fun with homemade seitan

So, in my continuing quest to be frugal and use what I have resourcefully, I made seitan on Sunday and since I had everything I needed for this recipe, it didn't cost me a penny, much less the 459 of them I would have spent at Whole Foods.

Okay, that's kind of a lie.  Not the price - that's true - but the motivation for making seitan.

Going back a week.... Now that we're hosting Thanksgiving, my precious Mister gets to have his long-awaited Tofurky Roast.  We started that "tradition" last year and continued it this year.  The night before Thanksgiving, however, we celebrate with his father and that whole side of the family.  Throughout some conversations, I heard Mister answer someone inquiring about the taste of Tofurky this way: "Well, it's better than the worst turkey you've ever had, but not as good as good turkey."

Silly me, I took this, added it to the fact that Mister only had one slice the following night at our Thanksgiving, and came to the seemingly rational conclusion that Mister didn't like Tofurky so much as he felt like Thanksgiving required it and he just kind of muddled through it for that reason.  So, the day after Thanksgiving, as I was giving thanks for not having to work on Black Friday (see? unemployment is fun!), I decided to eat the leftover Tofurky, gravy, and potatoes.  Do you see where this is going?

So, later that night, Mister went rummaging through the fridge for way longer than usual.  Finally, I asked him what he was looking for.  He said "The leftover Tofurky," and I felt that little twinge of guilt and then said "Oh.  I ate it."  Crestfallen, poor Mister looked for something else to eat, even though he'd apparently "been looking forward to it alllllll day."

Bad wife.  Someday I'll learn.

Anyway, Mister has mentioned in the past that the homemade seitan [loaf] I make is seasoned in such a way that it tastes like lamb, the other thing my sweet Greek misses about eating animals.  To make up for being selfish and thick-headed, I spent Sunday making seitan, which I then sliced and served as filet with Broccoli Chickpea Casserole from Vegan with a Vengeance.

Last night, I wanted to use up what was left of the seitan, so I created a delightful little mediterranean ragout, based roughly on a new recipe in Vegetarian Times by Nava Atlas.

I should say the resulting dinner was "loosely inspired" by the recipe in this month's VT.  In the end I think the only similarity was the 2 Tbsp olive oil and 3 shallots (which were not small).

I don't really have a name for it... I guess you could call it

Broccoli and Seitan Stew (as in, the kind of stew you serve over rice or mashed potatoes)
4-6 servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
3 large shallots, sliced
1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 cups broccoli florets
15 oz petite diced tomatoes, undrained
about 2 cups cubed seitan

Heat the oil in a large saute pan (4-qts) over medium-low heat.  When oil begins to shimmer, add shallots and garlic and stir well to coat.  Reduce heat to low; Cover and stir occasionally for about 7-10 minutes.  About halfway through, you may find the garlic is sticking and/or browning more than you'd like.  If so, add a splash of broth to deglaze the pan and add some liquid.  By the time you add the broccoli, the shallots should be browning slightly and very soft.

Add broccoli, sprinkle salt and pepper over the broccoli, then pour in half of the remaining broth and cover.  Turn up heat slightly and allow the broccoli to steam for about 5 minutes undisturbed, then lift the lid and stir to combine broccoli and shallots.  Stir in tomatoes, then add the cubed seitan and the remaining broth.  Stir well and cook for about 10 more minutes, uncovered, until everything is tender and smells amazing.

Serve over an aromatic rice (I used Jasmine) or mashed potatoes if you're lucky (and your spouse didn't eat them all...).

pasta's hungry work

Sometimes I think Mister is just a little bit looney.  Tonight was absolutely one of those nights.  I made Pasta Con Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction because I knew it would make Mister happy (and also because I had planned to make it last night, but we'll get to that in a moment).

After scarfing down two bowls full of linguini and plenty of broccoli (as well as plenty of garlic - I have the world's stinkiest breath right now, thanks to that and the nasty little chunks of diced red onion that were hiding in the lentils of my salad this afternoon), Mister said he was hungry.  I thought, "Surely, I misheard!" So I asked him if he said he was still hungry.  To my surprise, he responded by nodding vehemently and then sticking out his lower lip in a pout.

My husband is the only human being on the planet who can eat two bowls of linguini and be hungry afterwards.  If I'm wrong, please tell me.

So, about 15 minutes after dinner, Mister put on shoes and his coat and went out to find a sandwich.  Seriously.  He came back a little while later, happily stuffed with a Wawa sammich and a stale donut.

Sometimes, I just don't get him.

Anyway, on my way home from work last night, I stopped at Superfresh because I didn't realize how little bouillon I had until I used it all up making the Vegetable Lentil Stew the other night.  I was hoping to pick up a can or quart of veggie broth even though Superfresh doesn't believe in it but something new caught my eye instead:

Mister thinks that image is completely unappetizing, but I think it's kind of cool that they have concentrated liquid broth base in little individual squeeze-packs.  That's how it ended up in my home.

Each of the little squeeze-packs, when combined with water, make one cup of broth, which is actually kind of perfect, considering the number of times I've had to cut a bouillon cube in half because I only needed to make one cup of broth.  Nevertheless, these will not be a standard issue in our home for two reasons: first, though I'll admit I haven't checked the nutritional info on Rapunzel bouillon in a while, it seems a little excessive for each packet to provide 770mg sodium.  That is a solid third of the RDA and it only makes 1 cup.  God forbid I use two packets...  The second reason is purely economical and ecological - they are way more expensive than premade broth or Rapunzel bouillon cubes and result in a lot more material waste.

I guess it smelled pretty good, though, as part of the Broccoli Con Pasta, because Angst bugged Mister for a sniff/taste the moment we sat down to eat.

Could you resist those imploring eyes?  That sad, hungry little face??

Yeah, neither could Mister.

Fortunately, once it was down at eye-level, Angst remembered he doesn't like pasta and resorted to staring me down to see if I had something different to eat.  I gave him a small piece of pasta and after he licked it, he left it on the floor for me to pick up after dinner.  What a sweetheart.

If I could go back a night, though, even after I made a special trip to Superfresh specifically to get the broth so I could make Pasta Con Broccoli, upon returning home, I stood in my kitchen, my apron half tied, thinking.  Realizing that I absolutely could not muster the desire to make and eat that dinner, primarily because I'd gotten a completely different cuisine stuck on my tastebuds, I called out to Mister, "Hey, do you want to go to Cedar's for dinner?"

Yes, he did.

