Friday Morning(Afternoon) Hearty Breakfast

After a night of Villa Park Debauchery in celebration of Jon's glorious escape from Illinois, we needed some comfort food. There was only one solution.

Tofu Scramble
Ingredients:
1 block Firm Tofu, crumbled
1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
3 TBSP nutritional yeast
2 TBSP dijon mustard
few squirts Liquid Smoke
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add onion and serrano to hot pan sprayed with oil. Cook till sweaty.
2.Add tofu, let cook for about 10 minutes.
3.Add everything else. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4.Eat. Slather with ketchup or BBQ sauce if you're a sauceman/woman.

PAN SIZED Hash Browns
Ingredients:
2 Yukon Gold Potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

1.Wash hands.
2.Poke with a fork. Remove Fork. Microwave potatoes for about three minutes.
3.Let cool, grate with fine grater.
4.Pan fry at medium heat for about 15 minutes each side.
5.Enjoy. Slather with ketchup.

Eat more Chipotle/Adobo!

These are awesome in anything you want to have a spicy "Mexican" flavor. Be careful though, they are spicier than I imagined. If you are a fan of Chipotle Tabasco you will love this(seems obvious.) But yes, you can purchase it in Mexican grocery stores or many other stores with good international aisles. I know this isn't a recipe but I just wanted to share the wealth of a great product I have recently fell in love with.


Product Description via Amazon.com
(Smoked red jalapeño peppers in spices, vinegar, tomatoes and ancho chiles. (pronounced "chee-POHT-lay"). CHIPOTLE PEPPERS A chipotle pepper is a red Jalapeño chile, ripened, dried, and smoked through a special process. Derived from the Aztec word meaning smoke, jalapeños are placed over huge pits and smoke is blown through tunnels running underground. Chipotle Characteristics - A unique warm heat and smoky flavor , chipotles are packed in a red adobo sauce made from lightly seasoned tomato broth. Embasa chipotles are completely shielded from all the elements during processing to produce an exceptional product. Tan - brown, veined and ridged, they are 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) long and 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter. Medium-thick fleshed, with a subtle deep rounded heat, they are excellent in sauces, soups, and as a seasoning for meats and stews.)

Roasted Potatoes with Aioli

One of my favorite tapas dishes at Radio Mario is their roasted potatoes with aioli. It's so simple and so good. This is almost as good and probably cheaper.

Roasted Potatoes

6-8 cubed small new red potatoes (but really you can make as much as you want)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Generous amounts of salt and pepper

Aioli

1/4 cup of any veg/soy based "mayonnaise" - I've been using Nasoya

2-3 cloves of finely minced garlic

1 tbl lemon juice

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F. 

In a mixing bowl toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour onto a baking sheet, making sure that everything is well coated. 

For the aioli, just mix everything well in a small bowl. Let it sit for a little bit so the garlic mellows out.

Cook the potatoes for about 45 minutes, or until they are brown and a little crispy. When served, drizzle some of the aioli over the warm potatoes - leaving extra if you want more. 

Chili Pea Puffs

So these are delicious. And it is not really my recipe, I got it from 101cookbooks.com which is such a great site. Heidi, the writer, samples recipes from different cookbooks and this one is from Monica Bhide's Modern Spice cookbook. I've made this a couple of times, once vegan and once with paneer. Both were delicious, and I couldn't really tell the difference between the two. This is mostly copied  from the recipe on the website, but I've changed a couple of things.

Chili Pea Puffs

1 cup cooked mashed peas

1/4 crumbled paneer or tofu

2 small serrano peppers (remove seeds and veins - I left the seeds in one since I like my food pretty spicy)

1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chili powder or flakes

2 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper

About 32 wonton wrappers (I used the square shape)

(I've omitted the use of egg white...I hate wasting yolk and this way it can easily be made vegan)

Preheat the oven to 400F - I hope you have air conditioning. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. It's tempting to add a whole lot of filling, but that will make it so much harder to fold. Dab warm water on one side of the wrapper, and press the two sides together. I followed Heidi's example and made it into a small spring roll shape. It was pretty simple, you just need to fold the wrap diagonally, and then fold in the sides to make the spring roll shape. 

Spray or brush the puffs with cooking oil, and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes, making sure to flip half way. 101cookbooks says 7-8 minutes, but for some reason my oven always takes longer than recipes say. Serve warm, and with a sweet/spicy sauce. I actually made a sauce from a cherry butter I had on hand. I added some spice and tartness, and it was great. 

Also, these puffs freeze really well. You can stick them in the oven straight from the freezer.

Spicy Chipotle Mexican Soup

This is a soup/stew that has a taste reminiscent of a spicy chili. If you do not enjoy spicy foods, feel free to use less chipotle peppers and cayenne. But nonetheless, this is a great quick and hearty dinner or lunch. 

Makes enough for a few to eat, plus leftovers.

Cooking Time: About 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas, drained,rinsed

1 can Black beans, drained, rinsed

1 medium Red Onion,chopped

2 TBSP Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce(canned), finely chopped (This equals about two peppers)

8 oz. Tomato Paste

1 can Water (adjust to your preference of consistency)

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne

Lemon/Lime Juice

Cilantro

1.Add all ingredients into a pot, except the fresh cilantro.

2.Cook for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat.

3.Turn off heat, let cool and give flavors a chance to meld. 

4.Garnish with fresh cilantro.

5.Enjoy.

This is quite a spicy dish, so in my mind, a vegan sour cream could be a great addition as a topping. A  horchata or a mexican beer would both also be  great cooling drinks next to this spicy soup. Sorry for the poorly planned photo.

Beet Greens? I thought beets were purple...

Vegan vs. (Un)Vegan


For those that know and love me, know how much I know and love beets. Roasted, salad-ed, soup-ed, (but not canned, never canned), beets are great. But beet greens have always sort of baffled me. When I had a rabbit, I happily fed him said baffling tops, but now I must consume them myself. Thus I give to you a way to enjoy the entirety of the beet. (Word(s) of caution: Upon using the sugar/apple cider vinegar combo I found the whole concoction to be a little sweet, so you really need a salty counterbalance, or maybe use a different vinegar as suggested below)

• 1 pound beet greens
• Vegan: Earth-B /(Un)Vegan: Butter
  
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/6 cup of cider vinegar (for less sweet results balsamic vinegar)
• Vegan: a salty topping to counter the sweet, perhaps salted sunflower seeds/ (Un)Vegan: Feta Cheese

Getting Down to Cookin'

Wash, Wash, Wash the greens (seriously, they are dirty). Drain and cut really thick stems off. Cut leaves into smaller pieces, for chewing pleasure.

In a large skillet melt your choice of fat on medium heat. Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar (optional) and red pepper. Bring it to a boil (might boil faster if you turn away).

Add the beet greens, gently coating them in your newly made concoction. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender (Careful not to overcook, you don't want them to be limp and sad). Stir in vinegar of choice.

Add salty topping of your choosing, and noms away!

National Mustard Day (Yesterday!)

Yesterday was National Mustard Day and I hope you found the time to celebrate, as mustard is no question my favorite condiment of all, possibly even my favorite food. Some of our killa peas members came together today and enjoyed a Beet & Chard Pasta with Mustard Sauce, Fried Green Tomatoes from Jon's parent's garden dipped in various types of mustard, and some Fresh Cut Potato and Sweet Potato Fries dipped in mustard OF COURSE. This meal was enjoyed outdoors with a perfect moonlit sky. If you didn't already celebrate, be sure to top your morning granola or smoothie with a bit of your favorite style of mustard. 

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/mustardhistory.htm

Here is a quite blurry picture, but worth sharing: