Vegan Cornbread with Collard Greens

I love cornbread. A whole lot. I love it with everything. One of the foods I miss as a vegetarian is corndogs (don't hate), and I'm pretty sure it's only because they involve deep fried cornbread. Having lived my entire life in the South, I like to think I have a well developed ability to distinguish bad cornbread from amazing cornbread. And let me tell you, there is A LOT of really bad cornbread in the world. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of not so healthy ingredients in cornbread. All of these things forced me to search for the perfect, healthier cornbread recipe I knew existed somewhere.

A friend gave me this recipe several years ago. I've had it so long and made it so many times and made so many adjustments that I no longer recall the original version. This was the first vegan recipe I ever made, and it's what really turned me on to not just vegan food (as opposed to vegetarian) but also clean food (that is, food without any refined or processed sugars). For the first time I realized that eggs weren't always necessary to make a recipe work, and sometimes recipes taste better without the eggs. I love using the flax egg replacement-- because not only does it work great, but it also adds a lot of nutrition. And because this recipe doesn't use refined, dry sugar like all the other recipes, it's guaranteed to never ever come out dry and gross.

Sometimes I don't make this recipe vegan by adding some freshly grated parmigiano to the recipe--but I've found that the addition of the nutritional yeast gives the same cheesy taste with the additional bonus of giving me all of my B vitamins for the day.

And to make this cornbread extra nutritious and southern, I like to add collard greens. Because collard greens and cornbread go hand in hand.

Simple Tomato Soup with Roasted Garlic

This winter has been intense and never-ending, so I decided to delve into the realm of homemade soups to cope. I've never been one for making soup, since I've always been under the impression that soups are too involved and you end up with way more than you can possibly eat before it goes bad or you get tired of eating the same thing at every meal. But over the past few months, I've learned that this is definitely not the case. I started simple, and as a result I discovered that soup can be very very simple. Soup can be as involved and as complex as you want it to be. And the nice thing is that you can make a complex tasting soup out of a simple recipe. I decided that a basic tomato soup was the best way to illustrate this.

One of the easiest ways to add complexity of flavor to a simple soup is by using a homemade vegetable stock. I had never made my own stock before, but I got encouraged by watching Julia Child videos on youtube during those long 10 degree (or less) days in January. Making stock is incredibly simple and completely affordable (read: almost free), and once you know how simple it is, you will never go back to store bought. Simply save all of your vegetable scraps and cuttings (cleaned, of course) as you prepare dinner, throw them in a gallon bag, and store them in the freezer. Once your bag gets full, throw it all in a giant pot with anything extra you want to add (I like to add a portobello mushroom for umami), add water, bring it to a simmer for about 30 minutes to an hour, strain it through cheesecloth, and blamo! Homemade vegetable broth. Stick it in the freezer and you have it when you need it.

The quality of ingredients also makes a huge difference in the flavor of your soup. Something that I found to be frustrating when looking for a tomato soup recipe to use as a jumping off point was that recipes using fresh tomatoes as opposed to canned tomatoes are so few and far between. After reading all the bad things about cans leaching chemicals into canned tomatoes as a result of their acid content, I try to stay away from canned tomatoes as much as possible these days (But sometimes it's pretty unavoidable, especially in the dead of winter). But imagine making this in the summer with fresh heirloom tomatoes and serving it chilled! Fresh tomatoes bring so much more flavor to the table than canned tomatoes, and you run less of a risk of your soup tasting like a tomato pasta sauce. Yuck.

Another way I've found to add that little extra something to a simple soup recipe is to give some of the ingredients special treatment. In the case of this tomato soup, I've decided that ingredient will be roasted garlic. Sure it adds some time into the equation, but roasted garlic is always worth the extra time.

Basic Instructions for Roasting Garlic

Before you roast your garlic, remove all of the excess outer skins from the garlic head. You don't want this stuff in your delicious food.

Next, you want to slice the end off of the garlic head to reveal the inner cloves. You want to make sure you use a good sharp knife for this.

After you slice off the tops of the cloves, place your garlic in a tinfoil nest with extra virgin olive oil coating all exposed surfaces. Some people have a fancy garlic roaster and that's just fine, but tin foil works just as well.

Secure the foil so that you don't have any leaks, and place the garlic in a preheated 350 degree oven. I used the toaster oven for this since I was just doing the one head of garlic.
Check the garlic after about 30 minutes. Roasting the garlic can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven.

 Be careful not to burn your garlic like I did! Burned garlic is made for trashcans, so please ignore the burned bits.

Now your garlic is ready for your soup!

Basic Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Part Two: In Which We Bread

     Have starter, will travel...

     My intent here is to present a recipe, but more importantly a method, that's as simple and streamlined as possible which will allow you to produce a professional quality bread out of a home kitchen every time with no unnecessary steps or exertions.  Once you've got the logic down, you can then use it as a basis for more involved types of bread to which you'd like to apply a sourdough starter.  In future posts, I'll show you how you can utilize this same technique to make sourdough bagels, flat bread, pita, focaccia, a thick-crusted loaf, and even a whole wheat sourdough pizza crust that's actually good.

     What's needed is time.  Sourdough ferments at a much slower rate than baker's yeast.  Whereas a packet of active dry yeast can double a dough mass in two hours or less, a sourdough culture will take most of the night.  If you want to bake bread for lunch, you have to start the dough the night before, preferably the day before.  There are no shortcuts when it comes to the wait.  Great bread requires great patience.   The good news is the actual work is minimal.  You don't need a mixer and you don't have to knead for 20 minutes.  The trick is to let the microbes do most of the work while you gently guide the process in the right direction.  One of the many advantages sourdough has, though, is fermentation temperature.  You'll notice that at no point will I say you need to place the dough in a warm spot in order for it to rise.  Your natural culture performs very well at common room temperatures.  Anywhere between 65 and 85 degrees will do perfectly, so you'll have no problem baking bread in a winter kitchen.

     Let's take a look at our ingredients:

•   Three cups whole wheat flour 
•  1 1/2 cups room temperature water 
•  Sourdough starter (about two tablespoons) 
•  Three teaspoons kosher salt dissolved in the water*

These specific numbers are immaterial.  It's just the amount I'll usually make for a couple days worth of bread. What's important are the ratios:

• One part water to two parts flour 
• About a teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of flour*

*The amount of salt of course is to taste, but you absolutely need at least a minimum of salt for the bread to come out properly.  Keep in mind that table salt will have more salinity per volume than kosher salt due to the shape of the grains, so adjust accordingly.

     Now pour the water into the flour.   Use a spoon or spatula to mix the center into a batter-like consistency.

 It's at this point you add in the starter.

Keep mixing until the flour and water have completely come together.  You may find that the dough mass will be dryer or wetter according to ambient humidity.  With this ratio, it really should never be too dry, but if you find it too wet just add a little bit more flour in -- you will want the dough to be on the moist side, though, as it makes a big difference in how the bread expands in the oven.  You shouldn't have to knead with your hands, but rather bring it together with your utensil until it's a singular, homogeneous mass with good elasticity.

Cover it up and say goodnight...

Basic Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Part One: Microbial Necessities

     These posts will attempt to show just  how easy and labor-free making a flavorful and healthy whole wheat bread at home can be.  In part one, we discuss the necessary germs, how we can get ahold of them, and how we keep them as our lovely, gaseous pets -- less maintenance than goldfish, smell better than dogs, and they magically turn what amounts to glue into one of the best foods ever.

     So why sourdough?  Why not!  It's totally natural, totally free, healthy, and adds a depth of flavor that most people think is only possible in bread from a traditional bakery.  I would also assert that people who find that commercial yeast breads don't agree with them would have less issues with digesting natural sourdough.  Our friend here is a stable symbiotic duo of a wild yeast strain and lactobacillus bacteria.  The bacteria creates an acidic environment that prevents other bacteria and yeasts from taking hold.  There are just a few types of yeast that can survive alongside the lactobacillus, any one of which will foot the bill for baking; and even after baking, its acidity will prevent spoilage much longer than common breads. 

