Vegan recipes from Karen

Here are a couple of vegan recipes we got from our neighbor Karen.  Can't wait to try them!

Vegan Pancakes:

• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 2-3T sugar
• 1-3/4 to 2T baking powder
• 1T veggie oil
• 1tsp salt
• 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups soy milk or water
• 1 egg replacer
• 3T margarine (Earth's Balance)
• cinnamon to taste

Banana Bread

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2tsp baking soda
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/2tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 egg substitute
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 5T "milk"

1. Sift flour, baking powder + soda, salt, and nutmeg
2. Cream sugar and margarine
3. Beat egg and add to cream mix w/ banana and vanilla
4. Mix in sifted ingredients until just combined
5. Stir in milk
6. Bake 350, 40-45min or until knife comes out clean.

Cinnamon rolls

• 2 tubes Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 6T butter
• 2tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cream sugar, butter, and cinnamon until smooth
3. Spread mixture on rectangles and roll.  Chill at least 1hr.
4. Cut each into 6 pieces and place in a greased 9x13in pan.  Stuff foil in extra spaces to keep rolls snug.
5. Bake 20-25min (30min if chilled overnight).

Vegan Ricotta Cheese

• 1pkg extra firm tofu (12oz)
• 1T olive oil
• [Garlic salt]
• [Oregano]
• [Basil]
• 4tsp yeast flakes (to taste)

1. Mix together to consistency and taste

Easy Cheese Lasagna

• 1 jar (28oz) spaghetti sauce
• 6 uncooked lasagna nodles
• Vegan ricotta cheese (see above)
• 1-2 cups canned corn
• 1-2 pkgs of vegan gourmet mozzerella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Grease 11x7in dish.
3. Spread 1/3 of spaghetti sauce on bottom of dish.
4. Arrange 3 noodles in a single layer over sauce.
5. Layer another 1/3 of sauce
6. Layer all ricotta
7. Layer corn
8. Layer 1/2 mozzerella.
9. Layer remaining noodles.
10. Layer remaining sauce
11. Cover dish with foil
12. Bake 1hr (until noodles are tender)
13. Sprinkle remaining mozzerella
14. Bake uncovered 5min.
15. Let stand 5min before serving.

Tomatillo Salsa (aka Pang's Va-Va-Voom Verde)

Updated! Behold glorious pictures of the entire process ...

The goods

• 2lbs fresh tomatillos (they look like green tomatoes with paper hats on)
• 1T kosher salt, or:
• 1T coarse ground sea salt
• 2T fine sea salt
• 2T table salt
• 1T lemon juice
• 1T minced garlic
• 1T canola oil
• 1/2 cup chopped white/sweet onion
• 1 cup chopped cilantro (looks like parsley, smells better)
• ## jalepeños, seeded, veined, and chopped:
• 1 = mild
• 2 = medium
• 3+ = muy caliente (each additional "+" = an additional "muy")
• substitute with seranos for "¡oy! ¡hace un fuego en mi boca!"

All side ingredients ready to go ...

Make it:
Take the party hats off the tomatillos and wash off the waxy coating from the skin, strain and place in a baking dish.

Broil the tomatillos on high for ~15min (until they start to ooze and get a little char).

 

Place tomatillos (and any oozed juices) into a food processor and puree.

Add all other ingredients and pulse until well blended.

Place mixture into a metal bowl (on ice to serve immediately, or cover with cling-wrap and chill in fridge for later).

Eat it:

• Serve cold with:
• Tortilla Chips
• Meat and beans
• In tacos
• In burritos
• What ever you fancy

Sauteed Asparagus, Beans, and Mash Potatoes

Tools

• 1 big pot
• 1 little pot
• 1 saute pan
• large bowl (preferably metal)
• potato masher

Ingredients

• 6 small yukon gold potatoes
• 3-Tbsp Earth's Balance organic buttery spread (or margarine)
• 1-cup milk (coconut milk beverage or almond milk)
• 1 can (15oz) black beans
• 1/4 large onion
• Asparagus Recipe(1):
• 1-lb fresh asparagus
• 1-Tbsp soy sauce
• 1-Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2-tsp bottled minced garlic
• 1/2-tsp bottled minced ginger
• 1-Tbsp canola oil

Prep

1. Peel potatoes and place in large pot
2. Place beans (with fluid) in small pot
3. Slice onion into half rings about 1/8in wide
4. Asparagus:
1. Sauce: Mix soy sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic, and ginger in small bowl
2. Trim and discard woody ends of asparagus and slice diagonally into ~2in pieces

Cook

1. Potatoes:
1. Fill large pot with water to cover potatoes and heat to boiling
2. Boil potatoes for ~20-30min (until easily penetrated with a fork)
3. Transfer cooked potatoes to a large bowl and mash
4. Add butter and milk and mash/mix until desired consistency (add more milk as necessary)
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Beans:
1. Simmer covered on low heat until potatoes are finished
3. Asparagus:
1. Heat oil in saute pan over high heat
2. Add asparagus and sauce
3. Saute until asparagus is easily pierced with a fork (~3-6min)
4. Remove from pan
4. Onion:
1. Add sliced onion to pan with residual asparagus sauce and oil
2. Saute on med-med/low until onions are translucent
   

Serve

1. Plate about 3-4 heaping tablespoons of mashed potatoes per serving
2. Top with onions
3. With a slotted spoon, get beans and distribute over the top of the potatoes
4. Place 8-10 asparagus segments on top

Eat.

