A Dijon Doodad Veggie Mix

 

I love all things mustard. All things. Having spent 6 months in France and 2 months in Germany a while back, I developed a whole new appreciation for quality mustard. We're starting to make some good competitors in the US with spicy stone ground, stout infused, red wine swirled varieties. But are we cooking enough with it? I think not. It goes into almost all of my salad dressing and lately it's been going into the stove top dishes as well.

Another new ingredient in my cooking routine that has surfaced since Christmas is apple juice. We get mini single serving bottles each year in our stockings and since I'm not a big juice drinker, it usually sits in the fridge until I remind my other half to drink it. I know it's a weird choice, but for some reason a splash of apple juice can completely change a dish! (I've heard this to be true of apple cider vinegar, but I can't subscribe to that recommendation after trying it.) If a dish is a little too sour/acidic, overly salty or missing depth, it could be just the thing to give it a quick makeover. I now highly recommend having a single singer bottle in the fridge to use a tablespoon or 2 at a time.

Which is what I needed today making lunch. This was of course a classic instance of trying to use up the almost-gone ingredients in my fridge. Many of the ingredients are interchangeable with something you might have in your fridge. Use summer squash instead of winter squash, chard instead of kale, celery instead of fennel, or whatever you have lying around. The method is what will give you lovely results. Braise everything to start in broth but finish during the last couple of minutes with apple juice and a dollop of good Dijon mustard. Neither French nor German, this little ditty is still zer gut.

Braised Vegetable Medley with Apple Dijon Sauce
Makes: 1 servings
Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 c. apple juice
2-3 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. maple syrup (optional)
1/2 c. fennel, chopped
3/4 c. veggie broth, divided
1/2 c. artichoke hearts, from jar or frozen (drained or thawed)
1/2 c. green beans, chopped
2-3 sun dried tomatoes, chopped (drained if packed in oil)
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 c. cooked or parboiled butternut squash, cubed
1 c. kale, chopped
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Parsley for garnish

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk the juice, mustard and maple syrup (if using) together. Set aside while you prepare the veggies.

Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add fennel and saute 2-3 minutes or until it softens. Add 1/2 cup of broth and the next 7 ingredients (thru the salt). Lower heat to medium and cook until broth evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add butternut squash, kale and remaining broth. When the broth has evaporated again (another 3-4 minutes), add the apple juice mixture. When the liquid start to boil, lower heat and simmer until liquid has reduced and thickened, about 3 minutes. Top with freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley.

Pasta with Creamy Truffle Sauce

I got a little ambitious last weekend with dried beans. My dear red headed curly-Q and I headed to Flagstaff for some escape from the blazing Phoenix sun and wanted to make the weekend cheap. We did a pretty good job considering we made one trip to the grocery story and ate out once for breakfast. To keep the food cost down I grabbed a jar of beans and a jar of rice (that is how I store my bulk foods - in old applesauce jars) and a can of those spicy fire roasted tomatoes I've been so keen on for the past few weeks.

At first I thought that making a big batch of beans would be a good way to save some prep time throughout the next week. So I cooked up a bunch of anasazi beans, made our lovely dish in Flagstaff using half the amount and headed back to the heat with the leftovers. Each night throughout the next week I looked at those beans and thought "uhhhh so what do I do with these now?"

We tried a couple of things at home - beans and potatoes, roasted eggplant "hummus" but by the time I came up on the very last scoop, I just had to get rid of these suckers. I'm a three bean salad kind of girl, I don't like to stick to one variety for too long. So one additional idea came to mind. While many vegan sauce recipes out there feature pureed beans, I had never really tried it myself. It seemed like the sauce would be too lumpy. Sure I'll use a good pinch of garbanzo flour once in a while, but as a base? I wasn't convinced it would actually be creamy.

That's because I didn't my food processor enough credit or enough time to do it's thang. Patience. When you let it go for more than a minute, it really gets its groove. It tore through those beans after adding enough broth and gave me a straight up sauce in about 4 minutes. With a couple of flavor punches like truffle spread and a garlic, this dinner was no effort. Don't have a jar of truffle spread floating around? Go to an Italian grocer or substitute with olive tapenade, mashed roasted garlic cloves, or another paste-type item with a strong flavor. I'm convinced this could even be served in a diner and pulled off as gravy. Mmmm comfort food.

So wait, I said anasazi beans above and it says cannellini beans below. So which is it? I figure if red beans were delicious, cannellini would be down right spectacular. You make the call.

Pasta with Creamy Truffle Sauce and Oyster Shrooms

Makes: 3-4 servings

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

1 c. cooked cannellini beans

1 clove garlic

2 T. nutritional yeast

1 heaping T. truffle-mushroom pâté or spread

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp sea salt*

1 ½ - 2 c. broth (homemade or from bouillon)

1 T. olive oil

3 c. oyster mushrooms

Pinch of salt

Any kind of pasta cooked according to package directions

Freshly ground black pepper

*Note: reduce the salt if using broth made from bouillon.

Directions

In a food processor, combine beans, garlic, nutritional yeast, truffle pâté, lemon juice and sea salt. Process on high and slowly add broth through the chute, half a cup at a time until desired thickness is reached. Process until sauce is completely smooth, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer sauce to a saucepan and heat over medium low until bubbling.  Turn heat all the way to low. If mixture is too thin, let the sauce bubble until it thickens, whisking constantly to avoid clumps.

While the sauce is heating, prepare the mushrooms. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms without crowding too much. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Season with a pinch of salt.

To assemble, top prepared pasta with a generous helping of mushrooms. Top with ¾ cup of sauce and a good grind of black pepper.

Braised Celery with Mustard Mash

Celery Heads - they grow so big. And though that's what we all want from a seedling, sometimes a whole head of celery is just...a lot. I get excited about the outer crunchy stalks for a few days, maybe dip them in hummus or use them to make jambalaya, then tuck the rest away for another day. Then another week goes by and the last few stalks call it quits. But it's almost a resentful kind of quits because my celery never gets soggy or brown, it just wilts. "See me? I'm green still. But I've lost my snap. Thanks to you." That's what my celery says to me when it passes its dipper or scooper prime. So what can be done with that limp, abandoned and seemingly hopeless last bit of celery hiding in the back of your "crisper" that hasn't done too well in keeping your green stalks crisp? Embrace it. Ah-hem, excuse me, em-braise it.

Braising is a lovely technique if you have a dose of patience and an eye for when to stop the heat. It can be perfect for yielding effortless sauces but a curse if you neglect your veggies to the point of mush. It really doesn't take that long, and the ingredient list is short. The method works well on almost every vegetable, particularly those that have already lost their oomph. While I don't typically think of celery as a main gig in any dish, it's a terrific star in this fabulously simple dish.

Now let's get to the potatoes. But more seriously, let's get to the mustard. I had some mustard mashed potatoes on, of all places, an airplane. Yes first class on a transatlantic flight has its benefits, one being meals that more closely resemble food. Ever since the flight back from Italy, I can't mash potatoes without mustard. Stone ground, semi-sharp. I use Annie's Horseradish Mustard in these potatoes because I love anything with horseradish in it. For those that don't care for it, you can use any other stone-ground mustard or maybe even get funky with a Sierra Nevada Stout or Porter variety.

