Archive for November, 2008
Things that come from a pot…
By Monica on November 19th, 2008
It’s sicky season at my house and I am not coping well with the weather changes. Illinois barely had any summer, almost no autumn, and now it’s snowing. Clearly it’s time for soup, chili, and other warm comfort foods that one makes giant batches of in pots!
Up first is Cheezy Potato Tomato soup from Vegan Vittles. This is my latest favorite Vittles recipe, though admittedly it changes by the week. Have I mentioned how much I love this cookbook? With an abundance of pimentos, nooch, and tahini, this is perfect for warming you up.
Even more from Vegan Vittles - Chili Mac! How can you go wrong? The only change I make to the recipe is to literally double each and every one of the spices. I’m of the opinion that life is too short for bland chili!
And lastly, Happy-Chicken Noodle Soup, for Ray who has been sicky-poo for a couple of weeks now. While it may have seemed like an act of compassion, I was actually desperate to use up some orzo in the pantry, but he doesn’t need to know that…
Happy-Chicken Noodle Soup
2C TVP Chunks
6C Water, separated
2 cubes No-Chicken Bullion
2T vegetable oil
2 carrots, diced
2C celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
2 button mushrooms, sliced
1C orzo
1/2t corriander
1/2t pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2C fresh parsley
In a small bowl, rehydrate the TVP chunks in 2 cups of warm water and the bullion cubes. Allow it to soak while you prepare everything else.
To a large pot, add the oil, carrots, onion, and celery - cook until onion is translucent.
Add the garlic and mushrooms, cook for one minute longer.
Add the TVP and all the remaining bullion broth, add the remaining 4 cups of water, the orzo, corriander, pepper, and bay leaf. Cook for about 25 minutes, or until orzo and carrots are tender.
Remove from heat, stir in the parsley and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
In keeping with Thanksgiving tradition, I also want to remind everyone that it’s time to adopt your annual Farm Sanctuary turkey! I look forward to picking out my turkey each fall; this year we picked Hannah.
Farm Sanctuary rescued Hannah after she and some siblings were abandoned in a carboard box behind a grocery center, left to perish under the hot California sun. Fortunately, Hannah now lives the good life at Farm Sanctuary and serves as an ambassador to compassionate living this holiday season. Visit Adopt-a-Turkey to pick out your own turkey!
Zelniky (Saurkraut Crackers)
By Monica on November 11th, 2008
I found this fun little gem over on Recipezaar, and it turned out to be a super easy, fun, delicious item I fully plan to incorporate into Thanksgiving. The saurkraut taste is pretty subtle so just wipe that idea of a nasty cabbage-cracker right out of your mind!
Zelniky - Czech Saurkraut Crackers
3C flour
1t white pepper
3/4 cup vegan margarine
2C saurkraut, drained
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease two baking sheets and set aside. Combine the flour and white pepper in a food processor, add the shortening, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the sauerkraut and pulse until the dough starts to form a ball.
Pinch off tablespoon-sized pieces of dough, roll each piece into a ball, and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a drinking glass to about a 1/4-inch thickness.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the crackers are golden brown and crisp.
And for the grand finale I topped them with some cranberry-horseradish, a little more saurkraut, and very thin slices of Julie Hasson’s sausages. Perfect little vegan fall-themed hors d’oeuvres!
Lastly, before I attempt to catch up on all of your blogs which I am shamefully behind on, I’ve been tagged by the lovely Eat A Vegan!
Four Places I Go Over and Over:
1. Las Vegas. I am a big fan of traveling to new places each vacation, but I still feel the need for a quick weekend in Las Vegas about once per year.
2. Little Village. This is the neighborhood the PAWS Chicago spay-neuter clinic is located in, so I spend a few days a month there waiting for my feral cats to be snipped. It’s home to a number of special landmarks to me including the cemeteries where most of my ancestors lay, 2 homes my great grandfather built that are still standing, 2 apartments my great grandmother rented that are still rentals, Vesecky’s Czech Bakery (who makes the best rye bread anywhere), and a number of amazing Czech restaurants that I can’t eat at!
3. My super secret, undisclosed, favorite thrift store. Last week I scored a brand new soy milk maker for $4.
4. “The barn” - to see my horse, of course!
Four People Who E-mail Me Regularly
1. Ray
2. An innumerable number of animal welfare outfits, I swear some of them must have a staff of thousands just writing emails all day long soliciting money. (I’m looking at you, Ingrid Newkirk…)
3. My brother, stealer of my ice cream maker.
4. Jellybean - a dear friend I’m slowly converting into both a vegetarian, and a crazy cat lady.
Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Prague.
2. At home, snuggled up on the couch with a host of warm, furry cats & dogs and a big blanket, watching a horror movie or reading any number of books I’m behind on.
3. Aboard the Steve Irwin, with Sea Shepherd, about to head into Antarctic waters. Too bad I require copious amounts of Dramamine to even look at a boat…
4. Oh geez, any number of places on my must-see travel list that I haven’t made it to yet: Greenland, Kenya, Greece, even Antarctica is on my list!
Four of My Favorite Places to Eat
1. The Chicago Diner - a no brainer!
2. Eduardo’s in Dekalb, IL. One of the very few local places that knows what vegan means, and can make any item on their menu with TVP chicken instead.
3. Fressen, Toronto. No explanation necessary!
4. Weird Fish, San Francisco.
Four TV Shows I Watch Over and Over
1. 90210, and not that awful new remake either. It’s my guilty pleasure, leave me alone! This is the only series I will watch re-runs of, making it extra special, and extra annoying to my husband.
2. Good Eats. Despite Alton’s love affair with eating carcass, I still find a lot to be learned in even the meat-centric shows.
3. Anything with Gordon Ramsay. I realize he’s a giant ass, but I’m willing to overlook that due to the extremely high entertainment value of watching him scream strange British obscenities at some unfortunate victim.
4. All the Charlie Brown holiday specials, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and anything featuring a Muppet. Despite denouncing Christmas, and despite having all of these on DVD, I must still watch them on TV every season for authenticity.
Four People I’m Tagging!
1. Virginia - Bananas & Soymilk
2. Monika - Dabbles with Apples
3. Liz - Kamutflake Girl