Cauliflower and Curried Peas

When I was a kid, my dad used to bake cauliflower florets in a hot oven until they were crispy and chewy. I did the same today, and topped them with some peas and onions fried in curry spices. Not bad!

Lime Quinoa with Radishes and Pepitas

Quinoa is a complete protein. No. Yes!! I threw these ingredients together because the combination reminded me of a posole soup served at the restaurant where I work. In the end, the flavors didn't exactly come together. It may have needed another ingredient or two, or perhaps fresher quinoa; mine is getting old. That said, I cleaned my plate and my body was very happy with me. You can't *really* go wrong with a meal made up of whole, unprocessed plant foods.

1 cup boiled quinoa
juice from 1/2 a lime
2 radishes, chopped
small handful pepitas (pumpkin seeds) - I used raw

Cabbage-Lentil Saute

I BREAK FOR LENTILS!
HONK IF YOU LOVE CABBAGE!

Okay, so I wouldn't make it in the bumper sticker business. But if my rowdy proclamations leave you even a little bit excited, you should try my delicious cabbage and lentil saute.



This is a simpler and more delicate version of the cabbage and beans recipe I posted about in March.

1/2 cup dry lentils
1/2 a small white cabbage, chopped
1/2 a small yellow onion, sliced
1/2 cup tomato-based pasta sauce
few Tbls. olive oil

Rinse lentils and set to simmer, covered, in 1 1/2 cups of water. In a medium pan, saute cabbage and sliced onion in olive oil 5-10 minutes until tender but still slightly crunchy. (This is where I remove the cabbage from the heat and grind an unholy amount of black pepper into the mix.) When lentils are cooked through, drain off any excess water and toss them together with the cabbage and pasta sauce. Enjoy it two days in a row! Leftovers are just as good with this one.

Orange Fried Tofu

Oh boy, this is good. It's somewhat of a treat, because the sauce has a quarter cup of sugar in it. But there's nothing wrong with indulging once in a while, and I shared with Scott because I'm nice. Let me tell you though, when it came to be plate-lickin' time, *someone* with prom hair and a nose ring confiscated the dishware.

I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I added a lot more orange juice, almost half a cup from one juicy fresh-squeezed Valencia, and only half the tofu.

I think it was basically the tastiest thing ever. Try it next time you're in the mood for Chinese take-out!

Vegan Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles are a Mexican dish made from tortilla chips sauteed in salsa until they get soft and chewy.



My chilaquiles are made from whole corn and flaxseed tortilla chips, and organic salsa without additives, because that's how I roll.

1 handful corn tortilla chips
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup cooked beans- black, kidney or Mexican red
1 Tbls chopped cilantro
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 small tomato, diced

In a medium pan, heat a small amount of olive oil and add tortilla chips and bell pepper. Pour salsa over chips and toss to coat. Fry several minutes until chips begin to get soggy, then add beans and cilantro. Toss gently once more, then plate on a bed of shredded cabbage. Top with extra cilantro, scallions and diced fresh tomatoes. Cholula is the perfect chilaquiles hot sauce!

From Scratch Chunky Tomato Sauce

Hi, I'm back! And I'm back to eating solid foods.

I don't know about you, but I have a graveyard of half-empty jars of tomato sauce in the back of my refrigerator. This one-off sauce tastes much fresher than storebought, and doesn't condemn you to a week of spagetti dinners. Enjoy it.



Oh, tomatoes- they're such little prom queens of flavor! Crazy delicious on top of steamed carrots and asparagus.

1 whole ripe tomato
olive oil
1 Tbls vinegar
swirl agave nectar
Sriracha hot sauce
dried garlic
dried basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Quarter the tomato and place in a pan drizzled with olive oil. Roast in a 375 oven for 15-20 minutes, until soft. Scrape tomato pieces into a pyrex bowl and mash with a fork; it should be very juicy. Add vinegar, hot sauce and spices and continue to mash to desired consistency. You could use a blender or food processor to get it really smooth, but I prefer less cleanup. Pour sauce over whatever makes you happy.

Green Smoothie Recovery

I'm back from the oral surgeon two wisdom teeth poorer, but two gaping bloody holes richer! The entire procedure with the harried surgeon through my cut-rate dental insurance took about ten minutes, no joke. Yank, yank, stitch, stitch, go eat some ice cream. My favorite part was when the surgeon and his assistent took to urgent, panicked whispering immediately after finishing, examining the tools they had just used and saying "Is this what you used?? Who put this tray together?" etc. I never did get a straight answer from them as to what was amiss. Just some vague explanation about the wrong-sized razor, and utterly unconvincing assurances that they used the RIGHT one on me.

