Starting #WFPB in April, Episode 3

Breakfast easy, peasy

Today, I started with an orange and a pear, while heating up the oatmeal from the other day (I always cook oatmeal for two days), so all I had to do was slice up a banana, add some fresh milled flax seeds (I mill it for a week at a time in my Magic Bullet - see my plant-based kitchen gear collection - and I keep it in a jar in the fridge. milled flax seed just loses its nutritional quality if it lays around for two long, that is why I mill it myself). No strawberries today - I should visit the Keyfoods on Union port, they usually have some of the best selections of berries. Add some hemp hearts (1 tbps) and a drizzle of balsamic et voilà.

Then a cup of steamed kale with sweet potato, mustard seeds, garlic and balsamic.

Zit. That's all folks.

Quick lunch, Cucumber salad and Ramen soup

Cucumber salad

Budget #WFPB No. 1: Ramen

Check out my post on Budget #WFPB No. 1: Ramen for details. Today, I will add some daikon, which I had run out of yesterday.
Meanwhile notice that the Ramen I use is made from Organic Brown Rice and Millet (Lotus foods).

For the rest, I want to make a beet salad tonight, so I am putting 2 beets in the Instant Pot, and they will be ready when I need them. These gadgets are better than having your own cook ;-)

Dinner, regular salad with beets, 

Beet salad

cooked beets, finely cut-up onion, lemon juice - plus some minced garlic if you wish...

Rachel Ray has the best way to cut up an onion...

My preferred method is slightly different, I take off the top with a paring knife, so that its flat, then I put down the onion upside down, and cut it in two with my prep knife or a chef knife. Then I make the incisions not vertically as on this video but on the diagonal towards the center line. After that, you can cut it as thin or as wide as you want for the give purpose. Most of the time I like them very thin, especially for salad.

By the way, beets count as a leafy green, keep that in mind for you want 4-6 portions of leafy greens per day.

Main dish

Oh well, I ran late and I just reheated some of the black/brown rice mixture with Thai veggies. Excellent combo, for the black rice has a bit of a sweet, earthy flavor which balances well with the hot and spicy Thai veggies.

Our February #WFPB/Suppers Communal Meal Prep at St Helena's

Today started for me with the #WFPB Cooking Demo at ShopRite on Bruckner...


Angela Vita demonstrated how to caramelize onions, and made a delicious salad with kale and butternut squash

Attendance was large and it is clear that the interest is growing.

I did most of my shopping for my class at St Helena's in the store

We made two salads, one a beet salad and one a green salad.
We cooked spinach and had Channa Masala over brown rice.


Today was a very simple menu - we had just six people, but it all worked out well and amazingly we were very much on time.

Green Salad

1 lb Spring Mix from Shoprite
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 onion
2 tbsp chia seeds
3 tomatoes

1/2/3 dressing with the juice of one lemon and one lime: 1 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, and 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, again plus the juice.

The salad was a hit.

Spinach (large leaf)

1 onion, cut-up fine
4-5 cloves of garlic, cut up fine
1 lb large leaf spinach.

Note that spinach has a lot of moisture, but the stems cook slower than the leaves, so we cut up the stems first.

Browned the onions dry first, until they start to stick and then add in a few tablespoons of water (or broth). After about 5 minutes add in the garlic and the spinach stems and let it go for another five minutes till the stems start to soften. Then add in the leaves, cut in 1" strips. Cook till the leaves are wilted.

As usual, all the people who had never had spinach without oil or butter before were amazed that it tastes so much better this way.

Beet Salad

For good measure we made a beet salad from
3 medium beets
1 medium onion
1 lemon (juice)
1 lime (juice)

Ideally this salad can marinade in the fridge... it is always better the next day. And you can eat it stand-alone or you can mix it in with your green salad.

Chana Masala

Note: For some reason Nutrition Studies spells it channa, with double "n," but I see it mostly spelled with single "n," so I will stick to that.

https://nutritionstudies.org/recipes/main-dish/channa-masala/
https://nutritionstudies.org/es/recipes/plato-principal/chana-masala/

Ingredients

1 15 oz can of chick peas, rinsed and drained

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1½ tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

½ Tbsp turmeric powder

1-2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp salt ,alt. liquid aminos

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp cilantro, chopped for garnish

--------------

Preparation

1) Heat water in a non-stick pan (medium heat) and add: whole cumin seeds, onions and garlic. Sauté until golden brown.

2) Add tomatoes to mixture and sauté until it starts to form a gravy.

3) Add chick peas along with all remaining ingredients: cumin powder, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, salt, and tomato paste.

4) Mix well, over low-medium heat, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

5)  Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro

6) We served it with Brown Rice

We had grapes and cherries for desert, and even some food left over.

In all, our budget was $90 and we spent about $52.19, so we donated $37.81 to St. Helena's.

And another #WFPB/Suppers Meal Prep at St Helena's

We had a small group and we kept it simple. As it is we spent about $12 per person but we still made way to much food, and people ended up taking it home.

Salad:

We made a beet salad, with just some boiled beets, cut in strips on the mandolin and with some chopped onions and the juice of a lemon and a lime. Plus we added in some chia seeds.
It's one of those things that gets better if it sits in the fridge for a bit.
You can also simply add it into a regular salad.

Soup:

Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

1 average sized organic Hokkaido Pumpkin, or Kabocha Squash cut into chunks (deseed but don't peel)
3-5 onions chopped
3-10 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-2 inch piece of ginger sliced, or ginger powedr
2-3 pieces of turmeric sliced, or turmeric powder
a pint of vegetable stock
1-2 jalapenos, seeded
optional 2-3 small green chilies, sliced
1 tbsp panch puran
2 table spoons of whole wheat flour
 

Preparation

1. caramelize the onions adding garlic, chilies and jalapeno, and panchpuran and gradually add the whole wheat flour and liquify with some veggie stock
2. gradually add all of the soup stock, and let it come to the boil
3. add the pumpkin and let it boil about 20 mins.
4. Allow the soup to cool down a little then pour into a blender and blend at high speed till smooth and creamy, or use an immersion blender to achieve the same result.

Main dish:

Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

The Gravy

3 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup soy sauce I use low sodium
1 tbsp maple syrup optional, for sweetness
3 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce *
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp parsley
3/4 tsp thyme
3/4 tsp sage
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
5 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
 

The Roast

1 whole cauliflower leaves and outer stalk trimmed off
4 large carrots chopped
4 medium potatoes peeled and cubed
1/2 cup vegetable stock

Add ingredients to Cozi shopping list

 

Instructions

The Gravy

In a medium-sized pot, whisk together all of the gravy ingredients EXCEPT for the cornstarch & water.
Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer on medium-low heat for 5 minutes. (This will allow all the flavors to marry.) Remove from the heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water to make a cornstarch slurry.
Once the pot is no longer simmering, slowly whisk the cornstarch slurry into the gravy a little at a time. Going slow will ensure that no clumps form.
The gravy will begin to thicken as soon as the cornstarch is whisked in. Put the pot back on the stove and return to a simmer for an additional 3 minutes.

The Roast

Pre-heat oven to 450F degrees.
Arrange the potatoes and carrots in a roasting dish with the cauliflower in the center. Be careful not to overcrowd the dish.
Place the cauliflower upside-down and pour 1/3 cup of the gravy into it. Give it a good shake to distribute the gravy.
Place cauliflower right-side up and brush more gravy on the top to cover it (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
Add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock to the bottom of the dish (this will help steam the veggies.)
Pour about a 1/3 cup of gravy over top of the potatoes and carrots.
Cover the dish tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, brushing the cauliflower with more gravy halfway through.
Uncover the cauliflower roast and brush more gravy on. Bake for another 30 minutes (uncovered), brushing with more gravy halfway again.

Remove from the oven and serve while hot.


*Many brands of Worcestershire sauce contain anchovies. Vegan Worcestershire sauce does exist (Annie's brand and Kroger brand are vegan for sure), but if you can't find it, you can omit it and substitute apple cider vinegar for a little zing.
If you dig onions, you can slice up an onion and add it right in with the carrots and potatoes. Mushrooms would be great, too! Making sure your pan is not too crowded will help everything cook through properly. If you find the potatoes are drying out, add a little more veggie stock to the pan.