Baked Beans and Roasted Cauliflower

This time the BAKED BEANS turned out fine. I soaked too many navy beans, and my pressure cooker was so full I decided to just boil them for two hours. At that point the beans I was going to use to make the baked beans were done enough. The remainder I pressure cooked for another twenty minutes to make sure they were soft enough. They can be used in a soup in the next couple of days. My enormous amounts aren't necessary for smaller, less hungry families, so I will give a recipe that fits into normally sized cookware and stomachs.

Hot and Cold Chili and Cornbread

I get inspiration for meals from seeing what other people are cooking, making my own version up. That's the fun part of cooking. I saw a couple of recipes for CHILI, so decided to make one myself.

Ingredients

2 — large onions, chopped

7 — garlic cloves, chopped

2 tblsp. — olive oil

1 tsp — cumin seeds

1 — hot red pepper or 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional to your taste)

3 cans — kidney beans

1 can — diced tomatoes or your own fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 1/2 cup — water

2 cups — frozen corn or two cans corn

1 tblsp. — oregano

2 tblsp. — chili powder (deluxe from Frontier Herbs)

1/4 cup — chopped fresh basil if you have any (optional)

1 tsp — tamari, especially if your beans have no salt added (or more if you want)

Method
Saute two large chopped onions and about seven chopped garlic cloves in two tablespoons of olive oil. Start with the onion first, later adding the garlic, as it cooks faster. Throw in a teaspoon of cumin seeds and if you like hot foods, a chopped dry hot red pepper, or some red pepper flakes.

Outer Crunch Tofu, Biscuits, Gravy, Collards, Carrots, Peas

Method for Tofu

This TOFU was cut in large rectangular pieces and dipped in whole wheat flour, nutritional yeast and some seasonings (garlic powder, salt and basil), then roasted at 425 degrees on an oiled cookie sheet, with a spray of oil over the top. Turned after thirty minutes, roasted another fifteen. Had a nice crunch. Might have had more flavor if the tofu slabs were marinated first. I'll try that next time.

Ingredients

1 block — tofu

1/2 cup — whole wheat flour 

1/4 cup — nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp — garlic powder, salt (if not using marinade), dried basil

Up to you — spray of olive oil on pan and top of tofu

Optional — marinate tofu first in a seasoned brew (use up the end of a vinaigrette, for instance)

 

Method for Gravy

The GRAVY was made with the leftover flour I dipped the tofu in, stirring it over heat with some olive oil, adding some more nutritional yeast, and slowly whisking in hot water. Added tamari and then lemon juice at the end of cooking.

 

Ingredients

1/4 cup — leftover seasoned flour

1/8 cup — olive oil

1-2 tblsp. — nutritional yeast

2 cups — water, as needed 

1 tblsp. — tamari, at end

1/2 — lemon, squeezed, at end

 

Split Pea Soup and Boston Brown Bread

I was going to make some SPLIT PEA SOUP last night and thought I would make some cornbread to go with it, but then I saw a recipe in my binder for BOSTON BROWN BREAD and thought I would try that, instead.

 

Ingredients for Soup

1 large — onion chopped

2 tblsp. — olive oil

5 — sliced carrots, medium-sized

3 — cubed potatoes

5 — minced garlic cloves

4 cups — green split peas

12 cups — water or part vegetable stock if you have any

1 tblsp. — tamari

1 tsp — hot pepper sauce

1/2 tsp — vegan Worcestershire sauce

A few drops — liquid smoke seasoning (optional)

Sprinkles to taste — balsamic vinegar and/or tamari (optional in your bowl)

Method

For the soup, in a large pot saute one large chopped onion in two tablespoons of olive oil, adding in five sliced medium-sized carrots, three cubed potatoes, and eventually around five minced garlic cloves.

Add four cups of rinsed green split peas. They may clump together, but once you add in the water it will be fine. Add twelve cups of water. Cook this for longer than you think, depending on how fresh the peas are. Bring it to a boil, and then lower the heat to simmer. 

 

The peas should begin to break down from the shape of peas into pea mush by the time they are done. Maybe I didn't have it cooking at a hot enough temperature at first, but it took about an hour and a half. I would think usually it would take under an hour. It really depends on how old the peas are.

Sweet and Sour Tofu and Vegetables

SWEET AND SOUR TOFU AND VEGETABLES is a quick and easy dish to prepare that is colorful and filling, served with rice and some greens. This dish served five.

Ingredients in Rice Cooker

2 cups — jasmine rice

3 1/2 cups — water 

1 bunch — chopped collards

 

Method

Use a rice cooker to cook up two cups of jasmine rice with three and a half cups of water, with a bunch of chopped collards in the steamer above.

Ingredients in Bowl

2 tblsp. — organic cornstarch

2 tblsp. — water

15oz — canned organic pineapple chunks and juice

1/4 cup — water

1 tblsp. — apple cider vinegar

1 tsp — sweetener like maple syrup or agave

2 tblsp. — tamari

1/2 tsp — ginger powder

1 touch — red pepper

 

Ingredients in Cast Iron Pan

1 — chopped medium onion

1 tblsp. — olive oil

1 tblsp. — toasted sesame oil

1 — carrot, thinly sliced

Optional — additional sliced vegetables (green beans, corn, peppers, broccoli)

1 block — tofu, cubed

1 sprinkle — salt

 

Method

In a bowl mix together two tablespoons of organic cornstarch in two tablespoons of water, adding most of a fifteen ounce can of organic pineapple chunks and juice. I let the boys drink and eat some of it. Also, I only had rings, so I chopped them up.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

I never made a SHEPHERD'S PIE before, vegan or otherwise, but somehow I got it into my head yesterday that I wanted some. I consulted my Fannie Farmer cookbook to see what was in it normally, and then I just substituted what I wanted to use instead. One member of the family remembered it from cafeteria lunches as having a layer of corn under the potatoes, so you could do that if you wanted to, but it's not what I did. This didn't take long to make, but I had all the required ingredients on hand.

Most problematic for those of you without a constant supply of soy pulp from making soy milk every few days would be the soysage, which is made with the leftover soy pulp. I was thinking it could also be made with partially cooked beans, though I haven't tried that yet. I was picturing soaking and cooking some beans for about half an hour, then grinding them in a food processor, before using them in the soysage recipe.

Cherry Mousse Tarts

It's President's Day, and I wanted to make a cherry pie again (see last year's recipe), but my buying club out-of-stocked my frozen cherries today. When I stopped by the co-op, they didn't have any fresh, frozen, or canned. All they had was organic Tart Cherry Juice, so I bought some of that and while driving home tried to think how to use it to make a pie. Something gelled with agar flakes, also known as kanten, a seaweed product? Or a pudding made with arrowroot powder or organic cornstarch?

I decided in the end to make CHERRY MOUSSE by using both. I made eight little pie tarts and two big glasses of mousse.