Stir-Fried Rice and Gomasio

I had a bunch of steamed Chinese cabbage I needed to get rid of, plus I had used my rice cooker to make four cups of long-grain brown rice, so I decided to make STIR-FRIED RICE last night.

Ingredients

1 tblsp. — olive oil

2 — 1-lb blocks tofu, cubed into 1/2-inch-sized pieces 

To taste — tamari, toasted sesame oil, agave syrup, gomasio

1 — chopped red onion

Small amount — chopped hot red pepper

4 cups — cooked brown rice

3-4 cups — chopped steamed greens (Chinese cabbage, kale, collards, etc.)

To taste — more toasted sesame oil, olive oil, tamari, nutritional yeast, turmeric for color (1/4 tsp)

Serve with salad

 

Method

In a large frying pan add a tablespoon of olive oil and two one-pound blocks of tofu that are cubed into half-inch-sized pieces. Sprinkle it with tamari, toasted sesame oil, agave syrup, and GOMASIO. I will mention how to make that, below.

 

Add a chopped red onion and a small amount of chopped hot red pepper. The pepper isn't necessary, but it does add a nice touch of color and hotness.

Keep stirring it every now and then, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan throughout this process.

Bagels

Won't you feel clever for making BAGELS? There are only a few differences between the dough for bread or bagels and one extra step. If you make several dozen at a time, you can freeze them. This recipe will yield two dozen bagels and four large breads.

Ingredients

Lots of water — 8 cups

1 tblsp. — baking yeast

2 tblsp. — sugar

8 cups — organic unbleached white flour, germ added

1/4 cup — gluten powder (optional)

4 cups more — unbleached white flour

1/2 cup — oil

2 tsp — salt

4 cups — organic whole wheat flour, with extra to clean hands or if dough is too sticky, one cup or so

2 tsp — pick one: baking soda, salt, sugar (to the boiling water)

Small amounts — bagel toppings like sesame seeds, kosher salt, onion flakes, poppy seeds, or granulated garlic

Method

Start in a large bowl with two cups hot water and six cups cold water. That should be just warm enough to not burn on the back of your wrist. To this, add one tablespoon baking yeast and two tablespoons sugar.

Let it sit about five minutes before adding in eight cups of unbleached white flour (I like the organic kind with the wheatgerm added back in). Beat it one hundred times to develop the gluten. If you would like a dense bagel, more akin to a bagel shop's, you can add in some gluten flour at this point or gluten powder. This raises the protein content and will help make a denser bagel consistency, but it is not necessary for a delicious bagel. Let this sponge rise for twenty minutes.

Cornbread

I got out my cast iron corn-stick pans to make a batch of CORNBREAD. These corn-stick pans have seven indented shapes that are pocked with little holes that turn out stubbled sticks of crispy cornbread that are supposed to look like ears of corn. They don't look like ears of corn, too much, but they didn't hang around long enough that it mattered. You could also make these in a cast iron frying pan, bake it a little longer, and cut into wedges. They will be less crisp that way, but still great with soup or beans.

Dry Ingredients
3 cups — whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups — cornmeal (or 1 1/2 cups corn flour and 1/2 corn grits)
1 tblsp. — baking powder
1 tblsp. — chili powder
1 tsp — salt
1/2 tsp — sugar   

 

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup — sunflower oil
3 cups — water or soy milk
Oil or plant-based margarine for the pans

Method

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. You can either oil the pans or put dabs of plant-based organic margarine in each pan opening, and then heat the pans up while you mix up the batter. If you do this, the outsides of the sticks will be even crispier. I forgot to, and they were still good.

Zucchini Bread

I had five really large zucchini taking up space on my counter, so what better to do with them than grate them into ZUCCHINI BREAD? 

Almost the same as carrot cake, I don't know why this is called a bread, other than it being baked in a loaf-shaped pan. 

Wet Ingredients 

5 cups — grated zucchini

2 cups — organic applesauce

1 cup — sunflower oil

4 tsp — vanilla

 

Dry Ingredients

4 cups — organic white flour

2 cups — organic whole wheat pastry flour

6 tblsp — ground flax seeds (optional)

1 tsp — salt

2 tsp — baking soda

1 tsp — baking powder

4 tsp — cinnamon

1 tsp — arrowroot powder or organic cornstarch

2 cups — organic brown sugar

Regardless, I peeled and cored the five giant zucchini and ran them through an electric grater, yielding enough for two batches of loaves, which was around ten cups of zucchini.

