Living Corn Chowder

On the way home from the gorge last weekend we picked up some peaches and some beautiful fresh corn.  Ours isn't quite ready in the garden.  I made a very fresh, lively corn chowder.  It's called living corn chowder because this is a cold, raw vegetable soup.   It's a  very refreshing summer treat. Most of the other ingredients were grown in my garden.

This recipe is a variation of Aiyah's Garden Living Corn Chowder, in the Blossoming Lotus, Vegan World Cuisine Fusion Cookbook.

Filtered water
3 cups fresh corn
1 C avocado
¼ cup diced fennel bulb
¼ cup diced onion
1 Tbl Shoyu, or to taste
1 tsp Ginger, peeled & minced
1 tsp Garlic, peeled & minced
1 tsp Sea salt, or to taste
1 tsp Fresh jalapeño, seeded & diced
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tsp Cilantro, minced
½ cup Red bell pepper diced

Place 2 cups of corn and all remaining ingredients except cilantro and red bell pepper in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add the remaining corn, bell pepper, and cilantro.  Serve chilled.

Artichoke-Chili Bisque and a Little Tree Climbing

Been having some busy days, haven't had time to sit down and blog.  My granddaughter and her mom moved to town, I am so happy about that.  I can see her anytime now and have some good grandma time.  My honey and I spent some time having fun together last weekend, including a visit to the Tree to Tree Adventure Park. This is us 30 or more feet in the air.

I took these swings very slowly, he jumped. Notice, the feet are in the air.

It was a great test of self trust.  I did three courses, my husband did all of them.  Although they make sure you are safe and most people can do this, it is physically demanding.  It's Thursday, we did this Sunday and my arms and thighs are finally not sore.  I am looking forward to doing this again.

What did I make for dinner?

Last weekend we ventured out to Puget Island to a friend's house for dinner.  She's a kitchen witch, not a vegetarian, but a whole foods kitchen witch, a flexitarian. She doesn't use processed foods and when she does prepare animal protein, it's from a local source.  She knows lots about herbs and preparing wild greens.  I'm learning quite a bit from her.  I love to give her vegetables from my garden and then see what she creates with them. We made dinner together Saturday afternoon.  She marinated some fresh tuna fillets, wrapped in bacon, they looked like little fillet Mignon. She seared them gently in avocado oil with a little fresh thyme and sage. She also made a barley salad with black beans and fresh vegetables: corn, zucchini, chilis, onions, garlic, and fresh herbs.  I contributed vegetables for the salad, a dressing made from oranges and tahini, and a fresh artichoke-chili bisque.

Fresh garden salad with Orange Tahini dressing, Vegetable Barley salad, Artichoke-Chili Bisque, and Tuna Fillet

Artichoke-Chile Bisque (Vegan)

10-12 small artichokes, steamed and the outer tough leaves removed
6 roasted Anaheim chilis, skin and seeds removed
1 cup roasted cashews (I roasted raw cashews gently in a saute pan)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
seas salt, dill, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, and shoyu to taste
3-4  cups filtered water (Start out with 3 cups water then add more depending on the consistency you like, I like it kind of thick.

Blended together until smooth.  This can be eaten warm or cold. 

We also tried sauteing squash flowers for the first time.  I picked a variety of squash flowers Saturday morning, zucchini, summer squash, delicata, and pumpkin.  She sauteed them in the oil from the tuna fillets.  They were pretty fun to prepare, they get puffy again every time you turn them.  I missed getting a picture of them.  They were so good, they didn't last too long.  I have heard you can stuff them, I will try some again soon.

Stephanie's Cooking with History

Stephanie playin' in the kitchen with Aunt Debbie

Remember my niece Stephanie?   She got a job with the colonial museums in Huntsville, Alabama since my visit in April.  She recently demonstrated how to make vegetable gumbo in an open kettle at a civil war reenactment. She sent me some pictures and the recipe.  She, like her aunt, made her own changes and used vegetables out of her garden. I was so excited about her adventures, I wanted to share them and the recipe with you.  She used zucchini from her garden instead of okra for the gumbo.  I wonder how that went over in the South. When I was in Alabama I noticed that okra and dandelion greens were as plentiful in the produce store as lettuce and apples are in Washington.

Hearty Vegetable Gumbo
Cook time 25 min. yields 4 servings

Ingredients
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•    1/2 cup chopped onion 
•    1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 
•    1/4 cup chopped celery 
•    2 cloves garlic, minced 
•    2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) stewed tomatoes (you can use no-salt-added stewed tomatoes) 
•    2 cups tomato juice (you can use no-salt-added juice) 
•    1 can (15 oz) red beans, rinsed and drained 
•    1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 
•    1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves 
•    1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce or more if you like it spicier 
•    2 bay leaves 
•    1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking brown rice 
•    1 package (10oz) frozen chopped okra, thawed 

How to make it
________________________________________
•    Spray a 4-quart Dutch oven with cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot.
•    Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook and stir 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.
•    Add stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, beans, parsley, oregano, pepper sauce and bay leaves.
•    Bring to a boil over high heat. Add rice. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 15 minutes or until    rice is tender.
•    Add okra; cook, covered, 5 minutes more or until okra is tender.
•    Remove and discard bay leaves.

Stephanie's Revisions

•    I added zucchini instead of okra. Carrots and some corn.
•    I also popped some grape tomatoes in the oven and added it to the mix.
•    For the stewed tomatoes, I added one can regular and one can Italian stewed tomatoes for extra flavor.
•    I also put in mixed bell peppers, not just green.

Raw Veggie Salad, Beans, Spinach Potato Leek Soup, Dairy Free Strawberry Mousse

We spent a lot of time in the garden this weekend, but I did manage to get some cooking done. I made a raw veggie salad with beet greens, escarole, rainbow chard, spinach, diced carrots, zucchini, a handful of chopped cilantro, cucumber, fennel, red bell pepper, diced beets, chopped broccoli spears, diced avocado, the juice of an orange and a little golden balsamic vinegar. We took some of this out to the garden yesterday. It was very nice to take a break and have lunch outside.

I also put together a nice pot of beans. I soaked the 13 bean mixture Saturday night and Sunday morning I cooked them pretty simply. I sauteed an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, about a half cup chopped fennel, a sliced Anaheim pepper, one Serrano chili, and diced carrot. I added sea salt, fresh ground pepper, some ground allspice, 1 TB Agave, 1 TB balsamic vinegar, and dried basil. I added one can of tomato paste and the beans and covered them with water. Simmered for about an hour. They came out a little sweet and spicy. Looking forward to these this week.

While working in the garden I trimmed the spinach plants which left me with lots of fresh spinach. I also pulled out the last of the leeks we had planted last fall.  I chopped some baby Walla Walla onions I picked up at the farmers' market and sauteed them with some sesame oil, the sliced leeks, about three cloves of garlic, one sliced Serrano chili.  I added some thyme, dill, salt, and pepper. Then I added about a cup of organic vegetable broth, chopped potatoes and covered them with water.  I let these simmer until the potatoes were soft.  As it was cooking I used a potato masher to mash the potatoes that were cooked first into a creamy consistency leaving some of the potatoes a little chunky.  Then I added lots of chopped, fresh spinach, probably about four cups. This came out more like a nice stew than soup.  Very hearty and satisfying.


Fresh strawberries are starting to ripen.  We should have plenty very soon.  Still trying to perfect the dairy free strawberry mousse.  This time I blended one avocado, a cup of soaked raw cashews, 3 cups sliced strawberries, about 3/4 can of coconut milk, 1/4 cup agave, about 1/2 cup dissolved Agar, and garnished with shaved very dark chocolate. I saved some sliced strawberries to fold in the blended mixture.

