Italian Chickpea Pasta

6 cups water
pinch of salt
3 cups pasta of your choice

Bring the water to a boil. Drop in the salt and pasta. Stir once or twice to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to itself. Boil under tender.

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large handful sundried tomatoes (the slightly soft kind that come in zip-top bags)
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup artichoke hearts, mooshed
1 cup frozen choped kale
2 Tbsp capers
2 healthy splashes white/red wine
1 splash Tobasco sauce

Heat the oil in a largish skillet. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or so, or until fragrant. Add everything else and simmer until most of the wine has evaporated.

Drain the pasta. Return to the pot with a drizzle each of olive oil and lemon juice. Add the topping mixture and stir. Serve immediately!

Lady Cassandra Cookies

1. Make a batch of sugar cookie dough and put it in the fridge to chill for an hour or two. I used this recipe (modified from the back of my flour bag):
   
   1 cup Earth Balance margarine (half a tub)
   1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
   1 tsp vanilla extract
   1/2 tsp almond extract
   1/2 tsp baking soda
   2 Tbsp Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
   3 cups unbleached flour
   
   Cream the Earth Balance and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla & almond extracts and the cream cheese. Add the flour, forming a slightly sticky dough. Form into a ball or log, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or two.
2. Get a screen cap of Cassandra. I used the one here:
   http://shillpages.com/dw/story/d9/02/dw200502-047.jpg
3. Open it in Illustrator. Trace around the picture using the pen tool. You should end up with sort of a spiky rectangle. Put a 2px black stroke on it. Size it to roughly 3 inches by 4 inches and print it out.
4. Tape the piece of paper to a flattened cereal box. Cut out a cardboard version of the rectangle with scissors.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets. Unwrap the cookie dough and place it on a large sheet of waxed paper. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper and roll it out to 1/4 inch thick. If it's gotten too warm, you might want to put it back in the fridge for a few minutes. Cold dough will be easier to work with.
6. Lightly flour the cardboard cutout and place it on top of the dough. Trace around the dough with a sharp knife, then lift up the cut out and place it on the cookie sheet. Leave a few inches between the cookies... they'll spread a little in the oven. Pop into the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until getting light golden brown. Re-roll the remaining dough and stick it back in the fridge while the first batch bakes.
7. Mix together your frosting base:
   
   1 drop red food coloring
   1 drop yellow food coloring
   1 Tbsp maple syrup
   1/2 tsp almond extract
   2 Tbsp vanilla soy milk
   2 cups powdered sugar
   
   Keep adding powdered sugar and soy milk until you get a light peach color and a thick but drippy consistency.
8. Keep rolling, cutting, chilling and baking until your dough is all finished. Once your cookies are cool, dip the tops into the frosting and let the excess drip off. Place them on a sheet of waxed paper.
9. Shake out some chocolate sprinkles. Choosing smaller sprinkles, place the eyes close together a little higher than the halfway mark. Let the cookies dry several hours or overnight.
10. When the cookies are dry, take a red food-safe decorating marker and draw the mouth on below the eyes. Let the mouths dry before transporting.

Your Cassandras are now ready to be moisturized!

Chocolate Dalek (Reprise)

For those of you who came to my Crafty TARDIS panel at Chicago TARDIS this weekend, here's the link to the Chocolate Dalek Cake recipe and photos. I'll have the Cassandra cookies recipe up later today.

* Chocolate Dalek recipe & instructions
* Flickr photoset of the Dalek cake

Here are some of the other web sites we discussed during the panel:

* Doctor Who Scarf
* Scarf patterns from UNIT
* Crafty TARDIS LJ community
* Who Knits LJ community
* Dalek Builder's Guild
* K-9 Builders' Guild
* TARDIS Builders' Guild

Vegan Thanksgiving

Even though we're heading out to Chicago later this afternoon, I got a powerful yearning to make a semi-traditional Thanksgiving lunch:

- mashed potatoes
- kale (from our garden) with garlic & (tempeh) bacon
- wild mushroom strudel
- jellied cranberry sauce
- pumpkin pie

I made the cranberry sauce and the pie last night, but everything else came together relatively quickly late this morning.

Totally delicious, all made from scratch in less than half the time it'd take to roast a turkey, and no tryptophan coma to boot!

***

Mashed Potatoes

4-5 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
1 cup veggie broth + enough water to cover potatoes
salt & pepper to taste
3-4 Tbsp Earth Balance margarine

Cover the potatoes with veggie broth and water plus a pinch or so of salt. Boil until very tender. Reserve 1 cup of the liquid, then drain potatoes over a colander. Return to the pot with Earth Balance, salt, pepper and a little liquid. Mash until creamy, tasting for seasoning and liquid.

(P.S. The mashed potatoes were especially good when mixed with the kale/bacon mixture. Mmmm....)

Sweet Potato Brownies

I'm not sure what possessed me to make these. The idea just sounded tasty. They're not quite as decadent and crackly as my usual brownies, but they're still moist and delicious.

1 cup all purpose, whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
1 cup Ghiradelli hot cocoa mix
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup vanilla soy milk
2-3 handfuls dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a baking dish.

Whisk together the flour, hot cocoa, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine the sweet potato puree, canola oil and soy milk. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir just until mixed (don't overbeat, especially if you're using a whole flour). Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter in the oiled dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Easy and delish.

1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
dash of salt (to taste)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 smallish heirloom tomatoes, chopped
1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh
2/3 cup pureed pumpkin (optional)
1 handful fresh cilantro, snipped into bits (optional)

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp 'instant' polenta
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups water

Preheat the oven to 'broil.'

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, or until they're starting to get translucent. Add the spices, salt, beans, corn and half the tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil in a separate medium-sized pan. Mix together the chili powder, polenta and salt. When the water's boiling, dump in the polenta mixture and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until the polenta is thick and a little difficult to stir.

Stir the rest of the tomatoes, the pumpkin and the cilantro into the bean mixture. Scoop out the polenta mixture and spread it on top of the bean mixture. Spray the top of the polenta with olive oil, then bake for 5-10 minutes in the preheated oven.

Ingredient notes: I've purchased the boxed polenta both from the IngerDahl's and River Bend Trading Company. It's way cheaper to cook your own polenta, but you can also get a tube of pre-cooked polenta and lay the slices on top of the beans. The tubes are available at IngerDahl's, New City Market, Gateway Market and Campbell's.

Baked Winter Squash with Curried Apple Compote

This is based on a Vegetarian Times recipe.

2-3 smallish acorn, delicata or sweet dumpling squash
3-4 apples, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup applesauce or apple butter
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp olive oil
1 largish handfuls currants or raisins
salt & pepper to taste
1 bottle ginger ale (I like Reed's)

You can make this recipe in one of two ways. The first is arguably tastier, but it takes more time. The second doesn't quite have the depth of flavor, but it's on the dinner table faster.
Both are delicious.

The first way: Cut the squash into rings. Make the filling. Heap the filling in the center of the rings, pour the ginger ale into the bottom of the pan and bake.

The second way: Split the squash in half. Bake the squash halves in the ginger ale while you're making the filling, the combine and serve immediately.

Prepare your squash.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Cook the apples and onions for 5 minutes, or until the onions are starting to get translucent. Add the curry powder and raisins (and a little water, if necessary) and simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in the apple sauce or apple butter.

Serve squash with the filling either heaped in the center of the rings, or mounded in the hollow of the halves.

Wild Mushroom Strudel

This is supposed to be a fancy dish, and it certainly tastes like it. But when I pulled it out of the oven, God help me if it didn't look exactly like an enormous Hot Pocket. That aside, I think this would make an excellent holiday entree for vegans. It's savory and satisfying in a traditional main dish kind of way, and plus, it's stuffed. Omnivores will drool over the tantalizing aromas that waft up from your plate.

