potato lima-bean soup

Place
3 1/2 cups cooked white lima beans
1/2 cup okara
2 cups vegetable broth
in a blender and puree completely. You might need to do this in two batches, depending on how powerful your blender is. Set the bean puree aside.

Heat
2 Tablespoons olive oil
in a pot over medium heat. Add
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 potato (about 10 oz.), finely cubed (about centimeter cubed)
to the oil and saute until vegetables are covered with oil. Cover the pot and allow to cook over medium-low heat, stirring often to ensure the vegetables don't burn.

After 15 minutes, add
1/2 cup soymilk
and stir. Cover pot and cook for an additional 10 minutes, continuing to stir often to avert burning. Then add
2 Tablespoons white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried thyme
black pepper, to taste
to the vegetables and stir until they are coated with the mixture. Add another
1/2 cup soymilk
and stir until the mixture thickens a bit. Then add
the pureed lima beans
to the pot and stir until ingredients are well incorporated. Heat through, stirring occasionally, until it is hot enough to serve.

Verdict: I liked this a lot, except some of the carrots and potatoes were a bit undercooked. I blame myself -- I didn't chop these vegetables into uniformly small pieces as I should have. Chalk that one up to laziness. Maybe I could have shredded them in the food processor -- then they'd be in even smaller pieces! Learn from my mistake, and be sure to chop these veggies up into very small pieces. Or, if you want to add an extra step, you can precook them in boiling water until they have softened.

pasta e fagioli

How do you say "and chard too" in Italian? Because this pasta-and-bean soup also has chard. It was growing in my yard, begging to be eaten, so I threw it in. You could probably omit the chard and be fine. You could probably also substitute spinach or kale and be fine.



Soak
1 cup dry navy beans
overnight. Drain and rinse. Then return it to a pot and add
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic (whole)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp dried sage
and bring to a boil.



Cover the beans, reduce the heat, and simmer for 90 minutes, until beans are soft. (While you are waiting, you'll probably want to clean and cut the chard and other vegetables; instructions below.) Remove from heat and remove the bay leaves. Do not drain. Place the contents of the pot -- beans, water, garlic, and all -- into a blender or food processor, along with
5 oz. okara
1 cup water
and liquefy.



NB: If the bean mixture is too thick for your blender or food processor to handle, you can thin it out with some of the 4 cups of water that are called for in a later step.



Wash
5-6 oz. chard
and remove the stems. Set the stems aside. Chop the chard finely.




In a large pot over medium heat saute
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
in
2 Tablespoons olive oil
and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery rib, sliced
chard stems, sliced
and saute for five minutes, until soft.



Add
4 cups water
bean puree from blender or food processor
2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
the chopped chard
and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. (While you are waiting, you can cook the pasta; instructions below.)

Add
1 tsp. dried rosemary
and
salt and pepper
to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes.



Cook
1 1/2 cups small pasta (e.g., macaroni, fusilli)
according to the directions given on the package. Drain pasta and set aside.

NB: This is a great opportunity to try whole-wheat pasta, if you're curious but have been afraid.

When the soup is done, stir in the cooked pasta and serve.

Verdict: I absolutely love this. You could probably experiment with adding more okara, if you wanted to. I played it a little safe and only added 5 ounces, which is a little more than half a cup.

chickpea sandwich filling

Drain the contents of
one 15-oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
and mash them in a bowl with a fork, potato masher, or other mashing implement.

To this bowl, add
1/2 cup okara
one carrot, grated (about 2.5 oz.)
1 scallion, sliced
half bell pepper, diced (about 2 oz.) or one celery rib, sliced
3 Tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
2 tsp. relish
2 tsp. yellow mustard
salt, to taste
and mix contents thoroughly.

You can eat this as a salad, on bread, or inside of a pita pocket, as pictured above. This made five pita sandwiches for me (half a piece of pita bread per sandwich) -- your mileage could vary depending on how much filling you put in each pita pocket.

beans-and-rice croquettes

Rice croquettes, bean croquettes, and now beans-and-rice croquettes. After this, I think my croquette phase will be over. Of the three, the rice croquettes were my favorite, but these were the most tenacious, and just might be able to withstand the pressures of a veggie burger's life. I think I will try eating the leftovers between two pieces of bread with all the sandwich fixings.

This recipe makes about six croquettes.



Put
3/4 cup cannellini beans
into a bowl and smash them up with a fork or potato masher. They don't need to be completely pureed; some chunks are fine.

Into the same bowl, add
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 small carrot, shredded (about 1.75 oz.)
1/2 cup sweet brown rice
1/4 cup okara
1 Tablespoon vital wheat gluten
2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds (shelled)
1 Tablespooon vegan Worcestershire sauce (check the label -- it should say it's vegan)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
and combine ingredients thoroughly.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out 1/4 cup of the mixture and form it into a thin patty (maybe 1/2 inch thick).

