Jessica: Sorry! And a Quinoa Recipe

Sorry Sarah! Sorry readers! I skipped a week. Truth be told, I’ve had a puppy to take care of and have been beat, plus have had no time to get groceries.

Here’s a dish I like to make now and again with varying ingredients, but luckily it all worked out for this occasion.

Kidney Bean Kale Quinoa (kkkkkkkkk-k-k-k-raaaazy good) Salad

• Quinoa
• Vegetable Broth

• 1/2 red onion, diced
• olive oil
• sesame oil
• 1 tsp each coriander, cumin, curry powder
• shake of freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• Juice of half a lime
• Tamari
• 3/4 cup of chopped kale
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 1 14 ounce can of Red Kidney Beans
• Cilantro to garnish, optional

Start out by cooking quinoa in vegetable broth. I like Rapunzel brand’s no sodium bouillon cubes, but you can use anything with good flavor. The amount is inconsequential because you add the quinoa to the mix of vegetables and can reserve the leftover quinoa for another dish or just make it heavy on quinoa.

Next, saute half of a red onion in olive oil with a tiny drizzle of sesame oil  (not really necessary but I think it gives a little nuttier a flavor) in a large skillet with a lid over low-medium heat.

When the onion starts to get translucent, add in 1 tsp each coriander, cumin, curry powder and a shake of cayenne pepper and freshly ground black pepper, and coat the onions with that.

After about a minute, add in one chopped tomato and saute until it gets a bit softer. Add the juice of half a lime and a splash of tamari, and stir. Let that cook down for a minute and then add in about 3/4 cup of fresh chopped kale. Cover the skillet and let the kale get bright green and soften, about 3 minutes.

Next, add in about 3/4 tsp of garlic powder (or alternately you can saute 2 cloves garlic with the onion in the beginning) and about 1 tsp liquid smoke. When that’s stirred in, let it cook for a bit longer, and add about 1 tbsp olive oil or so for adding the quinoa.

Now, add in your quinoa and cook without a cover, making sure the quinoa is touching the pan so it gets toasted and crunchy. This step is of course to your preference— for ordinary stir-fried quinoa, just stir the quinoa and don’t worry about its contact with the pan.

Add in about a can full of kidney beans, and stir. Let the quinoa mix cook for about 3-5 minutes and give it a good stir before turning off the burner and serving.

Adjust to your taste with salt, liquid smoke, or if you have cilantro, that adds a good flavor as well. I added extra lime juice because we like lime and spicy foods here, but the extras are entirely up to you.

Serve as is. This is awesome and I’m sure will make amazing leftovers. Even my picky dog wanted some.

P.S. Sarah where have you gone? I went to message you on Facebook. Email me giiiiiiirrrrrrrlll.

Sarah: vegan, gluten free, mac and cheese

Although I posted this recipe to my big blog (www.climbinvegan.blogspot.com) I thought it was worth sharing here too, since it’s so good. It’s so rare to find vegan and gluten free mac and cheese (although s’mac does it in the East village) that when I discovered this recipe I had to share it. As far as I know I made this up.. especially since this is what I have in my kitchen. 

 

Ingredients:

-1/4 box quinoa pasta

-1/4 cup Polenta (corn grits)

-1/4 cup nutritional yeast

-salt, pepper, seasoning

 

making the polenta

cooked quinoa pasta

polenta cooked and ready for nutritional yeast

add the quinoa pasta to the polenta

pasta and polenta done!

delicious!

 

Method:

-boil the pasta and cook

-cook the Polenta in 1 cup of water

-add the nutritional yeast about 4 minutes into cooking the polenta

-after about a minute to a minute and a half add the seasoning and the cooked pasta

enjoy!

 

Jessica: Roasted Sweet Potato with Tomato-Black Bean Sauce

I absolutely love vegan cookbooks. I can only say that much of my success in culinary endeavors is because of amazing cookbooks that do an excellent job of describing something in a way that I get. There are some authors who get how off the cuff my methods were in beginning, with only one butter knife to slice through veggies in prep. Not even a chopping or paring or chef’s knife, but a dull butter knife that led to many many scrapes and subsequently, scars. I had a fascination with holding my breath because once I got a real set of knives (these were amazing non-stick European paring knives that sliced like butter. Their fuschia and orange blades made me giddy just to use them.) I realized what I’d been missing by skipping out on something fundamental to good cooking.

We just got a set of knives and while I am an avid retail researcher, we bought these knives in a set from Amazon on sheer whim. I got the box in the mail like a week ago, and they’re pretty cool. I’ll post a picture with my next post.

In addition, my first time making this dish was wrought with some other kinks. Without reading the recipe through, I assumed this would be a great meal provided the ingredients were right. That it was. Nevertheless, I should have read through the recipe because midway I discovered I had no food processor, and thus would end up with a thick chunky sauce, instead of a nice blended rich sauce that had a nice orange color instead a bright red one. The sauce was still fabulous and the ingredients definitely made a difference overall. Now that I’ve made a point of using the right equipment, this recipe is the BOMB. It seriously fills my cravings for a saucy meal, without making my go-to pasta a tired meal for me. I love my pasta but a hiatus is necessary.

I’ve made this tonight after making it a few weeks ago for two. Every time, it turns out a little different. Tonight, off the cuff I made it with a bit more cumin and coriander, plus some red pepper flakes instead of jalepeno, for a more controlled and mild heat.

I LOVE this recipe. (And yes, in case you recognize, that screencap is from Civilization 5)

1 1/2 tsp cumin powder

 1/2 tsp ground coriander  

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper  

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper                                                                                                             

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes                                                                                                                                  

2 tablespoons oil                                                                                                                                 

1  yellow onion, diced medium                                                                                                                 

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp maple syrup or agave

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and the spices, cook for 2 minutes until oil is fragrant. Add the onion, garlic, and if you’d like more heat, a jalepeno to the mix of spices in the pot, stirring to coat them in the seasoning. Cook until the onions soften and become slightly translucent, about 8-10 minutes.  Add the tomato sauce and the agave nectar or maple syrup to the pot and lower heat to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the sauce to a food processor and pulse until smooth. Return sauce to the pot and over simmer, add the beans and the salt and let everything cook for 5 more minutes, covered.

Serve over roasted slices of potatoes of any variety. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’ Butternut Squash Rancheros recipe on THEPPK.com, and amazing all vegan recipe and forum site that I’m a part of. Check it out!

Juicing contently

Hey all- its Sarah on the first recipe post of this awesome blog! Today I’ll be sharing a juicing recipe- a simple, quick, but balanced juice. 

 

All you do, is simply juice those ingredients above!! I juiced about 3 oz of kale juice, then added an apple and two pluocts (plum and apricot!). 

 

The juice doesn’t make that much, so it’s perfect for a quick snack or a boost of nutrients. Although not a super sweet fruit juice, you can totally taste the fruit inside and not just kale. I stuck it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, and it was golden 🙂

 

first post!

Jessica here!

This will soon be filled with delicious recipes from Jessica S and Sarah, who are on different coasts and experiencing good vegan food no matter the location.

 

Psst.. Every Friday we will upload a new recipe, with photos. Sometimes it’ll be a big one, sometimes just a simple one. Follow us to see what we can come up with each week to grow our repertoires and keep our appetites sated.

Enjoy your Thursdays, lovelies!