Eggless Fritatta

I've never been a big breakfast person. Unlike my hubby, who considered breakfast the best meal of the day, I tend toward supper being the height of epicurean delight. I do, however, like the things people eat for breakfast so I consider it normal that I chow down later in the day, gobbling up all manner of goodies and sometimes serving breakfast twice a day with no complaints from my spouse.

With my doctor prescribing a vegan diet about 2 years ago, I had to wave goodbye to bacon and eggs and toast slathered in butter. I bid farewell to homemade biscuits dripping with honey, potatoes fried in bacon grease, and coffee topped off with real cream.

On the other hand, I lost a lot of weight, my senior citizen skin looks great, I have more energy, and I never have to lay down and take a nap after eating a huge meal. Not that I don't eat humongous meals, it's just that they aren't the sort I used to pamper myself with and I no longer want a nap after eating.

One of my favorite dinner recipes has always been a frittata. Especially if it's topped with about a pound of cheddar cheese. Well, those days are gone--and at best, I haven't been subjected to another hospital stay or, worse yet, colon surgery because of twisted plumbing. And all from eating vegan from the minute I got out of the hospital till now.

As you know, if you've read my posts for a while, I'm always messing around with recipes, either veganizing an old family recipe or taking recipes from vegan books and trying to make them suit my own taste buds. Sometimes I fail--utterly. But sometimes I come up with a good one. Those are the ones I post so you can enjoy them too.

So for any of you who love breakfast, either in the morning or for supper, here's my latest endeavor. I do have to say that you'll know instantly that this fritatta wasn't made with eggs. But the mouth-feel of eggs is there and while your brain won't be fooled, your tummy will be happy because this fritatta actually tastes pretty good.

EGGLESS FRITTATA

1 lb. firm tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
2 garlic cloves, diced
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. black salt
Pepper to taste
1 large or 2 small potatoes
2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 lb. mushrooms of your choice, chopped
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
1 tsp. dried dill weed
2-3 drops of your favorite hot sauce

Pre-cook the potatoes until they are half done. I microwaved mine wrapped in a piece of paper towel. When the potato is cool enough to handle, slice it into rounds and place them in a heavy skillet lined with 2 Tbs. of olive oil. I used my big cast iron one. Place the potatoes in a circle on the bottom of the pan. If you have potato slices left over, use them to line the edges. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to flavor the potatoes themselves.

Spread the diced onion on top of the potatoes.

Add the mushrooms and artichoke hearts. We are building layers, so don't stir your ingredients.

Add the spinach. Lightly sprinkle the vegetable layers with salt and pepper.

Into your blender place:

The drained tofu, nutritional yeast, mustard, onion powder, diced garlic, turmeric, hot sauce, black salt, and dill weed.

Blend until the mixture is smooth. Poor it evenly over the skillet contents. Sprinkle with more dill weed. If you desire, you can add vegan cheese, but I didn't have any so I made the frittata as above.

Place the skillet, uncovered, into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the top is set and nicely browned. The tofu mixture will have spread throughout the vegetables and baked evenly. Allow the dish to stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Because the mixture is nearly impossible to remove from the skillet in one piece, I serve right out of the pan by cutting in pie shaped wedges.

I served fresh fruit and my version of cornbread as sides.

Serves 4-5

Black salt is available at www.myspicesage.com. It is the only place I've found it. For some unexplainable reason, it adds an eggy taste to the recipes it's used in. The salt is quite inexpensive and a small bag goes a long way. I am now never without it in my cupboard. It adds a lot to vegan versions of eggs. 

Beef Stew You Won't Believe Is Vegan

When my daughter was in the 10th grade, she tried out to be a cheerleader and made the team. You'd think there would be no parent involvement in having a cheerleader in the family, but guess again. The first call I got was from the cheer coach, informing me that the cheerleaders always gave a special dinner for parents and faculty and the cheer mothers were to do all the cooking. I was assigned a stew recipe and told in no uncertain terms that I was not to change a single ingredient as this particular recipe had been tried and improved over the years and was now at perfection. I was to double the recipe and show up with it in hand--along with my cheer daughter--at the school cafeteria at 4:30 on a particular afternoon. That would allow us time to prepare for the onslaught that was to descend within the hour.

