Tag: vegetarian

Summer Salad With Vegan Cashew Dressing and Chipotle-spiced Potatoes

chipotle spiced roasted potatoes sit atop vegan cashew dressing on colorful salad greens with red and yellow peppers
Chipotle-spiced potatoes languishing on vegan cashew dressing and crispy salad greens.

It seems everybody and their fucking brother has a salad recipe for the summertime, but I’m just going to come out and say it: this one is better.

How’s that, you say? 

1. It’s accidentally vegan, and by “accidentally” I mean I don’t follow a vegan diet, but we should all eat less meat, because A) high-quality meat is getting more expensive, B) the only meat you should eat is high-quality meat, and C) eating plant-based meals a few times a week is really good for you.

Plus it’s cheaper to eat plant-based whole foods that aren’t processed. So there’s that.

2. The two highlights of this salad — the dressing and the potatoes — can be strewn about any number of variations in terms of greens and accoutrements. I give some suggestions in the Recipe Notes.

3. It’s a really good chance that you have everything you need to make this salad immediately. The only iffy thing is the cashews, but even the cashews can be picked up at a convenience store on the way home, as they don’t need to be fancy and raw (which means no soaking).

Everything else is pantry and fridge staples, and there’s no unusual ingredients. 

There’s also no yeast — a common vegan trick for a “cheesy” flavor — in this recipe. Many people, including this writer, have issues with yeast. Leaving it out is no big deal.

4. It’s just really, really fucking delicious.

Summer Salad With Vegan Cashew Dressing and Chipotle-spiced Potatoes

Ingredients

Vegan cashew salad dressing (makes about a cup)

½ cup roasted, salted cashews

¼ cup neutral oil (I used canola)

1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey (I used shagbark hickory syrup in late winter)

3 tablespoons lime juice (more to taste)

1 clove garlic (about 1 teaspoon chopped if you buy it in a little jar, which I do sometimes and LOVE, so zero shade)

1 teaspoon cumin

Hot water to thin (see Recipe Notes)

Chipotle-spiced Potatoes

Yellow potatoes, cut into ½”-1” cubes 

Chipotle chili powder (see Recipe Notes)

Olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Salad Stuff — go crazy here

Romaine hearts, chopped

Red and yellow peppers

Carrots

Red cabbage

Chopped snap peas

Avocado

Cherry tomatoes

Black beans, grilled chicken, leftover steak, or all in some combination

Pickled red onions (or raw in thin slivers)

Shredded sharp cheddar if you want the dairy experience

Method

Salad dressing: Place all ingredients except water in a food processor or very capable blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. Add hot water to thin as needed, but be prepared to bump up the lime juice and other seasoning (cumin especially) if you add too much. Since I use this on hearty romaine salad greens, I certainly don’t mind a thicker dressing, but you choose your own adventure.

This can be stored in the fridge for three days. Note that it will thicken as it cools, so you may need to add a combo of lime/warm water to thin.

Potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Chop up a mess of yellow potatoes, more than you think you need. More than you think you want. Seriously.  Chances are good when you are done eating your salad, you’re going to want to nosh on these with some ketchup. If you have leftovers, they are just fine on salad the next day, or you can use them in a frittata. SO GOOD. Plus, if you’re going to turn your oven on in the summer, you might as well make it count.

Add potatoes to a bowl and splash with a generous glug of olive oil, chipotle chili powder, salt and black pepper. How much?

Frustratingly for you, maybe, it’s hard to say. People’s spice preference is different. The chipotle chili should be visible on the potatoes, and you want them fairly slippery with oil. Use more salt than you think you need, and keep it handy.

Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Give them a stir, taste for salt and add if needed,  turn off the oven, and let them sit in the oven for another ten minutes while you put your salad together.

Assembly: I chop, wash, and spin dry three romaine hearts every week in the summer so there’s no excuse not to eat veggies, and it’s easy all the time (I’ll grate tons of carrot in there, too). You can use any type of hearty salad green, but for the love of all things holy, avoid iceberg lettuce in most applications, including this one.

Add whatever salad-y things you like. I would avoid cucumbers unless they are the English kind that have less water, but I might also avoid those. They just don’t seem delicious here, but if that’s your jam, have at it.

Add dressings and pile on the potatoes. I like to toss everything together in a slightly larger bowl so the dressing touches every corner of the salad and potatoes. 

Eat. Repeat. Salad for days.

Recipe notes

  • If you use too much hot water to thin your cashew dressing, it could also dilute the flavor. I like to alternate between water and additional lime juice. If you only have one lime, you could also add unseasoned rice vinegar instead. Acid is a good friend here — it keeps things light even though this is a filling salad.

If you don’t stan chipotle chili powder, substitute the same amount of smoked paprika. It changes the flavor profile a bit, but the smoke is what you’re after. If you hate both of those options, season the potatoes with a fancy smoked salt and live your best life.

