Grilled Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus (approximately, 1 pound)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper


Asparagus, now available year round, is one of the best vegetables to eat during grilling season.  It is a cool weather plant that can take 2-3 years to get to the point that it can be harvested, so when you see that bunch at the vegetable stand or grocery store you should honor all the effort and prepare it to maximize the flavor. One of the worst ways to cook asparagus is to boil all the vitality and asparagusness out of it. If soft mushy asparagus is your goal, then canned asparagus may be right up your alley. This preparation employs the grill, but asparagus (in particular thin asparagus) is perfect sautéed, or even flash fried such as in tempera.


Step 1:

Wash and dry the asparagus.  Pour the olive oil into a large bowl.  Add the asparagus to the bowl and toss gently. Add the salt and pepper, and toss gently again and reserve.






Step 2:

Place the asparagus on the grates of a hot grill or grill pan.  It takes only a few moments to cook, therefore it must be monitored. A simple rule of thumb is to cook it for a minute and flip it/or roll it, for another minute and then retrieve. The finished product should have some char, but be tender, crisp, with some residual crunch. 

Vegan Jambalaya

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
Vegan Kielbasa (Tofurky used here)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced green pepper
1 cup celery sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 13.75 oz can artichoke quarters
1 cups  long grain  white rice
1 28  oz can diced tomatoes, half of juice drained
1 teaspoons cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper


Step One:

1/4 inch slice the vegan kielbasa.  Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat.  Spray the pan with 3 sprays of cooking spray.  Cook the kielbasa until it is brown on all sides, and then reserve.







Step Two:

Wipe the skillet out and add 3 more sprays of cooking spray.  Add the onions, green peppers, and celery.  Cook until soft, and then add the garlic, artichoke, and rice.  Stirring often cook for and additional 5 minutes.







Step Three:

Stir in the tomatoes, seasoning, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Lid the skillet, and cook for 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.  The rice should be cooked, tender, but not mushy.

Bean Burritos

4 8-10” flour Tortillas

1 ½ cup sliced onion

1 14.5 oz can pinto beans drained

1 cup sliced Green pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon ground red pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Cooking Spray

Step One:

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray and add the onions. Cook the onions for five minutes until.  Add the green peppers and cook until soft.  Reserve the cooked onions and pepper to a bowl.

Step Two:

Add the pinto beans to the pan.  Stir in the cumin, red pepper and salt. Heat the beans until hot.  Reduce the heat to low and mix the onions and peppers.  Remove the bean mixture from the heat.

Step Three:

Heat an empty non-stick pan over medium heat.  Add one tortilla shell to the pan for about 30-45 seconds each side.  Remove the tortilla from pan. Place a quarter of the bean mixture on to the center of the tortilla shell.  Roll the burrito tucking the sides in as you go.  Repeat for all three remaining tortillas.

Zesty Garlicky Basil Tomato Sauce

         

Ingredient:

8 cups of boiling water

8 cups ice cold water

6 pounds fresh tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

7 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 cup basil leaves

Step One:

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Once the water in the pot boils, reduce the heat to a simmer. In a large bowl add cups of ice cold water.  Place a third of he tomatoes to the pot for 2 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the hot water and place them into the cold water.  
 
The skin of the tomatoes will slightly separate from their flesh and can then be easily be slipped away. Remove the tomatoes’ skins and place them in a bowl. Repeat for the remaining tomatoes.

Step Two:

Slice the skinned tomatoes into wedges by eights.   Remove the seeds from each wedge.  Discard the seeds and membrane. Place the flesh into a clean bowl. Complete this process for all tomatoes.  Peel and dice garlic.

Step Three:

Dry the pot. Add the oil to the pot and heat over medium heat. Add tomatoes to the pot and cook for five minutes.  Mash the tomatoes, and then stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Step Four:

Dice the basil. Add a cup of the sauce to a small bowl. Add basil to the bowl and blend using an immersion blender. As an alternative the process can be undertaken with a blender.  Combine the mixture into the tomatoes sauce.  Bring the sauce to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer, uncovered for 2 hours.  Stir the sauce occasionally.

