Texas Caviar – a great picnic dish for Meatless- Monday!

Tags

black eyed peas, no-cook, pot luck, salsa, Texas caviar, vegan, vegetarian

I realized that a great thing about vegan dishes is that they are likely to be safe to take with you on a picnic or pot-luck.  There’s no animal proteins or dairy to spoil in the heat!  It’s also a bonus that this is largely a no-cook dish that won’t heat up your kitchen when it’s already so hot out.  If you cook the beans ahead of time in the slow cooker or use canned beans you wouldn’t have to heat up your house at all.

This one is super versatile too.  It can be a chunky salsa that you can eat with chips.  My fireman an I had it with some rice as a simple dinner on a hot day.  It would be great with some salad too!

Texas Caviar – served with rice pilaf

Serves 4-6 as a salsa – cost approx $.38 per serving

Serves 3 as a main – cost approx $.80, including rice pilaf

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry black eyed peas, cooked, drained or cooled – you could substitute 2 cans of cooked beans ($.46)
• 1/2 onion, minced ($.11)
• 1/2 green bell pepper ($.25)
• 1/2 cucumber ($.25)
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• pinch chili powder
• minced jalapeno, to taste
• 1/4 cup minced herbs, I used green onions and parsley ($.25)
• 1/2 cup Pace Picante Sauce – I’m Texan and this is one of the few things I make sure to by the name-brand! ($.33)

Mix all ingredients together, taste to adjust the seasonings.  Chill until you’re ready to eat!

Gypsy Chickpea Stew with Apricot Rice Pilaf – Another vegan dish that’s good any day of the week!

Tags

apricot, chickpeas, gypsy, rice pilaf, stew, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

 

As much as I love bacon and cheese (and I do!), I really like having experience cooking vegan dishes and having a few proven-yummy vegan recipes in my back pocket.  These days there are people with every sort of dietary restriction there is, and chances are, someone that you know and love has one.  From people who don’t eat meat for ethical reasons, people with all sorts of allergies and people who have religious restrictions to their diets.  My Soon-to-be-Mother-in-Law belongs to an Orthodox Christian church and requires an almost vegan diet during their period of Lent.  (Luckily, she’s a creative and curious cook that doesn’t mind testing out all sorts of international recipes!)  With a couple of great vegan dishes in your repertoire you can serve everyone you love a dish that they will love.

Chickpeas lend themselves to any sort of cuisine that touches the Mediterranean and I love to keep them around.  I started out wanting to make a Moroccan stewed chickpea dish, but then I started throwing in all sorts of spices and flavors and it came out like something delicious that traveling gypsies would make.  It’s a spicy chickpea and vegetable stew served with a sweet and savory apricot rice pilaf.  It’s got a complicated and rich flavor and it’s dirt cheap, just the way I imagine gypsies would like to have their dinner.  Yum!

Gypsy Chickpea Stew

Serves 4 – cost approx $.80 per serving, including Apricot Rice Pilaf

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, medium dice ($.12)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small green bell pepper ($.30)
• 1/2 stalk broccoli, medium dice ($.35)
• 3 carrots, medium dice ($.17)
• 2 Tbs olive oil

• 1 Tbs cumin
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper, to taste
• 1″ piece cinnamon stick
• 1 Tbs garam masala – it’s an all purpose Indian spice mix, it might lend a different flavor, but you could use any middle eastern spice mix or chili powder as a substitute
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• pinch saffron, literally a few threads, it’s super expensive – tumeric would be an excellent substitute

• 1 can diced tomatoes ($.59)
• 1-2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 Tbs minced parsley ($.12)
• 1 cup dry chickpeas, cooked and drained ($.47) – you could substitute 2 drained cans of chickpeas
• salt, to taste

Start by sauteing all the vegetables in the olive oil over medium heat for approx 10 minutes.  Add in all the spices in the second set of ingredients and cook for 2-3 minutes more.  Add in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes, uncovered so that the juices reduce.  Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.  Serve with Apricot Rice Pilaf, recipe below.

