Homemade peanut butter

Also from Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

Mix together 1 pound of peanut butter with 2-4 Tbsp of oil and some salt in the food processor until creamy. It takes awhile. Make it thinner than you think.

Store in fridge.

tortillas and slaw

I made homemade tortillas today- and it's so easy!
Recipe from Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. 

Supplemented it with a slaw:
- red cabbage, sliced thinly
- red onions, sliced thinly
- lime juice
- olive oil
- salt
- chipotle powder

Mix.

Made bean & cheese quesadillas with salsa, slaw, and avocado.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Pea Soup

My slow cooker is life changing. I've had it for a year and a half and used it twice to make meat for Brian. But I just learned that you can use it for plenty of vegetarian meals!

First up, pea soup:

Put in slow cooker:

bag of peas
6 cups of veggie broth
chopped carrots
chopped garlic
onions (optional)

Turn on and enjoy! 

Add before serving:
parsley & lemon juice


Based off this Whole Foods recipe: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1882

Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in Miso Broth

I've had the Veganomicon cookbook for a few years and hadn't used it too much, so I picked a recipe late week to make. This was pretty good, healthy and simple.  I used some sort of Chinese broccoli instead of kale and liked the peppery flavor it added. My friend Dave came over and had 2 bowls- so it was a success!

Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in Miso Broth

1/2 pound fresh udon noodles or dried udon noodles

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium sized red onion, sliced into thin half-moons

4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ginger, minced

2 tablespoons mirin (optional) - I subbed white wine and sugar

2 1/2 cups water

3 tablespoons miso 

4 cups chopped kale 

2 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce, or to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the udon according to the package directions, about 10 minutes. When done, drain and rinse with cool water until read to use.

Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion and mushrooms in the oil for 5 to 7 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and the onions are softened but still have some crunch. Add the garlic and ginger, and saute for another minute.

Add the mirin, water, and miso, and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and add kale. Toss the mixture around with tongs until the kale had wilted. Add the noodles and use a pasta spoon to stir them into the broth for about 2 minutes.

Divide the udon and vegetables among bowls and spoon some broth over each serving.

Green onion avocado dressing

Love, love, love this dressing! I've made it 3 times and now make it basically weekly in bulk. It's creamy and tangy. From 101 cookbooks:

Green Garlic Dressing:
2 stalks green garlic (or scallions), rinsed and chopped (~1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup / 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons ripe avocado
1 teaspoon honey, or to taste
fresh pepper to taste

Make the dressing by using a hand blender or food processor to puree the green garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, avocado, honey, and pepper until smooth. Taste, and adjust with more salt, or honey, or lemon juice.

Japanese Pickled Ginger

We had some ginger sitting around and, for no reason at all, decided this morning I should see if it was possible to make the pink pickled ginger that I love with sushi. And I think it worked! Luckily- it takes only a few ingredients, all of which I had at home.....

I scaled the below recipe down and just did it by eye. I used 1.5 knobs of ginger, a small amount of salt (you can see that it worked, the ginger became a darker yellow) and a small amount of rice vinegar and sugar- more like 1/4 cup of vinegar. 

Ingredients:

• 2 lb fresh young ginger (shin shoga) (note: I used normal ginger)
• 2 tsps salt
• 3 cups rice vinegar (I get mine at Trader Joes)
• 2 cups sugar

Preparation:

Wash young ginger root and rub off skin. Slice the ginger thinly and salt them. Leave salted ginger slices in a bowl for about one hour.

Dry the ginger slices with paper towels and put them in a sterilized, heat-resistant container/jar. Mix rice vinegar and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil. Pour the hot mixture of vinegar and sugar over the ginger slices.

Cool them. Pickled ginger changes its color to light pink. (If you are using old ginger, it might not turn pink naturally.) Cover the jar and store it in the refrigerator. 

Recipe source: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/sushiforbeginner/r/gari.htm

Fun with Fermentation: Kimchee & Saurkraut

Caro also passed on a kimchee recipe which was simple and delicious (and WAY cheaper than buying it at the store). The only recipe I hadn't made yet was the sauerkraut, and lo and behold Happy Girl was at the Maker Faire today and we made sauerkraut! Am done with the trifecta of fermented foods and am thinking of re-reading Wild Fermentation and starting on sourdough bread (now that I live in San Francisco, it seems required).