Tofu Stroganoff and Red Cabbage

I thought I'd lost my recipe of TOFU STROGANOFF, but I found it tonight. There used to be little tear-off recipes from Natural Messages Company in Boston back in the seventies. Having recovered it, I share it with you, now, almost the same.

 

Ingredients

 

Night Before Marinade

1 lb. — tofu (one package), diced

1/4 cup — tamari

1/2 tsp — garlic powder

1/8 tsp — cumin 

1/8 — black pepper

Water to cover

 

Sauce the Next Day

1 — large onion, chopped

1/4 cup — olive oil

1/2 lb. — white mushrooms, sliced (about 4 cups chopped)

Pinch — black pepper

Pinch — allspice or nutmeg

1/2 tsp — dried basil or 1/8 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup — white wine

1 cup — soy yogurt, plain

Serve over flat noodles or linguine (1 package)

 

Method Night Before

The night before, dice up a pound of tofu and marinate it in a jar with a quarter cup of tamari, a half teaspoon of garlic powder, and an eighth teaspoon of cumin and black pepper. Fill the jar with water to cover and shake it up before refrigerating.

 

Method Next Day

The next night, or whenever you eat, saute one chopped large onion in a quarter cup of olive oil. Slice half a pound of white mushrooms, which is about four cups, and add them to the onions after a few minutes, along with the marinated tofu and the marinade.

Add a pinch of pepper and a pinch or so of allspice or nutmeg, along with a half teaspoon of dried basil or more of the fresh chopped basil.

 

Simmer covered for fifteen minutes, or until the mushrooms seem done.

 

Add half a cup of white wine, and a cup of plain soy yogurt, and heat until all is hot.

Serve over flat noodles or linguini.

 

Lentil Soup, Unkneaded Sourdough Bread, and Vegan Pizza

My mother would always make LENTIL SOUP when we would come to visit, and I have tried to recreate her recipe, with maybe just a few changes.

Ingredients for a Large Pot of Soup

1 — large onion, chopped

1 tblsp. — olive oil

3 — garlic cloves, minced

3 — carrots, sliced 

2 — large potatoes, cubed

1 stalk — celery, diced

1 piece — hot red pepper, minced

1 — small green pepper, minced

1 tsp — dried thyme

1 — bay leaf

1 tsp — dried summer savory (optional)

1/2 tsp — turmeric 

2 cups — uncooked green lentils

12 cups — water

2 cups — chopped greens (kale, for instance)

1 — chopped tomato (or 1/2 can tomato paste)

1 tblsp. — tamari

1/4 cup — red wine

1 — lemon, juiced

Method

In a large soup pot, saute one medium chopped onion in a tablespoon of olive oil, eventually adding three minced garlic cloves, three sliced carrots, and two large cubed potatoes. I also added a small amount of minced celery, a small piece of hot red pepper, and one small green pepper that grew all lonely in the garden. Add one teaspoon of thyme, one bay leaf, one teaspoon of summer savory, and a half teaspoon of turmeric, just because.
 

Rinse off two cups of dried green lentils and add them to the pot, along with twelve cups of water and two cups of chopped greens. I used kale. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for an hour.

 

When the lentils are soft if squished against the side of the pot, add a chopped tomato, a tablespoon of tamari, and a quarter cup of red wine. Cook another fifteen minutes or so.

 

Right before serving, add the juice of one lemon.

 

Read on for the unkneaded sourdough bread and pizza recipes!

Corn Chowder

If you buy some corn on the cob that isn't as good as you hoped it would be, it's always helpful when someone says, “Make some CORN CHOWDER!” So, thanks, Dean. 

 

I was also making some soy milk, so I had plenty of that too. This meal doesn't take too long to make, and it doesn't require any bread with it to be filling. 

 

Ingredients

1 — large onion, chopped

2 — stalks celery, chopped

3 — large potatoes, cubed

4 — small carrots, chopped

2 tblsp. — olive oil 

1 tsp — salt

Sprinkle — black or cayenne pepper to taste

2 tblsp. — nutritional yeast

4 cups — water

2 1/2 cups fresh or 1 package frozen or 2 cans — corn kernels

4 cups — unsweetened or plain soy milk

1/2 tsp — sweetener, optional if soy milk is unsweetened and corn is not too sweet

Method

Chop up and saute together one large onion, two stalks celery, four small carrots and three large potatoes for about five minutes in some olive oil.

