Happy New Year, and Veggie Sausage

Please forgive my week-long delay in publishing this.  Now please enjoy the only post I’ve ever written with a massive hangover.

Clean Plates!

I’m sipping ginger kombucha and hoping my stomach settles some time today as I write this. I rang in the New Year last night with some of my closest and oldest friends, ate a lot of food, and drank an unknown quantity of whiskey. Hence my stomach’s need to settle.

I did prepare for this situation though, by planning ahead for my first breakfast of 2015: I sent my manfriend to the store for coffee beans and eggs yesterday while I stayed home and made fake sausages and unpacked a gallon of sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is necessary for New Year’s Day so you have good luck in the new year, and as an added bonus it is cheap and easy to make, as well as great for your micro-biome. I’m not sharing how to make kraut today because there are too many other people more qualified than me, but I will share with you how I made my meatless sausages! I made them up as I went along, so understand that the measurements are not precise, but they were awfully tasty.

Veggie Sausage

Ingredients
1 cup cooked lentils, well drained
1 cup cooked white beans, well drained
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup cooked pearl barley (brown rice should also work, I just happened to have cooked barley on hand)
1/4 cup walnuts
1 medium onion
lots of garlic (I used a bunch of those tiny cloves from the center of the head and I didn’t count)
1/2 a medium apple, cored and chopped
3 Tblsp nutritional yeast
1 Tblsp tomato paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp each of several different dried herbs; I used oregano and thyme and lemon-pepper seasoning blend. Put in sage too. I don’t know why I don’t have it.
1 tsp each of ground coriander, paprika, and turmeric (smoked paprika would be great!)

1. Start by grinding up the onion, garlic, herbs and spices, and walnut in the food processor until you have a chunky paste.
2. Add the beans and lentils, oats, barley, tomato paste, and yeast. Pulse until combined but not totally smooth.
3. Taste for seasoning and once you’ve got it just right, add your apple chunks and pulse a few more times. You want to be able to see some bits of apple.
4. Refrigerate the goop for about half an hour, then shape into links or patties. Actually, make patties because links kind of look like dog turds. Then put them back in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them, even overnight.
5. Cooking method is where I’m not sure what to tell you. I pre-baked mine yesterday at 400 for about 20 minutes (both links and patties), then fried them this morning. They were way too brown and a little dry. I think you’ll get the best results if you fry them in a bunch of oil from raw goop, but that will take forever. So that being said, also feel free to bake them on a parchment-lined pan or greased pan (for more oily sausagey results). Do them like any of my burgers, but perhaps less time since I assume you’ll be making smaller patties. Sorry to be vague. I trust you though. You’re smart people who are probably less hungover than me, and you can figure it out.

We also had grapefruit, grits, bagels, eggs, and coffee for breakfast today with our good-luck kraut and sausage. Put ketchup on the sausage. Why don’t we ever buy ketchup?

Bon appétit! And happy New Year!

Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

Pancakes were always a big deal in my family. Every weekend, my dad would cook up heaps of homemade pancakes from his own recipe stored deep in his brain. My dad is an early riser, whereas my mom has always worked the evening shift at the hospital, so on Saturday mornings she slept in while Daddy took care of breakfast. Some of my best memories are of sitting around the kitchen table with my siblings, fighting over who got the next pancake.

Pancake!

Eventually though, all good things must come to an end. My dad took a new job driving a truck cross-country and wasn’t home on the weekends anymore. One of the first Saturdays without him, my little brother, who must have been about eight at the time, decided that cold cereal wasn’t gonna cut it. So we pulled our mom’s Fanny Farmer Cookbook off the shelf and looked up a recipe for pancakes. He did most of the work, although I guess I supervised the use of the stove and stuff. My most important job though, was to eat the pancakes however they turned out. Flipping pancakes is not necessarily easy if you don’t know what you’re doing, and it’s even harder when you are a little kid who has trouble reaching the back of the stove. Some of them were bad. Really bad. Burnt and raw all at once, somehow both over-mixed and with baking powder lumps, but I ate them!

We worked on pancake making for months, trying different recipes, convincing our dad to write his down as best he could, and after much experimentation (and many awful pancakes for me to eat) my brother came up with his own perfect formula. I went off to college with his recipe in hand and made pancakes for my friends more times than I can remember. As the years have gone by, I’ve done my own experimentation, adding different ingredients, making them healthier, veganizing, improving, playing, and always eating the (occasionally awful) results.

Today’s experiment went well, so try these fluffy and flavorful, healthy and hearty pumpkin pancakes, perfect for fall.  This recipe makes a ton of pancakes, by the way.  If you are just one or two people and don’t want to eat leftovers all week, halve it. If you are feeding four growing children, get two pans going so that they cook faster and minimize arguing.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup quick oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon*
1/2 tsp salt

3 cups milk of choice**
2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree***

1. Stir vinegar and vanilla into the milk, either in a bowl or right in the measuring cup.  Then add the oats and let them soak in the milk mixture for about ten minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.  This is a great time to make coffee!

2. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients.

3. Add the oat-milk mixture and the pumpkin to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Let it rest for a few minutes while your pan warms up. This is a good time to pour a cup of that coffee you made in step one.

4. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-low heat for about five minutes. I like non-stick, but sometimes I use cast iron lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Ladle some batter into the pan, tilt it a little to spread the batter out, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges start to dry. The flip and cook a few more minutes until brown and puffy.

Bubbles! Almost ready to flip.

5. Eat drizzled with maple syrup or honey, maybe some toasted walnuts if you feel ambitious, and a nice hot cup of coffee.

*Feel free to add other spices like nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and clove. Today I happened to only have cinnamon
**I used almond, soy should work too.
***I used a can from Aldi – only 79 cents! Make sure it’s just pumpkin, not pie filling.

 

 

Carrot-Walnut Muffins

It’s freezing in my apartment!

I’m too stubborn to turn the heat on so early in October, so I baked.  I threw these together while loosely following a recipe from a book and wondering why I have so few ingredients that are appropriate for muffins.   Please note the lack of oil.  I forgot to put it in.  They’re still spectacular.  Absolutely the best improvisational baking I’ve ever done.  Go make them NOW!

Carrot-Walnut Muffins

There would be 12 here, but 4 didn’t survive the cooling process.

Ingredients

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c all purpose flour

1/2 c sugar (I used white, but brown would probably be great, or honey, or maple syrup, but then you’d have to adjust the liquid)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 c apple juice

1 egg or flax egg

1 T orange zest (Ok, I didn’t measure this.  It was two oranges worth.)

1/2 c  chopped walnuts

1 c grated carrot (hooray for the food processor!)

1.  Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a muffin tin for a dozen (grease them or use paper liners, up to you!)

2.  Sift together dry ingredients.

3.  Beat egg/flax egg with the apple juice and orange zest.  I did this right in the two-cup liquid measuring cup I used for the apple juice.

4.  Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined, then fold in the carrots and walnuts.

5.  Pour the batter into the muffin tins.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes clean.  Mine took 23 minutes.

Let them cool for a few minutes before turning them out on to a wire rack to cool.  Eat some while they are still warm!

Little life update, since it’s been ages since I posted regularly (I am trying to get back in the habit now that my life is calmer!):  In mid-August, I moved out of the big, dirty, junky house I’d been sharing with three women and a cat in Lawrenceville.  My manfriend and I are now living together in a lovely little two-bedroom apartment in Highland Park.  It’s quiet and has loads of trees, and the back windows overlook a very pretty little garden belonging to some unidentified neighbor on the next street, while the front windows look out on a gorgeous old house populated with small blond children and their NYC ex-pat parents.  Our kitchen is AWESOME.  Massive pantry, full-size gas stove, a peninsula counter, and a dishwasher!  Paradise.

 

Buddha Bowl

This week’s lunch has been the usual improvisation: What do I have, and how can I combine it so it tastes good?

Starting with starches, I almost always have some cooked brown rice on hand, which is the basis for such a wide variety of dishes.

Next come vegetables. I have some basics like carrots and celery, as well as loads of kale (it was on sale!) and some raw beets.

I also need something proteiny and some flavor. My options were a little limited this week as I had only dry beans and no time to cook them, and very few nuts. I do always have peanut butter and some frozen peas, which I think are the most budget-friendly and convenient sources of protein you can get, aside from lentils and split peas which still have to be cooked.

So let’s get cooking! I decided to forgo the peas since I had some in my oatmeal for breakfast, and whip up some peanut sauce. Three birds, one stone: Flavor + protein + healthy fats.

Beets and carrots were quickly run through the grating disk on my food processor and tossed with a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and a little salt to make my favorite Easy Beet Salad.

I steamed a couple of stemmed and torn leaves of kale in the microwave in my Tupperwave Stack Cooker, but a covered glass or ceramic dish will also do the trick.

I simply layered the kale, brown rice and peanut sauce on a plate (use a big bowl, it will be easier to stir), and put a hefty serving of beet salad on the side, thinking it wouldn’t be great with peanut sauce. I was wrong; it was pretty good with peanut sauce. There you go, beets are a peanut butter food! Also topped the whole mess with some scallions, since onions are both delicious and good for your heart.

 

I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture.

Since this is lacking a bean or tofu, I wondered what the actual protein content would be, since folks seem to be obsessed with where vegetarians get their protein. Plugged the ingredients into Google, and based on 1 cup each of rice and vegetables, plus two tablespoons of peanut butter, you end up with around 18g of protein, about a third of what a woman my size needs for the day. Not bad, right?

 

PS – I’ve been eating black bean soup for dinner at work all week.  In case anyone wanted the recipe, you can find a version of it here.

Cucumber-Strawberry Salsa

I’ve been making this in my Tupperware Quick-Chef Pro for my parties and it’s been a big hit!  So simple and perfect for this season.  I don’t recommend making it in a food processor; it’s too hard to control and you might end up with soup (tasty, but not what we’re going for).  If you don’t have a Quick-Chef or something similar, just finely chop everything by hand.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb strawberries

1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded (if you get the little persian ones, you can skip peeling it)

1/2 a lime’s juice

handfull of fresh cilantro

a few scallions

Freshly ground black pepper and a dash of salt.

1.  Start by whirring the scallions and cilantro in the Quick-Chef until they are roughly chopped.

2.  Add your cucumber, in 1″-2″ chunks, give it three or four good turns.

3.  Add the strawberries and turn until chopped however finely you like, then gently fold in the lime juice.  Top with fresh black pepper and salt to taste.

Serve with tortilla or pita chips.  Yum yum yum.  It’s also really great over a salad of lettuce or baby spinach with a few pepitas.

Potatoes and Microwaves and Wal-Mart

Here is an article I’d like to share with you, about judgement in the vegan and plant-based community.  I am guilty of these sins myself at times.

The author discuss all the judgements people make, all the striving for “perfection.”  The reality is, there is no perfection.  We all do the best we can.  I don’t like WalMart, personally.  But I also understand that for some people, that’s all there is.  I am fortunate that I live near stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and a big Asian market, and fortunate that I can sometimes afford to shop there.  Not everyone is.  There should be no barriers to eating healthy, whether you’re a millionaire or you live on food stamps and minimum wage.

“In order to change the health of this country it is going to take ALL sides. It’s going to take people knowing how to shop at Walmart. It’s going to take people knowing how to make a perfectly healthy meal in a microwave. Over the next several decades we can start dealing with some of the other issues. But those issues, seem to be more of distractions at the moment, rather than things that will actually solve our health crisis.

We need to focus on the bigger picture for a little bit. We need to practice kindness in the way we interact with others. If someone shops at Walmart, doesn’t use all organic food, can’t shop at their farmers market, is unable to chop vegetables, doesn’t have an oven, they should not be made to feel like they cannot be healthy.”

I strive in this blog to present you with recipes and ideas that are do-able for most people.  Some are a little more complex, but over all I want to present you with food that you can make on a daily basis.  I know my posts are few and far between these days (a side effect of working three jobs), but I always appreciate your feedback.  If there’s an ingredient you can’t find, let me know!  I’m sure we can come up with a substitution.  Or even better:  If you come up with an easier way to make something than what I did, leave me a comment!  Everyone benefits from sharing.

Wishing you Peas and Love.

Savory Oatmeal

Need to mix up your breakfast routine? I certainly did. I’ve been eating the same breakfast almost every day since….I don’t know, 8th grade? Oatmeal, raisins, cinnamon, a few nuts. As an adult, I started adding a tablespoon of ground flax or chia seeds and occasionally changing up the fruit or spices, but overall, it’s been the same meal for about 15 years.

I’m over it.

