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The Kitchen Recessionista

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

Vegan Shrimp and Grits With Asparagus.

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Sometimes, you’ve just gotta get back to your Southern roots, you know? And what better way to get in touch with one’s upbringing than with a big ol’ pot of shrimp and grits? Vegan, of course.

I introduced this recipe to the blog awhile back, and it’s a perennial favorite around Chez Recessionista. The funny thing about it is, it tastes like it took a long time to make, but in actuality the whole shebang can go from stovetop to table in 20 minutes or less. It’s a perfect weeknight meal!

As per usual, I added a can of diced green chilies and several tablespoons of tomato sauce (my recipe calls for two tablespoons, but tonight I did closer to four because I was feeling feisty) to the grits and let the juices cook down. Then, right before the shrimp was finished baking, I added about a cup and a half (yes, a little more than the regular cup!) of Daiya vegan cheddar in half-cup batches, and stirred to mix it all together.

To add some extra flair to our plates, I roasted a bunch of asparagus, fresh this weekend from our friends out at Great Country Farms (where LeeLee and I also came home with nine quarts of strawberries – but that’s another story for another day). To save space in our tiny convection oven, I simply put the asparagus on the same baking sheet as the vegan shrimp and dusted them with some adobo seasoning for good measure. Fifteen minutes in the oven at 450 set them right!

And just like that, it was time to eat. As has become customary with shrimp and grits, we didn’t leave a solitary shrimp or even a kernel of grits in the pot. And the asparagus was gone in no time at all! So while we lack leftovers to show for our hard work, our stomachs are full and our hearts are happy. And isn’t that what dinnertime is all about?

:)

Memorial Day Cookout: Five-Layer Greek Dip.

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This afternoon, LeeLee and I traveled up the road to College Park, Md., tonight to visit our friends Jill and David, who had planned a fantastic all-vegan cookout to commemorate Memorial Day and kick off the beginning of the summertime season! We remembered from past experience that they know their way around a feast – it’s not unusual to make our way back to the car stuffed to the gills once we’ve been at their place. So I knew that a before-BBQ munchie would be all that was needed on our end tonight. (Well, that and a six-pack of Alexandria-based Port City beer. As always.)

So earlier today I pulled one of my favorite Pyrex glass dishes out of the cabinet and got to work on a five-layer Greek dip that always garners rave reviews (if I do say so). I came across this recipe over on Pinterest a couple of years ago and have used it many times in the ensuing months, always with great success! It’s easy; it’s tasty; it’s hearty; and furthermore it just looks darn pretty. Perfect for any festive occasion!

Now, one change from the original recipe: I generally omit the feta cheese as a matter of course (because LeeLee isn’t crazy about it in the first place and I try to look for ways to cut caloric corners wherever I can), and tonight was no different, especially because this was an all-vegan affair. So with that, I layered a batch of hummus, a diced cucumber, a diced red bell pepper, an entire jar of Kalamata olives (the recipe says you should mince them, but I never do), and, finally, plenty of fresh dill from our herb garden. Then I covered the top with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge until it was time to go!

Once we got to the party, we served the dip with both pita chips and fresh pita bread, because why not. Our dip took its place alongside chips and salsa, baba ganoush, and all sorts of other wonderful snacks, all of which were a prelude to the main event: Veggie burgers, vegan Italian sausage, a fresh multibean salad with sweet potatoes, kebabs, and fruit skewers! With peanut-butter cookies and ice-cream pie for dessert, of course, because what barbecue is complete without a hearty dessert?

I always get tickled when people think that all vegans eat is raw carrots. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a good raw veggie, but one glance at tonight’s spread will tell you all you need to know about how most vegans are food-lovers to the Nth degree. Vegans and vegetarians, as a whole, just love to eat! And believe me, I am no different. Nor were the other dozen-or-so guests tonight. And we all left stuffed like ticks. :)

Barbecue, a cornhole tournament, and great conversations with good friends: What could be a better way to wind down a long weekend? Bring on the hot summer nights!

:)

Sunday Cookout: Grilled Pizza.

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It’s here! It’s here! Our first grilled pizza of the season!

I have to admit, I’ve been waiting for Grilled Pizza Day for about a month now. This particular cookout plan requires a little bit of advance work (making the dough ahead of time, preferably far enough ahead to refrigerate it for a few hours), as well as ready audience participation. So some nights, we were feeling a bit lazy and didn’t want to hand-make every morsel of food that we ate. And some other weekends, we were short on prep time. Tonight, the stars aligned, and we got right to work.

