Tofu Cacciatore

I'm going to be honest here, I've never been a big fan of Chicken Cacciatore. Maybe it's because it's just not a food that I grew up on, or maybe it's because peppers are not on my list of favorite vegetables. I don't know, but when my friends Chris-Anna and Jill suggested to me that a vegan cacciatore would be something that they could get into, I felt I was up for the challenge.

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Chris-Anna's Show-Someone-You-Love-Them Vegetable Sugo

Think of this recipe as a killer substitute for meat bolognese, one of my husband's absolute favorite foods. Sugo is an Italian word meaning "juice" or "sauce." I love how it sounds . . . "sugo" . . . I could say it over and over.

My friend Chris-anna (who is also my business partner) perfected this recipe. The key is in the chopping of all of the ingredients. You want to finely mince everything. That and cooking the onions for a really long time. Oh, and also the reduction for hours at the end.

What you end up with is this ridiculous, rich, thick yum-of-a-sauce. Perfect for layering between slices of grilled polenta or tossing with some whole wheat rigatoni or served on top of some crusty crostini. You really cannot go wrong with this sugo.

But you've gotta have the time to make it . . .

Show-Someone-You- Love-Them Vegetable Sugo
serves 8-10

Cooking time: This dish takes hours and is great to make while you are either cooking other dishes.

Printable Recipe

4 cups onion, finely minced

1 � oz. dried porcini mushrooms

4 cups warm water

3 cup celery stalks, finely minced

3 cup carrots, finely minced

2 cups baby portabella mushrooms, finely minced

1 bulb garlic, peeled and squeezed with garlic press or minced

2 cups Italian parsley

� tsp. dried oregano

� tsp. dried thyme

� tsp. rosemary

1 cup dry red wine

30 oz tomato sauce

2 bay leaves

2 low sodium vegetable bouillon cubes (crumbed)

pepper to taste (or not)

In a soup pot, saut� onion over medium high heat for about 15 minutes. You can dry saut� at first. The onions should have enough moisture to keep them from sticking to the post. After the first 15 minutes, turn the heat to medium and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. At this point you can add stock as needed to keep onion from sticking to pot. The onions will be very soft and golden brown. This step is KEY. The onions need to cook for a good, long time.

Because the onions take a long time to cook down, this is a good time to prepare the other ingredients.

Soak dried mushrooms in 4 cups warm water.

After onions have cooked down, add celery and carrots to pot and cook 10 more minutes.

Bring heat back to medium high and add the portabella mushrooms, garlic, parley, oregano, thyme and rosemary. Stir and cook about 5 minutes.

Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid. (You can pour the liquid through a paper towel or coffee filter to remove any fine grit.)

Finely mince porcini mushrooms and add to pot.

Push all ingredients in the pot to the outside edge, leaving the center of the pot clear and open. Add the wine and cook wine down for about three minutes.

Next add the tomato sauce, reserved mushroom liquid, bay leaves and bouillon cubes.

Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 � hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove cover and cook on medium until much of the liquid cooks off, leaving a rich, dark, thick sauce (about � hour).

Salt and pepper to taste.

This sauce is great served over baked polenta, pasta, gnocchi or ravioli.

What are you making this weekend?

Tempeh Tamale Pie and Zesty Jicama Slaw

 

Why is this the third Tamale Casserole that I have made in the past two months? Perhaps I am on a quest for finding the perfect Tamale Casserole recipe? First, it was The Happy Herbivore's recipe. Next, I "Nutritarianed" it up with my own version of a Tamale Casserole. And this past week, after reading about Mama Pea's all-time favorite recipeas, and finding out that one of them to make the list was her Tempeh Tamale Pie, I was like a moth to a flame.

Except I added kale. Lots of kale. Six cups of finely chopped up kale, to be exact (I made a double recipe).

The addition of kale was awesome. Surprisingly, I couldn't taste the tempeh. But the winning change was the addition of the jicama slaw.

The recipe for "Zesty Jicama" comes from Terry Walter's Clean Start cookbook, and you can find it on the internet here. A crunchy, light, citrusy and complex slaw, you can bet I'll be making this one again. Ms. Walters is a culinary genius in my opinion (and a friend of a college roommate--what a small world this is!), and if you don't already own both of her cookbooks, you are really missing out.

Fieldtrip: Indian Grocery Store and Absolutely Scrumptious Aloo Baingan Recipe

Thank you to everyone who has already entered my Plant-strong pride blogger giveaway! If you haven't had the chance to do that yet, don't miss out!

Have you ever heard of asafetida, a.k.a. hing?

I hadn't until about a year ago, and I didn't have it in my kitchen until a few weeks ago when my friends and I made a field trip to one of our local Indian grocery stores. I say "one of" because it is important to point out that we had our choice of three to go to, even in our little backwoods of Ohio. Okay, well, the eastern suburbs of Cleveland aren't exactly backwoods, but they aren't exactly metropolitan either! So I was stoked to find out that we had our pick of Indian groceries.

Why? Well, because I wanted that darned asafetida! That and just about every ingredient you could find that you need at an Indian grocery is far, far cheaper than, lets say, your local high end specialty health food chain (I won't mention any names here because you know how much I love me some Whole Foods . . . oops!).

Here's some of the goodies that I picked up:

Roasted chick peas. Imagine that! Gotta get us some more because they were devoured in a few days, and I didn't even get a chance to try them on my salads before they were all gone. They came salted and unsalted and my daughter requested that the next time I get them, she wants the unsalted ones!

Pretty much the same calorie stats as any chip, cracker or snacky food (if you check a lot of labels, you will find that so many snack foods come in at about 110 calories per ounce) but with far, far better nutrition.

I haven't gotten around to using this dried mango powder yet, but give me time Aloo Gobi! Give me time!

The spices are unbelievably cheap. Yes, cheap. Is that a bad word? I don't mean it like that. I just mean that the spices at an Indian grocery store are practically free compared to anywhere else. That's why you'll see me back at the Indian grocery next week!

And the dried beans too! In every variety . . . 2 pounds for $2.49. Wow! You know where I'll be getting ALL of my dried beans from now on.

Needless to say, I've got Indian food on the brain!

Kale Mallung, a Sri Lankan recipe, from Fat Free Vegan. How did Susan ever know that I had a box of washed and cut kale that I wanted to use up? The coconut and lime make this no-oil sauteed greens dish incredibly unique and incredibly tasty!

Manjula's Kitchen

My business partner was doing a google search the other day for vegan Indian recipes and she came upon a website/blog that neither of us had ever seen before. It's called Manjula's Kitchen and I have no idea how this incredible source came into being because from the looks of Manjula, there is no way that she is the blogger behind this wonder (no offense Manjula, but you look a lot like my mother's age and she doesn't even use a computer, let alone create videos and blog about her cooking).

Anyway, I digress. If you love Indian food like I love Indian food, then let me tell you, we have found the mother load. Unfortunately, since I did not grow up with an Indian mother and not even an Indian aunt, I have to teach myself how to make authentic tasting Indian food.

But without using any oil.

How's that for a challenge?

Good news my friends, I think I have finally mastered at least some of it. Barely-any-oil authentic tasting Indian dishes. I'm going to be eating this one until my stomach explodes!

HGK's Aloo Baingan (Potato and Eggplant)

inspired by a recipe from Manjula's Kitchen

serves 3-4

Print Me!

1 medium purple eggplant, un-peeled, cut into 1/2? cubes
5 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2? cubes
1 medium tomato cut into 1/2? cubes

1 1/2 cups fat free tomato sauce (I have been really into the Muir Glen brand lately-check the labels for the varieties with no fat)

cooking spray
Pinch of asafetida (hing) (don't stress out if you don't have this ingredient, just leave it out)
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 small chopped green chili (jalepeno-deseeded) adjust to taste!
1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste

2 tablespoons or more chopped cilantro

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Spray foil lightly with cooking spray and lay out chopped eggplant pieces on one sheet and chopped potato pieces on the other. Roast eggplant for approximately 15 minutes, until it is starting to soften, but not turn into a mush. Roast potato for approximately 25 minutes until edges of potato pieces are starting to brown and potato is just cooked.

While eggplant and potato are roasting, in a small bowl, mix the grated ginger, jalapeno pepper, coriander powder, paprika, turmeric, and 2 tablespoons of water to make a paste.

Spray the base of a pot with cooking spray and heat the pot over medium heat. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the pot; if seed cracks right away pot is heated to the right temperature.

Add cumin seeds and asafetida after seeds crack.  Add the spice mixture and stir-fry for 20 seconds, stirring continuously.

Add chopped tomato and stir-fry for a minute. Add tomato sauce.

Add roasted potatoes and eggplant. Mix it gently, let it simmer for three to four minute on medium low heat. Turn off the heat and add chopped cilantro mix it well.

Do you shop any International grocery stores? Tell us about it!

A Real Winner: The Happy Herbivore's Mexican Cabbage

My second entree into Lindsay S. Nixon's recipes from her book The Happy Herbivore turned out spectacularly. Mexican Cabbage is the epitome of a volumetric recipe: high in volume and low in calories. But without sacrificing taste, texture or satisfaction. I absolutely LOVE this dish and know that I will be making it time and time again.

The only substitutions I made to Lindsay's original recipe were (1) doubling all of the ingredients--of course--and I'm taking most of it to a pot luck tonight, and (2) I used a Southwest spice blend that a friend gave me as a gift instead of the spices that Lindsay called for (cumin and oregano).

Lucky for us, Lindsay has posted this recipe on her blog, Happy Herbivore. Here it is:
http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/quick-mexican-cabbage/

As for Lindsay's Tamale Casserole recipe that I blogged about last week and many of you wanted the recipe for, I wasn't able to find the recipe online and I don't have permission from the author to reprint her recipe. But check back here in a few days for the Healthy Girl's Kitchen spin on Tamale Casserole. I'm so excited to try out my own version!

Fagiole Pita Pizzas and Beck, Day 1 and 2, Review

Good Morning everyone! Today I am fortunate enough to present you with a guest post and recipe from an HGK reader, Mandy from Atlanta. She so generously took the time out of her busy schedule to e-mail us one of her favorite recipes complete with photos. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to giving Mandy's recipe a go!

Hi Wendy!

I first found your blog in November and I have followed you ever since! I have been so inspired. I love your post today... how cool you have so many people (including me!) wanting to follow the Beck Diet. I ordered it today. I am hoping to encourage you and what you are doing at HGK. I try lots of your recipes and love them. I have followed your advice and get the Peer Trainer emails. Those have really helped, too.

I have never been one to enjoy being in the kitchen, but things are slowly changing for me, thanks to you and excitement you have in the kitchen. I have reached a new low weight (since my 7th grade year!) thanks to you and your site.

I created these Pita Pizzas based on how much you, E2 and Peer Trainer love beans. I love Italian food and sometimes want a change from getting my beans in Mexican dishes (that I DO love, too.) I have been eating these pizzas all summer. I have felt full and have still lost weight.... that is a victory! My kids have been eating them all summer, too! I do top theirs with a tad of the Dayia Mozzarella. I do not eat mine with the Daiya to cut out the oil and fat.

They are so, so easy and that is a must for me if I'm going to make something often--I make these 2-3 times a week... and they are so cheap to make. I don't know about you, but our food bill can rack up like crazy! You are the best at tweaking recipes so I thought you could make these even better! I've attached pictures, too.

Mandy's Fagiole Pita Pizzas

Printable Recipes
Whole Wheat Pitas (however many pizzas you want to make)
Your favorite No-Oil Spaghetti Sauce
1 15 oz can Pinto Beans (rinsed and drained), 1 can tops 2-3 pizzas
Chopped Red Onion
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
Nutritional Yeast
Daiya Mozzarella Cheese Shreds (optional)

� Preheat oven to 425
� Lightly spray baking sheet with cooking spray
� Top the pita with spaghetti sauce*
� Add a layer of beans
� Add chopped red onion
� Generously sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasoning and onion powder.
� Bake for 12-16 minutes... until outside of pita is crisp and beans are toasted
� Top with nutritional yeast.**

 * I use generous amounts of every single ingredient in the recipe.
**If using the Daiya shreds, sprinkle on top of the seasonings and skip the nutritional yeast. Cook for 12-14 minutes and then broil for an additional 2 minutes until cheese gets melted. I always have to watch it like a hawk or I burn it.

Thank you ever so much Mandy! I think your Fagiole Pizzas are going to be dinner tonight at my house! I happen to have a lot of whole wheat tortillas hanging around, so I'll use those as the crust. And I could see doing fun variations like a Mexican themed one with salsa (even salsa verde-my personal fav!) as the sauce, black beans and cilantro. The sky is really the limit with this idea.

Beck, Day 1 and 2 Review

A huge thank you to everyone who posted their advantages and plans in the comments sections here and here. It is SO not too late to join us on this journey.

I am going to respond to some questions/thoughts I'm having about Day 1 and 2.

Twenty advantages is not too many! In fact, I highly recommend reading the comments to Day 1 and refining your list as you find advantages that maybe you hadn't thought of (can everyone say "back fat"?). I know that I read some advantages that I was blown away by and will be adding to my list. The more detailed, visual and real your list is, I think, the better.

I cannot emphasize this enough: WE (MYSELF INCLUDED) MUST BE READING AND CONTEMPLATING THIS LIST AT LEAST TWO TIMES PER DAY.

Did you set up a reminder system? What is it? Please leave a comment here letting us know that you did and elaborating on your reminder system.

I need to reread Eat to Live. I say that it is my plan but do I really know all the ins and outs of it? I'm thinking that I don't because of all of the allowances I have been making over the past many months. I know this makes my mother crazy. She likes to see me making allowances so that she doesn't have to worry about something, I'm not sure what. It drove her up the wall when I was fat! I want to get back into the head space when I was uber healthy and pumped up about following the plan. It felt really great to be in that head space. I had energy to spare.

Have a great day folks!?