Brussels Sprouts with mustard sauce

Lately my husband has been enamored with mustard. There is a tang and a depth added to a dish with just the right amount of mustard in addition to the usual ingredients. Yes, there are patterns and habits in making vegan meals every day, and mustard quite simply adds a bit of spice to life! So when I was planning a fairly common combination of brussels sprouts, onion and mushrooms as a major side dish, I chose to add a stone ground mustard to the Bragg Liquid Amino, water and dash of black pepper. It was well worth it, and turned this one-pan dish into an instant favorite.






BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

2 torpedo (or other pungent red) onions
10-12 medium button mushrooms
2-3 cups or 1.5 pounds Brussels sprouts
2 tsp Bragg Liquid Amino
2 TBLSP stone ground mustard of your choice
1/2 c water
dash freshly ground black pepper

Slice the onions in thin slices, separating the rings in the bottom of a wide non-stick pan.
Clean the Brussels sprouts (cut off the tough stem ends and peel away any yucky leaves, washing off any dirt), and slice them in half vertically - cutting through from the stem end through the floret.
Brush the mushrooms and cut in quarters if large enough, or in half if smaller (use more of them if they are small).

Layer the Brussels Sprouts over the onion layer, putting the mushrooms on top. Pour 1/2 c water, Bragg's, and mustard over all of this and cover with lid. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Then turn off and leave covered, allowing the Brussels sprouts to steam and soften further, while not overcooking the mushrooms.

You can serve just like this, or cook a couple minutes without the lid to further reduce the mustard sauce onto the veggies.

Brussels Sprout Balls

We bought a stalk of first of the season Brussels sprouts. When I steamed them to turn them into the main beautiful course for a dinner plan, it turned out that they just didn't have the flavor I hoped they would. They were immature, a little bitter, and quite plainly, not up to being the star of the show. I cooled them, put them in a bag in the fridge and regrouped dinner around spiced tempeh and quinoa. That all went fine but I was left contemplating what to do with a stalk's worth of young not-so-interesting Brussels sprouts. Today I came home from teaching and decided to just throw them in the blender, chop them into bits and turn them into something yummy. It would take lots of other ingredients with flavor to offset them, but they could definitely provide a texture that could make an interesting dinner. These are nice with any kind of sauce you like. They are good with both applesauce and kimchi!

Not expecting greatness, I didn't photograph the process -- but you can imagine how it looked.

BRUSSELS SPROUT BALLS (makes a dozen golf-ball sized crisp balls)

2 dozen (at least) small sprouts - a stalk's worth,
  chopped in a blender to make about 5 cups
3 small potatoes, grated
1 good sized carrot grated
1 small onion chopped fine (or several Vidalia slices)
3-4 sundried tomatoes chopped fine
3-4 garlic cloves smashed and chopped fine
2 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tsp white Miso
1/3 cup buckwheat groats, ground fine
1/2 cup chick pea flour
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste

1. Grate and chop all the veggies putting them all together in a good sized bowl.
2. Put the flour-like materials together with the spices and add to the bowl, mixing in the Bragg's and miso and combining until it is mostly uniformly mixed.
3. Heat oven to 375F, put a sheet of parchment paper in a baking pan (or use a silicone sheet).
4. Form 12 golf ball sized balls with your hands, and lay them out on the paper, lightly salting them. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until just as crisp and nice as you like!

Spicy Tempeh Quinoa & Apple Potato Salad

It is no longer as common as it once was that my little family gang has dinner together. It was our tradition the entire time the boys were in school, living with us, that we tried to settle at the table once a day for what has now become officially "Family Dinner." It was an important time to look each other in the eye, hear the tones of voice, check in with the states of mind and relationship. With the prospect of having a long day myself, my husband's first day back at school meetings, and my now 20-something sons assembling for dinner, I knew I had to figure things out before heading over to teach my evening class. This combination of garlicky quinoa with pieces of spicy tempeh really hit the mark for a main dish and was easy to put together ahead of time. I also made an apple-onion-potato salad in advance and put sliced fresh cukes in the fridge to absorb a tarragon-vinegar treatment. Dinner was completed by quickly chopping and assembling a room temperature tomato-peach-avocado-basil-balsamic vinegar salad and providing brilliant green on the table by quickly steaming garden fresh haricot verts and squeezing on fresh lemon juice with a splash ume plum vinegar.   Not surprisingly, there were no leftovers, though the spicy tempeh quinoa and the potato salad would have made a lovely lunch the next day.

