Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas

I certainly haven’t missed the ravings about Angela’s salt-and-vinegar chips (and green beans), but I hadn’t gotten around to buying potatoes and vinegar at the same time. Then, I came across this variation on JL’s blog, JL goes Vegan, and thought another crunchy snack might be in order. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 3-4 cups white vinegar
• 1 tsp Coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Add chickpeas and vinegar and place in a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil and cook as normal, 1-2 hours.
2. When chickpeas are cooked (try one, the vinegar turns a bit sweet), add a dash of sea salt and then remove from heat. Let sit in pot for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 425F. Carefully drain chickpeas and return to pan. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, then mix with hands or a spoon, ensuring all chickpeas are coated with oil.
4. Place on a lightly-oiled baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes, flipping once half way through. Keep a careful eye on them after 35 minutes of cooking to ensure they don’t burn. The goal here is crispy and golden chickpeas, not black.

Comments: After popping these in the oven, I remembered my previous chickpea roasting failures. They never seem to turn out like the ones in the store. But, I was optimistic. Unfortunately, they were a bit ho-hum. The flavoring was all there, it just didn’t pop. And, some of the chickpeas were so hard I was afraid of breaking a tooth, while others stayed a bit spongy. They felt like a healthy snack, but nothing I’ll rush to make again.

Amazing Brownies (with beans)

Brownies with beans? Nutritional value? Kind of like subbing apple sauce for oil? I’m all over it! So, of course, I was all over this recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. Here’s how I did it:

• 4 ounces dark chocolate
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup instant coffee
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1½ cups sugar or honey

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line an 11- by 18-inch (rimmed) baking pan with parchment paper and lightly oil with canola oil spray.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in over low heat or in the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely.
3. Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Blend about 2 minutes, or until smooth. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Set aside.
   
4. In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
   
5. In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar/honey and beat well. Set aside.
6. 
   Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the coffee/chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well. Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup. Mix well.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over the brownie batter. Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect.
8. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. (They will be soft until refrigerated.)

Makes 45 (2-inch) brownies.

So, the verdict? These were tasty, I noticed no hint of beans. My boyfriend didn’t either, although he tried them without knowing. The downside? They needed to cook a lot longer than indicated (although that may have been my oven temperature), and they never really solidified. They were gooey and yummy for me, my boyfriend complained they didn’t seem cooked well enough (they were, they were just soft), so I felt kind of funny sharing them. Still, for an at-home treat, it’s a winner!

Salt and Vinegar Chips

Well, I didn’t waste much time in recovering from my salt-and-vinegar chickpea debacle to give the vinegar another try. This time, I was a bit more confident, as oven-baked potatoes are one of my favorite treats in the world.

Here’s how it went down the second time:

Ingredients:

• Approx 3 cups (or more) white vinegar
• 3-4 medium sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1-1.5 tsp salt
• Very small sprinkle of ground black pepper
• 2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Wash and slice up the potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds. Place in a medium sized pot. Pour vinegar into pot until all the potatoes are covered by the vinegar.

Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit in pot for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, drain the potatoes and return to pan. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and mix with hands, then lay the potato rounds flat on a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 425F. After 30 minutes of baking, flip carefully and bake for another 10-15 minutes, watching carefully not to burn the potatoes. Serve with ketchup and more sea salt if preferred. Enjoy!

Comments: Woa! Unlike the chickpeas, the vinegar was overpowering in this recipe! The potatoes seemed to take forever to bake (again, my oven was probably too low), and the acidic specimens that came out…well, they were a bit of a disappointment. The vinegar flavor was overpowering, I ended up dabbing some mayo on (something I rarely do) to tame the burn. Another bust.

Creamy Chipotle-Carrot Soup

Captious Vegetarian inspired me in the best way for this creamy carrot soup. Her version roasts the carrots first, a technique I’d never thought of. This is where I went with it:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 fennel bulb, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1 t. salt
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 4 cups water or broth
• 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo

Instructions:

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss half of the carrots with half the oil and place in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1/4 t. salt. Place the garlic cloves on the pan as well, they will roast with the carrots.
2. Toss the fennel and onion with the rest of the oil and place on another small baking sheet. (Alternatively, do this in two stages.) Sprinkle with 1/4 t. salt.
3. Roast the vegetables until they are browned and softened, stirring occasionally. This will probably take 15-20 minutes for the fennel and onion and twice as long for the carrots.
4. When vegetables are finished, or near-finished, heat the water or broth to boiling. Add the remaining carrots and boil until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the roasted vegetables (taking the garlic out of its skin) and chipotles, and continue cooking another 3-5 minutes.
5. Allow to cool slightly and puree the mixture in a blender until smooth. Return to the saucepan to heat completely, or store in an airtight container for up to five days.

Comments: I thought this was terrific. The roasted sweet vegetables are balanced by the heat of the chipotle, creating a very healthy and satisfying snack or appetizer.

Homemade Pasta by Mabel

I’ve been away—first a move, then a vacation to the US, and now another move is coming soon, so I haven’t been cooking as much as usual, but I do have a couple new recipes to share, courtesy of my boyfriend’s mother, Mabel.

First up are homemade, whole wheat spinach noodles, whipped together without the aid of any pasta-making devices. It’s a labor-intensive process, but uses whole, healthful foods and the family loves it. Here’s how she does it:

Ingredients:

1 kg. whole wheat flour

100 g. gluten (white, with no additives)

1 packet of spinach, washed

1 clove of garlic

2 T. oil

4 eggs

2 T. olive oil (optional, but recommended)

Steps:

1. Sift together the flour and gluten until well mixed, and any impurities have been removed. Put 3/4 of the mixture in a bowl and create a well in the center.
2. Cook spinach, if desired. Add spinach, garlic, oil and two eggs to a blender, and blend until well mixed. Pour into the well in the flour-gluten mixturee.
3. Beat the remaining to eggs and olive oil, if using. Mabel throws them in the empty blender, to rinse out any remaining spinach-goodness, before adding them to the well in the flour mixture.
4. Mix well, until the dough forms a solid, non-sticky ball, as shown below.

5. Separate the dough into 4-5 balls.

6. Now, comes the tricky part. Roll out one of the balls of dough until it is paper-thin. If you have a pasta machine, this may be easy, but Mabel uses a rolling pin to stretch the dough as she rolls it out, as shown. She works deftly, with years of practice. Basically, it’s a matter of wrapping a bit of dough over the rolling pin and stretching the dough by pushing on the pin. Repeat until the entire mass is a uniform thinness. Use the extra flour in the process, as needed to keep the dough from sticking.

7. Next, coat both sides of the dough with the leftover flour mixture, and roll the dough into a log. Check while rolling to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to itself, and add more flour if necessary.

8. Cut tiny spirals from the log, as shown below.

9. Using another pile of the flour-gluten mixture, toss the spirals to unravel them., being sure they stay coated and don’t stick to one another.

10. Repeat until all the pasta has been rolled, cut, and tossed. Toss in boiling water for about 5 minutes, tasting for doneness after about three. Serve with a delicious sauce, or just oil and grated cheese.

¡Buen Provecho!

Mexican Salad

Vegan en Mexico shared this Avocado and Black Bean salad recipe a while back, and I’ve been waiting for some avocados to make it.  Finally, the time came.

1 tomate picado
1/2 pimiento morron picado
1/2 lata de frijoles negros enteros
1/4 de cebolla morada picada
1/2 cucharadita de cascara de limón.
El jugo de 1 limón
1/8 taza de aceite
1 cucharadita de sal
1/2 cucharadita de pimienta
1/2 cucharadita de ajo picado
1/4 cucharadita de cayenne, o 1/2 cucharadita de paprika
1 aguacate picado

Combina el tomate, pimiento morrón, frijoles y la cebolla en el traste en el que vas a servir la ensalada.

En otro plato combina los ingredientes para la vinagreta. Algo importante de cuando ralles cascara es que no quieres rallar la parte blanca del limón, solo lo que aun tiene el color verde.

Cuando estés listo para servir corta tu aguacate, agregalo al plato con el tomate, pimiento, frijoles y cebolla, y agrega la vinagreta. Mezcla con cuidado para no romper el aguacate.
¡Listo!

