Black Irish White Bean Soup

Onion, Carrot, Celery, Navy Beans, Good Homemade Stock, Potatoes, Kale, Bell Peppers, Silk Soy Creamer, Garlic, Garden Herbs, Sea Salt, Pepper, Paprika.

Vegan Pozole Rojo

Pozole is like chili with hominy. Although it's made throughout Mexico, I think of it as a Native American (Indian) dish. We opt to make it with the most exotic sounding ingredients we can like avocado leaves and such. It makes us feel very fancy and we get to talk to the nice ladies at the Latino produce market who have given me lot's of tips and recipes over the years. Pozole is traditionally made around Christmas time. It requires a ton of different chilis pulverized into a paste using a morter and pestle, chilis like guajillo, ancho and chili de arbol. Pozole can be made white (blanco), green (verde), red (rojo) with beans (de frijole) or with corn and squash (elopozole). Hominy is made by a process called nixtamalization. Traditionally this meant soaking corn in lye until the hull is gone and the germ is left. Nowadays limewater is used (calcium hydroxide). This is the same process used to make tamale masa so now you know that tamales are essentially made with dried ground hominy.

I'll tell you another little tidbit. Achiote is a strange little tree/shrub that grows like a weed all over the southwest straight through to South America. I first encountered it in the Ecuadorean rainforest (I know that sounds exotic doesn't it) where the natives use it to dye their hair. It wasn't til I returned to the states that I realized it's culinary uses. Achiote is the same thing as annato which is the dye used to make cheddar cheese orange. I use this to to give the Pozole a rich color. This is a good tip for a vibrant chili as well.

Another thing we do with the Pozole is a little pork substitution using Shitake mushroom stems. We shred the stems so that they look like shredded pork and then we soak them in a little liquid smoke (which is actually a natural thing. They basically just condense water in a smoker and viola, liquid smoke). This is a labor intensive ordeal but we think it's worth it.

I first got the idea to make Pozole from a cookbook I bought at the American Indian museum in DC where I also puchased some dried blue hominy which really ups the fancy factor.

I think next time I'll make a Pozole blanco.

4 Guajillo Chillis, rehydrated


5 Chilis de Arbol, rehydrated

2 Ancho Chilis, rehydrated



1 lb dried hominy, soaking in water

2 onions, diced

1 head of Garlic, cleaned

2 Avocado Leaves

2 T. dried Oregano

1 T. Achiote

1 T. Cumin

1 cup shredded mushroom stems soaking in a little soy sauce and a dash of liquid smoke

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Vegetable Stock



Start by cooking the hominy in a big pot with the onions, salt, oregano, avocado leaf and cumin. Cover the hominy with just enough veggie stock to cover it. It may take at least 30 minutes for them to start getting soft. You can add small amounts of stock as needed but I like my pozole thick.

In the mean time grind up all of your chilis in a chop chop with the garlic. When the pozole is soft, add the chili mix and continue to cook. It should take about an hour from start to finish. When the hominy is done it will split and crack. Add the mushroom stems and a little achiote for color. Cook for another 10 minutes and your done.



Garnish with radish, avocado and shredded cabbage.

Green Avocado Gazpacho

In a hurry as usual, but I have this orginal recipe on file: contents are not neccesarily in this order.
Green Gazpacho
Onion
Cucumber
Celery
Bell pepper
Cilantro
Parsley
Basil
Garlic
Organic Pecans
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Cumin
Celery Seed
Cayenne Pepper
Organic Lemon and Lime Juice
Little bit of olive oil
Avocado
Tomatillo
White Wine Apple Cider Vinegar The Garnish is Boscoli Italian Olive Salad, in a jar. Oh and an avocado wedge.

Vegan Texas Chili

Recipe :

Well you have to start with a really good veggie stock and lots and tons of onions. Saute those onions in some nice safflower oil or any oil with a high flash point with some garlic. Add a bunch of dried oregano (Cowboys don't use fresh) and some salt, cumin, paprika and chopped up jalapeno. When the onions are translucent, add some vegetable stock.

Let's stop for a minute and talk about meat substitutes. Boca Crumble is a good one and so is Gimme Lean by Light life but if your having trouble locating any of those you can get you some TVP and soak it in some water and some Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce or browning sauce).

At any rate you should add your meat sub at this point and there should be enough stock to cover the meat by about an inch. Let that cook for a bit and then you can either add tomato sauce and let it stew forever or cheat and add tomato paste and let it stew for half of forever. While it's stewing you'll want to add some chipotles (if you like that kind of thing) and some black pepper. Keep tasting it for flavor in an obsessive and territorial way. Check the temp. It shouldn't be boiling. Stir it often anyway. It should be getting thicker. If it doesnt' thicken to your liking you can add some masa or some ground up corn tortillas but make sure if your adding masa to smooth out all of the lumps in a small amount of water first.

I topped mine with some crumbled Vegan Gourmet cheddar style and some pico de gallo but some saltine crackers would have ruled!

Squash Blossom Soup

I made a simple squash blossom soup with sauteed garlic, leeks and squash blossoms.Then I added vegetable stock, oregano, a little silk creamer and salt and pepper in that order. The squash blossoms have the mild flavor of zucchini.

These fried squash blossoms are stuffed with a cashew cheese which contains cashews, watercress, garlic, olive oil, lemon and salt. For the batter I used a flour batter and a mustard and water bath which can a good substitute for egg bath but not in this instance. I will go with something much lighter in the future. They definitely passed the yummy test though.

What to do...

My next project will be to find something to do with this beautiful squash, patty pan and squash blossoms picked fresh from Emile Street Garden right here in Houston,