Vegan Planet

Garlicky Tomato Salad with Stone-Ground Grits

2009-07-07T13:59:00.003-04:00

On a driving trip through the countryside last week, I visited a mill where they grind their own grains. I picked up some bread flour, buckwheat flour, and some stone-ground grits, which I used to cook all the time when I was a chef in Charleston, SC, but they haven’t been on my home menu very often in recent years.

I simmered the grits in well-seasoned vegetable stock until thick. I then stirred in some shredded cheddar Sheese and a little Earth Balance and transferred it to a baking dish to cool. The next day, I cut it into triangles, arranged them on a baking sheet, and baked them until warm.

For a topping, I sautéed minced garlic in olive oil and then added a tumble of gorgeous little tomatoes that I picked up at the farmer’s market. The colors of the tomatoes ranged from yellow, to orange, to red -- so pretty! I added some parsley from my garden and sautéed the tomatoes just for a few seconds, basically just long enough to coat them with the garlicky olive oil. After adding a bit of salt and some cracked pepper, I spooned the tomatoes over the yummy yellow triangles.

The flavor was incomparable, and I especially enjoyed knowing it was made with local ingredients. Does that make me a “locovore herbivore”?

Roasted Watermelon, Anyone?

2009-07-04T15:34:00.003-04:00

Roasted watermelon has been turning up in various cookbooks and cooking magazines of late. I found the idea intriguing, so I decided to try some for myself to see what all the fuss was about.

I cut out two rounds from a slice of seedless watermelon and roasted them on a baking sheet. Sprinkled with black sesame seeds and served with a balsamic-blackberry reduction, it certainly made a striking presentation on the plate (although I do think it looks eerily like raw tuna). As far as the flavor factor, I wasn’t exactly knocked out by it. Bottom line: I think I’ll stick to eating my watermelon the old-fashioned way: ice-cold slices for dessert or as a snack (or dressed up as in the “fresh fruit cake” of my June 28 post).

Has anyone else tried roasted watermelon? I’d be curious to know what you think of it.

On another topic: I’ve been asked to post the following job opportunity. If you know someone who wants to work as a vegan private chef in the Baltimore area, pass this along:

Immediate need for excellent vegan live-out private chef to cook full-time for 1 person in Baltimore, Maryland. Must have prior experience cooking vegan gourmet meals. Chef must also be vegan/vegetarian. Must also help administrate the household - including running errands, paying bills, coordinating subcontractors for house maintenance. Competitive salary! Fax resume to 410-486-7692.

Veggie Awards: Vote for Me!

2009-07-01T13:47:00.003-04:00

It’s that time of year again: the annual VegNews Veggie Awards -- and I'm happy to say that I’ve been nominated in two categories and would appreciate your voting for me:

"Favorite Cookbook Author"

and

“Favorite Column” (for my Global Vegan column)

As an incentive to cast your vote, you will have a chance to win fabulous prize packages, including a Tropical Vacation Getaway, a His/Her Urban Goodie Bag, a Vegan Ice Cream Starter Kit, and a Chocolate Madness Gift Box.

Here's a direct link to the survey.

The polls close July 31 at midnight, and winners will be announced in the November+December "Best of Vegetarian" holiday edition of VegNews.

Fresh Fruit “Cake”

2009-06-28T15:20:00.004-04:00

Here’s a fun way to serve fresh fruit – turn it into a “cake.” It makes a pretty presentation, it’s easy to make, and makes a refreshing summertime dessert.

For the main part of the “cake,” I sliced off the top and bottom of a small round seedless watermelon. I then placed a plate on top of the watermelon about the same diameter as the pink part of the fruit and used the edge of the plate as a guide for my knife to cut away the rind. This left a pretty pink cylinder of delicious watermelon.

I then placed the watermelon “cake” on a plate and decorated it with blueberries, strawberries, and kiwi slices. I think it would also look pretty with sliced starfruit and blackberries – maybe next time!

Birthday Tradition

2009-06-26T17:53:00.018-04:00

Once you’ve done something two years in a row, does that count as a tradition? On my birthday last year, I digressed from my usual food post to share some photos of my kitties. I thought I’d do the same this year, with a few extras, too. Here are the dynamic duo, Gary and his diminutive partner in crime, Mitski:

The photo below is our darling outdoor kitty, Jason, who “came with the house” (he looks a lot like Gary, doesn't he?). I’m still no closer to making him an indoor kitty, but he enjoys the little house Jon built for him on our deck, and of course, the three squares (actually, two) a day I feed him.

