Cooking in Color

Talin Market

2012-01-17T16:09:00.001-07:00

I managed to get to my favorite enormous international food store. I could spend hours in Talin Market finding all sorts of interesting food products. I recommend it to everyone visiting the Albuquerque area - it is on the corner of Central and Louisiana.

Here's what I bought this weekend.

I buy a lot of rice noodles at Talin. I use the really thin vermicelli rice noodles for spring rolls and the thicker ones are good in Asian soups. I've never had jackfruit before but I've seen recipes where it is cooked in barbecue sauce and after cooking it turns into shreds. The watercress on the bottom was 88 cents! I always buy a few Goya items from the Cuban aisle - this time it is pink beans and white hominy pieces. My favorite thing in this photo is the miso - the Cold Mountain Kyoto white miso is only $3.85 and has half the sodium of other white misos.

The bottom right shows the baby bok choy I always buy - it was $1.30 a lb. They actually have about 10 different types of bok choy in their produce section. They also have a huge selection of mushrooms including enoki and maitake - I bought shiitake and oyster mushrooms. That big bag of Thai basil was only $1.59 and Bubbles the rabbit has been happily munching on that. My most unique find was shallot powder which I'm looking forward to testing out in my non-dairy cheese sauces. I forgot to include the fresh shallots in the photo - they always have bags for under $1 a lb.

Talin Market also has a web site where you can check out their ethnic cooking classes and read their blog which keeps you up to date on when lychees are in season and what to do with monster fruit. There are signs at the entrance asking you to not take photographs inside or I'd have a zillion photos of all the cool stuff.

Favorites of 2011

2012-01-09T11:18:00.004-07:00

Here are the things that made me happy in 2011 in no particular order.

Kale chips I make these 2 or 3 times a week. My current favorite recipe involves curly kale, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and Frontier Co-op's Garlic Bread Seasoning.

Date Sugar I buy this at iHerb and just love it over my morning oatmeal or sprinkled on top of muffins before baking. It is basically just powdered dates and a little goes a long way.

My New Crockpot I wasn't sure I'd ever use this but now that I've discovered I can finally cook dried beans at this altitude without using a pressure-cooker, I'm in love. (I'm at around 7000 feet and I put pre-soaked beans at HIGH in the crockpot until tender.) I bought this model although currently it is about $20 more than I paid for it last summer.

Koshary This Egyptian street food seen above consists of rice, lentils, macaroni and chili sauce topped with caramelized onions. I used this recipe from One Arab Vegan.

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer I especially love this book because it gives a voice to many different people in all sides of this issue. I bought extra copies to give to friends. It really makes you think and I fervently hope the rumors are true that it will be made into a documentary.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Who knew a recipe that was vegan and oil-free could be so wonderful? I like to use dark chocolate bars chopped up. This recipe is from the plant-based dietitian Julieanna Hever and is available here (scroll down).

Pizza Without Cheese The first time I ordered this at a pizza place I figured it was going to be just awful. I was quite pleasant surprised and I still haven't had a bad cheeseless pizza out. I just order the pizza combo with the most vegetables and tell them to leave off the cheese.

Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau I always notice the colors of my meals and this book includes many delicious recipes in all color categories. I am looking forward to making more recipes from it soon.

Growing My Own Herbs Indoors I keep buying those big basil plants at Trader Joe's and they are still alive on my kitchen table. I also have some lemon balm and oregano doing well inside but I still can't manage to keep rosemary alive. Honestly most of the herbs go to my pet house rabbit Bubbles but I hope to increase the number of plants in 2012 so we can enjoy them as well.

My New Breville Juicer This was a Christmas present and so far I'm using it daily. I am not yet making a lot of combos of vegetable juices because I'm so obsessed with citrus combos. Oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and kumquats (I don't peel these) are all good alone or mixed together.

Massaged Kale Salad I love to use a combo of tahini, lemon, soy sauce, and garlic to mix with fresh kale for an incredible salad.

The Chef and the Dietitian videos These videos are funny and enthusiastic and promote a healthy plant-based diet. Best of all, I've been greatly enjoying all their recipes. I wish they'd get a show on tv! HERE is a link to their episode guide by recipe.

Dr. Fuhrman's Holiday Challenge I lost about 6 pounds this holiday season by sticking to a lowfat whole foods diet heavy on the fruits and vegetables. Dr. Fuhrman's Member Center (it was free for the holiday challenge) had lots of great recipes and support.

Storage Containers from Costplus World Market I've been collecting these handy containers for my future pantry - they are nice and heavy and seal well. The large container will easily hold over 5 lbs of dried beans. Their web site does not feature them but check at your local store. The photo below shows them along with some creamed kale I made from the Whole Foods Health Starts Here program.

Oil and Vinegar Store in Santa Fe It seems that every time I go to the City Different there is a new and fun foodie destination. I've been meaning to get back to this store to buy a few of their delicious flavored balsamic vinegars. Check my blog post here for photos and information about the store..

Homemade Coconut Milk Ice Cream We mix one can of light coconut milk with agave nectar and whatever fruits or flavorings we have on hand and put them in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. This recipe helped us survive the hot desert summer intact.

Panda Soy Yarn This isn't food-related but I hesitated about trying vegan yarns thinking I wouldn't be able to find what I like, especially in sock yarn. Panda Soy, a blend of bamboo, soy, and elastic nylon, is an incredible soft and elastic yarn. Crystal Palace recently discontinued it but I managed to buy a lot on sale. The Orzival Socks below are knit in Panda Soy in Poppy Red. Another plant-based yarn I liked a lot was Knit One Crochet Too's Wick (a thick polypropylene sock yarn). I continue to test out plant-based yarns on my knitting blog.

ETA:

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead This year we finally watched Food Inc. and Forks Over Knives but I thought the most inspiring documentary was Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. The movie chronicles the changes in several people's lives as a result of a medically supervised fruit and vegetable juice fast. I don't think anything I've seen shows the amazing powers of fruits and vegetables to fight disease as well as this movie. The story of Paul the truckdriver in the second half of the documentary is so compelling. This documentary is free on Hulu.

Bunnies on Blogs

2012-01-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

Recently the PostPunkKitchen listed Bunnies on Blogs as one of the Top 100 Vegan Trends of 2011. Two really cute bunnies on vegan blogs were mentioned but I wanted to give a shout out to my wonderful pet rabbit Bubbles. Large white rabbits (especially those with pink/ruby eyes) are pretty common but unfortunately they are virtually unadoptable. They're just not as cute as the popular dwarf rabbit breeds you see in pet stores. One House Rabbit Society chapter even offers to pay the rabbit's veterinary expenses for life if you adopt one of their large white rabbits but most languish in shelters. It is really a shame because their personality is so sweet and mellow.

Bubbles apparently started out as a breeder in a feed store. At some point she was attacked by an animal and she is missing a toe. She was even in Petco for a few months unsuccessfully living in a large aquarium but no one wanted her. She was a few years old when we adopted her and she adapted quickly to the life of a spoiled house rabbit.

Bubbles is not completely white - she does get some darker fur on her head mainly in the winter months. She loves mornings the best and waits until we wake up. The minute our feet hit the floor she comes over and sits on our feet so we have to pet her before we can get out of bed. I spend a few hours every night on the floor with her reading or knitting. She also loves her massage time (HERE is a video from the San Diego House Rabbit Society which shows how.)

If you are seeking a pet rabbit, check out the House Rabbit Society's comprehensive web site. And when it comes time to choose a companion, consider adopting a large white bunny. You won't regret it!

A Few New Year's Eve Recipes

2012-01-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

I'm terribly excited about our upcoming return to Colorado because I'll be able to start doing more parties and fun dinners. (Our current house doesn't have any parking and is really small.) I'm already buying more dishes and holiday decor items in anticipation. We still haven't found a house yet but I'm especially hoping for a nice deck for some outdoor parties.

Here are some appetizers I made for New Year's Eve this year. I just love making a meal out of appetizers. I wanted to keep everything as healthy as possible and the only processed items I bought were the Daiya non-dairy cheese and the pitas.

I did kale chips, the Chef and the Dietitian's Chocolate Fundue with bananas and apples, mini pizzas made from the Trader Joe's mini whole wheat pita breads, the Chef and the Dietitian's Smoky Chipotle Corn Salsa, and the Chef and the Dietitian's homemade oil-free Tortilla Chips.

I did my usual kale chips - kale pieces mixed with Frontier's (no-salt) Garlic Bread Seasoning, nutritional yeast, and a touch of lemon juice baked on a foil pan at 250 until crisp. No need for salt and oil!

The Chocolate Fundue was the hit of the night. I'd never tried raw cacao before and could only find raw cacao nibs so to powder them I put them in my coffee grinder. They taste like a milder version of cocoa powder with a touch of roasted coffee beans. Yum! The Fundue was a mixture of the cacao, pureed dates, peanut butter and vanilla.

The bean salsa was nice and hearty and the tortilla chips were indeed crispy from spritzing them with water before baking. I split the mini pitas to make them crispier and topped them with tomato sauce and either sauteed portobellos or bell peppers.

I just discovered the Chef and the Dietitian's videos after discovering Julieanna Hever's wonderful pumpkin chocolate chip muffins which were the hit of my Thanksgiving feast. I plan to get both their books (Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition and Unprocessed) for more healthy plant-based recipe ideas.

Our Christmas Meal

2011-12-27T14:21:00.001-07:00

Here is our Christmas meal - I always make a huge lasagna for Christmas because then I don't have to cook for a few days. I also added a large salad and the dressing I made is the Caesar Chavez Dressing from Appetite for Reduction.

The biggest hit of the menu was Nava Atlas' Smoky Cheddar Cheez from her new book Vegan Holiday Kitchen. I didn't have mesquite seasoning and used liquid smoke. Next time I'll try it the right way as soon as I find the seasoning.

Dessert was simple - I did the Carrot Cake Cupcakes from Happy Herbivore. I didn't use confectioner's sugar (I used agave) which is why my cream cheese icing looks less exciting. Next time I make them I am going to add raisins. Also, I made some simple cookies from the Fuhrman web site - oats, almond butter, dates and coconut made into balls and then filled with fruit-sweetened preserves.

I'll be back this weekend with some New Year's eve appetizer ideas - I think I'm going to do some mini-pizzas along with a hearty salsa with beans from the Chef and the Dietitian.

Holiday Links

2011-12-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

We had some snow (not always a sure thing here in NM) and I'm in full Christmas mode. I'm currently looking for some yummy vegan goodies that can be used for stocking stuffers. I've already made a batch of DH's favorite Power-Packed Energy Bars from the 30 Minute Vegan Cookbook by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray. DH is an avid hiker and I like to make him a hiking themed Christmas stocking each year. I usually add some hand knit hiking socks and gloves, trail mix, and some field guides to each year's stocking.

The Energy Bars are just mainly nuts, seeds, and dried fruit held together with some coconut oil and agave and then baked. I wrap each one individually in foil so he can grab one or two for hiking.

I have a few holiday-related links to share.

HERE is a free ebook for Vegan Gingerbread Houses that even includes a vegan recipe for royal icing.

Scatter Vegan is offering a free 124 page PDF dessert cookbook, Scatter Vegan Sweets that offers low-fat and low-sugar recipes. So far it looks to be wheat-free as well. Just go HERE and click on "Scatter Vegan Sweets e-book - download free".

VegNews is having a Holiday Cookie Contest with all sorts of great prizes including a KitchenAid Mixer.

HERE is a Youtube video showing how to make Vegan Christmas eggnog.

The Unintentional Vegan offers a 12 page PDF, Vegan Holiday Gift Guide.

I found a list of the Best Vegan Cookbooks 2011 which might help in choosing gifts for your favorite vegan cook.

DH has been busy getting us plenty of wood to heat our house this winter.

Thanksgiving Review

2011-11-28T14:46:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo of our Thanksgiving meal - we ended up with Tofurky because they were out of Celebration Field Roast. It was salty but okay. I'm not sure I'd buy it again.

Here's the Thanksgiving plate (menu and recipe links HERE). The two winners were the mushroom green bean casserole and Julianna Hever's great pumpkin chocolate muffins. I wouldn't make the gravy (lemon juice wasn't a good addition) or the mashed potatoes/cauliflower with cashew cream again.

We went on a hike nearby - we're lucky to having hiking trails about 5-10 minutes from our house. I took some photos of our Thanksgiving hike - next year I think we'll emphasize the hike over the dinner.

Recipes I've Tried and My Thanksgiving Menu

2011-11-21T16:16:00.001-07:00

I've been trying some of the recipes from the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center. One of my faves is the Banana-Oat Bars which contain bananas, oats, coconut, applesauce, and walnuts These can be frozen and used as really quick breakfast choices.

Another Fuhrman breakfast choice is the really hearty Blue Nut Oatmeal. A small amount of oats is cooked with blueberries, raisins, cinnamon, apple, banana, and walnuts.

Here is one of my favorite hummus recipes which I've talked about here before - Dreena Burton's White Bean Hummus with Thyme and Basil. I make it when I want hummus but I don't have any garbanzos available and as you can see I add lots of veggies to the top and for dipping.

Here's my Thanksgiving menu this year. I tried to find recipes that would include lots of veggies and limit the sugar and fat. Plus DH wanted some sort of leftovers for sandwiches so we're going to try a Celebration Field Roast for the first time.

2011 Thanksgiving Menu

Celebration Field Roast (I think I'm going to baste it with orange juice and fresh herbs.)

Dean Ornish's Health Hearty Salad (sans the blueberries since they're not in season)

Engine 2 Slow Cooker Stuffing, Engine 2 Potato-Cauliflower Mash, and Engine 2 Wilted Kale with Fresh Cranberries

Jennifer Raymond's Festive Fruited Yams

Dr. Fuhrman's Nutty Green Bean Casserole (from an email)

Happy Herbivore's Sage Gravy

Julianna Hever's Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins

I knit this cute turkey (free pattern HERE) to adorn the holiday table along with a photo of Peyton the turkey I adopted from Farm Sanctuary. Happy Thanksgiving!

2011 Holiday Challenge

2011-11-16T14:07:00.001-07:00

I've signed up to do the 2011 Holiday Challenge at the Dr. Fuhrman Member Support Center. Dr. Joel Fuhrman is the author of Eat to Live and was the doctor featured in documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead which is available to watch free HERE on Hulu. The documentary is such an amazing testament to the power of fruits and vegetables.

I read about the Holiday Challenge at the Carrie On Vegan blog and was intrigued by the idea of doing a challenge at a time of year where it is difficult to stay healthy. I'm especially motivated because we hope to be moving to Colorado early 2012 and buying a foreclosure. It would be great to be in really good shape at that point to deal with any necessary remodeling and all the other moving stress.

Here's what you have to promise to do for the challenge:

1. Eat at least one large salad every day. (I already do this.)

2. Eat generous amounts of cooked green vegetables, mushrooms, and onions.

3. Eat beans every day. (I try but am not always successful.)

4. Eat at least three fresh fruits every day. (I currently eat maybe one or two.)

5. Avoid white flour.

6. Avoid sugars and artificial sweeteners.

7. Use oils sparingly. (I do this already.)

8. I will not allow peer pressure or tempting toxic foods to derail me from my health goals.

9. I will not compromise my health to please others.

10. I will set an example of health-mindedness for those around me.

I think the difficulties for me will be the cooked greens and mushrooms and avoiding holiday baked goods from white flour and sugar. It is free but to sign up I did have to give a credit card number. I heard from Carrie who told me that I have to remember to call them and cancel after the six weeks is up.
Anyway, there are over 1000 healthy recipes in the member center which I will have access to during the challenge so to me it is worth it to remember to call them at the end of the holidays. There is also a Facebook page for the Holiday Challenge HERE.

