Some things.

Some things I've been up to since I posted two weeks ago:

Made these gluten-free root veggie latkes. You guys! They were so good!

Started taking Bee to once-a-week baby and toddler "music class," which is totally as yuppie as you'd think. The first song of the morning is one that welcomes the kids, the mommies, the daddies, and the nannies. And I get sweaty and think, "man, I do not belong here." But Bee loves it, so whatever.

Visited our town's new yarn shop. OMG. It's six blocks from our house. For real.

Went berserk and cast on like nine different knitting projects. (See new yarn shop, above.) And finished one (Ravelry link)!

Found out about Steve Jobs' death, and felt sad. As an illustrator, I'm one of the zillions of people who continue to benefit from Jobs' life work every single day. Jobs was the visionary behind so many of the tools that allow me to interact creatively with technology in my profession. (And he invented the iPod, enabling me to listen to Meat Loaf, watch "Family Ties," and update my Facebook status on an aesthetically attractive device the size of half a Pop-Tart. Which is cool, I'm sorry.)

Was exposed to Paul Simon's Graceland album. Okay, now, what the hell? How did I never hear that record until I was nearly 35? What a lyricist, that guy! It's like when I was 31 and heard Hunky-Dory for the first time. I actually experienced anger (WHY DIDN'T ANYONE EVER MAKE ME LISTEN TO THIS BEFORE!). Honestly, what other great records of the 70s and 80s am I in the dark about?*

Started drinking afternoon coffee on a regular basis. (Morning coffee was already standard.)

Put away my warm-weather clothes and trotted out the sweaters.**

Determined that no one needs this many vintage sweaters, but was unable to purge any.

Bought Bee her first pair of shoes! We drove out to an old-fashioned family-owned place where our girl got her foot measured and such. She was assigned a pair of high-quality (if pizazz-free) shoes that cost more than my own shoes.

Cooked my last batch of marinara of the season from garden (and CSA) tomatoes.

Baked three squash(es?).

* Yes, I already know about Neil Young's Harvest.
** Of course, it then got bizarrely hot. It was 88 degrees out yesterday! In Minnesota, I'm saying, in October. But I can be flexible. Nice weather is nice weather, even when you're overheating in corduroys.

Meet Your Miso, part 2

I love miso soup for a light lunch or a precursor to the main event at dinnertime. This one calls for yellow miso paste, which I've started to prefer to the red for simple soups like this one. Tofu and fresh spinach, combined with the protein found in the miso, really pack the nutrients.

Miso Soup with Spinach

2 T. olive oil
1/3 block extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t . ground pepper
2 1/2 c. potato water
2 1/2 T. mild yellow miso paste
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 T. wheat-free tamari
1/3 c. finely chopped fresh baby spinach*

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a pan. Add the tofu and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté the cubed tofu for about ten minutes, stirring every few minutes until the cubes are golden.

In a small pot, whisk together the potato water and miso paste. Add the onion. Bring to a boil, then add tofu and tamari and reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally. When onion is soft, stir in the spinach and remove from heat.

Serves two.

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* I like to cut the spinach into thin, fine strips using this method used for chopping basil.

"Design Your Own Adventist-Style Vegan Dinner Loaf!"

Good news, creative cooking friends! Jennifer
McCann's Magical Loaf Studio is back up! It's
totally waiting to help you design your own
vegan dinner loaf, and it's so cute and fun.
You choose the ingredients and it tells you
how much of everything to use, which is a tidy
way to avoid the heartbreak of a crumbly,
fall-apart dinner loaf. It's also great for
designing gluten-free main-dish cutlets, patties,
and loaves -- just choose GF ingredients in the
binder and carbs categories. Have a blast,
sweeties.

Vegan turtles

Enjoy this vegan candy recipe, a fave at our house. For more vegan sweetie-sweets, you're also gonna want to go look at these orange creamsicle cupcakes, double dark chocolate brownies, and chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes. Trust me!

