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Spring Garden Photos Thyme and chives wake up from the winter (left).

Snow peas, nasturtium, and scallion sprouts in the new raised bed garden (right). Lettuce, arugula, and kale sprouts in our new raised bed...I'm so ready for some homegrown salad! Eggs we bought at the Tsunami Restaurant Saturday morning farmers' market from True Vine Farms (see links). Labels: how does my garden grow, spring dish


Tofu Gumbo

So Monday night I FINALLY made that recipe for a vegan tart I've been going on about since Christmas, and you know what? It was awful. Who posts a recipe for an awful, awful dish? I'm really open-minded about eating mediocre food, because I honestly think it's a sin to waste food when people are starving. But this thing was inedible, so I just can't recommend it. I couldn't even get half of my slice of tart down. Luckily, Scott found it palatable enough to keep from wasting it, but I did not!

The good news is that I'm going to share a delicious tofu gumbo recipe with you. A couple of weeks ago, I reached into the freezer case at the market to grab a bag of field peas, and when I got home, the field peas had morphed into a bag of frozen okra. I don't really cook with okra, but I remembered that a few years ago I'd saved a Kwanzaa menu (with recipes) that was published in Vegetarian Times that included tofu gumbo. It's true that sometimes I'll keep a recipe for years before it fits into my scheme. I made THAT recipe tonight, and it was delicious. As is often the case, I didn't make it exactly the way the recipe read, so I'm going to share it with you the way I made it. Here goes! 3 T. plus 1/4 c. canola oil
2 ribs celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced (ribs and seeds removed, of course)
1 -2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, with packing juice
1 T. fresh thyme
1 T. fresh oregano
2 T. fresh basil
2 c. vegan vegetable stock
freshly ground pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, and tumeric, to taste
4 oz. frozen okra
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 lb. extra-firm tofu, water squeezed out, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I usually freeze my tofu when I buy it at the store and let it thaw the day I'm going to use it. This changes the texture favorably.)
NOTE: I served this over white rice, so you should also get some white rice ready to cook.

You’ll need 1 large skillet and one medium-to-large nonstick skillet.

Heat 1 T. canola oil in the large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, pepper, and garlic until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are soft. This takes about 10 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes, the thyme, the oregano, the basil, the bay leaves, the stock, the salt, a generous grinding of black pepper, and cayenne pepper, to taste. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, heat 2 T. canola oil in the nonstick skillet. Sauté the okra until lightly browned. (I sautéed it for a couple of minutes, then I moved all the okra to the middle of the pan and let it cook until the bottom was lightly brown.) Remove the okra from the nonstick skillet.

NOTE: This is where I started cooking rice according to package instructions.

In the same nonstick skillet, add the tofu. Sprinkle the tofu with a generous grinding of black pepper, cayenne to taste, a couple of shakes of dry mustard, and a couple of shakes of tumeric. Sauté until it, too, is lightly browned. (I did the same thing I did to the okra, but I browned the tofu cubes on 2 sides.) Remove the tofu from the nonstick skillet.

In the same nonstick skillet, heat the remaining ¼ c. canola oil. Whisk in the ½ c. all-purpose flour, and continue heating until the mixture smells nutty (3 or 4 minutes). Stir this mixture (called the roux, unless you are Cajun or Creole, and then I apologize for any inauthenticity) 1 T. at a time into the tomato mixture until it creates a gravy-like texture. Remove the bay leaves and discard.  Stir in the okra and tofu.

I served the dish over white rice with some awesome white sesame-seeded bread and vegan margarine. Scott drank his homebrewed beer, and I had a glass of red wine, then green tea. I wish I weren't full, because I'd love to eat some more! The recipe served about 4 as a main dish.
Posted by Renée Today Tomorrow at 7:30 PM No comments: Labels: entree, garlic, main dish, okra, onion, rice, tofu, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian


Pet Safety

I just got home from a pet safety meeting, and I'm fired up. Are you prepared to keep your pets safe during an emergency? I'm not 100% prepared, but I'm going to take more steps to be so. The first thing I'm doing is posting the window decal I previously ordered from the ASPCA to show emergency personnel how many pets I have. You can get it as part of the free pet safety kit at http://www.aspca.org/about-us/free-aspca-stuff/free-pet-safety-pack.aspx. House fires are the most frequent disaster scenario, and the decal will tell firefighters what to watch for inside your home.

Next, you need to make sure your pets have ID. Microchips are excellent, but it's also important to have a visible ID tag hanging from your pet's collar. Even if the safety issue is "just" that your pet escaped the yard, folks are more likely to stop and try to get them home if they see that visible confirmation that the pet has a home in the first place.

Also, all animals should have a carrier and/or other restraint for safely moving them in a disaster situation. Make sure your cat is familiar with being in a carrier. Make sure you have leashes and crates for your dogs and portable cages for hamsters, birds, etc. Remember that even your own pets can behave aggressively when they are scared.

Have a backpack packed with emergency food and water, bowls, meds, and proof of rabies vaccines. It's a good idea to have photos of your pet(s) in the backpack, especially photos that show you and the pet together as proof that the animal belongs to you. You can put the photos (and even scanned copies of medical records) on a cd or flash drive.

The Red Cross has other tips for pet safety. Now's the time to prepare!
Posted by Renée Today Tomorrow at 7:19 PM No comments: 

Our Very Own Neighbors Won the Chili Cookoff Romeo would like to congratulate our neighbors - Art, Kim, and Ayler - for winning the "Best Vegetarian" AND the "Judges' Choice" categories in our neighborhood chili cookoff today! As you can see, Romeo is VERY excited, in a cat sort of way.
Posted by Renée Today Tomorrow at 4:50 PM No comments: