I actually got up early specifically to go to the farmer’s market on my way to work. I am proud of myself! There I found some interesting items, including round zucchini. Actually, I found round zucchini at Whole Foods earlier this week and purchased one, but I bought a matching one at the market this morning. Not knowing what else to do with them, I stuffed them. Mark – who is zucchini-skeptical and although recently he began voluntarily eating lightly sauteed and salted zucchini, has apparently been diligently eating around the squash I’ve been sneaking into his meals all week – said it was really good, however, I was underwhelmed myself. For some reason, every time I stuff a vegetable, like peppers, it always ends up tasting sort of raw to me, like it’s missing something. Maybe I should saute everything before baking it. Anyway, I’ll post the recipe anyway because the presentation was nice and I’ll probably try to improve upon it later and will appreciate knowing what I did this time.

Stuffed Zucchini
serves 2

2 round zucchinis
1 cup cooked brown rice (I freeze leftover rice in 1- or 2-cup servings, which is what I used tonight)
4 oz tempeh, crumbled
1 mildly hot chili, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped, with juices
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp oregeno
1 tsp dried or 1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp sugar or 2 drops stevia (I didn’t use this tonight but I would add it next time)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the tops off the zucchinis.

Use a paring knife to remove a cone shape from the interior of each one.

Scoop out the interior of each zucchini as you would a pumpkin for carving a jack o’lantern. I used a grapefruit spoon, which made easy work of it. Reserve the “guts”.

Chop the zucchini interiors and add half of them to a medium mixing bowl (reserve the remainder for another use), then stir in all remaining ingredients.

Stuff each zucchini with as much of the mixture as you can (you’ll have some left over, which you can save for another use). I topped it with a bit of Dragonfly’s Bulk, Dry Uncheese.

Top each with its hat (as Mark termed it).

Bake for 45 minutes or until zucchini is fork-tender.

I also made a baked barley dish, combining 1 cup barley, 2 cups broth, 1 small chopped squash, and 1 small bunch tender rainbow chard into a 1 quart casserole:

I baked it for an hour (I stuck the zucchini into the oven 15 minutes after the barley started).

Serve!

Another neat thing I got at the farmer’s market, that appealed to my scientitfic side, was a fractal food!

It’s a romensco and it’s a type of cauliflower and I’m very excited to find something to do with it. Stay tuned!

This post is dedicated to my Aunt Lynn, who never leaves home without her trusty container of Old Bay.

Tonight, being a native Baltimoron, having recently returned from the beach, and in a summery state of mind, I wanted a Old Bay-flavored – but not necessarily a seafood-inspired – meal. And as you may have noticed, when I don’t know what else to make, I make soup. So tonight: Old Bay Lentil Soup.

Old Bay Lentil Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 medium potato, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
6 cups vegan broth, any flavor
1 cup pardina, de Puy, or green lentils
2 small or 1 large summer squash, chopped
1 small bunch rainbow chard, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp fresh or 3/4 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning (or to taste)
Tabasco, to taste
salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
freshly-squeezed lemon, optional

Heat some oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven, then add the onions and carrots and cook for 10 minutes, adding the garlic after 5.

Add the potatoes and tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes, then add the stock, bay leaves, lentils, and Old Bay. I have no idea if Old Bay is an acquired taste or not, so if you’re not already a fan of it and 2 tablespoons sounds like a lot to you, add it in small doses, tasting it as you go along until it’s to your liking. I really probably used more than 2 tablespoons. Also, Old Bay is quite salty so don’t salt the soup until the Old Bay is at the level you prefer.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for half an hour.

Meanwhile, admire my beautiful, not-quite-baby rainbow chard: smaller and more delicate than most bundles of chard and even more delicious.

Add the squash, chard, Tabasco, and thyme to the pot …

… then cover and simmer another 15 minutes or until done, adjusting the seasonings if necessary.

Serve with more Tabasco and a squeeze of lemon if desired.

As lentils are one of my most favorite foods and Old Bay one of my most favorite flavors, this was a real winner, and was quick and easy to boot. A great, simple summertime meal for a work night.

