Tag Archives: vegan

Replace Gluten AND Eggs? It’s Worth A Try.

Posted on August 8, 2011 | 3 comments

Warning:  I’m not a *real* chef, AND I got a C+ in organic chemistry, B+ in inorganic chemistry.  Proceed with caution.

Excess zucchini means science experiment time!  I have lots of vegan friends and recently a handful of gluten free friends, so I decided to see if I could please both of them with a summertime staple:  zucchini bread.

First, the research for a gluten free bread recipe was pretty easy, but…wait Xanthan Gum?  What is that?  I had an idea of what that did in gluten free baking but no idea where it came from or where even to get such a thing, certainly I wasn’t going out for it.  Thanks to Wikipedia I again know way more about an ingredient than I care to, thus, had to find a replacement which WAS NOT a chemical.  It dawned on me that flax basically can be used as a sub for anything….so why not as a sub for xanthan gum.  Turns out, lots of people think xanthan gum is icky like I do, and use flax as a sub, teaspoon for teaspoon.  Now…in my vegan banana bread recipe, I also subbed flax and water for eggs, decided to try that in this one too.  Science experiment complete.  I crossed my fingers hoping it would taste okay and had SUPER results!

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This bread came to work with me to our staff meeting and noshers said it was super moist, and slightly spicy.  I particularly appreciated the crispy exterior and the chewy interior.  Bonus is that it didn’t need a spread of any kind, it stands on its own two feet.

This recipe makes one loaf.

  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 ½ cups freshly shredded zucchini
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs (or to Veganize it: 1T flax seed ground with 3 T hot water)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla (check this, some have gluten in them-gross)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ cups GF Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill chickpea and fava bean)
  • 1 teaspoon flax sprinkles for each cup of flour
  • up to 13 teaspoons hot water (I know this sounds random, but it depends on the type of gluten free flour you use how much water you will need)

Shred the zucchini, allow it to rest on paper towel to reduce moisture and chop the walnuts in a food processor or by smashing them in a plastic bag and set them aside.

Use a mixer to beat the flax/water mixture and add the sugar, oil and vanilla. Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Slowly pour in the flour and flax sprinkles (dry) until well mixed. Now if you have made bread before, you will know that the end consistency is not thick like cookie dough, but rather, thicker than cake batter, so to get from cookie dough to almost cake batter, slowly add hot water 1 teaspoon at a time until you have a workable quick bread viscosity.  For me, that took 13 teaspoons.

Last, by hand, mix in the zucchini and walnuts. Pour in greased & floured loaf pan and bake at 350F degrees for 55-75 minutes. Let cool.

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Posted in Baking, Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Gluten Free, Make Ahead, Michigan, Product Review, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Doorganics Tacos

Posted on August 2, 2011 | 1 comment

Mike Hughes I salute you.

It’s a rare opportunity when you can shake the hand of the person who not only planted, but harvested and DELIVERED your fruit and/or veggies to, your, door.  I don’t want to ruin the fantasy I have playing in my head about him digging up my little french radishes, putting them in a cooled green bin and driving them over to me personally just to say hi…but he basically did just that.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet.  Doorganics delivered today, thus, these tacos were created from my bin.  Go online, hook up with Doorganics and be pleasantly surprised.  I was.

I give you Doorganics Tacos.

  • 1 tablespoon, vegetable oil
  • 2 cups fresh white or yellow corn kernels
  • 1 cup chopped white onion
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, diced ( I used purple)
  • 4 french radishes, finely diced
  • 4 green onions, green parts diced only
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 large tomato, roughly chopped
  • 1 large zucchini, diced
  • 1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 warm corn tortillas
  • 1/4 cup salsa
  • goat cheese or Daiya to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Heat half of oil in a large skillet over high heat. Toast corn 5 minutes, stirring; season with salt. Remove corn; set aside. Heat remaining oil in skillet. Cook onion, stirring, until it caramelizes, 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, both peppers and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until warm-I like ’em crunchy still.  Add zucchini; cook until tender but not mush, 6-10 minutes; season with salt. Add corn, beans, oregano and pepper. Cook 3 minutes. Split filling among tortillas; top each with 1 1/2 tsp salsa, a few bits of radish, green onion and 1 tsp cheese.  This makes a TON more than 8 tacos worth.  I’m taking it to lunch tomorrow sans shells.

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Posted in Quick Cooking, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Buckle Up…Another Raspberry Recipe

Posted on August 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

If you like berries but don’t want to be overwhelmed with a sweet dessert-like cake, this recipe is for you.  Tastes great with coffee, or fatten it up with some ice cream.  Be careful not to overbake or it will be dry, if anything, underbake it slightly so it retains its tender texture.