Vegan turtles

60 walnuts or pecans (or so)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. Earth Balance
1/4 c. soy milk (or rice milk or almond milk)
1 t. vanilla
2 c. vegan dark chocolate chips

Arrange the nuts in a single layer on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool, then, still on top of the wax paper, arrange the nuts in little mounds, three or four walnuts or pecans to each mound. They should be piled up on one another a little, not just grouped together in a flat group.

Next, make the caramel. Over medium-low heat, slowly melt the sugar in a heavy pot, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Slowly, the sugar will begin to get gooey, then liquify. When that happens, reduce heat to low and stir in the Earth Balance and the soy milk. When combined, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

If your caramel solidifies at any point while you're making the turtles, return it to the burner over medium-low and melt it again.

Carefully spoon a bit of the caramel over each mound of walnuts or pecans. You'll have enough caramel that you can be generous with this! Next, stick the pan of turtles in the 'fridge to cool for 30 minutes or more.

Next, cover the candies in chocolate: melt the chocolate chips, about a cup at a time, in a small pan over low heat -- or use a double boiler. Then either drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of each turtle while the candies are still on the wax paper (the bottoms won't get covered if you do it this way) OR remove each turtle from the wax paper and dip it in the chocolate. Place on wax paper and allow to cool again.

Reward for spending my last day of vacation scrubbing the floors with a sponge and a bucket of water:

It's a blueberry-banana smoothie! Mmmmm.

A quick curry

How super-lame and predictable would it have been if I'd called this post "curry in a hurry"? Very! Very super-lame and predictable! Take note, food bloggers: the blog post title "Curry in a Hurry" is officially off the table.

This is a really yummy curry I made a few days ago when I had an eggplant I wanted to use up. I cooked it way down in a large skillet, sauteed some onions and curry spices, and then cooked it all together with some chickpeas, garlic, and tomato paste. Serve with rice, then watch TV and go to bed!

Vegan peanut butter cups

When I make chocolate-peanut butter cups, I usually do more or less this (with vegan dark chocolate chips and leaving out the shortening), or else just melt together the peanut butter and the chocolate chips and pour into miniature cupcake papers for a less complicated version that's nearly as delicious. They go in the fridge for an hour or two, then we eat them like two starving people.

Pretty, pretty peppers

It's been so long since Ben and I made these awesome vegan stuffed peppers that I can't even remember the ingredients. Aren't those peppers gorgeous, though? You can even see the absolutely wonderful reduction Ben made with it.

Roasted cauliflower and red pepper soup

This creamy, easy soup sustained me for a week. In terms of lunch, I mean. Do you all have soup thermoses? Because I can't live without mine.

I roasted a head of cauliflower (coarsely chopped), two red peppers (also coarsely chopped), a medium-sized onion (diced) and several whole, peeled cloves of garlic in a big oven pan. I drizzled a bunch of good olive oil on there, threw on a bit of salt, and cooked it, covered, for about thirty minutes. Then I cooked it uncovered for another ten minutes.

If you have a immersion blender* to match your beloved Kitchenaid mixer, this is really, really easy. Transfer the roasted veggies to a soup pot. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with one cup of unsweetened soy milk. Blend with immersion blender until kind of smooth (but keep some chunky veggies). Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then immediately turn heat down to low. Allow to simmer at least 15 minutes (or up to an hour), stirring occasionally. Add water if you want a thinner soup--but in this case, why would you? (I frequently prefer thin soups, but I think this one is best if it's thick and hearty.)

Roasting cauliflower really brings out something special in the flavor. It's just a really nice taste that doesn't come out when you cook cauliflower with other methods. And I'm sure I don't need to sing the praises of roasted garlic or roasted red peppers. All divine.

* Shown here, I believe, with daiquiris--which are clearly the most trivial and embarrassing thing to make with one's hand blender. Soups and vegan mocha milkshakes yes, daiquiris no.
** Just use a regular blender, or the pulse button on your food processor, if you don't have an immersion blender. If you don't have any of those things, how about an old-fashioned potato masher?

Introducing the crock pot

Santa (i.e. Grandma Floy and Grandpa Dave) brought us a crock pot*, and I loooove it! What could be more satisfying than coming home, after a long day of school or work or both, to a hot, savory, and delicious meal that cooked itself? Chopping up some stuff and throwing it into the crock pot in the morning is all the work that's required. Because I can't get enough of the vegan burrito (or its variants, the vegan taco salad and the no-queso quesadilla), I've been using the crock pot to prepare spicy black bean fillings lately. A few cups of cooked beans and some chopped onions, diced yam, and hot sauce is all you really need. I throw some TVP in there, too. Then, in the evening, Ben and I bask in the splendor of vegan burritos with avocado, chopped fresh spinach, salsa, and nice tomatoes.

* I've observed with some disappointment that the term crock pot seems to have gone out of style, maybe because it's a trademark; now, slow cooker is favored. But I like the former, and how 1970s it is, like fondue pots, and ceramic popcorn bowls with "popcorn bowl" or "Rick and Sandy's popcorn bowl" painted on the side.

Soup and sickness

This warm, winter wonderful-ness is a not completely photogenic soup I enjoy eating and preparing all year long -- and during the cold months especially.

Vegan potato soup

4 T. olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 t. sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. soy milk or soy creamer


In a soup pot, sautée the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until medium-soft. Add the potatoes and cover. Cook over medium-low heat for about twenty minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Add salt and pepper. Stir. Raise heat to high and add liquids. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer at least ten minutes, then carefully transfer 3/4 of the soup to food processor. Puree or liquify, then recombine with the rest of the soup. Stir and reheat, if necessary.

Recently I made this comforting, savory dish because creamy potato soup was all I felt like eating this week when my intestines starting destroying themselves. It's a pretty ugly situation. Some of my six readers know that I've struggled with this chronic illness for the last fifteen years, and that although it's been essentially in remission for the last year, the years previous to that brought some pretty scary twists and turns. Now, with my recent sickness, it looks like I'll be returning to a particular therapy that works like a charm but once had the unwelcome side effect of nearly fucking killing me. But things are a bit different now, and we're keeping everything crossed, and I'm having soup. Please keep the whole situation in your prayers or meditations or whatever positive mind-stuff you think may work.

Blueberry-lychee sorbet

Score: lychee one, Johnsons zero. My blueberry-lychee sorbet was a variation on this recipe, which is basically how one makes sorbet of any kind. We froze the blueberries and the peeled lychee fruit first, then blended and froze the mixture. The verdict? Refreshing and sweet and kind of weird-tasting. But that's lychee for you. If you didn't grow up eating it, lychee just tastes weird.



Left: blueberry-lychee sorbet in ice cream maker; pretty lychee fruit

Basil-cannellini bean fritters...

...are what we came up with when there didn't seem to
be much in the kitchen on Sunday evening. No tofu even.
So I whipped these up with a can of white kidney beans,
a minced onion, lots of basil, some olive oil and lemon
juice, and some garam flour (yes, we were pleased with
ourselves for just having garam flour sitting around).
A prized food processor made it simple.











While I fried these little cuties on our griddle, Ben sautéed some yams, onions, yellow squash, thinly sliced carrots, and spinach. Voilà! Nothing-in-the-house vegan supper! Since the bean patties ended up having such an Italian flavor, we ate them dipped in our favorite pizza sauce.

Summer soup!

A nice summer soup can sustain me for a week of lunches. This veggie-packed one is heavy on the cilantro, and the fresh tomatoes are so worth all the chopping. As an afterthought, I added garbanzo beans, and am pleased with myself for thinking of it. They pack protein and taste nice.

Forgive the cop-out recipe, but soup is an art and I have no idea how much of anything I used. Just chop up a few cups of vegetables (potatoes, green beans, onions, squash, or whatever you like) and sautee them in a big soup pot with a little (okay, a lot) of olive oil. Cut up six or seven tomatoes and throw those in. Salt it all, add five or six cups of veggie broth or water (I used potato water left over from boiling potatoes earlier in the week). Bring to a boil, then season with cumin, oregano, and basil. Add garbanzos or other beans. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for at least 45 minutes (I let mine cook on low all afternoon). Add lots of chopped cilantro in the last ten minutes of cooking. Unless you've never, ever made soup, you know that anything goes... throw in your leftover rice or pasta, use some frozen corn, change up the spices, include whatever vegetables are local and in season. It's hard to make a bad soup, so don't be skittish.

Vegan tapioca pudding in beta testing.

In terms of comfort food, tapioca pudding ranks somewhere just under mashed potatoes and gravy, chocolate cake, and a homemade pot pie.

I'm still working on my veganized version of tapioca pudding, but it's already way beyond decent: thick (see photo below), vanilla-scented, and yummy. I'm going to try it with a more subtle soy milk, or maybe almond milk. A little less sugar next time, too. But for now, feel free to mess around with the beta version!

Tapioca pudding

1/2 c. tapioca pearls, soaked overnight in enough water to cover, plus half an inch
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. soy milk
1/2 c. soy creamer
dash of salt
scant t. vanilla

You don't need to drain the tapioca pearls unless you can actually see water above the pearls. Probably, though, the pearls have soaked it all up, so, in a heavy pot, combine the tapioca pearls with sugar, soy milk, creamer, and salt. Over medium-high heat bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low. Stir or whisk constantly for five minutes. If the mixture sticks to the pot as the pudding thickens, continue to stir or whisk constantly for about 10 more minues. If it isn't sticking, you can just stir it occasionally for 10 minutes.

The pudding still won't be totally thick at this point, but it will thicken as it cools. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour into individual bowls or a larger dish. Refrigerate.

Below: As far as I'm concerned, this should happen!

Vegan mango ice cream

The owner of the Asian market I frequent always convinces me to buy something fabulous that's not on my mental list. Recently, it was two ripe mangoes, which I brought home, peeled, cubed, and froze. A few days later, I brought out our ice cream maker for the first batch of what I hope will be a long, charming summer of homemade vegan ice cream.

This particular ice cream is sweet and creamy, like mangoes themselves. (Some people don't think a fruit can be "creamy," but mangoes are; so are avocados and bananas, in my book.) This batch was more than enough for a couple different Ice Cream Nights, and on the first evening we enjoyed the ice cream on top of some cute and yummy chocolate cake cups (see last photo, below) that Ben whipped up.

Mango ice cream

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, cubed, and frozen overnight (or longer)
12 oz. silken tofu
scant 1 c. sugar
1/4 c. soy creamer or soy milk
1/2 c. canola oil

Puree 3/4 of the frozen mangoes in food processor. Add tofu, sugar, soy creamer and oil and blend very, very well. If it seems really thick, drip a bit more soy milk into the bowl and blend again. I didn't need any extra liquid, though.

Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions, adding the remaining frozen fruit before turning on the machine. If you don't want to use an ice cream maker, you can also just freeze the mixture in a mixing bowl (not a glass one, please). However, you'll have to get in there and stir it every half hour or 45 minutes, which is fine if you don't have kids or a job.

This ice cream flavor was so elegant and nice that I'm going to make it again in a few weeks, probably with a nice, nutty almond milk instead of soy milk. Substituting coconut milk for the soy milk and oil would be wonderful, too.

Here's the juicy, delicious, fresh mango. It's hard to resist eating it all:













The food processor-azzi snapped this one:













The ice cream starts to form as soon as you put it in the frozen machine:

Meet your miso

Miso soup is the perfect easy lunch: it's savory, warm, satisfying, and yummy. It travels well in a thermos, too! I've made versions of this soup that are slightly more work, like a butternut red miso based on one I used to get at Rainbow Market in Seattle, but pretty much all miso soup is terrifically easy to prepare.

