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The Kitchen Recessionista

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

New Recipe: “Steak,” Mushroom, and Veggie Skillet.

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Tonight is one of those nights when we’ve got hours’ worth of Stuff to do and what seems like mere minutes to do it all in.  Already, as I survey my docket at a quarter of nine, I am watching many tasks float off today’s to-do list and onto the weekend’s instead, and I suppose that’s fine too.  It gives us something to look forward to!
The one thing that didn’t take much time at all tonight was our dinner.  In fact, it cooks up in a jiffy, and it’s wonderfully fortifying for whatever tasks you’ve got to tackle after the fact!
This has been one of my favorite recipes to test as of late – tweaking the proportions and the cooking times, sorting out the layering of the ingredients in the pan.  The final product tastes so complex, like it took a long, slow cook time to make, but in actuality, it cooks up very quickly – by the time the side dish of rice and/or noodles are finished, the veggie steak, diced mushrooms, and veggies are too!
I love the flavor profile of this meal, the juxtaposition of light, fresh vegetables and hearty, earthy vegetarian steak and Portobello mushrooms.  It’s such a wholeheartedly spring-like recipe; this season seems like the perfect time to debut it to the world!  (Though I feel sure the meal would be right at home in the colder months, as well.)
Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think!
STEAK, MUSHROOM, AND VEGGIE SKILLET
Serves two
What you’ll need:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 package of the steak analogue of your choice (I use Gardein beef tips, but you could also use Morningstar Farms, Boca, or a seasoned tofu, just to name a few)
1 Portobello mushroom cap, chopped into one-inch cubes
1 package fresh vegetable stir-fry mix (I like the kind that contains broccoli, snap peas, and carrots)
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Place the olive oil in the pan and turn on the stove to medium-high.  As the oil heats up, add the butter.  Once the foam dies off a bit, add the steak analogue and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally.  (Sometimes your steak will stick – if this is the case, just simply add some more olive oil until the pan and steak is well-coated.) 
Five minutes into the process, add the chopped mushroom, and stir until well coated with oil.  Let everything continue to cook in one layer.
Ten minutes into the process, add the mixed vegetables, and repeat the process of stirring until everything is well coated.  Your pan may be pretty full by now, but do your best to get everything into one layer (or one and a half layers, at least, if your pan is as full as mine usually is!).  Add the salt and pepper.  Stir occasionally (but only occasionally – the biggest mistake I make with sautéing is moving everything around too much!) – it won’t be long now, and things get pretty hot and heavy here at the last!
Keep a close eye on your vegetables, and when they’re crisp-tender to your liking, cut the heat to the stove and remove the pan from the burner.  You’re done!
Serve over rice or egg noodles and enjoy the rest of your day!

:)

A Grilled-Cheese Duo!

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Recently, Daiya put out a call for entries in a grilled-cheese sandwich contest, and ever the grilled-cheese (and Daiya) fan, I’ve been concocting a plan to create the best recipe the world has ever seen.  With that quest firmly in my mind, tonight I brought out the sandwich press and made not one but two different recipes in hopes of wowing the judges!
Admittedly, this blog post is a bit of a tease.  The rules don’t say anything about allowing or disallowing previously published recipes, so I won’t post mine here right now in the event that Lady Luck smiles on me.  But I will say that one recipe involved ramps and one involved onions.  I shall say no more.  (For now.)
Once the sandwiches were properly browned and the cheese was melty, I cut each one in half to allow for a taste test of both – before a panel of two voters (myself included).  Which one tickled our taste buds the most?  I don’t dare say at the moment!
But soon, Daiya will announce the winner, and if it’s not me, I’ll spill the beans.  And if it IS me, I’ll also spill the beans.  Both our taste-test winner and runner-up were of the very highest quality tonight, and I can’t wait to share each recipe with you in short order!
In the meantime, wish me luck!  If you’re into that sort of thing.

:)

Provencal Vegetable Quiche With Salad.

