Saturday, June 30, 2012

Three Mushroom Risotto

Dinner 06/30

Three Mushroom Risotto



This creamy risotto combines pan-fried chanterelle and morel mushrooms with a shiitake mushroom stock. Also along for the ride was hickory-smoked grilled tofu and green beans.

Three Mushroom Risotto
(serves 4)

1 tbs. tbs olive oil
1 small shallot minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper

1 cup of arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine
4 1/2 cups of shiitake mushroom broth (or veg stock)

1 tbs. Earth Balance
1/4 nutritional yeast

In a large saute pan over med-high heat add the olive oil and Earth Balance.

To the pan add the minced shallot, garlic, salt & pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the arborio rice and stir to coat until the rice looks chalky, about 2 minutes.

Add the white wine and deglaze the pan until the wine evaporates. Then add about 2 1/2 cups of hot shiitake mushroom stock, stir to combine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 7-8 minutes.

Next add, the final 2 cups of hot mushroom stock and cook and additional 7-8 minutes until cooked through and creamy (about 14-16 minutes total).

While the risotto is going, cook the mushrooms.

2 tsp. olive oil

1 cup chanterelle mushrooms, sliced
1 cup morel mushrooms, cut in half lengthwise

2 tsp. tamari

Clean the mushrooms well (especially the morels).

In a medium saute pan over med-high heat add the olive oil until it shimmers, then add the sliced mushrooms and pan-fry until the liquid has released and evaporated, about 6-8 minutes. Add the tamari and stir to coat.

At the end of cooking for the risotto, add the Earth Balance and nutritional yeast. Stir to combine, check for seasoning. Top with the pan-fried mushrooms and optional fried tofu and/or green beans.


Farmers Market

Farmers Market 06/30




my favorite time of year...

from bottom left: blackberries, tomatoes, zucchini, collard greens, cauliflower (purple, white), carrots, corn, radishes, beets, spring onions, garlic.


Friday, June 29, 2012

Beet Burger with Potato Salad

Dinner 06/29

Beet Burger

Potato Salad



There are nights like tonight where I'm not motivated to make dinner. Thankfully, I married an awesome woman who knows how to plan ahead! Liz made the Beet Burgers from the Jul/Aug 2012 issue of VegNews yesterday -- as you can see they turned out very nicely indeed. We cooked them in the cast iron pan and topped them with tomato, red onion and avocado.

The burgers were paired with a quick potato salad that Liz also whipped up yesterday when I wasn't around, so I don't know how she prepared it. But I'm grateful she did. ;)


Monday, June 25, 2012

Ramen with Tea Smoked Tofu and Shiitake Mushroom Broth

Dinner 06/25

Ramen with Tea Smoked Tofu and Shiitake Mushroom Broth



We made a big batch of pressure cooked shiitake broth yesterday, so it was a natural progression to make a nice big bowl of ramen today.

The tofu was smoked with a black tea and then fried in a wok, along with the usual suspects, carrot, red bell pepper, scallions, shiitake mushrooms and napa cabbage on a bed of noodles.

Slurp!



Saturday, June 23, 2012

Smoked Potato, Rosemary and Pepper Flatbread Pizza

Dinner 06/23

Smoked Potato, Rosemary and Pepper Flatbread Pizza



We loved these flatbread pizzas so much we made another batch -- this was one of the new ones, a smoked potato, rosemary and pepper version that despite the lack of Daiya* -- was outstanding.

For those that asked for a recipe, I shot a little video of Liz putting the flatbread dough together, and as soon as that's finished, I'll upload it here. here you go...



Meanwhile, enjoy Vegan Pizza Day!



* ok, maybe we're a little obsessed ;)


Friday, June 22, 2012

Tostadas

Dinner 06/22

Tostadas



We enjoyed making the corn tortillas last month, so we decided to make another batch and use them for tostadas.

The tortillas were pan-fried in canola oil until crispy and topped with black beans, pinto beans, mushrooms, onions, lettuce and salsa.



Friday, June 15, 2012

Flatbread Pizza

Dinner 06/15

Flatbread Pizza



Do you like Pizza? We like Pizza.

1. BBQ Tofu and Daiya Jack Flatbread Pizza.



2. Caramelized Red Onion, Basil and Daiya Havarti Flatbread Pizza.



3. Tomato, Basil and Daiya Havarti Flatbread Pizza.



4. Fig and Blue Sheese Flatbread Pizza.



5. Basil, Parsley and Thyme Flatbread Pizza.



6. Rosemary and Sea Salt Flatbread Pizza.



7. BBQ Tofu, Tomato Sauce and Daiya Cheddar Flatbread Pizza.




Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Grilled Portobello, Fritto Misto with White BBQ Sauce, Grape and Tarragon Salad

Dinner 06/13

Grilled Portobello

Fritto Misto with White BBQ Sauce

Grape and Tarragon Salad



The mushrooms were marinated in 1 part olive oil, 1 part tamari, 1 part ketchup and black pepper to taste. They were grilled, gill side down to start for 10 minutes turning once. Then they were flipped, and a wok lid placed over the grill to speed the cooking along without losing too much moisture, about another 7-8 minutes, turning once. The mushrooms were removed from the grill and dropped in the leftover marinade while we finished up the fritto misto. Then were finally sliced and placed on top of the grape and tarragon salad.

For the fritto misto recipe we used cauliflower, onions, scapes and for fun, a couple of olives (which were really good and juicy). This is the first time we've made the fritto misto using the Einkorn flour and the most noticeable difference was that the veggies all stayed much crisper for a longer period of time afterward.

We brought back the white BBQ sauce from a few days ago, which complimented the fritto misto quite nicely.



Sunday, June 10, 2012

Brown Rice Cheeseburger, Sweet Potato Fries

Dinner 6/10

Brown Rice Cheeseburger

Sweet Potato Fries



We took our usual brown rice burger recipe and finished it off with a couple of slices of the new-ish Daiya Jalapeno Garlic Havarti. We cooked the burgers in a cast-iron pan and put a small lid over the cheese at the end, which, as you can see, melted beautifully.

The sweet potatoes were cut into wedges, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and smoked paprika and baked at 425°F for 25 minutes.


Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Dramatic Vegan Pizza

Dinner 06/06

Dramatic Vegan Pizza



We tried out the Havarti (with jalapeno) style @daiyacheese tonight, along with some basil at the end. Lovely!



Also made a tried-and-true version with tomato, onion and mushroom topped with cheddar Daiya minus the dramatic music. ;)


Monday, June 04, 2012

Chickpea Patties, White BBQ Sauce, Grilled Zucchini

Dinner 06/04

Chickpea Patties

White BBQ Sauce

Grilled Zucchini



The chickpea patties are made like polenta. Here's the recipe from "The Truck Food Cookbook" by John T. Edge. We skipped the rest of the recipe and served them on top of a cabbage slaw with an Alabama style white BBQ dipping sauce and a side of grilled zucchini.



Sadly, the rest of the recipe is cut off -- but you pour the mixture onto a sheet pan that has been lined with a piece of oiled parchment paper and spread it out about covering the whole sheet. Top the mixture with another piece of oiled parchment, press to smooth it out and refrigerate until cooled completely.

Then we portioned the chickpea mixture into triangles and deep-fried them at 350°F for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.


The BBQ sauce was 1 cup of vegenaise, 1/2 tbs. apple cider vinegar, 2 tbs. of agave, 1 tsp. of black pepper, 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. smoked sea salt, 1/2 tsp. of smoked paprika.


Sunday, June 03, 2012

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

Dessert 06/03

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake



Our son requested a cheesecake (recipe from "Sticky Fingers' Sweets" by Doron Petersan p. 229) upon his graduation from high school and today was that day.

Well played, sir, well played!

Saturday, June 02, 2012

A Big Bowl Of Yum Part III: Linguine with Porcini

Dinner 06/02

A Big Bowl Of Yum Part III: Linguine and Porcini



We were really surprised to find porcini mushrooms at our local grocery store -- like really, really surprised -- so we bought what was left (sadly, not much). They needed to be used ASAP, so we knocked together another big bowl of yum with linguine (tossed with a sauce of shallot, garlic, nooch, white wine, veg stock), spinach, braised leeks, roasted potatoes* and cauliflower

*I know, potatoes and pasta in the same dish is overkill... tasty, tasty overkill**

** see what I did there? ;)


Friday, June 01, 2012

Baklava

Dessert 06/01

Baklava



Liz made baklava for a friends graduation party and we got to keep some of the second batch. Apparently it went over well at the party, so that's nice.

She's been so busy lately that I'm not even going to ask her about the recipe. ;)