This next guy is not a kitty, of course, but I just had to share a photo of the cutest alpaca we met recently who was kind enough to strike this handsome pose:

And finally, I can’t seem to get by without talking at least a little about food. I was thinking about how great our blackberries were last year and anticipating a new crop this summer. Then I remembered the incredible variety of berries I had the pleasure of sampling a couple years ago in Italy while visiting the Mercato Centrale in Florence.

And they had some amazing olives too, as one would expect.

What I didn't expect was happening upon a restaurant called "Ristorante del Fagioli" -- Bean Restaurant? Sounds like a great place for a vegan to eat -- too bad the place was closed when we were there.

Arugula Potato Salad

2009-06-22T10:43:00.003-04:00

My vegetable garden continues to supply me with enough arugula to open an arugula restaurant. As you know from my previous post, I like to sauté it in garlic and olive oil — just add cooked beans and pasta (or rice) and dinner is served. I’ve also made some great arugula pesto, which, in addition to tossing with pasta, is also good slathered on grilled bruschetta or transformed into a salad dressing. But I think my favorite way to enjoy it is in the Arugula Potato Salad recipe from Vegan Fire and Spice.

In this recipe, cooked potatoes and roasted red bell peppers combine with chopped arugula and a snappy dressing made with garlic, capers, and a touch of cayenne. It’s easy to make, colorful, and loaded with flavor. It makes a great side dish for anything from veggie burgers to seitan “parmesan” — I actually served it with both, so I know from whence I speak. If you add a little extra arugula and a cup of cooked cannellini beans or chickpeas, it can even be enjoyed as a main-dish salad.

The cayenne in the dressing adds just the slightest nuance of heat. If you prefer a spicier salad, you can add some hot red pepper flakes or even add a minced hot chile. And as every garlic lover knows, you can always add more garlic to the dressing.

Some shortcut tips: In the original recipe, the potatoes are cooked on the stovetop and the bell peppers roasted over a flame. Since I had planned to make this salad the night before, and I already had the oven on for something else, I tossed some potatoes in the oven to bake for the salad. Instead of roasting my own bell peppers, I used the jarred kind. (You could also roast your own in advance.) With the potatoes already cooked from the night before, and the roasted peppers from a jar, the salad only took minutes to assemble.

Arugula Potato Salad
This recipe is adapted from Vegan Fire and Spice.

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
Salt
1 large or 2 small red bell peppers
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups lightly packed arugula, coarsely chopped

1. Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. (Alternately, you can steam the potatoes over boiling water or roast them on an oiled baking sheet. You can also bake the potatoes and dice them after baking.) Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Roast the red peppers over an open flame or broil about 4 inches from the heat, turning until the skins are completely blackened. Put the charred peppers into a paper bag and let steam for about 5 minutes to loosen the skins. Scrape off the blackened skin and remove the seeds and stems. Chop the peppers into 1/2-inch dice, and add them to the potatoes. (Alternately, to save time, you can use jarred roasted red bell peppers.)
3. Mince the garlic and capers in a food processor or blender. Add the lemon juice, cayenne, and salt, to taste, and process until well blended. Slowly add the olive oil to emulsify. Add the dressing to the potatoes along with the arugula and toss until coated.

Pasta with Arugula and Fava Beans

2009-06-14T11:31:00.001-04:00

This year, my vegetable garden includes several arugula plants. I’m really excited about this since I love arugula and can’t buy it locally – and even if I could, it would be very expensive. As I’m observing how the plants spike upward it’s easy to guess why arugula is also called “rocket” lettuce.

A few years ago, while visiting Umbria, I enjoyed a fantastic pasta dish topped with arugula, fava beans, and tomatoes. I haven’t been able to find fava beans in my area, so I was nearly ecstatic when I discovered packages of steamed favas in the produce section of Trader Joe’s on my way home from D.C. recently.

