Entries Tagged as 'Entree'

Veggie and Tofu Pot Pie

1.04.2012

Well, after enjoying 40 and 50 degree weather for all of November and December, the winter is finally here and we are officially in the jittery January months with 20′s and below temperatures. This means the excitment of wearing layers of sweaters and scarves has worn off and my day dreams are wondering to Florida beaches and porch nights. The only thing I am still excited for this winter is cooking winter things…you know, stews, chili, warm biscuits. And the time as finally come for me to stop denying that it is winter and start cooking.

So I started off my acceptance of January by whipping up some tofu pot pies. I made it a personal goal to make pot pies after eating Bloomingfood’s tofu pot pies at the farmers market over the summer. I also waited five months to actually make them because I had hoped to have stolen the Bloomingfood’s recipe by now but it seems that they keep those recipes on lock down and I am too much of a wimp to go snooping. Anyways, I decided it was time to make my own recipe and stop day dreaming about theirs. And it was honestly just as good (if not better- if you ask me!).

Anyways, so about the recipe: feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have on hand (because that is what I obviously did! I mixed canned, fresh, and frozen so do whatever you’re feeling). Also, I made the filling in the morning and stuck it in the fridge (because I’ve been working at the record label in the afternoons) so that when I got home for work all i had to do was whip up the crust and pop them in the oven. Yeah, the point of me telling you this is to let you know that you can make the filling ahead of time. Yup. Oh, and I made 6 mini pies with this recipe and froze 3 of them (but feel free to make pie size pot pies- I’d just recommend cutting the crust down).

Veggie and Tofu Pot Pie

Filling:

1 large onion, diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large potato, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
1 can peas
1 can corn
1 small can of mushrooms
1 package tofu, drained and cubed
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

Crust:

4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/3 cup shorting
1 cup water

For the Filling:

Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until they become translucent (and start to have that amazing aroma smell. you know what I’m talking about!). Next, add the vegetable broth and cubed potato and cook for five minute. Finally, add everything else that is in the filling and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Make sure to check it after 20 minutes and if it seems dry then add a bit more water. After 30 minutes, remove from heat, take out the bay leaves, and set aside while you prepare the yummy crust!

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the flour, salt, and shortening in a mixing bowl with your hands or a pastry blender (I obviously used my hands because I’m a college student and things like ‘pastry blenders’ don’t exist to me yet). Next, add the water in parts to achieve the right dough consistency.

Divide the dough into six parts (if you’re making miniature pies- otherwise divide it in half). Using a rolling pin, roll the dough ball until they are long enough to fit into your pie pan. Layer the pie dough, filling, and then top with another layer of dough. Press the edges with a fork and cut a few slits in the top dough so that the filling can breath (yes, it needs oxygen too!) while cooking. Repeat with the rest of your dough and filling.

Cook for 20 to 3o minutes or until the tops have browned.

Serve warm while staying cozy and warm under a blanket with your kitty.

Corn Pancakes

12.30.2011

As a stocking stuffer, I received a GIANT tub of Michigan maple syrup which, could not have come at a better time with my two week vacation following the holidays. I love maple syrup because it’s used in a lot of vegan cooking but of course, it’s also great with breakfast. So this maple syrup has inspired many of my recent breakfasts.

And I came across this idea of corn pancakes because I recently saw some polenta pancakes on the Food Network (I Know, TV is lame but sometime it’s a good distraction from homework). Anyways, this led me to search out polenta pancake ideas and I came across lots of corn pancakes (to be specific, this recipe was adapted from Smitten Kitchen). At first, I was weirded out by the idea of making corn patties and then lathering them in maple syrup but damn. I am converted. The salt and sweet combination gets me every time.

Corn Pancakes

1 cup frozen corn
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
dash of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 Tablespoons butter, divided

First, melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the corn for about 5 minutes or until it begins to slightly brown. Set corn aside and season with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Reuse the skillet in a bit for the pancakes.

Mix the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, corn and sugar in bowl. In another large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet ingredients to the batter. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until everything is well incorporated.

Reheat that skillet over medium heat and grease the pan with butter. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to spoon the batter onto the skillet. Let them cook until bubbles form on top of the batter (about two to three minutes) and then flip on the other side for a minute or two. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Lather with additional dollops of butter and loads of maple syrup.

Get back into bed and munch down while enjoying a big mug of french press coffee and enjoying rerun episode of ‘Unsolved Mysteries’.

Easy Vegan Pad Thai

12.28.2011

Okay, so after having an epic cooking marathon this past weekend for Christmas, I’ve been feeling a bit less motivated in the kitchen and have been making my boyfriend survive off of leftovers. Finally, I regained the desire to cook up something fresh last night and decided to whip out this pad thai for dinner because we had everything on hand and it was about as simple as recipes come.

Although this recipe was simple, it was (to my honest surprise) super delicious. Sometimes I find “half-assed” pasta recipes to be bland and not as flavorful as their scent but this stuff was really as good as take out. It took us maybe 20 minutes to whip up (at the most) so I am excited to add this one to my weeknight rotation when I’m short on time and need something comforting.

Plus, it’s vegan (thank goodness. Cheese in pad thai…yuck)!

Vegan Pad Thai

8 ounces of Lo Mein noodles
4 cups of broccoli
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons lime juice
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 green onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish)
Peanuts, chopped (for garnish)

In a large pot, boil the lo mein noodles according to the package directions. In the last five minutes, add the broccoli. Drain and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Next, add the noodles/broccoli and soy sauce mixture. Toss until the noodles are well coated with the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in the green onions.

Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.

Enjoy with your kitty while watching an episode of Twin Peaks and wishing you had every article of clothing that Audrey Horn fashions.

Cranberry Goat Cheese Breakfast Bake

12.20.2011

So Christmas came early this year.I decided to buy myself a new camera for all the hard work I’ve put in this year but instead of waiting til I saved up the money for it (surprise, surprise) I splurged and bought it last week. I reasoned it with that fact that I was gonna need the holiday break to play with it and figure out how to use it…right? Anyways, I’m sorry if I get a little excessive with the pictures for awhile but it’s only because I’m super excited about my new toy.

