For the Love of Gadgets and Sisters

I'm a gadget person.  Yes, I'll stand up and admit it before everyone.  I'm a gadget junkie.  Recently, I bought a microwave PC.  I have a regular PC, but the sales pitch of how it starts cooking in the microwave before it comes up to pressure lured me into getting one.  Of course, the day I received it, I HAD to try it out.

I made a recipe in the user guide that came with it.  It is Quick Mexican Rice and Beans.  I changed the recipe a bit.  I omitted the cheese and used brown rice instead of white, water instead of chicken stock, and cooked (from dry) black beans instead of red beans.  In essence, I had to veganize it.  Here's what I used:

1½ cups of long grain brown rice
2 cups of water
1 cup of salsa
1½ cups of black beans (cooked from dry)
½ teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon of chili powder
½ teaspoon of jalapeno flakes

I put it all into the microwave PC and cooked it for about 22 minutes total.  I let the pressure release naturally (took about 10 minutes).

I've been eating the rice all week, but the last few days, I made it into a wrap.  I bought Whole Grain Tortillas that had 13 gr. of fiber per tortilla.  I added Valentina Salsa Picante (the BEST Mexican hot sauce, I swear), shredded lettuce, 1 teaspoon of Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, and a few (half dozen maybe) jalapeno slices.  It made a very tasty wrap!  I am sorry to say, I didn't get pictures of the rice or the wrap and now the rice is gone.  C'est la vie!

The second gadget I used this week was my Kindle.  I love my Kindle.  Period.  It is one of the best gadgets that I bought for myself.  However, I never use it to buy cookbooks.  I prefer paper cookbooks.  I like to look at the pictures, page through the cookbook, compare different recipes.  It's just easier to do with a paper cookbook.  That's what I thought before I bought a cookbook for my Kindle.  That's actually what I still think, but getting a cookbook on the Kindle isn't bad.

This week, I bought The Vegan Slow Cooker - Quick, Easy, Hot N Delicious for my Kindle.  It was a whopping $3.99.  It only has 20 recipes.  I was thinking it was a nice, little introduction to a cookbook on the Kindle.  I was right.  The Corn Chowder recipe caught my eye.  I've been looking for a good, no make that GREAT corn chowder recipe.  (This one is good, but I'm still looking.)

The funny thing about this cookbook is that it gives the on-top-of-the-stove directions and then, almost as an afterthought, gives slow cooker directions, if you even get them.  An example is the Amazing Lentil Stew states, "Would probably work in a slow cooker too."  I would NOT recommend this cookbook for slow cooker recipes.

The Corn Chowder recipe was pretty straightforward.  So, of course, I changed it to make it mine.  I didn't have any silken tofu, so I used extra firm tofu pureed with some unsweetened almond milk until smooth.  Also, I added about 1½ tablespoons of nutritional yeast.  I doubled the cumin and used dried thyme.

I used my absolute favorite chopping gadget, the Vidalia Chop Wizard.  I did not get mine at Amazon.com.  I bought mine at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  I believe Target also sells them.  The choppers are $19.99 at either place.  This recipe called for ¼" chop of the onion, celery, carrot, and potatoes.  I used the small grid for the veggies and every single piece was uniform in size and shape.  I LOVE that thing.  Takes only a few minutes to chop everything versus how long it would take by hand.  There is absolutely no comparison.

Personally, I didn't like the tofu in the soup.  Now, I'll admit that's probably because I used extra firm tofu.  It may have turned out much better if it was silken.  It didn't have a grainy texture, but it had a grainy appearance.  Perhaps that was from the nutritional yeast, but I doubt it.  I'm just not a big person on tofu in soup as a thickener.  Next time, I'll cook the broth down and just add unsweetened almond milk. 

The soup had a nice flavor, but I honestly can't see it reheating well.  It made a fairly big pot.  The recipe called for 5 cups of water or broth and I only used 4 cups.  However, there is way more than I could eat and I just can't see the grainy texture improving upon reheating.  We'll see though.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Tomorrow, I'll be making something with portabella mushrooms as I have 4 huge mushroom caps that I MUST use.  I also have some broccoli rabe and some Brussels sprouts to use up.  Looks like I'll be paging through my recipe books tonight and tomorrow morning.

For the Love of Sisters

Finally, I leave you with a picture of Kobe and Jordan that my son took today.  This picture perfectly captures For the Love of Sisters.  These two dogs, both adopted from the Animal Welfare League 18 months apart, are as close as sisters born in the same litter.  Even now, as I type, they are laying about 1½ feet apart.  Kobe wakes Jordan up in the morning and they go outside together.  They make my heart smile.  I thought I'd share one of the precious moments I get to experience.

My Week and Veggies

I begin with a picture of Kobe Bean who is proudly standing over the mess that she and Jordan have made on the deck.  They are always quite proud when they can tip over a pot of dirt or drag the kiddie pool off of the deck and fill it with a million little tooth puncture marks.  Yes, I will be getting a new pool for Kobe this summer.  :::smile:::

I continue with a picture of Jordan standing on the hot tub enjoying the morning out in the sun and fresh air.  Skittles, the Yorkie, is somewhere in the house snoozing. 

Next, I present a picture of my lemon tree.  I'm in the Chicago area.  Winter is NOT friendly to citrus trees.  I've had the lemon tree for almost (not quite) two years.  The first year, it had about a half dozen leaves.  Last summer, it had a growth spurt and was filled with new leaves and branches.  That is, of course, until I brought it in the house and left it in my kitchen for the winter.  The French doors in my kitchen face north, so there is no direct sunlight.

I don't really have a good window for the plant, so I was going to take it into my office and leave it there.  (I have a wall full of east windows that I thought would be great for it.)  However, that never happened.  I needed to top off the dirt and then it was absolutely freezing in Chicago, so I was afraid of shocking (and killing) the tree.  I have the fluorescent light bulbs in the kitchen, and they must have given the lemon tree more light than I imagined, as it didn't drop "ALL" of its leaves, just most of them.

So, I'm looking at the plant about a week ago and see tiny bumps that look like buds.  There are 5 of them.  I'm thinking, "Could these possibly be lemons?!?!?!"  I really doubted it as the tree has been in my kitchen dropping leaves all winter.  A week later, I am sure ... my lemon tree has 5 lemons growing on it.  This "tree" is pretty much just a branch and if it was on a Charlie Brown cartoon, it would be the summer equivalent of his Christmas tree.  We'll see how this goes.

As you can see, the lemon tree is a pitiful tree, but it is growing some fruit.  How amazing is that?!?  I'll post a few progress pictures as the lemons get bigger.

OK, so I actually did cook this week.  I roasted a head of cauliflower (that had frozen in my bottom produce drawer of my fridge) and a pound of Brussels sprouts.  I drizzled a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over them and sprinkled them with sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika.  I roasted them at 400º for about 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I made Brown Rice with Vegetables in my new multi-cooker.  It is a rice cooker (separate cycles for brown and white), slow cooker, and a steamer.  :)  I sauteed onion, celery, and mushrooms (baby bellas), and then added 3 cups of a brown rice blend (love mixing up those brown rices), water, and one no-chicken and one low sodium veggie bouillon cube.  After the rice was done cooking, I added about ¼ cup of finely chopped raw pecans and ½ cup of craisins.  This is a variation of one of the recipes that came with the multi-cooker.  I had to change some of the ingredients to vegan versions and I added baby bellas.

The cooking cycle for the brown rice is much longer than I anticipated.  Evidently, the multi-cooker cooks it at a lower temperature for a longer period of time.  The rice turned out absolutely wonderful.  Now that I know the cooking time is longer, I'll be able to adjust my cooking coordination so that everything is done at the same time.  Although I ate the dishes separately, they were both extremely tasty ... even as leftovers for lunch at work the next day.

Wine-Infused Mushroom Gravy with Brown Rice and Crunchy Sweet Brussels Sprouts

I cooked forever tonight.  First, I made my sons their dinner, then I started on mine.  I threw some brown rice and water in my rice cooker so whenever my meal was done, the rice would be ready.

I had a pound of sliced mushrooms in my fridge that had to be used TO-NIGHT or I was going to have to toss them.  I searched for an hour or more to find something that I thought would be good.  I finally settled on a dish from the Fat Free Vegan website for E's Super-Awesome Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms.  But, once I started dicing and slicing, I wasn't so sure.  I decided to shred the Brussels sprouts instead of just halve them, and then I decided I needed to do something altogether different.

First, I sauteed the onions.  After they were soft, I added the mushrooms.  They cooked for about 10 minutes and were soft, but were still quite watery, so I cooked them another 5 minutes or so.  I turned off the burner and added a couple of tablespoons of flour.  I used white all-purpose, but only had a tablespoon or less of that.  Since I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go to my flour stash, I grabbed the closest thing to me, which was oat flour.  I made sure the mushrooms were coated.  I added a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast and stirred to coat the mushrooms.  I added a tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce, 1 no-beef bouillon cube, and 2/3 cup of water.  I turned the burner back on and let the mushroom gravy simmer.

