Just the thing to warm a cold vegan

Today we're featuring a cool-weather food: curried pea soup, to be exact.

Don't think of it as your mother's traditional soup. Here's what's in it today, though it looks similar to the goopy, glue-ey green-ish stuff your mama probably served in the winter:

1 tbsp curry paste (I look for the jar with the lady on it from Thailand - green, yellow, or red is fine.)
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp chopped garlic

*Browned in:
1-2 tbsp oil (I use Asian-taste corn oil)

*Add to the pot:
 2-3 c split peas, rinsed and sorted
2 bouillon cubes (I use a vegan brand)
2 bay leaves
Pinch of nutmeg
Trader Joes Smoke Seasoning (imagine smoked meat)
8-9 c water (Like thinner soup? Use more water. Prefer it thick? Use 7-8c.)

(optional: 1 c hulled barley or other grain)

Taste it when it's simmered for an hour, uncovered. If it needs salt or soy sauce, add some. Same for pepper.

For fun: garnish with popcorn, peanuts, red peppers, chopped tomatoes, or leafy veggies.

Servings: 4-6, depending on the bowl size
Taste: 4/5 Rich, nourishing, warming, savory
Time to prepare: 10 minutes. Cook for an hour-ish
Calories: 300-500 calories per bowl, (or more, depending if you cheat and use more oil)
Beauty: looks better with red pepper garnish or tomato. Pea-soup green is ugly.
Improvements: Pea soup tastes best with ham hock broth. Sadly, that's out of the question for a vegan.

Weather change and my food response

When the weather changes to Seattle fall, we get grey skies and rain. My mood shifts within a few days to depression and fatigue. Unless...

Indian food - oh yum

I'm eating vegan again. Ingesting only eating plant-based foods. It works for me, though my leaving the traditional American diet is purely based on my body's health not on vegan philosophies of care for the planet or animal rights extremists' preferential treatment of animals over humans.

Mexican lunch - can't wait!

Many websites provide info on what vegans DO eat. Some of the best and easiest recipes are at the websites below. If you deal with seasonal depression or ill health, consider giving your food a change in nutrition for a chance to heal. Remember that it takes 2 weeks to remove dairy toxins from your system, about 3 weeks for beef, and up to 4 weeks to shed pork residues - so you might want to put yourself on a 4-week challenge to see if your body benefits from a pure plant diet. I'd love to hear from you if you do!

Enjoy. And if you eat out, you can usually find vegan options at ethnic restaurants - Mexican, Chinese, or Indian meals anyone?

Dr. McDougall Medicine
Forks Over Knives
Vegan 101
101 Cookbooks blog - more gourmet recipes

best breakfast ever?

Do you like okra? I love it. W hates it. I got some at Ranch99 Market yesterday.

This morning I woke up starved for okra. So I washed some and let it drip almost dry. I soaked dried onions in water from the hot tap for 2 minutes.

Then I fried chopped garlic and the drained onion in 4 tsp. olive oil, added okra, turned up the heat, and sprinkled on smoked paprika. Tossing ingredients around the pan around prevents burning on high heat.

hurry hurry i'm hungry ...

In the meantime, I cooked some Asian "Oil noodles" (wheat, water, bit of oil) for 2 minutes. Drained them and put them in a bowl.

I lifted the cooked okra, caramelized onion, and garlic into the noodles and drizzled Bango (Indonesian kecup) on them, moving the ingredients around until everything was mixed.

Might have been my best breakfast ever. Mind you, I was hungry for okra! And fresh veges are a joyful thing to eat.

Rating: 5
Taste: savory, liked the rosy gold of paprika and the smokey flavor with the sweet-salty Bango, which is a thick soy sauce. Undercooking okra makes it pop open in the mouth without being slimy. Yum.
Calories: 400 (120 noodles; 150 oil; veges 130)
Time to prepare: 10 min.
Tea: Trader Joe's Earl Grey Teabag (sadly). Hit the spot.

Brunch in a hurry

I don't have time. Again. But my stomach is growling for something salty and savory.

Yay for Potatoes O'Brien in a bag tucked in the freezer. I lightly fry it in 1 tbsp. virgin olive oil.

The plate's plain white. I dollop artichoke tapinade on one side, a splash of ketchup on the other. Hot potatoes between.

Sit. Eat. Savor.

Rating: 4/5
Taste: Just the right classic and creative taste for a grey Seattle morning; plain ugly. Plain good food!
Calories: 600
Time to prepare: 5 minutes
Tea: Black Irish Breakfast with a teaspoon of sugar.

