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.

Hooray for Hummus!

One thing I get asked a lot, particularly from my carnivorous friends and family, is how I find the time to cook the things I cook.

This question always kind of leaves me without an answer. I guess, like most things, we make time for the things that are important to us. For me, it's cooking, creating, and avoiding highly processed foods. There's a kind of satisfaction to be found in watching all these yummy ingredients come together, don't you think? And it seems to me that cooking from scratch really doesn't take any time at all, certainly about as long as it would take for pizza delivery or to heat up a frozen lasagna. All in all, I would say I never spend more than about 40 minutes making dinner. Less time than it takes to watch Grey's Anatomy :)

So today: hummus! I almost feel silly posting such a simple recipe, because most people I know make their own hummus as well. But maybe someone will find it useful?

This is my basic recipe. From here you can get all kinds of crazy, trying different ingredients like roasted bell peppers, spices or herbs...the sky's the limit!

A note on tahini--I didn't always use it in my recipe, so if you don't have it, don't worry about it. Just add a little extra olive oil for texture.

1 cup garbanzo beans (canned or sprouted)
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp tahini
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic (more if you like it SPICY!)
a big bunch of parsley or cilantro
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix it all up in the food processor. You can adjust liquid to make it more creamy or more chunky. Enjoy on crackers, with veggies, your favorite sammie or, my husband's favorite: on rice cakes (and usually for breakfast).

Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes and Dill

Okay, I'll admit. I'm not a fan of hot tomatoes, outside of the usual pureed variety (and neither is anyone else in this house). So imagine my husband's surprise when I whipped out this little beauty at dinner. Simple, vegan and oh-my-god delicious. I was somehow channeling my memories of ratatouille I think, a meal that my husband decidedly did NOT like (we'll have to agree to disagree there...) But this version was a success, by all accounts.

Ingredients

1 onion, sliced into half moons
4 zucchini, sliced in cirlces
1 tomato, sliced
3 tbsp dill
3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for oiling pan
salt
pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. celery leaves, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Oil a casserole dish and line the bottom with the onion slices. Next, layer the zucchini and the tomato on top, alternating them as you go. Top with the celery and parsley.

Whisk the olive oil, garlic and dill in a small bowl and drizzle on top of the vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Teriyaki Portabella Burgers

A few years ago my friend made some fantastic portabellas that still make my mouth water today. I haven't had much success in the past with them, until now. The key is to marinate them prior to cooking, and not to overcook! Who knew?

Ingredients:
big portabellas, one for each person
teriyaki marinade or sauce
olive oil
1 Tbsp. finely shredded ginger
Your favorite fixin's for burgers

Marinate the portabellas in a healthy mix of olive oil and teriyaki sauce (with the ginger) for about 30 minutes. Then oil a frying pan (I used a cast iron one) and saute until the bellas are carmelized on top, about 2 minutes or so. Don't overcook and don't push them down (they'll break, as you can see by my photo below).

Then flip and repeat on the other side. Top with your favorite burger toppings and you're good to go!

Tortilla Soup

I've been living off of tortilla soup for three days, it's that good. So I finally decided to stop procrastinating and post the recipe already. Here it is:

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 bag frozen corn, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can chopped green chilis (or 3 fresh chilis, roasted and chopped)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 box veggie broth
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the corn until charred around the edges, then add in the onion and bell pepper, cook until soft. Add in the spices and saute another minute or so, to release the full flavor of the spices. Combine the rest of the ingredients and cook until bubbling. Serve over fresh tortilla chips and top with sour cream, cheese, a slice of lime, chopped avocado, cilantro and hot sauce. Or skip dairy and have it vegan!

Irish Nachos

A teensy  (hey I said teensy!)  bit better for you than traditional nachos, this "Irish" version is made with potato slices and then topped with traditional nacho toppings. It tastes almost like an exploded baked potato supreme from heaven.

To make the potatoes:
 Slice 4-6 potatoes thinly and place in a single layer on 1 or 2 oiled baking sheets.
Bake at 425 for 12 minutes, then flip. Bake another 12 minutes or so, then remove from heat and pile them up onto one baking sheet.

Top with cheese, beans, chilis and bake until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Remove them from the oven and finish by topping with salsa, sour cream and/or guacamole!

Seitan from Scratch and Seitan Guinness Stew

Just in time for St. Patty's day!

Seitan is a "vegan meat" made from flour and water.

To make, mix 4 cups whole grain flour with 1.5 cups water, to make a ball of dough. Let rest for 30 minutes or more.

Then place the dough in a collander, with a bowl underneath it and rinse with water until the water runs clear. What is left is the vital wheat gluten.
From here, boil the seitan in a bit of veggie stock and spices until cooked through, about an hour.

Use some as you would any other meat, saute, stew, etc.

Guinness Stew
3 each, carrots and stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
1-2 bottles of Guinness, depending on taste
1.5 cups broth
2 tbsp. steak sauce or soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. thyme or mixed seasoning

Saute seitan in olive oil until browned. Add in steak sauce or soy sauce and turn to coat. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, saute celery, carrot, potato, onion, garlic for about 5 minutes. Combine the rest of the ingredients (sans seitan) and stir. Add in seitan and simmer until thickened, about 45 minutes.