     So now you might be saying, "Well Matthew, I don't have a sourdough starter, what do?"  There are three ways you can get around that:

1. Get one from someone who bakes with sourdough.  It's no skin off their nose.  Just ask.  I could give hundreds of people a starter on a daily basis and it wouldn't be much of a bother.  You can even get one through the mail. 
2. Make it yourself from scratch.  The traditional way of creating a culture requires time, patience, and some luck that your flour, your hands, and the air around you contains the right yeast and bacteria to get it going.
3. Start with a baker's yeast.  Purists may hate this and say it's pointless, but in my experience it's the fastest way if you don't have access to an extant culture, plus you can start baking immediately (though, it won't be sourdough if you do).  Every time I've done it, I had a sourdough starter going within four days.

     I provided a link for making it traditionally, but I know most of you won't want to commit to a week of waiting with no guarantee of success so I'll cover the baker's yeast method in this post.  There's nothing wrong with it.  After just a couple days of feeding, the natural yeast and bacteria will take over and you'll have a for-real-deal sourdough starter.  You might be under the impression that such a method would never yield a totally natural culture, that it would always be tainted by commercial yeast.  I assure you the store-bought yeast will be completely taken over and gone fairly quickly as it cannot maintain itself in the presence of its wild counterparts.  My take on it (i.e. uneducated guess) is that the baker's yeast simply "opens the door" for the less vigorous strains to step in.  Most people think that their culture is somehow hermetically sealed and remains the same for as long as they keep it alive. The truth is that it's constantly being informed by ambient spores. The natural yeasts and bacteria in any particular area change over time and a maintained sourdough culture will follow suit.  You will also find that if your starter travels around the country, the characteristics of your bread will change as regional spores affect your starter.  
   
     So, dig around in your pantry for that packet of active dry yeast that's been sitting around forever and break it open.  Take a pinch of it and mix it into a small amount of lukewarm water (preferably filtered or spring water, but I've never had any issues with straight tap water).  Once dissolved, add in enough flour to bring it together into a moist dough mass.  You'll want to use a non-sterilized whole wheat flour which will be more likely to harbor the yeast spores you need.  One part water to two parts flour is a good rule of thumb. To keep waste to a minimum, make the starter to be only a couple tablespoons worth of material.  Cover it up and let it proof.  About twice a day, at least once a day, you'll want to feed it.  Now, feeding.  Here's where I get to the part that people can't wrap their heads around: Take a spoon, scoop it out and throw it away.

     Yup.

     You don't need it.  If you didn't throw out the bulk of your starter during feedings, you'd end up with a mountainous amount after a very short while. What you need is what's left in the container after you scooped it out.  Pour in a small amount of room temperature water, mix it up with the culture residue, and then add in enough flour to bring it together into a moist dough mass, just like before.

  After a couple days of this, you'll notice the culture will change. It will look and smell different and it's at this point that the commercial yeast is no more.  You'll want to feed it for a couple more days to make sure that it consistently proofs.  If it doesn't, have patience and continue feeding.  It will come around.  Once you're confident in it (it smells right and should double in size within eight hours or so after feeding), it's ready for baking.  You can also reduce feedings to just once a day at this point, every other day if you have to, but I find it best to make a ritual of it before I get ready for bed every night just so it gets done regularly.

     Now I should say that this is what works for me as a micro-scale home baker, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work for you, but there are as many methods for maintaining and baking sourdough as there are bakers who use it.  I would encourage you to see what other people do, experiment, be creative and tailor your methods to suit yourself.  The most rewarding part of it for me is being connected to thousands of years of baking history while creatively bumbling around in my kitchen, making it my own.  Nothing is set in stone here.

     So that's the hard part, and there's nothing hard about it aside from the waiting. Now you're ready for the fun part.  It's slow motion fun, but it gets my rocks off.  In part two, we will discover the joys of producing our very own naturally leavened, professional quality whole wheat bread. 

Sprouts and Such

If you know me personally, you will know that I am really into sprouts lately. And with Matthew's support, I've become almost obsessive. I first tried sprouting many years ago, but got scared away because I was given poor instructions and got stuck with a rather large batch of smelly, rotten, half sprouted lentils. But I decided to give sprouting another chance, and for about the last month I've been sprouting anything I can--so far I've sprouted quinoa, lentils, chickpeas, broccoli, alfalfa, and mung beans. I just started my first batch of red clover, and I'm attempting to figure out how to sprout chia seeds properly (apparently there's an incorrect method and that's the one I tried). In theory, almost anything can be sprouted and eaten.

Call me crazy, but there is a reason for this recent obsession. Sprouts are not just delicious to eat, they are also apparently super amazing and healthy for you. Did you know that 3 to 4 day old broccoli sprouts have at least a 20 times higher concentration of cancer fighting enzymes than mature broccoli? Sprouts in general are super concentrated in essential amino acids, enzymes, protein, and vitamins. And that's just a quick summary of the benefits. There's a huge amount of information on the benefits of sprouts online.

One website that I've found to be super helpful is Sprout People. This website has an enormous amount of advice and information regarding how to sprout and sprout nutrition.

The best thing about growing your own sprouts other than the amount of money you will save (for less than a dollar you can make about $5 worth of sprouts) is the fact that you know that your sprouts have been produced in a sanitary environment with clean water. The sprouts you buy in the store always look a little sickly, and you never know the conditions in which they were sprouted.

And you can sprout literally anything. Which is great if you have a pantry full of dried goods. You must be aware that some things are not okay to eat as raw sprouts: some beans like kidney beans, black beans, and navy beans can be toxic if eaten raw. However, there is nothing wrong with sprouting these beans and then cooking them. Cooking sprouted beans will not only double the nutritional value of the beans, but will also make them easier to digest (if you know what I mean).

The only difficult thing about sprouting is remembering to rinse your sprouts at least twice a day, or once every 8-12 hours. I personally haven't found this to be difficult to remember because I put my sprouts in a spot that's visible (and I'm also overly enthusiastic about it right now). If you make it a habit to rinse when you wake up and before you go to bed, it's difficult to forget. But if you are the forgetful type who has money to spend, there is a market for sprouting machines that do the watering and rinsing for you.

How to Sprout: The Basics

For very basic home sprouting, you don't need many materials to get started. I started with an old pickle jar, a strong rubber band or two, and some cheesecloth. You want to make sure you have a jar with a mouth large enough to fit your hand (I learned this the hard way).

I recently purchased these nifty plastic sprouting lids off Amazon, which limit my need to use cheesecloth. They screw nicely onto any wide mouth mason jar, and are easy to clean and reuse. Unfortunately, it is unknown if they are BPA free (although there are some plastic sprouting lids on the market which are definitely BPA free), but I think it's alright since the sprouts have minimal and short term contact with the lids. Metal screen mesh lids are also available, but are apparently prone to rust.

Before you soak your seeds/beans for the recommended time (which can be found on the Sprout People website), it's important to rinse them and sort out any rocks or inferior seeds/beans (beans that are split in half will not produce a sprout and can contribute to crop rot).

After you soak your seeds/beans, drain them well and then give them another rinse. Then prop up your jar at an angle to drain any excess water, making sure that air can still flow through the mouth of the jar. You can do this on a dish rack or on a counter (I have mine on this wire shelf with jars underneath to catch the drips). It's very important that the seeds remain moist but are not sitting in water.

Here you can see 2nd day broccoli, 3rd day mung bean, 1st day alfalfa, and 1st day chickpea

Place your jar out of direct sunlight in a cool place. Sprouts do not require sunlight to grow, as this stage of plant growth usually occurs underground. Some spouts, like alfalfa and broccoli, require sunlight on the last day or two of growth so that the leaves can become green. Other sprouts, especially mung beans, must be kept out of direct sunlight completely to avoid a bitter taste.

