Pistachio Melon Cake (from RaisingJane)

“How difficult can it be?” I asked myself. Slice some melons, make some coconut cream, shell some pistachios, and tidy up the kitchen.

I’d had my eye on this beautiful cake from raisingjane.org for quite a while. (The recipe was originally published a year ago and re-published again just recently.) 

I practically had the entire recipe and method memorized because I’d studied it and read it and deliberated over it for so long. Slice melons, whip up coconut cream, shell pistachios, tidy kitchen.

(This is where I mention that I was hosting a small dinner party in a few hours.)

The stumbling block would be the coconut cream. I’d tried whipping coconut cream on various occasions before – all great failures! In my experience, the fat in the chilled can never separated and rose to the top, leaving me with a watery mess. Everyone in ‘perfect internet world’ has great success with whipped coconut cream, but not me.

According to the original recipe, I HAD to use Native Forest full-fat (not low-fat) Organic Coconut Milk, but of course, my tiny town barely carries any coconut milk at all. So being the ridiculous person I am, I ordered 6 cans and had them ‘rushed’ to my doorstep.  You can see from the photos, that even after a few days in the fridge, the coconut cream was really weird….. more like grease and solid fat. Bleck.

I tried and tried to whip it, but eventually ended up adding lots of powdered sugar and milk and maybe even a bit of Earth Balance. In the end, it tasted great, but so frustrating! I will NEVER try coconut cream again.

The other weird thing about the coconut cream was that it did not cling at all to the melon slices. Not a pretty presentation. No one cared, of course, but still after all the effort, I was expecting a nice slice of cake with the frosting attached!

Anyway, if you’re looking for a beautiful fruit dessert, and you don’t mind cleaning up a huge mess, and you can live with frosting that falls off, give this a try. Original recipe and beautiful photos HERE.

Sweet Red Pepper Candy

A few years ago, when red peppers were on sale at my local grocery, I purchased 20 or so and I'll never forget the reaction of the cashier and the bag guy. "What are you going to do with all those peppers?" they asked, incredulous.

I think my answer was a teeny, tiny bit snarky, and feel free to agree with me.  "Eat them," I replied.

Here's a delicious and quite gourmet way to use 7 peppers. Sweet, crunchy, chewy, and beautiful to boot. I gave all mine away as gifts, (Boo Hoo, Sob, Sob) so I'm just going to wait for the peppers to go on sale and make more.

Here's what you do:
Clean and slice 7 red peppers in about 1/2 inch lengthwise strips
Drizzle 1/2 C real maple syrup over the peppers and massage it in
Arrange on trays of dehydrator (My dehydrator has 4 trays - adjust quantities if needed)
Dehydrate for 24 hours (check them and maybe turn some over if needed as the hours tick away)

I started dehydrating mine at bedtime, so in the morning I could begin watching them more closely. I always dehydrate in the garage so I don't have to listen to all the noise and deal with all the extra heat that my dehydrator produces.

Try this! It's amazingly easy and so gourmet!

Garlicky Grilled Corn and Bean Salad

Here's a great example of what I eat on a pretty regular basis - big ole bowls of veg. This particular bowl was very good and super garlicky and it actually has great potential to develop into a serious recipe. For now, though, it will remain a simple concoction I created one night when Mr. Living Cookbook was out of town.

Garlicky Grilled Corn and Bean Salad

Grill 3 ears of fresh corn on either an indoor or outdoor grill. Remove the kernels.
Saute 1/2 can of dark kidney beans in some warm olive oil
Mince a few cloves of garlic and add them to the beans being very careful to simply warm them - never brown garlic!
Add 2 carrots,finely grated

Mix it all together and eat while warm; if needed drizzle some more olive oil over the top.

(and yes, I actually do eat 3 ears of corn, 1/2 cans of beans, and 2 carrots at a single sitting.)

Salted Caramel Nuts from Ina Garten

I have not fallen in love with Windows 10 yet, especially the part where I attach my camera and WOOSH my pictures are gone! Well, not gone, but ‘downloaded’ somewhere (SOMEWHERE) *somewhere* on my computer.

For example, I found these photos in a file named ‘casseroles’. Sigh. I think I’ll need to re-organize that file. ….. or leave it alone and check there first for all my sauces, burritos, jams and jellies, pasta, casseroles, AND candied nuts. And these nuts were great! Salty and sweet, easy to grab a handful every time you pass by. Perfect for a gift. Kinda Christmassy, but who cares about that?

This recipe comes from Ina Garten and she makes everything look so dang easy. For example, nowhere in the recipe does it say that the sugar literally goes from solid to liquid in 2 seconds and also that is goes from golden to burned in another 2 seconds. Mine were just on the edge of being burned and ruined. 

Follow Ina's recipe carefully and keep the heat low under the melting sugar. It's like a chemistry experiment.  Basically, you melt sugar, add vanilla, and pour over roasted nuts. Sprinkle with sea salt. Find the original recipe HERE. 

Harvesting Garlic

I can't even tell you how exciting it was to harvest my garlic! Look how healthy it is! Now it sits around and cures for a few weeks. Then it goes into all my summer cooking. Happy. Happy. Happy. Satisfied.

Creamy Chickpea Casserole

I served this delicious casserole with grilled corn 'off the cob,' and roasted asparagus. 

