New recipe in November

Where has this year gone???

I'm getting more writing done at work, but not here.  I guess I only have so much writing in me at any given point.

I found this recipe and I knew I needed to modify it! It sounded so yummy, but I always substitute some other non-dairy milk for coconut milk, usually cashew milk and indeed, that's what I did here.  I also changed out the lentils for garbanzo beans. I used frozen veggies because I didn't have fresh and didn't feel like a store run. And I didn't have the kind of curry that she had so I googled to see what all went into it and improvised. 

I mostly measured my spices... Or at least I did at first.  If I added more, I'm not sure how much so I put a range on those spices that I increased as I was cooking.

Oh She Glows called this a Butternut and Cauliflower Curry. That's a pretty good description.  We'll stick with that.  It's a winner!  New dinner!

Super easy dinner.  I threw everything into the pot and cooked it for 45-ish minutes. 
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups water, 1/2 cup cashews, blended into cashew milk
1 can (28-ounces) diced tomatoes, with juices
1 bag frozen cauliflower
1 -2 carrots 
1 bag frozen butternut squash
1 can (29-ounces) garbanzo beans
1-2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 -2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/4-1/2 teaspoon coriander
1-3 teaspoons chili powder
juice of 1/2 lemon

2 cups frozen broccoli (put in after everything cooks for 15 -20 minutes) -- this could be kale if you prefer.

Look, a bad picture.  I'll get a better one at some point.  Serve with sourdough bread, rice, quinoa, or just eat!

Broccoli Harvest

Our broccoli is producing and it's yummy!  I typically just saute it with onions and vegan field roast sausage.  Although Friday night I made baked tofu and sauted the broccoli with the same marinade as the tofu.  It was good!  (Blog post with that recipe coming soon.)

Tonight I wanted something different so I made this dish from http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/2015/11/vegan-broccoli-cheese-casserole.html.

It's good and I'd make it again, but it doesn't seem as decadent as the author described it.  Four of five of us liked it.  (When our vegan who doesn't like vegetables doesn't like something she can eat beans (which we usually have made up) or hummus (again, we usually have it).) I changed the recipe a bit; here's what I did:

Step 1
3 medium yukon gold potatoes 
2  carrots
(boil them and drain them)

Step 2
In another large pan:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
(saute them)

Step 3
After you saute the onions add:
Either 

2 cups vegetable broth
½ cup short or medium grain brown rice
Cook up the rice

OR

1.5 cups frozen rice (to save time)
and some broth...I'm not sure how much I added about 1/2 cup at a time and when I felt the rice was done cooking, I added a little so I could add the broccoli to cook (see next step)


Step 4
Add 4 cups of chopped broccoli and cover the the pan and let them steam for a bit to soften

Step 5
In the food processor process the carrots and potatoes.  Add
¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
¼ cup lemon juice
2-3 tsp. white miso paste (optional, but highly recommended)
and 1- 2 cups plain (unsweetened and unflavored) soy or almond milk

salt and pepper to taste

Step 6
Mix the food processor mixture into the rice/onions/broccoli and stir.  Cook until the broccoli is soft and all of the mixture is nice and hot.

Despite all the steps this wasn't that difficult or time consuming.  (I definitely like the time saving that comes from using frozen rice.)

Note the original author gets full credit for the recipe--go check out her site!  Lots of good things there.  (I re-wrote the directions with what I did 'cause I was a little fuzzy on what I was supposed to do so I made some stuff up.)

A new cookie (gluten-free)

A while ago, I made these delicious apricot cookies.  Today, I'm making them gluten-free for my niece.  It's fun to bake on Christmas!  Merry Christmas!

End of the year reflection:  I remember a long time ago when vegan baking seemed hard.  Then I started learning about gluten-free baking and that was hard, and now, while I'm not an expert, I don't find it hard anymore.  (Learning is fun!)  (I learned I really like tapioca flour/starch!)


