The Makeshift Cook

Hi internet. I disappeared under a pile of snow for awhile there, and now I am basically buried under my jobs. One of those jobs is in my field and fulfilling and wonderful, but it also necessitates that I live out of a suitcase Monday night through Thursday afternoon in a place with no kitchen. Fortunately I have access to an excellent food co-op on those days, but I have also been doing some very uncharacteristic food planning and prep in order to cope with my frequent travels. I work a full day on Mondays before I hit the road, so that has meant that I spend my Sunday afternoons peacefully in the kitchen, getting ready for my week.

No recipes today, but I thought I'd at least let you know what I'm making:

1. Veganomicon's Chickpea Cutlets, except I did mine with cannellini beans and Italian spices.
2. A blues-killing winter citrus salad that I ganked from Jeannette's blog. I added ginger and celery and a grated carrot and will probably chuck in some pumpkin seeds. There, that was kind of a recipe.
3. A huge pot of vegetable stock, using up all the veggie butts I've been chucking away in the freezer.
4. A huge pot of black eyed peas for some to-be-determined dish that I'll make later tonight. It'll probably be of the beans + grains + greens variety.
5. A big batch of apple granola, also based on a Jeannette recipe. I've been using this recipe as a starting point for a few months, and let me tell you, I don't think I'll be buying granola ever again.

I'll be coming back at you soon with a recipe for a Massaged Kale Salad, but I just wanted to get over my no-posting slump and say hi.

This is extremely easy and hearty as can be, but will give your jaw a workout.

1 cup wheatberries (I used hard winter wheatberries)
3 cups water
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup frozen mango chunks

Put it all in the crockpot before bed and set to low. When you wake up, breakfast will be ready! Top with a couple spoonfuls of coconut milk and sweeten to taste. You'll be full for hours. Makes 3-4 servings.

You could also make this with fresh mango (add in the morning?) or dried mango (add in the evening, and definitely more coconut milk. ALWAYS more coconut milk.

This unattractive, oddly satisfying snack you're eating--leftover pureed butternut squash mixed with Trader Joe's soy chorizo--would, with queso fresco, make a great dip for tortilla chips. Or skip the cheese--it would still be good.

Just saying.

For a few weeks, all I've been doing is eating various squashes and kale, potatoes and kale, whatever and kale. The CSA is done and I guess I haven't quite gotten back in the hang of buying vegetables, especially green ones. My backyard kale is still going strong, so my tendency has been to chop it fine and throw it into everything, in the manner of stealth vegetables. It's hard to be stealthy with kale, though. Fortunately no one around here really minds.

Anyway, grocery shopping. I'm just not on top of it yet and it seems like there aren't a lot of ingredients in the house, at first glance. But I had a batch of roasted and pureed green tomatoes in the freezer, and I started thinking they'd make an interesting base for chili, or stew, or something.



What's that you say? You've never roasted green tomatoes? Well, I hadn't either, until a month ago or so. We had loads of tomatoes in the garden, but many, many of them never ripened. I window-ripened some.



In fact, I still have a few in the window right now, and they have actually turned red. But overall, I was pretty disappointed with our tomatoes; they were Jet Stars, and I just didn't like the variety for eating raw. So I roasted and/or froze LOTS of them.



To roast green tomatoes, cut them into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 350 or 375. When they come out, you can eat them straight up--they are delicious, melty, caramelized little things--or puree them. I did a bit of both. The puree is super-tangy, without the sweetness of ripe tomatoes. And it's great in a simple curry, like this one I'm about to drop on you.

Roasted Green Tomato Curry with Chickpeas and Brown Rice
Oil for the pan
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 pinches red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of your favorite curry powder or sambar (I used both)
2 cups roasted green tomato puree
4 cups water
3/4 cup brown rice
4 carrots, diced
1 large can of chickpeas
A dash of agave or other sweetener
Salt to taste

In a medium soup pot, saute the onion in oil until translucent, then add the garlic. Let that cook for a minute or two, then add the red pepper flakes and spices and cook a minute or two longer. Dump in the puree, water, rice, and carrots, and bring the whole mixture to a low boil. Turn the heat back to a simmer and do something else for awhile, while the rice cooks--say 25 minutes or so. Add chickpeas and simmer awhile longer. Taste for salt and sweetness and add agave and salt accordingly. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and some cilantro, if you have them on hand. If not, eat it straight up.

