Friday, September 28, 2012

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal to Keep You Full Til Happy Hour

This is my absolute favorite breakfast and it is my weekend treat to myself.  I make it every Saturday morning and it keeps me full all the way til late afternoon.
I highly encourage any veg-interested people out there to peruse Angela's blog - ohsheglows.com.

Original recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/09/06/early-morning-peanut-butter-banana-oatmeal/

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-1 large very ripe banana, peeled and roughly chopped
-1 tsp non-dairy butter
-1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/2-1 tsp ground flax
-1 cup almond milk
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/8-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
-pinch of salt
-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
-optional toppings: heaping 1/2 tbsp peanut butter, nuts, cinnamon, pure maple syrup

Method:

In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, cook the banana and non-dairy butter or oil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in 1/2 tbsp peanut butter, and add the oats, flax, milk, spices, and a pinch of salt. Whisk well until combined.

Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring often for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Scoop into a bowl and top with peanut butter, nuts, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

Sweet Potatoes are Your Friend

This recipe from the NY Times not only forced me to learn how to use the grater blade on my food processor, but was insanely flavorful and took only a few minutes to prepare.  Good as a side dish, or under some stir fried veggies, or even on its own.  Or if you stir it less and let it sit more and flip it instead of stirring, it's kind of like an Asian sweet potato hash browns dish.

Original: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15minirex1.html

Gingery Stir Fried Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

-4 scallions, trimmed and cut into one-inch pieces
-2 garlic cloves
-1 piece fresh ginger (an inch long), peeled
-2 small fresh hot chilies (like jalapeƱo or Thai), stem and seeds removed (or 1-2 tbsp. Sriracha in a pinch)
-1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into one- to two-inch chunks
-3 tbsp. peanut oil
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1 tbsp. soy sauce, more for serving.


Method:

Put scallions in food processor and pulse until finely chopped; remove. Add garlic, ginger and chili to the processor and pulse until minced; remove. Fit the processor with grating blade and grate sweet potatoes.

Put oil in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic-ginger-chili mixture and fry for 30 seconds. Add half the scallions and all the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring or tossing, until the potatoes are lightly browned, about 10 minutes; the potatoes need not be fully tender.

Add soy sauce, toss once, and transfer potatoes to serving platter. Garnish with remaining scallions and serve immediately with additional soy sauce, if desired.

Vegans Like Creamy Salad Dressing Too!

Just because I am vegan doesn't mean I don't get bored with olive oil and vinegar on my salads all the time.  Obviously there are lots of ways to spice up oil and vinegar with different herbs or different vinegars or mustards, etc... but here is a great salad dressing recipe which really satisfies the craving for something creamy.

Creamy Lemon Tahini Dressing

Ingredients:
-1/3 cup tahini paste
-1/3 cup water
-1/4 cup nutritional yeast
-3 tbsp. lemon juice
-1 tsp chopped garlic
-1/4 tsp olive oil
-3/4 tsp sea salt
-1/4 tsp sesame seeds (toasted sesame seeds optional)

Method:

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until well combined and smooth.

Vegan Mac and Cheese

I found this recipe earlier this year and have made it several times since.  It is always a hit and also freezes well, so I usually make a big batch and freeze it in containers that serve 2.  It's great over any pasta, but I prefer it over little shells or whole wheat macaroni.

Original source: http://epicureanvegan.com/2010/05/23/creamy-macaroni-and-cashew-cheese/

Creamy Vegan Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
-1-1/4 C raw cashews
-1/2 C nutritional yeast
-2 tsp onion powder
-1 to 2 tsp salt, to taste
-1 tsp garlic powder
-1/8 tsp white pepper
-3-1/2 C nondairy milk
-3 Tbs cornstarch
-1/2 C canola oil
-1/4 C light (yellow or white) miso
-2 Tbs lemon juice
-12-16oz pasta of your choice
-1-1/2 tsp of truffle oil (optional)

Method:

Place cashews in a large-sized bowl of the food processor and finely grind–just don’t let the cashews turn to a paste. Add nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in spices.

In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, cornstarch and oil(s). Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease heat to low-medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until cornstarch dissolves.

