Mole Skillet Pie with Greens

                                    from Veganomicon

I'm pretty damn certain that the chile-chocolate mole sauce from Veganomicon is my absolute favorite recipe from the book. I had pondered this after first making it. But this second time around, I realized that I am 100% smitten.

There is just something goddamn sexy about that mole recipe. No matter WHAT you put it on, it turns the dish from Bugs Bunny to Jessica Rabbit, it's THAT kind of sauce. (I just realized that Jessica Rabbit isn't ACTUALLY a rabbit. God, I clearly haven't seen that movie in forever. But you get my point.)

Needless to say, I was also very found of this skillet pie as well, given that it's pretty much just a vehicle for eating mole sauce. Granted, the veggies and stuff are a nice touch, and the biscuit-topping was unusual but damn tasty. But it's kind of like when I order French fries and then load up on the ketchup so much so that I can barely taste the fries--essentially, the veggies and biscuits are just an excuse to eat mole.

Any which way though: this recipe isn't too terribly complicated, and it's a nice warming recipe for these upcoming blustery winter months.

INGREDIENTS:

The Mole Sauce:*

• 1/3 c. sliced almonds


• 1/3 c. tortilla chips


• 2 T. sesame seeds


• 1 t. anise


• 2 t. chili powder


• 1 1/4 t. cinnamon


• 1 t. marjoram


• 1/2 t. cumin


• 1/4 t. allspice


• 3 T. peanut oil (or other mild oil)


• 4 cloves garlic


• 1 small onion


• 2 c. veg broth


• 2 T. peanut butter


• 15 oz. tomatoes


• 3 oz. semisweet chocolate

(*Note: This makes a quantity in excess of the amount called for in the Mole Skillet Pie recipe. Just so you're aware. You'll have leftover sauce.)


The Skillet Pie:

• 3 T. peanut oil (or other mild oil)


• 1 yellow onion


• 1 small carrot


• 1/2 lb. kale


• 2 c. black beans


• 1 c. almond or soy milk


• 1 t. apple cider vinegar


• 3 T. peanut oil (or other mild oil)


• 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or whole wheat flour works as well)


• 1/2 c. cornmeal


• 1 T. sugar


• 1-1/4 t. baking powder


• 1/4 t. baking soda


• 1/4 t. salt

DIRECTIONS

For the Mole Sauce:

Prepare spice mixture. Place almonds, aniseeds, tortilla chips, and sesame seeds in a pot and stir to toast for 2 min. Remove from heat. Place in food processor with spices and pulse until finely ground.

Saute garlic in oil. Once it's sizzling, add onions and cook - 5 min. Combine PB and a few T of hot veg broth, stirring until PB is emulsified and easy to pour.

Pour remaining veg broth, PB mixture, spice mixture, and diced tomatoes into a pot. Boil. Lower heat and simmer 8-10 min, until reduced. Remove from heat, puree, and return to stove. Add chocolate until melted and incorporated. (Lindy Loo Note: I think the "returning mole to stove" step is kind of unnecessary myself, unless you're not planning on eating it for hours. You can just as easily simmer until reduced, toss in your chocolate until it's melted, remove from the heat and puree, and then serve.)

For the Skillet Pie:

Filling: Heat peanut oil. Add onion and saute 5 minutes. Add carrot and cook until onion is tender and golden - 5-6 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and combine with steamed greans, beans, and 1 cup mole. Stir to coat everything with sauce. Place mixture back in skillet (or a casserole dish) and smooth out over top.

Crust: Combine milk and vinegar in measuring cup. Place oil in a large bowl, beat in milk mixture and sift in flour, cornmeal sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until moistened. Pour over vegetables and smooth to cover. Bake 30-35 minutes.

(Posted at Calorie Count--the mole recipe as well, originally from Veganomicon)

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

                        from Cupcake Punk

Hmmmm. Apparently I shouldn't wait so long to post about a recipe, because when I do, I sometimes kind of forget my thoughts on the recipe. Which doesn't make for the most useful of recipe-postings.