So, in other exciting news, I am FINALLY on holiday vacation(well sort of- I still have to work at the Record Label in the afternoon but I’ve got all mornings and evening off for the next month!). This means lots of breakfasts in bed. I am the type of person that likes to take two hours to wake up…You know, make some coffee, get back into bed to drink that coffee, watch a movie in bed while drinking coffee, make breakfast and get back into bed while it cooks, eat in bed, etc.

To start off my morning I made this super simple breakfast bake so that I could crawl back into bed while it cooked. These miniature bakes are soooo easy to make and sooo delicious. In the summer we got use to throwing whatever was fresh from our garden into them (cherry tomatoes, basil, thyme, corn, etc) but now that it’s winter it’s more like…whatever is in our fridge. It’s a rather simple equation: 2 eggs + a cheese + dash of milk + a spice + veggie/meat= delicious. The combinations are absolutely endless! Here I did the whole sweet and savory combination to please just about anyone’s taste buds.

Cranberry Goat Cheese Breakfast Bake

Serving Size: 1

2 Eggs
2 tablespoons milk
A couple chunks goat cheese
4-5 dried cranberries
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt/Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In a small greased remekin, add in this order: 2 eggs, milk (pour it over the egg yolks so keep them from drying out), goat cheese, cranberries, thyme, salt, and pepper.

Cook for 10-12 minutes. In the last minutes, put the broiler on (but keep a very close watch on it!) so that the top browns.

Enjoy with toast. In bed with some french roast coffee. And your favorite slippers.

Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy

11.20.2011

In an attempt to try out some vegetarian gravy recipes BEFORE I feed it to my entire extended family [for Thanksgiving], I MENTIONED making biscuits and gravy to my boyfriend which lead to him bugging me about it everyday for a week. In turn, we had a really delicious and filly breakfast on this rainy Sunday.

This recipe is a lot more basic than many vegetarian gravy recipes I’ve come across (I made biscuits and gravy for a birthday earlier this year and the recipe called for about a billion spices and turned out bland). Here, the simplicity is excellent and the only spice really needed for gravy is pepper anyways!

I’d recommend using this on your tofurkey, biscuits, eggs, or anything. It’s a fantastically simple dressing that is loaded with flavor (without needing turkey dripping!). I’m not even that big of a fan of mushrooms (I know that’s like a sin for vegetarians) but they lose their slimy texture when cooked in this recipe and turn out almost in a caramelized state next to the onions.

Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy

1 prepared packaged of frozen biscuits
8 oz of mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
Olive Oil
Lots of pepper to season with [+a little bit of salt if you want it]

Prepare biscuits according to their package.

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to a skillet over low heat. Mix in the flour for about a minute or until large clumps form. Then add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, and pepper. Bring the skillet to medium heat and stir often.

In the meantime, start another skillet with a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and let cook while the gravy is thickening.

Watch closely and stir both mixtures often until the vegetables are all the way melted and the broth mixture has reduced to a thick gravy (this will take probably around 20 minutes).

Once ready, turn stove off and combine the vegetables with the gravy. Season with more pepper and some salt.

Lather all over warm biscuits and eat your heart out.

Spaetzle with Swiss Cheese and Shallots

11.17.2011

If there is anything a German can do, it’s drink and eat…. and I’m German. Like all and only German (my last name is Westerhausen…). And although we don’t have a lot of traditions in my family that have continued through our heritage, there are some things that have stuck with me through the years. A few of these things are putting the pickle on the tree, having mull wine, and eating spaetzle.

Spaetzle is the only German dish that I can think of that I have always loved. I mean anything that is doughy and sauteed in pounds of butter and gooey cheese is going to be amazing. It’s like our form of mac n’ cheese but you make the dumplings from scratch and they are worth every minute spent on them.

I made this for my roommates and boyfriend last weekend and got the best reaction yet. My boyfriend is a little turned off by anything he can’t pronounce and although he went through the whole day pretending he knew what I was talking about (what a good sport), he had no idea what I was getting him into. I should have made a double recipe because this stuff was gone before I could even offer it to more than one of my roommates (although the one I did get it to practically licked our bowls clean wishing there was more).

Anyways, I know homemade dumplings SOUND intimating but it’s so simple. No kneading, no putting through a pasta press, no shaping, nothing. All you have to do is make the dough an hour ahead of time (to let it rise) and then drop chunks into salted bowling water and they are ready two minutes later. Bam. simple, elegant, and sooooo amazing.

One last thing I’d like to note. You can easily healthify these guys by sauteing them with veggies and spices but I highly recommend (especially at least for the first time you make them) that you do go all out and eat them sauteed in butter and cheese. I mean it’s a tradition…you can eat it in the name of culturing yourself.

Spaetzle

Dumplings:

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk

If you’re gonna saute them after:

3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 shallots, chopped

For the dough:

Combine the flour and salt together in a bowl. Then add the eggs and milk and mix until a dough ball forms. Let sit for an hour to rise.

Once that hour is almost up, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray so that you can put the dumplings on it after they boil. Drop a heaping teaspoon of dough into the water and it will be ready when it floats (about two minutes). Do this with the rest of the dough (you can put several into the water at a time). Put on a baking sheet close to the oven to keep warm.

Prepare them however you’d like after that or saute them from the directions below

For the Saute:

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Then add the spaetzle and saute for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the swiss; mix until well combined and all the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper and eat immediately (be careful though, you might end up eating the whole thing).

Serve to your boyfriend or cat (only a little but they will loveee the cheese!) or your grandma. And of course, munch down.

Broccoli Two Ways: Cheddar Broccoli Soup and Mashed Broccoli Potatoes

11.15.2011

So the broccoli at the Farmer’s Market are currently pieces of art for which I decided I needed to own them in bulk. AKA now I have a buttload of broccoli that I need to use up fast fast fast!

I don’t cook with fresh broccoli being the main very often (it always accompanies other veggies in other curries or stews) but this time I wanted to make these green bundles of color the main star.

I decided to see what I could come up with if I featured it as a main dish one night and as a side the other. The products of this endeavor was not only colorful but absolutely scrumptious! I was sooo pleased with how easy both of these recipes were to create and how flavorful they turned out.

