Dinner

My wife and I were in Charlotte, NC for the day yesterday. We had lunch at Bean Vegan Cuisine  and a very nice dinner at Fern Flavors from the Garden . My wife had a sandwich with barbecued jackfruit, and I used some leftovers with dinner. I was in the mood for baked potato so cooked medium potatoes, intact, for 20m with the pressure steam function of my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker. I made the "cheese" sauce that I most recently described on March 19 , and a simple seitan and vegetable saute, plus the jackfruit with lettuce. Results Dinner was good. I have had barbecued jackfruit and not liked it - and still don't. But the rest of dinner was good! Ideas for the future I should make the cheese sauce more often.

I had a pre-packaged combination of barley, peas, and lentils that I bought from Whole Foods Market . The packaged suggested cooking (conventionally, not with pressure; pressure would work but would take much less time, perhaps 1/4 - 1/3 as much) with three times as much water for 23m if one wants soft grains or 10m for tougher grains. I cooked in the prescribed ratio of 1 part to 3 parts water, plus a vegan bouillon cube, a bit of salt, and 1 1/3 cups green tomato (a medium tomato) cut into 3/8" cubes. I forgot how long I cooked for, but believe it was 20-23 minutes. I mixed in a little lemon or lime juice at the end. I had purchased the green tomato from our local farmers' market, and also purchased some frisee, which I used along with tomato as a salad. Grilled artichoke hearts completed the meal. Results The soup was good! I like the textures and the light flavor that the tomato contributed. Ideas for the future I should make more soups with green tomatoes - but it's n...

I found sea-beans at Whole Foods Market yesterday; I have used them once in a great while, when I can find them, such as last June  (I thought they were "sea beans" but it looks like they need a hypen in their name). I came up with the idea of using the sea-beans as punctuating flavor in a sweet potato dish. Here is what I did. Ingredients 3 medium sweet potatoes (I used my favorite, the white-fleshed Japanese sweet potato) cut into 1" or so pieces (about 4-5 cups) 1/4 cup onion cut into 1/4" cubes 1/2 cup corn kernels (I used frozen, but fresh is good, as well) 1/4 cup sea-beans Process I put the sweet potato pieces in my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker and pressure steamed for 8m. My intent was for them to be slightly undercooked, but they were actually cooked just right. In the meantime, I put the onion into a large  Saladmaster  stock pan, not yet on. After the pressure cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then adde...

My 2nd grader enjoys sometimes helping me to cook dinner. I got the book  Eat Your Greens, Reds, Yellows, and Purples by DK Press  from the library, and she enthusiastically picked out several recipes. We're at the end of a few days of unseasonably cool and rainy weather, so one of her choice's, that of a tomato soup, sounded good. Here is the recipe with our modifications. She did most of the cooking with some help from me! Ingredients Small onion, chopped (3/8" cubes, 2/3 cup) Small carrot, chopped (3/8" cubes, almost a cup) 2 ribs celery, chopped (3/8" slices, about a cup) 1 clove garlic, crushed 1T all-purpose flour (we used whole wheat bread flour) 14 ounces canned chopped tomatoes 1T tomato paste (we used the full 2T in the small can we had) 1T fresh thyme leaves (I didn't have thyme so we used 2t frozen basil) 1 3/4 cups vegetable stock (we used water and a vegan bouillon cube Pinch of sugar 1/4 t salt 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper Process Saute o...

I have heard of people making curried tomato sauces and found a simple and interesting recipe that I could easily make vegan. It calls for cooking onion, bell pepper, garlic, curry powder, and thyme till vegetables are soft, then adding stewed tomato and simmering for 5m. I thought I'd use fresh tomatoes. I was thinking of making a rich Indian-Italian inspired tomato sauce and mix in artichoke quarters, but as I got going, I thought that I had a good collection of vegetables and that artichokes wouldn't be properly hilighted. Below is what I came up with. By the way, a fellow Food for Life instructor, Cathy Katin-Grazzini, shared today a very nice "cheese" sauce recipe that I should try. Her website is a great resource for healthful vegan cooking. Ingredients 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced 1 medium shallot, finely (1/8-1/4") diced 3 spring onions cut into 1/2" lengths Medium bell pepper cut into approx. 1/2" squares (about a cup) 3 medium...

I like roasted Jerusalem artichokes, but haven't seen anything about pressure cooking them. I thought I'd try pressure cooking for a short time (5 minutes) and making a main course, combined with edamame. Here is what I did. Ingredients Approx. half a cup of Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes; about 2 - 2 1/2 dozen), washed and eyes removed 1 cup shelled edamame (fresh or frozen; I used frozen) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 1/3 t garam masala 1/4 t turmeric 1/2 cup water 1/2 cups onion cut into 3/8" cubes Medium bell pepper, roasted and then cut into 1/2" cubes (approx. 1 cup) [to roast: I put the pepper atop my gas range flame and occasionally turned it till it was mostly blackened, then put in a brown paper bag that I closed down and, after 15m [I actually had a few hours, which got it even more smoky], rinsed it under running water to remove the charred areas] 1T miso 1/4 t salt 1/4 t garlic powder Process I put the sunchokes, edamame, garlic, garam masala...

