Clear Noodle Soup w. Mock Duck - Vegan Mofo 2013

Can you make me some soup? Mr. Coconut asks.

Sure.

"Soup" means one of three varieties of instant ramen or rice noodle soups in the pantry. Flip through the food we have in my head. I mentally mix and match flavors, textures, colors.

ginger garlic onion greens - will arugula work? - rice noodles peppers - jalapeno or Thai? - tofu mock duck what vegetables do we have soy sauce coconut oil hot sauce


Got it.

One can of mock duck - drain, rinse, tear into smaller pieces. Coconut oil to saute in a pan while water boils for the broth and noodles of this soup:




Spicy Thai chili peppers get tossed in with the mock duck, along with a good pour of soy sauce. Seasoning powder into the boiling water, along with the rice noodles. In the mock duck pot - a handful of kale and turn off the heat for both pots.

I ladle broth and noodles into the bowl, then place the greens and mock duck on top of the soup. Garnish with limes and cilantro.

DDOW - Spicy Chile Verde w. Beans - Vegan Mofo 2013

As promised, here is the Spicy Chile Verde with Beans from this weeks Delivered Dish of the Week order. From the website:

“Spicy Chile Verde with Beans (V, GF, soy-free, no added sugar) An opportunity to see why chef Crescent Dragonwagon in her book Bean for Bean insists there is no substitute for Santa Fe Green Chilies from New Mexico. With green bell peppers.”

This had a ton of vegetables, as you can see. It actually had quite a bit of broth, too, but for the sake of the photo, I emphasized the veggies and beans.
I enjoyed this dish – it was a satisfying lunch that I will have more of tomorrow. I added a little bit of spinach because I add greens to as many things as possible if I have them around, and adding them to soups is one of my favorite ways to incorporate greens easily.

It was not quite what I expected – but then again, most of the dishes I have received so far are different than what I expected – and that is great. I love the semi-unexpected surprise of trying new foods or foods prepared in different ways than I would. It has been really invigorating and inspiring for my own cooking.

Next week for DDOW, I will be getting (and blogging) a container of Zucchini Linguine with Raw Tomato Sauce as well as a container of Heirloom Bean & Veg Cassoulet with Rosemary. Sounds great!!!!

Cous Cous w. Mushrooms and Veggies - Vegan MoFo 2013

It started with mushrooms.

I just wanted to cook some mushrooms.

Home, after an uneventful but nonetheless long day, especially after running to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Hungry, but also too tired to think of such complexities of putting an actual meal together. Yet tossing a chik patty in the microwave and calling it a day was not appealing. Plus the groceries needed to be put away. Ugh. So it started with the mushrooms.

Nothing special - just some shiitake mushrooms from the store. Pan, toss, sizzle.

Kale!, I thought - I have KALE. That would be great with mushrooms. It's worked before.

So kale went in, more groceries placed inside the freezer.

Whoa, totally forgot about these veggies! Luckily, they were only from a couple days ago, so the cooked frozen veggies went in, along with their coats of olive oil. Then went some already cooked previously mentioned Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend along with a handful of spinach. Last, but not least, went in a tiny bit of Trader Joe's Vegan Mozzarella Shreds.

Creamy, carby, comforting.

DDOW - Cuke, Corn & Hominy Salad - Vegan MoFo 2013

Another Delivered Dish of the Week (DDOW). Again, from One Dish at a Time's Tracy Yue, I ordered and received a quart of this lovely chilled salad made up of hominy, corn, and cucumbers, in a perky cilantro lime vinaigrette. From her website:

"Cuke, Corn & Hominy Salad in Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (V, GF, soy-free, no added sugar) As well as being the basis of Posole stew, chewy hominy (rehydrated treated white corn kernels) is surprisingly nice in salads. I’ll use raw sweet corn for added crunch and because it’s frankly easier than par-boiling. The local sweet corn has been great this season."

One of my co-workers asked me what hominy was and my reply was "corn? Is that right? Is it just corn...but not?" I realized I didn't really know, which typically ends with me scouring the internet or other sources for information. From Wikipedia:

"Hominy consists of dried maize kernels which have been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization."

Umm...ok? Why?

"To make hominy, field corn (maize) grain is dried, then treated by soaking and cooking the mature (hard) grain in a dilute solution of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) or wood ash, a process termed nixtamalization. The soaked maize is washed, and then ground into masa. When fresh masa is dried and powdered, it becomes masa seca or masa harina."

Huh. Information for the day.

Tomorrow I will highlight the second dish I received for this weeks DDOW, Spicy Chile Verde with Beans.

Farmers Market Quinoa Salad - Vegan MoFo 2013

This was a dish made of a lot of fresh herbs and veggies from the farmers market, along with some quinoa. The veggies included: cucumbers, kale, peas, as well as mint and basil. The quinoa also had some olive oil in it. I added sliced almonds and some nooch at the end.

Great stuff!

Bean & Vegetable Salad with Chimi dressing - Vegan Mofo 2013

Whoops!  Lost this weekend, but still making great food.  Hopefully this week I will get the chance to fix some of the goofy formatting that has been happening.  It is the first time I have been blogging via iPad, phone, and computer on a rotating basis.  

Getting Delivered Dish of the Week over the summer and again starting last week has inspired me to make more awesome vegetable-packed dishes.  This is a salad I made for lunch at work last week.  One 15ozcan of white beans, half a medium green bell pepper (diced), cherry tomatoes sliced in half, shiitake mushrooms, diced jalapeno, parsley, one baby cucumber (peeled), and that crazy chimichurri sauce I made earlier.  Great stuff, though the mushrooms were not a great fit.  This would be great with greens like spinach or arugula, but I was out.  I am excited for this week of Mofo - I will highlight another DDOW and maybe have a couple treats from local restaurants.