Mother Earth

Looking for a killer dip to take to your Super Bowl party? Try something different and be ready to bask in the glow of compliments. Why bring another bowl of hummus or guacamole when you can really reach deep into your hippie roots and bring something named Mother Earth.

I created this dip after tasting something similar at Marie Catrib's restaurant in Grand Rapids. The place is food heaven - tons of vegan stuff, and I'm not just talking about a bean burrito. They have a curried cauliflower mac and cheese that's to die for. Their lasagna puts everyone else's to shame. And then they have their Mother Earth. It's amazing. But so is mine.

It's all about technique here, so be careful with that food processor.

Here's what you need:

2 large cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press

1 15 oz can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

4 T mayonnaise

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T lemon juice

1/4 C red onion, diced - not minced

1/4 C red pepper, chopped - not too small, not too large

1/4 C green pepper, chopped - not too small, not too large

Here's what you do:

Place the kidney beans and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until the beans are mushy, but definitely NOT creamy. They should still have some skin showing and they should still be chunky. Remove to a large bowl.

Place the garbanzos in the same food processor bowl and do the same. Keep them flaky and chunky, but also a bit creamy. Add them to the kidney bean mixture. Add the mayo, vinegar, lemon juice, and chopped veg. Mix well with a fork or wooden spoon. Mash up any beans that seem too large. Serve with hearty tortilla chips.

Spicy Noodles in Garlic Ginger Sauce

Since the acquisition of an iPhone, I admit my attention span has been drastically reduced. I sit and scroll for long periods of time. I find that I don't read as much. I don't take long walks as often. And for some strange reason, my creative juices have slowed. Can anyone out there relate? Is anyone out there? Are you all on your phones?

Well, I have decided to participate, once again, in the Vegan Month of Food (#veganmofo) and that is no small undertaking! I must put down the phone!  Energy and creativity are the name of the game! Usually, the veganmofo organizers ask us to come up with a snappy theme. Last year my theme was "Poesy and Plate" and I blogged about poetry and food. I must admit - I loved that theme. You can see all my past VeganMoFo blog posts by clicking the link on the right of this page....see them over there? VeganMoFo 2012, VeganMoFo 2013 and VeganMoFo 2014.

More about the 2015 Vegan Month of Food as it draws closer. Stay tuned.

One thing I absolutely LOVE about my iPhone, is the camera. Seriously. Who even needs a camera any more with the iPhone? I snap photos of everything!

Here's a random sampling of photos from my phone:

Last night's salad

The Founding Fathers with light sabers

A pretty cow

A storm coming over West Michigan

I'm also constantly clicking and saving various recipe ideas. The bad ones eventually get deleted. The good ones get saved. The excellent ones are made in my kitchen. Some even make it to my blog!

Here you go: Spicy Rice Noodles in Garlic Ginger Sauce (fromVery Vegan Recipes) 

I used soba noodles (I have so many in my pantry right now!) I probably doubled some of the vegetable suggestions. And I served this with roasted broccoli. Leftovers were awesome! Most of the sauce is vegetable broth, which keeps it light and thin. Delicious. 

Vegan Queso Fundido with Rioja Sauce

This queso fundido with  rioja sauce is absolutely the best! The flavor is very intense and rich. I served it on garlic toast along side some marinated mushrooms and corn fritters. It is not a true queso fundido, which traditionally has loads of meat and dairy cheese; it's better because it uses a creamy almond cheese. (You can find the Simple Almond Cheese recipe that I use HERE.)

The Rioja Sauce is the base for the queso fundido: it has everything good in it - tomato sauce, red wine, green olives, garlic, garlic, garlic and olive oil.

I served the sauce on my potato torte (HERE)  which was the perfect accompaniment. This sauce is much too concentrated to serve over pasta, so think of it as a dipping sauce, or a drizzling sauce or even something to spoon over your main meal. (Still eating chickens? It would be great over grilled tofu.)

In a recent post I mentioned that my mom inspired my potato torte and this rioja sauce was also inspired by her. See my note that suggests to serve the potatoes with rioja sauce?