My rabbit Bubbles looks like she could use a healthy eating challenge as well! I'm always amazed pet house rabbits can get so plump from just eating greens and other vegetables.

Trying to Reduce My Grocery Spending

2011-11-07T10:56:00.003-07:00

I have this theory that grocery prices increase across the board this time of year. Retailers know we're all going to be cooking and baking for the holidays and price accordingly. In fact I was recently at Sunflower Market looking for chocolate chips and every bag was $5 or more. Not just the fair trade, grain-sweetened kinds of chocolate chips but even the Toll House brand.

A lot of the traditional wisdom on saving money on food doesn't apply to me. I rarely see coupons for the food I buy and while I find the Santa Fe Farmer's Market wonderful, I don't think I've ever seen a single bargain. I also don't have storage space for a lot of bulk items. I'm not organized enough to keep a price book but I do keep old receipts so I can look back and figure out how much individual items are.

PLANNING

My current grocery budget is $600 a month for two people who rarely eat out. About $50 of that is fresh greens for Bubbles and that total also includes non-food items such as shampoo, paper towels, and all our supplements. We generally eat oatmeal for breakfast and include big salads with dinner. I also have a green smoothie every day.

I decided to simplify meal planning so DH and I chose two week's worth of meals and we just rotate through those. The benefit of this is that I'm not buying all sorts of random strange ingredients for unknown reasons. I know specifically what I need for those two week's worth of meals. In fact, I made a list of all those ingredients used in those meals so I can refer to it when making the weekly grocery list.

I can still go over budget with this method. Another measure in place is the running list I keep on the refrigerator that lets me know how much I've spent so far each month. If I run rampant at the beginning of each month I have to rein it in at the end of the month.

PRODUCE

Fruits and vegetables are probably my biggest expense and I think they are too important to limit. We are in a year-round organic CSA (photos on this page show various CSA boxes) but lately I've stopped getting the boxes every week. I generally don't waste any of our lovely CSA boxes but there are weeks we get produce I probably wouldn't buy at the grocery store. For instance, lately the boxes have been including lots of oranges but I'm seriously craving apples. So then I'd pay for the CSA box and still have to buy apples. Now I only get the CSA boxes if the items are foods I really want for that week. Our CSA boxes have also recently increased in price - I think they are currently close to $35 a week.

Another strategy I'm trying is to buy fruits and vegetables at one of the local produce markets. None of the items are organic so I focus on the items that are not on the EWG's Dirty Dozen list. I also buy the inexpensive organic fruits and vegetables such as carrots and cabbage. I often purchase frozen veggies and fruits since they can be cheaper and of course last a lot longer.

BAKING

I have to limit my baking. I occasionally try to price out the cost of a batch of cookies or a cake and the results are always unpleasant. I currently let myself bake one thing each weekend but try to focus on fruit or soy yogurt for dessert instead.

iHerb

I order from the online retailer iHerb often. I'm purposely not going to link to iHerb because they give folks who refer them a $5 discount and that isn't the reason I'm recommending them. I'm recommending them because I save a lot of money. I like using iHerb for those items that are a bit pricier in general like agave nectar and nuts and vitamin B-12 fortified nutritional yeast. Their prices are usually very
good, you can easily search for the best price, and they give you free shipping if your order is over $40. You can choose one free sample with each order and if you start ordering from them regularly you will get a special customer status and save another 5% on everything.

PICKING MY BATTLES

I'm trying to figure out what items are worth paying the highest price and what items are not worth it. For instance, i'm a huge fan of the Frontier herbs and spices. I pay more for them than some of the generic
spices at the grocery store. iHerb sells some of Frontier herbs and I also find them in bulk at the natural foods store. On the other hand, I really can't see much of a difference between grocery store whole
wheat pasta and some brand that costs more than $4 a pound at the natural foods co-op. So there I'd buy the cheaper one.

I would love to hear from others on methods they use to save money on food!

VeganMoFo #22 - Veganomicon

2011-10-31T14:46:00.000-06:00

I saved the largest cookbook for last. Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero is the sort of book you'd give to a friend who was trying out a plant-based diet. It is full of helpful advice and 250 recipes to keep you cooking.

I made the Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. I used whole grain bread for the bread cubes and dark chocolate cut into small pieces for the chips. I thought this dish was excellent but next time I'll use crispier bread for a firmer bread pudding.

Other recipes I've tried and liked from the book include: Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls, Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls, Tofu Florentine, Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango, Brooklyn Deli Macaroni Salad, Baja-Style Grilled Tempeh Tacos (my fave recipe from the book), Snobby Joes, Black Bean Burgers, Chile Cornmeal Crusted Tofu, Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh, Chickpea Cutlets, Black-Bean Vegetable Soup, Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans, Baked Potato and Greens Soup with Potato-Wedge Croutons, Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits, Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping (DH's fave recipe from the book), Dill Tahini Sauce, Skillet Cornbread, Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones and the Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies.

Here's a preview of our dinner tonight. I made the Pumpkin-Raisin Cookies from Jennifer Raymond's Fatfree and Easy, the Graveyard Salad (one of the cucumber tombstones fell over) from the Forks and Beans blog, toasted pumpkin seeds and a jack-o-lantern pizza. I prebaked the crust then added pizza sauce, diced bell peppers and kalamata olives. I'll crisp it in the oven right before dinner. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

VeganMoFo # 21 - Table for Two

2011-10-28T11:23:00.003-06:00

One of the things I hate most in the world is throwing food away. Still, there are times when DH makes a huge quantity of vegetarian chili and we just get sick of it and there is no room in the freezer. That is why I bought Table for Two: Meat- and Dairy-Free Recipes for Two by Joanne Stepaniak. Every recipe in this book is pared down to just a few servings.

I made the Slow-Roasted Broccoli Hoagies with Mustard Dill Sauce. Broccoli, mushrooms, and onions are roasted and spooned on bread along with olives with a simple mayo/Dijon mustard sauce. I liked it but then I usually enjoy unusual sandwiches.

This book includes a nice selection of pantry staples and a list of kid-pleasing recipes. The recipes are basic and delicious with minimal amounts of oil in the baked goods and a few fatfree salad dressings. I've made and like the following recipes from this book: French Toast, Whole Wheat Muffins, Catalina French Dressing, Cheddar Cheeze Soup, Chuckwagon Stew, Cornucopia Oat Burgers, Golden Gravy, Pierogies in a Pot, Cabbage and Pasta Bake (my fave from the book), and the Chili Bean Topping for Grains or Pasta.

VeganMoFo #20 - Fiesta Vegan (and a recipe)

2011-10-27T11:12:00.001-06:00

Today's book is much more obscure. A while back I self-published this small booklet of my favorite New Mexican recipes called Fiesta Vegan in print, PDF format, and for the Kindle (without photos) but alas it has not sold well at all over the years. Anyway, I wanted to post at least one recipe during VeganMoFo so here is my favorite recipe from the book. I am crazy about the combination of green chiles and potatoes. If you use nondairy cheeses like Daiya, you can certainly add some to the mashed potato mixture.

CHILES RELLENOS WITH CHIMAYO TOMATO SAUCE

Feel free to use roasted poblano chiles for this recipe or even whole canned green chiles. I really prefer our New Mexico green chiles from Hatch. The photo above shows what the Hatch chiles look like after roasting and peeling and before stuffing. (Two years ago I wrote a post HERE about the different types of chile peppers and HERE is how I roast chiles.)

I’ve seen all sorts of things used to stuff chiles - once in Taos I ordered Chiles Rellenos and they were stuffed with a carrot mixture. My favorite version uses mashed potatoes mixed with sautéed onions and garlic. The Chimayo Tomato Sauce is milder than most red chile sauces so it doesn’t overpower mild flavor of the chiles.

NOTE: Chimayo chile powder is harder to find outside New Mexico. Use any mild, powdered red chile pepper you like. There are also have frozen red chile purees made by Bueno which would work.

Serves 4

Chimayo Tomato Sauce:

2 Tbsp. canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. dried oregano, preferably Mexican
2 Tbsp. Chimayo red chile powder
2 Tbsp. unbleached white flour
3 cups water
1 tsp. sea salt or to taste
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

To make Chimayo Tomato Sauce, saute the garlic in the oil for 3 minutes in a medium saucepan. Add the oregano and Chimayo chile powder and cook another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the flour and stir until all the oil is combined. Add the tomato paste and water, whisking until smooth. Cook over low heat until thick. Add the salt and vinegar.

1 ½ lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ c. non-hydrogenated vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance
Pinch sea salt

12 lg. mild green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, stemmed and split lengthwise

Place potatoes in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook 25 minutes, or until tender. Drain well.
In a medium saucepan, saute onion in canola oil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Mix sautéed onions and garlic with potatoes and margarine and mashe until smooth. Salt to taste.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour about 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Reserve rest of sauce for serving with the stuffed chiles. Fill each green chile with ½ c. potatoes. Place the chiles in the pan with the potato side up. (This dish can be made in advance up to this point and can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.) Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Warm the remaining Chimayo Tomato Sauce and serve with the chiles.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 314 Calories; 22g Fat (46.2% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 51g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 420mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

VeganMoFo # 19 - Sweet Utopia

2011-10-26T11:18:00.000-06:00

I bought Sharon Valencik's Sweet Utopia: Simply Stunning Vegan Desserts for one recipe - the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Sticky Toffee Pudding is my favorite non-chocolate dessert and I really enjoyed her nondairy version of that recipe. Since then I haven't made anything from the book. (Seen here is the library version of the book; I own the Kindle version although now that I see the color photos in the book I wish I'd purchased the print version.)

For VeganMoFo I made the Fruity Chocolate Crepe Rollups and I'm very glad I did. This recipe will become a standby when I need a fancy dessert or breakfast and better yet, the only oil used is what you need to cook the crepes.

The chocolate crepe recipe was supposed to yield four crepes but mine actually made six. The first three stuck to the pan I chose. I finally switched to my trusty cast iron skillet and made these with only some vegetable cooking spray. The crepes are spread with jam (I used Trader Joe's Superfruit preserves.) then soy yogurt and fruit. I topped mine with some coconut and walnuts but really it wasn't necessary.

This book has a really nice variety of different desserts from cakes and sweet breads to tarts and granola and tiramisu. I'm especially interested in the chapter on Velvety Mousses, Puddings, and Cremes and plan to try one of those very soon. I recommend this book to everyone with a sweet tooth!

VeganMoFo #18 - The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook

2011-10-25T12:14:00.000-06:00

Years ago a neighbor of ours in Colorado had heart surgery and I gave a copy of this cookbook to his wife. She was having trouble figuring out what to cook for him and The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less (1997) was really helpful for her. I still use it often years later especially when I'm trying to find new ways to eat more beans.

Dr. John McDougall is one of the original physicians who promoted a low-fat plant-based diet for healing and he is responsible for the health info in the book. His wife created the recipes which are divided up into Breakfast, Salads and Dressings, Soups and Stews, Main Dishes: Grains, Main Dishes: Beans, Main Dishes: Pasta, Main Dishes: General, Sauce, Dips and Spreads, and Desserts. There is also a chapter on acceptable canned and packaged products. For VeganMoFo I made the Greeny Beany Soup. The soup contains leeks, potato, herbs, orzo (I used vermicelli), white beans, zucchini and spinach.

I liked the soup and it is a good example of the recipes in the book - simple and hearty. I've noticed a lot of the recipes really appeal to DH who likes uncomplicated foods with an emphasis on healthy carbs. The book is especially valuable for the large number of soup recipes. There are a few recipes that do use honey so it isn't 100% vegan. There are no nutritional analyses of the recipes in my version of the book. Still I think everyone who is eating a lowfat diet should have this book although maybe they do already. This book is still in print almost 15 years after it was first published!

Other recipes I've tried from the book include: Mexican Corn Salad, Chili Bean Salad, Taco Soup, Cream of Vegetable Soup, Mexi Corn Chowder, Chili Tortilla Soup, Ellen's Bean Soup, Southwestern Brown Rice, Beans and Greens, Spicy Chili and Chips, Quick Wisconsin Chili (DH's favorite), Black Bean Sloppy Joes, Spicy Tomato Couscous, Rotini and Greens, Mustardy Pasta, Mushroom Stroganoff, Vegetable Bean Enchiladas, Potato Enchiladas, Mexican Lasagna, Moo-Shu Wraps, Polenta with Italian Bean Sauce, Baked Tofu Loaf, Spinach Buns, and Peanut Butter Spread.

VeganMoFo #17 - The Kind Diet

2011-10-24T11:21:00.000-06:00

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone isn't only a vegan cookbook, it is a macrobiotic vegan cookbook. Macrobiotics is a diet that emphasizes whole grains and dark leafy greens and de-emphasizes nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes). One of the most interesting things to me about macrobiotics is the belief that you are imbued with some of the qualities of what you eat. So for instance if you eat a lot of root vegetables you'll be very grounded.

Some of the foods popular in the macrobiotic diet are an acquired taste such as umeboshi plums, mochi, burdock, sea vegetables, etc. The best book I've found that explains macrobiotics is the Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics by Jessica Porter. The best online source for some of the more unusual ingredients used in macrobiotics is Gold Mine Natural Foods.

For VeganMoFo I made the Ginger Pasta with Zucchini. I wish I'd pureed the tofu instead of mashed it. I do cook macrobiotic occasionally and I don't always find it the most colorful food so I added the carrots to the photo. The Kind Diet is divided into Vegan Recipes (not necessarily macrobiotic) to get you started and SuperHero Recipes (vegan and macrobiotic). About half of this book is devoted to discussing reasons why you should go vegan with information on factory farming, health, etc. She also provides some good tips for those new to vegan cooking on how to stock your kitchen, cook veggies, save money, etc.

I've also made the Tahini Dressing and the Rice Pilaf with Caramelized Onions. The Endnotes offers sources for the information she gives on agriculture and health. There are many dessert recipes for those who love to bake. There are a few photos of the recipes and many photos of Alicia. I'd recommend the book if you are interested in macrobiotics or more healthful vegan cooking.

Here's a bonus photo of umeboshi plums and umeboshi paste. There is also umeboshi vinegar available but that has crazy amounts of sodium (the Eden Foods brand of umeboshi vinegar has 1050 mg sodium per 1 teaspoon).

VeganMoFo #16 - Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen

2011-10-21T10:30:00.000-06:00

Although I make a lot of unusual pizzas until I made this recipe I had never tried beans on pizza. This recipe is the Quick Tuscan-Style Pizza with White Beans, Tomatoes, and Basil from Donna Klein's Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. It is one of her older books and was published in 2001.

White beans are cooked with garlic, olive oil, and vegetable broth until they are creamy. They top the pizza along with sliced tomatoes and basil. The really fun part of this pizza is the crust. In the recipe she specifies using commercial refrigerated pizza dough but I used the basic pizza dough recipe from the book instead. You roll it out and prick it all over with a fork and bake it for 4 minutes. Then you prick it all over again with a fork and bake it again. Then add toppings and bake it on the bottom rack of your oven. This makes the crust crispy and cracker-like. It was really good and I think this would make a great appetizer at a party cut into smaller slices.

This is the first recipe I've made from this book and I honestly don't know why I waited so long. The book has a whole section of pizzas and I've made all the pizzas from Vegan Italiano several times. I also have her Supermarket Vegan and Tropical Vegan Kitchen on the Kindle and I've never made anything from those books either. It is officially time to remedy that!

Other recipes I want to try include: Provencal Chickpea Flour Pancake, Polenta Crostini with Caponata, Green Olive and Almond Tapenade, Ditali with Cauliflower, Squash Gnocchi with Walnut Sauce, Vermicelli Nests with Chickpeas, Spinach and Tomato, and the Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable Panini. Each recipe in the book includes nutritional info; there are no photos. She includes a section on suggested weeknight menus ready in less than an hour and information on entertaining.

VeganMoFo #15 - Color Me Vegan

2011-10-20T13:13:00.001-06:00

I've been doing mini-reviews of cookbooks so far but today I'm going to do a complete review.

COLOR ME VEGAN by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Color is so important to my life - it can change my mood, it can inspire me, and I often feel disappointed with a boring all-brown meal. For me one of the best things about plant-based cuisine is how colorful it can be. I was thrilled when I first saw this book at a bookstore but decided to wait to buy it because I am trying to reduce my cookbook purchases. After seeing the book highlighted in other VeganMoFo posts, I knew I had to buy it immediately.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's previous cookbook, The Vegan Table, is one of my top three cookbooks. (I'm not reviewing it this month because I have the Kindle version and I wanted to only review cookbooks I have in print.) I prefer recipes that are simple with a lot of fruits and vegetables and Color Me Vegan is similar to The Vegan Table in that respect. It is also similar in that it is organized differently than most cookbooks. Chapters are divided by the predominant color of the recipe and I like that you can easily find the color chapter you want because of the colorful tabs at the top of each page. White and brown foods also have their own chapter as do recipes that use the entire rainbow.

The first day I had Color Me Vegan I had already started bookmarking all the recipes I want to make. I started with the Hot Tamale Pie. The photo below shows it before baking.

Beans and corn are mixed for the base and the topping is a simple cornmeal and nutritional yeast combo.

I also made the Purple Cabbage Salad which I have to remember to bring to the next potluck I attend. Unfortunately I didn't have oranges which would have made this over the top in the color department but it was really delicious. I used canned pineapple and omitted the hazelnuts. I loved the sweetness with the jalapenos and toasted sunflowers.

I saved the best for last. I also made the Chocolate Zucchini Bread which was excellent. I couldn't find any non-dairy chocolate chips at the local store so I bought a dark chocolate candy bar and cut it up instead. I reduced the fat by instead using 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup extra-virgin coconut oil. It was probably a little crumblier from that substitution but still very moist and rich.

There are so many other recipes I want to make from this cookbook: Strawberries with Lavender Syrup, Chocolate, Banana and Almond Butter Panini, Muffuletta Sandwich, Nori Wraps with Orange Cashew Cream, Peanut Butter Pancakes, Blueberry Croutons, Garlicky Greens with Pasta, Swiss Chard Pie, Nectarine-Agave Panini, Sweet Potato Tacos and the Raspberry Lemon Muffins.

Color Me Vegan is a beautiful book and it includes many color photos. I like that she suggests where you can use water for sauteing instead of oil and that she includes all sorts of interesting tidbits. Did you know there are 1000 kinds of edible greens? Or that dairy cows now get calcium supplements because they often no longer graze outdoors?

I'd recommend this book to both omnivores and vegetarians who want to eat more fruits and veggies, to those following a low-fat vegetarian diet, and to everyone who loves color on their plate.

VeganMoFo #14 - Eat, Drink and Be Vegan

2011-10-19T13:16:00.000-06:00

Eat, Drink and Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating by Dreena Burton has 8 different hummus recipes. I know this may not mean much to others but I find it very exciting! The White Bean Hummus with Thyme and Basil is one of my favorite recipes and is a great choice for serving to omnivores who may not know much about hummus. I initially wondered about some of the flavors used in the dip - white beans, tahini, lemon, garlic, red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard plus fresh herbs but it really works.

This book's emphasis is on entertaining with a section on other dips and nibblers, sandwiches and spreads, casseroles and one pot meals, beverages, and Dreena's signature desserts. There are color photo inserts throughout. I also like that this book uses less oil - for instance, only 2 Tbsp in the Cocoa-Banana muffin recipe. I think this is my favorite book of hers and I really need to try more of the desserts. There are a good selection of gluten-free desserts as well.

Recipes I've tried and liked include: Berry Goodness Muffins, Chipotle-Lime Two Bean Hummus, Tamari Roasted Chickpeas, Lentil Veggie Chimichangas, Quick Chickpea Confetti Casserole, and the Cashew Banana Ice Cream.

VeganMoFo # 13 - The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook

2011-10-18T09:39:00.000-06:00

Joanne Stepaniak was one of the very first authors writing vegan cookbooks. The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook Featuring Recipes Using Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula Flakes is one of her earlier books (1997). If you have never tried nutritional yeast (not to be confused with brewer's yeast) it has a wonderful cheesy flavor and is a good source of B vitamins. Look for it in health food stores in the bulk food section or you can buy it online.

I made the Caesar Salad. The base of romaine lettuce with strips of toasted nori and croutons is topped with a delicious dressing. The dressing is oil free and consists of nutritional yeast, tahini, Dijon mustard, garlic, lemon juice and soy sauce. I really liked it and will make it again. Next time I might add some capers to the dressing as well. I recommend this book for new vegans and for those who enjoy comfort foods.

Recipes I've tried and liked from this book include Chickpeas A La King, Grilled Cheez Sandwiches, Sadie's Vitality Broth, and the Crock Cheez (my favorite recipe from the book).

Here are some bonus photos from the Santa Fe Farmer's Market voted one of the top ten farmer's markets in the country by USA Today.

VeganMoFo # 12 - Vegan Brunch

2011-10-17T11:32:00.000-06:00

One great summer when I was about 14 I went with a girlfriend's family to Cape May Point, NJ. We stayed at her Polish grandmother's beach house and ate her incredible pierogi. I haven't had them since I gave up dairy so I decided to try the potato and mushroom-sauerkraut pierogi from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

I changed a few things to reduce fat and sodium (I caramelized the onions with some veg. cooking spary and water) and for the pierogi dough I used the same amount of fat but used extra-virgin coconut oil instead of cooking oil. Although the ones in the photos aren't browned, we did end up liking them better browned. I had a lot of filling left over so I will be making them again soon.

I used my little dumpling maker to shape the pierogi. I ran out of yellow onions when making the potato filling so I used a red onion. Below on the left you can see the potato filling and the mushroom-sauerkraut filling is on the right.

The pierogi were labor-intensive as are some of the other recipes in the book so I tend to make these recipes for dinner. (I am never an enthusiastic cook in the morning!) I recommend Vegan Brunch for those who miss big luxurious breakfasts or like to entertain or who love to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Recipes I've made and enjoyed from the book include: Puttanesca Scramble, Shiitake-Dill Frittata, Tofu Benny, Cornbread Waffles, the Banana Rabanada (Brazilian French Toast) which is seriously awesome, Potato Spinach Squares, Cherry Sage Sausages, Cocoa-Raspberry Muffins and the East Coast Coffee Cake.

VeganMoFo #11 - The Art of Tofu

2011-10-14T11:01:00.000-06:00

I bought this small cookbook, The Art of Tofu, after I tried some of Akasha Richmond's recipes in Vegetarian Times. Apparently there is also an updated print version for sale that includes color photos.

I made an old favorite - Southern Tofu Fricasee with Mashed Potatoes. The cookbook is intended to promote Mori Nu Tofu but for most of the recipes involving fried or sauteed tofu I use regular old extra firm tofu. Tofu is put in a paper bag with flour and spices and then browned in a heavy skillet. Onions, celery, and carrots are added along with broth to make a delicious sauce. The accompanying mashed potatoes also have a little pureed silken tofu added.

The book gives cooking times along with nutritional analyses of each recipe. I counted and there are about 50 recipes included along with a really large intro that talks about various ingredients. Recipes I've tried and liked include the Deep Dish Pot Pie, Tofu Piccata with Mushroom Caper Sauce, and the Tofu Swiss Steak. There are many more recipes I need to try like the Orange Blueberry Coffee Cake, the Italian Spinach Dumplings, and the Santa Fe Red Chile Enchiladas.

VeganMoFo #10 - Fat-Free & Easy

2011-10-13T13:23:00.000-06:00

Not the best photos today but definitely one of the best recipes (the recipe is available HERE). I make this recipe for Berry Cobbler frequently and it does not taste like the usual fat-free baked goods. It is excellent! I've done it in all oat flour, regular whole wheat flour, white flour... really whatever flour I have. I usually use a bag of frozen mixed berries. One time I added some peaches to the berries. (I apologize for the berry juice on the cookbook - how embarrassing!)

Jennifer Raymond's Fat-Free and Easy is one of those all-purpose cookbooks that I refer to often. This one is unavailable in print for a reasonable price unfortunately but it is one of my all-time faves and is still available in Kindle format at least.

I've made many of the recipes including the Chocolate Pudding, Chocolate Torte, Pumpkin-Raisin Cookies, Gingerbread, Berry Cobbler (my favorite from the book obviously), Chili Corn Pie, Quick Chili Beans, Holiday Tofu Roast, Spinach and Bread Pudding, Golden Mushroom Soup, Split Pea Soup, Piquant Dressing, Fatfree Vinaigrette, Raspberry Vinaigrette, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Aztec Salad, Missing Egg Salad, Quick and Easy Brown Bread, and the Cornbread.

I recommend this book to everyone who is trying to get healthy or lose weight, to those who love simple food and to those who are beginner vegan cooks.

VeganMoFo #9 - 20 Minutes to Dinner

2011-10-12T10:29:00.000-06:00

(Note: I'm not sure this book is technically still in print but it is still available for purchase as a Kindle version and used copies are easy to find.)

I'm pretty sure I have more cookbooks by Bryanna Clark Grogan than any other author. She even has a new international cookbook out that looks great but I'm trying to resist buying it until after I buy a new computer. 20 Minutes to Dinner: Quick, Low-Fat, Low-Calorie Vegetarian Meals focuses on easy meals that the entire family will enjoy.

I made the Chinese Spaghetti which involves steam-frying a pound of vegetables of your choice (I chose cauliflower, red cabbage, carrots, and green beans) along with bell peppers, scallions, and ginger. The veggies get added to a pound of cooked spaghetti (I used whole wheat) and a quick sauce is added at the end to thicken everything up. For the protein she offers several options (I always love books that give me choices in the ingredients) and for that I made her Smoky Tofu recipe. She gives many ideas for substitutes in each recipe and some of the recipes link to other recipes. I think the whole dish took about 30 minutes total for both recipes but it would have been faster if I'd gone with her frozen stir-fry veggie suggestion.

The book was published in 1997 but I think it still shines strong today for those who are seeking no-oil vegan recipes. One of my favorite sections of this cookbook is a long list of hot and cold sandwich and wrap ideas. She also includes many recipes for meat and dairy substitutes like Tofu Cream Cheese and Soy "Fish" Cakes. I probably wouldn't recommend it for someone who doesn't eat soy but I think it is a great book for any vegan who doesn't use oil or for busy families.

Recipes I've tried and liked from the book include Pan-Fried Breast of Tofu, Melty Pizza Cheese, Cabbage and Noodles, Carrot-Oat Patties, Stir-Fried Peas and Tofu, and Hawaiian Sticky Tofu (probably my favorite recipe in the book).

VeganMoFo #8 - Vegan with a Vengeance

2011-10-11T14:41:00.002-06:00

I know most people would probably list Veganomicon or one of the dessert cookbooks (some of which will be reviewed here later this month) as their favorite work by Isa Chandra Moskowitz but I still love her first book Vegan with a Vengeance best. I make the Best Pumpkin Muffins dozens of times a year and they are DH's favorite muffins. They are so good they turned him from a pumpkin-hater into a pumpkin freak.

I made the Revolutionary Spanish Omelet with Saffron and Roasted Red Pepper- Almond Sauce. (And yes, more pumpkin muffins!) Soft tofu is pureed with garlic, soaked saffron, and olive oil and is poured over potato and onion slices and baked. We both liked it a lot and the leftover red pepper sauce was great over pasta.

I love the humor in this book and all the sidebars on veganism on the Internet, taming your tofu, anarchist-feminist potlucks, and Food Not Bombs. There is a small center section of photos and the book includes sections on Brunch, Little Meals, Sammiches, and Finger Foods, and Pizza and Pastas.

I have MANY favorites from this book other than the Pumpkin Muffins: Scrambled Tofu, Tempeh and White Bean Sausage Patties, Tempeh Sausage Crumbles, Tempeh Bacon, Fronch Toast, Lemon Corn Waffles with Blueberry Sauce, Berry Scones, Cherry-Almond Muffins, Apple Pie Crumb Cake Muffins, Beet, Barley, and Black Soybean Soup w/Pumpernickel Croutons, Potato-Asparagus Soup, Fresh Mango Summer Rolls, Chickpea Broccoli Casserole, Falafel, Veggie Burgers, Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy, Brooklyn Pad Thai, and the Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies.

VeganMoFo #7 - Vegan Italiano

2011-10-10T11:28:00.000-06:00

I have hundreds of cookbooks and Donna Klein's Vegan Italiano is in my top three. I've made every pizza from the book several times and her Semolina Pizza Dough is now my basic pizza dough recipe. Another favorite from the book is her Fresh Tomato and Onion Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust. I made an adaptation of the recipe which is available HERE. (Oddly enough I have three of her other books and have never made a single thing from them but maybe I'll have time this month.)

For Day Two of VeganMoFo I made the Sicilian Skillet Pasta Pie - spaghetti is mixed with canned tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes along with garlic, onions, peppers, and kalamatic olives and baked in the skillet. It is a good representation of the recipes in the book because a) it has tomatoes as do most of the recipes in the book and b) it is a relatively simple recipe. Some of the recipes are really simple like spaghetti with garlic and olive oil or spinach with garlic but the main dishes are worth their weight in gold. There are no esoteric ingredients or soy or meat substitutes or dairy substitutes - everything in this book is basic food and most of the recipes are very quick to prepare.

I'd recommend the book just for the pizza recipes alone. One time when I was without an oven I practically subsisted on her Frying Pan Pizza with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Olives, and Onions. Other non-pizza recipes I've made and liked include: Italian Fall Fruit Salad, Spinach and Mushroom Calzones, Zucchini Roll-Ups, Polenta Pie with Spinach, Zucchini Lasagna with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Pasta Alla Verde, and Lentils and Pastina Soup.

VeganMoFo #6 - Vive Le Vegan

2011-10-07T11:49:00.000-06:00

I made the Gingered Pear Crisp from Dreena Burton's Vive Le Vegan:Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family and I thought it was excellent. In fact it was so good that I plan to include it in our Thanksgiving dinner and I'm not even that fond of pears! Fresh pears are mixed with maple syrup, dried cranberries, allspice, cardamom and fresh ginger and topped with an oat mixture. This book is more than a cookbook; it also contains a large section on feeding babies and toddlers, some information on hemp foods, ingredient glossary, and cooking guides for grains and beans.

