"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!!!

Hot Spinach Salad w/Feta(non-vegan); More about the kidney jerkl

This past Tuesday, the 7th, I was scheduled for my second visit with the kidney guy/jerk. Well! I sat in the waiting room, and I sat,and I sat, and I sat, and finally, his assistant came out, and, long story short: The doctor wasn't even in the building, he was running late, and there were three patients ahead of me. Sooooooo, I called my friend to come and get me, wrote that I would re-schedule on the sign-in sheet, and I left. Period. I was there roughly 45 minutes, the couple ahead of me had been there over an hour, and nobody had bothered to come out and tell the jerk's patients that he was late. Forgive me, but I have serious issues with that situation, and think it was unbelieveably inconsiderate, as well as not even close to being professional. However, I do have to see him again, so I will make another appointment. Sometime. In the meantime, it's been at least a week since I talked to the rheumatoligist's scheduler, and still haven't heard anything from them. I'm just very, very grateful that none of this is life-threatening, because I think that I'd most likely have died by now, from waiting for these "specialists" to decide what to do with me and my life. I'm pissed. Period.

None of that has anything to do with the hot spinach salad, does it? Nope, it doesn't, so I'll right to the point now. The original recipe wasn't for a hot salad, so this is an adaptation of a recipe I found in "Eating Well." When I read the original recipe, I thought, "Oh, yum...and I just actually happen to have a bag of baby spinach in the 'fridge." I had bought it to make something else, but since I don't remember what, I used it for the salad. The reason I decided to go with a hot salad is that I'm still kinda leery about raw bagged "stuff" in general, after the E.Coli scare a few months back. So, here's my recipe.

Hot Spinach Salad with Feta Cheese
One 10-oz. bag baby spinach, thoroughly rinsed and left very wet
Feta cheese...I used Vigo, which is made with sheep's milk. Use any kind you prefer...or leave it out entirely and make the salad vegan.
About two tablespoonsful olive oil
One heaping teaspoonful minced garlic(mine is from a jar, always)
About one teaspoonful Balsamic vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a skillet big enough to hold the spinach, remembering that the spinach will wilt and cook wayyyyy down. Toss the minced garlic in the pan, and let it sit until the oil is hot. Put the very wet spinach in the pan when the oil is hot, cover it, and let it cook down...if you want to, you can salt and pepper it now, but Feta cheese is wicked salty, so be careful. All I used was the black pepper. Once the spinach has wilted, crumble as much of the Feta cheese over it as you like. I guess I used about 3/4 cupful, because I love the stuff. Sprinkle about a teaspoonful of Balsamic vinegar over it all, stir, and let it sort of stew for a few minutes, just enough to let the flavors marry. Oh, yeah, I didn't put this in the ingredient list...obviously I'll never be a cookbook author...but I also peeled and diced up a big, red tomato, and put this in right after the cheese. If you don't have a tomato, I don't see why you couldn't use canned, drained, diced 'maters, do you? Anyway, that's all there is to it. It's one of those recipes that you can add to, or subtract from, or multiply, whatever. Different seasonings if you like, different type of cheese...goat cheese would be nice, too...or no cheese at all, maybe shredded carrots or minced onions, whatever. Play with it, make it yours.

Did I like this? Oh, yeah, very much! I ate all of it, by myself, in two evenings. Will I make it again? Possibly, but basically it falls into that category of "I'd love to have more of this if someone else would cook it," tho. And I don't have the Vigo Feta very often, as Kroger doesn't sell it: All their Fetas are made with cow's milk, and I can't handle the dairy. Since I cooked the spinach anyway, I think if I make it again, I'll just use frozen spinach. All I know for sure is that I really liked it. With it I had boiled potatoes and cubed seitan in onion gravy. Wonderful meal!!!!

Until next time, Happy Eating.

LowerFat Banana Bread(Vegan); Bulgur/Tomato/Feta Salad

Yup, still the same day, lol, but I almost forgot I have two more good recipes I want to post. Probably I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating: Almost none of the recipes I post here are original, as I'm not all that creative when it comes to making up recipes; wherever possible I give full credit to the author/source where I found the recipe, and if I can't, I still tell you it's NOT my own recipe; I have tried every one of the recipes I've posted, and will never post one I haven't tried...I don't think, lol...and I will never take credit for a recipe that's not mine.

The banana bread recipe is from "Veganomicon," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, and is very, very good. I made it because my next-door neighbor had bought too many bananas, and I very kindly offered to help her use them up before they rotted, lol. So, what do you do with overly ripe bananas, right? You make banana bread. And I did!

Lower-Fat Banana Bread

2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas 1/4C applesauce 1/4C canola oil
1/2C sugar 2Tbs. molasses 2C all-purpose flour 3/4tsp. baking powder
1tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4tsp ground nutmeg, or grated fresh 1/2tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 9X5-inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really, really well. Add the sugar, applesauce, oil, and molasses, and whisk biskly to incorporate. *See note at bottom.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Us a wodden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and invert onto a cooling rack. Flip the bread right side up and let cool.

*Note: "Never use a hand mixer for banana bread because it makes it gummy; treat it like a muffin batter and mix with a wooden spoon just until the wet and dry ingredients are combined. In fact, if you would like to turn these into muffins, pour the battter into a greased muffin tin and bake for eighteen minutes."

In the directions for the bread, they mention using chocolate chips if you want to. There's no mention of the chips in the ingredient list, so use your own discretion as to how many to use if you so choose. I didn't.

This bread is wonderful, I loved it, and actually followed the recipe to a tee!!! How often does that happen, eh?

This next recipe is a salad recipe, which I don't usually mess with. I'm not a really big salad eater for the most part. Years ago, when I was much, much younger, if you had opened my 'fridge, you would've thought that you'd come upon a salad bar. Many times, a big salad, with all sorts of stuff in it, was my dinner, with whichever salad dressing my hand had grabbed from the 'fridge. Nowadays, tho, you won't find anything pertaining to lettuce salads in my 'fridge, because for some reason, lettuce hurts my stomach. I've tried other greens, but didn't really care for them, so now, any salad I try has no greens in it. Usually. There may be an exception to that here and there.

Anyway. This salad comes from "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman, which is a huge book, just jam-packed with information: techniques, variations on a recipe, how to store things, and lots and lots and lots of recipes, many of which are vegan or can be easily veganized. I don't think this one can be, tho, which is a shame, because it's an awfully good salad.

Bulgur/Tomato/Feta Salad

1C fine-grind(#1) or medium-grind(#2)bulgur
3C chopped tomato or quartered cherry tomatoes
1 small onion, diced 2-oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2Tbs red wine vinegar, or more to taste
1/4C extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste
2Tbs chopped fresh oregano leaves or 2tsp. dried
1tsp. hot red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly groung black pepper

Soak the bulgur in hot water to cover until tender, 15-30 minutes. Put the tomato, onion, feta, vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and redpepper if you like in a large salad bowl and stir with a fork to combine. Sprinkle with a little salt)remember the feta can be salty) and lots of pepper.

When the bulgur is tender but not mushy, drain it in a strainer, pressing down to squeeze out any excess liquid. Put it in the bowl while it's still warm and fluff with a large fork to stir in the other ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more oil or vinegar as needed. Serve the salad at room temperatue or cool it down and refrigerate it for a couple hours or so.

Variations: can use two cups cooked rice or cracked wheat instead of the bulgur. Can add two cups canned or cooked chickpeas to the salad bowl before adding the bulgur. You will probably want to add a little more vinegar and oil, too.

Ok, here's my take on it. First of all, will I make this again? Definitely. It's a keeper...and it doesn't even have any garlic in it, lol. Secondly, it took over two cups of very hot water, and almost 45 minutes to get the bulgur to the tenderness that I wanted, and it was still somewhat crunchy. Thirdly, I didn't have any red pepper flakes, so I used about 1/4 tsp. of cayenne, but couldn't feel any heat. And, I used drained, diced, canned tomatoes, which worked fine, and the dried oregano. Changes I couldn't help, not because I wanted to play around with the recipe...NO! I didn't use canned tomatoes...duh! I forgot: I actually bought a really big tomato, just for this recipe. I'm willing to bet that the canned and diced ones would work in a pinch, tho, and I'm thinking that the next time I make this, I might try balsamic vinegar instead of the red wine. Maybe goat cheese crumbles instead of the sheep's milk feta, too.

Until next time...and I'm really thru this time...Happy Eating.