Meals

I had a little potato leek soup leftover and had purchased a head of cauliflower today. I thought I'd make a soup with cauliflower and seitan (I had some chorizo seitan from Upton's that I also bought today). I steamed about half the cauliflower, cut into florets, for about 3 minutes, covered, then removed the water, put about a cup of the soup base in, as well as 1/4 of the seitan package (about 2 ounces), 3/4 of a bell pepper cut into strips, a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, a pinch of salt, 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper, and 1/2 t garlic powder. I simmered, uncovered, for 7-10 minutes, then served, along with cucumber slices and crackers. Simple, fast, and nutritious! Results Dinner was good. I like thick soups, but this also would have been good with more of the soup base. nding Ideas for the future Chunks of potatoes would have been good, as well as chives. I was in a bit of a rush to put dinner together, so something more "interesting" than crackers, su...

I enjoy fava beans but don't find it easy to remove the skins when I cook them . I was recently in a Lebanese restaurant, Neomonde , and found split fava beans, both large and, what I bought, small. I found an appealing sounding fava bean recipe , which inspired me for a soup I made with four times as much water as beans. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups dry small split fava beans, rinsed, soaked overnight, and rinsed again (it ended up being about 2 1/2 cups) 8 cups water (the recipe I referred to used a 1:4 ratio to water, but it wasn't clear if they soaked the beans, so I decided to go with between 6-10 cups and used 7 cups) 1 1/2 cups (about half of a large 28 ounce can) canned chopped or diced tomatoes 3 1/4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes cut into approximately 1/2" cubes (4 medium potatoes) 1 1/2 cups (about 3 medium) carrots cut into large 3/4" chunks 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") minced 1/4 t turmeric 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 1/2 t cumin see...

My daughter was feeling a little bit sick yesterday so is eating just a little. She wanted mashed potatoes and didn't want the skins, so I had Russet potato skins with a bit of potato on them, and had the idea of making some sort of dish for my wife and me that incorporated the potato skins. I also had made sweet potato while pressure steaming the potato (for 20 minutes in my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker). I made a waterless dish; I didn't plan ahead to have beans ready, so used the one can of chickpeas I had on hand. I put into a large Saladmaster stock pan these ingredients in this order: onion, garlic, potato skins, chickpeas, and frozen spinach. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

For Valentine's dinner today, it was just my wife and me, and I decided to cook with zucchini again. I sauteed in a cast iron pan some onion, garlic, zucchini, and tempeh then, once browned, put in a stock pan with spinach and marinara, and simmered on low, covered for 5-6 minutes. I served with shelled edamame (cooked waterlessly) and baked potato (that I had pressure steamed in my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

I made a simple dish by cooking in a small stock pan onion, garlic, Field Roast brand  smoked apple sage sausage , and zucchini; after a few minutes, I added kale and spinach and continued cooking for a few more minutes. I then added marinara with basil and simmered, uncovered, for about 5 minutes. I served with a little of the Miyoko's Creamery "mozzarella" cheese I had recently bought. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

My daughter picked out a recipe from Ruby Roth 's The Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids , soba noodles with toasted sesame seeds. I didn't have soba but did have udon noodles on hand, and made a simple dish inspired by her recipe by: boiling udon noodles for 8m, sauteeing over low heat for 3-4 minutes or so black sesame seeds on a dry cast iron pan (being careful not to burn the seeds), and using a small  Saladmaster stock pan to cook waterlessly (I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped) for about 15m onion, broccoli, and seitan. I drained the noodles and rinsed them with cold water, then returned them to the pan and mixed in some coconut aminos (or soy sauce). I served, topped with toasted sesame seeds and the vegetable-seitan mix. Results Dinner came out surprisingly well! I wanted to have a flavorful broth for the noodles and wish I had had more time to come up with some so...

We're vegan and occasionally eat some vegan cheese (rarely for my wife who never liked cheese and once in a while for me as it tends to be high in fat and processed). I do like Miyoko's Kitchen (I met Miyoko at a conference where I was also presenting) products and recently found their vegan version of mozzarella , and thought I'd make an eggplant dish with this. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 1/4 cups onion cut into 3/8" cubes 4 cups eggplant cut into 1/2" cubes (about 2/3 of a medium eggplant) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") minced - 15m 5m more 1 1/4 ounces marinara sauce 1/4 t salt 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper 1/4 t dried oregano 3-4 ounces of vegan "mozzarella cheese" cut into small chunks as per chef's preference (mine were approximately 1/2" chunks) Process I put, in this order, the onion and then the eggplant into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until...

I fed my daughter while we were out shopping so was free to use ingredients that she doesn't like for my wife and me, such as asparagus, zucchini, ginger, and jalapeno. Here is what I made for my wife and me. Ingredients 1/2 cup onion (I used a combination of onion and shallot) cut into 3/8" cubes 1 medium Russet potato, cut into 3/8" cubes (it was probably 2 cups) 1 cup frozen chopped spinach 3/4 cup frozen baby lima beans 1t chopped (approx. 1/4" cubes) jalapeno 1T chopped (approx. 1/4") ginger 4T salsa 1T fresh lemon juice 1/4 t salt 1/4 t jerk seasoning 1/4 t garlic powder Process I put, in this order, the onion, potato, spinach, lima beans, jalapeno, and ginger into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes. I then mixed in the salsa, rubbing away any build up a...

I decided to make a red split lentil dhal with okra. Red split lentils cook in a 1 to 2 or 2.5 part ratio of lentils to water over 13-18 minutes; I went with 1:2 for 15 minutes. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 cup red split lentils 2 cups water 1 1/2 cups frozen chopped okra 1/4 t turmeric 1/4 cup shallot (medium shallot) cut into 3/8" cubes 1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen roasted corn) 1/4 cumin seeds 1/4 t salt (I used kala namak ) 2T fresh lemon juice (I used Meyer lemon juice) Process I put the lentils, water, okra, and turmeric into my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker and cooked for 15m. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the shallot, corn, cumin seeds, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice, and served with tomato slices and brown rice. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

I thought that I'd make a dish with seitan and had the idea of combining potato into the main course. I thought I'd chop potato into small cubes and pressure cook, then mix in seitan and frozen peas. I ended up also mixing in mushroom; both peas and mushroom were frozen, so I cooked for another "zero minutes" (i.e., just let the cooker get up to pressure and then stop) at low pressure. Here is what I did. Ingredients 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 3/8" cubes (about 3 cups) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 1/2 cup water 8 ounces of seitan (I used strips but any cut would be fine, according to diner's preferences) 3 cups (about 4 ounces frozen) mushroom slices or pieces 1 cup peas 1/4 t salt 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 1/8-1/4 t (as per preference) oregano or jerk seasoning (I used jerk seasoning) Process I put the potato, garlic, and water into my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker and cooked for 2m. After the cooking was done, I waited a few m...