Case in point: These Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies. I think I made them about three weeks ago. And boy were they... ummm... cookie-ish! Like, they were SO cookie-ish that I was like, Wow: Cookies. And the pumpkin was so very... pumpkiny. And you'd think the pecans would be pecany, but they were chocolate-chippy if you can believe that! Oh wait. No. My bad, the chocolate chips were what was so chocolate-chippy. And also, I mean, talk about round and slightly lumpy-ish like, in that way that cookies are? Totally the case. Again, perfect examples of the existence of cookies.

Yeah.

And what further complicates the issue when I wait too long to blog about a dessert recipe is the fact that I will pretty much eat ANYTHING if it's sweet. So although I *DO* remember plowing through a good dozen of these by myself over the course of no more than a couple of days, given my love of sugary desserts, that means absolutely nothing. They could've tasted like sugar-covered dookie, and I would've been like, "Dookie me up some more dookie, o sugar-covered dookie!"

Like, this weekend I bought this GLORIOUS vegan oreo cookie cupcake at Nature's Bin as a treat. This thing was like sugar from heaven. Seriously: it was like 2/3 frosting, 1/3 cake. Which is pretty much exactly the way I love cake. And by that I mean Screw cake--I really just love frosting.

Anyways, I decided to chow down on this cupcake on Friday night, and seriously: I was a little bit concerned that I was going to die. Of sugar. Like my death certificate would read Cause of death: Sugar:

ME (eating cupcake): moan

N-A: What's the matter?

ME: I think this is the sugariest thing I've ever eaten. In my whole life.

N-A: Um. Then stop eating it.

ME: But it's SOOOOOO good. (taking another bite)

N-A: stares at me as though I am ridiculous

ME: Blorf. Oh my god.

N-A: Seriously. Stop eating it.

ME: I don't want to waste it though. 'Cause it's sooooo good. (shoveling in another bite and leaving one last bite remaining) Dammit. (moaning again) I can't do it. I think if I try to eat it I will die. Like actually die. Or throw up. Ungh.

N-A: rolling eyes

So yeah. Things I can vouch for with these cookies: They had sugar in them. They were cookie-ish. And I ate at least a dozen in two days. Which means they were either good or terrible. So if you like cookie-ish cookies, you'll love these. Cookies!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. Earth Balance, room temperature


• 1 c. packed brown sugar


• 1 c. granulated sugar


• 1 c. pumpkin puree


• 1 T. apple butter or apple sauce


• 1 t. vanilla extract


• 2 c. all-purpose flour


• 1-1/3 c. quick or old-fashioned oats


• 1 t. baking soda


• 1 t. ground cinnamon


• 1 t. ground cardamom (I omitted this 'cause I didn't have any)


• 1/2 t. salt


• 1 c. chocolate chips


• 1/2 c. chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350F.

Beat the Earth Balance and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the apple butter/sauce, vanilla, and pumpkin puree and beat for another 3 minutes.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cardamom and cinnamon and whisk together. Slowly add it to the butter mixture until just combined, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom once or twice to ensure even mixing.

Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Drop spoonfuls of dough on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 13-15 minutes. Allow to cool on the tray for a minute or two to set, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.

(recipe from Cupcake Punk)

$1 Black Bean and Salsa Soup, with a Side of My Two Cents

So I'm cheap. As we all know. A fact that this recipe got me thinking about once again, given how pleased I was about how inexpensive and quick a recipe it is.

But it's also a recipe that got me thinking yet again about one of the more overlooked issues of veganism, and that's the issue of class/classism, an issue that's all tangled up in the concept and practice of veganism.

I've had friends argue with me that it is more expensive to be vegan than it is to not be vegan. And although I WHOLLY disagree--as long as you're not feasting continually at restaurants and off of processed food (both of which are issues the meat-eating population must contend with as well, which I think is important to note), it's *much* cheaper to be buying fruits and veggies than it is meat and cheeses--I can't overlook the fact that the vegan diet *is* a diet more easily accessible to middle- and upper-class individuals.