Homemade Hot Sauce

Hot sauce can accompany a broad range of foods, everything from fried foods to ice cream.  The exact roots of a hot spiced sauce vary, but one thing that we know for sure there is no shortage of them on the market now. Some restaurants even have walls of hot sauces, many with creative and colorful names. Fire and hell and ripping are often themes on the labels.  This preparation uses some very hot peppers balanced with some very flavorful peppers.  The goal here is a hot, a very hot, sauce that has complex flavors in addition to the heat.

Ingredients:

12 Habanero Peppers

10 Red Hot Peppers 

7 Jalapeño Peppers

5 Hot Banana Peppers

4 Cayenne Peppers

1/2 cup Kosher Salt

2 cups white vinegar

5 Habanero Peppers

3 Jalapeño Peppers

Step One:

Wearing protective gloves, cut the tops off of the the peppers discarding the green stems. Quarter the Red Hot Peppers. Place the peppers in a quart sized jar.  Cover the peppers with kosher salt.  Lid the jar and shake it to ensure each pepper piece has engaged the salt. Place the jar in a cool dry place, and wait 3 days to a week; shake the jar daily. 

Step Two:

Add the vinegar to the jar  and shake vigorously. Lid place the jar in a cool dry place and wait 3 days.

Step Three:

Pour the contents of the jar into a blender. Add the fresh Habanero and Jalapeño peppers and puree the mixture until smooth.  Strain the mixture through cheese cloth.   This will separate out the pepper pieces from the liquid. This can take up to one hour. Hot sauce can be both fine and chunky. The straining allows the cook the control choosing the degree of chunkiness desired. 

Step 4: 

Mix back in the amount of the strained bits that you desire then bottle and enjoy. 

Grilled Endive

Growing up lettuce was normally the iceberg type, and reserved for salads, burgers, and – well that was just about it.  The idea of grilling lettuce would be unthinkable.  Today, however, supermarkets carry multiple varieties of lettuces.  One of the most unique looking and expensive is endive. I first learned of the lettuce from watching a Martha Stewart cooking show. It was foreign and I remembering wondering why would someone want a bitter lettuce.  Fast-forward a few years, after being exposed to a wider world of foods, and I find endive worthy of its price and place in the pantheon of lettuces.  Grilling endive brings out a subtle sweetness that adds a bit of flavor contrast that is richly satisfying. 

Ingredients 

2 heads of endive

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon canola oil

 

Step One

Preheat grill or grill pan to high. Slice the Endive in half, long ways.  Salt the endive and brush oil on each side. Cooking spray may also be used.

Step Two

Place endive on the grill cut side down.  After one minute turn the endive over to grill the other side for 1 minute, and then remove the endive from the grill.  Serve immediately.

Baby Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes are a perennial favorite dish through our the south eastern United States. The dish rose to national and international fame following the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. Tomatoes are a berry that normally turn red as they ripen. Green tomatoes are tough and  a bit tart.  Most tomatoes found at your supermarket are actually shipped green; they bruise less because they are tougher, and then exposed to chemical to trigger them to turn red.  Green tomatoes will not be carried in most supermarkets. They are, however, found at many farmer's markets usually during the months of June and July depending on the region.  This preparation uses small or baby green tomatoes sliced thin  and fried crispy.  They are great as an appetizer, or just a fun snack.

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 1/2 cups thin sliced small green tomatoes


Step One:
Combine the first three ingredients well in a bowl.  Add the oil to a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Divide into three batches. Toss tomatoes in the corn meal mixture in preparation for frying one batch at a time.

Step Two:
Add one batch of the tomatoes to the skillet in a single layer and cook for 1 minute.  Turn them over and cook for another minute. Remove the cooked tomatoes to a paper towel lined plate, and repeat until all the batches are fried. 

Spicy Garlicky Kale

If you haven't noticed, kale is popping up all over the place. It's in everything from chips to salads and juices. Kale's popularity should not be surprising. It is one of the simplest vegetables to cook, and per WebMD, and USDA kale is one of the healthiest foods around. Green curly kale, like the variety used in this preparation, can be found in most supermarkets. Don't be surprised, however, if you find more than one variety in your super market's refrigerator case; Cornell Cooperative Extension lists 48 varieties, and there are actually more than that.

