Vegan Squash Mac 'n Cheese with Spinach

Oh man, this was delicious and not too difficult, just required a bit of planning. This takes a bit longer than my normal meals but was a nice, relaxing process. Very rich and flavorful - a complete meal. 

For 4 servings, you will need:

• 1 c raw cashew pieces, soaked in a bowl of water at least 3 hours (this is what takes the planning)
• 1 carnival squash
• 1 t garlic powder
• 12 oz bag of pasta - I used veggie radiatore
• 1.5 c plain almond (or soy) milk
• 3 t apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 c nutritional yeast
• salt & pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 c fresh spinach, chopped
• 2 T coconut oil
• paprika
• some vegan parmesan, optional

The steps:

1. Measure out raw cashew pieces into a medium bowl and completely submerg in water. Let soak for at least 3 hours. This will soften the nuts so that you'll get a smoother sauce.
2. About an hour before you plan on eating, preheat the oven to 350
3. Slice squash in half and remove seeds. Sprinkle garlic powder and salt on the squash.
4. Place squash sliced side up in a casserole dish with a bit of water in the bottom (about 1/2''). Roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until fork tender.
5. Remove squash from oven. While squash are cooling, start pasta cooking according to directions on the bag/box. Aim for al dente.
6. While pasta is cooking, measure out cashews, 1 c of almond milk, vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper, and garlic cloves and place in food processor. When the squash is cool enough to touch, scoop out the insides and place it in the food processor.
7. Now, really process that sauce very well until it is very smooth. I did it in about 4, 3 minute bursts. Scrape down the sides with a spatula as needed. Taste and add salt if needed. Add more almond milk to get it smoother about halfway through the blending process.
8. Once pasta is done cooking, drain.
9. Heat coconut oil in a skillet and quickly saute spinach for about 3 minutes, until just wilted and bright green.
10. Return the drained pasta to its pot, add cheese sauce and spinach, and gently fold in.
11. Serve into bowls and sprinkle with vegan parmesan and paprika.

Enjoy!

Super Easy Vegan Beer Bread

I think we've perfected this bread. Easy and yummy. Moist on the inside with a delightfully hard crust. Perfect with soup (like this one). 

For one loaf, you'll need:

• 2 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 2 t salt
• 2 T sugar
• 1/3 c olive oil
• 1 bottle of beer (I used an amber I don't like - this is a good opportunity to use up beer your guests have brought over that you don't care for)
• 1 T sesame seeds
• 1 T flax seeds
• 2 t melted vegan margarine

The steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 350
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl
3. Add oil and beer and mix until just barely combined.
4. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan
5. Melt margarine and spread over top the loaf 
6. Sprinkle seeds on top. You can use any sort of seeds that sound good to you.
7. Bake on the center rack for about 50 minutes, or until the loaf starts to brown and pull away from the edges of the pan

Served it with my potato, turnip, rutabaga soup and it was super delicious. Enjoy

Creamy Vegan Potato, Turnip, and Rutabaga Soup

Here is one of those recipes you can make when you have a lot of vegetables from your CSA that you don't know what to do with. Specifically, rutabaga and turnips. This actually turned out very good and will likely make a reappearance whenever I have a lot of these veggies. An added celery root, I think, would make this soup absolutely perfect.

For 4 servings, you'll need:

• ~2lbs bag of potatoes (I had Yukon Gold from the CSA)
• 1 bunch of sweet white turnips 
• 1 softball sized rutabaga
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 T nutritional yeast
• 3-4 T vegan margarine
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 - 3/4 c plain almond milk
• salt to taste (a few teaspoons)
• pepper to taste
• 2-3 t garam masala
• 2-3 t all purpose seasoning (I've become hooked on 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe's but any well-balanced seasoning blend would work fine)

The steps:

• Peel potatoes, turnips, and rutabaga and chop into roughly 1 inch cubes.
• Roughly chop onion
• Place potatoes, turnips, rutabaga, and onion in a medium-large pot and cover with water. Boil 20-30min until fork tender
• When done, drain veggies in a colander. In batches, blend cooked veggies in your food processor until smooth. You should also add garlic and nutritional yeast to this mixture while you are pureeing.
• Return puree to your pot and add margarine, vinegar, and almond milk. Stir to combine, or until margarine has melted.
• Season, taste, and season again (if needed)

And that's it! I served this with some beer bread and it made for a rich, filling meal. Enjoy!

Buffalo "Wings" + blue "cheese" sauce

I've come to realize that being vegan means using a lot of quotation marks. Tonight's recipe: buffalo "chicken wings" (actually cauliflower) with "celery" (actually fennel stalks) and "blue cheese" dressing (actually not cheese). The above drawing is a confused chicken who has cauliflower stalks for wings (thanks to my bf for that ♥). Anyway, I was skeptical of this recipe but it was really, delicious and sinful. It's no secret that I love hot wings and, being vegan, I miss them more than occasionally. These really hit the spot. Here goes... 

For about a dozen "wings" (see, quotes again), you'll need:

• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into small pieces (maybe 1-1.5 inches across)
• 1 c flour
• 1 c almond (or soy) milk
• 2 t garlic powder

The steps:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, milk, and garlic powder until smooth.
3. Place cauliflower pieces in mixture and coat.
4. Place battered cauliflower on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.