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Berry Buckle

  • 2 C all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ C shortening
  • 2 C berries (mixed, raspberries, or blueberries)
  • ¾ C sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ C milk
Topping:
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ C sugar
  • ¼ C Earth Balance, or butter
  • 1/3 C all purpose flour

Beat shortening and gradually add sugar, egg and milk.  Add dry ingredients.  Stir in berries gently.  Spread into 9 x 13 pan.  Cut butter into flour, sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over batter.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Make Ahead, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

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The Gift That Keeps On Givin’

Posted on July 25, 2011 | 1 comment

Mr. Wonderful and I have a very, very large raspberry bush.  Since raspberries last for about 10 seconds after you pick them, I picked a few large batches and then cooked like crazy.  The next few posts are all about the Raspberry.  First up, Raspberry Jam.

  • 4 C mashed fresh raspberries
  • 4 C white sugar

No need for pectin here people, finally a use for the seeds!

Use a VERY large pot, like a dutch oven, add to it the mashed raspberries.  Cook over med-high until the jam reaches a full rolling boil.  Boil x 2 minutes.  Add sugar and stir well.  Bring back to a boil, stirring consistently, boil x 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Beat with rotary beater x 4 minutes.  Pour into jars, either sterile and shelve when proper seal has been achieved, or pop into plastic containers and freeze.

*5# of berries is approximately 9 C crushed berries.

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Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Less is more, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

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If you plant a herb garden, you better damn well like pesto.

Posted on June 16, 2011 | 2 comments

My herbs are staging a coup d’état in the backyard.

I’m striking back with pesto.

One of my fave 101cookbooks.com blog posts is entitled “How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother”.  She’s right.  It’s a brilliant recipe; however, sometimes I do not have 1) pine nut cash allowance (so expensive!), 2) oh, I don’t know 1000 extra calories to inhale a 2 tablespoon mouthful of wonderfulness or 3) time to chop BY HAND (wtf?!) a zillion leaves into a paste-like substance-I guess that’s where the grandmother part comes in for Heidi Swanson’s recipe; grandmothers have lots of extra time for this stuff.

Tonight when I realized my parsley was about to FLOWER for goodness sake, I took it upon myself to hack it all down, grab some garlic and headed to the food processor to make, “Certainly not an Italian Grandmother’s Pesto” while muttering to myself, “it’s a damn good thing I like pesto.”

Pesto from the Fridge

  • 2 lemons zested and juiced
  • 2 large handfuls of something delish and green from your herb garden (could really be anything)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, 2 if you are not interested in vampire protection (TrueBlood starts at the end of the month)
  • 1/4 C good EVOO

**To make this real pesto, add 1/2 C toasted walnuts or pine nuts,  sometimes called Pinons and 1/2 C grated parm cheese to the mix then increase your EVOO as needed to get a nice puree.

Hack down a bunch of your herbs you have been neglecting, use the tender leaf part for the pesto (wash and dry it) and the stems to clean out your garbage disposal, it will make it smell better after you grind them up in there and send them to their new water home.

In a food processor, take the peeled garlic cloves, lemon juice, lemon zest and all of that beautiful greenery and blend while slowly adding the EVOO.  You might need less than 1/4 C depending on how liquidy you want the pesto.  I like mine a little bit on the dry side.

To store, I take an old ice cube container, spray a little oil in the bottom and on the sides then portion out my pesto in the little wells which happens to make a nice amount of sauce for 2 people when I decide I need a pasta fix; freeze and then pop out and store in a freezer bag.

I have also used this concoction as:

  • Tofu marinade
  • Combined with greek yogurt to make dip, or thinned with water to make salad dressing.
  • Mixed with more EVOO and a dash of balsamic vinegar to create a quick and flavorful vinaigrette.
  • Tossed with pasta and raw veggies for a quick lunch or dinner.
  • Tossed with pasta, a little pasta water, goat cheese and toasted walnuts for a yummy dinner.
  • On top of crusty bread for the base for bruschetta or plain as garlic bread.
  • Tossed with saute’d mushrooms.
  • Base for marinated olives and bocconcini (baby mozzarella balls) skewers.
  • Base for tortillini soup.
Technically this recipe might be considered a Coulis due to lack of cheese; but whatever the case, it’s a flexible, cheap, quick and yummy way to put that herb garden to use and just about any herb or green will due.  I’ve even used spinach with fantastic results.  Pulling one of these little cubes out of the freezer in February makes my heart remember spring.

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Posted in Fridge Finds, Make Ahead, Noodles, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

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June Strawberries = Vegan Strawberry Shortcake!!!!!!!

Posted on June 13, 2011 | 1 comment

I have always, always loved strawberries.  Like, eat them until you are nearly sick to your stomach love strawberries.  In June I always think, I should really get to a pick-your-own berry farm, but inevitably June becomes September and I have certainly NOT made it to a pick-your-own farm.  June in Michigan brings early berries so today on my way home from Grand Haven, I stopped at a market on Lake Michigan Drive and bought my first summer berries.  Summer early berry season is short, about 3-4 weeks if you are lucky, so get out there! Between this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake and basic inhalation, I managed to polish off 2 pints in about 8 hours.  It’s the best kind of sick you can be.  Berry sick.

When I was a kid, Grandma Helen made the shortcake, and Aunt Mar made the crisps (we will talk crisp, crumble, betty, etc in the fall).  This is the baking powder biscuit recipe I’ve taken from Grandma Helen’s collection and slightly modified to be vegan for all my animal lovin’ friends.

Vegan Baking Powder Biscuits

Sift before measuring.
1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Sift flour with baking powder and salt into medium bowl.
2. Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 knives (used scissors-fashion), until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
3. Make a well in the center. Pour in 3/4 cup milk all at once. Stir quickly round the bowl with a fork. If mixture seems dry, add a little more milk to form dough just moist enough (but not wet) to leave side of bowl and form ball.
4. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface to knead. Gently pick up dough from side away from you; fold over toward you; press out lightly with palm of hand. Give the dough a quarter turn. Repeat ten times.
5. Gently roll out dough, from center, to 3/4 inch thickness.
6. With floured 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter or a juice glass like Grandma Helen did it, cut straight down into dough, being careful not to twist cutter.
7. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; bake 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 8 (2 1/2 inch) biscuits.

DROP BISCUITS:

When I’m too lazy to roll and cut, I make drop biscuits by using the recipe for Baking Powder Biscuits, but increasing milk to 1 1/4 cup. Do not knead or roll out. Drop dough, by tablespoonfuls, onto lightly greased cookie sheet; bake at 450 F. for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 20.

For the rest of the strawberry shortcake, I took a pint of berries, washed, hulled and sliced them and mixed them in a deep bowl with 1 T sugar and 1 T peach schnapps (don’t judge me – any flavored liquor you like will do here).  Left this mixture on the counter to create magic while I made the biscuits.  Upcycle the remaining 3/4 C or so of the coconut milk into a flat vegan whipped cream by using your hand mixer on high, toss in a 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp lemon thyme for fun.

To plate, cut a biscuit in half, spoon in strawberries, top with vegan whipping cream and a mint sprig.  Store remaining biscuits in the freezer for peach and nectarine season.  Shortcake isn’t just for berries.

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Posted in Baking, Dessert, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegan, Vegetarian

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When life gives you over-ripe bananas, find an egg replacement and add a few walnuts to make Vegan Banana Bread

Posted on May 12, 2011 | 1 comment

I’ve been a vegetarian for quite some time now, and I have always had strong feelings about going vegan, as in, I’d really love to and then I start thinking…of cheese, eggs and Greek yogurt.

Confession:  I am a dairy whore.  The thought of not eating Habanero Mango Cheese from Horrocks ever again frankly makes me nearly faint.  Like most things, jumping in to a vegan lifestyle with both feet is so scary, so I will make small changes where possible and hopefully will get there someday.

My friends Kolene (@suckahpunch) and Jon (@jon_dunn) however, have basically jumped in head first.  I’m so proud of them.  They began a Twitter group Vegan GR (@vegangr) and a website where they scope out vegan friendly restaurants and vendors around GR and basically run around doing good all day long.  I’m serious.  Case in point, Kolene’s birthday wish is raising money for Carol’s Ferals a non-profit feline organization which performs TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) services in Western Michigan and Jon works for Best Friends Animal Society  where he is the wizard behind their online presence.  I know, right?  You want to hate them, but you cannot help but love these people!  I don’t even LIKE cats and I gave to Kolene’s birthday wish.  They are compelling people for the case of a vegan lifestyle.  Lots of give in those two.  They inspire me to try, at least sometimes, to foster a vegan diet and so perhaps with their help, I will kick my dairy habit and become a vegan too.

I’ve posted vegan baked goods on this blog in the past (Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles) from PPK’s Isa Chandra, but this recipe I took from this little cutie named Claire who runs this blog called Vegan Cooking.  Check her out and while you are at it, bake a vegan dessert like this one I’m giving to Kolene for her birthday.

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Vegan Banana Nut Bread

  • 1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 Cup Demerera Sugar (I subbed brown sugar)
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts
  • Equivalent of 2 Eggs Using Egg Replacer (I used 1T Golden Ground Flax Seed Sprinkles which I picked up at TJ Maxx of all places for about $3, mixed with 3T tap water)
  • 2-3 Ripe Bananas Mashed
  • 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Sift together dry ingredients. Stir in nuts, egg replacer, bananas, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 45-60 mins (until knife comes out clean). Cool for 5 mins before removing from pan. Cool on wire rack.

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Posted in Baking, Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Make Ahead, Product Review, Recipes, Vegan

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My new guilty pleasure: Horrocks

Posted on March 30, 2011 | 3 comments

I’m sure this is old new to most of you, because I haven’t shut up about Horrocks for about 3 weeks now since my first visit to the grocer in Kentwood. My best find to date, besides their seed packets that are 40% “basically every day” according to the butcher in line behind me, is the Michigan grown lentils, peas and beans.

