Masala Mushroom Loaf. Yowza.

Tired of the same ol' same ol' mushroom loaves? Thyme for something new? In need of some sage advice?

Try this spicy sweet number on: mushrooms, yes, and some tofu - but minced chilis, sweet peas, curry leaves, and good, toasty Garam Masala kill the Fall Flavor Set and make room for Spring. In the middle of February. Yes plz.

I LOOOOVE the parchment paper trick when making vegetable loaves - the lovely browned crust the oven's worked so hard to make comes out in one piece, every time. Just cool for 20 minutes, invert over a platter, and there it is, ready for slicing.

Its the perfect opportunity to play with inclusions, but remember - greenery roasts to brown, so use vegetation with color. Small red pepper flowers work well. Green peas, carrots, and beets work too. Enoki mushrooms keep a light brown shade, so you can laminate your own little 70's Forest Scene on top of your next loaf, if you'd like, as long as you lightly coat your parchment with oil - otherwise, your lovely lamination might stick. And we can't have that!

Masala Mushroom Loaf
serves 4-6


1 tablespoon olive oil
12 small or 8 medium crimini mushrooms, minced
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/2 red pepper, minced
1 bird's eye chili, minced

1.5 tablespoons garam masala

7 ozs extra firm tofu, well drained, crumbled
8 dried curry leaves, crushed
2 tsp brown sugar
2/3 cup raw cashew pieces

2 tablespoons melted EB
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 medium white potato, baked until soft, mashed (or 2/3 cup mashed potato)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp asofoetida

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sea salt


Loaf pan
1 sheet parchment paper
Canola oil, to coat



Preheat the oven to 350f. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the loaf pan, sides included. Cut slits in the corner so it will fold flat to the pan's form. Spray a little oil on the bare metal before fitting the parchment inside - it'll help it stay in place.


Reserve a few pieces of red pepper for garnish. In a dry skillet or saute pan, toast the garam masala for 2-3 minutes, until very fragrant. Set aside.


Heat the olive oil in the same skillet and add pepper and onion. Cook 5 minutes, until pepper softens and onion is translucent. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, for 6-8 minutes, until mushrooms have released their liquid and almost all of it, but not quite, has steamed off.


Remove sauteed veggies to a heatproof bowl.


In a food processor, pulse cashews until they're the texture of large polenta - not powdery, with some chunks still there. Add to warm vegetables. Mix in remaining ingredients and taste for salt - add a teeny bit if need be. The mixture should be relatively dry, but not crumbly - add a little more Earth Balance or even a titch of water if it needs it.


Cut small triangles out of two or three sides of a piece of red pepper with a paring knife. Repeat for as many "flowers" as you'd like.

Arrange red peppers and a stem or two of cilantro on the bottom of the loaf pan, and press 1/2 a cup of the mushroom masala mixture over top, pressing down to keep things stuck in place. Add remaining loaf mixture, pressing down firmly, and flattening top with wet hands once the mix is used up.

Bake for 50 minutes covered, then another 15-20 uncovered, until loaf is browned on top and firm-ish to the touch. Let rest 20 minutes, invert onto a platter, and serve. I'll share the apple-lentil gravy we noshed ours with next week - it was pretty killer.

Cheers!

Creamy Fall Vegetable Risotto

Arborio. Arboreal. Something creamy, warm and smoked, for my belly today (and yours?).

What have we there? Broccoli, fennel, mushroom, orange pepper, and onion, surrounded by perfectly al dente little bites of rice. Onion grass from the back yard (aka, foraged chives). And some decadently creamy cashew stock, with smoked black pepper and roasted garlic.

I was concerned the creaminess of the stock would interfere with the rice performing its magic, but no worries. Perfecto. And easy.

Creamy Fall Vegetable Risotto
serves 6 (or 3 hungry me's)

2.5 cups arborio rice
3 tablespoons canola or olive oil

5 cups water
2 tablespoons mushroom stock concentrate, or another strongly flavored vegetable stock
6 cloves roasted garlic
2/3 cup raw cashews
Smoked black peppercorns, to taste
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 cups mushrooms, sliced
Small fistful of fresh onion grass, minced
Fresh thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Fresh sage, 3 leaves, minced (optional)
1 small head broccoli, tough stems removed, cut to florets
1 onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 small head fennel, sliced to rings

Salt, at the end, only if it needs it.

Roast your mushrooms, fennel, garlic (wrapped in foil, with a tsp of oil) and broccoli in the oven at 430f. Use the same roasting pan, toss them with a little oil, and remove them to a plate as they finish cooking (broccoli at 8 minutes or so, mushrooms at 10, fennel then or at 12, garlic at 18-20).

Throw the first 6 ingredients into your blender and puree until very smooth. Remove to a small saucepan and heat over medium low, keeping it warm.

In a large risotto or saute pan, heat your oil over medium-high heat. Add your onion and pepper, and cook 4 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Lower heat to medium-low.

Add your rice and stir to coat with the oil. Toss for 4-5 minutes, until each granule has a translucent "halo" around its edges. Now it is time to add the stock.

2/3 of a cup at a time, dears - stirring constantly. Cashews contain protein, so beware of rice trying to become one with the bottom of your pan. 20-22 minutes ought to get you through most if not all of your stock and see your rice to near perfection - if you need a little more water at the end, don't hesitate to use it.

