Green Beans Braised in Tomatoes

This is a great recipe for using up fresh produce from your garden. Don't have a garden? Make this anyway. Some of the best beans I've ever tasted. Seriously.

Adapted from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop. (One of my go-to cookbooks.)

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced smallish

1 - 1.5 cups canned whole tomatoes, chopped, juice reserved (I used fresh, peeled)

1 pound green beans, ends snapped off (I used yellow and green)

1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed with back of a chef's knife (keep it in one or two pieces)

Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add oil. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes until the juices thicken a bit.

2. Add green beans, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. Stir well. Add some of the reserved juice (I think I added about 1/2 - 1 cup...but do what you think looks good.) Add the smashed garlic clove. Stir well again, reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are as tender as you like them, but for at least 30 minutes. (This is not an al-dente kind of recipe.) I cooked them for 4o minutes, adding a bit more tomato juice as needed.

3. Remove the smashed garlic clove and serve.

4. Sit back and enjoy the compliments.

Moroccan Carrots

This is an easy and unusual and DEElicious salad for parties. It should be made a day ahead. The recipe makes a lot, so keep that in mind. If you like bland food, skip this dish. It has strong and vibrant flavor.

Makes 10 - 12 servings. Keeps well in the refrigerator for leftovers.

Ingredients:

3 pounds carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1/3 inch slices.

1 cup good quality olive oil

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup (yes, you read that right) Hungarian sweet paprika

1/4 cup (yes, you read that right) ground cumin

5 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 cup fresh minced parsley

1 T salt or to taste

1. Place the carrots in a large pot and add water to cover. Cook over high heat until crisp-tender. Drain but do not rinse with cold water.

2. While the carrots are cooking, make the dressing. Whisk the oil and vinegars together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the paprika, cumin and salt.

3. Add the hot drained carrots to the dressing and stir to coat. Add garlic and parsley and toss to combine. Let cool to room temperature, then serve. If you make it in advance and refrigerate it, let it come to room temperature before you serve it.

Jerk Seitan

For the Marinade:

1/2 large white onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 T fresh ginger, chopped
3 T soy sauce
3 T fresh lime juice
2 T olive oil
2 T real maple syrup
1 T dried thyme leaves
1 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ground)

For the Seitan

2 cups seitan, cut into thick strips
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, thickly sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and thickly sliced


Prepare the marinade by pureeing all of hte ingredients in a blendor or food processor until smooth. There will be some chunkiness but that is okay. Placethe seitan in a shallow bowl and pour the marinade over it. Mix to coat. Marinate for an hour. (In a pinch, I have cooked it right away and it is fine.)

In a large skillet, saute the onions and peppers in olive oil over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes until the onions start to brown. Remove seitan from the marinade, reserving the liquid. Saute the seitan with the onions and peppers for about 10 minutes or until is the seitan is brown to your liking. Add the remaining marinade and cook for about 2 minutes to heat it through.

Serve with rice or whatever suits you.

Cannelinni- Northern Bean Chili

This morning, someone mentioned that they saw my recipe for White Chicken Chili on this site and wondered if it would be good without the chicken. She's a vegetarian and was craving some white chili. It made me recall a recipe that I have not made in years that I used to love. Here it is. It is from a fat free cookbook that has some amazingly tasty recipes in it: 500 Fat Free Recipes by Sarah Schlesinger.

Makes about 8 cups

1 3/4 cups nonfat chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 cup diced onions
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 1/2 cups home cooked or canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 1/2 cups home cooked or canned Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1. Heat 1/4 cup (or more if you like) of the water or broth in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, an dgarlic. Cook and stir for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

2. Stir in the remaining cup broth, jalapeno pepper, parsley, beans, thyme, black pepper and oregano.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes.

A Subtle But Very Good Dinner: Cossack Pie

Loyal Readers, here are two pictures of what is left of tonight's dinner. What you are seeing is called "Cossack Pie" from the original Moosewood Cookbook. I modified the recipe a bit to accommodate the ingredients I had at home and I must say, it was a lovely dinner with just a salad and some excellent dry French Rose (my latest pet wine for the summer.)

I tried a new pie crust for this creation, also from the Moosewood Cookbook and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and good it was. I use approximate measures because when I made this, I used more than the called for amount of veggies (probably double) and it was really good.

