The Stew Pot

I was hungry for pot roast, not the kind my mom used to make - well kind of but without the roast part. As a kid I loved the carrots, onion and potatoes that come with a pot roast especially after they have soaked up the juices from the meat and have a nice brown color. 

I knew there had to be an another way to get all the goodness from the veggies without cooking a big roast. And since book club was on the horizon and we were gathering at my house I decided to give it a try - I mean what’s a little experimentation among friends right? 

I scoured Pinterest for a while and then decided to go it on my own - I turned out pretty well and I got 2 requests for the recipe so I take that as an endorsement of the end result. 

Ingredients:

2 medium onions - chopped

3 - 4 stalks of celery - cut into 3/4 inch pieces

4 - 5 medium carrots - cut into 3/4 inch pieces

2 lbs of yukon gold potatoes - cut into 1 inch cubes

16 ounces baby portabella mushrooms - quartered

1 1/2 cups green peas (I used frozen - thaw before using)

6 cloves garlic

6 cups water

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 Tbsp Italian herb mixture

1 Tbsp paprika

2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

handful of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large soup pot on high with 1 tablespoon of water. When the water begins to sputter, add the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently as the edges of the onion browns slightly, and adding a little water as needed to prevent sticking.

Stir in the mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook while stirring for an additional 5 minutes, adding water as needed.

Add the 6 cups of water, potatoes, tomato paste, dried Italian herbs, and paprika. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a low boil. Stir in the rosemary and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the peas, and cook for 5 minutes more, or until the carrots and potatoes are tender.

Place 2 cups of the stew (broth and vegetables) into a blender, and blend under very smooth. Stir this back into the pot to thicken the stew, and stir in the parsley. Serve with a few twists of ground black pepper.

We enjoyed the leftovers for dinner the next evening and I made a loaf of Guinness and honey bread the recipe is here. We cooked up an additional onion, more mushrooms and tossed in some Gardein “beef” strips - it was fabulous. 

My next attempt will be for movie night but I’m planning to decrease the yukon gold potatoes to 1 pound and add turnips and since it will be St Paddy’s Day I’ll most likely include the Guinness bread - can’t wait. 

Spring into February

I know that everyone seems to have an opinion on global warming and climate change but man the weather here in Minnesota recently is unseasonably nice - very nice; it was 31 degrees today and the sun was shining. That doesn’t mean we won’t get anymore snow and cold it is after all February and March is unpredictable as hell. At the moment, I’ll take the nice weather and I’ll enjoy it. 

Generally when we get to February I’m searching for hot and warming soups and stews, roasting a big batch of root vegetables or cooking a nice spicy curry - anything to kick up the heat. But lately I’ve been thinking about salads and lighter fare. I can only attribute it to the weather. 

I was driving home from yoga last week and as I drove past Chipotle - I thought - oh taco salad sounds delicious. In most restaurants taco salad involves some kind of spiced beef, which of course we don’t eat. We do however give the Beyond Meat product a go every once in a while. They have a ground “meat” product that has a nice consistency and when spiced up with taco seasoning, combined with onions and peppers and then added to greens, tomatoes, olives, vegan cheese, corn and crushed blue corn tortillas well it’s pretty awesome. It’s even more awesome when you make a dressing that has avocado in it - I could literally lick the dressing off the spoon - if it has avocado it’s all good. 

This week was suppose to be movie night but it got cancelled because our friend Rhea Rhodan was not feeling well (so sorry to hear that). We had an awesome dinner planned - a Field Roast Foragers vegan roast, beet, carrot, onion and chickpea salad with a lemon & dijon dressing and quinoa with kale. We thought about doing something different but the groceries were in the fridge and we decided let’s go for it. We’ll do it again at another movie night don’t worry!

Unfortunately we didn’t take a picture of the beet salad - OMG if you love beets you need to try this dish. The flavors pair perfectly and the dressing adds a wonderful dimension - next time I might even add a few crumbles of feta to give it a sharp flavor. You can check out the recipe here. 

We’ve made it to Sunday, which makes me happy and of course sad. I love that it is still the weekend but I can’t help but want one more day off before I head back to work. One of my favorite Sunday activities is pottery class. For 2 hours you think about nothing other than forming the clay, no social media mania, no political pandemonium, just me and a mound of clay - its relaxing. 

We had a great pottery class today - I learned how to make wine/sake/tea cups (no handles) let’s just hope they sealed up nicely so that when I pour a beverage in them I don’t find the beverage running down my arm. That’s the danger with hand built pottery, you have to make sure you seal the seams. If it doesn’t work out for cups I can always use them for pencils, dried flowers or something else - who doesn’t need a cute little cup right? I think my project next week will be the triple cone succulent vase I’ve been thinking about ever since I saw the picture on Pinterest. 

Valentines Day is Tuesday be sure to spend the day with people you love. 

Thanks for stopping by!

It Doesn't Have to be Fancy

As we were sitting at dinner tonight it occurred to me that I am yet again behind on my blog posting; so much to do and so little time. In spite of that observation I realized (not for the first time in my life) that I’ve been waiting until we have super awesome meals and then use those as a springboard for my blog post - “sigh”. 

I spend a fair amount of time reading other food blogs, their photos are awesome (all 20 of them that show every tiny step), they write long and involved prose to go with all those pictures (but of course) and then their loyal following post questions and congratulations - it’s amazing right?

That is not my style; first I have a full time writing/marketing job, I workout every day (walking, 2 days of strength training and 1 day of yoga) and I like to spend time reading and interacting on social media so I’m kind of booked. Some days dinner needs to come from what’s in the fridge and quickly; no fancy photos and no long drawn out descriptions because I have other things to do. That doesn’t mean that when I retire or dedicate myself to full time blogging that I won’t be just like everyone else but for today it is what it is.

Generally, when I get up in the morning I like to “plan my day” and by that I mean I make a list - starting with work things I need to accomplish, workouts, dinner plans and any other cleaning, organizing, shopping and errands - yes I am a planning freak - it comes from all those years as a Project Manager. 

Last night Camille (the cute cat in residence) woke me up 3 times to be fed and I’m sure if I had not shut her out of the bedroom there would have been at least one more wake up call. I try to be kind; she is old (17), fragile (boney) and needs extra attention. She is hardwired for 3 things; food, water and going outside - she’s predictable if nothing else. Yet in the end we’ve decided to provide as much palliative care to her as she requires because we love her and she’s been a great companion. 

After my personal training session tonight, I opened the fridge and decided to do my stand-by; roasted veggies. In the fridge we had brussels sprouts, carrots, onions, broccoli and mushrooms so we chopped, tossed with oil, added spices (garlic, rosemary, oregano, and thyme - all from last years garden) and salt and pepper then roasted them in the oven at 425 for about 25 -30 minutes.

While they were roasting I cooked some soba noodles, poured a glass of wine and relaxed until dinner was ready. Sometimes simple is best. 

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and I’m planning to post recipes and stories of how everyone celebrates - so send me your favorite romantic dinner, restaurant, tradition and gifts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Midwest Curry Potluck

I know, I know the words midwest, curry and potluck seem to be pretty incongruous - but it works - well at our house anyway. My husband’s parents were medical missionaries in India. Dan and his siblings grew up in Kerala, which is on the south western coast. And adding the vegetarian bent - makes curry a natural. 

In light of recent political events we decided an evening of great company, food and conversation with a spicy twist was in order; enter a curry potluck party. We had about 25 people, 13 curries, fruit, appetizers, beverages and of course fun! A great surprise was our niece Katie; she headed off to Pune, India on Sunday but was able to join us before she embarked on her studies, we’re looking forward to reading her blog posts and wish her safe travels and great adventures. 

