Organic Ziti+Wedding Sauce+Tofu Ricotta=Yum

Tonight for dinner we finally finished the "wedding sauce"!

To explain: My husband and I got married in 2008 and had our reception catered by a local Italian Market. We goofed and ordered too much food so we we had to figure out what to do with it. Much of it was donated, returned if possible, or sent home with friends but we were particularly fond of the sauce which came in these HUGE restaurant sized cans. I believe we had around 24 cans leftover....

Tonight we used the last can. I am not sure if I should celebrate the achievement or mourn the loss. At least it went to a good cause: Baked Ziti.


I used to love going to the mall food court as a child only because it meant I could order Baked Ziti from Sabarro's. (If you have never been to one, don't worry you are not missing out...) As a kid baked ziti was something that was both foreign and fun to me. It was like Mac & Cheese and Spaghetti with sauce combined. What kid doesn't like those things? And for whatever reason, I was convinced I could only get it at the mall food court. Go figure.

Now as a much more logical adult, I realize I can get it here in my own kitchen. Where not only will it be vegan, but much tastier. The sauce as you know was the "wedding sauce" which we can never get again.... (probably I am being a little too dramatic about this). The cheese is detailed below. And believe it or not, Whole Foods actually had a reasonably priced line of organic pasta!

Once I had all of the components assembled I just popped it in the oven and watched public TV's salute to Luciano Pavarotti. Very Italian indeed!

Cheese Sauce for the Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 2 TBS margarine
• 2 cloves garlic
• red pepper flakes
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
• 2 TBS dried oregano (frankly... they were out of fresh)
• 1 block silken tofu drained and smooshed
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• vegan cheese (optional... I couldn't find the brands I liked this week so I skipped it)

Method

1. Melt margarine on low in a saucepan and stir in garlic, basil and both peppers.
2. When garlic softens, stir in tofu and additional spices, stirring constantly until combined.
3. Taste mixture and add salt if necessary.
   
4. Remove from heat and stir in optional vegan cheese.
   
5. Allow to cool prior to using.
   

Happy New Year vegan style!

Happy New Year! Our family tradition is to forgo a heavy dinner for a night of appetizers and cocktails with family and friends. So tonight I prepared and bought a bunch of tasty vegan appetizers, most of which are very simple. Family get togethers are an excellent opportunity to show others that vegans eat normal, tasty food.

Tonight's appetizer spread included store bought hummus, chips and salsa, homemade summer rolls with a spicy mango dipping sauce (recipe below), carrots with a silken tofu-veggie dip, waldorf salad in lettuce cups and cold spicy peanut noodles. My family liked everything and dug in with gusto.

As a vegan you should have already made friends with hummus. If you haven't allow me to introduce you: meet hummus, otherwise known as fancy mashed up chickpea dip! Here is why you should know all about hummus, it is full of protein and is delicious by itself. You can also get it seasoned with lots of great spices like roasted red pepper, garlic, chipotle peppers or sun dried tomatoes. If you are any kind of cook at all, you should eventually learn to make it from scratch because hummus is also incredibly cheap to make.

The summer rolls take a little more work but are also incredibly healthful, delicious and impressive. You can put any selection of crunchy vegetables in them. I like: lettuce, basil, thinly sliced carrots, cucumber, red bell peppers, scallions and bean sprouts with a dressing made of rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic and ginger. The dipping sauce recipe is below.

Silken tofu is the most useful and versatile thing in a vegan's pantry and tonight I used it in place of sour cream with a vegetable dip spice packet (just check to be sure that its vegan!). To make a simple dip, all you have to do is combine the two in a blender and then whip it to a light and creamy consistency.

The waldorf salad was a choice designed to cool off everyone's tongues after all of the spicy food. Putting it in lettuce cups made it easier to eat.

The cold peanut noodles were the biggest hit of the night and the bowl was scraped clean. I have included the recipe below.

Here are a few recipes:

Spicy Mango Dipping Sauce

Besides summer rolls, this would also be good with store bought soy nuggets or thinned into a spicy salad dressing.

Place the following into a blender and blend until smooth:

• 1 ripe mango, cubed
• 1 small ripe orange or tangerine, peeled and seeded
  
• Sriracha hot sauce, to taste
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

Cold Spicy Peanut Noodles

Ingredients:

1/2 package thin Rice Noodles
4 TBS peanut butter
3-4 TBS Sriracha hot sauce
1 TBS sesame oil
Dry Roasted Peanuts, Crushed (for garnish)

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil on the stove.
2. Once the water is boiling, throw in noodles and turn off the burner. Let sit until done (follow package directions)
3. Drain and cut into shorter lengths, if desired.
4. In the same pot, heat the sesame oil.
5. After 30 seconds add the peanut butter stirring constantly.
6. Once peanut butter is heated through and thins out, add hot sauce and stir to combine.
7. Toss noodles in sauce.
8. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and serve topped with the peanuts.
   

Another recipe from vegan brunch

First two observations:

1. I don't believe I have used this cookbook for a meal served prior to noon yet.


2. I am quickly falling into the cult of Isa Chandra worshippers!

Tonight for dinner we had the "Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes". Since I am not a huge fan of tempeh though, I made them with extra firm tofu. They were awesome! I did add a little garlic to the recipe but otherwise I followed it exactly as written (well and then there was the tofu substitution...). Oh wait I also broiled them instead of frying... but I otherwise I was true to the recipe. I guess I cannot leave things alone.

About those crackers on the plate:

When I was a graduate student, I worked in the Baltimore restaurant circuit and everyone used to request saltines with their crab cakes, so the crackers on the plate a nod to that tradition. You are supposed to smoosh the cake on the cracker. It didn't make sense to me then and after trying it, it still doesn't but at least I can say that I finally tried it. I'll probably skip the saltines in the future, but man were these delicious.

In addition to the saltines for a true "Baltimore" experience you could try adding a little old bay.... but I can't stand the stuff myself. I guess I am not a very good hon*.

Here is what it all looked like. Served with a bunch of veggies, it was a delicious dinner!

* A Baltimore "Hon" is an often parodied caricature of a Baltimore woman. She is typically in a beehive and brightly colored house dress with outdated cat-eyed glasses. There is an entire festival in honour of the Baltimore Hon every year!

Cumin scented tofu with roasted vegetables

Today I was craving a "taco-like" flavor more than anything. During my commute, there was a cookbook author on the podcast I was listening to. He spent so much time discussing the merits of the spice cumin that by the time I got home, cumin was all I could think of. If someone had asked, "What do you want for dinner, Erin?" I probably would have responded "cumin". It was that bad.

So when I walked in the door I immediately began categorizing my fridge contents into two piles.

Pile number one: Goes With Cumin

Pile number two: Does Not Go With Cumin

Luckily I found enough things in my fridge to curb my craving and to create this delicious dish.

Cumin scented tofu and roasted vegetables

Ingredients:
1 orange pepper
1 red pepper
1 cubanelle pepper
1 onion
1 block firm tofu, water pressed out

for marinade:
5 TBS vegetable oil
1 packet vegetable broth concentrate*
1 heaping TBS cumin
2 TBS chili powder
pinch cayenne
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup water
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup salsa of your choice

tortillas (corn, wheat, brown rice it doesn't matter)

Method:

1. Chop all vegetables and place in a large bowl.
   
2. Make marinade by combing oil, broth concentrate and all spices into a thick slurry. Pour over vegetables.
3. Cube tofu and gently fold into vegetable mixture (be careful not to break it up).
4. Let marinate for at least 20 minutes.
5. Place all vegetables, Tofu and marinade in an oven-safe dish and bake at 450.
6. Combine water, cornstarch and salsa. After vegetable mixture has baked for 30 minutes stir in salsa mixture.
7. Continue to bake until marinade/sauce has thickened and vegetables are done to your liking. (I went for about 10 more minutes)
8. Serve with tortillas.

* Vegetable Broth concentrate is a liquid concentrate which is definitely available at both trader joes and whole foods. If you can't find it, you could probably skip it and add a little salt to the oil-spice combo.

take me out to the ball game!

Last night my husband surprised me with baseball tickets. The Red Sox are in town and he is a HUGE fan. So we had great seats for a game that started at 7 PM. Here is a wierd thing about Baltimore Baseball: Normally you can wander down to the game and get in without any problem because people here do not support the Orioles.

When the Sox or those dreaded Yankees (sorry, I have to be loyal because my DH is loyal to the Red Sox) are in town, it can take forever to work through the stadium because their fans follow them here.

This meant we were supposed to have dinner at the game. This ought to be fun... a vegan eating ballpark food in Baltimore. I am a big believer in planning ahead and doing everything you can to take care of yourself, so I packed myself a quick baseball meal of Vegan Mabo Tofu, Brussels Sprouts, and Kabocha Squash. It was very quick and pretty tasty. The Mabo Tofu I made using this sauce mix which according to the packaging (and ingredient list) was totally vegan!



It couldn't have been any easier. Simply snip the sauce packet and put it in a pot with cubed pressed tofu. Simmer for a few minutes. I thought it was pretty good, but if I hadn't been in a bit of a hurry I would have tried to doctor the sauce a bit. It was pretty spicy but didn't have a depth of flavor that I usually like in Asian sauces. If I can find it again, I am definitely going to give it another try, this time with time to play with the seasonings.

The Brussels sprouts were great. I simply sauteed them with a little oil (very little) and lots of garlic and pepper. Then I finished them with a little low sodium soy sauce.

The Kabocha squash I quickly steamed in the microwave and ate with salt and pepper.

The game was great and I had plenty of good stuff to eat, since I brought it from home. At some point a drunk fan from behind shouted: Brussels Sprouts! At a ball game!! Really?!!

I only wish I had some left, so I could have offered him a few!

phee phi pho phum....

a
So this whole saga started when I saw an innocent looking cube of "pho" bouillon at H-mart (my local asian grocery). I had no idea what pho was but my curiosity was peaked! It turns out that pho is basically the national dish of Vietnam and apparently totally tasty and totally not vegan....

Well I can't seem to walk away from a challenge to save my life so I decided to give it my best shot. I read all I could about Vietnamese Pho, including articles about how it should never be vegetarian and articles describing how it could be made vegetarian occasionally... I finally came up with this one.

At first I was afraid to even take a bite because the broth was a mysterious blackish color... but I was brave. Boy was I glad I was because it was was great. The flavors were rich and warming. Not only did I enjoy it but my husband (remember... the non-vegan) and my neighbor loved it too!!

I cannot attest to its authenticity, so if I made some critical misstep (besides the obvious ones... i.e. no fish sauce) feel free to let me know but please understand that this is pho-inspired more than actually pho. I have never had real pho and probably never will since it seems impossible to find a vegan version in a restaurant. Regardless I encourage you to be brave and wade into the murky blackness because the taste was exotic and delightful. It wasn't too difficult either!!

By the way if you want a lighter broth, strain it through cheesecloth or find whole components of all of the spices in the chinese 5 spice (ie whole cinnamon sticks, whole star aniseed etc..)

Vietnamese Pho, sort of

Ingredients:

Broth:
4 shallots
3 inches of ginger
25 basil leaves
12 cloves of garlic (DO NOT BE AFRAID... THEY WILL MELLOW OUT!!)
1 cup asian cooking wine
1/2 cup dried shitakes
2 heaping tsp chinese 5 spice blend
1 tsp dried cilantro
a lot of fresh ground black pepper (I used 30 cranks on my mill)
6 cups vegetable broth or water

1 block baked marinated tofu (I used a store bought "asian" flavor), cubed
1-2 cups napa cabbage chopped
2 green scallions chopped
1/2 cup basil leaves chopped

4 ounces rice pasta (the medium size that looks like linguine), soaked/cooked according to package directions

Optional garnishes:
chopped peanuts
hoisin sauce
Siracha sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedges


Method:

• Place all ingredients for broth in a large pot and bring to a boil.
  
• Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for an hour, stirring occasionally.
• Strain out solids, reserving liquid.
• Return the liquid to stove and add napa & tofu cooking 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in basil and rice pasta and heat through
• Toss in scallions and serve with various garnishes on side

Like I said... be brave and try it!! It wasn't even difficult!

Veggie Stroganoff

Tonight I was craving something creamy and had a big bag of mushrooms so I decided to try to make some vegan stroganoff. I happen to own a TON of cookbooks both old and new so I flipped through a few to look for the flavor profile that was unique to stroganoff. What I found was this.... they are all different! The only things that are unique to stroganoff besides mushrooms were non-vegan flavors: sour cream, beef, egg noodles. Beyond that trinity it seemed to be an "anything-goes" sort of dish. Some used basil-oregano-garlic, some used a thyme-rosemary combo. One version even called for ketchup!

Since there seems to be a laissez faire attitude towards a "proper" stroganoff, it should be the perfect dish to veganize! I created my own flavor profile. In the version in the picture I used firm tofu. This was the only misstep I feel I made. It didn't absorb the flavors well and was too heavy in the dish. I ended up eating around it and picking it out of the leftovers. The recipe below omits it.