With favas and arugula in hand, I was able to recreate the dish I had so much enjoyed in Italy. Although Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains have replaced the Italian Apennines for ambience, this rich and flavorful meal was still delicious. Here’s the recipe:

Pasta with Arugula and Fava Beans
For this recipe, I used fusilli because I had it on hand, but any bite-size pasta shape would be good with this sauce. Instead of using the steamed fava beans from Trader Joe’s, you can prepare your own fava beans or substitute cooked chickpeas or cannellini beans for a tasty alternative. Another variation would be to use spinach, chard, or other dark green in place of the arugula.

8 ounces fusilli or other small pasta shape
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups coarsely chopped arugula, well washed
1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (12-ounce) package steamed fava beans (from Trader Joes)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water.
While the pasta water is coming to a boil. heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the arugula and cook, stirring, until wilted. Add the tomatoes, fava beans, red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer to blend the flavors and heat through, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it well. To serve, divide the pasta among shallow bowls and top each with the sauce, or transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl, add the sauce, and toss gently to combine before serving.

Sweets and Beets with “Diced” Spinach

2009-06-06T12:56:00.003-04:00

I sometimes find myself pairing ingredients as much for the visual impact as for the flavors. Such was the case the other day when I roasted diced sweet potatoes and beets – they tasted as good as they looked.

I also wanted to include some greens on the plate, so I steamed some spinach. I thought it would be fun to give the spinach a similar appearance to the other cubed vegetables, so I shaped it into a narrow rectangle and used my chef’s knife to “dice” it. The resulting plate of vegetables looked almost too good to eat — so we had to snap a photo before digging in.

Short Trip – Great Food

2009-06-03T13:45:00.003-04:00

After working practically non-stop for months on my upcoming cookbooks, I finally got away to DC last weekend for a little relaxation. The weather was perfect — sunny and warm with a slight breeze. Much better than summer’s oppressive heat and humidity that will settle in soon enough.

Living in a rural area with limited (make that closer to zero) dining-out options, I end up cooking at home all the time. Not a bad thing, of course, but I do enjoy the occasional break from routine. That’s why anytime we go into the city, one of the highlights is going out to eat. This trip we had some terrific veggie sushi and some great Thai food.

The best meal of the weekend, however, was one we enjoyed on the drive home at a little Vietnamese restaurant in Centreville, Virginia. It’s a cute place and the food was great. Best of all, they have an entire vegetarian menu page and are sensitive to using vegan ingredients — I was assured that they use an all-vegetable broth in their vegetarian pho and that they use no egg or dairy in their vegetarian menu items.

The most difficult part for us was restraining ourselves from ordering everything on the menu. As you can see in the photo, we came pretty close to doing just that. We shared an order of super-yummy spring rolls (which we inhaled before remembering to snap the photo!), a wonderful bowl of pho that contained thin slices of seitan, an addictive banh mi sandwich on fresh crisp French bread, and their “special rice dish” that included a slice of delicious shredded tofu loaf served with broken steamed rice. Everything was super-fresh and reasonably priced.

After our fabulous Vietnamese meal, we stopped at Trader Joe’s, which is just down the road from the restaurant, and loaded our car with all the ingredients that I can’t find in my local supermarket. Now that I’m back home and my kitchen is well stocked, it’s back to home cooking. But I’ll save that for another post.

Sausage Sandwich and Potato Salad Redux

2009-05-28T12:57:00.003-04:00

I’ve been waxing nostalgic lately, and with the cookout season officially underway, I recalled how my dad used to love to fire up the grill when I was a kid. Grilling, along with the occasional pancake supper, were the only times Dad would do the cooking. Instead of the usual hamburgers or hotdogs, however, my Italian father preferred to grill spicy sausage and peppers which were served in warm crusty rolls, often accompanied by my mother’s potato salad.

Fast forward a zillion years to my vegan versions of these family favorites. The potato salad is an easy do-over, since I just needed to swap out Vegenaise for the mayo and omit the hard-cooked eggs that my mother habitually added to her potato salad (double helping of cholesterol, anyone?). At the last minute, I diced a ripe avocado that I needed to use up and added it to the salad, and I’m glad I did. The avocado was a nice counterpoint to the pimiento-stuffed green olives that are requisite in my Close to Mom’s Potato Salad (below) adapted from Vegan Planet.

For the sausage, I used a recipe from one of my upcoming cookbooks (sorry, I can’t share that recipe just yet) in which I come close to the seasonings in my family’s sausage recipe. To cook the sausage, I used a variation of the steaming method I learned when I used to make seafood sausages as an omni restaurant chef — we’d shape the delicate seafood mixture into logs and wrap them in plastic wrap and aluminum foil before steaming. For the vegan sausage I just use the aluminum foil.

