Davey's Macaroni

About a month ago I tried a relatively new restaurant in Oakland called Home Room.  This hip place features a menu of many macaroni and cheeses with ad ins that make the combinations nearly endless!  To my enjoyment they even have a vegan option!  The service is wonderful the ambiance is just to die for and the food is decent.  The brussel sprout appetizer was by far my favorite, but the fresh green salad had a simplicity that was refreshing without being boring.  The mac and cheese was unfortunately not that great.  It was good, with a  soft cheesy flavor but the sauce was watery and the extra cost for mushrooms was way too much for the quality. Unfortunately the sauce was too thin and I am used to a more bold flavor for my not-cheese sauces.  Still I would recommend it for an quick bit in Oakland.

Homeroom mac 'n cheese with peas and muchrooms

At this point I have to admit that I am biased against most mac 'n cheeses because I have had what is arguably the best mac 'n cheese.  It was introduced to me by my friend Davey.  Brussel sprouts still being too expensive I made a side of collard greens and a kale salad.  

Lets get down to it and turn this:

into this!

Mac ' Yeast

What I love about this recipe is how surprisingly simple it is to make with amazing flavor! This is one of those dishes that really proves anything can be transformed by a good sauce.  As the name may suggest the basis of this 'cheese' sauce is nutritional yeast.  In a blender place:




1 C soy milk
1 C water
1/3 C Soy sauce
1/2 C firm tofu
1 1/2 C nutritional yeast
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs powdered garlic
1 Tbs salt (or powdered vegetable bouillon)
1/2 C safflower oil (or your oil of preference)

This all get blended together until it is smooth and creamy.  As with most sauces the importance is the balance between fat and flavor (where flavor is usually water based).  The tofu in this acts as a great source of protein and more importantly as an emulsifier to keep the water and oil mixed.  The proportions above are good for about 1 lb of pasta and you can adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more or less water (though I tend to go for a thicker sauce).  This sauce is going to be baked so don't make it to thick or you will burn! 

I used 2 lbs of pasta and doubled the above proportions with one bag of frozen peas (aprox. 12 oz).  It is ok to under cook the pasta a little, even preferred, because we are going to bake this whole mess at 350 F for 15-25 minutes.  if you made your sauce to thin you can bake it longer to thicken it up but really this step is for mixing the flavors and giving a nice crust to the top layer of macaroni. 

before oven                                  .  

after oven                                         .

The extra sprinkle of paprika and nutritional yeast is just for effect and hardly effects the flavor.  

Kale Salad

I did some pretty simple side dishes with steamed broccoli and a kale salad. This kale salad was a mix of karinata kale and red Russian kale with shreds of carrots and golden beats.  The dressing was an orange ginger vinaigrette and the sesame seeds were added in excess (just the way I like it).  I have done kale salad a few times so feel free to look at old recipes.  Again the secret is in the sauce, balancing acid with fat and flavor.  Sometimes Kale makes this extra tricky because you want the acid to sit on the kale for 20- 30 minutes before you add the fat and flavor.

Steamed Broccoli

The broccoli was simply cut up and steamed but the secret to delicious broccoli is getting ti fresh as possible.  the less time ti sits off the plant the sweeter it will be.  If you can get a young broccoli and get ti picked fresh that day you probably dont need to steam it and could serve it raw with a  spicy or savory dipping sauce where the natural sweetness of the broccoli balances out the flavors.  I know you probably dont think of broccoli as being sweet but man it can be surprising! 

Collard Greens

If you are trying to eat local and winter comes rolling round you best make friends with collard greens.  The nice thing is that they are such a common treat for some sub cultures in the USA that figuring out how to cook them is not that hard.  As you might suspect it is high heat with a  good oil and some onions and garlic for the yum factor.  Collards come in big broad leaves (we are talking a foot wide) that are easy to wash and prepare.  Just cut out the stem (save them) and then slice the leaves into manageable strips.  make sure you use 'too many' leaves as this is much like spinach and other dark greens you cook, they loose a lot of volume when you apply heat.  It is common to blanch the leaves before cooking (dip them into boiling water fr a minute) as this cuts down on the bitterness and makes a more manageable volume.  I prefer to use an acidic cooking stock to cut down the bitterness, typically lemon juice.  By avoiding the water you get to hit the leaves with full heat of the skillet and it gives them a nice sauteed flavor that I always have trouble getting if I blanch first.  

Eat it up!

Comfort in Quinoa

I didnt intend this blog to keep track of my mood but it turns out it does without my intention.   When life gets crazy I tend not to post.  Only when my mind settles again do I think 'ok food yeah i should talk about food'.  The moral is if I dont post for 2-3 weeks I am either out of town or my life is going nuts!

only thing to do when life gets nuts?  eat quinoa!  This is one of those modern day 'super foods ( a term I really dont like) because it is a plant based complete protein, yeah they exist.  NASA started using it on flights because of the way it balances fiber and protein without fat or cholesterol (though I like fat).  It is also my go to grain when I need something to eat and my mind is blank.  The great thign about quinoa is it cooks just like rice in a quarter of the time!  1 cup Quinoa 1 1/2 C broth (though just water is fine too) bring ti to a boil then let it simmer for 15-20 min.  The quinoa in this lunch was slightly toasted before I cooked it and had sauteed onions and garlic added.  I balanced the meal with a broccoli carrot teriyaki and boy did the sweet/savory hit the spot!   

What I missed while in Vietnam

I have been gone for nearly a month spending time in a country I never imagines I would be in, Vietnam!  I went to teach for tow weeks and while everyone told em I couldnt be vegan there I found it to be quite easy.   As the title suggests this post is not about my food experience in that beautiful country, it is what I missed!

the first thing I ate when i got back, Re-fried beans and potatoes!  I think the only beans I ate while I was in Vietnam was tofu, boy they eat a lot of tofu!  but me I am happy to come home and have fried potatoes over re-fried beans with salsa fresca to top it off! I already had the beans so this only took me 15 minutes to make and it was like heaven!

More than beans I missed cooking!  oh man all my vietnam food is a restaurant/vegan living review (coming soon) but all I want is to cook!

Two Weeks in the Appalachia Hills of NC

So I really do mean to do this on a more regular basis but life does not always slow down enough for me to show off my meals the way I want to.  So after two weeks of INCREDIBLE meals all you get is a quick report on the foods and only the scantest of clues on how to make it.  If I were not leaving tomorrow for another trip I would honestly try to be more detailed in my meal preparation and thought process.  

Two Weeks of Tasty Food

Kale Salad

Kale salad with an avocado lemon vinaigrette with fresh corn, grated beets and carrots.  The body is hefted up with a bit of shredded cabbage and topped with crushed walnuts and a few more slices of avocado

Buffalo Fries

It seemed abnormal to go to the south without having buffalo wings but the next best thing is buffalo fires with home made 'wing' sauce.  I used a lot of extra pepper and pinch of salt and so much garlic that I ahrdly tasted the spicy delicious wing sauce

 Buckwheat Pancakes
I was visiting a wheat free friend but that did not deter us from pancakes with maple syrup.  The amazing thing about the east coast is blueberries grow wild!  the bananas are still imported but a morning walk to harvest blueberries made these things so much more worth it!

Shredded salad and mushroom risotto 

One of the many amazing dinners consisted of carrot/beet/cabbage salad with almonds, raisins and, sesame seeds.  The salad was dressed in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  The risotto was rich and delicious and could have used more mushrooms but was a nice compliment to the salad.

Indian Dinner
One lovely night we threw a dinner party with Red Dhal soup, turmeric rice (didnt have any saffron so did our best), pumpkin curry and a green salad.

more salad

massaged kale with romaine lettuce.  The tomatoes and peppers came from the small garden on site and the diced almonds came with me from Cali!

 Simple Dinner
Steamed carrots and purple cabbage topped with sauteed potatoes and bell peppers.

Hash brown Breakfast
shred potatoes, shred yams, garlic and onions!  I am always a fan of hash browns but for some reason these were extra good.  Top potatoes with avocado and Chihuly hot sauce and you are always on the right track.

potato stew

I was not thrilled with my first go at buckwheat biscuits but they added a nice body to the stew as they melted in.  The stew was a slow roast with potato carrot cabbage in a tomato base with a lot of garlic and some onion.  

Mexican Dinner
Turns out North Carolina does not offer a lot of Mexican food.  This was the last night as a going away treat to remind my friend what is waiting for her in California.  Salsa fresca Mexican spiced black beans with a side of Spanish rice. Fresh corn and guacamole to make tacos with corn tortillas was like heaven!

Salad once more

On the night I met Debra Frasier, Liz and I shared kale salads.  Shredded carrots, shredded beats, tomatoes from the garden, fresh corn, bell peppers and a lemon vinaigrette.  I ate it and wanted more and more and more!  I dont thing there is anything I like as much as a well made salad!  

I have no idea what I am going to eat for the next two weeks but once I am back we will all know! 

Eat Lunch!

I am still not tired of okra!  Todays version?  This is garlic brazed okra in coconut oil with rosemary.  I served it over re-fried beans with a helping of sliced cherry tomatoes.  I ate it with tortilla chips but ti would have been fine with rice or quinoa or any other grain.

a not on cooking okra:  most people don't like it because of the slimy texture it has when cooked improperly.  The trick is to fry it alone in oil, the thick gooey part which most people find unpleasant is a water soluble  compound that is not 'activated' in oil.  Meaning if your fry the okra in a really hot pan with oil you make something delicious! 

Boxed Lunch

Between TA second summer session, taking photos for as many events as I can, some recurring emotional turmoil, recovering from my sprained ankle, an internship and trying to find a stable job I am going to be boxing up my lunch more often.  Unfortunately for me that means having to think a lot harder about what I make, not only do I need to think tasty but I also need to think about what travels well, stores for 3-5 hours and is tasty edible at close to room temperature.  That makes a quick Mexican meal an easy choice.  

I made re-fried beans with sauteed onion garlic, jalapeno and corn and a hearty amount of salt and oil (key to making it creamy smooth and yummmmm).  The tortillas are home made from white masa flour with garlic added in.  In place of Spanish rice I had a large couscous salad made with grilled summer squash and okra.  To top it off salsa fresca smothers the re-fried beans to increase the vegetable content.  

Honestly it is better hot with tortillas fresh off the grill but a life on the go has particular demands.  Keep watching for more quick meals (though I am likely to be eating a lot of left overs from dinner for lunch)

A Dinner for Fun!

If you are eating seasonally sometimes it is hard to keep the meals interesting. I have to admit that for the last three weeks I have eaten some version of tomato/eggplant/okra for lunch and part of the reason I have not gotten tired of it is because I keep playing with flavors on top of the base.  

The meal featured here starts with a savory quinoa where I pre-toasted the quinoa (simmered it in oil until it popped a bit, giving it a more nutty taste)cooked it in vegetable broth and added sungold tomatoes for the last 3-5 minutes of cooking so they stayed firm.  

We have too much cucumber coming out of our garden and I am kind of sick of it but there are still ways to make it seem new.  These are thick cucumber slices tossed in a sauce of lemon juice agave and mint (about a teaspoon or two of each) then chilled while the rest is cooked.  It comes out sweet with a cool zing that is very refreshing.  

Usually I make this succotash type meal i use balsamic vinegar and try to accent the summer flavors.  In an effort to do something new I sauteed in coconut oil and added shredded coconut.  In place of the balsamic I went with rice vinegar and added in powdered ginger to go for a more Asian flavor.  First brown together the onions, bell pepper and okra then toss in thinly sliced Japanese eggplant (thin makes it cook faster).  Chopped tomatoes go in last with an extra dash of olive oil (1 Tbs), minced basil and garlic and get put on lower heat until it becomes saucy and delicious.  

Summer time and the lunching's easy

It is beginning to be a challenge. . .cooking zucchini in new ways but brazed is usually a good idea.  By using a VERY hot skillet with a minimal amount of oil you can get the natural sugars in zucchini to brown . . .of course take it too far and you are just burning it.  To help you can splash a bit of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar ti give the appearance of browning while kicking in some extra flavor.  Above is zucchini brazed in balsamic vinegar with garlic to accompany my side of rainbow chard sauteed in lemon juice garlic and butter (earth balance but do I really need to say it every time?  just assume it is some vegan butter, even better assume it is earth balance). with tomato and green beans.  The quinoa is tossed with tomato and oregano and dashed with olive oil and topped with avocado and pepper.  Yeah I can keep eating Zucchini.

Chilli Con YUM!

Chilli does not inherently mean chilli con carne, I know most people jump to that conclusion and instantly ask me 'chilli how do you make that vegan?' but chilli actually refers to the plant! if you make a meat stew with tomatoes it is just a meat stew until you add the chilli.  So the question becomes what makes a good chilli?

Mostly it is this mass of stuff.

The 'sausage' on the right is a vegan soy and wheat based  medium for flavor and spices and usually I dont use products that most refer to as 'meat substitutes' (really they are nothing like meat and calling them a meat substitute generates a false conception of what you are eating) because I like to avoid processed foods but I got it as a gift and dense protein like that goes a good distance for bulking up a chilli.  

Chilli Con Vegetables:

     The key to the chilli I make is having a strong vegetable base, using vegetables that caramelize or release sugar at the same time the supply earthy undertones.  This of course means onions(1/2 diced) and garlic (5-500 cloves minced) but also includes potato (didn't use it this time), Corn(didnt use) carrot(3 average), zucchini(2 small) and beet(1 average).  I particularly like using red beets because it makes the color of the chilli POP and adds a sweetness that is balanced by the spicy.  Of course if you go too heavy on the beet you end up with something that looks other worldly in the vibrancy of its reds.  

