Refreshing Kale and White Bean Soup with Lemon

I whipped up this soup quickly this afternoon and I'm quite pleased with the flavor. The lemon and herbes de provence are quite refreshing.

Ingredients (serves 6 or so):
Olive oil
6 cups water
3 veggie bullion cubes
1 medium onion
2 carrots
1 stalk celery
1 small zucchini
1 bunch kale 
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) cannellini beans (white beans)
1 lemon
herbes de provence
1 small ripe avocado for garnish

Instructions:

1. Dice the onion, carrots, and celery and saute in about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large soup pot. Once these ingredients are softened, add 6 cups of water and the vegetable bullion (or just use six cups vegetable stock). Turn the heat down and let the stock simmer.

2. Strip the kale leaves from the stalks and discard the stalks. Rinse the kale well in a colander and rip the leaves into bite sized pieces. Add to the soup.

3. Rinse the beans and add to the soup.

4. Cut the zucchini into bit sized pieces (I typically cut them in half, then half again, and then chop them). Add to the soup.

5. Add herbes de provence to taste. I used about 3 teaspoons or so.

6. Zest a lemon into the soup and then squeeze half a lemons worth of juice in as well.

7. Simmer on medium heat until the kale is soft and the zucchini is cooked.

8. Serve with a few slices of avocado and a squirt of lemon.

Battered Seitan Nuggets

I'm not sure exactly why, but I was seriously craving some battered, fried food today. I happened to have a package of seitan in the fridge, so I whipped up a quick batter and ended up with the most spectacular, sinful-tasting seitan nuggets known to man.

Ingredients:
Seitan (homemade or packaged) cut into 1-2" chunks
2/3 cup Bisquick
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Egg replacer for 2 eggs
1/4-1/2 cup soymilk
Oil for frying

Instructions:

1. Heat up your deep fryer (or, alternately, fill a small saucepan with a few inches of vegetable oil and heat it until it reaches between 350 and 375 degrees F).

2. In a shallow bowl, mix together the Bisquick, spices, egg replacer, and soymilk. The batter should be the consistency of cake or pancake batter (not too thick but not runny either).

3. Dredge the seitan chunks through the batter to cover them, and drop in the oil. Allow to cook until golden brown.

4. Drain on a paper towel or brown paper bag, and blot if necessary.

5. Savor the awesomeness.

Tempeh Cutlets Provençal

Oh man, this is a great recipe from the January 2009 Vegetarian Times magazine. Really rich flavors and not hard to make at all, plus it was quite a colorful dish. I made it with a side of orzo and broccoli, but it would be good with rice too. The only change I'm making to the recipe is that I'm doubling the ingredients for the sauce--while there was enough to cover both pieces of tempeh satisfactorily, I found myself wishing I had more sauce to put on the pasta I served it with, and plan to make it with twice as much sauce next time. If you're not making it with a side of rice or pasta, the original amount of sauce should be fine (and in that case, halve all ingredients aside from the tempeh)

Ingredients:
1 8-oz. pkg tempeh, cut widthwise into two cutlets
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons herbes de provence
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 large red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
1/2 cup smooth tomato sauce
4 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-1 cup fresh basil, chopped

Instructions:
1. Place tempeh slices in large baking dish. Bring wine, herbes de provence, oil, garlic, and pepper to boil in a small saucepan. Pour over tempeh, cover, and refrigerate four hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Remove tempeh from marinade, and place on baking sheet, reserving the marinade. Spray top of cutlets with cooking spray and bake 15 minutes until golden on edge. The flip, spray the other side, and cook for 15 minutes more.

3. Meanwhile, strain reserved marinade into small saucepan. Bring to boil and add bell pepper. Simmer 5-7 minutes until pepper is softened and most of the liquid is absorbed. Add tomato sauce, capers, sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes until thick, then stir in basil.

4. Place tempeh on plates and divide sauce between servings (and, in this case with the sauce amount double what was called for in the original recipe, onto some rice or pasta).

Super delicious and pretty fancy!

Quick and Easy Tofu Veggie Pot Pie

Today was cooold out, and the wintery temperatures got me in the mood for a nice pot pie. Any excuse to turn the oven on and get some more heat up in this apartment! Anyway, I just sort of made this up with the ingredients I had on hand, but it came out well and didn't take very long. Its not a traditional pastry pot pie, but man is it delightful!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon corn starch
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons soy sour cream
1/2 block tofu, cut into small (1/2") cubes
1 cup carrots, cut into relatively thin medallions
1 cup broccoli, in bite sized pieces (frozen is fine)
Any other vegetables your heart desires (peas, corn, and potatoes would have been lovely if I had had them on hand; as long as the total quantity of vegetables isn't more than 2-3 cups. don't want to overflow the casserole dish.)
2 cups bisquick
1/2 cup soy milk
egg replacer for 2 eggs.

