Super Yummy Green Smoothie

I have been making more of an effort lately to make sure that Brett and I are getting adequate vitamins and minerals and have really become fond of juicing and making smoothies. Not only are they tasty and make a great breakfast, they are easy and so very healthy.

Below is one of my very first experiments and it is really good. I will make up a batch of this in the mornings and Brett and I will split it for breakfast. Super yummy and really easy, can't get much better than that.


















Super Yummy Green Smoothie
2 apples (you want to use a tart variety, I used organic Granny Smith), cored
2 bananas
a couple handfuls of spinach
juice of half a lime
1 heaping tsp. spirulina powder
5-6 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Enjoy!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

'Til next time.

J&B's Random Eats of Late

As you can probably imagine, while I was still cooking before the wedding, blogging about cooking or trying many new, complicated things wasn't really on my agenda. I did, however, photograph some of the food - just random things I threw together or things I am playing with for Selina and I's cookbook, so I thought I'd share 'em.


My take on Wasabi-Tempura Asparagus (and button mushrooms!) from Vegetarian Planet. I served it with a sweet and spicy peach-soy-chile sauce.


A radish salad inspired by a recipe from the awesome Callina.


Simple and tasty corn and tomato salad.


A new and improved recipe for Pico de Gallo.


A black bean and rice stuffed omelette with tomatoes, onions, garlic, chiles, and cilantro.


Brett's bowl of goodness (eaten with tortilla chips) - cilantro-lime rice, black beans, cheese, guacamole, radish salad, and corn salad.


Drunken beans Take 1!


This was really easy, and Brett simply adored it: sliced portobellow mushrooms, black olives, spinach, cumin, salt, pepper, a splash of lime and Mexican pepper cheese.

I got some pictures of the container garden today, and some market pictures from yesterday I will post at some point, after I post the CoMo honeymoon pictures. Whew!

There is a lot of stuff to post about!

'Til next time.

Local Spring Veggies and Pasta!

I really love simple and tasty food - that is as local as possible. I love it when ingredients shine on their own, in their own glory. Until a few years ago when I started going to the farmer's market and growing my own veggies, I didn't know what I was missing - the amazing flavors, colors, textures available. Ordinary foods I used to eat without issue such as tomatoes, I know shun in the winter (unless canned from summer of course) as the store bought ones just don't cut it, they taste horrible and their texture is gritty.

Spring at the farmer's market brings out many things tasty and green. I threw this dish together in no time, and the only non-local ingredients are the few seasonings in the dish.

















This is my bowl, topped with crushed red pepper. It seems like if I can make something spicy, I will. :-)

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

Local Spring Veggies and Pasta
1 lb. penne pasta, cooked according to package instructions *
1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends removed, cut in half inch pieces *
6 spring onions, minced *
1 cup oyster mushrooms, chopped *
1 tomato, chopped *
6 cups spinach, chopped *
1/2 cup garlic chives, minced *
2-3 tbsp canola oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Heat oil in a medium skillet.

Add the asparagus and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the onions, tomato, and spinach. Cook for an additional 6-8 minutes, stirring often.

Add the garlic chives, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Toss veggies with cooked pasta. Season with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

If you are like me, add something spicy on top!

Well, we've got market tomorrow, it is the first week for our CSA and I hope there is a bunch of Dan's amazing asparagus. I swear we didn't get enough of it last year (though I'm not sure what enough would be exactly), it is some of the best, most flavorful asparagus I have ever had. I am also excited to see what other goodies we might score from the market this weekend.

It has been really rainy here, well, for the past few weeks, so getting things into the ground at the community garden has once again been difficult this year. We transplanted a bunch of peppers starts, and starts planned for the community garden that had outgrown their pots. I will be taking them down and sowing some more seed on Sunday. I may end up a mudball as I did last year, but the stuff is ready to go!