With the food processor running, gradually add milk/oil mixture to cashew/nutritional yeast mixture. Blend for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Next blend in miso and lemon juice.

Combine cashew cheese with macaroni noodles and serve.

*You may also bake it: Preheat oven to 325 and place macaroni mixture in a 8 or 9″ square baking dish (I recommend a 9″x13″ one). Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with 1/2 C herbed bread crumbs. Continue baking, uncovered, for 15-25 minutes until topping is golden brown. Enjoy!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Spicy (or not) Asian Bean Salad

This one is great to bring to parties, as a side dish, as an easy lunch, or underneath a piece of fish (or in our case, halved, marinated eggplant).  Super easy and it's the reason my pantry shelf is about to crack under the weight of my many cans of beans.

As Spicy As You Like Asian Bean Salad

Ingredients:
-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
-1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
-1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
-4 scallions, chopped
-1/2 cucumber, peeled or unpeeled (your preference), sliced thin
-1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes (optional)
-1 tbsp. sesame oil
-1 clove minced garlic
-1 tbsp. miso paste
-3 tbsp. soy sauce
-1 tbsp. rice vinegar
-1 tbsp. sake
-1 tsp. sugar
-1 tsp ginger powder or 1 tsp. minced or grated fresh ginger
-anywhere from 1 tsp to 1 1/2 tbsp. Sriracha or sambal oelek

Method:

Put the drained and rinsed beans, cucumber, scallions, and tomatoes in a big bowl and mix.

Put the sauce ingredients (oil, garlic, miso, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake, sugar, ginger, and hot sauce into a jar with a top, and shake vigorously until all combined and sugar dissolved.  Or put them in a bowl and whisk.

Pour sauce over bean salad and mix.  Serve!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How to Use Your Mangoes Part II

As promised, here is the other recipe I tried and it was a huge hit.  I pretty much followed this recipe exactly because Isa Moskowitz at the Post Punk Kitchen is amazing and a real trailblazer in vegan cooking.  It looks like a complicated recipe but trust me it's not.  Also, I cut the recipe in half when I made it at home and we had enough for dinner with plenty of leftovers for lunches the next couple of days.  It reheats well too.  Enjoy!

Original recipe can be found here: http://www.theppk.com/2012/02/mango-fried-rice/

Mango Fried Rice

Ingredients:
-3/4 cup unroasted cashews (if using roasted cashews, skip the toasting step)
-6 oz green beans (about 1 1/2 cups), ends removed, sliced into 1 inch pieces

-3 tbsp. peanut or canola oil, divided
-1 medium red onion, diced medium
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbsp. fresh minced ginger
-2 tsp. crushed coriander seed
-1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
-6 cups cold jasmine rice
-3 tbsp. tamari or soy sauce (tamari is gluten free, soy sauce is not)
-1 tbsp. Sriracha hot sauce
-1 tomato, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
-2 mangos, peeled, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
-15 basil leaves, chiffonade (that means rolled up and thinly sliced, but you can just chop it, too) (I use Thai basil, which can be found in Asian stores, and it gives it a little something extra.  But regular is fine, I'm sure.)

-2 tbsp. fresh lime juice

To serve:
-Extra Sriracha
-Fresh cilantro (optional)


Method:

Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Toss in the cashews and dry toast them for about 5 minutes, flipping occasionally. They should be slightly browned in some spots, but it’s okay if they’re unevenly browned, you don’t have to be too precise about it. Transfer cashews to a large plate.

Now we’re going to sear the green beans. Turn the heat on the pan up to medium-high. Add the green beans, a scant tablespoon of oil and a dash of salt. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the beans are bright green and seared. Transfer beans to the same plate as the cashews.

Add the onions to the pan along with another tablespoon of oil and a dash of salt. Toss for about 3 minutes, until onions are slightly charred but still firm. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander and red pepper flakes, and toss for 30 seconds are so, being careful not to burn.

Add another tablespoon of oil and about half of the cold rice. Toss to coat, then add in the remaining rice, tossing once again. Cook for about 3 minutes, tossing often, until warmed through.