Biscuits and curry

I pulled out soba noodles. Those are Japanese buckwheat noodles. Nope. Those won't be the right taste. It's raining outside, and my view through the sopping wet window is the boring Leyland cyprus hedge, planted fifteen years ago as two-foot seedlings by a former neighbor who hated us for cutting down 4 trees to build our house. We live in a forest...

Two years ago, the current neighbor trimmed it to fifteen feet to give us a bit of light on the south side of our house. Thanks! (Away it grows again! Scott's revenge continues, though he moved away ten years ago. Sigh.)

I'm hungry for something lighter. Maybe spaghetti? Nope. I even think about popcorn. That's the sort of light grain I'm craving. Ah well, open the cupboard to pull out TJ's Multigrain Baking Mix. Not hungry for pancakes. Coffee cake has too much sugar. Oh wait! A biscuit recipe on the side label as well...

Turn the oven to 425o as I think about it...

I toss in about 2/3 c. of the TJ powder, mix in a few tbsp. dried currents. Sugar? Not this time. Stir in a bit of water and a tsp. of oil. It's a bit wet: I lightly grease one side of a cookie sheet and spread the dough about 3/4" thick. Pop it in the oven to bake.

In the pantry, there's a box of Golden Curry mix with only one cube left over from a trip to Ranch 99 Market. I put the cube and some water to boil on the stove, then turn down the heat. The can that was sitting next to the curry looks like bamboo mushrooms. Yum. Sure. Good with curry, I think.

I open the can and drain it. Oops: it's some kind of vegetarian chop suey, a mix of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and gluten "meat" in sauce. "Goodbye sauce!" as it drains from the sink. Toss in a Field Roast Vausage? Sure. The curry mixture bubbles while I choose a plain white bowl.

Ting! There's the timer. It's been 10 minutes... so take out the biscuits. I pop them in the bowl. By now the curry is thickening and reducing. Scoop out a few spoonfuls of gravy and "other stuff" and put over the biscuits, taking it to my office for lunch.

Rating: 4/5 Surprisingly hearty and tasty. Delicious, actually!
Flavor: salty and savory. The crumbly biscuit with its pop of currents goes very well with the salty, med. hot curry. Hits the spot as rain pelts down my office window.
Calories: 450: from 300 biscuits; 150 gravy and veat/mushrooms (per serving. 2 servings of curry. Maybe over noodles next time.)
Tea: Mango Black (TJ's tea bag). C'mon. I was in a hurry.
Time: 13 min including time to heat the oven.

Simply Saturday

Something baked.

I'm hungry for cake (not good for me), so pancakes sound like they could be a second-best option. First, main ingredients.

Prep the griddle with 1 tbsp oil spread with a paper towel...

Hmmm, it calls for egg. How about egg-ish? And choose a plate from the china cabinet (Royal Doulton). So the plate has grapes. Don't they look a bit like blueberries?

I like to cover pancakes during cooking so the centers get completely cooked. I'm not only impulsive. I'm also impatient when I'm really hungry. "Chocolate Chai" tea steeps while I wait...

And then it's done!

... and eaten, out in the conservatory. The tea provides a splendid contrast of bitter-sweet flavor... until it's all gone.

Rating: 3/5 Pretty ordinary, I'd say. Good, but nothing special, though the tea was terrific.
Calories: 500
Taste: should have used syrup. I put in too much egg replacer, so they were a big gummy to chew. And I forgot to add 1 tbsp of sugar and a squeeze of lemon to pop up the wild berry flavor.
Tea: Chocolate Chai

Spinach and... oh, not tomato!

I'm hungry for goopy, steamed spinach. My nose imagines the bite of bacon smoke, my tongue wants the dark squishy leaves in a creamy white sauce. I've got chipotle vegan sausage in the fridge, so maybe that will deke out my nose... in a good way.

I rinse and squeeze the "sausage" a few times; it's usually too spicy and salty for my taste. After washing the spinach in a big pot, I leave a bit of water for steaming at the bottom, adding the crumbled vausage on top. Turn up the heat and cover for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, chop up an apple and a roma tomato.

While the spinach is draining in a colander, I squish together the apple, tomato, a half avocado, a few snipped tips of green onion, and Asha's (leftover) raspberry dressing from yesterday. What about a big white bowl (Business Costco) since the ingredients are bright but bulky?

Once the dressing is mixed, I finely chop the almost-dry spinach and vausage on the cutting board and stir everything together.