Many years ago I saw a similar method used for making seitan sausage in an old cookbook and it does work fine, although I thought the resulting texture could have been firmer. My own take on that method (which I think produces a better texture) is a steam/bake combination where I shape the sausage or seitan into patties or logs and wrap them in foil, then place the “packages” in a baking dish. I then add water to the baking dish about halfway up the sides, cover the entire baking dish tightly with foil, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how thick the seitan or sausage is). After baking, I remove them from the pan and let them cool. Then they’re ready to sauté (or grill) to give them a nice browned color on the outside. (I’ll post the actual recipe soon.)

To approximate the great Italian rolls my family used to enjoy, I defrosted some frozen pizza dough, divided it into quarters that I shaped into logs and baked for about 15 minutes. After cooling for a minute, I sliced them open, added the sausage and peppers, and served up a taste from my childhood — vegan-style. It’s definitely not a low-cal, low-carb, or low-fat meal, but, hey, at least it’s cholesterol-free and a delicious indulgence for a cookout.

Close to Mom’s Potato Salad
Adapted from Vegan Planet. I used small red-skinned potatoes and left the skin on. To this recipe, I also added a diced avocado, making it a little less close to Mom’s version!

1 1/2 pounds small waxy potatoes
1 celery rib, minced
2 tablespoons grated onion, or to taste (optional)
1/3 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
1/3 to 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (I used Vegenaise)
1 to 2 tablespoons soy milk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Paprika, for garnish

1. Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water, until tender but still firm. Drain and allow to cool, then cut them into bite-size chunks, and place them in a large bowl. Add the celery, onion (if using), and olives and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the vegan mayonnaise, soy milk mustard, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and add to the potato mixture, stirring gently to combine. Sprinkle with paprika. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Great Greens

2009-05-18T13:10:00.003-04:00

When I was a kid my mom never had to tell me to eat my greens. I’ve always loved them just about any way I could get them—and I still do. This year our vegetable garden will give us escarole, arugula, spinach, chard, two kinds of lettuce, and kale. That should keep us up to our necks in leafy greens until next winter.

There’s a lot to love about greens. Sure, they’re super-nutritious and they taste great. But what I like best about them is their versatility. Take kale, for example. You can eat it raw in a salad or fried as chips. You can steam, boil, or sauté it. And that’s just for starters.

My own kale isn’t ready to pick yet because we planted late, but the other day I bought a huge bag of curly kale at the supermarket. It wasn’t very tender, so I blanched it for a few minutes (which also helped it fit better in my refrigerator).

I sauteed some of it with garlic, white beans, and brown rice. I added a handful to a soup. I even used some in a smoothie (with pineapple and bananas—yum). That left enough to serve as a side dish to accompany some barbequed seitan and roasted sweet potato sticks.

When I have tender baby kale leaves, I like to serve it raw as a salad combined with diced avocado and a squeeze of lemon. That’s how I had planned to serve this blanched kale, but at the last minute (while waiting for the sweet potatoes to finish roasting), I also added some diced mango and a few dried cranberries. The result was a kaleidoscope of color and amazing bursts of flavor. What could have been just a “side of kale” turned out to be the star of the entire meal.

Mmmm…Minestrone

2009-05-12T14:39:00.003-04:00

Sometimes when I’m too busy to cook, I think minestrone! Last week was one of those weeks when I didn’t even have time to eat, much less cook, so I was glad I had a pot of minestrone simmering on the stove. A good vegetable soup makes a quick and easy meal that can get you through a few days. The bonus is that the soup gets better with each reheat.

Like any good minestrone, I include a wide variety of vegetables, typically whatever I have on hand. It’s usually a combination of the usual fresh soup-starters: onion, carrot, and celery, along with some zucchini and spinach, if I’ve got them, or some frozen veggies, if I don't. I also add beans — this time it was Great Northerns — and a can of diced tomatoes. Near the end of cooking time, I toss in some frozen green peas.

For this batch, I added some brown rice to cook right in the soup, but you could also add some cooked pasta, rice, or orzo when ready to serve. A spoonful of pesto swirled in at the end adds a wonderful flavor note.

Minestrone
This recipe is adapted from my book, Quick-Fix Vegetarian. As noted in the recipe headnote, this recipe is more of a guide than a gospel — add whatever vegetables you prefer, season it the way you like, and if you have time, it’s best to cook it a bit longer, the flavor only gets better.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup frozen lima beans
2 cups chopped fresh zucchini (or frozen Italian vegetables)
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16-ounce) can white beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (the amount of salt needed depends on the saltiness of your broth)
3 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or pesto)
Cooked rice or soup pasta (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cover and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, then add the limas, frozen vegetables (or zucchini), tomatoes and their juices, beans, and broth. Add the basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes to an hour. A few minutes before serving time, stir in the spinach and parsley (or pesto). Taste to adjust seasonings. Stir in the rice or pasta if using.

Spring Rolls

2009-05-03T10:22:00.003-04:00

Spring has finally sprung, and what better way to celebrate the season than with fresh and fabulous spring rolls. They’re fun to make, pretty to look at, and oh so delicious. Fact is, I love spring rolls any time of year. I’m actually beginning to think I’m obsessed with them. Here’s some of the evidence:

In my Global Vegan column in the current issue of VegNews Magazine the subject is spring rolls. (By the way, I hope you’ll try my recipe for Vietnamese Spring Rolls in that article — they are so good!)

During the last two visits to my favorite Thai restaurant, all I wanted for lunch was spring rolls and more spring rolls.

A few days later, I still had a taste for more, so I made some for lunch. This time I filled them with red leaf lettuce, rice noodles, cilantro, mango, and avocado. Dipped in a spicy-sweet chili sauce, the flavor was sublime. But I know it’s only a matter of time before I crave them again. In fact, I’m already craving them again.

So why do I love spring rolls? Let me count the ways:

1. They’re self-contained packets making them easy to pick up and eat.
2. They get dipped in a yummy dipping sauce (always a plus).
3. They’re made with fresh, healthful ingredients.
4. They have a great combination of textures and flavors: at once crunchy, chewy, sweet, and spicy.
5. They’re like eating a wonderful salad, only fun because you can eat them with your hands.

I’m totally hooked! Is anyone else as spring-roll obsessed as I am?

Spicy Coconut Noodles

2009-04-29T09:33:00.003-04:00

A busy day with no time to cook prompted me to make a recipe from Quick-Fix Vegetarian even quicker. I adapted the recipe for coconut rice noodles, using leftover cooked linguine instead of preparing rice noodles and added extra coconut milk to make it more saucy and help the noodles heat up more quickly. I tossed in some thawed frozen peas, although the addition of some leftover cooked veggies such as broccoli would have been nice as well, or if you have time, you can sauté other veggies of choice, such as red bell pepper.

A generous sprinkling of cilantro (or parsley, if you’re out of cilantro like I was) and a squeeze of lime added sparkle, with some cashews on top to add a bit of crunch. Well, I had planned to use cashews, but at the last minute I noticed some fried rice noodles in the cupboard, so I used them instead for a nice change. I thought the dish might need some extra heat, so I brought the Sriracha sauce to the table, but it turned out the red pepper flakes provided just the right amount, more as a background of heat rather than being in the forefront. (of course, if you don't like heat, you can leave it out or use less.) Start to finish, this easy and versatile dinner was ready in about 15 minutes. Now that’s a quick fix!

Spicy Coconut Noodles

Adapted from Quick-Fix Vegetarian.

1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
8 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces cooked rice noodles or linguine
1/2 cup thawed frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Lime wedges, for garnish
Crushed cashews, for garnish

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add the tofu and stir-fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the green onions and ginger and stir-fry another 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low and stir in the coconut milk, soy sauce, sugar, and crushed red pepper. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked noodles and peas and toss gently to combine until heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more soy sauce or sugar if needed, to balance the flavors. Serve sprinkled with the cilantro and garnished with lime wedges and cashews.

Book Giveaway on Vegan.com

2009-04-28T09:46:00.004-04:00

For a chance to win a copy of Vegan Fire and Spice, go to Vegan.com (the April 25th post: Vegan Fire & Spice Giveaway) where Erik Marcus is giving away three copies of the book. Hurry, though, as the contest closes on Friday, May 1.

The Great Brownie Debate

2009-04-25T09:58:00.004-04:00

Anyone who thinks “a brownie is a brownie” will have to think again after reading through the comments in the brownie poll. With well over 100 people (and counting) voting for their favorites, the “fudgy brownie” faction overtook the “cakey brownie” proponents by a landslide. Interestingly, almost equal in number to the cakey brownie lovers are those who enjoy either or both kinds of brownies or “something in between.” The question of “nuts” vs. “no nuts” favors "yes to nuts," with many respondents either not addressing the nut issue or listing other additions. Here’s how the numbers look as of this writing. Out of 115 votes (including a few that came via e-mail):

Prefer Fudgy Brownies: 74
Prefer Cakey Brownies: 19
Enjoy Both Kinds: 22
“Yes” to Nuts: 42
“No” to Nuts: 27

What I found most amazing is how passionately descriptive everyone is about the type of brownie they prefer, as well as the creative riffs on traditional brownie recipes that many of you shared, including additions from cayenne, mint, nutmeg, and peanut butter, to topping them with pecans glazed with hot sauce and peach preserves, and even adding chunks of brownies to brownie batter for a double-dose of brownie goodness — now that’s decadent!

As promised, I have randomly chosen someone to receive a copy of Vegan Fire and Spice for taking part in this poll. The winner is: Kiersten — (Kiersten, please e-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll get a book right out to you.)

I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who participated in the brownie poll — I wish I could give each one of you a nice big freshly baked custom-made brownie of your choice!

Brownies, Take Two…and a Book Giveaway

2009-04-21T15:25:00.003-04:00

After the swift disappearance of the first pan of brownies from my last post, my brownie-addicted husband was looking for more, so I made another batch, this time with just a whisper of walnuts as the only addition. As you can see in the photo, these are very cakey brownies—the only kind Jon likes (see previous post).

It got me to wondering if everyone else is as strict in their brownie specifications as he is, so I’m conducting a totally non-scientific poll: What kind of brownies do you prefer? Cakey? Fudgey? With nuts? Without nuts?

As an incentive to participate in this poll, I will randomly choose one of the commenters to send a copy of my book, Vegan Fire & Spice (or another title, if you already have it). So, let’s make some brownie points! Describe your favorite kind of brownies.

Nutty Chocolate Brownies

2009-04-19T18:11:00.002-04:00

My husband Jon is a card-carrying brownie lover. Not just any brownies — he especially likes chocolatey brownies with lots of nuts, and he prefers a cakey texture (as opposed to fudgy). Perhaps second only to his penchant for cakey nutty brownies is his devotion to all things coconut. The idea of combining these elements to create his “dream brownie” was the inspiration for “Nutty Chocolate Brownies,” which will appear in my upcoming book, 1,000 Vegan Recipes, coming out later this year.

Jon couldn’t even wait for these brownies to cool out of the oven, much less until the book comes out, so you shouldn’t have to either — the recipe is below. Another great thing about these brownies is their versatility: if you’re not a fan of coconut, leave out the coconut extract and shredded coconut and use soy milk or other non-dairy milk instead of the coconut milk. If you don’t like pecans, swap them for another nut. You can even leave the nuts out entirely, but then they wouldn’t be very nutty brownies, would they?

Nutty Chocolate Brownies
This recipe is from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson © 2009.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw pecans
1/2 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and oil until well blended. Stir in the coconut milk, vanilla and coconut extracts, and blend until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend. Fold in the pecans, chocolate chips, and coconut.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let the brownies cool 30 minutes before serving.

Blushing Fettuccine Alfredo

2009-04-07T18:34:00.002-04:00

April weather in Virginia can be fickle, and this year is no exception. A few days of 70-degree sunshine teased of an early spring, only to give way to a final (I hope) blast of winter wind and snow flurries. The cold weather set off my “comfort food” alarm again, and I found the perfect solution in a tester recipe for an upcoming cookbook (sorry I can’t share the recipe just yet).

It’s called Blushing Fettuccine Alfredo, made with a rich creamy white sauce, blushing with a hint of marinara sauce. To remind myself that spring really is here (technically at least), I added some veggies to make a “primavera” variation and topped it with some pan-fried tofu that Jon thought looked like tofu croutons, so I called them “to-futons.” And while he didn’t find my pun terribly amusing, he did find the fettuccine to be out-of-this-world delicious.

Seitan Cutlets and Chilean-Spiced Potatoes

2009-03-31T09:10:00.004-04:00

How’s this for a motto: “Have seitan cutlets, will sauté.”

With fresh shiitakes and spinach in the house, it was fate that they end up in the same dish with my seitan. The whole thing came together in about 15 minutes. First I sautéed the spinach, took it out of the pan and set it aside. Then I sautéed the shiitakes with some green onion and a little soy sauce and mirin, and that, too, out of the pan. Into the same skillet went the seitan cutlets, which I cooked until hot and golden. After plating the seitan, the spinach and shiitakes went back into the skillet for a final blast of heat. Then I then piled it all on top of the seitan. Simple, elegant, delicious. You get the idea. Now about those potatoes….

One thing I like about potatoes (there are probably a million things I like about them, but I’ll try to concentrate on just this one) is their versatility. Take simple roasted potatoes for example, like the ones you see sharing the limelight with the seitan. They would have been perfectly yummy if just tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting. But here’s the thing: potatoes lend themselves to virtually any kind of seasonings. Add some spices (like curry or jerk spices), herbs (like fresh rosemary or basil), or other seasonings (such as garlic, lemon juice, and capers), and you can dress your spuds to go with anything. This time I used a fantastic spice blend from Chile called mapuche, a mixture of hot red chiles, cumin, coriander, and salt that gave the potatoes a wonderful flavor and lovely color.

Vietnamese-Inspired Noodles

2009-03-22T10:19:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed another terrific noodle dish for dinner the other night, this time inspired by the flavors of Vietnam. First, I assembled the ingredients: cooked linguine, shredded carrot, steamed broccoli, green onions, cilantro, peanuts, and tofu (you can use tempeh or seitan, if you prefer). I then made a marinade for tofu consisting of soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, hoisin, chile oil, and crushed red pepper flakes for some heat.

It was super-quick to prepare and very flavorful. Like most simple noodle stir-fries, you can easily adapt this recipe (I based it on Vietnamese Noodles with Tempeh and Peanuts recipe in Vegan Fire and Spice) to use whatever veggies and other ingredients you have on hand and tweak the flavors of the marinade or sauce to suit your taste. Here's the recipe:

Vietnamese-Inspired Noodles

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons hot chili oil
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (16-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, diced
1 tablespoon canola or other neutral vegetable oil
1 carrot, shredded
4 scallions (green onions), minced
3 cups steamed broccoli florets
8 ounces cooked rice noodles or linguine
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup crushed dry-roasted peanuts

In a medium bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, hoisin sauce, chili oil, and red pepper flakes. Add the tofu and toss to coat. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and scallions and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Drain the tofu, reserving the marinade. Add the tofu to the skillet and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, noodles, and the reserved marinade and stir-fry to heat through. Add the cilantro and peanuts, tossing gently to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Almost Irish Stew

2009-03-16T13:27:00.004-04:00

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, so I decided to make “Almost Irish Stew” from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. It’s one of those basic “comfort food” stews that is perfect on a cold rainy day. I used baby carrots (halved lengthwise) but you can use sliced regular carrots, if you prefer, and any kind of white potatoes work well — just make sure they’re cut uniformly so everything gets done at the same time. I included diced seitan in my stew, but you could use white beans instead — it tastes great either way.

When I want extra flavor, I sauté the onion in a skillet first, but this time I skipped that step and it still tasted great. You can also sauté your seitan before adding it to the slow cooker, if you like it nice and browned. Again, it’s a personal choice.

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to boost the Irish factor with a touch of green, so I added some fresh baby spinach (blanched first and then added close to serving time). Kale or cabbage would be good, too, but I especially like how the bright green spinach, orange carrots, and white potatoes show the colors of the Irish flag!

Almost Irish Stew
With the slow cooker doing all the work, it will give you time to make a loaf of Irish soda bread. Adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Variation: Substitute cooked white beans for the seitan. Instead of spinach or kale, you can substitute cabbage which can be added raw to the slow cooker when you add the carrots and potatoes.

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups baby carrots, halved lengthwise
5 small white potatoes, halved or quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tamari
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups blanched spinach or kale
8 ounces seitan, diced

Place the chopped onion in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the carrots, potatoes, garlic, stock, bay leaf, wine, tamari, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, add the spinach and seitan. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot.

