Purple Haze: The Sequel feat. Easy Wheat Bread

I've decided my leftover "Purple Haze" millet+sweet potato mash would make some pretty awesome veggie burgers. So I'll need to throw together a loaf of bread before work to have something to put them on. This is by far the easiest, most versatile, and best slicing wheat bread recipe... like... ever.

Easy Wheat Bread:

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup Unbleached White Flour

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal

1 tsp Yeast

1 tsp Sea Salt

3/4 cup Warm Water

I use a bread machine to make my dough. It makes bread making immensely easy, and you can find a bread machine for a couple of bucks at practically any Goodwill or other large thrift store. I tend to double the recipe most of the time and it fits fine as dough in my machine. Add your ingredients to the machine, set to dough cycle and let it go. Once it beeps, place dough in an oiled bread pan, cover with a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour. If you don't have a bread machine, combine ingredients in a large bowl, knead for a couple of minutes, let rise in a warm place for an hour, knead, place in bread pan then let rise another hour or so (if doubling, divide into two loaf pans). Bake 'em off at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing, then enjoy.

My favorite variations of this bread are a 4 seed bread (1 tbsp. or so of each pumpkin, flax, chia, and poppy seeds) and a vitamin-b garlic bread (1 tbsp. fresh garlic, 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast). Try adding something of your own and let me know how you like it!

To make the burgers, take about 2 cups of the millet+sweet potato mash and add one large egg and some more cumin and cinnamon. This should turn out to be 4 burgers. These are a bit crumbly, as many veggie burgers are, but if you want them to be a little sturdier add a 1/4 cup of oatflour (1/4 cup plus 2 tbsps. rolled oats pulsed in the blender makes 1/4 oat flour). Pat them out into burgers and cook on medium/high heat in an oiled skillet, about 45 seconds on each side.

 Serve with toppings like greens, avocado, sliced gouda, sprouts, red onion, and, of course, some home-made bread and you've got yourself one heck of a sandwich! 

 

Purple Haze

I had every intention of coming straight home from the farm and making dinner. I've been looking forward to preparing this meal all day, mentally scrolling through food combinations and imagining the infinite possibilities waiting for me in my spice cabinet. But despite my intentions, priority went to a very messy diaper, not that it would be the first time. 

Thankfully, my mom happened to make oatmeal cookies this afternoon, and they were the perfect snack to hold me over until dinner :)

Once I got Jude fixed up with a clean bottom, I could roll up my sleeves (wash my hands!) and get to work in the kitchen. The main ingredients I'm using for my dish this evening are rather special, well, at least to me. Millet is probably most commonly known for it's role in bird seed, but don't just leave this tasty grain to birds! It can be as creamy as mash potatoes and as fluffy as rice. It is a whole, unrefined grain so it's as good for your body as it is for your taste buds! Large supermarkets and health food stores normally stock this grain, and can be found in the bulk foods or the rice section.

I bought mine from Natural Market in Columbia, where I also scored these amazing purple sweet potatoes. They taste just like regular sweet potatoes so feel free to substitute, I'm just crazy about odd varieties of vegetables so I couldn't pass them up.

Ingredients:

2 Medium Purple Sweet Potatoes, chopped into 1 inch pieces

3 tiny (1 medium, or half of a large) Yellow Onions, chopped

3 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 Jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped

2-3 Tbsp. Butter (coconut oil, or olive oil)

Sprinkle of raw sugar or brown sugar

1 cup Millet

2 cups Spinach, chopped

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Cumin

Salt to taste



After chopping the sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, and  jalapeno into chunks, I put them in a foil pouch with a couple tbsps. of butter and a sprinkle of raw sugar. Since I already had a fire going I figured I'd let it cook the potatoes for me. While that's going, start your pot with 1 cup millet and 2 cups water. Cook on medium for about 20 minutes.

The sweet potatoes cooked on the fire for about 15 minutes before I threw them in the pot with the millet to let them finish cooking. If you don't feel like building a fire, this foil pouch cooks up great in the oven. I'd say cook them for 30 minutes at 400. Whatever road you take to cook the potatoes, when they become tender toss them in with your millet as well as 2 cups chopped spinach (or other green), a half tsp. of both ground cumin and cinnamon, and salt to taste. This turns into a delectable purple mash, or what I recently renamed it: Purple Haze!

