Brazilian Black Bean Soup

This is what we ate with the spinach and mushroom enchiladas. Again, this is a recipe I found in the Horizons cookbook. It's actually one of the first recipes I tried earlier this year because it seems pretty simple. Of course, I made it again because it is very good. I'll put the whole recipe here, but I cut it in half.


Ingredients:
2 quarts vegetable stock
6 cups black beans
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green chile, chopped (I used a jalapeno, you can use anaheim or habanero if you like)
2 tablespoons Latin spice blend (by now, I have a container ready to go!)
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Simmer the stock, beans, onion, garlic, chile, and spices for 10 minutes.

The directions here allow you some choice: leave the soup brothy, puree half, or puree it all. I used my immersion blender to puree all the soup. I think I'd be fine with some whole beans in the soup, but I like my onions creamed for this dish.

Add the coconut milk and tomatoes, then simmer an additional 2-3 minutes.

Serve with cilantro and lime wedges, if you wish.

Spinach & Mushroom Enchiladas

It's no secret that I love mushrooms. And spinach. And enchiladas. So, naturally, the time came for me to attempt to make my own. I viewed several recipes online. After cooking this, I came to the realization that I need to improve my ability to figure out whether I'll like a recipe by reading the ingredients. This was pretty good, but, as usual, I'll be making some modifications if I do it again.

I got the recipe from Food TV. It caught my eye because it didn't include canned enchilada sauce, and I wanted to make my own rather than use prepared sauce.

For the Sauce:

2 (10-ounce) cans tomatoes with chiles
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon chopped oregano leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Simmer all the ingredients for 15-20 minutes or until the onion is tender. Because I used fresh cilantro, I added that at the end. After simmering the sauce, use an immersion blender to puree the ingredients and smooth it out into a sauce.

For the enchiladas:

1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1(10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess water
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon minced chipotle in adobo (optional)
1 lime, juiced
Shredded cheese
Tortillas - I wanted corn tortillas but my grocery store was out of them. I had a very bad shopping experience on this day, and I won't bore you with the details.

Saute the onion in a large skillet, then add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until tender. Add the thawed spinach. Combine the milk and cornstarch separately, then add that mixture along with the spices and lime juice to the skillet and cook another minute until everything is warmed through. Add some cheese if you like. I used a very little bit of a Kraft taco blend.

Pour some sauce in your dish to coat the bottom. Warm your tortillas and fill each with the spinach and mushroom mixture. I find it easy enough to palm the tortilla, spoon the filling onto it, the roll it side over side and place folded side down into the casserole dish. After each enchilada is rolled, pour the remaining sauce over them and more cheese if you like. Bake, uncovered, at 375F for 25 minutes.

Alex's soup

I asked Alex to write a guest post about his soup, but either he's shy or actually doesn't have time, so I will share this for him. First of all, he lauds the healing properties of clear soup and claims that the vegetable soup from Asiana even cured a headache he didn't even have. So we decided to try to make something similar at home. After Oktoberfest, we were both overstuffed and hungry for actual nourishment, and he suggested stopping by to get some soup. Instead, we went home and made broth from powder and added some broccoli and celery we had on hand.

Last night, he attempted this soup again and stepped it up a notch. I was not allowed in the kitchen. He also got take out sushi from Bangkok Bistro. Now, I'm not going to say it's the best sushi around, but at least they have several vegetarian rolls. We got an avocado roll, tamago (egg) roll, and their vegetable roll. Together with a large serving of soup, this was a great supper.


For the soup, he used Seitenbacher brand broth powder, which is all-natural, vegan, and quite tasty. He added white mushrooms, a couple of shiitakes, celery, napa cabbage, baby corn, carrots, and scallions. And a pat of butter. It was really, really good. And so easy.


So, what's next? Trying to make our own sushi. I've done it before, but not well. Maybe I'm ready for another go.

Ich bin ein Oktoberfester

In case you thought I was being too healthy, what with me making so many vegan dishes and denouncing cheese, I'll show you the plenitude of fried foods and beer I enjoyed this weekend at Zinzinnati Oktoberfest:

Sauerkraut balls. Two jalapeno, two regular.

Pretzel. We picked this up to be moderately healthy and get some "filler" -- but this was one of my favorites. No, make that my favorite of all.

Fried mushrooms with honey mustard and ranch. Also, Becks Oktoberfest in the background.

Fried pickle spears. These pickles are spicy! Although that's a Becks cup, Alex drank Shock Top.

Of course you need dessert, right? This is a giant creampuff.

Experimentation Sunday: Hawaiian Pesto and Tofu

I've gained a little confidence in my ability to cook tofu, now, after I've learned the secret of freezing it. For this recipe, I froze and thawed a block of firm tofu, sliced it into thirds, and marinated it all afternoon. I got the recipe from a cookbook Alex gave me for Christmas from one of our favorite restaurants, Horizons, an all-vegan foodie restaurant in Philadelphia. They have two cookbooks with recipes from their restaurant and other tasty, flavorful vegan dishes.

Honestly, when I was first presented with the cookbook I was a little disappointed. First of all, I didn't like the implication of being asked to cook. On top of that, the recipes are really difficult and include ingredients I don't normally have on hand and are sometimes difficult to find. To cook from this book, I've purchased agave syrup, tamari soy sauce, coconut milk, and all kinds of spices. At first this seemed like a major hurdle, but now it's just part of my pantry. I've even made a jar of the Latin spice blend that's in several recipes.

