Quick Dishes

Yes, cooking elaborate dishes from Veganomicon and spending half my paycheck and my day on a dish has its merits (Pumkin Baked Ziti, droools), but working and trying top save money while still being healthy is much more fun because you have to be creative. Its like the DaVinci Code (kinda but not really).

Black Bean Soup

1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbs. oil
2 cans or 3 cups cooked black beans
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
1 lime, half juiced, other half sliced
Tortilla chips (garnish)
Tofu sour creme (optional, garnish)

Saute 3/4 of the onion (reserve other 1/4 for garnish) in the oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes (watch to make sure the garlic doesn't burn. Lower the heat to medium-low and add black beans. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add half cilantro and the lime juice. Serve with raw onion, avocado, cilantro, tortilla chips, and faux sour creme. Enjoy.

Eggplant a la McCarthy (aka eggplant Parmesan)

1 Eggplant, sliced crosswise in 1/4 in.
Oil (Canola, corn, peanut, veggie) for frying

First Bowl:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs. salt
1 tbs. pepper

Second Bowl:
2 cups almond, soy, or rice milk or creamer (preferably unsweetened, but I have been known to use vanilla and it still tastes awesome.)

Third Bowl:
2 cups panko, vegan breadcrumbs, or cornflake crumbs
1 tbs. oregano or Italian seasoning

To serve:
2 cups Tomato Sauce, preferably Salerno's, Newman's Own, or your homemade sauce.

Heat oil over medium/high heat, mix ingredients in respective bowls. I first coat all the eggplant in the flour mixture and then do the other two bowls in batches (about 5 slices) once the oil is heated. Test the oil by dropping some crumbs in it and seeing if it bubbles up.
I use one hand to drop the slices in the milk and drop it in the crumbs, and the other to pick it out of the crumbs, lest i end up wearing a thick crumb glove.
Once a batch is coated drop it in the oil and cook on each side 2-3 minutes until browned. (the crispier the better in my opinion). Drain on a paper towel. Start the other batches and keep slices warm in a 300 degree oven in a single layer. Serve immediately smothered in sauce.


Summer Pizza
A healthier, easy take on pizza

Crust:
Confession I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Pizza crust and added rice milk and ground flax seeds to replace the milk and eggs. It's nice because I don't have a rolling pin or a decent amount of counter space to roll out a pizza. I just press it into the pan and cook. I said I was a wizard, I never said I was powerful.
*Anyway* Whatever crust you use, cook until lightly browned and let cook. Turn off the oven, you're done with it and it's summer.

Toppings (Mere suggestions, use whatever is looking sultry at the market):
8 asparagus spears, ends trims, and sliced in one inch lengths
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups spinach
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar

Heat skillet over medium heat. add olive oil, and saute onion for five minutes. Add asparagus, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook until tender. Toss in spinach and balsamic vinegar and wilt the spinach. Set aside.

While the toppings are finishing up, make:
Avocado Base
3 avocados
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Juice from one lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Mash everything together until smooth with a few chunks. Spread on pizza crust. Top with sauteed veggies. Garnish with more lemon slices and cilantro.

Dairy Free Tips

This post is dedicated to michelle who asked for some dairy-free recipes. Giving up dairy was prolly the hardest part of going vegan (other than having to give up my bison-hunting addiction). Having lived in a household where Got Milk? ads were hung up like Joey Lawrence pin-up posters, I always equated milk with calcium and strong bones. I ignored the fact that trying to chug the recommended 3 glasses a day made me want to yakk until i gave it up and haven't really missed it since. Certainly not milk, there so many alternatives that taste waaaay better and don't make me feel funny.
My faves are almond, rice, coconut, hemp, and soy milk.
Some of the best brands are Almond Breeze and Silk Almond, Rice Dream and Trader Joe's rice milk, Turtle Island coconut milk, and Silk soy milk (especially chocolate). I personally think almond milk takes the cake. It tastes the best, is lower in calories than skim milk, and has protein, calcium, and vitamins.
Soy and coconut milk yogurt are also way delicious. They come pretty cheap, have probiotics, and make a great breakfeast or snack. Also, in breads and cakes they can replace eggs. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Butter is super easy to replace too. Earth balance is by far the best (and im not just saying that because we are friends on facebook, but I have been known to use Smart Balance (lite!) in a snap because it is cheaper and at pretty much every supermarket.
When I went veg, I had pretty much resigned myself to never having a decent cheese substitute. Through the wonders of technology, the vegan underground, and joaquin phoenix's good looks, we now have Daiya, Follow your Heart, Cheezly, and Teese. They are available at whole food and sprouts. The mozzarella flavor is always the best, so get that and make pizzas and lasagna.
As for mayo, get vegenase (sp?) and 'better than sour creme' instead of sour cream.
Sorry if it seems like I am brand dropping a lot, but when I was going veg, I ended up buying some sucky things cause i didn't know better.
Speaking of which, do NOT get rice or soy dream ice cream. They are the suck. Stick with Turtle Mountain coconut or soy ice cream. So Delicous is okay, but i think it needs dressing up as a shake or sundae.
Just be sure to shop around a bit. Some places charge you out of the butt for things just because they can.
Other tips for calcium: dark-green leafy vegetables (such as broccoli, collard greens, and kale), almonds, sesame tahini, calcium-fortified soy or rice milk, some brands of tofu, and calcium-fortified orange juice
I'll post some recipes tomorrow (maybe!)