The root vegetable base is shredded so it will cook down fall apart and turn into a sauce.  This means the chilli should be started early because it takes over an hour of simmering vegetables in oil to get them to start to fall apart.  I usually simmer the onions a bit before that and add the bell pepper and garlic a bit later, though the bell pepper does not fall apart quite the same way leaving a few chunks for diversity in texture. 

(side note:  while the vegetables simmer you can pressure cook the beans which also take about an hour)

 After the vegetables starts to brown and fall apart you can toss in the veggie sausage and break it into nice bit size pieces and let it all keep simmering until the vegetables really become mush.  

 The mush never looks that good but oh it smells mouthwatering and now it is time to turn the mush into sauce.  The main part of this is adding fresh tomatoes (or some tomato sauce) and to my luck the sun golds were ripe early this year so they made an awesome chilli! Wash them and cut them in half to facilitate the 'saucing' and add in some extra olive oil (2-4 Table spoons).

By now the beans are hopefully ready.  What beans you ask?  well as I do I usually use a base of pinto beans(2 C dry) add in some kidney beans (1 C dry) some black beans (.5C dry) and Garbanzo beans (.5C dry).  Keep in mind those amounts will make A LOT of chilli but if you make it right it will not last that long.  Pressure cook the beans with 10C water (reduce the amounts of beans if your pressure cooker is smaller).

Once the beans go in (they can be a bit under cooked since they are going to simmer) the chilli is essentially ready.  It is not really ready until it simmers for at least an hour. In all honesty it would be even better if it could simmer for three hours (and even better if you let it cool and sit over night before reheating and serving).

Zucchini Corn Bread:

     I pretty much made up this recipe on the spot combining my friends zucchini bread recipe (dont know where she got it) with my favorite corn bread recipe (came out of vegan with a vengeance or how it all vegan or from another friend but ti has been in my recipe box long enough that I dont know anymore) 

Mix the dry ingredients (white flour, corn flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar, salt), fold in the wet ingredients (oil, water, vanilla, zucchini) until it makes a nice heavy batter.  This stuff is dense so try not to over mix it, press it into a pan and bake it at 350 for 45 minutes (you can make it while the beans and vegetables are cooking) 

I served it with a Spanish rice, a strawberry smoothie and a few slices of melon.  

It is a great meal to celebrate 11 years of being vegan :)

TCB Lunch

Takin' Care of Business?  or Tomato Corn Basil! 

Its the later.  This simple lunch was made from produce I picked earlier in the day: Organic sweet corn cut off the cob, Tomatoes diced (the variety is a combination of 'lady in the shade' which is a slicer and 'sungolds' which is a cherry variety), and Basil.  Of course I grated fresh garlic into this mix and doused it with a combination of olive oil coconut oil and a splash red wine vinegar (though balsamic or white would have been fine too).  Just a dash of salt and a nice helping of fresh ground pepper and you are eating summer incarnate! 

Lunch to go

For the rest of summer my lunches are likely to be some combination of zucchini, tomatoes and basil but with the last head of cabbage from the cooler I put together a lunch to take hiking with me.  Cabbage travels quite well and is a good source of fiber (not to mention how well it carries flavor; much like tofu, cabbage is a medium for sauce).   The cabbage is a curry cabbage made in coconut oil with roasted peanuts over the top and a sprinkling of paprika for a subtle heat and nice color.  The rice to accompany it is a saffron rice (with turmeric to bump up the color) with diced and roasted carrots, corn and coconut.  The two flavor complimented each other well and I was happy I bought enough to share (because everyone wanted a taste).  

Lunch Salad

With summer here my kale salads are now featuring tomatoes and corn!  I still use diced almonds and sesame seeds (duh) with grated garlic.  I also toss in minced basil and some fresh oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  It is probably the most filing salad I could think of! 

Bean Burgers

Summer is all up in my face!  The heat is just crippling and of course that mean it is time to fire up the BBQ grill and do some outdoor cooking so indoors stays chilly.  Everyone is touting their burgers and dogs as the best and having grill-off as a matter of principle but whatever! I am not competitive nor do I think a bean based patty is a replacement for a beef patty.  Bean burgers are a completely different cuisine not to be confused with the meaty mainstream but they also provide a whallop of protein swell texture and make use of all the fixin's at a typical barbecue (lettuce tomato mustard so on).  In addition to the 'batties' (bean-patties, I am still trying to make up new words for vegan food) there is a cream of potato soup and brazed Brussels sprouts. What I am saying is we are going to 

turn this:

into this! 

