Killa' Peas On Attack

Sun-Dried Tomatoes are like Vegan Beef Jerky.

2011-06-28T16:39:00.001-05:00

Vegan Thanksgiving Cake

2010-11-25T17:04:00.027-06:00

So this is pretty crazy. I saw this recipe online and decided it was just wacky enough that I'd need to make it vegan. Of course, I'd have to make it a little more culinary since 1) I'm a masochist and 2) I watch too much Iron Chef America. Anyways, let's go through what it ended up with in it. (Sorry for the poor formatting. Blogger is a bit unforgiving and hard to work with...)

• Sweet Potato Puree

• Chipotle Pepper

• Adobo Sauce

• Butter

• Cinnamon

• Fresh Nutmeg

• Brown Sugar

Mashed Potatoes •

Butter •

Garlic •

Chives •

• Celery Root

• Green Apple

• Fennel Bulb

• Butter

• Apple Cider

• Non-Dairy Creamer

• Celery Salt

• Salt & Pepper

Cranberries •

Orange Peels •

Vanilla Bean Powder •

Water •

Maple Syrup •

Salt •

• Mushroom Gravy Mix

• Dehydrated Mushrooms

• Water

Dried 12-Grain Bread •

Dried Herbs (Thyme, Majoram, Sage, Rosemary, etc) •

Celery •

Onion •

Chopped Brazil Nuts •

Raisins •

Toasted Fennel & Coriander Seeds •

Cayenne •

Melted Butter •

Vegetable Stock •

• 1 Field Roast

• 1 Tofurkey

(There's only one picture, but each roast got its own pan and layer in the cake.)

Then I took all the ingredients and started the layering.

Tofurkey, Celery Root Puree

Tofurkey, Celery Root Puree, Stuffing, Celery Root Puree, Field Roast

I coated the Mashed Potatoes on the sides, capped it with the Sweet Potatoes, and spread (what was left of) the marshmallows on the edge.

I finalized the beast with the Orange Cranberries and toasted the marshmallows (with a kitchen lighter, hahaha!)

She's a beaut, isn't she? Tastes just as good as it looks. I poured the Mushroom Gravy over a slice on the plate and enjoyed it alongside a frosty Virgil's Root Beer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yuba Wrapped Eggplant w/ Sticky Date Rice & Lemongrass Cilantro Relish

2010-09-02T03:25:00.003-05:00

This was very tasty. I came across a big sheet of yuba which is basically the skin that forms on top of soy milk when it is boiled. Its dried out and is used to wrap things in or fried and used as a garnish for a crispy texture in a dish. Its also referred sometime as tofu paper. Here's how it went down.....

Eggplant

1 eggplant sliced lengthwise

1 big sheet of yuba

2 Thai Chilies

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

1 stalk of lemon grass

splash of mirin

salt

olive oil

pepper

Slice the eggplants and cover with some salt and let sit for a while. This helps pull some of the bitterness out of them. After they sit for about 25 minutes pat them dry with a paper towel. Then marinate them in chopped garlic, chilies, shallots, lemongrass, mirin, and olive oil. While them are marinating get the rice cooking and the yuba cut into squares.

Rice

Sticky rice

Dates

Siracha

Garlic

Rice vinegar

Sesame oil

salt

pepper

Cook the rice with all the ingredients above still its tender and sticky as hell.

Relish

Lemongrass

garlic

ginger

shallots

cilantro

Thai chili

salt

white pepper

Chop up lemongrass, garlic, ginger, shallot, chili, and cilantro. Mixed well, season and reserve.

For completion:

Remove eggplant from marinade and wrap tightly in the yuba. Get a bit of olive oil hot and fry the the wrapped eggplant in a pan until its golden brown and crispy on each side. Finish them in the oven until the eggplant is cooked through for about 7 to 10 minutes. Serve with hot rice and cold relish.

Chickn n' Waffels

2010-08-12T15:35:00.000-05:00

So a while back we did soul food and it was fun and Delicious. I didn't have time to plan anything out so I wanted to revisit the theme once more for now and make another dish. I landed on chicken and waffles because its an awesome combo to re-invent for the vegans out there.

I didn't make the waffles because after making a buckwheat waffle batter my waffle press was no where to be found. So luckily I found some trader Joe's Waffles in my grandmas freezer and toasted them in the toaster. They worked fine but still not homemade.

But the chicken seitan consisted of:

gluten flour

garlic

onion powder

thyme

hot sauce

water

soy sauce

lemon juice

tapioca starch

Black pepper

Nutritional yeast

Paprika

Ground Mustard

This all got mixed, shaped and boiled for about an hour in better than bouillon, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and water. When it was done I soaked the seitan in hemp milk, hot sauce,thyme garlic, and black pepper for like an hour. I then dredged it in a mixture of flour salt and pepper and fried it in a pan until it was lightly golden and finished it in the oven for about 7 minutes. It seems like alot of work but it was well worth it. ( Sorry about not having exact amounts I made it awhile back).

Buffalo Seitan Salad

2010-06-07T21:09:00.004-05:00

If the picture looks as if a massacre has just occurred, it portrays the correct idea. Jen and I couldn't get enough of this tasty recipe. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was deep fried. Anyway it was our first time working with seitan and we were very happy with the results. Just add the buffalo bits (recipe below) to some greens and add carrots and bleu cheese dressing for a spicy tangy good time.

1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/4-1/2 cup hot sauce
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. salt
Vegetable oil sufficient for frying
1 pkg. vegan chicken or 2 pkgs. seitan

• In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the margarine, hot sauces, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook, stirring often, until the margarine is melted. Lower the heat and keep warm while preparing the “wings.”
• Combine the flour, paprika, cayenne, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. • In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, heat enough oil to fry the “wings.”
• Tear the vegan chicken or seitan into “wing”-size pieces. Dredge in the flour mixture. Fry until browned, flipping halfway through. Drain on paper towels.
• Toss with the prepared sauce.

(all credit due to www.vegcooking.com)

Also when shopping for ingredients at the friendly local neighborhood Whole Foods, Jen approached a salesperson and asked where she could find the seitan. He responded, "In my country, seitan is the Devil." Basically Jen asked where she could find the devil. He then pointed us toward the delicious ingredient and we went on our merry way.

Summer Food

2010-06-05T09:01:00.004-05:00

I just fixed my camera (found the charger) so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this blog a little better. Sarah and I have been craving some hearty, filling American food lately and this is what resulted:

The salad is just a mixed green with tomato and red onions, and the burger is pretty much just the veganomicon recipe. Except on the burger I used oats instead of breadcrumbs. I feel like that makes it more firm, Dr. Hollywood I'm going to need you to tell me what it actually does.

The only really interesting or unique thing about this meal was the quinoa, so here's the recipe for that:

Cheezy Jalapeno Quionoa

2 Jalapanos
1/2 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup nooch
1/4 cup pho-milk (I used soy)
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp chilli powder

1.5 cups cooked quinoa (.5 cups dry with 1 cup water, simmered for ~15 minutes)

1) Get the quinoa cooking.
2) Mince the onion, garlic, and jalapeno and simmer in medium/ hot oil for about 5 minutes, or until the onions start to turn translucent.
3) Add everything else except the quinoa, if it doesn't look saucy enough you might need to add more water
4) Stir in quinoa and serve hot.

Nayonaise/Vegenaise

2010-05-18T14:23:00.003-05:00

Okay guys, I just had a dressing with Nasoya Nayonaise in it. This is the first time I have tasted this mayo replacement.

It totally resembles the taste of MAYOnnaise more than Vegenaise.

Argument/Discussion Begin..... NOW

Food and Science!

2010-05-17T16:35:00.003-05:00

So I have been obsessed with this molecular cooking craze for a while now and I bought some ingredients to fuck around with. Being the exhibitionist that I am, I was over excited and wanted to share my experiment with everyone.

What I bought to play with:

Sodium Alginate- This is a thickening agent that is a sodium compound from the cell walls of brown algae.

Calcium Chloride- This is a type of salt usually used in cheese making, and mainly as a dehydrating agent.

So I guess there was no science behind what I did because it was nature at its best doing what it does. I kind of just kept playing around with measurements until i got something awesome.

So I made, in the end some cantaloupe caviar. It was pretty cool. It was:

Cantaloupe juice, strained through sieve

Sodium Alginate

Calcium Chloride

Water

So after juicing and straining the cantaloupe, I added the sodium alginate to the juice and put it in a syringe. Then I added the calcium chloride to like a cup of water. Then I dripped little drops of the juice in the water solution. It was very small amount of everything. I let it sit in there for like 1-2 minutes and moved it to just a plain water bath. It was a really cool texture. The reaction creates a gel on the outside and a liquid center. The gelling is irreversible even to fire. I have extra stuff if anyone wants to play around. I forgot what was all in the sauces they were just like thrown together.

This is what they looked like.

Food With a Little Soul

2010-04-05T14:37:00.005-05:00

A couple of nights ago me and Dave wanted to make a meal. We didn't have a theme as that's the norm for us. He said he was making mac and cheese. Soul, the next thing we know is that we want a light soul food undertone. With little time and even less disagreement we settled on a few dishes, invited some more people, and stuffed ourselves.

Dave did us well with an awesome mac n cheese which is a soul food staple, and this awesome spicy broccoli soup that could be at any dinner table no matter what the theme.

I added to the mix by making greens, Hoppin' John, and Corn Bread. Here's how it went down:

Collard Greens

1 bunch of organic collards

6 cups of water

2 tsp better than bouillon

salt pepper

2 cloves garlic

Add bouillon , garlic, salt and pepper to your water and bring to a simmer. Rough chop your greens and add them to the simmering pot. Let them simmer on low for about a half hour. Serve them with some broth and enjoy.

Hoppin John

2 cans black eyed peas

1 package fake bacon

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

6 cups cooked rice

olive oil

salt

pepper

First get your rice cooking. Then dice your bacon,onion and garlic. Add a little olive oil to your saute pan. add the bacon onion and garlic to the pan with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook over medium high heat for about 6 minutes allowing for all the flavors to blend. Then add your peas to the pan with more salt and cook for about two more minutes. When the rice is ready add the bean, bacon and onion mix to the rice. It is a very tasty dish.

Corn Bread

unbleached flour

cornmeal

agave

rice milk

brown sugar

baking powder

cream of tartar

olive oil

salt

I forgot the measures for the corn bread mix but its pretty simple. You can kind just throw it together. Make sure you only use a tiny amount for the baking powder and cream of tartar. But mix this stuff up, grease a baking pan and bake for at 375 for about 12-15 minutes.

Serve with friends and beer and enjoy!

Photos courtesy of Dave's iPhone

Coco-Fever

2010-03-29T22:33:00.008-05:00

I've been having a craving for a peanut butter cup recently because its been so long. The other other night me and c had a chocolate cook out. We made chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate cups stuffed with a maple-walnut ganash, and chocolate walnut rounds. Best part about it was that it was all vegan!

Chocolate peanut butter cups
24 oz chocolate
2 cups peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp earth balance
tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
pack of wax paper cups

To make the peanut butter filling add the peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, earth balance, and salt in a sauce pan. Cook until everything is mixed. Cool it in the freezer until its firm but not frozen. Reserve

To make the maple walnut ganash take a 1/2 cup of the melted chocolate and mix it with some crushed walnuts, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 2tbsp of maple syrup. Mix well. It will really sticky at first but eventually it form a ball. Chill. Reserve.

Melt your chocolate in a double boiler. After it is melted let it sit in the boiler for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Set up the wax papers in a muffin pan to make it a little easier to fill them. Fill the papers just enough to cover the bottom of them. Put them in the freezer to harden them up. When the chocolate has firmed up spoon some of one of the fillings over them. (the ganash is a pain if its room temp) Them fill up the rest of the cup with melted chocolate. Put them in the freezer as well until they firm up as well. Close you eyes and enjoy.

To make the rounds use the melted chocolate and pour it into a greased muffin pan. Make the rounds real thin. Top with crushed walnuts and freeze. Super easy and oh so delicious.

Greek Themed Feast

2010-03-25T15:34:00.012-05:00

Man it feels good to post again. Its been forever & now I finally have my camera again. This is a feast all the way back from valentines day. I made at the last minute not knowing what we really wanted to eat or having much time to really make anything extravagant. So we quickly picked a theme and it came together pretty alright. Its not too pretty but it was damn delicious.

On the menu

Gyros
Grilled 'lamb' Kabobs
Stuffed grape leaves
Hummus
Rice and lentils
Tzatziki

The Gyros

Da Meet

3 cups vital wheat gluten

1tsp tapioca starch

coriander

cumin

cumin seeds

cardamom

sage

onion powder

1/2 onion

2 tbsp lemon juice

2tbs soy sauce

2 garlic cloves

3/4 cup water

tbsp sugar

Add everything together that's not the water or the flour. mix it up till you like the taste. Then add the flour and water.

Fix it into a nice log. Wrap in foil.

Steam this gentleman for about an hour checking your water level

so you don't burn your pan (like i did!)

When the the seitan is done cut it in half. use only one half and slice it really really

thin. If you have a serrated bread knife or a

slicer knife, that works good in absence of a mechanical slicer of

some type. Marinate the slices in cumin, coriander, salt, olive oil

sugar and pepper for about a hour or so.