Fresh green tomatoes would probably work just fine in this. I'd just chop them and let them cook down with the onions, garlic, and spices for awhile before adding water and rice. This would also be great with some fresh spinach tossed in at the end, but then I'll put spinach in anything.

Picture to follow, when it's not pitch black outside. Siiiiigh--that's the bad thing about Falling Back.

ETA: here it is, in lunch form:


and with the rest of Mr. Bento:

Oh hello, internets. Remember me? No? I'm the owner of this here blog, which languished all summer. I do have a reasonably good excuse for some of the absence: I got married 4 weeks ago, and while I was not CONSUMED by wedding planning, it most certainly did absorb some energy. Also, it was summer, and I was doing summery things, like not cooking.

So I'm coming back at you today with, by way of penance, a delicious fat-bomb. It could definitely be worse: I could have used full-fat dairy products and a lot more cheese. Regardless, this is one of those meals that tells you that warm weather is definitively a thing of the past and you should start amassing an extra layer against the cold wind.

We got our last CSA box on Wednesday, and it was full of squash and pumpkins and beets and carrots and potatoes and brussels sprouts, all those harvest-y, hunker-down-for-the-winter kinds of foods. I roasted some unidentified squash earlier this week and hadn't decided how to use it until one of my Facebook friends asked the same general question: what do I do with all this squash? And then I remembered an amazing pasta dish a friend made me years ago, a homemade butternut ravioli with gouda sauce (and then I died). Coincidentally, today I found a picture of myself eating that very meal (we often photographed our feasts back then). There were brussels sprouts on the side, which was an excellent idea as well.


Kale and sage from my backyard, being investigated by Ace

In light of all this, I decided to make a lasagna using the same pairing of smoky, salty cheese and sweet winter squash, but with a sage-infused bechamel sauce and layers of kale sauteed with caramelized onions. This is not one of your quick weeknight meals, but if you're already sitting on 1-2 pounds of roasted winter squash, you can do the prep in about 30-40 minutes. If you don't have any squash ready, seeding, baking, scooping, and pureeing it will realistically take you at least an hour. While it's baking, though, you can do the other lasagna prep. Baking time for the lasagna is another hour.



Winter Squash Lasagna with Kale, Sage, and Caramelized Onions

Pre-heat your oven to 350 once your onions are well in hand.

For the bechamel sauce:
2-3 T olive oil
3 T flour
3 c milk (I used 1%)
30 or so fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 t dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced

Warm the oil in a small pan. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk together. Whisk in the milk 1/2 cup at a time and allow the mixture to thicken slightly. Reduce the heat to low and add the sage leaves and rosemary. While this is infusing, saute the garlic briefly in a little olive oil, and then scrape every bit of it into the sauce. You can either leave it on very low heat or turn the burner off while you do the rest of the prep.



For the fillings:
1 large onion, sliced
1 bunch kale, chopped
olive oil for the pan
salt

In the same pan you used for the garlic, heat a bit more oil and add the onions, stirring to coat. Sprinkle with a little salt. Let the onions cook very slowly and stir frequently. When they are full of caramely goodness, add the kale and two tablespoons (or so) of water. Cook until the kale is bright green and wilted and the onions are as done as you'd like them to be.


Steamy!

1-2 pounds of baked/roasted winter squash
1 15 ounce tub of ricotta (I used part-skim)

Puree the squash using whatever equipment you like--I used an immersion blender. Add half the ricotta and mix together. Either salt and pepper to taste, or leave this plain, depending on your reaction to the side note below.

Side note: at this point in the prep I had a moment of reckoning. The squash by itself was perfect, sweet and delicious; with ricotta added, it was starting to taste like pumpkin cheesecake, and I sampled a lot more than was strictly necessary. I didn't add anything else to the squash mixture because I thought if there was some left over, it would become scones or muffins or something with a ginger snap crust. As it turns out, I have 2 cups in the fridge. That's just a tip from me to you, if you have more like 2 pounds of squash and a sweet tooth.

