Spring veggies – Ramps & asparagus

Determined to eat some actual vegetables, I stopped into Whole Foods on my way home from work. I was a little unsure what to do with the ramps, so I roasted the bottom oniony part and sauteed the greens with some red swiss chard.Roasting with the bits of ramp are asparagus, fennel, green beans, and a portabella schroom.I also roasted a few blue potatoes and made a cashew, lemon, yogurt, tahini, miso sauce.
Yum!

Cheesesteak Gyro

OK, so scratch that New Year’s resolution where I blog about things other than tofu rancheros and vegan cheesesteaks. The cheesesteak is what I’m havin’ for dinner and I felt the need to chime in with a post.

It’s my usual cheesesteak technique, but with naan/pita bread (seriously, it’s both.) I can’t always find the Tofutti cheesesteak slices, but when I do I make sure to grab them. The cheese is Daiya mozzerella and there’s onion, pepperoncini, Vegenaise & sriracha. I forgot the oregano, but that’s usually on there, too.
It’s not unusual for me to be behind the curve on good TV, so I’ve been catching up on Bones. It’s streaming on Netflix. Yay!

Even better, Bones star Emily Deschanel is a vegan superstar.

I won 2nd Place at Veggie Conquest 6! Kale battle

I really should be cleaning up the giant mess I made in the kitchen, but instead I feel like gloating about my silver medal performance at Veggie Conquest 6. Veggie Conquest is a NYC based vegan cooking competition based on a theme ingredient and takes place every few months. This is the 5th event I’ve participated in.

The theme ingredient for VC6 was kale. The secret ingredient is unveiled the week before the competition to both the tasters and the chefs.
Now mind you, when I’m drowning in kale in the summer, I can think of lots of things to do with it. For this challenge, I was trying to come up with ways to highlight the greens. It wasn’t easy. Usually I’m sneaking kale into something, or just eating it steamed with some miso-tahini sauce. Not really award winning stuff.
So what I pulled off was a Tuscan Kale flat bread topped with a kale tomato sauce (tomatoes were the ones I canned last summer from my CSA,) gourmet mushrooms, roasted leeks, and crispy kale. I made a kale slaw from the red & green stems with some red pepper. And because I like to dip my crusts in stuff, I made a miso-tahini-kale hummus sauce that was really just the sauce I like to put on kale blended up with kale in it. The judges pronounced it bitter and unnecessary, but it was a pretty green color and made a good dip. The kale was raw in it, so it was admittedly a little vegetabley.
Here’s my 90 taster portions. Bite sized pieces with the slaw and hummus.

Now for the round-up…

These kale Croquettes were lovely and the sauce on top was delicious.

Next up were kale quiches that had a wonderful tofu cream sauce. The shallots were a nice complement.

Then the first place winner with kale rice cakes.
Next up, third place winner with Kale summer rolls.
And from a guy who had never had kale before, we had a mushroom and kale bisque.
Finally, I got to yammer on about how I put three different kinds of kale and all their parts into this dish. Big thanks to my chef friend Jamie for suggesting the use of color (not that you can tell from the green plate – the judges had the more colorful fiesta ware.) The kale slaw was a really pretty purple, red, and green. I liked my ironic kale garnish which the judges picked up and ate with the slaw.
Prizes are cool…

I got a herbal soap and salt scrub from Chrissannthemum Herbs & Well Being, a gift certificate to Integral Yoga, Organic Ville French Dressing, and Cinnamon Vanilla ice cream from Raw IceCream Company. Good think the ninja claims to be allergic to cinnamon..mine all mine….

Darn good freezer pizza – Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza

Now, I’m not going to tell you this rivals a pizzeria pizza, but it’s vegan and it came from the freezer.

For a frozen pizza, the Tofurky Pepperoni is quite tasty. Not a microwave pizza, but 12 minutes in a 420 degree oven and you’ve got yourself a nice lunch for a rainy Sunday.

It’s got a whole wheat crust that doesn’t taste like whole wheat. The Daiya cheese is noticeable, but it’s not overly cheesy. It’s definitely meaty, though. No lack of Tofurky pepperoni chunks. It’s not sliced like “normal” pepperoni, but in chunky bits. Very satisfying. The pepperoni is on the spicy side so no need to dump on any hot sauce which is my usual tactic for less flavorful pizza.
If you want to venture out into the real world for some non-frozen vegan pizza, there are an increasing number of options across the US. Check out this link for the ones that made the short list and vote for the Best Vegan Pizza.

Can’t decide on Mexican or Pasta? Have both…

There was a pasta dish on the cover of Vegetarian Times in 1997 that featured black beans and cilantro with pasta. I’ve long since purged the magazine, but I was trying to get something similar. Here’s my faked version:
Beany burrito pasta – 2 servings

4 oz angel hair pasta (approx 1/4 package)
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 TSP chopped green chilies
3/4 cup (about 1/2 can) red kidney beans
1 cup tomatoes chopped with juice
2 TBS fresh cilantro chopped
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
Boil water for pasta and cook according to package directions.
While pasta is cooking, saute garlic and chilies in oil. Add beans and crush a bit. Add tomatoes and juice and simmer a few minutes. Add pasta and stir until coated. Serve and top with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
I did find a link to the original recipe for Southwest Pasta Pg 45 Aug 1997 Vegetarian Times