Here you can see the same broccoli batch on the 4th day (I had to split it into 2 jars), the alfalfa on the 3rd day, and the chickpeas on the 3rd day

Rinse your sprouts every 8-12 hours, or more if you notice that they are dry. You never want your sprouts to dry out, which is another reason for avoiding direct sunlight.
The growth time for sprouts is entirely up to you. Taste a little of each batch after rinsing until you develop your own personal preference.

These mung bean sprouts are ready to eat!

As your sprouts grow in size, you will notice that they will discard their seed hulls. Removal of the hulls is not essential--in fact you may like the texture they sometimes add--but they can also harbor excess moisture and contribute to mold growth. If you would like to remove the hulls, all you have to do is soak your sprouts in water, either in the jar or a salad spinner for larger sprouts. You will notice that the hulls tend to float to the surface. At this point, you can either scoop them out with your hand, or you can attach a lid with larger holes to your jar to filter the hulls from the sprouts. OR, you can buy this adorable salad spinner made specifically for removing sprout hulls. Like I said, it's not essential to remove all of the hulls, just a matter of taste and preference.

Floating broccoli sprout hulls

As far as sprout storage goes, apply the same rules as you would use for storing salad greens. Moisture is your enemy and can lead to rot, mold, and general grossness. Plan on storing your sprouts in the fridge 12 hours after your last rinse to ensure that all excess water has drained. I've found that storing them in a long and shallow container works better than a deep container to prevent moisture build up at the bottom of the container.

As you can see, I line the bottom of the container with paper towels and then place another paper towel on top of the sprouts before closing the lid. If you store the container upside down in the fridge, all the excess moisture falls to the top paper towel and you can easily remove it. I've found that sprouts last about a week max in the fridge stored properly, so be careful not to make more sprouts than you can reasonably consume.

The more delicate sprouts and micro greens are excellent on salads, sandwiches, toast, you name it. They wilt and turn to mush if cooked, so they are best eaten raw.
The more robust sprouts like mung beans are great raw and cooked, and can be added to pretty much anything. I love eating them in miso soup or on salad.

One of my favorite breakfasts is peanut butter toast with quinoa sprouts. But really, your options are endless.
I really think sprouts are overdue for a comeback. Not only are they super tasty and a great textural addition to any meal, but they are also one of those cliché *super foods*--packed full of vitamins, amino acids, and protein. 

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Our quest for the perfect tortilla recipe came after a long string of disappointments at the grocery stores searching for a decent tasting tortilla that didn't have a million weird ingredients. The ones that we found that had a passable ingredients list were often not bendy enough, tasted like cardboard, and cost A LOT OF MONEY. So the search began.

We tried a few different recipes floating around on the internet, until I stumbled upon this lovely post at Hello from the Natos. For the first time we found a whole wheat tortilla dough that had just a few quality ingredients, didn't involve shortening or lard, came together quickly and easily, was nice and flexible after cooked, and --most importantly-- tasted delicious. After making this recipe many many many times, we've found that it is extremely versatile, and we've adapted it for other things like samosas and pie crust.

We have also made a few changes to the ingredients which vary depending on our purpose for making tortillas. If we are going for more of a flat bread with a bit of a bite for a wrap sandwich, we make the recipe entirely from whole wheat flour. If we are making burritos or tacos we make the recipe with 1/3 all purpose flour and 2/3 whole wheat flour so that our tortillas will be a little more flexible and be capable of holding just a little more filling.

One of our favorite ways of using tortillas is to make tempeh wraps for lunch, which is what we did today (but that will have to wait for another day and another post).

These tortillas are best eaten immediately, otherwise you will find that they lose flexibility. However, you can easily make the dough well in advance and store it in the freezer or the refrigerator until you are ready to use it (just be sure to let the dough fully rest until it reaches room temperature again before you attempt to roll it out).

Homemade tortillas may seem like a lot of work, but once you taste them you will never want to go back to eating store bought tortillas ever again.

Whole Wheat Tortillas 

Makes 6-8 standard size tortillas

1 cup    Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tsp     Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp  Baking Powder (Aluminum Free)
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil  
1/2 cup Scalding Hot Water

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Form a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the olive oil. Mix the olive oil in with the flour until the mixture becomes crumbly and the oil is well distributed.

 
Slowly add the scalding water a tablespoon or two at a time to the flour and oil mix. You can use a rubber spatula or a spoon, but I like to use my hands. It is very important that the water be as hot as physically possible, otherwise your tortillas will not have the right texture or flexibility when they are cooked. If you are using your hands to mix, be careful not to burn yourself. When I use my hands, I first pour a little water and then throw some of the flour on top before I reach in with my hands. This seems to help offer some protection for my skin by cooling it a little.

Mix the water in gradually until you reach a smooth dough consistency. Depending on your location and humidity, you may find that you may need a little more or a little less water than 1/2 cup. If you accidentally add too much water, just sprinkle in a little more flour and knead the dough until you reach the right consistency.

The dough should be oily and wet, but not sticky. Once the dough comes together, form it into a ball and cover it in the bowl to rest. The dough should rest a minimum of 30 minutes before you try to use it.

After the dough has rested for at least 30 minutes, take it out of the bowl and place it on an oiled board. Grease your rolling pin with oil just as you greased your cutting board so that the dough does not stick.You do not want to use bench flour. This recipe can make as many tortillas as you like, so portion the dough as you like (we portioned the dough for 6 in this photo, but number 6 is missing). We have found that this recipe is best for making 6 standard size tortillas for burritos or wraps, or 8 smaller size tortillas that are good for tacos.

Begin to heat a large skillet or griddle on the stove. We have found that cast iron works the best for making these, but you can also use a non-stick pan. Once your skillet is evenly heated, turn the heat down to medium or medium high, depending on your burner strength and the type of pan you decide to use. We like to add a tiny bit of oil to our griddle because it's relatively new, but if you have an ancient crusty cast iron skillet you probably won't need to do this step.

Roll out the dough, making sure that you maintain an even thickness. Roll until you reach a thickness of about 1/16".

Carefully place the tortilla on the skillet. Flip the tortilla when you begin to see bubbles rise to the surface.

When the bottom begins to look golden, transfer the tortilla to a plate and cover with a damp tea towel or paper towel to help retain the moisture and heat.

Viola! You now have homemade tortillas. Eat them immediately, or store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to a week. If you refrigerate, just reheat the tortilla in a pan. These also apparently freeze very well, so you could potentially make tons of tortillas and use them whenever you want (but we like to eat them fresh most of the time).

I guess I should wrap up this post now </joke>. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Fancy Kitchen not Required

Welcome to our first post! We are Matthew and Christine, and we really like food. We enjoy not just eating food, but also the process of making it. We eat a plant based, vegan and vegetarian diet with the occasional fish thrown in. We try to make the majority of our food from scratch, with whole ingredients that are as unprocessed as possible.

We want this blog to be our way of sharing our cooking methods and ideas. We want it to show not just our elaborate concoctions, but also the simple basics that build up the foundations of our meals. Sometimes our recipes may seem complex, but most of the time they are simple principles that we have just built over time. Sometimes we like to purposefully make large amounts of things (like our veggie burger mix) so that we have leftovers to play with the next day. Most of our recipes are derived from trying to figure out what to do with leftovers.

Many people think that we cook complicated food, but to us, our food is just simple every day food made with the ingredients we have on hand. As you can see, we don't have a fancy chef's kitchen--in fact, we have a cozy kitchen with minimal work space--but we like it this way (more cabinets and/or counters would be nice though).

I like having everything within a moment's reach, and the small space forces us to work more as a team in the kitchen. You don't need a fancy huge kitchen to cook good food. All you really need is some kind of stove, a sink (although that's debatable), some tools, some good ingredients, and the desire to make good food. That's it.

So we hope you'll enjoy our little blog, and excuse our occasional weird sense of humor.