1 half pound of good smoked gouda cheese--preferably not the cheese-foodesque stuff with the brown rind--shredded
Half a brick of firm tofu (optional, but stealth protein)
Ricotta
1 t dried sage
1/2 t dried thyme
Pepper

Mix about half the shredded gouda with the remaining ricotta. Mash the tofu and combine well. Add spices and stir. I had last year's dried sage in the cabinet and thought I'd add another layer of flava, plus a little circle-of-life kind of vibe, since the fresh sage I used is also from my garden (and sage is a perennial, as I learned to my delight this year when it reappeared).

To build the lasagna:
Spray your lasagna pan with non-stick spray (or oil it lightly). Pour a scant third of the bechamel into the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of UNCOOKED lasagna noodles. Spread a layer of the squash on top of the noodles, then the ricotta mixture, then onions and kale, then a little shredded cheese. Repeat this sequence once. Add another layer of noodles and pour the remaining bechamel over the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining gouda, and bake for another 15 minutes.



Some notes: I always think I'm going to love squash + pasta more than I actually do. I think this is because in theory I love all the ingredients, but in practice the combination tends to be relentlessly rich. If you have some roasted tomatoes on hand, you might add a layer of those to this recipe. I think it's missing some acidity. Also, if you find that your squash is a bit dry after roasting, you can add some milk or water to help the pureeing along. The extra moisture will help cook your noodles thoroughly. Finally, salt your lasagna layers to taste. I skipped this step and had to add it afterward.

Last weekend, the Brit asked me where we should go to get lunch and I said "somewhere where I can get a crapload of salads." My ideal refrigerator would be filled with combinations of beans and grains, veggies and vinaigrettes, fruits and nuts, olives and salty cheeses, and all I would have to do is scoop a bit of each one out onto a plate for instant meal mania. Unfortunately, sigh, I will only have that ideal fridge if I spend a bunch of money at the Whole Foods deli or make everything myself.



When I'm in the mood to make everything myself, this salad recipe from Anger Burger (which is a great read apart from the food stuff) is just the kind of thing I want to make. Hearty, light, tangy, full of delicious cilantro--and I'll just say right now that if you're cilantro-averse, move along right now; there's nothing for you here.



Sometime I'll make this exactly as the recipe says, but this time I used what I had on hand (which is, after all, what this blog is about). Here are my mods for this time around:

• In the absence of red peppers I used about a cup of grape tomatoes and a big shredded carrot. I realize they are not at all the same thing, but they did add a bit of sweetness and crunch.
  
• And I was scraping the bottom of my olive oil supply, so there's only 2/3 c in the dressing, which is just fine.
  
• I used agave instead of honey, and the dressing is just a bit too sweet for my taste, so I'm guessing I can cut down on the sweetener.
• I finished it with a squeeze of lime.
• And I'm eating it with lettuce, because our CSA started last Wednesday and I now feel intense pressure to eat a lot of greens. I think this particular variety is called "Frizzy Headed Drunken Woman," so I'm happy to eat it.
  

I didn't really learn to cook properly until I stopped eating meat, and I wouldn't have learned to cook very well at all without the Moosewood Cookbook (and its sequels). When I was a newly-minted vegetarian, Mollie Katzen's Gypsy Soup was one of the first recipes I ever tried, and my curried chickpea stew reminds me a lot of her recipe. Or maybe it's just a straight-up ripoff. You can decide. The Gypsy Soup recipe is also one of the only recipes I've ever managed to bollocks up twice in exactly the same way. That recipe calls for paprika; I inadvertently reached for cayenne, and the result was inedibly hot. (You'd think this would be a good argument for labeling your spice jars, but I still buy in bulk and go by smell.) My boyfriend at the time actually bought me two different fancy varieties of paprika after that, as a gently mocking gift--which reminds me, I really ought to buy more smoked paprika. It's delicious.

Anyway, you might call this a "stewp," since it starts out like soup and ends up like stew the longer it sits and absorbs the liquid. It's definitely more delicious the next day. And it is easily veganized, and goes great with nooch.

Curried Chickpea Stew
Olive oil for the pot
1 medium onion, diced
1 big carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 fat cloves of garlic, minced
1 fat inch of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 big can of tomatoes
2 potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 can chickpeas, or 1.5 cups cooked if you are a good planner
1/3 c quinoa (optional: I had this on hand and like it for the extra protein and texture.)
1-2 T curry powder (this depends on your taste and your curry powder. I added 2 T and it is a bit much.)
1/2 c plain yogurt/soy yogurt (optional, but tasty)
2 good plops of ketchup. You may judge all you want, but ketchup might be the magic secret ingredient here. You could also stir in some tomato paste and maybe a bit of honey or agave, but this does need a little something sweet.
A big handful (really, as much as you like) of dark greens (kale, collards, spinach), chopped

In a big soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and saute until onions are translucent. Add garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two longer.

Dump in tomatoes, chickpeas, potatoes, quinoa, and curry powder, plus an extra cup or two of water (start with one; you can always add more later). When it starts to bubble, reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots and potatoes are tender. Taste the broth and add ketchup and salt to taste. Stir in the greens and cook until wilted. Add yogurt last of all. Taste to adjust the seasonings and serve with crusty bread.

This soup makes excellent leftovers, as evidenced by this picture:

Note the sad office lighting and industrial desk. At least the food is tasty!

I am very inspired by accounts of foraging for food at Riana's blogs, but so far haven't had many opportunities to get my forage on, apart from occasionally sampling whatever weeds I pull up out of the backyard. For a desk jockey like me, the kitchenette at work is the closest I really get to foraging--that's where all the leftovers from catered meetings end up.

Sometimes this works out really well for me, as it did last week when I realized no one was claiming the half dozen grapefruits someone had set out in a basket. It was the Friday before a holiday weekend, and darned if I was going to let this fruit go to waste! So I popped them all in my bike bag, and I drank up every single one of them in smoothie form, green or otherwise.



Grapefruits can be kind of pithy and intimidating, but if you have a decent blender, you can eat all that delicious fiber and barely notice that that's what you're doing.

Basic Grapefruit Smoothie
1 cup water
1 peeled grapefruit with the seeds popped out (I peel over the blender, so none of the juice goes astray)
enough orange-peach-mango juice to sweeten the deal (about half a cup)
ice

Blend and serve. Makes 2.

Advanced Grapefruit Smoothie
1 cup water
1 peeled grapefruit (see above)
1 half a small ripe avocado
1 handful of spinach
1 glob of your favorite liquid sweetener (I used honey, but agave would be preferable)

Blend and serve over ice. Makes 2 smoothies that I would describe as Hard Core (hence the need for sweetener).

I love getting stuff in the mail, but delicious free stuff might be the best mail of all. Yesterday the nice people at POM Wonderful sent me a case of pomegranate juice to try. I was fresh off a very windy bike ride home from work (yesterday was one of those days when the wind is blowing directly at you no matter what direction you're facing) and in need of nutrition and hydration. So even though I'd already had a pile of veg in my morning green smoothie, I made another one.



If you're a green smoothie aficionado (or color theorist), you already know that mixing red fruits with your greens often yields an unappetizing color. This smoothie is no exception, but what's cool is that as the solids separate from the juice, you get layers of color that are quite lovely. And anyway, it tastes good, so if the muddled color offends you, you can close your eyes and enjoy all the same.

Cucumber Pomegranate Green Smoothie
1 cup water
1 cup pomegranate juice
2 handfuls of spinach (about 1 packed cup)
1 half a cucumber, cut into chunks
Ice (optional)

Combine in a blender and mix on high; pour and enjoy. Serves 2.

I have a new stove. Will this make me a better food blogger?

A few weeks ago, I made this Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust and was very pleased with the way it turned out. It's an easy recipe, and the dough is easy to handle--rolls out evenly, stretches without falling apart, etc. I made one batch and we had pizza two nights in a row.


With caramelized onions, braised kale, rehydrated mushrooms, gorgonzola. A bit out of control.

We also had hearty little sweet rolls made out of the same dough one morning. I rolled out the leftover dough into a rectangle, dotted it with butter, and sprinkled on cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar, rehydrated and chopped apricots, and slivered almonds. Then I rolled it up like a rug, sliced into inch-wide pieces, and baked at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Not too sweet, and very easy to grab on the way to your next Saturday morning chore. Seriously, I ate about 10 of them that day. But that also means I did a lot of chores.

My ongoing quest to be a better meal planner and to make as much from scratch as possible involves virtuous things like loading the new freezer with lumps of this pizza dough. I haven't done it yet, but I have high hopes.