Happy Monday!

Thursday and Asparagus Ginger Soup

Thursday we are usually finished with everything I have prepared over the weekend. We are down to our last serving of beans, which I took for lunch, and the salad didn't last that long. I am pretty surprised how many beans we ate this week. I made three different bean dishes and two different salads.

I started making our raw vegetable salad and pulled out all the vegetables in the fridge to make sure I am not missing anything.  It's not very pleasant to find something nice like a fennel bulb or a bag of greens that are very tired and aren't usable anymore.  While rooting through my vegetables I noticed I have a lot of Asparagus for some reason. There has been a lot available lately, it's in season in some parts of Washington. I must have gotten some at the farmer's market and then thought they had a great price at the produce store. I found about four pounds of it in the fridge.  I better do something with it or it will go bad. Must be a good day for asparagus soup.

I chopped an onion and took out some chopped celery, some carrots, and red peppers that I had put in the salad. I sauteed them in a little coconut and ginger oil, added the asparagus and some garlic, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I threw in a little ground allspice too just because I had some already ground. Then I added a little coconut milk I had left over, about 3/4 of a cup and an equal amount of filtered water. I let that simmer a bit then added a quart of some pre-made organic cashew, carrot, ginger soup. It was a bit thin so I cut up a head of cauliflower and a couple carrots and threw them in the pot. I let that simmer for about forty minutes and then added some chopped parsley and a hand full of dried cranberries.  Asparagus soup became asparagus, cauliflower, carrot, ginger soup.

Asparagus, Cauliflower, Carrot, Ginger Soup

And the salad:   Sorrel, Red Leaf lettuce, carrots, red pepper, yellow peppers, chopped celery & fennel, cucumber, red cabbage, lambs quarters, diced Roma tomato, avocado, fresh squeezed orange juice, sunflower seeds, and some golden balsamic vinegar.

Keep Moving Forward

As happy and calm as I seem to be most of the day, I do have those times when I am a screaming inside because I just don't understand how my son ended up in prison and how my other son will be in a war zone in just a couple days. I feel great after my morning prayer and meditation but have to stop throughout the day and refresh that feeling with a little breathing and prayer. I noticed this yesterday. After a nice quiet morning at home and some peace in the garden, just a short time later, I am going through this tense feeling again. I am driving to the farmer's market listening to the Grateful Dead marathon on KBOO, and looking forward to the events of the day. I should be feeling great, but I find myself suddenly in tense screaming mode. This feeling seems like it just comes out of no where and without warning. I take a few breaths and mutter a "God's will, not mine" or some other short prayer that reminds me I am not in control and freaking out is not going to help the situation. The feeling passes in a few moments. I try to combat this stress by being creative, busy, and productive. The gardening helps and so do the cooking adventures. The only thing I can control in this process is how I react to these situations and feelings. I can only keep moving forward in the best, positive way I know how and not cause any more pain. I need to remind myself that life is good for the most part and there is a lot of love in my life. We will get through this, this will pass. I must say that my husband and I really did have a very nice day together yesterday and look forward to another today. We do enjoy each others' company. I have a great relationship and some very loving friends. I know I am not going through this alone.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of testing a few recipes for The Flexitarian Cookbook coming out this fall. It's a collection of recipes that can be made with or without meat.

I can't reveal the recipes yet, but I got to try out:

White Bean & Spinach Soup

Tuscan Bean Soup

Roasted Eggplant and Mint Salad

And:

Jeff's Grilled Elote, a spicy Mexican corn on the cob

I did get a lot of the week's cooking done yesterday. I will probably put together something sweet, but for the most part, taking it slow is my goal. Today I am hoping to get some crocheting and reading time, maybe a nice long walk, even if it's raining.

Potato Leek Soup with Fresh Spinach

We did make it out to the garden today for a few hours. I planted some flowers, ranunculus, nasturtiums,  and pumpkin on a stick. I also pulled up some leeks and trimmed the spinach while I was there. They contributed to some pretty awesome, fresh tasting soup.

