I've put Daphne's picture here because she is very ill. The house is so quiet without her. She had (we think) a very bad reaction to some eardrops (with gentamycin) and has not eaten nor taken in water for 5 days. She is with the vet being hydrated but now cannot eat. With cats, not eating can quickly turn into lipidosis, which can be fatal. Our next step may be to get her into a veterinary hospital for enteral nutrition as a preventive measure. Daphne was a feral cat who I adopted from a no-kill shelter. She was rescued after wild foxes killed her kittens, and it took me nearly 2 years to accustom her to being groomed and loved. She is a loving, vocal cat now who does not hesitate to demand food (even at 3 a.m.!)

Update, 12/22/08: Daph is coming home tonight! She finally began to eat 3 days ago, is drinking, and able to stand with some measure of certainty, though still quite wobbly. She is so missed in this home! I hope she will be able to re-acclimate and claim her spaces, becoming more stable as she does so. It has been hard to think of her (perhaps feeling abandoned, certainly bewildered) in a small cage in a mobile vet's van for the entire last week.

I am not thinking of cost.

chimichurri sauce

copied from here

1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1 hot pepper, de-seeded
lemon zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
large pinch of salt
1 - 3 large glugs of olive oil
1 shallot, roughly chopped
water, if needed to thin things out

Whizzz up all ingredients in a blender. Taste and adjust seasonings & measurements if necessary. Done. Makes almost a cup of sauce.

fragrant jasmine rice

(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites and copied here from http://everybodylikessandwiches.blogspot.com/)

2 c jasmine rice
1 t canola oil
2 T minced lemongrass (stiff outer leaves removed)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 small green chili, seeds removed, diced
1/2 t salt
1 c crushed pineapple, undrained
1 T fresh basil, chopped
2 1/2 c boiling water

Rinse rice and set aside to drain. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and add in the lemongrass, garlic, shallots, chili and salt. Cook over medium heat until fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit covered for 5 minutes before serving.

Dinner last night

I think I'm still full! We had some leftovers - Veganomicon's basil tofu ricotta, and a wonderful spinach walnut pesto. To use them up, we made:

- spiral pesto rolls (but with ricotta, instead*)
- whole wheat linguine with pesto**
- pan roasted brussels sprouts

* I have no doubt I'll make this again, but I'll have to remember to use less filling. These things are really substantial - in fact, tonight we're having them with salads as a full meal. If you make these, you might a) cut the roll into 8 rather than 6 portions, and b) use only 1/2 c. filling.

** The pesto is really good, but I found that it goes a long way when used with pasta. Next time, I'll thin it with some broth, I think.

A terrific meal!

Mexican Pizza

This was probably the best pizza we have made!

preheat oven to 425F

1/2 recipe Isa Pizza dough(from veganomicon) I of course make the full recipe, but then we like to put a different bunch of toppings on each one. This time we made one Mexican pizza, and one with basil/walnut pesto.

1/2 recipe vegan refried beans I really only used about 1/3 cup of this, so I now have a ton of leftovers, which I am not complaining about! - it will make fantastic calzone filling, methinks, perhaps with some chopped onion and greens added)
1/4 c Toffuti sour cream

1/3 c good salsa What we like is Pace 3-pepper salsa, but choose whatever you like, for this
1 diced onion
1/2 to 3/4 diced green pepper
5 sun dried tomatoes, reconstituted by microwaving for 2 1/2 minutes in water to cover, then diced

2 T minced pickled jalapenos
2 T minced fresh cilantro
1-2 T nutritional yeast
1 diced avocado which we left off because the damned thing was hard as a rock - call it an optional add


1. mix vegan refried beans with about 1/4 c. tofutti sour cream - what you're going for is to make the bean mix light and spreadable this would be a very wonderful sandwich spread, by the way.
2. spread about 3/4 c. bean mix on your unbaked pizza crust - you want about a 1/4" thick layer, or less, otherwise it can make the whole pizza soggy.
3. top with a thin layer of salsa, then sprinkle on onion, green pepper, and sun dried tomatoes.
4. brush the crust rim with olive oil (we used some chili-pepper infused olive oil)
5. bake for around 20 minutes or 'til the crust is browned nicely.
6. you'll want to leave this sit for about 10 minutes so the toppings firm up a bit.
7. top with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast, minced fresh cilantro, and minced pickled jalapeno peppers!

