Sunday, January 29, 2012

Vietnamese Noodle Soup (Pho Chay)

Ingredients:

6 cups (1422 g) water
6x4 in. (12 g) piece of kombu
6 dried (22 g) shiitake mushrooms
2 whole anise stars
2 whole cloves
1 in. piece ginger cut lengthwise
1 medium onion, sliced (110 g)
1 lb (454 g) fresh vegetables: carrots, pak choi, yu choi, nappa cabbage and scallions
1/2 teaspoon salt (1163 mg sodium)
1/4 cup (64 g) soy sauce (3040 mg sodium)
2 seitan steaks, sliced (320 g)
Rice noodles, cooked
Optional condiments: fresh basil, fresh cilantro, lime wedges and bean sprouts

Directions:

1) Soak the kombu and mushrooms in the water for at least 3 hours. Remove the mushrooms; slice them and add them back to the pot. Heat the water; when its almost boiling remove the kombu and discard.

2) Place the anise and cloves in a tea infuser. Add the: tea infuser, ginger and onions to the broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, lightly steam the vegetables in a large sauce pan. Use a small amount of the broth for liquid. Salt the vegetables.

4) When the broth has finishe'd remove the ginger and tea infuser. Add the soy sauce and seitan. Turn off burner.

5) Place noodles in individual bowls. Top with vegetables and add hot broth. Soup should be eaten hot; if it isn't hot enough heat it with a microwave.

6) Add condiments if desired.

Serves: 10

Preparation time: 4 hours (including soaking time)

Vegan Shamrock Shake

Ingredients:

1 cup non-dairy vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
4 to 5 drops green food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to food processor or blender. Blend on HIGH until smooth. Pour into glass and enjoy the creamy mintyness.

Makes: 1 serving, Preparation time: 5 minutes

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Soymilk Mayo

Ingredients:

1/3 cup soy milk (I use Silk original at home, and Trader Joe's unsweetened at work)
3/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, distilled white vinegar, or lemon juice (I prefer vinegar)
1 tablespoon dijon or yellow mustard (not grain mustard)
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
2/3 cup canola oil
4 tablespoons canola oil, if needed

Directions:

1. Start with soy milk directly from the fridge. Pour in the vinegar, and let it sit for a minute or so. It'll get a little chunky. This is a good thing.

2. With a stick blender, blend the soy milk mixture well. If you don't have a stick blender, use a regular blender. If you have neither, please go and get one, as this requires the high speed of the blender to get the emulsion going.

3. Once the soy milk and vinegar are well blended, plop in the mustard. Blend well. Add the salt. Blend well. Essentially, you're starting to whip some air into the emulsion, and making sure that the initial emulsion is very strong, to stand up to the oil.

4. Then, 1 teaspoon at a time (for the first 3 teaspoons), add the 2/3 cup oil while blending. If you have a stick blender, move it around a bit. Then, add the remaining oil (of the 2/3 cup) in a steady stream, while blending the whole time.

5. In total, it should come together in about 3 minutes. Keep the stick blender moving continuously through the emulsion to get it completely combined. If the mayo is too runny, add the reserved 4 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it's to your desired thickness. Chill.

If you substitute olive oil for canola oil, make the mayo a tiny bit more runny than you think you'll want it, because olive oil sets up and thickens in the fridge. This mayo keeps for about a week.

Source of recipe
(just replaced milk with soy milk)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Tofu Dill Dip

Ingredients:

1 block firm tofu (silken best)
2 tablespoon dill weed
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2-4 clove garlic
1 tablespoon miso (mellow)
2-4 tablespoon finely minced onion
water

Directions:

Put all ingredients into blender and blend well. Add water until it is desired consistency. Let sit for flavors to blend.

I use approximations...this isn't a hard and fast recipe. Put in as much or as little as appeals to your individual tastebuds. I find silken tofu is best, regular still tastes good, but the finishe'd product isn't very smooth.

Can be used over a salad, to dip veggies in, or as a topping on potatoes. Has a somewhat sour cream taste to it.

Serves: 4-6

Preparation time: 10 min

Perfect Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

1 egg replacer (I used 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons hot water)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup nondairy milk (I use almond)
1/2 cup oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix flaxseed meal and water, and let sit for 10 minutess. While waiting, sift together dry ingredients.

2. Combine egg replacer, milk, and oil in a bowl. Add dry ingredients to this mixture and stir until just moistened.

3. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for 10-12 minutes.

I just sprinkled cinnamon on top before baking, but you can make some really yummy icing using powdered sugar and nondairy milk, or roll muffins in melted earth balance and then in a cinnamon sugar mix for extra sweetness.

Source of recipe: This recipe was modified from this one: http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-muffins-25969

Makes: 9 muffins, Preparation time: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10-12 mins

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Black Olive and Caper Pasta Sauce

Ingredients):

2 14.5 oz cans of stewed tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 can of black olives, sliced
1.5 oz of capers [1/2 standard 3+ oz.bottle]
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley
Oregano, basil, Black Pepper and Red Pepper to taste
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of vegan sugar

Directions:

Sautee garlic and onion until transparent. Then add capers into the olive oil and further sautee. Add the cans of tomatoes, crushing larger pieces. Add olives, vinegar, vegan sugar and all other ingredients.

Cook 1/2 hour uncovered and 1/2 hour partially covered.

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15 minutes