watermelon, feta, mint salad gf (vegan options)

Watermelon is a cheap sweet delicious source of fiber, hydration and flavour as well as being very cooling. So you get an enormous one because it's 29 cents a lb or something and you're not partial to beverages with chunks. (Not a problem for me but even then we have leftovers.)What will you do with the remaining half melon? Mint is under utilised in urban centers mostly because so many people don't realise how easy it is to grow. Feta packs a punch and is cheap mostly because of how little is actually used here (1$ for 1/4 lb of bulgarian feta) and because feta is cheap here. The silent workers here are parsley (flat leaf if you can...the texture makes a difference) and a lime. These both add lots of nutrients. I get my mint from the community garden we're in and parsley is 59 cents a bunch.(Note:mint stored in the freezer after rinsing is fine here). This also takes almost no time of effort and looks pretty. Thinking about bringing it to a wedding pot luck soon, in fact. The key is in the proportions.Do not store for more than a day or two as the results are mushy and gross after a weekend.

Cut 1/2 of a large watermelon into 1inch chunks (approximately). Save the rinds for pickles or if you are me remove the skin and add the grated white to the salad (time permitting).
Wash 5-6 sprigs of mint and 1/2 large bunch of parsley. Cut into tiny pieces with a pair of scissors. Kids can help with this. Put these in the bowl with your melon.
Add the juice of 1/2 a lime. Toss. Crumble 1/3 of that 1/4 brick of feta on your  salad. Toss again. Chill on ice for buffets and the like.
 You can also skip the feta if you are vegan or dairy intolerant. Cashew Parm also tastes good here.

sesame spinach ( and other greens) gf if needed

You just roasted some tofu and made some rice
You need edible greens...

Take 1 lb leaves wash em'. Remove woody parts.
Please don't be skittish about ingesting a variety of edible greens. Use what's in season, you can grow it and will be ok cooked. Eating what's available encourages biodviersity, your health and can save you money. (For ex right now in may spinach is tres expensive but the kale is coming up, and so is arugula and dandelion greens. Last month cress was cheap...and if the strawberry spinach would grow it should have shown up then..alas.
Pour 1 tb off the top of your tahini or direct from a bottle of sesame oil
add 1 tb lemon juice and 3 cloves garlic, if desired grate in 1/2 inch fresh ginger.
Heat and allow greens to wilt . Add 3 tb soy sauce (gf if needed) and a small handful of sesame or sesame and flax seeds. Serve hot or chilled. Some greens freeze well, some do not.

Cook until most of the liquid is dissolved and evaporated and your greens are bright green.
options:
add 1 tsp honey or maple syrup if sweetness is desired with the soysauce
add 1/4 tsp thai or korean chili powder with the soysauce.
This is good packed with a protein and rice balls for lunch, as part of bibimbap, sushi filling, as a sandwich topping or omlette filling and along side bbq tempeh or pulled jackfruit bbq.

baked tostada party and guacamole

We got back from going to grocery store and the laundrymat late-ish tonight. We were hungry and wanted food. At my neighborhood grocery ancient peppers produced in the us by UFW farms go on sale for 79 cents a lb to 1$ at least every few months. They are versatile and freeze well (either whole or after veining and slicing.) Avocados also were on sale 2 for 1$ (happy day!) so it became imperative to make tostadas.

If you're just making dinner
1. Slice up some sweet peppers (bell,ancient,wax whatever) ,
1/2 a red onion and
2 cloves garlic
(and sliced  mushrooms or greens  if you like)
Put this in a heavy bottomed pan with 1 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp oregano (or 1 tsp your preferred brand of adobo seasoning) 1 tsp olive oil 1/4 cup water and the juice of 1 lime. Stir fry this until onions become translucent and begin to brown lightly.  salt to taste.

 If you're having a party do 2-3 lg or 5 very small peppers and 1 1/2 onion and 6 cloves of garlic.
2. Warm 5 oz (family) 12 oz (small party) black beans (smooth blended or whole)
3. Pull out tostada shells ( we prefer baked but these may be hard to find in your area: recipe follows)
4. Spread about 2 -3 tb beans on your tostada (if using whole drain very well or adhere by spreading guac first )
5. Now add the pepper and onion stuff and greens like any salad mixture, guac if you're using it cooked greens, fine sliced cabbage, chopped tomatoes or a large handful chopped cilantro.
6. Balance other stuff atop your creation. For example Rabbit likes to have queso fresco on theirs. I have been known to sneak mussels or cooked leftover fish onto mine.
Two of these make me stuffed and I'm not a small woman.