Angst loves BBQ Seitan

I guess I should have known.  Angst always gets super excited when I make the Sloppy Joes recipe from The Urban Vegan and I guess I just thought he was all about the TVP.  Perhaps he is, but I think I might have a little fuzzy BBQ-addict on my hands, because tonight he could not get enough of our BBQ Seitan and Broccoli, pinched from theppk.com.

The first time I made this, there were two major differences.  First, I used homemade cubes of baked seitan, whereas this time around I chopped up a tub of Michael's Savory Seitan, resulting in a chewier, "meatier" texture.  Also, the first time around, I served the BBQ-soaked seitan and broccoli over a fluffy cloud of mashed potatoes.  This time around, I really didn't feel like doing the mashing part, so I improvised a bit (per my goal...) and came up with:

Greek-Fried Potatoes
2-4 side dish servings, depending on the size of your potatoes (did that sound wrong?)

Ingredients:
6-8 small red potatoes, well-scrubbed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 Tbsp Mediterranean Sea Salt Blend (McCormick Gourmet spice blends)
1 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp garlic powder
generous pinch of allspice


Scrub potatoes well, then cut into quarters or sixths, depending on the size of your potatoes and what you feel constitutes a mouthful.  (I think we might be continuing our downward slope here.)  Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan on high heat.  Add potatoes, stir well to completely coat with oil, then sprinkle on Mediterranean sea salt blend, marjoram, garlic powder, and allspice.  Stir again to coat evenly, then cover and lower heat to medium high.

Cook potatoes, stirring occasionally, 8-12 minutes, until crispy and a bit brown.  Pierce with a fork to ensure they are tender on the inside, then turn off heat, replace cover and allow to sit for a few minutes.

The potatoes accompanied our dinner perfectly, though due to the richness of the BBQ sauce, I think I will serve the seitan and broccoli on something next time, if not mashed potatoes again.  Angst was an eager attendant at the table, looking between Mister and I with his big, sad eyes as if to say, "Surely, one of you is human enough to see my sorrow and share your food."  Ultimately, like always, Mister isolated a kitty-sized piece of saucy seitan and put it on the floor (which was followed by me telling Angst that he had to eat all of it, including the sauce that was now on my floor).

Believe me when I tell you, this was not a problem for him.  He quickly licked that all up and waited for more.  He had a healthy little appetizer to his own dinner, between me and Mister slipping him little pieces of gooey seitan that he all too readily slurped up from the floor.

noms?

He has no shame.

See you tomorrow, MoFos!

huge apples and lentil hummus

Everyone around me has been raving on and on about these apples.  What apples?  Honeycrisp Apples.  Everyone seems to have something to say about how amazing they are and how in season.  I must confess - that is one of the myriad reasons I love fall.  Not honeycrisp apples, per se, but the pure bounty of varieties I've never seen before that crowd my grocery bins and await Mister and I should we actually make our way to Linvilla one of these days.  At the moment, I have a bag full of a new surprise favorite, Gingergold apples, in the fridge.  I discovered these little beauties at Essene and then found a whole bin of them for a lower price at Whole Foods.  I expected them to be a little spicier, but they are "just right," to steal a phrase.  However, right next to the bin of yellow apples was a display of apples the size of a baby's head.  Honeycrisps, of course.

I mean, seriously - I have abnormally large hands for a woman, to give you an example of that apple's size.  If anyone plays the piano, you might be further intrigued to know that I can reach a 10th with those hands.  Yet, I could barely capture the entire honeycrisp with it.  Wonder how much apple that is when you cut it up for breakfast?

Enough to be piled upon a dinner plate.  Best breakfast ever.  Well, except for all the other times I've said that - I just really like breakfast.  There's no shame in that.

Last night I was sick by the time I finished work - my throat was so swollen and hurty that I could barely swallow.  I was dizzy and my eyes were crossing from being exhausted.  By the time I took off my shoes and visited the loo, my cheeks were bright red with fever and my skin hurt.  By 9pm, Mister had tucked me in for a long Autumn nap which lasted until my alarm yelled at me at 7am this morning.

I still felt kind of awful, but my mega-dosing on vitamin C and other things that are good for me (had a Naked smoothie on my way home from work) and 10 hours of sleep seemed to at least fend off disaster for the moment, so I showered, dressed, took two aspirin and went to work.  Fortunately for me, my attendance was requested with a new trainee starting today - I'm beginning the structuring of future trainings, so I get to participate in training opportunities between now and when we start implementing.  It was much easier to get through today sitting most of the time.

As luck would have it, the boss took me and the new hire to lunch at Pure Fare and it was utterly delightful.  Normally, I get one of their outstanding salads.  I had kind of gotten it into my mind last time, though, that I want to try one of the sandwiches.  Today was that day and I happily chowed down on the Lentil Hummus sandwich on multigrain bread.  The bread was very good, though a little too soft/flimsy to support the weight of all the awesome things inside:  green hummus (I can't even imagine how they made it), halved cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, fennel, and broccoli raab.  Delicious!

That got me through the rest of the day and when I came home, I still had some energy for making dinner!  I made Sloppy Joes from The Urban Vegan with one small twist.  I thought I had more TVP than I did, so I ended up adding about 1/3 cup of red lentils to make up the difference, which resulted in me also needing to add some vegetable broth to be absorbed by the lentils, and having to cook it a little longer.  That was fine, since I also wanted to serve "something green" with dinner, especially since I'm not feeling 100%.

It was tasty and I love how the broccoli is eager to soak up the herbs and spices as well as the broth when I steamed it with just a little.  It's amazing how easy it is to make a tasty veggie side dish - it really required almost no thought and slightly less effort (granted, the broccoli was pre-cut).  I had one sandwich and thought about having another - they really weren't that big.  However, I reflected on the vague nausea I've been carrying with me since this morning and decided against that.  Considering my belly is still a little sad, I think that was the right decision.

Well, kids, I'm off to try for another "full night" of sleep, so I'm signing off for now.  Sweet dreams!

sometimes, you need to squish

Angst does this thing we call "squishing."  It involves him poking, kneading, and otherwise massaging something soft and puffy until it seems comfy to him... at which point he usually walks away, abandoning all his hard work.  It's always fun to see him really working something, though, even if it boggles my mind that he doesn't do the obvious thing and lie down on the thing he just squished to oblivion.

He's got something, though - squishing is fun!  It feels neat and benignly destructive.  A human example might be something like a stress ball or the ghetto equivalent - an uninflated balloon filled with flour and tied off.... or tofu.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of my tofu-cotta tonight but my hands were a little bit covered in tofu to operate a camera.  Tonight's scrumptious meal was Baked Ziti from Vegan on the Cheap.

