Lavosh Pizza

Last week I was shopping at Trader Joe's and came across some whole wheat lavosh. My original plan for the lavosh was to make a wrap with some type of white bean dip and lots of fresh veggies. I'm not sure why that hasn't happened yet. Maybe later this week for lunches. What did happen was lavosh pizza! The lavosh was a great crust. It was very thin and light. The edges got super crispy with the center being more tender.

Probably the biggest reason I went with pizza is that I had small amounts of a few ingredients left over from other recipes. Pizza is such a great way to use up small amounts of goodies that might otherwise get left behind. I had opened a jar of roasted red peppers for some soup I made this weekend. I had just a small amount of kalamata olives left over. Then I found a partial onion hanging out. Then there was some basic about to brown on me. I had a few creminis hiding out, but sadly my fridge did a Mr. Freeze on them. This recipe is very flexible, you can use your favorite toppings. Make sure not to over crowd the pizza so the crust can get nice and crispy.

If you haven't made it yet, Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Tofu Ricotta recipe is a fantastic substitute for the dairy version. This is often my go-to recipe for first time vegan diners. I served stuffed shells to my very meat eating extended family. They had no clue it was vegan. It's just incredible. As an added bonus, it is super easy to make. You can make the ricotta and the sauce ahead of time to make this a quick week night dinner. I always have a hard time finding a pizza sauce that I really like, but I think I may have created a winner tonight. I'll let you be the judge. It's very easy to make and has lots of yummy herby flavor. If you do try it, I'd love to hear what you think...leave me a comment.

Lavosh Pizza

Makes two pizzas

2 Lavosh

1 recipe pizza sauce (recpe below)

1/2 recipe Tofu Ricotta

1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives

2 roasted red peppers, sliced into thin strips

12 slow roasted halved cherry tomatoes

15-20 medium sized fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 425.

Place each lavosh on a cookie sheet (no need to oil). Spread with a thin layer of pizza sauce over the lavosh, leaving about 1 inch of the edge naked. Drop ricotta by the generous tablespoon about 1-2 inches apart. Using the back of the spoon, flatten ricotta. This will help it cook more evenly. Spread toppings evenly over the top. Bake for 10 minutes until lavosh is crisp on the edges and ricotta is hot. 

Slice and serve immediately. Serve with extra sauce on the side. 

Pizza Sauce

Makes approx 1 1/2 cups

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

pinch fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

15 oz can organic tomato sauce

Sometimes Simple is Best

If you've been following the blog for a while or you know me personally, you are probably aware that my recipes often contain a load of ingredients. In my defense, they are often just spices that (hopefully) you have on hand. Last night I was in the mood for simple, wholesome food with very few ingredients; something that I could whip up without having to depend on my great dried herb arsenal. 

The herb barrel is doing quite well now. Those fresh herbs were calling out to me to be used. In addition, the fridge was stuffed full of produce quickly coming to the end of its prime. I bought lots of fresh goodies at the farmers' market the week before with good intentions of cooking up a storm. As my busy schedule would have it, cooking was not to be on the agenda after all. 

After a quick trip to cut the herbs and sort out the mess in the fridge I found the makings for a lovely, fairly light dinner. The smells of roasting rosemary, oregano and garlic were heaven to the nose. I don't know if it is even fair to call these recipes, but I will anyway!

Greek Lemon Tofu

4 servings

1 - 12 oz package extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into 8 triangles

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano, measured after chopping

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon or so lemon pepper seasoning

2 teaspoons + 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

spray olive oil

In an 8 x 8 baking dish stir together lemon juice, olive oil, vegetable stock and garlic until well combined. Place sliced tofu in a single layer in pan. Marinate for at least two hours, preferably overnight, turning about half way through marinating time. Remove tofu from pan and reserve marinade. 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Lightly oil parchment lined baking dish (you can use the same dish you used for the marinade, rinsing first). Place tofu in single layer in baking dish and sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. Brush or drizzle with reserved marinade. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn over and sprinkle other side with lemon pepper seasoning. Brush or drizzle lightly with reserved marinade. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon panko bread crumbs. Spray generously with spray olive oil or canola oil. Bake for another 20 minutes until panko is nicely browned. Remove from pan with spatula. Serve immediately with Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes (recipe below).

Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes

Make 4 servings

2 pounds small red potatoes, with peels, quartered

3 sprigs fresh rosemary (approx. 2 tablespoons), removed from stem

3 large cloves garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large saucepan, add enough water to cover potatoes. Over medium heat bring water and potatoes to bowl. Reduce heat to low to simmer until just barely fork soft, about 15 minutes. Drain well. 

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss together all ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes. Turn the potatoes and roast for 20-25 more minutes until potatoes are starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Farmers Market Featured Ingredient - Tatsoi

A couple of weeks ago Farmer Stella from Horny Toad Farms introduced me to a green I had never seen before: Tatsoi. It may just show up in the Horny Toad farm CSA this week. If you are looking for a good way to use this interesting green, keep reading.

When Fred asked me what it was I told him that it reminds me of a cross between spinach and bok choy. Funny, when I looked it up on wikipedia it said it was also called spinach mustard, spoon mustard or rosette bok choy. So I wasn't too far off. This lusciously dark green sautes up like a dream. The stems stay slightly crunchy which is beautiful with soba or udon noodles. They have just the slightest mustard-like bite to them. Quite lovely in the recipe below.

Miso Ginger Grilled Tempeh with Tatsoi and Soba Saute

1-8 oz package tempeh

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon red miso

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

6 oz. soba noodles

1 tablespoon, toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon dry sake or mirin

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

1/4 teaspoon five spice powder

3 bunches tatsoi roughly chopped, about 10 cups

Cut tempeh into 8 triangles 1/4" thick. Steam tempeh for 10 minute. While tempeh is steaming in 8 x 8 baking dish mix water, miso, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sesame oil until completely mix. Marinate for at least two hours, preferably overnight.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking and set aside.

To cook tempeh:

Heat a grill pan or grill to approx. 350 degrees. When grill/pan is hot, grill tempeh for about 3-4 minutes per side, brushing each side with marinade. Tempeh should have nice grill marks and be heated through. 