Horrocks carries Michigan grown and packaged dried items from Carlson-Arbogast Farm in Howard City (that’s 49329 for those of you keeping track). They even have a video on YouTube under the Michigan Farm Bureau Channel:

So what in the world do you do with dried beans?  Well, you soak them on a Saturday night over night, then get up on Sunday and cook them about 70% done (while you are ironing or doing laundry) drain, dry, cool and freeze in bags to add during the work week to delicious stoups, soups, stews, tacos, casseroles, curries, etc.  They will finish cooking in the pot of whatever delicious finished item you create.  Why do this?  Less sodium, a better quality, whole bean in your dish, AND they are CHEAP!  From one bag of great northern beans, dried, I got 9 ziploc bags of cooked beans (2C per bag) to enjoy.

Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to make a lentil stew with white beans from a local grower, surely by this time, you know who I am referring to.  Eat. More. Dried. Beans.  Save a few bucks, help a local grower, and serve a higher quality product.  Oh, and cross your fingers that Horrocks will hire me part-time this summer to feed my foodie addiction; I applied today.

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Posted in Less is more, Make Ahead, Michigan, Seasonal Ingredients, Vegetarian

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Math for comm students: hot + chocolate = Vegan Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Posted on February 14, 2011 | 3 comments

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Math is basically why I don’t bake.  I suck at it.  Measuring, estimating, etc not exactly my strong points.  You should know that Communications students do not adhere to traditional mathematical principles.  Instead you get spicy sweet cookies.  Lucky YOU!  Don’t worry, they are Mr. Wonderful approved.

I’ve adopted Isa Chandra Moskowitz as my patron saint of all things food.  So this is from her website (www.theppk.com) and her best-selling book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.  So, for Valentine’s Day, I give you:  Vegan Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles.  Love, cayenne, vanilla, cocoa and sugar…perfect.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Makes 2 dozen Cookies (I doubled it with ease in one KitchenAid Mixer bowl)

A beautiful crackle topped chocolate cookie with a spicy cayenne kick and a sugary cinnamon coating.

For the topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ancho chili pepper powder (find it at Penzey’s Spices)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil, sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.

Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

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Red Thai Tofu with Sesame Rice Noodles

Posted on February 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

I love it when I can grab a bunch of stuff out of my fridge and create a great recipe.  Turns out Isa Chandra Moskowicz and I obviously share an icebox.  I got into Isa’s cookbooks only recently as I am not Vegan, only Vegan-ish.  I’m considered Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, so it was just a bit ago that I discovered that her TV show Post Punk Kitchen is now available on Google Video.  As a side note, I’m happy to say that this Oprah mainstream stuff did not inspire me to go Veg or Vegan for that matter and I don’t rely on a personal chef to cook my meals for me.  Hell, if I have a personal chef, of course I’d be Vegan!!!!!  I’d also have a personal trainer, a car service, a magical camera to make me look skinny from all angles, the list goes on, and on.  However, I don’t live on Fantasy Island and I certainly do not have humpback whales to give each of you just for reading this blog, nor do I plan to build a school in Africa or buy a TV channel.  Sorry guys, I can see me slipping from your good graces one-by-one.  I want to be able to thank Oprah for the Vegan push, but I feel like she probably just bought the Teese Vegan Cheese Company (yeah, they are in Chicago) and wants to increase sales or something.  I know.  Glass half full as usual.

At any rate, back to Isa, goddess of Vegan cooking.  Here is what I most recently made as inspired by her highness:  Red Thai Tofu from her newest and greatest Appetite for Reduction.

Red Thai Tofu with Sesame Rice Noodles

I used Tamari in place of soy sauce in this recipe to make it Gluten Free

  • 1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into triangle pieces
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thinly
  • 1/2 C sliced shallots (which is a TON of those little buggers)
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbs fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 1/2 Tbs Thai red curry paste
  • 1/2 C warm water
  • 2 Tbs Tamari (or soy sauce)
  • 1 Tbs light agave nectar (or maple syrup, or honey would be fine too)
  • 15 leaves fresh Thai basil
  • 1/4 C roasted salted cashews, chopped

Preheat a cast iron grill pan (or any heavy non-stick skillet) over medium heat.  Add the tofu and cook for about 10 minutes, careful not to burn, just brown both sides.  Take care while flipping the tofu in cast iron not to tear it, use a thin spatula, metal works better than plastic here.  About half way through, drizzle with 2 tsp of the tamari and turn to coat.

Remove tofu, set aside and saute’ the red pepper, shallots, garlic, and ginger in the oil that is left, careful not to burn the garlic.  Cook until translucent.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the curry past, water, tamari, and agave.  Add tofu back to pan with the curry mix and cook for another 5 minutes or until the sauce is thick.  Add Thai basil, toss one last time and serve.

Okay, so when I was looking at this finished dish, it needed a bed of something.  Serve this on greens, or any grain you like, it goes well with everything.  I grabbed some leftover stick rice noodles, cooked them in hot water per the package instructions, then drained them and tossed with 2 tsp of roasted sesame oil-this made a delish bed for the tofu.