Comments: One whole lemon was WAY too much.  I only used half, and still had to add a lot more oil to tame down the lemon-ness.  I also didn’t  find it too satisfying on its own, so I added tabasco and served it in tortillas, which worked great—slightly warmed.

Fennel & Orange Salad with Black Olive Vinaigrette

I was inspired to make this by VeganEpicurean, but as she mentioned it’s a healthified version of a classic, I decided to find a more authentic version—and healthify it myself, if necessary. I didn’t find it necessary. This take on the salad, from Eating Well actually popped up in my inbox within hours of my decision to make the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

3 medium navel or Valencia oranges

10 cups mixed lettuces, (3 small heads), such as chicory, radicchio and leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

2 heads Belgian endive, sliced

2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. To prepare vinaigrette: Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Stir in olives and parsley.

2. To prepare salad: Using a sharp knife, remove peel and white pith from oranges. Quarter the oranges; slice pieces crosswise.

3. Just before serving, combine lettuces, endive, fennel and the orange slices in a large bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat well.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Cover and refrigerate the vinaigrette (Step 1) for up to 2 days. Washed, dried lettuce will keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours. Keep prepared oranges and fennel in separate containers in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

Comments: This was definitely tasty, and it was easy enough to throw together, I repeated it several days. Sorry for the lack of photos, I’m not sure what happened to them!

African Pineapple Peanut Stew

This is a recipe from Bridget at The Way the Cookie Crumbles adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

4 servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 bunch kale or Swiss chard, large stems discarded, leaves chopped coarse
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
½ cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup peanuts, chopped
1 scallion, sliced

4 servings cooked grain, potato

1. Heat the oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until just browned at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add pineapple to the pot and bring to a simmer; add the greens, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Stir in the peanut butter and hot sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the flavors are blended. Stir in the cilantro just before serving and add salt if necessary. Serve over rice or couscous, garnishing each serving with the peanuts and scallions.

Comments: Definitely needs the recommended cayenne. I used the full T. of Tabasco, and was underwhelmed. Otherwise, it’s a decent dish, but not something I went crazy for. I probably won’t return to it. On the other hand, it was great for getting ideas on how to shoot an otherwise un-photogenic dish.

Cauliflower Cheese Pie

INGREDIENTS

Butter (for greasing pan)

2 c. raw potato, grated

¼ c. grated onion

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 T olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

½ t. dried basil

½ t. dried thyme

1 t. salt

1 T. flour

Olive oil (for brushing)

1 med. Cauliflower, coarsely chopped

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

2 eggs

¼ cup milk

Paprika (for sprinkling)

POTATO CRUST:

1. Set the oven at 400F. Use butter to grease a shallow 9 inch baking dish.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the grated potato, onion, egg, salt, and flour. Transfer the mixture to the buttered pan and pat it down with a rubber spatula.

3. Set the pan in the hot oven and bake for 30 minutes. Brust the crust lightly with olive oil, return the pan to the oven, and bake for 10 minutes more. Set the pan aside.

4. Turn the oven temperature down to 350F.

FILLING:

1. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil until it is hot. Add the onion, garlic, salt pepper, basil and thyme. Saute over medium heat for 8 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Stir in the cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes more.

2. Spread half of the cheese on the potato crust. Spoon the sauteed vegetables on top, then sprinkle thos e with the remaining cheese.

3. In a small bowl beat together the eggs and milk, and pour this over the vegetables. Sprinkle with paprika and transfer to the oven.

4. Bake the cauliflower for 35 minutes or until the custard is set and the top is browned. Serve at once with a salad and crusty

4 servings.

Comments: I used nutmeg and sage instead of thyme and basil. This was another just-okay recipe. No zip, no zing (I added Tabasco)…but nothing wrong with it. It wasn’t as cheesy as I’d hoped for. I made the potato crust the night before, and it was soggy, although this may have been my own fault.

Quick Pickle Cucumbers

After falling in love with the quickie pickle carrots, Alicia at VeganEpicurean posted about her Quick Cucumber Pickles, and that became next up on my list.

