Erin Tries Not To Go Vegan and Fails - Part Two

I would like to start this post by stating that I ate ham last night. And shrimp. And heavy cream. And it was delicious.

But so was my Okra, Corn, and Tofu Gumbo (okay I modified that one and used shrimp and not tofu -- but that was for my boyfriend who gives me a funny look when I pour myself a glass of soy milk or even talk about putting tofu in anything), my Roasted Corn Soup with Fresh Basil, and Rice Porridge with Gingered Blueberries, all from my very favorite new cookbook, The Vegan Gourmet. I've modified these a little and present them to you in all their animal-free glory. (And just so I'm not looking at a copyright lawsuit, go buy this book. It rocks mightily.)

Okra, Corn, and Tofu Gumbo

1/4 cup white flour
1 cup long-grain white rice
1/2 pound fresh okra
1 can whole green chiles
1 tbp veggie oil
1 medium white/yellow onion, coarsly chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsley chopped
1 medium red pepper, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 pound firm tofu, diced
1 cup fresh (or frozen or canned) corn kernels
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp file powder (I didn't have this, so just added more cayenne)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Place the flour in a dry, heavy-bottomed skillet over med heat and brown for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. You must keep the flour moving to prevent it from burning. (And don't burn it. Really. It's stinky.) If the flour begins to blacken (not brown), turn down the heat a little and begin again with fresh flour. When the flour is uniformly tan in color, remove it from the pan and set aside.

Cook rice. (Duh.)

While rice is cooking, trim your okra and slice into one inch pieces. Remove the steams and seeds of the chiles and slice them into long, thin strips. Heat the oil over med-high heat in a stockpot. Saute the onions, carrots, bell pepper, and celery for 10 minutes, stirring frequently until they begin to brown.

Add the tofu, corn, okra, chiles, chili powder, cayenne, and a dash of salt. Lower the heat to med. Stir and saute for 10 minutes, then distribute the browned flour evenly over the veggies and stir it in. And 2 1/2 cups hot water, file powder, and tomatoes. Increase the heat to bring the mixture to a rapid simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot over rice.

(Note, your dinner serving is only 380 calories. Woo!)


Roasted Corn Soup

1 medium bulb of garlic
6 ears corn with husks intact
3 cups veggie stock
1 medium russet potato (peeled & cubed)
2/3 cup soy milk
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease pan and place unpeeled garlic bulb in center. Cook for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, soak the corn, husks and all, in cold water for 15 minutes. Remove from the water, pat dry, then place in roasting pan with garlic. Cook for 20-25 minutes. Remove the garlic and corn from pan and set aside. When cool enough to handle, shuck the corn, discardig the husks and silks. Cut the kernels from the cob, reserving cobs.

In a stockpot, combine the broth, potato, and cobs. Bring to a boil over high, reduce the heat to med, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and discard cobs.

Meanwhile, squeeze garlic from its skin into a food processor. Add corn kernels. With a slotted spoon, lift the potatoes from the broth and add them to the processor. Process, adding the cooking broth as needed to creat a smooth but quite thick puree. Return to the pan and stir in milk, basil, and salt & pepper to taste. Gently reheat.


Rice Porridge with Gingered Blueberries

(modified for two)

2 cups unseasoned cooked brown rice
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Combine the rice and 1 3/4 cups of water in a saucepan over med heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer rapidly 5-10 minutes, stirring freqnetly, until a thick porridge consistency is achieved. You may create a smooth-textured porridge, if you wish, by pureeing some or all of the hot rice.

Meanwhile rinse and drain blueberries and place them in a saucepan over med heat with the maple syrup and ginger. Cook about 5 minutes until the berries pop and the juice thickens a little.

Combine rice mixture and blueberry mixture and eat. Yum.


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Other recipes I've made successfully in the last week --

Yankee Okra -- add a little lemon juice for kicks!

Fresh Tomato, Basil, and Garlic Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta -- Because we have fresh tomatoes and basil coming out our ears here! And add grilled shrimp! Why not?

Ricotta Cheesecake with Fresh Raspberries -- I didn't make the preserve sauce and just used honey as a topping. It was good, but not great. Though infinitely better for you than real cheesecake. Oh, and I didn't like that there wasn't a crust at all. I felt it need a bit of a crunch, though I don't know if that's possible.

Peach Cobbler -- Simple and really tasty.

Gnocchi -- I tossed it with leftover pesto that we had around (that we made with cashews because we didn't have pine nuts, and I must say, it worked fine), but I did make the butter thyme sauce later and put it over a simple angel hair primavera I made the next night. It rocked. The gnocchi are a little ugly, but yummy. Like mashed potato balls. From heaven.