EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: week 8

If there's one thing I suspected and confirmed while participating in the Meatless Supper Club, it's that there are no gourmets in our family. We like simple food. Spice is welcome, but only with the adult members of the family. 'Quick and easy' are also appreciated most of the time. That's why this week I'm vegetarianizing an old stanby: fried rice. I used to think this was a dish only a restaurant could make, and then after I met my husband he demystified it. I found that once I knew a few tricks of the trade (such as Minute Rice isn't really rice), I too could fry rice like a pro, and that our home-made version is lower fat than restaurant versions, low cost and a fail-safe, go-to meal in our house. Typically, we make fried rice at least once a week because rice is our main starch and inevitably you have leftovers. That's key. You need day old rice, not fresh.  Here's our house fried rice:

Fried Rice with Bacon (D'oh! I forgot -- this is the Meatless Supper Club)

Fried Rice with Tofu

4-5 cups cooked day old rice (I used a mix of white and brown)
2 scrambled eggs
7 oz. firm tofu, cut into small squares
1 cup carrots, cut into small bite-size pieces
1 cup peas
soy sauce
cooking oil (I used canola, peanut and sesame)

Start with prep. Chop the carrots into bite-size pieces. Squeeze out extra water from the tofu, using about half of a regular 14 oz. package, then cut it into small cubes. Pan fry the tofu in a few tablespoons of oil (I used peanut oil, hoping that would give a little extra flavor but mostly only made my kids plug their noses). Remove the tofu from heat, once it's golden brown around the edges. In a big saute pan, scramble two eggs, and when they're done, add to the tofu and set aside. Put the carrots and peas in a dish with a bit of water (the carrots I used fresh, and the peas frozen), and micro-steam to soften. Once done, drain the water.

Once the prep work is complete, squirt a bit of canola or cooking oil into a big saute pan, and fill with day-old rice. Use a spatula to break up the sticky chunks of rice, and as it heats, stir fry it around. Once it's heated through and de-chunked, pour some soy sauce onto the rice in the form of a letter 'Z' that fills the pan (this is just enough soy sauce for us, but use as much as you like). Then stir fry that until it's evenly distributed through the rice (I usually put in a few drops of sesame oil too for flavor, but this is optional). Now the rice is done, then it's pretty much just like tossing a salad. Add in the veggies, and stir fry to evenly distribute, then the egg, and finally the tofu until it's all mixed up. Voila! I kept my sides simple and served this with a plate of cut apples.

On serving this meal, I kept waiting for the kids to say: 'where's the bacon?' but they did not! I'll note that in our house, bacon isn't a pig product -- we only use 'pig-urky' (our name for turkey bacon). Yet by taking the meat out of our regular fried rice, we brought the meal even further down on the food chain. This meal was enthusiastically gobbled up, and they asked for seconds and licked their plates clean. One final note on fried rice -- it can be made with anything, and it's an ideal low-meat meal if you have leftover chicken, pork chops, steak or whatever. Play around with the veggies and proteins to find the mix that you like.

It's hard to believe that it's the last week of our meatless challenge. The time went fast, but as one of our bloggers mentioned what an interesting seasonal transition it's been -- when we started we were still working with summer squash, tomatoes and basil, and slowly we've moved to warm and soul-soothing soups, winter squashes and casseroles. Without further ado, let's see what our guest bloggers have dished up for our final week of the EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club.

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 7

Week 7 already? Holy. What I'm offering up today is sort of an all-around useful recipe that received a very mediocre reaction from the kids, but a big thumbs up from me and my man. I made this cheesy white bean puree as a pasta sauce -- it looks creamy, just like cheese. But it's beans! Chock full of protein. However, my kids are not fond of cheesy pasta, so I think they would have preferred it as a dip rather than a pasta sauce. Having this dip on hand would be perfect for a throw-together meal of sliced veggies, fruits and pita bread.

This would be much prettier with peas tossed in. And some bacon. D'oh!

Here's the basic recipe for the puree:

White Bean Puree, by Mark Bittman

3 cups cooked or canned navy or other white beans, drained but still moist with liquid reserved

About 1 cup bean-cooking liquid, vegetable stock or water

3 tablespoons butter or EV olive oil

Salt & pepper

Parsley for garnish (optional)

Puree beans in a food processor or blender using as much liquid to make them smooth but not watery. Put in a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan along with butter or olive oil. Heat gently until butter melts or oil is hot. Season the beans. To make it cheesy like I did, add 1/4 cup parmesan or pecorino with the butter/olive oil until the cheese melts.

One of the things I love about Mark Bittman is that he offers several variations on his recipes. For this bean puree he suggests adding roasted garlic or lemon zest with rosemary or roasted eggplant with tahini.

I served the pasta with a vegetable that my children typically shun. So let me share this major kid success story titled: How I Got My Children to Eat Squash and Ask for Seconds.

Take a winter squash, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Lay the cut sides down on a foil-covered baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Flip squash over and cook for another 20 minutes until very tender. Let it cool and scoop out the insides. I pureed it in a food processor with a bit of milk, but a really good stirring might also do the trick. Dump the puree in a bowl and add about a 1/2 tsp each (maybe a little more) of cinnamon and nutmeg and salt, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, and a little butter. Basically I just made it taste like Thanksgiving. BUT HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: I called it Pudding. And I served the Pudding in small ramekins that we generally use for ice cream and other treats. Ha!

 

 
So now without further ado, let's see what brilliant veggie concoctions our meatless bloggers have cooked up this week!

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 6

I wanted to try something really different this week, so I fixed African Sweet Potato Peanut Stew. A friend photocopied this from a 2006 Good Housekeeping magazine, and it's a slow cooker recipe, which I love. My friend noted that it was 'excellent!' and 'really thick, not brothy. good over rice.' So over rice, I served it:

African Sweet Potato Peanut Stew
3 garlic cloves
2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves and stems
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3 pounds (or 4 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1 can (15-19 ounces) garbanzo beans/chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 package (16 ounces frozen cut green beans)

In a blender or food processor with knife blade attached, blend garlic, cilantro, tomatoes with their juice, peanut butter, cumin, cinnamon, ground red pepper, and salt until pureed. Transfer this paste to slow cooker bowl, and stir in water. Add sweet potatoes and garbanzo beans, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours, or 4-5 hours on high, until potatoes are very tender. About 10 minutes before finished, steam green beans and then mix them into the stew before serving.

OK. So, I made a few modifications. I used my own pre-cooked garbanzos, and fresh diced tomatoes. I didn't have sweet potatoes so I micro-steamed half a butternut squash instead, then cut into bite-size chunks. I left out the cilantro and decided to sprinkle it on top for my husband and me. I also left out the cayenne pepper, thinking that might make it too spicy. I also thought I was being brilliant when I told the kids we were having 'peanut butter stew' for dinner, and planned it for right after soccer practice when I knew they'd be super hungry. They loved the concept. Not so much the real thing. One picked at it and ate a few garbanzo beans. The other dug deep and just ate the rice that I served it over. For us grownups, I served it over brown rice, with the green beans on the side, and the sprinkle of cilantro on the top. I can't say any of us loved this. I think it needed a heck of a lot more spice. I was hoping it'd taste rich like a Thai peanut sauce, but it didn't. If I make it again, I'd for sure add the cayenne and heaps of cilantro. Another thing I wondered is if I'd pureed the whole thing, would the kids have liked it better? None of us are big squash eaters, so this may just have been way too different. Oh well. I will eat the leftovers this week and experiment with upping the spice factor.

Let's see what our guest bloggers cooked up this week. I promise, most were much more successful than I was...

