Smoke House Rice + Beans | Recipe

iPhone 4S + Hipsamatic

After juicing for most of the day yesterday (except for lunch), and all day today (except for dinner), I made dinner tonight, with the plan to have a good bit of leftovers for lunch for a couple of days. I had some smoked Tofu that I bought at the Asia market that I'd been wanting to try out, and this seemed like the time to do it.

I wanted to make a rice and beans dish that usually would have called for Chorizo or some other smokey sausage, and I figured the smoked tofu would substitute well.

I thought it turned out amazing. Very good smokiness, with just the right amount of heat. I didn't really follow a recipe, I just kind of made it up as I went along. It tasted nothing like a vegetarian meal, but more like something you'd expect Cowboys or Lumberjacks to eat. It was big, bold, spicy and smokey!

This dish has more than enough protein, good fiber with the brown rice, low salt, low sugar, low calorie. It's all good stuff. :) Serve it with a salad and you've got a pretty balanced meal.

Smoke House Rice and Beans with Smoked Tofu and Chipotle Chilis.
Serves 4 (more or less)

Ingredients:
Brown Rice (8 cups cooked)

2 Tbls Olive Oil

1 lb of Smoked Tofu (cut into small pieces)*

1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Kidney Beans
2 Carrots (diced)
2 Celery Stalks (diced)
2 Onions (diced)
3 Garlic Cloves (minced)
2 Cups of Sweet Corn
1/2 Small Can Chipotles (in Adobo)
2 Cups of Tomato Sauce
2 Tbls of Cilantro (finely chopped)
1 Lime (I used a lemon because I didn't have any limes)

Start your rice (I used a rice cooker which is one of my favorite things ever).

Heat a large cast iron skillet with the olive oil and add the garlic, onions, carrots and celery. Cook about 5 minutes on medium heat until onions begin to go clear. Add the Tofu, Chipotles, Beans (with the liquid), Corn and Tomato Sauce. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until most of the liquid cooks off. Add the corn near the end.

Place 2 cups of Rice on the plate and ladle 1 cup of the rice and bean mixture on top. Squeeze fresh Lime juice on top and garnish with the Cilantro.

*I found the smoked Tofu at an Asian Market, but I'm going to try smoking some myself. It tasted like you'd expect it to taste and had the consistency of Smoked Gouda. Pretty good actually.

Saturday | Potstickers (Gyoza)

So, as promised, today I made Gyoza, which are Potstickers for us white boys. Since I have been laying off meat, I made these vegetarian, and after having done so, I doubt I'd go back to pork filling. Not really worth the time and expense.

As one person I read online said, "It's not really about the filling anyway, it's about the wonton and whatever you dip them in."

Here is the recipe I followed:

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Vegetarian Potstickers (Gyoza)
Makes about 48 dumplings

For the potstickers (gyoza):

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 pound tempeh, cut into thin slabs
1 cup very thinly sliced Napa or green cabbage
6 green onions, white and light green parts only, minced
4 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (sherry is a good substitute)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
48 potsticker wrappers (that is about one normal package; if possible choose a "thick" variety)

Heat a large skillet, preferably cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid, over a medium-high flame. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry the tempeh in a single layer, working in batches if needed, until golden brown on both sides. Set aside to cool.

NOTE: I got almost no browning. They just started falling apart after awhile. Whatever did brown just stuck to the pan like glue. For the record, I was actually using firm tofu and not tempeh, so that might have had something to do with it. I wouldn't know. I'd never cooked with either before.

Fry the cabbage for a few minutes until browned and most water removed. Turn off the heat.

Thoroughly crumble the tempeh into a bowl. Combine it with the cabbage, green onions, rice wine or sherry and soy sauce. Taste and adjust salt as needed. You can also add more rice wine or soy, but don't make it too wet. When you are satisfied with the taste, sprinkle in the cornstarch and toss thoroughly to combine. (This will absorb any water released when the dumplings are cooked).

To form the potsticker dumplings, take one wrapper and moisten the entire edge with a fingertip or pastry brush dipped in water. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center. Pick it up, fold in half, and seal the edge. Crimp if you like. Set on a plate or sheet pan.

