Dinner

I had some finely shredded cabbage left from this weekend's Food for Life class and decided to make a waterless dish. I  put garlic, ginger, broccoli stalk cubes, onion, seitan, the cabbage, Roma tomato cubes, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper 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 served with some freshly chopped cilantro. I also served Madagascar Pink rice, as well as heirloom tomato slices. Results Wow, we all enjoyed dinner. Frankly, I was a little concerned when the dish was underway as the batch of seitan that I had purchased wasn't as tasty as I had hoped. But the flavor combination was excellent and it didn't need any additional spices. Ideas for the future I love the results of waterless cooking and should more regularly cook this way. I don't cook w...

I came home and got to work almost immediately making dinner. I had purchased collard greens several days earlier and wanted to use them; I thought of the idea of collard rollups and found a recipe that suggested blanching the collard leaves and then filling; I may try this interesting recipe with coconut curry sometime. I didn't have time to cook beans so used a 13.4 ounce box of kidney beans and a bit of canellini beans that I had on hand. 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 for about 20 minutes) the beans along with a clove of chopped garlic, along with other chopped vegetables (a green onion, broccoli including stem, and about a half dozen olives), plus 1/4 t salt, 2T nutritional yeast, and 1/4 cup marinara. I blanched the intact collard leaves one at a time by putting each leaf in a pan with about an inch of boiling water for 15 seconds a sid...

I made an air fried eggplant dish with grits on the side. I used Ener-G Egg Replacer to have a sticky "egg" that I dipped eggplant slices (about 3/8" thick) into, followed by dredging them in a mixture of panko bread crumbs, along with a little nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, salt, and black pepper. I air fried with no oil for 5 minutes at 400°F. I also made a fresh tomato sauce by gently simmering cubes of tomato with onion, dried oregano, a little hot red pepper, and salt, and serving it atop the eggplant. I prepared grits by getting 3 cups salted water boiling then adding maybe 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame. I cooked for a few minutes till the edamame was defrosted, then added 1 cup grits and a few tablespoonfuls of nutritional yeast. I stirred occasionally and cooked for 5-7 minutes until thick. Results Dinner was very good! My daughter particularly liked the meal and ate leftovers again later in the evening. The eggplant was nicely crispy and the sesame flavor wa...

I decided to make risotto like I described last May  with a 1 to 2 ratio of arborio rice to water pressure cooked for 5m, along with cubes of potato and carrot, plus peas, onion, and garlic. I also prepared tempeh (tofu for my daughter; I had some tofu, too) in the air fryer at 350°F for 4m. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

I prepared Anasazi beans in my my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker by soaking for 8 hours then cooking with just enough water to cover for 23m. I put the beans in a large  Saladmaster  skillet pan after sauteing, without oil or anything else, shallot slices. I mixed in bell pepper, salt, and cumin, and cooked for a few minutes. I then added 1/2" cubes of fresh tomato and cooked for another 2 minutes or so. I served alongside some quinoa that I had made (1 part quinoa to two parts water and a vegan bouillon cube, brought to a boil and then, with the heat off but covered, let stand for 10m or so). Originally, I was going to experiment with using cranberry sauce mixed into the beans, but I had purchased some tasty organic cranberry sauce that tasted so good that I decided to top the quinoa with the sauce so that the sauce could be used by itself, with the quinoa, or with the beans, as each of us desired. Results Pending Ideas for the future I should indeed experiment with ...

I'm so excited that friends of mine just had a baby and I'm first in the meal train to bring food over! It's always a privilege to be able to be connected in any way with a new baby and I'm thankful that I get to take food over. I like to include fenugreek when I cook for new Moms to help stimulate lactation; I don't like the flavor of fenugreek but when I cook with it, I always make sure that the fenugreek is enveloped with many other strong flavors so it doesn't show through. Here is what I did. Ingredients 3 cups red split lentils 2 cups kale (I used frozen, but fresh is fine) 1 cup spinach 2 cups cauliflower florets 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets 2 cups carrot (2 medium carrots) cut into 3/8" chunks and then halved 1T finely (1/8") chopped ginger 2 medium cloves garlic, finely (1/8") chopped (about 1 1/2 T) Vegan bouillon cube 1t turmeric 1t garlic powder 1t cumin seed 1T fenugreek seed 6 cups water 2 cups chopped bell pepper (approx. 1/4" x...

I had a full day and came home late. I love tofu and decided to make udon noodles with curried tofu, spinach, and bell pepper, for a simple dinner for myself. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

My family is traveling and I came home late from teaching, so a quick meal for myself was in order. I love the pupusas that Tres Latin Foods makes - each is only 3.5g of fat and they're so tasty! I heated two of the black bean and corn ones in a 350°F oven for about 10m. I also sauteed with no oil on a cast iron pan some onion, garlic, broccolini, and spinach. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

Introductory comments go here. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups sweet potato cut into approx. 3/8" cubes (I used a medium Japanese sweet potato); unpeeled if organic (as mine was) Medium plantain, ripe or not, cut into 1/2" cubes (mine was ripe and, surprsingly, good eating raw, perhaps the first time I've found this to be the case; cut, it made 1 1/4 cups) 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves 1t fennel seeds 1/4 t turmeric 1/2 cup water 15 ounce can fava beans, rinsed and drained 1t lime juice 1/2 t salt (optional) jalapeno, hot sauce, or other source of spicy heat to preference (I omitted, but hot sauce would have gone well with this dish) Process I put all the ingredients except the beans, lime juice, salt, and optional heat into my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker and pressure steamed for 9m. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the remaining ingredients. I served with Pad Thai brown rice noodles. Results Pend...

I bought some fresh cranberry beans from a nearby farmers' market this past weekend. I love cranberry beans and haven't seen them dried (or fresh) for sometime now. I sauteed some onion and baby ginger in a small  Saladmaster stock pan for a few minutes, then added the fresh beans, enough water to just cover the beans, a diced carrot, a green (not quite ripe) tomato that I also bought at the market, a vegan bouillon cube, garlic powder, and salt. I brought to a boil and cooked, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, then covered and simmered on low heat for  20 minutes. I then mixed in a chopped roasted bell pepper that I had also purchased from the market, and served, along with a cucumber-caper-Ume plum vinegar salad and brown rice noodles. Results I was going to serve the beans as the main course, which I did, but it turned out a soup rather than a more firm plated dish. I am not normally so excited about soup, but my whole family loved the entire dinner, especially the soup. It ...

For dinner today, I wanted to use some beans but hadn't soaked any. This is the reason I keep a few cans of beans around; I had a 15 ounce can of organic "salad beans" (chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans). I did a waterless preparation of the beans with onion, garlic, kale, and mixed vegetables cooked in a  Saladmaster stock pan. 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 though 10-12 minutes would have been enough (I just wasn't ready to serve). I mixed some red curry paste with millet and brown rice ramen . The bean mixture went atop, and roma tomato thirds triangulated the plate. Results Dinner was good! The curry paste was just spicy enough for my daughter and I liked it; my wife added some hot sauce. I was pleased about how easy, nutritious, and quick this meal was! Ideas for the future We all like curry pastes; I should coo...

My wife and daughter are traveling this week, so I was on my own for dinner. I coated seitan in panko bread crumbs and jerk seasoning, but the coating didn't stick so well (I should experiment with vegan "egg" additions in such situations), so I also coated a piece of tofu, which takes coating well. I air fried for 5 minutes at  375°F. I had some small sweet potatoes and pressure steamed them for only 9 minutes in my Instant Pot ; I could have gotten away with perhaps only 6-7 minutes! Results Dinner was good and I should replicate this for my family. The seitan, not nearly as moist as the tofu, was just a bit overdone but actually still quite good. If there were some lemon, it would remind me of my signature lime marinated jerk seitan dish. The tofu was good but could have been air fried for a few more minutes. It was fun to eat three sweet potatoes! Ideas for the future I might experiment with adding lemon zest to the breading of seitan - and mix in  some yogurt, a vega...

I had in mind cooking some chickpeas and potatoes with cumin, garlic powder, a little turmeric, and salt, and then mashing or blending, making patties, then air frying. It turns out we ended up in a big rush, so I skipped the air frying and just served the chickpea-lentil mash (which I had blended) on its own. Results My daughter quite liked the main course; I thought it was good. My wife found it lacking a bit in spice. Ideas for the future I should try this again but with my original idea of air frying.

