Pinto Bean Soup, Cabbage and Carrot Salad, Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Dinner 11/30 by Rachel



• Pinto Bean Soup

• Cabbage and Carrot Salad

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Tonight's soup was made with pinto beans, corn that we froze from the summertime, some green peppers that we harvested before the frost, chunks of windowsill-ripened tomatoes, onions from a neighboring farmer and various spices.

Rachel found a few cabbage heads that have been living out in the garden despite the freezing cold. She combined one with some carrots from our garden that have been living in a bucket of straw on the front porch. I'm not sure what was in the dressing, but it was tasty.

The brussels sprouts (I have only recently learned that this is the more correct name) from our garden were roasted with soy sauce and I'm not sure what else, but it really brought out their sweetness.

Black Beans, Hash Browns, Salsa, Chocolate Pudding

Dinner 11/29 by Dan



• Black Beans

• Hash Browns

• Salsa

• Chocolate Pudding

I wasn't around in person to eat this for dinner because I was attending the Tri-State Locally Grown Conference in Quincy, IL. However, it looks pretty self-explanatory. Black beans and potatoes (from a neighboring farmer) served with salsa along with leftover chocolate pudding.

Chunky Minestrone, Vegetable Fritters, Chocolate Pudding

Dinner 11/28 by Juan and Amy



• Chunky Minestrone

• Vegetable Fritters

• Chocolate Pudding

Though it would appear so, Juan and I don't cook almost every meal. :) We're two out of five people, so between our two shifts, plus two no-cook nights where I don't blog, plus a potluck once a week where I don't blog, sometimes the blog doesn't get to show the whole picture. And it will probably get worse as Bobolinkers travel for the holidays. I'm just getting you prepared so it's not a total shock. :)

Because the weather's been getting so cold, Juan made a big pot of soup. He started with sauteéd onions and garlic and added half tomato juice and half water. Then threw in potatoes, carrots, white beans and a bunch of spices. I love a big bowl of soup on a wintry night.

I made some vegetable fritters based on this recipe from vegan-food.net, but I used all chickpea flour and added some carrots and corn for color.

The chocolate pudding was inspired by the recipe for Mom's Chocolate Pudding from "La Dolce Vegan". We didn't have any soymilk handy, so I used Thomas' technique of blending cashew-macadamia butter with some water to make it milky. Also, I used sorghum as the sweetener. It formed a nice skin on top (which we made the mistake of mixing in) just like mom's used to make!

Black Beans, Brown Rice, Salsa

Dinner 11/27 by Tony



• Black Beans

• Brown Rice

• Salsa

Tuesdays are potlucks with the surrounding communities, so I usually don't blog, but no one from Bobolink went so I thought I'd share what we ate. It was originally going to be one dish in a larger potluck, so it's not too fancy.

Black beans with windowsill-ripened tomatoes, brown rice, salsa, and I put nutritional yeast on mine. Dan provided some fresh cilantro that has been hiding out in the fridge since before the frost. These days, the temperature is frequently below freezing at night.

Seitan, Homemade Whole Wheat Dill Pasta, Tomato Sauce, Pesto, Oatmeal Cookies

Dinner 11/25 by Amy and Juan



• Seitan

• Homemade Whole Wheat Dill Pasta

• Tomato Sauce

• Pesto

• Oatmeal Cookies

This is our version of spaghetti and meatballs: homemade whole wheat pasta with chunks of seitan fried (or baked) to perfection with tomato sauce and/or pesto. The pasta was made with a hand-crank machine following Bryanna Grogan Clark's recipe. For fun, I threw some dried dill into it.

The tomato sauce was made from tomatoes we canned earlier in the season. Juan spiced it and used an immersion blender to really smooth it out and then mixed in nutritional yeast for creaminess and flavor. The pesto was made over the summer by a visiting friend and then frozen, so I'm not sure what's in it, but mixed all together, it tasted great.

Dessert was from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook slightly modified. Instead of half oil and half margarine, I used all oil and instead of white and brown sugar, I used sorghum. They were a bit runnier than usual, so some of them baked into each other (creating The Omega Cookie!), but they were still edible in the end. :)

Chocolate Chip Cat Pancakes

Breakfast 11/24 by Juan



• Chocolate Chip Cat Pancakes

It's CATURDAY!

And in honor of such a wonderful occasion, Juan created these amazing cat-shaped pancakes. Sooo delicious! If only every day was Caturday...


more caturday pictures

Vegetable Soup, Miss Lindsey's Glazed Tempeh, Brown Rice

Dinner 11/23 by Juan and Amy



• Vegetable Soup

• Miss Lindsey's Glazed Tempeh

• Brown Rice

Since Juan and I spent yesterday making an UnTurkey for the potluck, we didn't feel like going overboard tonight. We kept it simple. Juan made a vegetable soup. He started out by sautéing onions and garlic in a little oil with some salt. Then he added tomato juice, tomato sauce, carrots, potatoes, whole wheat elbow macaroni, sorghum, and nutritional yeast. It was hearty and sweet. I was sorry I didn't have enough room for two bowls.

Miss Lindsey's recipe for glazed tempeh was so good that Sandhill put it on the inside of their tempeh packages. It's basically fried tempeh glazed with a sauce made of minced garlic, sorghum, soy sauce, tomato juice, ground coriander, and prepared mustard. I added some fried onions, too.

BTW: Due to a technological failure (why have you forsaken me, hard drive?!), I don't have photos from the past few meals. I'll see if I can round up some that folks took of Thanksgiving so you can see the feast!

Red Lentil Dal, Brown Rice, Coleslaw

Dinner 11/19 by Tony



• Red Lentil Dal

• Brown Rice

• Coleslaw

Tonight's dinner was simple because Tony and I were busy cleaning our chimneys and boiler late into the afternoon. He put together a red lentil dal over long grain brown rice. The coleslaw was cabbage and carrots from the garden with a yummy tahini dressing. Very well done and not a bit of soot in it! :)

UnTurkey with Stuffing, Ginger Glazed Squash, Gravy

Dinner 11/18 by Amy and Juan



• UnTurkey with Stuffing

• Ginger Glazed Squash

• Gravy

This was our second attempt at making an UnTurkey and this time it came out much, much better. Instead of 8 cups of wheat gluten flour, I used 6 cups of wheat gluten flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour. The texture was a bit softer and held together nicely. I also used the yuba that I bought online. I've tried to make it myself, but haven't mastered the skill at all. The yuba made a nice crispy skin that helped keep the moisture of the seitan in. With a few technique tweaks, I think this is how we'll make it on Thursday.

Here's what the UnTurkey looked like coming out of the oven. I haven't figured out how to keep it from breaking in half, so I just made each half into its own UnTurkey. I invited a neighboring family to dinner and one of their kids asked if it was real turkey!



The squash recipe came from Christina Pirello's "Cooking the Whole Foods Way", but instead of acorn squash, I used some sweet dumplings that we grew in our garden. Juan also made some other substitutions, like using black currant jam and apple butter in place of the apricot jam. I hear that apricots don't grow too well around here, so we used what we had. The sauce was sweet and gingery. We even roasted the seeds for a treat tomorrow.

Potato Knishes, Kasha Varnishkes, Golden Gravy, Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Dinner 11/16 by Amy and Juan



• Potato Knishes

• Kasha Varnishkes

• Golden Gravy

• Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Tonight I was in the mood for some comfort food like my mom makes. This is a meal that I probably make once a year around this time — while we still have potatoes and onions in enough abundance that I don't feel like I'm using up something precious.

Dinner was made with recipes from The New Farm Cookbook. The dough for the knishes was made with whole wheat flour and mashed potatoes and they were filled with mashed potatoes, fried onions, salt and pepper. There were extra mashed potatoes, so people could eat that as a side as well.

