recipe

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili: Delicious and easy, except when I forget to buy key ingredients

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

Orange rectangular banner that says "Vegan MoFo" and "Vegan Month of Food 2011."

Howdy, y’all! I’m posting today about a meal I made on Tuesday but photographed on Wednesday – this early sun-setting business really puts a cramp in my blogging. By the time I finished making my dinner, the light was pale and weak, so I had to wait until the next day to photograph it.

The early sun-setting was problematic, but it didn’t help that I had a little hiccup in my meal-making, either. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up a few ingredients, but I forgot one: limes! I realized my mistake about halfway through the cooking process and after a quick internal debate, decided to walk to the grocery store (which is only five minutes away) and pick some up. Because my roommate was out of town and couldn’t keep an eye on my food, I had to turn my stove off and halt my dinner-making. I’m just too paranoid to leave my appliances running when I’m gone! Luckily, I think some of the residual heat from the burner kept the cooking process going.

So, what was I making that desperately required limes? Why, chili, of course! Specifically, this Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili, which was thoughtfully recommended to me by my best friend’s sister. Thanks, Margaret! :)

A head-on shot of a bowl of chili next to a spoon.

Chili-licious.

Now, you might be thinking, “But Kelly, surely you could have just omitted the limes and had a perfectly tasty chili!” And… maybe that’s true. But in the spirit of giving recipes a fair shot at impressing me, I’ve been trying to stay true[r than usual] to ingredient lists during MoFo. And four whole teaspoons of lime juice is quite a lot to omit, you know? I think I made the right decision, too – I could actually taste the sour lime-y tang in my chili, and it was a fantastic counterpoint to the smoky beans and the sweet potatoes. Overall, I really enjoyed this recipe – it was pretty painless to make (excluding my own folly, of course), and resulted in a hearty chili that’s different than most chilis I usually make. I’ll definitely try this again, probably in a few months’ time when it’s cold and snowy and I just need something warm. :)

What do you do when you realize you don’t have all your ingredients mid-cooking? How often do you follow a recipe to the letter?

Note: This is a scheduled post, because I’m currently in Italy. Apologies for any weirdness with auto-publishing!

Muffin Monday: Banana-Chocolate Chip

/ Kelly / 4 Comments

Orange rectangular banner that says "Vegan MoFo" and "Vegan Month of Food 2011."

I hope you don’t judge me too harshly for this unoriginal installment of Muffin Mondays. Everyone and their mom’s dentist has a banana muffin recipe, so who am I to add one to the collection? I have no compelling answer to that question, so I’m going to show you a picture and hope that it’ll distract you from judging my boringness too harshly.

Close-up of a muffin cut in half; in the background is a small bowl filled with muffins.

Sliced.

These are pretty simple, but they’re tasty. Brown rice syrup gives them a sophisticated sweetness, and a smattering of chocolate chips makes them a little more playful than your standard banana muffin affair.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes six)

1/2 T ground flax + 1 1/2 T warm water

3/4 white whole wheat flour (Note: I found that WWWF made my muffins a bit grainy. Next time, I’ll use whole wheat pastry flour.)
1/2 all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon

1 large very ripe banana
1/4 C dark brown sugar
2 T coconut oil
2 T almond milk
1 heaping T brown rice syrup
1/2 t vanilla extract

1/3 C chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and the brown sugar to the flax mixture and stir well, making sure all wet ingredients are mixed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in the dried coconut and the pineapple. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin – it’ll come up to the top of each well. Bake for 20 or so minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Close-up of a small bowl filled with muffins.

Bowl o' muffins.

I’m sorry for posting these so late – I usually draft my posts at night and then edit and publish them when I get into work in the morning, but I hadn’t added the recipe to this post last night, and it was saved on my home computer. Alas! So I had to wait until I got home from work to add it and publish. But here they are!

What’s your favorite banana muffin (or bread!) recipe?

Leaves & Roots Lemongrass Soup

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

Orange rectangular banner that says "Vegan MoFo" and "Vegan Month of Food 2011."

In my first post of MoFo 2011, I talked about tatsoi, a new-to-me green. It was delicious and photogenic:

A large bowl of tatsoi, shot from above.

