Three things here. All very easy to make.

Sausage:
Package of Chipotle Chicken Sausage
1 bunch Arugula
1/2 cup chopped parsley
4oz crumbled feta
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 package hoagies

I fried up the sausages. Cleaned and chopped the greens, put in a tupperware container, added the rest, and shook to mix. Topped on a whole wheat hoagie

Mashed Potatoes:
2-3 pounds red potatoes
4 cloves sauteed garlic
6 oz, sour cream
1 bunch green onions, chopped
salt and pepper

I chopped and boiled the potatoes while sauteing the garlic. Once cooked and drained, I mixed in the other ingredients and stirred until creamy.

Broccoli:
1 pound broccoli, chopped
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4Tbsn soy sauce
1 Tbsp sweet and hot chilli paste (or siracha)
oil

I sauteed the onions in a little oil, until soft, added the garlic, then the broccoli. I then added the soy sauce and chili. Once the liquid cooked off, they were about done.

Long title, eh? The theme of this dinner was "on a bed."

The biggest thing I learned in this meal was that mustard greens are very mustardy and go well with BBQ sauce.

2 chicken breast
typical BBQ seasonings

1 pound rice
1 pound lentils
typical BBQ seasonings (especially sage, cumin, and thyme)

This recipe for the rest:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/07/balsamic-glazed-chickpeas-and-mustard.html

I followed that recipe pretty close. Very good stuff.

For the rice, lentils and chicken this is what I did.
I figured out the ratio I had of water to rice and lentils, a little less than 2:1. After a little rinse, I put in the lentils with all the water. I started that to boil. As soon as it did, I tossed in the rice. This gives the lentils a little more time to cook and they come up by the end just right. I then put the top on, reduced the heat, and let it sit. About 5 minutes before everything else was done, I added all the spices to the rice and lentils, mixed it up. and let it sit a tiny bit. I didn't want to add them earlier as the heat would destroy a lot of flavor, but just enough time for it to release the good stuff.

With the chicken, I heavily seasoned it to a point of a rub. Then pan fried them on my great cast iron skillet. I pulled them off, let them sit for 5 minutes, sliced it up and topped it off with the BBQ sauce. The sauce went well with the chicken, and the rice and lentils. The mustardy goodness of the greens also went will with the BBQ profile. That's good shit.

Man, I should really post these closer to when I cooked them. I don't remember all that I put in this.

Rough Ingredients;
1 onion, sliced
1 package cherry tomatoes, halved
1 orange, peeled and sliced
2 chicken breast
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 1/2 pound whole quinoa
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp Panang curry paste
salt and pepper


This was pretty tasty though not a great fit. The tomatoes and orange didn't go as well with the Thai curry as other things might have
I started off cubing the chicken, sauteing them in 1 Tbsp panang curry paste. I removed them and sauteed the onions and green beans, then added the orange and tomatoes. In the last minuted I added the coconut milk and put the chicken back in.

In another pot I cooked up the quinoa just like rice. I think that was it.

I tried to make a pesto the other night. This is my effort

1 package pasta
3/4 pound fresh asparagus
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 cup, packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper

For the Salad
1 large bundle rainbow chard
2 baby bok choy
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar


To make the pesto, I blended the basil, walnuts, olive oil, and garlic until it was smooth. Or as smooth as I could get it. I cooked the pasta in salty water. When the pasta had about 6 minutes left to cook, I tossed the mushrooms into the water. When it had about 4 minutes left, I tossed in the asparagus to cook all in the same pot. I then strained this, put it back in the pot and mixed in the yeast. I added the pesto and some salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad, I sauteed the garlic in the olive oil. Then I tossed in the chard and bok choy after giving it a rough chop. As this began to cook down and wilt, I added the vinegar and put a top on the large frying pan it was cooking in to help it steam down.

I also made corn with some butter and salt on the gas stove. This whole meal was excellent. No Parmesan needed.

I made this the other night for dinner. The burrito was a variation on my other burritos but didn't turn out well so I'm not going to post that. The side, however, turned out much better. It was mostly easy to make, except for the mango which was a bitch to peel and cut into strips.

2 large ripe mangos
1 large cucumber
1 large jicama
2 limes, juiced
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp chilie powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

I started by peeling the cucumber and jicama and cutting them into 2 inch long, 1/2 inch wide strips. After eating some, I might try smaller strips next time. With the mango, I peeled the skin with a sharp knife. Then cut the strips into the slippery bastards, and tried to remove as much of the meat as I could get off. I nearly chopped a few fingers off when it slipped. If anyone else has a better technique for slicing and dicing mango, please let me know.
After getting that cut up, I added the salt chilie powder and cilantro and tossed with my hands. I've had it fresh and a day later and either way it is good. Very sweet, crisp, and spicy with the chili powder. It makes a perfect accompaniment to spicy beans and rice in the burrito. Some of the juice soaked into the burrito I had today and it was quite good. I may consider putting the salad IN the burrito for tomorrows dinner.

I told Stew a couple days ago that I'd get a vegan safe pizza dough recipe up here, so here we go. This has a few more ingredients than a strictly traditional DOC compliant dough, but it's much easier to handle.

5 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
2 teaspoons table salt OR 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
~1 3/4 cups room temperature water


1. Stir together all the ingredients in a large metal bowl.

2. Repeatedly dip one of your hands or the spoon into room-temperature water, working the dough into a coarse ball like you were using a dough hook while rotating the bowl with your other hand. As all the flour is incorporated the dough will begin to strengthen. This should take about 4 minutes.

3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes and then resume mixing for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the dough is slightly sticky, soft, and supple. If it's too soft and sticky to hold it's shape mix in more flour one tablespoon at a time. If it's too stiff or dry mix in more water.

4. Immediately divide the dough into 4 (or whatever) equal pieces. Round each piece into a ball, brush it with olive oil to coat, and place inside it's own container. I use tupperware for this.

5. Let the balls rest at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put them in the refrigerator overnight. You can also freeze them at this point for up to 3 months.

6. Take them out of the fridge ~2 hours before you plan to use them so they can return to room temperature, then use them to make pizzas as you normally would.

This is very similar to a greek salad I did a little while back, but different enough and tasty enough to post again

2 1/2 cups Bistro Wild Rice Blend
1 cucumber, shredded
1 can black olives
1 can garbanzo beans
4 oz feta cheese
2 chicken breasts
1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped dill
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

For the side I roasted:
1 yam
and 1 ear corn
with salt and butter and some seasonings

To cook the rice, I started boiling about 3 cups water along with the excess cucumber juice, some of the olive water, and the bouillon cube. Once it was going, I poured in the rice, the cucumber, the olives, and the rinsed garbanzo beans. While this was cooking for about 35 minutes, I started the chicken. I seasoned it heavily with salt, pepper, and oregano and cooked each breast on a cast iron pan with oil until each side was brown and crispy.
While all of this was going down, I had the oven up to 45o, where I put the diced up yam and ear of corn until they cooked up right.
When the chicken rested, and the rice was almost done, I chopped up the chicken, and added it to the rice along with the herbs, feta, and the juice of the lemon. I mixed this all around, letting the heat wilt the herbs and the feta to melt and mix all in.