Vegan MoFo: Zucchini-chard tamales

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: green

I have a Swiss chard plant this year, and right now it's providing me with lots of leaves.  So I thought I'd take advantage of that with today's recipe.

I used Thyme & Love's tamale recipe, subbing chard for the kale.  It was my first time making tamales, and they were delicious!  It is a little labor-intensive, so I probably won't be making these weekly or monthly but this is a recipe I'll make again.

Vegan MoFo: Foil veggies

Today's Cooking the Rainbow theme color: white

OK, I stretched a little bit because I'm calling the mushrooms white even though they're cremini (baby bella) and not buttons.  But I like the taste of cremini better, so in the packet they went.  I also sliced everything so I could use the leftovers on a sandwich with some pesto cream cheez - yum!  This recipe makes enough for 2-3 servings, depending on what else you have with the meal (and how hungry everyone is).

1 lb baby potatoes, washed and sliced
1/2 container (3-4oz) cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 medium zucchini, washed and sliced
optional: add onion, carrot, summer squash, etc.
olive oil
soy sauce
vegan Worcestershire sauce
garlic powder
ground oregano
ground thyme

Preheat oven to 450F.  I sliced up all the veggies and put them in a large bowl.  Then I added enough olive oil to lightly coat the veggies (but not so much that it pooled in the bottom of the bowl).  I sprinkled on some soy and Worcestershire sauce (probably about 1/2 Tbsp each) and the spices (around 1/2 tsp each).  I stirred everything together to combine and then poured it out onto a sheet of aluminum foil.  I put another sheet of foil on top and rolled all the sides together to create an airtight packet.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until veggies are cooked through.

Meanwhile, I cooked an ear of corn to have on the side.  Now I was raised to cook corn by removing the husk and all those little strands of silk (which is a pain), and then putting the ear in a pot of boiling water.  When I heard there was a microwave method where you leave it in the husk to cook, I had to try it out.  It promised that after cooking, you could just cut off the bottom of the ear and the corn would slide right out, sans husk and annoying silk strands.  Part of me was skeptical - it seemed too good to be true - but the promise of not getting silk strands all over the kitchen was too tempting.  And guess what - it works!  You just put the ear in the microwave (I cut off the exposed silk sticking out of the top; and I had to cut some of the end off because my ear was too long to fit in the microwave) and cook for about 3 minutes per ear.  Take it out (using oven mitts because that ear is HOT!), cut off the bottom at the widest part, and squeeze.  The ear comes out with minimal fuss.  Mine did still have a few silk strands attached, but they were easily picked off and discarded.  I may never boil another pot of water for corn on the cob again!

Nutrition Benefits

potato: vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, and manganese

cremini mushroom: protein, folate, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium