An Early Spring Saturday Supper

As Mr. Big Food was b-b-qing chicken over applewood, he dictated to me the recipe for this broccoli salad. I took it down as it was more than I could have remembered in my head.

The one on the right-- the one without the hardboiled eggs-- is Miss M's. 

I did not take a picture of the leftover slaw from last night's mini-fish-fry. Mr. Big Food thought it needed to be more Carolina style, so he spun them both-- the vegan and non-vegan versions, in that order-- through the food processor. It was good. Good slaw is always better leftover.

I did get a photograph of the chicken.

Miss & I spent a considerable amount of time today fussing about the table. I had bought a new tablecloth and napkins. I was in the process of setting the table right nice when I remembered we were having bar-b-qued chicken over applewood tonight. 

We explored some possibilities. We came up empty.

That's when we decided that maybe we should eat in the living room.

Recipe: Gilroy Ratatouille (Veganizable)

To veganize, omit sausage and cheese

“Enhanced by sausage and cheese, this ratatouille makes a complete meal. For vegetarians, just omit the sausage. (Recipe contest entry: Mrs. Gene Stecyk, Los Angeles, CA)”—The Garlic Lovers’ Cookbook (1980) 
GILROY RATATOUILLE  
Makes 8 servings 

5 cloves fresh garlic, minced 
2 onions, sliced thin 
1/3 C olive oil 
1 bell pepper, cut into thin rounds 
2 medium eggplant, unpeeled, diced 
2 medium zucchini, sliced ¼-inch thick 
20 oz Italian plum tomatoes (can use stewed, preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics and Canning … sections—or canned) 
1 ½ tsp basil 
1 ½ tsp parsley 
1 ½ tsp salt 
Fresh ground pepper to taste 
1 ½ lbs Italian sausage, cooked until done, drained well (preferably homemade—see recipes in Meats section) 
½ lb whole small mushrooms 
1 C (4 oz) grated Swiss cheese 

Sauté garlic and onions in olive oil until soft, add bell pepper, eggplant, and zucchini, and cook 5 minutes over medium heat, tossing well. Add tomatoes with liquid, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper, simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, then cover and simmer 15 minutes longer. Add mushrooms to vegetables during the last 10 minutes of cooking time. Add drained sausage to vegetables, sprinkle with grated cheese, cover, and simmer until cheese melts.

Recipe: India Rice (Vegan)

Add peas!

INDIAN RICE

Serves 5

¼ C onion, sliced very thin

3 Tbsp slivered almonds

2 Tbsp butter

¼ C seedless raisins

2 C hot, cooked long grain rice

Melt butter in small skillet, and cook onions and almonds until golden. Add raisins and heat through until they puff. Stir mixture into rice, mixing lightly. Serve with curry dishes.

Recipe: Vegetable Caserole with Onions, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Celery, and Carrots

Vegan!

We had some leftover cooked broccoli which Mr. Big Food substituted for the celery. Since it was cooked, he added it after the casserole had been baking about 40 minutes. He used olive oil for the "fat."

“Either fresh or canned vegetables may be combined for this delicious casserole.”—The Encyclopedia of Cooking Complete in 24 Volumes, Volume 11: 250 Ways to Serve Fresh Vegetables (1953)

[Fresh is of course much better.]

VEGETABLE CASSEROLE WITH ONIONS, TOMATOES, POTATOES, CELERY, AND CARROTS

Serves 6 to 8

2 large mild onions (like Bermuda or Vidalia), sliced about ½ inch thick

4 large firm tomatoes, sliced about ½ inch thick

2 C potatoes, diced

1 C celery, chopped

1 C carrots, pared, sliced

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

4 Tbsp fat

Preheat oven to 375^o. Place onion slices and tomato slices in layers in greased casserole with potatoes, celery, and carrots, sprinkling each layer with some of the salt, pepper, and paprika. Add fat, cover casserole, and bake 1 hour or until tender.

Recipe: Chinese Fried Rice II (Vegan)

Best with home grown veggies

CHINESE FRIED RICE II

Serves 6

2 Tbsp oil

2 large onions, chopped

2 C cooked rice

1 to 2 Tbsp soy sauce

½ tsp salt

2 C chopped cooked meat (optional)

2 Tbsp peeled diced carrots

2 Tbsp cooked green peas

Heat oil, fry onions until brown, add rice, soy sauce, and salt, and saute until done. Add meat (if using), garnish with carrots and green peas, and serve hot.

Recipe: Grilled Vegetables with Herb Marinade

Recipe from Healthy Home Cooking: Fresh Ways with Vegetables (Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1986)

Preparation and grilling photos here: Big Food!

GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH HERB MARINADE

Serves 12
Working (and total) time: about 45 minutes
Calories 88; Protein 3g; Cholesterol 0mg; Total fat 5g; Saturated fat 1g; Sodium 52mg

6 medium zucchini, each sliced in half crosswise with a diagonal cut through the middle, each half cut into a fan by making lengthwise slices ¼ inch apart, leaving the slices attached at the uncut end

3 medium onions, each cut lengthwise into quarters

12 large mushroom caps, wiped clean

4 red sweet peppers, each cut lengthwise into thirds, seeded, deribbed

6 ripe plum or small tomatoes, cut in half

3 limes, each cut into 8 wedges

Herb Marinade (below)

(If using bamboo skewers, soak for 1 hour before threading on vegetables and grilling.) Prepare coals for grilling about 30 minutes before you plan to grill vegetables. Thread onions onto one or two skewers. Thread mushroom caps on one skewer. Thread pepper strips onto one or two skewers. Thread tomatoes on skewers. When grill is ready, lightly brush all vegetables with Herb Marinade. Cook vegetables, staggering cooking times so that all vegetables will be done at the same time. Put zucchini fans on oiled grill first; they require about 10 minutes grilling. After 2 minutes add onions. After 2 minutes longer add mushrooms. Add peppers and tomatoes for the last 4 minutes of grilling time. Baste vegetables with any remaining marinade as they cook, and turn them as they brown. Remove vegetables from skewers and arrange on a platter. Serve hot, accompanied by lime wedges.

HERB MARINADE

¼ C virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried leaves

1 tsp fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried leaves

¼ tsp crushed hot red pepper

¼ tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and warm mixture over medium heat until it begins to bubble gently, then cook 4 minutes longer. Remove from heat to cool.

It's Vegan Night!

Butter crunch lettuce, red lettuce, monstrosity spinach, radishes, onions, garden cress, broccoli raab, and mushrooms

with California red French dressing on the side. Yes. You can eat the flowers.

Also a vegan variation of Collards Cooked with Garlic and Chicken Broth which, duh, substitutes veggie broth for chicken broth and this evening, giant red mustard greens for collards.

Served with Beer Bread, a quick bread which is awesome. Mr. Big Food made 1/2 the recipe and we ate 3/4 of the loaf!

Recipe: Cabbage in Cream (veganizable)

Who doesn't love cabbage?

“From my cousin Vaclav Koudelka in Lubacovice”—Pat Kriska

CABBAGE IN CREAM

½ stick butter

1 medium head cabbage, tough outer leaves removed, cored, and chopped

1 C heavy cream

Salt, pepper, to taste

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp paprika

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the cabbage, sauté onion in butter until tender. Add cabbage and cook over low heat until cabbage is just tender. Stir in cream and continue to cook only until cream is heated. Stir in seasonings and serve at once.

~~

To veganize, use Earth Balance® or other butter substitute, and Silk® Almond Milk rather than cream.

Mr. Big Food has veganized a number of recipes that call for traditional white sauces. We taste no real difference between real butter and cream, and Earth Balance and Silk Almond Milk. I love butter and cream, but a little less cholesterol won't do me any harm!

Friday Night | Pizza Night

Prepared vegan pizza

Prepared decidedly non-vegan pizza

Ready to eat vegan pizza

Ready to eat decidedly non-vegan pizza

See how well we ☾☮ ૐ ✡ ☥☯† ??

We watched the first episode of the first season of the Dick Van Dyke Show. I did not know that Dick was a raging alcoholic, did you? The first episode was funny-- but not all that funny.

It's too early to say anything definitive. But my sense is that Ricky is a snot nosed little kid. Laura pandered to him in the first episode.

~~

So for all of y'all who are trying to put your finger on where culture went wrong-- skip Dick.

While we watched the returns

we had a nice supper!

Chicken à la Louisiane

Corn O'Brien (vegan)

Baked Sweet Potatoes à la Roxie

I need to work on the color balance of this photo because the white sweet potatoes were a little whiter than they appear here.

The vegan side dish with tonight's oven fried chicken. Pulled the sweet taters out of the garden about 10 days ago. Washed them off. Pare boiled them for about 20 minutes. Stripped the peels off. Rolled them chopped pecans and doused them with a bit of sugar. Baked. 

Real recipe soon. I promise!

Tonight was veggie vegan night!

As you know, Monday is was Veggie Night.

We eat a lot of veggies!

The first order of business on Veggie Night is to fry some Bacon so there is Bacon fat.  The second piece of business is to calculate how to cut down on the amount of cheese called for in these old recipes.

Ch ch ch changes.

Monday night is now Vegan night. Tuesday through Sunday, there's at least one Vegan Side Dish.

I'm cool with that!