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 5

I had a colossal meatless meal disaster earlier in the week -- there was much swearing, a bloody finger, bean patties that simply would not patt-ify and some very unhappy customers. So I started thinking about what I could do with broccoli, one of the only veggies that my kids like cooked. From the deep recesses of my brain I remembered a Victory Garden episode I'd seen on PBS some 15 years ago, back when Russell and Marian Morash were on the program (and how I miss them). Marian made a broccoli soup that cleverly used pureed rice and broccoli stalks as the creamy base, and I'm sure it was this soup that prompted me to buy the Victory Garden Cookbook way back then. I don't think I ever actually made the soup until this week. Did the kids love it? Absolutely not. But hub and I did, and that's all the matters (this is my new motto).

Broccoli Soup from the Victory Garden Cookbook

It's vegan! Unless you choose to grate in some parmigiano reggiano, as I did.

1.5 lbs of broccoli

1/4 cup olive oil

1.5 tsp chopped garlic

1/4 cup rice (uncooked)

4 cups chicken broth (I used veggie broth, because, you know.)

Salt and pepper

grated Parmesan, optional

Separate broccoli florets from stems, cut into very small buds, and blanch for 3 minutes. Plunge into cold water, drain and set aside. Peel remaining broccoli stalks and chop into 1/2 inch chunks. Heat oil in a large saucepan, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds (don't let it brown!). (If you like your soup a little spicy, add some hot pepper flakes with the garlic.) Add chunked broccoli stalks and rice and stir for 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until broccoli and rice is tender. Lift out the broccoli and some of the cooked rice and puree in a processor or blender (add some broth if you're using a blender). Return the puree to the soup base and mix well. When ready to serve, add the florets and cook long enough to heat through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and parmesan.

The kids thought it smelled amazing, but they just didn't like it. I love that you use all of the broccoli, and that the pureed rice and stalks provide the creamy factor. It's pretty thick, but I like a thick soup. I served cheese quesadillas on the side, which they always gobble up. (And just so you know, spellcheck informed me that I originally misspelled 'broccoli' throughout this entire post. Let's hear it for consistency!)

So let's see what our partners in meatless shenanigans cooked up this week:

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 4

I acquired a copy of Mollie Katzen's veg cookbook The Enchanted Broccoli Forest in college, during a phase when I decided to become vegetarian for no real good reason -- a bold move for someone who wasn't a big fan of veggies. On second thought, it may be one of those unwritten college rules that you have to be a vegetarian for at least a semester. Anywho, I was not much of a chef but loved the whimsical name, and just had to try the recipe. I made it for a friend but remember wishing the broccoli didn't come out quite so brown. So I'm trying it again some 20 years (oh lordy, did I just confess that?) later, hoping its name will work magic with my family but that I can keep the broccoli trees bright green this time. Behold:


The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

1 pound of broccoli, cut into tree-like spears
6 cups cooked brown or white rice
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 large clove crushed garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp dried mint
black pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
3 large eggs
1/4 freshly minced parsley
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar or Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp melted butter

Cut the broccoli into tree-like spears. Cook your rice. Mollie's recipe calls for 2 cups brown rice and 3 cups of water cooked in a saucepan about 20-30 minutes. I did mine in a rice cooker instead. While rice is cooking, saute onions, garlic and everything else you might desire in butter until onions are translucent (8-10 minutes). Because my kids are picky-picky-picky, I chopped my onions superfine so they'd be too small to pick out, and I also omitted all green herbs (dill, mint and parsley), as well as the pepper family (black and cayenne). Otherwise there would be much gagging and gnashing of teeth. Never a pretty sight at the dinner table.

Next, the recipe says to beat three eggs, then mix in the parsley, grated cheese and rice. Another version of this recipe also suggested putting sunflower sees in, and omits the eggs. I passed on the parsley and seeds, but opted for the eggs, and cut way back on the cheese -- just sprinkling some over the top of the rice-egg mixture. To expand the forest metaphor, think of the cheese as a dusting of fall leaves below the broccoli trees.