The bottle of Pinot Noir was sitting next to the pan, so I thought, "What the heck?" and I added a healthy splash of wine to the gravy.  I let the gravy simmer until the liquid was reduced and it was a bit thicker.

While the gravy simmered, I turned my attention to the slivered Brussels sprouts.  I had decided that I would make Crunchy Sweet Brussels Sprouts. However, I like my Brussels sprouts to have a bit of a kick, so I added 1/2 teaspoon of red cayenne pepper to liven them up.  It did, but just a bit.

I sauteed the Brussels sprouts in a little olive oil until they were bright green and a little wilted.  I'm thinking I cooked them between 8 and 10 minutes total on a medium burner.

Once the Brussels sprouts were done, I added a healthy handful of craisins and about a tablespoon or so of slivered almonds.

All that was left was to dish the rice, gravy, and sprouts on my plate and refresh my wine.  And, so I did and enjoyed every morsel! :)

Here's what I did for the mushroom gravy.

Wine-Infused Mushroom Gravy

16 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used regular button mushrooms)
1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, diced (I forgot this and used 1 teaspoon of garlic powder)
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1-2 tablespoons of flour
1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce (can use Braggs)
1 no-beef bouillon cube
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup red wine (I used Pinot Noir - Blackstone about $9 a bottle)

Heat a large skillet.  (I used a wok.)  Add the olive oil and heat until warm; add onions.  Saute the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until all moisture is released and reduced by half.  Sprinkle with flour; stir to coat mushrooms.  Add nutritional yeast and stir to coat the mushrooms.  Add soy sauce, bouillon cube, water, and red wine.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced and is the desired "gravy" consistency.

This is good over brown rice, potatoes, or seitan.  It makes enough for 2 to 4 servings, depending on how greedy you are.  :::chuckle:::  Enjoy!

I'm closing with My Girl, Kobe Bean.  Her surgery scar (ACL surgery) is still visible on back leg and she still limps a bit, but she's getting better.  She's My Girl. :)

Latin Baked Tofu with Dirty Red Beans and Rice

Tonight I cooked two new dishes.  I made Latin Baked Tofu from Cadry's Kitchen.  I believe the recipe is actually from Viva Vegan with a few modifications.  I made it exactly as the recipe appears on Cadry's Kitchen, but I used a different beer and hot sauce. I also made Dirty Red Beans and Rice from 500 Vegan Recipes.  OK, I didn't have any red beans.  I could have sworn I had a can of them, but alas, I did not.  So, I used pinto beans.  I also used a brown rice mixture instead of long grain white rice.  I rarely eat white rice and I don't keep it in the house.

I baked the tofu for 20 minutes in olive oil and soy sauce.  I have used lower sodium soy sauce for years, so I don't notice any difference in flavor.  After the initial 20 minutes, I flipped the tofu and poured the marinade over it.  My pan was way too big for this as I didn't end up with any sauce by the time the baking was done.  However, the tofu still had a nice flavor.

While the tofu was baking for the final half hour, I started making the Dirty Red Beans and Rice.  I sauteed the onion, green pepper, and celery. While the trinity was sauteing, I put the rice, beans, water, soy, and a low sodium vegetable bouillon cube in the rice cooker.  

After the trinity was done cooking, I added it to the rice cooker with the rice and beans. 

 All I had to do at this point was close the lid to the rice cooker and press "cook" and let it do its thing.  I love the rice cooker.  It makes cooking rice dishes a no brainer for me and frees me up to concentrate on other aspects of the meal.

About 40 minutes later, the rice was done.  Since I used a mixture of brown rices, it took longer to cook, but I like the extra nutrition I get from using brown rice.  The tofu had finished baking and was in the oven keeping warm, so as soon as the rice was done, I was ready to dish it up and eat.

The finishing touch for me was to add a splash of Louisiana Hot Sauce on the rice.  It was the hot sauce brand I used for the Latin Baked Tofu, so I thought it would complement the meal and it did.  I didn't use it on the tofu, but it was heaven on the rice.

I'll definitely make this again.  It was an easy to make meal that didn't have a foot-long list of ingredients.  It was nice for a Saturday evening meal.  I'm thinking I can just add some vegan sausage to the rice and make some cornbread or other fresh bread and it would be a fantastic meal all by itself.

Mediterranean Brown Rice

When I was a young teen, my mother picked a LOT of asparagus and we blanched it and froze it.  We had fresh tasting asparagus all winter long.  I think that's when my love affair with asparagus began.  When I was at the grocery store yesterday, I saw some lovely asparagus.  My mother taught me the skinnier the stalk, the more tender the asparagus.  When the stalks get too thick, the asparagus can be woody.  So, when I ran across a recipe for Mediterranean Brown Rice on Just the Food, I had to try it.

The dish was relatively easy to fix and the ingredient list wasn't overwhelming.  Before I began chopping, I threw some brown rice in my rice cooker.  I washed and cut up my asparagus and some sundried tomatoes.

I sauteed the asparagus, garlic, and sundried tomatoes.  While it was cooking, I cut up the basil, warmed my lemon in the microwave for 20 seconds and cut it in half.

 

When the asparagus was tender, I added the spinach.  As soon as the spinach was wilted, I added some brown rice, then the lemon, and then the basil.  I dished it up and sprinkled it with freshly ground black pepper and a few pine nuts.

This dish has very fresh flavors.  I like the lemon.  It wasn't overwhelming.  In fact, I think it could have been a much more predominant flavor, so I may add more.  I love basil in anything.  It's my favorite fresh herb, hands down.  I will make this again, but I may add some mushrooms next time and maybe some sauteed tofu.  This is a really nice meal for Spring. :)

Pecan Dirty Rice with Spicy and Lemony Mushrooms

I had 2 packages of baby portabello mushrooms in my refrigerator that absolutely NEEDED to be cooked and eaten.  I had researched stuffing them over the weekend, but did I do that?  NO!  :::grin:::  So today, when I read the Vegan Epicurean blog with recipes for Pecan Dirty Rice and Spicy and Lemony Mushrooms, I was hooked.  The recipes are in the lower half of the blog entry using the recipe link above.

Both recipes are oil free.  The rice has cinnamon, allspice, Italian herbs, ginger, crush red pepper flakes, and pecans in it.  It is a delightful combination of herbs and spices.  I used a brown rice blend that I get in the bulk section at Whole Foods.  I only fixed 1 cup of rice because I wasn't sure if I would like the spice blend.  Man, do I!  This is a wonderful rice dish.

The cooking technique for the mushrooms was just to add all of the ingredients, put it in a pan, cover, and cook over a medium flame.  There was no stirring while cooking, no oil, no water.  The only moisture was the juice from the lemon, and the moisture the mushrooms would release.  I was skeptical of this method, but followed the directions, and the mushrooms turned out lovely.

I used about a teaspoon of fresh thyme instead of 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme.  I will say, you MUST like lemon for this mushroom dish.  If you don't like lemon, this is not the dish for you.  The tartness of the zest contrasted with the heat of the crushed red pepper flakes is delightful.  I love the dish and will definitely be making this one again.  Thanks to Vegan Epicurean for sharing these two recipes with us!

Tokay Mustard Sauce with Vegan Filet Mignon

I follow a wonderful blog called The Iowa Housewife.  It's not a vegan blog.  It's a "life" blog.  Sue and her sister Myrna post delicious recipes.  Sue cooks and Myrna bakes. (OK, that's simplifying it, but they are very talented!)  And although blog isn't vegan, I have gotten wonderful recipes from this blog.  It's probably my favorite blog.  It's one of those blogs that I can get lost in for an hour and be delighted with the cooking tips, recipes, and stories that are posted.

Tonight was one of those nights that I got lost on Sue's blog and ran across a recipe for Cognac Mustard Sauce that I wanted to modify for my Vegan Filet Mignon.  And, I did!  It doesn't look as elegant as Sue's sauce, which is a deep, rich brown, but it was extremely tasty.  Since I made 6 Vegan Filet Mignon on Christmas Day and I only ate 1, I thought I should find tasty recipes to use the rest in.  (I froze 4 portions.)

The sauce is pretty easy to pull together.  Melt the Earth Balance in a measuring cup in the microwave and then combine all of the other ingredients.  I used a Tokay port wine, since I didn't have any cognac.  Tokay has a raisin and tapioca taste to me, so I thought it would work.  I sliced the Vegan Filet Mignon, placed it in a skillet, and poured the Tokay Mustard Sauce over the seitan and cooked it on medium for about 5 minutes.

While I made the sauce and warmed it with the seitan, I had thrown 3 scoops of an organic brown rice blend (bulk section of Whole Foods) in my rice cooker.  I added a No-Beef Bouillon cube to the water along with 1 teaspoon of Earth Balance, so the rice wouldn't foam up.

When the rice flipped to "warm," I was ready to dish up my plate and eat.  I had sliced Vegan Filet Mignon with Tokay Mustard Sauce and brown rice.  I posted my modified recipe of Sue's Cognac Mustard Sauce below.

Tokay Mustard Sauce

4 teaspoons Earth Balance

2 tablespoons SO Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer

2 tablespoons Tokay (port dessert wine)

2 teaspoons coarse ground Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

Vegan Filet Mignon, thinly sliced

Melt the Earth Balance in the microwave and then add the remaining ingredients.  Whisk together (will look a little grainy).  Slice the seitan and put it in a skillet.  Pour sauce over the seitan and heat through, about 5 minutes or so.  

Thanks to Iowa Sue for a wonderful recipe!!!  :)

Hunan Fried Rice

For dinner tonight, I made Hunan Fried Rice on page 188 of the Vegan Fire and Spice cookbook by Robin Robertson.  The flavors in this dish are very good.  I added about 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes for a bit more spice, but it still wasn't spicy enough for my liking, so I'll add more the next time I make it.

After making brown rice and putting 3 cups in the refrigerator to cool and marinating the tofu, I chopped veggies and added the red bell pepper and green onion to the pan.  

I threw in a cup or so of cabbage, and sauteed the veggies for 2 minutes until they were tender crisp.

After two minutes, I added the marinated tofu and cooked it until the marinade was absorbed.

Finally, I added about 3 cups of brown rice and sauteed it until the rice was heated through and it was thoroughly combined with the tofu mixture.

It may have been prettier if I had used white rice, but I was going for nutrition, so I used a brown rice mixture.  

I really like this dish.  I think it has great flavors that melded really well.  I will make it again.  However, when I make it again, I'm going to try a few changes to see if I can perfect it to my specific liking.  

I didn't like the tofu cubes.  They weren't browned as they were added after the veggies had cooked.  This resulted in a spongy texture.  I've only eaten tofu a couple of times, so this was new to me and was very disturbing at first.  Most traditional fried rice dishes have scrambled egg in them,  not cubes of egg.  The next time I make this, I'm going to try making a tofu scramble and set it aside and then add it where the recipe calls for it.  If that's not successful, then I'll brown the tofu and add the browned cubes.  I think that would actually add be a better choice as it would add more flavor to the dish. 

Another change I'll make is adding more cabbage.  Instead of 1 cup, I'll add 2 cups at least.  I so enjoyed the cabbage in the dish.  It was just yummy!  And, of course, I'll add more red pepper flakes, probably a tablespoon.  This is in addition to the cayenne pepper that the recipe lists, although that's only 1/4 teaspoon, so that's not much heat at all.  In fact, this would be good with the browned tofu cubes without the rice.  That would be an excellent.  I had no clue that I would like stir fried cabbage so much, but I am definitely HOOKED!

This is the first dish I have made out of the Vegan Fire and Spice cookbook.  It was a winner!  I will definitely be trying more recipes out of this cookbook.

My Idea of an EASY Dinner

It's my week to close the office.  That means I stay until all of the employees leave.  The office officially closes at 5PM, but it's generally 5:10PM to 5:30PM before I leave.  Today, it was about 5:10PM.  I realized I was out of wet dog food, which is a problem as my 11 y.o. Yorkie only has about 3 teeth left and she can't eat dry food.  So, I had to stop for dog food, along with another errand.  I also realized that I had no clue what I was going to fix my sons for dinner or myself.  I knew I wouldn't be back home until around 7PM, which is far too late to do any heavy cooking. Luckily, the boys were easy and asked for Quiznos.  (Yes, I know ... but they eat meat most of the time. I'm trying to convert them slowly.  Forcing them won't work at 19 and 21 years old.)  That left me.

I have not had plain rice and veggies in a while.  I'm not talking about stir fry, but rather rice cooked in my rice cooker with veggies steamed in the steamer basket above the rice.  I had a brown rice mixture in my pantry.  I cooked half of that package and about a quarter of a big bag of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.  It is the most simple meal, but I really like it.  I didn't throw any spices into the rice while it cooked, just water.  It's a plain meal, but tastes great.  I had enough of the rice and veggies for another dinner (probably tomorrow).  I even had enough rice to give both of my big dogs a spoonful.  Like me, the girls (my dogs) love freshly cooked rice.  So, it was my EASY dinner night. :)  

Over the weekend, I will make a stir fry with some of the veggies and some tofu.  The veggies would also be great in a cold whole wheat pasta salad.  Hmmm...I think I have enough to make both.