The Clean Out Continues

By Monica on January 22nd, 2008

This week I’ve forced myself to do something with the obscene amount of lentils and beans that have been hiding in my pantry since the last ice age. Despite the frigid weather, I’m not in the mood for soup lately, so using the beans and lentils is becoming a challenge. If anyone has suggestions for them other than soups, salads, or burgers, send suggestions my way!

Up first we have perhaps my favorite use for black beans - Southwestern Pasta Salad. It’s packed with chili powder and cumin, so it satisfies a chili craving while being light enough to call a salad.

I found a bag of tiny black lentils hiding, so I used those to make a quick lentil salad with a tomato-soy yogurt dressing, and threw in an avocado just to be saucy. A meal in itself!

But because woman cannot live on lentils alone, I put some aging bananas to use with a wholewheat version of Sarah Kramer’s Banana Waffles. I need to drag my waffle iron out more often, these are so good!

And last, but not least, a good use for a can of cherries that had been stowed away in the pantry. Honestly, I don’t even remember buying some of the things in there! Cherry Coffee Cake:

Southwestern Pasta Salad
8 oz. pasta
1/3c canola oil
1/4c fresh lime juice
2T chili powder
2t cumin
1/2t salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2c whole kernel corn
15 oz. canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2c diced green pepper
1/2c diced red pepper
1/2c fresh cilantro
1c chopped tomato

Cook pasta al dente.
In a large bowl, combine oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt, and garlic. Stir in cooked pasta and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Stir in corn, green pepper, red pepper, cilantro, and tomato. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Cherry Coffee Cake
Cake:
1C sugar
1/2c softened EB
1c tofu sour cream
4T apple sauce
1t vanilla extract
2c flour
1 1/2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1 21oz. can cherries or cherry pie filling
Topping:
1/4c flour
1/4c sugar
1/4c chopped pecans
1t cinnamon
3T EB, cold

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1/2c EB in a large mixer bowl and beat at medium speed until creamy (1-2 minutes). Add sour cream, apple sauce, and vanilla and continue beating until well mixed. Add 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat again until well mixed.

Spread half of batter into greased and floured 13×9″ pan. Spoon cherries over batter. Spoon remaining batter over cherries and spread carefully.

Stir together 1/4c flour, 1/4c sugar, pecans, and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in 3T EB until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and topping is dark golden brown.

The Thanksgiving Post

By Monica on November 23rd, 2007

This year was the first year of my adult life that I did not host Thanksgiving dinner.  I have a small family and this year the crowd would have been a measly three people, hardly worth cooking for.  So I made the executive decision to trek down to the Chicago Diner for their 25th Annual Vegan Thanksgiving.  Let someone else cook and do dishes, was my motto.

The diner was all dressed up for the big event:  fall colored cloth napkins, pumpkin candles on all the tables, the music was slightly toned down from the usual punk sounds, and all the servers were even wearing clothes their mothers probably approved of.

Upon seating, we were presented with a basket filled with adorable little muffins and rolls, breadsticks, and herb ‘butter’.

First out was a field green salad with champagne vinaigrette.

Next up was Roasted Squash and Apple Soup with Maple Pepitas.  This was really the masterpiece of the meal, for me, absolutely fabulous.

And finally, onto the main course.  Mumsy & I had the Roasted Veggie Turkey which was oven baked tofu with chestnut stuffing and gravy. All the entrees came with cranberry relish, 7 grain stuffing, green beans almondine, wild rice pilaf, and maple mashed sweet potatoes.

Ray had the Beefy Wellington, really an impressive sight! It was a pastry crust with seitan, mushroom pate and tofu filling, covered in peppercorn sauce.

Last but not least, chocolate pumpkin cheezcake.  Oh. My. Hell.  There had to be a 1/2″ thick layer of chocolate on top of this baby and the piece of cheezcake is mammoth.  If there’s one thing the diner does better than anyone, it’s cheezcake.  This terrible picture is a shameful tribute, but it was dark in there!

While I did miss cooking for everyone, I am very glad we had a welcoming veggie place to eat at.  My mother, who I’ve turned into ‘half-a-vegan’, was a good sport and enjoyed herself as much as Ray and I.  Actually, she’d never been into this part of Chicago and was delighted at how nice Boys Town is.

And for the obligatory sobby, What-I’m-Thankful-For component of this blog post, today I’m thankful that Sampson is still with us.  He’s at home now after I was taught how to give him IV fluids and all his meds.  Keep sending him vegan hugs, they seem to be working!

Wait, one more thing!  Adopt a turkey!  For a one-time $20 adoption fee, adopters receive a color photograph of their turkey, an adoption certificate and a year subscription to Farm Sanctuary’s quarterly newsletter. The adoption fee provides funds for feed, bedding and veterinary care for the turkey.  This year we adopted Moth.  Ain’t  she lovely?

Curse you, broken taco shells!

By Monica on September 15th, 2007

This started off as a taco dinner. I opened the box of shells at the last minute to start stuffing them, only to discover that they were all broken. Lesson learned: do not buy Aldi taco shells.

I make all my taco dishes using Textured Vegetable Protein.
To make the equivalent of 1 pound of ground beef, I use:
1 1/2c TVP
1 1/4c water
1 package of taco seasoning
and simmer them together under medium heat until the water is absorbed.

So with tacos clearly out of the question, I spread refried beans into the bottom of a bowl, added the faux taco meat on top, then some chopped lettuce, onions, tomatoes, black olives, fresh jalepenos, and a dollop of homemade salsa. The only thing missing is guacamole. The broken taco shells became chips around the bowl’s rim, and it almost looks like I created this on purpose.