So far I've made the Scalloped Potatoes, Sunflower-Lentil Pie (I like this with ketchup on top), Chipotle Veggie-Bean Burritos, China-Style Veggie Spring Rolls, the Citrus Mint Vinaigrette, the Creamy Avocado-Cashew Sauce (I like this over the burritos), and the Quinoa Spring Salad (probably my favorite recipe in the book). The Blueberry Bounty Buns didn't work for me - the texture was strange and they spread out quite a bit. That was likely operator error because I still am not perfect about measuring baking ingredients plus I'm at a high-altitude. Other than that I have had great success with her baking recipes and especially recommend this book for those with small children or those who love delicious vegan desserts.

VeganMoFo #5 - ExtraVeganZa

2011-10-06T14:21:00.000-06:00

ExtraVeganza: Original Recipes from Phoenix Organic Farm by Laura Matthias is really a beautiful cookbook of the gourmet variety. There are several sections of gorgeous color photos and most of the recipes sound just wonderful to me. For VeganMoFo I made the Almond Rice Balls. Cooked brown rice is miced with tahini, tamari, onion, garlic, dill, and soy milk then the balls are rolled in ground almonds and baked. Unfortunately my mixture didn't come together that well (perhaps my rice was too wet?) so it was quite difficult to roll into balls. The baked rice balls were pretty tasty though.

I think this book is especially good for those who love vegan baking; I really think there are more dessert recipes than savory recipes in this book! I recommend it for people who enjoy elegant gourmet meals. Recipes I've liked from this book are the Spinach Hummus, Sesame Shiitake Noodle Soup, Paul's Thai Noodle Salad (my favorite recipe so far), Pear Cardamom Muffins, Chocolate Chocolate Almond Cookies, Lemon Lavender Blueberry Muffins, Ginger Anise Peach Mufffins, and Creamy Peach Cardamom Pie.

I decided to try to get some of my holiday knitting done while reading all the wonderful blogs participating in VeganMoFo. Currently I'm working on hiking socks for DH. I have fallen in love with this yarn - it is called Wick by Knit One Crochet Too and it is a blend of 53% soy and 47% polypropylene which apparently will wick away moisture from your skin. The best part about it is that it has the same type of springiness which wool yarns have (apparently from the soy content??). Check it out if you are seeking a vegan yarn for knitting or crocheting. I bought mine at Yarnmarket which also has a wide selection of other plant-based and vegan yarns.

VeganMoFo #4 - The Engine 2 Diet

2011-10-05T10:57:00.000-06:00

Texas firefighter Rip Esselstyn is the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn who has been studying how to reverse heart disease with a plant-based diet. Rip is the guy on the Forks Over Knives documentary trailer who is claiming "Eat more plant-based foods. It is just that simple." The Engine 2 Diet shows you how to try this way of eating for 28 days with lots of anecdotes on firefighters who have reduced their disease risk. I bought it for the recipes as I'm always looking for more lowfat meal ideas. (There are some recipe notes that mention the possibility of adding fish or chicken for Week One only of the plan but all the recipes are vegan.)

This is the Mexican Lime Soup from the book which is pretty similar to a tortilla soup with the addition of potatoes and mushrooms. DH thought it had too many ingredients so I guess I could have gone a little easy on all the recommended toppings.

I think this book will appeal more to men and those who are fighting heart disease or just want to lose weight. Many of the recipes will appeal to those who want to eat simply without a lot of fuss. For instance, the Chili Dogs and Applesauce is pita bread stuffed with lowfat vegetarian hot dogs, chili, onion, cilantro, and applesauce. The recipes do not include nutritional analyses and there are no photos of the food. There is a pretty good section on filling breakfast ideas.

I haven't cooked many things from this book other than this soup, the Macaroni and Not Cheese and the Dark Chocolate Brownies. I really want to test out the section on oil-free salad dressings soon.

VeganMoFo #3 - Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook

2011-10-04T11:50:00.003-06:00

Today's book is the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by vegan cooking pioneer Joanne Stepaniak. I made the Baked Macaroni and Cheez which is our favorite version of this dish. It uses cashews, tahini, roasted red peppers, sauteed onions, and a minimal amount of nutritional yeast for the sauce. I've tried all sorts of vegan versions of macaroni and cheese including those that use tofu, sauerkraut, carrots, potatoes, miso, boatloads of margarine and other unusual ingredients but my favorite recipes always have roasted red peppers. As you see, the peppers do a good job of making this recipe look similar to the original. I use about 1/2 cup less water than the recipe states and I pre-soak the cashews a bit. I also saute the onions in water and reduce the salt to make for a healthier casserole.

I enjoy the recipes in this book although I'm not sure I'd feed them to really picky omnivores. Most of the recipes contain nutritional yeast so if you hate it this book isn't for you. There is one recipe that doesn't contain nutritional yeast that I make all the time - the tahini, pickle, and tomato sandwich which is wonderful on rye bread.

The book serves a place for those looking for substitutes for their favorite comfort foods and in the 10th Anniversary Edition there is a focus on reducing or omitting the oils. There is a center spread of gorgeous color photos and each recipe has a nutritional analysis. Probably the most unique section is the chapter on block uncheeses which use agar flakes or powder (a sea vegetable) to make firm cheeses. There is also a section on fondues which I've never tried as I do not have a fondue pot.

I've made many of the recipes in this book and have liked most of them. My favorites are the Florentine Ricotta Pie, most of the block uncheeses (Swiss, Monterey Jack, Onion, Dill & Horseradish, Colby, Muenster, and Buffalo Mostarella), Gooey Grilled Cheez, Cheez Please Soup, Creamy Vegetable Chowder, Parmezano Sprinkles, the Gee Whiz Spread and the Crock Cheez.

VeganMoFo #2 - Real Food Daily

2011-10-03T12:28:00.001-06:00

The Real Food Daily Cookbook by Ann Gentry was published in 2005. Although I phase cookbooks out pretty frequently I've held onto this one. I like the focus on fresh, colorful ingredients (there are photos for some of the recipes) and her take on main dish salads and sandwiches. She uses a lot of vegetables in her recipes and the entrees in the book are even organized by season. There is an entire Thanksgiving menu in her autumn entree section. Many of the recipes are time-consuming so I am more likely to cook a bunch of recipes from the book for a special occasion. For VeganMoFo I chose two of the simpler recipes. The carrot salsa includes red onion, cilantro, lime, cumin and jalapeno. The Pico de Gallo uses tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeno and lime.

By far my favorite recipe from this book is her Cashew Cheddar Cheese. The 101 Cookbooks blog posted it HERE and it is also in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table without the agar flakes. Another pretty popular recipe from the book is the RFD Burger made from beets and that recipe can be found HERE.

Other recipes I've tried and liked from the book include the Golden Gravy, Creamy Broccoli Soup with Red Pepper Creme, Tempeh and Potato Salad, Mexicali Chop with Crispy Tortilla Strips and Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette, Barbecued Tofu Chop with Ranch Dressing, and the Scallion Butter. Looking through this book to write this blog entry I found many, many more recipes I need to try. The Real Food Daily Cookbook is definitely a keeper!

I didn't take enough photos of the salsas so instead here's a photo of my wonderful house rabbit Bubbles.

Vegan Mofo - Day One

2011-10-01T10:09:00.001-06:00

I'm excited to be participating in VeganMoFo/Vegan Month of Food for the first time this year! Throughout this month I'll be trying recipes from different vegan cookbooks with mini-reviews of each cookbook. I hope to post at least every weekday.

One of DH's favorite meals is falafel and the Baked Falafel from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's book Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-fat Vegan Recipes is my favorite falafel recipe of all time. I really think it is better than fried falafel. Here it is served with her equally delicious Green Goddess Dressing in pita bread.

I have talked before here about how much I like this book. If you're seeking healthy vegan recipes, Appetite for Reduction should be on your bookshelf. There is a center section of color photos and all the recipes include a nutritional analysis. Some oil is used but it is minimal. One of the strengths of the book is the number of salad and salad dressing recipes which oddly enough I don't notice in many vegetarian cookbooks. There are no dessert recipes so look elsewhere if you're seeking lowfat cupcakes and cookies. I originally started with the Kindle version of this book but there were some typos so I returned it in for the print version.

The recipes I've tried and liked from the book include the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, Sushi Roll Edamame Salad with Green Onion Miso Vinaigrette, Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon and Caesar Chavez Dressing, Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing, Caulipots, OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings, Pizza Hummus, and Chili-Lime Rubbed Tofu.

What I Ate Yesterday

2011-09-19T15:34:00.001-06:00

I am working on cleaning up my act a bit. For some reason every October I get these incredible sweet cravings and I thought I'd try to do better dietwise before the cravings hit.

It is finally cool enough here to go back to oatmeal for breakfast. This version has blueberries, bananas, rice milk, agave nectar, and ground flaxseed. I have two cups of green tea with lemon a day but I am going to try to cut back to one.

Lunch was leftover soup - the Summer Minestrone from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special with some wonderful cranberry beans. I put some leftover roasted red pepper hummus on a slice of Trader Joe's Whole Grain Fatfree Bread.

I'm trying to drink a green smoothie every afternoon. This one had collard greens, Swiss chard, dandelion, banana, pear, coconut water, freshly grated ginger, and some chia seeds. I bought the chia seeds for their wonderful Omega 3 content but I've discovered they make you feel really full which I like in late afternoon.

Dinner was my Tempeh Reuben Panini, some steamed sweet potatoes, corn, and green beans with a mustard sauce, and kale chips. I ate a lot more of the kale chips than shown here! I also had another bowl of the soup later last night while trying to suffer through the Emmy Awards.

Recipes I've Tried

2011-09-14T13:17:00.004-06:00

I have decided to participate in VeganMoFo this year. VeganMoFo (Vegan Month of Food) takes place in October and involves blogging as frequently as possible (some participants manage to do it daily) with delicious plant-based meals. My theme this year will be testing recipes - each recipe will be from a different vegan cookbook in my collection. (Yes, I have a lot of cookbooks!) I'm going to call it 20 Vegan Recipes from 20 Vegan Cookbooks and each recipe will be photographed along with the cookbook of origin.

Here are a few recipes I've tried lately. This first recipe wasn't a success. It was called Mango Custard in the recipe email from VegNews but I guess I'd call it Bland Mango Chunks. DH and I tried it but most of it got tossed. I have both agar flakes and agar powder and I used the agar powder specified. Agar is a gelling agent made from a sea vegetable that is most often used to make non-dairy cheeses firm. In this recipe it was mixed with coconut milk, mango, and agave nectar.

This plate of food shows several recipes from my Labor Day menu. The Tempeh Sloppy Joes recipe is from Dr. Neal Barnard's Get Healthy Go Vegan. It is my favorite vegan sloppy joe recipe. You can find the recipe HERE. Along with a salad is the Mac and Shews with tomatoes added from Post Punk Kitchen. I attempted to reduce some of the fat and sodium in this recipe which was a mistake. The secret ingredient is sauerkraut and I'm not sure it added much but again the problem could have been my modifications.

This final photo shows some delicious California Rolls I made. The recipe is from The 100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes from Your Vegan Kitchen by Kelly Keough which I have out from the library. Instead of sushi rice, quinoa is cooked with slightly more water and spread on toasted nori. Tahini is drizzled on top, then veggies (I used carrots, broccoli slaw, and red onion), then soy sauce. I also added some wasabi paste. I thought these were excellent and I may just use quinoa for all future California roll attempts. The recipe is HERE.

Cookbook Review: Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson

2011-09-07T15:20:00.001-06:00

I received a temporary PDF copy of Robin Robertson's Quick-Fix Vegan from Netgalley. Robin Robertson is one of the most prolific vegan cookbook authors with over twenty cookbooks in print. She also wrote Quick-Fix Vegetarian in 2007. I used Amazon's look inside feature to check the older book and I didn't see any recipe repeats so I assume this is a completely new book.

Quick-Fix Vegan will be available for purchase in October according to Amazon. Chapters are: Starters and Snacks, Stovetop Suppers, Pasta Express, In Short Order, Speedy Salads, Snappy Sandwiches, Easy Make-Ahead Bakes, Sauces and Condiments, and (Almost) Effortless Desserts. There is a quick intro on how to set up a vegan pantry. The recipe collection includes some basics like Cream of Mushroom Soup with more unusual offerings like Seitan Forestiere.

Here are the Nicoise Salad Wraps. Sauteed tofu seasoned with soy sauce and balsamic vinegar is mixed with vegan mayonnaise, basil, roasted red peppers, shredded lettuce mixed with balsamic vinegar, oil, and sugar, and olive tapenade. Because I didn't have olive tapenade, I used her recipe to make my own. I liked these but because I also made the tapenade I thought they were a bit time-consuming for the finished result.

The Black Bean Sunburgers were very easy; actually they were possibly the easiest veggie burgers I've ever made (other than slices of tofu or marinated whole portobellos). I thought they were tasty and I liked that the sunflowers in them gave them a bit of a crunch.

Here is the Zucchini Frittata served with a tomato/olive/basil topping. It was absolutely delicious so I was disappointed it never set up. I cooked it longer both on the stovetop and under the broiler but it still had the consistency of scrambled eggs. The leftovers were excellent spooned on whole wheat toast.

I believe all the recipes I made were finished in under 30 minutes but they did involve some vegetable chopping and sauteing and a normal amount of dirty dishes to wash. If you are really in a hurry and only have 10-15 minutes to make dinner, check out Nava Atlas' The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet. I'd estimate the recipes in that book are about 90% vegan.

The Saucy Vegetarian

2011-08-23T15:16:00.002-06:00

One of the most useful cookbooks I own is Joanne Stepaniak's The Saucy Vegetarian: Quick and Healthful No-Cook Sauces and Dressings. I grab it at least twice a week to find a salad dressing recipe and I've even started writing in it to help remember the recipes we really loved.

The book's chapters include: Vinaigrette Sauces & Dressings, Nut & Seed Based Sauces & Dressings, Tomato, Bean, & Vegetable Based Sauces & Dressings, and Creamy Tofu Sauces & Dressings. (If you go to the Amazon page and click Look Inside, you can read most of the vinaigrette chapter. ) Every recipe lists the calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates and at the beginning of the book she outlines how to make a starch/water combo you can use to replace the oil in any of the recipes. Most of the dressings turn out pretty thick so I generally add water to reduce fat and sodium as well.

The dressing above is the Sesame Caesar Dressing. I don't think it tastes that much like Caesar but I do really like it. It is just 2 Tbsp each: tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast flakes, water, 1 Tbsp tamari and Dijon mustard and a clove of garlic. For every recipe she lists some ways to serve the sauce or dressing and for the Sesame Caesar she suggests serving it with 1) torn romaine lettuce with garlic/herb croutons, 2) baked russet potatoes, or 3) penne with red kidney beans.

My favorite recipes from the book include the Green Ecstasy Dressing (it is an avocado, silken tofu, and miso combo that reminds me a lot of blue cheese dressing), the Sweet and Smoky Vinaigrette, and the Simple Tahini Dressing.

The above photo also shows an empty bottle. That is from Trader Joe's maple syrup/agave nectar blend and I love saving those bottles for storing my homemade salad dressings.

Here are some whole wheat crepes filled with ratatouille and topped with the Green Olive Dip and Dressing (using basil) from the book.

More Veggie Burgers

2011-08-16T14:29:00.000-06:00

Now that summer is almost over, I plan to update this blog much more frequently and offer more recipes. I'm also working on putting all the blog recipes into PDF form. I'm going to add some new recipes then offer the PDF for free.

I am constantly trying out new veggie burgers. I think this is because I haven't really found the perfect burger. I've made some that were really tasty but either very time-consuming or used ingredients I don't often buy (like TVP). Almost all the veggie burgers I've tried would taste a lot better if you fry them in a ton of oil but again, I prefer not to do that.

Anyway, here are some of my latest experiments.

This first burger is something I'm playing around with. I really do think I can come up with a good veggie burger that involves mashed potatoes but I'm not quite there yet. I used mashed potatoes, mashed white beans, sauteed onions, garlic, and sunflower seeds, with some miso and soy sauce. They're pretty tasty but they didn't hold together well. I served them open-faced on a toasted bun with lots of mustard.

The second burger recipe I found on Vegweb. The Get Your Groove On Veggie Burgers held together well and are really healthy. I just thought the flavor combo was a bit unusual (sesame oil, salsa, barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce).

The third recipe is from Happy Herbivore which I have out from the library as an ebook. The Mushroom Burgers are moister than most which I like a lot. I omitted the steak sauce and next time I'll omit the barbecue sauce as well. I think DH might actually eat these (he's not usually fond of veggie burgers). HERE is a recipe that is the same as the HH mushroom burgers except for the addition of parsnips.

I Love My Slow Cooker

2011-07-29T15:36:00.001-06:00

A few months ago I purchased a new slow cooker. I immediately had buyer's remorse and worried I'd never use it, just like my previous very old Rival crockpot. Fortunately I was wrong. Probably the best thing about it is that I'm able to use it to cook dry beans. I live at a high altitude (about 7,000 feet) and before that the only way I could cook dry beans is my pressure cooker. I now prefer using the slow cooker because it is a lot easier to check the beans during cooking to get just the right texture.

I also purchased Robin Robertson's Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker which has been instrumental in getting us through this very hot desert summer. It is so nice to just toss stuff in the slow cooker rather than slaving over a hot stove or worse, turning on the oven. Here is a photo of her wonderful Slow-Fashioned Potpie with Biscuit Crust right after I added the biscuit topping before the additional cooking.

I just adore cooking stuffed peppers in the slow cooker - no more crunchy green peppers. The slow cooker steams them until they are perfectly tender. We started with the Stuffed Bell Peppers with Salsa Rice and Beans from the book but now stuff peppers with pretty much anything and everything.

Other recipes from the book I've tried and recommend are: Enchilada-Inspired Polenta Pie, Zucchini Stuffed with Tomato, White Beans and Pesto, Layered Potatoes with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Five Layer Vegetable Strata with Pesto, Mediterranean Vegetable Stew, and the Almost Irish Stew. The only recipe from the book that did not turn out well was the Fudgy Chocolate Pudding Cake. It never set up even slightly, even with extra cooking time. It could be my altitude.

Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2011-07-18T23:30:00.000-06:00

I still crave homemade bread in the hot desert summers so I came up with this bread machine recipe. It is not excessively sweet and it contains some whole grain flour so I've decided it is a decent enough breakfast choice topped with some natural unsalted peanut butter. I've made both the 1 1/2 lb. and the 2 lb. versions (ingredients for the 2 lb. loaf in parentheses). The loaf in the photos is the 2 lb.

BREAD MACHINE CINNAMON-RAISIN BREAD

I wait to add the raisins until my machine beeps (after the initial kneading) but it still chops them up a bit. I like it this way and I don't get the holes around the raisins you see in other raisin breads. You can even add more cinnamon than listed here - it really isn't strong at all in the finished product.

1 1/8 cups rice milk (1 1/2 cups)
2 Tbsp walnut or canola oil (2 1/2 Tbsp.)
2 cups unbleached flour (3 cups)
1 cup white wheat flour (1 cup)
3 Tbsp. agave nectar (1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten (1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. gluten)
1 tsp. sea salt (1 1/4 tsp.)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon (4 tsp.)
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (1 Tbsp.)
1 cup raisins

Place the ingredients except the raisins in the pan according to the order in your manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on medium and program for the basic cycle. Press start - when the machine beeps or after the initial knead, add the raisins.

Immediately remove from pan when baking cycle ends and cool on a wire rack.

Our Fourth of July Menu

2011-07-05T14:43:00.000-06:00

I tried some new recipes for July 4th. The refrigerator garlic-dill pickles are from this recipe; like many in the comments I doubled the vinegar. I also added some turmeric and red pepper flakes. They were perfect after about 3 days of marinating and are my new favorite pickles. I served the corn on the cob my usual way - topped with a generous sprinkling of chipotle powder, some sea salt, and some fresh lime juice. No need for any oils.

I also have been experimenting with making my own dairy-free mayonnaise. I have been using this recipe from Epicurvegan but substituting light coconut milk for the soy milk. It doesn't get as thick as commercial mayo but does thicken a bit in the refrigerator. I used the homemade mayo for the potato salad seen above.

The main dish was grilled portobello burgers. I used the recipe from Lukas Volger's veggie burger cookbook - the portobellos were marinated in a mixture of olive oil, rice wine vinegar, black pepper, and miso and then grilled. I did like them more than the usual balsamic marinade for portobellos. I used white miso but I think they'd be even better with a dark miso.

For dessert I made ice cream using light coconut milk. I buy the cans at Trader Joe's for 99 cents, keep them in the refrigerator so they're always chilled. I add about 1/4 c. liquid sweetener and whatever flavorings I like. Then I put the mixture in my Cuisinart ice cream maker until it is about the consistency of a soft serve ice cream. The photo below is a creamsicle flavored ice cream: 1 can light coconut milk, 3 Tbsp. light agave nectar, the strained juice of 2 oranges and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Another favorite ice cream is Mocha Ice cream: 1 can light coconut milk, about 1/4 c. agave nectar, 2 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder, 1 packet of instant coffee, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract in the Cuisinart ice cream maker until thick.

Almost A Banana Split

2011-05-26T16:05:00.001-06:00

When DH and I were dating he used to take me to this little place where you assembled your own banana splits. I remember using very little ice cream in mine so I would have more room for all the toppings. So this dessert is basically a banana split without the ice cream.

One unusual ingredient in this dessert is brown rice syrup. It is a bit pricey but worth it for the delicate, delicious caramel flavor. My favorite brand is Lundberg. You can make this without it of course by upping the chocolate chips. I've used semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips (check labels - not all are dairy-free) but you can certainly use other kinds. I've never tried this with carob chips or those molasses-sweetened chips but if they melt, they'll work.

Makes 1 serving

1 banana, thinly sliced
4 large strawberries, quartered
1 Tbsp. brown rice syrup
1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. chocolate chips
2 tsp. coconut flakes

Assemble bananas, strawberries, and walnuts on a serving dish. Put chocolate chips in a small ramekin and microwave on HIGH for about 45 seconds. All the chips will not be melted but keep stirring and they'll eventually all melt. Drizzle melted chocolate on top of fruit and nuts. Drizzle some brown rice syrup on top and sprinkle with coconut. Enjoy!

Cookbook Review: Vegan Family Meals by Ann Gentry

2011-05-11T11:02:00.000-06:00

I used to watch a wonderful vegetarian cooking show on Veria Tv hosted by Ann Gentry, owner of the organic vegan Real Food Daily restaurants. (I still watch clips on Youtube HERE.) She turned me onto to making my own cashew cheese; fortunately that recipe is also included in this book. I received an advance galley file of this beautifully designed book that has since expired but I liked the recipes so much I'm going to buy a print copy when it is officially published in June.

Vegan Family Meals includes gorgeous color photos and sidebars sprinkled throughout on such topics as silicone cookware and great soup thickeners. She says in the intro that she is not 100 percent vegan and she makes a great case that vegan meals are not an all or nothing proposition - all of us can cook and eat more vegan meals with great results. Ann includes some fun ways to encourage kids to eat more vegetables - one of the variations for her baked kale chips instructs you to crumble the chips with your fingers and sprinkle it over popcorn. Like her Real Food Daily cookbook, Vegan Family Meals includes her signature chopped salads

We all have our idea of how long a family meal should take to prepare and a recipe like Watercress and Butter Lettuce Salad with Israeli Couscous, Orange-Basil Tempeh and Sweet Miso Dressing probably won't work for a rushed weeknight dinner. She includes a chapter with simpler meals but I think the title of the book, Vegan Family Meals, is more aspirational than practical. Most of the kids I know have pretty limited palates and shun the more exotic stuff but I'm glad to know there are children out there who will eat tempeh and seaweed and all sorts of vegetables.

The book uses some exotic ingredients I can't find here. I shop at about 7 different locations throughout a city of half a million and I've never seen dried Hunza mulberries or frozen unsweetened acai berry bars. Most of the recipes have ingredients that may be hard to find if you are shopping at a regular supermarket such as tapioca flour, xanthan gum, and umeboshi plums.

Here is the incredible Tahini-Vegetable Spread served on some homemade sourdough pumpernickel bread. I adore the combination of tahini and miso and this recipe was just delicious. I had to substitute regular tahini for roasted tahini which I've never seen around here.

I also enjoyed her fun Southwestern Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing and Agave-Chili Tortilla Strips. I loved her idea for adding a touch of agave nectar to baked tortilla chips.

By far my favorite recipe was her Tofu Chevre. Firm tofu is pressed for four hours or overnight, then pureed with garlic, white miso, olive oil and salt, then molded into a log and refrigerated and then baked. It is an incredible addition to any salad and there are variations for peppercorn, nut, and herb crusts.

Salads

2011-04-29T13:52:00.000-06:00

We almost always have an evening salad and I make a really big one so we can each have more than one serving. I recently decided to start eating salad at lunch instead of my usual sandwich or veggie burger. In my efforts to find some new fun salad recipes, I turned to Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

This is the Sushi Roll Edamame Salad with Green Onion-Miso Vinaigrette. I love the idea of strips of nori on top of a salad.

Here is the Goddess Nicoise salad - the mixture on the top left is a chickpea/caper mixture that is added right before serving. The Green Goddess Garlic Dressing is my favorite dressing from the book so far.

And here is my own version of kale chips. I mix the kale pieces with low-sodium soy sauce and nutritional yeast and bake at 325 until as crispy as potato chips.

My pet rabbit Bubbles also loves salads of all kinds. In fact she seems to be considering eating these lilacs!

Kohlrabi Before and After

2011-04-19T17:37:00.001-06:00

Kohlrabi Before

If they grow vegetables on Mars, I'm pretty sure they have kohlrabi. These otherworldly specimens were in our CSA box yesterday. I compare kohlrabi to jicama - hard to cut and peel and not a lot of flavor. I've only ever used both veggies cut up raw with dip. But I decided to try something different today and made cole slaw (or should that be kohl slaw?).

First I peeled the kohlrabi as much as I could and was terribly disappointed that the pretty red kohlrabi was white inside. Then I chopped them into pieces and pulsed them in the food processor with a carrot (also from yesterday's CSA box). I added some diced red onion, Trader Joe's lowfat eggless mayo, white balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, agave nectar and some dried dillweed. Not bad at all!

Kohlrabi After

Sourdough White Wheat Sandwich Bread

2011-03-28T13:47:00.003-06:00

This is my regular bread recipe. I bake these loaves 2-4 times a month.They are delicate, fine-crumbed, high-rising loaves and they slice very thinly and freeze beautifully. The recipe is based on the Sourdough Sandwich Bread in Sara Pitzer's excellent book, Baking with Sourdough. I add some Trader Joe's White Wheat whole-grain flour and use non-dairy ingredients. There is no active dry yeast in this recipe - the sourdough starter and the long rises do all the work.

Makes two large loaves

Start the night before you bake. Take a large bowl and mix in:

1 cup sourdough starter, refreshed (I take my starter, about the thickness of pancake batter, out of the refrigerator, add about 1/4 c. unbleached flour and water, stir, and wait about an hour until it is bubbly and foamy)
1 cup water
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour

Stir well. Cover loosely with a tea towel and put in a warm place overnight or up to 24 hours. When you are ready to add the remaining ingredients the mixture should look like this, with some bubbles or foam.

Add in:

1 1/2 cups rice milk (you may use a less sweet non-dairy milk but then you might want to add another Tbsp of agave nectar)

1 Tbsp. agave nectar

2 tsp. sea salt

2 Tbsp. canola oil

2 cups white wheat whole-grain flour

approx 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

NOTE: I have not had much luck kneading sourdoughs with my Kitchenaid or food processor. The dough is much denser and I think it is best to knead by hand.

Mix all ingredients except for the last cup of unbleached flour well. (I like to use my Swedish dough hook for mixing wet bread doughs.) Turn the dough out onto a floared board or table and cover with a tea towel. Let rest for 15 minutes before kneading. Knead by hand for about 15 minutes, adding unbleached flour as necessary, until the dough is smooth and soft. Put dough into a lightly greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Once it has doubled, punch it down, and allow it to rise a second time until it has doubled again, for another 45 minutes to an hour. Keep the dough covered with a damp tea towel while it is rising.

Punch dough down and divide into two equal pieces. Roll into a loaf shape and place each into a greased loaf pan. Brush tops of loaves with a little canola oil or melted and cooled non-dairy, non-hydrogenated margarine such as Earth Balance. Cover again and let rise until dough rises above the edges of the loaf pans, for about another hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the loaves for 30 to 45 minutes or until they are golden brown and they sound hollow on the bottom when tapped. Place loaves on a wire rack to cool and brush with additional canola oil or non-dairy margarine to keep the crust soft.

VARIATION: For even higher rising loaves (shown below), you can make this recipe with all white flour. Instead of the 2 cups white wheat and 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour, knead in approximately 6 1/2 cups unbleached flour or as much is needed to make a soft dough.

Here's my recipe for Whole Wheat Sourdough Crackers. In that post I included more information on sourdough and some links to get you going with your first starter. Also, I've submitted this post to Yeastspotting, a wonderful place for bread bakers to find inspiration and recipes.

Recipes I've Tried Recently

2011-03-08T23:02:00.001-07:00

One of my New Year's resolutions was to try to keep better track of recipes I've tried and really liked. Tonight I made the Tofu Foo Yung from Chow Vegan and we loved it. It is definitely going in our regular recipe rotation. The recipe calls for black salt/kala namak (I bought mine at Talin Market; look in the Indian aisle for the Rani brand of spices) which really does add an "eggy" flavor to dishes. I served it with short-grain brown rice and the Chile-Roasted Acorn Squash from Sunset magazine.

Here are some other recent recipes I really liked:

Caesar Chavez Salad Dressing from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Appetite for Reduction
Tuscan White Beans with Sun-Dried Tomatoes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table
Chile-Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Eating Well - I use sambal oelek for the chile-garlic sauce
Roasted Asparagus with Crispy Breadcrumbs from the Kitchen Boss cooking show (I omitted Parmesan)
Sourdough White Sandwich Bread from Baking with Sourdough by Sara Pitzer

We recently tried Budai Gourmet Chinese (off Academy near the Sunflower Market) with friends. Here is a photo of their flowering tea.

Here is the Claypot Tofu which I thought was really good.

Oil & Vinegar in Santa Fe

2011-02-22T17:07:00.002-07:00

We went to Santa Fe last weekend and discovered this cool new store that sells olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt. The stainless steel containers hold infused oils and vinegars and there are little tasting cups to try them all.

My personal favorite was the Sicilian lemon balsamic vinegar (a white balsamic) which was really spectacular. I'm definitely returning to get some along with the Roasted Walnut Oil for bread baking. DH was quite fond of the blueberry balsamic and I thought the dark chocolate balsamic would be good over strawberries. I also tried some porcini olive oil, juniper berry balsamic, and the fig balsamic vinegar.

I think all the bottles were $17.95 except for some more expensive aged balsamic. There were also some interesting salts but I didn't get a chance to check them out.

It is located in the La Fonda hotel stores right next to Senor Murphy Candymaker.

My Print Cookbook Collection

2011-02-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at my print cookbook collection. It is kind of nice knowing that it won't get much larger now that I'm buying cookbooks for my Kindle. I still will occasionally get a print cookbook; for instance, I tend to prefer print versions of bread cookbooks with multiple page recipes. A while back I heard a rumor that Deborah Madison is doing a vegetable cookbook so I'll definitely get that one in print if the rumor is true.

I'm pretty hard on cookbooks; if I have a recipe that fails from a cookbook, I'll take it to the used bookstore. Once I did an entire Fourth of July menu from the Moosewood Celebrates cookbook and we didn't like a single thing so I quickly got rid of it. If a cookbook survives in my house it is because it really works for me. I use my cookbooks too - I probably make 20-30 new recipes a month.

On the top shelf I have my bread and pizza cookbooks. I make both bread and pizza weekly and I like having a good variety of recipes. On the second shelf are my Italian cookbooks on the right and some larger books on the left. I don't use Great Chefs Cook Vegan that often but I keep it because it is nice to have some recipes that are more of a challenge for when I feel like spending the afternoon in the kitchen.

This shelf holds mainly vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. I have a little party trick I do with Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. I've made the won ton recipe so many times that if I hold the book upright it will automatically turn to the won ton page. I just noticed a new book, the Tamales 101 cookbook. I've taken it out of the library but I haven't used it yet now that I have my own copy. I guess I need to make tamales soon.

Here are most of my macrobiotic cookbooks, some of my Asian cookbooks, and on the bottom right some of my vegetable cookbooks which assist in using up all our CSA veggies. The blue notebook on the left holds all my recipe printouts from years ago. I really need to organize that better. Ken Hom's Asian Vegetarian Feast (one of my top five faves although probably no longer in print) is missing its cover. I left it out once and a former house rabbit Peaches chewed on the cover. Most rabbits do love to chew on books so it is good that Bubbles prefers not to come down to the lower level of the house. Otherwise I'd have to take all the books off the bottom shelves of my bookcases.

Finally at the bottom are some lowfat/fatfree cookbooks and some herb cookbooks. The dark green books on the left are an old Time-Life series called Great Taste Low-Fat. I keep them for DH to use since every recipe has a photo and he likes seeing photos before he tries a new recipe. I received a free copy of the Eating Well Diabetes Cookbook because they used some of my recipes (from past issues of the magazine) but kept it because it is really good. I make the barbecue tofu recipe (with a great homemade sauce) all the time.

A Lot of Veggie Burgers

2011-01-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

I bought the Kindle version of Lukas Volger's Veggie Burgers Every Which Way a while ago but I hadn't tried any of the recipes until recently. And now I'm hooked! A lot of the recipes use eggs for binders but I do think I will have success if I use Crescent Dragonwagon's Eggscellence egg replacer with liquid lecithin recipe from The Cornbread Gospels. Right now I'm working my way through the vegan burgers in the book.

The book includes grain-based burgers, nut-based burgers, bean-based burgers, vegetable-based burgers, and burgers made from soy foods. There's also a chapter on homemade burger buns, sides and fries, and condiments. For each burger he offers some fun and unusual ideas for toppings and condiments. For the Curried Eggplant and Tomato Burgers for example he suggests topping with a curried tomato relish and frizzled shallots (recipes included.) There are gorgeous color photos of a lot of the burgers.

Here are the Beet and Brown Rice Burgers served with pickled red onions on marbled rye bread. This recipe is just a revelation - I'd never in a million years think that the ingredients mixed together would come up with such a delicious veggie burger. I will be making this recipe for years to come whenever we get beets in our CSA box. I found a review of the book that includes the Beet and Brown Rice Burger recipe for those of you who want to try it out.

I made the Asian-inspired Tofu and Chard Burgers last night. I subbed collard greens for the chard and panko for the toasted breadcrumbs. He offers a sweet sesame glaze to put on top but I was in a rush and just used some Whole Foods 365 Teriyaki Sauce. These burgers were also excellent.

Here are the Seeded Edamame Burgers with Brown Rice and Apples cooking on the Griddler. I like the idea of adding sweet stuff to veggie burgers but these were a little too mild tasting for me. The next time I make them I may add more soy sauce. He suggests topping these with pepper jelly and sliced radishes (neither of which I had) which sounds divine.

Tempeh Reuben Panini

2011-01-12T14:13:00.001-07:00

Santa was very good to me this year. I asked him to get all my gifts at Williams-Sonoma to make it easier on him. I received a Henckel's Santoku knife, another stainless All-Clad saute pan, some heavy-gauge muffin pans, a Fagor 6-quart pressure cooker to replace my ancient Cuisinart pc, a big white serving platter and some All-Clad serving spoons, and my favorite gift of all, a Cuisinart Griddler. (Santa also likes to cook so I suspect some of these gifts were meant to be shared.)

To test out the Griddler I've been making a lot of panini lately, especially this Tempeh Reuben Panini which is the only way I can get DH to eat tempeh.

TEMPEH REUBEN PANINI

Choose the darkest rye bread you can find for these hearty sandwiches. For some reason it is hard to find dark rye breads in Albuquerque - the Whole Foods on Academy occasionally has it available. For the panini in the photos I used a Marbled Rye from Sunflower Market. I use Bubbie's naturally fermented Sauerkraut found in the refrigerated section of health food stores which has much less sodium than most other canned or bottled sauerkrauts.

You can also add sliced tomatoes, caramelized onions, or non-dairy mozzarella type cheese to these panini before grilling.

(Makes 3 sandwiches)

3/4 c. water

1 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke
1 tsp. smoked paprika/pimenton (optional)
1 tsp. agave nectar
8 oz. tempeh, thinly sliced

Thousand Island Dressing:

2 Tbsp. non-dairy mayonnaise such as Vegenaise
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 1/2 tsp. pickle relish
1/4 tsp. onion powder

6 slices dark rye or pumpernickel bread
6 Tbsp. sauerkraut
Vegetable cooking spray

In a small saucepan, mix water, soy sauce, garlic, mustard, smoked paprika if using and agave nectar. Add tempeh slices and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, adding more water if necessary.

Preheat panini grill. In a small bowl, combine non-dairy mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, and onion powder.

Spread each slice of bread with Thousand Island dressing and top half the slices with simmered tempeh and sauerkraut. Top with another slice of bread. Spray panini grill with vegetable cooking spray and grill sandwiches for 5 minutes. Cut each panini in half and serve immediately.

I have more vegan panini recipes HERE in the winter 2010 issue of Vegetarian Journal including Eggplant, Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Panini with Chipotle Mayonnaise and Dark Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Panini.

Organizing My Refrigerator

2011-01-03T13:44:00.002-07:00

I don't have a pantry and my kitchen is packed to the gills with cooking appliances, pots and pans, and foods. Consequently I need to organize things on a regular basis to function well. Just this morning I really had to think a few minutes about where I'd put my English Muffin rings as I was in the process of making some sourdough English muffins. I do a lot of things to make my life easier like alphabetizing my spices and labeling everything.

Here are some photos of my refrigerator just after I returned from doing some serious shopping at Talin World Market and Sunflower Market. I have an Amana bottom-freezer refrigerator - it is my second Amana bottom-freezer refrigerator as DH persuaded me to include the old one in the sale of our former house. We eat so much produce that I greatly appreciate a bottom-freezer refrigerator so more of the fruits and veggies are stored nearer to eye level.

The middle shelf is devoted just to greens. We get a lot from our CSA and of course Bubbles our house rabbit eats quite a bit. The bottom right drawer contains flours as I have nowhere else in the kitchen to put them. I use the top deli drawer for things like tofu, nuts, and non-dairy cheeses.

Buying condiments is my weakness. I just realized from looking at this photo that there are four bottles of a Mexican soda that DH likes - they've been hogging valuable refrigerator real estate since last summer.

This bottom-freezer has a pull out drawer which is crammed full of stuff. I also have a small stand freezer in the laundry room but that is full of green chiles.

I have started to take over some shelving in the laundry room for my collection of bulk grains and beans.

Potatoes Two Ways

2010-12-27T22:57:00.003-07:00

Here is our simple Christmas breakfast. I read somewhere about grating potatoes and putting them in a waffle maker and this is now my new favorite hash brown method. Next time I'm going to add in some grated sweet potatoes or winter squash. Also on the plate is a simple fruit salad of grapefruit, oranges, kiwi, and raisins and the wonderful Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches from Fatfree Vegan.

HERB-ROASTED TRI-COLOR POTATOES

The last few weeks we've received red white and blue potatoes in our CSA box. I watched the Barefoot Contessa in London Christmas special and she made these gorgeous sliced potatoes. I didn't read her recipe before I made the potatoes the first time but I remembered her method for cutting the potatoes. After making the recipe the first time I went to look at her recipe. I used 2 Tbsp olive oil and she used 1/3 cup; I used 1/2 tsp. sea salt and she used 4 teaspoons for the same amount of potatoes. The first time I made them I used rosemary but this time I used a combo of fresh thyme and fresh savory which I preferred. I also was glad I used a cast iron frying pan to roast them instead of a cookie sheet because they do splatter. But this recipe is pretty versatile; the neat thing is the way the potatoes are cut.

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. small red, white, and blue potatoes, well-scrubbed
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt or to taste
2 Tbsp. minced mixed fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, chives, or savory
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Scrub potatoes well. Cut a slice on the bottom of each potato so they will stand up. Carefully cut a slice every 1/4" on the top of the potatoes as shown. In the original recipe she just cut a slice (and they will open a bit during roasting) but I actually cut out a sliver so you could better see the pretty blue interior of the blue potatoes and so the minced herbs will fall in the sliced sections. In her recipe she says use a spoon to cut the potatoes to ensure you don't cut all the way through but I didn't do that (and yes, I accidentally cut through one).

Put potatoes sliced side up in a cast iron skillet. Add olive oil and mix so that oil completely covers each potato. Bake for 15 minutes. Add herbs and salt to taste. Bake another 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and bottoms of potatoes are golden brown.

My Italian Christmas Menu

2010-12-22T12:59:00.004-07:00

Holiday Organic Fruit Box from Los Poblanos Organics CSA

I'm still working on the menu for an Italian vegan Christmas feast. I'm still not sure if the main dish will be lasagna or stuffed shells (sometimes I have trouble finding large pasta shells here in New Mexico) but I do know that I'll do half with marinara sauce and half with pesto.

APPETIZER

Pizza Hummus from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's brand new book with some breadsticks I received in an Italian pantry basket from Dean & Deluca

SIDES

Mixed Vegetables in Vinegar/Giardinetto di sott'aceto from Paola Gavin's Italian Vegetarian Cooking

Stuffed Zucchini Florentine (also from the above book) w/ a non-dairy bechamel

Sardinian Artichoke Pie w/Daiya cheese from Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli/Jon Cohen

MAIN DISH

Shells or Lasagna

BREAD

My Rosemary-Garlic Pan Rolls

SALAD

A big honking green salad w/homemade roasted red pepper dressing

DESSERT

Fruit salad using all the wonderful fruit we received this week from our CSA.

I hope you have a lovely holiday - here is a shot from the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort on Santa Ana Pueblo where we go every year for DH's office Christmas party.

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookie Bites

2010-12-16T12:35:00.001-07:00

I'm a huge fan of the Frontier Coop baking extracts. I own most of them and use them all the time in everything from muffins to smoothies to hot drinks. They are so much tastier than the store-bought extracts I used to buy.

I've been craving the combination of chocolate and peppermint lately. I nearly told DH to bring home a box of Candy Cane Jo-Jos from Trader Joe's but managed to avoid temptation.

The craving continued and I realized I had some Frontier peppermint extract. I knew I had to make some cookies. Because of the whole wheat pastry flour they are a bit healthier than your average cookie plus I make them smaller to discourage overeating.

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookie Bites

Makes about 44 small cookies

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (Trader Joe's version are dairy-free I think)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup soymilk or other non-dairy milk
1/3 cup agave nectar or brown rice syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with vegetable cooking spray. Mix flours, chips, baking powder, soda and sea salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix soymilk, sweetener, oil and peppermint extract. Stir wet ingredients into dry.

Transfer heaping teaspoonfuls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet. (These cookies don't spread out while baking so you can put them an inch apart.) Bake 8-10 minutes or until tops of cookies are just browned. Cool on wire rack and try to resist.

Here's a photo of a birthday breakfast I made recently for DH. I made the vegan migas from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers with more tortillas, green olives, and chiles, my Papas Con Chile Colorado from Fiesta Vegan, Isa's Best Pumpkin Muffins, my Easy Chipotle Salsa, and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Shepherd's Pie

2010-12-02T11:09:00.001-07:00

Because I'm in a year-round CSA, I am always looking for good ways to use up stray vegetables. We eat a green salad daily and I make a lot of soups but I still end up with extra vegetables.

Shepherd's Pie is one of my favorite ways to clean out the refrigerator. Shepherd's Pie is traditionally a casserole of ground meat and veggies topped with mashed potatoes but it really works well with just veggies. I've tried Shepherd's Pie many ways - with veggie meatballs, veggie burgers, TVP, etc but my favorite recipe is pretty basic. In a 9 by 13" casserole dish I dump a can of pinto beans, a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, some frozen peas and corn, and whatever else I can find. In this case I had some extra diced pumpkin and collard greens so I steamed them both lightly and added them to the dish.

Then I top the whole shebang with as much mashed potatoes as I can fit and bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes. We don't buy non-dairy margarines a lot but when we do have it we put some on top before baking. DH likes to eat his Shepherd's Pie with plenty of Valentina hot sauce.

The Winter CSA

2010-11-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Our CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture), Los Poblanos Organics, serves several thousand families and is headquartered in Albuquerque with several farms and greenhouses and delivery areas all over the state. Our CSA is year-round and there are multiple pick-up locations as well as home delivery in certain areas. Each week we receive a box of organic produce; not all of it is local especially in winter. They do extend the season though by using greenhouses and cold storage of items. We pay $28 a week for a large box and we can cancel or postpone a week any time through their web site. We receive an email from Farmer Monte each week letting us know in advance what is going to be in our box so we can do our menu planning.

Here's the box of goodies we received today:

We receive two theme CSA boxes every year. For Thanksgiving next week we'll get a box full of sweet potatoes and fresh herbs and celery and potatoes and all the usual holiday fixings. For Christmas we get a box of all fruit. There is also a member's market so we can add various items to our weekly box.

We've been in the CSA four years I think and it has changed the way we eat and cook. We now eat daily salads as they are a perfect way to use up various fruits and veggies and I actually start craving salad if I haven't had one in a day or two.

Here's Farmer Monte the mastermind of Los Poblanos Organics. He writes a weekly letter to the members with his various thoughts about organic farming.

Here's the North Valley farm during their annual pick-your-own lavender festival. If you are interested in finding a CSA near you, Local Harvest has a really good web site with listings of organic farms and CSAs throughout the US.

World Series Dinner

2010-11-04T15:35:00.000-06:00

I've had the wildest past week involving a surprise houseguest, both DH and I battling the flu, a windstorm so violent it knocked off the wood stove chimney, and of course the exciting World Series. (Well perhaps only exciting if you like baseball and if, like me, you enjoy the pitching duels.)

Here's a meal I made for baseball viewing - it is heavy on carbs but I also wanted to bake something for breakfast for our houseguest. I made minestrone, a version of my Rosemary-Garlic Pan Rolls (I topped them with some non-dairy mozzarella cheese), salad from our CSA, Isa's Magical Coconut Cookie Bars, and some blueberry muffins.

I'm addicted to pumpkin lately. I made Isa's Pumpkin Ziti (from the book Veganomicon) and the Happy Herbivore's delicious pumpkin oatmeal raisin cookies. Bubbles my pet house rabbit also is quite fond of pumpkin as you can see.

Cookbook Review: Cooking from the Garden

2010-10-19T14:29:00.000-06:00

I don't buy many non-vegetarian cookbooks but I am reading through a galley copy of Cooking From the Garden: Best Recipes from Kitchen Gardener and I found a lot of recipes that would work for me. Because I'm in a year-round CSA and always have a kitchen full of vegetables, this book will be very helpful when I'm trying to figure out what to do with all those turnips.

Cooking from the Garden, edited by Ruth Lively, reminds me quite a bit of the early Moosewood cookbooks with drawings in lieu of photos. The book includes more than 200 recipes from Taunton's Kitchen Gardener from cookbook authors such as Deborah Madison, Rick Bayless, Jesse Cool, and Ken Haedrich along with informative sidebars discussing water bath canning basics and cooking with chiles. I appreciate that they include the calorie, fat, and sodium content for each recipe.

Some of the recipes don't have excessive amounts of veggies - the parsley gnocchi recipe uses only 1 cup of parsley and one scallion but this cookbook is a valuable resource for anyone in a CSA, with a large veggie garden, or who just loves vegetables. A lot of similar books are divided up into seasons but because I always end up having to search in two seasons for relevant recipes, I prefer the way this book is organized into chapters such as Sauces, Salsas, and Vinaigrettes, and Pasta, Grains, and Beans. Cooking from the Garden does include a listing of seasonal menus at the back of the book.

I tried a few recipes from the book. The first, Apple Chipotle Salsa, was a unique twist on salsa. If I make it again I'll use only one chipotle though instead of two.

I also made the Coleslaw with Ginger-Mustard Vinaigrette. I reduced a lot of the olive oil and I really liked the addition of fresh ginger.

For some reason I'm not able to access their web site right now but the coleslaw recipe and some others from the book are available at http://www.vegetablegardener.com . I have a list of other recipes from the book I'd like to try including the Chile Oil, Potato-Onion Focaccia, White Bean Salad with Rosemary-Balsamic Vinaigrette, Quick Fried Zucchini with Toasted Garlic and Lime, Potato and Chickpea Stew with Romesco Sauce, Zesty Pickled Garlic, and the Peach Crisp with Lavender.

Braised Fingerling Potatoes with Chives

2010-10-14T14:33:00.000-06:00

This recipe is my adaptation of an Alice Waters recipe. The potatoes are thinly sliced and braised until they become so tender they practically melt in your mouth.

Serves 4

1 lb. fingerling potatoes, well scrubbed, peel on, sliced into 1/8" rounds

1 cup water

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 c. non-dairy margarine (such as Earth Balance)

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Put potatoes, water and salt in a cast iron skillet. Cut a round of parchment paper to cover the potatoes. Brush one side of the parchment paper with some margarine. Dot the top of the potatoes with the rest of the margarine.

Arrange parchment paper on top of the potatoes and simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with chives.

Soft Whole Wheat Pretzels

2010-09-23T14:29:00.000-06:00

I really love making big soft pretzels and this recipe that uses the food processor is pretty simple.

SOFT WHOLE WHEAT PRETZELS

Makes 12 pretzels

1/4 c. warm water (about 110 degrees F)
1 package (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
1 1/4 c. unbleached flour
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. baking soda
soy milk for brushing
Coarse salt

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with metal blade, mix yeast with 1/4 c. warm water and agave nectar and let stand until bubbly. Add both flours and sea salt. With processor running, add enough of the additional 1/2 c. warm water until the mixture forms a ball that cleans the inside of the bowl. rocess until ball turns around bowl around 25 times. Turn off p rocessor and let dough stand several minutes.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 15" strand and form into a pretzel shape. Let rise on a greased baking sheet for 30 minutes until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saute pan or Dutch oven, bring about 1 1/2 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 Tbsp. baking soda. Gently pick up the pretzels (I use my fingers but you can also try a wide pancake spatula) and drop them in the boiling water 2 or 3 at a time. Let boil 15 minutes until they puff up.

Put pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush lightly with soymilk. Sprinkle coarse salt on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

I really like these served with ballpark mustard.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

2010-09-12T15:48:00.000-06:00

I just finished assembling this recipe from Native American cuisine expert Lois Ellen Frank in New Mexico Magazine. I chose it because it uses a lot of vegetables and a lot of green chiles. The recipe is HERE in an article about clay pot cooking - I substituted my own green chile sauce from Fiesta Vegan for the bottled sauce and I used two FYH vegan cheeses in lieu of the cotija. I'm going to end up cooking it in the microwave as it is still too hot here to turn on the oven. (It is actually cooling a bit outside but unfortunately it is still extra-hot in our house because the passive-solar design seems to collect more heat as the sun is lower in the sky with the change of seasons.)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll need some wood from our woodpile soon. Actually very soon as I'm dying to do some baking. I'm looking forward to Top Chef Desserts starting this Wednesday and I plan to cook a dessert I've never made before each week to go with the show. This week's dessert is going to be the Sticky Toffee Pudding from the vegan dessert book Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valencik. I bought the Kindle version of this cookbook and everything looks just wonderful.

Green Chiles from Hatch, New Mexico

2010-09-01T12:31:00.000-06:00

The green chile harvest from the town of Hatch in southern NM has arrived all over the state. Hatch chiles are not a specific variety of chile pepper; there are different varieties grown for mild, medium, hot and extra hot. This year we bought two 35 lb. bags but I think we're going to get another one to last us through the year. We also get bags of roasted green chiles from our local CSA. Occasionally we buy them fresh and roast our own - HERE is a blog post on how I do that.

After each 35 lb bag is roasted, they are put in a plastic bag in a box. This steams off the skins and if you leave the chiles like that for a few hours, you'll get a nice smoky flavor as well.

Most people here just put the whole chiles, skins and all, in freezer bags and freeze them. They're really easy to peel once thawed. I learned in a class at Santa Fe School of Cooking to NEVER rinse them while peeling and seeding because you do lose some of the wonderful roasted flavor.

If you'd like to see what the process of roasting them looks like, I did a post last year that showed that - 70 Pounds of Hatch Green Chiles . My southwestern cookbook, Fiesta Vegan (available in print at Amazon and as a less expensive ebook on Lulu) has some recipes that use green chiles like my Green Chile Enchiladas with Chard, Chile Rellenos, and Pinto Beans and Calabacitas. I also have a few recipes hereon the blog that use green chiles: Hatch Green Chile Stew and Zucchiny and Hominy Soup.

More Ideas on What to Do with our Wonderful Hatch Green Chiles:

1. Eat them plain. Once at Santa Fe Farmer's Market a woman was putting chile pieces on crackers and sprinkling them with garlic salt. Anywhere they're roasting chiles you'll see plenty of customers taste-testing the whole roasted green chiles to make sure they get the amount of heat they want.
2. Rajas (caramelized onions with chile strips)
3. Pizza - by far my favorite way to eat green chiles
4. In rice and beans
5. In tofu migas and tofu scrambles
6. Chile Rellenos - I stuff them with a mashed potato mixture (recipe in Fiesta Vegan) but we've also used non-dairy cheese They're also good with non-dairy cream cheese inside
7. Lay thick strips inside homemade tamales
8. Enchiladas
9. Green chile sauce
10. Green chile stew
11. Posole
12. All types of bean and veggie chilis
13. Macaroni and Cheese with green chiles
14. Green chile risotto or a Mexican green rice w/cilantro
15. Grilled cheese and green chile sandwiches
16. Chili Mac
17. Cornbread
18. Yeast breads - I have a green chile cheese bread (not vegan) in my 1st cookbook 'Tis the Season.
19. Burritos - breakfast burritos, bean burritos, veggie and cheese burritos
20. Quesadillas
21. Salsa and Salsa Verde
22. Mashed potatoes with green chiles
23. Three Bean Salad
24. Tortilla Soup
25. Tostadas
26. Chimichangas
27. Calabacitas - zucchini with green chiles and corn
28. Chilaquiles
29. Guacamole
30. Finally, I've seen recipes for green chile apple pie which I need to try this fall.

Santa Fe Farmer's Market

2010-08-27T14:05:00.001-06:00

I thought you'd like to see some photos from the Santa Fe Farmer's Market, voted one of the Top Ten Farmer's Markets in the US by USA Today. We went last Saturday when it was very hot and very crowded. (If you want to see any of these photos larger, just click on them.)

Many vendors sell jams and jellies; here in NM they often add chiles. My personal favorite combination is raspberries and chipotle.

This is the first time I've ever seen sugar cane at the Farmer's Market. Many vendors were selling Shishito Peppers and a few places had samples fried in oil for people to taste.

I really should have purchased some of this garlic; they had about 10 different varieties on hand.

Green Goddess Dressing

2010-08-09T15:28:00.000-06:00

If I don't eat a big leafy salad every day, I feel weird. I am jealous of other people who can eat all sorts of junk food but I think salads are necessary to my existence.

My usual homemade salad dressing involves Trader Joe's lowfat vegan mayonnaise, low-sodium catsup, pickle relish, onion powder, and water to dilute it a bit. But I like variety so I am always looking for more recipes for homemade salad dressings, especially those without a lot of fat and salt.

I saw an interesting recipe in the current issue of Sunflower Farmer's Market magazine (free to shoppers at Sunflower Market) and here it is with a few modifications.

Green Goddess Dressing

Makes about 3/4 cup

3/4 cup thawed frozen peas
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp. vegan mayonnaise (such as TJ's lowfat mayonnaise, Vegenaise, or Nayonaise)
1/4 cup fresh chives (I used garlic chives from my garden)
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Non-dairy milk to dilute to desired consistency
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender (except non-dairy milk) and blend until smooth. Season to taste. Add enough milk to make your salad dressing the right consistency.

Uptown Grower's Market

2010-07-31T18:27:00.002-06:00

This morning we went to the Farmer's Market at ABQ Uptown. It may still be a little early here for a huge selection of veggies but the bird houses were quite spectacular.

The market was located in a parking lot just north of the uptown Trader Joe's.

I sampled some really hot green chile sauce and I nearly bought some watermelon juice.

After we checked out the market it was time to go to my happy place and ogle the copper cookware.

Cazuelas, Sopes, & my CSA

2010-07-24T23:56:00.001-06:00

Here are my purchases from my recent trip to the Spanish Table in Santa Fe. I bought two cazuelas (they need to be soaked in water before using but they said that after an overnight soaking you can even use them on the stovetop), a cute pitcher, and some beautiful spoons.

A while ago I bought some frozen Cacique brand sopes at Pro's Ranch Market in Albuquerque. I'd never tried them before but the package instructions said to deep fry them so I did. I'm not actually sure that was necessary; next time I want to try making them from scratch. I served them topped with some Daiya vegan cheese, homemade pico de gallo, and pinto beans sauteed with Swiss chard from our CSA.

It is so ironic that the one time of year it is too hot for any fancy activities in the kitchen that we get the best produce from our CSA. Those are our first tomatoes of the year and those yellow round things are lemon cucumbers. They don't taste like lemons but do kind of look like them.

The Spanish Table in Santa Fe

2010-07-13T17:25:00.000-06:00

This weekend I went to the Spanish Table in Santa Fe and they kindly let me take some photos of their beautiful tableware and cookware.

They have all sorts of wooden utensils and mortar and pestles.

They also stock a lot of Spanish cookbooks.

They also sell a lot of olive oils, olives, smoked paprika, peppers, etc., along with paella pans in all sizes.

I bought some cazuelas which I'll show you next time. I want to try a tapas menu soon.

Lots of Cookbooks

2010-07-09T13:27:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to mention some of my new vegetarian cookbooks. If possible, I buy cookbooks for my Kindle. I like being able to search easily through all my cookbooks for recipes using pineapple for instance and I also like not having a house full of overstuffed bookcases.

KINDLE COOKBOOKS

1. One of my favorite new cookbooks is 30-Minute Vegan by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray. So far I've made their Coconut-Lime-Banana Bread (seen above) which is seriously good. I had been looking through it and wasn't sure I wanted to buy it but I'm really glad I did. The recipes are heavy on the fruits and veggies which I like a lot.

2. Local Bounty: Vegan Seasonal Produce by Devra Gartenstein is filled with some great ideas to help me use up our CSA produce. Any cookbook with 8 recipes for collard greens is definitely going to come in handy in this house! The Kindle version does have some formatting issues with text sizes but I've also transferred the book to my laptop where it is easier to read.

3. The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest For Every Occasion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. This book is divided into party menus and I was thinking of doing one of her menus for Fourth of July but was too busy. I look forward to trying some of her wonderful pizza recipes very soon.

4. American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen by Marilyn Diamond. I bought this when it was on sale for $2.99 and I think the recipes look good. I need to try her version of cashew whipped cream to go with all the berries we've been purchasing lately.

PRINT COOKBOOKS

1. Viva Vegan: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers by Terry Hope Romero is a fascinating read. I plan to make a list of interesting ingredients from the book the next time I go to Pro's Ranch Market. I hope to start trying the recipes from the book soon. (It is still a little hot here to spend much time in the kitchen.)

2. Naturally Gourmet by Sandra Houghton is a self-published book to go with the tv show of the same name. It is a plant-based cooking show from the Seventh Day Adventist Hope Channel (Directv's channel 368). The book is large and spiral bound with color photographs of all the recipes. So far I've tried the veggie sandwiches with kalamata olive pesto.

Barbecue Cook-Off & Adobe Oven Bread at Isleta Pueblo

2010-06-26T16:49:00.000-06:00

Today we went to a BBQ and chili cook-off at Isleta Lakes Recreation area south of Albuquerque. DH had some barbecue and I had a snow cone.

Here is a little tractor rigged up to churn ice cream.

When you live in the hot desert, any amount of water can make you insanely happy.

When we were leaving the reservation we were fortunate to find a woman selling adobe oven bread. Most of the pueblos in New Mexico sell bread that is baked in outdoor horno ovens. It is a soft bread that usually has shortening in it. The baker called herself Doe to Go and was also selling sweet bread and pies.

Doe said her husband liked to shape the adobe bread into a lion's head shape. For more information on the adobe oven bread of New Mexico, HERE is an article that shows the process at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. If you'd like to try to make your own adobe bread in a regular oven, HERE is a good recipe.

