Cue the Cookie Monster!

I have confessed before, that although I have tried many new recipes since becoming plant based eaters, I haven't really tried that many dessert type dishes. 

I need to have a few in my files, for when we have company and also for when we think we might die if we

won't get something sweet to
eat.  We try to keep those treats few and far between, but every now and then a girl needs a cookie.  This recipe was super easy to put together and quite yummy.  I have to admit, I have a killer chocolate chip cookie recipe that I have used for years, and this recipe is not as good as that one, but I would rather use this one. I can feed my belly and my soul at the same time with this one.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

½ cup coconut oil

1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup almond milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
½ cup toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together the coconut oil and brown sugar.  Add the almond milk and vanilla and cream. 

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then stir in chocolate chips and nuts. 

Place by tablespoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper. 

Bake for 7-10 minutes.  Place on a rack to cool.

Husband's thoughts: These are great!  She made some with dark chocolate and others with the white chocolate and dried cranberries.  Those are show on the picture to the right. Both kinds were tasty.  I refuse to admit how many of these I ate.   

Sort of Ranch Salad Dressing

I am trying to get as much processed fat out of our diet as possible.  I really bought into the thought that olive oil and coconut oil are good choices for a healthy diet.  I knew they still had a lot of calories, but I did not realize just how harmful they are for our health.  If anyone has an interest in researching this, there are many videos on You Tube from people such as Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, and many more.


When we have a salad, we almost always use a homemade vinaigrette.  I keep it in the fridge most of the time.  But the truth is, there is a lot of olive oil in that vinaigrette.  I decided that I would start trying some healthier dressings.  My daughter sent me this recipe.  I did a little tweaking, but it is really quite good.  It is a "creamy" dressing, and that was nice.  Please note that this is not a fat free dressing, because there are cashews in the dressing.  I was not too worried since the amount of cashews was quite small.                                                        
                                                                                                           
PLANT BASED RANCH DRESSING

¼ cup raw cashews

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
½ medium garlic clove or ¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. granulated onion
½ tsp. dill weed
½ to 1 tsp. celery seed
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
¼ tsp salt or to taste
1 t sp. minced fresh parsley
2 tsp. chives, snipped

Soak the cashews in water for 4 hours or overnight.  Drain water off and proceed with recipe.

Place all ingredients except parsley and chives into a blender and process on high until smooth.  Add parsley and chives and blend on low briefly to incorporate them.  Check seasonings and add more as needed.   Let sit in refrigerator for at least one hour.

In the interest of complete disclosure, my husband did not love this dressing.  He didn't hate it, just didn't love it.  I will keep searching for a dressing that he likes, but I plan to keep making this for myself.

Healthier falafels

I have changed my falafel recipe up a bit.  In the past, I was sautéing them in a pan.  Since they are dipped in panko crumbs, the olive oil was soaked up somewhat when they were sautéed, and that made me hesitant to make them very often at all.  They were good, but it took more olive oil than I was comfortable with ingesting.  I decided to try baking them instead.

I also made some other changes to my recipe, including increasing the spices.  I had some at a Middle Eastern restaurant a week earlier, and theirs were much spicier than mine, so I knew I needed to step it up in the spice area. 
The last time I made them at home, I had wished that they were just a little less dry.  I simply added a couple tablespoons of vegetable broth, and that problem was resolved. 


I wanted to check out how much difference it would make between sautéing them and baking them, so before I cooked them, I just sautéed one patty in olive oil and baked one patty.  The sautéed patty took half as long to cook and looked better, but once they are put in the oven, it doesn't really matter if they take 20 minutes

instead of 10 minutes.  That time can be used putting together the rest of the meal, or having a glass of kombucha. 

FALAFEL

 2 ¼ cups cooked chickpeas

3 scallions, coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp ground coriander
¾ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp. Bangkok seasoning, optional
¼ cup packed coarsely chopped parsley
¼ cup packed coarsely chopped cilantro
1 egg or egg substitute
1 lemon, juiced
kosher salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/3 cup flour
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable broth
½ cup panko crumbs
cooking spray, olive oil preferred, (such as Pam)

In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas with a potato masher, leaving some texture, (bits of chickpeas).  Stir in the  scallions, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, Bangkok seasoning, parsley, cilantro, egg or egg substitute, lemon juice, and salt to taste. 

Add in the baking powder and flour and stir to combine.  Add the vegetable broth, a little at a time, until there is a bit of moisture to the ingredients.  Place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.    

Remove the chickpea mixture from the refrigerator.  Drop spoonfuls of the chickpea mixture onto a plate with the panko crumbs and press gently into patties.  I like the patties to be about 1 ½ inches in diameter.   Place the

patties onto a sheet pan which has been sprayed with the cooking spray.  Then spray the top of the patties also with the cooking spray.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, flipping them over once.  If more browning is desired, turn the broiler on to brown the tops a bit more.

NOTE:  Can be served on top of a salad.  Our favorite way to serve them is in a pita.  Half the pita bread and stuff with your choice of:

Falafel patties

Tomatoes, chopped
Green onions, chopped
Beets, diced
Dill pickles, diced
Lettuce, shredded
Honey mustard dressing or tzatziki sauce

I was really expecting the sautéed falafel to be far better than the baked one.  However, my husband and I both felt that there was very little difference in the taste of the two.  I will definitely choose baking them from now on.  When I use the cooking spray, I realize that I am still adding oil to the dish, but it is far less oil than the other methods. 

We are going to kick this olive oil/coconut oil habit if it kills us.  (Actually, hopefully it will extend/enhance our health. 

Kombucha Tea- It's a good thing.

I have given up coffee and only rarely drink ice tea.  I gave up sodas years ago.  I really enjoy drinking water, but it can get tiresome sometimes.

There is a new, (to me) drink in town.  My daughter introduced me to it.  It is called kombucha tea. 
Yes, my daughter should have been a hippie in the 60's.  When she was a teenager she listened to 60's music almost exclusively.  Maybe that is what caused her to be such a present day hippie.  Anyway, I love her personality and interests in life.

Kombucha tea has been around for decades, but has recently become very popular in the U.S.  There are quite a few manufacturers of this drink.  I have seen it in Costco, Whole Foods, a local regional grocery store in my town.  I even heard they carry it in Walmart, although I cannot confirm that.  It seems to run from around $2.50 to $4.00 for about 12-16 ounces. 

That is more than I want to pay for a drink that I try to have every day.  That is where my daughter comes in.  She set me up with a SCOBY, (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast), and gave me specific instructions on how to make my own kombucha tea.

I am not going to go through the steps of how to make kombucha tea.  There is loads of information on the internet.  There are kombucha tea groups which are quite interesting.  Some of the people have actually named their SCOBY's and some even pray for them.  I am not going to judge, though, because I do refer to mine as a "she". 

If you decide to take up this endeavor, please be aware that if improperly handled, it can become
contaminated with mold.  Also, if the tea is fermented for too long, it can become an alcoholic beverage.  I guess that might be a plus for some people, but I really don't want to drink beer in the morning or at any time as far as that goes. 

There are tons of health benefits purported for drinking this tea.  Supposedly there are a lot of probiotics in this.  I feel like it has helped me tremendously with digestive problems.  Honestly, if there were no health benefits, I would drink it anyway, because I really enjoy it. 

Husband's note: This stuff looks like a science project gone wrong. Please do your research as you are dealing with bacteria here.  My wife loves this stuff and it helps her stomach too.  It's much cheaper than store bought stuff and while I do not care for it, anything that makes her happy and healthier I am for.

For more on making your own kombucha tea check out: the Facebook group called, "Kombucha Nation."  Some interesting information and even more interesting folks on there.

One Year

Life has gotten in the way of my blogging.  I am going to try to get back into the discipline of regular blogging. 

