Romanesco Cauliflower with Mixed Vegetables

Roasted Cauliflower and Beet (No Added Fat)

It's been a while since I made tasty roasted cauliflower and I had a head of cauliflower peeking out at me from my refrigerator. I am presenting beets at the somanycooks show this weekend and thought it would be fun to make a roasted beet and cauliflower dish. I was amazed at the the deep color - perfect for white cauliflower!


Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower separated into florets
• 2 medium beets, tops and bottoms removed and then the remainder peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed so skins loose but with skins otherwise left on
• 2T (more or less as desired for moisture level) Coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
• 1t (or more as desired) dried herbs; I used a spice grinder with a variety of Italian herbs
• 1/4 t salt
• 1t lemon juice

Process

1. I put the cauliflower, beet, and garlic on a baking tray, tossed with coconut aminos and herbs, and put in my toaster oven on its convection setting at 400°F for 15minutes; for regular ovens, I'd go with 20-25 minutes.
2. I transferred the ingredients to a metal bowl, looked for the garlic and pressed down, and mixed in the salt and lemon juice.

That's it! I served with brown rice cooked with baby lima beans and cucumber slices.

 

Results

We all enjoyed the meal, even my daughter who doesn't love beets. I was very happy with the bright color and of course taste of the main course. Other than being careful about not staining the deep beet roots (I immediately washed the cutting board in cold water and luckily had no juice coming onto my counters but I would have wiped any immediately), this was quite easy and required little effort!

Ideas for the future

This was a nice main course! Here are a few thoughts about additional ideas.

• I bet mixing red and golden beets would be attractive.
• I was originally going to air fry some seitan and mix into the dish, but my air fryer is also my toaster oven and I didn't have enough time to run it twice, though it would really only be for maybe 5-6 minutes of air frying. I should try adding seitan or maybe tempeh.
• I really like citrus and bet mixing in fresh tangerine pieces when serving would be nice - maybe along with a bit of olive and rosemary needles.
• I also like lemony beets and perhaps should try adding a lemon marinade before roasting.

Kabocha Squash (and more!) Soup (No Added Fat)

I made soup in my Instant Pot pressure cooker with a variety of ingredients, including kabocha squash, potato, and carrots. I enjoy raw cranberries and put a few in my soup. I made a cauliflower dish and a hearty tomato and chickpea salad.

 

Results

We all enjoyed the soup!

Ideas for the future

Especially with the help of pressure cooking, soups always seem to come out well. I should make soups and stews more often. Our January So Many Cooks in the Kitchen show is about soups and stews!

Waterless Caulifower and Plantain, Bean and Lentil with Millet and Flax Crackers (Almost No Added Fat)

I had a head of cauliflower and decided to make a waterless main course. I simply cooked it in my large Saladmaster stock pan, putting in half moon red and sweet Vidalia onions, a chopped clove of garlic, then florets from almost the whole head of the cauliflower, and finally a little bit of spinach. I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped.

I let it cook for about 20 minutes, then I mixed in about 1 or 1 1/2 ounces that I had leftover of  an 8 ounce bag of Key Lime skillet sauce (I think it was 1g or 2g of fat per serving), a handful of chopped flat parsley, salt, and lemon pepper.

While that was cooking, I sauteed with no oil on a cast iron pan a plantain cut into 3/4" rounds. Once lightly blackened, I quartered the rounds and then, once the cauliflower was done, mixed them in to the main course.

When I was cooking a recent Food for Life class and needed baked tortilla chips, I instead used a cracker that I used to occasionally get, Sami's millet and flax
garlic and plain chips. They're great - I can't understand how they are so luscious (the garlic is quite strong!) and seemingly decadent, but they are only 2g (3g for the garlic) of fat per serving (sixth of the bag). I had (and still do!) plenty of leftovers from a few days ago when I made the bean and lentil soup; I didn't add more water but heated it up and spread the thick paste atop some of the crackers.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Roasted Cauliflower with Black Beluga Lentils (No Added Fat)

I have enjoyed making roasted cauliflower as I first described this past January. I thought I'd make a cauliflower and lentil dish. I roasted half a head of cauliflower florets, tossed with 4 cloves of garlic and coconut aminos (soy sauce would have been fine, too) for 15 minutes with convection bake in my air fryer at 400°F. I removed the cauliflower and, after letting it cool for a few minutes, coarsely chopped the garlic into maybe 1/4" pieces.

While the cauliflower was cooking, I simmered black beluga lentils in a combination of vegetable broth and water for 20m. When the lentils were done, I mixed in the cauliflower and garlic.

Results

Dinner was good! We all enjoyed the combination for the main course.

Ideas for the future

Cauliflower is good raw, but is especially good roasted. I should make roasted cauliflower more often - it's so easy!

Waterless Seitan, Brussels Sprout, and Cauliflower with Mixed Wild and Brown Rices and Avocado Salad

Creamy "Cheese" Cauliflower Soup (Almost No Added Fat)

Recently we stopped by Living Kitchen, a very nice vegan and (subject to ingredient availability) organic restaurant, and had a tasty thick cauliflower soup. I picked up a head of cauliflower today and decided to try making a similar soup. I had made a cauliflower soup back in February 2011 that was good but I wanted to better it.

I found a roasted cauliflower soup recipe from a very nice site by a woman named Jessica and it looked great. The key ideas were to roast cauliflower, coated in a little olive oil and along with garlic cloves, at  450°F for 15m, then blend with sauteed onion.

I made a few changes; I used the convection ("air bake") function on my air fryer toaster oven which cooks faster and went with 400°F for 15m, instead of using oil, I mixed in Coconut Secret brand coconut aminos garlic sauce (soy sauce or their normal coconut aminos would have been fine), and I used oregano instead of thyme.  I didn't have any bouillon cubes on hand or broth, so I used filtered water and just a few (maybe 5) raw cashews for creaminess and thickness. I had sauteed the onion in a cast iron pan and then mixed all the ingredients in my Vitamix blender - including some nutritional yeast. As Jessica suggested, I saved a few pieces of roasted cauliflower and added atop the soup.

Here is a copy of the original recipe from Jessica's site.

INGREDIENTS

Roasted Cauliflower Soup - Vegan, Incredibly Easy

• 1 large head cauliflower, de-stemmed and florets broken up
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed with skins still on
• 1/2 large vidalia onion
• 2-3 sprigs thyme, stems removed
• 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 
  

Roasted Cauliflower Soup - Vegan, Incredibly Easy

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.
• Add the cauliflower to the baking sheet and 1 tablespoon olive oil, about ½ teaspoon salt and grind some pepper over it all. Using your hands, mixing it all in, massaging the ingredients into the cauliflower. Add the smashed garlic (skins still on) on the baking sheet. The skins help to prevent it burning; you'll remove thee afterwards. Roast for 15 minutes. I like to reserve a few pieces after roasting to top the soup with.
• Meanwhile, in a large high sided pot over medium high heat, sauté the onions in the ½ tablespoon olive oil until fragrant and browning, about 8 minutes, stirring infrequently.
• Add the roasted cauliflower, the garlic (skins remove), 2 sprigs of thyme and vegetable broth. Mix together with spatula.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir once more. If using an immersion blender, blend the soup together. If using a high powered blender, let cool slightly and add slowly to blender. Press the "soup" setting or blend on high until soup is thoroughly mixed and incorporated, at least 1 minute. Be careful that your soup is not too hot to crack your blender. Taste and salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour into bowls and top optionally with extra cauliflower, crushed red peppers, extra thyme and a drizzle of coconut milk. Enjoy!
• 
  

I'm glad that I found this recipe and this site! I also made some quinoa cooked with chopped broccoli stalk and with tofu (the tofu wasn't for my wife).

Results

The soup was excellent! I loved the flavor and consistency. It's a winner!

Ideas for the future

I share Jessica's enthusiasm about roasted cauliflower. My toaster oven is fast and I think I could have baked for maybe 10m instead of 15m. I should also try other cauliflower soups maybe with kale or broccoli.

Red Split Dhal with Vegetables, Arugula and Mixed Tomato Salad with Mango Miso Dressing in Celebration of Friends' New Baby (No Added Fat)

I'm so excited that friends of mine just had a baby and I'm first in the meal train to bring food over! It's always a privilege to be able to be connected in any way with a new baby and I'm thankful that I get to take food over.

