Bagels

adapted from Nick Malgieri's book How to Bake

You can use some whole wheat flour in this recipe if you like, but add the smallest amount of flour first because the ww flour absorbs more liquid than the refined white flour. It's easier to add more flour than it is to add more liquid. They're easy and taste so much better than the ones you get in the store.


2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
5-6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I've never, ever used 6 cups - sometimes I've used less than 5 cups)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt

1. Whisk yeast into the warm water in a bowl and set aside.
2. In the bowl of your food processor (*see note*) combine the smaller amount of flour, sugar, and salt - and be sure to use the metal blade. Pulse the food processor to mix it and then add the yeast mixture and continue to pulse until the dough forms into a ball. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then run it again for 30 seconds at a time. This is a very firm dough. The rest of the flour is kneaded in by hand - I don't always use the rest of flour, though. It just depends on how moist or dry the dough is when I'm done with in the food processor.
3. Take the dough and shape it into ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise until doubled, usually about an hour.
4. Bring a 6-qt. saucepan of water to a simmer.
5. Punch down risen dough and divide into 10 or 12 equal pieces. Roll each into a 8-10 inch cylinder and keep the dough covered as you work - you don't want it drying out. Moisten the ends of the cylinders with water and stick them together, so they form a circle.
6. Preheat your oven to 450 F.
7. I usually let the bagels rise somewhat (not for longer than about 20 or 30 minutes) before simmering. I just like for them to be a little bigger when baking them. They'll still rise in the oven after the simmering process, so doing this second rise isn't necessary at all. Place your bagels, no more than 2 at a time, in the simmering water for about a minute, turn, and simmer for another minute. Remove bagels and drain. Do this with all of the bagels. When they're dry, bake them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown and shiny.
8. Transfer to a rack and cool. Oh, and then eat!


*Note: Make sure your food processor can handle this much flour!! This is how I burnt up the motor in my old food processor. To mix the dough by machine, mix all of the ingredients in the bowl of your heavy-duty mixer and mix on low speed using the dough hook. Do this for ten minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

**You can sprinkle your bagels with sesame seeds, or poppy seeds if you like before baking - sprinkle them on just after they come out of the simmering water so they stick.

Couscous with Scallions

adapted from Food Network.


1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 cup plain couscous
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring the vegetable stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add scallions and couscous. Cover the pan and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, add the parsley (if using), and salt and pepper to taste. Eat up!

Crispy Cajun Burgers

These are based on the Crispy Cajun Chickpea Patties from Vegan Dad. If you don't have all the spices, you can leave some out, or substitute something similar, such as basil for oregano.

1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounce can chickpeas, drained
1 cup bread crumbs
¾ cup wheat gluten
3 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika (I used Spanish smoked)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon black pepper
water as needed
oil for brushing

Heat oil and sauté onion, pepper, celery and garlic until tender. Pulse chickpeas briefly in a food processor, leaving mixture a little bit chunky (just make sure there are no whole chickpeas, as these will make the burgers fall apart.) Transfer to a bowl and add sautéed vegetables and remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine and add water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed. (I used two tablespoons.)

Heat oven to 375. Form burger mixture into 6 patties and brush both sides with oil. Bake for 12 minutes a side.

Banana-Flaxseed Snack

Melissa's Version of Banana-Flaxseed Treats

2 large bananas
1/4-1/3 cup whole flaxseeds

Mash the bananas well. Add the flaxseeds. Spread on a plastic sheet (my food dehydrator has a special plastic tray just for dehydrating mashed fruits and such). You could also use wax paper if you don't have a plastic tray to fit your dehydrator. Spread it less than 1/4 inch thick (maybe 1/8 inch or so). Dry until it is crispy. Break it up into pieces and store in an airtight container. Makes a great snack and is sweet and nutritious.

Lentilbolognese

adapted From Vego Paradiso by Pia Hall


1½ cup red lentils (3 dl)
1 onion
1 clove of garlic or garlicpowder
1 tablespoon oil
3 carrots
1 paprika or 3 tablespoons of Ajvar relish
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 cube of vegetable broth
2 tablespoons chili sauce (optional)
Salt, pepper
1 tablespoon basil

Cook the lentils for 10 minutes or so they are supposed to fall apart, drain them, chop the onions and garlic sizzle them for a bit in the oil. Chop the carrots, add them and leave it for a while.
Add the parika or Ajvar relish. Add the lentils, tomatoes and cub of broth and the chili sauce if you want it. Let simmer for a few minutes. Season it with salt, pepper and basil plus whatever seasoning you prefer.
Serve with pasta, I usually add some green olives when I eat it. I usually make a bunch and freeze most of it. Works fine.

Summer Pasta Salad

Adapted from Cooking With Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass

1/2 pound dried bow-tie pasta
1 cup broccoli florets
2 tomatoes, chopped
12 oil-packed sun dried tomato halves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh or defrosted peas
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
6 fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta. In last 5 minutes of cooking add the broccoli. Drain and rinse with cold water and put into a bowl.
In a small saute pan add the olive oil and the garlic and over low heat cook until the garlic is golden. Remove garlic. Pour oil over the pasta and then add the remaining ingredients. Toss and serve.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Pasta e Fagiol

This is quick and easy! Adapated from the The McDougall Program: Twelve Days to Dynamic Health.

Pasta e Fagiol

2 15-oz. (or 1 32-oz.) cans of crushed tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 water or veg broth
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. uncooked whole wheat pasta

Saute onion and garlic in 1/4 water in a large pot for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the pasta, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Cook pasta separately and drain. Remove bay leaf from the sauce and combine with the pasta in a 3-quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Stuffed grape leaves

MEDITERRANEAN STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

For hors d'oeuvres, use 36 leaves and 1 and a half tablespoons of filling for each leaf. Serves 12.


FILLING

2 cups vegetable stock or purified water
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup grated radish
1/3 cup chopped scallions or green onions
1/2 cup minced celery
3/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup currants or yellow raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 pinch salt (optional)
36 grape leaves
1 bunch chives
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a large pot bring the stock or water to a boil, then add the rice and salt. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Fluff the rice with fork.

In a large bowl, mix together the rice and all the other filling ingredients, tossing thoroughly with a spoon. Rinse the grape leaves and pat dry. Spread the grape leaves out and spoon 1 to 1 and a half tablespoons of the filling on the end of each leaf, and then roll up, folding the outer edges in. Take three 5-inch-long chives and tie them around each stuffed grape leaf. Place the leaves in a small casserole dish and drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon lemon juice over them. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes at 350°F.

Serve warm or cold.

Makes 36 grape leaves, 3 per person.