NOTE: I actually had fun making these. It was like an art project.

To cook the potstickers, heat that big skillet back up again to medium-high and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Put the potstickers in in a single layer, flat side down, not touching but they can be close. Fry 1-2 minutes until they are dark golden brown on the bottom. Add 1/3 cup of water and cover the pan. Cook about 3 minutes. Remove the lid and keep cooking until the water is totally gone – otherwise they won't be crispy.

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NOTE: Now I have to say, that's what the recipe said to do. They were looking beautiful and weren't sticking to the pan. I poured the water in and covered, and when I lifted the lid, they looked perfect. Until I tried to move them. It was like they'd been cemented to the pan with crazy glue. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I saved most of them, but they weren't looking so good.

I tried again, not using a lid, and trying to keep them from sticking, and while a little better, they were still tearing. Finally, I just seared them in oil on both sides and then took them out. They weren't steamed, but they were actually better. Next time, no steaming.

Another note: I had maybe six wrappers leftover, so that was pretty good. About just the right amount of filling for a package of wrappers.

The finished product. Tasty little fuckers.

Serve hot, with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup good quality soy sauce / shoyu / tamari

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1-2 teaspoons hot-chili sesame oil (or 1-2 teaspoons plain Chinese sesame oil and 1/2 teaspoon chili paste)

1 green onion, whites parts only, cut into tiny thin rings

Combine all ingredients, taste for salt/vinegar/heat balance and set aside.

NOTE: I actually substituted hot Chinese mustard for the hot-chili sesame oil and even though I had them, I forgot to add the green onion rings. Still tasted pretty damn good.

After The Fast: Day Five

Well I spoke too soon. I guess it takes a bit to catch up to you. Weighed myself again this morning (I really need to stop doing that), and I had gained a bit more weight. Coming in at 205.5lbs. That's another two pounds. I'm not concerned, I guess I just thought I was special and wouldn't gain a few pounds back after the end of the fast. Wrong again Ronald.

If this was a real photo, it would be mostly just the left side of my body on the scale.

So, I think I'll stop weighing myself daily and go to once a week. Since I'm concentrating more on exercise anyway, I'll try to think more about how I look as opposed to how much I weigh. I want to tone my upper body more, as well as my abdomen. Doing a lot of crunches and curls. Sounds like a breakfast cereal: Crunches And Curls...by Kellogg's.

I'm still eating very well. Two eggs for breakfast. Granola at 10am. Sushi, rice and vegetables for lunch. Apples and peanut butter at 3pm. A little more sushi, or rice and beans, for dinner. Hell, all I'm eating is eggs, rice, beans, vegetables, a tiny bit of fish, fruit and nuts. All I'm drinking is water, and a little decaf coffee or tea at night.

I don't get a lot of cardio exercise except on the weekends. It's mostly isometrics what I'm doing. Resistance training. I may have to step up my weekend cardio a bit. But I think I'm getting a pretty good workout in the morning. Although never REALLY sore like I would be if I worked out in the gym. Not sure whether that's good or bad.

Wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to juice one meal a day. Breakfast, for instance. It would provide me a lot of my vitamins and minerals for the day. Buying and maintaining the produce is a hassle though. You can't buy too much or it goes south, and I don't want to put any more time into this than I already am. It's consuming my life. :) Still, it would be very healthy and might contribute to my weight loss.

Ok, enough of that. Back to food. This weekend I was going to try to cook Naan, a middle eastern flat bread, but I found these two recipes for grill pizza and flatbread. I'm going to combine them and make some herbed flatbread on the Big Green Egg.

Grill Pizza

Cooked Grill Pizza

Making The Flatbread

Finished Flatbread

I haven't cooked on my Egg since I quit smoking and drinking. I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do while I'm cooking, but I guess I'll figure something out.

Here are the recipes I'm using as inspiration. I'm going to alter things a bit since I'm cooking on the Egg, but even if you don't have an Egg, you can use either the oven or a traditional gas grill and make do. Enjoy!

Herbed Flatbread

Makes 16

* 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)

* 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (from one 1/4-ounce envelope)

* 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and hands

* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl

* Coarse salt

* 1 teaspoon sugar

* 1 large egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

* Sea salt, for sprinkling

* 1/4 cup fresh rosemary or thyme (or a combination)

Directions

1. Place water in a medium bowl; sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, oil, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, and the sugar. Stir until dough forms.

2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead with floured hands until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough stand in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces; cover with plastic wrap. Roll out 1 piece to roughly 4 by 10 inches on a lightly floured surface; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash; sprinkle with sea salt and herbs. Repeat with remaining dough, arranging 4 pieces per sheet.

4. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until crisp and golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on sheets on a wire rack.

Grilled Pizza Dough

1- envelope dry yeast

1- cup water – room temperature or warm

1 teaspoon honey

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup fine ground flax meal- corn mean can also be used- I even sometimes substitute semolina flour

3 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tablespoons good quality virgin olive oil

3 cups all purpose flour

1- in a large bowl add the water, yeast and honey

2- after all is dissolved slowly stir in the flax meal, whole wheat flour, salt and olive oil

3- slowly stir in the flour until a firm dough has formed

4- remove all contents from bowl and continue to knead on a floured surface until a smooth dough has formed adding additional flour to prevent the dough from sticking.

5- after you have achieved a smooth sough clean of any lumps transfer to a large bowl that has been lightly coated with olive oil. add oil to the top make sure a skin does not form while rising. cover the bowl and let rise for about 2 hours. remove dough and knead again.

6- let the dough rise again for about 30 minutes.

Directions

When the dough is ready, transfer it, lifting it on each side with your thumb and pointer fingers, and spread it across the hottest part of your grill. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes or until bubbles appear on the top almost like a pancake.

Using tongs and a spatula flip your pizza over on to the cool part of the grill. Quickly brush the top with olive oil and add toppings as fast as possible. The idea is to get each ingredient on to every part of the pie evenly. Then using the tongs slide the the pizza over to the hot side of the grill. When the cheese is melted and starts to bubble its ready. Slide it of to a wooden cutting board, garnish cut and serve right away. The ideal crust is chewy in the center and crunchy at the same time. Practice makes perfect.

After The Fast: Day One

So, today I broke the fast. After a breakfast and mid-morning snack of juice, I make some rice and veggies and sat down to my first plate of real food in 27 days. It was glorious.

If I'm not going to be on a continuous diet, which no one can sustain, I have to change the way I eat, not just what I eat.

Before the fast, this was my normal routine:

1. No Breakfast.

2. Coffee. Cigarettes.

3. No Lunch.

4. More coffee and cigarettes.

5. Get home at 6:30pm, eat a big dinner and have 5-6 cocktails.

6. Go to bed and repeat the next day.

I drank, smoked about a pack of cigarettes and ate one meal, every day. So obviously that had to change.

For the record, here's tomorrow's plan:

5:30AM: Wake

5:45-6:00AM: 15 Minute Workout (that's all it takes me)

6:00-6:15AM: Cool down and read the paper.

6:15-6:45AM: Shower and Dress

6:45-7:15AM: Breakfast: 2 scrambled organic, free-range eggs (from my very own chicken). Small, whole wheat tortilla. Hot sauce.

7:15:8:30AM: Drive to work. Drink 1 liter of water.

10:00AM: Snack: Organic Trail Mix

12:30PM: Lunch: Rice. Steamed Veggies. (I cook this the night before and microwave them at work)

3:00PM: Snack: Apples w/all natural peanut butter

5:00-6:30PM: Drive home: Drink 1 liter of water.

7:00PM: Dinner: Red beans and rice. Salad of mixed greens w/walnuts, raisins, Feta crumbles, and apple, with a Raspberry vinaigrette.

After dinner I have either decaf tea or coffee. I never thought I would drink decaf. It seemed like a waste of time, but now that I'm not drinking alcohol, and just water throughout the day, it feels like a treat.

My bento-style lunch box and carrying bag. 

Broken down.

There's even a little pouch that holds bamboo chopsticks, spork and knife.