Pasta, White Bean, and Cabbage Salad With Caraway Dressing

Before you start filling out paperwork to have me committed, please just hear me out. I know that most sane people would take one look at "Pasta, White Bean, and Red Cabbage Salad With Caraway Dressing" and run screaming from the room. I mean, seriously, how many random ingredients can you put into one salad? But some night in the future when you serendipitously have leftover pasta AND leftover white beans in the fridge, you will think back to the crazy lady with that resourceful little recipe. This recipe is not for the faint of heart, it has quite a bite to it and I'm not sure if that comes from the raw garlic or crushed caraway or the raw onions or all of the above. Speaking of crushing caraway -- good luck with that. Seriously, I had my husband go at it for ten minutes with a mortar and pestle before I learned (just now) that you don't have to pulverize the seeds; you just want to crush 'em up a bit to get the flavor to come out. NOW you tell me! If you think you have the moxie to deal with this dish, it might become one of your favorite (weird) salads of all time.

Pasta, White Bean, and Cabbage Salad With Caraway Dressing - Serves 6+ (Modified from "1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes")

Salad:
4 c. cooked & cooled pasta (I vote for penne, because it has a nice chew to it)
2 c. coarsely chopped cabbage
2 c. cooked, drained, and rinsed white beans (you can use canned if you must)
1/4 c. minced onion
1 small red bell pepper, diced

Dressing:
1/2 c. vegan mayonnaise
1/2 c. vegan sour cream
2 tsp. lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. crushed caraway seeds
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Combine all of the salad ingredients, add dressing, chill & eat!

Did Someone Ask For More Soup?

I will TRY not to cook soup every night...I will TRY not to cook soup every night. Oh, hi, you're here. I should probably confess to you now that I love soup. I could exist on it almost exclusively. There are so MANY of them and they are so versatile. They help you use up the 27 pieces of aging produce and/or containers of leftover legumes and grains that you have idling in the fridge. The long, rainy Fall/Winter season in Seattle is the time of year when I want to hibernate inside every day with my cats, my man, my TV shows, my books, and my soups. One of the many wonderful things about soup is that can be comforting and hearty on a cool Fall day or light and refreshing on a hot summer night. Soup is all things to all people... except to my husband. He doesn't really think of soup as a real food (!!!), but more like a snack (!!!). So, despite all of my instincts to the contrary, I will TRY not to cook soup every night. Having said that, I did cook up a DELICIOUS soup last night and the night before (see previous post). Will I cook soup again tonight? Or will my love for my husband trump my selfish soup needs? Stay tuned for the next episode of "As The Owen Household Turns". Here is my recipe for last night's gem:

Cream of Parsnip & Leek Soup (Makes 4-6 servings)

2 tbs. olive oil
2 large parsnips, peeled & diced
1 large leek, sliced and washed
4 cups of vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (or cashew cream if you're feeling fancy - see previous post for recipe)

Cook parsnips and leeks in oil in a covered stockpot over medium heat until soft. Add stock and cook for 20 minutes. Place soup into a blender and puree. Return to the pot and stir in the milk and season to taste. Serve piping hot.

The First in a Long Line of Winter Soups

In my ongoing efforts to make room in my fridge for my new produce, tonight it came down to what to do with the mushrooms and the bizarre-looking celery root, which I've been eyeballing for a week perhaps awaiting a sign from the universe regarding what the heck to do with it. Thanks to the wonderful powers of Google, I quickly found a soup that would use up these ingredients. This turned out to be a very flavorful and hearty soup and it was pretty fast to prepare. I had to modify it quite a bit, but here goes my version:

Celery Root & Mushroom Soup

SOUP
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery root (celeriac), peeled and diced
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried chervil or parsley (used 1 tbs. celery leaves, chopped)
1/4 teaspoon black or white pepper
4-5 cups of sliced mushrooms
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup nut cream (see recipe below)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt (check sodium content of stock!)
Parsley leaves (for garnish)

CASHEW CREAM (OPTIONAL)
Blend in a blender until smooth:
1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water to cover for 30 minutes to soften, water discarded
1/2 cup stock

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, celery root, thyme, chervil and pepper. Saute for 6+ minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
2. Add the mushrooms and saute until soft, about 6 more minutes.
3. Add 4 cups of stock. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
4. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth (you may have to work in batches). If the soup is on the thick side, add additional stock until it reaches your desired consistency.
5. Stir in the cream, lemon juice and salt to and heat through.