I like to include fenugreek when I cook for new Moms to help stimulate lactation; I don't like the flavor of fenugreek but when I cook with it, I always make sure that the fenugreek is enveloped with many other strong flavors so it doesn't show through. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 3 cups red split lentils
• 2 cups kale (I used frozen, but fresh is fine)
• 1 cup spinach
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
• 2 cups carrot (2 medium carrots) cut into 3/8" chunks and then halved
• 1T finely (1/8") chopped ginger
• 2 medium cloves garlic, finely (1/8") chopped (about 1 1/2 T)
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1t turmeric
• 1t garlic powder
• 1t cumin seed
• 1T fenugreek seed
• 6 cups water
• 2 cups chopped bell pepper (approx. 1/4" x 3/4" slices)
• 2 cups onion cut into 3/8" cubes (I used about 1/3 of a red onion and 1/3 of a Vidalia onion)
• 4T lime juice
• 2t salt

Process

1. Split lentils cook in a ratio of 1 : 2-2.5 parts water for 13-18m under pressure. I went with a 1:2 ratio for a thicker dhal for 16m. I put all of the ingredients except the onion, lime juice, and salt, into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 16m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the bell pepper, onion, lime juice, and salt.

I took this over along with long-grained brown rice (cooked in a 1:2.5 ratio for 45m) and various salad ingredients (arugula and mixed cherry tomatoes). I made a simple chickpea miso - mango dressing (a combination I'd not tried before but I think it came out well; I blended 2T miso with 1/2 t black sesame seeds - a great source of calcium, a medium shallot (maybe 2 T), 1T mango chunks, 1T maple syrup, and 1/8 t salt.  When I come home, this will all also be my dinner! 

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Vegan "Sausage" Ravioli with Homemade Tomato Sauce, Cauliflower and Baby Lima Bean Melange

We have a new store that opened near our house last week called Sprouts; we visited and found it doesn't have the variety and quality of coops or Whole Foods Market, but it's nice that it's nearby so we may occasionally visit. They had a few products we've not seen elsewhere, such as Lightlife brand vegan "sausage" ravioli that I picked up and decided to make today. It's not particularly healthy as it has 16g of fat and a long list of ingredients, but I thought we'd try it. (It turns out it had soy which my wife is a bit intolerant of, so I prepared some pasta instead for her but used the same sauce, side dish, and salad for her.)

I made a homemade sauce by sauteeing chunks of just-ripe but firm tomato, bell pepper, garlic, and onion, and mixing in oregano, salt, and black pepper when off the heat. I don't often make tomato sauces - this one was good!

I put, in this order, onion, garlic, frozen cauliflower, and frozen baby lima beans into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 15 minutes, then I mixed in a little salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

Results

My daughter loved the ravioli. We all loved the sauce. The side dish was fun - it was soft and seemed to melt in the mouth, and had nice flavor.

Ideas for the future

I don't know why I don't cook with cauliflower more often. It's versatile and cooks down nicely to serve as a "supporting character" for other ingredients.

Lemony Cauliflower with Black-eyed Peas and Turnip (No Added Fat)

I had a half head of cauliflower that I wanted to use and found that my wife had cooked some black-eyed peas. I also had a turnip that needed to be used. I decided to make a waterless main course, and serve sauteed plantain slices on the side, along with a lovely purple carrot and icicle radish slices. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1 clove garlic, finely (< 1/8") minced
• Medium turnip, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes
• About 2 cups of cauliflower florets (about half a head)
• 1/4 of a medium Meyer lemon juiced and remainder chopped into 3/8" cubes (only if organic; if a non-Meyer lemon or lime is used, use just the colored outside zest)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 t turmeric
• 1/8 t dried oregano

Process

1. I put, in this order, the onion, garlic, turnip, cauliflower, and black-eyed peas into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes.
2. I then opened the pot, and mixed in the lemon juice and lemon pieces, salt, pepper, turmeric, and oregano.

Results

Dinner was good! I added a bit of jalapeno to my serving. I couldn't taste the turnip, but the cauliflower and lemon worked well with the black-eyed peas.

Ideas for the future

I have not been very good with constrasting colors in presenting my meals. I wish that I had some roasted red bell pepper on hand, as that would have added to the visuals. The main course was good but could have used a little more flavor, perhaps capers or olives. Mustard seed and maybe ground cumin would have been nice, too.

I should explore more ways of cooking with turnips. This was fine to enjoy the nutrition of turnips, but there was no flavor that I could detect coming from the turnips.

Thick Potato Leek Soup with Spicy Seitan (No Added Fat)

I had a little potato leek soup leftover and had purchased a head of cauliflower today. I thought I'd make a soup with cauliflower and seitan (I had some chorizo seitan from Upton's that I also bought today).

I steamed about half the cauliflower, cut into florets, for about 3 minutes, covered, then removed the water, put about a cup of the soup base in, as well as 1/4 of the seitan package (about 2 ounces), 3/4 of a bell pepper cut into strips, a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, a pinch of salt, 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper, and 1/2 t garlic powder. I simmered, uncovered, for 7-10 minutes, then served, along with cucumber slices and crackers. Simple, fast, and nutritious!

Results

Dinner was good. I like thick soups, but this also would have been good with more of the soup base. nding

Ideas for the future

Chunks of potatoes would have been good, as well as chives. I was in a bit of a rush to put dinner together, so something more "interesting" than crackers, such as a vegetable dish, would have been nice, but, in any case, dinner was filling.

Waterless Curried Cauliflower, Brown Lentils (No Added Fat); Oatmeal Raisin - Meyer Lemon Cookies

The weather became cold tonight and I felt like a warm soup. I thought I'd make a main course of a curried cauliflower dish along with a dhal. Frankly, I prefer a chunkier not even quite stew to dhal often, but though I've tried cooking dishes like lentils at the low end of the water and high end of the time required, I generally get a product more liquidy than I expect (I do like dhal and soup, but often try for something thicker, which I also like!). Tonight, I ended up with a nice consistency of my lentil dish which was actually just a tad bit dryer than it could have been. Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown lentils
• 1 1/2 times as much water (i.e., 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 cup carrot cut into 3/8" slices (I used 3 small carrots; if they weren't thin, I'd have halved them, as well)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") minced
• About 2T organic Meyer lemon, including all (flesh and rind), cut into 3/8" cubes (if no organic Meyer lemon or no Meyer lemon at all is available, then skip and mix in 1T fresh lemon or lime juice at the end)
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/3 t fennel seed
• 1/4 cup onion cut into approx. 1/4"x1" half moons
• Florets from head of cauliflower (about 6 cups)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• Another 1/4 t turmeric
• 1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2 t salt

Process

1. I put the lentils, water, carrot, garlic, Meyer lemon, turmeric, cumin, and fennel into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 20m (lentils cook in a 1 part to 1.5-2 parts ratio of lentils to water for 15-20m).
2. While the lentils were cooking, I put, in this order, the onion, cauliflower, and peas into a large Saladmaster stock pan (I had a half dozen pieces of bell pepper cut up and went ahead and threw them in, as well). I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes.
3. I mixed in 1/4 t salt and the additional 1/4 t turmeric, and served.
4. When the lentils were ready to be removed from the de-pressurized cooker, I mixed in 1/4 t salt and served.

Results

Dinner was good! The lentil dish was a bit more solid than I had wished for, but was good. The cauliflower was tasty. Everybody enjoyed the meal.

Ideas for the future

I should try this again with a ratio of 1 : 1 3/4 lentils to water. Mango powder would go well with the lentils.

Cookies!

I don't cook desserts often, though I like to blend frozen fruit with a little almond creamer to make an almost no fat "ice cream". We have a cookie exchange on Friday, and my daughter wanted to make oatmeal raisin cookies. I had the idea that I could mix in some delicious organic Meyer lemon juice.

There are many good recipes readily available. I came up with the following, similar to many that I had found, such as one from theveglife.com, and made a batch of 10 cookies as a trial tonight. We all loved the cookies! They're not without fat, but each cookie was about 4 or 4 1/2 g of fat, which isn't bad for a treat (a Tablespoon of Earth Balance margarine is 11g of fat; I used less than 4T for 10 cookies).

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (4 T) Earth Balance margarine (or other vegan butter or margarine) at room temperature
• 3/8 cup brown sugar (or turbinado sugar or some combination of the two)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 T ground flax
• 1 1/2 T water
• Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• Skin of 1/3 Meyer lemon cut into 1/4" pieces

Process

• I preheated my oven to 350°F.
• I had my daughter mix with a utensil the sugar into the Earth Balance.
• Once homogeneous, I started adding a little bit of the flour at a time till it was all mixed in, then continued with the baking soda, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
• Next, we mixed in the oats, raisins, flax, water, and lemon/lemon pieces.
• We divided the dough into approximately tablespoonfuls an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet, and pressed down to flatten the tops a bit.
• With the preheated oven ready, I put the cookie sheet in to bake for 8-9 or maybe 10 minutes till the edges were just turning golden.
• I removed the cookies from the oven and let them sit a few minutes till firm enough that I could remove them to a cookie wire rack to cool.

The cookies were very good! We tried some cookies with a few chocolate chips put on top of the finished cookies while still warm. They were very good, too, but didn't add a significant flavor, though my wife was partial to them.

When I make these on Thursday night in a larger quantity for the Friday event, I'll increase the raisin content a bit. The sweetness was just right. I could have included a little more vanilla if I wished. Yum!

Riced Cauliflower with Tempeh and Brown Rice (No Added Fat)

I have never riced cauliflower and should try it sometime to use in making a delicate dish. However, I found frozen riced cauliflower at Whole Foods Market - what could be easier?! I decided to make a simple cauliflower rice dish.


Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
• 2 cups water
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 cups riced cauliflower
• 8 ounces tempeh cut into cubes approx. 3/8" in size
• 1t ginger, finely (1/8") diced
• 1/4 cup onion cut into approx. 3/8" cubes

Process

1. I prepared brown rice the normal way by simmering, covered, for 50m the rice and twice as much water, along with the bouillon cube and water.
2. I quickly opened the rice pot when it was done, mixed in the cauliflower, and covered and let stand another 10 minutes till the cauliflower was defrosted and slightly cooked.
3. While the rice was cooking, I prepared the tempeh. I heated on medium high a cast iron pan with a very little bit of oil (maybe 1/4 t), then rubbed the oil off, leaving a light glaze.
4. I added the tempeh, onion, and ginger, and cooked, stirring occasionally, till the tempeh was lightly browned (about 8 minutes).

Results

Dinner came out well! The riced cauliflower had a subtle flavor and the small pieces of tempeh worked out well.

Ideas for the future

I should make a more complex cauliflower rice sometime, like this promising-sounding recipe describes.

Vegan Macaroni and "Cheese" with Steamed Kale and Cauliflower (for kiddo and me)

We're in the midst of our favorite event of the year, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the country's largest such festival, and just a few miles from our house. My wife and I usually spend all day (maybe 10a-10p or beyond) and we bring our daughter to a number of films that she may appreciate and enjoy. I review films for a South Asian regional magazine, Saathee - my online review for the week is available.

My daughter and I had about 3 hours off this afternoon, so came home for a bit, and I made one of her favorite dishes, macaroni and "cheese", for the two of us, using Daiya brand macaroni and "cheese" (with vegetables). I also prepared a large serving of steamed cauliflower and kale (she got raw kale, which she prefers) by pressure steaming in the Instant Pot for 3 minutes and serving with a bit of salt.

Cruciferous Three-Bean Stew with Kale (No Added Fat)

I had soaked three kinds of beans to make a main course, but I hadn't decided what the dish would be. At the coop today, they had organic cauliflower on clearance. I like how cauliflower cooks down quickly under pressure and can form a thick gravy-like matrix for other ingredients. Though only a few minutes would be needed, I thought I'd cook the cauliflower along with the beans for 25 minutes. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1/3 cup each: Anasazi, and Flageolet beans, rinsed and soaked overnight (or rinsed and then soaked in boiling water for 3-5 hours), then rinsed again
• Enough water to just cover beans
• Florets from small or medium head of cauliflower (large florets quartered)
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t garam masala
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 2 white mushrooms cut into 1/4" thick slices, each slice then halved
• Approx. 1/2 cup onion diced to approx. 3/8" cubes
• 5-6 leaves kale, roughly hand torn into approx. 1/2" squares, stems excepted
• 1t finely (1/8") diced ginger
• 2t lemon juice (I used organic Meyer lemon)
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• (optional) 1/4 t kala namak ("black salt" that is actually pink in color)
• 1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 t garlic powder

Process

1. I put the beans, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, water, mushroom (the only reason I used mushroom as it was also on clearance at the store), and cauliflower into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 25m.
2. After the cooking was done, I would have waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then opened, but I was out at an appointment, so my wife helped herself after mixing in the remaining ingredients. (I should have used garlic but we're out - so used garlic powder; the ginger I added when I got home as my daughter doesn't like ginger, but I'd have preferred to cook the ginger with the dish.)

We had some broccoli that had to be used up, so I served a large "tree" on the side, hence the "cruciferous" title to the meal, since both broccoli and cauliflower were used.

Results

Dinner was good but needed some tweaking. Initially, it was a bit soupy, but the kale (actually, I just added the kale when I came home, so her serving didn't have it) brought it together and cooked enough in the remaining heat to satisfy. It also was a bit bland, but the salt and, at the table, hot sauce, brought it alive.

Ideas for the future

I was surprised that the cauliflower didn't totally turn into a mushy backdrop. I guess that cauliflower pressure cooks down quickly in a few minutes and doesn't soften further. That was fine but worth noting. If I do want a softer cauliflower, I need to remember in the future to gently press down or even blend before serving. I should explore more multi-bean dishes and come up with more ways to get the meal to shine, such as maybe using caramelized onion, capers, or maybe olives.

Waterless Cauliflower and Chard (No Added Fat)

I found red chard on sale at our coop today; we've not had chard in a while, and I had a head of cauliflower in the refrigerator, so I thought of cooking a chard and cauliflower dish. Preparing it waterlessly (using a quality Saladmaster pan and cooking, covered, on low) sounded good. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 2/3 cup onion cut into approx. 1/4" x 3/4" pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 5 cups (maybe 2/3 or a bit more of a medium head) cauliflower florets
• approximately 3 cups (packed) greens (I used red chard, but other kinds of chard, kale, or, if you like a bit more "bit", mustard greens could be used instead); I used 5 chard leaves, cut the stems into 1/2" lengths to make up about 3/4 cup, then hand stripped the leaves to approximately 1" pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/4 t turmeric
• (optional) 1/4 t garlic powder
• (optional) 1/4 t black sesame seed

Process

1. I put into a large Saladmaster stock pan, in this order, the onion, garlic, cauliflower, greens, salt, and turmeric
2. I turned the heat on to medium high and covered the pan; after a few minutes, the vapor release started jiggling, whereupon I reduced heat to low till the release stopped moving about, and cooked for 20m
3. I then opened the pan, mixed in the garlic powder and sesame seed, and served

I also had some fresh French baguette, and sauteed on a cast iron pan with no oil (I first maybe 1/2 t canola oil on the warming pan for half a minute then wiped the oil off just to get a very light coating on the pan) some tempeh.

Results

Everybody liked dinner! The cauliflower was good but could have cooked just a bit more to be more tender. A little more turmeric would have made the color more vibrant (and, of course, more healthy).

Ideas for the future

While I love pressure cooking, I always also get good results with waterless cooking. I love what the pressure cooker (very soft and, cooked for a few minutes, gravy-like) and waterless cooking (tender) does to cauliflower. I should experiment with more waterless cauliflower dishes - more vegetables like carrots, peas, and green beans would be good. A surprise element like pomegranate kernels would be fun.

Cauliflower with Seitan (No Added Fat)

I'm missing my family who are traveling in India. I like cooking even for just one; I cooked for myself for years before I got married. Tonight, I decided to cook a cauliflower that I had purchased on sale.

I was originally going to make a cauliflower and tofu dish, but had the desire for seitan. I didn't want to make a mashed dish as I did in September (though it was good!) but wanted some firmness of the cauliflower. I've found that seitan doesn't really benefit, at least with a short cook time, in the pressure cooker, so usually add it after other ingredients have cooked. Tonight, since I decided to just cook the cauliflower for "zero minutes" (i.e., just let the cooker come to pressure and then turn off) at low pressure, I just added the seitan at the beginning so it would be nice and hot. I forgot, but was going to add some jalapeno, as well. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• Florets from medium head of cauliflower
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped to 1/8" - 1/4" pieces
• 8 ounces of seitan cut into approximately 3/8" pieces
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cups onion cut reasonably finely (about 1/4" cubes)
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/4 t lemon pepper
• 1/4 t tarragon
• 2T nutritional yeast

Process

1. I put the cauliflower, garlic, seitan, bouillon cube, and water into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 0 minutes on low pressure.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then added the rest of the ingredients and served with brown rice (1:2 ratio rice to water simmered for 50m).

Results

Dinner was good! I think that I prefer this to the mashed cauliflower - though that was good, too. I'm glad that I kept it simple - jalapeno or even ginger wouldn't have been so good in this dish.

Ideas for the future

I should make this dish for my family when they return. When cooking for myself, I should experiment with tofu and cauliflower. At first, I thought that I would have enjoyed some crunch such as from bell pepper, but then I reconsidered and decided that I liked it as it was. However, I'd like to present this with some more color - maybe some mild greens could be mixed in such as kale or collards?

Cauliflower with Tempeh (Waterless with No Added Fat); Colonial Williamsburg dining and a great find in Richmond, VA

My daughter and I enjoyed two nights at Colonial Williamsburg and returned last night. I'll share some food notes about our trip at the bottom.