 I was looking for a vegan curry to prepare and I found a delicious mushroom curry; of course I needed to alter it a bit to suit my taste. I have to say though, that the appeal in this recipe is that the sauce is made from carrots and water, no broth, no coconut milk, or other traditional ingredients - carrots. carrots and more carrots. The basic recipe is here

The sweetness of the carrots and the curry were an excellent combination. The recipe called for baby portobellas, but I used a combination of portobellas and button mushrooms to temper the taste. Next time however it will be total portobellas - the smokiness adds so much to the dish. 

The recipe came together quickly, and the flavor was so delicious. We had so many delicious curries - it was hard to chose a favorite - so I won’t but here is a photo of a few of the offerings.

And of course the crowd is always lively. 

Looking forward to the start of pottery class this weekend and then Superbowl Sunday  - go “whomever” you love - I’m just here for the snacks!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Warming Vegan Soup

Happy New Year!

The holiday decorations are safely tucked back in the closet, the recyclers have taken the tree and winter has set in; that cold, below zero winter that only something steaming hot can take the chill off. 

I received the Pure Vegan cookbook by Joseph Shuldiner from Dan’s daughter Mary for Christmas this year and I’ve spent a fair amount of time pouring over recipes, which is one of my favorite things to do. 

There are so many great recipes in this cookbook I’m not sure where to start but since the temps have been low lately I decided to make a warming Celery root and fennel chowder. The combination of leeks, celery root, and fennel is perfect and hit the spot. Dan made a whole wheat bread with rosemary (from our garden last year), dukkah and other spices, it was the perfect match. 

I made a couple changes subbing 1 sweet potato and 1 baker for the 2 baking potatoes because I am not a huge fan of white potatoes. I also didn’t have fresh parsley or thyme so I used dried. I may also have added more garlic because well, you can never have too much garlic right?

Ingredients:

1 large fennel bulb - trimmed and thinly sliced (reserve fennel fronds for garnish)

2 to 3 leeks - white and light green parts only

1 large baking potato - peeled and diced

1 large sweet potato - peeled and diced

1 to 2 shallots - minced

3 garlic cloves - minced (I may have added a few extra of these too)

1 cup fresh minced parsley (I used less dried)

1 tsp fresh minced thyme

2 tsp fennel seed

2 tsp salt - or to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large celery root, peeled and diced 

6 cups water

Instructions:

In a large soup pot combine all ingredients - except the celery root and water and sauce for 15 - 20 minutes covered over medium low heat stirring occasionally to keep the veggies from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

Add the celery root and water, uncover and increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until celery root is tender - approximately 20 minutes. 

Transfer half of the mixture to a blender and puree. Return to pot and stir until incorporated. Top with fennel fronds and serve with salad and bread. 

Next project in the cookbook Pistachio olive oil cake - I might be a movie night dessert or a dessert for our curry pot luck in a couple of weeks. 

Keep warm and thanks for stopping by.  

Transitions

I’ve been thinking about this my last blog post of 2016; to say it has been an interesting year would be an understatement. 

I’ve spent another year focusing on healthy living and eating. While I continue to consume a mostly plant-based diet, I incorporate fish in situations where a healthy alternative is not available. This years garden will go down as one of the best, as a matter of fact I finished baking the last of the acorn squash and putting it in the freezer this afternoon. 

We did some traveling and then there was the trip that got away. We spent time on the North Shore, traveling along the Mississippi from Minnesota to Iowa where we stayed at the B & B Hillary Clinton spent time at during her campaign, In Chicago where we saw Kinky Boots (you must see it) and we spent time with family in Fargo and at a cabin in Cross Lake. 

I was lucky enough to reconnect with some high school friends for a long weekend of catching up and laughter - next time ladies let’s not wait another 40 years. I also continue to hang out with my book club and Saturday farmers market / walking friends. I truly enjoy our time together.

