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The Kitchen Recessionista

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

Seitan Fried Rice With Spring Rolls.

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Every time I make fried rice, I’m shocked at how very easy it is to cook!  And it’s finished, from stovetop to table, in about 10 minutes.  A miracle of modern cooking, indeed!
Tonight, I brought out my most wok-like frying pan, heated some Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice in the microwave, popped four spring rolls into the oven, and got to work.  Once again, I used Christy Jordan’s recipe from her Southern Plate Classics magazine special (she now has it posted on her website, as well!), and once again, it was simple and quick, and turned our kitchen into a Chinese restaurant in short order!
As usual, I made a few modifications to her recipe.  Our grocery store was fresh out of instant brown rice (who ever heard?), so I used two packages of white Ready Rice instead.  Also, as you might have gathered, I substituted seitan for chicken as usual, and this time I omitted the eggs, primarily because I didn’t have any on hand.  And for one final substitution, I used a small can of sweet peas instead of the frozen variety, and found the end result no worse for wear.  I found that when using the frozen peas, I always found myself with about half a bag left over – which would be fine, if I remembered to use the remainder in a timely fashion, but I never did, which meant we had half-bag after half-bag stuck at the back of the freezer, forgotten until they were well and truly freezer-burned.  The small can?  A perfect size!
To top off the meal, we added a bunch of green onions from last week’s CSA box from Great Country Farms.  We’ll get a new batch of goodies tomorrow, and I just can’t wait to see them!
By the time the spring rolls were fully cooked, the fried rice was, too, and we loaded our plates high (in much the same way we’d do at the all-you-can-eat buffet) and chowed down.  As usual, it was fantastic!  Light, flavorful, hearty – a great meal, all the way around.  The only sad part is that we both came home hungry and mowed down the pan, so there aren’t any leftovers for tomorrow.  C’est la vie!

:)

Baked Rotini With Salad.

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Tonight’s dinner required some last-minute substitutions, but that’s OK!  It just goes to show the versatility of the baked pasta dish that has become one of my favorite go-to impressive-but-easy dinnertime selections.  No penne?  Add rotini!  Or even macaroni.  Does your package of chorizo have a gaping hole that you somehow failed to notice prior to leaving the grocery store?  Add extra mushrooms!  Lactose-intolerant?  Add Daiya mozzarella to the top!  And so on and so forth.
Tonight, rotini was part of the plan, but so was a package of vegetarian chorizo, which I was going to slice into coins.  Unfortunately, it had a hole on the back of the package, and no discernible reason for developing such a thing in the refrigerator.  More frugal cooks may have shrugged it off and moved on, chorizo in tow, but not me.  This recessionista has her limits. :)
Thankfully, I had a second jar of sliced button mushrooms in the pantry, so I added them into the lasagna pan in the chorizo’s stead and carried on with my life.  I also added half a jar of capers, since I was rooting around in the cabinet and they were sitting there so prim and proper.
As far as the salad goes, no substitutions were needed!  The lettuce is growing strong and plentiful in the back yard, and I had a new container of cherry tomatoes ripe for the eating.  Add in a can of green olives and slices of fresh spring onion from Great Country Farms, and it was a salad that couldn’t be beat!

:)

Vegan “Fish” Fillets With Mixed Veggies and Couscous.

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Up until recently, it’s been awhile since we’ve tried any fish or “fish” – we’ve been vegetarian for the better part of 15 years, and over the last decade or so have found most vegetarian fish products largely unsatisfying.  In recent months, however, our taste buds have been piqued by some new products on the market, and we’ve welcomed them with open arms!  For this Gulf Coast girl, enjoying something “fishy” once in awhile is a taste of home.
So tonight we popped open a package of Sophie’s Kitchen vegan fish fillets, put them in the oven, and baked them right up.  Alongside the fish we served a package of steamed mixed vegetables and a saucepan of couscous (which was another menu item largely absent from our lives and our pantry until recently – it’s really making a comeback now, though!). 
We’ve really enjoyed Sophie’s Kitchen’s products over these past few months (and, just to be clear, I have no relationship with Sophie’s Kitchen; I’m just speaking my mind :)), but I confess I was a bit nervous about what tonight’s “fish” fillets were going to taste like.  Over the years, we haven’t had great experiences with many “seafood” products (other than the occasional veggie shrimp), and most fillets I’ve tried from time to time simply haven’t been up to par – or, in some cases, have been inedible.  But I should have known that Sophie would do right by me!  The fillets were great!  The breading crisped up nicely in the oven, the protein had a good mouth feel, and the flavors were seafoody enough to evoke memories of what used to be, but not soseafoody that they were off-putting.  A win-win!
The mixed vegetables and couscous were a hit as well – we don’t have a single bite of either side item left.  But we DO have two fillets for lunch tomorrow – I’m looking forward to mine already!

