73439thavenue

Saturday Morning Breakfast: Fried Red Potatoes w/ Onions & Seitan Bits

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:06:26 GMT

The seitan in this recipe should be cold from the fridge: I had mine leftover and just chopped it up into bit-sized bits. Pan-fry the seitan in a bit of olive oil and set aside once crispy. The recipe for it is modified from the seitan in a glorious, glorious salad from over here. Store-bought seitan would not be nearly as delicious.

Seitan

1 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
~1 tsp poultry seasoning (mix of mainly marjoram and sage)
~1 1/2 tsp onion powder
~1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Cup Cold Water (more if needed)
1 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce (low sodium)
3 Tbs Soymilk
1 Tbs Olive Oil

Braising Broth
4 cups vegetable broth

Mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the wet ingredients and stir well. Add wet to dry and knead until a dough is formed. Add more liquid if needed to make a firm (not squishy) dough. Knead a few times on your counter, forming a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, forming four triangular wedges. Squish/Pound/Pull the wedges into 1/2″ thick cutlets.

Simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. She says not to let it boil, but recently I've been finding the cutlets are too squishy if I don't. Check out the texture of yours as they simmer. If they seem much too soft/squishy, up the heat. If not, don't.

Potatoes

5-6 medium red potatoes, rinsed, halved lengthwise, and sliced into 1/2 inch semi-circles
1-2 onions, yellow preferable, halved and sliced into semi-circles
olive oil
salt
pepper
1/2 cup seitan, chilled, cut into bite-sized pieces, and pan-fried until crispy

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and potatoes. Fry, stirring often, until potatoes begin to brown, 10-15 minutes.

As they brown, if they are still quite crispy, add a layer of water to the pan and cover. Allow to steam for ten minutes, or until softening. Season well with salt, pepper, and anything else desired. Allow remaining liquid to evaporate. Incorporate seitan. Serve & consume.

Breakfast of Champions: Biscuits w/ Tempeh-Mushroom Gravy; Sauteed Kale

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:40:55 GMT

I modified the gravy from the recipe here.

Tempeh-Mushroom Gravy

1 8 oz package tempeh, small cubed

1/2 cup Earth Balance or vegetable oil
1 small onion, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
Mushrooms (either ~1/4 ounce dried shiitakes, reconstituted in 1 cup boiling water--save water--minced finely, or 1 cup sliced white buttons or criminis)
1/2 cup flour
4 tsp nutritional yeast
4 tbsp soy sauce (reduced sodium ideal, then salt gravy to taste at end)
2 cups liquid (water, combination of water and left-over mushroom broth, or low-sodium vegetable broth)
1/2 tsp sage or poultry seasoning, plus any other spices you might like
lots of black pepper

In a dry non-stick pan over medium-high heat, fry tempeh until slightly browned.

Sautee onion, garlic, and shrooms in earth balance/oil over medium heat until well softened. Add flour and continue to sautee until hot and bubbling. Add liquid. Stir constantly for a few minutes, until well thickened. Turn heat down to low, incorporate rest of ingredients, including tempeh. Allow to sit over low heat for tempeh to warm through.

The Best Biscuits Ever were posted back here.

The kale was washed, cut, and sauteed over high heat in a small amount of olive oil. No salt, no garlic. Really nice plain served next to the biscuits and gravy, because the gravy is super flavorful and should be fairly salty.

Cornbread! Adapted from Vegweb

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:49:52 GMT

This cornbread is just glorious. Nothing else can be said. It is sweet, though! And delicious!

1 Cup Cornmeal
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar (less if you don't like a sweeter cornbread)
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon EnerG Egg Replacer Powder (cornstarch would likely be fine)
1 1/2 Cups Soymilk curdled with
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Very Warm Water

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and oil an 8x8 glass pan.
2) Mix dry ingredients.
3) Mix wet ingredients separately.
4) Combine--don't overmix.
5) Pour into pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a inserted toothpick comes clean.

Stolen directly from Globalgourmet.com: Green Gazpacho

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:40:33 GMT

This is perfect for summer. The only thing I'd change is the 1 T of red wine vinegar--next time I'll only do a teaspoon. It's just a tad acidic for me. Go by taste--the lime is more important, obviously. I skipped the cayenne because I didn't have any, and I used tomatillos, which I highly recommend--no coring necessary, either. Oh, & also, I just used two handfuls of cilantro. I find parsley and cilantro always go bad on me without getting used, and the cilantro flavor is crucial here, if you're a cilantro person.

3 green tomatoes (3-inch diameter),
cored and chopped
1 medium-sized green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium (7-inch) cucumber,
peeled, seeded, and chopped
A handful of parsley
A handful of cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
(about 2 juicy limes'-worth)
1 medium (4-inch) avocado,
peeled, pitted, and diced
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 to 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup cold water
Black pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste

1. Combine everything in a large bowl, and mix as well as possible.

2. Purée the soup bit by bit in a blender or food processor, until reasonably smooth (it doesn't have to be perfect). Transfer to a container with a lid, and chill until very cold.

Tempeh Meatloaf w/ Sweet Bourbon Glaze from Vegan Dad

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:24:32 GMT

Other than not cooking the bourbon off, which was my fault, this was perfect. However, for me it made 5 small loaves, not 10 mini loaves. The baking time was the same. We ate it with raw kale salad and rustic potato bread. So, so good.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 10 mini meatloaves.
- 2 8.5 oz pkgs tempeh, coarsely grated
- 1 large sweet onion, coarsely grated
- 4 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp sage
- 2 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp seasoned salt (or to taste)
- cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp HP sauce (or A1)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- water (if needed)

Glaze
- generous 2/3 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp mustard
- 3-4 tbsp bourbon

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9 x 13 baking pan.
1. Mix grated tempeh, onion, garlic, flour, and spices in a large bowl.
2. Add in sauces and oil, and enough water (you may not need any at all) so you are able to mash everything up with your fingers. Knead/mush/mash for a few mins to mix everything well.
3. Divide dough into 10 pieces and shape into small loaves. Place into oiled pan, and spray lightly with oil. Bake for 15 mins.
4. While loaves are baking, bring glaze ingredients to bubbling in a small saucepan. Let thicken a bit. Spoon over baking loaves. Bake loaves for 15 mins more, then scoop excess glaze back over the loaves. Bake for an additional 20-25 mins, or until glaze is thickened and darkened.

Raw Kale Salad

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:15:39 GMT

Soon I will post less healthy things, but Jessalyn's friends were in town recently and enlightened me to the beauty of raw kale salad. She added other things to it: grated carrot, sunflower seeds, etc, but it is also divine as simple as this (four large side salads):

2 bunches curly kale (torn into bite sized pieces, stems discarded, well-rinsed and mostly dry)
~3 tsp olive oil
~3 tsp fresh lemon juice
(i also added this time one clove of finely minced garlic, but it's still delicious without it)
sea salt to taste

In a large bowl, drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over kale. With very clean hands, massage the kale. Squish it, mix it up, don't be afraid to be a little aggressive with it--you want it to soften nicely. After about five minutes add the salt, massage a few more minutes, and it's ready.

And so, so, so delicious. I'm making it again tonight.

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:19:53 GMT

Right. So that would be the beginning of February. Watch out world!

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:18:31 GMT

I'm really poor right now. Nothing exciting is happening! Tonight I made the enchiladas that are posted a while back, minus the expensive ingredients: avocado and vegan sour cream. They're still f'ing awesome. Maybe more exciting things will happen when J returns to the Seattle. Because by then I'll have a couple paychecks under my belt, and someone who wants to cook with me. Why is she the only person in this damn city who wants to cook with me? Why? Why does everyone else want to eat out all the time? Huh?

By the way, man was I already sick of rice and beans!

What can you cook in Uganda other than rice and beans?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:53:44 GMT

Asian-style Fried Seitan Cutlets with Ginger-Orange Sauce

Seitan:

Dough:
1 1/2 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten (posted to me from my amazing mama!)
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast (didn't have this in Uganda, but you should use it)
1 tsp faux beef flavoring (okay, in Uganda I used Royco. Which is obviously not available elsewhere. You could use faux chicken seasoning as well, although the kind I buy is a cube which would be obnoxious to break up fine enough to mix thoroughly into dough)
3/4 Cup + 3 Tbs Cold Water
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Olive Oil
Faux chicken or veg broth for simmering

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Mix together and stir until dough forms (not long). Knead a few times, then divide into eight and pound and pull into thin cutlet shapes. Simmer in faux chicken broth for 30 minutes. Do not let boil. Remove from heat and let cool while making sauce and breading.

