baked apple oatmeal!

i was up earlier than usual this morning and wanted something a little different for breakfast. enter: baked apple oatmeal.

i found it the other day while doing a search to incorporate apples into breakfast, and i'm glad i did. it was pretty easy to make - you just have to be willing to wait for it to bake...

step one...the apples. you won't get very far without them:

chop them up and throw them in a bowl. while you're at it, take a cup of oatmeal and throw it in there, too. when i was little, i thought the quaker oats dude was william penn. don't ask me why, because i don't have an answer.

to clear up any mass confusion, your bowl will now look something like this:

i love one-bowl recipes. need some maple syrup? no problem - in it goes...

i also added some milk (in this case, some light soy milk that needed to be used up)...

and some chopped walnuts. which started out whole but were 1) placed in a plastic baggie and sealed...

2) and then pounded with the bottom of the measuring glass. genius.

anyway. along with some spices - here it is - one bowl:

and, after a good mixing, one baking dish:

here is the baking dish out of the oven and ready to eat. it does not look much different from before the baking period, although, i assure you, it tastes different. this was a lovely breakfast - rather like healthy apple pie filling. i would definitely make this again. this was TOP CHEF baked apple oatmeal.

and speaking of top chef, this week's challenge was all about pleasing natalie portman with vegetarian food; and, was it just me, or did they do all do a fairly disappointing job. and i don't mean with cooking techniques - they are clearly all better than i will ever be. i mean - they were all stunned as to what to do. they all just kind of made glorified salads or side dishes. nobody really made an actual meal. for shame, top chef, for shame.

tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans!

yesterday i was still feeling kind of blah, and i wanted soup. the kind of soup that can be made without having to drive to the supermarket, that i could make out of the pantry.

i ended up with tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans from veganomicon.

and, lucky you, i also happened to find one person who posted the recipe online - you can (click here) to get to it.

to begin with, i should probably point out that i made some alterations, based on the whole 'no supermarket' thing. the first being that i didn't have two bulbs of garlic to roast. so, i went with the alternative directions of taking around 6 cloves...

and throwing them in a soup pot with the finely diced onion.

after it cooked a bit, i threw in the rice...

and the rest of the spices and stirred things around for a couple minutes.

next came the tomatoes. a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes went in the pot...

as well as a 15oz can of crushed tomatoes and a few chopped fresh tomatoes lurking in the fridge. altogether, this is almost what the recipe called for.

and i don't care if this is now going to be called 'chunky' tomato-rice soup.

in fact, because i'm so crazy, i decided to add one of my organic veggie broth starburst creatures to the mix after i added all the water and it came to a boil. after this, i turned it down and it simmered for 45 minutes.

and then i added the beans and let them warm up:

and then i ate it. i should probably mention that, while all this was cooking, i did walk 1 block down the road to the panera to get a baguette to eat with this. this has happened pretty much every time i've cooked something that a baguette might go with - i've just never mentioned it or taken a picture. and, keeping with tradition, i forgot to take a picture last night. oh well - we'll have to make due with this:

pumpkins and halloween!

i love everything about halloween.

this includes the pumpkins, both the seeds and the shell, which then becomes a jack-o-lantern. and by the way, did you know that the use of a pumpkin as a jack-o-lantern is a north american thing, and that they have been elsewhere used with turnips? the internet is a fascinating tool.

here was my pumpkins this year. she was a big'un:

and cavernous!

and, to my delight, filled with seeds.

mmm. messy.

this is my booty, drained and cleaned:

i always eat them the same way - patted dry and tossed with this:

put it in a 300 degree oven for around half an hour and stir frequently. is it the healthiest topping? not really, but i don't care. i love it. i eat them until my tongue is dry and my jaw is sore, and i am happy.

now, on to the jack-o-lantern...

i should probably point out that i have zero skill at carving pumpkins. in fact, i have negative skill, if this is possible. but this does not deter me. after all, one does not improve without practice. what i wanted was a battlestar galactica centaurian jack-o-lantern, which you can get to by clicking here (scroll down to the second pic, there's no way i could hope to do the higher skill level one). after an hour, i had this bowl of leftovers...

and i had this...

i named her 5.5 - as in 'not a 6' (if you watch BSG, you'll get it. and yes, i realize centaurian's are a different kind of cylon, but my carving skills are so bad, its a JOKE!) i love 5.5. here is what she looks like in the dark:

if you squint your eyes, you can almost see the red glint in her eye. happy frakkin' halloween!

orange juice!

i was feeling sicky yesterday and the only thing that really called to me were the four valencia oranges left over from yesterday's post of oj-featured items and, of course, the little juicer.

here they are:

i've since learned that valencia's are good for juicing and bad for peeling. couldn't agree more.

this little juicer is a wonder of science.

the juice goes into the bottom...

and the top part unscrews at will and catches the pulp and seeds! miraculous!

look at all the juice i got from four oranges...

mmm. thirsty...

orange-glazed tempeh and citrus collards!

the menu for dinner last night was orange-glazed tempeh and citrus collards with raisins redux with quinoa on the side.

i'm a big fan of tempeh, and found this recipe on the lovely (1o1 cookbooks website). if you know the website, you'll know that the title doesn't lie - it features recipes from different cookbooks. so, i think its fair to also direct you to the originator of this amazing recipe: (jude blereau's 'come home to eat: whole food for the family').

and the collards are from 'vegan soul kitchen,' by chef bryant terry.

the quinoa was from a box that i cooked with veggie broth :)

**

what attracted me to tempeh recipe was the fresh OJ. i really don't think you can ever go wrong with it:

mix it with lovely things like ginger, mirin, garlic, and maple syrup, and *presto* you've got the basis for sauce!

which you will eventually use for your tempeh, pictured here. i should probably mention that, when cooking, it is always useful to make a shopping list. like i did. because then you avoid forgetting things. but sometimes, you go to the store and they don't have things, like ginger and tempeh (yes, is the second time the store didn't have ginger. there is a conspiracy at work). and then you forget this, so you run to the health store and beg for ginger as you are starting to cook. and then ten minutes later your curse yourself when you realize you must go back because you...you. forgot. the. tempeh.

then comes the warming of the oil and the frying of the tempeh. side one:

side two. for the record, turning little bits of frying tempeh is messy:

here comes the orange sauce, which then reduces for ten minutes:

and, while all this frying business has been going on, there's also been collard prep happening:

the collards cook for around 8 minutes:

and then suspend cooking in an ice water bath. mine looks like a swamp:

then, due to the wonders of cooking, you cook them again. saute them with raisins and garlic and a finishing touch of fresh orange juice (you see a trend here).

and, plate the whole thing with quinoa, which has also been quietly cooking in the background this whole time, because i am awesome.

the verdict.

this tempeh was one of the best things i've ever eaten. it tasted exactly like orange chicken. or, i guess orange chicken really owes itself to fresh orange juice and the fact that it is fried. but, even though this is a bit 'fried,' its still a lot better for you than orange chicken. if you want a tempeh treat, this is it. i surprised myself. absolutely delicious.

and even though my favorite collards are the cider vinegar infused things that stink up your kitchen, these were a nice, supportive side. score!