As for the crunchy peas - so many braised celery recipes I found used some kind of bacon or pork fat to flavor the celery. While that makes me wanna hurl just a little bit, I appreciate what the smokiness of bacon might contribute. Personally, I though using vegetable bouillon was more than enough to keep the celery flavorful, but I was curious about the bacon. So I concocted a little something as a garnish of sorts to just throw on top for fun. It was fun. It tasted fun. And I think my poor neglected celery-turned-belle-of-the-ball felt extra special too.


Braised Celery with Mustard Mashed Potatoes
Makes: 3-4 Servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the celery
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 c. leeks or onion, sliced thinly
2 c. celery, chopped
1 1/2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 T. flour (chickpea or all purpose)
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

For the mashed potatoes
2-3 medium russet potatoes, cubed
1 T. stone ground mustard
1/2 T. Earth Balance
1-2 T. nutritional yeast
Salt to taste

Optional Topping
1/2 c. peas (frozen or raw, thawed if using frozen)
1 T. Veggie bac'un bits 

Directions

To make the celery: Heat olive oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook 3-4 minutes more. Add bay leaves and broth, stirring to make sure celery is dispersed in an even layer throughout the pan. Sprinkle the flour over the top and cover. Cook 15-20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until celery is tender to your liking.

To make the potatoes: In a large sauce pan, bring potatoes to a boil. When boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook at a low boil for 10-15 minutes or until a fork passes easily through the potatoes. Drain potatoes when done, reserving the cooking water for the mashing. Return the potatoes back to the warm pot and mash with a form or potato ricer. Add mustard, nutritional yeast, Earth Balance and 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Continue to mash until everything is incorporated and smooth. Add salt to taste.

Optional topping: Coat a small skillet with cooking spray and heat the peas until just warm and sizzling. Add bac'un bits and remove from heat. Stir until bac'un bits have warmed and use as garnish over potatoes and celery.

To assemble: Shape a big messy pile of potatoes into some kind of round volcano shape. Pour 1/2 cup of braised celery in the middle and top with a lil smokey scoop of green peas. Indulge.

Portobello Barbacoa and Smokey Queso Spread

Turning something inherently carnivorous into a vegan masterpiece is one of my favorite things about cooking. Though I’ve had some success with roasts and loaves, mimicking popular meat dishes has its obvious challenges. Texture, flavor from fat and drippings, cook time, etc. At this point I’ve learned that it’s not about creating an exact replica, but creating an incredible, flavorful, delicious dish in and of its own. The real challenge? Appealing to the skeptics. They don’t always buy the fact that it doesn’t have to taste the same as the fleshy version to taste meatlessly delicious. So you have to set some realistic expectations.

The expectation I set when serving these Barbacoa bites: “Yo peeps! These are friggin’ awesome! No it’s not going to taste like the shredded beef that is typically used in Barbacoa. It’s not supposed to. No the Queso is not going to feel like gelatinous ball park cheez because it’s way better!” These are the real pictures that must be painted for non-believers. And I did. And it worked. I made this recipe as individual “bites” for work, and also made them as roll-ups for a pool party. Both versions were inhaled.

Who could blame these hungry hippos? This Barbacoa recipe is madness. Barbacoa is a style of slow cooking meat in Mexico and relates to the origination of “barbecue.” It’s really all about the sauce. And consistent with any barbecue master, I couldn’t help myself picking at the stringy Portobellos as they slow cooked for hours in a spicy marinade. You may have probably picked up on my obsession with vegan cheesy things as well, so needless to say the food processor and spatula did not have one speck of Queso dip after I was through with it. Finger lickin’ good!

Recommended toppings/accompaniments:

• slivered spinach or romaine
• salsa and/or fresh tomatoes
• vegan sour cream or Veganaise
• roasted green chili peppers
• fresh cilantro

 Recommended serving styles:

• tacos
• layered Dip
• burritos
• tortilla roll ups

Suggestion for Portobello preparation: slice the bellos into thin strings to cook in this recipe. Afterward you can pulse in a food processor to use as a spread if doing layered dip or roll ups.

Portobello Barbacoa
Makes: 6-8 Servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients

For the Marinade
1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
3 T. lime juice
5 cloves garlic
3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 T. ground cumin
2 tsp. Mexican oregano
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. ground cloves¼ tsp. allspice

For the Shrooms
2 T. canola oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
4-6 Portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/8 inch thin (optional to remove gills)
Pinch of salt
Marinade

3/4 - 1 c. vegetable broth (from bouillon)

3 bay leaves

Directions

Place all marinade ingredients in a blender and puree until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Set aside while you prepare the mushrooms.

In a large stock pot, heat canola oil over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add cumin seeds and cook until they start to pop. Add mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat in cumin and cook 3-5 minutes. Add marinade, broth and bay leaves. Turn heat to low and simmer for 2-4 hours. If too spice or acidic, add a pinch of sugar.

Smokey Queso Spread
Makes: 1 ½ cups
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 can white cannellini beans
½ c. tomatoes
1/3 c. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. Miso paste
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. paprika

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1/8-1/4 tsp. liquid smoke
Salt to taste

Directions

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until completely smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more salt or cayenne for spice. Add more mustard or Miso for a sharper cheesy taste.

KB's Bangin’ Veggie Burgers

I have a confession. *Deep breath*

In the 3 years of being vegan, I have never made a homemade veggie burger. *Gasp*

It feels so good to get that off my chest. *Sigh*

There are so many veggie burger recipes out there, I’ve been indecisive and lacked motivation to sift through which ones sound spectacular and which ones appear average. Most of them looked plain and average to me. If I’m going to try to replicate the meat dish of all meat dishes, I don’t want it to be so-so. Avoiding the challenge was a way to avoid the risk of failure. Of ruining the notion of “burger” all together.

Well I finally risked it. And man, these were not so-so. These were BANGIN! I went through a few recipes and liked the technique of chilling the patties before cooking them. When it comes down to the ingredients, this was another fridge cleaning masterpiece. The last few sundried tomatoes, only 5 mushrooms in the drawer, some limp celery, and spare artichokes in the freezer to add to the filling. Not even an onion to my name. These were spectacular! The texture was perfect. Literally – the oats and flax give these bad boys a stick-to-your-ribs feel without feeling grainy. And they were sturdy enough not to bread apart in the pan.

I highly recommend serving these on English muffins. We happen to be lucky enough to live across the street from the best homemade English muffins in the Southwest that are so large, one side suffices per burger. As for the toppings, be creative. I loved the sprinkle of dill over a thin spread of Veganaise. My token omnivore put a little mozz and catsup on top. After one bite came the reassuring “mmmmmm.” After finishing the second burger, this was declared to be one of the very best meals to come out of my kitchen. This burger is here to stay.

KB's Bangin’ Veggie Burgers
Makes: 4 patties
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total Prep Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

½ c. dry red lentils, rinsed
½ T. canola oil
½ c. celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ c. mushrooms, diced
4-6 sundried tomatoes, minced
½ c. artichoke hearts, chopped (thawed from frozen or canned)
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
½ c. rolled oats
2 T. ground flax seed

4 English muffins
Arugula or spinach
Sliced tomatoes
Chopped kalamata olives
Fresh dill
Veganaise



Directions

Bring the lentils and 4 cups of water to a boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer until lentils are tender and falling apart, 15-20 minutes. Drain lentils and set aside. If you are using sundried tomatoes that were not packed in oil, rehydrate them by throwing them in the pot with lentils for 5-10 minutes. Pick them out with tongs when soft.

While lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add celery and cook until it starts to become translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and stir until it becomes fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients and additional broth or water if pan becomes too dry. Cook until all veggies are tender, 6-8 minutes. Remove and transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.

In the large mixing bowl, add 1 cup of lentils (you may end up with extra). Smoosh everything with a potato ricer at first to break lentils apart, then use your hands to knead everything together. The mixture will be really moist as you mush the lentils, and you can stir in additional lentils if you’d like. Add oats and flax and continue to mix until everything start to stick together. If the mixture is still too wet, add more flax and oats by the tablespoon. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Form the mixture into 4 medium patties (or meatless balls, or quarter pounders, whatever you feel) and refrigerate for 30 minutes. When the patties are nice and stiff they are ready to cook.

Preheat (toaster) oven to 450°F. While the oven is warming up, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a non-stick or cast iron skillet over high heat. Lower heat slightly when oil is hot and add patties. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Transfer patties to oven to continue cooking until the middles are hot, about 5 minutes. You can also add the English muffins in the oven to toast along with the burger, or throw them in the toaster at this point.

To assemble: Spread some Veganaise over one side of the English muffin and sprinkle with dill. Follow with a layer of spinach or arugula. Place burger on top and follow with sliced tomatoes and olives. If you are using giant English muffins, feel free to use one side per burger. If you are using smaller ones, put the Veganaise on one side and the burger/toppings on the others.

Cannellini Risotto with Peas and Fresh Herbs

I should add a "recession-friendly" category when I tag recipes. There is a common notion that following a vegan lifestyle is more expensive and more work. Ok it's not completely unfounded, but vegan cooking and eating doesn't have to break the bank and doesn't have to take hours and hours. We're all feeling a little thrifty, a little stretched, willing to take more bargains. Fortunately with risotto, you don't have to compromise taste or time to suit your wallet.

After making a couple of big arse payments for various loans in attempt to feel more responsible and less debt ridden, I am definitely looking to cook more budget friendly recipes. And with the madness that has ensued this spring - flying between Minnesota, Houston, Boston, Jersey and back to Phoenix in a matter of 4 weeks - I am also looking to cook easy recipes that don't require much thought. Though risotto requires time at the stove, if you have a companion and a glass or wine (or your companion IS the glass of wine), the time will fly by. In a matter of minutes, your rice will be soaked in flavorful goodness and your freshly snipped herbs put to good use.

I highly recommend using a great hodgepodge of herbs in this recipe. I had lots of parsley, basil and chives, but a sprinkling of mint and thyme went nicely into the mix. You could stir in blanched asparagus or frozen spinach instead of peas if little green orbs aren't your thing. I didn't exactly break this down cost-wise, but I promise this is one of the cheaper, tastier meal you'll enjoy in your own home.


Cannellini Risotto with Peas and Fresh Herbs
Makes: 2-3 servings
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

3-4 c. vegetable broth, water, or mix

1 T. olive oil
2 T. shallots, chopped
1-2 T. garlic, minced
2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel
3/4 c. white rice, pearled barley or arborio rice
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 c. fresh or frozen green peas, thawed if using frozen
1 c. cannellini beans, from canned (rinsed) or cooked from dry
3 T. nutritional yeast
3 T. almond or soy milk
1/3 c. fresh mixed herbs: basil, parsley, chives, thyme, etc.
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the broth/water mix over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. When broth comes to a low boil, reduce heat to medium low. Keep broth on burner while you prepare the risotto.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook until garlic becomes fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the lemon peel and rice and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat completely in flavored oil and cook another minute or so. Add the wine and let cook until almost all the moisture has evaporated. Reduce heat to medium low and pour in 3/4 cup of broth. Let rice mixture cook until has absorbed almost all liquid. When the pan starts to dry again, add another 3/4 c of broth. Repeat this 2 or 3 more times until rice is fully cooked.

When rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, add peas and beans and cook until peas are just heated through. Stir in nutritional yeast, milk, and fresh herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Pea Smothered Starch Stacks

Well it’s hard to explain how this recipe came to fruition. It went from a request for polenta to a glance at ramekins with a need for green in between.

It’s no secret: I’m in love with spring flavors right now. Even though our spring doesn’t consist of the same edibles I was used to growing up, there is still a lot of freshly picked produce to play with in the Southwest and planning meals around seasonal ingredients is a fresh and inspirational no matter what’s in season where you live. Right now we’re getting lots of roots and greens which were lovely in this recipe. But in this case, contrary to most cases in which the produce drawer is where the recipe starts, the idea came from a request for a common Italian staple. From there I tried to branch out with other ideas to include spring elements.

Springtime polenta? Does that even make sense? I always think of polenta as a rich, warm, comfort food – not a light, fresh, seasonal dish. That’s what I like about cooking though. Trying to figure out how to play with flavors in unusual ways is my favorite way to spend a Thursday night. I know that makes me a dork, but those I feed don’t complain. In my mind, I just had to mix in some green shades to make polenta taste a little lighter.

I can’t really explain the whole stack idea other than wanting an opportunity to use my ramekins, but the stack style worked (somehow). Peas stood in very well for basil in the pesto and gave this a bright and lovely hue. Sweet and savory with a nice little garlic punch. Though the polenta and spinach slid out very easily, the vegetables actually stuck inside the ramekins. I just scooped em out and spread em over the stacks as best I could (you can’t win them all). It was still delicious. The process was actually much less labor intensive as it seems and really didn’t take long to prepare. If anything, you could just prepare each layer and skip the assembly. If you’re adventurous, happy stacking!



Polenta Stacks with Sweet Pea Pesto
Makes: 3-4 servings
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Layer 1
1 large parsnip, grated
1 large carrot, grated
1 small red onion, grated
1/4 c. water
1 1/2 T. egg replacer or garbanzo flour
Dash of nutmeg

Layer 2
4 c. spinach

Layer 3
4 c. water
1 c. polenta
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1 T. yellow mustard
1 T. mellow white miso
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
Dash of white pepper

Finishing touches
2 c. fresh or frozen sweet peas
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 lemon, peeled and seeded
3 T. nutritional yeast
3 T. pine nuts
Veggie broth
Salt to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. Coat 8 ramekins with cooking spray and set in a roasting pan or cookie sheet.

For the first layer, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the mixture into ramekins and press to make an even layer. Bake in oven 20-30 minutes while you prepare the spinach and polenta.

Next, blanch the spinach. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add spinach. Cook about 30 seconds or until spinach is bright green and just wilted. Drain and run under cool water to stop cooking. Set aside.

To make the polenta, bring 4 cups of water/broth to a boil in a medium sauce pan. When boiling, stir liquid in a circular motion and slowly pour in polenta. Whisk polenta well to avoid clumping. When polenta begins to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer over low heat. Stir every minute or so until polenta starts to get sticky, switching from a whisk to spatula or wooden spoon as it becomes more and more sticky. Add remaining ingredients and cook until polenta pulls away from pan. Turn off heat.

Remove baking veggies from oven and increase heat to 450F. Carefully layer a few tablespoons of spinach and about 1/3 cup of polenta evenly over veggies. Press to ensure polenta completely seals the tops. Place stacks back into oven and cook another 20-30 minutes or until polenta is firm and starts to brown on top.

Meanwhile, make the sweet pea pesto. Combine first 5 ingredients in a food processor (yep, the whole lemon flesh, not just the juice). Process on high with an S blade until mixture is pureed. While processor is running, add veggie broth 2 tablespoons at a time until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt to taste and white pepper if desired.

To serve, remove ramekins from oven when done and let cool 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle with a dish towel. Place a small salad plate over the top of one ramekin and flip over. Tap the ramekin with the butt of a knife or spatula to loosen the stack. Slowly lift the ramekin. If the veggies stick, just scoop them out and layer them on top of the stack. Repeat with remaining ramekins and serve each with a dollop or drizzle of sweet pea pesto.

Springtime Udon Bowl

Springtime in Arizona feels a little different than the rest of the country because the temperature change involves the 70s, 80s, and 90s which are not typically numbers associated with this particular equinox. However, the blossoms, smells and flavors help remind us of the lovely transformation going on everywhere else. On my morning runs, I’ve been almost overwhelmed by the smell of citrus blossoms and almost injured by the rogue oranges covering the sidewalk. Spring is light, lovely, and inspirational. Most importantly it’s a sign of abundant produce starting to clutter tables at farmers markets. Time to grease up those elbows and fight your fellow hippies for that last bunch of pea tendrils!

Stir fry is a terrific way to catch seasonal flavors. It’s versatile, delicious, fast and easy to prepare. Having been out of town all weekend and unable to cook, I was itching for a stove session. I hadn’t even looked inside my produce drawer in 4 days so I had no idea what was in stock. This of course made the plane ride that much longer, because I couldn’t distract myself with dinner details… what to prepare first, how long it might take, spices I haven’t used in a while, etc. I seldom travel without concocting a recipe at some point out of boredom.

I did know one thing though: despite my eagerness to cook, my arrival time plus the transit home put me in my kitchen at about 8:45 pm and I did not want an elaborate or difficult dish. The source of this recipe was one from which most of my best meals originate and one regular readers will be familiar with – kitchen cleansing. Getting rid of the last cup of beans, the last leaves of spinach or that last handful of pasta. Taking an oddball combination and slapping a good dose of garlic on it.

Most people feel lucky to find a $5 bill in their jeans pocket, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of local chard in my refrigerator that I had totally forgotten was purchased on impulse last week. Not a typical ingredient in Asian cuisine, I thought chard would stand in nicely for bok choy. The other ingredients here could be replaced with any number of veggies typically found in stir fry: snow peas, red pepper, mushrooms, etc. But the combination I used produced such a fresh, springtime taste that I highly recommend taking some seasonal picks that wouldn’t normally end up in a stir fry and seeing how they mesh with standard stir fry flavors: garlic, ginger, soy sauce with a little sweet ‘n spicy touch. You could use rice here as well, but udon noodles are more fun to eat.

Springtime Udon Bowl
Makes: 1 serving
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredient

1-2 tsp. Sriracha
½ tsp. cornstarch
½ T. brown sugar, agave, or raw sugar
½ - ¾ T. soy sauce or tamari
¼ c. water

1 tsp. coconut oil
2 T. shallots, sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 medium celery stalk, chopped
½ c. green beans, chopped
4-5 swiss chard leaves, chopped, stems and leaves & divided
½ c. purple cabbage, chopped
Fresh cilantro

2 oz. udon noodles (about ½ ” thick stack of dry noodles)

Directions

To make the sauce, whisk first 5 ingredients together in a small bowl and make sure cornstarch is well dissolved. Set aside.

Heat a wok or skillet over medium high heat and melt coconut oil when pan is hot. Reduce heat to medium and add shallots, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry for about 30 seconds or until fragrant and add celery, green beans and chard stems. Cook for 3-4 minutes until vegetables become translucent, adding 2 tablespoons of water (or sake or mirin if you have it) at a time if pan becomes too dry. Increase heat back to medium high and add chard leaves and cabbage and cook until chard begins to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Finally add stir fry sauce and cook until thickened, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.

While the stir fry is cooking, bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Cook noodles 5 minutes or until tender. Drain and mix in with vegetables when done. Top with fresh cilantro.

Roasted Kabocha Rolls with Teriyaki

I know, I know - what is it with these oddball vegetable recipes being posted lately? Celery root, kabo-what? This is a venture, people. You will see things that are hard to pronounce. The need to cook kabocha arose from sheer curiousity. I had heard of kabocha squash. I had seen it. I knew it was Japanese. That was the extent of my familiarity with kabocha. I had never tasted it (or so I thought), but it comes up from time to time in publications that highlight seasonal cooking and other cooking magazine articles featuring another funny named, mysterious produce stranger. Strolling through the food store, kabocha caught my eye. It was time to see for myself. Of course when it came time to slice it open, I couldn't find much inspiration from the kabocha void online. Many recipes called for butternut or kabocha, but very few that made kabocha seem like it contributes something special...so does it taste the same as every other orange globe? I started to get the feeling that the void was simply because this tastes exactly like your average winter squarsh.


Wrong! Well ok, it has to taste similar otherwise it couldn't be a winter squash. Though I "thought" I had never tasted it,  I hadn't realized in what context I had met kabocha prior to this discovery. Have you ever ordered tempura at a Janapese eatery, taken a huge bite of the orange half-moon shaped piece and thought, "hmmmm, kinda tastes familiar but I'm not sure what it is?" - It's kabocha. A lovely, lovely winter squash that is sweet, silky, starchy and full of indulgence. How has it taken me so long to suck it up and buy one? The name alone is enticing, and now that I'm familiar with the taste, I'm hooked. As I mentioned earlier, there was a shortage of recipes available that could give me some direction as to how to incorporate kabocha into a meal, so I went with the classic roasting approach. This is how I test almost all new foods because there is something about a hot air bath at 450F that brings out the true character of any food.


How I came up with rolling these in chard is a long, internal and not entirely logical thought process. Without elaborating on the actual idea, these were spectacular. Because picking at food before a meal is done runs in my blood, I of course tasted the squash right right out of the oven. I had to physically recover from the sheer pleasure of kabocha mouth - sounds like a contagious disease, but I promise it's nothing of the sort. Though this will be contagious. Wrapped in chard,  the edgy green onions and burst of cilantro gave it added punch and good contrast. The avocado was just a "duh" kind of ingredient. Can't explain it.

Roasted Kabocha Rolls with Teriyaki
Makes 4-5 servings

Prep time: 45 minutes

Ingredients 

For the squash
1 small kabocha squash (about 1.5 lbs) seeded, cut into wedges and peeled
1 T. olive oil
pinch of salt

For the teriyaki
1/2 c. soy sauce or tamari
1/4 c. water
4 T. fresh ginger, minced and divided
3 T. vegan or raw sugar
1 T. arrowroot powder or corn starch

For the rolls
1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed with whole leaves in tact
1-2 avocado, diced
4-6 green onions, thinly slice
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 450F.

Brush olive oil onto each slice of squash, sprinkle with salt and lay onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Flip pieces over and roast an additional 15 minutes or until squash is brown and tender. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Combine soy sauce/tamari, water, 3 tablespoons of ginger and sugar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook 5-7 minute or until reduce by 1/3 to 1/2. Mix arrowroot or cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and mix into sauce. Heat until desired thickness is reached (be careful with arrowroot as it overcooks very easily and will become gloppy if it cooks too long). Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble, line of leaves so that the seams where the stem was removed now overlap. Place 2 slices of squash in the center, top with a tablespoon of avocado, a pinch of green onions and another pinch of cilantro. Drizzle the filling with as much teriyaki as desired. Starting from one end of the leaf, roll edge over filling and continue to roll until opposite end is reached.