References

1. Asparagus recipe from "What Else is to Eat?: The Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook", Lina Marienhoff Coss, Plumtree Press, Sept 2008, p.95 (Amazon)

Sweet Potato and Avocado Pasta with Dinner Rolls

Equipment

• Dinner Rolls:
• 2 6-part muffin pans
• large mixing bowl
• wisk
• flour sifter
• Sweet Potato and Avocado Pasta:
• 3 qt pot
• 10in (25cm) frying pan
• cutting board

Ingredients

• Dinner Rolls:
• 1pkg active dry yeast (2-1/4 tsp.)
• 1cup lukewarm water
• 1 egg
• 1/4cup sugar
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4cup oil
• 3cup flour
• Sweet Potato and Avocado Pasta:
• 3-4cups fusili pasta
• 1-2 small-medium sweet potatoes
• 1-2 ripe avocados
• 1/4 medium onion
• 1/4lb whole crimini mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1tsp Italian spice mix (1:1:1 oregano:marjoram:thyme)
• 2Tbsp olive oil
• 2Tbsp butter

Prep

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Heat 2qts water in pot to boiling
3. Make dinner roll dough
1. Dissolve yeast in water in mixing bowl
2. Add: egg, sugar, salt, oil, 1-1/2cup flour. Beat with wisk until smooth.
3. Add remaining flour. Beat with wisk until smooth.
4. Grease muffin pans
5. Fill muffin pan cups half way and let rise 5-10min (until double).
6. Clean mushrooms:
1. moisten a paper towel and rub dirt off of mushrooms
2. separate stems from caps
7. Chop:
1. sweet potato into approx. 2cm cubes
2. onion coarsely
3. mushroom stems finely
8. Slice mushroom caps
9. Slice avocado
10. Crush garlic cloves with flat side of knife. Remove skin. Chop finely.

Cook

1. Bake dinner rolls 15min.
2. Pasta
1. boil per package directions
2. drain
3. Sweet potato
1. Heat olive oil and butter in pan over med-hi heat
2. Add garlic, onion, mushroom stems.  Saute 3-min, stirring frequently.
3. Add sweet potato, mushroom caps, Italian spice mix. Saute 3-min, stirring frequently.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover and simmer 5min, stir, continue simmering until sweet potatoes are soft.

Eat

1. Plate pasta and top with sweet potato saute.  Garnish with sliced avocado.
2. Butter dinner rolls and serve on the side.

Sweet Potato Chili

Equipment:

• 3qt pot
• cutting board
• knife
• can opener

Ingredients

• 2 small-medium sized sweet potatoes
• 1 16oz can of red kidney beans
• 1 16oz can of black beans
• 1 4oz can of roasted green chiles
• 1-2 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 3 Tbsp canola oil

Prep

1. Cut and Chop:
1. Cube the sweet potatoes.  Make approx. 1-2cm cubes.
2. Chop the bell pepper
3. If using fresh garlic, chop

Cook

1. Soften:
1. Heat canola oil in the pot over Med-Hi.
2. Add salt, garlic, sweet potato, and chiles
3. Cook with occasional stirring for 2-3min
4. Add bell pepper.
5. Cook with occasional stirring for 2-3min
2. Stew:
1. Add beans (fluid and all)
2. Reduce heat to Medium and simmer 15min.

Eat.

Wings - Part 2

To quote Dexter: "Tonight's the night, it has to be."

Lisa transferred the baking powder enhanced wings from their calm cool repose onto parchment paper and into a fiery 450 degree F oven while I went to the store to get condiments.  Here they are on their way to crackling crispy goodness:

 

 Forty minutes later (with a turn in the middle) - golden brown perfection!

Here's a close-up of a couple of these crispy beauties:

All that was left to do was add a bit more heat:

Note, the orange glow - first concocted on the first wing night I had in graduate school and clinically proven to warm the gut for hours on end (sorry Lisa).

All that was left was to add some chopped carrots and celery (as is tradition), and something to make you forget the heat - home made breadsticks - and voila!

A respectable recreation of a meal we previously could only get in Davis, CA.  Sorry Steve's Pizza, we'll take it from here.

Let me just say, these wings came out way better than I expected and certainly satisfied my lingering craving.  Paired with a couple beers (Copper Hook for Lee, Dunkelweizen for Lisa) - sheer culinary bliss.  Lisa's quote for the evening: "Smells like a pizzeria in here ... that's not a bad thing".

Another thing worth mentioning, the chicken alone (sans heat) tastes excellent.  Lia certainly enjoyed her share.

The final word for this post: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Wings - Part 1

The Superbowl has come and gone and this year its passing was without a mouthwatering buffalo wing aftertaste.

I'd gladly make a batch of fat^4 but, the necessary 2-4qts of 400 degree F oil isn't exactly toddler friendly.  Plus, we probably only got about 4 tbsp of vegetable oil to our name at the moment.

I found this recipe for baked wings that are supposedly just as good as deep fried ones based on an exhaustive study.  Two weeks later, the craving for spicy fat laden indulgence has yet to subside, so I'm giving it a go.

Bought 4lbs of frozen wings at Fred-Meyer. There were 27 wings - a mixture of flats and drummettes -  in the bag I bought.  Anticipating that Lisa and I probably wouldn't be able to consume anywhere near that quantity, thawed a dozen at room temp for about 5hrs (while we took naps, made dinner - see previous post, and put Lia to bed).

Per the recipe's instructions, I dried the wings with paper towels:

The prep station for the absolutely necessary baking powder toss:

And now we wait (8-18hrs according to the recipe) ...