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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Pantry Cleanout: Vegetarian Pinto Bean and Chik’n Tacos With Rice.

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veg-pinto-bean-tacos

We’re back in the pantry tonight, working our way through the random canned goods and assorted freezer finds in an effort to save a buck and eat like royalty! The latter, especially, works out well today, seeing how Prince Charles and Camilla are just down the road in Washington, D.C., as I type this (and were in fact down OUR road earlier today, visiting Mount Vernon!). So, royalty it is.

Anyway, tonight’s meal was so simple to make and yet was so very filling. First, I placed some rice (Arborio style, actually, since I didn’t have any regular old medium-grain white rice!) in the rice cooker and added a couple of pinches of saffron as well as a healthy dose of adobo seasoning. I added the requisite water and clicked the cooker to On, then turned my attention to the tacos themselves.

First off, if you haven’t tried freezing flour tortillas yet, I implore you to do so immediately. With just two of us, it’s nearly impossible to work through a full package of tortillas before they go bad, so I’ve taken to putting them in the freezer and have never looked back. Tonight, I pulled out four tortillas, wrapped them in aluminum foil, and cooked them at 350 for 10 minutes in the oven. They were perfectly crisp-tender and hot by the time their baking stint was finished!

Next up, I pulled two chik’n patties out of the freezer and heated them up in the microwave, cutting them into strips after they were cooked. Chik’n strips work great in tacos, and I knew we’d both love the extra protein!

And then we’ve got the beans. I opened the pantry to find a can of pinto beans looking back at me, as well as a small can of diced green chilies. Magical! I drained both the beans and the chilies as best I could and warmed them up over low heat until they were heated through. I gave the bean mixture a dash of cumin and some chili powder, and they were none the worse for wear, let me tell you!

As soon as the rice was ready – and, despite my apprehension, the Arborio turned out just great – the rest of the meal was too, so LeeLee and I sat down to work, the cat sitting atop a chair just out of reach, peering over our shoulders. (She does love when we bring out the Daiya cheddar, that’s for sure!) For toppings, we added shredded lettuce, a diced tomato, and an avocado cut into strips to our tacos, and we also enjoyed a dollop of vegan sour cream and just a pinch of the aforementioned Daiya cheddar to round out the meal! And, of course, our beloved Tabasco.

As is traditional with tacos in our home, there was nary a tortilla, bean, or grain of rice left by the time we were finished. But that’s perfectly fine! It was for a good cause.

I can’t wait to peer back into the pantry and pull out another treasure!

:)

St. Patrick’s Day Feast: Vegan Shepherd’s Pie and Sautéed Cabbage.

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vegan-shepherds-pie

Happy St. Patty’s Day, friends! I hope you’ve enjoyed a little luck of the Irish today.

We’ve had a wonderful time here at Chez Recessionista, and our workdays were perfectly lucky indeed. I even managed to survive a trip to the lab to get my blood drawn (routine tests, nothing fancy!), and limped back to the office under my own power. Victories! I’m sure it can be attributed to the bright green beads I wore today for the occasion.

Today has been lucky on the food front, as well. I’ve known for two weeks that I wanted to make our traditional vegan shepherd’s pie for dinner tonight, so before I left for the office this morning, I got started on some of the prep work. Namely, I washed and diced some potatoes, put them in the Crock-Pot, and covered them with water, flipping the heat to Low to let them cook all day long. This saved a ton of time tonight! All I had to do when I got home was drain the water off, add some almond milk, and mash them down with my trusty potato masher (a wonderful invention if I’ve ever seen one!). Magical!

As per usual, I followed the trusty recipe I received in a PETA Vegetarian Starter Kit a thousand years ago, and once again, it didn’t dare fail me. As the potatoes sat to the side, waiting to serve as the pie topper, I pulled out a deep-dish pie pan and mixed a container of Tofurky ground beef – the second container from yesterday’s meal – with a can of peas and carrots and a carton of mushroom gravy. Then I added some spices – garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and crushed red pepper – and mixed everything together. Finally, I topped the pie with the mashed potatoes and put the plate in the oven for about 40 minutes. Easy as … pie!

When the shepherd’s pie had about 15 minutes left in the cooking time, I got to work on the cabbage. Often I’ll steam or boil the cabbage, but tonight I decided to try something new and sautéed it in a big pan instead. First I coated a large nonstick pan with cooking spray, and then I placed the separated leaves of half a head of cabbage (I’ll use the other half later this week) into the pan. Halfway through this process, I added some chipotle seasoning, and then added the rest of the cabbage leaves. On top, I added a pat of butter (which would later melt and give the cooking spray a little depth) and a generous helping of parsley. Then, as the cherry on top, I sprinkled a dash of nutritional yeast, because I simply adore the stuff.

