Julia's (Vegan) Kitchen

Easy Spicy Eggplant with Basil and Scallions

2012-02-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

I made this three times in the past few weeks. Spicy, sweet, caramelly, aromatic, chewy, crunchy... It's a perfect combination of textures and tastes. And, if you make it with tofu, it's a complete meal. When I did add tofu, I had a hard time getting both it and the eggplant to cook properly, so I think adding pre-fried tofu later on is probably a more reliable method.

Easy Spicy Eggplant with Basil and Scallions (and here, Tofu)

Ingredients

1-2 TB oil

1 large eggplant (or 2-3 small), in small cubes

1-2 hot chilies, seeded if desired and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1-inch cube ginger, peeled and finely chopped

8 oz pre-cooked tofu in cubes

splash tamari

splash seasoned rice vinegar (or mirin would be better)

water as needed

1-2 tsp sugar

1/4 c basil leaves, coarsely chopped

2 green onions, chopped

sesame seeds

sriracha

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large wok or frying pan. When it's very hot, add eggplant cubes and cook a few minutes, then add chilies, garlic, and ginger. Continue cooking and stirring until the eggplant is slightly browned, and juicy throughout.
2. Add to the pan the tamari, rice vinegar, sugar, and as much water as you need to steam everything without it sticking. If using tofu, I'd add it now. Reduce heat and cook a few more minutes.
3. Turn off heat and stir in basil and green onions. Remove from heat and serve with rice or noodles, garnished with sesame seeds, sriracha, and more basil and green onions. Serves about 4.

Foraging, Part Two

2012-02-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I made this jam from the rose hips Jenelle and I foraged. I followed these directions for preparing the rose hips, but I have to wonder if it's really worth the effort. Each little fruit-thing has to be opened and de-seeded, and even after you do that, there are tiny fibers in the fruit that are like fiberglass to your stomach. I ended up simmering the de-seeded halves forever, then straining out the fibers, then adding sugar and lemon juice (I threw in some lemon rind, too). A bit of arrowroot (or pectin, I guess) would have helped firm it up a bit more.

The flavor is mild (except for the lemon rind I added), reminiscent of winter squash, but slightly more floral. I don't like the flavor or consistency enough to use this as a jam, so I think I'm going to turn it into a savory sauce or chutney, something like the chutney on this site.

Nearly every day that I'm outside with a friend, I learn about something new that is edible. My friend Will and I saw huge clumps of beautiful (and tasty!) miner's lettuce on our recent hike in Elysian Park. I forgot to photograph the lettuce, but we also saw things like this:

I think the reason the skyline looks like it's floating is because the lighter patch in front of it is Dodger Stadium. Blogging might be (even more) patchy in the next few weeks as a parade of awesome guests passes through Los Angeles.

Sick Soup

2012-02-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

When I was sick last week, one of my professors recommended I make a Lebanese soup that has lentils, greens, and lots of lemon. I'm not sure if this is exactly what Saree had in mind, but it was delicious. I used better than boullion's no chicken stock as a base, and compared to their normal veggie stock the flavor was simpler but richer, cut nicely by the lemon juice. I can't prevent myself from adding chilies to everything these days, but the sweeter and milder flavor of aleppo pepper flakes (which Janet turned me onto) was nice here.

Lemony Lebanese Lentil-Greens Soup (Adas Bil Hamud)

Ingredients

olive oil

1/2 onion

1 tsp cumin

red pepper flakes (see note above)

2 c beet greens or other greens

6 c stock (+ water as desired)

3/4 c lentils

oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon

cilantro

onion slivers

lemon wedges

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil and saute onion, cumin, and pepper. When onion is softened, add greens and continue cooking until greens have softened slightly.
2. Add stock and lentils, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30+ minutes, adding water to thin if it looks like the lentils are absorbing too much liquid.
3. Towards the end of cooking, in a small frying pan, saute garlic until golden, then turn off heat and add lemon juice to the pan. Add this to the soup just before removing from the heat.
4. Adjust seasonings. Serve hot, garnished with cilantro, onion, and lemon. Serves 4-6.

Cocktail Magic

2012-02-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

I spent years in awe of my little brother's liquor-infusing abilities before I realized how easy it was. This sage-infused whiskey is one of the most delicious things I've drunk, and all it is is fresh sage and whiskey. Step one: put sage in bottle (see above). Step two: add whiskey (see below). Step three: wait at least a day, and then use it.

Here's what I've been doing with it. I don't like sweet drinks, but this is just enough sugar to make it really smooth. Any good names for this cocktail?

2 ice cubes

one lemon wedge, squeezed

up to 0.5 oz simple syrup (I used equal parts water and turbinado sugar to make this)

1-1.5 oz sage-infused whiskey

soda water to fill

Party Pizzas and a Pair of Sour Soups

2012-02-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

I threw a party recently and made a bunch of last-minute snacks. My go-to is always hummus, baba ganoush, etc., etc., but I wanted to try something a little different. So I made snack pizzas! Essentially, all the same foods-- and your guests have less control over what they're combining on their plates-- but nevertheless there was something fun and pretty about this. Of course, I forgot to take photos until everything was eaten.

Pizza One:
Brushed whole wheat dough with mixture of olive oil, zaatar, and salt; sprinkled slivered onions on top, then baked.

Pizza Two (cold):
Brushed garlic-herb dough with olive oil and baked. When cooled, sliced into pieces, reassembled, and topped with hummus, olives, and salad greens.

Pizza Three:
Made baba ganoush from scratch with flame-roasted eggplant and harissa. Spread it generously on unbaked whole wheat dough, then topped with chopped sundried tomatoes. Baked, then added avocado slices as well.

I made mouhammarah as well but couldn't fit it on a pizza, so I served it with some other homemade flatbread.

I know I've made a hundred soups like this one, but this one's worth noting because the broth was invented to address a specific problem. When I saw that my new udon noodles had 40% of one's daily sodium per serving, I decided to attempt a broth that was flavorful but not salty, since the noodles were going in the broth anyway. First, I sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and ginger in a sauce pan; then, I added carrots and continued cooking. When the mushrooms had expressed liquid, I deglazed with about 1 c beer, simmered, and then added some water and chili garlic paste as well. Finally, near the end, I added kimchi+juice, seasoned rice vinegar, and lime juice. The mushrooms gave the broth a meatiness, and the kimchi, vinegar, and citrus gave it brightness and a little bit of pungency. I couldn't believe it didn't have any boullion, tamari, or miso in it! This was served hot with the infamous salty noodles, green onions, basil, and cilantro.

Secondly... here's a smoky mushroom-sauerkraut-lentil stew. It started out as a tester for Vegan Eats World, but after I realized that testing was closed, I added some other things, like lentils and liquid smoke. Mushrooms and sauerkraut balance each other out nicely here.

Foraging, Part One

2012-01-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, my friend Jenelle and I went on a night foraging adventure in Silverlake. Although several injuries were sustained from prickly pear spikes and an ill-advised grapefruit-grabbing quest, we ended up with a bunch of cool things. This pesto is made out of the leaves of nasturtiums, which have a mildly bitter taste, like mustard greens, watercress, or dandelion greens. It tastes more like a zingier version of a parsley or cilantro pesto than like a basil pesto.

Nasturtium Pesto

(from hitchhiking to heaven)

Ingredients

2 c packed nasturtium leaves, plus a handful of nasturtium flowers

1-2 cloves garlic

1/2 c walnuts

juice of 1/2 large lemon

3/4 c olive oil

1/8 tsp salt, adjusted to taste

black pepper to taste

Instructions

Put everything but the salt and pepper into a food processor and mix until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cider Roasted Veggies, Sauce Returns, Gobbler Slices

2012-01-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

Just a few notes from ages ago.

My friend Denise came over to cook dinner and brought it to my attention that the lemon tahini sauce that goes with this braised tempeh recipe is really magical. Although we made the tempeh as well, I ended up putting the leftover sauce on everything, including the roasted veggies we made.

Cider Roasted Veggies, shown with Lemon Tahini Sauce

Ingredients

potatoes, carrots, onions, etc., washed/peeled/trimmed

1/4 c? olive oil

1 c? apple cider

1/4 c? cider vinegar

2 TB? agave/honey

herbs (optional)

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to HOT (375? 400?). Place veggies in a large oiled baking dish; pour olive oil, cider, vinegar, and agave over them and mix. Sprinkle herbs, salt, and pepper on top (to taste), and mix again.
2. Cover with foil; cook 40(?) min. Uncover and cook 15(?) min more, until most of the liquid is gone and the veggies are cooked but not mushy.

***

I also, ages ago, made these gobbler slices from Vegan Appetite. I was excited about the idea of making some kind of delicious natural lunchmeat, and about using wheat gluten to make something, steamed like the sausage in vegan brunch.

But I didn't really like them. I think it was the texture more than anything; I just couldn't really place it in the context of something natural. I think that if you panfried a slice before putting it on a sandwich it would probably be better, adding a chewiness and a coherence to what's presently just kind of mushy.

Gobbler Slices

(from vegan appetite)

Ingredients

1/2 cup (91 g) cooked navy beans

1/2 cup (120 ml) dry white wine

1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable broth

2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley

3/4 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

~~1/4 teaspoon celery seed~~

1 1/4 cups (180 g) vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup (30 g) nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons (15 g) garbanzo flour or soy flour

2 tablespoons (24 g) instant tapioca

One 12-inch (30-cm) piece of foil

Instructions

1. In a blender, combine the navy beans through (and including) the celery seed. Blend until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the gluten, yeast, garbanzo flour, and tapioca. Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork. Add an additional tablespoon of broth (15 ml) or gluten (9 g) if needed to make a soft, workable dough. Knead a few minutes, squeezing to be sure all ingredients are combined.
3. Transfer to the foil. Form into a roll about 6-inches (15-cm) long. Roll the foil around the mixture, twisting the ends to enclose the mixture. Prepare a steamer. Steam the roll for 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing thinly, using a sharp, serrated knife and cutting in a seesaw motion. Store leftovers tightly wrapped in the fridge, for up to one week or freeze airtight. Yield: 1 roll (20 ounces, or 573 g).

Rubenesque

2012-01-24T06:37:00.000-08:00

My friend Alex, cleverly re-interpreting "BYOB," brought a loaf of vollkornbrot to a party I threw this past weekend.

Although the first ruben I made with this bread was prettier and more interesting, I learned the limits of my combinatory palate. Here's what I did the first time:

Tempeh-Kimchi Ruben (take one)

toasted rye bread
tempeh (makes 2): marinated the tempeh (cut into four thin square pieces) with 1/4 onion, thinly sliced in rings, 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/4 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp ground mustard, 1/4 tsp caraway; then pan-fried tempeh and onions 3 minutes on each side, then braised with remaining marinade.
dressing: vegenaise, chili-garlic sauce, and a little bit of yellow mustard, thinned to desired consistency with water
kimchi

Ok, it was good, but every time I bit into a piece of ginger in the kimchi, it clashed with the caraway on the tempeh. It was just a little too weird for me. So I went out and got some plainer pickled cabbage and made it again (with the same tempeh), adding avocado:

... not as pretty, but a whole lot more cohesive in terms of taste. Delicious!

Still, this felt like a bit of a defeat. My kimchi-tempeh ruben could have achieved world peace! Tempeh already had diplomatic aspirations!

Here's what I've concluded, though it's as yet still untested. I think my gingery kimchi could be part of the most amazing ruben of all time, but we're going to have to lock caraway out of the party. I suggest a new marinade for the tempeh (see "version two").

Pumpkin Chili

2012-01-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

This chili recipe was a great surprise. Adding pumpkin puree sounded a little odd to me, but as it wasn't a ton, I think it just made the chili creamier and added a slight sweetness.

In adapting this recipe from Janet's blog, I used bulghur instead of TVP. I may also have fudged some of the measurements, as I was just throwing in cans of stuff. I'd forgotten how easy chili is to make! Like any chili, this recipe is pretty flexible, but the smoked paprika was fantastic, so I wouldn't skip that. I like my food pretty spicy these days, and I thought 2 jalapenos and 3 TB of a pretty spicy chili powder weren't all that hot, but more heat-sensitive palates might proceed with caution. I also changed up some of the method, and added more stock for the lentils and bulghur to absorb.

While this was stewing, I whipped up some cornbread from the recipe in the Bittman Bible. I used soymilk+vinegar for buttermilk, flaxseed+water for egg, and canola oil instead of butter. It's gotten to the point that these substitutions are almost automatic.

Pumpkin Chili

(adapted from taste space)

Instructions

3 TB olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

2 small jalapenos, finely chopped

28 oz canned whole tomatoes, undrained

2 tomatoes, diced

2 TB tomato paste

4-5 c vegetable broth

2 TB lemon juice

2 cans cooked beans (or prepared dried equivalent)

1/2 c uncooked lentils

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

3 TB chili powder, or to taste

1 can pumpkin puree

1/2 c bulghur wheat

1-2 tsp sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat oil and sauté the onions, adding the garlic and jalapenos a few minutes later. Cook until the onions become translucent.
2. Add the canned and fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, and lemon juice. Increase the heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the beans, lentils, cinnamon, paprika, and chili powder, then cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting and let simmer for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After two hours, mix in the pumpkin puree, bulghur, and salt. Let simmer, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes, or until the chili thickens. Serves 6-8.

"The Gay Diet"?

2012-01-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

A link on facebook to an article on the Guardian website on "The Gay Diet" sent me on a hunt for articles about food, gender, and sexuality. I know there's a ton of critical and book-length work on these issues, but I was curious about what people are saying in shorter, more--ahem--digestible types of work.

"Concerned with looking tough, men opt for macho grub" (Toronto Star, 2010) cites a study that makes the groundbreaking revelation that "men really are concerned with eating manly foods, opting for a cup of Joe over a café latte, spaghetti with big homemade meatballs over a tomato and basil sauce, and salad piled with cold cuts and cheese over something more worthy of being called a salad."

...which prompts half-baked evolutionary interpretations of this phenomenon. Riddih Shah, however, in "Men eat meat, women eat chocolate: How food gets gendered" (Salon.com, 2010) notes that "the U.S. has perhaps one of the more gender-segregated eating cultures in the world. (Can you imagine a French woman saying she stays away from red meat or a French man saying that chocolate is chick food?)."

I've got a lot more to say about this, but I'm curious if any readers want to join in on the conversation. It's no revelation that all kinds of eating practices, food choices and attributes are gendered; it seems like bitterness (manly) and sweetness (girly) are among the most gendered in American culture, but most gendered of all is the extent to which the food resembles human flesh. Crazy? Well, think about meat vs. vegetable, fish vs. steak, even red wine vs. white. (I think wine-vs.-beer, though, derives more from Francophobia and the counter-definition of a hearty, proudly uncultivated, masculine Anglo-American character)

Shah cites scholarship that suggests that people "are more likely to eat a food when they associate with it qualities they’d like to see in themselves," a notion I recently entertained on this blog. More to be said here. But I'm also reminded of Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman, in which the protagonist identifies more and more strongly with her food and becomes unable to eat any of it. This text portrays a very different understanding of eating. If we identify with our food, is eating violence or incorporation? Does it make us vulnerable to illness, change our bodies, erase our selfhood, or is it an act of dominance and possession? And has anything been written since Carol Adams's slightly embarrassing Sexual Politics of Meat and the more amazingly titled Pornography of Meat?

Also, check out this ridiculous Burger King ad.

So. It's obvious that food is gendered in my culture. Is there really a "gay diet," though? It sounds as though Simon Doonan's Gay Men Don't Get Fat, which prompted the Guardian article, mostly just associates "gay" foods with "girly" foods... A similar elision happens in the hilarious "SOY MAKES YOU GAY" articles I have to reread from time to time.

Perhaps a better question is, are there queer eating practices? I've noted before that an overwhelming portion of vegetarians and vegans are queer (and/or female). Maybe this has as much to do with cultural correlation as it does anything else--as in, if you're already a sort of cultural minority you're more likely to question other cultural dominants? Then again, for every vegan lesbian I know, I know another lesbian who goes out of her way to talk about how much of a carnivore she is.

There are so many different gender/sexuality/culture matrices at work here, and this post is sloppy, impressionistic, and anecdotal. Alas. Happy Friday!

And here's what you sick people really come here for.

Sesame Panko Tempeh Cutlets with Tonkatsu Sauce

(testing for Terry Hope Romero's new cookbook)

Kimchi Tofu Eggplant Stew (also tester)

Pasta and Squash with Homemade Pesto

Rose Hips

2012-01-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

What do I do with these?

South Asian Cabbage Salad

2012-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

On my vacation, I spent time in Asheville, in Minnesota, and in Chicago. This latest image comes from that last leg of my travels.

One night in Chicago I cooked dinner for some people. We wanted something interesting, cheap, and not fussy, so... duh. We went for baingan bharta, dal with ginger and lime, and some rice with stuff in it. What's fun is that by this point I can make these dishes without a recipe at all. I also realized that frying mustard seeds in the tempering oil for the dal gives the final product a wonderful extra texture.

And then to go with these dishes, I made a salad that turned out great! It's a bit like this brussels sprout dish, but napa cabbage is so much more delicate, it doesn't need cooking. Moreover, I used the technique, more often found in macrobiotic cooking, of "pressing" the salad to tenderize it. Anyway, this is one of the best salads I've had, hands down, and it's EASY. The textures are crunchy but light, and the fried spices and toasted coconut round out the generous dosage of lime juice, while the fact that those spices are cumin and mustard give the salad a bit of pungency.

South Asian Cabbage Salad

Ingredients

2 lbs napa cabbage (1 small whole one), shredded

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 tsp? salt

1 TB? oil

1 tsp? mustard seed

1 tsp? cumin seed

1/4 c? unsweetened coconut

lime juice (of 1/2-1 lime?), to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste

(salt to taste)

Instructions

1. Put cabbage and carrot in a large bowl with some salt; massage it to mix, then set aside, with several heavy plates on top pressing down on the cabbage. Leave it that way for an hour? If you're using regular cabbage I think the time is more important than with napa cabbage.
2. In a small frying pan, heat oil. Fry mustard and cumin until mustard starts popping. Turn off heat and set aside.
3. In a fry pan or toaster oven, toast the coconut until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
4. Toss the oil and spices with the cabbage and carrots. Stir in coconut. Add lime juice and red pepper flakes to taste, as well as more salt, if desired. You could also fry dried red chilies (perhaps 1?) in the oil with the spices and omit the red pepper flakes in this step. Serves about 4.

Upon returning home to LA, there was NOTHING perishable in my kitchen. I had, however, made a batch of something resembling this kimchi before leaving town. So I whipped together some noodles with tahini-tamari sauce, chili-garlic paste, kimchi, and some torn up nori. Yum. I guess the pre-refrigerator days are the reason things like dried seaweed and pickled cabbage even exist.

And yes, it looks a lot like the salad above, but it tastes totally different!

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

2012-01-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I'm finally back from traveling.

I always forget to use wild rice. I think this recipe came up on finding vegan and reminded me of the wild rice I brought back from Minnesota almost a year ago. Although my soup ended up being rather underwhelming, it also taught me one really useful trick. Cashew cream, which is so easy, made the soup instantly creamy! and in a non-creepy way; putting soymilk or vegan sour cream or something in a soup seems a little weird. But this was just cashews soaked in water and pureed, and it made a thick, neutral-tasting cream.

In this recipe, I omitted the "chicken" seasoning and the cornstarch, used regular sodium broth, used white wine instead of sherry, and used an onion instead of a leek. I found that 6 cups of stock was about right; I've never really liked brothy soups. Despite the thyme and the mirepoix, however, I thought the soup was a bit bland. I ended up using lots and lots of black pepper. I think if you were trying to get your Midwestern grandmother to go vegan, this would be an excellent thing to serve her.

How might I make this more exciting? More garlic? More wine? Mushrooms? Sage?

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

(adapted from leafy greens and me)

Ingredients
1/2 c raw cashews, soaked for at least four hours, drained
1/2 c filtered water
*

1 c small diced carrots
1 c small diced celery
1 onion, chopped
1 TB finely minced garlic (or more)
1 TB finely minced fresh thyme
1/4 c white wine
6 c vegetable stock

3/4 c organic wild rice
2 TB cornstarch (optional)
1/4 c minced chives

salt and black pepper

Instructions

1.    Drain cashews and place in a blender along with filtered water and blend on high for about 4 minutes until creamy.
2.    Strain mixture. You should have about 3/4 cup of cream. If less, add additional water.

3.    In a large dutch oven or stock pot, heat olive oil and add leeks, garlic and thyme and cook until leeks are soft, about five minutes.
4.    Add wine and reduce for a couple of minutes and then add vegetable stock.
5.    Bring broth to a boil and stir in brown rice along with celery and carrots and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Reduce to a simmer and cook until rice is tender about 45 minutes.
7. Five minutes before serving, whisk together cashew cream or soy milk with cornstarch and add to soup, stirring slowing for about 3-4 minutes until soup thickens.
8. Check for seasonings and add more salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

Stroganoff (?) + Burger (?)

2011-12-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

This stroganoff is one of the best things I've had this month. I suppose it's not too different from this earlier recipe I made, though I wasn't going off of it as I did this one. I learned a few things from this dish: first, cooking with wine is so great. I don't like drinking it, but using a splash in place of tamari or stock allows you to a) add liquid (which can be essential to cooking things the way you want) without adding salt and b) add a completely different flavor which changes the other flavors, blah blah... I know you know these things. But here it was amazing. Also, I recently realized that adding flour to thicken dishes need not be so stressful; I have often worried about not whisking quickly enough and getting chunks/dumplings. But if (just like with cornstarch) you mix the flour with a bit of cold water first and then add it, it's foolproof. I have no idea why recipes direct you any other way.

I also made stir-fried dandelion greens with this. Here, too, wine was really helpful, because the greens are so tough that they need to stew a little in extra liquid that cooks off, rather than just quickly fry. These were cooked with garlic, tamari, white wine, and red pepper flakes.

Tempeh-Mushroom Stroganoff

Ingredients

olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

pinch salt

lots of mushrooms, sliced

1 block tempeh, cut into small cubes or crumbled

1-1.5 c white wine

1 c stock

fresh rosemary

fresh thyme

dried sage

red pepper flakes

3 TB flour, mixed with 1/2 c water

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Saute onion several minutes, then add garlic and a pinch of salt; cook several minutes more. Add mushrooms and tempeh and cook until mushrooms have released their liquid, then deglaze with the wine. Add stock as well.
2. Bring pot to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Add herbs and red pepper flakes. Cook about 15 minutes, uncovered. Then add the flour-water mixture. Simmer until everything thickens. Serve hot with noodles. Serves about 4.

These Harissa Lentil Fritters froze and thawed quite well!

Cranberry-Walnut-OrangeBlossom Bread

2011-12-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

Cranberry walnut bread is actually pretty traditional in my family. Wanting to continue this, I took this recipe for cranberry orange walnut muffins and turned it into a loaf, which only entailed baking it longer--over 50 minutes. Also, in a half-assed attempt to make it match with other menu items, I added a few tsp of orange blossom water. I used more white flour than in the muffins. And finally, I ended up using lemon zest instead of orange out of pure necessity.

This bread was great: not too sweet, and the orange blossom water was very subtle. However, it dried out very quickly (like a day or two), and I think that using more oil and less applesauce might change this...

Cranberry-Walnut-OrangeBlossom Bread

Ingredients

1 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c white flour
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c turbinado sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp dry ginger
1/2 tsp salt
*
1/3 c oil
1 c applesauce (unsweetened)
juice and zest of one medium orange or lemon

1-2 tsp orange blossom water
soymilk or water to desired consistency (about 1 c)
*
1 c walnuts
1 c fresh cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375*. Oil loaf pan.
2. Combine dry. Add wet, adding liquid to muffin-batter consistency (it should be thick, but just goopy enough that you can pour it with a ladle). Stir in walnuts and cranberries. Fill loaf pan. Bake about 50 min.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Mint, Sumac, and Pistachios

2011-12-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

Lacking sunflower seeds, I made this squash recipe from ecurry with pistachios instead. Wary of sumac, I decreased its role in this dish.

In the end, it's really the quality of the squash that makes or breaks a squash dish. And it's so hard to tell from the outside. I liked the flavor combination, but the final product ended up a bit underwhelming. I think with a different squash, though, it would be great. If anyone knows how to dowse for good squashes, please let me know.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Mint, Sumac, and Pistachios

(adapted from ecurry)

Ingredients

1 medium acorn or butternut squash or pumpkin (about 1-1.5 lbs)

2.5 TB olive oil

1 TB honey

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 tsp cumin, crushed

1 tsp sumac

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

2 tsp dried mint

1/2 c fresh mint leaves, torn

1/4 c shelled roasted pistachios

Instructions

1. Carefully cut the squash into half . Scrape off seeds, pulp and strings with a spoon and discard. Slice them in to 1/2 inch thick wedges.Remove the skin if you want, or you may want to leave it in if you find difficult to peel. I usually peel them with a sharp knife before I cook.
2. Combine 2.5 tablespoon olive oil, honey, lemon juice, cumin,, sumac, salt, red and black pepper and dried mint leaves and whisk it.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a baking tray, place the squash wedges, pour the whisked oil and lemon mix and toss well for the wedges to be well coated. Lay wedges on their sides, in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast, and carefully turn halfway through, until golden brown on both sides, about 30 – 40 minutes. When the squash is done baking and is tender and golden brown, remove carefully from oven and toss the seeds and the chopped fresh mint leaves over the squash, toss the slices carefully to evenly spread the seeds and the mint, and bake at 300 F, for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm, with a sprinkle of red crushed pepper, sumac and more mint if you want. Serves 3-4 as a side.

Roasted Cauliflower with Dates, Olives, Rosemary, and Red Pepper

2011-11-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

As I've noted before, cauliflower gets sadly overlooked. This recipe from running with tweezers pulls out all the stops in redeeming it, however, and I think it succeeds.

I didn't really change anything; I just upped the olives and reduced the rosemary. In the end, roasted cauliflower is its own reward.

Roasted Cauliflower with Dates, Olives, Rosemary, and Red Pepper

(from running with tweezers)

Ingredients

1 medium (4-5″ in diameter) head of cauliflower, tough stems/leaves removed & cut into florets

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/4 c earth balance

10 Medjool dates, pits removed & roughly chopped

15 green olives, pitted and roughly chopped

1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed from the stems then roughly chopped

kosher salt, to taste

red pepper flakes, to tase

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large roasting pan or baking sheet, toss the cauliflower florets with the olive oil and the fresh ground black pepper. Once the oven comes up to temperature, roast the cauliflower for 20-25 minutes (depending on your oven) until tender with some caramelized brown spots. You’re not looking for char – just nice touches of golden brown.
2. About 2 minutes before you’re going to pull the cauliflower from the oven, heat the earthbalance in a large saucepan over medium heat. Allow to start to bubble and brown ever so slightly. Throw in the chopped rosemary, dates and olives and saute until heated through – you don’t want the rosemary to get black, though. Pull the cauliflower from the oven. You can either drizzle the butter/date/olive mixture over the cauliflower in the roasting pan and toss….or you can put the cauliflower in the butter mixture if your saute pan is big enough. Either will work. Taste a tiny floret & season with salt and red pepper accordingly. Serve immediately. Serves about 4.

Kale Salad with Pomegranate Molasses Dressing and Sesame Seeds

2011-11-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well, hey, let's start with the least exciting. We needed something green with all these starchy vegetables, right? And something that didn't have to go in the oven? Kale salad to the rescue.

I steamed some kale (2 bunches), then mixed it with a recipe of pomegranate molasses dressing (now, with a link that works!) and some sesame seeds.

Actually, that's it.

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

Another Thanksgiving come and gone. Any holiday that ends with a text being sent which reads, "lol bleeding is stanched" is probably an intense one.

Injuries aside, it was a merry and delicious affair. The broadly Middle-Eastern menu was supplemented by a pumpkin puree from actual (weird, blue) pumpkins that Dan had, which made the best pie ever! Christine brought some sesame cookies that the Russian lady in WeHo seemed to think were vegan (though shit very well may have gotten lost in translation), and there was also a healthy amount of wine and beer and dorky party games.

le menu

dolmades and olives

cranberry walnut orangeblossom bread

kale salad with pomegranate molasses vinaigrette

fire-roasted eggplant and chickpea stew

roasted potatoes and carrots in apricot-thyme-wine sauce

roasted cauliflower with dates, olives, rosemary, and red pepper

roasted acorn squash with mint, sumac, and pistachios

sesame cookies

pumpkin pie with cardamom coconut cream (oops, the coconut cream did not happen, but you know, best intentions...)

lavender-mint champagne cocktails (1 c water, 1 c sugar, 2 tsp lavender, 2 tsp dried mint, reduced to a syrup; mixed with dry champagne at a ratio of 1 part syrup to 2 parts champagne)

Fast Macro

2011-11-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

I passed my exams! I am officially masterful! I can read for fun! I can... plan Thanksgiving in the next two days?

While studying, I've been making a lot of very simple and fast dishes. Here are two:

I remade Celeste's awesome mushroom-leek soup, adding edamame this time. However, it tasted bland and sad. I realized that it's because I used TJ's low-sodium soy sauce, instead of the good tamari I usually keep on hand. This soup is usually perfect, despite its simplicity, but the tamari you use apparently really makes a difference.

Mushroom Leek Soup with Edamame

(from celeste's vegan goodness)

Ingredients

3 TB olive oil

1 8 oz package white mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
1 large leek, trimmed, cleaned, and thinly sliced into half-moons (about 3 cups)
salt
4 c water
2 TB tamari, or to taste

1 c edamame (optional)

Instructions

1. In a soup pot, heat olive oil at medium-high heat and sautee mushrooms until they begin to sweat, about 3 minutes.
2. Add leeks and a pinch of salt, and sautee until leeks are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
3. Add 4 cups of water, or just enough to cover vegetables, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
4. Add tamari and edamame and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with scallions, cilantro, or parsley. Serves 4.

I never go out of my way to find broccoli rabe, but this week it appeared before me in the grocery store. The little florets of broccoli, but the bitter leaves of watercress, yum. I used Meyer lemons instead of regular ones by accident, but given the bitterness of the vegetable, it actually turned out great to have a little sweetness in the mix.

Broccoli Rabe with Garlic, Sesame, and Meyer Lemon

Ingredients

oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large bunch broccoli rabe, cleaned and trimmed

tamari

juice of 1/2 meyer lemon

sesame seeds

Instructions

Heat oil, saute garlic (3 min), then add broccoli rabe and cook until tender (10 min?). Add a splash of tamari, stir, then turn off heat. Add lemon juice and sesame seeds, and serve hot.

Creamy Carrot-Lentil-Coconut Soup with Tempeh and Rice Noodles

2011-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

Although there were almost no groceries in my house, last weekend I realized that I needed to cook something for the upcoming crazy week. It's been a little like this, though maybe with fewer screaming fans and less Cold War imagery.

Here's a bit of my thought process. The one vegetable I had a lot of was carrots, and initially I was going to make carrot-ginger soup to take to campus with sandwiches, but then I realized I was out of ginger. Ok, well... coconut milk goes well in a pureed carrot soup; perhaps that? Oh, and perhaps some lentils to make it more filling, as in one of these stews. And some of the same spices at the beginning as in that awesome green curry broth. But then I can add in other stuff at the end, after pureeing it, as in that squash-pear-mushroom-bean soup from Veganomicon that my mom loves. So with coconut milk, and the adding noodles and lime at the end it'll be a bit like that one soup I keep making this fall. Except orange, and with more protein and fiber from the lentils, but still creamy.

I feel like this experience really exemplifies why I still like to cook from new recipes... because every recipe you try, you absorb new flavor combinations and techniques into your repertoire, even if not consciously. Copying other people helps your own creativity. At least in my kitchen.

This soup was indeed tasty and filling, but it was a little odd. Noodles and tempeh felt out of place until I thinned the soup quite a bit; otherwise, it was more like pasta with too much sauce. Mmm... actually this could be a pasta sauce. Or a creamy soup sans noodles and tempeh. Or, thinned out, a delicious meal.

Creamy Carrot-Lentil-Coconut Soup with Tempeh and Rice Noodles

Ingredients

oil

1 bunch green onions

5 cloves garlic

(ginger)

1 serrano pepper (not de-seeded)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

5 carrots

splash tamari

1 1/2 c red lentils

4 c stock

1-2 c coconut milk

oil

10 oz tempeh, cubed

splash tamari

small drizzle sesame oil

3 servings rice noodles

lime juice

(cilantro)

Instructions

1. In a largish saucepan, heat oil, then saute onions, garlic, ginger, chili, and spices over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add carrots, stir, deglaze with a splash of tamari.
2. Add lentils, stock, and coconut milk, bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils and carrots are soft.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the rice noodles, drain, and set aside. Also, in a small skillet, heat the oil for the tempeh. Brown the tempeh, turning regularly, then finish with tamari and sesame oil. Remove from heat and set the tempeh aside as well.
4. When the lentils and carrots are soft, remove soup from heat and allow to cool. Then puree the soup in batches in a blender (or using an immersion blender if you are so lucky). Return soup to pot, add tempeh (but not noodles) and reheat.
5. Taste soup for salt, spiciness, and other seasonings. Stir in lime juice to taste. Just before serving, ladle in the rice noodles as well. Serves about 4-6.

Chickpeas with Walnuts and Fried Sage

2011-11-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to try a recipe with fried sage leaves. This simple recipe from taste of beirut was really good, though I wanted more sage and definitely less butter (suggested changes are given in the recipe below). The texture of the fried sage leaves is delicate and crispy, and the flavor goes well with walnuts. I ate this warm on its own, mixed with the sausagey cabbage recipe I recently posted, and even on salad.

Chickpeas with Walnuts and Fried Sage

(from taste of beirut)

Ingredients

2 c chickpeas, cooked

1/4 c earth balance

salt, to taste

30 sage leaves (or more)

1/2 c of walnuts, chopped coarsely (or pecans or hazelnuts)

Instructions

Place the butter in a skillet; let it froth then drop the sage leaves and walnuts; let the leaves fry gently in butter (don't let burn) and then add the chickpeas and some salt. Combine and serve. Serves about 3.

Spicy Sausage-Flavored Cabbage and Noodles

2011-11-16T17:34:00.000-08:00

Oh hey. I had a half a cabbage left over from the braised cabbage with chorizo recipe, so I made this. As I've mentioned before, a pre-made sausage-spice mix is a very good thing to have-- instant flavorocity. Also, going halvsies on cabbage and noodles creates a dish that is not only texturally interested, but also low carb... if you're into that sort of thing. I have to say, every time a recipe comes up on google reader with the word "healthy" in the title, I skip it. Sure, the food that I eat is by most standards quite healthy, but if you're flaunting it, it seems like you're compensating for a lack of deliciousness. I could go on and on about fool customers at a place I once worked who went nuts over the disgusting "healthy" muffin we sold... which wasn't even that healthy.

...But I digress. I know this doesn't look too exciting, but it was delicious, filling, fast, and ridiculously cheap. Whole wheat pasta gives you considerable protein and fiber, or you could pair it with a more proteiny dish. I'll definitely make it again.

Spicy Sausage-Flavored Cabbage and Noodles

Ingredients

oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp sausage seasoning

1/2 cabbage, shredded

1-2 c veg stock

2-3 servings whole wheat linguine, cooked

Instructions

Heat oil in a large skillet. Saute onion, then add garlic and continue cooking. Add sausage seasoning, and cabbage, cook several minutes, then add stock. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes or until cabbage is slightly wilted but still retains a bit of a crunch. Stir in noodles, add salt to taste (remember, you used stock), and remove from heat. Serve hot. Serves 4.