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I have to admit it – I’ve been burned by vegan quiche before.  Sometimes, the recipes attempt to make the quiche too eggy, even though there are no eggs anywhere on the premises, and instead I’m left with this soggy, cardboardy-tasting pie that  makes me sad.
Tonight, though, has changed my mind entirely.
First of all, it amazes me that I’ve had Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet in my home for almost a dozen years, and I’m still trying new recipes from within those pages.  Tonight’s Provencal Vegetable Quiche was one of those new-to-me dishes, and let me just spoil the surprise here and now: It was a winner.  Hands down.
Because I want the good Ms. Robertson to continue selling her books, I won’t repeat the recipe here, but I will say it was a wonderful mix of sautéed veggies, from zucchini to leeks to mushrooms to garlic to tomatoes and more.  All the hits, as it were.  I confess I purchased store-bought pie crust, whereas she had instructed us to make our own, but that’s not a bad shortcut if you ask me.
This recipe calls for a great many herbs to add to the sauté pan, but I had a trick up my sleeve!  This weekend, while LeeLee and I were visiting the U.S. Botanical Garden for its Herb Day celebration, we picked up (for free!) an “herbs de Provence” packet of dried herbs that were grown in the Botanical Garden’s own greenhouses.  (We also picked up – again, for free! – two additional potted herbs for our own garden, one tarragon and one thyme.)  So I sprinkled a generous helping of the dried goodies atop my veggies and immediately felt the better for it.
The trick, as ever in vegan egg-like dishes, was the topping.  After placing a thin layer of Daiya mozzarella on top of the sautéed vegetables in my pie crust, I poured on a blend of silken tofu, almond milk, Dijon mustard, cayenne, and salt.  Robertson’s recipe made more than I could afford to put on top of the quiche – as it stood, some of the egg replacement was dribbling off the sides – but after a turn in the oven for 45 minutes, it had firmed up nicely.   (I put the remaining filling into the freezer for later use.  No sense in letting it go to waste!)
As the quiche cooled for 5 minutes after its time in the oven, I tossed a simple salad of lettuce, tomato, and Daiya mozzarella, and whipped up a quick dressing of Vegenaise, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Then I sliced the quiche up – sadly, it gave way and did not come out of the pie pan in a sensible little triangle, but rather a glob – and served it, and dug right in!
Neat little triangle or no, this quiche was AMAZING.  I loved the combination of flavors brought out by the vegetables, and the herbs de Provence added a welcome finishing touch.  And the egg-substitute mixure?  Divine!  It was light and airy, but it had a distinct (in a good way) taste that made all the difference to the quiche’s final result. 
After two hearty helpings, we called it quits and put the rest in the fridge.  But I’m already looking forward to lunch tomorrow, when I’ll get to enjoy Round Two!  Maybe I’ll leave a little for LeeLee, too.  We’ll see …

:)

Sunday Cookout: Veggie Dogs, Asparagus, and Sweet Potato Fries.

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After a long day of gardening, we’ve found the best way to relax is to sit outside on the newly cleaned patio with a cold beer and a little red grill filled with ingredients for dinner.  In this setup, you’ve got no option, really, other than letting the stress melt away as you leaf through a magazine, listening to the birds sing sweetly (or, in the case of our resident grackles, caw incessantly).

For tonight’s cookout, we settled on some family favorites – veggie dogs, asparagus from the farmers’ market, and sweet potato fries! 
First, I prepared the asparagus by slicing off the woody ends.  Usually, I like to skewer the stalks for grilling, but these springtime asparagus spears were much too tiny for skewering!  This is, in fact, an excellent thing – it means they’ll be some of the tastiest, most tender asparagus spears of the year – so I went with it and instead placed them all in a foil packet, marinating them with some olive oil and our favorite, Tony Chachere Cajun seasoning.
Once the grill was hot enough, I laid the packet down atop the grate.  I like to cook the asparagus a nice, long time to get it perfectly tender, so I planned on a 25-minute cook time, turning the packet over every 10 minutes or so.
In the meantime, I put the sweet potato fries in the oven to bake.  I still can’t come up with a good way to keep the fries crispy on the grill!  If you’ve got an idea, I’m all ears – let me know in the comments!
When I had about 10 minutes left in the cooking window, I threw the veggie dogs onto the grill, rotating them every couple of minutes.  As they cooked, I chopped up an onion (my father-in-law used to say that a hot dog without onions was like a day without sunshine) and added the other condiments to the table.  Once the dogs were ready, I took them up and placed two buns on the grates to toast for a minute (and only a minute – don’t turn your back on them, or they’ll burn up!).  Then I removed the buns and the asparagus, and put the fries into a serving bowl, sprinkling them with some salt at the last.
The result?  Well, what do you think?  :)  With such a friendly spread, we couldn’t go wrong!  The food was gone in minutes, and the beer was quick to follow.  Another successful cookout, indeed!

