Category Archives: Michigan

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Make Ahead, Michigan, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegetarian

Tagged butter, can be vegan, fresh raspberries, ina garten, michigan raspberries, oats, paula deen, raspberries, seasonal baking, seasonal cooking, seasonal ingredients, vegetarian

The Gift That Keeps On Givin’

Posted on July 25, 2011 | 1 comment

Mr. Wonderful and I have a very, very large raspberry bush. Since raspberries last for about 10 seconds after you pick them, I picked a few large batches and then cooked like crazy. The next few posts are all about the Raspberry. First up, Raspberry Jam.

4 C mashed fresh raspberries
4 C white sugar

No need for pectin here people, finally a use for the seeds!

Use a VERY large pot, like a dutch oven, add to it the mashed raspberries. Cook over med-high until the jam reaches a full rolling boil. Boil x 2 minutes. Add sugar and stir well. Bring back to a boil, stirring consistently, boil x 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat with rotary beater x 4 minutes. Pour into jars, either sterile and shelve when proper seal has been achieved, or pop into plastic containers and freeze.

*5# of berries is approximately 9 C crushed berries.

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Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Less is more, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged homemade jam, Michigan, Mr. Wonderful, mr. wonderful approved, old school recipe, raspberries, raspberry, raspberry jam, seasonal ingredients, sugar, summer, vegan, vegetarian

Radish Sammich

Posted on July 21, 2011 | 2 comments

My previous post discussed the ever important Village of Manchester Chicken Broil in all of its glory. Something I remember more than the chicken dinner, were the leftovers from the dinners and what my Grandma Helen used to make from them (we always ate Chicken Broil at Grandma’s house). In case you neglected to read the links provided in that post, let me briefly recap: the dinner is comprised of a half chicken, roll with butter, fresh made cole slaw with secret local recipe, radishes, chips and beverage. What was always leftover besides chicken (which was made into chicken salad)? Rolls and radishes. No one EVER ate the radishes until my Grandma made them into ‘sammiches’ with the neglected butter pat.

So just what in the hell am I getting at here, talking about chicken for the last 2 posts? Well my point is….in my CSA share bag for the last few weeks, I’ve had radish overload, so I grabbed some slider buns and made a delish lunch of radish sammich and Parmesan cheese, pictured below. Don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it. Besides, what the heck else are you going to do with those radishes? You can thank me later.

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Posted in BBQ, Bread, Fridge Finds, Leftovers, Less is more, Lunch, Michigan, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegetarian

Tagged butter, cheese, CSA, grandma helen, Kitchen Window, Leftovers, Lunch, Manchester Chicken Broil, NPR, quick meal, radish sammich, red radish, Sandwich, Trillium Haven Farm, Village of Manchester

If you plant a herb garden, you better damn well like pesto.

Posted on June 16, 2011 | 2 comments

My herbs are staging a coup d’état in the backyard.

I’m striking back with pesto.

One of my fave 101cookbooks.com blog posts is entitled “How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother”. She’s right. It’s a brilliant recipe; however, sometimes I do not have 1) pine nut cash allowance (so expensive!), 2) oh, I don’t know 1000 extra calories to inhale a 2 tablespoon mouthful of wonderfulness or 3) time to chop BY HAND (wtf?!) a zillion leaves into a paste-like substance-I guess that’s where the grandmother part comes in for Heidi Swanson’s recipe; grandmothers have lots of extra time for this stuff.

Tonight when I realized my parsley was about to FLOWER for goodness sake, I took it upon myself to hack it all down, grab some garlic and headed to the food processor to make, “Certainly not an Italian Grandmother’s Pesto” while muttering to myself, “it’s a damn good thing I like pesto.”

Pesto from the Fridge

2 lemons zested and juiced
2 large handfuls of something delish and green from your herb garden (could really be anything)
4 cloves of garlic, 2 if you are not interested in vampire protection (TrueBlood starts at the end of the month)
1/4 C good EVOO

**To make this real pesto, add 1/2 C toasted walnuts or pine nuts, sometimes called Pinons and 1/2 C grated parm cheese to the mix then increase your EVOO as needed to get a nice puree.

Hack down a bunch of your herbs you have been neglecting, use the tender leaf part for the pesto (wash and dry it) and the stems to clean out your garbage disposal, it will make it smell better after you grind them up in there and send them to their new water home.

In a food processor, take the peeled garlic cloves, lemon juice, lemon zest and all of that beautiful greenery and blend while slowly adding the EVOO. You might need less than 1/4 C depending on how liquidy you want the pesto. I like mine a little bit on the dry side.

To store, I take an old ice cube container, spray a little oil in the bottom and on the sides then portion out my pesto in the little wells which happens to make a nice amount of sauce for 2 people when I decide I need a pasta fix; freeze and then pop out and store in a freezer bag.

I have also used this concoction as:

Tofu marinade
Combined with greek yogurt to make dip, or thinned with water to make salad dressing.
Mixed with more EVOO and a dash of balsamic vinegar to create a quick and flavorful vinaigrette.
Tossed with pasta and raw veggies for a quick lunch or dinner.
Tossed with pasta, a little pasta water, goat cheese and toasted walnuts for a yummy dinner.
On top of crusty bread for the base for bruschetta or plain as garlic bread.
Tossed with saute’d mushrooms.
Base for marinated olives and bocconcini (baby mozzarella balls) skewers.
Base for tortillini soup.

Technically this recipe might be considered a Coulis due to lack of cheese; but whatever the case, it’s a flexible, cheap, quick and yummy way to put that herb garden to use and just about any herb or green will due. I’ve even used spinach with fantastic results. Pulling one of these little cubes out of the freezer in February makes my heart remember spring.

Posted in Fridge Finds, Make Ahead, Noodles, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged 101cookbooks.com, Basil, coulis, dip, dressing, EVOO, freezer, garlic, green, heidi swanson, herb garden, herbs, ice cube trays, parsley, pasta, pesto, spring, tofu marinade, vegan, vegetarian, Yummy

June Strawberries = Vegan Strawberry Shortcake!!!!!!!

