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?

Vegetarian Summer Series #6: Spiced Cucumbers with Coco-nutty Sweetness

Not as much prep space as I used to have (an island) but there is still more on either side of the stove. I like being able to see into the living room.

I broke in the kitchen this past week making tons of salads and spicy noodle soup to combat my summer cold. I even tried baking some pumpkin-oatmeal muffins (they were ok, maybe the type of oats I used). Happily, I hung up some pictures over the weekend, got the shoes out of the garbage bag and into the rack and placed a few boxes into the laundry closet. Decided I would finally try organizing my bookshelves by color. I see it in the decorating magazines so much. Hopefully I remember what color the books are when I look for them!

Taste that rainbow :) 

Our front porch has its welcome mat and plants wave howdy. We'll see how they do with less sun. The tomato plant gave me just enough to make dinner Sunday night. What else inspired my dinner? Over the previous weekend we went to celebrate with Dave's nieces for their birthdays-they twirled and frolicked in the white "princess" dresses. So cute, creative with their playing and always energetic. But as soon as we got there, no time to kick it with the kids, we got put to work making mashed potatoes while his sister went to the store for the cake. The man of the house was out of sight, prepping one of the 5 dishes he was going to be making that day. He eventually emerged briefly with handing one of the girls and I supplies to cover the tables in pink. And then I was also told I could pick some extra tomatoes, cucumber and peppers from their family's garden as they weren't going to be able to eat them all. With cucumber from the party and wee guy from my box I thought I had better get crackin'. Pickles alone aren't going to cut it.

The CSA list provided a Spiced Cucumbers with Coconut Milk recipe from Bon Appetit. How perfect! And it's a cooked cuke recipe...I really liked the sauteed cucumber with black bean sauce and fish that my co-worker (Mr. Tony!) turned me onto so this recipe made me very hopeful.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups 1/4 inch thick of cucumber peeled (although I left the peel on mine no issues)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (left seeds in and had no problems)
4 scallions, thinly sliced (I used about 1/2 cup of spring bunching onion tops instead)
2 red Thai chiles (with seeds), thinly sliced (or other hot peppers)*
1 garlic clove, smashed*
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk ( I used vanilla coconut milk and just omitted honey below)
1.5 tsp honey
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves*

*I substituted my leftover 2tbsp of Cilantro Chutney from earlier in the week.

STEPS

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cucumber. Saute until beginning to soften, about 1 minute. Season with the kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Add tomatoes, scallions, chiles and garlic. Saute until vegetables are soft, 2-3 minutes.

3. Add coconut milk and honey; simmer until vegetables are cooked through 2-3 minutes. Stir in cilantro leaves and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired

4. Suggestion to serve with rice or something to soak up the delicious sauce!

It filled the kitchen with the slightly sweet coco-nutty scent. Mmmmm. It tasted so nice and clean too. I'd love to throw in some chickpeas to give it some protein next time and make it a vegetarian main. For Sunday, I ate it as a side with my leftover taco-seasoned chicken. Monday at lunch it was with half cup of quinoa and 2 hard boiled egg whites.

Have you re-organized something lately? 

ROUND UP OF CUCUMBER RECIPES:
Cucumber-rice flour pancakes 
Mystery Ginormica Squash Gratin 
In the Savory Salad of Spunky Grapefruit Dressing 
Cantalope-Cucumber-Carrot Juice
Cucumber-Melon Salad
Add into the Seaweed Salad

Vegetarian Summer Series #5: Indian Potluck Inspired Jalepeno Dal (Red Lentils) and Cilantro Chutney

The move happened! We spent 2 hours Thursday night with the help of a friend and 6 hours Saturday moving all our things over.  I'm climbing around mountains of boxes and digging in various backpacks and suitcases for what to wear to yoga practice and to work, but what's the first room I get in order? The kitchen of course!  I can only indulge in Dominoes gluten-free vegetarian pizza and Chipotle so long.

TOP 5 NEW THINGS THIS MONTH:
1) Going out to eat Vietnamese food unexpectedly-got to try Banh Xeo! a rice flour based crepe. The restaurant only had seafood/meat based but I am eager to try out mushrooms instead at home. Vietca says they even sell pre-measured flour with the tumeric portioned out at the markets. I got lots of lettuce in my box right now so this would be great! Want to grow herbs or pick up some mint and shiso (aka perilla, tia to, beefstake leaf, or Gee So according to the seed catalogue for evergreen seeds)

2) Bought sea snail from Marukai .................to eat (not a pet!) Gonna say I'm not a fan of the cartilege like texture.

3) Not food related, but I have had three people offer to pay me for helping to care, cook or make a product in the last week! Really weird...but it times well with the furlough...if I can make the time to do it.

4) Bought a hybrid nectarine plum from one of my favorite farms (I think it's Maciel Farms) at La Jolla. They don't have a name for it yet...any ideas? Fellow yogi Sara-squared says "nums" -which is my favorite so far. Dave says "nectum" which I thought was kind of gross since it sounds very similar to another word.

5) Got a vacation planned for the Denver, CO area for next month-I have never been! Anyone have recommendations for things to do or places to eat? Also hoping to visit the Rocky Mountains park for a day trip.

I broke the streak of raw food, to bring you spicy jalepeno red lentils. I was supposed to have a potluck with a few co-workers last week but they wiggled out of it on me the day before.  I still made the dish since I needed vegetarian Tuesday food anyhow. The recipe comes from Food Network (actually Wolfgang Puck) with very minor modifications.

Dal on the left and variation on Aloo Gobi on the right

 DAL WITH JALEPENOS
Makes 4-6 Servings
~40-50 minutes for making spice, prepping and cooking.

• 1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter  substitute red palm oil or coconut oil
• 1 1/2 cups diced onions
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
• 2 cups orange lentils
• 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons Garam Masala, (food network provides one if you visit their website or see what I used below)
• 1/2 tablespoon salt  (or to your taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 8 cups chicken stock veggie stock (I used 4 cups stock and 4 cups water and it came out ok)

1. In a large pot, heat the oil and stir-fry the onions just until wilted, do not brown.

2. Add the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, lentils, ginger, garam masala, salt, pepper, sugar and bay leaf. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes, until the herbs and spices bloom (aromatic).

2. Add the tomatoes and deglaze with the vinegar.

3. Add the stock, bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender (about 30 minutes), stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning with cumin, salt, pepper and sugar.

 My sister provided me a garam masala recipe and you don't need to do any toasting or grating (not sure how much a difference it makes, but I'm short on time these days).

GARAM MASALA (I think it was the first one that I used for the dal recipe, but it was a bottle of spice she made for me):

Garam Masala #1
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground cardomom
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 ground nutmeg

We have just ground cumin and coriander so I don't do the following steps. I
also used a pepper grinder or just used black ground pepper. but if you have
the whole seeds here's what to do:
On medium heat, shake cumin and coriander seed for 3-5 till they pop and brown.
remove from heat and let cool. place all ingridients in a coffee grinder or
food processor and grind till smooth. store in an airtight container.

Kitchen Cupboard Garam Masala
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp coriander
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cardomom
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice

Also, because my CSA "boxmate" said she doesn't make a lot of spicy things, thought I would share this recipe that uses one spicy pepper and just makes enough for a few servings (not overwhelming for someone cooking just for one).

CILANTRO-CHUTNEY-inspired by my brief few months working at a Persian inspired restaurant after college. Just grab your blender/food processor and let's make this 4 ingredient peppy sauce. Top it on your breakfast tacos like me, have a go with it on salad or maybe as a dipper for your grilled veggies (or chicken or beef).

Ingredients
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and stems
2 cloves of garlic 
3 tbsp white vinegar
1 jalepeno, de-stemmed and cut

Put all ingredients in the blender/processor. Blend until uniform sauce forms. All done!

