Kimberly Steele's Blog, page 6

Daily Vegan Lunch for 25 November, 2013: Emerald Green Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

5 cups chard

2 cups frozen spinach

5 cups vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon black pepper

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot, fry the onion in oil on medium heat until it is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, sauté about 30 seconds.  Add nutmeg and thyme, sauté about 30 more seconds.  Add frozen spinach (or 3x the amount if using fresh spinach) and chard and vegetable broth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Finish by taking about 2 cups of soup out of the pot and blending or food-processing it into a puree, then pour it back into the original batch.  I used my stick blender and just stuck it right in the soup pot and blended until the soup was thick enough for my tastes.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 24 November, 2013: Roasted Walnut Shiitake Dressing Stuffed Squash

This roasted walnut, mushroom, and panko stuffing would be perfect for Thanksgiving.  I was really happy to find out these squashes I bought from the grocery store were local.

INGREDIENTS:

2 small or 1 large acorn squash

1.5 cups walnuts

2 cups onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

1.5 cups celery, chopped

1.5 cups broccoli florets, chopped

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water at least 20 minutes

1.5 – 2 cups panko or breadcrumbs

Up to 1.5 cups vegetable broth or saved mushroom water to moisten

DIRECTIONS:

Wash outside of squash, poke holes in it, and then roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  I save the seeds to roast and salt on a cookie sheet, yum!

Roast walnuts in a dry pan on medium heat until they give off a wonderful fragrance, about 5 minutes.  Don’t let them burn but it is okay to let them brown.  Add oil to the pan and onions.  Fry the onions for about 1 minute and add the broccoli and celery.

Chop the mushroom into small bits and add to the pan.  Add panko or breadcrumbs and mix well.  Add mushroom water and/or broth little by little and stir until the mixture is moistened.

Cut the cooked squash in half and remove the seeds by scooping them out with a spoon.  Stuff the squash halves with walnut-panko dressing.  Broil at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes until top browns.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 23 November, 2013: Broccoli and Cheez Potato

INGREDIENTS:

Per potato

1 potato of any kind, washed

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup broccoli florets, chopped small

1 cup cashew cheez

DIRECTIONS:

Make the cheez sauce in the blender from this recipe, which refrigerates well and can be used on everything from nachos to cheez fries to mac and cheez.

Pierce potato with fork several times and microwave it on high for approximately 4 minutes and 30 seconds.  How long you microwave depends on the size of the potato and the type.  I find red potatoes like the one here cook the slowest whereas golden potatoes cook fast no matter what their size.  Russets are also on the slow side.  Alternately, pierce the potato and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes.

Combine the onion and broccoli florets in a small bowl and a tablespoon of water.  Microwave 30 seconds.  Alternately, cook the broccoli and onion on the stovetop in a small pan with a tablespoon of water on medium-high heat until water boils off and broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Strain off any remaining water.

Let the potato cool and split it down the middle.  Mix in the room temperature cheez sauce and broccoli onion mixture into the potato as you mash it; salt to taste.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 22 November, 2013: Two Mushroom Rice Noodles

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 package of thin rice noodles

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups white or yellow onion, sliced

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted in water for at least 20 minutes

1 cup dried cloud ear mushrooms a.k.a. black fungus, reconstituted in water for at least 20 minutes

3 cups cabbage, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons soy sauce OR vegetarian mushroom “oyster” sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

DIRECTIONS:

Boil water in a medium sized pot, take off heat and add noodles.  Soak noodles for 5 minutes and drain, set aside.

Fry the onions in a pan in the oil at medium-high heat until onions are translucent, about 2 minutes.  Add cabbage and sauté until cabbage begins to wilt, about 2 minutes.  Add drained mushrooms (save water for a later use) and stir fry for about a minute.  Add noodles and soy sauce or mushroom oyster sauce to the pan and stir gently until mixed.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 21 November, 2013: Lentil Loaf with Small Roasted Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup dry lentils (about 2 cups cooked)

4 – 5 cups water for cooking lentils

2 cups onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika

1.5 cups panko or breadcrumbs

1/4 cup flour, I used chickpea flour

Up to 2 cups vegetable broth, to moisten

Salt to taste

1.5 cups ketchup

DIRECTIONS:

Bring lentils to boil with the water.  As soon as it boils, turn heat to medium and let simmer for about 30 minutes.  Taste test the lentils for doneness, adding more water if needed depending on how soft you like lentils.