Posted on June 13, 2011 | 1 comment

I have always, always loved strawberries. Like, eat them until you are nearly sick to your stomach love strawberries. In June I always think, I should really get to a pick-your-own berry farm, but inevitably June becomes September and I have certainly NOT made it to a pick-your-own farm. June in Michigan brings early berries so today on my way home from Grand Haven, I stopped at a market on Lake Michigan Drive and bought my first summer berries. Summer early berry season is short, about 3-4 weeks if you are lucky, so get out there! Between this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake and basic inhalation, I managed to polish off 2 pints in about 8 hours. It’s the best kind of sick you can be. Berry sick.

When I was a kid, Grandma Helen made the shortcake, and Aunt Mar made the crisps (we will talk crisp, crumble, betty, etc in the fall). This is the baking powder biscuit recipe I’ve taken from Grandma Helen’s collection and slightly modified to be vegan for all my animal lovin’ friends.

Vegan Baking Powder Biscuits

2 C all-purpose whole wheat WHITE flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/3 C earth balance sticks
1 C coconut milk

Sift before measuring.

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Sift flour with baking powder and salt into medium bowl.

2. Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 knives (used scissors-fashion), until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

3. Make a well in the center. Pour in 3/4 cup milk all at once. Stir quickly round the bowl with a fork. If mixture seems dry, add a little more milk to form dough just moist enough (but not wet) to leave side of bowl and form ball.

4. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface to knead. Gently pick up dough from side away from you; fold over toward you; press out lightly with palm of hand. Give the dough a quarter turn. Repeat ten times.

5. Gently roll out dough, from center, to 3/4 inch thickness.

6. With floured 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter or a juice glass like Grandma Helen did it, cut straight down into dough, being careful not to twist cutter.

7. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; bake 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 8 (2 1/2 inch) biscuits.

DROP BISCUITS:

When I’m too lazy to roll and cut, I make drop biscuits by using the recipe for Baking Powder Biscuits, but increasing milk to 1 1/4 cup. Do not knead or roll out. Drop dough, by tablespoonfuls, onto lightly greased cookie sheet; bake at 450 F. for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 20.

For the rest of the strawberry shortcake, I took a pint of berries, washed, hulled and sliced them and mixed them in a deep bowl with 1 T sugar and 1 T peach schnapps (don’t judge me – any flavored liquor you like will do here). Left this mixture on the counter to create magic while I made the biscuits. Upcycle the remaining 3/4 C or so of the coconut milk into a flat vegan whipped cream by using your hand mixer on high, toss in a 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp lemon thyme for fun.

To plate, cut a biscuit in half, spoon in strawberries, top with vegan whipping cream and a mint sprig. Store remaining biscuits in the freezer for peach and nectarine season. Shortcake isn’t just for berries.

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Posted in Baking, Dessert, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged baking powder biscuits, coconut milk, earth balance sticks, grandma helen, lemon thyme, michigan produce, recipes, seasonal cooking, seasonal produce, strawberries, strawberry shortcake, vegan, vegan desserts, vegan whipped cream, vegetarian

Want some Kale with your Black Beluga Lentils?

Posted on April 1, 2011 | 6 comments

Perhaps you saw the title of this post and thought, WTF I don’t even know what Black Beluga Lentils ARE let alone why I would want Kale with THEM! I know, I know, weirdo veggie Adrienne wants us to eat crazy stuff and be kind to things with faces…well, yes, but Kale is a powerful, versatile and sturdy vegetable. It is often overlooked, mostly because the only interaction you ever have with it is under that crappy obligatory unripe melon slice, next to your steak and baked potato at the steakhouse. Yep, that’s Kale and it’s delicious.

Kale seems a little dark and mysterious, a little scary, and so is the amount of times this woman says “super” in this Kale video. Nonetheless, it’s a good primer-when you are done watching, come back for the soup recipe will ya?

Black Beluga Lentil Soup

Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Lively Lentil Soup at 101cookbooks.com

2 C black beluga lentils (or green French lentils), picked over and rinsed
2 C great northern beans, cooked
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 T chipotle en adobo sauce (from the can)
2T cumin
2T smoked paprika
2 tsp pepper, ground
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1T extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp fine-grain sea salt
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 C water
3 C of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped

Saffron Yogurt

a pinch of saffron (30-40 threads)
1 T boiling water
two pinches of salt
1/2 C 2% Greek Yogurt

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

While the lentils are cooking, make the saffron yogurt by combining the saffron threads and boiling water in a tiny cup. Let the saffron steep for a few minutes. Now stir the saffron along with the liquid into the yogurt. Mix in the salt and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion, carrot, and spices and saute until tender, a couple minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer. Stir in the chopped greens, cooked beans, and wait another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Ladle into bowls, and serve with a dollop of the saffron yogurt.

This soup hurts so GOOD!! It has a little kick to it, but the saffron yogurt is cooling. To make less spicy, just put in less of the hot stuff up there silly! I of course added Frank’s Red Hot to this before I served it.

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6 Comments

Posted in Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup, Vegetarian

Tagged 101 cookbooks, 101cookbooks.com, beluga lentils, black beluga lentils, black lentils, carrots, chipotle en adobo, crushed tomatoes, curly kale, great northern beans, greek yogurt, kale, onion, saffron

My new guilty pleasure: Horrocks

Posted on March 30, 2011 | 3 comments

I’m sure this is old new to most of you, because I haven’t shut up about Horrocks for about 3 weeks now since my first visit to the grocer in Kentwood. My best find to date, besides their seed packets that are 40% “basically every day” according to the butcher in line behind me, is the Michigan grown lentils, peas and beans.

Horrocks carries Michigan grown and packaged dried items from Carlson-Arbogast Farm in Howard City (that’s 49329 for those of you keeping track). They even have a video on YouTube under the Michigan Farm Bureau Channel:

So what in the world do you do with dried beans? Well, you soak them on a Saturday night over night, then get up on Sunday and cook them about 70% done (while you are ironing or doing laundry) drain, dry, cool and freeze in bags to add during the work week to delicious stoups, soups, stews, tacos, casseroles, curries, etc. They will finish cooking in the pot of whatever delicious finished item you create. Why do this? Less sodium, a better quality, whole bean in your dish, AND they are CHEAP! From one bag of great northern beans, dried, I got 9 ziploc bags of cooked beans (2C per bag) to enjoy.

Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to make a lentil stew with white beans from a local grower, surely by this time, you know who I am referring to. Eat. More. Dried. Beans. Save a few bucks, help a local grower, and serve a higher quality product. Oh, and cross your fingers that Horrocks will hire me part-time this summer to feed my foodie addiction; I applied today.

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3 Comments

Posted in Less is more, Make Ahead, Michigan, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegetarian

Tagged beans, black beans, black turtle beans, cook, cranberry beans, create, delish, Farm Bureau, freezer, green split peas, Horrocks, howard city, Howard City Michigan, local beans, local products, northern beans, northern-mid michigan, seasonal cooking, turtle beans, veg, vegan, vegetarian, white beans, yellow split peas, yum

Tried and True. Asparagus Stir Fry.

Posted on March 28, 2011 | 1 comment

In an effort to get Spring to hustle up a little, I bought asparagus today from my new fave food store Horrocks on 44th and Breton in Kentwood. It’s not quite Whole Foods or Trader Joes, but it is a fine substitute. When I saw asparagus was on sale, I started dreaming of my fave stir fry recipe from Heidi Swanson at 101cookbooks.com. When I think of stir fry, I think of this recipe. Salty, sweet, crunchy, tart, easy to add ingredients to, a great clean out the fridge starter recipe and very, very pretty, super green. It just reeks of good for you. And if you serve it over soba noodles or brown rice, it will net you 2 dinners and 2 lunches. Enjoy!

Asparagus Stir Fry

toasted sesame oil
8 ounces extra-firm tofu, cubed 1/2″
1 cup shelled edamame
1 hand full pea pods
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly chopped ginger (peeled)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
a couple big pinches of fine-grain sea salt
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 big handful of toasted cashews, chopped up a bit
a few handfuls of spinach, or chopped kale, or chopped chard
zest and juice of two limes
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 small handful fresh mint, slivered
1 small handful fresh Thai basil, slivered

Have all your ingredients prepped and within arms reach of the stove. Heat a splash of sesame oil in a large pan, or well-seasoned wok over medium high heat. Alternately, you can do this in a dry non-stick pan – one of the few occasions I still use non-stick. When it is hot, add the tofu, and cook until golden – a few minutes. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.

Add another (generous) splash of oil to the pan and, as soon as it is hot, add the onions, ginger, red pepper flakes, asparagus, edamame and salt. Stir fry for about a minute, then add the garlic, cashews, and spinach and stir-fry for another minute, or until the spinach wilts. Return the tofu to the pan. Stir in the lime zest and juice and the hoisin sauce. Cook for another 10-20 seconds, stirring all the while.

Remove from heat and stir in the mint and basil. Taste and add a bit more salt if needed. I like to serve this over soba noodles or brown rice.

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Posted in Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Stir Fry, Vegetarian

Tagged 101cookbooks.com, asian, asparagus, cashews, create, delish, garlic, ginger, heidi swanson, Horrocks, limes, noodles, soba, soba noodles, spinach, spring, Stir Fry, tofu, veg, vegetarian, yum, zest

Holiday Leftovers Take I

Posted on January 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

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I’m terrible when it comes to leftovers. They typically end up in the garbage. This dish however, began as stragglers, so not technically leftovers as in cooked and saved, this was mostly the stuff that didn’t get made and that would normally rot in my fridge. As there isn’t really a recipe, here is what I did:

1. Roasted the squash (in cubes) and brussels sprouts in a few teaspoons of EVOO at 400 until sprouts were caramelized and squash was done.

2. Warmed up some leftover Basmati (my fave) rice from a previous stir fry.

3. Stir fried extra firm tofu with lemon juice, orange juice and the zests of both until the tofu was caramelized and the juice made a little sauce. Then I tossed in a little soy for salt, it created a little glaze.

4. To assemble: tofu on rice, with side helping of veggies roasted and topped with pom seeds from the fridge. We enjoyed this with some leftover French bread and smoked cheddar cheese.

Nom nom. 🙂

Smokey Chili Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

Posted in Leftovers, Less is more, Seasonal Ingredients, Stir Fry

Tagged asian, cook, create, delish, eating well, EVOO, Mr. Wonderful, seasonal cooking, Stir Fry, vegetarian, yum

Christmas Day with The Wonderfuls

Posted on December 31, 2010 | 2 comments

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On the veggie menu:

Cranberry Crostini
Apricot Crostini
TLT Open Faced Baby Sammies
Sweet Potato Chipotle Gratin/Casserole
Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries
Chocolate Mallow Fondue with Dippers

Cranberry and Apricot crostini are this simple: toast a French baguette, slather a little goat cheese on it, top with dried fruit and honey if you so desire. For the cranberry crostini, I used cinnamon/cranberry goat cheese, topped with whole dried cranberries, and for the apricot crostini, I used honey goat cheese, topped with chopped apricots and lavender honey drizzle.

The TLT sammy recipe was adapted from Heidi over at 101cookbooks.com.

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados
2 pints tomatoes
2 packages fakin’ bacon tempeh
1 clamshell mixed baby lettuce leaves
1 small package regular plain goat cheese
1 French baguette, sliced and toasted
Juice of 2 limes
EVOO

The night before, preheat the oven to 400, toss the tomatoes with EVOO and roast until sweet and caramelized. Save these for the next day in the fridge. Day of, mash the avocado with the lime juice to make a make-shift-guac, this will go on the crostini at assembly. Prep the fakin’ bacon per the package instructions. To cook a bunch of it at a time, I cut the strips in half, put on a baking sheet and tossed into the oven for a few minutes until warm and crispy. Next, assembly is easy: take a crostini, top with a schmear of goat cheese, lettuce, avocado numminess, fakin’ bacon, and tomatoes. Or whatever order your OCD compells you to assemble this tasty bite.