While tempeh is cooking prepare the greens.

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, saute ginger and garlic in sesame oil for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Deglaze pan with sake/mirin stirring to remove stuck on bits. Add soy sauce, five spice powder and stems of tatsoi. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add remaining tatsoi and saute for about 3-5 more minute until greens are tender and just slightly crisp. Toss in soba or udon noodles and heat through. 

Divide noodle mixture evenly among 4 plates. Top with two pieces of grilled tempeh. Serve immediately. 

The Entree from New Year's Eve

In part two of our four part series of NYE dinner we are featuring the entree of the evening. This incredible dish was made by the team effort of my awesome friends Beth and Jerry. Kindred foodie spirits with one another and me, they assembled a most scrumptious ravioli. Beth has promised to share the recipe. When she does, I will post it here with her permission. In the mean time, I will tease you with photographic evidence of the awesomeness we got to experience.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli with San Marzano Ragout

Merry Christmas Dinner

Sheesh! Blogging has really gotten away from me. I miss the days I had lots of time to play on the internet. The kitchen has been rocking busy the last couple of weeks. Sadly, I have been very bad about taking pictures. Today I did manage to get the camera out after making dinner.

Fred has had a hankering for mashed potatoes and gravy. This was a request I was more than happy to fill. 'Taters and gravy are one of those holiday (and non-holiday for that matter) comfort foods that make me soooooo happy. We needed something green after all the holiday cookies, so we had simple steamed broccoli with a little spike seasoning. To round out the meal I had some seitan in the fridge that was a bit funky in the texture department. It was too chewy sauteed, so I decided to make it chicken fried. Now I didn't really measure, but it went something like this:

Chicken Fried Seitan Nuggets

2 seitan cutlets cut into nuggets

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 1/2 cups oil for frying in a 10 inch skillet

Preheat oil to 350 (when flour sizzles in oil).

In one shallow bowl mix panko through paprika. In a second shallow bowl combine soy milk through dijon mustard. Place seitan nuggets in soy milk mixture and soak for about 1 minute. Dredge in panko mixture and carefully place in oil. Make sure not to crowd pan (it will take 2-3 batches). Fry for about 3 minutes then flip over and fry other side for about 3 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan on put on paper towel lined plate. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy or with your favorite dipping sauce.

I hope you all had a love and joy filled Christmas Day!

Pastarama - A Pantry Searching Creation

Tonight was a "I don't have any urge to eat dinner" kind of night. However, Fred worked his tail off getting the 3 garden beds ready for fall planting. He was out there for hours. The boy needed some fuel. What to make? It needed to be substantial, fairly healthy and not too tough to make. The pantry had some promising items. I found a couple of partially used packages of fusilli pasta. There was that yummy pesto from the other day. I had one Fieldroast Italian sausage left and some jarred goodies. I thought, "I can come up with something pretty tasty with this stuff."

Here is what transpired:

Silli Fusilli

Makes 2 really big servings OINK!!

8 oz fusilli pasta
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 link Field Roast Italian sausage (or you favorite vegan Italian sausage link), sliced about 1/4" thick
1 small white onion, slivered
1 large roasted red bell pepper, cut in half and sliced into strips
4 oil packed sun dried tomatoes, sliced into thin strips
10 or so pitted Kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup vegan basil pesto
2 tablespoon parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain in a colander and run under cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in large iron skillet or saute pan over medium high heat. Add sliced sausage in a single layer. Saute until golden brown and slightly crispy, approximately 3-4 minutes. Turn slices, move to one side of the pan (on the cooler side of the pan) and brown the other side.

After turning the sausages, add sliced onions. Reduce heat to medium. Saute until the onions are nicely browned, about 5-7 minutes. If sausage is getting too browned, you can remove them from the pan and set aside on a small plate. Add the roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes and olives. Saute until they are heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

Add cooked pasta and stir until combined and heated through. Add pesto and toss until pasta is well coated. Saute for another 2 minutes or so until the pesto is warm.

Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped parsley. Yummy with a nice simple salad and garlic bread.

Fridge Cleaning = Yummy Pasta Dish

Don't you hate when you have small amounts of a bunch of different ingredients in your fridge? You just hate to waste it, but you're not sure what to do with it?

I had a day like this the other day. I had recently opened a jar of organic roasted red peppers for a recipe that only called for a small amount. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back just a few days later and they are growing mold like a petri dish in science lab. They are not exactly inexpensive, so I was bound and determined to save this jar from an untimely demise. I was also determined to save a few other stragglers in the fridge and I needed to come up with a quick dinner for Fred as he was working yet another 15 hour day and I, my twelve.

Fred loves him some red sauce and I never seem to make enough of it for him. While this may not be what he would have normally expected, it ended up being really good. Good enough for him to eat two meals out of it in one day.

Now I was just throwing things in the pot and not accurately measuring, so I will do my best to re-create this "trash-can" sauce for you.

Meaty Red Pepper Spaghetti Sauce

2 teaspoons olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 small onions, diced small
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 oz. cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
3/4 of a 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, approx 4 roasted peppers, peeled and seeded
3/4 cup browned TVP
1 - 28 oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1 - 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes

In a 6 qt sauce pot over medium heat, heat olive oil and add garlic and onions. Saute until onions are softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add oregano, thyme, basil, salt and peppers. Saute for another minute until herbs become fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms start releasing their juices, about 2 minutes. Add roasted red peppers and saute for 2 more minutes.Toss in your TVP, crushed and diced tomatoes. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes or more. The more you simmer, the better the flavor (up to 1 hour).

Can be served immediately over your favorite pasta or grain. It is even better the next day.

A couple of notes: feel free to use fresh herbs or adjust the herb amounts to your liking. This is a very rustic and chunky sauce. If you like a smoother sauce, add the tomatoes before the TVP and blend with a stick blender or in your regular blender, then add the TVP. I can totally see this as the sauce in a hearty lasagna.

Tonight there are other ingredients ready to expire, hope I can come up with another winner!