Braised Cabbage with Chorizo

2011-11-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

This recipe is easy and delicious. I used oregano instead of thyme, as that seemed to go better with chorizo, but otherwise, I kept Janet's recipe mostly as it was. I did try to saute the cabbage a little before adding liquid, as I thought this might add some toasty caramelly nutty flavors. Who knows... but I do know that 2 c broth was too much for me; I ended up having to drain the dish at the end (though the excess liquid made for some delicious rice). Finally, my chorizo was so spicy that I didn't add any other chili flakes. I used the chorizo sausages (oh no, is that like how English people say "challah bread"?) I made a few weeks ago--they froze and thawed beautifully.

Next I would like to try this recipe with Italian sausage and thyme instead of chorizo and oregano.

Braised Cabbage with Chorizo Seitan Sausage

(from taste space)

Instructions

1 TB olive oil

1.5 c seitan sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick

4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

2 tsp dried oregano

chili flakes, to taste

1-2 c vegetable broth

1 lb green cabbage, thinly sliced (~4 cups; I used half a cabbage)

1/4 tsp salt (optional, to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the sausage in the olive oil until lightly browned, around 3 minutes on each side.
2. Add the garlic, oregano, and chili flakes and saute for another minute.
3. Add the cabbage and saute briefly, then deglaze with some vegetable broth. Add salt to taste. Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage should be tender with a bit of a bite to it. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. Serves 4.

I also made pumpkin pie one morning. Stress baking WHAT

Flame-Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Stew

2011-11-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok. I know I have already posted about an eggplant-lentil stew and about a chickpea-eggplant stew. However, this one--initially inspired by the chickpea-eggplant stew I had at the Eagle in London--was the best!

The eggplant was flame-roasted, as in the above stew with lentils, but the ratio of eggplant to legume was such that it was super creamy. I knew I wanted that smoky flavor, lemon, cumin, and cilantro. After that, well, this whole thing was pretty random. After starting the recipe, and after several glasses of wine, I set out pomegranate molasses, za'atar, sumac, and some other things I don't remember, in front of my friend Holly, and said, "Choose your Middle-Eastern flavors!" She went for the za'atar--which I'm not sure is often used in stewed dishes this way--and later I cheated and added a tiny bit of pomolasses as well. It's important not to overdo it; in this Syrian chickpea-chard dish, the tangy flavor was far too intense. Some wine ended up in there, too.

Anyway, this dish was spicy, tangy, and smoky; I loved it. We were just too hungry to stew it long enough, and the onions were a bit crunchy. Oh well. We had this with roasted veggies in apricot-thyme wine sauce and harissa kale. Speaking of which... oops, I threw in the leftovers before taking the below photograph. It had green in it before, anyway, from the cilantro.

Flame-Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Stew (picture with kale, oops)

Ingredients

1 large eggplant

1 TB olive oil

1 onion, chopped

salt to taste

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp toasted ground cumin

red pepper flakes, to taste

1 can chickpeas

1/2 c white wine

1 c vegetable stock

2 TB za'atar

1 tsp pomegranate molasses

lemon juice, to taste

cilantro, to taste

Instructions

1. Roast the eggplant over medium flame on a gas burner, turning every minute or two. When it's blackened and soft, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil. Saute onion several minutes. While onion is cooking, peel and coarsely chop eggplant. Set aside again.
3. Add salt, garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes to the saucepan. Saute a few more minutes, then add chickpeas. Cook about one minute, then deglaze with wine. Add eggplant, stock, and za'atar, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Near the end, add pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, and cilantro, as well as salt and chili to taste. Serve hot. Serves about 3.

This squirrel is really taking liberties. One day, I found a pile of nutshells next to the driver's-side door of my car. And then, I walked out of my apartment to a cascade of nut debris. When I looked up, who should I see at the VERY CREST of the building, but...

Yeah, he's up there. Don't get me started about his early-morning roof exercises.

Roasted Veggies in Apricot Thyme Wine Sauce

2011-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Having finding vegan in my google reader sometimes annoys me, because there are SO many posts, but every once in a while it gets me to a blog I wouldn't have found otherwise. Such was the case of this recipe. Roasted veggies in apricot and thyme sauce! Yes!

This recipe gave me a chance to finally use up the dried apricot paste I got for Georgian cilantro sauce quite awhile ago. The fact that it was rather desiccated necessitated a change in method: I soaked the apricot in hot water, then drained it (reserving 1/2 c water), then pureed together all the sauce ingredients. I reserved the water to make up for the honey, which I omitted; this sauce was plenty sweet as it was.

I'll definitely make this again, but next time I'll use my intuition more: the thyme was a bit overwhelming, which is no surprise given that the recipe called for 2 tsp dried AND 1 TB fresh. The veggies also took way longer to cook, even though I cut the potatoes into wedges to speed the process. I think next time I'd either (depending on how warm it was outside) a] cover the veggies with foil during the first part of cooking, and overall just cook them longer, or b] parboil the potatoes to give them a head start.

Overall, though, the sweetness of the apricots balanced well with the acidity of the wine, and who doesn't love roasted potatoes? Definite comfort food, with a little bit of a twist. My friend Holly and I had this with a flame-roasted eggplant-chickpea stew and some harissa kale.

Veggies Baked in Apricot Thyme Wine Sauce

(adapted from life currents)

Ingredients

1 c dried apricots, coarsely chopped

2 c boiling water

2 pounds baby red potatoes, scrubbed clean

1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges

5 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces

salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1 TB fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish

2 TB balsamic vinegar

3 TB olive oil

4 bay leaves

1/2 c dry white wine or vegetable broth

Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over apricots and let sit.
2. Preheat oven to 350° F.
3. Place veggies in a large roasting pan, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Drain apricots, reserving 1/2 c liquid. In a blender, combine apricots and that 1/2 c water with remaining ingredients and puree.
5. Pour sauce mixture over veggies, and turn to coat. Cover with foil and bake about 20 minutes, then uncover, stir, and bake for 20-30 minutes more or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork (see headnote).
6. Transfer to a serving platter, pouring any juices that have accumulated over the top of the veggies. Serve hot or at room temperature. Garnish with additional fresh thyme. Serves about 6.

Squash Saute with Chickpeas and Cilantro

2011-11-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

Let's say you picked up a ton of Mexican squash at the grocery store, and then your friends who were going out of town unloaded still more squash from their CSA box. What to do? I started thinking about sort of Southwestern flavors because I saw this recipe for squash and beans but ended up going in a different direction than that recipe.

Basically, I prepared these squashes the way I might do black beans, and then I added some chickpeas for protein. But squash has so much water in it that the dish turned out a little bland and diffuse. I added a bit of cornstarch to thicken the dish, but what was really missing was a creamier/yeastier/nuttier flavor that black beans would have contributed themselves. I ended up amping up my leftovers with chili-garlic paste.

Squash Saute with Chickpeas and Cilantro

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp allspice

1 tsp cumin

red pepper flakes to taste

4 small Mexican squashes, or 2-3 zucchinis

1 can chickpeas

1/2 can diced tomatoes

oregano to taste

salt to taste

1 tsp cornstarch, mixed with a bit of cold water (optional)

lime juice to taste

chopped cilantro

Instructions

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Saute onion several minutes, then add garlic and spices. After a few minutes, add squash as well and saute until the squash is slightly soft. Stir in the chickpeas, tomatoes, oregano, and salt, and simmer about 5 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch if desired, then remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and cilantro, and adjust salt and chili to taste. Serves about 3.

It rained. Then it stopped. Then the sun set.

Thanksgiving Roundup

2011-11-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Cranberry-Ginger Sauce with Deep-Fried Stuffing Balls

Ricki's awesome Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup inspired me to do one as well. Here are a bunch of things that I have made or would like to make for a Thanksgiving dinner.

As I've written before, I'm not much of a "main dish" person, for reasons that are vegan-political, gender-political, and mostly just plain aesthetic. I prefer to choose dishes that complement each other in more dynamic ways than just supporting one dish (which is itself likely to be an object rather than an ensemble). Anyway, this often makes organizing recipes a challenge--I'm still tweaking the categories I use on the right side of this blog.

I'm so wary of labeling foods as certain ethnic designations, but it seems as though this list might be my "Westernish"-themed one, with a strong Middle Eastern bent: note the prevalence of pomegranate, mint, tahini, apricot, pistachios, and harissa. I'd like to do a more South Asian-inflected roundup as well, as I've been cooking so much on that side of the globe.

It also seems important for Thanksgiving to choose dishes that can be prepared ahead of time: stews, soups, cold things, and things that just get popped in the oven at the end are ideal. Fried things are the worst, because they're never as good as they are fresh out of the pan, and it's more fun to be socializing with your guests than running in and out of the kitchen with small batches of fried things. Sauteed things are somewhere in between. Still, I found it impossible to leave deep-fried stuffing balls and braised cabbage with sausage off the list.

What are you excited about making or eating this year? I'm always down for more recommendations.

Appetizers and spreads

Cashew Goat Cheese

Cashew Beer Cheese (or this Caraway-Spiked Version from the Blooming Platter)

Ricki's Pate Campagne

Eggplant Caponata Spread

Hummus and baba ganoush, obviously; these recipes are a little fancier than average, or maybe a Squash Hummus variation? Also mouhammarah

Deep-Fried Stuffing Balls

Tempeh Crab Cakes

Roasted Garam Masala Chickpeas

Savory Sesame-Herb Shortbread Cookies
Crackers, flatbread, crudites, etc.

Soups

Kathy's slightly fruity Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Ricki's Apple-Red Wine Soup

Corn Soup with Basil Oil

Green Pea Soup with Mint

Sesame-Mushroom Borscht

Carrot-Ginger Soup
Jeanette's Apple-Beet Soup in Roasted Acorn Squashes

Veggies, Stuffed Veggies, Stuffing, Salads

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fennel and Mushrooms

Roasted Greens with Miso-Tahini Sauce

Roasted Cauliflower with Pistachios, Harissa, and Thyme

Roasted Squash Salad with Cilantro-Sunflower Dressing

Debi's Veggies Baked in Apricot and Thyme Sauce

Laura's Warm Potato Salad with Creamy Dijon Dressing and Pumpernickel Croutons
Potatoes with Wing-It Vegan's Mint-Parsley Dressing

Fried Cabbage with Peas, Lemon, and Caraway

Janet's Braised Cabbage with Chorizo; I'd like to try it with Italian sausage instead

Stuffed Eggplant with Walnut Sauce

Stuffed Mushrooms

Or just stuffing: perhaps this Mixed Mushroom Stuffing from Our Veggie Kitchen, or this stuffing (NOT fried in balls)

11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates

"Main Dishes"?

Chickpea-Eggplant Stew with Kale and Harissa

Lemon-Garlic Chickpeas and Mushrooms

Braised Tempeh with Lemon-Tahini Sauce

Betsy's Vegan Chickpea Sausages with Roasted Apples, Onions, and Jalapenos with Cashew Cream & Pomegranate Molasses Drizzle (holy crap, this sounds good)

Vegan Dad's Maple-Apple Cider Tofu with Stuffing and Cranberry Chutney

Random Delicious Carby Things

Chloe's Flatbread with Roasted Apple, Butternut Squash, and Carmelized Onion

My friend Elisa's "Tofugel" (I'm working on a post), or another baked mac and cheese

Joumana's Sweet Tabouleh

Sauces

This Mushroom Gravy from about.com is still my favorite gravy recipe ever

Georgian Cilantro Sauce with Apricot--perhaps for roasted veggies?
Heidi's Roasted Lemon Chutney

Cranberry-Ginger Sauce

Bryanna's Eggplant-Pomegranate Relish

Desserts

Pumpkin Bread

Pear-Fennel Coffee Cake

Amazing Almond Cookies

Ginger Cookies

Mamoul (Stuffed Butter Cookies)

Rum Walnut Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

Carmelised Pineapple Turnovers with Chamomile Cream (from Vegalicious)

Baklava

Apple-Cranberry Pie

Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Cream

Pumpkin Coconut Stew, Return of the Creepyass Cookies

2011-11-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin + Coconut = 4ever love!!!

I think it was on my last post about pumpkin and coconut that Janet suggested I check out this stew recipe. Then, this past week, which was the week of pumpkin-carving parties (I made this sad looking... cathuahua?), I acquired a hefty amount of roasted pumpkin. This recipe seemed an ideal way to use it up! Since the pumpkin was already cooked, I added it after 30 minutes of cooking; I also used less split peas (about 3/4 c total) to account for the fact that I had more pumpkin than the specified 2 1/2 c. I also threw in some sauteed mushrooms, and subbed half a can of diced tomatoes for the fresh one. I'm curious about the effects of stewing the coconut with the legumes and pumpkin, rather than toasting/frying it with the tempering oil. It seems like doing the latter might add a nice toasty flavor and actually bring out the coconutty flavor overall. Or, it might just burn and be a huge mess.

I will definitely make this stew again. It's delicious--the zingy lime balances out the pungent, mellow turmeric, mustard, squash, and split peas--and the texture (depending on how long you cook it, I suppose) was creamy but still interesting (i.e., not total mush). Moreover, the combination of pumpkin, stewed coconut, and mustard creates a freakily buttery flavor. The only woe I had was that it ended up being way too salty. I used all stock, not water, so I should have tasted it before adding more salt with the tempering oil. I added a few more cups of water, and now it's absolutely perfect.

Pumpkin Coconut Split Pea Stew

(from taste space)

Ingredients

3/4 c split yellow peas

3-4 c pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 tomato, diced (I used 1 c diced canned tomatoes)
1/2 c fresh, frozen, or dried shredded coconut (I used dried)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 c vegetable stock or water, or enough to cover
*
2 TB canola oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or more--this wasn't very spicy)
1 clove garlic, minced

*
salt to taste (if any)

1 TB agave (optional)
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Rinse the legumes in a couple changes of water.
2. In a large soup pot, combine the squash, drained legumes, tomato, coconut, turmeric, cumin, and enough stock to cover. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, covered, 20 minutes. Remove the cover and simmer another 10 minutes.
3. In a small skillet, warm the canola oil until shimmering. Add the mustard seeds and when they stop popping, add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Swirl the skillet so the contents cook evenly, and cook another 10 seconds. Then pour the contents of the skillet into the soup. Finish with the salt, agave, lime juice, and cilantro. Adjust the seasonings, to taste. Serves 6.

In other news, I remade the finger cookies of last year and fixed a few errors: you only need 1/2 c blanched almonds, not 1 1/2 c, and I added 1/2 tsp almond extract.

Split Pea Soup with Eggplant Bacon

2011-11-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Huh.. mixed together, lentils and split peas look like sand art.

I was in a perversely umami mood the morning I made both eggplant bacon and seitan chorizo. Eggplant bacon (at least this batch) does not taste remotely like bacon. It's spicier and fruitier. Still, it serves a similar purpose when you put it in a dish like split pea soup--it adds dimension and meatiness that might otherwise be lacking. (I think this shroom dust would do the same thing..).

In making Annie's recipe, I made few changes: I used straight up cayenne instead of chili powder, obviating the need for black pepper. I also kept things simple and used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.

Eggplant, thinly sliced, marinated:

And, 40 minutes later, having been roasted, flipped, and basted:

Eggplant Bacon

(adapted from phoo-d)

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, top cut off and sliced lengthwise in 1/8" thick slices

2 TB tamari

2 TB maple syrup

2 TB apple cider vinegar

2 TB olive oil

1/2 tsp cayenne (reduce if you don't want spicy)

3-5 drops liquid smoke

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, cayenne, liquid smoke, paprika, and garlic. Add the eggplant spices and toss until they are evenly coated with the marinade. Let the eggplant sit in the liquid for at least 1 hour, turning the slices occasionally.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees with racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. Set wire cooling racks on top of two foil lined cookie sheets. Lay eggplant slices in a single layer on top of the racks. Reserve the leftover marinade. Bake for 40 minutes, turning the eggplant slices over half way through, basting them with the remaining marinade, and switching the cookie sheets from one oven rack to the other. Keep an eye on the eggplant slices near the end of the cooking time to make sure they are not turning too black. You want the slices dark brown and mostly dried out but not burnt. When the eggplant bacon is done, pull the sheets from the oven and let cool slightly before removing from racks. Transfer the eggplant bacon to an airtight container. It is best if used the same day it is made but will keep in the fridge up to 3 days. Makes 16-20 slices.

I put this eggplant bacon with split pea soup, just as Annie suggested. As I ran out of split peas, I made up the difference with red lentils (see above photo). I made a half recipe, but then I got a bit generous with the herbs. I also made it in my slow cooker, sauteeing everything in a frying pan and then transferring it to the crock pot with the water, stock, and legumes. A half recipe made a LOT; I ate this all week. And, while it was good, it wasn't anything crazily special, so I think I've had my fill for the foreseeable future.

Split Pea Soup with Eggplant Bacon

(adapted from phoo-d0)

Ingredients

1 TB olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, trimmed, strings removed, and diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 c split peas or lentils

1 tsp salt

1-2 tsp dry basil

1 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard seed

1 bay leaf

3 c water

3 c vegetable broth

eggplant bacon, chopped

Instructions

Place a large stock pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic to the pot. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the split peas, salt, basil, marjoram, black pepper, mustard, bay leaf, water, and vegetable boullion. Stir well and bring the soup to a slow simmer. Cook until the peas are soft, stirring frequently, about 30-40 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. If desired blend several cups of the soup and add it back into the pot for a thicker texture. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as necessary. Serves 4-6.
Alternatively, prepare this recipe by sauteeing as directed above, then combining everything in a crock pot; cook on low for 6 hours.

I also recently tried to flame-roast a zucchini for baba ganoush. It didn't really work.

Chorizo Polenta Hash

2011-10-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Chorizo-Polenta Hash with Collards

Even though I'm not going to include the sausage recipe, Ima call this a recipe post since you could easily make this with storebought chorizo and polenta. Just fry up the collards first with some garlic, then add in chopped vegan chorizo and polenta slices. Bam. You can also easily make polenta from scratch, as I describe below.