We actually have a few contributing factors for how this became the dinner of choice.  First, I got home from work a little bit earlier than usual (= more time), and Second, I have tomorrow off (= more time to stay up).  Third, and possibly most important - it was really darn cold by the time I tested how fast I could walk in my new boots.  Hey!  That reminds me - I never talked about my boots in the last post!

No time like the present...

Aren't they adorable?  I'm spending a bit too much time on my feet to continue wearing 3-4.5" heels, but I just cannot get into the flats trend.  It is my opinion that they spread out your feet and make the whole picture less attractive... or maybe I'm just not willing to pay $60 for shoes that don't have a heel and don't make my legs look longer or my stature taller.  I won't lie - high heels are a woman's Power Suit.

Anyway, I went to Macy's - twice, actually, and the first time almost made me swear off the store and did make me write a long and detailed (and unanswered) email to the company's customer service department.  Regardless of my growing disdain for the store, I had spotted a few pairs of boots when I was wandering around the shoe department unattended for 40 minutes the week before, so I figured I would give them one last chance.  I'm glad I did, because I ended up with these adorable, non-leather American Rag cowgirl boots that show the rockstar side of me without breaking my ankles or helping my outermost toes bind to one another.

By the way - when it's in the upper 50s with a strong "breeze" and I'm wearing nothing but an above-the-knee skirt, mid-calf boots, and a short-sleeved polo shirt, I can walk pretty fast in them.

So, now that that's out of the way - back to dinner.

I felt like the Baked Ziti needed a companion of the greenish nature, so when I was at Trader Joe's after work on Monday, I picked up a bag of broccoli and cauliflower.  I used about half the bag and steam-sauteed the veggies with some olive oil, garlic, my Tuscan herb mix from California, and some salt with just a few spritzes of water to keep everything steamy.  It came out sooooo well.

It tasted just like the baked ziti I remember my mom making (well, her's probably had melted mozzarella,  but beside that, it was pretty close) and it was actually pretty simple.  One of the reasons I made it tonight was because I thought it would be really time consuming, due to the need to cook the pasta and make the "ricotta," but it really did not take as long as I thought it would.  In fact, if I had been prepared (and didn't kind of want it to take a while), I probably could have made the whole thing, start to finish, in a little more than an hour.

That being said, this most likely would not be a dinner I would make after a particularly tiring day or on a normal work day in the middle of a normal work week, unless I had thought ahead and already boiled the pasta and prepared the tofu-cotta so all I had to do was combine everything.  The tofu-cotta was convincing enough that I am pretty sure you could feed this to a bunch of omnis and no one would know it wasn't "real" ricotta.

To be completely honest, though, here is the order of dinner's awesomeness:

2nd runner up - the baked ziti itself

1st runner up - the surprisingly tasty (and simple) side dish

Winner - squishing the tofu through my fingers until it was all coarsely crumbled.  That was really way more fun than I thought it would be and I probably enjoyed it a bit more than I should have.  Cheers!

these are some of my favorite things

Laughing 'til it pisses everybody off,
Pulling up my dress at a dinner meeting,
Kissing 'til my lips are ready to fall off,
Screaming all night, then just say I'm singing,
These are some of my favorite things.
 - Beth Hart - "Favorite Things"


It's a fabulous song, really - I earnestly encourage you to click the link and have a listen.

Anyway, sorry about the absence - things have been a little crazy here: upcoming life changes leading to deep, long, slightly tear-soaked conversations about the future and goals, getting trapped in a flood plain and taking 2 hours to get home from work, too much thinking, not enough writing.  Here's a quick synopsis:

Right before a long and somewhat stressful conversation about some changes coming up in the foreseeable future, Mister and I had a tasty dinner of Blessed Broccoli and Tofu StirFry from La Dolce Vegan.  It was so good, and the leftovers I had for lunch the next day, once resolutions had been reached and I was done freaking out, were even better.

Friday was a Bizarro Day but also exciting and stimulating.  Nevertheless, the end of the day couldn't come fast enough and I was more than happy to get out of work.  Unfortunately, this weird thing has been happening over the past few weeks - it waits until I'm about 10 minutes from leaving work and then the skies open up and pour rain.  That is what happened last night.  Fortunately, the nice young man who was trying to drive me to the train station also lives in Philadelphia and volunteered to take me to my actual home.  This was nice, since every single road we tried to take to the train station was flooded and emergency personnel wouldn't actually let us pass.  There were a few terrifying, fingers-crossed moments when we drove his tiny, low-to-the-ground Chrysler Crossfire through some pretty deep "puddles."

Adorable, sporty little car and if he ever gets tired of it (while it still works), I wouldn't mind taking it off his hands, but they are not built for inclement weather, much less the Apocalypse.  I haven't seen flooding that bad in years....since the last time it took me three and a half hours to get home from work.  Sorry to anyone who lives in PA and is reading this, but I have a deep-seated hatred for Montgomery County.  It loves to flood there.  I don't appreciate it.

Anyway, two and a half hours after leaving the building, I arrived safely home in Philadelphia with no desire to cook but very hungry.  Mister suggested Maoz for dinner and I was absolutely on board with a falafel salad.

Tonight, then, after successfully making it to and from lessons without washing away in the effusive sunlight, I came home and slow-cooked a nice hearty dinner: Tasty Tempeh TVP Chili, also from La Dolce Vegan.

If you don't think that looks hearty and savory and chewy and all the things a good chili should be.... check for a pulse, please.

We love Sarah Kramer's chili, but I haven't made this recipe in a while because Mister is allergic to tempeh and did not at all appreciate the time I made this with barley substituting for the tempeh.  This time around I used TVP and it made an incredible difference.  This may very well be our new favorite chili recipe and we ate every last morsel with the help of our Tostitos "spoons."  We also love (at least, our sometimes over-packed fridge loves) how all the recipes in La Dolce Vegan are the right size for our two-human-one-kitty family and there are rarely leftovers.  That was certainly the case tonight!

After dinner and dishes, I got down to my favorite part of the week - menu planning!  I might have a different favorite part of the upcoming week, but we'll get to that when it's time. For now, feast your eyes on this week's list of...well, feasts.

1. Pasta e Fagioli with Spinach from Appetite for Reduction.  Actually, although Maoz (and our 1-block proximity to it) is one favorite thing and the chili recipe is another favorite thing, I came up with the title of the post because this week's menu is a throw-back to a lot of my favorite recipes that I haven't made in a while.  Normally, when I plan my menu, I pull out a book or two and force myself to pick recipes from those two.  Tonight, I allowed myself the luxury of hopping throughout my cookbook collection if one recipe reminded me of another I'd rather make.  This is how this recipe came to be part of the menu - I was looking in The Urban Vegan and came upon her Pasta e Fagioli recipe, but I wanted to make this one instead.  So there you go.