As of August 1st my husband and I have been whole food, plant based eaters for
one year.  It started out as a one month experiment.  We even voiced that if we did not make it for the whole month, we would not beat ourselves up about it.  We had been making changes to our diet for some time and just seemed somewhat lost in which direction to go.  There were multiple health problems which we had decided we would no longer be complacent to accept as a permanent part of our lives. 

Two things brought us to the decision to go plant based.  The biggest was that our daughter and her family had been plant based for several years and had seen considerable improvement in their lives.  They are raising two beautiful, healthy children on the plant based diet, and those children are thriving. 

The other reason for our going plant based is a documentary called "Forks Over Knives".  Within about 15 minutes into the film, we were looking at each other and agreeing that we needed to try plant based eating. 

I have heard it stated that instead of thinking of all the foods a person gives up to be plant based, we need to look at the incredible amount of foods we can enjoy.  That has been so true.  Just last night I was looking at a cookbook from the library that was by a favorite cookbook author of mine from the past.  My husband walked into the room, and I told him I was having a hard time looking at all of the beautiful dishes that I can longer eat.  He told me I needed to quit looking at it.  His statement was so simple but so true.  I put it down and started making out my weekly grocery list, which includes my weekly menu.  I was excited all over for the foods we will be eating next week. 

I have had some substantial improvements in my health.  I was taking four doses of a prescription medication for reflux daily, with zero improvement.  I am now down to one half dose per day and  am about to drop that.  I had been told I would have to do that for the rest of my life.  This medication causes an inability of the body to absorb nutrients properly, and that is completely unacceptable to me.  I am now my own "GI doctor".  

There is one other reason I am a plant based eater.  I grew up in a cattle and pork producing family.  There are so many hard working families who produce meat for America's consumption.  The animals on my childhood family farm were treated very well.  They had a tremendous amount of pasture on which to roam.   I have become aware in the last few years, however, how those animals are treated once they are sold to the "feed lots".  It is absolutely appalling and unacceptable to treat any living being in this way.  It is no different than treating a beloved dog, cat, etc. in that way.  We compartmentalize which animals can be abused, but they are all animals and should be treated with dignity.  Okay, off my soapbox, (for now).

I am rambling, so I will wrap this thing up.  I have never felt more sure about any decision I have made in my life than changing to a whole food, plant based diet.  Well, I guess marrying my husband was an equally good decision, but that's about it. 

Husband's thoughts:  Plant based is another way of saying vegan.  You know vegan right?  First you lose the meat, then you lose dairy, then you lose your friends.  Growing up I would consider a non-meat eater likely someone who plays a sitar, doesn't own shoes, and had poor personal hygiene.

Seriously, I have been in the closet about this for a couple of reasons: 1) People wouldn't believe me since I am still fat.   2) Most have a very strange reaction to plant based folks.  I enjoy going to lunch with friends, and unless they ask I just say I am not that hungry when I order a salad.  I have nothing against those family farms who raise cattle or pigs. The industrial operations and what they do to dairy cows and stack chickens on top of each other bothers me.

The few I do tell often find it strange.  Jo's blog has been about showing others that plant based food isn't boring. (As I once thought it was)  As you look through her food pictures and recipes you will see it is anything but.  After a year, I no longer crave BBQ or a chili dog. I reserve the right to fall off the wagon at any time, but for now we are healthier and happier.  It's not for everyone, but I was surprised how easy it was.  Gee, guess now I am out of the closet.  Thanks Jo for outing me!   Now where is my sitar?

Vegetable Wrap

This is a fun meal for a hot summer day.  I also love a recipe that can be made ahead, so when I have company, I can relax instead of doing last minute cooking.  This recipe actually needs to be made ahead for at least one hour, up to 5 hours.  We had some leftovers, and the next day they were still quite good, although I wouldn't recommend holding them that long. 

VEGETABLE WRAPS

½ cup vegan cream cheese

2 cups cannellini beans, rinsed if from a can, and drained
5 green onions, sliced thinly
6 Tbsp. basil, cut chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste
zest from one lemon, grated finely
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon, or to taste
5-6 large flour tortillas
2 large carrots, shredded
4 cups lettuce of choice, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
avocado, sliced, optional
pickled jalapenos or pickled banana peppers, 3-5 Tbsp. chopped, optional

Combine the vegan cream cheese and cannellini beans in a food processor.

In a bowl, combine the bean mixture, green onions, basil, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Taste for seasoning.

Spread a thin layer of this on a tortilla shell, spreading all the way to the edge.  Sprinkle some of the shredded carrot, lettuce, bell pepper, avocado, and peppers over the bean mixture. 

Roll the tortilla very tightly and place in plastic wrap.  Repeat with remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate at least one hour or up to 5 hours.  

This recipe can be eaten as a whole wrap or can be cut into "rollups" for appetizers.   If this recipe is cut up for appetizers, it makes quite a large number of them.

 

 

 

 

Is It Too Hot for Soup?

In my world, it is never too hot for soup.  That statement doesn't mean that we don't get hot in our state, but I love soup even on the hottest of days. 

I had some home cooked chickpeas lounging around in my freezer, so I put together this soup.  It was filling yet light, perfect for summertime.

I had some pasta in my pantry that someone had given me.  It was made with carrots and squash, and it was great.  I need to be more adventurous in my pasta purchasing. 

CHICKPEA NOODLE SOUP

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

4 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 cups of vegetable broth
1 tsp. white or yellow miso paste
2 tsp. tamari
1 Tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. vegan “no chicken” boullion base, optional
Louisiana hot sauce, ½ tsp or to taste
1/2 to 1 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
2 whole bay leaves
15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed
8 oz. of pasta, cooked

In a dutch oven, warm the olive oil up, then add the carrots, celery, and onion.  Saute over high heat until onions are translucent.

Add broth, miso paste, tamari, Worcestershire sauce, boullion base, Louisiana hot sauce, salt, and bay leaves.  Cook for another 6 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Remove the bay leaves and stir in chickpeas.  Check for seasonings and adjust.  Heat soup up to desired temperature.

 Dip up the soup into bowls and add the pasta to each bowl.  If storing the soup for later use, keep the pasta separate until ready to serve. 

I always keep my pasta separate from my soup until I dip it into each serving
bowl.  I used to cook the pasta in the soup.  If there were leftovers, the next time I would look at my soup, there would be little to no broth left, and the pasta would be much bigger and not al dente at all.  It did not take much brain power to realize that as the soup sat, the pasta was absorbing the broth.  It is so easy just to keep them separated until serving time.
 
Husband's note: I had two bowls.

Plant Based and Gluten Free Cookies

My husband and I do not have a problem with wheat products, so we don't normally have to deal with cooking gluten free.  For this, I am very thankful.  However, we have a member of our family who has a serious gluten allergy, as well as many other food allergies.  It has been a long journey for the parents of this child to find out what was causing these severe allergies.  It is not surprising to me that the doctors have not really been of very much help.  I salute parents who don't give up when it is apparent that something is very wrong. 

I am starting to change some of my recipes so that they can be gluten free, for when this child visits our home.  Some of my recipes can't really be changed to accommodate this, but with a few tweaks, some recipes can meet this challenge. 

        
PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp. ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp. warm water)

¼ cup non-dairy buttery spread
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
¼ cup cane sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup gluten free rolled oats, blended into a flour (or 1 cup oat flour)
1 cup almonds, blended into a flour, (or 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. almond flour)
½ cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl, mix together the flax egg and set aside for five minutes.

Beat the buttery spread and peanut butter until combined.  Add both sugars and   Beat in the flax egg and vanilla extract until combined.

beat for one minute more.

Mix the dry ingredients, (baking soda, baking powder, salt, oat flour, and almond flour in another bowl.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat to combine.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Place mixture into the fridge for at least one hour. 

 Shape dough into one inch balls and place on the baking sheet.  No need to flatten the balls, as they will spread out on their own.  Place balls 2-3 inches apart. 

Bake for 11-13 minutes until lightly golden.  Let cookies rest on the cooking sheet for 4-5 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

I noticed that the first tray of cookies were a little thicker than the subsequent trays of cookies. 

I  prefer the thicker cookies, so next time I will refrigerate the dough for a longer period of time.  This time I only left them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  I think that will make a big difference.

 If you or someone in your family requires gluten free food, I would encourage you to find recipes and try to do at least some of your meal preparation in a whole food type of way, meaning less packaged goods. 

I found the prices of gluten free packaged foods incredibly expensive.  I think the food industry has taken advantage of people who require gluten free food. 

Let Them Eat Cake!

I have not had much success with plant based desserts.  I think there are several reasons for this.  One is that I don't make a lot of desserts, because then I will eat them.  However, I would like to have a few tried and true dessert recipes for when we have people over for a meal. 

I think another reason is because I am very picky about desserts.  If I am going to have the calories and eat substances that are maybe not the best for my health, they need to be truly delicious, because I consider that an occasional treat.  I have tried a few plant based desserts which just weren't very good at all.  I felt like a piece of fruit would have tasted better than the dessert recipe.

Well, I found a great recipe for chocolate cake.  It is actually a recipe I used many years ago when it was just my husband and myself in the home.  This makes an 8" x 8" cake, much better for a two person household. 

WACKY CAKE

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar
4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
6 Tbsp. vegetable oil, (or can substitute half of this with applesauce)
1 cup water

Grease and flour an 8” x 8” baking pan.

Mix flour, sugar, and cocoa in a medium bowl.  Make three depressions in the dry ingredients.  Pour vanilla into one depression, vinegar in another, and oil in the third one.  Pour water over all and stir well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.   Place cake on cooling rack and cool completely.  Cover with frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

 4 Tbsp. vegan “butter”, room temperature

7 Tbsp. baking cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, (use only 2 Tbsp. of the almond milk at first) and blend together with a mixer.  Add more almond milk as needed until it is of desired consistency. 

This frosting recipe probably makes more than is needed on this small cake, but I like a lot of frosting on my cakes.  If I am going to have a treat, I want it to be really good!

Husband's note: Amen

Making It Work

I was planning to have an easy dinner of veggie soft tacos.  I wanted to use up some stuff from my freezer.  I wanted to use up some adzuki beans, because they had been in the freezer since November.  After I heated them up and mashed them up a bit to make oil free "refried" beans, I realized I needed a few more beans.  I heated up a container of frozen pinto beans and added them to the adzuki beans.  I never thought about using more than one variety of beans for refried beans, but I really liked them a lot.  I will purposefully do this in the future.

I had planned to make some guacamole with the four small avocados on my
counter top.  Well, I have been having a terrible time getting good avocados this year.  When I cut into the avocados, two of the four were unusable.  I get so discouraged paying for avocados and then throwing them away.  I buy them while they are still hard and let them ripen on my counter top.   Backup plan was to dice the two small avocados which were okay and squeeze lime juice over them.  Not as good as guacamole, but still very good. 

Overall, the tacos turned out very well.  I forgot to chop up the lettuce and add it, which would have been some nice crunch.  Sometimes when I make something like this, a no recipe meal, I will  jot down the items I want to include.  That really helps me a lot, because I inevitably get caught up in the preparation and forget an item or two.

Bulgur Salad with Dried Cranberries

With summertime here, it is time to make some new salads.  I have a large amount of grains that I need to use up, so decided to go in that direction. 

Bulgur is a whole grain, usually sold parboiled and dried, with only a very small amount of the bran partially removed.  It has a light, nutty flavor.  It has a very high nutritional value.  It is a common ingredient in Armenian, Israeli, Lebanese, and Mediterranean dishes. 

I have tried to like tabouli, but I never could fully embrace it.  This recipe is basically a take off of tabouli, but it has no mint and has the addition of dried cranberries.  Now I am thinking that maybe it was the large amount of mint in the tabouli that I did not love.

Anyway, this salad was a big hit with my family and was very easy to make.

