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.  

Live From Austin!

Hi Everyone! I'm so happy to be here! I'm not a plant based Okie, but I am plant based Texan and have been for about three years. It's been SO FUN being plant based and sharing recipes with my mom. My mom, as evidenced on this blog, is just plain ol awesome. I have no doubt she's the reason my brother and I love creating, and of course eating, so much good food. So my brother blogged for you guys a few weeks ago and now it's my turn. I have to say though- he stole my thunder. Let me explain.

I live in Austin Texas. World capital of live music, keeping it weird, and SO MUCH GOOD FOOD. Despite the world class food and abundance of any kind of cuisine you can imagine, there is one thing we take VERY seriously down here. Tacos.

So yeah, he stole my thunder. It's all good though, because I wanted to share with you guys something Austin-y. If I had to declare an official Austin food- it would have to be the mighty breakfast taco. Tacos for breakfast my friends- that's what's up.

Let's get started!

Throw in whatever veggies are looking questionable in your fridge. There is no right or wrong here. Here are some of our favorite add in's:

Onion

Garlic

Broccoli

Carrots

Kale/Spinach/Chard

Bell peppers

Olives

Mushrooms

Tofurkey (y'all this takes it up about 10 notches. at least)

Then I add:

2 crumbled blocks of tofu
2 tablespoons of turmeric 

2 tablespoon Italian blend spices

2 tablespoons of orange/lemon juice

1 tablespoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of soy sauce/tamari/Braggs Aminos

Just cook long enough that all liquid is evaporated and veggies are cooked through (usually about 10 minutes on med/high).

While that is finishing up, do yourself a favor and get some tortillas ready. Because really- isn't everything better on a tortilla? If you have gas cook top, just throw that thing right on there for a few second on each side. No need to dirty up another dish!

This makes a lot! We make this amount so we can eat on it throughout the week. Throw some beans
in a bowl with some scramble- easy peasy meal baby! If that's not your thing then just cut the recipe in half!

Thanks for letting a Texan crash your blog! Blogging runs in the family, so come visit me on my blog all about simple, fast, plant-based eating, especially kid-related on my blog at:

plantstrongruby.com 



Husband's note:  These two little monkeys are our wonderful grand kids.  Ashley and her husband are fantastic parents.  Check out her blog.

Three Bean Enchiladas

We make burritos fairly often at our house, but I had been missing having enchiladas, with a great sauce over them.  This was my first attempt at composing a recipe for bean enchiladas, using an enchilada sauce recipe that I have been using for years.  I think it is much better than any store bought enchilada sauce I have tried, and so very easy to make.  The better brands of store bought enchilada sauce are quite pricey, and this is really inexpensive to make, with easy to find ingredients.  Any leftover enchilada sauce freezes great and can be used to add to refried beans.   

I also used homemade vegetable broth and my beans were some that I had cooked from dried beans.  These items were already in my freezer.  We used black beans, green lentils, and navy beans in this recipe.  We meant to use pinto beans, but accidentally thawed navy beans instead, and they were surprisingly good in this recipe.  I only chose the lentils because I had some in the freezer that needed to be used up, and again they were surprisingly good.  I think any bean could be used in this recipe.

If you haven't used chipotle chilies and adobo sauce, you really should try it.  It is available in every grocery store in my town, and I would guess the same would be true most everywhere.  It is called chipotle chilies in adobo, available in a can in the Hispanic section of the store.  It is actually two great products in one.  I pull one or two whole jalapenos out of the can and mince for a recipe, and

also use a few spoonfuls of the sauce.  The jalapenos are quite hot, so I have to be careful how much I use.   They are dried, smoked jalapenos, and it seems to me that it really intensifies the heat.  I use less of them than if I was using a fresh jalapeno, and the seeds can be scraped out to bring down the heat.  Why use them instead of fresh jalapeno?  Because they have an intensively strong, wonderful smoke flavor, as does the sauce.  There are also onions in the sauce, at least in the brand I tend to buy, and those are wonderful in a recipe also.  I store leftovers in the freezer. 

THREE BEAN ENCHILADAS

ENCHILADA SAUCE:

1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup flour
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. adobo sauce
1-2 Tbsp. chipotle chili, finely chopped
1 ½ Tbsp. chili powder
2 cups vegetable broth, preferably homemade
2 tsp. brown sugar
¾ cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add flour, and toast, stirring constantly for two minutes.  Add tomato paste, adobo sauce, chipotle chili, chili powder, and toast for two more minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the vegetable broth and stir immediately and constantly with a whisk, to work out any lumps.  When lumps have been stirred out, add the brown sugar, water, and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened, whisking the sauce often.

 FILLING:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp. chipotle pepper, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. ancho chili powder
6 cups of beans of choice- pinto, black beans, garbanzo beans, navy beans, Anasazi beans, lentils, etc.,  with most of the liquid drained from the beans, reserving that liquid 
2 cups of corn, fresh, frozen, or canned
1-2 cans Hatch green chilies, chopped
1/2 cup chopped black olives
10 flour tortillas, 10” size

Toppings, optional:  chopped fresh tomatoes, diced pickled jalapeno, diced avocado, cilantro leaves

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add onion, garlic, and red bell pepper.   Sautee for about 8 minutes, or until crisp/tender.  Add chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, chili powder, and ancho chili powder.  Stir for about three minutes.  Add the beans, and using a potato masher, mash the beans up a bit to make a thick consistency.  If the beans seem too dry, add some of the reserved bean liquid, until the mixture is to the desired consistency. 

Add the corn, Hatch green chilies and chopped black olives and remove from the heat.

