Black Bean Soup and Cornbread

It is a warm day here in the mid-west today. I am not sure why I would chose to make soup today, but I did. My brother and sister-in-law wanted some quick, healthy soup recipes (they live in MN - and it probably is still cold there!!). So I made the soup.
I used a few different recipes and mixed them together to make this. I did not have any any Chipotle Chillis in Adobo Sauce, so I used red pepper flakes and Paprika instead. I also had very little salsa, so I used broth and some tomato sauce instead. This would probably taste great with different flavors of salsa too. The soup would also taste good with different vegetables - I just used what I had on hand - peas, peppers, celery etc would also be good options.
I combined two recipes to make it. It was a little crumbly and I was not too impressed. I also did not plan too well and the soup was ready half hour before the bread, so we ended up eating the soup first and then the corn bread. And the corn bread was too hot to eat too. I think I'll like it more tomorrow. Also in my attempt at to bake in a pretty dish - it was too deep and it took longer for the corn bread to cook.


Black Bean Soup



Ingredients:
1 Onion, Chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
1 C frozen corn kernels
1/2 vegan sausage
1/2 C Seitan
2 t Olive Oil
3 Garlic cloves
2 C Vegetable Broth
2 C Black Beans - cooked (I used dried black beans, soaked overnight and then cooked it)
2 T Salsa
3 T Tomato sauce
1 T Cumin
1 T Red pepper flakes
1 T Paprika
1 T Sugar
1 T herbs (I used oregano and Italian Seasoning)
Cilantro, to taste


Heat Oil in a soup pot, add garlic and onion. Cook for 5 minutes. Add cumin and salt.

Add carrot and cook for 5 more minutes. Add black beans, salsa, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, paprika, broth, herbs and corn. Bring to a boil.

Take 1/3 of the soup and purree it (either in a food processor or a hand blender). Mix it the purree with the chunky beans. Add cilantro, sugar and bring to a boil.

Corn Bread

I did not like the sweetness of this cornbread much - If I make it again, there will be no sugar!!

Ingredients

1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C Corn Meal
1 t Baking Soda
1 T Baking powder
Egg replacer for 2 eggs
1/4 C Agave Nectar
1 C Soy milk
1/2 C Frozen Corn kernels
1/2 Red pepper, Chopped
1 T salt
1/3 C Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a pan

In a medium/large bowl, mix flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add agave nectar, soy milk, oil and mix together. Also, add corn and red pepper and mix it in.

Pour into the baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Lentil Sauce for Pasta and Smoothies

Hopefully no one will mind that I have copied this picture (thanks Heliamphora at vegweb.com) but my camera batteries died right as I tried to get a photo last night. I made Lentil Sauce for Pasta which was so simple that I am sure I will make it again. It required all ingredients that I had floating around the kitchen (except the lentils which I had to run to the supermarket to pick up). I sauteed the onions and added 2 cloves of minced garlic before adding the other ingredients. I also added about 1 TB of red chili flakes. The recipe took about 30-40 minutes but I just covered it and forgot about it after the initial sauteeing. This is not fancy food but makes an easy week night dinner and is a good protein source. We served it over Trader Joe's whole wheat rotelle pasta.

I have also been making a lot of smoothies since I need more nutrients lately and can only eat so much in a day. I have tried green smoothies in the past and have liked them so I thought I would try again. This is a great way to add more greens to your diet since you barely taste them.

My Smoothie

(rough measurements)
1 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 cup light vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup honey dew melon
1 chopped apple (with skin)
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
small handful of raspberries
small handful of strawberries
1/2 an avocado
3 large leaves of chard
1 TB tahini
2 tsp flax oil (for omega 3s)

It added the green things after giving D a portion since she cannot handle any green floaties. It made over three servings so I kept it in the fridge and had some for breakfast the next morning. I think I could add more greens next time and maybe even some soy protein powder!!! Yummy!
FYI, it did turn a little brownish the next day because of the avocado but it still tasted great. Enjoy.

Falafels

I completely agree with you. Having trouble cooking during the busy week! We made these falafels this weekend (ok, Mike made them but I helped so here they are!) but I have not had a chance to post until now. We, well he, used the Perfect Falafel recipe from Vegweb.com and made a few adjustments. The adjustments were my idea since they were a little blah last time and got too crumbly when cooking. He fried them but they would probably cook fine on a lightly greased pan at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. To the original recipe, we added 2 TB of tahini to help keep them together, about 1 TB of lemon juice, and some red chili flakes. We used Ener-G egg replacer since we had it on hand but I bet you could come up with another egg replacer! I tried silken tofu once and it did not work....maybe ground flax seed and water whisked up?

Spagetti and Beans; Blueberry Coffee cake

Long time! I feel like I am only blogging on weekends. My week day recipes are foods that are cooked quickly. This week included 3 dinners out (with a book club meeting too). So, to make up for that - I tend to cook over the weekend. So here we are...
I baked this blueberry coffee cake (fat-free, at that!). It may not look great to look at, but it tasted good. It's not moist, melt in your mouth - that takes butter (or substitute) and eggs. But, I REALLY like this cake. I did not add ginger and thought the cinnamon was too strong - I will reduce the amount next time.
Based on the not-too-accurate calorie counting on the 'Lose it' application on the iphone, one serving is 136 calories.




I also made a vegan version of Rachel Ray's Spaghetti and Beans. I did not add any nutritional yeast, tofu or vegan cream cheese to this recipe. But I think a little of that may help too. This recipe came out creamy and that was enough for me.

