Tag Archives: Food and drink

Beans, Rice and Secret Sauce Bake

secret sauce no lableMy personal challenge is finding new ways to make beans and rice interesting. At least once a month I stand in front of the fridge and see left over beans and rice. What to do? I have always thought that what I need is a secret sauce – one that is simple to make and adds tons of flavor.

Over the last couple of years I have tried lot of things. But I think I have finally arrived at one that really works to make a tasty all purpose casserole.

by Genene Cote Posted on March 17, 2013
Posted in entrée, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Pressure Cooker Beans with Flavor!

I love my pressure cooker. Instead of hours to cook beans it take just a few minutes. But as much as I love the convenience I have a big complaint about the taste. Toooooo bland!

According to the “experts” you are NOT supposed to add salt of herbs to the pot when you pressure cook beans. This means that you end up cooking them in plan old water with a little oil to keep the foam down. When they come out they taste like very plain, very boring beans; no real flavor. I have added garlic, garlic powder, onions and onion powder to the water. That helped a little – but really only a little. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on March 11, 2013
Posted in Beans, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lentil Loaf

After all the food in New Orleans I was ready for some “plain” food. The simple food of my childhood. . .

I scrounged around the kitchen and came up with lentils and rice and I was in business! It took about 10 minutes to assemble the loaf and 60 minutes to bake it. I threw a couple of potatoes in the oven with it. When it was time to eat I steamed some broccoli and made a quick salad.

Funny how something so simple tastes so good!

by Genene Cote Posted on March 4, 2013
Posted in entrée, gluten-free food, menu, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Cooking Blues

overwhelmed

It’s official – I am going through the cooking blues. There is nothing that I want to cook, nothing sounds good and my creativity is evidently on strike.

I had planned to post a recipe this morning.  But as I started sorting through what we have eaten in the last two weeks I came to the realization that I have not been really been cooking. We have been eating whatever was quick and handy. Good food, but nothing new, interesting, creative or worth sharing. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on February 9, 2013
Posted in additive-free food, menu, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Substituting Eggs

This is the time of year when I start thinking seriously about desserts. I mean, what is Thanksgiving without Pumpkin Pie or Christmas without cookies ?

Those of us who eat a whole food plant-based diet making desserts is really a challenge. There is a lot of substituting that has to be done. For most things it is relatively easy to substitute For example you can substitute:

  • Milk = Nut milk
  • Gluten based flours = gluten-free baking mix or brown rice flour
  • Sugar = honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar or stevia
  • Butter = Coconut Oil (more…)
by Genene Cote Posted on November 5, 2012
Posted in baking, dessert, diary-free food, Eggs, gluten-free food, sugar-free food, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick Gazpacho

greenhouse tomatoes

The greenhouse is doing it’s job! Summer is over (it went down to 31 degrees last night). Fortunately the tomatoes and peppers are oblivious to those facts and growing like mad. Here is yesterday’s harvest!

We gathered more tomatoes this morning and decided to prolong our personal summer by making a “final” gazpacho for the year. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on October 27, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, garden, soup, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

No Hassle Tomato Soup

tomatoe soupWe are starting to get a chill in the evening air. For me chill and soup always go together. My all time favorite soup is tomato; probably a link to my childhood.

Over the last couple of years, I have been on a mission to find good tomato soup. I checked dozens of labels and finally reached the conclusion that there is not a canned/packaged tomato soup that doesn’t contain sugar, preservatives or some other strange chemicals.

So, if I want good tomato soup I am going to have to make it myself. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on October 21, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, gluten-free food, soup, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nutonnaise — Vegan Mayo

Almond MayonnaiseOne of the things I really miss (besides cheese) is mayo. Now, I am very picky about my mayo – it has to be Best Foods (Hellman’s for you East Coasters). I can taste the difference a mile away! Face it, mayo is full of fat and not exactly something I should be eating anyway. But if I am going to eat it, I want the real thing! In fact, the main reason I always order sandwiches and other foods dry (no mayo) is because I don’t want someone else’s bunk excuse for mayo.

But there are foods that just aren’t the same without a little mayo. For example an avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich, a veggie burger, potato salad, cold slaw or an artichoke. And so you know, I truly believe that the only reason to eat an artichoke is as a mayo delivery vehicle. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on October 9, 2012
Posted in diary-free food, kitchen basics, vegan, Whole Food Plant-Based Food Kitchen | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Adventures in Preservation

farmers marketOver the weekend we had an adventure in preserving food. Early Saturday morning we made a trip to Farmer’s Market to pick up our 50 pounds of tomatoes ($30), 25 pounds of apples ($15), an assortment of peppers ($9) and onions ($10). A lot of food for $64.00.

We got home around 8 am; surveyed the boxes and decided the only sensible thing to do was go crawl back in bed a take a nap. We had both been up since 4:00 am.

An hour later we stood in front of the boxes again. This time there was no putting it off. David began cleaning the tomatoes. I put on gloves and began deseeding peppers. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on October 1, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, fruit, garden, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Forks Over Knives – The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year

forks over knives the cookbookThe new Forks Over Knives Cookbook arrived last week. The author Del Sroufe, is the man behind meals shown in the Forks Over Knives film.  The book is actually a collaboration between Sroufe and well-known Plant-Based chefs: Julieanna Hever, Judy Micklewright, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and Darshana Thacker.

With 300 recipes to choose from, it is a good solid introductory collection of  vegan, low-fat cooking techniques and recipes. An added bonus is that many of the recipes are also gluten-free.

(more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on August 30, 2012
Posted in book review, diary-free food, GMO foods, kitchen basics, menu, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based Food Kitchen, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment