Garden Fresh!

This is a bowl of lettuce just picked from our little backyard garden.  Some of the lettuce is growing in planters and some in the ground.  Just look at those leaves - big, healthy, crisp!

These are pictures of the homegrown backyard lettuce in a salad.  Mmmmm!

I don't have a recipe to share with you today.  I just wanted to brag about our lettuce!

Scrumptious Cubes of Delight!

Over the past few weeks I have developed a recipe for marinated, baked tofu cubes.  I will post the recipe here, however, it is still a work in progress as "Tom" and I continue to tinker with the marinade.  These cubes are so yummy that we - especially "Tom" - like to eat them fresh out of the oven for a snack.  If we can save some, we like to add the tofu cubes to salad.

Step one - pressing the tofu:
- take a block of medium-firm tofu, unwrap it, drain off the water
- place the block on a clean dry folded tea towel on a plate, then put another clean dry folded tea towel on top of the tofu.  Place a hefty book on top.
- press the tofu for at least 1 hour

Step two cutting the tofu:
- put the pressed tofu on a cutting board
- cut the tofu into one inch cubes (a block of tofu will give you about 32 cubes)

Step three - marinading the tofu:
- mix together the following:

• 3 tbsp tamari sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce

- put the tofu cubes in the marinade, toss them gently, and let sit for minimum 1 hour
- gently toss the tofu in the marinade two or three times over the hour

Step four - baking the tofu:

- drain off the excess marinade from the tofu cubes

- place the baking pan with the tofu cubes into a 350 degree oven and bake for about 1 hour, gently tossing around every 20 minutes or so, until they look like this:

Step five - eating the tofu:

- eat the cubes straight up or toss them into a salad like so:





Check Out This Salad

I love to read cookbooks.  I usually read them cover to cover including the introduction, the information about the author and, of course, the recipes.  I particularly like cookbooks that have more than just recipes - tidbits of information, local lore, quick cooking tips, history of a recipe, pictures and photos.  I have a fairly large cookbook and recipe collection, but it can get expensive buying books so I indulge my love of cookbook reading by taking cookbooks out of the library.  Not long after I started eating a vegan diet, I went onto the website of my local library and put holds on all the cookbooks with "vegan" in the title.  I've had a steady stream of cookbooks come through my home, and the weeks that I have them on loan allows me to really get into the book, try out a few recipes and, ultimately, decide if I want to buy the cookbook and add it to my permanent collection.  Recently, a friend recommended the cookbook, Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, so, naturally, I took it out of the library.  It is a really great book!  I love reading it and I want to try out ALL the recipes!  This is definitely a cookbook I must own.  Here is one of the recipes from this book:

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad

(adapted from Appetite for Reduction)

2 cups cooked, cooled quinoa

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

4 cups (or more) chopped Romaine lettuce

1 to 3 cups of assorted vegetables *

1/2 to 3/4 cup of Balsamic Vinaigrette (see below)

Mix all the salad ingredients together in a large salad bowl.  Add the dressing and toss to coat.  Eat!

* I used lots of shredded carrots, some chopped green onion, chopped artichokes, chopped red and yellow peppers.  You could also use sprouts, baked tofu, fresh leafy herbs ...

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked in water for at least an hour)

2 tbsps chopped green onions

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tsps Dijon mustard

1 tsp brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

Blend the cashews and green onions together in a blender, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Blend for at least 5 minutes until completely smooth - blend for the full time to make sure the dressing isn't grainy.  The dressing may seem thin at first, but it thickens when chilled.

Dinner Party Extrodinaire!

Last weekend, "Tom" and I hosted a dinner party.  This gastronomic soiree was one in a series of rotating social gatherings.  The institution of revolving dinner parties came about a few months ago when I was searching for a way to spend more time with my close friends and, at the same time, take the stess out of organizing and planning activities.  I suggested we take turns hosting a dinner party every few weeks or so.  At the current party, we decide on the date for the next party.  There was instant agreement and support for this idea.  All of us being food lovers and all of us dabbling in, if not downright immersed in, vegan eating, we have been really enjoying sharing our culinary discoveries and experiments.  Here is what was on our menu:

Fresh Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Baked Portobello Mushrooms With Almond Sauce

Quinoa Stuffed Red Peppers

Sesame-Garlic Steamed Greens

Almond Banana Hot Chocolate

Fresh Spring Rolls With Spicy Peanut Sauce

(our own creation with some help from Vegan with a Vengeance)



rice paper wrappers

shredded savoy cabbage

lettuce leaves

carrots, cut into long matchsticks

green onions, cut into long matchsticks

mint leaves

cilantro leaves

Soften the wrappers by soaking in warm water for a few minutes until pliable.  Soften one wrapper at a time.  On the softened wrapper, lay down a lettuce leaf.  Add some shredded cabbage, a couple of carrot sticks, a couple of green onion sticks, 3 or 4 mint leaves, 5 or 6 cilantro leaves.  Roll up by rolling from the bottom first, tucking the sides in as you go.  As you can see from the picture, the rice paper wrappers can rip easily.  The first spring roll you roll may not look too pretty, but you'll get better as you go along.  The last one I made is the one on the left in the picture - very nicely rolled if I do say so myself!

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 tsp Asian chili-garlic paste

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbsps peanut butter

1 1/2 tsps sugar

3 tbsps peanuts, chopped

Whisk all the ingredients together making sure the peanut butter is well blended.  Serve in little bowls for dipping the spring rolls into.

