Garlicky Mushrooms and Kale

Miss M and I recently moved into a quaint (fancy word for tiny and un-exciting) apartment in downtown Lincoln, NE for a short term stay before we head off to Godknowswhere (a word a just made up for 'we oftentimes fly by the seat of our pants and don't know what the hell is coming next'.)

It is our intention to depart Lincoln within 9-12 months and see the world a bit, then settle (I use this term loosely) somewhere near the ocean, preferably with little to no winter.

It's an extremely exciting time for me, as I'm in the midst of transitioning into the career of my dreams. I don't actually like to refer to this thing as a career, because it's not really. It is indeed quickly becoming my livelihood, but that's not the reason I do it. I can feel this thing buzzing through every cell of my body. I can't NOT do it. I would do it for FREE, and in fact have for a long time. If you're curious what this thing is, go here...

But in the meantime, we are here. In this apartment. We immediately painted the dining area from fire engine red, to banana yellow. Here is Miss M exhibiting her extraordinary painting techniques.

I'll be sure to share pictures of the finished diggs... when it's completed, which might be two minutes before we leave. Just saying.

And now to the entire point of this post... the first thing we cooked in our new place. We were without gas for the first 4 days we were here. Which was super great because my oven and stove are run on gas, as is the hot water heater. So, it was cold showers and cold food for us!...
Until the fourth day, when it dawned on me that I am the owner of an electric skillet. DOH!

So, this is what we cooked in our electric skillet.

Garlicky Mushrooms and Kale with Potatoes

This is a recipe I adapted from Isa Chandra's 'Appetite for Reduction' which you can find in my little Amazon store (I think... I should really get with the program) Anyhoo... I love this book. It's what I cook from mainly these days. 

The original recipe does not call for potatoes. I added them to make for a heartier meal, as opposed to just a side dish... which I believe, is what it's intended to be.
 It's so simple and yummy and healthy. You can't really go wrong.

Here's what you'll need:
2 large russet potatoes, thinly sliced 
EVOO
Fresh Garlic (about 4-6 cloves) 
8 oz mushrooms
a couple bunches of Kale
Veggie broth 

~ Heat a couple teaspoons of oil in a skillet (electric.. or NOT)
   Add sliced potatoes along with S&P to taste. Cook until softened slightly. Remove from skillet.

~ Heat a couple more teaspoons oil and add mushrooms along with a little more S&P. Saute til softened (about 7 minutes)

~Add chopped kale in batches. It will look like a buttload of kale (that's a technical cooking term, if you didn't know)  but it'll cook WAY down. Cook until wilted about 10 minutes, adding splashes of veggie broth if sticking.

~ Throw in the cooked potatoes, and saute' for another 5ish minutes.

In my world, this is served with lots o'hot sauce. Cholula, to be specific.


Enjoy!

And know this....
There is no one on the face of this planet that can do what you can do, in precisely the way that you can do it. You are here for a reason. we need you... the world needs you to embrace your gifts and share them. YOUCANDOIT!!! 



If you're new around here, check out this post to see some of my favorite recipes. EVER.

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Oatmeal Apricot Pancakes

Before I started this Earthfood Experiment, pancakes were a lovely treat that I made for Miss M and Sweets on the weekend, in which I never partook. These cakes o'the pan were just never my favorite made the traditional way with white flour and eggs and all reminiscent of fluffy white bread. 


Call me a weirdo, but I prefer my breads to be of the whole grain persuasion. I've been a loyal fan for years now. To me, they have so much more flavor than the white stuff... all nutty and chewy and delicious. Yum.


So, for the last couple months I've been experimenting with making pancakes from whole grains and fruits on the weekends... which I actually eat! 


These Oatmeal Apricot Pancakes are, hands down, my favorite so far.

 I bought a new cookbook last week called Vegan Planet, in which found a recipe for flax-berry pancakes. I switched out the white flour for whole wheat and oats, reduced the milk, switched the berries to dried apricots, and added in some ginger and a little maple syrup to sweeten.


 Beware, you may possibly become addicted to these. But it's okay... they're good for you!!

INGREDIENTS: 

10 dried apricots 

2 T ground flax seed 

3/4 C. whole wheat flour 

3/4 C coarsely ground oats 

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. ginger 

2 T. maple syrup 

1 1/4 C soy milk 

~ Chop dried apricots and put into microwavable bowl with 1/2 Cup water. Microwave for 3 minutes. 


~ Drain off apricot water into a small bowl (should be about 1/4 C) and stir flax. Set aside. 