In a large pan, fry celery, carrots, and onions on medium heat in the tablespoon of oil until they begin to caramelize, about 20 minutes.  Add sage and paprika, stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.  Add cooked lentils, panko, and flour and stir to make a dry mix.  Slowly pour and mix in the vegetable broth and stir until everything sticks together and makes a thick dough.

Grease a loaf pan and press mixture into the bottom of the pan, smoothing out the top to make it even.  Squirt ketchup in an even layer or zig zags across the loaf.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

For the potatoes, wash about 5 cups of potatoes thoroughly and put them in a medium casserole dish.  Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil on them and then toss them with your hands to coat.  Add about a teaspoon of salt if desired.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then flip the potatoes and cook 20 minutes more.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 20 November, 2013: Grilled Pepper, Spinach, and Cashew Cheez Sandwich

INGREDIENTS:

Per sandwich

2 slices bread (I used sourdough)

1.5 cups roasted red bell pepper (I used Italian ones from a can) or fresh tomato slices

2 cups fresh spinach leaves

3/4 cup cashew cheez

Oil for frying

CASHEW CHEEZ INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cups cashew pieces

1/4 cup raw onion

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 a lemon’s juice

1 cup oats

2 cups water

1 roasted red bell pepper (about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons miso

DIRECTIONS:

Combine cheez ingredients in a high speed blender OR if you don’t have a high speed blender, use cashew butter instead of cashew pieces and pre-cook oats in water in microwave for 2 minutes, then combine and blend in normal blender.

This makes enough cheez for 4 servings.

Put spinach in a bowl and microwave 30 seconds.  Alternately, wilt it in a small pan on medium heat with a teaspoon of water for 3 minutes.

Spread both slices of sandwich bread with about 1/4 cup or so of cheez.  Add slices of bell pepper and wilted spinach.

Oil a griddle on medium heat and fry the sandwich for about 2 minutes on one side or until golden brown and toasty.  Then flip and fry for 1 more minute.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 19 November, 2013: Lazy Pierogi (Sauerkraut and Sweet Potato Lasagna)

This one was delicious, especially if you love sauerkraut as much as I do.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 package of lasagna noodles

2.5 cups onions

1 tablespoon oil

5 cups sauerkraut

5 cups mashed sweet potato

1 cup vegetable broth

1.5 cups additional vegetable broth

DIRECTIONS:

Caramelize the onions by cooking them in a pan with the oil on medium heat.  Stir gently and about 20 minutes later, when they begin to turn brown, take them off the heat.

Boil water in a large pot and drop in the lasagna noodles.  Boil them until they are al dente, about 7 minutes.  Set aside.  If they stick, running them under cool water will get them unstuck.

Pierce sweet potato with a fork and cook it in the microwave for 5 to 7 minutes.  Alternately, piece with fork and bake it at 350 for 30 minutes.

Scoop out the sweet potato (about 2 – 3 cups worth) and mix it with enough vegetable broth to moisten.

Grease a large casserole pan and lay out a layer of lasagna noodles to cover the bottom.  Cover the noodles with sauerkraut, spreading until it becomes a 3/4 inch thick layer.  Lay down more noodles and spread the caramelized onions as a layer.  Lastly, lay down noodles on top of the onions and spread this with the sweet potato mixture.

Douse the lasagna with remaining 1.5 cups broth.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 18 November, 2013: Sweet and Sour Tofu

INGREDIENTS:

1 package firm tofu

1 cup oil for deep frying tofu and a small cast iron or other pan that isn’t non-stick

1.5 cups canned pineapple chunks, drained but save the juice (I used pineapple in unsweetened juice)

1.5 cups broccoli

1.5 cups chopped carrots or sweet bell pepper

1/2 cup water

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup reserved pineapple juice

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons chili sauce OR 2 teaspoons Sriacha or tabasco

1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar (can sub other kinds of vinegar except for balsamic)

Salt or soy sauce to taste

1 – 2 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Deep fry the tofu.  Cut the tofu into triangles and pat the triangles dry with a clean towel or paper towels.  Bring 1 cup of oil to the smoking point on high heat in a small pan that is not non-stick.  Drop the tofu pieces into the oil until they brown, about 2 minutes.   Fry the tofu in small batches if necessary.   I had to fry mine in 2 goes.  Set the fried tofu aside.

