Emergency Pasta e Fagioli

I am keeping a wary eye on the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico right now.  If a storm is headed our way I want to know about it so that I can prepare.  (Hello Don).  Phase One, when a storm in the gulf actually becomes a hurricane, means making sure we have plenty of the normal supplies on hand, like  peanut butter, cat food and gas in the cars. Phase Two, when we're in the projected landfall area of a hurricane, means buying food for actual meals that can be cooked without power. The odds that we'll actually be without power are pretty low, though - in 36 years of living on the coast, it's happened to me twice, and once just for a day. Some places haven't been so lucky in recent years; nevertheless, we're probably going to end up having to eat up the hurricane food as regular meals. So it only makes sense to stock up on ingredients for meals that we like all the time.

This soup is something that I make normally now and then with fresh onion, carrot and celery instead of the Veg-All, and either homemade marinara or the good stuff from a jar. But it's nearly as delicious made entirely from cans.

I am sitting here in the air conditioning, drinking some perfect-temperature red wine and assuming this will be another storm-free year. But if not, unlike when Ike hit us nearly three years ago, we'll be ready. And I appreciate the power right now nearly as much as I did when it came back on after Ike.

This is my entry for House Favorites this month. 

Emergency Pasta e Fagioli

1 15 ounce/425 g can mixed vegetables, such as Veg-All, undrained

1 15.5 ounce/440 g can kidney beans, undrained

1 14.5 ounce/410 g can green beans, undrained

1 26 ounce/735 g can pasta sauce

1 cup water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup quick-cooking small pasta

Add the mixed vegetables, kidney beans, green beans and pasta sauce to a large pot. Add the water, bouillon cube, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook on high until pasta is al dente.

Serves 6.

Potato-Cheese Enchiladas

This was the last recipe I made just before I decided to start writing the cookbook. Already I'm looking at the last pan of enchiladas in the freezer wistfully and thinking, "Remember when I made things other than sandwiches?"

Actually, the writing is going great. A little more than a week after starting I have eight recipes in the bag and only one that didn't work out. It's hard work, but I expected that. Only hard work is going to produce real results.

These enchiladas owe their brilliant red-orange color not to tomatoes or spices, but to guajillo peppers.  Guajillo peppers are large, mild, dried red peppers with a distinctively fruity flavor. The sauce made from them is perfect for a mild enchilada filling, so I went with potatoes and pepper-jack Daiya vegan cheese.  This only uses half the package of Daiya, but the rest can be frozen.

Potato-Cheese Enchiladas

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1.75 ounces/50 g guajillo peppers (6 peppers)

A few tablespoons olive oil, divided use

1 large onion, diced small

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bouillon cube or salt to taste

4 medium potatoes, about 1-1/2 pounds/680 g

18 corn tortillas

1 cup grated vegan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

To make the sauce,  pour the boiling water over the peppers in a small bowl. Let stand for 20 minutes or longer.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. 

Transfer the peppers, along with their soaking water, to a blender. Add the onion, cumin, and the bouillon cube or salt. Blend until smooth.

Toss the potato cubes with another tablespoon or 2 of olive oil. Spread in a single later in an oiled baking pan and roast for 25-30 minutes, turning over once or twice.

Heat the oven to 350 F. To assemble the enchiladas, have the roasted potatoes and cheese near by, as well as a plate. Oil 3 8 x 8-inch baking pans (or 1 8 x 8-inch pan and one 9 x 13-inch one) Mix about 1/3 of the sauce with 2/3 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a pie pan. Spread a few tablespoons of sauce in the bottom of all the baking pans.

Dip both sides of a tortilla in the sauce mixture to soften it a bit. Put it on the plate and add a couple of tablespoons of cubed potato and slightly less than a tablespoon of cheese. Roll up loosely and place seam-side down in a casserole dish. Continue with remaining tortillas. You'll be able to get 6 enchiladas in a single 8 x 8-inch pan.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until heated through.

Serves 6 to 9.