Lastly, there were two other things I was going to toss on top of this delicious mess, fresh bean sprouts and a bit of chopped red onion, but I of course forgot them as I was so excited to eat 🙂

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Fancy Nancy Visits: Pad Thai Salad with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing

Posted on January 12, 2011 | 1 comment

I used to live with a good friend of mine, JT or “Fancy Nancy” (it’s a long story).    We shared living space, dog duties, a desire to cook dinners in nearly every night, good olive oil, and obsessive relationships with size 9 pumps, Glamour Magazine and beauty products.  Yeah, I miss her a lot.  I’ve lived in my new place for a while now and it was time for her to see the house, and for Walter the Wonderdog and her dog Max to have some play time.

What girl isn’t watching her weight?  I mean, even the super skinny ones that I want to force-feed veggie burgers to, are watching their weight.  I hate those girls, I have never and will never be what one might label as skinny (and I never want to be skinny-I, like Fergie, like my lovely lady lumps).   I digress…my fave veg cookbook author Isa Chandra (Moskowitz) just released a “fast and filling, low fat” vegan cookbook called Appetite for Reduction (hat tip to Axl Rose) and it is totally FAB.  There isn’t a single recipe that I don’t want to try, honestly.  So, I randomly opened the book to the salad section and tried this one:  Pad Thai Salad with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing.  Ohhhhh, ahhhhh.  I know, right?!  I particularly LOVE this cookbook because, I sometimes am not really satisfied with 1 C of anything…so if you eat 2 C of something in this book, you aren’t really gonna pay the piper in terms of calories.  It’s still lower than an entree eaten out.  Isa does a great job with nutritional content and zippy tastes from common ingredients.  I used a couple of recipes from the book to make this dish, Pad Thai Salad and Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing.  All fast, and easy.  Enough talk, let’s eat.

Pad Thai Salad

  • 8 C chopped romaine lettuce
  • 4 C bean sprouts
  • 1 small red onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and grated
  • 1 recipe Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing *
  • 1/4 C roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 C lightly packed fresh cilantro
  • lime wedges for serving

In a large mixing bowl, toss together the lettuce, sprouts, red onion, and carrot.  Add the dressing and toss to coat.  Distribute the salad among four bowls.  There will most likely be dressing left over as it is fairly thin.  Distribute the dressing among the bowls.  Garnish with roasted peanuts, cilantro, and serve with lime wedges.

Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing

  • 1/2 C roasted peanuts
  • 2 T chopped shallot
  • 1/4 C squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 C water
  • 2 T agave nectar
  • 2 T soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Sriracha

Pulse 2 T of the peanuts and all of the shallot in the food processor, just to chop everything up.  Add the lime juice, water, agave, soy sauce, and Sriracha, and blend until smooth.  Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides a few times.  Now add the remaining 2 T of peanuts and pulse for a bit.  These shouldn’t be blended smooth, just chopped up small.  The dressing will be thin.  Adjust the seasonings to your liking.  Keep refrigerated in a tightly sealed container until ready to use, up to 5 days.

In this photo you will see Red Thai Tofu as well, but we will save that recipe for another day.

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Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu

Posted on January 10, 2011 | 1 comment

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I had a little hiatus from blogging due to my first cooking injury.  Good thing Mr. Wonderful bought really sharp knives or I might be down a finger, instead I just filleted myself a little bit.  You would not believe how incredible the combo of super glue and liquid bandage are in avoiding a visit to urgent care and stitches. I digress, on to the recipe.

I’m officially obsessed with Isa Chandra now that I have her newest cookbook Appetite for Reduction.  I mean, I loved her before with her Post Punk Kitchen (PPK), Vegan Cookies Invade the Cookie Jar and her Veganomicon, but this book is her best and healthiest yet (um, can we get more pics in the next book please?).  Here is the first recipe Mr. Wonderful and I tried from the book.  Just try it, don’t let the ingredients scare you. Most of them are readily available at the “normal” grocery store in the ethnic aisle.  If you want a deal on the price of these items venture to your local Asian grocier, just don’t freak out about what you might see in the freezer section.  You have been warned.  Now you have no excuse NOT to get to know chili garlic sauce as a binder for a delish dressing.  Even Walter the Wonderdog got in on the cooking action this time.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu

Serves 6 – Active Time: 30 minutes  Total Time:  40 minutes

(Can be made gluten-free if using GF tamari in place of soy sauce)

Cook’s Notes:

1. I used my heavy duty cast iron grill pan & it made gorgeous, “grilled tofu”.  Get a grill pan at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for 20% off.

