Vegetable Vindaloo! Back to the Slow Cooker!

This is slow cooker, take 2. After slow cooker round 1, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker author Robin Robertson left a comment that she has an updated pot roast recipe on her blog, with a link so -- check that out if you're interested. And really, buy her books because her recipes rock. I think I've got at least 5 of them...

The boy really enjoys Indian food, and I can't stand curry powder, so when I find recipes that are Indian, but not curry, they're a good compromise. Being a Vindaloo however, this recipe contained spicy things, and also onions. Being me, and if you've read my blog long enough you'll see what's coming next here, I left them both out because my belly doesn't like them. My mom called and said whatever it was my Dad made for dinner, and I said that I made a really yummy Vegetable Vindaloo and she was surprised I made something spicy, and I said it wasn't, I left the spicy stuff out, and then she said it wasn't Vindaloo and I said "Whatever it was delicious." If you're a spicy things person, just throw some spicy things, and an onion, in the crock pot too. It is definitely well seasoned though and not bland at all!

This is the part where I say 'Come on camera PLEEEASE'

Vegetable Vindaloo
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
1 tbsp ginger, peeled and diced tiny
1 tsp light brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 carrots, peeled and cut into coins
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cups cauliflower florets, cut into small bite sized pieces
2 zucchini, cut into coins
15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
6 oz tomato paste stirred into 1 1/2 cups hot water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup frozen green peas

1. Heat 1 tbsp the oil in a small skillet and sautee the carrots for about 5 minutes until they start getting tender.

2. Meanwhile, put the remaining tbsp of oil, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and spices in a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth. (I ended up adding 1/4 cup of water to get it to process smooth, and just subtracted it from the hot water that you mix with the tomato paste)

3. Place the carrots in the crock pot turned on to low, along with the rest of the vegetables (except hte peas), and beans, and spice mixture, and stir for about a minute. Add the tomato/water mixture, stir again, cover, and cook on low for 6 hrs.

4. Add the peas about 10 minutes before you serve.

VegNews Mac & Cheese

I'm always up for trying different vegan mac and cheese recipes. It's still one of my favorite foods, and it's such a comfort. The VegNews Mac&Cheese recipe has been circulating around the 'net lately, and it was so weird, and with such good reviews, that I had to give it a try!

Most vegan mac & cheese recipes create the "cheese" part in one of two ways: One way is soy cheese or some other manufactured fake cheese. The other is with Nutritional Yeast. This recipe contained neither. In fact, it involved pureed nuts and vegetables. Sounds good to me, really, because fake cheese is really expensive, and a potato, carrot, and shallot are well within my budget! I did have to alter the recipe slightly because it called for some onion, so I added a little more potato and carrot to compensate for the lack of onion (hence the strange "about 3 tbsp" extra measure on those). It definitely didn't seem like anything was missing. If I was going to make it again, I would also trade out the bread crumbs for panko. I didn't like the fresh bread crumbs on it at all!! Maybe it was the bread I used which almost seemed too sweet in contrast with the savory cheese sauce, but I think next time I'll just stick to the neutral crunch of panko. I also added about 2 cups of lightly steamed broccoli because I always slip something green into my mac & cheese. I will definitely make this again. Heck, I'm trying to think of other ways to use the cheese sauce. I licked the blender clean! You'll have to forgive the shoddy quality of the pictures... it's a battle getting my camera to stay on long enough to take a picture!


If anyone is interested in the original recipe, it can be found here: http://www.vegnews.com/pdf/veganize_it.pdf

Mac & Cheese
8 oz pasta (I used whole wheat ziti because it cost 1/2 as much as whole wheat elbows and I try to use whole grains wherever possible! Use whatever you like)
4 slices of bread, torn into pieces (this is where I'd instead use about 1 cup of panko)
2 tbsp + 1/3 cup margarine (earth balance, of course -- the cadillac of vegan margarines)
2 tbsp shallots, diced
1 cup + ~3 tbsp yellow or red potato, diced (I used yellow - didn't peel)
1/2 + ~ 3 tbsp cup carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup water
1/4 cup cashews (I soaked mine for about an hour in some warm water)
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
2 cups broccoli florets, lightly steamed (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Cook the pasta according to package directions

3. If you're going the fresh breadcrumb route, run the bread through the blender or food processor to make crumbs (really though, panko!). Toss with 2 tbsp melted margarine to coat.

4. In a small saucepan, bring the potato, carrot, shallot and water to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer, cover and cook for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are soft.

