Month: October 2011

Bloody Sangria

My friend had a Halloween party last night and I wanted something fun to drink. I was searching for Halloween cocktails while watching Semi-Homeade Cooking with Sandra Lee. She made Sassy Sangria and decided to make a blood-red sangria. I didn’t originally plan posting this, but it was so delicious I felt the need to share.

Sangria is a wine-based punch that originated in Spain and Portugal. It consists of mixture of wine, brandy, seltzer/ginger ale, and fruit pieces. Brandy is not something I normally drink so I added a bit of tequila instead. Also, Walmart did not have ginger ale for some reason, so I used Sprite instead. I normally don’t drink soda at all, but once in a while it’s okay to have a bit extra sugar.


Bloody Sangria
1 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon
4 oz tequila
1 orange, sliced
2 limes, sliced
1/2 liter of Sprite

Pour the wine into a large pitcher.

Add the tequila.

Drop in to the orange and lime slices.

Chill in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight if you have the time.

Before serving, add the Spite.

If you want it “bloodier,” you can add some grenadine and some fake spider.

I hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween! Keep an eye on your keiki (Hawaiian for kid) and please don’t drink and drive. Also, please keep your pets indoors if possible. There are sick people who torment cats for fun or witchcraft.

I was one happy bunny. 

Kabocha Squash Soup

I love when good things are cheap. My local health food store had variety of locally grown squash on sale. The minute I saw them, I thought of hot bowl of creamy soup. I first picked-up a butternut squash but then a lovely little green one caught my eye. I didn’t know what kind it was but it wad lighter (hence cheaper) so I bought it. After a bit of Google and asking my mom, I learned it was a kabocha.

Kabocha is a Japanese winter squash. It looks like a squat green pumpkin. It has the texture of pumpkin but tastes more like a sweeter butternut squash. It is high in iron, vitamin C, and potassium. It’s meat is bright orange and it’s packed full of seeds too (I roasted them, a bit chewier than pumpkin seeds but still good). 
I came up with this recipe on my own, but it’s pretty much like any basic squash soup. This would also be wonderful with most other squash varieties as well. 

Kabocha Squash Soup

1 kabocha squash
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 cup vegetable broth 
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 cups of kale, chopped
3 cups water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. 
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. 

Spray a baking sheet or pan with cooking spray and lay the squash cut side down.

Bake for about an hour, until totally soft. 
While that roasts, chop up the veggies. 

In a large pot, heat a some oil and sauté the onions until translucent. 

Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes. 

Add the kale and cook until tender. Add the 3 cups water. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Once the squash is done and cooled, scoop out the meat into a blender. 

Add the coconut milk and vegetable broth. Blend until smooth. You may need to add a bit of water if it’s too thick.  ( I don’t know what happened to the picture of this step, sorry!)

Add the squash puree to the pot and turn the burner on to medium-low heat. 

Add the spices and salt and pepper to taste. Bring up to desired temperature and serve hot. 
I have a bit of a cold again so I had my with a lovely glass of Theraflu. Hopefully the vitamin C in the squash will do me some good. 

Pindi Chana

I fell in love with Indian food while I was studying abroad in Australia. There was a little place right on campus that was pretty cheap. It was also conveniently on the walk back from the tram so I would get some when I got off work on occasion. The menu rotated every day but there was the usual selection of curries, chutneys, and such. I have looked-up the recipes for some of my favorites before, but they scared me. Tons of weird spices, ingredients I have never heard, and insanely long cook times. But the other day I wanted something spicy so I decided to search for a simple recipe (there had to be one, India is a very big country, someone has to be lazy like me!) I came across a site called Indian Food Forever and found some really tasty sounding recipes. Then I saw it—a recipe that was easy and I had almost everything it called for already. And It has chickpeas, one my favorite foods.

Pindi chana is pretty much curried chickpeas. What intrigued me the most about the recipe was that the chickpeas are soaked overnight with teabags. This give them a deeper, earthier flavor that stands up against the curry. I cannot find much information on the origins of the dish, the one website I found was half in Hindi, which I sadly cannot read. 
Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans if you prefer, are one of the oldest vegetables know to man. They have been around since biblical times and even spread to the Roman Empire. Apparently some cultures even use them as substitute for coffee (I think I will stick with my Kona coffee). Chickpeas are high in zinc, fiber, folate, and protein. I love to make hummus with them or have them cold on a salad.

