cold summer chili, lemon coconut 'fu, & lazy jamaican peas

everyone's always posting the most delicious recipes and these past few days we cooked up a few recipes we've been meaning to try. we loooove drooling over all the awesome food porn, daydreaming about how yummy the dishes are, and cooking away so we can enjoy the hell outta 'em, too. superw00t! now we're gonna rave about 3 new rock'n vegan recipes we tried - they're all absolutely awesome in every way and we highly recommend you give them a whirl when you have the chance! :)

first up is the perfect-for-those-"stupid-hot"(as dan calls them)-days cold summer chili from The Life. cilantro, beans, garlic, pine nuts = one glorious combination! we didn't have any adzuki beans on hand so we stuck with the white beans, tossed it atop polenta squares, topped our chili with guacamole and served it all up with a side of homemade salsa using some of the season's first tomatoes from our csa. oooooooooh, hooray! this cold summer chili is ridiculously good, easy to make, and it'll cool you off and have you digging in for seconds & fighting over leftovers (if you have any), indeed. :)

next up we've got another super scrummy 'n summery recipe from Lauren of Clean Eats in the Dirty South. her lemon coconut tofu "had me at hello" and i just knew anything with coconut was going to be the absolute best. sure enough it was! we used local 'fu, served Lauren's 'fu over a little brown rice & sauteed csa peppers 'n onions, and paird the 'fu with sauteed green beans for one uber awesome meal! another recipe that screams summer and all the deliciousness that comes along with it. yay!

moving on to another coconutty dish is Stephanie's (from the ever-so fabulous Lazy Smurf's Guide to Life) lazy jamaican peas. her post caught my eye a while ago and never having jamaican eatz i knew we had to make her dish super soon. we didn't have a scotch bonnet pepper so we subbed a jalapeno & added in some chopped carmen peppers with the onions. this dish was freak'n amazing, coconutty, easy peasy, and simply stellar served atop some brown rice with a side 'o sauteed swiss chard. soooooo goooooood - you've gotta make these peas!

alrighty, everyone - stay cool & your week!

local: garlic, tofu
csa: swiss chard, carmen peppers, green pepper, parsley, cilantro, tomatoes, red & yellow onions, green beans

herbed 'fu cacciatore

hooray for summer time! while i'm not the biggest fan of the heat, i am most happyfaced that the farmer's market is bursting with lots of awesomenesses. this past saturday i grabbed a ton of tomatoes from our csa & decided to whip up an herbed 'fu cacciatore for myself (dan was at the fire station) using local tofu we had in the freezer and lots of csa veggies - it was definitely a local meal. superw00t! i remember chicken cacciatore being another one of my childhood favorites, and even though i didn’t have any mushrooms on hand (as i remember my mother putting many in her recipe), this herbed tofu cacciatore rocked some serious socks! i enjoyed it over a bed of brown rice and sprinkled with lots of toasted pine nuts. dan enjoyed the leftovers for lunch and loved it – which i didn’t think he’d care for having olives in it and all. ah ha ha! then again, i didn’t tell him they were in there. muahahahaa! things dan used to dislike and now enjoys: eggplant, mushrooms, and zucchini. now if i can just get him to love sauerkraut and mustard....anywhoooooo.... it's recipe time. :)

herbed 'fu cacciatore (makes 4 decent-sized servings)

ingredients:
1 block o herbed ‘fu (plain ‘fu should work just as well), drained, pressed, & diced into smallish cubes (i’d say our cubes were ½” or so)
1/2 large green zucchini, diced into small pieces
6-7 medium sized tomatoes (i used a mix of heirloom, hanover, and roma)
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
10 kalamata olives, pitted & minced (green olives or some capers might be just as yum)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 green pepper, sliced thin
5 big ass cloves o’ garlic, minced
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
olive oil cooking spray
¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
15-20 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano (use fresh if you've got it)
¼ tsp onion powder
sea salt
black pepper
(go ahead and add in some mushies if you’ve got ‘em!)

what you’ll need:
- 2 large skillets (i used a cast iron for the sauce and a stainless one for the ‘fu)

what’cha gotta do:
spray both skillets with a good bit ‘o olive oil cooking spray. saute the peppers, zucchini, and onions in one skillet on medium heat until the onions begin to soften. add in some sea salt & pepper to taste, then make a little well in the middle of your pan and drizzle in the tbsp of olive oil. place the minced garlic in the little oiled well & let that hang out for about 30 seconds (or until it becomes fragrant) then mix the garlic all about. add in the tomatoes and increase the heat to medium high. now get started on your ‘fu……..saute the ‘fu in the other skillet on medium to medium-high heat until browned on both sides. once the tomatoes in the first skillet have broken down a good bit, add in the tomato paste, dried oregano, onion powder, and combine. reduce the heat to a simmer, let it simmer for a few minutes (i'd say about 5-8) then add in the browned ‘fu & fresh herbs. season with a little more sea salt & pepper, and stir in the olives and onion powder. simmer some more until the sauce is thickened to your liking, remove from heat, top with toasted pine nuts, server over some rice if you like, and enjoy!

may the long weekend for all be filled with lots of friends, fun, fantastical foods, and happyfaces! wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!