Make the sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients together in a bowl, set aside.

In a large pan, bring a pan to medium-high heat.  Add broccoli and carrots and water.  Cook until the water steams off and broccoli is bright green.  Add the pineapple to the pan with the vegetables and stir fry to heat through.  Turn the heat down to medium.  Add fried tofu to the pan.  Add the sauce and stir until the sauce thickens, covering the vegetables and tofu.  Serve with rice.

Martha Stewart’s Nasty Food

Martha Stewart is in the news lately because she has been tweeting super-gross pictures of the nasty food she eats in restaurants I could never afford. Just when you thought the one percent ate better than the rest of us do, Martha goes out of our way to bust that myth. I swear it’s some kind of bass-ackwards public service campaign to try and prove even the poorest vegan eats better than a non-vegan.

I wasn’t going to post this here because I didn’t want to spoil your appetite for my Daily Vegan Lunches, but I just can’t help myself. I am a horror writer and I don’t just love grossing myself and others out, it is one of my favorite hobbies in this life.

Here are some of the horrific, crime-scene worthy photos Martha has taken of her “food” along with my interpretations as a lover of disgusting descriptive language. WARNING. Do not view the following photos if you have eaten or wish to eat within the next 8 hours!

Pic No. 1 Iceberg wedge

Three week old lettuce origami (as attempted by a three year old) with vomited-up bukkake a la mode.

Pic No. 2: Onion soup

Pinched loaf cutlets with diarrhea coulis

Pic No. 3: Foie gras walnut brioche

Blood-lard casserole with demure cake of sculpted liposuction-bag creme

Pic No. 4: Hotate uni miso

Toe-smegma soufflé with slow-cooked sewer carp

Pic No. 5: Pasta handkerchiefs

Harvested fresh direct to your plate from the diaper of an eighteen month old who found the stash of squash baby food

Pic No. 6 No description provided

Meal recovered from alien spacecraft at Roswell and radioactively preserved until the year 2013

Pic No. 7: Watermelon and goat cheese

Watermelon and comedone sculpture after “treatment” by artist Andres Serrano

Pic No 8: Homemade “Persian” meal

Various lifeforms found growing under the ocean near the Fukushima disaster site

Pic No. 9: matsutake mushroom soup

Formaldehyde brain sausage slices with spinal cord jelly in pus broth

Pic No. 10: Bass from Grenouille restaurant, NY

Seven-month old Chef Boyardee ravioli in mold reduction with steamed jumbo caterpillar larvae

Pic No. 10 Seaweed bone marrow

Rabid dog saliva foam with horked-up cream of mushroom soup and doll house furniture

Pic No. 11 ???

Synchronized swimming tapeworms carpaccio

Daily Vegan Lunch for 17 November, 2013: Tofu Pancit

Another veganized Pinoy (Philippines) recipe. I never tried Filipino cuisine until now — it was too meat-centric and after all I was vegetarian for 20 years before becoming vegan 3 years ago. I thought pancit was a real winner and so did my husband. It’s tasty, fresh, and comforting.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 package of thin rice noodles

Warm water, for soaking

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup extra firm tofu, sliced, patted dry, and crumbled

1.5 cup onion, chopped

1.5 cups snow peas

3/4 cup shredded or chopped carrots

1.5 cups shredded cabbage

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup strong vegetable broth or 1/2 cup vegetable broth and 1/4 cup soy sauce

Vegetarian mushroom “oyster” sauce, if you can find it, or salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Put noodles to soak in about 3 cups of warm (not hot) water.

Slice tofu and pat it dry with paper towels or a clean towel. In a large pan, bring oil to the smoking point. Quickly stir-fry tofu in oil until it is brown, about 1 minute. Take the heat down to medium. Add onions, fry until they begin to soften. Add garlic, cabbage, and snow peas. Stir fry about 3 minutes. Drain noodles and add to the pan. I use reserved water from the drained noodles to make the vegetable broth.

Add vegetable broth and carrots to the noodle pan, mix in. Keep stirring the mixture until noodles until they absorb the broth, about 3 more minutes.

Salt to taste or use mushroom oyster sauce.