Native Addendum

As promised - the CA Native Plant Symposium Bean Salad.

Like all good cooks, measuring is intuitive to the Manzanita Chef, Carrie Clough. How generous of her to take time from her busy schedule to send me this recipe. The bean salad was a medley of red, brown and white beans. I knew I tasted dill. Have fun with this recipe, make it your own and serve it warm.

"For the bean salad, there were carrots caramelized in olive oil, thinly sliced shallots, half of which were caramelized, half left raw, a little fresh dill, plenty of local olive oil, sea salt, and a lemon-sherry vinegar dressing which had lemon juice, lemon zest, sherry vinegar, honey and brown sugar (but you could use just honey). The beans were from Tom Shepherd, who is a farmer located in the Carpinteria area. He has the best beans - I especially love his limas."

Energy efficient Quinoa?

I was attempting to throw together dinner ahead of time and looking for ways to cut back on clean-up, I had the “bright” idea of doing a one-pan stir-fry with quinoa. Well it doesn't make sense thinking back on it, and I don't know why I did it. But it worked, and it only worked because of the fact it was being made ahead of time. The time this dish spent in the tupperware container was enough to complete the quinoa's cooking and expansion time! Served immediately and this would've been a disaster.

All ingredients are organic & gmo free
2 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 medium onion diced
3 cloves of garlic chopped
½ cube firm tofu, drenched with Bragg's aminos
¾ c water + ¼ cup Bragg's apple cider vinegar
An additional ¼ cup water
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
½ cube flavored tofu (I used Thai)
½ lemon
~1/2 cup of quinoa (I eyeballed it)
2 tablespoons oil
½ green pepper, sliced
1 head of broccoli cut to trees
black pepper
grated ginger (from your frozen stash)



In a large skillet on medium-high, heat the oil, then add onions and carrots. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, then add firm tofu and allow to cook until onions brown on tips. Now add the pepper and grated ginger, then add the quinoa. After about a minute add the garlic, broccoli, flavored tofu, and green pepper. Add the water-vinegar mixture; about half of it. Stir, and try to concentrate the quinoa near or in the hot water. Once it starts to simmer, add the rest of the water-vinegar mixture. Let this cook for a few minutes, until the quinoa begins to expand. Now transfer the dish to a large tupperware container, add the cilantro and juice from the lemon half, and add a little more Bragg's aminos. Pour the other ¼ cup of water over the works and seal the lid. In about an hour, if all goes well, you'll have a complete dish with fully expanded quinoa. Cool huh.

Going Native

Sustainable Gardening has caught my attention. The idea is that if you plant "native," your yard will require less water, less effort, less waste, be attractive and encourage wildlife to visit your yard. So, I'm on a mission to learn exactly what these natives are. Whew. My head hurts a little. Know your soil and plant for your soil. Read the label, if it says sun, plant in the sun. Duh. If that little one gallon plant says that it will be a 6' x 6' adult, believe it and give it room to grow. Plant an evergreen foundation for year round beauty. Have a plan.

On Saturday my neighbor and I went to the best all day symposium ever. It was sponsored by the CA Native Plant Society. Great speakers, right here in my town at the awesome Camarillo Ranch. All day, 8-5, meant this woman with food allergies had to do a little planning. I ate a big breakfast and packed a lunch.

After getting our name tags we headed over to the coffee table - low and behold, a pile of fresh strawberries, a basket of clementines and the usual pastries. Of course coffee and tea. I made myself a plate of strawberries and clementines and found a table. The pile of strawberries and clementines never dwindled all day. Donated by a local grower, they were superb.

After 3 great speakers it was time for lunch. I told my neighbor I would take a walk around the ranch and meet her back at the table in about 30 minutes. 200+ attendees were going to take awhile to get through the lunch line and I wanted to see the ranch, and I had packed a lunch.

Coming back from exploring the ranch, I noticed people sitting around with plates of green salad, what looked like a french fry but was clearly a yam, and beans. Could this be? I ran to the back of the line. By the time I got to the buffet table, the fried yams were gone, but the beans and salad and guacamole were plentiful. And on a separate table, under a big sign that read "For gluten free diets" were cookies. It was a 95% vegan meal, made with 95% local ingredients. Delicious, tasty, beautiful. The lunch was catered by Manzanita Chef Carrie Clough. She's an omnivore chef who can fill a vegan request. One of her credentials is that she worked with a hero of mine, Alice Waters. Carrie is a chef with a wonderful mission statement: "Food in our lives is like a character with many faces....." I went to the kitchen to thank her. It occurred to me that maybe she had taken a picture of the buffet table that I could add to this blog entry. Alas. No one had taken pictures of the lunch spread that she knew of. Sorry folks. You'll have to take my word for it. Vegan can be very attractive and tasty - oh yeah, you knew that already.

So for lunch at home today I tried to duplicate her lunch. Not as tasty. Pretty though. I shall continue to work on a bean dish as tasty as hers. When I sign off here, I'll shoot her an email and thank her again, maybe she'll share her recipe for 200+. Then I'll share with you.

Easy Tofu Sandwich

This one may not be gluten free the way I made it, however if you substitute the flour based bread with a gluten free style, you'll be there. I was trying to figure out how to make something quick, but I wanted it to be filling as well, and I didn't have much on hand. I did have:

2 slices bread (gf option) toasted
about 3 slices, 1/4 inch thick or so, of tofu
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon oil (peanut worked here)
1 tablespoon "nayonnaise"
1/4 of a green pepper, sliced
1/8 of a medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon mustard
celery salt, pepper, and paprika to taste



Soak the tofu slices in the soy sauce and vinegar for a few minutes. Heat up the oil in a saute pan and add the green pepper and onion, seasoning to taste. After a minute or two, flip the veg and add the tofu, lightly browning both sides. Once that is complete, stack your sandwich and garnish with vegan mayo and mustard. Maybe even tobasco if you care to be so bold.

Red Beans, Penne, Roasted Peppers and Garlic

The west coast has been basking in delightful weather for over a week. It's hard to stay inside. After the big rains, everything is greener, blooming, fresh and settled. I look out over my weedy backyard and am not discouraged. Another good reason to leave the computer and head outside.

Dinner tonight was inspired in part by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's book The Vegan Table. It's a book designed for entertaining, with delightful menus. I used her spicy black bean burgers as a guide for the red bean balls. I think these are quite tasty. I left out her onion and added the roasted garlic.

Brown rice penne noodles have been on my menu everyday this week. It must be the fresh air and physical activity that has me craving carbs. Just look at them. What a backdrop for flavors and color.


The Recipe
2 red bell peppers
2 heads garlic
1 jalapeno pepper

2 cups cooked red beans
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp chili power
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBLS fresh parsley chopped
2 slices bread, cubed (1 cup)

1/4 cup corn meal
4 Tbls safflower oil

1 small bunch kale
12 oz brown rice Penne noodles
1-2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees and roast for one hour: 2 red bell peppers and 2 heads of garlic; add 1 jalapeno pepper for last 20 minutes. cool

In blender: combine one roasted pepper, the cloves from one head roasted garlic and 1/2 roasted jalapeno pepper, 1/4 tsp cumin, 2 tsp chili pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp oregano

In a bowl mash 2 cups cooked red beans with potato masher and add the above vegetables and spices; with your hands mix in 2 slices of fresh bread cut into cubes. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Skin the second roasted red pepper, and dice. Put in a big bowl.

Remove the garlic meat from the second head of garlic and add to bowl.

Remove the stems and tough spine from kale leaves and discard. Chop the kale leaves and add to bowl.

Cover and set aside. Keep at room temperature.

Fill a large kettle with water and 1-2 tsp salt for the penne noodles. When water comes to a boil add the noodles and cook according to package directions.