~ In medium bowl, stir together all of the dry ingredients. 


~ Mix into the dry ingredients the soy milk, maple, & gelled flax mixture. 


~ Stir in chopped apricots. 


~ ladle 1/4 C portions onto a hot buttered skillet and cook on both sides until browned. 


~ serve with Earth Balance Coconut Spread and a splash of maple syrup. 

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Sun-Dried Tomato Falafels

Falafel, Falafel

FA lafel 

faLA fel 

Falafel, FALAFEL

I really enjoy how this word feels in my mouth. 

Falafel. 

I also really enjoy how they taste in my mouth. Have you ever made them?

This was a virgin Falafeling for me. Both eating and making. 

They're really easy to make. If you've ever made hummus before, you can totally do this. 

Even if you haven't... I have faith in you.

I believe they will become a staple around my diggs. 

I like stuff that I can make ahead of time and throw in my freezer to pull out for a quick meal when I'm feeling ultra lazy. 

Do you love hummus as much as I do? Because if so, these little falafels are basically little hummus patties. 

It's a little hard to see what's going on in the picture above, what with the explosion of vegetables and everything. Please allow me to explain...

 If you can locate a pita pocket, within it see if you can spot an orangish little
circle-y thing. 

That's a falafel. 

Which we shoved inside a toasted pita with greens, tomatoes, onions, and a little Earth Balance dairy free mayo. We ate these little bad boys with some curry oven fries that you can find here, at the Post Punk Kitchen. 

You will need:

SUN-DRIED TOMATOES. CHICKPEAS. GARLIC. CURRY. CAYENNE. WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR. ONION. CELERY. PARSLEY. 

~ Into your food processor, throw 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, 2/3 C water, 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed), heaping T garlic, 3 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp curry, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp cayenne.  Process until combined. 

~ Empty into a bowl. Stir in 2/3 C flour, 1/4 C each of finely diced red onion, celery, and parsley.

~ Form your dough into hand sized patties. I made mine kind of flattish since I intended on pita pocketing them, but I think a traditional falafel is a little more egg shaped... I really don't actually know. We do what we want around here. Traditions be damned. 

~ I browned my falfels in a little bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet, but next time I will probably bake them... I'm thinking 350 for 20 minutes?? I'll let you know how long they take next time I make them. If you should happen to make them before me and bake them, let me know what you did. That's be kick ass. 

What are you going to do with this beautiful spring day? I'm feeling the urge to do some cleaning, air out the house, and go for a nice long run. It's going to be in the 70's where I'm at! Man, I love Spring. 

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Crockpot Black Bean Soup with Sun-Dried Tomato Polenta Cakes

I made the most incredible and easy curry the other night that I can't wait to share with you. I realize this has nothing to do with black bean soup, but I just HAD to tell you about it.

Unfortunately, the picture I took was somewhat horrific. I really need to work on improving my photography skills. At any rate, it's going to have to wait. I'm making another batch today just to have on hand... so it won't be long before I get the opportunity to share.

In the meantime, here is a basic but delicious black bean soup that I made this weekend for Miss M and I's date night, which we spent watching many episodes of the Cake Boss and stuffing our faces with Mango Sticky rice (it seems we can't get enough of this stuff.)

We ate our black bean soup with sun-dried tomato polenta cakes. If you've never had polenta, you're in for a treat (although Sweets might disagree, I love it) . It's so filling and satisfying, and goes exceptionally well with this soup if you ask me.

We have some rainy-chilly-ness going on where I live today. Perfect weather for a warm-you-up-dish like this.

For those of you polenta newbies, let me explain what goes down with cooking it:
Right after making polenta, it is a creamy consistency (which I find to be delicious for a savory breakfast), but after refrigerated becomes firm. I made polenta for breakfast while getting my soup crockpot ready from this recipe I found at Cadry's kitchen, then refrigerated the leftovers, sliced, and fried to serve with dinner that night.

Here's what you'll need for your polenta:

STONE GROUND POLENTA. VEGGIE BROTH. NON-DAIRY MILK. NUTRITIONAL YEAST. SUN-DRIED TOMATOES. GREEN ONION. 

~ Bring 2 Cups Veggie broth to boil. Add in 1/2 Cup Polenta. Bring to boil and whisk for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

~ When all the liquid is absorbed, stir in 1 T Nutritional Yeast Flakes, 1/4 C non-Dairy milk, 2 T Chopped sun-dried tomatoes, one chopped green onion, and salt and pepper to taste.

~ Eat some for breakfast if you like. Yum. Then spread the remaining (don't eat it all!) in a squarish dish (for easy slicing later) and refrigerate.

