Grilled Corn, Mushroom Quesadillas, Guacamole

Dinner 7/21

Grilled Corn

Mushroom Quesadillas

Guacamole

The deeper into summer we go, the simpler the food gets. ;)

More importantly -- our first local organic sweet corn of the year... so worth the wait!

Tags: mushrooms, daiya, corn, avocado, guacamole, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Ceci Soup, Grilled Yellow Baby Squash, Pasta Puttanesca

Dinner 7/20

Ceci Soup

Grilled Yellow Baby Squash

Pasta Puttanesca

A trio of simple summer dishes, highlighted by the appearance of baby squash from Farmer Jones.

The soup was thrown together at the last minute -- so don't worry about amounts, go with whatever looks right to you. It started with a base of onion, celery, carrots, salt and pepper, which were sweated for 5 minutes, then we added the ceci (chickpeas), tomatoes, veg broth, parsley and a shot of tamari for umami. ;)



The squash (yellow and green) were split in half and given a quick dunk in a marinade of olive oil, pepper and tamari and grilled face down, rotated for the nice hatch marks, and flipped to finish -- about 15-17 minutes in all -- you want to make sure they're cooked all the way through. They were "melt in your mouth" delicious!



Our son made his specialty, pasta puttanesca with kalamata olives, button mushrooms & seitan sausages in a spicy tomato sauce (onion, garlic, celery, San Marzano tomatoes, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, pinch of sugar and capers) over fusilli.

Tags: tomato, ceci, chickpea, garbanzo bean, soup, pasta, fusilli, squash, farmer jones, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Small Plates, Loosely Joined

Dinner 7/18

Cucumber in Vinegar Sauce

Grilled Figs stuffed with Blue Sheese

Steamed Artichoke

Shishito Peppers with Lemon Juice and Sea Salt

Tapenade

Blini with Vegan Caviar

Or as we like to call it -- Monday night. A collection of small plates, loosely joined (apologies to David Weinberger).



Steamed Artichoke with a dipping sauce of melted Earth Balance, lemon juice and a wee pinch of sea salt.



Cucumber in Vinegar Sauce -- roughly a 2:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar to agave, with a pinch of salt & pepper.

Around the outside ('round the outside), Grilled Figs, stuffed with Blue Sheese, drizzled with "Just Like Honey."



Shishito Peppers (nice combo of flavor and heat) -- stir-fried and finished with a squirt of lemon juice & pinch of sea salt. Served on the French bread



Leftover from the Bastille party, vegan caviar on blini (and tapenade shown above).

Tags: figs, shishito peppers, cucumber, artichoke, tapenade, blini, caviar, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Bastille Day 2011: Seitan Roulade, Petite Pomme de Terre, Ratatouille, Haricot Verts, Blini with Vegan Caviar, Tapenade, Mushroom & Walnut Pate

Bastille Day 2011 7/16

Seitan Roulade

Petite Pomme de Terre

Ratatouille

Haricot Verts

Blini with Vegan Caviar

Tapenade

Mushroom & Walnut Pate

Dessert

Chocolate and Coconut Milk Ganache Tart with Sea Salt

We had our annual Bastille Day party, sharing many of our favorite dishes with our friends Anna & Phil and Laura & John.



The Seitan Roulade was the focal point of the main plate. Shown here after the seitan was seared with the addition of the collard greens and mushrooms. It was finished by rolling and trussing the seitan with twine and then baked for 15 minutes at 350F. Surprisingly, after watching the seitan video so many times while editing it, I still had to go back and look at the broth amounts. ;)

(Also, 1100+ views on the video so far? Wow!)

Rounding out the plate were Petite Pomme de Terre, Haricot Verts and Ratatouille -- which we smoked the eggplant and zucchini for 15 minute in cherry wood. Here's the rest of the recipe.

Ratatouille

2 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. herbes de provence
1 medium eggplant, diced
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 tbs. nutritional yeast
3-4 medium tomatoes, roughly diced
2 tbs. parsley, chopped

In a large saute pan, heat the 1 tbs. olive oil and lightly brown the sliced onions. Add the garlic for the last two minutes, along with the salt, pepper and herbes de provence.

While that's cooking, in a separate large saute pan (or wok), add the additional 1 tbs. of olive oil and the diced eggplant, diced zucchini, and cook until lightly browned.

Combine the eggplant and zucchini with the onions and garlic back into the pan and sprinkle the nutritional yeast over all of the ingredients, stir to incorporate, and cook for a couple of minutes.

Turn the heat down to low, add the diced tomatoes, stir to incorporate. Cook until thickened -- about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The final result should look fairly stew-like. Add the chopped parsley, check for seasoning.

At this point it's ready to eat -- or you can put the ratatouille in an au gratin dish, sprinkle a little extra nutritional yeast on top and bake it at 350F for 15 minutes to firm it all up.







We started with apps: Tapenade, Blini with Vegan Caviar (recipe) and Mushroom and Walnut Pate.