Dear little food blog, I have missed you. I have taken many pictures of my food over the last few months, but these pictures have languished on my hard drive with no recipes to anchor them in the world of cooking. But it's spring now and time for a new leaf and all that, and I'm about to go unleash my latest creation on a crowd of assembled family members, so I thought I'd unleash it on you first.

What is a wheatberry, you may ask? A wheatberry is the whole dang kernel of wheat. You cook it like pretty much any whole grain: add water, boil, then simmer until the water is absorbed. Once cooked, it's chewy and nutty and delicious. It is also good for you. I used hard wheatberries, which are higher in protein and gluten, but soft would probably be fine too.



This salad has a mustardy vinaigrette and is studded with pear chunks, walnuts, currants, and celery, and topped with bleu cheese. If you want to keep it vegan, leave the cheese off and the salad is still super tasty. I know, because I tasted it at every stage.

Wheatberry Salad with Pears, Walnuts, and Arugula
1 1/2 cups hard wheatberries
4 1/2 cups water

Combine in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the water is absorbed--about 50 minutes. While that's cooking, assemble the dressing.

2 T flaxseed oil
1/4 c olive oil
2 T maple syrup
2 T mustard
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
a pinch of dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together in a small bowl and set aside. Then prepare:

2 stalks of celery, diced
2 small ripe pears, cubed
2 handfuls of arugula, chopped
1 c walnuts (toast these first if you're fancy), chopped
1/2 c currants
1/2-3/4 c crumbled bleu cheese or gorgonzola

When the wheat is cooked and has cooled a bit, you can add the dressing right away and let the grains absorb the dressing until you're ready to put together the rest of the salad--before mealtime, or the next day, even. I did the grains the day before, and added the currants and dressing before popping it all into the fridge overnight. This helped to rehydrate the currants a bit.



About an hour before serving, mix in all the rest of the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Let the whole thing come to room temp and enjoy.

(Update: the salad was duly housed by the whole family.)

When I cook at home, I usually make a whole wack of food so that my manfriend and I have leftovers to take to work for lunch the next few days. But now that I'm working with a dorm-sized fridge and just one eater, I've cut things back a bit. This recipe uses the stuff that's in my pantry and cooks up a bit smaller than my usual soup stylings. It also looks quite unappetizing when photographed unless you happen to love poopy green colors the way I do, so please use your imagination for illustration.

Split pea soup
Olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 big cloves of garlic, minced
1 t basil
1/2 t oregano
1/4 t cayenne pepper
3/4 cup split peas, picked over and rinsed
1/4 cup brown rice
5 cups veggie broth (I used Imagine's No-Chicken broth plus an extra cup of water)
1/2 a package of frozen spinach
1/2 t liquid smoke
salt and pepper to taste
sambal olek or sri racha for extra spice

Saute the onions and carrot in olive oil over medium high heat until the onions are wilted. Add garlic and spices and cook a few minutes more, then add peas, rice, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about a half hour, or until rice is cooked and peas are soft.

In the meantime, prepare your spinach according instructions and stir into the soup when done. (The soup could easily accommodate a whole package of spinach if you like; I just wanted to save some for a pasta sauce.)

Finish the soup with liquid smoke and remaining seasonings (if you so desire). This would also be great with a potato or two, with thyme and/or smoked paprika if you have it on hand, or with curry spices instead of basil and oregano.

This makes more than enough for two people and could probably feed 4 moderate eaters if you serve a salad and bread.

Since I last blogged at you, I've temporarily relocated for a 10-week job away from home. My new employer provides housing in the form of a cute little studio apartment a stone's throw from my office, which is excellent. Less excellent are the wee little fridge, wee little stove, and wee little countertop. But this wee setup is going to force me to get creative with my cooking while also simplifying things a bit. I couldn't bring every single staple with me and I haven't bought very much since I got here on Saturday. Here's what I'm working with:

Olive and canola oils
Garlic and onions
Ginger and scallions
Cumin, cayenne pepper, and curry powder
Liquid smoke!
Apple cider vinegar
Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Canned beans and tomatoes
Quinoa and rice
Miso and tofu
Bogus sausage
Broccoli and carrots
Red cabbage
Frozen corn and fresh grape tomatoes
Avocado
Bananas and apples
Steel cut oats
Currants
Honey

On my first night here I was fed tasty Indian food. But the next night I made a spicy miso soup with some baby bok choy I'd brought with me from home, carrots, and sauteed tofu. I ate the leftovers the next day.

For last night's dinner and today's lunch, I sauteed onions, garlic, and a little red cabbage, and cooked quinoa with the vegetable mixture. When it was nearly done, I stirred in canned garbanzo beans and added broccoli florets on top to steam in the pot. I finished it up with crumbled fake sausage and the last of the Christmas pesto (yes there is such a thing). Pesto was my solution to not having any herbs yet. Fortunately, I discovered tonight that a colleague has four basil plants in his office! They kind of make his studio smell like cats, but at least now I can harvest fresh basil on the job.

Tonight's dinner/tomorrow's lunch followed a similar formula to last night's meal: some sort of bean + some sort of rice or grain + veg + seasonings. It wasn't, strictly speaking, a one-pot meal, since I had to cook the brown rice in a separate pot. But I sauteed onions and garlic with cumin and cayenne pepper, added canned black beans, tomatoes, and frozen corn, simmered it all with the cooked rice, and finished with scallions, liquid smoke, and a dash of cider vinegar.

I suspect I'll be doing a lot of this type of cooking while I'm here, especially since I am so enamored of the vintage Copco cast iron lidded casserole I brought with me as a (heavy) afterthought. I found it at a thrift store a few months ago and had never used it. But it's sure to be the most frequent One Pot for my one-pot meals. If I ever cook in broad daylight (hard when it's dark at 5), I'll take a picture for you.

I'm missing cinnamon, red pepper flakes, basil, and chili powder. Along with cumin and ginger, those are the key herbs and spices for me. I'm also missing greens, and I'm hoping I can find a good source around here for bulk spices and organic veg.

What are your staples in the kitchen?

Recently my boyfriend decided that he wanted to start snacking on yogurt and granola, so in response I've been honing my granola chops. My first attempt was too complicated and included quinoa and crystallized ginger and pumpkin puree and molasses, and in the end none of the delicious ingredients mattered because my stupid oven fried the stuff almost immediately. Let's say it was very dark brown and I'm the only one who ate any of it. Someday I'll make a gingerbread-inspired granola that I'm happy with.

But for now, simplifying is the name of the game. Here's what I came up with in my most recent attempt, and the results are pretty sweet and addictive.

Coconut-Almond Granola
Preheat your oven to 300. If your oven runs hot, like mine seems to, try 275 instead. If I were a more diligent cook, I would have a thermometer to help me determine the actual temp of my oven and you would get more precise instructions.

Mix dry ingredients together in a big bowl:
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup ground rolled oats (you can do this in a food processor or coffee grinder)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup almond meal (don't sweat it if you don't have any. I had some from making almond milk awhile back)
1/4 cup soy protein powder (always looking for stealth protein)
1/2 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup almonds--mine were slivered, but any old cut will do
2 t cinnamon

Melt the wet ingredients in a little saucepan over medium heat just until bubbly:
1/2 c virgin coconut oil
1 cup brown sugar (this produces a pretty sweet granola. Next time I'll cut down to 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup water

Remove wet ingredients from heat and stir in:
1 t almond extract
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt

Let the wet ingredients cool a bit, then dump over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is thoroughly combined. Spray two 11 X 17 jelly roll pans with cooking spray and distribute the mixture evenly over the two pans. You can squeeze the mixture together to form delicious chunks. Toast for about a half hour, but check frequently (every ten minutes, at least) and turn the granola to keep it from burning. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 8.5 cups.

With no apologies for my TWO MONTH ABSENCE in which I did TONS OF COOKING and even TOOK PICTURES but NEVER POSTED FOR YOU, I'm going to launch right in with a question: how is it that I've never told you about Crockpot Oatmeal?

Oh, I guess it turns out that I sort of did.

I have to tell you, though, I recently told some friends about the Crockpot Oatmeal and when I saw them a month later, they HUGGED ME. ABOUT THE OATMEAL. This is a true story. It's changed their lives (their words). I'm just saying.

