Monthly Archives: August 2013

VeganGR Blog Take Over Part 1: Eggplant Gravy

Posted on August 26, 2013 | 2 comments

I have a small problem: I bite off more than I can chew. This would explain a few things: 1) my 15 lb weight gain in the last two years, 2) my zest for ordering multiple appetizers and never being able to eat an entree at a restaurant, and 3) subscribing to multiple CSA’s in the summertime and then freaking out when it gets to July/August and I have like, triple of everything.

I hate letting good food go to waste so I act as veggie broker to my friends giving them extras of my goods that Mr. Wonderful and I will just watch shrink and die in the confines of our fridge. In the case of eggplants, luckily I can broker all of them off to friends. It’s the only veggie I do not like, well, at least I thought I didn’t until my friends at VeganGR got a hold of my surplus and made eggplant into gravy!

I told Jon Dunn to write a guest post for me and then I could keep my own mouth shut up there, so here’s what he has to say:

There are lots of advantages to being friends with Adrienne and Derek. But the best is that they give us veggies. LOTS of veggies.

Seriously, Adrienne has admitted she’s been overwhelmed with the summer haul from her three (3!!) CSA shares. So, she’s been kind enough to share the wealth. The only requirement was that we blog about what we did with them.

So today, let’s talk eggplant. Adrienne is not a fan, so it was an easy decision to slough them off on us. It’s a good thing, because I can’t get enough of them! I thought I’d share with you a unique recipe I created one time that was kind of an accident.

I had an eggplant, wasn’t sure what I was making for dinner, but threw it in the oven. Then I started making other foods that were ENTIRELY unrelated to an eggplant. So here I was, with a beautiful roasted eggplant and mashed potatoes. So naturally, I made gravy.

Combined with cashews, garlic, and a bit of herbs, the eggplant comes together in a really silky smooth gravy when you blast it in a high power blender. Make sure you fully roast that nightshade. Hopefully for those of you that hate this wonder-veg, that dread of seeing the eggplant in the CSA box will vanish with this recipe!

Ingredients:

  •  2 medium eggplants
  • ½ C raw cashews (these need to be soaked if you’re not using a high power blender such as a vitamix)
  • 1 C water
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 tsp salt (more to your taste)
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • pepper to taste
  1.  Cut your eggplants in half lengthwise. Score the skin, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  2. Roast the eggplant in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when the skin looks all nice and toasty.
  3. Remove eggplant from the oven and remove the skin (let that sucker cool a bit before you go burning yourself!).
  4. Drop all the ingredients into your blender, set it to high and let it go for a couple of minutes. You’ll know when it’s ready when it’s all silky smooth.
  5. Serve over mashed potatoes, baked tempeh, chicken fried tofu, or any other amazing food that begs for a nice home-style gravy.

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Posted in CSA, Dinner, Less is more, Meatless Monday, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan

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Rustic Vegan Peach Crisp

Posted on August 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’m not a baker. It involves measuring, math, and patience. I’m not good at any of those things. Crisps are perfect for people who care not to measure. They are obviously a rebel dessert. It’s the end of peach season in Michigan and I could not put the siren sound of the white and flame peaches out of my head a second longer and so I bought maybe a few too many which resulted in sharing. I’m so good at sharing!

I give you a recipe for people who hate measuring (for those of you that can’t help yourself, approximate/actual measurements accompany my very scientific ones): Rustic Vegan Peach Crisp

Ingredients:

  • A dozen or so peaches, prepped in removal of skin and pit and sliced (I got 4-6 slices per half of peach-they were quite large-see very scientific here)
  • 2 handfuls of brown sugar (this is roughly 1/2 C total)
  • Sprinkle of cinnamon
  • Dash of salt
  • 4 handfuls of oats (use the real kind, not the quick ones-this is roughly 1 C total)
  • 1/2 stick Earth Balance, at room temperature (margarine-which is 1/4 C)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  1. Prep peaches, if you work quickly you don’t have to bother with lemon juice to keep them from browning. Put slices into a pie pan or other small baking pan you have. I made three batches, used 2 pie pans and an 8 x 8 baker.
  2. Sprinkle cinnamon and salt on prepped peaches.
  3. In large bowl combine, oats, Earth Balance (softened) and sugar. Squish around with your hands until chunky and mixed well-this is your “crisp.”
  4. Put crisp onto peaches in pans, you are making a little crust to seal in the peach juices.
  5. Bake x 15-20 minutes, until your peaches are tender and the crisp is well, crisp.

Note: With some crisps there is a bunch of juice associated with the fruit caused by adding lemon juice, or letting it sit for too long before baking. If you hustle you won’t have to add anything to thicken the juice (as there won’t be much to thicken) and you get pure fruit flavor with nothing to get between you and immediate bliss.

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Categorizing this under “breakfast” and “dessert” as I did eat it for breakfast this AM-don’t judge me.

