Baked Penne

Dinner tonight was mostly from the pantry. We've posted about something similar before, though it was slightly different tonight. We still had some veggie chorizo left from our breakfast-for-dinner hash and Darlene added that to a pasta sauce that was inspired by the eggplant dish she made recently from Vegan with a Vengeance. The sauce was made with a large can of plum tomatoes, onions, garlic, a can of artichoke bottoms (chopped), kalamata olives, capers, and some seasonings. Oh, and the chorizo. We mixed the sauce with some cooked penne in a baking dish, sprinkled the top with bread crumbs and baked at 350° for about 30 minutes.

Now here's a tip about baking. For something like this, it doesn't matter so much, but we've often noticed that when we're baking cookies or muffins or other such things, they take longer than the recipe indicates. Well, we were also having problems with our toaster oven getting way too hot, so we finally got smart and bought an oven thermometer. It turns out that our toaster oven does indeed run about 100 degrees too hot, but we just tested our regular oven and found out that it runs a little low. So when we have it on 350°, it's really about 325°. And to get at 350° I had to turn it up to around 380°. It's less than 3 years old too, so you never know. If you like to bake a lot, spend the 5 or 10 bucks on an oven thermometer and test your own oven.

Chickpea Spinach Curry

I'll start by giving a shout out to my friend Anubhav in Phoenix who I haven't been in touch with in quite a while. This recipe is adapted from one he gave me a long time ago. Since we don't have a vent in our kitchen I waited to cook this until we had a nice 70 degree day with the windows open. It's the onion... read on. Feel free to leave out the coconut milk and use a whole can of tomatoes. We just happened to have half a can of coconut milk left over from something else.

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2" piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tsp. canola oil
1/2 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. ground corriander
1/2 tsp. dry mango powder (aka amchur, available at Indian markets)
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
several grinds fresh black pepper
1/2 of a 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (about 3/4 c.)
3/4 c. coconut milk
2 c. cooked chickpeas
1 c. chopped frozen spinach

Process onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor until they're almost liquified (this is where it helps to have the windows open). I made this mild, but if you want to kick up the heat, add some serrano chiles to this mixture as well. Set this aside for a moment and heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seed, corriander, mango powder, salt & pepper and cook for several minutes until dark and fragrant. Now add the onion mixture and continue cooking until it starts to dry out a little. Add tomatoes and coconut milk and mix well, then add chickpeas and spinach. Continue cooking for several more minutes until chickpeas and spinach are heated through. Serve over basmati rice.

Something from the Freezer

A few weeks ago we had a coupon for Ling Ling products, so we picked up some frozen veggie potstickers to keep around for a night when we wanted something quick to eat. Tonight was such a night. The potstickers were a tad pricey, but you pay for the convenience (and it's cheaper than eating out). And they were very tasty - filled with cabbage and tofu and other veggies. We also had some simple quinoa on the side - cooked with a veg. boullion and topped with a little margarine and salt & pepper. A bit of a brown plate to be sure, but not bad for something that was ready in less than 20 minutes.

Kung Pao Seitan

There was something kinda sorta similar to this demonstrated in the cooking class we went to a while back, but I went a little bit in my own direction with this recipe. It's easy to tweak to your liking but here's how it came together tonight:

1 Tbs. peanut oil
1 medium red bell pepper, 1 medium orange bell pepper, and 1 small red onion, all chopped into bite-sized chunks
1/2 lb. seitan, cut into large dice
1/2 c. roasted and unsalted peanuts

For the sauce:
1/2 c. veg. broth
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. Asian chili sauce (or more to taste)
1 Tbs. cornstarch

Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl or measuring cup and set aside. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat and stir fry onion and bell pepper for about 2 minutes. Add seitan and cook a couple minutes longer until vegetables are getting a little softer and seitan starts to brown. Add peanuts and cook another minute or so, then add the sauce and cook until thickened. We had it over brown rice and garnished it with scallions and it was totally yummy.