Miso soup

2 bunches scallions, chopped (white parts only)
1 t. olive oil
pinch of sea salt
3 1/2 c. water
4 T. white miso paste
4 oz. firm tofu, cubed (don't use silken!)*

In a soup pot, sautee the chopped scallions in the olive oil over medium heat for several minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the salt and cook for a few more minutes. Add water, then miso paste. Whisk until miso dissolves completely, then cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, carefully add the tofu. Boil for 1-2 minutes, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.

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* A tofu note: you probably don't want to open a new package of tofu just to use 1/3 of the block, right? Me neither. So, whenever we make tofu cutlets, or a stirfry with tofu, I just slice off a bit of the block, cube it, and put it in a little container in the fridge. Then, when I want to make miso soup, I have some tofu to throw in. The tofu doesn't keep longer than a couple days like that, though, so hurry up and make your soup.

Panang!

The way to get Thai curry in a hurry is to use curry paste from the Asian market. It comes in cute, tiny cans, in a few varieties--I like panang and yellow. And, although Ben and I always make our Indian-style curries from scratch in order to get the spice ratios we prefer, Thai curry is another story. It's something I haven't tried very hard to personalize, because the inscrutable store-bought pastes taste heavenly (if you buy the right ones). Just saute the stuff with some tofu and vegetables and start a pot of rice boiling. Or do what I do and mix the curry paste with coconut milk to create a seriously luscious curry sauce to pour over rice and vegetables.

Vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron...

I won't insult your culinary intelligence by posting a spinach dip recipe. If you've spent any time at all in the Midwest, you know how to make a very Minnesotan spinach dip with sour cream and mayo (I used vegan versions), frozen spinach (I like a mix of frozen and fresh), some scallions, and a bit of water chestnut. Oh my god, I love spinach dip with big hunks of pumpernickel bread! (The crackers might look nice, but they tasted like a manila folder.) This gluten-free dip is also super-duper with veggies, so, you know. Do that up.

Curried sweet potato stew

Mashed sweet potatoes, left over from one of last week's weeknight suppers, inspired this thick, creamy soup. It is both sweet and spicy.

Vegan curried sweet potato soup

2 T. olive oil
1 T. mustard seeds
1 1/2 T. curry powder
1/2 t. cumin (most curry powders contain cumin, but I like extra)
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes, baked and skins removed
2 c. water
2/3 c. Coffee Rich vegan creamer*
3 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
Squirt of Sriracha sauce
Optional: 1/4 c. green peas, fresh or frozen

In a soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds, cooking until they begin to pop. Stir in the curry powder and cumin. Sautee for a minute or so to form a paste, then stir in the onion and garlic. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork or hand masher and add to the soup pot. Add the water. Cover, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil. When boiling, add the Coffee Rich, brown sugar, salt, and Sriracha.

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for a few minutes (longer if you want some of the liquid to boil off), then cover and simmer for at least twenty minutes (longer if you want... it brings out the flavor of the curry). Add the optional green peas in the last few minutes of simmering.

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*Coffee Rich is one of those inexpensive vegan edibles whose makers may or may not realize that their product is vegan, and probably don't give a damn, really. They certainly don't market it as vegan, although the Rich company is committed (it seems) to creating dairy-free foods. Anyway, the company makes the awesome soy-based creamer used in this recipe (and also used in my morning cup of coffee), as well as Rich Whip--the soy-based whipped "cream" with which Ben and I were obsessed during the summer of 2007. Tragically, we can't obtain Rich Whip in Minneapolis. My treasured Coffee Rich, though, is available at the Uptown Rainbow in the freezer section. If you don't have Rich's, you can use the more expensive (and, in my experience, thinner) creamer by Silk brand. It is almost certainly less unhealthy.