Food Work

Due to lots of work related functions I've been able to eat leftovers for dinner more than once this past week. Usually I end up eating my leftovers for lunch the next day so this was a shockingly large amount of food left each night.

Last Wednesday we made the most excellent Midwestern meal. For the first time I made seitan from gluten flour. Seitan is wheat protein. When you start with gluten flour it is quite easy to make seitan. I added water, kneaded it until it looked and felt like playdough, then made "cutlets" and boiled them in a tasty broth. (Note: Getting cutlets out of a giant ball of sticky playdough is harder than it sounds.)

So for our Midwestern meal we made the equivalent of beef stroganoff with the seitan, onions, and mushrooms, a side of broccoli and cauliflower with herbs and lemon juice, served with brown rice.



We pretty much ate that plus takeout until Saturday which was seitan with carrots and chard.



Sunday was a quinoa pilaf with chickpeas and broccoli. A side dish of greens with roasted sunflower seeds and lemon juice.



Monday night I made pizza (using frozen crusts, I'm not that cool.) Zucchini, carrots, broccoli with a caramelized onion sauce.



Tuesday night was leftovers from what I made for the company picnic: a rice salad with broccoli and carrots, tossed with a Mediterranean dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs.



Tonight was a goulash of a stir fry: seitan, carrots, chard, and zucchini.

My Own Private Idaho (Kitchen)

A week back and finally getting into the swing of things. Honestly I'm so happy to be able to cook our own food again. (And trust me, I never thought I would say that.) And just happy to be back in my own kitchen with familiar ingredients. I don't think we saw a carrot more than once on our trip and here I think we eat them every day.

Sunday of Labor Day weekend we made spicy red lentil dip with rice and broccoli, carrots, and onions sauted.



Monday was marinated tempeh with kale and carrots in an almond butter sauce. Served with brown rice. Note: the almond butter sauce makes everything taste better and is so easy to make! It's simply almond butter, miso, water, soy sauce, and a tiny bit of sweetener like honey or brown rice syrup. (More almond butter than miso and everything else to taste.) Mix it up with a little water until it's the consistency you want and you are good to go.



Tuesday night was a blended broccoli carrot soup with rice and lentils. Wednesday: a stir fry of baby bok choy and carrots served with tempeh and soba noodles.



Thursday night was taco noche, my favorite night. Corn tortillas with spicy pinto beans, blanched kale, shredded zucchini and avocado. My latest desire is for a tortilla press so that I can make my own tortillas. So good and so simple.



Friday night was a new favorite from Veganomicon, Broccoli Polenta. You add broccoli as you cook the polenta and then set it up in a pan. Ideally (if one has time for these kinds of things) you then cut pieces out and pan fry or broil them. That night I did not have time for it. Still delicious. I also made the famous broiled tofu. The tofu was weird that day though, way too soft, so the pieces kind of fell apart before they even got in the broiler.



Saturday I got clever with the leftovers. Polenta with broiled zucchini and carrots and a spicy bean dish on the side.



Sunday was stew with barley, lentils, carrots, and broccoli. Monday I made corn bread with onions and jalapenos to go with the stew. I've never made corn bread before (never even really liked it before) but I thought this one was pretty good. Plus it was so much fun to cook it in the cast iron pan. I wish our bigger cast iron pan didn't have a wooden handle. I just love putting them in the oven after using them on the stove.

Traveling and Eating, Eating and Traveling

The great thing about macrobiotics is that it's not about being strict with yourself. It's about finding balance. That's not always easy when traveling but having some food of your own helps. (As did the Philly airport having hummus. If I have to be stuck an extra three hours somewhere please let there be hummus!) We had granola made before we left and three hummus and sauerkraut sandwiches each. Which helped deal with the food on the flight there.

In a word: horrible.



The food on the way back: better. (Note: the vegetables actually look like the color they are supposed to be!)



In Austria, aka Sausagelandia, we had the best breakfasts (that were fully included at the hotel). Make your own muesli out of oatmeal, nuts, coconut, seeds (mine with fresh plain yogurt, Dandelion the Bitter Green with applesauce or fruit) plus awesome dark bread and homemade jam, or sometimes cheese, and a piece of fruit.



Lunches and dinners were a different matter. I had looked up veg places online but like restaurants everywhere most had gone out of business by the time we came a'knocking. We did eat at one fabulous organic Indian restaurant. Had an awesome rice, chickpea and lentil plate.



The rest of the time we ate pizza, fish, or a chocolate covered pretzel filled with apricot jam (kind of weird I have to say). One thing I tried to remember everywhere we were was to chew slowly and drink lots of water. I think both helped me digest everything I ate with minimal problems.

Spain was better for us mostly because we were staying with vegetarian Argentines so we could all cook together and they didn't think it was weird to eat quinoa or lentils. They ate way more fruit than we normally do but it's also much hotter there. Another great thing about macrobiotics is that it changes per the climate. If you live in a hot place (or happen to be having a really hot summer) you eat more fruits, salads, and spicy foods. All of these things cool you off more. In our typical SF cold climate we can get away with eating hot oatmeal for breakfast almost every day of the year. In Barcelona not so much.



I had also looked up veg restaurant options there and again several were closed, missing, disappeared. We did find two other all veg restaurants, one vegan and one vegetarian. The vegan one we found first and Dandelion the Bitter Green ate more than his body weight in tofu, greens, and fruit smoothies. I had an awesome polenta, black beans, and guacamole plate with a fresh fruit smoothie. At the second place I had a teriyaki seitan dish and gazpacho plus strawberries with chocolate and whipped cream for dessert.





We even found a veg restaurant in the tiny town where Salvador Dali lived. It was far on the outskirts of the touristy area but was doing quite a business. Low stools around wooden tables on (maybe I'm remembering this wrong) a dirt floor. Everyone smoked and there was a kitchen cat that hung out on the tables when you were not eating. I had a couscous and veggies dish and everyone else had rice and veggies.

And except for the time we ordered chickpea soup which came with half a bowl of meat in it (sausage, ham, bacon, ham, and maybe more ham) we did pretty well. We had the best falafel I've ever had from a small chain restaurant that apparently is styled on NY falafel places. You got the basic pita with balls in it and then added extras from a salad bar. Baked cauliflower and carrots, plus roasted red peppers made me so happy at that moment.



The only quest that was unfulfilled was my desire for churros and chocolate. Apparently it was a common dish, on many menus, but no one actually had any churros in stock. I take comfort in the fact that I had an "ice chocolate" in Sausagelandia which was unsweetened hot chocolate with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Amazing!

Last gasp

Last chance to blog, or update facebook, or twitter for at least two weeks while we travel in the Land of Sausage. (Not the Land of Meat, which is Argentina. We've been there before and found a macrobiotic restaurant in the middle of nowhere Patagonia.) I don't know what we'll eat in the Land of Sausage, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Plus I have the internet to help me. I've found several vegetarian restaurants everywhere we will be.

So before we leave I felt the need to cook all the vegetables in the house. There is not one thing left, except cabbage which will be made into sauerkraut when we get back anyway.

Monday night we had soup with rice, French lentils, cauliflower, carrots and sauted chard.



Oh, and I spent all night making granola. Got to have something to eat on the plane.



Tuesday night we had leftover rice in a one-pot meal (my favorite): broccoli, kale and pinto beans.



Wednesday night we had the rest of the rice (yes, we make very big pots of rice) together with cauliflower, carrots, kale, and chard, flavored with miso and served with broiled tofu (this time with lemon and lime juice!)

Some like it spicy

Last week was warm so I was perfecting my summer cooking techniques. Some dinners were spicy (a favorite of some people in this household) and some dinners were warm and comforting (my favorite). Here's a rundown of last week. (Can you guess which days were cold and foggy and which were warm?)

Monday: Sweet potato fries with a stir fry of navy beans, carrots, and kale, served over buckwheat.



Tuesday: Broccoli, canellini beans, and rice soup.



Wednesday: Quinoa with steamed veggies, marinated tofu, tossed with a spicy vinegar and olive oil dressing.



Thursday: Red lentil and cauliflower curry with rice and plain soy yogurt.



Friday: More curry.

Saturday: Corn tortillas with broiled zucchini, carrots, and tofu, served with blanched chard and avocado.

Learning Curve

Things I have learned this week: 1) I don't like daikon, that big white Japanese radish. I've tried now several times and I'm giving up. 2) I finally learned how to use the wok the way God intended. It came with this odd round disk that I wasn't sure what to do with. Apparently you put that on the bottom (over the burner) so that the wok stays upright and still. Amazing! Now it might be worth using it occasionally. 3) Staying up late to hull strawberries may not be the best use of my time. (But I can't resist the deals at the farmer's market and end up with far too many: 1/2 flat for 7 bucks this week!) 4) Following recipes can sometimes be a good thing. The dressing I made for Saturday night's rice salad made me want to lick the plate. (Thanks Veganomicon!)

Tuesday night I made fried rice in the wok, though I added shredded daikon to it which it turns out I don't like. So I was disappointed even though I had used a ton of delicious fresh vegetables. Thankfully Dandelion the Bitter Green liked it so it didn't go to waste.



Wednesday night was pasta night with sauteed broccoli, carrots and kale. Served with tofu that was marinated and browned in its own dish.



Thursday night was Taco Noche. Brown rice and corn tortillas with pinto beans, broiled zucchini, carrots, and onions, served with avocado and salad greens.



Friday night was a savory tempeh dish with steamed kale, carrots, and broccoli served with brown rice. Dandelion the Bitter Green made this one while I was out and it was so delicious!



Saturday night was the rest of the rice, leftover steamed veggies, and a can of cannelini beans tossed with a Mediterranean dressing from Veganomicon (essentially olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs), served over salad greens.

Heaven and Hell

Yes, it's true the big pot of curry lasted for many meals. I was starting to feel like the House of Rice and Curry (which is kind of unusual around here. Usually we're the House of Rice and Kale.)

Saturday night I went with some fellow yogis to see a Giants game. They provided veggie hot dogs with a homemade jalapeno masala chutney. I didn't try that because it sounded too spicy for me. But someone had also made vegan chocolate chip cookies so I couldn't pass those up!



Sunday night I tried a recipe from a cool new cookbook that I checked out from the library called Cooking with Seitan. (Note to publishers: this cookbook would be way hipper if you added some devil horns around the word 'seitan'. In fact I was really surprised that you hadn't.) It was seitan cutlets broiled with a mushroom gravy sauce. We added rice and lentils and a side dish of sauted carrots, onions and baby bok choy.



Monday night was a broccoli soup with leftover rice and lentils, carrots, broccoli, and white miso to flavor. Hearty and delicious.