If you're not a pro at rolling chard leaves, it might look sloppy but it will taste lovely!

Spaghetti Squash Primavera

Squash, squash, squash. I love squash. All kinds, all colors, all textures. But I must admit I’ve always wondered what is so special about spaghetti squash that makes people love it so much. The stringy flesh is fun – I get that. But the texture never fully softens like some of the more tender squashes, and the taste isn’t sweet or light like other types. It’s almost bitter with a borderline tasteless flavor. Perhaps I am just not skilled at selecting spaghetti squash. I’ve just never fallen for it as a varietal.

Nevertheless, I purchased one as part of a detox plan and was entirely committed to eating it. I mustered and searched for some crazy, fun idea for how to prepare the stringy structure, but my contemplative quest was fruitless. I stumbled across a vast array of side dish recipes that mainly mix spaghetti squash with herbs or garlic. Nothing stood out as a potential show stopper. It wasn’t until I started delving into pasta ideas that I saw the word “primavera.” Eureka!

Primavera is so easy that it feels weird to even write down a recipe for it. For anyone that has had any exposure to cooking, pasta primavera is about as basic as it gets. It certainly doesn’t seem like it should get special props, but I was amazed by the satisfaction from these simple, fresh flavors and so very please with how they took to spaghetti squash. First you take fresh veggies and garlic, then you splash 'em with a little white wine, and top it off with fresh herbs. You can mix up the veggies and the herbs to your liking - this is a highly customizable dish. Just don't cook the veggies too long, al dente is best here. And always throw the herbs in at the end when you've taken the dish off heat, it keeps their flavors bright and vibrant.

This recipe mad a heaping portion for 2 and as I licked the bottom of my plate, I felt more than satisfied. I felt accomplished! That’s the wonderful thing about primavera. It’s so little work with such fabulous results. You can certainly substitute the squash here for actual pasta, but I would highly recommend going for the squashventure.

Spaghetti Squash Primavera
Makes: 2 servings

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

1 small spaghetti squash (about 4x7 inches)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
½ tsp. crushed red pepper
¼ tsp. salt
½ medium red bell pepper, sliced
12-16 asparagus spears, chopped (tips reserved)
1 ½ c. broccoli, chopped
¼ c. dry white wine
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 T. nutritional yeast
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

Fill a medium baking dish with 2 inches of water. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place both halves in baking dish skin side up, flesh side down. Microwave on high 5-6 minutes or until squash is tender. Let sit until cool enough to handle and scoop out flesh. Set aside.

Heat coconut oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook slowly until it starts to brown, stirring constantly to coat in oil for about 1 minute. Add crush red pepper and salt, stirring to blend evenly. Increase heat to medium high and add vegetables. Stir to coat with spices before adding wine. When pan is very hot, pour wine over vegetables and continue to toss in pan. Let cook/steam about 5 minutes or until vegetable become al dente. Add squash, parsley, cilantro and nutritional yeast. Stir to incorporate all ingredients and remove from heat. Season with salt and lots of pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh tomatoes if desired.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

Bring out the mariachis! I’m doin’ a little cha cha in my cucina. We were feeling spicy last night and decided on enchiladas for dinner – something easy, something different, something fun. One of my favorite fillings for enchiladas is butternut squash, because the sweet meshes so well with the spice and the texture blends perfectly with tortillas soaked in sauce. This was actually our main holiday meal this year which was SO much better than the usual surf and turf or roast with potatoes. As my token omnivore had no recollection of this being our Christmas meal despite that being one month ago, I was totally game for remaking the dish and reminding us of the terrific flavors.

Enchiladas are a wonderful, flexible meal because they can be easily customized to your personal preferences or easily made to please a whole crowd. Sometimes I roll them in individual tortillas; in this recipe I layered them as a casserole. It’s really all about the sauce. If you have a good, spicy sauce, then the form in which the enchiladas take is trivial. What I like about casserole style is how the sauce covers everything.

So what makes the sauce so special? I really don’t know. I’ve made a few different kinds of sauce: tomato based, pepper based, and a blend of the two together. I’ve loved them all. The first recipe I tried was incredibly spicy which I loved, but it's not for the faint hearted. The second sauce was concocted by mia bella sorella over Christmas who used tomato sauce and a blend of spices. The recipe here was derived from Veganomicon and uses diced tomatoes with roasted green peppers. I happened to add a little chipotle in adobo sauce which took it up a notch.

I only covered half of the casserole with Daiya cheese, because I actually like it without cheese. But I loves me some cilantro and I highly recommend topping off your slice with a couple of sprigs and a pinch of cayenne. Whether you’re making this for Navidad or when you’ve got a case of the Mondays, it’ll be sure to scratch you where ya itch.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas
Makes: 3-4 servings
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the sauce
1-2 poblano, pasilla or anaheim pepper
2 tsp olive or canola oil
½ medium onion, diced
1 T. fresh garlic, minced
1 T. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp marjoram
½ tsp oregano (Mexican)
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, roasted or fresh
1 tsp. raw vegan sugar
½ - ¾ c. almond or soy milk
Salt to taste

For the filling
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed, about 2 cups
3 c. spinach, rinsed

For the enchiladas
9-10 corn tortillas
½ - ¾ c. Daiya cheddar cheese
Cayenne pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

For the sauce: Preheat oven to 450° or high broil setting. Roast whole peppers 15-20 minutes until skin is blackened and blistered, rotating once or twice to ensure all sides are cooked. Remove and set aside in a paper bag to cool before handling.

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Sauté onions in oil until they begin to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add garlic, chipotle peppers, spices/herbs, and a pinch of salt. Stir and let cook another minute before adding tomatoes. Bring sauce to a low boil and reduce heat medium low. Let simmer 15-20 minutes to let flavors blend. Add a small pinch of sugar to balance the acidity and bring out the spice.

Meanwhile, return to peppers. Peel the skins off, remove seeds and discard. Chop peppers coarsely and set aside. When sauce is done, transfer to food processor or blender and puree until smooth, adding almond milk until desired thickness is reached. Transfer sauce back to pan and stir in roasted peppers. Season with additional salt if necessary.

For the filling: While the sauce is simmering, bring another pot of water to boil. Add squash and lower heat to medium. Cook until squash is tender and falls apart easily. Place spinach in a medium mixing bowl in the sink. When you strain the squash, strain the hot water over the spinach to blanch. Set squash aside in a mixing bowl and strain spinach once it is slightly wilted. Mash squash until smooth but slightly chunky and fold in spinach.

To assemble enchiladas: Preheat oven to 350°F. In an 8x8” square pan, coat with cooking spray and spoon sauce to thinly cover the bottom, using about 1/3 cup. Place 3-4 tortillas over sauce and spread half of squash filling over tortillas. Spoon another ½ cup of sauce over squash and lay another 3-4 tortillas. Repeat with the next layer, spooning remainder of squash and another ½ of sauce. Finally, place another layer of tortillas over the top and cover with remaining sauce.

Bake for 20 minutes or until sauce sets. Set oven back to broil (optional), and sprinkle the top with Daiya cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese has melted. Remove and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving. Garnish with cayenne pepper and cilantro.

Quinoa Gratin with Roasted Rutabaga and Spinach

Every time I gear up to write about why I made a particular recipe, my first thought is “I needed to get rid of…” and I’m now starting to think that this is my token kitchen strategy. I used to read through recipes and then buy ingredients for them. Now I buy vegetables because they are aesthetically pleasing and woo me at the market. Then I get home and have to find a way to use them which often translates as “getting rid” of them. (Perhaps I’m not doing them enough justice with my semantics). The other common scenario of “cooking to kitchen cleanse” is dealing with leftovers.

In this case I had overestimated a batch of quinoa, cooking up a whole cup of dried grain. I ended up with a lot of leftovers and though there is usually no problem using up cooked quinoa, I was on a green salad craze last week and didn’t notice the quinoa until it had almost reached expiration. For the first time in a long time, I looked up quinoa recipes.

Quinoa makes a great pilaf and a great filler ingredient in dishes such as fritters and veggie patties. But I didn’t feel like patting cakes and I didn’t feel like going through the fuss of marinating tofu or tempeh as a main dish to go alongside a quinoa pilaf. So I looked for less conventional recipes and found a slew of them for quinoa gratin. My only experience with gratin was in the context of potatoes. Know I understand gratin is more a technique that involves a browned crust, cheese, and eggs. Of course a dish that screams of all things non-vegan is one I must veganize.

Most of the recipes called for 3-5 eggs so clearly the common egg substitutes (applesauce, flax or a flour egg-replacer) were not going to cut it in this dish. It made me think of a quiche-gratin hybrid, though I placed the emphasis to be on the grain, not the “egg” which is of course the overwhelming texture in quiche. This then became more of an omelette project, kind of like Spanish tortilla (which I now think is possible after making this and will attempt soon). The first recipe to come up on my search for “vegan omelette” was of course from the Fat Free Vegan blog and I based my “egg” portion off of Susan’s Vegan Omelette for One. I added a little more moisture and used vegetable broth to make it more savory. This came together beautifully: perfectly golden crust, moist and flavorful filling, with tender bits of sweet rutabaga. The taste was very fancy for how easy it was to prepare.


Quinoa Gratin with Roasted Rutabaga and Spinach
Makes: 2-3 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 small rutabaga, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp olive oil
Salt & pepper

6 oz. silken tofu (extra firm)
3 T. vegetable broth
3 T nutritional yeast
1 T cornstarch
1 tsp tahini
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp turmeric

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 c. mushrooms, chopped
2 c. spinach
1/4 c. vegetable broth from bouillon
1 1/2 c. cooked quinoa
Salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450F.

Coat rutabaga in olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 30 minutes, turning vegetables half way through to ensure all sides are browned. Remove and set aside.

While rutabaga cooks, prepare the "egg" portion. Combine tofu with next 7 ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until completely smooth. Set aside.

Lower oven to 375F.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add onions and cook until they start to become translucent, 5-6 minutes, spraying onions with more cooking spray if pan becomes too dry. Add garlic, herbs and mushrooms, turning mixture to coat well in spices. Cook another minute until garlic is fragrant. Add spinach and broth and cook until spinach wilts, about 30 seconds. Stir in quinoa, roasted rutabaga, salt and pepper and remove from heat. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.

Pour the "egg" mixture over quinoa and stir to mix well. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until gratin is set and the top starts to brown. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before scarfing down!

Brussel Sprout Spaghetti with Marinated Tomatoes

Long ago when I had first starting seeing this cute boy whom I referred to as "marathon man" and whose cooking capacity at the time spanned from grilled cheese to nachos, a most promising opportunity for the underdog of cruciferous vegetables arose. At a very early stage in our acquaintance, his eagerness to ensure my every happiness was quite obvious and I seized that enthusiasm in a cunning ploy to save a batch of brussel sprouts and engage him in a vegetable venture.

I was preparing for an out-of-town trip and noticed a bag of brussels in the fridge - dear me, they could not go to waste! The green spheres of goodness were still edible and no chances could be afforded in my absence of their rotting away in the crisper. When I presented them to my Knight in Shining Asics and asked if he could pleeeease make them for dinner while I was away (emphasizing my distress should they be doomed to the trash), he replied, "If you tell me what to do with them, sure!" Ahh the days where romance was still new and "no" was an impossible concept.

Though I wasn't able to hand over a decent recipe before skipping town, I did received a text message the following evening: "I just made the most delicious brussel sprouts!" He had caramelized them and served over spaghetti with parmesan. Victory for all parties involved! 1) I was flattered that a man would cook, eat and enjoy brussel sprouts for the sole purpose of making me happy and was therefore convinced that he was a keeper; 2) he gained a new skill in the kitchen and discovered the wonder of all (edible) things green and; 3) the sprouts fulfilled their true destiny of providing a rich supply of folate, Vitamin C and cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Ever since then, I think brussel sprouts have been a safety net in his cooking spectrum, and I'm ok with that.

Fast forward to present. After a week of holiday gorging, getting a vengeful stomach bug, eating copious amounts of white toast, and going a bit stir-crazy, we finally arrived to the end of our holiday break. My companion offered to make me dinner and I said "Yes! As long as we can blog it." So he fell back on the good ole brussel sprouts and pasta with a tomato twist thrown in the mix. I helped with a few ideas such as marinating the tomatoes and stirring up a light alfredo sauce to tie it together. We both enjoyed our time in the kitchen and the end result was not only a delicious, light and healthy meal but also a sense of togetherness that makes a good start to 2011.

Brussel Sprout Spaghetti with Marinated Tomatoes
Makes: 2-3 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the pasta
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 T. white balsamic vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1/4 tsp agave or sugar
Dash of rosemary, thyme, oregano, and crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper

6 oz. gluten free or whole wheat spaghetti

2 T. olive oil
1 small shallot, sliced
15-20 brussel sprouts, cut in half (stem discarded)
Salt and pepper

For the sauce
2 c. almond or soy milk
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
1 scant T. Potato or whole wheat flour
1 T. Earth Balance
Dash of nutmeg and white pepper

Directions

Place chopped tomatoes in a small mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over tomatoes, stirring to coat well. Set aside and marinate while you prepare the pasta.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on package. Drain and set aside. (Tip: Make brussel sprouts while water is coming to a boil and sauce while pasta cooks).

In a large skillet (preferrable cast iron), heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add brussel sprouts, shallots, and a generous dash of salt and pepper. Cook on higher heat until sprouts start to brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and finish cooking until dark golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small sauce pan combine the almond milk, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Heat over medium until it comes to a slow boil. Whisk in potato flour and cook until sauce is thickened. If sauce becomes too thick, turn off heat and add more almond milk. When you've reached the desired consistency, add a dash of nutmet and white pepper.

To assemble, combine pasta, sauce and brussel sprouts in a large bowl. Top each serving with marinated tomatoes.

Lentil Loaf with Mushroom Gravy

Really this was all about the potatoes. Flying back from Pittsburgh yesterday, I of course was contemplating what to make for a nice welcome home dinner upon my return. Though my fridge is stocked with loads of veggies from my most recent episode at the farmer’s market, these little fingerling potatoes have sitting in their bowl patiently for 2+ weeks begging to be roasted. Red, purple, and white: olive oil, salt and pepper. They exude the simplicity of cuisine: colorful and delicious without much effort. The effort was in dreaming up something worthy of being paired with roasted fingerling potatoes.

