine.

When I bought the smoked paprika at Whole Foods, the cooking consultant who helped me locate it recommended I pair it with Za'atar, a "mixture of sumac, sesame seed and herbs frequently used in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas."

Tonight, I put some wild rice up in the rice cooker. While that was bubbling away, I sauteed a finely diced Vidalia onion in olive oil and stirred in some cremini mushrooms, chickpeas, diced yellow pepper, shredded carrots, minced garlic and kale.  I stirred in the cooked rice and seasoned the whole thing with a teaspoon of Za'atar and half a teaspoon of the smoked paprika.  I definitely got the smokiness I expected from the paprika.  And, it was a nice flavor adventure compared to my typical Italian (oregano, basil) or Mexican (cumin, cilantro) influenced concoctions.