Soups

How many soup posts can be made? Apparently thousands during the winter months.
A couple of weeks ago I started by making soups of every color, red, orange, yellow and green. I lost the majority of the photos and wasn't able to complete my project of going after purple, brown, and blue. Without completing my project, I show you two soups.

Green Kale Soup:
This soup used boiled chard and steamed broccoli, pureed it all with lots of spices and my green soup was done, and damn tasty.

Corn Chowder:
When I created this soup I had already created my yellow corn soup, so I went for a twist to my corn chowder. Caramelized onions, carrots, corn, tarragon and potatoes in a creamy soy and vegetable broth.
It was nice to have a stew-like meal with creamy potatoes.

Pressure Cooker Cook-off

Mr. Bolsh wants to eat better food, but he just doesn't have the time to prepare meals so he ends up eating a lot of canned foods. Every once and awhile I teach him a new trick but it takes awhile to stick. For a Christmas present he wanted a pressure cooker so he could easily make his beans and rice. Not being able to turn down any desire Mr. Bolsh has to enhance his cooking skills, I bought him one.
I started off by cooking some lentils because the directions said the beans still needed to be soaked for 4 hours before their time in the pressue cooker.

Pressure Cooker Lentils:
1 cup lentils
2 cups liquid (from the canned tomatoes and water)
1 canned tomatoes
1 onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic
1 cube of bullion

Put everything in the pressure cooker pot, mix and put the lid on.
Cook for 15-20 minutes.

It doesn't look that pretty but it tasted wonderful!

The next experience was Mr. Bolsh's:
Red Bean Medley Over Rice:
1 cup red beans
1 can tomatoes plus juice
2 cups water
1 bullion cube
2 medium potatoes (cubed)
1/2 onion (chopped)
2 large carrots

Throw the ingredients in a pot and cook in the pressure cooker for 20-30 minutes.

The problem with this dish is that not everything cooked at the same time. The beans were undercooked and the carrots melted in your mouth they were so soft. We need to figure out how best to add ingredients while it's cooking because we read you can.

So far we've had some hits and misses, it will just take awhile to understand how best to used it. I've also cooked potatoes make mashed potatoes. It was quick and easy.
Let me know how you like to use your pressure cooker if you have one.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Menu: (all dishes named by Mr. Bolsh)
Potato Rolls
Candied Carrots
Mashed Potatoes
Tofurky with Cider Glaze
Gobble Gravy
Super Green Beans

The Potato Rolls came from Veganomicon. They were fantastic, but not much like the potato rolls I grew up with, but more like dinner rolls.

Candied Carrots is a dish both Mr. Bolsh and I grew up with but it seems most people eat this dish with yams or sweet potatoes. Simply over boil some carrots, drain, then add some earth balance and brown sugar. Cook until the sugar is melted.

Mashed Potatoes are Mr. Bolsh's specialty. I did have some input - I had him add some parsley based off Julie's advice.

Gobble Gravy was something I wasn't planning on making, but it turned out wonderful, and I'm not even a gravy fan! I caramelized 1 1/2 onion. It took awhile for it to cook down. I used sparkling cider to deglaze the pan. I then dissolved 1 cube of vegetable broth in 1 cup of thick cashew milk/cream. Once this was all added together I was planning on adding a thickener, but instead I let it cook for about an hour (while the tofurky was cooking) and it boiled down very nicely.

Super Green Beans were about as simple as the carrots. I roasted the green beans with olive oil. When they were done from the oven I added some flax seed, which lightly coated the green beans and gave a nice nutty texture to it.

The Tofurky, both of them, were all cooked by Mr. Bolsh. A few year ago we started using sparkling pear cider to glaze and marinade the fake meat. This year was no different. Mr. Bolsh boiled the cider into a reduction sauce (though I don't think he knew that's what he was doing) and he kept turning the tofurky to coat it. He then baked it like normal.

On to the photos!

The Spread:
Potato Rolls:
Candied Carrots:
Super Green Beans:
My Wonderful Plate of food:
Nap Time!

Faux Indian Food

I've been craving Indian food lately. It's more the spices and the wonderful smells they bring into the house.

This was a simple meal I made that makes my mouth still water.

Potatoes coated in oil, mustard seed, cumin seed, cardamon seed, pepper, and probably some other spices. I then roasted them for about 30 minutes in the oven.