First, we will talk about the mashed broccoli potatoes. They were like a slightly healthier version of mashed potatoes (less potato, more broccoli) but also had all the full flavor additives of yummy homemade mashed potatoes (sour cream, butter, and more butter). They turned out creamy and were the most hassle-free potato dish I’ve ever made. By steaming the potatoes and broccoli, they ended up so soft that using a mixer to combine the ingredients would have just been wasteful.

Mashed Broccoli Potatoes

3 cups finely chopped broccoli
1 pound potatoes, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons butter
salt and pepper, to season

Steam the broccoli and potatoes until very tender (about 15 minutes). Then combine in a bowl and mash with the sour cream, butter, and salt/pepper.

Marvel at their greenness and then much down with a yummy main dish (like vegetarian chicken nuggets or Vegetarian Cranberry and Goat Cheese Chik’n Cutlets)

And for recipe part number two! This soup was ridiculously easy to make and I whipped it up in about 30 minutes! Probably one of the quickest (and yummiest) soup recipes I’ve ever made.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

I onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups half and half
1 pound potatoes, chopped (you can peel them but I like the skins and I’m lazy)
1 pound sweet potato, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt/pepper, for seasoning
olive oil

Heat a tablespoon or two in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add oinions and celery and cook for about five minutes (or until softened. Make sure to stir them around during cooking!). NNext, add the vegetable broth, half and half, potatoes (both kinds), bay leaf, 2 cups of water, and salt and pepper to the pot. Bring it all to a boil! While this is happening, lightly steam the broccoli (keep them a little firm) in a steamer or in the microwave (if doing it in the microwave then cover them with plastic wrap and cook for about 4 minutes)

Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Next, remove the bay leaf and transfer the soup to a blender (this is the messiest part of the whole process- promise!). Puree the soup and return it to the pot. Bring the soup back to a simmer and then stir in the broccoli and cheese. Season with salt/pepper and stir until all the cheese is melted.

Serve with croutons (I just stuck some old bread chunks with the olive oil in the oven and broiled them for about 5 minutes) and slurp it all up.

Edamame Pesto

11.13.2011

This is a high protein, low calorie recipe. Just what every vegetarian needs in their lives (well.. for the most part. minus when they are going through a break up or just lost their job- then you need lots of vegan chocolate ice cream and deep fried avacado fries!). But anyways, so this is a super healthy and quick recipe that can be made in about ten minutes (yeah! damn!) and can be put on almost anything. I put it on vegetable pasta (you know…the pasta made out of vegetables! So yummy and it’s cute because it’s colored) but you can put it on steamed veggies or fake meat or whatever you’re feeling.

This is a recipe adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction. I know she’s a reoccuring theme in my blog but when you’ve got a favorite chef then you’ve got a favorite chef. I can’t help but collect ALL of her books so I feel like I need to use them, right?

Anyhow, you may want to take the edaname out of the freezer on your lunch break or a couple hours ahead of time so it can thaw. That’s honestly the only ahead of time prep needed (so simple!).

Edamame Pesto

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves (this recipe is great for all of you that have managed to keep your basil plants alive this long!)
1 package of frozen shelled edamame, thawed (Pretty sure mine was 16 oz)
2/3 cup of vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (yum!)
dash of salt/pepper
And whatever you’re serving it on. Cooked pasta, steamed veggies, fake chicken cutlets, etc.

And the directions are oh sooo easy. Just combine the basil and garlic in the food processor and pulse a few times. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Feel free to add more broth if it’s too thick.

Lather on everything in sight! [oh and marvel at how green it is. coooooool!]

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Whiskey Glazed Pecans

11.08.2011

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve bought into the shop local and cook seasonally fad (mmmm fresh produce!) so if for some odd reason my love for seasonal cooking mated with my favorite meal [breakfast-duh!] then I’m pretty sure the product would be something along the lines of these sweet potato pancakes!

I know the main part of this recipe is the pancakes but damn the pecans are what shine! Yummy glazed nuts with a hint of maple syrup and whiskey means this pancakes are just an excuse for you to make these pecans anyways!

Also, [total side note] BUT if you have an leftover mashed sweet potatoes after Thanksgiving then feel free to skip over the pancake recipe part of this post and fry them up like pancakes with these yummy pecans.

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Whiskey Glazed Pecans

For the pecans:

1 cup pecans
2 tsp. canola oil
dash of salt
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons whiskey

For the Sweet Potato:

1 large sweet potato
2 Tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup water
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
dash of nutmeg
dash of cloves
cooking spray

You have three options for when you want to make the mashed sweet potato part. You could either make it the night before so that you can get right down to business when you wake up or assign the task to whomever is the early bird in the house or just do it when you get up (but keep in mind this is gonna add another 45 minutes to your prep time!)

Anyways, so preparing the sweet potato is the first step. What you are going to do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the sweet potato on the middle rack (no wrapping in foil or poking it). Cook for 45 minutes (this is the part where you go back to bed or watch cartoons with your morning coffee while you wait!)

Once done, take out and prepare the pecans while it cools. Place a square of parchment paper on the counter and heat a skillet over medium low. Add pecans and saute constantly for about five minutes. Add oil and dash of salt; stir for another minute. Then add the maple syrup and stir so that the pecans absorb it (about 30 seconds). Finally, add the whiskey and stir for 30 seconds more. Place hot pecans in a single layer on the parchment paper and let cool while you prepare the rest of the pancakes (dont pick at them! They will be yummy!)

Peel the sweet potato and mash in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, milk, vinegar, sugar and vanilla and stir until well incorporated. Next, add the dry ingredients (Flour, baking powder, salt, and spices) and mix until all the big clumps are gone.

Prepare a large skillet over medium heat. Liberally spray with cooking spray and, when heated, add by the heaping 1/2 cup fulls to the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and flip.

Eat with pecans on top and gallonss of warm maple syrup (unless you’re on a diet in which case I’d reccomend you scratch this recipe all together and find some yogurt in the fridge or something).