On to the soup.

You will need:

BLACK BEANS. ONION. BELL PEPPER. CELERY. GARLIC. JALAPENO. CARROTS. PARSLEY. OREGANO. CUMIN. CORIANDER. THYME. FIRE ROASTED TOMATOES. CRUSHED TOMATOES. CILANTRO. 

~ I used dried beans for this because they're super cheap, and I think they have a better bite to them. However, this takes a little advanced prep time. Dried beans need to be soaked over night, or if you fail to plan ahead like i do, you can quick soak which will go like this:

Put 1 1/2 Cups dried black beans into a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to boil. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 1 hour.

~ Drain your soaked beans, return to pot and add 6 cups fresh water. Boil for one hour.

~ Pour beans and their liquid into crockpot along with 1 diced onion, 1 diced red bell pepper, 1 stalk diced celery, 1 diced jalapeno, 2 diced carrots, 2 T dried parsley, 2 T oregan, heaping T of cumin, 2 tsp coriander, 2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 c veggie broth, and 1 cup fire roasted tomatoes.

~ Cook on low for 6 hours. If you like your soup kind of creamy, you can use an immersion blender to blend up some of the beans at this point.

~ Before serving, stir into crockpot 3/4 Cup crushed tomatoes and a couple Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro. This will give the soup a loverly fresh flavor. Then salt to taste.  Turn up to high while preparing your polenta cakes.

~ Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron skillet and add sliced cold polenta. Fry until golden brown and heated through. Now you got yourself some polenta cakes!

Enjoy! 

I think I'm going to use my soup leftovers to make black bean nachos... 

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Grilled Roasted Veggie Sandwiches with Hummus & Avocado

I would have to say that really, the only slightly difficult thing about switching to an entirely Earthfood based lifestyle, is probably giving up the restaurant comfort foods that I have always turned to. That being said, in the 7 weeks since I started this Season of Vegan thing, I've found many replacements that are suitable, if not better than my original loves.

This lil' sammy qualifies for submission to the

 'even-better-than-the-original'

 category. 

We have this little sandwich shop here in town called Bison Witches and I have always loved the veggie sandwich I got there. It was warm and melty and gooey, loaded with fresh vegetables and cream cheese and provolone.

Seeing as how I'm not eating dairy anymore, I was wondering if it would be possible to get the same great flavors of this sandwich I love so much without the cheese. I decided that adding a zippy, lemony, garlic hummus to this sandwich, then grilling (ya know, grilled cheese style) would give it that creamy buttery taste I was looking for. It did. And Holy Crap was it good.

Here's what I put in this here lil' Samich:

Slice, drizzle with olive oil, S&P and roast at 350 for 30 minutes:
Portobella Mushroom 
Zucchini
Yellow Squash 
Red Pepper 

For Hummus whirl around in food processor: 
1 can chickpeas 
2 T Tahini 
3 T Lemon Juice 
4 cloves minced garlic 
1 tsp salt (more or less to taste) 
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
drizzle of olive oil 

~~ Add more lemon juice and/or olive oil until desired consistency

Build yo' Samich:
On a piece of Rye Bread layer up your hummus and roasted veggies, along with some freshly sliced onions, tomato, and avocado. Top with more rye bread (duh). Your sandwich should be HUGE.

Butter both sides generously with Earth Balance Butter and grill until golden brown, smooshing down with a spatula while grilling.

 You could use a Panini grill too, if you had one. I'm old school and not that fancy... however, if someone would like to buy my a panini grill I certainly wouldn't protest. I'll take a VitaMix too, while you're at it.

My blogger friend Cadry got a VitaMix for Valentine's Day. I'm super jealous ;)

What kind of kitchen gadgets do you wish you had?

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Homemade Chocolate Protein Bars

We like protein bars around my place because they're easy, quick, 

& portable nutrition. 

However, I don't like the sticker price... nor do I like the oftentimes included 'mystery ingredients' 

Here's a super simple, much cheaper way to make them yourself.

P.S. They taste good too. 

You will need:

DATES. PROTEIN POWDER. COCOA POWDER. NUTS. 

WATER (you have that right?)

~ Into your food processor goes... 10 oz pitted dates, 1/2 C. vanilla protein powder (we use dairy free), 1/4 C. plus 1/8 C. cocoa powder, and 3 T. water. Whirl until mixed. 

Super Nummy Chocolatey Protein Bars.

~ Add 1 & 1/2 Cups nuts/seeds of choice. I used 1 C. cashews and 1/2 C. sunflower seeds. Whirl until incorporated. 