Pindi Chana
1 cup dry chickpeas
2 bags of black tea
1 onion, chopped
1 two inch piece of ginger, chopped
2 clove of garlic
1 green chili, de-stemed and chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Salt to taste

Rinse and pick through the chickpeas. Cover with water and add the tea bag. Soak for at least 6 hours, I left mine overnight.

Drain the chickpeas and add to a large pot. Cover with water, cover and cook until tender, about 25 minutes.

Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain off the rest.

Heat some oil in the pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté until golden.

Add the chopped ginger, garlic, and chili sauté for another a minute or two.

Add the tomatoes, reserved liquid and all the remaining spices.

Simmer uncovered until the majority of the liquid is absorbed.

I garnished mine with some more spices. I didn’t feel like waiting for rice to cook, so I threw a sweet potato in the microwave for a minutes and served my pindi chana over it. I loved the orangey-yellow color palate.

Mashed Plantains

I mentioned yesterday in my Sopa de Mani post that I had a side of mashed plantains. They were so good I decided to give it it’s own post. I have wanted to cook something with plantains for awhile now. I’ve never had them before, but I see them all the time in the Hilo Farmers Market. I finally bought some this weekend and then searched for a recipe. I kept finding various ways to to fry them, which does sound delicious but not the healthiest. Then, I found one for mashed plantains. Made just like mashed potatoes, but boiling plantains and adding a bit of spices. I loved the idea and thought it was the healthier option.

Plantains are less sweet and starchier than bananas. Common in the tropics and along the pacific, they are a staple in South and Central America cuisine. They need to be cooked before eaten and are usually eaten while still green (I used yellows ones because I did not know green ones are better for cooking). Like bananas, they are high in potassium and fiber.

Mashed Plantians
2 large plantians
1 tsp butter
salt and pepper
chili powder
red pepper flakes

First, peal the plantains. This is best done by first cutting off the ends.

Then making an incision into the peal length wise. You might make another on the other side too.

Then pull the peal off.

Next remove the seeds inside. Cut the plantain in half.

Then cut just to the side of the seeds.

Now cut off the top strip with the seeds.

Cut the plantains into smaller pieces so they fit into the pot better.

Add to a large pot or saucepan and cover with water.

Bring to boil over high heat and cook until tender.

Drain and return back to the pot. Add the butter and mash until smooth. You may need to add a bit of water to help the texture.

Add the seasoning to taste.

Taste similar to bananas but a bit starchier. Sweet with some spice, but neutral enough to go with most main dishes. I even ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

Sopa de Mani: Bolivian Peanut Soup

I was chatting with my Bolivian friend Leslie again and decided to make another Bolivian dish. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make and did not want to have to go buy tons of ingredients. After some searching on the web, I came across a recipe for soap de mani and thought it sounded amazing. It’s a peanut base soup traditionally made with chicken, raw peanuts, and carrots. It’s a little thick and sweet from the carrots. In Bolivia, soups can be a starter or main course (just like everywhere else I guess….). I left out the chicken and used purple sweet potatoes because that is what I had on hand. I found a recipe that skipped the whole raw peanut boiling step by using natural peanut butter instead. Yeah, I know it is not the traditional way, but I do not have the money to buy whole raw peanuts nor the patients to wait for them to cook down. And, since I found this recipe on an international recipe site, I am sure plenty of Bolivians cheat with peanut butter too.

Peanuts are native to the tropical regions of America. They are high in protein, vitamin B3, and vitamin E. They are also a good source of fiber and antioxidants. They were consumed by the Aztecs, who even mashed them into a paste. But modern day peanut butter is quiet different than the paste the ancients ate. Most modern versions of peanut butter roast the peanuts first, and include oil to make it more spreadable and sugar to make it sweeter. Although peanuts have some health benefits, the peanut oil or other vegetable oils added to peanut butter are still fats so it should still be eaten if moderation. And natural peanut butter, meaning it is only ground up peanuts and a bit of unprocessed peanut oil, is always the best way to go. No one needs the added sugar of processed peanut butter.

This recipe is based on one from Whats4Eats called Soupa de Mani. That recipe serves 4, but I cut mine down to serve 2.

Sopa de Mani
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable stock
3 carrots, sliced
3 small potatoes (I used purple sweet potatoes), peeled and cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Chop the onions, mince the garlic, slice the carrots, and cut up the potatoes. Always easier to prep all the veggies before you start cooking.