 

Southern Comfort

Autumn has taken root and with it our baby fall vegetables. The tomato plants are spent and have been replaced by mustards and collards, radishes and carrots, mizuna and turnips, and a few other lovely cool-weather veggies. And now that the air is crisp and cold my roots keep me planted inside during my down time, preferably by a fire :)
While I'm inside getting toasty, nothing ices the cake better than extra cozy comfort food and nothing is more comforting than down home southern cooking.
First we need biscuits. Lots of biscuits. Pantloads of biscuit. Start with a recipe and then double, triple, quadruple that bad boy. This healthy-ish recipe for vegan biscuits is perfect for a chilly day, moist on the inside, crispy on the outside and oh-so-buttery.

"Buttery" Vegan Biscuits
2 cups Unbleached Whole Wheat White Flour
1 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp Coconut oil (chilled)
1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 400. Combine dry ingredients then cut in oil with pastry cutter. Stir in wet ingredients, pat dough out on floured surface, and cut biscuits (I just cut mine into squares to save time, but these work great for round biscuits or any other shape). Place on greased or parchment covered pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Ok we've got a comforting starch, now let's fry something. As I ripped out the tomato plants I was sure to save all of those beautiful green fruits, perfect for this occasion.

Fried Green Tomatoes
3-4 large Green Tomatoes, sliced into 1/4 rounds
2 eggs
Breading:
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
Season Salt to taste

While you're preparing your tomatoes start the oil heating in the pot. For the best taste and benefit to your body, use Lou-ana coconut oil. It is refined so it doesn't carry a coconut  flavor and it fries at a little lower temperature, but it is a much healthier oil than vegetable oil. It is more expensive that vegetable oil, but the benefit of the switch far outweighs the price. Not to mention, if you filter and reuse you rarely have to buy it. You can buy Lou-ana coconut oil at Walmart, Hy-Vee, and just about any other super market these days.
Toss your sliced tomatoes in a Ziploc with the eggs, seal, and shake. Put you breading in a paper bag (or another Ziploc)  and pour your eggs and tomatoes into the breading bag, seal, and shake. Drop a sprinkle of flour into the oil to see if it bubbles, if it does, you're ready to go. Fry just until crispy the place on a towel lined plate, to absorb access oil.

Lastly we need some tangy braised greens. I picked some mizuna at the farm, and scored some hakurei turnips and fresh garlic from the Columbia Farmer's Market. I chopped up about 5 cloves of garlic, and sautéd in a tbsp of olive oil. Removed the greens from my turnips (and saved those guys for later) and roughly chopped along with my mizuna. I tossed it in the skillet for about 2 minutes and finished off with a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of sea salt. D-lish!

These three comfy foods work well as a sandwich or served separately. One thing is for sure, ya'll will be back for more!

Using Leftover Birthday Cake

Today I have the honor of using the rest of the watermelon from Jude's birthday cake for a tasty and nutritious breakfast. I love having to "use-up" fruit before it goes bad, it always gets my creativity going :)

 

 This watermelon is seedless so not much preparation is needed to toss it in the blender.

 One small watermelon and 1/3 cup of lime juice blends up to be a sweet and tangy smoothie that will serve 4 (8 oz glasses). If you want a beverage and not a meal, add a cup or more of coconut water and a smidge of honey then serve over ice for a super refreshing watermelon lime-ade.

Don't forget to compost the scraps, or in my case pass them on to some friends!

A Very Fruity Birthday Cake

Mr. Jude is turning 2! Woot woot! 

This very special boy deserves a very special cake, and this one he's sure to love. Who says you have to have refined sugars, gluten, funky oil, and other weirdo cake ingredients to have a party? This spectacular (looking AND tasting) cake uses only 5 ingredients, all of which are fresh fruit! Take note all you raw vegans, this party's for you!

 

 

 Start by cutting off the top and bottom of your watermelon. Then cut as evenly down the sides as you can, to get that "cake" shape

 

Then slice your kiwis and attach them around the base of your cake using toothpicks. Slice grapes in half and attach using toothpick as your polka-dot "icing."
.

 

 

 Slice strawberries and attach with toothpick along the top edge.
I finished the top of this cake off with sliced peaches, kiwis, and grapes and of course a big ole' 2!

