White Bean and Kale Soup (Vegan)

The rain has finally arrived, albeit a bit late in the year. This has been the driest year in California history, and while I can't say I've been hating all the sunshine, the drought is a real concern. And I really do love the rain. It's the perfect time to stay all day in jammies, eat soup, make tea and listen to the earth be renewed.

We also spent the week celebrating my middle son's 10th birthday and I'm feeling a little sick of party food, pizza and cupcakes. This was a nice dinner to bring my family back to their senses.My kids enjoyed this one, the 12 year old had 3 servings!

This bean and kale soup is very simple and quick to make. The bell pepper added towards the end adds a bright and peppery flavor to the soup.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Better than Boullion (veggie flavor)
6 cups of water
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 bag of frozen peas and carrots
1 cup of cooked white beans
2 cups of kale


Saute the onion and celery in a large saucepan until translucent. Add in the garlic and bay leaf and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add in the boullion, rosemary and water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Then add in the rest of the ingredients, bring back to a boil. Simmer until peas and carrots are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove the rosemary stem and bay leaf prior to serving. Enjoy with a crusty loaf of bread, for dipping.

Macaroni and Cheese with Crunchy Kale Topping

 

My husband's childhood friend recently cooked dinner for us and his family ( He also happens to be a chef, so we usually let him do the cooking when he comes over). He likes to do it, and we reap the benefits of a delicious meal with good friends.

 

Though he made a different pasta dish, I watched him top it with kale and breadcrumbs and I was, I admit, skeptical. I would have stirred the kale into the whole mix, and I was picturing  the kale turning into a soggy, sloppy mess.

 

Well. Don't question the chef! He pulled it out and the kale was crunchy and salty and delicious. Just like the kale chips we all know and love. He made kale chip casserole.  This dish is inspired by his.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 package of pasta, cooked and drained

1 onion, diced

2 cups of cheese

1.5-2 cups of kale, torn into bite sized pieces

2 cups of milk

1 tbsp oil or butter

1 tbsp flour

salt and pepper to taste

breadcrumbs

 

Place your cooked pasta in a large casserole dish. Meanwhile, saute the onion until soft, and stir into the pasta.

In a small sauce pan, heat the oil. Stir the flour into the oil quickly and brown slightly, but do not burn. Add the milk and whisk continuously until hot. Whisk in the cheese and stir until melted. Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and salt and pepper to taste.

 

Top the pasta with a sprinkle of cheese, the kale and breadcrumbs and a dash more salt. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake another 8 minutes.

 

 

 

Kale and Red Pepper Tartine

Tartine is a just a fancy way of saying "open faced sandwich." I was so excited about this dish, and it really stood up to my expectations. I'm already thinking of a thousand ways to vary it: with roasted eggplant, or fresh tomato, or maybe artichoke hearts. Goat cheese gives it a tangy bite and the better the bread, the better the taste of this little sandwich.

These little sandwiches are served on toasted bread, best paired with the hearty, seedy type (of bread, not person).

Ingredients:

6 slices of toasted whole-grain baguette
herbed goat cheese
roasted red bell pepper, drained and sliced
3 cups kale
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt

Saute the kale, garlic and red pepper flakes in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil until wilted.

Top the toasts with a layer of goat cheese, followed by bell pepper and then finally top it all of with the kale mixture.

Vegan Kale "Yummy Bowls" with Red Pepper Miso and Garlic Tahini.

Choose your favorite grain, bean and vegetables and make your own yummy bowl!

Ingredients
Bowl:
1.5 cups of grain, such as rice, quinoa, bulgur or couscous
2.5 cups water or broth
1 onion, chopped
1 cup mixed vegetables of your choice ( I used green beans and yellow squash)
1/2 cup beans, such as garbanzo, black bean, or lentil
2 tbsp miso paste


Combine all of the ingredients except the miso in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all of the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and stir in 2 tbsp Red Pepper Miso paste such as:

Tahini Sauce:
Meanwhile, in a food processor combine: 1/2 cup tahini, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. Blend until smooth.

Next assemble your bowl: ladle the grain and bean mixture into your bowl. Top with steamed kale, tahini sauce and a shake or two of hot chili oil. You might try this one:

Enjoy!