Spicy Tempeh Quinoa

2 cups red quinoa
5-6 large garlic cloves
5-6 mushrooms (cremini, white, whatever)
1 slab of tempeh (I used flax tempeh but any will do)
1 cup frozen petite peas
3-4 tsp Bragg Liquid Amino
1-2 tsp Sriracha chili sauce

1. Cut the tempeh into 2 long halves, then into small rectangles. Put these in a shallow wide soup bowl and drizzle with 2 tsp Bragg's and the Sriracha.  Put in the fridge and let sit for at least an hour.
2. Meanwhile, dry roast the quinoa for about 5-10 minutes in a large flat pan, shifting the grains now and then to avoid any uneven heating. Add about 2 cups of water and chopped garlic. Cut the mushrooms into quarters and throw them into the quinoa as well. Cover the pan and let the quinoa cook for about 10-15 minutes, adding at least 1 tsp Bragg Liquid Amino to the quinoa.
3. As the quinoa is cooked, fluff it up, throw in the peas and add the spicy Tempeh. Stir this gently and serve!

Apple-Onion-Potato Salad

4-5 small potatoes (white and red)
half a Vidalia onion, or 1 medium sweet onion
1 large Honeycrisp apple (or whatever you like)
1/3 cup Tahini
1 Tblsp Tamari
3 Tblsp water
1 tsp agave syrup
1tsp finely grated carrot
1/4 tsp grated ginger
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 tsp stone ground mustard
1-2 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Cut the small potatoes into bite-sized pieces -- about 4-6 per potato -- and boil for about 10-15 minutes until just softening.  Pour out into a colander. Chop up about half a Vidalia or sweet onion into little pieces though not minced.  Peel, core and chop one large Honeycrisp apple into small pieces.  In a cup or bowl, pour 1/3 cup tahini, add 1 Tablespoon tamari, 3 Tablespoons water, 1 tsp agave syrup, 1 tsp finely grated carrot, 1/4 tsp grated ginger, 1-2 tsp Dijon mustard and 1-2 tsp stone ground mustard. You can also add 1-2 tsp cider vinegar and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well and pour over the chopped vegetables and apple and mix gently. Chill and serve!

Garden Rescue: Green Bean & Tomato Casserole

Away from our August garden for a whole week, I came back to take on the challenge of making something delicious from the wreckage. Our pretty "Black Prince" tomatoes all split in concentric circles from the rain, and the slugs had a feast. The "provider bush beans" had recovered from their mid-summer doldrums and produced an enormous amount of fresh and tasty overly large green beans. When asked what he might envision as a casserole with green beans, my husband said, "maybe millet? mushrooms? some kind of creamy sauce?"  And so it began. This dish doesn't require over-the-top garden materials, and could actually be made any time with a variety of tomatoes, green beans, millet, mushrooms, onion, garlic, corn, and a tahini-based "creamy" sauce. I threw sesame seeds on top for fun.

Green Bean & Tomato Summer Casserole
(easily serves 4)

4 cups of chunky cut up mixed tomatoes (green/red)
3 cups green beans, cut into 1-1.5inch pieces
1 cup corn kernels
4 large white mushrooms, sliced and then rough cut (or whatever you like)
2 medium onions, chopped fine (your choice, I used red tropea onions)
2 cloves fresh garlic or use powdered garlic
1 cup organic millet
2 cups water to cook the millet
2 cups water to blanche the beans
1/4-1/2 cup water for "creamy sauce"
2 tsp Braggs Liquid Amino
1 tsp dry tarragon
2 Tblsp tahini
1 Tblsp tamari
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp tumeric
1/8 tsp mustard powder (or mustard)
2-4 Tblsp sesame seeds

1. Bring the millet to a boil in the water over medium heat and then turn to low for about 15 minutes, turning off and covering when it begins to look as though all the water is gone.

2. Wash and cut the tomatoes into 1-3" chunks of any size or slice you like. The chunkier it is the more likely it will retain some shape, slices will disintegrate (both nice). Wash, trim and cut the green beans into 1-1.5" pieces, and in a separate pot bring about 2 cups water to a boil, then toss in the bean pieces, stirring to be sure they all make good contact with the hot water, then turn down a bit and cover for just about 2-3 minutes NO MORE because you really don't want them turning to mush.