The same meat can be used for the kabobs and for the grape leaves. Cut the remaining half into two pieces ,a bigger piece and a smaller piece. Cut cubes out of the bigger piece and mince or chop the small piece to put into the grape leaves.

Marinate the faux lamb cubes in lemon juice, coriander, cardamom, paprika, cumin, oil, and sage for about an hour and a half.

Grill it. Enjoy.

Stuffed Grape leaves

1 jar of grape leaves

Ground lamb seitan

2 cups cooked rice

3tbsp lemon juice

coriander

cumin

dill

1 cup of cooked lentils

salt and pepper

add all ingredients together. let sit four 20 minutes for flavors to be absorbed

traditionally the dolmas are steamed but for lack of time

we cooked the filling fully and c wrapped it in the raw leaves like a pro.

Rice and lentils

3 cups of rice

3 cups lentils

2 cloves garlic

2 onions

salt pepper

cumin

turmeric

lemon juice

add cooked rice and lentils together with olive oil salt and pepper lemon juice and cumin. sweat onions in saute pan with garlic and turmeric until nice and soft. add onions on top of lentils and rice bake in an oven at 350 for about 12 minutesto get the top of the mixture nice and crispy.

tzatziki sauce

1 tub vegan or Greek yogurt

half of a seedless cucumber

2 cloves garlic

lemon juice to taste

salt pepper

so now that we got everything..... cut up some lettuce, onion and tomato. grab so awesome olives, toast some pitaand oil and paprika up your hummus wrap a fat gyro and chow down.

cheese recipe over at my neglected food blog

2010-03-04T18:49:00.001-06:00

http://theapeman.blogspot.com/2010/03/aged-cashew-brazil-cheese.html

Check it out!

Teese Coupon

2010-03-02T20:13:00.002-06:00

I know this isn't a recipe, but totally an awesome link to a great product coupon, check it out!

FREE Teese Vegan Cheese Coupon

Enjoy! Thank me later.

Orange Tofu

2010-03-01T20:52:00.002-06:00

Hey everybody. I decided that I had to learn how to make orange sauce as good as the Mandarin Wok and it turned out to be better than any orange sauce I have ever had (modest, I know). So I decided to share my recipe with ya'll so you could enjoy it too. Here it goes.

Orange Tofu

1 block of tofu, extra firm, cubed
salt
white pepper
oil for frying in wok

4 Tbsp garlic, minced (about 5-6 cloves)
4 Tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 jalapeno, super thinly sliced
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup mirin or sherry
1/3 cup OJ, fresh squeezed or whatever
2 Tbsps orange zest or rind chunks
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup agave nectar
3 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp arrowroot mixed with 2 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp siracha
white pepper
crushed red pepper

Start out by frying your tofu until golden brown on all sides over medium/high heat. Season with salt and white pepper. Set aside.

Keep you wok hot add the 1 Tbsp oil, and stir fry the garlic, ginger and jalapeno for about a minute. Add the mirin or sherry, the OJ, the orange zest, sugar and agave nectar. Cook for a minute or two. Add the soy sauce and siracha. Then once its boiling add the arrowroot slurry and let it get nice and gloopy. Adjust seasonings and make it hotter if you wish. Pour over your crispy tofu and some steamed broccoli. Serve with rice or like in my case some leftover low mein noodles.

Pairs nicely with a sweet wine like a Riesling to counter balance the spice. Beer is always a good option too. Maybe a nice pale ale would work well.

Indian Food

2010-02-28T14:56:00.003-06:00

Hey dudes, good to see the blog is active again. Let's keep this going with an old one that I keep forgetting to post. Here's a dish that I made weekly for a while. Good for filling you up and warming your bones. Serve everything up with basmati rice and mint chutney, enjoy!

Channa Masala w/ TVP

1 large yellow onion
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp hot curry powder
2 cans chick peas
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 handful tvp

Wow, I've been cooking with can's too much. I didn't realize that until I wrote down what goes in this recipe. The TVP makes this dish really filling and hearty. I think the recipe would be great without it. Pretty much here's the process:

- get the onions going in a cast iron skillet over medium heat with the oil and curry powder until the onions get translucent
- let your can opener do the cooking and add everything else
- keep adding water as the tvp soaks it up so it stays real saucy
- let it stew for a bit to mix all the flavors

Creamy Curry Kale

Alliteration alert! This dish's title would look good on a brew pub menu. Stephen? For this one I start the same way with the oil, curry powder, and onions. Once the onions are translucent, I add the kale and let it cook down. I finish it off by adding some cashew or almond cream and molasses.

Haven't tried it, but it might be nice to toss in some nutritional yeast to give it a Paneer kind of taste. I'll let you know how that goes.

Teese Challenge// Loaded Sweet Potato Fries.

2010-02-27T21:33:00.004-06:00

So, the fine folks of Chicago Soy Dairy put out a little tweet, offering some free product to those of us who have food blogs. http://www.chicagosoydairy.com/. So awesome, thanks guys!

I received a tube of both Mozzarella and Nacho Cheese flavored Teese. Due to the fact that it has been so long since I have cooked with any sort of "cheese," my first attempt with Mozzarella Teese ended up being quite a failure. It was a delicious mush of a failure though, to say the least.

For my second attempt, I chose to mix two delicious dishes: Sweet Potato Fries and well-topped Nachos.

Loaded Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

2 Sweet Potatoes, skinned and sliced into small fries

1 Poblano Pepper, diced

1 Jalapeno Pepper,diced

1/2 medium Red Onion, diced

1 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne

1 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil

1 TBSP Maple Syrup

5 Green Onions

1 can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

1 tube Nacho Cheese TEESE

Avocado

Sea Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400'F.

2. Mix together ingredients up to maple syrup. Make sure all of the fries are coated well with both olive oil and the onion/peppers mixture.

3. Bake for 15 minutes in a casserole dish.

4. Remove from oven, mix up well.

5. Add ingredients through TEESE, mix a bit more.

6. Bake for 15 more minutes.

7. Remove from oven and garnish with some avocado slices.

8. Enjoy

Snowed in Breakfast - Biscuts w/ Snausage Gravy

2010-02-24T15:55:00.005-06:00

About 2 weeks ago, Philly got like 20 inches of snow and freaked out. With the city totally shut down we declared a a 2 day cooking and eating binge. In Sarah's cold apartment we made an array of fatty, creamy dishes to warm us up inside and out. We also had a chip buffet, but that's irrelevant to this dish.

The sausages in the gravy were made using Vegandad's sausage recipe. I always forget to leave the dough really wet before I steam them so it was a good experience for me to use the recipe on this one. We tossed those sausages in EVERYTHING we made, but this dish really stood out to me. I won't bore you with other recipes for the gravy and biscuits, because we pretty much just pulled the off the internet, nothing special. Fresh baked biscuits.... MMMMmmmm.

Also, I think that since people write vegan cheese like "Cheeze", we ought to be able to say "snausage" instead of "vegan sausages". It's saving you a couple of syllables dropping the vegan from the phrase even if the 'sn' sound is a bit tough to get used to. Who's with me? If I can get the support of a few good spellers on my side, that might add some legitimacy to my campaign. Every team needs a speller.

Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto

2010-02-07T11:30:00.004-06:00

Risotto has been on of those foods I was intimidated to make because, well, you spend over 1/2 an hour stirring, and food patience has never been my forte. I recommend making this with a friend to trade off stirring duty, or get a good book to read with your free hand to pass the time. I promise it'll be worth the wait - cream, tangy, rich and hearty. Not to mention asparagus season is right around the corner.

broth:
4 whole
cloves garlic
1 inch ginger, sliced
1 T dried lemongrass
3 c veg broth
3 c water
3 T soy sauce

risotto:
1/3 c sherry
1 lb asparagus
5 T peanut oil
1 c basil leaves
2 T fresh mint
6 large shallots
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t red pepper flakes
1 1/2 c Arborio rice
1 t sugar
2 T lime juice

1.) Bruise the ginger and smash the garlic, place those and the lemongrass inside a loose leave tea bag. Put the teabag and all the broth ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes. Turn heat to low and remove the teabag.
2.) Cut asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces, and saute in 4 T of oil until bright green and tender, about 5 minutes. add basil and mint, saute for 30 seconds and remove from heat, but in a separate bowl.
3.) Warm the sherry in a small pot over medium-low heat
4.) Add 1 T oil, saute the shallots and garlic until soft, about 7 minutes. stir in pepper flakes and rice, saute for about 8 more minutes until the rice sounds slightly toasted. Add the sherry and stir until absorbed.
5.) Now get ready to stir. Ladle 1/2 cup of broth at a time into the rice, stirring constantly until all the liquid is absorbed each time. When the broth is almost gone, stir the sugar and lime juice into the last of the broth before absorbing it into the rice. This will end up taking about 35 minutes total.
4.) Stir in the asparagus stems and cook for another 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped peanuts.

Alternative Medicine.(Cream of Broccoli Soup)

2010-01-03T21:03:00.003-06:00

So after about a week with a pretty sore throat, I had two choices tonight. I could either say Phuqit and go see Castevet and go out in the 15'F weather, or I could make some soup. The fact that I am posting this blog means I chose the latter.

Ingredients:

32 oz. Frozen Broccoli

4 Cups Vegetable Stock

1/2 tsp powdered dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried thyme

3 TBSP Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Small Yellow Onion

3 TBSP Flour

2 cups Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk ( I used So Delicious Coconut Milk as it was on sale this week)

sea salt & black pepper

Put on a great Outkast record,(I chose Stankonia) and then Cook Broccoli until tender in stock.
With a slotted spoon, remove one cup of broccoli florets. Set aside
Peel/Dice garlic cloves, dice onion and Sauté on medium heat in 1 Tbsp olive oil until translucent. Add to pot
Place remaining broccoli, liquid, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and salt in the blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in the soup pan. Add the flour and cook on low for 5-8 minutes.
Stir in coconut milk, bring to a boil then simmer till thickened, stirring constantly.
Stir in broccoli puree and non-blended florets.
Heat gently & serve immediately

http://vegetarianstar.com/2008/11/30/andre-3000-benjamins-last-meal-on-earth-broccoli/

.Get into themed meals/listening sessions.

2009-12-28T23:19:00.003-06:00

wow, we must all be getting skinny

Portlandish Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T12:16:00.001-06:00

Eric, Stephen, and I just had a very awesome Veggie thanksgiving. Check it out! Nom Nom Nom...

http://entirelyuntrue.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/thanky-fest/

Coconut Brown Rice with Sweet Potato (pan)Cakes

2009-11-07T04:26:00.005-06:00

Yikes, I should buy a plate that's not so yellow/green. I can't think of a more uncomplimentary food color pairing...maybe brown or taupe would be worse.

I made this to fulfill my craving for both rice and sweet potatoes, and overall it was a pretty starchy meal - but that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe the sweet potato pancakes need some tweaking, but I kind of enjoyed their ambiguous texture. They were still mushy, but they had a nice pan-friend crust on the outside. Also, the portions are super small since I'm cooking for myself - but it's a enough for leftovers. Doubled the quantity is good for 3-4 people.

Coconut Brown Rice

1 cup short grain brown rice

8 oz can coconut milk

1/2 cup water

1 small onion

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into a couple pieces

1 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

Sweet Potato (pan)Cakes

1 med. sweet potato

1/2 red onion, diced small

3 tbl flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

Cook onion in a pot with some oil, once translucent add the ginger and curry. After a couple minutes, add the rice and liquid (coconut milk and water). The ratio I used was 1:1.5, rice to liquid. Cover and bring to a boil, stirring to make sure you don't crusties on the bottom. Once it boils, bring to a simmer and cover making sure you keep stirring every once in a while. This should take about 30 minutes.

While your rice is cooking, cook the sweet potato. I used the microwave for convenience sake - which only takes 4 minutes. Peel your potato, and mash it. Adding all the ingredient and fry those babies up in little cakes! Super easy - but you may find the batter a bit finicky and sticky. I think next time I'll actually try and make it like a pancake by adding more liquid. Also, I would love to try this out with chickpea flour. Mmmm...

My Vegan Mac and "Cheeze"

2009-10-28T18:47:00.004-05:00

Mike and I have been making this pretty much weekly here in Philly. I think we're planning on making a baked version of this for vegan thanksgiving. Sorry about the low quality picture it was taken in photo-booth. Also I ate half of it before I took the picture, my bad. The ginger really adds a good bite to it, I definitely recommend experimenting with a ginger-garlic mixture in your fake cheezes it gives it a cool sharpness. This dish should be enjoyed while listening to this.

Get a pot of salted water going for your pasta. I'm going to trust your ability to cook a bag of pasta without putting it in the recipe. By the time you're done cooking the pasta you're sauce should be done.
Sauce

Add to your food processor in this order:

3/4 cup raw cashews

1/2 block tofu

1/2 cup soymilk

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

water until it's the consistency of ketchup (Hunts not Heinz, it's more watery)

Over low heat simmer:

1 1/2 inches of ginger, minced

4 cloves garlic

1 onion, diced

after 3-4 minutes add:

1 tsp Turmeric

2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tomatoes, sliced

1 bunch of kale, chopped finely

cook until the kale cooks down a bit

Dump the food processor mixture in with the rest of the stuff and add Lawry's seasoned salt to taste. Then mix in your completed pasta and squeeze the juice of one or two lemons on top and mix again.

Enjoy!

Curried Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber Relish

2009-10-27T17:56:00.004-05:00

So if you guys read Vegan Dad, this will look slightly familiar. This is loosely loosely based off of his recipe. I had to make several adjustments, and the result probably doesn't taste anything like the original recipe. I can't even remember what went in the Vegan Dad's chickpea cakes. These turned out pretty good, and I don't know if you can tell but they turned out a bit like fritters. I used flour in this recipe, creating a real thick batter consistency with the smashed chickpeas. I was a bit uncertain, but it turned out pretty tasty.

Chickpea Cakes

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 tbl soy sauce

1 tbl chili garlic sauce

1 tsp panang curry powder

1/2 tsp paprika (I am in Hungary after all!)

1 med. shallot, minced

1 large garlic clove, minced

3 tbl flour

enough water to get a THICK batter consistency - so not too much

Cucumber Relish

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/2 small red pepper, diced

1 shallot

2 tsp white vinegar

1-2 tsp sugar (or any sweetener)

The batter is easy, you just want to smash the chickpeas - but not necessarily make them into pulp. Dump all the ingredients in and taste as you go along, adjusting for spice level. Your batter shouldn't get too runny - but hey! Maybe you feel like experimenting. Fry the batter up in a generous amount of cooking oil, and make sure your pan is hot. I made little guys - maybe 1.5 to 2 tbl at a time.

Serve with the relish, which couldn't be easier to make - just mix all the ingredients! Enjoy with good company, preferably not a midterm paper though like I did. What a buzz kill.

Ugh, and apologies about the horrible photo. My camera was running out of battery, that was the best I got.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

2009-10-06T17:09:00.002-05:00

Vegan Yum Yum Recipe mildly adapted to my ingredients

Ingredients:

1 Tub Extra Firm Tofu, pressed (If you can, use frozen and thawed Tofu)
2 tsp Ener-g Egg Replacer + 4 tsp water, mixed
1/4 Cup Cornstarch
1/8 Cup Canola Oil & 1/8 cup Olive Oil
Sesame Seeds for garnish

Sauce
3 1/2 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tbs Ketchup
1/4 tsp Ginger Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tbs Cornstarch

1.Slice the tofu into triangles or small cubes. Smaller is good in this recipe.

2.Gently Toss tofu with the egg replacer/water mixture until coated.

3.Add cornstarch until each piece is well coated.

4.Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok.

5. While oil is heating, mix sauce ingredients except for the cornstarch/water into a small sauce pan and whisk over medium heat until sugar and salt is dissolved. Add cornstarch mixture and whisk until the sauce thickens. Keep an eye on this or it will stick to the bottom of the pan.

6. Fry tofu for about 5 minutes on each side (until golden.)

7.Drain/Dab Tofu of excess oil

8.Toss gently with sauce.

9. Top with sesame seeds and eat pronto.

Voting Time

2009-10-02T08:40:00.004-05:00

It's pretty obvious to me that every participant is a winner because everything looked delicious. However, only one person is getting the cash prize, so let's go to the polls.

A few quick rules:

-Don't vote for yourself, that's lame

-Only vote once, c'mon

-Use a coaster, we respect the tables here

Now it's time for one of you to call out October's theme ingredient! Thanks again for everyone's participation.

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Horseradish Dijon Cream, BBQ Seitan with Coleslaw

2009-09-30T20:17:00.006-05:00

Here is my Iron Chef Battle Brassicaceae entry. I decided to utilize the secret ingredient in numerous ways as you will see in the recipes. You may think that the seitan is the star of this dish but its not, believe me, the cabbage, horseradish, and mustard really steal the show on your palate. After you make this dish you will probably need a good nap because it is as hearty as can be. But I think that is a good thing, especially with the onset of colder weather.

For the seitan I actually just used some recipes as references and they are fairly simple to follow. If you go to www.everydaydish.tv you can find recipes for corned beef seitan and bbq seitan. I tweaked the recipes a bit by incorporating some of the secret ingredient, like mustard seeds in the corned beef and mustardy bits in the bbq sauce. I also roasted some sweet potatoes to compliment the bbq side of the plate, and some roasted fingerling potatoes to go with the corned beef and cabbage.

Smokey Maple Porter BBQ Sauce

About 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or just enough to fry the onions and garlic
1 chopped white onion
4 cloves of chopped garlic
12 oz. of Sierra Nevada Porter
1 cup of maple syrup
12 oz. of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of liquid smoke
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of black pepper

Cook the onions and garlic until caramelized over medium heat. Add a bit of water every several minutes to de-glaze the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients cook for about 15 minutes then let cool and puree.

Creamy Coleslaw with Pickled Red onions

This absolutely is amazing and simple. It is a great cold crunchy and creamy contrast to the spicy hot bbq seitan.

1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
4 Tbsp Vegenaise
1 Tbsp German Mustard
2 Tbsp Agave nectar
splash red wine vinegar
salt + pepper

1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt

Mix together all the slaw ingredients while you quickly pickle the red onions.

Braised Cabbage with Corned Beef Seitan

1 recipe corned beef seitan
1/2 head green cabbage, large dice
1 white onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 tsps paprika
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
veg broth

Cook the onions and garlic in a bit of oil and add all the spices. Toss in the cabbage and seitan and add a bit of vegetable broth. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add more veg broth and cook ten minutes more. Serve with roasted fingerling potatoes and horseradish cream.

Horseradish Cream

1/2 block silken tofu
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp prepared horseradish, or more
2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Puree everything and chill. Serve over the corned beef and cabbage for a right good kick in the mouth.

Spinach and Cashew Ricotta Ravioli with Roasted Butternut Squash Sauce.

2009-09-23T21:16:00.003-05:00

Also known as "Welcome Back Fall Raviolis." Or possibly "I'm Not Wearing My Skinny Jeans Tomorrow Raviolis." Whatever you prefer.

Sauce:
1 butternut squash
1/2 t dried rubbed sage
6 cloves of garlic, still in skin
1 T olive oil
1 c plain soy creamer
1 1/2 t salt
ground pepper to taste

1.) preheat the oven to 375. cut off the ends of the squash, cut in half, scoop out the guts and peel off the skin. Cut squash into 1 to 2 inch chunks.
2.) transfer squash to a rimmed baking sheet, toss the chunks in the oil and sage, and put the garlic (in skins) on the sheet to roast also.
3.) Bake for 20 minutes, toss, bake for another 20.
4.) peel the garlic, then puree garlic and squash in a food processor. Add soy creamer, salt and pepper, puree until smooth.
5.) transfer to small pot to warm on stove, stir in water by the 1/3 cup until you reach your desired consistency, adjust salt and pepper.

Spinach and cashew ricotta (based on recipe in Veganomicon)

1 c cashews
1/4 c lemon juice
2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 lb firm tofu
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t thyme
handful of fresh basil leaves
2 T nutritional yeast
3 to 4 cups fresh baby spinach

1.) steam the spinach, and set aside in a colander to drain.
2.) blend cashews, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil in the food processor.
3.) add tofu, mix until it has that lovely, creamy ricotta texture.
4.) toss is salt, thyme, basil, and nutritional yeast and blend a little more.
5.) transfer to a bowl, and once the spinach is cool and drained, mix that in too.

Ravioli dough (which I'm not quite happy with, I need to play with this.)

2 c flour
2 t salt
3 Ener-G "eggs" (1 1/2 t powder, 2 T warm water per egg)

1.) mix flour and salt
2.) add egg replacer, mix
3.) add warm water until thick dough has formed (if its too sticky, just add more flour), and then let it sit for 15 minutes, start a big pot of water to boil
4.) roll it out and go crazy! make whatever ravioli shapes you want, scoop on a spoons-worth of filling and seal it up tight. just remember they will stay together a whole lot better if you wet and score the seal.
5.) throw the raviolis into the boiling pot 5 or 6 at a time, cook for 5 minutes or until they float to the top
6.) top with sauce, chopped walnuts, and any leftover spinach.
7.) dig in hard.

Also, if you follow this recipe you are going to end up with way too much filling and sauce. You can either 1/2 the recipes or take advantage of having delicious leftover ricotta on sammies, pasta, or just as straight dip, and use the sauce over pasta, rice, as a soup, whatever you like.

Brussels Sprouts from Budapest

2009-09-23T12:53:00.007-05:00

I haven't been cooking too much - living in a dorm setting again took some getting used to. (I'm studying in Budapest). But the market is so great, one of the best I've gone to. I won't bore you with details, but instead I will entice you with my recipe. I'm not positive this is my submission into Jonathan's contest - we'll see if I can put my cauliflower into good use. Also, I forgot my camera in Chicago so until then I will be using photobooth to document my recipes. Which is unfortunate, this dish just looks like a glorified salad in the pictures but I promise it is so much more than that. I would even consider using walnuts instead of hazelnuts in this, and some fried shallots would have been great.

Brussels from Budapest

1/2 lb brussels sprouts - cut into shreds

1/2 block of firm tofu - cubed

1/4 cup hazelnuts - toasted

1 small apple - cubed

1/2 onion - sliced

1/2 avocado - cubed

olive oil

Dressing

1 tbl stone ground dijon

1/2 tbl honey/sweetener

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tbl olive oil

salt to taste

First cook onions and tofu in a pan with a bit of olive oil, and after the tofu is browned transfer to a bowl. Cook the shredded brussels for a few minutes, until you notice them caramelizing. Make sure to not over cook them. Transfer into the bowl with tofu. Toss in the apples, avocado, and dressing. Gently toss to incorporate all the ingredients.

Eat immediately, the brussels sprouts only taste good right after you cook them - I tried the leftovers in the morning and it wasn't great.

Garlic, Spinach, & Garbanzo Tarts with a Mustard Biscuit Crust and Roast Red Pepper/ Almond Sauce

2009-09-21T21:16:00.006-05:00

Crust:

mix together:

2 c. flour

1 T. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp baking powder

with a pastry blender cut in:

3 T. vegetable shortening

with a wooden spoon mix in:

1/2 c. COLD almond milk

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Divide dough into 6 equal parts and on a floured surface roll into thin 6 inch circles.

Filling:

1 can garbanzos, drained and rinced

5 large cloves garlic, minced

1/4 red onion, diced

2 T. olive oil

16 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cumin

fresh ground pepper to taste

1. toast garbanzos over medium heat in a dry pan for about 5 min, keep them moving around so they don't stick.

2. add onions, garlic and oil, let it chill for another 3 minutes until the garlic and onions start to sweat.

3. add spinach and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring ocationally.

Press the dough into a greased muffin pan and drop equal parts of filling into each dough circle, then fold in the edges of the crust and crease at the top. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Sauce:

Blacken half a red pepper over a gas burner, put that and a handful of almonds into your blender/ food processor with a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend/ food process until you can't blend it any more! Then add almond milk into the mixture while blending until it's about the consistency of ketchup. Enjoy!

Spinach and Chickpea Fritters

2009-09-18T12:43:00.003-05:00

This is a recipe from the Food Network Magazine, adapted to personal taste and available ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 cup chickpea flour(all purpose flour may work as well)
1/4 cup cornstarch
10 dashes cumin
10 dashes cayenne pepper
small yellow onion
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 TBSP ginger, peeled, minced
veg/olive oil for frying

Condiment suggestion: Really quick and easy Chili-Lime Mayonnaise
TBSP Vegenaise
TBSP fresh lime juice
tsp Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce

1. Whisk ingredients up to cayenne in a large bowl.
2. Add 2/3 cup water and whisk more until smooth
3.Add the rest of the ingredients (not oil) and mix all ingredients together well.
4.Spoon heaping tablespoon size scoops into your hand, and form mixture into a ball.
5. Put in hot oil and fry for a few minutes on each side, until crisp and golden brown.
6.Remove from oil and place on paper-towel lined plate.
7.Repeat until the bowl is empty.
8. Try experimenting with different dipping sauces, but the chili-lime mayo is very tasty and though it is a spicy mayo, it is somewhat cooling to the palate.

Eggplant "Parmesan"

2009-09-17T13:22:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure if I was a HUGE fan of this dish or not, but it was a decent rendition of a classic. Adjust ingredients to your liking and make this your own, maybe your tweaks will make it perfect.

Ingredients:
1 Large Eggplant,sliced
1 can tomatoes,drained,rinsed
1 tomato,diced
2 cloves garlic
thyme
oregano
basil

Vegan Parmesan:
1 part raw almonds, ground finely as possible
2 parts nutritional yeast
dash of sea salt

1.Boil enough water to cover all of your eggplant in a large pot. While this is on it's way, preheat oven to 375.
2.Place eggplant in boiling water for about 5 minutes.
3.Mix tomatoes, garlic and spices in a seperate bowl.
4. Try to drain eggplant of some excess moisture and arrange eggplant slices in the bottom of a baking pan.
5.Top with tomato mixture and Vegan Parmesan, alternating(tomato/cheese/tomato/cheese) if preferred.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes at 375.
7. Enjoy!

Moong Dal (Yellow Lentil)-type Dish

2009-09-17T13:06:00.003-05:00

This is an interesting Dal dish that came out a bit drier (almost rice-like consistency) than I imagined, but it was tasty nonetheless. This is adapted from a Vegetarian Times recipe to my taste and to my available ingredients.