For enough buffalo sauce for those "wings", you'll need:

• 1 standard bottle of hot chili sauce (a typical chili and vinegar one like Cholula or Tabasco would be good. I used Trader Joe's hot chili sauce)
• 1.5 T vegan margarine, melted

The steps:

1. Melt margarine in a bowl.
2. Add hot sauce and whisk until smooth
3. Thoroughly coat "wings" with this buffalo sauce once they've been removed from the oven.

For enough "blue cheese" sauce for those "wings", you'll need:

• 1 c vegan mayo
• 1/4 c tahini
• 2-3 t apple cider vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/4 block extra firm tofu, crumbled (optional)

The steps:

1. Combine mayo, tahini, vinegar, and garlic until smooth. A whisk here helps.
2. Crumble and add tofu to simulate chunky blue cheese and gently fold in. (I don't really feel this is necessary)

Anyway, this was a really great dinner. I chopped up some fennel stalks (I had already used the bulbs in this recipe) to serve as a [more flavorful] celery substitute. Enjoy!

Sucrine Du Berry + Coconut Soup with African flair

This is a hearty squash soup. This is the second time I've made it, this time using sucrine du berry squash, an heirloom variety we received in our CSA last week. Previously, I've made this soup with acorn squash but prefer the sweetness and fleshiness of the sucrine du berry squash. Not to fear though, acorn or any of the other more mild squashes would be a very good substitute. To give you an idea, the sucrine du berry squash I used was about the size of a [lumpy] rugby ball. This soup is thick, spicy, rich, and perfect for a chilly fall day. Here goes...

For about 4 servings, you'll need:

• 1 sucrine du berry squash
• 2 dried red peppers (the small kind)
• 1/2 c raw cashews
• 3 T nutritional yeast
• 2 c unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 T coconut oil
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 4 t berbere spice
• 2 t curry powder
• 2 T raw sugar
• salt

The steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 425.
2. Slice squash in half long ways and remove the seeds and stringy parts. Place sliced side down on a greased cookie sheet and bake until easily pierced, about 30-40 minutes. Skin will darken and begin to bubble around the edges. Let cool (I put this in the oven while I was eating lunch and let it cool until it was time to make dinner. Cook it the night before or in the morning while you're getting ready)
3. Once cool, scoop all the contents of your squash into your food processor. Add 2 dried peppers. Process until a smooth puree results. Place squash puree into a large pot, with the burner off.
4. Measure out cashews and nutritional yeast and puree in the food processor until the consistency of chunky peanut butter is achieved. Add to the pot.
5. Turn heat to low and stir to combine squash and cashews. Once combined, add the rest of the ingredients.
6. Cover and let simmer about 10 minutes. Taste it at the end and season accordingly. You may need to add a bit more coconut milk to achieve the consistency you prefer.
7. Serve and enjoy while hot.

Delicata Squash + Crimini Mushroom Cream Sauce

Today, Jeff called me a MacGyver in the kitchen. I think this dinner turned out well too!

For two (quite large) servings, you will need:

• 1 delicata squash
• 1 box whole crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread
• 1/2 t crushed red pepper
• A few dashes each (or a seasoning blend containing) of the following:
• parsley
• basil
• thyme
• rosemary
• 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk
• 2 T nutritional yeast
• 1 T raw sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

The steps:

1. Stab your squash several times with a fork and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Turn over. Microwave another 3 minutes.
2. While squash is cooking, prep garlic and mushrooms and cook on low with Earth Balance and spices. Cover and let cook on low for about 7-10 minutes, until mushrooms are done.
3. When squash has completed cooking, slice in half (longways) and scoop out the seeds. Scoop flesh into your food processor.
4. Add almond milk and nutritional yeast to the processor and blend until squash is smooth.
5. Add the squash mixture to the pan with mushrooms and garlic. Add sugar. Taste and season.
6. Serve over pasta.

Creamy Vegan Potato Leek Soup w/Croutons

I made this soup last night for my dad who was visiting. A great way to use up leeks, potatoes, and greens that you've been getting in your CSA. A perfect, rich soup wonderful for a blustery early fall day. Next time, it may be good to add more leeks than I did below, but the following soup was still very delicious.

For 4 servings, you'll need:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 leek, sliced thinly
• 2 pounds potatoes, washed and cut in 1" cubes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
• 4 c vegetable broth
• 2 T nutritional yeast
• 1/2 c plain almond milk (soy milk would be okay too)
• 1 head of radish greens (or some other strong flavorful greens like mustard greens)
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper to taste and depending upon your broth
• 2 t fennel seeds
• 1 t paprika
• 1 t crushed red pepper

The steps:

1. Saute leeks in a large, heavy-bottomed pot in olive oil over medium-low heat until tender and translucent. Stir often. About 5-7 minutes
2. While leeks are sauteing, peel and crush garlic cloves
3. Add garlic once leeks are cooked and saute another 3 minutes, stirring often.
4. Add salt, pepper, fennel seeds, paprika, crushed red pepper, broth, greens, nutritional yeast, and almond milk and cover. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
5. While that pot is boiling, roughly chop your greens and place in a large bowl. Lightly coat greens in balsamic and let sit until you're ready to add it to the pot. At least 15 minutes. This will help to soften the greens and reduce bitterness.
6. After 25 minutes, add greens to the pot, cover, and simmer until greens are wilted. About 5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and blend in your food processor until smooth. Will likely take three stages because it won't all fit. Resulting texture is thick, sort of like mashed potatoes.
8. Serve hot with croutons on top

For enough croutons for 4 servings of soup, you'll need:*

• 2 slices of sourdough bread (I have a big oblong loaf, you'll need 3 slices if yours are more traditionally sized)
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 t grill seasoning blend (I use a garlic and herb blend that has salt in it)

The steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 400.
2. Cut bread into 1" cubes.
3. Place cubes in 9x13 pan and coat with olive oil and seasoning.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring once during the process.
5. Let cool and place on soup, salad, etc.

