Linguine with Wild Asparagus, Morel Mushrooms and Stuffed Peppers

Dinner 6/29

Linguine

Wild Asparagus

Morel Mushrooms

Stuffed Peppers

A simple meal tonight -- linguine topped with (the always good) morel mushrooms which were cut in rings and pan-fried in olive oil -- as well as grilled wild asparagus.

The sauce for the pasta was 1 tbs. of olive oil, 1 shallot, minced, 2 cloves of garlic, minced, cooked for a few minutes, then add 1/4 cup of white wine (reduce by half) and finish with 1 tbs. of Earth Balance & 2 tbs. of nutritional yeast.



The beautiful and tender wild asparagus comes locally from a vendor at the Hudson Farmers Market -- they don't require blanching beforehand as they're so thin and tender, just a quick dip in a marinade of olive oil, tamari and pepper and then straight on the grill for 7-8 minutes, turning often.



The mini-peppers were stuffed with a mixture of shallot, vegan cream cheese, nutritional yeast, Daiya mozzarella, sea salt and black pepper, then dipped in a little of the leftover marinade from the asparagus and straight onto the grill. As you can see, the lids like to come off and things got a little gooey (a technical term), but the end result was so good that our son asked for an entire plate of peppers for himself. I can't say I blame him -- they were that good. ;)

Tags: pasta, morel mushrooms, asparagus, peppers, grilled, linguine, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Squash Blossom Fritto Misto, Mixed Peppers with Lemon Juice & Sea Salt on Baguette

Dinner 6/25

Squash Blossom Fritto Misto

Mixed Peppers with Lemon Juice & Sea Salt on Baguette

A "Small plates, loosely joined" meal...



It was yet another milepost in the summer season as Liz picked up some squash blossoms at the Farmers Market (in Hudson this week). She needed a way to keep them fresh until dinner -- the cat vase filled with water did the trick.

The squash blossoms were stuffed with a mixture of vegan cream cheese, shallots, nooch, salt & smoked paprika, dipped in the usual batter (using plain water instead of the soda water) and deep-fried.



The peppers (anaheim, cubanelle, sweet red) were pan-fried in 1 tbs. olive oil, then splashed with a juice from half of a lemon and tossed with 1 tsp. of sea salt, then served on a sliced and toasted baguette.

We also had a little leftover soup from last night -- all of it was served with Spanish Cava -- ah, summer!

Tags: summer, squash blossoms, peppers, bread, soup, cava, fritto misto, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Garbanzo Bean, Lentil and Cabbage Soup, Garlic Bread

Dinner 6/24

Garbanzo Bean, Lentil and Cabbage Soup

Garlic Bread

I think originally we were going for a Tuscan White Bean soup, but once the can of garbanzos was opened accidentally, things... changed. ;)

The ingredients included a base of carrot, onion, celery, with cabbage, parsley, rosemary, roasted garlic, fire roasted tomatoes, garbanzo beans, salt, pepper and homemade veg stock.

The garlic bread included a mix of Earth Balance, garlic and parsley added to the bread which was wrapped in foil and baked at 350F for 20 minutes.

Tags: soup, stock, garlic, bread, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Homemade Pasta with Morel Mushrooms, Roasted Cauliflower & Broccoli

Dinner 6/23

Homemade Pasta with Morel Mushrooms, Cauliflower & Broccoli

The pasta recipe is the plain version, augmented by the addition of Morel Mushrooms (soaked, cut in rings, pan-fried in olive oil, pepper, splash of tamari), Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower (olive oil, salt, pepper 450F, 15 minutes).




Liz went to the Geauga County Antique Fair in Burton a couple of weeks ago and came back with this beautiful pasta cutter, so we cleaned it up and gave it a spin -- as you can see the noodles are roughly fettuccine-sized which worked well with the sauce -- a sort of creamy alfredo.

Tags: pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, morel mushrooms, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Greens with Coconut Curry Sauce, Tea-Smoked Tofu, Pad Thai Noodles, Satay

Dinner 6/22

Greens with Coconut Curry Sauce

Tea-Smoked Tofu

Pad Thai Noodles

Satay

We brought back our recipe for the coconut curry with greens (kale & bok choy this time) topped with tea-smoked tofu (along with carrots, red & orange bell peppers). We used pad thai noodles as the base this time with excellent results.

When we went up to WF (the same day as our trip to Vegan Sweet Tooth), the kids wanted to try their sweet and sour faux-chicken, so we made a satay, grilling it along with mushrooms and a peanut dipping sauce (not shown).

Tags: coconut milk, tofu, noodles, curry, satay, peanuts, mushrooms, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Vegan Sweet Tooth, a photo essay

Vegan Sweet Tooth 6/17

It was an epic morning/afternoon of shopping that started off on the right foot at Vegan Sweet Tooth, a brand new vegan bakery located in Eton Square Shopping Center, a short 30 minute drive from Kent.

Or, as it's better known, our daughter's new favorite place in the universe, ever.

The interwebs are abuzz, with praise -- so let us add to the chorus of kudos and show you the selection of goodies that we purchased.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes



Cake Pops



Vanilla Mixed Berry Cupcakes



Chocolate Cake




Chocolate Cupcakes



Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry



Carrot Cake Cupcake




Box o' Cupcakes (Oreo, Chocolate Kahlua, Chocolate Peanut Butter)




Brownies

Tags: vegan sweet tooth, cupcakes, cake, desserts, chocolate, peanut butter, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Pesto, Fritto Misto, Tomato Potato Soup

Dinner 6/12

Pesto

Fritto Misto
(Scapes, Onion)

Tomato Potato Soup

You can chart the course of summer by what is in season -- in this case: scapes. We decided to use our first batch of the year by making a platter of fritto misto along with an onion -- there is no truth that fritto misto is just a fancy word for Onion Rings. ;)

After Liz's second "pine mouth" incident earlier in the year, we've been reluctant to use pine nuts of unknown origin. The pesto uses Marcona almonds in place of pine nuts -- give it a try sometime, it's really, really good -- a giant hat tip to Scot Jones from Vegiterranean for the idea.