Add a little more thyme or sage, if you'd like. Taste for salt.

Go at it while its still warm. Cheers!

Sweet Potato Avocado Rolls with Maple Tamari Reduction

Yeeeeeeeehaw, let's go ahead and just put the sesame seeds away. It's ok. I've got something different for you to try.

Bit of a disclosure: this roll was supposed to be pumpkin and avocado, but by time I got to chopping and roasting the huge pumpkin I'd had lying around for a while, and discovering its sinewy reluctance to be delicious at all, well, the cute little sweet tater hanging in my produce basket was looking mighty fine. And so it got roasted. And cut into cubey strips. And wrapped in nori with a good friend (avocado) and coconut rice.

And rolled in toasted, salted pumpkin seeds. So good.

Earthy, nutty little suckers. A lovely coating - even when lying next to fellow rolls, being squished and leaned on, no one got stuck to each other. Uber easy to cut, even with my (gasp) non-recently sharpened knife.  Higher protein, these seeds, perhaps? Who knows, but for taste alone, I'd do it again. Maybe with some tempeh bacon next time, oh yeah.

And let's not forget - a small saucepan, half maple syrup, half tamari, healthy dash of smoked habanero poweder, simmered down to the consistency of balsamic reduction, drizzled over top with a fork. This isn't salty sushi. This is Prelude to Pumpkin Pie sushi.

Sweet Potato Avocado Sushi with Pepitas and Maple-Tamari Reduction
makes 6 rolls

Let's do this.

2 cups sushi rice, washed until water runs clean
1 can coconut milk + half a cup of water

1 medium sweet potato, roasted, sliced to 1/2 inch strips
1 avocado, sliced to strips
6 sheets nori
2 cups roasted, salted pumpkin seeds, crushed

1 cup maple syrup
1 cup tamari soy sauce
1/2 tsp smoked habanero powder

sushi mat
sharp knife

Easy peasy.

Prep your rice as you would normal sushi rice, but leave out the rice vinegar. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, combine your tamari, maple syrup, and habanero powder in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat 12-14 minutes, until reduced by half. Set aside.

Have your fillings at hand. Set up a separate plate for rolling your sushi in the crushed pumpkin seeds (ie, a spare cutting board). Be near a sink, for rinsing your knife in between cuts.

Cover your mat in plastic wrap, folding it around itself at the edges.

Press 2/3 cup sushi rice onto the plastic, about covering the area of one of your nori sheets. Press a sheet of nori in place over your square of rice. Place 3-4 potato strips and 5-6 slices of avocado at roll bottom, then bring the bottom edge up and using the mat, roll your sushi tightly, following through at the end, so that the riced nori sticks to itself.

Dust your spare cutting board with 1/2 cup pepitas and roll your sushi in the delish powder. Set roll aside.

Complete the rest of your rolls. If you have leftover rice/nori, try your hand at ....

Starting with a sharp knife that has been run under the faucet, slice your sushi into 8-10 pieces. Plate as you go, and drizzle your lovely rolls with tamari-maple reduction, when done.

Taking those babies to a party? Skewer each piece with a toothpick. Enjoy!

Latest obession: dumplings.

Is it the chill breezes and slow, drifting orange shower of leaves that make me want my bread cooked right in the pot with whatever stew I'm concocting?

Guess so.

Remember these, from last year? 'Member? MEMBER? Well, I've gone and lightened them, FREED them, if you will, from their cheesy shackles, but instead - a little pureed almond, some lemon, nutritional yeast (ye holiest of holy flavorings), a slow bake in a warm oven, and we're still tasting salty, stinky parm. In the dumplings, and on top, deeeeelish. Go ahead. Sprinkle it onna pizza.

Minestrone Stew with "Parm" Dumplings

You'll need:

A batch of delish minestrone stew a la this recipe

And for the dumplings:

1.5 cups flour (GF flour works fine - just add a tsp of xantham gum and up the liquid a couple of tablespoons, dearies)
4 tablespoons vegan margarine, very cold
2 tsp baking soda
Pepper
Finely minced parsley and scallion
1/3 cup rice or almond milk, unsweetened
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup vegan parmesian - recipe follows

Flour in a bowl, of course - add baking soda and salt - then all spices, sans cheeze. Mix well. Get a pastry cutter out and go at the margarine, just long enough for it to disperse and look breadcrumby. Add your parm. Add milk, a little at a time, and test dough by gathering it - you want it soft, almost sticky. If you need a few more drops of milk to reach the right consistency, go right ahead. Divide dough into 10 balls, about 2/3 the size of a golf ball. Dust them, and your bowl, with flour as you go, until the dough is gone. Set aside.

Bring your delicious stew to a boil, drop your dumplings in, one at a time, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 8-9 minutes.

No toast needed. Ladle soup, then a dumpling or two or three in a bowl, then another ladle of soup on top. Dust with another generous pinch of Parm, and you're golden.

Vegan Parm

1/2 cup almonds, blanched
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Dash toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon salt
Soaking water, 1/3 cup or less

Soak your almonds in just-boiled water for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain, reserving some liquid.

Get out your big blender, and pour the soaked almonds in. Add your lemon juice and salt, and start that motor running.

Add some liquid - you want the almonds to be pureeing, with the least amount of liquid added. Scrape down the sides, if they need some help. Add a little more soaking water, if you need to.

When a smooth consistency is reached, add the remaining ingredients, and whirr a few more times to combine.

Lightly oil a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 250f.

Scrape the pre-cheese out and spread it 1/2 inch thick in a corner of the baking sheet. Stick her in the oven.

Check and stir every 15 minutes or so to prevent browning. Eventually, it'll start to crumble. Keep going until the granules form naturally into small, parmesan-esque textures.

Enjoy :)

Fiesta Rice Salad - it's so nowtro!

Rice salads - the collection of aged, yellowing 4-H lady's club spiral bound cookbooks I have are full of "salads" made of starch and bean. And jello. And pudding. Good god.

But I'm on a mission with a couple of tots I know, a client's sweeties - to get them to eat more raw veggies - and as you know, it works best when disguised. Since these ladies are even more obsessed with the Mexican flavor set than I am, I figured, why not surround them greens with yellow rice and beans? Maybe they won't even notice the vitamins and fiber going down.

Fiesta Rice Salad
serves 6

3 cups goldenrod rice (aka yellow brown rice) (homemade is best! Check this technique and sub brown rice for oats - chill the rice for 15 minutes in the freezer after making)
1 large or two small cans black beans, drained
1 calabaza squash, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 carrot, diced small
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
12 -1 4 green beans, chopped
1 handful cilantro, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
1 avocado, very firm, chopped
1 tomato, chopped

marinade:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
dash sugar
dash cumin

dressing:
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash cumin
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon sugar or maple syrup
Freshly ground black pepper

Easy peasy.

Marinate your mushrooms, zucchini, carrots and green beans in the marinade for 20-30 minutes. Drain and discard marinade.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add dressing. Toss very well, cover, and chill for at least an hour. Like curry, this dish is best served the next day, as the flavors meld and soak each other up.

Complete meal in a bowl - shred some romaine or spinach, dollop of salad, hot sauce, perfect. Although maybe not for baby tongues - leave off the 'sauce for the little 'uns!

Out of Hand Sick Delicious Corn Chowder

You know that saying, Party in the Mouth? Welcome to the corn crammed, summer infused, super creamy awesome division of PITM central.

It's vegan, which makes it even better. And it has delicious cashew puree in it, like (srsly) half the stuff I've made over the last month. I'm really lucky I'm not allergic to that most delicate of tree nut. Who knows, tho - I keep eating 'em at this rate and I might be soon! When I fall in love, I fall hard.

You guys know the drill - you want to creamify a soup without dumping 1k worth of butterfat calories in the pot, you have several options:

Immersion blender - make sure your potato content is high for this technique
1 block silken tofu
Almond/Soy/Rice Milk

Done them all, multiple times in triplicate - and I wanted something new.

Of course, there was a huge pile of cashew puree waiting to become cheeze sitting in the fridge. And so, the creamiest chowder I've ever made vegan-style came about.

Pay close attention to the multiple blender steps for maximum smoothness!

Cream of Corn Chowder
makes 1 medium pot - or 4-6 bowls.

1 bag frozen corn OR 6 ears worth of freshly-boiled corn
4 tbl EarthBalance
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1/2 poblano pepper
2 fresh jalapenos, minced
4 small white potatoes, diced medium-small (peels on for vitamin content!!)
1 red onion, chopped
10 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 small calabaza squash or zucchini, triangled (halved, then sliced lengthwise into three triangle-shaped strips, then chopped)
4 small carrots, diced
6 cups vegetable or faux-chicken stock
1 cup cashew butter (or cheese a la this recipe - adding cashew cheese will lend a more sour-cream flavor - regular pureed cashews, just a sweet, nutty note)
1.5 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
Dash agave

To serve:

1 fresh tomato, diced fine
Minced cilantro and scallion
Chipotle hot sauce, to taste


Right. So.

Melt your EB in a large soup pot. Add  your onion, carrot, celery, peppers including jalapeno, and garlic. Saute over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, until onions are translucent.

Add your squash and potatoes. Add your corn now, if using fresh - hold off till the end, if using frozen. Cook 4 minutes or so, until squash has softened just a bit.

Add your stock and a little water if need to just reach the top of your veggies. Add pepper and agave. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft at center.

Grab your blender. With a ladle, spoon off as much liquid as possible from the soup. No biggie if you get some veggies in there - you're going to puree some of them next! Add your cashew butter, making sure the total volume in your blender does not exceed your maximum line. Blend for 6-8 minutes, adding a teeny bit of water if needed, until the soup is super super smooth. Pour back into the pot.

Now, ladle more of the soup back into your blender, paying careful attention to getting as many potatoes as possible (leave a few tho, yum!). Puree again until super smooth. Add the puree back to the pot. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

If you're using frozen corn, add it to the stew now, and heat until cooked through.

Ladle, garnish, and serve! Perfect with toasty french bread and a simple salad with lemon dressing.

Bon Appetite!

Vegan Ranch Deja Vu

Ranch dressing sans the mayo, the buttermilk, the sour cream, the moooo. It's been done before. It'll be done again. And since meals when the kitchen's in boxes come mainly from the fridge, I'll be eating it alot over the next few weeks.

Last time we went down this long Southern-bound path, it was with our pal Tofu. Tofu is good. Tofu is light. But if you want something a tad more decadent, you might want to try this cashew-based puree instead. You should try it regardless - it's seriously delish.

Cashew Ranch Dressin'

makes 2 cups. Dip the radish, the lettuce, the carrot, your finger, et all in it.

1.5 cup raw cashew pieces + 1/2 cup of cashew soaking water
Juice of 1 lemon
4-5 tablespoons pickle juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
Miso, small pinch
Ground mustard, pinch
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
Handful each : fresh parsley, dill, scallion
Tons of freshly ground black pepper


Throw the first 6 ingredients in the blender, except for the water - just add 1/4 cup at first. Whizz away for a long while - the longer, the smoother the dressing, and thus mine went for 6-7 minutes - adding water as needed to keep the motor running sufficiently to smooth the puree out. You'll probably need most of the 1/2 cup to acheive this.

Add your yeast (if using) minced herbs, and black pepper, and pulse to just mix.

Chill for an hour or so before serving, to let the flavors mellow and blend.

AWESOME on a tomato/greens/mustard sammich. Yeah, I eat that alllll the time. Simple and tart.  Best when tomatoes are just coming in - as they are now. Say hello to bulbous, beautiful heirlooms, my darlings! They're coming!

I'm such a salad nerd I spent some bucks on vintage Scandi-design salad plates that come preprinted with salad.

*chomp*

Gettin' Jiggy Like That

I dunno if I've told you guys this, but I bought a house. It is awesome. It was built in 1952. It has lots of brick as well as asbestos. A kitchen window. A fireplace. It has a shed in the back yard, covered in ivy, that I will make paintings in.

I've been sanding floors, staining things, painting all the weird beige-colored walls white. I found sawdust in my underwear yesterday. I'm not kidding.

So basically, I'm qualifying my week of silence - los siento, mi hombres y mujeres. My brain is frying from all the nesting instinct hormone its producing. Do forgive.

Buuuuut anyway - I'd love to get you lovelies to check out this pile of awesome, vegan delish over at my pal Ensley's blog - The Preppy Vegan - where I'll be doing a post a week of simpler (but still delish) meals while she's doing her Teach for America thang.

Vegan Migas are my new obsession. Come and see how many toppings you can fit on there before you can't see the tortillas any more. It's fewer than ya think!

Plate of raw, Mexi goodness

Lordy lordy, it has been insanely, scorchingly, ozone-ladenly hot in CLT for about a week now.

Blech.

There will be no ovens turned on. There will be no burners and frying pans. There will be the raucous sound of blenders blending and food processors processing, the fake-warming in a barely-toasty oven, however.

I've been reading about and toying with the idea of eating more raw stuff lately, inspired by my natural instinct to gravitate towards the raw section of any salad bar - I don't go for the predressed stuff, it's always everything, jicama, beets, brocolli, cabbage, celery, zucchini, whatever's on there and fresh, get ye on my plate. Now. Results in a teetering tower almost every time, and some well-mannered Biddy's always giving me the "you're a pig" eye. Whatever, girl.

So I found this recipe for cauliflower rice - and it sounded texturally rad, but I didn't like the idear of fresh tomatoes - so I changed it up a bit. Maybe you like.

Raw Mexican Rice
serves 4

1 medium head cauliflower, leaves and stem removed
4 cloves garlic, minced
11/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground ancho chili 
1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
Dash Coco Aminos or Himalayan Sea Salt
Dash sea salt
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil, minced 
Safflower threads, a pinch
2 tablespoons each finely minced cilantro and scallions 


Easy peasy. In tow batches, process your cauliflower with the "s" blade until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Remove to a large bowl.


Toss remaining ingredients and let marinate on the counter for 30 mins - 1 hour, to let flavors blend.

There's a lot going on up there, so let me tell ya how I put ours together.


From bottom to top:


Lettuce, chopped
1 cup cauli rice
1 cup marinated veggies (zucchini, mushroom, asparagus, some coco aminos, some garlic, some lime juice, little raw agave)
minced tomato
Cashew Sour Cream (below)
Avocado-Lime puree (basically guacamole without the 'maters)
Raw Hot Sauce (also below)
and more minced cilantro. 


Filling and super yum, I felt all KINDS of energized after eating this.

Cashew sour cream is simple - I cultured mine, since I already had a batch of cashew cheese going - 


1 cup cashews, soaked for 6-8 hours
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Water
Himalayan Sea Salt (this stuff is awesome, and pink, to boot! Beware, tho - a lot of raw foodists consider pure salts un-raw, but as for me, I gotta have it)


In a blender, puree all your ingredients for a few minutes until smooth. You'll probably add anywhere between 1/2 cup and 1 full cup of water to get a creamy, pourable texture.

You guys KNOW I had to have me some hot sauce.

Raw Hot Sauce


1-11/2 jalapeno (sniff your peppers - you'll get a bit of a burn in the nostril if your jalapenos are hot hot hot, in which case you'll only need one)
1/4 cup water
Dash cold-pressed olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1/2 lime
2-3 springs cilantro
Dash Coco Aminos or awesomepinksalt


Blend away. Make sure you warsh your paws afterwards - this stuff is potent.

Enjoy darlings!

Tamales, Cont'd

I was an undercover tamale cart last weekend - hauling a huge, gleaming pot full of cornhusk-wrapped masa + delicious fillings all over town.

Well, to two parties. But I'm trying to sound important.

So we've done soy chorizo - we've done mole seitan - and this time, there were three: Mole Tofu + Bean (vegan+gluten free, hooraaay!), Jalapeno Popper and Kimchi-Cheddar. Once you've got the masa situation handled, it's easy to do multiple fillings - especially simple ones, like kimchi/cheddar and pepper/cheese. Mole, as I'm sure you know, takes a whole lot longer.

A small, shameful hiatus was taken from my summertime veganism in the name of the Holy Combo. And Hail Mary, was that sucker good. But my favorito tamalito, to be sure, was the Jalapeno Popper.

I know it doesn't look like much but TRUST A SISTA that thing was killer. The peppers infused the masa with spicy aromatics - I used a combo of pickled jalapenos and charred poblanos, all fiery and delicious - and the cheese, while steaming halfway out of a few of the tamales and making the pot a bit messy, saturated the masa with tartly salty awesomeness.

I'll be trying this vegan-style with cashew cheese in the near future. I think they could be the bad-assest, healthiest tamales ever known to man. Remains to be seen.

Jalapeno Popper Tamales

makes 20-25 tamales

for the filling:

12 ozs sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 poblano peppers
4-6 pickled jalapenos, seeded and stemmed
2/3 brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp salt
minced cilantro and scallion, 1 tablespoon each

for the masa:

3 cups masa harina
3 cups vegetable or faux-chicken stock, lukewarm
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned corn kernels (or frozen + charred, a la Trader Joe's frozen)
1 head garlic, roasted
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, whipped

30 corn husks, plus 5 torn apart to tie

A steamer or fake-steamer set up like this

Onwards! Into the Abyss!

Char your poblanos over a gas flame or under the broiler until their skin blackens. Toss into a paper bag to steam.

Shred your cheddar into another bowl. Chop your jalapenos and herbs and add - then add minced poblanos and cream cheese. The heat from the roasted peppers will thin your cream cheese a bit - mix everything well and taste for salt, add if needed. Stick in the fridge to chill while you prepare the masa.

Mix your masa, salt, baking powder in a large bowl. In a food processor, pulse your broth, corn and roasted garlic until nice and pulverized - add to the masa and mix well.

Whip your shortening in a small bowl and fold into the masa.

Soak your corn husks in warm water for about ten minutes. Choose 5 of the wimpiest ones to tear into strips for tying.

My steamer set up is kinda strange, but this is how I do it - I place a small quiche pan, face down, in the bottom of a large pot and boil 3 cups of water, which I pour into the pot, reaching almost to the top of the quiche pan, which I then sit a large strainer on top of to hold the tamales. The water cools a bit as I make the tamales, but it prevents mess later, as you'd have to try and pour hot water around the huge pile of tamales waiting to be steamed in your pot.

Take about a half cup of masa and press it into a husk, going for a rectangle shape, at the top of the husk, center. With a spoon, lay about 1.5 tablespoons of filling in the center of the masa. Pick the husk up and peel one side of the masa away from the husk, letting it curl around the filling, then wrap the husk in a cylinder and fold the bottom up, forming a package open at top.

Tie in the middle with a torn piece of masa. Sit in your strainer/steamer, open end up.

Repeat until your masa is adios. Tuck remaining soaked husks around the tamales, saving three to drape over the top of the pile, edges tucked in. This'll help retain steam.

Cover your pot with a lid and a towel, turn heat to high, and as soon as you hear boiling activity, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for an hour.

Probably one of the best beer-accompaniers EVAR, fresh, warm tamales.

The tofu mole ones were a hit as well, so don't let their lack of cheese scare ya. Just make a half batch of this sauce, toss with a can of kidney beans and some pan-fried tofu, and use the masa recipe above - but increase your filling to 2 tablespoons per, to account for tofu and bean content.

Ah, summer.

Whaddaya mean, you want vinaigrette?

With my move to Charlotte a couple years back came a few new things.

A certain twangy affectation, usually when I'm drinking around the natives
A heretofore unknown, fiery passion for gardening
8 pounds, which I attribute totally to Ranch Dressing.

Fried zucchini? Comes with ranch. Fries? Ranch. Burger? Ranch on there. Ya, everywhere's got bottles of mustard and ketchup out, but they're just for show - EVERYONE dips EVERYTHING in the "house sauce".

During the summer, Erk and I tend to go semi-vegan, and this summer'll be no different. So what's a girl with a ranch-obsessed SO to do? Whip some tofu and lemon juice together, maybe some pickle juice, mince some herbs and garlic, and proclaim the results Vegan Ranch, that's what.

(And if you think this is good, wait till you see Vegan Blue Cheese - that'll be next week, and there's a killer secret ingredient to be revealed)

Vegan Ranch Dressin'

1 tub medium-firm tofu
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons chive oil
3 tablespoons dill pickle juice
4 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 tsp mustard, spicy
1.5 tablespoons each - minced parsley, chives and dill, fresh
20-30 twists of your pepper grinder (yup, I like mine punchy)

In a blender, blend the first 4 ingredients until super-smooth (you can add a little more oil if you need to, and remember to scrape down the sides as you go). Scrape the white sauce into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.

Taste for salt and add a little more if you need, but usually the pickle juice + mustard is enough for moi. Resist the temptation to add nutritional yeast - this is just tangy enough as it is.

Keeps for a week or two in the fridgedero. Killer with dippables - carrots, cukes, etc - or thinned with a tiny bit of water and poured over your favorite delicious salad.

Oh ya.

Mad, Tasty Science

Have I ever told you guys? How I've never owned a non-stick pan?

Well, this weekend, that long streak of teflon-free cookery was broken. And it's all because of this crepe recipe. Which, of course, I had to de-glutenize - so instead of flour, I used Bob's AP and Tapioca Starch, plus a tsp of xantham gum, and subbed vegetable oil for EB - but coconut oil would rule too (anyone noticed the love Coco oil's getting these days? so awesome).

So it's a different recipe. But the results are just as nom.

Oh yes, I tried with my trusty cast iron skillet. The one I've always, gleefully, laughingly made super-thin, delicate crepes with. But alas - things stuck, caramelized, adhered. And so I caved to the gods of Modern Cookware and bought me a pan.

They're just like regular crepes - except they're vegan, gluten free, and contain no refined sugars.

Nom.

Between the layers of crepey goodness, there's tons of strawberry agave jam and hazelnut carob sauce (a take on faux Nutella sans Chocolate via Veganland). Flavors were different, but enjoyable just the same. Abstinant but decadent. Awesome.

V,GF,NRS Crepes
makes 8-10 - double if making a crepe cake
de-glutenized from this recipe by VeganNumNum, amounts adjusted

2/3 cup Bob's All Purpose GF Flour
1/3 cup Tapioca starch
1/3 cup agave syrup (omit if using these for a savory dish)
Dash salt
1 tsp xantham gum
1 cup soy or almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil, melted EB, or coconut oil, warmed
1/2 tsp sugar-free vanilla essence (optional - this stuff can be hard to find)

Coco oil, for the pan (yes, use a little even on your non-stick, these things are CRANKY)

We're doing this in a blender, dears, so grab yours!

Dump it all in there and blend for 5 minutes, until everything is super incorporated. Check consistency - you're hoping for melted milkshake thickness. A good way to check - dip your finger in the batter, it should be coated to near-opaqueness with a thin, bubbly coat.

Chill your batter, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Warm your non-stick pan over medium heat and throw a 1/2 tsp of coconut oil in there, swish around. Grab a 1/3 cup measuring cup, fill it, grab the pan with your left hand, and pour at the top of the pan, swirling quickly, until the batter has circled and coated the entire bottom of your pan. If you didn't quite make it around, you might need to thin the batter just a little bit with more water/soymilk. You can also pour just a little more batter in, quickly, to repair the crepe.

It can be tricky getting the batter to coat the pan when using oil - but trust me, it'll prevent disaster. You'll get the hang of it after a couple, and any misshapen crepes can be hind in the midst of the cake!

Cook these guys at medium heat for 4-5 minutes on side one, another 2 minutes on side two. They will be browned on the first side - which is tasty and fine. They don't become chewy or crispy, as there's no gluten. Stack them on a plate as you go - no worries, they'll be fine.

I used about 1 1/2 cups of strawberry agave jam (2 large containers strawberries, juice of one lemon, 1/2 cup agave, simmered) and 1 cup agave-sweetened hazelnut spread. I dusted each layer with carob as I went, as well as over the top. And spooned the leftover, thickened strawberry syrup all over the place too.

Good. Can make healthy claims. Do try. Happy Late Easter!

The many uses of Cashew Cheese

You guys know I've been playing around with ground cashew cheese. You could also call it fermented cashew butter. Or cultured nut puree. Starting with this recipe, and being inspired by HHL's techniques and experiments, I've added lemon, tons of roasted garlic, a little agave, and a bit more nutritional yeast. No nutmeg for moi, as well.

And since I can't handle Daiya (just tooooo weird and processed tasting, don't hate me!) I've been looking around for cheese alternatives (that don't make me want to hurl) as a way to eat less big-business dairy. And so far, this fermented cashew cheese is at the top of my list.

What do I do with things at the top of my list? Put them on pizza.

Cashew cheese is traditionally a raw foodist trick, so I feel a teeny, tiny bit of guilt sticking it in a 500 degree oven. Ah well.

Look at those tiny, awesome brown peaks of crispy goodness.

But what else could you do with a pound of stinky, tangy, ricotta-like cashew cheese?

Hmm.

HMMMM.



Oooh, I know. Quiche!

My girl Elle's weekly cleanse potluck really brings out the vegan, gluten-free baker in me, apparently. And let me say, Darlings - these were pretty killer. Did a Roasted Tomato/Cashew Cheese combo and a Caramelized Onion, Roasted Mushroom and Spinach combo. The cheesy pie was tangy, sharp, lovely, while the Spinach was much milder (still nom).

