Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Vegan White Sauce for Crepes

1-1/2 cup plain soy milk
½ cup white wine
¼ cup Earth Balance margarine, melted
¼ cup flour
3 ounces soy cream cheese (about 1/3 of an 8-ounce carton), cut into 2-inch pieces
¼ teaspoon dried tarragon
Salt to taste

Add wine to soy milk and set aside. Melt margarine over low heat. Stir in flour and cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add soymilk and wine. Stir to combine completely using a wire wisk. Use a spoon to scrape edges of pan, if necessary. Put sauce back on burner and raise heat to medium. Stir continuously until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add tarragon and cream cheese and continue to stir until it melts.

I use this with crepes and soy “crabmeat” from the Asian market, but this would probably be great with mushrooms and shallots as a filling, and I’ve used it over pasta. For crepes, you stir about a third of the sauce into the filling, and spoon the rest on top of the rolled crepes and bake until hot.

Velvet Tofu-Mushroom Sauce

1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup (8 oz) mashed tofu (the softer the better -- silken or soft tofu work best)
1/4 cup or a bit more water or vegetable stock
2 tsp low-sodium tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or to taste

1. Heat a bit of water in a saucepan and saute the onions. When the onions are almost tender, add the mushrooms and saute until tender.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, place the tofu, water or stock, and tamari in a blender or food processor. Blend until very smooth and creamy. Add as much water as is necessary to yield a sauce of the desired consistency.

3. Add the tofu cream to the sauteed vegetables and stir the sauce over medium heat until it is warm, but do not bring it to a boil.

Serve over pasta, vegetables, or grain dishes.

A couple of little tips -- make sure you don't add the liquid too quickly, or you'll wind up with a thin mess, and start out with just a little bit of the salty stuff (Bragg's or tamari), because it's hard to get it just right. For two people, I'd probably double it.

Serves: 2-4


Time: 15 minutes

Adapted from Cooking with the Right Side of the Brain by Vicki Rae Chelf

Monday, October 29, 2007

Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins

2 cups oat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ cup walnuts, ground
½ cup walnuts, chopped
1 Tbs flax seeds, ground
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp Cloves
1 tsp Ginger
2 EnerG egg replacers
1/2 cup applesauce (I had homemade from my Mommy!)
1/2 cup apple juice (organic, unfiltered, if you can)
1 mashed sweet potato (should be a big ole honkin' thing)
½ cup maple syrup

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Boil sweet potato until cooked. When finished cooking pour cold water over it and take off the skin. Mash.

Sift together oat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in ground walnuts and the ground flax seeds.

Add the spices, apple sauce, maple syrup, apple juice and egg replacers to the mashed sweet potato. When thoroughly mixed, add to dry mixture. Be careful not to overmix. Stir in chopped walnuts.

(I have a non-stick muffin pan, so if you don't, I would spray some oil on the pan.) Put in pans and bake.

Homemade Vegan Tortillas

2 c. flour (I use 1. c whole wheat pastry flour and 1 c. white flour)
1 tsp salt
6 Tb vegan shortening
2/3 c. water
  1. Get a large skillet out and fire up the stove. These bad boys should be cooked on medium to medium-low. I use a large, flat, square-shaped cast-iron skillet. No greasing is necessary whatever type you use.
  2. Mix the flour and the salt. Cut in the shortening and mix with your fingers until crumbly like coarse bread crumbs.
  3. Slowly stir in the water and mix until combined.
  4. Lightly knead the dough (30 seconds to a minute) and then let the dough rest for five minutes.
  5. Roll the dough out into a log shape and divide into six equal portions.
  6. One by one, roll each dough ball into a circular shape, using a dusting of flour as needed. After one is rolled, place it on the skillet and cook it for approximately 1 - 2 minutes on each side; if overcooked, it'll get crispy. If the temp is too high, it'll get burned spots. Continue cooking the rolled dough one by one.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Cocoa fudge cookies

This was slightly modified from Cooking Light magazine to provide a vegan option.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter/baking margarine
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup plain low-fat (soy) yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt margarine in pan over low heat. Remove pan from heat. Add sugars
and cocoa and stir. Mix in (soy) yogurt and vanilla. Add remaining
ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt). Drop by level tablespoons onto
baking sheets. Bake about 10 min. Makes about 2 doz.

banana cake

2 very ripe bananas
4 tablespoons milk (soymilk?)
0.6 cup sugar (1.5dl)
Almost 1 cup flour (2 ¼ dl)
½ tsp bakingsoda
½ tsp bakingpowder
Eggsubsitute for 1 egg
1/4 cup oil (50g) (was butter in the recipe before)
Mash the bananas with the sugar a fork works well for this, the more ripe the bananas are the better. Mix with milk, eggsubsitute and oil. Add the flour, bakingsoda and bakingpowder. Grease dish tin and sprinkle with crumbs
Bake in 347F° for about 40 minutes.

Better than sex cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegan butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (190 C).
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
Add water and vanilla.
Blend in the sifted ingredients to form a soft dough.
Stir in the chocolate chips.

Take out ungreased cookie sheets, and drop teaspoonfulls of the dough onto the pan.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.
Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them onto a cooling rack.

Tip: I like to not use the mixer and jsut knead the dough with my hands. It's a little sticky, but gets the dough so well done that it's better than the mixer. Then again, I just love using my hands for everything

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Vegan Wholegrain Baking Mix

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 cups oatmeal flour
¼ cups Ener-G egg replacer
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon salt

Sift all ingredients together well. Store in an airtight container. Fluff up mix with a fork before measuring for the recipes below.

Pancakes

2 cups baking mix
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ¾ cup vanilla soymilk
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons walnut oil

Serves 3-4

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Grated rind from 1 lemon
Juice from ½ a lemon
¾ cup vanilla soy milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 ¼ cup baking mix

Preheat oven to 425. Measure poppy seeds and set aside.

Stir together lemon rind, lemon juice, soy milk, sugar and oil in a medium bowl until thickened. Add baking mix and poppy seeds and stir until just moistened. Spoon into 6 oiled muffin cups and bake for 11-13 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched.

Brownies

1-1/2 cups baking mix
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
¾ cup vanilla soy milk or apple juice
4 tablespoons melted margarine
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Stir together the baking mix, cocoa powder, and sugar. Add soy milk or apple juice, and melted margarine. Stir until just mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon into an oiled 8 x 8-inch baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until set.


“Cheesy” Beer-Onion Bread

This is great with soup.

2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup finely diced onion
2 tablespoons almond butter
8 ounces beer (I used brown ale)
2 cups baking mix
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon melted margarine (such as Earth Balance)

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté onion until soft and slightly golden, about 6 minutes. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together almond butter and beer. Add baking mix and nutritional yeast and stir. Add onions.

Spray an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking oil spray and spoon in batter. Spread melted margarine on top and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Peach and Strawberry Cobbler

2 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup sugar, divided use
1 cup baking mix
1 cup vanilla soymilk
3 tablespoons margarine, such as Earth Balance

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a medium saucepan, stir together fruit and ½ cup sugar. Heat just to the boiling point and remove from heat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together baking mix, remaining ½ cup sugar and soy milk.

Put margarine into a 3-quart casserole dish or an 8 x 11-inch pan. Put into the oven until margarine melts, about 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour batter into the center of the margarine. Do not stir. Spoon fruit mixture with juice evenly over the top. Again, do not stir.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is set in the center. The fruit will sink to the bottom.

Serves 6.


Notes:

To make just enough mix for one recipe of pancakes, use:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oatmeal flour
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) Ener-G egg replacer
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt.

Makes about 2 cups baking mix

About converting recipes:

This baking mix replaces all the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs. If a recipe contained eggs, you’ll need an extra ¼ cup liquid for each egg. This mix works just fine for recipes that didn’t have eggs in them to begin with.

If a recipe was originally made with white flour, you might also need an extra tablespoon of liquid for each cup of mix, since whole-grain flour absorbs more liquid. Also, when I first made muffins from this, they were coming out flat. I turned the oven up by 25 degrees, and my muffins rose.

If the other recipe was made from a baking mix, you’ll need to add some oil or melted Earth Balance margarine as baking mixes typically contain shortening. About 1 tablespoon oil or margarine per cup of baking mix is enough, unless the original recipe called for more.

I called for vanilla soymilk in most of these recipes because that’s what I have on hand, but I’m sure they would work fine with the milk of your choice. If plain, you might want to add a bit of vanilla.

Baking mix recipe first inspired by the pancakes in Vegan with a Vengence. Other recipes adapted from The Fanny Farmer Cookbook, Cooking Light, and Lone Star Legacy II.

Vegan Mayonaise

I package Soft or Silken Tofu
Three tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Mustard: Optional
Salt

Place tofu in the blender and blend on high until smooth. While still blending, slowly add olive oil them lemon juice. Add a little mustard and taste. Add more if you like or leave it alone dipending on your taste. Add salt to taste and pour into a jar.

This mayo is a little wetter that regular Mayo and if you make sandwiches too long ahead of time they will get soggy. It lasts in the fridge about a week.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Quick and Tasty Tofu Sandwich

Adapted from This Can't Be Tofu! by Deborah Madison

1/2 block firm tofu, drained
3 Tablespoons vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 onion, sliced
1 large portabello, sliced
Toasted bread

Slice the tofu crosswise into 4 slices and place them on a towel and dry. Heat your nonstick pan (you can add a bit of spray oil if you desire) over med-hi heat. Add tofu and cook until golden on each side. Pour the Worcestershire sauce over the tofu and turn one time. Keep frying it until the sauce is absorbed into the tofu. Take of heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. While you are cooking the tofu, saute your onions and mushrooms in a bit of water until they are nice and golden brown. Spread vegenaise over your toasted bread, add two tofu slices and top with the onions and mushrooms and add a piece of cool, crisp lettuce. A tomato would be great too. This took me about 15 minutes to make this whole sandwich. It's yummy, easy, and fast! Makes 2 sandwiches.

Avocado Burgers


Burgers:
1 cup tvp
¼ cup rolled oats, ground in a blender
1 tablespoon flax seeds, ground in a blender
1 tablespoon vegetable boullion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried onions
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup boiling water

Mix all ingredients together with a fork. Taste and adjust spices (I doubled the chili powder and cumin). Let stand for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Form into three thick patties. Spray or brush patties lightly with olive oil. Cook on a grill, or broil for 5 minutes a side. Top with avocado salsa.

Avocado salsa:
1 small avocado, diced
1 roma tomato, diced
1 green onion, green part only, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of ½ lime (about 1 tablespoon)
¼ teaspoon salt

Serves 3

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Vegan banana bran muffins

4 very ripe bananas, peeled
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat bran
1/2 cup brown sugar (or so)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon (or so)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
~1/4 cup milk substitute (I used almond milk)
non-stick spray (I used Trader Joe's non-stick baking spray with flour) or muffin liners

Preheat oven to 350°F. Either spray with non-stick spray or add muffin liners to muffin tin.
In a small bowl, smush the bananas with a fork and then a whisk until creamy. Don't worry about getting all the lumps out, but try to get the big ones smooth.
In a separate bowl, blend all dry ingredients. Add vanilla extract, smushed bananas, and milk substitute. Mix well. If consistency of batter seems too dry, add more milk substitute as needed.
Fill muffin tin 1/2 to 2/3 full with batter. Cook 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before removing from tin and allowing to cool completely.

Makes 8-10 muffins (depending on size).

Pizza Dough

This recipe is adapted from How to Bake, by Nick Malgieri.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (110 degree F)
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast (1 package)

Whisk together the water and yeast. Set aside. Sift together the flours and the salt and make a well in the center. Add the water/yeast mixture and stir together to make a nice, sticky dough. Beat it for about a minute and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, which usually takes about an hour. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel, drop your pizza dough onto the cornmeal, and shape your dough, stretching and patting. You're ready to make pizza!

I heat my oven as high as it will go (550 degrees F) with my baking stone in it, for at least a half hour before baking my pizza. Something else I like to do is to just throw the ingredients into my bread machine and let it work my dough in the morning, then I remove it and put it into the refrigerator to rise the whole day. The dough develops a really great flavor when allowed to rise for an extended, slow period.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Apple carrot mint soup

1 chopped apple

2 chopped carrots

fresh kale

mint

brussle sprouts

ginger grated

put in a bowl of water and let simmer. in another bowl cook brown rice and after the stock is done put in a big bowl and chow down.

quick and simple

Speedy tortilla soup

2 T. grapeseed oil
1 jar cilantro salsa (or any kind of chunky salsa)
2 cans Westbrae Unchicken Broth
1 container White Wave Seitan (Chicken Style)
poultry seasoning, to taste (it's veggie)
pepper, to taste
1 package shredded veggie cheese
8 - 10 white corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
1/4 vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)


Heat olive oil in skillet. Add shredded seitan. Sauté for 3 -5 minutes. Add poultry seasoning and pepper. Turn off heat.

In a large saucepan, combine salsa, unchicken broth & seitan. You may also add the broth from the White Wave container. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce to low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While soup is cooking, pour oil in heavy skillet and heat over high heat for 3 minutes. Place a handful of tortilla strips into the oil and fry until crisp (about 1 minute). Flip if desired. Drain on paper towels. Contiinue until all of strips are fried.

Top each bowl with fried tortilla chips and 1/4 c. veggie cheese.

Makes 4 - 6 servings.

Variations:

Add more herbs & spices like cilantro, parsley, cumin, even chili powder.

Instead of frying, spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray and spread strips evenly out on tray. Heat at 350 degrees F until crispy (you may want to flip these, too).

Add 3 slices of avocado to each bowl of soup before serving.