I Need to Tell You About Chickpea Cutlets

If there’s one question I’m tired of hearing, it’s “But where do you get your protein?” You vegetarians & vegans out there know what I’m talking about. Turns out, there’s LOTS of alternative sources of proteins, and not just the fake meats you find in the freezer aisle.

For example, here are the grams of protein in a cup of various vegan foods.

• Spinach, 5g
• Peas, 9g
• Quinoa, 9g
• Tofu, 11g
• Black beans, 15g
• Buckwheat, 24g

And there’s more, trust.

Being a vegetarian who eats vegan most of the time, I’ve learned to get creative and try new things. I’m amazed at some of the incredible, creative vegan recipes I’ve found online. One of my favorite sources is Post Punk Kitchen, from one of the authors of Veganomicon, which is a crazy awesome vegan cookbook that belongs on your shelf.

It is from this glorious text that I first learned about chickpea cutlets. These cutlets make me want to go door to door and evangelize.

Ok, perhaps that’s an exaggeration…but there are so many things I love about this recipe:

• It’s really easy to put together.
• It’s a unique, delicious way to get protein and consume one of my favorite kinds of beans.
• It’s easy to make a big batch to eat throughout the week. (Though I have been known to make a double batch only to eat most of it in one day.)
• The cutlets have a slightly chewy toothsome texture is really satisfying. (Yep, I just used the word toothsome. So what?)
• It’s versatile! You can dress these little cutlets anyway you want. They’re excellent with a vegetarian gravy or tossed in buffalo sauce.

You can find the recipe here on the Post Punk Kitchen website. I definitely encourage you to give it shot, whether you’re a vegetarian or not. Think of it as a little adventure.

A chickpea cutlet with some mashed butternut squash and baby broccoli splashed with vegan worcestershire sauce.

On a slightly different note, I’ve started some mindful eating strategies: trying to plate everything I eat, even it’s a snack, eating while sitting at a table with NO screens on (tv, phone, computer.) I’ve been following these rules faithfully for the most part, but I’ve definitely faltered. Today for example, I was so busy with work, for lunch I just took one of my extra chickpea cutlets out of the fridge and ate it cold while working on a project on my laptop. Then I washed it down with a few truffles from Christmas. That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid doing. However, it’s a journey and I’ll get better. I’ve been having the most success with these strategies for breakfast so far. It’s really nice to start off the day quiet, enjoying a meal slowly. I just need to continue that peace for the rest of the day.

Adios and may your meals be mindful!

P.S. I looked up the word “toothsome” and as I suspected, it’s peak use was around 1900.

Honey Blueberry Polenta

My immune system is terrible.  2014 barely begins and I get another cold when I just had one last month.  Granted, my roommate was sick and I had just hung out with a bunch of children as part of a volunteer event shortly before I started feeling off.  Luckily, it was nothing major.  Just annoying congestion and coughing.  I self-medicated with a lot of rest and liquids, including some tea that caught my eye at the grocery store.

Something else that made me feel better was getting a package of some things I left behind at my parents’ house.  Mom also sent some fun, random little extras including a tiny jar of some local honey and the cutest smiley face I’ve ever seen.  (And The Kite Runner, which I read all day on Sunday.  It was amazing.)

One morning the polar vortex had me craving something warm and comforting for breakfast but I was sick of oatmeal.  I had just bought polenta a few days ago for a dinner so I figured some grits would be a great partner for the honey Mom sent.  (Let’s be real…I just wanted an excuse to eat a lot of honey for breakfast.  Might have put it in my tea too…) Thus, the incredibly simple honey blueberry polenta was created.

1/4 cup polenta
3/4 cups of milk (I used coconut milk.)
Frozen or fresh blueberries
Honey

I brought the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.  I added the polenta and lowered the heat, stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes until it thickened and grits absorbed most of the milk.  Then I removed it from heat, added the blueberries with a stir, and let it rest for a couple minutes. (My frozen blueberries defrosted by just hanging out in there.) Finally I scooped some into a bowl and doused it in honey.  This probably makes about 2 small servings but for me it was one generous helping.

Just a note: In the pic above, I didn’t stir in the blueberries to make it prettier. ;)

What I’ve Been Cooking Up

A lot has changed since I last wrote.  Well, really one thing has changed but it’s a big thing:  I adopted a dog!  He’s retired racing greyhound named Dreamer, to be exact. I adopted him through a great organization called Greyhounds Only that rescues retired racers from tracks in Florida.  I had been thinking about adopting a dog for about a year; then I finally went to a Meet & Greet and fell in love with this guy.  It’s been 2 and a half months and I already can’t imagine life without him.  He’s a big sweetheart who just wants to nap and be friends with everyone.

