Quick Tofu Fix

So I'm still working on the packing/yardsale/sell everything

madness and its definitely cutting into my cooking time way

too much. I'm pretty much left with only enough energy to

throw a bunch of stuff in a pan and hope whatever I come out

with ends up halfway edible/only partially burnt.

Hey, at least its hot food at this point. Better than living off

of pb&j or dried fruit as I tend to do sometimes.

So I try to fall back on super easy and super filling faves of

mine.

I have a pile of fresh avocados that someone brought my mom

so I made a nice wrap of spanish tofu and sliced 'cados.

All I do is cook some onions and garlic and then toss in some

sliced fresh tomatoes. Add some pressed extra firm tofu and

spice it up with about a tablespoon of chili powder, a dash of

cumin, some salt and pepper and a diced chipolte in adobo sauce.

Careful with the chipolte because a little goes a long long way.

I like my food super super spicy so beware. Plus I usually

just cook by sight and taste, so the measurements can be

tweaked to your preference.

Applesaucey Oatmealy Cookies

My little brother was sick not to long ago and whenever

any of us are sick, my Dad always absolutely insists on

putting us on the bratt diet. Rice, Banana, Dry Toast and

apple sauce. Never fails. Well, I guess Alex didn't really

care for the giant jar of organic cinnamon apple sauce that

my dad brought home and instead gulped down my

plain jar and left the huge one to... sit there.

Something must be done, said I. What shall be done, said they.

Cookies were spoken of and all were content.

So, I'm not exactly sure what I did here, but it was good.

I want to retry this and replace the oats with granola.

I think they would be great for hiking. Really soft and hearty

and not too sweet.

ApplySaucey OatMealy Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup earth balance

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground flax + 6 tablespoons water

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup of applesauce (any unsweetened kind)

1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates

Sift or combine the dry ingredients, except for the oats.

In a separate bowl cream together the earthbalance and sugar.

Beat the flaxmeal and water until frothy and light.

Mix flax in to sugar mix and combine with the dry, stirring

just until mixed. Add the apple sauce, oats and raisins.

Drop by spoonfuls on to an ungreased pan and bake at 375F

for about 10-12 minutes.

Mossy Soup

So much Kale,

how to use it?

No time how

to manage it...

Stomach is

growling what

to feed it...

As usual

the answer is

probably

soup.

Soups are about as easy as you can possibly get.

Who needs to say more.

I sauteed a couple of cloves of minced garlic in

a little bit of olive oil and added some minced

celery, chopped carrots, chopped potatoes

and green peas. Vegetable broth... Let it cook.

Cooked some Kale in salted water separately

then shredded it just so I could make sure I

didn't over cook it. Fresh parsley and let simmer

until everything is cooked.

I served it up with some black olive, whole wheat

focaccia and waited. When there is food, they will come.

Summer Salads

Alright, so I'm pretty lucky. Its not that hot where I live.

In fact, its usually pouring rain. No matter what the rest

of the island looks like, guaranteed- its raining at my house.

So I don't need to worry about it being too hot to cook

or too stick to make soup for supper. But I pretend.

I have to give myself the illusion of seasons somehow,

or else I'd probably run mad!

Well, hitting the beach is a different matter. We went

yesterday and it was darn tootin hot! So cool watermelon

and fuji apples were the perfect choice.

I also hit up another one of my campus survival foods...

a cool Purple Salad. My buddy used to steal my beets

when I was eating lunch cuz she was crazy for them.

I try to make this for potlucks too. I've convince people

that hate purple potatoes that they love them now,

all thanks to this lovely little dish.

Every time I eat this I forgot how much I loved it and

wonder why I don't eat it more. We all need a little more

of the rainbow in our lives...

Its mostly just a potato salad with beets and purple sweet
potatoes, but I'm working on it. I'm talking about the potato
salads with vinegar, not mayonnaise...

So far? I think the peas have gotta go...

Vegan Cucumber Raita

Raita is a cooling salty yogurt dish or condiment served with spicy

Indian food. Traditionally it would only contain a few spices, mainly

coriander/cilantro. I cannot tell specifically if the cucumber raita is

traditional or not, but often fresh minced vegetable dapple this

creamy dish.