*If you want this soup to be gluten free, just don't use croutons or use Udi's bread to make croutons with.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

Here is a yummy late summer dinner I made tonight: portobello sandwich, corn on the cob, and spicy watermelon soup. I'll give you the recipe for the sandwich tonight. Corn on the cob is easy (especially if you grew up in Indiana and went to college in Iowa and have eaten sweet corn every late summer day since you were a kid and, no, Pennsylvania sweet corn is nowhere near as good). Unfortunately, I haven't perfected this watermelon soup, so I won't give you all the recipe yet. 

Sandwich time, here goes:

For 2 sandwiches, you'll need:

• 2 portobello mushroom caps
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 t grill seasoning (the kind you buy premixed for steaks. Mine has onion powder, garlic, salt, parsley, black pepper, etc.)
• 2 large slices of sourdough bread (or 4 slices if you don't have a big, oblong loaf of sourdough)
• 1 large [heirloom] tomato, sliced
• 1 leaf romaine lettuce, slice in half
• 2-3 T vegan margarine (Earth Balance truly is superior)

The steps:

1. In a shallow tupperware, combine vinegar, olive oil, and seasoning. 
2. Clean and remove stems from mushroom caps.
3. Place mushrooms in tupperware and let marinate for at least 30 minutes. Shake the tupperware occasionally to ensure even coverage.
4. While the mushrooms are marinating, toast the bread in a pan with a bit of margarine until lightly golden, if you'd like.
5. Once mushrooms are done marinating, pour the extra marinade into a skillet along with the margarine and heat until margarine melts.
6. Cook mushrooms over low heat, covered, for about 5-7 minutes, flipping once during the process. Mushrooms are done when they have softened all the way through (check in the center) and the bottoms are a little bit darker.
7. Assemble your sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, and mushroom. I think a light spreading of Vegenaise would be great too.

Cashew Cream Cheeze Sauce

Okay, so this doesn't really taste like cheese. Vegan cheese substitutes never do. It is, however, delicious and satisfies my [more than occasional] cheese cravings, so just think of it as a creamy sauce for your enchiladas or chips or whatever. This is another taken from Oh She Glows. I really like it, but I think Jeff is a little skeptical. Oh well.

For enough for a whole pan of enchiladas or a small bowl of dipping sauce for chips, you'll need:

• 3/4 c raw cashew pieces
• 1/4 c + 1 T nutritional yeast (I order mine from here, but many health food stores carry it in bulk)
• 1/3 c water
• 1/4 c salsa 
• 3 t chili powder
• 1 t cumin
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 t salt
• a couple shakes of red pepper flakes

The steps:

1. Place all in food processor and combine until smooth. You will need to pause a few times to scrape down the sides with a spatula.
2. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed until it's really yummy.

Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce

A simple sauce taken almost exactly from Oh She Glows. I used this on the enchiladas I made last night and also, later as a dipping sauce for chips while watching Breaking Bad later on. 

For a full pan of enchiladas, you'll need:

• flesh of 2 small avocados (to equal about 1 1/4c)
• 4 T lime juice
• 2 t apple cider vinegar
• 1 c fresh cilantro
• 1 t salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 t cumin
• a couple dashes each cayenne pepper and black pepper

The step:

1. Place all in food processor and combine until smooth. End result sort of has the consistency of mayo. Spread over your enchiladas.

Due to the avocados, this sauce won't store well, so only make as much as you'll use immediately. Enjoy!

Black Bean + Potato Enchiladas

Last night I made delicious vegan enchiladas with cilantro avocado cream sauce and a cashew cream cheeze sauce. I must admit, a great deal of this recipe is taken from this blog, a blog which I highly recommend for finding vegan recipes. Below, the recipe for enchiladas. Two other posts will have the sauce.

For 5 enchiladas (or, enough to fill at 9x13 pan), you'll need:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (to equal about 2c)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 c red fleshed potatoes, chopped small (I used these because I had them from the CSA and they are nice a sweet. Sweet potatoes of any variety would be good)
• 1 sweet bell pepper, chopped
• 2 handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 1/2 c enchilada sauce (I used this)
• 1 T nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 1/2 t cumin
• 2 T lime juice
• salt
• 1 t chili powder
• 5 medium sized tortillas (I used these)

The steps

1. Pre-cook your diced potatoes in a small pot of boiling water for 5-7 minutes. You don't want them to be fully cooked or mushy at all.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan and add onion. Cook over med-low heat until onions are beginning to be translucent
3. Add garlic and cook a little more
4. Add diced pepper, beans, potatoes, and spinach and cook for about 5 more minutes.
5. Add enchilada sauce, nutritional yeast, and spices and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, depending upon your enchilada sauce. Remove from heat.
6. Preheat your oven to 350.
7. Lightly grease your 9x13 pan and scoop about 1c of the filling directly into the pan. Spread evenly across the bottom.
8. Scoop about 1/2c filling into each tortilla and roll up like you would a burrito. Place in the pan seam facing down.
9. Spread any remaining filling over top of your enchiladas.
10. Bake for 20 min and serve immediately. While the enchiladas are baking, work on making your cilantro avocado cream sauce and cashew cream cheeze sauce.

Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing

Here is some simple, yummy salad dressing inspired by a wonderful salad I had on a recent trip to San Francisco. If you're ever there, you should eat here. One of the best meals ever. Anyway, I got a delicious zucchini and heirloom tomato salad with a fresh, light dressing. After my meagre attempt at recreating it, I realized I missed a key ingredient, mint! Still, this dressing I came up with tonight is yummy, vinegar free (for those who can't have it), and easy. I'll try it next time with fresh mint.

For 2 side salads, you'll need:

• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 T fresh basil
• juice of one lemon
• a couple dashes of salt
• 1 T vegan mayo or plain yogurt
• 1 T olive oil

The steps:

1. Place all ingredients in the food processor and combine. That's it!

I served this on a simple red oak green lettuce salad with orange peppers and [homemade] croutons. I think this would be good as a dressing for cole slaw or any number of vegetable salads. Enjoy!

Super Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, maybe I'm too opinionated about cookies. Cookies should be very simple. They don't require complex ingredients or steps. This is a recipe adapted from one I found on a blog that was so frustrating because the blogger's description was about a million pages long with roughly a thousand photos.  These are chocolate chip cookies, not beef bourguignon! So, here is my very easy, no frills, yummy vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe.

For about a dozen, or so, cookies, you'll need:

• 1/2 c oil 
• 1/2 c coconut milk
• 3 t vanilla
• 3/4 c raw sugar
• 2 c flour
• couple dashes salt
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 c cornmeal (optional, just add more flour if you prefer. Cornmeal adds a nice crunchiness)
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 3/4 c [vegan] chocolate chips

The [simple] steps

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, combine oil, coconut milk, vanilla, and sugar until smooth.
3. Add dry ingredients and combine with a spatula.
4. Spoon out onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cookies should be about 1 1/2" across.
5. Bake 10-13 minutes, or until just set.
6. Promptly remove from the cookie sheet in order to avoid burning bottoms. 

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Fennel Sauce

An experiment that seems to have been successful. On the surface, this recipe seems a bit complex, but, in execution, it really goes rather smoothly. A good use for the roma tomatoes you may be getting at the market or in your CSA right about now (they aren't good for much else due to their firmness and frequent lack of flavor :( ) Anyway, here's a sauce I just made. A lot of it so that I can freeze some and use for the winter. This would make a hearty, earthy pasta sauce or may even be good in lasagna, I think.

For 6 meal-sized servings, you'll need:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• the stalks and leaves from one fennel bulb (save the bulb and make braised fennel with it), diced
• 1 c vegetable broth
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 sweet peppers, diced (I had one huge one, so just used that)
• 2 T tahini
• 10-12 roma tomatoes, diced as small as you can
• 1 T good, aged balsamic
• 3 t crushed red pepper
• salt & pepper to taste

The steps

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and add diced onion, fennel stalks and leaves, minced garlic, 1/8c sugar, and enough vegetable broth to cover (1/4-1/2c). Cover and simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes.
2. After 5 minutes, add the diced peppers and cover again.
3. After 10 minutes, add the tahini and stir quickly until it lightly coats the other ingredients
4. Add the remaining broth and sugar, tomatoes, balsamic, and red pepper and stir to combine.
5. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes more. Taste every so often and add salt or pepper as needed.

Braised Fennel with Gravy

Well, I made another delicious and seasonal dinner tonight. Tempeh with my berbere marinade, an experimental dish with roasted beets, eggplant, peppers in a curry mustard sauce (it needs more perfecting before it goes on this blog) and, finally, braised fennel with gravy. Tonight, I'll let you know the recipe for this absolutely delicious fennel. Savory, rich, and effing delicious. Definitely the best part of this dinner.

For two side servings, you'll need:

• 1 bulb of fennel
• 1 T olive oil
• a couple dashes salt & pepper
• 1/4 + 1/8 c veggie broth (homemade is best, of course!)
• 1-2 t flour (use rice flour and it'll be gluten free)

The steps:

1. Prep your fennel. Cut the stems off and discard (or save for a crunchy snack). Slice fennel bulb lengthwise in roughly 1/2 inch slices.
2. Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat and add fennel slices.
3. Brown fennel slices. Flip once. Cook for a total of 5-8 minutes or until nicely brown and caramelized on each side.
4. Reduce heat to low and add broth, salt, and pepper.
5. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until fennel is tender.
6. When fennel is cooked, remove from pan but leave cooking liquid, simply dish out onto your plates
7. Return heat to high and quickly stir the liquid until it bubbles. Reduce heat to low.
8. Add a small handful of flour, sprinkled across the pan. Quickly stir, ensuring not to burn the flour. Stir until completely incorporated and smooth. 
9. Quickly pour the gravy over the fennel and serve.

Stuffed Peppers & Basil Garlic Smashed Potatoes [vegan]

Well, here is a sorta fancy looking dinner with very simple ingredients. Seasonal, savory, delicious. Let's start with the peppers then move onto the potatoes. I cooked the potatoes while the pepper was cooking in the oven, so it's easy to time these together.


