Simple foods

Me in my new apron.

To be honest, I prefer simple foods. I would rather have a peach than a piece of peach pie. I don't like extremes of saltiness or sweetness, or heavy flavoring and spicing. But you know, I'm playing at a food blog, and no one wants to read about steamed cauliflower. So although most of what I eat is much simpler than you might think, my blog posts don't always reflect that. I blog about the more interesting or unusual dishes we eat, or restaurant food we've consumed, or vegan items I'm asked to review. But normally, we don't go out of our way to cook fancy gourmet meals or recreate elaborate meat or dairy dishes in vegan form, nor do we regularly use non-dairy cheese other than occasionally on pizza. So you see, our gustatory lives are quite boring.

Daiya cheese pizza with "pepperoni" (tester recipe)

In my last post I included a recipe for a kale soup typical of what we might consider a fine meal. Along with a salad or a crusty loaf of bread or maybe just some rice, that would be it. My husband will eat an apple for dessert, and I might have a small orange or a few dates. I'm telling you this because I've received a number of inquiries from new or aspiring vegans asking how difficult it will be to be vegan, or how expensive it might be. New vegans are more likely to try to recreate familiar foods as they transition to a new way of life. But I don't want anyone to think we depend on fake foods or complicated preparations for our meals. Nope. We love our veggies.

Salted caramel wheat treats. Yum. (tester recipe)

Lately I've been testing recipes for a cookbook being developed by Celine and Joni. The cookbook is about substitutions — vegan for omnivorous. So, you've been seeing lots of, well, substitutions. Some are things I would make anyway, like chickpea salad, and some not so much, like baby back ribz. It's fun to make stuff like this, or to serve it to company, and we've been enjoying our testing a lot. Besides, it's never a bad idea to have a few good seitan recipes on hand. (Seitan was used by Buddhist monks in the 7th century so it's not a weird "new" vegan food.) I usually cut back on the salt used in the recipes because I'm pretty health conscious and excess salt can cause health issues. But also, because I don't eat a lot of processed foods, I've become very sensitive to the intense natural flavors of fruits, vegetables, grains and beans, and it takes very little additional salt or sugar to make things taste perfectly seasoned. I'm not saying we only eat barely seasoned food — sometimes we make things very spicy — but usually our foods are less seasoned than what might be considered average.

Baby back ribz try #2 (tester recipe) Still not sticky and gooey but closer!

I enjoy some very salty things like olives, as an accent to a meal, but if everything is salty, I find it distasteful. It almost burns my tongue. The same is true of very sweet things; they don't taste good to me. When I bake for others, I usually use more sweetener so my baked goods will be more like what other people enjoy. I'm always surprised, when I think I've made something much too sweet, to hear someone say, "I really like this. It's not too sweet." Oh well.

Just so you can see how truly boring our eating can be, here's a soup I made for lunch on Saturday. But really, it was delicious. And so simple. You can flavor it any way you like to suit your own palate.

Simple cauliflower, carrot, potato soup

• 1/2 large head of cauliflower, cut in large pieces
• 1 large potato, peeled and cut in small dice
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut in small dice
• 2 cups water
• 1 to 3 teaspoons mellow white miso (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• low sodium vegetable broth
• fresh ground pepper

optional

• sliced scallion
• minced parsley
• fresh or dried herbs

1. Place the vegetables and water in a pressure cooker. Bring to pressure and cook 5 minutes. Release pressure.
2. Use a hand-blender in the pot or add cooked veggies and cooking water to a blender bowl along with miso, onion powder and vinegar, and blend until creamy. Add broth to desired consistency, and blend. Adjust seasoning if needed.
3. Return to pot and gently reheat if needed. Place in bowls and add a grind of pepper. Add garnishes as desired.

Along with the soup we had leftover polenta which I sautéed in the wok, and a salad, and our adorable granddaughter who was visiting, had tofu fingers. She used the soup as a dip for the tofu, which had been dredged in potato starch and sautéed.

My new cupcake apron up close.

We went to our son and d-i-l's house for dinner Saturday night, and our dil made a delicious Caribbean stew called Island Gumbo from "The Urban Vegan" cookbook. It was just right for a cold, damp winter evening. I brought some cookies and bars culled from the stash that went to the bake sale on Sunday.

Now here's something my husband made all on his own. He's not really into plating, so it's a little hard to see what it is, but it's a stacked portobella mushroom dish he adapted from "Real Food Daily." It had a layer of baked polenta on the bottom, and portobella, carrots, red pepper, onions and a light tomato sauce on the top. It was amazingly delicious.

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Bake sale for Haiti

Today there was a vegan bake sale for Haiti and I contributed some baked goods. Yes, genuinely sweet ones! I made Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, and one of the tester recipes from the cookbook. Instead of just packaging the goodies in plastic baggies like I usually do for bake sales, I made cellophane packages tied with ribbon. They looked very cute if I do say so myself.

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Valentine's Day idea
Meredith from Farm Sanctuary asked me to post this, and I'm happy to do so. Sponsoring an animal is a gift of love that fits well with Valentine's Day — or any day.

This Valentine’s Day, open your heart to the rescued animals at Farm Sanctuary. Each of these individuals has a huge capacity for love and a story to share that will fill you with hope and inspiration.
Sponsor an animal for yourself and share your Valentine’s Day spirit with one of the sweet animals at our shelters. Or, give a sponsorship as a gift because there’s no better way to show that someone special in your life how much you care. All of our sanctuary residents depend on sponsors to provide them with nourishing food, safe refuge, veterinary care, and everything else they need for a happy and healthy life.
Sponsors receive an adoption certificate with a color photograph of their adopted friend, an adoption card, an invitation to schedule a VIP tour to meet their sponsored animal, and other benefits depending on the animal selected. Click here to see a list of our sponsorship packages.
In the name of love for all beings, sponsor one of the farm animals below this Valentine’s Day! Or, sponsor them all to receive or share a whole barnyard full of love! You can also make a special one-time gift to the animals.

Roasted vegetables with garlic and lemon

This is a real article I found in the newspaper. I swear - I'm not making this up. "An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital. Firefighters had to evacuate the AT&T building in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, after the fumes led someone to call 911. A hazmat team was called in. The mixture of old lunches and disinfectant caused 25 people to need treatment for vomiting and nausea. But the enterprising worker who cleaned the fridge wasn't one of them - she can't smell because of allergies." (Associated Press)

Whoa. At our house I was beginning to suspect that the refrigerator and the compost pile had become one and the same. It was not yet time to call 911, but it was definitely time to clean out all the odds and ends of things that tend to get pushed to the back of the shelves and the bottom of the bins. As I cleaned out the unusable, I came upon an orphan white beet, a single little pepper starting to shrivel, two partially used bags of potatoes and some enormous carrots. Not to mention a bowl of water with a lone chunk of tofu, and a lot of very ripe small tomatoes. After all that cleaning I needed something really easy to cook, and decided I might as well roast the stuff I'd found.

Roasting veggies is so easy it doesn't feel much like cooking, but the results are wonderful. I used yellow and red potatoes, a humongous carrot, a white beet, garlic cloves, a small banana pepper and a lot of small red tomatoes. I preheated the oven to 425˚ and cut the potatoes and beet into smallish chunks. The carrot got cut first into 3" sections and then into lengthwise slices. I added some olive oil and turned the veggies to coat them, and I mixed in a handful of chopped parsley. Some unpeeled garlic cloves also went into the earthenware pan with the veggies, and two 1/2" thick slices of tofu were coated with a little tamari and laid on top. The veggies were more or less in a single layer in a large, uncovered dish.

After 30 minutes in the oven, the tomatoes were added to the dish, and it went back into the oven for another 20-30 minutes or so, until the potatoes were cooked. When I took the pan out, I squeezed the garlic cloves out of their peels and mixed it into the veggies, and I broke up the tomatoes a bit to let the steam out. Some fresh ground pepper and it was ready to eat. I rarely add salt to vegetables, especially roasted ones that have so much natural flavor, but everyone has different tastes so add the seasonings you think are needed. You could drizzle on a little balsamic vinegar if desired. I had planned to squeeze lemon over the top but forgot all about it. Next time.

Carrot-ginger muffins with coconut flour

While my husband took the shopping list and actually shopped, I wandered around the food coop mesmerized by the packaging (graphic design research?) and vast array of available packaged products. I can remember when going to the coop meant scooping from big bulk bins. (The memory of trying to scoop from those bins while not dumping out the baby in my backpack is particularly vivid.) I rarely bought packaged stuff; I wanted basic ingredients like dried beans and grains. We also had our own small coop where we ordered and split huge bags of beans, grains and nuts, and large tubs of tahini and peanut butter. But Ken does the shopping now, (and a lot of cooking) and he's more into cans, bags and boxes. Staring at the amazing variety of packaged flours, my eye riveted on a bag of coconut flour. Just the sound - coconut flour - intrigued me. It sounded so tropical, so beachy, so smooth. "Mmmm," I was thinking as I grabbed it and headed for the cart, "wonder what I can make?"

I had all sorts of plans for chocolate things with coconut flour, but the day I decided to use my coconut flour was more of a muffin day. It was cloudy, windy and chilly, and muffins have a sunny, warming quality about them, don't you think? Besides, if I made a lot of muffins, I could freeze a bunch and have baked goods around for a while.

Coconut flour is very high in fiber and protein, low in carbohydrates and contains no gluten. It can be part of a mix of no-gluten flours when baking gluten-free. It can be added to smoothies and baked goods in smaller amounts to increase fiber. It also adds sweetness to baked goods so you can use less sugar. When not baking gluten-free, you can replace up to 20% of wheat flour with coconut flour. Coconut flour absorbs lots of liquid so you need to add extra liquid equal to the amount of coconut flour. (eg: substitute 1/2 cup coconut flour for 1/2 cup wheat flour and add an extra 1/2 cup liquid to the recipe) It's possible to use all coconut flour in certain recipes, but this seems to require using a LOT of eggs, which doesn't fit into my vegan diet. I'm not using it for gluten-free baking, just to add some extra taste, texture and fiber.

I decided to add coconut flour to a muffin recipe — and make carrot and ginger muffins. Because the coconut flour so readily absorbs liquid, the batter will be thick, but the muffins will be light, with a moist and almost creamy texture and gentle sweetness. I couldn't taste the coconut. The muffins were small, so don't be afraid to fill the tins. The recipe made 18 muffins.



Carrot and ginger muffins
Lightly grease muffin tins for 18 muffins
Pre-heat oven to 350˚F

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large carrot, finely grated
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup crystallized ginger, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Sift the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar together into a large bowl. Stir in the carrots and ginger to coat well with flour.
2. Mix together the juice, water, oil, vanilla.
3. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and fold in to incorporate all the flour. Do not over-mix.
4. Fill muffin tins nearly full.
   
5. Bake 20-25 minutes until done. (muffin tops will be springy.)
6. Remove muffins from pans and cool on wire rack. Can be frozen when cool.

Note: I froze the muffins and they still taste great when defrosted, but they seem to take a long time to defrost. I usually end up eating them half-frozen, and the texture is a little hard. I finally let one defrost completely, and the texture was creamy just like when it was fresh. Obviously it's best to make fresh muffins, but that's not going to happen around here as often as I'd like, so if its frozen or nothing, I'll take the frozen.

Mung bean soup with kale

By the time you read this post, I'll be on a plane to Seattle to celebrate my granddaughter's first birthday. She was born on Valentine's day which may explain why she is so incredibly sweet and lovable! I can't wait to see her and her parents, and our other Seattle-based son and his girlfriend. We'll also be in Seattle all through next week, seriously looking into whether or not we want to move there. But more about that if it actually happens.

Now on to the soup. I was about to put the raisin jar back on its shelf when I noticed the forgotten jar sitting behind it. It contained about two cups of whole mung beans. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd made anything with those beans, but I really like mung bean soup. Most people think of mung beans as the sprouts that appear so often in Chinese dishes, but the unsprouted beans make a wonderful soup. You can buy them whole or split (mung dal), with or without their skins, but I love the way the small, oval, green whole beans look, so I've always bought them whole. I don't soak them, though you could, and I like to cook them in the pressure cooker, but they can just as easily be cooked in a regular pot. They are supposed to be very healthful and easy to digest. I'm on a ginger and garlic streak so I combined those with what seemed like complimentary spices. I used crushed red pepper because we were out of cayenne and I completely forgot to add the cilantro. It was delicious.


uncooked, whole mung beans

Mung bean soup
2 cups whole mung beans, sorted, washed and drained
7 cups water (more if you want a thinner soup)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (more if you like it really hot)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sweetener of choice
juice of 1 lime
1 bunch kale, washed, center stem removed, chopped
1 large carrot, julienned
toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
fresh coriander
hot sauce

1. Put the beans in a pressure cooker with the water and bring to pressure. Cook for 25 minutes. (You can also cook the beans in a regular pot but it will take a bit longer.)
2. When the beans are cooked, you can either leave them whole, blend them into a smooth purée, or blend about half of the soup with an immersion or regular blender. I chose to partially blend the beans to achieve a soup with a bit of texture.
3. While the beans are cooking, heat the oil in a wok or large skillet. Add the cumin seeds and fry until they turn brown. (Don't let them burn.)
4. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric and salt and stir-fry for 1 minute.
5. Add the cayenne, kale and carrot and stir-fry until the kale is tender and bright green. You may need to add a splash of water to the wok if it's too dry.
6. When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the beans along with the sugar and lime juice. Add a tablespoon or two of water to the wok and scrape up any remaining seasonings to add to the soup pot.
7. Serve in bowls garnished with pumpkin seeds, hot sauce and fresh coriander.

