Artichoke Curry Rice Salad

During a recent visit to my husband’s home town, my mother in law made us a salad with rice and artichokes. I thought it was a fabulous idea, so when I got home, I tried a version of my own that reminds me of dinners from my childhood when I wasn’t vegan. Thanks for the inspiration, MiL, this was fabulous.

2 (14 oz) cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 cup crasins (or golden raisins)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 diced red bell pepper
1 cup pepitas OR roasted walnuts, chopped
2-3 Tablespoons yellow curry powder
1 clove garlic, deveined
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1-3 tablespoons sweetener, to taste (I used agave. Date sugar, honey, or cane sugar would work, or use sweetened coconut)
1/4 teaspoon of salt, to taste
1 teaspoon crystallized ginger orange (True Orange powder)(optional)
1-3 Tablespoons Just Mayo (or veganaise or peanut butter)(optional)
4 cups cooked brown rice

Mix all ingredients except rice together until blended well in large bowl. Fold in cooked rice (can be warm). Refrigerate 2 hours or until time to eat. Serve with Sriracha on the table. Good with fresh fruit on the side. Serves 4 as a meal, up to 8 as a side. Keeps at least 4 days in the fridge, but you’re gonna want to eat it all before then.

Orange Cinnamon Rolls

When I was growing up our family celebrated St. Lucia’s Day on December 13th. As children our job was to wake up and make Pillsbury orange rolls and bacon and coffee and bring them to our parents in bed. It’s a Swedish holiday, and I imagine that part of the reason we began it is because we had two Swedish exchange students when I was growing up as well.

Around the beginning of December I always crave these, and since the Pillsbury ones aren’t vegan, I’ve adapted these. They are church lady cook extrodinaire approved. And that’s saying something.

 
Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees—too hot and you’ll kill the yeast)

1/4 cup sugar

1 package active dry yeast

the zest of one orange

1/2 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed or packaged)

1 t sea salt

1 egg replacement (1 T ground flax or egg replacer & 3 T water OR an egg for non vegans)

2 T Earth Balance (or butter)

1 1/2 c +1-2 c white whole wheat flour

 

1 T canola oil

 

Filling

2 t sugar & 1-2 t cinnamon (combined. Or just your household cinnamon sugar. I think I’ve added a bit of cardamom to mine as well.)

2-6 T earth balance

3/4 c slivered almonds AND/OR 1/2 c dried cranberries

 

Icing

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 T orange juice (plus more for desired consistency)

the zest of one orange

1 t almond extract

1 t orange extract

1/2 slivered almonds

 

In a large bowl (preferably your mixer bowl) combine warm water and sugar, mix in yeast and allow to proof (bubble, grow, and become fragrant).

Add in zest, orange juice, salt, and egg replacer. Stir to dissolve salt then add in Earth Balance in pieces and 1 1/2 c flour.

Beat in stand mixer for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally, until well combined.

A half cup at a time, add in remaining flour until dough balls up and is easy to handle.

Turn it out on a clean surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Put oil in your bowl, place the ball of dough in the bowl, turning once to completely cover dough with oil.

Cover the bowl and place in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours.

After dough has doubled in size, roll out on clean surface into rectangle 16×9.”

Spread LIBERALLY with earth balance, and then sprinkle cinnamon sugar and slivered almonds over entire surface.

Roll the dough, long side to long side, so you end up with a 16 inch cinnamon roll snake. Stretch roll to even it out.

Cut into 16 pieces. (best way is to cut in halves, then each half in half, and so forth, until you have 16 inch wide pieces.)

Evenly space them in a slightly oiled 9×13 and allow to rise again, about 30 minutes. *(if you want to fix at night and then bake them in the morning, it is best to do it at this stage, after the second rising. If not waiting, this is when you can preheat the oven.)

Bake at 375*F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Mix together sugar, zest, juice, and extracts and pour over warm rolls when you’ve taken them out of the oven. Sprinkle with slivered almonds.

Serve and astonish your friends.

Adapted from Betty Crocker’s 1974 “Breads” cookbook.

Baby Bok Choy

Say it with me: Baby Bok Choy! When I buy it in the grocery store, I have to say it at a higher pitch and with an excited lilt in my voice. I just do. I love Baby-Bok-Choy!

Anyway, I like to stirfry it. It has enough of a delicate flavor on its own, you don’t have to overpower it. I wanted a simple dinner, similar to the ones that I remember my roommate, Anna, making a few years ago.

For a simple stirfry, you’ll need Baby-Bok-Choy! green onions, ginger, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar. Yes, that’s it.