In other news, for the last few years we've had a common nighthawk roosting on top of one of the buildings in our neighborhood. It took us four years to identify what the bird who screeched all night and would dive bomb from the sky was. Anyway, once we figured out what kind of bird she was, we began to watch her at dusk when we could. It is really neat to watch them dive bomb for bugs. If they do it close enough to you, you can actually hear a whirring sound go by with them, they go really fast. Once they had migrated for the winter, we weren't sure if they would come back to the same spot to roost. We were happy to hear that familiar screech about two days ago and sure enough, there one was, soaring in the sky, screeching her rather unpleasant screech (you get used to it) and dive bombing for the year's first bugs. Nature is pretty cool, even in the city, if you just stop to pay attention. :-)

Well, I'll be back sometime this weekend for the weekly local booty update and our first CSA share!

I hope everyone has a good weekend and to those who go to market over the weekend, happy "hunting".

'Til next time.

Farmer's Market Spring Veggie Omelette-Type Thing - Vegetarian

So, I've never made an omelette before, so I am only assuming that this is what they are supposed to be like, or that at the very least, I got the general idea correct. After getting home from the farmer's market on Saturday, inspiration struck and I headed straight to the kitchen to create this wonderful, almost completely local brunch for us.

This was incredibly good - I am not the biggest egg fan, but I loved this. My only recommendation would be to split one of these between two people. They are huge and filling, I didn't realize how filling they would be. Both of us only ate half of our omelette's before wrapping them up and putting them in the fridge for a snack later.




























This is a picture of Brett's omelette, I added a little bit of chevrie to his.

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

Farmer's Market Spring Veggie Omelette-Type Thing
4 eggs, whisked *
1/3 cup garlic chives, minced *
1 cup asparagus, chopped into half inch pieces *
4 cups of spinach, rinsed and chopped *
1 cup of oyster mushrooms, minced *
4 spring onions, chopped *
canola oil
salt
pepper

In a bowl, combine the eggs and the garlic chives, sprinkle with just a bit of salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat about a tablespoon of canola oil in a medium skillet. Add the asparagus and mushrooms and cook for about 8 minutes. Add the spinach and spring onions, cook an additional 5-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium flat bottomed skillet, add 1-2 tbsp of canola oil. Once the pan is good and hot, pour the egg mixture and allow it to cook thoroughly. Flip the flat egg over to cook both sides - this should take about 10 minutes.

Add the filling to the middle of the egg "pancake" and fold the egg over. You can cook it just a minute or two more on each side and this will help it "seal" a little bit.

This was a pretty darn good meal. I will be back soon with the recipe for a super tasty local pasta dish I made earlier this week.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Brett is off in homework land tonight, so I'm on my own this evening - I smell veggie sushi and a good book.

'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.

Veggie Sandwiches with Walnut Pesto, Roasted Beets and Walnuts, and Sautéed Beet Greens

I actually made this pesto last weekend when I got fresh sweet basil from the farmer's market. I guess I got lazy, then went off on tangents, posting about other things. I remembered as we had these sandwiches again over the weekend to use up the remaining pesto that I had never posted about it!

This is a very basic pesto recipe, nothing special. This was my first time ever making pesto at home and it turned out really well. I used walnuts instead of pine nuts in our pesto as walnuts are far more abundant in the Midwest than pine nuts and are thus much cheaper. I feel a little silly for buying walnuts though as walnut tress grow all over the place in Missouri, I'm just unsure as I don't know what, if anything, they've been sprayed with. People and their stupid chemicals have to ruin all the wild food out there.

When we had these sandwiches over the weekend, I also prepared some beets as sides. I roasted the beetroots drizzled with a little olive oil at 400(F) for about an hour and a half and tossed them with some chopped walnuts and salt and pepper. I also made Sautéed Beet Greens again, this time I used malt vinegar and it was much better, I will edit the recipe. The roasted beets and walnuts weren't the greatest. We made them better by eating the beetroots with the beet greens. It was worth a shot, but we won't be doing that with the beets again.

Anyways, had I not been lazy, I would have made the focaccia that Jessy posted about awhile back, but alas I was being lazy, so both times we made these sandwiches, we just bought a petite loaf of multigrain bread.

Walnut Pesto

2-3 cups fresh sweet basil

1/3 cup walnuts

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/2 cup good olive oil

pinch white pepper

pinch salt

Combine all ingredients together in a food processor.

I slathered some pesto on both pieces of the bread (which was warm), I layered on fresh spinach, onions, artichoke hearts (these are optional, we used them the first time we had these as we had a can lying around, we didn't use artichoke hearts the second time we had these), and tomato.

These were the sides. I really like beet greens a lot. I'm thinking that over the winter, we should attempt to grow baby beets, so we'll still get lots of greens, but won't have near as large of beet roots to work with.

'Til next time.

Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros Refritos y Arroz (Refried Black Bean and Rice Quesadilla)

I hope I got the translation right. If anyone out there knows Spanish and wants to correct me, please, by all means, do so! I am essentially trying to 'learn' Spanish via eating Mexican food. :-)

These were really, really good. I can't believe, seeing how much we love Mexican food in my house, that I've never made refried black beans until now. What's wrong with me?! Refried black beans rock!

(Notice how I sneak in greens in the oddest places? How else can I make sure Brett eats his greens? Gotta be a bit sneaky sometimes, and it helps that spinach is seriously one of the best veggies there are, period!)

Frijol Negro Refrito y Arroz Quesadillas

Refried Black Beans:

2 cups black beans, cooked

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced

1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced

splash veggie broth

juice of half a lime

garlic powder

onion powder

cumin

chili powder

Mexican oregano

dash of white pepper

salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a seperate bowl, heat 1 tsp coconut oil. Fry the black beans until they begin to get mushy and split.

Transfer everything to a large bowl and combine with a mixer or potato masher.

The Rest of the Filling:

1/2 cup of corn, cooked

1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

Mix corn and rice together in a bowl.

Heat a few tablespoons of veggie broth in a small sauce pan. Add the spinach (in batches if necessary) and cook until wilted. Drain any excess liquid.

The 'Other Stuff':

tortillas

guacamole

Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce

Layer beans, rice and corn, and spinach in warmed tortillas.

Fry if desired and top with guacamole and Tomatillo-Jalapeno Green Sauce.

We will be making these again very soon!

'Til next time.

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos with Green Chile Taco Sauce

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This meal was a slightly more 'experimental' idea that I had, but it turned out wonderfully. Both Brett and I weren't sure on our first bite, but in less than 10 minutes, the meal was gone!

And we both agreed, this taco sauce just plain rocks! Don't be turned off by the icky color, this stuff is fantastic.

Veggies for taco sauce.

Taco sauce simmering.

Green Chile Taco Sauce

8-10 Anaheim peppers

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2-4 tomatillos, husked and chopped

1/2 red onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup white distilled vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.

Place whole Anaheim chilies on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, until peppers soft and blistered, turning a few times through cooking.

Place chilies in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam, for about 15 minutes, this will loosen the skins for easy removal.

Remove stems and skins and chop.

Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring a couple of times through cooking.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

This sauce will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas and Taco Salads

Spicy chipotle black bean filling.

Yum!

I thought this picture looked a little like a face. :-)

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos

1 cup black beans, cooked and warmed

1/4 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 chipotle chilies in adobo, miced

1 tsp sauce from chilies in adobo

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp unseasoned brown rice vinegar

1 tbsp agave

cumin

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

salt

canned pineapple tid bits, drained.

hard taco shells

baby spinach

sliced avocado

Green Chile Taco Sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the bean filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer spinach, bean filling and pineapple in warmed taco shells. Serve with sliced avocado and Green Chile Taco Sauce.

So yummy.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

'Til next time.

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Tacos

I'm starting to think that sweet potatoes and Mexican food belong together. I haven't made one thing we didn't like that was Mexican (at least inspired) and also had sweet potatoes in it. This meal is no exception, and what's best about this meal is that it is quick. It took about as long as it takes for sweet potatoes to roast, about 35 minutes. Both Brett and I really liked these.

