Namaste, Arame.

 Namaste. A word that ended my Prana Flow class this evening and that I know from my practice to mean "the spirit or divine in me bows to the spirit or divine in you."  According to Wikipedia, it is also a salutation of greeting or farewell.  Today, I said hello both in spirit and in stomach to Arame -- a sea vegetable that I received courtesy of my friend, Carolyn (also my exchange partner, as mentioned in the last post).

To be honest, I got home from yoga today at 7 p.m. and wanted a fast dinner.  I also wanted to try something new (enter Arame) and, subsequently, to encourage you to do the same! Thus, dinner tonight was a reduced basket item version of "Chopped."   It was already late when I got home; the hub was waiting; and we were hungry. The Arame guided me to an Asian orientation, as I had already been craving a simple veggie soup.  The only change I might make next time is to skip the noodles entirely -- the arame operates exactly the same way in this dish (and offers the benefit of more fiber!).  The final dish was both light, after the cleansing power of yoga, and filling, after the long day; it provided fresh warmth with overtones of spice-- soothing, warming, and amenable to your taste preferences or veggie variations!  So, again, I must salute -- Namaste, Arame.

Dried Arame to the left as it comes in the package ,
 then post-soaking and immersion with the bowl broth and veggies. 

Arame Noodle Bowl

Serves 4

1 T. roasted garlic oil (or regular EVOO)

1 med. onion (sliced and diced)

1.5 c. baby carrots, mandolined (if using standard carrots, peel and then just peel to core)

2 celery stalks, cut in half and thinly sliced

6 thinly length-wise sliced greens (chard, collard, and kale leaves)

1- 2 t. ginger to taste (I used minced)

1-2 T. tamari or soy sauce

10 drop of sriracha (or to taste)

4 oz. Maifun rice noodles

.75 oz. arame (Soak to prepare according to pkg. directions)

4-6 c. water

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over med. high.  Add onion and brown over med. heat for 3-4 minutes. Add 1/2 c. water. and continue to soften onions. Then, add carrots and celery; saute for 3-4 min. further.  Add 1 T. tamari, sriracha, and ginger.  Saute for  2 min.

2. Add 3.5 c. water.  Bring to a boil.  Add noodles -- boil for 3-4 min. as directed.  Add 1-2 c. water to achieve desired amount of broth as noodles will soak up quite a bit of extant broth.

3. Add arame and greens.  Stir to combine and slightly wilt greens.

4. Taste and add additional soy sauce. Serve.

Coconut 'n Cocoa Pretzel Dippers

Today, we enjoyed leftovers (sandwiches...eeee!) and deliciousness from a food exchange with my friend and colleague -- Squash and Red Lentil Soup.  After a hot yoga session and dinner, I was just craving a bit of a treat.  Nothing fancy, nothing fussy, but something easily whipped up to satisfy my sweet tooth, and so...

Coconut 'n Cocoa Pretzel Dippers

Makes 2 sticks

1 T. coconut

1/2 T. brown rice syrup

1/2 t. cocoa

2 pretzel rods

(Optional: Lightly toast coconut in oven or on stovetop -- approx. 5 min....or until you just want to eat the treat!)

Mix syrup and cocoa in a small bowl; spread over pretzel rods, sprinkle with coconut, and enjoy!

These were a fantastic alternative to the chocolate covered pretzels (especially if your pantry is without chocolate chip stash) with substantially less wait time.  Careful though...they do drip if you spread too much cocoa syrup on the pretzel, so a light coating is best.

Apple Jicama Chutney and A Thanksgiving-Inspired Sandwich

Do you know the difference between conserves, fruit butters, jams, jellies, marmalades, relishes, preserves, and chutneys?  I sure didn't, until I did some research in my handy, dandy Cooking A to Z.  I am still not up to reciting the differences on command, but I certainly enjoy the nuanced distinctions between each item (probably due to my word nerddom). This same text defines chutneys as "fruits of vegetables cooked very slowly with sugar, vinegar, and spices" (318).   I wasn't originally thinking chutney for this sandwich but rather a lovely accompaniment of green apple and jicama salad.  However, my jicama had been waiting for attention for a bit too long and wasn't as crisp as I would have liked.  (New to me:  jicama should be stored like other root veggies and NOT in the fridge in order to maximize life expectancy.  Thanks, Wikipedia!)  Consequently, I decided to go with a warm preparation, and, having recently made a tomato chutney, this adaptation was born!

