Newly Vegan

Did you know that the Martha Stewart food site has a collection of vegan recipes ? So pretty! How does that woman do it? I say woman like she is back there doing it all single-handed, but still. I have been on a serious zucchini kick lately and am going to miss this stuff so much when it's all gone. It's really the only part of summer that I'm clinging to for dear life. You can take your 110+ degree days and stuff them where the sun literally does not shine, but let me have some more of that zucchini! I have a friend who is about to harvest some eggplant, though, so maybe that will be a good transition away from summer and into the winter squashes. And then before you know it I will be pining for butternut squash. I made this recipe for Vegan Potato, Zucchini and Tomato Gratin and it was so incredibly easy and delicious. I made two. Hers looks super fancy in her gratin pan and all, but I just used made one in a cake round and the other in a metal pie plate.

I'm constantly needing a vegetable stock that doesn't have salt in it so that my rice and beans don't get too firm. Today, I decided to see if I could use my pressure cooker to make some. It turned out very good and made enough to freeze in batches: a 6-cup batch for risotto, a 2-cup batch for beans and a 1-cup batch for gravy or some other purpose. I'm making risotto tonight, so I threw the other two containers in the freezer. Here's the recipe: Vegan Pressure Cooker Vegetable Stock 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 onions (2 yellow, 2 white), peeled and quartered 4 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into inch-long pieces 6 stalks celery, cut into inch-long large pieces 2 heads of garlic, smashed with the side of a knife and peeled 8 cups water 1 teaspoon thyme 2 bay leaves 15 peppercorns 1-2 teaspoons no-salt seasoning like Mrs. Dash 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes Saute vegetables (except garlic) in olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more