Instructions:

Combine 3/4 cup soy milk with the corn starch, soy sauce, nutritional yeast and sour cream in a casserole dish. Whisk until well combined. Add in tofu and vegetables, and mix. In a separate bowl, mix the bisquick, 1/2 cup soymilk, and egg replacer until it forms a dough. Cover the vegetable/tofu mix evenly with the dough. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, uncovered, until the top of the dough is a light golden brown. Enjoy hot!

Jamaican Lentil Stew

So I've been on the hunt for a nice, healthy autumn-y soup...something rich and creamy and perhaps with some pumpkin. I was poking around on recipezaar.com and found this awesome recipe for Jamaican Lentil Stew, which has creamy coconut milk, pumpkin, and lentils. I just finished making a batch of it up and I'm totally blown away--the broth is silky and thick and the ingredients meld wonderfully. I made a few substitutions just based on what I had around, which I put in parentheses.


Ingredients:

1 medium onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 inch piece gingerroot, grated

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons ground coriander (I didn't have coriander [I know I should!] so I used tangine spices, which included cinnamon, cumin and some other spices I'm forgetting)

1-2 teaspoon ground cumin (adjust according to taste)

1 (13 ounce) can coconut milk (I used lite coconut milk because I am trying to watch my figure, which is to say, I didn't want to feel like I couldn't eat cookies because the coconut milk in my soup was fattening)

4 cups vegetable stock

4 ounces split red lentils, washed and drained (I actually used 8 ounces, or a full cup, because this didnt seem like nearly enough lentils. I also had to use green lentils because thats all the Kroger has)

1 small sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1/2-1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste (optional)

black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Make a thick paste by mashing the ginger and garlic together with a pestle and mortar or a small bowl and the heel of a wooden spoon (I actually just used the garlic press to press the garlic and the ginger since I have neither mortar nor pestle to my name and it worked fine). Saute the onions in the vegetable oil until theyre transparent, then add the garlic ginger paste and saute for another 2 minutes or so; lower heat and stir constantly to avoid burning the paste. Add the spices and saute for a minute more. Stir in the coconut milk, stock, lentils, sweet potato and pumpkin puree. Simmer over medium-low heat for 40-50 minutes or until sweet potato is soft and almost melting into the stew, stirring occasionally. Before serving, stir in the red curry paste if you are using it or adjust seasoning with black pepper. I'm totally sold on this soup, and I'm looking forward to eating it this week for my lunches.

Veganomicon's Chickpea Cutlets

Now that I've settled in a little bit in my new home down south, I've had to start cooking more for myself. When I lived in NY, I cooked often enough--I made dinner at least 4-5 nights a week, but since I was tired from commuting and work, it was more likely than not to be a lazy girl dinner--taco night or veggie burgers with a plethora of vegetables as a side so that I could feel like I was being somewhat healthy. Since that would get boring 7 nights a week, which is how often I'll be cooking now that I'm a phd student, I am now cooking from my cookbooks more often. This recipe for chickpea cutlets from the newly published Veganomicon is spectacular. It was easy, came out well and tasted pretty awesome. Delightful! And now I'll have dinner for tonight, tomorrow and monday even :0) so I can still kind of have lazy girl dinner until Taco Tuesday comes.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs (I used panko bread crumbs because they were the only vegan breadcrumbs I could find)
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely grated
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sage
oil for frying

Instructions:
Mash the chickpeas and olive oil until there are no whole chickpeas left. Add remaining ingredients and knead for about 3 minutes until gluten is stringy. Heat frying oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Divide the chickpea dough into 4 even sections. Knead each section in your hand then shape into a patty or cutlet, about 4" x 6" or so. Fry for about 6-7 minutes per side until golden brown, then drain/pat excess oil off. They say you can also bake these at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes which might be a bit healthier...I think when I reheat these tomorrow night I'll probably do it by baking them so they come out just as crispy as they were when I fried them. So good! I love this cookbook!

Cornmeal-encrusted Tempeh Cutlets

Yesterday I realized I had a package of tempeh sitting in my fridge, so I decided to make some fried tempeh cutlets. I wasn't in the mood for my regular flour/spices coating, and I didn't have any panko or breadcrumbs, so I used cornmeal instead. I make these cutlets when I'm feeling kind of lazy and uninspired because they're quick, easy, and remind me a bit of some of the meals my mother used to make us when we were little. This was a nice, protein-packed main course for dinner (I ate two pieces with a side of wilted greens and some fruit)--with leftovers for me for tonight. These cutlets would also be good on a sandwich/grinder with some vegannaise, lettuce and tomato.