Emergency Cooking

Lately, I've been finding myself so devoid of time and/or energy that I rarely cook (see my last post regarding the extent of my husband's cooking abilities and what I've been subsisting on). Seriously, my poor husband has been trying to carry the full cooking and cleaning burden for a while now and I probably would've croaked by now without his "hunting" and gathering efforts. One night last week he brought home Amy's Pizzas and another night he waited in an agonizing line at the PCC deli only to return home with easily three of the worst vegan dishes either of us have ever had the misfortune of tasting. Now, I find myself in emergency cooking mode; firstly, because I can’t take another husband-supplied meal, but, more importantly, tomorrow is produce-delivery day and I’ve still got a fridge full of produce!


Immediately, I ransacked my refrigerator finding a whole lot of crap, but little of anything that would go together. I settled on a bok choy that looked like it was in the direst need of getting cooked up; now, what to do with him? Luckily, I found a mercifully simple recipe in my cooking bible, “1,000 Vegan Recipes” (Robin Robertson). Thank you “Bok Choy & Ginger Udon Noodles”!! I don’t think it’s very fair that the shallots got left out of the title, so I’m renaming it “Bok Choy & Ginger Udon Noodles STARRING...Shallots!!!!”. The shallots paid me to say that.

Now if I had been just a little smarter I would’ve added some mushrooms to this dish, but I can’t really be relied on for my brain-power these days. So, please enjoy this hearty, healthy, EASY dish. Just don’t ask me to cook it for you, ‘cause I’m all out of steam. It’s nothing fancy, but perfect for those nights when you’re feeling lazy and/or exhausted and happen to have a neglected bok choy's fate in your hands.

Bok Choy & Ginger Udon Noodles with Shallots (modified)

1 large bok choy, cut into ¼” slices
4 ounces of udon noodles
1 tbs. sesame oil
2 tbs. tahini
3 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. mirin
2 tbs. canola oil
½ c. thinly sliced shallots
1 tbs. grated fresh ginger
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tbs. toasted sesame seeds

1. Lightly steam the bok choy until just tender, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Cook the udon in boiling water until tender about 7+ minutes. Drain, rinse under cool water, and place in a bowl. Toss with sesame oil.
3. In a small bowl, combine the tahini, soy sauce, mirin, water and stir to blend.
4. Heat canola oil over medium-high in wok or large skillet. Add shallots, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Saute for a few minutes. Add the bok choy, noodles, and sauce. Cook until hot, about 5+ minutes. Top with sesame seeds.

Quick & Easy

School has been a little intense, lately, as I wrap up Fall Term 1. Hence, the shortage of posts. For the most part, our meals this week have consisted of whatever my husband can cook. His repertoire consists of veggie burgers, salad, and potatoes, baked or fried. I topped the baked one featured here with steamed broccoli and Leahey's "Cheese" Sauce, it was fast and faux-nutritious.

Tonight, I was able to whip up a quick salad between term papers. This is one of my all-time faves. I severely bastardized the original bacon-laden recipe from Allrecipes.com. My secret ingredient here is the liquid smoke which provides the smokiness that bacon would, minus the death and cruelty. This really is the Mercedes of salads and it's not nearly as involved to make as it looks. I thank the fall produce fairies for including Asian pears in our bin this week. You should probably make this salad tomorrow night because I don't think should have to live another day without it!



a.k.a. Winter Salad with Candied, Curried Cashews

3/4 cup cashew halves
1 tablespoon melted vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon chopped (preferably fresh) rosemary
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending upon your tolerance for HEAT)

Dressing:
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
salt and black pepper to taste

Salad:
1 or 2 (10 ounce) packages mixed salad greens
1 medium asian pear, thinly sliced (you can use a crispy pear or maybe an apple in place of the asian pear if you must)
1 cup halved, seedless red grapes

Directions

In a small bowl, combine rosemary, curry powder, brown sugar, salt, cayenne pepper. In another small bowl, toss the cashews with the melted butter. Add the herb mixture to the cashews and toss to coat.

In another small bowl, stir together white wine vinegar, mustard, agave nectar, liquid smoke. Slowly whisk in olive oil and water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large salad bowl, toss the pear slices, lettuce, and grapes. Go ahead and toss the lettuce with the dressing if you're going to consume the salad all in one sitting, if not, serve the lettuce in bowls and top with dressing, then sprinkle with nut mixture.