In the cookbook, this recipe is Oven-Roasted Tofu with Hawaiian Pesto. I used a grill pan to grill the tofu. Alex wanted to be sure that I wrote that there were no leftovers to this meal! We ate the tofu and pesto with skillet fried potatoes and steamed broccoli. The only thing I'll do differently in the future is to use less salt in the spice blend; the marinade was almost like a rub and it was very, very salty.



Marinade Ingredients:
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
3 tablespoons Latin spice blend (3 parts paprika; 2 parts: cumin, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, and chili powder or dried chile; 1 part: thyme and oregano)
1/4 cup canola oil

I mixed this in the same zipper bag that I used to freeze and thaw the tofu. The book recommends at least and hour, if not overnight, for the marinade. I think mine was in this for about 4-5 hours.

Grill the tofu for 4 minutes per side.

Pesto Ingredients:
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
1/3 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
1/4 cup water

Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Use additional nuts for garnish. I really found the chopped nut texture pleasant with the pesto and tofu.

This recipe would certainly have been difficult nine months ago when I didn't know how to cook tofu and didn't have many of these ingredients on hand. However, I am growing my own basil and have many of these ingredients from previous recipes. I still had ginger in the fridge from my Thai soup -- just in time for its three-month holdover. I still had cilantro from my Mango Couscous. In a way, it's nice to re-use these ingredients in new a flavor combination, even if I only spent $.43 on the ginger.

On being vegetarian

Okay, I feel like I need to revisit my reason for starting to blog. I have several personal objectives: I want to be healthier, eat less processed food, hone my cooking skills, find recipes I can make and share with (non-vegetarian) family and friends. Honestly, and perhaps this is something I should not admit, I can't think of another part of my life that is as consistently pleasurable as food. I love getting excited about a really good meal, I love cooking and trying new things, I really love going to restaurants and sandwich shops.

Beyond those personal goals, I'm a little concerned with the image vegetarians have among non-vegetarians. I have a few examples, starting with this "Food Threshold" grid I found on recipe writer Dana MaCauley's blog. This chart basically oversimplifies the reasons that people may have for eating -- or not eating -- various foods and the entire hierarchy starts with frutarian (lowest) to monkey brains (highest). She's basically saying you can't be adventurous if you don't eat animals. So, I'm a five. I like that the veggie options are all in green.

In planning a large catered dinner party, I inquired about vegetarian food. The caterer replied, "don't worry, there will be plenty of food." As in, vegetarians are welcome to fill up on side dishes which may or may not have meat seasoning -- don't ask.

Something else that's a real bummer is when I was out recently with a group of friends, and a few of us were vegetarians. One person mentioned that she used to be vegetarian but resumed eating meat because there were too few choices. As my first example illustrates, that can certainly be a problem depending on who you eat with, the places you go, and (sadly) the availability of vegetarian products in your grocery store. It's even worse when your restuarant advertises lobster bisque and pasta with chicken reduction as vegetarian-friendly. Daveed's, what were you thinking?

Sidenote: I mentioned the company of an eating partner. I am very lucky that the only meat in my house is the cat food. My husband and I enjoy trying new vegetarian foods together, and part of my personal challenge in this blog is to make new foods we both enjoy and keep our meals interesting.

You've probably seen the dearth of vegetarian meals when you view cooking shows on television, whether it's Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen or other Gordon Ramsay shows, or anything on the Food Network. Some of the most exciting cuisine, we're told, is far from the pigs, cows, and chickens most people eat. The idea of anything vegetarian winning or pleasing a crowd? Preposterous! Can a vegetarian even really be a foodie? Probably not.

Finally, on a comical note, I have a ludicrous comment from a friend of mine. She says that her husband eats vegetarian only during hunting season because he thinks the deer can smell him better if he eats meat.

My Sweetie Sweet Supper - Mango Couscous

This is one of those whole meals that I make from time to time as a staple in our household. Blushing, I call it my sweet supper for my sweet fella.


Menu:
Setian in Island Mango sauce by World Harbors
Grilled vegetables: usually at least yellow squash, sweet onions, and red bell pepper
Couscous
Hawaiian sweet rolls

I introduced Alex to the sweet rolls and he loves them. I do too. Leave out the rolls and the menu is vegan. I chunk the veggies into large pieces, coat them lightly in oil, sugar, and salt, and put them all on a foil sheet and throw them on the grill. As you can see in my photo, some parts (the sugary parts) are browned pretty well, but this is a great way to eat veggies and this colorful, tasty variety is my favorite mix.

Now, the setian in sauce is super easy and the rolls are straight from the bag; I'd typically use a packaged mix of couscous as well but I've decided to make this more interesting by trying a new recipe. I turned to the Internet and found the same recipe twice for Mango Couscous -- once on Oprah's website and once on this fun food blog. No wonder it's the same recipe, they both attribute it to Marcus Samuelsson. So, I'll give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 mango, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped


1 tomato, cubed
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced

1 cup couscous, cooked according to package directions. Set the couscous aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Olive oil
salt

Cook the mango and jalapeno in 1 teaspoon olive oil for one minute. Add the garlic and cook another half a minute.

Then add the remaining ingredients: couscous, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, a bit of salt, and another teaspoon of olive oil. Cook for another minute. Can be served warm or at room temperature. I made this first, then the rest of the supper, so it was room temperature and tasty for us.