Ingredients:
About 1TBSP of Canola Oil
A thumb sized piece of Ginger, minced
2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Moong Dal(Yellow Lentils), rinsed and sorted
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 tsp. ground turmeric
sea salt to taste

1. Heat oil in pan, add ginger and red pepper. Saute for about a minute.
2. Add onion, garlic and salt, saute for another minute.
3. Add all other ingredients and cover.
4.Reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, when liquid is absorbed.
5. Let cool. Insert into mouth. Chew. Swallow.

September Competition - Cash prize!

2009-09-17T09:44:00.002-05:00

I propose a competition, Iron Chef style. With the theme ingredient being my favorite veggie family (I'm sure Stephen can correct me on the correct classification of this word): Brassicaceae. This means that cabbage, kale, spinach, turnips, mustard, and so on are fair game.

The winner will get a cash prize in the mail from me! Since this is my competition, try to make it vegan, but if you don't that's cool too. Just have the posts in by September 30th. We will decide on how to vote later.

Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Fig Spread

2009-09-11T14:55:00.004-05:00

Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 over ripe bananas

1 scoop peanut butter

1/3 cups apple sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons sugar (or maple syrup if you're like that)

about 3 cups ww flour

about 2 teaspoons baking powder

1 handful roasted walnuts

Soy milk

Method:

1. Wash Hands.

2. Mash the first four ingredients in a mixing bowl

3. Add the rest of the ingredients except soymilk and mix.

4. Add soy milk until it becomes the consistency of pancake batter, it should be just barely able to drip off a wooden spoon.

5. use a 1/4 c. measuring cup to drop batter onto a hot greased pan

6. Flip when the bubbles in the middle are just starting to pop (it should be golden brown on both sides when done).

Fig Spread

Put a handful of dried figs in your food processor. Add 1 tablespoon of sirup and 2-4 tablespoons of soy milk until it looks like a creamy paste. Enjoy on your pancakes.

Creamy Chickpeas & Bell Pepper Salad

2009-09-11T00:07:00.001-05:00

Holy hell this is fantastic. So many layers of flavor and incredibly easy to make. No cooking necessary, just combine it all in a bowl and feast!

This recipe will feed one burly man harboring an empty stomach, two love birds longing for a light lunch, or go as a nice side dish for grilled anything.

Two cans chickpeas

About one bell pepper, deseeded, cored and diced (I just squared pre-cut colored peppers from Whole Foods)

One big scoop of Vegenaise

A little Sriracha (goes a long way)

A pinch of garlic, granulated or fresh

Minced dill, chives, and a little parsley (parsley flakes work well too!)

Salt / Pepper

Friday Morning(Afternoon) Hearty Breakfast

2009-08-21T13:00:00.003-05:00

After a night of Villa Park Debauchery in celebration of Jon's glorious escape from Illinois, we needed some comfort food. There was only one solution.

Tofu Scramble
Ingredients:
1 block Firm Tofu, crumbled
1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
3 TBSP nutritional yeast
2 TBSP dijon mustard
few squirts Liquid Smoke
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add onion and serrano to hot pan sprayed with oil. Cook till sweaty.
2.Add tofu, let cook for about 10 minutes.
3.Add everything else. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4.Eat. Slather with ketchup or BBQ sauce if you're a sauceman/woman.

PAN SIZED Hash Browns
Ingredients:
2 Yukon Gold Potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

1.Wash hands.
2.Poke with a fork. Remove Fork. Microwave potatoes for about three minutes.
3.Let cool, grate with fine grater.
4.Pan fry at medium heat for about 15 minutes each side.
5.Enjoy. Slather with ketchup.

Eat more Chipotle/Adobo!

2009-08-17T14:35:00.003-05:00

These are awesome in anything you want to have a spicy "Mexican" flavor. Be careful though, they are spicier than I imagined. If you are a fan of Chipotle Tabasco you will love this(seems obvious.) But yes, you can purchase it in Mexican grocery stores or many other stores with good international aisles. I know this isn't a recipe but I just wanted to share the wealth of a great product I have recently fell in love with.

Product Description via Amazon.com
(Smoked red jalapeño peppers in spices, vinegar, tomatoes and ancho chiles. (pronounced "chee-POHT-lay"). CHIPOTLE PEPPERS A chipotle pepper is a red Jalapeño chile, ripened, dried, and smoked through a special process. Derived from the Aztec word meaning smoke, jalapeños are placed over huge pits and smoke is blown through tunnels running underground. Chipotle Characteristics - A unique warm heat and smoky flavor , chipotles are packed in a red adobo sauce made from lightly seasoned tomato broth. Embasa chipotles are completely shielded from all the elements during processing to produce an exceptional product. Tan - brown, veined and ridged, they are 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) long and 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter. Medium-thick fleshed, with a subtle deep rounded heat, they are excellent in sauces, soups, and as a seasoning for meats and stews.)

Roasted Potatoes with Aioli

2009-08-10T22:01:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite tapas dishes at Radio Mario is their roasted potatoes with aioli. It's so simple and so good. This is almost as good and probably cheaper.

Roasted Potatoes

6-8 cubed small new red potatoes (but really you can make as much as you want)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Generous amounts of salt and pepper

Aioli

1/4 cup of any veg/soy based "mayonnaise" - I've been using Nasoya

2-3 cloves of finely minced garlic

1 tbl lemon juice

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F.

In a mixing bowl toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour onto a baking sheet, making sure that everything is well coated.

For the aioli, just mix everything well in a small bowl. Let it sit for a little bit so the garlic mellows out.

Cook the potatoes for about 45 minutes, or until they are brown and a little crispy. When served, drizzle some of the aioli over the warm potatoes - leaving extra if you want more.

Chili Pea Puffs

2009-08-10T21:23:00.006-05:00

So these are delicious. And it is not really my recipe, I got it from 101cookbooks.com which is such a great site. Heidi, the writer, samples recipes from different cookbooks and this one is from Monica Bhide's Modern Spice cookbook. I've made this a couple of times, once vegan and once with paneer. Both were delicious, and I couldn't really tell the difference between the two. This is mostly copied from the recipe on the website, but I've changed a couple of things.

Chili Pea Puffs

1 cup cooked mashed peas

1/4 crumbled paneer or tofu

2 small serrano peppers (remove seeds and veins - I left the seeds in one since I like my food pretty spicy)

1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chili powder or flakes

2 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper

About 32 wonton wrappers (I used the square shape)

(I've omitted the use of egg white...I hate wasting yolk and this way it can easily be made vegan)

Preheat the oven to 400F - I hope you have air conditioning. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. It's tempting to add a whole lot of filling, but that will make it so much harder to fold. Dab warm water on one side of the wrapper, and press the two sides together. I followed Heidi's example and made it into a small spring roll shape. It was pretty simple, you just need to fold the wrap diagonally, and then fold in the sides to make the spring roll shape.

Spray or brush the puffs with cooking oil, and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes, making sure to flip half way. 101cookbooks says 7-8 minutes, but for some reason my oven always takes longer than recipes say. Serve warm, and with a sweet/spicy sauce. I actually made a sauce from a cherry butter I had on hand. I added some spice and tartness, and it was great.

Also, these puffs freeze really well. You can stick them in the oven straight from the freezer.

Spicy Chipotle Mexican Soup

2009-08-09T19:34:00.003-05:00

This is a soup/stew that has a taste reminiscent of a spicy chili. If you do not enjoy spicy foods, feel free to use less chipotle peppers and cayenne. But nonetheless, this is a great quick and hearty dinner or lunch.

Makes enough for a few to eat, plus leftovers.

Cooking Time: About 10 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas, drained,rinsed

1 can Black beans, drained, rinsed

1 medium Red Onion,chopped

2 TBSP Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce(canned), finely chopped (This equals about two peppers)

8 oz. Tomato Paste

1 can Water (adjust to your preference of consistency)

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne

Lemon/Lime Juice

Cilantro

1.Add all ingredients into a pot, except the fresh cilantro.

2.Cook for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat.

3.Turn off heat, let cool and give flavors a chance to meld.

4.Garnish with fresh cilantro.

5.Enjoy.

This is quite a spicy dish, so in my mind, a vegan sour cream could be a great addition as a topping. A horchata or a mexican beer would both also be great cooling drinks next to this spicy soup. Sorry for the poorly planned photo.

Beet Greens? I thought beets were purple...

2009-08-02T03:22:00.009-05:00

Vegan vs. (Un)Vegan

For those that know and love me, know how much I know and love beets. Roasted, salad-ed, soup-ed, (but not canned, never canned), beets are great. But beet greens have always sort of baffled me. When I had a rabbit, I happily fed him said baffling tops, but now I must consume them myself. Thus I give to you a way to enjoy the entirety of the beet. (Word(s) of caution: Upon using the sugar/apple cider vinegar combo I found the whole concoction to be a little sweet, so you really need a salty counterbalance, or maybe use a different vinegar as suggested below)

1 pound beet greens
Vegan: Earth-B /(Un)Vegan: Butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup of water
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/6 cup of cider vinegar (for less sweet results balsamic vinegar)
Vegan: a salty topping to counter the sweet, perhaps salted sunflower seeds/ (Un)Vegan: Feta Cheese

Getting Down to Cookin'

Wash, Wash, Wash the greens (seriously, they are dirty). Drain and cut really thick stems off. Cut leaves into smaller pieces, for chewing pleasure.

In a large skillet melt your choice of fat on medium heat. Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar (optional) and red pepper. Bring it to a boil (might boil faster if you turn away).

Add the beet greens, gently coating them in your newly made concoction. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender (Careful not to overcook, you don't want them to be limp and sad). Stir in vinegar of choice.

Add salty topping of your choosing, and noms away!

National Mustard Day (Yesterday!)

2009-08-02T03:21:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was National Mustard Day and I hope you found the time to celebrate, as mustard is no question my favorite condiment of all, possibly even my favorite food. Some of our killa peas members came together today and enjoyed a Beet & Chard Pasta with Mustard Sauce, Fried Green Tomatoes from Jon's parent's garden dipped in various types of mustard, and some Fresh Cut Potato and Sweet Potato Fries dipped in mustard OF COURSE. This meal was enjoyed outdoors with a perfect moonlit sky. If you didn't already celebrate, be sure to top your morning granola or smoothie with a bit of your favorite style of mustard.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/mustardhistory.htm

Here is a quite blurry picture, but worth sharing:

Vegan Dad's Meatballs Cocktail Party Style

2009-07-31T16:49:00.006-05:00

I had a craving for some sweet meatballs after seeing "Swedish Meatballs" advertised at IKEA. So I came home and made Vegan Dad's Italian Meatballs and added my own twist topping them with a sauce consisting of about 3 parts BBQ Sauce and 2 parts Grape Jelly. This recipe is awesome!
VEGAN DAD ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Kale w/ Peanut Butter Sauce

2009-07-31T16:38:00.006-05:00

This is a great way to enjoy the sometimes under-appreciated green Kale.
Ingredients:
1 Bunch Kale
2 TBSP Natural Peanut Butter (Whole Foods 365 being my favorite)
1 TBSP Soy Sauce
3/4 TBSP Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Maple Syrup(optional)
Sriracha(optional)

1. Break stems off kale and pull into edible size pieces.
2.Place in a skillet over medium/high heat with a squirt of water. Add a little sea salt and pepper, and give the Kale a squirt of lemon juice.
3.While this is cooking, mix all other ingredients and mash
peanut butter into sauce with a fork.
4.Add a little water to get the correct consistency.
5.When Kale looks a brighter green and shrinks down a bit,
add this sauce to the skillet of Kale and let thicket for just a minute or two.
6. Garnish with some Sriracha if you like your greens with some heat.
7.Serve with a smile and enjoy with a good looking friend.

Okra with Tomatoes and Corn

2009-07-30T21:49:00.010-05:00

I love okra but have never worked with this peculiar vegetable before, so I bought some and found from the internet that Okra with Tomatoes and Corn is a classic, simple dish. What the recipes didn't tell me (and I had to find out from the Chef at the hotel I work at, after I noticed the hotel serves this dish) was the crucial first step for taking the slime and bitterness out of okra.

1 small onion, chopped
2 good handfuls (and assuming most people have bigger hands than I do) of okra, stemmed and sliced ~1/2 inch thick
1 large tomato, diced
~1/3 can of corn
crushed red pepper

Take your okra and sautee with oil in a really HOT pan
Put aside and toss the onion into the pan till soft (no need for oil from here on out, just let 'em sweat)
Add the tomato and cook for short time to soften it
Add the corn, okra, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and simmer on low heat for another 15 or so minutes
Serve on rice or as a side dish. Sprinkling a little shredded parmesan can be a nice touch.

Mushroom "Bolognese"

2009-07-14T20:19:00.004-05:00

For dinner tonight we had a mushroom bolognese - or at least my version of it - accompanied with a super rich soup contributed by Jonathan. I think they paired nicely, though both of them were very filling. I've never had a true bolognese sauce, I think though that they are supposed to be really creamy and fatty...but then again I have no idea. Lily Allen makes a reference to it in one of her songs. All in all, the dish came out well. I'll definitely try making this one again.