Ingredients:
1 package tempeh, any flavor
1 cup cornmeal
Garlic powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Any other favorite seasonings, to taste
Favorite marinade or 1 cup vinaigrette, 2 tablespoons tamari, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon bbq sauce
4 tablespoons Canola oil (or other frying oil)

Instructions:

Cut the tempeh in half to form two squares. Cut each of these squares in half lengthwise so that they are still squares, but now half as thick. Mix together the marinade in one bowl and set aside. In another bowl mix the cornmeal with your choice of spices. If you have time you can marinate the tempeh for up to a half an hour in your desired marinade. If you are pressed for time just dip each piece of tempeh in the marinade to coat on all sides. Heat the canola oil in a frying pan (you'll know it is ready for frying if a small glob of cornmeal starts to sizzle when you drop it in). Dredge the marinated or dipped tempeh in the cornmeal mixture. Once all four pieces are coated in the cornmeal mixture on all sides, place in the frying pan and fry until golden brown (1-2 minutes). Flip and fry the other side. Remove the tempeh cutlets from the oil and drain/blot with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve immediately with your favorite condiment or a bit of the leftover marinade.

Shirataki Spinach Mushroom Alfredo

Whoo, it has been a long while since I've posted. Work has been insane lately, and between that and figuring out my move to Virginia in a few months, I've not been cooking or baking as much as I usually do. Well, that and now that I'm leaving New York I feel a tremendous urge to visit my favorite restaurants, despite my usually frugal self. (p.s. Buddha Bodai on Mott Street is a new favorite!) However, today being Sunday, I had plenty of time to make up a nice homemade dinner. I've decided that Shirataki noodles are basically the most amazing thing ever--they're noodles and hence they taste really good, yet they're not made with the usual noodle materials and therefore are super low in calories. Like a serving has 20 calories low. Insanity. So anyway, I made this up, proportions of ingredients can be shifted as desired, since when I cook I just sort of guesstimate and dump stuff together. Cooking isn't the exact science that baking is after all.

Ingredients:
1 package shirataki, spaghetti style
1 onion
Olive oil
1 bunch fresh spinach
1 container sliced baby portabella mushrooms (buying pre-sliced mushrooms is the height of laziness, I know)
1/2 to 1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup plain soymilk
A generous spoonful or so of basil pesto
If desired: a few fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup shredded Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella, tofurky sausage, salt and pepper as needed

Instructions:
First, clean the spinach and cut some of the ends off. Bring the veggie stock to a boil and then place the spinach in to wilt a bit. Remove from heat. In another pan, heat olive oil (maybe 1 tablespoon? I tend not to measure so much when cooking). Dice the onion and saute it in the oil. After the onions are nice and a bit softened, add the mushrooms and cook down. Once these have melded nicely add in the spinach, the tofurky sausage, a small amount of the veggie stock, and the soymilk. Allow to cook down. Once its all hot, stir in the pesto, basil leaves, and vegan cheeze and mix well. If the sauce isn't thick enough for your taste you can add a bit of flour or cornstarch. Once the cheeze has melted and everything is well mixed, open the packet of shirataki. Drain it well, then add it to the pot (did I mention you also don't need to actually cook the shirataki so much as just heat it up? amazing). Stir well to mix the noodles, which admittedly stick together a little, and cook for a few more minutes. Serve hot. So good!

Slow Cooker Lentil Stew

Okay, I am so in love with my slow cooker. Its sort of magical in a way...I fill it with an assortment of ingredients and a liquid in the morning and then go about my day. When dinnertime comes I open the lid and BAM. Piping hot meal, ready for me to eat. I don't even have to stir the thing! So today I decided to make some lentil stew with foods I had lying around the house.

Ingredients:
1 bag of lentils
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes
3-4 cups vegetable stock
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
Garam masala (to taste, I think I used around 2 teaspoons maybe?)
Cumin (again, to taste)
Salt
Cinnamon (I added probably 1/2 teaspoon)

Instructions:
Add ingredients to slow cooker. I put the lentils on the bottom, followed by the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and tomatoes. Pour vegetable stock over this until its covered. Turn slow cooker on low, leave for 6-8 hours or until lentils are soft and stew-like, and you're done.

Stuffed Cabbage

I've been vegan for nearly twelve years now, and I never feel like I'm missing out on anything because I can veganize basically any recipe. My grandmother on the Slovakian and Polish side of the family used to make fantastic stuffed cabbage for holidays. I have been in the mood for stuffed cabbage all day today, so I'm posting my altered version of her basic recipe to remind myself to buy cabbage next time I'm at the market so that I can make this!

Ingredients:

2 packages of veggie ground meat subsitute (I prefer the Lightlife Smart Ground)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup cooked brown rice (I like to cook it in a little vegetable stock for added flavor)
1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cans tomato sauce
27 ounces sauerkraut, drained (optional)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 medium head cabbage
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups water

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the Smart Ground, onion, cooked rice, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, and 1/2 can of tomato sauce. Core the cabbage and and boil in a pot of water until partly cooked (don't overcook!), then separate the leaves and trim off the stems. Set aside between 24 and 32 whole leaves. Use the remaining leaves to line the bottom of a large baking pan, roasting pan, or casserole dish. Stuff a small handful of the Smart ground mixture in the center of a cabbage leaf. Fold top part of leaf over mixture, then fold in the sides and roll until mixture is completely encased. Lay rolls on top of the extra cabbage leaves in pan. If you are so inclined, spoon some sauerkraut over rolls, then sprinkle with sugar. Mix chopped tomatoes and sauce with water and pour over rolls. Add additional water as necessary to reach top of cabbage rolls. Bake for about an hour or so until cooked through and hot.

Cieszą się! (enjoy!)

Basil Fried Rice

Last night I went out to Red Bamboo in Brooklyn with one of my pals from work. I ordered the sesame "chicken," but after splitting the buffalo wings (and in anticipation of the peanut butter bombe) I only ate about half of my entree. With so much fake chicken and nice brown rice, I figured I could take my leftovers home and make a basil fried rice with the frozen veggies I had in my freezer already (since the leftover "chicken" is just marinated seitan this could easily be made from scratch as well). While I follow recipes closely when I bake, I tend to make up the meals I cook on the fly, so the measurements are loose and can be expanded as necessary. This made enough to feed two people.

Ingredients:
1/2-1 cup cooked rice
fresh basil
1 cup marinated seitan chunks
8-10 steamed or frozen broccoli florets
1/2 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup diced carrots
Medium onion
Soy sauce
Vegetable bullion
Sesame Oil
Vegetable Oil

Instructions:
First, I boiled a small amount of water and added my veggie bullion cube to make a veggie stock. Since my broccoli and peas were frozen I added a small amount of the stock to a microwave safe container and nuked the veggies until they were no longer frozen. I cooked my carrots in the remaining stock until tender. While the veggies were defrosting and cooking, I coarsely chopped the onion and sauteed it in a mix of the vegetable oil and the sesame oil. When the onions were tender I threw in several handfuls of chopped basil (mine was actually frozen from my summer garden; I always grow far, far more than I can use). I let the onions and basil sautee a bit then added the rice and stirred vigorously so it didn't stick to my pan too much. I then added the seitan and veggies, plus about 1/3-1/2 cup of the vegetable stock that I cooked the carrots in and a few dashes of soy sauce. I stirred until the liquied cooked off and was rewarded with a very delightful dinner and enough leftover for lunch tomorrow (leftovers from leftovers! three meals for the cost of one!).

Cheezy Rice and Broccoli Casserole

An awesome gal I met gave me this recipe a couple years ago. I love casseroles because you basically just dump a bunch of ingredients in the casserole pan and then an hour or so later the oven has magically made it into dinner.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 cups bite-sized broccoli florets
2 tablespoons vinegar (umeboshi, white, apple cider, or red as a last resort)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1/4 teaspoon turmeric or saffron

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in a 4-quart casserole dish and mix until combined. Cover and bake at 375 degrees F for 50-60 minutes.

This recipe is a great side dish or main course. I'll sometimes even sneak some out of the fridge in the morning and eat it cold--its that good!

Maple-Glazed Tempeh with Pineapple

I love tempeh, maple syrup, and pineapple individually, and figured, why not combine them into one delightful dish?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 package of tempeh
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 fresh pineapple, cut into small chunks or 1 can of canned pineapple
1 jalepeno, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups cooked rice

Instructions:
Slice the tempeh in half, and then slice each half again lengthwise (to produce 4 thin, square pieces that are half the thickness of the unsliced tempeh, not four thick rectangular chunks). Steam for several minutes and then remove from the heat.

In a saucepan, whisk together the maple syrup and mustard on medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in the salt and pepper.

Place the tempeh into a baking pan lined with tinfoil. Arrange the pineapple chunks and jalapenos on and around the tempeh, and then pour the syrup mixture on top, covering each piece. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Serve with rice.

Chana Masala

I absolutely love Indian food, and while I am lucky to have a great Indian restaurant right down the road from me, its fun to prepare a dish on my own sometimes.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1.5 cups crushed tomatoes
2 cans of chick peas (drained and rinsed)
1/2 jalapeño pepper (seeded and diced)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (if you like it...I dont and usually leave it off, but that's me)

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large pan on high. Fry the cumin seeds for about 30 seconds until they start popping in the pan. Add the onions and cook until they begin to caramelize, then add the garlic and cook for about another minute.

Add all of the other ingredients save for the cilantro and cook on medium-low to low heat for about 10 minutes. If you like cilantro, stir this in last. Delightful!