John Dewey Curry Chili

John Dewey died June 1, 1952. Haven't read much of his work, but now that I've looked around for things to post, at some point I'd like to read Art as Experience. There's a nice summary of it over at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

I made this dinner for me and my parents last night. And this post ends a months-long hiatus throughout which I'm sure you were forlorn at the loss of new historically and gastronomically educational postings. I'm going to post tonight dinner, too, so I'll keep this one snappy.

makes approx. 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 c. short grain brown rice (you'll need more than this, probably)

1/2 c. red lentils

1 15-oz. can red kidney beans

1 small eggplant, peeled and cubed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 large red onion, diced

1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes

1 c. cashews

3 c. water

3 cloves garlic

1 jalapeño, diced

2 spoonfuls chili paste with garlic

curry powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak cashews in 1 c. water overnight.

2. Simmer rice 45 min.

3. In a large pot, sauté onion in oil for a few minutes over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and sweet potato.

4. In a blender, pureé cashews with water, garlic, and lemon juice.

5. Add 2 c. water, diced tomatoes, chili paste, and curry powder to pot. Cover and simmer for 15 min.

6. Add cashew pureé, jalapeño, and red lentils. After 10 min., add kidney beans. After another 5 min., cut heat.

If you run out of rice it might be nice to have this with some pita bread and an arugula/spinach mix.

Johnny Appleseed Stuffed Buttercup Squash

I had no idea, but Johnny Appleseed was one of the greatest people to ever live. Who knows really, but he was vegetarian, treated animals with the utmost respect, was a lifelong itinerant, wore shabby clothes, planted apple nurseries, etc. I wish there were more primitive Christians in the world, because then I would be so much cooler with Christianity. Seriously, I'm gonna go to the library and take out all the books on J. Appleseed like tomorrow.

I think this squash is buttercup. If someone reading this knows better, tell me what's up. I'd never cooked one before, but I totally lucked out with the purée I filled it with. So good.

makes 2 halves

INGREDIENTS:

1 buttercup squash, halved

1/4 c. cashews, soaked in 1/2 c. water

1/2 crown broccoli

1/2 hot house tomato

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper and paprika and hot sauce to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Place the squash, broccoli, and garlic in the oven. Take the garlic out after a few minutes.

3. In a blender, purée cashews and water. Add in the tomato, broccoli, and garlic; purée until smooth.

4. After the squash has been cooking for approx. 25 min., fill it with the puréed stuff and pop back in the oven for another 15-20 min.

I ate this with some delicious baba ghanoush, black olives, and chips that my good friend made and brought over. So nice of her.

 

If y'all missed it on Vegansaurus, there's a Vegan Pen Pals Project! Do it!

Vegan Dinner for Two! #1

My friend came over last night to cook bean burgers. She baked some brownies which narrowly missed the vegan mark. Luckily for our sweet teeth, I'd made a chocolate cheezecake using a recipe from a book my parents gave me for Christmas, My Sweet Vegan. I'd put up the recipe, but I'm not feeling motivated right now. I couldn't find vegan graham crackers, so I made my own using this recipe.

I used a little bit of Tofutti, but most of the cream cheeze I made from scratch using this recipe. So much work! It's obscenely rich and chocolate-y.

The burgers were my standard recipe which I'm too lazy to link to. To go with those I baked some rolls using this recipe. Also blended up some cashews, avocado, vegetable broth, and cilantro for a spread. Yum!

The "#1" in the title of this post is a bit of magical thinking. If there's a first, there's gotta be a second. Who else wants to make dinner with me?

Oh yeah, Tiny Mix Tapes is gonna be publishing my comic, A Thousand K.s. Here's "Loneliness."

CORRECTION: Not pictured (because consumed before photo shoot), sweet potato fries.

National Freedom Macaroni Greens with Baked Kale

President Lincoln signed the Amendment outlawing slavery on February 1, 1865. So now we're in the clear 146 years later, right? Fuck no. Get wise to your privilege, because white supremacy is a bifocal ideology, working through a positive form, oppression, and a negative form, privilege. Hierarchies abound, and liberation is only possible when it's total.

This recipe's based on Isa's Creamy Red Chard Linguine. This is the first time I've cooked with cabbage. Don't know if I did it right, but I was surprised at its sweetness. Forgetting to add lemon juice turned out to be a significant omission. I tried to make kale chips, but I don't know what other people are doing cuz mine turned out nothing like chips. Maybe I shouldn't have layered the pieces? Maybe my pieces were too large? Maybe the kale was too wet?

makes approx. 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. macaroni

1 bunch kale, de-leafed, stalks diced

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/2 cabbage, torn

1 fistful pea greens

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. sage

1/2 tsp. tarragon

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. cooking sherry

1/2 c. cashews

1 1/2 c. water

1 Tbsp. tahini

1/4 c. yeast flakes

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak the cashews in water for an hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350F.

3. Cook the onion in oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once translucent, add the minced garlic. After a couple minutes, add the pressed garlic, thyme, sage, tarragon, salt, and kale stems.

4. Place kale leaves in pan or on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, bake for 12 min. Turn up heat to 350F and bake another 6 min.

5. Add cabbage leaves and pea greens to pan along with 1/2 c. water. Cover and cook for several minutes.

6. Puree cashews in 1 c. water. Once smooth, blend in tahini, yeast flakes, red pepper (and lemon juice).

7. Cook macaroni (or whatever pasta you have handy).

8. Pour the contents of the blender in the pan, bring to a boil, then simmer for several minutes, until the desired consistency.

