Tostones!

2 green plantains (from the tree in my back yard!)

canola oil (peanut oil might be better)

salt

Peel and slice plantains. This is harder than it sounds.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add plantain slices. Fry for about 3 minutes, flip, fry for another 3 minutes.

Remove plantains from oil and place on paper towels or a kitchen towel. Let them sit for a minute and then smash them. If you're really fancy, use a tostonera. I'm not that fancy.... I used a glass.

Put them back in the oil and fry until golden brown and crispy. Sprinkle with salt.

My old faithful masoor dahl:

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup lentils

veg. broth or boullion

water (usually 3 cups or so, but start with about a cup and a half and add as needed)

curry powder (a lot)

cumin (a lot)

coriander (not so much.... maybe 1/2 tsp)

cardamom (also not so much)

red pepper flakes

salt

saute the onion in the oil until translucent. add garlic and saute until fragrant. add water, lentils, and spices (to taste). Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer, closely monitoring and adding water as needed, until it reaches desired consistency (pretty dang mushy). Add red pepper flakes and simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve over rice.

Shiitake turnovers with gravy and steamed green beans.

Turnovers:

For the dough:

Mix 3 cups flour (I used whole wheat because I like to be healthy, but I bet they would taste delicious with white flour), 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk, 1/4 cup olive or safflower oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup, and 2 tsp salt.

Roll out and cut into squares.

For the filling:

Chop 2-3 cups shiitake mushrooms.

Cook over medium heat in 1/3 cup vegetable broth and 2 tbsp earth balance, until tender.

Place some filling on each square, fold the square in half, and seal the edges.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy:

Heat 1 cup vegetable stock (I used mushroom stock I made and froze several weeks ago) at medium-low heat.

Add 1 tbsp earth balance and 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour. Stir constantly until thickened.

Tomatoey-Squash-Quinoa Surprise:

[I suppose the "surprise" is that combining coconut oil, tomato, and nutritional yeast gives this a rich, cheesy flavor]

1 Large Tomato (2 might have been better, actually)

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

2-3 large assorted summer squash (+ whatever other veggies you have on hand: broccoli, carrots, turnips would be good)

3 tbsp coconut oil

0.5 cups veg. broth

0.25 cups nutritional yeast

quinoa (1 part quinoa: 2 parts water, just like rice)

Place tomato in a stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the skin begins to peel off and the tomato is tender/ almost mushy.

Meanwhile, bring quinoa to a boil, reduce to low, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Chop mushrooms and squash.

Pour water off of tomato and allow the tomato to cool for a few minutes. Dice the tomato.

Combine tomato, squash, mushrooms, vegetable broth, and coconut oil in the stockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 15 minutes (until the squash reaches desired tenderness). Add nutritional yeast and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so. Serve over quinoa.

Home Fries:

Cubed potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)

Canola oil

salt & pepper

Heat oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook another 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

These would probably be better if served with a tofu scramble, but I was working with the contents of my fridge.

My last midterm (statistics) is tomorrow morning, so hopefully I'll be back to cooking (and posting) more regularly this week.

Pizza...

White whole wheat crust:

1 cup warm water

1 package yeast

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sugar

3 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

Combine sugar, yeast, and water. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl. Combine the fry ingredients, yeast mixture, and olive oil. Stir and knead for about 10 minutes. Leave to rise in a bowl covered with a damp kitchen towel for an hour. Knead for about a minute and return to bowl. Allow to rise at least 3o additional minutes. Stretch, slap toppings on top, and bake in a 450 degree for 15-20 minutes.

My toppings:

basil

green pepper

mushrooms

roasted garlic

Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese

Peach Cobbler:

2 large peaches, sliced

0.25 cups sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1.5 tsp corn starch

2 tsp cinnamon

0.5 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

2 tbsp vegetable shortening

1 tbsp sugar

0.25 tsp salt

0.25 cups soymilk

0.5 tbsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir the peaches with the 0.25 cups sugar, cinnamon, and corn starch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the juice thickens and becomes bubbly. Pour into a baking dish and place in the oven.

Mix flour, 1 tbsp sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture until it looks like a bowl of fairly large crumbs. Add soymilk and stir. Spoon onto peach mixture. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or so, until the fruit is bubbly and crust is beginning to brown on top.

Hoppin' John!

1 cup brown rice (Hollygrove)

1.5-2 cups black-eyed peas (Hollygrove)

4 cups water

0.5 onion

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium bell pepper (Hollygrove)

1 jalepeno

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp chili powder

0.5 tsp liquid smoke

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

tabasco or crystal hot sauce to taste

Combine water, rice, peas, oregano, thyme, and chili powder in a stockpot. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

Saute onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and jalepeno, saute another 5 minutes or so. Add garlic and saute a few more minutes, until everything is soft and the garlic is very fragrant.

Add onion mixture, salt, pepper, liquid smoke, and hot sauce to rice and peas. Stir.

Add more hot sauce (if you're from around here).

Roasted squash and peppers, quinoa, and buttery mushrooms.

For the mushrooms, I just put the mushrooms, 4 cloves of minced garlic, a handful of chopped basil, and about 3 tbsp. earth balance in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Roasted veggies are similar: place chopped vegetables in a pyrex baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Cook at 400 degrees covered with foil for about 15 minutes. Remove foil and cook until easily pierced with a fork.

Tomato sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread. Yum!

Ice cream!

2 cups coconut milk

1.5 cups soy milk

0.75 cups sugar

2 tbsp. arrowroot powder

0.5 tsp vanilla

Mix 0.25 c. milk (either kind) with the arrowroot powder in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix the rest of the milk and sugar in a saucepan. Heat at high heat just until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir the arrowroot mixture into the pan. Add the vanilla. Allow to cool to room temperature. Place in an ice cream maker and let 'er rip. I added chocolate chips right before it was fully frozen.

[This was stolen and slightly adapted from here: http://veganicecream.blogspot.com/2007/02/coconut-squared.html]

Okra concoction:

1 lb okra

1 medium-large tomato

3 cloves garlic

0.25 c. canola or peanut oil (yes, this much oil is necessary to reduce the sliminess of the okra)

1.5 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds (but I just used powder)

1 tbsp curry

Cut the okra into medallions (this creates maximum surface area and helps reduce sliminess when cooked at high heat). Heat the oil at medium heat. Raise to high and add sesame seeds and cumin. When seeds are slightly brown, add curry, stir, and add okra. Arrange, but do not stir for several minutes, until okra is slightly browned. Add tomato and garlic and stir. Cook for a few more minutes, until the tomato softens. Serve alone or over rice.

Lunch, pictured in To-Go Ware.

On the left: quinoa, cucumber, tomato, and bell pepper salad. The metal thing in the middle contained olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

On the right: Louisiana cooking pears and cacao-acai mousse.

Cooking pears:

Slice cooking pears and place in a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of one lemon or lime or one half orange over the pears. Cover with one cup sugar or Sucanat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, pour the contents of the bowl into a stockpot. Bring to a rapid boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer about an hour, until the pears are very soft.

Cacao-Acai Mousse:

This was stolen/adapted from my friend Jason's recipe (and he does it much better... I'll have to practice).

2-4 avocados

1 heaping tsp coconut butter

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

lots of cacao powder (to taste)

1 tbsp or so acai powder

2 tbsp agave nectar

2 tbsp maple syrup

Toss everything into a food processor. Turn on the food processor. Taste it. If it's not good, add some more cacao or sweetener until it tastes rich and delicious.

Garlicky lima bean dip:

Lima beans (the original recipe called for dried, but I used the fresh ones from this week's Hollygrove Market buyers' box)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin

4 cloves garlic

0.5 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh minced sage (I used pineapple sage because it grows right outside my back door)

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp sea salt + more to taste

Fill a saucepan with lima beans and water 1 inch above beans. Bring to a boil, then lower to medium and simmer 10 minutes, until tender.

In another pan, saute garlic, cumin, and red pepper in the olive oil just until it becomes fragrant. Add the sage and 0.5 tsp sea salt and saute another minute.