Add the tamari, hot sauce and tomato, and toss. Cook for another 3 minutes, until the rice has browned sufficiently and the tomato is slightly broken down.

Add the string beans and cashews, mangoes, basil leaves and lime juice. Cook just until mangoes are heated through and basil is wilted, a minute or two. Taste for salt (don’t add more tamari, just add salt if it needs it) and serve, garnished with cilantro if you like, and with a bottle of Sriracha close by.

Asian Chop Chop Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing

This one is great because you can make the salad portion and keep it in the fridge for a few days as long as you don't pour the dressing over the whole thing.  I add the dressing to each individual serving right before I eat.  You can also make this a lot spicier if you like that!

Asian Chop Chop Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing

Ingredients for salad:
-1/4 head of red cabbage, chopped roughly into inch cubes
-1 red bell pepper, chopped roughly and seeded
-3 cups lettuce of your choice, chopped roughly
-2 carrots, peeled and chopped into inch long pieces
-big handful of green beans, ends cut off
-1 cup cherry tomatoes
-4 scallions, chopped into 2 inch pieces OR 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
-peanuts to sprinkle on top (optional)

Ingredients for dressing:
-2 tbsp. sesame oil
-2 garlic cloves
-1/4 cup natural peanut butter
-1 tbsp (about 1 inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled
-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
-2 tbsp soy sauce
-2 tsp brown sugar
-1 tbsp (or more) of Sriracha or sambal oelek if you like it a bit spicy
-2 tsp water, to thin out.

Method:

Put each ingredient into the food processor SEPARATELY and pulse 2-4 times until chopped to your satisfaction.

Pour into bowl, fold all chopped veggies together.

Method for dressing:

Put garlic cloves and ginger into food processor to mince finely. Add all other dressing ingredients to food processor and process until well combined and smooth. Put in jar/container with top.
I serve out salad and have each person spoon their desired amount of dressing on top and mix on their own plates... this way the whole salad doesn't get too soggy and people can decide how dressing-y they want it.

The Most Amazing Smoked Tofu Dish You'll Ever Eat

I found this recipe on Food.com and made some slight changes which have resulted in everyone I ever serve it to (vegetarian or not) demanding the recipe.  You can find the original here:
http://www.food.com/recipe/avocado-with-tofu-183673

And I have included my changes in the version below.

Avocado-Smoked Tofu Asian Salad

Ingredients:
-1 package smoked firm or extra firm tofu
-1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
-1 avocado, cut into 1 inch chunks
-2-3 dried chili peppers
-1/4 cup sesame oil
-1/8 cup rice vinegar
-1/8 cup sugar
-1/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari
-2 cups giant Israeli couscous (or rice, or your favorite grain)

Method:

Put the first 3 ingredients in a big serving bowl. 

Shake vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce in a jar until the sugar dissolves completely (might be a few minutes.  I let it rest, then shake, then rest, then shake, etc while I do other things around the kitchen.)

Pour the mixture over the avocado/tofu/tomato salad and stire gently.

Using a small saucepan, heat the seame oil over medium-high heat and put the chilies in.  Keep them in there until they start to smoke, maybe 10-15 minutes.  Turn off heat, use tongs to discard chilies, and pour oil over the salad.  Stir to mix up a bit, and serve over your grain of choice.

Middle Eastern Chickpea and Rice Salad

This is another bean/grain based salad that we love - we eat a lot of "one dish meals" in our house because they always have great flavors, and at our house of course there's no "main dish" of meat, to be served with veggies or grains on the side.  This dish is one of our favorites!

This recipe is from VegWeb.com, by Kim Lutz.
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4564&catId=11

Middle Eastern Chickpea and Rice Salad
Serves 10

What You Need:

-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
-Peel of 1 lemon, cut into strips
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-1 minced garlic clove
-2 red peppers, cut into wide strips
-3-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
-1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
-24 cherry tomatoes, halved
-1 cup pitted kalamata olives
-1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded, and diced
-2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
-1/4 cup finely diced red onion


What You Do:

Preheat broiler. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, lemon peel, olive oil, and garlic. Set aside.