As far as yogurt goes, many dairy yogurts contain gelatin.

I actually created an entire podcast on gelatin, but never got around

to publishing it. Briefly, if you didn't know gelatin is the boiled tendons

and collagen of animal bones (or boiled skins) and is used a thickener.

I know that stonyfield, nancys, and wallaby(?) do not use gelatin,

but they are dairy products. So go the whole way I say. I used to use

stonyfield or the wallaby one when I still consumed dairy products.

Yet they always seemed runy or too wet. I now use (and rave about)

Wholesoy & Co., a diary-free soygurt. It contains live active cultures

and soymilk and tastes better than dairy yogurt if you ask me.

AND! Quite often it is cheaper than diary yogurt. I believe the organic

dairy yogurts range from 3.99-4.99 at my local health food store

and the soy-based yogurt is usually 3.39 when it is not on sale.

So! On to the freakin food already. The other night I made a big feast

of falafel, curried couscous, and raita. Man, falafel is one of my favorites

and right up there with curry. I will post a whole entry on my tricks

to making a better, healthier falafel. But right now... Raita.

I use a combination of two recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the

East: Vegetarian Cooking. This is really a bang up book and I highly

suggest trying to find it. I think the original publication is from '81 or

something though.

If there are no kids partaking I throw in a little cayenne to add a

little kick.

Cucumber Raita

2 cups of soygurt

1 cucumber, diced (you can peel it if you wish, but I do not)

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, minced

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 cup raisins (preferably golden)

3 tablespoons of chopped walnuts

a little black pepper

Place soygurt in a bowl and beat until creamy.

Add all the remaining ingredients and serve!

I serve it in pita pockets with falafel, but I love eating it alone.

I swear this is one of the things that got me through my last

year of undergrad. But it is better to not let it sit to long

before eating. The earliest I could make it was late late the

night before I'd go to school. The raisins tend to get mushy

from the moisture and the cucumbers release water that

may cause separation.

The Queen of Hearts...

The Queen of Hearts she baked some tarts all on a summers day.

The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the knave full sore.

The Knave of Hearts returned the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more.

My tarts, on this summer's day, had three fillings...

Peach, apple, and Ohelo berry.

This little stint was for my folk's 26th wedding anniversary,

so I added the little hearts.

When doing any kind of pie filling I just add a little sugar,

some spices, a couple tablespoons of flour and (if its a big pie)

a couple tablespoons of earth balance. I jump back and forth with

using cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. I also toss the fruit in some

fresh lemon juice to keep it from oxidizing.

The last two tins I ran out of the fresh fruit filling so I chopped

up some dried apricots and raisins and threw them in with

some lemon juice and fresh ginger.

These are so perfect for parties when big slices are too much.

Also great for tofu-quiche!

Mustard Spinach with Tofu

About a week ago I bought a bag of spinach from this

lady down at the farmers market.

I didn't look at it too closely because my mom was there

and I always feel rushed when I go shopping with others.

I like to wander for a while, mull things over. Find the best stuff.

Think about what I want to make, etc.

Well when I got home and decided that I was gonna make some

Calzones (!) I opened with bag to find

something very strange indeed. This spinach resembled bayleaves in both texture

and appearance. Except it was a little more heart shaped...

"Google, oh great one that hast taken over my life...

Tell me what this is!" and *poof*

I discovered the hippie lady sold me malabar spinach. Apparently,

this spinach is indigenous to Bengal and is often served with mustard

and hot chillies. Stir fry it was then, sorry calzone lovers. You'll have

to find solace in another entry.

This was so easy, I'm not even gonna post a recipe.

All I did was cook up some onions in some vegetable broth

with some mustard powder and hot-hot chili paste. I then tossed in

some more broth, some soy sauce, some yellow peppers, the spinach

and some tofu. Fast, simple, HOT.

So... Malabar spinach, not so good raw.

Mustard Chili Stir Fry, nuff said.