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.