I’ve been toying with this unorthodox dish for a while now and I’ve finally decided to share it with the world. It may sound a little strange, but embrace it! Breakfast needs a new flavor.

Savory Oatmeal for One

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame (or other small beans or peas)

1 small sweet apple, diced

1 or 2 scallions, sliced about 1/4 inch

1 cup water, divided

1 Tblsp ground flax seeds

1 tsp or more of your favorite miso, or a tsp of soy sauce

1.  Put the apple and edamame or peas in a large microwaveable bowl with about 1/2 cup of water.  Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

2.  Add the oats and other 1/2 cup of water.  Stir, and microwave on high for 2 more minutes.

3.  Remove from the microwave and stir in miso or soy sauce, flax, and scallions.  Stir until miso is dissolved and oatmeal has started to thicken up.  Add more miso or soy sauce, or even salt and pepper, too taste.

If you are someone who eats eggs, may I recommend a sunny side up egg on top?  The gooey yolk is shockingly good all mixed up in the oats.

Other tasty additions include kim chee, sauerkraut, salsa, leftover cooked greens, and leftover caramelized onions.  If you have leftover caramelized onions, please let me know because I want to know what kind of person doesn’t eat them all at once.

2 Meals, 1 Pan

In the interest of using up some leftovers today, I happily created both my lunch to eat at home and dinner to carry to work. In the fridge I found some already chopped onions and peppers as well a box of sliced button mushrooms that needed to be used up before they turned slimy. Additionally, I had a ton of leftover couscous and some lentil soup that I was getting tired of eating. So into the skillet it goes!

Saute until lightly browned and the mushrooms release their juices:
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 box of sliced mushrooms
about 3/4 cup of sliced bell peppers

Add:
2 ladles full of lentil soup, draining off as much of the broth as possible
Heat through.

For lunch at home, I served it over some of that couscous with half of a diced avocado (they were on sale this week for $.49!) and a generous scoop of salsa. An apple for dessert and I’m all set!

For dinner at work, I mixed it with the rest of the avocado and used it with a dollop of garlic hummus to top a microwaved sweet potato.

Yummmm… who says healthy eating is hard?

Tupperware!

I’m doing my first-ever Tupperware party on Thursday as a new consultant and I couldn’t be more excited. We’ll be making a delicious,  healthy fruit salsa at the party. I’ll post the recipe later this week. If anyone is interested in “attending” the party virtually to put in an order, just let me know! I’ll send you a direct link to the party, or you can look at my new website.

Simple Skillet Suppers

If last winter was the winter of soup, this is the winter of the skillet.  All my meals lately seem to consist of whatever vegetables I have lying around tossed in a skillet and lightly seasoned.  Some of these meals turn out better than others for sure, but what I am really liking about them is how quickly they come together.  No need to simmer for hours at a time, hovering around near the kitchen lest it scorch or boil over.  Takes about 25 minutes if you chop as you go like I do (a good chef wouldn’t recommend that, but I’m not a chef, so there!)  Here’s one that was particularly delicious.

Southwest Skillet

Ingredients:

2 medium red or other potato (not russets, they fall apart), scrubbed and diced

1 onion, diced

8 oz package mushrooms, sliced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1/4-1/2 cup your favorite salsa

salt and pepper to taste

1.  In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high flame, heat enough water to cover the bottom.  Add the onions and potatoes, cover and cook about 5 minutes.

2.  Add the mushrooms and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

3.  Add the pepper, cover and cook 5 more minutes, adding a little more water if it’s starting to stick.

4.  Finally, add the beans and salsa, give it a good stir and heat through.  Depending on how big you chopped your potatoes, you may need a little more time with the lid on to get them cooked through.

What I liked most about this meal was its versatility.  It made an excellent reheat-able dinner at work, for one thing.  My boyfriend topped it with cheese and wrapped it in a tortilla, and I think he also added some kolbassy when I wasn’t home to wrinkle my nose at it.  I ate the last of it for breakfast today, topped with a fried egg.

Also, the variations are endless!  I’m seeing another version with sweet potatoes, red pepper, and black beans, finished with a squeeze of orange juice and maybe a handful of baby spinach. Yum.  Last week I made one with potatoes, leftover roasted squash, an apple, and some cabbage, finished with lemon juice.  Trust me, that one was much better than it sounds 😉