Buncha Quick Ones
My recipes today are all fast. Now -- I made them all, so I spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen, but if I'd just made one or two it would not have been bad. I think the fast way to have vegetables for supper when they're not a major part of the main dish is to just have a salad. Anyway, on to the reviews...
The key to making desserts on a whole-foods, plant-based diet is not to call things by their non-plant-based names. Because you say "brownies" and immediately you know what they're supposed to taste like and when you make something that is actually very good but doesn't taste like your image of a brownie, you are disappointed. So this recipe from The Happy Herbivore isn't brownies -- ignore that word. They're "fudgie bars" or "chocolate squares" or something like that. I made them in my food processor but I think I will use my Vitamix next time. You want to be sure to get these babies as smooth as possible and I had some chunks of banana in mine. I like banana, but I don't want chunks of it in my brow-- fudgie bars. These are good -- not oh-my-god-I-crave-these good, but solid, good -- like a graham cracker, maybe. You know -- who craves graham crackers? But when you find yourself eating them, they're good. Maybe I should call them "Chocolate-Banana Squares" because there is a slight hint of banana. I didn't take a picture of mine because they look just like hers (click on the above link)!!! I added the optional sugar and one big square is still only about 133 calories with zero added fat -- and they're GOOD for you so you don't have to feel guilty about eating the whole pan!!! Bruce gives 'em 3 1/2 stars and I can live with that, too. It's not a bad 3 1/2, though, it's a solid one.
From my favorite web site I made Creamy Scalloped Potatoes. Bruce gave 'em four stars; I'd give them three. But that's because I have decided I don't LOVE the nutritional yeast flavor. I'd make these again, but I'd leave out the nutritional yeast and make them as more traditional scalloped potatoes. I would add about a teaspoon of dry mustard powder to the sauce, and maybe a quarter teaspoon of cayenne. Publix didn't have cashew butter, so I made it in my Vitamix. I would not bother next time (although I have enough cashew butter now to last for decades). I'd use tahini or almond butter. Also, I ran out of cornstarch and just used flour for what I was missing. And we've settled into using almond milk instead of soy, so that's what I used. I also forgot to salt each layer of potatoes and add paprika, but neither of us thought they needed salt (there's salt in the sauce). AND, I used red miso, not white, because that's what I had. Using a mandolin and not peeling the potatoes made this a very fast dish (not counting the cashew butter, which Bruce was eating with a spoon right from the jar as I was cooking). I think I undercooked the potatoes when I boiled them. I let them bake maybe ten extra minutes in the oven and thought they were STILL underdone a bit, but there is a tradition in our family (right, Mom?) of the scalloped potatoes never getting cooked! :) I put them into the microwave for six minutes and they were good to go. The sauce thickens as it stands (that's paprika on top of them in the picture).
The star of the show tonight was a bean burger from some random web site I found by Googling "vegan burgers" or "bean burgers" or something like that, I forget. This was super fast, except you have to have leftover rice. I almost had enough left over, but I cooked more because I like sitting down with a bowl of brown rice sometimes. I know, weird, but I like how it tastes with nothing on it but a little salt. This recipe makes a ton, but I am keeping two to have for dinner on Monday (the kids are coming over tomorrow and we're ordering from Mellow Mushroom) and then I wanted to have some to freeze. I'm doing really well with packing away the entrees for Bruce to eat when I'm out of town. :) Anyway, other than the soy sauce I didn't season these at all. There were two reasons for this. First, I could not find fat-free refried beans (Bush's makes some, which I've purchased in the past, but Publix didn't have any). Check really closely on the label of the various refried beans because traditionally they are made with lard and are very high in fat. The amounts of fat varied WIDELY, but we found a brand with "jalapeno flavored" refried beans that were very low in fat (and vegan) and that's what I used. I didn't know how spicy they would be, so I didn't add anything. Bruce topped his with spicy barbecue sauce and ate it on a toasted bun. I went with yellow mustard and sliced Wickles (a spicy sweet pickle). We both really liked 'em. Five stars from each of us.