I celebrated a BIG birthday and have started thinking about retirement (generally about what I’ll do until Dan retires). While it’s still a few years away, I’m planning to start taking courses in the fall of 2017 to become a Master Gardener. I’m also looking forward to having more time to volunteer, read, garden, cook, travel and spend time with friends and family; who knows I might even dust off one of my NaNoWriMo novels and whip it into shape and publish it. 

Speaking of NaNoWriMo I was a finisher again this year; although I have to say it I was not excited about the end result - oh well 2017 is just around the corner time to start thinking about the next novel. 

Camille continues to allow us to live in her house and cater to her every whim. She spent a great deal of time in the garden last summer, sleeping under the pepper, cauliflower and tomato plants. She continues to age gracefully but we know our time with her is short. 

Amazingly Dan used the word “like” in a sentence that also contained the word "kale" (I know right). As a matter of fact the shot below is a rustic onion, kale, mushroom and goat cheese tart that I made last night. I believe I heard the word delicious - so there is hope for turning my sweetie into a vegetarian after all. 

As we transition from 2016 into 2017 we wish our friends and family good health, happiness and joy. 

See you next year!

Cauliflower Fried Rice Makes Everything Nice

I am officially done with my holiday shopping and now it’s time to start enjoying the holiday season. The tree is up, the mantel is decked out and we did our grocery shopping for Christmas dinner last night and yes there will be turkey - just not for me. 

If I’m going to indulge in turkey I’ll save that for Dan’s homemade turkey soup, which he makes the day after Christmas with the turkey carcass. He boils it for hours until he has a rich and golden broth. Then he puts it outside and waits for the fat to rise to the top. He removes the fat, skims the bone and skin out and then adds, leftover turkey, carrots, celery, onions and spices - it is a favorite around here even with the vegetarians in the house - everyone has their guilty pleasures and this one is mine. 

For those of you who are not in Minnesota or the Midwest, you might have missed the plunging temps we’ve had around here. Last weekend the temps dipped to -16 - yep it was cold but we still managed to have dinner at a new restaurant with some good friends on Saturday evening and we went to Orchestra Hall on Sunday and then dinner at the Red Stag Supperclub on Sunday. 

I’ve been to the Red Stag a couple of times for breakfast with girlfriends, the restaurant is located next to the Herbivorous Butcher, which as you know is a favorite haunt of mine. I’ve wanted to take Dan there for breakfast for a while they have a roasted root vegetable hash that is simply delicious but we’ve not made it there yet. All of that changed on Sunday when I looked at the dinner menu - they had many vegetarian options - what a pleasant surprise. 

We started with a flatbread that was a combination of baba ganoush topped with green olives, feta and almonds. The smokey flavor of the ganoush, the briny olives and the cheese and almonds totally worked - I’m hungry just thinking about it. For an entree I had a roasted butternut squash that was topped with mushrooms, kale, parsnips and other root vegetables and served with a grape mostard sauce on the side - it too was delicious.

After all that eating out it was time to start eating the great veggies in our fridge. I found a recipe for cauliflower fried rice and we had some tofu in the fridge so I decided to give it a try. The cauliflower rice took a little more than 30 minutes to make from start to finish. I made a couple of adjustments; first I used edamame instead of regular peas because that is what I had in the freezer. Second it needed additional spicing so I included 1.5 times the garlic, some ginger and crushed red pepper - which of course made it perfect!

The recipe is here: http://bestrecipebox.com/recipes/cauliflower-fried-rice/

Dan cooked the tofu perfectly; crisp on the outside and delicious on the inside. We tossed it into the “rice” and then topped it with green onions. Lucky for us there were leftovers we had them for dinner again last night. Now off to wrapping those presents, some cleaning (you know before the person who does the cleaning comes because you don’t want her to think you are messy - I know not logical) and baking - it’s going to be another great holiday.

Wishing you and yours a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.