The soup was a request from our daughter, and although it's best later in the season when the fresh tomatoes are plentiful, I can't say no to my little girl.

Tomato Potato Soup

4 cups of water
3-4 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes, roughly chopped
1 roughly chopped onion
10 cloves of garlic, left whole
1 tbs. salt
1/2 tbs. of herbes de provence

1 tbs. olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
salt/pepper to taste

Add the potato, onion, garlic, salt and herbes de provence to the water and bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are cooked through (about 10-15 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, add the olive oil over medium heat and add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt/pepper -- cook the tomatoes down until they're released their water and have started to thicken -- about 4-5 minutes.

In a blender combine the potato mixture with the tomato mixture and puree (you may need to do this in two batches) -- check for salt and serve hot...

Makin' Seitan

Here's the (long rumored) seitan video that we discussed a while back. In the video we show how we adapted Ron Pickarski's seitan recipe (from "Friendly Foods") using a pressure cooker. We also show how to grill the seitan & make a seitan roulade filled with mushrooms & greens.

 



Yes, that's Liz making the seitan, and I'm doing the narration (and music). ;)


Next up, a video on the smoker box...


Also new, you can Like us on Facebook.

Tags: seitan, pressure cooker, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Fiddlehead Fern Tempura, Braised Collard Greens with Coconut Milk, Deep-Fried Rice Ball, Tea-Smoked Tofu and Green Curry

Dinner 6/08

Fiddlehead Fern Tempura

Braised Collard Greens with Coconut Milk

Deep-Fried Rice Ball

Tea-Smoked Tofu

Green Curry

Tonight we brought back the fiddlehead ferns combined with our Tea-Smoked Tofu Curry (recipe) and Braised Collard Greens with Coconut Curry (recipe).

Stack them together carefully -- a skewer would help -- and pour the green curry sauce on the bottom of the plate.



There are no repeating subliminal numbers in the fiddlehead ferns. ;)

Seitan and Mushroom Fajitas

Dinner 6/06

Seitan and Mushroom Fajitas

Pan-fried seitan strips, mushrooms and rajas (strips of peppers and onions) with melty Daiya to hold it all together. I'll have two! ;)

Seitan Fajitas
Makes 4

Seitan

1 tbs. olive oil
8oz of seitan, sliced into strips

1 tbs. tamari
1 tsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbs. tequila (optional)

Heat the oil in a saute pan or wok and pan-fry until golden brown, 5-6 minutes. Finish with a splash of tamari, lime juice and (optional) tequila. Cook for an additional minute or so to allow the alcohol to burn off. Set aside.


Mushrooms

1 tbs. olive oil

8 oz. button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tbs tamari
black pepper to taste

In the same pan, add additional olive oil (if needed) and pan-fry the mushrooms until they have released their liquid (7-8 minutes) and finish with the tamari at the end. Set aside.

Rajas

1 tbs. olive oil

1 medium red onion, cut into thin strips
1 anaheim chile, cut into thin strips
1 cubanelle chile, cut into thin strips
2 cloves of garlic, minced

salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. fresh squeezed lime juice

In the same pan on medium heat, add additional oil if needed, and add the peppers, onion and a pinch of salt, and cook 6-7 minutes, turning often until beginning to brown. Add the minced garlic and cook one additional minute. Add the black pepper, oregano and paprika and cook one additional minute. Set aside.

Assembly

4 corn or flour tortillas
8oz of Daiya Cheddar
Seitan
Mushrooms
Rajas

Pre-heat the griddle or cast-iron pan to med-high and add 1 tsp. of canola oil to barely coat the surface.

Spread a thin 2oz. layer of Daiya on the whole tortilla, leaving a little space on the edges. Then on half of the tortilla, add the mushrooms, seitan and top with the rajas. Fold gently in half. Place on the griddle or cast-iron pan and allow the Daiya to melt -- about 3-4 minutes (which holds the rest of the ingredients together). Flip over and cook another 3-4 minutes until the tortilla gets crispy.

Serve with avocado, vegan sour cream & lime wedge.

Tags: mushrooms, seitan, lime, fajita, tortilla, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Mac 'n Cheese with BBQ Tofu and Roasted Broccoli

Dinner 6/02

Mac 'n Cheese

BBQ Tofu

Roasted Broccoli

Around 5pm, with no ideas for dinner forthcoming, I went back and looked at the entries for June 2010 for inspiration. So, Mac 'n Cheese (base recipe here) it was...

We also had some leftover BBQ sauce which our daughter would have with every meal if she could. We also had a little broccoli left, so that was roasted in the oven (olive oil, salt, pepper, 450F, 15 minutes).

To keep down the number of dishes that need to be cleaned, everything was combined in one giant pile. A tasty, tasty pile. ;)

Tags: bbq, broccoli, pasta, daiya, tofu, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Chocolate-Dipped Powdered Cream Cookies, Cava with Raspberries

6/01

Chocolate-Dipped Powdered Cream Cookies

Cava with Raspberries

O Hai Interwebs!

The decadent cookies are from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur by Kelly Peloza (you should go buy it)...



...and the vegan cava & raspberries are always a good idea.

We had a wee bit of vacation over the Memorial Day weekend which was much needed and a good time was had by all. While we were away, the switch was set to "summer" and our Farmers Market opened -- both good things.

Back to making the doughnuts!

Tags: cava, raspberries, cookies, chocolate, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666