~ You can then smash this down evenly into a square baking pan, then cut into 8 bars... 

or if you're me, dump it on the counter and form it into a somewhat even squarish shape and then cut. I wrap them individually in foil and store in the fridge.

These are a killer cure for a chocolate craving. Just sayin.

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Mango Sticky Rice. Our Newest Love.

Sticky, coconuty, warm and melt in your mouthy, mildly sweet, a little sour...

Mango Sticky Rice.

This is quickly becoming an obsession in my home. 

I'm not eating leftovers right this very moment for breakfast. I swear.

We made this last night to go with our Valentine's Day Veggie Sushi. 

I realize Sushi is Japanese and Mango Sticky Rice is largely a traditional Thai dessert, but there are no rules in my house. 

Look at that big beautiful platter of sushi.  We ate every last bite... if you were wondering.

This was our first ever attempt at making sushi ourselves. Cucumber, avocado, and pickled radish. Topped with thinly sliced jalapenos and a hoisin & tamari sauce (not pictured. obviously.)  I'm in love.

Turns out Sweets is a master sushi roller. Who knew?!

I have a feeling there will be much sushi crafting occurring in my house from now on. Even Miss M loved it, and worked her chopsticks like a champ.

Okay, why was I writing this post again? Oh yeah, Sticky rice... 

Sweets and I discovered the joy of Mango Sticky Rice one night, several months ago, at our favorite Thai food place. We had eaten there a gajillion times, always always getting dessert. Because we love it. 

For some reason the sticky rice had never jumped out from the dessert tray to say, "Eat Me! Eat Me!" before that night. Maybe it was because of it's simplicity. The poor thing didn't really stand much of a chance up against chocolate lava cake with cappuccino ice cream, white chocolate strawberry shortcake, or green tea infused cheesecake. I'm pretty sure I could hear the other desserts chanting "we're better than you are, we're better than you are, people want to eat us, too bad for you-ou"

This one evening though, we must have felt bad for the amount of ridicule and mockery the poor little innocent Mango was being subjected to, because we ordered it. Although not without a back-up dessert... just in case it sucked. We've pretty much been madly in love with it ever since. 

Even more so since we've taken on this season of vegan thing. Eggless, dairyless restaurant desserts are pretty hard to come by, so this has definitely become a go-to for us. 

Anyhow, to make a short story long, which I've sufficiently done here, I boycotted my kitchen this last weekend (or maybe it boycotted me...) so we were out for dinner once again at our fave Thai place. Through the entire meal we harbored eager anticipation for our mango sticky rice. I even boxed up half of my entree to save room, just to find out the little pile of sticky goodness was not on the dessert tray that evening. *Gasp* It was a horrific tragedy. (We're very serious about dessert) 

It was at this moment in time, it occurred to us that the delicacy we were longing for was quite simply rice and fruit. How hard could that be to make? So, after a trip to the ghetto Oriental Market (which is now one of newest favorite places), and a small amount of kitchen time, I can confidently answer, "Not very."

Here's what you'll need: 

SWEET RICE. COCONUT MILK. BROWN SUGAR. MANGO. SALT.

This makes quite a bit. We like left overs. You know, for breakfast and stuff. 

You could cut this in half if you're not into sticky rice for breakfast you crazy person. 

~ In a large stock pot measure 2 Cups of rice and 2 Cups of water. Let sit for 30 minutes. 

~ Do not drain. Add to the pot, 1/2 Cup coconut milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 T. brown sugar, and another 1 1/2 Cups of water. 

~ Bring to boil, reduce heat covering partially. Simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stirring occasionally. This mixture will get VERY sticky. That's okay. You will want this to be custard like in the end. 

~ Turn off heat and cover securely. Let sit 5 - 10 minutes. 

~ Pour remainder of the can of coconut milk into a small sauce pan.  Sweeten with 3-5 T of brown sugar, depending on how sweet you like things. Remember this will taste less sweet once it's on the rice, since the rice is not very sweet at all. Warm through. Serve with a scoop of rice and sliced mango.

Be sure to let me know how you like it!

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Double Chocolate Coconut Oaties... My ♥ Day Gift for You

Here's a gift I really feel splenderifous about giving you.

It's made entirely of good stuff like oats and coconut and cocoa powder and love,
 sweetened with only a small amount of brown sugar.

 

 

This only makes 5 cookies which is a perfect sized V-day gift to yourself.  

  

Falling in love with yourself is the ultimate Valentine. Then you have infinite love to give to a partner. 

 ~ Alan Cohen

If you should happen to have other cookie loving Valentines this year 

(aside from yourself)

 you could easily double or triple this recipe.

~ Melt together 2 T Coconut spread and 3 T Brown Sugar. 

~ In separate bowl mix together 2 T Coconut Milk and 1 T Ground Flax Seed. Set aside. 

~ To the brown sugar mixture, add 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. vanilla, and 1 heaping T. cocoa powder. 

~ Stir in coconut milk and flax seed mixture. 

~ In food processor or magic bullet, blend together 1/4 cup shredded coconut and 1/2 C oats. 

~ Add coconut/oat flour to wet ingredients along with 1/2 Cup whole rolled oats and 1/2 oz chopped semi-sweet baking chocolate. 

~ Form into 5 balls and place on baking sheet, flattening slightly. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, then there is no more hurt. Only more love.

~ Mother Theresa

What will you do today, to show the world around you the love that you're capable of?

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Artichoke Spinach Spread

One last creamy recipe to get you through the weekend, and possibly a Super Bowl Party. 

If you're into that kind of thing. 

Despite my best efforts, I personally am not a lover of football. I recently wrote a letter to football bringing to light my issues with it, and imploring it to make some changes so that I may end my days of being an outcast and possibly have a fighting chance of enjoying the sport adored by so many. You can read it here.

This spread is super simple. It's more artichoke than spinach... so hopefully you adore the choke hearts like I do. I could eat'm plain. 

In my past dairy/meat eating life (I realize it's only been a month, but it truly feels like another lifetime ago already) whenever I came across a big cheesy bowl of spinach and artichoke dip I always found myself digging around, searching for the rebel choke hearts that escaped being smooshed with the rest of the dip. Any doofus can see that they're the best part.

So, I figured in my dairly-less remake of this common party food I'd just cut to the chase and focus on the good stuff.

~ Roast on entire head of garlic. To learn how to do this, go here.

~ Drain jar of marinated artichoke hearts, reserving the oil.

 ~ Saute 1/4 diced onion in drizzle of reserved oil with S&P until translucent. Add 1 Cup finely cut fresh spinach leaves and saute til wilted.

~ Blend 1/2 can of hearts until creamy. (I used my magic bullet) 

~ to creamed artichokes add: remainder of chokes, sauteed onion & spinach, roasted garlic, 1/4 C. sour cream, 1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes to taste. 

~S&P to taste. 

~ put in oven proof bowl. Top with a few breadcrumbs if you like, and bake in a 350 degree oven until warm. 

~ I served my spread on some Ezekiel Bread that I cut the crusts off, brushed with reserved artichoke oil, and baked for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. (I blended up the crusts from the bread, and used as the coating for my baked eggplant with spicy marinara that I served with this.)

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that wraps up our week of creamy things. We made some really great stuff (*euphoric face*) and some not so great stuff (*cry baby face*).  Ya win some, ya lose some. Next week... Greens!

Really great stuff:

~ Creamy Coconut Quinoa with Berry Compote

~ Creamy Roasted Potato Soup with Fennel

~ The Mother of all Alfredos 

~ Mushroom Risotto

Not so great stuff:

~Pad Thai  - This version was WAY too much work and sticky sticky, but I had a great dinner party with friends , and pretty photos to  prove it. Plus we made some super bomb lettuce wraps. I just said Bomb. I'm totally talking like Sweets now. 

~Cheese-less Mac N Cheese. Don't do it. But it's kind of funny to see us do it.

 Have a beautiful weekend! Here's the view outside my living room window this morning. 

 (I'm not typically a fan of snow, but I gotta admit... It's kinda puurty)

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Creamy Mushroom Risotto

This meal was pure genius.

Last night Sweets and I, with our combined brilliance, came up this meal. He was wanting to prepare supper for me since I'd been cooking my ass off all week... what a sweet man! (I wonder where he gets his name?)

I said that would be lovely, however I was still on a quest to provide my fellow Earthfooders with more good recipes for creamy things before the weeks end seeing as how my last couple attempts, although entertaining, were not shareable.

With the upcoming snow storm we were expecting, a creamy mushroom risotto sounded comforting and warm and absolutely perfect. Sweet's was wanting to replicate a blackened tofu dish he'd smashed (Sweets Lingo) during a trip to Denver in the very first days of his Earthfood adventure.

Mushroom Risotto and Blackend Tofu??... 

Yes please.

I've had some arborio rice in my pantry for months that I'd purchased solely for the purpose of concocting a spectacular risotto creation (which by the way, I had never attempted before).