Here's what I did:

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup almond butter (I'm really bad at measuring almond butter... I just kind of scoop it out of the jar and eyeball it 'cause I don't like to clean it out of measuring cups)
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoon flax seed meal (I mix it in with the wet ingredients but don't add water to make a flax egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup apple sauce (I've been leaving this out lately)

Dry ingredients
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon 
2 cups gluten free whole oats

(If you aren't doing gluten free, then replace the oat flour with whole wheat.  I still recommend a mix of flours as I think it makes a more interesting cookie!)

1.5 cups chopped apricots  (I bet these cookies would also be good with peaches or any fruit!)
Mix the almond butter, maple syrup sugar, maple syrup, flax egg, and vanilla. Mix well and then add the apricots to wet ingredients.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, salt, oats).

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. The batter/dough will be pretty wet. (If it looks too wet--wetter than my picture, add a little more oat flour--not more than 1/2 a cup.)


 

I made HUGE cookies.  I didn't just place scoops of the cookie dough on the sheet, but I patted the batter down so it was a little flat.  This recipe made ~16 cookies.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. (Bake for less time if you make smaller cookies.  One tray of my larger cookies took more like 21 minutes, but I think my oven had cooled and needed to preheat again.  My oven is really bad about that!)  

Note, you can also make cookie bars if you're feeling lazy.  Recommend 9X13.  Recommend checking at about 20 minutes.



 

\
Yum!

stuffing (our faces)

It's a veryveryvery vegan Thanksgiving! This year, we stayed home and had a our Thanksgiving as our family of 5.  We missed our friends who were traveling, but we'll get together over the Christmas Break.

Appetizer
 Creamy tomato soup

Slightly modified:
 24oz organic strained tomatoes (Bionaturae Organic brand)
 1 1/2 cup organic veggie broth
 1 cup organic raw cashews
 1 tablespoon onion powder
 2 tablespoons organic dried basil
 2 teaspoons dried minced garlic
 1 - 2 organic bay leaf

Put everything but the cashews and 1/2 cup of the broth in a pan.  Stir and heat.  But the cashews and the 1/2 cup of the broth in the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add to the soup after it's cooked for about 10-15 minutes.

Note: You can re-blend the soup (pull out the bay leaf before you do!) if you want the garlic to not be chunky or if your cashew cream clumps when you add it.

You can kind of see the soup in the picture below.


Green salad
Romaine
Tomato
Cucumber 

Dressing of olive oil, dijon mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, garlic.  We never measure. 

 




Home made Tofu-Turkey

We made our own turkey! I found that recipe and it sounded interesting. (Tia totally wanted to make a home made Tofu-Turkey or have some sort of "turkey.")

It totally broke--like people discussed in the comments on that other site. (And I almost dropped it when I was pulling it out of the oven, but I caught it! It was a precarious few seconds that felt like minutes.)  Oh, well.  It was very (veryvery) tasty!
Note, make 2xs the marinade.

We only used 4 tubs of tofus... (we got sprouted, and I was worried, but it came out okay.) We followed the directions on that other site. It was worth making and I'd make it again, but I might think about the way I put it together... A square pan?  I don't know... Maybe I'll try it again as the recipe suggests.  I'll let you know.


Tofu turkey on left, dressing on right.

Stuffing

3 baguettes diced into cubes the night before then toasted in the oven for a few moments (well, some were toasted longer 'cause we forgot they were in the oven and we preheated the oven for pies--oops.  All is well that ends well. The glass container they were stored in didn't break, and thank goodness they weren't in something plastic!)

1 cup (use more next year--1.5-2 cups) celery
1 medium onion (again, use more)
2 teaspoons (?) sage
1/2 bag (4 ounces) dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans broken up
4-5 cups of broth

(I didn't measure, and I liked the way it came out. Hopefully, I can recreate it.)

Brussel Sprouts
I found this recipe and since I've been on a Sriracha kick lately, I knew I had to make it!  (Everything about this recipe is the same as the original site.  I just put it here in case the web site goes away or something. They get full credit!)