Dry mix:
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast (didn't have, but would've been nice!)
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose flour
4 tsp Baking Powder (didn't have again! would've really helped...)

Wet mix:
3 Tbs Mustard (dijon or stoneground--didn't have!)
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Soymilk (or more water--I obviously used water)

Heat the oil to 350º F in a 10″ skillet, cast-iron is best. Mix together all the dry ingredients except the baking powder. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Add baking powder to the remining dry ingredients and mix well. When oil is heated, dip a seitan cutlet in the wet mix coating well. The dredge the cutlet in the dry mix and gently slip it into the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Drain well on a paper towel.

I couldn't afford the oil for deep-frying, I didn't have a good pan, and I was lacking the baking powder and nutritional yeast and my seitan suffered for it. Really suffered. This seitan is adapted from here: http://veganyumyum.com/2008/03/apple-cranberry-salad-with-fried-seitan-and-almond-dijon-dressing/ which I have also made, and is glorious. But the seasonings weren't right for the ginger orange sauce. Which kicks butt.

Ginger-Orange Sauce:

1 Tbs cooking oil
Juice of 8 oranges
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
sugar to taste (depends on if your oranges are very sweet or not--Ugandan oranges are super, super sour)
corn starch slurry (1 Tbs corn starch mixed with enough cold water to dissolve)

Mice garlic and ginger. Juice oranges. Heat oil over medium low heat. Saute garlic and ginger about five minutes. Keep heat low enough so they do not brown. Add orange juice and soy sauce. Simmer for five more minutes. Taste and add sugar if necessary. It should be a fairly sweet sauce. Turn off heat and add corn starch slurry. Stir until thickened. Reheat just before plating food.

Rice:

1 1/2 cups basmati rice. I like white rice for this because it absorbs the sauce, but brown rice would obviously do as well. Boil 2 cups water (depending on your exact rice) with a pinch of salt. Add rice, stir and cover to return to boil. Immediately drop to low simmer, leave covered, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve:

In big bowls: rice, seitan, sauce. Top with sesame seeds. So good.

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:53:42 GMT

Break for the summer guys! I'll be eating boring food in Uganda that no one really wants to make. Back in September!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Peanut Buttercream Filling & Chocolate Ganache OMG

Fri, 02 May 2008 02:39:21 GMT

Need I say more? These make me want to cry a little they're so good. And I ate four, which makes me want to cry because now I feel a little ill.

Cupcakes:

3/4 cup soy milk
2 t apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup peanut butter (make sure it doesn't have oil added)
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
2 T dark molasses
1 t vanilla extract
t 2 ground flaxseed
1 cup + 2 T all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. Mix soy milk with vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream peanut butter, oil, sugar, molasses, vanilla, and flaxseeds until well combined. Add soy milk mixture and mix well.

4. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a separate bowl and mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until barely combined.

5. Fill liners 2/3 full of batter and bake for 23-26 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:

1/4 cup margarine, softened
2 T shortening
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (no-stir is definitely the best here, with salt)
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 T soy milk

We don't have a hand-held/immersion mixer, so I do this with a manual egg-beater. It's a pain in the ASS, but it can be done. Don't try to use just a fork, though. It won't work.

With electric handheld mixer, cream together margarine and shortening at medium speed until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla, and beat until very smooth, 2-3 minutes. Beat in sugar. Mixture will be very stiff. Slowly add soy milk a little at a time, beating continuously until frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.

W/o the electric mixer, I added all the soy milk at once and used a fork to incorporate it, then went back to the egg beater. It turned out fine in the end.

Ganache:

3 T soy milk
1/3 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Use the darkest chocolate chips you can find. I love Rapunzel brand. Bring soy milk almost to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove, add chips, stir well. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then use.

Assembly:

Using a small paring knife at a 45 degree angle, cut cones out of the tops of your (completely cooled) cupcakes. Fill holes with buttercream, replace tops. Drizzle ganache. YUM. Don't eat four. Seriously.

