I used all meaty, hearty ingredients in my rice-spice stew, like a homemade cajun-spiced seitan, some large quartered mushrooms and seared artichoke hearts. Brown rice makes this a dish that you can make with a break in the middle. It takes its time soaking up the juices, so you can clean up your kitchen and rest a while before you eat. When you're done, cool the stew a smidge and then stick the whole pot in the fridge. Dinner for the rest of the week-- done.

6. Put a dollop of your filling in the middle of the tortellini.


7. Fold the top end over the bottom end so that you have a triangle encasing your filling. Press down tight, you don't want any filling popping out while boiling.




9. Now turn the two sides away from the point and press them together on the other side.

Sometimes I do baking math on this blackboard in my kitchen. Sometimes I need to visualize a dish before I can begin to create it. I am a very visual learner. You should really see my baking math pictures. One time, my friend at work was saying how bad at spelling he his, and to make him feel better, I told him how embarrassingly bad at math I am, and told him that to triple or quadruple recipes sometimes I draw circles and quarter them, and then shade in how many quarters I will need and count how many total cups it makes and that's how I use my drawing board for baking math. After I explained my method to him, he said, "You're lucky you're pretty." Thanks, Rahul.

So here's plan C. Stay tuned for plan B. I will not be beaten by a jar of artichokes. 

Long Time, No Blog. I'm sorry, friends. I've been out and about this summer, visiting friends, family, some vegan restaurants and seeing some kickass shows all over this side of the country. I've also been keeping busy doing a bunch of recipe writing and testing and eating, of course. I also just heard John Stewart mispronounce "vegan." He said "VAY-gun." Can we put our faith in no one?
So let's cut to the chase. This dip. 
Sometimes, when you find yourself living in central New Jersey, you find yourself at Chilis. Not my proudest moment, but I do often find inspiration in hum-drum, run-of-the-mill, drown-my-sorrows-after-a-shitty-day-at-work, 1/2 price-appetizers-at-happy-hour kind of chain establishment. Well, I find inspiration at these kinds of places, or vicariously through an episode of Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.
Every single place like the kind I'm describing has a Spinach and Artichoke dip. My aunt Maureen used to make one like this for family get-togethers and I think hers is the only one I've ever actually tasted, though they all look and sound delicious. It's an obvious crowd-pleaser, and that's probably why it's on so many menus and on so many tables during family gatherings. Us vay-guns have passed on this dip and scooped up yet another hunk of walmart hummus with our pita chip instead time and time again, because this dip is mostly comprised of cream and cheese, you know, the two things that aren't even part of the title.
Well I can make you that dip, friends. I can, and I will. Oh wait, I did. That was unsuspenseful.
Have I told you I'm writing a cookbook called, "Life after Cashews" ? It's a working title but it had a better ring to it than "Divine Secrets of The Cashew Sisterhood."

Spinach-Artichoke dip

8-9 artichoke hearts, sliced
1 large white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
5 large handfuls baby spinach
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup cashews
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
1/4 cup nooch
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt
pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Put cashews in a blender with nooch, herbs, garlic powder, yogurt, salt and pepper and blend. Add almond milk slowly until a creamy paste is achieved. Blend about 2 minutes, maybe more if you have a tag-sale blender.
Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute for about 4 minutes, until relatively caramelized. Add artichokes and cook another 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Then add the spinach in handfuls, adding more as it wilts down. Toss the spinach with everything else using tongs, aiding the wilting process. When all spinach is wilted, pour in cashew cream. Stir everything together and taste for salt and pepper. Preheat the broiler.
Find a cute little baking dish that seems sized appropriately for a dip of this sort. Pile all of the mixture into the dish and broil for about 5 minutes, until bubbly and browned in spots. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

When I was learning how to cook, I learned about 4 variations of Italian-style chicken, one of which being piccata. Piccata is just a simple preparation of any protein really, that includes wine, garlic, capers and lemon. I've had it all different ways with different proteins, even chickpea piccata, many times over. I've seen seitan piccata on menus of fancy vegetarian restaurants with $30 minimum per person regulations that I've never been able to afford. But piccata is so easy, why couldn't I just make it at home? I made extra seitan from tamale day with this in mind, so it was super easy to make on a weeknight.



2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow or white onion sliced into half-moons
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup veggie stock
6-7 artichoke hearts, chopped in half or quartered.
1 tablespoon capers
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped.

1.Preheat a large cast-iron skillet with the olive oil.
2. Combine flour, herbs, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Mix with hands and dredge seitan cutlets thoroughly. Reserve a few tablespoons of herb flour. Later you will use this to thicken sauce. Shake cutlets a little, to remove excess flour. Add to hot pan and let brown for 3-4 minutes. Then flip and brown other side about 2-3 minutes.
3. Once golden brown, remove cutlets from pan and transfer to a plate. In the same hot pan, sautee onion over medium high heat until browned and onions have collected all the brown floury bits from the pan, about 6 minutes. If onion is not browning, increase heat and keep close watch on pan. Add garlic and sautee about 1 minute until fragrant. Add wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Add capers, artichokes and lemon juice. Stir and let wine reduce by 1/3.
4. Sprinkle in a little of the reserved herb flour and stir until the sauce reaches desired thickness. Cook 1 more minute, then taste for salt and pepper.
5. Add cutlets back to pan, spooning the sauce over the top of them. Pour veggie stock over the cutlets and let simmer about 4 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsely and serve.