Serves 4

Vegetable Pancit

2009-03-13T17:06:00.005-04:00

I always cook pasta a pound at a time, even though we usually eat only half of it at any given meal. I do this because I love having extra cooked noodles on hand to inspire me to make a quick and easy dinner the next day with the leftovers.

This week, the extra pasta was angel hair and the answer to what to do with it was pancit, the popular Filipino noodle dish. I know angel hair isn’t traditional for making pancit, but everyone who makes pancit has their own variation, and this is mine. I used the recipe from Vegan Fire and Spice and added some tofu and cilantro — so good!

Pancit is a fairly mild dish, heat-wise, but it has lots of flavor. I like to add a splash of chili oil to round out the flavor, but you can add more or leave it out, according to your own taste. Here’s the recipe:

Vegetable Pancit
This recipe is adapted from Vegan Fire and Spice.

8 ounces angel hair pasta or pancit noodles
2 tablespoons cold-pressed canola oil
1 pound extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon Asian chili oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Lime wedges (optional garnish)
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional garnish)

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add the tofu and stir-fry until golden. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the same skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, cabbage, and carrot, and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine the water, soy sauce, tomato paste, and chili oil, stirring to blend. Add to the vegetables and cook 2 minutes longer.
5. Add the cooked noodles and reserved tofu and toss to combine. Season with a generous amount of black pepper and add additional soy sauce, if desired. Cook until hot, then transfer to a serving platter or individual plates and garnish with lime wedges and cilantro, if using.

Serves 4

Red Hot Chili Tofu

2009-03-06T14:55:00.003-05:00

I often find myself craving tofu and like it prepared in a variety of ways. One recipe that has a regular spot in my menu rotation is the Red Hot Chili Tofu from Vegan Fire and Spice. The tofu gets dredged in cornstarch and cooked to a crisp golden brown. It is then cloaked in a spicy red sauce that coats the tofu with flavor.

The “red hot” in the title has as much to do with the color as with the heat. With one teaspoon of chili paste, I’d call it moderately spicy, and since we like our food extra-hot, I usually toss in an extra “oops” of chili paste into the sauce. This recipe makes just enough sauce to coat the tofu, so if you want extra sauce, simply double the amount of sauce ingredients in the recipe.

Red Hot Chili Tofu

The tomato paste and chili paste combine to turn the tofu a lovely red color. Add more or less chili paste according to your heat tolerance. (From Vegan Fire and Spice: 200 Sultry and Savory Global Recipes.)

3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon soy sauce
3 teaspoons sake or dry white wine
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch strips
3 tablespoons cold-pressed canola oil
1/4 cup minced scallions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon hot chili paste (or more, to taste)
Chopped cilantro, for garnish

In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, water, soy sauce, sake, and sugar. Mix well and set aside.
In a shallow bowl, combine the cornstarch and salt. Dredge the tofu strips in the cornstarch mixture, shaking off any excess.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the tofu in batches and cook until golden brown. Transfer to a platter.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the same skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, garlic, ginger, and chili paste, and cook, stirring for 15 seconds. Add the reserved tomato paste mixture and stir until well blended.
Add the reserved tofu and toss gently to coat with the sauce, cooking until heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve hot, sprinkled with cilantro

Serves 4

Too-Cold-to-Shop Spinach-Rice Soup

2009-02-21T18:14:00.002-05:00

I’ve come to the conclusion that some of my favorite fast-and-easy meals are inspired by a near-empty larder and a desire to stay indoors. That’s exactly what happened last week when, as lunchtime approached, we were in the mood for a big bowl of brothy soup and fresh out — of everything. I was supposed to have gone grocery shopping that morning but there was a menacing glaze of ice on the roads and the wind chill was below zero, so scratch that idea. Then how did I make the delicious soup you see in the photo in less than 15 minutes? It went something like this:

I sauteed some chopped onion and garlic in olive oil in a pot. Added 4 cups of water and some veggie broth base (I used Better Than Bouillon). Added about 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (leftover from previous night’s dinner), 1 1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach, and 1 1/2 cups (or a 15-ounce can) of white beans. I brought it all to a boil, then reduced the heat, added some salt and pepper and a little dried savory, and simmered for about 10 minutes. That’s it.

It was so satisfying that it’s hard to believe how simple (and quick) it was to make. The moral of the story, of course, is next time you think there’s nothing in the house to eat, think again.