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The Kitchen Recessionista

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

Vegan Chik’n Posole.

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vegan-posole

There was more snow on the ground today – well, temporarily, anyway – and as a result I knew we were in deep need of a hearty soup to combat our deep freeze! As usual, chik’n posole fit the bill.

You’ve heard me wax poetic on the joys of the posole time and again, so I won’t write a lengthy blog post tonight focusing on the same ol’ thing. However, I will say that tonight I used a jumbo can of hominy, which stretched the soup out to the point where we have leftovers! This is unheard-of in the posole ranks, so let us mark the occasion with great fanfare!

Tonight I used Gardein’s chik’n strips as the protein in this soup, and the results were fantastic. We’ve really come to love Gardein – and haven’t found a product of theirs that we dislike, to be honest! They’re a great addition to the vegetarian realm of products. (And no, I’m not receiving any kickbacks. Just felt like expounding!)

That chik’n, combined with the aforementioned jumbo can of hominy, plus a can of Rotel, some dried minced onions, black pepper, and veggie broth, really made a great posole tonight. Maybe it was the afternoon run I enjoyed today, or maybe we were both just super-ready for dinner, but we each mowed down two heaping helpings – and have plenty left for tomorrow! It’s a wintertime miracle, indeed.

:)

Sunday Cookout: Vegan BBQ Shrimp With Smoked Acorn Squash and Peas.

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vegan-bbq-shrimp

It’s been a few weeks of experimentation with our good old charcoal smoker. Last week, we enjoyed smoked vegan crab cakes for the first time. Tonight: Smoked vegan barbecue shrimp!

But let’s start at the beginning. First, after firing up the smoker and letting it warm up for 25 minutes or so, I placed two acorn-squash halves – each rubbed down with olive oil and wrapped in foil with little cuts to ensure the smoke made it through – face-down on the bottom rack of the smoker to cook for about 90 minutes. Then I went back inside and began to prepare the vegan shrimp (we used Sophie’s Kitchen’s breaded shrimp tonight).

Earlier in the afternoon, I’d removed the shrimp from the freezer and placed the package in the fridge to thaw a bit, so by the time I needed them for dinner each piece came apart in my hand with no trouble. I laid all of the shrimp out in one layer on a plate, grabbed my trusty kitchen brush, and painted on a layer of sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce to one side. Then I flipped each piece of shrimp over and painted the other. Then: To the smoker they went!

I ended up cooking the shrimp for about 80 minutes or so, but if I had it to do over, I’d cook them for closer to an hour. The barbecue sauce caramelized nicely, but on some of the smaller bits of shrimp the texture got a touch too chewy; a 60-minute cook time would have solved that problem.

All the same, after the set cook time for both shrimp and squash, I removed everything from the smoker, took the peas off the burner atop the stove, and served us up. The acorn squash turned out perfectly soft and smoky – served with a touch of maple syrup and cinnamon, it was almost a dessert! – and the peas were as wonderful as ever. But the shrimp! The barbecue shrimp turned out amazingly well. The barbecue sauce gave each piece a wonderful sweet tang, and the slow-cooking really brought out the shrimpy flavors that Sophie’s Kitchen has mastered. I was initially concerned that the breading wouldn’t hold up on the smoker, but I needn’t have worried; we lost very little between the grates! The texture was only enhanced by the charcoal heat, and the flavors couldn’t be beat.

I know I should be glad that we both loved the dinner enough to leave no leftovers behind. All the same, I’m regretful I won’t have more shrimp to enjoy for lunch tomorrow! Ah, well. We’ll just have to make more.

:)

Vegan Monterey Frittata.

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vegan-monterey-frittata

Tonight seemed like as good a night as any to enjoy breakfast for dinner. And a new spin on an old favorite – what could be better?

A little while back, I stumbled upon this recipe for a vegan Monterey frittata over at Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen (by way of Pinterest), and my interest was immediately piqued. I certainly adore scrambled tofu – and it may be one of LeeLee’s favorite meals ever – so I felt like anything that is additive to the original dish is worth trying! And it’s just fancy enough that it could very easily become a proper breakfast-for-dinner meal. So I dove right in.

Admittedly, I strayed a bit from the recipe and made my own scrambled tofu base just the way I usually do. But while it cooked, I started in on the cheeze sauce just as the recipe called for. I blended all of the ingredients in my trusty blender, then heated the sauce over medium heat until it was bubbly and creamy. After that, I simply let it simmer while the tofu mixture finished cooking. Easy-peasy!

Just as the scrambled tofu was firming up nicely, I added a can of quartered artichoke hearts to the pan and stirred to combine. Once the artichokes were heated through, I topped the dish wish sliced black olives as per the recipe and then added a sliced avocado on top. (Full disclosure: Something tasted funky with the avocado tonight. I wasn’t going to say anything, but then LeeLee brought it up too, so we elected to discard the slices. So sad.)

After that, we were ready to eat! We served the frittata with tortilla chips and spooned a hearty helping of vegan cheeze sauce on top of each plate. Then we dug in! We both loved the blend of flavors and the way the cheeze sauce made everything come together just perfectly. The scrambled tofu really strutted its stuff with the addition of artichoke and black olive, and the tortilla chips gave it a little crunch just for fun.

In short, this was an awesome recipe, and I’m so glad to have come across it! We will certainly return for seconds.

:)

Vegan Risotto With Artichokes and Mushrooms.

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vegan-risotto

Yesterday may have been a snow day, but today, friends, was a wind day. Allow me a moment of weather-geekery: The Alberta clipper that is making its way across the country has finally arrived on our doorstep, and it has brought along single-digit windchills and high temperatures in the 20s. Now, for the hardy Midwestern and Rocky Mountain folks among us, this may seem like no big whoop, but for us here in the DC area? It’s a big whoop.

So I knew that we needed something warming and hearty tonight for dinner. But we just enjoyed some stew last night (and enjoyed it again for lunch today), so I was hoping to steer clear of another brothy concoction. Enter: Risotto! Hearty, wintry, healthy and festive, it’s a great meal to enjoy on any cold January night.

My mother-in-law (hi, D-Ma!) gave me a new cookbook for Christmas, a recent release from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Robin Robertson. (We are on our second copy of Vegan Planet, we’ve used it so much!) This new book, One-Dish Vegan, intrigued me from the get-go, and I couldn’t wait to dig right in and start cooking. So tonight I chose risotto with artichokes and mushrooms for our maiden voyage, and I was thrilled with the results.

I’ve always been a little intimidated by risotto. It seems like a lot of moving parts for a dish that looks like it ought to be simple to make. Those types of recipes make me nervous; with so many moving parts, it’s easy to skip a step or botch something, and your fellow diners will give you the evil eye, wondering how you could have possibly goofed up something that tastes so simple (in a good way). Maybe that’s just me?

But all this to say, I had never made an actual risotto before tonight. But with just LeeLee and me here at the house – and plenty of other quick-fix meals hanging around just in case – I figured what the heck. Let’s do this thing.

I won’t recite the recipe chapter-and-verse; I’ll just recommend that you pick up a copy of Ms. Robertson’s book and give it a try yourself. But I will say that this wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d feared risottos could be. Now, there’s a great deal of stirring and attention involved; this isn’t a set-and-forget kind of dish. But the general rhythm becomes very clear very quickly. Pour in some hot broth, stir until absorbed. Pour broth, stir. Pour and stir. Pour and stir. And then, all of the sudden, out of nowhere, you have … risotto. Magical, wonderful, piping-hot risotto.

We served English peas on the side for some greenery, and they complemented the main course just beautifully. And speaking of the main course, we each went back for seconds. LeeLee (who is not even much of a risotto guy, to tell you the truth) even went back for a small third portion! Success.

And what’s even more successful is that we’ve got some risotto left over for lunch. It’ll have to get in line – we’ve still got some Moroccan chik’n stew to plow through, after all – but I’m looking forward to it already!

:)

Vegan Moroccan Chik’n Stew.

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vegan-moroccan-chikn-stew

Happy Snow Day, y’all!

In full disclosure, I did not actually spend said snow day at home. No, I decided that this morning would be a perfect one to traipse over hill and dale, carting shelter animals from one city to another before going to work. What usually takes 30 minutes stretched into a two-hour adventure, but I made it safely to my destinations in the end! With nary a peep from my puppy-and-kitten charges in the back seat, I might add. One of the hound puppies let out a little “Siiiiiigh” as we neared the first hour of our expedition, and all I could say in reply was, “Amen, brother.”

The drive home from work was much easier – with plowed roads, it was just a zip-zip-zip ride. This gave me plenty of time to whip up a batch of one of my favorite wintertime concoctions – vegan Moroccan chik’n stew!

I’ve already outlined the recipe itself in the post I linked to above, so I won’t dwell on that now. What I will say is that I think this may be the best Moroccan stew I’ve ever made in my life. Maybe we were just really hungry; maybe the cold had set so deeply into our bones that we were just craving a good stew. But whatever it was, something about the way the flavors mingled together coupled with the chewy texture of the Gardein chik’n strips and the tang of the stewed tomatoes really made this meal pop tonight! We each went back for seconds (and I must admit I had one last chik’n strip as I transported the leftovers into a container for the fridge).

In other wonderful news, we have a ton of stew left over for lunch tomorrow (and perhaps even Thursday)! And the house now has the wonderful fragrance of cinnamon, ginger, and curry powder. I can’t think of a more Recessionista potpourri than that!

:)

Sunday Cookout: Smoked Vegan Crab Cakes With Smoked Spaghetti Squash and Steamed Vegetables.

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vegan-smoked-crab-cakes

Growing up further south than my current home in the mid-Atlantic region, I confess my experience with crab cakes – vegan or otherwise – has been relatively limited. I ate them on occasion, of course, but not enough to actually remember and/or appreciate them. We tried Sophie’s Kitchen’s vegan crab cakes over the summer and enjoyed them quite a lot, but I always felt there was a better way to prepare them than simply baking them in the oven. Enter: The smoker!

As I know I’ve mentioned before, my charcoal smoker has two grates to work with. On the lower one, closest to the coals, I placed a whole spaghetti squash from Bigg Riggs Farm (after piercing it several times with a fork – the squash, that is, not Bigg Riggs!). Then I added my second grate to the smoker and placed four vegan crab cakes on top, then closed the lid and waited for the temperature to heat up. The weather was so wet tonight that I decided to add some more charcoal than usual, and I’m so glad I did! It helped tremendously in keeping the heat higher as the humidity set in.

Ninety minutes later, with very little care-taking in the interim, the squash was soft and the crab cakes were smoky and firm (and cooked through). So I steamed a bag of mixed vegetables quickly in the microwave and began to work on separating the spaghetti squash. First, I sliced the squash in half lengthwise, and then I scooped out the seeds with a small spoon. Next, once most of the seeds were taken care of, I used a fork to scrape the flesh of the squash, causing little spaghetti-like strands to appear. I continued doing this until there was no more flesh to scrape, and then I placed everything in a serving bowl, added a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stirred to combine.

The crab cakes were simpler still: All they required was a shift from grate to plate, accompanied by some homemade dipping sauce (Just Mayo + ketchup = excitement!). I confess we enjoyed them so much that we each ate two! But I can think of worse foods to gorge on.

The mixed veggies rounded out the plate just beautifully, as always, and also per usual there were no shreds left in the bowl by dinner’s end. We do love a vegetable!

I was thrilled with the results of the smoked crab cakes tonight. The smoker did a great job of infusing additional flavor into the patties, and the low-and-slow cooking actually improved their texture and firmed them up much more than they had been in the regular oven. Next time, I might add a little squeeze of lemon juice during the last 30 minutes of cooking, or perhaps a dusting of chipotle powder, but that might just be gilding the lily. We loved them just as they were tonight!

Happy New Year, everyone!

:)

Vegan “Beef” Stew.

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vegan-beef-stew

Crock-Pot Monday became Crock-Pot Tuesday this week, but no matter – I was just pleased as punch to come home tonight, exhausted and with a mile-long to-do list, to find that dinner was already hot and ready to eat!

I must be on a “Recipes I Have Known” kick, because we’ve got another one here tonight. This one comes from my old-timey Better Homes and Gardens Crockery Cookbook, one of my very favorite slow-cooker guides, and it’s just as good as everything else in the book. Which is to say it’s fantastic. And so easy to make!

Essentially, all I did was place a bag of Gardein “beef” tips in the slow cooker and added baby carrots (whole – I didn’t even dice them today!), minced dried onion, one can of sliced potatoes, one can of whole potatoes, and several cups of vegetable juice (I just used plain old V8 today). Add some seasoning – garlic powder, basil, salt, pepper, whatever you like – give it a stir, and set the heat to Low! Then go about your day with all the smugness you like, knowing dinner is simmering away while you work on other things.

By the time I got home from work, the stew was hot and bubbly, the carrots crisp-tender and the Gardein tips nice and soft (but still maintaining its texture). All that was left to do then was dip a breadstick in the stew and chow down!

LeeLee and I both loved the flavor that the vegetable-juice broth gave the dish (though strangely enough we both dislike vegetable juice on its own), and the mixture of spices, veggies, and protein conspired to create a wonderfully filling meal. We each went back for a second helping – and were thrilled that even after such gluttony, we’ve got more for tomorrow’s lunch! I’m looking forward to it already.

:)

Penne With Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce.

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penne-with-sundried-tomatoNow HERE is an oldie-but-goodie recipe I haven’t made in ages!

Way back in 2002 or so, when LeeLee and I were decidedly progressing toward full-on vegetarianism, I sent away to PETA for their Vegetarian Starter Guide (a very handy resource to this day, I must say!). It arrived in the mailbox as advertised, and instantly I was smitten by the plethora of recipes that were included on several pages in the middle of the booklet. So smitten, in fact, that I got straight to work, making vegetarian shepherd’s pie, an enchilada bake, and, in a decadent twist, ziti with sun-dried tomato cream sauce. It was that last recipe that I made again tonight – and have made many times in the years in between!

This meal is so easy to make, but it tastes so downright complicated that it’s a wonderful one to share with friends and other assorted guests. While the pasta boils, simply blend silken tofu, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar in a food processor until smooth, and then toss with the drained pasta once it’s done cooking. Then add artichoke quarters and parsley and dig in!

We served the meal tonight in my bright blue Le Creuset, just to give it an air of additional class, and enjoyed a breadstick on the side and a glass of wine to boot. And the final result was just glorious! The sun-dried tomatoes bring a nicely sweet tang to the dish while the silken tofu turns the consistency into a creamy wonderful blend. The artichokes give the dish some bite, while the parsley freshens the meal right up! Add a little nutritional yeast on top in lieu of vegan parm, and you’ve got a complete dinner that just can’t be beat.

Hooray for the Vegetarian Starter Guide – even lo these many years later!

:)

Vegetarian Chik’n Posole.

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posole

Just in time for the solstice, here comes the winter weather!

It’s a good thing I was well-prepared with a pot of chik’n posole tonight. This is one of my favorite cold-weather meals – in fact, it’s one of my favorite year-round meals if we’re getting right down to brass tacks – and I knew it would soothe our souls and please our palates tonight.

Because it’s a holiday week, I’m feeling especially festive, so I brought out the good old Le Creuset French oven to cook the soup in. First I added a package of Gardein chik’n strips to the pot, then a can of Rotel (well, Safeway’s version of Rotel – it was cheaper!), then a can of hominy, then a generous amount of dried minced onion and garlic powder, then a carton of veggie broth, and then topped everything off with a heaping helping of ground black pepper. I brought the posole to a boil, then turned the temperature down to Low and let it simmer for the better part of half an hour.

As it simmered, I heated up two breadsticks for LeeLee and me to enjoy during the meal. As soon as the breadsticks were ready (I baked them for the last 10 minutes of the posole’s cooking time), we sat down to eat, ladling the golden-red broth into snowman-emblazoned bowls.

I have to admit, we each enjoyed three full bowls full (in fairness, these bowls are shallow). Rarely does the chik’n posole last for leftovers, and it certainly didn’t tonight! We mowed it down to the bottom of the pot – if we could’ve used a straw to suck up the last molecules, we likely would have!

So another successful evening of soup on another cold winter’s night! If this is what winter has in store, I’m all for it.

:)