Kidney Bean, Sweet Potato, and Millet Stew

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I know we sure did. Though we were unable to visit Brett's family in Illinois due to our losing our debit card (we have new ones now thankfully), we decided rather than be bummed, we were going to make the best of it. I am personally a huge fan on long weekends away from work anyway (who am I kidding, I am a huge fan of ANY time away from my job - it is lame!). So we spent that last four days reading, listening to music, running a few errands, watching awesome football, and playing video games together. We played Hot Shots Golf (I almost won! I have literally NEVER beat Brett at that game and we have played it so many times.), and Brett let me "run errands" for him on Grand Theft Auto since I have fun "driving" the car around. I say "driving" because it is very difficult and I often run into things or get the cops after me just trying to go get something to eat. Since I have been driving for him occasionally, I have broke about 4 cars (they just stopped running), completely scared the characters girlfriend away (because I accidently started shooting out the car window when I was trying to brake), got busted, and somehow got involved in a gang war. Such a savory game, I know, but it is pretty fun to drive around.

You may or may not have noticed that there wasn't a local booty update this week - I actually didn't go to the Root Cellar this weekend. We still have some stuff around and Brett has a cleaning/repairing project that is going to render the kitchen useless for a good portion of the week, so we will be frequenting our favorite local restaurants for a few days . It is nice to have the break from cooking, but I'm sure come next weekend, I will be ready to get back in the kitchen. Though not pictured, we did pick up some local Country Goodies peach apricot jam and a loaf of Uprise's Columbia sourdough (awesome flippin' bread by the way).

Anywho, I have been working on a little project to clean out my cabinets, inspired by Jessy and Dan who, awhile back, were working to use what they had around the house and reduce the amount of groceries they bought each week (they are so awesome that they passed the savings on to charity!). I was looking for something in my tiny kitchen the other day when I noticed how much food we have: tons of canned goods; bulk beans, rice, and other grains; winter squash, frozen goodies from summer; nuts, seeds, and so much more. I felt really bad at that moment - that we kept going out and buying new loads of groceries each week when there was so much food still around the house. I also realized that this project was not only a good way to reduce waste (and free up some cabinet space for all the goodies I want to can and preserve over the summer), but also a great opportunity for creativity. I've been creating a list of our "reserves" so that I can plan our meals accordingly and only buy things that will allow me to round out a meal using at least a few ingredients I already have.

Now, I'm in no way against stocking up, not at all, but I didn't know I still had most of this stuff! And there does come a point after stocking up that you have to start going through your stash. My goal is by the end of the winter to have the reserves depleted and our freezer empty and waiting to be filled by the abundance of summer (though we will always have a bulk amount of beans and rice around).

Brett has enjoyed this since it means that we are experimenting a lot less - and by "experimenting", I think he means trying something that isn't Mexican(ish) or Asian. :-) And honestly, I do better when I stay within the Mexican/Asian umbrella. I seem to have those flavors down and can just kind of wing it - sometimes when I venture outside that "comfort zone", things go horribly wrong. You might notice - if you don't perhaps you will now - that we use pretty much the same ingredients, we just pair them with different beans or seasonings to change things up. Most of the time I am reluctant to call what I post here "recipes" as they aren't anything special and they are often similar to other things we've made before. But if you want to know how to cook vegetarian, using mostly local ingredients, you have to be willing to eat, well, a lot of the same things, and get creative with how you throw them together.

Enough of the small talk and errant blabbering and on to the real purpose of this post - the food!

I have wanted to work with the local kidney beans we found at the Root Cellar and have been getting a little tired of creamy soup, so I decided to go a different route with this dinner. I also didn't want to make another chili either, but I wanted something warm that sticks with you as chili does. In going through my cabinet, I noticed a large container of bulk millet I bought awhile back (and forgot about) and the idea for this thick stew formed. I was pleased with how well it turned out and we got to use up some of our excess food as well as local produce, that is hard to beat.

This meal is not spicy - even Brett agreed - I, being a spice freak, added dried crushed habanero flakes to my bowl, so if you like spice, you might want to supplement with cayenne, crushed habanero, or even sriracha. We ate this with tortilla chips and it also made nice work lunches last week.















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Kidney Bean, Sweet Potato, and Millet Stew
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed +
1 red onion, chopped +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
6-10 petite bell peppers, seeded and minced (other bell pepper would work) *** (frozen from summer)
3 cayenne peppers, seeded and minced +
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped *** (last of the bag ripened tomatoes)
4 cups fresh spinach, chopped +
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
4 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube (you could just use 4 c. veggie broth)
1 cup raw millet, rinsed
4 cups cooked kidney beans +
chili powder
cumin
Mexican oregano
dried cilantro flakes + (not sure if it is local)
salt
pepper

In a large soup pot, combine potatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, tomatoes (canned and fresh), water, and veggie bouillon. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Add the spinach, raw millet, kidney beans, and season to taste.