I've been in a cooking dead-zone lately, so being with my mom and her incredible meals very much inspired me to get-back-in-the-cooking-saddle and put a meal on the table.

Any way, try the sauce. Try the fundido. Let me know.

Here's what you need:

1/4 C olive oil (I cut back on this)

1/4 C minced garlic (I did not cut back on this)

1 C dry red wine

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 T capers

1 C good green olives - leave them whole for a pretty presentation

2 T dried basil

Here's what you do:

Warm the garlic in the olive oil until it is cooked - NEVER brown your garlic - use a low heat. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to simmer until the sauce is thick and cooked down.

To Make the Queso Fundido:

Spoon some sauce into an oven proof serving dish (or a cast iron skillet). Spoon some Simple Almond Cheese over the top and bake until bubbly. NOTE: the rioja sauce really, really intensifies during its time in the oven! Perfect for garlic toast.

Forty-Clove Chickpea and Broccoli

What to do with all these chickpeas! I just spent all morning simmering them and getting them to the perfect creamy consistency. Hummus is in my near future. And I think some freezer bags might also be in my near future.

From “Appetite for Reduction” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz here is my take on her Forty-Clove Chickpea and Broccoli.  I couldn’t believe how delicious this recipe is – it looks very plain and really too ‘vegan’ (if you know what I mean.) But it is an absolute winner! We have eaten it twice this week. The broth is scrumptious and perfect for spooning over rice. The broccoli melts in your mouth and has nice crispy brown spots. Did you know that broccoli is packed with tons of nutrients - more vitamin C than an orange! Yes. And it even has protein!

Your mother was right, “Eat your broccoli!” (I don’t think my mother ever said that.)

Here’s what you need: (my changes are reflected here)

2 bunches of fresh, raw broccoli

12 cloves garlic, smashed and peel removed

1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 t olive oil

Salt, pepper to taste

Lemon zest from one lemon

1 ½ t dried oregano

Pam vegetable oil spray

2 C vegetable broth

Fresh lemon juice

Here’s what you do:

Wash and cut the broccoli into large pieces. Smash the garlic cloves with the side of a large knife until the paper is loose and the clove is, well, smashed. Remove the paper skins. Chop the cloves roughly – you do not want small bits. Place the broccoli, garlic and chickpeas in a 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over all and stir a bit. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, lemon zest and oregano. Spray with oil and stir some more.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring at the half-way point. After 30 minutes, add the vegetable broth and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Squeeze with fresh lemon juice before serving. It’s perfect over white rice!

And for those of you who want a chicken version of this recipe click here for my Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic. 

Burritos with Carrot Cumin Sauce

The New Year is upon us, so I guess it’s time to make public confession of all our laziness and to proclaim our sincere efforts to lift ourselves from the gutter of our sorry ways. UGH! I hate it!

I am more of the inclination to begin each and every day with tiny little resolutions….you know….

”Today I will call my mother.”

 “Today I will not eat any junk food.”

“Today I will scour the bathrooms and pick up the piles.”

“Today I will go for a walk.”

Somehow I don’t beat myself up as badly when I break these small resolutions because I can always say, “There’s always tomorrow.”  I just can’t bear that horrible feeling when, on January 3^rd, I wake up and realize that I have already broken all of my resolutions! Talk about depressing! (As if I really could ever in my wildest dreams run a 5K or learn to play the church organ!)

One thing I should learn to do in 2013 is to estimate the weight of things, in particular, potatoes. I do believe I put in too much potato in this lovely Carrot Cumin Sauce.  But no worries, “There’s always tomorrow.” And since I have resolved to go all-out-vegan for the month of January, I will be making these again real soon.

Baked Burritos with Carrot Cumin Sauce (from frieddandelions.com)

Here’s what you need:

1 large Yukon gold potato -11 ounces (….. and here you can sympathize with my heavy handed use of the potato…. )

3 C water

6-8 medium carrots (…. I had less fear/problem with the carrots…. Love them!)

1 head garlic

2 t cumin

2 t salt

Pepper to taste

1 T tomato paste

Here’s what you do:

Peel and cut the carrots into coins about ¼ inch thin. Toss with oil, cumin and salt. Place on baking dish. Prepare the garlic for roasting by removing some of the papery skins, slicing off the top, drizzling with olive oil, sprinkling with salt and wrapping up tightly in foil. Place on sheet with carrots and roast it all for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.  After 25 minutes, remove carrots and continue to roast the garlic for about 20 more minutes.

Peel and dice the potato and cook in the 3 C water until fork tender – don’t throw away the water.

Puree the carrots, potatoes, garlic (squeeze it out of all the skins), tomato paste and some of the water to create the sauce. Add as much of the starchy water as you want.

I filled my burritos with black beans and some rice. I added some tomato paste, cayenne pepper and saffron threads to my rice to make it yellow to match my sauce. 

 Be sure to put some of the sauce in the burrito as well. I think it would have been better if I had stuffed the burrito with some other veggies: diced tomatoes, cilantro, onions, green pepper, etc.

Roll them up, smother with the sauce, bake till hot and bubbly, serve with all the fixin’s . ... obviously, mine needed more! 

(printable recipe)

One Year Ago: Santa Fe Appetizer Tart 

One Year Ago: Creamy Saffron and Chicken Soup

chicken with 20 cloves of garlic

There’s no reason why delicious, flavorful food has to be laden with fat and calories and this recipe proves it. For many years I was afraid to try the classic dish ‘Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic’ just because of the amount of garlic. I can’t even think about 40 cloves of garlic….. Solution? Cut it down to 20. I also try to avoid frying food and keeping the skin on chicken which the classic recipes call for – that’s a lot of calories and unhealthy stuff….. Solution? Use boneless, skinless chicken. I also doubled the amount of cooking liquid to ensure a large amount of sauce. The result was absolutely fantastic! I think probably better than the classic recipes I have been studying for so many years. Do not hesitate to make this one….. This makes a lot, but you will want leftovers, trust me.

Here’s what you need:

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half or even thirds widthwise

20 large cloves of fresh garlic – make sure they are perfect and have no bruises or blemishes

1 T butter

2 T olive oil

1 C dry white wine

2 C chicken stock – your final product will only be as good as your ingredients, so be certain to use a low sodium stock (I prefer stock over broth…. Make the switch – you won’t be sorry….)

1 t dried thyme 

3 T flour

¼ C half and half (or heavy cream)

Here’s what you do:

Step One

Drop the garlic into recently boiled water for about 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and carefully peel. This took about 5 minutes, but the result was perfectly peeled garlic.

Step Two

Generously salt and pepper the chicken. Brown the chicken in butter and oil. Do this over medium heat so the oil/butter combo doesn’t get too brown.  Be sure not to crowd the pan – give them some elbow room! 

Remove to a platter and continue until the stove is splattered and all the chicken has had a turn in the pan. J

Step Three

Sautee the garlic in the oil/butter for about 5 minutes – do not allow them to burn. Add the wine and stock and gently scrape up the bits of goodness on the bottom of the pan.

Return the chicken and all the juices to the pan, sprinkle with thyme, cover, and simmer on low for about 1-1/2 hours. I actually let the pan sit on the stove for another few hours before dinner which I think made the chicken ‘falling off the bone tender.’ I suppose you could place it, covered, in a low heat oven for an hour also. 

Step Four

Once again, remove the chicken to a platter. At this point, I actually searched for the 20 cloves of garlic only to find they had cooked away….. there were a few small pieces left in the sauce, which I removed with a slotted spoon.  Take about 1 Cup of hot liquid from the pan and whisk in ¼ C flour. Add ¼ C half and half and pour this slurry mixture back into the pan. Boil and stir for about 5 minutes. Return the chicken and bring up to temperature.

You must plan to serve this with something which will sop up the juice. As you can see in the top photo, I served it with quinoa. Better might have been couscous or rice or even better still – mashed potatoes…..  The leftovers were heavenly!

(printable recipe)