Now it's time to make the red bean balls. The bean mixture may be a little moist, but don't worry. Shape roughly into a balls using about 1-2 tbls of bean mixture and roll in the corn meal. In small batches, fry in safflower oil until crisp. Keep warm.

When noodles are cooked, drain and dump steaming hot into the bowl of chopped red pepper, garlic and kale. Toss. The hot noodles will steam the kale.

Serve hot with red bean balls. Delicious.

Endings and Beginnings.

Well, it's official. I am unemployed. Saturday was my last day at work and I managed to avoid working on Valentine's Day for the first time in over 20 years. Time to load up and move to Arkansas but not before tying up lots of loose ends and saying some adieus.

Today I met my dear friend Mendi for lunch at the Spiral Diner in Ft. Worth. She is a fellow florist but it's not her first love and she is pursuing her degree in the fall. A new beginning for her as well. We have been horrible about keeping in touch although we only live an hour away from each other. I have been trying to rook her into blogging with us one day a week but she has a husband and two kids and the logistics of it would not work for her. And I don't think her intro to vegan food today impressed her much. Although, she is too much of a lady to say so. She had a burrito that did not look very appealing but my curried noodle dish was excellent. The Ft. Worth location seems to be much more grounded and consistent than the Dallas one. But I think that of the the city as well, less flash but more substance. She will be one of the things I will miss. We have some shared memories and she has had a few nice things to say about me lately. Flattery doesn't even have to be true to feel good.


I feel spring in the air after our heavy snowfall of last week and made my favorite "take to the picnic/potluck" dish. I veganized it by making a vegan "feta" from a recipe I found on recipezaar. The original recipe is from epicurious. It is one of those dishes that tastes even better the day after. Use full fat feta if you are not vegan.

"Feta"

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 lb firm tofu, herb flavored, cubed or crumbled

Whisk together all ingredients except the tofu to make a marinade. Crumble the tofu into the marinade and marinate a few hours or overnight. Drain before adding to the orzo.

Orzo

1 pound orzo
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 1/4 cups "feta "(6 ounces), crumbled
1 cup thinly sliced scallion greens

Cook orzo in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until tender, then drain well in a colander.
Whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl, then add hot orzo and toss. Cool orzo, then toss with pine nuts, feta, and scallion greens. Season with salt and pepper.


This recipe is one of those that you can modify according to your tastes. I added dried cranberries. If you have access to nice tomatoes, toss em in. Chopped basil would work nicely if you added them just before serving.The "feta" has the taste if a somewhat wetter constency. Mr. Carnivore was even impressed!

Simplified Revisited (Spud-Rev)

Okay we're doing fried shredded potatoes; again? Okay maybe this is the second go around, but it's so good! Good for you, I don't know... This is a slight variation. I used one white potato and one red potato, along with a shallot. More heat, more oil, equals better results. Calorie-wise this is easily a main dish; I had it for breakfast, and good thing as I was transmogrified to dinner time due to the circumstances of the environmental in my mental. Make the leftovers for dinner? Of course I did. Somehow, this method can stretch two potatoes into two meals. It's not whack, it's def.

1 ea large white potato
1 ea medium red potato
1 ea large shallot
3 tablespoons oil (I used peanut for that china wok atmosphere)
salt, pepper, celery salt, garlic powder





Grate the potatoes intermittently in order to mix the two kinds; hopefully your grater is old enough that it was made in U.S.A. Next, slice the shallots thin, but not too thin. Get the oil hot in a medium fry pan, add the shallots, then add the grated potatoes in handfuls to make something like 4” diameter mounds. After a few minutes, squash them down with a spatchula, then flip; season with the aforementioned seasoning, and serve. And serve. And serve.

Dr Oz and the Incas

Out my front door, avocados hang green and hidden behind long elegant leaves, the tree branches reaching over the fence in a neighborly gesture of generosity.

In my backyard, 18 parsley plants thrive in the rain.

Green. Parsley and Avocados. Hmmmm. Green. Dr. Oz comes to mind. Green apples, parsley, spinach, lime, lemon, celery, ginger...... will inspire today's dinner - a variation on a theme. Not exactly Dr. Oz's green drink. Not exactly tabbouleh. Bring on the Quinoa from the Incas for a complete protein.

Quinoa and Parsley with Avocado

Garnished with grape tomatoes, sliced sweet onion and baby salad greens.

1 1/2 Cup water

3/4 cup quinoa

This is where you can be very generous. More of any of these ingredients will disappear in the salad quite nicely.

2/3 cup chopped parsley

1 green apple, chopped about 1 cup

1/3 cup chopped celery with leaves

Dressing:

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

Bring water to a boil. Add quinoa. Bring back to a boil, then lower heat and cook about 12 minutes.

Take off burner and let it absorb any water in pan. Cool.

Chop vegetables and apple.

When quinoa is cool, add vegetables and apple. Pour 1/2 of the dressing over the quinoa and stir gently to mix everything together. Cool covered in the refrigerator 2-4 hours or overnight to let the flavors blend.

To serve, plate individually (or on a big platter for a crowd) - for each person:

Put a small bed of lettuce and fresh whole leaf parsley on the plate.

Then half an avocado, sliced sweet onion and grape tomatoes.

Pile on the quiona.

Pass the dressing.

Pastel de Choclo

This recipe hails from my friend Bethany who's husband is from Chile. It is basically a Shepherd's Pie made with a corn topping that is one of those dishes that changes from cook to cook. She makes it with either meat or textured vegetable protein. After last week's fiasco with the mole and attempting to make a vegan "meat"loaf last night, with equally disastrous results, I am making it sans faux "meat". You can use any vegetables you have on hand that will stand up to sauteeing and then baking. Like me, Bethany is throwing away the safety net and off to new beginnings. She is off to Chile with her husband and beautiful daughter. I am off to live in a trailer in Arkansas. It pays to have connections. And guts. And style. She has all three.

Pastel de Choclo

Filling

• Assorted chopped vegetables for texture and flavor(I used zucchini, carrots, mushrooms and celery)


• 2 large onions finely minced


• 3 cloves garlic


• salt, pepper, oregano, cumin and paprika(Hungarian Hot preferred) to taste


• sliced olives

Saute vegetables in olive oil until tender crisp, add spices and let sit for flavors to develop. Place into a 9" x 13" casserole dish and top with sliced olives. I added raisins.

Topping

• 1 lb frozen corn


• 2 shallots


• 2 cloves garlic


• 2 sprigs finely minced basil, leaves only


• 1-2 teaspoons corn starch
  

Saute shallots and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add corn which has been pulverized in a food processor. It is important to leave some kernels chopped and not pureed. Saute until 1/3 of the water has evaporated and then add cornstarch which has been dissolved in a bit of water. Let thicken, take off the heat and add basil. Spoon topping onto vegetable mixture, smooth out and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes until the topping is brown.

I researched a bunch of recipes and the ingredients and techniques vary. If you have access to fresh corn, you can grate it and then saute for a bit longer. In South America where the corn is not so sweet, superfine sugar is sprinkled on top which adds sweetness and crunch. Sliced hard boiled eggs are a frequent addition. Basil seems to be always used in the topping however. I did not have black olives so used green, added raisins and used herbs de provence instead of oregano because that is what I had on hand.

When I make this again, I think I will double the topping ingredients to make that layer thicker. I am also thinking I should have pulverized the corn a bit more for a more pudding like consistency. I have not had it before so have no point of reference. It is however quite delicious. I'll bring the leftovers to work tomorrow and see how it stands up to my friend Bethany's standard. Buena Suerte en Chile mi amiga! Abrazos!

Black Bean Soup With Tofu

1 cup dry black beans
½ large onion, chopped large
10 baby carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, eighthed
1/3 block of tofu, cubed
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
several cups water



Soak beans in a large bowl by covering with water, at least 2 inches, for about 4 hours. Transfer beans and liquid to large pot, and bring to a simmer (boil then reduce heat.) Add salt, onions, carrots, and celery. Simmer for about ½ hour. Add tofu and garlic, along with spices and vinegar. Simmer for another hour, adding water if necessary.

Benefits

Vegan Bake Sale Sends $3285.43 to Doctors Without Border

to help the Citizens of Haiti

Sunday, tables were set up outside Locali, (pronounced 'locally') a Los Angeles health food store, and filled with baked goods. I bought a raw - vegan - organic - gluten and dairy free carrot cake from Manna Food and Beverage that was very good; A big chocolate dipped raw crispy cookie from Decadently Raw, beautiful and crunchy; some balls of dates and nuts and cocoa that reminded me of those bourbon balls Alice used to bring to all the company parties, but without her bourbon; and a some coconut bars that are a secret recipe that will go into a cookbook by the gals at Just the Food in the fall. It was fun to be in a crowd of food conscience young adults enthusiastic about helping relieve some of the discomfort in Haiti.

Ashley, one of the recipe testers (how do you sign up for that job?) for the new cookbook took me inside Locali and helped me find the Daiya John has been talking about. The Daiya I found is made with Cassava - that deadly root I showed you not long ago, the root that isn't really that nutritious. Like John, I'm not too keen on trying to make something into something it's not. But the minute I got home I put some sliced onion and Daiya between two corn tortillas and fried them. It melts like cheese, it smells like cheese and almost tastes like cheese. The list of ingredients suggests that I need to find my protein somewhere else.

Black Beans with Daiya and Pico de Gallo

1# dry black beans

water to cover + 2"

Bring water to a boil, turn the heat to simmer and cook about an hour. Check for doneness. They probably have another hour to go.

add:

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup shredded carrot

1 cup chopped kale - cut the stem out, you want it to wilt into the background

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

cook until beans are tender

taste and adjust flavors

Plate (bowl) up the beans and sprinkle with Daiya - I put mine into the microwave for 30 sec to melt the Daiya

Garnish with parsley and pico de gallo

Pico de Gallo today was some grape tomatoes, avocado, onion, lemon juice and salt.

I could eat this everyday. It's delicious and so pretty. It's a western meal for sure.

Time for dessert!

I thought I would try a little dessert this week.  I again didn't tell anyone it was my Vegan attempt, and nobody guessed it!

This recipe is from the book, Vegan Cookies by Moskowitz & Romero.

Deluxe Cocoa Brownies
Makes an 8 x 8 pan.  Line pan with parchment paper, covering bottom and up sides.  Pre-heated 325 oven.

3 oz. firm silken tofu (1/4 of the pkg)
1/4 non dairy milk  (I used vanilla soy milk)
1/2 c. canola oil
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/2. cup unsweetened cocoa power
1 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt.

Puree the tofu, nondiary milk, and oil in a blender or food processor until smooth and fluffy.  Scraping sides.

Transfer the tofu mixture to a bowl. Use a fork to vigorously mix in the sugar.  Add vanilla.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.  Use spatula to fold and mix batter until smooth.  Transfer to pan and smooth out the top.  The batter will sink into the pan as it cooks.

(I added chocolate chips to the top)   Bake 30-32 min.  Let cool at least 15 min before cutting.

I found these to be more cake like, with a light cocoa flavor.  I would not describe these a fudgy...  worth a try.  The kids liked them!

Holy Mole!

It was as I suspected. It looked like something my neighbor's dog might have left behind. I marinated sliced tofu in mole sauce and then baked it for 15 minutes on each side in a 400 degree oven, sauced it with warm mole and served it on corn tortillas. The rice was beautiful. Mr. Carnivore ate the tofu but passed on the rice. "It's just rice". I passed on the tofu and ate the rice. "Just rice" is fine with me.

Sometimes I think that veganizing certain recipes is trying to make something taste and look like something it is not. It was not turkey mole. It was tofu masquerading as turkey mole. Now that I am okay with not eating turkey, I think I will stick with trying to eat food that tastes like what it is.

I promise to do better next week.