My natural tendency is to think, “What would roasted potatoes be served with at a ‘normal’ meal?” Yes, I am at fault for relating my “unreal” vegan cooking with its “real” evil twin. After doing this for a couple of years and cooking for many skeptics, I have developed a sense of obligation to prepare meat analogues at most meals to win the hearts and stomachs of naysayers. There is a certain pressure, whether real or made-up, to produce a delicious version of something that a carnivore would have eaten were I not at the stove. Vegan analogues are a great demonstration of vegan cooking’s potential, but sometimes they are limiting and boring – I mean, really, I could make something MUCH better than a vegan burger or vegan taco casserole. To counter this pressure, I’ve been trying to be more creative than just making a “vegan version” of a common meat dish.

This however is not one of those creative deviations. When you think about roasted potatoes, they have to be served with something that will provide enough contrast to appreciate them – something hearty, warming and filling. While I tried to entertain the notion of creating something other than a meat analogue, none of the alternatives were good enough. Pasta or risotto…too starchy. Stew…too gloppy. So it had to be a hunk of protein. Since I’m not into making seitan steak right now (avoiding gluten), I went with meatloaf. Though I’ve read many vegan loaf recipes, I had not given it a serious shot until now.

I didn’t bother with a recipe, because I was trying to clean out a few things in the fridge anyway. The end result? The lentil loaf came apart easily because I didn’t use much of a binding agent, but it was absolutely scrumptious. The gravy was easy peasy, much healthier than its counterpart and perfectly flavorful. The potatoes – how could something so perfectly purple NOT be delicious?

Lentil Loaf with Mushroom Gravy
Makes 2-3 servings

Total prep time: 1 ½ hours

Ingredients

For the loaf
1 c. lentils cooked or ½ c. dry lentils
Cooking spray
½ medium onion, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
½ large carrot, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
Pinch of salt
¼ - 1/3 c. walnuts
½ c. brown or white rice, cooked
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. oregano, dried
½ tsp rosemary, dried
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp. allspice

For the gravy
¼ c. dried mushrooms
1 ¼ c. water2 tsp. Earth Balance
2 tsp. Potato flour (or other)
½ T. Soy sauce or tamari
¼ tsp. black pepper
Dash of white pepper
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of garlic powder

Directions

(If you have precooked lentils – skip this step.) Bring dry lentils to a boil in 4 cups of water, reduce heat to a simmer and let lentils cook until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and set 1 cup of cooked lentils aside.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Add onions, celery and carrots. Cooking until vegetables just become tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and a pinch of salt, stirring vegetables to coat. Cook vegetables another couple of minutes until starting to brown. Remove from heat and transfer to food processor with lentils.

Add walnut, rice and seasonings in food processor and pulse until mixture is crumbled. Processes until mixture clumps together well and press into loaf pan (this amount will not fill an entire loaf pan, so just pat into a shorty).

Bake in oven until loaf has set, 40-45 minutes.

While the loaf is baking, make the gravy. In a small sauce pan, bring the mushrooms and water a boil and cook until liquid is slightly reduced and dark brown, 7-8 minutes. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid. In the same pan, melt Earth balance over medium-heat and add flour. Stir until butter is absorbed and cook another minute. Whisk in mushroom broth and reduce heat. Stir in soy sauce (tamari) and seasonings. Add water if gravy is too thick and additional salt to taste.

Serve loaf with gravy and go mmmmmm.

Vegan Hachis Parmentier: BB Shepherds Pie

Classic French cuisine is mouth-watering, aromatic, and beautiful but not terribly vegan-friendly. Let’s have a brief glimpse at the typical French fare: croque-monsieur, coq-au-vin, soufflé, paté, bouillabaisse, crème brulée. Meat, cheese, butter, and cream in any form you could possibly concoct. Translating French to English might be a forte of mine, but the challenge of translating French recipes into meatless meals is much more fun and very much a vegan venture. And just in time for the holiday season, amidst my search for a vegan offering that will satisfy my need for challenge and impress my omnivore audience, my NPR addiction paid off - All Things Considered did a segment on cooking French with shortcuts featuring a dish called Hachis Parmentier (wha?).

This is essentially a Beef Burgundy or Boeuf Bourguignon Shepherds Pie, a classic meat and potato comfort food. I recently tried a similar dish with a biscuit topping, but it came out all biscuit. So I thought I’ve give tubers a shot. It was incredibly easy and I loved how well the potatoes browned in the oven. Bite by bite, I became more convinced that this will be a Thanksgiving or Christmas highlight. Why does it make perfect holiday fare? It’s salty, meaty, dark, rich, tender and it doesn’t scream vegan. That seems to be the equation that works with my family anyway. They don’t take to seitan roast or Tofurkey as well as something smothered in gravy and topped with starch.

A good trick to giving tempeh a meaty flavor is to simmer it in seasoning. I actually didn’t have vegan Worcestershire sauce, so I made my own and just put threw the tempeh in the sauce pot. If you choose to use seitan, this method doesn’t work the same way as it softens the seitan too a near mush – use the marinade method instead. The traditional recipes would have you remove the vegetables only using the stock and “meat,” I think that’s a travesty and insult to the savory chunks responsible for the flavor. Save the veggies! Don’t let them cook in vain. The classic also mixes Gruyere into the potatoes. I personally did not use vegan cheese, but Daiya might be a nice addition if you’re into it. This passed the omnivore test. I recommend enjoying with a bottle of red.

Vegan Hachis Parmentier

Makes 4-6 servings

Total cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the “Beef”
3-4 T. vegan Worcestershire sauce
1¼ c. water
1 pkg tempeh, cubed or 2 c. seitan, cubed
Cooking spray

For the Stew
2 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 small turnip, chopped
1 c. mushrooms, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced (1½ T)
1 bay leaf
1 tsps thyme, dried
2 T. tomato paste
2 c. vegetable broth (from bouillon)
½ - 1 c. water
2 tsp cornstarch
Salt and pepper

For the Potatoes
2 large russet potatoes, cubed
2 T. Earth Balance
¼ - ½ c. almond or soy milk or creamer
Pinch of salt
¼ c. parsley or chives
½ c. vegan cheese (optional)

Directions

Cooking suggestion: The tempeh or seitan can be prepared before or at the same time as the stew. Preheat the oven to 400ºF and cook potatoes while the stew simmers.

For the “beef”: If using tempeh, bring the Worcestershire sauce and water to a boil and add tempeh. Lower heat to medium and let sauce reduce by half, stirring tempeh occasionally to make sure all cubes are coated evenly about 8-10 minutes. When reduce, strain tempeh reserving sauce. Heat a skillet over high heat and coat with cooking spray. Brown the tempeh until cooked evenly on all sides. If using seitan, mix Worcestershire sauce with ¾ c. water and marinate seitan in a medium bowl for 20 minutes. Brown the tempeh until cooked evenly on all sides Set aside to add to stew.

For the stew: In a large sauce pan or wide, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and turnips. Cook until vegetables soften, 8-10 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute before adding vegetable broth and ½ cup of water. Bring stew to a boil and reduce heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Mix ¼ cup of water with cornstarch and whisk into stew. Add “beef” and ¼ cup of reserved Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When stew has thickened, remove from heat and transfer to casserole dish.

For the potatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add potatoes. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Strain the potatoes and mash with Earth Balance, “milk” of choice, and pinch of salt. Stir in parsley or chives and cheese if using. Spread potatoes over stew in a single, smooth layer.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Rawsage & Cheezy Rice

Sorry if you’re getting sick of the raw kick, but I’m trying to get the biggest bang for my bucks spent on a ginormous food dehydrator AND I'm having fun! I have made several recipes (and actually somewhat followed them) from 2 different raw cookbooks that are good for starters, but now I’m ready for more improvisation. When I read an omnivore recipe, I know almost instantly how to make a vegan analog. Raw analogs are next but for me they require much more innovation. This kind of challenge is clearly my cup of tea.

So how did I come to even think of making raw cheesy rice? Last week I made an eggplant biryani with raw “rice” based on a recipe from a local vegan chef in Phoenix. First of all, I didn’t know you could eat eggplant raw - I actually thought it might be lethal. Secondly, I had a lurking fear of eating raw cruciferous vegetables (i.e. broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts) because of the foreboding side effects caused by our stomachs trying to breakdown all of that fiber. Who knew that cauliflower was the super-secret stand-in for raw rice? Now you know. Not only is it incredibly delicious, but breaking it in a food processor helps with digestion. Combining it with soaked almonds or cashews gives it a certain silkiness you find in cooked rice.

Now for the secret to cheesiness. On my last trip to Sedona, I purchased some raw kale chips from Frontier Market made by a local raw food shop. They tasted like Cheez-its and had the same addictive quality. So of course I memorized the ingredient list and told myself that someday I’d buy a food dehydrator to reinvent these chips. I’m a little impressed with myself that months later I actually did. Though I remembered the ingredients, I also perused through recipes online to come up with my own version. If you don’t have cashew butter, just use ground cashews. The texture will be a little more granular, but still yum. I could scoop this onto raw bread or eat it plain it’s so good. Mixed into rice is like a good ole casserole.

And lastly…raw sausage? Gross! Well of course its vegan and involves no “casing” (what a fancy term for stomach lining…next time I have heartburn I’m going to refer to my enflamed “casing”). Walnuts and pecans are common ingredients for raw meat analogs and of course walnuts have the Omega 3 edge going for them which his why they star in this recipe. When ground us, their meaty texture can be seasoned any way you want. Have cumin or chili powder? You can make raw taco meat. So I basically thought of a typical stuffing recipe and used the spice combination I use when making cooked vegan sausages. This method was WAY less labor intensive than and tasted SO good (eating a cup of nuts is high in fat though which is why it’s so tasty). You can even top this all off with some raw mushroom gravy if you’re feeling adventurous.

Rawsage & Cheezy Rice

Makes: 4 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Dehydrating time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Rawsage
1 c. walnuts
8-10 sundried tomatoes, soaked if not soft already
½ c. onion, chopped
½ c. celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed
3 T. applesauce
2 tsp. sage, dried
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 tsp. poultry seasoning (optional)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. white pepper

For the Cheezy Rice
2 T. cashew butter
2 T. tahini
2 T. Lemon juice
1 T. Nama shoyu or tamari
¼ c. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
½ c. water (or more)

3 c. cauliflower, chopped (or about 1 ½ heads)
¾ c. almonds, soaked 2 hours and skins peeled
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

For the rawsage: Combine all of the rawsage ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mixture is crumbly but can hold together in larger chunks. Add 1-2 T of water or additional applesauce if too dry (do not process into pate). Transfer to lined tray in food dehydrator or oven and heat at 110ºF for 1 hour or more until rawsage is warm and slightly dried. Prepare the rice while mixture dehydrates.

For the rice: In a small bowl, combine the first three ingredients and whisk vigorously with a fork until mixture becomes very creamy, about 2 minutes (the lemon juice will separate the cashew butter and tahini - as you whisk they will emulsify and become creamy). Add the nama shoyu, nutritional yeast and spices and mix so all are blended into a thick sauce. Thin using ¼ cup of water at a time until desired consistency is reached. Taste cheese sauce, add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse cauliflower and soaked almonds together until it reaches a rice texture, small and crumbly. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in cheese sauce. Let sit at room temperature until rawsage is warm. Serve rawsage over rice and enjoy!

Dominican Beans over Brazilian Greens

I am recovering from a long and persistent canned food addiction. This is not news, I've admitted it before. But admitting the problem it has been a productive emergence from BPA denial. Now it’s no big deal to set up a bowl of soaking beans overnight and cook them in the morning while I get ready for the day. The taste and texture of home-cooked dried beans is beyond superior to their canned counterparts and I wouldn’t dare insult them now by calling them inconvenient. Can or no can though, they are still the magical fruit and there is no gettig around that.


While I have mastered the chickpea, mung bean and lentil, I am working on others to expand my repertoire. While not much skill is involved, sometimes I am insecure about the texture and “doneness” of my boiling beanies. Some are still kind of hard because I’ve become a nervous nancy about the cook time. Other have been mush because of my experience with the previous outcome. Black beans are pretty easy now, though I tend to undercook them slightly for some reason. Having expanded into my “Mexican/Latina fare” beans, I was finally inspired to try pinto beans.


Pintos were very easy to cook and I came out with a great batch on my first try. Once you cook the beans though, you have to figure out what to do with them. And for some reason, a typical quesadilla wasn’t going to cut it this time. Pintos are great with a little bit of vegan cheese or refried, but I really wanted to try something different. I went searching for a recipe and found a very intriguing one on Epicurious.com for Dominican Beans. It served as a great foundation, but I obviously changed it to suit my needs for timeliness and available resources. What I came up with was spectacular. I’ve never had a pinto like this and I don’t know if I’ll be satisfied by another pinto again.


The greens here were a great accompaniment but are only Brazilian because in my recipe meandering I discovered that this is apparently how collards are commonly prepared in Brazil. I would have made them this way anyway (with plenty of garlic) had I not found this out. Greens and garlic...duh. 

Dominican Beans over Brazilian Greens
Makes 2 servings
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes


Ingredients


For the Beans
1 c. Pinto beans, cooked or canned if you must
1 c. Bean liquid (from can or from cooking water)
1/2 c. Onion, chopped
2-3 Garlic cloves, chopped
2 T. Organic ketchup
1 T. Distilled white vinegar
1/2 c. Anaheim pepper, chopped (or other green pepper)
1/2 c. Chopped tomato
1 Bay leaf, ground or whole
1/2 tsp. Oregano, ground or crumbled
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Freshly ground black pepper
8-10 Cilantro stalks


For the Greens
4-6 Large collard leaves
2 tsp. Olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
Salt to taste


Directions


For the beans: In a medium bowl, lightly mash the beans so that about half are mashed and half remain whole. Reserve liquid on the side. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Cook onions and garlic, stirring constantly to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn, until onions are soft, about 6-7 minutes.While the onions are cooking, grind the herbs, salt and pepper together or mash in a mortar and pestle until well blended and set aside. Stir ketchup, vinegar, pepper and tomato into sauce pan. Cook until liquid is reduced slighty and increase heat to medium high. Stir in herb mixture, beans and liquid. Bring to a medium boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Tie cilantro stalks together or just group them together by the stem and lay on top of bean mixture, pressing into pan but with the stems still sticking out. Cover pan leaving a small edge uncovered and simmer until liquid has mostly evaporated and mixture has thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Turn heat off and let beans sit another 5-10 minutes on the burner. Remove cilantro and discard.


For the greens: To cut the collards into ribbons, destem each leaf, cut in quarters and lay each piece on top of each other in a neat pile. Roll the leaves from one end to another in a cigar shape and slice thinly from one end to another. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add garlic being VERY careful not to burn. Cook until garlic becomes fragrant, about 1 minute, and add collards. Toss in garlic oil and season with a touch of salt to taste. Cook until collards are just tender, about 3-4 minutes.


Serve beans over a nice little pile of greens and season with salt and pepper to taste.