Cinco de Mayo 2011

I have to admit, I used to love the drinking holidays in my younger years. However, I've either gotten a lot older or smarter or both. I no longer stay out until the wee hours of the morning, wonder how I got home or nurse a nasty hangover. For these things I am truly grateful. OK that confirms it...I AM OLD! Hee hee.

Cinco de Mayo was not a holiday we celebrated back in my youth. I really only learned to appreciate this fine celebration after I moved to AZ. Many people incorrectly think that this holiday is Mexican Independence Day (which is actually September 16th). It is actually a celebration of the Mexican army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. 4000 Mexican soldiers took down an army of over 8000 French and renegade Mexican soldiers. It was a huge victory. Now that you know the true reason for the holiday, lets talk about food and drink.

Admittedly, I spent much of my day at work gorging myself on chips, salsa and guacamole. So by the time I was heading home, I had lost my entusiasmo for creating a festivo Mexican dinner. I was very torn to say the least. I hate passing up any day that allows me a theme for my kitchen toiling, so I had to find something to make.

I still had cornmeal pizza dough left over from Vine and Dine in the fridge. I set about digging through the disaster that is my fridge to see if I could scrounge up any reasonable ingredients for a tasty pizza. Somewhere in its depths I found a small amount of enchilada sauce. I have no idea which recipe I used it for originally or how long it had been in the fridge. But I gave it the sniff and taste test and decided it was safe. I found some mushrooms that needed to be used, stat. There was some Soyrizo I just happened to pick up the other day. A friend of mine had given me a load of fresh cilantro from his garden yesterday and I hit the garden to find a couple of lonely jalapenos to throw into the mix. The results of this impromptu fridge cleaning/Mexican themed creation were tasty!

Cinco de Mayo Pizza

Makes 8 slices

Cornmeal pizza dough (enough for one 14" pizza)
1/4 cup enchilada sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup soyrizo
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup vegan cheddar, mozzarella or combo ( I prefer Daiya)
2 fresh jalapenos, thinly sliced
few springs of cilantro, leaves only

Preheat Oven to 500.

In a 10 inch saute pan or iron skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and Soyrizo and saute until mushrooms are just starting to release their liquid and Soyrizo is just browning. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate. Add a touch more oil and saute the onions until they just start to soften, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan.

Roll out pizza dough to 14" diameter. Place on corn meal dusted pizza pan. Using a large spoon, spread enchilada sauce onto dough. Sprinkle minced garlic evenly over the pie. Do the same with the mushrooms, Soyrizo and onions. Sprinkle the Daiya evenly over the other ingredients. Place jalapeno slices and cilantro leaves decoratively over the top of the cheese.

Place pizza pan on rack that is about 6" from top of he oven. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Cheese should be bubbling and the crust should be golden. Let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing. Wash down with a cold Mexican beer (example below).

MOFO - Day 12 - Chicken and Waffles with Jalapeno Gravy

12 days in a row. I feel good! I'm having a lot of fun with you guys. I hope you are enjoying chile mania. I know I've been a little heavy on jalapenos, but we are getting a good crop out of the garden. You have to run with that when you are so lucky.

Tonight I decided to go all fatty and decadent. My friend, the lovely Julie, just happened to have a brand new fryer and waffle iron she was getting ready to put in a garage sale. Instead she gave them to me! Well, out of courtesy of course, I felt I should take them and appreciate them immediately. Gotta show my gratitude.

I've been seeing and hearing a lot about fried chicken and waffles lately. Now this is a combo I would not normally think of eating. For one, I am not a big fan of waffles. Secondly it is certainly not healthy or light. But I do have to say, it was a fun plate to create.

The waffles are the Corn Meal Waffles from Isa's Vegan Brunch. I made the savory option. The "chicken" was from a previous Food Network Friday challenge. The recipe is here. I served the chicken smothered with a Cajun Jalapeno Gravy. You gotta have some green with all of this beige, so I quickly sauteed up some smoky collard greens.

Cajun Jalapeno Gravy

Makes about 1 3/4 cup

3 tablespoons vegan butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 large jalapeno, finely chopped (2 tablespoons)
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage
2 cups vegetable broth

In medium sauce pan over med high heat, melt vegan butter. Whisk in flour. Stirring constantly to prevent burning make a medium roux by cooking until the mixture is light brown in color. The mixture is extremely hot so use caution. Add jalapeno, shallot and garlic. It will sizzle very loudly and may splatter a bit. Saute for 1-2 minutes until the vegetables soften up. Slowly pour in vegetable broth while whisking constantly until all the broth is in the pan. Stir with a spoon making sure to get all cooked on bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to low and simmer, whisking frequently until gravy thickens up, about 10 minutes. If you like it thicker, you can let it simmer longer. Salt to taste. Serve over chicken or mashed 'taters.

Food Network Friday - Tyler Florence's Double Dipped Fried "Chicken"

We're at it again. Once again another Food Network Friday is upon us. Tami at Vegan Appetite is once again hosting and posting various interpretations of an American classic!

I've been really excited about Food Network's new show The Great Food Truck Race hosted by Tyler Florence. Coincidentally, I have had a wicked craving for one of my pre-veg closet addictions, fried chicken. I love that crunchy crust and oh so tender and delicious inside of fried chicken. Of course by this point in my veg journey, I'm certain chicken would gross me out. To satisfy my craving and to pay homage to Mr. Florence, I selected this month's FNF recipe. We're trying our hands at veganizing his Double Dipped Fried Chicken recipe. I did have to take a few liberties...well probably more than a few...to come up with what I have to say is a crazy, crunchy, tasty, delicious version. 

Double Dipped Fried Seitan

Makes 6 Cutlets

6 chicken style seitan cutlets

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

1 1/4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Saue

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

fresh cracked pepper to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Canola oil for frying - 1 - 1 /2 inches deep in a 12" iron skillet

I recommend using simmered seitan cutlets here to get the right texture. Make sure they are drained and patted dry of excess liquid. Combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Let sit 10 minutes to curdle. In a shallow baking dish (I used an 8x8), combine soy milk mixture and hot sauce. Let seitan cutlets soak in liquid about 5 minutes per side. 