1½ pounds brussels sprouts
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup rice-wine vinegar
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons Sriracha, or more to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the base away from the brussels sprouts and discard. Cut the sprouts in half.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the vinegar, honey and Sriracha to combine. Add the brussels sprouts and toss until they are fully coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spread the brussels sprouts on a baking sheet, cut sides down. Pour any extra olive-oil mixture onto the pan and tilt the pan around to distribute it.
4. Roast until the sprouts are crispy on the outside and golden and caramelized on the cut sides, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Mashed Potatoes

(From Forks over Knives, see link above for a picture on our site and then a link to their site.)

Gravy

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• ¼ cup garbanzo bean flour
• freshly ground black pepper

The gravy went well with the tofu turkey and dressing!  

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 bag of cauliflower
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup of cashew cream
• dash of unsweetened, unflavored plant milk
• freshly ground pepper
• Dash of sea salt

Pumpkin Pie 

I made my usual pie.


2 packages of 3/4 pound silken (soft) tofu
2  15 ounce cans pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2/3s - 1 cup brown sugar (we always go less sweet) (could be maple syrup)

This makes enough for 2 pies.  We always do one with crust and one with just chocolate chips (in the red silicone pan).  Soy whipped cream on top for the vegans!

The girls were awesome helpers and even took the lead cooking.  Kira made the soup and salad dressing, they all cut brussel sprouts, Tia made the salad and had the idea that we make a homemade "turkey," Natalie made the gravy, and best of all they helped in whatever way I asked! I couldn't have done it without them!  Nick was super helpful, too.  He helped keep things running smoothly and the kitchen clean!

(I have no idea why my pictures of the food are so fuzzy looking, but I'm guessing I had something on the lens of the camera. I wiped it off before I took the pictures of the pies so they are more clear.)

a new cookie

I found this recipe for strawberry oatmeal cookies this past summer. When I saw it, I thought, I must make it with apricots.  I have a ton of apricots in my freezer from this past spring.  I've been meaning to make apricot jam, but I haven't done it yet.  I've been chipping off pieces of the frozen apricots and using them in my oatmeal and they are so yummy.  I decided to try to recreate the apricot oatmeal yumminess in a cookie.

 

Here's what I did:

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup sugar (it's crystalized maple syrup)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax seed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Dry ingredients
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups gluten free whole oats

1.5 cups  chopped apricots

Mix the almond butter, maple syrup sugar, maple syrup, flax egg, and vanilla. Get it as creamy as you can. Add the apricots when mixed well.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, salt, oats).

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones.

Scoop into cookies and bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.

My husband and oldest daughter LOVE them.  I like them a lot. They are a great breakfast cookie. I want to add more apricots next time.  Maybe, I'll add 2-3 cups of apricots.  I'll keep you posted.  I probably have enough apricots for 6-8 more batches of these. (Unless I make apricot jam.)  Also, next time, I might use almond flour instead of whole wheat.  (I'm not gluten-free, but I find gluten-free flours more interesting than whole wheat.) Also, I don't need to use maple sugar, this recipe was very dry and needed a little more moisture (hence the maple syrup in addition to the maple sugar).

Another note, I might use less almond butter... (File this recipe under still in progress.)

 

(Oldest daughter liked them--she couldn't keep her hands out long enough for me to get a picture!)

New! Modified! Dark chocolate molasses cookies (still gluten free)

You may remember these wonderful cookies.  Thank you Vegan 8!  I decided to lighten them up a little (and I love them even more...).

PLUS, I made them into cookie bars--that means I am more likely to make them 'cause they are EASIER. We all need EASY,  right?



What did I do?

1 cup almond flour
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (use a little extra like 1-2 tablespoons if you like it darker)
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
2/3s cup pure maple syrup (use up to 3/4s of a cup if you like it a little sweeter)
2 tablespoons almond butter (sunbutter for nut-free)
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate chips 

(I basically doubled the recipe, but instead of doubling the almond flour, I added the normal amount and then added a cup of oat flour. I didn't double the chocolate chips--they are good, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and I was trying to lighten these a little.)

(Also, I made my own almond flour and it was pretty coursely ground so there were a few (small) almond pieces left.)

1.Pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone pan liner (I love the reusable nature of silicone!).

2. In a small bowl, add the syrup and whisk in the flax seed and set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, oat flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt together. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Next, stir in the molasses, almond butter and vanilla into the  flax seed mixture and mix well. Pour over the flour mixture and stir for a couple of minutes until it all comes together and thickens up. It should be sticky and thick. If it is on the runny side, add a touch more flour (your choice--mine was super thick so I didn't need to worry about this at all).

5.  You can either make into cookies (see the original recipe) or roll it out into a nice rectangular shape on your cookie sheet. Roll it to about 1/4 inch thin. Bake for 9-11 minutes, let cool, and then cut into bite size pieces. (Or whatever size you prefer.)

6.  Enjoy!

Oh Fudge! I mean "not oat fudge!"

I found a recipe on a new (to me) blog. The blogger, Kate, described it as an accidental recipe. I love it when accidents turn out great! The recipe caught my attention as she called it "Easy Salted Oat Fudge." (I love salt in desserts! It's my weakness.) I'm calling the recipe "not oat fudge" because of my modifications.

Here's her recipe (modified because that's what I do). This is super yummy; everyone who has tried this has loved it. (My youngest doesn't like the pecans, but the next time I make this, I'll make her some without the pecans.)

I don't think of this as "fudge," but I don't have a better word to describe it.  It's not as soft and moist than fudge, but it kind of melts in your mouth, so it's very nice. Thanks, Kate for the happy accident of a recipe! (See below for the world's worst photo of my version. Click over to Kate's blog to see nice photos.)

3/4 cup almond butter
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup
2-4 tablespoons cashew butter
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
3/4-1 teaspoon salt

~3/4 cup of oat flour (a bit more, maybe, but probably not a full cup--see note below)
~1 cup of toasted pecans


(To toast the pecans, stick them in a 300 degree oven on a silpat or parchment paper for 10-15 minutes. Easy-peasy, yum!)

(To make oat flour, stick as many oats as you need to be flour in your food processor or blender and watch them fly as you turn it on! I love making oat flour. You can buy it if you'd rather.)

Melt the almond butter, chocolate chips, maple syrup, cashew butter, and vanilla in a double boiler or regular sauce pan (keep the heat low if you use a regular pan). Stir in the oat flour (this will be hard 'cause the mixture is super thick already). (Add 1/2 cup of oat flour at first and mix it in, and then add as much as you can--probably another 1/4-1/2 cup, but add it kind of slowly. Your arm will get tired from all the mixing (but then you can eat more of this recipe since you worked out while making it).

(Note: the second time I made this I discovered that 1 cup was too much oat flour.  I had to add a little more almond butter to counteract the flour.  So, since the original post, I changed the oat flour amount in the ingredients to 3/4s of a cup--maybe a tiny bit more, but not a full cup.)

The "dough" will be very dry. Add the pecans. Next, put the dough in an 8X8 pan and pat it down so that it all sticks together.  (Again, you'll be using muscles and working out!)

After it's in the pan, stick it in the freezer for a while (1/2 hour or so), or just in the fridge to cool.  It will slice (with a little breakage), and taste excellent. The warm "dough" also tastes great! 

The recipe is delicious, but not moist like fudge (because of my modifications--my leaving out the butter makes it dryer).  Kate described it as a cross between a no-bake cookie and fudge... I think of it more as a cross between a no-bake cookie and a baked cookie with fudge-y flavor.

Whatever! It's a winner! (Unless you don't like chocolate.  I'm looking at you, LindaX.)

Enjoy the heavenly, not oat fudge!

 
(you can see the frost on the glass from the freezer.)

For 12 servings cut in the 8x8 pan (that's a decent size):

Homemade adobo sauce

I had no idea what it was until a couple of weeks ago and now it is one of my favorite things. You take these bad boys (dried and smoked chipotle peppers) and cook them in tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, garlic, cumin, honey (could be any sweetner), water....

I had no idea what I was doing so I started with 12 of them.  I made a lot of stuff with this sauce this weekend.

I used 12 chipotle peppers (slice them open and empty the seeds) (then be afraid of your fingers because they will be very peppery and could sting your eyes)
I used two small (7 ounce) jars of tomato paste
about 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (1/3 to 1/2)
about 1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons cumin
water about 1.5 cups
2 cloves of minced garlic

Put it all in a pan, stir and cook (simmering and stirring occassionally) for about 1/2 hour to hour.  I did an hour.