2.  I used Nasoya light firm tofu to cut the fat.  My nutritional info, therefore, differs from Isa’s in the book.

3.  You can sub walnuts or cashews for the peanuts if you like.

Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 3 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey..heck you could use maple syrup)
  • 3 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes, depending how juicy your limes are)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt, optional

Salad:

  • 12 ounces extra-firm tofu
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce (low sodium)
  • 1 (8-ounce) package of thin rice noodles (vermicelli)
  • 1 medium-size cucumber thinly-sliced half-moons (1 heaping cup or 6 ounces)
  • 2 carrots, peeled and grated
  • 2 handfuls of bean sprouts (I’m all about bean sprouts right now)
  • 4 ounces string beans, sliced into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)  These stay raw!
  • 1 small red onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup bean sprouts (this I added because I’m obsessed with them)
  • 2 cups mixed greens
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves

Peanut-Mint Gremolata (I used walnuts):

  • 1/4 cup peanuts
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped mint
  • Zest of 1/2 lime

Instructions:

1.  To make the dressing, mix all its ingredients together and stir vigorously.  Set aside.

2.  Slice the tofu into eight equal pieces widthwise, then slice those rectangles corner to corner to form long triangles.

3.  Place in a single layer on a large plate and pour 6 tablespoons of the dressing over the slices.  Also drizzle 2 teaspoons of soy sauce.  Let marinate, flipping occasionally, while you prepare everything else.

4.  Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions.  Usually they say to boil water, turn off the heat, and soak the noodles for about 8 minutes.  Once cooked, drain in a colander and run the noodles under cold water for about a minute until they are fully cooled.  Set aside to drain while you finish prepping everything.

5.  Mix all of the vegetables and the mint leaves into the noodles. Just use your hands–it’s messy, but the best way I found to incorporate everything.  Mix the dressing into the noodles and toss to coat.  Refrigerate while you prepare everything else.

6.  Combine the gremolata indredients in a small bowl.

7.  Now grill the tofu.  Preheat a non-stick grill pan or a cast-iron grill pan or a non-stick skillet over medium high heat.   Do not spray a non-stick pan with oil–it will ruin it!  The tofu will not stick! If you only have a cast-iron pan you will have to spray it or the tofu might stick.  Grill the tofu on each side for 4 minutes, or until grill marks appear.  If using just a regular pan, cook it for 3 minutes on each side.   Add the excess marinade to the noodles.

To serve: Scoop the noodles into six pretty bowls.  Wedge two or three tofu peices on the side of each bowl.  Sprinkle with the gremolata and serve with lime wedges and extra chili garlic sauce.

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Stuff An Acorn Squash, Not A Turkey

Posted on November 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

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I launched this mini “save the turkey” campaign via my Facebook page last week wherein I actually paid $20.00 to adopt a turkey, which equates to sponsoring a month of food for the poor little guy to offset what he might have sold for at the market to become someone’s dinner Thursday (yikes take a breath!).  This brought on the usual slew of “what are you gonna eat for dinner if not a turkey?” commentary from people who think that vegetarians/vegans only eat lettuce.  Oh, and for this behavior, I was basically called a Communist by one of my Republican friends.  A Communist, really?  Huh.

While Mr. Wonderful and I basked in the yum that is Chipotle tonight, chasing a Costco expedition high that ended with the purchase of more wine, cheese and bread than two people should even contemplate purchasing, we discussed what parts of Thanksgiving we liked best and it was hand’s down:  sides and desserts. Mr. Wonderful maintains that basically you eat like 2 pieces of dry turkey out of obligation and then head right for the stuffing, cranberry chutney, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, 7-layer salad, sweet potatoes and dinner rolls.  I don’t disagree.  As long as I can remember I headed right for the scalloped potatoes, the spinach gratin, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, and of course, the homemade yeast rolls.  Top it off with a little pumpkin pie, and…oh, I forgot to mention the endless precursors to Thanksgiving dinner, where you stuff yourself before you stuff yourself with as many gherkins that will fit in your mouth at once, black olives you wear on the tips of your fingers and nibble off that taste like the tin can they fell out of, little cubes of cheddar “fancy” cheese where the serving size is a fist-full, along with all you can eat Wheat Thins and Triscuits, I mean, seriously, this is Americana at it’s finest.  Who needs a turkey? Not us.  Oh, and keep those little wieners in bbq sauce to yourself too. Sick.  Sick.

Here is my “main dish” for Thanksgiving, it mixes a few of my fave sides all into one delish, not to mention beautiful dish.  Give it a try, I bet you will serve more of this than that Turkey Lurkey.  I have yet to go home with leftovers.  Consequently, if you do have leftovers, you can wrap these individual portions in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 weeks, defrost in fridge and warm back up in the oven to rehash their goodness when you need a quick bite to eat, post food coma day.

Quinoa and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash
  • 6 small acorn squash, halved and seeds removed
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 cup uncooked wild rice (), rinsed
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
  • 2 tsp EVOO, optional
  • 4 green onions (white and pale green parts), chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/3 cup chopped granny smith apple tossed in a bit of lemon juice to keep from browning
  • 1 T fresh sage
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh-squeezed tangerine or blood orange juice
  • Salt to taste
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange squash halves cut side down in baking dish or roasting pan. Bake until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, make filling. In large saucepan, bring 4 cups water to boil. Add wild rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 40 minutes. Drain if necessary.
  3. In another large saucepan, bring remaining 2 cups of water to boil. Add quinoa. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 12 minutes.
  4. In large, deep skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add green onions, celery, apples, and sage, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add dried fruits and nuts and cook, stirring often, until heated through. Using a fork, fluff quinoa and wild rice, then add both to skillet. Add juice and mix until heated through. Season with salt.
  5. To serve, remove squash from oven and arrange on serving platter. Spoon filling into each squash cavity and serve.