Ingredients:
4 small cucumbers, cut in half and thinly sliced
½ cup vinegar (any type of light colored vinegar, I used champagne)
½ cup water
Stevia, to taste (I used 6-1gram scoops)
Fresh cilantro, minced, to taste (I used about ¼ cup)
Directions:
Heat the water, vinegar and stevia until about body temperature. Place the cucumbers and pickling solution in a jar. You are heating the vinegar so the flavor will penetrate the vegetable more quickly. Refrigerate until needed. If the liquid doesn’t cover all the cucumbers turn the jar over periodically so all the cucumbers are submerged for part of the time. I made these about 30 minutes before dinner but sooner would not be a bad thing. When you are ready to serve drain the pickles and toss with cilantro.

Comments: Despite looking beautiful, these just didn’t do it for me. I replaced the stevia with sugar and used apple cider vinegar. I also had a giant cucumber which I know was part of the problem (too juicy!)…and no cilantro, although I don’t think that would have saved this in my books. I’m not sure if her tastes are just so different from mine, or my changes added up…but I’ll keep looking!

Cauliflower Cheese

Craving Mac-N-Cheese once too often, I decided to make a cheesy cauliflower dish to keep my refined wheat intake in check. Little did I know, it’s a traditional British dish.

1 large Cauliflower
300ml (½ pint) nonfat milk
110g (4oz) gouda cheese
3 tbsp Plain Flour
50g (2oz) oil
25g (1oz) Fresh Breadcrumbs
1½ tsp Mustard
Nutmeg
Salt & Black Pepper

1. Trim the cauliflower boil in salted water for 5 minutes or until just tender.
2. Drain and place in a flameproof dish.
3. Add the milk, flour and butter to a saucepan.
4. Heat, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens, boils and is smooth.
5. Allow to simmer for a further 2 minutes.
6. Add three-quarters of the grated cheese, mustard, a pinch of nutmeg and seasoning.
7. Cook for further minute stirring well.
8. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower.
9. Mix the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs together, sprinkle over the top.
10. Place under a hot grill until golden brown.
    Serve immediately.

Comments: This is no mac-and-cheese, but it’s not a bad healthier fix. I actually felt full after a bowl, rather than ready for more like I usually feel after pasta dishes. I added hot pepper to it, as I usually do in homemade mac-and-cheese and I added spinach, since I had it and it seemed like a good add. I also made some tweaks to the original recipe from the start. Next time, I’d chop the cauliflower smaller, as the bigger pieces were distracting. Otherwise, it was a success!

Vegan Almond Feta

Ah, but for valiant efforts! Alicia at Vegan Epicurean has raved about this vegan cheese forever. We have very little (very expensive) feta, so I was eager to find a replacement. Unfortunately, I also lack a blender and reliable oven in Argentina.

Ingredients:
1 cup of blanched almonds
Juice and zest of one lemon (approximately ¼ cup of juice)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 clove of raw garlic (if small clove use it all)
1 ¼ - 1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup water, or more if necessary

Directions:
In a jar with a lid, cover the blanched almonds with water and refrigerate 24 to 48 hours hours. Then drain the nuts rinse them thoroughly and drain again. The longer soak seems to make the nuts process more completely.
Move the drained nuts and the remaining ingredients to a food processor and puree until the mixture is very smooth but has a very slightly crumbly texture. This took 8 minutes during which time I periodically stopped the processor and scraped the side of the container and restarted the machine. If after 10 minutes the consistency is not smooth you can add up to another ¼ cup of water to help the mixture to process.
If you used the extra water to process the nuts, then take the nut mixture and move it to a strainer lined with three layers of cheesecloth.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees when you are ready to proceed.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the cheese onto the baking sheet and form it into a flat disk that is about ¾ of an inch thick. Bake the cheese until it begins to become slightly firm on the top. (About an hour)

Remove the cheese from the oven and allow it to cool to about room temperature before you move it to a serving platter. If you have a wide spatula and have cooked it long enough it will move in one piece. Be careful it is delicate.
To serve: Drizzle the nut cheese with the extra virgin olive oil and salt, freshly cracked pepper and thyme leaves.