Green leaves.

I enjoyed half my bundle of tatsoi in a simple dish of sauteed greens with marinated tofu, but I wanted to do something different with the remaining half. Many of the comments you all left on that post included your thoughts on how to use this pretty green, but Andrea‘s comment was especially appealing:

What a gorgeous bunch of greens! I like tatsoi in stir-fries and in soup, especially Asian-inspired soups.

Soup – I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! I don’t know about you, but I feel immensely healthy and happy when I eat a giant bowl of soup filled with leafy greens and other veggies. Because you boil the greens right in the broth, you know that any nutrients that seep out during cooking remain in the broth itself, providing you with a slurpable bowl of goodness.

With dreams of soup in my head, I went back to the co-op in search of inspiration. I returned with a big bag of groceries, including the following rustic-looking bounty:

A wooden cutting board with a burdock root, a piece of ginger, and a stalk of lemongrass.

Roots and leaves.

I was so pleased to find burdock root – I’ve eaten it once before in a soup, and I loved its earthy flavor and unique texture. I also picked up ginger root and lemongrass. All these yummy ingredients met the last of my tatsoi for a swim in my big ol’ Le Creuset stock pot, and out came this pretty, colorful soup:

A big bowl of soup sitting on a wooden board. In the bowl you can see carrots, burdock roots, cooked greens, and cubed tofu. To the right of the bowl is a pho spoon. In front of the bowl are sliced green onions and a few slices of lime.

Green soup.

Leaves & Roots Lemongrass Soup
Serves four (or three, if you’re a piggy-pig-pig like me!)

1 T reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 T agave nectar
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t garlic powder
1.5 C extra firm tofu, chopped into cubes

1 T olive oil
1 burdock root (about 7” long), well peeled and thinly sliced (yields about 1/2 cup)
2 T reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1 large carrot, sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 T freshly minced ginger
1 piece star anise
6 C vegetable broth
1 stalk lemongrass (bottom cut in half and then quartered; sliced into 1-inch pieces and gently bruised with side of knife)
3 C tightly packed chopped tatsoi (or other green)
1 bundle mung bean vermicelli noodles
1/2 lime (optional)
Toasted sesame oil (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk the first four ingredients until they’re well incorporated. Add the tofu cubes and give them a little shake so all their sides are covered in the marinade. Set aside.

Add olive oil to a large stock pot and heat on medium-high. When oil is hot, add the burdock root. Saute 5 – 7 minutes or until the burdock root begins to soften; depending on how thinly you’ve sliced the burdock, it might take more or less time. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, and spices and saute for 30 more seconds. Add the broth and turn up the heat. When the broth is boiling, add lemongrass and boil for 5 more minutes or until the lemongrass is somewhat tender. Add greens, noodles, tofu, and remaining tofu marinade and reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for seven to ten minutes. If using bean threads, remember that you might need to use kitchen shears to cut them once they soften – they often come in a big intertwined ball.

When the greens are soft and the noodles are ready, drizzle the soup with the juice of 1/2 a lime and a few drops of toasted sesame oil. Ladle into bowls and top with diced scallions and fresh basil leaves, if desired. Enjoy!

I really liked this soup – it had a unique blend of flavors, ones I don’t usually cook with. I did find the lemongrass a little tough, so you might need to cook it for longer (or even saute it with the burdock root). It still hit the spot, though, filling my tummy and making me feel super healthy and satiated.

Have you cooked with burdock root? Do you have any secrets for making lemongrass more palatable?

Muffin Mondays: Never Let Go [of Summer] Muffins

/ Kelly / 7 Comments

Orange rectangular banner that says "Vegan MoFo" and "Vegan Month of Food 2011."

This is the second installment of Muffin Mondays – each Monday during MoFo, I’m posting a brand new muffin recipe. Carb lovers, rejoice!

Last week’s first installment of Muffin Mondays featured Fruit Medley Muffins, a hearty, wholesome, fiber-packed morsel to help you ease into another week of work on a crisp autumn morning. But what if you happen to live in a region that’s experiencing a return to summer, with temperatures in the upper 70s, clear blue skies, and nothin’ but sun? Then I suggest you celebrate pseudo-summer by baking up a batch of tropical-inspired muffins.

A bowl of muffins in the left-hand background and a plate with a muffin (cut in two) in the foreground.

Bowl full o' sunshine.

Never Let Go [of Summer] Muffins
(Makes 6 good-sized muffins)

1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground nutmeg
scant 1/4 t salt
dash cinnamon

1/2 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 1.5 T warm water)
1/2 C coconut + almond
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 T freshly grated ginger (optional but recommended)
3/4 t vanilla
1/4 C + 2 t sugar
1 T maple syrup
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup coconut flakes
Heaping 1/2 C diced pineapple (I used frozen pineapple chunks cut into smaller pieces; you could use fresh or even try canned – just be sure not to add excess liquid)

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the flax mixture and stir well, making sure all wet ingredients are mixed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated. If the batter seems extremely liquidy, add a tablespoon or two of all-purpose flour. When it’s wet but not liquidy, fold in the dried coconut and the pineapple. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin – it’ll cup up to the top of each well. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Close-up of a muffin cut in two on a plate. It has visible coconut flakes and pineapple chunks.

Sweetness.

Each of these cheery muffins is filled with bright flavors; pineapple and ginger take a star role while coconut and lime provide subtle background notes. Feel free to play with the proportions; you could reduce the amount of ginger and add extra coconut, or include lime zest to up your citrus quotient. Whatever way you go, these muffins are a summer-inspired treat to keep you smiling on a sunny Monday morning. I’ll never let go, Jack! of summer!

Do you embrace seasonal changes? What’s your favorite muffin? What should I make next?

Brekkie for Din-Din: Whole-wheat Ginger-Apple Pancakes

/ Kelly / 6 Comments

Based on this post’s title, you might assume that I am a British four-year-old. Add 20 years to that age and replace “British” with “American” and you’re correct! Heh heh. But let’s be real – whether you’re four or 24*, breakfast for dinner is equally awesome. Last night I indulged in that time-honored excuse for eating sweet foods for dinner as a method for curing a mild case of the blues.

A stack of five pancakes, covered in maple syrup, sit on a blue plate. To the left are three slices of apples. In the background is a bowl of chocolate chia pudding and a bottle of ginger syrup.

Stacked!

These are Whole Wheat Ginger-Apple Pancakes and Hell Yeah It’s Vegan‘s Chocolate Chia Pudding (barely visible in the background). During my post-work dinner-making, I put together the pudding first and let it gel in the fridge while I mixed the pancake batter. Then, while I cleaned up around the kitchen, I let my pancake batter sit in the fridge for fifteen minutes or so. Vegan with a Vengeance taught me that pancake batter does best when the gluten has a chance to rest. ;) Once the gluten was relaxed, so was I, and I took the batter to its stovetop demise.

A similar picture to the previous one, but these pancakes have no maple syrup.

Nakie pancakes!

The act of chowing down on pancakes and trying my first-ever chia pudding (!) helped pull me out of the dumps, but the real restorative was the simple process of meal-making. I’m sure many of you can relate to the relaxing, cathartic nature of baking (and, often, cooking). Focusing my energies on mixing and measuring and mincing calms me down and quiets my mind. Following recipes gives my brain the chance to focus on a specific task, one with a set beginning and end (and a delicious result). And simply waiting for the disparate components of a recipe to cohere into a unified result is an exercise in patience, one I often need at the end of a busy or stressful day. In short, the kitchen can be a haven for me, as long as I’m mindfully making my meals instead of zipping through the steps, distracted and unfocused.

Food musing aside, let’s return to these pancakes. Would you like the recipe for them? Regardless of your answer, I’m going to share it with you. :)

Whole-wheat Ginger-Apple Pancakes

Serves two

  • 1/2 T ground flaxseed + 1.5 T warm water
  • 3/4 C whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 T baking powder
  • 1.5 T vegan cane sugar
  • 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/8 t ground ginger
  • Dash salt
  • 3/4 C almond milk
  • 1 T ginger syrup (optional; maple syrup is a fine substitution)
  • Scant 1 t very finely minced fresh ginger
  • 1-2 T almond milk (as necessary)
  • 1/2 medium-sized apple, peeled and diced

In a small bowl, mix together the flax and water and set aside. In a larger bowl, add all the dry ingredients and thoroughly mix. Add the remaining wet ingredients (except for the 1-2 T almond milk and the apple) to the flax mixture and stir until all the wet ingredients are incorporated. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. If the batter seems a bit dry, add the remaining almond milk as necessary. If possible, let your batter sit in the fridge for ten or more minutes.

When you’re ready to make the pancakes, heat a nonstick pan on medium heat and fold the diced apple into the batter. Turn the heat down a bit (to medium-lowish). Pour half-cup spoonfuls onto the pan and cook until bubbles form on the upper side, then flip them. When you can easily slide a thin, nonstick spatula beneath them, they’re probably ready. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

These autumnal pancakes hit all the right notes for me; they pack a great gingery wallop and they made for an excellent relaxed Friday-night dinner. I was glad to use some of the organic ginger syrup I purchased a while back; it’s a great product but I always forget to use it!

I also loved the chia pudding – I’ve seen it around the blogosphere for years now, but I’ve been hesitant to try it. After buying a big ol’ bag of chia seeds at Costco recently, I knew I had to give it a chance. And I’m so glad I did, even if it’s not the most beautiful of foods.

A bowl of very dark chocolaty chia pudding; it's not very smooth and has lots of little tiny chia seeds.

Ch-ch-ch-chocolate chia!

Although having crunchy seeds in a pudding does take some getting used to, the consistency is really fun, and the chocolaty flavor in this particular recipe was amazing. I could only eat a few bites, though, so I saved the rest for this morning. Maybe I’ll follow breakfast for dinner with dessert for breakfast. ;)

What do you make with chia seeds? What’s your stance on breakfast for dinner? Is cooking a stressor or a de-stressor for you?

* Help, I can’t stop writing using the Microsoft Manual of Style!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through my link, it costs nothing extra for you, but I get a few pennies to help cover hosting costs.

Peaches & Cream Smoothie (and a giveaway winner!)

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Orange rectangular banner that says "Vegan MoFo" and "Vegan Month of Food 2011."

I have to admit that I feel a little silly posting a smoothie recipe. But this one is so simple and so delicious that I feel compelled to share, because I don’t want you to miss out on this sweet, creamy, dessert-like drink. I think that, if you try this smoothie, you’ll forgive me for this slightly lazy post. At least, I hope you will!

Smoothies are the darlings of the vegan world. We love to pack our smoothies with kale and spinach and chia seeds and all sorts of healthy things that most people would be horrified to see packed into a blender and pureed into a drinkable concoction. Don’t get me wrong; I love a green smoothie as much as the next girl, but lately I’ve been in a fruit smoothie groove. Normally I go all out with these, adding tons of frozen fruits and blending them into creamy oblivion. But I recently made a simple, five-ingredient smoothie so delicious that it knocked all my fancy-schmancy smoothies right out of the park and won a special place in my heart. It tastes rich and sweet and creamy and wonderful, like something you’d want to sip on a hot summer day. If summer’s done a runner on you, maybe you could just sit in front of a fireplace, close your eyes, and pretend it’s still summer. Personally, I’m loving the return of warm weather here in Madison, so I think this drink is still seasonally appropriate. Either way, you don’t want to miss out on this one!

A small Bell jar filled with a creamy, light orange smoothie.

Luscious!

Peaches & Cream Smoothie
Serves one

1 cold banana (not frozen, just refrigerated for a few hours)
1 C frozen peach slices (this can be tricky to measure, but err on the side of more peaches!)
1/3-1/2 C plain soy creamer, depending on how thick you like your smoothies
1-2 T agave nectar, depending on how sweet you like your smoothies
1/4 t vanilla extract (optional)

Add all ingredients to blender and puree until all ingredients are incorporated and free of lumps. Garnish with a slice of peach and enjoy!

Variation: Use a frozen banana and a food processor to create Peaches & Cream Soft Serve!

The secret ingredient here is soy creamer. When I first made this smoothie, my freezer was a little devoid of fruit, and I despaired – I thought that my smoothie would taste overly banana-like, that the peaches would get lost in the mix, and that it would be an overall boring drink. As I rooted around in my fridge for something else to add, a carton of soy creamer caught my eye; it was on sale on the co-op recently, so I’d purchased it to have on hand. That serendipitous splash of slightly sweetened soy perfectly complemented the peach flavor and created a rich, creamy confection that I just adored.

Close-up of the top of a smoothie in a jar.

Creamy beige.

What’s your favorite smoothie blend? Do you need to remind yourself to keep things simple, or are you naturally inclined towards minimalism?

Finally , the winner of the Cute and/or Delicious giveaway is…

Random number generator - number 34 out of 55 was selected.

Comment #34, Kim, who said “I follow blogs that have enticing photographs and delicious recipes that are easy to make. Thanks for doing such a great giveaway!” Kim, I’ll be e-mailing you soon!

Thanks to everyone who entered. You all left such thoughtful and helpful comments about what makes you return to the blogs you love – I have lots to think about now!

Easing into Monday with Fruit Medley Muffins

/ Kelly / 4 Comments

Orange rectangular banner that says "Vegan MoFo" and "Vegan Month of Food 2011."

This is the first installment of Muffin Mondays – each Monday during MoFo, I’ll post a brand new muffin recipe. Carb lovers, rejoice!

Sometimes, Sunday night rolls around and the thought of heading back to work the next morning really bums you out. You’ve had a great weekend, taking long walks with your sweet dog and spending quality time with your even sweeter significant other. You just want that blissful state of relaxation to continue, and visions of your desk and the work that awaits just fill you with dread. So you head to the kitchen, sure that a bout of baking will cure your woes. And the result – muffins, in this case – will accompany you to work, giving you something delicious to nibble when it’s time for elevenses (or even second breakfast).

Rooting around in the fridge, you discover remnants and leftovers – half a can of pumpkin puree, a holdover from the time you made pumpkin spice lattes, sits next to a third-full jar of coconut milk, languishing on the shelf ever since you made a sauce that only needed 1/3 cup. And there’s that bag of mixed dried fruit you purchased at the drugstore weeks ago when you were on a road trip and needed a quick energy fix en route to the Renegade craft fair in Chicago. What to do, what to do…

A muffin sits on a small plate alongside a pile of dried apricots.

Fruitlicious.

Fruit Medley Muffins
(makes 6 good-sized muffins)

1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger

1 flax egg (1 T ground flax plus 3 T warm water)
1/2 C coconut milk
1 T oil
2 T agave
1/4 C sugar
1/2 t vanilla
2 T pumpkin

1/4 C chopped Medjool dates
1/4 C chopped apricots
1/4 C chopped prunes

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the flax mixture and stir well. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated, then fold in the dried fruit. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 22 – 25 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Substitution notes: For a lower-fat muffin, you could substitute your favorite alt-milk for the coconut milk. If you don’t have pumpkin puree, I’m sure applesauce would work equally well. Finally, feel free to substitute any dried fruits you have in the house. Medjool dates add a really delicious caramel flavor, but any dried date (or no dates at all!) will do.

As long as you don’t forget to pack a few of these hearty snacks in your lunch box, you’ll have a sweet, mostly healthy treat to enjoy with your morning cup of tea or during your mid-afternoon “Is it time to go home yet?” slump. The pumpkin adds a nice smoothness to these muffins, and the dried fruit and flax fills them with fiber to keep your innards clean. Is there a better way to start a week than with clean innards? I didn’t think so.

What’s your favorite muffin recipe? Do you bring homemade treats to work? Do you have suggestions for a muffin I should create?

P.S. Only two more days to enter my giveaway!

Coffee Cake: Better than Sour Cream

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

In my last post, I talked about the various changes that are happening in my life these days. Some things, however, remain steadfast and constant, comforting in their resolute resistance to change. Things like the Grand Canyon, which is always a giant gaping chasm in the ground, and also dark chocolate, which is always delicious. Additionally, there is my undying habit of buying some food item I really don’t want or need and then not knowing what to do with it. I don’t do this often, but I do it often enough that I really should know better. Sigh. Maybe I’ll learn one day.