This stuff is AWESOME!


So what did I make?

this from Minimalist Baker
Chipotle Hummus
Mexican Lasagne (Basically this recipe but with an added layer of Adobo Sauce)

I froze enough of the sauce for at least one more batch of Chipotle Hummus (maybe two).
YUM!

Pumpkinspiration!

I was inspired by Oh She Glows, but knew I needed to change a few things, 'cause that's what I do. Here's what I did.

Wet Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ground flax mixed with 4 tablespoons water (make and set aside mix in after 5 minutes or so)

• 1 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin purée (1/2 a can)*

• 2/3 cup of maple syrup

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats, ground into a flour 

• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats

• 1 cup almond flour (not almond meal)

• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder (for enhanced binding)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

• 1 -2 tablespoons cinnamon (we like cinnamon, so we use more!)**

• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon allspice
(or use your favorite pumpkin pie spices, in the amounts you like--you can add clove if you like it) 

Yummy stuff (aka as optional, but it's the YUMMY stuff) 

• 1/2 cup pecan halves, chopped

• 4 tablespoons non-dairy chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper

• Mix flax egg in a small bowl or mug and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes.

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the pumpkin and maple syrup 

• Pour in the flax mixture (should be thick) and vanilla extract and mix

• Mix the dry ingredients (all of them)

• Add in the Yummy stuff.

• Spoon dough into prepared pan and spread out until smooth and even. The dough will be very sticky, but this is normal. (Tip from Oh She Glows: I like to cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper and roll it with a pastry roller. I didn't do this step.)

• Bake for 20-35 minutes (I baked for 35 minutes)(the original recipe said 15-20 minutes, but I changed a few things). Next time, I might stop at 32. It's done when it has a good texture to the touch. 

• Place pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then, lift out and place square directly on cooling rack for another 10-20 minutes, until cool. (The bars will crumble slightly if sliced warm, but they firm up nicely when cooled.)

(Tip: I put the whole almonds into the rolled oats I was grinding to make my own almond flour. Do it in two batches in your Vitamix (or other high powered blender) if you're doing this.)

We all really liked this. 5 out of 5 of us give it a gold star! (I left the pecans out of 1/2 because I wasn't sure how girls would react, but 4 of 5 of us like the pecans.) 

I'm going to play around a little with the recipe and try making it with whole wheat flour. We like the gluten free, and I love having gluten free options to make for friends who need it, but we also like the gluten around here. I'll keep you posted on any new variations. Pictures hopefully soon--we just killed off the first batch, in less than 24 hours, but I'll make this again.

 

*I had 1/2 a can left over and needed a recipe for it. This recipe can be paired perfectly with the cornbread recipe I just posted or you can refrigerate the other 1/2 a can and make the recipe again in a couple of days, or freeze it for later if you need more time between baking sessions.

**I've switched to Ceylon Cinnamon. It's the true cinnamon and may have more health benefits than the cassia cinnamon. It's got a milder flavor and I like to use more. If you use cassia cinnamon you may not want as much.

Happy October (a new cornbread)

I finally got around to making this recipe from The Breakfast Drama Queen. Except, I changed it a little. Are you surprised? She likes savory cornbread, and I, while I don't like sweet, do like sweet cornbread. I have even been known to pour a little maple syrup on my cornbread. Sweet cornbread makes sense to me--savory, not so much.

Okay, so what'd I do? I loved her idea of pumpkin, so I didn't change that! I stuck with the recipe she made for the most part, except I added about a quarter cup of maple syrup. I probably should have reduced the soy milk I used (didn't have almond), 'cause it's taking a long time to bake!

From her site, with my modifications.

• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal

• 3 tablespoons water

• 1 cup pumpkin puree

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 ½ cups polenta (cornmeal)

•  ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk (or whatever non-dairy milk you prefer)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9x9 pan.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flaxseed meal and water. Whisk in the pumpkin puree and maple syrup. Add the baking powder and salt, followed by the polenta, and stir well. Add the non-dairy milk, and mix until completely combined.

• Pour into the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, (with my extra liquid, it took 30 minutes) or until the tops feel firm. Cool for 5 minutes before eating or transferring to a cooking rack. 

Verdict?  We liked it. It's not that sweet. It's very moist. The amount was perfect for the 5 of us. I served it with My Mexican Soup!

vegan umami

I'm not sure what to call this except, YUM, vegan umami!

It doesn't taste like bacon, but that's what One Ingredient Chef, who inspired the recipe, was trying to create. One Ingredient Chef made his version of "bacon" with tempeh. I tried the recipe his way and it was good, reminiscent of bacon, but a little too time consuming around here. I'm all about easy and fast!

I have a lot of these:

And decided they would be an excellent way to use his marinade, and that it would be a lot faster to not have to cut anything.

I used a pack of the soy curls. I put them in a 9x11 baking pan and spread them out. I poured a cup of boiling water on them and stirred them around. (Pour the water slowly and make sure it's not too much. You want to soften them but not soak them. If you need a little more, add it.) Sprinkle the soy curls with onion powder (about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon), and garlic powder (about the same amount).

Next pour on the following:

1/2  cup Maple Syrup
1/2 cup Tamari
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

Stir and let soak in the yummy marinade for 10-15 minutes.

Cook, in a frying pan, for 10 - 15 minutes, while stirring well. (I cooked in two batches.) The edges of the soy curls will get crispy. Because the soy curls are pretty thick, they weren't going to get really crispy throughout.

While they were cooking I spooned on another teaspoon or two of smoked paprika. Mix the smoked paprika in well as you stir the soy curls.

The smoked paprika is really essential to make this tasty and a little more bacon-like. Make sure you get the smoked kind of paprika! I had to hunt for it in the store, but it was definitely worth the hunt.

 
Cooking!


 
And then I made a salad with a yummy umami topping (I ate mine this way).


And I made the other four people in the house a yummy sandwich--reminiscent of a BLT.

Rating: 5 out 5 of us liked this! It was a fun Sunday night dinner. I made a second batch the same way so we have leftovers for lunch!

Mexican Quinoa version 2

We love Mexican and we love quinoa. This was tasty and super easy! Three out of 6 liked it (my brother is visiting).  We'll make it again!

I started with this recipe, but didn't want to wait an hour so I just did it in one pan on the stove.

What I did:

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1.5 cups uncooked quinoa (rinsed)
3 cans diced tomatoes, with liquid (14.5 ounces)
½ cup water
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional--it's very nice in here--I'm not a huge fan, but it does add a nice flavor dimension)
1 tbsp tomato paste (or ketchup, but I recommend the paste!)
1 tablespoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons oregan
1-2 teaspoons chili powder (more if you like things spicy)
Salt & freshly ground pepper
1 or 2 cans black beans, drained
1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen)
3 cups baby kale or spinach (I used kale)
Toppings of choice: vegan sour cream, avocado, cilantro, vegan cheese, etc.

Add all ingredients in the list down to the black beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the beans and corn and cook for another 5-10 minutes but make sure it isn't sticking! Add a little more water if you need it and stir often. Reduce heat to very low and add the greens. Put the lid on stir and serve when the greens are wilted to your preference.

I made extra 'cause I read it would freeze well. I am excited to have a new, easy, tasty dinner!  Pictures soon or see the site linked.

Two new dinners: A mexican casserole and tofu ricotta stuffed rigatoni

We made this Mexican Casserole, with a few changes, of course. (See pictures on that site! Ours, despite the changes looked about like that, except I didn't make it in a glass container so I couldn't get as pretty of pictures.)

In a 9X9 pan

A layer of quinoa
A layer of salsa
A layer of kale ('cause I like it green!) (use as much as you like…it smashes down when you need it to and then it cooks down.)
A layer of Black beans (one can)
Tofu Ricotta (a layer--we only used half of what we made)
Corn (sprinkled on top of the ricotta)
More Salsa
Top with black olives (leave them off half if your husband doesn't like them) and use 1/2 cup of crumbled tortilla chips on top.