Two Salads

First, the Tofu-Dill Salad Sammiches from Vegan with a Vengeance. Mashed tofu mixed with fresh dill, Vegenaise, mustard, red onion, cider vinegar, salt & pepper. Simple and delicious. We had it on whole grain bread with more Vegenaise and sprouts and shredded carrots. And just when I commented that we couldn't get good fresh tomatoes here yet, we went to the store and there were organic cherry tomatoes from Florida on sale for $1 a pint. So with those I made a salad similar to one we often make in the summer. I quartered the cherry tomatoes and added some kalamata olives, cucumber, a little red onion, and some chickpeas. Then just a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper. Often we'll do this with just tomatoes and olives, but we had the other stuff on hand so I threw it in.

An Attempt at Ethiopian Food

I've been wanting to try some of the Ethiopian recipes from this web site for a long time and tonight I finally got around to it. I made the Gomen (collard greens) and Yemiser W'et (spicy lentils) and though they both were good, I don't think our local Ethiopian restaurant is in danger of losing my business. First, we had brown rice instead of injera because, well, you can't just walk into any grocery store and buy injera (not here anyway), and because I don't know how to make it. Second, it's probably just my lack of following the recipes properly, but neither dish really reminded me of what I've had at the many fine Ethiopian restaurants I've been to. Like I said, it was pretty good, just not exactly like I expected.

Spring Rolls

The first time I posted about these there was a recipe. What I did tonight was pretty similar but with tofu instead of seitan. I diced half a block of tofu, fried it in a little oil until golden, then added 1 tsp. dark sesame oil and 1 Tbs. soy sauce and cooked another minute or so. I set that aside, then cooked up the following:

1 medium head green cabbage, shredded (about 5-6 cups)
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
5 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced

Then I added the tofu back to the pan at the end. Darlene then took over and wrapped 'em, and I fried 'em in a skillet in about 1/4" of canola oil for a few minutes on each side.

We often make a dipping sauce with an apricot jam base, but once again I have to thank the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen for a little bit different (and delicious) dipping sauce.

And if you're not sure about the whole wrapping the spring roll thing, we took pictures this time. There are other ways to do this, but this is how Darlene does it.

Step 1: put the wrapper diagonally in front of you, add some filling in the middle and liberally brush the edges with water.

Step 2: fold in the sides.

Step 3: fold up the bottom.

Step 4: roll it up!

Waffles and Tempeh Bacon

I saw some nice raspberries when I was at the store a couple days ago, so I picked up a little package thinking they'd be good for a weekend breakfast over pancakes/french toast/waffles. So this morning the plan went into action. We also had a package of tempeh we needed to use, so last night I sliced that up and marinated it in cider vinegar, maple syrup, Bragg's, tomato paste, garlic and liquid smoke (a very slight tweak from the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe). This morning I fried up the tempeh and made some plain waffles, which we had drizzled with agave nectar and topped with the raspberries. We love the waffle recipes in Vegan with a Vengeance (and also at the Post Punk Kitchen), but sometimes we like plain waffles too (which are even easier to make). A recipe that works well is from Very Vegetarian by Jannequin Bennett:

1 Tbs. egg replacer mixed with 1/4 c. water
1 c. soymilk
2 Tbs. oil
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

If you've made waffles before you can probably figure out what to do from here. We didn't have pastry flour this morning so I used 1/2 c. regular whole wheat flour and 1 c. white flour and that worked fine. This recipe makes plenty for two of us, but it doubles easily (sometimes we double it and freeze what's left to have during the week - a nice change from cereal on occasion).

A Big Salad

As opposed to two small salads in a big bowl...

