Posole, Hold the Pork

Posole (or pozole) is Mexican/Amerindian soup made with pork and hominy (a corn family member). It was on many a menu when I visited New Mexico with my family last winter, and I never really got a taste since I didn't want to eat the pork. Last weekend, I hosted a Mexican food dinner party, and I wanted to include a posole that we all could eat. The spices and most ingredients remained the same, but I used seitan instead of pork. This was my first attempt cooking with seitan, which is just wheat protein (gluten) that is textured and flavored to imitate meat. I thought it worked pretty well, but its more uniform consistency was a tip off that it's not actually animal muscle. Here's an approximation of what I put into the soup (there was a lot going on
that day in the kitchen, and who knows what really happened!). Yum, spicy!

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
2 onions
some cumin, paprika, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper
4 jalapeños
1 qt nonfat broth
some water
4 tomatoes
1-2 cups seitan
1 big can of white hominy
some cilantro

Procedure:
Chop the vegetables and seitan, put everything in a pot basically in the order listed. Simmer for several hours while other things are happening.

Breakfast Bar Recipe

Here's a basic recipe that you can add your favorite fruits or nuts to. My mom used to make something like this for me when I was a preschooler. They're easy to make, and I feel good about eating them. As for the bananas: I frequently peel and freeze bananas that are getting too brown, and then thaw them in the microwave for recipes like this.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup soft butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 medium mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup raw, quick-cooking oats
1-2 cup (total) chopped nuts, dried fruit, and fresh fruit (optional)

Combine all the ingredients, pour into a 9X13" pan and bake at 425 for 20 minutes.