In a large pot, heat some oil and add the onions. Cook on medium-low heat until translucent.

Add the garlic for cook for a minute or two.

Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil.

Add the carrots and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes and cook for another 10 minute until all the veggies are soft.

Remove a bit of the hot broth and whisk in the peanut butter to temper it.

Add the tempered peanut butter to the pot and let it simmer for a minute or two. Season with the red peppers flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.

I garnished mine with a bit of basil, not sure if that is Bolivian, but I wanted a splash of green. The soup is creamy and sweet, with a bit of a kick from the red pepper flakes. I loved it, the flavors blend together so nicely. I ate this with a side of mashed plantains, which I will be posting tomorrow.

Sweet Potato and Squash Pizza

I was too lazy to go the store to get ingredients for my friday night pizza, so I decided to use the random veggies I had in the fridge and freezer. Some frozen yellow squash, purple sweet potatoes, onion, and olives. Bit of a random assortment, so I decided to first sauté everything (except the olives) in olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

Sweet Potato and Squash Veggie Pizza
1 ball of pizza dough (try mine)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (try my mushroom sauce)
1/2 cup frozen sliced yellow squash
1-2 purple sweet potatoes (normal potatoes if you cannot yet purples), peeled and sliced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs Italian seasoning
Handful kalamata olives
1/2 cup vegan cheese (I used Daiya)

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go.

Cut the sweet potatoes into fairly thin slices. Slice the onions and chop the garlic too.

Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and some red rappers flakes if you want some kick. Add the onions and cook until they start to brown slightly.

Next add the sweet potatoes and cook until they start to brown too.

Add the squash and cook until no longer frozen.

Add the Italian seasoning and mix together well, then remove from the heat.

Next, roll the pizza dough out and shape into desire pan.

Spread on the tomato sauce.

Then the vegan cheese.

Next add the sautéed veggies and top with the kalamata olives.

Cook for 10-15 minutes or so, until the crust is golden.

I love the texture contrast between the sweet potatoes and cheese. It paired nicely with a glass of merlot.

Homemade Seitan II: Seitan Ribs

Awhile ago I posted a recipe for homemade seitan where you wash the starch off all purpose flour dough. It makes a very tasty meat substitute, but it is time consuming and annoying to do. There is an easier way to make your own seitan: vital wheat gluten. It is simply gluten flour, flour that already has the starch removed. I have not bought it before because plain flour is usually cheaper. But I found a small box on sale for $2.99 at my local health food store (two hippies got into a fight in the check-out line so I stepped behind to display to get out of their way and noticed the box on the shelf).

The beauty of vital wheat gluten is there is no washing necessary. Just mix the ingredients, knead lightly, and boil. Takes at least half an hour off the prep time. Awhile ago I saw a blog for BBQ seitan ribs, which I magically cannot find again, so I decided to made a similar recipe.

Vital Wheat Gluten Seitan
1 cup vital wheat gluten 
3/4 cup vegetable broth 
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tps smoked paprika 
1 tps chili powder
1 tps garlic powder
6 cups water or vegetable broth
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs paprika
1 tps garlic powder
1 tps cumin
2 cloves of garlic, skin removed and crushed

In a small bowl, add vital wheat gluten. Shift through it a bit to get any clumps out.

Add the remaining 3/4 cup vegetable broth, 2 tps soy sauce, smoked paprika, chili powder, and garlic powder. 

Knead the ball for a minute or so, just until it all comes together and is smooth. 

Let it rest for 5 minutes, then knead a few more times. 

Divide and mold into desired shapes. I tore mine in half, flatten out one half into slab for my rips, and made a patty and nuggets with the other half. 

Add combine the remaining ingredients into a large pot. Add the seitan pieces and cover with a lid. 

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it starts to boil, reduce to simmer and cook 45 mins to 1 hour. 

Turn off the heat, leave the lid on and let it cool in the stock.

Once cool, remove the stock. It’s ready to be used right away or can be stored for later.

Seitan Ribs
1 large, flat seitan steak 
BBQ sauce(used any style or brand you like, I used a sweeter one)
BBQ rub (again, any style or brand you like, mine was just a mix of random spices I had in the pantry: paprika, chili powder, turmeric, cumin, and chipotle)

Pre-heat the oven to broil or heat up the grill.

Cut the strips into the steak like rips.