Apple Jicama Chutney (very loosely inspired by the Apricot Chutney in Cooking A to Z)
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. cumin
1 small onion, diced
2 Granny Smith apples, diced
1 Jicama Root, diced
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/2-3/4 c. water
1/2-3/4 c. apple cider vinegar

Mix in a saucepot.  Bring to a boil -- reduce heat to simmer until mix is reduced by about half.

Use a marinade, spread, dip, etc.  This might also be cool to serve as a side -- a la a savoried up applesauce with a bit of crunch.  Makes about 2-3 c.

From the Test Kitchen: Garlic and Sage Sausages browning in the fry pan (from Carla Kelly's Vegan Al Fresco)

I topped the sausages with the chutney and brussels sprouts (5 to be exact), which I sliced thinly, sauteed in 1/2 t. oil, a bit of water, 1/2 t. maple syrup, and flashes of salt and pepper (my go to brussels prep, usually in larger quantity).  Then, I topped toasted pieces of the Butternut, Sage, and Garlic bread with chutney, then with sausages halves, and finally the brussels.

The review: If you know me well, you know that I fail equally at accepting compliments and recognizing my positives.  So, prepare...  This sandwich rocks...and, if only for this evening, I rule. :)  This is both holiday in a sandwich and holiday leftovers to the max.  Why wait until Thanksgiving?  Brussels, butternut, and apples are all in season!

Eat me; I am delicious.

Potatoes, Garlic Chives, and Poaching

Last week, we came back from the farm with a hearty bag of potatoes.  After an entertaining lesson from another volunteer in unearthing them with our toes and then digging up the many different varieties (red, white, purple) by hand, I couldn't stop dreaming of potato leek soup.  This autumnal and overcast day was the perfect opportunity for this delicious recipe.

This recipe (Jae Steele's from Get It Ripe) became a favorite in the colder months of last year; maybe it's because it's the first batch of this cooler season, but this soup is even more luscious than I remember, but I rather think it is the peak potatoes. Tonight's meal was also another great vehicle for the garlic chives from my garden.  To think, once upon a time, I couldn't understand the appeal of potato soup!

We also finally tasted the Butternut, Roasted Garlic, and Sage bread.  Let's just say it is a darn good thing that potato soup is so filling; otherwise, it would have been a "Loaf down!" evening for sure!

Again, the bread recipe was a modified version of the "Potato Bread" recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It makes two large loaves, also works as buns, and freezes/thaws beautifully. In addition to subbing 1 c. roasted butternut for the 1 c. potato she calls for, I added the leaves of one sprig of rosemary, eight fresh sage leaves, and 1 bulb of roasted garlic which I roughly mashed after squeezing out the cloves.  Love that you can see the flecks of butternut and garlic if you look carefully.  Oh...and though it may look like this bread rocks a rhombus lifestyle, please know that it simply got slanty due to our overly eager, and thus hasty, cutting and toasting!  Tomorrow, this bread will enfold Garlic and Sage Sausages (a testing recipe for Carla Kelly's upcoming Vegan Al Fresco cookbook) with Apple Jicama Chutney.  Eeeeeee!

In preparation for the sausage making, today's technique was poaching:

Carla's recipe called for "Poached Garlic," and while anything garlic has me at hello, I had only ever seen poaching happen on the Food Network (usual with something I wouldn't eat).  According to Cooking A to Z (a technique-oriented book I borrowed from one of my chef friends -- thanks, Ed!), to poach is "to cook food gently in liquid that is hot, but not quite boiling (...the surface of the liquid will show some movement, with small bubbles just starting to appear)." (450).  The book refers mainly to poaching animal products and most often in some kind of stock, but it is interesting to think of the many applications if all that is really required to poach is some heat, some liquid, and some large pieces of whatever you'd like to have participate in a flavor exchange with the liquid.  Hm...looks like some poaching-based infusions are in my future!  For today, however, I couldn't believe how easy the poached garlic was to do (with the added bonus of making the kitchen smell amazing! ). It is also a fantastic alternative to roasting garlic with the benefit of infused oil to use elsewhere in the same (or a later) meal.  Woohoo!

To paraphrase the late, but eternally great, Paul Harvey, "Now, I know the poaching story"... and so do you, if you didn't already!  Learning is so cool. :)

Happy MOFO Day 1: Husk Cherries and Squash, Garlic, and Sage Bread

And so it begins...again.  Happy Vegan Month of Food 2011!

This wonderful event of communal spirit and blogging frenzy has even more eager participants than previous years and a diverse spread of blogging themes and categories.  To check out the many options, just click on the MOFO banner to the right. To those participating along with me, WOOHOO!

On this blog, I plan to explore different techniques, revise family classics, and hopefully introduce some new produce into your kitchens.  I'll bring lots of love for local products from the farm and from farmers' markets, as well as explorations of mindfulness from the kitchen, the mat, or wherever they happen to occur.

Without further ado, meet...the Husk Cherry.

I first encountered these delights at the farm I help out at on the weekend.  At first, I was a bit skeptical of the short row of ornamental-looking bushes.  This skepticism did not dissipate with the instruction that the cherries on the ground were actually the ripest or that they had a question mark Dum-Dum like taste to them.  Case in point: my hub, who tried it first, said ham 'n cheese, while another farmhand said that he got pineapple.  True, the hub was probably giving me a hard time, as he watched me peer critically at the cherry between my fingers and then grimace slightly at the odd feeling of squeezing out the fruit.  Still, despite my initial hesitation (and an unripe first bite), I have come to love these amazing fruits and their versatility.

If you can find them at your local farmers' market, enjoy them as an alternative to tomatoes in your salad or in savory dishes.  I've sliced them in half and used them in combination with chopped pistachios to provide the"crumb" to a butternut squash, greens, and quinoa balsamic bake; we also enjoyed them sauteed with brussels sprouts and pea shoots in a white balsamic and maple syrup sauce, which I served over a harvest grain blend.

For more information about these delicious bites, click here.

A potato bread revision...in progress.

Last year, I had this crazy notion to turn one of my favorite breakfast sides into bread -- thus, the sweet potato and sun-dried tomato bread was born.  In preparing for meals this upcoming week, I had a similar inclination -- instead of a beloved butternut risotto recipe, why not make a bread inspired by this dish?  So now, based on the Potato Bread recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, the butternut, sage, and roasted garlic bread is in progress.  Hope you'll check back tomorrow to see how it turned out!

Stuffed Seitan Sausage Stuffing -- Woot.

Yes, that's right.  I stuffed stuffing.  Save that bird -- stuffing's the word.  We can talk further tomorrow, but I have holiday food...zzzzzzz.

K

P.S. I also added fig balsamic.
P.P.S. There were fresh and dried cranberries.
P.P.P.S. Woot.

"Roots and Crucs" Two Ways and the Continuation of a Friday Family Tradition

Roots 'n Crucs Pizza

Maybe, somewhere deep down, the hub and I knew when we met that we had an eternal bond -- a bond that was founded in shared family tradition, a tradition that was reinforced virtually every Friday night, regardless of the season, participants, or ages.  PIZZA NIGHT!

Both the hub and I grew up with skilled pizza makers.  Even now, we eagerly try (usually successfully) to convince my mother and his father to make pizza when we are all together.  Although the hub and I have no doubt enjoyed many a pizza night outside of these full family gatherings, admittedly (she adds shame-facedly) -- we rarely do our own pizza entirely from scratch. But tonight... perhaps we made a solid start toward reinstating this tradition in our own home, though my toppings may be a bit more unconventional than traditional.

Roots and Crucs. (i.e. Cruciferous Vegetables) Two Ways
Saturday is usually market squared day at the homestead; we hit up the farmers market for a plethora of produce and then whatever larger supermarket best meets our needs for the week.  This week, I was ahead of the game, because ( by way of cleaning up said homestead) I sorted through various coupons and thus decided to just get the shopping done ahead of the pre-Thanksgiving crowd.  Although I was not actually going to the Christmas Tree Shop, I do LOVE a bargain, especially on groceries.