So as not to lull you into submission or boredom with the length of this post here are the other recipes I made.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry Brown Butter

Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Fondue (use the creme so it’s veg friendly, sans gelatin)

Posted in Less is more, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged 101 cookbooks, apricots, baguette, bobby flay, brussels sprouts, casserole, chili, chipotle, chocolate, cook, cranberries, cranberry, create, crostini, delish, EVOO, fakin' bacon tempeh, fondue, food network, goat cheese, mallow creme, Mr. Wonderful, orange, recipe, sweet potato, sweet potatoes, veg, vegetarian, yum

Clean Out Your Cupboard Mexican Sopa

Posted on December 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

I really, really wanted to go out and get half-off sushi at XO in downtown GR tonight, it’s just simply too cold to leave the house, really! Typically Mr. Wonderful and I eat at XO for lunch on Tuesdays, because can you really pass up a 9 dollar stuff your face with sushi lunch? No way. Today however, I had a lunch and learn speaker session to attend and could not go to half-off sushi day. I was crying on the inside, really. Instead, while listening to a charming and informative session put on by AMA West Michigan, I ate a crappy warm mixed greens salad without dressing (it looked gross), limp and flavorless “veggie pad Thai” (or my translation for the table was peanut butter spaghetti for white people-gag) and starchy, clumpy COLD rice, with a stale dinner roll. I pushed my plate forward and covered it with my napkin for a proper burial after I ate the greens and then waited to get home to eat my leftovers from last night’s Pineapple Tofu dish.

While I am known on occasion to exaggerate (I know you are surprised by this revelation), I have to get this out of my system as I work in a catering department of a very well-known west Michigan establishment and hotelier: food at other venues is shit compared to what we produce at my beloved place of employment. Yes, really, shit. I mean, I cannot emphasize enough, what an outstanding team of chefs and talented staff we have on our team. A luncheon on our turf, would NOT leave you wishing for your leftovers at home, this I assure you. I even passed on, are you ready for this…the Christmas sugar cookie. The Pillsbury cut and bakes I can buy in the refrigerated section are more desirable than the floury mess with butter frosting. Honestly people…and you call yourselves professionals?

Sorry about that distraction, I’m still mad that while my $40.00 paid to attend the session today was in my eyes a donation to the organization, approximately $0.00 went to the food bill. I feed my dogs better quality meals than I received at that country club, and not to the detriment of the host organization, this is all on the country club, 100% #epicfail.

On to the recipe.

As I wasn’t about to brave the cold, I took what I had and made “stone soup” or as I have dubbed it, “clean out your cupboard Mexican sopa”. Proof you can take normal stuff from your cupboards, toss it in a pan, add some broth and have a dinner in under 20 minutes. Mix it up people, your only limitations are what you currently have in your pantry or freezer. Good luck!

Ingredients:

3-15 ounce cans diced or whole tomatoes, zapped in the food processor to make your base
3-15 ounce cans black beans drained, or 4 cups cooked black beans, one cup zapped with tomatoes above for base
6 cloves garlic, zapped in food processor with first two ingredients
1 large sweet onion diced
1-15 ounce can whole corn kernels
1 can or 2 cups great northern beans drained
2T cumin, ground
1T ancho chili pepper, ground or your fave chili powder blend
3T chipotle en adobo, less if you don’t like spicy, play around with it beginning at 1T to taste
1tsp epazote, ground
4 C veggie broth or water
Juice of 4-5 limes

Really sophisticated directions here folks:

1. In a dutch oven, cook onion on medium high until translucent or browned whatever you like.

2. Dump into onion the base as described above with first 3 ingredients.

3. Next toss in whole black beans, whole northern beans, whole kernel corn, spices, veg broth, lime juice and chipotle en adobo.

4. Bring to boil, turn down to simmer, add salt and pepper to taste.

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Serve over baked tortilla chips or rice, sprinkle with cheese, top with avocado, sour cream, squeeze of lime, and chopped red onion. Freezes like a champ.

Posted in Fall Food, Leftovers, Less is more, Make Ahead, Michigan, Recipes, Soup

Tagged cook, create, cupboard, delish, eating well, kitchen sink, mexican, recipe, seasonal cooking, sopa, Soup, stone soup, yum

Stuff An Acorn Squash, Not A Turkey

Posted on November 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

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I launched this mini “save the turkey” campaign via my Facebook page last week wherein I actually paid $20.00 to adopt a turkey, which equates to sponsoring a month of food for the poor little guy to offset what he might have sold for at the market to become someone’s dinner Thursday (yikes take a breath!). This brought on the usual slew of “what are you gonna eat for dinner if not a turkey?” commentary from people who think that vegetarians/vegans only eat lettuce. Oh, and for this behavior, I was basically called a Communist by one of my Republican friends. A Communist, really? Huh.

While Mr. Wonderful and I basked in the yum that is Chipotle tonight, chasing a Costco expedition high that ended with the purchase of more wine, cheese and bread than two people should even contemplate purchasing, we discussed what parts of Thanksgiving we liked best and it was hand’s down: sides and desserts. Mr. Wonderful maintains that basically you eat like 2 pieces of dry turkey out of obligation and then head right for the stuffing, cranberry chutney, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, 7-layer salad, sweet potatoes and dinner rolls. I don’t disagree. As long as I can remember I headed right for the scalloped potatoes, the spinach gratin, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, and of course, the homemade yeast rolls. Top it off with a little pumpkin pie, and…oh, I forgot to mention the endless precursors to Thanksgiving dinner, where you stuff yourself before you stuff yourself with as many gherkins that will fit in your mouth at once, black olives you wear on the tips of your fingers and nibble off that taste like the tin can they fell out of, little cubes of cheddar “fancy” cheese where the serving size is a fist-full, along with all you can eat Wheat Thins and Triscuits, I mean, seriously, this is Americana at it’s finest. Who needs a turkey? Not us. Oh, and keep those little wieners in bbq sauce to yourself too. Sick. Sick.

Here is my “main dish” for Thanksgiving, it mixes a few of my fave sides all into one delish, not to mention beautiful dish. Give it a try, I bet you will serve more of this than that Turkey Lurkey. I have yet to go home with leftovers. Consequently, if you do have leftovers, you can wrap these individual portions in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 weeks, defrost in fridge and warm back up in the oven to rehash their goodness when you need a quick bite to eat, post food coma day.