And it's not hard to make. All you need is:

1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups liquid (water is perfectly fine, but sub in one cup of soymilk or ricemilk or what have you for extra flava), plus a bit extra
Spices and dried fruit to taste
A crockpot

Mix it all together, set the thing on low before you go to bed, and the next morning you will have a nourishing breakfast treat with an amazingly creamy, slightly chewy texture. I'm raving because I'm eating some right now. My current version used a cup of soymilk, a cup of spiced apple cider, two cups of water, a handful of dried apricots, a handful of currants, and a healthy dose of ground ginger. As god is your witness, you'll never go hungry again.

Recently, I have had my socks knocked off by humble, nearly unadulterated cauliflower--twice. The first time, I roasted it, which I'd never done before, and was rewarded with tender, delicious, caramelized vegetable goodness.

The second time was Saturday night. I'd forgotten about last week's CSA cauliflower and had to use it, so I decided to steam and puree it. This is very easy: break a small head of cauliflower into florets and steam using a steamer basket or your other favorite method until very tender. You could boil them, too, but hang on to the water either way.

While the tender cauliflower is still hot, chuck half of it into the blender with about 1/4 cup of the steaming/boiling water and puree. Add the rest of the cauliflower and more water as needed (but not too much). Add about a tablespoon of good olive oil (or more) and puree again. The olive oil does this beautiful emulsification thing that greatly improves the texture. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and curry powder (or other herbs) if you like.

The texture and flavor of this was incredible. Delicious, comforting, and super-duper easy. I realize dieters have known about pureed cauliflower forever. Don't let that scare you off.

We had a little going-away potluck for a friend last week and I volunteered to be in charge of the sweets, which is most unlike me. It's not that I dislike baking. What I don't like is how nearly-impossible it is to salvage baking mistakes, whereas cooking mistakes can usually be turned around with a little improvisation.

Fortunately, this cake was super-easy and possibly idiot-proof (and also praised by omnivores who love them some rich, fatty cake). It mixes quickly, bakes up beautifully, and goes down easy. I can't take credit for the recipe--it's just a slightly bastardized version of the Moosewood Restaurant's Deep Chocolate Vegan Cake--but of course I changed a few little things. There's half the sugar, less oil, more cocoa, and tons of deliciousness. I also think it would be amazing with cinnamon and cayenne pepper, or banana, and definitely with peanut butter frosting.



Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
3 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups cold brewed coffee
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9 X 13 cake pan--I used Spectrum spray with flour. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In another bowl, combine coffee, oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth, using a hand mixer to pump some air into the batter. Add the vinegar and stir to combine. The vinegar and baking soda will start to react immediately, so pour the batter into your prepared pan quickly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

While it's baking, why not whip up some easy chocolate-raspberry topping?

Chocolate-Raspberry Topping
(I hate the word "topping," but this is neither frosting nor glaze.)
1 cup or more raspberry fruit spread
1 cup or more bittersweet chocolate chips
A few tablespoons of water

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, warm the raspberry spread over low heat with a little bit of water, stirring until it is smooth. Add the chocolate chips and whisk until melted and thoroughly combined.

What you do next is up to you. Maybe you just want to take the sauce and go be alone with it. You could pour it directly on the (slightly cooled) cake, where it will fill in any cracks and drip down the sides. You could also chill it so that it thickens up, and then apply it to the cake more like a frosting.

I can also tell you that leftover chocolate-raspberry topping is excellent on plain, slightly salty wheat crackers.

I am still happily in the CSA's thrall, and last week's box had a big, beautiful purple cabbage in it. We're splitting our box with another couple, so I only brought home half the cabbage, but even so, it is a substantial vegetable and I still have about half of it left. Here are two ways I used it.

Stir Fry with Carrot "Noodles"
For the tofu:
A little oil for the pan
Soy sauce, tamari, or Braggs
1 pound of extra firm tofu, drained, pressed (if you have the time) and cubed

Heat the oil and soy sauce together over medium heat. Add tofu, toss to coat, and fry until golden on all sides. Set aside.