Veggie Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1 cup silken tofu
2 TBS rice vinegar (or other mild vinegar)
2 TBS earth balance or other vegan "butter"
1 TBS olive oil
3 sun dried tomatoes, drained of any oil and finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot sliced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS dried thyme
1 bay leaf, crushed
red pepper and salt, to taste
3 TBS flour
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
1 "not beef" vegan bouillon cube
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tsp browning sauce *

pasta or rice, to serve

Method:

• First make a simple vegan sour cream by combining silken tofu and vinegar in a food processor or blender and blending well. Put aside until later.
• In a 3 quart sauce pan heat oil and earth balance. Once EB is melted, saute sun dried tomatoes, onions and carrots
• When onions are soft, add the mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf.
  
• Cook until mushrooms have given off most of their water, then add garlic. Stir carefully and watch the garlic so it does not burn.
• After a few seconds add the salt, pepper and flour. Stir constantly and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the wine and water and bring to a boil.
• Once water is boiling, add bouillon cube and browning sauce*. Stir until bouillon dissolves and liquid is reduced and thick.
• Stir in the frozen peas.
• Once the peas are heated, turn down the flame and add the vegan sour cream. The mixture does not need to boil again.
  
• Serve over rice or "buttered" pasta.

* Browning Sauce is usually near the gravies and gravy making ingredients at the grocery store. Read the ingredients carefully as they are not all vegan but I was able to find one that was made of only root vegetables. If you cannot find one, leave it out. The meal will still taste good!

By the way.... if you live in the Baltimore area: check out Baltimore Vegan Drinks. Their last event was last night at Dionysus in Mount Vernon and had a great turn out. Even though I was exhausted from work I went and had a blast. It was very nice to meet lots of other area vegans and get together for a few drinks.

The last supper

Tomorrow is my first day back to work after the summer break, so I chose one of the most comforting foods I could think of: miso soup. Now, this may seem like an odd choice but I love miso soup. I mean I REALLY LOVE miso soup. When I'm sick it is what I crave and when we are out eating in a Japanese restaurant, I always manage to eat my husband's as well as mine (luckily... he doesn't mind too much). This particular soup, I amped up with tons of vegetables and some rice noodles, which is sacrilege I am sure but delicious nonetheless.

We followed it with my first homemade sushi attempt (which totally felt like cheating because it was so easy), inari sushi. Everything (except the rice) that I needed for the sushi came in this little kit, which I bought at the Asian grocery store:

There were no English directions, so I used the pictures as a clue and in about the time it took to cook the sticky rice we had delicious little pockets of tofu stuffed with seasoned rice and a packet of garnishes cutely labeled "flake". I usually only get this in sushi restaurants but the home version was equally good. Here is the finished product:


After a final survey we concluded that I loved the inari and DH thought that they were "ok". He seemed to prefer eating a big bowl of the sticky rice with some cucumber. The next time I make sushi at home, my goal is to do it like these guys:



Now since the sushi was essentially rice and tofu, we ate tons of miso soup tonight. My husband even said that it was better than the stuff you get in restaurants!

Deluxe Miso Soup

Ingredients:

Water
a 2-inch piece of kombu, rinsed (a type of seaweed)
4 pieces of dried shitake mushroom
small bunch chives
splash rice wine
splash soy sauce

a handful of dried rice noodles
2 cups of mixed chopped vegetables of your choice and tofu
(* I used carrots, chives, napa, laver, red peppers, peas and tofu)
2 TBS miso (fermented soybean paste)

Method:

Begin by making your Dashi. Fill a two quart stock pot with water. Add the kombu, chives and dried mushrooms and bring to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes, then add the wine and soy sauce. After 15 more minutes, strain out the solids, reserving the mushrooms. Taste the Dashi and add more soy if necessary.

Take a moment to chop the rehydrated shitakes.

Bring the broth back to a boil. Reduce heat and add the noodles. Once noodles are soft add the other vegetables, tofu and the shitakes. Heat through and then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir in the miso but do not allow the liquid to boil again. Serve immediately.



Miso is excellent for your health. It is high in many trace minerals, including zinc, manganese and copper. Some studies also suggest that it may help prevent breast cancer among women. Plus it is super tasty. I am no doctor though, so do not take my advice in place of a medical professional!! This information is not meant to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure anything... Got it? Be smart and do your own research!

All-U-Care-to-Eat $2.99 buffet!!!

Earlier today my husband and I were walking around Baltimore (lamenting the fact that we both go back to work soon....) and shopping a little. In one of my favorite local used bookstores, Read Street Books, I stumbled upon the strangest little cookbook entitled: Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and other irritating states: A Dinner Party Approach to public Relations


The book features recipes from Korea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, Pakistan, Cuba, Burma, China and the good ole US of A. Without beginning any political discussion (this isn't a political blog...I'm thinking about the recipes), I want to tell you that this book is great. It has many recipes that are vegan and then many more that can easily be veganized. Since I love Asiatic Cuisines, I obviously bought it. And then.... I spent the entire walk home planning dinner. We set everything up like our own little All-U-Care-to-eat Chinese buffet.

Here was the menu:

• Vietnamese Style Spring Rolls 越南春卷
• Sticky Rice 大米
• Stir-Fried lotus Root 炒莲藕
• General Tso's Tofu 左宗棠豆腐
• Tropical Fruit Smoothie 水果时髦饮

The Vietnamese Spring Rolls were filled with soaked rice noodles, cucumber, red pepper, carrot, parsley, lettuce, chives and a homemade orange-ginger vinaigrette.



The Stir-Fried Lotus Root was seasoned with garlic, ginger, soy sauce and a little sesame oil. Fresh lotus Root can be purchased at most Asian grocery stores. Before using, it needs to be peeled. To prevent browning it can be soaked briefly in water with a splash of vinegar.


The General Tso's Tofu was a veganization of a recipe from the new cookbook. The recipe is posted below.


And finally to cool down all of that heat, we drank delicious tropical fruit smoothies! They were made from a combo of frozen lychees, cherries, banana and pineapple combined with lime juice, coconut milk, agave nectar and fresh minced ginger.

It was all great. After dinner we relaxed with Polynesian cocktails and watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It was a great date night and we didn't even have to leave our house.

General Tso's Tofu

Ingredients:

1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into small chunks
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup peanut oil + 2 TBS additional oil
4-8 small dried hot chilli peppers (I used 4 and it was wimpy... my DH had to add extra hot pepper)
1 packet liquid vegetable broth concentrate
white pepper

for sauce:
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 TBS hoisin sauce
3 tsp agave nectar
2 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS sake or mirin
2 cloves minced garlic
2 TBS minced ginger

optional garnishes: minced scallions, sesame seeds or parsley

Method:

1. Marinate tofu in the vegetable broth concentrate and pepper (do not add water!) stir to coat all pieces. Let sit for approximately 30 minutes to one hour. Use this time to combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Right before cooking, set oven to low heat and line an oven safe pan with a few paper towels.

3. Heat the cup of oil in a wok or frying pan with steep sides. Working in small batches, lightly coat tofu in the cornstarch and fry until crispy. Place cooked tofu in prepared pan and keep warm in the oven. (Note: If you just dump the tofu into the cornstarch it will become a gluey mess... I found putting the cornstarch on a plate and turning the indivual tofu chunks with tongs to be the best method.)

4. When all of the tofu is done, pour off the oil into a jar to cool and wipe out the pan. Return to the stove and add the two tablespoons of additional oil to the pan.

5. Carefully cook your peppers (Watch out for your eyes and nose!) until the oil is slightly colored and the peppers are soft. Add your broccoli and sautee briefly.

6. Return the tofu to the pan.

7. Pour the bowl of sauce ingredients over the tofu and stir continually until sauce becomes slightly thick.

Garnish, if desired and serve over rice.

Need to clean out your leftovers? Tofu scramble to the rescue!

Tonight I had three main goals for dinner:

1) quick
2)nutritious
3)use up odds and ends


The solution? Tofu Scramble and Fruit Salad! I suspect that nearly every vegan makes their own version of a tofu scramble. Mine is different every time depending on what I happen to have on hand. I always include tofu, nutritional yeast, garlic (powder, cloves it doesn't matter to me...) and low-sodium soy sauce. Beyond that it is all up to the refrigerator gods.. Tonight's scramble had a southwestern flair due to some leftover tex-mex marinade/sauce that I used to season it. The veggies I included were: mushrooms, peppers, onions, okra and beans. Tonight's scramble was especially creamy due to a stir in of tofutti better than cream cheese.

The accompanying fruit salad was made of dragon fruit, lychees, cherries, blueberries, bannanas and oranges tossed in some lime juice. I served it with a side of wholegrain toast with pumpkin butter. Altogether it made a simple, quick and nutritious dinner.