Bake in 350 degree oven until the casserole is hot all the way through (about 45-50 minutes)

Verdict, we liked it… Or at least 3 of us did. I needed to use a spicier salsa. I left olives off 1/2 the top, but my husband didn't notice and ate the half that them on, and he didn't like that. We'll make it again.

What we really liked was the tofu ricotta from that web site!

1 block of the extra firm tofu (I like it 'cause it's very dry)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon miso paste
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Since we only used 1/2 of it in the recipe, we used the rest to stuff some rigatoni and covered it with almost my Dad's spaghetti sauce, and baked it at 350 until it was hot and bubbly. Yum! (Credit to our wonderful friend and nanny for thinking of this!)

Dixie Pie Bites

When I was in high school, I worked at this restaurant and they made pies. One of their pies was called Dixie Pie. It was mighty tasty. It was walnuts, chocolate chips, with a pecan pie filling… I loved that pie.  

I found a recipe for raw "pecan pie" bites and decided to mix it up a little and make "Dixie Pie Bites."

Ingredients

1.5 cups, packed, pitted dates (Make sure there are no pits! Tonight's pitted dates had 3 pits in them! We always cut them to double check.)

3/4 cup pecans

3/4 cup walnuts

1/2 -1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 -1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a food processor.

Mix until it forms a dough.

Remove and roll into balls.

Store in the fridge.

Make 10-12 balls.

Or, if you're feeling lazy pour all the "dough" on a wax paper sheet and roll it into a thin layer. Cut into small squares. 

I think Dixie Pie has rum in it, so these don't quite mimic the pie, but they are super tasty.  I love them, probably as much as I used to love the pie, so I shall name them Dixie Pie Bites in honor of that (unhealthy) pie.

Lazy way...

Little bites

But first, Brownies!

I will get back to Thanksgiving Recipes, but I had a little left-over pumpkin puree and needed to use it up.  I found this recipe for chocolate pumpkin brownies and had to make it. I guess, I had to modify the recipe and then make it.  Here's what I did.

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup canned pumpkin (or pureed pumpkin or sweet potato)
1/4 cup flax
1/4 cup milk of choice
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips (not optional)

Combine dry ingredients, and mix well. Combine wet ingredients, then mix into dry. Pour into a silicone (or greased) pan. I used my 9x9, but an 8x8 would have been better. Cook for about 15-20 minutes at 350 F.  (You'll probably need to cook little longer if you use an 8x8 pan.)

Notes: 

Just a teeny bit of pumpkin flavor (I think sweet potato will be nice, too). I think I'll use cashew cream for fat (instead of flax or oil) so that I can get a smoother, less hearty tasting brownie.  With the flax, these are hearty brownies. I don't think brownies are traditionally hearty.

cornbread

Earlier this fall, Nick wanted cornbread. I had nixed his favorite brand of cornbread because the corn wasn't organic and I dislike GMOs. I bought a bag of organic corn meal and figured I'd find a good recipe online. The first recipe I made was okay...

I went searching for other ideas and I found this cornbread recipe from a fabulous blog that I don't often frequent but need to more often! It was good cornbread--very tasty. However, I really wanted to get rid of the oil. I'm not against fat, but I like to cook with whole, low-processed foods--hence, no oil. After making PPK's recipe a few times, I figured out how I wanted to modify it.  Here's the modified version:

2 cups cornmeal
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3-1/2 cup of cashew cream** (replacing the oil)
3-4 tablespoons maple syrup 
2 cups soymilk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (upping the apple cider vinegar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350, line a 9×13 baking pan with a parchment paper, a silicone sheet or use a silicone pan--or use a regular pan with a little oil wiped on it so the cornbread doesn't stick.

Mix the soymilk and the vinegar together and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt and mix (by hand is fine).

Make a thick cashew cream... For my blender to grind the cashew cream well, I have to make  way more than I use in this recipe. I stick the extra in the refrigerator. I always use it in a day or so; I'm not sure how long it will keep, but I bet it would freeze okay.  