Comments: While the recipe wasn't so terrible I had to toss it, from the perspective of cheese, it was a definite FAIL. I found it very lemony—not in a bad way, but too strong to resemble the acid of feta. And of course, my texture was WAY off (I may attempt it again, and steal my roommate's blender for the project)...and it was clearly cooked. Browned on the bottom. I ended up tossing it in various dishes throughout the weak, giving them a lemony, savory twist.

Cupboard Oatmeal Cookies

Another night of cookie searching lead me to Heidi's recipe on 101 Cookbooks. I had enough of the ingredients, I decided to give it a go. However, I made quite a few substitutions. One day I’ll have to try her recipe.

1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 c. chopped prunes (or raisins, if you have them)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (not sure if I had this to use, maybe I used powder?)

Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Add the sugar, oil, and ginger and stir until just combined. Carefully mix in the nuts and prunes.

Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Comments; These are great cookies. They're not grandma's, but I probably shouldn't expect them to be, given the healthy twists.

Carrot and Ginger Quickie Pickle

Pickles grab my attention at times, and then leave for long periods...but suddenly they were popping up all over my blogosphere, and I knew I had to give them a shot. I chose Clotilde's recipe to start, as, conveniently, I had all the ingredients on hand.

- 2 medium-small carrots, about 200 grams (7 ounces)
- a 40-gram (1 1/2-ounce) knob of fresh ginger, scrubbed but unpeeled, sliced thinly
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Makes about 1 2/3 cups; the recipe can be doubled.

Peel the carrots and, using the vegetable peeler, cut them into thin ribbons. Place the ribbons in a heatproof bowl, and set a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl.

Combine the ginger, vinegar, salt, sugar, and 240 ml (1 cup) water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When the mixture boils, stir with a wooden spoon to make sure the sugar and salt are dissolved, and remove from the heat.

Pour the ginger brine through the sieve and into the bowl of carrots. Make sure the carrots are completely immersed, cover with a plate, and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to a clean jar, close tightly with the lid and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Comments: I had no sea salt in my kitchen, so I used regular. The first time I doubled the recipe (a single recipe just seems so small), and had TONS of extra brine, so the next time I doubled everything except the water. I also left the ginger in the mix, which I enjoyed, although I'd probably decrease the ginger a bit next time. These are a bit addictive, but a great healthy snack!

Regina (Pinto) Bean Balls 6/2

I've been on the quest for the perfect vegan bean balls for a while, but it only became a priority when I moved away from Trader Joe's, to a land nearly absent of meat analogs. So, I bookmarked this recipe from Matt, but was again delayed by a search for pinto beans. Alas, they're called regina beans in Argentina!

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 30-0z cooked pinto beans,

• 1 carrot, minced (or processed)

• A big handful of fresh parsley, minced (or processed)

• 1 clove garlic, minced (or processed)

• 1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

• 1 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil

• 1-2 Tbsp your favorite Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, garlic, salt, etc)

• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine carrot, parsley, garlic, Italian seasoning, bread crumbs, oil, and beans. Mash with a potato masher (or use a food processor) until the mixture is sticky and relatively homogeneous. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Form the bean mixture into 1-inch balls and align on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning once midway through, until the bean balls are nicely browned all over. Serve over pasta or on sub rolls.

Comments: Pasta or sub rolls are my dream! I tried these plain, and with a bit of tomato sauce. The mix came together a bit moist, so I needed extra bread crumbs, otherwise they were good, though fragile.

Texas TVP Chili

I had a ton of chipotles in adobo left after my Adzuki Butternut Squash soup, so I was in search of more chipotle-friendly recipes, and found Captious' Texas Tofu Chili. Here's what I did:

For the TVP:

• 2 cups TVP, either in granules or larger chunks

• 2 Tbs. peanut butter

• 3 Tbs. soy sauce

• 1/4 cup tomato sauce (from a 14 ounce can)

• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 ¾ c. liquid (I used flat stout beer I had laying around)

For the chili:

• 1 Tbs. olive oil

• 2 onions (diced)

• 6 cloves garlic (diced)

• 1 bell pepper

• 1 jalepeno pepper

• 5 Tbs. chili powder

• 1 T. chipotle chiles (in adobo)

• 1 Tbs. cumin

• 1.5 cups pinto beans, soaked, cooked, and lightly salted

• 1.5 cups tomato sauce (rest of 14 ounce can)

