First In-vitro Baby Mac 'n' Cheeze

Louise Joy Brown was the first human to be born following IVF. One of the two doctors who developed IVF (and won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for it last year) attended Louise's wedding in 2004. (Can I get an "aw.") To my great surprise, Albino Luciani (who would soon after become Pope John Paul I) "expressed concerns about the possibility that artificial insemination could lead to women being used as 'baby factories,' but also refused to condemn the parents of the child" (Wiki). Part of me wants to advocate for adoption over IVF, and another (stronger) part wants to tell that part to shut up and stop universalizing. Giving birth is an awesome (in the formal sense) experience. I recently listened to a new mother describe how birth was singularly painful yet mostly manageable because it's purposive and purposeful. It's transformative and creative in a way no other physiological pain is because it doesn't signal that something is terribly wrong.

Something that is unequivocally right: this meal! Well, not unequivocally; I'd use only 1/2-3/4 of a package of Daiya next time. And maybe heat the kale at a somewhat lower temperature. 425F?

Prep time: approx. 45 min.

Servings: approx. 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. macaroni

1 c. nutritional yeast

2/3 c. vegetable broth

1 1/3 c. water

1 spoonful tahini

1 spoonful Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

ground sea salt

ground black pepper

1 lb. soft silken tofu

1 package Daiya mozzarella

1/4 avocado, sliced

3 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

1/2 bundle of kale (4-7 stalks), leaves torn

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook the macaroni.

2. In a smallish pot over medium-high heat, stir half the nutritional yeast, tahini, and mustard into the water, broth, and lemon juice. Add lots of salt and pepper.

3. After the sauce has been boiling for a few minutes, reduce to medium heat and let reduce. Stir in the rest of the yeast. Reduce heat to a minimum once the sauce is approx. half the original volume.

4. Preheat the oven to 500F. On a baking sheet or shallow pan, toss kale leaves with some olive oil or Earth Balance spread. Bake for approx. 8 min. (I wasn't paying attention, though, so don't take my word for it) or until kale is crispy but not burnt.

5. When the macaroni is cooked, drain and pour into a casserole tray. With your hands, mash the tofu up with the macaroni. Pour the cheeze sauce over it and top with Daiya, then stir everything together. Bake for 5 min.

6. Top with avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, and Cholula hot sauce.

Flavor Flav Spaghetti

Flavor Flav was born the same year as my dad. That's really funny for some reason. I'm not gonna post "Cold Lampin' with Flavor" or anything, y'all can seek that out if you want it.

This pasta was pretty good. I like the contrast between soft pasta and snappy vegetables, but you could always bake the veggies first. I meant to put in some black olives but forgot. You should use more onions if you've got em, too.

makes approx. 3-4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. rice bran spaghetti

2 small red onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 beet, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 large parsnip, peeled and diced

1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes

5 oz. Vegan Gourmet mozarella

salt and pepper, to taste

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

3/4 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. rosemary

1/2 tsp. parsley

red wine vinegar

oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Boil the pasta for 2 min., then let sit, covered, for 20 min.

2. Sauté the onion in a pan with some oil. Add the garlic, followed by the beets. As you finish dicing the carrot and parsnip, toss those in.

3. Drizzle red wine vinegar over the vegetables, sprinkle salt and pepper. Turn up the heat a bit and let cook for a while.

4. Pour in the diced tomatoes with a little bit of water. Add the seasonings. Simmer for a while.

5. Cut the block of cheese into cubes and mix in.

From "Chips" in Reg Johanson's Courage, My Love:

& the letter from MasterCard: "We are unable to process your application due to derogatory information obtained from the Credit Bureau". / somebody's been talking shit about me / nobody appreciates a class traitor any more

Temporary Insanity Pizza

According to Wikipedia, on this day in 1859 NY Congressman Daniel E. Sickles won the first acquittal of murder on grounds of temporary insanity in US legal history. What a legacy.

This was my first attempt at pizza: spinach, bok choy, and walnut "parmesan." I was happy with it, but I really need a rolling pin. This crust would have worked better if I'd gotten it thinner. I sort of used this recipe from a site confused about exactly what veganism is.

makes approx. 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 c. flour

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. brown rice syrup

3/4 c. water

1 medium white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bok choy, leaves sliced in thirds

6 oz. spinach

1 15-oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. rosemary

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. salt

splash red wine vinegar

oil

1/2 c. walnuts, halved

1/2 c. yeast flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.

2. Sauté onion in a pan with oil over medium heat. After a few minutes, add garlic. Couple minutes later, toss in spinach. Cover the pan while you slice the bok choy.

3. Lower heat and add bok choy with a little bit of red wine vinegar; cover pan. Once the bok choy begins to turn bright, uncover and add the canned tomatoes and seasoning. Let simmer.

4. Do up the bread dough. Knead until it holds together, then press into a pan that's been greased and floured. Bake 20 min.

5. While the dough is baking, pulse the walnuts in a blender until rendered into a fine dust. Add in yeast flakes and pulse a couple more times, then stir.

6. Remove dough from oven, top with sauce and "parmesan." Bake for another 10 min.

According to Kafka's diaries, "Sisyphus was a bachelor."

Franco Bifo Berardi, What is the meaning of autonomy today?

Blaine Act Pasta with Cheezy Sauce and Spinach

Prohibition ended in the US with the passage of the Blaine Act 78 years ago. That's cool I guess. Alcohol companies are still nasty, just haven't yet buckled down to learn homebrewing.

If you're looking for something quick, pasta with cheezy sauce is always a good idea. With some green vegetable, of course.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. bow-tie pasta

5 oz. spinach

4 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

spoonful flour

1/2 c. yeast flakes

2 c. water

few squirts mustard

splash shoyu soy sauce

spoonful tahini

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/4 tsp. salt

oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta.

2. Fry garlic in oil over medium heat for a couple minutes. Add flour, cook for another couple minutes. Pour in 1 c. water, yeast flakes, mustard, soy sauce, tahini, turmeric, and salt. Bring to a boil. Stir, lower to simmer. Cook until desired thickness. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes.

3. Toss spinach into a pan with a little bit of oil and soy sauce. Cook over medium heat for a while, then add 1/2 c. or so of water, cover, and let wilt. Remove from heat once desired sogginess.

Tiny Mix Tapes published my review of Into Eternity yesterday.

Remember, it's like how Toni Cade Bambara wrote, "Not all speed is movement. [...] There ain't no such animal as an instant guerilla."

Macaroni and Cheeze and Pea Greens with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Acorn Squash

I know, my spelling of "cheeze" is horrible and offensive, but I feel that it needs an idiosyncratic spelling to make it obvious that no dairy is involved, even though this is a vegan space. I'll use "mylk" if I'm not qualifying "milk," too, but if I'm saying "almond milk" or "cashew milk" then I'll go ahead and use the standard spelling. But "nondairy cheese" is a mouthful, so "cheeze" it is.

I got a big box of pea greens from the farmers market last weekend. The box makes all kinds of promising claims about the wonderful micronutrients in pea greens. Whatever. The mac and cheeze turned out pretty much as I'd hoped, but the sweet potatoes and squash was a bit lacking. If it weren't for the sweetness of the potatoes I might even call it a failure. It's nice to have something simple to go with the tangy cheeze dish, but maybe I could have sprinkled something other than salt and pepper into the oil. ANYWAY... makes approx. 3 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb. macaroni
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
1/2 acorn squash, cubed
box of pea greens (2 c.? 3 c.?)
1 c. yeast flakes
1/2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. water
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 spoonful mustard
2 spoonfuls tahini
4 tsp. capers
1/4 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Cube the sweet potatoes and acorn squash half. If you haven't dealt with hard squash before, you'll probably need more time and patience than you anticipate to cut off the rind. The skin? I bet you could find a magical time-efficient method on the internet, though.
3. Coat the bottom of an oven-safe pan with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then toss the potato and squash cubes until coated. Stick in the oven for 45-40 minutes. If you remember, it's a good idea to check up on it once or twice and toss.
4. Heat oil in a small pan on low-medium heat. Mince the garlic cloves and cook for a minute or so. Add the broth and 2/3 of the pea greens. Let the greens cook down a little bit, then add the yeast flakes and water. Crank the heat to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
5. After the cheeze starts to thicken, go ahead and stir in the seasonings, followed by the mustard and tahini, the capers, and finally the remaining pea greens. I spaced those additions a few minutes apart. You can turn the heat real low and add some more water if the cheeze gets too thick.
6. Bring water to a boil. I heeded the instructions on my package of macaroni, which was a mistake. Never listen to the pasta company! It called for 2.5 quarts of water for 1/2 lb. pasta, which took forever to boil and was totally unnecessary and a waste of water. I'd use like 1 q. (= 4 c.) water next time. I don't make pasta a whole lot.
7. Once the macaroni is al dente and drained, pour the cheeze sauce into the pot and incorporate.

Instant comfort! Okay, not instant, but also not too much work.

Navy Bean Mash with Rice

I don't know where the idea for this came from, but it tasted better than it looks. I can't remember what-all I threw in here, so feel free to improvise as the mood takes you.

makes approx. 3 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c. rice
1 clove garlic, chopped

1 can navy beans, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 block vegan cheese
red wine vinegar
paprika
oregano
lime juice

DIRECTIONS:
1. Simmer rice with chopped garlic. (I have no idea if this makes sense or did anything to the taste of the rice, but it didn't hurt, either.)
2. Heat canola oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Dice the onion, then add to the pan. After several minutes, mince the garlic into the pan and cook for about a minute, until onion is translucent.
3. Mash the navy beans and add to the pan. Cook for several minutes, occasionally scraping the bottom with a wooden spatula. Drizzle red wine vinegar.
4. Add some paprika, oregano, and lime juice. Don't go crazy with it, but you want to be able to taste them. A little bit of lime juice goes a long way in a simple dish like this.
5. Add the cheeze and cook until somewhat melt-y. I find that fake cheese tends to get gooey unevenly, so unless you're picky about uniform consistency don't worry about having chunks.

Serve with the rice and some grape tomatoes.