Veganomicon: Pasta della California

OK, so I'll admit that this isn't my first time with the Pasta della California, but it is my first time blogging it. I made it once before when my sister and her husband were over for a game night, but I was too carried away in the moment to stop to take pictures. I just want to say that this is a fabulous dish if you take the time to get the right ingredients. The first time I made this I went the 30 miles to a Whole Foods market to get arugula because none of our local stores carried it, and everything was fresh and it was wonderful. This time I used baby arugula from the local store and used a lemon because my limes were beyond sad. Tonight's dinner is a pale imitation of the delicious dinner we had on game night. The lesson here: go get full-grown arugula, it makes a huge difference. In my heart of hearts I knew this would be the case, but sometimes you just don't want to drive 30 miles to get $1.99 worth of produce. I think the other splurge in this dish is to use a nice light broth like Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth rather than a boullion or a darker broth. Otherwise, if you love avocado, garlic, lime and pasta, then this is definitely the dish for you.

Veganomicon: White Bean Aoli

I had canellini beans and I wanted a hummus-like "schmear" for our freshly baked bagels. This aoili is smoother and runnier than hummus and would probably be a wonderfully rich sandwich spread, a perfect veggie or chip dip, or even an impromptu white sauce for pasta. I don't think it's quite thick enough for a bagel spread, but the flavor is wonderful.

Veganomicon: Tempeh Shepherdess Pie

I can count on one hand the number of tempeh dishes that I really love, and now this is among them. I get nervous using tempeh. When I was still a young vegetarian living at home with my parents I tried to cook with tempeh. I knew nothing. I thought that tempeh would be like tofu and that I could cook it any old way I liked. Needless to say it wasn't and my first tempeh creation was completely inedible. It wasn't until a few years ago that I tried tempeh again using a Carolina-style BBQ recipe from Veggie Life Magazine. And then more recently, the other tempeh recipe I've tried from Veganomicon was great. The texture of the filling was perfect. The taste was fabulous, though I'll probably boost the thyme next time. The one little problem I had with the recipe was that the potatoes came out a bit crumbly and dry when I first mashed them, so I added a bit more soymilk to them. But with that one exception the dish was a huge success. I might just have fallen in love with tempeh after all!

More Bagels: Onion and Sesame Seed

My original plan for this weekend was to invite my sister over for a bagel bake-a-thon, but unfortunately her husband was sick and she felt like she might be coming down with it, so I figured it was best for all parties concerned for us not to spread the germs. So instead I baked bagels by myself until I ran out of yeast.

Veganomicon: Green Pea and Lemon Risotto with Roasted Red Peppers

I love risotto. This risotto is a lovely combination of the sweet peas and roasted red peppers and the rich, herby, and creamy rice in harmony with the sparkle of the lemon. I think this would be a dreamy dish for a Valentine's dinner with the one you love.

Bagels from Baking Bites Blog

Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to bake bagels, but my mother convinced me that it was too complicated. I'm happy to report that is not the case. It was actually really fun and I even made an audible squee of delight while they were baking.

I used the recipe over here on the blog Baking Bites, and you should too. It's laid out so nicely and the photos are gorgeous. I did make a couple substitutions though, because I just can't help myself. I don't have bread flour in the house, so I used all purpose flour plus a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten. I also used a cornstarch wash instead of an egg wash. I whisked 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water then whisked that mixture into a cup of boiling water. I brushed the bagels before they went into the oven and then again afterward. I can't wait to try this recipe out again with flavors and toppings.

Veganomicon: Pasta E Fagioli

The authors tell us this is pronounced Pasta Fazool. It's an utterly simple dish of pasta, beans, tomato, garlic and herbs. I used some tricolor radiatorre for an extra color boost. I think that this is a recipe that would be beautiful for those full summer, fresh from the garden or farmer's market tomatoes. In the winter, I think canned tomatoes would be much nicer in this dish than the pale pink things I got in the produce section... Lesson learned. Instead of using canned beans I used dried beans cooked in the slow cooker. Unfortunately I was less than attentive and overcooked the little buggers, so they were mushy. And yet, despite all of that, the end product was warm, tasty, comforting, and completely satisfying. This is stick to your ribs cooking. So go ahead and make this in February, but I suggest using canned tomatoes, it'll save you chopping time as well.