:)

New Recipe: Vegetarian Meatball Subs.

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Hot off the presses (or, more accurately, from the oven), I bring you a brand-new recipe: vegetarian meatball subs!
This is a great meal to make when you’re short on time but big on hunger.  I had exactly 30 minutes to get dinner prepared tonight – LeeLee had a meeting and I had errands to run – and truth be told, I could’ve had this ready in 20.  But the extra 10 minutes helped make things a little less harried in the kitchen, so I’ll take it.
First, I prepared the meatballs, shaping 12 of them from a tube of Lightlife “beef.”  I placed them on a baking sheet and baked them at 350 for 10 minutes before adding a sheet of tater tots to the mix and upping the temperature to 425 for another 10.  Then I removed the meatballs, placed some foil over them to keep them warm, and continued baking the tater tots for another 10!
As the beef and potatoes cooked, I heated up a small jar of pizza sauce (tonight’s was left over from Sunday’s grilled pizza!) on the stove and kept it simmering on Low.  Then, when everything was nearly ready, I popped two steak rolls into the oven and toasted them at 425 for 5 minutes.  After that, it was assembly time!
We each added a layer of Vegenaise to our rolls and then each placed four meatballs on the bottom slice of bread.  We then topped the meatballs with pizza sauce and Daiya mozzarella, set the top slice onto the sub, and added some tater tots on the side.  The mozzarella melted on contact with the hot sauce, and dinner was ready.
The results were fantastic!  We both loved the subs – they were filling but didn’t make us feel overstuffed, and they tasted great.  Baking the meatballs kept them from being as oily as they would’ve been in a sauté pan, which is a bonus when it comes to putting them on sandwiches.  In all, it was a great-tasting meal that took no time at all to prepare.  And we have leftovers for tomorrow!  What could be better?
VEGETARIAN MEATBALL SUBS
Serves two
What you’ll need:
1 tube of vegetarian beef (we used Lightlife)
1 jar pizza sauce
2 steak rolls
1 package of mozzarella cheese (we used Daiya tonight)
First, divide up your beef into 12 pieces, shaping each one into a meatball.  Place them on a baking sheet and put the sheet in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Check on them; if they look like they need a little more time, leave them in for another five minutes.
While the meatballs bake, warm up a jar of pizza sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop at medium heat.  Once the sauce has heated through, turn the heat to Low and let the sauce simmer until dinnertime.
When the meatballs are nearly finished, place your steak rolls, separated, into the oven and bake for five minutes.  They should be nicely crispy and slightly brown by the end of the cooking time.
Finally, it’s time to assemble your sub!  Take the steak rolls out of the oven and add any condiments you like (we like a thin layer of Vegenaise).  Next, place four (or more or less) meatballs on the bottom part of the roll, topping it with several spoonfuls of sauce.  Add a generous helping of mozzarella atop the sauce and meatballs, and place the other half of the roll on top.
Dig in and enjoy!

:)

Taco Salad.