Simmer for an additional 30-35 minutes or until millet is soft.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Well, I am a little backed up on food posts, so I might try to get the rest of them scheduled to be posted this week if time allows this afternoon. I have another short week at work this week (:-)!), so I'd expect that it will be pretty quiet here at Veg*n Cooking between Wednesday and next Monday. I will try to get on over the weekend to post a local booty update, but if I don't get to it, I will do it next Monday.

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. Mondays can only be so bearable.

'Til next time.

Anasazi and Millet Quesadillas with New Mexican Red Chile Sauce and Avocado 'Cream'

What a mouthful!

This meal was absolutely wonderful. I really, really like Anasazi beans, and encourage anyone who can get a hold of some to try them, they are fantastic. However, if you cannot locate Anasazi beans, but would still like to make this meal, a combination of pinto and kidney, or small red beans would work well in place of the Anasazi.

We really like millet, but don’t use it nearly enough, it found a wonderful application in this dish, if you can’t find or don’t like millet, quinoa or rice would work just fine too. I really liked how the nuttiness of the millet worked with the sweetness of the corn, the flavor of the shiitake mushrooms, the hotness of the peppers, and the mildness of the beans, all around this was a great dish and we’ll definitely have it again.

Also, I used homemade tofu sour cream as the base of my avocado ‘cream’. Brett makes the tofu sour cream and does a much better job than I do, so we’ll keep it that way. Both Brett and I agree, in sauces and baked goods, silken tofu is perfectly acceptable, however when comes to using regular old tofu in main dishes, we do have well, one dish I can think of offhand that we like tofu in (Tofu and Potato Burritos). Anyways, if you wanted to make the avocado ‘cream’ but didn’t want to make the tofu sour cream yourself, I’m sure using one of those premade tubs of it would work fine too, I’ve never had it though, so I can’t vouch for it.

A couple of notes: The New Mexican Red Chile Sauce is not spicy; the pepper sauce is actually oddly sweet. Unfortunately, I don’t think any other peppers could be used in place of the New Mexican chilies here, but I was able to find a bag of dried at the grocery store here in Columbia, so I imagine many people in the United States would be able to find them somewhere. I made this sauce in the morning to allow ample time for the flavors to blend.

New Mexican Red Chile Sauce is a sauce to be used sparingly. While it isn’t spicy it is very flavorful in the way that Tabasco and Louisiana Hot Sauce are. Brett liked it in that he thought it was more versatile than those other sauces as it would work in Mexican, Southern, on pizzas, sandwiches, etc. Next time I might try making this using a different vinegar.

A dried red New Mexican chile.

Red New Mexican Chile Sauce:

Makes about 1 1/2 cups sauce.

12 dried red New Mexican chile peppers, stems removed

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup hot water

1 tbsp good olive oil

a few pinches of dried cilantro

dash Mexican oregano

couple of dashes of cumin

dash paprika

couple of dashes of salt

Rehydrate the 1/2 the chilies in the vinegar for about an hour, rehydrate the other half in hot water for the same period of time.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow flavors to blend.

NOTE: This sauce freezes well, though because of all the vinegar, it will keep for quite some time in the fridge, at least a couple of months.

FOR: Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Tacos, Tostadas, Burritos or Burros, Fajitas

Chiles Japones.

Avocado 'Cream'

Makes about 1 cup Avocado 'Cream'

1/2 cup tofu sour cream

1 ripe avocado, cut in large chunks

juice of 1/2 a lime

1 clove garlic, peeled

4 Chiles Japones minced (I left the seeds in two of them) or cayenne pepper

cumin

salt

Blend in a food processor until smooth.

Anasazi and Millet Quesadilla with New Mexican Red Chile Sauce and Avocado 'Cream'

Serves 2

Cooking Time: 1 hour - I already had the beans and millet prepared in advance (including sauce preparation, 2 hours, much of it idle)

2 cups anasazi beans, cooked

1 cup millet, cooked

1/2 cup corn, cooked

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, roasted and sliced

3 serrano peppers, roasted and sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, roasted and sliced

ground coriander

paprika

chipotle chili powder

cumin

salt

vegan Monterey jack (optional)

tortillas

New Mexican Red Chile Sauce

avocado cream

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add mushrooms, garlic and onions and cook until soft about 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, toss warmed beans and millet with the spices.

Once veggies done, drain any excess water and add to the cooked corn.

Layer bean and millet mixture, corn and mushroom mixture, roasted veggies, vegan jack, and a little bit of New Mexican Red Chile Sauce in a warmed tortilla.

Fry if desired and top with avocado 'cream'.

Super yummy.

'Til next time.

What an Omni Requests for Birthday Food

So yesterday was Brett’s 29th birthday, and I took the day off of work so that we could spend it together. I had gotten him a birthday present, but had already given it to him. You see, I was trying to be sneaky (which I have never been very good at), so I listened carefully over the year, trying to infer something I could get him for his birthday, without having to come right out and ask. Well he loves video games (is this something all men love regardless of age?), and his wireless controller for his Playstation broke. Now I knew what to get him.