"Bolognese" Sauce

1 pkg mushrooms (8-10 oz) chopped finely

1 small onion

2-3 cloves garlic minced

3 tbl tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tbl Earth Balance (I know that seems like a lot, but it's worth it)

Olive Oil

oregano

parsley

salt and pepper

fresh basil

In a large skillet cook the mushrooms in olive oil until they are brown and have released their juices. Add the onion, cook until translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes, stir thoroughly. Cook until the sauce reduces to a thick creamy consistency, this took maybe 10-15 minutes. Melt in the Earth Balance or any type of butter. Add the spices, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the sauce, and add in some fresh basil if you have any on hand.

I served the sauce over some pasta from the farmer's market. It was a mixture of two already opened packages - I think one was spinach and the other was sweet basil. It was tasty, but this sauce would be really good over ordinary spaghetti noodles.

Peach-Strawberry Crisp

2009-07-10T14:24:00.004-05:00

So the Farmer's Market had some great looking peaches, so I bought 1,000. Well, not quite - but way more than I was going to eat. I also had some strawberries that were in need of some eating. This is a tasty and easy way to use up some fruit that's about to go bad. Waste not!

Peach-Strawberry Crisp

6 small peaches, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 cup of small strawberries, sliced

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup vegan butter

Mix the oats, flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Layer the peaches and strawberries in a small baking dish. Sprinkle the oat mixture on top of the fruit. Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes. You want to make sure you get some real nice crunchy bits. Mine came out a little saucier than I expected, but it was still very tasty. The crisp is delicious on its own, but even better with some vanilla ice cream.

Thai-inspired coconut tofu soup

2009-07-06T19:26:00.008-05:00

Jonathan and I tried our hands at this Thai Tom Yum-like soup instead of grilling on the Fourth. Maybe that's why we didn't get to see the fireworks. This is a very flavorful soup that can withstand your personal interpretation of the ingredients.

5 cups vegetable stock (we ended up using only two cups stock & two cups water or so, but it turned out fine
1 can coconut milk
1-3 small Thai chili peppers, minced unseeded (small red chili or jalapeno peppers would also be good)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, sliced
a generous amount of ginger, thinly sliced
Enoki mushrooms (straw mushrooms would also be delicious)
cauliflower (bell peppers would also be good)
snow peas
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, cut up in large chunks
soy sauce
1 package tofu, diced (we used firm, but soft would probably be much better)
1 lime (or if you have lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves)
fresh cilantro and/or green onions

These ingredients make for a big soup--I've been eating it for days

Bring the stock to boil in a large pot. Toss in the chili peppers, garlic, onion, and ginger. Let boil for an additional 5 min. Add in the mushrooms, snow peas, carrots, and cauliflower and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat on low and pour in the coconut milk and tomatoes. Add soy sauce to taste--more if the broth is too sweet. Put in the tofu and squeeze in the lime juice before simmering for several minutes. Serve with a hearty garnish of cilantro & green onions. Serve with rice for a full meal.

Note about the chili peppers: I love spicy foods, so I made the mistake of adding too many chili peppers here. The peppers give the broth a really nice kick, but they really shouldn't overpower the other flavors of the soup. Two peppers for this size of soup would be fine; I would not go for more than three.

Kong Gook Soo (Cold Soybean Noodle Soup)

2009-06-15T21:37:00.005-05:00

Yum, so refreshing, and also one of the cheapest and easiest things to make ever. Seriously I think there were six ingredients, seven if you include water or ice-cubes. In Korean it's called Kong Gook Soo, literally soy bean soup. It is one of the few vegetarian/vegan dishes you will find at authentic Korean restaurants. Most Korean markets sell packaged mixes and they're pretty good, but it's just so easy to make yourself.

I only wish it were 80 degrees and sunny instead of muggy and gray so I could enjoy it even more.

Kong Gook Soo

2 cups dried soybeans

5-6 cups of cold water

optional: pine nuts or walnuts

Somen or Somyeon noodles - thin wheat noodles (look like white soba, they also come in bundles like soba)

salt

sesame seeds

cucumber, thinly sliced

ice-cubes

Soak the soybeans in hot water for 1-2 hours. Boil the beans and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Don't worry if they never get super soft. Rinse the beans in cold water.

You may have to do the blending in two parts. I did and I used a normal sized processor. I pureed half the beans with about 3 cups of water. Dump that in a bowl, and puree the rest. I also added a small palmful of pine nuts to this mixture.

Salt to taste

You may want to pour this mixture through a sieve if it's still chunky. Or you can just thin it out with more water. At the end you should have a pretty smooth consistency.

Put desired amount of noodles in bowl, a couple of ladles of soup in bowl. Garnish with cucumber and sesame seeds. Drop in some ice-cubes to keep it nice and cold. I recommend an 80 degree day without a cloud in sight as the perfect pairing.

BBQ Portobello Garden Burger

2009-06-06T18:12:00.004-05:00

I had to go back to back cause I have a lot of recipes I am excited about and want to share and I haven't posted in a while. So here is another one that is great for that perfect spring barbecue.

Portobello Burger

1 portobello cap

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 Roma tomato

1/2 green pepper

1/4 cup chickpeas

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp yellow mustard

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp mustard powder

2 cups breadcrumbs

2tsp olive oil

2/3 flour

1/2 tsp celery salt

salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to your food processor and blend until you get a nice crumbly very thick mixture. Put in mixing bowl and make sure its all well mixed together. Form into patties and bake in the oven at 325 for about 20-25 minutes. Once its done in the oven mover her over to the grill and grill on both sides for like 3 minutes each. Get your self some good bread, your favorite BBQ sauce, and all the fixings. Enjoy.

Depending on the size of your patties, it can feed about six with good sized burgers.

Salisbury Seitan with Canadian Wild Rice

2009-06-06T17:37:00.003-05:00

I was looking for a real manly meal so I guess this is what I came up with.

Seitan

3 cups Gluten Flour

1 cup water

3tbsp soy sauce

1/4cup crushed tomato

2 cloves garlic

1tbsp cumin

1tbsp onion powder

3 tbsp kosher salt

1/4cup olive oil

1tsp mustard powder

First put the tomato, soy sauce, garlic, oil, and spices in a food processor until you get a nice paste. Then in a mixing bowl add the paste, water and flour until it all comes together. Form it into a log and wrap in tin foil. Steam for 1 hour. After the seitan is done cooking then marinate it in soy sauce, maple syrup and liquid smoke overnight.

The Rice

1 1/2 cups Canadian wild rice

2 1/2 cups of water

pinch of salt

drop of lemon juice

Add your rice, water, lemon juice and salt to your favorite saucepan. Bring to a boil. Then turn down heat to very low, cover and cook for one hour. Its worth it.

Gravy

2/3 cup of vegan butter

1/3 cup of hemp milk

1/2 onion pureed

2 cloves garlic

1tsp chives

1tsp sage

1/2 tsp cumin

2tsp soy sauce

pepper

Add garlic, onion and butter to saucepan. When you smell that wonderful garlic through the whole room add the hemp milk. Then add your spices and soy sauce. Whisk in your flour until you get the consistency you like.

Slice up a couple of seitan steaks, put it over some wonderful wild rice, load it with gravy, sprinkle with some red pepper flakes, grab a beer and enjoy.

Stealin' never tasted so good - Red Lentil Soup with Green Apple Salsa

2009-06-06T01:06:00.004-05:00

I admit it, this recipe is not mine. I found it on FatFreeVegan.com, but boy oh boy is it good. So I've stolen it and will share it with you here. There's been some red lentils and coconut milk hanging out in my pantry, so I decided to give them a chance to get to know each other a little more intimately.

Salsa:

2/3 cup finely chopped Granny Smith apple
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Soup:

3 1/2 cups veggie broth/stock
1 cup dried small red lentils
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (original recipe suggests light, but really who are we kidding here?)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa:

Combine the first 4 ingredients; cover and chill. (that was easy)

For the soup:

Combine broth, lentils, and onion in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until lentils are tender.

Pour half of lentil mixture in a blender; let stand 5 minutes (so that you don't build up to much steam in your blender). Process until smooth and pour the pureed lentil mixture into a bowl.

Pour remaining lentil mixture into blender; process until smooth. Add coconut milk, tomato paste, ginger, cumin, and turmeric; process until smooth.

Return coconut milk mixture and remaining pureed lentil mixture to the pot. Cover and simmer over medium heat 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon juice, salt, and pepper. Ladle about 1 cup soup into each of 4 bowls. Don't forget to top each serving with 1/4 cup salsa.

It is so delicious and so easy and fast, perfect soup for the summer

Raw Squash Peas and Tomato Zucchini Artichoke

2009-06-05T16:20:00.002-05:00

FOR TWO:

Ingredients

1/2 Tomato
2 Baby Artichoke (soaked prepared)
1/4 Cup Garbanzos
4 Crimini Mushrooms
1 Zucchini
1 Yellow Squash
Olive Oil and Bragg's to taste

Cube the tomato. Throw in bowl. Pitch Garbanzos (once washed) in bowl. Toss picked apart Artichoke in bowl. Slice mushrooms and huck them in the bowl. Use vegetable peeler or mandolin to create pasta noodles with Zucchini and Yellow Squash. Drop them in the bowl. Add your favorite pasta spices. Turn around. Turn back around. Eat. Raw. Pasta. Life is good.

Lasagna Spirals in Vodka Sauce

2009-06-03T19:20:00.004-05:00

This is a really easy recipe, though there seems to be a lot of steps. The most intimidating bit is probably the vodka sauce, but it was honestly so simple. This particular dish was not vegan but can easily be made vegan with a few changes. I looked up some alternatives for the heavy cream( ground cashews/or nutritional yeast) and ricotta (seasoned crumbled firm tofu). I'm not sure how those will work out, but I think I might try them out to see.

Lasagna Spirals:

9 boiled Lasagna noodles (depends on how many are being served)

1 cup ricotta (or vegan ricotta mixture made from tofu, garlic powder, salt, nutmeg)

1 cup cooked spinach

1 ½ cup sliced baby portabella mushrooms

salt

pepper

nutmeg

In a medium sized bowl mix the spinach, salt, pepper and nutmeg with the ricotta. Spread a thin layer of the mixture onto a lasagna noodle. Layer some mushrooms on top. Roll the noodle to create a spiral shape.

Vodka Sauce

1 can diced tomato

1 can tomato sauce

½ cup of heavy cream (vegan alternatives are cashew or nutritional yeast)

¼ cup of vodka

6-7 cloves garlic

1 tbl olive oil

crushed red pepper

salt

pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Smash garlic cloves and add to the pan. After the garlic has browned, add the diced tomato and tomato sauce. Add generous amounts of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper (depending on how much heat you want). Bring the sauce to a boil and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the vodka, simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Fish out the garlic cloves. Add ½ cup of cream (or ground cashews or nutritional yeast). Simmer for another 2-3 minutes.

Ladle half the sauce into a baking sheet with sides. Place the lasagna rolls onto the sauce. Ladle the rest of the sauce on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

We paired this meal with a delicious, delicious gimlet – my favorite cocktail. Ask Stephen for his recipe.

Banana-Nut Bok Choy with Baked Tofu

2009-05-30T15:12:00.004-05:00

I had a few over-ripe banana's that I was trying to get rid of so I decided to experiment with a sweet, summery sauce. When I do it again, I will probably put some more nuts in the sauce to give it a better texture.

Banana-Nut Bok Choy

Banana Nut Sauce:

2 over ripe bananas

20 raw cashews

2 Tbsp. Soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 Tbsp. crushed red pepper

1/2 Tbsp. Paprika

Just toss all of the ingredients in your blender or food processor and let them liquify.

Bok Choy

Get some onions, garlic, and oil going in a frying pan and let that simmer over medium heat for about 2 minutes. While this is going, wash and peal apart 3 baby bok choys, then add that into your pan and cover for 6-9 minutes until bok choy is soft but still has a crunch. Then add the banana nut sauce and let it reduce for about 3 minutes.

Serve warm over brown rice.

Baked Tofu

1 block tofu, cut into strips

marinade:

2 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. Water

1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. lemmon juice

Soak the tofu in the marinade for as long as you can stand to wait. Then, broil the tofu on a greased flat pan for 7 minutes on a side.

smoky tofu with roasted corn salad and spiced sweet potatoes

2009-05-27T23:06:00.005-05:00

Hey dudes. It has been awhile since I posted but nonetheless here is a dish I made a week or two ago. Its pretty simple. Might be a pain in the ass now to have your oven on with the warm weather , but that is what makes this much easier to put together. You can do this all on the stove top too. Either way, it should be alright.

Smoky tofu
1 block of tofu cut into 16 triangles.
oil
black pepper
tamari
liquid smoke

Pan fry tofu in a few teaspoons of oil. Cook both sides until golden brown. Then once just about done, splash the tofu with tamari and liquid smoke. Season with black pepper and bake for about 20 mins at 375 ish.

For the sweet potatoes.....
Cube one or two decent sized sweets into about a 1 in dice. Boil for about ten minutes in salted boiling water. Once done, toss drained hot potatoes with olive oil and spice mixture (cumin, coriander, chili powder or paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper). Roast with tofu for about 20 mins.

Roasted corn salad
2 ears corn, roasted
1 green or red bell pepper, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced
1 can black or kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 avocado, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Mix everything together.

The sauce on the plate was a cashew sour cream with siracha dots.

Hope you like this one!

Food Party!

2009-05-25T10:24:00.012-05:00

It looks as if the blog has taken a little break - but no worries we've all been cooking just the same. Term papers, exams, and general end of semester stress has made us a little neglectful of the blog. Well, summer is here and I thought I'd start it off with some pictures of one of our spectacular food parties.

A little while ago, maybe two weeks ago, some of us had an awesome potluck. The premise was that if Anthony made a delicious vegan pizza for Jonathan and Michael, they would start eating vegan. They have been vegan since. The potluck included fried rice burritos, fresh spring rolls, vegan pizzas, cornbread and delicious, delicious chocolate mousse (vegan!) - which you may have seen on Yana's post.

We were all so stuffed it hurt, but I know I could not stop stuffing my mouth. Good job ladies and gentlemen!

Kelly's finger is no longer with us...

Fried Rice Burritos

Fresh Spring Rolls

Supa Kewt!

Vegan Pizzas

Super Sangria

2009-05-15T11:38:00.002-05:00

So remember about a month ago, when the weather was still cold and gloomy, there was that one beautiful day where you realized there was no possible way you were getting any work done? I remember it because a couple of buds and I went to Bread Company in Urbana to sit outside and drink sangria. Their sangria is unreal, and at $9 for 1/2pint, it’s a steal. Joj, Samantha and I have been trying to duplicate that sangria, and here’s our best attempt so far:

1 bottle red wine (we used Cameron Hughes Lot 86)

1 mango

1 pear

2 small green apples

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

½ cranberry juice

Splash of brandy

Splash lemon juice

2 cups ginger ale

ice

2-3 buddies

In a large pitcher, pour in the whole bottle of wine. Dice up all the fruit, add them, and all the other ingredients, stir gently so as not to crush the carbonation. The brandy should be used sparingly, just to fortify the wine, not to liquor-up your sangria.

Best served on a porch with friends.

Spicy Lentil Tacos

2009-05-15T11:34:00.002-05:00

This one’s adapted from Epicurious. Its another super easy one, it takes about 30 minutes to cook, but it is almost all down time which you can spend drinking sangria with your buds!

Tablespoon EVOO

½ onion

2 cloves garlic

1 large king oyster mushroom (or like 4 button mushrooms)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon taco seasoning (or just use cumin, allspice, chili powder, and onion powder)

2 ½ cups veggie broth (we use ‘better than boullion’)

1 cup dry brown lentils

Hard taco shells

Diced tomatoes (canned is fine)

Jalapeño pepper (diced)

Lettuce (chopped)

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese

Your favorite hot sauce!

Ok, here we go…

Dice the onion, garlic and mushrooms into very small pieces. Heat up a pan with the EVOO and sauté them with the salt and seasoning until the onions are soft and turning golden. I like to use a wok because it keeps all the ingredients in one small spot at the bottom of the pan. Then add the dry lentils, and fry for about a minute, just to warm them up.

Now, add the 2 ½ cups broth into the pan, turn down the heat to a simmer, and cover, stirring occasionally. It will take about 30min for the lentils to soften, so I recommend you use this time to make our sangria recipe.

Now, 30 minutes later, the lentils are all soft and you’re drinking sangria! Use your wooden spoon to mash up some of the lentils so it becomes sort of like a paste.

We like to put the lentils into hard shells, and then have bowls with diced tomatoes, diced jalapeños, chopped lettuce, sour cream, and cheese. Then people can choose what they want to put on their delicious tacos.

I know this recipe sounds real simple (it is), and a bit boring, but I promise there’s a lot of good flavour in them. As a bonus, you can try your own taco seasoning recipe – post it the comments!

Dave Thomas would be Proud of this one.

2009-05-14T15:18:00.008-05:00

I made this blend one night and it turned out to taste just how i remember a frosty from Wendy's to taste. Super easy, while fulfilling that Frosty craving.

Give or take:
1cup ice
1cup almond milk
3/4 cup Dark Chocolate peanut butter

Blend these guys until frosty like and reminisce.

Raw Pad Thai w/ Young Coconut "Noodles"

2009-05-14T14:53:00.004-05:00

My unorganized raw interpretation of a classic pad Thai dish.

1 young coconut
1 mandarin orange
1/2 cup raw peanuts
1tbsp Bragg's
1 tsp sea salt
red pepper flakes
1tsp sesame seeds
1/3 cup sprouts of your choice

For the Noodles
Split the young coconut in half and reserve the water from it. With a spoon or straw, scrape the meat of the coconut out in long strands that resemble noodles. Reserve these in the coconut water until your ready to plate them.

For the Sauce
Put peanuts, a little coconut water, braggs, salt and red pepper flakes in food processor. Blend until you reach the thickness you want. I made it thick but it probably would but much better thinner so you could just spoon it over everything and not have to mix it up so much.

Put the noodles, some orange wedges, the sprouts and your sauce together, sprinkle it with some sesame seeds and enjoy!

If I did it again I would have added Onions

2009-05-13T17:56:00.004-05:00

Here’s another one based on a Giada recipe. The Pasta Ponza. We halved her recipe to serve 2 people:

It’s a super easy dish, most of the time ‘preparing’ the meal was spent sitting on the porch.

1 box of red cherry tomatoes

¼ of capers

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ a cup breadcrumbs

Oregano, parsley, garlic powder (to mix with the bread crumbs to make “Italian style”)

½ large box of rigatoni

¾ cup grated Romano cheese

¼ cup cilantro

(optional) red pepper flakes

Preheat your ovenbox to 375F. Then, (vegan) butter an 8x8in tray. Halve the tomatoes, and put in the tray. Add capers, EVOO, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs, and toss the whole thing to mix evenly. We only had plain crumbs, so to make them ‘Italian,’ we mixed in oregano, parsley, and garlic powder. Place they dish in the center rack for 30minutes, until golden brown.

This is a good time relax on your porch. We paired our porch sit with some Sam Adam’s Boston Lager. It was a great pairing.

Next, boil half of the box of rigatoni – refer to your box for an estimate on how long this will take. Save a cup of the pasta water to add into the sauce later. Then, place the noodles in a large bowl, add the sauce on top, and toss the whole thing. Add the pasta-water if the sauce is too thick.

We topped the plate off with Romano cheese and fresh cilantro. Samantha loves cilantro, so we used a lot.

Thank Giada and her large noggin for this one!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pasta-ponza-recipe/index.html

I am Really Going to Mousse You

2009-05-09T13:47:00.006-05:00

So I think this blog is missing a very important component, that component being dessert. The following is a recipe for an incredibly decadent, an incredibly easy, and an incredibly vegan dessert.

Chocolate Mousse with Candied Hazelnuts

1/2 cup chocolate soy milk

10 ounces of semisweet vegan chocolate chips

12 ounces (firm) silken tofu

1/4 cup Frangelico (if you do not want alcohol in the mix, simply do 3/4 cup soy milk)

1/8 teaspoon coffee extract (optional)
1/2 cup of (toasted) hazelnuts
4 tsps of sugar

Bring the chocolate milk to a simmer in a small pan. Remove the milk from heat and let cool. Meanwhile melt the chocolate chips, using a double-boiler method. Remove from heat.

Combine the soy milk and silken tofu with the melted chocolate chips. Using a hand or regular blender combine the above until completely smooth. Stir in the Frangelico and coffee extract. Taste the mixture and adjust ratios based on preference.

This is the hard part....Transfer the mixture into a big bowl (or several small ones) and cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. It'll be terribly tempting to eat the whole thing right then and there but you will not get the smooth, rich, mousse-like texture you're looking for unless you pretend the mousse does not exist for those two hours.

As your mousse is cooling, chop you toasted hazelnut into coarse bits and pieces. Transfer the hazelnuts to a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir continuously with a wooden spoon. After about 1.5 minutes, the sugar will begin to dissolve and coat the hazelnuts. Do not let the sugar burn, and keep things moving. Once it appears as all the sugar has dissolved, transfer the nuts to a bowl and let cool. As soon as the nuts become cool to the touch, break up an clumps that may have occurred.

To serve, sprinkle the hazelnuts over the mousse. Attempt to avoid getting your tears of joy into the mousse, as they will leave an unsatisfactory after taste.

Vichyssois and Cannellini Walnut Fettucini

2009-05-07T10:02:00.004-05:00

I've always loved Vichyssois, and it sounds ways more pretentious than it is. It's really just a leek and potato soup served cold. We served the soup with some pasta that we bought at the farmers market, it's super fresh and delicious. I kept the pasta pretty simple since I wanted to highlight the actual noodles. Stephen decided to pair our meal with a side of Kafka.

Metamorphosis by Kafka

1 tbl of deep melancholy

1 1/2 tbl of existential tears

Vichyssois

4 med. Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into 1 inch cubes

4 small leeks, diced (only the white and pale green parts)

1 head of garlic, roasted in the oven

5 cups of vegetable broth

1 1/2 tsp sage

1 tbl butter, olive oil or vegan butter

salt and pepper to taste

fresh dill for garnish

Roast garlic in an oven at 400F for about an hour. It's most time efficient to do this right at the beginning. In the meantime, saute the leeks in butter in a large soup pot on medium high. Crushing the sage leaves, add to the pot. Saute for about 7 minutes, or until tender.

Add the potatoes and broth. Cover for about 40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. After the potatoes are tender, puree the soup in a blender in small increments so you don't have hot soup explode on your face. You'll probably do this 3 or 4 times. Each time you are pureeing the soup, squeeze some of the roasted garlic into the blender. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Garnish with some fresh dill.

Cannellini Walnut Fettucini

1 pkg Fettucini, we used a dill, herb pasta from the farmer's market

1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 cups cannellini beans, or similar white beans

2 tbl olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1tbl fresh dill, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

If using canned beans this will go buy a lot quicker, but if you are using dried start hydrating your beans as you are starting the meal - or a day in advance. There's not much worse than hungrily waiting for your beans to hydrate. Otherwise, if you've got everything ready this pasta is super quick to make.

In a large bowl toss the all of the ingredients with the fettucini - making sure to get everything nice and incorporated. This dish is good served room temperature.

Again, this is a great cold meal for a hot night. This has been the theme of my recipes for a while, but there's nothing I love more than a refreshing meal out on the porch.

Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

2009-05-05T18:54:00.004-05:00

For my inaugural post I'll stick with a recipe I found online. Does that count? We paired it with an arugula blended salad (with oil, salt and lemon juice), pickled beets and a red wine, but I think a dry white would really top it off.

Ingredients
Kosher Salt
Olive oil (it's specified as "good olive oil" but I think we're all above that)
3/4 lb dried lasagna noodles
4 cups whole milk (we used skim and the only difference is that you might need to add a bit more flour)
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 C All-purpose flour
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t ground nutmeg
1 1/2 lb portobello mushrooms (it'll seem like a lot, but really go for it)
1 c freshly ground Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375.

Cook lasagna noodles for about 10 minutes.

For the white sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a sauce pan and set aside. Melt 8 tablespoons of butter in a large sauce pan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over low heat, stirring constantly. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper and nutmeg, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring first with a spoon and then with a whisk for 3-5 minutes until thick. Set aside off heat.

Slice mushroom caps 1/4" thick and simmer with a bit of salt in a mixture of oil and butter for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and they release some of their juices. Add oil as necessary.

To assemble the lasagna spread some of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, then 1/3 of the mushrooms and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Repeat that procedure two more times layering noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and parmasan. Top with a final layer of noodles and sauce and sprinkle with remaining parmasan.

Bake lasagna for 45 minutes or until the top is browned.

Recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com, "Barefoot Contessa at Home"

Fresh Spring Rolls

2009-05-04T20:31:00.011-05:00

To counter all the heavy greasy foods we sometimes eat, I like to make these spring rolls. They are light and fresh while still being filling. My dad used to make these a lot when I was a kid - he spent some of his childhood in Vietnam and ate a lot of these. It's a cold dish so it's great for the summer. Definitely a party pleaser because it looks so much harder to make than it actually is. Spring rolls are great because they're so versatile and you can work with what you've got. I like to keep some things standard like the vermicelli and bean sprouts, but you can go nuts.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Medium sized spring roll wrappers

1/4 package of vermicelli or mung bean noodles

2 squares of firm tofu, pan seared and cut into strips

1/2 lb of seitan, pan fried

1 1/2 cup bean sprout

1 cup cilantro

1 cup choice of greens - we used a spring mix

1/2 large english cucumber

1 red bell pepper

2 green onions

**These are definitely approximate measurements - it depends on how many spring rolls you want to make.

Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

2 tbl Ketchup

1 tsp Sriracha (more or less depending on your preference)

1 tbl soysauce

1 tsp vinegar

1 tbl honey or brown sugar

Using warm water and a flat surface, soak an individual wrapper with a couple tablespoons of water. You may have to spread the water with your hands. Be careful not to rip the wrapper as it is pretty fragile. Once the wrapper is completely hydrated, which should take about 5 minutes, it should be a little sticky and gummy. Place a small amount of each of the ingredients on side of the wrapper closest to you.

Start rolling the spring roll, keeping all the ingredients together. Once you're about in the middle fold the sides in and then continue rolling. Think of a burrito.

This wrapper is pretty forgiving - you might see that I have my finger caught it in. At the end they always look presentable. Let the spring rolls sit for a couple minutes to let them dry. Serve them up with the sweet and sour dipping sauce, and enjoy a tasty beverage. We had Capital's Maibock with ours.

