Shabbat Cooking: Tamale Shepherd's Pie

I wasn't really planning on cooking this Shabbat. I was out for dinner and then home for lunch. The thought of simple rice and beans was perfect but then I had a friend over last minute and thought, I can't serve her rice and beans! The same friend has had all my incarnations of tofu so even though I had some in the fridge for the coming week's recipe, I decided to go with something else. Since the next couple of months I'll be cooking through Isa Does It, I looked there for a good recipe. I found this recipe in the Sunday Suppers chapter and thought it would be perfect. I have never made a shepherd's pie (even though I've really wanted to) because I always thought that it was wayyyy too much work. This recipe isn't quick, but isn't intimidating either and I took advantage of these long Fridays to put it together. 

Now, this recipe wasn't that cheap. I didn't have most of the things around, as I'm avoiding tomatoes and potatoes. I also needed some chips, some mushrooms and cilantro and wine. I think it turned out to about 20 dollars. But I also shopped at an overpriced convenience store. I will say that I was proud of my thriftiness in freezing the leftover wine in half cup portions instead of throwing it away. (I am not a wine drinker, not even a little bit!) I also used the rest of the overcooked black beans that I had frozen ages ago and some frozen corn I have on hand so I can say I shopped the freezer! Even though it was a bit pricey, I have tons of leftovers and will be having it for lunches the rest of the week instead of my usual salad and sweets, so that works out well.

I loved this recipe! I really really loved it! So so good! A layer of mashed potatoes on top and a mixture of mushrooms, corn, tomatoes and black beans with a Mexican flavor profile... Yum. A while back, when I was in the beginning of my plant based journey and trying my hand out with new recipes, I tried out a layered enchilada casserole recipe that had a similar profile. It flopped miserably. This pie recipe is everything that wasn't and a whole lot more! It holds together wonderfully when cutting and serving and is nicely filling. Served with a nice size salad and you have a perfect meal! 

VitaCost, Kosher Vitamins, InstantPot Haul

So my parents are here! They flew in on Thursday to join us for the Passover holiday. They'll be here for two weeks. Knowing they were coming, I ordered a lot of things that you can't get here. And I mean, a lot. I think this time I outdid my siblings. I ordered lots of clothes for spring/summer and next winter, a sturdy water bottle (to make sure I stay hydrated every day), lots of earplugs and some other stuff. 

Check out what I hauled after the jump!

Meal Plan: March 8th- March 12th- Kidney Bean and Butternut Jamba Stew

This week's recipe was the Kidney Bean and Butternut Jamba Stew. Apparently, it's meant to be a riff on a jambalaya but growing up in Brooklyn, New York, I never had any. I do love me some butternut squash and beans so I figured it was a good fit. (This recipe was supposed to be in a couple of weeks but because Im going to be away for the weekend and I thought I should put some more time between me and my tofu, I made this now. Also, the weather is getting delightful here. Hot stew during a heat wave? Not fun!)

Enough babbling. This week's supermarket run cost me only 67 shekel. 67.44 to be exact. What did I buy? Let's see... I picked up peppers (yellow this week but 1 green one for the stew), a few cucumbers, corn, a few onions, a butternut squash, corn, rice, bay leaves, celery (so expensive!) and 1 can of whole tomatoes. Not bad at all.

I made this stew in the Instant Pot. I started by sauteing the onion, pepper and celery. (Left out the oil!) Add some spices, broth, tomatoes and a bunch of other stuff and pressure cooked it for about 9 minutes. Initially, I thought to leave the rice out but then I realized it wouldn't have any thickener in it so I kept it in. When I opened the pot, I was happy to see that everything was perfectly cooked but saddened to see that it was nothing like the thick stews I like and very much on the thin side. I ate this over fresh Basmati rice (also made in the IP) and I thought it was yummy. Thankfully, this baby thickened up into more of a stew-like texture overnight in the fridge- that made me very happy, indeed. The butternut squash is so sweet and the green pepper really gives it that jambalaya flavor. I really liked this and how hearty it is; a perfect meal for a cold night and another winner from Isa.

Update: I'm realizing that I must decrease the amount of liquid when using the IP as the liquid doesn't evaporate as it would using a regular pot. I will learn my lesson eventually!

Shabbat Cooking Part 2: Unfried Fried Rice

Isa suggested that the Hoisin Mustard Tofu be served with her Unfried Fried Rice. Who am I to object? I should mention, that I loooove fried rice so that was a no-brainer. Turns out it was the perfect accompaniment to the tofu. I had leftovers for Shabbat lunch and they just hit. the. spot.  I'm going to take a break from tofu this week before trying another recipe.

I started by cooking the rice in the Instant Pot and then used the saute function to finish it off. I love the ease of using the same pot for one recipe and really like getting use out of the IP. I opted to add frozen peas to the recipe as that's what I had on hand. Pesach is coming and I gotta use things up! I made a double recipe of the rice.

Meal Plan- March 1st- March 5th: Yam and Black Bean Soup with Orange

The past few days have been quite a whirlwind! Purim is only a couple of days away and Ive been practicing hard to get my reading perfect. That coupled doctor's appointments and such and I'm already wiped out. This week's recipe is the Yam and Black Bean Soup with Orange and Cilantro from Appetite for Reduction. (Yup, I'm continuing to cook through it until the end of March; after Pesach, I'll be cooking with something else.

Although I did my regular shopping on Sunday (it was a madhouse!), I didn't get around to making this soup until Monday night. I had about a serving of leftover split pea soup from Shabbat that I didnt want to go to waste so I had that instead.

My grocery bill this week was only 80 shekels, which is pretty good considering it included two jars of raspberry jelly (each thirteen, down from the usual twenty) and a bag of sugar (for the hamentashen that I'll make tomorrow). I also got peppers, cucumbers, some tomatoes for the soup, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes for the soup, orange juice (which I'll use for the hamentashen as well) and carrots.

The soup was pretty easy to make and pretty hands off, considering I made it in the Instant Pot. My, I love that thing! I started by sauteing some red onion eventually adding some sriracha and garlic. To that I added some freshly chopped tomatoes. I added most everything else and then set the pressure cooker to about seven minutes at pressure. The sweet potatoes were perfectly cooked. I opted to puree the soup with an immersion blender, but I was sure to leave a bit of texture in there. Added the orange juice and beans and voila! (I left out the cilantro.) The soup was pretty good. (I wonder if the flavors will have developed just chilling in the fridge.) The orange gives it a bit of a zing and I like the addition of the black beans. I thought this was a rather different soup and I enjoyed it. A salad would definitely be appropriate with it.  As per usual, I omitted the oil in the recipe.

Black Bean Spew and Impromptu Burgers

Riding high on my first soup success in the Instant Pot, I decided to give it another go. I had recently bought dried black beans and thought I'd cook them and freeze them in advance of needing some for next week's soup recipe.

Yesterday morning, before I left to work, I soaked the beans. When I came home, they were ready to cook. I got the Instant Pot set up, covering the beans with about two inches of water. I was cooking a lot of beans though so there was a lot of water in there.

How long to cook for? So here was where I wasn't quite sure. Some places said about 5-6 minutes for the soaked beans. I made the mistake of following the Instant Pot manual (never doing that again!) and cooked them for about 11 minutes at pressure. When the machine went off, I forgot to unplug it, so that it was accidentally continuing to cook. Eek! I finally remembered to unplug the machine. Then came the question of the pressure release. I started to release it.... until I remembered that there were black beans in the pot and that the liquid that was coming out was black. All over my white walls. Black. Bean. Spew. Eek! (Yes, there was counter climbing involved to clean it up!). I left it to sit for a bit before realizing that I was going to have mush on my hands if I didn't get the pressure out. I covered the pot with a towel and let the rest of the pressure out. I opened the pot and to my surprise (not!) I discovered.. mushy beans. What a bummer. I drained them and decided that they'd be perfect for burgers. I think I previously mentioned that my burgers always fall apart because the beans aren't mashed enough. Well, here's the solution-- mushy, easily mashed beans! I pulled out The Everyday Happy Herbivore and made a double batch of the easy burgers. The rest of the beans were portioned and frozen for future burger ventures.

I definitely have more to learn about this pot. The ability to cook beans fast was pretty much what led me to invest in it, so I definitely won't be giving up on it soon. Fingers crossed for a more successful cook next time. And cleaner walls.

Meal Plan- Feb 22nd- Feb 26th: Butternut Apple Soup

I wanted February's meal plan to include a soup recipe to enjoy on these winter nights. My timing seems to have been right on the mark as the snow from a huge snowstorm (huge for us Jerusalemites!) has all but melted and I am recovering from a nasty cold. Butternut Apple Soup by Isa Chandra was on the menu and it would be the Instant Pot's inaugural dish. Super exciting!

I took the day off from work to get some R&R and decided to get to the supermarket early. My total this week came to 150 shekels! That is the most I've spent on groceries since I started keeping track. 60 shekels went to purchasing ten pounds of oats which takes me through a good few months. I came home with the usual salad suspects, apples, apple juice,  dried rosemary, sweet potatoes (no butternut squash!), a couple of onions, a sack of potatoes, and a hot water bottle. This brought my total spent on food (including six pounds of frozen berries) for the month of February to 650 shekels. Not bad at all and that is significant savings from previous months!

Anyway, back to the soup.

BE STILL MY HEART!

My plant based life won't be complete without this in my life:

Saving up every shekel to get one! It will be mine!