I was putting it off though due to all the risotto woes I 'd heard. I went into the production of this dish expecting it to be laborious and complicated with less than predictable results... these are the tales I'd heard of risotto creating.

 Lucky for you, I'm here to bust myths and shit. This is easy. So just do it.  

Although this does take a considerable amount of time and stirring, the process was really simple and in fact after my Pad Thai making experience earlier this week, was downright breezy.

After a long day at work I was in white wine sipping, risotto coddling heaven. 

 DO THIS, JUST DO IT:

 ~ You will need two sauce pans for this. In the first, warm 4 C.  veggie stock. Place on a back burner and keep warm.

~ In second pan, stir together 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 T. fresh thyme, 1 C. roughly chopped mushrooms, 3 sliced green onions, and a drizzle of olive oil. Saute' til mushroom's liquid begins releasing.

~ Add in 1 C. Arborio rice and another drizzle of oil. Stir until slightly browned and poppy (about 5 minutes). Pour in 1/2 C. white wine and stir until aborbed.

~ Pour yourself a glass of wine and get ready to stir, stir, stir. 

 (this is very important. your risotto will not turn out properly if you skip it. consider yourself warned.)

~ Add 1/4 C. broth and stir until absorbed. Keep repeating this until rice is tender and creamy.

~ Saute/ another 1/2 C. mushrooms in a small skillet with 1 T Earth Balance Butter and S&P until tender. Stir into risotto along with 1/2 T. nutritional yeast and S&P to taste. If you have it, use Tamari (aged soy sauce) in place of the salt for additional depth of flavor.

We ate our Mushroom Risotto with Blackened Tofu (you can find the recipe here) and a Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Maple Dijon vinaigrette, which was sooooo yummy. I'll be sharing that recipe with you next week.

 This is what we woke up to this morning. 

Totally bizarre after a week of 60 degree weather.

Nebraska is weird.

What's the weather been like where you are?

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The Mother of all Fettuccini Alfredos.......................... Dairy & Gluten Free!

Here's my text to Sweets after making this alfredo sauce the other night:

"I just made cheeseless, dairyless alfredo sauce.... and it actually tastes like alfredo!!! I'm beside myself with f**king amazement! Who woulda thought."

This may be my most gratifying accomplishment to date. And has totally confirmed to me that I will never be lacking by choosing an Earthfood based diet.

This was a tender F**k yeah moment for me.
I don't usually fake cuss so much, but this is serious.

Non-dairy Alfredo sauce took a bit of research on my part. This wasn't something I'd ever attempted to make. In fact, even before our new food adventure (an entire season of vegan) began, Miss M had always been in charge of making the cheesy cream laden version of this dish, for which she always used a copycat recipe of The Hard Rock Cafe's Alfredo Sauce. 

 My end desired result was for this was to be similar in flavor to the recipe that Miss M used to make... she is the household lover of Alfredo, after all. This ended up being a conversion of about 3 or 4, maybe even 5 different Alfredo recipes I ran across. I'm not really sure who to give credit to. Maybe I'll just give it to myself this time.

And if you're wondering, it does taste like M's Hard Rock Cafe version. Winner.

You're dying to know my recipe. Aren't you?

Ingredients:

GARLIC. NON-DAIRY SOUR CREAM. CASHEWS. ALMOND MILK. EARTH BALANCE BUTTER. WHITE WINE. NUTRITIONAL YEAST. NUTMEG. ONION. BASIL. OREGANO.

~ Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the top off a head of garlic and place on a sheet of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil, form a foil packet and throw it in the oven for 30 minutes. 

~ Meanwhile, in a food processor combine 1/4 Cup non-dairy sour cream (I use Tofutti. Tastes just like regular sour cream. I swear.), 1/2 Cup Earth Balance butter, 1 T wine, 1 heaping Tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 2 Cups almond milk, and 1/3 Cup of cashews that have been soaked in water for at least 2 hours. Mine happened to be soaking overnight... the longer the better. Process til smooth. 

~ In a skillet, saute' one small diced onion with a drizzle of olive oil until translucent. Add 1 T wine and saute' a couple minutes more.

~ Add onion and roasted garlic to food processor, and process til smooth. Transfer to a sauce pan and add 2 T cornstarch that has been dissolved in a small amount of liquid (almond milk or water). Add to saucepan along with 3/4 tsp, basil and 3/4 tsp. oregano. 

~ Bring to simmer and cook until desired thickness. Serve over rice noodles, which may I point out makes this not only dairy free, but gluten free as well. Oh yeah.