Biscuits from vanesscipes.com:

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:00:45 GMT

I made these with a vegan gravy, but I don't have the seasoning recipe--I've kept it already prepared in a jar from ages ago. It's nut. yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, dried parsley, etc, but I can't find the website where I got it so I can't tell you the proportions. Mostly nut. yeast, I know. I used ~1/4 cup of that mix into a roux made of 1/2 cup earth balance + saute finely minced onion and garlic + 1/2 cup oat flour + a bit of ww flour, then added ~ 3 1/2 cups hot water, extra salt, pepper, 1 T low sodium soy sauce and 1 t balsamic. Fly by the seat of your pants gravy!

Then the best biscuits ever! I was a tad short on white flour, so I included about 1/4 cup whole wheat and they were still the best damn biscuits I've had in a long time, perhaps ever.

Vegan Baking Powder Biscuits
(this recipe made me seven)

2 cups all-purpose flour + more for flouring your surface
3 tsp baking powder
scant ¾ tsp salt (I would just use 1/2 tsp, honestly)
6 Tbsp soy margarine, kept quite cold
¾ cup soymilk
spray oil (I didn't have any)

Remember – keep a light hand. If in doubt, add/do less. Also, when you roll out the dough it should be ONE INCH THICK. We’re not making sugar cookies here.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl: sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Drop the 6 tablespoons of margarine into the flour mix and cut quickly with a pastry cutter. It does not need to be thoroughly incorporated.

Add the soymilk to the flour, work the mix into a ball and kneed 5 times against a floured surface.

To make your biscuits, roll your dough out (by hand or with a rolling pin) until 1 to 1.5 inches thick. Use a juice cup to cut out your biscuits. I smushed the remainder into a biscuit, too.

Place them on an oiled (I used marg.) baking sheet and cook for about 11 minutes, checking around 9 minutes for golden corners.

Summer (use up those veggies/I know it's not really summer) Pasta!

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:52:15 GMT

This recipe is super forgiving. Use what you've got. Mushrooms? Bell pepper? Tofu? Yum!

3 small yellow zucchini, sliced in half-moons
1/3 red onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 bok choy, leaves and stems separated and sliced in 1/4 inch ribbons
1 bunch red chard, stemmed and sliced in 1/4 inch ribbons
1 can black beans, well rinsed and drained

1/2 package whole wheat linguini

~3 T olive oil
generous dash hot chili oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1 large T dijon

Heat oils in a large skillet over medium heat. Heat a large pot of pasta water, add some salt and olive oil. While waiting for it to boil, saute onion. Once quite soft, add zucchini. Turn heat up to medium high. As zucchini begins to soften, add bok choy stems. As they soften, add garlic, lemon juice, dijon, seasonings, and garlic. Once garlic is fragrant and well-incorporated, add greens and cover for ~1 minute. Uncover & saute until just cooked. Toss with pasta. Serve with more freshly ground black pepper.

Enchiladas from Vegweb:

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:48:46 GMT

Bean & Cheese Enchiladas

(I made a few additions to the original recipe which is here: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5980.0)

1/2c flour
1/2c nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cup water
1 teaspoon mustard (we use dijon)
4 tablespoon margarine

10 corn tortillas

2 small cans enchilada sauce (we used one large can green enchilada sauce)
3 cans beans (kidney, pinto, black), drained and well rinsed
2 medium onions, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, partially seeded and diced
1 small can olives, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup salsa
1 small can jalapenos

2 large, ripe avocados
lemon juice and salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Tofutti Sour Cream

In medium-large saucepan, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. Add water and whisk thoroughly. Heat on medium heat until bubbling and thick, stirring often. Remove from heat and add mustard and margarine. Set aside 1/2 cup of cheese sauce in separate container. Sautee onion with jalapeno in a little oil over medium high heat until just browning. Add onion-jalapeno mixture, beans, olives, cilantro and salsa to cheese sauce. Mix it up.

Preheat oven to 350. Pour 1/2 of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Add a layer of tortilla. I cut some into quarters to fill in corners and such. Add a layer of filling, a layer of tortillas, etc, ending in tortilla. Spread rest of enchilada and cheese sauces over top tortilla layer. Bake at 350 until brown, 30-45 minutes.

Mash up avocado with lemon juice, salt, and cilantro.

Allow enchilada (casserole, really) to cool 10 minutes, then serve with the guacamole and sour cream. So. Freaking. Good.

I went on vacation for two weeks, then I came home and...

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:41:08 GMT

All of these were and are to die for.