I threw all kinds of stuff into this one. Red leaf lettuce and baby spinach. A few sprouts and a little shredded green cabbage. Carrots. Cucumbers. Some steamed cauliflower. Chickpeas. And finally, toasted pine nuts. I topped it with a dressing of olive oil, flax oil, Bragg's, balsamic vinegar, mustard and garlic. I figured we'd also have some leftover pizza, but Darlene made an artichoke dip and the salad was so filling I just had a little of the dip on some toast and that was enough. So the pizza's still there. So if you don't hear from us tomorrow night it's because we're eating the rest of the pizza for dinner. And probably the rest of the dip too. And maybe another salad. We vegans love salad you know ;-)

Pizza

I got home from work a little early today and when that happens I often spend the extra time in the kitchen. We still had plenty of the eggplant dish from 2 nights ago left over and I thought it would be pretty good on a pizza. In fact it was amazing on pizza, especially when I added some broccoli and cauliflower that I chopped up into small pieces and sauteed in olive oil. I just chopped up the fried eggplant slices into smaller pieces and gathered some of the artichoke mixture to use as well. Oh, and I added a few more kalamata olives too. For the sauce, I sauteed 2 cloves of minced garlic in olive oil, then added about half a bottle of Bionaturae® strained tomatoes, about 2 Tbs. of tomato paste, and about 1/2 tsp. each of dried oregano and salt. I used the pizza dough recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, but replaced 1 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour. When it was all said and done I think I ate 5 slices (but hey, they were fairly small slices).

Soup and a Salad

It was a cold nasty day here today and I set out to make potato soup for dinner, but since we only had one potato it turned into something a little different. It actually remined me a little of a chicken and rice soup my mom used to make - minus the chicken of course! I don't have exact quantities for everything, but here's a pretty good idea of what I did: Saute diced onion, carrot and celery in olive oil with a little salt & pepper, add a minced clove of garlic and some herbs (dried parsley, thyme and a bay leaf), then add about 6 cups of water and 1 veg. boullion, plus 1/2 cup of rice (I used white basmati) and a good sized diced red potato. Bring to a boil, then partially cover and simmer until the rice and potato are tender. Meanwhile, reconstitute 1/2 c. TVP chunks in boiling water for several minutes, then drain and add chunks to the soup. Simmer for a little while longer and season to taste with salt & pepper.

While the soup was finishing, Chris made us a simple salad with red leaf lettuce, carrots and slivered almonds and a basic vinaigrette dressing, and we had the soup with some whole grain toast.

Eggplant

Eggplant isn't my favorite vegetable in the world, but I certainly don't mind eating it, especially if it's fried. Darlene wanted to try the Eggplant and Artichoke alla Napoletana from Vegan with a Vengeance so we got a couple of eggplants on our last trip to the market. The eggplant is breaded and fried and topped with an artichoke ragout. The recipe also calls for a pesto topping, but she left that out and it was still good. The artichoke mixture was canned artichoke bottoms, kalamata olives, capers, onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes and basil. It was very scrumptious and I think it would also be great with pasta or in a lasagna.

Breakfast for Dinner

A few days ago I picked up a package of veggie chorizo at a local market (this is great stuff, made by Twin Oaks, a local "intentional community"). I didn't end up using it for breakfast this weekend, but that's OK because sometimes breakfast is good for dinner. So tonight was a hash with diced red potatoes, some of said chorizo, and some veggies. (If the veggies look familiar it's because they were also used last night.) I fried the potatoes in a cast iron skillet in some peanut oil until they were just starting to get tender, then I added the chorizo and cooked a little longer, then some diced onion and red bell pepper and some chopped broccoli. I seasoned it with salt & pepper and some essence, cooked til the veggies were tender, then added some minced garlic and a little fresh rosemary to finish it off.

I thought about making the biscuits from Vegan with a Vengeance to go with the hash, but we didn't have enough margarine. We did however have a nice loaf of Italian bread and all the ingredients for Fronch Toast (Slik creamer, soy milk, cornstarch & chickpea flour) so I made that instead. It was Delicious (yes, with a capital D).

Gnocchi with Broccoli, Red Pepper and Pine Nuts

Sometimes we make more involved meals on weekends since we have more time. Then there are days like today when we're out and about doing errands and such and end up getting home later than we usually do during the week. So here's another standby that comes together quick - very similar to what I've done before. I diced half an onion and half of a red bell pepper and chopped some broccoli (about 1 1/2 c.), then sauteed all of that in lots of olive oil with some salt & pepper. Then I added 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/3 c. pine nuts and a few pinches of dried basil and marjoram and a little more salt & pepper. Then a package of gnocchi, stir for a bit, then 1/3 c. vegetable broth and cover immediately and let simmer for 3-4 mins. until gnocchi are tender.

