Okra Stew

Summer in the South means a lot of things: long days of humidity fading into beautiful sunsets, munching mosquitoes, cold drinks. It also means okra. Lots and lots of okra that love the sun and grow tall under its intense, summer gaze.

I love okra. Growing up, the only way I ever tasted it was fried. My Granny fries the best okra. She puts it in a cornmeal mix and pops it in the hot oil waiting on the stove. But in the past few years, I've discovered that I love okra in several form. I can't get enough of it raw. Just washed and eaten whole, dipped in hummus, or chopped in salads. It's also great pan roasted. Next summer, I want to try grilled.

Cooking the okra whole contains the slime. Frying also does this, as it helps the meal to stick and thus makes the perfect fried vegetable. But to be healthier, and still stay away from slime, cooking it whole works.

For this dish, simply put the okra in a frying pan over medium heat. Cover the bottom with water to prevent sticking. Cover with a lid and cook for about five minutes or until the okra is soft but still holds it's shape. Then add a tomato, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook it another minute, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add about one tablespoon of Bragg's or soy sauce to taste.  

I served this over brown rice. This would be a great side dish with a bean entree.

Raw Wednesdays

I’m in some sort of eating phase. I’ve really been enjoying food lately and have been eating a lot. It’s not necessarily unhealthy food, just lots of it. I’m working out a bit more too, but the scales have crept up a couple of pounds and I can feel a little extra softness around my middle.

I need to make sure I’m getting enough of what I need, which can be tricky as a vegan. In the past, that’s usually when I’ve had “eating phases” like this when I can’t get full – I wasn’t be smart about what I was eating. I’m taking a daily vitamin now to help with that, as recommended by my doc. And honestly, I feel good.

But I don’t want to keep adding extra pounds to the scales, and taking an honest look at my refrigerator and cabinets right now, I don’t have a lot of fresh stuff in there. I keep a lot of frozen vegetables and dried beans and grains because they are cheap and easy. But I probably need to get back to eating more fresh food.

So, I’m going to go raw on Wednesdays to help me get over this hump.

A few years ago when I was living in Miami, I went to a totally raw diet. It lasted about two months. I dropped 12 pounds, which was good, but was RAVENOUS the ENTIRE time, which was bad. I woke up in the middle of the night from hunger. Looking back, I should have been eating a higher volume of nuts and filling vegetables, but hey, those two months were a good “get back on track” for my system.

Where to begin? I have a copy of Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo from when I was trying to be 100% raw. There are some good things in it, but a lot are very time consuming, which makes it a bit daunting. Searching online pulls up words and how to’s that make me want to rethink my decision: “dehydrator,” “how to sprout x grain,” “how to crack a coconut.” No, this is not what I had in mind. While I love the slow food and raw movement ideas, I also need something a little less intense. I found a pretty interesting site that I want to look at more, http://www.rawmazing.com/. A lot of her recipes seem to be heavy-handed on the prep and machinery too though.

I did stock up on fresh veggies for salads and fruit last night. Here goes!  

Chickpea Salad

Sometimes it's hard to come up with vegan sandwich options that are quick and easy,  only have a few ingredients, and aren't all carbs on carbs. Where's the protein? I'm not a big sandwich person. Soup & salad for me please, but lately I've been wanting the bread. Delicious bread. I hope it's because I've started exercising more, but I'm not so sure. That might be more wishful thinking.

This is chickpea salad, a simple take on fake tuna or chicken salad.

One can chickpeas, rinsed

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I did half olive oil and half flax seed oil)

2 Tbsp yellow mustard

2 Tbsp sweet relish 

1/2 Tbsp sunflower seeds for a nice crunch

Salt, black pepper, & cayenne to taste 

Toppings: fresh tomato, lettuce, onion 

Mix and mash it all together. 

Creamy Potato Soup

My stomach had a very rough few weeks. I loved the food in Nepal, but my stomach did know it was new. The 31 hours of travel home did nothing but fill me with mediocre plane food that, well, didn't want to leave. Returning to work, there was a nasty bug making the rounds that put me in bed from Friday until Sunday when I had to drag myself to the airport for another flight.