2. Modular Pakistani Kima from The Urban Vegan.  This is a great recipe because I can pick a different combination of ingredients from her provided lists each time I make it.  I've made it a few times, but this time I'm using yet another configuration of ingredients - kale + TVP + peas + all the standard stuff.   This is a very pantry-friendly dish.

3. Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach, also from The Urban Vegan.  That's all I have to say about that for the moment.

4. Spicy Ragout of Vegetables and Tofu from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.

5. Jerk Seitan on Coconut Rice, both from Vegan with a Vengeance, and a recipe that I specifically sought out after something else reminded me of its amazingness.

6. Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes and Kalamata Tapenade, also from VwaV.  I had actually forgotten about this recipe (which seems like a statement that should get me hung) and only "rediscovered" it because I was flipping through the book looking for the Jerk Seitan recipe as well as the recipe for Sunny Blueberry-Corn Muffins, which I will be baking tomorrow to share with the nice young man who went way out of his way to get me home when SEPTA didn't feel like doing so (probably because their tracks were underwater, the trains are electric-powered, and the busses could cross the moat that was developing around my business center).

Anyway, I'm off to start writing a long-overdue letter....stay tuned for more fun and the revelation of Secret #2 shortly...

makes mouths happy

Mister loves mashed potatoes (well, potatoes in general, but he definitely loves mashed potatoes as a top three pick).  Actually, let me try that again:

Mister looooooooooves mashed potatoes.

He also loves broccoli and chickpeas and garlic.  It stands to reason, then, that Mister loved tonight's dinner: Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction.  Angst kind of liked it, too - he liked the little balls of "raw hummus" Mister kept giving him.

There's Mister's lunch tomorrow - one of the few times he will happily eat leftovers.  As he got up from the dinner table tonight, he proclaimed it one of the best dinners ever because it was made up of "so many favorite things!"  I must agree.  Also, in my own mindful eating of dinner, I made two discoveries - one sweet...the other less so.

I discovered the unbridled bliss of biting into a forkful of mashed potatoes to find a perfect chunk of roasted garlic inside.  Such a powerful flavor, especially because this particular chunk had a whole side that had been browned by the roasting, so it added a kind of darker, smoky aspect.

The second thing I discovered is actually more of a slow-dawning realization.  I do not have a "go to" mashed potatoes recipe.  I have recipes, and occasionally, I follow one - most of the time that is because it is directly linked to the other recipe I'm making and I feel bad making one without the other.  That was not the case tonight - tonight, I simply decided to serve the pile of roasted perfection on top of what I had hoped would be light, creamy mashed potatoes.

I have actually accomplished that, by the way - just wanted to clear that up.  I didn't quite get there tonight, though, which I'm choosing to blame on the lack of Earth Balance and soymilk for blending.  In their place, I added a fair sprinkling of kosher salt, a generous dab of olive oil, and a very rounded spoonful of hummus.  The hummus definitely helped and I can see myself using it again in that capacity, but what I'm getting to is this: I shop for my recipes, so if I have a recipe for something, I know exactly what to buy.  If I had made mashed potatoes from a recipe, I would have purchased soymilk and replenished the Earth Balance before it got down to the miserable little teaspoon currently hogging the whole tub.

Summer isn't a big time for mashed potatoes (or roasted things, for that matter), so I'm issuing myself a challenge this fall (which is creeping closer, believe it or not!).  This fall, I want to perfect my own awesome "go to" recipe for mashed potatoes so flavorful and creamy we'll forget any allegiance we ever paid to those [delightfully convenient] Country Crock mashed potatoes in a microwaveable tub.

I'm also hoping this will ward off the Baking Bug just long enough for me to protect my waistline through the winter months.  Except for two things that will probably interfere....

Celebrate Vegan, the new cookbook by Dynise Balcavage (The Urban Vegan), which I had the extraordinary fortune to be involved in through recipe-testing, will finally be released on October 18!

One short week later, Isa and Terry's new book, Vegan Pie in the Sky, will also be released on the unsuspecting public.

Stay tuned!  Every menu from now until Christmas will be made exclusively from Appetite for Reduction!


(j/k)

TGIF (PS: I'm lazy)

What a week for writing - I feel like I'm full of words but completely lacking in the energy to tackle the monster posts I want to write.  I'm hoping that at some point this weekend I can just settle in with a nice big cup of Blue Bottle Coffee and type my way to carpel-tunnel.  And as long as we're on the topic of how awesome it would be to post from Pure Fare with a hip cup of pour-over and a vegan pastry at the ready...who wants to buy me a MacBook Air?  Labor Day is coming - that's a gift giving holiday, right?  No?  Okay, fine - Mister's birthday is in a week and a half and when I was little, my parents used to give me a gift to open on my sister's birthday so I wouldn't feel left out.

You wouldn't want me to feel left out, would you?

So, back in RealityLand, it's quite fortunate that I have a bag of Blue Bottle beans in my cupboard and a whole weekend of errands ahead of me.  I'm presently eating my Trader Joe's belgian chocolate and drinking Apothic Red and doing my best to resist a nearly irrepressible urge to construct a To Do list for the weekend.  I'm also managing to avoid constructing my menu, which is kind of key to the To Do list phenomenon.  I will need to tackle that shortly - I've decided to embark on a predictable experiment: I am going to attempt to shop primarily at Trader Joe's for the month of August to see how much money I save.  According to last week's math, 1 bag at Trader Joe's equals 50% of a bag at Whole Foods, price-wise.  I regularly spend $50-$70 at Whole Foods for a week of groceries; I have not yet crested the $30 mark at TJs - it's kind of like living that question from the VeganMoFo survey every week.  The point is, unless I want to participate in a total PublicTransitFail, I need to know what I'm shopping for before I leave for lessons tomorrow, since I'll want to stop at TJs on my way home.

Before I leave you to go poke through my dust-defying cookbook collection and make this week's menu, let's talk briefly about dinner:  Orecchiette Con Broccoli from The Urban Vegan.  I made this at least once before because Mister (and I) like pasta and broccoli is a fun vegetable (my nephews and nieces call florets "little trees").  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in the outcome.  First things first, though - let's talk about my solution to the Miso Issue.

When I've made this before, I've always done my best to force the miso paste to blend with the hot, garlic-infused oil without the assistance of another liquid (or a rancid one...oops).  I even bought a special flat-whisk from Williams-Sonoma to help, but alas - miso paste has no interest in blending with hot oil.  This time around, I thought I'd be tricky (forgetting about that whole oil-and-water thing) and I blended the miso with hot water until it was pretty much dissolved into a thick liquid, then poured that into the hot oil to blend with my magical whisk.

As you can see, that worked out perfectly.

Nevertheless, it did seem at least a little easier to break up the big undissolved chunks of miso than it did when I didn't dissolve it in water first.

I don't know if I've ever made this 100% correctly, but I am in the habit of sauteing the broccoli in the infused oil and miso, rather than parboiling it before the pasta, then collecting it from boiling water to add to the saute pan while I cook the pasta.  Seems like too many (messy) steps to me and just sauteing it seems to work just fine anyway.  The only thing that troubles me is this: it seems like the broccoli immediately absorbs all the oil and any water I add to moisten the skillet, which is possibly the culprit for the complete and utter lack of flavor tonight's dinner had.

It's a shame - it was really quite beautiful.  The broccoli steam-sauteed to a beautiful shade of green without taking on an iota of the 15-minutes of garlic infusion that occurred just prior to the little trees being added to the pot.  I don't remember if it did that last time, but Mister and I both added salt at table, and that is only a semi-annual occurrence (not bad, since it's already August, actually).

Alright - I need to go plot my menu and grocery list for next week's meals.  Good thing the new issue of Vegetarian Times just arrived!

how low can you go?

[note: Blogger crapped out on me mid-post last night, so "Part I" will be last night's post, leading to "Part II" which is tonight's dinner adventures.  Look it as a bonus post!]

I have pretty low blood pressure.  I have since I was a young teenager.  The same way that some people (ahem, Mister) need to eat a certain way to manage their blood sugar levels, I sometimes have to eat to manage my blood pressure.  It's actually a fairly enviable position in which to find oneself - I fear, though, for the day Mister's family history of heart disease threatens our little family because we love salt.  Although I am good at enhancing the flavor of foods without adding salt, I would not be as happy a little chef if I couldn't add my precious Mediterranean Sea Salt to roasted vegetables.  In fact, my world might stop turning if I couldn't sprinkle roasting broccoli or asparagus or potatoes with this magical mixture.

I don't have any pictures because Mister and I were in quite a rush to eat (hungry, hungry hippos), but dinner really wasn't anything especially attractive tonight anyway.  I made Pasta Puttanesca from Vegan Express and roasted some broccoli with olive oil and the sea salt blend as a side dish (gotta get some green in there, right?).  For you to truly understand why I love this blend so much, I want to clarify that there are plenty of other flavor elements besides just the incredible chunks of sea salt that catch themselves in a floret to deliver a satisfying crunch when you bite down.  The ingredients on my blend are: sea salt (really?), garlic, basil, oregano, lemon peel, red bell pepper, and the ever ubiquitous "natural flavor."

Speaking of red bell peppers, I don't know what happened to the one I was supposed to slice for tonight's dinner!  I know I got one, but I'm wondering if I accidentally used it for a different recipe.  In any case, I ended up substituting my orange bell pepper for it and I don't think it mucked up the flavor too much.  The pasta was good, but not as good as I wanted it to be and not as incredibly tasty as the roasted broccoli.

Speaking of broccoli....  When I was at Trader Joe's, I saw a bag of broccoli florets for what looked like a pretty decent price - probably a better deal than anything but frozen.  I looked around a bit and discovered that I would get a lot more broccoli for my buck if I bought the convenient pre-cut bag of broccoli than if I got a couple of spears and spent all that time separating the little florets from one another.  Score one for convenience!

[Part II]

Ever since our "celebrity chefs" came to visit and put on a little show a couple of weeks ago, I've been craving chickpea burgers.  Chef Michael Solomonov (Zahav, etc), made turkey burgers, served on the burger thins I love.  They looked so much like chickpea burgers, I kept hoping that if I wished hard enough, they would be.  Alas, they remained little beige patties of ground-up birds, so I had to DIMyself.

I didn't take a picture of the burgers because a) they were not even close to as attractive as Chef Solomonov's turkey burgers and b) burgers just aren't all that exciting to photograph.  Even though the turkey burgers looked very tasty, I would not have whipped out my camera if I'd had it with me.  I might have just had a small inspiration, though.  We'll get back to that later.

Along with the Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties from Vegan on the Cheap I made the Middle Eastern Chopped Salad from Vegan Express.  This was most definitely worth photographing:

Local cucumber, tomatoes, and a yellow bell pepper came together to make a colorful and festive looking salad, sprinkled with fresh parsley and lemon juice, enriched with olive oil and oil-cured black olives.  I love cucumber-tomato salads dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.  I think I would have been happy to include some garlic as well, so I'll keep that in my mind for the next time I make this salad, but I will freely admit that I am sorry I've never made this before.  It's a lot of chopping, so between that and the made-from-scratch burgers, dinner took well over an hour to prepare, but it's nearly Friday, right?  A little sleep deprivation never hurt anyone, right?

stiiiilllll going...powered by smoothies & espresso

I'm not sure there are words strong enough to express my longing, yearning, pining even, for Friday.  Once I have safely made it to and through Friday, I have a glorious, much needed, and much deserved 3-day weekend.  I do mean 3 days, too - I'm not teaching on Saturday and I don't have to go back to Diet Land until Tuesday.  Nevertheless, powered by three things that are becoming steadfast favorites, I am powering on, pushing myself to endure every day that stands between me and Friday night.

What three things?

• Espresso (say what you want about Starbucks, but I will not apologize for my iced caramel americanos - they taste like iced heaven in a cup)
• More Italian food - old habits die hard, especially when I can't think of a terribly good reason to stop this addiction.
• Smoothies!  Tasty, frothy, drinkable nutrition!  If I got enough sleep at night, I could probably easily sub out a smoothie for my espresso.  But I don't get enough sleep.  I love you, Starbucks.

I really don't think anyone wants to read my Ode to Caffeine and besides, I am well aware that this is not a healthy way to go about life.  Like I said, I don't get enough sleep.  It's a long story.  I'm pretty sure any faithful readers are also growing quite weary of my pasta-worship, too, but let me just share for a moment before moving on to the "good stuff."

Last night, I finally made Italian-Style Rice Casserole from Vegan Italiano because I finally bought peas.  In the course of preparing it, I realized I was woefully short of carrots, a fact that did not truly "hit home" until I started to prepare dinner tonight.

