vegetable ommes anna

The kids are still an hiatus and I am still cooking. I had a bunch of veggies in my fridge that didn't have a home on my menu, but I needed to get them cooked because my CSA is coming Friday and I need to make room for the new veggies. Out with the old!

Anyway, Pommes Anna is a dish of crispy, buttery potatoes that has layers of potatoes baked in tons of butter until the cake is crispy and golden. I thought - well, why not sub veggies instead. So I took my trusty well-seasoned cast iron pan (ask me if you need to know how to season your pan - it is worth it!), layered a few rows of potatoes, added my diced, lightly sauteed corn, green beans, red pepper, eggplant, onion, garlic and zucchini, topped it with a few more layers of potato and baked it for 30 minutes and broiled it for 10 minutes.

The outcome was the aforementioned buttery-crispy dish, albeit with a  vegetable medley added that turned out to be a delicious light lunch.

I used olive oil instead of the butter and since I was not trying to 'fry' many layers of potatoes as in the original Pommes Anna, I didn't need to drench it with fat. (Not that you need to drench the original in fat anyway.) I only used salt and pepper to season it - the vegetables were enough seasoning.

Cost Breakdown:

zucchini: $1

corn: $1

onion, garlic: $1

eggplant: $1

green beans: $1

potatoes: $1.50

Total to make 6 servings:

$6.50

tex-mex veg burger

I have this thin cookbook of burgers: Meatless Burgers , and every one of the burgers we've tried from this book has not turned out quite right. The book has great burger ideas, but the execution leaves something to be desired. So I used their Tex-Mex Burger recipe as inspiration rather than cooked it as written.

It uses tofu and gluten as the base of the burger. I added roasted corn - fresh off the cob (CSA) - roasted peppers, grilled onions, garlic and chili powder. I baked the burgers first to make sure the gluten was cooked and then I briefly sauteed them in my cast iron skillet to add some color, flavor and texture. This was a great way to make veggie burgers that hold together well enough, do not need to be fried in lots of oil, but not have that dried-out texture that comes solely from baking.

   To accompany the burgers I made a Chili-Lime veganaise by adding some chili powder and lime juice to, you guessed it, veganaise. Toppings for the burger included cilantro, avocado, red onion slices and tomato.

Quick, easy, light lunch.

The kids are on vacation from cooking this week; they are planning their menus for the next ten weeks. The kids liked this one a lot - and not just because they didn't have to cook!

Cost Breakdown:

tofu: $2

gluten: $.50

onion, pepper, garlic, corn: $2

avocado, cilantro, lime, veganaise: $3.50

bread: $3

tomato: $2

Total to make 6 burgers:

$13.00

Tex-Mex VegBurger Recipe

grilled vegetables

What better way to kick-off August summertime than with a delicious grilled vegetable plate? Grilling veggies is such a taste treat! There is nothing like it. The sweetness of the vegetables is enhanced with grilling and the smokiness of them has no parallel.

There are so many ways to serve these scrumptious grilled vegetables: between slices of bread with veganaise or hummus, chopped and mixed into a grain like couscous or quinoa, drizzled with balsamic reduction or just plain right of the grill. I also grilled some lemon and lime to be squeezed on the veggies after they cam off the grill.

Grilled citrus is  so exciting!

These are just basic grilled vegetables: sliced 1/4 in  thick, rubbed with some olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. You can make them more regional or ethnic by adding certain seasoning or marinading them before grilling. Any way you like it is bound to be wonderful.

Cost Breakdown:

squash: $1

zucchini: $1

eggplant: $1

onion: $1

corn: $1

lemon and lime: $1

potatoes (leftover baked): $1.50

Total for a platter of grilled goodness:

$7.50

caramelized chickpea and chard over polenta

This dish started out so well!

I caramelized onions with chickpeas and garlic. The onions became sweet and the chickpeas were beautifully crispy. Then I put chard in it. Well that ruined it for the kids. I put it over a creamy polenta and sprinkled it with lemon zest.

When I tasted the chickpeas and onions, they were lovely. Delicious, sweet and a bit salty. The chard I'm afraid is too earthy. Kale or spinach would be much better in this dish. I've now tried over and over to make chard but the flavor is too deep for my family. I thrown in the towel and given up! There are some things that are not sanctioned by my family; chard is one.

 Sniff. Sniff.

Cost Breakdown:

polenta with almond milk: $2

chickpea: $2

chard: $3

onion, garlic, spices: $1

Total to disappoint a family of 5:

$8.00

jamaican veggie purses

Jamaican food is African inspired, so it is appropriate for our Tuesday Night meal. This one comes out of Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. I picked up this book when Vegan.com spread the word that it was on sale for $8. This  has to be one of the better cookbooks out there. I've had great success with many of his recipes, and this one is no exception.