Month of bean cutlet – Sundried Tomato and Porcini Mushroom

More bean cutlets. January is now officially the month of the bean cutlet. The one on the left is sun dried tomato and the one on the right is porcini mushroom. OK, I agree they look the same, but both have a nice subtle taste of their signature ingredient
Sun dried tomato cutlet
1 cup cooked white navy beans
1 cup rehydrated sun dried tomatoes soaked in 1 cup boiling water
1 tsp salt
1 TBS Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
Porcini Mushroom Cutlet
1 cup cooked white navy beans
1 cup rehydrated porcini soaked in 1 cup boiling water
1 tsp salt
1 TBS Parisian bonnes herbes seasoning
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
Blend the beans with mushroom or sun dried tomatoes salt, seasoning, olive oil. Mix together with bread crumbs and vital wheat gluten and kneed for few minutes. Split into 4 pieces and form into flat cutlets. Fry in 1 TBS oil for 5 minutes per side.

More experiments in bean cutlets…Black Eyed Peas and Mazoh

Yup, it’s yet another variation of the vcon chickpea cutlets. This time it’s black-eyed peas and mazoh. Red swiss chard with lemon tahini miso sauce, mashed potatoes, and skulking in the back of the photo is a portabello mushroom with Penzey’s Chicago Steak Seasoning. Black-eyed pea and mazoh cutlets

1 cup cooked black-eyed peas
1/4 cup water
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp hot paprika
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup mazoh meal
Blend together the beans, water, soy sauce, olive oil, herbs, and paprika.
In a medium bowl mix together bean mixture, wheat gluten, and mazoh. Knead a few minutes. Break into 4 pieces. Flatten out into cutlets and fry in a little canola oil for about 5 minutes a side until golden brown.

Snow Day! Warm up with a vegan hot toddy.

Technically the office was open today, but I really needed a snow day. Justifiable since I couldn’t actually get out of my apartment until someone came by to shovel the snow from my blocked doorway.
Anyway in between cleaning out the pantry and reading some Chelsea Handler, I thought this scene (me in my PJs on the couch with the ipad) would be a whole lot more sophisticated if it included a nice hot beverage.

The unopened bottle of kahlua I found at the back of the pantry was a bonus. When choosing your boozing for your vegan hot toddy, you can always check out barnivore for the latest in what’s vegan and what’s not.
Vegan mocha with Soyatoo
1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 TBS Dutch cocoa
1 cup brewed coffee
2 TBS Kahlua
Vegan whip cream
In a medium saucepan, mix cocoa with soymilk and heat, but do not boil. Add a generous splash of kahlua to a large coffee mug, add brewed coffee halfway, fill to within 1/2 inch with hot cocoa, then top with whip cream. Yum.

Black bean & black olive cutlet

Happy New Year everyone! So far I’m making good on my resolution to blog more which means I’ll have to make stuff other than tofurky cheesesteaks and tofu rancheros to keep you interested. Experimental cooking also helps with 2 other resolutions of eating better and taking my lunches to work. We’ll see how long this lasts…
This black bean and black olive cutlet is a modified version of the vcon chickpea cutlet inspired by the black olive seitan at Sacred Chow in NYC. Both the black beans and olives are surprisingly subtle flavors in the finished cutlet.

I wanted to make something with black eyed peas for new years, but I only had dried and although they’re soaking now, I wanted some cutlets sooner rather than later. Can of black beans to the rescue. It’s still beans and vegans need fried hangover food, too. I went to Phish at Madison Square Garden last night, not that I need an excuse to be hungover on New Years Day.
I used kalamata olives, that had pits in them. Luckily I had this handy cherry pitter that made popping the pits out a snap. If you’re ever in a cooking gadgets store and debate the cherry pitter, just throw it in the cart, then store it at home in the gadget drawer with the can opener. You’ll use it more than you think.

Black Bean & Black Olive Cutlets
1 cup cooked or canned black beans
1/3 cup chopped black olives (about 12)
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp dried chives (optional – I get them from Penzys and use them all the time)
1 tsp parsley
1 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten.
Canola oil for frying
Blend together the beans, olives, herbs, soy sauce, olive oil and broth. Add to medium bowl. Add bread crumbs and gluten and mix together until combined. Then knead in the bowl for a few minutes. Ball it together, then divide into 4 pieces. Flatten the pieces out with your hands to make cutlets. Fry until browned and crispy, about 5 minutes each side.
The cutlets are well seasoned, so you don’t need a sauce for this unless, you just like things saucy. For a main dish serve with mashed potatoes and greens or as a sandwich with a little sriracha vegenaise. Also delicious pulled apart and eaten with your fingers, straight off the cooling rack.
Happy New Year!

Great pate, mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that party tonight…

Things I’ve never made before: pate, chestnuts, and lentils. Here they are all fancied up together into a rockin’ appetizer. It’s the chestnut-lentil pate from the Veganomicon. Couldn’t be easier and is really quite sophisticated and yummy. Bring this to your next holiday soiree.

The best vegan pate I’ve had is faux-gras made by Ella, the Regal Vegan. She brought this to the Our Hen House launch party and I kinda sorta camped out by it after I helped set up the raffle prizes. What? I was hungry and it really is that good.