Mushroom and Walnut Pate

1 tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs. fresh thyme
salt & pepper

1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. Earth Balance
2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
salt & pepper

2 tbs. sherry
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

In a large saute pan over medium-low heat add the olive oil and onion and slowly cook until it's deeply caramelized (but not burnt) about 15 to 20 minutes. Just before it's finished add the garlic and cook for one additional minute. Remove from the pan and set aside.

While the onion and garlic is cooking, add the olive oil and Earth Balance to a wok (or large saute pan) over med-high heat. Add the mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms release all of their liquid, about 10 minutes. Add the sherry, stir to combine and cook for one additional minute. Remove from the wok and add to the onions. Let cool 10 minutes.

In a vita-mix or high speed blender, add the mushrooms, onions and garlic, (toasted) walnuts, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper and puree until smooth -- you might need to do it in batches depending on how big your container is. Check for seasoning.




For dessert, Liz made the Chocolate and Coconut Milk Ganache Tart with Sea Salt -- I didn't get a picture because there wasn't anything left to shoot seconds after serving it, so here's what it looked like when we made it last time. ;)

Tags: bastille day, seitan, eggplant, potatoes, ratatouille, tapenade, pate, walnut, mushroom, caviar, blini, recipe, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Brown Rice Veggie Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries

Dinner 7/14

Brown Rice Burgers

Sweet Potato Fries

Liz tweaked this veggie burger recipe from Food & Wine -- subbing Daiya Pepperjack and pressure cooking the brown rice (22 minutes, @7.5 psi / first ring) which sped up the process considerably. The pumpkin seeds are a nice addition, and the burgers held together very well from the starch in the brown rice.

The sweet potato fries were tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted on a sheet pan in a single layer in a 425F oven for 20 minutes, then flipped and roasted for another 10 minutes or so. Sweet Potatoes can be tricky -- they can go from barely caramelized to black in 3 minutes, so keep an eye on them once you flip them.

Tags: brown rice, chipotle, sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Cappellini, Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini

Dinner 7/13

Cappellini, Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini

Pasta and salad that's not a pasta salad ;)

A light summer meal of fresh seasonal veggies with a quick sauce, tossed with cappellini on a bed of Romaine lettuce topped with some basil -- a big bowlful of win!

The sauce started with shallots & garlic sauteed in olive oil with some salt, pepper, fresh thyme & parsley. then the tomatoes and zucchini were added in and cooked for a few minutes. Next, a 1/2 cup of white wine was added and reduced down by half. Finally, 1 tbs. of earth balance was added and melted along with 2-3 tbs. of nutritional yeast. Stir to combine, check for seasoning and add in the cooked cappellini, toss to coat and place on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce and top with some chopped basil. Serve hot.

Tags: cappellini, pasta, tomatoes, zucchini, basil, romaine, lettuce, salad, summer, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Spinach Ravioli, Arugula Salad with Crutons and Tomatoes

Dinner 7/10

Spinach Ravioli

Arugula Salad with Crutons

Once we opened the wonton/dumpling wrappers for the gyoza the other night, we needed to find a way to use the rest of the package -- and ravioli fit the bill.

The ravioli were filled with a tofu ricotta (extra firm tofu, crumbled, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley) and wilted spinach. Once folded over, they were sealed with a cornstarch slurry (1:1 cornstarch & water). Then they were boiled roughly 2 minutes in salted water until they floated to the surface. Finally, they were finished by tossing the ravioli in a warm pan of melted Earth Balance.

Accompanying the ravioli was a simple arugula salad with toasted crutons (garlic olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, nooch) and tomatoes.

Tags: arugula, wonton, ravioli, spinach, salad, crutons, tomatoes, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Gyoza, Scallion Pancakes, Stir Fry with Yuba

Dinner 7/06

Gyoza

Scallion Pancakes

Stir Fry with Yuba

The always fantastic scallion pancakes (recipe) were paired with the equally tasty gyoza (or potstickers) -- filled with a mix of napa cabbage, shallots, ginger and garlic, which were seared, then steamed with a little tamari to finish in the wok.



We found some yuba sheets the other day and decided to marinate (with a mix of tamari, hoisin, rice vinegar and pinch of sriracha), and then pan fry and shred them as accompaniment to the stir-fry. We've got a couple of other ideas to try out on the yuba, but it made for a nice change of pace in the stir-fry.

Tags: yuba, gyoza, potstickers, stir-fry, cabbage, scallions, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Chili Cheese Dogs, Oven Fries

Dinner 7/04

Chili Cheese Dogs

Oven Fries

(checks calendar)

yep, still summer...

Tags: chili, daiya, potatoes, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

Sliders, Potato Salad

Dinner 7/03

Sliders

Potato Salad

Yep, it's summer...

The potato salad is from James Peterson's "Vegetables" (1998) -- red & yukon potatoes, sherry vinegar, vegenaise, pickles, celery, parsley, etc. -- always a solid recipe.

The mini-burgers sliders were made up of hickory-smoked mashed tofu, caramelized red onions, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, nutritional yeast and just enough vital wheat gluten to hold them together -- and were then cooked in the cast-iron skillet.

Tags: sliders, potatoes, salad, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666

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