Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

 Recently, I re-watched the season 1 'Good Eats' episode where he does rice pilaf. This inspired me to come up with my own vegan version.  I used to eat pre-made pilaf back in the day, but I had never made rice pilaf from scratch before this.  Alton's enthusiasm for the dish and my voracious rice consumption combined to inspire me to give it a go.  I also learned from Alton to bloom my saffron in hot water. I didn't know this. .  Definitely didn't follow his recipe though. This is totally vegan. Funny aside. My brother and I were recently remarking about a container of Oatmilk that proudly displayed a label declaring it 100% vegan. We both chuckled and agreed that if something isn't 100% vegan, then it's 0% vegan.. There's no such thing as 99% vegan.  Anyway, I also went with a spicier more southwestern flavor profile because that is what I was in the mood to have.  2 cups dry long grain rice 1 can black beans, thoroughly rinsed 2 small tomatoes, diced 1

  Wanted to do something quick that didn't take too much fuss. I had a single can of V8 juice in my cabinet that wasn't getting any younger. I thought that I could probably make a nice sauce from it if I used a roux.  A roux is simply flour sautéed in fat until it turns golden.  There are darker roux's, but that's a post for another day. (Lol. Good Eats Fan  Reference) The sauce has Indian and Moroccan flair. It's got heat and sweet and a pretty decent depth considering it took only 10 minutes to prepare.  Ingredients 3 cloves garlic sliced 1/2 a jalapeno, minced 1 small can V8 juice 1 tbl sriracha 1 tbl water 2 tbls olive oil 1 tbl flour 1 tsp paprika 1 small pinch saffron threads 1 tbl salt Heat the oil over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Once the oil is hot add the garlic, jalapeno and salt and sauté until fragrant. About 3 minutes.  Whisk in the flour. Keep whisking until the flour turns a darkish golden beige. Careful no to take it too far .Remove from heat

I was thinking about ways to make classic curry lighter and more summery. A flash idea that I had was curry vinaigrette. Eliminate the heavy coconut milk. Forego thick tomato based sauce. Replace the base with a vinegar based dressing.  What I came up with is this.  Curry Vinaigrette Ingredients 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tbls olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 jalapeno, minced 1 habanero, minced 2 tsps curry powder 2 tsps salt Heat all ingredients in a small sauce pan until the liquid begins to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour hot vinaigrette over prepared vegetable/bean mix that you've chosen to curry. Stir to combine and coat.  Allow to cool/absorb for at least 10 minutes.  It's kind of a hybrid quick pickle and vinaigrette dressing. Perfect for when you want something light, but flavorful. 

Fresh summer corn is a thing of beauty. However, its true beauty can only be extracted through proper cooking techniques. It's not difficult, but is often misunderstood..  Corn, black beans and peppers. That's the ultimate southwestern flavor trifecta.  This recipe capitalizes on all these simple, yet extremely important variables.  Ingredients 1 can black beans, rinsed 2 ears of frehs corn, steamed and charred 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 jalapeno, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 poblano pepper, diced 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered 1 long hot pepper, diced 1 1/2 tbls olive oil 1 tbl red wine vinegar 2 tsps oregano 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp cayenne 1 tsp black pepper 2 1/2 tsps salt I don't like boiled corn. It's wrong. Very wrong. Grilled corn is best. But an equally impressive alternative is to steam it and them add a little char at the end. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a large frying pan that you can cover.  1/4 cup of water in the pan. Add 2 or 3 ears