Veganomicon: Asparagus Quiche With Tomatoes and Tarragon

I'll start by saying that I approached this recipe with great skepticism. Before I became vegan, years ago, I had perfected a spinach and onion quiche, and none have ever measured up. I'm not fond of tarragon as a general rule, and I once had a bean based quiche cooked by an acquaintance that wasn't very good. So I'm sure that you can imagine how pleasant was my surprise that this quiche turned out beautifully.

The crust is wonderfully flakey and crisp, I was afraid that it would burn during the long 45 minute cooking time, but it was just browned, perhaps a bit overly crisp, but not the slightest bit burned. I think the crispness is mainly due to the delicate nature of vegan shortening. I used Earth Balance margarine which softens at room temperature. It's no match for a traditional crust, but it's one of the best vegan crusts I've had.

The bean filling is smooth and creamy, the tomatoes are the perfect juicy-tart counterpoint to the rich creaminess. This is one of the first recipes where I feel that every drop of the oil called for is necessary. The breadcrumbs on top add a wonderful layer of texture.

Unfortunately, although the tomato slices make for a stunning presentation, they make it very difficult to cut the finished quiche. If I make this one again I will dice the tomato and scatter the pieces across the top. The only room for improvement I see with this dish is that I wish the filling were firmer like a traditional quiche. That didn't stop us from devouring the entire thing by ourselves.

Veganomicon: Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits

This is an excellent potpie recipe. The biscuits cook up just past doughy but not yet dry or crumbly, the broth is thick, and the vegetables are tender. My one concession to health and nutrition was using white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, but the difference wasn't terribly noticeable. Paul and I both enjoyed it, and agreed that it reminds us a bit of my seitan pot pie. I have to admit that using beans instead of seitan makes this a much less labor-intensive dish, though seitan provides a nice chewy counterpoint to the tender vegetables. I probably will make this again, but I think that I will use more leeks for a stronger flavor since they get mellowed quite a bit in the cooking and I will use less cornstarch, maybe as little as 1 Tbs, so that the broth is a bit more fluid. I'll probably also add a bay leaf and more herbs to boost the flavor a bit. And to those of you undertaking this recipe, make sure that you stir the vinegar/soymilk mixture quite well before adding it to the dry ingredients because I failed to remix them and evidently the two had separated and we ended up with a couple very tart biscuits, but that was certainly my fault and not the recipe authors'.

Veganomicon: Pumpkin Saag and Saffron-Garlic Rice

The Pumpkin Saag reminded me of a red lentil, quinoa, spinach salad recipe that was in Veggie Life in the grains issue. Unfortunately I didn't read the recipe carefully before shopping for ingredients and planned on using the pureed pumpkin left-over from my pumpkin bread recipe. The difference only seemed to affect the texture and not the flavor. I think this is one dish that I would make spicier, since I tend to expect it in a curry.

The Saffron-Garlic Rice had a wonderful flavor, but just a bit too much oil for my taste. I think if I make this one again I will cut back the oil to less tan a tablespoon. I also changed the slivered almonds to frozen peas added right at the end and lightly steamed on the hot rice (with the lid on). I think that almonds would be just as wonderful, I just felt like bright green peas would make a nice light alternative in such a weighty dish.

Veganomicon: Penne Vodka

Last night's dinner was Penne Vodka from the Veganomicon. The recipe was simple enough to put together. Essentially all that was required was to saute the garlic, red pepper flakes, and then add the herbs, canned tomato, vodka and simmer. The creamy component to the sauce was achieved by using almonds. I used almond meal instead of the slivered almonds that the recipe called for because it was what I had and it seemed easer to use the pre-ground almonds than to break down slivered almonds with the stick blender.

