Dinners

Summer vegetable fritters
Grate, sprinkle with salt, and drain in colander over sink:
~one zucchini
~one beet
~one large carrot
~one medium potato
~THEN aggressively squeeze tons and tons of moisture out of that stuff, cheesecloth twist method
Mince fine a handful of garlic cloves, to taste
Small chop leftover raw chard, approx 1/2 cup loosely packed
Leftover brown rice, approx. 3/4 cup, maybe 1/2, you know I don't measure when I'm cooking on the fly...

Toss all o'that in a bowl, mix thoroughly together. Add spice, seasoning, little sauce, etc. I used Penzey's Mural of Flavour generously, with a large pinch of cumin and a big dash of vegan Worcestershire sauce and black pepper. Add some (1/4 cup?) flour for binding, mix well. Make well in center, beat one egg in well, then mix the slurry altogether. Form into smallish patties and fry up aggressively in a bit o' high heat oil (I used grapeseed augmented with homemade chili oil, also grapeseed-based). Eat with a few drops of that same chili oil as dressing, or maybe if you like ketchup (je le deteste) this would be a good time to eat some, or perhaps a creme fraiche or crumbled blue cheese. Makes "5" of undetermined size (I molded my fritters with a small mise that holds maybe 1/2 cup?), so feeds two, or one for dinner and planover lunch. Probably freezes really well. Serve with sweet corn on the cob, as I did, or with a green salad, as I will, or with some sort of chickpea number, heavy on the lime juice and green chili. This could go a lot of ways.

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Quick tofu and green bean stir fry
1/2 lb. tofu, cut into thin 1"x1/2" planks, or other pleasing shape
large couple handful of green beans, julienned (yes, it's totally worth it to do this, watch your fingers) to yield maybe 1 1/2 cups total
minced red onion, 1/4 cup or so (again, not so much with the measuring)
dried cranberries if you're feeling it
toasted almonds if you're feeling them
for Sauce, mix together a pleasing combination of:
~honey
~rice vinegar
~soy sauce or tamari
~bit of chili garlic sauce (you know, rooster sauce?)
~whatever's sitting around

In a high temp oil (see my above oil machinations), fry tofu on one side until that side is browned. At the halfway point of "browned," add most of the red onion and all of the cranberries. At the "browned" point, add the green beans and toss well over heat. Cook until crisp-tender (or to taste if you're a big soft food lover, you weirdo), adding sauce right at the end and letting it bubble like crazytime to reduce a bit. Pour over brown rice, garnish with remaining raw onions and toasted almonds and just freaking TRY not to burn your mouth, okay?

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I've gone a little nutso from the farmer's market. Tune in next time for caramelized sweet onion and goat cheese pizza with, you guessed it, homemade chili oil, and the not-quite-a-quesadilla-not-quite-a-pupusa-but-it-acted-like-both. See also Big Salads, Too Hot To Bake, and Box of Mac-N-Cheez.