Apricot Rice Pilaf

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 onion, minced ($.12)
• 1 1/2 oz, approx 6, dried apricots, diced ($0, my fireman saved me the dried fruit that he doesn’t like eating plain from his fire camp lunches because he knows that I can cook with it, he’s so thoughtful of my uber-cheapness!)
• 2 cups long grain rice ($.47)
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• salt
• 1 bay leaf
• margarine, to taste

Start by heating the olive oil in a medium sized pot over medium heat, saute the onion 5-8 minutes or until fully cooked and translucent.  Add in the rice and apricots and cook 2-3 minutes more.

Add in the vegetable stock, salt and bay leaf and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot and set over low heat for 15-20 minutes.  Fluff the rice with a fork and taste to adjust the seasonings, add margarine and cover and let sit another 5 minutes so that the margarine melts into the rice.  Yum!

Roasted Garlic Babaghanoush – a munchie Meatless-Monday!

Tags

baba ghanoush, dip, eggplant, roasted garlic, vegan, vegetarian

For as little experience as I have with Middle Eastern food, I am completely smitten with it.  Aside from a little feta cheese in the salad, this meal is totally vegan.  (Damn my addiction to cheese!)  I built a Middle Eastern tasting but Tapas feeling meal from some of my previously posted recipes and some pita with babaghanoush eggplant dip.

To make vegan falafel, I omitted the egg from my regular falafel recipe.  (https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/spiced-falafel-with-yogurt-herb-sauce-herb-overload-part-deux/)  However, the mixture was a little looser and I was afraid of them falling apart in the frying pan, so I baked them instead.  I also made a brown rice salad for this meal, quite similar to the one I posted a few weeks ago.  (https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/green-goddess-rice-salad-springtime-is-for-eating-al-fresco/)

This babaghanoush recipe is a ‘no recipe’ sort of thing.  It’s a basic framework that you can tailor to you family’s tastes.  It’s so quick, just a teeny bit of prep and then blend it all together!

Roasted Garlic Babaghanoush

Makes approx 1 cup – cost $1.61 per batch

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant ($.99)
• 1 head garlic ($.12)
• 2-4 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs sesame seeds or tahini
• 1/2 lemon, juice and zest ($.25)
• salt
• cayenne, to taste/optional
• 2 Tbs fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley or green onions

Start by preheating your oven to 375 F.  Cut the eggplant in half and slice a little bit off the top of the garlic heat, just to expose a little bit of the cloves inside.  Sprinkle the eggplant and garlic with a pinch of salt and a teeny drizzle of olive oil.  Roast for 20-40 minutes or until the eggplant and garlic are completely soft and mooshy.

Like so!

Let your roasted veggies cool then scoop the goop out of the eggplants into a blender or food processor and squish out the roasted garlic cloves as well.  Combine with all other ingredients and process until a smooth dip is achieved.  All the ingredients are just a starting place, taste it then adjust the seasonings and make it something you love!  Who doesn’t love a good dip?

Potato and Pea Samosas – delightfully indulgent while still being vegan on Meatless-Monday!

Tags

appetizer, cumin samosa, fried, indian, pea, potato, vegan, vegetarian

I don’t like to try to change recipes or dishes to make them vegetarian or vegan.  So whenever I’m looking to make a vegetarian or vegan meal, I always go first to my more exotic cookbooks.  My personal favorite being Indian food!

The great, unwashed, American masses tend to assume that vegetarian and vegan food is all painfully healthy rabbit food.  For cultures that have sizable vegetarian and vegan populations (or even lots of poor people who just can’t afford meat), you will find recipes that range from healthy to indulgent and from simple to complicated.  This recipe happens to be both indulgent and fairly complicated, but these delightful little spiced vegetable fritters are worth it!

nom nom nom

When I first became interested in Indian cooking when I was in high school, a friend’s mother taught me how to make these little guys.  This is Mrs. Sembhi’s recipe and one of the first Indian foods I learned to make.  They are great as an appetizer or part of an bigger Indian meal.  Aside from one little yogurt sauce, my meal was entirely vegan!  We had lentil dal, rice, naan bread (a bit overcooked, unfortunately) and a vegetable curry to accompany our samosas.

Potato and Pea Samosas

Makes 8 large samosas – cost approx $2.78 for all of it (less if you re-use your frying oil!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup and 1 Tbs flour, divided use – or pre-made pot-sticker wrappers ($.10)
• 1 Tbs and 2 cups vegetable oil, divided use ($2)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled, small dice ($.12)
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas ($.23)
• 1/4 cup onion, minced ($.08)
• 2 Tbs cilantro, minced
• salt and pepper

If you want to just buy your favorite sort of pot sticker wrappers, that would be fine too, just skip ahead to making the filling.  Start by making the simple dough for the wrappers.  Put 1 cup of flour and a pinch of salt into a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.  Add in warm water slowly, just until a dough forms and there’s no more loose flour, let mix on low for 5 minutes.  The dough should be smooth and uniform and not be sticky, feel free to add a pinch more flour or water to adjust your consistency on the dough.  Cover and let rest while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, heat the 1 Tbs of vegetable oil in a saute pan and add in the cumin seeds.  Cook for 30 seconds or until the cumin seeds are slightly browned and fragrant.  Add in the potato and cook until the they are about 75% cooked through (they’ll finish cooking in the fryer).  Remove from the heat and then add in the peas, onion and cilantro.  Taste the filling and adjust the seasonings with salt and black pepper.

Now to assemble the little pockets of goodness!  This is kinda similar to making Chinese pancakes for Mu Shu Pork. (https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/mu-shu-pork-a-pork-revival/)

Start by cutting your dough into 4 equal pieces and rolling them into little balls.  Flatten them into little disks and spray them with whichever spray-grease you have on hand (or a few drops of oil)  Stack them all up evenly and roll out very thin, making a circle about 4-5 inches in diameter.  Now heat up a griddle or large saute pan over medium heat and lightly begin to cook the dough on one side for 30 sec – 1 minute, just enough to pull the sheets apart then repeat on the other side until all the thin sheets have been separated.  (There are pictures of this process in the link to my Mu Shu Pork recipe above, the only difference is that you’re not fully cooking the dough sheets, as they will finish cooking in the fryer.)

Cut each dough sheet in half, making 8 half circles.  Make a paste out of the 1 Tbs of flour and a little water, this will be the glue that holds your samosas together.  Make a little cone out of the semi-circle, sealing the edge with the flour glue.

Fill the cone with a scoop of the filling then seal over the top with the flour glue.  Really, any shape that fully seals in the filling will be delicious, but the cones are traditional.

Gently fry over over medium heat just a few at a time, until they are golden brown and delicious, about 3-5 minutes.  I like to use a small pot so that I don’t have to use a whole lot of oil, but do what you like.  This would be a great time to use your counter top fryer if you have one!

When they’re all done, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and tuck in!

Pasta con Ceci Stufati – I’m taking on ‘Meatless Mondays!’

Tags

ceci, chickpeas, pasta, stew, Tuscan, vegan, vegetarian

If you think about human evolution, until quite recently, meat was never a regular component of our diets.  Our ‘hunter-gatherer’ ancestors ate seasonal fruit and veggies and gorged themselves on meat whenever the hunters were successful (which, I think, was less often than we all imagine).  Our agrarian ancestors in Mesopotamian cities or pastoral Ancient Greece had domesticated livestock but they had to make stretch out amongst very large families or was eaten only on special occasions.

Basically, only modern, first-world humans think that it’s normal to have a 16oz rib eye for dinner most nights of the week.  And even then, our ancestors a generation or two ago who regularly enjoyed plates full of chicken fried steak with biscuits and white gravy were waking up at evil hours to bust their hind quarters without end on the farm!  I think we can all agree that’s not level of activity most of us experience these days.

It’s time to wake up America, the way we eat isn’t healthy!  Completely disregarding demons like processed food, soda and agro-business, we need to adjust the macro-nutrient proportions that make up our regular meals.  [protein:carbs:fats]  Certainly, keep your T-Bone and loaded baked potato for a special treat; but a healthy, protein rich, vegetarian meal every now is what we all need.

Clearly, I could rant on and on endlessly about what’s wrong with the American/First-World food system.  Instead of boring and guilt-tripping everyone to death all at once, I’d like to put up a pint-size diatribe along with a tasty vegetarian or vegan recipe every Monday for my next little series.  I hope you guys like it!  Let me know if there’s a specific recipe or cuisine you want to see!

My tulips are starting to bloom!

