Millet Patties and Irene

(the "road" in front of my parents' house)

Well let's just say, Irene sure did a number on the east coast. My parents live in Vermont and they got an unbelievable amount of flooding! Their whole road in front of the house was covered in water and yes, they got water in their basement (which couldn't be pumped out due to the flooding in the road). But luckily, they are fine! There was the typical power outage, but they have a generator. Their alpacas and other animals are also ok. And the CSA farm, which uses their land, did pretty well in the storm. On the other hand, the one bridge to my sister's cabin across the street was washed away. Luckily, nobody was renting at the time. They will have to rebuild that soon.

As of yesterday, some rivers in NJ and VT had not yet crested, so some places were still under water, like Paterson, NJ (15 feet). I hope you are all staying safe. There IS Katia out there, and we've got our own little "tropical wave" arriving in the Gulf shortly.

On to the food part of this post!

I had some leftover items in the fridge, and instead of making my typical "bowl" of grains, veggies, and sauce, I decided to make it in a different form: patties.

Lemon Tahini Millet Patties:
(makes 8-10 patties, depending on size)


1/2 onion, chopped
1/4-1/2 zucchini, chopped
1 cup kale, chopped
1 cup broccoli slaw (or shredded broccoli and carrots)
1 cup mushrooms (any kind, I used white button), sliced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (you can prob. use regular oats too)
1 cup cooked millet
1 cup juice pulp (carrot/beet based)
1/2 cup (plus a few extra tablespoons for serving) *Lightened-Up Tahini Lemon Dressing


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine the millet, oats, and pulp. 

Put 1/4 cup water into a pan, and add the onion, zucchini, broccoli slaw, kale, and mushrooms. Cook on medium heat until slightly soft. (you don't need to cook all the way through). Let it cool for a few minutes. Add the partially-cooked vegetables to your food processor and pulse several times until mostly chopped. You can also puree it until it's mashed, but it won't have a nice texture and will have a lot of extra moisture (you may have to add a few extra oats if it's too moist). 


Add the processed vegetables to the millet mixture. Mix well. Add the dressing to the bowl and mix. Bake on a Silpat (or parchment paper) on your baking sheet for 15 minutes. Turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Drizzle a little extra dressing on top! (I ate mine in a sandwich the first time, but the second time I just drizzled some sauce on top: delicious!)

*This dressing has become my new staple. It is absolutely amazing...I put it on salads all the time! I also serve it on top of my "bowls" as a sauce on top of grains and vegetables. I highly recommend you make at least double the recipe and keep it in your fridge!!

PS-Yay, I finally found a use for some of that juice pulp from my new juicer!!

Meanwhile, we've got a nasty marsh fire burning here and I just can't go outside anymore. It's so smokey and my lungs hurt even if I'm only going from the front door to the car! I sure hope they put it out soon. Maybe the rain that's coming will help.

I'm almost 3 weeks into my p90x program! I think I can see a little difference already. Today my glutes and obliques are pretty sore. Today's workout: Kenpo X.

Are any of you on a strict workout program? What do you do for exercise?

Eat smart,
T.

Millet with Roasted Vegetable Sauce & A Cranberry Smoothie

Guess what? It's the start of satsuma season!! I've missed those things. I'm not a huge orange eater, but I do like clementines when those are in season. Satsumas are good too and grown right here.

We finally got to the farmer's market again after 2 weeks without (due to travel, etc.): mustard greens, lacinato kale (it's no curly kale, but it'll do), apples, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, okra, mizuna/arugula mix, yellow squash, and brown rice.

We had a friend over the other evening and I made some millet with a roasted vegetable sauce. Originally, I was just going to top the millet with roasted vegetables, but then I decided to put it in a pan after roasting and after I added things...it turned into a sauce!