Quinoa and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

6 small acorn squash, halved and seeds removed
6 cups water
1 cup uncooked wild rice (), rinsed
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 tsp EVOO, optional
4 green onions (white and pale green parts), chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped granny smith apple tossed in a bit of lemon juice to keep from browning
1 T fresh sage
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts
1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh-squeezed tangerine or blood orange juice
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange squash halves cut side down in baking dish or roasting pan. Bake until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make filling. In large saucepan, bring 4 cups water to boil. Add wild rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 40 minutes. Drain if necessary.
In another large saucepan, bring remaining 2 cups of water to boil. Add quinoa. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 12 minutes.
In large, deep skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add green onions, celery, apples, and sage, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add dried fruits and nuts and cook, stirring often, until heated through. Using a fork, fluff quinoa and wild rice, then add both to skillet. Add juice and mix until heated through. Season with salt.
To serve, remove squash from oven and arrange on serving platter. Spoon filling into each squash cavity and serve.

More pics to come. This recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times, 2007.

Posted in Fall Food, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged acorn squash, cook, cranberries, create, dried fruits, food network, freezer, Mr. Wonderful, ny times, pecans, quinoa, recipe, seasonal cooking, squash, stuffed, vegan, vegan mo fo, veganmofo, vegetarian, wild rice, yum

Vegan MoFo Readers Inspire

Posted on November 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

This is an infant blog. I post willy-nilly when I feel like I have righted some food wrong in the universe with a really delicious recipe. Mostly I blog about food because when I tell people I’m vegetarian or semi-vegan, people give me that blank “deer in the headlights” sort of stare; however, in reality, vegetarianism and veganism is not so uncommon. According to a recent study by my friends at Vegetarian Times, 7.3 Million people are vegetarian, of those 1 Million are vegan, consuming NO animal protein at all and a pretty incredible 10% of US adults, say that they are “vegetarian inclined”.

Good work friends. Keep up your enthusiasm and fierce dedication to a meat free lifestyle and I will keep sharing simple, fun and fresh meat-free recipes to assist your quest for a veg life. If I can do it, so can you. I even have Mr. Wonderful requesting and eating TOFU when we go out to restaurants. It’s a great contagion. Happy Vegan MoFo-ing. Be sure to check out other blogs linked to this site: Vegan MoFo Headquarters. Cheers to your next meat free masterpiece.

Posted in Less is more, Make Ahead, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged cook, create, delish, Mr. Wonderful, recipe, seasonal cooking, vegan, vegan mo fo, veganmofo, vegetarian, yum

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Vegan MoFo!

Posted on November 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

Confession: I ate out tonight. Worse yet, tomorrow I begin noshing at Restaurant Week GR, which means, the next 10 days will have more dining out than I care to admit to…however, in honor of November 2, Election Day FINALLY being behind us, I give you a recipe I will be making at some point in the next few days, as I have already baked off the potatoes in prep for it: Baked Potato Soup. What’s the correlation to Election Day? Well, I came across this YouTube clip of the humble potato and its rise to fame in 1992 when then VP Dan Quayle was schooled by a 6th-grader in how to spell the singular of potatoe, er, I mean potato. Soup’s on!

Baked Potato Soup

2 T EVOO
1/4 of a large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 baking potatoes (about 2-1/2 lbs.)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 oz.)
6 cups milk (reduced fat if you prefer, or plain soy if vegan)
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided (use reduced fat if you prefer or soy if vegan)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream (for garnish, omit if you prefer)
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 faux-bacon slices, cooked and crumbled or other meat sub that has a smoky bite to it. I used Morningstar Ground Sausage Crumbles in a pinch tonight.
Cracked black pepper (optional)

*adapted from Cooking Light, Rachael Ray and anon on the Interwebs

Posted in Fall Food, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup

Tagged cook, create, delish, freezer, ina garten, potato, recipe, restaurant week, restaurant week gr, seasonal cooking, Soup, vegan, vegetarian

Adzuki!!

Posted on November 3, 2010 | 2 comments

Sometimes I look at recipes on veg websites, scan the list of ingredients and then set off to stump my local health food grocer. West Michigan lacks a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s which typically has all of these little bulk dried treasure bins and so, after I looked for a way to get rid of a butternut squash that was going to go bad this week, I found a recipe by Heidi Swanson adapted from a vegan cookbook that uses adzuki beans as a source of protein.

Adzuki beans? Yeah, until last year I hadn’t heard of them either. In popular Japanese and Chinese culture, they typically sweeten them and turn them into delicious desserts. Turns out they are a substantial little bean that hold up well in chili, soups, and stews. They take little time to cook from a dry state and store beautifully in your freezer in Ziploc bags, so you can make a bunch at a time. Additionally, they make a great non-refridge salad to pass at potlucks or picnics in the summer in this zesty Adzuki Bean Salad recipe from Whole Foods.

Adzuki & Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon (dried) coriander
2 teaspoons finely chopped chipotle pepper (from can, or rehydrated from dried chile)
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
2 medium-large onions
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
5 – 6 cups water
5 whole canned tomatoes, chopped
4 cups cooked or canned adzuki beans
cilantro drizzle (optional)*

To make adzuki beans from a dry state. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Pick through for any duds, toss those. For 4 cups of cooked beans, try for 2-3 cups of dry beans. I had 4 1/2 cups of dried beans on the shelf, so I decided, if I’m gonna cook 4 cups I may as well cook what’s in my jar; thus, came out with 13 cups of cooked beans, of which I froze the extras not needed in the recipe. Put beans in a large pot with cold water covering over the beans about 2 inches, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 30 minutes. They don’t take too long. The bean is perfect when it takes a little pressure to smash it against the roof of your mouth when you are testing and burning yourself 🙂 This is obviously a VERY scientific method here.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, coriander, chipotle, cumin and salt and saute for a minute or two – until aromatic. Add the onions and saute another 5 minutes or so, until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and butternut squash, stir well, and then add 5-6 cups of water. Increase the heat to bring to a boil, and once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for a few minutes, until the squash begins to soften – 5 – 10 minutes.

Once the squash has softened, use a potato masher and break up the squash pieces a bit. Add the tomatoes, and cook a couple more minutes before adding the beans. Serve drizzled with the cilantro.

Serves about 8.

* I made a cilantro drizzle by putting one bunch of cilantro leaves into my mini-chop food processor with about a tablespoon of EVOO and a pinch of salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes for good measure.

Adapted from 101cookbooks.com

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Posted in Fall Food, Less is more, Make Ahead, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup

Tagged adzuki, adzuki beans, asian, cook, create, delish, freezer, heidi swanson, Mr. Wonderful, recipe, seasonal cooking, squash, vegan, vegan mo fo, vegetarian, yum

Spicy Lentil Soup

Posted on November 2, 2010 | 2 comments

Lentils are wildly simple to use, satisfying and filling, cheap and quick to cook. Now why is it that you haven’t tried them? Yeah, I’m not sure either. Give this recipe a try. It’s pretty tame as far as curry flavors go, so you can ease your friends/family into the whole lentil idea. 🙂

Spicy Red Lentil Soup

1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup red split lentils (masoor dal)
7 cups liters water or veggie broth
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2-3 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 tablespoons HOT curry powder (which if you purchase from Penzeys turns out to not be very hot, more spicy than hot)
2 tablespoons coconut oil (butter for non-vegans or ghee)
2 cups or 1 can rinsed chickpeas
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can low fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
one small handful cilantro, chopped
cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse – until they no longer put off murky water. This takes quite a while but believe me it is totally worth it. The first time I made this, I rinsed just so-so and it was a no-go. Ick. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful so as not to burn the curry, this is a huge #fail. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, currants, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. Add the cooked chickpeas just at the end so they don’t turn to mush. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it. Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.

As Heidi Swanson so frequently does, I served this concoction over leftover brown rice that I would have tossed the next day. It’s like upcycling for food.

Turns out this freezes beautifully for single-servings throughout the week. It thickens up a bit, but just thin it out with water if you don’t like the consistency upon reheat. I’ve found a container of this in the back of my freezer and enjoyed with delight up to four weeks later. 🙂

recipe adapted from 101cookbooks.com

Posted in Less is more, Make Ahead, Seasonal Ingredients, Uncategorized

Tagged coconut oil, cook, create, curry, lentils, recipe, seasonal cooking, vegan, vegetarian, yum

What’s in the freezer?

Posted on October 27, 2010 | 2 comments

So my plans for tonight were cancelled, believe me, I’m not complaining. I don’t even know what happened to the month of October. As you can see from my last post at the beginning of October, I was obviously abducted by aliens and didn’t have Wi-Fi in order to blog.

This evening, I arrived home to a growling stomach, courtesy of too much PM snacking with only caloric and fat benefits and two dogs that needed my immediate attention (i.e. let’s go for a walk) which calls off all audibles to the store to wander and create. Took care of the dogs, fielded a few calls from frantic students with assignments due, then opened up the freezer…squash puree, black beans, soups of all kinds, blueberries (gosh, those are STILL in there?) and the usual culprits, cheese, veg burgers, etc…boooorrriiingg. Then, the lightbulb flickers…squash burritos? Yes…squash burritos.

Squash Burritos with Black Beans

2 C black beans, cooked
2 C butternut squash, pureed
2 tsp garlic powder
2 T chipotle en adobo (if you aren’t a fan of spicy, use 3/4 to 1 T for the smokey kick minus the tongue burn)
2 tsp kosher salt
2 T pineapple juice (plus more for the avocado)
2 T crushed pineapple
grape tomatoes (a couple of handfuls)
1 avocado
6 reduced-fat, flour tortillas
1 C finely shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend (or goat cheese, yum)
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
Chopped red onion
Light sour cream or my newest sour cream replacement, plain Greek fat free yogurt

Directions: Combine beans through pineapple in list above in a medium pot, cook until warmed through. Assemble burritos on flour tortillas with all ingredients except for sour cream. Roll into burrito shape. Place into 9×9 pan, put in oven covered until warmed through and moist. Serve with sour cream and leftover avocado. I also use plenty of Frank’s Red Hot on top with a sprinkle of extra cheese.

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Posted in Fall Food, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged 30 min or less, black beans, butternut squash, cook, easy, Leftovers, Mr. Wonderful, recipes, seasonal, veg, vegetarian, yum

Second Chances

Posted on October 4, 2010 | 1 comment

Here’s to second chances.

Recently I had the opportunity to accompany my friend Missy to Chicago with a group of gal pals for her Bachelorette Party, second chance style. I’ll get to the food part in a minute, because it was GRAND; but first, the bride. As a group my core contingency of friends has endured many complexities in the past two – three years. Everything from a parent death, to domestic violence, to a handful of divorces, from first born babies to depression and back again, we faced these challenges as a group and hoped for the day where we could FINALLY celebrate a second chance. This trip to Chicago was the first of many second chances. Cheers to Missy and her pursuit of her happy ever after.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog post. Speaking of cheers. What goes best with cocktails? Fabu food of course. On this second chance tour, we used a pink goblet (32 oz) to procure free beverages, and a bridal veil to elicit many unique looks from passers by. We even had a flash back to 22 when some of us made our first BIG mistake, and decided that we are glad to be in the range of 30 years old finally. The food however, the FOOD WOW! We did a bang up job in the dine out category. Our visit to Opera Chicago was a really, really good choice by Fancy Nancy. At Opera, from the veg side of the menu, we enjoyed mushroom won-tons with a green salad and miso dressing, veggie egg rolls with a teriyake reduction, Kung Pao tofu, Malaysian vegan flat bread, and Hainanese Kaipong (cooked in a Lotus leaf which Missy tried to eat for additional fiber!!). All beautifully plated and wonderfully light and tasty. Asian fusion Chicago style is not to be missed at this place. Do NOT forget to sample the pickles and spicy nut mixture they put on your table. That was the best pre-dinner bite I’ve had in a long time. Beware the Thai chili pepper if you are not in to spicy with the sweet. Please visit.

For breakfast the following morning, we got up at the crack of 8:30, and made our way down to perennial fave, The Bongo Room. The wait on a typical weekend is well into the 2 hour arena, but if you get there early, when they open at 9am, your wait is nill as I guess Chicagoans don’t like to eat before then and consequently you get a table lickity split. We agonized over the menu and finally ordered the sweet potato black bean burrito, special eggs benedict (veggie), the breakfast burrito, chorizo omelette, and of course two very special pancakes: red velvet and walnut with vanilla creme’ anglaise, and white chocolate, caramel and PRETZEL. I’d honestly like to see a cracker jack, popcorn pancake soon…oh, they have a dish that our new found friends at the table next to us ordered, banana, oreo, chocolate pancakes that looked like a must try for next time. Eat here, but drink your coffee while you wait from Starbucks across Randolph. Caution: The Bongo Room has lackluster coffee. I’d opt for the fennel bloody Mary instead. Cheers.

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Posted in Fall Food, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged asian, Breakfast, chicago, coffee, cook, create, delish, fusion, snack, Stir Fry, vegetarian

Tender Zucchini Fritters

Posted on September 26, 2010 | 3 comments

This recipe looks scary, but it’s well worth it. I know it’s intimidating reading the laundry list of ingredients and taking the time to put it together but, it’s a small price to pay for summer in your mouth. Yet another great way to use the Summer Zucchini in your crisper you are going to toss in another week anyway.

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Fritters:

1 1/2 pounds medium zucchini (5 to 6), trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, divided
6 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup beer
1 4-ounce package soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled, chilled (about 1 cup)
1/3 cup (or more) extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2 cups (lightly packed) mâche (lamb’s lettuce; 2 to 3 ounces)

For dressing:
Blend all ingredients in processor until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl. Cover; chill. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

For fritters:
Using large holes on box grater, coarsely grate zucchini into large colander. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon coarse salt over and toss to coat evenly. Place colander over large bowl. Let zucchini stand 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. Press on zucchini to release as much liquid as possible. Empty zucchini into kitchen towel. Roll up to enclose and squeeze dry.

Whisk flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt in medium bowl to blend. Mix in beer. Scrape zucchini from towel into bowl; stir to coat evenly (batter will be thick). Mix in cheese.

Heat 1/3 cup oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Working in batches, drop batter into skillet by 1/4 cupfuls, flattening to 3-inch rounds. Sauté until brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer fritters to rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil as needed. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 375°F oven 5 to 6 minutes.

Place mâche in large bowl. Toss with 2 to 3 tablespoons dressing. Place 2 fritters on each of 6 plates. Top with mound of mâche salad. Serve fritters, passing remaining dressing alongside.

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3 Comments

Posted in Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged cook, create, delish, food network, freezer, fritters, goat cheese, green goddess, recipe, seasonal cooking, squash, vegetarian, yum

Beans and Cornbread

Posted on September 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

The theme song to Dinner and A Movie with Paul and Annabell on USA Network was THIS. It would be stuck in my mind for DAYS!!! I regressed and began singing it while making chili and promptly wanted to leap off a cliff. Hope you suffer as much as I did. 🙂 For your misery, a cornbread recipe. BEANS AND CORNBREAD!

Mexican Cornbread

1 C yellow cornmeal
1 C sifted all-purp flour
2 T sugar
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1 C skim milk
1/3 C reduced fat sour cream
1/4 C veg oil
2 T chopped jalapenos

Preheat oven to 425, place cast iron skillet inside while warming up, buttered.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. To this mixture, add egg, milk, sour cream, oil and jalapenos, mix until smooth. Pour into prepared hot pan. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Recipe is a combo of many from Ina Garten, Paula Deen and Gourmet Magazine.

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Posted in Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup

Tagged beans, cast iron, chili, cook, cornbread, create, delish, dinner and a movie, freezer, gourmet magazine, ina garden, mexican, paula deen, recipe, seasonal cooking, USA Network, vegetarian, yum

Last of Summer Squash, Summer Tacos

Posted on September 22, 2010 | 1 comment

Today, it reached 86 degrees in west Michigan. Did I mention it’s SEPTEMBER! So what better way to celebrate summer’s last hurrah? Summer Squash Tacos. This is a colorful way to get your family/friends to eat their veggies AND use up that plethora of summer squash you have sitting in the crisper waiting for a slow veg death. Throw in some homemade corn tortillas (thanks for the idea Chef Mike and Andrea) and you have a substantial tasting low-fat and low-cal dish. Easy on the add on’s and you can keep it healthy and light. Make the tortillas, the taste of fresh corn tortillas will change your life. I swear.

Corn Tortillas

2 C Masa Harina
1 1/2 C Hot water
1 tsp kosher salt

Yeah, that’s it. Three ingredients. Combine the Masa Harina and salt with the hot water until it takes form, cover, toss in fridge for an hour. After you let it set, form 2 inch balls with the corn dough, press with tortilla press or old school like I do, between 2 sheets of wax paper with a rolling pin, then toss on a dry fry pan 1 min first side, a few seconds on the second side and keep in a warm oven covered until you are done frying all of the tortillas.

Summer Tacos

1 tsp oil
2 C frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 C chopped sweet onion
1/4 C red pepper, diced
1/4 C poblano pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 small summer zucchini, diced
1 C black beans (I used fresh made, frozen from a previous post)
1 tsp epazote or oregano
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
salsa, light sour cream, reduced fat cheese, hot sauce, lime, pickled jalapenos

Heat the oil in a wok or large fry pan. Toast corn if fresh, if using frozen corn, in pan with oil combine, onion, peppers, garlic and fry until tender crisp, add zucchini, beans, pepper, epazote, tomatoes and frozen corn cook until warm. To serve, top corn tortillas with veg mix and salsa, sour cream, cheese, hot sauce and jalapenos.

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Posted in Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged cook, fresh, low cal, lowfat, seasonal cooking, squash, tacos, vegetarian, yum

Soup Season!

Posted on September 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

Fall is my favorite food season. Tailgating and soup making are really the highlights in my humble opinion. Mr. Wonderful did all the grocery shopping for the week after we picked out our recipes for the week over a blueberry pancake breakfast (yes, some of THOSE blueberries). So this evening, all I had to do was pull together this easy, soul warming soup.

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Black Bean Corn Chowder

1 T EVOO
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 baking potato, peeled and diced
1 package frozen corn kernels
2 C black beans, cooked
4 C veggie broth
2 C skim milk
1/4 C sweet red pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1/2 T onion powder
1/2 T garlic powder
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 T fresh oregano
1 tsp salt, to taste

Saute’ veggies (not corn) in EVOO, cook until soft. Add spices, cook 1-2 more minutes, stirring. Add liquids bring to boil. Drop in frozen corn and beans. Bring back to boil. Serve hot with toppings of your choice. We like sour cream, avocado and a squeeze of lime.

