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The Kitchen Recessionista

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

Pad Thai Soup.

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First of all, please forgive me if the typeface, links, and such are all wonky tonight.  I arrived home to find my beloved laptop will not boot up — all it does is give me a sassy blinking file folder! A quick scan of the Apple site shows it may not be serious — in that I may not have lost all of my data — but I’m taking it to the shop tomorrow for a thorough once-over. Please send it healing vibes if you’re so inclined!

So tonight I come to you from my faithful iPad, which explains any text wonkiness you may experience. With any luck, I’ll be back in business tomorrow!
Now, let’s talk about tonight’s dinner.
I made Pad Thai Soup tonight, and let me cut right to the chase: It was fantastic.  It’s not nearly as heavy as traditional pad Thai, which was just fine with me!  I typically stay away from pad Thai at restaurants because I find it to be a bit peanut-buttery for my taste, but in soup form, sans any creaminess, the favors hit just right.
I started off by bringing a pot of water to a boil in order to cook my rice noodles.  This is probably a good time to admit that I’d never cooked rice noodles before. I didn’t put together until this weekend that the “rice sticks” in the Asian food aisle at the grocery store were actually rice noodles, so I always selected soba or udon noodles instead. Now that I’ve seen the error of my ways, I will rectify the situation in future meals!  I’m a huge fan.
While the rice noodles sat in their hot-water bath, I prepared the stock.  A carton of broth (plus a couple of cups of water for good measure), half a container of sliced mushrooms, some garlic powder, one diced shallot, several tablespoons each of soy sauce, brown sugar, and Sriracha, a quarter-cup of lime juice — everything went into my trusty Le Creuset and came just to a boil.  Once the broth was bubbling, I turned the heat to low and let the soup simmer while I baked my …
VEGAN SHRIMP!
I cannot TELL you how hard it is to find vegetarian shrimp around these parts.  Where my family lives in Florida, you can just go to the Publix and buy some Yves veggie shrimp like a civilized human being. Up here, it takes an act of Congress just to find any vegetarian seafood — and even then the selection centers primarily on veggie calamari.  
So when I went to Whole Foods earlier today and spied the Sophie’s Kitchen breaded “shrimp,” my heart sang with joy.  I knew it would be perfect for tonight’s soup!
I put the shrimp in the oven and let it warm up. By the time it was finished, the noodles were ready to be drained and the soup was heated through.  All that was left was to chop some cilantro, green onions, and peanuts, and we were on our way!
I already gave away the ending to this story — we lapped our soup up in no time and went back for seconds right away.  And there’s plenty left for tomorrow!  Broken laptop or no, the night is looking up.
:)

Chorizo Pizza With Salad.

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Pizza in the pan (and halfway gone).

This time yesterday, I was sure that tonight would be our first cookout of the spring!  But today, we witnessed snow falling all afternoon (our final snowfall of the year? Who knows?), and the thermometer mercury dropped to the 30s once more.  So it looks like we’ll plan for a cookout nextweekend.  I’ll be ready!

In the meantime, we had all the fixins for pizza at the ready, and Pizza Sunday is almost as fun as Cookout Sunday, so our hearts went on with dignity and grace.  Last night, upon surveying the forecast for today, I pulled a bag of homemade pizza dough out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight (and all day).  This afternoon, we swung by the office to pick up the two packages of Daiya cheese I’d purchased but forgotten to bring home last week.  And tonight, I shaped said dough into a pizza crust, prebaked it for 12 minutes, then added some pizza sauce, Daiya mozzarella, and Lightlife chorizo slices, and continued baking the pizza for another 15 minutes or so.
As the pie baked, I threw together a quick salad – lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green olives, croutons, and a little leftover mozzarella from the pizza.  By the time the pizza was ready, the salad was on the table and waiting.  All that was left was to pop open a beer and bask in the glory of a snowy Sunday, with basketball on TV!
And bask we did.  The pizza turned out great (if I do say so), and the salad supplemented our veggie intake.  And the beer?  Well, it was just the cherry on top.

:)

Vegan Spinach Lasagna.

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Hello, friends.  Long time no talk!  I apologize for my radio silence – I was away at a conference and had only the very best intentions of blogging from the hotel room, and then we hosted LeeLee’s family for the week and had only the best intentions of blogging once they’d gone to bed.  But good intentions did not yield any blog posts!  I apologize for that.

