Vegan MoFo 28: Getting Down to the Wire

I have to say that today is the first day that I'm actively searching for post topics. I really only need two more - since I know what's happening on the 30th and 31st. With everyone in Baltimore kinda squirrely about Hurricane Sandy, I definitely don't want to venture to the store again, so I can't be too adventurous.

I'm sort of ruing not owning Vegan Unplugged: A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Survival Guide. It's not that I don't feel like I can deal with the incoming storm - between my parents and my boyfriend, I know that not having emergency supplies on hand is not worth the talkings-to. (My mom called today to be sure I had batteries). However, I like to read themed food books, and now would be a particularly good time for a review. Looking at reviews now, I see that a lot of people talk about its utilities in day-to-day emergencies, which is appealing.

Incidentally, when I was searching for the link for the book, I found these emergency food kits that are vegan friendly. Plus they're Coastguard-approved, which is one of the few endorsements I find exciting enough to pay attention to.

One thing the Coastguard should endorse are these Brussels sprouts from 500 Vegan Recipes. They're crazy easy to make, and the perfect solution when you've bought 2 lbs. of the damned things at the farmers' market with no real plans on what to do with them. I was out of agave, so I used barley malt, and I think I'll stick with that. It really worked and kept the sweetness subtle. I also opted for hot horseradish mustard over Dijon. That was also awesome.

If I've learned anything from MoFo this year, it's that I need to use 500 Vegan Recipes more often.

Vegan MoFo 25: Barley Chili

I've enjoyed my recipes from How to Pick a Peach, but I haven't forgotten my decision to work through the soups chapter of 500 Vegan Recipes either. I was on my own for dinner tonight, so I decided to take it easy.

I thought I'd finally gathered all of the ingredients for the Smokey Black Bean Soup, but I had already cooked my black beans, which the recipe does not want, and I had a 30 oz. can of diced tomatoes, but not any 15 oz. cans. None of that bothered me, but I realized that it might be easier to make the Barley Chili, and to use up my yellow squash from the farmers' market.

The other major change I made was to use up a half red onion that had been in my fridge for a few days and been browned a bit by a misguided attempt at iced coffee. I recommend it. It might have been the coffee, but I think the red onion really added something. In addition to that flavor, it was pretty spicy. I had to use two kinds of chili powder to make up the required 2 tablespoons, but I think that also worked in my favor.

However, one thing that did not work in my favor was the barley. I managed, despite 3 cups of broth and 15 oz of tomato sauce, to burn the barley. I'm no stranger to this when I'm cooking straight up grains, but this is an entire chili. There was still liquid in the pot ... how does the grain burn? No one knows.

I was too lazy to make corn bread, so I ate some day-old baguette on the side. I also added some fresh cilantro before digging in. Definitely a repeater! This chili was hot, rich, and chewy. The cilantro should be a requirement, and the baguette did a lot to mitigate the spice. I'll probably go crock pot next time though.

Vegan MoFo 18: Sweet Potato, Roasted Red Pepper, and Corn Bisque

Don't be mad, I did say I'd just go ahead and make all the soups in 500 Vegan Recipes, so this is another one of those. However, this soup was a surprising departure from the pattern.

It took over an hour to make. Well, it only took a few minutes to get on the stove, but it had to simmer for an hour. I've been spoiled by quick soups. This was worth it though - thick, spicy, and filling. I didn't even use the called for 2 cups of creamer - I'm not rich or something. I just used two cups of coconut milk beverage. I did opt for the extra chipotle pepper, and I could feel the heat.

Another keeper! Maybe I should rank these soups at the end of the month.

Oh and I learned something while doing the shopping for this. If you buy roasted red peppers packed in water in a jar from the sort-of Italian section of the grocery store, you're going to pay about three times as much as you will if you get "Fancy Pimientos" from what my grocery calls the "Hispanic Foods" section.

In my experience, the same is true for anything you can get in an "ethnic" foods section. Red lentils are fancy eating in one isle, and cheap Indian fare in another. I have a love/hate relationship with the politics and economics of that fact, but I think it's just one more reason to encourage people to save money and eat better by exploring traditional meals that are made of actual foods when they are able.

Vegan Mofo 13: Fig Lentil Soup

I almost skipped this one from 500 Vegan Recipes because it meant an expensive side trip to Whole Foods for dried figs, but my always-intrepid better half reminded me that it's not that big of a deal.

And as it turned out, Safeway had dried figs that were even on sale!

Out of the soups I've made in the past week, this was the most complicated as it called for two pots and had the longest ingredient list. Even still, soup is just easy, so this was no big deal to make. "Complicated" is a gross overstatement.

Listen, there are only so many ways that I can say that the stuff I make tastes good, and so I keep writing that dishes were great or delicious. This soup barely survived the night. I had to hide a portion quickly for my lunch today because it was just so delicious. It was a little spicy and a little sweet, depending on what was in each spoonful. I might have to make more today.

The recipe has you make a soup and a fig spread, but doesn't explicitly tell you how to combine them. For the first bowls, I tossed a spoonful of spread in each, but after the first bite, I realized that the figs would be even better if given a moment to mingle, so I stirred all of the spread into the pot. I figured seconds would be even better ... and they were!

However this soup really knocked it out of the park as breakfast. I had the portion I'd squirreled away, and the resting time allowed the flavors to mingle. Every bite tasted savory like tomato and rosemary, and sweet like figs! I would definitely suggest this as a holiday dinner soup. I might make a tureen of it to haul to my parents' place, where my sisters will be making a gluten-free holiday meal.