Summer Dinner Party

Last night we had friends over for dinner. It rained all day and drizzled most of the night, so we couldn't eat outside. Other than that it was a fun night, and all the food was great.

Because I had a race in the morning and knew I wouldn't have a ton of time to prepare, I decided on a simple pasta dish as the main course and then added Italian-themed food to round out the pasta.

Appetizers:

White Bean Spread with Truffle Oil. I made it once before and loved it, and it was just as good this time. I think I let out an "mmmmm!" every time I had a bite. This time I didn't have time to cook the beans, so I just used two cans of beans and then boiled the garlic on their own without the beans. As before, the truffle oil really makes this spread special, so if you decide to make this, splurge and get the truffle oil (I found it at my local grocery store.) I served the spread with crackers. See the recipe I posted a few years ago.

Olives. I don't like olives so just picked out a few different kinds at the Whole Foods olive bar.

Strawberries. A big bowl of sweet, juicy, organic strawberries is always a great appetizer!

Drinks:

Ruby Red Sangria. I made this recipe for Ruby Red Sangria which pairs ruby red grapefruit juice, fresh lime juice, and sugar with red wine.  I added apples, blueberries, and strawberries. This sangria wasn't strong or super sweet. It was actually a little tart. I liked it but drank way too much!


Dinner:

The main meal was Pasta with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce by Vegan Yum Yum (recipe). The sauce is very simple and fresh, and the creaminesss comes from cashews. This sauce is by no means light or low calorie. Between the cashews and the olive oil, it's pretty decadent. But so delicious! I had based this whole meal on getting fresh pasta from Penn Mac in the Strip. When I walked to the Strip to get it, I discovered that the fresh pasta is not vegan but is made with eggs. Darn! I bought the egg fettucine to serve to everyone else and then made myself some whole-wheat spaghetti. It was still delicious!

My friend bought a salad with a lime-oil vingaigrette. She also brought a plate of salad add-ons so that everyone could add what they wanted, which was a great idea. I also had crusty white Italian bread and olive oil and balsamic to dip it in.

Dessert:

The best part, as always! I was super excited to make the vegan Lemon Bars from Veganomicon/Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar (see the recipe at No Meat Athlete). I had never made them before and thought they'd be the perfect summer dessert.

Most vegan desserts I make use basic ingredients, but this one called for agar agar flakes, which are a gelatin substitute. I had to make a trip to Whole Foods to pick up a bag, and they were pricey...but well worth it!

The crust was something like a big sugar cookie. I could have eaten just the crust and been happy!

The filling was made by dissolving the agar agar flakes in boiling water, then adding lemon juice mixed with arrowroot powder (another thickener that I already have in my pantry), sugar, and lemon zest. You whisk it until it thickens then pour it onto the crust and let it refrigerate until it sets.

Absolutely delicious! We all loved it. I'd absolutely make it again...and just might have to so that I can use up those pricey agar agar flakes!

Tofu Chili with Soy Sauce

This unconventional chili recipe from Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cook Book surprises with asian flavors from ginger, cloves, soy sauce, and peanuts. It was different and I liked it, especially on these chilly fall days.

But...if a recipe title is Tofu Chili, I expect tofu to play a starring role. The recipe description lured me in with the promise of the tofu taking on "a tremendous amount of flavor." But I couldn't taste the tofu or barely even see it because it had been crumbled beyond recognition by all the required stirring. This is really a bean chili. And yes, it was a good bean chili, but damnit, I wanted a tofu chili. Still, consider this easy-to-prep chili if you're in the mood for something different.

Tofu (Bean!) Chili with Soy Sauce

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used 1)
• 1 block extra-firm tofu, drained
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons five-spice powder or 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I used cloves)
• 1 dried hot chili, or to taste
• 1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes including juice
• 2 cups dried black, pinto, or soy beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked if you like (I used pinto and soaked for about 4 hours)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce plus more for serving
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, for garnish

1. Put the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it's hot, crumble in the tofu and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Add all but a handful of the scallions, the garlic, and the ginger and cook, stirring and scraping frequently, until the veggies soften, about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the five-spice powder, dried chile, tomatoes, and beans. Add water to cover, bring the pot to a boil, and adjust the heat so that the beans bubble gently. Cover and cook, stirring every now and then. Check the beans for doneness every 15 minutes or so and add more water if necessary a little at a time.
3. When the beans begin to soften (30 to 60 minutes, depending on the type of bean and if you've soaked it), add the soy sauce. Cook, stirring and checking, until the beans are completely tender, another 15 to 30 minutes). Fish out the chile, taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with remaining scallions and peanuts and add more soy sauce to taste. 

Falling Back to Cooking

Even though I've refused to put my sleeveless dresses and short skirts away, I have to admit that summer has ended. My summer was filled with laid-back meals I cobbled together from fresh-from-the-farmers'-markets produce. A typical meal would be sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, cannellini beans tossed with olive oil, and watermelon for dessert...or grilled veggie and tofu skewers. They were simple and delicious, and I rarely cooked.

It's hard to say good-bye to summer, but I've welcomed fall (my favorite season) by getting back into cooking. This week I made some oldies but goodies:

• Unfried Fried Rice, Steamed Broccoli, and Hoisin Mustard Tofu
• Curried Chickpeas and Greens
• Bowls of Brown Rice, Chickpeas, Butternut Squash, Sauteed Red Onions, and Caesar Chavez Dressing from Appetite for Reduction (pictured above)

I nearly forgot how much I love cooking and how delicious a healthy, nutritious, homemade meal can be. I'll wear cardigans over my summer dresses and tights under my skirts because I can't bear to part with my summer clothes just yet, but I'm happy to get back into cooking and experimenting with some new recipes using seasonal produce (Vegetarian Times has had some great ones I want to try.)

Anyone have a great fall recipe they want to share?

White Bean Spread with Truffle Oil

This past weekend we had friends over for dinner, and I tried out this white bean spread that turned out great. It's simple and easy to make, and the truffle oil makes it special. Everyone loved it. See the recipe below.

I paired it with a fresh fruit salad for appetizers. I always love fresh fruit, but the juicy, sweet watermelon was a real treat.For dinner we had

• Big salads of leaf lettuce topped with grilled tofu marinated in the Basic Baked Tofu marinade from Veganomicon and tons of grilled veggies, with a choice of the Veganomicon Mediterranean Olive Oil and Lemon Dressing or Appetite for Reduction Balsamic Vinaigrette (which everyone liked best)
• Red Beans and Rice

For dessert I made Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Buttercream Frosting.

We ate out in our little urban patio/garden, which is our little oasis in the city that we love hanging out in. If you look closely, you can see our semi-feral cat who adopted us--she's hanging out in the left of the perennial garden we added when we cut out some of the concrete two years ago. Crushed White Bean Spread with White Truffle Oil

I found this recipe online here and veganized it by using veg broth.

Makes about 1 cup

4 cups vegetable broth
2/3 cup dried great Northern beans, soaked overnight
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon white truffle oil, plus more as needed

In a medium pot, combine the broth, beans, garlic, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender, about 45 minutes. Season the beans, to taste, with salt and pepper. Cool in the liquid. Drain the beans, reserving the garlic cloves.

Place the beans, garlic, and oil in a food processor and puree until there are no whole beans, but there should be some texture. You can also just mash them in the bowl for a chunkier version, as in the original recipe. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the scallions and parsley. Spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle with white truffle oil. Serve the spread with crostini or little crackers.

How and Why to Cook Your Own Chickpeas

Until I started cooking my own chickpeas, I didn't like them very much. I'd use them to make hummus but wouldn't eat them whole from a can. This Vegetarian Times article insisted that the best hummus starts from chickpeas you cook yourself. So I dug out the slow cooker that was buried, unopened, in my basement since I got it as a present five years ago and made my first batch. VeggieCarrie gave me the tip to cook them with some chopped onion.