In a shallow bowl combine flour, panko crumbs and remaining dry ingredients. 

Set up your breading station like so:

Dip the cutlets in the flour mixture and make sure they are coated with breading. Then dip the cutlets in soy milk mixture again and re-dip in flour mixture again. Let coated cutlets sit for another 10 minutes to let liquid dry out just a touch. This will help coating stay on in the oil.

Make sure your oil is heated to about 350. You don't want it too hot or too cold or you won't get that perfect, crunchy coating. Gently and carefully add the cutlets to the hot oil. Do three at a time so you won't overcrowd the pan. Fry on each side until golden brown. It should take somewhere around 5 minutes per side. Remove cutlets and drain on paper towel lined dish. Fry remaining 3 cutlets. These can be served right away. I just ate a cold cutlet. Oh man are these good!!! Total picnic food. Nomnomnomnom. I actually think these are better than the non vegan version I used to love.

You're going to get two different shots of these, because they were so beautiful, they almost brought a tear to my eye.

I decided to make it a completely Tyler Florence influenced dinner. I made a slightly healthier version of his Horseradish and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes. I halved the recipe, used 1/2 the amount of sour cream called for. The potatoes were simmered in leftover seitan broth. This allowed me to cut back on the amount of Earth Balance by 1/2 as well. Dang these were good. I loved the horseradish kick. Very easy and really good results. 

Fred was in charge of making Tyler's Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds. The only changes we really had to make is substituting Earth Balance for butter. We used peeled sliced almonds because that was what we had on hand. I could have eaten a whole giant bowl of these. The sweetness of the caramelized onions and the nutty flavor of the toasted almonds was outrageously good. I'm going to be making this again for sure. Actually all three of these recipes are keepers. OK folks, I'm going to go hide somewhere and eat the rest of the pan. Burp! Happy Friday!!!

Don't forget about the Men Who Cook Challenge and Giveaway!

You have until September 7th to get in on the fun. 

For details on how you can win your free copy of 

American Vegan Kitchen

Click here!!!

Food Network Friday - Rachel Ray's Reuben Mac and Cheese

Welcome to another Food Network Friday! Oh and today is lucky Friday the 13th! Me and my food fanatic buddies tackled a recipe from Rachel Ray this week. This week's recipe was chosen by the one and only Liz from Cooking the Vegan Books. Liz is a huge Rachel Ray fan so she selected her Reuben Mac and Cheese for this week's challenge. See what everyone else came up with at Tami Noyes' blog Vegan Appetite.

This recipe was truly a challenge for me on many levels. First off, I am not a huge fan of saurkraut, almost to the point of being a hater. Hate is a strong word and one that I always tell the younsters they should not use. So I should probably take my own advice. Let's just put it in my not so favorite file. Because I took creative license with this recipe, I cut the saurkraut down to just 1/2 cup. This allowed a bit of the flavor to come through without offending me. I will go step by step through my process. I am going by memory, since I left my notes elsewhere. I will update the recipe if I find errors later on.

The first challenge was to come up with a tasty substitution for corned beef. It would have been far too easy to just use seitan. But I wanted to go outside of the box a bit on this component. Here is what transpired. On day one I took two large portobello mushrooms, cleaned out the fins, sliced them very thinly and laid them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. I made a corned "beefy" marinade (recipe to be posted later) and poured over the mushrooms. The sheet was covered with another cookie sheet to keep wayward flies from dining on the delectible morsels. This was placed outside for 8 hours to semi-sun dry. Hey, there has to be some advantage to 110 degree weather!!! I say semi-sun dried because they were still a bit moist. You don't want them to totally dry out. The mushrooms can be used immediately or stored in the fridge for 2 days. The mushrooms are the most time consuming part, but most of that is inactive drying time. The mushrooms make this dish, so I promise when I can find where I wrote down the ingredients, I will post the recipe and prep pictures, pinky promise. They rock. I think they would be extra special on a reuben sandwich where they can be more of the star.

Once the mushrooms are ready, the rest comes together fairly quickly. I'm doing this from memory, so here goes:

Portobello Reuben Mac n Cheeze

1/2 pound ziti or corkscrew pasta
2 slices toasted rye bread, ground into bread crumbs (see note)
1/4 cup loosely packed parsley, corsely chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon corn starch
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 1/2 cups Daiya Italian Blend cheeze, divided
1 recipe Corned "Beefy" Portobellos
1/2 cup saurkraut
1/3 cup vegan 1000 island dressing (I used a test recipe from Carla Kelly)

Set up your mis en place (get everything out and ready to go). This will go quickly once you get started.

First cook pasta according to package directions to al dente.

While pasta is cooking, prepare the topping. In a food processor grind dried rye slices, chopped parsley and smoked paprika.

Mix soy milk and cornstarch together in cold medium sized sauce pan. Heat over medium heat stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Stir in mustard. Add 1 1/4 cup Daiya and stir until it starts to get melty.

By this time the pasta should be done. Drain pasta and return to pan. Stir in sauce, mushrooms, kraut and 1000 island dressing.

Pour into lightly oiled 8 x 8 pyrex pan. Spread bread crumb mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle eavenly with remaining Daiya. Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes until top looks a little bubbly. Do not leave under broiler too long, lest you have a pyrex explosion. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Dish out and eat up!

**Update** This dish is getting mixed reviews. Fred didn't like it at all. He actually said that he ususally likes most of my experiments and that I rarely bomb, but this one might just be one of those bombs (or something close to that). I'm on the fence, but I have to agree 100% that this is not one of my favorite creations. Maybe it's just me, but I think the combo of ingredients with the pasta just doesn't work really well. I've had much better Mac and Cheese. But who knows you may think it's awesome. I DO think the mushrooms and 1001 Island Dressing would rock on a regular reuben-esque type sandwich. I will experiment with that in a later post.

OK kids, here is you PSA for the day. Try to avoid cooking when exhausted. Also try to avoid moving too many things off of the counter at once. If you do not heed this warning, this could happen to you and your kitchen. It is a sad moment when almost an entire recipe of 1001 Island dressing meets its untimely demise this way. I have to admit. I thought this was hilarious, but I'm glad Fred wasn't home to witness this. He never reads my blog, so my secret is safe!

Food Network Friday - Guy Fieri's Spicy Cherry Ribs

I don't know why, but I really love to watch Guy Fieri's shows. Especially Diners, Drive In's, and Dives. He makes me want to take road trips to little divey gems all over the country. This weeks FNF challenge was to veganize his Spicy Cherry Ribs recipe. I had a lot of fun with this challenge. I decided to go way outside of the box and do an Asian/Southwestern infusion plate. I strayed a bit from Guy's original recipe by replacing Sriracha hot sauce with chipotles in adobo to give it a Southwestern flair. After all we do live in the heart of the Southwest.

I figured my cohorts and I would probably do similar sauces, so I wanted to attempt to make this remake shine with some interesting accompanying components. There are a lot of different components and flavors going on in this dinner. I started off with the Chipotle-Cherry Glazed Smoked Tofu and Tempeh. Then things really got interesting.

To run with my Asian/Southwestern vision I decided to try a really cool variation of tamales. First I wanted to make a tamale type filling without spending a load of time or adding all the shortening and fat to the filling. I made an interesting polenta filling complete with shiitake mushrooms and hatch green chilis. The polenta can be enjoyed on its own, but man is it good as eggroll filling! To round out the flavor and heat profile, it seemed a good idea to do a creamy sauce for the eggrolls to tame the chipotles down a bit.

Now we can't have dinner without some veggies. I'm totally in love with baby bok choy (Asian) these days. Today at the farmers market there was some kick booty sweet corn (Southwestern). I made a simple glaze by using an all natural jarred hoisin sauce. I used 1/2 cup of the hoisin, 1/2 cup veggie broth, 1 teaspoon tamari, and about 1/2 teaspoon Sriricha. The corn was sliced into 1/2 inch wheels and par boiled. Then both the corn and the bok choy were grilled and brushed heavily with the hoisin mixture just long enough to get the bok choy to el dente stage. Make sure not to over cook. It should still have a bit of crunch.

Chipotle-Cherry Glazed Smoked Tofu and Tempeh

8 servings

1 - 12 oz. package tofu

1 - 8 oz package tempeh

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

dry rub:

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 recipe Cherry Chipotle Glaze (recipe below)

Chopped scallions for garnish

Sesame seeds for garnish

Slice tofu into equal rectangles. Cut tempeh block in half. Take each half and slice it down the middle to make thin rectangles. Cut each rectangle on a diagonal to make 8 total triangles. Steam tempeh for 10 minutes. Let cool enough to handle. Place tofu and tempeh in smoker with pecan chips. Follow smoker directions. It should take around 15 minutes to smoke. You can buy pre-smoked if you'd like.

Make rub by mixing all dry spices. Reserve 1 teaspoon rub for East Meets Southwest Tamale Eggrolls (recipe below).

Once tofu and tempeh are cooled, brush both sides with mustard. Coat each side of tofu and tempeh with dry rub. Place on a deep rimmed baking sheet. Let sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.

Brush each side of tofu and tempeh with Cherry Chipotle Glaze. Pour remaining evenly over tofu and tempeh. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes and remove foil. Bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven. Plate 1 piece of tofu and top with 1 piece of tempeh on each plate. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and sesame seeds. Serve with East Meets Southwest Tamale Eggrolls (recipe below)

Cherry Chipotle Glaze

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 cup diced red onion

3 tablespoons fresh minced ginger

2 cans red cherries in water, drained

1 tablespoon blue agave

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons tequila

2 chipotles in adobo chopped (do not remove seeds)

1 1/2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from chipotles)

1 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry

1 1/2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar

4 tablespoons low sodium tamari

In medium saute pan over medium heat saute onion ginger, cherries, agave, and garlic in sesame oil until mixture thickens. Deglaze with tequila. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Put in blender or food processor until pureed. Return to pan and let cool to room temperatre. Can be stored in fridge for up to 3 days.

East Meets Southwest Tamale Eggrolls

8 eggrolls

1 cloves garlic minced

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

3/4 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon low sodium tamari

2 roasted hatch chilis, seeded and chopped small

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon reserved rub mix from recipe above

1/2 cup coarse corn meal (polenta)
8 Vegan egg roll wrappers

1 recipe Creamy Coconut Eggroll Sauce (recipe below)

In a medium saucepan heat toasted sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds until it becomes fragrant. Add mushrooms and tamari. Saute until mushrooms are soft. Add hatch chilis. Saute for 2 more minutes. Pour in vegetable broth. Turn heat to high and bring mixture to a boil. Slowly pour in polenta whisking constantly. As mixture thickens switch to a wooden spoon and stir until polenta  thickens and get fairly stiff but not hard. Immediately assemble eggrolls. Using vegan eggroll wrappers, take one wrapper putting corner closest to you. (it will look like a diamond). Spread about 3 tablespoons of polenta mixture across the wrapper as pictured. Fold both sides over the end of the mixture. Take bottom of the diamond and wrap over the filling an roll egg roll style. Put in glass baking dish covered with a damp cloth. Repeat with remaining 7 egg roll wrappers. If you have never made egg rolls before, click here for a really nice pictorial on how to do it.

Heat canola oil to 350 in 10" iron skillet. Test with eggroll wrapper. It should bubble and cook very quickly. Carefully place 4 eggrolls at a time in the oil. Drain on paper bag topped with paper towel. Keep warm in warm. Fry the remaining  eggrolls. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons sauce on plate. Cut each eggroll in half diagonally and place over sauce. Serve immediately.

***The polenta/tamale filling is also excellent on its own***

Creamy Cocunut Eggroll Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon arrowroot

1/4 teaspoon 5 spice powder

3 tablespoons hot salsa

1 teaspoon mellow white miso

In a small saucepan over medium heat whisk together all ingredients until miso is dissolved. Heat until sauce reduces by about 1/4 and thickens a bit, whisking frequently. Turn heat off and start assembling eggrolls. Sauce is best served at a little above room temperature.