This preparation aims to not squander the goodness of kale by over cooking it, or cooking it with cured and smoked animal parts.  Instead of masking or overpowering the kale, the peppers and garlic complement the kale. Together they form an amazing alliance of flavors.

Ingredients:
2 pounds kale
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1  Jalapeño pepper, diced
2  spicy banana peppers, diced
5 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/3 cup water


Step One:
Wash the kale under cold water.  Remove the stems, and tear or cut the kale into 4 inch pieces.






Step Two:

At the vegetable oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the peppers, and stir until softened.  Add the garlic, and stir until fragrant. Stir in the salt and the crushed red pepper.





Step Three:  Add the kale to the pot, and combine with the pepper and garlic mixture. Add 1/3 cup  of water to create steam and to prevent the kale from burning.  Cover and cook, stirring periodically for ten minutes.

Barbecue Sauce

Barbecue Sauce is a hallmark of summer cooking, an always on-hand dipping sauce, and an ingredient in various recipes. There are many types of barbecue sauces such as the tomato based (recipe below), vinegar based, and asian style.  The tomato based sauce recipe below is prepared with a homemade tomato ketchup base. A lot of recipes online, and in cookbooks actually have commercial tomato ketchup or catsup as an ingredient. 

The Ingredients 

1 can (28-oz) crushed tomatoes

2/3 cups white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white distilled vinegar

1 table spoon Zatarain's Creole Seasoning 

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/16 teaspoon ground clove

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 shot of whiskey

1/4 teaspoon Chili power

1/4 teaspoon ground Cayenne 

1/4 teaspoon garlic power

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/32 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon allspice

Step One: Homemade Tomato Ketchup

Pour the crushed tomatoes in a  4 quart sauce pan. Add both sugars and the white vinegar. Heat the pan using medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the Zatarain's Creole Seasoning.

Step Two:  BBQ Sauce

Add the other ingredients one by one stirring after each addition.
Bring the mixture to a boil stirring occasionally, and then reduce to a simmer. You may notice  a foamy substance appears on the surface. Remove this by gently spooning  the foam to a bowl to discard.  This foam will otherwise cloud the sauce. This process of clarifying is done with stocks, broths, jams, jellies, candy among other things.  Continue a vigorous simmer for five minutes. 

Step Three: Reduction 

Simmer the sauce uncovered for 1 1/2 hours or longer stirring occasionally. 

Or

Place the sauce in a slow cooker set to the low or warm setting, stir occasionally. Let it reduce for 3 1/2 hours or longer stirring occasionally.

Chick'n Stir-Fry

Stir-Fry is simple to make, cheap, and can be easily adapted to all types of diets.  This preparation uses vegan chick'n, but tofu, tempeh, chicken, pork, beef could also be substituted. If planning to use shrimp, then add the shrimp towards the end as to not over cook them. Typically chick'n is found in the vegetarian section of the freezer aisle at the grocery store.  There are many brands, be careful some are vegan, and some are not.

The Ingredients

10 oz bag frozen whole  green beans
10 oz bag frozen stir-fry vegetables
4 oz of button mushrooms
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
10 oz bag of chicken cutlets or strips
2 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce
2 tablespoon cooking sherry
2 cloves of garlic



Step One: The Sauce

In a small bowl, whisk the sherry and the garlic sauce together and reserve.

Step Two:  The Prep

Remove the green beans and the stirfry vegetables from the freezer. Empty the packages in to a colander and run cold water over them to defrost them and set them aside.   Slice the mushrooms about 1/8 inch thick slices.  Smash and mince or use a garlic press the garlic. Grate the ginger, a ginger grater works well here, but a regular grater will work.

If using chick'n cutlets, cut them into 1" wide and 2" long strips.

Step Three: Stir-frying

Over medium-high heat a large (12" -14") non-stick or a well seasoned skillet heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Once the oil is shimmering add the chick'n strips.  Sauté them until they are browned on all sides. Remove them from the pan and reserve them. Add the mushrooms and reduce the heat to medium cook until the mushrooms are brown and have relesased some liquid. Reserve the mushrooms.  Return to medium-high heat and add more oil if needed. Add half of the vegetables  the goal here is not to crowd the pan. Adding all the vegetables at once will lead to steaming. Sauté the vegetables for about 2-3 minuters, they should be heated through, but remain crisp. Remove and reserve the first a half, and add the second half, garlic and ginger. Sauté stirring to ensure garlic and ginger doesn't brown.


Step Four:  Finishing

Add the ingredients back to the pan. Stir in the sauce mixture. Turn off the heat, and serve.

Vegan Gumbo

Gumbo is a Gulf State regional dish  and has been exported around the world. There's boxed, canned, and frozen gumbo.  There are  gumbo snobs,  so called experts and high handed judges.  It all seems a little too much for what originated as basic sustenance for people with meager means. It has rightfully blossomed into a quintessential signature American dish.  Now there's all types of Gumbo, chicken, shrimp, green, gator, rabbit, crayfish, or kinda what ever was around.

At the core of any gumbo is the roux.  It's very hard to do and strangely very easy once you get it down.  Roux is essentially flour sir-fried in butter until the rawness is cooked out of the flour and in the process the flour gets toasted. You have blond roux, brown roux, and brick roux.  After brick which is the color of a brick you get into a dangerous territory.  Burnt roux is like burnt caramel,  you just have to pitch it.

Well, does gumbo need to involve meat, no. There is green Gumbo which is mostly greens and it's great, but what about a pre-lent gumbo that is flavorful,  and is just as good as meat based gumbo. Is it possible to make a decent vegan gumbo. Well, let's see.

Step One: The Main Ingredients

I want to say up front nothing really special is needed.  A green pepper, frozen okra, celery, filet, canned tomatos, etc. All super market fare.  To ensure this is vegan get a vegan butter substitute.  However, if you can't find it use veggie shorting, it should be vegan. I've not tried the butter flavored, but there's nothing against a good try. If you can't find shortening, you can use veggie oil.  Shortening and the vegan butter subs work better.   The basics are salt, pepper, onion, green pepper, okra, celery, vegan butter sub, tomato paste canned whole tomatoes, vegetable stock or broth, crush red peppers, and  chick'n.

Step Two: Cutting it all up.


Cut up all your veggies and chick'n ahead of time, you wont have time.  Dice your onion, and you pepper. Mince your garlic and slice you celery.  If you okra isn't frozen cut that up too. There will be no time, and to say again, no time to do this later.   Chop up the tomatoes too.



Step Three: the Roux

Grab a pot, like a dutch oven, and melt 6 tablespoons of vegan butter sub or shortening, or the appox. amount of oil over high heat. Once melted add 2/3 cups of flour a little at a time stirring all the way on med-high heat.  Here a whisk was employed, but a spoon would do.

Stir, and stir, and stir. You can't stir enough.  You will smell the flour cooking and the flavor blossoming, and you will know you are teetering between a wonderful roux and a burnt mess. No matter what you do, no matter who calls or comes to the door, STIR!!!  And then STIR, and STIR. Not trying to be obnoxious, but STIR!!

Once you get the brick roux color reduce your flame and keep stirring. When your arms get tired, when the moon is high, and the lights are on, guess what, keep stirring.  This may be repetitive, but keep stirring.




Step Four: Add Onion and Green Peppers

After the roux is brick red and the heat has been reduced, add the onions and green pepper. It will cool to the roux down and make a sorta paste.  Keep stirring, but you'll notice it's less volatile.  The aroma will be wonderful and the veggies will have a light glisten.

Step Five: Okra, Chick'n and Celery - oh my!

After the onions etc are cooked then add the okra, chick'n and celery.  Again be sure to stir, as medium heat is still quite hot and to burn something at this time would be devastating.







Step Six: Adding Broth or Stock


Once all the goodies are in the pot, then add about 1 1/2 cups of veggie stock, a 1/4 cup at a time.  STIR, the heat is still med-high.

After a while the mixture will thicken. Keep stirring.

After about five minutes reduce the heat, and slowly stir in a teaspoon or more of filet.

Step Seven: Rest, Eat and Enjoy.