For dinner tonight, I thought that I'd use a head of cauliflower. I don't think that I've ever cooked cauliflower waterlessly (in a Saladmaster low temperature stainless steel pan with a vapor release top) before - and ended up with great results. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup onion cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• Florets from medium head of cauliflower (5 cups)
• Small bell pepper cut into 3/4" squares (a little over a cup) 
• 4 ounces tempeh cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1/2 t turmeric (or less for a lighter finished color)
• 1/2 t black sesame seed
• 1t fennel seed
• 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• 1t lemon juice

Process

1. I put, in order, the onion, garlic, cauliflower, bell pepper, and tempeh into a large Saladmaster stock pot.
2. I turned the heat on medium and covered the pan. When I heard the vapor release start to jiggle, indicating steam coming out of the vegetables, I turned the heat down to low to stop the jiggling and cooked for 20m.
3. I mixed in the seasonings and lemon juice, and served with brown rice.

Results

Dinner was surprisingly good; we all enjoyed it. I was impressed with how good waterless cooking of cauliflower turned out, neither soggy nor firm and with flavor intact. The spicing was just right with a little dominance of the fennel taste.

Ideas for the future

I should cook cauliflower waterlessly more often. Other techniques of cooking, except perhaps sauteeing, which I've not done except incidentally when the cauliflower is a minor ingredient in a stir fry, seem to sap cauliflower of much of its mild flavor. A little "heat", such as with pieces of jalapeno, might be nice. Other possible ingredients to incorporate could be citrus zest and cabbage. I could have added the spices before cooking to spread their flavors more, but they came out well added at the end this time.

Food at Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Colonial Williamsburg! We had a great trip, enjoying seeing history come alive. We even met a girl (10 years old?) who loves it there so much that she blogs about it.

We generally enjoy getting at least good if not great vegan food when we're out. Williamsburg was a bit more challenging for us. We were told that all of the on-site restaurants had vegan options, but found that not to be true. For Wednesday's lunch, we stopped at Chowning's Tavern and were surprised to be told that even their vegetable sandwich had cheese built in. We took their recommendation and walked on to another charming restored tavern, Shields. They also had a vegetable sandwich, but were much more accomodating; they don't have cheese already cooked into the spinach (as the first restaurant said) and, though they weren't sure the bread was vegan, could serve grilled (cooked in a pan and not co-mingled with meat on a grill) vegetables with hummus.

The tavern fair was good and it was delightful setting. As we were eating, people dressed in period costumes came through to entertain us. My daughter really wanted to repeat the experience, perhaps at The King's Arms, which staff invited us to. I sure wish that they had more than one dish that they could cobble together. The food itself was good but oily.

I enjoy fine dining and feel that any chef, particularly at a good or excellent restaurant, should easily be able to craft an excellent vegan meal. Of course, I wish that all restaurants had significant vegan selections already on their menus. Fine dining restaurants, I would hope, would have at least one fabulous signature vegan dish.

I made reservations at the Terrace Room inside their beautiful Williamsburg Inn (rooms for approximately $400-600+ a night!!). Looking online, their menu doesn't appear to have a single vegan option. I had called and they assured me that their Chef could make a fine vegan meal. When we arrived, they had a small page of a vegan menu. None of the few items interested my 7-year-old, and the kind Chef said he could try to accomodate our desires. She wanted pasta and guacamole. I went for a quinoa cake and asked that Chef include beans with her pasta - he immediately kindly asked which kind of beans, and we requested black.

Our server brought out good guacamole with fried chips. I asked if the chips were fried with meat, and they were, so were taken back. A few minutes later, the server brought out a great choice, a plate of crispy romaine lettuce. My daughter's pasta was good but oily; it had cubes of carrot along with the beans and looked like it had been cooked in vegetable stock. I liked the small (ditalini?) and chewy pasta tubes. My dish was tasty but, again, a bit too oily.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner - it's great to get out for fine dining in beautiful surroundings (they had a pianist, as well). The food was good and the staff was accomodating (almost all; one server couldn't understand that we didn't want butter or non-vegan bread), but the food wasn't really up to gourmet standards. We've had great experiences at other fine dining restaurants including at resorts such as the creative and tasty dishes that Disney that are readily available.