9. After pasta is cooked, add to pan and coat. Serve with baked kale.

That's all.

Kansas Red Kidney Bean Patty Open Sandwich with Green Spread

 

That title's a mouthful, and so is this recipe! Hahaha ugh. This one's named for the 150th anniversary of Kansas' admission as the 34th state. It makes use of the failed bread recipe from yesterday, which I thought I'd be able to fry like chapati bread. I was wrong. Since the dough is sort of sticky it made a mess in the pan. So I rolled it up again, flattened it out, and baked it. Bam. Kinda weird, but whatever. I think tomorrow I'll venture a third attempt at recuperating all that flour by boiling the dough. Bagels?

One thing to note is that I meant to use only 1/4 cup of water in the patties but wasn't paying attention to the measuring cups and used 1/3. There seems to be a new trend in my cooking of failure to properly mind water.

makes approx. 4-5 servings

Patties

INGREDIENTS:

1 15.5-oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1/2 c. vital wheat gluten

1/3 c. water

2 Tbsp. shoyu soy sauce

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small white onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. tarragon

1 tsp. sage

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fry the onion in a pan with some oil over medium heat. When translucent, add garlic for a minute or two. Remove from heat.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Mash the kidney beans in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon or other blunt instrument. Add everything else, mix together, and knead with your hands until it holds together in a dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, form the dough into patties, and stick those suckers in the oven. After 15 min., flip them and flatten them out if need be, then bake for another 15 min.

Spread

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 c. cashews

1/2 c. water

1 red bell pepper
1 avocado, skinned

1 jalapeno, chopped and partially seeded

1 Tbsp. sunflower oil

2 Tbsp. tahini

1 handful cilantro

1/3 c. water

1/4 tsp. salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak the cashews in water for several hours.

2. Roast the bell pepper over your gas burner. If you've got electric you're out of luck. I held the pepper by the stem, removed the grate (or whatever it's called), and cranked the burner to Hi. Wait for the skin to sizzle and blacken. Once it's crispy, place the pepper in a bowl and cover (e.g., with a dish towel).

3. Puree the cashews and water in a blender. Add remaining ingredients except bell pepper. Puree.

4. Seed the bell pepper. It's turn has come, so jam it into the bottom of the blender and press the button.

"Bun"

INGREDIENTS:

1 failed recipe of yeast bread

DIRECTIONS:

1. Attempt to fry in a pan over high heat. Remove from heat, knead, and form into a patty.

2. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

This is one of the only meals I've eaten with a fork and knife since going vegan. Maybe it's because I like to cut things up pretty well before cooking them, but a knife is only really essential when you're trying to slice through flesh.

I recently bought a book from Friends of Animals by Lee Hall, On Their Own Terms. According to some guy on the back cover, "In this fascinating and illuminating book, Lee Hall calls [...] upon us to seek and celebrate a world where fish can swim, free in clean water, and bees and birds can fly in peace. And it offers a plan to make it happen." Can't wait!

Bonanza Curry Soup

I came up with this recipe while on the bus back from NYC. It was a Bonanza bus, hence the name. My memory of what was in my kitchen was accurate except that there turned out not to be a can of corn. Oh well.

I might suggest using a little less curry powder than I did, but I'm keeping the recipe as is to reflect what I actually ate for dinner. Discretion is always advised when taking my culinary advice.

makes approx. 3-4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 acorn squash
1/2 c. cashews
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb. tofu, cubed
1 1/2 c. edamame, shelled
1 c. broth
2 c. water
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp. chile powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 sun-dried tomatoes, julienned (sort of)
oil
Earth Balance


DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Fill the center of half an acorn squash with cashews. Bake for 10 minutes.
2. Heat a pad of Earth Balance margarine with some canola oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and tofu. Let the tofu brown on the bottom, then scrape with a spatula.
3. Remove the squash from the oven. Empty the cashews into a blender. Cut off the rind of the squash and slice into chunks. Place in the blender along with broth and water. Puree until relatively smooth.
4. Add the edamame to the soup pot and cook for a few minutes. Pour the pureed cashews and squash into the pot, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
5. Add the seasoning and let the soup cook for 5-10 minutes. Garnish with sun-dried tomatoes.


"I don't think of love as — in this context — as emotion bosh. I don't think of it as a weak force, but I think of love as something strong, and that organizes itself into powerful direct action."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cashew Milk

I had leftovers for dinner tonight so I figured I'd post a recipe for cashew milk. It's super creamy. This recipe works for making any sort of nut milk, but cashew is my favorite and as far I know not commercially available. Substitute almonds or hazelnuts if you'd prefer.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. cashews

4 c. water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak the cashews in 1 c. of water for several hours. Today I left them for eight. You want it to be long enough that they blend well. Overnight's fine.

2. Pour soaked nuts and water into a blender and add the remaining 3 c. water. Puree for a minute or so, then flip up to grind, and finally crank into liquefy. I move up to a higher setting when the noise of the blender becomes regular, because at that point the nut pieces are of uniform size. Pulse a few times for good measure.

3. Set up some mason jars. Either cover the opening with cheesecloth or place a mesh strainer in a funnel. Pour the milk through the filter into the jars.

4. If you've soaked and blended well, there will be almost no cashew paste at the end. This is bittersweet, because pulverized cashew paste is tasty. Almonds don't blend as well so when I make almond milk I usually have a big bowlful of pulp left over that I make into porridge or bake into cookies.

Here's the sort of strainer I use.