Vegan Dad's Meatballs Cocktail Party Style

I had a craving for some sweet meatballs after seeing "Swedish Meatballs" advertised at IKEA. So I came home and made Vegan Dad's Italian Meatballs and added my own twist topping them with a sauce consisting of about 3 parts BBQ Sauce and 2 parts Grape Jelly. This recipe is awesome!
VEGAN DAD ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Kale w/ Peanut Butter Sauce

This is a great way to enjoy the sometimes under-appreciated green Kale.
Ingredients:
1 Bunch Kale
2 TBSP Natural Peanut Butter (Whole Foods 365 being my favorite)
1 TBSP Soy Sauce
3/4 TBSP Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Maple Syrup(optional)
Sriracha(optional)

1. Break stems off kale and pull into edible size pieces.
2.Place in a skillet over medium/high heat with a squirt of water. Add a little sea salt and pepper, and give the Kale a squirt of lemon juice.
3.While this is cooking, mix all other ingredients and mash
peanut butter into sauce with a fork.
4.Add a little water to get the correct consistency.
5.When Kale looks a brighter green and shrinks down a bit,
add this sauce to the skillet of Kale and let thicket for just a minute or two.
6. Garnish with some Sriracha if you like your greens with some heat.
7.Serve with a smile and enjoy with a good looking friend.

Okra with Tomatoes and Corn

I love okra but have never worked with this peculiar vegetable before, so I bought some and found from the internet that Okra with Tomatoes and Corn is a classic, simple dish. What the recipes didn't tell me (and I had to find out from the Chef at the hotel I work at, after I noticed the hotel serves this dish) was the crucial first step for taking the slime and bitterness out of okra.

1 small onion, chopped
2 good handfuls (and assuming most people have bigger hands than I do) of okra, stemmed and sliced ~1/2 inch thick
1 large tomato, diced
~1/3 can of corn
crushed red pepper

1. Take your okra and sautee with oil in a really HOT pan
2. Put aside and toss the onion into the pan till soft (no need for oil from here on out, just let 'em sweat)
   
3. Add the tomato and cook for short time to soften it
   
4. Add the corn, okra, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and simmer on low heat for another 15 or so minutes
5. Serve on rice or as a side dish. Sprinkling a little shredded parmesan can be a nice touch.
   

Mushroom "Bolognese"

For dinner tonight we had a mushroom bolognese - or at least my version of it - accompanied with a super rich soup contributed by Jonathan. I think they paired nicely, though both of them were very filling. I've never had a true bolognese sauce, I think though that they are supposed to be really creamy and fatty...but then again I have no idea. Lily Allen makes a reference to it in one of her songs. All in all, the dish came out well. I'll definitely try making this one again.

"Bolognese" Sauce

1 pkg mushrooms (8-10 oz) chopped finely

1 small onion

2-3 cloves garlic minced

3 tbl tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tbl Earth Balance (I know that seems like a lot, but it's worth it)

Olive Oil

oregano

parsley

salt and pepper

fresh basil

In a large skillet cook the mushrooms in olive oil until they are brown and have released their juices. Add the onion, cook until translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes, stir thoroughly. Cook until the sauce reduces to a thick creamy consistency, this took maybe 10-15 minutes. Melt in the Earth Balance or any type of butter. Add the spices, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the sauce, and add in some fresh basil if you have any on hand. 

I served the sauce over some pasta from the farmer's market. It was a mixture of two already opened packages - I think one was spinach and the other was sweet basil. It was tasty, but this sauce would be really good over ordinary spaghetti noodles. 

Peach-Strawberry Crisp

So the Farmer's Market had some great looking peaches, so I bought 1,000. Well, not quite - but way more than I was going to eat. I also had some strawberries that were in need of some eating. This is a tasty and easy way to use up some fruit that's about to go bad. Waste not!

Peach-Strawberry Crisp

6 small peaches, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 cup of small strawberries, sliced

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup vegan butter

Mix the oats, flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Layer the peaches and strawberries in a small baking dish. Sprinkle the oat mixture on top of the fruit. Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes. You want to make sure you get some real nice crunchy bits. Mine came out a little saucier than I expected, but it was still very tasty. The crisp is delicious on its own, but even better with some vanilla ice cream. 

Thai-inspired coconut tofu soup

Jonathan and I tried our hands at this Thai Tom Yum-like soup instead of grilling on the Fourth. Maybe that's why we didn't get to see the fireworks. This is a very flavorful soup that can withstand your personal interpretation of the ingredients.

• 5 cups vegetable stock (we ended up using only two cups stock & two cups water or so, but it turned out fine
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1-3 small Thai chili peppers, minced unseeded (small red chili or jalapeno peppers would also be good)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• a generous amount of ginger, thinly sliced
• Enoki mushrooms (straw mushrooms would also be delicious)
• cauliflower (bell peppers would also be good)
• snow peas
  
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
  
• 2 tomatoes, cut up in large chunks
• soy sauce
  
• 1 package tofu, diced (we used firm, but soft would probably be much better)
• 1 lime (or if you have lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves)
  
• fresh cilantro and/or green onions

These ingredients make for a big soup--I've been eating it for days

Bring the stock to boil in a large pot. Toss in the chili peppers, garlic, onion, and ginger. Let boil for an additional 5 min. Add in the mushrooms, snow peas, carrots, and cauliflower and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat on low and pour in the coconut milk and tomatoes. Add soy sauce to taste--more if the broth is too sweet. Put in the tofu and squeeze in the lime juice before simmering for several minutes. Serve with a hearty garnish of cilantro & green onions. Serve with rice for a full meal.

Note about the chili peppers: I love spicy foods, so I made the mistake of adding too many chili peppers here. The peppers give the broth a really nice kick, but they really shouldn't overpower the other flavors of the soup. Two peppers for this size of soup would be fine; I would not go for more than three.