Good riddance, 2010

Not that it was all that bad, but we can do better.

My free will astrology horoscope told me to think *big* in 2011. Sounds good, right? So I went for the good luck with some new year's black-eyed peas and collard greens. I veganized this fritter recipe by substituting chickpea flour and a little water for the egg and half of the regular flour. Then I spiced it up a bit. I also pan-fried these instead of deep frying, but even that was a bit much, so I ended up baking the leftover batter* a couple days later.

Black-eyed Pea Fritters

1. Cook about 3/4 or 1 C dried black-eyed peas until soft (going for about 2 C cooked, or just one can)
2. Chop about half an onion
3. 2 T flour
4. 2 T chickpea flour
5. 1/2 t salt
6. 1/4 t or so smoked paprika
7. 1/2 t or more dried thyme
8. 1/t or so liquid smoke



Blend it all together with maybe 2-3 T of water, then shape into little patties and fry or bake. I pan-fried, but most fritters are deep fried. As a result I think my onions could have been a little more cooked. Next time I'd saute them first to avoid that. But the flavors ended up great with the peas, tomato sauce (just cooked down onion, garlic, stewed chopped tomatoes, and a couple bay leaves), collard greens (cooked with a little of the tomato sauce, salt, liquid smoke), and some quinoa.





Here's a picture of the baked version, with more collards cooked with onions and tomatoes. I didn't have any more tomato sauce, so I ate these with some barbecue sauce. The baked ones didn't have that crispy fried magic thing going for them, but they did get nice and browned and the onion got a little more cooked. Really it could go either way.



I've got a few holiday-related baking and candy-making recipes to share soon. New year's resolution - post more often and make more interesting food.

Happy new year!

*Dough? Goop?

Ratatouille

Not really! Because, well, it's not so much that I hate eggplant, I just don't see myself ever buying it. But I did buy a ton of tomato seconds at the farmers market (cheap, but don't last long) and needed to use them up. I also had a bunch of squash.

I sauteed a red onion and half a white onion (diced), with two zucchini and two summer squash (medium sized, sliced into half moons), then added salt, pepper, a few cloves of chopped garlic, veggie broth, and lots of chopped and seeded tomatoes. Cook this til the tomatoes break down and the sauce thickens, taste for seasoning, and add fresh thyme.

I also didn't bake this, which I gather is one aspect of many "traditional" old worldy ratatouille recipes. Meh. It was good and kept me from wasting vegetables.

Here's some on quinoa. I added white beans after I took the picture because I had a ton and thought it would go well together. It did.



Tastes like summer.