I ordered a nice controller off of Amazon, and had it shipped to my office, sneaky right? Well the thing came and it was in a giant box. I mean this little controller was in this huge box. I was trying to figure out a way to get it home and hidden without Brett knowing, since he’s usually home when I get home. So I decided to just take it out of the box and put the controller in my book bag and get it home that way. Well wouldn’t you know that Amazon decided to glue a giant piece of cardboard to the back of the controller box, not really alleviating the size issue, and creating another, the fact that when I put it in my book bag, well, it was noticeable. It gave my book bag a rather triangular shape. In order to get the packaging for the controller separated from the cardboard would have required me to pretty much rip the whole thing apart, which I didn’t want to do in case he didn’t like it. Long story short, when I got home, I just gave it to Brett, ‘cause, well he could tell there was something up with my book bag. But he really liked it, so all was well in the end.

For breakfast I made Brett the Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Vegan with a Vengeance and my modified version of the strawberry sauce recipe in the book. We prefer our fruit sauces, at least for use in this type of situation, to be pretty pulverized and thick, so, as usual, I had to go a different way with this. I just noticed that I was still in keeping with my pink pancake motif, so I guess I really do have a thing for pink breakfast foods. :-)

And you know, he was sweet enough to play guitar for me while I cooked, on his birthday. I know he enjoys it, but I think I enjoy it more. I even snapped a couple of pics of him jamming.

Back to the food.

You know, I like these plates more now that I have this blog. I think I am finally starting to appreciate the full breadth of their ugliness and novelty. :-)

J’s VwaV Inspired Strawberry Sauce
½ bag frozen strawberries
1 tsp. pure maple syrup
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/8-1/4 cup organic sugar
¼ cup water
1-2 tsp. arrowroot starch/flour mixed with a tbsp or so water

In a sauce pan mix all ingredients and warm at medium heat. Once fruit mixture has gotten warm, use the side of a kitchen utensil or potato smasher to pulverize the fruit. Bring to a boil and add the arrowroot mixture, stirring frequently until desired consistency.

These pancakes are good. I mean they are chocolate and more chocolate and if you like that – well, I think you’d be in love. These are also VERY sweet, so I would recommend this as more of a dessert unless you can handle really sweet food in the morning. Both of us tend to prefer nothing really much sweeter than a granola bar, so we’ll save these for dessert next time.

When I had asked Brett what he wanted me to make him for his birthday food wise, he said he wanted the Vegan Chocolate Chip Fudgy Brownies I make as well as a Black Bean Quesadilla, he didn’t really care about breakfast. So thats what he got.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Fudgy Brownies
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use Green & Black's Organic Cocoa Powder)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups organic sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1 cup canola oil for higher fat baking, or 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup applesauce for somewhere in the middle)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup water
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (we like Tropical Source)(optional)
confectioner's sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir in the wet ingredients. If desired, add chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into a greased 9"- x 13"-inch baking pan, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when it comes out of the oven.

Let the brownies cool slightly before serving.

Brett and I ended up with slightly different things for dinner as quesadillas and burritos can be very ‘mix-and-match’ and I had some pinto beans in the fridge that needed to be eaten, so I made a burrito for myself and a Black Bean Quesadilla for Brett. We usually use plain old Spanish rice in this recipe, but both of us thought it would be good to try subbing in Veganomicon’s Mexican Millet to see how that worked. Well of course, when I looked at the recipe, there were things I didn’t have or we don’t like and things I had that I usually add to my Spanish Rice that I thought would make good additions, so I ended up doing it a bit differently. I left the fresh tomato and cilantro out, and I didn’t have any tomato paste. So instead of using 2 cups of veggie broth, I used a cup and a half of veggie broth and a half cup of tomato juice. I also cut down on the onion called for and added sautéed red bell pepper. It was so good! Brett said he thought our Mexican food might be better with millet than rice. This stuff is really good so we highly recommend it to anyone who loves Mexican food like we do.

If you were curious here is a rough run-down of what went in Brett’s Quesadilla: Lots of black beans tossed with a bit of Simply Organics Southwest Taco Seasoning, some sweet corn, our variation of Mexican Millet, and cheese, real cheese, but it was his birthday, and this is what he wanted. It was topped with guacamole, tofu sour cream and salsa (not pictured here).

For my burrito I layered some Mexican Millet, and took a mixture of black and pinto beans, tossed them with a bit of the Southwest Taco Seasoning, then added a bit of sweet corn and some Follow Your Heart vegan Monterey Jack. I also topped mine with guacamole, tofu sour cream and salsa (again, not pictured). I had a bit of Mexican Millet on the side as my burrito ‘seemed’ small, but I didn’t end up eating it. The burrito was too filling.

You know, I don’t think I’ve had enough spicy food and guacamole yet :-), so I think I will concoct a breakfast around that. (Maybe I should turn off the Spanish guitar music.) Tonight I am also planning on making a more ‘Jen-Style’ meal, meaning more veggies, far more veggies than the types of things Brett picks out, but I think I have ways of dressing them up that will be pleasing even to the omni.

‘Til next time.