After all this, my stomach needed a little R&R. Sometimes your cravings are just what you need, which was true in this case. The only thing I thought I could eat was smooth, simple potato soup.

About 5 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
4-5 cups vegetable stock, depending on how liquid your potatoes are
1 Tablespoon olive oil
salt
pepper
kale powder

Heat vegetable stock over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Blend with an immersion blender, or in a standing blender in portions so it doesn't overflow. Add seasonings to taste. Sprinkle with kale powder when serving.

My sister made this kale powder by blending homemade kale chips until they turned into a powder. This stuff is great as a rice seasoning, in burritos, and on tops of sandwiches and soups. It's made its way into all sorts of stuff in the kitchen.  

Chickpea & Cashew Cream Soup

This soup, adapted from Post Punk Kitchen, revealed the wonders of cashew cream. I had no idea that this little nut could make soups and stews creamy and delicious. It's a secret weapon ingredient.  

3/4 cup cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours or overnight
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 cup rice 
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, diced chunky
5 cups vegetable broth
1 24 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)
4 cups chopped kale

Drain the cashews and place them in a blender with one cup of fresh water. Blend until completely smooth, scraping the sides occasionally. 

Preheat a pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute in olive oil with a pinch of salt until translucent. Add garlic, salt and pepper and saute a minute more.

Add rice, celery and carrots to the onion and then pour in the broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, add the chickpeas, and let cook for about 15 more minutes, until rice is cooked and carrots are tender.

Add the cashew cream and kale, and simmer until kale is wilted, 3 to 5 more minutes. You may need to add water to thin the soup if it seems too thick. Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Black lentils and ripe plantains

I love quick meals that I can fix after work. Let's face it, if it has a lot of prep or takes a long time to cook, my stomach usually won't let me wait long enough to make it. I usually go to the gym after work, unless I have to work late, which is really too often.  Either way I walk in the door famished!

I also love ripe plantains! They are sweet, cheap, and quick, a magical trio. This dish took a total of about 20 minutes from start to finish. I used a just ripe plantain. The skin is still mostly yellow with a motley crew of black spots. I don't measure out the ingredients so add more or less depending on your taste or to increase the serving size. The below makes two servings.

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
Add 1/4 onion, chopped.
While the onion is cooking, chop one just ripe plantain into bite size pieces.
Add the plantain to the pan.
Let the mixture cook for a few minutes, stirring and flipping the plantain occasionally, until it starts to deepen in color and get shiny. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat if the plantain starts browning or the oil stars smoking.
Chop half of a red bell pepper into bite size pieces and add to the pan.
Add salt, pepper, and ground ginger to taste. I added 1/2 tsp of ginger.
Let cook for another few minutes, stirring frequently, until the pepper is a little shiny. It will not be sautéed completely but will remain crisp and crunchy.
Add 1/2 cup cooked black lentils. I used Trader Joes lentils. These things are good and hassle-free.
Continue cooking until the lentils are hot.
Dish up and enjoy!

Kale Chips

I just got back from a week-long work conference. I firmly believe that they use food to induce people to sit through hours of talking in one setting.

Breakfast, talk, snack, talk, lunch, talk, snack, talk, dinner. Retire. Repeat.

This week was a little better because the setting was a beautiful farm in Pauma Valley about an hour outside San Diego. We saw purple mountains at sunset and were accompanied the entire time by two inseparable roosters who loved picking through our compost bucket. I named them Bert and Ernie.

The organizer is a vegan so there were great food options. A lot came directly from the farm, fresh as fresh can be. I still grazed the whole time and drank way too much coffee. So coming home, by body thinks it still needs to be eating every hour of the day.

Sitting on the couch wanting to munch, I thought I'd try my hand at the oh-so-popular kale chips. You can buy them in the store already made, but it couldn't be easier to do it at home and is much more economical (we can even say cheap).

1 bunch kale
drizzle of olive oil, about 2 tsp
sea salt to taste

Remove the hard ribbons from the kale and divide the leaves into 1 1/2 inch sections. The kale will shrink while cooking so make them a little bigger than bite size.
Lay the kale on a pan and drizzle with oil. Toss to coat and sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 20 minutes on 275 degrees F. Turn halfway through baking.
Enjoy! 