:)

Get Out of The Kitchen: The Spring Farmer’s Market.

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I know, I know – I’ve waxed poetic about spring’s arrival in practically every blog post so far this, um, spring.  But we had a WINTER, y’all – a winter filled with snow and ice and sleet and bone-chilling wind and brisk mornings that made my ears burn while on my morning run.  So I hope you will forgive me for celebrating the change of season a little more than I usually do!

Now that the asparagus and my beloved ramps are back on sale in Market Square each Saturday, I know the new farmer’s market season has begun.  Spring greens, fresh honey, even a few strawberries grown in greenhouses all around the region – some of my favorite fruits and veggies in the world are available right now, ripe for the picking and ready to be used in the week’s meals.
I love returning to the market after a winter away.  Every autumn, I swear that I’m going to attend faithfully throughout the holidays, but I confess I never do.  I may pop in once or twice during the winter months, but I never seem to keep up with the market the way I can during the other three seasons of the year.  Somehow, coming back in April and May, seeing the market teeming with vendors and customers alike, makes my pulse quicken a little, gives me a little burst of energy.  There’s something about watching the community come together as they have for the last 200-or-so years that is just an incredible sight to behold, and I’m so pleased to take part in the ritual.
This time of year, I buy as many rail-thin asparagus stalks as I can, using them any old place – to roast, on the grill, in a sauté pan, boiled, cooked with pasta, and so on.  The same goes for the aforementioned ramps – they’re incredibly easy to use in place of (or in tandem with) onions or garlic in nearly any recipe you can think of.  (I also love a good old ramp biscuit!)
If you’ve got a nearby farmer’s market, now is the time to get out there to scope out what’s in season!  Do you have a favorite market or spring veggie?  Tell me in the comments!

:)

Other Ways to Save: Mending Clothes.

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We usually talk about food around these parts, but this is also a blog about frugality (or at least a valiant attempt at frugality!).  And in that vain, I wanted to step out of the kitchen for a minute, as I do sometimes (like when I fixed my doorbell awhile back), and talk about other ways LeeLee and I save money by repairing things ourselves.  Today’s tip?  Mending clothes!
It wasn’t until recently that I really felt comfortable enough to mend my own clothes – and I admit, I’m still not a skilled seamstress at it.  But I can do enough to get by, and if my handiwork makes my clothing last a while longer, then so be it!
For instance, recently one of my favorite pairs of jeans developed a hole in a most inappropriate spot – on the inside of my thigh!  I noticed it while I was out birdwatching, of all places, and realized I was receiving a bit more ventilation than was normal from a pair of jeans.  Once I got back to the car, I realized what had happened – my favorite birdwatching jeans had finally given way.  This simply would not do!  And I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on what was otherwise a perfectly good pair of pants.  So out came the patches!
When I was little, I was mortifiedat the thought of my mother patching up my clothes.  Oh, how I fought against having to wear jeans with any sort of additional attention drawn to them!  Now that it’s on my own dime, though, I see where Mom was coming from.  So out came my sewing kit and my packet of $1.99 patches – that’s less than two dollars for about 10 small iron-ons! – and out came the iron, as well.
At least Youthful Hope wouldn’t have been too terribly embarrassed by this patch job – it was, after all, in a spot on the fabric where (I would hope!) the general public wouldn’t be looking anyway.  :)  After pressing the patch down firmly onto the hole for 45 seconds or so, I carefully removed the jeans from the ironing board and laid them on the bed to cool down.  The patch was firmly secure as soon as the fabric was cool, and voila!  My jeans were good as new.
I was so emboldened by this little feat that, while I had my sewing kit out, I decided to secure some buttons on several of my other pairs of jeans – buttons that were either hanging by a thread or were completely ripped off.  One button never did turn up, so I simply ripped a similar button off of another pair of (sadly, too-small) jeans and sewed it onto a pair I was interested in wearing.  By the end of the day’s mending adventures, I had repaired four pairs of jeans in some way, shape, or form – including adding a patch to another pair of jeans, just because.
As I said above, I’m hardly a skilled seamstress – some (many!) repairs are still way outside my proficiency level.  But for today, I’ll be content with some patches and some needles and thread.  And I’ll keep learning more advanced techniques – they’ll certainly come in handy!