 Jude was SUPER excited about his birthday cake!

 

 This fruit cake is bound to pass with flying colors. Check out that thumbs up, I'd say it's a pretty clear stamp of approval!

Stuffed Peppers with Vegan Taco "Meat"

 


I have the last harvest of bell peppers hanging over my head so why not throw some yummy things inside and make a meal of them. Yellow, red, and orange bells happen to contain nearly 6 times your daily value of vitamin C! Talk about proppin' up your immune system a bit, these baby's are super-veggies!

I'm stuffing these bad boys with something I like to call vegetarian taco meat. Most people use ground beef for taco meat, but store bought beef makes me feel a bit uneasy for a number of reasons.
A) I'm almost positive the cow ate some junky GMO feed. If you are what you eat then by the transitive property eating beef makes ME=GMOs. B) This beef is most likely shipped from outside the country. What's that I hear? The beef you buy says 100% US beef? Get this. Word on the street is that beef companies OUTSIDE this country name there establishments "US Beef" so they're able to advertise 100% US beef despite not being in the states at all. Why does it bother me that it's shipped from outside the country? It's not at all sustainable and other countries have far fewer regulations on their farming practices. If an animal lives a crap life, then is killed in a horrifically painful process the animal undoubtedly has gobs of adrenalin bouncing around it's veins. It turns out this actually taints the meat nutritionally. You don't have to be an animal protecting vegetarian-hippie to give a darn about the total lack of nutrition it has. If you love eating cow simply buy local grass fed beef! If you have to bargain shop for your food (like me), buy less meat and use this simple, cheap, and sustainable recipe to supplement.

Okay, I'll go ahead and step down from my soap box and get to my recipe. This "meat" so resembles seasoned ground beef in flavor and texture you won't ever miss the old stuff. Today I'm doing the simplest version of this recipe, so I'm using canned black beans. I normally use both black and pinto beans so feel free to use both or swap the black out for just pinto. The most work you'll be doing is chopping half of this onion :)

Toss the chopped onion into a pot and sauté in about a tablespoon of coconut oil, butter, or olive oil until they appear translucent. Then add a cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water, cover and let cook about 15 minutes.

Quinoa is a wonderful vegetarian protein source. It has a high protein to carbohydrate ratio so it's a wonderful supplement to meat. It can be expensive, so I recommend buying it at a health food store that sells bulk foods. I scored this beautiful tri-color mix from Natural Grocers in Columbia. There is some controversy over the quality of life of the farmers in the Andes that produce this grain and ship it to us American vegetarians. So if the fair treatment of these farmers is something you feel strongly about make sure you buy quinoa bearing the fair trade label.

While your grain is cooking use this time to cut the tops off of your peppers and remove the seeds. I'm using 7 medium/large bells.

Drain and rinse your beans and add to the pot about a minute before the quinoa is cooked. If the liquid has not yet been completely absorbed let it sit, covered, after removing from heat. Once the liquid is absorbed, add a 2 tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning (Recipe to come). 

 

 Stuff each pepper with the mixture and either serve as raw peppers with a little grated cheddar or pop in the oven preheated to 350 for about 15-20 minutes for soft, cooked peppers

I recommend raw goat cheddar for topping, so to keep it "raw" I top the peppers after they come out of the oven instead of baking with the cheese. 

Serve with any combination of avocado, sprouts, salsa, and/or sour cream, and of course, ENJOY! 

A Yummy Start and Sneaky Greens

October 15
 The name of the breakfast game for Jude is always "Eggs!", and we happen to have picked up some beautiful ones from the farm yesterday.

 

 My eye was also caught by some lovely purple mizuna that had managed to push through the last of the summer heat. Hiding greens in things Jude already loves has become an art for me, and eggs are a great vehicle for sneaky vegetables. Mizuna is an amazing nutrient dense green. For starters, it's packed with vitamin C, iron, and folate as well as special cancer fighting antioxidants. It has this fantastically exotic mustard-like flavor and yet much more mild than your average mustard green, making it stealthy enough to sneak into a toddler's breakfast.

Simply chop or tear and toss into a skillet with olive oil and a couple of eggs and you have a delicious, nutritious, and toddler friendly breakfast! If I were to go ahead and give myself a "Mommy grade" for the day, I'd like to think this would put me at about a 9 out of 10 :)