Vegan quiche can be tricky. You don't want to use a ton of egg replacer - add too much and the stuff tastes horrible, like someone mistakenly dumped half a tin of baking powder in the mix by accident, very metallic, odd. Plain tofu can be boring, soggy, not quite as textural as you want. Too much cornstarch as a thickener gives a dusty texture to the filling. What's a girl to do?

Use a little tahini and cornstarch mixed together, that's what! Masked by all the herby, flavorful additions to the tofu filling, you can't taste 'em, and you end up with a sliceable quichie pie (as long as you let it cool first, that is. Ah, mad vegan science).

I've got to warn you all - this recipe was pretty seat-of-the-pantsy. Meaning, amounts could be off by a little bit. Ah, disclaimers. Let's proceed.

Edit: I've made these three times in the past two weeks, and think I've got it down pretty pat. Adding a vegan/GF pastry recipe, as well!

Vegan, Gluten Free Quiche (basic recipe - filling suggestions below)

1 10 inch GF, vegan crust (recipe below)
either: 1 12 oz box firm tofu + 1/2 small juice-box of silken tofu OR 1 box medium firm tofu + 1/2 box soft tofu (the former will give you a chunkier, more scrambled-egg-like quiche - the latter, a softer, more custard-like quiche)
1.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tsp turmeric
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, 1.5 tsp (or more to taste)
Tons of freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp miso
Dry mustard, pinch

to thicken:
1 tablespoon tahini, mixed with 3 tablespoons soymilk or water
1 tbsp cornstarch

for crust:
1 cup GF all purpose flour mix
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp xantham gum
3 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
2 tablespoons EarthBalance or other vegan margarine
1 tsp salt
Garlic + onion powder, dash each
1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon cold soymilk or water (or a little more)

Drain your tofu in a colander over the sink for 10 minutes.

Make your crust - Mix your dry ingredients together, then chunk the "butter" and shortening into the flour. Use a pastry cutter to cut the shortening and butter into tiny breadcrumb sized pieces. Add liquid a tablespoon at a time until the dough balls up easily and is moist enough to incorporate all the flour without being slimy. Cover and chill while you prep the rest of your tofu.

In a large bowl, combine tofu and flavoring agents, using your paws to squish and smash until scrambled-egg consistency is reached. Preheat your oven to 325f.

Whisk last 3 ingredients together thoroughly in a separate bowl, add to tofu mixture, mix very well.

Add your filling of choice, but remember - the less liquid, the better. This recipe depends completely on keeping liquid content to a minimum, so roast your veggies first - and if using spinach, blanch and squeeze.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the center puffs a tiny bit and the pastry is golden. Yup, I said an hour and 15. You're almost just dehydrating the pie - low, long heat is the way to go. A crust will form atop the tofu, giving your pie structure.

Pretty deeeelish and almost eggy enough to fool your picky eaters. I've tried tons of combos, filling-wise -
Smokey Tempeh, Roasted Tomato, Spinach, Mushrooms
Spinach, Dill, Mint, Parsley
Fresh Tomato + Cashew Mozz, Basil
Roasted Tomato, Cashew Cheese, Chives
Mushroom and Shallot
Tempeh Sausage, Parsley, Mushroom and Spinach

And on and on. It's all been lovely.

Look closely at the below pic - you can see dollops of delish cashew cheese:

The way I add the cheese to the tofu is by using a small spoon to make 10-12 divits all over the pie, then spoon about a tsp of cheese into each divit. Uses about 3/4 of a cup of cashew cheese per quiche. Then I smooth the top of the quiche gently, blending the cheese into the tofu just a tiny bit.

Luxe and vegan. Serve with salad. And hot sauce.

Cheers!

Vegan Quickie

I gotta do it - I gotta brag.

I feel like the better you are at cooking, the more you really get to know process, flavor, and nutrition, the harder it is to make something that you think is really over-the-top badass. I mean, I remember, waaaay back, stealing my first few recipes off of Epicurious, successfully making them, and giving myself biiig props. I got all excited. I bought a copyright '63 printing of MtAoFC and felt cool. It's been a long and rad journey since then, and I've become much much much more of a snob.

So when I tried a different idea on cashew cheese a couple days back for a gluten-free, vegan potluck - a cleanse group run by a pal - I wasn't all that excited, I'd done this before, kind of a sad, me too me too recipe (but decent in stuffed shells) thinks I. Well, let me tell you. I put too much lemon in this time. Added a ton of roasted garlic and doubled the nutritional yeast. Forgot it was sitting on the back of the stove, so it fermented a full 18 hours. Baked it to dry it out a bit at the end and GOOD GOD was this cheese sick, stinky, tart, salty, round in flavor, all the things I'd always wanted cashew cheese to be, but had never witnessed.

Put it on a couple of pizzas. And they were really, really good. And I'm not just saying that.

Gives me hope that one day, one dayyyy, I'll be able to transition away from my biggest addiction (sans smoking, that is...): cheese.

Once I figure out exactly what I finally did right this time, I'll share. 'Till then, pizza porn for you. Oh and happy Friday!

Indian Riff, plus a giveaway

I'm a devout Indian food fiend, and I know I'm not the only one. I blame being broke while in school in NYC - there were so many delicious, cheeeeap places within walking distance of my studio that most dinners were samosas, mulligatawny soup, and naan. For 4 bucks. Oh, Panna II. I miss you.

