Monthly Archives: August 2013

Posole with Lima Beans

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One of my favorites.  My mother says you can’t make vegetarian posole, but I disagree…  Good eaters: You’ll like this, I promise.

Credit for this hearty soup goes to my mother, Maria Salas, who fed me the pork
version (also yummy) throughout my childhood. Thanks, Ma!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 C dried hominy (quick version–one 15 oz. can)
  • 1 C dried lima beans (my memories of canned lima beans aren’t fond;
  • try the shortcut at your own risk)
  • 3 little cans mild green chilies (slower–roast and peel your own chilies)
  • 1 white or sweet onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Salt
  • Canola oil

I like to cook the hominy in a pressure cooker because otherwise it takeforever. Lima beans are the quickest-cooking beans I’ve encountered. Hominy takes twice as long, so I cool and open the pressure cooker halfway through and add the beans. Best bet: cook them separately until you get the timing down.  Boil the salt, chopped onions, garlic and chilies with the probably-still-a-little-undercooked hominy until everything is soft (the hominy will eventually flare out and lose its chewiness). Add the perfectly done lima beans.

Add a tablespoon or two of cold-pressed canola oil. Don’t leave this out! I just put it in last to spare the lovely mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids from excessive heating. Maybe it’s just a quirk of mine. You can add it anytime, really.

Potatoes in Savory Turmeric Broth

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INGREDIENTS:

  • ½ C dry split peas
  • ½ C dry red lentils
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 quart water
  • ½ t salt
  • 2 medium red potatoes, julienned

Boil for 30 minutes. Remove the onion and herbs; set aside. Drain broth into bowl. (Use legumes for another dish.) Boil potatoes for 1 minute in water. Rinse and drain. Put in medium saucepan.

For Potatoes:

  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • salt
  • pepper
  • another bay leaf
  • cooked onion, pureed

Add to potatoes with broth. Boil until potatoes are soft.

 

Bean Pea Soup Base

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The day Benji came and played all day with Maddie – January 2008

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 red potato
  • 1/2 C dry split peas
  • 1/2 C dry black eyed peas
  • Half of a leek, sliced
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

After cooking the potatoes, peas and leek, combine all of the ingredients and puree.

Fall Stir Fry

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 butternut squash, seeded
  • 1 bunch OF green onions
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 T ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 T canola oil
  • ½ T sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1-2 T soy sauce or teriyaki sauce
  • 1 t cornstarch
  • ½ C or more of water from cooking the squash
  • 1 pkg firm or soft tofu, cut into 1” chunks
  • ¾ C flour
  • 2 T sucanat
  • ½ t salt

Steam the squash in its skin. Peel, cut into chunks. Set aside. In a bowl mix the flour, 1/2 T sucanat and salt. Roll tofu in it and sauté in skillet until golden and crispy on all sides. Place in oven to keep warm and cook some more while you prepare the sauce.

Cut onions into 1 1/2 ” pieces. Slice lengthwise to make thin strips. In a wok, sauté green onions, garlic, ginger and remaining sucanat for a minute or two. Onions should still be firm because they’re going to get cooked some more. Add cornstarch to cooled squash broth; mix. Add to wok.  Shake in some soy/teriyaki sauce. Stir until mixture thickens. Add water as desired.

Tamales

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We made tamales this year on Dia de los Muertos, a surprise gathering arranged by Katie, Ben and Maddie.

Corn Husks

Remove all the silk and grit out from the dry husks one by one, taking care not to break them. Immerse the clean husks in a sinkful of water. Rinse and pat dry.

Masa

This recipe was perfected by Scotty, master masa mixer.

2 cups masa flour (limed corn flour)
2 cups broth or water
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil (or 2/3 cup beaten lard)

Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Make sure you fry up some masa cakes for everyone to nibble on while you assemble the tamales. If you’re extra nice, you’ll top them with a little chile. Yields 16 tamales. Note: A whole bag of masa mix makes 4 recipes, or 64 tamales.

Chile Rojo

One chile recipe should make enough for 1 bag of masa mix, “masa” menos.

6 cups diced pork, turkey or chicken (2 birds)
3 tablespoons olive oil (or canola or lard)
1 large onion, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup *pasilla chile powder
1/2 – 3/4 cup masa or corn flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
8 cups broth (or water)

Sauté onions in oil until soft. Add garlic; sauté briefly. Add chile powder. Saute one minute. Add meat. Stir. Dust flour over chile and meat mixture and stir until coated. Add water, cumin and salt. Cook a few minutes longer until chile thickens.

