Tag Archives: Black-Eyed Peas

I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Pretzel Tart

I think the first sign of the Christmas season for me was when, the day after Thanksgiving, all the ice cream trucks stopped playing their usual tunes and switched over to Christmas music.

I also have a sudden and overwhelming desire to bake cookies and make other fabulous desserts which usually I couldn’t care less about. I saw this Chocolate Pretzel Tart on pictures and pancakes and I have been kind of obsessed with veganizing it for the holidays. The picture is so beautiful.

Or maybe I will make buckeyes with a chocolaty pretzel shell.

I haven’t decided yet.

The one thing I do know is that is is really good timing for Isa’s new book “Appetite for Reduction” to come out. I can’t wait to get my hands it! Luckily she already posted some of the recipes. Last night we tried the Caribbean Curry Black-Eyed Peas with Plantains. I never would have thought steamed plantains would be so great; I have always had them baked, stewed or fried, but they worked really well in this dish.

Advertisement

Barbecued Arepas

If you live in Texas for a while it starts to make sense that you would barbecue everything.

Beans are often the easiest choice because although I love barbecued tofu, seitan, and tempeh as much as the next girl beans are the cheapest food to make a lot of and we haven’t been rolling in dough lately. Rolling in masa maybe but that’s another story. Wait, that is this story! I fixed up a huge pot of black-eyed peas with spinach and barbecue sauce and a little coffee for smokieness but I couldn’t decide how to serve the black-eyed peas. I thought of making cornbread but I was all out of cornmeal. I thought of tacos but wasn’t feeling it and didn’t have any shortening to make empanadas. Than it occurred to me that I could just make arepas!

Since I got Viva Vegan I have been kind of obsessed with these easy to make fat cousins or tortillas. The Venezualan ones I made first were probably the best because of the fantastic filling. I made the smaller Colombian ones as a side dish and they were delectable as well. I think that is when I realized how easy they come together.

All you do is mix salt, 2 & 1/2 cups of water with 2 cups of masarepa more or less until it resembles mashed potatoes then form into plump discs, fry or a griddle for 5 minutes on each side and then either stick in the oven for a while or eat hot off the griddle. The secret is to get the right masa, here are some more detailed instructions or a “recipe” as they say. Making arepas is even easier than making tortillas because you don’t have to get the press out and make them one at a time. After making a batch or two I don’t even have to measure anymore. I am so glad they have entered my repertoire.

It has been a depressing week. Dinger hurt his back really bad (he has a long body so it happens easily) and he might have to get surgery if it doesn’t get better. It is pretty terrible because he is usually the happiest dog in the world and instead he is just laying around in a lot of pain. His sister, Miss Willow, is depressed too because she has nobody to get super crazy with. So I have just been at home hanging out with the pups. Sorry for the downer post! He is going to get better! And it is almost July, I can’t wait for June to be over!

I went to Vegan Drinks and that was fun, I met a wonderful new friend who was kind enough to come over and give Dinger a massage. I was thinking maybe a chiropractor would help too so if you know one send me an email. Also at vegan drinks I almost won this robot, it was really embarrassingly funny because I thought I won it and I made a really big deal screaming but my friend got instead. He is so cute though! I wish it would have been me!

My Dogs have leg warmers now

We got an early Christmas package from my Mom, well I shouldn’t even say “we” because it was addressed to Dinger and Willow. They now have full Christmas outfits.I have “What a Feeling” from Flashdance in my head every time I look at them.Over the weekend I made some black-eyed peas with quinoa and cornbread. I had a bunch of leftovers and fried the black-eyed pea mix into patties, it was really good! If anyone wants the recipe I will be happy to type it up. Basically, I just cooked the peas with onions, garlic, cajun spices, liquid smoke and quinoa. It was pretty good but then while deciding what to make for breakfast the next day I read in Joanna Vaught’s zine Potluck Mania that she does something very similar but fries them into patties by just adding some vital wheat glueten for binding. I added some and mashed it up and it worked great, although getting a good picture was a struggle. I think these patties will be the perfect compliment to biscuits and gravy for a good southern meal.We made the cornbread from “The Dirty South” and it has become my go to recipe for cornbread. I changed the recipe a tiny bit replacing the corn with jalapenos this time and it was great.

Dirty South Cornbread
1 1/4 C flour
3/4 C Cornmeal
1/2 C Sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C almond milk
1/4 cup veg oil
2 T cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup apple sauce
2 jalapenos chopped

Preheat to 400. Combine the dry ingredients, add the rest until just mixed. Put in a greased pan for ~25 minutes, stick a chopstick in the middle to see if it is done. If it comes out clean remove, cool and enjoy!

Southern Taco


This taco was a winner!

First I sauteed an onion and then added chopped garlic and chipotle powder. After everything was glistening I added some sliced mushrooms and cooked until they gave off their water and then added a can of black-eyed peas. In the meantime I baked some tater tots, toasted some pumpkin seeds, warmed up some tortillas, and chopped a tomato, cilantro, and some green onions. A nice quick taco that had everything I needed to be a happy smurf.

Reason 337 that I have the best boyfriend

He came up with that title after I took a picture of this meal he made for me last night.

I have had a tough week, all of my staff has suffered major tragedies, baker smurf got hit by a truck on his bike on his way to work and broke his clavicle, sleepy smurf had a hit and run, acupuncturist smurf has been really sick for about a month with symptoms of pneumonia but no access to Western Medicine, and chatterbox smurf”s house burned down. I spent the entire rush hour driving and running errands, when I got home I was so stressed out that Mr. Smurf made me dinner while I drank delicious beer and cuddled with puppies.

I have wanted to make this meal since I got the book. It is chipotle spiced black-eyed peas that are cooked with some other aromatics and spices, served on top of maple mashed sweet potatoes, and steamed collard greens. This is one of the greatest super healthy meals I have ever had! It tasted decadent and flavorful and comforting. I love sweet mixed with spicy which is kind of the theme of a lot of recipes in Get It Ripe. Collard greens, black-eyed peas, and sweet potatoes are some of my favorite foods as well and they are all very nutritious. I also liked that everything was a whole food and lots of greens were involved. Another thing that I appreciate about this book is that the serving sizes are very accurate for us. In the Veganomicon and other books usually things that say four servings aren’t true since Mr. Smurf will easily eat 2+ servings. Get it Ripe is accurate for us, though, which is great because that way the recipes yield leftovers for lunch the next day, which I love. So thank you Jae for writing the cookbook and Dan for making the meal! If you have the book you should try it, or better yet, get someone who loves you to make it for you.

VeganMoFo- I already miss summer cooking

In Texas it is hot in the summer. Maybe some of you haven’t ever even really experienced what “hot” can be. The warmest day in Portland is maybe 90 degrees when here in Austin 90 degrees means you wear long sleeves at night! This summer we finally got a grill off Craig’s List and could cook without heating up the whole house although it was still impossible to cook without sweating. Unfortunately, since I was in charge of cooking that meant I was not in charge of the fire which led to this.

I had lot of fun making Susan’s Ribz several different times

The smoked Tempeh from the Veganomicon & Creole Style Black Eyed Peas was really good. Using fresh black-eyed peas is so great. They are just so creamy and delectable.

In Texas there is no type of food more important than BBQ and I feel like as a vegan you can appreciate BBQ sauce more when their isn’t a bunch of fat and gristle in the way

Baked BBQ Tofu with sweet corn and collards

BBQ Black-Eyed Peas wrapped in Collard Greens

and a BBQ Seitan Sandwich from Whole Foods because sometimes it is really nice to go into a freezing cold grocery store and have some vegans cook for you!

We also eat a lot of Mexican inspired Dishes here in Austin. I made these tacos one night when I wanted something quick and easy

And I made Phish Tacos using the fish stick recipe from Vegan Lunch Box (a great recipe) and a Beet & Jicama slaw

And the delicious Pasta De La California with an heirloom tomato Serbain salad. Who would have thought that Avocado could literally be added to any dish and make it better.

Also another Southern style dish. I don’t know how they do it but the tofu at our co-op is so good that you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t like it.

Southern Fried Tofu from Wheatsville Co-op with Black Eyed Peas

From this photo essay I have really learned that I need to get some different plates if I am going to be a food blogger! I can’t believe all the things I didn’t cook when I had the chance; I never once made Watermelon Gazpacho or Tomato Pie. I guess I will have to wait for next year. But now we get to move onto the most fun cooking of all HOLIDAY COOKIN!