Good Morning from the Heart of America

The bowl of peanut butter captn crunch for midnight dinner was a mistake. I'll just say that. It is one of those bad decisions that lead up to this point, in which it is five am, I haven't gotten a wink of sleep, i am listening to iron and wine, and i am googling savannah, georgia, and t. rex aprons.
Kids, let this be a lesson on the dangers of sugary cereal.
We are leaving for former home (and much-maligned, news item) Arizona on Tuesday. Excited all around. Zdizislaw can't wait to meet his extended family. The millienum falcon (our new passat wagon) is excited (we are telling him Arizona is Tatooine). I am excited to:
1) Not wake up to air that is 90% water, 5% residual meat stank, and 5% bad karma.
2) Drink a vat of Salerno's tomato sauce. Drools.
3) Nosh on some vegan food at green and (hopefully) mint.
and most importantly:
4) See all our friends and family that we have missed so much.
See y'all in 4-5 business days.
PS Posting some of my Glenwood Springs, CO picks. My summer vacation that was much too short. I took the Amtrack down to Glenwood, through the canyons and amber waves of grains, for my grandparents 50th anniversary. Everyone in my family was there (plus what im pretty sure were "anniversary crashers").
Pic 1: Me and nephew Luke writing in the sand of the roaring fork river, one of my favorite places when I was little

new (unnamed) puppy

All right... My second post for all my eager fans. Big news in Wospephville: new puppy. He is a miniature daschund and after much deliberation and a few false starts his name is zdzislaw as in zdzislaw beksinski, the polish-german agoraphobic painter who is now deceased. He is one of Joseph's and mine favorite painters. For those of you who are not polish-german, his name is pronounced "deesh-daw". My baby boy is the new joy of my life. How is it that I got the cutest boyfriend and the cutest dog?I am not being concieted or anything (haters back down), I am just being right.
He is wicked smart and mostly potty-trained (except when he is not). He can sit and go to his bed. He is also a wicked snuggler. He curls up in my lap when I read and sleeps in between me and joseph like a baby. Weird facts too: he loves water and snow. He jumps in the shower and plays in the water when I am showering.
I want to raise him to be vegan but for now I am playing it safe and giving him puppy food. He loves veggies and peanut butter. I am starting to sound like a crazy new mommy so I am going to leave the fawning to that. Oh yeah... and cute heart melting pics...

"Think of how the pioneers felt.."-Joseph

My first snow storm and it started on Monday on our way back from O!maha. Everything looks dipped in frosting, even the ghetto HyVee looks whimsical and sparkly.
I am doing what must be done in bone-freezing temperatures and blusterous storms---some serious down-home cookin'. I made veggie chili and cornbread on Sunday. Chili is awesome because you can basically throw anything remotly edible into a pot, add some cumin and chili powder-and viola!:chili. I used onions, garlic, carrots, corn, sweet and regular potatos (cause one kind just isn't enough especially when you're Irish), beans, and half a spice rack. I used the leftover corn bread batter to make waffles the next day, something I highly recommend, but only if you like crunchy, savory and sweet, ridicously good food.
Then yesterday, I decided to try and make a pot pie for the first time. I'll include the recipe, even though I suck at measuring and never do it. Because: 1) It means more dishes to wash. 2) You start to see the ridiculousness of it when its 2 a.m. somewhere in Wichita and you are trying to make a curry in a gas station microwave. and 3) Measuring is for mechanical sheep, true rebal vegan guru cooks just throw things in a bowl and it comes out mindblowing every time.
This approach mostly works, except when it doesn't. Exhibit A: The scallion biscuits from Saturday. I definatly need to get out of the habit of shaking a butt-ton of baking soda into my baked goods, because those biscuits were truly foul and tasted of chemicals.
Veggie Pot Pie
Pie Crust:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Veggie Shortening
4-8 Tbs. Cold Water
Mix salt and flour. Cut in shortening with two knives or forks or a pastry cutter or throwing stars, whatever you have lying around until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add water bit by bit until the dough comes together. Roll into a ball, cover with plastic, and refridgerate for one hour.
----Meanwhile: Roast a head of garlic (drizzle with olive oil, wrap in tin foil, cook for 45 min. at 425). Don't ask why, just do it.----
Now, onto the Innards:
1 Large Onion, chopped
4 Cloves garlic, minced
1 Carrot, chopped
2 Potatos, chopped
2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
2 Tbs. Vegan butter
1 Tbs. Flour
Salt, pepper, and any spice that is sitting on the shelf, whispering "use me, use me"
Sautee onion in olive oil until it starts to turn golden brown. Throw in all the other veggies, cover, and cook until tender. Uncover, add the soy sauce and butter, then sprinkle in flour and spices. It should thicken up, but if it does it too much, feel free to add veggie broth or go the ghetto way and add water like I did. Remove from heat.
Remember that garlic you put in the oven? While that finishes up, pop three slices of bread (I used whole wheat Ezekiel) in the oven and toast. Once toasted, pulverize into crumbs, and put in a bowl. Take garlic out of the oven and turn the heat down to 350. Once you can touch it without swearing, squeeze the cloves out of the skin and blend with 3 Tbs. Olive oil. Drizzle onto the bread crumbs, season, and combine.
Now... for assembly. Press the dough into a pie plate. I know you are supposed to roll it out, but, seriously, stuff that. That makes a mess and gives me a headache and you can press it in and still get a delicous crust. So there.
Anyway, use a fork to prick some holes in the bottom and to create little designs on the crust. Pour the gravy in, top with bread crumbs, and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for ten minutes and enjoy.

This dish super stoked me because I got to use Amber's Le Cresuet (sp?) cookware. It's my dream cookware and was everything I thought it would be. Joseph and Chuck came home right when I pulled it out of the oven. Omnivore and vegan, male and female alike both enjoyed "my weird vegan food". Moohaha. I wish I could say the same for the New Moon movie we were watching.