Deep Thoughts by Robert Felty

Just a quick post to let you know that I have been a bit busy with fatherhood for the last week, so I have not been responding to wordpress plugin problems. If you’re interested, updates are at blog.fedibblety.com

hoisin eggplant and bok choy

Sunday I made a tasty stir fry with eggplant, bok choy, and mock chicken (seitan). It’s the first time I have tried eggplant in stir-fry. It turned out very nicely. First I cut the eggplant, then salted it, and let it sit for a few minutes (to remove bitterness). Then I fried up the eggplant in a little canola oil until soft (about 5-10 minutes). Then I added the seitan and the bok choy. Then I added a mixture of hoisin sauce, Sri Ri Cha hot sauce, rice vinegar, water, and a bit of cornstarch for the sauce, a bit of fresh green onion, and served it over brown rice.

Pistou – a hearty french soup.

It seems that I have been on a soup kick lately. On Monday I tried out this recipe from the Nutritional Yeast Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. She describes it as a hearty french soup. I modified the recipe some to start off with, especially the quantities, since the original recipe would not have yielded much soup, and I like to have leftovers. Here is what I used:

• 2 leeks
• 6 medium white potatoes
• 9 cups vegetable broth
• Spices: sage, oregano, and thyme
• 2 cans kidney beans
• I bag italian style frozen vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, and onions
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/8 cup minced fresh basil
• One box whole wheat rotini

I sauteéd the leeks for a bit in olive oil, then added the potatoes, broth, and spices. I cooked it covered for about 15 minutes, then added the beans and vegetables, and cooked for another 5 minutes. Then I added the rotini. Meanwhile I stirred together the nutritional yeast, basil, and tomato paste in a small bowl, then gradually added a bit more water, until it was a thick sauce. Then I added this to the soup, and cooked another 5 minutes, until the pasta was al dente.

It turned out to be very tasty and creamy. Thanks to Joanne Stepaniak for the inspiration!