Weekly Local Booty (late), Excuses, and Well, Let's Just Get On With It...

I didn't intend to go on hiatus, but it has been pretty stressful around these parts for the past while. I would expect things to be pretty sporadic for the next few weeks - I haven't really been cooking or doing much of note anyway. Let's just say things have been pretty out of whack. I have been doing an awful lot of reading and have created a Books J's Read - 2009 link under the Currently Reading element on the blogs sidebar. I read a lot of books, so I like to try to keep track and do a rudimentary rating scale. Perhaps this will be of interest to some of you; otherwise, you can see how big of a nerd I am. :-)

I did go to the Root Cellar awhile back and scored some grub, so I figured I would share it - hopefully inspiration hits me as to what to do with it all.















Starting from the bottom left: shiitake mushrooms, carrots, 4 yellow and 1 red onion, a huge head of cabbage, local pickled jalapenos (!!!!!), Sandhill mustard (!!!!!), Bonne Femme Honey Farm alfalfa honey, 2 organic avocados (not local), organic Sumatra coffee (not local), and a bag of shredded organic coconut (not local).

Not pictured are a dozen local eggs and two jars of East Wind peanut butter we picked up from the "regular" store. Making our own granola bars means we use a lot of peanut butter.

Sadly, there will be no Garden Update for December. I forgot to take pictures, well, the whole month. Things kept dying and I got jaded. I decided not to try starting anymore indoor crops and to focus my attention on our 2009 growing season. Surprisingly, the pepper plants are what are doing the best. One of our cayennes is even beginning to grow buds. It is the herbs and greens that have really been giving us trouble. Not what I expected. Our salad greens are doing wonderfully in the window and I think we will be having our first harvest soon, I will make sure to get a picture of our loot.

We've been pouring over our seed catalogs and visions of summers possibilities and I think we are getting narrowed down to the specifics of what we would like to grow. Once the seed order has been placed, I will post about what is (hopefully) on our horizons. I don't know when that will be, but I'll get around to it at some point.

I apologize that I haven't been commenting on blogs - I can't say that will change anytime soon - it will likely be sporadic as well. But who knows, right?

'Til next time.

Black Bean and Butternut Enchiladas with Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce

Happy New Years! All of us who spent the last 8 years wondering, "is it 2008 yet?" can start to let out that sigh of tentative relief. Everyone's favorite president only has a few weeks left to try to ruin anything left unbroken and we have someone with a modicum of intelligence and character getting ready to move in to that famed White House. This is not going to be an easy year - or likely few years - we have a lot of struggles to face, but for the first time in awhile, there is a small degree of hope. I am going to get all "John Ikerd" on you guys for a second and caveat that by hope I do not mean that I think things are going to work out and everything will be puppies and daisies - hope is rather the feeling that it could work out, that better decisions can be made, and that a more equitable, sustainable, and meaningful life are possible. I do not think a president can or should give us that, but it helps to have leadership that doesn't encourage all the worst aspects of human nature, a leader that will inspire us to serve, to give, to sacrifice. Those are things we all need. Again, I have no naive hope that Obama will save the planet and bring about world peace - quite the contrary - with all the people he has picked for his cabinet, I imagine More of the Same a la Clinton (which is better than what we've had), but I think we stand a chance with Obama. Under this administration things like "sacrifice", "service", "helping others", "making due", "doing right by the planet" will not be seen as bad words or get you put on some sort of list that keeps you from being able to fly.

Enough of my political tirade. We will see what this year brings; we know it will certainly be a lot different from the last few years. We can only hope that it is more pleasant this time around - even if it does mean sacrifice and doing with less, I think that would be good for most of us.

Whew! After all that, I still have food to post about!

It has been awhile since I have made enchiladas and it was about damn time! I love making my own enchilada sauce as I get to experiment and make things more to our tastes, so this recipe features a homemade sauce as well. Sadly, I had to use canned tomatillos, but I felt better about purchasing the canned than fresh at this time of year. I hope that next year, I will be able to can some homegrown tomatillos! I was able to get quite a few local goodies in this meal though, I have finally been busting into our frozen stash of local goodies from summer and I am so happy to have them.