 

Add one teaspoon salt, and either black or cayenne pepper to taste, along with two tablespoons of nutritional yeast and four cups of water.

Bring to a boil and then lower heat and cook for thirty minutes, covered.

 

Add two-and-a-half cups of cooked corn that has been cut off the cob or a couple of cans of corn or a package of frozen corn. If you used the frozen corn, of course cook it until it is all hot.

 

Add four cups of unsweetened or plain soy milk and serve.

I have used vanilla soy milk when I had nothing else around. Also, since I hadn't sweetened the soy milk I just made, I did add about a half teaspoon of agave syrup to make up for that.

I thought it was tasty, and the boys came back for seconds.

Chocolate Pudding, Tofu Whipped Cream, and Vanilla Extract

 

I mentioned before that I would tell you how to make a CHOCOLATE PUDDING with the soy milk that may be languishing in the refrigerator. Tonight was the night.

Ingredients for Pudding

1/3 cup — cocoa powder

1/2 cup — organic sugar

1/4 tsp — salt

1/4 cup — organic cornstarch (increase to 1/3 cup if making a pie, so it will set up)

3 cups — soy milk

1 1/2 tsp — vanilla

2 tblsp. — vegan butter substitute (optional)

Method for Pudding

In a sturdy pot, add one-third cup of cocoa powder, one-half cup of organic sugar, a quarter teaspoon salt, and a quarter cup of organic cornstarch.

 

Whisk in three cups soy milk and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for ten minutes. Whisk occasionally while heating.
 

Add one and a half teaspoon of vanilla. If you want it to taste richer, add some plant-based margarine like organic Earth Balance. Mix it all together.

Pour into eight glass pudding cups — or just in a bowl to scoop out of. Top with plant-based whipped topping right before serving. It tends to collapse, so don't let it sit. Or whip up some tofu whipped cream. Read on about how to make it.

Peanut Squash Soup

 

My oldest son says that the name “Squash” says it all, in regards to that vitamin-A-packed vegetable. He wouldn't touch it, normally, but since he was out in his truck listening to Vermont Public Radio while I blended this PEANUT SQUASH SOUP, he will never know what he happily ingested. 

As the chef on Fawlty Towers said, “What the eye doesn't see, the cook gets away with.” Obviously, take people's allergies and rational beliefs into account.

 

Ingredients

1 — buttercup or butternut squash or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 — small carrots, chopped

1 — large onion, chopped

5 — garlic cloves, chopped

2 tblsp. — olive oil

2 tblsp. — ginger root, peeled and minced

1/2 tsp — red pepper flakes or equivalent

2 cups — water

3 — Roma tomatoes, chopped or 1/2 cup of tomato sauce

A few — raisins, optional

1/4 tsp each — salt and black pepper 

1/2 cup — peanut butter

1 cup — water, as needed to assist blender

Toppings — chopped chives, green onions, or fresh parsley

Method

Have on hand one buttercup squash or two sweet potatoes. Peel them, and take out the seeds if it is a squash. Cube it.

 

Saute one large chopped onion and eventually add five chopped garlic cloves in two tablespoons of olive oil.
 

Add the cubed squash or sweet potato, and three small chopped carrots.

 

Add two tablespoons of peeled fresh ginger. I was excited to dig some up from the hand of ginger I have been growing in a pot of dirt for a while, and it was really easy to slice up.

 

Add a half teaspoon of cayenne, or, as in my case, half of a dried cayenne pepper.

Add two cups of water.

Add three Roma tomatoes or half a cup of tomato sauce, a few raisins, if you'd like, and about a quarter teaspoon of salt and black pepper.

 

Cook this until the squash or sweet potatoes are soft, for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

 

Spoon half a cup of peanut butter into a food processor or blender.

 

Add the cooked vegetables in two different batches, along with a half a cup of water each time. After blending, return it all to a clean pot to continue to simmer until serving.

 

Top with chopped green onions or chives and fresh parsley, and serve with some interesting bread.