"Loaded Potato Salad,"(non-vegan); Peach Crisp(vegan);Pasta w/Chickpeas and Zucchini(vegan)

So far I've swished the toilet, made the bed, washed and am now drying a mixed load of laundry, and that's it. Some time today I've got to wash the dishes, and as long as it doesn't pour down rain again,take out the trash, too...as well as clean out the 'fridge. Exciting day off, yes? That's fine, I'm going to have enough excitement in a month or so to last quite a while: I'm moving out of my teeny tiny little one-bedroom house and into a two-bedroom apartment, just across the street from where I am now. Plus, I gain a small storage shed in my back yard, and a bathroom with a BATHTUB!! Not just a shower, but a real, honest-to-goodness tub, lol. Um...senior moment here: Did I already post about moving?!?!?

This past week I tried to make some oven-dried tomatoes, but I wasn't pleased with the results at all. I don't know if I sliced them too thin, had my little toaster-oven too hot, or what, but they were nasty, sigh. However. Some day I will try again, and possibly next time they'll come out ok. The directions I read said to set the oven at 250ºF, and leave the 'maters in the oven until they were dried, about two-three hours, but by the time mine were dry, they were burned. Nasty. I took them off the baking sheet anyway, put them in a container with some olive oil and garlic, but they were still nasty, and the peels were impossible to chew.Better luck next time, right? Right!

My other failure this past week was the Pasta with Chickpeas and Zucchini, which altho I thought was yucky, I'm still going to post, because I'm assuming somebody likes it, or it wouldn't have been a printed recipe in August, 2009's issue of "Real Simple." Different strokes for different folks, for sure.

Linguine with Chickpeas and Zucchini(vegan)

12 ounces linguine(3/4 of a box)
2Tbs. olive oil
3 small zucchini, cut into thin half-moons
Kosher salt
1 15-0z. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan(2 ounces)

>Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, drain, and return the pasta to the pot.
>Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Zucchini and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, tossing often, until just tender, 4-5 minutes. Add the chickpeas, garlic, and red pepper and cook, until heated through, 2-3 minutes.
>Toss the pasta with the reserved pasta water and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with the zucchini mixture and the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan.

So, there ya go, and if you try it, let me know how you like it, ok? I was so disappointed with it, but just couldn't make myself take more than a few bites, just didn't like it. Had to throw out the whole pot, sigh. What a waste!!

On the plus side, tho, I made a couple loaves of banana bread that turned out well. The recipe is here in my blog somewhere, but to find it, you'll have to go to the list on the left and click on bananas or bread. But it's there, it's good, it's vegan, and I love it.

The Loaded Potato Salad was an effort to help use up a whole lot of fresh cucumbers that my co-worker brought me from her garden, along with a lot of yellow tomatoes(those are the ones I tried to dry in my toaster-oven, and I don't like them quite as well as red 'maters.). I also had an apple in the 'fridge, so used that, as well. I loved the salad, even without any onion or boiled eggs in it. I left those out deliberately, to help avoid stomach issues.

Loaded Potato Salad(non-vegan)

About three medium potatoes, boiled with jackets on, cooled, and then peeled and cut in dice.

1 medium apple, peeled...or not, your choice, but I can't chew the peels so I take them off...cored and cut in small dice.

2...or more, again, your choice...medium cucumbers, peeled and cut in dice.

Handful of washed and halved cherry tomatoes

Small hunk of goat cheese, crumbled, and a couple pieces of vegetarian smoked Provolone cheese, torn into small pieces. If you leave the cheeses out, and use vegannaise instead of real mayo, then this would be vegan.

Mayo to taste Black pepper Garlic powder and onion powder to taste

Once the 'taters are cooked, cooled, and diced, put everything in a large mixing bowl and mix together. Cover the bowl and let it chill for at least 20 minutes before serving, so all the flavours can marry. This made enough to last me about three meals, and I loved every bite of it. If I'd put onions and boiled eggs in it, I admit it would have been even better, but without them, I didn't have any gastric distress and was able to go to work the next morning without any problems. The goat cheese I used had a rind on it that had been soaked in red wine, and it was wonderful cheese. I hope I can find it again, and, I apologize, but I don't remember the brand name, just that I bought it at Kroger.

The last time I went grocery shopping, I went to Food Depot, specifically because they were selling fresh peaches for 38¢ a pound, and I LOVE fresh peaches. So, I over bought, but even so, didn't lose any of them. Part of them went into a Peach and Strawberry Shortcake, and with plenty of whipped topping, it was fantastic. Several of them were eaten out of hand, leaning over the kitchen sink to catch the juice, lol. And the last six went into this Peach Crisp, which altho I liked it, and ate all of it, wasn't one of the best I've ever had, so I learned something from it: even if a recipe for it calls for vanilla, don't use it. Don't use cinnamon, either. Just peaches and sugar, about 1/3 cup, I guess.

Peach Crisp(vegan)

6 good-sized peaches, peeled and sliced(I just used a sharp knife and peeled away, but, to make it easier, you can drop the whole peaches into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then take them out and put them into a bowl of ice water. The skins should slip right off after that.).

1/3 cup sugar

Place peaches in a lightly greased 9"round pie pan, and stir in the sugar. Set aside while you prepare the "crisp." And preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Mix together 1/3 cup EACH raw oatmeal, flour, and, if you like, shredded coconut. If you don't want to use, or don't have, the coconut, just use equal amounts of the oatmeal and flour to equal one cup...duh, 1/2 cup each, lol.

Cream together 1 stick margarine(light Blue Bonnet, or, Earth Balance)and 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, until light and fairly fluffy. Use a mixer if you wish, but I just used a fork. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Mix the dry ingredients with the margarine mixture, and crumble over the peaches. You'll probably have to use your fingers to get it spread relatively evenly over the peaches, but again, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Put it in the oven and leave it there for about 45 minutes...start checking after 30 minutes. The peaches and the topping should be just about bubbling, and while not exactly set hard, sort of set in an almost jiggly way, and still moist. Now, you can cool this or eat it hot, your choice. If I'd had any, I would have put either whipped topping or vanilla ice cream with this, but I didn't have any, so I didn't. 'Tis ok, it was still good.

I think that's all for this week, so until next time, Happy Eating!!!

Moorish Style Chickpea and Spinach Stew(vegan); Cucumbers in Sour Cream(vegan)

This recipe today is another one from the NPR(National Public Radio?)"How Low Can You Go?" contest, and was sent in by Chef Jose Andres. I found it in "The Simple Dollar" newsletter, and thought it looked good enough to try. The author of "The Simple Dollar" made the recipe the way he found it, and then made an adaptation of it, and this is the adaptation. Hope you like it~!

Moorish Style Chickpea & Spinach Stew

2 cans chickpeas
Garlic powder to equal six cloves
1/4C extra virgin olive oil
3/4C bread crumbs
2Tbs. EACH paprika and red wine vinegar
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 pound spinach, washed and cleaned
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse chickpeas thoroughly, then put them in a pan with 1 1/2C water, and bring it to a boil. In another pan, bring the olive oil to a boil, and then remove it from the heat for 2 minutes. While stirring the olive oil, add the paprika, cumin, garlic, red wine vinegar, then slowly add the bread crumbs and set this aside. When the beans are boiling, add the spinach and allow it to boil for five minutes, stirring a bit. Add in the olive oil mixture, stir, and allow to boil another 5 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Well, I was sorely disappointed. The photos of this stew looked really yummy, and the author of the newsletter said his family liked it quite a lot. The recipe itself sounded good, too. I followed the recipe closely, with the exception of cooking my own chickpeas from dried ones, instead of opening a couple cans. And I got a little scared when the olive oil started smoking instead of boiling, so turned the heat off right then. I don't know how much of a difference that would have made, tho, and everything sizzled nicely when I stirred it into the hot oil. There's plenty left, so I'm pretty sure I'll eat it at least once more, because it is edible, even tho I'm not too fond of it. I certainly can't bring myself to toss it out...just yet. Y'know, I think I'd like it a lot better if I made it the next time with cannellini beans.

I didn't have any crusty bread, so I made a few boxed mix biscuits, and I also made a dish of cucumbers in sour creme for a cooling effect...and was glad I did, really.

Cucumbers in Sour Creme
1C diced cucumber, 1 C sour creme, 1Tbs. snipped fresh dill, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
Mix it all together, let it chill for at least 15 minutes, and enjoy. That's all there is to it~!!!!

At least the biscuits and cucumbers were good, lol. I think tonight I'll finish the cucumbers with "beefless gyro" sammich.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!!!

TVP Taco Recipe; Summer Sammich Ideas

This has been a pretty good week. I found $50 that I thought I had lost, one of my cyber-sisters sent me a Terry Blackwell book in the mail: "True Light," the Imaging Center where I had the ultrasound and the CT scan sent me a cute little "thank you" card, AND a check for $10(evidently I overpaid my c0-pay for the ultrasound!), went to the library yesterday which is always a joy, and best of all, Wednesday afternoon at work, I had the time to sit and snuggle with my nine-week old great-grandson!!! He was trying so hard to tell me about the nasty doctor that had stuck the nasty and painful needles in his little legs, bless his heart. So, I told him I understoon how he felt, and that I don't like needles being stuck in me, either. I'm sure he understood me, too. LOL!!!

I've spent the last five hours browsing three new-to-me websites, which mostly don't have much to do with food or cooking. The three of them have been added to my list of favorite websites, on the left of the page, and as of this moment I haven't checked them to see if the links work, but I will, and if they don't, I'll fix them. One is EasyEarth, and that one does have a section about food, and a few vegetarian, not vegan, recipes. The main reason I went there, tho, was to find some recipes for homemade, and "green," cleaning supplies, which I did find. Another site is TheSimpleDollar, and is one man's blog about being frugal, which another subject near and dear to my heart. The third one is Yes!magazine, and it's, well, it's about all sorts of things. I linked to it from the SimpleDollar, I think, to check out an article called "Sustainable Happiness," lol. And have signed up for the newsletter...as well as the newsletter from TheSimpleDollar, too. EarthEasy has one, but for reasons of my own, I chose not to subscribe to theirs.

About three weeks ago, I went into this little town's only...as far as I know...health food store, and altho I was extremely disappointed in it, I did fine some TVP, and some, um, wakame, I think...maybe it was dulse, but I don't think so. Anyway. So, I've been looking around for recipes using TVP, and while I've found several, this one really seemed like a good one, so I made it last night. Yup, it's a good one, and it comes from about.com, thanks to Jolinda Hackett, the vegetarian pages blogger. She does a fantastic job, and if you've never checked the vegetarian pages out over there, do yourself a favor, and do so. Sometime today. Anyway....

Ten Minute TVP Taco Recipe
2 cups each TVP and water
2 Tbs. each soy sauce and olive oil or vegetable oil
1 package taco seasoning
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 cup salsa
flour tortillas or hard taco shells

In large skillet, heat water, over medium heat and add the TVP, stirring well. Allow the TVP to reconstitute for 2-3 minutes.

Add oil, soy sauce, peppers, and seasoning, stirring well. Allow to cook another 3-5 minutes.

Serve wrapped in tortillas or hard taco shell. Eat as is, vegan, or add tomatoes, lettuce, refried beans, sour cream, cheese.

I made some refried beans with diced onions in them. Spread a tortilla with a goodly amount of plain chevre goat cheese, plopped on some of the beans, and covered it all with a good bit of the TVP taco mix. Rolled it all up, heated the tortilla until lightly browned on two sides, and ate. I will most definitely do this again. In fact, there's a fully made and rolled up tortilla in the freezer right now, as well as a fair amount of the taco mix still in the refrigerator. I think I'm going to top a couple small baked potatoes with it and some cheese for supper tonight, along with some kind of vegetable. I can also tell you that the taco mix and a couple slices of the vegetarian smoked provolone cheese make on helluva great grilled sammich, too!!!!

Yesterday at the library, I checked out another cookbook: "The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook," by Cathe Olson, and while I no longer have little kids at home, the book is definitely a winner, seriously. One of these days I'm going to try to find it, and add it to my home collection of cookbooks. One section of her book is called "Sandwiches and Quick Lunch Ideas," and some of these sammich ideas sound really, really good. Now, for the most part, you know I won't post a recipe here unless I've tried it and can vouch for it, but this is one of those times I'm going to break my own rule(hey, at my age, that's subject to happen a LOT!!), and give you three or four sammich recipes that I think look like they would be awfully good. It would take me quite a while to get around to trying all of them myself, so, I decided to post them. And, here goes:

Spinach-Hummus Wrap...vegan

1 large whole grain tortilla or slice flatbread(lavash)
1/4 to 1/3 cup Hummus
1/2 cup chopped spinach
2 to 3 Tbs. each diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and/or shredded carrots(all optional)

Liberally spread tortilla or flatbread with hummus. Layer vegetables over hummus and roll up. Wrap tightly with wax paper, foil, or plastic wrap until ready to eat. It will keep for couple of days wrapped and refrigerated. Makes 1 serving.

Veggie-Apple Melt...can be made vegan

2 slices whole grain bread.
2 tsp. EACH Dijon mustard and mayonnaise(regular OR vegan)
4 apple slices
2 Tbs. shredded carrots
2 to 4 cucumber rounds
2 Tbs. alfalfa sprouts
2 thin slices cheddar cheese(dairy OR non-dairy)

Preheat toaster or conventional oven to 375ºF. Spread one slice of bread with mustard, the other with mayonnaise. On mustard side, place apple slices and carrots. On mayo slice, place cucumber slices and sprouts. Cover each with a slice of cheese. Place on baking sheet and bake 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

My apologies, because that's only two sammiches instead of three or four. I had forgotten that it was necessary to go to other pages in her book for more recipes for a couple of those sammiches, such as Beanballs for the Beanball Sub I was going to post, sigh. I'm just too darned lazy to look it up, so, again, my apologies. If you do try either of these sammiches, tho, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me a comment. Until next time, Happy Eating!