Quiche!!

VEGAN Quiche, to be exact.

{why yes, I do believe I'll have a slice, er...I mean two!}

That's right! You don't need yucky chicken periods to have a good slice of quiche. I haven't eaten quiche in years but had a hankering lately.

And it's quiche with asparagus and green onions. Fabulous! Somehow, I don't imagine I'm the only one who laughs at asparagus pee...still, not as cool as magenta-beet pee.

This recipe is in Ripe From Around Here by jae steele (my go-to cookbook for several dishes now).

{quichie-goodness}

I think I cut it while it was still pretty warm, so it didn't hold together as well as it should have, but it tasted awesome. I'm going to check some out (re: eat more!) later at home. A round in the fridge probably did the job. If not, I might blend in some flour with the tofu mixture next time. Also had to settle for a pre-made piecrust (no eggs or dairy), but it'd be sweet to make my own next time. Non-veg pie crusts were the bane of my existence back in my high school "Practical Living" class (because aren't we all practically living?).

Pretty tasty! jae steele, you're my homegirl.

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

Stir-fry Tofu

Realizing I haven't posted anything food-related in a week or so, I thought I'd throw this tid bit out there.

Last night I made Stir-fry Tofu from Vegetarian Times Healing Foods special edition (minus the ground cloves, yuck. I had to get clove oil-soaked cloth stuffed into my dry sockets last March when I had my wisdom teeth removed. That's the last time I knowingly ingest that gross stuff, unless it's in a baked good.)

{pressing the tofu. really need a tofu xpress}

{green onions are my fave}

But the tofu was superb. I got it on sale at the supermarket (Nasoya brand) for $1.29 or something when it wasn't supposed to expire until 2/2/11. {yeah, weird} Also got to use some of the yummy Barley Miso that I just got from South River Co. Making hummus later this week with the sesame tahini I bought as well!

Jes

Seitan Said to...

After the failure of my post yesterday, I vowed to reclaim past glory. So, I made The Hubs take the pics tonight :) At least he remembers to use the memory card. Right.

He also did most of the cooking tonight. This is one of those special meals we get to eat together: Seitan Teriyaki Stir-fry.

The Hubs cooks the seitan until it like starts to almost burn to the pan, and scrapes up the bits when he deglazes the pan with sauce. It turns a light brown seitan into a jewel of a color, deep and rich, tasty and substantial.

I eat mine with loads of veggies, usually green bell pepper and onion. This time we tried out a carrot on the new mandoline (using the hand guard! I still have nightmares after seeing the cut hand last week on the MoFo board. DID YOU SEE THAT? HOLY SMOKES!!). Served over light jasmine rice and topped with sesame seeds and green onions.

I have a MoFo Tribute in mind for sometime soon. I'm really going to miss it...

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