Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had some quiet time while Ariel was at school to make cookies from my new cookbook.  Sandie got me this for Christmas.  The author is a popular vegan chef, and she has a blog and video of this recipe here:

http://www.theppk.com/2013/10/rosemary-chocolate-chip-cookies-video/

2 years vegan

Yes, still vegan and trying new things (mostly made-up, some from recipes.)  Just no time for this blog!  maybe someday.

Tea-scented Tofu

 I tried an unusual way of "smoking" tofu from The Vegan Slow Cooker book.

Mix raw rice, loose tea (I had to open tea bags), and sugar.  Line the crock with foil and put the rice mixture in.  Put a vegetable steamer basket over that.

 Press and slice the tofu, and put it in the steamer basket.  The recipe said to put it single-layer if possible.  Next time I'd use my bigger Crock Pot.  Turn on high for 4-6 hours.  The longer it "smokes", the denser the tofu.  This method did create a slight smokey smell in the house.  Not something I was comfortable leaving.  You can also add other flavors and spices to the rice mixture.

The resulting tofu was fairly dense, and good to have on hand in the fridge to add to meals.

black bean burgers

As you can tell, I've been on break from blogging my vegan creations.  We were in the process of moving for a long time, and I just made up recipes from whatever ingredients we were trying to use up.  But now we're set up in a new house, and soon I'll have time to try and blog some new recipes.  We hope to grow some of our own veggies and herbs.  We have a few existing green bell pepper plants in the yard, and we started composting, which I think is really fun.

We've been wanting tor try our own veggie or bean burgers.  I think they are pretty simple.  There's a whole cookbook about making vegan burgers.  Here's one recipe I found on the Savvy Vegetarian website:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil
• 2 - 4 cloves garlic minced (depends how much you like garlic)
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup green or red pepper, chopped fine
• 1 large stalk celery, chopped fine
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dry ginger
• 1/4 tsp cayenne or chipotle pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
• 1 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (4 slices dry whole wheat bread crumbled into tiny pieces (hint: blender or food processor works great)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium low
2. Sauté garlic & onion in oil until soft
3. Add the celery & pepper, fry until softened and most of the liquid has evaporated
4. Mix in the herbs & spices and heat through
5. Mixing By Hand:
6. Puree half the beans with a pastry blender or potato masher - or a fork
7. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mash together with a pastry blender or your hands
8. Mix in tahini and/or liquid seasoning as needed for the mixture to hold together well
9. Add more breadcrumbs if the mixture seems too sticky
10. Mixing in a Food Processor:
11. Process all the ingredients except tahini and liquid seasoning until the mixture forms a loose ball. There should be recognizable bits of veggies and beans
12. Turn mixture out into a bowl. Mix in tahini and/or liquid seasoning as needed for the mixture to hold together well
13. Add more breadcrumbs if the mixture seems too sticky
14. Form the burger mixture into 10 equal sized balls, then flatten into patties 3 - 4 inches across
15. Cook on medium heat until brown, approx. 10 min per side
16. Fantastic with a little brown mustard, horseradish and sweet pickle

Lentil Loaf

From The Vegan Table.

I substituted ground Fritos for bread crumbs to make it gluten free.  It was delicious!  Especially leftover.  I forgot to take a photo until I was on the last crumbly serving.  It has ground walnuts, tomatoes, and thyme in it.  The ketchup on top made it extra yummy.

At first it looked too much like animal meat, so I gave half of it to a friend.  But as it sat in the fridge and freezer, it grew on me.  It was good cold on a warm day.

The big potato

Still vegan, and cooking a lot.  Mostly inventing or keeping it simple as we use up ingredients and get ready to move.

I got this big brown root at a local farmer's market.  My neighbor, who is Japanese, didn 't know what it was, but thought it might be like taro root.  I boiled it and made mashed potatoes (mashed with broccoli, garlic, and cilantro.)  Yummy, and had some interesting, uh, cleansing effects for the whole family.

Asian creation

A lunch bowl of leftovers: pho noodles, mung beans, red chilis & garlic, raw local greens.  I thought to take the photo after I started eating.  It was good.

oatmeal raisin cookies

This was a simple recipe I adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  I used a gluten-free flour mix instead of wheat flour, and added my own spices (nutmeg, cloves, cardamom.)  They would've been better with walnuts.  Next time!

farmer's market greens

This one tasted a bit like broccoli.  My neighbor said they call it "nanohana", which may mean something like "it is flower."  It's mustard flower in English.  I tastes delicious steamed.

I've been keeping my cooking simple, since we're moving soon, and I don't want to waste ingredients.  It's fun to get lots of in-season greens at the farmer's market.  Many of the greens I'll probably never have again.  Their spinach is delicious.

spinach-parsley-blueberry puree bars

A variation of my basic bars recipe.  For the fruit/veggie puree, I used fresh spinach, parsley, and frozen blueberries (maybe some banana.)  For spices: some cardamom and allspice.  Threw in some golden raisins.  I didn't use any flavor extract this time, but they tasted wonderful.

Japanese eggplant with mirin

I've been wanting to make this recipe for over 2 years, ever since my friend Eva posted it on Facebook. She has been a vegetarian role model and question-answerer for me.

I modified the recipe a little.  It turned out delicious and sweet.  Popular with toddlers and husbands.

Take a few Japanese egglpants (nasu.)  They are small.  Slice lengthwise into 1 cm slices.  Soak in salt water for a few minutes, rinse with cold water, and squeeze out extra liquid.

Saute in sesame (or other) oil for a few minutes until browned.

Add generous splashes of soy sauce and mirin.  Add minced ginger and garlic (as much as you like), and Sriricha chili paste or crushed red pepper.  Cook until tender and glazed.

Cambodian Pho

 My friend Tey hosted a Valentine's Day dinner with Cambodian Pho.  She set aside some water with lemon grass for me to cook my veggies and dip my noodles in.  The other cooking broth had fish and was used to cook seafood and other meat.  But just the raw veggies with noodles and Pho dipping sauce were good, and spicy!

gifts of food

Top left: peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from Bridget (from Peas and Thank You cookbook/blog)

Top right: Jamaican black bean soup (it has bananas and hot peppers - a real taste sensation), also from Bridget, from The Vegan Table cookbook

Bottom: tropical trail mix with maple syrup from Lauren.  Yummy!

mung bean soup and misc. curry

 I made up a soup in the Vitamix with kabocha squash, various veggies & garlic.  For the chunky part, I added lentils, sprouted mung beans (boiled briefly), and fu (a Japanese high-protein "crouton" made of wheat gluten.)

Getting better at dal.  This has Pav Bahji masala, turmeric, garlic, onion, plenty of veggies, and lentils.

tofu with garlic & ginger

Tastes better than it looks.  I had some soft (silken?) tofu from a Japanese market to use up.  So I sauteed some fresh garlic & ginger in mirin and soy sauce.  Scrambled in the tofu, and added some cornmeal and black sesame seeds.  Delicious and filling.  I might have used some sesame oil, but can't remember.

sprouting mung beans

My book, The Indian Vegan Kitchen, has many sprouted mung bean recipes.  Sprouting them was half the fun!

Mexican Brunch for Superbowl Monday

 In Japan, we watch the Superbowl on Monday morning.  We had tofu scramble and home fries from Lindsay Nixon's The Happy Herbivore (a gift from our friend Sandie!)

We also had refried beans with Rotel tomatoes & extra green chilis.  I made some tofu sour cream from silken tofu, garlic, lemon juice (recipe from Living Vegan for Dummies by Alexandra Jamieson.)

The meal was complete with extra chips & salsa, tortillas, and beer & lime.  We didn't watch much of the football game (we don't get the commercials here), but we did go out for a nice cold-weather run, and saw many neighbors out with their kids.

leftovers "pesto"

I had lots of parsley and things to use up, so I made up a dip/dressing that was very good and tasted like real pesto.  I used:

• fresh parsley (lots)
• walnuts
• fresh ginger
• fresh garlic ( 4 raw cloves)
• black sesame seeds
• balsamic vinegar
• bread crumbs (leftover from muhammara spread)

Blended it coarsely in the Vitamix.  Delicious with crackers or as a sandwich spread.

kale spaghetti sauce

Kale is a vegan wonder food.  You can eat it steamed, sauteed, blended raw into fruit smoothies, baked into kale chips, and in soups & stews.  I read about blending steamed kale with spaghetti sauce.  

I just put some sauce in a glass jar with steamed kale on top, and blended it with my immersion (stick) blender.  Voila!

Okay, it turned the sauce a little brown, but it was tasty.  My toddler loved it on her noodles.

healthy vegan puppy chow

2 C. dark chocolate chips (non-dairy like Ghirardelli semi-sweet)

1/2 C. non-dairy butter (Earth Balance or Smart Balance Organic)

1 C. peanut butter (or use almond butter if you like)

1 tsp. blackstrap molasses

1-2 Tb. ground flax seeds or wheat germ

1 box (~12oz.) Rice Chex cereal, or similar cereal

1 3/4 C. powdered sugar 

Melt butter, peanut butter, chocolate chips and molasses together over low-medium heat in medium sauce pan on the stove or melt in microwave safe bowl being sure not to burn it. 

Add flax seed or wheat germ and stir well.

Pour dry cereal in a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over it. Use a large spoon or spatula to gently stir while coating each piece.

Pour wet cereal mixture into clean paper bag (great way to recycle!) or use a sealable plastic bag. 

Sprinkle in the powdered sugar and shake, shake, shake!  

Spread on a cookie sheet to cool.