For my cashew cream I used 1 cup of cashews and (almost) 2/3s of a cup of water. Here's what it looked like when done. You can see it's pretty thick.

Add the maple syrup to the soymilk mixture. Stir or whisk for about 2 minutes so it can get more bubbly.

Pour liquid mixture into the dry mix, plus 1/3-1/2 cup of cashew cream and mix well (no need for a mixer, by hand is fine. 

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and let set for about five minutes before you bake for 20-30 minutes; start checking at 20 minutes because you don't want it to get too dry. In my glass pan it tends to be done in 20 minutes.Test with a knife or a toothpick for doneness.

If you like soft, sweet cornbread, do the 1/2 cup of cashew cream and add 4 tablespoons of maple syrup. The more cashew cream, the softer the bread (I've been known to add more than 1/2 a cup). Obviously, more maple syrup means a sweeter bread. Enjoy!

Square Pie? Pie Squared?

I decided I wanted to make a pie crust for our pumpkin pie that didn't involve flour. I'm not a huge pie crust fan. One of my daughters is though, so, on Thanksgiving, we'll have traditional pumpkin pie for her. For me and the two other little girls, we're trying some new things. Today, we experiment!

I took this recipe from Straight Up Food

&

this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie (this was for a very small amount of pie crust)

and combined them into:

15 dates (the 365 brand from Whole Foods that come in a bag, I don't know what kind)
3/4 cup of oats
4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
3/4 cup of walnuts
1 tablespoon soy milk (or as needed)

Process the dates and walnuts until pretty smooth, then add the cocoa and walnuts. After the mixture is processed determine if you need the soy milk (it should be pretty darn sticky). I needed about a tablespoon to get it to a good texture.

Press into a pie pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

On the Straight Up Food blog, there are instructions on how to roll the pie crust out and transfer it into the pan. This method did NOT work for me. I rolled on a silicone sheet, but I couldn't get it to come off in one piece. It was okay; I just mashed the pieces back together in the pan. I was going to use my round glass pie pan, to make the pie, but I didn't think the crust would EVER come off of the glass since the mixture really stuck to the silicone. I opted instead to use my square silicone baking pan, instead and that's why we have a square pie (I'm buying a round silicone pan right now!)

For the pie filling, I made (mostly) this recipe from my blog; but of course, I changed it! No oil! Less tofu! Cashew cream!

Here's what I did this time:

1 package of silken (soft) tofu
2  15 ounce cans pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cashews
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cloves (optional)
2/3 cup maple syrup

(optional chocolate chips)

Add cashews, maple syrup and tofu to the blender. (Drain as much of the liquid from the package of tofu as you can (easily), but you don't need a tofu press or anything like that.)  Blend until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, and blend! (I don't feel I can get a good texture from my mixer, so I just use the blender. Plus, if you're using cashews you need the blender and why dirty up more bowls/appliances?)





















Scatter chocolate chips on the crust. Here's what my scattered chocolate chips looked like:

Pour the filling on top.


Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Here are the nutrition facts for 1/12th of the filling (I think it would make 2 pies if I had pie pans.) Note, these nutrition facts do NOT include the chocolate chips or the pie crust. Often times, I make pumpkin pie with no crust. I always include the chocolate chips, but I lie to myself and tell myself that chocolate is medicinal and that calories don't count in medicines--but that's just me. 

The results?

The girls love it and I like it! I think it's a little too sweet and will do a version with less maple syrup. The texture was GREAT; I'm still debating about how I feel about nutmeg. The crust was good; definitely what I'd use for an "everyday" crust--lower fat, healthier, but I might try with more walnuts and less or no oats for Thanksgiving. Truthfully, I like pumpkin pie filling on top of chocolate chips best. 

(Despite the review, note, I've eaten a lot of this pie--going to spend some time on the treadmill. Heh.)

Currently, the plan is: one pie like this--er, with more walnuts and less oats in the crust; one pie with regular crust and no chocolate chips; one with regular crust and chocolate chips; one with chocolate chips, less sweet, and no crust. We'll see if we need more than 4 pies.

Edited to add:
I liked this crust, but am not sure I love it and I didn't end up making it for Thanksgiving.