5. In a blender or food processor, blend/process until smooth the cashews (drained if you soaked them), 1/3 cup margarine (melted), veggies and their cooking water, spices, mustard, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and silky. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

6. Combine the drained pasta, cheese sauce, broccoli if you're using it, and toss to coat. Pour into a 9X13 inch baking dish. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake for about 30 minutes til the cheese sauce is bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden.

Seitan Pot Roast with Veggies

The boy's Mom gave me her old 3 1/2 quart slow cooker that she didn't need any more. She said if I liked it, I could always get a more modern slow cooker. It seemed like a good idea. I have a few long days between work and classes and it's often a rush to get dinner on the table. I didn't quite realize how out of date the slow cooker was, however, until the boy, very thoughtfully, bought me Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. I was all excited to try the recipes -- then realized I'm out of the house too long. Most are done in 4-6 hrs -- which isn't even a full work day! It seems Ms. Robertson has a modern slow cooker with a "timer" and "Keep Warm" functions -- whereas mine is "HI|OFF|LOW."

Still, the cookbook is full of good sounding comfort food recipes, and so I thought I'd try it anyway. One recipe that looked especially intriguing was "Not Your Mama's Pot Roast," and I knew I'd be home all day to monitor the monster, so I though I'd give it a try today. But -- more difficulties. You need a 6 quart slow cooker, and seitan quick mix... or use her seitan recipe which involves the whole wheat flour and a lot of washing. No thanks. That recipe made 2 lbs of seitan, so I thought I'd just make 1lbs using vital wheat gluten, and cut the recipe in half to make in my smaller slow cooker. I also threw in some more veggies, since it just called for carrots, potatoes, and onions. It came out REALLY yummy in the end, the seitan was really moist and tender -- and was ready in about 6 1/2 hrs instead of the prescribed 8.


Seitan Pot Roast with Veggies

For the seitan:
Dry:
1 cup vital wheat gluten
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fresh or 1/2 tsp dry thyme

Wet:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp tahini
1/4 cup soy sauce
Up to 1/2 cup unbeef or vegetable broth

1. Mix together the dry ingredients.

2. Mix the oil, tomato paste, tahini, and soy sauce together. Add to the dry ingredients. Slowly add in the broth or water, stirring constantly (or in my case, with the stand mixer mixing constantly) until the seitan comes together into a moist, but not wet, ball.

3. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, then form into a smooth ball.

For the Pot Roast and Veggies Part:
6 pearl onions, peeled
1/4 lbs baby carrots
1/2 lbs red potatoes, diced
10 brussels sprouts
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into coins
8 crimini mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 1/4 cups vegetable or unbeef broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp tamari
2 tsp fresh or 1 tsp dried thyme
Olive oil

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and quickly brown the veggies, except the garlic.

2. Lightly coat/mist the bottom of the slow cooker with vegetable oil to prevent the seitan from sticking.

3. Place seitan ball in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with veggies. Pour broth, vinegar, tamari, garlic, and thyme over the top of the veggies and seitan.

4. Cover and cook -- the cookbook says low for 8 hrs. I cooked it on low for 5 1/2 hrs, and then high for 1 hr.

5. Remove the seitan and veggies from the broth. Turn the slow cooker to high. Whisk 1 tbsp cornstarch in a little bit of cold water, then whisk it into the remaining broth. Stir until thickened.


I served this with some roasted Delicata squash. I sliced the squash in half, cleaned out the seeds and guts, put about 1 tbsp of Earth Balance and a drizzle of maple syrup inside, and dusted it with cinnamon. Then I roasted it in the oven at 450 for about 30 minutes until it was fork tender. The sweet squash with the savory pot roast and veggies went great!

Ravioli with Quick Tomato Sauce

This isn't a recipe as much as a serving suggestion. I was alone for dinner, and threw something together from things I had around the house. In the freezer I had a package of Rising Moon Organic Creamy Artichoke and Kalamata ravioli, which is reserved for just such an occasion, as the boy won't eat olives. On the counter I had my last big orange heirloom tomato from the garden. Certainly this was enough to base dinner off of.

While the water was heating to boil the ravioli, I diced the tomato (it was 1lbs + of tomato!) and sauteed it in a small pan with some olive oil and salt, and simmered it on low while the ravioli cooked. Once the ravioli was cooked, I tossed it with the fresh tomato sauce, and some fresh basil. It was fast, delicious, and looked good to boot!

I'm planning more complex culinary adventures for tomorrow!

Steel Cut Oatmeal -- Breakfast of Champions

Here's how my oatmeal addiction progressed...

First I was eating instant oatmeal packets because they were convenient to take to work and add hot water to from the water cooler. Then I moved on to a different job without a water cooler.