:)

Tex-Mex Chili.

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The Crock-Pot is not synonymous with the warmer months, but chili is good any time of the year!  And tonight I tried a recipe from one of my very first living-on-my-own cookbooks, the Better Homes and Gardens Crockery Cookbook (or, as my friend Stuart used to call it, the “Crockery Cookery”).  I’ve had this cookbook for 15 years, but still I keep finding new recipes to try!  They’re a wonderful thing, cookbooks.
At any rate, before leaving for work this morning I put all of the chili ingredients – your usual ground “beef,” chili powder, diced tomatoes, onions, beans, and peppers, plus some other ingredients, like V8, Rotel, and tomato paste – in the slow cooker, flipped it on, and headed out on my bike.  The prep on this took all of five minutes, which is always a winner in my book!
Furthermore, I noticed the pre-chopped onions and peppers were on sale at the grocery store this week, so I allowed myself to buy them (usually I eschew conveniences like that if they’re going to affect the bottom line).  What a luxury, to just dump a carton of pre-diced veggies into the pot!  I’d better not get used to that.
By the time I got home, the house smelled great – nothing beats a home-cooked meal moonlighting as specialty potpourri.  But would the chili hold up to the hype?
Yes!  This was a more tomato-based chili than I typically make, but I found the change refreshing.  The blend of tomato products with the hearty veggie “beef” and beans added a layer of complexity in every bite, and the Daiya cheese we put on top cooled off the top layer of the meal’s spicy heat.  Paired with a nice white wine, it was a great dinner indeed!  We’ll definitely make it again.
Hooray for new recipes in old cookbooks!

:)

New Recipe! Field-Pea Tostadas With Rice.

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A few weeks ago, while LeeLee and I were perusing the aisles of our local international grocery store for sushi ingredients, we spent some additional time on the Latin-foods aisle in order to stock the pantry with all sorts of goodies we’d either wanted to try or had already tried and knew we loved.  While we were there, we picked up some cans of various beans and vegetable combinations that we’d never enjoyed before, knowing we’d be able to do something with them later.
For the field peas, tonight was the night!
I’m a huge fan of all things Mexican, and lately I’ve had tostadas on the brain.  Sometimes, I purchase ready-made tostada shells, but it’s not necessary – I always keep a package of corn tortillas in the freezer, and they come in handy for all sorts of meals, from enchiladas to tofu rancheros to, of course, tostadas.  Which is how four of these tortillas were called into service tonight!
To my knowledge, I’d never had field peas (in this case, they were mixed with a handful of sliced green beans) before.  To my palate, they tasted like a smaller, zestier version of black-eyed peas – not quite so buttery mild as black-eyed peas can be, and certainly more compact.  They also had a bit more of a bite to them, texture-wise, than black-eyed peas.  But the taste wasn’t unfamiliar to me, and I was pleased to learn that I liked them quite a lot.
And so I got to cooking.  First, I put my rice in the rice cooker and flipped the switch to let it steam for half an hour, and while that was cooking, I heated the field peas and prepared the vegetables to be served tableside.  When I had 10 or so minutes left in the rice’s cooking time, I heated four corn tortillas, one after the next, in a nonstick pan (my omelet pan, if you must know), and once each one was golden brown on both sides, I laid them to rest on our dinner plates.
Once the rice was ready, the peas were, too, and I spooned everything atop the waiting tortillas, reserving some rice for a side dish.  Served with some Tabasco and (for me) some nutritional yeast, it was a perfectly complete meal that left us filled and happy – and gave us leftovers for tomorrow, too!
FIELD-PEA TOSTADAS WITH RICE
(serves two, plus leftovers)
What you’ll need:
1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1 packet rice seasoning (we used Goya tonight)
1 can field peas
4 corn tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1 avocado, sliced
2 cups of lettuce leaves
1 can sliced olives
1 can sliced jalapeños
1 cup pepperjack cheese (we used Daiya)
Hot sauce, salsa, or both to taste
First, cook your rice according to the package directions, adding your seasoning packet to the pot or rice cooker before you begin.
While the rice cooks, heat the can of field peas in a saucepan, tasting it to ensure the spices are to your liking.  If they aren’t, add whatever you have on hand – we’re fond of adobo seasoning, but chipotle powder, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, or cumin would do nicely.
As the beans and rice cook in their separate pots, warm up four corn tortillas by spraying a nonstick pan with cooking oil and setting the heat to medium-high.  Heat each of the tortillas for 1 to 2 minutes on each side until each tortilla is golden-brown, then set on two dinner plates.
When the rice is fully cooked and the peas are heated up, it’s time to get everything plated up!  Spoon the peas on top of each of the tortillas (feel free to add some rice to the tortillas as well if you like), then top each tostada with the tomato, avocado, lettuce, olives, jalapeños, cheese, and sauces.  Add some rice to the side of the plate to accompany the tostadas, and you’re off to the races!
Enjoy!

:)

Rotini With Roasted Asparagus and Sundried Tomatoes.

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The rain started as LeeLee and I drove home tonight, first in little dribs and drabs, then harder in big fat drops that hit the windshield with a splat.  As the temperature dipped back into the 50s, I reconsidered the springy meal that was on the menu for tonight, but then I decided: Who cares?  It’s nearly May!  Let’s eat some asparagus and be happy.
And with that, I began work on my version of Robin Robertson’s “Fusilli With Roasted Asparagus, Sundried Tomatoes, and Pine Nuts” from her glorious book Vegan Planet.  A quick comparison of her recipe title and my blog post shows what I did differently – I changed the fusilli to rotini and removed the pine nuts.  (Incidentally, I was hoping to use said pine nuts, but the ones I thought I had in my cupboard were nonexistent there at the last.  So much for that one!)
It looks like her book is now on Google books, so feel free to venture on over there to grab the recipe if you like – I don’t want to reprint it here because I revere this book so very much that I want to be sure to give Ms. Robertson her due!  But suffice it to say, I roasted the asparagus and then sautéed it with garlic and sundried tomatoes while the pasta cooked, adding some salt and pepper for flavor.  Once the pasta was ready, I drained the rotini and tossed everything together in a big glass bowl, adding some chopped basil and parsley from the garden for good measure!  (This marks our first use of the herb garden for this season – hooray!)
We hadn’t tried this recipe before, so I was hopeful but nervous about how it’d come out.  I needn’t have been worried – this dinner was fantastic!  Sometimes sundried tomatoes, particularly the ones packed in oil (as these were), can be a bit strong – sometimes a little too strong for my taste, if you must know the truth.  But tonight, the flavors mingled just perfectly, and the tomatoes gave the dish the perfect amount of tang, balancing the spring asparagus beautifully. We topped our meals with some nutritional yeast for garnish and mowed down two plates full of pasta apiece.  And in true Recessionista fashion, there’s plenty left for both of us to take for lunch tomorrow – hooray!
:)

Red Beans and Rice With Vegetarian Chorizo.

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Tonight, LeeLee and I were in a bit of a time crunch – he had to rush off to a meeting about 40 minutes after we arrived home, and I had a laundry list (which included real laundry!) of things to accomplish before my head hit the pillow (which still has not happened).  With that in mind, red beans and rice came to the rescue with rapid speed!
Within three minutes after arriving home, I’d managed to feed the cat, put the rice into the rice cooker (using an oversized shot glass as a measuring cup, I might add, because all of my other measuring cups were in the dishwasher and I was too lazy to hand-wash them – I know, I know), and open a can of red beans into a saucepan.  As everything cooked, I knocked off a couple of chores, and when the rice cooker turned off, I heated up a package of Lightlife chorizo in the microwave.  No, I didn’t use a sauté pan, because who had the time?  We were on a deadline, people!
And the end result was as tasty as usual.  Red beans and rice is our Other Old Faithful, our go-to when schedules are tight.  It’s filling, it’s hearty, it’s tasty, it’s healthy – what’s not to love?
No leftovers, but that’s OK.  We’ve still got some Easter dishes to finish!

:)