Cooking from one ingredient items, Week 6!

So this week was 'unrecipe' week. It challenged me to make some of my own recipes, so I will share some of my culinary adventures of the week!
First off, followed the one new recipe from OneIngridientChef:
http://www.oneingredientchef.com/sparkling-sangria/
Well mostly: I lacked prosecco and didn't intend to drink it in one night so used a 'flat' white. Very tart drink but once I added the blueberries and added some basil too, blended together very well!


The first of my recipes was a take on polenta /reversed Shepard's pot pie.
1 cup gluten free polenta
1/4 nutritional yeast
1/4 gluten
3 cups water with some salt, pepper, and dash of vinegar
w/ One bag of mixed veggies from Trader Joe's on top!

So I realize the irony of how I played it out, but gluten really makes the polenta much stickier and hold together better, so not for Celiacs but with nutritional yeast one may accidentally think there is cheese in it. But once it was boiling for 10 minutes, put it in the oven with the cast iron skillet for 30 minutes, getting a nice crust on top. Then I threw the veggies on top with more spices (southwest seasoning) and back in the oven for another 10!

My last one was a very lazy combo dish of canned tomatoes and Beyond Meat's fake ground beef, which is like ground turkey but tastes better. And is quicker to make since I don't have to cook it through. Raw peas are safer than raw meat. So combined it with a can of crushed tomatos, curry powder, and tumeric on the stove top. And plated it with cilantro and basil to help mild the spices! Quick, easy, and nutritious. Plus, all the ingredients keep well so can be easily remade because I buy everything in bulk!

Cooking from one ingredient items, Week 5!

First off, my favorite 'one-ingredient' recipe I tried this week: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Side_%28cocktail%29
Even got the waitress to give us the recipe they used!

Cheesy Kale Chips
So this week I finally tried kale chips with my dehydrator I got last month. I have done these is the oven before and they are tricky. Some parts of the leaf always dried faster so you have burnt parts, gooey parts, and accidentally just right parts. Fun easy recipe if you can set your oven to 200 degrees, mine would not go that low!
Although I realize many people couldn't do that for this reason, fun recipe to try out, go to showcase for the nutritional yeast/tahini/lemon juice combo for a sharp cheese substitute. I know it isn't a real substitute. But it does taste amazing, trust me! His pics on the left, all pure and vegan vs. mine with homemade sausage and coleslaw (again)!
http://www.oneingredientchef.com/cheesy-kale-chips/


Chickpea "Tuna" Salad

The next recipe I followed from the course is, of course, blocked. So I copied it in below. However, it is very easy, also hits the tahini/lemon combo (I added 2tbsp of yeast when I made this too). I had no nori on hand and would save that for sushi regardless. There are a lot of solid sea-flavored substitutes if you look hard enough, but even without it, chickpea salad would still taste great. Just taste less fishy. Choices include fish sauce (less than vegan), dulse flakes, or seaweed snacks (at Trader Joe's now!).


INGREDIENTS
1 15 oz can chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 stalks celery
3 tablespoons red onion
1/2 sheet nori (optional)
                                                                             
                                                                                                                                The spices I threw into my dish: lemon pepper and seaweed flavoring!

Step One

First, use a kitchen strainer to thoroughly rinse and drain the can of chickpeas. Then, add them to the food processor with the tahini, lemon juice, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper until partially broken down, but not completely smooth.

Step Two

Chop the celery and red onion into small chunks, then throw them into the processor as well, along with half a sheet of nori (optional) to add a mild oceany flavor to the spread. Pulse several times until incorporated.

Step Three

At this point, you’re basically done, taste a piece of this spread and feel free to add anything else it needs: salt? Garlic powder? Lemon juice? Go for it. In addition, feel free to add a tablespoon or two of water if you’d prefer a thinner consistency.