7-Layer Jello

Although this recipe is time-consuming, it'll make you a very popular person at any party you visit. Adjust the flavors/colors of the non-white layers for whatever theme the party happens to have.

EQUIPMENT:

• Bowl for mixing
• Baking dish
• Space in a refrigerator

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pkg. plain gelatin 
• 1/2 c. cold water 
• 2 c. sour cream 
• 2 c. hot water 
• 1 c. sugar 
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 different Jellos

TIME:
For all seven layers, at least a whole day (because each layer needs to set). Fortunately, most of that time can be spent going about your business.

INSTRUCTIONS:
For the nonwhite layers: Follow the instructions on the box, pour the liquid jello into the baking dish, and let that set. Alternate nonwhite layers with white layers.
For the white layer: Mix plain gelatin in cold water. Add sour cream with hot water. Add sugar and vanilla. Put white layer between each layer for Jello.

PRO TIPS:

• As with any layered jello, you can throw some chopped fruit (e.g., bananas, strawberries) on top of an already-set layer before you pour the next layer in. This way, you can convince yourself that eating seconds will be good for you.
• I suspect this wouldn't taste great if you used vodka jello, but I think this hypothesis merits some testing.

Rice for the Cooker-less

I'm a set-it-and-forget-it (and-I-really-will-forget-it) kind of girl, so rice cookers are an important part of my kitchen. Some of you, however, may prefer not to buy monopurpose equipment, or you might simply wish for more control over your cooking. For the lot of you, I recommend the brown and white rice cooking methods described in this excellent Summertomato post. It'll explain how you can make rice using only a stove and a pot, and then how you can store the excess cooked rice in the freezer using some Seran-Wrap. After an initial investment of time and attention, you can enjoy thawed and reheated rice whenever you please.

Scott Pilgrim Shepherd Pie

You know a comic series is truly great when it includes a recipe in its pages. Here is Stephen Stills's awesome Vegan Shepherd Pie recipe (as faithfully as I could reproduce it within the abhorrent, rigid structure of a recipe-book) from Scott Pilgrim Volume II. It is a great meal to make with a bunch of friends because it is a little labor-intensive and it makes enough to share. Go bond with your buddies and eat something delicious while you're at it! I recommend settling for the next best thing if you aren't willing to invest the effort to find actual vegetarian/vegan ingredients.

EQUIPMENT:

• Knife
• Pot (for boiling potatoes)
• Pan (for cooking the carrots and such)
• Fork (for mashing potatoes)
• Baking dish, casserole dish, or something that can withstand an oven while containing a lot of food.
• Willing labor

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 medium carrots
• 2 cloves Garlic
• Fake meat stuff
• vegan gravy mix (OR the vegan gravy you made using the recipe on this blog! I think the powder gravy works better overall, but you can definitely do this with non-powder gravy)
• 1 stick celery with leaves
• 4 potatoes
• 1 onion
• soy milk
• soy margarine
• red wine (I really do recommend red wine)
• the finest olive oil
• Optional: cooked spinach, sliced tomatoes, corn

TIME:

1.5 - 2 hours, if you only have a few willing choppers on hand; 1 hour if you can get everything chopped speedily.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the potatoes up into smallish pieces. Leave on the skins if they look okay.
2. Cut up the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic as small as possible (NOTE: Stuff really does taste and look better when you try to chop things smaller. I encourage you to try it!). Use a food processor, or invite your friends and make them do all the work
3. Boil potatoes 15-20 mins until tender, then mash (NOTE: There isn't a special technique to mashing potatoes; just go at it with a fork. Be careful not to scratch your pot with the tines!)
4. Heat olive oil in pan, add vegetables, cook 15-20 mins until very soft. Especially the carrots, which are probably the hardest. Can add some red wine too.
5. Add fake meat.
6. Add gravy (powder form) (NOTE: It says this, but I've added regular gravy - not too much or else you'll have to cook off liquids forever - and the end result tasted fine)
7. Add soy milk and stir so everythig looks a bit saucy
8. Mash potatoes with soymilk and soy margarine. 
9. Get 9x13 baking dish or casserole and glop fake meat/veggi mix in
10. Make a layer of potatoes on top. In between, you can add a layer of slices tomatoes, cooked spinach, or corn.
11. Can serve as is, or bake in the oven to crisp it up on top.

Make Your Own Vegan Gravy

A good sauce can be dumped upon pretty much anything to make it palatable. Bag of frozen vegetables? Don't mind if I do! Bowl of plain white rice? Thank you, madam! Thawed hot dogs? They'll charge you twice as much for it in urban hipster eateries!

Gravy is one such miracle cure for food, but if you're a strict vegetarian, it can be kind of hard to find a gravy on store shelves that hasn't had meat or meat powder snuck into it somehow. And let's be honest: the watery, canned stuff sold in little jars on store shelves doesn't quite have the flavor that satisfies. May this vegan gravy be your ticket to better gravy-based eating.

Although this interestingminds recipe isn't as simple as it ought to be to appear on this blog, it can be a lot easier to make your own damn vegan gravy than to find it in a store. Plus - I kid you not - this is the most delicious gravies I have ever had the good fortune to smother on some carbs. The miso is key to the rich flavor, so don't cheat yourself by skipping it. For your viewing pleasure:


EQUIPMENT:

• Frying pan
• Spatula
• Stove
• knife for chopping the onions

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Tbsp flour
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 to 2 cup of water or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce or Miso
• salt to taste

TIME:
Not that long. Ten-Fifteen minutes, maybe?




DIRECTIONS:

" 1. Toast flour in a frying pan on medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. (NOTE: I considered skipping this step because I like cutting corners wherever possible, but I was later thankful that I had because otherwise I would have had to scrub flour crust crap off my pan for ages. To toast: just toss the flour in there and move it around with a spatula until it's sort of tan-colored and doesn't clump as much). Add onion and oil and stir until bubbling. Add water or vegetable stock very slowly, stirring while mixture thickens. Add seasonings and continue stirring until mixture reaches boiling point.

2. Turn down heat to medium low and stir until desired thickness is acheived. If gravy is too thick, add water.

3. Serve with baked potates, squash, savoury pies and casseroles. 

Variations: Try adding oregano and bsil in place of cumin and coriander. For mushroom gravy, add 1/2 cup of finely chopped mushrooms after adding onions. For intense flavour use dried wild mushrooms or shitake mushrooms."

PRO NOTES:
Seriously, though, toast the flour. It may sound stupid, but I promise that it's a good idea.

In Praise of the Frozen Vegetable

Healthy eating is not challenging, in theory; you need only eat more fruits and vegetables relative to the rest of your diet. In practice, however, vegetables and fruits can be expensive and (depending on your area/time of year) disgusting. No one seriously looks at a head of wilted lettuce or a browning avocado and thinks "This is delicious and worth the $3 a pop I spend on it."

There is hope, however; frozen vegetables can be more nutritious than their fresh counterparts, and they are usually cheaper, too.

According to Livestrong (via MedlinePlus):

"Vegetables consumed right after picking provide the highest concentration of nutrients, however most do not live on or nearby farms. During transport from the farm to the store, vegetables can lose some of their nutritional value after exposure to air, light and heat. However, if vegetables are frozen immediately after being harvested, most of their nutritional content stays intact."

BEWARE when purchasing frozen vegetables - some brands are very high in salt, which is not so healthy, especially if you are already using your frozen vegetables to jazz up some Ramen. The same goes for fat and cholesterol, especially if it is one of those steamers that comes bundled with cheese-like sauce prototype. Remember: "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" = trans-fats. Everything in moderation, I guess, but keep a wary eye out for any excessive evils in your food.

Microwaving will preserve the nutrition content of your frozen vegetables the best. Steaming/stir-frying is the next best. Baking/broiling/boiling will, unfortunately, remove most of the nutrients and, thus, render your brilliant, healthful strategy worthless.

You can see some psychedelic graphs illustrating the healthfulness of frozen vegetables here.

I'm still trying to figure out a good way to get fruit in low-quality/high-price fruit areas. Dried fruits work well, but their high calorie density and usual thick coat of sugar means that it's easier to eat way more than you really ought to. Canned fruit is okay when it's in water, but canned fruit in syrup is just a less delicious form of candy. Plus, the peeling/canning process gets rid a lot of the awesome fiber and Vitamin C that fruit provides. Frozen fruit is a nice alternative (and, when stirred into some plain yoghurt, makes a bomb dessert), but the variety isn't as extensive as you'll see with vegetables.

Commentariats are invited to share their fruit/vegetable-buying insights!

Walnut Miso Noodles

YOU GUYS! This Walnut-Miso-Noodle recipe (from whence comes this lovely picture) is easy and delicious. If you can boil water and mix ingredients, you can impress your friends with this delectable dish.