Yellow Squash Curry

We had a really good curry with yellow squash at an Indian restaurant when we were in Buffalo and that's what gave me the idea for tonight's meal. Truth be told, what we had at the restaurant was better than what I made tonight. Not that tonight's meal was bad - it really turned out pretty good, but I think a couple of tweaks to the recipe would help. Typically I might pore over several cookbooks to get ideas about how to make this, but tonight I just created it all on the fly. Hopefully next time I make it I'll nail down the recipe a little more so I can share it.

Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato Risotto

Here's another one from Vegan with a Vengeance. It's been awhile since we've made risotto and this recipe sounded good. Turns out it tasted good too. I mostly followed the recipe, though with different mushrooms, and I also added in a small bunch of fresh baby spinach during the last couple minutes of cooking. It started with cooking some shallots in olive oil, then adding button mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, then garlic, dried thyme and fresh rosemary, plus a little nutmeg and some salt & pepper. I also used dried porcini mushrooms (the recipe called for shiitakes) that were reconstituted in boiling water. This mushroom soaking liquid was combined with veggie broth and that was the liquid for the risotto. I served it with some whole grain toast.

The recipe also called for fresh, rather than dried thyme, but we didn't have any of the fresh stuff. We do however, have a huge rosemary bush right outside our front door that we planted as a litte seedling when we bought our house just less than 3 years ago. It stays pretty green all through the winter so we don't even bother buying dried rosemary anymore. I'm really looking forward to spring when we'll start having a much wider variety of fresh herbs on hand (though we've tried planting thyme the last 2 years and it's died both times - I'm sure we'll try again this year).

Nachos and Corn Chowder

I was flipping through Vegan with a Vengeance a few nights ago and the corn chowder recipe caught my eye. We won't have good fresh corn here for at least another 3 months, but a bag of organic frozen corn worked just fine.

Since I wanted to do something more than just the chowder alone for dinner, and since we also had an avacado that was getting ripe, I decided to make nachos. I haven't made something like this for a very long time, but it came out really good. Often we'll just put everything in a bowl and serve it with chips on the side but tonight was a little different. I finely diced a small onion and sauteed it in peanut oil with some salt & pepper for a few minutes, then added a minced clove of garlic and a few pinches of cumin and chili powder. Then I added a can of black beans (drained), a little more oil, and a splash of water and mashed everything together. I spread some blue corn chips on a sheet pan and spooned the black bean mixture randomly on top. I added some salsa from a jar, plus some soy cheese and baked it at 325° for about 10 minutes. (We don't often buy soy cheese, but before our trip last week we got some sandwich slices for the convenience of making sandwiches for the road. There were a couple of slices left so I just tore them into little pieces and put them on top of the nachos.) While the nachos were baking, I made some guac. and spread that on top after they came out of the oven.

Vindaloo Vegetables

Not much to say about this one except thanks to the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen for a great recipe. It tasted pretty authentic for something that came together fairly quickly. We had it with basmati rice and it was fantastic.

Fried Rice

What do you do when the only fresh veggies you have are carrots and onions? We're back from our trip but haven't been to the grocery store yet so deciding on tonight's dinner was a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, we're usually pretty well stocked with staples (like brown rice and soy sauce). We also had some frozen butternut squash soup, which I thawed and heated to start the meal. I also cooked some brown rice, and while that was cooking I diced a large carrot and medium onion and finely minced some ginger. From the freezer I took some frozen peas and a veggie burger. I stir fried the carrot and onion in some peanut oil for a few minutes, then added a handful of cashews plus the ginger, peas, and diced veggie burger (which promptly fell apart... oh well...). I cooked all that a little longer, then stirred in the cooked rice and added about 3 Tbs. of soy sauce, 1 tsp. of dark sesame oil and a splash of rice vinegar. The batteries died in the camera just as I was about to take a picture, but you probably know what fried rice looks like anyway.

Pods and more

Greetings from Buffalo, where we've found some good vegan food (among other things). The first night we were here, we had dinner at Pizza Plant, where the signature dish is called a "pod". The best description for this I can think of is that it's sort of an oblong-shaped calzone. The cool thing about Pizza Plant is that they have a decent number of vegan options. They've got a huge number of veggie pizza toppings (or pod fillings), and also things like soy cheese, soy sausage, or tofu. They also offer a whole wheat crust which was the base for the pod that I ordered. It was filled with marinara, soy cheese and kalamata olives. (It would've had broccoli too, but apparently the server didn't hear me say that when I ordered.)

We've also had lunch at Amy's Place. Any cafe that has several vegan options clearly marked on the menu and plays Bob Marley and The Smiths is alright by me. My lunch there was a pita stuffed full with a mixture of lentils and grilled onions, peppers and tomatoes.

Last night we cooked in and had wraps. We marinated diced tofu in a mixture of tamari, vinegar, sugar, and mustard, then fried it in some oil. Then we sauteed some broccoli, onion, red bell pepper, carrots and garlic and added tamari, rice vinegar, sesame oil and a splash of orange juice. We mixed in the tofu and served it with rice on spinach tortillas. We also had a salad with mesclun, carrots, chick peas and steamed broccoli with a dressing of sesame oil, rice vinegar and a little tamari.

My future brother-in-law and I went downtown today and had lunch at the aptly named Falafel Bar. It sounded like a good place to get vegan food and indeed it was. The veg options were mostly variations of hummus and falafel, but I did have something slightly different. The Israeli Wrap was falafel with pickled cabbage and onions, lettuce and tomato, tahini and hot sauce all wrapped in a pita. Really yummy.

I think we're heading out for Thai food for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we'll be traveling and by Monday we'll probably be back to posting more regularly. Until then!

A Short Break

We're leaving tomorrow to go visit Darlene's sister in Buffalo, NY and while we may get a chance to post something while we're there, it's just as likely that you won't hear from us again until next week. We didn't do anything special for dinner tonight - mostly just trying to use up some leftovers in the fridge since we'll be gone for several days. And I made some granola to snack on during the trip. I've also got some banana bread in the oven right now. We're not always organized about traveling, but most of the time we do try to bring food with us because finding vegan food while on the road can be a little sketchy. We'll stop at McDonald's to use their bathrooms, but I sure wouldn't want to eat anything there.

Chili Mac

Here's a quick and easy meal we haven't made in a while that's adapted from a recipe we got a long time ago from Darlene's (very non-vegan) mother (not sure where she found it).

1 8-oz. package macaroni
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 14-oz. can tomatoes
1 14-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 8-oz. package frozen corn

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute onion and bell pepper in oil with a pinch of salt & pepper for about 5 mins. Add garlic and spices and cook a couple minutes more. Add tomatoes and mix well, breaking up tomatoes with you spoon. Add beans and corn and cook until heated through, then add cooked pasta and mix well.

The chili powder we have is pretty spicy and that was enough heat for Darlene, but I added some hot sauce to mine. If you want to spice it up more, add a finely diced jalapeno (or two... or three) to the bell pepper and onion.

We used Bionaturae organic whole wheat macaroni tonight and while the texture can't quite stand up to regular white pasta in our opinion, it was definitely better than some other whole wheat pasta we've tried (but not quite as good as the Trader Joe's whole wheat spaghetti we had once).

Orange Seitan

We finally got around to making something from the cooking class we went to last weekend. This was probably our favorite dish that we sampled there. Unfortunately we're not at liberty to share the recipe, but in a nutshell it's stir-fried setian and broccoli with a fairly basic brown sauce flavored with orange zest. There's a pinch of red pepper flakes in there for just a touch of heat. We had it over brown rice and it was quite delicious.

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was Tempeh Bacon and Blueberry-Corn Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance. Mmm... Mmm... Good...

An Experiment

One with only marginal success. Perhaps it was because of the disparate sources of inspiration. You see, the other night when I made the chickpea-hijiki salad from Vegan with a Vengeance, I was watching Emeril right after that and he was making fried shrimp patties. So the proverbial light bulb above my head came on and tonight I tried out my idea of mixing chickpeas and some hijiki with bread crumbs and other seasonings and frying that up in little patties. I made a tartar sauce from Vegenaise, pickles, onion powder, paprika and lemon juice to go with the patties, plus some kale on the side. Sounds and looks interesting, and it really didn't taste too bad, but it's probably not something I'll make again so I won't bother with the recipe.

Take Out

I just wrote about an old standby that we cook; I suppose Ming Dynasty is a standby when we don't feel like cooking. We usually eat in and rarely get take out, but tonight we brought it home. In the picture are sweet and sour veggie meatballs (the sauce and veggies come separately when you get takeout), veggie chicken with black mushrooms, and brown rice. We also got a couple of spring rolls which didn't make it into the picture. Yum.

Soup and a Sandwich

We got a recipe for a simple butternut squash (or pumpkin) soup from a friend of Darlene's a while back and we finally got around to making it tonight. I roasted a medium-sized butternut squash last night so I had it ready for the soup tonight. (To roast the squash, I cut off the ends, cut it in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds, rubbed some olive oil and salt & pepper on the cut sides, then put it on a sheet pan cut sides down and put it in the oven at 375° for about 40 minutes. At that point it's pretty easy to peel once it's cool.)

For the soup, saute one medium diced onion in olive oil for 5 minutes or so, then add 2 1/2 c. vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. Add the mashed roasted squash, 1 14-oz. can of tomatoes, 2 tsp. maple syrup, and salt & pepper to taste. Allow that to cook for a few minutes more and break up the tomatoes a little with your spoon. Then break out the boat motor (aka immersion blender) and puree it. (Or you could blend the squash and tomatoes in a blender before adding them, but I think the immersion blender's easier.) I garnished it with some chopped cashews.

Now on to the other part of the picture, which is either an open-faced sandwich or some tofu salad spread on a piece of toast depending on your view point. One of the oldest issues of Vegetarian Times we have in our collection (from August, 1996) has a recipe for a 'chicken' and 'egg' seasoning mix that can be added to tofu for a scramble or a sandwich filling, etc. We had some of this mix left from several months ago sitting in our cabinet, and we also had half a block of tofu that we really needed to use sitting in the fridge.

For the seasoning mix, stir or shake together 1/2 c. nutritional yeast, 1/2 Tbs. turmeric, 1/2 Tbs. celery salt, 1/2 Tbs. onion powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, and a pinch of pepper. It'll keep in a tightly sealed jar for months. For the sandwich spread, I mixed together about 2 Tbs. of the above mixture with the crumbled tofu, then added about 3 Tbs. vegenaise, 1/4 tsp. salt, and about 2 Tbs. each minced celery and sweet pickle. Many cookbooks call a concoction like this a tofu 'egg' salad, but I think that does a disservice to this recipe since it tastes way better than egg salad.

Beefless Stew

For another take on this see Darlene's post from several weeks ago. Tonight it was almost straight from Cooking with PETA. It starts with reconstituting some TVP chunks in boiling water with a little lemon juice, then frying them in olive oil with some onions and garlic. Then add water, veg. boullion, a can of tomatoes, bay leaves, a pinch of allspice, a little veggie worcestershire sauce and sugar, plus salt & pepper. Simmer for a while, then add carrots, potatoes, and peas and cook some more. We had some cooked pasta on hand so I added that at the end. It was already pretty chunky so I left out the last step of adding some cornstarch.

The recipe calls for cooking this for about an hour and a half total. I think it was more like an hour for what I did, but the longer the better because that's more time for the TVP chunks to soak up all the flavors.