Fall Vegetarian Comfort: Provence Style Zesty Stew

Here comes fall with preparations for the holidays ahead! At a loss for what vegetarian/vegan do for holiday meals when they dine with the omnivores if they aren't in charge of the hosting/menu? They might not admit it to a host or others bringing the food for fear of inconvenience but the making do with the meat-free dishes such as mashed potatoes, salad and picking bacon bits off the green beans does not make for satisfaction.

They'll likely fend for themselves to bring something they can enjoy, but asking others to bring a few more veggie-friendly dishes to munch on would be appreciated for certain (also giving everyone at the table extra vitamins, minerals and fiber woo hoo!) Instead of reaching for the meat-analogue Tofurkey, why not offer another filling dish with less sodium! The recipe that follows is also gluten-free (we folk who get glum being unable to have most pies and crispy-onion-topping green beans).

Province Style Tofu Stew

Adapted from Williams and Sonoma Soup cook book to be veggie friendly

For people who eat fish the original calls for 1 lb of firm white fish. A similar recipe I was given by a former mentor also added a soft cheese to her fish stew and there was no orange zest. See what's in your fridge/pantry, and play around and make this recipe your own! I added beet greens because I didn't have tomato pieces and wanted more texture/substance. Veggies rock as they tend to be very interchangable in most recipes.


Equipment: optional blender or food processor to make a less chunky soup
Prep-work: rinse and chopping and zesting, 5-10 minutes worth; optional homemade stock made fresh 2 hrs (or grab from your freezer)

3 servings

 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (substitute celery if you cannot find)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2-3 tbsp of tomato paste OR 14 oz chopped tomato (fresh or canned, saving juice to use in this recipe)
2 cups of vegetable stock (may make 1 cup of red wine if on hand, I didn't have)
zest of 1-2 small oranges
12-16oz package of firm tofu, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup dill (or another herb, original recipe calls for parsley)
2 cups thoroughly rinsed beet greens (or other greens), chopped

1. In a medium soup pot over med-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, stirring occasionally until lightly brown. Less than 5 minutes. Add carrots and fennel. Cook until slightly softened about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic cooking 1 more minute.

2. Add tomatoes and their juice, wine and/or vegetable stock and orange zest. Reduce the heat to medium and bring to simmer. Add the beet greens. Cover with the lid cracked open slightly for about 10 minutes, veggies should be well softened and your kitchen smelling great.

3. Blend about 1/3 of the soup to puree in the blender/processor and then return it to the pot (careful about the lid coming off due to the steam build up-let the soup cool a bit first OR if you have a stick blender go for that instead)

4. Add the tofu and heat until warmed through.

5. Put soup into bowls and top with the chopped herb.

Tastes great served alone or with some bread (yes, there's gluten free ones out there) or add 1/4 to 1/2 cup cooked grains, beans or quinoa per serving for extra belly-filling goodness. 


I attended a cardio kick-box class this week and the instructor reminded us to eat mindfully (chewing slowly to notice the tastes, the smells, the colors, the conversation being had with loved ones) and go ahead and indulge having a bit o' the "bad" stuff.

What sensations describe your Thanksgivings?

Good to Go Easy Seaweed and Bean salad along with product reviews for Indian Market's Priya Dosa Mix and MTR Sambar(soup) Curry Paste + "The Good Bean" dried chickpeas + Daiya Cheddar Cheese

Apologies for my lapse in weekly posts, I have been overwhelmed with end of year at work and having exams and class projects. I will do my best to make up for that by posting more consistently, possibly about:

• A bread machine gluten free recipe that rose! (this one isn't soy free however, I want to play around with using other types of non-dairy milk)
• San Diego Night Market visit
• Executing the book recipes on a bi-weekly basis (minimum)

It's been a huge morale damper to have my clients and teammates on furlough this week. In food related news, I have yet to come across any food (or other) deals for San Diegans who are furloughed except for popcorn at AMC movie theaters (not required to purchase a movie ticket). D.C. has a whole slew of places offering free meals, cupcakes, sandwiches, burgers...where's the San Diego love? We have so many military bases here!

GOOD TO GO -EASY SEAWEED-BEAN SALAD

Combo of beans and rice, something so satisfying.