Now brush on BBQ sauce. 

Rub the seitan steak with the BBQ rub. And yeah I know, traditionally you don’t put sauce on it if you have a rub but that what I recipe I based this on said and I like the combination.

Bake for 30 minutes or so, until the seitan has a crunchy blacken crust. I am not sure on the grill time since I don’t have a grill. I really wish I could the site I got this recipe from.

I think I like seitan better this way, but in the end I will go with whats cheapest. So unless vital wheat gluten is on sale, I will just make the flour dough and wash the stretch out. But I will totally make these ribs again sometime. They are chewy and smokey, so delicious. 

Seitan ribs, green beans, and olive bread. 

Special Report: Harts Flea Medicine Kills

So, like I promised, this blog will still majority of the time be devoted to vegan food and recipes, and not be over-preachy. But this issue upsets me so much that my journalism background had to come out.

A few days ago I got a new kitty because my building has a small rat problem and I’ve wanted a companion for awhile. I got her from an animal sanctuary where she was in a room full of other kittens, so it’s not surprise she had some fleas. As a broken college kid, I did not have the money to buy her expensive Advantage or Frontline. My mom warned me that cheap stuff from the grocery store does not work, but it was was all I could afford without bugging my parents for money. So I picked up some Hartz Ultra Guard One Spot for Cats and Kittens. It was only $9.99 for a 3 months supply. I put it on Penny when I got home and was curious what was in and why it was so much cheaper than vet recommended brands. Wikipedia told me methoprene, the active ingredient, is an insecticide that interrupts the life cycle of fleas eggs. But it does not actually kill adult fleas. That annoyed me because it was the adult fleas not the eggs that were causing Penny to itch and chew fur off.

Then I Googled “Hartz” and several links about lethal the products are came up. I clicked on one called Hartz Victims, a site where people post their stories on what happened to their pet when they used Hartz products. Some of them very recent. As I read, I looked down to see Penny grooming herself and panicked. I scooped her up and ran to the bathtub. I washed her neck first was baking soda and normal soap, then I scrubbed her whole body in Dawn. I felt so guilty, I chose money over her health. I was afraid I poisoned her. My new little friend, only 9-months old. As I scrubbed her, I was worried I’d have to rush her to an emergency vet in the middle of night from a grand mal seizure or something.

However, besides being annoyed at the multiple baths, she seemed perfectly fine and the product was only on for an hour. But I decided to stay in and watch her the rest of the night. I poked her every once and awhile to make sure she would response like a normal kitten, and she did. She even discovered that she can snap the string on my eye mask to wake me up, so I knew she was all right.

Penny was lucky. Although some people have used Hartz for years on multiple pets and have no adverse reactions whatsoever, I did not want to risk it on my baby. I found more website, more horror stories, and even Youtube videos. What upsets me the most is that this product is still allowed on the shelves. If this was a human product, it would have been removed and the company sued to death after the first death. But, because it is for animals, it is allowed to stay. The EPA forced them to reformulate their cat products in 2006 but not its dog product. But this did not do much good because there is still numerous reports of cat and continued dogs death well after 2006.

So, please do not use Hartz products. Your pet might be  lucky enough to be one of the ones who has no reactions, but your money goes into making more products that can potentially kill another pet. There are some risks with all chemical flea medicines, but nothing like Hartz (I read a few stories about Sergeant, another cheap grocery store brand too). Advantage can cause a reactions if improperly used, like if it is put on in the wrong place where the pet can lick it. The stories you read about Hartz happened when the owners did nothing wrong. From what I can gather, methoprene is lethal to your pet in large doses and there is way more in one single tube of Hartz than needed to kill your pet.

I asked my mom the next day if she would order me some Advantage from Petco for Penny and she agreed. I will never put cheap products on her again. I don’t believe your pet needs silk pillows and $10,000 food everyday, but if you are a responsible pet owner, you will buy quality products to ensure your pet has the best chance to live a long, happy life. I plan on keeping Penny for as long she will grace this Earth, and I promise to make her life a good one. 

DO NOT BUY HARTZ BRAND PRODUCTS AND SPREAD THE WORD!!