It looks delicious. Colorful, a mix of tastes and textures. I left two slices of apple unchopped for side accompaniment: the apple has the watermarks around its core of almost-freezing temps when perfectly ripe - the best way to eat an apple!!!

Rating: 2/5. It's a disappointment.
Taste: The slimy spinach and tomatoes mix in a very unpleasant way. Once I let it rest a bit, the flavors mix, the spinach cools, and it tastes much better - almost a 3/5. The tomato was a "not sure, but I'll try it." My first instincts were right: no tomato next time! I wo-manfully eat about half, and leave the rest for supper, when everything will have mixed completely. I'm going to add some more seasoning too, maybe the Smoked South African Salt W got at TJs...
Calories: 545 for 2 meals from 250 vausage, 95 apple, 25 spinach, 140 avocado half, 35 tomato.
Tea: Duchess Earl Grey, Trader Joes. This is NOT a disappointment :-)

Keen on Queen-what? (Quinoa)

Before I know it, it's 12:30. My stomach has long since passed along breakfast and wants refilling. I head for the kitchen when it strikes me: I'm hungry for quinoa (keen-wah), a high-protein grain that we hardly ever eat.

The package says 1/2 c to 1 cup water or broth. I still have vegan broth cubes that my sister-in-law brought from Germany. They're old, so I should use them up. Old old. (About 3-5 years old?) I pop one into water from the hot tap and let it sit while I measure out the quinoa.

After everything's combined in a pot and happily boiling away 15 minutes, it's time to think of accompaniments. At the top of the pantry is a bag of wasabi peas. Perfect! They'll add crunch and heat. But not yet.

Back in the conservatory, I snag the tops off a head of romaine, a carrot, an onion, and a lemon. There's an avocado beside the sink, so I think, "Lemon and avocado. Yup," and put them away for a side dish. Later.

After everything gets washed, I mince a small slice of onion, grate the carrot, and slice the lettuce into fine strips. A splash of oil in a small non-stick pan, onions go in on medium until they wilt, then I add the grated carrots, stir, and turn off the heat.

It's time to finish the quinoa. I turn off the burner, toss the carrot and onion mix on top of the grains, and put the lid on.

What plate shall I use? The meal is colorful, so I choose a subdued pewter green with beautifully ruffled edges (Pier 1 Imports).

Time to cut the avocado and squeeze lemon juice on it. Put lettuce and a few last shavings of carrot line the bowl.

I lift the pot lid: ah, what savory scents. A few stirs of vegetable and grains, then some spoonfulls on top of the lettuce. Time to open the bag of wasabi peas - oh! it's got individual portions. (Goodie! the rest will stay fresh for another time.) Last thing to do is sprinkle peas on top before I take a bite.

What a superb and unexpected mix of fresh flavors! Sweet carrot and lettuce, savory onion and grain, zippy peas, creamy and slightly sour avocado on the side...

Rating: 4/5 I'd make it again. Even for company.
Taste: Excellent texture, taste, and surprises as I bite down on (crunch!) the occasional pea.
Calories: 550
Tea: Lavender Earl Grey, as dessert

Lunch: corn and (vegan) sausage soup

I'm hungry. I head to the kitchen to see what's around.

Open the fridge. There's the Field Roast sausage left after I used the rest of the bundle a few days ago. Turn on the burner to medium. Slice the "meat"-ish into the pan. No fat needed.

What else sounds good? The carrot pulp from this morning's juice? Sure. Wonder if I have a can of creamed corn - could make some soup with that?

Nope, there's just a can of corn kernels. Fine. Open the can partway, drain the water. Open the can all the way and dump it atop the sausage. Don't forget a sprinkle of dehydrated onions.

Add a few spices. I'm smelling the air... mixed salt of course, smoked paprika, ground black pepper, dried thyme.

Out to the conservatory, where I have a bunch of veges cooling. Potato? Great. Dice it and toss it in with the corn. Stir occasionally. No liquid added yet.

Green onion? Sure, tear the tops off a bunch and chop them on the cutting board. Basil leaves? Chop up three stems, and ooooh... I see parsley so I grab a few stems and chop them as well, but let them sit until the last minute.

I add about 1 cup of water from the hot tap to the pot. It boils immediately. Turn down the heat to medium low and leave the room for 10 minutes.

Choose a pretty bowl... the soup must be done by now! Put it in the plate and sprinkle with the fresh herbs. Stir. Oh, YUM. What a great lunch!!!

Made about 3 servings.
Approx calories: 350 each.
Rating: 4/5. 
Taste: spicy, hearty, good blend of crisp, soft, and chewable. I'd make it again.
Tea: Darjeeling, black.