Memorial Day

Since I am old enough to remember when Memorial Day was actually a day (May 31) and not a 3 day weekend, I like to be contrary and celebrate on the "real" day. So last night we had a picnic meal without the Standard American Diet and watched the movie "Glory" on television. Both were excellent.

I am back to a meal without a recipe, however. We had Boca Chickin patties on an onion bialy, mine toasted and Jerry's not. All of the rolls I have tried are just too much dough for the patties, so I was happy to find that the bialy has just the right amount of bread to make a good sandwich. Layer the sandwich with mustard, sliced sweet onion, sliced tomato, lettuce leaves and you won't miss a burger.

The green salad contains field mix, chopped broccoli stems (left-over from yesterday's pasta marinara with broccoli), halved cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette dressing.

The potato salad is composed of boiled red potatoes with the skins left on, chopped sweet onion, chopped celery, a sprinkle of red wine vinegar and fat-free mayonaise. Top it with ground black pepper and a few capers.

The cabbage salad is so simple. Shred red cabbage and toss it with a dressing made with a tablespoon of unseasoned rice vinegar and a tablespoon of seasoned rice vinegar. Something about the vinegars gives the salad an oily mouth-feel which is a good thing.

Processed foods, yes, but food that Jerry will eat and not miss eating a Standard American Diet which is my primary goal.

Groundnut stew

I had my doubts about this meal, but it turned out to be fabulous. It was spicy, rich and delicious. Even Jerry, who sometimes is not pleased with stews, returned for a second helping. I began with a recipe in "Vegan Planet" by Robin Robertson and made some changes. One important change was reducing the fat content. Although this is not fat-free, the only significant fat is that naturally occurring in the peanuts. The Publix near us grinds their own peanut butter every day and they add nothing to it. If you can find a source near you, you will be amazed at the difference between the fresh ground peanuts-only and the commercial peanut butter.

Groundnut Stew

1/4 cup water

1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth (use in 2 portions)
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fresh ground peanut butter
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion in the water until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and garlic, cover and cook until softened, about another 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger, cumin, cinnamon and as much cayenne as you like heat. Add the sweet potatoes and stir to coat with the spices. Stir in the tomatoes and 1 cup of stock and simmer over low heat until the potatoes are soft, about 25-30 minutes. Stir in the kidney beans and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the peanut butter with the remaining 1/4 cup of broth, stirring until smooth. Stir it into the stew being careful not to excessively mush the sweet potatoes.

Place a serving of rice in each plate and spoon a serving of stew over the rice. Top with a sprinkling of the chopped peanuts. Serves 3-4.

Thanksgiving anytime

First I have to tell you about the Wonderful Wacky Women. The Wackies, started about 3 years ago, is a group of 10 women who take turns planning "adventures" for the group to share. We have been on about a dozen adventures, including a sunset cruise off Key Largo, on a Diva Duck tour of West Palm Beach, and to an art show where we met Suzi Toronto, the artist who inspired us and provides our logo. We have so much fun together that we expanded our activities to include occasional dinners with our husbands.

A few days ago, we had one of those dinners. Several of the Wackies and their husbands are trying to eat less meat, so in addition to the Cornish Hens prepared for the omnivores at the table, my friend prepared a Tofurky Roast for the first time. I assured her it would be a hit. Jerry and I have enjoyed several of them since we discovered them at our local Whole Foods Market. She asked me to bring Dirty Rice and I decided we also needed mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and cranberry sauce.

For the mashed potatoes, make them just like you used to but substitute rice milk or soy milk and just leave out the butter. I find that soy milk adds a soy taste to the potatoes, but rice milk cannot be detected.

I follow Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe for Rich (Fat-Free) Brown Gravy along with her suggestion to add mushrooms to the gravy, but I roast the onions and mushrooms together rather than saute them and add fat. This is my adaptation of Bryanna's recipe.

Mushroom Gravy

1 small onion, very thinly sliced
8 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 ounces Shitake mushrooms
1/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet or other gravy browner

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Spray a non-stick baking pan with vegetable oil. Clean the mushrooms. Remove the stems from the Shitakes and discard them, then slice the mushrooms thinly. Spread the onions and mushrooms in a single layer in the pan. Bake until lightly browned, stirring them around a bit once or twice as they bake. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a 5 quart saucepan over high heat, stir the flour and nutritional yeast together until there is a toasty smell. It is not necessary to brown the mixture. Remove from the heat and whisk in the water, soy sauce, salt, and Kitchen Bouquet. Stir constantly until the gravy thickens and comes to a boil. Add the mushrooms and onions and simmer for about 4 minutes. The gravy can be made ahead and reheated on top of the stove or in a microwave.

Cranberry Sauce

One of many good cranberry sauces in Holly Garrison’s “The Thanksgiving Cookbook”, this recipe is well worth the little time it takes to make. It will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator.

1 cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup white vinegar
7 whole cloves
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
3 cups fresh or 16 ounces frozen cranberries

In a 3-quart saucepan bring the sugar, water, vinegar, cloves, and cinnamon to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Remove the cloves with a slotted spoon and discard. Add the cranberries and simmer for 10 minutes until the berries pop. Remove the cinnamon stick and discard. Remove the sauce from the heat and cool slightly. Pour into a bowl with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.

Valentine's Day

The best gift I have ever given my husband is saving his health and maybe his life by learning how to cook vegan meals without added fat.We are so careful about our diet that we decide to splurge from time to time on something like this cake. And what better time than on Valentine's Day? The recipe for this fabulous vegan chocolate cake is from "Entertaining for a Veggie Planet" by Didi Emmons.

It is not fat-free, but it is vegan with a base of grated zucchini and soy milk. The cake tastes way better than it looks since a cake without frosting has such a plain appearance. When I put the pieces of cake on serving plates, I make fans out of fresh strawberries and put them on the plate on each side of the cake. I can't show you that though because I really need to use this cake for a party tomorrow! The cake keeps several days in the refrigerator and for a few weeks in the freezer. Well, it would keep if it lasted that long. For unexpected guests, I have even microwaved a frozen quarter section of a cake for 30 seconds 2 or 3 times until it is partially thawed. By the time the coffee is ready so is the cake.

The changes I have made in the recipe are that I use whole wheat pastry flour, unsweetened soy milk, and instead of cocoa powder I use Ghirardelli Sweetened Ground Chocolate and Cocoa. I have also found that the cake takes 15 to 20 minutes longer to bake in a 9-inch pan and twice as long as the instructions say for cool enough to get it out of the pan without having it fall apart.

If you are not familiar with melting chocolate, check out the instructions provided by Baker's Chocolate before you begin the process.

If the link above doesn't work for you, do a Google search using Emmons+ "vegan chocolate cake"+ recipe and look for a link at books.google.com.

Thanks to Susan V for the idea to participate in "Vegetable Love" for Valentine's Day. I am sure that this cake has too much fat for her criteria. Be sure to check out her outstanding fat-free vegan blog. On Tuesday she plans to post a round-up of all of the recipes people who participate in "Vegetable Love" send to her, so you should find many ideas for what to serve along with the cake.