Chloe's Famous Eggplant Dip:

2 largish eggplants
2 large yellow onions
1/4 to 1/2 cup tahini
juice of one lemon
~1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups tomato, diced

Turn oven on to 400. Chop of ends of eggplants, slice in half. Then slice each half lengthwise three times through the flesh to the skin, but don't break the skin. Slather all four halves in olive oil and place cut-side down on a baking sheet. Roughly chop onions and place next to eggplant. Roast in oven for 30 minutes, stirring onions every ten. I turned the heat down to 350 at some point. After 30 minutes, flip eggplants, roast ten more minutes.

Scoop out flesh into a bowl, add onions and all other ingredients except tomatoes. Mash well. Once mostly cooled, add tomatoes. Amazing both warm and chilled. Eat it with anything and everything. It won't last long.

Myrtle Allen's Brown Bread:

You know my tried and true 100% whole wheat bread recipe? The one that I bet none of you have actually got around to making? Scratch that. This bread is about twelve hundred and ninety five times easier to make, and equally more delicious. It also only makes one loaf, which is nice in my opinion because then it doesn't go stale at all, and it's so easy to make, who minds making it more frequently? Heh, not me anyhow.

It requires no kneading, and only one short rising. You don't believe me do you? Well, I didn't believe James Beard, but then I made it. I added the agave, just replacing some of the water and adding a touch extra above the one cup line.

3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, stone-ground preferable
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast (or 3 3/4 tsp)
2 cups warm water (~105 degrees)
2 T molasses
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 T salt

Put flour in a large mixing bowl and place in a warm oven (a gas oven with the pilot light on or an electric oven at lowest heat setting). Flour and bowl should be warm when making bread. Grease or oil a bread pan. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water. Let proof. It should bubble a little after about five minutes. Add agave, molasses, salt, and mix well. Fill to the brim with warm water.

Remove flour from oven when all is warm, add mixture plus about another cup of warm water. You're aiming for a sticky, wet dough, but not so wet that it becomes a batter instead of a dough. Mine still held a shape, mostly, but was distinctly unkneadable with hands, which is great because you don't have to need it!

Put directly in pan, cover and set in a warm spot to rise about 1/3 in size. Bake at 450 for 50 minutes.

Our oven runs hot and I baked it at 400 for 40 minutes and it still burnt a little on the top. The sugars make it burn faster, plus our oven is whack. Just watch it carefully. When it begins to sound hollow when tapped, you're good.

So yummy.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding:

6 cups (1-inch cubed) stale bread (~1 pound)
2 1/4 cups rice, almond, or soy milk (we used almond)
3 T arrowroot powder
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
3 large ripe bananas sliced 1/2 inch thick

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Place cubed bread in large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the milk with the arrowroot. Add rest of milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg, and whisk to mix thoroughly. Pour over bread and stir until well coated.

Let sit for at least 15 minutes. It should be very wet with a little liquid at the bottom. Add more milk and let rest again is necessary. The staler the bread, the more milk. (We added 1/2 cup extra--our bread was super stale).

Fold in chocolate chips and bananas, mushing the bananas a bit. Pour and press into loaf pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is puffy, slightly browned, and feels firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

OMG food orgasm.

Black Bean Quinoa Stirfry based loosely on Quinoa Pineapple Cashew Stirfry from Veganomicon

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:03:52 GMT

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1/2 t salt
generous splash low sodium soy sauce

2 very large shallots, or one medium yellow onion, sliced thinly
2 jalapenos, mostly seeded and diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced but not super fine
1 head broccoli, chopped
2 heads bok choy, sliced and divided leaves from stalks
1 can black beans, rinsed well
1/2 cup cashews, lightly toasted
salt as needed
freshly ground black pepper

2 T peanut oil
1 T mirin
extremely generous splashing of hot chili oil (important, if you don't have any I'd leave a fair amount of seed in the jalapenos and also add about 1/4-1/2 tsp pepper flakes)

Cook quinoa until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes, then remove lid and boil off almost all of it. Set aside.

In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat, saute the shallots, garlic, and jalapenos until soft. Add broccoli. As broccoli turns bright green, add bok choy stems. As they begin to soften, add everything else. Stirfry until hot throughout and broccoli is cooked but still a bit crisp, about five minutes after everything's in. Season as necessary.

