Day 24 and I pass judgement on Mollie Katzen

Enjoyed a terrific group weight loss class today with some lovely and inspiring ladies.  I served them the following:

Millet-Stuffed Peppers

Unfortunately for you, dear reader, the recipe is not available anywhere online, so I really can't post it.  It is from Get It Ripe by Jae Steele, which is a really wonderful little vegan cookbook with many innovative and delicious recipes such as this one.  I can say that in addition to the millet, the filling contains ground sunflower seeds and tahini for a fabulous amount of protein!  So, buy the coobook, or borrow it from me, or best of all, come to one of my classes and taste for yourself!

Brazilian Black Bean Soup

Now, THIS recipe is from The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen but is also widely available online so I have no problem printing it here too.  And truthfully, I'm a wee bit aggravated by Ms. Katzen, who has apparently decided to include meat recipes in her latest cookbook.  As the Mother of Modern North American Vegetarian Cookbooks, I think she should have remained a truer role model.  But really I have no idea what I'm talking about and shouldn't judge.  Bad girl.  Good soup.  Thanks for that Molls!

Brazilian Black Bean Soup

2 cups dry black beans

3 1/2 cups water or stock

Group A:
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 large chopped carrot
1 stalk chopped celery
1 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp oil, approximately

Group B:
2 oranges or tangerines, peeled, sectioned, seeded (Emily used one)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbsp dry sherry (Emily did not use “who has sherry?”)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
(Emily also added 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro to the final product)

1. Rinse the beans. Cover them with water and soak for several hours or overnight. Pour off the excess water and put the beans in a large saucepan with 3 1/2 cups of water or stock and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, simmer 1 1/2 hours over very low heat. (Emily says: add a strip of kombu seaweed to the cooking water for more digestible beans).

2. Sauté Group A, beginning with the onions and garlic. If necessary, add a little water to the vegetables to steam them. When the vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the sauté to the beans. Let the soup continue to simmer over lowest possible heat.

3. Add Group B to the soup. Stir, cover, and let simmer for 10 more minutes. At this point I usually pronounce the soup finished, but you could thin it out with water or thicken it by pureeing some and returning it to the pot.  (Emily sauteed half the soup for a creamier finish.)

I leave you tonight with this picture:

Thing 1.  First-born child.  Apple of my Eye.

He complained that his little pip-squeak brother made the blog and he didn't.  So in the name of fair and square, here he is.  He's, er, fishing, in this picture, which is not a very vegan thing to do, but they didn't catch anything so yay the fish won anyway!