VEGAN SUMMER STUFFED GREEN PEPPER

For two stuffed peppers you'll need:

• 2 bell peppers
• 1 medium large tomato
• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 T margarine
• 3/4 c pastini
• dash paprika
• dash oregano
• 1 t good balsamic vinegar

The steps:

1. Slice the tops from the peppers, remove seeds and membranes.
2. Place peppers in a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes
3. Chop fennel bulb into small pieces. 
4. Melt margarine in a skillet over high heat and add fennel. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
5. While fennel is cooking, smash and mince your garlic.
6. Add garlic to the pan, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. 
7. While garlic and fennel are cooking, chop your tomato and measure out pastini.
8. Once the fennel is just beginning to brown, add pastini and tomato. Return heat to high, stir quickly until just combined then remove from heat. Pastini should not be cooked yet. Pastini will cook through as the peppers bake.
9. By this time, your peppers should be finished boiling. Remove from water with tongs and place in a baking dish.
10. Preheat oven to 365.
11. Stuff your peppers to the brim and place in oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes until pepper skin just starts to brown and blister.
12. Let stand a few minutes and serve

VEGAN BASIL GARLIC SMASHED POTATOES & GRAVY

For 4 servings of potatoes (leftovers are nice), you'll need:

• 10 small potatoes. We used a mixture of royal purple and red potatoes.
• 3 T margarine
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 t nutritional yeast
• 1/2 c soy milk
• 2 t basil
• salt & pepper to taste

The steps:

1. Wash potatoes and chop into 1 1/2 inch chunks
2. Place in a pot covered with water (you can re-use the hot water from boiling your peppers) and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, until fork tender.
3. Drain potatoes, add margarine, garlic, yeast, soy milk, basil, salt, & pepper.
4. Mash potatoes in the pot until smooth as you desire. Taste and season as needed.

For 2 servings of simple vegan gravy (it's best to make it fresh), you'll need:*

• 3 T margarine
• 2-3 T flour
• 1 t nutritional yeast
• 1-1 1/2 t herbes de provence

The steps:

1. Melt margarine in a pan over high heat. When margarine just begins to bubble, reduce to low and quickly add flour, nutritional yeast, and herbes de provence.
2. Stir constantly, being sure not to let the flour burn to the bottom. Stir quickly until smooth.
3. Serve quickly over your potatoes.

*To make this meal gluten free, use rice flour to make the gravy.

Homemade Potato Chips!

Hooray for homemade junkfood! If you've read Food Rules, you've heard the rule "Eat all the junk food you want, as long as you make it yourself." So, here's my recipe for delicious homemade potato chips. This time, I used purple majestic potatoes but I often use yukon gold or red potatoes. I prefer these smaller varieties over big russet potatoes.

For 2 large servings, you'll need:

• 4-6 potatoes, depending upon the size 
• 1 c vegetable, peanut, or canola oil. If the oil is used, even better.
• seasonings of your choice
• Seasoning blends for grilling actually work great (I used garlic herb tonight)
• You can make a simple BBQ chip by combining the following, in roughly equal parts:
• chili powder
• cayenne pepper
• cumin
• paprika
• raw sugar
• salt
• just plan salt + vinegar is always good

The steps:

1. At least an hour before you want to start frying, begin prepping the potatoes. I would suggest around 3-4 hours in advance.
2. Wash thoroughly but do not peel your potatoes then slice them using the slicing attachment on your food processor
3. Place potato slices in a large mixing bowl and cover with water, ice, and a couple dashes of salt. Let soak until you are ready to fry. If you have room in your fridge, place the bowl in there.
4. When you are ready to fry (about 15min before you want to eat), pour oil into a saucepan and heat over med-high. You can test that the oil is hot enough by flicking a bit of water into the oil. The water should sizzle and then make a sort of clanging popping sound when the oil is hot enough.
5. While the oil is heating, drain the potatoes using a colander.
6. Now you're ready for frying. Using your slotted spoon or skimmer (my favorite), carefully scoop a spoonful of potatoes into the oil. I usually fry 2 scoops at a time. The oil may bubble up on you when you first add the potatoes, but that's okay. Have a lid on hand in case things get out of hand. 
7. Stir the potato slices occasionally to avoid clumping.
8. Cook longer than you think you need to. I would estimate 5-7 minutes. You want the chips to bubble and get a little brown.
9. When chips are cooked, carefully scoop them out and place them on a platter that you've lined with paper towel. With each batch, lay out new paper towel for draining so as to avoid making the chips on the bottom soggy.
10. Once you've removed the chips, season them while they are still hot. Once they've cooled, you'll want to taste a couple chips from the first batch to be sure you have the seasoning right.
11. Let cool and enjoy!