He uses coconut butter in the crust and coconut milk in the recipe. There are fresh cut corn, fresh shelled peas (CSA), carrots and shredded cabbage. The salad is cucumbers and tomatoes in a dressing of lime, lemon and orange juices, from the same book.

Excellent meal, although Cat does not like coconut milk - tastes too odd. The other two gobbled it up.

Cost Breakdown:

crust: $2

vegetables: $2

coconut milk: $1.50

salad: $2.50

spices, onion, garlic: $1

Total to make 6 purses:

$9.00

We have a bunch of blueberries and since blueberry season is almost over, and since GiGi at Veganville blogspot has a recipe for said blueberries and coconut milk, it was destiny.

Great dessert; thanks GiGi!

chili bean dip and homemade baked tortilla chips

Mikel will do just fine on his own when he moves out - as long as he has beans and pasta, because that is what he likes to cook - Mexican and Italian. Today he cooked up some chili infused bean dip and made some tortilla chips.

Please note the 'chips' are homemade, the tortillas themselves were homemade by Whole Foods. It really is a snap to bake some tortillas to wind up with chips. Needless to say, he did a great job and he was done in a jiffy.

 I am not one to look at a 'gifted pot for the lid' - he cooked and I did not have to. 

Cost Breakdown:

tortillas: $3

beans: $2

2 avocados: $3 (sale at WF)

tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices: $1

Total to feed 4 people:

$9.00

new england chowder

On Saturday Nights we eat 'local' - in other words, we eat American or Mexican or, if there is such a thing, Canadian. If anyone knows of any Canadian-based food, lmk.

Tonight I made something Mikel has been requesting for a while, but I haven't been able to make because of the lack of oyster mushrooms at my local market. Luckily, there are times when I will be able to order if from my CSA. Mikel was very grateful that I did not substitute for the oysters - they are his favorite - and the only mushroom he likes. Luckily, if you are not a fan of fungus, you may replace them with anything, really - roasted corn, roasted peppers, turnips, seitan, baked tofu, cauliflower, the list goes on.   

The soup is thickened with arrowroot - which is not only better for you but is also a more stable thickener than cornstarch. I made homemade stock to which I added some seaweed, too. I seasoned the soup with Old Bay, Tabasco, Worchestire sauce, salt and pepper.

When I was growing up, my parents owned a seafood restaurant and this was one of those dishes that I really loved, but couldn't really have; we weren't well off and the clams were for the paying customers.

Everyone loved this (but Cat) and serving it in a bread bowl adds mightily to the appeal.

Cost Breakdown:

mushrooms: $5

bread: $5

almond milk: $1

homemade stock: $.75

onion, garlic, pepper, spices: $1

Tabasco, arrowroot, worshech...sauce: $1

potatoes: $2

Total to impress 5 people:

$15.75

Total to make 6 servings without bread bowls:

$10.75

panini burritos with roasted corn and chili cream sauce

I am pretty sure kids don't really care that they have the same type of meal right after another, because Mikel chose to make bean burritos for lunch. He grilled the burritos like a quesadilla, so we decided to call it a 'panini.' Yes, we pressed it down to make it official, even though we have no panini press.

He roasted some corn on the griddle, added that to the refried beans he made, some Daiya cheese and a bit of sour cream and avocado and the meal was complete. I, however, wanted to make a sauce for it and even Mikel liked it. I just rehydrated some 2 chilis and blended them with some almond milk, a few cashews, a dash of salt and sugar, strained it and heated it to meld the flavors. Oh my! The humble burrito, as fabulous as Mikel made it, was flown to even more glorious heights.

Cost Breakdown:

tortilla: $2

beans: $4
corn: $1
avocado: $3
sauce: $1.50
Daiya: $2
Total to make 10 burritos:
$13.50

raw tacos two ways

Wow! This was fabulous. The inspiration came from my coffee-table cookbook, Raw, but I significantly simplified it.

One of the tacos has oyster mushrooms and fresh cut corn marinated in lime juice and a little chili sauce I made for the vinaigrette. I then dehydrated it a bit to let it 'cook.' The other taco has jicama and mango filling with guacamole. The shells I made using fresh cut corn and soaked golden flax seeds. I made my cashew sour cream, which is raw anyway. The chili vinaigrette was made by rehydrating ancho and guajillo chilies, (but any dried chili would be fine) and whisking it with lime juice, vinegar and olive oil. The sauce was super awesome!

The tacos with the sour cream and the chili vinaigrette were a mouth-watering combination.

Even picky-daughter who swore she would never eat raw had a few of these.

Cost Breakdown:

nuts and seeds: $5

olive oil and vinegars: $1

chili peppers: $.50

produce: $7
Total to feed a family of 5:
$13.50

Raw Tacos Two Ways Recipe