RECIPE:

1 9" unbaked pie shell (recipe below)

1 zucchini (green or yellow), yellow squash or a good cup of sliced mushrooms
1 cup or so chopped onions
1 cup or so shredded cabbage
1 cup or so thinly sliced broccoli
1 cup or so thinly sliced carrots
3 T butter
2 T flour
generous 1/2 tsp ground up caraway seeds (I smashed them around in a mortar & pestle)
generous 1/2 tsp dried basil
2 T dry white wine
1/2 dried dill (I forgot this but it would probably add a nice flavor)
1/3 cup farmer's or cottage cheese
2 eggs
3/4 mixed sour cream & yogurt (I used Greek yogurt...YUM)
Paprika

Saute all the vegetables except zucchini (or mushrooms) in the butter until just tender. This might take a while, but what's the hurry? Add spices. Remove from heat and toss with wine and flour. Set aside.

Puree the eggs and cheese in a blender or in the food processor you used for the crust (just wipe it out a bit...no need to get crazy about it). Add salt and pepper as desired or not.

Add egg-cheese puree to sauteed veggies and put in the crust.

Saute the zucchini slices (or sliced mushrooms) in oil or butter about five minutes.

Spread the yogurt/sour cream on the veggies. Top with the zucchini slices. Dust with paprika.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let rest 10. Serve with salad and good wine. YUM YUM.

EASY AS PIE PIE CRUST

In a food processor, put a cup of flour. (A mixture of white and wheat is nice...about 3 parts white and one part wheat or something like that). Put the bowl of the processor with the flour in it in the freezer or fridge for a little while to chill it.

Meanwhile, cut up 1/3 cup unsalted butter into chunks and put that back in the fridge to keep it cool.

When everything is cold, combine the butter and flour in the food processor and pulse about 12 times. Add about 3 -4 T yogurt, buttermilk or water (cold) and pulse until you can pinch the mixture and have it hold together. This won't take many pulses.

Pour it out onto a floured surface and form it into a ball. Put it into a plastic bag and refrigerate for an hour or so. Then, roll it out and put it into a pie dish and follow the instructions above. This dough is very easy to work with. An easy and GREAT recipe.

BBQ Pomegranate Tofu

I know that this sounds strange but it is a dish that I actually get cravings for and have to make pretty frequently. This recipe is in Vegan with a Vengeance.

For my local readers, Bloomingfoods carries Pomegranate Molasses. It is the "gourmet" section over by the cheese case.

The recipe makes a good amount of sauce and you can even double the tofu and still have enough.

I haven't tried it but I imagine that the sauce would be very good on grilled chicken as well.

TOFU
1 pound tofu, drained and pressed and sliced into eighths* (or 2 pounds...there is enough sauce)
2 T canola or peanut oil
1 T soy sauce, tamari or shoyu (shoyu is my choice)

*I press tofu by putting the block in a pie pan, placing a plate or second pie pan on top and putting a heavy pot on top of the second plate. Let it sit about 30 minutes. Then, blot with paper towels and cut the tofu.

SAUCE

1 T canola or peanut oil
1 cup minced onions or shallots
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder (do not omit)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 6-oz can tomato paste
2 T all natural peanut (or other nut) butter (I use almond)
2 T pomegranate molasses
2 T soy sauce, tamari or shoyu
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke

Preheat oven to 350. IN a 9X13 inch glass baking pan turn the tofu in the canola oil and soy sauce to coat on both sides. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip. Bake for 15 more minutes

In a 4 cup measure or a medium sized bowl, blend together vegetable broth, tomato paste, nut butter, pomegranate molasses, soy, maple syrup, and hot sauce. Set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the onions in the canola oil for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and five-spice powder and saute 1 minute more. Add the blended liquid ingredients and the liquid smoke and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

At this point, your tofu will probably be done baking. Pour all of the sauce over the tofu, return to the oven and bake 15 minutes more.

Serve with rice.

Seitan (Basic Recipe)

Greetings Culinarians! I am posting this basic Seitan recipe at the request of two of my readers - one of whom is my vegetarian daughter. I happen to like cooking with Seitan because it is so easy to make, so inexpensive, so nutritious and so versatile. Believe me, it wasn't too long ago that I would have scoffed at the thought of making this. Now, I make it just about once every other week.

This is a basic recipe, adapted from Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Mine comes out a little different each time, but always okay.

Ingredients notes: Vital wheat gluten is available in the baking section of supermarkets. It is sold in small boxes. Or, you can buy it in bulk at Bloomingfoods if you are local or at a health food store.

