Are You a Moosewooder?

Have you heard of the Moosewood Restaurant? It's a vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY. Hubby & I ate there years ago with our friend, Bob, long before we ever even contemplated healthy eating. So at the time, we could appreciate how it would be great for some people, but it seemed weird to us.

I have a Moosewood cookbook (Lowfat Favorites) and I've made a few things from it. Hubby is still not enthralled. Not that he won't eat vegetarian food, cause he will, but there is just something about Moosewood recipes that he doesn't like. . .

I made one soup recipe for us to eat from yesterday that was very mediocre. It was called 3 Sisters Stew and featured butternut squash, kidney beans, and corn (called the 3 sisters by Native Americans, my book says). It also had mushrooms & onions. The major spice it called for was dill. . . not my favorite and second was thyme. It didn't help that hubby burned it on the bottom when he was warming it up. . . It didn't taste bad, but was it wasn't good either. And I couldn't think what to add to it that might have made it better. . .

Along with it, I made a cornbread recipe that had pumpkin in it. Also not a winner. . .the texture was good--more cakey than cornbready, but it didn't have much flavor and I didn't help it because I added nutmeg. Yuck. It was all peppery. Next time, I might increase the brown sugar--it called for 1 or 2 T I think. Typically, I don't like sweet cornbread (given my southern genes), but if you have pumpkin.. . . I frankly thought it needed more pumpkin taste, but I'm not one of those people who can just dump in the right amts without a recipe and have it turn into cornbread, or cake, or pancakes, or muffins.  . .

But! I'm trying again today. I have on the stove a Savannah Beans and Greens Soup. It has fresh collard greens, black-eyed peas, and brown rice in it. It's also pretty short on spices, called for only 1/4 tsp allspice, pinch of thyme, 1 T brown sugar, and 1 T cider vinegar, along with the onion and garlic. But I have more hope for this one because I added rotel tomatoes instead of plain and I know I like adding pepper vinegar to my greens. I'm a day late on the black-eyed peas, but not superstitious enough to think it matters!

Did you have a special New Year's food? My hubby always wants saurkraut and potatoes and pork (ick), and my mom always cooks the black-eyed peas. But our family's tradition is Reubans. . .skipped those this year. . .(maybe that's why Hubby burned my soup. . . )

OH! I almost forgot. . .YEATS liked the cornbread. I threw one piece away because she snuck up to the table and LICKED it right in front of me and my dad. . .

But then a bit later, Hubby said, "Did you throw all that cornbread away? The plate on the table is empty!"

Bad dog. . . :)