Celery Root Bisque

I love this soup so much that I use it as dip for chips and spread on sandwiches.  I went crazy this time and made a HUGE pot of it.  Do yourself a big favor and go out and buy a good vegetable peeler from a kitchen store.  Mine was about $10 and worth so much more – that knobby celery root never knew what hit it!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped celery
• ½ or more onion, diced (or use shallots)
• 2 or more cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large celery root (2 lbs, more or less) peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 – 2 potatoes (about ½ lb. more or less) in 1 inch cubes
• Chopped carrots for color and aroma
• 5 cups vegetable stock (use just enough to cover the vegetables in the pot, this soup is good thick)
• 1 ½ tsp. up to ¼ C rough-chopped cilantro, depending on taste
• fresh coarsely ground pepper
• salt to taste
• Dash or two of jalapeno sauce, sriracha, or Tabasco
• Sour cream to taste (optional)
• More chopped cilantro

What To Do:

• Sauté onion & celery in olive oil for several minutes until tender
• Add roots, broth and cilantro
• Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until very tender
• When cool enough to handle, puree a bit at a time in food processor or use a handy dandy immersion blender
• Top with some sour cream and extra cilantro if you want

Red Wine Tomato Sauce

I’ve been having a tomato adventure lately.  In the last four weeks (and I kid you not), I’ve picked approximately 120lbs of delicious tomatoes that have naturalized themselves in my boyfriend’s parents’ garden.
This is only a fraction of what I’ve picked:

Holy tomato!

Now the Tomato Adventure of 2012 continues by… me cooking with them!

For just two people I’d cut this recipe in half.  I’m making big batches so I can freeze food for later.

Ingredients:

• 2 red onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1.5 lbs ground turkey (substitute mushrooms here if you’re meatless)
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 8 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 12 basil leaves (I have no idea what this would be converted into dried)
• 20 oregano leaves (maybe a teaspoon or two dried?)
• 3 teaspoons sea salt
• small sprig of rosemary (maybe 1/2 teaspoon dried?)
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tablespoon honey or sugar

What I did:

• Saute the onion in the olive oil on medium heat while you prep the rest of the ingredients.  I highly suggest throwing everything but the optional meat, the bay leaves, and the rosemary sprig into a food processor or blender.  Give the onions a good 10 minutes to soften up.
• Turn the heat up to med/high and brown the meat in the pan with the onions  if you’re using it.  Or throw in at least 1lb of sliced mushrooms.  Add the red wine and let it bubble for a bit to burn off the alcohol.
• Pour in everything else and turn the heat down to med/low.
• Let it simmer for 3-5 hours.  Fish out the rosemary sprig and bay leaves before serving.

This tastes pretty wine-y to Michael and me, but were don’t drink alcohol so we’re probably just not used to the flavor.  Definitely add the sweetener!  That really helped to balance out the wine.

Pumpkin Chili

This is a vegan and gluten-free chili with a delicious mix of summer & autumn flavors.

Served over sweet potato fries and topped with green onions, cilantro, cheddar cheese, and low fat sour cream. YUM!

Ingredients:

• 1 sugar pie pumpkin (about 1.5 lbs), peeled, seeded, and cubed into bite-sized pieces
• 2 can of beans + their goo (opt for sugar-free and low-sodium if possible)
• 1 lb fresh tomatoes, diced (or 1 14.5 oz can)
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste (the tomato paste from Trader Joe’s is just tomato and citric acid)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (I used two Anaheim peppers from our garden this time around)
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced epazote (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 teaspoon each: cumin, smoked paprika, sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon each: chili powder, coriander, cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Throw it all into a 6 quart slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  If it looks really dry after the first hour, add 1/4 cup water.  The tomatoes should get it nice and juicy on their own.

If you’re not into slow cookers, add 1/2 cup water or broth and cook it covered on low on the stove top in a big, heavy-bottomed pot until the flavors have melded and the pumpkin is nice and soft.

Bean Salad

Easy, flavorful, and customizable!
Ingredients:

• 1 can beans (I like kidney)
• 1 can other beans (I like wax)
• 1 can other other beans (or quartered artichoke hearts)
• 4 chopped green onions
• 2 pressed garlic cloves
• 2 diced stalks celery (I’ve substituted yellow bell pepper before and it was good)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup white/golden balsamic (or white wine if you must)
• 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper of some kind (cayenne is a general favorite, but I usually go for smoked paprika)

Just stir it all together, put it in an air-tight container and refrigerate at least over night, turning the container over at least once.  You can also keep  it in a covered bowl and stir it occasionally.

