September 19, 2006

Vegan [Black-Eyed Peas with Ham]

As opposed to [Vegan Black-Eyed Peas] with Ham, which would rather defeat the purpose. I just made this up because I had to make lunch out of whatever the ants havenât gotten to. This is crazy easy, so that even though it contains a few more ingredients than anything in Conveniently Vegan, my Delightful former Housemate might want to try it.

Heat Earth Balance or oil (or both, which is what I do) in a large-ish skillet or pot.
Add:

 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, mashed or diced

Saute until onion is just getting soft. Turn off heat. Add to pot:

1 celery rib, diced
About 1 cup (or 2 handsful) of finely chopped collard or other greens (I used mustard greens)
2 slices tomato, diced
1 bay leaf, if you have it
 tsp sage
2 cans black-eyed peas, mostly drained (I used 1 can black-eyed peas and 1 of butter beans, because that was what I had)
4 slices Yves veggie canadian bacon, finely diced
about  cup of stock or broth, or a chunk of bouillon cube and  cup of water.

Turn stove back on to medium. Stir occasionally until greens wilt somewhat, the tomatoâs not too overcooked, and the whole thing is thickening a little, about 5-10 minutes. It will thicken a lot more after you take it off the heat. Salt, pepper, eat. Delish.

You could saute the celery with the onion if you must, but I like the occasional crunchy snap to break up the mush. If you canât get the Yves canadian bacon, any fake bacon product that has artificial smoke flavoring will do â thatâs what makes the whole thing delicious.

Posted by katie at September 19, 2006 01:03 PM | TrackBack
Comments

I recently met the DFH while moving jacob's stuff around and not breaking most of it. hey, I said, you ARE delightful! and he was. good naming, there.

Posted by: didofoot at September 19, 2006 05:12 PM

This sounds delish! I agree that the faux fume is what might make it a winner. I must--at some point soon--tell you all about how my lunch at Hotte Shoppe taco bar in Albany was utterly ruined when I passed through the kitchen on the way to the john and spied a cage of finches sitting on the food prep butcher's block next to a pile of warm raw beef. Retroactive props for ordering vegan, although it's small consolation --- if the finches are public, I assume that the rat cage is hidden in the vegetable pantry. I hate birds!

Then I got home and the neighbor's driveway cementing contractor was parked in our driveway, for the third day in the row. It's been a regular problem, with me and my housemates nicely explaining that--yes--parking is tough on our block, but since he's just excavated that house's driveway, parking in ours is not the solution. I turned into Classic Jaguar Lady from Yoga, plodding through wet cement, "Who's in charge here? I have a generic Honda! It's Thursday. I have to arrive," and so on.

I resist getting my own blog, so I'm just living off yours like a tapeworm, only because my interest in blogging is new and likely short-lived, inspired only by Q.E. procrastination.

Oh my God I must finish this second Q.E. topic!!!

Posted by: Delightful Former Housemate (formerly housemate, always delightful) at September 21, 2006 05:38 PM

I was so pleased to hear that the moving crew recognized the Delightfulness of the Former Housemate.*

DFH: I got your voicemail about the birdcage on top of the beef. That's an entire order of magnitude more appalling than my vexsome lunch at Dharma, where they insisted upon melting cheddar cheese all over my vegan portabella-artichoke sandwich. But they fixed it, so, you know.

I can't imagine why you give a fuck about Menippean (sp?) satire either, but do you know what's making me feel better since getting QE topics approved and financial aid released? Shoes.

*You have no idea how hard it was not to say something knowing and snickery right there.

Posted by: katie at September 21, 2006 06:29 PM

It's amazing how financial aid's release can make everything rosier, or at least less broke looking. Having flooded my checking account with cheap loans, I immediately sent money to the friendly folks at Visa and Discover, which is somewhat gratifying.

BUT THE CUTE THING I FORGOT TO TELL YOU: On Tuesday, I called Jacob to find out where a mall near here was, and he said "shoes? gonna get some shoes?" Very cute. He then sent me to HillTop mall, where there was nothing seductive.

Posted by: DFH at September 22, 2006 09:04 AM

Those shoes are mine, betch.

In this case, really cute brick-red-and-cream Simples. See? I'm breaking out of my brand loyalty. Yeah, there ain't nothing at Hilltop. At least you're safely 80 miles from Old School.

Posted by: katie at September 22, 2006 11:40 AM

you could try broadway plaza in walnut creek. it's an outdoor mall with a generally higher class of goods than the sunvalley mall in pleasant hill or the hilltop mall.

or if you just want shoes, go to the DSW shoe warehouse in SF.

Posted by: michele at September 22, 2006 12:04 PM

This is for you:

Gado gado

(this is a recipe from NOLS that Iâve ammended to be edible and delish, not only when youâre starving at 10,000 feet stranded on a mountain in Wyoming, but also overfed in a house in Northern California).

1 package pasta (I suggest bow-tie)
1 handful sunflower seeds
Earth Balance
olive oil
5 cloves of garlic
1 cups broth
3 Tbs. soy
3 Tbs. brown sugar
3 Tbs. vinegar
2 Tbs. hot sauce
6 Tbs. peanut butter (suggested, less for most people, more for KS)

The timing is key here. The sauce is super fast to make, so Iâd suggest doing step 1 while the pasta is cooking.

1) while pasta is boiling, saute garilic and sunflower in hot oil and Earth Balance. Add 1/2 cup broth, soy, vinegar, hot sauce and brown sugar. Add more broth as needed to keep things flowing. Turn off heat while you attend to the pasta, which, if youâve timed well, is al dente now. Now, drain the cooked pasta, and put it back in the pot.

2) Add the peanut butter to the . Keep the heat low because it can burn very easily, and once burned the sauce ceases to be delicious and just sucks. Trust me. Keep stirirng, and add more broth as needed to keep it flowing.

3) Pour the high-fat, high-salt, high-calorie sauce over the pasta and toss. Begin stuffing yourself immediately while itâs hot. But itâs also good cold, once the peanute butter has coagulated on the pasta.

Posted by: DFH at September 22, 2006 12:57 PM

Sounds good. I'd like to add more peanut butter, but who exactly do you think you're calling KS?

Posted by: katie at September 23, 2006 03:09 PM

Oh! Not-so-good! KS? No, no, no --- it's KW!
Thorry!

Posted by: Formerly-Delightful Former Housemate (formerly housemate, always delightful) at September 24, 2006 08:49 PM
Cementhorizon