Category Archives: scratch cooking

Sausage and peppers, only vegan…

completed meal
bread and beans- what life is made of

We have many vegan dishes in our recipe box, because vegan to us is simply another way to eat. These are not ‘sacrifice’ meals, but meals that really would not be made better with meat anyway. I like to bring this one to pot lucks, because it’s vegan and grain-free, which sometimes makes it one of the only things a guest can eat.
And it’s tasty. An omnivore friend has deemed it ‘sausage and peppers’ and we agree.

And, it’s simple. If you don’t have an instant pot, you can do it on the range or in the oven. If you do it in a slow cooker, start with beans that have been boiled first (not completely cooked through), though.

The first thing to do is soak the beans. My current way to do that is to put dry beans in the Instant Pot for a 4-minute cook, with water, a little salt, and a bay leaf. You can do a ‘quick soak’ with the same add-ins on the range (a 2-minute boil and a 1-hour soak) or do an overnight soak first in plain water. I like the way the bay and salt flavor the beans as a base for pretty much anything.

Navy beans soaking. Any white bean will do.

Then you want to cook a lot of onions (I used 3 large ones) in a lot of olive oil until they are translucent. That is the only cooking that will happen outside of your bean pot. You then toss the onions and everything else into your pot, and let it go until it’s cooked all the way.
It’s seriously that simple. Serve it with bread, or over pasta or rice, and it’s a great, tasty, cheap and healthy meal. Leftovers will be done with pasta tomorrow at our house.
Yes, you can cut the oil down, but there is no other fat in the meal, and olive oil is healthy. 😉 (Do NOT use ‘high quality’ olive oil for this. This is your cooking oil.)

Onions cooking… mmmmm

1# white beans soaked (As mentioned, a little salt (1/2 tsp) and a bay leaf if you are doing a quick soak adds nice flavor)


3 onions, sliced or chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
Sautee these three until the onions are translucent.



3 large green bell peppers, sliced or chopped
1 hot pepper- optional. Add more or less, and any pepper you like. I add 1 sliced pepperoncini. This is not to make it hot (although you can) this is to add a little flavor. The pepperoncini is not really hot, but adds a bit of brine to the dish.
1 quart crushed tomatoes (standard can)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2c water
add all of these to the pot and cook until done.

all ingredients except onions and water in IP
Cooked beans.

Buffalo Wing Hummus

Yes, a fairly decent hummus that tastes vaguely like wings. Is it healthy? no. Is it healthier than wings? Hell yes. 🙂 Is it perfect for the upcoming 716 Day? Yes!

(In case you didn’t know, 716 Day is a holiday brought to you from the City That Loves to Party to celebrate a date that matches our area code.
I love this town.)
I made this over the weekend and it was gone really quickly. So instead of giving the promised recipe, I am posting it here for everyone. So during this time of Wings being a highly sought for commodity, you can maybe ease your craving a tad.

ingredients!

So, you will need
~ 2-2.5 cups of chickpeas/ garbanzo beans/ ceci
3 T olive oil (add more if you need it for creamy hummus!)
2 T mayo
2 T Franks hot sauce (or hot sauce of your choice- change amount to fit your heat level)
2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper

In food processor

Blend if in your food processor for about 60 seconds.

Serve with chips, crackers, bread, carrots & celery.

Feel free to top it with blue cheese crumbles if you want.


Happy 716!

Mom’s Steak.

When my mom was a young mother in the 50’s, she spent a lot of time cooking and making up recipes. One of her meals was a potato salad that was a little different from the common one of the time, and a steak marinade.

Oh, her steak. Her steak made at least 2 vegetarians want to eat meat again.

All summer long, she’d make this steak and this potato salad, and even though she died a few years ago, I get to feel like we are home again when I make them.
I recently was asked if I’d be willing to share my mom’s steak marinade, and since I was making it for today anyway, I figured why not. And like that woman who had her fudge recipe on her tombstone for all to enjoy, I know my mom would love to live on in other people’s cooking. Even if they change it to fit their tastes, like she changed recipes to fit her.

The steak is simple. There were no amounts in my mom’s recipes- she eyed everything and tossed stuff together, except in the rare occasions where there was a single measurement (4 eggs, ½ cup A1, ½ c breadcrumbs, LOTS of garlic powder). SO I measured my ‘eyeing’ when I put this together the other day (it needs to marinade 24-48 hours).  So you mix this, pour it over steak, forget it, and cook it.
Cook extra. There is nothing better than this steak pan fried to reheat on bread with mayo as a sandwich the next day, and I try to save about 1/3 of a cup of diced streak to throw on a pizza at a later date. It has SO MUCH FLAVOR.
I am not much of a meat eater. But I could eat this all day every day and be very happy.

You did good, mom. <3 you and miss you.

Go here for the Potato Salad

Ok, so

all the flavors!

½ cup A1 sauce

4T soy sauce

2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T olive oil (Not the good stuff)

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp oregano
½ tsp savory

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp sage
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp rosemary

Mix this, pour over steak in a non reactive bowl. Cover with red wine (old stuff, not fresh (but hey, you want to open a new bottle to do this, more power to you!)


Fridge it for 24 hours at LEAST.

Cook however you like.

raw meat waiting for the wine
pan frying on a ridged grill
resting before being cut

(My mom would mix and match these as she had them. do not feel obligated to use all of these if you don’t want. That goes for the whole thing. If you don’t have an herb, skip it, substitute it, go wild!)

Mom’s potato Salad, steam, and some sauteed spinach

We do have *just enough* leftover to add to a pizza and to make small sandwiches… yay!