Face it, we need cake!

We agree, peaches are delicious eaten fresh, juicy and sweet all on their own. We’ve been downing them daily this way for weeks.  Plus we’ve been freezing, making spicy chutney and enjoying peaches in fruit salad.  Still, sometimes only a cake will do.

This easy vegan upside-down cake baked in a cast iron skillet comes together in less than an hour from start to finish, making it ideal for last-minute desserts.  We’ve peeled the peaches here but there is no reason you cannot make this with the skin on.  Use the juiciest ripest peaches you can find.  Throw in a handful of blueberries before you add the peaches for some nice color.

You can top with ice cream or whipped cashew cream if you like but on its own, it’s delish!

Savor summer.

Enjoy the sweet taste of summer!

Southern peas are also called field peas or cowpeas, and if you’re lucky, you can find them fresh off the vines and shelled. Serving up a delicious mouthful perfect with hot cornbread, White Acre Peas are a treat from well below the Mason-Dixon line, to savor on lazy days and hazy nights.

We found ours at the farmer’s market in southern North Carolina, already shelled and waiting for simple cooking.  Together with Butter Beans (aka baby limas though they taste nothing like the dried beans of soup fame), we are transported to summertime food heaven. Of course, you can always grow your own!

Serve with hot cornbread muffins (or hush puppies if you like frying) and a big ole plate of southern veggies (like corn, okra, tomato, peppers and green beans).

Once you try these , you’ll never think of peas and beans in the same way again.

Enjoy!

Unfortunately, either our clothes have shrunk or it’s time to clean up and shed the winter fat layer. Prime time to detox! Fortunately, it’s cabbage to the rescue with this delicious low-calorie, low-fat and nutrient dense cabbage soup, chock full of cancer-fighting properties and importantly, flavor.

This recipe is based on one my grandmother apparently learned from her grandmother, making it a definite old country favorite.  Since these recipes were highly variable from person to person, region to region, feel free to adapt to your preferences.

Detox and enjoy! (Fwiw, the grandmas never detoxed, they just enjoyed.)

This recipe uses the pressure cooker, which means it can be prepared from start to finish in less than 15 minutes. Yes, really. If you don’t have a pressure cooker (why not?) it still comes together quickly just not as quickly. The speed and deep flavor make it a great weeknight dinner paired with a green salad and some crusty bread but it also makes a lovely first course for an elegant dinner party.

We use cremini mushrooms but if they are not available, you can use ordinary white button mushrooms or even some chopped portabellos. And, as with all leek dishes, be sure to wash the leeks well, splitting them down the middle and pulling back the leaves to rinse any dirt from the stems. Don’t forget to save the parts of the leeks you don’t add because they help make a very flavorful vegetable stock. I simply stash them in the freezer along with carrot and celery ends, herb stems, mushroom stems and other vegetable remnants (though not cruciferous veggies like cabbage or kale because they are too strong) and when the bag is full, use it for easy homemade stock (5 minutes in teh pressure cooker, natural release).

INGREDIENTS:

2 Large Leeks, cleaned and sliced finely, white and light green parts only

4-6 Russet Potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces

1/2 Lb. Cremini, Baby Bella or other mushrooms, sliced

4 Cups Vegetable stock, preferably homemade

2 Tablespoons Chopped Parsley

1 Teaspoon Salt or to taste

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper or to Taste

1 Tablespoon Olive or other Vegetable Oil

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Step One: Heat oil in the pressure cooker (if using stove-top type) or in  a medium size pot over medium heat. Gently saute the leeks until they are soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Step Two: Add sliced mushrooms and saute about 2 minutes more until juices release.

Step Three: Add salt and pepper and stir well.

Step Four: Add potatoes and broth and lock on lid if using a pressure cooker

Step Five: Cook at high pressure for 5 minutes and quick release, being sure to tilt away from you because it’s hot and steamy! If using a  conventional pot, cook about 20-25 minutes until potatoes are soft.

Step Six: Using a  hand-held blender, puree the mixture until soup is creamy. You may need to add more broth or water if it’s too thick. This soup does thicken up as it cools as well so more liquid is definitely an option.