This recipe was very interesting. I've never had vodka sauce before, so I'm really not sure how it compares to any sort of standard. The almond meal makes the sauce very creamy and almost a mac & cheese type consistency. I think that we will definitely make this recipe again, though I think I will be reducing the amount of crushed red pepper flakes. It's not that I don't love a spicy sauce, but this one turned out spicier than I expected and it seemed like it detracted from the overall creaminess. I think the level of heat was something more like a strong pomodoro than a mild marinara which was more along the lines of what I was expecting. I don't mind so much for myself, but Paul's system has a harder time handling the heat.

Veganomicon: Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa

Cashews are Paul's favorite nut, his grandmother recently gave us a bag of them, and quinoa is my favorite grain, so choosing this recipe wasn't a difficult decision. The recipe calls for cooking the quinoa and cooling it for at least an hour or overnight, so I started the recipe last night while I was cooking yesterday's dinner.



Tonight, I assembled the rest of the ingredients:



And then got cooking:



I respected the times given in the recipe except for toasting the nuts, it took about twice the time the recipe called for and the nuts never really got much color. I was nervous about adding the garlic so early since it has a tendency to burn, but it actually worked out pretty well. I think the only change I would make to the recipe is to add the peas later on with the pineapple and quinoa since they're so delicate, however I think that edamame could handle the longer cooking time.

Overall this was a tasty meal, though I think the sweet, spicy, tangy balance was a bit overly sour. I think that if I were making this again I would want to add something substantial like slightly smokey-sweet baked tofu cubes and reduce the amount of pineapple chunks. I think for me I would also increase the amount of chile-heat, but I'm a chile-head so I wouldn't recommend it for the faint-of-tongue. I also think that the amount of oil could be reduced by 1-2 TBS without drastically effecting the final dish.

Veganomicon: Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle

This dish is unctuous -- in a good way. Paul described it as tasting like sundried tomato, but the fennel and red pepper flakes give it a taste reminiscent of sausage. The tempeh is triple cooked: simmered, steamed, and fried leaving the texture both firm and yielding with a very pleasant tooth. I used baby broccoli since I don't have ready access to broccoli rabe at my local stores, but I think that's a minor concession that many people outside of urban America might need to make.

This dish was so tasty that Paul went back for seconds and that rarely ever happens. I will definitely be making this again, though hopefully I can figure out a way to reduce the oil from 1/4 cup to something a little healthier without compromising the flavor or texture. Also worth noting, I think the recipe may have been the victim of some improper editing as the ingredients list the red wine vinegar twice but the instructions only call for it once. I simply added it once at the end where it was called for in the instructions.

The Resolution...

Recently I've acquired as gifts two new cookbooks: Veganomicon: the Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero as well as How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman. Both are tomes among cookbooks. I fell in love with the Veganomicon while visiting friends in New York; so many fabulous-sounding recipes! The Bittman book was a gift from Paul's grandmother who learned about it in a Fresh Air interview with Mark Bittman.

I think that it was the overwhelming urge to cook everything in the Veganomicon that drove me to reflect on my previous relationships with cookbooks. I owe my love of cooking to growing up watching PBS. Actually, being an avid PBS-watcher as a small child accounts for a lot of my hobbies: woodworking, gardening, home-improvement to name a few. My first excursions into the world of cooking were heavily influenced by my favorite shows: The Frugal Gourmet with Jeff Smith, The French Chef with Julia Child, and Yan Can Cook with Martin Yan. The most important thing that I learned from these shows was to be fearless with food. By the age of eleven I started cooking for myself and occasionally for my family as well. I made the choice to become a vegetarian and I didn't want to sacrifice my love of food. I started heavily modifying recipes to make them fit my new food choices. I became an adventurous cook. Having very little actual cooking experience, I relied on my visual experience watching those shows on PBS. My choices in cookbooks were heavily influenced by those visual experiences. I chose cookbooks with large color photography that in today's blogiverse we call "food porn". But the recipes hardly ever lived up to the fantasy and I started using cookbooks with pretty pictures as inspiration only and making up my own dishes that matched the flavors that my imagination tasted in the pictures.