Tofu Ricotta and Spinach Calzones and an announcement

I am writing a cookbook, y'all! The idea came to me when I came very, very close to writing to a famous vegan cookbook author and asking when she was going to write a sandwich cookbook. I love sandwiches SO MUCH and would love to have a sandwich cookbook on my shelf. And I didn't just want it to have sandwiches in it; I wanted tacos, spring rolls, burgers, little handheld appetizers - basically anything you could eat with your hands. Then I thought "but it probably wouldn't have enough taco recipes in it" and "no one can do spicy the way I do spicy" and realized I wanted to write it myself.

The drawback was the breads. A good sandwich cookbook needs bread recipes in it, I think, or you're at the mercy of the grocery store. So I set out to learn to make great bread, got that mostly down, but then got off track with the idea of writing a cookbook. 

I keep a file of ideas for things to make for the blog, and the sliders and tofu po'boys I made recently were both ideas that were meant for the book.  When they were both successful after the second try each, I was reminded. And so, it's time.

The tentative title is "Handheld" and will include breakfast sandwiches, appetizers, grilled things, burgers, all kinds of classic sandwiches like  paninis and BBQ seitan, wraps, tacos (yes!), salad sandwiches, and desserts.

My goal is to finalize at least one recipe a day, which means cooking more than one a day. So I'm not going to be blogging as much, and when I do, it might just be a photo, or a link to someone else's recipe I've made as a side dish. Hell, I might start using the blog as a journal. You wouldn't mind if I vented a bit here, would you?

Also, are there any sandwich-type recipes that you would like to see in the book? I'll do my best to make 'em! And in a couple of months (my goal is October 1) I'm going to put out a call for recipe testers, but you're welcome to sign up early if you're interested. 

These calzone recipes won't be in the book because they rely too much on the tofu ricotta recipe from Veganomicon, but other calzone recipes will be there. 

I am sharing this with Meatless Mondays and Hearth 'n' Soul.

Dough:

1-1/4 cups warm water, about 105 F

1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup bread or all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups whole wheat flour (or more as needed)

Add water, yeast and all-purpose flour to a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with dough hooks. Combine well with a fork, cover, and let stand for 45 minutes to an hour. The mixture will bubble up and expand.

Add vital wheat gluten, sugar, salt, and olive oil and combine with a fork. If you're using a stand mixer to knead the dough, start it now. Add remaining flour, stopping to combine the last of the flour with a fork if necessary. Let mixer knead dough for 5 minutes on low, or turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, add more flour as necessary, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time.

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour until doubled in size.

Filling:

1/2 cup raw cashews

14 ounces/400 g firm  tofu, crumbled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice - from 2-3 lemons

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 pound/450 g chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

4 or 5 artichoke hearts from a can (about 1/2 a can), roughly chopped

Grind cashews in a food processor until they are powder. (This works great with frozen cashews.) Add tofu, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, basil, salt, thyme and red pepper flakes. Puree, stopping to scrape down the sides once or twice.

Transfer mixture to a bowl. Stir in spinach and artichokes.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Punch down dough and divide into 6 pieces. Roll out each piece into a 7-inch circle. Divide filling among the circles, placing the filling in the middle. Fold circles in half and press the edges with a fork to seal them.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Serves 6

Rigatoni with Kabocha Squash-Sage-Walnut Sauce

I'm very lucky to have a large Asian market that is on the way to the big supermarket where I usually shop. I can head out shopping and come home with just about any ingredient you could ask for. The Asian market is a bit dangerous for the budget, though, as I can't resist picking up a new condiment (especially a spicy one) or a new-to-me fruit or vegetable on each trip. Earlier this summer, I came home with a beautiful green kabocha squash, also known as a Japanese pumpkin. It sat on my kitchen window sill for a month while I contemplated what to do with it.  Finally I roasted it and used half of it in some risotto, and froze the rest. The risotto recipe needs some tweaking, but the pasta I made from the rest of the squash is a keeper.

Kabocha squash tastes a lot like North American pumpkin. It might even be a bit sweeter.The texture is amazing. I'm definitely picking up more of these in the future.

I'm sending this over to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Helen of Fuss Free Flavors. Also, I'm linking this up with Hearth 'n' Soul, Meatless Mondays and Vegan Mondays.

Rigatoni with Kabocha Squash-Sage-Walnut Sauce

This recipe only uses half the squash. You can double this or freeze the remaining squash; it's good in risotto or any recipe calling for pumpkin. One you've roasted the squash, the rest of the recipe goes together very quickly.

8 oz. rigatoni

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon miso (any kind - I used red miso)

1 teaspoon dried sage

1/2-3/4 cup pasta cooking water

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped, plus more for garnish

1/2 of a roasted kabocha squash (from a 3-1/2 lb./1.6 kg squash, see note)

Cook rigatoni according to package directions.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté the garlic for a minute or two. Stir miso and sage into 1/2 cup hot water from cooking the pasta. Add to the skillet with the walnuts and squash. Heat through on medium-low heat.

Drain pasta and add to the squash mixture. Add more hot water if necessary. Serve topped with a few big walnut pieces.

Serves 3.

*To roast the squash, first preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut the squash in half through the top, then cut each half in two pieces. Alternating between a serrated knife and a large chef's knife will make this easier.  Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Brush the insides with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until fork-tender, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool a bit, then peel and dice into 1-1/2 inch cubes.

House Favorites: Vegan - June Wrap Up

We had a little bit of everything this month for House Favorites: Vegan.  The collection of recipes is really starting to add up.

 

R & R at Tadka Pasta bring us a handy way to handle the sometimes awkward mango - sticks!  Check out Mango Management - A Sticky Situation for the details.

 

 

Deb at Invisible Voices has made Simple Lemonade "about 500 times" now that summer is here. What could be more refreshing?

 

With sweet, salty, sour and spicy flavors, this Rasam from Plateful is sure to be a blissful and comforting glass of soup.

 

Fresh pasta sauce is always welcome at Raven's house. Vegan Penne & Artichoke Hearts from Cook.Eat.Delicious! Features artichokes, olives and corn for a "yummy combination.

When Caffettiera of La Caffettiera Rosa misses Trieste, the first place she lived away from her family, it's Blede con patate – Chard and potatoes that she craves.

I was all about the desserts this month. I made our old favorite Pumpkin Walnut Oatmeal Cookies.

And, since we had a birthday in the house this month, I also made Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese White Chocolate Icing.

From snacks to soups to desserts, I think we had something to please every palate this month. Thank you so much for your entries!

House Favorites: Vegan - July Announcement

 

 

As food bloggers, sometimes we get so caught up in trying new things that we forget about the dishes that we make all the time. These are the recipes we make repeatedly for house guests and potlucks. The ones our families won't let us skip on the holidays. Our beloved signature dishes. Our house favorites.

What are your house favorites? This is a monthly blog event where you can show them off. It will run from the first day of the month to the last. I'll have a writeup of all the entries by the fifth of the following month. The rules are simple:

    1. Your dish needs to be vegan. This means no meat, fish, dairy, honey or their derivatives.

    2. You should have made this at least three times and consider the recipe "finished." Any course is welcome, from appetizers to desserts. Variations on your favorite dishes are welcome.

    3. In your blog post, please mention House Favorites: Vegan, and link to my main page: http://chezcayenne.blogspot.com.

 4. Use Mr. Linky at the end of the monthly announcement to enter your post.

Of course older posts are welcome, but please limit your entries of older posts to one a month, or reblog about them during the current month to enter more. There is no limit to the recipes you've blogged about during the current month. 

Feel free to enter your House Favorites: Vegan entries in other blog events.

You are welcome to use either of the logos here, but it's not required.

If you have a recipe that's not vegan, but you can veganize it without changing the character of the recipe much, blog about your vegan version and send it in - there's no need to make the vegan version three times. If a vegan ingredient is an option, make sure that you mention it in the ingredients list and instructions. (e.g. Your ingredients list can say something like 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil and your instructions say heat butter or olive oil.)

Non-food bloggers can participate too. Do you have a favorite message board that welcomes vegan recipes with photos? Post your recipe, a photo and a link back to my main page on the message board. Then use Mr. Linky and leave a comment here.