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Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, CSA, Dessert, Less is more, Make Ahead, Michigan, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan

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Zucchini Surplus Yields Sweet Treats

Posted on August 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

Zucchini season is upon us. I’m making these RIGHT NOW! You should too.

Adrienne's avatarVeg Bon Vivant

It’s summer in Michigan. What neighbor or friend hasn’t pawned off on your family a plastic bag chock full of zucchini? Don’t scoff at this gift, use it to make killer baked goods and drive them mad with envy at the neighborhood potluck. This post will not only turn out tasty goodies, but more importantly make you LOOK like a kitchen god/goddess.

First up: Blueberry Zucchini Bread

  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 3 cups all-purpose whole grain flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 pint fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans, or 2 large loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce vanilla, and sugar…

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Curried Chard Vegan Frittata

Posted on August 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

Swiss chard is one of those greens I’m not wild about unless it is IN something else or heavily, heavily seasoned. This recipe is modified from Vegan Brunch in the spirit of curried scramble and can be customized with herbs and seasonings in just about any combination. It keeps well and tastes amazing tossed into a pita with arugula and garlic vegenaise for lunch the next day.

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch swiss chard, rough stems removed, chopped well (about 4 cups)
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 pound firm or extra firm tofu
  • 1 T tamari or soy sauce (use tamari if gluten free)
  • 1/4 C chives, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp hot curry powder
  • 1/4 tsp sweet curry powder
  • 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1/4 tsp granulated onion
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon tumeric
  • several dashes fresh black pepper
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
  • salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan over low-medium heat. Add the oil and the garlic and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. What you’re doing here is “blonding” the garlic, it’s ready when it’s turned a light amber color.

Add the chard, oregano, all spices, chives, and and turn the heat up to medium high. Saute for about 5 minutes, until chard is completely wilted/ Add splashes of water if needed to get the chard to cook down. Turn the heat off.

While the chard is cooking, prepare your frittata base. Give the tofu a squeeze over the sink to remove a little of the water. Use your hands to crumble and squeeze it in a large mixing bowl, until it has the consistency of ricotta cheese (about 3 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients to the tofu and mix well. When your chard is ready, incorporate it into the tofu. Be sure to get all of the garlic, but if there is any moisture in the pan try to avoid adding it to the tofu. Taste for salt.

Lightly grease an 8 inch pie plate and firmly press in your frittata mixture. Bake for 20 minutes, until firm lightly browned on top. Let cool for about 3 minutes, then invert onto a plate and serve.

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Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, CSA, Fridge Finds, Leftovers, Less is more, Lunch, Make Ahead, Meat Substitutes, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

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A Tale of Two Vegan Ranch Dressings

Posted on August 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

We haven’t purchased dressing from a store since my discovery of flavored balsamic dressings years ago, but ranch was always hard to substitute for dips and faux chicken tenders. Ranch dressing to dip well just about any and everything in from french fries to carrot sticks has become an American obsession and being vegan-ish doesn’t make me long any less for a dressing for this same purpose!

For a long while I searched high and low for a store-bought veg ranch dressing that I could embrace and love a la Hidden Valley Ranch. Alas, I’m not willing to put up with high fructose corn syrup OR things with faces in my dressing anymore, so to the Internet I went. I have tried many shorter order ingredient lists to make vegan ranch dressing and they are okay [the second recipe is the best small ingredient list dressing I have found for ranch], but this first recipe, tastes like REAL ranch dressing. Drip some veggies in it or serve over a salad. Keeps for about a week in the fridge.

  • 1 C soy Greek-style yogurt
  • 1 C vegenaise
  • 1 C almond milk, unsweetened [plus 2 tsp white or apple cider vinegar]
  • 1/3 C vegan sour cream
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 heaping T freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 T white vinegar [apple cider vingar will work in a pinch too]
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 3 T fresh parsley, finely chopped

Directions:

  • To make “buttermilk” mix almond milk with 2 tsp of vinegar until frothy, set aside for up to 5 minutes to develop buttermilk consistency.
  • Mix the soy yogurt, vegenaise, almond “buttermilk” and vegan sour cream together in a large bowl.
  • Stir in the garlic and onion powders and pepper, then add the salt, vinegar, lemon juice and parsley and stir until just combined. 
  • Cover and refrigerate until needed, up to a week.
  • Veganized from a Food Republic recipe.

ranchdressing_recipe

In a hurry? Try this recipe instead. Not quite as rich like regular ranch dressing but makes for a good schmear on a burger, sandwich, and dipping sauce.

  • 1 C vegenaise
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp parsley, chopped fresh or 1 tsp dry
  • 1/2 C unsweetened soymilk or almond milk
  • salt to taste

Directions:

  • Whisk all ingredients together and chill before serving. Add a little more nondairy milk if you need to thin dressing.

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Posted in Dinner, Make Ahead, Meatless Monday, Recipes, Salad, Vegan, Vegetarian

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