Place red peppers on baking sheet and broil until skin bubbles and starts to turn black. Remove peppers from broiler and place in a covered bowl for 5 minutes. Remove outer skin, and dice peppers.

In a large bowl, combine rice, beans, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, parsley, onion, and peppers and toss with lemon juice dressing.

Chef’s Tip: Depending on your preference, you can include the lemon peel in the salad or discard.

Mango Red Pepper Quinoa Salad

This light salad, great for a side dish or light entree, was inspired by great looking mangoes at the local produce market, me buying way too many, and then desperately trying to figure out what to do with them before they rotted on our countertop.  (The other recipe they were used for is Mango Fried Rice - coming soon.)  This was GREAT and really flavorful.  Good at room temperature or cold as leftovers.

Mango Red Pepper Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
-1 mango, peeled and diced small
-1 red pepper, seeded and diced very small

-1 cup chopped scallions
-1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
-2 tbsp. grapeseed oil
-1/4 tsp. salt
-2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled (or bulgur or couscous if you prefer)
-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed


I made the quinoa in advance and just put it in tupperware in the fridge.  I think this salad would also be good with couscous or bulgur if you prefer those grains to quinoa.

Combine the mango, red pepper, scallions, and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated. Fold in the black beans.

You can serve immediately or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.

Agave-Chili Baked Nuts

Though this recipe was originally intended to make nuts for sprinkling over salads, I made a big batch using lots of different kinds of nuts and they were great for snacking or gifts in little bags.

Agave-Chili Baked Mixed Nuts
(adapted from the recipe on That Was Vegan Blog - http://thatwasvegan.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/make-that-salad-better-agave-chili-baked-walnuts/)

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped (I used walnuts, peanuts, and cashews)
  • 4 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. agave
  • 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • Dash of cinnamon
  • Parchment paper
Directions:
  1. In a small pan, heat the agave over low heat just until it gets thin and liquid-y, then stir in the chili powder, salt and cinnamon.
  2. Stir in the nuts, just until they’re pretty evenly coated.
  3. Pour onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet, making sure they’re not too clumped together and aren’t piled upon one another.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring 2-3 times. Keep an eye on them though- you don’t want them to burn.
  5. While they’re in the oven, cover a plate with another piece of parchment paper. When the nuts are done, pour them immediately onto the plate. Sprinkle with a little extra salt. Once they’re cool, you can break them apart and store them in an airtight container.

Banana Cake (or Cupcakes)

This is a recipe I found on VegNews.com and tried this week.  It was delicious!  I made some tweaks, the most notable being that I made cupcakes instead of one cake (to facilitate easier dissemination at the office!)

My changes are in parentheses and italics.

Thanks to Dana Villamagna for the great recipe!

Island Banana Cake

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4933&catId=10

Makes one cake
What You Need:
For the cake:
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ripe manzanos bananas, mashed (I used regular bananas)
1/4 cup vegan sour cream (because I can't find vegan sour cream in stores here, I made my own using a recipe I found on google; essentially silken tofu, lemon juice, salt, and a dash of apple cider vinegar)
1 tablespoon egg replacer, mixed with 4 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla


For the frosting: (I found this frosting too sweet for my taste, so I only "zigzagged" it across the cupcakes instead of slathering it all over. I used an icing bag, but you can also use a ziplock bag with the tip cut off to squeeze the icing out.)
1/4 cup vegan margarine, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla


What You Do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x12-inch pan. For the cake, in a large bowl or electric mixer, beat margarine and sugar until smooth.

2. In another bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour into sugar mixture and stir gently. Stir in bananas, sour cream, egg-replacer mixture, and vanilla. Pour into pan and bake 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

3. For the frosting, in a bowl or electric mixer, blend frosting ingredients until a thick, spreadable consistency is reached. Frost cake completely and serve.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Original: Thai Peanut Noodles

For my very first post, I thought I'd give a tiny bit of background as to why I created this blog, and then in future posts I promise to keep it to the recipes and keep the rambling to a minimum. 