Baked Portobello Mushrooms with Almond Sauce

(adapted from The Garden of Vegan)

1/2 cup almonds

1/8 cup olive oil

1/4 cup Braggs

1/2 + cup water

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced finely

1 tsp fresh oregano, minced

4 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed

In blender, blend almonds until powdered.  Add oil, Braggs, water, vinegar, garlic, rosemary, oregano and blend well.  In large baking dish, place mushrooms tops down and pour the sauce over top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Pour off the sauce.  Cut the mushrooms into strips.  Pour some of the sauce back onto the mushrooms and put the rest into a bowl on the side.  Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Quinoa Stuffed Red Peppers

(our own creation)



3 red peppers

3/4 cup quinoa, cooked in broth

1 cup white navy beans

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

2 to 4 tbsps chopped fresh herbs (I think we used thyme and rosemary)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

parsley

Cut the peppers in half and cut out the seeds and membrane.  Mix all other ingredients together and stuff into the pepper halves.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle on some minced parsley before serving.

Sesame-Garlic Steamed Greens

(our own creation)



broccoli, chopped into bite sized florets, stalks peeled and chopped

kale, main stalk cut out, cut into about 4 pieces per leaf

baby bok choy, ends cut off and leaves separated

1 tsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp tamari sauce

Steam the greens until almost fork tender.  Heat the oil, garlic and tamari in a non-stick pan and cook for a minute.  Add the greens and toss with the oil/garlic/tamari mixture for about a minute or two.  Serve.

Almond Banana Hot Chocolate

(adapted from Vegan Eats)

http://veganeatsblog.com/

1/2 banana

35 grams organic, freely traded 70% dark chocolate

2 1/4 cups almond milk

2 tbsps almond butter

4 medjool dates

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine all ingredients and stir gently until the chocolate and almond butter are melted.  Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.  Makes 2 or 3 servings.

Bon appetit, mes amies!

Burgers!

"Tom" and I just got back from a little holiday to the Sunshine Coast, a place we go frequently and a place where we use the barbeque for at least one meal.  Not being meat eaters these days, the barbeque is not the cooking implement that comes to mind when we're preparing meals.  Well, this weekend, we barbequed Portobello Mushrooms and ate them like a burger.  Deeelicious!  Try it out.

Pull off the stems from the mushrooms, then marinade in tamari sauce, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic and a bit of olive oil.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Grill on the barbeque for about 5 minutes a side.  Serve on a whole wheat hamburger bun with tomato, lettuce, mayo, mustard and ketchup.  For our meal we had roasted vegetables and carrot sticks with hummous.

The Wonderful World of Hummous

Every vegetarian worth their salt should know how to make a good basic hummous.  Actually, anybody and everybody should make and eat this delicious and nutritious dip/spread.  In fact, if everyone made and ate and shared hummous, the world would be a better place, imho!  Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) plus tahini (sesame paste) equals good plant-based protein.  So when folks are pestering you about where you get your protein from, just say, "hummous"!  Here is my recipe for my version of hummous:

1 1/2 cups organic chickpeas *
1/4 cup organic tahini *
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsps cumin
about 4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Throw everything in a blender and blend away until smooth.  Start with a little bit of water and add more to get the dip nice and smooth.  Eat with warm Naan bread or crackers or carrot sticks or spread on Romaine lettuce leaves or rolled up in leaf lettuce leaves or spread on toast ...
* 1 can of chickpeas is 1 1/2 cups, but I like to buy my chickpeas in dried form and cook them up in my slow cooker on high for about 5 hours then measure out 1 1/2 cups into freezer bags and freeze them.
* the amount of tahini I put in probably varies because I don't measure it!  I just dollop it in until it looks like the right amount, but I think 1/4 should do it.  Add more or less as you see fit.  That's the beauty of hummous - you can adjust to fit your tastebuds.

Speaking of adjusting ... here is a variation of hummous that I made recently.

Herb Hummous



To the basic recipe above, add about 1/2 cup of fresh, finely chopped herbs - for this one I used 1/4 cup parsley, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 tbsp rosemary.

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"Sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine, I like sandwiches, I eat them all the time!"

Here's a vegan sandwich I made the other day.  Who needs a recipe for a sandwich?  Maybe no one, but I thought I'd include it here anyway because it was so yummy!

My sandwich had soy mayonnaise, but if I'd had any hummous made and available at that time, I would have used that.  I put slices of avacado and tomato and a couple of pieces of fresh, crunchy Romaine lettuce.  I sprinkled on some salt and pepper and put it all between a couple of pieces of toasted multi-grain bread (100% whole grain).  The sandwich is garnished with green olives (the same kind I used for that Olive, Sundried Tomato Hummous I posted on the blog earlier), and pickled beets (pickled by me last summer).  I actually stuck the beets inside the sandwich and it was deelicious!

Long Awaited Recipe

Many of you have been asking me for this recipe and I keep saying I'll post it on my blog.  Well, here it is!  We had it for supper tonight, with salad of course.

Black Bean Soup and Avacado Tomato Salsa

(adapted from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer)

2 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the oil on medium heat, add the onion and saute until translucent.  Add celery, carrots, garlic and saute 2 to 3 minutes.  Add stock, beans, chili powder, oregano and salt.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Blend with a hand blender.

1 medium tomato, chopped
1 avacado, cubed
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1 green onion, chopped
2 tsp lime juice

Combine the salsa ingredients in a bowl.

Serve the soup by adding a dollop of the salsa to the soup, like so ...

1.  Make the soup.                                  2.  Make the salsa.