I love this risotto-like dish.  I love it because it's hearty and creamy and fully of veggie goodness (the peas nearly outnumber the rice!) with a few spikes of salty mixed in from the chopped kalamatas.  I love that even though it's supposed to be a baked dish, it comes together stovetop in approximately 30 minutes - I think that is at least partially owed to my use of the not-so-indigenous-to-Italy Jasmine rice.  After a ton of pasta dishes, I was happy to let go of my Italian fetish with a rice dish.  Or so I thought.

Tonight, I started to get everything together for Naked Burritos, and then remembered that I used the last four pitiful carrots for dinner last night, leaving me no carrots for the burritos.  Stop asking yourself what kind of sick person puts carrots in burritos and follow me back down the path to Il Belpaese.

So, I opened up my little gold book of magic and started to assemble ingredients and found myself lacking a fairly important one, so I looked at my menu for a quick-cooking one, as my stomach was trying to eat itself, and decided upon a recipe from Appetite for Reduction.  Broccoli Con Pasta, to be precise.  I made Dynise's version of this recipe not long ago, but I think I prefer Isa's.  It has a hot little kick from the red pepper flakes which can be at least partially dimmed by balsamic vinegar and wine, or left to simmer on your tongue and lips a bit.  It also does not involve trying to dissolve miso in hot oil with a flat whisk.  It also fits into that wonderful and welcome category of Perfect Portions/no leftovers.

With my continuing tribute to Italy out of the way, we can get to the real fun: Smoothies.  A few weeks ago, I posted about my smoothie virginity.  At least one daring and caring soul stepped forward to help me overcome my scarcity of smoothies: Kelly from Living on the Vedge.  She offered to meet up with me for a smoothie date, which we did on Saturday and it was delightful.  Prior to our meeting, though, I decided to dabble a bit - test the chunky, fruit-filled waters, if you will.

I began my Smoothie Odyssey on my way to work one morning.  I had an unintentionally light breakfast, leaving me quite ravenous by the time I got to the train station.  As luck would have it, there is a delightful little corner joint right where the Gallery meets Market East.  I have stopped a few times in the past for one of their abundant and varied fruit salads.  I noticed they had fresh-pressed juices, so I thought maybe I'd give one a try, but as I drew closer, I noticed a smoothie menu.  I shrugged a little to myself, then smiled at the waiting countergirl and ordered the Pink Lady: banana, strawberry, and carrot, blended with ice.

isn't she pretty?

I tried to reserve my judgment a little as I had nothing, really, to which I could compare my pretty pink smoothie, but it was darn good.  There was enough ice to give it texture, and I'm pretty sure they used a frozen banana, too, but it was totally drinkable as well.  I can't deny I was a little bit attracted to the color, especially since I thought the carrot would make it a little more orange...kind of like the Pineapple-Carrot Smoothie I got at Pure Fare on Saturday (the prettiest little Judgment Day there ever was!):

However, lest you believe that was all carrot turning it that amazing shade of orange, I think it was more the orange juice than anything else.  It was a tasty smoothie, profuse with citrus flavor between the OJ and the pineapple.  It was obvious there was carrot, though, as the blender did not completely pulverize it, resulting in the occasional chunk lodging itself in either the straw or my teeth.  Hot, I know - it's a good thing I wasn't trying to charm Kelly with my good looks and graceful smoothie consumption.  It was very thick but there was a certain comfort to be derived from drinking something that was clearly whole fruits and vegetables only moments before.  Kelly sipped on the Detoxifying Green Juice - she had been in a few days earlier and fell in love.  I think I am destined to return and try the Kale-Apple Smoothie and the green juice...and possibly one of the brownies I was assured is vegan!

Finally, when I got my hair touched up a few weeks ago for BIL's wedding, I stopped into Cups & Chairs to pay a long-overdue visit.  I had my detox tea for the first time since I finished Mister's this winter and could have kicked myself for forgetting how refreshing and addicting they are.  While I was waiting, I glanced up at the newly revamped drink menu and noticed something I hadn't seen in the past (probably because it wasn't there): a Matchanana Smoothie.

I correctly assumed it was matcha and bananas, as well as some plain soymilk and ice.  I headed over to Salon Sugar with my detox tea, but returned the following morning for a Matchanana to sip on my way to work.  By the time I made it to the train station, I'd sipped through half of it.  It was okay, but a little strange - first of all, it was way more soymilk than anything else.  Since she used a fresh banana, it didn't really stand out the way the texture of a frozen banana would have.  The matcha added a unique grassy-green flavor, but overall, it was not outstanding.  It was kind of like green milk.  Which doesn't sound that good.  It wasn't bad, but I won't get it again.

I wanted to try a Starbucks (anyone surprised?) Vivanno Smoothie, but the whole focal point is a blend of fiber and whey protein they add to promote energy and satiety.  Considering whey is a milk protein, that kind of went out the window.  I have my smoothie-eyes open wider now, so if I find anything exceptional, I'll report back, but for now, I'm going to sign off and dream of kale-apple smoothies and maybe treat myself to another smoothie from the corner place at Market East tomorrow...if there's time and space after my SBUX run ;)

broke the streak

After three days of Italian meals, I finally pulled my tastebuds [temporarily] away from Europe and convinced myself to make one of the Asian-influenced meals I've been putting off for a week.  I made Better-Than-Takeout Tofu Stir-fry from Vegan on the Cheap and as always, it was delicious.

I will admit, I was having a little bit of trouble deciding between that and the other "leftover" recipe which shared the Asian theme.  Both required broccoli, and the two heads I had sitting in the crisper for a week were certainly the impetus to make one of these meals.  On the one hand, I had a red bell pepper that had been languishing in the crisper drawer just as long as the broccoli, and while peppers are slightly heartier than fragile broccoli blooms, I didn't want it to get all shrively and ugly.  On the other hand, I wanted to use my new toy and I knew I wouldn't have the patience to wait an hour for it to do its magic on a weeknight.

For my birthday (yes, the one in January that I didn't see my parents to celebrate until February...again), my dear mother got me something I've wanted for a while - Tofu Xpress.

I had kind of hoped it would speed up the pressing process a little more than it does, but I had to admit it was pretty cool how quickly the reservoir fills with water after you screw the compressor in place.  After an hour of pressing, there wasn't going to be too much more water squeezed out of my tofu and I was quite pleased with its texture.  It also seemed to get crispy on the outside a little faster, though that could have been my imagination.

I can see this little tool coming in quite handy in my culinary future, especially if I can teach Mister how to use it (which shouldn't be hard - you literally just put the block of tofu in the box and screw the top on) so the tofu can begin pressing while I'm on my way home from work.  However, this week we have a completely tofu-less menu.  I did decide to try to tire myself out of this incessant desire for Italian food, so everything on our menu this week (except the leftover Asian dish) caters to that flavor profile.

