Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2012

Pot Pie... made from scratch and vegan, too!

This is an easy pot pie recipe that is almost naturally vegan. I made this last Sunday when we had dinner company. It's a crowd pleaser, and is pretty much fool proof. Use common sense though. I tend not to measure the flour and almond milk ratio, so basically try and make a one pan white sauce and you'll be okay.

First the crust:
2 cups flour
2/3 cups vegetable shortening
6 tablespoons of water
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 325.

Cut the shortening into the flour and salt. Once the dough is the consistency of pea sized crumbs, add the water and mix into a dough ball.

Roll onto a lightly floured surface and with a floured rolling pin flatten till it is wide enough to cover the bottom of your pie pan and lay flat across the top too. Roll up around the rolling pin in order to lay across the pie pan. Cut off excess dough and reform into a ball, lightly coat with olive oil and wrap in plastic. Set the ball aside for now.

Bake the shell for 15 minutes, then set aside.

Filling:

Dice one baking potato, 3 carrots, 2 celery stalks.
1/2 cup frozen peas
4 garlic cloves diced
1 1/2 to 2 cups veggie broth
1 can cannellini beans
Olive oil or vegan margarine
Almond milk
1/2 cup flour approximately
Summer savory herbs (or thyme, sage, marjoram)
Salt and pepper

Sauté fresh diced veggies and garlic in olive oil or vegan margarine with herbs. Add veggie broth, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add more broth if needed. Potatoes should be just tender. Add peas.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Add flour a bit at a time until the veggies are coated and liquid is absorbed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cook in the pan till the flour begins to brown, then add almond milk slowly, stirring to evenly distribute. Keep adding the almond milk until the filling is about the consistency of a thick stew. Add in the cannellini beans and remove from heat.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked pie shell. Roll out the remainder of the dough to cover the top and pinch down with fingers.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until you see the crust turn a golden brown.

Eat and be merry, once it cools, of course!

*Also, we have have eaten this pot pie before taking a photo of the finished product. Oops.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Vegan Eastern Carolina Style BBQ Jackfruit Recipe

Do you love vinegar based BBQ, or buffalo sauce? Do you crave new ways to stuff your face with spicy vinegary goodness? Okay, well maybe I'm the only one who likes to take a swig of hot sauce in-between dashing it on the food stuffs. So I will tone down the cayenne in this recipe just for that reason!

Eastern Carolina Style BBQ Jackfruit

2 cans brined Jackfruit (They sell it in syrup, not a good idea)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 Tbs molasses
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs hot sauce
1/2 Tbs cayenne

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk till sugar is dissolved. Drain the jackfruit and chop to BBQ-esque sized pieces. mix the sauce and jackfruit together in bowl. Cover and let marinade for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. You can go overnight and it will just make everything taste better. Heat till just boiling, then let simmer for at least 10 minutes (tip: I added a 1/2 Tbs of coconut oil to the BBQ while simmering... the thought being that some fat might enhance the yum factor). Serve on hamburger buns, with coleslaw if you so choose.
chopped jackfruit

Easy Coleslaw

1/4 head cabbage (shredded)
2 carrots (shredded)
2 tsp celery seed
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Veganaise
salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients in a bowl. Chill and serve a top your BBQ sandwich.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup from Scratch


Now that December has rolled in, the weather has officially turned chilly! And while a good ol' fashioned can of tomato soup is vegan, I wanted to make something healthy, fresh, and without all the preservatives one might find in traditional condensed soups. So here you go: 

Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup
  • 4 diced garlic cloves 
  • 2 Tbs vegan butter (Earth Balance or in a pinch, Betty Crocker Light)
  • 4 medium to large diced tomatoes 
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 3/4 cup vegetable broth
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • salt and pepper to taste
Blend your cashews and 1/2 cup broth in a food processor or with your handy dandy immersion blender until smooth, then set aside for later. Saute the garlic in the butter.  Add your diced tomatoes (try to keep as much of the tomato juice as possible during the dicing) and 1/4 cup of remaining broth. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and let cool for about another 10-15 minutes.
Make yourself a Daiya cheddar grilled cheese sandwich in the mean time to go with you soup. Mmm, mmm good!

Blend the tomato mixture with an immersion blender in the pot until smooth. Add 1/3 cup nutritional yeast and pulse a couple times. Lastly, add the cashew/broth mixture and blend until creamy. Season with salt and pepper and pulse a few more times until complete.
I am hoping you know what to do next...

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Sunday Vegan Biscuits and Gravy

It's Sunday (technically it is Saturday, but I'm giving you a day to prepare). Go all out! Make a homestyle delicacy.
Maybe you have your own version of this classic Americana recipe. Branch out. This one is good. Real good.

Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits and TVP Sausage Gravy (better known as MMMMMmmmmm)


Biscuits:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBS baking powder
1/4 TSP baking soda
1 1/2 TBS sugar
1/2 TSP egg replacer
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine or shortening
2/3 cup almond milk
1 TSP apple cider vinegar


In a bowl, whisk almond milk with apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle

Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Cut in margarine till mix is crumbly. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in milk. Stir till dough clings together.

On a lightly floured surface gently knead dough for 10-12 strokes. Roll or pat to about 1/2 in thick. Use a buiscut cutter or a drinking glass to cut out biscuits.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes or till golden.

While the biscuits are baking, start your gravy

TVP Sausage Gravy:
1 cup TVP
sage
thyme
fennel seed
liquid amino
liquid smoke
hot sauce
flour
almond milk
salt
pepper

Heat dry TVP in skillet and add sage, thyme and fennel. Pour in one cup of water and stir till evenly absorbed by the TVP. Add liquid amino, liquid smoke and hot sauce. Stir well.

Dust the TVP mix with flour, and stir. Allow flour mixture to brown slightly in the pan. Add black pepper. You will scrape the stuck-on bits off when you add your almond milk.

Add the almond milk 1/4 cup at a time, stirring to mix well. once the gravy has reached the desired consitancy of gravy, remove from heat. Remember that the gravy will continue to thicken once removed from the heat, so make it slightly more liquidy than you actually want.


Plate your biscuits, cover with gravy. Serve with tattooed boyfriend (optional).

Try it, you'll like it.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Raw Cashew Vegan Pesto

This week I bough a huge bundle of basil from Victory Farms stand at the Byrd House Market for a dollar!!!
Oops! BASIL not BASILISK!


So I had to make some pesto. But pine nuts are expensive... so I used raw cashews instead. The result.... DELICIOUS!!!
Half of the basil
RAW CASHEW VEGAN PESTO:

1 bunch of Basil
5 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup EVOO
2 tbs lemon juice
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup raw cashews
salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients preparing to become pesto
add all ingredients into food processor and blend well.

The end result should look similar to this:

PRESTO!!! PESTO!!! (I had to. I couldn't resist.)
I put this on toast with some tomato slices. OMG! Yum! I am sure there will be lots of other stuff to douse with pesto.... hmmmm... any ideas from the peanut gallery?




Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Israeli Salad Plus Quinoa



Israeli Salad was a staple in my house, growing up. Mom would say, " The secret is in cutting the pieces really, really small". So I now pass that tidbit of wisdom on to you. The other bit of wisdom I now pass on is the extreme health benefit of adding quinoa to the Israeli Salad.
Fresh ingredients.. pre-chop



One cup of quinoa:
  • 220 calories (70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat, 15 percent protein)
  • 40 grams of carbohydrates (13 percent daily value)
  • 8 grams of protein (16 percent of daily value)
  • 3.5 grams of fat (5 percent daily value with no saturated fat)
  • A glycemic load (blood sugar spike) of only 18 out of 250
  • 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of daily value)
  • 20 percent of daily value of folate (various forms of Vitamin B)
  • 30 percent of magnesium daily value (beneficial for people with migraine headaches); 28 percent daily value of phosphorous; iron (15 percent); copper (18 percent); and manganese (almost 60 percent)
Quinoa has all eight essential amino acids. It’s difficult for vegans to get all eight essential amino acids and an adequate source of protein from one food source. Usually, vegans need to combine foods like beans and rice to acquire all the essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein. 
Find out more from this website: www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/quinoa-nutrition-facts

Israeli Salad:
1 Large cucumber
1 Large tomato
1/2 red onion
1/4 cup EVOO
2 Tbs  lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley as garnish
1 cup quinoa
Rinse the quinoa, then brown in a sauce pan. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil, uncovered. Reduce heat to medium and continue to let boil until tender (about 10-15 minutes). Once cooked, let chill in the refrigerator while chopping the veggies.

Chop the cucumber, tomato and onion into pieces that range between 1/4 and 1/2 inch squares.

Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a separate dish, then pour and fold all ingredients together. Add parsley and quinoa, too. Chill, and serve cold at your potluck. (perfect with fresh pita chips)
No, you know my camera isn't good enough to take this picture, but for reference on chopping size, you can see what it should look like. 

Monday, July 4, 2011

Vegan Potato Salad, Perfect for 4th of July Potlucks

4th of July potluck is upon us!

cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/happy-4th-of-july/





Here is my recipe for "Out of This World Vegan Potato Salad":

Tastes a lot better than it loos in this photo!!!!

5 large Russet potatoes diced and boiled (leave the skin on)
1/4 cup Veganaise
2 Tbs mustard
1 Tbs dill pickle juice
2 Tbs sweet relish
1 Tbs chopped parsley
4 celery stalks, diced
2 green onions diced
salt and pepper to taste


Blend all ingredients except the potatoes together. Once mixed, fold into the boiled potatoes until evenly coated. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve and enjoy!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!!! ENJOY THE FIREWORKS AND FOOD!!!!!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Summer Squash, Mint and Berry Dinner

Stick rice, spring roll and soup
Here are a few yummy recipes for the berry and squash season that is now upon us.

Squash and Berry Sweet Curry Chilled Soup:

2 yellow neck squash, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup mixed berries
1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon sweet curry powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon liquid amino
sriracha to taste
chopped mint leaves

Saute red pepper and squash with coconut oil till tender
heat berries and coconut milk in pan till just before mixture boils. remove from heat and pour through sieve into bowl. The point is that we are trying to remove the seeds from the berries. So go ahead and smush the berries through the sieve as best you can.

Pour sauteed red pepper and squash into the bowl and use an immersion blender to get a smooth consistency. Add in liquid amino and sriracha to taste.

Chill for 30-45 minutes

Blend the mint leaves and a dash of coconut oil into a pesto like paste. use this as a garnish and swirl around the top of the soup. add a few leftover berries as well, to make a pretty finish.

Berry Glazed Tempeh

1 cup berries
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 can coconut juice
1 Thai chili
1/8 cup chopped mint
dash of sesame oil
1 package tempeh


Add first seven ingredients into a sauce pan and heat till just before boiling. remove from heat, and strain into sieve with a bowl underneath to get rid of seeds in the berries.

slice tempeh into short strips that are about 2-3mm thick and place into a frying pan. Pour sauce into the pan and cook until glazed.

I added this to spring rolls with cabbage and carrots, but the possibilities abound, so do with the glaze what you will!

Enjoy. We did!

P.s. Thanks, Kayla for your help, your kitchen and your tasters!

Dinner!