One less turkey slaughtered

So my family strives to make a (mostly) vegan Thanksgiving every year. We've done the tofurkey thang, stuffed acorn squash, butternut squash risotto, seitan in wine sauce, etc. This year we used some recipes that I obtained from an American Cancer Society presentation that I attended a few weeks ago. The ACA recommends a, 'plant based,' diet-apparently using the term vegan is still a bit taboo. The chef who led the demonstration also works at Millennium (heaven) in SF.

We started with Sopa Verde-a pureed creation of tasty kale, tomatillos, pumpkin seeds, cilantro, parsley, potato, etc.

A close-up of the main course, Gnocchi made of masa, chunks of roasted butternut squash and kidney beans. The brown speckles you see- homemade pecan sausage. You have not lived until you have had this pecan sausage. My mom kept exclaiming, "it tastes just like sausage!" You won't be missing your protein with this dish-nuts, beans, corn, go crazy.

How it all came together. We always have homemade cranberry sauce and added some spinach sauteed with garlic for more color. My mom also made sweet potato ravioli that I passed on because she could not guarantee that the won ton wrappers were egg-free and had thrown out the package. The gnocchi mixture was served on a pool of homemade mole sauce. Unfortunately I did not get a good pic of the mole sauce but it was my first mole ever and I feel like a new woman.

Dessert. Recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. These were a hit two years ago so I decided to give them an encore performance and because they are very simple to make but most impressive.

Vegan Potato and Leek Soup

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts washed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2-3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves

1. Heat a 4-quart soup pot over medium heat and add the oil.
2. Add the leeks, onion, and sea salt and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent.
3. Add the garlic and stir well. Cook for 1 minute more.
4. Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 20 minutes.
5. Remove the soup from the heat and use an immersion/stick blender to blend the soup in the pot or ladle the soup into a blender, 1 cup at a time. Blend the soup with the fresh rosemary leaves until smooth and free of chunks. Pour smooth soup into a heat-proof bowl and continue until all of the soup has been blended.
6. Transfer the blended soup back to the original soup pot and warm over low heat until heated through. Serve hot.

Serves 4 - 6.

November 2009: Dishes Inspired by Books

On Saturday Cooking Club headed to Sacramento to Tina’s fabulously beautiful new home! And what a charming neighborhood. We all loved it!

For this installment of CC everyone choose a favorite book of theirs as inspiration for a dish. And since we all love reading and eating, it was the perfect theme. People were really creative. Let's go take a look……….
I’m first on the block with drinks. My inspiration came from James Frey’s controversial book A Million Little Pieces. I thought adult beverages would be fitting for this book. And after doing some research to find the perfect drink, I (with the help of Bonnie) found something called Donkey Punch. See here for the recipe. I thought the inspiration for this drink was fitting for James. I then took the symbolism a little further and garnished the drinks with rock sugar candy sticks. Get it people? While the drink would be more fitting on a tropical beach, I heard no complaints.
Michele drew inspiration from the book Geek Love and did Chicken Wings and Veggie Toasts as an appetizer. As always Michele did not disappoint, I could have ate 50 of those chicken wings.

Janet, the girl who loves all things ‘wrong’ and reality, went sensitive on us and went with two of her favorite childrens books – Harriet the Spy and The Trumpet of the Swan. I do have to admit that after hearing about this Swan that hangs out in New York and orders watercress sandwiches from his hotel room, sounds like a pretty cool swan. Going to have to read this book soon. Therefore, Janet prepared pretty little Watercress Sandwiches. She also prepared Tomato Sandwiches inspired from the book Harriet the Spy.
Christina went with the ever popular Harry Potter Series and prepared a British inspired Potato and Leek Soup. And it appears that Bonnie is the only Cooking Club member that has never picked up a Harry Potter book.
Bonnie drew inspiration for her Sherpard’s Pie form the hilarioulsy funny book Bridget Jones's Diary. She even quoted two instances where Bridget talks about Sherpard’s Pie in the book. Her vegan friendly dish was a perferct Fall dish. Yum.
Tina prepared a wonderfully rich and hearty Greek Lamb Stew inspired by the Pulitzer Prize winning book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Everyone there who read this book agreed that it’s a wonderfully complex book worth the read.
And finishing up with dessert, Heidi prepared an incredible German Style Cheese Cake drawing her inspiration from the book The Other Boleyn Girl. Heidi had read that one of Anne Boleyn’s favorite desserts was cheese cake. Super yum. She also prepared a vegan pumpkin pie. Yum again!
It was a great CC filled with wonderful food and talk about some of our favorite reads. The two mixed really well together. Great theme!

Donkey Punch

Ingredients:

3 parts Orange juice
2 parts Ginger ale
1 part Pineapple juice
1 part Light rum (Bacardi)
1/4 part Grenadine

Mixing instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a punchbowl and float orange slices on top.

Creator/contributor's comments:

Favorite punch of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The name originates from the fact that when drunken everybody becomes stupider than a jackass!

October 2009: 6 Year Anniversary

Six years we have been at this. Six fun filled years of cooking, eating, drinking, talking, laughing and making fun of Bonnie. Some have left and some will hopefully be back. Others have joined. And we keep going strong, with more ideas and endless possibilities for our little cooking club. I’m still holding out for Oprah and maybe even an exotic getaway cooking club one year. Italy girls? One can dream.

In honor of our happy anniversary and keeping with tradition, we opted to dine out for the big day in the big city.

We went to RN74 for dinner. We were all excited to try the award winning chef Michael Mina’s new restaurant in SF. The atmosphere was simple and elegant. I liked the touches of red.

Cheers to us.

For firsts, we started out with the Slow Roasted Beet salad........
Prawns........
Ravioli's. We also ordered the Hamachi Sashimi, not pictured.

For seconds, a couple of us had the Halibut.

Some had the Grilled Prime Beef.
Janet had the Sea Scallops.
And here is what Bonnie had. Chickpeas and Romano Beans. This is why we make fun of her. Here are the Chickpeas with some sausage for the table. Much better.
We talked. Told funny stories.
And of course, had dessert.
Walnut Bread Pudding.
Warm Pumkin Beignets. We also got the Frozen Chocolate Souffle, no picutre of this one.
We had a wonderful time and it was great that we almost had everyone together. We were missing Hiedi.

While we had a great time, I think the consensus was that the meal left us a little underwhelmed. The food was good, nothing really impressed us all that much. Especially with this being a Mina restaurant. I think most of us agreed that we would probably not go back. The service was also sub par. And that was too bad.

Girls, please leave a commet for your take.

After dinner some of us headed out for drinks at a new bar/club - Eve. Where they made a very tasty French 75. Ashley, also had a great drink. We encounter strange service here as well.

As always it was great time.

Happy Anniversary, Cooking Club!

More Deliciousness...

CSA Box #3!

I lucked out this time with a bag of mixed potatoes and immediately thought of potato salad. Unfortunately, I realized that I had run out of veganaise at the last minute. I scraped what was left from the jar and then mashed the potatoes a little to make the salad a little creamier and it worked.

I decided to roast the fingerling potatoes and some peppers for brunch alongside a Mexican tofu scramble. I also roasted some Anaheim chilies and corn and threw those in along with tomatoes, tortillas,and garlic.
Here's a cute sandwich with yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, basil, and homemade white bean hummus. See the dish of watermelon in the back? That came in box #2. Try eating an entire watermelon by yourself. Practically impossible so part of the melon was donated to the Fantasy Football Draft. Also-I advise against transporting watermelons unsecured in your car. Mine rolled off the backseat onto the floor of the car and split in half. Next time the sucker is wearing a seat belt.



This stew was both easy and delicious. I searched through my cookbooks looking for a way to use up the collard greens from CSA box #3. I found a stew in Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and substituted butternut squash for sweet potatoes along with a few other ingredients and was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. I leave you with the recipe:




Spicy White Bean and Butternut Squash Stew with Collards
1 TBSPN olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
i small butternut squash, chopped
1 fresh hot chili (I used a jalapeno)
1 TSPN fresh peeled, grated ginger
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with their juices (I used a bunch of fresh ripe tomatoes)
3 cups of cooked white beans
1 TSPN light brown sugar
1/2 TSPN allspice
1/4 TSPN cumin
2 bay leaves
3 cups vegetable stock
salt & pepper
2 cups chopped collard greens, cooked in simmering water until tender & drained

1. Saute the onion, garlic, & pepper in the olive oil for 5 minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to your slow cooker. Add the squash, chili, ginger, tomatoes, beans, sugar, allspice, cumin, bay leaves, & stock; season with salt & pepper, cover, and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

3. Close to serving time, stir in the cooked collard greens. Taste, adjust seasonings, remove bay leaves, and serve.

Community Supported Agriculture-CSA-Delicious

See that? That deliciousness? Not only does is taste pretty damn good but it makes you feel good. Let me explain.

I work for Solano County and because we are the largest employer in Solano County we have a wellness program. Every year the wellness program makes this deal with the local farmers in the area to provide Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes to Solano County's employees beginning in July and ending sometime in October. We pay a few months in advance so they know how much to plant and then the boxes are delivered directly to our office for pick-up.

Now some people at work are dumbfounded by the produce box and ask me ridiculous questions such as what if you don't like what they give you? What if they give you stuff that you don't use because you're cooking something else that week? Don't you think that is a lot of money just for some fruit & vegetables?

People-it's the challenge that I love. I've never met a vegetable I didn't appreciate (mushrooms-albeit the kind that will get you in jail-not my fav. but they do still hold a special place in my heart). Eating a wide variety of natural foods work to not only get you all the nutrients and vitamins you need, but it adds some nice variety to your plate. And think about all the $$$ you put into getting your hair done, your vacations, sand for your kid's sandbox that won't give her cancer. Shouldn't you be spending a little extra money on what goes into your body?

Look forward to a few more posts over the next few weeks about what came in my box and what I decided to do with it. Oh-and before I go, here's the no-bean hummus recipe so Angela will get off my back:

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

• 2 cups zucchini chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon parsley-fresh
• 1/3 sundried tomatoes chopped
• pinch of paprika

Food process everything except the sun dried tomatoes. put chopped tomatoes in bowl and stir in mixture. Drizzle with olive oil right before serving along with a pinch of paprika.

Baba Ganoush

• 1 large or 2 medium sized eggplants
• 2 large garlic cloves, slices
• 1/3 cup tahini
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 TBSPN olive oil
• salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. make several deep cuts in the eggplant and place the garlic slices inside. Place on baking sheet & bake until soft, about 40 minutes until the skin is easy to peel off.

2. Transfer eggplant flesh & garlic to a food processor. Add the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, & salt to taste and process until smooth.

3. I added parsley but the recipe calls for mint which is better. Sprinkle herbs on top and serve at room temperature.

July 2009: Summer Celebration

Thanks to Heidi's parents for offering up their beautiful back-yard we were able to have this month's CC here! A summer celebration - poolside.
Annmarie made an appearance and enjoyed the pool. However, she also proved to be a handful. I love her to pieces, but it may be awhile before she makes another appearance.
Simon of course was a little angel.
Tina (pictured above) provided the drinks as seen in this picture below. The drinks were served in very fine Thomas the Train plastic cups. Keeping it safe for the pool. Not sure if the drink had a name, but I saw that they contained, strawberries, pineapple, champagne, and club soda. They were delish! And AM looks very confused.
Bonnie made an awesome no bean hummus recipe. She ensured us that she will post the recipe to the blog. I think we all agreed that we will be making this one for ourselves. Great for your next dinner party. And her portion size was more than sufficient.
I made a citrus, orzo and arugula salad.
Heidi provided the main dish; these wonderful grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs.....
and tofu ones too!
And finally, Michele made these awesome chocolate, toffee and macadamia nut cookies. Yum!
As always a wonderful cooking club day!

Ubuntu

For my recent dining experience at Ubuntu with Bonnie see this post over at Jams' House!

Japanese Tofu Salad

INGREDIENTS:

1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (sweetened rice wine)
2 teaspoons sesame oil, or to taste
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Place tofu between two plates, and weigh down with a heavy book. Allow tofu to drain for 1 hour, pouring out the expelled liquid every 20 minutes.
Whisk together the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat, stir in the garlic and ginger, and gently cook until lightly golden; stir into the soy sauce mixture.
Cut tofu into bite-sized pieces, and toss together with the tomato, onion, and cilantro. Pour in the dressing and toss to coat. Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Recipe: Tapenade and Tzatziki

I was very happy with the tapenade and would defiantly make this again. However, the tzatziki was a little to thin. It was still good, but I would have preferred the texture to be a little thicker. Trader Joe's has an awesome tzatziki, so I never felt inspired to make it, but this is cooking club and we all try to do something different. Here are the recipes. For the tzatziki, I think draining some of the water from the yogurt would have helped. I tried to get as much water out of the cucumbers as I could, as the recipe instructed. I may try it again, but probably just keep getting the Trader Joe's version.
Artichoke Tapenade

-1 14-ounce can artichoke bottoms, drained and rinsed well
-3 tablespoon green olives
-5 tablespoons kalamata olives
-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
-2 tablespoons fresh parsley
-1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1 clove garlic, crushed
-1 teaspoon lemon juice

Put all ingredients except lemon juice into food processor. Process, stopping to scrape down sides a couple of times, until everything is finely chopped. Taste and add lemon or lime juice, if needed. Refrigerate and allow flavors to blend for at least an hour before serving. (It's even better if you let it rest overnight and bring to room temperature before eating.)

Tzatziki

(Makes about 3 1/2 cups. You can cut the recipe in half)

-3 cups Greek Yogurt
-juice of one lemon (about 3 T)

-1 garlic clove, chopped
-2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
-about 1 T kosher salt for salting cucumbers
-1 T finely chopped fresh dill
-Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds. (If you use the small seedless or European cucumbers with few seeds, you can skip this step.) Dice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle on 1 T salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel.

In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. (This resting time is very important.)

This will keep for a few days or more in the refrigerator, but you will need to drain off any water and stir each time you use it.

May 2009: Dream Destinations

For cooking club this month Cristina selected different countries that she would like to visit and we cooked something from that country. It was a colorful mixture of dishes and we enjoyed a little something inspired by five different countries.

But, before we start with the dishes everyone contributed. Look who joined us at CC. Yes, that's right, Simon made his first CC appearance. He is simply irresistible and such a good baby. And Michele is a natural Mom.

On with the food.

To start Angela selected Greece and made two spreads - A tzatziki and a artichoke tapenade served with pita bread.
Christina made a refreshing Japan inspired tofu salad.
Michele made a healthy Russian green borscht. She called it peasant food, but if this is peasant food, peasants are eating pretty good.
Ashley selected Italy and prepared a delicious manicotti.
And Heidi prepared a delightful pavlova inspired by Australia.
Another successful cooking club and the drive to Dixon for us Bay Area folk went by pretty fast when there is good company in the car.