Tofu and veggies in ginger-garlic sauce

I love cookbooks, and even though I own a lot, there are always more I want. But, recently, something happened that made me ask this question: "What might make you suspect you own too many cookbooks?" We had been to the library a few weeks before, and brought home several cookbooks to try. We made a couple of dishes from them, and found one book in particular very appealing. Then, as I sat reading in the living room one evening, my husband walked into the room carrying our favorite of the borrowed cookbooks. "We own this," he said. "Huh?," I responded. "We own this cookbook. I just found it on the shelf." Yikes. I really should try to use our cookbooks more often, or at least get a grip on which ones are on the shelf.

So when I needed something to make for dinner did I turn to one of my many cookbooks for a recipe? Nope. I found an interesting mushroom recipe in my collection that I'd clipped from Better Homes and Gardens back in 2007, but had never made. (attributed to Catherine Wilkinson) I've adapted the seasonings and expanded it from a mushroom side-dish into a main dish that includes veggies and tofu.

My son and I cooked dinner together with me doing the cutting and him doing the cooking. I precut and measured all the ingredients into little dishes, just like the TV chefs, and cooking was fast and easy, just the way I like it. What a team! The dish was wonderful, and I think it's one I'll make often.



Tofu and vegetables in ginger and garlic sauce (serves four)

• 1 tablespoon vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (tuong ot toi) or 1/4 to1/2 teaspoon Thai red curry paste* (optional)
  
• 12 ounces baby bella (cremini) mushrooms (or portabella or shiitake)
  
• 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I used light)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice (I used 2)
• 2 cups broccoli, cut into narrow strips
• 1 large carrot, julienned
• 6 to 8 ounces tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• cooked brown rice (I used basmati)

1. Steam the broccoli and carrots briefly in a small amount of water in a covered pot until the broccoli turns bright green and is crisp-tender. Uncover and set aside.
2. Heat the margarine and oil in a large skillet. Add the tofu, green onions, cilantro, ginger and garlic. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
   
3. Stir in the mushrooms and soy sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and chili-garlic sauce. Add the broccoli and carrots. Bring to boiling, turn down heat and simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
6. Serve over cooked rice.

*Thai red curry paste can be very hot so use discretion. If using this, you might want to start with 1/4 teaspoon, depending on how spicy you like your food.

Just want to mention that the weather has certainly taken a turn for the better here in southern Wisconsin. Over the weekend the thermometer soared into the 40s (: D), and combined with the sunshine, it felt like spring to us. But what do we know? We unbutton our coats when it hits 30! (Not me, of course. I admit that 30 feels pleasantly balmy, but I still require appropriate clothing. I keep my long underwear on until at least March.)

In addition to the great weather, I had another pleasant weekend experience. My friend Claire won two tickets to the operetta Candide, by being the first person to call in to a radio station, and she invited me along. (Don't you sometimes wonder who those people are that win the radio call-in contests?) We had dinner together and then attended the performance, which was wonderful and hilarious. What a great evening — and I stayed awake for the whole thing.

Sweet and tart carrots

We had company for dinner last night and my husband and I shared the cooking. He made Bolivian cabbage and potatoes and wok-seared tofu. I made curried coconut corn soup, basmati rice in the rice cooker, steamed carrots with champagne vinegar and lovage dressing, and chocolate banana cake. Everything but the soup and carrots has appeared on this blog (the tofu is in other recipes) and the carrots, little orange bursts of flavor, debut tonight.

I wanted an easy, colorful and delicious veggie to round out the plate, and I thought why not carrots? Their bright orange color would look good with the green cabbage and white (yes, I admit it was white) rice. Plus you can get them in a bag already washed and peeled. My husband was supposed to make them and he's not such a great cutter, so I thought he could just get a bag of baby carrots and slice each one in half lengthwise. Anyone can manage that, right? He did that, but then he couldn't think of what to do with them. I remembered a salad dressing I made some time ago that would be perfect to dress up the carrots. It's tart and sweet and I got the great idea to add finely shredded lovage to the dressing. Lovage has a sharp, slightly bitter taste similar to celery leaves, and is very refreshing. It perfectly balanced the vinegar and crystallized ginger and its deep green color looked really cool on the carrots. I had some of the leftover carrots for lunch today and they were fantastic. I'm going to make some ahead of time for a brunch we're having so they can marinate overnight.

Sweet and tart carrots

• one pound of ready-to-eat baby carrots
• 3 Tablespoons orange muscat champagne vinegar (or rice vinegar or wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons natural soy sauce, shoyu or tamari
• 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon crystallized ginger pieces
• several lovage leaves, celery leaves or mint leaves

Make the dressing.

1. Mix the first six ingredients in a small bowl. Finely cut the leaves and add to the bowl.
2. Slice each carrot in half lengthwise.
3. Steam carrots in a small amount of water until tender-crisp, or however you like them.
4. Arrange the carrots in a dish and pour the dressing over.

About the lovage. I have no idea why I originally planted lovage. I like growing herbs and probably thought it sounded like a cool plant to grow. It's been growing for about 15 years - faithfully coming back year after year with no help whatsoever from me. Some years I even forget to eat any of it. This year it has reproduced itself, and has appeared in another garden spot much more convenient for picking. Such a clever plant. It grows about three to five feet high and I find it rather attractive and tasty. It tastes a lot like celery.

Ginger-carrot quick bread

I watched this quick bread being made on Everyday Food, a PBS cooking show, and I just had to try it. Of course, they made it with white flour and white sugar, so the carrot juice turned it a beautiful orange color. The color was part of the appeal, but by the time I made the cake "healthy" and vegan, it was a much different color. It looked more like ginger bread, but I can assure you it tasted delish. Because I don't like pieces of nuts in cake, I ground up the walnuts in my food processor until they were crumbly. I think adding the ground nuts made the cake taste richer. It was really easy, too, especially since there was no carrot grating involved.

Ginger-carrot quick bread

• 3/4 cup sucanot (evaporated cain juice)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups carrot juice
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup ground toasted walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350˚ and lightly oil a 8" x 4" loaf pan
2. Mix sugar, oil, vanilla and carrot juice in a large bowl.
3. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. (or just mix together well)
4. Add flour mixture to liquid mixture and mix just until combined. (In other words, don't overmix)
5. Bake 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then invert onto a cooling rack.

note: When I peered through the glass door of my oven half way through baking to check on this cake, I never thought it would turn out okay. It looked awfully wet. But it turned out great in the taste department. It wouldn't, however, win any high-rise awards, although it was entirely presentable. Mine took the whole 55 minutes to bake.

Note: * I just made this again and I used white whole wheat flour. The color was much better this time—more orange. The cake rose beautifully and was soft and delicious!

Creamy cauliflower-carrot soup

It's been a rough week for various reasons I won't go into, and I've been eating weird combinations of leftovers instead of cooking. Finally, on Friday night, I needed to cook something. I'm the only one in the house right now (counting humans) as my husband is lecturing and attending a conference in Brazil, so cooking a lot of food was not really reasonable. After such a long and tiring week, I also needed something easy to prepare — and easy to clean up. I decided to make a creamy cauliflower and carrot soup in the pressure cooker. I used to make a similar soup for the kids when I was too tired or short on time to prepare a larger meal. I could give them a nourishing vegetable soup and maybe peanut butter or hummus sandwiches and they would be perfectly happy. In fact, on many occasions when I was searching for something to make for dinner, one of the kids would ask for this soup! It was a family favorite. (When I made it for the kids, I didn't load in the pepper.) I also use this method for similar soups such as broccoli, winter squash or carrot, and sometimes I add celeriac or parsnips to one of the vegetables to add depth to the flavor. Carrot and celeriac is a really good combination, and adding grated fresh ginger after the soup is blended makes it special.

This soup, though simple to make, has a lush and velvety texture that belies its humble beginnings. And the color, a gorgeous shade of pale orange, is comfort for the eyes. You can intensify the flavor with grated fresh ginger, or other herbs and spices of your choice, but the plain version, with fresh dill, was just what I was looking for. I accompanied the soup with avocado spread on crackers.

Creamy cauliflower and carrot soup

• 1 large head cauliflower, cut into large pieces
• 2 very large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 quart water (or enough to come just to the top of the vegetables)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
  
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Sucanot or sweetener of your choice
• lots of freshly ground black pepper
• fresh dill, parsley or cilantro

1. Place veggies and water in cooker and bring to pressure.
   
2. Turn heat down a little and cook five minutes.
   
3. Turn off heat and wait for pressure to come down.
   
4. With an immersion blender, purée the soup in the pot. If you don't have an immersion blender, blend the soup in two batches in a regular blender. Blend until completely smooth and velvety. If too thick, thin with low-sodium vegetable stock.
   
5. Add lemon, sweetener, salt and pepper. Check seasonings. Garnish generously with dill and serve.

note: Substitute low-sodium vegetable broth for some or all of the water, for extra flavor.