Nutritional Yeast is available in bulk at health food stores. It is a yellowish flaky material. I have not been successful finding it in supermarkets. I suspect that this is an optional ingredient, added for nutritional purposes. So, if you can't find it, you can probably omit it.

2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 T chickpea flour or soy flour or all purpose flour
1 & 1/2 cup cold water or broth
1 T tomato paste
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped


In a large bowl, mix together gluten, yeast and flour. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, mix together the wet ingredients and the garlic until well blended. Add liquids to dries and mix with a wooden spoon until a spongy dough forms. Knead this dough for about 5 minutes and then form it into a longish loaf and let it rest for five minutes. It will be sort of wet and spongy looking.

While the dough is resting, fill a large pot with cold water.

Cut the dough into thick slices of sort of uniform size. Gently put the slices into the cold water. Partially cover the pot and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat to low and gently simmer for about an hour, moving the strange looking seitan slices around every now and then.

Let the seitan cool in the water and then use as desired or refrigerate.

I squeeze the excess water out of the slices before I use them in recipes.

Spelt Chowder

At left, is a photo of dried New Mexico Chiles. These are an important ingredient in Spelt Chowder, the recipe for which is below. What is spelt? It is a grain that is related to wheat but has a higher protein content. You can buy spelt at BloomingFoods in the bulk section if you live here in town. I haven't looked for it at the supermarket so I don't know if you will find it there. It is worth the search, though. It is nutty tasting and chewy in the most delightful way.

Uncooked, spelt looks like sunflower seeds. Indeed, my husband, who snacks on sunflower seeds, saw the unmarked bag of spelt sitting on the counter, opened it, grabbed a handful of the kernels and threw them into his mouth. A brief moment later, he realized his mistake. Funny but not pretty.

Anyway, this chowder is REALLY delicious and healthy, too. It has a little heat to it from the chile peppers, which give it a southwestern flair. It is easy to make as well. You should MAKE THIS SOUP TODAY. The recipe is from the wonderful Hay Day Market Country Cookbook by Kim Rizk.

Recipe:

1/4 cup olive oil (you can use less if you like)
1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 pound ripe plum tomatoes (or two cups of good quality canned tomatoes)
1 large russet or Idaho potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 dried medium hot red chile peppers broken in half, seeds shaken out and discarded(I used medium hot New Mexico chiles. You could use Pasilla if you want. These are available in most grocery stores now-a-days)
6 cups vegetable stock (I use low sodium)
2 tsp. kosher salt (optional)
1 cup spelt kernels, rinsed and drained
2 cups corn kernels (frozen are OK...just thaw first)
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until nicely colored and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and saute until softened and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the potato, chiles, stock and salt (if using) and allow to come to a boil.

2. Stir in the spelt and reduce the heat to a simmer. Partially cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spelt is tender, about 30 - 45 minutes. Remove and discard the chile pieces, and stir in the corn. Continue to simmer just until the corn is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes more.

Serve hot and swoon!

Sichuan Green Beens

This has become one of our favorite easy meals at Chez McGary. You can prep everything earlier in the day - and believe me, there isn't much prep - and then stir fry it up when you are ready to eat. This is a very authentic tasting dish. I urge you to try it....TRY IT RIGHT NOW!

You can make this vegan/vegetarian by substituting either ground seitan or frozen crumbled tofu for the pork. See note at the bottom of this entry for more details.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably tamari or shoyu)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces (I sometimes use a combination of sugar snap peas and green beans)
1/4 pound ground pork (or tofu or seitan, see below)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
3 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin (optional)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
white sesame seeds

1. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, sherry, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, pepper flakes, mustard, and water until sugar dissolves. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet until just smoking. Add beans and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender and skins are shriveled and blackened in spots, 5-8 minutes. If the beans darken too quickly, reduce heat to medium high.) Transfer beans to a large plate or bowl.

3. Reduce heat to medium-high and add pork to now-empty skillet. Cook, breaking pork into small pieces, until no pink remains (or until lightly browned if using seitan or tofu), about 2 minutes. Add garlic, and ginger and cook (you might need to add a bit more oil at this point if not using meat) and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir sauce to recombine and add it along with the beans to the pan. Toss and cook until sauce is thickened, about 5 - 10 seconds. Remove pan from heat, stir in scallions (if using) and sesame oil. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Serve immediately and ooh and aahh about how good it is. ( we serve it with brown rice)

Tofu note: Tofu that has been frozen works beautifully here. Freeze firm tofu and thaw. Squeeze water out of it and then crumble it and use it as you would the pork in this recipe. Throw the remainder into a chili or stew.