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I’ve got to admit, taco salad is the entrée I gravitate toward most at Mexican restaurants.  In my mind, I can justify it as being one of the most healthy meals on the menu – even though I know full well that by the time I’m done mowing down the beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and tortilla bowl, I’ve not done myself any favors!  Calories or no, I just love a good taco salad.
That’s why I started making them at home awhile back.  The flavors are all there, but some of the calories aren’t.  A win-win!
First, I bake two tostada bowls (which are much smaller than the restaurant style, and not fried) and, when they’re done, place them on our dinner plates.  While they bake, I will typically heat up a bag of vegetarian ground “beef” and a can of beans – tonight I used pinto beans – and prepare some vegetables.  Tonight, I made my own salad dressing – some Vegenaise, olive oil, lemon juice, fresh dill, salt, and pepper – and used the cooking time to whip up a small serving bowl full. 
When everything is heated up, it’s time to put the salad together!  Anything goes in terms of toppings and fillings, but here’s how we layered the meal tonight: First a layer of pinto beans, then a hearty helping of lettuce, then a layer of ground “beef” (seasoned with adobo seasoning), then a handful of cherry tomatoes, then a handful of green olives, and, finally, a dusting of Daiya pepperjack.  Top it off with a few spoonfuls of creamy dill dressing, and you’ve got a perfectly tasty and filling meal!
In good Recessionista fashion, we have two shells left for leftovers, plus some beef and veggies.  I’m looking forward to lunch already!

:)

New Recipe: Grilled Pizza.

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What a wonderful weekend this has been!  From strawberry-picking yesterday (more on that in an upcoming post!) to a preserve-canning session today, it’s been a fresh-foods sort of time.  The weather has been in the 70s, the cat willingly went into the backyard on her leash and harness setup for the first time in nearly a decade (!) – and alongside all of that, it was Cookout Sunday!  What could be better?
Tonight, we made one of my very favorite grillable meals: Grilled pizza!  We laid out a plethora of toppings from which to choose – pizza sauce, olive oil, mozzarella, Daiya cheddar, vegetarian pepperoni, black olives, diced bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and plenty of herbs from the garden.  Then LeeLee and I set to work in crafting our own individual pizzas, trying to top the other’s creations and win bragging rights.
We each brought the heat with some killer red-sauce pies: pepperoni and herbs, a take on a Supreme, and a mozzarella-and-mushroom duo, just to name a few.  Then we each tried our hand at some olive-oil-based pies with equally good results.  I’ll have to call tonight’s cookout a draw, which is A-OK – every pie was a winner, and we’ve got plenty more where that came from!
Here’s how we did it.
GRILLED PIZZA
Serves four
What you’ll need:
For the dough:
1 cup water
1 packet of yeast
3-3 ½ cups flour
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. cumin seed, optional
For the toppings:
1 jar pizza sauce
1 container sliced white mushrooms
1 bell pepper
1 can sliced olives
1 container vegetarian pepperoni
1 bottle olive oil
1 ball mozzarella cheese (or vegan cheese that melts, like Daiya)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Various herbs (think parsley, basil, oregano, chives, dill, etc.), to taste
First, you’ll want to allow enough time to make the dough, let it rise for an hour, and, ideally, let it cool in the refrigerator for another hour or so minimum.  (Cooling the dough makes it more pliable when the time comes to shape your pizza crusts.)  So, backing up, allow at least two and a half hours – up to 24 hours if you want! – to get your dough together.
To make the dough, add 1 cup of warm water to a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl) and sprinkle the yeast in, mixing gently with a wooden spoon.  Next, add one cup of flour and all of the olive oil and seasonings.  (And by all means, substitute out seasonings as you see fit!  This is an easy mix-in recipe and you’ll hone your personal favorite dough over time, believe me.)
Blend your mixture with the spoon or a stand mixer’s dough hook and continue adding the flour, half a cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a cohesive ball. 
If you’re using a stand mixer, hooray for you – just let the dough hook do its job and knead your dough in the mixer bowl until the dough is no longer sticky.  Next, drop down past the next paragraph and join up with me there.
If you’re doing this by hand, turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and flour your hands well.  Then put a little elbow grease into the job and knead your dough until it’s no longer sticky – this usually takes me about five minutes, with the occasional distraction.
(Stand mixer users, please join me again here!  And by-handers, stick with me too.)  Spray a bowl – I usually use the one I’ve just been mixing in, and let me be honest, I don’t even clean the leftover flour and dough out – with cooking spray and place the balled-up dough in, sealing up with plastic wrap.  Let rise for an hour; your dough will nearly double in size.
Next, spray a zip-top bag with cooking spray (on the inside, people!) and put the dough in, sealing it up nice and tight and doing your best to remove any leftover air.  Place your bag in the fridge for at least an hour, up to 24, and let cool.  If you’re going to be longer than 24 hours, just put it in the freezer and place it in the refrigerator the morning you’re planning on using it.
Once your dough is ready, fire up the grill!  You want your grill nice and hot (as is customary with all my recipes!) for this one.  Full speed ahead, baby!
Bring all of your supplies outside to your backyard table (or what-have-you) and clean your hands up well.  You might want to keep a clean dishtowel nearby because this can get a little bit messy.
Next, grab a hunk (that’s the scientific term) of dough, enough to fit in a fist, and begin to shape it into a small, personal-pizza-sized disc.  Experiment with the thickness to determine what style you like best.  Once it’s ready, just throw it onto the grill – and by all means please do not try to shape it and/or push it around once it’s on the grates!  Your dough will fall through the cracks and it’ll make a big mess.  Plus, you’ll burn yourself, which is hardly the way to kick off an evening al fresco.
Our grill can usually handle up to about four of these discs at once, so get all your guests and/or relatives involved in the pizza-making!  That’s half the fun.
After about five minutes on a super-hot grill, start checking your dough for doneness (on the bottom, at least – the top will still be pretty soft).  Once it’s browned (or blackened, as are some of our creations) to your liking, use a spatula to scoop it off the grill and bring it over to a plate or work surface.  Decorate it however you see fit – with any of the ingredients above, or with some of your own, we won’t judge you! – and place it soft-side down back on the grill for another five to seven minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the bottom is browned.
Next, scoop it up again, place it on a cookie sheet (we actually use a pizza pan), slice it up with a pizza cutter, and voila!  Personal pizzas for all, cut up into sizes suitable for sharing.
:)