For dessert I decided on something simple and summery, but still taking on kind of an Asian theme. I made Terry's Favorite Almond Cookies from Veganomicon. They are similar to those yummy almond cookies you get in Chinese restaurants. I made them into ice cream sandwiches using Coconut Bliss Maraschino Cherry flavor. Perfect for the summer heat. 

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK VEGAN APPETITE TO SEE MORE AWESOME VERSIONS OF GUY'S RECIPE!

FNF - Rachel Ray - Spring Chickn Towers

Spring Chickn Towers with Asparagus and Lemon Dijon Sauce

Hey gang, it's Food Network Friday again. If you're new to the blog, this is a fun challenge we try to do once a month or so. We pick a Food Network recipe and do a vegan interpretation of that recipe. Each entry is posted at Tami Noyes' sight Vegan Appetite. Check it out!

If you are a Rachel Ray fan, I have good news for you. I've been able to veganize and reduce the fat for this recipe just in time for swimsuit season. As a side note, I don't usually like to use prepared meats and such, but it seemed to work well for this recipe. It makes it fast and easy. This recipe boasts only 287 calories per serving and about 12.7g fat. It comes together fairly quickly for an easy and fancy weeknight meal.

3 Servings

12 - 16 oz extra firm tofu (1 package), pressed
3/4 cup Daiya Italian Blend Cheeze
6 Yves Deli Ham slices
1 lb fresh asparagus trimmed to 4 inch pieces
1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
juice of 1 large lemon (approx 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup loosely packed flat leaf parsley, chopped
pinch white pepper


Slice tofu block into 3 equal rectangles. Take each section and slice into three equal thin rectangles. If you prefer, you can use cookie or biscuit cutters to make fancy shapes. Smoke with apple or alder wood for 15 minutes. You can use right away or refrigerate for up to 2 days. As an option, you can purchase pre-smoked tofu.

Steam or blanch asparagus until just bright green. Do not overcook. You want it a bit firm and crisp. Keep warm.

Start sauce by mixing 1 cup cold water, bullion, lemon juice, and arrowroot in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk frequently until sauce thickens. Turn off heat. Stir in dijon mustard and parsley. Keep warm.

Preheat oven to 450.

Cut small hole in middle of tofu and ham slices for asparagus spears if desired. If you prefer you can serve asparagus on the side. If your tofu has been chilled; on griddle or in iron skillet, warm apple smoked tofu and ham slices. Once warm layer in iron skillet or other oven safe dish sprayed with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Layer by first putting slice of tofu, then 1 slice ham cut or folded to the size of the tofu, then carefully layer shredded Daiya Italian blend (approx 2 tablespoons per layer), repeat and finally top with last slice of tofu. If you are putting the asparagus in the tower, put two small spears cut to approximately 3-4 inches in length in the hole.

Once the towers are layered in the pan, bake for 5-8 minutes until cheese starts to melt.

While the towers are baking, spread sauce evenly over 3 plates. Place cooked towers in the center of sauce. Garnish plate with remaining asparagus spears and quartered cherry tomatoes (optional).

Food Network Friday - Jamie Oliver

Hello my little blogatrons. I am so sorry I have been remiss in my blogging duties. We've had surgery recoveries, dog adoptions, and graveyard shifts to attend to. We also had a freaking awesome vegan bake sale in between, which I must blog about next. It was epic!

This week's FNF challenge was a remake of this Jamie Oliver recipe. I found it very curious that Mr. Oliver works so hard to bring healthy cuisine to school lunches but feels it is just dandy to use pork, bacon and it's grease in this recipe. Not exactly going to give him a glowing report card on healthy cuisine here. In his defense, he does also incorporate red peppers and chard which both pack a great nutritional punch. Check out Vegan Appetite website to see the other interpretations.

When I go about my conversions, I do my best to try and stay true to the original recipe as best I can. For this conversion I had to do a little math as it is written in metric measurements. He also makes use of the term a small handful which can be a bit subjective. Sometime I have to let go of my inner Virgo and just run with it.


For the chops I did a variation of a seitan tester from Isa Moscowitz's upcoming Appetite for Reduction cook book. You could really use any simmered seitan recipe that tickles your fancy. This one is nice because it is wetter than some others. It lent itself very well to being stuffed. For the "bacon" I used another tester from Julie Hasson's upcoming Vegan Diner; Smoky Curls. Yummy for the tummy. I had a hard time not eating them all before I finished the dish. I honestly think you could make a meal out of the beans alone (2 servings) if you didn't have the time or the inkling to make the chops, but they are truly special. If you have the time you should make them.

Here we go...

Moorish Seitan Chops
4 servings

For the filling
1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
a few dashes of fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sherry
1/4 teaspoon olive oil
2-3 teaspoons raisins (if raisins are dry, rehydrate in hot water for 5-10 minutes and drain)


1 recipe simmered seitan (1 lb)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
1 cup Beefy vegetable broth
1 small sprig rosemary

Beans:

1/2 cup Smoky Curls or vegan bacon, plus a little extra set aside for garnish

1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1 large red onion, diced small
1 15 oz. can butter beans (or other white bean)
1/2 cup beefy vegetable broth

2 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary, leaved removed and coarsely chopped

1/2 lb baby chard or regular chard leaved coarsely chopped
As a little side note I got the chard, oregano, and rosemary out of our garden!!!!!

Using a mortar and pestal grind fresh oregano, salt and pepper. Add raisins, sherry and oil and grind until paste is formed.  Divide into 4 equal portions. Mix seitan recipe together. Divide into 4 pieces. Flatten into 5 inch rounds. Spread filling over half, leaving 1/2 inch border. Fold other half over and seal edges. Simmer as directed. Let seitan chill for several hours or overnight.

Once seitan is chilled start the beans. In medium sized saute pan or iron skillet heat Earth balance and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and pepper. Saute 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent and pepper are just starting to soften. Add curls or bacon. saute for 2 more minutes. Add butter beans, vegetable broth, bay leaves and rosemary. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and simmer for 2-3 minutes until it is wilted.