Jalapeño Peach Salsa

Well, I'm back stateside. I ate some amazing food in Turkey and Cyprus and would return again just for the cheese and ice cream (clearly, I didn't eat vegan while traveling). After a few days rest and a conference in Virginia, I'm back in the swing of things. So, for my first recipe since returning, let's go for a nice summer salsa. We pulled in a big haul today from our CSA: jalapeño peppers, green bell peppers, fennel, peaches, yellow plums, red cylindra beets, red tomatoes and mixed cherry tomatoes. We got garlic and onions last week that are still good. This seemed like a great time to make salsa. The resulting salsa is spicy, fresh, and slightly sweet. Here goes:

For about 1.5 qts (or a full food processor) of salsa, you'll need:

• 1 medium red onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 3 jalapeños
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 3 large tomatoes, roughly baseball sized
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 medium peach, baseball sized, again
• 1/2-1 t cumin
• 1/2-1 t oregano
• salt & pepper to taste

The steps

1. Prep your produce. Remove stems and seeds (if desired) from peppers. Peel onion and garlic. Slice tops of tomatoes. Pit your peach.
2. Place peppers, onion, and garlic in food processor with the blade attachment and pulse briefly until chopped.
3. Add tomatoes, cilantro, peach, and spices and process again until chopped.
4. Taste and season accordingly.

not posting for awhile

Apologies for not posting this week.  It's been a busy week.  This Saturday I leave for 2 weeks in Istanbul, Turkey & Famagusta, Cyprus (well, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus).  I hope to eat a lot of great food and buy some wonderful spices at the spice bazaar in Istanbul.  Be on the lookout for some posts in a few weeks about delicious Turkish & Cypriot food!

Nigiri Sushi

Today's Ghost Writer: Jeff (Ellis's boyfriend)

Nigiri style sushi, or Nigirizushi, is a style of sushi in which fish (or the main topping of your choice) is draped directly over a small palmful of rice. The Japanese name translates roughly to "hand formed sushi". Nigiri is a simple dish to make, using only a few ingredients and taking only a few minutes to prepare, yet is something of an art form unto its self which can take years to master.

Some Nigiri pieces made with Salmon.

For a meal for one, you will need:

• Your choice of fish (~1/3 pound)
• 1 cup short grain rice
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• A very sharp non-serrated knife

And you may want:

• Soy Sauce
• Wasabi
• Sesame Seeds
• To keep your cats out of the kitchen

Choosing Fish

Sushi is made with raw fish, so there are a few things to keep in mind when choosing fish. Your best bet is to purchase fish that has been frozen and not yet thawed. If you are visiting a fish market or your grocery store, ask the clerk if they have any in the back that has not been unfrozen yet. Frozen fish keeps better and the freezing process kills any parasites that may be present, so make sure your fish is frozen. Many kinds of fish can be used, but Tuna and Salmon are easy to find and are easier to work with, so I would recommend one or both of those.

Set your fish out to thaw about a couple of hours before you plan to eat, more if the piece is thicker than about 3 cm.

Making Rice

Sushi rice must be sticky, or your Nigiri pieces are not going to hold together and your sushi experience will be very sad indeed. Your first step is going to be making the rice, which you will need to start about half an hour before you plan to eat.

1. Thoroughly rinse the rice in a mesh strainer for about a minute, under a cold water tap. This helps remove extra starches and will prevent the rice from becoming too glutenous.
2. Add the rice with an equal part of water into a small covered pot, on high heat.
3. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a slow simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove heat and let cool about 10 minutes while covered.
4. Mix the vinegar and salt in a small bowl, and stir until the salt has dissolved.
5. Pour the vinegar mixture onto the rice, and gently fold the rice with a large spoon until it is mixed in. Do not use a stirring motion or be too vigorous - the rice will have already started to clump together and we don't want to break it up too much. Add a few tablespoons of sesame seeds to the rice, if that's your thing.
6. Allow the rice to cool to body temperature, uncovered.

Cutting Fish

You're going to be cutting thin slices of fish from a larger block, and pairing each slice with a small ball of rice. Place your thawed fish on a cutting board and ready your insanely sharp knife. Seriously, sharp.

Fish pieces should be a few centimeters thick, and have a nice color. Salmon is shown here in the foreground.

Cut off pieces about 1/2 cm thick, and about 8 cm by 4 cm wide. The size requirements are loose; the most important thing is to get a thin slice that will drape nicely over the rice and hold together. Cut against the grain of the fish and at a diagonal angle, this will give your pieces a pleasing striped appearance. In the photo above, one would cut a line starting in the upper left and moving to the lower right, at a right angle to the stripes in the meat.

Try to use a single slicing motion - do not saw back and forth or apply much pressure. If the fish is not cutting easily then it is likely the knife is not sharp enough. While you're still learning I'd recommend going back and forth between cutting the fish and assembly, in case you need to make adjustments.

Assembly

Wet your hands lightly in a small bowl of cold water; this keeps the rice from sticking to your hands. Grab a small palmful of rice, about the size you think you could eat comfortably in a large bite. Form it with your fingers into an oblong and roughly rectangular blob, pressing firmly against your palm. If the rice is sticking to your hand more than to its self, try wetting your hands more.

Keeping the rice ball in one hand, pick up a slice of fish with the other. Lay the fish gently on top of the rice ball, then press it gently with two fingers to help it adhere to the rice. Form the rice a bit more if necessary so that the piece looks clean and symmetrical. Looking directly from the top down the rice should not be visible underneath the fish.

If you like wasabi, place a very small dab of it underneath the fish before laying it on the rice. Soy sauces can be brushed atop the finished Nigiri pieces or used as a side for dipping during the meal.

And you're done! Enjoy your sushi soon - it does not keep or refrigerate well.

And don't cut yourself with that knife of yours.

