Butternut Squash Chips
It’s 9:30 p.m. and I want some junk food. Good, healthy, vegan junk food. I searched through every nook in the kitchen and other than tofu and some brussel sprouts that have started to compost in my crisper drawer, the only thing giving me the eye like that stupid stack of money with googly eyes in the Geico commercial is a butternut squash. Not what I was hoping for. ...continue reading about Butternut Squash Chips...
Poblano Pesto Macaroni and Cheese
This Saturday, Mr. Natural here in Austin will be hosting a holistic fair and vegetarian cookoff challenge. I thought it fair to enter when I found out the top three entries will recieve $300, $200, and $100 respectively. That, and I’m the sixth entry 
The odds are good. I’ll be entering my Mexican Tofu Casserole. Hopefully, I won’t be going head to head with five Mexican grandmothers that have been cooking vegetarian all their life. ...continue reading about Poblano Pesto Macaroni and Cheese...
Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Poblano Pesto
Warning: This isn’t an Italian pesto. This is a Texas pesto. And the gnocchi is made with sweet potatoes, not white potatoes. Now, I don’t have anything against Italians or white potatoes. I love ‘em both. But I am trying to stay on the complex carbohydrate trail and they guy at Central Market talked to me like an idiot when I said I was looking for whole wheat gnocchi. ...continue reading about Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Poblano Pesto...
Mushroom Pot Stickers
Here is another quick recipe (yes, it’s vegetarian) I made the other night. Pot stickers are a misnomer because they don’t stick, at least not for me. I thwarted that attack by using a non-stick pan. So, in theory at least, these aren’t pot stickers. I’m not sure what I’d call them. I guess this is how the jumbo shrimp and military intelligence discussions got started and Scott Adams comes up with Dilbert content with ease. Without a doubt, the process is still the same and can use fresh ingredients or leftovers with ease. ...continue reading about Mushroom Pot Stickers...
Quick Summer Appetizers
Some dear friends had a 60′s themed birthday party this weekend and we had a blast. There was music, good wine, good friends, and good food. The only problem with a 60′s themed party is that most food in the 60′s consisted of devils on horseback (prunes wrapped in bacon and then broiled until crisp), rumaki (water chestnut and chicken liver wrapped in bacon, marinated in soy and then broiled until crisp), cocktail wieners, either plain or wrapped in puff pastry (pigs in blankets), pimento cheese spread with Ritz crackers, and your favorite and mine…jello salad. The sixties was a culinary expedition that ended up shipwrecked on a desert island. ...continue reading about Quick Summer Appetizers...
Italian Tofu Pesto Recipe
This is something like a four wheel drive armored car that banks use to transport cash that would make any boy from Texas want one for Christmas. Patrick was, of course, riding on top because sticking your noggin out of the top of one of these things is the coolest ever and I’m guessing he had a 50 caliber machine gun up there. (I was wrong, he was unloading gear. I’ve since talked to him and he is modifying his story to match the cooler way I’m writing it.) ...continue reading about Italian Tofu Pesto Recipe...
Mexican Tofu Casserole
It’s been averaging over 100 degrees every day here in Austin and the last thing I want to do is fire up the stove and start cooking. Yesterday driving home the thermometer in my truck read between 108 and 110 the entire way to the house. I’m certain this month that my electric bill will rival the amount spent on the federal bailout. My goals for dinner tonight were healthy, fast, and something that didn’t require a trip outside, especially to the grocery store. Luckily, the tomatoes in my garden are doing especially well I this heat and my herbs seem to be the most tolerant of the plants. However, if the heat outside didn’t kill them, I was certainly going to. ...continue reading about Mexican Tofu Casserole...
New Veggie Lasagna
In interest of dinner, speed, and hunger, I put together a veggie lasagna with spinach and lots of fresh herbs from the garden. I also wanted to make it as close to vegan as possible. They reason why is that the more I read and learn about links from the links between animal based proteins and cancer and heart disease the more I want to try eating as close to vegan as possible. I also realize I’m weak and my willpower lasts about as long as the gas tank in my GMC Yukon. ...continue reading about New Veggie Lasagna...
Tomato and Corn Summer Soup
Summer vegetables are finally coming into the farmer’s markets and ripening in my garden. The spinach and lettuce are official gone because of the heat while tomatoes, corn, greens, and melons are all coming along nicely. One of my most favorite vegetables is the tomato. I have many memories of picking tomatoes with my Mom in the tomato farms of South Florida (sadly all gone now) and eating one or two really ripe and juicy tomatoes from the vine. While I probably consumed more pesticides and dirt that kids today are willing to do, there were apparently very good tasting pesticides. I don’t think my twitching is any indication of a problem, but the jury is still out on that one. Growing up with my grandmother on a chicken farm also availed Georgia sweet corn. ...continue reading about Tomato and Corn Summer Soup...
Daikon Radish, Sunflower Butter, and Broccoli Appetizer
I have to admit, this may look like an odd appetizer. At the least you might think, how in the heck do those flavors go together. I’m gonna take a shot at answering both and tell you how to make both a great vegan and raw appetizer. In case you’ve lived under a rock, or your are a post grad student, eating raw means exactly that; eating all your meals from raw ingredients. If you think that’s tough, try being a raw chef. I am not. The play now unfolds…You’ve carefully and thoughtfully cold smoked a brisket for 19 hours, the sausage was made right in your very kitchen, and the baked beans contain the best applewood smoked bacon money can buy and pigs can make. Your significant other announces, “oh, by the way, Mike’s new girlfriend is a vegan”. (Yep, one of those) But, you proclaim, that’s not possible. We don’t have interplanetary travel and you know for a fact life doesn’t exist on Venus. ...continue reading about Daikon Radish, Sunflower Butter, and Broccoli Appetizer...
Something for Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is coming up (in case you haven’t heard the fifty million radio and TV ads) and this would be a nice recipe to leave out on the counter Saturday morning sometime. It is a pretty simple and beautiful dish your significant other can make without subjecting you to toaster waffles or something worse. It’s also nice to make enough for the kids as well so they don’t feel at all left out of the day. ...continue reading about Something for Mother's Day...
Spaghetti Squash “Pasta” Dish
I wanted to create another Italian dish that was super-quick to make yet one that used a lot of fresh ingredients and was healthier than one with enriched white pasta. I decided to do a makeover of a pasta dish my mom made and substitute spaghetti squash for the pasta. This recipe is one the kids almost might eat and is worthy of letting them give it a try. ...continue reading about Spaghetti Squash "Pasta" Dish...
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
I had a craving for a “Salt and Pepper” something dish and the fish market had some beautiful wild Gulf shrimp. Can you see what’s coming here? I also wanted to spare you yet another tofu dish and give you something the entire family would fight over. Not a Extreme Fighting cage fight mind you, but a possibly stabbed-in-the-hand-if-you-touch-that-last-shrimp sort of fight. ...continue reading about Salt and Pepper Shrimp...
Sauteed Cod in a Fennel White Wine Saffron Sauce
A restaurant looking dish easily and quickly prepared at home. It brings a great taste of fennel, wine, saffron, and a hint of yogurt to a great fish dish. ...continue reading about Sauteed Cod in a Fennel White Wine Saffron Sauce...
Whole Wheat Sesame Crackers
These crackers are always a big hit with friends and family. They last for up to a week assuming no one is home to devour them. Otherwise, they are gone in a day. ...continue reading about Whole Wheat Sesame Crackers...
Golden Cauliflower and Ginger Soup
It didn’t take me long upon returning from the farmer’s market to roast this entire head of cauliflower and prepare it for a soup. Enjoy this not-so-typical soup with farm fresh golden cauliflower. ...continue reading about Golden Cauliflower and Ginger Soup...
Asian Mushroom Soup
This soup is a delicate mix of all things fresh from an Asian grocery store. We all have these little markets near us somewhere. It’s finding them and exploring that makes all the difference. ...continue reading about Asian Mushroom Soup...
Turkey Tofu Miso Bean Burger
I’ve probably lost my mind and I wouldn’t think wrongly of you for thinking the same. I just wanted a burger. One of those greasy, all beef, don’t know which cut got ground up into ...continue reading about Turkey Tofu Miso Bean Burger...
Sauerkraut and Lima Bean Soup
This soup is not gross. It is not a mistake. It is two wrongs that make a right, as one of my consumers of this soup professed. I challenge you to make a small batch of this soup and THEN tell me you don’t like sauerkraut. It is one of my family’s favorites and they HATE sauerkraut. ...continue reading about Sauerkraut and Lima Bean Soup...
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onions
We’ve talked about iron deficiency and vitamin C before. Because the body doesn’t make its own, it’s important that we consume vitamin C at the same time as we eat iron rich foods in order for the body to process the iron. The other thing we’ve touched on in other posts is the use of anti-inflammatories. Inflammation or the lack of anti-inflammatories can aggravate arthritis or trigger appendicitis, as well as lead to heart disease, Alzheimers, and even some types of cancers. ...continue reading about Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onions...
Panko Tofu with Dal and Basmati Rice
The New Year brings with it resolutions that are often short lived. Oftentimes we barely make it to the first weekend before we cave in. One of my favorite quotes (or a derivation of it) is “stupidity is repeating the same behavior over and over expecting a different end result”. Hopefully, we can recognized what hasn’t been working and try something a new and different way to create change. Somehow, I keep coming back to tofu. But this time, I changed my behavior and got an awesome result. ...continue reading about Panko Tofu with Dal and Basmati Rice...
T’was the Night Before Christmas…
This was a quick attempt at a gourmet dish with fresh bay scallops and other ingredients I had lingering in the kitchen. It was a huge hit for my step-son. ...continue reading about T'was the Night Before Christmas......
A Tale of Two Soups
My mother in-law recently moved from California to New Orleans. I love New Orleans. They have great food, great music, and incredible people. Anyway, she came to visit for the holidays and was really excited to have some homemade soups. Why? She is sick of fried foods. ...continue reading about A Tale of Two Soups...
Poppy Seed Bread
Brian “The Guido” Bopp comes in today as the proud baker of the most amazing loaf of bread he’s made yet. There are ton’s of poppy seeds floating in the lightest bread protected by a flaky and firm crust that is lightly sweetened with a egg wash and sugar glaze. I call him “Guido” not because he likes it or anything, but because his grandmother said he looked like an Italian baker sometime during the Thanksgiving holidays. ...continue reading about Poppy Seed Bread...
What do vitamins and minerals do for you?
So, I give little snippets about what foods have such-and-such vitamin and mineral and what those things do, but because people generally know what disease or illness they have up front or what they are trying to prevent I decided to list some links that give specific information. HealthCheck Systems has a quick list of vitamins and minerals although the list is a little sparse on in-depth information. I would use it as a guide to determine if you need to seek out more information. GirlsHealth.org is another site that provides a listing but this site goes a… ...continue reading about What do vitamins and minerals do for you?...
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