Stumbling Into Fall

Happy Labor Day!  I can't believe I haven't blogged anything here in over 4 months.  Things have been pretty hectic around here.  We got engaged at the end of June and have been trying to plan a wedding in 5 months, which is totally doable, but still crazy.  Also, I've been struggling with some health issues.  Back in March I started getting constant headaches, which was a big deal for me as I never really got those in the past.  After many trips to the doctor and many co-pays, turns out I have migraines triggered by a damaged nerve in the back of my head.  I've been on medicine which is helping, but it has made me have no appetite, therefore my desire to cook and create new recipes has completely gone away.  Anyway,  I decided that I still have to eat, and well so does Dan, so I am going to try and post some new recipes and photos of the food that we make.  

I know that it's only Labor Day and summer is still here, but I love Fall and always have.  I can't wait for it to come.  The colors, the smells, and the foods are all my favorites.  I'm working to force fall here as quickly as possible.  I was wanting some mushroom soup the other day, so made up this recipe for a rich, creamy, yet healthy and plant based soup.  It's so easy to make, you'll never by the canned stuff again.  I can see using this in Thanksgiving green bean casserole...hmmm...who needs to wait for Thanksgiving???  Hopefully you'll join me in welcoming Fall, perhaps more gracefully then I do.

Creamy Mushroom Soup
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups mushrooms, sliced (i used a mix of crimini and button but use whatever you have on hand)
1/4 cup white wine or champagne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1 package mori-nu silken tofu
1 cup vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

In a saute pan with a small amount of cooking spray of vegetable broth, add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.  Add mushrooms, salt, pepper and rosemary and cook until mushrooms are tender.  Deglaze pan with wine and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Allow mixture to cool for 10 minutes or so.  In a blender or food processor, add mixture, tofu, and broth and blend until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with green onions.  

Enjoy!  I also topped mine with Sriracha for a little added spice!

For those of you who want to keep summer around, this soup is actually really good served chilled as well.  

Leftover Makeover

I have a confession to make….I hate leftovers.  I force myself to eat them only to not end up throwing tons of food away but if I could go through life without having to eat another leftover I would be okay.  I tend to make extra food for convenience and not because I can’t wait to heat up a Tupperware of pasta and veggies that have been sitting around for 3 days.  But when you can make a whole new meal out of your leftovers, it is like a used car...new to you.

This week is a short week around our house as we are heading out to Southern California on Thursday for a 4-day visit.  While looking forward to that trip, I looked into my fridge to see that we had a lot of work to do in the eating department Monday-Wednesday if we didn’t want everything to spoil. 

Saturday I made some veggie fajitas for a dinner at my parent’s house.  Came home that night with some leftover veggies, corn tortillas, Spanish rice and some chipotle cashew sour cheese.  So I figured why not mix them all together in what I am calling my Super Mexican Veggie Lasagna. 

I also made these black bean brownies to go with...don't taste like black beans at all!  So yummy and gluten free and vegan! (http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/vegan-blackbean-brownies/)

Super Mexican Veggie Lasagna (serves 2-3)

3 corn tortillas

1 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes – drained and slightly mushed (or quickly pureed in food processor)

1 recipe sautéed veggies (see below)

½ cup Spanish Rice (see below)

4 tbsp recipe Chipotle Cashew Sour Cream (see below)

3/4 cup chedder style vegan cheese (I used Daiya)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In 8 inch round cake pan, spray to avoid sticking.  Add a small layer of the tomatoes (about ¼ cup).  Place one corn tortilla on top and cut another one to fill in the space if needed.  Spread with 2 tbsp Cashew sour cream, add ¼ cup of rice, add ½ of the veggies, ½ cup of tomatoes, and top with 1/4 cup cheese.  Repeat this step one more time using the remaining ingredients.

Bake in over 15-20 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.  Cut into quarters, serve with shredded lettuce, fresh tomatoes, guacamole, chopped green onions and remaining chipotle sour cream.  Also goes well with your favorite margarita!

Veggies

1 red onion - chopped

1 bell pepper - chopped

1 portabella mushroom - chopped

½ zucchini – chopped

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp cumin

1 clove garlic

¼ tsp chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

In a non-stick pan, sauté garlic and veggies together until they begin to soften.  Add in lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Continue cooking until all incorporated and vegetables are soft but not mushy.  

Spanish Rice

This is a recipe my mom has been making for years…little did she know she was doing something vegan.  The original recipe calls for white rice but I used brown rice instead and it worked out perfectly.

1 yellow onion – chopped thin

½ green pepper – chopped thin

1 ½ cups instant brown rice

1 ½ cups water

1 15oz can tomato sauce

¼ tsp chili powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large sauté pan, add the onions and peppers (use non-stock cooking spray, water, or veggie broth to keep them from sticking).  Once they are translucent, add the remaining ingredients, stir and cover.  Simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed by the rice.  Add additional salt and pepper as desired.

Chipotle Cashew Sour Cream (adapted from The Vegan Table by Colleen Partrick-Goudreau)

1 ½ cup raw cashews

¼ cup lemon juice

½ cup water

1 clove garlic

Salt to taste

1 chipotle pepper

In a container, soak cashews in water for 1-3 hours to soften them.  Add to a food processor with lemon juice, and garlic and puree until mixture becomes smooth.  Add small additional amounts of water to mixture to get to desired texture.  I made mine to the texture of cream cheese almost.   Add chipotle pepper and pulse food processor until incorporated.  Salt and pepper to taste. 

Makes a good topping for all things Mexican, as a dip for some low-fat tortilla chips, or a spread on a veggie burger or portabella mushroom sandwich!

Desperate Times Lead To Delicious Treasures

One of my favorite things lately has been these baked blue corn tortilla chips from Trader Joe's.  I have been eating them with salsa, guacamole, hummus, you name I dipped these in it.  Well on a trip there yesterday they were out of them.  How will I ever survive a week without them?   Well as I pondered this in my kitchen staring into the fridge something caught my eye, a pack of corn tortillas I had purchased last week and remained unused.  Queue the lightbulb above my head.  

I set out to make a baked corn tortilla chips with as little or no oil as I could.  Well turns out you need none.  These turned out crispy and yummy.  Just wish I had made a double batch, soon as Dan found them they were gone....guess they were pretty good as he is a self proclaimed tortilla chip expert.  Just ask him about his life long quest to find the best nachos. 

Low Fat Baked Chili Lime Tortilla Chips

12 corn tortillas

2 limes

salt to taste (about 5 grinds of the salt grinder)

chili powder to taste (optional)

non-stick cooking spray

Pre heat over to 400 degrees

Cut tortillas into 8 triangular pieces (or whatever shapes you may fancy)

Place on a cookie sheet and lightly spray with non-stick spray (I had to do mine in 2 batches).  Take 1 lime each batch and juice over the tortillas, add salt and chili powder and mix all together.  

Place in the over for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, shaking the pan and turning the pieces once in a while.  

Place on a cooling rack to cool and if they are still around enjoy with your favorite salsa or the super easy crowd pleasing guacamole recipe below!

This is my go-to guacamole recipe.  I bring this to parties or just make at home to be selfish and enjoy all by myself :)  It is always a crowd pleaser.

Guacamole

3 ripe avocados (should have a little give when you gently squeeze it)

1 lime

1 clove garlic - minced

1 tomato - finely diced

1/2 cup onion (red, yellow, green whatever you like) - finely chopped

1 tsp salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

Cut avocados in half, remove the pit and set aside one pit to add to the guac later.  Scoop out the avocado from it's skin and place in a bowl.  Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and add the garlic.  Mash until smooth with just a little bit of chunk in there.  Stir in tomatoes, onions, salt & cayenne.  Add the pit back in to keep the guacamole green longer (I don't know how it works but it certainly does).  

Chili For When It Gets Chilly

Well it seems like winter finally decided to arrive over the past few days.  A little dusting of snow on the ground and the feeling of not wanting to get out of my warm bed signals one thing to me…Chili season! 

For years as a child I would turn my nose up to the bowl of chili placed in front of me.  Perhaps it was the beans that terrified me so much but slowly I began to eat some chili.  The first time I had to be tricked into it.  Babs put a big heaping pile of spaghetti and topped it with some chili, called it spaghetti and I gobbled it up.  As the years progressed, the amount of spaghetti I needed with that chili decreased until finally came the day for me to eat it without.  

Today the only thing better on a cold day then a warm bowl of chili is the smell of it cooking in your house.  Recently I have forgone the ground beef and handful of cheese on top for something vegan, but the feeling you get when eating it is just the same, you won’t even miss the meat.  I promise.

This recipe is so easy, if you can open a bunch of cans, you can make this chili.  I have a few notes at the bottom to make this even easier!  Feel free to change up the beans that are here, I typically use whatever I have on hand, white beans, pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans. (Note: rinsing the beans really well helps to decrease their "magical" qualities).  

And if you are like the 10 year old Jody and need to have something to put the chili on top of, try 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa, brown rice, or whole wheat noodles.

Chili

1 medium yellow onion – roughly chopped

2 bell peppers (any color)– chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 oz can whole kernel corn or 1 cup frozen corn

2 15 oz cans beans of your liking (drained and rinsed)

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp chili powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large stock pan on medium heat, add some non-stick cooking spray, garlic, onions and bell peppers.  Sauté until the onions are translucent.  Add to pot, the remaining ingredients (corn, beans, tomato sauce, tomatoes, and spices).  Stir all together, put the pot on low, cover it and forget about it for 30 minutes.  Taste for seasonings; add salt, pepper, or additional spice if you like it spicier.  That’s it!  The chili will store in the fridge for about a week, perfect to pack up for lunches or a quick weeknight dinner.  I like to serve with a few baked corn tortilla chips for a nice added crunch, some sliced avocado and chopped green onions on top!

Make it simple: If you have Trader Joe’s* nearby here is a good way to get this done in a shorter amount of time.  In place of the onions and bell peppers they sell a frozen bag of fire roasted onions and peppers that will work just fine.  They are already cooked, so just add them to the pan with the cooking spray and garlic (look for the frozen pre-minced garlic to save your fingers from smelling!) and all you need to do is open some cans and you are set! 

*They may sell the frozen onions & peppers elsewhere, check your grocery frozen vegetables section. 

Kale A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Okay, so it wasn't until I started juicing (see earlier post on that one) that I had even given kale a second thought.  It is just another green, leafy vegetable right?

That was all before I found out what a super super food kale is.  Need some vitamin c, eat some kale....need some fiber, eat some kale...want to lower your risk of cancer...eat some kale.  That's enough to convince me to have some.

Kale has gotten quite a bit of attention lately due to the fact that a famous chicken restaurant...won't say who but they are not open on Sundays decided to sue a guy just making some t-shirts about kale because they didn't want people to confuse kale for chicken.  Now one would assume the american public is a little more intelligent then that, but clearly aforementioned chicken company has very little faith in their customers.  Actually, I am pretty sure we could solve a lot of health issues in this country if people starting confusing kale for fried chicken...

I make Kale Chips just about weekly and have some on hand to snack on.  It is simple and easy to do, but also easy to burn so make sure you stand by just in case.  I like to make them with a little asian flavor, but they do just fine with a little olive oil, salt & pepper.

Kale Chips

3 kale leaves 

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Tear the kale leaves into pieces as big as you would like the chips, I typically tear them into what would be bite size pieces.  Don't use the stems, these will not turn out chip like.  You can toss them or use them later in a veggie broth or something if you have a lot of time to do that (I think the box of veggie broth from Trader Joes is just fine and takes zero time).  

Make sure you wash and dry the leaves well.  I find that a salad spinner does best here, not to mention is super fun to use.  

Toss the kale with the oils, seeds, and salt.  I find that this little amount of oil is just fine.  You don't want to much because soggy kale chips are not good kale chips.  

Place kale chips on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Cook in oven for 8-10 minutes.  Checking them often to make sure they don't burn, just like soggy kale chips, burnt kale chips are not good.  When the chips are crispy remove from the oven and enjoy all the nutrients you are consuming!

Birthday Eve Wild Mushroom, Asparagus & Sage Risotto!

So tomorrow is my 31st birthday.  30 was really easy for me...31 on the other hand is causing me problems.  So why not spend my last night as a 30 year old posting my first blog.  This is something I have always wanted to do and after a little soul searching and a photography class decided this was the right thing to do!  I have no idea why but there is nothing that a little risotto and wine around the christmas tree can't fix.  

I have been for the majority of the past month eating a plant-based vegan diet and really love it (we are going to forget that Thanksgiving ever existed).  I find it to be energizing and completely interesting to cook.  So I am eating no meat or dairy...my boyfriend Dan only eats meat and dairy..this blog is dedicated to the craziness that is our meal-time.  Some how we make it work.  Each meal I will let you know what type of cuisine it was, even throw in some suggestions to make it gluten free, or even non-vegan if that's your style.  This blog is for everyone, making gourmet food out of simple ingredients you can find in most major supermarkets.  Most of my shopping is done at Trader Joe's or Jewel(the local supermarket in Chicagoland).  

With that said, this risotto is both vegan, gluten free, and low in fat as I use very small amounts of oils in my cooking.  But trust me, it has every ounce of flavor that one full of butter and parmesan cheese would have and you don't have to feel guilty after enjoying it.  Hooray!  I am thinking I might try turning them into risotto cakes with the leftovers...stay tuned.

Wild Mushroom, Asparagus and Sage Risotto

2 shallots, finely chopped

½ dry white wine - I use a wine that I will drink although I use half a cup and the whole bottle goes missing

1 ½ cups Arborio Rice

1 ½ cups rehydrated dried wild Mushrooms – roughly chopped (let them sit in hot water for about 15 minutes to rehydrate)

8 stalks of asparagus – roughly chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped sage

6 cups vegetable broth – I use low sodium as I want to be in control of how much salt is going in there!

2 tablespoon olive oil

In a saucepan, warm the broth.  Usually put this on low heat as you don’t want to boil it.

In a large sauce pan on medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and add mushrooms, asparagus, sage and a dash of sea salt. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, typically 3-5 minutes.  Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside. 

Add additional tablespoon of olive oil and stir in the chopped shallots.  Cook until the shallots appear translucent.  Add the rice and stir to coat.  After 5 minutes, or when the rice starts to take on a golden color, add the white wine.  Stir until all the wine has been absorbed. 

Stirring constantly, add a ½ cup of broth in at a time until it is absorbed by the rice.  Continue this until the rice is cooked and the mixture has taken on a creamy texture.  This will take about 15-20 minutes. 

Remove from heat and add in the mushrooms asparagus and sage.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Serve immediately (although the leftovers of this are sometimes better than the original!)  Works well as a main meal or a side dish.  

Notes:

For a drier almost tangier flavor substitue a dry champagne for the white wine.  It is equally delicious.

For those non-vegans out there: You can substitute chicken broth for the veggie broth easily.  Also after this is complete cooking, you can add in ¼ parmesan cheese or crumble some baked, crispy prosciutto on top.  If you are doing this I would watch how much salt you add to the risotto as you don’t want it to be too salty!  Obviously this would void my vegan, low fat comment but still gluten free!

Wednesday - Polenta Bruschetta

It's Wednesday night, it's 80 degrees in Chicago in March...what to do other than take your puppy for a nice long walk and make some fresh bruschetta as an appetizer.  Traditionally bruschetta is garlic rubbed grilled bread topped with olive oil.  Additional toppings can then be added, although bruschetta has recently become to mean bread topped with a tomato and basil.  


Well I had picked up some fresh basil this afternoon at the Chicago French Market and having got some vine ripened tomatoes last night, my mind immediately thought...bruschetta.  It is so nice in Chicago right now, seriously almost 80 degrees that all I wanted to do with the final hour of sunshine after returning home was enjoy the sun and take Bella (the 'Puppy') for a nice long walk/run.  There was no time to run out and get some bread, but alas I did have a tube of polenta in the pantry...and there born was polenta bruschetta, completely without any added oil or fat.  Tastes like summer.


Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic - minced

2 medium tomatoes - diced

1/3 cup red onions - diced

10-12 leaves fresh basil - chopped

1 tbsp white wine (a nice Sauvignon Blanc works or anything you are drinking at the time)

1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

8-10 olives - diced (other 1/4 cup if they are pre-diced).  I used black olives as that is what I had, but green would be perfect in here.

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tube polenta (sliced in 1/4" pieces)
Vegan Parmesan (optional)


Mix the first 8 ingredients together and let sit for at least 30 minutes.  Adjust salt based on preference.


In a pan over medium heat, spray lightly with cooking spray and place slices of polenta in the pan.  Cook until golden and slightly crispy (about 4 minutes per side).  You can also grill the pieces which would be equally yummy!


Top with as much tomato mixture as possible and add a little vegan parmesan if you like.  


Bon Appétit!