White Summer Salad (Hot or Cold)

I've taken a blog hiatus for the summer since I was globetrotting: Philly, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Vegas, Houston, Charleston, and San Francisco (next week). There was little innovation and lots of reliance on standbys (split peas and barley or lentils and bulgar), though I am happy to report that I had no problem getting my airplane food past security this time. I can't remember everything I took onboard, but some highlights include my stuffed acorn squash (which I pulled out in first class), some roasted zuccini and carrots, fresh strawberries with the tops cut off, and many peanut/cashew butter sandwiches.

I just got home from an amazing trip to Charleston and didn't feel like cooking. And didn't have much to cook with. Before I left I remembered my head of cauliflower I bought and didn't want it to go bad while I was gone for 5 days. So I stuck it in the freezer. The entire head. Plunked it right in. I thought I'd see if my experiment worked.



White Summer Salad

• 1-2 TB olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 onion, sliced into semi-rings
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 cube vegan bouillon with sea salt and herbs
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
  

Prehead oven to 375. Add chopped garlic to olive oil in a small bowl and set aside. Bring 1 cup water to boil. Add quinoa and cook 15-20 minutes or until water is absorbed. Toss onions and cauliflower with olive oil (I use my pump sprayer). Roast until brown- 25-30 minutes.

Mix quinoa and veggies together in a large bowl. Crush boullion in olive oil mixture until it dissolves. Add to bowl and toss to coat.

This was a perfect easy to make summer salad, and it made 2-3 large servings. I'm sure it will be even better tomorrow cold once the flavors mix. Next time I might add some nuts or seeds for crunch or white beans for a little more substance. Oh, and the cauliflower seemed unscathed by the random freezing.

Spicy Roasted Cauliflower Soup

While my brother and his wife were in town, we ate at one of my favorite places to take visitors, Zaytinya, which is a delicious Mediterranean mezze (tapas) restaurant. One of the dishes we got was Roasted Cauliflower with sultans, caper leaves and pine nut puree, and it reminded me that I hadn't made my spicy roasted cauliflower in ages. I wanted a whole meal of more than cauliflower and today was ridiculously cold, so I went for a soup.

Ingredients

• 1 medium/large head of cauliflower
• 1 medium/large red onion
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• Red pepper flakes
• Olive oil spray or mist
• 1/2 cup dark red kidney beans
• 1/2 cup barley
• Salt
• Parsley

Preheat oven to 375. Break apart cauliflower and place on baking sheet. Spray with oil, add salt and red pepper flakes (.5-1 TB maybe), and mix until coated. Cut red onion in half and slice into thin half moons. Place on separate baking sheet with garlic and spray with olive oil. Roast 20-30 minutes, stirring a few times.

Meanwhile, cook the barley and when it's done add kidney beans, parsley, and salt and stir. When the veggies are done roasting, add half to the barley and blend the other half with .5-1 cup water until smooth. Add the barley mixture, stir, and serve.

It hit the spot on a cold night.

Easy Bean Dip and Mashed Basil Garlic Cauliflower

I got home late because I stupidly stopped by the gym after work. Why is that stupid? Because it was gorgeous outside. Back to dinner, I wanted something easy.

The bean dip is easily the best thing I've made in awhile and perfect for a party. I blended together:

• 1 cup dark red kidney beans (I'd cooked some dry beans weeks ago and had extra, so I threw them in the freezer and they came out ok but a little mushy- perfect for a dip)
• 1 TB Better Than Cream Cheese
• .5 tsp chipotle powder (maybe a little more)
• .5 tsp chili powder
• Lime juice
• Cilantro

I ate it with 3 pieces of toast and would have eaten it off my floor.

The cauliflower was easy. I steamed a medium head of cauliflower and realized when it was almost done that I meant to roast some garlic. So I threw 3 cloves into the steamer for a few minutes. Then I removed the cauliflower but kept the garlic in while I chopped up some basil. I added the basil and 1TB Earth Balance margarine and mashed, then chopped the garlic and mashed in as well. Delicious!

Lentil Burgers Pt II: Repurposed and Back with a Bite

Since my lentil burger recipe made a million burgers, I had some for dinner last night and lunch and dinner tonight. I figured I'd do something a little different for tonight, so I changed them up a little bit. Not much, but enough.

To the cauliflower cheeze sauce I added a little spicy brown mustard. It was the best move I've ever made. Since I bought bread today, I made an open faced sandwich with my new sauce on the bread side and on the top so my roasted onions seasoned with salt and pepper would stick. Amazing.

Steamed Cauliflower atop a Bed of Tomato-Cumin Cilantro with Spicy Cool Tofu Sauce

A long title, a tasty dish. I'm a huge fan of all in one dishes (not necessarily casseroles...or is that the definition of the word?), and today I needed a little of each food group (except fruit).



So, I cooked some quinoa with tomatoes and cumin, steamed some cauliflower, and made a sauce with 1 package of silken tofu , a bunch of cilantro (that's PARSLEY to you, jennilicious!), chipotle pepper, and salt. When I first made the sauce, it was missing something, so I added more of everything. I retasted and it still wasn't perfect, and then I realized the key: garlic. So I added 3 cloves and it was amazing.




















Not only is it tasty, but it looks pretty. The picture doesn't do it justice- cauliflower seems to be camera-shy lately. But if I actually cared when I "plated" it, it could have looked so much better. What's that atop you ask? Green onion. It was dirt cheap so I've been cooking with it all week.




As far as changes/improvements, it could really, really use some lime. I'd probably put it in the quinoa and possibly the sauce as well. And perhaps the quinoa could have used some chili powder.

"Creamed" Spinach

I had been dreaming about this dish all afternoon because I thought it was simply brilliant. Of course I would, I thought it up.

I steamed a head of cauliflower (left over from last week and about to be unusable), then used my badass immersion blender to cream it along with a touch of unsweetened soy milk, 2 cloves of raw garlic, salt, pepper, mustard, and nutritional yeast. I also added some water to make it soupier. Then I added an entire bag of fresh spinach (that I'd torn) and cooked until the spinach was wilted.

While brilliant in my head and no too untasty, it wasn't what I hoped because the cauliflower was so thick- the idea was that the cauliflower would be a "cream" sauce. I like creaming cauliflower, though. Well, I just like cauliflower. I'd like to make it again with some onions and mushrooms. And maybe some Better Than Cream Cheese. But still good.

I'm repurposing it tomorrow- on top a bed of yummy quinoa.

Cauliflower with Tomato Basil Tofu Sauce

It's basically what it sounds like. I steamed some cauliflower and, again using my fantabulous attachment to my immersion blender, blended together a plum tomato, 1 clove of garlic, .25 block silken tofu, salt, basil, and randomly some nutritional yeast (though I'm fairly certain it didn't add anything to it).

Tofu sauces are amazing. Thank you jennilicious for introducing me to tofu, once my nemesis, ironically because of jennilicious' failed attempt back in undergrad. This is a quick, tasty dish. And I'd definitely lick the sauce up off the floor. I may have licked the plate clean, too.

I tried taking pictures for about 10 minutes, but I was ultimately unsuccessful for whatever reason.

Hot Hot Hot!

Inexplicably, I decided I needed to, had to, use my cornmeal tonight in whatever I made. Perhaps it was my lengthy examination of Amy's products as I stood in the frozen food aisle at Whole Foods today trying to pick out something for lunch since I haven't gone to the grocery store in forever and don't have many ingredients to cook with. Amy's makes a tamale pie dish that has a cornmeal topping. Inspirational...

I wanted to use the ailing cauliflower in my fridge in a somewhat new way, even though "mashed" cauliflower is one of my favorite things. And I needed some nuts/beans/seeds so I went with my favorite standby- lentils. Back to the cornmeal. I was searching around the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog, one of my favorites, and stumbled upon a fun Tamale Bites recipe that looked intriguing despite knowing full well that I have no Twinkie pan or anything remotely MacGyverable. But I did have what I (mistakenly) remembered being a giant silicone muffin pan. My plan was to carve out the inside of a cornbread muffin and stuff with my strange concoction. It worked, I guess. But instead of the cornbread bowl I envisioned, it was like a thimble.

Simultaneously, I cooked 12 cornbread muffins with this recipe from Vegweb, except I used applesauce instead of the oil. I estimate the entire batch has 1200 calories. I also steamed a head of cauliflower and blended it with .25 cup water and about a TB of frozen chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. And, miraculous, I cooked .5 cup of lentils with 1 small onion until they were done but not mushy and added the last maybe TB of tomato paste I found cowering in my freezer, cumin, chili powder, and a little salt.

The cauliflower turned a nice shade of orange and was delicious on its own, but extrordinarily spicy (yum). I'm going to start eating lentils like this way more often- they were simply delicious. The cornbread didn't seem to burn and despite sticking my finger almost all the way through one of them to check for doneness (evidently premature on my part), the muffins came out fine. I'm not sure I'd ever serve just those because they were a little bland. I might add some corn and, yup, chipotle. But maybe powder instead of the actual pepper.

I somehow expertly carved out the insides of the muffins, scooped the tiniest scoop of cauliflower in it, and added a tad of the lentil mix atop. Originally I envisioned the cauliflower as more of a soup and the lentils as something that sits in the middle of the soup, both in a cornbread bowl.

The cornbread bowls came out cute, yet too small for me to eat soup out of. Now, I'd definitely hollow these out again and put something in them- maybe lentil dip or refried beans or something. Or maybe I'd get a bigger pan.

I'm really proud of this meal- it was really good and really fun.

What about the leftover cornbread muffins? I crumbled up 2 of them in a bowl with cinnamon and 8th Continent Light Vanilla Soy Milk for breakfast the next day. Better than my Cheerios.

Shepherd's Pie...sort of

I needed to use up a few things in the fridge, one item being cauliflower. Since I'm now obsessed with "mashed cauliflower," I thought I'd have to incorporate that into a meal somehow. Well, when I think of mashed potatoes, I think of Shepherd's Pie, even though I've only had it once. In undergrad, the ex made one with a meatloaf type of bottom, corn, and mashed potatoes on top. So that's what I think of when I think of Shepherd's Pie. However, I wasn't 100% sure that my definition of SP was acccurate, so I wikipedia'd it and apparently the version I had is the American version, the real version being some sort of meat and veggies in gravy with mashed potatoes on top. This is where I began.

This meal was a real multi-tasker, especially since I had 2 loads of laundry going downstairs, too. I started with about .8 cups of lentils (400 calories) since the bag was empty. Once those were boiling, I got out the frying pan, sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray, and added one giant onion. On yet another burner, I steamed 1/2 med-large head of cauliflower (100 cal.). Meanwhile I got 2/3cup whole grain couscous going on the side.

When the onion started to brown, I added garlic. Then I thought it might burn so I deglazed (my new favorite thing) the pan with some white wine...twice. Fine.

I put about half the onions/garlic in the blender with the cauliflower, salt and pepper, a splash of soy milk, and some dried rosemary (which I love).

To the rest of the onions/garlic I added some red wine vinegar. Then I quasi drained the lentils to get most of the water out and added them to the pan and added the couscous. I used couscous because, first and foremost, I needed more grains for the day and that was an easy way to sneak them in. I also used them to give it a little more volume.

So, once all that was mixed with a little salt, I mushed it down into a round Pyrex pie dish, topped with steamed Brussels sprouts, and covered in a nice, creamy layer of mashed cauliflower. Popped that baby in a 350 degree oven while I took the dog out (15 minutes?) and then cranked up the broiler to get the top a little brown.

It came out beautifully! Each layer on its own tasted amazing, and together it tasted even better! I have 3 giant servings (400 calories each), which means lunch tomorrow and maybe one slice for the freezer. The laundry, however, wasn't as much fun since the dryer door somehow opened so my clothes probably sat there for 30 minutes not actually drying.

Next time I'll use less couscous, add a lot mushrooms, use some type of broth, and make an entire head of cauliflower.

Since Mother Nature didn't get my memo that winter is over, it's yet another soup evening for me. I opted for split peas and cauliflower, which I often cook up with a little curry powder. This time I decided to be different.

I added .75cups green split peas and one large onion to some boiling water and cooked until the split peas softened up some. Meanwhile, in an effort to dirty every single dish in my kitchen (which I do often), I also cooked up .5cups quinoa and simultaneously blended 2 chipotles (canned in adobo sauce, my favorite...I freeze the leftovers), 2 TB Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, and some of my mint from my freezer. This made a very, very tasty sauce.

When I was done with the sauce I put 3/4 of the split peas/onion in the blender until smooth. I then readded to the pan and put 1/2 large head of cauliflower in the pot with some salt and cumin. I thought about adding turmeric, but got scared and didn't. Now, I had this beautiful vision of a nice, green soup with pretty white cauliflower floating around and a deep red swirl, all on a bed of tasty quinoa. However, I can't seem to ever learn that when you mix red things (peppers, tomatoes, etc) with white things (cream cheese, milk, etc), it turns pink.

And I need to work on my swirling skills...

Overall, I was pleased with the minty taste- not over the top, but you could definitely taste it and it seemed to go well with the spicy chipotle. The cumin also helped town down the heat from the peppers. Next time I'll probably make it with brown basmati rice just for some better texture since the quinoa is a little soft. But I'll be making this one again.

I'm Quitting My Job

If I didn't love fighting cancer so much, I'd quit. Because I enjoy sitting around my apartment cooking all day just as much. I didn't have to be at work today so I did my favorite thing in the world. And wore my awesome "Vegan Cowgirl" t-shirt while doing it! (Thanks jennilicious!)

For breakfast I cooked 1/4 barley (100 calories) and added 1 TB peanut butter (100 calories), .5TB unsweened cocoa (10 calories) , and a splash of 8th continent light vanilla soy milk (20 calories). It was a tasty breakfast, although I sort of felt like a 5 year old. This might be a new weekend staple, probably with a mushy banana added to it.

