Warm Winter Saturday

Nice quiet weekend at home on a rainy cold January weekend.  The holidays are behind us and I still have one more weekend in between now and my next cooking class.  Life is somewhat relaxing and there's a quiet feeling around here.  Taking some time to do a little winter cleaning.  Still working on the kitchen organization, the deck is in much need of a recyclable run.  There is no curb pickup where we live. We have to take our recyclables to the bins ourselves, we can save up quite a load in the winter. I managed to fit in quite a few meals while working.

We started the day with a pineapple coconut smoothie.  Scott had noticed some coconut pineapple juice in the market the other day.  Even though it may have been organic, it was still processed juice, and about $5 for a quart.  We always have coconut milk, all we needed was a ripe pineapple.  I chopped half a pineapple, two oranges, and a cucumber, added a handful of soaked and dried cashews, and a couple cups of coconut milk. It made for a really creamy, refreshing breakfast.

While going through the kitchen counter clutter I came upon some treasures, one being a bag of bean and grain soup mix from Bob's Red Mill. I got started with my weekend of cooking for our meals this week. I chopped an onion, some celery, and some carrots. Simmered them in vegetable broth with dried thyme, rosemary, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.  I added about a pint of my canned tomatoes and the soup mix and simmered for about an hour and a half.  When they were almost done I added a couple tablespoons apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of raw agave.

Bean & Grain Stew

While the beans were cooking I through some little squash I had from the garden that didn't quite make it to regulation size in the oven to roast.  I thought I'd make a cake or soup with them.  There's a couple yellow acorn squash, a couple small pumpkins, and a little sweet meat squash.

I thought I'd fit in a millet loaf. It's pretty easy and very good the next day in a sandwich with dijon mustard. This is an easy recipe from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook by Del Sroufe.

Start by cooking 3/4 cup millet in 2 1/2 cups water until all the liquid is absorbed.  I cooked mine in vegetable broth for a little added flavor.

While the millet is cooking sauté a medium onion and four cloves of garlic in a little water or vegetable broth until tender adding a liquid 1 tablespoon at a time to keep from sticking to the pan.

I added 1 TB sage, 1 TB thyme, a dash of fresh ground nutmeg, freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, 2 TB mellow white miso, and 1/4 cup cup nutritional yeast. I let that all simmer together for a minute or two then added about 3/4 cup of my home canned tomato sauce. Let that simmer about five minutes and then added the cooked millet.

Simmering Sauce

Baked at 350º for 30 Minutes

The squash became winter squash cake. The cake is dark brown due to the raw turbinado sugar and wheat flour I used. We ate it warm and soft. It sure is tasty. Glad those little squash didn't go to waste.

Now with a few items cooked, I can relax a bit today. I did re-hydrate some dried figs. I'm thinking about maybe a fig crisp of some sort. We'll see what happens to them.

Vegan Chicken Pot Pie in Winter Squash ~ Vegan comfort food

These were pretty fun to make.  I had a hankering for some chicken pot pie, vegan style of course.  I also have quite a few little winter squash around, some acorn squash, small pumpkin squash, and the black futsu squash I picked up at the People's Coop Farmer's market.  I had a weird notion that they would make excellent crusts or bowls for my pot pies.  I roasted three of them about half way so they'd be easier to get into.  The futsu squash shell was about as tough as the acorn squash.  I cut them in half, filled them with the chiken pot pie mixture and covered them with a baking powder bisquit crust.  They were really nice, more filling than they look.  We enjoyed these for lunch and dinner a few days.

Vegan "Chicken" Pot Pie

    * 1 package super firm tofu, died in ½" cubes
    * 6 cups vegetable stock I used low sodium vegetable broth
    * 1 cup yellow onion, diced
    * 1 cup carrots, peeled and diced
    * 1 cup diced potatoes

    * 1 cup green peas
    * 3/4 tsp thyme, minced
    * 3/4 tsp sage, minced
    * 3/4 tsp sea salt
    * 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
    * 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
    * 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
    * 2-4 tbsp olive oil
    * 3/4 cup flour
    * 3/4 cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
    * 1 puff pastry sheet rolled out to by 12x10 inches

Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 375º.

Brown diced super firm tofu in a saute pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside. To make a roux, melt the vegan margarine in a saute pan, add flour and whisk constantly until light brown in color. Cool and set aside.

In a 5.5 qt. stock pot, cook onions in oil or water, adding 1-2 TB at a time to keep from sticking to the pan, for 3 minutes and add carrots, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add already boiling stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in nutritional yeast flakes.

Add the roux a bit at a time and continue to cook as sauce begins to thicken. Stir in "chicken" cubes, tamari and peas. Pour mixture into a large shallow pan to cool.

Once mixture is cool, pour into individual ramekins, glass pie pan or small casserole dish. Cover mixture with puff pastry (be sure to leave a small excess of pastry for folding and fluting of the edge) and seal edges. Cut small slits.

 

I used a simple baking powder bisquit recipe and rolled small crusts and gently placed over the top of the filled winter squash and baked until thouroughly heated and the crust was golden brown and crispy.

Winter Squash Soup with Roasted Beets

It's finally here, the rain, the can't see in front of your face while driving kind of rain.  I worked up north for a bit today.  It was a nice ride up towards Olympia.  The rain on the way up wasn't so bad.  It was raining, but with sunshine breaks.  On the way home was a different story, I was praying out loud for a few more sun breaks.  The rain was coming down hard and it was a busy time with huge trucks on either side of me the whole way.  Just as I'd pass one another would join me spraying more water than I needed on my windshield. I only had about a 45 minute drive on the freeway, but it seemed like longer today.

I didn't work my usual daily schedule. I had to get on the road north by noon so I ate a small salad around 11:30. I didn't plan my food well and didn't bring anything to snack on in the afternoon. I was very hungry on the way home as well.  I didn't want to stop though.  Even though I wanted to get out of the weather, it didn't seem like it was going to get any better waiting it out. I would be home soon and there's plenty of 'good' whole foods to eat there. I thought about the little winter squash that looked like little pumpkins I roasted Saturday.  I also remembered I roasted three large beets last night.  I bought them Saturday and didn't use them right away.  If I roast them, they were more likely to get eaten.  Oh I'm so glad I did.

I made it to the house around 6:15 p.m., changed my clothes and proceeded to the fridge where my roasted roots and squash were waiting.  I chopped a red onion and about three stalks of celery, sliced two small jalapenos from the garden, and minced a couple cloves of garlic.  I sauteed them all in a soup pot with about 1 tablespoon coconut oil.  I added sea salt and fresh thyme to the mixture. While they were sauteing, I took the skins off the squash and placed them in the blender and diced the roasted beets. I added about 2 cups organic soup stock and half the tender onions and celery and blended until smooth.  I poured the mixture in the soup pot and added about 2 more cups soup stock and the diced roasted beets. I let that all simmer together for about five minutes. I was pretty happy to see that dinner was ready and it was 7:00.  I think I made this soup in about 20 minutes or less. 

Veggie Pot Pie with Plum Vinegar Sauce

I made some veggie pot pie last week with some soy protein bits designed to taste like riblets.  I don't use fake meats much, but I had these in the freezer and thought they should be used.  I made a different version of my vegetarian chicken pot pie. I sautéed the soy protein bits with a sauce made from some of Rachel's plum jam, fresh juice from an orange, a clove of minced garlic, and a little balsamic vinegar. 

Seared Soy Protein with Plum Sauce and  Balsamic Vinegar

Then I sautéed some onions, carrots, shallots. Added some vegetable stock and diced potatoes and simmered until the veggies were tender.  I added some herbs, sage & fennel, and made a rue with spelt flour and vegan margarine. I added the soy protein bits with the plum sauce poured it in a pie dish and baked for about 35 minutes. Mmmm, warm hot vegetable pot pie.

Braised Butternut Squash

I showed you what I did with the bottom portion of the butternut squash.

I sliced the top portion in 1/2 inch rounds and braised them in about two cups apple cider, rosemary, vegan margarine (New Balance, flaxseed oil), the rest of the strawberry maple syrup I made this morning, about 1/4 cup, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, and a hit of golden balsamic vinegar.

Melt about 2 TB of the margarine with some rosemary, add the butternut rounds, a little salt, and the apple cider, bring to a boil and simmer until the liquid reduces to a glaze, about 20 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

Winter Squash & Beans

The Beans:

1½ cups dried beans, soaked overnight and drained
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 TB Thyme
1 TB Sage
1 TB Rosemary
     (The herbs are approximate, I don't measure herbs or count garlic cloves)

I cooked the beans in the herbs and water until they were tender, about 40 minutes.  While the beans were cooking I cut a couple acorn squash and a butternut squash and cleaned out the seeds. I brushed them with olive oil and sea salt & pepper and roasted them skins down on 350° until they were tender but not too soft.

Great combination and they will make a great lunch this week!

Mango & Carrot Soup

This couldn't be easier, just a few ingredients, carrots, an onion, a mango, and some coconut milk. The recipe calls for water and a bullion cube, but I used low sodium vegetable broth.

Mango & Carrot Soup

   from:  Vegalicious Recipes

Ingredients:

* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 ripe mango peeled and chopped
* 1 lb. carrots (about 3-4 medium), peeled and chopped
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
* 3 cups water
* 1 vegetable bouillon cube (I used low sodium vegetable broth)
* 6-8 tablespoons coconut milk (non-sweetened)
* lemon juice
* parsley or coriander as garnish, chopped

Directions:

1. Peel and chop the onion.
2. Peel and chop the carrots.
3. Heat the oil in a large soup pot.
4. Add the onions and saute until soft and glassy.
5. Add the carrots and saute the carrots for a few minutes, but don’t let the onion brown.
6. Add the water, the bouillon cube, the curry and bring the soup to a boil.
7. Cook the soup until the carrots have softened.
8. Cut and peel the mango.
9. Put 3/4 of the mango in the soup to cook, holding out a about 1/4 to use as chunks and garnish.
10. When the carrots are soft, puree the soup. I used an immersion blender.
11. Add the coconut milk and a splash of lemon juice.
12. Puree once more to mix well.
13. Season to taste with salt and pepper and possibly additional curry as desired.
14. Serve the soup garnished with a few pieces of chopped mango and either chopped coriander or parsley.

I served it with a winter squash bowl of red beans