I have always loved to cook and bake but got much more into it the last couple years.  It was even more fun when I moved in with my lahhhvahhh and could cook food for 2, which is infinitely more fun than food for one.  (Yay validation!)  As a New Years resolution I decided to eat a vegan diet when not on vacation, which means everything I ever cook is vegan.  Which means I have read hundreds of vegan blogs, books, websites, and articles by people even more sanctimonious than me! (And blogs by truly wonderful, snarky, intellectual people who don't a hoot if you are vegan or not.)

So.  Because I have tried SO many recipes, both things I created and things I swiped from inspired vegans around me, I have done a lot of research which I hate to go to waste.  And quite a few people have started asking me for recipes, perhaps because Meatless Mondays are gaining popularity or perhaps because I am a beautiful culinary genius.  It's impossible to know.  Either way, I plan to post only the VERY BEST recipes which I love or I get asked for frequently here, and only ones which I have personally tested and find outstanding.  If I didn't create the recipe, I will have a notation stating that.  And for the first recipe, there was really no contest.... 

Thai Peanut Noodles with scallions and black sesame seeds

Thai Peanut Noodles
This is a super-delicious, creamy, flavorful Thai dish that I have honed over the years.  It is ALWAYS a hit and if you have leftovers, they reheat well in the microwave with a dash of extra water, soy sauce, or sesame oil to moisten them up.
Serves 4-6 as an entree, but also good as leftovers!

Ingredients:
-1 lb. noodles of choice (I like kamut or whole wheat linguine or spaghetti.  Glass noodles are too fragile for this.  Or soba noodles could work too!)
-2 tbsp. sesame oil
-3 tbsp. peanut oil
-1 tbsp fresh minced garlic (2-3 cloves)
-4 scallions, chopped finely
-1-3 tbsp. chili sauce of your choice (I like sambal oelek, but Sriracha works too)
-1 inch piece freshly chopped ginger or 1 tsp. ginger powder
-3-4 tbsp. brown sugar
-1 cup peanut butter (I like natural chunky)
-6 tbsp. rice vinegar (white vinegar can work in a pinch)
-6 tbsp. soy sauce (or tamari if gluten free)
-12 tbsp. hot water from pasta pot
-sesame seeds
-extra scallions chopped for serving
-roasted peanuts for serving (optional)

Mixing the sauce with the drained noodles

Method:
1. Make pasta as per directions on package.  When done, pour into a bowl with the sesame oil and toss to coat so it doesn't stick.  You should make pasta simultaneously while making sauce because you will need some of the boiling pasta water for the sauce.
2. In a saucepan over low heat, mix peanut oil, ginger, garlic, chili sauce, and scallions.  Heat for 2 minutes.
3. Add brown sugar and stir until melted together.  Add peanut butter and stir until creamy and mixed.  Add soy sauce and rice vinegar and stir until creamy.  Add hot water and stir until blended.
4. Pour hot peanut sauce over noodles in bowl.  Mix.  Serve and top with sesame seeds and fresh scallions (and peanuts if using).  If you like it EXTRA hot, put a little more chili sauce on top when serving.

Possibly the Best Hummus You'll Ever Eat

Here is another I get asked for after each and every party I bring it to. It is hands down the creamiest hummus you'll probably ever eat - and it DOESN'T have a ton of oil to make it that way.

The Best Hummus Ever

Finished Hummus

Ingredients:
-1 clove garlic
-1 can garbanzo beans (half of the liquid set aside)
-3 tbsp. lemon juice
-2 tablespoons tahini paste
-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
-1/8-1/4 tsp. chili powder
-freshly ground black pepper to taste
-2 tbsp. olive oil (I like chili-infused olive oil, but regular works well too.  Try to use a GOOD olive oil.)
-chives (optional)

Method:
Mince up the garlic in a food processor.  Add the drained beans, lemon juice, tahini, salt, chili powder and pepper and blend until combined.  Pour in the reserved bean liquid and the olive oil and combine well, leaving the food processor on for at least 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides and re-process if necessary.  Garnish with chopped chives if desired.

Garbanzo beans, spices, garlic, lemon juice, and tahini in food processor, before adding liquids