~ If you have any sauce left over, I highly recommend putting it on top of a freshly shredded potato browned in a drizzle of olive oil for breakfast in the morning. Hashbrowns Alfredo!

What are your most gratifying accomplishments,

your tender F**k yeah moments?

Inquiring minds wanna know...

 

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Cream of Roasted Potato Soup with Fennel

I've been loyal to my grandmother's Cream of Potato soup recipe for years. I feel kinda bad about making this one instead. Mostly, because I like it better.

Although my late g-ma's soup was delicious, it was laden with salt and cream and bacon and butter. Lot's of butter. So much butter, that you could see it floating on top of the pot and had to give the soup a good juooshz (aka stir. I don't know.) before serving so as not to get a ladle full of butter. This soup on the other hand has only a couple drizzles of olive oil, a bit of healthy Earth Balance butter, and LOADS of flavor.

I got the inspiration for this soup from Isa Chandra (not to be confused with Chandra Nicole) She's lived on a Earthfood based diet for 20 years,  has a website called Post Punk Kitchen, has written many cookbooks, and is kind of a Rock Star in the Vegan Community.
She recently moved to Omaha, Nebraska (50 minutes away from me) and rumor has it that she might be opening a Vegan restaurant there. (woot!) I figured I should probably turn to an expert as a launch pad for many of my replacement "creamy" dishes.. since I mostly have no idea what in the hell I'm doing.

This soup pretty much rocked our world. And it was SOUPER simple to make. 

I'm funny.

You will need:

EARTH BALANCE BUTTER. GARLIC. CELERY. RED ONION. WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR. YUKON GOLD POTATOES. FENNEL. ALMOND MILK. VEGGIE BROTH. GREEN ONIONS.

~ Preheat oven to 425

~ Cut 2 lbs potatoes into 1 inch cubes. If you use yukon gold, there is no need to even peel them. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't wash them either... I was probably the kid on the playground eating handfuls of dirt. 

Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with Olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15 minutes.

~ Meanwhile, cut the greens off the fennel, cut the bulbs in half long ways, and then cut into thick slices like you might an onion.  Set aside.

This is Fennel, if you're thinking what the frick is a fennel bulb!? like I was only one month ago. I knew what fennel SEEDS were. Oi! so much to learn.

 This is the fennel forest... according to Miss M.

~ After the potatoes have been baking for 15 minutes, add fennel slices to the same baking pan with the potatoes. Roast for 45 more minutes stirring around every 15 minutes.

~When there's 15 minutes baking time left, add to a Dutch Oven one diced red onion,  2/3 Cup celery, and a drizzle of olive oil. Saute'on stove top over medium heat til tender. Add 1 T. Earth Balance Butter and 1 T whole Wheat flour and stir together to make a rue.

~ Add 2 Cups Almond milk and 2 Cups Vegetable Broth. Simmer to heat through and thicken slightly. Then add roasted potatoes and fennel. 

~ With an immersion blender, cream the soup leaving lots of big chunks o' potato. 

~ Stir in 2 sliced green onions, and 1 T reserved chopped fennel greens.

Mmmmm.... creamy. 

Do you have any recipes from the 'days of ole' that are in desperate need of a healthy make over?

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10 Minute Peanut Butter Noodles

These noodles = LOVE for Chandra 

I shared Sweet's Peanut Butter noodle creation with you at the beginning of the month. Ever since then, they have become a go-to food for me. I can't get enough. I have lady-fied them up, and gotten their preparation down to a science. I'm so good at this, I can have these delectable noodles ready to put in my face a mere 10 minutes after arriving home from work. I'm pretty convinced that you can too.

Here is my super secret scientific process for creating Lady-fied 10 minute peanut butter noodles (Never fear Dooods, you can eat these too. I'll letchya... as long as long as you share with your girlyfriend type person. Or your mom.)

You will need: 

RED BELL PEPPER. JALAPENOS. LEFTOVER BAKED TOFU. RICE NOODLES. PEANUT BUTTER. RICE VINEGAR. SOY SAUCE. GREEN ONION. CILANTRO.

~ First thing first.... soak your noodles. I use the rice stick noodles that you only have to soak in warm water in order to prepare. You can find these in your Asian food Isle, most likely. These will take 10 minutes, which is perfect! 

~ In a microwavable bowl mix together 1/4 C Peanut Butter, 1 1/2 T rice vinegar, 1 1/2 T soy sauce, 1/2 water. Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave another minute.

~ While you're waiting for your noodles and peanut butter sauce, cut half a red bell pepper and half a jalapeno into thin slices.