More pics to come.  This recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times, 2007.

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Vegan MoFo Readers Inspire

Posted on November 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

This is an infant blog. I post willy-nilly when I feel like I have righted some food wrong in the universe with a really delicious recipe. Mostly I blog about food because when I tell people I’m vegetarian or semi-vegan, people give me that blank “deer in the headlights” sort of stare; however, in reality, vegetarianism and veganism is not so uncommon. According to a recent study by my friends at Vegetarian Times, 7.3 Million people are vegetarian, of those 1 Million are vegan, consuming NO animal protein at all and a pretty incredible 10% of US adults, say that they are “vegetarian inclined”.

Good work friends. Keep up your enthusiasm and fierce dedication to a meat free lifestyle and I will keep sharing simple, fun and fresh meat-free recipes to assist your quest for a veg life. If I can do it, so can you. I even have Mr. Wonderful requesting and eating TOFU when we go out to restaurants. It’s a great contagion. Happy Vegan MoFo-ing. Be sure to check out other blogs linked to this site:  Vegan MoFo Headquarters.  Cheers to your next meat free masterpiece.

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One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Vegan MoFo!

Posted on November 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

Confession:  I ate out tonight.  Worse yet, tomorrow I begin noshing at Restaurant Week GR, which means, the next 10 days will have more dining out than I care to admit to…however, in honor of November 2, Election Day FINALLY being behind us, I give you a recipe I will be making at some point in the next few days, as I have already baked off the potatoes in prep for it:  Baked Potato Soup. What’s the correlation to Election Day?  Well, I came across this YouTube clip of the humble potato and its rise to fame in 1992 when then VP Dan Quayle was schooled by a 6th-grader in how to spell the singular of potatoe, er, I mean potato.  Soup’s on!

Baked Potato Soup

2 T EVOO
1/4 of a large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 baking potatoes (about 2-1/2 lbs.)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 oz.)
6 cups milk (reduced fat if you prefer, or plain soy if vegan)
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided (use reduced fat if you prefer or soy if vegan)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream (for garnish, omit if you prefer)
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 faux-bacon slices, cooked and crumbled or other meat sub that has a smoky bite to it.  I used Morningstar Ground Sausage Crumbles in a pinch tonight.
Cracked black pepper (optional)

*adapted from Cooking Light, Rachael Ray and anon on the Interwebs

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Adzuki!!

Posted on November 3, 2010 | 2 comments

Sometimes I look at recipes on veg websites, scan the list of ingredients and then set off to stump my local health food grocer.  West Michigan lacks a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s which typically has all of these little bulk dried treasure bins and so, after I looked for a way to get rid of a butternut squash that was going to go bad this week, I found a recipe by Heidi Swanson adapted from a vegan cookbook that uses adzuki beans as a source of protein.

Adzuki beans?  Yeah, until last year I hadn’t heard of them either.  In popular Japanese and Chinese culture, they typically sweeten them and turn them into delicious desserts.  Turns out they are a substantial little bean that hold up well in chili, soups, and stews. They take little time to cook from a dry state and store beautifully in your freezer in Ziploc bags, so you can make a bunch at a time.  Additionally, they make a great non-refridge salad to pass at potlucks or picnics in the summer in this zesty Adzuki Bean Salad recipe from Whole Foods.

Adzuki & Butternut Squash Soup

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon (dried) coriander
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped chipotle pepper (from can, or rehydrated from dried chile)
  • 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
  • 2 medium-large onions
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 5 – 6 cups water
  • 5 whole canned tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 cups cooked or canned adzuki beans
  • cilantro drizzle (optional)*

To make adzuki beans from a dry state.  Rinse, rinse, rinse.  Pick through for any duds, toss those.  For 4 cups of cooked beans, try for 2-3 cups of dry beans.  I had 4 1/2 cups of dried beans on the shelf, so I decided, if I’m gonna cook 4 cups I may as well cook what’s in my jar; thus, came out with 13 cups of cooked beans, of which I froze the extras not needed in the recipe.  Put beans in a large pot with cold water covering over the beans about 2 inches, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 30 minutes.  They don’t take too long.  The bean is perfect when it takes a little pressure to smash it against the roof of your mouth when you are testing and burning yourself 🙂  This is obviously a VERY scientific method here.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, coriander, chipotle, cumin and salt and saute for a minute or two – until aromatic. Add the onions and saute another 5 minutes or so, until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and butternut squash, stir well, and then add 5-6 cups of water. Increase the heat to bring to a boil, and once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for a few minutes, until the squash begins to soften – 5 – 10 minutes.