1. Rice Noodle Bowl with Broccoli and Bell Pepper from Vegetarian Times magazine.

2. Fusilli with Lentil Sauce from Vegan Italiano.  I hope no one's surprised this was the first book I grabbed when preparing the new menu...

3. Penne with Cannellini Beans and Escarole, also from Vegan Italiano.  I've almost made a bunch of recipes that list escarole among the ingredients, mainly because I've never tried this particular leafy green, but then I never end up doing so because I can never find escarole.  It's kind of like my Bok Choy Curse, but to my great delight, when I got to Whole Foods, there were a few heads of escarole hunkered down in their bin just waiting for me to discover them and take one home.

4. Italian-Style Rice Casserole, also from Vegan Italiano.  Don't worry!  I haven't lost my head - I have very little intention of actually baking this.  Since the recipe starts out simmering stovetop for half the cooktime, I'll probably just finish it stovetop, too, out of sheer laziness and the desire to eat dinner before midnight.

5. Pasta e Fagioli from Veganomicon, served with roasted asparagus.  I saw a recipe for Paste e Fagioli in Vegan Italiano, but decided to go with what I know.  I have a dozen recipes for this bean and pasta dish and this one reigns as chief (at the moment).  I didn't feel like discovering a new recipe - if it ain't broke, you know what they say.

6. Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction.  Again, I saw a recipe for Piccata in either Veganomicon or  Vegan Italiano, but remembered how phenomenal this recipe is, plus I already know I can serve this Piccata over mashed potatoes, and it's been a little while since I've mashed up some potatoes for my mister.

I should get to bed soon so I can start the new work week rested and rejuvenated by another fabulous weekend.  Unfortunately, I slept late today and my body has very little desire to return to unconsciousness just yet.  Fortunately, that means I'll probably bake cookies and may even craft my "bonus post."

everyone deserves a second chance

So, I really wasn't that thrilled with how last night's dinner came out, in case you couldn't tell.  By the time I got home from work today, amazed that Friday snuck up again so quickly, I was even less excited about tonight's dinner.

The plan was to make Chili and Polenta Casserole from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy, and although I've made it before, with some success, I just was not feeling it tonight.  In fact, when Mister asked me what I was making for dinner, my first impulse was to answer, "Reservations."

However, in this particular battle, FrugalMe won, so instead of doling out $12+ for a plate of pasta I know only cost $1 (tops) to make, I decided to get creative.  I issued myself the Basket Challenge.

my "basket"

I'm sure you can imagine we ended up with a mediterranean-themed dinner with those ingredients, but that was pretty much what I was going for anyway - that was what I had my tastebuds set on when I was searching urbanspoon for newly sprouted restaurants in Queen Village.  As I was gathering all of those items for their family photo, a plot started to hatch in my head.  So, hoping for a second chance to share with you a good recipe, as well as giving the canned tomatoes and beans, along with the polenta and nearly-freezer-burnt broccoli a second chance to be tasty, I made dinner.

Easy Vegetable Ragout on Mediterranean Polenta
4 servings

24 oz tube of prepared polenta
olive oil spray
Mediterranean sea salt blend (* I use McCormick brand)

2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 Tbsp dried organic basil
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth
14.5 oz can of Fire Roasted diced tomatoes
15 oz can kidney/cannellini beans
2 cups [frozen] broccoli florets

Open polenta over sink - a decent bit of water will squirt out when the plastic is pierced.  Unwrap and discard puckered ends.  Cut polenta into 12 equal rounds.  Spray a square skillet with olive oil and preheat on medium-high for at least one minute before adding polenta.  Cook polenta 12-15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes and re-spraying.  After the first flip (@ 5 minutes), sprinkle Mediterranean salt blend over polenta, then spray with oil.  After the second flip (@10 minutes), sprinkle this side of the polenta with the salt blend, spray with a bit more oil.  You'll flip it once more for a few minutes to make sure the salt blend "rubs in," so to speak.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute a minute or two, taking care not to burn it.  Add undrained tomatoes, vinegar, tomato paste, and basil; stir to combine.  Increase heat and bring to a lively simmer, then reduce to medium low and allow to simmer gently 2-3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup vegetable broth and broccoli florets; stir to combine, then cover and allow to simmer about 5 minutes, stirring once.  Add another 1/4 cup of broth with the beans if the ragout seems too dry, stirring well to mix into the tomato mixture. 

Once all ragout ingredients are in the pot, cover and simmer a minute or two more while removing polenta from the skillet.  Place three polenta rounds on each plate, then top each plate with a quarter of the ragout.  Serve immediately, with mixed meze olives and a spicy red wine (for example, a pinotage or superTuscan) for a light, yet flavorful meal.

Enjoy!  We certainly did - the polenta was the most flavorful I've ever made it, owed completely to the salt enhancing the other spices/herbs in the blend and being complemented by the tomato sauce.  The balsamic vinegar was a total afterthought, but I'm so glad I included it - you can pick it out in the final product - it adds just the right amount of oomph.  The tomatoes were also delightful - the sweetness of the organic basil really enhanced the flavor of the roasted tomatoes and the crunch of broccoli, soaked with semi-sweet sauce was a good addition.  In the future, I'll use cannellini beans because they are far creamier than kidney beans and I think that will take this dish completely over the edge into hedonism territory.

As always, if you decide to give this a whirl, please let me know what you think!

mutants do brunch

I have a serious yearning for dessert right now.  I think it's because I didn't have any at brunch today, but that's because we were all stuffed full of tasty things to consider shoving anything else into our stomachs.  Maybe once I post this, I can convince Mister to stop babbling about movies and actors and directors and how nothing "good" has come out in the past ten years, even though we can both name about 10 movies that have come out recently that we regret missing in the theater.

Mister and I have very different taste in movies, so very frequently we play the "I've never heard of that" "I can't believe you've never seen [insert movie title everyone else has seen here]!!!" game.  Both of these phrases are usually followed by my husband looking at me like I'm a mutant.  After years of holding out, I think we're finally going to get a Netflix subscription.  I mean, we do have a couch now...

Anyway, you don't want to hear about how I've never seen "Cape Fear" or "Gladiator" or "Scarface."  You want to hear about my super-duper brunch double-date.

First, let me say how disappointed I was to come home and realize I had forgotten to take my camera.  The presentation at Farmicia wasn't nearly as exquisite as that of Horizons, but you still knew your food was going to taste fantastic just by looking at it.  Additionally, the decor was fabulous - an amazing combination of "Are we really still in Center City?" and clean, modern design.  I thought it was adorable that the centerpiece at our table was a perfect green Granny Smith apple, settled snugly into a small periwinkle blue dish.  That's all.  That's all there needed to be.

I had a bit of trouble deciding on a brunch spot.  For years, there was no question - my parents would come down to Queen Village and we would walk over to Southwark because my friend owns it and because it's beautiful and has good food.  However, as my palate has changed and my attitude toward food adjusted, I find that their menu is quite limited, even for my egg-loving Mister.  You can't, for example, get an omelet with spinach and cheese.  You can get the specific omelet they are serving that day, and if it's mushrooms, cheddar, and bacon, well, we're SoL.  I think my breaking point came when the server explained that they could not substitute spinach for the bacon on Eggs Benedict...even though they had a spinach salad on the menu.

I put my question out to the twitterverse and Kelly from Living On the Vedge suggested Farmicia.  I checked out the menu.  "You had me at tofu." (as long as movies are on the mind...)  So, for the first time ever, I proved I was hip to the new technology and reserved a table through the website (yes, I know that's not new).  Thank heavens - the place was completely packed when we showed up for brunch today.  The menu is quite diverse and full of tasty non-animals for Mister and I, as well as the opposite for my dear parents.  I love how my mom requests a "place where Dad can get real eggs."  I don't think they're over last year's birthday brunch yet.

It didn't take me long to decide on the Scrambled Tofu with Vegan Chorizo.  It didn't take me long to realize I absolutely made the right choice.  I've never actually had chorizo, vegan or otherwise - I'll pause so you can look at me like I just grew another head - so that was different.  It was a fun dish with toothsome tofu, spicy crumbled "sausage", served with sopaipillas, on top of refried black beans, along with a taco-type situation involving tomatoes and huge chunks of avocado.  It was terrific - what a fabulous combination of flavors and textures, and for me, it was just the right amount of food.  I washed it down with a St. Germain cocktail (champagne, elderberry liquid, soda) and thought of how to convince Mister we should come here again and soon.

Turns out, it doesn't take much convincing as he quite enjoyed his Quesadilla with eggs, potatoes, cheese, and they even let him sub vegan chorizo for the "real thing."  Such flexibility!  It was quite a big quesadilla, so I'm not surprised he didn't have room for dessert...I wonder if there's room yet...

My mom got a huge pile of french toast that appeared to be covered in a healthy serving of applesauce, although the menu calls it cherry-apple compote.  It looked great and my father didn't mind helping her finish it, especially since his Brunch sandwich was not huge.  It appeared to be satisfying, but not huge.  We all greatly enjoyed our brunch, the atmosphere, and the time together, then my parents came back to check out the new apartment.

After they left I got to do my favorite thing ever - Grocery Shopping!  I'm kidding.  I did go grocery shopping, but doing so on a Sunday afternoon can be a harrowing experience at best.  Nevertheless, we needed ingredients for:

1. Salsa Rice and Red Beans from Vegan on the Cheap
2. Rice Island Casserole, also from Vegan on the Cheap
3. Pasta E Fagioli from Veganomicon (I think it's winning the battle for Most Favorite)
4. Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction
5. Curried Chickpeas and Greens, also from Appetite for Reduction
6. Pasta con Broccoli, also from Appetite for Reduction AND tonight's dinner.

When I got my groceries home and started putting them where they belong, I thought my huge haul of garlic was funny, so I took a picture of exactly how garlic-heavy this week's menu turned out to be:

I used nearly a whole head just for tonight's dinner.  I figured I was probably in a better mindset to thinly slice a quarter-cup of garlic than I might be during the week.  I also thought it would take longer than it did.  Note to self: As long as you use frozen broccoli (organic, of course), this is one of your quickest cooking meals.

It is also far more flavorful than it appears.

That kind of looks like a pile of naked linguine with unexpectedly verdant frozen broccoli, doesn't it?  So Wrong - the last step of the recipe involves adding the cooked pasta to the pot with the broccoli and broth-sauce and those little noodles slurp up an astonishing amount of flavor from that quick "saute."  This is quickly becoming a favorite in our home.

SuperIsa to the rescue!

I had truly intended to heat up leftovers for dinner tonight.  I wanted a quick dinner (because someone stayed up too late baking and eating and blogging) and we have a growing colony of Rubbermaid citizens in our fridge.  I guess there's always tomorrow, because I got my brain hooked on making Isa's Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce.

Although the pile of leftovers in my fridge worries me a little bit, the half-loaf of baked seitan from Sunday worried me more.  Since it's baked, it doesn't sit in some broth in an air-tight tupperware, it's merely wrapped in foil and being a lump on the shelf.  I wasn't sure exactly how long it would sit there peacefully before trying to rile some of the other leftovers into a coup d'etat, so I decided to cook him.

Thank heavens that isn't how we do politics.  "I didn't want any competition, so I ate him."

Anyway, this ended up being a pretty quick-cooking recipe after all, which was fortunate since Mister forgot he was hungry until I was halfway through prep.  Then his belly started grumbling and he helped set the table while I finished up mixing 500 ingredients together for the BBQ sauce.

A quick aside: there are fundamental differences in the way Mister and I set the table.  I set it the same on both sides - my napkin on my right, his napkin on his right.  You get the picture.  Mister puts both napkins on the same side, although that means my right and his left.  I almost always use bowls, since it seems easier to chase rice, bulgur, and/or pasta around a vessel with sloped sides.  Mister stubbornly sets the table with plates, no matter what I'm cooking.  Similarly, the only utensils in Mister's universe are forks, occasionally knives.  Spoons, I find necessary on an almost daily basis and Mister loathes, aside from their function as a coffee stirrer.

Fortunately, the mashed potatoes made an adequate base for the chewy chunks of seitan and the tender broccoli that magically sops up all the BBQ sauce the seitan left behind.  Mashed potatoes require no gravy when eaten in this way, but I must admit, my brain was already working out how to adjust the BBQ sauce to make a hearty, thick gravy for Thanksgiving (yes, I know it's more than half a year away, but I live for the time between Thanksgiving and New Years).

Once again, on so many levels, Isa was my hero.  So many things Mister loves all on one plate: mashed potatoes, broccoli, seitan in BBQ sauce.  So many things I love: quick cooking, savory with a little hint of sweetness, textural contradiction between the fluffy mashed 'taters and chewy, "meaty" seitan, as well as the crisp, clean bite of broccoli.  This dinner is a winner and will definitely find its way to our table again.  I'm just so glad I made it to thePPK.com!!!