gluten-free, instant oatmeal fail!

i bought this oatmeal for the health benefits and the pretty, pretty packaging (for work breakfasts - stovetop only at home).

and then, two bites in, i discovered that health benefits and pretty, pretty packaging do not make something palatable, or even edible.  if, however, you - yes, YOU! - are practicing a gluten-free lifestyle and would like some free instant oatmeal, i would be happy to bestow the other 5 packets upon you.

alton brown's winter vegetable soup!

alton brown's winter vegetable soup: it's healthy and it's what's for dinner.

note to self: make this again, make this again, make this again.  it is ok if you add a turnip and a parsnip, and the extra effort is worth it.  the muir glen fire-roasted tomatoes are also worth it. make this again.

mushroom gravy, greens, and quinoa!

healthy wednesday dinners continue!

i'm trying to be more of a greens and plant-eating fool, so i tried this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers, "oh she glows."

cremini mushrooms, southern greens, fresh rosemary, quinoa...yummy.  i tried to buy nutritional yeast to be truly hardcore, but trader joe's didn't have any.  so, gruyere to the rescue and i don't get to call myself hardcore.  what's the rank under hardcore called - rockstar?

verdict?  i'd eat this again....but i think some red wine needs to be added to that gravy.  hardcore.

winter greens and butternut squash gratin!

i'm completely shallow.  3 years with no posts, then one random pic of my dinner on facebook, some positive feedback, and POOF!  sudden motivation to post.  although, to be fair, i do have about 100 random pics of dinners in a folder on my computer. too bad i didn't store them with notes, though, because some of them are really cryptic-looking.

like this one:

what is it? my best guess is charoset, but i can't be sure.

or how about this one:

i'm pretty sure that's tofu, but what's it covered with?  tricky. tricky.

this one, however, i do remember:

salted caramel pecan bars from "vegan cookies invade your cookie jar", and they were one of the best things i've ever eaten.

i never forget a dessert. i have priorities.

so.

dinner a few nights ago.

i had a bag of southern greens from trader joe's i needed to use up.  i was thinking something with sweet potatoes, but then i saw some pre-cut butternut squash.  two seconds searching for a recipe on the magical iphone, and i chose this: winter greens and butternut squash gratin.

i pretended that low fat milk with a touch of cornstarch was really heavy cream.  also, i steamed the squash alongside the greens to speed up cooking time.

verdict? i'd make this again. also, i like panko. it's fun to say, and it's nice and crunchy. the end.

non-quionoa vegetable stew!

friday night i made quinoa vegetable stew from the "moosewood restaurant: low fat favorites" cookbook, except i made a few changes. namely, i had no quinoa. but nevermind that, nevermind that.

its basically a vegetable saute - done with whatever i had on hand - onion, garlic, pepper, onions, and zucchini.

as well as corn and tomatoes...

and spices - cumin, a bit of cayenne...

oooh - plating! couscous!

stew!

cheese!

monkey / gorilla cakes!

so, i had a huge pancake craving for dinner. i could see it coming miles away - since i missed national pancake day and haven't had any in ages. and, as luck would have it, one of the most fun vegan food bloggers out there, "chocolate covered katie," is having an awesome contest wherein you make pancake roll-ups and are entered to win a whole bunch of products courtesy of artisana.

and so, i thought, "why not make pancake roll-ups?" yes, why not.

i decided on this recipe, because i wanted to use up some spelt flour and because moby is cool. alongside the spelt we have wheat bran (didn't have any oat), baking soda, salt, and soymilk. some rogue cinnamon may have snuck its way in there.

and a little stevia, because one needs some sweetness in one's pancakes. and, yes, that is a blurry "sense and sensibility" in the background, because one needs some jane austen while one makes pancakes.

and, no, you don't see any blueberries up in there. instead, i used a banana and some unsweetened coconut.

and so begins the fun game of heating the pan and creating the tester pancake. we've got bubbles!

successful flipping!

mmm. yes, they taste like "healthy" cakes, but one sees nothing wrong with that.

yet it is at this point, looking at the finished batch, that one runs into a problem. and by "one," i mean me. you see, these are thick and fluffy and lovely...but they do not really appear conducive to, um, rolling.

but one must do the best one can. a little slater of all-natural, organic, creamy peanut butter...

a makeshift roll with some added banana (ignore the fact that it looks like a burrito about to fall apart)...

and some more banana on top, alongside some powdered sugar and a little drizzle of pure maple syrup.

i was going to christen these monkey cakes, but they were too big to be monkies. plus, i could only eat half of them. instead, i believe they are gorilla cakes. i dedicate them to joe, a gorilla who lives in the st. louis zoo.

thanks for the inspiration, katie!

mushroom and spinach frittata with tempeh bacon!

our recipe tonight is a favorite of mine - it comes from the 'moosewood lowfat favorites' cookbook. i can't find the recipe online, but i think i can give basic instructions here.

to begin with, you play the fun game of 'watch the spinach shrink.' rinse off around 10 ounces, and put in a pot and cover with a teensy bit of water. in just a few short minutes you go from this:

to this...magical!

in the meantime, chop up a bit of onion and some garlic and saute for five minutes. you may notice that the picture below looks suspiciously as though it contains a nice sized shallot, and not onion. this is because i had no onion, but i had a shallot. sometimes, in life, one must compromise.

here we have some mushrooms and thyme. add them to the mix and let everything shrink a bit and brown up...

in the meantime, we move on to the eggs. i think this is 3 eggs and five egg whites. usually one less whole egg, but the veggies were a little less in amount than what i usually have, so there we go. add the spinach, the mushroom/onion mix, some fresh dill, and a bit of feta cheese (i used low-fat)...

then, back in the pan we go.

while everything is cooking (around 8 minutes), i thought i'd break this baby out:

i'm a big fan of both tempeh and bacon, but i don't really eat the former anymore, so i thought this might be fun. into the pan with a bit of oil they go...

or, in my case, you put it in two pans, because they biggest one you've got now contains frittata. but don't let the smaller bunch burn, like i did. boo.

in the meantime, check the bottom of the frittata using a rubber spatula. when it looks well browned, put a large platter on top of the frying pan and flip the frittata onto the platter, and then slide it back in the pan so the other side can cook. here is a lovely picture of the flip onto the platter. you will look awkward doing this, but you will feel proud and accomplished when it is done.

and here we are. lovely. its good with potatoes, toast, or fruit. even tempeh bacon, this ease of which was quite nice, although i think i prefer the taste of tempeh that i've marinated.

p.s. this works great as leftovers.