Saturday, November 6, 2010

Day Five...and Six and Seven

Greetings from Arizona, where I am for a family friend's wedding this weekend. What are L and V eating, you wonder? Leftovers. And that soup mentioned yesterday. I went over super early on Day Five (L and V were out at appointments, actually), and it was actually kinda neat to cook alone in that big kitchen, the sounds of chopping and saute-ing my only soundtrack. I made both a ready-to-roast potato set-up for their Day Five meatloaf dinner, and a big pot of minestrone soup for them to scoop from all weekend. There's snacks, and there's still leftovers from the week, so I'm full of trust that they'll have lots of vegan, gluten-free options to reach for in my stead. I get back Sunday night, and will be back in action Monday morning.

The minestrone was loosely based on a recipe by Susan O'Brien in her cookbook (which I highly recommend) "The Gluten-Free Vegan: 150 Delicious Gluten-Free, Animal-Free Recipes" on page 36. My version yesterday went something like this:

Minestrone Soup__________________________________________________________
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups of prepared and halved green beans
5-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 can or 15 oz of soaked and rinsed red kidney beans
1 32 oz carton of organic vegetable stock
1-2 vegan buoillon cubes (optional - I needed these because I wanted to add more liquid, so I dissolved them in water that I added as I went prior to simmering to get the right consistency)
1 whole diced tomato (or if you have a can of diced tomato around, you can use that)
2 cups tomato sauce (they had an open jar of Ragu-like sauce in the fridge from last week that worked perfectly)
1/2 cup chopped fresh (or dried) parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh (or dried) basil
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 package of gluten-free penne pasta or pasta shape of your choice
salt and pepper to taste

Method: In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft. Add the chopped celery, carrots, bell pepper, and green beans and saute another 6-8 minutes. If the vegetables start to stock to the bottom of the pot, instead of adding more oil, add a little bit of the veggie stock, and continue to saute. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, and then add the beans, vegetable stock, tomatoe, tomato sauce, herbs, tamari sauce, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper and simmer until the vegetables are tender and flavors have blended, about 30-60 minutes. If it gets too thick, dissolve a bouillon cube and add the liquid as desired. Cook the pasta according to instructions and set aside. To serve: put some of the pre-cooked noodles into the bottom of a bowl, and ladle hot soup over the top. The pasta is kept separately to not mess up the liquid ratio - they tend to absorb, and then you have to keep adding liquid when you serve, unless you do it this way. I think it preserves the integrity of the veggies on their own a bit, too, but maybe that's just me.

It turned out pretty tasty. Here's what I did to prep their Day Five dinner the rest of the way (the meatloaf was prepared on Day Four and was resting and setting up in the fridge for a day, so all they had to do was pull and heat, and I wanted them to have a roast potato side dish):

Easy Garlic and Rosemary Roast Potatoes_______________________________________________
1 bag of baby red potatoes
2 tablespoons garlic powder (raw garlic will burn when roasted with the potatoes this way. 2 T is kind of a lot, but I like garlic, and so does L and V)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh or dried rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil (or enough to finely coat all the potatoes)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (a couple baby squirts)

Method: Wash and cut red potatoes, and remove imperfections/eyes. The really teeny ones you can probably cut in half. Bigger ones I cut into thirds. Put in a cooking dish - something like a roasting pan with a good airtight lid. L and V had a nice small one that worked perfectly. Throw the prepared potatoes in, and then the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and toss until evenly spread on all potatoes. Then top with your garlic powder (I threw a little garlic in while tossing, so it would be even and not just all on top) and rosemary and bake at 375 for 1 hour+ or until tender to your liking.

Here's the recipe for the most amazing meat[less]loaf - special thanks to Bryanna Clark Grogan and her blog http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/ for permission to share and for having a pretty awesome blog, period. At some point in the near future, I'll just share a link of all our favorite vegan/gluten-free blogs out there - especially the ones with great and easy recipes. Without further ado:

Meatloaf____________________________________________________________________

(GLUTEN-FREE VERSION)
BRYANNA’S GOOD VEGAN “MEATLOAF” WITH POTATO AND OATS,
VERSION #2 MADE WITH TEXTURED SOY PROTEIN (A Weight Watcher's Core Plan recipe)


This recipe makes a good all-around vegetarian "meatloaf", and the leftovers can be used as vegetarian "crumbles". The unpeeled potato, oatmeal, and onions add fiber to a normally low-fiber protein dish. Note: All vegetarian loaves are firmer and more appetizing if you let them cool thoroughly, then slice and reheat them, so make this the day before, or early in the day. Good with Rich Brown Gravy, or just ketchup. Leftovers make good sandwiches.

The use of TVP instead of veggie "ground round" or ground seitan makes this loaf gluten-free.

3 cups dry textured soy protein granules, dry
2 1/2 cups hot water
2 small or 1 large low-sodium vegetarian bouillon cube
4 teaspoons gravy browner, such as Kitchen Bouquet (GLUTEN-FREE NOTE: SEE BELOW)1 tablespoon Marmite yeast extract, or 2 tablespoons dark miso (J and I used dark miso)
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (rolled or quick oats) (GLUTEN-FREE NOTE: if you don't use oats, try flaked amaranth, quinoa or buckwheat instead) (J and I used Bob's Red Mill brand gluten-free oats)
8 ounces new or red potatoes, scrubbed and grated
(this is about 1 1/3 cups grated, or a potato about 4 x2 1/2")
2 medium onions, finely chopped (a food processor does this best)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (USE WHEAT-FREE TAMARI FOR GLUTEN-FREE)
1/4 cup low-sodium ketchup
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
OPTIONAL: 1/4 c. ground flaxseed (use it - it's good for you and good for the loaf - just grind it really really finely)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic granules
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon savory
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Topping: (optional)
1/2 cup low-sodium ketchup, barbecue sauce, or tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

NOTE: If you want a fine-textured loaf, grind the "crumbles", (or the reconstituted soy protein) in a food processor or a food mill until ground quite fine. If you want it rougher-texture, leave it "as is".

Mix the textured soy protein with the hot water in a large bowl, and let stand for about 10 minutes to rehydrate.

Mix all of the rest of ingredients into the textured soy protein. Mix it well with your hands.

Press the mixture into a 9 x 5" loaf pan, sprayed lightly with oil from a pump sprayer, or with cooking spray, and lined on the bottom with cooking parchment. Cover the loaf with the ketchup, barbecue sauce, or tomato sauce, if you like.

Bake for 1 hour, covering the pan with foil for the first 30 minutes.
Let the loaf cool thoroughly in the refrigerator before slicing. Reheat if necessary, in the microwave, or by steaming or baking in a covered dish.
This is good cold or hot, and makes great sandwiches!

Servings: 8

...And I'm going to leave it at that.

I am so blessed to be a witness and facilitator for week one of this process.
I am so humbly amazed at L and V, their openness and willingness.
I am so completely grateful for the opportunity to be trained in the kitchen by G and J.

And last but not least - I am thankful that Max (my fiance) drove from L.A. to Phoenix last night so we could be together this weekend. It's not easy being apart for these 90 days, but the sacrifice is worth the reward, and I am the luckiest girl on the planet to be partnered with a man who understands my deep need for independence and for radically switching gears every so often. I love you, honey!

Get some sun on your face today. Vitamin D is your friend.

JRW


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