I can’t believe that it’s already 2014.  What’s harder to believe is that I only wrote 2 blog posts last year.  When WordPress sent my 2013 stats and I read that, I was horrified.  I thought, how did I let this happen? I swear I cooked in 2013!

This jolted me to revive this blog as part of my 2014 resolution to get back into writing.  I’ve neglected my creative side too long, and this is the year to change that.

So as a little warm-up, here’s a few recipes that I’ve had on repeat the past few months, as well as a creation of my own:

 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancake for One from Food.com.  I went through a pancake phase, indulging myself in a different kind of pancake every Sunday, and it escalated to me finding a single-serving recipe I could quickly make during the week.  I just omitted all the optional ingredients in this recipe including the sugar and added chocolate chips.  It is really simple; I had the recipe memorized by my 3rd personal pancake breakfast.

Vegan Black-Bean Quesadillas from Love My Vegan Life.  This quesadilla recipe has chipotle hummus instead of cheese and, strangely enough, it’s an perfect substitute!  The hummus lends it the creaminess you’d get from the cheese so you don’t even miss it.  I didn’t have pre-made chipotle hummus so I pureed a couple of chipotle peppers in adobo with red pepper hummus.

 Tofu Popcorn “Chicken” from The Vedge.  This.  Just…this.  I made this quite a bit towards the end of 2013.  I never got it to look quite as “chicken-y” as she does in the blog, but I loved the flavor.  The coating is spot-on and when you have these the next day, they’re so close in texture (and almost taste!) to the animal version, it’s scary.  (I added a little hot sauce droplets to mine and dipped them in soy sauce.)

 

BBQ Seitan Stuffed Sweet Potato with Mojo-Marinated Kale from ME!  I love sauce.  When I wasn’t a vegetarian, I loved barbecue and wings so much simply because the meat was a receptacle for delicious tangy, spicy sauces.  Once I learned how to make my own seitan, it wasn’t long before I started dressing it up in my favorite sauces.

Making seitan is actually not too intense of a process.  I use Terry Romero’s recipe from Viva Vegan, my go-to cookbook, but there are countless recipes out there.  You can also just buy ready-made seitan at some grocery stores.  I try to have some loaves on hand to make throwing together recipes, like BBQ stuffed potatoes, very quick and easy.

First I poked holes in my sweet potato and put it in the microwave to “bake” it.  Then I heated a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and sauteed the seitan until it was browned.  Then I turned the heat off, added barbecue sauce, and sauteed it for a few more minutes so that the seitan absorbed some of the sauce.  Next I split open my sweet potato and used a fork to mash the insides up a bit.  Finally I stuffed the seitan inside the potato and swooned over the delicious smell of slightly caramelized bbq sauce.

The mojo-marinated kale is also easy if you have the pre-made marinade.  Mojo is a citrusy garlic marinade used in Cuban cooking, and you can sometimes find it in the Latin section of the grocery store.  While I’d prefer to make my own to control the salt content, I had Goya brand marinade in the fridge so I put it to use.  I heated a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat and then added some shredded kale.  I sauteed that for a couple minutes til it cooked down slightly.  Then I added a few splashes of mojo, put the heat on the lowest setting, covered the pot, and let it simmer for a few more minutes.  The citric bite of the marinade made kale way more exciting and tasty than I’ve ever experienced, and it seemed to pair well with the smoky bbq stuffed sweet potato.

…Now I realize that I haven’t really written a recipe.  Since this is something I just threw together a few times, I don’t quite have exact measurements to share; but I’ll definitely be eating this probably another 5 times, so I’ll be sure to update this blog sometime with an actual recipe.  Nevertheless, I hope it’ll inspire someone to do a culinary experiment of their own.  :)

Cheers to a new year!

 

 

Summertime for Vegetarians: Vegan Scrambler

Being a vegetarian in the summer is great.  Aside from having to avoid most of the traditional grilled fare at barbecues, nature’s bounty blesses our plates with fresh foods from bursting farmer’s markets.  Admittedly I haven’t been to the farmer’s market nearly as much as I would have liked this summer, but I did get the chance to go recently.  For this particular trip, I decided to run down to the market, which isn’t too far, but the sun was hot and the run was tortuous.  I picked up some  berries, small super-sweet tomatoes, kale, and something called garlic scapes, and I paid with a very damp $20 bill that I pulled from my armband.

First of all, I don’t know why I persist in buying kale when I don’t even like it that much.  Perhaps it’s because it seems uber trendy these days, but I do like that it lasts much longer in my fridge than any other greens, and I do like that it’s good for me.  So I keep buying it and I keep making kale chips or tossing it into whatever I can, such as a vegan scrambler!  (What a winning segue.)

Vegan scramblers, for those that don’t know, are scrambled “eggs” but it’s really scrambled tofu.  I never buy eggs and I’m not a fan of milk, so I usually eat vegan at home and vegetarian when I’m out.  Vegan in the sheets, vegetarian in the streets, if you will.  (This is actually pretty accurate considering the number of times I’ve eaten meals in my bed.)