My black beans generally do not come from a can, except for when I am in a super duper hurry and haven’t done a good job of planning ahead. Tonight I made a two pound bag of black beans before putting together the soup so that I had a few bags in the freezer ready to go for the next few weeks. To quickly cook black beans, in a large pot, dump rinsed and picked over beans, cover with water plus 2 inches up the side of the pan and boil until al dente. They will cook the rest of the way in whatever you cook them in, soup, tacos, etc. Yeah, that’s it. You don’t have to do all that soaking if you have about 45 minutes to boil the crap out of them. This way, you save money, they taste WAAAYYYY better and the sodium content is much lower. I then take the beans and freeze them in plastic bags. They don’t last long, so I’m not sure how long they keep. Hispanic food stores have the BEST deals on dried black beans. I once bought a 10 pound bag for $4.00. Seriously. I just finished that bag a few weeks ago, it lasted about 6 months.

Posted in Fall Food, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup

Tagged blueberries, carrots, create, Fall Food, freezer, Mr. Wonderful, onions, recipe, seasonal cooking, Soup, southwestern, tailgating, vegetarian, yum

Calling All Butternut Squash For Role In Pasta Dish

Posted on September 14, 2010 | 2 comments

I purchased 8 huge, I mean HUGE butternut squash from the orchard last week. I began processing them this weekend in an effort to eat them, or store them before they go bad. I cut up two of the bad boys and baked them, then I pureed them to an astonishing 13 cups of golden deliciousness. They now are secure in 1 cup measurements in the freezer ready to use in a pinch. So awesome!

I reorganized my recipe heap, yes, heap this weekend and came across this one from an old Rachael Ray magazine-so what if it’s from 2007, I mean I’m getting to it at least!

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Penne with Squash Cream Sauce

1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
2T butter
1 onion, chopped
salt & pepper
2 C squash puree (butternut, pumpkin, etc)
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley or thyme (sage might be good here too)

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the squash and cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot, along with the reserved pasta water, and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt & pepper.

Top pasta with herbs and more parmesan to serve.

I know that so many people have such a love/hate relationship with Rachael Ray. I admit, I don’t watch her shows, nor do I like a lot of her recipes but this one is YUM-O (okay, that was sarcastic, sorry).

Oh, I almost forgot, the side dish pictured is my fave way to eat cauliflower. Break into smallish pieces, toss with EVOO (another Rach-ism) some kosher salt and bake until browned at 400 degrees. Here is my second fave way to eat cauliflower.

Posted in Fall Food, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged cauliflower, EVOO, freezer, mac-n-cheese, make ahead, pasta, Rachael Ray, recipe, save, squash, vegetarian, yum

The Afterlife

Posted on September 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

I’ve decided that IF there is an afterlife, for me, it will contain rows and rows of apple trees just like at the “other” Crane’s Orchard-Gary Crane. All the ripe, beautiful Honeycrisp apples will only be where people that are 5’8″ and taller can reach them (this is to make up for all those short pants I had to wear before they made Tall for women, sorry “average” height girls I have to get something beside good low post position out of this frame), the trees will embrace you as you enter a row which is well organized and LABELED (so as not to get lost, this is a great idea Gary), you will hear the bees buzzing but you will not see them, nor will they sting you (bastards), there will be golf carts to shuttle you around and for when you pick more apples than you can actually carry in one trip (for me that turns out to be about 70 pounds-I almost made it to the cashier), it will be sunny and 60 degrees out all the time (so you can wear jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt all the time without pitting out), there will be Butternut squash picked, clean and available to take home for 40 cents a pound (they will however, weigh 8 pounds or more a piece), every day the stay-at-home mommies will be busy with book group or something (so I don’t have to work around your slow ass), and you will be able to eat apples until you nearly barf (this is encouraged) as you pick ’em. Yep, that’s what my afterlife will be like. Oh, and I will have Walt the Wonderdog and Mr. Wonderful with me there too; because then I can carry more apples.

Posted in Fall Food, Michigan, Seasonal Ingredients

Tagged Afterlife, apple, cook, delish, golf carts, Honeycrisp, label, Mr. Wonderful, organized, rows, squash, stay-at-home mommies, walter the wonderdog

My Friends Cook Too! Anne P., Guest Post

Posted on September 9, 2010 | 1 comment

I get really excited when my friends make veg friendly food. Fall is a great time for soup, and what is cheaper right now than winter squash? Not much, so stock up and keep it in a cool dry place, it will last through the winter. Or, as Anne mentions below, cut it open, place face down on a cookie sheet, pop into the oven at about 350 degrees until soft, scoop out the flesh (sans seeds-save those to plant in the summer next year), drop it into a freezer bag and you have most of the work done and in your freezer for pies, soups, muffins, breads etc all winter. Great idea Anne.

Squash Soup a la Anne

Anne Porter-I got the original recipe off the Food Network website. It’s an Alton Brown recipe, but I have altered it quite a bit.

It called for butternut squash, but I used a blend of acorn and carnival squash in the batch, I have used butternut in the past.

6 cups of prepared squash
2 cans of fat free vegetarian vegetable broth
2 T. Splenda brown sugar
1 tsp. minced ginger
1 can lite coconut milk (used Thai Kitchen brand)

Directions: In a large stock pot combine squash, broth, brown sugar and ginger. Simmer and then puree with immersion blender (or in your blender, food processor, food mill). Stir in coconut milk and return to a low simmer. Season to taste w/salt, pepper and/or nutmeg.

Approximately 8 – 1 cup servings at 115 calories per serving.

My squash was in the freezer from what I had frozen last fall, so it took me less than 20 minutes to make this, so it’s super easy and so tasty!

*I just made this soup tonight-with butternut from my garden!!! To her base recipe I added:

1/2 frozen banana (out with the brown sugar)
1 medium onion, saute’ with garlic
4 cloves of garlic, saute’ with onion
1 can garbanzo beans
1 & 1/2 tsp hot curry
1 tsp sweet curry
1 T Frank’s Red Hot
1/2 C fat free half and half

Instead of blending the whole thing, I blended 1/2 and left the other half chunky. I like texture in my soup. It was delish served with Nantucket Baking Company Sourdough Bread.