Red Beans and Rice:

I Could Eat A Plate Twice 

Yes, I can certainly eat a plate twice. In fact, I did that today. That title comes from a Michael Franti & Spearhead tune. I really wish you could hear it because it's dope. YouTube it.  

One of things I've come to realize about myself when it comes to making vegetarian dishes after being a meat-eater most of my life is that I tend to shy away from certain dishes, thinking to myself that there's no way that dish can be good without the meat. And, consistently, I have eventually just went for it and, consistently, it has turned out amazing. Then I think to myself: self, why the hell didn't you do this earlier?

Let it be heard today and now that I will no longer put off "going for it". Because, while I may not always succeed, the times that I do succeed truly make it worth the risk of failure. While I suppose you can apply this overly cheesy little philosophy to any aspect of life, in this instance, I'm going to apply it food. 

One such recipe I have deprived myself of over the last few years has been red beans & rice. This dish is usually laden with tasso (smoked pork shoulder) or some sort of sausage, typically andouille. With such a flavorful component suddenly eliminated, how could it be right? Well, there is an answer for that. 

To make up for the missing sausage, I asked myself what would the dish be missing flavor-wise if the sausage was taken out. I came up with two pretty obvious answers: smokiness from the fact that both andouille and tasso are a smoked meat and the pure fact that both add a "meaty" aspect to the dish. 

It didn't take a genius to do what I did. What I did was simple. But damn if it didn't work well. For the smokiness I quite simply added some liquid smoke. For the meatiness, or in this case umami, I added some soy sauce. 

So I took my newly created version of this dish to a friend of mine and fellow food lover, who is not a vegetarian I might add, for her to try and her response (via instant messenger) was "omg, omg, omg!!". I'll take that as a win. 

This one is a little spicy. But it's creole dish and, damn it, so it should be. I wouldn't call it a butt-burner myself but, in my experience, spiciness is relative. It is based upon a recipe I used for years as my go-to but is now happily vegetarian, and in fact, vegan. Enjoy. 

New Orleans Style Red Beans and Rice


Ingredients: 

• 1 pound dried small red beans, picked over
• 1 large onion, yellow or white, chopped
• 2 pale-green inner celery ribs (with leaves), chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp hickory liquid smoke
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot pepper sauce ( I like Red Rooster but Tabasco will work too)
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (don't leave this out!)
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp salt, or to taste

Accompaniment: 

• white rice 

Preparation: 

1. In a large bowl, cover beans in water by two inches and soak overnight. Once soaked, drain beans.

2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine all ingredients. 

3. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Stirring occasionally to ensure beans don't stick to the bottom of the pot. 

4. Remove lid and continue to simmer for an additional hour, again stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes to thick, add water. 

5. Remove 1 cup of the mixture and mash to a paste. Alternatively, you can puree it in a blender or food processor. 

6. Add mash / pureed beans back to mixture and stir to thicken. Serve over rice. 

Servings: 6

The Wedge Salad:

Simple Bliss 

Since having this salad for the first time about two months ago, I have come close to dying of hyper-wedge-salad-poisoning. Yes, I've had my life's share in a short period of time. I don't know what it is about this thing that has had such a profound effect on me, but it has. I love it when something so simple-stupid is the best thing you've had in ages. It keeps you on your toes and makes you remember that simplicity is sometimes divine.   

I'm sure it has something to do with the subtle (or maybe not so subtle) decadence of it. I'm mean this one has just the right combo of ingredients that I find appealing. You get the crunchiness of the iceberg lettuce, which is my favorite lettuce, by the way. And I don't care if it's throwback 70's or whatever. I love it. The meatiness of the shiitake mushrooms makes the salad feel more like a meal than starter. In fact, when I make it, it is a meal. I usually don't have anything with it but that's not to say a nice bean or veggie soup wouldn't go good along side. Then there is the crunchy-salty-tastiness of the fried onions that top this salad. I almost want to say they are the icing on the cake but we still haven't gotten to the dressing. The richness of the buttermilk ranch coupled with the sharpness of the blue cheese definitely pulls everything together.  

The last few blog entries here have been sort of leading up this post. They make up three of the components you'll find in this salad. You can probably buy a few of the them, such as the dressing and the fried onions, pre-made. But I can only suggest you don't do it. Make these from scratch. They are so much more fresh and flavorful. It's more effort, yes, but the payoff is truly incomparable. 

This part of the recipe is the easiest. It's the part where all the goodies come together as one. My suggestion is to include all the parts of this salad listed. It's the combo of them all that really sets this one off. 

Wedge Salad


Ingredients: 

• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• buttermilk ranch dressing
• 2-3 Roma (plum) tomatoes, cored and diced
• shiitake bacon
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• crispy fried onions
• 4 tsp fresh chives, chopped

Preparation: 

1. Cut your lettuce head in half. Remove the core from each side. Then cut the halves in half again to form 4 equal wedges. I actually like to cut the quarters in half again and place two wedges on each plate. So basically, you cut the head into eight wedges and each serving gets two wedges. I find this helps the toppings to stay put and not just roll off the top of the wedge and onto the plate. 

2. Top each serving of lettuce with ranch dressing. 

3. Then add your remaining toppings to your own taste. The order of ingredients above is the order I prefer to add them but it's up you. I find it keeps all the components visible and therefore aesthetically pleasing. It doesn't really matter, just make sure to get them all!

Servings: 4

Shiitake Bacon:

Don't Believe Me? Try it. 

Oh mushrooms. What can I say to you that I haven't said a million times over? I love you unconditionally. You are one of my dearest culinary friends. We go back a long time. A very long time. But you've been keeping a secret from me and, while I'm a little disappointed that you haven't been completely honest with me, I am still truly delighted that you have surprised me in such a wonderful way.      

At first I was in complete disbelief. Denial, if you will. I said "no...no way that can be true". But then, out of sheer curiosity, I followed the recipe and I'll be damned if you didn't taste like bacon. You never cease to amaze me, my dear, dear friend. 

Everywhere I turn, it's bacon this and bacon that. While I don't really miss it that much, it does have it's merits, flavorwise. I made these for two reasons. A: I didn't believe it. B: I wanted to top a salad I was making that called for bacon bits. I even got my wife, who HATES mushrooms to try one. It took a lot of coaxing but I eventually got her to take a nibble. Actually it was closer to a lick because she definitely didn't want to commit. But then she kinda perked up a bit and said: "Holy crap, it does taste like bacon". Then she did the unthinkable. Something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. She sprinkled a few on her own salad. What?!!! Score one for the mushrooms!!!

This is a fun one to make but you have to be very careful with it. The mushrooms that are readily available in my area seem to be pretty small. And the trick to getting this recipe to go right is to have uniformity in your cuts. You want all the slices to be basically the same size. If you don't have that uniformity, they simply won't cook evenly. Some will be under cooked and they don't take on that bacon flavor while others will be over cooked and taste like burnt bacon. Some people like that burnt taste but I don't.

After I've cut my mushrooms, they would be roughly the size of a quarter that was cut in half. Then, after they are cooked, they will reduce to maybe the size of a dime that was cut in half.

The video to the original recipe that I found can be viewed here. 

Tip: Uniformly cut slices are a must. I cannot emphasize that enough. 

Tip: Watch these very closely while they are roasting. Make sure to stir every ten minutes and don't allow them to pile on top of each other. My experience with the "half quarter" sized cut is that they take roughly 30 minutes. Larger cuts obviously will take longer. And taste them each time you stir them. You want them a little crisp. 

Shiitake Bacon


Ingredients: 

• 3 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms. Cut uniformly in size to about half the size of a quarter.
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

Preparation: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. 

2. Place your sliced mushrooms in a bowl.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and then add the salt. Stir with a spoon until the oil and salt evenly coats the mushrooms. 

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mushrooms onto the baking sheet making sure they are in one even layer and not piled on top of each other. 

3. Roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. You must stir them every 10 minutes. Roasting time will vary depending on the size of the cut. If you cut the mushrooms to the "half quarter" size, they will take approximately 30 minutes. However that cook time will be longer if the mushrooms are cut larger. Make sure you don't over cook the mushrooms because they will taste like burnt bacon. If you get that far, you gotta start again so be careful! 

Servings: As a salad topping, serves 4-5.