Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Flakey Chickpea Pot Pie


This is Southern comfort food at its finest. To make the dish a little less Fatty McFatFat, I topped the pie with flattened crumbly dough, rather than covering it completely. If you want to do it the old-fashioned way, just double the crust recipe, and you'll have plenty

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups flour
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold water

Pie filling:

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed ("Classic" mix works great, but use whatever you want. Just make sure it's not pre-seasoned.)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium to large potato, diced small
2 cups chickpeas* (or one 15-16 oz can)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2/3 cup soy milk
1/3 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (Earth Balance is good & easy to find)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp thyme

Prepare the pie crust first.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, and gradually work in the oil and water until crumbly. You might have to work it with your hands, and it'll probably fall apart a little. That's fine... it'll be nice and flakey after it cooks. Chill the dough for a half hour or so.

When the dough is ready, separate about 2/3 of it for the bottom crust. Stuff it into a 9 inch round pie dish, or a small square casserole dish if you don't have one. You want it to completely cover the bottom and to cover the sides as well as possible. It's not a big deal if it's a little messy.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a medium sized pot, melt the margarine over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent. Stir in the flour, salt, & pepper, and then gradually stir in the broth & soy milk. Cook until well-blended & thick... sort of the consistency of gravy. Add the mixed vegetables, chickpeas, & potato, mixing well, and remove from heat. Fill the pie dish with the vegetable mixture, packing it in tight.

Now flatten out pieces of crust and lay them randomly across the top, leaving cracks between them. If you made the double crust recipe, flatten it out and lay it across the top, pinching the edges to attach it to the bottom. Cut a few slits in it to let steam out.

Bake at 425 for about 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool for a few minutes before you try to cut it.

*I'd like to say something about chickpeas. Cans are fine for convenience, but if you have the option, the taste and texture of cooked dried beans is so much better. I like to keep some pre-cooked in stock for various recipes. I soak them in water all day, cook them in a slow cooker on low all night, and then freeze them in 1 and 2-cup batches to use when needed.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Twice Baked Potatoes


These potatoes are an old family favorite as well. The original recipe calls for several different types of dairy, but I've veganized it and added my own little touch to make it equally as delicious, but cruelty-free. These are really good with the BBQ Tempeh in the post below. Serves 4-8, depending on the size of your potatoes.

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes, good shape & size for baking
1 small to medium onion, chopped very finely (by hand or in a food processor)
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp olive oil
freshly ground pepper, to taste
paprika, to sprinkle on top

The potatoes need to be baked before you do anything else. Here are instructions for baking potatoes, for all you noobs:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Scrub the potato well, but don't rub the skin too thin. Just make sure it's clean and pick all the icky rooty things off with your fingernails. Stab the potato a bunch of times with a fork or knife. I like to spray or brush the potato with olive oil so that the skin will get a little crispy, and then I roll it in coarse salt. That part is optional.

Wrap the potato in one layer of foil and bake it for an hour to an hour and a half. Small potatoes take less time than large ones, so decide how big your potato is, make a good guess, and then squeeze it after it's cooked for a while to see how done it is. It's a judgment call. You'll figure it out.

Let your potatoes cool enough to handle. If you can manage to slice them in half without burning yourself, it'll speed up the process.

While the potatoes are cooling, prepare the onion. Heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion for 3-4 minutes, until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Go ahead and put that in whatever bowl you plan to use to mix your potato muck, and set it aside.

When your potatoes are cool enough to handle, start scooping the potato flesh out. This can be a little tricky. You want to leave enough potato inside the skin for it to keep its shape. Depending on how crispy your skin is, you'll want about 1/8 to 1/4 inch or so of potato flesh left. Hold the potato in the palm of your hand, so that you're supporting as much of it as possible. If not, it'll fall apart pretty easily. I suggest cutting around the edge of the potato with a knife, marking the area you plan to scoop out, then making crosshatching cuts to loosen it up. Now scrape as much as possible out without messing up the skin, and put the potato flesh in the bowl with the onions and garlic. Repeat with each potato. If your potatoes stand alone well, you can put them on a cookie sheet, but otherwise, use a casserole dish, so they won't tip over.

Once all the potato flesh is in the bowl, add margarine, non-dairy milk, & nutritional yeast. Mix all that stuff together and mash it up until it's as smooth as possible. Some chunks are okay if you're into smashed potatoes. Add the salt & pepper slowly, to taste. Nutritional yeast adds a bit of salty flavor, so you want to make sure you don't over-salt your potatoes.

Now put all that yummy stuff back into the potato skins. Pack it in there tight.

Bake those suckers for about 45 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, sprinkle some paprika on top. It'll be real pretty.

Enjoy!

Lorene's Grilled BBQ Tempeh


This is Aaron's grandmother's BBQ sauce recipe, altered slightly, and then slathered on tempeh, instead of meat. It's an old family favorite, and it won't disappoint.

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz) tempeh

1 cup good quality ketchup (It matters… don’t use the generic stuff!)

¾ cup brown sugar

1/8 cup Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp Tabasco

¼ cup water

Put a shallow pot of water on the stove to boil. Cut the tempeh in half lengthwise, then repeat with those two pieces. Now cut all 4 pieces widthwise. When the water comes to a boil, add the tempeh and lower the heat to simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.

While the tempeh is steaming, prepare the BBQ sauce. Mix all the ingredients together well in a shallow bowl or dish.

Remove the tempeh from the water, and cut all 4 pieces lengthwise again to increase the surface area, then place them in the sauce for a half hour or so, making sure every piece is well-covered and flipping occasionally.

Grill the tempeh for about 7 minutes per side, until the BBQ sauce begins to caramelize. Spoon more sauce over the tempeh right before flipping it, and again a few seconds before removing it from the grill.

If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can use a skillet or grill pan. Cook over medium-high in enough peanut oil to lightly coat the pan, and follow the same instructions as above.

Serve on its own or on a bun with burger toppings. We had this with grilled asparagus and the twice baked potatoes posted above.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Vegan Spinach-Mushroom Lasagna Marinara




If you think lasagna can't be amazing without massive amounts of cheese, prepare to have your mind blown. This lasagna rules. It is a variation of the "Lasagne Marinara with Spinach" from Veganomicon, which can be fairly different depending on which ricotta, sauce, and vegetables you choose to use, and whether or not you choose to use a couple other optional ingredients. I'll be including the ones I used for this specific dish.

Ingredients

Marinara (Caramelized Onion Variation):

1 medium-sized onion, sliced thinly
2-3 tbsp olive oil
8 cloves garlic
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
A few pinches of freshly ground pepper


Tofu-Basil Ricotta:

2 pounds extra firm tofu (don't forget to press your tofu for an hour beforehand)
4 tsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
20 or so fresh basil leaves (roll 4-5 leaves up, cigarette-style, and chop width-wise every 1/8 inch or so & repeat until all leaves are chopped into thin slices)
4 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (it's still good if you don't have this, but you lose some "cheesy" flavor)


Everything else:

1 package of lasagna noodles (I prefer whole grain)
2 pounds spinach (or other greens)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper


Go ahead and make the ricotta and marinara before you worry about the other stuff. You'll probably also want to have your oven preheating to 375 degrees F.


To make the ricotta, use a pretty large bowl, and mush up the (hopefully already pressed) tofu with your hands until it's crumbly. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, & basil. Mush it up with your hands again until it's the texture of ricotta cheese. Then, add the olive oil and nutritional yeast. You probably want to stir with a fork or spatula now, because it'll be pretty messy. Cover and stick it in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the lasagna.

Now make the marinara. Sweat the onion in a pot or saucepan, covered, over medium-low for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it starts browning, it's too hot. Now caramelize the onions. Turn the heat up a little, for about 15 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.

While the marinara is simmering, prepare the mushrooms and spinach. Saute the mushrooms over medium/medium-high until they've released all their juices, then set them aside. Steam the spinach until it's wilted and bright green, then squeeze out the water and chop it coarsely. When the spinach and mushrooms are finished and at room-temperature, I'd recommend mixing them into the ricotta to make the lasagna easier to assemble.

While the mushrooms and spinach are cooling, cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions. Rinse them when they've finished so that they stop cooking.

Now it's time to assemble the lasagna. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, if you haven't already. Using a 9x13" pan, layer about half a cup of the sauce on the bottom of the pan, then top with 5-6 noodles. Top the noodles with half the ricotta and about a third of the marinara, then add more noodles and repeat. Cover with the rest of the noodles and top off with the rest of the marinara.

Cover the pan tightly with a double layer of foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 20, until the edges of the noodles start to brown and the sauce is bubbly. Let it cool for 10 minutes or so before trying to slice it, or you'll end up with a mess.

I served this with baby spring mix salad with Italian dressing, French deli bread brushed with olive oil and garlic, and Rex Goliath cabernet sauvignon. Enjoy!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Baja Tempeh Tacos (Veganomicon)


A little spicy and a little tangy, these beer-marinated tacos are some of the best I've ever eaten. Since there are several components to the recipe, I would either recommend making these on a lazy weekend day or making the slaw and lime crema the night before. This recipe is featured in Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Feeds 4-6, depending on the size of your tacos & how many everyone eats.

Ingredients

Taco Slaw:

Finely shredded cabbage (10-12 oz bag or 3 heaping cups)
1 carrot, grated
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 pickled jalapenos, diced finely
1 tsp salt
fresh grated black pepper, to taste







Lime Crema:

3/4 cup plain soy yogurt
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp grapeseed oil or avocado oil
1/3 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp salt







Chile-Beer Marinade:
3/4 cup Mexican beer, pilsner or ale style (I used Modelo Especial)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 (8 oz) package tempeh
12-16 white corn tortillas


Plus, whatever you like on your tacos: tomato, avocado/guacamole, radish, jalapeno, etc.

Directions

To make the slaw, mix all the ingredients in a large glass or plastic bowl. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap, and press the wrap down on top of the slaw, then put it in the fridge. Weigh it down with something heavy, and allow it to press for at least an hour.

To make the lime crema, blend all the ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Add more salt or lime to taste. Pour it into something airtight and let it chill in the fridge for an hour.

To make the marinade, mix all the ingredients together and pour into something flat, like a small casserole dish or pie pan.

To prepare the tempeh, bring around 2 qt of water to a boil. Slice the tempeh lengthwise into 3 pieces, then slice each of those in half. When the water starts boiling, add the tempeh and lower the heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Use tongs to remove the tempeh and place them in the marinade dish for about an hour, flipping them occasionally.

Preheat a grill pan or skillet to medium-high and add enough peanut oil to coat the skillet. Grill or fry each side of the tempeh for about 5 minutes, spooning marinade over the tempeh about 30 seconds before you flip it. Remove the tempeh and slice into thin strips.

Next, heat your tortillas in a skillet over medium for about 30 seconds on each side. I'd recommend using 2 tortillas per taco unless you plan to be skimpy on the toppings. Otherwise they may fall apart.

Now make yourself a taco assembly line. Moskowitz recommends spreading a line of the lime crema down the middle of the taco, then adding the slaw, then the tempeh, then the rest of your toppings, but it's really up to you.

Serve with rice and beans or something Mexican-like.

Introduction: I'm going to do this food blog thing.

I've had friends suggesting that I make a food blog for a while now, but I always had reservations about it since I rarely use my own recipes. However, after being on the road, moving, etc., and needing to use the internet to find recipes more often, I realize that it's fairly commonplace for food bloggers to post others' recipes. I'll be doing that, but I am hoping that the existence of this blog will encourage me to become more creative and start making my own recipes more frequently. I'll be posting mostly entrees, but occasionally I make some tasty baked goods or appetizers for get-togethers. I'll post some food later. For now, here are some awesome cats to look at: