Boiled Golden Beet with Refried Beans, Baked Potato (No Added Fat)

I made a simple dinner that came out pretty well. I don't much like red beets; they stain and sometimes bother my digestion. But I do like golden beets, particularly baby goldens. We didn't have baby goldens, but did have regular golden beets.

I had the challenge of cooking with a preschooler taking a late nap and about to get up, but insisting on getting a little bit more of a nap on my shoulder while  my wife was taking a sitar lesson. I carefully, one-handedly, cut three beet roots from the greens and cut the roots into quarters, then added them to boiling water.

When the beets were done (I think these took about 40m till they were reasonably soft),  I took them out of the water and replaced them with the greens, which I parboiled for just 2 minutes or so, letting the greens darken in color. I made a bed of the greens, mixed in a little salt and tarragon, then topped with beets, shallots, and refried black beans. A baked potato (plain to complete this as a no added fat meal) and tomato completed the meal.

Vegan Macaroni and 'Chreese' w Kale and Shallot, Smoky Tempeh (No Added Fat)

We were lucky because we had two very nice visitors this evening. One of our friends was going out for the evening and asked if we would keep her sweet daughter, almost 2 years old. Another friend had her granddaughter, a year older than my daughter and, along with the younger child, friends with my daughter.

I wanted to get the two "older" girls to help me to make organic blueberry crisp and, while it was baking and cooling a bit, make a quick and appealing (to them) dinner. (The crisp came out great, by the way - they did a very nice job!) My daughter (like, it seems, most children) loves macaroni and cheese. I like Road's End Organics macaroni and "chreese", and had a box on hand. However, my wife doesn't like cheese (vegan or not).

So, my constraints were to make something soft for my Dad, make the macaroni and "chreese" for the girls and me, make something that my wife would enjoy, and do it all quickly. I think that I succeeded; I made the macaroni with kale and shallot, as well as hemp seeds; before adding "chreese", I served my wife. I also grilled some smoky tempeh. We are low on salad ingredients, but the younger girl's Mom brought some home-grown lettuce, which I served, as well. I made a simple soup, a second soup of refried beans cooked with water, and a nutritional shake (tasty and truly nutritious with lots of good ingredients) for my Dad.

Though this used processed ingredients, the macaroni and "chreese" has only 4g of fat in the entire box - even with added homemade almond milk (about a half cup -- maybe 2 more grams of fat), there is minimal added fat, so I am listing this as a no added fat meal. I didn't use any oil even in grilling the tempeh. Everybody was happy with dinner - especially the girls!

Okra and Corn Saute with Lime-Ginger Miso, Japanese Sweet Potato (No Added Fat)

I bought some okra today and was anxious to make something hilighting it, without hiding it amongst too many other ingredients. Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• Half of a medium yellow onion cut into 1/4" cubes
• 10-12 medium okra, cut into halves lengthwise
• 3-4 leaves of kale, roughly hand torn from the stems (stems reserved for compost or discarded) into approximately 1 1/2" squares
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup corn kernels
• 1/2 teaspoon tarragon
• Pinch of salt to taste
• (Optional) 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste/aesthetic) hemp seed

Ingredients - Sauce

• 1 tablespoon of miso
• 1/8 lime, skin and all
• 1 small clove garlic
• 1/4 cup water

Process

1. I put the onion into my stainless steel-titanium Saladmaster saute pan then began cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat.
2. After about two minutes with the onion not yet turning clear, I added the okra, cut side down, and continued stirring occasionally. I cooked for another 4 or 5 minutes; the onion was now partially carmelized and the okra was showing a little bit of browning.
3. I added the kale and corn, stirred and cooked for a minute and a half or so, then added the sauce, which I made by putting all of the sauce ingredients in my Vitamix blender and blending on low then ramping up to high till liquified (a total of maybe 7-10 seconds).
4. There was no added fat and the little bit of browning of the pan was quickly removed as the sauce cooked in it. I cooked for a minute and a half or so, then added tarragon and salt. When I served, I sprinkled hemp seeds atop the vegetable, and served with a baked Japanese sweet potato and tomato.

Results

The dish was good! I resisted stronger sauces, such as tomato-based ones, because I really wanted the okra to come out. My Dad, who hasn't been able to chew, has been visiting, so I was simultaneously making a brown lentil dhal with several vegetables and really cooking it in a lot of water so it would be quite soft; I had the temptation to put a little bit of the dhal in, but decided in favor of making the miso sauce.

The purple-skinned but off-white fleshed Japanese sweet potato has become over the past year or so my favorite sweet potato. I have found a supply of small and thin Japanese sweet potatoes, which I seek for reduced cooking time (I think these were done in my toaster oven set to 375°F in just a half hour or so, though I cooked them for longer so that my Dad could enjoy them, too).

I wish that I had more salad ingredients on hand, and a thick slice of tomato sufficed for the "salad". Obviously, this could have been enhanced with a more substantial salad.

Ideas for the future

I think of more fiery spices when I think of okra, such as in gumbos or Indian dishes. However, I have to have my preschooler's needs in mind, especially since she loves okra. Were I to make this just for my wife and me, I'd add some heat, perhaps chile powder or jerk seasoning. The plate looked a little empty, but a real salad would have filled it in nicely.

Smoky Tempeh with Greens, Madagascar Pink Rice, Corn-off-the-Cob (No Added Fat)

Crumbled Italian Seitan and Beet Greens (including seitan commentary - a new favorite seitan found today!) (No Added Fat)

I shop only once in a while at Earth Fare and found myself there today. Seitan is one of my favorite foods; I normally use Westsoy seitan strips (they used to be made by White Wave) but at Earth Fare found a brand new to me, Upton's Naturals. They had traditional and Italian seitan varieties. I bought their Italian seitan and, wow, it is now my favorite seitan that I've had!

I've made seitan from scratch. Recipes are easily available (this one looks good and my friend Eleni has made a video about the process) but when I have made my seitan from wheat gluten, others have liked it, but I found that I preferred what I can find in the store. Maybe I should try again - especially since one of my signature dishes is my lime jerk seitan.

Anyway, the Italian seitan tastes great! My wife, preschooler, and I all loved it. It comes out of the package as a crumble, and the Italian seasonings are not obvious ones I would have chosen with seitan, but taste great. The company sounds great; they are in Chicago, all vegan, and specialize in seitan. They are planning on opening a vegan cafe in Chicago this summer!

The Italian seitan comes in an 8 ounce package and consists of vital wheat gluten, whole wheat flour, water, garlic, oregano, sea salt, onion, fennel, black pepper, red pepper, and soy sauce (I wonder if they have considered using coconut aminos to make it soy-free and to greatly reduce the sodium). If one were to eat a large serving of a half package (double of what they report is a single serving), that would come to 3g of fat, 30g of protein, 200 calories, and a not insignificant 528mg of sodium.

In comparison, the West Soy seitan comes also in an 8 ounce package (but lacks the interesting retro plain cardboard appearance) and is comparably priced (at about $4). A large four once serving would be about 2.5g of fat, 26g of protein, 150 calories, and 400mg of sodium.

Maybe its the novelty, but we all loved the "new" Chicago seitan. I am excited to see the range of products on their website, including several more kinds of seitan, tamales, wraps, and more. I will have to ask Upton's Naturals to participate in our annual Thanksgiving raffle!

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So, getting back to dinner tonight, here is what I did.

Ingredients

• Eight ounce package of seitan; if not using a crumbled seitan like the Upton's Italian, then chop into 1/2" or smaller cubes
• Half of a medium yellow onion cut into 1/4" thick half moon slices
• Greens from a bunch of red beets (I don't particularly like red beets, though I do like baby yellow beets, but my wife had picked some up; though the dish came out well, it would have been even better with kale instead of beet)
• Chop into 1/2" lengths the stems from half of the bunch and reserve the remaining stems for other cooking or perhaps for a stock
• Chop into 1 1/2" lengths all of the leaves
• Twelve ounces of organic strained tomatoes (i.e., tomato sauce; for even more flavor, any favorite marinara sauce would also work)
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• Pinch of salt to taste
• Approximately half a cup of Madagascar pink rice
• Vegan bouillon cube

Process

1. I used my stainless steel-titanium Saladmaster saute pan; before heating, I added the onion then turned the heat on to medium.
2. I stirred periodically for about a minute or two till the onion was just starting to get clear, then I added the seitan and beet stems and continued periodically stirring.
3. After about 3 or 4 minutes with the onion starting to carmelize and the seitan just starting to show some browning, I added the greens.
4. I continued periodically stirring for maybe 2 more minutes till the greens cooked down a little, then added the tomato sauce and continued cooking for another 2 or 3 minutes, allowing the greens to cook down a little bit more.
5. I mixed in the oregano and salt, and served with rice (1 : 1 3/4 or 1 : 1 2/3 ratio of rice to water with a bouillon cube thrown in, simmered for about 20m) and salad.

Results

We loved the dish and found the seitan to be the best that we've had! The rice is always good - it's pretty, has a variety of colors (think phytochemicals) ranging from rust to pink to off-white, and is a whole-grain rice that takes only 20m to cook. Our salad was homemade sprouts with baby bell peppers. Nowadays, I rarely add fat - this was another dish that tastes great and is filling, but has no added fat.

Ideas for the future

I'd like to routinely get Upton's seitans! I hope that they prove easy to find over time. Though I now rarely use oil, I do find that a little oil can be helpful in crisping tempeh and seitan - but the crumbled and spiced tempeh had its own firm texture that obviated any thought of crisping it. The greens were good, but kale greens would be better.

Tempeh and Carrot with Mexican Green Sauce, Corn-off-the-Cob (Almost No Added Fat)

We were going to an outdoor concert and trying to decide whether to take a picnic, buy food there, or have an early dinner and enjoy fruit at the picnic; I opted for the final choice as we have a number of upcoming occasions where we will be eating out.

My wife claims not to like Mexican food. I had some Good Food brand Mexican Green Sauce in my pantry. It's a simmer sauce with tomatillas, water, onions, canola oil (therefore almost no added fat - the sauce only contributes a gram of fat per 2T sauce, and I used maybe 5T of the sauce for the whole dish), poblano and jalapeno peppers, chiles, garlic, and a few other ingredients. I made a simple dish with cooking in my saute pan with no added fat onion, tempeh, and carrot, then simmering in the sauce.

I had some corn-off-the-cob and put in just a little Earth Balance margarine, a touch of salt, and a little lime juice. Tomato slices finished off the plate.

I didn't serve this (slightly) spicy dish to my preschooler, but my wife and I enjoyed it. My wife is open to my making a Mexican-style tortilla dish with this sauce as an ingredient, and I hope to do that in the coming days.

Red Lentil Dhal, Leftover Kale and Tofu (not for my wife), Corn (No Added Fat)

My Dad has been visiting with us for a few weeks and has dental problems that have left him largely unable to chew. He wanted a very soft lentil soup; my wife was wanting to only eat a light soup, so I prepared a red lentil dhal for them and combined it with leftovers and corn for my preschooler and me.

I put ample water in with red lentils to make sure that I had a very soft result. I also put some kale leaves and a little onion in; my Dad doesn't eat garlic, so I didn't include a vegan bouillon cube.

Red lentils cook quickly, in about 15m. For softness, I cooked for about 20m. Everybody was happy with dinner!