My daughter's Girl Scout troop is having a program this Tuesday about Australia. Some of the girls, including my daughter, are supposed to bring in traditional Australian foods. I did a little searching online, and found a nice sounding recipe for  sweet potato and chive damper  that could easily be veganized with Earth Balance margarine  (or any number of other vegan spreads, such as Miyoko's European-style "butter" )replacing butter. Here is the recipe reproduced from the taste.com.au website. My daughter enthusiastically helped, and especially enjoyed getting her hands nice and clean then diving in with the mixing. I also cooked some green beans with no added fat on a cast iron stove. Using a trick I learned in Italy, I served with a little lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Results The damper was very good. My daughter loved it! It was heavy and quickly filled us. I'd say that this loaf is enough for at least 6-8 servings. Ideas for the futu...

I picked up some great looking shiitake mushrooms at the farmers' market the day before yesterday and thought I'd make a simple rice dish topped with seitan and sauteed shiitake mushrooms (I sauteed them in a cast iron pan where I added a little oil and wiped it off before starting, cooking onion and garlic along with the mushrooms). The rice was brown rice, cooked in a 1 part rice to 2 parts water, a pinch or two of salt, a vegan bouillon cube, and 1/4 t turmeric thrown in for good measure. I also sauteed in the same way Brussels sprouts with onion and garlic, then mixed in salt, black pepper, capers, and lemon juice. I made a massaged kale salad, as well. Results Dinner was good - we all enjoyed it. I wish that I had some tomato to add a nice contrasting color accent. Ideas for the future One thing that I rarely do in my cooking is to use sauces. Tonight's meal is the kind that could have benefited from a sauce, perhaps a lemon tahini or citrus mint with the Brussels spro...

At the Carrboro Farmers' Market today, a farmer was selling an interesting sounding vegetable called spigariello , a leaf broccoli. He suggested cooking it uncut with a little bit of olive oil. I bought one bunch and thought that I would pan saute it, but then decided to cook it waterlessly. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 3T onion (3/8" cubes) 1 bunch spigariello (or broccoli rabe), rinsed and ends cut off About half dozen drops balsamic or red wine vinegar 1/4 t (or to taste) salt 1/8 t freshly ground black pepper Process I put, in this order, the onion, garlic, and spigarello into a large  Saladmaster  stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes. I mixed in the vinegar, salt, and pepper, and served. I also made a white bean dish; I used navy beans, but cannell...

I had some tasty mangoes and had the idea to cook some mango with seitan. My idea was to saute onion, mango, and seitan, and serve with jerk seasoning. I also took a look online and found that I'm (of course!) not the first to think of cooking mango with seitan. I found an interesting sounding  Thai Mango Seitan Stir-Fry  recipe where the mango is made into a sauce; I should try an approach like this sometime. But for tonight, here is what I did. Ingredients 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 1/2 cup onion, cut into thin (approx. 1/4" x 1"; I used almost half of a small onion) half moon slices 1 1/4 cup Russet (I used a medium one) or Yukon Gold potato cut into approx. 3/8" cubes 8 ounces seitan cut into approx. 3/4" cubes (ideally - my package had seitan in strips maybe 1/4" x 1 1/4", and that was what I used) 1T fresh squeezed lemon juice 2-3 T coconut aminos (or low-sodium soy or tamari sauce) 1/3 cup mango pieces cut into approx. 3/8" cu...

We're in the midst of our favorite event of the year, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival , the country's largest such festival, and just a few miles from our house. My wife and I usually spend all day (maybe 10a-10p or beyond) and we bring our daughter to a number of films that she may appreciate and enjoy. I review films for a South Asian regional magazine,  Saathee - my online review for the week is available. My daughter and I had about 3 hours off this afternoon, so came home for a bit, and I made one of her favorite dishes, macaroni and "cheese", for the two of us, using  Daiya brand macaroni and "cheese" (with vegetables) . I also prepared a large serving of steamed cauliflower and kale (she got raw kale, which she prefers) by pressure steaming in the Instant Pot for 3 minutes and serving with a bit of salt.

My wife had picked up an interesting looking  thin sandwich bun (OneBun Multigrain by Ozery Bakery ) that was a bit like an English muffin but that was pre-split to open into two thin halves. I made a simple dinner by putting a little oil on a cast iron pan then wiping the oil off, and grilling tempeh (tofu, in a separate pan, for my daughter), bell pepper, mushroom, and onion. I served the grilled vegetables with mustard, mixed greens, and pickle in the warmed buns. We picked out some huge tomatoes recently, and I served each of us a thick slice from one. We all enjoyed dinner. I don't usually eat sandwiches for dinner, but this one was good and welcome.

Ingredients 1/4 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 1 cup bell pepper (I used 1/2 cup yellow and wanted to use 1/2 cup green, but we didn't have green, so used 1/2 cup red) cut into approx. 1/4"x3/4" strips (optional) 2 or 3 white or crimini mushrooms cut into 1/2" cubes (I only included mushroom because I had two that had to be used up) 6 ounces artichoke hearts cut into 3/4" or so cubes (I used grilled ArtiHearts ; they have 5g of fat in all, so I feel justified calling this a no added fat meal - less than 2g of added fat per serving) 8 ounces of seitan cut into any reasonably small size (the seitan we bought was cut into maybe 1/2" chunks) About half (I actually used a bit more than half) of a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes 1t chopped basil (I used a frozen cube) 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 1/2 t salt (or to taste) Process I cooked most of the ingredients waterlessly. I put, in this order, the onion, garlic...