Summer Dinner

Just thought I'd share some photos of the delicious dinner I made tonight.  It consisted of steamed artichoke with spicy dipping sauce (recipe below), grilled golden beets with a balsamic reduction, kale with tahini sauce, maple marinaded tempeh, and a few slices of fresh baguette from the farmers' market (I swear I'll start making my own soon).  Fresh, delicious, seasonal.  A few things:

• The zesty dipping sauce I used for the artichoke leaves/petals** was:
• 2 T vegan mayo
• 1 T Sriracha
• 1/2 T dijon mustard
• 1 t curry powder
• I used golden beets in my grilled beets recipe.  These were even sweeter than the candy stripe variety.  I also reduced the balsamic marinade quickly on the stove while the beets were grilling on the cast iron.  Ended up with a sticky, sweet balsamic reduction that was to die for
• Based on a suggestion from Jeff, I cut out the water from the tahini sauce for kale.  Ended up with a thicker, more strongly flavored sauce, but I think I like thinner better.  The more delicate flower allows the kale to shine through.

I think the only thing that would have made this meal better would have been some grilled tomatoes.  Otherwise, this was just about perfect.  With some local blueberries for dessert.  Heaven indeed.  Enjoy the photos below (I also just got a new, tabletop tripod so I'm having a lot of fun taking photos).  Click to enlarge.

my plate.  From top left: baguette, tempeh, kale, beets

artichoke and dipping sauces, our plates, bowl for artichoke leaves

perfect

**Are the green parts you eat from an artichoke more technically leaves or petals?

Coming soon: I've asked Jeff to contribute his sushi expertise as a guest contributor.  He is hesitant to do so though I think he is doing a lovely job of making himself sushi for lunch (and dinners when I'm not home).  I took photos the other day when he made it, so we will see if we get anything posted about that.

fresh vegan taco salad

Taco salads are usually such a throwaway item.  I've been making them at home lately (mostly because I get a lot of lettuce in my CSA) and they are so much better than what you get in a restaurant!  I suppose the difference is that I use fresh, high quality, local ingredients instead of sad, bagged iceberg lettuce.  So, here goes...

For 2 huge salads, you'll need:

• 2-3 large handfulls of tortilla chips, crushed in your hands into smaller pieces
• 1 small head of red leaf lettuce
• ~10 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (I've been buying the mini heirloom tomato boxes at Trader Joe's or tomatoes from the farmers' market since we aren't getting them in the CSA yet)
• 1 purple kohlrabi, washed, peeled, and put through the grater attachment on your food processor
• 1 ear of corn, cut off the cob, and quickly sauteed in vegetable oil
• 1 yellow pepper, half sliced, half diced
• 1 small can of black beans, drained & heated
• 1 avocado, sliced (optional)
• 6 oz cooked beefless ground beef seasoned with:
• 1/4 t chili powder
• 1/4 t cumin
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• dash salt
• 1/4 t paprika
• 1/4 t oregano
• cilantro lime dressing made with:
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 T balsamic
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 T vegan mayonaise
• small bunch cilantro leaves (about 1 handfull)
• 1/2 t bijol seasoning

The steps:

1. Prepare 1st seven ingredients and arrange on your plate with tortilla chips forming the bed
2. Cook the beefless ground beef in a skillet with the spices listed above.  If you're not vegan, use real beef, I suppose.  I've also used beefless beef strips and seasoned them similarly.
3. For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pour over top.

Enjoy this with an ice cold beer.  Jeff & I ran a 5k yesterday and it was close to 100 degrees.  In short, we were starving by the time we got home (even after the free pizza and beer).  We wolfed these salads down.

kale with tahini sauce

Wow, this has become one of our favorite things to eat.  We get a lot of kale in our CSA and were looking for a really delicious way to eat it.  This works great and is easy.  The tahini sauce is good on a lot of veggies, but I think kale's nuttiness makes it the best candidate.

For 4 servings, you'll need:

• 1 bunch fresh dinosaur kale (you can use other kinds of kale, but I like this best)
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 1/2 c flavorful olive oil
• 1/4 c liquid aminos
• 1/3 c tahini
• 1 T onion*
• 1 garlic clove, peeled*
• 1 T real maple syrup
• 1/4 c water

*If you have garlic scapes you need to use up, replace onions and garlic in this recipe with 2-3 stalks.

The steps:

• Roughly chop your kale, removing the rigid ribs.
• Place it in a steamer and let cook while you prepare the sauce
• In a food processor, combine the rest of the ingredients until smooth
• Once the kale is done (don't overcook it, just soften it a little), remove from steamer, place in a serving bowl, and pour sauce over top
• Let stand 5-10min to let the sauce soak in
• Enjoy it.  
• I'd recommend serving this with some bread because you'll want to soak up all of this yummy sauce

easy pizza dough

I make pizza a lot.  I was buying pizza dough and then realized that was dumb because homemade is easy and cheap.  Here is how I make it:

For one pizza (12inches, ish), you'll need:

• 1 package yeast
• 1 t sugar
• water
• 1 t salt
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 2 T flavorful olive oil
• cornmeal

The steps:

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup of warm water.
• Let stand 10 minutes, until creamy
• Stir in salt and flour.  Then, add olive oil.
• Combine until smooth
• Let rest a minimum of 5 minutes
• Preheat your oven to 450
• Spread out your pizza dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet, lightly dusted with cornmeal
• Add your toppings and backe 15-20min

You can also use this recipe to make pizza bread that is delicious dipped in olive oil.  To do so, after everything is combined, knead the dough for a few minutes.  Place the dough in a greased baking dish (I like to use a square corningware) and let rise 30-45 min.  Top with salt and crushed red pepper and bake in a 450 oven for 15-20 min.

