Um, Hi...

I still blog here.

Really.

Last weekend, we went to one of our favorite restaurants and they had an almond ricotta with asparagus dish... So good!

Tonight I made a veggie bake and decided I needed to make some almond ricotta to go in it.

I can't take credit for the recipe--it's really simple and DELICIOUS.

Thanks, Minimalist Baker!

What I did...

1 whole bag of blanched almonds from Whole Foods.  It says 2 and 1/2 cups, but  I measured right at 2 cups
 ~1 cup  of water
~ 1/16th teaspoon garlic powder
 ~2 tablespoons of lemon juice
~1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Blend

YUM.

We put cooked penne, our homemade pasta sauce, some vegan sausage, cauliflower, kale, broccoli, and the ricotta... Baked @ 350 for 45-50 minutes. YUM!  (I can't decide if I want to add red pepper flakes or not.)

(I used frozen, but stuck the cauliflower in with the pasta to unfreeze it.. should have done something with the broccoli, but it turned out okay just sticking it in frozen.)

So full! 

I tried to take a picture of the pasta bake, but it came out really odd looking in the night time lighting.... Next time!

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.)

Cashew Cream "Cheese!"

I am loving cashew cream "cheese!"

Inspired by this recipe, I made a cheese.

What I did:
1.5 cups raw cashews
water (soak the cashews in the water for 2-8 hours) then drain.

Put soaked cashews in the food processor along with
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced (or as much as you like)
½ teaspoon sea salt
black pepper, to taste
½ tablespoon dried basil
½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon honey* (or vegan sweetner)

Process until smooth.  It may take 5-10 minutes with stops to scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl.

Chill and enjoy!  (Or eat straight out of the food processor while it's warm.... your call.)


Someday, I want to make the "tomato jelly" on that same blog. It sounds FABULOUS.



*Yea, I know honey isn't vegan and I know we don't want to exploit bees, but I think if we treat bees right and use only small amounts of their honey, then they will be more valued and have more people on their side to help them. Bees are shipped around to different fields of produce to pollinate the fields. We need our bees and we need them to be healthy and we need to take good care of them. (We have so many problems with our food supply and the way we do things to make enough food for everyone in the country.)  See http://waywardspark.com/transporting-bees-locally-and-to-california-for-almond-pollination/ for more info--in my opinion really interesting.

Got a minute? Get ch-yeeze-y!

Seriously, you can have ch-yeeze that look like this in less than 5 minutes. I like to call this, ch-yeeze. It's not cheese, it's a nice little sauce.  Sometimes the girls like ch-yeeze and sometimes they don't. I always do and it's easy to make. I love it with broccoli; of course, it goes well with any veggie on a tortilla, too! If you're feeling traditional, put it over macaroni.



 

Here's the recipe for the 5-minute version of the ch-yeeze sauce:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk (or more as needed to thin out)
• 6 tbsp nutritional yeast (Bob’s Red Mill makes one in natural food section of most grocery stores or bulk food stores)
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour (or other flour)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1.  Add milk and flour mixture and whisk together in a pan over low heat.  
2.  Add nutritional yeast and whisk some more.
3. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up (less than 5 minutes). If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire. 

Note:  I've never had any problems with it thickening. It's usually super thick in 3 minutes.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/08/18/quick-dirty-5-ingredient-vegan-cheeze-sauce-recipe-challenge/#ixzz2T8suGiDI

I'd never played around with nutritional yeast until my best friend from high school (KJ) made a homemade mac-n-nutrional-yeast-cheese dish when we visited. After KJ made that for me, I got hooked on nutrtitional yeast. I first made this mac-n-ch-yeeze recipe on Christmas Eve when my bestest vegan friend and I had a cooking fest day. This version takes longer, but it is mighty tasty!

Recipes from Oh She Glows (full credit to her everything in italics is from her site).
Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium potato, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• 1/2 large carrot, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
• 1.5 cups raw cashews
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp mustard
• ~300-340 grams dry/uncooked Macaroni or other pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
• 1 slice bread
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance or butter (I left this out!)
• Fresh or dried parsley, to garnish (optional)
• Paprika, to garnish

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grab a small casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, process 1 slice of bread until crumbs form in a food processor. Add in 1 tbsp of Earth Balance (or butter) and process until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
Now assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, yeast, pepper, mustard) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
Once the veggies are cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce mixture in food processor. Process until smooth.

Add your pasta to a medium sized pot and fill with water until the pasta is covered by about 1 inch or so. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, cooking for about 7 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl, mix together your cheese sauce and drained + rinsed pasta. Scoop into your casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Now garnish with paprika and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley if you’d like.
Serves approx 4-6.
Note: This is a heavy and drier mac ‘n cheese. If you want it less dry, you might want to add some Earth Balance/butter or additional milk.

Oh she glow's pictures are better, but here's a shot of my mac-n-ch-yeeze from my little iPhone 5; this photo was taken Christmas Eve, 2012.