4 oz. shiitake mushrooms
1 fist-sized oyster mushroom
1 8 oz. package sliced crimini or button mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium-sized leek, just the white and light green parts, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine
salt/pepper to taste
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp all purpose/spelt flour
1 tsp veggie bouillon powder
1/4 tsp dried sage
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 can braised wheat gluten drained, rinsed and sliced into thin ribbons (optional)
1 package puff pastry
olive oil spray

Set out the puff pastry to thaw. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the leeks, mince the garlic, and chop the mushrooms and gluten into little bits. Combine the flour, nutritional yeast and bouillon powder.

Heat the olive oil in a largish skillet. Add the leeks, garlic, mushrooms and sage and saute for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms have reduced and are releasing fragrant juices. Add the nutritional yeast mixture and gluten and cook for another minute or so. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Mix in the thyme and remove from heat.

Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface until you have two large rectangles. Spray two baking dishes with olive oil and drape a rectangle pastry over the bottom of each one. Spoon half the mushroom mixture in a line down the center of the pastry. Fold over the top and bottom ends of the pastry, then the right and left ends, until you have a little mushroom packet/burrito. Spray the top with olive oil and slide into the oven.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the packets are puffed up and golden. Slice and consume!

Ingredient Notes: The Gateway Market has loose shiitake and oyster mushrooms available at much lower prices than the packaged kind. We get our canned gluten/abalone at Double Dragon Market for 89 cents a can. You could use another kind of seitan, if you prefer. The canned sort is nice and juicy.

Pumpkin-Eggplant Polenta Lasagna

Yet another variation on Susan's Eggplant Parmesan at Fat Free Vegan. One of our eggplants turned out to be past its prime, so I threw in some pumpkin puree and swiss chard from our garden to make up the difference. The result was incredible: creamy, savory and decadent. I have to say that this recipe is incredibly forgiving and amazingly tasty.

1 smallish eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup marinara sauce

2 cups pureed roasted pumpkin (or 1 can pumpkin puree)
1-2 pinches nutmeg

1 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch swiss chard, rinsed and torn into pieces

1/2 block polenta, sliced paper thin
salt & pepper to taste
2 Tbsp each fresh basil and oregano, torn into bits

Cheeze sauce:
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
1/2 cup soy creamer
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/2 tsp veggie bouillon powder (optional)
1 tsp onion powder
1-1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cornstarch
1-2 dashes Tobasco

Preheat the broiler. Lay your eggplant slices on a cookie sheet, salt them lightly and spray them with olive oil. When the oven is hot enough, stick them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, or until they're starting to brown.

Blend up the ingredients for the cheeze sauce.

Mix the pumpkin puree with 2-3 Tbsp of the cheeze sauce and the nutmeg.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high. Add the garlic and swiss chard and cook for a minute or two, until the chard is wilty. Mix in half of the basil and oregano.

Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees. Layer the ingredients in a baking dish in the following order:
* polenta slices
* marinara
* eggplant slices
* cheeze sauce
* swiss chard mixture
* pumpkin mixture
* salt/pepper
* cheeze sauce
* polenta slices
* marinara sauce
* drizzle of cheeze sauce

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the remaining basil and oregano and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Crispy Tempeh Fries

I served these with chipotle dipping sauce (the cheeze sauce from the eggplant parmesan, plus a chipotle pepper in adobo) alongside butternut squash soup.

1 package tempeh, sliced lengthwise and then cut into 'fingers'
1 Tbsp veggie boullion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
canola oil
salt

Toss the tempeh fingers with the bouillon and garlic powder. If desired, let sit in the fridge for 20 minutes or so for the coating to bond to the tempeh.

Heat a thin layer of canola oil in a skillet. Add the tempeh and fry over medium heat for a few minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove to a plate lined with brown paper and salt immediately.

Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna

This is my version of Susan's Eggplant Parmesan at Fat Free Vegan, except I wanted to make it wheat-free. I also used jarred marinara sauce, because I'm lazy.

1 eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 handfuls Tings, crushed
1/2 jar marinara sauce
1/2 block polenta, sliced paper thing

Cheeze sauce:
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup plain rice milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp veggie bouillon powder
1 tsp onion powder
1-1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cornstarch

Preheat the broiler. Lay your eggplant slices on a cookie sheet, salt them lightly and spray them with olive oil. When the oven is hot enough, stick them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, or until they're starting to brown. Blend up the ingredients for the cheeze sauce.

Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees. Put half the eggplant slices in the bottom of a casserole dish. Cover with half the polenta slices, followed by half the marinara, then half the cheeze sauce. Sprinkle with a handful of crushed Tings. Repeat, reserving the bulk of the crushed Tings for the top. Sprinkle the top with crushed Tings and grind a little more fresh pepper on top of the whole thing.

Bake for 20-40 minutes, or until browned. Eat!

Bacon-y Potato-Swiss Chard Quiche

This recipe is from have cake, will travel. I adapted it to what I had on hand, and goddamn, was it tasty. It didn't set up very well, but I had proprotionately less tofu than veggies and probably didn't press out as much cooking liquid as I could have.

Crust:
1 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp margarine (cold)
1/4 cup water (cold)

Filling:
1 tsp olive oil
1 largish potato, cut into thin half-moons
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 bunch swiss chard, well rinsed and torn
3 garlic cloves, minced
6-10 tempeh bacon slices

Sauce:
1 package extra-firm silken tofu
4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 chipotle in adobo
3 Tbsp miso
2 cloves garlic
1/3 c plain soy or rice milk

Prepare the crust. Whisk together the flour, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Use your hands to squish in the margine bits until crumbly. Add the water a little bit at a time, until the dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate/freeze for 10-20 minutes, to chill the dough.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Chop the potato, onion and garlic and rinse/tear the swiss chard. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, then add the potato and onion and 1/4 tsp salt and saute for a few minutes. Add the water, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, put the swiss chard in a large pot with an inch or so of water. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the swiss chard is all wilty. Drain the potatoes, onions and swiss chard in a colander (you may need to press out extra liquid).

Rinse/dry your skillet and return it to medium heat. Add the tempeh bacon slices and cook for 5 minutes, or until crispy. Chop/crumble into little bits.

Dump all the sauce ingredients in a large jar and blend until smooth.

Spray a pie dish with olive oil. Remove the dough from the fridge/freezer and roll it out between two sheets of wax paper until thin. Peel off the top sheet of wax paper and flip the dough circle into the pie plate. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.

Mix the potatoes, onions, garlic, swiss chard and bacon with the sauce. Ladle the mixture into the prebaked crust and return to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then serve!

Cajun Black-Eyed Pea Tempeh Stir-Fry

Here's my thought process regarding dinner last night:

* Black eyed pea patties with chipotle remoulade sound tasty.
* Hm. Out of tofu. I could have them with salsa instead!
* Black eyed pea and tempeh patties sound even tastier.
* Damn. I'm really hungry. Patties are too much work. Let's throw it all in a pot instead.
* And add... tomatoes? And diced green chiles.
* Hm. No diced green chiles. Jalepenos!
* You know what would be tasty? Kale!

My boy declared this scrumptious. Funny how the tastiest recipes are borne out of desperation.

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 block tempeh, thawed and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp bouillon powder
1/4 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
5-6 tamed jalepeno rings, diced (optional)
3-4 shakes Tobasco
3 kale leaves, washed and torn into bits (stems discarded, optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion, tempeh and salt and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the tempeh is starting to brown. Add the bouillon powder, Cajun seasoning and garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add the tomatoes and juice and lower the heat to a simmer. Add the black eyed peas, jalepenos and Tobasco and stir well. Add the torn kale leaves on top, cover and cook for 7-10 more minutes, or until the greens are dark and wilted. Stir in the greens and serve!