Fall Focaccia

11.06.2011

If this hasn’t been brought up before, I am a vintage shopping addict. I am a loyal customer of Goodwill’s 50 percent off day and could tell you any place to find second hand clothes within a 50 mile radius of Bloomington. This has led me to a large collection of semi-useless collections (like my Polaroid collection where the majority of the cameras don’t work or my collection of state plates). Anyways, so I bought this huge bread-maker for 5 dollars over the summer and have only managed to make the same focaccia recipe in it over and over again.

Have you ever had focaccia? If not, I am soooo sorry. Coming from a carb obsesser, this stuff is better than chocolate during your time of the month (sorry guys, that reference obviously wasn’t for you). Imagine, a soft hunk of warm bread with fresh roasted veggies, crispy cheese, and overwhelming chunks of herbs all piled on top! Yuuuuuuummmy!

What is great about this recipe (and why I seem to make it over and over and over again) is because you can top it with whatever you are feeling like. This one was obviously inspired by fall but feel free to switch out my toppings with peppers, parmesan, basil, thyme, butternut squash, swiss, or anything else that you can roast/bake!

Fall Focaccia

For the Dough: (Adapted from Bread Machine Dough)

1 packet bread yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon oregano (dried)
1 tablespoon oil
1 1/2 cups water

Toppings:

1 small onion, cut into chunks
1 medium apple, cut into chunks
1/8 cup rosemary leaves (fresh or dried)
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
olive oil

First (do this step a little ahead of time since your bread-maker will take awhile) put all of the dough ingredients in the bread maker in the order listed. Press the dough setting and start that thing up!

Once the bread-maker is done doing it’s thing, Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 9 by 13 inch pan with olive oil and flatten the dough out across the pan. Rub oil on the top of the dough and poke indents with your fingers all across the dough. Top with rosemary, onions, cheddar and apples.

Cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

And then munch down! Serve with some butternut squash soup or by itself. I’ll warn you though…you might want to try it before giving some to your friends since you might want to eat it all!

Acorn Squash stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomato Polenta

10.30.2011

I’m a bit of a pack rat (<—understatement) and although this is highly frowned on, it does have it’s advantages sometimes. I had piles upon piles of magazines that date back almost ten years and this summer when I moved I decided that I was finally going to get rid of them (er, well…most of them). This was a great cleanser for my clutter agitation but this also meant that I needed to go through every magazine to make sure there wasn’t anything in them I still wanted (I know this is a bit over the top but I was hoping that I hadn’t kept these things around for years for nothing!). Anyways, so the end result was a massive pile of ripped out magazine pages in the form of recipes, DIY projects, and collage images.

So, our usual adventure to the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays ended up in my usual routine (this is the same way I pick out puppies at the animal shelter- minus the furry part for vegetables) of buying the vegetables that were the cutest and most colorful. We picked up two colorful and spotted acorn squash at the Farmer’s Market in hopes of trying out a new recipe and my photographic memory (this is a joke- i have the worst memory ever and it’s a miracle I randomly thought of this) reminded me that there was an acorn recipe in that pile. And that is what lead me to trying out this recipe from an issue of Vegetarian Times that was published in 2003. Although a little outdated, this recipe was fantastic and VT was whipping up amazing polenta stuffing before I even knew what fancy corn grits meant.

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomato Polenta

2 Acorn squash
15 sun dried tomatoes (preferably the ones not packed in oil!)
1/4 cup of pine nuts (not happy about this- so expensive!)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (+more to sprinkle on top)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup ground polenta
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the squash in half and scoop out seedy center. Spray the acorn squash with cooking spray and put face down on parchment paper. Roast for about 45 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the filling. Soak the sun dried tomatoes in hot water for about 20 minutes to let them soften up. On a baking dish, toast the pine nuts for about 10 minutes in the oven.

When the tomatoes are softened, cut into little pieces and add to a food processor (blender works as well!) along with the garlic, pine nuts, and parmesan. Start the processor and slowly add in the olive oil to well incorporate it. Blend until it’s a smooth paste.

In a small pot, bring the vegetable broth (add that dash of salt, too!) to a boil and lower to medium heat. Add polenta and let cook for about 20 minutes. Make sure to whisk it frequently and when it pulls away from the pan and has become a thickened grits texture, it’s done! Take it off the heat and add in the pesto that you made in the food processor. Season with salt and pepper.

Finally, fill acorn halves with the mixture and garnish with more parmesan and parsley.

Marvel at how pretty it is. Show your cat. Share with your boyfriend. And be amazed at how yummy fall can taste!

General Tao Tofu

10.28.2011

As I keep mentioning, I’ve got loads of produce I’m still in the process of consuming so here is another dish that I immediately thought of when I saw the mounds of broccoli in my fridge (I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times before and it always turns out oh so yummy).

Growing up, Chinese food was the what we got as take out and although I wasn’t a meat eater for the most of this time span (veggie fried rice and sweet n sour sauce did the job for me), I still always loved the general tao sauce. I’ve tried to get carry out where they would substitute in tofu but it’s not the same; their sauce is built for chicken and somehow the tofu doesn’t absorb it so it ends up super sweet all over the rice and bland on the tofu.

Anyways, this recipe is a perfect way to prepare this (and ends up 1000 times better than if you order take out!). The way that the corn starch (you can use potato starch to make it organic!) coats the tofu helps it to absorb the maximum amount of flavor possible and then you also know exactly what is going into your food (for much less than the price of take out!)

Okay, so whip this up for an easy comfort food dinner that you can enjoy while being lazy in front of the TV or as a pregame dinner with sake bombs!

General Tao Tofu

1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer

4 Tablespoons water

1 pound of extra firm tofu (drained and cut into 1-inch cubes)

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

Dash of crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Steamed Broccoli and cooked rice (For serving)

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer with 3 Tablespoons water. Dip tofu in this mixture until completely coated and then sprinkle 3/4 cup of the cornstarch over the tofu until it’s completely coated.

Next, In a large pan fry the tofu by added them to a medium heated pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in it. Flip the tofu after about 2 minutes or until it is browned on all sides. When done, put the tofu on a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Mix remaining water and corn starch in a small bowl and set aside

Next, heat skillet over medium-high heat and add in remaining oil. Add ginger and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and vinegar. Add in the corn starch mixture and stir until well incorporated. Add fried tofu and coat evenly.

Serve warm with rice and steamed broccoli.

Mmmmmmmm.

[Pine nut-less] Pesto

10.19.2011

I’ve always had this vendetta against pine nuts. They are just so darn expensive for no reason! There is noooo way that they could possibly be THAT much more expensive to grow than all other forms of nuts. I mean perhaps there is some very logical reasoning for having to spend 30 dollars on a small bag of pinenuts for dinner but I’m not going to search for that answer. I’m just going to continue to boycott and find alternatives.

I will admit, I loooove pinenuts when it’s on someone else’s tab and I especially like pesto so I decided it was time to get over the hurl of pinenuts for pesto and figure something out. I use a loose interpretation of a recipe off of my all time favorrrrite blog (because it mixes fun cute cartoons and easy vegan recipes soooo adorably) www.veganstoner.com.

I probably would have served this with some garlic naan or garlic bread if I had some but instead I just did a small side salad. Oh and with whole wheat pasta, of course! mmmmm

[Pine nut-less] Pesto

2 cups basil
1 cup cashews
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
salt/pepper
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tomato, chopped (for garnish)
whole wheat spaghetti noodles

Cook the noodles according to package. Let the cashews soak in hot water for about ten minutes (save the water after too!)

In a food processor (or blender!) blend the basil, nutritional yeast, and olive oil. Next, add the cashews, garlic, and a 1/4 cup of the cashew water.

Blend until completely combined and season with salt/pepper.

Enjoy on top of a big ol’ pile of whole wheat pasta!

Cheesy Sun-Dried Tomato Puffs [and Corn Chowder]

10.17.2011

The other night Kelsey and I decided to make some chowder to try to cure the rainy blues. With the cold weather approaching and my insides getting chilled, all I can seem to think about is hot soup and the way the warm broth tickles and soothes your throat as it goes down. I’ve got dozens of soup recipes on the back burner that I’ve had stashed away for cold weather so why not start now?

Okay, so I’m going to be completley honest…the corn chowder didn’t turn out has hopeful as planned. Kelsey and I tried to imitate the summer corn chowder from Panera Bread (RIP choooowdaaa) but it just wasn’t the same. It ended up bland and runny; nothing like expected. We ended up spicing it at the last minute with dried basil and oregano and salt and pepper but stilll….I’m not going to bother you with this disappointing recipe.

However, we made these goat cheese sun dried tomatoes muffins to go with it that were straight up addictive. I recommend making these with some sort of scrumptious soup to try to ensure you won’t just eat the whole batch of these for dinner!

Goat Cheesy Sun-Dried Tomato Puffs

1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 8 oz tube goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and a dash of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Next, whisk in the eggs and milk. Lastly, stir in goat cheese and tomatoes.

Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin tins and sprinkle evenly with the parmesan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Share with friends [but not too many or they will eat all of them!]

Also, perfect for a fall picnic to bring along with a thermos of soup! Or a festive potluck if you double the recipe!

Wheatberry Salad

10.09.2011

Have you ever had wheatberries? If not, you have to try them! They have such a unique texture which is so different from most grains that it’s an experience all in itself. Plus they are loaded with fiber and energy so you can eat this as a main or serve as a side salad with soup or meat substitutes.

I love to make a big batch of this salad on Sundays and eat it for lunch all week long. Here are 5 reasons why you have to make this salad:

so easy to take on the go because it doesn’t have to be refrigerated (though it’s recommended)
super filling
super healthy with loads of fiber and vegetable goodness (plus olive oil to help your body absorb those nutrients!)
relatively cheap to make big batches of
versatile so you can add whatever veggies you have on hand (so feel free to experiment and don’t stick to exact recipe!)

Wheatberry Salad

1 cup wheatberries, cookied
1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped (I had rainbow bell peppers from the farmers market that made it extra colorful)
1/2 cup chopped veggies (I usually use carrots but didnt have any so used cherry tomatoes. Feel free to add scallions, broccoli, spinach, etc)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Cook wheatberries as directed on the package (usually along the lines of boiling and simmering them on the stove top for an hour).

While they are cooking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onion and let cook for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Turn heat off and add rest of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and add salt/pepper to taste. Let sit for at least a half an hour (longer is recommended which is why I like making it for the week ahead) so that all the flavors absorb together.

Munch down on your porch. or with your kitty. or something.

Apple Swiss Bread

10.05.2011

Apple recipe # 2. Maybe I should make a whole theme countdown or something. You know…10 days of apple recipes or something. I don’t know. You’re right, that’s lame.

Anyways, so I went apple picking with some friends this weekend and took some pictures (which, of course, I’m gonna post on here! Why not?). It was a beautiful sweatshirt weather day with a blue sky and crispy breezes. The six of us (two of my roomates and three of my guy friends) piled into Wyatt’s car and off we went! To an apple wonderland that was about 25 miles away. If it hadn’t been for this apple oasis, this town would have been a tragic site with even the Goodwill being a disappointment.

But none-the-less the apple orchard was called Apple Acres and they had cidar and apple butter and caramel and apples galore!

Rows and rows of apple trees!

Ella searching for the perfect apple

Billy and Kurdus doin’ their pickin’

All the while…Abby was sleeping in the field next door

All in All…left with a pretty hefty load of goods!

Sooooooo…after a ridicoulsy long picture story, I have a recipe for you! It’s sooooo yummy! For one, it’s homemade bread which can never be bad and for two, it’s like the easiest homemade bread ever. No bread makers. No yeast so no waiting around for an extra hour for it to rise. Just mix the ingredients and stick it in the oven. Done. Eat. Repeat with another batch (not really…but you could because it’s that good).

Oh and eat it with some cream cheese on top because it’s sooooooooo perfect this way. Yup.

Apple Swiss Bread

1 stick butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 apples, grated
2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the butter and sugar until well combined. Add in the honey and eggs and continue to beat. Once well mixed, fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. When combined well enough to form a sticky dough, fold in the apples and swiss.

Put the dough in a greased bread pan (you know one of those long, deep guys!) and cook for 50 minutes.

Let cool before scarfing down. Enjoy with cream cheese and a drizzle of honey.

Share with your kitties (it has cheese so they’ll have to love them)!

Vegan Cinnamon Apple Cookies

10.04.2011

And here we go. I really really really hope you like apples because I went apple picking this weekend with some friends. Between me and my three roommates, we brought back pounds of apples so the apple recipes will be pouring out over the next few weeks. I took loads of pictures at the orchard on Saturday but I’ll do another post about that in a few days (because we all know I’ll have made more apple goodness things by then anyways) and I wanna talk about where I got this recipe in this post.

So I don’t know if you have ever been to Bloomington, Indiana but there is this non-profit bookstore called ‘Boxcar Books’ that is the mecca of independent writing (Boxcar Books) and a great place to browse when looking for some inspiration. It’s an old house transformed into rooms of independently published books and magazines and articles and zines and it’s sooooo good.

Anyways, it was 65 and sunny yesterday (woah, I thought it was October?) so we went on a nice walk downtown after dinner and ended up browsing at Boxcar. You may or may not have known this but I am a consumerist at it’s finest; I like to consider myself a vintage expert but most would consider my Goodwill and garage sale splurges as a sign of hoarding. Anyways, I found a few jewels last night and one was this adorable little European zine about Vegan cooking (go figure). This zine is called ‘The Cake Scoffer’ and it’s tag line is ‘Cheap n Easy Vegan cooking’. The thing that really sold me on this was that all the recipes have hand drawn animals making these baked goods which is just too adorable to pass up (I’ll add a picture of the zine later so you can get a better grasp of what I am talking about).

Anyways, as I mentioned this is a EUROPEAN zine soooooo the measurements are in ounces instead of cups! Oh coooool! What a nice small challenge for a super simple recipe! Okay, so I kept the recipe in ounces and I promise it’s not as hard as you’d think (if nothing else then just use liquid measuring cups for everything since they always have ounces on them anywayyys).

Also, these cookies were called scones in the zine but honestly they are too soft for me to bring myself to call them this. Feel free to eat them for breakfast or with your coffee to pretend like they are scones. I made mine triangles (kinda) since I thought they’d be scone like but you can just make them into yummy circle cookies

Cinnamon Apple Cookies

5 oz of all purpose flour
5 oz of whole wheat flour
1 oz of soy milk powder
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 oz of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 oz of Earth Balance
1 tart apple, grated (but not peeled! Get rid of the core though. yuck!)
1/4 cup of cold water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (Ronny refers to this as gas mark 7, weirdo European).

Combine the flours, soymilk powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the Earth Balance (honestly just use your hands because it’ll get the job done so much faster…in fact, get a volunteer that wants to eat the end product to do the dirty work by sticking their hands in it). Next, mix the grated apple and slowly add a splash of water into the mixture until it forms a ball and all sticks together.

Roll into 12 seperate balls and put on a greased baking sheet.

Cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Share with your hand helper.

Blueberry Grunts

10.02.2011

SOOOO I just want to start out by reminding you that yesterday was World Vegertarian Day and I hope that you stayed clear of the meat for at least that one day! I made a really really scrumptous eggplant and zucchini lasagna that will be making a guest apparence on the blog very very soon. But until then….

I’ve been starting to feel sad as the berry season has come to an end and started to wish I took more advantage of it while it was around. Blueberries were on sale this week for a very not sale price but I caved knowing that the prices will only be growing as the winter approaches.

These blueberry grunts were the perfect closer to my berry cooking for the season. As we’ve talked about previously, I’m a huge fan of dough and dumplings so making a sweet version that floats in sugary blueberry goodness is just heaven for me. The dough helps tone down the sweetness and creates a perfect compliment to the juicy berriness.

And on a final note, anything that turns out bright purple after being cooked is a superstar in my book.

Blueberry Grunts

(Altered from VeganYumYum)

3 cups fresh blueberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup water
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
3/4 cup Almond Milk (NOT FLAVORED, PLEASE!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat and add in blueberries, sugar, water, lime juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Boil berries for 10 minutes or until mixture has thickened.

While heating, make the dough. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the Earth Balance and then add the milk to form a sticky dough. If dry, add a bit more milk but don’t over combine or the dough will be tough!

Transfer the blueberry mixture to casserole dish (or a few tiny ones if you have them- that’d be really cute!) and drop the dough on top of the mixture as heaping round balls.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy hot with yummy yummy vegan coconut based ice cream (or real french vanilla ice cream if you aren’t vegan)

Share with your blueberry loving kitty (or just give her the ice cream since you know that’s what she wants anyways)!

Fall Picnic

9.28.2011

It seems that I’ve managed to fall into a repetitive routine with my blog posts. Blurb, picture, recipe. Repeat. Well, dang. I am soooo sorry. When did I become so predictable? Well, I’m going to spice today’s post up by dun dun dun…not posting a recipe!

I skipped making dinner yesterday and let Wyatt cook for me. I know, I know…it was really hard for me to accept that OTHER people can cook too but it’s nice to swap roles. I did, however, have to have SOME control and demanded we go on an evening picnic with the grub he made and get dessert at Chocolate Moose (a ice cream stand that has perfected the concept of vegan ice cream that actually has the texture of creamy ice cream).

He made his specialty: grilled cheese with tomato soup.I know this sounds simple (which for the most part…it is) but it’s the fanciest comfort food you’ll ever eat! It’s got slices of fontina and cheddar cheese with a layer of basil leaves and slices of tomatoes fresh from my garden. Damn, now that is a grilled cheese. And he adds yummy spices of oregano and crushed peppercorn to the tomato soup for a perfect complex flavor to a simple soup.

Wyatt and I live about a block apart and there is a lot of going back and forth between houses. We live in a college neighborhood but for some reason there is a museum in this neighborhood that has a beautiful garden in the back. I’m talking sunflowers taller than me and vines that wrap around a pathway to create a walkway tunnel.

You could probably talk to anyone who lives in our neighborhood and they would have no idea this museum is here. I lived in this neighborhood for three years until finally noticing it ONLY AFTER moving right next to it. This is awesome because that means the museum is closed by 5 and always abandoned so I love to break into the garden after hours and enjoy it’s peacefulness.

Yup. We ate all of it.

And watched the sun set.

DIY Vegan Bagels with Pumpkin Cream Cheese

9.27.2011

There are very very few things I like about the weather getting colder but fall flavors is by far my favorite! All the smells and spice…the pumpkin, cinnamon, apple, cloves, nutmeg. Mmmmmm Sooooo please excuse me if I get carried away with the season baking for the next few months!

I will admit the process of making bagels is a bit tedious and my boyfriend doesn’t understand why you would make anything that involved 3 different methods of cooking to get to the final product (boiling, baking, and toasting) but they are a fun weekend project that are well worth the effort if you have the time. They have a crunchy outer layer with a soft, fresh center that you won’t even need to toast.

Vegan DIY Bagels

(Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch)

3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 ounce active dry yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
poppy seeds
oil

Lightly coat a bowl and set aside. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in lukewarm water. Combine the flour, xantham gum, salt, and water mixture until a sticky dough forms. Knead the dough by hand for ten minutes (make sure you have some good music going to make the time go byyyy). Put in the greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let rise for one hour.

The dough will not have rose too much but that is okay. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and adjust to a simmer. Divide the dough into twelve pieces and roll into circles. Use your thumb to puncture a hole in the center then add to simmering pot. Let boil for one minute and then flip. Take turns putting 2-3 bagels in a batch of water.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place boiled bagels on it. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and bake 18 to 20 minutes. Let stand for an additional 20 minutes to cool off and harden.

Top with pumpkin spice cream cheese or nutella or sunflower seed butter or honey and devour.

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PART…..

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

(Adapted from Pinch My Salt)

8 ounces of cream cheese (use tofutti if you’re vegan!), softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
5 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple sugar (or agave)
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
dash of nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients and use a mixer to blend together.

Spread over everything and munch down.

Baked French Toast

9.26.2011

One of my roommate use to live in a shack. A literal shack. It was behind a full size house and was a cozy one room with a loft for the bedroom. The walls were made of wood panels and you could see the sun shining through the cracks. It was awesome. It was like a peaceful hide out cottage in the middle of a city that no one knew about unless they knew her. She loved that place and I loved that place. I have very fond memories of laying on her couch and lusting about life while she made me food (the living room and kitchen were the same room). Anyways, this recipe was made in this shack and I can’t help but reflect on that place every time I make this.

We had “Family dinner” night number 2 last week (Note: Family dinner number 1 was Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Avocado Fries) and decided to do breakfast for dinner. I live with four girls all with different diets (some of us are vegetarian, some lactose intolerant, and some meat eaters) so it’s hard to find something that works for everyone: there is, of course, one thing we can all agree one: alcohol. We needed mimosas…wellllll vamosas. Vamosa is a drink that I created years ago when I was in love with OJ and champagne but needed something more to get the job done. Vamosas are orange juice and champagne with a shot (or two!) of vodka. Bam. done. delicious. I highly encourage you to try one.

Okay, well I’ve managed to write 200 words that pertain nothing to the dish I’m making so time to get serious. Baked french toast is really the only way to eat french toast. The corn flakes give a crispy crunch to the outside while the toast is so thick with eggy batter that it stays soft and fluffy on the inside. And french toast is so versatile that you can serve it with powdered sugar and syrup or go a bit healthier with fresh fruit (My house hold managed to go through an entire bottle of maple syrup when we made these. Just sayin. We’re not glutenous….. we just know how to enjoy some quality french toast).

Baked French Toast

4 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon
Loaf of stale bread, cut into 1 inch thick slices
1 cup crushed corn flakes
Fresh fruit (optional- for topping)
butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the eggs, milk, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Pour crushed corn flakes onto a plate. Heat skillet and butter over medium heat.

Dip bread into the egg mixture (make sure its drenched all the way to the center! You might have to let it sit in the mixture for a few seconds) and then dip onto the corn flakes plate so it coats all of the bread. Cook in the skillet for about 2 minutes on each side.

Once you have done that to all the bread pieces, transfer to a greased baking sheet and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the pieces have noticeably puffed.

Top with yummy fruit and syrup. Mow down.

Chipolte Butternut Squash Burrito Bowls

9.25.2011

I really wanted to start this post of by talking as if I was the burrito but my editor (AKA my roommate) highly discouraged me against it so I guess I’ll just talk about the food instead. But before I talk about the food, let’s talk about beergaritas. Have you ever had one? Well you need to fix that and preferably soon. I’m not going to go into details about why you need to because the name itself is pretty self explanatory and although it may not be the classiest drink you’ll ever have…who wants classy anyways?

Yummy yummy mix ins

Please keep in mind that the ingredient amounts can be adjusted completely for this recipe…I mean I’m sure you knew that but if you like sour cream with a side of burrito than have at it (My point being don’t take the ingredient list too seriously down below). Also, the great thing about Mexican food is that it makes mass quantities and all the supplies are always super cheap so feed your friends. Or your entire 12 piece family. Or the cat lady next door. Whoever.

Porch burrito bowl!

Chipotle Butternut Squash Burrito Bowl

(Adapted and simplifed Closet Cooking)

Chipotle Butternut Squash

1 small onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 chipotle in adobe sauce, chopped
1 teaspoon adobe sauce
couple dashes of cumin
2 tablespoons ketchup
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
oil

Burrito Bowl Add ins:

1 cup cooked rice
handful of chopped cilantro
half a lime
sour cream
salsa
can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large avocado, diced
1/4 cup shredded pepper-jack cheese

First, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute for five minutes or until softened. Throw in garlic and cumin and cook for another minute. Add chipotle, adobe sauce, ketchup, and butternut squash and cover. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the butternut squash is cooked all the way through.

While letting the squash cook, combine the rice, cilantro, and juice of half a lime in a bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes to absorb their flavors.

Assemble burrito bowl in this order (or dont- I don’t really care either way and it’s gonna be amazing regardless): Cilantro-lime-rice, chipotle butternut squash, black beans, salsa, avocado, cheese, and sour cream.

Munch.

*Important Side Note: Eat on a porch to make it a porch burrito (and preferably with a beergerita)

Vegan Chicken[less] and Dumpling Stew

9.22.2011

Okay Okay Okay. I may be getting ahead of myself with jumping into fall and winter recipes buuuuuuut it’s been rainy and cold for the past week….. so not my fault!

Even if they don’t admit it, every vegetarian misses some sort of comfort food from their childhood that has those gunky chunks of meats. I personally have always loved dumplings (dough in general. Give me cookie dough, bread dough, gnocci and I’m set for the day). So when I think of laying in bed with a big bowl of soup, I dream of thick chunks of celery, dumplings, and I guess…chicken?

Honestly though, I don’t care about the chicken so why not revamp the soup and make it without? Exactly what I was thinking. This soup has so much flavor with plenty of texture from the veggies and dumplings that it doesn’t even need any animal products. This stew is thick so you really don’t even need a side for this guy but we made simple grilled cheese because…well we we’re on the comfort food kick.

Oh and there’s loads of leftovers so you can be eating this stuff for days! (or share with your friends)

(This was me trying to capture the rainy day outside but we can all see how that turned out…)

Vegan Chicken[less] and Dumpling Stew

(Adapted from www.fresh365online.com)

6 servings

4 T Earth Balance
1 large onion, chopped
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons of cooking wine (whichever kind you have on hand)
5 cups vegetable broth + 1 cup water
1/2 c almond milk (NOT FLAVORED. THAT WOULD BE GROSS)
2 teaspoons salt
couple dashes of pepper
2 bay leaves (if you don’t already some some than just buy 2 in your bulk section at your local co-op)
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or basil if you don’t have thyme)
4 cups chopped mushrooms
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Dumplings

2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/8 c minced basil
1/8 c minced chives
dash of garlic powder
2 T Earth Balance, melted
3/4 c almond milk (NOT FLAVORED)

In a large skillet, melt the earth balance and saute the onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they start browning. Next, whisk in the flour and cooking wine until it clumps. Then add vegetable broth, water, milk, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme (or basil). Let this come to a boil and then add the mushrooms, celery, carrots, peas, and chives. Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

To make the dumplings, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, basil, chives, garlic powder. Melt the earth balance and combine with the dry ingredients and milk to make a thick dough. Be careful not to over mix or the dumplings will become too sticky to deal with.

Make dough into heaping, round teaspoons (the dumplings will expand as they cook) and drop into the stew. Cover and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes (or until the dumplings are all the way cooked through).

Garnish with extra chopped chives. Eat in the freezing cold so you can really get the full affect of the stew (not seriously though). But you should let your kitty lick the bowl clean (seriously!).

Caprese Breakfast Bake

9.18.2011

With generous growing from both my tomato and basil plants this summer, I’ve really embraced caprese style things. Not only is it a perfect combination of colors and texture but it also is super fresh when using your own produce.

These are like the best secret ever to exist in breakfast making. Really you could put any type of vegetable and herb combination and these would really accent the freshness and flavors of what you have on hand. I really like these because not only do I get bored with the traditional scrambled eggs and over easy, but because you can just pop these in the oven and continue to get ready in the morning while it bakes instead of slaving over a stove top watching their progress.

Also, since you make littler personal guys (the little remekins I use for this recipe are in abundance at every Goodwill ever to exist so don’t hesitate to pick up a few for 50 cents the next time you’re thrift shopping) you can make as much or as little as you’d like which is awesome when I’m only cooking for Wyatt and me (we just don’t need an entire pie size quiche for breakfast, ya know?)

Anyways, enjoyyyyy.

Caprese Breakfast Bake

(to make 2 rememkin’s full)

4 eggs
1 cup mozzarella, cubed or shredded
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
10 basil leaves, torn
4 Tablespoons heavy cream
Salt/Pepper

Spray the remekins with cooking spray so the egg doesn’t stick. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Divide the mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil leaves evenly between the two remekins. Top ingredients with two eggs in each remekin (be careful not to break the yolk so that it’ll be running when you’re finished and can drip all over your toast!). Pour a tablespoon of heavy cream over each each yolk (this helps it from drying out). Sprinkle with salt and Pepper.

Bake for 5-7 minutes and then turn the broiler on for another 2 minutes so the top gets crispy and yummy. Keep under broiler for a minute longer IF you want your yolk to harden.

Serve over yummy buttered toast and eat immediately (without burning yourself!). Yup Yup.

Quick Vegan Pancakes with Simple Strawberry Topping

9.17.2011

Vegan baking is different from regular baking in the fact that the end product is denser but much more moist (I know that seems like an odd combination but really the best way for you to get what I’m saying is to just trying some vegan baking!). It’s funny because people just assume vegan baking is so much harder than regular but it’s all just about substituting the right ingredients. (I mean we can make it more challenging by adding expensive chickpea flour, arrowroot starch, and xantham gum but why bother when it turns out just as good with a few of these cheap substitutions?) .

This is my “go to” breakfast recipe when I’m looking for something sweet or needing to feed a big crowd (there’s a reason we have 5 beds and 2 pull out couches in this house- there are always plenty of people sleeping over).

I would suggest just using fresh fruit and maple syrup on this guys. However, if you’re fresh out of syrup or have some sad looking fruit, feel free to cook them with a few tablespoons of sugar on the stove (on low!) for a few minutes to create a simple syrup that will make the fruit extra sweet and create a melt in your mouth texture.

Perfect Vegan Pancakes

(Adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 cups almond milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spray the skillet with cooking spray (or use a little olive oil) and heat skillet over medium heat while you prepare the batter.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Once mixed, make a hole in the middle of the bowl by pushing all the dry ingredients to the edge. Put oil, milk, syrup, and vanilla in the center and fold dry ingredients in to mix.

Pour batter in the middle of the pan and cook one at a time for about 2 minutes on each side. They are ready to flip when bubbles have formed almost all the way around the edges.

Lather with maple syrup and fruit. Or peanut butter and jam. Or Nutella. Or ice cream and chocolate. Or what[Evs]