Millet with Roasted Vegetable Sauce:

For the millet:
2 cups water
1 cup millet


For the sauce:
1 head broccoli, in small pieces
1 onion, chopped into medium-large pieces
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
(you're welcome to add more veggies, as they shrink when roasted)
2 cups strained/pureed tomatoes
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk-I think it works better than soy)
1/2 cup water
Creole seasoning, garlic, onion powder, cumin powder (or seeds), nutritional yeast, oregano, chili powder
2 tsp tomato paste
salt/pepper


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put all the cut vegetables in a bowl and add Creole Seasoning. Mix well to coat. (watch the salt...this stuff can be really salty). Put the vegetables on a baking sheet sprayed with oil. When the oven is ready, put the veggies in. Set timer for 25 minutes.


Make the millet: Put the millet in a pan and put it on medium-high heat. Shake the pan every once in a while. When it starts to smell nutty (don't let it burn!), add the water and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed.


After 25 minutes, stir the vegetables in the pan and put back in oven for 10 more minutes. When done, add them to a large saute pan on the stove with the 1/2 cup water.  Cook on medium heat.  Add the non-dairy milk, spices, and tomato paste. Stir well.  If it's too thick for you, add a little water. If it's too thin, add a little more "milk". Salt as needed. Serve over the millet.


Now onto the newest smoothie in my collection!

Sour Cranberry Smoothie:

1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice (no sweetener added)
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup frozen peaches
1/2 cup water
(sweetener-optional)


Blend! It's pretty darn sour, but I love it! Feel free to add a little sweetener if you need it...or use sweetened cranberry juice. But I'm telling ya.....you should try it the sour way first!


It's gotten so cool here.  It's been in the low 60's in the morning! What? Yup.....brrrrrr. I've had to actually put long pants on and a real shirt for walking in the mornings. It's only in the mid-70's in the afternoons. I think Fall has finally arrived. Yay!  I will definitely be doing a Fall beer tasting in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that. Next post will be my Atlanta trip post.

Eat smart,
T.

Market produce and more tacos

Wow, I'm getting behind, aren't I?  Sometimes I just don't feel like blogging....I mean I do, but I'm not in the mood to crop the pictures, etc....you know what I mean?

Anyway, here's a list of what we got at Saturday's market: purple kale, lacinato kale, mixed greens, purple top turnips, radishes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries (let's keep those comin'), collard greens, mustard greens,  and hydroponic tomatoes.

It wasn't a ton this time, but that's ok.  Not every week can overtop my box!  And can I say I think I have a problem?  I'm addicted.  Yup, addicted to kale and broccoli.  And there was no green curly kale or broccoli in this week's box....I almost panicked.  But I was able to buy a few bags of their purple kale and I got broccoli and green curly kale at the grocery store.  Phew.

I made tacos again this week, using what I had in the fridge, so here's the recipe:

Millet Tacos:


4 corn tortillas
1/2-3/4 cup cooked millet
3/4 cup cooked kidney beans, mashed up
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 yellow/white onion, chopped
2 tsp dried cilantro (or use fresh if you have it!)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup pureed/crushed tomatoes
chili powder
onion powder
chipotle powder
garlic
salt


Saute the onion in 1/4 cup water until soft.  Add the carrots and broccoli.  Saute another 5 minutes or so, adding water as needed so it doesn't stick to the pan.  Add the millet and mashed beans. Mix it up well and add 1 tsp of the cilantro, and the rest of the spices to taste.  It's done when it's heated through.  


For the sauce: Mix together 3/4 cup pureed/crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp cilantro, salt and chipotle powder to taste.  Heat the tortillas, fill them, and top with the sauce. Easy!

Blogger of the Week: Lindsay at CookingForAVeganLover blog.  She's got reviews, recipes, and giveaways galore!  Check her out.


Oh, and check out my little tomatoes growing! And my herbs:

Until next time....
Eat smart,
T.
PS-I was thinking: Mexican kidney bean burgers.....thoughts?

Quick Tacos

Mediterranean Veggie Burgers and Help for Haiti

Ok, I finally made those mediterranean veggie burgers I've been talking about.  The only problem was that they tended to want to fall apart a little when eaten as a sandwich.  My husband ate them with a knife and fork, only because he didn't want the bread.  The flavor is really good though!

