Tasty Thursday: Vegan Mommy Chef's Sweet Potato Kale Frittata

I have to say that this recipe is a WINNER!  Not only did I find it delicious but my omnivore spouse finished up about half of the frittata, going back for seconds and thirds while delivering lots of compliments.  When an omni gorges on something that is made with a substitute for eggs when they are the major ingredient in a recipe it sure is a good feeling.

You can find Vegan Mommy Chef's recipe here and my version below.

Now I will mention that I do not own a food processor so this was a little more work to make than I like to put into a recipe but it was worth every bit of the effort.  I plan to make it again this week.

Ingredients:

'Egg' base:
1 1/2 cups Burmese tofu (I'll share this recipe tomorrow)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup Trader Joe's ground almond
1/4 cup tapoica starch
2 TB coconut oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pink sea salt
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 TB whole grain mustard
1 TB chia seeds
water as needed for blending (I ended up using 1/2 cup)




Vegetable filling:
1 tsp coconut oil
1 red torpedo onion from our CSA share, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, skin removed then cut into small cubes
6 leaves lacinato kale from our CSA shrare, stems removed and leaves cut into 1" bits
2 TB worcestershire sauce substitute (I'll share this one tomorrow too)
1 tsp local honey

First, I melted the coconut oil in a cast iron pan, then added the cubed sweet potato, stirred for a minute or two then added the onion.  I allowed it to cook for a few minutes, then turned it off because I had to answer a telephone call and was afraid I'd get distracted and let it burn.  It sat covered for about five minutes.  When I came back I added the kale, sauce sub and honey to the pan.  It cooked for about eight minutes, then I removed the lid, stirred it and let it sit covered with the burner off for a few minutes while I finished blending the egg sub items and greased my ceramic quiche dish with coconut oil.

While I was cooking the veggies I  ran the egg sub ingredients through the chopper attachment of my stick blender to break them down as far as I could, then transferred to the regular blender to liquefy.  This was a pain in the butt, however in the end it was all worth it.  I really should purchase a food processor.  Do you have a food processor you like?  If you do, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.  But I digress. 

Once the egg sub is blended, add it to the veggies in the pan.  Mix well, then scrape into quiche dish, distributing evenly.  Bake 35 minutes (or as long as needed) in a 350F oven then enjoy this delicious frittata!

Tasty Thursday: Sauerkraut!

I love, love, love fermented food and am expanding my horizons and beginning to make it myself.  This is my second batch of sauerkraut, curing in a gallon canning jar on the counter.  I wish I'd researched sooner because now that I have discovered how insanely easy it is to make I'll never purchase it again. 

The ingredients are 2lbs. cabbage to one tablespoon sea salt.  That's it!  You can of course adjust to whatever quantity of cabbage you have to work with.   I used beautiful heirloom conical heads from our organic farm share and decided to add a little dehydrated organic dill to this batch.  We are all crazy for dill in this house so I think we'll like it.  Next batch I'm going to experiment with adding some finely shredded carrot.

Remove the tough outer leaves and reserve, then simply slice the cabbage into thin strips, place it in a large bowl and add the salt.  Knead and massage the cabbage with your hands, working the salt into it.  The mixture will become very wet and the cabbage will begin to shrink as it releases its fluids.  Once it is nice and mixed, transfer to a jar or crock by the handful, tamping it down with your fist every now and then.  Push it down enough so that the fluid rises to cover the shredded cabbage.  When you have added all of the cabbage to the vessel and tamped it down firmly cover with the leaves.  This is important because the leaves will help keep the shredded cabbage fully submerged and prevent mold growth.  In order to keep the mixture firmly held down place a water-filled jar or zipper bag on top of the hard outer leaves.

Tamp down daily.  I began tasting the first batch at five days out.  My family began eating it at seven days out so I placed it in the fridge at that time.  I can't say how long it lasts because around here it was consumed in a week.

Have you ever made sauerkraut?  Did you add anything besides salt and cabbage to it?  I'd love to hear your ideas and experiences.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Pickled Watermelon Rind

So we got this gorgeous little organic watermelon from our farm share and I thought it was a shame to throw away so much rind.  I've never done anything with watermelon rind before but I really wanted to find a way to use this organic food rather than discard it so we gave this recipe from Eco Lesbo Vego a try.  Being only eleven weeks out from surgery I'm not planning to eat more than a taste but I know the rest of the family will enjoy it. 

Here are the ingredients I went with:
half the rind of a small, round, organic watermelon cut into 1" chunks, white only, skin completely removed and discarded
1 cup water
1 cup Bragg's apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup organic sugar

Simply combine vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved.  Add rind, stir, then turn off heat and leave mixture to cool.  Once at room temperature transfer rind and liquid to jars.  This quantity yielded two pint and a half jars.  (Did you spot my scoby photobombers in the picture above?)

This is not a recipe meant for canning and must be stored in the refrigerator.  Enjoy!

Tasty Thursday: Home Grown Herbs

 

This is one of the window boxes on our deck.  The chamomile on the left is grown from seed I got as a promotional offer from a tea company a couple of years ago.  Who knew it was a perennial?  It just keeps coming back.  What a nice surprise.  

On the right is organic parsley bought from our CSA a few days ago and transplanted to the box.  It is yummy.  We like to pass by and take a leaf to eat when we're coming home.  

Good stuff.

Tasty Thursday: South River Certified Organic Chickpea Miso

My local health food store recently began carrying South River Certified Organic Chickpea Miso.  I have been on a chickpea jag for a few weeks now so when this caught my eye, I managed to not let the $12 price tag deter me from trying it. 

While I love, love, love Miso soup, I have to admit that I haven't  tried this as soup yet.  It makes an amazing spread on crackers, wraps and sandwiches!  I have even spread it on veggies, both raw and cooked. 

The first jar lasted a week and when I asked the family if they liked it as much as I did, I was told no one else had tried it.  That means I ate an entire 16oz. jar completely on my own in a week!  I'm going easier on the second jar - it is $12 after all - but I don't expect it will last much more than two weeks.  The taste is wonderful; tangy, aged chickpea mash, just delicious.

If you are a fan of chickpeas highly recommend you give this one a try.  I just goodsearched and found the company has an online store.  Yikes!  They don't ship during the summer months.  I'm going to have to hit the HFS and pick up whatever they have on hand ASAP. 

(I was not compensated by the company for this post, I just like the stuff and wanted to share my enjoyment.)

Tasty Thursday: Pattypan Squash

We were lucky enough to be gifted this beautiful pattypan squash by my daughter's boss. I have to admit it was so pretty I didn't want to eat it so I decorated the table with it for a few days.

But the calling deliciousness got the best of me and I allowed hubby to make this wonderful pattypan squash and red onion dish this evening. I used it to top a baked potato.


My dinner was yummy. Is there anything better than people who gift you things they've grown or made with their own hands?

I don't think so.

Tasty Thursday: Beautiful Organic Farm Food

All washed and cut and ready to cook for tonight's dinner.  Mmmmm....it was sure delicious.

Beautiful Organic CSA Pumpkin

Picked from the patch by me. Looks great on our porch, wouldn't you say? It's been there for weeks and still looks beautiful. I'm surprised the squirrels haven't begun to peck away at it yet, they usually get started pretty quickly.

My only disappointment? I didn't meet the Great Pumpkin there. ;) Or any Peanuts characters for that matter.