A few of the ingredients in this meal are not only local, but things that Brett and I grew ourselves. I feel a rush of pride each time I pull out a butternut squash Brett and I grew in our community garden, or a container of salsa/sauce we preserved over summer, or a bag of peppers frozen from our container plants. Homegrown will always be better no matter what, and I think that sense of pride has a lot to do with it.

Well, here she be!




























(I wish I was eating a plate of these right now, don't you just want to reach into your computer screen and grab this plate?! I know I do!)

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

Black Bean and Butternut Enchiladas with Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce

Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce
2 cans of tomatillos, drained
3 hot Hungarian wax peppers, stems removed *** (frozen from summer)
3 jalapenos, stems removed *** (frozen from summer)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled +
1 yellow onion, halved +
4 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube
2 tbsp dried cilantro + (not sure if this is local)
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
dash black pepper

Combine tomatillos, peppers, garlic, water, and veggie bouillon in a large pot and simmer for about 35-40 minutes. Allow mixture to cool for a few minutes.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add seasonings to taste.

Return sauce to pot on the stove and simmer on low for about an hour to an hour an a half until mixture has thickened.

Black Bean and Butternut Enchiladas
2 cups black beans, cooked ****
1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced small (about 1 1/2 cup of butternut) ***
2 tbsp safflower oil
dash pepper
dash salt
corn tortillas
Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat safflower oil over medium heat in a large-ish skillet. Add the butternut, salt, and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes.

Add the black beans and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Spread a layer of Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce in the bottom of a pan.

Layer filling in warmed corn tortillas. Roll up.

Spread remaining enchilada sauce over the tops of the enchiladas.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Oh man. This was one of the best new Mexican meals I have made for awhile and it is quite simple. I loved how the enchilada sauce was spicy but not overly so. Brett said that it was something he would happily feed to others even though we've only made it once. We usually make something quite a few times before we deem it "company appropriate". And for once, I didn't make it so spicy that Brett complained. :-) I have been getting better at toning the spice level down for him - besides, that is what ground cayenne pepper, crushed habanero flakes, and sriracha hot sauce are for right?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend!

'Til next time.

Anasazi Patties with Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Awhile back, when Brett and I first tried Anasazi beans, he said they reminded him of poultry, which I could go along with. Since then, when thinking about using Anasazi beans, I have tried them in applications where flavors similar to that of poultry would be conducive - mostly Mexican until now - and it has always worked beautifully. I mean no judgment, but I am not one of those vegetarians who is interested in recreating all my omnivorous favorites veg-style, personally, I did not stop eating meat so I could try to recreate it with fake things, I never really liked meat all that much anyway. However, I do not have a problem using particular flavor profiles. For example, I think the metallic, iron quality of green lentils holds up to the seasoning profile you would use with red meat quite well, so I will rock that seasoning combination with lentils. I will not, however, try to create something that is supposed to resemble, in taste and texture, say fajita meat strips.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand. Seeing as how Anasazi beans take on poultry-ish flavors very well, I have wanted to make a patty out of them and use poultry seasoning. I don't like calling something like this a 'burger' as to me that implies meat, but at the same time, meat doesn't have a license on the word 'burger' either - there have long been many different types of burgers, made from different types of meat, legumes, and veggies - so I was at a little bit of a loss for what to call these, I guess patties it is.

These were very, very good, though they do not taste anything (thankfully) like chicken; the beans just take on the poultry seasoning quite well. I put my food processor to work for the veggies (I so rarely think to do that and it saves a ton of time!), so the patties and the sides were all done in about 45 minutes - oh, and I was also left with 4 huge patties to freeze for quick, tasty meals in a hurry. I decided to serve these with my take on rosemary roasted sweet potatoes. Laura, from the wonderful CoMo blog Peace by Pastries, is always making something like these and various other delightful looking sweet potato dishes and I finally had a meal I thought they would go well with. They were pretty good, I would recommend (as I do in the recipe below) peeling the sweet potatoes first. And I'm honestly not sure how much I like rosemary. It has a strong "smaste" (smell-taste), and even after trying to crumble the pine needle like rosemary, it was still in large pieces that I wasn't super fond of. We also served this meal with steamed kale.



