Braised Brussels Sprouts:

     There are a lot of ways to cook brussels sprouts but the way that I have found that seems to be the most popular among people I feed is the braised brussels sprouts in a balsamic reduction.  What is surprising to me is that it is almost as easy as steaming them after you cut them in half.  

The main trick is t let the pan with oil get HOT (I used coconut oil but just enough to give the pan a light coat and help heat transfer, we are not doing a deep fry).  I use a teaspoon or less of mustard seeds as a temperature gauge, when the seeds pop it is time for the brussels sprouts to go in.  The fun part is the B-sprouts will actually pop and hop in the hot pan while they cook, and they dont take that long.  After about 8 minutes you can stir them up so the round part is facing down and let it go for another 5 minutes.

At this point you could already serve the little darlings with some garlic infused butter but just as much fun is to mince some garlic in, toss in a bit of onion and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, turning it down to medium heat.  Make sure you have the stove fan on high when you splash in the vinegar because your hot skillet will vaporize the stuff which can be pretty intense if the ventilation is not good. Slowly add balsamic vinegar, like a teaspoon at a time,  and let it cook off the water to make a thick sauce that is coating your brussels sprouts.  how much you add depends on how saucy you want the dish to be and how many brussels sprouts you are making . . . I probably added close to a 1/4 C of vinegar over the course of 15 minutes.  I served them with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.  

Home Made Buns:

     I always turn to the Tassajara bread book for my bun-like entities and this is no exception.  3 cups war water with yeast and a table spoon of sugar start things off.  The first 3 cups of flour go in to make a relatively soupy batter that you let sit and rise.  then you slowly add in 3more cups string in the same direction and being conscious not to break the strands of gluten that have formed.  This is also where you add salt and any extras you would want (might I suggest garlic or rosemary or both).  Once the dough is thick let it rise a second time before forming the buns.   

I had never made buns so I tried a few different ways and by far the best was to make a flat bread with a  roll on top (maybe there is a better way but this worked great for me).  

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Veggie Black Bean Patties:

   Do not underestimate the importance of vegetable content! Using shredded beet and carrot is a re-occurring theme in my cooking because they add color texture and sweetness that is subtle and earthy.  In addition to that mess we add in green onions and roasted fennel bulb.  for those who like to measure it is about 1 C of each fennel, carrot, beet and about a 1/2 C onion

Saute it all together with a minimum of oil, I think I got away with 1tablespoon. adding in some mushroom, garlic and sunflower seeds.  the sunflower seeds are for texture, I really enjoy the pop of pan roasted sunflower seeds in a Battie. 

The beans are cooked before hand in a pressure cooker where I used 2C of black beans with 1C of kidneys and the corresponding 6C vegetable broth (water is fine too but the broth really adds depth to the flavor of the beans).  Pour off the water after cooking (save it in another pan to be reintroduced but we want the patties firm and not too watery).

Mash the beans with some fresh fennel and mix in the vegetable mass.  the vegetables should be simmered long enough that they mostly fall apart as you mash them in.  Keep stirring/mashing until you form a nice batter that is thick and holds shape when rolled.  If  the batter is too thin add in some flour to thicken it up ( i used corn meal so my patties would be wheat free).  

Roll the mix in to large walnut sized balls (similar to golf ball size or the size of a lime)and roll the ball in a bit of corn meal.  The corn meal helps keep the patty from falling apart on the grill and makes sure it is easy to lift off.  It also adds a bit more dryness that helps hold it together.

The patties only take about 5 minutes on each side and then can be served on a bun with spinach/lettuce, mustard, ketchup and all your other favorite fixins.  I would suggest trying some grated carrot and beet as a 'burger' topping or the classic avocado! 

Creamy Potato Mushroom Soup:

     Make mashed potatoes, with extra water and a lot of oil!  again we learn that the secret to a 'creamy' texture is the combination of oil and water with some emulsifier, in this case potato starch.   I used 5lbs of russet potatoes boiled in enough water to cover them and then started mashing.

I used a combination of coconut oil and earth balance for my fatty content and a hearty amount of garlic and pepper for seasonings.

The mushrooms were sauteed in olive oil and garlic with popped mustard seeds and green onion.  I think the soup would have been fine without the mushrooms but I really like the extra texture and flavor that comes with adding them in.  Plus we had extra mushrooms around.  I twas about 2 cups of sliced crimini mushrooms added into the soup.

Served!