Vegan scramblers sound a little odd but they are easy to make and really delicious.  It’s one of those “kitchen sink” dishes; whatever you got in your fridge, you can just chop it up and stick it in the scrambler.

This particular scrambler was tex-mex inspired.  I happened to have some vegan “soyrizo” so I cooked that in a little oil.  I chopped up the tomatoes, kale, and garlic scapes.  Garlic scapes were new to me before this dish, but they are essentially the green onions of garlic; they have a grassy, subtle garlic taste.  I added the garlic scapes and kale to the dish and sautéed with the soyrizo.

Then I added the crumbled tofu with a little water and some spices (turmeric for color, pepper, and this spicy mix from The Spice House called “Vulcan Fire Salt,” a mix of cayenne, salt, and various other fiery flavors.)  Finally I added the tomatoes and sautéed a minute or so longer, and then I served it to myself on a bed of blue corn tortilla chips.  I also happened to have some vegan cheese, which I don’t buy very often because it can be kind of weird, but sprinkled on top of this, it was amazing.  (not shown)

The sweet tomatoes were an interesting contrast to the spicy soyrizo and tofu and the subtle undercurrent of garlic brought it together.  It was so good I was compelled to make it again the very next day, and the pic below is of that scrambler.  I “forgot” to add kale to it that time.

Unfortunately summer is almost at an end but with fall comes a new prospects for the plate and an urge to buy school supplies.  Pumpkin butter and fresh notebooks, mmmm…can’t wait.

All the Small Things: Pupusas Stuffed w/ Vegan Chorizo & Platanos Maduros

Sometimes in a small moment, I wonder if I am creating a lasting memory.  I did this upon my first visit to Chicago almost two years ago, standing with my little brother in his first apartment kitchen eating slices of deep dish pizza from around the corner.  I asked myself, will I remember this years from now?

Yesterday I sat at my brother’s table sharing a giant cinnamon bun we got from Whole Foods because the frigid day gave us a craving for one and Ann Sather’s was closed.  We listened to a Nina Simone record and he taught me about Wong Kar Wai’s films and sure enough I turned inward at one point not only to remember that time in the kitchen, but also to wonder if my brain would randomly call upon this current moment sometime in the far future.

Because of this strange self-awareness, I inevitably make memories out of many small moments.  These moments don’t really have much significance.  There’s really no reason for me to remember that the post office clerk yesterday answered my question of “How are you doing today?” with the cool, smooth enthusiasm of an old jazz radio DJ. “I’m supercalifragilistic!” And how he bid me a farewell as if signing off his show. “Have a great day, a great weekend, and a Happy New Year.  I’ll see you on the flip-side.”

There’s no reason for me to remember that on my personal brunch at 3rd Coast Cafe today, while enjoying my coffee and magazines, my thoughts were interrupted by the punching and ringing of an old-fashioned register I hadn’t noticed before.

These are small moments with little significance, but pausing to ask myself if I will remember them, while makes me an observer of my own life for a second, forces me to appreciate the present.  And appreciation allows me to enjoy laid-back lovely weekends such as this one when I can just do whatever my whims call me to do without the pressure of what a fun weekend for a 20-something is supposed to be–whether that’s buying myself brunch and magazines, or making vegan chorizo and frying up the plantains that are finally ripe enough for maduros.

Because I’m trying to use up what’s in my fridge so I can start fresh for the new year, I had to get creative with dinner.  I fried ripe plantains in a little vegetable oil to make plátanos maduros and afterwards the vegan chorizo I made a couple days ago using Terry Romero‘s recipe from Viva Vegan.  Then I chopped it into smaller pieces and used them to stuff them into pupusas.

Pupusas, a traditional Salvadorean dish, are essentially fat corn tortillas stuffed with various fillings.  They’re simple to make since you just add water to Maseca (which is a maize flour you can usually find in the Latin foods section of the grocery store) until it forms a damp dough that you can shape into patties, stuff with whatever you want, and pan fry.  Shaping them is a little tricky, but this is a good step-by-step tutorial.

I haven’t made them in the traditional Salvadorean way quite yet; I have been opting to fill them with whatever I have on hand–in this case, chorizo and plantains!  Since I didn’t have the customary tomato salsa or slaw (curtido), I opted to blend a couple chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with a little vegan mayonnaise, slather it on top, and garnish them with some extra chorizo and plátanos maduros.

It wasn’t the healthiest of meals, but it was pretty delicious for an iron-cheffed dinner.  I also made some hot chocolate with a bar of Olive & Sinclair (a Nashville-based artisan chocolate company) for dessert, just to make extra damn certain that I would spend the rest of the night in food coma.  Highly effective.