I made a Yukon Gold-sweet potato-carrot hash cooked on a cast iron pan, plus a waterless baby lima bean and greens dish, along with a mixed tomato and olive salad. Dinner was good!

My wife ate on her own but I waited till after midnight to enjoy dinner with her cousin, visiting with us for a few days. I made air fried tofu by cutting tofu into approximately 3/8" x 1" x 2" pieces, dredging in a mixture of nutritional yeast + salt + jerk seasoning, and air frying first for 6m at 375°F, then for 4m more at 425°F. I served the tofu with a waterlessly cooked mix of kale, bell pepper, and onion, as well as brown rice that I had made in the pressure cooker (1 part rice to 1 3/4 parts water cooked with a touch of salt for 20m). Results Fried tofu (with no oil!) always comes out well in the air fryer, and my wife's cousin quite enjoyed it. I thought that the vegetables were a bit "flat" but my wife's cousin liked them. Ideas for the future Waterless cooking is nice, but I should be sure to use more vegetables. Having some cauliflower or broccoli might have been nice.

Today is Indian's Independence Day! My wife had the suggestion of putting a dinner together that has orange, white, and green from the Indian flag and I agreed that it was a good idea. (The Indian flag picture here is from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:India-flag-horiz-vert.svg  and is in the public domain.) I thought that I'd make a "striped" plate with white Basmati rice in the center (we prefer the taste and nutrition of whole grain rice, but white Basmati is also tasty and welcome for an occasional change). I chose split red lentils to form the basis of the leftmost stripe and some Fushimi chile peppers that I found at the local farmers' market a few hours earlier. The farmers' market visit was quite productive. Among my purchases were these three interesting items, including two that were new (to me): Fushimi frying pepper  or chile pepper, said to be like the shishito pepper that I enjoy but with less heat and more flavor, Petit Mersaillais pepp...

With my daughter's help (she loves udon noodles, and so do my wife and I), I made an udon noodle dish tonight. We chopped golden zucchini, shallot, and broccoli into small 3/8" chunks and air fried at 350°F for 6 minutes. I also had my daughter include some tofu pieces dredged in nutritional yeast/sesame seeds/salt, and a Field Roast brand vegan sausage cut into 1/4" pieces and halved; the tofu went with her meal and some with mine, and the sausage went with my wife's meal and some with mine. The noodles took 7m to cook on a low boil. I put the vegetables/tofu/sausage atop the noodles. My wife got some hot sauce and my daughter and I got soy sauce. A tomato and olive salad with ume plum vinegar, salt, and pepper, as well as sweet potato (cooked in the Instant Pot), completed the meal. Results We all loved dinner! Ideas for the future I had forgotten, but wanted to include ginger with the noodles; I should cook with udon noodles more often and remember to pair them wit...

I made a simple dinner tonight in two cast iron pans over medium heat. The side dish was easy - I just sauteed shishito peppers, turning occasionally until mostly blackened. I served with salt as a nice side dish. For my main course, I made a saute starting with onion and garlic. As they started clarifying in color, I then added two chopped golden zucchinis. A minute or so later, I added seitan chunks. When everything was reasonably well cooked after another 4 or 5 minutes, I added a little ginger and baby arugula. The arugula quickly cooked down, and I repeated with two more handfuls of the greens. I served with leftover rice. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

I have been thinking for a while of buying a soymilk maker and just bought the SoyaPower G4 . (I also bought but didn't open their tofu making kit; I'll try it in the near future.) I opened the box last night and today made my first batch of soymilk; it was good though a bit thin, so I'll try again with more beans. As part of the process, okara  (soy pulp) is generated. It was a very light brown/off-white color with the consistency of thick oatmeal. I thought I'd make okara burgers for my daughter and me (and serve a non-soy burger to my soy-intolerant wife). I took the okara from a cup of soybeans, mixed in about 1/4 as much whole wheat pastry flour and the same amount of nutritional yeast, plus about the same amount of onion, chopped into 3/8" cubes, plus a pinch of salt, and made into two balls. I flattened them and put them in my air fryer. I baked at 350°F for six minutes to let the inside get cooked somewhat, then air fried for 5 more minutes also at  350°F. ...