Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Caramel Sauce

Adapted from Living Cuisine

Caramel Sauce

5 Tbs raw almond butter or raw cashew butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs cold-pressed coconut butter
1 Tbs vanilla extract
2 pitted soft dates
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch sun-dried sea salt

Blend up everything in a food processor or blender until nice and creamy. You may need to add a few drops of water to help blend it up, but remember that the more water you add the thinner it will be. Serve over everything you want to eat caramel sauce on!

Peanut Mustard Sauce

This recipe is adapted from an Eden Foods recipe booklet.

Peanut Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup water
2 tsp. prepared mustard
4 Tablespoons peanut butter or almond butter
2 tsp. shoyu soy sauce

Whiz it all together in a blender until creamy and serve.

You can add chopped parsley, green onions or chives for more flavor if you like.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Secret Recipe Spaghetti Sauce

1 bag burger crumbles, optional
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (12 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (7 1/2 ounce) can pitted ripe olives, drained and rinsed, sliced
1 bay leaf
2 (1 1/4 ounce) envelopes spaghetti sauce mix
3 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon oregano

In a large soup pot, saute the burger crumbles, garlic, onion, and green pepper in a bit of olive oil until soft.
Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a low boil, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours stirring often.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Mediterranean Grill

1 sweet onion, sliced into about 6 pieces
2 red bell peppers, sliced into about 6 pieces
2 Chinese or Japanese eggplants (8-12 ounces), sliced into coins
1 zucchini, sliced into coins
4 portobello mushrooms, cut into 4 pieces each

marinade:
½ cup olive oil
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup water
¼ cup Braggs Liquid Aminos or tamari
¼ cup mirin
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 cup fresh basil, cut into strips

Place all vegetables in a watertight container or ziplock bag. Mix marinade ingredients and add to vegetables. Close container and turn upside down to coat vegetables. Marinate 1 hour, turning container once or twice.

Prepare grill for cooking. Drain vegetables and cook on a grill pan over medium-hot coals. Serve with pita bread, hummus and fruit.

Makes 4-5 servings.

This is an original recipe.

source: vegpeople.com

Friday, July 2, 2010

Fruit Soup

1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup mango
1/2 cup papaya
1/2 cup pineapple
1 Tbs lime, lemon or unsweetened orange juice
2 Tbs avocado

Blend until smooth. Garnish with think slices of lime or oranges and with shredded fresh mint leaves.

This makes a great snack or dessert for two people.

- Adapted from Kathy Cooks Naturally by Kathy Hoshijo

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Mexican Spaghetti

1 medium onion, chopped
ground meat substitute (I used an 8oz box of Trader Joes vegan breakfast patties crumbled up, but you can use crumbled tofu, burger crumbles, etc.)
1 - 8oz can tomato sauce
1 envelope taco seasoning (we used the spicy kind)
7oz package of whole wheat spaghetti

In a sauce pan, saute the onion in a bit of oil until translucent. Add the meat substitute and mix it up with the onion. Then add the taco seasoning, tomato sauce and 3 cups of water, bring to a boil. Break the spaghetti into thirds and add to the sauce. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often to keep it from sticking to the bottom. The original recipe calls for shredded cheese sprinkled over the top, but I have never been a fan of that so we left it off, but you can add it if you wish.

Makes 4 large servings

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Cherry Tomato Couscous

Keep your eyes peeled for whole wheat or barley couscous - either would work great here. You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the feta - maybe do some sort of harissa drizzle instead?

3 cups cooked couscous*
1/2 a basket of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 lemon, cut in half
1 lime, cut in half
about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
freshly ground pepper

1/3 cup basil or cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Combine the couscous, tomatoes, cucumber, and chickpeas in a large bowl. Lori - squeezes the lemon and lime juice directly into the bowl, so start by giving a good squeeze of lemon and lime juice into the bowl, add the olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Toss well, taste, and adjust with more of the above until it tastes just right. Lori notes - this really needs a generous amount of salt, and the lemon and lime juices might need to be adjusted depending on how juicy the fruit is.

Add the basil and feta and toss gently until it is evenly dispersed.

Serves 4 - 6.


*To cook the couscous: Either follow the package instructions or bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil, stir in a scant 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt and 2 cups of couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Steam for 5 to 10 minutes and then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.

source: http://www.101cookbooks.com

Monday, June 21, 2010

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance, melted OR use a non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, melted
1/2 cup pureed firm silken tofu
1 tsp vanilla extract
Ener-G for 1 egg
12 ounces chocolate chips

Prehead oven to 350F degrees.

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.

Hand mix Ener-G and set aside.

Puree tofu in food processor. Add melted margerine, sugars, vanilla and Ener-G. Mix again.

Add dry ingredients and process until just mixed. Take mix from food processor bowl and put in regular mixing bowl. Fold in chips.

For best results chill dough for at least 10 minutes before cooking, and put in refrigerator between batches. Works well to make dough ahead of time and store in frige.

These cookies do not spread a lot so they can be placed fairly close together on baking sheet.

Make each cookie from 2 tablespoons of dough. Bake 14 minutes (times may vary with each oven, check after 11 minutes).

If you can stand it let them cool before you eat them. They are better when they are completely cool.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Banana Pudding

From Valerie

1 box firm Japanese style (Mori-Nu) tofu
1 large over ripe banana
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Put everything in a food processor and puree. Chill. Eat.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Black Bean Burgers


1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1/2 cup corn kernels, frozen or canned okay
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 4-ounce can chopped green chilis, undrained
3 cloves garlic, run through a garlic press or very finely minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
scant 1 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread crumbs
¾ cup wheat gluten
Olive oil for coating burgers

Pulse beans, corn, olive oil and chilis in a food processor until there are very few whole beans. Some chunks are okay – don’t make this perfectly smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients except wheat gluten. Sprinkle about ¼ cup of wheat gluten over the surface and stir in. Add another ¼ cup wheat gluten the same way. Repeat with the remaining wheat gluten. (Stirring in the gluten this way keeps it from clumping until it’s blended with the other ingredients.) If necessary,stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture will just hold together (I didn’t need any water.)

Stir well with a wooden spoon for at least 3 minutes to give the gluten a chance to bind the burgers.

Form into 6 patties. Coat each side with olive oil and grill over medium coals until browned on the outside and cooked through.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Chili Potato and Grilled Vegetable Burritos


2 cups chili
Try this or this, or you can use a 15-ounce can - the spicier, the better.
2 cups cooked, diced potatoes
Use some potatoes made like these, with or without the spices.
2 cups grilled vegetables
I’ve made the recipe with leftovers from this and this, both of which can be frozen.
4 large flour tortillas

Combine chili, potatoes and vegetables and heat. Roll up in tortillas. Serve as is, or brush/spray with some olive oil and bake at 350 for 10 minutes until lightly crispy.
Serves 4 generously

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hot Spiced Wine


4 cups red wine (Burgundy or Pinot Noir are preferable)
4 ounces brandy
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 oz. lemon juice
1 cup orange juice
3 whole cloves
7-10 whole peppercorns
4-5 whole cinnamon sticks

In a four-quart saucepan, combine all ingredients except the wine.

Bring to a boil and and keep at a steady boil for about 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced by about half.

Lower heat and add the wine. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes but be careful not to bring it to a boil a second time. Strain the fragrant product through a fine sieve.

Serve hot and garnish with a cinnamon stick.