I turned the burner on Medium and let the cabbage cook, stirring and tossing the pan every couple of minutes. A few of the leaves got a little brown around the edges, which looked and tasted just wonderful in the end! And every piece of cabbage took on a bright green sheen, which added additional flair to the meal.

Bu the time the shepherd’s pie was ready, so was the cabbage, so LeeLee and I popped open some Guinness and sat down to eat! We both loved the pie, as usual – who can resist the meaty, hearty goodness of a gravy-laden dish topped with potatoes? And we both went crazy for the cabbage, as well. I think sautéing it really brings out the best in cabbage, and we’ll certainly do so again. It was crisp-tender and teeming with flavor, having soaked up the spices and butter magnificently. Each bite made our taste buds sing!

On the leftover front, we’ve got plenty of shepherd’s pie left (and no cabbage). I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!

:)

Crock-Pot Monday: Vegan BBQ Chili.

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It’s been awhile since we’ve enjoyed one of my very favorite Crock-Pot creations – the Backyard Barbecue Chili from Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet! Tonight, our wait was over, and (not to spoil the surprise) LeeLee and I dug right in with gusto and glee.

I know I’ve waxed poetic about this dish a hundred times over the years on this blog, but I trust you won’t mind if I do so again now. There’s just something about this chili that makes it our steady Eddie, our reliable go-to, whether we’re entertaining friends for a football party, hosting family for the week, or just sustaining ourselves before an evening of tai chi class (for me) and work at home (for LeeLee). Tonight, we used it for the latter, and we couldn’t have been more pleased!

But though this is a faithful recipe for us, one we’ve turned to quite often over the years, tonight we made a couple of tweaks we’d never done before. First, I opened the cabinets this morning to find I was lacking one can of diced tomatoes (the recipe calls for 28 ounces, and I had only one 14.5-ounce can handy), so I substituted Rotel for the second can. Then came the matter of the vegan ground beef. Tonight, we took the Tofurky ground beef out on its maiden voyage in our home, and we couldn’t have been happier with the result! We both loved the meaty taste and texture and I was thrilled with how far one package stretched in the dish. The packaging was slender, so I wasn’t sure whether I’d need one box or two; turns out I only needed one. (We’ll use the other one tomorrow night for a St. Patrick’s Day-themed meal!) Thanks to LeeLee for spotting it in the grocery store and picking it up – it’s a keeper!

As usual, this chili makes enough to feed an army – or a married couple for three or four days, at the very least. I’m thrilled to be able to bring some with me in a Thermos for lunch tomorrow! And I’m sure LeeLee will dig right in on his lunch break, too.

Hooray for the Crock-Pot, and hooray for Robin Robertson!

:)

Sunday Cookout: Vegetarian Fish Filets With “Bacon”-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts and Couscous.

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Finally!

After several weeks of enduring a snow-covered backyard, we’ve hit our springtime stride. The snow and ice are gone, the sun is shining brightly, and the smoker was only too ready to be put to good use this afternoon for the first time in a good long while. I knew we had to make a splash, so I pulled out all the stops, beginning with vegetarian bacon-wrapped Brussels sprouts!

You know, for years – decades, in fact – I had no taste for Brussels sprouts. Well, actually, that’s not quite true. I had a horrible taste for Brussels sprouts. Baked, sautéed, grilled, boiled, it didn’t matter; I couldn’t stand the things. But then one day I tried something new. I tried mixing them in with some vegetarian bacon, figuring that perhaps the old motto of “everything goes better with bacon” would translate to both 1) vegetarian bacon and 2) Brussels sprouts. And, would you believe, it worked! Now, I can eat the sprouts sans bacon in nearly any form and simply adore them. I just needed the veggie bacon, in clearly the culinary equivalent of the Yalta conference, to properly introduce us.

Anyway, onto tonight’s meal. As the smoker warmed up for half an hour or so this afternoon, I carefully wrapped each sprout in a strip of veggie bacon and arranged them on a serving plate. Then I placed them on the hot grill grate – the one closest to the coals – and let them go for 90 minutes or so, or until the bacon was crispy and the sprouts were tender.

About 15 minutes into their cooking time, I placed four vegan fish filets on the top grate and sprinkled each one with a dusting of chipotle powder (one of my favorites!). They cooked for about 75 minutes and were nicely golden brown when they were ready for serving.

When we had about 10 minutes before I was ready to take up the food off the smoker, I prepared a box of couscous – which doesn’t take but a minute! The couscous continued to steam until I brought in the fish and sprouts. I love it when all the menu items are ready at once!

LeeLee and I are both big fans of vegan fish, to say nothing of our mutual adoration for bacon-wrapped sprouts and couscous, so we made short work of this meal tonight. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got some sprouts (and one lone filet) left over for tomorrow’s lunch, but we mowed down a hearty helping apiece and then some. There’s just something wonderful about a meal cooked al fresco; it’s what Sunday afternoons are made for!

:)

Pantry Cleanout: Vegan Five-Bean Soup.

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Pantry Cleanout week/month/year continued tonight with a taste of the holidays! We gave baskets of homemade preserves and soup mixes to relatives this year, and one of the soups I included was a five-bean rendition that was wonderfully easy to put together and required very little in the way of prep for the future would-be cook. I always save a couple of jars back for myself, and tonight was as good as any other to put the Christmas bounty to use!

As an aside, it may sound corny to you, but I really love giving handmade gifts to loved ones at the holidays. A jar of strawberry preserves, a container of soup mix, a bag of homemade candies, or even a set of hand-knit dishcloths show our family and friends just how much they mean to us. I’ve no idea whether these gifts are more or less appreciated than any others – maybe our loved ones just want cash and wish we wouldn’t go to all the trouble? – but I confess I love putting these gifts together and sending them off to new homes. I can only hope the recipients love them too.

Anyway, back to tonight’s soup. The recipe is wonderful in its simplicity: Pour everything from the jar into a large pot, add a can of diced tomatoes (I used Rotel tonight because that was what I happened to have on hand!), and then add six cups of water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for an hour and a half or so. Done and done!

LeeLee got caught in traffic on his way home, and I myself spent the early evening convalescing after a dental appointment, so I was in no great hurry to get dinner on the table. But by the time LeeLee arrived home, I’d gotten my second wind, and we spooned out bowls full of piping-hot soup and sat down to eat. I topped mine with nutritional yeast (because I do that with everything); LeeLee added Sriracha to his. We both deemed these additions to be a success and will certainly use them again!

But additions or no, the soup itself was wonderful. The bouillon cube added a complex, herby flavor to the water-based broth, and the beans held their shape but yet softened up just perfectly. (I like a little bite to my beans, but I don’t want them to be bullets!) We liked it so much that I enjoyed a second scoop – and LeeLee polished off the rest of it! So no leftovers, but it was for a good cause.

This is definitely a gift that keeps on giving! Family and friends, hide your eyes: I’ll certainly make another set of jars for next Christmas, and I may even keep more than one for myself!

:)

Pantry Cleanout: Vegan Tuna Melts With Salad.

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It’s been awhile since we’ve enjoyed the goodness that is vegan tuna! Tonight, I pulled a can of Sophie’s Kitchen “Toona” out of the cabinet, took two English muffins out of the freezer, and opened a new bag of Daiya cheddar shreds that had found its way to the back of the fridge (but had not, I should add, expired yet). Easy as that: Vegan tuna melts were on the menu!

I first wrote about this recipe last spring, and my love for it has only deepened over time. Often, we enjoy this as a lunch, but tonight was an animal shelter night, so time was a bit short and hunger quite extensive by the time I came home. This was the perfect quick meal to whip up at the end of a long day!

It really couldn’t be simpler. I defrosted the muffins, pre-toasted them since they were still a bit chilly, and then carried forth with the recipe as outlined in the link above. As the tuna melts baked, I tossed a simple salad of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and black olives, topping it with some leftover Daiya mozzarella cheese shreds for good measure. Within 15 minutes or so, the melts were ready, and LeeLee and I gathered round to chow down!

Tonight I made only two muffins’ worth, which admittedly is better for our waistlines. (Sometimes I’ll make a full four muffins, which tends to tempt us to return for seconds instead of leaving them for leftovers!) But between the melts and the salad, we were both happily full after dinner. And since this was another pantry cleanout meal, our wallets were full as well. We can spend that meal money another day!

:)

Pantry Cleanout: Vegetarian Chik’n Parmesan.

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Friends, we still have a ton of food in the pantry and freezer that need clearing-out. Tonight, I took another crack at it with a rendition of vegetarian chik’n parmesan!

I’ve been on a pasta- and sauce-making kick of late, but tonight we used good old store-bought for each. I had a box of thin spaghetti taking up space on the dry-goods shelf, and a jar of pasta sauce left over from a recent meal of stuffed bell peppers (we made them Saturday evening for a dinner party!). Paired with two leftover Morningstar Farms chik’n patties that were hanging out in the freezer, and topped with some Daiya mozzarella shreds that I keep on hand for events just like this one, it was a perfectly complete meal that required no additional grocery shopping!

And the prep was so easy, as is desired/required on a Tuesday night in the middle of a workweek. I boiled the pasta and heated the sauce while the chik’n patties baked in the oven; I dusted each patty with some mozzarella for the last 10 minutes of their baking time. As soon as everything was ready, I drained the pasta, topped our plates with sauce and chik’n, and we were off to the races!

Speaking of races, this meal couldn’t come at a better time. I’m running a half-marathon this weekend, so I’m beginning to carb-load just a touch. Admittedly, I’m not planning on carb-loading as much as I would for a marathon or long-course triathlon, but I feel like any carb is a welcome carb before a longer-distance race! And 13.1 miles counts, for sure.

But back to the chik’n parmesan. We both love pasta, in all its forms, so it’s no wonder that LeeLee and I welcomed this dinner with open arms (and mouths!). We each went back for seconds and were thrilled that we’ve got plenty of pasta left to split for lunch tomorrow or the next day (we’ve still got burrito casserole from last night, as well!). So often I make something “beefy” to accompany our pasta; this chik’n dish was a welcome change, as far as I’m concerned! We’ll definitely go back to this well again and again.

:)

Crock-Pot Monday: Vegan Bean and Cheese Burrito Casserole.

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We’re back on the Crock-Pot Monday bandwagon this week with a new-to-me recipe: Stephanie O’Dea’s bean and cheese burrito casserole! I veganized it for the evening, but the sentiment remained the same.

You know, one thing I’m looking for in a Crock-Pot Monday recipe is ease of prep in the morning. This generally excludes any recipe that involves pre-cooking or a great deal of chopping, mixing, or general fussing about. Thankfully, this casserole recipe required very little of the above! A chopped onion and bell pepper, a mix of ingredients in a bowl, and voila, the prep work was done. Magical! Just the way I like it while fighting through the hubbub of the first of the week.

After assembling the casserole as Stephanie recommended (looking back, I probably should have put one more flour tortilla on top, but that’s on me), all that was left was for me to flip the slow cooker to Low and hit the road. By the time I got home from work some nine hours later, it was fully cooked, and the Daiya pepperjack shreds I’d used had melted just beautifully. This was one of the first times I’d used Daiya shreds in a slow-cooker recipe, and they behaved perfectly! Just as they ought to.

I assembled a little salad on each of our plates and then spooned up healthy helpings of the casserole. It was a bit soupy, but we didn’t mind; the flavors were just like enjoying a burrito! I managed, with some restraint, to stick to one serving, but LeeLee went back for seconds. And there’s PLENTY left over for lunch tomorrow, so we’ll each get another crack at this meal!

In short, this is definitely a dish I’ll make again. Consider it added to the Crock-Pot repertoire! Mexican flavors, the ease of the slow cooker, having dinner ready the moment you walk in the door … what could be better?

:)

Sunday Cook-in: Baked BBQ Tofu Sandwiches With Spaghetti Squash and Steamed Veggies.

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Our back yard is still snow-packed – though in some places I can now see the bricks peeking through again! – so for what I hope is the last week for a while, we cooked indoors instead of barbecuing on Sunday night. No matter; the show must go on! We can still chow down on grilling fare even if no grill is actually involved. To the oven!

Early this afternoon, I sliced a block of tofu into thin rectangles and placed them in a zip-top bag, dousing them in barbecue sauce and letting the slices marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

When we were ready to start cooking dinner, I pulled a spaghetti squash (courtesy of Bigg Riggs Farms) out of the veggie bowl, pierced it with a fork eight or 10 times, and then put it on a baking sheet to roast at 400 degrees for an hour. After the first 20 minutes of baking time, I pulled the barbecue tofu out of the fridge, placed the strips on a baking sheet, and added them to the oven as well, turning the slices over after another 20 minutes.

After an hour had elapsed, I pulled the squash out of the oven and let the tofu continue to bake for a few more minutes while I separated the spaghetti strands and heated up a pot of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Once the spaghetti squash was safely in a bowl, I added a dollop of vegan butter, plus some salt and pepper for good measure. Next, I put the mixed vegetables in a serving bowl and topped them with chipotle powder and some Daiya mozzarella shreds, just for fun.

Finally, it was time to take the tofu out of the oven! We placed several strips on our steak rolls, added some mayo, lettuce, onion, and tomato, and began to chow down!

Longtime readers of this blog will know that BBQ tofu is one of our favorite cookout standards, so it’s no surprise we both mightily enjoyed this meal. The spaghetti squash, for its part, was incredibly tender after an hourlong stint in the oven, and we left no strand un-eaten. And as usual, the mixed vegetables served as a wonderful way to bind the meal together with lots of green goodness.

Though the sides are history, we do have a little bit of tofu left over for tomorrow’s lunch. It’ll be a race to the fridge to see who gets to enjoy it first!

:)