So much new!

Today is the first of the year. It is my twentieth year of life and it's high time I blogged about it. I am in search of the stuff that feeds my soul - good food, yes, but also knowledge, music, nature and conversation. I'm going to try my best to fill this blog with what I find. And try to make it interesting.



It's my Southern New Year's tradition (and my mother's and her mother's and her mother's before that) to fill up on Hoppin' John (black-eyed peas and rice), collards and cornbread, respectively signifying good luck, good fortune and, well, the cornbread just tastes good. Mom and I made this meal together today, only our version was completely vegan. Not to mention incredibly delicious.

Here's how we did it:

Hoppin' John
a Real Simple mag adaptation of beans n' rice, serves 4

[Dirty rice]
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
sea salt
1 cup white basmati rice
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and salt, cook until softened. Add the rice and toast it for about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, chilies and 1 1/4 cups water, then bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and let it all simmer (no peeking!) for 10 minutes before stirring once. Cover again until all the water is absorbed - about another 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes.

[Black-eyed peas]
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 15-oz. cans of black-eyed peas, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
s&p
4 scallions, sliced

Heat up the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until softened. Add the beans, oregano, 1/2 cup water and s&p to taste. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are thoroughly heated. Stir in the scallions, fluff that rice and get to eatin'!

Tangy Collards
serves 4

1 bag frozen collard greens
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 apple cider vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon of brown sugar (or other sweetener)
s&p

Saute the onion until tender in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes. Mix in the vinegar and sweetener, then bring to a boil. Cover and lower the heat to simmer for 10 minutes. If you need more liquid, pour in a few tablespoons of vegetable broth. Add s&p to taste.

Corn Muffins
makes 12 muffins

1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 cup of yellow corn meal
1/4 cup of maple syrup
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon of water
1 small can of whole kernel sweet corn

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease the muffin pan. Mix up the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine the tablespoons of cornstarch and water. Add the rice milk, oil and cornstarch mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Fold in the sweet corn.

Spoon the batter into the pan, then bake 20 to 25 minutes - until a fork stuck into the middle comes out clean.