Once the squash has softened, use a potato masher and break up the squash pieces a bit. Add the tomatoes, and cook a couple more minutes before adding the beans. Serve drizzled with the cilantro.

Serves about 8.

* I made a cilantro drizzle by putting one bunch of cilantro leaves into my mini-chop food processor with about a tablespoon of EVOO and a pinch of salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes for good measure.

Adapted from 101cookbooks.com

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Spicy Lentil Soup

Posted on November 2, 2010 | 2 comments

Lentils are wildly simple to use, satisfying and filling, cheap and quick to cook.  Now why is it that you haven’t tried them?  Yeah, I’m not sure either.  Give this recipe a try.  It’s pretty tame as far as curry flavors go, so you can ease your friends/family into the whole lentil idea.  🙂

Spicy Red Lentil Soup

  • 1 cup yellow split peas
  • 1 cup red split lentils (masoor dal)
  • 7 cups liters water or veggie broth
  • 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons HOT curry powder (which if you purchase from Penzeys turns out to not be very hot, more spicy than hot)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil (butter for non-vegans or ghee)
  • 2 cups or 1 can rinsed chickpeas
  • 8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1/3 cup dried currants
  • 1/3 cup tomato paste
  • 1 14-ounce can low fat coconut milk
  • 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
  • one small handful cilantro, chopped
  • cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse – until they no longer put off murky water. This takes quite a while but believe me it is totally worth it.  The first time I made this, I rinsed just so-so and it was a no-go.  Ick.  Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful so as not to burn the curry, this is a huge #fail.  Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, currants, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. Add the cooked chickpeas just at the end so they don’t turn to mush.  The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it.  Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.

As Heidi Swanson so frequently does, I served this concoction over leftover brown rice that I would have tossed the next day.  It’s like upcycling for food.

Turns out this freezes beautifully for single-servings throughout the week.  It thickens up a bit, but just thin it out with water if you don’t like the consistency upon reheat.  I’ve found a container of this in the back of my freezer and enjoyed with delight up to four weeks later.  🙂

 

recipe adapted from 101cookbooks.com

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VeganMoFo, Ya Know?

Posted on November 1, 2010 | 2 comments

From one of my fave bloggers and cookbook writers, not to mention totally rad human being comes VeganMoFo: “It’s that time of year again! Time to wear down your stove and your keyboard. Time to mow people down with your shopping cart. Time to answer the age old question: do lemon and chocolate taste good together? It’s time for VeganMoFo, the Vegan Month Of Food. VeganMoFo was originally created on the Post Punk Kitchen, as an homage toNaNoWriMo. Because we do want to write novels, but sometimes cooking gets in the way. So why not combine them! 

The idea is to write as much as you can all month, about vegan food. The blog entries can be about anything food related – your love of tongs, your top secret tofu pressing techniques, the first time your mom cooked vegan for you, vegan options in Timbuktu – you get the idea, right? If not, browse around on some of our round-ups and you’ll catch on fast!

There aren’t strict guidelines for how often to write, but the idea is to shoot for every weekday, or about 20 times in the month. If you’d like inspiration or would just like to whine about how hard it is, check out the MoFo forum on the PPK message boards.

As the world catches on that vegan food really is the best choice for animals (suck it, humane meat!), the planet (bite me, melting ice caps!) and people (piss off, heart disease!) let’s show them what vegan eating is all about.”

I’m excited!  Hopefully I can get in the quota of writing.  Between this and Grand Rapids Restaurant Week…I’ve never been more excited for a November! Inspired?  Start your own Blog for the month.  Perhaps become a Vegan or Veg for a month in homage to PPK’s VeganMoFo.  You might even like it.  See you on the Veg side.  Bring it on Internets!!  🙂

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Wanted: Pretty Girls To Sit At The Bar

Posted on August 31, 2010 | Leave a comment

My girlfriend Randi has been dying to take me to this vegan restaurant in Chicago. It NEVER works out that we get to go when I’m there for anything and so my friend Amy and I took a trip to Chicago to eat, drink and be merry with Randi while her hubby was out of town. Best meal I’ve had in forever. You should certainly go out of the way to visit Karyn’s on Green in Greektown for a few reasons, 1) the waitstaff doesn’t tell you what you want to hear, they make you go out on that limb where the best fruit lies and pick it (the raw Maki roll is proof), 2)  Karyn greets you at the door and calls you pretty even when you don’t feel pretty, 3)  there is POPCORN to nosh on when you are waiting for your table drinking $12 expensive as all hell cocktails that an incompetent waiter is creating (you really do have your fingers crossed), 4) the bathroom blasts crunk, 5)  they take and adhere to reservations, 6) the food is amazing, 7) they have $7.00 valet parking so you can wear your fancy shoes that you actually can’t walk a city block in, to dine here.

I was basically in a food orgy, so these are the only two pics we could get on Randi’s sweet new phone.

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