Jessalyn wanted to add some ground coriander, I wanted cumin. We went with neither. My dirty secret? I freaking hate coriander except in Indian food. Anyways, it was damn delicious on its own. The level of spice is important to this dish, so make sure you're not too timid. Taste as you go if necessary.

This dish is everything you need all rolled into one: greens, grains, legumes, healthy fats. It's a wonder dish made of pure yum and I've decided it might be my new favorite thing, although it does need a little bit of tweaking to reach its full potential. If anyone makes it, I'd love to hear about your modifications/additions.

We Are Full of Leftovers in this House.

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:23:11 GMT

This morning I ate an extremely unhealthy bowl of leftover cheeseburger macaroni bake. So good.

3 1/2 cups macaroni noodles (uncooked)
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup flour
3 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. salt (3/4 tsp. salt for less salty taste)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Pinch turmeric
1 cup nutritional yeast
1 pkg. Boca Burger crumbles
Paprika, as desired

Cook the macaroni and set it aside. In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat. Mix in the flour with a whisk and continue whisking over a medium flame until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in the boiling water, salt, soy sauce, garlic powder, and turmeric. Stir well to dissolve the flour mixture and cook until it thickens and bubbles. Add the nutritional yeast. Heat the Boca crumbles in a frying pan. Mix part of the sauce with the noodles, put in a casserole dish and pour a generous amount of sauce on top, mixing together and adding Boca crumbles. Sprinkle with paprika and bake for 15 minutes at 350.

The original recipe calls for an extra 1/4 cup oil that is definitely not needed, but no matter what this stuff is sinfully good. Have I already posted this recipe? Oh well, it's that good.

Anyhow, yesterday we also made the chocolate cupcakes again from VCTOW, even better this time around, with basic buttercream frosting (recipe later). So good. It really helps to have real powdered sugar, unlike last time with the chocolate buttercream! (Which came out gritty by no fault of D's). Anyhow, this morning I ate my delicious and unhealthy leftovers, tromped into the kitchen, stared at the cupcakes, and conjured massive willpower to wait until this afternoon to eat another.

I tromped back into the living room to grab my school things, shouted up to J, "It's too early for cupcakes!"
She shouted back, "Why?!"

Cupcake on the bus this morning!

Chickpea Salad from veganyumyum:

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:44:29 GMT

Okay, I really thought my chickpea salad was pretty off the hook. But this shit? Should be illegal it's so good. I like it baked in the oven on shitty (but still fresh, not pre-sliced) white bread. I intend to melt "cheese" on it eventually, but it's so good that I don't really care. And Tofutti mozarella is the only vegan cheese that I've yet tried that really melts and it doesn't have any flavor at all really, so it seems a waste. I intend to try Sheese, since I love the cheddar stuff, but I'm told it doesn't melt. The package, of course, claims it does. But it's good straight out of the fridge, so I figure if it even melts a teeny bit I'm good.

Chickpea Salad;

1 15oz can Chickpeas, rinsed well
3-4 Tbs Vegenaise
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp Mustard (Dijon)
1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Paprika (sweet, hot, or smoked)
1/2 tsp Salt
Fresh Craked Black Pepper

Mash all the ingredients to form a chunky spread. Refrigerate or serve immediately.

I like to use home cooked chickpeas when I have them left over, so much yummier. I think I use a cup and a half. I make this stuff way too often.

Black Beans Two Ways: Chili and Jalapeno-Lime Dip

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:33:28 GMT

First the dip. This stuff is heaven. It was actually an afterthought because I had too many cooked beans for the chili. But holy crap this stuff is amazing!

Black Bean Jalapeno-Lime Dip

2 cups cooked black beans
1/4 cup tahini (y'know, on second thought, I probably used more like 1/2 a cup)
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 small yellow onion
~1 tsp salt
2 jalapenos
juice of 1 1/2 limes
freshly ground black pepper

Chop onion roughly and seed and chop jalapenos. Smush garlic. Saute onion and jalapenos over medium high heat, until the onions are browned partly if you forgot to stir them like me while you were peeling the garlic. The onions should not necessarily be soft all the way through. Add garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds, remove from heat. Combine everything in food processor. Go by taste with the salt and pepper. So. Freaking. Good.

Basic Black Bean Chili

This would be even better with veggies added at the beginning with the onions, but I'm broke this month!

3 small yellow onions, diced
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 cans chopped tomatoes (I prefer them with no salt or spices added)
2 heaping cups cooked black beans

~1 heaping T cumin
~2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
~1/2 tsp oregano
~1/2 tsp basil
~1/4 tsp thyme
~1 1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil
~6 cups water

In a large pot, saute onions in oil until soft and lightly brown over medium-high heat. Add garlic, saute until fragrant. Add spices (except salt and pepper), saute about 30 seconds to a minute. Add 1/4 cup water, and stir well to deglaze the pan. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, and simmer for about an hour, until slightly wetter than desired consistency. Add beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Mmm.

Serve with Sour Cilantro Cream from Veganomicon:

1 lb silken tofu (water-packed, refrigerated type)
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T agave
3/4 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro (stems and leaves)

Shake water from tofu. Blend with lime juice, agave, and salt until smooth. Preheat a small pan over medium-low heat. Cook garlic with grapeseed oil gently, allow to slightly brown. Add to tofu mixture, blend until smooth. Add cilantro. Blend until smooth, but with small pieces of cilantro still intact. Adjust salt and lime if needed. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Ours came out thicker than described (brand of tofu differences I think, ours was fairly firm for silken), but was so delicious!

Falafel from VWAV

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:12:09 GMT

Another excuse for the amazing tahini dressing! Hallelujah.

Falafel:

2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained (soak and cook them yourself, I swear)
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (we used some of our homemade stuff!)
2 T flour
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t cayenne
1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 t salt
fresh black pepper
vegetable oil if frying
pita bread, sliced in half to make pockets
lettuce
chopped tomato, red onion, and cucumber

In a food processor, pulse chickpeas and bread crumbs for about 30 seconds, until chickpeas are chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process, scraping down sides, until relatively smooth but somewhat coarse. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour.

Okay, so I am notoriously awful at deep frying things. More then a thin coating of oil, and I'm screwed. For real. I think it's okay to be bad at deep frying stuff. If you are like me, shape your falafel patties and bake them at 350 for about 20 minutes, until heated through and lightly browned. When I did this with the extras, it worked so much better. If you're brave or skilled, read on.

Shape the batter into 1 and a 1/2 inch balls and then flatten them into 2 inch diameter patties. In a large heavy bottomed pan heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil. Test oil by throwing in a pinch of batter. If the oil immediately bubbles up rapidly, it's ready. (I did this. It bubbled. It was not ready. The patties dissolved. It must be hot enough to cook the outside almost immediately to prevent dissolution of patties!) Cook patties in the oil in two batches, about 3 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and lay on paper towels to drain. Stuff pita bread with patties, lettuce, onion, tomato, and cucumber. Drizzle with tahini dressing. Yum.

Fettucine Alfreda and Garlicky Kale from VWAV

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:03:39 GMT

Pasta:

1/2 lb fettucine
2 t olive oil
1 medium size onion, chopped into big chunks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 water or veg. broth (we used no-chicken broth)
2 t yellow mustard
1/2 c toasted pinenuts
2 t soy sauce
2 t chili powder
1 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 t salt
freshly ground black pepper

Prepare pasta according to package. J wanted to use whole wheat but with new recipes I like to stick the the standard. She was right. It would've held up to the whole wheat magnificently. I felt it was a bit sweet/pungent overall, and the whole wheat would've even balanced that, I think.

In a skillet over moderate heat, sautee onions in oil for 3 minutes, until just softened. Add garlic, sautee two more minutes. Transfer to blender and blend with all other ingredients. It should be somewhat smooth but still a bit grainy.

Makes four servings. We just made most of a whole pound of pasta and I believe easily served six? We were not short on sauce. Excellent with steamed veggies or fried/sauteed tofu added.

Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing

5-6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 T olive oil
1 large bunch kale, well rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/4 t salt
lemon wedges

Dressing:
8 t olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c tahini
2 t balsamic vinegar
1/2 t salt
juice of 1 lemon
fresh black pepper
1/2 t paprike
1/2 cup lightly packed parsley
1/2 cup cold water

Heat garlic in oil in a small pan over very low heat for two minutes, until fragrant. Blend in food processor with all other dressing ingredients except parsley. Add parsley and pulse until parsley is finely chopped. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour.

Kale: Sautee the garlic in olive oil over medium high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring often, until light golden brown. Add the kale and a few splashes of water. Use tongs to toss the kale around, coating it with the garlic and oil. Stir frequently 4-5 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of tahini dressing. Garnish with lemon wedges.

Beyond the deliciousness of this recipe, with love the tahini sauce for pretty much everything. It's the best.

Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes from VCTOTW

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:32:06 GMT

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1 cup soy milk
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 T cornstarch
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt (1/2 t if using oil instead of margarine--we did)
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup vegan sugar, granulated
2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t nut extract (we used hazelnut, or just more vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Whisk soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside a few minutes to curdle. In a large bowl, beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extract. Sift in flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until no large lumps remain. Do not over mix. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, bake for 20-22 minutes. Don't open the oven to peek! Test with a toothpick. Remove and set to cool and a cooling rack.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup vegan granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond, chocolate or more vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 350, line muffin pan. Whisk together soy milk and vinegar, set aside to curdle. Once curdled, a few minutes or so, add sugar, oil, and extracts. Beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Add in two batches to the wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain. Pour into liners 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 T soy milk
1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract

Make sure everything is room temperature. Cream together margarine and shortening. Add cocoa powder, incorporate well. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating well, adding a small splash of soy milk after each 1/2 cup sugar. Once everything is in, add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy (3 minutes hand mixer, 7 minutes fork).

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from donteatoffthesidewalk.com

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:15:53 GMT

These are, quite possibly, my favorite thing ever. Today I discovered the secret to making them brilliant: a solid layer of margarine spread over the dough before rolling it up (I sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on after that, instead of cutting the margarine into the sugar cinnamon mixture). I always added chopped walnuts. I omit the vanilla from the icing usually, and it usually takes me more like 2 tablespoons piping hot water to get the consistency I want.

Dough:
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water
3/4cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T vegetable oil

Filling:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chilled margarine, cut into small pieces

Glaze:
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the warm water with the yeast and whisk together with a fork, let stand for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, milk, melted margarine, and sugar in with the yeast, and lightly mix. Sift in the first two and a half cups of flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Take the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and use it to flour the top of the dough and your surface a tablespoon at a time, as needed to keep the dough from getting sticky as you knead it. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, the dough will be elastic but soft and still a little sticky to the touch without being floured.

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with oil, turning to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

Combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll up the rectangle tightly, from the long side, pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place the slices in a 9-inch square or round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the water and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. It should be thick, but easy to drizzle. If it’s too thick, add another 1/2 teaspoon of water.

We Made So Much Food This Weekend--I'll do recipes later!

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:09:01 GMT

We made:

Vanilla cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World)
Chocolate cupcakes (same)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (same)
Fettucine Alfreda (Vegan with a Vengeance)
Garlicky Kale (same)
Our 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan MoFo)
Falafel (Vegan with a Vengeance)
Steamed Broccoli
Hummus (finally perfected!)
Eggplant Dip (a la Chloe's most brilliant recipe ever)
Israeli Salad (for Falafels)

Today/tomorrow:

Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches
Food Out!
Chocolate Chip Pancakes/Banana Nut Pancakes

I finally mastered my tofu-scrambles!

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:54:58 GMT

1 lb silken firm or x-firm tofu, drained and pressed
2-3 T olive oil + a few dashes chili oil (if you don't have chili oil, add a sprinkling of chili flakes later, with the garlic or tofu)
1 onion, sliced
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1 cup criminis, sliced
two large handfuls spinach, washed
about 4 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp ginger powder
1/4-1/3 cup nutritional yeast
most of the juice of half of one small lime
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil over low heat. Add onions. Prepare all your veggies. The onions should be cooking, but very, very slowly, not browning at all. Adjust heat as necessary, and stir every once in a while. Once all veggies are prepared, measure your spices to have them ready in a small bowl. Add mushrooms. Turn up heat. When they begin to release their liquid, add garlic, soy sauce, bell pepper, and spices. Once garlic and spices are fragrant and well-incorporated, add tofu. Break it up in large chunks with your hands as you add it. Stir fry it all over medium heat until it's all hot and the bell peppers are *just* starting to soften. Add lime juice, nutritional yeast, spinach and freshly ground black pepper. Turn heat off, mix well, serve warm with fresh grapefruit.