Antonio Bandaras and The Happy Herbivore Cookbook

I had kind of a strange dream the other night. I had just been hired to work in a daycare center where parents left their kids while they worked or shopped at the mall. The odd thing was the kids were high school-aged students, not pre-schoolers. The students were well dressed and attractive, and were from various expensive prep schools, and they were not very amenable to following directions from the teachers. At one point I noticed the students going to the school kitchen and getting food, though a scheduled meal was not being served. I went to ask the other teacher, who happened to be Antonio Banderas, if that was OK, and saw that he seemed kind of harassed, and was rolling beans into tortillas, making burritos to serve the students.



I couldn't help but notice that the beans he was using were from the same chili recipe my husband and I had just made from The Happy Herbivore cookbook. It was awkward asking him stupid procedural questions because, um, he was Antonio Bandaras. He LOOKED like Antonio Bandaras, and SOUNDED like Antonio Bandaras so, as you can imagine, it was quite distracting. He was very nice, but so busy rolling the burritos he didn't really have time to chat, and seeing as I was pretty flustered anyway, I didn't try to make conversation. That's all I remember about the dream — or at least all I'm willing to tell you —so let's just talk about the cookbook.

To be honest, I've had a hard time writing a review of the cookbook because when I first received it from the publisher, we tried a few recipes and didn't like them. Go figure. I know there will always be recipes in a cookbook that don't appeal to me, so after taking a little break from the cookbook, we tried again. So many bloggers are cooking from The Happy Herbivore and loving it, I had to give it another shot. We made the Chili sans Carne and it was delicious. (And as you can see, it might inspire great dreams!) The chili seems pretty typical of the kind of recipes you'll find in the book — familiar, easy-to-prepare vegan comfort food — but without added fat, except for the fat that may be contained in prepared ingredients like Thai chili sauce or ... chocolate chips. Lindsay Nixon aims to provide delicious, healthy, low-fat foods that don't remind you with every bite that your dinner is healthy and low in fat.



When I made the chocolate zucchini muffins, I was really worried about how they would turn out, with no added fat except for a few chocolate chips. They were excellent — moist and tender. I served them for dessert, and everyone who ate one loved it. Although I don't cook fat-free, I generally cook relatively low-fat, low-sugar and low-salt foods, and though the muffins had no added fat, they did call for a range of 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar. While I usually use 1/4 cup of sugar for muffins, for these I used 1/2 cup, to stay true to the recipe. (Sometimes no-fat recipes tend to have more sugar and salt to compensate for the flavor and texture fat usually adds, but in general, this doesn't seem to be the case with The Happy Herbivore.) Because the muffins were so low in fat, I decided to continue the healthy theme and frost them with a version of sweet potato frosting, that I originally found on Diet Dessert and Dogs. Trust me, you can't tell this fudge-y frosting is sweet potato-based, and it makes me feel a little healthier knowing I'm not eating big mouthfuls of margarine and powdered sugar. The other little change I made was to use whole spelt flour instead of wheat.



The last recipe I tried was a pumpkin pie that makes its own crust. I love pumpkin pie a lot, and I still like my old version better, but this one was quite good, and my guests really loved it. I sprinkled it with chocolate chips for a little extra pizazz. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this might be a recipe to keep in mind. It's a much lower-fat interpretation of pumpkin pie that the usual crusted version, and I'll probably make it again for Thanksgiving.

In addition to low-fat renditions of all your favorite dishes, Lindsay offers a whole selection of interesting condiments and spice mixes (Berberé, Cajun essence, vegan Worcestershire sauce, etc.) to add flavor and excitement to food. Anyone wishing to reduce their fat consumption might enjoy this cookbook, but I think it would be an especially good resource for new vegans looking to create healthier meals while still enjoying old favorites.

I tend to cook with very little fat, and sometimes cook with no added fat, but I'm not by any means fat-free. We're bombarded with so much information, research, and expert opinions about what we should or shouldn't eat, it can get truly confusing. Is coconut oil a panacea or a highly saturated fat to avoid? Is olive oil a health-giving fat or just an unnecessary fat? Should we avoid sunflower oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil? What about margarine like Earth Balance? Should we be cooking fat-free or is it OK to sauté veggies in 2 teaspoons of oil? What do you think?

Disclaimer: The book was sent to me free of charge by the publisher. I was under no obligation to review it, or to write a favorable review. For reasons unknown to me, I was not offered payment in exchange for writing a review.

Shake that boodie | tomatillo salsa

Last weekend I attended a rock concert for kids that was held at the architecturally incredible downtown Seattle Public Library. Let me tell you, things have changed since the mellow days of Raffi and Mr. Rogers. There were five hip bands (yes, real bands) playing on two stages. Our party, which consisted of three adults and one 2-1/2-year old, listened to two of the bands before said 2-1/2-half-year-old reached her personal limit.


Caspar Babypants rocks the crowd.

The first band to rock us was Caspar Babypants, and it’s a great group. They play music that appeals to kids and adults, with intelligence and humor that both entertains the kids and often goes over their heads. And you can hear the singers’ voices and understand the words. Yay for that.


Miss E enjoys a little rock time.

The lead singer, Chris Ballew, is a member of the band The Presidents of the United States of America. Get that.



The second set was The Not-Its. The girl-singers wear pink tutus and the guys wear pink ties, and they play LOUD. A lot of the small audience members also wear tutus to better get with the vibe.


Miss E chills to The Not-Its.

Along with her tutu, Miss E had to don her sound-dampening headphones so she could enjoy the music without freaking out. I, on the other hand, had no idea a kiddie band would be so loud, and didn’t have my ear plugs with me. I have to say, I prefer The Not-Its CD over their live performance; I can hear the words and control the decibel level.



After the concert, I was hoping to get some cool photographs of the library but it was so crowded, and I was kind of busy, so I only got a couple of shots of the childrens room.


Miss E and her mom admire a panda pair.

When I returned home after a long afternoon of music, the subject of what to have for dinner came up, as it always does. My son, who's been totally into cooking this week, wanted to make salsa with the tomatillos he’d found at the farmers market the day before. I suggested a bean dish to go with it, and we settled on me cooking kidney beans and him making chili and salsa.



Feeling really tired of canned beans, I wanted to cook the beans from scratch for the richer taste that comes from home-cooked beans. I didn’t have a lot of time so I used the quick-cooking method that I learned years ago from my friend Claudia. I put the beans and water in the pressure cooker and bring the pressure up. Then I bring the pressure down, drain the beans, and start again with fresh water. When the pressure comes up the second time, the beans are cooked. The whole process takes about one hour, with no soaking time. I cooked the beans a little extra because they're kind of old, and old beans take longer to cook.

The chili was served over brown rice and topped with fresh tomatillo salsa, and it tasted great. Here's a link to a recipe for the salsa, and some information about tomatillos.



And here's a completely gratuitous photo of some gorgeous roasted peppers that we bought at the farmers market, roasted on the spot and still warm. Although our farmers market runs all year, treats like this sure won't stick around. Is it spring, yet?

Ken's delectable chili

I remember in years past when everyone was longingly whimpering about wanting a white Christmas. "Oh why can't we have a little snow," they would moan. Not this year. This year the talk is all about canceled plans, anticipated visits that were postponed or not happening, worries about travel. And questions about where to put the snow that continues to fall with abandon. It's beautiful but it's enough. This is our second year of what feels like the Snow Olympics — and I fear we are going to break records again. We've so far had 36 inches in December. Yay for us. We should get a medal or something.

So what's the perfect food for freezing, blustery snow-filled days? Of course the answer is chili. (Or is the answer chocolate? Maybe I'm confused.) Even the sound of the name kind of fits the season. But EVERYONE already has a recipe for the "best chili in the world," don't they? What possible reason could there be for hurling another one into the blogosphere? That's what I thought when my husband made this version. I wasn't even in the mood for chili, and wasn't as excited to try it as he was to serve it. I could see it was especially pretty, with all the vegetable colors, so I took a picture or two, but really didn't expect to post about it—too overdone. But the taste was so exuberant it surprised me. The second time he made it convinced me that it was a worthy addition to the chili repertoire. It has a lot of ingredients but Ken says it's really easy to make.

So where did this terrific chili originate? Well, Ken was at the vet with our dog, Buffy. Buff was in the back having blood drawn, and Ken was in the waiting room — waiting. And waiting. Now, when I'm at the vet, I always pick up the dog magazines, but Ken's not sentimental like that. He doesn't care that Super Speedo Galactic Fido just won his 10th all-champion dog master competition. He found himself attracted to a Rachel Ray cooking magazine instead. There was a recipe for chili in there that inspired him to come home and make his own version of the dish he'd read about. Go Rachel! Maybe I should subscribe. (Just kidding.)