Cream of Mushroom Soup (Vegan)

Luscious and warming – just like me.

Edited: this was written prior to the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We have apparently now entered the meaty side of things.

Yes, I am aware that I said we would get into the meaty side of things – and we will.

Seems like much of life these days is waiting to get into the meaty things.

But in the meantime, the nights will be in the mid-40s for the next week, with sunny, dry fall days ahead. This vegan cream of mushroom soup is perfect for lunch, or with crusty bread and a big salad for dinner. It freezes well, so put some up for the rainy days ahead.

Cream of Mushroom Soup
(serves 6, with leftovers)

Luscious and creamy without a trace of cream, this silky soup is full of grounding, warming flavors and herbs. A perfect vegan lunch, or see Recipe Notes for meat-eating options. Use homemade chicken, vegetable, or beef stock (see recipes included below), or look for store-bought organic stocks with limited ingredients. Seasoning makes the difference here, so don’t shy away from salt and pepper. Taste as you go.

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews (see Recipe Notes)
¼ cup olive oil or ghee (divided)
1 cup onion, chopped (red, yellow, and white all work)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds mushrooms, roughly chopped (see Recipe Notes)
3 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 3 teaspoons dried)
2 tablespoon fresh sage (or 2 teaspoons dried)
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (divided)
Salt and pepper to taste
Splash of apple cider vinegar for serving
optional for carnivores: ground beef, browned and drained (see Recipe Notes)
optional for serving: fresh thyme and fresh chopped parsley

Method

Cover cashews with boiling water and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Drain, then purée in a blender with ½ cup of chicken or vegetable stock. Set aside.

Heat olive oil or ghee in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn translucent and take on some color (about 5 to 7 minutes). Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Turn the heat to medium high and add the mushrooms, a handful at a time, allowing the mushrooms to color just a bit before adding more. You may need to add a little more ghee or olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and add fresh thyme and sage. Add remaining stock and bring to a low simmer. Cook until mushrooms are tender (10 to 12 minutes), then add cashew purée, starting with a ¼ cup and adding to get the consistency you want. You may need to add more stock or less cashew purée.

If you are using ground beef, add it back in now and bring the soup back to a low boil. Remove from heat. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar, season to taste, and serve with chopped fresh thyme and parsley.

Recipe Notes

• If you have leftover Cashew Cream, it works well in this recipe. Simply add whatever you like for a nice creamy consistency.
• Select any mushrooms you like. In the fall, look for local chanterelles and porcini mushrooms, as well as year-round shitake and Portobello. A mix of mushrooms works fine here.
• If you are making the carnivorous version of this silky soup, start by browning one pound of ground beef in a stockpot. Remove the ground beef when browned and proceed with sautéing the onion, as above (no need to add ghee or olive oil). Make sure and scrape the browned bits of ground beef off the bottom of the pot as you sauté the onions. Add ground beef back in after you incorporate the cashew purée.

How to Stop and When to Die: Sweet Potato, Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Kale in Coconut Broth

It’s hard to take a good picture of this, but I can tell you with utter certainty that it is fucking delicious.

One of my favorite artists, Marina Abramovic, said this in the documentary Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World:

“It’s important as an artist to know how to stop and when to die.”

I am not sure why this strikes me as so profoundly true, but it does. I have long planned to take up smoking again when I hit 80, and I am adamantly opposed to overstaying my welcome here on this earthly plane.

But the time to stop (and the time to die) are not yet here. Even in this garbage fire of a country, with literal fires in the west and metaphorical fires everywhere, there is still much work to be done.

Here’s some fuel for your good work.

Sweet Potato, Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Kale in Coconut Broth
(serves 4 to 6)

There is a lot of chopping here, but don’t let that scare you off. Use pre-chopped veggies as needed to make this largely hands-off, and feel free to swap out vegetables that you prefer. Optional but recommended is fresh cilantro for serving. See Recipe Notes for optional additions for carnivores.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon coriander seed
½ large yellow onion, diced (about ¾ cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¼” cubes (about 3 cups)
2 cups of chopped mushrooms (see Recipe Notes)
2 cups broccoli florets
1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 16-ounce bag frozen kale (or 3 cups fresh, chopped small)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Lemon wedges (for serving)
Optional but highly recommended: fresh chopped cilantro for serving

Method

Heat ghee/olive oil in a large frying pan with high sides over medium heat.

Add mustard and coriander seeds and stir. When they begin to pop, add onion, garlic, and ginger and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften.

Add sweet potato, mushrooms, and broccoli. Stir and sauté for 6 minutes, or until the sweet potato just begins to soften slightly.

Add coconut milk, kale, and walnuts and season with salt and pepper. Lower heat, then cover and cook for 10 minutes. Sweet potatoes should be cooked through but not completely mushy, so check at the halfway point.