Pasta con Ceci Stufati – Pasta with Stewed Chickpeas – served with bread

This recipe is based off of one in the book ‘Cucina Povera,’ a favorite of mine with recipes and stories from leaner times in Tuscany.

Serves 3-4 – cost approx $1.03 per person, including bread

Ingredients

• 1 onion ($.30)
• 2 carrots ($.13)
• 2 ribs celery ($.11)
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight ($.41)
• 15 oz can tomatoes – any type, such as crushed, whole, dice, etc. ($.50)
• 1 Tbs dried Italian herbs – I used a pinch each of thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 bunch greens, thinly sliced – any type, such as chard, collards, spinach… ($.50)
• salt, to taste
• 1 lb pasta ($.89)

Start this lovely vegan meal by putting the onion, carrots and celery into a food processor to chop them very fine.  Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pot or saute pan and saute the finely chopped veggies and the garlic cloves for 5 minutes.  Add in the chickpeas, tomatoes, dried herbs and stock and bring to a simmer.

Gently simmer the sauce for 1-2 hours, or until the chickpeas are tender.  Add in tougher greens, like collards or kale, 20-30 minutes before the dish is done and more tender greens, like spinach or chard, 5-10 minutes before the dish is done.

Steamy!

Adjust the seasonings and toss with your favorite sort of cooked pasta.  Buon Appettito!

American Minestrone – Sunday Soup-day winds down…

Tags

American, bacon, beans, garlic toast, greens, hearty, minestrone, soup, stew, vegan, vegetarian

It’s been so beautiful here in the mountains, it hasn’t snowed in nearly a week! I have my herbs and veggies in some dirt, soaking up the sunshine. I think this just may be my last Sunday Soup-Day post.

In Tuscany, minestrone is made from the basic pantry staples with whatever else looks fresh and wonderful thrown in; I’m using just that philosophy with this soup!  It’s a classic Tuscan canvas, painted with American ingredients for this one-pot meal.  Just omit the bacon and you have an amazing vegetarian soup, take out the bacon and the Parmesan rind and it’s even vegan.

The last time I was in Italy, I was trying very hard to learn as much of the language as I could, especially food words.  A ‘minestra’ is a light, brothy soup, where as a ‘minestrone‘ (the ‘one’ part means ‘big’) is a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs affair.  My adopted Nonna was making a big batch of minestrone and kindly explaining everything to me along the way.  She carefully fried up slices of bread and rubbed them with a garlic clove, and there we struggled to teach me the word ‘crocante,’ which means ‘crispy’ or ‘crunchy.’  The delicious soup was served with her lovely garlic toast at the bottom of the bowl.  Right them I was able to stump an Italian grandma in matters of the kitchen for the first/last/only time when I asked (in semi-intelligible Italian) why she went through the effort of making the soft bread, into crunchy toast, only to cover it in soup and make it soft again?  She thought about it for a minute and came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter, that’s the way it had always been done and it was delicious.  If it ain’t broke…

American Minestrone – served with garlic toast

Serves 8 – cost approx $.57 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry beans of your choosing – canellini or cranberry beans would be most traditional, I used cranberry beans ($.97)
• 4 slices bacon, cut in thin strips ($.50)
• 1 large onion, small dice ($.33)
• 2 large carrots, small dice ($.20)
• 3-4 ribs celery, small dice ($.25)
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 bunch greens of your choosing, 1/4 inch slices – Tuscan kale would be traditional, my neighbors collard have sprouted in their cold frame, so that’s what I used!  Thank you friends! ($0)
• 1/4 head of cabbage, 1/4 inch slices ($.35)
• 2 Tbs tomato paste ($.16)
• 1/2 cup white wine ($.13)
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 1 lb potatoes, 1/4 inch dice ($.25)
• 1 cup grain of your choosing – farro would be quite Tuscan, I used pearl barley because it’s cheap and accessible here in the states ($.43)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 parmesan rind (optional)
• fresh herbs of your choosing – I used thyme and parsley ($.25)

• 1 loaf rustic-style bread ($.50 – homemade ftw!)
• 1 garlic clove

So, today I’m going to write the recipe two ways, one more detailed and one more brief for you adventurous cooks like myself.  I can’t remember the last time I followed a recipe to the letter!  It’s good to remember that recipes (to quote one of my favorite movies) are more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.

