Sweet Potato & Black Bean Salad

"A rose by any other name still smells."  Anon

The most difficult part of this recipe was deciding whether to label it as a salad, a side dish, or a main dish.  It could be any of the above.  So that's my worst problem today.  What a great day it's going to be!

The Good Batch, on Spinach Leaves

Actually, there was that other problem.  The problem was with the first batch of the Sweet Potato & Black Bean Whatever that I made.  I overcooked the sweet potato and it came out as Mashed Sweet Potato and Black Bean etc.  Still had a great flavor, but I had to do a second batch for the picture.  More for me!

Ingredients:
  1 sweet potato, peeled, diced, cooked about 7 minutes, drained, cooled
  1 15 oz can of black beans, drained & rinsed
  4 T minced red onion
Dressing:
  2 T olive oil
  2 T apple cider vinegar
  1 t coriander
  1 smidgen stevia powder* 
  Dash of salt

Distructions:
  Mix together first three ingredients in a bowl.  Whisk together the dressing ingredients.  Combine all together and let sit for about an hour or overnight in the fridge.

* How to measure stevia powder.  Place a small dusting, barely visible to the naked eye, onto the palm of your hand.  Brush it into the dressing.  Stevia is so sweet that using too much creates a bitter taste.  Note - you could also use a dab of agave nectar or other sweetener of your choice.  You won't need a lot.

True Confession, which is good for the soul.  I like to eat this concoction on top of a mixture of raw cabbage and sauerkraut.  How did that happen!  I wanted to purchase a cabbage and the produce section where I shop only had cabbages the size of basketballs.  What the heck, I thought.  So I have a lot of cabbage in my fridge.

I also like to eat a bit of fermented food everyday to aid digestion.  Needing to consume my batch of mashed sweet potatoes and black beans I place some thinly sliced cabbage into a large bowl, tossed in a bit of sauerkraut along with some sauerkraut juice, and topped the whole thing with the aforementioned salad.  If you're not brave enough to try this on your own, you'll have to trust me that this is really delicious.  On the other hand, I've been eating my own cooking for about 50 years and my taste buds could be dead.  That could be a plus.

Loveya
The Mom

Steel Cut Oats - Simply Done

"I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast."  WC Fields

I recently heard a news item on Public Radio about school districts that are debating whether to serve chocolate milk to the students.  Some of the mothers were interviewed and said that they'd agree to have chocolate milk served rather than have their child refuse to drink milk.  Then, they added, they could be sure that their child was getting enough calcium.  We've all been told that calcium, from dairy products, is necessary for strong bones and teeth.

Did anyone ever notice that some vegetarians, such as elephants, giraffes, zebras, cows, rhinos, and horses do not consume dairy products as adult animals and their large bones are just fine?  Hm.  Something to think about.  But on to the breakfast recipe.

Trying to eat in a most healthful manner involves adding whole grains that require a bit of cooking.  That's where I was having a problem in the morning.  I really don't like to cook breakfast but I do like whole grain, cooked cereal in the morning.  What to do!?

Just for giggles I placed a third of a cup of steel cut oats, the organic kind, into a one-cup jar and then filled the jar with almond milk that I'd whipped up in my blender.  I covered the jar, gave it a shake, and placed it into the fridge overnight.  In the morning the cereal was soft and chewy.  It was actually tasty enough to eat right out of the jar, which is what I usually do. 

The softened cereal can also be placed into a sauce pan and warmed, or microwaved for a few seconds, if you need to go there.  A teaspoon or two of maple syrup on top makes it yummier, which is a word that my spell check accepts.  Happy whole grain eating!

Loveya
The Mom

Gypsy Soup Revisited

"I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks." Totie Fields

Gypsy Soup Sans Garbanzos

I'm going to revisit an old friend, Gypsy Soup, because I've tweaked the recipe since the last time I've shared this priceless gem.  Also, I recently heard information about vegetables that warmed the cockles of my little heart, and I've become very busy in my art studio these past few weeks.  If any of the above makes perfect sense to you I wish you'd explain it to me.  Just kidding.