We had a poor lunch on our second day. We didn't have enough time for a tavern meal, though we sought the fun atmosphere. We tried Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop which is a quick service "grab and go" place. I was very disappointed that not even the salads were vegan; they had meat and/or cheese. One of the rolls appeared vegan, and we had it. There literally was nothing else there except for potato chips. We bought their fruit salad that had a carton of cow's milk yogurt in it and returned the yogurt so that it might be used. I apologized to my hungry daughter about chips - she's had potato chips rarely if at all, and didn't much like them. I had a Lärabar to help tide her over.

Next time that we visit Colonial Williamsburg, we'll try to arrange things so that we are near Merchants Square just west of the historic district. They have a variety of restaurants that may be good choices (but which I've not explored), such as possibly Aromas World, Seasons, or perhaps pizza at Stephanos Pizza. They also have a farmers' market at times. Further afield in town, I've read that good choices may be had at a variety of restaurants, such as Food for Thought, Istanbul Restaurant, Nawab Indian Cuisine, Lokal, and Chipotle.

All in all, we loved visiting Colonial Williamsburg, but sure wish that it might be a bit more accommodating to healthful whole food plant-based dining. The working class of 18th century Colonial Williamsburg typically ate corn hominy and other grain porridges, as well as simple soups, after all. A growing and significant number of people prefer to order vegan foods when eating out.

The good food news is that on our drive home, we stopped at Ellwood Thompson's in Richmond, VA, about 45m away and enroute home. It is a good grocery store with a fantastic prepared food bar! They have a sandwich bar with some good vegan choices. We ventured into the salad bar area and initially found a good hot bar with maybe half vegan items, a regular cold salad bar almost entirely vegan, and a raw bar with 1 vegetarian and 2 vegan items. Staff drew our attention to yet another hot bar, all (or almost all) vegan! They even had an extensive set of desserts in their bakery, most of which were vegan!

Sprouted Black-Eyed Peas with Cauliflower (No Added Fat)

My wife had soaked some black-eyed peas last week and they had mostly sprouted. I was thinking of making a simple saute with onions, black-eyed peas, and cherry tomatoes, but couldn't resist the ease and lack of supervision needed with cooking with my Instant Pot under pressure. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• About 3 cups of sprouted black-eyed peas (rinsed, soaked, and refrigerated for a few days till sprouted)
• 3/4 cup cauliflower florets
• 1/2 cup carrot cut into 3/8" cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1T lemon or lime juice
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/2 t lemon pepper
• 1/2 t black sesame seed

Process

1. I put all the ingredients except the lemon juice and seasoning into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 2 minutes.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then added the lemon juice, turmeric, salt, lemon pepper, and sesame seed. I served with brown rice.

Results

Dinner came out great - we all loved it. It surpassed my expectations! I figured that the idea of cooked sprouted black-eyed peas would be good. It was seasoned just right with a good citrus base. The texture was great and I made the right decision not to include onion, something that I rarely do. In fact, the dish would be fine with garlic omitted, and then suitable for those who avoid onion and garlic.

Ideas for the future

I wouldn't change anything with this dish. It's fast and easy. I would like to cook with sprouted beans more!

Peruvian Giant Lima Beans with Cauliflower and Broccoli Florets (No Added Fat)

I was thinking of cooking Peruvian giant lima beans with cauliflower. Cauliflower very quickly softens into nice creaminess after just a minute or two of pressure cooking, and my original idea was to cook half of the florets from a head of cauliflower along with the beans for a creamy base, then add the rest at the end, letting them cook just a bit in the heat of the rest of the ingredients. While preparing for the meal, I found that I had some broccoli that needed to be used up, so switched to using broccoli instead for the lightly cooked cauliflower portion, with the benefit of the contrasting color. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 2 cups Peruvian giant lima beans, rinsed, soaked for 6 hours, and rinsed again
• Enough water to just cover the beans
• Half of a medium head cauliflower cut into florets (approx. 3 cups)
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced (1/8" or so)
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets
• Medium bell pepper (I used a yellow one but any color would be fine) cut into approximately 3/8" cubes (a bit more than 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup onion cut into approximately 3/8" cubes
• 1T lime juice
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/2 t lemon pepper
• 1/2 t ground cumin

Process

1. I put the beans and water, along with the cauliflower florets, bouillon cube, and garlic, into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 28m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then added the broccoli, bell pepper, onion, lime juice, and seasonings.
3. I served along with Jade Pearl rice (simmered for 20m in a 1 part rice to 1 1/2 part water radio and along with a vegan bouillon cube and pinch of salt) and tomato.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending