Vegan Entertaining! Southwest Summer Spring Rolls & More

Hooray for another party! Another reason to cook! Another reason to EAT. Memorial Day has previously been an underappreciated holiday for me, but I now understand and value its critical timing (Hello…No days off between MLK Day and now?) and its All-American fervor. As stated in a recent post, I don’t explore American cuisine very much, but this holiday was calling me. So I set out to cook up some grub that could appeal to the average racecar lovin’, trucker hat wearin’, sunburn coated American. While throwing burgers and brats on the grill is the typical way to welcome summer, this vegan can’t pass up the chance to prove that meatless eats go beyond packaged goods and our options are more extensive than beans. Why would I just buy some tofu pups and veggie burgers when I could spend 6 hours cooking something way too elaborate for a simple pool party?

So in searching through Memorial Day menus and recipes, a few ensuing questions came to mind in my search for inspiration. What do my coworkers usually bring to potlucks? What do I normally see at picnics that I can never eat? Layered dip. Check! Rolls or wraps of sorts always laced with cream cheese or ground pork. Coleslaw, duh. And there never fails to be a scrumptious looking dessert that could so easily be made vegan if you replaced the butter with Earth Balance…which led to the following menu.

• - 7 Layer Taco Dip
• - Salsa and Queso
• - Southwest Summer Rolls
• - Purple Coleslaw
• - Apple Crisp

 Holy cow did I binge on some taco dip. I also ate about 3 “practice” summer rolls before the party even started and I am still happily finishing the last of the purple slaw that somehow made it through as leftovers (ok it was a huge batch). I’m still not over that layered dip though. While I made my own vegan sour cream and taco seasoning, you could easily purchase toffuti, some pre-mixed seasoning and packaged seitan to make this super quickly. This queso is a perfected vegan nacho cheese recipe that I make about once a week by request from my token omnivore.

The purple coleslaw was the result of have too many veggies in the crisper in quantities too small to stand alone in any dish. So I combine red cabbage, broccoli stalks, carrots and cucumbers together in one happy purple mess. The dressing was based off a traditional recipe but made healthy by mixing in some leftover homemade vegan sour cream into a standard sweet red wine vinaigrette instead of loading it with a bunch of mayo and sugar.

The apple crisp – not much needs to be said. It’s like a traditional recipe but with Earth Balance instead of butter. Lots of oats on top with some pecans to boot. Crumble it up with some margarine and throw it over sliced apples. Delicious.

And the All-Star Summer Rolls…. Inspired by the famous Chile’s southwest egg roll appetizer, these were by far the favorite. I’ll admit I stumbled on the recipe for the Chile’s version and used it as a starting point. I added more veggies of course and replace the chicken with marinated tofu. I then baked them instead of deep-frying and served them without a dip – because they don’t need anything to cover up their deliciousness! These are super easy even if you make your own tofu. The assembly of course is the most time consuming, but this is worth it for special occasions. To save time, buy the pre-baked and pre-seasoned tofu whose texture is just right for these. I’d also recommend Daiya cheese for the filling: it’s my favorite.

Southwest Summer Rolls
Makes: 14-16 rolls
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 pkg. Extra Firm Tofu, pre-marinated and baked or homemade (recipe below)

1 T. Olive or canola oil

2 Green onions, sliced - white and green parts divided

2 Garlic cloves, minced

¾ c. Mixed bell peppers, diced

½ c. Corn, fresh or frozen (thawed)

½ c. Spinach, cooked or frozen (thawed)

½ tsp. Chili powder

½ tsp. Ground cumin

½ tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Cayenne pepper

½ c. Vegan cheese, grated (i.e. Daiya - Italian)

1 pkg. Spring roll wrappers

Directions

If you are using pre-baked and marinated tofu, cut the block into ¼ inch thick slices, about 12-14 per block. Cut each individual slice into 3 or 4 matchsticks and set aside. For homemade baked tofu, do not cut into matchsticks until you have baked the tofu. To make your own marinated baked tofu, see below.

To make the filling, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté onions, garlic and peppers until vegetables are just tender, 4-5 minutes. Add corn, spinach and spices and cook until corn and spinach are heated through (the peppers should not be al dente but not mushy). Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl. While mixture is still hot, fold in vegan cheese until well blended and melted. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

To assemble, place one spring roll wrapper on a plate or cutting board. Have a small bowl of water and a brush set aside to help seal the rolls. Fill each wrapper with 2 T. of filling and 3-4 pieces of tofu. Brush the top edge with water, about ½ inch down. Starting at the bottom, fold the bottom edge over the filling and secure the filling tightly. Fold each side of the wrapper over the outside edges of the filling and finish by rolling upwards. Press the edge firmly and set aside. Repeat with remaining wrappers. Brush each with canola oil or coat all sides with cooking spray. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until starting to brown. Turn the rolls over and bake an additional 10-13 minutes, or until rolls are golden and crispy.


Marinated Baked Tofu
Makes: 12-16 slices
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pkg. Extra-firm tofu, sliced into ¼ inch thick rectangles

¼ c. White wine or sherry
3 T. Red wine vinegar
3 T. Olive or canola oil
2 T. Soy sauce
2 T. c. Lemon or lime juice, Freshly squeezed
1 tsp. Chili powder*
1 tsp. Ground cumin*
½ tsp. Garlic powder
½ tsp. Onion powder
½ tsp. Paprika*
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp. Black or cayenne pepper

* Note: This is a southwest marinade. The recipe can be used for any dish by toning down the southwest spices. For a basic marinade, only add onion and garlic powders, salt and pepper.

Directions

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Place tofu on paper towels and cover with additional paper towels. Pat dry to ensure most of moisture is removed. Place slices in a glass baking dish and set aside.

Whisk all marinade ingredients together and adjust seasoning to taste. Pour over tofu and flip tofu over to coat all sides. Bake for 15 minutes and flip tofu pieces. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until all the marinade is absorbed.

Slivered Kale Salad with Baby Beets

I might be a salad diva – I mean that in the most humble way. What I mean is I proudly make salads just about every day and not your typical lame side dish. Sure salads typically generate a big ole eye roll. But face it – when made creatively and thoughtfully they are nothing short of delicious and perfect for messing around with savory and sweet combinations. Fruit and veggies can coincide so happily atop a fluffy bed of greens, am I right? It’s important to avoid the makings of a boring salad: romaine or iceberg lettuce, grainy tomato, flavorless stale cucumber, maybe a canned black olive or two, boxed croutons, and gloppy ranch. Blah.
Shredded iceberg does not a salad make. There is a world of greenery out there, most of it edible. Think beyond romaine and spinach (not knocking spinach, but you’ve had your turn…let some other greens share the limelight). I also use the word salad for pretty much anything cold: chickpea quinoa salad, kale salad, Edamame rice salad, etc… it doesn’t even have to have greens. A salad can be an accompaniment to a fantastic meal – a brief, crisp repose from the main attraction – or it can be the featured fare, the underdog of entrees. It can be the avenue to use up the last bit of something before it spoils or to try out new pairings like avocado and apple.

A little chop-chop here and peel-and-shred there, you’re on your way to a dish of pure crunchy bliss. The kicker of course is the dressing. The salad doesn’t have to be all about the dressing, like those sad, tasteless salads you get chain restaurants completely smothered in dressing because what’s under it has no pizzazz. I like to let all components in a salad contribute, and the dressing is just a little something to make the fruit or veggies more vibrant. I don’t buy bottled dressings out of sheer principle. All you need is oil, vinegar, and something to fuse the two…mustard, Tahini, peanut butter, or yogurt. Spruce it up with some herbs or spices and you’re set. Dressing seems intimidating, but you probably have everything you need in your cupboard already. If you don’t have Tahini, try mustard in this dressing.

We ate this as a small side, but with a little baked tempeh, tofu, or some edamame or chickpeas, this could easily be a whole lunch. You could even add some quinoa to get more grains and protein in there. Enjoy!

Slivered Kale Salad with Baby Beets
Makes 2 side servings

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

4-6 Baby beets, assorted colors

4 oz Kale (about 5 leaves), slivered or cut in a chiffonade
¼ c. Zucchini, grated
¼ c. Carrot, grated
¼ c. Cucumber, grated

1 ½ T. White balsamic vinegar or other light tasting vinegar
2 tsp. Tahini
1 tsp. Lemon juice
½ tsp. Thyme, fresh or ¼ tsp. dried
¼ tsp. Salt
Pepper to taste

5-6 Walnuts, chopped

Directions

Place beets in a medium sauce pan and fill with just enough water to cover beets. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Cover pan and simmer for 6-7 minutes or until just tender. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside. When beets are cool enough to handle, slice them thinly.

To cut the kale in a chiffonade, cut out the stems and tough ribs and place leaves on top of each other. Role into a cigar shaped stack and thinly slice from one end to the other. You should have long strings of kale. Combine kale and other vegetables including beets in a medium mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, combine vinegar, Tahini and lemon juice. Whisk with a fork until Tahini completely breaks down and becomes creamy. Add thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over salad and stir to combine completely. Top with chopped walnuts and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauté with Gravy over Grilled Potatoes

One sad potato with demon sprouts, a few borderline-expired homemade veggie sausage links, and a week-long hankering for gravy…these were the real ingredients on hand before coming up with this recipe. Sometimes, despite a fruitful visit to the food store and a newly replenished green supply, you still need to follow the first-in, first-out principle before enjoying the fresh goods. In this case, there were a few items that really needed a chop and chomp before succumbing to the useless, futile fate of the garbage bin - a travesty in my house. Potatoes and veggies sausages.

Sausage and potatoes is not an odd pair in the least nor is it difficult to muster up a recipe that calls for both. Luckily, with my gravy-craving pangs, both pair well with a thick white sauce. I thought of mashed potatoes and gravy, sausage gravy and biscuits or a breakfast-like hash with sausage for dinner, but none of the more conventional recipes involve many vegetables. And while they sound delicious, I still always need a colorful edge to my food, especially after a good, hot run. With all of these recipes ideas paired with my color craving, I starting cooking this dish with no idea of what I was making.

Over the weekend I came across a grilled potato recipe on Epicurious that sounded delish. I also have an unused grill pan that came into my possession when I acquired roommates. Easy enough as a base or side… I then had a sausage scramble idea in mind to go on top, but I knew it would fare on the dry side, especially over grilled potatoes that would themselves be dry unless I completely doused them with oil. So the solution was…gravy! I had only made vegan gravy once a very long time ago, but it didn’t seem that hard. Onion and garlic powder can turn a dull combo like flour, margarine and water into a tasty treat. Maybe it took a little more sprucing than that, but you get the point.

I like to make my own veggie sausages, but I realize it is a lot of work. This was quick, because I had them on hand, but you could also use store-bought links. I’ll include my recipe below, and it’s worth making the whole batch over the weekend to eat throughout the rest of the week. Whichever you choose, this will end up a tasty meal to be sure. As my designated omnivore taste-tester claimed, “This is my kind of meal!” To which this vegan replied, “Meat and potatoes…?” – Well, yeah.

Spicy Sausage Sauté with Gravy over Grilled Potatoes
Makes 2 servings

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Sauté
½ T. Olive oil
½ c. Onion, chopped
1 Medium celery stalk, chopped
½ Large carrot, chopped
¾ c. Green bell pepper, chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced (about 2 tsp)
½ tsp. Sage, dried
½ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Fennel seed
¼ tsp. Crushed red pepper
6-8 Veggie Sausage links (store bought or homemade – recipe below), chopped

For the Potatoes
1 Medium russet potato, ½ inch thick slices
1 T. Canola Oil
Salt & Pepper

For the Gravy
1 T. Earth Balance
1 ½  T. Flour
½ c. Almond milk
½ c. Water
¼ tsp. Onion powder
¼ tsp. Garlic powder
¼ tsp. Thyme, dried
¼ tsp. Salt
Pinch of white pepper

Directions

For the Sausage: Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large non-stick skillet and cook onions, celery, and carrots until vegetables are translucent and tender, 8-10 minutes. Add green pepper, garlic and spices to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in sausage and cook until brown, another 8-10 minutes, coating with cooking spray if mixture becomes too dry. Set aside.

For the potatoes: Put potato slices in a medium sauce pan and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil and reduce water to simmer. Parboil potatoes until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside in a medium bowl. Coat with canola oil, salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan over high heat and coat with cooking spray. Cook potatoes until grill marks are dark brown, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside.

For the Gravy: Melt the Earth Balance in a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Add flour and stir until roux forms. Whisk in almond milk, water, and spices. Whisk until mixture is well-blended and heat until just bubbling. Lower heat to medium and cook until desired thickness is reach. Remove and set aside.