I also wanted something hearty, so I steamed some sliced tempeh for 15 minutes, then marinated it for an hour in liquid aminos (a soy sauce substitute with less salt and no gluten). I sautéed the tempeh in sesame oil and some sliced ginger in a skillet until brown, then put it back in the marinating dish. (One bonus of vegan cooking, no cross-contamination fears.) Don’t clean the skillet.

Back to the Baby-Bok-Choy! It comes in little bunches, and for the two of us we ate 5 bunches. If there had been more to the meal, we would not have needed as much, but like I said, we were being simple. Cut the greens off the core and then wash them.

The trick to cooking Baby-Bok-Choy! is to separate the green leafy tops from the firm crisp stems. Both are good to eat, but for me to like them, they must be cooked differently. Cut the tops from the stems, it doesn’t have to be exact, but just halfish. Coarsely chop the white stems, and bunch together the green leafy tops and cut into thin green ribbons (chiffonade). Over the green ribbons, thinly cut a handful of green onions, and add three tablespoons of rice wine vinegar. Save this for the very end.

Add the chopped stems of the Baby-Bok-Choy! to the skillet, and stirfry until tender, with a little extra ginger and sesame oil if necessary.

When the rice is ready, and all the people that are going to eat are aware that dinner is going to be ready in the imminent future, add the bowl of Baby-Bok-Choy! ribboned green leafy tops, green onions and vinegar.

Cook until the harsh smell of vinegar has quelled, and the Baby-Bok-Choy! is BRIGHT green. Remove from heat.

Serve over liberal amounts of rice, with sautéed tempeh. Bring Sriracha to the table, as well as liquid aminos or soy sauce. Rejoice in enjoying Baby-Bok-Choy!

Recipe:

4-5 bunches of Baby Bok Choy, cored and washed
5-10 stems of green onions, sliced
1 T sliced or minced ginger
1 T sesame oil
3 T rice wine vinegar
1 (8 oz) brick of tempeh, sliced
1 T liquid aminos or soy sauce
2-3 servings of cooked rice
Sriracha and liquid aminos or soy sauce to taste.

Prepare rice. Steam tempeh in skillet for 15 minutes, then remove to dish to marinate with liquid aminos.
Prepare baby bok choy by cutting stems from leaves. Coarsely chop stems, set aside.
Chiffonade leaves and place in bowl, add green onions and vinegar.
Sauté tempeh in skillet until golden brown. Set aside, reserving drippings in skillet.
Sauté white stems of baby bok choy until tender with additional ginger.
When rice is ready and table is set, add in bowl of green tops, onion, and vinegar.
Cook just until colors brighten and tang of vinegar passes.
Serve baby bok choy and tempeh over rice with Sriracha and liquid aminos. Enjoy!

Homestyle Spaghetti

Think back to your childhood. Is there any food that you can remember that reminds you of your home? A comfort food that was filling and delicious and satisfied you for a long time?

When I was growing up, we had spaghetti about once a week. No other meal did we have as frequently as we had spaghetti. It simmered on the stove all afternoon, our mouths watering as the fragrance filled the house, we fidgeted impatiently for dinner-time. Later, Mom, Sis and I would have it as a weekday lunch for leftovers. Mmm, good.

I have pasta sauce out of the jar when I don’t feel like going out and don’t really feel like cooking either, but sometimes I want something hearty like I remember from home. I made my own creation, and now I will share it with you.

Everything that goes in the pot but the tomatoes and spices can be processed in a food processor. Trust me, it saves your hands from cramping. You could go chunkier, but then it wouldn’t have that good hearty texture that reminds you of a good Bolognese. 

Begin with Garlic. I had guests this time, and so I only used a whole head of garlic. If I knew that any descendants of Ted Austin were going to be in town, I would have used TWO whole HEADS of garlic.

The other ingredients are red and green bell peppers, one onion, green and black olives, four cans of diced fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices. 

These are all good things. Like I said, process them in batches, and add them to the pot to sauté as you continue. 

After the onion and garlic are tender, then add the peppers to get a little water out, and then the olives can go in. At this point it looks like an amazing tapenade, and I was tempted to stop there.

Add your spices here.

The spices: thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, parsley, fennel seed (just a little), herbs de provence. Not pictured: a bay leaf or four, and celery seed. You can also add salt, but I recommend doing that later, after tasting it. There is already salt in the olives and tomatoes, and that really may be enough. Also optional: roasted red pepper flakes.

When this has cooked to release the flavors of the spices, then add the diced tomatoes before it begins to burn. Add the tomato paste to bring out the flavors, and then turn it down to simmer for as long as you can stand it. I recommend 3-4 hours, but it would be ok at one.

After it has simmered, before you are ready to eat it you may add a meat substitute. We’ve done it without, this time we tried the boca tofu crumbles. I’ve also seen that you can crumble up tempeh and throw it in. It depends on what you feel like, and if there are omnivores coming to dinner. Our guests gobbled it up, and one of them was a little worried about the olives but loved it anyway.

Spoon over angel hair pasta (whole wheat) and sprinkle a little no-harmesan over it for some color. Serve with a hearty bread, and enjoy!

Recipe:

1 T olive oil
1-2 heads garlic
1 yellow onion
2-3 green and red bell peppers
1 can black olives, drained (14 oz, pitted)
1 cup green olives, drained (salad style with the pimento)
(additional add-ins: sliced white mushrooms, capers, or portobellos)
1 t thyme
2 t oregano
2 t basil
1 t marjoram
1 T parsley
1/4 t fennel seed
1 t herbs de provence
1/2 t celery seed
1-4 bay leaves (depending on size)
Optional: roasted red pepper flakes
4 cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1/2 cup water to rinse cans
8 oz of meat substitute: boca crumbles, crumbled tempeh, reconstituted TVP (texturized vegetable protien)
salt, to taste

Chop (or process) all ingredients. Sauté garlic and onions in oil until softened. Add peppers and cook 5 minutes. Stir in olives, and spices. (Don’t put the salt in yet, until after you’ve tasted it!) Cook to release flavors, add tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil and then simmer at lowest setting, stirring occasionally. Taste, and add salt and additional spices, if needed. 30 minutes before serving add tempeh or tofu, and simmer until all flavors are combined.

Serve over angel hair or thin spaghetti, with hearty bread and green salad. Enjoy!

Cold Brew Coffee

This blog runs on coffee.

I write reflections and essays about life. I get to typing and the words just stream out. But how do I begin the writing? What does my writing run on? The answer: Coffee.

It is summer now, and since I still love coffee, and I don’t have a coffee shop close by. If I was close to one, I would run out of my coffee budget before the end of the month. So to get by I brew my own coffee.

Now, I have a coffee maker, and it works great during the cold months, or if I want a hot cuppa in my hand. But when it gets hot out, I want it cold.

I could brew it the normal way, and then pop the brew in the fridge, but that can lead to some funny tastes and coffee that isn’t strong enough for me when it gets cold. No, the better thing to do is cold brew coffee.

I grind up a cup of fair trade Equal Exchange whole beans, and put it in a quart mason jar. (I use a wide mouth funnel so I don’t lose any).

Then I pour filtered water over the grinds, and when the jar is about half full I swirl it around a bit to get all of the grinds wet. (It starts to look like the sludge that Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewy get in when they dive into the garbage chute. Don’t worry, it tastes good.)

Then finish filling it to the brim.

Pop it in the fridge or countertop overnight to 24 hours.

Then filter it out. I use the gold reusable filter that came with my coffee pot, sitting in a sieve. Or in a pinch I use a mesh sieve lined with paper towels over a 4 cup measuring cup.

After it has filtered, discard the grounds, and add some sweetener, if you like it that way. I also add almond flavoring.

Pop it in the fridge, and when you are ready to indulge dilute it with water or the creamy beverage of your choice. Our house uses almond milk, but you can make it breve with soy creamer.

I love a cold iced latte, especially one that I don’t have to go to the store to get. Free refills!

Recipe:
1 cup coffee grounds (preferably fresh ground, fair trade)
1 quart (filtered) water
1 mason jar, or other quart sized container

Optional:
Sweetener: (agave nectar, honey, sugar, etc.)
Milk or Creamer (almond, soy, coconut, or cow’s milk)

Combine coffee and water, stirring halfway through filling. Brew in refrigerator or on cool countertop for 8-24 hours. Filter and store in fridge. Pour over ice and add cream and sweetener as desired. Enjoy!

I Love to Cook

It’s true, I love to cook. I grew up with a great cook for a mom, and I learned from her about experimenting with ingredients. I began to cook at home shortly after I began to talk, and it has been an adventure ever since.

I cooked for myself in Kenya, when I didn’t have running water or a fridge, and I have been able to be creative in all sorts of places.

About a year ago, my husband and I made the full switch to being vegan at home. That means we are on a plant based diet. It has been great so far. often I’ll be asked what I eat since I don’t eat meat. Find out here.