Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh

Cookbook Challenge Week 2 - Veganomicon

Now, if you know anything about me at all, you know I'm a hot sauce fiend.  I have been meaning to try this recipe for some time now...  A.  because it's hot sauce  B. because it's GLAZED.  anything glazed is okay in my book

So, here it is:  Triangles of steamed tempeh, marinated in a tangy, spicy liquid, then grilled to perfection.  I used my super-cool non-stick grill pan! (aren't the grill marks nice)?

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh

By Isa Chandra Moskowitz (VEGANOMICON)

Ingredients

8 ounce package of tempeh
1/2 cup wine (whatever kind you've got on hand, just nothing sweet, or use vegetable broth and a touch of wine vinegar)
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice from 1 lemon)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions 

1. Bring a pot of water to boil.
2. Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to fit the tempeh slices.
3. Cut the tempeh in half width wise then cut each of those squares diagonally to form 4 large triangles. When the water is boiling, add the tempeh, lower the heat and steam for 10 minutes.
4. Use tongs to remove the tempeh and then immediately place them in the marinade bowl for 1 hour, flipping them every now again to cover with the marinade.
5. Preheat a greased grill pan over medium high heat. Brush lightly with olive oil
6. Grill each side for 5 minutes. When the second side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let cook for 30 more seconds.

Now, for a chili-head such as myself, one would think this would be my dream recipe.  But, alas, it was not.  I fear I am loosing my taste for whole pieces tempeh, and that makes me very sad.  I am, however, still a HUGE fan of crumbled tempeh (IE Better-Than-Tuna Salad sandwiches)!! 

Let's crumble these triangles up, and make something spicy!!  (All is never lost... Crazy Casserole to follow...)

Strawberry Shortcakes for the Day of V

When asked to make Strawberry Shortcake for Valentine's Day, my first response was: "STRAWBERRIES?!? in FEBRUARY??" ummm...ok.. I'll see what I can do

So I hit up my smoothie reserve in the freezer: One bag of whole organic strawberries from Trader Joe's, and began my quest for the perfect recipe.  And I found it: Vegan with a Vengeance, you never disappoint me.

Now, instead of serving the strawberries and cream over biscuits, or pound cake, this recipe uses scones.  I can honestly say, I have never really been a huge fan of scones.  The ones I've had in the past have been rather dry, crumbly and lifeless.

Until I made these... and now my relationship with scones has been changed forever.

SCONES
From Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar (plus an extra for sprinkling on top)
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup soy creamer (I used SILK French Vanilla)
3/4 rice or soy or almond milk plus 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Add cider vinegar to the milk and let sit while you mix the dry ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Add the oil, soy cream, and milk with vinegar.
Mix until just combined; the dough should be clumpy and not sticky.
Even if there is still a light dusting of flour, that's okay.
Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto the greased cookie sheet and pat the tops just a little bit to round them out; sprinkle with a bit of sugar.



Bake 12-15 minutes until slightly browned on the bottom and firm on the top.
Mine were done at 12 minutes on the DOT.




For the Strawberry Goodness:
(cut in half because I only had 1 lb of strawberries)
1lb sliced strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
Cover and let chill for an hours or so, the strawberries will develop a sauce all of their own!


Vanilla Cashew Cream
1/2 cup raw cashews (soaked overnight)
1/4 coconut milk (I used So Delicious Vanilla)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbsp pure maple syrup

Drain cashews and blend with coconut milk and sugar until smooth, 3-4 minutes.
Stream in maple syrup and oil and blend until well combined and silky smooth.
Chill for several hours, or overnight.

To assemble:
TWO scones, top with strawberries and juice, dollop or two of cream , and a few more strawberries.
Dig in and taste the wonder!

Pineapple Banana-Oat Smoothie

A delicious glass of tropical sunshine! Pineapple and banana are one of my favorite smoothie combinations.  And in this recipe, the oats and flax seed add a nice thickness as well as added nutrition. Oats have a higher level of soluble fiber than other grains. Some other benefits of adding oats to your smoothie is the fact that they lower cholesterol, and are soothing to the digestive process. I like to blend the oats and flax in my liquid first, just to make sure they are pureed well. Then add your fruit...

INGREDIENTS:
1 banana, ripe
1/2 cup pineapple chunk, frozen 
1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
2 teaspoons flax seeds 
2 teaspoons agave nectar

DIRECTIONS:                        Prep Time: 5 mins           Total Time: 5 mins
1.  Blend oats, flax seeds, almond milk and agave for a two to three minutes on high, just to really blend the oats and the seeds.
2.  Add fruit and blend until smooth.

 

Tomato-Rice Soup

Cookbook Challenge Week 2 - Veganomicon

I have a special fondness in my heart for Veganomicon, as it was the very first vegan cookbook I purchased.  With that said, for the cookbook challenge,  I wanted to be sure to make recipes from the book that I had never tried before.  With all the snow lately, and temperatures being down in the single digits, the Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans sounded too good to be true.

What I like so much about this recipe is that is was simple, and that it called for BROWN rice, something I had been really craving. I followed the original recipe almost exactly, except for a couple things:  Instead of the roasted garlic, I used six whole cloves of garlic, smashed, and simmered those along with the soup, and I used 1 tsp of dried basil instead of marjoram.  I ate my first bowl as is.  Once the soup had cooled, I added the slightest touch of agave nectar, just to round out the acid of the tomatoes.

Simple, warm and comforting, and certainly puts that can of condensed Campbell's to shame!

*This recipe make A LOT of soup, so half went into a container in the freezer, and the rest will be for my lunches the rest of the week. ^_^

Olive Lentil Burgers

There is something completely satisfying about making veggie burgers from scratch. While I do (usually) have a box of frozen veggie burgers on hand for a quick, no-fuss dinner, many of the store bought burger varieties contain some not-so-wonderful ingredients.

When you make your own though, you have the freedom to pick any flavor you like: Mexican, Indian, Cajun, Italian... the possibilities are endless, and YOU get to control exactly what goes in them.

So when I saw this recipe for "OLIVE LENTIL BURGERS' on the Post Punk Kitchen Blog, I was immediately intrigued.  That, and I had a lovely container of fresh kalamata olives left over from making Artichoke Olive Salsa for New Year's!



These were DELICIOUS!  The salty brine of the olives mixed with the meaty texture of the mushrooms made a perfect match.  For the mushrooms, I actually used a 50 gram bag of dried shiitakes that I had picked up at Job Lot for $2.00. They were already finely chopped and just needed to be re-hydrated.  I wasn't really sure how much re-hydrated shiitake I as going to end up with, so I soaked the whole bag and figured I'd hope for the best.

The amount ended up being perfect, and the substitution was perfect because the shiitakes added a wonderful smokey flavor. After they were well soaked, I drained and then added them to the already sautéing onion, garlic and spices, just to  heat them through and let the flavors combine.

One thing I also really liked about this recipe was the addition of dried tarragon.  I do have a small plastic bag of the spice, but I don't really come across too many opportunities to use it.  To me, tarragon has a licorice and slightly minty flavor.  The flavors of dried tarragon are quite strong, but the 1/4 tsp called for in this recipe, gives the perfect subtle hint.  I might be able to use up that bag after all!

I did end up baking the burgers in the oven about 15 minutes longer than stated, so about 45 minutes total.  I served them on toasted wheat bread with some romaine lettuce leaves and some Guacamame from Appetite for Reduction.  More on Guacamame to come!

CAULIPOTS!

Cookbook Challenge Week 1 - Appetite for Reduction



Too many starchy, carbs getting you down? Looking to cut down on your MASHED POTATO consumption, but fear the sudden withdrawal? Well look no further, CAULIPOTS are here!

Caulipots - the fact that it looks like a cauliflower is purely coincidence 

I think Isa sums it up best: "Mashed potatoes are pretty much the clouds of heaven - I definitely indulge - but the fat and calories therein can make them the spuds of hell".

This delectable 'half-and-half' blend of the beloved potato, and the often forgot-about cauliflower, uses no milk or butter (that's 'no unsweetened almond milk and Earth Balance to you and me') but rather, uses a touch of olive oil and vegetable broth to smooth it out and give it flavor.

Now, back in my pregan days, the no-carb, low-carb Atkins thing was running rampant.  And with that "carb be devil" attitude, emerged the phenomena of the Mashed Cauliflower, a heaping mound of boiled cauliflower mixed with HEAVY cream and butter, and them whipped into a mash we all could relate to, because god FORBID you eat a potato!!  I admit, I made it once, and it was well received.  But something inside me thought "someone's got something very wrong here".

Can't we have the best of both?  And I think this recipe proves that yes, yes we can. 

*Best thing about the Caulipots: serving them to my cauliflower-hating GF, waiting until her last bite, and THEN telling her there was cauliflower in them! she was blown away...and converted, yay

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma

Cookbook Challenge Week 1 - Appetite for Reduction



I can honestly say I have never had a "korma", but I have made my fair share of Indian inspired curries, slightly sweetened and made creamy with a can of coconut milk. Most of them don't really follow a recipe, and are more like a bit of this and that...

BUT, if I'm going to add coconut milk to my curry, what do I do??  I ADD THE WHOLE CAN!  This recipe has taught me restraint.  You don't need to add a whole can to make a deliciously light and creamy vegetable curry.

What did help in this discovery was the fact that I had half a can of light coconut milk left over from making the sauce for the New Year's Samosas, but now thanks to that bit of luck, I am all the wiser. 

The original recipe calls for fresh zucchini, which I sadly did not have.  I did use chopped baby carrots, cauliflower, peas, and then tossed in about a cup of cooked chickpeas to make up for the missing zucchini.  They're buried in there somewhere...