Garden in a Jar Pasta Sauce

Things are getting ominous around here. There have been frost warnings each of the last few nights, but we haven't gotten that growing-season-ending freeze yet. Still, I can almost hear the clock ticking as we roll into October. I am trying to preserve as much as possible from my garden, and this week came up with this all-purpose tomato pasta sauce. I used tomatoes, eggplant, and basil as the main ingredients, with rich flavor from roasted onion and garlic. Here's the ingredients, which netted five pints of canned sauce:

4 lbs. roasted tomatoes
1 roasted medium-large eggplant
2 cups diced basil leaves
1 medium white onion, roasted
1 bulb garlic, roasted

I allowed the roasted ingredients to cool before blending in a food processor to something thick but not completely pureed. Bringing the roasted and chopped vegetables to a simmer on the stovetop, I started working on additional flavors. Seasoning included dry oregano, 2 or 3 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tbsp. brown sugar, a liberal sprinkle of salt, some black pepper, and a spoonful of balsamic vinegar. I played around with these until I had something I really liked, so these quantities are rough guesses. I added the basil leaves at the very end of the simmering and seasoning on the stove top, to avoid overcooking them.
Canning is much easier than I used to think, but I recommend you follow the directions on whatever canning materials you're using, or find a reliable online source. If you've never tried canning before, I can't recommend it enough. It feels great to take food processing into your own hands, and the results are almost always better than what you'll find on grocery store shelves, which tend to be overly salty and loaded with an alphabet soup of chemicals and preservatives. Canning is time-consuming, but I enjoy my fall canning nights. The warm, steamy kitchen feels pretty good when the temperature drops outside. It is all worth it when I pop open those garden flavors in January to use on pasta or pizza.

Apple-Walnut Turnovers

This is a very simple take on apple turnovers, with spring roll wrappers instead of a more typical pastry dough. These were my first apples of the season, from back home. I know I'll have bags more coming soon, so I'll be busy with apple recipes in the coming months.

7 spring roll wrappers
4 medium-sized apples
1/2 cup walnut bits
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. lemon juice
vegan margarine (Earth Balance, as always)
1 tsp. cornstarch, mixed with a half cup of water

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Peel, core, and dice the apples to quarter inch cubes. Mix apple with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.

2. Place one spring roll wrapper on a clean work surface. Cut in half from top to bottom with a non-serrated knife, to avoid tearing. Place a heaping spoonful of apple mix about a half inch from the bottom center of each spring roll half. Lightly coat the bottom edge of the wrapper with the corn starch-water mixture - I just dab a finger - and fold the wrapper bottom over the apple mixture from bottom left to the right side. This will form a little triangle, with the bottom edge affixed to the lower right edge - I hope this is making sense, but I'm doing my best. Seal the edge by lightly pressing along the seam. Fold the triangle up, keeping the right edge even. To finish the turnover triangle, you should be able to fold the apple-filled envelope from bottom right to the top left edge of the wrapper. Moisten the top and top left edges with the starch-water mix, and gently press to seal. You should half a neat little triangular turnover, without apple spilling out the sides. Trust me, this will make more sense in actual practice, but I hope my directions are helpful.

3. Repeat with remaining wrappers. Brush turnovers lightly with melted margarine, and bake for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. I found they're best served crisp and warm out of the oven.

Vegan MoFo

All the cool kids are ahead of me again and have this on their blogs. Sounds good, and I guess the general idea is to blog as much as possible about vegan munchies throughout October. Vegan bloggers of the world, UNITE! (I'm slamming my desktop Mussolini-Schrute style...I need one of those webcams).

Tostadas Guatemaltecas

These tostadas are inspired by the street stalls and markets in Guatemala, where I spent some time last summer. I worked near Sumpango, a highland town, and my favorite lunch was a tostada with black beans, fresh salsa, and avocado from the vendors who set up shop on the corners for the lunch crowd. These aren't entirely authentic - my black beans don't match theirs, and the preferred salsa included shredded cabbage. I used fresh cucumber and tomatoes in the salsa, and added roasted garlic and carmelized onions to the black beans. You can make your own tostadas by frying corn tortillas in oil, but prepared tostadas are pretty easy to find at the stores here.