I did as instructed, never even tasting the stew to be delivered. In fact, I was so busy with the serving, that by the time I got to eat, there was no stew left anywhere. I heard people talking about how wonderful the dinner had been so you'd better believe that by the next night I'd made what came to be called in our house "the recipe" for my own family. Over the years, I've passed this recipe on to untold people because once tasted, they always ask how to make it. I always tell them the same thing I was told: "It's perfect; don't change anything."

Once I became vegan, I wondered if I could replicate "the recipe" using my home made seitan. I experimented over time and finally came up with a stew so similar it's difficult to know it isn't the real thing. Since I promised you last week that I'd pass this treasure onto you, here it is. I made two tiny tweaks to give this stew the mouth feel of a meat dish. Other than that, I reiterate what I was told: Don't change a thing. It's perfect.

VEGAN BEEF STEW

1 lb. seitan, cut into bite sized chunks (home made seitan is much more economical)

2 Tbs. olive oil

3/4 cup flour

Put the flour into a bag, dump in the seitan chunks and give it all a good shake.

In a deep pot, bring the olive oil to frying temperature

Brown the seitan until it resembles beef that's been lightly fried

Turn off the heat and add to the pot:

4 large carrots, cut into 3/4" pieces

4 large potatoes, cut into 3/4" pieces

1 large onion, sliced thin so it will nearly disintegrate into the gravy this recipe automatically produces

2 small bay leaves or 1 large one

1 garlic clove, minced

In a large measuring cup place:

1 1/2 cups of hot broth, vegetable or no-beef broth

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbs. Kitchen Bouquet (in the spice aisle and vegan; it adds a great beefy taste)

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. sugar

Big pinch of cloves (don't leave this out; it's what gives this stew it's extraordinary taste)

1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup of hearty red wine (I use Burgundy)

Stir the liquid to distribute everything evenly, then pour it over the seitan and vegetables. Cover the pot and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the vegetables are fork tender.

The seitan will puff up as the dish cooks. That is normal. It shrinks back quickly and gives the mouth-feel of eating read meat.

I serve only a side salad as the dish is a full protein/vegetable meal in itself. My hubby always liked bread so he could sop up the gravy.

Serves 4 and can easily be doubled.

Vegans are always messing with favorite recipes, trying to
change them into vegan deliciousness.

Tempura

Gluten free vegan - there's a challenge. If the recipe calls for wheat flour, it doesn't get a second look from me. But in the fine print of all the tempura recipes I read, it says, don't stir this batter too long or you will activate the gluten in the flour and the batter will be too sticky. That means that here is a recipe that lends itself to gluten free flours. Yahoo.

I love the crunch and versatility of tempura. It's a technique that uniquely modifies a vegetable. Tempura provides texture and a certain mystic to a meal. It's just plain fun to eat tempura. Even a wary child will be intrigued.

Warning: Deep frying requires your full attention. Hot oil and a batter are a spitting, popping combination. Be careful and mindful. Keep the small children out of the kitchen. If you are dipping vegetables like bell peppers, that have a skin on them, score the skin before you batter or it may blister and explode in the hot oil. Wear an apron. Safety goggles aren't out of the question. But a helmet is going a little too far.

Tempura (mushrooms, spinach and sweet potato) and rice

Tempura 
 (deep fried vegetables)
1 cup flour (for gluten free, use brown rice flour or chickpea flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
and very important
1 cup ICE cold water


Vegetables
(such as: sweet potato, mushrooms, spinach, kale, eggplant, carrot, green beans, potato, okra, pumpkin, snow peas)
Peanut oil 
(traditionally sesame oil is used, you can also use canola or vegetable oil)

Prepare the vegetables. Wash and cut into bite size pieces. Dry. 

Heat the oil. It is ready when batter dropped into the oil turns golden brown. (325 - 350 degrees F)

Mix the batter last so you are working with cold batter. 

When oil is hot, dip the vegetables into the batter to coat lightly, then carefully put into the hot oil to fry. They will be ready in 2-3 minutes.Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and rain on paper towel. 

Serve hot with a soy or plum dipping sauce, or just give your vegetables a splash of lemon. 

Serve with a green salad and a bowl of steaming hot rice. 

Caldo Verde--I Did It My Way...

You've heard me say it a dozen times: I hate cooking. I read recently that those who hate to cook are always bad cooks. No one should make blanket statements like that because the blankets are never big enough to cover everyone. Just because I find cooking to be boring, time consuming, and about as much fun as falling down four flights of stairs doesn't mean I can't do it. Truth is, I'm a really good cook. I just don't think it's fun.

With Christmas on the horizon, I've been sitting in my chair knitting up a storm. That's what you  do when you're a senior citizen on social security. Keeping those needles flying leaves me little time to cook--as if I'd spend any time on it anyway. Because it's easy for me to knit and listen to television at the same time, I've got my channel set to the cooking shows. Truth is, I learn something new nearly every day without having to pay too much attention to what's actually going on. At least once a day, I hear one chef or another say that in order for food to taste good, it has to be made with love. I don't think I've ever put love into anything I've ever cooked. In fact I know I haven't. Well, maybe popcorn on the stove. The old time kind with melted butter. But that's another story.

I came across today's recipe in a vegan cookbook. It was called Caldo Verde. As I understand it, that translates into green broth. So I followed the recipe. Personally, I thought it looked boring. I also thought it tasted boring. Now my rule is if I'm gonna spend time cooking, the end result jolly well better taste marvelous. So I went to work on the Caldo Verde and when I finished fixing it, the aroma filled the house with such a tantalizing expectation of something good that the two guests I'd invited for dinner came snooping into the kitchen to see what was cooking.

"It's soup," I told them. "It used to be boring but I fixed it." They know me so they understood what I meant. I took the hot garlic bread from the oven, dished up steaming bowls of my version of Caldo Verde and we all declared it a winner. Now I have a reason for telling you this story. I want you to know that even if you find cooking a necessary drudgery, that doesn't mean you have to be a bad cook. And if anyone suggests that you should put more love into your food, look them in the eye and tell them the only love you feel toward food is the eating part. I can't tell you how many guests I've served in my many years of living who have eaten my food and said to me, "I thought you didn't like to cook. This was delicious."

I don't know who made up the rule that someone has to like doing something in order to do it well. Whoever it was, they lied.

No more nutritional yeast; used real Parm
to show what the finished dish looks like.

Caldo Verde 

Into your soup pot put:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 medium potatoes, cut into small bites

1/2 cup celery, sliced small

1 tsp. marjoram

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper or to taste

Cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes

Add:

1 15.5 oz cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I used canned)

4 cups vegetable stock

4 cups water

1/2 cup dry white wine

Bring the soup to a boil then turn the heat to low, cover the pot and let the soup simmer about an hour, stirring every now and then.

Approximately 15 minutes before serving add:

1/2 cup tempeh that's been cut into small pieces

1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped

Turn the heat to medium and allow the soup to simmer 10-15 minutes. If desired, individual servings can be sprinkled with a bit of nutritional yeast to add a sort of Parmesan cheese taste to the soup.

This recipe serves 4-6, depending on whether it is used as a main course or a side. Any leftovers are even better the next day.

Soy Chorizo Burrito Blah

Chorizo is spicy and rich with seasoning. Soy chorizo is rich with the same seasoning, but flat without that greasy pig fat. There I said it. The grizzly truth why people enjoy eating meat. Some of us have vivid memories of our carnivore natures. Humanity developed eating animals; therefore, one cannot deny millions of years of survival instinct. Let alone the pleasure coded into our collective, which craves fatty foods. This is why I am only a part time vegan, which of course isn't one at all.

Why do I aspire to become one? It's my survival instinct. Our super sized food industry provides too much, too cheap, and way too convenient. It tricks us into obesity. Our bodies and the earth are paying a high price for this fragile and transient global buffet. Man made feed unnaturally cobbled together from corn, hormones, and antibiotics fill the caged livestock's bellies. They live and die in dreadful conditions. Massive, unhealthy, polluting mega cow, pig, chicken farms affect our land, water, and air. How long before our DNA becomes encoded with genetically modified corn. You are what you eat, right?

I grew up eating burritos. Ever since the seventies, flour tortillas were exchangeable with bread for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In conjuring all the wonderful Mexican eateries in my town, I think chorizo is usually paired with potatoes, rather than rice. So I set off to cooking up some spuds, mixed with onions and garlic. Chopped potatoes into small pieces. Simmered or steamed them for 10 minutes or so (not fork tender yet). In one batch I added frozen spinach and chopped onions. In another I threw in a can of diced green chilies after sauteing the potatoes with onion and garlic. Both needed plenty of salt and pepper, cook until potatoes are tender, onions are translucent. In a separate skillet I fried the soy chorizo. Maybe if you drown this stuff in olive oil, greasy goodness can be imbued into the soy crumbles. I only used one tablespoon. Next time I will use two or three. Maybe even experiment with different oils: peanut oil, grape seed oil, or coconut oil?
I consider burritos a fast food. You can put anything in them, raw, canned, or cooked. The spinach, potato and soyrizo lunch burrito seemed a little bland, but wholesome and filling. I had high hopes for the green chili, potato, soyrizo burritos for supper too. WaWhaaaah.(trombone sound effect). Also a bit bland, yet hardy and warm in the belly. Do add avocado or asparagus or something to enrich this recipe.

Fond Memories at the Market

 

According to the USDA, the number of farmer's markets in the United States rose from 1,755 in 1994 to over 6,131 in 2010.In addition to a renewed interest in eating healthy, locally grown foods and getting great bargains(two dollars for over three pounds of beets at this week's West Fork  Garden Market;beat that big box store!), I can't help but wonder if there are some fond memories coming into play here. Remember those fresh potatoes we used to dig before we got too busy for such things? The lettuce you used to snip for dinner before lettuce came cut and prewashed in plastic bags? The green beans that Grandma cooked, that had a snap when you bit into them? I say I wonder because I am not a psychiatrist; certainly not an expert. But when I go each week to the local farmer's markets, fond memories come flooding back to me.

My grandmother(we called her Nanny) was a character by any one's definition. Standing at four feet ten inches tall and presiding over a very large family,she knew how to cook. She loved to fish and she liked to drink. Some would say she drank too much . I suspect she thought she just drank her fair share. She lived to almost one hundred and in later years she cut back to a six pack of beer a day. She obviously had a strong constitution because although sometimes she had a bit of a glow about her, you never thought she was tipsy.

Well into her seventies when I was a teen, she was still crazy about fishing. Donning a pair of waders with a spinning rod in hand, she would spend days in a raging river in search of trout. I was the only kid I knew who had their parents permission to skip school to go fishing with their grandmother. We would go home at the end of the day and she would cook our catch along with whatever was fresh from her garden.

These are a few of my fond memories. My grandmother is gone now as I am sure some of your loved ones are.I hope that summer dishes and your trips to the local farmer's markets bring back some fond memories to you as well!

As follows is my grandmother's recipe for Green Beans and Potatoes. It is not a fancy dish. It's comfort food. You won't find it on the menu of your local gourmet restaurant. But you will find most of the ingredients at this week's farmers markets.

In a large pot, melt half a stick of butter. Add 1/4 tsp. of baking soda and let it foam.

Add about 4 lbs. of  new potatoes and 1 lb. of fresh  picked green or yellow beans.

Cover with water and cook until tender. Add one can of evaporated milk and warm  through.

(Vegan version-Substitute vegan margarine for butter and soy milk for the evaporated milk)

John Ford lives in Winslow, Arkansas. He has pretty much given up hope for a productive garden this year and will be shopping at the local farmer's markets regularly.

Soy Chick'n versus Soy Kielbasa

I was in such frantic state of mind as I left town a few days ago that I came home to quite frantic state of my house. After righting all the wrongs my husband committed in the kitchen, I cleaned out the refridgerator on Sunday. Here I found these baby kohlrabi and decided to pair them with sauteed onions and apples in a skillet with olive oil. Then I steamed white potatoes in the microwave oven. Now I needed a quick fix for the main dish, since I had my sides in order.

Not sure of the many soy ready "meats" out there, I hedged my bets with offering two choices. First, Tofurky Kielbasa, it should go with the potatoes and the rest, but the last soy sausage I tried really lacked something. In case these tasted flat, I also pan fried Gardein Chick'n Filets. Happily, they both were edible. In fact we found the Chick'n quite good. If I hadn't told anyone it was soy, they may not have noticed the difference!

Poe-tay-to - Pa-tato

One of my favorite blogs is a daily collection of graphic art and marketing ideas. It's Swiss Miss. Every time I visit that site I find something inspiring. That's where I learned about the great magnetic blocks I bought my granddaughter for Christmas - a favorite of everyone, young and old. This week I found this little video showing how to make a Potato Pancake Swiss Style. 

All my previous potato pancakes were made with grated raw potato. You know what happens to a potato if you don't get it right into the pan - it begins to turn unappetizing colors. YUK. Tasty still, but not pretty. Cooking them first means you can get some potatoes ready a day ahead and shorten the cooking time the next day.

I made a single serving - one potato.  First I boiled the potato, whole, until it was just about done. I wanted it to be firm when I grated it.  When it was cool, I grated it, skin and all. The Swiss video, you will note, peeled the potatoes. Now why would you do that?  It's so good, that peel. And it adds a certain beauty to the end result, don't you think?

I heated a little olive oil in a small frying pan and added the grated potatoes. I cooked it for about 5 minutes on each side. Turning it over was the fun part. When side one is done, invert a ceramic plate over the potato patty and flip the pan upside-down, dumping the patty onto the plate in one piece. Then slide the patty back into the pan to fry the second side.

My little garden is thrilling me with baby lettuce. While side 2 was frying, I fixed a little salad of baby lettuce, tomato and onion, did the oil and vinegar thing (a splash of each) and waited.

I'm all for a one plate meal. So the Potato went on top of the salad. It was Divine.

I see all kinds of possibilities for these potatoes.  My baby kale is ready - slice it up and add to the potatoes before frying  for added color and flavor; lip smacking good. It's an easy good-looking addition to any meal. Breakfast, lunch or dinner. Add other veggies before frying or pass them at the table as a topping.

Pa Rum Pa Pa Pum!

Lot's of talk about shepherds this time of year so what better way to eat vegan on the Tuesday before the big feast than to make a shepherd's pie! There are lot's of vegetarian recipes out there for shepherd's pie but anyone in their right mind would add butter and cream to the mashed potato topping. A layer of shredded cheese on top gives an added kick.But this being Tuesday, the challenge is to make a pie that is warm and comforting and leaves a satisfied feeling on the tongue, without the meat or dairy. I treat the vegetables and stock to a light roux to give the vegetable mixture some silkiness. This is kinda like the pot pie recipe from last week with mashed potatoes for topping instead of biscuit dough. So who cares? It is winter and mashed potatoes are our friend!

Start out by making the mashed potato topping by boiling three nicely sized russets until tender and then mash with roasted garlic or green onions, olive oil and a dash of mushroom or vegetable stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. I added minced raw garlic as I was pressed for time. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Saute five or six cups of vegetables in olive oil starting with your aromatics-chopped onion, celery, carrots, green pepper and a couple of cloves of minced garlic, until almost tender. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until they give off their liquid. Toss in a chopped tomato and saute briefly. Then add peas, corn, green beans, etc., your choice. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of thyme. Add two tablespoons flour and cook for two minutes. Slowly add about 1 1/2 vegetable stock and perhaps a shot of red wine and cook until thickened, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. The thickened sauce should run off a spoon. You don't want it two thick.

Put the vegetable mixture in an ovenproof casserole, top with the mashed potatoes and sprinkle with panko bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling begins to bubble up around the sides. Slide under the broiler for a minute to brown the bread crumbs. Let sit for 10 minutes and enjoy!

So what did Mary and Joseph perhaps have for dinner on that fateful night in the manger? Shepherd's Pie?

The finest gifts we bring...