Eating the Rainbow

2010-06-15T23:54:00.000-06:00

I am always running outside to try to get decent photos of our wonderful sunsets.

I am attracted to colors in my cooking as well. Because we're in a year-round organic CSA (CSA = community-supported agriculture), we do eat quite a lot of fruits and vegetables so our meals are usually pretty colorful.

This is a nondairy Tofu "Parmesan" recipe based on one I saw Emeril do in his Emeril Green show on Planet Green. The pasta is from Martha Stewart's web site and is called Minestrone Pasta Salad. BTW, if you have been noticing how often there are watermelon slices on my dinner table, it is because of DH the watermelon fiend. Even if we have other fruit for dessert, he wants watermelon as well.

My Memorial Day Menu

2010-06-01T11:18:00.002-06:00

DH just returned from a trip before Memorial Day so we stayed home and watched baseball. I made the Sicilian Country Bean and Potato Salad from Paola Gavin's Italian Vegetarian Cooking along with jamaica/hibiscus tea with lime and ginger. We had burgers (DH is a carnivore and I had the Masala veggie burgers from Trader Joe's.) and I made corn on the cob using my new favorite method.

I shuck the corn then spray it with vegetable cooking spray and grill it in my cast iron grill pan. (This can cause some smoke and popping but I don't have an outdoor grill any longer.) Then I drizzle it with lime juice and sprinkle on liberal amounts of powdered chiles (usually ancho chiles although chipotles are nice if you like something hotter) and a tiny bit of sea salt.

Broccoli and Tomato Salad

2010-05-20T13:55:00.000-06:00

Lately we've been getting massive quantities of broccoli in our CSA box every week. I love this Italian salad and if there are leftovers I toss it them with pasta for lunch the next day.

Serves 4

3 cups broccoli florets
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/3 c. oil-cured black olives
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Sea salt to taste
8 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Cook broccoli in boiling water until just-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain broccoli and rinse with cold water. Place in serving bowl with remaining ingredients. Mix well. Serve at room temperature.

Oops - sorry about that

2010-05-15T18:03:00.000-06:00

Well duh - I just managed to post a knitting post to my cooking blog. I've deleted it and sorry about the confusion.

Here's a slice of coffeecake for you - it is the blueberry coffeecake from Vegan Brunch.

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-05-12T18:28:00.000-06:00

A while ago I made the Fluffy White Cupcakes from the Vegan Lunchbox blog and realized the flavor would be perfect for shortcake. I have this fun baking pan which is just for muffin tops that I use to make shortcakes. I put a scant 1/4 cup of the Fluffy White Cupcake batter in each muffin cup and turn them over to become shortcakes. (Her recipe makes about 15 shortcakes in my pan.)

For the "cream", I blended a package of silken tofu with about 1/3 c. sugar, 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1/4 c. soy creamer (I use Trader Joe's brand), and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Taste as you go if you try this as you might prefer a sweeter concoction.

Four Weeknight Meals

2010-05-07T22:25:00.000-06:00

Occasionally I like to spend a week cooking from one cookbook; in this case I used Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen. It is my favorite of her cookbooks because she offers a lot of vegan choices and I've always liked her emphasis on vegetables. I am looking forward to getting her brand new fruit dessert cookbook - I'm just waiting to see if it will be available in a Kindle version. I've added links to the recipes if they were already available somewhere online.

This is her Black Beans with Yellow Rice. I've made this dish before and it is a wonderful rice and bean combo good enough for a dinner party. This time I subbed out brown rice which meant I couldn't put the rice in cute molds so I just spread it out on top of the black beans. Her pickled red onions add a lot of color and zest to the meal. I topped this meal off with the Berry Scones from Vegan with a Vengeance and a spinach/corn/tomato salad.

This is the Stir-Fried Sesame Broccoli and Tofu with Glass Noodles. I realized at the last minute I was out of cellophane noodles so I subbed rice noodles. I served it with zucchini steamed until quite tender (I admit it, I love overcooked zucchini) and the Peanut Butter Crisscrosses from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Here is a photo of her Black Bean Tostadas with Slivered Cabbage, Avocado, and Pickled Onions. I ended up using my homemade whole wheat tortillas for these as I burnt the corn tortillas. sigh

This is her Hot Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes which I've also made before. I used the lovely cherry tomatoes from Del Cabo, that organic cooperative in Baja. I added strawberries from our CSA box and salad with sunflowers, fresh oranges, and red onion.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

2010-05-01T13:25:00.001-06:00

Homemade flour tortillas are really easy to make; the only challenge is to get them round and as you can see, I'm woefully inadequate in this department. I've tried using my corn tortilla press (doesn't get them thin enough) and flattening them as much as possible with my hands (like when you are flattening out pizza dough) before rolling.

I've made this recipe with both oil and non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening and I've tested it with from 1 Tbsp to up to 1/4 c. fat. I prefer 3 Tbsp. shortening - more and the tortillas become too fragile and will break apart easily after cooking. Less fat and the tortillas are less pliable and more stiff. I really like making these as low-sodium as possible so I only use a pinch of sea salt but you can use up to 1 tsp. salt. to make them equivalent to store-bought tortillas.

Makes 12 tortillas

1 c. unbleached flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp.to 1 tsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. baking powder

3 Tbsp. non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening

3/4 to 1 c. warm water

In a large bowl, mix flours, salt and baking powder with vegetable shortening using a pastry blender until shortening is well-blended (smaller than pea-size). Add warm water 1/4 c. at a time until mixture just comes together. Knead dough briefly. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Heat up a cast iron skillet, griddle, or comal over medium heat. On a floured surface roll each dough piece out into an 8" circle. I try to roll them out as thinly as possible because flour tortillas thicken up as they're cooking. Using a pastry scraper, carefully transfer the tortilla to the skillet.

Cook about 3-4 minutes on one side. If the tortilla starts smoking it is past time to turn it. (Just the opposite of how I cook corn tortillas - I wait until they stop smoking to flip them.) Flip tortillas and cook several minutes on the second side. Stack tortillas wrapped in a tea towel to help them become flexible.

FIESTA VEGAN ERRATA

There is an error in my southwestern recipe booklet Fiesta Vegan. The Chiles Rellenos recipe is missing a 6 oz. can tomato paste in the Chimayo Tomato Sauce ingredient list - the tomato paste is discussed in the recipe directions. I've updated the booklet on Amazon and at Lulu and if you purchased the PDF from Lulu you can log back into your account and download the corrected version. If you have the booklet in print or Kindle format and would like a PDF with the corrected recipe and all the color photos, please email me at nanetteblanchard (at) earthlink (dot) net and I'll email you one immediately.

Cooking in Color is back!!

2010-04-24T18:58:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone! I'm re-opening this blog although I make no promises about how often I can update it. I do know that I can't stop talking about vegan food on Facebook and I need a place to post recipes I talk about there. My two cooking projects this week are coming up with the perfect recipe for whole wheat flour tortillas and trying some new recipes from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers book.

Today I went and splurged on some new kitchen appliances. My two faves are the All-Clad flexible spatula and the Oxo strainer which will be perfect for rinsing off quinoa. Oh and the adorable tiny masher to the left of the All-Clad spatula is perfect for guacamole.

Thanks and Hasta La Vista!

2010-02-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for following my blog but because of work commitments I'm not able to update it any longer. (I've actually known this for a while but I tried to avoid reality.) I've really enjoyed doing it and I hope you all enjoyed the recipes and the photos from beautiful New Mexico.

Zucchini Pancakes, Kale Slaw, & Lemon Tempeh Burgers

2010-02-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the zucchini pancake (vegan version w/tofu) from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen. I still have many more recipes from that book to try.

Being in a year-round CSA means lots of kale. Fortunately I found this Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing recipe at the Kitchn.

Here are the delicious Lemon Tempeh Burgers from Tess Challis' self-published vegan cookbook, Radiant Health, Inner Wealth. She has a warm, conversational style in her writing and her cookbook is a lot of fun to read through. She has a blog HERE and even some vegan cooking Youtube videos HERE.

Hummus Topped with Vegetables

2010-01-25T12:40:00.001-07:00

Years ago I took a macrobiotic cooking class and this was one of the recipes we made. I love hummus in all its forms but it can be high in fat and sodium. Adding veggies on top is a great way to make it even healthier.

Hummus Topped with Vegetables

Makes eight appetizer servings

15 oz. can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 c. vegetable broth or water
1 Tbsp. tahini
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
Sea salt to taste

Topping:
1 c. diced fresh tomatoes
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Whole wheat pita bread cut into wedges for serving

In a food processor or blender, puree the garbanzo beans, lemon juice, vegetable broth or water, tahini, garlic and sesame oil until creamy and smooth. Add salt to taste

In a small bowl, mix together the tomatoes, onion, parsley, and olive oil. Arrange on top of the hummus and serve with pita bread wedges.

In case you are wondering where I found tomatoes in January, here they are in last week's CSA box. They are grown in Baja and are from the Del Cabo sustainable farms there. I've also seen these tomatoes at Trader Joe's.

Lunch in Santa Fe

2010-01-17T14:26:00.001-07:00

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Yesterday DH and I were wandering around Santa Fe discussing what to eat for lunch. A man overheard us and suggested we go for falafel. DH asked him if he goes for falafel at the place in the Design Center but the man suggested a brand new place only open a week called Casablanca. We weren't able to find it (we'll definitely try again another time). Instead we lucked out and ended up trying Louie's Corner Cafe which is a pretty veg-friendly place for breakfast or lunch.

I ordered the tasty panini sandwich containing roasted red peppers, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and basil. They also had a vegan breakfast burrito that looked good and both their red and green chiles are vegetarian.

Ristras for sale

San Miguel Church which was built in the early 1600's.

Barbecue Sloppy Joes

2010-01-06T15:31:00.002-07:00

This easy and tasty sandwich with no added fat is a combination of a vegetarian Sloppy Joe and a barbecue sandwich.

Barbecue Sloppy Joes

Serves 6

I try to find the lowest sodium tomato products, beans, breads, and barbecue sauce for this recipe because it can really add up. For the sloppy joes in the photograph, I used Amy's Hot Chipotle Barbecue Sauce which is indeed hot. Taste the bean mixture before serving. Depending on how sweet your barbecue sauce is, you might want to add 1 tsp. agave nectar.

Vegetable Cooking Spray

1 small red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

8 oz. no-salt-added tomato sauce

15 oz. no-salt-added kidney beans, well-drained

15 oz. no-salt-added pinto beans, well-drained

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (regular paprika is fine if you don't have smoked)

6 whole wheat hamburger buns

In a large saute pan sprayed with vegetable cooking spray, saute the onion for 2 minutes, stirring occasionaly. Add garlic and carrot and continue sauteing for another 3 minutes. Add beans, vinegar, chili powder and smoked paprika and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens slightly. If desired, mash the mixture with a bean mixture. Top buns with bean mixture. (I occasionally spread the hamburger buns with a small amount of vegenaise before serving.)

I wanted to show you my beloved bean masher which I use often. Actually I even prefer it for mashing potatoes to my potato masher. Check your local Mexican grocer; I bought mine for several dollars at Pro's Ranch Market in Albuquerque.

Here is our CSA bounty for the week. Those sugar plum tomatoes are from Jacobs Farm, Del Cabo. Farmer Monte wrote of his recent visit to them in one of our CSA newsletters - apparently they are a co-op of 400 organic and sustainable farm families in Baja. I'm planning on making tacos to use up the avocados and sugar plum tomatoes.

Pizza Sfincione

2010-01-04T00:32:00.000-07:00

I'm always up for trying new and unusual pizzas so I was happy when I read in the King Arthur Flour Baker's Blog about Pizza Sfincione, a Sicilian pizza covered with bread crumbs. I reduced the sodium a lot in my version and I only used 1 cup of the panko because I was thinking DH might not like it. I used a non-dairy cheese under the sauce.

As I feared, DH did not really like it. Although he is not usually a salad guy he raved about the avocado and grapefruit salad from Mollie Katzen Online. I'll have to try some more of her vegetable recipes; I still can't believe the original Moosewood Cookbook is over 30 years old.

My Christmas Gifts

2009-12-29T17:13:00.002-07:00

Here is our Christmas dinner all ready to go in the refrigerator until we returned from Santa Fe on Christmas Eve. I just threw the lasagna in the oven when we got back and there was nothing else to do.

My favorite Christmas gifts are usually kitchen-related. I received some much-needed pasta forks and an incredible measuring spoon set with roosters and sunflowers. I have ogled the spoons every time I shopped at Now We're Cooking (far north Albuquerque off of Academy) so DH finally took pity on me.

My girlfriend Gracie sent me this fun Wusthof bread knife and serving board set. I made some fatfree banana bread from the Esselstyn book to test it out.

And finally the piece de resistance! I have a 2 3/4 quart Le Creuset French Oven in turquoise but I wanted a little larger one. This is 3 1/2 quarts and probably the largest size I can handle with my wimpy arms. I've already used it to make a wonderful smoky white bean soup.

Marinated Artichoke Heart & Garbanzo Salad

2009-12-22T14:12:00.002-07:00

Every Christmas we receive a box of organic fruit from our wonderful CSA. I have to get busy and use some of this soon - I foresee banana bread and maybe an apple pie in my immediate future.

2009 CHRISTMAS MENU

For the past few years I've been making lasagna for Christmas. I assemble it in advance then bake it late on Christmas eve after we return from Santa Fe walking Canyon Road looking at all the luminarias and farolitos. This year I'm planning on doing a pesto lasagna with aparagus. I'm going to adapt this recipe from Vegetarian Times to a non-dairy version.

The rest of the menu includes whole grain crackers and this Ellie Krieger roasted red pepper dip, my salted rosemary garlic bread, chocolate chip cookies with store-bought fruit sorbet, a bottle of sparkling pomegranate juice, and a marinated Italian salad I make every Christmas.

Marinated Artichoke Heart and Garbanzo Salad
This salad is adapted from the out-of-print Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen. I think it tastes better the next day so try to make it at least one day in advance of serving.

Makes 6 servings

1 (15 oz.) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, drained
2 cups artichoke hearts (either frozen, canned, or bottled marinated)
1 green or red pepper, diced
1/4 c. thinly sliced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. minced Italian parsley
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sea salt to taste (may not need at all if you use regular canned beans and marinated artichoke hearts)

Mix all ingredients except salt and pepper together in serving dish. Taste for seasoning. Cover and let marinate overnight.

TODAY'S LINKS

Here is the M-Edge synthetic leather Kindle cover I referred to previously. It stands up by itself and can also be purchased from Amazon's Kindle Accessories store. Check back as the colors in stock seem to change frequently. BTW, for Deb who is also a knitter, you can easily set up the Kindle to turn the pages by itself for hands-free reading.

Instructions on how to make your own wooden pizza peel

This blog, Savvy Vegetarian Advice, offers some great nutrition Q&As for new vegetarians.

Prevention Magazine did the Seven Foods Experts Won't Eat. Yikes - canned tomatoes is a tough one for me to give up.

Here's a blogger who made my Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins from 'Tis the Season. I think her photos are fantastic and she reposts her adaptation of the recipe.

VegNews posts some tips for vegan holiday parties.

Make Your Own Gingerbread Latte

Cookbook author Dreena Burton's Gingerbread Folks

Isa Chandra Moskowitz' delicious Gingerbread Flax Muffins