what the hell _does_ a vegan eat anyway?

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Raw Food Wednesday: Corn Polenta with King Trumpet Mushrooms and Asparagus, Mixed Green Salad & Tomatoes, Strawberry Tart

Raw Food Wednesday 7/09

Corn Polenta with King Trumpet Mushrooms and Asparagus
(adapted from Ani Phyo)

Mixed Green Salad & Tomatoes

Dessert

Strawberry Tart

When it's corn season...

...and when it's strawberry season...

...just let it flow.

Raw Food Wednesday: Pizza

Raw Food Wednesday Lunch 7/09

Pizza

We made these a pizza shells a couple of weeks ago and keep them in a sealed container -- they'll last a very long time, which is a good thing.

You start out by soaking the buckwheat groats, and then sprout them for 2-3 days

When they're ready, they're pureed in the vita-mix along with the other ingredients (recipe below), and dehydrated.

then it just a question of what you want on your pizza, in this case it was cashew cheese...

walnut filling...

lettuce and tomato

Raw Pizza Shells

1 cup of buckwheat, sprouted
1/2 cup of pumpkin/sunflower/almond (whatever you like)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked
1 small tomato
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. jalepeño
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. nama shoyu

Process the sprouted buckwheat in a vita-mix with at least a 1/4 cup of water, put in a large mixing bowl. Process the nuts/seed with 1/4 cup of water until smooth. Add to the buckwheat. Process the rest of the ingredients, add to the bowl, mix thoroughly. It should be somewhat thick and spreadable.

Spread out on a dehydrator sheet about 1/4" thick. Dehydrate at 105F for 4-6 hours, flip and go another 4 hours.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Hickory Smoked Eggplant with Breaded Teese, Bruschetta

Dinner 7/06

Hickory Smoked Eggplant with Breaded Teese

Bruschetta

No, it's not bacon, it just looks that way ;)

The eggplant was peeled, cut into long, wide and 1/4" thick slabs and smoked with hickory chips for 20 minutes. Then they were seasoned with salt and pepper, brushed with olive oil and grilled.

1/2" thick rounds of Teese were coated with seasoned flour (salt, pepper, smoked paprika), dipped in a cornstarch slurry and finally rolled around in a combo of bread crumbs and nutritional yeast. Then they were pan-fried in a 1/4" layer of peanut oil until they became golden brown and just started to melt (trust me, there's a fine line between golden brown and completely melted Teese).

The eggplant were then cut down the center and wrapped around the fried Teese.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Sushi, Tempura

Dinner 7/05

Sushi
(tempeh and avocado rolls)

Tempura
(onion, zucchini, shiitake mushrooms)

We haven't made sushi for ourselves in a very long time (usually for parties or catering gigs), so tonight was very nice!

Shiitake and Dill Frittata

Breakfast 7/05

Shiitake and Dill Frittata

A test recipe for the upcoming "Crack Of Noon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. This will be an awesome book, redefining vegan brunches...

Friday, July 04, 2008

Cherry and Bourbon BBQ Tofu, Oven Fries

Dinner 7/04

Cherry and Bourbon BBQ Tofu

Oven Fries

Refried Rice

Romaine Lettuce

Hickory smoked tofu, and a bourbon based barbecue sauce for the 4th... yeee-haw! ;)

Spent Grain Bread, Ciabatta

Bread Making 7/04

Spent Grain Bread

Ciabatta
(two in the middle)

So, after the pancakes, Liz started working on another bread that she learned from her class with Peter Reinhart -- Spent Grain Bread. It utilizes the grain that's used in the beer making process, in this case from Thirsty Dog Brewery in Akron. They were making their Old Leghumper (a porter style) yesterday, so we drove down to the brewery and picked up three one-gallon containers full of grain, or enough to make 32 loaves! (We vacuum-sealed and froze the rest). Thanks to Sue at the brewery for coordinating and the quick tour.

Not content with that, she also made two ciabatta loaves!

This is why we bought the second freezer. ;)

Strawberry Pancakes, Hickory Smoked Tofu

Breakfast 7/04

Strawberry Pancakes

Hickory Smoked Tofu

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Chard Roll

Dinner 7/03

Chard Roll

Close-up of the Filling
(farro, mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic, chard stems and fava beans)

Step 1: cut the bottom of the stem off of the chard leaf and remove about 3/4 of the stem in the leaf. Dice the stem, blanch in acidulated water for 2-3 minutes, then add to the farro (cooked 18-20 minutes in water) mixture (plus sauteed onion, garlic, salt and pepper).