"Shake Your Coconuts!"

{Please tell me you've heard of Junior Senior. If not, that's makes me a sad Jes}

You guys. YOU guys. You have to try this. Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has been good to me so far. Several recipes in there have attracted my eye (and stomach). The most recent was Coconut Rice. For reals, I die.

Coconut Rice

adapted from CMV by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, pg.176

1-13.2oz can coconut milk (her recipe calls for Light, but what I had in the cupboard was definitely NOT)

1 1/4 cups water

1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice

large pinch of salt

1 green onion, thinly sliced

(the recipe in CMV called for adding coconut extract and shredded unsweetened coconut flakes. I had the flakes but forgot them. Still tasty.)

Put the coconut milk, water, rice and salt in a medium sauce pan. I was thinking about using my ricecooker (maybe next time). Not sure how that would turn out. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and turn heat to low. Cook for about 35-40 minutes until the rice has sucked up the water. There will be some coco-floaties on the surface of the rice. Stir the rice and add the sliced green onions. Done!

I decided to serve mine with the following:

-a layer of fresh baby spinach

-topped by the coconut rice

-followed by some steamed broccoli, to which I added a touch of sesame oil halfway through steaming

-Spicy Ginger Black Beans (recipe follows)

-Sesame Seeds (not in the picture, added afterwards)

Spicy Ginger Black Beans

my own quick creation when I realized I wanted beans, too

1/2 can cooked black beans

1/2 tsp fresh ginger

healthy squeeze of sriracha

S & P

dash of garlic and onion powders and cumin

1 tsp soy sauce

Lightly mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, 30 seconds or until hot. Stir again.

What a good dinner to top off a long day.

Jes

The Miso and I

School began this week, and I found myself giddily hurrying home to cook (*sigh*, I should be hurrying home to start reading for class the following week, but somehow cooking my own meals has become pretty important to me as well).

Tuesday I made a hearty bowl of Miso Soup (adapted very loosely from the Miso and Adzuki Beans recipe in Vegetarian Times Healthy stuff issue). Instead of adzuki beans, I used a small portion of black beans from a pot I had cooked the week before. Also, I used fresh shitake mushrooms insted of dried, added my own veg stock instead of water, added carrots and double the green onions and toned down the dosage of miso.

I will admit, the first time I made a miso soup last February, I HATED THE CRAP OUT OF IT. I promptly dumped out the bowl of miso soup in the sink and swore it off, though pining for the feeling that I kept reading about from others. WTF?

Miso is said to be healing and good for you, but it definitely has a flavor only a mother would love, if you know what I mean. I bought some miso products from South River Co. in the hopes of a second chance encounter, and it worked out pretty well for all parties involved (the miso and I).

This was way yummy along with a wheat roll and homemade pickles on the side (sliced cucumbers added to leftover pickle brine...works really well!)

And then on Thursday, while The Hubs was in his litho class, I made some polenta cakes topped with a wonderful black bean and corn mixture.

The polenta was just one of those convenient tubes, cut into circles and pan fried. The beans mixture was 1 can of black beans (rinsed), 1 cup of frozen corn, mixed together in a small sauce pan. Then I added 3 TBS of homemade pasta sauce that I had in the fridge and some torn cilantro, smoked paprika, garlic powder and coriander. SUPER YUM.

And nothing beats making a meal to the Monsters of Folk on Austin City Limits that I had dvr'd :)

Jes

The Most Wonderfully-Wonderful Soup...

I am in food-love.

*heart* Chipotle Black Bean Soup

from Ripe From Around Here by jae steele *heart*

I was a little scared to add the chipotle peppers to the soup at first, but the peppers and the minced cilantro really made the soup for me.

For a drink--my cranberry syrup with seltzer. Sa-weet!

What a perfect winter supper.

Jes

"Loaded Bowl"--No, not that bowl...sheesh.

I promise some wonderful foods for tomorrow's post. Today is an interesting recipe from Clean Eating from like either Sept or Oct. They call it the "Loaded Bowl;" I call it DELICIOUS.