Perfect chili

• two large yellow onions, chopped
• three large cloves garlic, chopped
• two–three celery stalks, chopped
• two medium peeled carrots, julienned
• three large sweet peppers (including red or yellow), chopped
• one jalapeño pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 head cauliflower. divided into small florets
• one can (or 1-3/4 cups home-cooked) kidney beans, drained
• one can (or 1-3/4 cups home-cooked) pinto beans, drained
• one can (or 1-3/4 cups home-cooked) garbanzo beans, drained
• one 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes (like Muir Glen)
• one cup frozen corn
• one–two tablespoons good quality chili powder
• one teaspoons dried oregano
• one teaspoon dried basil
• one teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine (or lemon juice, if you don't use wine)
• about four ounces chorizo-style seitan*
• salt to taste
• olive oil for cooking

1. In a large, heavy pan or dutch oven, sauté the cauliflower, onions, celery, carrots and peppers in one or two tablespoons of olive oil for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. A minute before the vegetables are done, add the garlic. (You know what I mean. Just don't burn the garlic.)
2. Add the kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, seitan, tomatoes and wine.
3. Stir in the chili powder, oregano, basil and hot sauce.
4. Add water or vegetable broth as needed for the right consistency. (And so the chili won't burn as it cooks.)
5. Simmer for about one hour or until the cauliflower is soft and the flavors have blended.
6. Stir in the frozen corn and heat until the corn is hot.
7. Adjust seasonings.

We serve ours with brown rice or with crusty bread.

notes:1. *My husband bought Upton's Naturals chorizo-style seitan to use in this recipe.

2. If we don't have leftover home-cooked beans, we use canned beans with no salt added. The cheapest beans we've found are the 365 brand at Whole Foods. The no-salt ones always seem to be hidden on the highest shelf!

3. Salt and spiciness are personal preferences, so add the amount that seems right for your taste. This recipe will be moderately spicy, depending on the heat in your jalapeño and chili powder.

4. I think a few fat leaves of Italian parsley or cilantro would go well with this. It needs a little dark green!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Camper chili

One of the things we got to do while in Seattle recently was go camping. We went to the northern tip of Whidbey Island to Deception Pass State Park. Because our travel plans came together late, we were unable to get a camp site next to our son and family, and had to be in a different area of the park, about four miles away. This was a little irritating because the site right next to theirs, although technically reserved, remained empty the entire time we were there. Oh well.

Although our summer vacations usually involved camping when the kids were growing up, it's been years since we've slept in a tent. I love the sensation of waking up in a tent—breathing in the cool, fresh early-morning air. On this little camping excursion, the (grown-up plus baby) kids had a rather luxurious tent with a queen-size air mattress, and the old parents had their kids' old backpacking tent. To say my husband had some difficulty getting in and out of this tent is an understatement, and he seemed quite disturbed by the extreme coziness of the interior. I, on the other hand, considered the fact that the small size meant we would sleep warmer in the tent, and since I had forgotten my p.j.s, and was basically wearing all the layers I'd brought on the trip in an effort to be warm, that seemed like a plus to me.


The park is quite scenic and we had a great time hiking and just hanging out enjoying the fresh air. We hiked up to a summit for a great view, and then down to a beautiful, log-strewn beach. The only downside to this lovely park, and I have to mention it just in case someone reads this and decides to go there, is that there's a military base on Whidbey Island, and lots (LOTS) of planes fly overhead, disturbing the quiet. I didn't hear them during the night, but the kids said they were disturbed by loud and long-lasting plane noise at midnight. This is a very popular state park, and filled with campers, all of whom seemed to have three dogs, but it was amazingly quiet in the campgrounds and on the trails. (Except for the *#$@% planes.) I'm not kidding about the dogs, but I never heard any barking and didn't see any poop. Weird.

Our son cooked dinner on a single-burner backpacker stove, and for supper he made chili, based on the recipe found on a box of Fantastic Foods instant chili! Nothing fancy — very easy but great tasting camp food. First he chopped and sauteed a large onion. He added the chili mix, following the box directions for water quantity.

He added a can of drained pinto beans and a can of undrained crushed tomatoes. He served it over leftover rice brought from home in the cooler, and topped it with avocado and tortilla chips. You could also serve carrot sticks for an almost instant meal. 6 servings. (He added an extra can of black beans to stretch the chili and we had it for lunch the next day.)

Although we brought cooked rice from home, my other son recently introduced me to a product that would be very handy for camping or lunch at work. It's fully-cooked brown rice sold at Trader Joe's. It's something I would never have even thought to look for, but he brought me some and it actually tastes really good. (It costs $1.69 for 10.5 ounces.) When we used to go camping with the kids we had a two burner Coleman stove, and we would cook a big pot of brown rice as part of dinner, then save the leftovers to warm up with raisins, cashews and soymilk for breakfast the next morning.

So what the heck are these? They were growing along one of the trails.