Finally, because the meal was light on veggies, I made a side dish. I took three carrots and sliced them, and threw a few handfuls of kale and the carrots into a pot of boiling water. Boiled 'em for about four or five minutes, then took them out with a slotted spoon and put them into a big skillet. I sprinkled them with a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce, about half a teaspoon of sugar, and about half a teaspoon of cayenne. I stirred it all around until most of the liquid evaporated. I'd give it a 3 1/2, Bruce gave it a 4 (I don't really like cooked carrots, so that brought down my score). In the picture the kale looks black, but that's because of the balsamic glaze. Again -- very fast recipe. I got the idea from the Vegan Planet cookbook.
Kale has really become a mainstay in my diet; I eat it several times a week, but almost always in a smoothie. It's a nutrition powerhouse, scoring a perfect 1000 on the ANDI scale (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index). This scale (which Whole Foods has adopted when labeling some of its products) is a measure of the nutrient content per calorie of the food and is an attempt to measure phytochemicals and other nutrients. You can't survive by just eating the foods with the highest scores -- they have almost no fat and are low in calories and you'd get too thin. But it's a very good idea to pack these foods in when you can. It's interesting to look at the scale -- broccoli is 376, carrots are 240, salmon 39, tofu 37, ground beef 20. The goal is to eat a variety of foods -- there are phytochemicals and micronutrients out there that haven't even been named yet. I love trying new things.
Tomorrow we've got communion at church. We're supposed to pack lunches and all eat together after church, so I made hummus (two cans of chickpeas with some of the liquid, one clove of garlic, the juice of about half a lemon, a couple tablespoons of tahini, a few shakes of cayenne, a few more shakes of cumin, blend it until it's smoooooth). We've got flatbread that we can spread that on. Then I took the leftover rice, diced a few scallions, tossed in some dried cranberries, about half a red bell pepper (diced), a big handful of chopped parsley, and I toasted some walnuts and threw them in. Then I mixed the juice of a lemon, some honey, and some orange juice and then poured that all over the rice. SO -- lots and lots of cooking today. Lots and lots of dishes (Bruce helped clean up!).
More later...
The key to making desserts on a whole-foods, plant-based diet is not to call things by their non-plant-based names. Because you say "brownies" and immediately you know what they're supposed to taste like and when you make something that is actually very good but doesn't taste like your image of a brownie, you are disappointed. So this recipe from The Happy Herbivore isn't brownies -- ignore that word. They're "fudgie bars" or "chocolate squares" or something like that. I made them in my food processor but I think I will use my Vitamix next time. You want to be sure to get these babies as smooth as possible and I had some chunks of banana in mine. I like banana, but I don't want chunks of it in my brow-- fudgie bars. These are good -- not oh-my-god-I-crave-these good, but solid, good -- like a graham cracker, maybe. You know -- who craves graham crackers? But when you find yourself eating them, they're good. Maybe I should call them "Chocolate-Banana Squares" because there is a slight hint of banana. I didn't take a picture of mine because they look just like hers (click on the above link)!!! I added the optional sugar and one big square is still only about 133 calories with zero added fat -- and they're GOOD for you so you don't have to feel guilty about eating the whole pan!!! Bruce gives 'em 3 1/2 stars and I can live with that, too. It's not a bad 3 1/2, though, it's a solid one.
From my favorite web site I made Creamy Scalloped Potatoes. Bruce gave 'em four stars; I'd give them three. But that's because I have decided I don't LOVE the nutritional yeast flavor. I'd make these again, but I'd leave out the nutritional yeast and make them as more traditional scalloped potatoes. I would add about a teaspoon of dry mustard powder to the sauce, and maybe a quarter teaspoon of cayenne. Publix didn't have cashew butter, so I made it in my Vitamix. I would not bother next time (although I have enough cashew butter now to last for decades). I'd use tahini or almond butter. Also, I ran out of cornstarch and just used flour for what I was missing. And we've settled into using almond milk instead of soy, so that's what I used. I also forgot to salt each layer of potatoes and add paprika, but neither of us thought they needed salt (there's salt in the sauce). AND, I used red miso, not white, because that's what I had. Using a mandolin and not peeling the potatoes made this a very fast dish (not counting the cashew butter, which Bruce was eating with a spoon right from the jar as I was cooking). I think I undercooked the potatoes when I boiled them. I let them bake maybe ten extra minutes in the oven and thought they were STILL underdone a bit, but there is a tradition in our family (right, Mom?) of the scalloped potatoes never getting cooked! :) I put them into the microwave for six minutes and they were good to go. The sauce thickens as it stands (that's paprika on top of them in the picture).