I’m back on the wagon (and in the kitchen) today, though – with only the second homemade meal I’ve cooked in the last two weeks!  Usually, LeeLee and I like to go out on Saturday nights, but we found ourselves craving something healthy and homey.  My mother’s spinach lasagna recipe fit the bill, as usual!
I’m not following her regular recipe precisely to the letter tonight, however.  Instead, I’m using tofu to replace the cottage cheese and vegan cheese to replace the dairy mozzarella.   We’ve been trying to eat less dairy and eggs at home for a number of reasons, and what better time to experiment than with a tried-and-true recipe that only the two of us will eat this weekend?  No dinner party to prepare for; nobody to “show off” for.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to test some substitutions.
So, here’s what I did.  First, I made the sauce by emptying two cans of tomato sauce into a saucepan, then adding a diced onion, a jar of sliced mushrooms, and some basil, oregano, garlic powder, and sugar.  As that simmered, I defrosted a package of chopped spinach and added it to the mix as well.
Once the sauce had come together nicely, I put the lasagna together.  First, in a normal-sized lasagna pan, I added a half-cup or so of sauce to the bottom, just giving it a nice base layer.  Then I added one layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, then a container of extra-firm tofu, which I crumbled with my hands to give it a ricotta-like texture.  Next, I added about half of the remaining sauce, spreading it out nicely, and then topped that with half of my vegan mozzarella.  Then I added another layer of lasagna noodles, the rest of the sauce, and finally topped it with the rest of the mozzarella.
I covered the lasagna with aluminum foil and placed it into a 350-degree oven for an hour.  In the last 15 minutes of the bake time, I added a loaf of garlic bread to the oven and tossed a fresh salad to accompany the meal.  Once the timer dinged, dinner was ready, and LeeLee and I feasted while watching the latest installment of the NCAA basketball tournament!
As far as the vegan substitutions went, they didn’t miss a beat.  The lasagna was as comforting and hearty as ever, and the taste was fantastic.  LeeLee felt the taste was slightly different — though “just as good,” he insisted — from the dairy version, but I confess I didn’t notice any change in the taste or texture at all.  The only difference I did notice was the slight lack of cohesion when slicing pieces of lasagna for serving; when I do it over again, I’ll use Daiya mozzarella rather than the Trader Joe’s brand (the Daiya tends to hold up a little better in baking).  Either way, I will definitely feel comfortable serving the vegan version to friends, family, and other dinner guests!  And I’ll bet that most of them won’t even notice the lack of dairy.  The secret’s in the sauce, as usual!
:) 

Cuban Sandwiches With Yellow Rice.

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I tell you what, the DC area has nearly every cuisine and nationality represented in its restaurants, except for one glaring omission: Cuba!  I’m a native Floridian, and Cuban cuisine is certainly near and dear to my heart.  I confess that until I moved to another state, it never occurred to me that some grocery store bakeries didn’t have Cuban bread or that a strong cup of Cuban coffee was an art not appreciated (nor replicated) nationwide.  And a good Cuban sandwich?  Forget it.
So LeeLee and I have brought a little taste of the South (WAY South!) with us up here to ol’ Virginny.  And now that I have a new sandwich press – purchased on Black Friday and used weekly, so I suppose it’s not quite as “new” as it once was – there’s just no stopping us from making a good Cuban sandwich any time the mood strikes.
Our version is vegetarian, of course, but it still packs a wallop.  Having no access to Cuban bread up in these parts, we improvised by using the same steak rolls we used the other night (well, not the same ones as the ones we used for our buffalo tofu, but from the same package – work with me, here!).  Atop these rolls, we slathered some mayonnaise, then a long pickle slice, then Tofurky peppered deli slices, then Lightlife “ham,” then several rounds of vegetarian pepperoni, and, finally, some Daiya provolone slices.  Put the top on, place the sandwich delicately into the press, and five minutes later, voila – Cuban sandwiches!
I served some yellow rice alongside the sandwiches – always welcome.  If I’d had a little cup of black beans, I’d really be set!  But alas, sandwiches and rice were the only components on the menu tonight.  We found a way to survive.  ;)

:)

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie With Cabbage.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I don’t know why we don’t make shepherd’s pie and cabbage more often – we always love it!  But sadly, this is one of the few times each year that we take the time to make this meal.  At least with the pie, I have a little bit of an excuse – it requires several different components and, as a result, a bit of time.  With the cabbage, I’ve got no good excuse at all!  I suppose I do use up the cabbage we get each year with our Great Country Farms CSA shipments, but that’s about the extent of it.
And it’s a shame, too, because we polished off almost an entire head of cabbage tonight at dinner and put a considerable dent in the shepherd’s pie itself!  LeeLee made it clear that his vote was solidly in the “Make this more often” camp, and I have to say, I agree.  It’s comforting, filling, hearty, and delicious.  And, multiple steps aside, it’s not difficult to make.
I always use a recipe I got from PETA a hundred (or perhaps a dozen) years ago, and it hasn’t failed me yet.  This time, instead of using a canned mushroom gravy, we used the frozen Tofurky brand, and it was so tasty.  I kept the rest of the recipe intact and was, as usual, very pleased with the results!
Now, I said this dish takes time to make.  Thank goodness that St. Paddy’s Day was on a Monday this year; this afforded me lots of time on Sunday to put everything together!
As the potatoes cooked, I prepared the “meat” filling.  Instead of blending everything in a bowl as the recipe calls for, I cooked the ingredients together in a pan to allow the flavors more time to mingle, and then I poured the veggie mixture into the bottom of my favorite ceramic pie plate.  By the time those shenanigans were over and done with, it was time to prepare the potatoes, which I did with my beloved potato masher.  A little almond milk, a little butter, and I had a fine crop of mashed potatoes just waiting to top the pie!
And so it did, just moments later.  Once I was pleased with the optics of the dish, I placed a sheet of foil over the top and put the pie pan in the refrigerator.  When I was ready to bake it tonight, I just cooked it at 350 for about an hour (maybe an hour and 10), and it was perfectly warm.
In the final 15 minutes that the pie was in the oven, I steamed the cabbage, which I’d pulled off the head with my hands and seasoned intermittently with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.  (When it arrived on the table, I also sprinkled my serving with some nutritional yeast, which I adore.)  The shepherd’s pie and cabbage paired just beautifully with one another – and with the Guinness we served alongside dinner!

:)

Buffalo Tofu With Peas and Tater Tots.

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When I first put this meal on the weekly menu, I had grand visions of tonight being the first cookout of the season, just a hair before spring’s official arrival this Thursday.  The weather has been so mild, so sunny and lovely these last few days, that a barbecue seemed a reasonable assumption to me.
Now, it is snowing.  So much for reasonable!
And so our cookout became a cook-IN, with the buffalo tofu baking for a solid hour in the oven instead of for 25 minutes on the grill.  I can think of worse dinners! :)
I began marinating the tofu right after I woke up this morning, slicing the block up into eight strips and pouring almost a full bottle of buffalo sauce into a zip-top bag atop said tofu strips.  Every few hours I reached into the refrigerator and turned the bag to allow the tofu to marinate evenly, and there it sat, chilling, until I needed it tonight for dinner!
When it came time to bake, I laid each strip out on a baking sheet and turned the oven to 350.  I cooked the tofu on one side for 20 minutes, then flipped each strip and cooked it all for another 20.  A sheet of tater tots joined the tofu for the final 20 minutes, at which time I cranked the oven temperature up to 425 (and added a can of peas to a saucepan on the stove).  By the time the buffalo strips had been in the oven for an hour, everything else was ready!
We served the tofu on steak rolls with all the sandwich fixins – lettuce, tomato, onion, nutritional yeast (for me – LeeLee doesn’t care for it as much as I do), and the like.  And cookout or no, it made for a perfect Sunday night meal!  We’ve even got enough tofu left to make a hearty lunch for tomorrow – huzzah!

:)

Pierogies With Peas, Pimientos, and Sauerkraut.

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I’m sure I’ve espoused my deep love of the cast-iron skillet in these pages before, but please allow me to do so again now.  Alongside my beloved Crock-Pot and French oven, the cast-iron skillet is one of the very best and most versatile cooking supplies I have on hand, and I just don’t know what I’d do without it.  From delicious pancakes to skillet potatoes, from sauces to tonight’s pierogies, it handles every single meal with aplomb, and I only wonder how I made it as long as I did without my own personal skillet!
But my cast iron is just a new baby.  My grandmother’s skillet, on the other hand, has been in service for the better part of eight decades (and perhaps more than that – it’s entirely likely that it originally belonged to my great-grandmother).  My aunt has it now, but I’m hopeful that one of these days it will end up here in my kitchen, well-seasoned and smooth as silk.
Skillets.  They stand the test of time, living longer than most of us.  You’ve just gotta love a kitchen appliance like that.
Anyway, on to tonight’s dinner.
I knew I wanted to make pierogies tonight, and originally I’d planned a tossed salad to accompany it.  But we’ve had salad several times lately, and quite honestly I’ve developed a little bit of salad fatigue as a result!  So I combed the cabinets instead and came up with a plan.  Why not add peas and pimientos to the skillet near the end and make a one-pot meal?  Why not, indeed.
So I heated some oil in the cast iron, put the pierogies in to begin to heat, and after 10 or so minutes I flipped them over to brown on the other side.  After another seven minutes, I flipped them back over to finish cooking, added the can of peas, the jar of diced pimientos, and a hearty helping of sauerkraut, and then topped the dish with a sprinkling of pepper.  Everything was nicely heated within another five minutes, and that was that! 
The final result was fantastic.  The peas and pimientos added color to the plate, yes, but more importantly they added depth to the final product, balancing the potatoes and cheese with some light, fresh-tasting vegetables.  And the sauerkraut was just the cherry (?) on top, adding the perfect amount of zing.
I confess there are no leftovers – we mowed down every last morsel, and would’ve considered scraping the pan had it not still been so hot!  But it was indeed a successful meal – an invention that I’ll definitely cook again in the future. 

:)

“Sausage”-Corn Chowder.

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I can’t help it.  Every time I use the Crock-Pot, I feel so smug with myself!  I love coming home to a freshly made dinner after a long day of work, even if it was my own doing hours earlier!

Tonight was no different.  On one of our first springlike days, a light chowder was just the ticket!  So, before work, I put everything together: a can of kernel corn, a can of creamed corn, a package of Morningstar Farms sausage links, a diced onion, quite a few halved baby yellow potatoes, some salt, some pepper, a bit of oregano, and two cups of water to wash it all down.  :)  After nine or 10 hours cooking at Low heat, everything was nicely cooked by the time we got home tonight!

But there was one more step to take.  About 10 minutes before serving, I opened a can of evaporated milk and stirred it into the chowder, which gave the soup a lovely, hearty consistency.  Once the flavors had mingled and the milk had heated up, we ladled out two bowls’ worth and chowed down!  … and went back for seconds.  Because why not.

Despite our second helpings, there’s still enough for LeeLee (or me, but probably LeeLee) to enjoy for lunch tomorrow!  Once he gets through the leftover pizzadillas, that is.

:)

Vegan Pizzadillas With Salad.

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OK, OK, I admit it: My name is Hope, and I have a pizzadilla obsession.
I only end up making this recipe about once a month or so, but I could eat them every day and still feel content!  They take no time to prepare or cook, and paired with a salad (or just by themselves, if we’re in a huge hurry), they’re a perfectly hearty meal.  And you can use the whole container of tortillas in one recipe!  Let me state that again: YOU CAN USE THE WHOLE BAG OF TORTILLAS IN ONE RECIPE.  For someone who is always stashing leftovers in the already-stuffed freezer for later, this is wonderful news indeed.
LeeLee and I each polished off one pizzadilla apiece in short order and wolfed down our salad as well (this time, instead of preparing the salad in a large serving bowl, I made individual salads – so as to save some of the lettuce for tomorrow’s lunch salad portions!), leaving no trace.  LeeLee had to head out to a meeting shortly thereafter, but I lingered in the kitchen, making several more meals’ worth of pizzadillas while I had both the time and the inclination (to say nothing of the ingredients!).
I love to start the week with a fridge full of lunches and a belly full of good food.  It really puts me on track for the days to come and makes today a happy Monday indeed.

:)

Pinto-and-Tomato Tostadas With Rice.

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If you back out the fresh vegetables, tonight’s meal can be classified as a clean-out-the-pantry dinner, as well as a new recipe entirely!  I just sort of made it up as I went along, and it turned out great (or so says LeeLee).
After our Pantry Cleanout week awhile back, I made a personal commitment to keep up with digging deep in the cabinets for long-forgotten treasures.  As a result, over the past few weeks I’ve been cobbling together tasty meals from items I have on hand already – chik’n posole, for instance, as well as red beans and rice – and tonight was no exception.  The only difference was that this recipe was new to me, created on the spot for the occasion!  It’s safe to say I’ll definitely make it again.
Here’s how it went.  I put some rice and Goya seasoning in the rice cooker and pressed the Start button.  Then I pulled a can of pinto beans and a can of Rotel (well, Safeway brand tomatoes and green chilies, if you want to know the truth – they were having a sale the other week) out of the cabinet and mixed the two together in a saucepan with some adobo seasoning.  As the bean mixture came to a boil, I heated a small omelet pan to medium heat (and added some cooking spray beforehand) and warmed up a total of four corn tortillas, which I’ve been keeping in the freezer and pulling out when needed.  These tortillas would end up being the base for my tostadas, so I wanted them to be as crispy as possible!
As all of this cooked, I diced up an onion and a tomato and pulled some leftover lettuce out of the refrigerator.  We even had some Daiya vegan mozzarella to finish using up from some weekend festivities! 
By the time LeeLee got home, dinner was nearly ready.  When the rice cooker finished its work, I spooned some of the rice and some of the bean mixture atop the corn tortillas – two on each plate – and then topped it all with some of the veggies and cheese, adding an extra spoonful of rice on the side.  (The photo above is pre-veggie; I wanted you to be able to see the tostadas in their natural habitat!)
This recipe was definitely a success!  We cleaned our plates, the rice cooker, and the saucepan.  And the vegetable dish.  And even a bottle of Tabasco, which in all honesty was on its last few drops anyway. 
Pinto-and-tomato tostadas for the win!

:)