Pan fried brussel sprouts and onions with similar spices as the potatoes. They didn't taste the same though.

Chickpeas, spinach and a premade tandoori sauce.

Such a simple meal and full of so much flavor!

Potato Wedges

In Oregon they're called JoJos. In the rockies they were called potato wedges. Apparently in grocery store delis they contain chicken fat. I've been craving these thick potato wedges coated with a crusty skin for awhile.

Potato Wedges:
2 potatoes
3/4 cup four
1/4 cup nutritional
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon your other favorite spice


Preheat oven t0 425 F and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper
Cut the washed potatoes into 8 long pieces (in half, in half again, and one more time in half.)
Mix the dry ingredients.
If your potatoes are still wet from washing and cutting you can coat your potatoes with the flour mixture right away. If your potatoes are dry, dip them in water (or a combo of water/flax meal) then into the flour mixture.
Place on the covered cookie sheet sheet and bake 15-25 minutes until golden brown and a bit crunchy on the outside.
Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Harvest Moon Roast

I honestly thought life would slow down after we bought the house and after the wedding, but I guess it's not in my nature. I took on four freelance jobs which has been really exciting helping make the world's first Vegan Mini Mall come to life. It's been great working with Food Fight Grocery, Scapegoat Tattoo, Sweetpea Baking Company and Herbivore Clothing and Magazine. When your clients are fun, it makes working fun. Problem with these jobs was that I was also working my full time day job. Note to self - don't take on four freelance jobs at the same time, specially when they all have the same deadline.

When those jobs started wrapping up I ended up getting hit by a car on my bike! Nothing too major, just some major bruising and a few deep cuts. But the limping around kept me out of the kitchen, thus - me not posting.

This is a bit more personal I normally am at this blog because I was tagged by Pauline to do the name meme. It stressed me out. My name is Webly. I could think of words to describe me, but I didn't have all those letters in my name: Driven, Loyal, Trickster, Creative. See, it doesn't spell anything!

Enough with the personal, on to, the Harvest Moon. It's beautiful tonight. I celebrated by making a wonderful fall meal.

Harvest Moon Roast:

1 squash of your choice. I forget which one I used, a dark orange one.
1 medium potato
1 medium fuji apple
1 or 2 ears of corn
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 teaspoons rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Cut the squash in half, scoop out the guts. Peal the squash with a good peeler or a sharp knife. Cut it into 1/2 to 1/4 inch cubes.
Spray a pan with olive oil spray and lay the squash out and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Peel and cut the potatoes into a similar size as the squash.
Add the potatoes to the squash, spray with olive oil, and roast for 10 minutes.
Chop the garlic and set side.
Peel and chop the apple into the same size pieces as the squash and potato.
Add the apples to the roasted squash and potatoes. Add half the garlic and the rosemary. Mix and roast for 10 more minutes.
De-cob the corn.
Add the corn and garlic to the roast and cook 10-20 minutes longer - depending on how you like your roast.
Add salt and pepper to taste, toss.

Bundle up, serve on bright colored plates, and eat outside under the Harvest Moon with your favorites.

Simple Meals and Pie

I got a new tool - a julianner. It makes cutting quicker!

I was a bit too excited to use my new julieanner and didn't think about the whole of my meal because I was too hungry and excited. I started cutting the carrots, but I was already boiling rice noodles and sauteeing garlic. Then went the sun dried tomatoes. It really wasn't a good meal, but it looked good and the salt really helped. This was one of those times when you understand the importance of a flavored salt when it makes a meal.
Skinny Oven Fries:
These tasted much like hash browns. The potatoes were sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt before baking.


Melon Baller!
Another fun kitchen tool, but doing an entire watermelon - it's a lot of work. I always wanted to serve punch out of a watermelon so I balled most the melon. I forgot to take a picture of my watermelon punch bowl though!
I threw in some leechies for color.


Coconut Cream Pie with Lime Sauce:
I am still working on my pie recipe. This recipe is a mixture of this recipe and a vanilla tofu pudding recipe. Unfortunately, the pie didn't set. But it tasted damn good!

Low-fat Potato Dinner

This dish is very filling and is pretty low in calories and fat but high in flavor.