Check for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper to taste.

Serve with lemon wedges and freshly chopped cilantro.

Recipe Notes

• You can use any type of mushroom in this, so pick which ones you like. They are chopped fine and so the shape does not matter. Portobellos give a great flavor and texture and are recommended, but cremini mushrooms work just as well.
• Feel free to substitute your favorite vegetables here or play with amounts above. Love mushrooms and just tolerate broccoli? Think cabbage might be delicious, or want to try snap peas or butternut squash? Adjust accordingly.
• It’s always an option to add your choice of animal protein to any recipe. In this case, sliced, fried sausage coins would be a delicious addition.

Food For When You Feel Meh: Confetti Salad

Eating with a spoon is the best kind of eating. Fight me.

Well, here we are, July 1, time for me to begin to pull together the one blog a month I felt I could pull off.

Yes, this is past tense.

But I am not going to beat myself up about it. Because here I am, on the 1st, sitting in my studio, looking at a painting in progress and watching the neighborhood scary/tragic neighbor do slow and sweaty laps around the block on a loop. And writing this.

This July 1st, I find my two favorite people out of town, one for one week, the other for two, and I am feeling a mite blue about that. Mine is a generally solitary existence, but the people I like I really like and I want them around.

Mercury is again going retrograde as well, and there are two eclipses in the month of July. So according to astrology, my communication is going to suck, mood swings will abound, and I will doubt myself. In other words, it’s another day that ends in “y.”

On top of the stupid solar system and my MIA people, my plan to get rejected is going well. The goal is 100 rejections by the end of 2020, and although I started off slowly, things are picking up. I found a place that will reject my work within 24 hours, and The Sun has rejected my photography, poetry, and prose. The point of all of this rejection is to get serious about submission and creating new works, and to some extent, it is working. I have written a couple of new poems this past month and have been note-taking and researching other forms of poetry and doing generally writerly things.

But the rejection can be a little challenging. Not knock-me-back-on-my-ass challenging, just not completely pleasant. I have gotten some lovely form rejection letters (in the vein of, “This is no commentary on the quality of the writing” which may, upon reflection, be a falsehood and not very nice at all and actually a loud commentary on the quality of the writing).

I do have a poem being published in Plainsongs this month. The acceptance letter referred to it as “your fine poem.” My self-esteem will be dining on those three words for at least the rest of the summer.

So I am just feeling meh and low-grade shitty. As this is a blog, I put that forth as an entirely legitimate way to describe what I am feeling. I am saving the words for the poetry.

And I have been cooking, even though it’s sad little meals for one. Today I made mango sticky rice in the rice cooker and some granola with the last bits of Costco dried mango (it’s mango-riffic), the only fruit I could scrounge up in my pantry.

I made gluten-free chocolate frosted chocolate fudge chocolate Pop-tarts that I had to throw out because they were making me ill, they were so rich (I saved an unfrosted batch in the ‘fridge).

I made epic pizza crust and ate the shit outta that (pro-tip: don’t make the crust too thin and it’s MONEY).

Many other lesser lights have made it to the groaning board in the past 30 days, but here’s the thing: when I feel low-grade shitty, I only want to cook sweet things, or else I want to lounge around in my bed and eat chips and watch crappy Netflix (I call this “Netflix and chonk”).

When this gets old, I need some food for real. Easy food that can be made with whatever is in the ‘fridge that’s not cold cereal, chips, gluten-free chicken tenders, or an entire cake.

So I make confetti salad.

Easy: boil two cups of water/veggie stock and add one cup rinsed quinoa and half a diced onion. Cover and cook until fluffy.

Add to a large bowl: three shredded carrots, one diced bell pepper, handful of chopped cilantro, handful of dried fruit, handful of pumpkin seeds, handful of sunflower seeds, can of chickpeas (rinsed and rained), juice of one lemon, olive oil, and black pepper. Add cooked quinoa, stir, adjust seasoning (maybe more lemon juice or olive oil), and you’re done.

Infinite variations. Add sliced snap peas. Dried fruit can be raisins, cranberries, barberries, mango, cherries. Add a thinly sliced spicy pepper. Use parsley instead of cilantro. Mix up the seeds. Add fresh, halved cherry tomatoes. Add warm grilled chicken (otherwise it’s vegan).

I eat this warm, cold, and room temperature. Throw it over greens. Whatever. Perfect for when your people are gone and you have been barefisting hunks of cake in front of the ‘fridge since they left.

Happy summer.

NaNoWriMo: Tamale Pie Saves The Day

Not pictured: two sleeping dogs and a laptop. And a cocktail.

As I begin this blog post, we are getting ready to fall back, and I have not even thought once about writing for this space in November.

I am, instead, writing a novel over these next 30 days, a novel that will most assuredly be a steaming pile of crap but that’s quite against the point. The point is to put the words down, a minimum of 50,000 of them, to let the characters guide the story and really hope for the best.

