Vegetarian recipes

So.

I've been wanting to return to being a vegetarian for awhile, but didn't have the push to get back into it. Last week, on the 401 on the way home from a retreat for Brain Power Studio, we were stopped near a large livestock truck. As the car and truck paced each other, I looked over and saw a pig's curious face checking me out. Then I saw little hooves, and finally, a cute snuffly snout checking out the tiny air space that they'd provided for the pigs to breathe. My heart hitched at the sight and I blurted to my pal beside me: 'That's it, I'm going vegetarian'.

She said: 'What? When?', I said: 'Right now, today.' And the little hairs on my arms stood up. Wow!

So, lately I've been making big piles of hummus and also really gotten into dahl (tx to my Mom ;-)

Due to popular demand, I’m posting my how-to guide to delightful hummus (from my good friend  Brenda) and the recipe for dahl that I’ve been concocting lately as well (that is nommy!) Hope you enjoy.

(From the Moosewood Cookbook – Cooks at home)

How to Cook Dried Beans

Measure 1 - 2 cups of garbanzo beans (chick peas) and pour them out on a cookie sheet. Check them out. If there are any weirdo ones, or pieces of dirt or little stones, get rid of them. Rinse your beans!

Place the rinsed, picked over beans in a pot, add cold water to cover the beans, plus at least 2 inches and set aside to sit at room temperature. After 4 hours or more, drain off the soaking water. Cover the beans with fresh water and they are ready to cook.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the picked-over, rinsed, soaked and drained beans in a large pot and cover with water, 2 inches deeper than the beans. Place the beans on high heat and bring them to a rapid boil, then transfer them to a large covered casserole dish and place in the oven. Bake for about 1.25 – 1.5 hrs.

Remove from the oven and drain your beans!

Brenda's Hummus

1 19 oz. can chick peas (or your freshly cooked beans, right out of the oven)

1 clove of garlic (or more)

½ tsp salt

3 – 4 Tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)

¼ cup lemon juice (or juice from 2 lemons)

¼ cup water

Place the drained chick peas in a blender or food processor and process.

Mash the garlic with the salt. A mortar and pestle work well to mash garlic. Add the garlic, salt, tahini, lemon juice and water to the chick peas.

Mix very well until texture is smooth, adding more water if needed.

Serve on a platter and garnish with paprika, olive oil and parsley and/or toasted pine nuts.

Freezes well. Hummus thickens after being frozen, so after thawing, add a few drops of water and mix.

Dahl

(From the January 23^rd, 1991 ed. of the Ottawa Citizen, Silk Roads Afghan Restaurant on Sparks St.)

1 lbs (454 g) red lentils

4 – 6 cups water

1 Tbsp salt

½ c veg oil

2 med onions, finely chopped

2 med tomatoes, finely chopped

¼ Tbsp cayenne pepper

¼ Tbsp gr. Coriander

Rinse lentils under cold water, then place in a large pot. Add 4 – 6 cups water and the salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes, or until lentils are soft.

In a frying pan, heat oil and sauté onions and tomatoes until onions are translucent.  Add cayenne and coriander to the mixture and simmer until it becomes sauce-like.

Add mixture to cooked lentils and stir. Simmer for 5 minutes (or longer).

Serve in bowls, topped with juice squeezed from a ¼ fresh lemon.

Yum!

Yes, we're online... and there is still time to sign up!

Nat Gertler sent me a notice regarding the 24 Hour Comics Day Event, stating that the International start time list had been completed. The list includes DragonHead Studio's event, the ONLY host near the Nation's Capital (the next one out is The Artel in Kingston, then Hairy Tarantula West in Toronto!) This comprises 82 Events scheduled in 15 countries, 29 US states and 3 Canadian provinces! Check out the map here :-D

With the event less than two weeks away, folks must be getting excited and stoked for the exhausting, illuminating and one-of-a-kind experience ONLY this kind've gathering can evoke. I know that I am! And it is not too late to take part. Simply contact me with your interest and questions, or sign on to the Facebook group and request to be included on the event list. You will receive maps, and can participate in a carpool or shuttle bus to DragonHead Studio's cozy locale in Urban Kanata.

Ample drawing, painting & comic creating materials will be provided, along with a selection of caffeinated beverages ;-) and foods. We do support vegetarian-friendly food; just let us know your needs. We have a large collection of animals living with us, so prepare your system with anti-allergy medication (if you need it.) DragonHead has a secure area if you wish to bring a tent and camp. We also will be providing up to eight places for people to sleep, should they require napping during the event, or cannot complete their comic projects and must sleep.

You have nothin' to lose by giving this a try! You will discover creative depths in your heart you didn't know existed! If you are experiencing artist's or writer's block, this event will kick the hell out of it. You will amaze yourself by what bubbles up in the middle of the night... Go for it!

To get a feel for what others have experienced during previous events, check out YouTube. There are tons of clips showing comic artists and even a couple of interviews with the inventor of the 24 Hour Comic, Scott McCloud!

Contact me via my website, The 24 Hour Comic Book Day at DragonHead Studio Group on Facebook, or by calling 613-323-3377 and leaving a detailed voice message.

Cheers and all best
Suzanne.

PS--Happy Thanksgiving!
PPS -- For detailed information regarding the 24 Hour Comic and what it is exactly, refer to Scott McCloud's web page. Here he explains what it is, how he came up with it and shows copious pages of completed 24 Hour Comics. Inspiring!
PPPS -- Here's a funny image detailing ways to keep awake while doing the 24 HCD.

By popular demand

Happy New Year everyone; we made it to 2007! The Holidays were fun, exhausting, filled with relatives, friends, presents, pasts ;-) And of course FOOD. Don't worry, I'm probably not just going to yack about grub in this Blog. Well.. maybe I shall. I guess I'd better start posting art on the Kunstpike Flog if I'm going to convince myself once and for all that I'm not a Junior Statistical Clerk! :-)

First, I must post a recipe that I made for New Year's Eve lunch. I thought I'd made enough.. I mean really, who is going to devour anything with parsnips and sweet potatoes in it? But devoured it was.. and now my buddies are clamouring for the recipe! This baby is from the December 2006 iss. of Weight Watcher's Magazine (pg. 126) and is Core friendly. Enjoy!


You will need:

1 (1 1/2 pound) butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1 inch cubes.
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (or 2.5 cm cubes for Keith)
3/4 pound parnsips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large Vidalia, Spanish or Red onion, coarsely chopped.
2 Tablespoons canola or olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 Tablespoons apple-cider vinegar (or half Umoboshi and red wine vinegar)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a large broiling pan with non-stick spray or olive oil.

2. Combine the squash, sweet potatoes, parnsips, onion, 1 Tbsp. of oil, 1/2 tsp of salt and a 1/8 tsp. of black pepper in a large bowl. Spread vegetable mixture in a single layer on the broiling pan (or baking sheet) and roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and starting to brown (22 - 25 minutes.) If you need to, roast the veggies in two batches. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Add the black-eyed peas, bell pepper, celery, vinegar and the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. of pepper to the roasted vegetables; toss well to combine. Serve warm or let cool to room temperature.

Per serving: 1 cup= 168 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg. chol, 332 mg. sod, 31 g carb, 6 g fib, 5 g prot, 69 mg calc. (For Flex plan folks, points = 3)

Good luck!

Ed. note: try not to do this recipe at midnight Dec. 30th after attending your niece's baptism and apres baptismal party. Try not to get snippy while you are peeling squash at 1am and your partner is helping to wrap presents. Rightly decide to roast ALL the veggies at once even though they don't really fit in a single layer so you can crawl into bed around 2am.
Do be sure to get at least a sample taste before it all gets eaten up!

Or make a double batch!

And now, for Leah, Lianne, Michelle, Vicki.. everyone who has always said to me: "Will you send me that hot rice dish Sue??"


"PATAK'S" BIRIYANI

You can make this vegetarian or not depending on if you decide to use chicken, a beef/pork tenderloin or large chunk TVP. I find that any of these work well; I've even used straight tofu and it tasted great. Whatever protein source you choose will soak up the curry flavour and taste delightful.

This is one of those weird recipes where you can add as many vegetables as you want. Keep adding them; the recipe sort've swells to accept it. Remember if you really go hog-wild on the ingredients, that you'll have to add more of the curry paste or you'll have a WIMPY Biriyani and that would be sad.

You can use brown rice instead of the basmati, but you will need to increase your cooking time. I found that my veggies got pretty flacid after awhile; so you may want to partially cook the brown rice in advance, or add the veggies later. Just a thought. Ok, now on with the recipe!

You will need:
1 chicken breast (boneless, skinless) or tenderloin (beef/pork) or chunky TVP or tofu.
6 - 8 cups (or more!) assorted chopped vegetables (green/red pepper, zuchinni, celery, carrot etc.)
2 cups rice (basmati)
2 onions (chopped)
1/2 jar Patak's Biriyani sauce/ paste (approx. 8 Tbsp.)
28 oz. tin whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cups boiling water.

Wash 2 cups rice and soak in water for 20 minutes. While this is going on, saute pork/beef tenderloin or poach chicken breast (or rehydrate 1 cup TVP, or chop up 1 pkg. firm tofu) and slice into strips.

Saute 1 onion with rice in a frying pan. In a separate pan (dutch oven, large pot) saute veggies with the other onion. Add the biriyani paste and tomatoes to vegetables.

Combine the rice/ onion mixture with the veggies and add 2 cups (or more) boiling water.

Bake 375 degrees F. covered for 40-50 minutes (This recipe is doubled and makes LOTS of food. You can try halving in to make less if you like.)

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