Craft Stew

Even though I’m a vegetarian, I grew up  in Maryland, and I’ve never stopped yearning for southern food.  Until lately,  I’ve been out of luck. Home-style southern cooking just hasn’t been a popular topic among vegetarian cookbook writers. 

Fortunately, things have begun to change.

With the publication of  the Vegan Soul Kitchen, Cookin’ Southern Vegetarian Style, and Great American Vegetarian, vegetarians can now enjoy their southern roots without eating meat.

Great American Vegetarian, by Nava Atlas, is the source for my favorite Vegetarian Jambalaya recipe.  This recipe is full of delicious creole flavor, without including a speck of animal products. Plus, it healthy!

Vegetarian Jambalaya by Nava Atlas

Ingredients

     3 cups water

     1 1/4 cups raw brown rice

     2 tablepoons canola oil, divided

     8 links soy “sausage”

     1 large onion, chopped

     3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced

     4 celery stalks, diced

     1 medium green or red bell pepper, diced

     1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

     1 teaspoon each: paprika, dried oregano, dried basil

     1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

     cayenne pepper to taste

     salt to taste

Directions

Bring the water to a simmer in a saucepan.  Stir in the rice; cover and cook at a gentle, steady simmer, covered, until the water is absorbed, about 35 minutes.

Heat just enough of the oil to lightly coat the bottom of  large, nonstick skillet. When hot, arrange the “sausage” links in the skillt and cook over medium-high heat, gently turning them until  all sides are golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside until needed.

Heat the remaining oil in the same skillet.  Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic, celery and bell pepper, and continue to saute until all the vegetables are lightly browned.

Add the remaining ingredients except the salt. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cut the “sausage” links into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Add to the skillet and simmer briefly,  just until they are heated through.

Combine the skillet mixture with the hot cooked rice in a large serving bowl and toss together thoroughly. Season to taste with salt (and a bit more cayenne if you’d like) and serve at once.

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The following, with quite a few changes, is based on a recipe called Greens And Noodles from the Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook. I changed the recipe to make it a little quicker and a whole lot more garlicky.

Ingredients

    1/2  lb pasta, cooked el dente and drained

     1 lb. chopped frozen spinach, microwaved and roughly drained

     1/4 cup olive oil

     5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

     1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

     1 tablespoon butter

      salt

     1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Stir the butter into the hot pasta.

Saute the garlic in the olive oil. When the garlic starts to turn brown, add the red pepper flakes and cook for another 30-60 seconds. Remove from the heat.

Add the spinach and pasta to the garlic and mix very well. Stir in the parmesan and salt to taste.

Note: What does roughly drained mean? The spinach should have no visible pools of water but should still be quite moist. If a handful of the cooked spinach was squeezed, one or two tablespoons of water would drip out.

Get your own copy of Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook: Hassle-Free, Healthful Meals for Really Busy Cooks at Amazon.

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Spaghetti With Red Wine And Rosemary Marinara Sauce was the kick-off recipe for  The Cookbook Experiment. This recipe came from the cookbook Vegan Italiano by Donna Klein. Donna Klein is known for her many excellent vegan cookbooks.

Based on the many excellent reviews of Vegan Italiano, and the description of the sauce, I was expected a truely mouth watering dish. I was disappointed.

I despise sweet pasta sauces and this recipe was definately on the sugary side. I should have realized ahead of time when I saw sugar on the ingredient list, but I figured if I only used a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon, the sauce should be fine. It wasn’t.

However, in all honesty, I need to say that the problem is with me, not the recipe. Though I didn’t enjoy the sauce, I could tell that others would. It was full bodied, hearty and the seasonings melded very well together. It just wasn’t a sauce for me.

If you think this dish may interest you, it’s easy to duplicate without a recipe. Just take a very basic tomato sauce, add a small amount of sugar, basil, rosemary and 3/4 cup of dry red wine.

If you do need a recipe, try the one called Red Wine And Rosemary Marinara over at MyRecipes. Just substitute one tablespoon of sugar for the 2 tablespoons of honey, and you have practically the same recipe.

Get your own copy of  Vegan Italiano: Meat-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free Dishes from Sun-Drenched Italy at Amazon.

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Yesterday, just out of curiosity,  I decided to count my cookbooks. I spent several hours going through boxes in my living room, bedroom and storage room and I never did finish counting.  However,  I realized by a conservative estimate, I have close to 200 cookbooks.

That bothered me.

If I used most of those 200 cookbooks on a regular basis, or even once or twice a year, I wouldn’t care. But in truth, I only use three cookbooks on a regular basis and the rest just sit around taking up space. I hate waste, and my cookbook collection is a major waste.

Here’s what I decided to do…

For the next year, my project is to cook from as many of my cookbooks as possible. From each  cookbook, I’m going to prepare from 3-10 recipes. Afterwards, I will decide whether to keep the cookbook or get rid of it.  By the time the year is over, I will have either a lot of great new recipes, or a very pared down cookbook collection. 

Either way, I win.

Here are the books I currently use on a regular basis:

The Complete Tightwad Gazette isn’t actually a cookbook, but it does have some great recipes.  What I love about this book is that the recipes are so flexible. There are basic recipes for muffins, casseroles, breads, pilafs  and quiches.  Each can be totally customized.

For instance, her muffin recipe allows you to choose virtually any combination of dry ingredients, any wet ingredients and any flavorings and make a delicious muffin. Using her recipe I once combined flour, cheese, tomato sauce, olives and spices to make a pizza muffin. Another time, I used flour, cornmeal and some apple butter to make another delicious treat.

 Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition – 2006 is my go-to cookbook. The recipes are sometime just so-so tasting, but they always work. I’ve used Joy of Cooking to make pancakes, french toast, nut bread, fruit bread and biscuits.

The 5 in 10 Pasta Cookbook: 5 Ingredients in 10 Minutes or Less is a book I’ve been using for years. All of the recipes I’ve made from this little book are fast, easy and surprisingly good. Two of my favorites are Fettuccine In Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce With Fresh Basil and Spaghetti Alla Carrettiera.

My Own Notebook contains all the recipes I have accumulated over the years. These include recipes I’ve gotten from friends, my mother-in-law, the internet and cookbooks.  These are the recipes I use most often.

What new cookbooks am I starting off with?

My initial line-up will be  Vegan Italiano by Donna Klein,  Quickies by Monda Rosenberg and Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook br Sarah Fritschner.

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