Middle-Eastern Tacos With Couscous.

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Twice in one week, LeeLee has peeked into the kitchen before dinner and exclaimed, “We haven’t had THAT in awhile!”
Tonight’s subject?  Couscous!
I don’t know why I haven’t made couscous in months; it’s so easy, versatile, and tasty to boot.  Tonight, with my favorite Middle-Eastern Tacos from the Soul Vegetarian Cookbook as the entrée, I knew I wanted something non-standard to accompany the dish.  Couscous fit the bill!
These tacos couldn’t be easier to make, and they’re a great spin on the traditional taco setup.  I took two cans of kidney beans, drained them well, and mixed them with tahini, lemon juice, garlic powder, and cumin.  (The recipe calls for a puree at this point; I prefer my beans to be intact in the tacos, so I omit that bit.)  Then I let the mixture sit at room temperature for half an hour or so.  Sometimes I’ve done this step and sometimes I haven’t, but I’ve got to say, letting the bean mixture sit really does make a big difference!
When it came time for us to sit down for dinner, I set some water to boil and added the couscous, covering the pot and letting it sit for five minutes to firm up nicely.  At this same point, I filled four taco shells with the bean mixture and heated them up in the oven at 350 degrees.  While everything cooked, I set out a plate of lettuce, tomato, sliced black olives, and Daiya mozzarella cheese as add-ons, and by the time I was done with that prep work, it was time to eat!
The couscous was a great accompaniment to the tacos; not as heavy as yellow rice, but equally flavorful, it carried the Middle Eastern theme throughout the plate.  And the tacos themselves were as tasty as ever.  I love the blend of kidney beans and tahini, and the lemon juice added a great tang!
As for leftovers, we do have a bit more filling for LeeLee to have for lunch tomorrow with some fresh taco shells.  The couscous, however, was obliterated in one sitting.  What can you do?

:)

New Recipe: Vegan “Tuna” Melts With Peas.

