Mushroom Lentil Loaf

I wanted to try my hand at a veggie "meat" loaf... I do love a hearty loaf, and I love the leftovers on a sandwich. I ran across this recipe, and since I love mushrooms, too, I started there. (Vegan dishes need that umami for deeper flavor, and I figured this one would be loaded with it.)

Of course I substituted the eggs for vegan chia "eggs," and the parmesan for "parmezano sprinkles," which I make up in large batches (I use raw cashews, however). Still, I found that while this loaf came out of the oven in loaf form and had great flavor, it was much too crumbly and fell apart. I made some adjustments, and came up with the following recipe - which includes cooked lentils, breadcrumb, and lots of (chia) binder to hold the whole thing together. I also squeezed out the mushrooms and the green veggies after cooking - the veggies stay juicy but don't add extra water). I was really happy with the results.

I recommend doing some of this ahead of time to ease the prep - the peppers can be roasted the day before, and the mushrooms cooked down and refrigerated. I also use my food processor on "pulse" to do all the chopping. I do them all separately, and add them to the mixing bowl as I go.

 Mushroom Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned, chopped semi-fine
• 3/4 cup nuts (cashews or walnuts work the best) pulsed small but not too fine
• 2 blackened green peppers, peeled, patted dry and chopped semi-fine  (see link for prep - I use a plastic bag to steam them before rinsing and peeling)
• About 1 1/2 cups green beans, asparagus, cooked down spinach, or any combination thereof, squeezed in a clean tea towel after cooling and pulsed semi-fine - I use frozen veggies and just microwave them
• Binder - about 1/2 cup chia or flax powder, added to 2 cups water, whisked, and refrigerated for 15 minutes or more (this is your "egg")
• About 1-2 cups cooked lentils - I followed the instructions and cooked a whole bag, putting the leftovers in the fridge - I'll tell you what I did with the leftovers later
• About 1/4 cup Parmezano Sprinkles
• Seasoning to taste - you can taste a vegan meatloaf mix as you go! I added salt and pepper, cumin, thyme, marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard (about a 1/2 teaspoon of each)
• 2 Tblesp. BBQ sauce
• 2 Tblesp. ketchup
• About 1-2 cups panko breadcrumb, seasoned or otherwise

Topping:

• About 1 cup ketchup
• about 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• about 1/2 cup brown sugar

So after you've given everything a good squeeze in a clean tea towel, pulsed it into the food processor and combined it, it's time to use your noodle. It's a "feel" thing. I leave the breadcrumb until last - then I add it until I feel the mixture is pasty, with enough body to be a little on the stiffer side. Your mixture shouldn't be soupy, and it shouldn't be so dry that you can construct a massive Devil's Tower out of it. Clear enough? You can mess quite a bit with the proportions, but try to make sure that the base is still mostly mushroom mix. This is what keeps it juicy, and less like a dense loaf of bread with ketchup on it, and more like an entrée.

I like to line my pan with aluminum foil, with some sticking out the sides to form handles to pull it out with after it has cooled. Then I spray the lining with nonstick spray.

Mix the topping in a separate bowl, and glaze that sucker. Next time I make this, I'm thinking of doing it in individual muffin tins, just to increase the surface area that will accept glaze. It's all about the glaze.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about an hour. If the top gets too brown, cover with more foil (mine doesn't). Shown here with purple cabbage...

Let it cool just a bit, then lift out with your foil handles, and unwrap fully.

Slice.

I like to put more ketchup on mine, because that's just how I do.

Great the next day, with, or course, more ketchup on a sandwich. Stay tuned for leftover lentil ideas.

Vegg Salad

One thing I've figured out quickly on a plant-based diet is that minimizing processed food is not only good for you, it is actually cheaper. I had my month or so with buying up fake cheese and fake frozen meats, only to realize that these manufactured substitutes are more expensive than the product they purport to be, and that they represent the processed food that I've tried so hard to stay away from. The idea behind "vibrant health" (as Morris Hicks calls it in his audio book that I'm currently enjoying, "Healthy Eating, Healthy Planet") isn't simply to eliminate meat - though many people make this choice for ethical reasons alone and subsist on Diet Coke and Fritos - but to eat whole foods (plants). The third point about manufactured vegan products (behind cost and less than optimal health benefit) is that a lot of it tastes like cow puckey.

For example, one of my first attempts was aimed at "fooling" Chris. In my mind, I would present the husband with a vegan lasagna roll, made with lots of gooey, store-bought vegan cheese. He would be amazed at the finished result, exclaiming, "I defy anyone to tell me that this isn't cheese!" He would be whole-heartedly won over to the vegan lifestyle! And then it came out of the oven! And look at it! Doesn't it look delicious?

What I got from Chris, instead, was the statement, "It tastes funky." Well, he was right. It wasn't all-out disgusting, just... Strange. The texture was close. The taste was even close. But it wasn't cheese. I decided to stop trying so hard to make things taste like meat or dairy. Because they aren't. Therefore, they are destined to fail. (And, Chris is no longer allowed to say things, like, "Well, it's good, but it doesn't taste like beef." No, it tastes like seitan. Which is tasty in its own right, if you give it a chance...)

So now, when I make lasagna rolls or pizza, I use some home-made "parmezano sprinkles," (though I like to use raw cashews in my mix) which have a delicious salty, nutty flavor and actually thicken pasta or sauce the way parmesan does - but I don't use a lot. I use tiny amounts of the fake cheese, but only a small amount, in combination with other ingredients. Then they are a reasonable stand-in, adding a little necessary creaminess or binding. But in place of an inch-deep layer of cheese like I used to have on my Lou Malnati's, I've learned to add more plants (such as spinach and garlic), to change the preparation method (roasting makes everything tastier), or to season things differently. I find that the food I'm eating now is more hearty and complex in flavor (no, seriously) instead of simply rich and decadent. Instead of the versions of some things that I used to love, I have different versions of most items now, which I also sincerely love (and love me back a bit more). And I love and even crave them in their own right.

There are a handful of products that I've been impressed with in this moderate to light use, even some that I like better than the original. One of these is Vegenaise, by "Follow Your Heart," which is a company that has my full respect. I've tried their vegan cheddar, and it's my favorite of the fakes. Vegenaise has and incredible, rich, full mayo flavor without eggs. I like it better than regular mayonnaise. I use it in what my brother named my "v-egg" salad. It's a great stand-in for egg or chicken salad. I like it on my favorite new bread, "Ezekiel 4:9" by Food for Life.

Vegg Salad Base

1 block tofu, pressed and crumbled *
2-6 Tblesp. Vegenaise
3-4 Tblesp. nutritional yeast flakes
2 stalks celery, diced small
2-3 Tblesp. fresh parsley, chopped fine
2-3 Tblesp. sliced almonds or chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp. ground mustard
1-2 tsp. celery salt
salt and pepper to taste

You really have to add the mayo slowly, and add more just until it holds together. Then just keep tasting. To this, you can create variations by adding things such as halved grapes, dried blueberries and rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted pignoli in place of the nuts, fresh dill, or just about anything you can think up that you like in chicken salad or egg salad.

I like it with a good amount of greens on the sandwich, but you can also have it in a pita, or a scoop atop a salad.

*Tofu has to have the water pressed out of it before using. I like to wrap mine in a clean tea towel and use one of these, but you can also wrap it and press it under something heavy for 20 minutes, like a cast iron dutch oven. Then crumble it with your fingers into a mixing bowl.

Salad Week: Steak and Gorgonzola

I'd like to wrap up "Salad Week" by first starting with a little love note to two things I use in all my tossed salads. The first is Romaine lettuce (vs. iceberg lettuce). It has such a high nutritional value compared with the much less useful iceberg, stays fresh in the fridge for a very long time, lots of flavor and plenty of crunch, too. My future kids will never know from iceberg lettuce, because Mommy doesn't like it. Look how pretty!



And the second item is my salad spinner. I use the OXO Good Grips spinner, which I got as a wedding gift. I hadn't registered for one, I just got it as an office gift with other salad supplies. Now I wonder, how did I ever live without this thing? I find it is the easiest way to clean the lettuce. Spin it up, and "Bob's your uncle." Never any gross water in the bottom of your salad. Lots of gadgets are unnecessary, I find, but this one is a must for me. (No one is paying me to say that, but they are certainly invited to do so.)



Anyhoo, this salad uses an inexpensive cut of meat, and for the life of me, I can't remember what it is. I just grabbed a sirloin-something-or-other that cost under $4, and looked fairly lean. Two very small steaks were plenty for two people (salad stretches meat nicely). You could also use leftover steak. I marinated this one in chili oil, olive oil, chopped garlic and soy sauce. Then I grilled it in my grill pan, let it rest a bit, and sliced it up. I used gorgonzola crumbles, red apple chunks, carrot shreds, (yes, I buy pre-sliced apples and shredded carrots, and it is totally worth it), pecans, and scallions.



For the dressing, I like something light to balance out the "manlier" flavors in this one. I love Paul Newman's raspberry and walnut vinaigrette (even though he hasn't given me a dime, either... and I thought he was into charity cases?)