Ingredients

3 Pepper (I used red, yellow and orange), cut in slices
1/2 Cup Olive oil, divided
3/4 lb Spaghetti
2 Cups White Beans, cooked
1 small/medium Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
3 small Carrots, chopped
1 Cup Dry White Wine
3 Cups Vegetable Broth + 1 cup water
1 T Thyme
1 Bayleaf
Salt, to taste, divided
Pepper, to taste, divided


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place Spaghetti on a cookie sheet and brush with 1 T of olive oil. Toast Spaghetti for 5-7 minutes

Place sliced peppers on Silpat or a non-stick cookie sheet. Brush with a mixture of 3 T olive oil, satl and pepper to taste. Roast peppers for 30-40 minutes.

Heat Vegetable broth and water mix in a microwave till warm - about 3 minutes.

In a pan, heat the remaining olive oil. Add onions, bay leaf and garlic. Cook till softened.Add carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add spaghetti and white wine. Simmer till all the wine is absorbed. Add beans, thyme and 1 cup of the warm broth-water mixture. Stir and cook till the liquid is absorbed. Keep adding liquid and cooking till the pasta is al-dente. Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve pasta with the roasted peppers!
Enjoy!!

Based on my input into "Lose it" on the iphone, one serving of the pasta and peppers is 314 calories

Seitan Nuggets

OK, not healthy at all but I am basically feeding two kids over here so they are drawn to these types of foods. You made me think of comfort foods with your last post! I made the nuggets in the picture a while back from the Fried Chicken recipe on vegweb.com using homemade seitan. This time I made them with another similar recipe that was in the October 2008 edition of VegNews Magazine called "Down-Home Country Fried Seitan." I bought a package of White Wave seitan at Wholefoods. This version was coated in mix of spicy dijon mustard and then dipped in Panko, nutritional yeast, flour and then pan fried. It was very crispy but hard to keep from burning (I am not the best fryer in the family-I usually give that job to my husband but at least I tried!). I also breaded and fried a little bit of tofu that was milling around in my fridge. Sadly, I did not get a photo of the most recent batch. We may make these again but I think M likes the Fried Chicken version better.

Seitan in Mushroom Gravy

Vegan or vegetarian, I try a variety of foods from different parts of the world - Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian, American and even Indian :) But, I have never tried African American/Soul food. I always assumed that most Southern food involves a LOT of meat and nothing transfers well to vegetarian/vegan food. Then, I read about Bryant Terry and his book - Vegan Soul Kitchen. Two blogs that I follow posted recipes from his cookbook and raved about him and the recipes - 101cookbooks.com - about his favorite cookbooks and a recipe; Holy Cow. And I was sold. Both the recipes looked yummy and this was a whole new adventure. So I bough the book and looked through it.
I was partially right about the amount of meat in Soul cooking. So Bryant Terry uses a lot of Seitan and Tempeh - both tastes and textures that I am not completely sold on. But, I am going to be open and try some of these recipes.





Today, I made my version of the 'Smothered Seitan Medallions in Mixed-Mushroom Gravy'. Of course, I made many modifications. The original recipe is supposed to resemble smothered pork chops and involves deep frying 1/2 inch Seitan medallions after being soaked in arrowroot powder. I try to eat healthy as much as possible (so I can eat desserts at the end!) and just don't enjoy deep frying. So my Seitan pieces were smaller and were sauteed in oil - they were browned but not deep fried. He also calls for Button mushrooms and Baby Bella mushrooms and I used a 3-mushroom blend (Oyster, Shitake and Crimini) that Trader Joe's carries and we love. Also, I used soy milk instead of rice milk and store bought (organic) vegetable broth rather than making a 'shroom stock that the book recommends.

So here is the recipe

Smothered Setian In Mushroom Gravy

Mushroom Gravy

1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, cut
2 T Olive Oil
2 T whole wheat pastry flour (I used 1 T each of all purpose and whole wheat flours)
1 cup Plain soy milk (light is fine too)
1 cup broth
Sea salt
White pepper - to taste

Heat 1 T of the olive oil and add mushrooms. Saute for 5 minutes.
Add flour and other T of olive oil and stir together till combined.
Reduce heat and cook (stir often to prevent sticking) till flour browns.
Add soy milk, broth, salt and pepper and mix well together. Cook till it thickens, about 15 minutes.
This could be served with rice, as is. This itself was yummy!

Seitan Medallions in Mushroom Gravy

1 pound Seitan, sauteed
1 T Olive oil
1 large onion
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
Mushroom Gravy (prepared)
2 cups broth
1 cup cabbage (finely chopped)
2 green chillis or jalapeno's
2 green onions, thinly slicd
2 T cilantro (recipe calls for parsley)

Heat Oil and heat onions. Cook in high heat for 2-3 minutes, reduce heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes till soft. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 more minutes
Add mushroom gravy, broth, Seitan. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Add cabbage, green chillis, green onions and cilantro - stir and cook for 3-4 more minutes.
Serve with Rice!

Pancakes

It's been a long week of quiet. And hopefully, I'll have two posts this week!
I made eggs and pancakes for breakfast this morning (I'm allowed Jane's eggs!) and they were delicious. The pancakes were vegan and based on this recipe.




I used half cup of whole wheat flour and half a cup of all purpose flour. I would have liked to use the banana in place of egg and applesauce instead of oil, but the bananas were not ripe enough. Also, I wanted to try the recipe as it was written first and then begin to modify it.