The smell that filled the house was unbelievably wonderful. When they were done, I stood at the slow cooker eating the warm chickpeas by the spoonful. This is what chickpeas should taste like, I realized, not the bland ones from a can. I've been cooking them ever since. Many people on Twitter have asked me about it, so here's a basic recipe for how to cook chickpeas.

Why you should cook your own chickpeas:

1. Taste is simply fabulous, infinitely better than canned.
2. You can cook them to the texture you want. The canned ones are too firm for me. I cook mine to be very soft.
3. You'll save money. Chickpeas are very inexpensive at Indian food marts. It costs about $4 for a huge bag that can last for months, even if you make them every weekend.
4. It's easy! It takes less than five minutes to dump everything into the slow cooker, and in three hours on high, they're done. (Note that I've been unsuccessful at cooking beans in a pot on the stove. You have to keep the water to a very gentle simmer, which I find hard to do. Mine would boil and then just break apart. But if you're willing to watch the pot, chickpeas can be cooked in about a half hour.)
5. The chickpea cooking water is really good. I save it to use in hummus, soups and sometimes in recipes that call for vegetable broth.

How to cook chickpeas:

1. Rinse 1 cup of chickpeas well. They can be dirty. I don't soak mine before I cook them, but you can.
2. Put 1 cup of chickpeas in the slow cooker stoneware and add 3 cups of cold water. You can also add whatever seasonings you want. I always add 1 chopped onion and 1 minced garlic garlic clove.
3. Cook on high for about 3 hours (start checking at 2 hours) or on low for longer. When they're soft enough for you, they're done.
4. I drain the cooking water into another pot and either refrigerate or freeze it to use in place of vegetable broth.

1 cup of dried chickpeas yields about 3 cups of cooked chickpeas. You can easily increase the amount--for every cup of chickpeas, add 3 cups water. Chickpeas will keep in the fridge for about a week or can be frozen.

Happy chickpea cooking!

Truffled Wild Mushrooms over Whipped White Beans

I'd been wanting to make this recipe from Vegetarian Times for a while but had trouble finding truffle oil. (I got it from Penn Mac in the Strip District--pricey!) This was pretty quick and easy to make and was very good. And look how pretty it is! I was low on thyme so used much less than the recipe called for. Consequently, the beans were a bit bland, but I just salted and peppered them to death. Next time, I'll definitely add plenty of fresh herbs to the beans for more flavor.

Red Beans and Rice

Yesterday I made Red Beans and Rice from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson. I'm not a big OMGer, but OMG--it was out of this world! My omnivore husband loved it too. This would be a great dish to take to a potluck--it will knock the socks off of people. I'm sure I'll go back to this recipe a lot. I served it with Easy Whole Grain Flatbread.

Red Beans and Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry red beans, such as kidney, pinto, cranberry or romano (I used pinto)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlice, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 3 cups vegetable stock (I used a flavorful stock I made using roasted veggies)
• 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (I used 1 jalapeno and 2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, plus a few teaspoons of the sauce to give it a smoky flavor)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (I don't like bell peppers so didn't use them)
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, optional (I had no idea what the difference in taste would be with the vinegar; I used about 3/4 tbsp)
• 1 cup long-grain rice, cooked
• Finely chopped green onion, parsley, or cilantro (I didn't use)
• Hot pepper sauce (original was very spicy; I didn't use)

Instructions

1. Soak the beans at least six hours; I soaked them overnight. Drain and rinse and set aside.
2. In a skilled, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, salt, and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add beans and stir to coat. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Add vegetable stock and stir well.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, until beans are tender. (My beans were tender in just 5 hours, perhaps because of my longer soak.) Add jalapeno peppers, chipotle chili in adobo sauce if using, green pepper and vinegar if using. Cover and cook on High for 20 minutes, until pepper is tender. Stir in rice. Garnish with green onion and serve with hot pepper sauce, if desired.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus (I calculate points using the Recipe Builder tool on WeightWatchers.com): 4