Start this soup by putting your beans on to boil.  They’ll need an hour or so to cook, so get this on first so they can cook away while you gather and prepare all the other goodies.  If you’re strapped for time, the beans would be happy in the slow cooker in low all day while you’re at work or your could substitute canned beans.

Short Recipe:

Render your bacon in a LARGE pot.  When all the fat has come out add in your mirepoix and garlic and saute until translucent.  Toss in the cabbage, greens and tomato paste.  Brown up the tomato paste a few minutes then deglaze with the wine.  Add all remaining ingredients, except the fresh herbs, bread and garlic clove.  Simmer until everything is done.  Taste to adjust the seasonings, add back the beans with some of their cooking liquid and finish with the fresh herbs, let simmer a few minutes to meld the flavors.  Serve over garlic rubbed toast.  Done!

Now that’s a steamy pot of goodness!

Long Recipe:

Over medium head, cook your bacon in a LARGE pot until the fat has come out and the bacon is cooked.  When all the fat has come out add in your mirepoix (onions, carrots and garlic: those pantry staples I was mentioning earlier 🙂 ) and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add in the cabbage, greens and tomato paste.  Cook for another few minutes, until the tomato paste has started to brown a bit and stick to the bottom, then deglaze with the wine.

Add all remaining ingredients, except the fresh herbs, bread and garlic clove.  Simmer until everything is done, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the type of grain you’re using and the size of your potato pieces.  Taste to adjust the seasonings!  Remove the bay leaf and parmesan rind (if you used it) and add back the beans with some of their cooking liquid and let simmer a few minutes to meld the flavors.  Finish with the lovely, fresh herbs.

While the soup is cooling down to a temperature human mouths can comfortably tolerate, toast up 1/4 inch slices of bread in whatever manner you see fit.  Rub the warm toast with the garlic clove and place a piece in the bottom of each bowl.  Pour over the soup and dig in!

Indian Spiced Pea Soup – Sunday Soup-day gets culturally confused…

Tags

garbanzo beans, indian, peas, rice, spices, vegan, vegetarian

It’s been an amazing Spring week here in the mountains! Us girls had a legitimate discussion about going to the beach and whether enough snow had melted off the path that leads to the beach so that we could ride our bikes. This clearly calls for a Spring-time vegetable soup! What a lovely coincidence that it’s St. Patty’s Day and this soup is very green.  Now that’s a culture clash, Indian and Irish!  In my case, the soup tastes 100% Indian but looks quite ‘luck of the Irish’ green…

I based this spicy soup with Indian flavors off of a recipe I saw in ‘Complete Indian Cooking’ by Hamlyn.  I love how fresh and light this soup while still being filling.  While it is a vegetarian dish as-is, if you were to substitute the milk for a soy/rice/almond milk it could be vegan as well.  I’m such a fan of vegetarian meals, they’re so cheap and so healthy.

Plus, this soup is a cinch to make!  If you don’t have the whole spices, using ground spices would be fine.  Also, you can use canned garbanzo beans if you’re short on time too.  Since you puree the soup, you don’t have to be precise with your chopping either, just a rough chop is just as tasty and perfectly minced veggies.

Indian Spice Pea Soup – with rice

Serves 4-5 – cost approx $.66 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp anise seeds
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs ginger, rough choped
• 5 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• 1 onion, rough chopped ($.40)
• serrano chilis, to taste, rough chopped
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups frozen peas ($.46)
• 1 cup milk, or milk alternative for vegans. ($.18)
• 1-2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, I cooked up 1 cup of dry beans. ($.60)
• Cilantro, for garnish
• Cooked rice, optional ($.50)

Begin by dry toasting the cumin, coriander and anise until brown and fragrant in your soup pot, about 2 minutes over medium high heat.  Remove the spices and grind them either in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle.  (If you’re using already ground spices, add them in with the veggies later.)

Heat the oil in the pot and saute the garlic, ginger, onion and chilis for 3-5 minutes.  Add in the spices, saute another minute.  Add in the vegetable stock and peas and bring to a simmer.   Simmer for 10-15 minutes then puree with an immersion blender.  Adjust the seasonings and stir in the milk or milk alternative and the garbanzo beans.  Simmer another minute or two to meld the flavors.