Baking tostadas and corn chips
Fried tostadas tend to make my stomach hurt. They also tend to be fried in hydrogenated oil or sometimes lard which I also avoid.
Baked tostada shells are 2$ per box. I can make 10 for 35 cents when I have the extra 15 minutes.

Pull out a cookie sheet and bake at 425F for 7 minutes each side
for lime flavoured: line sheet with parchment first
juice one lime and sprinkle / brush over 1 medium cookie sheet worth of tortillas
proceed as above. you could also sprinkle a little salt or chile powder on these easily. The moisture has the added benefit of making the chips crisper
Corn chips cut into triangles with a pair of kitchen shears or pizza wheel or knife. Proceed as you would for the chips.

Simple Guacamole
Peel and pit two avocados. Add pinch oregano, 1/2 lime juice, salt ground cumin 1 tsp. Mash. We prefer ours lumpy so we only mash 2-3 times. Add finely minced onion or 2 tb salsa of choice. Stir. keep sealed from air until serving. Wax paper or last minutes prep work well for this.
For parties
There are a number of other options for creating a tostada bar.
Simply line up the toppings (each with their own spoon) and let people roam free. Or have each person bring a topping and  prepare 3-4 basics just in case some folks are lax or decide to bring booze or dessert.

A brief history of me and eggplant balls(gf)

Years ago, when I was vegan, I came across a recipe that said you could make plausible veg sausage from eggplants. I was dubious at the time but being a new vegan and generally excitable about cooking I went through 3 or 4 pretty vile attempts until the machinist cried mercy for both budgetary and gastronomic reasons. We did not have a food processor that worked well. Now in the years since I have learned a good deal more about cooking including how to play nice with eggplant and when you really need a food processor.  I hadn't really thought about this for years. Shortly after this I fell in love with gimme lean.

Cue last year. I find out I'm not supposed to eat wheat...the primary ingredient in most veg sausage...including gimme lean. I now eat dairy.

  So  about a month ago we're visiting a big chain grocery store for the sole reason that it was open  later in the evening and they always have a cheaper price on almond milk and I excited to discover a no added gluten vegetarian sausagey product (that is one that is made in a factory where wheat,rye barley,etc might come into minimal contact with it so somebody like me with a moderate wheat allergy can still deal with it occasionally). Given that literally every other veg sausage product is crawling with not only a metric ton of gluten (in the form of seitan, or some times wheat based tvp)added salt, weird colors, and a general air of unwholesomeness. The label had a short list of actual food ingredients that I'm not allergic to. I was psyched. Then I found out the the meatballs float  and work in soups without having to be rushed to table (bean sausages really really do not) and really delicious. For the record I used to prefer veg sausage to meat ones and when I was a kid ate still ate meat that didn't live in water so keep this in mind. For ease of convenience the product is made by Dominex from mostly Eggplants. http://www.dominexeggplant.com/products-meatballs.html 

 It's a little eggplanty ,which I happen to like as well. The one catch is that one  Dominex Vegetarian Eggplant Meatballs (under 1 lb) is 6$. Again 6 whole dollars for less than 1 lb of admittedly really quality convenience food. Thus my search for a eggplant ball recipe that satisfies was renewed. Again I struggled ,but this time being familiar with the fiddlyness of bean flours, I was triumphant. Lo, this baby recipes can be altered with an endless permutation of funky sausage flavours including swedish style, irish style BBQ, and my favorite ginger soy with cilantro....mmm.

Eventually I will post all the varieties I now have but for now, we begin with:

Eggplant Meatballs with Italian Herbs

This recipe is big as making 2 lbs of sausage is roughly the same pain in the neck that making 1 lb is.  You will need a food processor to do this. Really. I promise. It’s ok because it freezes and pre making patties for occasions is super easy. Store these in wax paper for up to 3 months.

Chop

1 lg or two small eggplants

1 lg onion

 into a roasting dish with 3 tb olive oil.

Toss to coat and leave at 350 for 25-40 miutes until eggplant is mushy. This will depend on the size of your dice

While the eggplant is cooling  

Add 1 tb fennel

2 tb red pepper flakes

1 tb soy sauce

Some stale parmesan or romano  if you have it cut into small pieces

1tsp fresh parsley or ½ tsp dry

2 TB fresh basil or 1 tb dry

½ head peeled garlic

½ tsp dried sage

1 tb cider vinegar

5 grinds black pepper

And

1 sprig rosemary is you have it

Mix in the food processor and grind. now grind your eggplant up in the food processor until lightly lumpy (about the same texture and homemade baba ghanoush). Mix together. If you aren’t avoiding egg and want these to be able to hold together well enough to put in soup add an egg. Now, knead in 1 cup soyflour, garbanzo flour or falafel mix (in  which case halve the peppers and remove the parseley) or fine bread crumbs if they don't make you sick. The  falafel tastes the best and the soyflour has the ‘meatiest” texture..you pick. Now add ½ cup chopped walnuts. This is important for texture. If the mixture doesn’t  resemble a firm cookie dough with lumps add more flour or more liquid to adjust.

Oil your  hands and Squish into tube shapes for later use and freeze or make into patties/ link shapes which should be precooked before being frozen. Store in airtight containers.

To precook:

Preheat oven to 425 F

Line a cookie sheet with parchment and rub or spray with olive oil.

Place as many links/ patties on tray as desired.

Bake for 30 minutes turning halfway through. If you cook too long they will dehydrate and eventually burn (it takes a awhile). If they dehydrate but do not burn they work well in stews.

Continue baking until all dough is used up.

Please use gf ingredients if you want gf food.

Please feel free to play around with this and share your tasty variations.

apple squash soup (can be crock potted)

1 butternut squash peeled and seeded
1-2 lg apples chopped (no need to peel)
2 ribs celery chopped
1 chopped onion
1 tb smoked salt if available
3 tb almond butter (you can skip this if you don't have it but it's much cheaper in bulk)
4 toes garlic chopped
8 cups water or stock
cinnamon
olive oil 1-2 tb
opt: sage, 12 oz white beans,1 cup dry lentils,bacon or analouge, red bell peppers
Saute all veggies except squash in olive oil. add to pot. pour in broth and everything else but the almond butter. Stir every 10-15 if on stovetop or more often if using bean or lentils as they stick. cook on crockpot low for 6-8 hours.  Mash up big pieces using bottom of ladle or immersion blend for creamier texture.When reaches desired squishiness remove from heat,add almond butter and stir. serve hot.

horchata (vegan or dairy)

So I finally got around to making non powdered horchata...it's apparently pretty easy.

soak 1 cup rice (white or brown) and a cinnamon stick or 1 tsp cinnamon in 3 cups water.
Cover and leave it alone for 8-12 hours.
throw this in a blender and blend until the rice is powdered add 1/2 c sugar (or 1/4c crystallised stevia/splenda), 1 tsp real vanilla or almond and a few grates of nutmeg. add 3 more glasses of water or milk or almond milk or halvsies of both and blend again. It will be creamy and frothy with or without milk. strain through fine sieve or tea towel or old t shirt. squeeze the liquid through. chill. shake before serving as it will seperate. I add more nutmeg and cinnamon at serving time mmm.

• next I'm going to try starting with rice flour and see how that goes

ummm rice flour...not so good.

Beans.... a preliminary guide

Beans.... a preliminary guide

For most of you reading this cooking beans from scratch is old hat. This makes sense..beans are far and way the cheapest form of protein available (short of cannibalism), they are versatile,tasty, filling, healthy, and ubiquitous in virtually every cuisine on earth for thousands of years.

However , it has come to my attention that there are many , many, many of us who do not understand how to make our dry beans tender moist and pliable in a manner suitable to people used to convenience foods. These methods allow one to by pass the expense and BPA in canned beans and retain most of the convenience. Storage methods discussed later.

For bean in this post I mean broad beans of all types, soybeans, lupins, Vigna,chickpeas and Phaseolus types. Lentils ,peas and other pulses are generally prepared differently.

Here, I present 2 methods which both require this 1st step

Step one:

Take 1lb bag of beans and pick through for bits of rock, beans without skin, rotten/gnawed on parts and rinse to remove road crap. (I call this showering the beans.) Prep Flavoring agents. In my case I usually cook beans with plenty of garlic onion and cumin because my my favorite are black beans. I add lime, salt and ancho chiles at the end. to navy beans I leave them be as there are widely differing methods to spice these guys and I use them to make a creamier lower fat macaroni and cheese, a garlic dip, and in baked beans. To red beans I usually add garlic, green pepper, red onion cumin oregano and tomatoes. Adzuki beans get left alone until they're done cooking as they're used for sweets. Whatever.

1. Low tech

post shower Soak overnight in 2x as much warm water as there are beans. Leave it alone covered with a cover, towel or whatever at room temp. Drain (no you can't skip this. feed your plants the water) and cover with 2X as much water as the current volume. That usually means 1lb of beans ends up with 2 qt of water at this stage. Add any seasonings desired except salt and vinegar (salt and vinegar make beans stay hard), onions garlic, wine , whatever. Bring to a boil and cover...reduce to a simmer boil 40 minutes to 2 1/2 hours here's a chart telling you how long each type takes http://www.chezbettay.com/pages/basics1/basics_beans1.html

2.'high tech"

This is what our crockpot lives for. It takes less energy, less effort and less hands on time to create good beans this way than any other method. You plop your 1 lb of showered beans into the crockpot with 6 cups water or unsalted flavoring liquid. (salt and vinegar make beans stay hard) cover and turn on low. Add seasonings that aren't salt or vinegar. Go away for 8 hours. If it's too thick add water. If your beans are too firm wait a while.

The one caveat is that yes you do need to cook them for the full 8 hours or risk poisoning yourself. According to Wikipedia "Some kinds of raw beans, especially red and kidney beans, contain a harmful toxin (lectin phytohaemagglutinin) that must be removed by cooking. A recommended method is to boil the beans for at least ten minutes; undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans. Cooking beans in a, slow cooker because of the lower temperatures often used, may not destroy toxins even though the beans do not smell or taste 'bad'(though this should not be a problem if the food reaches boiling temperature and stays there for some time)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean.

3. the gassy (um quick) method...just don't . this method makes sub par beans that make your gastrointestinal tract infamous rather than your gastronomy. Go ahead and use some other bean. You can even buy frozen or canned just this once. I won't tell.

4. A pressure cooker. These are apparently awesome for this and real energy savers. Unfortunately, I don't have one and I don't know how. Check another blog.

Sorry.
Yeah now I have one. These ARE awesome. Rinse and pick you beans add 2 cups beans and fill water to the minimum fill line. Attach lis per directions. Cook on high until pressure hisses. Reduce to simmer and do something for 35 minutes. Your beans are done. Look at the chart that comes with yours.

Storage: why you can use this instead of canned.

Crockpot:

If you used a crockpot you can leave anything but chickpeas in there for 3 or so days adding about 1 cup of water a day to replace the amount lost by evaporation

The chickpeas will get water logged and gross. Drain them after 1 day at most unless they are in Chili.

If you aren't crock potting them allow them to cool.

Frozen:

You can pour them into any bpa free container and stack in the freezer. Freezer bags filled and squished flat work well here as do freezable glass jars.

Jars should only be filled 2/3 to allow for the water in the beans to expand as it freezes. If using on stovetop add 1/2 water to heat. put them in other things in the oven or you can nuke them if you want. I don't but then we don't own a nuker and I'm freaked out by possible radiation in my starches.

fridge;

Pour into jar and store in fridge. (any old jar will do)

As a puree: This is what we call lowfat refried beans. Take my blackbeans recipe from above ..pour off 1/2 the bean liquor (into soup maybe?)and apply a stick blender until smooth. 

You can do this..It's easier than writing about it even.

spontaneous cider :when good fruit goes bad

I admit it. I'm a little skittish about home brewing. While I'm a good cook I'm kind of bad at following orders (um I meant recipes). I am also not punctilious about the state of my dishes. I was also raised by a woman who was the kind of teetotaler who is uncomfortable with using alcohol based extracts in high temperature baking. Add to this the exploded beer atrocity of 1998, the scary bottles of dandelion wine no doubt still lurking in the basement I haven't seen in a decade and the ubiquitous horribleness of my first sourdough starter (since rectified) and I've gotten almost silly about it. These factors have led to things like making slow fermented sauerkraut in the fridge rather than risking fermentation in the warmer (no doubt) faster climes of my cupboards. Meanwhile I envy the glowing jewels of mead, beer and lately other wines that arrive periodically at my house courtesy of benevolent friends.

My favorite alcohols are cider, bourbon and mead- in that order. I'll also admit a fondness for gluhwein. Witbiers used to also be on that list but then I found out I'm not supposed to eat wheat. Unless I research, cider is safer out and about. I still get a mood for the occasional oatmeal stout. Beer is tasty but frankly cider is even better. Plus, no risk. In the plains I mostly had a choice between Hornsby's and Woodchuck. When we moved to Chicago I discovered two things. 1. Alcohol is really really expensive here....like 8$ for a six of the cheapest frankly not very tasty cider I can find in these parts. 2. cider is everywhere and for some reason bourbon is 2x the price it was in Kansas. 3.The apples here are awesome.. I had forgotten.

Now, I can spend 10$ on 22 oz of a fabulous organic sweet cider from Michigan (JK Scrumpy) or an extra 2$ on a six pack of Original Sin or Wyder's. Given that it still takes me weeks to finish that sixer I was ok with that.

One hot late summer day this year I grabbed a half gallon of cider along with some tofu and the peck of apples from our csa. A few hours later I deposited our purchases in the fridge and thought nothing of it. The next am I went to grab a glass of juice and noticed that the cider was carbonated though not yet funny smelling. I looked up some stuff online which said it was fine to drink but thought that maybe I should wait a day or two to see what developed. I checked and stirred it daily to release the gases building up on the plastic walls of the cider jug. Three days later it smelled and tasted like the 10$ per 22 oz product including the ridiculously high alcohol volume and stayed that way for about 5 days by which time it was gone. It makes sense, wild yeast here can't be too different from Michigan and the cider was a preservative free Organic Michigan apple cider (cost 5$ for the half gallon: a bit of a splurge). So now with our CSA Thanksgiving share of 2 gallons of cider I was wondering. how we could fit two jugs of cider in the fridge. It came to me...I could see if I could make it into hard cider was as easy as it appeared.

The day of the share arrival I poured 1 gallon of fresh apple cider -a mixed apple variety from our csa with no preservatives (or it won't ferment) into a 1 gallon sterile carboy (old Rossi jug) and covered with a bit of clean fabric secured with a rubber band. The next day I stirred the mixture (not bubbling yet as it's late November and it's chilly cause we're cheapskates) and added 2 oz Wyder's dry apple cider (because that's what's around and again, it wasn't bubbling yet).

Day Two. rotated and stirred to aerate as I a read blog that said this was important

- apparently. Makes sense, the yeast need to breathe. Mixture appears quite fizzy and tastes like apple soda. To taste this I poured off an ounce or so.

Day Three

The cider appears full on cider-ish, it smells sweet and a touch skunky at first. Keep in mind it took me a minute to smell this and I have quite the sniffing abilities. After allowing it to breathe a few minutes while I googled the possible dangers of skunky cider the eggy smell had evaporated. Now it smells sweet and appley. Mixture tastes like a nice honey sweet cider with a light kick and a mild sour bite. Drank half a glass. So far not ill. Aerated remainder and left on counter. I will let you know what happens on day 4 and beyond.

Warnings: 1. Don't be an idiot with alcohol. Drinking with kids (inside or outside of you) and operating machinery like cars, cell phones (in some cases) or drills is not only hazardous to your health but it's likely to get you arrested or killed. Drinking with idiots is likewise inadvisable. Please, just don't.

2. This is clearly an experiment. Like mushroom hunting you probably shouldn't do this without an expert on hand, decent equipment, testing strips and possibly a cold cellar. I AM NOT AN EXPERT. This might be dangerous, or lethal. I don't know. Research safer methods, ok?

3. Being an experiment, I'm not sure how this will turn out. I'll let you know.

I still venture that this was dangerous...and tasty.
While storing in fridge day 4-10  I rotated the bottle regularly . The sweet bubbly stuff had more of a kick and got gradually drier,and less skunky .
We drank about 1/2 of it before it started smelling like vinegar (no gas resistant bottles around) around day 10. At this point we just opened it up and rotated it daily to allow the gases out. On day 30 it had separated clearly into vinegar and mother of V. We strained and rebottled for use in salads and as hair rinse.