Kimberly Steele's Blog, page 8

Daily Vegan Lunch for 6 November, 2013: Lentil, Tomato, and Greens Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon oil

1.5 cups onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic (1 tablespoon) minced

1 teaspoon jerk seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne)

2 cups cooked lentils or one can store-bought lentil soup

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or stewed tomatoes and their juice

3 cups chard. chopped

3 cups spinach leaves

1 tablespoon peanut butter

4 cups vegetable broth

Fake bacon bits, to serve

DIRECTIONS:

If you are making lentils from scratch, combine half a cup of lentils with 3 cups broth in a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium. Let simmer for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

In a large pot, fry onion in oil at medium heat until onion is translucent. Add peanut butter, garlic, and jerk seasoning or spices, fry until peanut butter dissolves. Add the spinach and chard and tomatoes. Simmer until greens wilt, about 2 minutes. Douse in 4 cups vegetable broth. Heat through and serve with fake bacon bits on top.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 5 November, 2013: Chard Apple Coconut Water Smoothie

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups Swiss chard, chopped roughly

2 cups coconut water or normal water

3 dates

1 frozen banana, chopped roughly

1 apple with skin, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth.

Cute Mushrooms Outside the Apartment

I tried to look these up on the internet to see what they were and did not find any answers. There is a common mushroom in Illinois called the lepiota but these seemed too long and ovoid to be them.

My Halloween Costume!

So sad Halloween is over for another year.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 4 November, 2013: Deluxe Hot & Sour Soup

This is the perfect cold weather soup.

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups water

1.5 cups cloud ear mushrooms, rehydrated (you can use any type of mushroom though)

2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon

1 cup shredded bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained

1 cup firm tofu, cubed

1/2 cup peas or shelled eda mame (I used eda mame because I am out of peas)

1/2 cup additional water

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon hot sauce or Sriacha

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Soak the mushrooms for up to 2 hours. Cut them into shreds or bite size pieces. Discard stems. Bring the broth or water and Better Than Bouillon to a boil in a large pot. You do not have to use veggie broth at all in this recipe, just add more salt and soy sauce to make up for the saltiness of broth and don’t forget to add the mushroom soaking water. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the tofu, bamboo shoots, peas or eda make, and mushrooms. Allow it to simmer about five minutes. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch, additional water, black pepper, hot sauce, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl until it is a slurry. Add the slurry to the soup and stir until thickened. Top with sesame oil before serving.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 3 November, 2013: Spicy Tomato Alfredo Penne with Chard

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups cooked penne, ziti, or farfalle pasta

4 cups chard, shredded

Sauce

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup soaked cashews OR if you do not have a great blender, 3/4 cup cashew butter

1 tomato or 1.5 cups chopped tomato

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon hot sauce or to taste

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/4 to 1/2 cup of water

The sauce ingredients in the blender:

DIRECTIONS:

Cook pasta to al dente, drain and set aside. Combine all sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. In a pan, stir-fry the chard on medium heat in a little oil or water until it wilts, about one to two minutes. Mix chard, cooked pasta, and creamy sauce. I used a lovely chard called “rainbow chard” that was deep, lush green with red stems.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 2 November, 2013: Kidney Bean and Torn Corn Tortilla Enchiladas

The layers: corn tortillas on the bottom, olives, onion, lettuce

Makes two big servings.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon oil

5 corn tortillas

6 cups V-8 (tomato vegetable juice cocktail)

1 cup chopped black olives

1.5 cups raw onion

8 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped

2 cups kidney beans or veggie taco meat

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-chop olives, onion, and lettuce. Bring oil to medium-high heat in a frying pan. Tear tortillas into small bits and fry them in the oil for about 1 minute. Alternately, fry tortillas and wait for them to cool before tearing them into bits. Evenly distribute a layer of corn tortillas on the bottom of each of two plates. Heat the V-8 in the microwave or on the stove top until it is almost boiling. Layer the plates with beans, onion, and lettuce on the top. Gently pour the hot V-8 over the plates. Eat immediately — this dish does not save or reheat well.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 1 November: Cloud Ear Mushroom Fried Rice

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups rice, preferably long grain, cooked and then refrigerated or frozen

1.5 cups any kind of mushrooms, I used dried cloud ear mushrooms also known as Chinese black fungus

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup green onions

2 teaspoons mushroom vegetarian oyster sauce or soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Soak mushrooms for 2 hours to reconstitute if you are using dehydrated ones.  Drain them in a colander and set aside.  Prepare ingredients and place them stove side.  Be sure to use refrigerated or frozen rice as only then will it  be firm enough to stand up to heat.

In a large pan, heat the oil to the smoking point.  Add the mushrooms and the rice.  Stir fry about one minute.  Add the spinach, mushroom or soy sauce, and green onions.  Toss to combine until evenly distributed.  Finish with sesame seed oil and salt, mix through, and take off heat.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 31 October, 2013: Shepherd’s Pie With Puff Pastry

Delicious lentil stew underneath a puff pastry crust.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dry brown lentils

4 cups water for cooking lentils

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups onions, chopped

1.5 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup peas (I used frozen)

1.5 cups chopped potato

4 plus 1 cups water

2 broth cubes or 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon

2 cups stewed chopped tomatoes or fire-roasted tomatoes

1 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika

1 teaspoon sage

3/4 cup flour

1 thawed puff pastry crust, I used Pepperidge Farm brand

DIRECTIONS:

Thaw puff pastry sheet overnight in the refrigerator. Alternately, thaw it by letting it sit on the countertop for 2 hours.

In a small pot, combine lentils and lentil cooking water. Bring to a boil. Stir and turn heat down to medium. Simmer uncovered for 50 – 60 minutes, or until lentils have absorbed the water and are soft.

Meanwhile, fry onions in oil in a very large pot on medium-high heat until onions are translucent. Add the carrot and potato, stir-fry for about 1 minute more. Add sage and paprika, wait about 30 seconds. Douse with 4 cups water and bouillon cubes/Better Than Bouillon, reserving 1 cup of water for later. Cook until potatoes are tender. Depending on the potato, this can happen in anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes. I used red potatoes and for some weird reason, they took a small eternity to cook. I suggest using Yukon Gold potatoes. They are a fast cooking potato. Add the peas once the potatoes are either nearly done or done.

Add tomatoes to stew.

Mix reserved 1 cup of water with 3/4 cup flour into a slurry. Add this slurry to the stew and stir until it thickens, about 2 minutes.

Dump or ladle half of the stew into a 13 x 13 casserole dish. There will be enough stew to make another casserole (puff pastry usually comes in packs of 2 by the way), to freeze, or just to eat. Cover the 13 x 13 dish with thawed puff pastry sheet. Trim the edges to fit and make sure to vent the top so you don’t have exploding Shepherd’s Pie.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 30 October, 2013: Shredded Vegetables and Peanut Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons oil

2 cups julienned bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained (buy big cans from an Asian market)

1 cup shredded carrot

1.5 cups shredded white or green cabbage or napa cabbage

1.5 cups shredded red cabbage

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 teaspoons soy sauce or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Chop and/or prepare all ingredients and set them near the stove. In a large pan, bring oil to the smoking point at high heat. Add bamboo shoots, stir fry 30 seconds. Add the cabbages and toss around for about 30 seconds. Add carrots, stir. Turn the heat down to medium-high. Make a well in the center of the vegetables and add garlic. Wait 30 seconds, add peanut butter and soy sauce. Once the peanut butter begins to melt, stir everything to incorporate. Top with green onions and serve with rice.