Kasha varnishkes (toasted buckwheat groats and noodles) is something my mom used to make all the time when I was growing up. I love it with it's tasty buckwheat, fried onions and bow-tie pasta. My version didn't turn out quite the same (since her recipe calls for egg to keep the buckwheat from becoming mushy), but it still hit the spot. Especially with the golden gravy smothering everything.

The yellow cake recipe was from "Very Vegetarian" and it was topped with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World". I took a photo, but it didn't really capture it well and I thought y'all have better uses for the bandwidth I'm saving by not posting it. :)

Tamale Casserole, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, Cherry Muffins

Dinner 11/15 by Dan



• Tamale Casserole

• Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower

• Cherry Muffins

Masa was the highlight of this casserole, which Dan based on a recipe from The New Farm Cookbook. It's not something that we have handy and he picked it up at the seconds store in town. Also included pinto beans and spicy peppers. Very tasty with salsa. Optional cilantro on top for those who aren't totally soaped out by it. :)

Broccoli and cauliflower came in from the garden. To my knowledge, at this point, due to the cold, we only have brassicas left in the — broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. Maybe a head of cabbage. Plus the celery and carrots that we picked before the frost. But no worries, we have lots of canned, dried and fermented deliciousness to enjoy through the colder months!

Cherry muffins used cherries canned last year since this year's fruit didn't really happen. They had big, yummy, juicy cherries in them and he even used the canned juice as the liquid in the recipe. Though I don't know what recipe he based them on. Here's a pretty nondescript pic. Next time I'll cut the muffin in half or something:

Pizza! Pizza!

Dinner 11/14 by Tony



• Pizza!

Tonight's toppings included olives, tempeh, soysage, squickles, peppers, and broccoli.

Check out Tony's recipe and try making your own whole wheat, organic, vegan, sourdough pizza at home. If you don't want to do it for me, do it for Isa and the VeganMoFo! :)

Lentil Loaf, Curried Stir-Fry, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dinner 11/11 by Juan with a little help from Amy



• Lentil Loaf

• Curried Stir-Fry

• Chocolate Chip Cookies

Juan put together a lentil loaf using the recipe from The New Farm Cookbook. He uses red lentils so they turn into a skinless mush that holds the rice together well. Tonight, it was served with homemade ketchup and BBQ sauce.

Using one of the last cabbages from our gardens, he made a yummy stirfry that also included onions, carrots from the Skyhouse garden, and broccoli from Dan's garden.

I helped out by whipping up some chocolate chip cookies with chips from the general store in town. I used the recipe from The New Farm Cookbook substituting sorghum for the sugars. Between the darkness of the sorghum and the whole wheat flour, our cookies always come out looking nice and golden brown.

UnTurkey with Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy

Dinner 11/10 by Amy and Juan



• UnTurkey with Stuffing

• Mashed Potatoes

• Gravy

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it was time to start practicing which dish to make for Dancing Rabbit's annual TDay potluck. I decided to try recreating the sadly missed UnTurkey. I have Miyoko Nishimoto's "Now and Zen Epicure", so I armed with the all of the necessary ingredients (minus the yuba), I gave it my first shot. There were definitely some things that I will do differently when I cook one next time. For example, I've ordered some yuba online, so I can make the crunchy outside and hopefully it will help keep the gluten moist. Also, I'll cut the gluten flour with some whole wheat flour so it's less rubbery. On the upside, it was the first time that some of us Bobolinkers have used a knife at the dinner table in quite a while. :)

Mashed potatoes were made with potatoes we bought from a local organic farmer. The gravy recipe was also from the "Now and Zen Epicure". I thought it was yummy, but people seemed to prefer the Herbed Brown Gravy recipe from Joanne Stepaniak's "Nutritional Yeast Cookbook".

Juan's friend came to visit and was sweet to buy us some Rice Dream and Purely Decadent for dessert. It was quite a feast!

Refried Beans, Pan-Sweetened Carrots, Thai Cabbage Salad, Spanish Rice

Dinner 11/9 by Dan



• Refried Beans

• Pan-Sweetened Carrots

• Thai Cabbage Salad

• Spanish Rice

Dan created a meal with a variety of flavors and textures that highlighted some of the last harvest. The beans were accented with fresh cilantro and chopped tomatoes from his garden. The carrots from Skyhouse's garden were steamed first and then pan-fried to bring out their caramelized sweetness. I'm not sure what the dressing was on his salad was, but it was creamy and was an enjoyable way to eat one of the last cabbages from his garden. The rice was flavorful and I still haven't found out how he ends up with each rice an individual grain rather than some bursting open. If he lets me in on the secret, I'll let you know!

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes, Glazed Tempeh, Rice, Salad

Dinner 11/8 by Rachel



• Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

• Glazed Tempeh

• Rice

• Salad

Tonight, Rachel stuffed tomatoes from our garden with rice, TVP, celery, carrot, some spices and then baked them in the oven. The tempeh was from Sandhill Farm and a was glazed with a simple soy sauce marinade. Rice and salad rounded out the meal

Baked Beans, Brussel Sprouts, Biscuits, Gravy

Dinner 11/4 by Amy and Juan



• Baked Beans

• Brussel Sprouts

• Biscuits

• Gravy

Tonight I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I tried to keep dinner simple. The baked beans were Christina Pirello's recipe from "Cooking the Whole Foods Way". They were baked with apple butter, miso, mustard, onions, vinegar, and a little brown rice syrup. Tony gave them an A+!

The brussel sprouts were harvested from our garden. Rachel gave us the tip that they are sweeter if left until after the frost, so we've been trying to wait patiently for the cold to come. Last year, we would bring completely frozen stalks inside so they would defrost before we cooked them. Tonight, they were simply boiled and people ate them with gravy or some margarine that we had left over from the Bloody Finger Cookies.

Juan whipped up Janie's Good Biscuits from The New Farm Cookbook. Slathered with Herbed Brown Gravy from Joanne Stepaniak's "Nutritional Yeast Cookbook", they rounded out the meal nicely.

Vegetable Soup, Proteinated Rice

Dinner 11/3 by Juan



• Culinary Experiment #1: Soup

• Culinary Experiment #2: Proteinated Rice

For tonight's dinner, I decided to go nuts and just try experimenting. I mixed up some soup based on tomato juice, and then added potatoes and sweet potatoes (both bought from the Mennonite farmers up the road), celery, onions, and some herbs in the Italian vein, all from our garden. I felt it was fairly successful.

For the second experiment, I took some rice and fried it up with some TVP and some spices. This was really good with pepper relish.

Now that the frost has hit, we'll likely start using our preserved vegetables. The garden is essentially dead for the winter, although a few brassicas supposedly taste best after the frost.

Chiles Rellenos, Spanish Rice, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, Fresh Salsa

Dinner 11/2 by Dan



• Chiles Rellenos

• Spanish Rice

• Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower

• Fresh Salsa

This meal was a surprise. Pulling peppers out of his garden right before the frost last week, Dan stuffed them with black beans and corn that we had in our freezer. The result was his own brand of chiles rellenos, and I heard no complaints.

Continuing the theme, Dan made Spanish rice and two versions of fresh salsa also with vegetables saved before the icy cold killed off many of the plants. The main difference between the two was the presence or absence of cilantro.

Rounding off the meal were the brassicas - They say they taste best after a frost, and in this case, it turned out They were right. Go They.

EDIT: That grated yellow stuff is the Sheese! I think it was pretty good!

Pizza-licious!

Dinner 11/1 by Tony



• My favoritest pizza in the universe!

Tonight's toppings included red peppers, broccoli, squickles (pickled yellow squash), pickled garlic, and marinated artichoke hearts (courtesy of Rachel's folks). We also had a small section of pizza with some Sheese on it. I bought a package out of curiousity and we've been slowly experimenting with it.

You, too, can make this yummy pizza at home. Just try the recipe.