~ Thinly slice one green onion and small handful of cilantro. Set aside until the end. 

~ Warm up some left over baked tofu in the microwave.
(Anytime I make tofu or grains such as rice, steel cut oats, or quinoa I always make extras to use throughout the week. It makes my life SOSOSO much easier) If you should happen to not have any tofu left over, you can find a recipe for Sweet's perfect baked tofu here. However, this will turn your 10 minute noodles into a significantly longer process.

If you don't have any leftover tofu... I say F**k it, go easy on yourself and just eat sauce and noodles. (For more on F**k-ing it... go here. And to Miss M and Friends... Bleepity bleep, but you must know this stuff. It's important.)

~ Now you will assemble your goods....

Drain your noodles, toss with peanut sauce, tofu, and peppers. Top with green onions and cilantro. Maybe even some crushed peanuts if you're feeling super nutty. 

Today I have 2 questions for you:
#1 What are the quick & easy go-to meals that you just could not live without? 
#2 What are some things you might like to say F**k it to today? 

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Black Bean, Sweet Potato, & Guinness Chili

It was winter. Then it wasn't. Then it was again. 

Welcome to Nebraska.

The winter has been so strange here. We had a really nice long, warm Autumn, then it got cold for awhile, followed by unseasonably warm weather for several weeks. Like 50's and 60's. Crazy. 

And, now it's suddenly back to being winter again. 

This "change of the season" has left me craving chili. So I came up with a recipe today for Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Guinness Chili.

Can I get an Amen!

What made this chili making experience even more exciting, was that I received a late Christmas present last night in the form of a cast iron dutch oven. It's a beautiful red color and is the most glorious thing I've ever seen.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!

It will not be leaving my stove. Ever. 

Get this stuff for your chili:

ONION. GARLIC. CANNED WHOLE TOMATOES. GUINNESS. TOMATO PASTE. CHILI POWDER. CUMIN. BLACK BEANS. SWEET POTATOES. JALAPENOS. RED BELLS. CILANTRO. CORN TORTILLAS. 

Then do this:

~ saute' 1 large diced onion and 2 cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil until caramel-y brown. About 10 minutes. De-glaze your pan with 1 Cup of Guinness. 

~ Add a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes and break up with the back of a large wooden spoon. Fill your can up with water, and add that too.

~ Stir in 2 palmfuls of chili powder, 1 palmful of cumin, **2 T. tomato paste, a 28oz can of black beans, and 2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat & simmer uncovered for about 25 -30 minutes or until potatoes are soft and sauce is thickened. S&P to taste.

~ Meanwhile roast 3 red bell peppers and 2 jalapenos. I do this by cutting the peppers in half, drizzling with olive oil, and baking in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Remove most of skins (they should be charred) from red peppers when done baking. Chop up peppers and them to the chili right before serving. (Next time I make this, I think I might also add a can of fire roasted tomatoes near the end of the cooking time as well.)

~ I garnished my chili with chopped cilantro, sliced fresh jalapenos, and crunchy tortilla strips (You can make these by cutting up a corn tortilla into slices, spray with olive oil, season with salt and maybe a little cayenne if you like a good kick in the ass, then bake them in a 350 degree oven for 15ish minutes)

** I Completely forgot to put tomato paste in the recipe (I used it!) when I wrote the post last night. I'm such an amateur. Haha

Seriously, this is all one big experiment for me. I'm just making this shiz up... and I like it that way. I find there to be much fun in winging it. So feel free to wing it with me. I'd love to hear any ideas you may have to make any of these recipes better or heck, extrapolate and come up with new ideas for yourself, or for me to try. I'd love to hear them!!

What kind of foods do you crave in cold weather?

Oh, and if you're a black bean lover like I am, you should probably make these Orange-Mango Black Bean Tacos sometime too.

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Texas Coleslaw

Texas Coleslaw

This salad is so easy to put together and has a refreshing & light taste.

Mix Together:

1 Bag of Coleslaw mix

1/4 C chopped Cilantro 

2 cans of mexi-corn 

I quadrupled this recipe ... so,  you won't have quite this much unless, you too, are cooking for a large event.

For the Dressing:

Mix together...

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil 

3 T lime juice 

3/4 tsp Cumin 

1/2 tsp salt 

pinch of cayenne 

Vinaigrette in a jar seems to be my theme for this series of salads.... hmmm. 

Pour your dressing over the salad and let sit for a couple hours before eating.

Happy Memorial Day!

Peace & Love, 

Chandra Nicole

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