• 4.5 cups bean cooking/TVP soaking liquid (supplement with vegetable broth, water liquid)

• 3 cups whole tomatoes or diced with juice

• 1-1.5 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. oregano

• 1 cup corn

Mix together peanut butter, garlic powder, soy sauce, and tomato sauce and TVP hydrating liquid. Heat to a boil, and add TVP, taking off heat. Heat 1 Tbs. of oil in a large stockpot. Sauté peppers, onions, jalepeno, and garlic together, chili powder, and cumin. If using large chunks of TVP, cut. Next add the TVP, pinto beans, the tomatoes, the rest of the tomato sauce, and the bean cooking liquid. Season with salt and oregano. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the corn. For the best flavor let sit overnight.

Comments: This was good, I actually don't notice a huge difference in most chili recipes. I think I'd leave out the TVP next time, as I didn't find it necessary, and probably go with a simpler recipe, as I'm not sure the peanut butter and soy sauce added much. I ended up adding a lot more chili powder (3 T?) to get the flavor I was after.

About.com Peanut Butter Cookies 5/29

Late-night cravings are often the result of my dessert experiments. And peanut butter is something I usually have on hand. A bit of googling lead me to this promising recipe, and I set to work.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups flour, sift or stir before measuring
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 T. chia seeds, hydrated in water or one egg

Preparation:

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside. Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars; beat in vanilla and egg. Stir in flour mixture, blending well. Shape mixture into 3/4-inch balls; place on greased baking sheets. Flatten each cookie with the tines of a fork; dip fork in flour periodically to keep it from sticking to the peanut butter cookie dough.

Bake peanut butter cookies at 375° for about 10 to 12 minutes.

Comments: These were good cookies, but not the best I've ever had. They just didn't do it for me—and it might be because I had to sub out the brown sugar, but...I'm not sure.

Fennel and Orange Salad

I’ve been eyeing the giant, beautiful fennel at the verduleria lately, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Finally, I went tonight, with nothing in mind, and walked out with some fennel.

I decided to try a version of this salad, from VeganEpicurean, since I also had some beautiful oranges. However, I had no red onion and wanted to try a more authentic version before trying her cleaned up version. So, I chose this recipe, swapping out the arugula for spinach, which I had on hand.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 bunch arugula
• 2 orange, peeled and segmented
• 1 bulb fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sliced black olives

Directions

1. Whisk together the honey, lemon juice, salt, and pepper; slowly add the olive oil while continuing to whisk.
2. Place the arugula in the bottom of a salad bowl; scatter the orange segments, fennel slices, and olives over the arugula; drizzle the dressing over the salad to serve.

Comments: Overall, this was good. I shy away from making salads at home because they always seem to have a zillion ingredients which are leftover, when making a single portion. I halved the recipe, and had no problem eating it as one (large) serving.

However, I found it a bit sweet and simple. I think I’ll swap the lemon juice for red wine vinegar next time, and leave out the honey.

Curry Apple Fried Rice

Rachel is quickly winning my props for her ability to choose recipes! This was easy and a delicious variation of my typical fried rice. Here's my version:

Ingredients (Makes 3 Servings)

1 cup uncooked brown rice

3 eggs, scrambled

3 cups small diced vegetables

1 small onion, chopped

1 apple, chopped with skin on

1 glove garlic, minced

1 T. finely chopped ginger

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp chopped peanuts or cashews

Sriracha to taste

This Is How We Do It

1. Cook rice according to package directions with a bit of salt. Parboil the vegetables (just a couple minutes should do it).

2. Meanwhile, preheat a pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then add onions, curry powder, and cumin and cook about 5 minutes.

3. Add apples and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until garlic begins to color.

4. Remove everything, fry a scrambled egg in the pan. Chop.

5. Add rice, veggies and onion mix. Cook for 2 more minutes.

6. Top with nuts and soy sauce and sriracha to taste.

Comments: Loved it. I mixed the fruit and veggies together, and simple fried the egg, then added rice and veggies to the fry pan for subsequent servings. Only complaint is that I used a ton of oil, so I'll have to work on that.

Gratuitous Pizza

Just because there haven't been any photos in a while, I whipped this up the other day...