Pulpeta (Cuban meatloaves)

‘Cubanized’ this recipe and then baked it some more in a sauce modified from this recipe. You can totally do this recipe in steps over a day or two as your time allows – it really is not very pressing and pretty easy.

Makes 8 mini loaves
Total baking time – 1 hr 30 min

Loaves:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 lb carrots, finely chopped
2 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 cup breadcrumbs + 1 more cup for breading
1 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup water

Heat oil in a pan. Sauté onion, carrots, bell pepper and garlic until soft. Set aside and let cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Smash the beans with the cooled veggies (if the ingredients aren’t totally cooled, the gluten will get stringy and too chewy). Add the remaining ingredients, except the extra breadcrumbs for breading, and squish/mix/knead until it’s a uniform ball.

Divide the ball into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a small, rectangular-cube type loaf. Bread each loaf with remaining bread crumbs. Place on a spray-greased baking sheet.

Bake for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes to brown all four sides. While loaves are baking, prepare the sauce.

Sauce:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2-14.5 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
1-14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Saute the veggies in the oil until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer about 10 minutes. Place the loaves in a 13x9ish baking dish and pour the sauce on top. Bake uncovered another 30 minutes. Enjoy.

Oats & Beans & Barley Loaf

Do you or I or anyone know how oats and beans and barley loaf?

Since I am making this for Samhain, aka Irish Halloween, I tried to pay attention to what I knew about ‘traditional’ Irish foods – oats, barley, simple spices, and (apparently) hazelnuts.

This is a very easy recipe but takes about 2 hours. It’s much easier to cook the lentils/barley in the rice cooker ahead of time, because mixing everything together is easy when they’re cool to the touch.

It came out a little bit dry – but a really good texture and very firm. I would double the glaze and mix half of it into the loaf if I re-made it.

1 cup green/brown lentils
1/2 cup hulled barley
3 cups water
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion, diced small
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup parsley, minced
3 Tbsp hazelnuts, chopped (or walnuts)
1 tsp Goya Adobo
1 1/2 tsp poultry seasonings (or 1/2 tsp each sage, marjoram & rosemary)

For optional glaze, mix together:
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Cook lentils, barley and water in a rice cooker. Alternatively, bring to boil, simmer for 45 min-1 hour, until done.

Preheat oven to 350. In a soup pot or dutch oven, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together chickpea flour and water. Add lentil-barley mixture and remaining ingredients to onion mixture, then stir in chickpea mixture. Press into a greased loaf pan, spread on glaze if using, and bake for 45 minutes. Let sit at least 10 minutes before slicing.

savory pumpkin chowder

x2 for dinnershare – made exactly enough to fill 4 round containers
Really yummy and a big hit.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 ribs celery, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 sm/med russet potatoes, diced
~4 cups veggie broth
2 Tbsp – 1/4 cup sherry or other wine
2 cans beans (pinto? black? any…), drained, or equivelant cooked
1 14 oz can hominy, drained
1 14 oz can pumpkin
1 14 oz can crushed toms
black pepper, chili powder, oregano to taste
salt to taste (depending on brand of veggie broth, you may not need it)
(roasted poblano peppers or canned diced grn chiles)

Sautee olive oil, onion, celery, garlic until soft. Add veggie broth (I used Better than Bullion No Chicken base) to cover. Add diced potatoes, cooked beans and hominy. I used 1/2# cooked Anasazi beans but most any bean would be good, pinto beans are most similar. Add veggie broth just to cover. I usually add some wine to my soups, this time all I had around was a splash of sherry so that’s what I used. Simmer until potatoes are fork-tender. Meanwhile, mix pumpkin with can of crushed tomatoes. Stir into broth, heat through, and adjust seasonings as necessary (I added just a sprinkle of black pepper, oregano and chili powder).

I roasted some poblano peppers to add to the soup, kept them separate for kids’ sake. You could also by canned diced green chiles to add, or forego altogether.

Tamale Pie

x2 for dinnershare, plus I used 1 can of enchilada sauce and 1 package shredded Daiya cheddar divided amongst the 4 dishes
Really comforting and a hit with the kids.

2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with their juice
1 small can diced green chiles with their juice
1 can creamed corn
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 sm can whole pitted black olives, drained
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp chile powder
1 cup cornmeal
(1/2-1 cup enchilada sauce)
(grated vegan cheese or cheese sauce)

Preheat oven to 350. Saute onions in oil until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour into an ungreased 13×9. Top with enchilada sauce and cheesey stuff if using. Bake, covered with foil, 45 minutes and then uncovered 10-15 more.

tomato-artichoke bisque

is it a bisque? I have no idea, but it sounds good. I made this with the ingredients I had around, so there’s lots of room for improvisation.

Serves 16!