Drain beans and combine all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Zucchini fritters/fries.

2 or 3 small to medium zucchinis (zucchini?)

0.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour

0.5 cups nutritional yeast

1 cup cornmeal

sea salt

cayenne

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

olive oil

Combine flour, corn meal, nutritional yeast, salt, and cayenne in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to mix. Combine soy milk and vinegar in a small bowl, whisk with a fork, and allow to sit for a few minutes (this makes a sort of buttermilk).

Cut zucchini into whatever shape you want, keeping in mind your ideal exterior breading/ interior vegetable ratio.

Heat olive oil at medium-high heat. Dredge zucchini in milk and immediately coat with the corn meal mixture. Cook until one side is beginning to brown. Flip and brown the other side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Yesterday's lunch: quinoa pasta with a tomato sauce composed of tomatoes (from Hollygrove Market), basil (from my yard), onion, and garlic.

3 chopped tomatoes

0.5 white or yellow onion, diced

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

handful of fresh basil

2 tbsp olive oil

Combine first three ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until bubbling. Add olive oil and chopped (or torn apart) basil. Stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Saturday breakfast: banana whole wheat pancakes with camu camu and maca powders, topped with maple syrup and walnuts.

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp maca powder

1 tsp camu camu powder

1.25 cups almond milk

1 banana

1 tbsp raw agave nectar

Mash banana with 0.25 cups almond milk and the agave nectar. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add banana mixture and remaining almond milk to dry mixture and mix. Cook in a lightly greased skillet on medium heat.

My old faithful: quinoa, black bean, and spinach-stuffed bell peppers (peppers from Hollygrove buyers' club):

Cook 1 cup quinoa. Stir quinoa with sauteed spinach, black beans, cumin, and chili powder in a large bowl. Pack the mixture into some peppers. Pour tomato sauce on top. Bake at 350 until the peppers are easily pierced with a fork.

Basic whole wheat bread (for tomato sandwiches. yum!):

3.5 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup water

0.5 cups rice milk

0.25 cups oil (i use olive)

1 tsp salt

1 package of yeast

Stir and knead all ingredients until it's less sticky. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp, clean kitchen towel. Let rise for an hour. Remove from bowl and shape into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover with the damp towel. Let rise for another hour. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes uncovered and 20 minutes covered with foil. Remove and allow to cool on a rack.

In non food-related news, my Contracts professor passed away last week, leaving two cats without homes. One recently found a new home, but the other is in desperate need of an adopter. Helen is about 11 years old and has some health issues (but is very very sweet). Another Tulane Law professor graciously volunteered to assist with veterinary bills if monetary assistance will enable someone to adopt Helen.

I'm back in New Orleans, which I suppose is as appropriate an occasion as any to resume blogging. Here goes.

Brown rice with mushroom gravy and okra cooked in lime-thyme sauce. Mushrooms, limes, and okra from the Buyer's Club weekly box at Hollygrove Market & Farm. Mushroom gravy recipe fromVegan Soul Kitchen, my newly acquired cookbook. The okra recipe is also loosely based on a recipe in VSK ("loosely based" because I botched the real recipe because I don't own a kitchen scale).

A rather uninteresting dinner of brown rice and lentils. It's filling and healthy, though!

Matthew told me last week that Cafe Gratitude is "too hippy" for him, and I shrugged it off. 

But today I ate lunch there and I completely understood. I had the "I am Succulent," the "I am Honoring," and the "I am Deserving," a.k.a. apple-grapefruit-celery juice, cashew-cheese nachos with flax chips, and cashew-based mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sauce.

It was all good but very hippy-dippy. The ice cream was definitely the best part, and I eventually plan to experiment with making my own raw desserts (likely when I get back to my very own New Orleans kitchen). 

Awful picture quality (bright morning light + iphone camera), but delicious brunch! This is chorizo tofu at Weird Fish. Tofu chorizo with vegan jack cheese. Served with red beans and cole slaw. I will definitely be visiting Weird Fish again to try their lunch/ dinner menu items. 

Last night's dinner: stuffed peppers. They were the best thing I had eaten all week, until today's lunch (to be posted momentarily).

Who could ask for anything more?

Roasted artichokes and garlic cloves. I'm excited to be living in a place where artichokes are locally grown. Yum!

Kale and potato enchiladas. 

Or what should be kale and potato enchiladas but is really just a pile of vegetables, tortilla, and sauce. Whatever. It was scrumptious and that's all that matters, really. 

Tempeh and avocado sandwich and some cherries from the Marin farmers market. Cycling around all the time has a way of increasing the appetite. Go figure!

The farmers market was amazing. I should take a bigger bag next time. Or a car. 

Today began (well, after looking at a potential room for June and July) with a bus ride into San Francisco and a visit to City Lights Bookstore. On display was a Crescent City Farmers Market cookbook. Imagine that! I'm in the land of organic produce and farmers markets and the dang New Orleans market cookbook is on display. 

I almost bought it just to support its presence, but then I didn't. Instead I bought this: The Best American Short Stories 2008

and then this: 

My foray into the big city was successful: grilled seitan schwarma wrap at Herbivore. 

And I had a slice of carrot cake, but I didn't take a picture of it. 

I've re-emerged! (But I still don't know my spring semester grades.)

Corn- Edamame- Sesame salad with avocado and mixed herb greens: 

The first of many California postings. 

Stay tuned: I'm hoping to journey to one of San Francisco's many veg restaurants this weekend. Woohoo!

Lagniappe: my new bicycle. 

Focaccia! 

A weekend visiting the family = lots of cooking (and just a little studying):

Brownies! For studying purposes, of course.

Standard vegetable plate. Carbs + Greens. 

Wes and I made guacamole and I put together a bell pepper and black bean concoction. 

Kone ni Makondo at my favorite New Orleans restaurant, Bennachin.

Dal with spinach. Standard recipe: onions, garlic, all manner of Indian spices, red pepper flakes. 

Toffee- and chocolate-covered matzoh. 

My method:

Boil brown sugar (1/2 cup) and margarine (I used about 7 tablespoons) for approximately 4 minutes and pour over matzoh on baking sheet. 

Bake in 350 degree oven for ten minutes. 

Remove from oven and sprinkle vegan chocolate chips evenly over matzoh. 

Let sit in oven (turn the oven off first!) for a few minutes to allow the chips to melt. 

Remove from oven and spread chocolate with a knife or spoon. 

Sprinkle with kosher salt and/or nuts. 

Seder at Matt Barison's. A great success!

Homemade vegan tatertachos (not pictured: salsa and vegan sour cream). 

Tater tots, black beans, Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack, can of pickled jalepenos. 

Last night: post- "Miss Lead" Tulane Law Revue dinner at Cafe Bamboo: "chicken" nuggets, fries, and coke.
Strawberry Banana Bubble Tea on the way back from an airport run. The Frosty's folks use fresh fruit and this stuff beats the pants off of Smoothie King. I particularly like that they spell Caffe with two Fs. 

Lentil soup and veggie grape leaves. Take out from Pyramids Cafe, a great middle eastern place 4 blocks from my house. 

Morningstar Farms Ribs (new! no eggs!), tater tots, and sauteed spinach. Oh, and a Coke Zero. I'm having a caffeine kind of week.

Buckwheat pancakes after a nice run to the dog park. 

Veggie Dog at Big Easy Rollergirls Bout. 

A standard weeknight meal: refried beans, avocado, salsa, blue corn tortilla chips.

Gary, this is for you: we should at the very least have this in common (you know, except for the veganizing part).

Chili "Cheese" Fries.  Vegan Gourmet Cheddar, good ol' Hormel Vegetarian Chili, and french fries made of classic russet potatoes. 

I think maybe this should morph into a potato blog? They seem to show up a bit too often (that's because potatoes are my favorite food).

Brussels sprouts and whole wheat angel hair pasta. I've been remiss in my green vegetable intake of late and am making a concerted effort to be more cognizant of my diet, even in stressful times. 

Boy, am I ready to go to business school next fall!