What can beat spicy, healthy, tasty Mexican food that is quick?

Without further fanfare, here is the pictures and the recipe!

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Tacos
2 yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
ground coriander
cumin
chipotle chili powder
dash cinnamon
cayenne pepper
salt
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt coconut oil in a baking dish in the oven.

Combine all ingredients and roast potatoes, uncovered for 30-35 minutes, stirring a few times.

1/2 cup raw quinoa, rinsed well
1 cup water
ground coriander
cumin
chili powder
salt

Bring water to boil. Stir in quinoa and seasonings. Reduce heat and simmer until all water absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.

1/4 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 poblano pepper, minced
2 serrano peppers, minced

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the peppers and onions and cook about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine with the spiced quinoa.

When potatoes are done, reduce the heat to 350 and pop the taco shells in for 5 minutes.

hard taco shells
1 avocado, diced
baby spinach
salsa (we used Jalapeno Salsa and Jalapeno-Tomatillo Sauce)

Layer some spinach, sweet potatoes and quinoa in warmed taco shells. Serve with diced avocado and salsa.

These will be on our menu very often. We both really seem to love tacos.

'Til next time!

Lentil and Potato Tacos with Jalapeno Salsa

These were a huge hit in my house. Brett usually takes awhile to decide how he feels about a meal, but he was praising these after his first bite. And he’s been a little on the fence about how he feels about lentils. We both agreed that this would be a very omni-pleasing dish as well. Who doesn’t like a tasty spicy taco?

I thought these were really, really tasty myself, I know these are going to find a place in my routine very nicely.

Note: I made the jalapeno salsa earlier in the day to allow it to cool and the flavors to blend in the refrigerator. It only took about 35 minutes to make the salsa (include all the prep), and it made enough to last us for awhile. The salsa freezes well and will also keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks. And remember, while this isn't the spiciest salsa, a little bit goes a long way!















This is what the salsa looks like after it's cooked before being pureed. If you notice some orange in there it is because some of my jalapenos were more mature and turning red.















Jalapeno Salsa
10 jalapenos, seeded and minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 yellow onion, minced
4 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp dry cilantro
cumin
salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small pan on the stove. Let simmer for about 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pulse in a food processor until smooth.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas, Taco Salads, Nachos, Chips and Salsa, Burritos or Burros, Quesadillas and Fajitas

Lentil and Potato Tacos with Jalapeno Salsa

Look at those tasty bad boys just ready to be eaten!

Makes enough filling for 6 tacos.

Cooking Time: 45 minutes (About 1 1/2 hours including salsa cooking time)

1/2 dry green lentils
2-4 cups water

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1/4 red onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
cumin
chili powder
salt

2 small red potatoes, scrubbed and diced small
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
paprika
chipotle chili powder
cumin
cayenne
salt

hard taco shells
shredded lettuce or spinach
black olives
tofu sour cream
Jalapeno Salsa
New Mexican Red Chile Sauce

Preheat oven to 425. Toss potatoes and seasoning and roast, covered in foil for about 45 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Meanwhile, bring a small pan of water to a boil. Add the lentils and cook for about 25 minutes or until lentils are soft, drain.

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

Add the lentils back to the pan and season with chili powder, cumin and salt.

When potatoes are done, pop desired number of taco shells in the oven for 5 minutes to warm.

Layer some spinach, roasted potatoes, lentil mixture, tofu sour cream and black olives in taco shells.

Serve with jalapeno salsa and New Mexican Red Chile Sauce.

These were so good we will be having them again next week (but I promise not to blog about them again).

'Til next time!

Sautéed Mushroom, Spinach and White Bean Puree Stuffed Pitas

What?! This post isn't about a Mexican meal?! It's a little change-up, but I wouldn't get too used to it. Mexican will be on the menu pretty much all next week - Jen's got some ideas......

