Gingery Golden Beet Detox Soup & Homemade Veggie Broth

Gingery Golden Beet Detox Soup
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Tonight after yoga, we stopped by the brand-new Gateway Market at MLK, just south of 235 (is that Woodland Ave?). It's already a marvelous bright spot in the center of Des Moines, and once there's more fresh local produce, it'll be truly phenomenal. They had some lovely golden beets for $2/pound, so I was inspired to make this version of my Autumn EquiDetox Soup when I got home with my booty. I used homemade veggie broth and was surprised to discover that the finished version needed no salt. If you don't like beets, give golden beets a try. They're surprisingly mild and sweet.

1 tsp olive oil
1 golden beet, sliced thinly
1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 apple, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup uncooked pearled barley or 1 cup cooked kamut
2 cups veggie broth
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 knuckle-sized piece fresh ginger, grated
fresh pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium-large soup pot. Add the beet slices and saute for 5-10 minutes, or until the beets are starting to yield to a fork. Add the quinoa and stir for another 2 minutes, or until the quinoa is popping in earnest. Add the garam masala, garlic and apple and stir for another minute or so. Add the tomatoes, barley or kamut, and veggie broth. Grate the ginger into the soup. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, covered, or until the quinoa is translucent and the beets and barley are tender. Season with pepper to taste.

Homemade Veggie Broth
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2 carrots, diced
1/2 an onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped or smashed
2-3 sundried tomatoes
1 apple, chopped
2 bay leaves
10-15 peppercorns
1/4 tsp sea salt
8-10 cups water

Put in a covered crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Gluten-travaganza!

I made the No-Knead Bread again tonight, with a few changes: I used 1 cup stoneground whole wheat, 2 cups unbleached all purpose and only added 1 tsp salt. I did the first rise from 11pm to 5:30pm, then skipped the second rise. I just set the folded dough out on the floured cutting board covered with an upside down bowl while I preheated the oven + crock pot. It still turned out perfect! Tender and fluffy on the inside, crisp and crackly on the outside.

The other sensational recipe around these parts is the famous Veggeroni/Seitan O' Greatness. I used Susan's version of the recipe from Fat Free Vegan, who got it from Lachesis on the PPK boards, who might have gotten it from a cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. It's been around the block a few times, to be sure. And it's absolutely every bit as tasty as everyone says. Almost as good as the Tofurkey sausages, but way cheaper. This is probably the only seitan that I've snacked on plain. I like it sliced, cold, with barbecue sauce. Yum!

Spicy BBQ Veggeroni/Seitan O' Greatness

The Dry:
1-1/4 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 tsp salt (I usually skimp on salt, but this one really needs the full amount)
2 tsp paprika
1/4 dried chipotle pepper, ground to a powder
a few pinches of cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder

The Wet:
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2/3 cup water
4 Tbsp barbecue sauce
3/4 tsp liquid smoke

Preheat the oven to 325. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the wet ingredients, stirring until smooth. Dump the wet into the dry, combine with a spoon (or your hands). Knead for a few minutes, or until the gluten starts to stiffen up a little. Roll into a log 7-8 inches long. Place the log on a sheet of aluminum foil, roll up tightly and twist the ends shut. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the log over. Bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the foil to cool. Slice and consume!

No-Knead Bread

Adapted from the now-famous Sullivan Street Bakery recipe.

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp rapid rise yeast
1-1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp water
1 medium-large clove garlic, minced (optional)
1/4 tsp each cornmeal and sesame seeds (optional)

STEP 1: MIX & RISE
Whisk the flours, salt and yeast in a bowl until blended. Add the water and stir until a shaggy dough is formed. Put the bowl of dough in a plastic bag, twist-tie it, and set it in the oven with the oven light on to rise for 18-20 hours.

STEP 2 (12-18 HOURS LATER): FLOOP AND RISE
Spray a medium sized glass bowl with oil. Liberally smear a surface and your hands with flour, dump out the dough and fold it in on itself twice. Put the dough lump in the oiled bowl and cover it with a very well floured cotton towel. Let rise for another 2-3 hours.

STEP 3 (2 HOURS LATER): PREHEAT AND BAKE
30 minutes before the dough is ready, preheat the oven and a covered ceramic pot at 475 degrees. Peel the towel carefully off the dough. Take the heated pan out, sprinkle sesame seeds and cornmeal on the bottom (optional) and dump in the dough. Cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Take the cover off and bake for another 15-30 minutes, or until the loaf is browned and gorgeous.

STEP 4: WAIT! THEN EAT!
Cool on a rack or cutting board for at least 45 minutes until you cut into it. (It's still cooking!)

Notes: You may need more or less water depending on the consistency of your whole wheat flour. You want it to be shaggy and sticky. Next time I'm going to try for 1 cup stoneground whole wheat flour and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour. Num num num. I use my ceramic crock pot insert for baking the bread. (I took off the plastic knob.) The past few times, I've just wrapped the lid in foil so as not to let the steam escape. Today, I replaced the original knob with a ceramic drawer pull from the hardware store. I had to buy a pack of 8-32" thick shorter screws and some washers to complete the installation.

Variation: Add 1/4 cup raw sugar, 1/4 cup sucanat, 2 Tbsp cinnamon and 3 handfuls raisins to the first mix. Cinnamon raisin bread!