BULGUR SALAD WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES

1 cup coarse ground bulgur

2 cups cubed, peeled English cucumber
1 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
1 cup finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tsp. agave nectar, optional
¾ tsp. kosher salt
¾ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Place bulgur in a bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water.  Cover and let stand 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork.  Let bulgur cool to room temperature.  Add remaining ingredients.  Toss to combine.  Refrigerate for at least one hour, but even better for several hours. 

I thought the bulgur might get too soft overnight, but when we pulled the leftover salad out the next day, it was still very good.

Snout to Tail Vegan Style

If it's Saturday, it's Farmer's Market Day for us.  We don't make it there every Saturday, but I sure wish we did.  This Saturday we made the trip to the market.  I usually have a grocery list, but once I get down there, all bets are off.  Whatever looks good to me, comes home with us.

We got back home in plenty of time to cook lunch.  As I was putting the produce away, I got to thinking about
the waste from some of the veggies.  We had bought a huge bunch of radishes, with a lot of good looking leaves.  I had never cooked radish leaves before, but I had tasted them before and always thought they had a really good taste.  I cut the leaves off the radishes, washed them, and set them aside.

I had bought a large bunch of green
onions, (scallions), with green tops which were over a foot long.  I cut off a large portion of the green tops to make them fit into the fridge.  I washed those long pieces of green tops and put them aside.

I decided at this point that I would make beans and greens.  I took some garbanzo beans out of the freezer and thawed them in the microwave.   I cooked a pot of rice blend, which
included brown Japonica rice, long grain red rice, and heirloom black rice, (something I found at Costco this last week).  It was delicious, by the way,  and I would definitely purchase this again.

Then I cut up some rainbow chard and dinosaur kale which I had bought at the Farmer's Market.  Okay, the lunch started coming together.  I have to come clean here, as actually at this point I turned all of this over to my son to saute and bring together as he saw fit.

He sauteed the kale, radish greens, chard, and some baby spinach together in
vegetable broth.  Then he added the chopped green onions and sauteed a few more minutes.  He added salt, pepper, some Tabasco sauce, and Northwoods Seasoning blend, (from Penzey's).   At this point we added the garbanzo beans and heated them through.

We served the beans and greens over the rice blend, with chow chow added to the top.  Some good old cornbread rounded out the meal.

It is really fun to cook like this, with no recipe.  I know some people cook like this a lot, with great results.  My daughter does this style of cooking most of the time, and that girl can really cook!

Our inspiration for this meal, as my son stated, was to take the "snout to tail" approach to cooking, as referred to using a whole hog, with no waste.  In our plant based way of cooking, we were taking things which were sometimes thrown away, (radish greens, the tops of green onions), and using them in our dish.  It was the best "beans and greens" dish I have ever tasted.  Our son called it "roots to tops" cooking.

Spanish Rice! Olé!

My favorite side dish for a Mexican meal is Spanish rice.  I tried quite a few recipes, but they all seemed too strongly flavored for me.  That seems strange, since I love very flavorful dishes.  I think I like a mildly flavored Spanish rice because it accompanies a spicy dish most usually in my kitchen.  If more than one spicy dish is served at once, I feel like they sort of cancel each other out.

SPANISH RICE

2 Tbsp. olive oil, (or up to 1/4 cup)

1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups of long grain white rice
1 Tbsp. chili powder or taco seasoning
1 pinch oregano
1 heaping Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp salt, or to taste
3 cups of vegetable broth, heated in a microwave until hot

In a large saucepan, sauté the onion for a few minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for about two minutes.  Add the rice and saute about four minutes, stirring often.  Add the chili powder, oregano, and tomato paste.  Saute for a minute or two.  Add the salt and the hot vegetable broth.  Bring to a simmer.  Cover and cook on low about 15 minutes.  Turn off heat and let sit for five minutes, then fluff the rice.

I actually think this is quite authentic, but can't swear to that.  I always thought it would be great to have more diversity in my family, so that I would have grown up eating and learning how to make all those great ethnic meals.