It's so easy! Cook quinoa per usual. While this is cooking, toss sliced mushrooms, black beans, and halved cherry tomatoes intp a large bowl. Once the quinoa is cooked and slightly cooled, mix it with the veggies in the bowl.

Then comes the dressing...

I think it's like 1 part white vinegar to 2 parts olive oil with salt, pepper, and I think I added minced garlic. This can either be food processed/blended to it turns out "creamy" or you can whisk it in a small bowl. If you choose to whisk, make sure your garlic is minced and not diced. Unless you like bites of bitter, strong garlic, just sayin'...

Plate the quinoa/veg mixture and drizzle a little vinaigrette over the top. Layer on some diced avocado (my favorite part!!!!!).

Yum, bloody yum.

Enjoy your Sunday, MoFo'ers. Tomorrow dawns a new week of stomach growl-inducing recipes!

Jes

Love Me Some Quesadillas

Yeah, and if you were me (you're not), you would have totally heard the word "quesadilla" in the Napoleon Dynamite voice in your head. I do still say "quesadilla" like that...6 years after the movie came out (?) Quirky.

Since it's one of Phil's 2 weeknights in class, it's just my big, ferocious dog and I (that's for you pervs who read this and think about breaking in, she'll bite your will to live). Maybe I'll make this into a new tradition this semester, like with our Peasant Supper Sundays, only lonelier and more boring...because I am WAY bored.

So, I whipped up some black bean refried beans, spread them on some tortillas, and ate them.

Now I'm stuffed and bored.

The black "refried" beans are nothing more than smooshed beans mixed with some seasonings, like S & P, cumin, garlic powder & onion powder (and a swish of water).

Throw in some raw onion and Daiya "cheese," and you're on your way to Yummy-town on the bean train.

In other news...

Our wedding has been moved from the former (and paid-for) location to the country! There's a scandal going on with the place, we found out our date had been double-booked (with one of Phil's acquaintances from childhood, weird!), and it was on the news (http://www.kwch.com/news/factfinder12/kwch-news-bh-gallery-one-nine,0,6165347.story).

So, instead, we're having the ceremony and reception at my maid of honor's parents' house in the country just south of where we live. They have a new utility building (with electricity!) that they are veeeeerrryyy generously letting us use. We're still working on a refund from the former location... Strangely, though, I haven't been very upset about it. I have not cried or broken down or felt any desperation. It's bizarre and totally like something I saw on Dateline, but it happened to us!

Jes

Say "Wha?" It's Quinoa!

Chewy, crunchy, yum-tastic, gorgeous-ity-of-a-grain...quinoa is divine. I wanted to make some for dinner tonight. Glad I did!

For those not yet exposed to this awesome, healthy grain, this is what it looks like:

Quinoa has a nutty flavor, though looks a tad funny when cooked. It's a complete protein, so the next time you wonder if vegans and vegetarians get enough protein, here you go.

I buy it from the bulk bins at the supermarket. If your neighborhood store doesn't have bulk grain and flour bins, Bob's Red Mill brand sells it. Here is an ad I found in the February 2010 issue of "Vegetarian Times" magazine:

I found a recipe on VegWeb.com, great site, and figured that since I had all the ingredients, well, I should probably try it out! Minor adjustments made, of course.

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=20724.0

1 tbsp Earth Balance veg butter

1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne

S&P

1/2 bag frozen corn (more or less)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

a few springs of green onions, garnish

Heat Earth Balance butter in pan. Saute onions first, then garlic (don't burn!!). Add quinoa to the same pan so it gets coated in butter. Add vegetable stock before the quinoa starts to burn. Bring to a boil, stirring. Drop temperature to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Liquid should almost be soaked up. Add frozen corn and black beans to quinoa and warm. Garnish with sliced green onions.

Probably took me about 30 minutes total between prep and cooking. Great as a side dish, but can be eaten as a main course.

TA-DA!!!! Pretty, no?

Jes