Mediterranean Veggie Burgers:

1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 jarred roasted red pepper
2/3 cup artichoke pieces
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for at least 3 hours
1 cup cooked millet
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, etc.)
garlic powder
salt & pepper


Put the chickpeas in a food processor and process just until still a little chunky.  Put aside in a medium bowl.  Put the roasted pepper, sunflower seeds, and artichokes in the food processor and puree until pretty smooth. Add to the chickpeas.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The mixture will be pretty wet.  Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Shape into patties and fry until browned on both sides.  Makes 6-8 burgers.

I had mine on sprouted grain bread with kale, tomato, and some Vegenaise.  Tasty! If you want, you could try brown rice instead of the millet.....it might help it keep its shape better when cooked.  I'll probably try that next time.....and maybe more breadcrumbs?  The artichokes, tomato, and roasted pepper are pretty moist ingredients, so you need something to dry it out. Any ideas?

UPDATE: I just had them as leftovers (no bread) with some brown mustard and they are delicious! If you make sure you brown them almost until burnt on both sides, they'll mostly stay together.  I ate them tonight with kale chips...great combination :) I LOVE KALE!!!

UPDATE #2: So I just had the last of the leftover burgers.  I added some whole brown rice (cold from fridge) and baked them.  I could've baked them a little longer.  They did turn out a bit crispier because of the rice, which was nice.  So you could try replacing the millet with whole rice and bake them about 12 minutes on each side on 375.

On to dessert! I made some tasty vegan brownies.  You can find the original recipe here.
My changes: I replaced the oil with water, I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of oats (I ran them through the food processor first), I used 1 1/2 cups of turbinado sugar,  and I didn't add nuts.  So this is my fat free version I guess.  They didn't rise very well, probably because I left out the oil.  Perhaps I could've added in a banana to help?  But they are still really good.  Next time I might try them  in an 8x8 pan.

And of course I went to the market this morning in freezing cold weather.  It was 40 degrees! Brrrrr.  The wind chill was around 33 or so.......so cold.  This is what I got: meyer lemons, grapefruit, oranges, kale, collard greens, mizuna, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, turnips, rice, white button mushrooms, and strawberries.

How YOU can help Haiti:

Check out the list of vegan bake sales going on around the country. There's probably one near you.  There's even one here in New Orleans on February 6th near the uptown Whole Foods on Magazine Street from 11-3 pm. I'll update this info as I get it.UPDATE: the vegan bake sale will be rescheduled due to Mardi Gras and the SuperBowl....stay tuned for a new date!

There will be a concert here in New Orleans to benefit Haiti as well.  Click here for info.

And you can always text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross.  The charge will be on your next cell phone bill.

Eat smart and stay warm,
T.

Millet!!

I finally cooked millet....yay!!  Thanks to happyveganface for a wonderful recipe.  You can find the great recipe for Spicy Mexi Millet here.  This is the first time I've ever made millet and I'm so making it again!  To me, this is the kind of recipe I'll keep on hand for relatively quick and delicious meals.

I did however make just a couple of changes, due to the fact that I didn't have some things.  I used the juice of a whole lemon.....didn't have any more of those great key limes from the market, sniff.  I used dark red kidney beans, because it was either that or black beans, which I guess would've been good too. And lastly, I didn't use any jalapenos.  They freak me out.  Not because of the spice (I don't mind some spice.....but my husband loves extra spicy), but because the last time I handled them, my hands broke out in a rash and got really itchy.  I did end up using gloves for a while to handle them, but that's kind of a pain.  Maybe one day I'll break down and get jalapenos again.

So I give this recipe a 10, because it's so good, and it's pretty darn easy.  Who knew? Thanks happyveganface!! :)

Ahhh....back to work tomorrow.  Was thinking of roasting some root veggies tomorrow......need to use up the market turnips.  We'll see.