School doesn't have a microwave that's easily accessible...if I heat it before I leave work it will get too cold by the time I am hungry (did not bother looking for the lunch-bag thermos type kit yet). Enter the tasty meal that does not require heating. The Seaweed Bean Salad uses Hijiki Seaweed (found it at Marukai market and love it because it doesn't have a strong ocean flavor...recall it from July with sprouted lentils?) Good source of iron (40% of daily value according to the nutrition label!), top it off with some citrus or strawberries for dessert to help absorb that non-heme iron. The recipe makes four servings at a time:

INGREDIENTS:
40 g  of dried hijiki, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes and then drained)
1 large avocado (1/4 per serving) or 2 small (1/2 per serving) sliced
1 cup dried Adzuki Beans (soak overnight and cook until tender 45mins-1 hour, or give a can of rinsed kidney beans a try or pinto beans)
1 fresh lime's juice
Fresh rice 1 cup cooked

Mix ingredients together and for best taste let it marinate for a few hours. For individual portions-make up 3/4 cup combination of rice and beans, 1/4 of the seaweed, 1/4 of the avocado and 1/4 of the lime juice.


Because it's been so busy I have started stocking time-saving foodstuffs. Here's what I have tested over the last few weeks: 

WHAT: Priya Dosas Mix
WHERE I GOT IT: Namaste Market, Mira Mesa
RESULTS: Although I have a crepe pan that worked well, I should have watched this video to know that the batter needs to have more liquid (than what the package called for), use a ladle to spread it and know that it's ready to turn when the edges curl up! My dosas turned out very thick and the batter itself seemed very salty (sodium listed at 120 mg for a single dosa, but since mine were so thick, it was probably heaps more!)

WHAT: MTR Sambar Curry Paste
WHERE I GOT IT: Namaste Market, Mira Mesa
RESULTS: I'm used to a more salty/savory sambar from Annapurna restaurant. However given that I paired this with the salty Priya dosas, the sour spicy flavor worked very well. It also paired well with something a little sweet (roasted sweet potatoes)

WHAT: The Good Bean snack pouches (dried chickpea)
WHERE I GOT IT: Marshalls, Mira Mesa, check out the manufacturer's website
RESULTS: I bought the chili lime and cracked pepper flavors. It's nice to find a snack that has 6 g protein that I can take to class or could travel well for a hike. Given it was at Marshall's, I probably won't see it again (and not at $1.89 per pouch). The website lists them at $2.88 when you buy a multi-pack and free shipping over $25 order. They are a Berkeley, CA business. If you have nut allergies they also have no-nut snack bars!

WHAT:Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds (dairy free, soy free)
WHERE I GOT IT: Fresh and Easy, Mira Mesa,
RESULTS: I had only seen the mozarella flavor before (which to me tastes nothing like real mozarella, but adds a nice buttery, salty flavor-worked great in my salmon-potato patties). This tasted exactly like mozarella to me though.

What new projects are you working on for fall?

No-Dairy, No-Nut, No-soy Nacho Sauce and No-soy Tofu

Never one to turn down free food, I accepted a cheery red bell pepper from my friend after she and her husband treated me and Dave to a home-cooked meal (I get to dog sit for her next weekend.) She said she wouldn't be able to use it in time. Months ago I saw a nacho sauce recipe that claimed having bell pepper was a key ingredient. Naturally I was so excited, I forgot to book mark it and now can't remember which one it was.

I found a few versions online, some used cashews to make it rich (I tried No Meat Athlete's Vegan Mac N' Cheese but found I had to add lots of sriracha to make it to my liking), but like one blogger pointed out if you like to lay it on thick, a cashew based sauce may be a wee bit too high in calories for a recipe to be used more often than special occasions. The nutless ones I came across used miso...which interestingly one blogger claimed as being soy-free. Well, maybe she found the one made from chickpeas. Any way, I'm not ready to re-introduce soy into my diet to test my reaction yet and don't have time to wait to order chickpea miso or make calls trying to locate it locally. So substitution recipe for miso searching was needed. A few boards suggested using tahini or a tomato-paste/soy sauce substitution. I happened to have coconut aminos from my local Whole Foods to use instead of soy sauce/Braggs liquid amino-it's not as satisfying on my mochi and nori as soy sauce but it could just work for this recipe.I always keep a can of tomato paste in the pantry.

