Coral Mushrooms

 

I finally identified some edible mushrooms out in the woods behind my house yesterday afternoon. They seemed to be Coral Mushrooms. Since they weren't bitter (yes, I tasted a tiny bit), did not bruise brown, and weren't gelatinous at their base, they passed the test. Some were white and some were tan. All grew along a woodsy path attached to rotting branches. I left some behind in hopes they will continue producing.

Always check an expert source before ingesting any wild mushrooms. A few weeks ago I had found loads of what I hoped were small puffballs, but, alas, they were poisonous. My first hint was when they were dark purple when I broke them open. My second was when a friend's mushroom expert friend confirmed their identity. I had also researched them online. In other words, this is not something to take lightly.

A sure sign these coral mushrooms were fine: All of us who ate them last night suffered no ill effects. We made sure that not all of us ate them — so somebody could explain what had happened to the rest of us had the worst happened.

The good news is they were very tasty, indeed, just sauteed in some olive oil with a sprinkle of tamari. First I did have to pick off all the pine needles and leaves stuck to them. Even though I know you aren't supposed to, I submerged them in water to help me clean them. Then I lay them out to dry before sauteing them.

This has been a great wet year for mushrooms and toadstools, if not for people, so be sure to take a walk in the woods to check out the wide variety. There are some very surprising shapes and colors. Most not edible, but all of them interesting to look at.

Vegan Pancakes

Making a vegan pancake is just as easy as making any other kind of pancake. The good thing about vegan pancake batter is you can throw all kinds of healthful ingredients in, if you want, and nobody will be the wiser. The basic batter can be changed and adapted to what you have on hand. Blueberries or bananas are always a welcome addition, or ground seeds or nuts. I used up the yogurt that separated (because I didn't follow my own recipe ...), and every pancake was gobbled up. We like to eat our vegan pancakes with applesauce, organic Smart Balance, and syrup.

Zucchini Lasagna

 

I wanted to make a lasagna last night, but didn't have any wide lasagna noodles — but I had a lot of zucchini to use up. Hmmm. I'd made a large pot of tomato sauce, and I decided to layer up what I had on hand. I had seven people to feed, so I wanted a large amount of whatever I came up with.

Quick Blueberry Smoothie

Nothing could be easier in the summer than a QUICK BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE. When it's hot out, you want to just eat (or drink!) and go. We picked some organic blueberries yesterday and I poured most of them into freezer Ziploc bags and placed them in the freezer. I don't wash them first, so they don't stick together. I figure any germs will be frozen by the time I use them. It's worked for me, over the years ...

Ingredients
1 cup — frozen blueberries
1 — peeled ripe banana
3 cups — soy milk
2 scoops — vanilla Total Soy Protein Powder

Method
Blend the blueberry smoothie ingredients all together. Add more liquid if the blender is having trouble moving the contents. Vary the ingredients according to what you have around. I always buy ripe bananas when I see them, peel them, and place them in the freezer for future smoothies. Other berries, like raspberries or strawberries, are also delicious in smoothies.

You can sneak a few other nutritious ingredients into your blueberry smoothie when nobody is looking. I like to add flax oil, liquid lecithin, sunflower seeds, raisins — whatever you're trying to get into your family without them complaining too much.

Roasted Ratatouille

 

There was a recipe for ROASTED RATATOUILLE in a section of my newspaper, and I had everything but the eggplants and onions growing in my garden. I like when that happens. I went to my local organic farmstand to buy the eggplants and picked up some onions, garlic, and sweet corn while I was at it. The recipe said to use thyme to season it, but I ignored them and used basil instead. I also didn't have enough cherry tomatoes, so I cut up some of my larger tomatoes.

 

Ingredients

2 eggplants, cubed

2 onions, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into pieces

2 zucchini, cubed

12 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

Large handful of fresh basil

¼ cup — olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 cups — cherry tomatoes or cubed tomatoes

Creamy Crunchy Vegan Layer Dessert

If you don't feel like pie and you don't feel like cake, maybe you'd like some

CREAMY CRUNCHY VEGAN LAYER DESSERT? It's got raspberries, chocolate, vanilla, and that crunchy layer, so there's a lot to love.

Ingredients

Crunchy Layer

4 cups — puffed cereal

1 cup — whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup — sunflower oil

½ cup — agave syrup

1 tsp. — vanilla

(or use a graham cracker crust)

Chocolate Layer

2 bars — dark chocolate

Pudding Layer

3 cups — soy milk

½ cup — organic sugar

1/3 cup — organic cornstarch (arrowroot powder makes a less pleasing pudding)

¼ tsp. — salt

1 Tblsp. — vanilla

Raspberry Layer

1 package — frozen raspberries or 2 cups fresh

¼ cup — sugar

1/8 cup — cornstarch or arrowroot powder

Eating from Our Garden

I haven't been posting much lately because we are just eating variations on the same things, it being summer and our having been eating from our garden. I thought it might be useful to see some of the daily pickings. 

There are the burgeoning garden greens, some for steaming, some for the salad. There are now summer squashes coming in and several kinds of string beans. We like these sauteed in olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, cooking until they are wilting and beginning to brown, and then adding some garlic at the end. 

We all love pasta with vegan pesto (see my recipe in the archives), so I usually make enough for lunch the next day. Tonight I quickly pickled some kidney beans I'd canned and served those too. I also made yet another batch of my creamy miso dressing (see recipe under condiments). Anyhow, I just thought I'd better post something so everyone knows we're all still eating even when I'm not writing about it.