The recipe says to steam the broccoli until it's bright green at this point, then stick them upright into the bed of the rice mixture that's been placed in a greased casserole pan. As I recollect, this made the broccoli turn from bright to dull green, and there's no way I'd get my kids to eat that. So I baked just the rice-egg part in a 325 degree oven (covered with foil) for 30 minutes. Right before popping it out of the oven, I lightly micro-steamed my broccoli (make sure it doesn't get floppy), then poked it into the 'dirt' bed using the end of a wooden spoon to make guide holes. The recipe calls for melted butter and lemon juice on top of the trees, but I skipped the lemon juice and just plopped a tiny pat of butter on the trees as I served it. For my kids (and yes, it's OK if you think they are freaks right about now), it helps if they see the butter. If it melts they don't believe it's there.

My recipe budgets 50 minutes of prep time, and 30 minutes to bake -- so don't expect you can just whip this up. I will say the kids LOVED it. From the first mention of 'enchanted broccoli forest' they wanted to help. They picked the spots where we planted our broccoli trees, then used little broccoli stalks to make people wandering into the woods. For the most part, I don't encourage playing with food, but this was a worthwhile exception and everyone ate their trees! I also got immediate requests to make this again. Yippee!!

Now let's see what our guest bloggers have cooked this week!

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 3

How's it going at your house? I can't say my kids are loving all of the meatless meals I've served lately (and I'm serving about 3-4 every week!), but I'm getting great support from my husband. And I can't get over how my shopping habits have changed! I hardly spend any time at the meat counter these days, which makes my bank account happy.

Portland got hit with the cold and rainies this week, so I thought a nice pot of soup would warm things up on the inside. I've never made minestrone soup before, but I came upon a recipe and thought I'd give it a try.

Minestrone Soup, adapted from Mark Bittman

1/4 cup EVOO

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

Old cut up parmesan cheese rinds (optional, but I had them!)

1 1/2 to 2 cups potatoes, peeled or not, cut in 1/2 inch dice (other hard veggies like winter squash, parsnips, turnips would also work)

salt and freshly ground pepper

6 cups vegetable stock (I made my own using Bittman's One Hour Vegetable Stock recipe) or water

1 cup chopped tomato (peeled & seeded if you like); canned is fine

1 1/2 to 2 cups green beans, cut in 1/2 inch dice (other soft veggies like cooked dried beans, zucchini and summer squash also work)

1 cup chopped bok choy (added simply because I had it)

1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves

Handful of small pasta shells (optional)

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Put 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and when hot add onion, carrot and celery. Add the cheese rinds if you have any. Cook, stirring, until onion softens, about 5 minutes.

Add the hard veggies and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, about two minutes. Then add the stock and tomato; bring to boiling, then adjust heat so the mixture simmers. Cook, stirring every so often, until veggies are fairly soft, about 15 minutes.

Add the soft veggies, the pasta and the parsley and adjust heat again until mixture simmers. Cook until veggies are tender, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, add the remaining olive oil and serve with grated parmesan, if you like.

Oh, soup. Yum. This one got two thumbs up from the grown-ups, and two thumbs down from the kids. What kills me is that they like potatoes and green beans and pasta (which I added just for them). Why wouldn't they just lap this up? Well, I've been enjoying the leftovers at lunch, so there. And finding the bits of cooked cheese rind was a real treat. We are die-hard Parmigiano-Reggiano, grate-it-yourself cheeseheads here, and I save these rinds to use in soups and sauces.

Once again, our meatless bloggers have left me gobsmacked and hungry. You guys are making it really hard to decide what to make first, which is a good problem to have. Check it out:

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 2

Each of us brings our own challenges to trying something new. My husband is a full time bike commuter and he comes home HUNGRY. He was raised in an Asian family where meat is a part of every meal (sometimes dinners have several meats), and that there should be a proper ratio of meat to rice at every meal. We joke about this, but I'm telling ya that he won't eat an extra bite of meat if there isn't a forkful or rice or vice versa. Kinda cracks me up. The kids have very naturally followed in his footsteps. So while I'm extremely excited to be trying out new recipes in the EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club, I also fear that my husband will be hiding slabs of ham under the table and trying to slip some into the vegetarian dinners I make. That's why my first recipe is one my husband brought home and first tried out on us. We call it Bean Bowl. It is inspired from a dish he had from one of Portland's downtown food-carts.

Bean Bowl

Brown rice (about three cups serves four people)

Black beans (about a cup and a half, or a standard can of beans)

Shredded cheese (mild cheddar or colby jack)

Lemon Goddess Tahini sauce (such as Drew's) or Thai peanut sauce

Mexican salsa (such as Emerald Valley)

Sour cream or plain yogurt

Fresh chopped cilantro

This dish fits my new definition of fast food, because once the rice and beans are cooked, it's only about assembly. Yes, even old dogs can learn new tricks. That old dog is me; I have finally bridged the gap and learned to soak and cook beans in advance of needing them!

For the black beans, I soak overnight. Then simmer for about 2 hours. I try to cook the beans ahead of time and freeze the rest in small portions (about the size of a can of beans).

Unlike Heather, I use a rice cooker for brown rice. We prefer a brown Basmati, and I throw one cup of rice and two cups of water into the rice cooker and give it about 40 minutes. We used to make white rice almost exclusively, and granted, it cooks much faster but has a heck of a lot less fiber and protein. One of my kids always gives me grief and asks if it's brown or white, and I've taken to fudging the truth a little and calling it 'tan rice.'

Here's what makes this fast food. Pick a bowl and fill the bottom with some brown rice. Cover with a nice layer of black beans. Cover that with a drizzle of lemon goddess tahini sauce (my husband's fave), or a Thai peanut sauce (my preference). After that, cover with a nice layer of salsa. Next comes a bit of shredded cheese, followed by a tiny dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. Then finish it off with a light sprinkling of chopped fresh cilantro. When I first heard about Bean Bowl, it sounded like too many diverse ingredients. But I really love how the spicy and creamy textures marry, and Bean Bowl is a hit in our house.

For my anti-spice girls, I keep it simple. Start with the layer of rice and beans. Add shredded cheese and a tiny dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. Then the teensiest sprinkling of fresh chopped cilantro (if your kids have issues with green things like mine do). That's it. Kid-version bean bowl. My older daughter loves this meal and will gladly eat it for school lunch if I pack it into an insulated stainless steel container.

That's it! I like how fast this comes together, how filling and comfort-foody it is. And that you can tailor it for picky kids (of which I have two). Now let's move onto the recipes from our partner bloggers in the EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club:

EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club: Week 1

Woo hoo! Who's ready to get down with veg? Renee and I are super excited to kick off the EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club and share some meal ideas with all of you. And we have more recipe submissions from our troupe of meatless bloggers after the jump, so let's get started!

This week I served my family rice patties with black beans and fruit and veggie sides. This meal comes together quickly if you have leftover brown rice. I employ a make-ahead rice technique that I've absolutely come to depend on when I want to get a healthy meal on the table without cooking for hours: make a boat-load of brown rice all at once and freeze it in meal-sized portions. Brown rice typically takes about 40 minutes to cook, and that is a huge turn-off for me when preparing dinner. So now I make a huge pot of it, like 6-8 cups of dried rice, which in turn makes enough for many future meals. I learned this freezer method from Amy Karol, and I also use the cooking technique she describes: boiling instead of steaming. Seriously, check it out. You'll want to have leftover brown rice on hand when making...

Brown Rice Patties

This is a fantastic, savory rice patty that is quickly becoming a staple in our home. It comes together FAST if you have a food processor. I read about it over at Beauty that Moves. The recipe makes about 12 patties, which is great for leftovers or freezing for future meals (or just halve the recipe if it's too much). My kids don't care for these, so I tweaked the recipe (further below) for them.