I upgraded to quick cook oats in the canister, 1 minute in the microwave, done. Super! The texture was so much less like wallpaper paste than instant! Then one day we ran out, and only had slow cook oats. (Slow being 5 minutes) I got hooked.

Slow cook oats have tons more texture than quick oats, and I still eat them when I'm in the mood for "regular" oatmeal... but then my sights wandered to Steel Cut Oatmeal. I had no idea what to do with it, and quite frankly, the internet wasn't too helpful unless I wanted to cook enough to feed the masses. I just wanted to cook enough to feed me breakfast! I took some guidelines from a few recipes, and have since evolved my own technique for cooking them. They are so delicious! They have a nice chewy texture and a slightly nutty flavor. They do take 20-30 minutes to cook, but it's so worth it! You can make a big pot and reheat in the morning if you don't have time to make them in the AM -- I usually just make them on mornings I'm not rushed. And so, here is my technique for cooking Steel Cut Oats. Your toppings may vary.

Ok ok, you can't even SEE the oats there... but they're under the diced banana, toasted pecans, and maple syrup. NOM!

Steel Cut Oatmeal (For One)
1/3 cup steel cut oats
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup ~milk of your choice (I use rice), + more to taste

1. In a medium-sized pot, toast the oats over medium heat until they start to smell toasty (kind of like popcorn!) and start to "pop" (also kind of like popcorn!). Stir them around frequently and don't walk away because they burn fast!!

2. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to maintain a low boil, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.

3. At this point, your water should look like it cooked down some at the oats start to look creamy. Add 1/2 cup ~milk and stir to incorporate. Turn the heat to low and simmer another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Now most of the liquid should be absorbed, and usually at this point, they're soft enough for me. If you want them softer, simmer longer; you may need to add more ~milk. If they're soft enough but too thick, add a bit more milk to achieve desired consistency.

Here's the fun part -- What to mix in?

My normal routine is:
Somewhere in the 2nd half of cooking, add 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses (++ iron/calcium/trace minerals) and a few shakes of cinnamon. Once the heat is turned off, add a little vanilla extract. Then I top it with fruit and lightly toasted nuts, and brown sugar or maple syrup. Some favorite combos are:
Bananas and Pecans (as featured)
Apples and Walnuts
Berries and Raw Cashews
Cherries (fresh, frozen, or dried) and slivered almonds

This breakfast keeps me filled for a LONG time!

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Green Pea Garnish

The boy and I have both decided we really like split pea soups. They're so hearty and creamy and warm and comforting. My only complaint that it was so delicious I tried to eat it when it was still too hot and completely burned my pallet. Ow. This recipe came from Vegan Planet with Robin Robertson. Of course I made a few changes to better accommodate our tastes (and my belly) and the end result was a delicious way to end a damp and chilly Thursday.

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Green Pea Garnish
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 rib of celery, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 medium yukon gold potato, diced
6 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 3/4 cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed and checked for stones and bits
1/2 tsp dried summer savory leaves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
Veggie bacon bits to sprinkle on top, optional

1. In a big soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the veggies. Put a lid on it and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft.

2. Add the broth, herbs, salt, and split peas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the peas are soft and broken down. If it gets too thick, just add a bit of water to thin it out.

3. Add 1 tsp of liquid smoke, or to taste. (I'd taste the soup, add 1/2 tsp, taste again, and then add the last 1/2 tsp -- we like things smokey. Not everyone does!)

4. Put your soup into a bowl, and sprinkle with green peas and fake-bacon bits, if desired. (Stirred in, they soften up pretty quick)

Vegan MoFo

October is Vegan MoFo -- Vegan Month of Food. As such, I'm actually going to try to suck less at blogging, and post more often. Seeing as how, aside from cooking, I also work and am in school getting my PhD, and have all those other pesky household things that need attending to on a day to day basis, I'm not sure that I'll get a post in every day in October, but I'm hoping for more than once a week.

In honor of Vegan MoFo -- my digital camera broke. If I fight with it a while, it will begrudgingly take a photograph, so here's hoping I can keep convincing it to work until my new one comes in the mail. (At which time I'm going to try to find someone to fix this one. It is mechanically sound, the sliding lense cover, which also triggers the "on/off" switch, isn't working right -- so I suspect it's fixable)

Finally, allow me to introduce you to our new kitten friend, Sir Didymus.

I try not to stray from food here, and he is certainly not food, but he's too cute not to share. So, there he is. The boy and I aided in his rescue from the busy street we live on, where he was running around in traffic, terrified, filthy, and emaciated. We've had him three weeks this weekend, and he has already gained weight and acts like he's always been here. (My oldest cat loves him, the other is beginning to tolerate him)

Now back to your regularly scheduled food porn!