Author Archives: Kinenchen

Mar 08 2013
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Thoughts

Black Trumpet Mushrooms!

These babies are relatives of another subtler favorite, the chanterelle. They’re similar in shape but they’ve got a richer flavor and beautiful smoky color. These hail from the Pacific Northwest and I left the gathering to the professionals this time. Wild mushrooms are something you should only partake in if they’re gathered by someone who really knows what they’re doing.

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These were beautiful when sauteed with some vegan butter and garlic salt. In a wrap or over pasta they made a nice meaty addition to my dinner.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Mar 05 2013
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Main Dishes

Vegan Paella, for real this time

I made paella once before and a Latina colleague informed me that unless it contains meat, paella is merely veggie rice. I don’t think she’d be able to argue with this vegan paella, though.

We used Vigo yellow rice instead of making our own. Brent and I have become big fans of this vegan rice mix because it’s tasty, easy and costs less than $2. If you get to try it, it gets a little toasty on the bottom of the pan and don’t worry because this improves the flavor significantly.
IMG_2441I started by sauteeing some onion with a little olive oil and some flake red pepper. While that was cooking, Brent was cutting some Brussel’s sprouts and thaw the Ocean’s Best vegan shrimp.We also threw in some black olives that I cut in half.

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These all went into the pan until everything was steamy and hot and the onion was soft and the sprouts had begun to soften. I turned off the heat and added the red pepper. I put a lid over it and allowed it to steam until the pepper was just barely hot. I find bell peppers get bitter when cooked so I avoid cooking them completely unless the skin has been removed.
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We scooped some rice onto our plates and arranged the veggies to make the paella look delicious and that didn’t take much effort. It was really good and the shrimp definitely added what was missing from my last paella effort. Next time I might add daikon as an answer to sea scallops. Savory olives (instead of mussels), sweet bell pepper, herbal Brussel’s sprouts all brought out the light flavors in the saffron rice and sweet shrimp. YUM!

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Mar 03 2013
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Thoughts

Sad-day Bunday

We had a loss this week. One of our bunnies passed in the waiting room of our vet’s office on Monday. Our vet determined that a pea-sized ball of her own hair became lodged between her stomach and intestine and as her tummy filled with gas and stomach fluids the other organs in her tiny chest cavity were crushed, killing her in less than 12 hours. Bunnies eat their own fur while grooming themselves all the time (along with other undigestible fibers like hay and wood that comprise the bulk of their diet) so our vet was surprised and saddened to report this as the cause of her death, calling it a “freak event” and noted that she was otherwise quite healthy. Apparently even if we had gotten her to the vet the night before when we noticed she wasn’t feeling well, they wouldn’t have known what was wrong until they cut her open since hair doesn’t show up on their radiographs.

Brent and I are pretty devastated and the survivor, our Flemish Giant, is coping well but clearly mourning the loss of his lady love. I guess that one of the tradeoffs for how awesome bunnies are as pets is that they can go from happy and healthy to dead in a handful of hours.

It is common for rabbits to stop eating and die when they lose a bonded partner so we’ve been watching him closely. I can’t begin to imagine the trauma of going from spending 23+ hours a day with your favorite person to watching your best friend die in front of you and spending 5-6 hours a day with 2 ridiculous looking earless bipedal giants. He’s coping pretty well and has even started to assert his dominance with me and Brent. I took this as a sign that he’d accepted the loss of his ladyfriend whom we often called “the Overlady” because she was without a doubt the alpha.

Now I’m looking for a ladyfriend for our bereft husbunn and I’m realizing how big the rabbit problem really is here in South Florida. I looked first at the local shelters and found a couple dozen rabbits locally, another 2 dozen in nearby Fort Lauderdale, and several dozen in Palm Beach. Considering how many people live in South Florida, it didn’t seem so bad. Then I started perusing Craig’s List, eBay and other private ads. The sheer number of unwanted and found bunnies broke my heart all over again because we can only rescue one. The worst part was the sheer number of people selling baby bunnies and other answering listings for unwanted bunnies and relisting them with exorbitant ‘rehousing’ fees. I wonder if humans are just wired to exploit anything that can’t fight back.

This is Christie, signing off.

Feb 28 2013
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Cooking

Easy Vegan Breakfast on the CHEAP!

I get up kind of early… okay not that early. I mostly get up to watch the bunnies bounce around and have coffee with Brent before I head off to the laboratory. For the record, my older sister turned me on to this and THANK-YOU! I keep the ingredients for my breakfast in my desk. by the time I get to work I’m starting to get hungry so it’s the perfect time while I wait for my experiments to get going.
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This is all you need:
1/2 cup rolled oats (my Bag of Bob’s Red Mill cost me just shy of $4)
pumpkin pie seasoning or cinnamon (this little jar cost me $.99)
1 tsp rice nectar (the jar cost me $5)
1-2 tbsp raisins (the tub cost me $5)
1 cup of water
a pinch of salt

I microwave the oats, water, spice, salt and nectar at 30 second intervals until it starts to bubble up and get thick and creamy. Sometimes I add a touch of almond milk but it isn’t necessary. Then I throw in the raisins and know I’m getting some awesome heart healthy oats in a delicious breakfast that takes moments to make even when your brain is on auto-pilot.

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The other beauty of this breakfast is that it contains about 280 calories, has a low-glycemic index and a heap of filling fiber for a very low cost. I like the texture of Bob’s Red Mill oats best but the generic store brand costs a mere $2 for a large tub. Each bag of oats lasts at least 3 weeks and tub of raisins lasts me at least 6 weeks. Try doing that with bacon and eggs and still having money leftover for your Lipitor!

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 26 2013
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Main Dishes

Tempeh Fajita Wraps

So we’re still on a wrap kick and so Brent decided to marinate some tempeh in some tamari, garlic and flake red pepper.
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I sauteed up with some purple onion, jalapeño, poblano pepper and a bit of corn oil.I like poblanos because they’re lightly spicy and don’t get bitter when cooked like bell peppers do.

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As the onion and pepper began to soften I added in the tempeh and stirred it all up until it was steamy and hot. I added the rest of the marinade too: it helped season the onion and pepper as well as providing some liquid to steam the veggies and keep them from scorching.

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Brent was busy making some saffron rice while I was doing this. We used a store bought baggie of Vigo saffron rice that cost us $1.89. It’s delicious all by itself.

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We chopped up some cilantro, red bell pepper and avocado to decorate our delicious fajitas with and ended up with a highly nutritious meal that was packed with flavor.

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Brent added some Daiya to his and I included some flake red pepper.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Feb 24 2013
4 Comments
Uncategorized

Sunday Bunday!

Listen up, people; this is important. Easter is coming up and it’s when most bunnies are bought on impulse and then abandoned when they stop being cute or some hapless pet owner ends up with 30 bunnies from their original two that have to be surrendered to a shelter. Fun facts about bunnies:

1. They can give birth and get pregnant in the same HOUR!

2. They can have up to 10 babies every 28 days; that can be up to 130 bunnies a YEAR!

3. Rabbits are the third most frequently abandoned animals, according to shelters.

This particular post is to ask you to spread the word about rabbits so that people don’t thoughtlessly buy rabbits for their small children as an Easter surprise.

 

This is Christie, Brent and the bunnies, signing off!

Feb 22 2013
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Main Dishes

Italian Wraps!

We had some awesome looking sausage from Pure Market Express and we decided to make something simple with it so we could really appreciate the flavor.
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This was crazy easy, all we did was pile up some Muir Glen fire-roasted tomato, black olives, and sausage on a lightly greased foil-lined baking sheet and topped it with some oregano and some Follow Your Heart mozzarella. I toasted it under our broiler until the cheese was melty and bubbly and then we scooped it onto a spinach lined wrap. I added some extra oregano and some flake red pepper. Brent added some vegan parmesan.

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It was as tasty as it looks. The sausage was a little sweet but I think I can balance it in the future with some garlic salt. This might make a better sub sandwich if you’re not sensitive to gluten or have easy access to gluten-free rolls but we’re using wraps since it’s what we’ve got.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Feb 19 2013
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Cooking

Cajun Blackened Tempeh

We found some easy prep red beans and rice and decided to make a Cajun meal (or our version of it) using that, some steamed green beans that we topped with BacUn from Pure Market Express and some spiced tempeh that we coated in our home-made rub and blackened under our broiler.
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika
2 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp cracked black pepper (feel free to grind the whole peppercorns with the mortar and pestle)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt

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After mixing these spices in a bowl I rolled each piece of tempeh (I recommend marinating it in some veggie bouillon or your favorite marinade for 1-2 hours, some tempeh can be dry) in the mixture. I placed the tempeh in a dish and covered it lightly with a paper towel. I then microwaved the tempeh for 2 minutes total for 30 seconds at a time, turning it over between sessions.

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Then I put it on tin foil and placed it near our broiler on each side for 2-3 minutes or until it started to toast.

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The result… happy Brent and happy Christie.

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Feb 17 2013
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Thoughts

Sunday Bunday!

Our bunnies are most active in the morning and evening when we’re home and have time to snuggle them.

They’re pretty excited about breakfast but I like to think they’re thrilled about seeing me and Brent for the first time in 8 hours. Those little leaps of joy are called ‘binkies’. They’re one of the two most adorable bunny gestures I know that say “I’m happy”. The big guy does his first and then starts running toward me as the little lady does hers in the background.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Feb 15 2013
2 Comments
Raw

Adventures in Fruit: FUYU!

This sounds like an insult but it’s actually a delicious fruit. Sometimes called ‘persimmon’ this particular variety should be available in most specialty markets when in season.
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Fuyu (when still yellow) has the texture of a not-quite-ripe nectarine with the flavor of honeyed pear with a dash of vanilla; I prefer it at this stage because it’s sweet but not overwhelming. When completely ripe it tastes like a mouthful of clover honey. If you see it, don’t hesitate… try it!

This is Christie, signing off!

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