Tuber Stew!!!

WOW! I completely suck balls at blogging, obviously. So, I haven't been that sad in the last couple of months, it's just that work has been so busy that I haven't been blogging, but OH! Have I been cooking.

All winter we obsessed about making a big old root stew, and finally, we harnessed our soup-making powers and found two frozen beets in the back of the fridge (yes, the fridge - I have THAT kind of icebox, the kind that is warm in front and everything in back is frozen, so it's awesome) created a beautiful bring pink stew!!

So, currently obsessed with root vegetables, and what better time to enjoy them than NOW while they're actually in season!?!?!

Okay, this is retarded easy to make.
To begin, assemble your roots and chop those bitches. We used a golden and a red beet, a couple of sweet potatoes, and delightfully, a turnip! All coarsely chopped into nice, big soup chunks.
Then, take your big soup tureen and dump a can of diced/chopped/stewed/what ever is in the house TOMATOES, and dump them into your pot. Add an additional couple of cans of water, to have as much broth as you like - remember that the veggies are going to soak some of it up.
So, put your big pot of tomato water on the burner, and let it heat up to a good steamy medium-high. At this point, toss your beets and turnip in. After about five to ten minutes, toss the potatoes. I know it seems wrong but darn if the sweet pots don't cook a whole lot faster than the beets.
Beets are fucking hard as rocks.
Anyway.
After dumping in your tubers(!) you can start adding spices and shit to build your broth. I tossed in a liberal amounts of garlic powder, onion powder (I'm Klassy! And cheap!) basil, rosemary, salt, pepper, and lovely paprika and chili powder. (We like it spicy. You can be a pussy if you want though). This way we don't use bullion and our lovely vegan friends can enjoy dinner with us.
OH yeah. Then I also put in a can of garbanzo beans, because I found them in the cupboard, and was feeling a bit hummus'd out, if you know what I mean. Also, PROTEIN!

And after a nice long, hot, steamy bath of about half an hour (or as soon as your beets are cooked enough - they won't get as soft as the potatoes, they should have a bit of resistance to them). And viola!! Delicious, delicious, bright and beautiful root stew.
Eat it with toast! Delicious!

YUMmus

Yeah! Alright, I know you know already what this is about from my terrible titular pun. Hummus, dudes.

Did you know that hummus is not only delicious, but also protein-licious? That's right, a nice snack of hummus on veggies and crackers/toasts is well-balanced enough to be a meal! Can't get enough of that plant-based protein...

Hummus at the store is exorbitantly priced, especially when you consider that a can of garbanzo beans goes for about a dollar, and it is pretty much the only ingredient you will have to buy to make hummus. And another thing! Why do the 'flavored' varieties at my local supermarket only ever come in ONE flavor? What if I want garlic AND roasted red peppers, huh? WHAT THEN?

WELL I WILL TELL YOU WHAT THEN.

You make your own goddamn hummus. Because it's easy as hell, because it's super-cheap, because it's better this way. Trust me.

ALSO, I might add, that this recipe requires a FOOD PROCESSOR. Yes, dear friends,I have finally acquired that kitchen gadget that surpasses all others: The Food Processor. In fact, I wanted one SO BADLY that Santa brought me TWO this year! I know! Well, I'm only keeping one, of course, but still....clearly SOMEONE's been reading this blog.

Anyway, now that I have my beloved shiny new Food Processor, (he is a Cuisinart, he is beautiful), I can make all kinds of delightful things, like hummus!


AND SO CAN YOU!


It's easy! You don't even have to cook it.
Simply dump a can or two of garbanzo beans (drained) into the food processor (depends on how much you want), add a few squeezes of lemon juice, and a couple dashes of olive oil (like, maybe 1 tablespoon per can). Then just process the shit out of it until it acquires the creamy smoothness of hummus. And there you have it. It is now hummus. Right? So easy. I'd also suggest tossing in some salt - but only a little, you don't want to overpower it - and maybe some spices. I used red pepper flakes, basil, garlic, and salt & pepper in mine.

Hell yeah! Deliciousness, ho! Now go impress your dinner guests.



just look at how much they love it.

Mold Wine?

Remember when I said that you can get super-cheap wine at Trader Joe's? Well, you knew that. And while Mr. Charles Shaw's private reserve might not be the most impressive of table wines, add a little sugar and spice, and it magically transforms into the most delicious of boozy treats with a gross-sounding name!

So, it's actually MULLED wine, but it's pronounced like Mold. Mulled just means spiced, so all you have to do is dump a bottle of cheap wine in a big pot, put it on medium or med-low (not too hot - you just want to simmer, NO bubbling at all) put in a few teaspoons of brown sugar (I like 3, you might like more or less) and a few pinches of mulling spices.* I recommend red wine, obvs. Then just simmer on the stove for about twenty minutes, and serve warm in mugs! Delightful!

*I awesomely found tinned Mulling Spices at the freakin' drugsto for only 99 cents on sale! Deals! But if you don't have tinned spices, just assemble some cinnamon sticks (2ish), some cardamom seeds, maybe some dried or fresh orange peel (make sure you wash it if it's fresh!!!), some cloves, and perhaps a vanilla bean even. Hell yeah!