While beans are simmering. Make sauce and cutlets.

For Sauce:

Melt EB. Add flour and cook for 5 minutes on low heat to make roux. Slowly pour broth in whisking constantly until roux is incorporated. Add sprig of rosemary. Let simmer on low until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

For cutlets:

My preferred method is to use a large iron skillet on the grill. I find the grill give a beautiful even heat and sears the cutlet perfectly. Heat the grill on the highest setting. When grill is very hot put very well oiled iron skillet directly over the flame. Give it about 5 minutes to get very hot. Add cutlets and sear for about 5 minutes on one side. Make sure to spray uncooked side generously with spray canola before flipping. Sear other side for about 3 minutes. Turn grill to the lowest setting and let cook for about 5-8 more minutes being careful not to burn. As an alternate method this can be done on the stove top with an iron skillet or griddle pan.

Keep cutlets warm while you finish the other items.

To assemble:

In a shallow bowl or high sided plate dish out 1/4 recipe of beans to make a bed for the "chop". Place seared chop on top. Drizzle with 1- 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Garnish with sprig of fresh oregano and crispy vegan bacon bits.

Inside shot

FNF - Bobby Flay Throw Down

In his show Throw Down with Bobby Flay, Mr. Flay often travels into some great cook's/chef's home territory to challenge them to a culinary duel. The native is the master at a particular dish in his or her region. Well, we Food Network Friday foodies don't do a head to head competition with the fabulous Mr. Flay, but it doesn't mean our throw downs aren't pretty darn exciting. Who knows, maybe someday he'll want to take one of us on!

This week's challenge was a vegan makeover of Bobby's recipe for BBQ Duck and Sauteed Shiitake Mushroom filled Blue Corn Pancakes with Habenero Sauce. Our little group has become fairly masterful at converting recipes. Check out Vegan Appetite for the other submissions. This one only needed a bit of tweaking to make it totally animal free. I did take the liberty of straying a bit from the original by making Blue Corn Crepes rather than pancakes. I felt that the mushroom/protein filling should stand out more and not be weighed down by a thicker fluffier wrap. The results were all the proof I needed. The crepes were beautiful and let the filling really shine.

There were a couple of tweaks made to the Mesa BBQ Sauce recipe. Vegan Worcestershire sauce was used. I only used 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar as I don't like an overly sweet sauce. The honey was replaced by agave nectar. Pasilla chili powder was unattainable this week. Instead I finely chopped 2 large fresh pasillas and sauteed them with the onions at the beginning of the recipe. This makes a huge amount of sauce. You could easily halve this recipe and have plenty for the 4 servings the recipe below makes.

Veganizing the habenero sauce was a breeze. The only necessary adjustment was vegetable stock for the chicken stock. I only used 2 tablespoons sugar in the sauce. I did use the full recipe of this sauce.

No changes were necessary for the shiitake mushrooms. I do have to say that I used a full recipe of the mushrooms for the 4 servings below. Bobby used this amount for 8 servings.

The biggest challenge was to make a delicious substitution for the very fatty and unhealthy duck thighs. Butler Soy Curls to the rescue!!!

BBQ "Duck"

4 servings

1 cup Butler Soy Curls
1/2 cup Habenero Sauce
3/4 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons Mesa BBQ Sauce
1 recipe shiitake mushrooms
1 cup Mesa BBQ Sauce

Bring habenero sauce and stock to a boil. Stir in BBQ Sauce. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to rehydrate soy curls. Add soy curls to pan that the mushrooms are in. Saute and stir for about a minute. Add BBQ sauce and simmer until sauce becomes slightly sticky (5 minutes or so). Turn heat to very low to make crepes.

Blue Corn Crepes
(Makes 11 crepes if you are a crepe master and don't lose any)

3/4 cup blue corn meal
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup soy milk
1 cup water
1 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients in blender until well combined. Mixture will be very thin. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes. Heat crepe pan or 8" non stick pan until it sizzles when a drop of water hits it.. Lightly spray pan with canola oil before pouring batter in (for each crepe). Using a 1/4 cup measure, quickly pour batter in pan and swirl around to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. When the crepe is dry on top and there are a few bubbles, flip crepe with a thin spatula and cook for 1-2 more minutes on the other side. Transfer to plate and keep warm making sure to put either wax paper or parchment between each crepe to prevent sticking. Freeze any leftover crepes for later use.***

To assemble:

Once all of the crepes are cooked, place 1/4 cup BBQ mixture in the center and roll up. Place 2 filled crepes on each plate. Drizzle equal amounts of reserved habanero sauce on each plate. If desired, serve with extra BBQ Sauce. Garnish with cilanto leaves and avocado slices.

***Everything can be made up a day ahead of time, stored in the fridge. Reheat sauces and filling on the stove top. For the crepes, spray a little oil in your non-stick or crepe pan and reheat for about 1 minute on each side.

Mushroom and Chickn Fried Rice with Spicy Asian Greens

Fred had surgery on his knee this week. I wanted to make him something tasty, healthy, and full of veggies. I had some leftover rice from the other day. The farmers market has had some excellent produce. Put them together and you've got some great stuff to work with. I've been craving some fried rice, but most don't have enough veggies for my taste. I thought I'd get to work and create something we'd both enjoy. Here's what transpired.

Mushroom and Chickn Fried Rice

4 servings

2 tablespoons low sodium tamari

1 tablespoon mirin

2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

4 ounces chicken Gardien or Chicken Seitan, diced

1 large carrot brunnoise (small diced)

1 cup snow peas, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

 1 - 8 oz package cremini mushrooms sliced

3 cups brown rice, cold

1-2 additional tablespoon low sodium tamari

In small bowl, mix tamari, mirin, ginger, sesame oil. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to marinade. In wok or large deep saute pan on high heat, pour chicken and marinade into pan. Saute for 2  minutes. Add garlic and carrots. Saute until "chicken" browns. Add snow peas and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms release their liquid. Add additional tamari. Heat until rice is heated through.