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Ahhh, tuna, how I’ve missed you!
Not the real seafood version, of course – it’s been much too long for me to even remember it all that well.  But for years now, ever since Tuno left the grocery-store shelves, we’ve gone without a vegetarian version.  Until now.
While surfing around the Web last week, I stumbled upon an announcement that Sophie’s Kitchen had released a new “Vegan Toona,” and I made sure to stop by Whole Foods on my way home from work earlier this week to pick up several cans to try.  I immediately knew which recipe I would start with: Tuna Melts!
To be perfectly honest, to call this recipe a recipe is a bit of a stretch given how easy this is to put together.  Especially when you get your Toona seasoned, as I did (I selected the Black Pepper seasoning for this go-round).  But bear with me here.  You’ll enjoy it, I promise.
LeeLee and I sure did – by the end of dinner, not a single Toona melt remained, and the pot of peas was depleted as well.  I’ll trade a lack of leftovers for a tasty dinner any day!
VEGAN “TUNA” MELTS
Serves two
What you’ll need:
4 English muffins, sliced in half
1 can vegan tuna (I used Sophie’s Kitchen’s Vegan Toona)
4 slices of cheese, each cut in half (I used Daiya Swiss slices)
What to do:
Lay out each muffin slice on a baking sheet.  Atop each slice, place a spoonful or two of the tuna, spreading it out to cover the surface.  Next, place half a slice of cheese on each muffin half. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the muffins are crispy.  Enjoy!

:)

Sloppy Joes With Steamed Veggies and Mac & Chreese.

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“We haven’t had this in awhile!” LeeLee exclaimed upon coming home from work and peering into the kitchen, eyeing the sloppy Joes simmering on the stovetop.  And he’s right – though it’s one of our perennial favorites, we really haven’t given sloppy Joes their due as of late.  After mowing down nearly a full pan tonight, I wonder why it’s been placed on the proverbial back burner of late?  Who knows.  But after tonight’s successful, quick, and tasty dinner, I can already visualize its resurgence this summer!
I put the water on to boil for the mac and “chreese” – one of my favorite boxed vegan mac and cheese products.  (I’m all for making my own from scratch, but some nights simply aren’t conducive to it!)  As it heated up, I coated a pan with cooking spray and tossed a bag of vegetarian burger crumbles in, flipping the stovetop dial to Medium.  To the crumbles I added garlic powder, onion powder, sliced canned mushrooms, and a jar of pizza sauce, stirred everything together, and moved on with my life.
Finally, the water had heated up and I added my box of macaroni, bringing it back to a hearty boil.  As the pasta softened, I steamed a bag of mixed vegetables in the microwave (how easy is that?  But so tasty!), and by the time the noodles were fully cooked, the veggies were heated through and the sloppy Joe mix had become incredibly flavorful.  To the mac and chreese I added some almond milk and the flavor packet, stirred everything together over low heat, and just like that, dinner was ready.
Sadly, we don’t have any leftovers for tomorrow, but for two good reasons – we both came home from work hungry, and the dinner was just that tasty!  We loved our sloppy Joes, served atop hamburger onion rolls, and the macaroni and veggies both served as great complements to the main event.
So why DON’T we make this meal more often?  Who knows?  Rest assured I’ll make up for lost time this summer.

:)

Memorial Day Cookout: Vegetarian Beer Brats With Asparagus and Baked Beans.

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Happy Memorial Day to you, friends, and my thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones.

Though the Memorial Day holiday isn’t the official start of the summer season, it sort of is, in terms of summertime activities.  Though we’ve been cooking out for weeks already, the Memorial Day barbecue holds a certain gravitas that our typical Sunday cookouts can’t quite muster. It’s the start of something Big, the start of summertime treats and pool parties and beach trips and outdoor movies.  As a result, I’ve been planning for it for weeks!
Tonight was an all-grill feast – no indoor cooking required!  First, I poured a can of baked beans into a grill pan, covered it with foil, and placed it on the grill to heat up, allowing a cook time of about 35 minutes from end to end.  Next up came the asparagus: These spears were just big enough to fit on skewers, so I carefully threaded them through and sprayed each side with cooking spray.  When I knew we had about 15 minutes left in our grilling time, I placed them onto the grates and seasoned each side with some Cajun seasoning.
Finally, out came the beer brats and accompanying sauerkraut!  As the brats cooked, I put some sauerkraut in a foil packet and heated it up alongside for some extra zest.  When dinner was nearly ready, I tossed two buns on to toast.
As for the final result: It was wonderful.  The brats, sauerkraut, asparagus, and beans were all fantastic (if I do say so), and the accompanying beer wasn’t so bad either!  We have a couple of brats left over for lunch this week, which I know neither of us will turn down.  Hooray for summer fun!

:)