The star of the show tonight was a bean burger from some random web site I found by Googling "vegan burgers" or "bean burgers" or something like that, I forget. This was super fast, except you have to have leftover rice. I almost had enough left over, but I cooked more because I like sitting down with a bowl of brown rice sometimes. I know, weird, but I like how it tastes with nothing on it but a little salt. This recipe makes a ton, but I am keeping two to have for dinner on Monday (the kids are coming over tomorrow and we're ordering from Mellow Mushroom) and then I wanted to have some to freeze. I'm doing really well with packing away the entrees for Bruce to eat when I'm out of town. :) Anyway, other than the soy sauce I didn't season these at all. There were two reasons for this. First, I could not find fat-free refried beans (Bush's makes some, which I've purchased in the past, but Publix didn't have any). Check really closely on the label of the various refried beans because traditionally they are made with lard and are very high in fat. The amounts of fat varied WIDELY, but we found a brand with "jalapeno flavored" refried beans that were very low in fat (and vegan) and that's what I used. I didn't know how spicy they would be, so I didn't add anything. Bruce topped his with spicy barbecue sauce and ate it on a toasted bun. I went with yellow mustard and sliced Wickles (a spicy sweet pickle). We both really liked 'em. Five stars from each of us.
Finally, because the meal was light on veggies, I made a side dish. I took three carrots and sliced them, and threw a few handfuls of kale and the carrots into a pot of boiling water. Boiled 'em for about four or five minutes, then took them out with a slotted spoon and put them into a big skillet. I sprinkled them with a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce, about half a teaspoon of sugar, and about half a teaspoon of cayenne. I stirred it all around until most of the liquid evaporated. I'd give it a 3 1/2, Bruce gave it a 4 (I don't really like cooked carrots, so that brought down my score). In the picture the kale looks black, but that's because of the balsamic glaze. Again -- very fast recipe. I got the idea from the Vegan Planet cookbook.
Kale has really become a mainstay in my diet; I eat it several times a week, but almost always in a smoothie. It's a nutrition powerhouse, scoring a perfect 1000 on the ANDI scale (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index). This scale (which Whole Foods has adopted when labeling some of its products) is a measure of the nutrient content per calorie of the food and is an attempt to measure phytochemicals and other nutrients. You can't survive by just eating the foods with the highest scores -- they have almost no fat and are low in calories and you'd get too thin. But it's a very good idea to pack these foods in when you can. It's interesting to look at the scale -- broccoli is 376, carrots are 240, salmon 39, tofu 37, ground beef 20. The goal is to eat a variety of foods -- there are phytochemicals and micronutrients out there that haven't even been named yet. I love trying new things.
Tomorrow we've got communion at church. We're supposed to pack lunches and all eat together after church, so I made hummus (two cans of chickpeas with some of the liquid, one clove of garlic, the juice of about half a lemon, a couple tablespoons of tahini, a few shakes of cayenne, a few more shakes of cumin, blend it until it's smoooooth). We've got flatbread that we can spread that on. Then I took the leftover rice, diced a few scallions, tossed in some dried cranberries, about half a red bell pepper (diced), a big handful of chopped parsley, and I toasted some walnuts and threw them in. Then I mixed the juice of a lemon, some honey, and some orange juice and then poured that all over the rice. SO -- lots and lots of cooking today. Lots and lots of dishes (Bruce helped clean up!).
More later...