I don't say this as a way to discourage individuals FROM eating vegan. I'm by no means saying that someone with a meager-budget couldn't afford to go the vegan path. It's a fairly easy and cheap task if one goes about it correctly.

But my point is this: so much of veganism comes down to accessibility of information, access to education, and how all of that is overwhelmingly tied to class in so very many ways.

The class issues of veganism are a topic that's rarely discussed by vegan food-bloggers. But I'm reminded of them each time I happen upon one of the more upscale vegan food blogs and find myself wondering a) where in god's name do they find the time to COOK such elaborately-prepared meals... daily... and sometimes more than once a day, and b) how in the hell are they able to afford such obscure and expensive ingredients?

And I don't mean to pick on the upscale vegan food blogs. These class issues are apparent in even the simplest, most basic vegan food-blogs. We often forget, but the mere act of being a food blogger reeks of privilege in many ways.

Food-blogging means, of course, having some sort of disposable income to blow on "cooking food for fun." It means having money to spend on recipes that go above and beyond the more basic and inexpensive recipes available to us. And this is a disposable income which many folks don't have. And it also means having disposable time. Again: something which many folks don't have.

But above and beyond that: I know there are many vegan food bloggers out there who don't splurge on unnecessary, extravagant ingredients, and who blog only occasionally because they are too busy to be cooking for fun on a regular basis. BUT EVEN SO: Food-blogging requires having a digital camera. Again: more money. And it requires access to a computer. That means either being able to afford one, or having easy means of accessing one, and this, in turn, means having time to spare. Sitting in a public library, using a school computer-lab, etc. all these things require extra time. And that time is a luxury that many don't have.

Like most of us, I tend to forget that I am lucky in so very many ways to HAVE the money to be able to entertain myself through cooking. I am lucky I don't have to resort to "feasting" on the bare minimum, on fast-food burgers or casseroles-in-a-box, simply because I have just barely enough money to scrape by or because I don't have enough time to cook because I'm too busy working to make ends meet. And I haven't even BEGUN to discuss the other topics I mentioned earlier: namely how class affects our ability to access information and education. But I'm lucky in that regard too. I've had the time and money to be able to educate myself. And I've been lucky enough to have access to information that not everyone has, information that has led me down the path of veganism. Again: another luxury not available to everyone.

I say this as a reminder to myself (and to others) as Thanksgiving grows near, as many of us contemplate Adopting a Turkey instead of feasting on one (again: a luxury), as we contemplate the elaborate feasts we will be crafting, as we try to figure out the best ways to get pictures of it all to post on our food-blogs.

We all have a bad habit of getting angry at folks for not seeing the cruelty inherent in a meat-eating diet. I am no exception. But I think it's important to remind ourselves once in a while that we are lucky people, that we are blessed with access to many things that others do not have--namely money, time, information, and education, and that if we hadn't been graced with these privileges, we could very easily be on an entirely different path right now.

So next time we get all up on our high-horses, let us be humble and reminded of that fact. And let us be thankful.



Phew. Boobies feces dookie nipples! Look at me getting all serious and shit.

Enough of that! On to a recipe.

This soup is similar to the Salsa Chili Soup I posted about back in the day and which I'm also quite a big fan of, simply because it's cheap and takes like 10 minutes to make. And I have to agree with Happy Herbivore: it's delicious.


                                      from Happy Herbivore


INGREDIENTS:

• 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 cup frozen yellow or roasted corn


• 1 cup chunky salsa


• 1 1/2 cups veg broth


• 1/2 tsp cumin


• hot sauce as desired


• baked corn chips - optional

DIRECTIONS

Place 1 cup beans, salsa, broth and cumin in a blender. Puree until smooth.

Transfer to a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients except chips. Stir to combine.

Heat thorougly over low.

Once warmed, serve.

Top the soup off with broken chips.

Note: You can skip the stove top and heat it in the microwave instead, too. My dorm room was without a stove and it worked just fine... but I did burn my tongue off a few times

Makes 4 cups

(Recipe from Happy Herbivore)