3. In a large non-stick saute pan, put the finely chopped onions, tomato chunks, corn (fresh or frozen), mushrooms, tarragon and Bragg's Liquid Amino. Cover and saute quietly for about 10 minutes while you rinse the beans in cold water in a colander, and turn off the millet.

4. Sauce: Mix together the tahini, tamari, water, tumeric, mustard powder, and dry powdered garlic or totally crushed/smashed fresh garlic. Beat until smooth - adding water if necessary to make about 1/2-2/3 cup in all.

5. Construction:  In a round or rectangular cast iron enamel lidded casserole, spread out the millet, put the green beans on top of that, pour the vegetable mixture on top and gently combine. Pour out the sauce onto this in a thin concentric drizzle starting around the outside edge and working your way until there is some on the whole surface. Sprinkle with sesame seeds - as much or as little as you like.

6. Bake at 350F with the lid on for about 20-25
minutes, then turning the oven up to 450F, crisp with the lid off for about 10 minutes. Great with applesauce, arugula salad or really anything you want! (Also good cold for breakfast if you like that sort of leftover to start your day.)

Multigrain Millet Veggie Loaf

Every July my husband is invited to go pick chanterelle mushrooms in the woods in preparation for our friend's annual party and the classic cream-of-chanterelle soup he likes to make for that occasion. Usually we can tell by the weather that the call will come soon, but sometimes it is just that the date of the party is approaching and mushrooms must be found.  This year there was a lot of rain, and the mushrooms were plentiful, but some were too soggy and many if not most had already been inhabited by other little organisms that love them too.  Coincidentally, errands had taken us into Woodstock, NY where we had chanced upon The Garden Cafe and a lovely polenta-like "millet veggie loaf." When I saw the small quantity of beautiful mushrooms that would not keep well, I thought they would add a golden color to a millet loaf. Then I discovered I only had about a half cup of millet. For one more day I kept the mushrooms in the fridge and sought out millet from the nearby town grocery stores and even a large grocery in Cobbleskill. No go. So multi-grain the loaf became. It was delicious!! One of our new favorites.

Multi-grain Millet Quinoa Veggie Loaf  
(6 reasonable, 4 huge servings)

GRAINS
1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup red quinoa (pretty, but pale would do too)
1/3 cup red lentils
1/4 cup corn meal
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp tumeric
approximately 4 cups water

1) Cook this slowly in a pot for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile...

2) Chop & then saute about 15 minutes in a large non-stick saute pan until softening:

VEGGIES

1 medium carrot
1 cup vidalia or other sweet onion
1 medium zucchini
1/2 cup fresh corn (cooked & cut from cob)
1/2 a red pepper
2 tsp Bragg's Liquid Amino
1-2 tsp fresh dried thyme or fresh thyme or something else you like

THEN ADD: 1 cup of chanterelles (I know, I know, use what you have -- regular button mushrooms would be lovely too, or chopped shiitakes...)
And saute another 5 minutes.

COMBINE the grains into the saute pan and mix well until the whole thing is one textured beautiful melange. Let cool about 5 minutes and then EITHER mold into a loaf shape in the same pan if it can go in the oven, OR dump this onto parchment paper on a baking sheet or wide baking pan, and gently push in from all sides until this is about 1.5 inches deep (or thick)... loaf- like! You can store it in this format until about 20 minutes before you need to serve it.

FINALLY: Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. Let stand a couple minutes and then cut and serve with any sauce you like -- marinara, or plum/mushroom sauce or spicy onions and peppers  or grilled tempeh ... oh my, it's good with so many other flavors!

By accident we had some leftover poblano-tomatillo-plum sauce and I added chopped portobellos and chopped red onion to that.

ADDENDUM: It just happened that I created a quick successful little sauce the last time I made this. It added moisture and a nice touch - tahini (1/4 c) plus tamari (1.5 TBLSP) plus a little honey (1+tsp) and water (to the consistency you want) ... yum.

Millet Quinoa Veggie Loaf Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (305g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 206 10% Total Fat 2g 4% Saturated Fat 0g 2% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 198mg 8% Total Carbohydrate 39g 13% Dietary Fiber 6g 23% Sugars 4g 0% Protein 8g 17% Vitamin A 7% • Vitamin C 36% Calcium 3% • Iron 15% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Quick 2 Dish Spring Meal: Asparagus, Mushrooms & More

When the asparagus begins to come in it seems that it appears at every meal for a while. I had been thinking about cabbage rolls, but the weather turned cooler for a spring day and a hot meal felt right. So the asparagus went together with the leftover cannelloni beans and tang of tomatillos, not a common combination but delicious. Then the cold temperatures prompted me to impulse-buy Brussels sprouts, and so the sauté evolved to round out the plate.