The most recent offender was a tub of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream. I’d never had it before, and one day I went grocery shopping after work but before dinner (MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE), and I was planning on making some sort of burrito dealio, and then I saw the BTSC and couldn’t resist.

And then I tried it and instantly regretted my purchase. Blech – it had no flavor, the consistency was just gross, and after a couple of days, a pool of milky water formed atop the sour cream. Ugh. So the neglected tub sat in my fridge for a couple of weeks while I pretended it wasn’t there. But the thought of letting an entire container of food go to waste because I made a stupid, impulsive purchase kept nagging at me, so I finally decided to do something with it. I figured that hiding it in a baked good was the best solution, and hey – I was right!

Sour cream and bananas... a match made in practically-spoiled-food heaven!

This is Sour Cream Banana Coffee Cake. And by “coffee cake,” I obviously mean the East Coast version of coffee cake, which is unashamedly coffee-free. It is, however, the perfect accompaniment for coffee. This cake is definitely one of the best original recipes I’ve created – it’s moist, flavorful, and delicate without being fragile. I was inspired to add a banana when I stumbled across this recipe; I had a very brown banana waiting patiently in my fridge for its chance to shine, and because it had made friends with the similarly-neglected tub of sour cream, I figured I should let their relationship continue in baked-good form. It added just the faintest hint of banana flavor, perfect for a banana-snubber like myself. Intrigued? Well, lucky for you, I wrote down the recipe as I put this together.

Sour Cream Banana Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
1 very brown banana
1 container Tofutti Better than Sour Cream
1/3 C alt-milk
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 t vanilla
1 T ground flax
1 1/2 C flour of your choice
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
2 t cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350˚F and lightly grease or spray a 9″ x 9″ baking pan.

In a large bowl, mash the banana with the sour cream. Add the milk, sugar, vanilla, and flax and mix until well combined. Add all the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Pour the batter into your pan, pop it into the oven, and wait.

I can’t remember how long this took to bake, but I’d guess it was around 20 minutes. I topped it with a tablespoon of brown sugar and a sprinkling of toasted walnuts, but you could definitely get fancy and whip up a cinnamon-y streusel for the top. Either way, it’ll be delicious!

I should also note that I didn’t use a full container of sour cream, so I upped the milk to 1/2 cup. Your mileage might vary – play around with the liquid content if necessary.

And that, friends, is probably the best use for Better than Sour Cream.

What do you do when you purchase a food item that just doesn’t do it for you?

P.S. I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA. That is all.

Erudite Eats: District 13 Bean and Onion Stew

/ Kelly / 7 Comments

Yesterday morning, as part of my campaign to slow down and make time for myself, I took a bath, an honest to goodness fill-up-the-tub-and-scald-your-girly-bits bath. I used a Lush bath bomb I’d been holding on to for a year or two, and it was glorious. Sure, I learned that the stopper in my bathtub’s drain doesn’t actually work very well, so I had to cover it with a sponge and anchor the sponge with my foot, and sure, my long, curly hair doesn’t take well to immersion-washing and might’ve turned into a bit of a rat’s nest afterwards, but hey, I spent twenty minutes soaking in hot, almond-y water and reading. So you know what? I’m calling it a success.

I used the in-tub downtime to start reading Mockingjay, the third and final book in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. I’ve already shared my bibliophilic tendencies, and yes – those tendencies extend to young adult fantasy(ish) novels. I’m not ashamed; I think the series is great and definitely worth a read. They’re like brain candy; quick to get through and immensely enjoyable. As I read my book, MoFo was the last thing on my mind; I was more concerned with, y’know, the story’s plot. But then I read the following line and knew what I had to do:

“Either because the prep team’s incapacitated or I’m too on edge, Plutarch releases me from Mockingjay duties for the rest of the day. Gale and I head down to lunch, where we’re served bean and onion stew, a thick slice of bread, and a cup of water.”

There was just something about the idea of a warm stew that appealed to me yesterday, possibly because it was chilly, grey, and drizzly. So I headed into the kitchen to whip up District 13 Bean and Onion Stew:

Katniss-approved?

Inredients
1/2 [very] large yellow onion, thinly sliced (If I’d had a whole onion, I would’ve used it!)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 C roughly chopped mushrooms (I used baby bella)
2 C vegetable broth (I use Better Than Bouillon’s Vegetable Base, but I think a faux-beef stock would work fantastically here)
15 oz cooked Great Northern beans
1 bay leaf
3/4 t dried sage (I used sage I’d dried during the summer… mmm!)
1/4 t thyme
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a saucepot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Cook until the onions begin to get soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook them down for about another 10 minutes. Add the vegetable broth and the remaining ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for another 30 minutes, until the onions are very soft.

Simple, yet so delicious – I was quite pleased with this stew! I didn’t think adding mushrooms was too much of a stretch from the book version, as I’m sure they could be grown easily in District 13’s underground gardens. Or, if not, Katniss and Gale could gather them during their 2 hours of sanctioned daily hunting time. And I bet potatoes would make another great addition to this rustic, homey stew.

I served this with the Dijon-Thyme Bread from 500 Vegan Recipes, which was not entirely successful. It was my first yeasted breadmaking experience (!), and I realized too late that I didn’t have either of the kinds of flour called for in the recipe. Really, though, the only problem was its failure to rise; it tasted just fine. I know Dijon-Thyme Bread is probably a little fanciful for District 13 – it’s more appropriate for the Capital, perhaps – but maybe my baking error humbled it a little bit. ;)

Have you read the Hunger Games series? Do you ever read books that aren’t targeted to your age group? I’ve already said that I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan, so perhaps it’s not surprising that I’ve enjoyed the Hunger Games books so much!

Miso, miso, fighting in the dojo!

/ Kelly / 3 Comments

Can I get a BRRR, y’all?! Madison might not have gotten the snowstorm that slammed other parts of the Midwest this weekend (MSP, how you doin’?!), but it is ch-ch-chilly. I have yet to turn on my apartment’s heat, though, and now I’m stubbornly determined to wait until December to do it. I’m just hoping that they light the pilots/turn on the gas for our gas fireplace soon, because we don’t pay for the gas and it’s mighty nice to keep a fire going when it’s cold! I also think it’s time to shrink wrap my windows… my computer desk is right in front of my bedroom window, which on its own does a very half-arsed job of keeping the cold air out. As I said – brrr.

So what’s a girl to do on a cold day? If you said, discover the joys of a veganized, agave-sweetened hot toddy, well, um, you’re right, but that’s another topic for another day. I’m talking about soup-makin’! Miso soup, if you want to get technical. Ever since buying my first tub o’ miso a month or two ago, I’ve been in love with how quickly I can whip up a tasty, nourishing bowl of soup. It’s endlessly versatile; I can throw whatever I want in there and it just takes it (twss). Yesterday I enjoyed this pretty little bowl of warmth:

Oriental prince in the land of soup!

Mmm. I feel like I might be insulting all my readers’ foodie street cred by posting a recipe for this, but I’ll be honest – I was a little vague on the specifics of miso-soup-making for an embarrassingly long time. So, what the heck – I’ll share my personal take on miso.

Fighting in the Dojo Miso Soup for One
Ingredients
2 C water or vegetable broth
Generous handful of rice noodles
Thinly sliced veggies of your choice (carrots, leeks, etc.)
1/4 t freshly grated ginger
1/4 t dried lemongrass
1 T mild yellow miso
1/4 C tofu, cubed

In a small pot, bring water or broth to a boil and add veggies and spices. After about 5-7 minutes, when the veggies are getting soft, add the rice noodles. Cook noodles and veggies for another 5 – 7 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in the miso until dissolved, and top with cubed tofu. Voila!

I know this is probably a highly unorthodox miso soup, but I love the kick of ginger and the subtle flavor of lemongrass. I suspect that this would make for a great chicken soup stand-in during the sicky times of winter, but I haven’t been sick in ages, so I haven’t had a chance to try that out (curses… did I just jinx myself?!). Simple, quick, and tasty. Yum!

Do you like miso soup? Do you have a go-to recipe for a quick soup? Do share!