Tropical Explosion Tuesday

I loathe Tuesdays. I have ever since middle school, when I figured out that they usually fall when you are already ready for the weekend, yet it feels the the work/school week will go on forever. The fresh motivation of Monday is long gone. Fridays are obviously always great, because you've already checked out by noon, and Thursdays have that great energy of getting lots done to wrap up your week and the anticipation of the weekend. Tuesdays are the red-headed stepchild of the work week. Plus, crappy things tend to happen. Today was no exception - I left my gym clothes at home on accident, so my lunch break was spent driving back and forth - 40 minutes round trip. BUT there was a little nugget of goodness in my day: the amazing dinner I had the forethought to make on Sunday!

You see, Sunday I kind of went into domestic-goddess-on-crack mode, which I do from time to time. I made enough food for about five meals, much of which we are consuming over the course of this week. This was one of the dishes I crafted. It was modified from a recipe in this book, my collegiate cooking staple. I served it with quinoa and grilled pineapple, and it was purely orgasmic. And, as a pleasant surprise - really really healthy!


Lindsay's Jamaican Black Bean Pot

Ingredients
-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (or rehydrated equivalent)
-2 T. olive oil
-1 c. onion, chopped
-2 garlic cloves, chopped
-2 t. mustard powder
-1.5 T. molasses (use 1 T. if you use blackstrap)
-3 T. brown sugar
-2 t. dried thyme
-1 t. dried chili flakes
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1 big-ass sweet potato, diced
-1/2 c. veggie broth or water
-S & P

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over med-low heat and add the onion and garlic. Sautee for five minutes, until softened - no browning/burning!
3. Add the spices, molasses, and sugar. Cook for one minute, stirring to thoroughly combine everything. Stir in the black beans until combined, then dump everything in a nice casserole dish (ideally with a lid).
3. Stir in the pepper and sweet potato and mix well. Add the veggie broth, cover with lid or foil, and cook for 45 minutes.

Serve with a tasty grain (I highly recommend quinoa, or brown rice) and grilled pineapple or peaches.

Here's how I grilled my pineapple: slice yourself some fresh pineapple rings about 1" thick, then cut those in half. Brush both sides of each slice with some oil. Place on a pre-heated grill (about medium heat), arranged for optimal grill marks. It's key to make sure the grill isn't on full-blast, because you kind of want to slow cook the fruit to allow the sugars to caramelize. Leave alone for about five minutes, then come back and turn. After another five minutes, you're done!

Autumn = Awesome Soup-Making Time!

Yesterday I decided to dig through my lesser-used cookbooks and find some new recipes to jazz up this week's meals. I happened upon my old college favorite, my B&N vegetarian baragin bin cookbook. There's not too many earth-shattering recipes in here, but everything is really solid and there are loads of full-color photos, which is always fun.

Since it's autumn, and that means squash season, I went with a roasted root vegetable soup featuring the always tasty butternut squash. I tweaked the book's recipe a bit, so here's a general breakdown of how I created my masterpiece.

Cube, toss in olive oil, and roast the following in a 400 degree oven for about an hour, turning a few times to ensure even cooking:
-(1) butternut squash
-(2) turnips
-(1) parsnip
-(1) onion
-1 c. baby carrots

To make the flavors really pop, tuck in some sprigs of rosemary and thyme before baking. Sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper. Also, make sure everything is spread out in a single layer and not too crowded - I had to use two baking sheets to achieve this.

Right before the veggies are done, bring about 6 cups of veggie or chik'n broth to a boil. Add veggies, and lower to a simmer for about 10 minutes. THEN the best part! Blend everything with your trusty immersion blender. You might have to add a little more broth/water to get the consistency you like. Afterward, I added about 1/2 c. soy creamer for added creaminess. I also had to add about 1-2 t. of salt, but I understand not everyone is a salt fiend like me, so adjust to your preference.


Yummmm. Is it really possible to take an appetizing picture of soup that looks like this? Oh well, use your imagination. Considering there was a thin layer of ice on my windshield this morning, this will be a delicious Monday lunch!

Southern cooking theme night

Here's a random dinner that came together surprisingly well, given that I didn't really have anything planned in advance. We had red chard and green beens that needed to get used, plus a pot of white beans that had just completed cooking. I turned all of that into Southern theme night! Themes are the best. Plus, we're from Michigan and now live in Seattle, so we don't even have to pretend that we know what real Southern food looks and tastes like. Add a little hot sauce, serve with cornbread, and you're good to go!

I ended up making Vegan Brunch's chorizo sausages as the centerpiece of the meal for the first time, and was really impressed. I've made Julie Hasson's seitan sausages before, but I must say the addition of mashed beans plus the perfect spice combo made this batch the best homemade sausage I've ever had (I used the aforementioned white beans instead of pinto - pretty sure it doesn't matter). Luckily I doubled the recipe so we have a bunch in the freezer now! After steaming, I browned them in a pan for a few minutes. Right before I took them off the heat, I stirred in a sauce comprised of about .5 c water, .25 c BBQ sauce, and .25 c hot wing sauce. That was just enough to give the "meat" a nice, saucy quality....

....which was what I was going for because when you make CORNBREAD you need something to sop up! I love cornbread. And Veganomicon's recipe is my favorite, because it tastes great and is too freakin' easy.

And I'm sorry all my pictures are kind of crappy....I've had my camera for about seven years and I refuse to get a new one as long as it is still alive. Plus, it gets dark way too early this time of year!

First MoFo post, and it's about tea

Alright, so I need to get back on track with blogging, and Vegan MoFo sounds like the perfect time to do so! I'm going to try my best to post something every weekday for the month of October.

Today's post, since I'm consuming it right now: tea! I've always liked it, and am trying to get back into it more. While I may not drink it every single day, when I do I am a total tea snob - NEVER from a bag (there's actually a good reason to avoid bags), and generally it's not something boring like Earl Grey. It's really about the same price as buying tea bags (well, tea bags of reasonable quality - Lipton will always be the cheapest but who uses that outside of iced tea?), plus the tea is fresher and you often have many more flavor options. Like right now, for instance: I love Republic of Tea's Pomegranate Green tea, but it's super fruity so I cut it with Tea Haus's China Lung Ching, or "Dragon Well." I'm trying to drink mostly green tea because 1) it contains a decent amount of caffeine 2) it has tons of antioxidants and magical powers and 3) I like its taste and can drink alot of it.

What healthy benefits does tea have exactly, you ask? Ask and you shall recieve:

Anti-cancer properties
Increases metabolic rate

Possible anti-diabetes effect

Boosts mental alertness

Boosts immune system

Lowers chances of cognitive impairment

Lowers stress hormone levels

Therapy for HIV patients

Reduce inflammation for those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Inhibits growth of bacteria that cause bad breath
Helps stop excess iron damage for those with iron overload disorders

Benefits associated with caffeine

Effects on obstructive sleep apnea-related brain deficits
Helpful in treating bacterial and fungal infections

Anti-venom effects (!!!!) - can help treat snake bites!

Reduces the risk of stroke

Improves Cardiovascular health

Treatment for Anogenital warts (ew)

Now, if you drink loose tea you need to invest in a few pieces of equipment. When at home, I use my trusty Bodum Assam pot. I love it! While it may seem pricey, these thing hold up super well and do a really good job - and you can just toss everything in the dishwasher when it needs to get cleaned.

Work is a little trickier. Sometimes I bring my Bodum pot into work, if I really want alot of tea - like four cups worth. But usually, I use my fun little lollipop-like infuser and a cute vessel - like right now I have 12 oz. tumbler featuring ghosts and other Halloween ghouls. Luckily, we possess a tap that instantly produces near-boiling water, so I'm all set in that regard. Other alternatives include microwaving or getting an electric kettle, which are neat little items.

And one of the biggest benefits for me is that I save a ton of money not running through the Starbucks drive-thru!

World Spice (not to be confused with Spice World)

This weekend brought me an amazing and unexpected gift: World Spice just underneath Pike Place market. I'd heard about it from a Seattle-area PPKer, but never really pursued it. We happened upon it by chance and I am so glad we did!

It's a supercute, totally packed spice shop where they really encourage you to smell and taste everything. Buying spices in bulk is 100% the way to go than buying them in the grocery store, because your spices are fresher and, more importantly, much cheaper. World Spice has a pretty cool setup where they display 1oz jars of each kind of spice. This is good, because they sell their spices and blends in 1oz increments - this allows you to see how much you are buying. It really illuminates how much you pay for packaging when you buy spices pre-packaged.

Even if you don't live in the Seattle area, they do sell online. Not sure how the prices and shipping rates compare to Penzey's, but I can assure you they have excellent service. Also, they carry a wide range of salts, which is so cool, including the famed black salt included in Vegan Brunch's omelet recipe. Basically, it makes tofu tastes just like eggs, which is creepy yet neat.

New toys!

Boy, oh boy, am I going to have fun in the kitchen this weekend! Not only do we have NOTHING planned Sat/Sun (and it's staying that way!), but I also have a plethora of kitchen items arriving this week, and some that I recently accquired. Best part: they all cost me about $10 total, because I had a ton of gift cards!

From Williams-Sonoma: pizza stone, pizza peel (wooden cutting board-looking thing you use to get pizzas in/out of the oven), pizza chopper (totally badass, as you can see at right), new spatula, and a waffle maker.
From Amazon: IMMERSION BLENDER (I have dreamed of this day for so long!), and copies of Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and Vegan Brunch.
From random used bookstores in the San Juan Islands (visited this past weekend w/ the parents): Millenium Cookbook, Vegetarian PacNW (probably somewhat outdate but I'm ok with that), and American Vegetarian Cookbook. Yaaaay!!!!

Tentative menu plan:
Saturday - cornbread waffles w/ blueberry sauce from VB, pizza of course!, tomato basil soup, and maybe slow-cooked seitan just to see how that works
Sunday - chocolate beer waffles from VB, tomato rosemary scones from VB (on the pizza stone), possibly slow cooker pot pie of some sort

And tonight I already prepped my first slow-cooked meal from FFVSC: a peanuty, apricoty South African stew. I am so excited to get home from work tomorrow! More excited than usual, in fact.

I want this book

Spencer, take note. My birthday IS coming up.

Not only does this look like a really cool cookbook, it's written by the founder and former editor of Bitch magazine! Plus, I think it's all vegetarian and vegan, which is even better!

Basically, she takes the local/organic food concept and makes it both easy and accessible for us mortals. Let's face it, we all don't live off of farmer's market produce and eggs harvested from our coop out back. However, everyone could benefit from eating food grown closer to home that is in season, because it tastes better and is much better for the planet.

And this book is only $8. Go buy it from Powell's if you don't want to support a giant (but Seattle-area!) corporation; it's $10 there, still a bargain for a solid cookbook.