Potato Leek Soup with Fresh Spinach 

2 TB safflower oil

1 1/2 cup sliced leeks

1/2 cup fennel bulb, chopped

2 TB garlic, minced

3 cups filtered water

3 cups low sodium vegetable broth

2 medium potatoes, rinsed and chopped (2 1/2 cups)

1 cup soy milk

1 TB chopped parsley

2 tsp Shoyu

2 tsp sea salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste

pinch cayenne pepper

2-3 cups chopped, fresh spinach

Place oil in a 3 quart pot on medium heat. Add leek, garlic and fennel, cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add potatoes water and broth and cook until soft, approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add soy milk and chopped spinach.

Remove from heat and allow to cool 10-15 minutes. Carefully blend in batches, filling  the blender half way. Return to pot, add seasonings and stir well.

Clam & Vegetable Chowder

My friend, Rachel, shared some of her fresh razor clams with me this week. I don't cook meat much, but I do when I receive gifts from the sea. This is what I did with them.

Clam - Vegetable Chowder

Sauteed chopped: red onion, celery, half a fennel bulb, 1 fresh jalapeño, and a leek, in a little coconut oil. Added freshly ground sea salt, pepper, dill, and thyme. When it was all tender I added some coconut milk and water enough to cover.

I put the clams and a cucumber in the food processor. I didn't process until they were pureed, the clams still had some texture. I added this to the vegetable mixture.

I brought it to a boil then reduced the heat and added grated carrots, sliced and chopped orange bell pepper, some sliced green rings, and a chopped fresh jalepeño pepper.

In a separate shallow pan I steamed four red potatoes, sliced to about an inch and a half thick. I mashed the potatoes with the water they cooked in and added it to the vegetable and clam mixture. The potatoes gave it a creamy texture.

This all simmered for about 20 minutes.

I like the texture of the vegetables, if you want a creamier consistency, puree about a third of the soup in the blender and then pour it back in the pot. I sure enjoyed my lunch today.

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Delicata Squash Soup, Vegan Fajitas, Dairy Free Berry Raw Fruit Pie

What a beautiful day yesterday, Huh? Spring time in February for the PNW. We went on a nice long walk out by Tam O'Shanter Park. We also went shopping at the local produce market together. My husband picked up a couple organic Delicata squash and said they looked good. I told him to grab three medium sized squash and I would do something with them. When we got home, I thought I'd try this free app I got for IPhone a few weeks ago, Vegan Yum Yum. It's a vegan cookbook on my IPhone. I just type in the ingredient and it finds recipes with pictures and checklists. When I am done with an ingredient or step, I can check it off. I guess it stems from a vegan food blog. I tried the recipe I found and I really like it.

I made Delicata Squash Bisque. I only made a couple variations, I added a pound of nice young tender asparagus I picked up today at the local produce market. I also added a little ground lavender with the sea salt. This soup is creamy, delicious, and filling. The cashew creme sauce is a savory variation of the cashew vanilla creme that I use in many of my sweet recipes. There aren't many ingredients and it's pretty easy.

3 pounds Delicata Squash (2 pounds after prepping)
oil for basting
4 cups Rich Vegetable Broth (I use low sodium organic vegetable broth)
Lots of black pepper - I like that - I used about 1 tsp or so of fresh ground black pepper
1-1/2 tsp salt, more or less to taste - I used less, about 1 tsp Celtic sea salt

Cashew Creme
1 cup Raw, unsalted cashews
1 cup Rich Vegetable broth divided, I used a portion of the 4 cups above.

Delicata Squash Bisque

You were probably starting to think that we have a pretty boring diet, I make a large salad and a pot of beans every week. Well, I did make the beans, there will be salad made tomorrow to last a few days. Those are just the staples in our diet, I do make other meals from time to time. Today I made some vegan fajitas. I made this recipe up as I created, so the measurements are estimated.