Walnut-basil (and spinach) pesto

This is an adaptation of an adaptation of an adaptation, so at this point I think I'll just call it my invention! We used it as the base for a pizza, with tofu ricotta, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and some minced roasted red pepper.

makes about 1 1/2 cups

3 cups fresh spinach (I used a full package of baby spinach)
3 cloves garlic (2 might be better)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 cup walnut pieces or more
½ c fresh basil
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil or walnut oil

Wilt the spinach and fresh basil over boiling water for 1 minute, or in a covered bowl in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Mince the garlic with the salt in a food processor. Squeeze any moisture from the spinach and basil, and add to the food processor along with the dried basil, flax seeds and walnuts. Puree until smooth. Add the olive oil gradually and process to a smooth paste.

Veggie Soup & Dumplings

posted at the PostPunk forum by bekajoi

Soup base:

1 leek, cut into rounds (white part only, or 1" of greens if they look good)
1 onion, chopped
4 small carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, halved, then chopped (to make them smaller)
1/4 t thyme (dry, or bunch fresh)
1/4 t parsley (dry, or bunch fresh)
1 bay leaf
veggie oil (couple Tbs, enough to saute' in)

Dumplings:

2c flour
1 t salt
1.5 t celery salt
4T melted margerine or oil
1/2 cup water
6 T (or 1/4c + 2 T) "milk"


Heat oil, add onion,leek, bay leaf, thyme, and parsley and cook on a low setting for 10-12m until soft and transluscent. bring up the heat to med or med-hi and add the rest of the veggies. Stir occasionally until carrots are done or mostly done.

Add 8 cups water (2 quarts), dash salt. Cover and bring to a boil.

While water is working up to a boil, put the dumplings together:

Knead on lightly floured surface for 1 min. Let dough rest 5 min. Roll out to 1/8" thickness and cut into 2 x 1" strips (or whatever size you find easy to work with, though they'll take longer to cook if they are bigger).

Drop into boiling broth, cover and simmer 30-45 min. (the non-egg version needed to cook longer than my original version, but I'm also high altitude. Taste for done-ness~ They'll seem mealy if they're not done yet. When done they are sort of like thick noodles or a biscuit or something. Yummy and hearty) If in doubt, let them sit another 5 minutes and taste again.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Collard Greens

From Peter Berley’s Fresh Food Fast. This was posted on the PostPunk Kitchen forum.

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups diced onion
2 tsp. kosher salt, plus additional to taste
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small jalapeno with seeds, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp. coriander seeds, toasted and ground, or 1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
1 small bunch collard greens, tough stems removed and leaves cut in 1/2 along the rib, and then crosswise into 1/4 inch strips
1 lime, cut into wedges
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro for garnish

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add onion and pinch of salt, and saute until softened, for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Add sweet potato, garlic, jalapeno, ginger, coriander, turmeric and saute for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups water, the coconut milk, and 2 tsp. of salt, raise the heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes.
3. Add the collard greens to the soup and simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add a bit of water if soup is too thick.
4. Ladle the soup into 4 wide soup plates, and top with a spoonful of jasmine rice. Squeeze lime over all and sprinkle with cilantro.

Semolina pasta

This recipe is courtesy of the Bob's Red Mill site (as is the Semolina I used). Followup note: what a great pasta recipe! I used the full cup of water, and started the mixture in my food processor, then finished it off by hand. I did find it needed even a touch more water, which I added while kneading by wetting my hands just a little. I roasted about 1 1/2 cups of cherry tomatoes with 5 or 6 garlic cloves and 1 1/2 medium-sized onions, chopped up large. The onions and garlic were drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then slow-roasted at 350F for maybe 40 minutes, then I added the halved tomatoes, and let it all continue to roast until the tomatoes were collapsed. With it, I did fresh limas boiled, then tossed in a chili-infused olive oil for a touch of heat. Those limas would be GREAT with the tomato-onion mix!

1-1/2 cups Semolina
1 cup White Flour, Unbleached
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 to 1 cup Water
1 tb Olive Oil

On a flat work surface combine flours and salt in a mound, add 1/2 cup water and oil. Mix to make a stiff dough. Add one tablespoon of water at a time while combining mixture, until desired consistency is achieved (moderately stiff dough). Knead 10 minutes or until dough is elastic. Wrap dough in towel or place in plastic bag and let rest for 20 minutes. On a lightly floured surface roll out to desired thickness and cut as desired.

Bring a large pot of water containing 1/2 teaspoon olive oil to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender (approximately 3 - 5 minutes). When making lasagna, no need to boil noodles. Add directly to your recipe.

soy yogurt substitution

full credit to 'celine' at the postpunk forum for this workaround:

6 oz soymilk + 1.5 TB cornstarch + microwave for 30 seconds + stir + microwave for 15-20 seconds + squeeze of lemon juice or splash of vinegar + 3 minutes = soy yogurt