Ok, the Star Trek reference is mostly because my distraction reading right now is a rereading of  Wil Wheaton and my book club just finished Red Shirts and unfortunately the vegan recipe I was working n this week is apparently just here for me to emote over and not a major player and I would need Q to intervene to make either recipe work. That is why I chose my blog title,

The current goal is to create some edible vegan uses, actually going for delicious, recipes using my vegan whole grain sourdough starter. No new recipes today because both my crepe recipe and rye bread recipe are currently dead, immediately after beaming on to this planet. The crepe’s are tasty but totally wrong texture and next to impossible to flip. The bread smells like whisky. Soooooo, no new vegan recipes this week.

But the process will continue, I will keep trying. After all, the process and the journey is where the fun is in all things.

Thought for me (and you, if you want) to ponder: Is part of what makes so many people sad, mad and basically dissatisfied these days  the fact they have forgotten how to really work for something difficult? Are we really a lazy and immature culture whose needs are too easily met and so do not know the joy of “taking the trouble” to do something without a guaranteed outcome? How do I fit into that observation and what things have I let go that would serve the greater good because they took work?

Well, speaking of work, I have tons to do before I leave to be a nurse this afternoon so this is it for today.

Namaste.

I love salads, and I love raw vegetables. I can relish a bowl of mixed spring greens drizzled only in a bit of lemon juice, or add black beans and toss the whole thing with salsa and satisfy my tastes and my ethics.  Crudite and a small dish of sunflower seed butter is a fast tasty snack. So for months I only ate my salads and cut raw veggies with the obvious out of the jar dips and dressings like nut butters and citrus juices.

But one day, I went to Sweet Tomatoes with my son and DIL for dinner and drenched my vegetable goodness in real live dressing. My mouth stood up and did a dance, and although I still can eat all things green in a simple garment of lemon or thinned hummus, my quest had begun to re-introduce the excitement of  taste layered dips and complex creaminess into my vegan life.

I do love to cook, but I also have a busy modern life, so first I looked on store shelves. Reading ingredients lists on bottles quickly alerted me to the fact that as a vegan, I would either be making my own dips and dressings or finding a more lucrative career so I could afford the organic prepackaged offerings.  (It has always amazed and flumoxed me how leaving ingredients out of a product increases the price exponentially.)

What follows are my three favorite dressing that now replace Italian, Ranch, and Russian dressing in my food lexicon. I am still experimenting and trying recipes I find in vegan books. My favorite coleslaw for vegans is found in “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch” so no need to post it here, besides the fact it would be plagiarism, Freedman’s book is readily available at libraries and bookstores (like Changing Hands http://changinghands.com/)and chock full of other tasty vegan treats, so if you want good coleslaw, check her out, http://roryfreedman.com/. A qualifier here is that I am not bought into the whole skinnier is better or prettier paradigm,  but her vegan recipes have never failed to please even “meat”atarians.

So here are Sally’s favorite salad dressings, no coleslaw among them (see above) although I LoooovE coleslaw, with a reminder that the quality of ingredients used will determine the quality of the finished product.

Italian Dressing

1/2 cup Bragg’s organic Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Organic Olive oil

1 T Bragg’s Amino Acids

1 small clove garlic, pressed

1 T Organic Italian seasoning (I mix my own, but it can easily be bought)

Place in glass bottle with lid and shake well, it is best mixed an hour or two before serving. I do store it in the fridge but take it out well before dinner as the oil will coagulate! To make it creamy Italian just place it all in the blender with 8 ozs of tofu, but then it must sit for 8 hours or the the tofu will take over the taste.

Creamy Vegan Ranch

1 3/4 cups cooked (one can) cooked, drained, and rinsed garbanzo beans

1 T tahini

2 tsp.  garlic balsamic vineger (the vinegar used makes a huge difference in this recipe, so experiment with flavors, but stick with Balsamic or high quality wine vinegar)

1 tsp Bragg’s Amino Acid (if soy sensitive, omit this. This is the only soy based ingredient, and it does change the flavor by omitting it but it is still good, just salt and pepper to taste)

1 tsp Bragg’s Organic Sprinkles or (what I do)use 1 T fresh parsley with 2 tsp chopped fresh chive and 1 tsp fresh chopped dill for a more “ranch” flavored dressing.

(optional ingredient to get that creamy taste and feel is adding 3 T vegan sour cream substitute).

Vegan Russian Dressing  (also an easy tasty sweet potato fry sauce!)

1 cup vegan mayonnaise

1/4 cup organic ketchup

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 tsp horseradish

1 tsp Brag’s amino acids

1 T finely chopped pickles.

Mix together in a jar and let the flavors blend for 2-3 hours then dip or dress!

So fellow vegans and/or foodies go forth and try these homemade condiments and tell me what you think , and maybe even share your own recipes.

Tomorrow some Homesteading updates and a bit about what I am listening to and watching (even if a lot of you may laugh!)

Of first importance in creating any delicious and nutritious concoction is the purchase of fresh and tasty ingredients.  Vegetables should be firm and smell fresh, no need to bruise, just a light squeeze on the onion or fennel bulb will allow you to determine its freshness. I recommend local and organic, but managing at least one of these will help the flavor of your soup immensely. The meat should also be fresh, I find meat that adheres to my standards of cleanliness and compassion at Eastern markets, Whole Foods and sometimes even Costco. I do my research online before shopping but if you can’t find organic Humane Choice accredited free range lamb, then go with Halal lamb as the requirements of being certified Halal (http://kerryg.hubpages.com/hub/raising-halal-lamb) are strict enough to provide a lean and delicious lamb that was humanely raised.

3-5 lbs lean lamb. Wash the lamb and then cut into large chunks. Throw the lamb chunks into a bag or coating bowl of 1 cup flour and 1 T of herb mix like Bragg’s Organic Sprinkle (I actually make my own mix but if you have none then just add 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp parsley, 1/2 tsp tarragon). Braise in 2 T Olive Oil in hot oven proof roasting pan on top of stove or if not available then use a frying pan and try and get all the oil and spices into the roasting pan once browned.

Add

1 baseball size onion studded with cloves

5 lbs carrots scrubbed and sliced

2 turnips well scrubbed and chopped (bite size with substance)

4 medium zucchini sliced

1 cup chopped celery ( I love to use all that leafy parts and end pieces that don’t scoop hummus well)

1-2  fennel bulbs (I use two) chopped.

12 golf ball sized potatoes cut up. (Heirloom potatoes are best and just quartered, but new reds are also good.)

Add another T olive oil and T of spice mixture and toss everything.

Roast in 425 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Immediately upon removing from oven Add 1/2 cup of Burgundy (or substitute an Oregon pinot noir, although buy good; if you don’t want to drink it, you don’t want to cook with it. Tell the sommelier at the store what you are making and get a recommendation)

Put everything in your crockpot (slow cooker, soup pan, whatever…) and cover and set in the fridge overnight. The flavors are having a party. Not a mandatory step, but it helps.

4-6 hours before serving barely cover with water and turn the crock pot to high for two hours. Taste, and now add salt and pepper, turn to low and continue cooking.

Serve with fresh bread and enjoy!

So life gets busy and its all the little things we mean to do or thought we did that slip away from us, like leaving the “Indiana Jones Adventure” blog in my Word drafts instead of posting it. *sigh* Just realized I had done that today when I was looking to see if it had received any comments and prepared to post today’s recipe.  AZRF is over so I will bank it for next year when the schedule is published and re-adjust as needed for new stages and new excitement. Next year I will also update the other two itineraries and hopefully create at least two more.  Anyway, enough of the prattle. Here follows the recipe for Sally’s Summer Pickles.

Cassandra’s Summer Pickles

3-6 larger firm cucumbers (wash with white vinegar to remove any wax if not fresh from garden or farmers market) Use your peeler to stripe the sides evenly to allow better access for the pickling process and slice into 1/4 inch medallions. (No, I do not measure exactly but too thin and they will be limp not crunchy, to thick and they don’t pickle thoroughly. Practice will help you “eye”dentify the best size for your tastes.)

Place 1 cup of boiling water, 1 T salt and 1/3 cup sugar into sterilized quart jar and stir till completely dissolved, fill with pickle medallions without spilling any of the brine. When full, cover and refrigerate 3-12 hours. I usually leave them in the fridge over night. If there are more medallions than room in the quart jar (usually is) duplicate process with second quart jar, and third if necessary (those were some big cucumbers!)

When ready to finish process drain the pickles, leaving the medallions in the jars although you may be able to combine your 3 jars worth into 2 jars now. On the stovetop bring 2 cups cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 3 cloves garlic pushed through a press, and 1 tsp mustard seed or 1 Tablespoon of the seeded prepared spicy mustard just to a boil and pour over the medallions evenly distributing between the bottles to cover. may be eaten warm or sealed and chilled!

Enjoy. And feel free to experiment, replacing the mustard with another spice that stands up well to pickling, or adjusting the amount of sugar. Summer pickles are all unique so find the recipe that speaks to you. And save the juice when you dish the pickles out and try another historical treat by brining chopped pieces of firm apple and pear in the pickling juice for at least 3 hours. The combination of sweet and salty is uniquely delicious.