To Assemble: Place 6-8 potato slices on a plate. Top with 1 cup of sausage sauté and 3-4 tablespoons of gravy.

Veggie Sausage Links (Adapted from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Veggie Ground Pork Recipe)
Makes 10 patties, or 14-16 links
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 T. Soy sauce
1 tsp. Sage
1 tsp. Onion powder
1 tsp. Garlic powder
¾ tsp. Paprika
½ tsp. Fennel seed
½ tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
¾ c. Boiling water
1 c. TVP

4 oz. Extra firm tofu, crumbled
½ c. Wheat gluten flour

Directions

Mix soy sauce and spices together in small mixing bowl. Whisk in boiling water and stir to completely blended. Pour liquid over TVP and let rehydrate about 10 minutes. Mix in crumbled tofu and let mixture cool completely. Stir in gluten with hands and shape into patties, links or balls. Wrap in aluminum foil and steam or simmer for 20 minutes. After steaming, sausages can be frozen, cooled or sautéed.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

How do I express my love for peanut butter? I must have it everyday. I’ll spread on bread, corn thins, rice cakes, tortillas, ice cream, chocolate bars, celery, peanut butter…I must have it everyday. A day without peanut butter is a day you probably don’t want to talk to me. A day beginning with peanut butter is the day you want me as your best friend. Is it bad that even after I had a piece of chocolate after lunch yesterday, I still made enough room to have a couple of corn thins (they’re like rice cakes, but made with corn) with some peanut butter and cinnamon sugar walnuts on top? That’s right, I had more than one. I like other nut and seed butters: cashew, almond, and sunflower seed. And the peanut is hardly my favorite nut compare to: walnuts, cashews, and almonds. But for whatever reason, I find all other butters, regardless of their deliciousness or health benefits, inferior to the power of peanut butter.

For a 50th birthday party with a fellow believer in “a spoonful of peanut butter helps the medicine go down” who happens to also have an infatuation with M&Ms, a perfect hybrid cookie was in order. There are more healing powers in the chocolate-peanut butter combo than modern medicine can offer. That might be a bold statement, but I have found no better cure for cramps. Having never made peanut butter cookies before, I felt I had to do a lot of research, especially since I am partial to softer cookies despite peanut butter varieties having a crunchier reputation. Of course there is a happy place in between, and working with dense, fat-filled peanut butter, I figured the moisture content wouldn’t be a problem if I found a good recipe.

Another story of infidelity….how do I manage to stray from recipes so easily? I can’t commit. I know everyone has faults, I’m not exempt. And sometimes it’s not so much a fault as it is a certain lacking. I found a great recipe that needed some minor adjustments, and I am only recently becoming comfortable with making my own tweaks while baking. Baking is fickle and one gram off could put 30 cookies in the garbage. So I tread carefully. This outcome was very successful. I’ve already made them twice and have requests for more at work. I have found that you can’t skimp on the margarine- the taste won’t be affected, but the cookie will fall apart easily. This cookie dough isn’t one that can be spooned onto the cookies sheet – you have to clump it together with your hands and shape them like patties. Stir in the chocolate chips before you clump the dough together or you’ll be kneading it for a while to get them incorporated.

Soft and crisp at the same time with chocolate surprises in every bite. Spreading an extra teaspoon of peanut butter on top of a freshly baked cookie like I did is optional but a highly recommended enhancement.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 36 small cookies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 ¾ c. Unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. Baking soda
¾ tsp. Salt

1 c. Brown sugar
¾ c. Smooth peanut butter
½ c. Earth or Smart Balance
2-3 T. Almond or soy milk
2 T. Vanilla Extract

1 c. Chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the sugar, peanut butter and margarine together until smooth. Add almond/soy milk and vanilla and blend until well mixed. Add flour mixture and work with hands when it becomes too thick for your blender. Fold in chocolate chip, pressing firmly into dough.

Using 1 ½-2 tablespoons of dough per cookie, form dough into small discs. Press in 2 directions with the back of a fork for a crisscross pattern. Place on cookie sheet and bake in oven 7-8 minutes or until just golden on the edges. Be careful not to over bake. Remove from oven and let cool on pan to finish cooking. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.