Double-Chocolate Spelt Muffins

These fluffy, tender, decadent chocolate gems are, amazingly, wheat, egg and dairy-free. These are based off Isa's delightful recipe at the PPK.

1 1/2 cups spelt flour
3/4 cup Ghiradelli hot cocoa mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons soy yogurt (I used Wildwood's raspberry flavor)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 handfuls chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin cups with oil. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the soy milk, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract.

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and stir just until combined. Gently mix in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups until nearly full. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Potato-Butternut Curry w/ Edamame

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
a few pinches saffron
4-5 potatoes of various sorts, diced
1/2 cup water
1 cup frozen peas or edamame
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1/2 tsp salt

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add mustard seeds, stir, and cover so that the popping mustard seeds don't escape. Let pop for 30 seconds or so, then add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, or until starting to turn translucent. Add garlic, curry, garam masala and saffron and cook for another minute or so. Add the potatoes, and if uncooked, the squash. Add the water, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes or so.

Once the potatoes are tender, add the peas and, if cooked, the squash. Add salt to taste and cook, uncovered, until all the water has evaporated. Serve with rice, dosas or flatbread and tamarind sauce.

Preserving 101: For Those of Us Too Scared to Can

One of these days, I'll get around to canning. But the Polk County Master Gardeners have managed to put the fear of God into me, and I don't have a pot large enough to submerge jars in anyway. So for now, if I'm going to preserve any of all this farmers' market bounty, it's going to have to be frozen.

Note: One side benefit is that this forces us not to clutter our freezer with processed crap that we basically never eat.

We did a little of this last year, freezing corn kernels and a few strawberries. This year, we've already frozen twenty quarts of strawberries and a few plastic tubs worth of corn and green beans.

Fortunately, the process is pretty simple. You briefly cook whatever you're going to freeze, then you either pack it into tubs or spread in a layer on a cookie sheet to freeze. (We usually don't bother to cook corn or strawberries.)

Last night, I froze five pounds worth of roma tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water for a minute or two, then plunging them in cold water. Once chilled, the skins slipped right off. I packed the skinless tomatoes into a plastic tub as tightly as possible (oxygen is not your friend in the freezer), then sealed it.

Tonight, we're roasting a whole crisper drawer's worth of beets. After they're cooked, we'll peel, slice and pack those into tubs as well.

Next up: kale!

Hopping John, Fried Okra & Corn on the Cob

Hoppin' John
===================

1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1/4 cup salsa
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 smallish tomato, chopped (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot until shimmering. Add the quinoa and stir for a minute or two, or until the quinoa starts to pop. Add the water, salsa and Cajun seasoning and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the quinoa is translucent. Add the black-eyed peas and tomato and stir. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through.


Oven-Fried Okra
===================

15-20 okra, rinsed
2 tsp soy milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp Cajun seasoning
dash each salt and pepper
olive oil spray

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Cut the okra into bite-size chunks. Toss with cornmeal. Stir in the soy milk until sticky and toss with more cornmeal. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and spray generously with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crispy and golden.


Easy Corn on the Cob
===================

2 ears of corn, shucked
water

Clean the silk off the ears and break eahc one in half. Place in a large soup pot along with a few inches of water (enough to come up halfway up the corn cobs). Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the corn has darkened to a golden color and steam is pouring out from under the lid. Remove corn from water and set on a plate to drain.

Easy Enchilada Bake

2-3 handfuls corn tortilla chips
1/2 jar enchilada sauce (or salsa)
5-10 jalepeno slices, torn into bits (optional)
1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels (optional)
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 onion, diced (about 2/3 cup diced)
1 can sliced black olives (optional)
cheese for sprinkling or cheez sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread the chips in the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Top with enchilada sauce, making sure all chips get covered. Top that with jalepno bits. Top that with black beans, followed by corn. Top that with black olives and onion. Finally, spread on a bunch of cheese (or cheez sauce, ala Bryanna Clark Grogan). Bake for 25 minutes, or until cheese is melty.

Top with chopped tomatoes, avocadoes, lettuce and/or sour cream.

Super White Russian

2/3 cup plain rice milk
1 shot Kahlua
1/2 shot amaretto
vodka as desired

Enjoy creamy alcoholic goodness!

Green Bean Pesto Pasta

This is also really good with broccoli, if you have any. The little furled leaves soak up all that pesto-y goodness.

4-5 handfuls green beans, trimmed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 Tbsp pesto (I used 4 pesto cubes)
2 heirloom tomatoes, peeled and diced
8 oz pasta
olive oil
water

Cut the green beans into bite sized pieces and steam until no longer crunchy. Drain.

Bring a whole lotta water to a boil. When it's boiling, add 1 tsp olive oil and the pasta. Stir to keep from sticking. Cook until pasta is no longer crunchy.

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and stir until golden. Add the green beans and pesto and stir until heated. Turn the heat off and stir in the tomatoes.

When pasta is done, drain and mix with 1 tsp more olive oil. Top with green bean mixture and serve!

Ingredient Notes: I used homemade pesto that I'd frozen in an ice cube tray, but you could just as easily use store-bought pesto. For the pasta, I gave this gluten-free lentil-flour pasta I found at New City Market a whirl. It has a slightly bitter aftertaste, but the texture is excellent, and there's 13 grams of protein for every 2 ounces (which is fan-freaking-phenomenal).

Homemade Cheese-Free Pesto

It's time for our basil plants to meet their Maker, so we whipped up a large batch of this over the weekend. You kind of have to eyeball the proportions here and taste it until it feels right. I know that's maddening, but I'm not sure there's any other way to make this recipe. Trust your inner pesto sense!

basil leaves, washed (2-3 bunches)
garlic cloves (3-4)
salt (a moderate sprinkling)
pine nuts (a large handful)
nutritional yeast (a tablespoon or two)
white miso (a few heaping spoonfuls)

Chop up the basil leaves as finely as you can. Set aside. Put the garlic, pine nuts and salt in a mortar and pestle and bash until it forms a thick gritty paste. Add the basil leaves and bash some more. Add the nutritional yeast and miso and stir. If you like, you can use a hand blender to even out the texture and make it less clumpy. You may also add olive oil to taste, but I usually think it's perfect as is.

Use immediately or spoon into an ice cube tray and freeze into little cute pesto cubes, then seal in a Ziploc bag until needed.

Hawaiian Pizza & Pineapple Rum Punch

This was good, but not as fabulous as the BBQ Chik'n pizza. Next time, I think I'll use barbecue sauce as the base. Mmmm. Use the juice from your pineapple to whip up a glass of pineapple rum punch (recipe follows).

2 frozen pizza crusts
2 heaping tablespoons marinara (or BBQ) sauce
1 can crushed pineapple, well drained
7-8 slices MorningStar bacon, ripped into pieces
1 package Vegan Gourmet mozzarella, shredded

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Smear the crusts with a thin layer of sauce. Top with the pineapple, followed by a layer of 'bacon' pieces. Sprinkle the shredded 'cheese' on top of that.

The trick to getting this 'cheese' to melt is to turn up your oven really hot (like 450 degrees) and sort of squish the cheese down onto the pizza. Then put cookie sheets under your pizza so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the 'cheese' is melted.

Pineapple Rum Punch

pineapple juice from a can of crushed pineapple
1 shot dark rum
ice cubes

Combine and sip to cool off your mouth while burning it on molten 'cheese'.

Zucchini Patties w/ Tomato-Corn Relish

The perfect way to use up zucchini, tomatoes and corn -- all of which are in great abundance at our farmer's market lately. If you have someone else help chop, this comes together in no time. The sweet cool crunchiness of the corn contrasts beautifully with the crispy savory patties.

2 cups grated zucchini
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup masa harina OR cornmeal
4 Tbsp hummus
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
canola oil for frying

2 ears sweet corn, kernels cut off
2 small or 1 large heirloom tomato, diced
1/2 lime, juiced
sprinkle of salt

Mix the grated zucchini, minced onion, masa harina, hummus, chile powder, cumin and cayenne in a bowl. Mix with a spoon or your hands until the mixture can be easily formed into patties. (You may need to add more masa harina or hummus, depending on how moist your zucchini is.)

Heat a layer of oil over medium heat in the bottom of a cast iron pot. Take 1/4 cup of the zucchini mixture, flatten into a patty and slide into the oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, mix the corn kernels and diced tomato in a large bowl. Add lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve the patties hot, topped with the tomato-corn mixture.

BBQ Ribz

These were easy and super-tasty. Probably my favorite barbecued seitan recipe yet. Shamelessly adapted from Fat Free Vegan and Yeah, That Vegan Shit.

1 cup + 2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tsp soy sauce
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
a whole lot of barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the wheat gluten, paprika, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, add the water to the peanut butter bit by bit until it's smoothly incorporated. Add the liquid smoke and the soy sauce and mix well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. You should have a slightly moist dough. If it's too sticky, add more wheat gluten. Knead for a few minutes, then press into a lightly oiled baking dish until it's 1/2 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into strips roughly 3/4-inch wide.

Bake for 10 minutes. Flip the strips and paint them generously with BBQ sauce. Bake for 5 more minutes. Flip them one more time, paint with BBQ and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve slathered with extra BBQ.

Ingredient Notes: I get my vital wheat gluten and my nutritional yeast at New City Market. I found the smoked paprika at Penzey's Spices (it's by Cool Basil and Half Price Books, at 86th and University). I used peanut butter from the Farmer's Market and Russ & Franks BBQ sauce from the River Bend Trading Company (I've also seen it at Gateway Market).

Zen Noodle & Sushi Bar

The veggie sushi is mighty tasty and interesting. The udon bowl was less interesting, even though I love me some udon. Next time I'm trying the rice noodles with red curry.

Beautiful decor, decent prices, excellent location.

Grand Piano Bistro

The Grand Piano Bistro has had me dreaming of their falafel with apricot chutney all week. That's all I'm saying.

They had a fabulous build-a-sandwich option during lunch. Perfect for picky eaters like me.

Namaste - Now With Lunch Buffet

We've been loving the cheap tasty dosas at Namaste (77th and University). It's a different way to experience the joys of Indian food. Yesterday, we noticed that they've added a lunch buffet Tue-Sun, so we stopped in this afternoon.

Pros: Tasty, unusual South Indian food.
Cons: Not as cheap as their a la carte menu, and the food was very spicy. Which was fine for me, but not so great for my boy.

We'll definitely go back. The food is too good not to. But we'll probably have him order his mainstay chana masala off the menu.

Pesto Orecchiette w/ Green Beans & Broccoli

1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces

2 cups orecchiette pasta (or other small pasta)
6 cups water

1/3 cup pesto
2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
salt to taste

Put the water on to boil. Once it's boiling, add a little salt and the pasta. Cook for 10+ minutes, or until the pasta is no longer crunchy but still has a 'bite'.

If using the pine nuts, heat a dry pot over medium heat. Add the pine nuts, stirring constantly, until they start to brown. Remove them immediately to a small bowl. Rinse out the pot and return it to heat. Once it's dry, add the olive oil and garlic. Stir until golden, about 1-2 minutes. Add the green beans, broccoli and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until the veggies are dark green. Add 1 Tbsp pesto, 1/4 cup water and cover. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the veggies are tender. Cover until pasta is done.

Once the pasta's ready, drain it in a colander. Immediately add it to the broccoli-green bean mixture, along with the pine nuts, pesto and mustard. Stir until well coated. Taste, and adjust salt to your liking. Serve at once!

Ingredient Notes: We got our orecchiette at the IngerDahl's. The mustard we use is the Iowa Country Dill Mustard from the downtown farmer's market. Pine nuts are fairly cheap at CostCo.

Roasted Beet Salad w/ Walnuts and Goat Cheese

Closely adapted from 'Vegetables Every Day', by Jack Bishop. (An excellent book which features invaluable tips on how to store and prepare all kinds of veggies. It's indispensable during farmers' market season.) This is an amazing way to prepare beets, even if you think you hate them.

4 medium-sized beets with the tops still attached
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp Lambic Framboise (optional)
2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup walnuts
1 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

(It's easier to do this first step the night before.) Preheat the oven. Wash the beets thoroughly. Cut off the tops and any trailing roots. If the tops have gone all wilty, put them in a bowl filled with water and stick it in the fridge. They'll crisp right up.

Wrap the beets in foil and pop them in the oven for as little as 20 minutes and as much as an hour (it depends on the size of your beets). Check every 20 minutes to see if they're done. (They're ready when a knife slides all the way through them easily. Remove them from the oven, unwrap them and let them cool a little. If you're using them right away, proceed to the next step while they're still warm. If you're preparing them ahead of time, just pop them in the fridge until you're ready to use them.

Using your hands (or paper towels) rub the skins off the beets. Slice them about 1/4 inch thick and set aside. Rinse or drain the beet greens and tear them into bite-size pieces, discarding the tough stems.

Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts, breaking them up into smaller pieces with your spoon and stirring constantly until you can smell them (about 1-2 minutes). Remove from the pan, give the pan a quick rinse and return to heat. When all the water has evaporated, add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until golden.

Add the beet greens and stir until wilted. Turn the heat down to low. Add the beet slices, layering them on top of the greens. Salt the beet slices lightly, then cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Whisk the balsamic vinegar, orange juice, Lambic Framboise and olive oil together until smooth. Pour the dressing over the beets and keep covered until ready to serve.

Scoop the beets and greens onto plates, then sprinkle with walnuts and crumbled goat cheese. Serve immediately!


Ingredient Notes: I roasted a mixture of golden, red and white beets -- mostly because they look pretty, but also because they have slightly different flavors. You can get Lambic Framboise at some Hy-Vees and Gateway Market (at Gateway, it's in the refrigerated beer section).

If you're a Central Iowan, you must use Northern Prairie Chevre's cheese for this recipe (you can get it at New City Market, Campbell's and Gateway Market, as well as the downtown farmers' market). I normally despise goat cheese, but there's something about the intense creaminess and tang of Northern Prairie's chevre that's out of this world. Plus, they're really kind to their animals... and in this day and age, humane animal husbandry should always be rewarded.

Snap Peas with Mango and Mint

Last night, I came home to a fridge full of vegetables that desperately needed to be used.  So I abandoned my usual one-dish meal plan, got creative, and whipped out three dishes: Mexican zucchini patties, eggplant w/capers and peas with mango and mint.  Three very different tastes, but we saved the vegetables from extinction.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with a drawer full of beets....

2 cups fresh peas, shelled

1 mango, diced

3-4 mint leaves, cut into thin strips and bruised a little

Cook the peas by briefly steaming them in boiling water.  While still warm, toss with the mango and mint.  Serve!

White Bean Pesto Dip

I had some of this leftover from my first attempt at the Zucchini-Pesto Strata, and I discovered that it makes for a lovely dip.

1 can white beans, drained

1/4 cup tomato juice or veggie broth

1 handful pine nuts

2 handfuls fresh basil, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp white miso

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Blend until creamy.