Lunch was even more fun. I decided I had to have mashed cauliflower and it had to look just like mashed potatoes. So I steamed a head of cauliflower (I once read that cooking veggies in water destroys a lot of the good stuff in them, but steaming is ok) and simultaneously cooked 2 very tiny onions (40 calories) and 4 cloves of garlic (20 calories) in 1 TB of Earth Balance margarine (100 calories). When the cauliflower was done, I added it and 1/2 the onion/garlic to the blender with a splash of unsweetened soy milk (30 calories) and blended until it was nice and creamy. If you were looking at it (if I would buy new batteries or a new camera), you'd think it was mashed potatoes. I also threw in some salt and pepper. I added the rest of the onion/garlic mixture to them so there's be a few lumps.

I swear I couldn't tell it was cauliflower. And I love cauliflower...I generally roast it in some olive oil and add some red pepper flakes, or lately I've been putting it in my lentils with some curry. Sometimes I just eat it plain steamed. Anyway, this dish was amazing. For people who claim they don't like veggies, they've just never had them cooked the right way, and this is a great way to do it. I cannot wait to have leftovers for dinner. Yum!

Oh, and I also decided I needed a couscous dish to go with my mashed cauliflower. So I put in 1/3 cup whole wheat couscous with .25 cup golden raisins (because they didn't have sultanas when I needed them and these were a last minute replacement for another dish awhile ago), some hazelnuts (I wanted walnuts, but I was too lazy to reach farther into the cupboard to find them), and some now dried mint that was once fresh but I stashed into the freezer in it's regular package without protecting it in a fit of panic because I didn't want it to go bad when I used it in the dish I needed the sultanas for, and 1/3 cup hot water. I covered the bowl and 5 minutes later mixed it up and threw it in the fridge. Then I decided it might be too dry and it needed some liquid. For whatever reason I chose unsweeneted soy milk instead of something like olive oil that might have been a better choice. But it came out delicious- a good breakfast dish. Now I can't wait to keep using the mint...

Cauliflower Faux Gratin

The problem is that it's Super Bowl Sunday, which means two things. First, I'm going to eat like crap today. Second, all of my dishes are dirty because I spent the morning cooking (more on this in another post). So I decided to make some sort of vegetable based dish to make sure I have something good in me (though both the things I'm bringing are healthy, duh).

I looked around my fridge and had an old head of cauliflower, some spinach that desperately needed to be eaten, and some left over green onions from something I made this morning. Done.

I put the spinach in a dish and nuked it for 2.5 minutes until it wilted. Then I put 2 cups of soymilk in the the microwave (which I HATE using, but I had to because all of my pots and pans were in the dishwasher) and nuked it for about 3 minutes until it got pretty hot and barely started to boil. I took a small container of cold water (a couple of tablespoons?) and mixed in roughly a tablespoon of cornstarch. I didn't measure because my measuring spoons were all dirty and because I like to live dangerously. I added the milk to the spinach with some salt and pepper, a large squirt of mustard, two tablespoonsish of nutritional yeast, and the cornstarch mixture. I put it in the microwave for 3:33 (too lazy to push any other buttons, seriously) and stirred it every minute.

Meanwhile, I dismantled the cauliflower and put it in a large rectangular Pyrex baking dish and sprinkled the green onions on top. I then started to pick them out thinking that I'd put them on at the end instead. But that lasted about 2 seconds when I realized it wasn't worth the effort. So I poured the nuked cheesish mixture over the cauliflower/green onions. It wasn't liquidy enough so I just added a cup of soymilk and didn't even bother mixing it together. Popped it all in a 400 degree oven and waited patiently.

I guess it cooked for about 20 minutes and I took it out of the oven to stir it. I suggest using two oven mitts- don't try to be a badass and take it out with one hand. I came pretty close to dropping it. Because I didn't stir it initially, some of the cauliflower looked a little dry and unhappy. Next time I'll definitely stir it before putting it in the oven.

After another 20ish minutes I took it out to stir it again. The cauliflower started to get mushy but still needed more time. It was still soupier than I wanted and I debated adding some flour to thicken it up...guess I didn't need that extra cup of soymilk afterall. I put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so until the sauce thickened up.

And the end result? Not too bad! It clearly wasn't smothered in cheddar cheese, but the taste was far from unpleasant. Would I make it again? Yeah! Would I let someone else try it? I think I might. Jennilicious would definitely eat it, but then again we both pretty much eat anything. Next time I'd like to add some very finely chopped onion and garlic and some more spinach, but otherwise it seems like a go. It might be nice with some homemade bread crumbs or whole wheat couscous on top, too.