Dinner - Feb 27, 2008 - Another Scrambled Tofu

So we had another scrambled tofu dish tonight. There are many versions of a quick tofu stir fry. Tonight's version was inspired by a recipe from Whole Food's website. I added my typical roasted potatoes.. which can include turnips and perhaps onions for a lovely roasted root vegetable dish. Some steamed broccoli and you have a meal.

• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1/2 red pepper chooped
• 6-8 mushrooms sliced
• 1 pound extra-firm or firm tofu cubed
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp tamari sauce
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic diced
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Simply braise the onions, pepper, garlic and mushrooms in water until soft. Add tofu, mirin, tamari and spice. Cook for 5 minutes. A very simple meal.

Dinner Feb 25, 2008 - Groundnut Stew

Tonight we had an incredibly rich and tasty West African groundnut soup, see Sundays at Moosewood p 27 for a great recipe. These cookbooks should be on the shelf of anyone cooking vegetarian. Anyhow the West Africans typically add hardboiled eggs, chopped parsley, sliced bananas, mangos, pineapple, oranges, grated coconut or crushed peanuts. I decided to try some black-eyed peas, squash and steamed broccoli. The black-eyed peas were a perfect complement to the flavor of the soup, and more greens are always great.

• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cloves of mixed garlic
• 2 cups of chopped cabbage
• 3 cups of cubed sweet potatoes
• 1/2- 28 can of organic chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup apricot (or apple) juice
• 1 tsp of finely chopped ginger root (amazing flavor in this soup!!)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups frozen okra
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (definitely not "Jiffy". Need to use either fresh ground or any "natural" peanut butter with no sugar or emulsifiers)

Braised the onions in some water for 10 minutes. Stir in cayenne and garlic and cook a little longer. Add cabbage, sweet potatoes and cook for a few minutes. Add juice, tomatoes, ginger, and cilantro. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add frozen okra and simmer for 9 more minutes. Stir in peanut butter and serve.

Dinner Feb 13, 2008 - Bean-Sunflower Burgers

A very tasty meal of homemade rolls and bean burgers. I paired it with steamed cabbage, a salad and condiments such as sliced tomatoes and onions. The steamed cabbage is surprisingly tasty (your taste buds become more attuned to the flavors), and a salad is always good. Some vinegar on the salad and cabbage was a great complement.

The rolls are easy to make from any bread recipe. These were made from oats and whole wheat flour but other flours can be used. Simply make the dough for a loaf as normal, then split them in 8 parts, make a ball and flatten it on the pan. You may need a tiny bit of olive oil on your hands to keep the dough from sticking. The pan is a cookie sheet which delivers the heat evenly and prevents sticking.

The burgers are from p 215 of Joel Fuhrman, MD's Eat to Live. I used the beans prepared for the enchiladas earlier in the week.
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (I keep them in the freezer)
- 2 cups of beans (I used pintos)
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp wheat germ or oatmeal (I used oatmeal)

Chop the sunflower seeds and then the beans. A blender should work with the seeds but may not be adequate for the beans. They can be mashed manually or a Vitamix can do it all. Then add the minced onion, etc. Form into patties on a sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. The original recipe indicates that they should be reformed and baked for another 15 minutes on each side. Since the burgers are fully cooked and we were in a hurry, I decided to simply bake them for 45 minutes and serve them on the buns carefully using a spatula. That worked nicely. I then let everything cool and after dinner made a lunch for my wife so she can continue to eat healthy. I made extra so I put the extra burgers in the freezer for another time.

Dinner Feb 12, 2008 - Lebanese Vegetable Soup

The Lebanese Vegetable Soup is incredibly flavorful but actually easy to make. The piquant flavor is due to the artichokes. I added braised kale and oven roasted potatoes.. yes those are sweet potatoes which are almost white.

- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 medium carrots peeled and chopped
- 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes
- 4-5 cups veggie broth (I used water plus powered broth
- 1/2 of 28 oz can tomatoes
- 2 14-oz cans artichoke hearts (or 10 artichoke hearts)
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley (optional but a nice flavor)
- 2 lemons cut into wedges (can make a big pot of soup and cut wedges as needed)

Braise onions a little water for 5 minutes. Stir in carrots and cook for another 3 minutes. Add red pepper, coriander and garlic. Cover a cook a few minutes longer. Add potatoes and 2 cups of stock. Cover and cook until potatoes are nearly tender. Add tomatoes, artichoke hearts (drained and chopped), and can of chick peas. Add more broth if a thinner soup is desired. Heat gently but do not boil or over cook.

Lunch - Feb 12, 2008 - Leftovers

The enchiladas made not only a great dinner but a great lunch for my wife, Debbie. The cafeteria is certainly not very healthy. The acorn squash with pistachios and a drizzle of maple syrup complements very well the rich flavors of the corn tortillas and bean mixture. One thing that makes the corn tortillas very tasty is to heat them in a cast iron skillet. It will slightly brown the tortillas and given them a nutty flavor.

Dinner Feb 6, 2008 - Leftovers

Sometimes leftovers can be better than the original. In this case, the tomato barley soup's flavor intensified with reheating. The quinoa is actually better cold... and of course a fresh salad is always good. About the quinoa, my wife also enjoyed it several times for lunch.

Dinner Feb 7, 2008 - Tomato Barley Soup

We tried the Tomato Barley Soup from Fuhrman's Eat to Live (p 210). The base was very tasty though we may want to play with it. The soup base is amazingly rich. Certainly it needs about twice the barley and improves with a dash of Braggs. I made a nice salad of arugula, spinach, field greens, cashews, raisons, carrots and tomatoes. I added brown rice and some braised chinese cabbage.

The braised chinese cabbage was an experiment. Slice the cabbage and braise in a little water with slice red onions, some tamarind concentrate, fresh garlic and some soy sauce. The sauce is tasty but the combo needs something more like shitake mushrooms or red/ green peppers. The chinese cabbage is not as strong as other cabbage such as bok choy.

- 1 cup celery juice (used a champion juicer as I could not find it)

- 1 medium onion

- 2 carrots, diced

- 1 zuchinni, diced

- 1 baked or boiled potato

- 1/4 cup unrefined barley (recommend doubling to 1/2 cup)

- 1 28-oz can of chopped tomatoes

- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped

- 8 oz. white mushrooms, chopped

The soup takes a little while to create the base. You need to simmer for an hour the water, celery juice, carrots, zucchini and potato. If your potato is not ready, you could simply peel and dice the potato and simmer at the same time as the other ingredients. Take the mixture and puree in blender or VitaMix. Then add the barley, tomatoes, and mushrooms and simmer for 45 minutes.