Heat some
olive oil
over medium heat in a pan. Enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan -- not so much that you're deep-frying the croquettes. Place the patties on the oil and cook for a few minutes, until that side is golden brown. Then flip them over and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown.



Remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel. Eat warm.

Verdict: The person who thought my last croquettes were "totally bland" thought these were great. I liked them too, although they were a skosh too salty for my tastes. I'm looking forward to seeing how they work out playing the role of a veggie burger. I think they might be even better with kidney beans or black beans, just because those beans seem to have a more distinctive flavor than cannellini beans.

okara-bean croquettes

While not as nice as the previously posted okara-rice croquettes, I think these okara-bean croquettes are nice in their own way. I do think they're sort of bland, which is rectified easily enough by a light application of salt. The person I live with, however, deems them to be "totally bland." Perhaps these could benefit from additional seasonings or a doubling of soy sauce. Perhaps this recipe isn't quite "there" yet, but I do think it's worth documenting.



This recipe should make about eight croquettes.

Put
1 cup cannellini beans
into a bowl and smash them up with a fork or potato masher. They don't need to be completely pureed; some chunks are fine.

Into the same bowl, add
1 red bell pepper, finely diced (about 3 oz.)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup okara
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds (shelled, of course)
1 Tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1 Tablespoon rice flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
a few grinds black pepper
and combine ingredients thoroughly.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out 1/4 cup of the mixture and form it into a thin patty (maybe 1/2 inch thick).

Heat some
olive oil
over medium heat in a pan. Enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan -- not so much that you're deep-frying the croquettes. Place the patties on the oil and cook for a few minutes, until that side is golden brown. Then flip them over and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown.



Remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel. Eat warm.

Verdict: I'm not sure the vital wheat gluten and rice flour did anything that the whole wheat flour didn't already do; they might have been unnecessary additions. Also, I think the whole wheat flour might have contributed to the slight blandness, but it was necessary to dry the mixture out and hold it together. I think some tinkering could be done with the ratio of flour to the rest of the mixture; less flour might bring out the other flavors a little better.

three-and-a-half bean chili

The many photographs I tried to take of the chili raised the question: Is it possible to take an appetizing picture of chili? This is the best one of the batch, and based on the picture alone, I wouldn't eat that! But believe me ... It was good.

Into a pot, put
2/3 cup dried cannellini beans
2/3 cup dried kidney beans
2/3 cup dried pinto beans
and cover with water. Allow to soak for eight hours, or use the "quick-soak method" (in which you bring contents of pot to a boil, and then turn off the heat and leave covered for several hours).



Drain the beans through a colander, saving the water. There are some who say that reusing the soak water gives rise to flatulence, but I have experienced no evidence of this. Plus, there is flavor in that water. I say reuse it, but throw it away if you must.

If needed, add enough
water
to the soak water to bring it up to 4 cups. Place beans and water back into the pot, along with
1 bay leaf (or go crazy -- make it 2! or 3!)
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 Tablespoon cumin (I like to toast whole cumin seeds and then grind them in a mortar and pestle)
up to 1 cup okara
and bring to a boil.

While waiting for the contents of the pot to boil, in a pan over medium heat, place
1 Tablespoon olive oil

When oil is heated, throw in
2 tsp. minced garlic
and sautee until golden in color. Do not burn! Then add
half an onion, minced
1 poblano pepper, minced and with seeds removed
and sautee vegetables together until lightly browned. Then add vegetables to the chili pot, which is probably boiling right about now. Stir contents together, reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours, or until beans are soft and tender. Stir occasionally, to make sure beans aren't sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Note: Poblano peppers are also called pasilla peppers. When they are dried, they are called ancho chilis, but I'm using fresh peppers.

When beans are tender, add
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon agave nectar (or other sweetener)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
and mix contents of pot thoroughly.

Variation: I meant to add tomato paste to this concoction as well, but when I opened my pantry I found that I had none! Oops. Luckily, the chili tasted fine without it; however, if you want tomato paste, I would recommend first blending it with the 1/4 cup of soy sauce before adding it to the chili.

At this point, your chili is ready to eat (after you remove the bay leaf, of course). If it's too liquidy you might want to boil it down a bit, stirring often. Tastes great with cornbread or corn muffins.

Verdict: Despite the lack of tomato paste, I think this had a really nice, rich flavor. Even though it tasted good, the okara made it look kind of weird. So if looks are important to you, you might want to try putting less than a cup of okara into the chili. The okara thickened the chili nicely, but a cup of the stuff was kind of visually overt.