There's a bit of a fable that Indian food is difficult to pair wines with, so a sommelier bud of mine (also a worshipper at the throne of Curry, and also an AMAZING photographer - all the shots below are hers) and I set out last weekend to dispel that falsity. Did we? Well, we'll just consider this one installment in a series (since we didn't even make it through three courses, how wimpy is that).

What we did make it through were an hors devours course and a soup course - Pakora-style marinated cauliflower and, for lack of a better descriptive, Indian Mozzarella Sticks, plus a rasam. Which might be my favorite food of all, that thin, picturesque, chili-laced stew. Like the big, sophisticated brother of mulligatawny, acidic, tomato, spicy, just the right amount of stink.

Rasams come in many forms, but share one quality - they're thickened by cooked and mashed dal (mung beans, typically, although I've used red lentils). The one we ate was a pollution of this recipe, which I've been making for a long time. In order to pump the flavors (we went with an aged, super-rosy Reisling as our 2nd course wine, there had to be some serious Ooomph to cut through the flower) I did a lot of roasting - the tomatoes, some garlic, some shallot. Fried curry leaves, crumbled. About three times the asofoetida called for. Many more chilis.

You know by know that I'm a big dumpling fan - I wanted to bring that combination of textures to this stew as well, so I floated some Khaman dumplings in the soup, tender, sour clouds, delectable. A keeper. With killer wine, or without. This was the first time I'd ever made any of the steamed legume cakes so popular in south Indian cuisine and it was fascinating - a totally new preparation of the Holy Pairing of rice and legume, to me - soak them, dry them, grind them, mix with liquid, ferment, and steam. Feisty and time consuming. But such a soft, buttery texture - and an awesome flavor, earthy, cheese, super beany, lovely.

And of course,  I couldn't resist dusting them with the last of the tomato powder. Adios, Mars Rock. Which brings me to - my first giveaway!


I want to send you some of these awesome vegetable powders I've been bragging about for months - and all you have to do to enter is leave me a comment below declaring your favorite Indian dish. Masala to Malai Kofta, Curry to Rasam - I want to know. And no, I won't be mad if it's a non-vegetarian dish. In a couple days, I'll randomly pick a name and send that lucky person two pouches of powder, both tomato and spinach. Yay!

Roasted Tomato Rasam with Khaman Dumplings
serves 4

for the soup:

1/2 cup split mung dal
5 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons ghee
1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons brown or black mustard seeds
3 fresh bird's eye chilis, split lengthwise
4 shallots, minced
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes
10 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
Pinch palm sugar
1 tablespoon teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2  teaspoon asafetida powder
4 fresh bird's eye chilis, chopped, deseeded
Handful of fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, small, halved lengthwise
10 fresh curry leaves
Fresh cilantro, minced

for the Khaman dumplings:

3 cups plain Kefir
1/2 cup split yellow peas or mung dal
1/2 cup white basmati rice
2 teaspoons salt
Pinch asafetida powder
Chopped cilantro
1/2 cup peas, frozen
Minced chilis, bird's eye, 2 or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne chili powder
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Let's do this.

Wash your rice and mung dal and set out on towels to dry. With a fan, shouldn't take more than an hour. Put them into your food processor and run until their texture has been reduced to powdered-corn meal. Add buttermilk and set aside in a warm area for 2-3 hours.

Add your remaining ingredients, sans peas, and pour into a greased non-stick quiche or baking pan (mine was an 8x8 square, fit it all perfectly). Add peas, letting them sink to the bottom. Steam over medium-low heat, adding boiling water as needed - easily done using this method or in a wok with a steamer stand. As your rasam is finishing, your dumplings should be solid.

Heat your oven to 450f. Halve your tomatoes and scoop most of the seeds out - toss them with a little olive oil and salt and roast, cut side down, for 20 minutes, or until browned on the edges.

Roast your garlic simultaneously by wrapping the cloves in foil with a little olive oil. Should be done right when your tomatoes are. Chop your tomatoes, reserving as much liquid as possible. Set aside.

As your oven is a-roasting, simmer your mung dal in about 2 cups of water, covered, stirring often, until they completely dissolve. At the end, add your roasted garlic and mash well. You want them super-soft - no structure left whatsoever - so add water and time as needed to achieve this.

In a small skillet, toast your cumin powder over medium heat until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

In the same skillet, heat some vegetable oil to medium hot and fry your curry leaves quickly, until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Heat your ghee in a soup pot and add mustard seeds. Fry until they pop, then add chilis. Add remaining ingredients (don't forget the cumin!) sans the 4 fresh chilis, tomatoes, and cilantro (we're reserving these for garnish). Simmer 20 minutes, until tomatoes have liquified. Add lentils and gently simmer, until they're completely dissolved.

Using a cookie or biscuit cutter, cut rounds of your Khaman dumplings and carefully set them aside. Ladle a generous spoonful or two of rasam into a shallow soup bowl, dust your dumplings with tomato powder (optional) and set them gently in the center of the bowl. Scatter tomatoes, fresh chilis (also optional - for the spice-minded) and cilantro over the soup. Crush and scatter curry leaves as well.

Serve. And, of course, enjoy.