Lentil Delight

Lentils rock.

I wanted to try something a little different (for me) with lentils so I dreamt up this concotion. I cooked .25 cups lentils for about 10 minutes, added a cup of diced yellow squash, a cup of frozen diced zucchini, and .5cups frozen chopped spinach (trying to get rid of stuff in the freezer to make room for the aforementioned soup). While that was going, I used my badass immersion blender attachment to blend together .25 block silken soft tofu, some dried dill, a little (too much) salt, and a splash of soy milk. I put the "sauce" in the fridge to keep chilled and when the lentils/veggies were done, they went in the freezer to quickly cool. I mixed the two together for a lentil delight. And it makes a big bowl that's around than 200 calories.

I dried draining the lentils/veggies and throught I got most of the water out. Not as much as I'd hoped, so instead of a creamy mixture, it's a little more watery than I envisioned. But at least the oversalting of the "sauce" wasn't noticeable since I didn't flavor the lentils/veggies otherwise. To make it a more complete meal, it might be good with some bulgur or quinoa.

The "sauce" is actually really good and I might start making this often and using it as a dip for my baby carrots. I can imagine it with some sundried tomatoes and basil or maybe rosemary and garlic. Yum.

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.

Wannabe Pizza

I wanted to make another amazing pizza, but I didn't want all the calories. So I improvised. I made some polenta, let it congeal, then cut it into 9 squares. Baked on 400 for 30-40 minutes until brown. Meanwhile, in the blender I added 1 cup dark red kidney beans, lots of Italian spices, a touch of water, a TB or so of tomato paste, and blended until smooth. I added 1/3 large onion I'd just sauteed at the end.

Once the polenta squares were done, I smothered on my bean sauce and topped each pizza with a pepperoni. Not as good as the real pizza, but a nice little meal. Might be a good appetizer dish. A little Better Than Cream Cheese might have been nice, as well as some red pepper flakes. But I ran out of the former and just totally forgot the latter. *Sigh*

My Favorite Meal

I recently came up with a recipe that is my absolute favorite thing ever. Chop up a large onion and sautee it in olive oil until the onion gets very clear and looks like you are about to burn it. Add some chopped garlic and brussels sprouts (greatest veggie ever) or green beans. When green beans are almost done, deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar. Why did I have red wine vinegar? A friend willed it to me when she moved. I'd never used it before the first time I made this, and it was also my first time to deglaze a pan.

I made it last week and took it to work for lunch where no less than 3 people asked me what I'd made that smelled so good. My response, "Brussels sprouts!" Then I got a few weird looks. Just because your parents overcooked gross frozen sprouts so they tasted like crap doesn't mean they aren't absolutely delicious. You can roast them with olive oil, steam them and mash them with a little vegan butter, pan fry with onions/garlic, shred them, blend them into a soup...oh my god I have to stop.

Lately I've been trying to mix food groups instead of eating, oh, a giant plate of roasted brussels sprouts. So I made some whole wheat couscous that I had planned to add to the pan, but it was too full so I just threw it on the plate with the veggies on top. And ever since lunch a few weeks ago at Java Green, I've been obsessed with tempeh. I bought some awhile ago but let it sit in my fridge as I debated how to use it. Cubed it and tossed that right in a few minutes before the green beans.

It makes about 4 good-sized servings that are less than 400 calories a piece. (2 large onions, 9 cloves garlic, 1TB olive oil, 4 cups green beans, 8oz tempeh, 1 cup couscous)

I Heart Barley

Barley is my new favorite grain. It's so versatile, not too mention quite tasty. I hear there are different kinds of barley, but I bought mine in the international aisle and the package doesn't tell me anything about it.

Normally I just boil up some barley and when it's done, I throw in some vegan margarine and some dried Italian herbs. Then I scarf it down like I haven't eaten in months. Tonight, though, I needed some legumes/beans/nuts for dinner (according to mypyramidtracker.gov, the greatest FREE resource ever!). So I threw 1/2 cup barley and 1/2 cup lentils into a pot, added some water, and boiled until everything was nice and soft. Oh and I added some dried basil and dried rosemary. And the whole giant bowl (well, I had 2 medium sized bowls) is only 550 calories.

Delicious! I would have taken a picture, but the batteries are dead. But wait, did I post pictures of cupcakes and polenta? Yeah, I don't want to talk about it.

Super Bowl Funday

Cooking for other people terrifies me. For Thanksgiving my parents came to visit me (the way to do it, by the way) and I cooked a bunch of snacky type of foods before they got here. I had stuffing balls, mini-sweetpotato and meat pies in phyllo dough, apple phyllo things, and cranberry bread. I decided to cook a whole bunch of food and do a round of testing before making the real stuff for my parents. And who better to be my taste testers than friends and coworkers. When it came down to it, I literally couldn't be in the room when my coworkers tried it and I couldn't even talk to them about it. My heart started racing, I was sweating, and I fled the room. So, the thought of cooking for other people always sounds fun in the beginning, but when the time comes I get really nervous and wonder why I signed up to do it in the first place.