I finally got around to making some of the sausages in the Vegan Brunch cookbook. Cuh ray zay... so this is why one buys vital wheat gluten in a box instead of washing one's flour (how it was done back in Appleton, WI, seriously). This was really easy, and felt like nothing short of a miracle. The texture, I think, is as much like melted cheese as it is like sausage (as it steams, it gets firmer)... but maybe I am not sure what I am talking about.

Gluten is not the enemy! (Well, for almost all of us). It's one of the healthiest, simplest sources of protein around, and when isolated from the other parts of flour (starch and fiber), as here, it has nearly magical properties.

Anyway, I made the chorizo recipe. I thought the lemon zest was particularly odd (it also had sage, oregano, smoked paprika, tomato paste...), but it ended up being a killer flavor, though perhaps a bit too dominant. The sausage looks absolutely disgusting up until the end, but (as was the case with this ravioli filling), I suppose real sausage would be far grosser.

Finally, after steaming for almost an hour, these really resembled sausages! I also made some fast polenta by combining 1/3 c cornmeal to 1 c boiling water (though I think a bit less water would have been better), along with 1 TB earth balance and some salt. Left in a bowl in the fridge, this happened:

After this, there was nothing left to be done but fry up a sausage (the recipe made 4 large ones) with the polenta (chopped up), and stir in some leftover sauteed collards. Unfortunately, the polenta sort of, er, melted, but it nevertheless mellowed out the incredibly spicy-salty-sour sausage, and the overall flavor was fantastic. After I left the other polentas I had made uncovered in the fridge for a day, they were much drier and firmer.

I also recently remade my old standby of Marinated Broccoli Lentil Salad, adding garlic and olives this time. It reminds me of a fantastical forest full of pebbles and jewels. Or maybe a riverbed.

Chickpeas and Split Peas with Mint and Tamarind

2011-10-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Mint and tamarind are interesting additions to an otherwise pretty standard chickpea dish. My using a can of tomatoes instead of a few fresh ones probably helped steer this dish towards its chana masala friends, too.

The flavors here were great, but I found myself wishing it were less dry. I used canned chickpeas, and I cooked them and the mung beans for a really long time, so I can only guess that cooking with more oil might have helped?

Chickpeas and Chana dal in a Tamarind-Mint Sauce

(adapted from taste space)

Ingredients

1.5 c cooked chickpeas

1/2 c chana dal or yellow split peas, picked over, washed, and drained

1/2 TB peeled and finely chopped garlic

1/2 TB finely chopped ginger

1-2 fresh hot green chiles (seeds removed), finely chopped [we used 3 deseeded red volcanic peppers]

1/2-1 c mint leaves, packed, washed, and coarsely chopped (we used 1/2 cup and this wasn’t minty, so you could use more)

1-3 TB canola oil (I used 1 TB--see headnote)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 14-oz can chopped tomatoes and juice

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp garam masala

1-2 TB thick tamarind paste (or fresh lemon juice), to taste

Instructions

1. Simmer split peas in water (I added a pinch each of salt and turmeric) 1.5 to 2 hours, or until tender. Add chickpeas and set aside.
2. Combine the garlic, ginger, green chiles, and mint leaves in the container of a blender. Add 3-4 tablespoons of water as needed and blend, pushing down the mixture with a rubber spatula several times, until pureed. Set the minty mixture aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wide, medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir and fry until they are a rich, reddish brown. Add the tomatoes. Stir and cook until the tomatoes reduce and darken and the oil begins to show at the sides of the pan. Add the green spice paste and stir over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the chickpeas and their cooking liquid, then stir in the salt, coriander, cumin, garam masala, and tamarind paste, mixing thoroughly. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Serves about 4.

Other culinary silliness: Chocolate T-Rexes, using one of several amazing cookie cutters that Sarah gave me for my birthday. Chocolate wiener dogs also occurred.

And a delicious breakfast: sprouted rye bread with miso and tahini, then mashed avocado, lemon juice, and pepper. Will I ever be able to leave southern California? Happiness is an avocado tree in October.

Halloween Baking

2011-10-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Halloween has snuck up on me once again, and this weekend I am making these finger cookies again.

Here's a list of some things that might be fun to bring to a Halloween party, or the office, or just your own stomach.

Witches' Fingers Cookies
Marbled Pumpkin-Chocolate Cookies
Best Pumpkin Cookies
Best Ginger Cookies
Pumpkin Bread
Ginger-Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple-Vanilla Buttercream

Spicy Coconut-Lime Noodle Soup with Mushrooms and Tofu

2011-10-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

In my busy/laziness, I think I've made versions of this soup three times in the past month. This last time was the best. Infinitely versatile, you really only need: the basic garlic/ginger, some veggies/tofu, something salty (miso or tamari or stock), water, something creamy (peanut butter or coconut milk), some lime juice and hot sauce to finish it, and maybe something carby (rice or noodles) to add in at the end.

Mushrooms gave a wonderful meaty/fishy texture (adding a piece of nori or kombu might also be great!), and tofu and noodles made this soup a complete meal. I kept the noodles separate from my leftovers as they had a tendency to disintegrate if I mixed them with the broth and then refrigerated it overnight.

Spicy Coconut-Lime Noodle Soup with Mushrooms

Ingredients

oil

1/4 c scallions, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 piece of ginger as big as your thumb, finely chopped

1-2 chilies, seeded and finely chopped

8-16 oz tofu, cut into cubes

8 oz mushrooms, quartered

tamari

1 can coconut milk

1 can water (or more)

miso and/or stock paste

3 servings rice noodles

juice of 1-2 limes

chili garlic paste, to taste

mint, chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook rice noodles separately, drain, and set aside.
2. In a medium-large saucepan, heat oil and saute scallions, garlic, ginger, and chilies several minutes. Then add tofu and mushrooms; cook until tofu is browned (totally ok if some sticks to the pan) and mushrooms release their liquid. Deglaze with a tiny bit of tamari.
3. Add coconut milk and water; depending on how liquidy you want the soup, you may want to add more than 1 can of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Stir in miso and/or stock paste to taste--the magic amount should probably be 1-2 TB, but you don't want to overdo it.
4. After simmering 10+ minutes, turn off the heat. Ladle into individual bowls, add noodles, and add lime juice, chili garlic paste, and fresh mint according to taste. Serves about 4.

In other news... my back steps appear to have become squirrel central. This dude is aggressively claiming his territory.

It rather reminds me of when these guys ruled the block.

Food in Asheville

2011-10-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here's some stuff I made with my mom while in Asheville, NC. They had just moved in, and the challenge was to make a meal using what was already in the cupboards. I tend to find cooking in other people's kitchens a little stressful--it takes so much more effort to find things, and there might not be the staple ingredients or the knives or the other tools you expect. The upside, though, is discovering new foods. For example, we found some awesome dried mushrooms in the pantry and use them to make a soup that was slightly inspired by Green Curry Broth: I used toasted cumin, fennel, coriander, and lots of ginger, garlic, and onion in the broth; then I strained those out and added other ingredients.

We also had a carrot Salad sort of like this one, but with a more Asian flavor palette--rice vinegar, ginger, etc. Not too exciting.

The most thrilling accomplishment, I think, was remaking fat mints in multicolor! We left the cocoa out of part of the dough and added green food coloring. The food coloring rather scared me (even before we realized it was from 1978!!), but I figure if you only do this once every several years, how much harm can it do? Or, if you're really into green food, you could go buy some natural food coloring at Whole Foods.

We also ate a lot of great meals at restaurants, my favorite of which by far was Plant (we went back a second time!).

Zucchini Baba Ganoush... several times over

2011-10-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

I am so. busy. It's strange to look at the flurry of activity going on associated with the vegan mofo and feel rather left out... but come Thanksgiving/December, I'm going to be cooking up a storm! By then, I'll have a lot of bookmarked recipes to inspire me.

As it turns out, that zucchini baba ganoush is quite versatile. Here are some ways I had it after making a new batch last week:

On sprouted rye bread with avocado and smoked paprika, with veggies and sparkling white wine

Tossed with whole wheat linguine and topped with pan-fried tempeh, smoked paprika, and fresh mint

Pumpkin Curry with Coconut Milk, Sauteed Greens with Still More Coconut

2011-10-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a second pumpkin curry. Tempeh paired well with pumpkin and spices, but a) we overcooked the stew and the pumpkin turned to mush, and b) I would have liked a more sour element in it to cut some of the gooey/sweet/meaty tastes and textures--tamarind? lemon?

The greens were sauteed in oil with mustard seed and cumin seed, garlic and onion, and unsweetened coconut.

Pumpkin Curry with Coconut Milk (2)

Ingredients

onion, chopped

garlic, minced

cumin, toasted and ground

cinnamon, ground

cayenne pepper or fresh chilies

tandoori masala

tempeh, cubed

pumpkin/squash, peeled and cubed

coconut milk + water

salt and more cayenne, to taste

tamarind paste? or lemon juice?

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook several minutes, then add garlic, spices/chili, and tempeh and cook until tempeh is slightly browned.
2. Add pumpkin and liquid, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until pumpkin is tender.
3. Season with salt, cayenne, and maybe tamarind or lemon.

Pumpkin Coconut Curry

2011-10-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'd say that I'm increasingly convinced that South Asian food is the best food in the world, but I wouldn't even be sure what I was referring to. After all, a Sri Lankan pumpkin curry, a Keralian dosa, a Hyderabadi porridge, and a Punjabi chana masala share almost no spices or incredients with one another, and my friend Samir tells me that Gujarati cuisine is also really different. Not to mention Bengali food, Pakistani food, or (like the last two posts) the Desi food that comes via England.

This is the first of two pumpkin coconut curries I've made recently. I think I wanted it a little less pungent (there's lots of fenugreek, fennel, and mustard seeds) and a little more creamy, hot, and garlicky. Still, the spices add a really interesting dimension to pumpkin, which so often shows up in rather bland dishes. Also, the tamarind paste is great in this, adding an acidity that nevertheless matches the sweetness of the squash.

Pumpkin Coconut Curry (1)

(from ami's vegetarian delicacies)

Ingredients

2 TB canola oil

1 red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, diced

2 green chilies, diced

1 tsp of each fenugreek, mustard and fennel seeds

250g pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks

pinch of turmeric

1 tsp crushed black pepper

1 tsp tamarind paste

1 TB curry powder

200 ml coconut cream

400 ml water

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pan, sauté onion, garlic, and green chili until they are aromatic. Stir in fennel, mustard, fenugreek seeds, followed by pumpkin chunks.
2. Season pumpkin chunks with turmeric powder, black pepper, tamarind paste, curry powder and salt to taste. Stir well till pumpkin chunks are coated with spices.
3. Add coconut cream and 400 ml water, mix well and cook covering the lid for 5-10 minutes till pumpkin is soft. Serves 3-4.

"Paneer" Tikka Masala

2011-10-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Asheville, NC, where I ate a lot of vegan food (especially amazing at THIS PLACE), sampled some badass local IPAs, climbed a few mountains, and hung out with the coolest 60-somethings in the world. I'm savoring the campfire smell on my sweater and jacket, and I hope it doesn't go away too soon.

But to catch up. In keeping with the British-Indian-fusion theme, I made this dish, which was like a breath of fresh (and spicy) air. I've really been digging this blog I recently found! The mixture is quite a bit like that of the Asian Vegan Kitchen cookbook.

Using tofu for paneer and coconut milk for milk/yogurt was a breeze! I've never had this dish in its dairytastic form, but the combination of textures and flavors here was pretty damn near perfect. Toasty, tangy, richly nutty, pungent, all at once. Pressing the tofu and frying it made it nearly impossible to differentiate from paneer... and even though the recipe made a lot of sauce in relation to the tofu, it was so delicious that I was happy to just eat that with rice when I ran out of tofu. A serving size of 4-6 seems super optimistic. For one package of tofu, I'd say 2-3 servings, with a generous helping of sauce.

I served this with my old favorite, stir-fried cabbage with South Indian spices...

Now, I like spicy food, but I was a little freaked out by the instructions to use four dry chilies and 1 TB cayenne. I halved each of these amounts, and it was still medium-high hot. When in doubt, lowball it and add more later. On the topic of spices, also note that the recipe calls for two premixed spice blends: tandoori spice powder (recipe follows) and garam masala.

Other substitutions were of convenience: I used 1 TB tomato paste instead of a tomato, and for the TB dried fenugreek leaves, I used 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek. Actually, this dish still had a really strong fennel/fenugreek flavor, so you might even want to use less.

Tofu "Paneer" Tikka Masala

(adapted from ami's vegetarian delicacies)

Ingredients

1 lb extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into cubes

2 TB tandoori spice powder (see below for recipe)

1/4 c lite coconut milk (I only use lite because it's what Trader Joe's carries; I'm sure full fat would be great)

canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 TB tomato paste

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 piece of ginger, peeled minced

handful of cilantro leaves

2 dry red chilies, soaked in hot water with some of the water reserved

4 TB canola oil

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground fennel

1-2 tsp cayenne

2 TB tomato paste

300 ml light coconut milk

100 ml water (or, however much water it takes to finish the can of coconut milk and get up to 400 ml)

1/2 tsp ground fenugreek (or less--see headnote)

1 TB garam masala

salt to taste

juice of 1/2-1 1/2 lemons, to taste

Instructions

1. Mix together tandoori powder and 1/4 c coconut milk; add tofu and stir until they're totally coated; marinate for around 30 minutes.
2. Combine the onion, 1 TB tomato paste, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and chilies in a food processor and process (adding reserved chili water as necessary) until it's a coarse paste.
3. In a large sauce pan or saucier, heat the oil to a high heat and fry the marinated tofu till slightly crispy. Remove from pan and drain.
4. Separately to make the gravy, heat oil and fry onion paste for about 5 minutes till fragrant. Add dry coriander, fennel, and cayenne, stir well.
5. Add tomato paste, remaining coconut milk, and water, stir well, close the lid and let it cook for 5-10 minutes. When gravy starts to simmer add fenugreek, garam masala, and salt to taste.
6. Turn off heat, mix tofu with gravy, and add lemon juice to taste. Serves about 3.

In adapting a recipe for tandoori masala powder, I toasted and ground as many whole spices as seemed feasible... surely it can only make things more flavorful? I also omitted mace and substituted a LOT of paprika in place of food coloring.

Tandoori Masala Powder

(adapted from indianfoodforever)

Ingredients

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cloves, toasted and ground

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1.5 TB cumin seeds, toasted and ground

2 TB coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 tsp fenugreek, toasted and ground

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp black peppercorns, toasted and ground

1 tsp cardamom seeds, toasted and ground

1 TB paprika

Instructions

With the exception of the non-toasted ingredients, toast each ingredient separately, taking care not to burn them. Set aside to cool, then grind and combine with remaining ingredients. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Makes about 1/4 c.

Balti

2011-09-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

I just created a folder for photos on my computer that’s called "Los Angeles Year Four." Really?

So, I'm recently excited about British-style Indian food. It may have started when I went to this new restaurant in my neighborhood, LA Bengal Dynasty (silly name award?) (hi, unicorn!).

And in my own kitchen, so far I have tried a dish related to the balti (below), which may or may not actually come from Birmingham, and a kind of tikka masala, another dish of ambiguous origins which makes me think, "Of course, the English add cream to everything!"

In this recipe, I made a half batch. But I also threw in a TON of greens and cauliflower, which I think diluted the flavor too much. I ended up adding a bunch of chili garlic paste to finish out the dish, but I think that might have had to do with how generous I was with the cauliflower and the greens.

Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Greens Balti

(adapted from taste space)

Ingredients

vegetable oil

ginger, grated

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c water

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garam masala

1 bay leaf

2 cardamom pods, broken slightly open

3/4 tsp salt

coconut or vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 in piece ginger, grated

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 head cauliflower, in florets

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (or 15 oz canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained)

1 tsp salt

2 bunches of greens, stemmed and coarsely chopped (400g, prepped)

1/2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes

2 tsp chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp garam masala

chili garlic paste to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the ginger and garlic and stir.
2. Add the onions and stir-fry for five minutes until they are translucent.
3. Add the water and bring to the boil.
4. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, cover and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the bay leaves and cardamom, and reserve the sauce.
6. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large wok (I used the same saucepan as above since it was relatively clean) then add the onions and fry gently until they begin to turn brown.
7. Add the ginger and garlic, stir well, and cook for one minute.
8. Add the tomatoes, cauliflower, chickpeas, salt and balti sauce.
9. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is just tender, about 10-15 minutes.
10. Add the chili flakes and greens and stir-fry for three more minutes until the greens have wilted down.
11. Stir in the cilantro.
12. Just before serving, sprinkle the garam masala on top. Add chili garlic paste and salt to taste. Serve with naan bread or chapatis. Or rice.
Serves about 4.

Harissa Lentil Fritters

2011-09-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

This week, this blog and I each turn a year older. That I've only been blogging for two years sometimes seems surprising, given how it's been an aspect of my life for most of the time I've been in LA (that first year was a blur), and how that LA time is starting to feel like quite a while. The blogosphere of readers and other bloggers is a great community--one which has helped me to grow as a cook and a writer.

Are these burgers? Fritters? (wikipedia not helpful) I'm not sure, but they are a bit like these red lentil sesame fritters, soooo I'm gonna go with "fritter."

I omitted the peppers, as I am wont to do. But the batter was SO lentiltastic that then I started adding other stuff to dilute it: I more than doubled the walnuts, added 1/4 c chopped mint leaves, and then, since I was on a sort of manic middle-eastern kick, I also added 1/4 c dates. Yum!

Since I let the batter sit in the fridge overnight for convenience' sake, it got very firm and sticky on its own, and I didn't need much cornstarch. I did, however, need way more breading than called for.

These were good, but I was relieved that the harissa and mint livened up what would have otherwise been a pretty bland burger. And it definitely needed some lemony tahini sauce. In fact, the second time i ate these, I made a sandwich with a tahini sauce that included not only tahini, miso, lemon juice, and water, but also some more harissa. It was the most delicious thing; it totally made the sandwich.

Harissa Lentil Fritters

(adapted from akshayapaatram)

Ingredients

2 c brown lentils, rinsed

1/2 c chickpeas, pre-soaked and cooked with a bay leaf

1/2 c walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1/3 c diced onion (about 1/2 an onion)

1/3 c diced carrots (about 2 carrots)

1/4 c mint leaves, finely chopped

1/4 c dates, soaked, drained, and chopped

1-2 TB cornstarch

2 TB harissa

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2-1 c bread crumbs (I used panko)

1-3 TB sesame seeds

2-3 TB vegetable Oil

Method

1. In a saucepan combine lentils (reserving ½ cup) and 2.5 cups water along with a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for about 30-40 mins until done. About 10 mins in, add the reserved 1/2 cup of lentils and continue to cook. At the end of cooking time when the initial batch of lentils are tender and yield when pressed between your fingers, the 1/2 c added later will retain some bite and add texture to the burger. Drain the lentils into a colander and set aside to draw out any leftover cooking liquid.
2. In the mean time, heat 1 TB of oil and sauté onions and carrots until slightly softened.
3. To a mixing bowl add the cooked chickpeas and mash them completely using your hand or a potato masher. Add salt, pepper, harissa paste, cooked lentils, sautéed veggies and mash them together to form a dense mixture. If you feel that it’s a little loose add corn starch, 1 TB at a time as needed to get the desired consistency. You should be able to form a patty that holds together. I left the lentils in the fridge overnight, and they got way drier/stickier.
4. Mix bread crumbs and sesame seeds and spread evenly on a plate. Coat the formed patties lightly on both sides with this mixture and arrange them on a plate to rest.
5. Once all the lentil patties are formed cover the plate with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 mins. This will help the lentil mixture to bind and hold together when cooked in the next step.
6. Heat a cast iron/non stick sauté pan with some oil and crisp them slightly on both sides until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and toasted. Since all the ingredients in the mixture were pre-cooked a few minutes on each side will do.
7. Use the patties to assemble a burger or cool completely and transfer to freezer bags and freeze for later. See above for serving suggestions. Made at least 15.

Socca

2011-09-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Not only did I recently make succotash, I also made socca! A kind of chickpea-flour-pancake-thing, this was way better than I anticipated.

I made about a 1/3-1/4 recipe; the limiting factor was the small amount of chickpea flour I had, but this ended up being the perfect amount for one or two. However, the baking time was way less--I used a loaf pan, and the socca was only 2/3 inches thick; it was finished cooking in 30 minutes.

The texture was creamy and crispy, depending on what part you were eating. The flavors were understandably simple, but the onion and fennel really made the dish worth eating. It paired surprisingly well with pozole or some other kind of chili-like stew, filling in for cornbread with a way higher protein content.

Fennel Farinata, Socca or Chickpea Pizza

(from jeanettes healthy living)

Ingredients

1-1.25 c chick pea flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c water

1 TB olive oil

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

fresh ground pepper

Instructions

1. Put the chick pea flour in a bowl, add the water a little at a time, stirring well.
2. When smooth and about the consistency of pancake batter, add the salt.
3. Cover and leave for a minimum of 4 hours at room temperature, or overnight if more convenient.
4. When ready to bake farinata/socca, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. In a small loaf pan, pour enough olive oil to cover the surface. Stir the batter and pour it into the pan. Again stir it well, so that the oil and batter are well incorporated.
6. Scatter sliced onions and sprinkle fennel seeds on top.
7. Bake the farinata for 30 minutes until the top is golden and crusty.
8. Serve it hot, sprinkled with freshy milled pepper, and cut into slices. Serves about 6.

Pozole

2011-09-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, the HEAT WAVE IS OVER! Thank goodness. In keeping with the corn/tomato theme, this soup was my first response to a cool-ish morning. I've been curious about hominy forever, and I think this was actually my first experience cooking with it. It has the most distinctive flavor.

But HANG ON A MINUTE. My sources tell me that pozole once traditionally contained human flesh. So, in a way, as with these witches' finger cookies, this is an instance of vegan cannibalism, which gets me really excited for reasons that may or may not have to do with an embryonic dissertation topic. Cannibalism reminds us that everyone--not just veg*n, allergic, kosher, or halal people--draws lines about what's okay to eat and what isn't. And cannibalism is often vegetarianism's shadow-discourse, like in Melmoth the Wanderer (1820), where the noble vegan savage hears about meat-eating with a shock and disgust (the narrator tells us) that we Westerners would have to hear about cannibalism. Or in Matthew Lewis's Journal of a West Indian Proprietor (1815-18), in which (Lewis tells us) Jamaican slaves refuse to eat vegetables that grow near the burial ground of white people, fearing some kind of physical or spiritual contamination, and in which exotic fruits and vegetables are described as horrifying human body parts, while things like sea turtle and crocodile are simply interesting new foods. There's far too much to be said about this (and about how I want to make something like this!). For now, let's talk about soup.

The original recipe called for a poblano pepper, but I think I ended up with a pasilla? In any case, it wasn't very spicy, so I had to add a serrano as well.

I also--for once--found the soup to be too acidic, so I added a TB of sugar to mellow it out.

Quick Red Posole with Beans

(via made just right)

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large poblano chile (I ended up using a pasilla chile and a serrano)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano

red chile powder, such as ancho, to taste

1 (24-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice, or 2 pounds very juicy fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 (15-ounce) can pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed, or 2 cups cooked

1 (15-ounce) can white cooked hominy, drained and rinsed, or 2 cups cooked

1 c Mexican light-colored beer or vegetable broth

1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

1 TB lime juice

1 TB sugar

Optional Garnishes: chopped fresh cilantro, thinly sliced radishes, chopped fresh tomato, ripe avocado, lime wedges.

Instructions

1. In a large pot, combine the oil and garlic over medium heat. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the onion and poblano chile. Stir and cook until the vegetables are softened and the onion is translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the cumin, oregano, and chile powder and fry for another minute.
3. Now add the diced tomatoes with juice, beans, hominy, stock, and salt. If using fresh tomatoes, you may want to add more beer, water, or vegetable broth if the tomatoes alone don’t provide enough liquid to create a stew. Stir, increase the heat, and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Turn off the heat, stir in the lime juice, and season with freshly ground pepper. Let the posole sit for about 10 minutes prior to serving, to cool slightly and allow the flavors to meld. Serves 3-4.

Edamame Corn Tomato Salad / Succotash

2011-09-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's a perfect end-of-summer salad, just like this green bean guacamole salad, these experimental fruit salads with basil and tomato, and this tofu caprese salad. This salad uses late summer bounty in the form of tomatoes, basil, and corn. I guess by subbing edamame for lima beans, its really a kind of a riff on succotash, in salad form.

In adapting this recipe, I more or less halved it. However, it seemed a bit bland, so then I increased some of the seasonings. It definitely needed a lot of salt and pepper before it felt like a coherent salad. But eventually, after it was seasoned and had sat in the fridge for a few hours, it was delicious. In retrospect, I should have cut the tomatoes smaller, or tried harder to find the cherry tomatoes that the original recipe called for.

Edamame Corn Tomato Salad

(from sometimesiveg)

Ingredients

1/4 red onion, diced

1 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 c edamame

1 c corn kernels

1/2-1 c tomatoes, cut into wedges (smaller pieces would have been better)

1-2 TB fresh basil, chopped

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2-1 tsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a skillet heat olive oil. Saute onion until it begins to brown. Add garlic, cook for about a minute.
2. Add edamame and corn, cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, add tomatoes and basil. Stir well.
4. Add salt balsamic vinegar, lime juice, and salt and pepper. Chill before serving. Serves 4.

Fast things with tofu

2011-09-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

I've gone through a cooking slump the last few weeks: It's been disgustingly hot, and I'm very busy getting ready for the new school year to start and for exams. I have finally started cooking again, but first, here are a few really fast things I've thrown together in lieu of trying new legitimate recipes.

From the game of "which leftovers go together?" Fried tofu with Panang Curry Paste, cilantro, and avocado, with brown rice.

Superfast, kindofpadthai: sauteed tofu; then added garlic, ginger, and carrots; then added cabbage and tamari; then added cooked rice noodles and a mixture of peanut butter, garlic-chili paste, and water. Topped with cilantro.

In other news, my mom has mailed me all the books I had left at her house and never took with me to LA. It's quite the selection of reading material!

Umami and Potatoes

2011-09-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

This dinner was inspired by the tupperware full of mushroom gravy I found in my freezer, and the fact that a short-lived interest in making martinis at home (seriously, how can it be so tricky?) had landed me with a bottle of vermouth. The result? A savory, meat-and-potatoes kind of feast that even this girl's husband (what?!) would probably like.

I cook this kind of food so rarely, it's always a bit like diving into some unfamiliar ethnic cuisine. "Umm...Thyme? Sage? I think that's right... what the fuck is marjoram?" I've realized I'm some sort of acidity monster, and this meal felt almost cloyingly savory-meaty, redeemed by some lemon juice in the greens and the mushrooms as well as the vermouth. I wonder what it is that determines these preferences. Is it genetic? Something that's happened biologically as a result of earlier dietary/lifestyle choices? Or is it more aesthetic? But then, how many factors contribute to one's aesthetic values? Perhaps my investment in balance, brightness, dryness, and bitterness even have something to do with my personality, or my image of my self? All I know is, give me the hoppiest IPA you've got, or a gin-and-soda with lime; I'd rather be sober than drink a hefeweizen or a chardonnay.

Overall, though, this was a delicious, easy feast, especially since the gravy was already made. It tastes like Thanksgiving.

Breaded Tempeh with Sauteed Mushrooms, Roasted New Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy, and Sauteed Collards

The tempeh-mushroom combo was somewhat inspired by the tofu piccata I made last spring. Going off this recipe for breaded tempeh, I steamed the tempeh 10 minutes, then dipped it in soymilk and panko breadcrumbs (successively) and broiled it a few minutes on each side. For the mushrooms, I sauteed 1/2 chopped onion in olive oil, then added 3 cloves minced garlic, then 8 oz sliced mushrooms, then a pinch each sage, thyme, and black pepper; I deglazed the pot with a lot of vermouth, then let it simmer; added a little stock, and simmered until mushrooms were tender and most of the liquid was gone; then finished with a squeeze of lemon juice.

The collards were sauteed in olive oil with onion and garlic; then I added stock (instead of tamari--for that crazy "European" flavor) and finally lemon juice.

Finally, the potatoes, which were topped with mushroom gravy, were washed and cut into wedges, then boiled 5-10 min in salted water (until slightly pokeable with a fork); tossed with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and black pepper; and broiled several minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. I pre-boiled the potatoes so as to have the oven on for as short a time as possible in the heat!

Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut, Cardamom, and Cashews

2011-09-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

I used to think cold soups were gross, but looking over the posts of the past month, I must have come around in a big way. I made this tongue-twister of a soup to go with that Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad. Richly creamy (coconut milk AND cashews!), yet not overly heavy, and brightened up slightly by ginger, this dish was a great complement to the much more acidic noodle salad.

Pureed soups are creamy anyway, like this carrot ginger soup I made last year. Adding both coconut milk and cashews seemed extravagant, but it's really not too much of either, especially considering how large of a batch this recipe makes. Simple and delicious, I will definitely be making this soup again (misplaced modifiers be damned).

As we were sitting down to eat this soup, I realized how pretty it would look garnished with additional coconut milk! But alas, none remained.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut, Cardamom, and Cashews

(from vegalicious)

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 onion, diced

10 carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 TB fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp cayenne

4 c of vegetable stock

1 c coconut milk

1 c cashews

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium to large sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion and carrots. Cook about 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic, ginger, cardamom, and cayenne. Cook a few minutes more.
3. Add stock and cashews, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft.
4. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool, then puree, adding coconut milk, until very smooth.
5. Season to taste with salt and more cayenne, keeping in mind that the stock already had salt in it. Serve hot or chilled, garnished with additional coconut milk, minced scallions, a few cashews, etc. Serves 4-6.

Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad with a Sweet Chili Dressing

2011-09-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

It looks as though the heatwave here has finally passed. Last weekend it was over 100 in my part of town, when it's barely topped 85 all summer. The desire to cook and to eat both take a hit when it's so hot, but this salad from taste space looked so interesting, refreshing, delicious, and just pretty, I knew I had to try it. But my neighborhood supermarket, although it has phenomenal produce, bulk goods, and strange imported pickled things, is not the best place to buy tofu. Nor have they had asparagus for months. By substituting chickpeas for tofu (inspired by yet another asparagus-fruit recipe), green beans for asparagus, and regular noodles for spiralized zucchini, we were able to make this awesome salad without making a more involved grocery run.

I chose to make this noodle salad and a chilled carrot soup because they were cold and refreshing. I didn't think about how much heat I'd have to use to create said refreshingness! Although in the original version Janet grilled the veggies outside, I don't have that option, and roasting in the oven really heated up my apartment.

The finished product, though, was delicious: chewy, salty eggplant and green beans; buttery tangy mango; crisp onions; aromatic basil and cilantro; and zingy vinegar and chili. The overall product was ever so slightly too vinegary for my tastes, but I also didn't use quite enough noodles. Anyway, I will definitely make a salad like this again--it would be easy to improvise some fun variations.

Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad with a Sweet Chili Dressing

(adapted from taste space)

Instructions

1/6-1/4 c rice vinegar

1 TB agave or honey (omitted, partly because I had pre-seasoned rice vinegar)

1/4 tsp salt (omitted, partly because I had pre-seasoned rice vinegar)

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

zest and juice from 1 lime

1 1/2 c chickpeas

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB toasted sesame oil

3/4 lb Asian eggplant (around 2), sliced lengthwise into 1.5-cm strips

3/4 lb green beans, trimmed

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced or diced, soaked in water for at least 10 minutes, then drained

1 large or 2 small mangoes, cubed

large bunch basil, chopped

small bunch cilantro, chopped

8 oz soba noodles, cooked

Instructions

1. Combine the rice vinegar, agave, salt, garlic, chili flakes, toasted sesame oil, lime zest and juice. Stir and set aside.
2. Marinate your chickpeas with the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil for 5 minutes or so.
3. If you had big eggplants, definitely salt your eggplant for 30 minutes or so. The smaller Asian ones don’t need it. If salting, after salting, rinse off the salt and drain off excess water. Drizzle with a bit of oil and spread out on an oiled baking sheet. Toss the green beans with a bit of oil, salt and pepper and spread them out on a second baking sheet.
4. Roast both the eggplant and the green beans in the oven at 375. For me the eggplant took longer: about 30 minutes, flipping midway, and broiling at the very end. Remove the eggplant when soft and slightly golden; remove the beans when bright green and starting to blister. Chop the eggplant into chunks when slightly cooled.
5. To assemble the salad, toss together the noodles, chickpeas, grilled eggplant and green beans, onion, mango, basil, cilantro and the dressing. Serves 4-6.

Moong Dal Parathas

2011-09-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

It's bread and dal all in one.

You make them separately and then you bind up the beans in a little dough pouch.

And then you roll it out (messy!) and cook it. This is a good way to round out a vegetable dish, like my favorite baingan bharta, which doesn't have much protein on its own.

Moong Dal Paratha

(from 365 days of pure vegetarian)

Ingredients

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 c mung beans, rinsed (and soaked?)

1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

juice of 1/2 lime or lemon, to taste

salt to taste

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro chopped

1 c whole wheat flour

oil for cooking

Instructions

1. In a non-stick pan, add 1/2 tsp oil, add cumin seeds and onion. Then add the moong bean, sauté, add some water, cover with a lid and let it cook until soft. Keep an eye if the water drains to prevent burning of moong bean. Once cooked and water has evaporated, add the chili powder, coriander powder, lime juice, turmeric powder, salt, mix well and turn off the heat; let it cool. Then add cilantro.
2. Mix 1/4-1/2 tsp salt with flour and slowly add some water to it until it forms a dough to be able to roll. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let is sit aside for at least 20 mins. Take a small piece of dough and place it between your palms, make a round ball. With a rolling pin, roll the dough, sprinkle some wheat flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Roll to about 5 inches in diameter. Place a spoonful of moong bean in the center of the dough, pull the edges of the dough and cover the stuffing. Roll the dough further into a thin round shape about 10 inches in diameter.
3. Heat a pan, place the rolled paratha. After about 1 minute on medium flame, flip it. After about 2 mins, drizzle 1/2 tsp oil on top of the paratha then flip it again. Press it with a spatula all over to form a golden brown color. Flip it to cook on the other side and get golden brown. Take it off from heat and serve hot. Makes about 16 parathas.

Gluten Free Brownies with Walnuts

2011-08-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

So, again, I've been meaning to get into more gluten-free baking, but some commonly-used ingredients are expensive and/or hard to find. I was surprised to see at my local Jon's recently these particular nondescript shakers (I've gotten everything from za'atar to flaxseeds in these shakers).

Now, I know that serious gluten-free baking would need to use more reassuringly gluten-free ingredients (like Bob's Red Mill or something). But let's be honest, the ghost of glutinous baking projects past is probably haunting every corner of my kitchen; it'll never be totally pure.

I'd also like to point out the prices of these items, AND the fact that I also purchased "Awesome Bleach" that day.

Anyway, weeks passed and nothing happened to my weird little cannisters. I also had a pound of dates still sitting in my fridge from when I made the crust for the frozen raspberry cashew cake last month. And then a recipe comes along that calls for exactly what you have! Well, except for the cherries in Chocolate Chip Cherry Brownies.