Step Seven: Stir in chopped parsley once soup is pureed. This way it retains some of its fresh flavor. Garnish with additional parsley if desired

Enjoy! Serves 4-6.

We like to serve ours with a scotch bonnet-based hot sauce to transport us to the Caribbean but if you are not into the heat, serve as is, either warm or at room temperature.

Oh yeah, yep, we know not every one has a pressure cooker (Why not?!). You can also cook this conventionally by bringing the mixture to a boil, reducing heat and letting it cook on low for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

These truffles will last weeks under refrigeration and make beautiful gifts (try decorating the wrappers!) but trust us, once you taste them, you will be tempted to store a stash just for yourself and they’ll disappear quickly.  Kiss the high fructose crap goodbye and wake up the taste of pure joy.

Sweet potatoes are one of those nutrient-dense foods, with one medium sweet potato providing more than the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin A and 35-50% of daily Vitamin C. They are high in potassium (great for stressful times), calcium, folate, manganese, fiber, many B vitamins and copper. They also have lots of beta-carotene (good for the skin) and are low on the glycemic index for those who have blood sugar issues. Eaten with a little fat (like in this pie), their goodness becomes more bioavailable.

So, think of this pie, which is super easy to whip up, as a nutritious treat. Whether it’s for yourself or a dinner gift, be thankful for the sweet potato.

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Still we were determined. A few internet searches and we came up with three four recipes worth trying (the fourth was added recently and we’re glad we did!). As an aside, we were not even going to try any of them made with tofu, not just because they weren’t necessarily Passover-friendly. No, just no. It’s like blueberry bagels. Some things just don’t cut it and tofu matzo balls is one.

Our attempts included the PETA matzo ball recipe, the recipe posted on Tablet, (which includes aquafaba so may not be OK for all observant Passover celebrants), and the recipe from The Edgy Veg, which uses seltzer and a healthy amount of potato starch. Finally, we tried Nava Atlas’ version from her blog and Vegan Holiday Kitchen. There were others but really, how many can be tried at once.

The verdict? Both the PETA recipe and the Tablet recipe turned out balls that were flavorful, not too dense yet held together. The Edgy Veg recipe produced matzoh balls that looked the best (big and fluffy-looking), yet they were rubber balls that may have been edible as something (huge, dense gnocchi perhaps), just not anything I’d want to serve as matzo balls. It may have been trouble on our end however — maybe we over-mixed the potato starch, but who knows?

The real winner was Nava’s recipe that uses quinoa flakes. Even though they were baked, they tasted the most traditional. They were not too dense, held together in the soup and were good enough to serve to non-vegans.

A few tips in case you want to try your own with these recipes or anything similar (that is, not the tofu-based balls):

** Smaller is better. While we traditionally liked larger balls, the smaller ones were the least likely to be too chewy or hard in the center.

** Go light on the salt or skip the salted boiling water for the recipes that suggest boiling.

** Don’t leave them or cook them in your soup. They will fall apart a little so better to place in soup when ready to serve. You can also reheat once they are set without risk of them falling apart.

Would we make them again? Probably because sometimes, only a bowl of steaming matzoh ball soup fits. Enjoy.

These fruits are fleeting. Ripe peaches don’t keep long and if you have a tree or bought the 1/2 bushel size on whim, well then, chutney comes in handy. It’s not too difficult and is incredibly delish, especially with warming curries once the winter sets in again or the old standbys like ice cream or toast with oat butter.

We stumbled upon it because we were after something beyond kidney beans in hearty Southwestern bean chilis and tomato-based soups. We had roughly 25 pounds of red kidney beans in the pantry (stored in 3 pound long-term Mylar bag storage packets). We needed kidney bean ideas. This recipe is a reminder why we store this food in the first place. Bless the humble bean! 

Rajma is easy to make though like other Indian dishes, the list of ingredients can seem daunting.  There is a basic rule for this: Seeds, Pastes, Powders and Leaves, which is the order the ingredients should be added.  It’s the way they’re listed here too. And, like much Indian food, it tastes better the next day so plan ahead!

Enjoy with chutney, pickles and other condiments of your choice.  Namaste.