It wasn't until recently that I started following other people's recipes faithfully. A few years ago I met a vegan housewife who actually managed to make menu plans and shopping lists, and she introduced me to Veggie Life Magazine. My mother, like most other women I knew did her shopping based on a rough estimate of what her family needed for the week and whatever else "looked good". Sometimes that meant that things didn't get used in time and wilted or spoiled, sometimes it meant that we didn't have all of the ingredients we needed for a particular dish and had to run out to the store again during the week. I inherited this pattern of shopping behavior, until I made friends with this vegan housewife who made shopping lists. I subscribed to VeggieLife Magazine and started building menu plans and shopping lists around each new issue. This renewed my faith in other people's recipes and my faith in new ingredients.

Two years ago Paul and I embarked on a major home renovation, choosing to do as much of the work ourselves as possible. For the better part of the past two years I have survived on a limited budget and without a kitchen. The crockpot and toaster oven have been my friends. Now I have a working kitchen with brand-spanking-new appliances. I have more time to cook, and the Veganomicon has renewed my interest in following other people's recipes. I want to be an artist with food, and one of the principles of The Artist's Way is the need to continually replenish the well from which we draw our inspiration. It is my resolution this year to work my way through as many recipes in my cookbook collection as possible starting with the Veganomicon. I'm not going to use a recipe for every meal, and I'm not goig to refrain from improvising or cooking old favorites, but each week I will chose a handful or recipes from one of my cookbooks and blog about them.

VwaV: Scrambled Tofu and Herb-Roasted Potatoes

Today is Paul's day off, and the start to our weekend, so to start things off right I wanted to cook a hearty breakfast that's a little fancier and more savory than pumpkin bread. After skimming through some cookbooks I settled on the scrambled tofu and herb-roasted potatoes from vegan with a vengeance. Both are dishes that I make frequently, but instead of winging it as I usually do, I decided to follow the recipes from VwaV so that I could write a review here on my food blog.

The potatoes are divine, and easy to boot. These are definitely worth making for a nice brunch or even dinner. The scrambled tofu was definitely good, but more complicated than the version that I usually make. I was concerned that the paprika might be too strong a flavor for the mildness of the mushrooms, and the amount of cumin seemed like a lot, but it turned out that both were spot on. The lemon was unusual and I think I might use less next time because I think it was a bit overpowering, but that might just be because I was using a particularly juicy lemon. Overall it was still quite good and although I would have liked to see some spinach or other leafy greens, Paul thought it was excellent.

Bryanna's Burger Buns

Every week or so I make a vague outline of the meals that I want to make and then a shopping list for the items not currently in our pantry, then, as the day unfolds I poll Paul to find out which meal he's feeling like that day. Tonight Paul had a date to be online playing WoW with his brother and friends and his response was something that could be eaten with his hands while on the computer. OK, sandwich.

Oops, no bread, and a loaf of bread takes the better part of a day to bake... far too long for the couple hours I have to figure out dinner. Pitas? Tortillas? ... Instead I remembered a blog entry I'd seen not too long ago.

I followed her instructions for Bryanna's Jiffy Burger Buns (3rd recipe down the blog post) except that I didn't have potato flakes, nor sesame seeds. I substituted corn starch for the potato flakes and left the buns bare.

These were so good that Paul declared them the best burger buns he's ever had. This has definitely inspired me to try her other bun recipes when BBQ season hits, and even going to the trouble of planning ahead to make sure I have all the recommended ingredients.

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Recently I baked and pureed a large pumpkin leftover from Halloween. I searched the interwebs for the perfect pumpkin bread recipe. Far too many called for too much sugar, oil or eggs. I've made some revisions to this basic vegan recipe. The original had far too little spice for my taste, so I've increased the cinnamon and added fresh ginger. I would expect that dried ginger or even crystalized ginger would make a lovely addition. I've also added chopped almonds for a pleasing crunch. Almonds are my favorite nut, and I think they add a cleaner, fresher taste than walnuts or pecans could. The dried cranberries add a juicy tang, though if you have only traditional raisins, I think some orange or lemon zest would give it that zing. I baked the pumpkin halves cut-side down on a sheet pan for 90 minutes, pureed the pulp in the food processor, and drained over night in a cloth lined sieve to reduce the water content.

dry ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/3 tsp ground cloves
a generous pinch of salt

wet ingredients:
2 cups cooked pumpkin puree
1/2 cup agave syrup
2 T oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fresh ginger puree
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard size loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Fold wet ingredients into the dry until thoroughly incorporated. The batter should be fairly stiff. Smooth batter into the greased loaf pan and bake immediately for 55 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack before cutting.

Auntie X's Avocado Wraps

This light, fresh wrap of sweet summer tomatoes and creamy avocado is a satisfying summer lunch. The key ingredient is the Mango Chili vinegar from Trader Joe's that is bright and fruity with just a touch of chili heat.

Makes 4 moderately sized wraps.

ingredients
3 plum tomatoes diced (about 2 cups)
3 scallions (both white and green) thinly sliced
1 avocado diced
2-4 tsp fresh or frozen cilantro (optional)
2 Tbs Trader Joe's Mango Chili vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 whole wheat flour tortillas

Combine tomato, scallion, and avocado in a bowl. Mix cilantro and Mango Chili vinegar in a small bowl and add to the vegetables mixing thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, scoop filling into the center of each tortilla and fold burrito-style.

Made as 4 wraps, each serving has approximately 175 Cal, 7 g Fat (1 g Sat, 1 g Poly, 4 g Mono), 31 g Carbs, 5 g Fiber, 5 g Protein

3 WW POINTs

Lexy's Lunch Salad

mess o' spring greens (I like the herb salad mixes)
2 mushrooms, sliced
handful of snowpeas, ends removed and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 mini sweet peppers, sliced into strips
1/2 c chickpeas mashed with a fork

dressing
1 clove garlic pressed, squeezed, or smashed
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2-3 T balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp virgin olive oil

I arrange the veggies on the plate, top with the mashed chickpeas, shake the dressing in an empty jar and drizzle.

I love the way that the smashed chickpeas soak up the dressing and don't roll off the fork. If you use a regular salad mix, you can add some chopped parsley and/or basil. I love the way that fresh herbs brighten the flavor of every bite so much more than dried herbs in a premixed dressing. The dijon mustard makes the dressing creamy and a good balsamic vinegar is so sweet you may not even need oil.

toaster oven blueberry muffins

As I've mentioned before, I'm without a proper kitchen for the time being while my house is under renovation. My cooking is limited to a hotplate, electric kettle, crockpot, microwave, and our most recent addition, which I can't believe I ever lived without, the toaster oven. The toaster oven has been wonderful. We got a model that has a bowed front and back allowing it to accommodate round things like pies and pizza, and we've also used it to bake scones and cupcakes, and even baked teriyaki tofu sticks (addictive). The only drawback is that I need to cut recipes down to what will fit in the oven, so for cupcakes, cookies and such it's what fits on the tiny baking sheet that came with it or a 6-well muffin tin.

This weekend I was looking for options for breakfast foods for special occasions. Our usual special occasion breakfast of scrambled tofu with soysage and English muffins has gotten a little tired, and I wanted something new. I decided I wanted to make blueberry muffins but I had to cut the recipe in half to make it fit. I suppose an alternative would be to mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and then stick half of each in containers in the fridge/freezer for another time, but I decided to just go ahead and make the smaller batch. The full recipe is at the bottom.

Blueberry Muffuns - a muffin that errs on the side of sweet :)

dry ingredients

1 c all-purpose flour
3 T sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

wet ingredients

2 T +2 tsp oil (canola or other light flavored oil)
3/8 c (equivalent to 1/4 c + 2 T) soy creamer (or soy milk)
1/2 a 6 oz container of vanilla soy yogurt

additions
1/2 c frozen blueberries (or other fruit)

Makes 6 muffins.
Set the toaster oven to 400 F and preheat while you mix batter.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and create a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and fold to combine, add the blueberries and immediately pour into a paper or foil lined muffin pan and bake for 18-22 minutes.

If you have access to a full-sized oven the doubled recipe (makes 12 muffins) is much easier to measure, the instructions are the same, but the ingredients are as follows:

dry ingredients

2 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

wet ingredients

1/3 c oil (canola or other light flavored oil)
3/4 c soy creamer (or soy milk)
6 oz container of vanilla soy yogurt

additions
1 c frozen blueberries (or other fruit)