In replacing the 1 cup of cherries, I thought about maintaining the same approximate amount of sweetness, pectin, and just plain bulk. I ended up using 1/4 c additional dates and 3/4 c walnuts. Sadly, I didn't have quite enough chocolate chips, so I ended up just melting the entire 1 3/4 c that I had, rather than melting 1 1/2 c and folding in an additional 3/4 c later. I also used soymilk instead of almond milk, and I chopped and soaked the dates in the milk before processing to give them a head start.

I love the idea of using a date-and-milk puree as a base! The pectin in the dates makes the liquid so thick.

The batter tasted pretty great; it was incredibly sticky and fudgy.

And indeed, the finished product, straight out of the oven, was also fudgy and delicious. The next day, though, the texture was a little bit dry and mealy. I'm going to try reheating them, but I think these are best eaten right after baking--which has nothing to do with their lack of gluten--what brownie doesn't taste best when it's still warm from the oven?

Gluten Free Brownies with Walnuts

(adapted from manifest vegan)

Ingredients

about 16 dates

1/2 c nondairy milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 c non-dairy chocolate chips, divided

1 c superfine brown rice flour

1/3 c potato starch

1 tsp salt

3/4 c walnuts, toasted

Instructions

1. Soak the dates, coarsely chopped, in the nondairy milk. Preheat oven to 350*. Oil a an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.
2. Combine pitted dates and non-dairy milk, and vanilla into food processor and puree until very smooth.
3. Over double boiler, melt 1 1/2 c chocolate chips. Pour the melted chocolate into the date mixture and blend again until super smooth.
4. In large mixing bowl combine brown rice flour and potato starch and salt
and mix until well combined. Fold in remaining chocolate chips and toasted walnuts.
5. Transfer to pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, then allow to cool before cutting into squares and serving.

Channa Masala (again!)

2011-08-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

This version of chan(n)a masala comes from Renae at ieatfood. I tried it because it's rather different than either of the versions I make: this one I've posted, or the longer version in The Asian Vegan Kitchen from which it's adapted. This recipe, unlike the others, uses mustard seed, fenugreek seed, and amchoor, all of which give it a more pungent flavor profile. While I think I prefer the spicy and toasty flavors of the other versions, it's fun to see how changing a few spices makes such a huge difference.

In making Renae's recipe, I used all canned tomatoes instead of a mixture of tomatoes and tomato paste and fresh ginger instead of dried. I omitted paprika and asafoetida, and I switched around the order of some of the ingredients.

Channa Masala

(from i eat food)

Ingredients

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 TB chopped fresh ginger

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp (or to taste) cayenne pepper

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

1 TB amchoor (dried mango powder; can substitute lemon juice, which you would add at the end of the cooking time)

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp (or to taste) salt

4 c cooked chickpeas

1/2 c frozen peas, optional (I like to have at least a bit of green in everything I make)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds and cover until they begin to splutter. Don't let them burn!
2. Add fenugreek, cumin, and onion, and saute 5-10 minutes, until onion is slightly browned.
3. Add garlic and ginger and cook several minutes longer.
4. Add remaining ingredients except chickpeas and, um, pea peas. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or so.
5. Add chickpeas and simmer 30 minutes or so, adding water if the sauce gets too dry.
6. Add peas just before serving. Serves about 8.

Beet Coconut Soup

2011-08-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

Beets are like the perfect vegetable from outer space, and mixing them with coconut milk only further brightened up their crazy color.

Devon and I made this soup going off a recipe from the ppk, but we used regular ol' beets (not golden ones), omitted the sweetener, added a TON of lime juice, and made a half batch. Warm or chilled, it's pretty nice.

Beet-Coconut-Ginger Soup

(from the ppk)

Ingredients

2 lbs beets (about 6-8 beets?), trimmed and scrubbed

1 15 oz can lite coconut milk

3 TB fresh lime juice (more to taste)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 TB fresh minced ginger

1 1/2 to 2 c vegetable broth

thinly sliced scallions and/or chopped cilantro--you could probably pull off mint, too

Instructions

1. The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the beets, and that’s not even hard, it just takes a while. Look for beets that are somewhere between the size of a golfball and a tennis ball, so that they roast quickly and evenly.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Wrap the scrubbed beets individually in tin foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about an hour, turning once about halfway through. Beets are ready when very easily pierced with a steak knife.
3. Let them cool (still in the tinfoil) for about an hour. They’ll keep softening as they cool, and that is good! Place in the fridge to cool completely.
4. Once cool, unwrap the beets, slide off the peel, and place in a blender or food processor. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and salt and puree until relatively smooth.
5. Preheat a small pan over medium-low heat, and saute the ginger and garlic for no more than a minute, being careful not to burn. Add 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth to deglaze the pan, and turn off the heat.
6. Transfer the garlic/ginger/veg broth mixture to the food processor, and puree until very smooth and velvetty. Taste for salt and seasonings, and add a tiny bit of agave or maple syrup if you’d like it a tad sweeter.
7. Place in the fridge (while still in the blender) and chill for at least an hour. It should be cold all the way through. If it’s too thick, add up to another 1/2 cup vegetable broth and blend again.
8. Serve topped with scallions and/or cilantro. Serves 8.

I also recently tried to make this peach jam I saw on akshayapaatram. Crystallized ginger?! Lemon zest?! Why, yes! But the nectarines I tried to use just weren't up to the task; no amount of sugar or spices was going to fix them.

Zucchini Baba Ganoush

2011-08-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Hannah's recipe at Bittersweet, this version of baba ganoush uses summer squash instead of eggplant, and it's amazing how much like the original it tastes! For me, it's the smoked flavor that really gives baba ganoush its character, but since the skin on squash is so different than on an eggplant, I wasn't sure you could set it on fire and then just peel the skin off. Using 1/8 tsp of liquid smoke, however, worked perfectly (but use too much, and things just taste weird). For ultimate smokiness, I also toasted the cumin I used whole before grinding it and adding it to the mix. I also used more cumin and more lemon juice than Hannah--basically, I did whatever I'd do to make the eggplant version (and I've just realized that I have never actually posted a basic recipe with amounts on this blog; this one with mint leaves everything to taste). Finally, I skipped the salt and pepper (besides a little salt in the roasting process), relying instead on harissa for all kinds of flavor (like in this hummus).

I also made a few little changes in method: Instead of zucchini I used those cute little Mexican squashes, which are about half the price of zucchini in my neighborhood. I peeled the garlic before roasting it, and have since realized that peeling the squash as well would have resulted in a more even and more eggplant-like appearance. I didn't bother to line the pan with foil, and I had to turn on the broiler at the end to get the veggies that beautiful golden color.

In the end, this was a super-creamy, interesting, and delicious spread. Since I have some reservations about eggplants--and since these little squashes are SO cheap right now--I'll definitely be making this again.

Zucchini Baba Ganoush

(adapted from bittersweet)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds zucchini or other summer squash (2 large, 3 medium, 4 small?), peeled if you want

6-8 cloves garlic, peeled

1 TB olive oil

pinch salt

3 TB tahini

juice of 1 large lemon

1/4-1/2 tsp whole cumin, toasted and ground

1/8 tsp liquid smoke

large dollop harissa (or black pepper, or cayenne), to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400* and oil a large baking sheet. Slice the zucchini into 1/4-in thick slices and toss them in oil with a pinch of salt. Spread them out on the baking sheet, and place the whole cloves of garlic grouped in the center of the sheet so that they don’t burn. Roast for 30 minutes (flipping once), then broil a few minutes, until the zucchini are nicely browned. Let cool.
2. Once the vegetables have come to room temperature, puree the roasted zucchini and the garlic in a blender or food processor. Add in the tahini, lemon juice, cumin, and liquid smoke. Adjust seasonings to taste, then serve, garnished with a big dollop of harissa. It will be better if it sits in the fridge for at least a few hours first.

Summer Sweet Corn Soup w/Basil Oil

2011-08-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

There's something comforting about the fact that even in Southern California in 2011, when you can really get anything at any time of the year, the end of summer inevitably brings with it a slew of seasonal tastes and recipes. It's all the more comforting given that they're the same here as they are in the Midwest where I grew up. August comes, and suddenly tomatoes, basil, squash, sweet corn, and beets are everywhere. These simple foods taste of weeks and weeks of sunlight and humidity; they come at the most fertile moment of the year... and yet for that very same reason, they're always tinged with a bittersweet belatedness. This was especially true last August; behind all those tomato squash basil dishes is the fact that two of the most important people in my LA life were moving to the Bay Area and my little brother was moving to Egypt.

August is not the cruellest month, but it is a strange month.

This soup, which takes advantage of fresh sweet corn and basil, can be served hot or cold, depending on what form August is taking where you are. It paired nicely with the 11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates and some salad greens (at left). I reduced the amount of carrot and increased that of corn; I also fully pureed the soup to make it prettier. I did, for the first time in my life, feel that there was too much thyme--start low, and remember you can always add more to taste later. I was going to call this post "Too much thyme on my hands," but I couldn't figure out how to make it work with the fall/belatedness stuff.

The basil oil recipe that follows is great! I used it not only on this soup, but also as a salad dressing and on this week's ravioli. I think it would also be pretty incredible on some really fresh tomatoes.

Summer Sweet Corn Soup w/Basil Oil Drizzle

(from an opera singer in the kitchen)

Ingredients

4 sweet corn ears, husked

2 TB olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

1 c yellow onions, finely diced

3 c vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

fresh thyme leaves (if substituting dried thyme, don't overdo it!--maybe 1/2 tsp?)

salt and pepper

1 recipe fresh basil oil (below)

Instructions

1. Cut the corn from the cobs and discard the cobs. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the corn, garlic, celery, carrots, and onions and cook until slightly caramelized, 4-5 minutes.
2. Add the broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
3. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Using an immersion blender, puree 2/3 of the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Serve hot or cold with a drizzle of basil oil. Serves about 6.

Basil Oil Drizzle

(from an opera singer in the kitchen)

Ingredients

1/3 c olive oil

3 TB fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

In a small saucepan add the ingredients and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Strain basil and drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of oil over each bowl of soup.

Ravioli Adventure

2011-08-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

As I was in the middle of this, I texted a friend, "Fuck this shit. I'm calling Chef Boyardee." But then... the feeling of accomplishment and the deliciousness that followed were actually pretty great.

And anyway, this is a dish of components. You can make the filling and the sauce well in advance; hell. you can even freeze and thaw them multiple times, as I did with this ground cauliflower-walnut meat. The timing actually worked out really well: first, I made the filling; then, while the filling was cooling, I made the pasta dough; while the dough was sitting, I started the sauce; while the sauce was simmering, I started rolling out the pasta, then cutting it into shapes and making the raviolis; while one bunch of raviolis were simmering on the stove, I was putting together the next bunch.

So the sauce was pretty basic: olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, canned tomatoes with chilies, basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, cayenne, sugar. What follows is 1) the filling and 2) the pasta dough/method.

For the filling, I started with the savory ground cauliflower-walnut slop that I posted about months ago. This turned out amazing inside of the ravioli, because the walnuts maintained their crunch, giving the filling more texture than most versions (vegan or otherwise) would. However, I think you could easily also do this with plain ol' TVP or crumbled tempeh. In any case, it's not pretty, but a) it's going inside of a ravioli, so who cares? and b) ground beef is a whole lot nastier.

Meaty Ravioli Filling

Ingredients

olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-1.5 c something meaty (I used savory ground cauliflower-walnut slop but you could also use plain TVP or crumbled tempeh)

1/2 c red wine

2 TB tomato paste

allspice, to taste

oregano, to taste

cayenne, to taste

nutritional yeast, to taste

salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, heat olive oil. Saute onions 5-10 min, then add garlic and a pinch of salt. Saute a few more minutes, then add "meat." Saute a few more minutes until browned.
2. Deglaze pan with the wine. Then also add tomato paste and remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and cook 5-10 more minutes--at least long enough for the alcohol smell to subside.

And now for the pasta! I had to look around a bit for a recipe that used neither eggs nor semolina flour, but what I found worked like a dream (though I had to add a LOT more flour to balance out the water that the recipe called for). Moreover, the chickpea flour in it adds fiber and protein. I'm not exactly sure what the chickpea flour does for the consistency of the pasta, but this recipe seemed just right, despite the fact that I'd read that skipping the semolina flour would make your pasta mushier.

I've mapped out the timing for this process up above; the main thing is to give yourself more time than you think you need.

Homemade Ravioli

(adapted from vegan-food.net)

Instructions

1 2/3 c unbleached white flour (plus a lot more for kneading/flouring)

1/2 c chickpea flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c water

1 batch ravioli filling (see above)

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, chickpea flour, and salt. Mix with a fork, then drizzle in water and mix well.
2. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes until dough is firm and dry. Place dough in a sealed ziploc bag for 10 minutes.
3. Open bag and cut dough into 8 separate pieces. Leave the pieces you aren't using in the bag.
4. Roll out each piece on floured surface until quite thin. Leave on a drying rack or hanging on a chair back to dry out for 5-10 min.
5. Start boiling a shallow pot of slightly salted water.
6. Return to each rolled out piece and, using a floured cookie cutter, cut the dough into pieces. Then, scoop a heaping teaspoon onto every other piece (adjust this depending on the size of your cutout).
7. Slightly wet the edges of every other piece of dough, then assemble the ravioli, sealing the edges with the tines of a fork.
8. Put the completed ravioli into the boiling water (make sure it isn't boiling so hard that the ravioli are going to fall apart), only a few at a time. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then remove. Serve hot with sauce, or refridgerate or freeze for later. Makes about 30 3x3-in raviolis.

11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates

2011-08-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

When Janet described this as "The Best Lentil Salad, Ever. For Sure. Make. This. Now.", I sort of had to take her seriously. And the lineup of flavors sounded really cool:

This recipe not only uses a combo of cumin/coriander/turmeric with cardamom/cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg; it does a similar curve ball with the pairing of dried fruit (I used dates) and capers/vinegar. It's basically a party in your mouth.

I didn't change much, but I did use plain ol' brown lentils instead of du Puy--they don't retain their form quite as well as those fancy French ones, but as long as you are careful to watch for overcooking, they worked just fine. I also skipped the Aleppo pepper and used cayenne.

11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates

from taste space)

Ingredients

2.25 c (1 lb) French du Puy or brown lentils

1 medium red onion, finely diced and soaked in water for at least 5 minutes

1 c dried currants (or other dried fruit--I used chopped dates)

1/3 c capers, chopped if large

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

1 TB maple syrup

1 TB strong mustard

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp cayenne (or less)

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Rinse lentils well and drain. Place in a pot and cover with a 3-4 inches of water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Check lentils for doneness after 15 minutes, but they should take about 20-25 minutes in total. You will know they are cooked if they still retain a slight tooth – al dente! Overcooking the lentils is the death of this dish. Be careful!
2. While the lentils are simmering, make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine.
3. Finely dice red onion – the salad is best if all the ingredients are about the same size. If using raisins, chop them roughly to make them a bit smaller, and do the same with the capers if they are large.
4. When the lentils are cooked, remove from heat, drain and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled slightly but still a little warm, place lentils in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing. Add drained onion, capers, and currants. Chill until serving, marinading at least overnight for the flavours to meld.
Serves 8.

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Dukkah

2011-08-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

You know how when you get a new computer, even if it's nicer, it just feels awkward and wrong? The operating system, the keyboard, everything.

["You use a PC? But you're a vegan!" -- one of my professors...]

Anyway, that's how I'm feeling about my new laptop and the photo editing software on it, and also about the digital camera I got earlier this year. Growing pains. #firstworldproblems.

And I think about how someone who didn't use her computer as often as I did probably wouldn't have such of an adjustment to make. Similarly, the more comfortable you are in your own kitchen, the more that cooking in someone else's kitchen feels so hard--even if they DO have cool new ingredients and gadgets and counter space.

Anyway, this dish and the tofu caprese salad came out of me bringing whatever in my fridge was going to go bad to a housesitting gig, plus what they had sitting around. I also made some collards with harissa (YUM--sort of like this kale recipe) for the same reasons.

Despite my awareness of this tendency, I continue to overlook cauliflower. But when I saw this recipe on taste space, I got excited about finally using up my dukkah, as well as the cauliflower that was left over from making rasa kayi.

Janet's dukkah recipe includes coconut, and I really wanted to include that, but I didn't have any on hand. I also added the dukkah at the beginning rather than the end, with no adverse results. Finally, at the end the dish really needed a squirt of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from being a lil mealy. When all was said and done, it was really lovely--starchy/hearty but interesting in terms of taste and texture.

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Dukkah

(from taste space)

Ingredients

2 lb cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces (1 large head)

2 c cooked chickpeas (or a 19-oz can of chickpeas, rinsed well and drained)

2 TB extra virgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp sea salt, or to taste

4 TB dukkah, or the following:
(since the dukkah recipe I use doesn't include coconut, I would add that!)

* 1.5 TB blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped

* 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

* 1/2 TB cumin seeds, toasted and ground

* 1/2 TB sesame seeds, toasted and ground

* 1 TB unsweetened dried shredded coconut, toasted and ground

pinch salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper
lemon juice
additional olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. If making your dukkah, now, separately toast the almonds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and coconut. Grind each individually, then combine all together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Combine cauliflower florets (include all the little bits!) and chickpeas. Toss with olive oil and salt, to taste. Lay in a single layer on two baking trays lined with a silpat.
4. Roast for 20-40 minutes until top edges are golden brown. Check at 20 minutes, if it isn’t done, toss to have them evenly roast. Once out of the oven, top with dukkah. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Caprese Salad

2011-08-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hearkening back to the time of the experimental fruit salads of last summer... I was like, I have tomatoes. I have basil. Let's make this work.

Fried tofu stands in here for the traditional caprese's mozzarella. It's then jazzed up with lemon juice, scallions, red sea salt (a special house-sitting find!), and one last drizzle of olive oil.

Tofu Caprese Salad

Ingredients

oil

tofu, pressed and cut into little pieces

tomatoes (cherry or otherwise), cut into bite-sized pieces

salt (I used this red sea salt)

lemon juice

olive oil

basil, chiffonade cut

scallions, minced

Instructions

1. Fry tofu pieces until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Combine tofu with remaining ingredients. Adjust to taste, and place in fridge, allowing flavors to mix before serving.

Crispy Tempeh

2011-08-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

I picked up some panko breadcrumbs at TJ's and had to play with them.

Breadcrumbs are magic.

Crispy Tempeh

(from little house of veggies)

Ingredients

1 8-ounce pkg. of tempeh, cut into cubes

4 c water

1/4 c soy sauce

1/2 c unsweetened nondairy milk

1/2 c whole wheat flour (didn't need this much)

1/2 c plain unseasoned breadcrumbs (used panko)

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

1. Simmer tempeh in tamari-seasoned water for about 20 min. Remove and let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 425*. Oil a baking dish.
3. Fill one bowl/plate with almond milk, one with the flour mixed with onion powder, chili powder, and garlic powder, and one with breadcrumbs. Dip in milk, flour, milk again, and breadcrumbs. Bake the tempeh for 18-20 minutes until crispy on the outside. Serves about 2-3.

Buckaroo Beans and Homemade Polenta

2011-08-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

The word "buckaroo," according to wikipedia, most likely derives from the Spanish word "vaquero" and essentially means "cowboy." Would a cowboy eat these beans? I'm not sure. On the one hand, there's a nice element of tex-mex-ish fusion, what with the chipotles and cocoa. On the other hand, this is a lil too complicated to make, like out of a can out on the range or whatever.

This recipe employs dry mustard, chipotles, coffee, and chocolate!! which results in an awesome tangy, smoky, velvety, and earthy dish.

I had this recipe two ways, both of which I'd recommend: first, with fried collards and brown rice (typical macro-southern fusion); and secondly, with homemade polenta: although trader joe's polenta is cheap, easy, and tasty, I thought I'd try my hand at doing it from scratch, since I didn't have any other polenta options. I simmered 1/2 c cornmeal in several c of water until all the water was absorbed (which happened really fast), then I put it into little cups (see photo at right) and refrigerated them a few hours. Then, slice and fry!

So about this recipe. I used 1 c dry black beans; I couldn't decide how much this was (the original recipe called for one pound), so I started off making a "half" but then lapsed into whole. This meant that the dish ended up really saucy rather than beany, but still good. Indeed, according to some random site I google, 1 lb dry beans is actually 2.2 c. Maybe I should get a kitchen scale.

I also omitted the bell pepper, bacon bits (ew), and extra liquid. I mistakenly used whole chipotles en adobo instead of cutting them up (whoops). And finally, I used cocoa powder rather than chocolate--this, I think, was just fine and also healthier.

Buckaroo Beans

(adapted from frontier coop, via Janet's suggestions on my post about chili powder)

Ingredients

1-2 c dry beans, soaked (I used 1 c dry black beans)

2 bay leaves

1/2-1 large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, seeds and membrane removed, chopped (I skipped this)

2-3 canned chipotle peppers en adobo, diced, with their sauce

2-4 TB cocoa powder

1/2-1 c canned crushed tomatoes (I used 1/4 c tomato paste w/some water)

1 c very strong coffee

3 TB brown sugar

1 TB chili powder

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dry mustard

oil

Directions

1. Drain the beans well, rinse, and place in a large pot with fresh water to cover. Add the bay leaves and place over high heat. Bring to boil; lower heat and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes for anasazi, 1 1/2 hours for pintos. Remove from heat. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
3. Spray a bean pot or other deep, nonreactive casserole with cooking spray. Scatter the onion and green pepper over the bottom, then add the drained beans.
4. Whisk the chipotles and adobe sauce, unsweetened chocolate, crushed tomatoes, coffee, brown sugar, chili powder, oregano (crush the leaves between your fingers as you add it, to release the essential oils), salt, ground cumin, and dry mustard into the reserved bean cooking liquid. When well combined, pour over the beans. The liquid should just cover the beans; if it doesn't, add just enough boiling water, coffee, or vegetable stock to achieve this. Cover and bake for 6 hours, checking every once in a while to make sure the liquid level is maintained.
5. After the beans have baked for 6 hours, uncover. Stir to distribute the onion and green pepper throughout the beans. Return to oven and bake for 50 minutes more. If using, stir in bacon bits and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve hot, with cornbread or tortillas, and pass any desired accompaniments at the table. Serves 4-6.

Rasa Kayi

2011-08-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

Besides the eggplant-based Rasa Vangi, the other amazing dish I had at Rasa last month in London was Rasa Kayi, which apparently comes from Karnataka, to the north of Kerala (I think most of the dishes at the restaurant were from Kerala). I looked around online for a recipe that included cinnamon and cardamom, because they were what really gave the dish its particular flavor, especially paired with the coconut milk. Yum--I love the possibility of using coconut milk rather than yogurt in a curry.

Unlike the eggplant recipe, this recipe was very specific about amounts and cooking times, and it worked out great: the veggies were all cooked to perfection, tender but not mushy. And the flavors are an extravaganza: the warmth of coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom, and fennel are balanced out by the brighter flavors of tomato and ginger. Definitely a keeper.

Rasa Kayi (Karnataka Curry)

(from chef2chef)

Ingredients

3 tomatoes

1 whole green chile, seeded and finely chopped

1 piece fresh ginger (1-inch), chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted

3 TB vegetable oil

2 whole green chiles; trimmed, halved lengthwise

1 cinnamon stick

contents of 2 cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

pinch salt

3 medium onions; finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chile powder (I omitted this because I was worried about it being too spicy for my guest; you can always add it to taste later)

2 tsp ground coriander

1 lg carrot; cut into 2in batons

1 sm potato; cut into 2in batons

2 oz cauliflower florets; small

2 oz fine green beans; trimmed

1/3 c coconut milk; more or less

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Put the tomatoes, chopped chile, ginger and fennel seeds into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the halved chiles, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and caramelized. Stir in the turmeric, chile powder and coriander and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the carrot, potato and 5 tablespoons water, cover and cook over a low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the cauliflower florets, green beans and tomato mixture. Cover and cook over a low heat for a further 10 minutes until all the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and cook over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to heat through. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Rasa Vangi

2011-08-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

It always gets me when people talk about "curry" as if it were a dish, a spice, or a food group. Insofar as it is anything--stretching from Japan to Thailand to Pakistan to India--curry is a method of cooking, which may involve frying spices in oil or ghee before turning them into a sauce. To talk about "curry" as if it meant "Indian food" is like talking about French food by using the word "bake." "Oh, we went out to this darling little ethnic restaurant last night and we had some bake." Never mind that even French food differs depending on the part of the country you're in; never mind that "bake" could refer to many different dishes; never mind that "bake" excludes a large part of the cuisine of the country with which it's being somewhat awkwardly associated. And, never mind that the word also suggests the cuisine of one nation, when in reality many nations make those type of dishes. Anyway.

Did you know that in Britain all the Asians who aren't "South Asian" (i.e., Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan, or Bangladeshi) have to check "Chinese or other" on their census forms? It's nice to know that Americans aren't the only ones whose census has some issues.

So on to the really awesome stuff.

This was the second-most-life-changing curry we had at Rasa. I think it ended up better than the version we had at the restaurant, but I'm not sure why. I found this recipe online, and I kindof loved how it didn't have ANY measurements! Let's just think about the hegemony of the measurement. Sometimes I make up measurements to make my recipes sound legit. But I felt liberated and delighted by a recipe that was like, "add some of this; then add some of this." And you know what? It turned out really awesome.

Then again, I recorded my own measurements for you. So the measurement rears its head again.

I find it interesting how similar, and yet how different, this recipe is to the baingan bharta that I adore. Here there be sesame seeds, coconut, tamarind, and mustard seeds!

It was so delicious. The eggplant was tender, with the consistency of a poached pear, and the spices were exquisite. Sarah said that it was "restaurant quality," which I'm gonna take as a compliment.

Rasa Vangi

(adapted from this blog)

Ingredients

3 small eggplants, sliced

masala

1 stick cinnamon

1 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 red chile, dried

1 TB coconut

gravy

1 large onion, chopped

2 small tomatoes, chopped

1-2 green chillis

tamarind (the recipe calls for a "lemon sized" chunk of tamarind; I used 1 tsp of the concentrated paste)

1/2 tsp ground coriander

cayenne to taste

seasoning

canola oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

Instructions

1. Cut the eggplants in to quarters and fry them golden brown in oil.
2. Extract tamarind pulp and add two glasses of water to it and keep aside.
3. In the meanwhile grind all the ingredients for the masala to a fine powder (I toasted them first, individually, to bring out the flavors).
4. Now in a wok add some oil and fry mustard seeds. Now add finely chopped onions and green chillis and saute well. Add chopped tomatoes to it and cook it well. Add coriander powder, chilli powder and salt and stir. Now add the tamarind water and the ground masala powder.
5. Now bring the mix to a boil and add the fried eggplants to it.
6. Let it cook till the gravy thickens.Add chopped cilantro leaves before closing the lid. Serves about 4.

London Recap

2011-08-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I've been wandering through pretty much each charter'd street this past month, and what a seriously amazing month it has been!

Still, I've been living in a little hotel room with a tiny kitchen, cooking things that require no chopping and few ingredients. This was probably the best "home-cooked" meal:

spaghetti with "harissa" (about which more later), salt, oregano, and cayenne; lentils with salt, oregano, and cayenne; steamed greens with salt, cayenne, and a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar

About that "harissa"... I feel like the label speaks for itself.

Not. remotely. spicy. Three lil chilies? Really??? Only in England.

The other lowpoint (just wait, I'm getting to the super high points!) is beer in England. Most of it's not technically vegan (or even vegetarian); moreover, it's forced into this binary of lagers and ales. The lagers are all pretty boring (Beck's, Stella, etc.), and the ales are mostly boring in their own way (flat, heavy, yeasty, bland). I seriously craved something dry, fizzy, hoppy, and interesting--this doesn't appear to exist in the UK. Among the, ahem, several beers I tasted while in England, I found two I really did like: Fuller's ESB and Hook Norton Haymaker. Fuller's is fizzy but ale-y, like an American amber or pale ale. The Hook Norton may have been an English ale--which means its pumped and not fizzy--but it was hoppier and fresher-tasting than most of the others I tried.

And yeah. Most English beers are actually not even vegetarian. Apparently Fuller's is and Hook Norton isn't. Eek. I pick my battles. The idea that "vegan" is a clearly defined, easy-to-observe category is a delusion.

And now the really good stuff!

I had one of the best meals of my life at Rasa, a Keralian restaurant in Stoke Newington. Recipes definitely forthcoming. I went there twice. On the first visit, we had 1) a nair dosa, stuffed not only with potatoes and spices but also with beets, carrots, and ginger; 2) rasa vangi, an eggplant curry; 3) a black-eyed pea curry (w/coconut!); 4) tomato rice (with coconut milk and cashews); and 5) some whole wheat chappatis. But the real star of the meal was 6) rasa kayi. Good gods. It's "a mixed vegetable speciality from the Southern State of Karnataka. A spicy curry made of beans, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes and simmered in a sauce of garlic, ginger and fennel." We also tasted cinnamon and cardamom in addition to the fennel... basically, it was perfect. I WILL recreate this dish if it's the last thing I do. :)

So I went back a second time, with other friends, and we had amazing kathrikka ("finely sliced pieces of aubergines are dipped in a special batter, blended with coriander and chilli, before frying. Served with a fresh tomato chutney"); spicy potatoes ("A combination of potatoes, peas and peppers stir fried with onions, cloves, black pepper and tomatoes"); coconut rice; parathas; and the glorious return of the nair dosa and rasa kayi. What's really incredible? We had all this food, plus three beers, and the bill was only 30 pounds! I'm about ready to move to Stoke Newington. It's a bit of a commute to UCLA, though.

While in England, my professor Saree also took me and my colleague Alex to two gastopubs in Clerkenwell that were fantastic: The Eagle and The Easton. The Eagle had a velvety chickpea-eggplantstew on the menu; it had lots of cumin, with slightly sour and caramelly flavors, and a buttload of cilantro (I mean, "coriander leaf"). We also had some fantastic garlicky olives and bread with our meal. At the Easton, there was nothing really vegan on the menu, but when I talked to the waitress, she had the kitchen make me an amazing entree salad with couscous and roasted garlic, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts.

Then for the runners-up round:

After a seriously epic walking tour of East London, we stopped at Tayyabs in Whitechapel for dinner. It sort of reminded me of Jitlada in my neighborhood in LA--an amazing "ethnic" restaurant that has been discovered by white people and has consequently resulted in crowds, higher prices, and crappier service... but is still more or less worth it for the excellent food. I ate: papadums and chutneys, pakoras, veggie samosas, dhall karela (lentils and pumpkin!), rice. However, the place is really known for its grilled meat, and I think the people who ate that were more impressed than I was.

Finally, I really wanted a full English breakfast. Thanks to quarrygirl, I heard about Inspiral Cafe in Camden Town. And this is what I got:

tofu scramble (with dill!?); roasted mushrooms; beans (chickpeas, canellinis, kidney beans, tomatoes, grated carrots); tempeh bacon; housemade veg sausage; roasted tomatoes; toast

The roasted mushrooms were incredible, and generally the breakfast was really good. Still, it mostly just made me miss my kitchen. I also wasn't crazy about the dill in the scramble.

And here I am! I have a huge backlog of stuff to make/post, but I also am newly resolved to focusing on schoolwork for the rest of the summer. We'll see how this pans out. In the meantime... this new brewpub/restaurant Mohawk Bend is opening tonight near me and I am SO EXCITED.

It might take leaving LA for a bit to really appreciate just how many amazing people and places there are here. London used to be the city of my dreams--in 2007, I left everything in the US to move there without job, friends, or apartment--but I have never been happier than I am now, in Los Angeles, of all places. Almost no one wants to admit to belonging in LA, but... I am so, so happy to be here.

Last night in LA

2011-07-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well, this pretty much brings me up to when I left LA. I flew United, and got some really bizarre but totally passable special vegan meals: dinner was a mild and tasty curry with chickpeas and sweet potatoes... topped by a slice of peach (!?) and served with Israeli couscous (?!). It was accompanied by several slices of German rye bread (!?), Earth Balance, and a green salad with fat-free balsamic vinaigrette. Huh? Oh, and to top it off, some sugar-free pecan "shortbread" cookies (more like Nilla Wafers, really), that had xylitol in them. I am a little creeped out by the xylitol, which I had to look up upon arrival.

Breakfast on board was a (quite tasty, albeit weird considering it felt like the middle of the night) pita pocket with hummus, tabouleh, and lettuce in it. Accompanied by... more of the sugar-free cookies?! Everyone else was served yogurt, bananas, and a pastry. So random, but it's really nice that airlines are so willing to accommodate.

My last dinner in LA was of the clean-out-the-fridge sort. Sarah had brought me over a bunch of squashes from someone's garden (at Wattles, actually!), and I had some other veggies lying around as well. Most excitingly, I finally fried up that tube of polenta that had been sitting on my counter for weeks.

We made the squash along the same lines that my family often made it when I was growing up (minus the parmesan). I parboiled the carrots ahead of time so that they'd cook evenly with the softer squash, and I used the old Western-style herbs, plus whatever was on hand. Some sesame seeds added crunch and nuttiness.

Summer Squash and Carrots with Herbs

Ingredients

carrots, sliced

olive oil

garlic, minced

scallions, chopped

salt

summer squash/zucchini/etc, sliced or quartered

thyme

oregano

fresh parsley, minced

red pepper flakes

sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Parboil the carrots so that they're about the same softness as the squashes.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic, scallions, and salt, and cook until fragrant. Then add squash and carrots and cook a few minutes. Add herbs and red pepper flakes, and cook until veggies are tender and slightly browned, adding water as necessary.
3. Adjust salt to taste and sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving hot. A sprinkle of nutritional yeast would also be nice.

Polenta was the real exciting discovery. A random buy from Trader Joe's one day, this inexpensive, shelf-stable golden tube had been sitting around for weeks. I sliced it, browned it in olive oil, and then served the crispy and succulent slices with some of the leftover enchilada sauce I'd found in my freezer. I'd forgotten how amazing this sauce was--cumin, marjoram, and, most of all, smoky chipotles en adobo give this sauce incredible depth of flavor. Here, that flavor was really well complemented by the textures and the mild sweetness of the polenta. We ate it all.

Pan-Fried Polenta with Spicy Chipotle Enchilada Sauce

In other news, Devon has been practicing her wave.

Squash Kootu

2011-07-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

I'm in London this month, so I'm just finishing up some backlogged posts before taking some time off this blog. Check out my colleague Alex's hilarious blog, alex the american, for some tales of our time here in England.

I was cleaning out my fridge before I left town, and I had a zucchini, so I made this recipe from holy cow. Vaishali is right: I'd never heard of a Kootu. But it's a great vegetarian dish: featuring vegetables in a sauce made of lentils, it's sort of sneakily high in protein while focusing on the veggies.

It's also easy! You grind up a paste of fried spices and coconut, you cook some split peas until they're totally mushy, and you lightly saute some veggies. Then everything just goes together! It's also super healthy: it doesn't use that much oil, and the split peas add fiber and protein. Actually, so does the coconut.

I used zucchini instead of patty pan squash, and I omitted the curry leaves and the small amounts of dals in the masala paste. Using the specified amounts of black peppercorns and red chilies made the dish very hot.

Zucchini Kootu

(from holy cow!)

Ingredients

3/4 c yellow split peas

masala:

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 TB coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 dry red chilies (or less--see above notes)

1 TB black peppercorns (or less--see above notes)

1/2 c shredded coconut

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 TB mustard seeds

2 medium squash (zucchini, summer squash, patty pan, etc), diced into very small cubes (about 1 cm)

salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the split yellow peas until mashably soft. (I added a pinch each of salt and turmeric)
2. Fry masala ingredients in a teaspoon of oil. Remove, let cool, then grind into a smooth paste along with coconut.
3. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves, if using.
4. Add the squash and stir-fry for about five minutes or until it starts to get tender. (Don't cook it fully--you'll continue to simmer it in later steps)
5. Add the ground masala and the cooked split peas and stir well.
6. Add more water if the kootu is too thick and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the flavors have blended together and the squash is very tender. Add salt to taste. Serve hot. Serves about 3.

Potato Tortilla

2011-07-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm in London for the next three weeks, so blogging's probably going to drop off dramatically after I finish off the backlog of posts I still have from the last week.

Of all cuisines, Spanish food is among the most mysterious, and seemingly least-vegan-friendly, to me (and I mostly know about it from my friend Christina, who had a [vegetarian] food blog while she was there... bring it back!). But, I saw this recipe for Spanish tortilla and was like, hey, if I can make an omelette out of chickpea flour, what can possibly stop me now?

So.... I made this, and it was pretty good. It's a nice breakfast dish because it stretches one potato a long way and adds some protein while you're at it. A few changes to consider: since I don't have a microwave, I peeled and sliced the potato first, then boiled it briefly until slightly soft. I also added some black salt at the end for a slightly eggy taste. If I make this again, I would also use less lemon and nutmeg and more garlic and onion. I'd also add some turmeric for a little more yellow color.

Spanish Potato Tortilla

(from recipes.xgfx)

Ingredients

1 large yukon gold potato, about 12 ounces

1/4 c chickpea flour

1 TB cornstarch

1 TB nutritional yeast, optional

1/4 tsp onion powder (or more)

1/8 tsp garlic powder (or more)

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (or less)

turmeric

1/4 tsp salt (including black salt)

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c water

1 TB fresh lemon juice (or less)

1 heaping TB minced parsley

1 TB olive oil for frying

Instructions

1. Peel onion and slice into 1/4-in slices. Boil in salted water until just pokeable with a fork (5-10 min). Transfer the hot potato to a bowl filled with cold water to stop it from cooking.
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the chickpea flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, turmeric, salt, and black pepper. Gradually add the water while whisking to avoid lumps. Stir in the lemon juice and the parsley.
3. At this point your potato should be cool enough to handle. Add the potato to the chickpea mixture and gently stir to coat all the pieces.
4. Heat the oil in a 9 inch non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Test the oil temperature with a drop of the chickpea mixture, the oil will be hot and ready when the drop sizzles. Carefully pour in the chickpea/potato mixture and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Here comes the fun part! Shake the frying pan to loosen the tortilla. If it’s stuck somewhere, use a spatula to gently lift the area of the tortilla that is not coming off. When the whole tortilla is sliding with ease, slide it onto a plate. Flip the tortilla onto the frying pan, raw side down. Cook for 5 more minutes and slide the tortilla back onto the plate. Serve hot. Serves 1-3.

Frozen Raspberry Cashew Cake

2011-07-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last week I threw a little dinner party for some nonvegans and got a bit carried away. I think part of the reason I got so excited about vegan cooking in the first place was the challenge of it. Add to that some guests who didn't want to eat gluten or vinegar, and hey, while we're at it, I thought, why don't I avoid nightshades, too?

It ended up being a four-course meal:

Green Pea Soup with Mint and Ginger (this time, chilled!)

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Red Lentil Sesame Fritters (used rice instead of bulgur this time)

with Pomegranate-Apple "Chutney"

Green Salad with Green Beans, Radish, and Grapefruit-Lime Vinaigrette

Frozen Raspberry Cashew Cake (below!)

*

Apparently "palate cleanser" near-excuses "boring" (cf. "green salad..."). But onto cake.

This cake--I don't want to call it cheesecake, although it's clearly cheesecake-inspired--is raw and gluten free. Um, yay. It's also just delicious.

Sooo you got yer crust: it's just dates and almonds (and salt). There's a strawberry-chocolate pie in The Joy of Vegan Baking (wow, just realized I never use that cookbook anymore) that has a crust like this too; it's pretty magical how simple it is. I think a little cinnamon or nutmeg or cloves might be nice in there, too.

The creamy filling uses coconut oil. I realized that nothing else was going to do, so I finally bought my first jar. And actually, at Whole Foods, it wasn't as bad for the wallet as I thought it would be. This large jar was $7, and it's a whole lot of fat in there.

This recipe only used 1/3 cup. The stuff looks a TON like Crisco, that now-much-maligned shortening in a tub that was a constant staple in the kitchen when I was little. I think the coconut oil has a slightly lower melting point, though, because it was really hot in my kitchen and it started melting... so "solid at room temperature" definitely depends on what room we're talking about. I got the "refined" kind, which has a higher smoking point and no coconut odor/flavor. I kept expecting (and wishing) it would smell coconutty, though.

This is a cake you really have to plan in advance for. First, you need to soak the cashews at least 5 hours before making the filling. Then, after you assemble the pie, you need it to firm up in the freezer. And then, unless you time it perfectly, it needs to leave the freezer for a short while to get slightly softer again. Yeah... no guar gum here, but the fact that coconut oil gets softer when it's warmer helps here.

Filling, layer one:

I was a bit nervous about this cake, because I had to use my mini-food-processor, in which I often make pestos or onion pastes. In fact, I had just used it for that in making the onion paste for the Green Pea Soup. And I'm all too aware of how quickly the smallest hint of onion or garlic can ruin a sweet thing (cf. Almond Butter Cream). But I soaked all the components in baking soda and water, then washed them thoroughly with soap, and it was fine. It just took a LOT of grinding in my sad little food processor to get it creamy enough.

The finished product was really tasty. There was a lot of lemon juice to make it tangy, but vanilla and raspberries were also well represented. I think 1/3 c agave was actually a bit too much (I'm an agave newbie and skeptic; I recently had a confrontation with it on this blog). Still, this dessert was deceptively light and refreshing. In fact, to say that it serves 8-10 feels like a bit of a stretch because we cut it in 8 pieces and could have definitely had larger pieces. Yum.

I don't have a spring-form pan, so I used an 8-in aluminum (disposable) pie pan, because you can bend it to get the fragile pie out more easily.

Frozen Raspberry Cashew Cake

(from taste space)

Ingredients

Crust

1/2 c raw almonds (pecan or walnuts will also work)

1/2 c soft Medjool dates (the dates I found at Jons were Deglet Noor dates from Tunisia; I pre-chopped them for easier processing)

1/4 tsp sea salt

consider also: cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves

Filling

1.5 c raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 5 hours, overnight is best

juice of 2 lemons

the seeds of 1 whole vanilla bean (or 1 tsp alcohol-free vanilla extract)

1/3 c raw coconut oil

1/3 c agave nectar (or honey if not vegan)

1 c raspberries (thaw completely if using frozen)

Instructions

1. Place nuts and dates in a food processor with sea salt and pulse to chop until they are to your desired fineness (process a finer crust longer than a chunky one). Test the crust by spooning out a small amount of mixture and rolling it in your hands. If the ingredients hold together, your crust is perfect. Scoop out crust mixture in a 7” spring-form pan (if you don’t have a spring-form pan, use a pie plate lined with saran wrap--see notes above), and press firmly, making sure that the edges are well packed and that the base is relatively even throughout. Rinse food processor well.
2. Warm coconut oil and agave nectar in a small saucepan on low heat until liquid. Whisk to combine.
3. In the most powerful food processor / blender you own (you decide which one has the most torque) place all filling ingredients (except raspberries) and blend on high until very smooth (this make take a couple minutes so be patient). If you have a Vita-Mix, absolutely use it.
4. Pour about 2/3 (just eyeball it, you can’t make a mistake!) of the mixture out onto the crust and smooth with a spatula. Add the raspberries to the remaining filling and blend on high until smooth. Pour onto the first layer of filling. Place in freezer until solid.
5. To serve, remove from freezer at least an hour prior to eating. Run a smooth, sharp knife under hot water and cut into slices. Serve on its own, or with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the freezer if it will be a while until you eat it, but if you will eat it the following day, the fridge is great! (what leftovers? seriously) Serves 8-10.

Pomegranate-Apple Chutney/Salad

2011-07-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

I made this dish to go with the red lentil fritters I recently posted about. I wanted something that would balance out the fritters' textural heaviness, and tasteural umaminess. This recipe was bright-tasting and crunchy, not too sweet. I liked it, but it wasn't really a chutney so much as a weird little fruit salad.

I guess it's too late in the year for pomegranates, because I couldn't find them anywhere, and in LA, that's really saying something. TJ's did have this packaged kind... for almost $5!! Give me a break. No way was I buying two of those, so pomegranate chutney became pomegranate-apple chutney... which made it even less of a chutney.

In addition to subbing in some peeled and diced apple, I also skipped the honey in the original recipe (it's fruit--how much sweeter does it need to be?!), and added a little cinnamon and cumin for interest. The salt and the olive oil also make it pair well with savory dishes.

Pomegranate-Apple Chutney/Salad

(from mideastfood.about.com)

Ingredients

seeds of 1 pomegranate

1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1 tsp lemon zest

1 TB olive oil

1 1/2 TB orange juice

dash of salt

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving. Serves about 4.

Agave

2011-07-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

AAHHHH! GAHHH.

[Oy] vey.

This is how I am feeling about agave. I think it is possibly the most overrated health food trend yet. Well... acai is pretty silly too.

Anyway, I wanted to cook "super healthy" for some dinner guests recently, so I was like, maybe I can use agave instead of sugar or honey.

So I went to TJ's, got my cute little bottle of raw (oooooh raw!) blue agave, took it home... and then looked at the honey I had in the cupboard. (Yes, I have honey. Please don't get mad at me, vegan police.)

Wait... so the same serving of agave actually has more calories and more sugar? That doesn't seem particularly "healthy choice"ish...

But I'd heard that agave was "supersweet and you needed to use less of it." Well, I looked that up, and it seems that while that's true for regular ol' granulated sugar, honey and agave are actually pretty equivalent. And since this agave is actually sweeter per serving than the honey, even if you used considerably less of it (which it seems like you shouldn't), it still wouldn't be lower sugar than the honey. Anyway, what does "sweeter" really mean if not "actual amount of sugar"? And if "sweetness" does just mean "actual amount of sugar," isn't this all sort of like asking what's heavier, a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers?

Ok... but I'd heard that agave is low-glycemic. Ugh. These numbers seem to vary a lot from unofficial website to unofficial website to unofficial website. Are people just pulling these numbers out of their asses? If it varies so much from website to website, does the smaller difference between agave and other sweeteners actually matter that much? And anyway, while it would be nice to think you're avoiding blood sugar spikes, shouldn't you maybe just not eat that much sugar, period?

Then, as we fall farther down the rabbit hole, there's fructose. Even though it sounds like "fruit," fructose doesn't seem to be particularly awesome. High fructose corn syrup is also mostly fructose (duh). So is fruit. So is agave. So is most sugar, it seems, besides brown rice syrup (maltose), which hasn't been trendy since the superdupermacro hippies found it in the 70s. And again, these ratios vary incredibly from shitty website to shitty website. Maybe there's more fructose (in ratio to sucrose or glucose) in agave than in granulated sugar. I'm not sure. And I'm no longer sure that I care.

Then, at the bottom, there's my favorite: "raw." Now, as this blog surely makes clear, I'm totally a fan of minimally-processed foods. But people can't even seem to agree on how processed agave is. Just because it's processed at a low temperature--which gives it that enticing "raw" label--doesn't mean it comes right out of a cactus. In fact, it certainly takes more processing than honey does.

Where is the reliable nutrition information on this question?? For every person who's really excited about agave, there's a naysayer out there with an equally sensational and unconvincing website. Here are a few interesting ones:

http://www.foodrenegade.com/agave-nectar-good-or-bad/

http://dailycandor.com/is-agave-nectar-agave-syrup-healthy/http://www.living-foods.com/articles/agave.html

http://www.drcurtisduncan.com/2010/10/why-agave-is-high-fructose-fraud-and.html

http://fyiliving.com/diet/nutrition/qa-is-agave-nectar-healthy/ ("The bottom line is that we don’t really know yet whether fructose is healthy, harmful…or something inbetween.")

I'm leaning towards the opinion that the agave craze is a load of trendy bunk. And even if there is some truth to the fact that agave is better than granulated sugar, if not honey--and I respect that many vegans don't want to eat honey--surely the real bottom line is, just don't eat that much sugar. That includes honey, agave, fruit juice, molasses, etc. There comes a point when sugar is sugar. Maybe you metabolize different kinds slightly differently, and yes, every person's body is different, but this is all still literally (and I don't mean this kind of "literally") sugar, and people who market super-sweet foods containing agave, honey, or fruit juice as "sugar free" aren't just assholes, they're also lying.

Now, to maybe take away from the "sugar is sugar" stance, unrefined honey and blackstrap molasses have crazy nutritional value. Antimicrobial, antioxidant, vitamins and minerals...

...But at the end of the day, I'm going to choose my sweetener by the following criteria:

5) What's already in the recipe I'm using
4) What's cheaper and/or more ethical (i.e., I can get locally made honey for the same price as fair-trade granulated sugar)
3) Whether I'm cooking for someone who has a strong preference
2) The texture I want
1) The flavor I want

Berry Cornmeal Muffins

2011-07-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to cut some of the gluten out of my cooking, mostly for the lil lady. When I get back from spending most of July in London, I'm going to invest in some of that fancy schmancy stuff like spelt flour, brown rice flour, xantham gum, etc... but for the time being, oatmeal and cornmeal have been great friends.

(ok, yes, there is controversy about whether and when oats are gluten free)

(unfortunately it's not like this controversy)

This muffin recipe (which I found just by gooooogling) uses less wheat flour because it uses some cornmeal. Baby steps. Also, delicious. I'm still using the fruit from the commercial shoot that Sarah worked on last month; this time, it was blueberries. This muffin would have been a little bit dense and dry if it weren't for the luscious blueberries in every bite. They were actually really great, especially with a bit of earth balance on them.

I subbed in 1/2 c wheat flour (and used 1 c white flour for the remainder). I also used a flax egg instead of a chicken one, soymilk instead of dairy milk, and turbinado sugar instead of white sugar. Using frozen berries meant that the muffins took considerably longer to cook (about 7 min more); the key is to watch and test frequently, even if it means that some of the muffins will have holes in them from your testing.

Berry Cornmeal Muffins

(from joy of baking)

Ingredients

1 c white AP flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c cornmeal

1/2 c sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

zest of one lemon

1 c fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, and/or blackberries)

1 egg (1 TB ground flax + 3 TB water, allow to sit for 10 minutes before using)

1 c nondairy milk

1/4 c canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 TB turbinado sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400* Butter or spray with a non stick cooking spray 12 muffin cups. Can also line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. In a separate bowl combine 2 TB of this mixture with the berries.
3. In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
4. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Gently stir in the berries. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.
5. Evenly fill the muffin cups with batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Sprinkle with the sugar.
6. Place in the oven and bake until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes (I used frozen berries and it took closer to 25-30 min). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Oh hey, we also made more tempeh sausage like this.

Chili Powder

2011-07-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

My kitchen is a huge distraction. I'll be working in my home office (no, it's not a closet), when it'll hit me: I absolutely need to make home-made chili powder right now.

I googled around looking at recipes, and this one looked pretty standard. I used whole dried chilies instead of cayenne, and I toasted and ground the chilies and the cumin seeds. I also added a bay leaf (also toasted and ground) for the hell of it.

Oh, and I halved the recipe to get what you see below. My kitchen is already full of weird spice mixes (curry powder, berbere, masala, zaatar, dukkah) I haven't used up.

Garlic powder makes this different than most spice mixes, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I used to think it was only for the lazy and the weak, but more recently I've found it to be indispensible in places where an even texture or mildness are really important: fritters or bites or meatballs, spreads, dressings, more dressings, more dressings, spice rubs and more spice rubs, and baking (!). Sometimes it's also just more convenient.

Here, the garlic smells delicious, but it also means that you probably can't use the chili powder in sweet things (like you can use garam masala in cookies). I used three little red chilies, and it's really a bit too spicy. And now I need to figure out what to do with the stuff...

Spicy Chili Powder

(adapted from group recipes)

Ingredients

1-3 small dried red chilies (3 was very hot)

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 TB cumin

1/2 TB smoked paprika

1/2 TB oregano

1 TB garlic

Instructions

Toast chilies, bay leaf, and cumin one ingredient at a time, allow to cool. Grind in a spice grinder. Then add remaining ingredients and pulse until well mixed. Makes one small spice jar's worth.

Kushari / Colin / Khalid

2011-07-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

I recently saw Janet's yummy-looking post on taste space about a kitchari that riffs off the original ayurvedic dish, but adds both an eastern European spin (with dill, cabbage, and carrots) and a neo-western-foodie/macro element (ginger, soy sauce, miso, quinoa--and yes, I know quinoa is actually really ancient, South American, etc...).

It got me thinking again (as I posted about once before), about how kitchari/khichri became kedgeree (Anglo-Indian) and kushari/koshary (Egyptian)... did the British bring the dish (and its name) to Egypt, or does the cross-pollination here precede the British completely, as Clifford Wright suggests?

And then I wondered some more... where does it end? Maybe a dish that combines a legume and a grain is one of the most basic dishes ever, anywhere. Even wikipedia is like, "...consider also Mujaddara, Hoppin' John, and Gallo Pinto... and... and..." I'm both cautious of and excited by the politics of a universal food culture. In any case, it often seems that by swapping out one component for an equivalent (vinegar for citrus, pomegranate molasses for tamarind paste, mung beans or lentils for pinto beans, bulgur or quinoa for rice), you might be able to play a kind of culinary word golf across the entire world. Which in turn means, you can have congruent dishes all over the place that actually share no ingredients! a la Theseus's ship.

In other news, my brother Colin is back in Cairo and loving it. And eating a lot of kushari. Interestingly, "Colin" appears to mean "young creature" in Gaelic while the Arabic name he goes by in Egypt--"Khalid"--means "immortal."