Adult version:

3 cups leftover brown rice

1 cup grated carrot (use your food processor if you have one!)

1 medium onion, pulped in food processor or blender

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 eggs

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients except the oil. The patties won't mold like a hamburger patty, but they should be wet enough to stick together (the onion juice plays a big role here). If not, add a little water or another egg. If too wet, add a little flour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat, and when hot use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop out the patty mixture and gently lay it on the pan. You'll need to flatten it out a bit and sort of shape the patty with the side of the measuring cup. Cook until browned on both sides. If you're planning to serve all of the patties, keep the early ones in a 250 degree oven to keep warm.

Kid version:

These patties were too savory for my kids, so I used an apple instead of an onion (I bet a zucchini would work, too) and eliminated the garlic and black pepper. Apples aren't as juicy as onions, so you'll need to add another egg or some water to keep them held together. I found the taste of the apple version to be extremely bland, but my kids really liked them. I basically had two bowls going: one with the adult version, one with the kid version. Extra dishes to wash, but when you make large quantities for future meals, it's totally worth it!

He doesn't look thrilled now, but just you wait...

I served the patties with some black beans that I had cooked and frozen a couple of months ago, using this recipe (beans only). Canned beans, warmed with sauteed onion and garlic would also work -- or any kind of beans or legumes your family enjoys. We topped it with a little grated cheese, and after a few bites the kids decided they liked the patties best all mixed up with the beans and some salsa. Yum! The kids ate raw carrots, the adults had a salad, and we all enjoyed some cantaloupe for dessert. Major thumbs up.

Now let's check out the meatless meals our bloggers came up with:

It's time for an EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club!

Who's in?

OK, let me back up a sec. I recently read two stats that stuck in my brain:

Industrial livestock creates 18 percent more greenhouse gases than cars. (UN Food & Agriculture Organization)

An estimated 70 percent of our nation's antibiotics are used in livestock feed. (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Holy cow. (Literally.) Now, if you're like me, you try really hard to buy only drug-free, pasture-raised meat. While this is good, a scant percentage of the population is doing this. Small meat farmers could not produce enough meat to support the US population's consumption of it, which is why we all need to be eating less of it and knocking down the industrial meat industry. But I still think about meat first when I think about dinner. I'm still stuck in the meat-centric meal plan. It's time to change that. Enter the EnviroMom Meatless Supper Club!

Here's our thought: We want to find 10 bloggers who will cook meatless dinners for their families once a week for eight weeks. Each week you'll post your recipe on your blog, with photos. Every Friday, Renee and I will post our own recipes and include descriptions and links to the 10 bloggers' recipes. That way, we'll all have access to a bunch of family-tested recipes that we can try at home. The goal of the Meatless Supper Club is to get everyone preparing a meatless dinner at least once a week (and then bump it up to twice a week!). We want to create a library of recipes to pick and choose from, with photos and reviews from the bloggers' kids.

Some ground rules for the bloggers: let's not go crazy on the dairy. Dairy can be present, but minimal. Same with eggs. Recipes should be geared to busy families with young-ish children -- so let's keep the ingredients accessible and not too numerous. We want to know what your kids think about it, and what you'd do differently the next time to make it more palatable for them.

Now about protein. How did we become so fixated on protein? The more I read, the more I realize that we're probably getting way more protein than we need. Plants (veggies, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts) are loaded with protein. As long as we're eating a diet primarily of whole foods, our protein needs are going to be met. So as we incorporate more meatless meals into our diets, let's not be so fixated on protein; let's be fixated on eating a variety of whole foods.

Renee and I are super amped about this idea, and we're wondering if anyone else is, too. Are you guys ready for some meatless inspiration? Are you interested in being one of our recipe bloggers? Leave a comment and make sure to include your email in the form -- we'll be in touch! Or send us an email at enviromompdx [at] gmail [dot] com.

(FYI Portland, the VegFest is this Saturday, Sept. 19 from 10am-8pm at the convention center.)