We’re back from the beach! Although now Mark wants to move to Charleston….

I did some refrigerator restocking this afternoon but have mostly been just relaxing today and didn’t make anything elaborate: just the usual tofu and pizza (I need to show you my new crust made with 00-style flour!). It was nice to be back in the kitchen with all my own stuff, although I did enjoy making Carolina Red Rice for Mark’s family one night at the beach. Next year I am definitely taking my own chef’s knife, however! Anyway, since I didn’t have time to make tempeh this weekend, I sucked it up and bought some, although store-bought just does not compare to home-made. The night before we left for Charleston, I had moved my latest batch of sauerkraut from its crock to the refrigerator after a 6-week fermentation and it is really, really good so I wanted to incorporate it into dinner tonight. Here is what I did:

Mustardy Vinaigrette Potatoes

5 medium red potatoes, chopped into bite-sized chunks
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp German-style mustard
2 tsp sugar or 4 drops stevia
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried or 2 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp coarse or flaked sea salt (like Maldon)
freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash and chop the potatoes …

… and the onion.

Boil the potatoes until fork-tender …

… then drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

Put the cooked potatoes and the chopped onions into a bowl …

… and toss with the dressing.

Serve warm, room temperature, or cool.

For a protein, I made an improvised tempeh thing. I cut the tempeh in half, then cut each half into two slabs like this:

Then I whisked together a tablespoon of German mustard, a half tablespoon of soy sauce or Braggs liquid aminos, and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.

I brushed both sides of each tempeh slab with the mixture, then fried on both sides until golden:

I topped each slab with a slice of vegan “cheese” (I used the swiss uncheese recipe from The Uncheese Cookbook). I also put a dab of habanero sauce on each slice.

This photo is blurry, but I wanted you to see that when I removed the tempeh I was a little worried that the uncheese was setting up and baking instead of melting:

But I smeared it around with a spatula, mixing the hot sauce in, and all was well:

I tried heating up the sauerkraut to serve it warm, but decided it tasted much better cold, which meant it was raw and probably even healthier. Mark made a sandwich out of the tempeh and sauerkraut and some rye bread; I served mine without bread. Mark’s meal was probably a little better, though, because the tempeh was a little dry: smooshing it together with the sauerkraut probably improved it. What Mark had, therefore, was a super-healthy reuben, minus the fattening Thousand Island sauce!

As promised/threatened, I have some travel photos. Mark’s mom arranged a salt marsh tour for us and it was rife with photo ops. This is the Morris Island lighthouse.

There were a lot of birds on the island we stopped to explore. This guy didn’t budge regardless how close I got to him and had what I thought was a funny expression on his face.

My college roommate’s father was an artist who named all his works “Sentinel”. I named this photo “Sentinels” in his honor.

This guy left his post:

This one is facing the wrong way!

This one is a loner. I identify with him.

These pelicans didn’t let me disturb their wading.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m from Baltimore and that the single non-vegan thing I probably miss most is steamed crabs covered in Old Bay. As you buy bushels of crabs still alive in order to steam them, I’ve seen plenty of living crabs. My uncle thought it was amusing to chase me around the house with them during family crab feasts after I went vegetarian. However, I’m used to the appearance of Maryland blue crabs. We saw what I’ve identified as ghost crabs, which look quite different, scuttling around the island:

He ran away from me – sideways of course! – as fast as he possibly could (which is quite fast), but he needn’t have worried because I haven’t eaten a crab in more than 20 years!

I had another lesson in seafood on the boat tour as well. These are birds standing on oyster beds:

I never knew what oysters looked like in the wild. In fact, I’ve never even eaten an oyster and don’t even know what they look like on a plate!

The best part of the tour, though, was getting to see some dolphins just a few feet from the boat, and the captain kindly cut the engine for several minutes while I snapped away. It’s hard to get a picture of a dolphin, especially through a telephoto lens, because by the time you hear them surface and focus your camera, their faces are back in the water again and you have no idea (because the water is not clear) where they will resurface. Here’s what I managed to capture, though:

You can’t really tell from the photo, but the fin in front of the mama dolphin belongs to a baby!

And that’s how I spent my week at the beach: hanging out with dolphins, swimming in the ocean, reading, enjoying the company of Mark’s wonderful family, reading some more, and swimming some more. Pretty idyllic, really. It was sunny and hot in Charleston, and at an amazing 83 degrees, the ocean temperature was a good ten degrees warmer than the water in my pool when I left it. When I got home, I found the pool had actually also warmed to 83 degrees, which was nice. What was definitely NOT nice was that the filter broke while we were gone and my pool was a green, swampy – but finally temperate – mess. So while I thought I’d spend my transition day from vacation to work week poolside, what instead transpired is I spent an hour cleaning the pool, which I couldn’t get in, and then it rained and was overcast all day anyway. Yeah, hello, Virginia. Can’t say I missed you or your lousy excuse for a summer.

In happier news, however, Miss Brachtune missed the heck out of us. She hasn’t left my side for 24 hours. I’ve never seen a cat so incredibly happy to see a human being before. And she’s doing great! The cat sitter said she was a perfect angel when getting her sub-q fluids and she seems to have eaten pretty well, and she just looked healthy. So that was a relief! And now I guess I have to confront the fact that I need to be at work in 10 hours. I did realize today that thanks to the Fourth of July on Saturday, I have a 4-day work week – woo!

I know I said not to expect me to post for a couple of weeks, but I found time to make a quick dinner tonight, so here you go.

Korean rice cakes may not be for everyone. Completely unlike the crunchy styrofoam-like health food snack that no one likes but Mark (who will eat anything with the word rice in the name), they have a texture that puts some people off, including myself to some extent. I don’t like overly chewy things because I have bad dreams involving chewing gum and my teeth (which is why I don’t chew gum). Rice cakes are about the limit of chewiness I can tolerate. Mark loves them, however, and I like the spicy sauce they are served in. The first time I tried to make this, I overcooked the rice cakes. NEVER overcook rice cakes. Err on the side of undercooking!

The reason I didn’t make an Irish meal in celebration of Bloomsday is because we’re leaving for the beach on Saturday and I will likely not be cooking any more meals between then and now, so I’m not hitting up the grocery store for any fresh food and am eating what’s on hand. Ordinarily, I’d have used fresh ginger and added scallions to this dish, but again, I’m a lacking some fresh supplies.

Korean Rice Cakes (Ddukbokki)

1 package rice cakes
3 heaping tablespoons gochujjang (Korean red pepper paste)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 gloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp grated ginger, or 1 tsp powdered ginger
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Korean red pepper flakes
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
4 leaves cabbage, chiffonaded
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetarian ‘fish” sauce, or 2 Tbsp soy sauce + 2 Tbsp water
3 scallions, chopped

Bring a medium large pot of water to a boil and add the rice cakes, stirring so they don’t stick.

How long it takes to soften them depends on the size and shape of the rice cake, but will probably only take a minute or so, so don’t walk away from them. Slightly undercook them because they’ll be further cooked later. When they are soft enough to chew, drain and rinse with cold water.

Prep the cabbage, onions, garlic, and scallions (if you have them).

Mix the gochujjang, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and sugar together in a small bowl.

Stir the soy sauce or vegan “fish” sauce into the water.

Heat a wok over medium high heat and add some oil. I used canola plus a bit of the toasted sesame oil for flavor. When hot, add the onions and cook for a minute or two.

Add the cabbage and cook for 30 seconds.

Pour in the water and soy or “fish” sauce and bring to a boil.

Scrape in the mixed chili paste …

… then stir to combine.

Bring to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken.

If your rice cakes are sticking to each other, run cold water over them while rubbing them apart from each other. When they are all free from each other, dump into the wok.

Bring the sauce back to boiling and cook just long enough to heat the rice cakes and thicken the sauce.

The sauce should be sticking to the rice cakes. Do not overcook! Stir in the scallions and remove from heat.

These must have been good because Mark informed me he would be taking the leftovers in for lunch tomorrow and he never takes lunch in.