For toppings, some of my favorites are:

• caramelized onions
• small chunks of tofu I've marinaded in balsamic and garlic
• fresh basil
• sauteed mushrooms
• sliced tomatoes

super easy thumbprint cookies

This is my new favorite cookie recipe.  It's so flipping easy and customizable.  Also makes a good basic shortbread that you can use for a lot of things (pie crust, etc).  Here goes:

For 1 1/2-2 dozen cookies, you'll need:

• 1 c vegan margarine (earth balance), softened (not melted)
• 1/2 c raw sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 2 c flour
• some sort of filling*

The steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350
• Cream margarine, sugar, and vanilla until light
• Add flour 1/4 cup at a time.  Start by mixing with a spoon and then use your hands.  You may not need all 2 cups.  1 3/4 is sometimes enough.  Final texture should be like play-doh
• Roll dough into 1-1/2" balls and place onto a lightly greased cookie sheet
• Press into dough balls with your thumb to make room for your filling
• Spoon out filling (about 1/2T for each cookie)
• Bake 12-15 minutes.  Cookies will not turn golden brown unless they are burnt, so take them out when the outsides feel stiff
• Promptly, but carefully, remove from cookie sheet and let cool at least 5 minutes before eating

*For filling, you have many options.  Here are some good ones:

• jam (one with a strong flavor like strawberry rhubarb is very good here)
• apple butter
• a simple chocolate sauce (margarine, vanilla, cocoa, sugar, and a little flour)
• mashed bananas (a good use of ones that are too ripe)
• nuts & agave (or honey)
• dark chocolate pieces

These cookies will make me fat because they're too easy to make.

grilled candy striped beets

I got these delicious heirloom candy striped beets in my CSA this year.  A friend of mine who gets the same CSA suggested grilling them.  I don't have a grill but did this in my oven and using my cast iron skillet. Beets are a borderline vegetable for both my boyfriend and me.  These ended up sweet, earthy, and yummy.  I would recommend trying these if you don't think you like them.

For 2 large servings, you'll need:

• 3-4 small-medium beets
• 1/3C balsamic vinegar
• 1t rosemary
• 1 clove garlic, crushed & chopped
• 1/2t herbes de provence

The steps:

• Wash and peel beets.  Cut into discs, about a 1/4 inch thick.
• Combine marinade ingredients and add beet slices
• Marinate at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even coverage
• When you're ready to cook, preheat your oven to 425*
• Place beets in a 9x13 baking pan.  Spread out so only one layer
• Cover the pan in foil and bake
• Bake for 15-20min, or until fork tender
• During the last few minutes of baking, preheat your cast iron skillet (one like this)
• Remove beets from the oven and cook them 2-4 minutes on each side in your skillet over med-high heat
• Serve with rice or other roasted veggies or tempeh (like this)

*If you would like to grill these, rather than cooking them in the oven, you can wrap the beets in foil and cook on the grill 15-20 min, until fork tender.  Then, remove from the foil and grill for a few minutes.

easy tempeh marinades

Tempeh is a recent love of mine.  Much more flavorful than tofu and a bit easier to digest.  Gets a really yummy grilled meat-ish flavor when you grill it or prepare in the cast iron.  Below are two similar but delicious marinades for your tempeh.

For two servings, you'll need:

MAPLE TEMPEH MARINADE

• 3T soy sauce or liquid aminos
• 3T real maple syrup
• 1t rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed & chopped*
• 1/2-1t cayenne pepper
• 1 package of tempeh

SWEET BERBERE TEMPEH MARINADE

• 3T lemon juice
• 3T amber agave (if vegan) or honey
• 1t salt
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed & chopped*
• 2t berbere
• 1 package of tempeh

*You can sub about 2T of minced garlic scapes for garlic cloves if you have them.  Will create a more onion-y, less garlic-y flavor.  Also a good way to use them if you get them in your CSA.

The steps:

• Slice your tempeh long ways (like a hot dog bun) to make thinner then slice into triangles
• Combine above marinade ingredients.  
• Place tempeh and marinate ingredients in a shallow rectangular tupperware and marinade for at least 30min.  Shake the tupperware occasionally to ensure even coverage
• When you're ready to eat, heat up your cast iron skillet for a few minutes on high.  My skillet has ridges so it simulates grilling (it looks like this and I love it! http://dsp.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pDSP1-7328065dt.jpg).
• Once the skillet is hot, turn heat to medium and carefully place tempeh in the pan
• Cook 3-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown
• Serve and poor any leftover marinade over top.
• Enjoy!

I like to eat this with roasted veggies.  Yum!

Redux

I'm bringing back the blog!  This past year has been a whirlwind (yeah, it's been more than a year since I posted!  Jeez!).  I moved to Philadelphia last August to start grad school and my boyfriend and I moved in together and life has been a rollercoaster, but in a really, really good way.  So, that's my justification for not posting at all.  So, are you ready?  I'm gonna add a lot of new recipes machine gun style over the next few days.  Here goes...