Latke Love

I'm one of these people who is utterly defenseless in the face of fried potato products.  Put a plate of tots in front of me and my culinary standards go right out the window. Same goes for fries -- crispy, fluffy, or shoe-stringy; curly or crinkle cut; with ketchup, malt vinegar, or the delicious and enigmatically named "Frites Sauce" the Dutch use. I love them all equally.

And then there are latkes: giant tater-tots made out of a gazillion tiny french fries. They are the perfect fried-potato food. Plus, since I can put veggies in them my health-foodie-facade remains intact.

Latkes (Warning: There is probably nothing either authentic or Jewish about this recipe.)
1. In a bowl combine 2 grated potatoes (You can totes sub yams, winter squash, carrots, or zucchini...I've even thrown half an apple or pear in there before!), about 2T finely chopped onions, a clove or 2 of minced garlic, and an (optional) inch of grated ginger.
2. Stir in 1 egg (or equivalent egg replacer) and about 2T flour (or as much as you need to make a kind of cohesive mixture).
3. Add salt & pepper to taste. (You can totes add some spices too! Mace, sage, and thyme is a nice combo. So is cumin & chipotle. Curry powder and garam masala too. Anyway...)
4. Heat oil in a skillet over med-hi heat and fry mixture in patties 2-3 inches across.
5. Drain on paper towels and serve with sour cream and applesauce (and a mess o' greens, of course).

And there you have it! Latkes!

Today's delicious latkes: potato, sweet potato, garlic, ginger, scallion, Chinese 5-spice powder, cayenne, and salt. Ate 'em with homemade apple-pear sauce, sour "cream", and a mess o' greens, of course.

Yep...I love me some latkes.

Rainy Days are Gravy Days.

I woke up the other morning with an inexplicable craving for gravy. I rolled over and lifted the curtain by my bed to take a peek outside. The sky hung heavy, cold and dull grey, wet but not raining. The air seemed oddly still.
Ugh, I thought to myself, Good day to roll back over and hit the snooze button.
My belly rumbled in disagreement.
Alright then, I thought. If not bed then gravy. A big ol' bowl of hot, starchy, salty goodness to warm my belly and my brain, letting me pretend that I'm rugged and rustic and resourceful, and not just some skinny little wimp freezing my ass off in 3 layers of clothing when it's 40F outside.  I'll spend an hour conjuring my inner upper-midwesterner, some stout, resourceful, sensibly-dressed, no-nonsense, middle-aged woman named Peggy. And I will conjure her with gravy. But I will be the health-foodie-gastro-hippie that I am in real life and make it vegan and gluten-free. And I will eat it with rice. And a big ol' mess-o-greens. And that is how I will fill the rainy-days-are-for-comfort-foods hole in my belly with only rice, beans, and greens.
And so I rolled back over, out of bed, into slippers a scarf and a second sweatshirt, then shuffled into the kitchen and made...

Easy Vegan (and GF!) Gravy 

For the record, I have never actually measured any of the following ingredients. These are totally unscientific guesstimates, based purely on...well...nothing, I guess.  Think of it as improv theater, only in your mouth. (Ew. Actually, don't think of it as that. Think of it as anything but that.)
Anyway. What you wanna do is...

1. Marinate about 3 oz. tempeh in a 1/2 C of water and 2 tsp Bragg's for a little bit (see helpful hint below!) then put it all in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, sautee some chopped onion in a little Earth Balance.
3. Add about 1T rice flour to the Braggs-n-tempeh water, stirring well to combine.
4. When the onions are nice and soft and translucent, toss 'em in the gravy pot with a bit of thyme and some fresh ground black pepper.
5. Keep on stirring the mixture over med-low heat, adjusting water/flour until it is the thickness and tastiness you desire. (Be patient whenever you add flour--it takes a minute to thicken).
6. Pour your tasty vegan (GF!) gravy all over some warm brown rice and cooked greens (or a baked potato and broccoli) and dig in...yum! 
7. Helpful hint below: Marinate the tempeh in the Braggs-y water while you prep your rice and greens and give yourself a pat on the back for having such great time-management skills.

Makes 1 bowl worth of gravy-liciousness:

Go ahead and give it a try.

Do it! (You know you want to.)