If you’re in a hurry, use 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder in place of the garlic & onions.  That you can serve right away with so much digestive, uh, discomfort.

Low-Sugar High-Protein Vegan Cookies

STOP!  These cookies are yummy, I promise!

The great thing about seeds is they’re affordable (look in the bulk bins at your local health food store, or find them at a farmer’s market), packed with protein and nutritious oils, and less likely to cause allergic reactions than nuts.

These cookies are PACKED with delicious seeds.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (or vegetable shortening)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (I use organic evaporated cane juice)
• 1/3 cup coconut nectar (a new find of mine!  It’s low-glycemic and not highly processed like agave is.   I’m sure brown rice syrup would work here, too)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon milk of your choice or water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raisins (or chocolate chips, or chopped dried fruit of your choice)

What to do:

• Beat the coconut oil, sugar, syrup/nectar, milk, vanilla, and chia seeds until creamy.  It’s really important to have the chia seeds in there so they’ll hydrate and stick things together like an egg would.
• Mix the flour, oats, seeds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl.  Add it slowly to the wet mixture.
• Stir in raisins/fruit/chocolate chips.
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet and roll about 2 tablespoons of dough into a sphere, then flatten lightly.  These cookies won’t spread much!  Bake 12 at a time at 350F for about 12 minutes.  Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before taking them off the cookie sheet.

I opted for chocolate chips in mine. Chocolate chips from Trader Joe’s are vegan friendly, but not soy-free.

Shepherd’s Pie with Indian Flavors

It seems more complicated than it actually is!

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil of choice
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced (I substituted a zucchini for one carrot this time)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 cup peas (I substituted 1 cup chopped fresh green beans this time)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup broth (I used 1/2 cup apple juice and 1/2 cup broth this time)
• 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder

Topping Ingredients:

• 2lbs potatoes
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chili sauce

What To Do:

• Cube the potatoes and boil them in a large pot over medium heat until soft enough to mash.
• Meanwhile, chop your other veggies.  In a large pan, heat the oil and add the sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic, and green onions.  Saute for about 5 minutes.
• Add the broth, peas, cilantro, salt, spices, and arrowroot. Cover and cook about 10 minutes.
• Your potatoes might be done now.  Drain them and add the rest of the ingredients on the list.  Mash very well and set aside (allowing the topping to cool is a good idea).
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Spread veggie saute in a 9×13 baking pan.
• Top with mashed potato mix.
• Bake about 25 minutes, or until the top of the potato mixture turns a very light golden color.

Enjoy!  Use seasonal veggies when you can!

Strawberry Coconut Pancake Waffles

I’m sick today, and no, that’s not the reason why my title is confusing.

I have some kind of stupid-tired-slow-moving-zombie virus, and I’ve been laying in bed all morning craving brains waffles.  I finally dragged my sorry butt out of bed, found a recipe, kind of followed it, and pulled out our ancient waffle iron (the damned thing has a cloth cord, I kid you not).  After three minutes of anticipation and tummy rumbling, I opened the iron to find that it had flaked its non-stick cancer bits all over my waffle.  I attempted to pick them off so I could have a few nibbles, but this iron is so old it probably has a dash of lead in the non-stick just to give it that sweet shine.  Ugh.  Into the trash it went.

My main reason for wanting waffles is that I fail miserably at pancakes.  Waffles cook themselves.  Pancakes get all wonky.  Lucky for me, this batter works better at pancakes than pancake batter does!

See? I CAN cook pancakes!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (the original recipe asked for butter)
• 1 1/3 cup coconut milk, then add molasses until it’s to the 1 1/2 cup line
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups of flour (I did 1/2 whole wheat and 1 1/2 unbleached white.  If you want to do all whole grain, separate the eggs and beat the whites until fluffy)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I’m sure you could use honey, agave, or maple syrup instead)
• 3/4 cup fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces (it’s strawberry season, folks, GO ENJOY IT!)

What To Do:

• Set up your non-cancer-flake waffle iron to heat up, or heat up your pancake griddle/cast iron skillet
• Melt the coconut oil and set it aside
• Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
• Beat the eggs in a smaller bowl
• Measure the milk and add the molasses, then combine with the eggs and add the vanilla
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the coconut oil & strawberries, mix well

• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Cook & eat.  Share if you’re a nice person.  Don’t share if you’re sick.