Quinoa-corn chowder with aji amarillo

Viva Vegan! has been getting lots of praise lately. I preordered the book but haven't made more than one or two things from it-- basics, really, not even a full recipe. But then I saw Lisa from Sweetpea's post, and remembered that I had planned to make one soup a week during Vegan Mofo.

I leafed through the cookbook and saw a number of recipes that looked good, but most of them required ingredients that exhausted me with the thought of trying to acquire them. That is, until I saw the quinoa-corn "chowder" with limas and aji. I had three of the year's last ears of sweet corn crying to be used, so I read up on aji and set out to find it.

Unable to find the paste, I bought two kinds of dried aji peppers-- amarillo and panca. Following directions from the book, it was easy to make my own aji paste.

After boiling (2 minutes in heavily salted water) I grated the corn into the soup, per a suggestion in the beginning how-to section of the book. I liked that it made for an all-over sweet taste and left most of the indigestible covering of the kernel on the cob (you can really appreciate that part later). I also used northern beans instead of limas, because that's what I had on hand.

This soup was delicious. I would definitely make it again, although I'd try some variations like using chickpeas instead of limas, adding spinach or another green, and making more aji paste! Even my spouse, who claims to dislike quinoa, enjoyed this soup for multiple meals. The quinoa really becomes a seamless part of the soup, so if you know someone who hates the texture of small starches like couscous and grits, you can safely feed them this quinoa-corn chowder.

Baked potato with ham and broccoli cheeze sauce

Baked (or jacket) potatoes are the ultimate comfort food... and they're especially versatile as the base for a gluten-free meal. Although Alton Brown's one hour baked potato recipe is hands-down the best-tasting, my friend Kari convinced me to get past the fear of nuking vegetables and give my potatoes a pre-bake boost in microwave. Now, instead of a labor of love, baked potatoes are a quick weeknight dinner.

The only "must" for this meal is russet potatoes. They make the fluffiest, best-textured baked potatoes. By all means try other toppings: canned veggie chili, instant Indian curries, and leftover shepherd's pie filling all make excellent, quick meals over a potato.

Baked potato with ham and broccoli cheeze sauce

vegan, gluten-free

serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 medium (or 2 large) russet potatoes
• 2 C chopped broccoli
• 1 1/2 C diced faux ham
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt
• A batch of this cheeze sauce-- substitute cornstarch for the flour and tamari for the soy sauce
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. I place a cookie sheet on the bottom, below the rack, to catch any drips.
• Scrub each potato and poke all the way around with a fork (about 10 times). Place potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 5 minutes. Flip potatoes and squeeze to estimate done-ness. If they don't give at all, microwave for another 5 minutes. If they give a lot, try 2 minutes. Practice makes perfect gauging the time for this step.
• Chop broccoli and faux ham while potatoes are in the microwave. I like a pretty small dice so that the pieces flow with the sauce. Don't worry if it takes you longer to chop than the potatoes take-- it's good to let them sit in the microwave and steam for about 5 minutes after they're done cooking.
• Remove potatoes from microwave, drizzle with olive oil, then very carefully use your hands to rub the oil over the entire skin. Another reason to let them sit for a few minutes-- they're HOT! Sprinkle with salt and place on the oven rack.
• Make the cheeze sauce.
• Turn potatoes.
• Add broccoli and faux ham to cheeze sauce, along with a bit of water to thin out sauce if needed. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until broccoli is tender.
• Remove potatoes, let sit for 5 minutes. I like to cut them once lengthwise and three times across, then squeeze them open-- I think I got that from Alton Brown. Cover with cheeze sauce, garnish with black pepper, and enjoy!
• *If you make more than you need, these are great reheated for lunch-- you can even microwave the whole thing!

Green spaghetti

Remember those sad, unripe green tomatoes salvaged from the garden? I roasted and pureed them for later use, which was great last night when I wanted a quick dinner.

I was going to make a more traditional spaghetti and meatballs, but with no meatball material in sight, I settled for little faux chicken balls. They went really well with the simple, tangy, but mellow-roasted sauce and Daiya melted over the top-- the perfect rainy night meal with an offbeat twist.

The moral of this story? Keep it simple and use what you've got!

Spaghetti with green tomato sauce and faux chicken meatballs

vegan, gluten-free

serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 box gluten free spaghetti (I use Ancient Harvest Quinoa spaghetti)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced or run through a press
• 2 C pureed roasted green tomatoes (tomatillos or red tomatoes will work, too)
• 1 tbsp chopped basil (dry or fresh. Fresh tastes better, but it's November, sheesh!)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (okay, I might have added 2 tbsp)
• 1 tsp salt
• faux chicken product, rolled into balls and pan-fried until golden on two sides. I buy a frozen block of faux chicken paste at the Asian mega-mart, which is gluten-free and perfect for this
• Daiya or other vegan cheeze for garnish
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

• Prepare the pasta according to box directions. Prepare the meatballs, too.
• In a medium sauce pan, saute onions for about 5-7 minutes, until just turning golden. Add garlic and saute another minute or two.
• Add tomato puree and stir occasionally til it starts to heat up and bubble, maybe 10 minutes.
• Add the basil, vinegar, and salt. Stir and adjust seasoning. If you want to go Mexican-ish you can add oregano, cumin and coriander here.
• Top spaghetti with sauce and meatballs, sprinkle with cheeze and place under the broiler for about 2 minutes, or until the cheeze just melts. Grind black pepper over top to your personal heart's delight. Simple &l yum!

The best pancakes

I used to love making pancakes on the weekend, especially once I found this not-quite-easy but absolutely delicious recipe on 101Cookbooks. It's not vegan, but it's easy to substitute margarine for butter, and soymilk (or other non-dairy milk) plus 1 tbsp vinegar per cup for the buttermilk.

Since we got rid of wheat, though, I also removed the idea of yummy, fluffy pancakes from my mind. That is, until last week when I really wanted pancakes. I made a batch (I always halve the recipe) using a combination of flours, and it was okay. This weekend I decided to try again, and I hit the jackpot.

The winning combo: 1/4 cup each of quinoa flour, tapioca flour, potato starch and white rice flour, plus 1/8 tsp xanthan gum for one cup of wheat flour. The results were amazing-- fluffy, light, almost eggy interiors with crisp outer crust. I can't wait to make these pancakes again!

And if you're allergic to maple syrup like my husband, try agave syrup or heat up some strawberry (or other fruit) jam.

Kale chips and the sadness of green tomatoes

This is going to be a short post, since I'm still at work at 6pm on a Friday night.

I keep reading about kale chips. They pop up on the interwebs in the strangest places, everyone raving how delicious and easy to make they are. I already like kale, so to read this high praise from avowed kale-haters was actually a turn-off. But then I discovered a bunch of kale in the fridge that needed to be used right away.

I used half for dinner and the rest for chips. After researching a few recipes online (see Smitten Kitchen for a lovely example), I coated my chopped kale with 2 tbsp olive oil and a healthy portion of salt, and baked it for 8 minutes at 300 degrees.

That turned out to be way too much-- maybe because my oven is gas? Next time I'll have the temperature much lower and check sooner. The non-brown ones tasted great but the brown ones were bitter.

I had more green tomatoes left in the garden than I ever got ripe over the course of this year's cold, wretched summer. So while putting my garden to bed for the winter, I decided to keep the tomatoes and roast them.

After roasting I pureed in the blender. Use as you would [a can of] regular diced tomatoes-- you can even mix the two but then you won't get the lovely green color. It makes a mellow, tart tomato sauce for pasta or pizza.