Limed Golden Beets with Brussels Sprouts and Vegan Sausage

It's been a long time since I cooked with beets, so today I decided to make something similar to the Golden Beets with Brussels Sprouts that I had made last February, but chose a variation on my own suggestion to try this dish with seitan (primarily instead using a link of 1/4" cubes of apple sage vegan sausage), steamed the beets instead of cooking them, and for the first time opened and tried a new tangerine extra virgin olive oil that I brought back from the market at San Francisco's Ferry Building.

The oil is made by crushing olives with tangerines by the Stonehouse California Olive Oil. According to the company's website, their 80-year-old olive trees are farmed organically in foothills just east of Chico at the edge of Table Mountain in Oroville, California. Oroville, incidentally, is where the "Mother Orange Tree", planted in 1856, is said to live and be the oldest orange tree in Northern California.

Anyway, I steamed three golden beet roots for 40 minutes. I put them in cold water for a few minutes to let me handle them, then peeled them easily by hand - no peeler was needed. I cut the peeled beet roots into chunks approximately 1" long and 1/2" in width and depth.

In the last 5 minutes of the steaming, I also tossed in a dozen Brussels sprouts. I had first removed a little from the tops and stripped the outermost leaves, then cutting each sprout in half.

Today I made one of my very infrequent stops at the gourmet store A Southern Season, and was surprised that their annual June sale with most of the store at least 20% off had begun early - this very day. I picked up a Progressive brand onion chopper; I often dice onions and have been thinking of purchasing an aid. I tried it with a medium yellow onion, but didn't find it easy to use, requiring a lot of force and taking some time for washing, so likely will return it.

In any case, when the steaming was almost done, I began sauteeing those onion pieces (diced into fine cubes less than 1/4" in size) till translucent, about 2-3 minutes, as well as a link of the vegan sausage and a little bit of leftover seitan, both chopped into 1/4" cubes. Then I added the beet leaf stems, cut into inch lengths, and let it all cook for 4 or 5 minutes.

Then, I added the beets, Brussels sprouts, and about a tablespoon of rosemary needles; a few minutes later, I added the beet leaves, hand torn into approximately 1 1/2 inch squares. I cooked for about 2 or 3 more minutes, added a little Baja Lime marinade, salt, freshly ground pepper, a little bit of paprika, and a few pinches of tarragon. I served it with fresh spinach and broccoli, some organic rose petals (my Heritage David Austin rose), and Italian crackers. It was a good dinner!

Spinach Deep-Dish Pizza in Cornmeal Crust, Tater Tots

My wife has had a craving for spinach, so I thought of making a spinach pizza. I used Vicolo Pizza organic cornmeal crust pizza shells; they come frozen in a pack of two.

I simply sliced into thin half moons half of a sweet Vidalia onion and started sauteeing it over medium heat. After a few mintues when the onion was clearing in color, I put in several (three or four?) handfuls of baby spinach leaves, and cooked a few more minutes till the spinach was cooked and reduced a little in volume.

I put the onion-spinach mixture into a bowl and mixed in half of a 12 ounce can of tomato puree, about ten oregano leaves from my garden, a tablespoonful (maybe a little bit more) of pesto sauce, and a little salt. I spread the sauce into two pizza shells and on my pizza (not my wife's as she avoids non-fermented soy) put a few heaps of Scottish garlic and herb vegan creamy "Sheese" spread.

It was good! I also served some English peas and heated some tater tots (potato treats).

Celebration Roast with Mushroom Sauce, Roasted Rosemary Yukon Gold Potato, Corn

We have some friends who are leaving town tomorrow or shortly thereafter; he just graduated from Duke Law School with a graduate degree and has accepted a job in the San Francisco Bay Area, while she is looking for a job as an architect there. My wife had to eat early and get to class, so she had leftovers on her own, but I prepared a late dinner to suit our friends' schedule - they couldn't make it over till almost 11p (no problem!).

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a Field Roast handmade stuffed vegan (with apples, squash, and mushrooms) Celebration Roast, and I picked one up (on sale) for tonight. It's easy to make and just needs heating in the oven. I sliced it and served it with Simply Organic brand vegetarian mushroom gravy (all organic vegan ingredients, including rice flour, mushroom, potato starch, yeast extract, carrot, garlic, and onion). I also roasted some Yukon Gold potatoes (cutting each small potato into eights, tossing with some olive oil, salt, and rosemary needles, and roasting in a 400° oven for 30-40 minutes till the potatoes were lightly browned, shaking once) and served corn-off-the-cob, mixed with a little salt, Earth Balance margarine, and lime. I sprinkled some alder smoked salt that I brought back from California last week, along with freshly ground black pepper, on some slices of heirloom tomatoes, as well.

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I've let my blog get behind and have to get caught up. I photographed a vegan wedding in Ohio on Saturday, leaving Friday morning to get to the rehearsal. We had rehearsal dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill in Westlake, Ohio; they had one pasta without eggs and their pizza could be made vegan, so we had one of each - both were reasonable.

On Sunday, a friend from Pittsburgh, 2 or 2 1/2 hours away, came to Cleveland to spend the evening with my wife and me; we went out to Tommy's in Cleveland Heights for dinner. I used to visit Cleveland periodically years ago and remember enjoying this restaurant. It is mostly vegetarian and serves (as I recall) very good falafel in a variety of forms. I had their tamales topped with salsa and seitan - good!

There is a lot of countryside in the approximately nine-hour drive between Cleveland and my home in Durham (NC), and the best bet to stop for food seemed to be the capital of West Virginia, Charleston. I had found on the internet that there was an Indian restaurant there, Sitar of India. My wife was very disappointed, though I thought the food was passable; we shared a papadum (rather meager serving of a single papadum lentil cracker - my wife found that it tasted stale), salad, bhagan bharta (eggplant) that was probably the least interesting bhagan bharta I've ever had, and two flat breads, neither of which was good (my wife was tempted to ask if she could train the chef in cooking these breads!). We're so lucky to have so many good restaurants where we live!

Mom's Homemade Pizza, Tempeh-Shiitake Saute, Sweet and Spicy Mixed Grain Salad

I need to get my blog caught up! I had a full day today, starting by waking up at 6a for the opportunity to photograph Hillary Clinton (I think that I got a few good shots!). We had a few appointments in the evening; it was around 8p when I started working on dinner. Just then, my Mom called to say that she had an extra pizza that she had just made.

I capitalized on that and enjoyed her always-very-good homemade pizza. I served a sweet and spicy mixed grain salad (millet, bulghur, wild rice, tamari, sunflower seeds, carrot, red onion, scallion, dried cranberry, mint, lemon juice, tamari, cayenne, black pepper, parsley, white wine vinegar, olive oil) that I had purchased, and made a simple saute of tempeh, onion, and shiitake mushrooms, mixing in 3/4 tablespoon of pesto just before serving.

Asparagus-Tempeh over Conchiglie (seashell) Pasta

I made a simple asparagus and tempeh saute and served it over Conchiglie seashell-shaped pasta. I also grilled some corn over my gas range, stripped the kernels, and served it with Earth Balance vegan margarine, a little lime juice, and a little salt - one of my standards.

Homegrown Shiitake Steaks with Tempeh

Late last year, I made a contribution to a local cause and received a shiitake mushroom log as a "thank you". I was told that I could actively manage the log by periodically drenching it, and then would get a number of mushrooms mushrooming at a time. Or I could just let the log be, laying in a shady area in my back woods, and would occasionally get a mushroom or two. I chose the latter - it also would last longer this way and I think give a larger total number of mushrooms.

I was delighted a few days ago to find two very large mushrooms growing on the log! Today I went to get them but one was gone - I don't think that squirrels or other animals eat them, but may be wrong. There was no trace of one.

But the one that I harvested was huge and heavy! I made a simple dish out of it, cooking it in a little bit of oil, shallot (or was it onion?), and herbs. I served it with some dried garlic and salt. Delicious!

Indian Potato-Cauliflower-Spinach with Basmati Rice

I photographed a wedding reception today, coincidentally at the restaurant where I host Thanksgiving each year, Cafe Parizäde. I came home hungry and tired, and was so happy and thankful to see that my wife, who had eaten out at Sitar India Palace, brought home a tasty potato-cauliflower-spinach dish, as well as rice. It was very good!