Links:

"Cheesy" Breadsticks and Mushroom Sauce

I had pizza night last night because I have plans for tonight (Bad Geology Movie Night for the geology club, geeky I know) but I still wanted my pizza night. When I was about what kind of pizza to make, I thought of Pizza Hut, which made me think of its breadsticks. So I decided to make some. But, a big pile of cheesy bread is not a healthy dinner, so I decided to add some more veggies to sauce to add some more nutrients. There was sale on mushrooms at the store (99 cents a pound!) so I went with a mushroom sauce with some fresh basil from patio garden.

Mushroom Sauce
1 cup button or white mushrooms, de-stemed and diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
1 can tomato sauce
Handful fresh basil, chopped
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Wash, de-stem, and dice the mushrooms. Chop the onion and garlic too.

Heat some olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they release most of their water.

Add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions begin soften and the mushroom water evaporates.

Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up the stuff up from the bottom.

Add the tomato sauce and stir well.

Add the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cook for a minutes so all the flavors come together.

Take it off the heat and add the chopped basil.

This would be lovely over pasta, but it’s an even better dipping sauce for breadsticks…

“Cheesy” Breadsticks
1 pre-made pizza dough (try mine)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic salt
Vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya)

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go and spray a pizza pan with cooking spray.

Roll your pizza dough into a rectangle. This dough I made last week and froze.


Cut into about 1 inch strips.

Arrange the strips on the pizza pan.

Sprinkle with desired amounts of Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

Top with desired amount of mozzarella.

If you want some extra flavor and crunch, you could brush on some olive oil before you put the toppings on.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly golden. I like mine on the softer side but you can bake them longer if you want more crunch.


I had my breadsticks and mushroom sauce with a side of olives for bit more salt. And of course the rest of my Pinot Noir.

Warning, this dinner may attract your new 9-month old kitty.
Meet Penny, got her from an animal sanctuary on Tuesday. 

Jack-O-Latern and Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I love Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday. Like I said in my Halloween Taco Rice Bowl post, I am named after Elizabeth Montgomery’s character Samantha from the TV show Bewitched, so this holiday is pretty much made for me. If I could get away with it, I’d still go trick-o-treating (and don’t pretend like majority you wouldn’t too!) As fun as dressing up and getting free candy was as a kid, my favorite part was actually carving pumpkins. It was good quality time I got to spend with my family while having fun and being creative. Those are some of my most cherished childhood memories. What kid doesn’t love to get messy and throw pumpkins guts at their brother? And, there was always the delicious toasted pumpkins seeds afterwards too. I haven’t carved a pumpkin in several years sadly. Now that I am not living in the dorms anymore, I decided it was time to carve and toast seeds again.  I also decided that I would spiced up my seeds this year, ya know be a little more adult. I divided my seeds in two in order to make some savory and some sweet.

You don’t have to carve your pumpkin like I did, you can just cut it in half length wise and scoop out the seeds. But what fun is that?

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
1 large, ripe pumpkin
Oil or cooking spray
Savory Seasoning
1 tsp curry
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt  powder
Sweet Seasoning
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1 tsp black strap molasses

Setting up to carve on my balcony. 

First thing, carve your pumpkin. Since this can be get messy, I decided to do this on my balcony. You will need two bowls, a big knife, a smaller pairing knife, a spoon or ice cream scoop, and a dish towel to wipe your hands.

Draw the desired design on your pumpkin while it’s still whole.

Cut a circle around the stem, clean off the gunk and set aside.

Ew, slimy.

Scoop out the membranes, but separate out the seeds. The little tiny ones can be discard though.

Carve the design. I am not the best artist, but I like mine cock-eyed and crooked-toothed. I named him Igor.

Meet Igor. 

Clean up the edges and put the stem back on.

Put your beautiful pumpkin on display for everyone to enjoy.

Now for the seeds….

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse the seeds very well and get all the gunk off.

Dry them well too.

You can either oil or spray a baking sheet. Oil can give the seeds a bit more flavor but adds more calories. I just spray mine.
Spread the seeds into a single layer.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once they are lightly golden, they are done.

Combine all the savory seasonings a bowl and add the seeds while still hot. Toss together to coat.

Combine all the sweet seasonings in another bowl and add the seeds while still hot. Toss together to coat.

Now you have a lovely jack-o-latern and delicious pumpkin seeds.

But, there is more a simple pumpkin can yield. Those slimy, nasty membranes can be added to a compost pile to give nutrients to your garden (assuming you have one). The pieces you cut out can be roasted in the oven and make a tasty addition to your dinner.

Baked tofu, pesto smashed potatoes and a side of roast pumpkin