I should give Stephen a lot of credit for this one, he wrapped a lot of the spring rolls and also helped prepare the ingredients. Thanks Stephen!

Cashew Creme Wild Mushroom Spaghetti with Arugula and Smokey tofu

2009-05-02T21:04:00.005-05:00

This dish was inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe in which he went out and picked wild vegetables all around the inner city in London. He found wild fennel, arugula and a bunch of herbs, which makes me want to start looking around Urbana a whole bunch more for wild food stuffs. I got my arugula wild picked at Trader Joes.

Arugula and Wild Mushroom Spaghetti, Cashew Creme Sauce, Smokey tofu, Arugula Salad

for the pasta

1/2 lb ww spaghetti
3 cloves garlic sliced thin
2 cups wild mushrooms, sliced ( I used shiitake, cremini, and oyster)
2 large spring onions, sliced lengthwise to mimic the pasta shape
1 bunch arugula
1 cup cashew creme
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 block of smokey tofu, sliced into strips, or cut into triangles
salt + pepper to taste (easy on the pepper because the arugula is quite peppery)
olive oil

for the salad

1 bunch of arugula
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Smokey tofu

1 block of tofu, pressed and drained, sliced into 8-10 slabs
1/4 cup tamari
3 tbsp liquid smoke
black pepper

Marinate tofu for about an hour. Reserve marinade. Fry tofu in a pan until brown on both sides, then splash with leftover marinade. Throw on a sheet tray and into a 400F oven for about 30 mins.

Cashew Creme

1/2 cup cashews
1 cup water

Add cashews and a half a cup of water to a blender. Blend until smooth adding more water if needed.

Start out by making the smokey tofu. Then start your boiling water and throw your pasta in. Get a pan hot add oil and crisp up your mushrooms, cook for about 5 minutes, add sliced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a few minutes. Add your sliced spring onions. Then add your arugula. Make sure not to over cook. Add cashew creme and nutritional yeast. Add cooked pasta and a little pasta cooking water to thin out the creme.

When ready to assemble make the salad by dressing the arugula with the oil, lemon juice and salt. Plate the spaghetti on the bottom. Sprinkle your sliced smokey tofu and then top with the arugula salad. Garnish with toasted pine nuts.

Enjoy right away.

Sweet Potato Spring Curry

2009-04-29T20:33:00.006-05:00

This is an ode to Spring! Try this meal out when you're sitting on your porch. I swear it makes it taste better. The sweet potato and coconut milk are perfect with the spiciness of the curry. This is a great light dish with a ton of aroma. We served this with some Jasmine rice, but I didn't need too much because this dish is more like a soup than a heavy curry. I would have loved to add some lemongrass if I had some on hand.

Sweet Potato Spring Curry

1 large sweet potato (or yam), cubed

2 cups of firm tofu, cubed

1 1/2 cups of sugar snap peas

1 large red bell pepper

1 small onion, chopped in large pieces

3-4 cups water

1 can of coconut milk

2 tsp Better than Bouillon

2 tsp of Thai red curry paste

1 1/2 tbl chili garlic sauce

2 cloves garlic

1 tbl ginger

cilantro chopped for serving

green onion chopped for serving

Vegetable oil and sesame oil for cooking

In a large pot saute the sweet potatoes and onion in vegetable oil and a bit of sesame oil for aroma. Add ginger and garlic. After about 5 minutes add the water, bouillon, curry paste, chili sauce. Add the coconut milk and blend in.

After about 20 minutes add the sugar snap peas, tofu and bell pepper. After about 10 minutes it's done! Sprinkle green onion and cilantro on top. Serve with a side of jasmine rice. Enjoy this tasty spring dish!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

2009-04-28T13:14:00.005-05:00

What is better on your birthday than a giant chocolate chip cookie cake? Nothing, duh.

Happy Birthday !

Normal size cookies in the back, a behemoth up front. Yeah, of course it's vegan too!

Seitan Chik'n Nuggets

2009-04-27T19:06:00.004-05:00

Seitan

1 cup 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten

1/3 cup of oil

1 1/3 cup water

1 tbsp crushed peppercorns

1 tbsp crushed mustard seed

2 tbsp salt

2 teaspoons dehydrated red bell pepper flakes

1 tsp onion powder

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix till everything is combined together and let it rest for about 5 minutes. While you are so patiently waiting, set up a pot with about a cup of water in it and bring it to a boil. Wrap you seitan in foil and put it in the pot. Cover and steam for about 35-40 minutes. Check the water level now and then so you don't burn your pot. When you have about ten minutes left preheat your oven to 325. When you are finished steaming bake seitan in the oven for 15 minutes still wrapped in the foil.

Nugget batter

1 1/2 cups of WW pastry flour

2/3 cup almond or hemp milk

2 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Cut your seitan into cute little nugget shapes. Fully coat seitan pieces with batter and fry them up until they are nice and golden brown. Enjoy, dipping sauces are endless

Grilled and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Gorgonzola

2009-04-26T20:53:00.002-05:00

This is a recipe based closely off of Giada's by the same name:

I don't know if this can be made vegan because of the cheese. Sorry about that, I'll try for the next recipe.

3 large portabellas

Diced seitan

Spices for seitan: cumin, chili powder, sage, salt, and pepper

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup ricotta

½ cup gorgonzola

one sprig fresh thyme

Dried oregano

3/4c breadcrumbs

Filling:

Cook the diced seitan in olive oil and all the spices until crispy. Add the 2 cloves garlic, cook one more minute, then remove from heat. Add in everything else and mix thouroughly.

Mushrooms:

Coat the mushrooms in about a ¼ cup of olive oil, and put face down on pan for about 5min, and then face up for about 5 more minutes. The strategy here is to just soften the mushrooms. Then, place the mushrooms on a baking sheet, stuff with all of the filling, top with a touch of ricotta, and broil until brown (7ish minutes).

We paired this meal with New Belgium’s Mothership witbeir. It is a lighter beer, but can stand up to the meaty mushrooms.

Sweet Potato Raisin Yeast Leavened Bread

2009-04-26T17:08:00.003-05:00

I just bought a few sweet potatoes and I have been trying to be more creative than just sticking them in the microwave. My goal with this was to create a slightly sweet breakfast bread that could also pass for a sandwich bread. So here goes...

Sweet Potato Raisin Epi Bread

1 T. active dry yeast

1.5 C. room temperature water

1 medium sweet potato pealed and cubed

4.5 C. whole wheat flour (optional)

1 T. vital wheat gluten flour

2 T. brown sugar

1 t. ground allspice

1 t. ground cinnamon

2 T. canola oil

1/4 C. raisins

corn meal for dusting

Boil the sweet potato about 10 minutes or until soft and mash-able, then mash and let it cool down for a bit.

Put the yeast on top of the water and let that sit while you are mixing your other ingredients. Then mix together whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten flour, spices, oil, salt, and brown sugar until evenly blended. Make a well in the flour and stir in the yeast and water and mashed sweet potato.

Knead for about 10 minutes on a floured counter. Then put in a greased bowl covered with a wet rag. Let the dough rise until doubled in size (about an hour). Then knead in the raisins and let it rise again.

Roll the dough into a cylinder as long as your cookie sheet will allow and put on a cookie sheet with corn meal on it. Then, using scissors, cut three quarters of the way through the dough at a 20 degree angle every 2.5 inches. Pull and push the resulting flaps back and forth so the dough looks like a wheat stalk.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the center of the loaf is 190 degrees.

Serve with white wine and your favorite jam or jelly.

Vegan French Toast

2009-04-25T17:25:00.004-05:00

French Toast

3 pieces of bread( your choice)

1/2 cup unsalted peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp agave

2 tbsp almond milk

pinch of salt.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Heat a frying pan with a little bit of vegan( or regular) butter. Dip both sides of your bread generously in the mixture. Cook until each side is nice and caramlized and crispy. Serve with a banana, maple syrup, earth balance, and a nice mug of almond milk.

Poached Radicchio with Candied Lychee in Ginger Parsnip Broth

2009-04-23T22:06:00.005-05:00

This one is a super simple dish. It's nice for that perfect romantic vegan dinner by candle light.

Ginger-Parsnip Broth

2 parsnips, peeled and cubed

Small knob of ginger, peeled and cut in half

2 carrots, peeled and rough chopped

1 medium sized onion cut in half

3 bay leaves

2 cloves

4 or 5 parsley stems

51/2 cups of water

Add all ingredients in saucepan turn the stove to low heat. Simmer for 41/2 hours. Dont let it Boil!!! Strain it through cheesecloth or a mesh strainer. Cool and refridgerate.

Poached Radicchio

1/2 head of radicchio, shredded

3 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 tsp sea salt

2tsp agave

Mix your water, rice vinegar, salt and agave in a saucepan. Turn the heat on medium low. Heat the mixture until there are only a few bubbles coming up from the bottom now and then, but not boiling. Next shred your radicchio. Poached it in the liquid for about 6 minutes. This takes most of the bitterness out of it.

Candied Lychees

4-5 whole lychees

1 cup of water

1/2 cup cane sugar

Add all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Cook the liquid down until it thickens into a nice syrup. Let them cool.

Once everything is done add a pinch of salt to 4 oz of the broth. Put a spoonful of the radicchio in the broth and pour a little bit of the lychee syrup on it. Put one or two or all of the lychees on top and hit them with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Garnish with parsley or cilantro stem. Goes well with a nice riesling.

Channa Masala with Curried Naan

2009-04-23T21:17:00.007-05:00

Masala again.

I made an ass-load of this dish because it is so damn good I could eat it for days. So here is my take.

Channa Masala with Curried Naan

Channa Masala

6 cups cooked chickpeas
4 potatoes, cubed cooked
1-2 onions, diced
8 cloves garlic minced
1 32 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 cups broth or chickpea cooking liquid

1/2 cup canola or coconut oil
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp cardamom
2 tbsp cumin
3 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tbsp chili powder
4 tbsp cilantro
4 tbsp ww flour

Bash up all your spices in a mortar and pestle. Make sure you toast the mustard, fennel, and mustard seeds first. Pour oil in a pot. Cook all the spices until fragrant. Add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add tomato paste and flour. This helps to thicken the gravy. Cook for about 5mins, stirring constantly, then add tomatoes and juice from the tin. Season intelligently with salt. Add chickpeas and potatoes, cook for 15 minutes, then mash up some of the chickpeas and potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes longer. Serve with naan or rice and some vegan yogurt.

The naan is just a yeast leavened whole wheat dough with coconut milk and curry powder. Cooked in a scorching hot oven, then nicely rubbed with vegan butter. You can scope the recipe here.

Seitan Masala with Spicy Lime Rice

2009-04-23T00:21:00.003-05:00

This one could go good with a mimosa but what can't?

Seitan Masala

1 1/2 cup seitan, cubed

1 medium size onion, diced

1 red pepper, cut into strips

1 small potato, diced

1 1/2 cup tomato juice

1 large tomato, diced

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp wet tamarind

4 tbsp oil

1 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp fennugreek

1 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp Garam masala

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp curry powder

Splash of lemon juice

Salt to to taste

First take the mustard, fennugreek, cumin and fennel seeds and toast them in a dry pan over medium high heat. When the mustard seeds start to pop and the others are nice and golden, grind them up with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Next add your oil to the pan with the ground up seeds and wait to until you smell their wonderful fragrance. Add your oninons and garlic and let them saute for 2-3 minutes. Then add in your tomato juice, fresh tomato, potato, red pepper, tamarind and lemon juice. Season this with the chili powder, curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, salt and lemon juice. Add your seitan, turn the heat down to low, cover and let cook for about 20- 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spicy Lime Rice

1 cup rice of your choice

2 cups water

1 tsp oil

1/2 of an onion

1 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp tumeric

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cayenne

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add onions and cook until soft. Then add your rice. Shake pan until rice is coated with the oil. Add your water and simmer rice until cooked. When the rice is cooked and still hot, add your lime juice, mustard seeds, turmeric, curry powder salt and cayenne. Serve with seitan masala. Garnish with some fresh cilantro or parsley.

Curried Chickpeas, Crispy Purple potato Cake, Avocado

2009-04-20T21:03:00.010-05:00

Curried Chickpeas, Crispy Purple Potato Cake, Avocados

This dish was inspired by color.

Curried Chickpeas

1 Tbsp coriander seeds, crushed in mortar and pestle
1 Tbsp cumin seeds, crushed
1 tbsp Mustard seeds, crushed
1 tsp cardamom, ground
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp cayenne or chili powder
3 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 a large onion, chopped
1.5 cup cooked chickpeas
4 Tbsp tomato paste
1 fresh tomato, chopped
salt + pepper to taste

Heat oil in pan. Add all the spices and fry for about 2 minutes. This shit will be fragrant as fuck.
Next, add tomato paste. Cook for about 5 minutes, over about medium heat. Add fresh tomatoes, chopped garlic, and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add chickpeas. Mush up about a third of the chickpeas. This gives the curry some body.

Purple Potato Cake

2 scallions, minced
about 5 small purple potatoes, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt + pepper
2 tbsp flour
oil for frying

Mix together everything. Form into hashbrown-ish cakes. Fry over medium heat until crispy. Flip and do the same to the other side.

Serve atop chickpea curry. Take half an avocado, scoop it out, slice it, fan it on top.

Garnish with cilantro.

Gazpacho and Open-faced sandwiches

2009-04-20T20:20:00.005-05:00

For dinner tonight we had gazpacho and an avocado-tomato open faced sandwich. A super summery dish, probably a bit too premature for the weather. The soup came out a little garlicky, but otherwise was quite tasty with the sandwich.

Gazpacho:

6 ripe tomatoes

2 celery stalks, diced

1 large English cucumber preferably - or you can skin a normal one, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

2 cups tomato juice

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbl olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

A few dashes of tabasco or your favorite hot sauce

In a food processor pulse the tomato, celery, cucumber, onion and garlic. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, stir in the remaining ingredients. Reserve some cilantro for when you serve the soup. The gazpacho tastes best when you let it blend in the refrigerator over night. Drizzle some olive oil on top when served.

Avocado-Tomato Open-Faced Sandwiches

2 slices of roasted garlic bread (from Mirabelle's)

A couple of thin slices of pepper brie (from St. Louis)

Half an avocado, sliced into 1/4 " slices

4 tomato slices

Salt and pepper

Grill the bread on a skillet with some olive oil. Melt the brie on the toast, or of course skip this step if you are omitting the cheese. I suggest using a lemony-mustard Veganaise spread if you're not using cheese. Take off of the skillet, place avocado and then tomato on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Potpie - da best!

2009-04-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

Potpie:

Crust:

2c all-purpose flour

2/4 tsp salt

2/3c shortening

7 Tbsp cold water

Thouroughly mix the salt and the flour together. Cut in the shortening, in small pieces, so there are tiny pieces of shortening throughout the flour. Then add one Tbsp water at a time, and mix in a large bowl. Repeat until all the water is added, and the dough is in one large ball – do not over work it, it will get tough. Roll out on a floured surface. This should make 2 crusts, or one bottom, and one top crust.

Filling:

4 Tbsp butter (or vegan butter)

1 ½ tsp flour

1 tsp better than bouillon

1 Tbl Vegan Worcestershire

black pepper, salt, sage

½ large onion

8 oz mushrooms

2 sticks celery

2 carrots

1/2c frozen corn

1/2c frozen peas

½ a cauliflower head

2 potatoes

- substitute any veggies you want- its potpie!

Preheat oven to 400F

In a large saucepan, heat the butter one medium heat. Slowly sprinkle flour into the melted butter until fragrant. The idea here is to make a thickening agent. Then sauté onions for ~3min. add chopped mushroom, sauté til fragrant. Add all the other veggies, all diced into small pieces. After warming them for about 1min, add water until they are ¾ covered. Add better than bouillon, some salt, pepper and sage (not too much, lets let the veggies shine through!) simmer the crap outta this until thick, maybe 40min. pour into 2 pie dishes, cover each with a crust, and bake uncovered at 400F for about 20 min.

Enjoy with a Founder’s porter!

Black Bean & Mango Salad

2009-04-20T12:33:00.003-05:00

Black Bean & Mango Salad/Salsa

This is no epic first post, but here is a great quick dish, I threw this together one day as a lunch and it was every bit as hearty and satisfying as a dish taking much longer.Rather than alone, this would also work great as a topping for nachos or enchiladas or even a filling for burritos/tacos.

1 Can or equivalent Black Beans, rinsed well
1 Red Mango, diced
1 medium Red Pepper, sliced
1/2 Red Onion, sliced
Chili Powder>
Cayenne Pepper>
Cholula Original Hot Sauce> To Taste

1. Wash your hands.
2. Rinse Black beans.
3. Mix all ingredients.
4. Enjoy with your favorite spoon, a beautiful friend and a tall glass of water.

Open Faced Portabello Mushroom Burgers, Spring Salad, Black Bean Bruschetta, Chick Pea and Potato Brown Rice, and Artichoke ends

2009-04-20T10:49:00.007-05:00

I made dinner last night with my roommate Marcin. It consisted of a few things:
-Open faced Portobello Mushroom Burgers -Spring Mix Salad -Artichoke ends -Brown Rice with Garbanzo Beans and Red Potatoes -Black Bean Bruschetta

IIIINNNSSSTTTRRUUUCCCTIIIOOONNNSSS

Mushroom Burgers:
5 Portobello Mushrooms
1 Red Pepper
2 Baby Artichokes
2 Garlic Cloves
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tsp Thyme

Wash all ingredients with tender care underneath cold water. Make sure to gently brush clean the mushrooms, for they act as a sponge. Combine Thyme, Pepper, Salt, Vinegars, Oil, and minced Garlic Clove in mason jar. Shake furiously. Pour on and marinate mushrooms for 10 to 15 minutes. I tend to think the longer the better. Carefully place the baby artichoke leaves over the marinating mushrooms. Slice the red pepper as if they were to act as slices of cheese for your burger.

Heat your griddle or grill to a medium heat. Oil lightly. Place mushrooms and red pepper as you see above. Heat each side for 5-7.5 minutes. Place on toasted bread. Prepare Salad:

-Spring Mix Salad (For use with Mushroom Burgers)
2 Cups of spring mix (washed in cold water)
1/2 Red Onion Sliced
-Salad Dressing
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tsp Mustard
1 Tsp Honey
1 Tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Prepare like any other salad. Place salad on top of prepared mushroom and dress lightly.

-Artichoke End
1 Large Artichoke
1 Half Lemon Juice

Wash in cold water. Cut stem off base. Stand upright in a deep sauce pan. Squeeze lemon juice over Artichoke to avoid discoloration. Add enough water to come halfway up the side of artichoke and a pinch of salt. Bring to boil on high heat. Partially cover and reduce heat to a gentle boil. Cook until fork tender at base (45 minutes).

-Brown Rice with Garbanzo Beans and Red Potatoes

-3 Small Red Potatoes
3/4 cup canned Garbanzo Beans (drained, washed in cold water)
1 Pound of Brown Rice
1 Cup of Vegetable Broth

Cook rice as per your usual method. Add garbanzo beans and red potatoes when ready. Boil cubed red potatoes for 5-7 minutes and drain. Before adding red potatoes to rice add salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. I usually add the season and cover them with a lid and shake the mixture together. Make sure you serve this combination warm. I wish I would have added some yellow onions, but still the bean and potato combination provided a slight hummus-y like feeling.

-Black Bean Bruschetta
1 Can of vegetarian Black Beans (drained)
1 White Onion (diced)
1 Baguette (sliced in half long ways and then cut into smaller slices)
3 garlic cloves (diced)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tsp Oregano

Heat oven to 450. Prepare baguette and then pull off loose portions of bread to create a bed for bruschetta. Combine and stir all other ingredients in a mixing bowl. Place bread on cookie sheet and spread bruschetta on top of bread. Place loose bread on top of bruschetta. Cook for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

SERVE EVERYTHING

Jalapeño Pretzels

2009-04-19T21:38:00.006-05:00

Sam and Stephen were giving me a hard time for not making pretzels to put on the new pretzel rack that they bought for me in Germany, so I decided to make some jalapeño pretzels to keep the rack company. If you can make bread, you can make pretzels. Here's the recipe:

Jalapeño Pretzels

1.5 Cups of room temperature water
4 Cups of Flour
1 T. Salt
1 Packet (1 T.) active dry yeast

1 Jalapeño Pepper

garlic powder
¼ Cup Baking Soda

Pour the yeast on top of the water, then mix together flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour and slowly mix in the water and yeast. Once it gets too thick for the spoon you can just use your hands to start to form it into a ball and keep mixing it. If there is any flour left in the bowl, use that to flour your counter. Otherwise, flour your counter with some extra flour.

Get a half a pot of water boiling.

Knead and stretch the flour for about 10 minutes or until the dough is stretchy and smooth. Put the dough in a greased bowl and put that in an off oven with the pot of boiling water. That gives it a real good environment to rise.

After dough has doubled in size (about an hour), stretch the dough out flat and sprinkle garlic powder and diced jalapeño peppers over it. Then fold the dough like a business letter and knead until the jalapeños start to fall out. Put the dough back in the oven to rise for another hour.

Split into 8 – 12 pieces and roll into long and skinny log of dough. Then form into the pretzel shape. Put the baking soda in a half pot of water and bring to boil. Boil the pretzels for about 30 seconds on a side. Put the boiled pretzles on a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt or sesame seeds.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown and delicious. Serve with mustard and beer.

Killa' Please

2009-04-19T21:01:00.002-05:00

A Flowering Tomato, Artichoke, Celery and Basmati Lunch

2009-04-19T15:23:00.003-05:00

Nothing too special here... In fact, I'm eating it now, and its horrible!

Does anyone recognize the green flower like plant I have in the dish? Its crazy.

Never mind the recipe, I don't recommend it.

Hoisin Braised Bok Choy, Sesame Tofu & Eggplant , Brown Rice

2009-04-16T14:46:00.005-05:00

This meal, or a variation of it, is kind of a staple at my dinner table. Basically its just some fried tofu with vegetables and a sauce. The Baby Bok Choy was a delicious side as well.

First thing you want to do is get some brown rice going in a pot of boiling water or a rice cooker. I like to use basmati rice usually, but a nice short grain brown rice is good with asian style food.

Hoisin Braised Baby Bok Choy

4 or 5 baby bok choy
3 cloves sliced garlic
knob of ginger, peeled & sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
3-4 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
3-4 tbsp water or vegetable broth

Basically you just want to start in a hot pan with a touch of oil, garlic, and ginger. Fry for 30 seconds, add everything else and lower heat to simmer. Cook for about 15 mins with a lid on. This results in a tender bok choy all the way through.

Sesame Tofu and Eggplant

1 package extra firm tofu, pressed and drained, cut into 1/2 in cubes
3 japanese eggplants
1 red bell pepper, julienned
2 cloves garlic
knob of ginger
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp agave nectar( or sub sugar)
dash of chilis or chili sauce
cold water and arrowroot or cornstarch mixture (about a 2 to 1 mixture)

Start off a hot pan, add 3 tbsp canola oil and fry tofu cubes until golden on all sides. Remove tofu and then add eggplant, cook for about 8 minutes until cooked through and then add peppers, cook for about 3 minutes more. Throw this on top of your tofu. Now make the sauce by frying the garlic, ginger, add all the rest of the stuff and stir until it boils and thickens. Add tofu and veggies to coat. Serve with the rice. Garnish with gomasio.

Roasted Potatoes and Sauteed Spinach served with Creamy Polenta

2009-04-15T21:06:00.002-05:00

So this is a pretty good standby meal for us. It's got the grain staple and some veggies to keep us happy. This is also a pretty inexpensive meal, especially considering how satisfying it is. As the photo indicates, the meal goes great with beer - for this occasion we had Sam Adams Boston Lager, also a good standby.

Roasted Potatoes:

4 small to medium red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

Liberally coat potatoes in olive oil

salt and pepper

Rosemary, or any herb you're in the mood for

Preheat the oven to 400F

Lay potatoes in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake for about half an hour, or until brown and tender.

Sauce for potatoes:

1 Tbl prepared horseradish

2 Tbl veganaise

1 Tbl mustard, preferably the pretentious kind

And if you like more mustard please use more, or if you like more horseradish...you know

Mix 'em all together!

For creamy polenta:

1 cup polenta

4 cups water

1 tsp Better than Bouillon

1 Tbl butter (or vegan butter)

optional: 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

salt to taste

I like to start my polenta in cold water rather than boiling it first, that way the polenta gets nice and creamy. Mix the bouillon into the water, and stir in the polenta. Keep the polenta on medium heat, and stir every so often until it has thickened up. This should take about half an hour.

For Sauteed Spinach:

A colander full of spinach

2 shallots

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 Tbl butter (or vegan butter)

optional: seitan

Saute sliced shallots in butter until they are nice caramelized. Add spinach. Saute until it wilts. Add salt and nutmeg. In a separate pan grill seitan that has been cut in small strips. Add the grilled seitan to the spinach.

This may all seem like a ton of steps, but while the potatoes are in the oven you can get most everything done - especially if you've got a helper in the kitchen. It's super tasty, and filling - great for when you feel like you're in a dinner rut. The horseradish sauce was wonderful with the potatoes, Jonathan should get all the credit for that - it was his prepared horseradish we used. Hope you Enjoy!

Tofu with Horseradish Sauce

2009-04-14T17:42:00.004-05:00

Tofu with Horseradish Sauce

1/4 Block Tofu cut into long strips

canola oil for frying

Black Pepper

1 T. Veganaise

1 T. Dijon Mustard

2 t. Prepared Horseradish

For the sauce, mix the last 4 ingredients together. Then pan sear the big chunks of tofu in hot oil for about 5 minutes on a side. Make sure to sprinkle a good amount of black pepper on each side. Serve with cold sauce over hot tofu.

Steamed Asparagus

4 stalks of white asparagus

4 stalks of green asparagus

1/8 cup red onion

1/8 cup garbanzo beans

2 cloves of garlic

2 t. soy sauce

Drink: Cheep white wine

Put everything in about a half an inch of water over high heat and steam it until the water is gone. Serve with white or brown rice and some prepared horse radish.

This meal has been a real crutch for me the past few days but it just goes so well with the prepared horseradish that I never get bored of it. I serve it with white wine because the tofu kind of reminds me of fish, it's a pretty light meal.