I chose to make 2 tasty, healthy recipes, especially after the hostess mentioned that she's avoiding processed foods this month. I made Bobby Flay's lentil and split pea dip, pretty much following the dip recipe as written, but without actually measuring things. You can't have dip without something to dip with, so I dug out the package of whole wheat multi-grain tortillas with flax seeds, used a pizza cutter (how do I have one?) to cut them into triangles, sprayed them with olive oil fake Pam, and put them on a cookie sheet in a 400ish degree oven until toasty.

I also made Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches from a recipe on Susan V's FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog. I made these quiches once before but didn't have the majority of the ingredients. But they were so tasty I decided to try again. This time I made them with onions, garlic, green and yellow bell pepper, and spinach. I also added more dried rosemary than the recipe calls for. The first time I made them, I had a tiny bit of trouble getting them out of the pan, but this time I just dumped the muffin pan over and beat the bottoms of the cups- it worked flawlessly. Luckily I was busy messing with the lentil and split pea dip that I didn't hover over them and scarf them all down the minute they came out of the oven. I guess I forgot to mention that when I dumped the quiches out of the pan, one fell on the floor. Yeah, I picked it up and ate around the part that touched the ground. It was 10 times better than the first time I made them.

How'd they work out? No one mentioned much about the dip, but I wasn't feeling it anyway. The quiche reaction was mixed- some people had some texture problems. And I didn't eat that bad, probably because I was stuffed from my Cauliflower Faux Gratin from earlier. However, when I got home I got in a competitive eating contest...with myself.

Polenta! Glorious Polenta!

Being from Southern influence*, I grew up eating and liking grits. Being a health-conscious eater, however, I know that grits are not a whole grain so they are of little value to me. Good thing I stumbled upon Yankee Grits, aka polenta. It's so easy to make and absolutely delicious. I eat it at least once a week (I believe today makes the 3rd time I've had it this week), usually before heading out to door to trivia because it's fast, filling, and fantastic. The best part about it is that you can do whatever you want to it and it's always yummy.

*While I grew up in Texas, I don't define it as "The South," especially having spent a great deal of time in Atlanta and going to graduate school in Auburn, Alabama. My southern influence is attributable more to the fact that my dad is from Alabama and my mom from Georgia. Texas is, well, Texas.

The basic recipe is simple:
1-2 cups boiliing water
.5 cup cold water
.5 cup cornmeal

My cornmeal is actually cornmeal mix that has a bit of wheat flour added to it. I like this much better than regular cornmeal, but go with what you've got.

When I first started making polenta, I always went with the 2 cups of boiling water and it was great. One day I was an idiot and only put it 1 or 1.5 cups of water...and created an even better version that I would probably lick off the floor. 2 cups make a nice polenta with a slightly liquidy consistency (can't think of something to compare it to at this moment). 1.5 cups makes a thick, creamy mixture that is heavenly.

To make polenta, while water is boiling, mix cold water and cornmeal together in a bowl to get all the lumps out. Add to boiling water and stir like crazy until it looks tasty, 5 minutes? I like to turn the heat down to medium low just before adding the cornmeal so it doesn't stick to the bottom at much. It makes a large serving that has just 200 calories. That's it.

My favorite polenta is made by adding some (2?) cut up canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and 2/3 cup corn. I adore chipotle peppers and put them in pretty much anything. Watch out, though, they pack a punch. So you've added an extra 120ish calories- about 320 total for a filling meal. Last time I made it, I added dried dill, a big squirt of regular mustard, and a small spoonful of Gray Poupon, which I would never have except a friend willed it to me when she moved away. It was quite tasty. I've also made it by mixing in some dried Italian herbs. It's also good with black beans, cumin, and chili powder. The possiblities are endless and I love mixing it up.

If you let it cool, the polenta congeals and becomes sliceable. From what I gather, it's pretty common to slice it up and fry it. I suck at pan-frying, so a few times I have put it on a sprayed baking sheet (I use Olive Oil nock-off Pam) and cooked it on 400ish until it gets crispy, 30 minutes? I'm not sure on the time because I always get impacient and take it out before it gets really nice and golden on the outside. It tends to spread out, too, which scares me and I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right.

Today I got a little whacky and sauteed 3 cloved of garlic (if I could bathe in it I would) in about .5teaspoon of olive oil. When it was brown I added the water. While that was going, I put some seeds rescued from my butternut squash 2 days before on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Well, first I tossed them with .5teaspoon of olive oil and a little salt. Ok, I added a lot of salt, but that's ok, I learned a lesson (that I seem to keep learning). The seeds cooked on 250ish for 15ish minutes until they were nice and crunchy. Then I tried to remove all the excess salt and dumped them into my steaming bowl of garlic polenta. Delicious.

I tried taking a photo, but before the seeds were out of the oven, the camera batteries died and I couldn't find anymore.