Salad Week: Asian Salad

Here's another simple tossed salad, with some Asian-inspired flavors.



I marinated chicken breasts (pounded flat or purchased thin) in peanut oil and teriyaki sauce for about an hour. I grilled that, sliced it, and topped some mixed greens with it. I also added feta cheese, scallions, walnuts, and green apple chunks. For the dressing, I mixed a little sesame seed oil, olive oil (because the sesame seed is expensive, and you can taste it while not adding much), about two tablespoons soy sauce, and a chunky tablespoon of peanut butter. Whisk it all together, pour it on, and enjoy!

Salad Week: Chop Salad

Some folks call this one "garbage salad," but... ucchh. I can't cope with that. Let's never speak of the un-tasty name again. It's too pretty!



The great thing about a chop salad is that you can alter the ingredients easily according to what you have. Change the type of berry, add some cold pasta (like rotini or farfalle) to stretch your lettuce out (seriously), add croutons, use any kind of cheese, switch to beef, whatever. Check out the good stuff in this guy:

chopped Romaine
chopped turkey bacon
green onions
diced breaded chicken
diced avocado
pecans
strawberries
feta cheese

I just whisked up some balsamic vinaigrette (1 part vinegar to four parts olive oil) with lemon juice, Italian seasoning, pinch of salt & pepper and a little sugar to taste, but this would go with lots of different kinds of dressing.

Chop your heart out! (Eyw, that's worse than the other phrase...)

Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Well, hello dere!

I am officially back from hiatus. I am a bit over four months pregnant now, and mercifully over my nausea. I can look at food, and eat food (and now I can post about food). It is wonderful. For the last two weeks I have felt blessed every day.

I have a lot of photos to catch up on. I'm going back to Christmas, here! The organization is probably going to take me most of the day today. But we've moved to another town, and first I have to find the USB cord to my camera...

Well, here's one that was already in the hopper. Are you familiar with Amish Friendship Bread? Someone makes you a live yeast starter. They give you a bag with the dough starter and the live yeast in it, plus a set of instructions. Most days, the instruction is, "Mush up." Then you add some flour and sugar: once during the proliferation phase, and once again right before you bake.



The batter will bubble up in the bag, showing you that the yeast is growing. It just sits on the counter and does its thing. At the point of baking, you are to split the starter off into several new bags. Then you have some new starters to give to other people, and one to bake with yourself (that's why it's called friendship bread.) Who knows where these things actually got started, or how many times these little yeasties have gone around the country?

My friend Kira first made me the Amish friendship starter when I lived in Peoria... And I was too broke to buy a new bag of flour and sugar to actually make the bread, so sadly my little yeasties died unfufilled. I didn't see another starter for several years. You don't have to wait for someone to hand you a starter, however. Here are directions for creating your own starter. You can do this with packaged yeast. Just remember the cardinal rule of Amish bread (which as it turns out, is probably as Amish as I am): no metal spoons! No metal bowls! And no wire hangers! EVER!

Just be ready when you get into this. I last made this when my boss and his wife went out of town, and she trusted me to perpetuate her starters. They were gone long enough that I had to turn the starters over twice. That means shucking myself of six total starters, and making four loaves for myself. Finding "homes" for the starters is not always easy. I don't have a lot of friends who are into baking. I tried to give the first set to family members, and they were all like, "Ucchhhh..." The responsibility! You don't want to let the little microbes die, and then YOU have to find three people to give the starters away to. And a lot of people, it turns out, are not into having living things on their countertops. Several people I asked in my playgroup were convinced that bacteria was growing in there. My arguments that a proliferation of yeast suppressed any blooms of bacteria fell on dead ears. Folks don't realize that there is yeast in most any bread they are eating, either. You have to eat things that were once alive, people. Rocks are not an option.

Anyway, if you are successful in giving the starters away, I think it is worth it. The bread is very good! Here is the recipe I used:

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp.
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 c. oil (I used 1 cup applesauce instead)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large package instant pudding (any kind)
1/2 c. milk
optional: 1 c. raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips

I went for the chocolate pudding, and added chocolate chips and walnuts. I also used whole wheat flour (just at this last add: I didn't want to mess with the chemistry the other times in case there was less gluten in the wheat flour.)



You generously grease two loaf pans, combine 3 T. sugar and 1 T. of cinnamon, and dust the sides and bottom of the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, and you are done!



The bread was great toasted in the morning with a little light butter. I froze the second loaf until I was ready for it, and it worked very well.



My second time around, I used butterscotch pudding, and butterscotch chips instead of the chocolate version. It didn't have a butterscotch flavor, just very sweet. This one was good with pumpkin butter.



That one was tasty, but I think I preferred the chocolate. Good luck with your bread, and if you start a starter, you can always give one to me! Next time I get one of these, I may make all eight loaves, freeze them, and just share THOSE with my friends ("Or eat them myself," said the Little Red Hen...)

Pesto and Goat Cheese Pasta and Taters

I'm even more eager than before to sell our condo and get into a home, since our last trip to my in-laws home. As if the smallish kitchen wasn't motive enough, my "MIL," Wilma, had a bountiful crop of fresh herbs growin' like crazy in her backyard. She grows a lot of them in pots, so this would technically be possible for us, since we have a large balcony. However, it faces north, so while this is pleasant because the sun is never direct, it isn't great for growing summer herbs, since the sun is never direct. For now, I'll just have to settle for hacking into her large basil and tomato supply, and trucking them home with me.



Pesto is so simple to make with a food processor, and you can use lots of different things as your "base" -- such as artichoke hearts, spinach, or in this case, basil. Layer up your washed herbs, begin with just a drizzle of olive oil, and about a quarter cup of toasted pignolis (I reserve another quarter cup for later.) Add about three cloves garlic, a good shake of parmesan or romano, salt and pepper, a small shake of red pepper flakes, put the top on and give it a few pulses. Then, while whirring continuously, drizzle up to a half cup more extra-virgin olive oil through the opening. I don't measure, I just whir until it looks like the consistency I want. Then I add the juice of one lemon. Lastly, I add the remaining pignolis (pine nuts) and pulse a couple of times (I do this because I want some crunch, and I don't want all the pine nuts completely pulverized.)

Have you ever combined pasta and potatoes? You can, you know. I heated my leftover potatoes and squash, and in a separate pot I boiled whole-wheat pasta. Then I tossed in frozen artichoke hearts and green beans at the last moment, just until they thawed and heated. Then I strained the whole pot, and added the potatoes and squash, and the pesto. I also crumbled in some goat cheese, and added diced tomatoes to the top.



The dish was so rich and yet fresh all at the same time. The buttery cinnamon and coriander seasoning I had used lightly on the potatoes gave the dish such a depth and additional dimension, though I think just using plain boiled potatoes would have been very tasty, too. As another note, you can use toasted walnut pieces if you can't find pignolis.



The leftovers of this dish reheated very nicely, though they did not hang around for long!

Kira's Brownies

As promised, I made Kira's brownies the very next day after she posted about them in a comment (see Kira's blog on my blogroll: "Shovel-It-In.") She stated that she uses the "one bowl" brownie recipe on the back of the Baker's unsweetened chocolate box. She said she also adds extra chocolate morsels and macadamia nuts. I did the same, except I added half a bag of chocolate and peanut butter morsels that I had. And next time I will crush up the nuts a bit smaller, instead of just throwing them in the way I did. I was in a big hurry to get these things in my mouwf.

Well, the resulting recipe will go next to my cornbread as an Untouchable for all time. I don't think I'll ever make another brownie. The morsels melted all through the mix, and the top is crispy and the inside, when heated for ten seconds each time in the micro, is a fresh and chocolate-lava gooey as the day it was born. Wait, I hate the word "gooey." And yet that it what it is. God is it gooey, and dare I say the forbidden word? Moist?

Thank you Kira. You've changed my life yet again!

Marshall Field's Chicken Salad

When I worked downtown, we often went over to the greatest salad bar in the world: in the basement of Marshall Field's. (Now that Field's has been purchased by Macy's, I dunno if it is still there or not. I'm not downtown anymore, either. Nice thing I ripped off their chicken salad while the getting was good). This salad is fantastic! Here are the ingredients as I approximated them:

~ 2 cups canned chicken, or fresh shredded chicken
~ ½ cup dried or fresh blueberries (blackberries work, too)
fresh chopped rosemary to taste, or ground dried rosemary
~ ½ cup gorgonzola or bleu cheese crumbles
~ ½ cup pounded or ground walnuts or pecans
lemon juice, 1 or 2 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Drain or shred the chicken, and add as much of the other ingredients as you like. I don't often have fresh blueberries or rosemary, so I usually end up using dried blueberries from Costco and canned chicken (then this is a convenient "pantry" salad). I grind the dried rosemary in a coffee grinder that I use for spices, because the dried stuff tends to stick in your teeth. I add olive oil and mix until the salad is moist and hangs together (this can be up to ½ cup or so). The salad is rich and I usually have a scoop of it on a bed of mixed greens with a little dressing drizzled around the edges. I like Paul Newman's Raspberry and Walnut Light dressing.