1-2 TB Coconut oil or olive oil
1 Red onion halved and the halves sliced thin
2 small or 1 medium red bell pepper sliced thin
1 TB garlic minced
2 - 3 roma tomatoes sliced in lengthwise wedges
1 pkg vege crumbles, (textured vegetable protein)
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
salt, cayenne pepper to taste

Sautee the onions until tender in a little of your favorite oil, I like coconut oil. Add the sliced red pepper, cook a couple minutes until the pepper is tender. Add the tomatoes just to warm them and remove from the heat, set aside.

In about a teaspoon of hot coconut oil add the vege crumbles. Add the spices and about a half cup of water just to plump the vege crumbles and get a nice brown coating. This doesn't have to cook very long, just reduce a bit. Put the vegetables you sauteed earlier back in the pan.

Serve in a whole grain tortilla, we used tomato basil wraps. Add some sliced cabbage and avocado. I also used a little of the cashew creme I made for the soup in them. I did not miss the cheese in these burritos.

I don't use vege crumbles very much. Even though they are a plant based, low fat, high protein and fiber food, they are processed food, soy and wheat gluten. It's a good transition food but shouldn't be used very much.

Vegan Fajitas

I went to a cooking demo this week in Portland. I belong to a vegetarian/vegan educational group, NW Veg. I get lots of great information and ideas reading their newsletters, website, and attending events like the annual VegFest.

Wendy Gabbe Day did a dessert demonstration, one raw foods dessert and a muffin that can be eaten for a meal. It's a chocolate muffin made with bean flour, it's got some great fiber and protein as well as tastes good. I haven't tried the muffin yet, but I did try her pie. I made mine with mixed frozen berries from last summer, you can make it with any fruit you want. This recipe is very similar to my mango mousse recipe except that dessert calls for some coconut milk. It's easy, has very few ingredients, dairy free, and very low calories. I haven't calculated it out yet, but I think it's under 100 calories for this treat. I topped it, wrote on it, with vanilla, cashew, coconut cream. I made the cashew vanilla cream after we had our first sample, the chef has to taste the food first, right?

Cherry Berry Raw Fruit Pie

I never get bored of eating this way.

What are we eating this week?

During the weekend I like to prepare as many good food choices as I can so we have lunch and dinner available pretty easy during the week. I like being able to come home and grab something easy after work. It makes packing a sensible lunch a pretty quick job too. The hard part about packing a lunch for Monday is that there are usually too many things to choose from, nice problem. This is one of my methods to help us eat right too. I believe if there is something easy to reach for that is the right choice, we tend to make the right choice when we open that refrigerator. I usually make a very large raw vegetable salad,  a nice pot of beans so we have some low fat protein easily available, one or two nice vegetable entree choices and something sweet. That way, even if I do decide I am going to prepare something during the week, I already have some accompaniments already. Having the beans handy makes it so simple, I can warm a tortilla and some beans, stuff some salad in with the beans and I have a quick soft taco. Sometimes I will warm some beans, whatever whole grain I have prepared such as Quinua or brown rice and toss with some of the salad.

So what are we eating this week?

Let's start with dessert this time. I made some great brownies, almost gluten and dairy free. I say almost because there might be some gluten in my vanilla and maybe some dairy in the chocolate chips. I bought the vanilla in Baja and don't want to take the time to translate the ingredients right now. Great price too, we bought pure vanilla for fifty-five cents a pint. I used a Bob's Red Mill, Gluten Free, Brownie mix. and egg substitute, also from Bob's Red Mill, vegan margarine instead of butter, about a 1/2 cup roasted, chopped walnuts, and a 1/2 cup organic dark chocolate chips. I made a chocolate raspberry topping by cooking down some frozen raspberries, about 2 cups, with about 3 TBS raw agave syrup. I put about 3/4 to 1 cup organic dark chocolate chips in a small bowl and poured the hot raspberries over the chocolate. I spread the chocolate raspberry mixture over the cooled brownies and then put it in the refrigerator to cool. They came out really nice.

Gluten Free Brownies

I felt like cooking up some lentils for this week. I thought I'd look online for a recipe and I didn't have any problems finding a nice recipe. It only took a few minutes. I found it on a nice blog site called 101 Cookbooks.

This one is SO easy and there aren't many ingredients. I had everything the recipe needed in my kitchen already. It has a nice texture and light flavor.  I didn't make many changes; I used coconut oil instead of olive oil and added some fresh herbs to the onion. It's garnished with sliced olives, toasted almond slices, and scallions. I did have to cook it longer than the recipe said. The recipe says to simmer for about 30 minutes. I think mine went about 45 minutes before the rice was right.

Red Lentil Soup

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes with Apples and Pears

I had a small butternut squash and a couple sweet potatoes so I peeled and sliced them in large medallions, about an inch thick. Cored and sliced two green apples and two pears. I put these in my large crock-pot: squash, potatoes, apples, and pears, in that order.Then I scattered a about a third of a cup of sucanot sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, a dash of ground Celtic salt, and a little fresh ground nutmeg. Then I sliced a large lemon and placed the slices, with the rind on, on top of everything. I sprinkled some orange flax oil around the mixture then let it roast about four hours. I don't suggest eating the lemon slices, they are very bitter. The rest of it though is a nice sweet winter treat. This will be fun to have in my lunch next week.

Baked Beans

 Of course I have to have some beans around, we need that good low fat protein hanging around. This week I used pinto beans, cooked them very simply with a chopped onion, a little celery, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. I used about two cups organic vegetable broth and two cups filter water. I think I simmered them for about an hour. They came out just the way I wanted too, not too hard and not mushy, they are al dente.

I can't post that recipe as it belongs to a chef friend of mine and he doesn't share very well. But I can give you the main ingredients. Just put your favorite things you like in baked beans in the pot. Toss in some of your favorite herbs.

Use about four to six cups cooked beans
1 large can fire roasted tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped, unless you already have one in your cooked beans
a couple tablespoons of dark molasses
2 tbl maple syrup
balsamic vinegar
2 tBL chopped garlic
a dash chipolte chili powder
1 TB deli mustard - any coarse ground spicy mustard will work
salt and pepper

Mix it all together and bake uncovered in a casserole dish for about an hour at 350 degrees.

We'll make a raw vegetable salad later this afternoon with at least ten different vegetables and I am thinking about making some kind of broccoli/cauliflower Parmesan. I toasted some whole grain bread yesterday with a little olive oil and some fresh herbs. Tomorrow I will make them into bread crumbs. I have some homemade marinara sauce in my freezer and I'll layer bread crumbs, sauce, cauliflower and broccoli kind of like a lasagna and bake.

Seems like lots of work when I am finished at the end of the weekend, but I spread it out over the time and I certainly don't want to come home and cook a whole meal after work during the week. I had to fit more into one day this weekend as we are headed up to see our son this morning. That's going to take half the day. It's an hour and a half drive one way and we stay with him about two and a half hours, grateful for that time, and the drive home. Takes a big chunk out of the Sunday. But, I am grateful we can go see him. He may be moved soon and we don't know how long we will have to drive to visit.

I am hoping to hit some second hand stores along the way today in search of materials for my garden seedling project. 

I have been having a lot of "DUH!" moments lately. I did something pretty nice last night. Something I haven't done in a very long time and I am not sure why I haven't. I took a nice hot, herbal bath. As I lay submerged in the wonderful hot water with the herbs floating around and my skin welcoming the silky feeling the of hot water and bath salts, I wondered why I don't do this more often. This is so relaxing and so easy to do! I think remembering to take the time for some of us is difficult.

Enjoy and Happy Days!