Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig!

We’re home - again. After spending 2 weeks in Europe we came home, did a laundry stop, repacked and headed to Chicago for a conference. Dan was the keynote speaker and one of my coworkers was speaking too. It was a fun long weekend but I’m glad to be home and we’ll be home until Thanksgiving and after that until we go to Mexico. Perhaps I will get some of that cleaning/sorting I’ve been putting off done. Don’t hold your breath. Did I mention I love to travel but hate to fly - it’s true. 

Last night I posted a picture on Facebook of our grain bowls with peanut sauce - no recipe, just a picture and I immediately got a request for the recipe. For me grain bowls are all about what you have in the pantry/refrigerator. They are so flexible and the options are limitless my conundrum is always what dressing to use. My favorite is a vegan avocado cream but I have also made vegan tatziki with tofu as a base, a southwest/taco with vegan sour cream … as I said options are limitless. 

Since my avocados were still rock hard I decided on a Siracha peanut butter sauce and it did not disappoint. First you get the sweet and salty peanut-soy flavor, and then a spicy kick from Sriracha slowly sneaks up on you. This is my favorite kind of spicy sauce — where the heat isn’t immediate. You can use this sauce to boost everything from chicken and steak, to tofu, lentils, beans, and veggies. 

After a fair amount of chopping, roasting and sautéing dinner was served - the best part, there were leftovers, which Dan had for dinner tonight! I’m still full from lunch with the girls today. 

Ingredients:

10 small beets - a one bite beet 

1 small sweet potato 

1 medium onion diced

1 carrot 

8 - 10 brussels sprouts - cleaned and cut in half

5 ounces mushrooms (I had a combo of baby portabella and white)

1/2 cucumber - sliced and quartered

2 radishes - sliced thin and cut into matchsticks

1/4 red pepper - thinly sliced

1/4 orange pepper - thinly sliced

4 green onions - cleaned and chopped 

2 handfuls spinach

8 kale leaves shredded

parsley and cilantro - chopped 

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

3 T soy sauce

2 T water

1 - 2 T Siracha

1 - 2 T olive oil

1 cup quinoa or brown rice or a mixture of grains 

salt 

pepper 

Instructions:

Chop all vegetables. In a medium bowl combine beets, sweet potato, onion, carrot, mushrooms, and brussels sprout with the olive oil - toss to combine. Put on a baking dish and roast at 400 for  approximately 30 - 40 minutes - turn half way through. 

While the veggies are roasting, combine 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky), 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons water, and 1 to 2 tablespoons Sriracha, in a blender and mix until combined.

Cook grains according to package directions, combine the spinach and kale in a bowl. 

To assemble:

Put greens on the bottom followed by a couple tablespoons of grains. Add roasted vegetables, top with peppers, cucumbers, green onions, radishes and add sriracha and peanut sauce. 

Enjoy!

Another Delicious Soup

We’re back from Europe and our river boat cruise vacation - it was a wonderful adventure. We are now packing our bags and heading to Chicago for a few days to participate in a conference and see the city - should be fun. 

After we unloaded our bags, boxes and packs from the cruise, we took a walk to the garden to see what, if anything had survived in our absence. We had squash, cabbage, kohlrabi, beets and a few tomatoes. Of course the tomatoes are now done (due to the snow on Friday) but the other crops are pretty cold weather hardy and we’ll be working through them in the coming weeks. 

Over the weekend I picked, chopped and prepped the squash and it is now waiting in the freezer for us. I made german cabbage and peeled and sliced apples that will end up as crisp or pies in the coming months. It was fun “bottling the harvest.” I’ve been visiting the neighbors and friends with bags of kale; they still like me and let me in their house :-) 

After 2 weeks of endless food (and I do mean endless), I was looking for something warm and comforting - soup. I love soup it’s my go to comfort food; especially now that Fall has arrived. I found recipe for kohlrabi, potato and corn chowder and I thought - why not! So I chopped, sautéed, simmered and ended up with a nice bowl of deliciousness. 

Thanks to Know your Produce for the inspiration. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegan butter

3 garlic cloves minced

1 onion diced

2 stalks celery diced

1 carrot diced

1/4 cup flour

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup unflavored almond milk

3-4 small kohlrabi peeled and diced (larger kohlrabi has a very strong taste)

2 potatoes diced

1 bay leaf

1 cup grilled corn

1 small handful of kale, shredded, sautéed in a bit of oil and added to the pot

sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add in the garlic, onions, celery, corn, and carrots. Cook until veggies are tender,.

Add in the kohlrabi, potatoes, bay leaf and parsley. Cook for 5 minutes and then add in the flour.

Mix until it's fully incorporated. Gradually stir in the vegetable broth while cooking. Bring chowder to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Mix in the milk and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with a few shakes of paprika