Winter food

Eating a tomato in the winter isn't that big of a deal- people do it all the time.  But eating a homegrown garden heirloom tomato in the during a snowstorm in Minnesota is a pretty special thing. 

Our green garden tomatoes ripened very slowly this year (probably because we did nothing to speed them up and kept them near the window where it's cool).  This pineappple tomato was the last of the big tomatoes to ripen.  We'll enjoy a few more cherry tomatoes (we had a TON), but that's it for the garden tomatoes!  Except, of course, for the ones I canned...

We enjoyed thick slices of this tomato on top of gluten free biscuits with tofu-kale scramble and cheezy gravy for breakfast.

By the way- cheezy gravy is what you get when you combine leftover gravy and leftover mac 'n cheeze sauce.  

Last night I wanted some really good grounding food.  What better than root vegetables?

I roasted a small butternut squash, beets, a turnip, a carrot,  2 portobello mushrooms, an onion, and garlic cloves with a sauce of maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and Bragg's.  By the time the veggies were tender, the sauce was a thick and sticky glaze.  Yum!

On the side I slathered some Dr. Kracker crackers with guacamole.  I could eat this every day.

Horseradish Beet Salad and a Midwest Sundae

Tonight's dinner totally hit the spot for me. I had just finished doing some yoga outside and watering the garden (lovely, except for my first mosquito bites of the year) and I wanted something fresh, cooling, and not overly filling. This avocado toast and Horseradish Beet Salad was exactly what I needed.

The avocado toast is just a mashed avocado, the juice of 1/2 a lime, and salt and pepper spread over very crisp toast. I ended up putting the beet salad on top of the avocado on the toast, which looked really beautiful and tasted even better.

Horseradish Beet Salad
1 large beet, grated (about 1 1/2 cup grated)
1 Tbsp. minced fresh dill
2 green onions, chopped (about 2 Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. Veganaise
1 tsp. grated horseradish
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds

Stir together all of the ingredients. Take care to make sure the horseradish and Veganaise are well distributed throughout the salad. I like to let this for about 30 minutes before eating to let the flavors meld together and the beets get juicy. Just before serving, sprinkle the sunflower seeds over top of the salad.

I should thank my coworker/friend Nick for the idea for the beet salad, because last week he mentioned trying a flavor of chips called (I thought) "Beet and Horseradish". I thought, "Awesome! Beet chips with horseradish flavoring!". Alas, I misheard him and they were really Beef and Horseradish chips. But the flavor combo is a winner.

Here's the first use of the rhubarb syrup I made on Monday. This is a slab of cornbread topped with Rice Divine Very Vanilla ice cream and rhubarb syrup. This has got to be the most Midwestern ice cream sundae you could make.

A Sunday Afternoon Couch Fiesta

I've been wanting to make tamales for a few months now, but somehow it just hasn't happened until today. I had leftover black beans and leftover tempeh & mushrooms that needed to be used up, so that became the filling. To get some veggies in, I used up some leftover agave mustard dressing with shredded cabbage, carrots, and cilantro to make a side of slaw. Of course, it wouldn't be a fiesta without chips and guacamole. This time I threw some pickled jalapenos in the guac and it gave a really nice flavor and plenty of heat.
Here's all the tamales waiting to be steamed:

A close-up:
And the whole (first) plate:
For dessert we had vanilla-maple lattes. Mine had whipped cream!

Soup and Salad, Tex-Mex style

You never know when inspiration will strike.
We had to feed our dog a "mild" diet for a few days because of a digestive issue, so we bought some cottage cheese for her. It's been years since I've had cottage cheese and I hadn't really missed it at all until then. After smelling it, I immediately craved a thick, creamy cheese-type thing. So I started straining soy yogurt to make some yogurt cheese.

The next day I was driving and vaguely thinking what I would do with this yogurt cheese. Then, out of the blue I had it- I needed to make a soup combo. Two Tex-Mex soups in the same bowl with the yogurt cheese mimicking a creme frache/sour cream type dollop.

I was ready to make the soups today- the yogurt had strained for 2 days and was thick enough to hold its shape. Then when I woke up this morning I remembered a salad that I ate about 13 years ago with my friend Rubann and her mom. We were at Eastern Hills Country Club after work (Rubann and I worked at a Ford dealership with her mom). I had the most fabulous salad ever. (Obviously- I still remember it). It was a huge bowl of spinach with shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, and fried jalapenos, topped with honey mustard dressing.

So tonight it all came together. I made a corn chowder and black bean soup and served them in the same bowl, topped with a dollop of yogurt cheese. The salad was spinach, avocado, green onions, cilantro, and fried pickled jalapenos, topped with agave mustard dressing.
First the yogurt cheese:
This was not a 100% success, but I have more to work with.
I strained 32 oz of Wildwood plain soy yogurt through a coffee/tea filter and a strainer for two days. Then I mixed 1/4 cup of the thickened yogurt with a pinch of salt and about 1 Tbsp. of flax oil. It tastes pretty darn good like this, I think, but Mike thought it was too yogurty still. I added some nutritional yeast to up the cheesy factor, but that didn't do much for him. I thought it tasted like when you're eating nachos and the nacho cheese sauce mixes with the sour cream. Yum! I thought it tasted like a good sour cream before the nutritional yeast, too, though. This needs more work.

Now the soups:

The black bean soup I made in advance, thanks to my handy pressure cooker.

4 cups soaked black beans
16 oz diced, canned tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
the juice of 3 small key limes
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
Enough water to cover
I cooked them for 10 minutes under pressure, cooled slowly, and then seasoned with salt to taste. This makes a ton of beans, so we used about 1/2 on past meals (like the taco salad I posted previously). Tonight I just added a bit of water to the beans, pureed them, and heated them up. Then they were "soup".

The corn chowder was really easy, too.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 ancho chili, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 small russet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups frozen corn (or fresh if it happens to be warm where you live)
3 cups almond milk (or other milk that you like)
1 tsp. salt

Saute the onion, chilies, and garlic in the olive oil until beginning to brown. Then add everything else and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Then puree half with an immersion blender. You can keep simmering it if you want it thicker.

To assemble:
Fold a piece of aluminum foil to make a little dam that fits across the diameter of your soup bowls. Hold it in the center as you ladle one soup on one side. Keep the bowl slightly tilted to the filled side, then ladle the other soup in the other side. Place the bowl on a level surface and carefully and slowly remove the foil dam. Then play in the soups with the tip of your knife to make designs. Top with some yogurt cheese, sour cream, or just cilantro and green onions.



The salad:

To make the fried jalapenos, I recommend using homemade escabeche (pickled jalapenos with onions and carrots). If you don't have any handy, you can buy cans of pickled jalapenos at most supermarkets. Find some nice thick slices to use - I fried about 15 slices for 2 salads.

Mix together:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Toss the jalapeno slices around in the cornmeal mixture until coated.
Heat 1/4 cups (or so) of canola oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. When you drop a bit of cornmeal in the oil and it bubbles up around it, it's time to throw in the jalapenos. But don't throw them in, really. Carefully place them in the oil and don't burn yourself. Flip the slices when they are browned on one side. When the other side looks golden brown, rescue them from the oil onto a landing pad of paper towels, newspaper, or an ugly kitchen towel you don't like that much. Let cool.

The Dressing:

2 Tbsp. stoneground mustard
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
2 Tbsp. flax oil
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (I used some infused with thyme and it was great)
1/4 tsp salt
a few grinds of black pepper

Other salad stuff:
a big bunch of spinach, washed and torn
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 couple of green onions, sliced
a small handful of cilantro, chopped

Put it all in a bowl, drizzle with dressing, and pretend you're in country club in Garland, Texas.

What I've been eating

I haven't blogged in a few days, so here's the update on some things I've eaten:

Tonight- Taco Salad. Local hydroponic lettuce with Spanish rice, black beans (from the pressure cooker!), avocado/lime/cilantro, and salsa ranch dressing.
A few days ago I made these lima beans with lemon juice, carrots, tomato paste, and fresh marjoram. I've never had fresh marjoram before I got some slightly too old stuff from work. I love it! I've always dismissed marjoram as inferior or secondary to herbs like oregano and basil. WRONG!
Last weekend I made the Southwestern Corn Pudding from VCon. I love this stuff- and it's a great way to use up a 1/2 can of coconut milk left over from making ice cream.
I made some greens that I really enjoyed, too. I sauteed garlic and onions in some olive oil, then threw in cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and coriander. Then I added 16 oz of canned diced tomatoes and about 1/2 of a gallon baggie worth of chopped, raw frozen collard greens. I simmered them longer than I usually cook greens, about 20 minutes. But even the stems were so tender! On the side is some barbecue tofu cubes.
New kitten, Trouble, seems to be getting along swimmingly with Hannah and Billie. They even snuggle together! (This may be due to necessity since our house never gets above 62 and I think that is a gross over-measurement of the temperature. Yet somehow the heating bill is nearly $300...). At least all the animals have taken to snuggling with us through the night.