I made the dough before church this morning and let it rise during the hourlong service (thank heaven for the Episcopalians!), then put it in the fridge when we got home. Shortly before it was time to fire up the grill, I sliced and diced a red bell pepper and several vegan burger patties, washed some pre-sliced mushrooms, and got my black olives and pizza sauce in order. LeeLee, in the meantime, raided our herb garden and came back with some lovely basil, oregano, and parsley, which he chopped up with our kitchen scissors.

Then we made our pizzas in the usual way, which is to say, in all manner of styles. Some (mine) went heavy on the Daiya mozzarella; some (LeeLee’s) were veggie-meat-lovers’ specialties. In all, we made six mini-pizzas and mowed down four of them; the other two are hanging out in the fridge, primed for lunch tomorrow!

Welcome back, grilled pizza!! We have missed this meal so. Now, we’ll make up for lost time, all summer long!

:)

Lemon-Basil Pasta.

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Now, if this meal doesn’t bring spring right to your doorstep, I don’t know what will!

Lemon-basil pasta has been a favorite dish of LeeLee’s and mine for more than a decade now. Once, in a galaxy far far away, TGI Fridays actually served a dish very similar to this on their summertime menu, and we both fell completely in love with it back when we lived in Tallahassee. Then, just like that, it was gone, leaving us both bereft.

So imagine our delight when, a few years back, LeeLee perfected a recipe very much like our old restaurant favorite! Some olive oil, some vinegar (sometimes we use champagne vinegar, sometimes white balsamic, sometimes regular old balsamic), some salt and pepper, halved cherry tomatoes, minced basil, diced cheese (tonight we used Parrano), and, of course, plenty of lemon juice always blend together just perfectly and meld with the penne pasta with aplomb. It’s one of the quickest, easiest, and prettiest meals we make!

And it’s easy on the taste buds, as well. LeeLee and I each mowed down two helpings (and he went back for a third – but don’t tell him I told you!). And there’s still plenty left for our lunches tomorrow. We can eat in style, right at our desks!

:)

Crock-Pot Monday: Vegetarian BBQ Chik’n and Cornbread Casserole.

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Here’s an oldie but a goodie, a perennial favorite meal around Chez Recessionista but yet one we haven’t enjoyed in quite some time! Vegetarian BBQ chik’n and cornbread casserole always gets you where you need to go, and in record time, too.

Now, first, a full admission. I woke up this morning and was simply in No Mood to put together something for the Crock-Pot. “It’ll take too long,” I whined to the cat, who was lying next to me in the bed, too tired to even open an eye as I spoke. “I’m too tired. I just want to sleeeeep.”

Last night, you see, a dear friend of ours was visiting from France, and we had a wonderful evening of catching-up and visiting. We were out late, and then had to settle back down for a good long time before going to bed after the fact (I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time coming home from a fun night out and then immediately going to sleep!). So by the time I went to bed, it was after midnight, which made the 6:05 a.m. alarm come mighty early this morning. And the same goes for the 7 a.m. alarm, which I set after determining that the 6:05 alarm was a bunch of garbage.

My feelings had not warmed post-shower, but I decided to give the Crock-Pot the old college try anyway and reluctantly prepared tonight’s meal. And lo and behold, the prep work took all of 10 minutes! Ten minutes, and I had a wonderful dish for dinner tonight. You can’t ask for more than that!

As ever, I used this recipe I found over at $5 Dinners about a hundred years ago, and it’s never let me down. I use only one box of the corn muffin mix for the topper and have never had a problem with it – it’s always plenty of cornbread to go with our barbecue chik’n! (On the flip side, sometimes I’ve used two boxes’ worth, and the middle turned out undercooked, even 10 hours after the fact! So use your best judgment.)

Anyway, all it takes is a mix of chik’n strips, barbecue sauce, frozen corn, and diced sweet potato, topped with the corn muffin mix (mixed up, of course, not just dry!). Flip the slow cooker to Low, then move on with your life for the workday!

By the time I got home, the house was filled with the aroma of barbecue, and all I had to do was toss a quick salad before we were ready to eat! The cornbread topping was perfectly cooked – slightly brown around the sides of the crock and golden in the middle – and the underlying chik’n mixture was thick, sweet, and incredibly flavorful. The sweet potato was soft to the touch of the fork, and the corn was perfectly crisp. What a wonderful flavor combination, indeed!

We mowed down a couple of servings apiece – plus a lot of salad, I’m not gonna lie – and were very pleased to know that we have plenty of leftovers for lunch this week. And looking back to this morning, I’m very, very glad I talked myself into getting up to add everything to the Crock-Pot despite my initial laziness. It was worth it in the end!

:)

Vegan Fish Filets With Roasted Asparagus and Couscous.

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For asparagus lovers, this is the most exciting time of the year. The stalks are as thin as toothpicks and as flavorful as all get-out, and they’re SO incredibly susceptible to any spices you add before cooking. So even though asparagus wasn’t on my menu plan when I plundered through the farmer’s market on Saturday, I just had to put a healthy bunch of the good stuff into my shopping bag. When it comes to fresh springtime asparagus, my general rule is: Buy first, figure it out later.

Shortly afterward, the idea hit me. I knew I had a bag of Gardein vegan fish filets in the freezer just waiting to be used. And what goes better with fish – or “fish” – but asparagus? A pot of couscous rounded out the trio and provided a bit of a base for the rest of the dish.

The other positive thing about this particular pairing is that it takes very little work to pull off – a benefit indeed after a long day of work and then an hourlong volunteer shift at the animal shelter! I confess I was in No Mood for anything complicated by the time I got home, and this menu fit the bill on that as well. The hardest part was snapping the tips off the asparagus stalks!

The fish filets baked for about half an hour, and I added a pan of asparagus (lightly coated with cooking spray and topped with a generous helping of chipotle seasoning) to the oven in the last 15-or-so minutes. Shortly after that, I brought my couscous to a boil and let it sit, firming up, until the rest of the meal was ready!

When there were just a few minutes left in the baking time, I put together another batch of my new favorite Old Bay-oli, which you might remember from a week or so ago. This time I went even heavier on the Old Bay, and I must say the aioli was none the worse for wear!

Then it was time to eat. And I must confess to you that we were both hungry after our day’s adventures! There is not a shred of fish, nor asparagus, nor couscous left for leftovers. But we didn’t care. The food was so good, we couldn’t stop ourselves. And I must say that after years and years with no decent vegetarian fish options, we’re still gorging a bit on the good stuff!

I know that soon the asparagus will thicken up and become woody, and then the season will come to an end. So we’re enjoying it while we’ve got it, any way we can!

:)

Crock-Pot Tuesday: Vegan Hoppin’ John.

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A day late, here comes this week’s Crock-Pot creation! Tonight, I pulled a favorite page out of my personal dinnertime playbook and put a batch of vegan hoppin’ John to excellent use.

I’ve used this recipe from over at A Year of Slow-Cooking for ages now, and it’s never disappointed! (Obviously, instead of using regular sausage I always use a veg version – tonight’s choice was Tofurky Italian sausage links!) Simply put all of the ingredients – sausage, black-eyed peas, Rotel (or its generic knockoff, as we use), collard greens, salt and pepper, instant rice, and veggie broth – together in a slow cooker, stir it up as best you can, and click it to Low for the better part of the day! (I’ve cooked our hoppin’ John on High for as little as five hours and on Low for as many as 12 with no ill effects!) By the time you get home from work or from a day otherwise carrying on with the business of life, dinner’s ready and waiting. Oh, how I love that about the slow cooker!

Now, A Year of Slow-Cooking blogger Stephanie O’Dea’s recipe calls for you to soak the peas overnight in a container of water, and I must admit I’ve always followed suit. But after yesterday’s little situation, wherein I woke up in the morning only to realize I’d neglected to soak the peas and thus punted the meal to today, I decided to wage a little experiment. What if I didn’t soak the peas first? I often don’t when I’m cooking them on the stovetop. Wouldn’t 10 hours in the Crock-Pot tenderize them up nicely regardless?

So in the dried peas went along with everything else, and I went to the office with crossed fingers, hoping for a successful (and edible) result by the time I got back.

Wonderful news! The black-eyed peas were perfectly soft when I arrived home, hungry for dinner, and the rest of the meal wasn’t any worse for wear as a result. It may have been a touch less “soupy” than it sometimes is, but we didn’t mind that one bit! All of the flavors mingled perfectly and the peas were as perfect as they’d have been if I’d soaked them all night. Hooray for efficiency!

It probably goes without saying that LeeLee and I are both crazy for Cajun and Southern meals, and this hoppin’ John was no exception. We enjoyed two helpings and are only too thrilled to know that we’ve got plenty more for lunch the next few days! I love a recipe that feeds an army – or a couple for a week.

:)