For the veg:
Half a medium onion, sliced
A cup (or so) of purple cabbage, sliced and diced or shredded
Half a head of broccoli, broken into florets. Please include the chopped broccoli leaves and the peeled and sliced stalks--they are delicious
Any other vegetables you have on hand
Sesame oil
Rice vinegar
Soy sauce

In your recently-vacated tofu pan, add a bit more oil (canola, peanut, etc) over medium-high heat and chuck in your onions to soften for a few minutes. Add cabbage and broccoli and toss to coat. As the vegetables start to fry and cook down, add a bit of water (like a tablespoon at a time) to encourage the vegetables to steam. Sprinkle with sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.

For the "noodles":
2 large carrots, made into noodles with a good old fashioned vegetable peeler. I just set the carrot down on my cutting board and peeled away, turning the carrot to hit all sides and keep the peelings from getting too wide. Snack on the pointy leftovers.

Just before the stir-fry vegetables are done, toss in your carrot noodles and let them wilt and incorporate into the mix. Add the tofu back in and garnish with chopped scallions, sesame seeds, and Sri Racha sauce.

This would also be delicious served with actual noodles, though you might need more sauce.


Thai Slaw
This is one of the prettiest things I've ever eaten. The part about it being Thai is bullshit, but at least you know what flavor profile I am trying to evoke.

2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 grated carrots
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 chopped scallions
a handful of chopped cilantro
chopped peanuts for garnish

For dressing:
Rice vinegar (cider vinegar would be just fine too, though you may want to adjust the flavors a bit)
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Sri Racha or other chili sauce
About a teaspoon of minced ginger (I have to admit that I bought a jar of this and it is extremely convenient, and inexpensive)

Mix together in pleasing proportions until you are satisfied. You can also dash in some balsamic and olive oil--this was left over in my cruet from the previous night's salad, and my "Thai" dressing mixed in to it deliciously. You want about a half cup of dressing for this amount of veg.

Mix all your vegetables together in a big bowl and feel free to adjust the proportions. Add the dressing and toss it all together. Voila! If you can let this sit and marinate for at least a half hour before serving, it will be much more delicious. Top with chopped peanuts.

(At this rate, it looks like I'm shooting for one post about every three weeks. That's a good way to please your vast readership, is it not?)

Unfortunately, my friends, it seems that summer has officially ended. September 1 rolled around and brought with it chilly evenings and blustery rain. Oh sure, today around 4 it was fabulous and perfect outside, to the point that running around the lake didn't feel like much of a chore at all. But I know that these days are numbered, and when the nights are chilly, a makeshift cook's thoughts turn to soup.

I've had potato soup on the brain for a few days, knowing that I'm a bit overloaded with potatoes at the moment and need to use them up. This soup whipped up quickly and easily with just a few ingredients and I can't stop eating it. Really, it's still on the stovetop and every time I walk past, I dip another half-scoop of it into my bowl. As soothing as mashed potatoes, but with the kick of jalapeno peppers and the sweetness of corn to keep things interesting.

Spicy Potato Corn Soup
Olive oil for the soup pot
One good-sized onion, diced
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
4 smallish carrots, diced (or two large ones)
3 big gloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp of cumin
About 2 pounds of gold potatoes (I used 10 medium), peeled (or not, if you like) and cubed
About 6 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of frozen corn, though if you have fresh, by all means use it
Fresh oregano if you have it
A few handfuls of fresh spinach
2 scallions, chopped
Salt to taste

Chop your veg first. You are probably virtuous and you do this sort of prepping already, but too often I find myself having to chop another vegetable while I'm right in the middle of the cooking, and this recipe has a lot of potatoes which, between you and me, are a pain in the ass to peel and cube.

Then. Heat the oil in your soup pot and add the onions, jalapenos, and carrots. Saute until the onions are translucent and then add the garlic and cumin. Let that sizzle a few minutes more, and then chuck in your potatoes, stir to coat, and add the vegetable broth, which I suspect is what pulls this soup together. I made some from scratch awhile back and froze it, and this is what allows me to say smugly that making your own veggie stock is the way to go.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let everything simmer until the potatoes are tender. At this point, use an immersion blender, blender, or old-school potato masher to puree some of the soup. If you forget to do this until later, like I did, the soup will still be delicious.

Add the corn and cook a bit longer. Last of all, add the fresh oregano, spinach, and scallions, stir it up, and turn the heat wayyyy down or off altogether. Salt to taste and let the soup stand for a few minutes to come together.

Serve with crusty bread, obviously.