Tomato Sauced Tempeh

I'm a sucker for sales. Anytime there is a bargain I want to grab it, which is what happened when tempeh went on sale for half off at my local Kroger. I had no idea what to do with it, but it ended up being so good I had to stop myself from eating the whole pan.

Tempeh
One package tempeh, cut in cubes
One jar of tomato sauce

Put tempeh and sauce in a pan over medium heat. Cover and cook at least fifteen minutes or until the sauce is thicker and the tempeh cooked.

I served it with broccoli, snap peas, and carrots that were stir-fried with Bragg's Amino, salt, and pepper over a bed of Israeli couscous.  

This ended up being just the thing for the weird, cold Spring weather we're having in Georgia. It was warm and the tempeh is hearty, while the couscous and vegetables are light.

Good Karma in Atlanta

I love when Scoutmob leads to me to an awesome new place.

That's what happened Sunday afternoon.

This place is in Avondale Estates, and reminds me why community coffee shops are the best.

First, check out this spread. All vegan. Coconut yogurt with in-house made granola, pumpkin spice latte with soy milk, and the finale - a chocolate chip vegan muffin that is so most you might not have to chew.

They also have many more non-vegan items, but all gluten-free.

The staff was friendly and the people coming in was Atlanta at its best - all ages, types, etc. This is not your college kid-only or hipster-only coffee shop hangout (thankfully). Lots of light, a good selection of music, and a good wifi connection will have me coming back for more muffins.

Winter Squash + Black Bean Pozole

I've succumbed to the awful cold that's making the rounds everywhere these days. At work people are sniffling and downing tea. At the grocery store the cashier is coughing while telling me my total. The man on the treadmill at the gym keeps sneezing. And now I am one among them. Properly coughing into my elbow...most of the time anyway.

I made this soup because I had pumpkin that was getting soft. It took a little time to prep because I soaked dry beans overnight, cooked them the next day, and then stuck them in the refrigerator to use in this soup the following day. But it was well worth it - this soup is like medicine. Only it's delicious.

This is also great warmed up the next day (or a few days later) after the spices have married. It becomes even more flavorful.


Pumpkin & Black Bean Pozole

1 large yellow onion, cut in chunks
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups vegetable stock
4 cups black beans
1 lb pumpkin and/or winter squash, cut in 1-inch chunks (I used one small pie pumpkin and one calabaza)
14 ounces hominy
4 tsp Chipotle Chili Pepper (quite spicy, decrease for taste)
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
2 Tbs lemon or lime juice
salt to taste

Toppings

cabbage, cut in strips
jalapeno pepper
diced tomato
chopped cilantro

Directions

1) Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and allow to cook while mincing the garlic. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes until the onion is translucent.
2) Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the pumpkin and squash are tender.
3) Remove from heat and squeeze in lemon juice.

4) Transfer to serving bowls and top with toppings.

Buckwheat Porridge

I work with two women who grew up in the former Soviet Union. One day at lunch, they talked about having buckwheat as children. Made into a porridge, it was the quintessential kids' breakfast throughout the bloc.

I love oatmeal and hot breakfast cereals so I had to give it a try. I put the groats in a saucepan and lightly toasted. Then I added water and salt, brought it to a boil, and cooked until soft. Then I added cinnamon, dried cranberries, a few almonds, and a little agave.

It was really good and really filling. Perfect for the winter. Surprisingly, buckwheat isn't a grain at all; it's a seed related to rhubarb and sorrel, which means it is gluten-free.

It's also scores pretty high on the healthy scale having lots of amino acids and having a positive impact on cholesterol. It sounds like I need to eat more buckwheat porridge in the new year!

 

Pumpkin + Kidney Beans + Kale

This year for Halloween I got a couple of little pie pumpkins. I painted the outside - a bat and a ghost - so that I could still use them in the kitchen later. I peeled and chopped them, and put them in the crock pot with enough water to cover the bottom. A few hours later, they were soft yumminess. This thing didn't even need any butter or salt or anything else! I was spooning it out of the pot! 