1 package corn tostadas

Cucumber Salsa
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 medium cucumber, diced
1/3 cup finely chopped white onion
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tbsp. lime juice
dash salt

1. Combine all ingredients. You might want to add some jalapeno or other pepper, but I left them out.

Simple Guacamole
1 ripe avocado, mashed
1 roma tomato
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. lime juice

Pretty Good Black Beans
1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
5 cloves roasted garlic
1/2 cup white onion, diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Heat 1 tbsp. canola oil, and fry onions over medium-low heat until very soft and translucent. Sprinkle with a dash of salt during frying.

2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender, or mash with a potato masher or spoon. I used a food processor, and whipped the beans to a fairly smooth, hummus-like texture.

Finally, since I'm thinking about last summer, here's little Maya, chilling along the river downtown. She's doing great, and slowed down long enough for me to snap a picture. Still very much a puppy at the one year plus mark.

Green Beans, Red Peppers, and Tofu

Here's another stir fry, from lunch yesterday. I had to snap a picture of these vivid colors. The green beans and peppers are from the Fargo farmer's market, mixed with deep-fried tofu. The sauce was simple - tamari, sesame oil, a little sake, and a little sugar. Drizzled with hot chili oil and more sesame oil, and a few chives.

Soft Tacos with Collard Greens

I picked up Rick Bayless' Mexican Everday at the library this weekend. One of the recipes is for Swiss Chard tacos, which I adapted with my endless supply of collard greens for these tasty corn tortilla soft tacos. The greens are added to lightly sauteed onions and garlic, along with a half cup of chicken-style vegan broth and red pepper flakes. After the liquid has been simmered off, I was left with pretty good taco/enchilada filling. Served with a simple avocado-lime-tomato-cilantro salsa (basically un-mashed guacamole) and drizzled with lime juice. I'm amazed by the productivity of my collard plants - if the first freeze wasn't coming soon, I wonder how long they would keep growing. I've been getting cuttings for over three months now, and they're only getting more productive. Here's some, cut in ribbons for this recipe.

Moroccan-spiced Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I wasn't quite sure how well brussels sprouts and this mixture of Moroccan-inspired spices would pair until about 20 minutes into the oven roasting. The aroma of roasting shallots, garlic, and spices makes me want to go to north Africa, or at least watch Casablanca again. I picked up this lovely stalk of brussels sprouts yesterday at the FM farmer's market, along with a bag of other goodies.

I've been in the mood for this meal since I read the Morocco story in this month's Vegetarian Times. The spice blend is a mixture of a couple of recipes, with additions from my spice shelf. Roasting brussels sprouts is by far my favorite way to cook them - they're good steamed or pan-fried, but roasting really does them justice. I paired this with some couscous specked with walnuts and golden raisins. I forgot to add a dollop of plain soy yogurt, but recommend you do so.

1 lb. fresh brussels sprouts
2 medium shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. sumac
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup water
fresh lemon juice
fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a blender, grind the shallots, garlic, spices, olive oil, and water to a smooth paste.

2. Toss the shallot-garlic paste with the brussels sprouts in a medium sized baking dish. You could also mix the sprouts and spices in a bowl and use a cookie sheet. Toss until all the sprouts are well coated with the spice mixture, which should adhere pretty well to the brussels sprouts.

3. Bake covered with aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes, and uncovered for another ten minutes. If an average sized sprout is easily pierced with a fork or toothpick, they're ready.

4. Serve hot alongside couscous or other grain. Sprinkle with lemon juice and a little extra sumac powder. The sumac adds nice red color, plus additional lemony flavor. I have a big bag of sumac, so I tend to use it whenever I have a chance. If you don't have any, this is still great without it.