The information I heard about vegetables came first from one of my dear friends who decided to take action and joined Weight Watchers.  She shared with me that when keeping track of points on the Weight Watchers plan, most vegetables are free and you can eat all you want without fear of gaining weight.  Second, I heard an NPR program, The People's Pharmacy, where studies have come out that show that certain foods cause people to actually lose weight while keeping them super healthy.  The foods were, you guessed it, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and yogurt.  It's possible that nuts were also on the list but don't quote me on that.

So where does my art studio fit in this scenario?  For the past few weeks I've been playing for 8+ hours in my studio every day.  Actually, I'm putting in as many hours as I can squeeze out every day.  So what does this have to do with vegetables?  I decided that cooking was getting in the way of my creativity.  Therefore, I dedicated a half-day to whipping up large batches of my five favorite soups and freezing them in individual containers.  The soups are carrot ginger, cabbage soup, vegetarian chili, gypsy soup, and a mushroom soup made with really good broth (see July 24) and shiitake mushrooms.

My freezer is now crammed with containers of frozen soup and I won't have to cook for about two weeks.  By adding barley or rice to any of the above and simmering the concoction while I create I can add some healthy whole grains to my diet.  Fruits are consumed at breakfast, along with some steel cut oatmeal just to fill my tummy with some good carbohydrates.  But on to the Gypsy Soup!

Ingredients:
  1 T olive oil
  1 onion, chopped
  1 red, yellow or green pepper, diced
  1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
  1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  1 large can diced tomatoes, with juice
  1 t paprika
  1 t turmeric
  1 t basil
  1 t cinnamon
  Dash of cayenne pepper
  4 cups veggie broth
  1 T tamari or soy sauce or Bragg liquid amino
  S&P to taste

Distructions:
  Over medium heat in a large kettles saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil for as long as it takes  to peel and dice the sweet potato.  Stir occasionally if the spirit moves you.  Add the sweet potato and spices and stir to get all the flavors acquainted.  Add everything else except the S&P.  This will go in at the end when you adjust the seasoning.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer until the sweet potato pieces are tender, about forty-five minutes to and hour.   Adjust seasoning, which means to add salt and pepper to suit your taste.  Cool the resulting soup in the fridge in a large glass jar.  When cool, transfer to individual freezer containers.

You could also serve this immediately as a meal.  For the freezer batch that I just made I didn't have any garbanzo beans so I left them out.  Am I a master of logic, or what!  I did have great northern beans, which would have worked, but I didn't feel like opening the can.  Logical and lazy.  What's not to love.  By Christmas I should be 10 pounds lighter and able to twitch my nose like a rabbit.  It's a wonderful life!

Loveya
The Mom

Carrot Ginger Soup

"Are carrots good for your eyes?!  Did you ever see a rabbit wearing glasses?"  Dad

Another of my favorite soups.  Great flavor, can be frozen, and can be served hot or cold.

This soup also contains an ingredient with wonderful health benefits - fresh ginger.  Fresh ginger is that funny little tuber that looks a bit like a misshapen nose.  The most convenient way to store fresh ginger is in the freezer.  Just put it into a small, zip lock bag and toss it into the freezer with the rest of the mystery foods that you forgot to label.  Then, when a recipe calls for fresh ginger, simply take it out and grate as much as you need.  Place it back into the bag and toss it back into the freezer.  Just for giggles, label it "Nose".

Ingredients:
  1 T olive oil
  2 medium onions, chopped
  3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  2 T fresh ginger, grated
  4 cups veggie broth
  2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped or grated
  1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
  S & white pepper to taste

Distructions:
  In a heavy pot heat the oil over medium heat and saute' the onions for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger and saute' an additional minute.

Add the stock and carrots and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and partially cover.  Simmer until the carrots are tender, 15 to 30 minutes.  The smaller the pieces of carrot the shorter the cooking time. 

When the carrots are tender put the solids into a blender with a bit of liquid and puree.  Do this in small batches so you won't end up festooning the walls and cabinets with hot soup.  Return everything to the pot and add the frozen orange juice along with the salt and white pepper.

Why white pepper?  According to discerning gourmets (not me) white pepper has a slight taste of ginger, which works well in carrot ginger soup.  Also, if you use black pepper it could look like little specks of dirt floating around in your light colored soup.

If you only have black pepper add some chopped parsley, which will hide the black specks.  You little genius!

Loveya
The Mom 

Jambalaya - Vegan Style

"Sign that the restaurant you're in serves really spicy food.  They have two seating sections: 'Foolhardy' and 'Flat Out Crazy'." Grinning Planet

Here's a recipe that has as little or as much heat as you choose.  You control the amount of spices.  So that's one thing in life you can control.  I got this recipe from a restaurant and changed a few things to make it vegan.

This is also a Cajun recipe, which means it has a trio of vegetable ingredients - onion, celery, and green pepper - as well as a trio of pepper - black, red, and white pepper.  Before you begin this recipe it would be a good idea to chop and measure everything and put the ingredients into containers that you can simply dump into the mixture at the proper time.  That's actually a good idea for any recipe that has a list of things that need chopping.

Ingredients:
  In a small bowl combine -
   2 bay leaves
   1 t salt
   1 t white pepper
   1/4 t cayenne pepper
   1/4 t black pepper
   1 t thyme
   1/2 t sage


Ingredients Continued:
  2 T oil
  8 oz pkg chorizo flavored seitan
  1 cup chopped onions, divided
  1 cup chopped green pepper, divided
  1 cup chopped celery, divided
  4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  1 cup chopped tomatoes, canned will work
  1 cup tomato sauce
  3 cups vegetable stock
  1 1/2 cups rice

Right off you'll notice that there's a strange ingredient in the second list, namely, seitan.  It's so strange that even my spell check doesn't recognize it.  It's a product made from wheat gluten and whole wheat flour.  It's a good source of protein, low in carbs and fat, and makes a good meat substitute.

You'll also notice that the three vegetables are listed as divided.  That means you want two bowls for the veggies, and each bowl should contain a half-cup of each.  Hang in there, it gets easier.

Distructions:
 In a heavy bottomed kettle saute' the seitan in the heated oil for about a minute.  Add the dish of seasonings along with half the veggies.  That's a half cup of the onion, green pepper and celery.  Saute' for about five minutes.  Stir in the garlic for the last 30 seconds.

Add the tomato sauce and cook for one minute.  Stir in the rest of the veggies along with the tomatoes.  Remove the kettle from the heat and stir in the broth and rice.

Now place this mixture into a rectangular baking pan and pop it into a 400 degree oven for about an hour.  Bake this uncovered.  Remove from the oven when the rice is done, stir, and remove the bay leaves.

Serve this with a veggie on the side, some cornbread, and a CD of Zydeco music.  Ponder the question, if you're old enough to remember the song, what is file' gumbo?

Loveya
The Mom

Cabbage Soup

"Idealist: One who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make a better soup."  Henry Louis Mencken

This, to me, is soup weather.  Crisp fall days with the temperature dropping.  One of my favorite soups is a cabbage soup, probably because of memories of luscious aromas wafting through the house as this soup simmered on the stove when I was a child.  Or perhaps it's because it's so darn easy to make in big batches and have a freezer filled with containers for another day.  Laziness wins out over nostalgia.

Ingredients:
  2 T oil
  onion, chopped
  carrots, peeled and chopped
  celery, chopped
  cabbage, chopped
  canned tomatoes
  veggie broth
  thyme (optional)
  sun dried tomato spread (optional)
  S&P to taste

Distructions:
  In a large soup kettle saute the veggies in the heated oil for a few minutes.  Stir in canned tomatoes.  Add the broth.  Add some thyme if you care to.  Cover and simmer until veggies are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in a bit of sun dried tomato spread if there's any left in the fridge.

It was one of those moments when I wanted my soup to have a little more tomato taste.  I discovered, however, that I was out of additional tomatoes, in any form.  But there was that sun dried tomato spread in the fridge.  What the heck, I thought, and added a bit.  Delicious!

Did you notice?  I didn't put any amounts with the ingredients.  Just note that carrots tend to add sweetness to a dish and go from there.  How much you want to make will determine how much you put into the soup kettle.  Life can be pretty simple.

Loveya
The Mom