One of my favorite aspects of Autumn is the desire to make big, comfy breakfasts. Among these dishes include pancakes or waffles, coffee cakes, or the always-favorite breakfast burrito (aka taquito)! Long-time Primate readers will know just how much Jo and I love our burritos – and it must run in the family, right Casey ! Anywho.. here’s some burrito porn for the breakfast burritos I posted On This Day In History.

Or for some delicious variations to include in your breakfast burritos:

3-bean Quinoa

Baked Rice

Lime and Cilantro Rice

And it wouldn’t be a Primate Burrito without Potatoes:

Green Chili, Sara’s Fav, or Papas Refritas

Happy Vegan MoFo!!!

Let’s all give a big thank you to Christina for requesting a Potato Leek Soup recipe…I hope it’s to your satisfaction

Here’s a classic Autumn/Winter soup that is sure to comfort your soul as well as warm your belly! You could also make a combo of this soup and the Potato Butternut Squash soup… mmm…Potato-Leek-Butternut Squash soup… Ok, I got lost in the delicious imagery for a moment. This recipe makes about 4 servings, so if you’re cooking for more than yourself, you should double it because you’ll most certainly want leftovers – guaranteed!

Ingredients:

2 TBSP canola or olive oil
2 medium leeks, rinsed and diced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 TBSP oregano
4 C diced gold potatoes (it was about 1 Farmer’s Market basket of potatoes for me, maybe 3-4 large or 12 small-medium golden potatoes)
4 C vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse and chop the leeks. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large stock pot. Add chopped leeks, minced ginger, and saute about 10 minutes – when the leeks begin to soften.
2. Add diced potatoes, oregano, and 1 tsp salt. Saute an additional 5-8 minutes.

3. Add broth and bay leaf, bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, and simmer for 25-30 minutes - until the potatoes are soft and done.
4. Remove bay leaf. Blend until smooth with immersion blender or food processor. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with homemade croutons and fresh black pepper. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

On This Day In History: Oat Surprise Muffins

I love pasta, but as a veggie-lover it seems weird to just have noodles and sauce (whereas, in a previous/non-vegan life that’s exactly how I liked it). But now, the meal just doesn’t feel complete unless there’s a little onion or red bell pepper, perhaps broccoli and nuts. I don’t buy jarred pasta sauces that often, so I usually just make olive oil pastas – like you’ve typically seen here at the Primate. Sometimes, however, you just crave that thick red sauce that can be sopped up with some garlic bread…mmmm..mmm. So here’s a recipe for a simple chunky tomato sauce, that’s as quick as it is to boil the noodles! Promise! This recipe makes enough sauce for about 4 servings (1 typical package of pasta), plus a little more for those who like it ‘heavy on the sauce’ And for the garlic lovers out there, you know who you are, there is a double-shot of garlic!

Ingredients:

1 red onion, diced
1-2 red bell peppers, diced
3-6 cloves garlic, sliced (you can mince if you want, but I like a good slice from time to time)
1 jar strained tomatoes
1 TBSP dried basil, plus some fresh for garnish
1 TBSP + 1 tsp dried oregano
2-3 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP salt, or to taste – plus more for salting the noodle water
fresh black pepper, to taste-
1 4-serving bag of noodles – spaghetti, fusilli, bowtie, rigatoni, any noodle that can hold up to a thick and hearty sauce; which means no angel hair or capellini..

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil – that will fit a bag of noodles. In a large deep-sided skillet, warm a little olive oil (maybe 1-2 TBSP) over medium heat. Meanwhile, dice the onion and red bell, and slice the garlic.
2. Add noodles and some salt to the water, and onion, red bell, and garlic to the skillet. Saute until onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in a bit of the salt and some pepper, toss in the herbs, and continue to cook another 1-2 minutes. Add the sauce to the skillet o’veg, and adjust the salt and pepper content to your liking. Warm and stir until noodles are ready. At this point, before draining the noodles check thickness of the sauce – if too thick for your liking, thin it out with a little of the pasta cooking water.
3. Plate out noodles, or toss them in the sauce, garnish with fresh basil or oregano, serve and enjoy!

