TONIGHT: Green hominy stew, pinto beans, collard greens, and glazed carrots.

Actually I made the hominy stew last night, when we ate it with cornbread. It was even better tonight. It's yet another recipe from Deborah Madison's indispensable "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" -- a green mole made from cooked tomatillos, ground pumpkin seeds, jalapeños, and tons of cilantro, and sorrel is combined with hominy cooked with onion and garlic. I cheated a bit and substituted supermarket pipian (a ready-made mixture) for the ground pumpkin seeds and jalapeños; and I used canned hominy/pozole (which must really be zooming in sales -- Safeway even markets their own brand now). The stew tasted pretty good --a little on the tart side, but not bitter. I don't think I used enough of the pipian. Maybe next time I'll make the whole thing from scratch and grind my own pumpkin seeds.

The collard greens were wilted over high heat in olive oil, then braised slowly for 20 mins. with a little salt. The water clinging to the leaves after they'd been washed provided enough moisture for the cooking process. The pinto beans were cooked from scratch with garlic, parsley, and a dried chipotle chile. The carrots were cooked in maple syrup and water, with sauteed onion, nutmeg, and salt and pepper until tender, then the remaining liquid was reduced to a glaze (recipe from Jack Bishop's "Vegetables Every Day").