Apron Strings

As you can see, I haven’t been keeping up with posts over here, really. The plan is to move choice recipes from this site over to my main blog and delete Apron Strings once that’s all done.

Here’s a repost from Glue&Glitter.com with some more details:

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Woah, 2 posts in a single day? And both are bean- and salsa-based! I guess I’m working through a craving!

I’ve made this before with black beans, but it’s just as good with pinto! Here’s the details!

2 ears corn, raw or cooked

1 can pinto beans, rinsed
2 scallions, minced
1/4c olive oil
2T hot sauce
2T chili powder

1 Haas avocado, diced
1/2c salsa

You could use an equivalent amount of frozen or canned corn, but it’s so much tastier right off the ear! To remove the kernels from the ear, hold it upright at the tippy top, and cut downwards along the cob. You’ll want to do this over a large bowl or kernels will go everywhere. Be super-duper careful while you do this, please! Finger is not a good spice in this dish. Don’t cut tooo close to the cob - better to lose a little meat than to have cob in your salad!

Toss the corn with the beans, scallions, olive oil, chili powder and hot sauce. If you’re making this in advance, here is your stopping place. Cover and chill until you’re ready to serve - up to overnight.

Just before serving, toss in the salsa and the avocado. If you want to get fancy, reserve a little avocado to put on top! I did not get fancy, as you can see in my picture. In fact, I was halfway through the bowl when I realized I should take a picture! D’oh!

This serves 4 as a main dish and 6-8 as a side.

Liz and I came across a recipe for roasted shallots and it gave us an idea. Here is the idea: What if we based an entire meal around dipping bread into things??? I hate to just blatantly brag on us, but…we’re geniuses! This dinner was amazing!

We picked up a loaf of Olive Boule and a package of Nan at the farmers market along with tons of roasted garlic and the makings of pesto. The pesto was my contribution, and the approximate recipe is below! We served Liz’s roasted garlic topped with black sesame seeds and minced scallion.

We also had garlic flatbread and herb Mary’s Gone Crackers, which are totally delicious!

Brian and Kip brought curried lentil dip and the most amazing bruschetta! Kip’s bruschetta had mushrooms, roasted peppers, onions and this vegan aioli on it. Out of control! I have to nag her for the recipe, because DANG.

Lori brought dark chocolate fondue with strawberries and bananas. Because Lori is also a genius, she used almond milk in the fondue instead of soy. So good! We put the chocolate right out with all the other food. I highly recommend eating dessert right in the middle of dinner. It was so decadent!

In conclusion, this is definitely happening again. Now, here’s the approximate pesto recipe, as promised!

Approximate Pesto
2 bunches of basil
a few handfuls of pine nuts
at least 4 cloves roasted garlic (I think I used 5)
1/3 - 1/2c nutritional yeast
1t sea salt
1/2t white pepper
1c olive oil

If your food processor is big enough, toss everything in and blend it up! If not, you might have to do it in batches. Either way, once everything is all blended, you’re ready to serve! I’d definitely recommend serving at room temperature. This works as a dip for bread or crackers or on top of hot pasta! Or really….anywhere! Pesto potato salad, anyone?

<3

Yesterday was rainy and gray here in Atlanta (yay, rain!). That kind of weather sort of saps my will to cook a lot of the time, so we had a salad night! This recipe makes about 3 dinner salads, tho you could stretch it to 4 if you had some bread or something on the side. This was awesome with a fall-themed beer.

Salad
1 package whole grain tempeh
sea salt and white pepper, to taste
olive oil

6c romaine lettuce, chopped
1 Haas avocado, diced
1/2c button mushrooms, sliced

In a small pan, simmer the tempeh in enough water to cover for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile! This is a good time to get everything else chopped and portioned into bowls. You might even have time to get the dressing (below) whisked up while the tempeh simmers.
Once the tempeh is done, slice it into bite-sized pieces and toss with a little salt and pepper. Sautee in a little olive oil until it’s nice and browned. Toss the tempeh and the dressing with the other ingredients, and you’re ready to go!

Dressing
2T red miso paste
1/4c water
1/4c tahini
1t herbes de provence, dried (Italian seasoning would probably work in a pinch)
1-2t chili garlic sauce (or your favorite hot sauce. Adjust depending on how spicy you like things!)
2T apple cider vinegar

Whisk it all together, adding water if you feel like it’s too thick! This makes more dressing than you’ll probably need for the salad, but it stores well for about a week in the fridge.

Today was long. I had to leave the house early for a doctor’s appointment and got home around the usual time. I was not in the mood for cooking but had a stirfry all planned out! Instead of standing over the stove, I decided to toss it all into my dutch oven and see how it went! It went swimmingly….

Stirbake!

• 1 package firm tofu in bite-sized cubes
• 1 c baby broccoli, stems removed (I packed the stems as a side veggie in my lunch for tomorrow. They’re delicious!)
• 1 package sliced mushrooms, any kind you like
• 1/2 a vidalia onion, diced
• 1 8oz jar of stir fry sauce (I used Trader Joe’s Chinese 5 Spice)

Preheat the oven to 400F and prep your veggies and tofu. Combine everything in a dutch oven or deep baking dish, stirring to get it all nice and coated in sauce. Bake, covered, for 30-40 minutes.

Serve over noodles or rice!

Thanks to an awesome trip to the farmers market, our fridge is full of local and organic produce! It begged to be turned into pasta sauce.

1/2 package pasta
1/4 c olive oil
1 summer squash, cut into matchsticks
1 c green beans, halved
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t white pepper
soy sauce, to taste
1/4 c water, if necessary

Set your water to boil while you prep your veggies. Then, dump in the pasta and cook according to the package directions. While that boils…

Heat the olive oil over medium and add the squash, green beans and garlic. Sprinkle on the seasoning and pepper, tossing to coat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the soy sauce, tossing again. If the pan is looking a little dry at this point, add some of the water. Let veggies simmer for about 5 minutes more. By now, your pata should be all ready!

Dole out bowls of pasta and top with the veggies. Serve!

I’ve been really into making chili lately. I’d blame December, but it’s been in the high 60s here. There is no one to blame but myself! Instead of canned tomatoes, the liquid in this chili comes from canned pumpkin and broth. It turns into a stew-like business and is totally delicious!
1 16oz can pureed pumpkin
1 16oz can chick peas
1 16oz can pinto beans
1 sweet onion, diced
2cloves garlic, minced
1T chili powder
2t coriander
1/2t cinnamon
1/2t ground cloves
1 chili in adobo sauce, minced with seeds removed (for more heat, leave in all or part of the seeds!)
1T brown sugar
salt and pepper, to taste
2c veggie broth

Toss everything into a crock pot and cook on high for 2 hours.

This is delicious on its own or topped with diced avocado! YUM.

This was one of those meals created out of necessity. I’m fighting ickiness in my throat and needed something soothing to eat. This thick soup was perfect for my sad throat and delicious, too! I’m going to serve it again at dinner with a veggie loaf.4c mushroom broth
6 red potatoes, cubed
2c cabbage, shredded
1/2t ground cloves
salt and pepper, to taste

Put the broth and potatoes into a soup pot or dutch oven and bring to a boil, uncovered. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when you stab them with a fork.

Add the cabbage and spices, stirring to combine everything well. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve!

1T olive oil
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed to whatever size you like!
2T shoyu or soy sauce
2 tsp (or to taste) chili garlic sauce or your favorite hot sauce
1/4c nutritional yeast

1 bunch kale, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Extra nutritional yeast, for topping.

In a large pan, heat the oil on medium-high, then toss in the tofu. While it’s all heating, add the shoyu, hot sauce and nutritional yeast. Stir everything really well, so the tofu gets nicely coated with the saucy stuffs.

Next, toss in the kale and garlic. Stir everything up, cooking until the kale turns a lovely bright green. Now, you’re ready to serve! Once you’ve doled out portions, top with sprinkles of extra nutritional yeast, if you like!

This makes about 4 servings.

My garden yielded its very first harvest: 2 big cucumbers! If you read my other blog, you know the story of the mustard greens that were covered in fuzz and tasted terrible. It turns out that the problem was not that the mustard greens were bad, but that they were not mustard green so much as cucumber plants! When I went to untangle the vines, I discovered 2 little guys hiding under everything. There are more on the way!
To make the salad:

1. Pick one organic cucumber from your veryown garden.
2. Put on the hippiest music you own (I suggest American Beauty).
3. Dice the cucumber and 2 T organic vidalia onion
4. Drain one can organic great northern beans.
5. Toss everything with Annnie’s Organic Papaya Poppyseed dressing and 1 T organic shoyu.