Now, however, I am back home with no obvious complications, just lots of drool and gauze. I made a special smoothie out of pear, mango, banana, avocado, dandelion greens, spinach and parsley and I will say this: I drink green smoothies every day, and enjoy them thoroughly, but the first drooling, artless sip of this smoothie in particular was so refreshing and so vitalizing that I feel compelled to mention it here. Plenty of vitamins, including lots of Vitamin K for blood clots that stay in place, good monosaturated fats, fiber and antioxidants make my green smoothie the perfect recovery food.

That's not to say I won't also have vegan ice cream later, maybe after the novocaine wears off and I am miserable and Scott is crunching on tortilla chips.

But for now, amazing greeny-ness.

Honey-Lemon Grapes

This recipe is from World's Healthiest Foods. Raw honey whisked with fresh lemon juice and zest, drizzled over as many different colored grapes as you can find. In a wine glass because you are that classy.



P.S. This will be the last non-pureed recipe I'll be posting for a while, because tomorrow I'm getting my wisdom teeth out. Green smoothie and mashed yam week for me!

Walnut Tapenade

Many a vegetarian has been tempted back to carnivorous habits by the rich and fishy paste that is Tapenade. Okay, that's probably not true. In fact, even in the old days when I ate fish, I probably would have turned down a traditional tapenade at the merest suggestion of the word 'anchovy', or maybe even any word beginning with A, just to be safe.

This tapenade, though, is made with walnuts, and is awesomely delicious. I came up with the idea after simultaneously snacking on walnuts and olives and realizing that there was something magical happening in my mouth.



kalamata olives, minced
raw walnuts, chopped
olive oil
lemon juice
dried garlic garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Make up your own proportions, and degree of smoothness. Pop it in the blender/food processor for a more pureed consistency than that shown by yours truly, lazy bones who didn't want to wash the blender. Enjoy with crackers, vegetables or toast!

Tangy Roasted Asparagus

Spring vegetables: so hot right now.



And by hot I mean hot... and cheap, and in season.

These only took five minutes to cook!

asparagus spears
olive oil
white mustard seeds
dried chili flakes
fresh lemon juice
fresh lemon zest
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

I tossed all parts together except the salt and lemony bits, laid them out on aluminum foil and roasted them for five minutes at 400 degrees.

Most vegetables, and especially asparagus spears, get insanely bright green when they first begin to cook. Here's a neat rule of thumb for any time you roast, grill or steam your veggies: take them off the heat when their color is at its most vibrant, and you'll get the highest concentration of nutrients, not to mention the best flavor. A friendly tip from your neighborhood Vegetable Mine. :)

Vegan Probiotics, Part II

From Chemistry Project to Dinner in seven days!



My sauerkraut has matured! It tastes like amazing pickles! It has a nice fresh crunch that's balanced with a tangy fermented/marinated flavor. I had no problems with mold or cloudy brine all week. Since it fermented in glass, I was able to watch the bubbles meandering to the surface each day. That made me happy like I was doing my lab experiment right. Most of the activity seems to have taken place around mid-week; by now, my sauerkraut is fully fermented, and shelved in the fridge. Yum yum yum!

Roasted Garlic Tomato Cups

Messing around with presentation is fun, but when it comes time to actually insert food into my face, aesthetics plays a minor role, like me fifteen years ago in little league: way out in left field, picking flowers.

To eat this dish, I cut the tomato in two pieces, gave one to Scott, and rather unglamorously piled the leftover stuffing on top. Not so fancy, but the new ratio of cup to stuffing tasted just right.

I used:

1 large tomato
1 small carrot, grated
6-8 manzanilla olives, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped small
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped small
splash rice vinegar
olive oil
1/2 cup uncooked short grain brown rice
1 bulb garlic
chopped scallion and flax seeds for garnish

Set rice cooking in 1 cup of water. Cut off the top of the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, hollow out the tomato and set aside. Toss vegetables and olives in small amount of oil and vinegar.

Mash four or five roasted garlic cloves into the cooked rice with some olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Layer garlic rice and vegetable mixture inside the tomato cup and serve with extra filling.

Vegan Probiotics

Hold up! There's more going on here than just a fish-eye view of me and my living room reflected in the lid of a French press. Indeed, there are billions of things going on in any pot of vegetables engaged in active lacto-fermentation.

Homemade sauerkraut has all the benefits of raw cruciferous vegetables, plus it helps populate your digestive tract with friendly bacteria, in the manner of yogurt.

My improvised fermenting apparatus uses two whole cabbage leaves playing goalie to the shredded cabbage below, and a heavy glass on top as a weight. Everything is well-washed, of course, but not sanitized. This isn't like home canning, where sterility is essential for preventing... botulism death, and whatnot. We're purposefully growing micro-organisms, remember? The salt and the good bugs will banish the bad.

My sauerkraut is only a day old, and needs about six more days of fermentation before the harvest. I'll post again at chow time!