Apple Fauxsages, Roasted Veggies and Herbed Kale with Grilled Onion and Shrooms

As usually happens, I go through several ideas before settling on what to make for dinner every night. If I'm lucky I have an idea to start with. Today I was going  to make enchiladas, but lo and behold: no tortillas! But in the process of looking for a recipe for those doomed enchiladas, I stumbled across a recipe for apple faux-sausage and just so happened to have everything on hand! I've made wheat-meat before, but never sausages. It turns out this was fairly simple, quite yummy and cheaper than the store bought versions!

The recipe itself is pretty simple but do give yourself an hour or so, as they take some time to cook!

Apple Fauxsages

1/2 cup pinto beans
1 cup cold broth
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 small apple, diced finely
1.5 cups wheat gluten
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp steak seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce

Mash the beans in a large bowl and add all of the other ingredients. Mix well. Then divide the dough into 6 parts and place on a square of foil, molding into little sausage shapes. Wrap the log up in foil, twisting at the ends. Steam for 45 minutes, or until firm. Then unwrap and grill or brown the sausages in a pan.

The sides: Roasted Beets and Acorn Squash

My husband has never had cooked beets before, so I decided to roast up a few and see how the natives liked it. The results: 3 out of 5 thought it was "YUM!" The other 2 are decidedly not fans of this deep red root vegetable. Me? I'm definately a die hard beet lover!

3 beets
1 acorn squash
olive oil
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the tops of of your beets and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile:

 Slice the acorn squash in half and brush with olive oil. Salt and pepper the inside of the acorn squash. After the beets have cooked for 20 minutes, place the acorn squash face down on the cookie sheet and cook them all (beets and acorn squash) for about 35 minutes. (So about an hour for the beets total, while the acorn squash only cook for 1/2 that.)

Next: The Kale

My husand is slowly becoming a kale-aholic. Neither of us were raised eating cooked greens and maybe this has helped in some way, since we never developed an aversion to them as children.

1/2 onion, diced
about 6 mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, chopped
3 cups kale
1 handful of fresh herbs

Saute the onion and mushrooms until browned, then toss in the kale, garlic and herbs and continue to cook until desired done-ness (We like our greens slightly less-cooked than traditional, but preference is key here!)

And the plate:

Vegetable Tamale Pie and Garlicky Kale

Today's recipe comes in two versions for your culinary pleasure: one vegetarian, and one vegan.

I recently was a guest at a dinner that served tamale pie. It looked so good, and I've been wanting to make one for so long, that I finally got off my keester and began to look up recipes. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!

I guess there is some tamale war out there in blogosphere, on how exactly to make the right tamale pie. Do you put the masa on the bottom? The top? Bottom and top? Do you use corn flour, masa, or polenta? Not being the purist, I tend to cook with what I have on hand. So I'm offering my recipe as I made it, with notes on other options you might try.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups masa flour (or polenta, or corn flour, but skip baking powder if using polenta)
1.5 tbsp fat (butter, vegetable oil, etc)
1 cup water or stock
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp each cumin and chili powder

Mix this all up until blended. It should be thick like play-doh, not runny. Press into the bottom of an 8x8 or 9x9 pan.

For the middle:
2 cups cooked pinto or black beans
1 15 ounce can of diced or stewed tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup of salsa or green sauce
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup of sauteed onion and zucchini, corn, peppers...whatever you have on hand!

In a large bowl mix and roughly smash (not too much!) the above ingredients. Spread this on top of your masa in the pan.


For the topping:
Vegetarian: 1-2 cups of cheese
Vegan: Another layer of masa! Make up another batch and spread or drop it by the tablespoon on top of the filling.

Bake at 375 until the middle is bubbly and the masa is set, about 20-30 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

While it's cooling, make your Garlicky Cumin-Scented Kale:
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 cups kale, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 tsp cumin

Heat some olive oil in a pot, and saute your garlic and spices for about 1 minute, or until they are fragrant. Add in your kale and toss to coat. Put a lid on the pot and cook until your kale is as desired. For crisper greens, cook just a few minutes, or longer for more tender greens.

Serve with chopped green onions and salsa.