Take care, and good luck.

Generally, people participating in National Novel Writing Month advise stockpiling snacks and warning loved ones to lower their expectations appropriate to the challenge that lies ahead.

The 50,000 words is not much more than I write for other people for actual cash money but that writing is completely different. Non-fiction writing, even when it’s about laws in Arizona and online professional development, comes easy to me and always has. This month also marks the completion of a huge non-fiction writing job for me: the entirety of the AZ Dentist website.

If there is something wrong with your mouth, chances are very, very good that I can diagnose you. As a party trick, it’s frankly rather obnoxious.

So to celebrate the light pockets that come with finishing a huge job, while nourishing the family during this crazy month of writing (for those keeping track, it’s the 50,000 words on top of the regular 35,000 I have scheduled for November), there is this easy, cheap, filling, and delicious recipe: Tamale Pie.

I never thought I would give out this recipe, but desperate times call for sharing. This is, after all, mid-term elections on top of everything else, so something that fills you up and makes you feel cared for is the best I can do. It’s delicious, warming to the bones, vegan (without the cheese and sour cream), and loved by most everyone who tries it (minus picky teenagers, but they are old enough to heat up their own mac-n-cheese).

It is ironic and curious that so many of the things I love to eat and make for other people are things that I might not have made for myself. This is especially true for when I make dinner.

I make a distinction between making dinner and cooking. Making dinner is that sometimes-crazy activity that gets slotted between after school, athletics, classes, meetings, and bedtimes. It’s why grocery stores have pre-roasted chickens and pre-made mashed potatoes hot and ready. It’s why you can get a bucket of chicken that will serve four people for less than $20. And it’s why pizza places came up with delivery.

In short, making dinner is often frantic, often unhealthy, and sometimes at my house a bag of chips and a tub of guacamole. And maybe some ice cream. These are the types of dinners that most people rely on during National Novel Writing Month.

Cooking, on the other hand, is that lovely, leisurely thing that I do when I have ample time, beautiful ingredients, and no one to please but myself. It’s when I get to experiment with new tools in the kitchen (like my mandolin, which is a lifesaver if I ever had one), when I lazily leaf through cookbooks and cooking magazines to see what strikes my fancy, or when I head up to the market specifically for that day’s meal (so very European).

Making dinner is like feeding baby birds in the nest: everyone with their mouths open, squawking for food, any food, before they start gnawing on and pecking at each other.

Cooking is a light breeze blowing through an open kitchen window, a glass of bourbon by the stove, and Florence + the Machine in the background.

Somehow, some way, Tamale Pie meets somewhere in the middle. It’s easy, but it smells delicious, is like actual cooking without being terribly complicated, and it freezes well. This is a great way to avoid the greasy bucket of chicken and still get dinner on the table in 30 minutes.

Tamale Pie

Feel free to make adjustments to the spice level and seasoning as you wish. Amounts below are mere suggestions.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cans beans, rinsed and drained (whatever you have: pinto, kidney, black beans)
1 cup diced tomatoes with juice
1 can of corn, drained (frozen is fine, 2 cups)
1  ¾  polenta (grits work, too – see Recipe Notes)
4 to 6 cups water
¾ teaspoon salt
2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded (leave out for vegan version, or use vegan cheese if you are that sort of person)

Method

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Grease and 9″ x 12” glass baking dish (or one of those white Corningware casseroles, the big one) and set aside.

Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent, about five minutes. Add garlic, chili, and cumin and sauté five minutes more.

Add tomatoes, beans, and corn. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer uncovered while you make the crust.

Bring four cups of salted water to a boil in a large saucepan. Whisk polenta in. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low and cook until thick, stirring constantly, about ten minutes. If your polenta gets thick but is not yet soft and creamy, add more water and continue to cook.

Taste bean mixture for seasoning and flavor before assembling the dish. If it needs more of anything add it now.

Remove polenta from heat. Pour half of the polenta mixture into the glass baking dish, spreading it halfway up the sides of the dish. Pour bean mixture on top, then pour polenta on top of the beans and spread to cover. You will not use all of the polenta (see below)

Top with shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes. Let sit for at least five minutes before eating. Ten is better.

Recipe notes

  • Any combination of beans is delicious. Use whatever you have on hand.
  • If you don’t have tomatoes, substitute a jar of salsa.
  • Sharp cheddar is also a great topping.
  • Pass the sour cream when serving.
  • If you have leftovers, reheat by adding a little water to whatever you are reheating in and placing the pie on top. The water will lightly steam the polenta as it heats, helping it have a creamier texture the next day.
  • This recipe makes extra polenta, which should be considered a good thing. Reheat the polenta and add some roasted veggies and a fried egg for an award-winning and sanity-saving dinner for two the following night.