1/4 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 bunch green onions, whites only, sliced
10 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup sliced almonds
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 28-oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 28-oz sliced stewed tomatoes
1 cup bulk sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in liquid)
12 cups H2O
3 cups cooked white beans
1 bunch beet greens, finely chopped (I used a food processor)
1/2 a 65 oz jar (or equivalent) of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and loosely chopped in a food processor
paprika, pepper and balsalmic vinegar to taste
sliced almonds for garnish

Saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add green onions, garlic and almonds and saute until you can smell the almonds. Add the tomato products, water and beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Add the beet greens and simmer for an additional ten minutes. Stir in the artichoke hearts for an additional minute. Season to taste.

black beans with nopalitos

These were so good. And easy. The directions seem longish and complicated, but there’s really very little hands-on time.

x2 for dinnershare

1# dried black beans, sorted, soaked overnight & rinsed*
1 onion, thinly sliced*
4 cloves garlic, chopped*
2 tsp salt*
2 Tbsp oil*
5 cups water*
8-10 tomatillos, paper skins removed and cut into eighths
1-14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1-30 oz jar nopalitos**, drained and rinsed

Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, bring the beans, onion, garlic, salt, oil & water to pressure in a pressure cooker. Cook at pressure for four minutes, then let pressure drop at its own accord. (You could boil these in a pot, but I can never go back to ‘the old way’ since getting a pressure cooker. Alternatively, you could sub the ingredients in this step with 4 cans of black beans with their juice).

While beans are cooking, put the tomatillos in a greased baking pan (not cookie sheet). Roast for one hour, turning every fifteen minutes, until nice and shrively and the juices have been released.

In a big pot, add the tomatillos and their juices, tomatoes and drained nopalitos. Add in beans and all of their cooking liquid. Bring to boil for one minute and then serve.

*can sub 4 cans of black beans. but cooked dried beans are so much better!
**I used Dona Maria brand, which also has some spices.

black-eyed peas

I’m not usually a fan of black-eyed peas, but I made these and they were delicious. I didn’t keep track meticulously, but this is pretty close to exactly what I did.

1# dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, sliced thin
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
6 cups water
dash of kitchen boquet gravy browner
dash of liquid smoke
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp Goya Adobo, or to taste
1/2 tsp Italian seasonings, or to taste
Generous squirt Sriracha

Soak the peas overnight, if you haven’t done so already, and drain and rinse them. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker (no lid yet!) over medium heat. Add the onion, salt & sugar and reduce heat to low. let the onion cook, stirring occasionally, until dark brown and mushy (about 10-20 minutes??). Add the peas, water, gravy browner, liquid smoke, garlic & bay leaves. Put the lid on and turn heat to high. Bring to high pressure for 4 minutes, turn off heat and let pressure drop on it’s own accord. Add Adobo, Italian seasonings and Sriracha to taste.

garbanzo i funghi piccata (or something)

Will serve this over some lemon-parsley angel hair…

1# dried chickpeas, cooked & drained (or 4 cans)
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup melted margarine
1 cup dry white wine
Juice from 3 large lemons (about 9 TBSP)
2 tsp chick-un stock powder
2 Tbsp brined capers, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped parsley
parsley sprigs for garnish
lemon slices for garnish

In a pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for 7-10 minutes, stirring every minute or so, until they have shrunken, browned and there’s mushroom liquid at the bottom of the pan. While mushrooms are sauteing, whisk together the melted margarine, lemon juice, white wine, and chickun broth powder. When mushrooms are browned, add in the sauce, capers and cooked chickpeas. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

ranch style pinto bean soup

1 # dried pinto beans, sorted, soaked & rinsed
6 cups water
1 Tbsp oil
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, if desired, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2-1 bunch cilantro (can save some for garnish)
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano

In a pressure cooker (can cook on the stove), cook the soaked pinto beans, onion, jalapeno, water, oil & salt at pressure for 8 minutes. Let the pressure drop on its own accord. While the pressure is dropping, in a blender, puree the tomatoes, cilantro, additional water and spices. Add to the cooked beans. Blend a cup or two of the beans with the liquid until desired thickness is reached (there should still be plenty of whole beans). Cook until heated through.

red beans & rice

Written down for Devon…
[It’s my estimate that this probably serves 6 as a main dish, and also that it probably costs me less than $3-4 to make]

Red Beans:
1# small red beans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
5 cups water
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
(1-3 stalks celery, chopped)
(1-3 peeled carrots, chopped)
2 tsp salt
1-2 Tbsp oil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp Italian seasonings
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Rice (or make however you want):
1# (2 cups) brown rice
3 1/3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
2 bay leaves

-Make sure the beans have soaked overnight, or use the quick soak method.
-Put the rice ingredients in the rice cooker. Or cook on the stove however you do it.
-For the red beans, put all ingredients except Italian seasonings and liquid smoke in the pressure cooker. Bring to pressure, reduce heat so that the thingy is gently rocking, and keep at pressure for 40 minutes. Release pressure with cool water over top. Mix in Italian seasonings and liquid smoke. Smash some of the beans if necessary to make it creamy, but you want to keep most of the beans intact. Serve over or mixed up with the rice.
-Alternatively, you can simmer the red beans on the stove. This will probably take several hours — the idea is that the beans kind of become mush on their own.