It made a lovely combination with kidney beans and kale. I simply put it all in a pan together over medium heat until the kale was cooked and the beans were hot. I added salt and pepper. This is the type of dinner that makes me feel good because I'm eating healthy foods, lots of lovely colors, and enjoying every bite! 

Sunflower Cafe in Atlanta

If you're in Atlanta, Creative Loafing now has their "Best of 2012" out. It's got random bests, such as John Lewis's mugshot as the best campaign picture. Pretty priceless.

Best vegetarian went to Sunflower Cafe. I've been hearing rave reviews about Sunflower Cafe since moving to Atlanta almost three years ago (choke, where does the time go?!) but never been. I have no idea why it took me so long to go. I really have no good excuse, especially after trying their binto box lunch special and their avocado wrap.

I didn't snag a picture of the advocado wrap; folks, it went too fast. Just imagine a homemade whole-wheat pita with veggie sausage strips, avocado, veggies, and some kinda special sauce. The binto box was an interesting mix of Asian, Mediterranean, and American food. Go from a spring roll to a chicken nugget with honey mustard to a steamed dumpling to hummous to stuffed mushrooms. And back again.

Southwest quinoa salad

Southwest Quinoa Salad

1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 1/2 cups black beans
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups cooked corn
3/4 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 tsp coriander
juice of one lime
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
2 tsp cumin
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients. Season to taste. Can be served cold or heated.

I also enjoyed it as part of a spinach salad.

Sweet potatoes + collard greens

When I get lazy or busy, one of the first things that gets left behind are fresh foods. Forget going to the grocery store or planning a menu with everything before it starts to turn to the dark side and smell.

Actually, make that several meals. As a single girl cooking for one or two at a time, my trips to the farmer's market leave me with a lot of food. Those big bunches of parsley and cilantro and basil that smell so good end up sagging and turning brown in my refrigerator. I swear I put parsley on everything I ate for a week and still had a bundle sadly going to ruin.

Enter this delicious meal. It's rather quick, super easy and healthy, and perfect for lunches and freezing.

Sweet potatoes & collard greens

4 medium sweet potatoes, each cut into 6-8 pieces
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sea salt
2 tsp pepper
3 medium apples
6 cups loosely packed collard greens
1/4 cup loosely packed parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss potatoes with vegetable oil, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Bake until potatoes are cooked and caramelized (about 20 minutes).

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add apples and saute about 15 minutes or until soft.

Put 2 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp water into a large pot. Add greens and saute (about 5 minutes). Decrease the heat and add potatoes and apples. Cook for a few minutes and stir in parsley and remaining salt and pepper.

Black-eyed peas with fresh tomatoes and broccoli slaw

When I visit my mom, I always grab her latest edition of Southern Living. I love the beautiful homes featured, the cities explored, and (of course) the delicious looking recipes and food pictures!

Last weekend, we decided to make a recipe from the magazine on Sunday after church. It needed to be something quick because I had a two-hour drive in front of me before my dance class in the evening.

The little black-eyed pea cakes were perfect. They are an easy, quick mix-up and fry and are balanced with the fresh tomatoe and broccoli slaw. The cakes are lightly mashed black-eyed peas, a bag of buttermilk cornbread mix, an egg, and spices. The slaw is a tangy mixture of broccoli slaw mix, sour cream, spices, lime juice, and lime zest. I can't wait to try it atop a black bean burger!

Black eyed peas with spinach and fried plantains

One of my favorite dishes in Ghana was Red Red - black eyed peas and fried ripe plantain. The peas would be doused with an unhealthy amount of red palm oil, giving rise to the name red red for the color of the peas and plantains. Unhealthy, but so delicious! It's common street food, and I would usually request no oil. I figured it was a trade-off since I ate it at least once a week.


On a recent trip to the farmer's market, I saw the plantains and immediately started craving red red. It's one of the dishes that immediately takes me back to a wonderful place. It combines something I know well from my childhood growing up in the South - black eyed peas - with an exotic, new fruit that I discovered my love for as an adult.

I let the plantain ripened several more days. For it to be sweet, it needs to be really ripe, almost black. I cut it in one-inch pieces and added some spices - ginger, chili powder, and salt - before frying. The spices help to bring out and balance the sweetness of the plantain.

While this was frying, I boiled half a bag of frozen black eyed peas and half a bag of frozen spinach. I added salt and pepper to taste, and let the peas boil down to a nice consistency.
I had to keep myself from eating the whole pan! Of course, I ate all of the plantain. There was a reason I only got one! I cut up a sweet potato into cubes and fried it to go along with the peas for lunch later in the week. It worked well but nothing beats fried plantain!

Something take my hunger away please!

I've been constantly hungry lately. I don't know why, and I'm not very happy about it. I like feeling satisfied with good food, and as much as I love eating, I don't actually want to do it all the time. Plus, I don't really want to gain weight. I would prefer the scale to move in the opposite direction.

So I considered what I had been eating and thought I might need a power meal...or actual food. Something with lots of good things in it, and didn't come in the shape of a bar or its own bowl. I was craving sweet potatoes, so I started there, slicing them and putting them in the over until almost done. They were easily punctured, but needed another five minutes or so to be completely tender.

While these were baking, I put on a pan of black-eyedpeas with some sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper. I added some frozen spinach because a healthy meal needs something green right?

I diced the sweet potatoes and added them, cooking for about 15 minutes to give the potatoes a chance to finish cooking and all the flavors to blend.

To finish, I added some hard cheese and devoured. I'm not sure it helped the hunger in the long run, but it certainly was good.

As I'm writing this post, I can't help but think of the situation in Somalia, and all the people seeking refuge from the famine in places like Dadaab, Kenya. God bless the women and children who are walking hundreds of miles in search of life sustaining nourishment. The organization I work for has a prescence in Dadaab, and the reports are heart wrenching but hopeful.

Quinoa Salad

It's Sunday night. I just got home from my first swing dance lesson. It was a lot of fun. We learned the basic quick-quick-slow--slow steps. We switched partners throughout the class. It's amazing how much difference it makes when you're dancing with an experiened lead! I felt so cool with the instructors and totally lost with other students. I'm hoping to work up to the weekly group dances. Not yet, though. I need a little (a lot) more practice!

Since I was mostly taking small steps around, it wasn't too taxing. I realized that if I didn't make dinner, I wouldn't have leftovers for the week at work. I've already got dinner plans Monday and Tuesday with some girlfriends, so I want something filling but healthy and low calorie for lunch.

Quinoa is a great grain, especially for vegetarians, because it has protein. Enter something green and some spices and it's a meal.

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa

sundried tomato strips

1 Tablespoon sunflower seeds

2 Tablespoons raisins

1 can 28 oz green beans

Caesar dressing (~1/2-1 Tablespoon)

salt and pepper to taste

Put dry quinoa, sundried tomatos, seeds, and raisins in a pan with 2 cups of water. Add salt. Bring to a boil and let cook about 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is done.

Add pepper and green beans. Stir. Add dressing and stir well.

Can be served hot or cold.

Googie Burger in Centennial Park

I love to get on community listservs, especially ones from public places like libraries and parks. I know it's a little quirky, but I love community and people getting outside and enjoying each other and their environment. Every once in a while, the annoyance of getting an inbox full of generic emails pays off.

Like this past Wednesday. After work I headed down to Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta for their Wednesday WindDown outdoor concert series.

It was so packed in the amphitheater that we walked right through security and right back out to find a place on the lawn. By this time, we were laden down with yummy food and ready to start grubbing. Thanks to Scoutmob, I had heard of a little gem of a place, Googie Burger. They have spiked Twinkie milkshakes. Wow.





I presented the idea of a jazz concert to my friend and threw in that we could grab dinner down there. Truth be told, I wanted to use my Scoutmob at Googie Burger and found the concert as a great excuse. Both turned out to be excellent.

I got the Veg Out Burger, which is one of the best veggie burgers I've had in Atlanta. With all the gastropubs and burger boutiques around here, someone actually is doing a decent veggie burger! Go Googie Burger. I paired this with the peach shake - real peaches! - and stole some fries from my friend.

I learned something new as well, and that's how to say "Googie." It starts with goo, as in baby talk, and ends in gee. Each person who picks up there order is a Googie Guest.