I'm not going to say the recipe really tastes anything like the cans of neon orange cheese, but by golly, I sure felt it was tasty and rich. I spent from about 6:40p-7:40p in the kitchen. A little prep work was done over the weekend (pepper roasting, soak beans).  I modified the recipe I found at Fo Reals Life to make it soy-free. And also tried making a soy-free tofu to put into this nacho "cheese" recipe (tofu not made from soy sounds contradictory, no? Apparently you can make tofu from other kinds of beans. And if you only have 45 minutes and chickpea flour, you're ready! I had no idea about any of this until I read this blog Triumph of the Lentil. If you enjoy legumes, I think this lady's blog is worth a gander. I hope to find some other recipes to try...maybe doing a test vegan body building month WOULD be possible without soy after all).

Here's the modifed ingredients and instruction:

NO DAIRY, NO NUT, NO SOY NACHO SAUCE

1/4 c. roasted red pepper (if making from scratch, just brush with oil, and roast at ~400F for 20 minutes, rotating 2-3 times if leaving whole so all sides get some charring. Place in a brown paper bag after for about 10 minutes to make the skin easier to peel off and pull out the seeds)
1/2 c. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 TBSP.sesame seeds
1 TBSP. tomato paste + 1 tbsp coconut aminos
1/4 c rice. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
6 oz of chickpea tofu (recipe below)-this was probably a cup of strips if you don't have a scale.
1 c.plain hemp milk
1/2 c. water

Stick all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Cook over medium-high heat until nice and thick. Stir constantly to avoid a burnt bottom.

Serve it with your favorite nacho fixings. My dinner consisted of toasting some corn tortillas until crisp and piling it high with arugula, chopped olives and some kidney beans.

NO SOY TOFU
I made a half recipe of what was on the original blog since my chickpea flour reserves are low and I still have half an 8x8 pan left to make an additional 2-3 meals this week-score!

1.25 cups chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cold water

Mix together dry ingredients, breaking up lumps.

Put dry ingredients into a pan or saucepan. Adding water a bit at a time and breaking up lumps.

Turn on the heat to medium and keep stirring until the batter thickens (my half recipe took about 4 minutes on a gas stove, the original chef says her full batch was 7 minutes on electric). 

Grease the pan and then spread the batter evenly. Allow to cool/firm up on the counter 20-30 minutes before attempting to cut. Reminds me of polenta but so much faster (no hand cramps)! And more protein!

And to think this all started with getting a free bell pepper.

What was the last free/good deal you got without knowing what you were going to do with it? What did you end up making?

Guest Chef VEGETARIAN Recipe: "Make-something-fast-because- I -didn't-plan-lunch dish"

I miss my family already from Christmas, despite weekly phone calls, texts or emails. I have all these things I'd like to do when they visit next.

-Indian food @ Annapurna (dosas!)
-Yoga @ the studio or on the beach
-Check out the San Diego Public Market (not yet done this but Vietca has)
-Thrift stores with in Poway
-Foot reflexology @ the newly remodeled Asian Twins massage rooms. Call ahead is recommended.
-See another play/musical
-Make tamales
-See if we can find Steam Powered Giraffe playing ("robotic" trio wearing steampunk, if you've $20, it would be well spent next weekend )

My sister shared this delightfully healthy and filling meal in a Facebook message with me a couple weeks ago.  If she can't be here in the kitchen with me, then her spirit and humor will have to do. Her original words and recipe:

 "Make-something-fast-because- I -didn't-plan-lunch dish"

-Some sort of grain(I used harvest blend from Trader Joe's. It has Israeli cous-cous, red quinoa, baby chickpeas, rosemary orzo. It has a nice texture and crunch in the quinoa and baby chickpeas!)
- Rainbow chard
-Leeks
-Olive oil
-Red wine vinegar
-crumbled soft cheese(I used goat, but feta or blue could work)
-Nutritional yeast flakes
-ground flax seed
1) cook up your grains. rinse until cool.
2) Cook leeks in olive oil until browned, add chard and stir so it won't wilt, but enough that it's cooked Add a splash of vinegar. Take off heat.
3)When ingredients are cool, mix them together. Add cheese, nutritional yeast, and flax. I also added small freshly ground pepper on top. Taste the rainbow....chard. Served with bread of choice and a nice spread! (Olive bread from a local bakery in Kelseyville with eggplant)

Sara's take: I'm cool without measuring for some recipes. I figured some readers may not be ready to take that leap yet, so now I will let you know how mine made about 4-6 servings.

All my ingredients prepped:  cooked the beans from dried & the barley and rinsed/cut beet greens the night before. So maybe my version isn't an "oops forgot to make lunch"...but I have seen instant microwavable rice courtesy of my grandma. You can short cut with things like that and canned beans of course or use leftover cooked grains from another meal.

Big spoonful of love. The nutritional yeast and vinegar provides enough seasoning so I don't really care that there's no cheese-y goodness. If I don't dwell on it too much. Wah, gooey grilled cheese and pizza, I miss you. Daiya isn't the same.

A-NOM-NOM-NOM

-1 3/4 cup of cooked grain (Too bad the TJ mix has cous cous and orzo that aren't wheat free...I used pearl barley which is wheat-free but not gluten-free, cooked with 2x water to grain ratio for 20 minutes, had to add a little additional water)
-6 cups beet greens and stems instead of chard (rinsed 3 times in a big bowl to remove dirt, separated greens and stems)
-1/2 cup chopped onion (since I didn't have leeks)
-2/3 tbsp of olive oil
-1 tbsp red wine vinegar and/or rice vinegar
-1.5 cups of kidney beans for protein instead of cheese/TJ mix's chickpeas
-1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
-2 tbsp ground flax seed (Costco had a huge bag that doesn't require refrigeration!)


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With feeling crabby (can't attribute it all to work stress) and skin going downhill, it's time to re-energize the exercising and diet. Farewell for awhile refined sugar.  Hello, butt-kicking circuit work-outs and testing out more protein powder based-snacks. And hello (sigh) macronutrient tracking.

Practicing for Marconutrient tracking with Kathleen Tesori work-outs: 

6 servings-serving size 132 g (need to see how accurate this Calorie Counter is, I just divided my tupperware into 6 portions)

290 calories: 18.1 g protein; 50.8 g carbs; 5.3 g fat

I like Calorie Counter because it tells you the pros and cons of recipes you make...this one is:

• Very low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• Low in sodium
• Low in sugar
• Very high in dietary fiber
• High in iron
• High in phosphorus
• High in potassium
• High in riboflavin
• High in thiamin
• High in vitamin A

With no cons...good job & thanks SIS-STAR! 

Do you have leftover beans because you used 2 cans or just overdid it with dried beans like me? I used my  do ever-new-favorite tamale recipe but you could do a half portion (12 squares) of No Meat Athlete's vegan bean brownie (don't knock it till you try it-really rich and the instant coffee is a must! Has the extra boost of protein. Have not tested, but am sure the low GI coconut sugar I use could work instead)


What recipe have you received recently and made? What's your favorite place to take out of town guests?

My lovely little bumps: 3 fresh black eyed peas recipes

As a kid, dinner was a much simpler affair. It consisted with helping with dinner by setting the table-I might have done cups and plates, and my sister had to place the napkins and utensils. Occasionally we might be asked to shuck some corn in the summer. We would sit out on the porch and strip those babies clean, making a naked cob pyramid on the cute-sy melamine plates with sis/my artwork on them. Then after dinner it was a matter of helping to load the dishwasher or dry the pots and pans.

Once I had my driver's license, I offered to start cooking a couple times a week for Mom since I could go pick up the groceries myself. I started with Betty Crocker and 30 Minute Desperation Dinners cookbooks (favorite pesto recipe in the latter). When she arrived home on those nights, she gave me a big squeeze with a "thank you, hon" with a look of relief in her eyes. I began to see how much thought, time and love had to go into making a meal--even if using short cuts like pre-made spaghetti sauce or canned beans!  No shame in taking a little help when you need it. So thanks, Mom, Dad and anyone who has cooked a meal with or especially for me.

This week I got fresh black eyed peas in my box, so shelling those bumps out made me think of the summer days of corn shucking. Takes a fair amount of time, but the taste of fresh compared to canned or dried is a suitable reward (I cannot say the same for fava beans though with two layers to peel off, at least not the one time I tried them fresh-can anyone vouch for them?) Apparently if you pick black eyed peas before they are dried, yellowed and spotted (which is said to be the right condition for drying and storing longer term), you can eat them cooked in their pods 6" long, slightly thicker than matchstick wide also...but with CSA, there is no choice and I wanted to try eating them fresh.

1 gallon sized Ziplock bag 3/4 full probably took me 30-40 minutes total (I did half one day and half another) and yielded about 3 cups of raw beans. I cooked all of them in boiling water for 10 minutes before draining and rinsing them. They had a little snap to them-not mushy. I made three dishes with them, with the prep times on all three, I would do planning ahead and make in stages or wait until you have a non-time constraint day.

