party food

With the BCS championship (go LSU) in the past and the Superbowl and Mardi Gras in the future, I thought I’d post my version of the 7-layer dip for gatherings. It goes particularly well with the easy, breezy sangria. Now this isn’t the healthiest of our meals, but it has protein, vegetables, and fruit so it’s too bad…

First the Sangria.

• A bottle of dry red wine, though any will do, frankly.
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 cup of orange juice
• can of pineapple with juice reserved (~1/2 cup)
• lemon
• 1 cup of grapes, halved

Between a day and 2 hours or so before I’m going to make these, I open the can of pineapple chunks and drain the juice into another cup to reserve. Then squeeze a lemon over the pineapple and the cup of halved grapes, cover, place in freezer to use as ice cubes.

Then when I’m ready for these colorful little drinks I pour the sugar into a pitcher. Pour the wine on top of it and stir it around until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pineapple, lime, and orange juice. Stir well. Add the frozen, lemon covered pineapple and grapes to 4 glasses and pour the sangria on top. Delicious!

Serves 4, makes 8 normal-sized drinks.

Now for the dip.

Preheat the oven to 350. In a rectangular (or be crazy and use an oval-shaped one!) glass or ceramic baking dish, place/smear the following (in order from bottom to top layer)

• 1 can of refried beans
• 1 can of black beans tossed in juice of 1/2 lime and 1 tsp of cumin
• 16 oz of sour cream and 8 oz of cream cheese mixed with 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, dash of cracked salt/pepper
• 2 avocados, smashed and seasoned with salt/pepper/juice of one lemon
• 2 diced tomatoes or 1 can of diced tomatoes mixed with 1/2 bag of Quorn meatless crumbles* and 1/2 cup of water. Heat on the stove for 7 minutes before adding as a layer.
• 1 can of corn (mexicorn is best) tossed with a little balsamic vinegar and 1/2 a lime
• 1 jar (16oz) of salsa
• 5 oz of chedder cheese, grated and spread on top.

*I’d highly recommend that if you haven’t tried Quorn meatless crumbles, you do so. Not only is it a soy-free fake meat alternative, it’s actually made from mycoprotein–a fungus with all 9 amino acids. More on why I try to limit soy products later.

Place this baby in the oven for 30 minutes and enjoy!

“tuna” salad sandwiches

No matter what the gathering, these little numbers are always enjoyed by meat-eaters and non meat-eaters alike. They’re great for picnics, parties, or afternoons working in the yard when you need a break with a snack to look at all the work you’ve done.

2 boxes of extra firm tofu
1/2 cup mayo (homemade, eggless, or your favorite)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fresh or freshly ground parsley
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or 3 dashes of tabasco sauce

This is so fun to make! Wash your hands. Open the boxes of tofu and squeeze them like your kneading dough, or maybe playing with play-doh. Once it has the consistency of tuna salad, add all the other ingredients and stir it all up! Serve on hearty bread like oat/seed filled ones.

Yum.

introducing…

Introducing my 4th attempt at blogging. My history of blogging goes a little something like this:

• 2004-2005, blogging while teaching. fun. playful. useful. died out when i went from teaching one class to two classes.
• 2005-2006, academic/political blogging. started out fun, became cynical and decidedly less fun.
• 2006-2007, academic blogging, general exams note-taking methodology, and misc posting. no clear genre, too scattered, then took on the busiest semester ever. abandoned.

I have faith in this endeavor though. Why this one? Because it’s clear. It has a purpose. And a genre. And an audience. Plus,

• I have friends and relatives that routinely look for quick, healthy, vegetarian food. Coincidentally, that’s what we cook.
• I have pages and pages of stapled scraps of stained and torn paper with recipes scrawled on them in markers and pens. This will help with keeping everything in one place.
• If I ever want to get around to writing that cookbook (see the about me page), this is one way to start!

So hopefully this site will be of use to you–whether you want some quick and yummy vegetarian recipes, or you are interested in getting backyard chickens, or you are generally interested in connections between health, the environment, and food.

Happy Eating!