ASPARAGUS CANNELLINI TOMATILLO CABBAGE ROLLS with Bean Threads!
4-5 large unfurled cabbage leaves
2-3 cups asparagus cut in 2-3 inch lengths
1/2-2/3 cup canned Cannelini beans ( or other beans)
4-5 sliced tomatillos
Mung Bean Threads
3 cloves garlic crushed & diced
Tblsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Tsp oregano

1. Start by steaming the cabbage leaves and set them aside. Don't worry if they aren't intact, you can use 2-3 for each serving to form an informal wrap. This is not finger food after all is said and done. You can soak the bean threads in the cabbage leaf water OR you can use the Brussels sprouts steaming water (I used the same water for everything). After the bean threads soften, put them in a strainer and run cool water on them to keep them separated. They will heat again when you throw them all together in the next step.
2. In a good sized sauté pan, put asparagus, garlic, beans, and sliced tomatillos with a little water and the Bragg's Liquid Aminos, cover and steam (about 6 minutes). Add the bean threads and stir all together.
3. Lay out overlapping leaves, fill with veggies, and gently roll up, pouring any pan sauce over them. This could also have some heat if you add some red pepper flakes.

BRUSSELS SPROUT MUSHROOM SAUTÉ
4 large white mushrooms
2-3 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup rough chopped onion (I used Vidalia)
Water for sauté (1/4 cup)
5-8 pitted black olives
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
Tsp thyme
Tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper if desired

1. Lightly steam the cut Brussels sprouts in the cabbage water.
2. Saute the sliced mushrooms, garlic and onions in a bit of water with the thyme and rosemary and salt.
3. Combine the Sprouts into the saute, adding the black olives chopped into big pieces.
4. Stir together and add salt and pepper as desired.

SERVE -- with some rough chopped fresh tomatoes drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar ... What a beautiful quick meal!

Quick Vegan Dinner: Roots, Grains, Asparagus

This was a meal prepared in advance for a cool supper on a hot day. I steamed the root veggies ahead of time and cooked the quinoa til nearly done, leaving it in the pan with the lid on for the afternoon! The key to this combination was that each dish had a distinct texture, flavor and sauce. I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos in cooking the quinoa with garlic, splashed just a bit of Ume Plum Vinegar on the asparagus, and made a quick peanut sauce for the roots. It was fast, fun, filling, easy and tasty.

ROOT VEGGIES for 2-3 people

a handful of baby carrots, you could use chopped regular ones
two parsnips cut in diagonal slabs
3 golden beets cooked in quarters
a good sized "japanese" sweet potato - or white yam in chunks

Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup natural peanut butter (ground peanuts with salt or without salt -- not sweetened)
2 Tablespoons Tamari
3 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons black vinegar or red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
(if you like sweet, you can add tsp mirin)

QUINOA - Red & White!
1 cup EACH red & white quinoa
4 cloves garlic chopped finely
1 medium onion chopped fine
3.5 cups water
3 teaspoons-1 tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Amino (this is salty)

ASPARAGUS with GRAPE TOMATOES

a good handful of fresh asparagus, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
about 12-15 grape tomatoes cut in half lengthwise
1-2 tsp Ume Plum Vinegar (splash on before taking out of pan)

1) Scrub, peel, cut and organize your vegetables. Steam the roots in a pot with a steamer insert and you can use the cooking water to make the quinoa (a nice subtle flavor sharing). The key is to get the chunks about the same relative to the soft or hardness of the root -- so that a hard root that would need longer cooking needs to be a smaller chunk relative to a soft root that cooks faster ... parsnips and carrots cook fast relative to beets and sweet potatoes. You can add other roots!
2) Cook the quinoa with the garlic and onion and the Bragg's until it's nearly done, then turn off and leave covered til you need it. I used it at room temperature.
3) Last thing is to cook the asparagus in a little water, covered. Cut up the tomatoes while the asparagus cooks. Stir it a couple times to be sure it cooks evenly. Add the vinegar (or squirt lemon on it if you don't like vinegar) while still in the pan. Add the tomatoes while the asparagus is still warm, stirring into the cooking juices with vinegar.

Serve and eat!