Baked Potato with Salsa:
1/2 cup corn
2/3 cup black beans
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1 Tablespoon Wildwood Aioli or a vegan mayo
Salsa to taste

Mix the ingredients and serve over a warm baked with a side of salsa.

This dish was served with a side of yellow watermelon sprinkled with lime juice.

Tofu Scramble

Last weekend I attended the Post Punk Kitchen Vegan: The Gathering and cooked a large amount of tofu scramble Sunday morning. People were really happy with the dish and hearing Julie tell me it was "the best tofu scramble" she'd ever had, was a compliment to many any heart smile.

Sun dried tomato Tofu scramble with Basil

I don't really have a recipe but it usually goes like this:
Saute onions, add garlic, mix. Add tofu, a bit of soy sauce and any dried spices and cook until the tofu starts to brown.
Add veggies related to their firmness (carrots, to green beans, spinach and tomatoes) and add fresh spices last.

Potatoes with Carrot Tarragon Sauce

Potatoes with Carrot Tarragon Sauce:
2 large potatoes
olive oil
1/2 sweet onion
1 large handful baby carrots
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 Tablespoons Mirin
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the potatoes in round and boil until soft, but not falling apart.
When the potatoes are done, spray cookie sheet with olive oil and place boiled potatoes on sheet and bake about 10-20 minutes at 425 F until lightly browned on both sides.
Saute the onion until caramelized. Deglaze with Mirin.
Add carrots and water and boil until the carrots are very soft. Add garlic last three minutes of cooking.
Blend the carrots, onion, left over water in the pot and 1 sprig of tarragon until pureed.
Spread across a plate and place boiled and baked potatoes on top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and tarragon.
Serve warm.
This sauce is fun to trick people because they will think it's a cheesy sauce. Really, it's a hearty, lightly sweet and warm carrot sauce.
The sauce would make a great soup with more liquid. This sauce had Mr. Bolsh licking his plate!

Kitchen Gadgets

The following meals feature dishes made from new kitchen gadgets.

First the Panini Grill:
I love grill lines on my food. I can't wait until the day we have a backyard grill to include the smoky flavor. The Panini grill is great because it's larger than a George Foreman Grill and the lines are closer together.
I wanted a quick meal so I threw on a cut of cabbage, onion and some quickly miso-marinaded tofu. I sprayed the cabbage with soy sauce and sprayed the onion with olive oil before sprinkling on some kelp powder before grilling. I walked away and when I came back there was hot, grilled food waiting for me. I stacked them on top of each other and called it a meal.


Rocket Blender or "The Magic Bullet":
The Magic Bullet is a tool I've heard people rave about for a long time and I ignored it because I have my dear food processor to fulfill all my desires for chopping, blending, shedding. The Bullet seemed like the Vita Mix people who are just loyal.
When I broke our blender I went out and bought a Rocker Blender, just to try it. I had no idea the world I was about to step into!

Peaches and Cream:
Smoothies have been a great way to fill me up while not having much time for a full home cooked meal.
1/2-1 cup raw cashews soaked in water for an hour or more (I have these soaking in the fridge these days)
1- 1 1/2 cup soy/rice milk
1- 1 1/2 cup frozen peaches or strawberries

Blend the cashews with a bit of soy milk.

You might need more soy milk or other liquid, so just blend until it's thick and creamy.

Add the frozen fruit and maybe more liquid. Blend until the consistency you desire.

Take off the blender attachment and add the drinking cap.

We've really enjoyed this kitchen gadget because it's quick and easy both in clean up and use.
The pros, beyond the clean up and user-friendly style, are how well it blends ice and how you don't have to push down or stir the items -you can just lift it up and shake! When it's ready to serve you just throw on a little drinking cap to cover up the threaded edge and drink away.
The cons to this toy is the annoyance of screwing and unscrewing the blender attachment. Blenders are great because you can continue to add items while blending, something you can't do here.

Creamy Potato Soup:
I've been pretty stuck on the cashew cream lately. I used it in a potato soup to make it creamier and a bit thicker. It was a hit.
Cashews, veggie broth, carrots, onion, potatoes, and basil.


Pesto Shells:
Here I was trying out the Bullet again while making pesto.
basil, olive oil, veggie broth (to cut the oil down), garlic, cashews, sun dried tomatoes.

The problem with using the Rocket here was that to dice the garlic small enough the pesto became soup-like it was so smooth. I prefer various sized basil pieces in my pesto over a pesto-soup. It still got the job done but I will be sticking to my food processor for pesto.

Pesto Fries

Why didn't I think of adding pesto to potatoes sooner?!

Pesto Fries:
2 large potatoes
Olive oil 2-3 Tablespoons pesto
Marinara for dipping

Roast th potatoes like normal at about 425 F. When the potatoes are about 5 minutes from done take out and toss with a few tablespoons of pesto to cover them. Place back in the oven for a few minutes for the pesto to cook in.
Sprinkle with salt and serve warm with a warm bowl of marinara for dipping.

SO GOOD!

Lunch Swap

My friend had a birthday party last Sunday with an interesting theme - a lunch swap. Half the people made lunch for two and the others just showed up. All the lunches were wrapped and placed on the table. When eating time came those who didn't come with lunch drew numbers. The first person got to pick a lunch, unwrap it and wait. The second person could steal the first person's unwrapped lunch or pick a wrapped lunch on the table and unwrap it. It goes on until everyone has picked a lunch. The chef of the lunches are then exposed and you have a little picnic with them.


The inspiration for my lunch came from my awesome, new dinosaur cookie cutters. I made Flax crackers from How it All Vegan, and a black bean "tar pit" dip. I didn't know how to continue making a meal with a dinosaur theme, so it stopped there.

The Flax crackers from How it All Vegan were great. I added some crushed, sliced almonds, and extra spices and they are great. I often skipped over this cookbook when I learned to cook, but it does have some good recipes in it. These will be made again with various spices.
For an appetizer I also included garlic stuff green olives and large capers.

Next dish was a simple potato salad. Apparently mustard and relish is not common to some peoples' experience in potato salad. Potatoes, vegenaise, mustard, chopped onions, fresh dill, fresh tarragon, vinegar, celery, salt and a tad of relish.

Tofurky Kielbasas satueed with onions and zucchini and put on skewers for easy eating. These were really easy and went over well because they can look impressive.

Fruit put on skewers. Another simple way to make fruit more fun and easy to transport by placing it in a pink glass.

Last was dessert, of course. Chocolate pear cookies with a strawberry filling.


The party was really fun but it took a lot more energy to make a full lunch/dinner for someone than making one dish I'd normally make for a potluck party. I later found out that others didn't put as much energy into their lunches.
The history from this idea came from a 50's dating and fund raising idea. Women would make lunches, men would then place auctions on the lunches. When they won the auction, they would then have lunch with the woman who made it. Very cute.

Simple Dinners

So we're getting settled into our new house. After a few weeks of crackers and peanut butter, or eating, I am back to cooking! Yeah!
Here are a few simple meals I've made.

Roasted potatoes with lots of garlic, sauteed chard with some liquid smoke and caramelized onions with a fresh salad with a dill ranch dressing:

More roasted potatoes with cumin and a cheesy sauce (i'm trying to perfect a recipe for my partner) and a side salad with Italian dressing:

I've been trying to buy more things are the farmers market. Here's this weeks loot. For $18 I got kale, elephant garlic, rhubarb, asparagus, lettuce, cauliflower, leek, shallots, cabbage and fiddlehead ferns:

Cheesy Soup

I went about this soup making a blended potato soup but it ended up tasting like a cheesy tomato soup. SO very delecious!


Cheesy Soup:
6 small red potatoes
1 leek
2 ribs of celery
1 large carrot
4 large cloves of garlic
vegetable broth
salt, pepper
dash of chili powder
1 large tomato

Chop and boil potatoes as normal, about 10-15 minutes.
Saute leek in a soup pot. Dice celery and carrot and saute until tender. 5 min?
Add garlic and saute for 1 min. Add enough potato water or vegetable broth to just barely cover the sauted veggies. Add powdered veggie broth if you potato water.
Peel, de-seed tomato and dice. Set aside.
Let simmer until potatoes are done.
Add potatoes to the veggies and fill with just enough vegetable broth or potato broth to cover.
Place in blender and blend until desired smoothness.
Return to pot, add tomatoes and more liquid as desired.
Let simmer for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Garnish with tomato and if you're feeling extra cheesy add a slice of tofutti chedder cheese. Sprinkle with a dash of chili powder or paprika just before serving.