EQUIPMENT:

 

• Pot
• Stove
• Something for straining pasta (unless, like me, you risk your skin and attempt to strain cooked pasta with a lid because you hate cleaning strainers)
• Sharp knife
• Bowl for mixing dressing, possibly also for holding pasta
• Some sort of utensil for mixing dressing
• OPTIONAL:
• Blender or food processor (see below)

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti or linguini (or soba) 
• 1 small bunch of asparagus, sliced thinly (1/4-inch thick)
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted (or raw, I did raw)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
• 1 medium clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons mellow white miso paste 
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (confession time! I used red wine vinegar, but it still tasted pretty amazing) 
• 1 teaspoon honey 
• 2 big pinches salt (or to taste) 
• 1/4 cup+ warm water 
• If you want to fancy it up a bit and sprinkle something on top, consider: sliced green onions, chopped chard stems and leaves that have been cooked for a minute or two in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and salt, chopped fresh chives, toasted walnuts

TIME:
30 minutes (for me; it probably doesn't need to take that long, but I'm factoring in the time it takes to boil water and chop some walnuts into large-ish chunks)


DIRECTIONS:

"Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the pasta per package instructions, being careful to not overcook. About 10 seconds before you are going to drain the noodles, add the asparagus to the pot. Now drain and toss with about 1/2 the walnut-miso dressing - you can make the dressing as you're waiting for the pasta water to come to a boil. To make the dressing, use a food processor, blender or hand blender to puree the walnuts, olive oil, garlic, miso paste, vinegar, and honey. Add the warm water a bit at a time until the dressing is the consistency of a heavy cream. Taste and add salt if you think it needs it. 
Add as much or as little dressing as you like to the noodles and toss well. Arrange in two bowls or on a platter - I finished off this version topped with sliced green onions, a bit of sauteed slivered rainbow chard leaves & chopped stems, a few toasted walnuts, and some chives."

PRO NOTES:

• I made it without the asparagus and, while still delicious, I decided that it would probably look nicer with a little vegetable color
• You'll notice that it mentions a "food processor/blender" in the instructions. Don't freak out! I hand-cut my walnuts and the dressing still tasted nutty. You can cut your nuts as fine as you'd like them, but here's how I did it: cut a nut hemisphere once along its longest axis. Hold that together and make three cuts perpendicular to the first so you have eight pieces.

Grocery List: Asian Market

Most of the recipes I post here will require only items that you can find easily in major grocery stores. You'll notice, however, that I will sometimes include slightly rarer foodstuffs (white miso!) into the recipe list.

I don't do this to make your life harder, or because I'm abandoning you to fend for yourselves in the scuffed, overbright aisles of your Ralph's/Stop-'n'-Shop/Safeway/Publix. Often, I choose to include it because it is valuable, versatile, cheap, AND can be bought alongside a host of similarly useful and hard-to-find items. For instance, miso is the best thing in the world, and conveniently (often, but not always) gives you an excuse to visit an Asian Market.

Whether or not you are familiar with your nearest Asian Market, here is a list of stuff you should look out:

• (White, or not) Miso: It lasts forever if you don't open it, and a whole year or more (in the 'fridge) if you do. It has such a wonderful, intricate flavor that it lends itself to wonderfully rich and delicious dressings, soup bases, sauces, and (vegan) gravies - search the tags if you don't believe me. Read on about it here.
• Furikake: Sprinkle some of this on a bowl of plain ol' white rice, and suddenly it will become the best part of your meal.
• Chopsticks: If you haven't learned how to use them, you really ought to. In my experience, chopsticks are way easier to clean and stash (e.g., in an office desk) than other utensils. Plus, learning how to use chopsticks means that you will always be able to use some coffee stirrers to enjoy your food in case you, like me, always forget to take a knife and fork before bringing lunch somewhere.
• Three Lady Brand Rice Paper: Commonly used for vietnamese spring rolls, but can be used to make healthy, on-the-go lettuce wraps.
• Sesame Seeds: These are often cheaper at Asian Markets.
• Nori: AKA the seaweed wrapping for sushi that is often sold at crazy prices elsewhere.
• Tofu: If you can find this kind, you can store them in a cupboard (no refrigeration!) for a month or two and have a protein-rich, refreshing, yummy (in my opinion) snack or dinner accompaniment whenever. Stick one in your gym bag and guzzle it after a workout. Pair it with furikake and feel legit.
• Fruits and veggies: The variety is usually excellent. Find something completely unfamiliar or bizarre and eat it!
• Spices: If you don't have a Farmer's Market nearby that will sell you spices for $1 or less, consider stocking up here.
• Rice: Rice is an excellent thing to stockpile when you want to save money, and you will likely have more variety here than in a western chain grocery store.
• Pocky: Or those panda-looking snack cookies. Hel-looooooo, Panda.
• Something new and interesting: I bought an octopus tentacle once, and it was fun to eat. If you haven't heard of lychee or mochi, try it out and surprise yourself with the deliciousness!

If visiting an Asian Market feels too adventuresome, don't worry - they have books for people like you. In all seriousness, though, don't be intimidated by the unfamiliar! I promise that a lot of good will come from leaving your comfort zone and trying something new.

Seriously, though, buy and use miso. It's your express ticket to frugal yet superior cuisine.

Commentariats! What do you like to buy at Asian grocery stores? What, if anything, do you avoid?