Late Night Tacos

You have a long day, and accidentally fall asleep right when you get home.  When you wake up at 1am and still need dinner what do you do?  well if you have a quart of chili left over in the fridge like I luckily did tacos make a quick and delicious choice.  The corn tortillas are gently warmed on a cast iron before they are topped with heated chili (learn more about how to make chili here: http://cooperativevegan.blogspot.com/2012/07/chilli-con-yum.html ).  The green is a mix of shredded cabbage and carrots with some snap peas.  I really like to use cabbage in a soft taco because it adds a nice texture without overshadowing the chili.  I'll admit, four tacos at 2am might be a lot to sleep on but it is also so delicious!  It would have been killer to have a dash of lime juice, a slice of avocado and a glass of horchata but it is 2 am and I am going to try and sleep.

Food for 200

so . . .I did something kinda crazy last week.  I made A LOT of food.  About a month ago Boz asked me to handle food for an upcoming event.  I had a budget of 300 dolalrs and needed to feed 200 people a combination of vegan and non vegan food.  OF course I wanted to go all vegan but I got help to deal with the non-vegan side of things.  While I turned 50 pounds of potatoes into 65 lbs of potato salad and 45 pounds of cabbage into 50 pounds of cole slaw Hani and Marie handled BBQ chicken (eww right, huge thanks for them dealing with it).  Of course I wanted there to be a comparable vegan choice so I went with the classic BBQ jack Fruit. 

Considering how delicious and simple it is to make this dish I am always amazed that people do not know about it.  First question is always "jack fruit?  what is that?"  Well Ill tell you: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit 

or rather  I will let Wiki tell you (please donate).  The cool part is this fruit has been eaten in India for over 6000 years, and it is just like I always say . . .you want a new idea look at the oldest vegetarian group on the planet!  Fortunately we can take this fruit and give it an american twist.  The hard part is often finding a good source of jack Fruit.  For last weeks meal I completely bought out the Asian market here in Davis, which is where you can often find canned jack fruit.  If you go with fresh jack fruit you need to soak it in water over night (or longer) to reduce the sweet/fruity flavor.  Getting from the can is way easier.   

Preparation is pretty much boiling the fruit in flavor water.  I use a combination of vegetable stock, garlic and onions.  The secret for getting the BBQ into it is a touch of liquid smoke . . . and oh man how have I never cooked with liquid smoke before?  You knwo that smell that people associate with barbecued whatever?  well it isnt the meat, it isnt the marinade, it isnt the grill it is the smoke!  liquid smoke adds that woodsy taste that you get in your nostrils and keep craving.  It is also what turns ketchup into barbecue sauce (more or less). 

The cole slaw and potato salad were pretty challenging and in the amount of time I had I didnt manage to take many photos.  Some day soon I might have enough time to actually document what I am doing again. 

Also a big thank you to Brad and Diana who helped plate food for 100 hungry climbers and the dozens of spectators at the Competition.

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! 

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).  

Irish Pride!

at only 1/8th Irish and growing up in California I dont really know much about Irish cuisine . . .but it turns out most of my american friends dont know much beyond meat and potatoes either so I felt pretty comfortable making up a meal based on the family tradition (sans corn beef).  

I am still being lazy in terms of making posts but this is a pretty easy meal.  

boiled potatoes with carrots and cabbage

garlic barley

Irish soda bread

steamed cauliflower

spinach salad 

garlic Earth Balance

Potatoes and Carrots and Cabbage:

This is the old staple and in my family it was always made with a mix of spices which are pretty close to pickling spice.  I used vegetable stock picking spice, a bit of oil, a few bay leaves, half an onion and 4-20 cloves of garlic (I used somewhere around 8 but lost count).  The potatoes carrots go in as soon as the broth is made and the cabbage goes on top 20 minutes after with a lid to make it so everything steams together.  Put the heat on low and just let it simmer for about 35 minutes.  It can go longer but be careful or the potatoes will just fall apart.

There were about 5 lbs of potatoes and 2 lbs of carrots and a full head of cabbage with the core cut out.  Not much of a recipe but it is really that easy and comes out very tasty, just make sure your broth has a good flavor and all of the vegetables will have a good flavor!  ( keep the broth after cooking so you can make soup later)

Garlic Barley:

Barley cooks at 2:1 and I made 3 cups of barley with 6 cups of water (a bit of stock to make it extra savory).  Barley is a funny grain, something in the process of preparing it makes it so it come out dusty so make sure you rinse the barley before cooking it.  I tossed in some thyme, black pepper and salt; it cooks for 40 to 60 minutes and gets 4-500 cloves of raw garlic grated into it  (I used 5 cloves) and tossed the barley with about 1/8 cup olive oil and served it hot! 

Steamed Cauliflower:

Dice it into chunks toss in a steam basket in a pot with a few inches of water and steam for 15 min.  Season it as you like but I do Tarragon, black pepper and salt.  It doesn't have much going on but it goes great with a bit of garlic 'butter' is easy to make and in season ( so it is cheap right now)

Irish Soda Bread:

made it out of 'joy of cooking' using soy milk whisked with vinegar to make 'buttermilk' and Energy brand egg re-placer to bind it.  I was surprised that this simple recipe was so delicious!  I made a double recipe making sure to follow the directions of preparing the west separate from the dry.  The double batch made to very thin loaves (only an inch or two thick) but I think that is part of how it is suppose to be.  

Garlic Earth Balance:

this stuff really brings the meal together.  every dish made (yes even the salad!  ok not the salad) can have a dollop of garlic earth balance on top to add that oily/salty/garlicy awesomeness that made it so we didnt have as many left overs as I was hoping!  

I used a pot with boiling water poured into it to heat up a jar of earth balance until it was liquid.  Grated 3 cloves of garlic (into a half cup of EB) and then took it out of the hot water.  Giving the EB time to cool also gives it time to take on the flavor and for serving 8 people 1/2 cup was just enough . ..but dont worry about making too much it keeps well and can be used in almost any savory recipe that calls for oil or a spread! 

I served it with yellow mustard and garlic 'butter' often wrapping the potatoes and carrots up in a cabbage leaf.  The above plate is missing the barley but it was also delicious and even at 5-7 cups yield it was all gone by the end of the night! Using 3 medium heads of cauliflower made it so there was only a little left over by the end (which was eaten with breakfast in the morning). The Irish soda bread had two pieces left at the end of the meal which were happily eaten rather than put away (not to self  . .. triple recipe for Irish soda bread).