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

Anasazi Patties
Makes about six huge patties.

4 cups Anasazi beans, cooked ****
1 carrot, peeled and shredded +
1 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped +
1/2 yellow onion, chopped +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chopped walnuts +
1 tbsp organic ketchup
1 tbsp safflower oil
1 tsp poultry seasoning
black pepper

Fixins:
whole wheat burger buns
mayonnaise (I used vegan mayo)
stone ground mustard
ketchup
zesty pickles +
lettuce

(I used my food processor to chop all the veggies and save time.)

In a large bowl, smash beans with a fork, leaving just a few in whole or half form. Stir in the veggies and combine well.

Slowly stir in the oats, flour, vital wheat gluten, and walnuts. You may need to use your hands to get everything all worked together.

Add the ketchup, oil, and seasoning.

Refrigerate the dough for about an hour.

Once dough has sat for an hour, form six large balls out of the dough and flatten as you would for a burger.

Spray a small skillet with safflower (or other) oil in a mister. Let pan heat up for about a minute over medium high heat and add a patty. Fry for about 6-8 minutes and flip. I like the patties to get firmer, so I will often cook them on both sides, and then do a lot of flipping for an additional minute or two. This will allow them to cook a little more without them getting burnt.

Put on your favorite bun with your favorite toppings (how we dressed them is listed above).

Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3 small sweet potatoes, cubed (you can peel them if you like) +
2 cloves of garlic, minced +
1 tsp dried rosemary + (not sure if it is local or not)
1/4 tsp Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp salt
dash black pepper
1-2 tbsp safflower oil

Preheat oven to 375.

Toss cubed sweet potatoes with garlic and spices. Place in a baking dish that has either been sprayed with oil or lined with parchment or foil to keep the taters from sticking.

Roast for 35-45 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

I am really stoked that we have more of these burgers in our freezer. Using the vital wheat gluten gave the patties a firmer, more pleasant texture, and it also gave me something to do with the jar of the stuff that has been lurking in my cabinet.

A bit of a side note I just noticed, as of today, I have been blogging for a year. It is amazing how quickly the time goes by.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years! I have the last post I am behind on scheduled to go up tomorrow and will finally be caught up (!!!!!). I will be back early next week with a local booty update and to catch up on your blogs (I may have a new recipe by then as well).

'Til next time.

Maple-Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Roasted Apples, Walnuts, and Cinnamon-Sugar Crumb Topping

This yummy looking treat was Brett and I's Christmas morning breakfast. It was super easy to make and filled our apartment with the warm, mapley, and cinnamon-spice smell that is quite fitting for the season. I am not generally one to do anything special or nice for brunch as I am usually satisfied with something simple and I save my energy for our evening meals, but occasionally it is nice to make something special, and what better occasion than Christmas?

This recipe also features some Missouri grown bounty. Local, easy, seasonally appropriate, AND yummy, you can't ask for much more than that from a brunch, can you?

That's enough blabbering by me, check out this bad boy.















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

Maple-Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash with Roasted Apples, Walnuts, and Cinnamon-Sugar Crumb Topping
Serves two.

The Squash:
1 acorn squash, halved, seeds and stringy bits removed *
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp brown sugar

The Filling:
2 apples, peeled and chopped +
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped +
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
dash nutmeg

The Topping:
4 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp raw organic sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2-3 tbsp Earth Balance

Preheat the oven to 400.

Pierce prepared acorn squash a few times with a knife. Fill seed cavity with maple syrup and brown sugar. Make sure the syrup coats as much of the squash flesh as possible.

Roast for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and chop apples, and chop up the walnuts. Toss them with the cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup, and nutmeg.

Stuff half the filling into each half of the squash and roast for an additional 35 minutes.

While the squash and filling are roasting, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Using a fork or knife, cut in the Earth Balance until everything is all crumbly.

Top the squash with the crumble topping and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes (if you can stand it), and enjoy!

If I get the itch to do something more "in depth" for brunch over the winter, this might be my go-to meal.

'Til next time.

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.