Anyways, I have been feeling under the weather for the last couple of days, and this is the first time I've felt almost decent enough to cook (basically, I'm tired of frozen pizza, take-out, and have food that I don't want to waste). I hope in a couple of days, I'll be back to 100%.

This meal was pretty easy and quite yummy.

Note: This makes more than enough for a meal for two, so we will be having the leftovers for lunch. We dipped these in Annie's Tuscany Italian dressing.

Idea for a variation: This would probably be good with a little more garlic and/or some kalamata olives pureed with the beans. We both thought this would be really good with plain or garlicky hummus instead of the white bean puree.















Sautéed Mushroom, Spinach and White Bean Puree Stuffed Pitas















Pureed White Beans:
2-3 cups navy beans
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
basil
salt

In a food processor blend all ingredients until smooth.















Mushroom and Spinach Mixture:
4 large white mushrooms, finely diced (or about half of one of those large packages of button mushrooms)
4-5 cups fresh spinach
1/4 onion diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
veggie broth
Italian seasoning
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of veggie broth in a medium sized pan. Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, mushrooms and seasoning (and more veggie broth if needed), and cook until the mushrooms are soft. Add the spinach in batches, covering with a lid if necessary to wilt. Drain any excess liquid before transferring to a bowl.

Putting It All Together:
canned, quartered artichoke hearts, rinsed
whole wheat pita bread

Spread a thin layer of the pureed white beans, a few spoonfuls of the mushroom/spinach mixture, and a few artichoke hearts. Enjoy!

I wanted to end by touting another of Brett's posts. I can't help it, he writes about topics that are of great interest to me, so I feel the need to share. This post is about stupidity. I still find there to be something ironic and a bit funny about an intellectual or scholarly discussion of stupidity. Anyways, if you want to check it out, you can find the newest post here.

'Til next time!

Baked Beans, Cornbread and Spinach (Plus Cute Kitty Pics)

So last night for dinner, I made Happy Herbivore’s Baked Beans and Cornbread. I made steamed spinach instead of collards, because I’m just not sure I’m ready to try them yet. I’ve been told they have a ‘unique’ flavor that takes a bit to get used to, and I haven’t been feeling too brave lately. I can’t believe I didn’t try to make something like this at home sooner! It was super easy. And I like baked beans, I always have, it just wasn’t something I had very often growing up, which is why, I suppose, it has been under my radar for so long. I do have to say, I like the vegan version better than I remember liking the 'traditional' version.

I don’t use canned beans unless I have to, I personally feel like it’s a waste of money, raw materials, and that beans cooked at home taste much better, but I understand the convenience of them and will not chastise others for using them, just will avoid using them myself. With that in mind, I’m also not sure of the amount of cooked beans (from dried) equals a can of beans. Now I know that the standard can of beans contains roughly 2 cups, but there is also liquid in there. Anyways, I just used 2 cups of cooked navy beans and added a few extra tablespoons of water to account for what would have been in the can. Next time I make this, I won’t add the extra water, since as you can see from the picture, my beans were a bit ‘liquidy’, but they were still fantastic.















I thought I'd end this entry today with some random pictures of my lovable fur balls. I was inspired by Leng and her pictures of the adorable, and so cleverly named kitty, Miss Dottie (my favorite picture of Miss Dottie is here).















A rare picture of Nermal (left) and Gabby (right) laying together.

Nermal being spastic on her cat tree.















Gabby















Nermal looking quite curious.

That's all for now!

'Til next time.

Smashed Yam, Black Bean and Spinach Quesadillas

I’m not sure why I have never come up with this combination to this point as I love Mexican inspired food, sweet potatoes/yams, beans, and quesadillas. But alas, here it is! This was a wonderful dinner, both Brett and Jennifer approved, and surprisingly healthy for the sheer size and amount of flavor of the quesadillas.

Note: I use organic jewel yams during the winter as they are tasty and always available at my local grocery store, during the summer I use sweet potatoes or whatever kind of yams are available at the farmer’s market. I understand these two terms are used pretty interchangeably in the US and either can be used in any of these recipes. I think there are differences in what the terms refer to elsewhere, but for the purposes of my blog, I am referring to brownish-red tubers with the orange insides.

And now presenting the Smashed Yam, Black Bean and Spinach Quesadilla with Simple Guacamole.

Smashed Yam and Black Bean Quesadilla
1 large yam/sweet potato, baked and mashed
1-2 cups cooked black beans
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1/2 red bell pepper, roasted
1 9 oz. bag baby spinach
1/4 cup veggie broth
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, minced
cumin (to taste)
chili powder (to taste)
Mexican oregano (to taste)
cayenne (to taste)
salt (to taste)

1 tsp coconut oil per quesadilla
tortillas
simple guacamole
salsa

Bake yam/sweet potato and mash.

Heat a couple tbsp of water in a skillet and add garlic, cooking until soft. Add beans, corn and spices and heat through. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, heat veggie broth in a small pan and add spinach in batches, cooking until soft.

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet.

Layer mashed sweet potatoes and cooked veggie/bean mixture into warmed tortillas.

Place in skillet and cook on each side until golden brown, checking often to avoid burnage.

Top with salsa and simple guacamole.

‘Til next time!

Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Barley, Mushroom and Spinach Pilaf with Sweet Roasted Yams

What a title!

So last night, not sure how many of you were aware, there was a total lunar eclipse. If you saw it, I hope you enjoyed it as much as Brett and I did. It was bitterly cold here, around 10 degrees, but we toughed it out. I think the best part of all was how the shadow of the Earth made the Moon look. It was the first time I had ever been able to perceive the actual spherical shape that the Moon has. It normally looks like a one dimensional circle, and with the shadow, you could see the dimensions. Very cool, it was a bit of a humbling experience, seeing it like that, realizing how much it affects us (tides and such) and we affect it. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but it probably wouldn’t have been the same.

Anyways, dinner last night was really good. I had been eyeing a Vegetarian Times recipe for Barley, Shiitake, and Spinach Pilaf, and was trying to come up with a way to make a meal out of it. Well, I ended up switching around the mushrooms and stuffing the pilaf into a roasted acorn squash, I also served it with a side of Sweet Roasted Yams, a recipe I made up as I went along. A note though, this recipe is probably very time consuming if you try to make it all at once. I had Brett make the barley during the day while I was at work, and he started roasting the squash when I was on my way home. Having the ingredients prepped ahead of time made this a fairly quick dinner. Secondly, the ‘side’ of yams really is more like a dessert than a side, but that’s ok, right? You can find the original recipe that this meal was adapted from here.

Now, I must say, both Brett and I agreed that this picture doesn't really do the meal justice.















Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Barley, Mushroom, and Spinach Pilaf
Serves 4

1 cup pearled barley
3 cups vegetable broth or water
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 onion, diced
2 1/2 cups portobello mushrooms, sliced
small package of white button mushrooms, sliced
4 cups loosely packed fresh spinach
2 tbsp. shoyu (or other soy sauce)
2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 acorn squash, roasted

To roast the squash:

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds. Brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, cut side down for 40 minutes.

Add barley and broth or water to medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until tender, about 1 hour.

In large nonstick saucepan, heat a few tablespoons of water over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft.

Add garlic, portabella and white mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until soft. Add barley, stirring often, until barley is heated through. Add spinach in batches, covering pan with a lid to steam. Remove from heat. Season with shoyu, sesame oil and cayenne pepper.

Stuff in to a halved acorn squash.

This makes a lot of food. We had it served in the squash for dinner, and I brought the leftovers to work, with a couple of whole wheat tortillas for lunch.

Super Yummy Sweet Roasted Yams
1 large yam, peeled, washed, and diced
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp agave (optional)
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Put coconut oil in a baking pan and place in the oven so the oil can melt.

Toss diced potatoes will the rest of the ingredients.

Bake, uncovered for 35-40 minutes until yams are soft, stirring a couple of times while baking.

All and all it was a very good dinner and a very good night.

‘Til next time!