I think I asked enough questions above, so nothing here this week!

Vegetarian Summer Series #3: Raw Curried Sprouted Lentil-Collard Greens Salad

Can't escape the heat and humidity (relatively speaking...I know we San Diegans are fickle)! Our half of the building at work is stuffy and the other side has the girls bundled up in sweaters. Then I go off to 80 degree yoga in the evenings.  I can try to do less stuff on the stove while in the kitchen at least...

I've been making a lot of veggie sandwiches this week with avocado, cucumber, sprouts, mustard and sundried tomato--and sometimes hard boiled egg. I tried out Glutino brand bread...which while tasty, sadly does not hold together (exhibit A) unless toasted  (exhibit B).

                                                EXHIBIT A:  Not a good lunch to take out.

                                                      EXHIBIT B: Solid grip! Much better!



Taste-test Summer adaptation. Try swapping dill for basil and swiss chard for spinach in a pesto recipe...pairs nicely with a white fish or I imagine awesome with chopped hard boiled eggs!

Now onto the real recipes. Two posts in a row from Rawmazing website recipes (cucumber cumin dressing over melon and beans salad last week)! Great to try raw recipes when it just feels too sticky to use the stove for much more than 10 minutes-this recipe I stuck pretty close to the original ingredients and steps and didn't even steam the veggies like last week.  This was supposed to debut at a yoga vegetarian potluck this week, but it just didn't work out to get enough people together. Ah well, more for me!

This did take some pre-planning, if you want to try your hand at sprouting your own lentils. You can also buy them this way-try health food stores or if you're in San Diego, hit up Suzie's stand at a farmer's market or the farm itself! I enjoy the slight crunch that the lentils have.

RAW CURRIED SPROUTED LENTIL-COLLARD GREENS SALAD

INGREDIENTS-only slightly modified from the original recipe at Rawmazing, using a different sprouting technique, dried coconut and changing from kale to collard greens.

• 1 cup red lentils, sprouted

• 1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut since I didn't have fresh coconut flesh
• 1/2 cup coconut water from young thai coconut (I used canned coconut juice-saved the rest to drink as a natural electrolytes replenisher)
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Braggs Liquid Aminos (or coconut aminos for soy free)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet yellow curry powder
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar or sweetener of choice*
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Himalayan Salt to taste

• 1 bunch of collard greens leaves (after rinsing and chopping it probably made about 6 cups) or any other leafy green--save the stems for another use
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• squeeze of lemon juice
• pinch Himalayan Salt 
• pepper
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cashews 

INSTRUCTIONS-modified sprouting method

 1. About 2 days before you want to make the salad, rinse and then soak the lentils over night. Drain the water. Place the lentils in a cheese cloth or tea towel and tie the ends together (rubber band or clip) and hang over the sink to drip for half an hour. Put the towel and lentils in a covered pot to sit at room temperature 1-2 days until the sprouts form.

Waggy happy lil' lentil tails. ARF!

2. Prepare the leafy greens by massaging it in a large bowl with the  1 tbsp olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice, and pinch of salt. Let this mixture sit awhile to soften the leaves.

My roommate owns the mixing bowls and they are packed...hence using a soup pot!

3. While your leaves "cook", prepare the curry sauce. Grab the blender or food processor and add the liquids first : coconut water, garlic, lemon juice, Braggs liquid amino and olive oil. Then add the dry ingredients: shredded coconut, curry powder, sugar and salt. (Your blender will have an easier time if you do liquids near the blade) Blend until uniformly mixed. My mixture clumped up into a paste.

The coconut smells SO good.

4. Add the curry sauce and lentils to the greens, and mix to incorporate the sauce. Add the chopped cashews and tomatoes, mixing gently. Add pepper to taste.

I'll be enjoying this salad before the fireworks begin! Have a happy fourth everyone!


What's on your Fourth menu or what's your favorite no-cook recipe?

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.