Spray a 9 by 13” baking pan with cooking spray.  Add enough of the enchilada sauce to shallowly cover the bottom of the pan.

 Fill each flour tortilla with about 2-3 Tbsp. of the bean mixture, then pull each side of the tortilla over the bean mixture, and place seam side down in the baking pan.  When all of the tortillas have been filled,   Using a spoon, make sure each tortilla has been covered with enchilada sauce. 
pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.

Bake in a 350 degree oven, covered with foil, for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly. 

I thought I would miss the melted cheese over the top of them, but instead we had the chopped fresh tomatoes, picked jalapenos, and diced avocado.  I didn't miss the cheese one bit.

 This recipe did not take us long, as the vegetable broth and beans were already available in the freezer.  I really like cooking things "from scratch", but this recipe would be just fine using canned vegetable broth, canned beans, and bottled enchilada sauce.  That would make this a quick recipe. 

Farmer's Market

Howdy.  I'm PBOH.  The Plant Based Okie's Husband. I'll be your guest blogger for today.  Please stay seated with your hands safely tucked inside the ride at all times.

Saturday morning we went to the farmers market to find what surprises awaited us. It is amazing the things you can get a dog and a husband to do if you promise a treat.

Before we went she (the Plant Based Okie - who prefers I not use her photograph, even though she is beautiful), advised me to bring along a couple of ice chests.  Makes sense, if you have produce that will be a couple of hours away from stowing away in the refrigerator.  It helps keep things fresh and informs others you plan to do some serious turnip shopping.  
Another tip she advised is to bring along some of our own bags.

Depending on your Farmer's Market, you can find almost anything, we did at the Cherry Street Farmer's Market in Tulsa. I saw honey, artwork, fresh eggs, a lot of tattoos, flowers, goat milk, pecans, probiotic popsicles (seriously), and a very large and eclectic selection of  seasonal vegetables.

Get there early and bring a lot of cash.  We blew through almost $50 in 30 minutes (which sounds like our last trip to Cracker Barrel)  but what a haul. Here are a few things I liked:

# Speaking directly to the growers.
Find out where they grew their produce, when it was picked, and if they use herbicides.  Ask them questions about the crops this year,  what's in season, and most importantly when the watermelons will be coming!

# Helping support local growers.
You can cut out the middle man and get things much fresher than the local chains.

#This stuff tastes better!
Fresh picked and without the long distance transportation to market brings fresher, more flavorful fruits and vegetables.

#Meet the locals.
In our short visit, I met the man who runs a pecan and nut shop near
where we live.  He told us when to expect this year's pecan crop and about this year's expected harvest.  I saw a buddy of mine, and he gave my wife a suggested meal/blog from the Middle East.

#Find hidden surprises.
When you shop with a grocery list in a grocery store you miss out on variety.  Here you will find produce you've only seen in a recipe or on a television cooking show.  You may even want to experiment by purchasing a small sample.  Ask the grower about cooking this
item and what it's good with.  They will be more than happy to share their ideas.


#People watching is fun.
Not quite like the yearly amusement of the State Fair, but I saw tanned weathered farmers with muddy boots and overalls behind his vegetable stands, to tie-died hippie want-to-be's, to bikers (both the leather clad and the Spandex type), hipsters, to moms with kids in tow.  I saw an 8 year old carrying a tomato plant like it was her prized possession.  I imagined her mom told her they were going to plant it, and she could take care of it. I love when parents get kids involved in planting, harvesting and cooking.  Eat a fresh tomato and you'll never crave a Happy Meal again!  It's fun hanging out with the Plant Based Okie.  Trust me - she's very good looking.

Here's some of what we brought home!  And a preview of our dinner tonight. 

Spicy Tofu!

I love spicy food and I love tofu.  This recipe marries the two, and it is delicious. 

When I made it, I used tofu that had been frozen.  I froze it on purpose, in order to get a different texture than tofu which has not been frozen.  I like tofu made both ways.  When the tofu has been frozen, it breaks off into uneven pieces, rather than neat slices or cubes. 

This recipe has a lot of flavor, and by changing the amount of sriracha sauce, it can be mildly spicy or wildly spicy.  Our taste preference falls somewhere in the middle. 

If you haven't had sriracha sauce, give it a try.  It is a type of hot sauce made with chili peppers, vinegar, sugar, garlic, and salt.  I do not say this very often about grocery prices, but I always wonder how they make the sauce so inexpensively.  I even found a brand at Aldi's for a really low price, (can't remember exactly how much), that was really good.  We put it on all kinds of foods.  I even caught my son putting it on his mashed potatoes.  I tried it, and it was quite tasty.

BAKED SRIRACHA TOFU

1 package extra firm tofu, rinsed, pressed, and cut into ½” cubes

3 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
¼ tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. tamari sauce
¼ cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp. agave or maple syrup
2-4 Tbsp. sriracha sauce
¾ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400. 

Place tofu cubes on parchment lined baking sheet and set aside.

In a small saucepan, saute the onion over medium heat until soft.  Stir in the cumin and let toast for a couple of minutes. 

Add tamari, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, agave, srirache, and salt.  Simmer for 5-8 minutes or until sauce has thickened slightly.

Brush the marinade over the tofu cubes and place the sheet in the oven.  Bake for 20 minutes, then flip the pieces and brush with additional sauce.  Bake for 20 additional minutes. 

If you are surprised that ketchup is in this recipe, think about the ingredients in ketchup.  This is a spicy/sweet sauce, so the sugar in the ketchup blends in really well.  The other ingredients that work well in the ketchup are the tomatoes and the vinegar.  Plus it's really fun when the ketchup bottle makes that embarrassing sound.  Good times in the kitchen!