**Note: There’s no actual chunks of tomatoes in this recipe, but feel free to add them if that tickles your fancy!

Happy Cooking!

On This Day In History: Jimmy’s Vanilla Cupcakes

Who doesn’t like potato chips?  Nobody!  But I’m sure many of us don’t eat a lot of them since they’re so oily.  Luckily, you can make chips at home and control the oil and salt levels.  Since they’re baked, not fried, I just toss them with a little bit of olive oil.  Of course, it’s easiest if you have a mandolin to slice the taters quickly and easily.  Otherwise, a cheese slicer leftover from your pregan days can work.  Or, you can just practice your knife work.  For the best chips, you’ll want a starchy russet or yukon golds.  Blue potatoes definitely add some interesting color, but they crisp up unevenly.

Ingredients:

potatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper – to taste

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees (aka hotter than the sun).

2.  Slice potatoes with a mandolin, as thick or thin as you like.

3.  In  a large bowl, toss potato slices with olive oil.

4.  Spread in a single layer (not overlapping) on a cookie sheet.  Bake thin slices for 20 minutes, or thick slices for up to 40.  Check every 10 minutes and remove any chips that have browned, then let the rest keep cooking.

5.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

On This Day in History:  Summer Rolls

I’m not normally a huge fan of peanut sauces, though I’ll eat them. The problem I find with most peanut sauce recipes is that they are overwhelmingly peanut buttery. If I want to eat peanut butter, I’ll slather it on a bar of Endangered Species or Dagoba chocolate – not on pasta But if you want a sauce that tastes like peanuts and not like peanut butter + spices, this is the one for you. I’ve adapted the recipe from Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin. The recipe serves 4 as a main course, and I bet it would be excellent served with a spring roll appetizer. Oh, and if you’re wondering about the name of the dish..one of my lady’s has been on me to post a peanut sauce practically since the inception of the blog…so here’s to you Dr. Zeigler!! (Oh and don’t feel sorry for her wait..she’s also one of my taste-testers, so she’s been compensated for waiting )

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1/4 C shoyu sauce (*GF: double check your sauce if you need GF)
2 TBSP canola oil
2 TBSP toasted sesame oil
2 TBSP peanut butter – creamy or crunchy, whatever you have on hand
1 TBSP brown rice vinegar
3-4 garlic cloves
1 TBSP minced ginger (fresh or the stuff in the jar)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or be bold like me and put in 1-2 bird’s eye peppers (seeds and everything – I used 2 small peppers and it resulted in a “medium” heat..and it didn’t linger. The PB helps mellow the heat…so don’t be afraid to try out a pepper or two)
1/2 tsp salt

Pasta/Veg:
1 pound penne, or other short noodle like rigatoni or fusilli (for GF use an appropriate noodle. I used a Brown Rice Penne)
8 oz green beans, or a mix of green and yellow – if you can find purple, even better – cut into 2-inch sections (for easy bites)
2 red,purple, orange, or yellow bell peppers, julienned – aside from tasting good, they provide color to the dish
3 scallions
1 cucumber, peeled, cut lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick half-moons
1/2 C roasted cashews, ideally unsalted, roughly chopped
*optional: fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil for the noodles. If you’ve got a strainer or steamer basket that can fit on top of the pot, you can do the noodles and the green beans at the same time.
2. Meanwhile, place all sauce ingredients in a blender (or food processor) and puree until smooth; set aside. When water is boiling, add the noodles and cooking according to package directions (for my rice penne it took about 8 or 9 minutes). In a steamer basket, steam the beans lightly for no more than 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking of the beans – to keep them crunchy. When the noodles are done, rinse them under cold water as well.
3. Place the veg, nuts and noodles in a large bowl, top with sauce and stir to combine. Place in the fridge to chill out and marinade for about 30 minutes. If the pasta gets too dry whilst marinating, drizzle with a little more toasted sesame oil just to give the moisture content a little nudge. You can also reserve a small amount of the sauce for refreshing it just before serving.

**Feel free to add in any other veg of choice, like bean sprouts or julienned zucchini!

Happy Cooking!