Today's Magic Loaf

Still cooking, so have no idea how good it is -- might be terrible!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 2 TB olive oil
• One onion, diced
• One large garlic clove, minced
• One large carrot, peeled and grated
• Two celery ribs, diced
• 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, partly mashed
• 1 cup uncooked quick oatmeal or oat bran
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup tomato juice, as needed
• 3 TB tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 TB nutritional yeast flakes
• Several dashes vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. vegetarian chicken-style seasoning

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).

Grind the cashews into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sauté any vegetables you've chosen in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.

Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.

Cold leftover slices of make a great sandwich filling.

Gumbo-ish Stew

Slow-Cooker Chicken Gumbo-like Stew

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen okra
• 2 links andouille sausage, sliced into bite-sized rounds (I used chicken andouille and removed the casings before slicing)
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons crushed garlic (3-4 cloves?)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (not enough for Ken and too much for me)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (I already had a half-used container of vegetable broth in the fridge I wanted to use up, so I did that instead)
• 2 cups reduced-sodium tomato juice (I didn't have any, so I used Trader Joe's tomato and red pepper soup)

For roux, in a cast iron skillet stir together flour and oil until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 minutes more or until roux is dark reddish brown. Let roux cool.

In a slow-cooker, combine roux and all other ingredients. Mix well to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Serve over rice.

Next time, use more liquid and get some file powder to sprinkle on top.

Southern Fried Cornbread

This seems just like what I remember my daddy doing. Haven't tried this yet, but didn't want to lose the recipe (from this site):

• 1.5 cups self-rising cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Mix cornmeal and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

Pour approximately 2 cups boiling water over dry ingredients.

Mix well. After the mixture cools slightly (and it will be hot!) shape mixture into balls about the size of golf balls, one at a time. (Very important) You must wet your hands with water before you make each ball.

Flatten the ball with your fingers (resulting about 1/2" thick ovals).

Fry in skillet (preferably cast iron) with about 1/2" of hot oil.