First, I portioned out 1/2 cup of cooked beans and ate them with a dollop of the roasted lemon chutney tested by 101 Cookbook (stumbled upon the recipe in Sept 2012).

Second, I decided to try out another 101 Cookbook's tested recipe, New Year Noodle Soup using 2 cups of these beans instead of borlotti beans. I used 2/3 cup dried chickpeas instead of canned as I sometimes try to keep sodium lower, which required an overnight soak. I overestimated a tad had a 1/3 cup of cooked beans left over since they expand with cooking. I left out the noodles...if I was a runner and carbing up I would add them in a heartbeat. But I am only doing 2 miles, twice a week if that.

Last, I fried up half cup of onion with olive oil and Emeril's essence to mix with the remaining cup of black-eye peas to make Vegan Lunch Box's Tamales (recipe ingredients modifed slightly below), I found the recipe listed on Chow.com. I have added a note as I steamed them differently, swapped out refried beans and made them vegetarian instead.

Ingredients for Tamales

Yields 8 Tamales

• 4 ounces dried corn husks*
• 2 cups instant masa harina**
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• About 1 1/8 cups warm vegetable broth, plus more as needed
• Bean Filling (recipes below)
• Salsa

 * Try a Mexican food market, Albertson's or, if you live by a Filipino market get the frozen banana leaves.
** This is corn flour, different from cornmeal, it's very fine. Store securely in real snap shut containers, we have a moth problem in San Diego and my last bag got invaded :( 

Tools you need
1 steamer basket  or 2 layer bamboo steamer .
1 medium bowl for mixing
1 small bowl for dry ingredients
1 large pan for soaking husks (or use sink as author suggests, I was too lazy to clean my sink)
Electric mixer

 

Instructions for Tamales

1. Start the dried corn husks soaking in a sink full of warm water about 15 minutes before you begin so they can soften (put a lid or plate over the husks to keep them submerged).
2. In a small bowl, mix together the masa harina, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a handheld beater or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the shortening until it is light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the masa to the shortening, alternating with the broth, until a light, nonsticky dough is formed. Use only as much broth as needed. Continue beating for 1 minute more.
4. Divide dough into 8 balls. To shape the tamales, pat a large corn husk dry and lay it out with the tapered end facing you. Spread each ball into a 4-inch square in the middle of the husk about 3/4 of an inch down from the top of the husk.
5. Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of  beans down the center of the masa dough. Pick up the sides of the corn husk and fold them in, closing up the beans in masa. Fold up the tapered section of the husk to form the sealed bottom of the tamale (the top remains open). Tie up the tamale loosely using kitchen twine or a strip of corn husk.
6. Set all the tamales upright on their folded bottoms in a large steamer basket with a bit of room between them for the steam to circulate. Steam over boiling water for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tamale dough pulls away easily from the corn husk. (Sara's note: tamales will be set on their sides if you use a bamboo steamer. In either case, be sure to check your water level every 10 minutes or so and add more if needed.)
7. Serve tamales with salsa.
8. Tamales refrigerate and freeze well. Reheat by steaming them for a few minutes or popping them in the microwave.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Bean Filling

1 cup cooked black eyed peas
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 regular spoonfuls of Emeril's essence
about 2 tsp Olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium high. Add a bit of onion and when it sizzles, add the rest. Cook 2-3 minutes so the onions begin to soften and become translucent. Add the Emeril's essence. Take off heat and mix in the black eyed peas.
 
When/why did you first start cooking?

Summer Sniffles-Remedies & Chipotle Vegetarian Chili

The dreaded summer cold has found me. Snuffling around, building sinus pressure and having my normal "Daria" voice drop to an even lower pitch makes me slow down and take care. Things that make me feel better:

1. Light exercise-Consider what kind of symptoms are present. With symptoms limited to the neck and above and without fever, I have the energy to still move about this time. Monday at the gym was wearing work out gloves, not coughing or sneezing so hopefully did not spread any germs (at the time I thought it could be allergies and wanted to motivate my friend to go this week).  I'll use sanitary spray now that symptoms have been lingering. Tuesday, I found some gentle yoga poses here that felt nice. Wednesday was resting. Thursday just breaking a sweat doing an easy jog in the cooler evening seemed to help my nasal congestion. No pressure to push it.

2. Wellness Formula-Shades swears by it. And so do I. He got it from a holistic minded practitioner. If you get take it early enough it can prevent. But otherwise, seems to reduce the severity. They have it on bodybuilding.com or if you need it right away, their website lists stores who carry it . In San Diego I have got it at Sprouts and Whole Foods before. A little pricey taking 3 tablets every 3 hours when sick but I think feeling 10x better is worth it. They are horse pills so get a big glass o' water!

3. Restful activities-an obvious treatment but I still know a lot of people who just plow on through pretending like their body isn't crying for rest. I like being propped up with pillows of all sizes on the couch for reading (a touch of practical, some for fun like Game of Thrones or Dead Beat about obituary readers and writers, some for inspiration like Food Truck cookbook/stories), cracking up over Project Runway, and going to bed early.

4. I know you want the edibles. My buddy Karin recommended a hot drink (ingredients pictured) to stave off a cold and/or its symptoms. I like to put it in my favorite pretty big mugs. Pretty things for when you're not feeling pretty inside.

5. Apparently heating foods like onion and garlic are good for when you are sick. I heard this taking a series of yoga weekend workshops this year. Supposed to be part of ayurvedic medicine. So the thought is to use less of them when you are healthy and use it to help your body fight. I would like to learn more about Ayurveda. I hear it often around yogis but embarrassingly don't know much except each person has a dominant element or type of energy..something like that. I bet the yoga studio I attend has a good book, but can anyone have experience or on the contrary does anyone poo-poo this?

6.  Spicy foods-I like making the Korean instant spicy soups (another recommendation from Karin back in the college days) to numb itchy or sore throats, but to be honest I cannot tell what is in the "kimchi powder"-it could be ingredients I am not supposed to have. So I made an adapted vegetarian version of Rachel Ray's turkey chipotle stoup (stew/soup) with bountiful summer peppers and canned chipotle. On my ALCAT results I am not supposed to have chili powder, chipotle or paprika...but I have not started yet. Getting used to dairy and soy. I think it's easier to let go/reduce of a few things at a time, while I finish off the perishable no-no items before starting the detox anyway.

Chipotle Vegetarian Chili

This recipe can turn into a weekend (aka time intensive) if you don't use short cuts. You may need to plan ahead. You could do chopping, the stock and beans on a leisurely day and make the rest on a busy though-it cooks together in under 20 minutes. It makes about 4 servings.

3 cups home-made or store bought veggie stock
1 cup dried kidney beans-soaked overnight, then cooked (~1 hour) or about 2 cups canned kidney beans rinsed
1/2 cup diced red onions
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp olive oil
2 canned chipotles, chopped finely
2 cups chopped sweet peppers
1 cup chopped tomato
pinch of smoked (or regular) salt (to taste)-got mine at Little Italy's Saturday market. (my friend Jeff says it's easy to make, but my little test tube has lasted a couple years so I haven't got around to trying)

1. Heat a pot that can hold at least 5 cups of liquid on medium-high. Add the olive oil allowing to heat up for a couple minutes. Then add onion, garlic, chili powder and chipotles to cook about 5 minutes.

2. Add your stock, tomatoes and beans. Bring to boil and then  reduce heat. Simmer 10 minutes.

3. Slurp and sooth your throat with this fiery concoction.

What are your best activities or consumables for when you're under the weather?

Recipe on a weekday: Pickled rice, salmon and summer veggies

 I had a craving for pickles after eating at Burger Up in Nashville, TN for this summer's vacation and decided to make Refrigerator Pickles-cuz I'm scared of the bacteria and not ready to get the equipment for boiling- after getting lots of cucumbers in the box. I hate throwing things away, so time to come up with something to do with pickle juice.

For one serving:
3/4 cup cooked rice
1-2 tbsp leftover pickle juice
1/2 cup lemon-juice steamed summer squash, half circles
1/4 cup chopped sashimi grade salmon and/or broiled salmon skin (I broiled about 10 minutes until the skin was crispy)
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1. Start the rice if you don't have any made already. I use a rice cooker but you can make it on the stove too.

2. Bring 1/2" of water to boil in a small pot and squeeze half a lemon in.  While waiting for the boiling (it won't take long), cut your summer squash in half lengthwise and then into 1/4" slices so you have half circles.

3. Cut up or broil your salmon. 

4. Slice your cherry tomatoes in half.

5.  For each serving of rice, spoon the leftover pickle juice over the hot rice and mix in.

6. Top with the summer squash, salmon/skin, and tomato. If you plan to take it as a leftover, leave the salmon and cherry tomato separate so those don't get over-cooked in the microwave.