Kombucha recipe

My dear friend Caroline took a fermenting class at Happy Girl Kitchen in Oakland and gave me her recipes and the mother for the kombucha. I passed on some of the mother to two neighbors, one of whom came over with Meyer lemons from her garden (I love Palo Alto!) and told me about having kombucha as a kid in Russia. She said everyone made it and not to get too worried about getting sick or needing to use bottled water- dissuading my worries.

My first batch was great and took about 10 days. I'm on my second batch and a half (am using black tea) and recently read in a raw food cookbook that I can mix it with juice to make it taste more like the expensive ones I buy at Whole Foods.


Update- June 2015: We went to a kombucha bar- Urban Farm Fermentory- in Portland, Maine and tried some amazing kombuchas- apple, mint, ginger, blueberry, and knotweed (yes, Japanese knotweed- the weed we had growing in our backyard!) I asked the guy how they make theirs and the recipe is 2 parts black tea to 1 part green tea. For the ginger (my favorite), they press the ginger and add the ginger juice after the kombucha is made. Good to know.

Broccoli Soup

I made a version of this- but a bit different. Took leftover cooked broccoli with walnuts,  blended with veggie broth, nutmeg, salt, and half and half. 

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli
• 1 carrot, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups low-sodium veggie broth
• 1/2 cup cream
• Homemade Croutons, recipe follows

Directions

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color. Add stock and bring to boil.

Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. Pour in cream. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and then replace the lid back on the pot.

Irish Soda Bread

In honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow (and to bring to Kevin and Kristi's) I made some authentic (no raisins or sweetness) Irish soda bread (this was the most similar I could find to Chef Martin Breslin's recipe from FLP).

It better be good- I made 2 batches!

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons toasted wheat bran
• 3 tablespoons toasted wheat germ
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 cups (about) buttermilk 

Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl; mix well. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine meal. Stir in enough buttermilk to form soft dough. Transfer dough to prepared loaf pan. Bake until bread is dark brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Turn bread out onto rack. Turn right side up and cool on rack.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com:80/recipes/food/views/Brown-Soda-Bread-1916#ixzz1pKy4Qxws

Roasted paprika chickpeas

I used the recipe from 101 cookbook's Super Natural Cooking

• chickpeas (from scratch)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, to coat
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon hot or sweet paprika
• lemon zest
• rosemary & thyme

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drain and rinse chickpeas; dry well. 
2. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet; bake 10 min; toss; bake 8 min.
3. Mix olive oil with other ingredients in a large bowl
4. Toss with olive oil to coat. Bake 3-5 more minutes.

Next time I want to make these- we had them at Mark's house over New Year's a few years ago and I couldn't stop eating them: http://food52.com/recipes/3102_roasted_chickpeas_with_garlic_and_sage
 

Brian's Birthday Cake

For Brian's birthday..... he requested white cake and chocolate frosting. These were ok- I wouldn't use them again though.
 
White Cake

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch. 
   
   
   Chocolate Frosting

   Ingredients

   • 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
   • 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
   • 6 tablespoons butter
   • 5 tablespoons evaporated milk- substituted almond milk
   • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   Directions

   1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
   2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Chimichurri

I bought am amazing chimichurri at the farmers' market, but it was $7 so I wanted to make my own. My recipe is a hybrid of this and the ingredients on the label.  It's not perfect- but pretty damn close.

• 2 bunch flat leaf parsley 
• 1 bunch of cilantro 
• Handful of toasted almonds 
• 5 cloves garlic , minced
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 lemon wedge (juice of)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Pulse parsley and cilantro in processor to chop.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/chimichurri-21151#ixzz1mz7rm2bP

Easy brunch

We had the Stones over for brunch and made brunch in 30 minutes. The potatoes were delicious!
Menu:
pumpkin waffles
fruit
hash browns
scrambled eggs


Hash browns:
Dice russet potatoes (3) and one sweet potato. Cook in olive oil with garlic on large skillet.
Add garlic powder, montreal steak seasoning, salt, and chopped rosemary.

Butter cookies

I've made these three times in a month- amazing and simple.

• 8 ounces unsalted butter
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
2. Mix in the egg yolk until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
3. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
4. Scrape onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until the dough smooths out.
5. Turn onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log, wrap up and refrigerate for several hours or freeze.
6. Before baking, preheat the oven to 325°F.
7. Line your baking sheets with parchment.
8. Slice the dough into slices about 1/8" thick and place them on the sheets about an inch apart (they won't be spreading very much, but they need air room around each cookie).
9. Bake until JUST beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 16-18 minutes.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/worlds-best-butter-cookies-50684#ixzz1myeUbYWI

Rosemary oil (& popcorn)

I got Giada's first book out of the library- it's got a lot of simple recipes. Instead of just reading the cookbook, as is my tendency, I am going to make a few recipes. #1? Rosemary infused oil- to be used to pop popcorn and eaten with bread. Since we have HEDGES of rosemary in front of our house- this seemed perfect! I read the reviews and added a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Rosemary Infused Oil:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 5 to 6 fresh rosemary sprigs (each 5 inches long)

Combine the oil and rosemary in a heavy small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Transfer the sprigs to a 4-ounce bottle or cruet. Add the oil and seal the lid. Refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients for Popcorn

• 1 cup popcorn kernels
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Rosemary Infused Oil, recipe follows
• Salt

Directions

Stir the popcorn kernels and 1/2 cup of the oil in a heavy large pot. Cover and cook over medium heat until the kernels have popped, shaking the pot halfway through cooking, about 3 minutes. Immediately transfer the popcorn to a large serving bowl. Toss the popcorn with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with salt, to taste, and serve.

Tahini slaw

Using up old veggies......

- red cabbage, sliced
- extra shredded carrots
- shredded raw kale

Added a tahini dressing....
mixed tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and a bit of rice vinegar.

Healthy and delicious!

Veggie pasta

Penne with a sauce made of:

• olive oil
• garlic
• salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
• green onion
• cabbage
• shredded carrots
• kale
• capers
• olives
• parmesan
• lemon juice
• sunflower seeds

dried fruit

we've been using the dehydrator- with great success!
so far, we've made: persimmons, apples, asian pear, and lemons.

Hot and sour soup

Just made this b/c I had hot and sour soup at the Thai restaurant last night and just love it. Use about 1 or 2 tsp of the hot chile oil next time- it's very spicy!  

Hot and Sour Soup

From Veganomicon

• 1/2 ounce dried wood ear mushrooms
• 2 cups boiling water
• 8 leaves napa cabbage
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3 teaspoons Asian hot chile oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 1/2 cups thick-sliced white mushrooms
• 1 heaping arrowroot or cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 pound extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup scallions

Place the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl and pour boiling water over them so that they are submerged by a few inches.  Cover with a plate and let sit for 20 minutes.

To prepare the napa leaves, lay them on top of each other so that they're spooning.  Thinly slice across them widthwise.  Set aside.

Pour the vegetable broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot chile oil, sesame oil and white pepper into a soup pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once the broth is boiling, add the cabbage and the fresh mushrooms.  Cook until the cabbage is completely wilted, about 5 minutes.

The wood ears should be ready at this point, so remove them from the bowl, cut into bite-size pieces, and add them to the soup as well.

Mix the arrowroot with the water until dissolved.  Add to the soup and stir until just slightly thickened, a minute or two.  The soup isn't going to be very thick, just more cloudy than anything else.  But the starch gives the soup a little body.

Add the shredded carrots and tofu, and cook just until heated through, about 5 more minutes.  Ladle into bowls and garnish with scallions to serve.

White Bean Aioli

From Veganomicon- so good I had to make it twice in a row!

Ingredients

1. 1 (15 ounce) cans navy beans or 1 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans or 1 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
4. 3 pinches fresh ground black pepper
5. 1/4 cup olive oil
6. 6 garlic cloves, chopped

Directions

1. Combine the beans, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl to get everything.
2. Preheat a small pan over low heat.
3. Cook the garlic in the olive oil for about 3 minutes. (You want just to gently heat it, not brown it.).
4. Add the garlic and oil to the mixture in the blender and puree.
5. Taste for salt, pepper and lemon and adjust to your liking.
6. Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Grits and chickpeas with spinach

Grits- stir and cook for an hour with milk and cheese

Chickpeas with garlic, broth, spinach, and spices