In addition to actually shopping for groceries, I much enjoy organizing my pantry and fridge -- a lovely ritual cleansing and recentering.  I know, I know...I am very involved with my foodstuffs.  That really shouldn't surprise you.  (The hub and I celebrated our "Wood" wedding anniversary this year, and I admit that I probably showed more jubilation over this year's wood shelf that he added to the pantry than previous more luxurious gifts!)  Anyway, when I got home, I noticed several lone root veggies chillin' in the crisper.  I recalled that here and there I had bought a singular veggie or pack of veggies for a recipe and then ended up using the other ingredients required by the intended recipe for something else.  Thus, my gracefully aging celeriac and the stalwart parsnips continued to persevere, even if relegated to the bottom of the drawer.  Enough, I declared!  I have vowed to limit food waste to trimmings and such, so I knew I had several things to prepare today so as to achieve my goal and reap the benefits of these flavorful veggies.

With some lingering lettuce and sunflower sprouts, I whipped up a salad for the weekend and early part of next week.  Then, with the root vegetables which (this time around) included one white turnip, one celeriac, 1 lb. carrots ( about 5 due to subtraction of 2 for fur helpers),  1 small pkg. (1lb.) parsnips, 1 yellow beet, 1/2 sweet potato remant, 1 small red onion, 1 remnant of garlic bulb (approx. 2/3 of med. original), I made Jae Steele's "Maple-Roasted Root Vegetables" which I found in my copy of her cookbook Get It Ripe.  The recipe is pretty much as simple as it sounds.  Mill around doing other kitchen fun for approximately an hour wherein you make pizza dough and occasionally shuffle around the veggies, and then....

Voila!

This picture hardly does justice to the glory of the maple-caramelized goodness that wafted from the oven at almost the moment of the pans' entry.  Nor does it do justice to the crispy outside of the veggies and gorgeous autumn colors of the dish.  Now, you can simply stop here...and you will convert people to all of these veggies, if you can manage to share the bowl.  Trust me, if there had not been a pizza plan, I would have been quite content to carry on with eating from said  for dinner bowl (maybe just with a fork instead of my fingers).

However, there was a pizza plan, and I still had some brussels sprouts, a broccoli crown, and some brown rice to put to use.

Complete Dish #1: Root 'n Crucs PIZZA
Call me a heretic if you want, but this is the best pizza I have ever had -- hands down.  If I had known what roots could do for my pizza experience, I would have branched out from my spinach garlic (with period crucs) haze years ago.

Roots n' Crucs Pizza Prior To Baking -- add a little Mozz. Daiya and GO!

In addition to the "roots,"  I sauteed up those "crucs," as well as a few mushrooms,  and added them to my roasted garlic tomato sauce-topped spelt flour crust.  The sauce was some leftover Muir Glen Pasta Sauce, and I found the crust recipe here http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-no-yeast-pizza-dough-254063.  Although both of our parents' recipes use yeast and their doughs are great, sometimes, you don't want that much fuss.  We LOVED this dough.  It made two perfectly-sized pizzas (about 6"); the crust was thin, but in about 20-22 min., it comes out fully cooked and with a flexible, lightly browned crust.

Dish #2: Warm Roots n' Crucs Salad
I simply added the leftover brown rice to my bowl of veggies and will warm in the oven in upcoming days for some additional wonderful meals.  I thought about adding something to increase wetness of the dish, but I decided that I like the vegetables to lend all the creaminess.  If you are mindful about oil usage, you can make this dish extremely healthy and delicious!

Slightly blurry, but the vibrant color and varying, yet complimentary, texture of this dish are evident!

Just in case you thought I forgot about dessert, check out THE REVISIONIST'S TREATERY! Also, if you recall my mentioning of pretzel fun, I was waylaid by pizza exploration. Check out the pretzel posts tomorrow!

Don't miss out -- add those roots and crucs to your pizza! The brussels were once again a brilliant surprise. And to think...I once only ate them disguised by a block of cheese. Shame on me! As for the missed opportunities with parsnips, celeriac, beets, and turnips, I have many more years of penance...

Enjoy the weekend...and the many ways in which to use a diverse offering of produce!
K