Spicy Sauteed Asian Greens

8 cups Asian greens

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon mirin

2 tablespoon low sodium tamari

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

In large saute pan or wok over med high heat, heat oil. add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add greens, mirin, and Tamari. Saute for a couple of minutes until greens start to wilt. Add sriracha and saute for another minute. Serve immediately.

Guess Who's Testing Again

Yep. I said I would stop testing for a while. Ha! That didn't last long. I love testing and being part of the process of helping make amazing books come to the shelf. I can't help myself.

Right now I am testing for three people...one who prefers to remain obscure and annonymous. The two other I'm hoping will offset each other. One is for Isa Chandra Moscowicz's upcoming Appetite for Reduction (I hope they keep that name - Love ya Axel), a low fat book. The other has yet to be named and it is a baking book by Carla Kelley. Both gals' recipes are amazingly good. I'll post a couple of teasers for you today.

It is St. Patrick's Day, so being the good Irish girl that I am, I must post this fantastic Irish Stew. It is not only delicious and bursting with homey, flavorful goodness, it boasts only 330 calories for a big hearty serving. It is low fat too. Bonus. I'm sure the green beer will offset any calorie savings, but hey, it's all about balance, right? (Please ignore the Smithwicks in the picture...I just found out it is not vegan...boo!)

Next comes a very fun and festive cupcake from the fabulous Carla (who you PPK folks know better as QueenV). These are a little bit on the pricey side due to the hazelnuts, but so worth it if you are a fan of them. I made these for a bake sale to benefit the Breast Cancer Fund, so the pink ribbon sprinkles were the perfect touch. I will be making these again! They are a decadent treat and are sure to impress your guests, friends, and family.

Hazelnut Latte Cupcakes

Our waistlines may not be excited about the testing, but I am. It is my way to unwind and have fun. It gives me excuses to cook, invite people over to taste test and spend some quality time in the kitchen. So you local peeps, don't be surprised if you get a desperate call from me to help eat the goods!

Navy Bean, Sweet Potato, and Kale Bake...Bonus New Camera!!!!

I was under the incorrect assumption that Fred and I had agreed to refrain from gift giving on this, our first Valentine's Day as married folk. When will this girl learn? Last night when I got home Fred was very excited and said there was something for me in the kitchen. Hmmmm. I thought maybe he made dinner. Oh no! There was a pretty good sized box wrapped up on the table for me. I opened it up and much to my great surprise was a brand new camera!

This happens to be the second camera he's gotten me since we met. The first one he felt obligated (silly!) because he dropped my old camera and the door to the battery would not close. It still works, but it drove him crazy. The last one he bought has been used and abused. They just don't make them like they used to I guess, because after only 1 1/2 years of use it is on it's last leg. Boo for planned obselescence.

Anyhow the new beauty is a Sony DSC-HX1. It is really cool. Way more fancy pants than the last one, which was pretty awesome as well. It has lots of special functions for all different shooting conditions. I was super excited that it has a "gourmet" mode. Seriously. It is a mode specifically for photographing food. Is it just me, or are the colors in the picture below really vibrant. Hurrah gourmet mode!!

Today as always I am always thinking of more ways to get my beans and greens for extra iron. I took a look around the pantry to see what I could come up with at 5am for lunch today. Here's what developed. It is a warm homey simple dish. It only requires one pan for easy clean up. Enjoy in good health!

Navy Bean, Sweet Potato, and Kale Bake

4 servings

2 large yams, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, sliced in half then thinly sliced
1 (15 oz.) can navy beans
2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian Blend seasoning (I like Penzey's)
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt (again Penzey's 4S is recommended) or to taste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large bunch lacinto kale, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable broth or water

Preheat oven to 350.

In 9 x 13 glass baking dish toss all ingredients except for kale. Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes until sweet potatoes are just barely soft. Remove from oven and toss in kale and water or broth. Bake for 10 more minutes or until kale is slightly wilted.

Spicy Orange Run Through the Garden "Duck"

The other day I spent a lot of time and money on fabulous vegetables for a dish I wanted to make from an excellent cookbook. After all was said and done, the sauce overpowered the lovely vegetables and left me wanting more of the natural veggie goodness to shine through. To me, the veggies often times should be the star of the dish. That is the premise of how this recipe came into being.

Vegan "Duck"

I had this intriguing can of vegetarian Peking "duck" sitting in my pantry for some time now. I bought it a while back at Lee Lee market in Chandler to send to a fellow PPK-er for a swap and then decided to go all Southwest with the box. It needed to find a use. I thought about creating something out of my normal box...which I guess is silly because I don't find I have much of a normal box these days. I don't tend to make fruity or sweet sauces, so I thought I should do that today. Our oranges are so wonderful right now, I headed to the back yard to get one. Here is what came out of the brainstorm.

Spicy Orange Run Through the Garden "Duck"

Makes 4 servings

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (canola)
1 can vegetarian peking duck cubed (can sub chicken or beef seitan cubed)
1 large carrot, sliced into thin discs
1 tablespoon mirin
2 cloves garlic minced
1 head broccoli crowns, cut into bite sized pieces
2 heads baby bok choy, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 very large portobello mushroom sliced into 1" chunks
4 oz pkg soba noodles cooked and cooled

For Sauce
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon mellow miso
1 1/2 tablespoons low sodium shoyu or soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce

1 tablespoons black sesame seeds for garnish.

Make sure to prep and chop all of your veggies before starting to cook. It's stir fry, so it will go fast. Whisk sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Heat oil in a wok or very large saute pan over medium high heat. Toss in diced "duck" and carrots. Saute for about 3 minutes until "duck" starts to brown and carrots are slightly soft. Deglaze pan with mirin. Add garlic, broccoli and bok choy and saute for about 2 minutes. Add red peppers and portobello mushrooms and saute for about 5 more minutes, until all vegetables are al dente. You don't want them to be overcooked or mushy. Add sauce and stir until it is well incorporated. Add soba noodles and heat for about 2 more minutes until heated through. Garnish with black sesame seeds and serve.