To serve, put a little bit of rice in the bottom of your bowl, pour the soup over the rice and garnish with the cilantro leaves.

Vegetarian Chili – Sunday Soup-day lives on!

Tags

beans, chili, vegan, vegetarian

I remember when I first met my fireman when we were both in college, I was kind of shocked at how much he ate.  When we had just became friends, we had a barter deal going on where he made me a few planter boxes for my apartment and I made him a big pan of lasagna.  It was one of those foil 9×13 pans that was taller than the regular pyrex casserole dishes, so thought that the lasagna would be something that he could have for dinner for a few nights or share it with all his roommates.

As the story goes, he gave two small pieces to friends who happened to be there and then just sat down with a fork and ate the rest of the pan of lasagna in one sitting.  It was when I found this out that I realized I would have to change the way I cooked if I wanted to feed this boy on any sort of regular basis.  From that point on, I started to learn how to cook a lot of beans.  Vegetarian chili was one of the first dishes that I learned how to make, and in the past few years I think that I’ve made it into something special.

This chili has a nice meaty texture and is quite filling, especially if you serve it with something starchy like bread or baked potatoes.  Without the cheese, it’s a vegan dish.  Also, if you happen to be a meat chili type of person, the ‘hidden vegetables’ are a good thing to consider adding to your regular chili recipe, especially if you have picky vegetable-haters in your life.

Vegetarian Chili

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $1.03 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 cups/1 lb dry beans, soaked overnight ($.99)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 onion ($.75, for mirepoix)
• 3 carrots
• 3 ribs celery
• 1 head garlic ($.33)
• 1/2 bell pepper, small dice ($.25)
• 4 oz mushrooms (1/2 package), small dice ($1)
• 2 Tbs minced jalapenos (optional)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 Tbs cumin
• 1 Tbs dry oregano
• 1 Tbs garlic salt
• Chipotle peppers in adobo, to taste  – I used about 3 and the chili was pleasantly spicy ($.32)
• 2 Tbs tomato paste ($.25)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• grated cheese, optional topping ($1)

Soak the beans overnight and then rinse them and boil them until they’re fully cooked 1-2 hours depending on the type of beans you choose.  Drain the beans.

I used pinto beans, black beans and red beans.

Dig out your food processor and puree the garlic, onion, carrot and celery together.  You may have to scrape down the bowl to get everything all homogenous.

Start the chili by heating the olive oil in a large pot.  Saute the bell pepper, jalapeno and mushrooms for 5 minutes or so.  Add in the pureed vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes.    Add in the chipotle peppers and tomato paste and mix in thoroughly, brown the tomato paste and peppers by cooking another 5 minutes or so.  Then stir in the flour and dry herbs and spices, cook 1-2 minutes.  It’s starting to look ‘meaty’, no?

Deglaze the pan with the soy sauce and then add in the vegetable stock and cooked beans.  Add in the bay leaf and simmer for 30 minutes or so.  Taste it and adjust the seasonings.

Hot and Sour Soup – Sunday Soup-day that will open up your sinuses!

Tags

Chinese, hot and sour soup, tofu, vegan, vegetarian

I always hated this soup growing up and my Daddy always loved it.  It has always been one of his favorites to order at Chinese restaurants and, being and excellent cook, he eventually learned how to make it at home.  But, as I got older and started liking things like onions and spicy food, Hot and Sour Soup started to grow on me.  Forget Chicken Noodle, nothing quite opens up your sinuses like a big bowl of Hot and Sour Soup!

Something I like about my version of this soup is the balance of ingredients, there’s noodles for starch, tofu and eggs for protein and lots of good veggies.  And as with any traditional Chinese dish, there’s a balance of flavors as well.  Also, if you leave out the eggs it’s a vegan soup!

Not hot enough? Add some rooster sauce!

Hot and Sour Soup

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $.97 per serving

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb noodles of your choosing ($.40)
• 1 oz dried “fungus” or wood ear mushrooms – just two names for the same type of black mushrooms, as they’re commonly labeled in Asian markets. ($.50)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1″ piece of ginger, cut in matchsticks
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced ($.15)
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut in matchsticks ($.24)
• 1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced – I used a little of both red and green bell pepper ($.25)
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• salt – to taste
• cayenne pepper – to taste
• 1/4 cup shaosing rice wine or sherry ($.12)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce ($.12)
• vegetable stock
• 8 oz can of bamboo shoot, cut in matchsticks ($.58)
• 1 lb block of extra firm tofu, cut in matchsticks ($1.68)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar ($.28)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 eggs, beaten ($.28)
• 2 Tbs sesame oil

Like I say with all Asian dishes, get all your ingredients out and all you veggies chopped before you start cooking.  Put the fungus in a large bowl and cover with a few cups of hot water, it will rehydrate and expand more than you think! If they’re whole mushrooms, slice them thinly once they’re soft.  Reserve the soaking liquid.

Put a pot of water on to boil and cook the noodles, drain and set aside for later.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot, saute the garlic, ginger, onion, carrot and peppers for 5-10 minutes.  Season with the salt and cayenne pepper.  Deglaze the pan with the shaosing wine or sherry.  Add in the soy sauce, and enough vegetable stock to cover the veggies bout about an inch.  Bring to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes more.  Add in the cooked noodles, bamboo shoots and tofu and bring to a simmer again.  Add in the vinegar and taste to adjust the seasonings, you want it to be a nice balance of hot from the cayenne pepper and sour from the vinegar.

Make a slurry with the cornstarch and some water and mix it in to the soup and bring to a simmer to activate the thickening power of the cornstarch.  Drizzle in the eggs to the soup and take it off the heat to sit until the eggs cook through, about a minute.  Add in the sesame oil and tuck in!

Curried Vegetable Mish Mosh Soup – Sunday Soup-day gets spicy!

Tags

carrot, curry, ginger, lentils, potato, soup, vegan, vegetarian

It was difficult for me to come up with a name for this soup.  It’s a mash up between the classic ‘carrot and ginger’ combination, the hearty texture and consistency of a split pea soup, an Indian dal, and a basic roasted veggie soup.

This soup follows my basic ‘Roasted Veggie Soup’ procedure, just like my first Sunday Soup-day recipe: Tuscan Squash Soup.

(https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/tuscan-squash-soup-with-rosemary-foccacia-rolls-sunday-soup-day/).

It just goes to show how one technique can yield drastically different flavored dishes based on what veggies and seasonings you choose.  I really love how healthy these soups are.  It has a good mixture of starchy potatoes, veggies and lentils.  This one is even vegan!

Curried Vegetable Mish Mosh Soup – with naan bread

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $.52 per serving, including bread

Ingredients

• 4-5 carrots, peeled, 1″ dice ($.25)
• 1 onion, 1″ dice ($.35)
• 4-6 russet potatoes, peeled, 1″ dice ($.40)
• salt – to taste
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 4 Tbs veg oil, divided use
• 1 1/2″ piece of ginger, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 serrano chilis, minced, optional – I seeded mine to take some of the evil out and it was a pleasant medium, pervasive heat, but use as much or as little as you like
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed ($.50)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek powder
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves ($.10)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare the  carrots, onion and potatoes then put them on a sheet tray and toss with the salt, dry spices and 2 Tbs vegetable oil.  Roast for approximately 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so.  You want to slowly roast the veggies till they get soft and slightly browned.  This step can be done ahead of time and you can pull the soup together later, at your convenience.

Heat the remaining 2 Tbs of vegetable oil in a large pot.  Saute the ginger, garlic ans chilis 2-3 minutes.  Add in the lentils, turmeric, curry powder, fenugreek powder and vegetable stock, bring to a simmer.  When the lentil are soft and fully cooked, about 20-30 minutes, add in the roasted veggies.  Simmer all together for 5 minutes or so.  Puree well with any sort of blender you have.  I think an immersion blender is easier, but a regular blender will give you a finer puree.  Check the seasonings and the consistency.  It you want a thinner soup, blend in more vegetable stock.

Pour yourself a bowl and garnish with some cilantro!

Fun Fact for the Lush: Much like IPA beers, the gin and tonic was a drink born out of the British occupation of India.  Tonic water, containing the medicine ‘quinine’, was bitter tasting but necessary for the British soldiers to drink, as to prevent them all dying horribly from malaria.  So they turned lemons into lemonade, so to speak, by adding gin and lime to their tonic water!