Seitan that has been finely chopped or ground works very well here. I use relatively unflavored seitan that I make myself. Leave me a comment if you need that recipe.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

This wonderful recipe is taken from Vegan with a Vengence.

These muffins are delicious and good for you and very easy to make. So, make them right now, loyal readers. Make them right now!

1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg (freshly grated is better!)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soy or rice milk (my guess is that regular milk will work, though I haven't tried it)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or lightly grease with oil.

Soak the raisins in a bowl of hot water while you are preparing the batter.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and salt. Create a well in the center and add the milk, oil and vanilla; mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Remove the raisins from the hot water and fold in along with the grated carrots.

Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes (18 is plenty of time in my oven), until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool if you can wait that long.

Eat 'em up YUM.

Vegetarian Chili

3 T olive oil
1 large onion - yellow or red -chopped
1 green pepper - chopped
1 jalapeno pepper - deseeded and minced
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 carrots - chopped
1 large stalk celery - chopped
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dried lentils - picked over and rinsed
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked beans - kidney, black, garbanzo, navy, or a mixture
12 oz tempeh, crumbled up or chopped into small pieces
1/4 tsp dried cloves
1/4 tsp dried allspice
3-4 T dried cumin
3-4 T dried coriander
4-5 T good quality chili powder, hot or mild depending upon your taste
1 T sweet paprika
2 T dried oregano
salt & pepper to taste

In a large heavy saucepan saute onion, green pepper, jalapeno, carrots, celery and garlic in olive oil over medium low heat for ten to fifteen minutes to sweat the vegetables. Add tempeh and increase heat to medium and saute for about five minutes. Add spices and stir to mix well and saute for a couple more minutes. Add crushed and cut tomatoes along with water and lentils. Add beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for about twenty or so minutes until lentils are cooked. Adjust seasonings. Serve over brown rice.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Deep Chocolate Vegan Cake (From the Moosewood New Classics)


Don't knock it until you have tried it. It isn't as delicious as what I would call "real cake", but it is very good. It is a good recipe to have in case you have to cook for a Vegan or someone who can't have any cholesterol or if you simply must make chocolate cake and you don't have any eggs or butter. It is the easiest cake I have ever made from scratch.

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (corn oil works well)
1 cup cold water or chilled brewed coffee
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Chocolate raspberry glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously oil an 8-inch square or round baking pan and dust with a little sifted cocoa, or line the bottom with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar. In another bowl, combine the oil, water or coffee, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well- blended and smooth. Add the vinegar and stir briefly. The baking soda will begin to react with the vinegar right away, leaving pale swirls in the batter. Quickly pour the batter into the baking pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. Transfer to a plate when cool and glaze.

Chocolate Raspberry Glaze:

In a double boiler or small, heavy saucepan over a medium flame, melt 1/3 cup raspberry jam with 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and mix thoroughly. In another small saucepan mix 6 1/4 cups jam with 1 tablespoon water and warm over a low flame until the spread liquefies. Brush the water-fruit mixture over the top of cooled cake. Spread the chocolate mixture on top of that. Allow the glaze to cool before cutting the cake. Serves 8.

Summer Squash Soup

From the Hay Day Country Market Cookbook by Kim Rizk.

This is excellent warm, cold or at room temperature. Very easy to make.


1/2 cup olive oil (I have used 1/4 with very good results)
1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 large ripe tomoatoes, chopped (or substitute an undrained 16 oz can of good quality chopped tomatoes)
2 zucchini (total of 1 pound or less), coarsely chopped
2 yellow squash (total of 1 pound or less), coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped
Coarse (kosher) salt
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large kettle or stock pot over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until softened and transparent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and remaining vegetables (including tomatoes) and 2 teasponns salt, and saute until the veteables are lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes.

2. Add sock, vinegar, fennel seeds and black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered until the vegetables are extremely tender, about 20 minutes. Removed from the heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the mixture in batches to a blender and pulse to form a coarse puree. Serve warm, hot or chilled.

NOTE: I used a hand held stick blender and just move it around in the cooking pot. The results are great and it is less cleanup than with a blender.