What Satisfies

harmony
students who play guitar
11 bell ringers
being a character in someone’s fiction
mulching all by myself
clean windows
new white bed sheets
sleeping dogs
creamy casseroles
a white peony 

One easy meal that I have missed making and eating since becoming vegan, is the classic casserole. Protein and veggies swimming in creamy sauces satisfy the palate. Plus, they’re a cinch to make ahead and serve to a crowd. A few years ago, I hosted a party and made a Cheesy Chicken Casserole, (find that recipe here), and I made my own vegan portion by swapping mushrooms for the chicken, and ate it without anyone knowing the difference. I guess, looking back, I felt embarrassed, for whatever reason, to serve the mushroom version to my guests. Times have changed.

This excellent Creamy Chickpea Casserole is based on a classic from my childhood – in fact, I like it so much, I have featured it twice already here on my blog: once with chicken and dairy cheese and once as a chickpea vegan variety.

Today’s post is the almost perfected version – except for the horrible photos. Which means that I’ll have to post about this again in the future. It’s worth it.

Creamy Chickpea Casserole-Take Two

Make a batch of vegan cream of chicken soup by blending the following:

1 pound firm tofu
2 t vegan chicken base / seasoning
2-3 t curry
1 ½ t onion powder
1 ½ t garlic powder
½ t turmeric
¼ C milk or water

For the casserole
Saute a few stalks of celery until they are soft but not brown. Place in a large bowl and add a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, some toasted sliced almonds, the correct amount of soup base, some mayo (1/2 C or so), and lemon juice to taste. Oh, also add some cooked rice, but not too much! The last time I made this I added too much and it totally dried out. Keep it satisfyingly saucy.

Mix well. Pour into casserole. Grate cheddar over the top. Bake till warm. 

Rhubarb Toad

There’s a toad living in my rhubarb patch
I rescued him from the middle of the lawn last month
He almost got chopped in the lawn mower.

Caught him in a bucket

     Neighbors watched

          John Deere in idle

               Dumped him in the rhubarb

“Stay!” said I.

I saw him today and felt happy. 

Salsa Suiza Two

Do not, I repeat DO NOT grow tomatillos in your home garden unless you are prepared for 300 tiny invasive plants next year. I grew three tomatillos last year, and this year I have 300. It’s like magic! I’m NOT laughing! So much weeding….but I am allowing three of them to continue to grow in my garden this summer, because I want more Salsa Suiza. I guess the weeding is worth having more of these amazingly tart fruits and more of this gorgeous green and creamy sauce.

A smear of homemade almond cheese, chipotle seasoned refried beans, and a shred or two of vegan cheddar.
Roll up and place in 9x13. I use some green salsa on the bottom and also on the top of the burritos to
keep them from drying out. Bake, covered, until warm....maybe 20 minutes or so. 

Last fall, I experimented with my tomatillos – first making a salsa, that was not near hot enough for us. Then adding more heat, only to find out that the texture was weird. I strained the entire batch and added cream cheese and voila! I had created my own Salsa Suisa.

Well, as the three tomatillos in my garden currently plot to take over the world, we are quietly eating the remaining Salsa Suiza from the freezer.  It raises the humble bean burrito to a gourmet meal.

Rhubarb Martini

Tired of Cosmopolitans and Margaritas? Want to wow your friends at your next cocktail party? Need a little something to lift your spirits? Is it 5:00?

There’s a simple solution! Make this syrup and add vodka.

Rhubarb Syrup

3 C chopped rhubarb
1 ½ C water
1 C sugar

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until all the rhubarb has broken down and gotten all soft and mushy.  Cool a bit. Pour through mesh strainer – resist the temptation to press on the solids. You only want the gorgeous pink syrup. To really make a clear syrup, also strain the liquid  through cheese cloth. You'll be amazed at how much of the solids the cheesecloth will catch. The color just keeps getting prettier and prettier every time you strain it. 

I mix this with lemonade, ice tea, and seltzer water….but it’s best with vodka. It freezes like a dream.

Moong Dal Tadka

Have you shopped on Devon Street in Chicago? Yes? Then you already know that it’s a little India – clothing, groceries, restaurants, and people. We recently took a ½ hour detour on our way through the windy city to visit Devon street and to purchase some spices and dal.

“What’s dal?” you ask. Dal, or dhal, or daal, is quite simply a split, dried pulse.

“What’s a pulse?” you ask. A pulse is a pea, bean, chickpea, or lentil.

The first time I ever entered an Indian grocery, I was speechless at the variety of dal and beans and lentils and chickpeas. It’s crazy how many types of legumes exist! And the spices! We are really limited in choice in the American spice aisle when compared to the Indian spice aisle.

We ended up purchasing two large bags of dal (dried, split beans): a mung bean and a chickpea, both dried and split, and so now called dal…. or daal, or dhal.

I’ve had to put on my detective cap and search far and wide to learn how to prepare these tiny beans. Soup is the obvious first choice, but last night, I made this Moong Dal Tadka.

“What’s tadka?” you ask. Tadka means ‘tempered’ …. in other words, ‘all the spicy goodness you add to the dal to make it taste great.’ In this case: ginger, garlic, jalapeno, cumin seed, garam masala, and pepper.

Moong Dal Tadka (adapted from vegrecipesofindia.com)

For the Dal

¾ C moong dal (dried split mung beans)
1 medium onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
¼ t red pepper powder
½ t turmeric powder
3 C water

For the Tadka

1 T butter (Earth Balance)
1 T vegetable oil
1 t cumin seeds
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
¼ - ½ t garam masala powder
¼ t red pepper powder
1 jalapeno, diced (with or without the seeds, depending how hot you want it)

Place the dal ingredients in a pressure cooker and process for about 10 minutes. I suppose you could simmer it all on the stove also.

Warm the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the tadka ingredients being very careful not to burn the garlic! Just warm and soften it all.

Mix together and serve with white rice. I also served frozen peas with a bit of fresh spinach and fresh chives.