*Various red chile powders (and dried corn husks) can be found at a Mexican market or in the Mexican spice section of the produce section of most grocery stores. You can use any chile designated as mild for serving red chile to a wide audience. New Mexico chile is often
described as mild, though it’s too spicy for some. It can be lightened up by halving it with paprika, which is not spicy at all. If you find you have made an entire pot of chile that is too fiery for your tastes, douse the fire with tomato sauce.

Veggie Tamale Filling I

2 onions, sliced
3 zucchini, sliced
3 carrots, grated
1 red pepper, sliced
2 cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced

Slice vegetables in a food processor. When filling tamales, add 2 tablespoons red or green chile salsa.

Veggie Tamale Filling II

This delicious tasty mixture can go inside the tamales and outside (as a fresh topping). The recipe comes to us from my twin sister, Karen.

6 good-sized tomatillos, diced
2 green onions, sliced
2-3 medium-sized mild yellow peppers (like banana), sliced
1 serrano chile, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bag frozen lima beans or edamame, thawed
2 tablespoons green salsa

I made up the above proportions from memory. But don’t worry, you can’t go wrong.

Gluten-Free Red Chile Sauce

Christmas 2007

1 chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup pasilla chile powder or
1/4 cup New Mexico chile and 1/4 cup paprika

Then in August, 2008, I tried this:

Red Mole Paste

Soak until soft (one hour):

4 dried ancho or pasilla chile pods
8 sun-dried tomato halves

Saute in pan:

2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp cumin, ground
2 tbsp olive oil
salt

Blend everything in the blender with a little water from the soaking.

 

 

 

 

Buckwheat Vegetable Soup

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Technically, buckwheat isn’t a grain; it’s a fruit seed.  Cooked whole, it has a delightful grain texture and a mild flavor. It contains anti-inflammatory properties along with other beneficial nutrients. It contains no gluten. My children like it just fine. You can find it at Whole Foods Market in the bulk aisle. You may also substitute quinoa or hulled (whole) barley.

Cook covered 5 min (don’t let get mushy) and reserve:

  • 1/2 cup whole buckwheat
  • 1 cup water

Steam lightly and reserve:

  • 3 carrots, thinly sliced

Saute until slightly soft:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large sweet (white) onion, diced
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 2 tbsp canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Add and then stir briefly:

  • 1 large ripe tomato, diced
  • 3-4 large chives, diced

Add:

  • 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 8 oz. can mild green chilies, chopped cooked carrots and buckwheat

 

Coconut Flour Pancakes

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My personal favorite. Thick, heavy and soft—just like an old-fashioned stack!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 t coconut flour
  • 2 t quinoa flour
  • 2 t oat flour
  • 1 T flax meal
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 3 T milk of your choice
  • Pinch of salt

Mix dry ingredients, then add wet, adding the milk a bit at a time to
ensure a nice thick batter. Make sure the pan is hot before adding butter
or oil to it; then spoon batter onto it. I like to use iron pans. Don’t
turn pancakes until they’re good and ready!

Note: Add 2 tbsp rolled oats for a crunchier texture.

Gluten-Free Deep Chocolate Cake

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Katie, Maddie, and I made this 3/13/05 for Maddie’s 11th birthday. She was wheat-free
at the time. We liked it.

  • 1 C gluten-free flour mix
  • ½ C buckwheat flour
  • ½ C + 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ t baking soda
  • ½ t salt
  • ¾ C sucanat
  • ½ C canola oil
  • ½ C soy or rice milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 C cold water or 1 C cooled brewed coffee
  • 2 t vanilla extract
  • 2 T apple cider vinegar (or other light vinegar)

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.  In another bowl combine the canola oil, milk, egg, vanilla extract and water or coffee.  Add the vinegar last and stir briefly.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stir, and pour into a cake pan. Cook at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Adapted from a recipe posted on In the Kitchen with Suzanne Martinson

Chili con Cornbread

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This recipe makes one cornbread-crusted casserole and a pan of extra
chili to serve on the side.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green or yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 8-oz. can whole green chilies, sliced
  • 1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes, including juice (or 2 fresh, diced)
  • 1 C vegetable broth
  • 1/2 C frozen corn
  • 1/2 C hulled or pearled barley, cooked
  • 1 C vegetable broth

Sautee the first 4 ingredients in olive oil until soft, not limp. Stir in the next 3
ingredients. Place half of the mixture in the bottom of a flat casserole dish (like
a cake or brownie pan). Use stoneware if you have it.  Stir in frozen corn.
Pour cornbread batter over the top.  Cook at 400 degrees (375 degrees for
stoneware or glass) for 20-25 minutes.

Add barley and broth to the other half of the mixture. (Barley gives the chili broth a
creamy consistency.)  Serve hot alongside the casserole. May be eaten as
soup or atop the casserole.

 

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