Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, this one is from October. I wasn't ready to blog it, but it really belongs squarely to 2009, so I had better do it now!


1/2 c corn oil
1/2 c brown "raw" sugar
1/4 c sugar
some sherry (1/2 to 3/4 cup total, recipe)
3/4c white flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
nearly 2 c of oats
lots of chocolate chips (a third of a bag, perhaps?)

I then added roughly a cup of tapioca flour and more of the sherry until it bound.

350F

10-12 min

about 40 cookies

Hash Browns

I think I finally have the secret to hash browns. I baked several potatoes at 350F for an hour or so. They chilled in the fridge for about a day. Then, I grated them and placed them on cookie sheets which had been sprayed w/spray-cooking oil. I also sprayed the top liberally with the same oil sprayer. That went into the oven at 450F for maybe half an hour or so? This stage required watching fairly carefully. When the bottom starts looking suspicious like it's about to burn, you take them out and flip them. You don't have to bake them again, provided they were not spread to thick to begin with. Anyhow, it worked. This will be the method to my madness now. Besides, Edwin loves them!

Tofu Rice Scramble

This went over well.. I'll try to recall what I did...

I fried 3 onions. Cooked 2 cups of brown rice plus a little wild rice. I fried about a package of cut fake bacon. Usually I use Smart Bacon, but we used Morningstar today. Michael doesn't care for those b/c they are not vegan. I used 3 packs of the 12.3 oz blocks of firm tofu, but I prefer extra firm. I used plenty of curry powder, tumeric, and paprika for flavor and color. Today, since my Mom has Bragg's Aminos, I used some of that. It's not necessary, and soy sauce would do the same thing. It just added a little depth and salt to the mixture.

Grindaddy's Green Onion Chip Dip

This is the original, which was not really a recipe actually.. but we made him do it slowly a couple of years ago, and reverse engineered this:

1 pack (8 oz) cream cheese
1 1/2 T lemon juice
3.5 T milk
2 T green onions, cut lengthwise (1 bunch)
1/4 t salt

But everyone is now avoiding dairy, even Grindaddy. So, this year, we are trying the Vegan version of this. But Grammy wanted to use Baked Lay's. I draw the line somewhere. I went to CVS and got some real potato chips!

New Year's Vegan Dip

This is our first try at making a Vegan version of my Dad's dip, which I'll post later.

First, we blended 2 packs of Firm Tofu (12.3 oz each) Mori-nu brand together with 2/3 cup of cashews and 2 T of lemon juice. That was cooked slowly on medium, stiring constantly with a whisk. Once texture firmed up, we removed that from the heat.

After that cooled, we added 1.5 T salt, 2 T oil (canola) and 2 bunches of green onions (aka scalions). We were using a Vita-mix blender, so if we needed more liquid in step one, we could've added the oil then.

This made 4 cups of dip.

Turnip hash

Apparently a good way to get Donna to eat turnips... Dice and then shred finely

2 large turnips.

Fill a pot with water and submerge the turnips in the water, so that can move freely. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. While this is in progress, slice

2 large onions

and mince

4 cloves of garlic.

Brown the garlic in olive oil, then add the onions and fry. At about this time, the turnips should be done. Drain them well, and then add to the skillet. Season with

salt,
pepper,
garam masala, and
ground cumin.

Cook at high heat, stirring frequently. Defrost

8 oz. chopped spinach,

either in the microwave or by boiling it briefly. Drain and add the skillet. Serve hot.

Vegan Macaroni & Cheese

Ok, you know how to make macaroni. This is a cheese recipe. This will cover a box full of elbows, or 2C whole pasta.

1 C raw cashews
2 T sesame seeds
2-3 T lemon juice
2 1/2 C water
4 oz jar of pimentos (not drained) or chopped red pepper
2 t salt
2 t onion powder and/or 1 chopped onion
1/8 t garlic powder
3 T cornstarch or arrowroot
3 T yeast flakes
2 T oil if cheese will not all be used immediately.
(may sautee in the oil.)

Rinse cashews, discard bad nuts. Blend nuts and (hot is better) water for 2 min, then add rest of items and blend some more. If casserole is desired, use 1/3 sauce to wet noodles, then pour remainder on top and bake all at 350 for 30 min.

Crissy's Totally Perfect Oatmeal Carob Chip Cookies

3 C rolled oats
1 C Carob chips (or other chips or raisins)
3/4 C brown sugar
(for all 3/4 C items: measure out 3 times 1/4 cup scoop and level off w/knife)
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder, aluminium free (like Rumford)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
3/4 C melted Soy Garden Earth Balance
4 T water (+/- 2T if too dry/wet)
1 1/2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Stir all dry ingredients. Add butter, water, vanilla. Stir.

Prepare 2 cookie sheets with spray canola oil. Scoop out with melon baller (1 1/2 T size). Makes about 50 cookies, which would be 100 Calories each. (But think of all the fiber!!! Nevermind that you will eat 10 just for starters...)

Bake 8 minutes, then switch top/bottom shelves. Bake another 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Let stand 3 minutes.

I cannot believe how totally perfect these cookies are! They're based on some cookbook my mom has, but the variations were made by my sister, Crissy. They are some awesome cookies!!!

Oat chorizo and guacomole

I suspect that every good sausage recipe can be made vegan relatively easily. To test this hypothesis, I took a chorizo recipe from here and made it with oats instead:

Fry

4 minced cloves garlic, and
chopped oregano

in olive oil. When they brown, add

1 cup water,
1/4 cup soy sauce,
2 teaspoons chili powder,
1 teaspoon paprika,
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves,
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper,
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, and
1 teaspoon salt.

If you're wary of excess spice, trade chili powder for paprika. Bring this mixture to a boil, then add

1 cup quick oats

and cook until thickened. Remove from heat, and fry it into

1 sliced onion and
1 can of beans.

The guacamole recipe comes from here and is already fine on its own, though as usual, I don't follow it exactly. For the record, here's my rendition:

2 ripe avocados,
1 finely diced onion,
1/2 diced hot pepper,
1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro,
1 tablespoon lemon juice,
1/2 teaspoon salt,
dash of freshly ground black pepper, and
a diced tomato.

Serve both of these with rice and tortillas.

Hash Browns

6 potatoes. Cleaned. Baked in oven the night before at 450 for an hour.

1/3 cup of oil and potatoes on cookie sheet, into 450F oven for about 20 min, flipped over after about 10-15 min. Salted and Peppered.

Also fine using spray oils instead. If you make a sheet of each then mix, you get a nice overall effect.

Tofu Bhurji

This is a vegan analog of Paneer Bhurji, which is based on cheese rather than tofu. I found that this dish assembles very quickly once the heat is applied, so it helps to prepare all of the ingredients beforehand.


Heat oil in a wok, and fry

1/2 teaspoon cumin seed.

Once the seeds are browned, add

3 cloves minced garlic and
1" piece of peeled, minced ginger.

Fry these briefly, and then add

2 sliced onions,
1/2 of a chili pepper (diced).

Once the onions brown, add

1 teaspoon salt,
1/2 to 1 teaspoon garam masala,
1/4 teaspoon tumeric,
1/4 teaspoon chili powder and
1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional).

Stir briskly, and cook until onions become transparent. Then add

2 diced tomatoes.

Cook until the tomato skins begin to pull back. To this, add

12 oz. grated extra firm tofu and
minced fresh cilantro.

Mix thoroughly and cook until heated through.

Broccoli, noodles, and thick sauce

This recipe is overdone. Beware.

There are three parts:

The sauce:
Start by pressure-cooking

1/2 dry soybeans
1 T olive oil

for 20 minutes. While this is cooking, carmelize

1 sliced onion
1 teaspoon salt

in a greased saucepan. When the soybeans finish, drain them, and grind in a blender with enough water to make 2 cups for at least 3 minutes. Once ground, add to the now-carmelized onions. Reduce the heat, and simmer for at least 7 minutes. During this time, rinse out the blender and grind

3/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup walnuts
enough water to make 3 cups

until smooth, at least 2 minutes. After the soybeans and onions have finished cooking, add the mixture to the blender, and continue to blend for at least another 2 minutes. At this point, you can set the sauce aside (it doesn't need any further cooking), or put it back in the saucepan and cook for a few minutes more.

The broccoli:

This is the easy part: pare

1 bunch broccoli rabe

and fry at high heat in olive oil.

The pasta:

Combine

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour.

Cut in enough water to make an elastic pasta dough. Knead for at least 5 minutes, then set aside for at least 10. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Roll each out into a thin strip about 4 inches wide, and as long as possible. Slice along the short direction into strips about 1/8 inch wide. Peel each strip off the board carefully with the point of a knife, stretch to about twice the original length and drop into boiling water. The pasta cooks in about 2 minutes, so it is most practical to cook it in batches.

Eggplant cassarole

I have a penchant for cassaroles... This is the latest development, inspired by "Lamb and Eggplant Cassarole" in The Joy of Cooking. Of course, there's no lamb in it... Indeed, it's farther along in the whole foods end than I typically go!

Mix

2/3 cup quick oats
1/4 cup split red lentils
1/4 teaspoon paprika
parsely
oregano
1/4 cup soy sauce
1-1/2 cup water

and cook over medium heat until the oats thicken. While this occurs, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and dice finely

1 onion
1 tomato

and cube

1 large eggplant.

Put all of the remaining ingredients into the oat mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a greased, lidded cassarole and bake (covered) for 45 minutes.

Yellow cashew curry sauce

A take on an Indian yogurt sauce...

Begin by dicing

2 potatoes

and bringing to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until just tender. While this is cooking, slice

3 onions and
4 oz white mushrooms.

Dry roast

1 teaspoon cumin seeds.

When they brown, add oil and fry the onions and mushrooms. When the onions brown, add

1 can white beans

and the cooked potatoes.

Grind

1/4 cup raw cashews and
1/4 cup water

in a food processor or blender for 2 minutes. To this, add

1/2 teaspoon chili powder,
1/2 teaspoon tumeric,
cilantro,
1 tablespoon lemon juice,
and a pinch of salt.

Add this to the frypan with

8 oz shredded fake chicken

and stir frequently until the mixture thickens. Serve over brown rice.

Orzo and vegetables

Begin by frying

1 sliced shallot,
3 minced cloves garlic, and
8 oz. sliced mushrooms

in about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. As this gets near done, add

2 chopped stalks celery,
chopped broccoli,
some snow peas,
1 diced tomato,

and

1/4 cup water. Simmer over medium heat, then add

about 6-8 chopped capers,
1/3 cup chopped green olives, and
a dash of balsamic vinegar.

Bring a few quarts of water to boil. Add to the boiling water, add

1 cup whole wheat orzo

and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta, and add to the vegetables. Cook briefly, stirring thoroughly.

Vegan quiche

Quick notes on modifying "Savory veggie pie" to obtain a vegan analog:

Keep the same crust -- it's fine!

However the filling should be changed as follows:

Saute onions and carrots in salt as suggested. However, this is where we diverge. Grind

1/2 cup mixed walnuts and almonds
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 to 1 cup soymilk (depending on desired thickness)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
8 ounces of firm tofu

in a food processor until smooth. This might strain the food processor a bit, so add the ingredients slowly in the order listed. Mix the onions and carrots into the puree, and put into the crust. Bake as before: 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.

LLT

As part of a "New Year's" resolution.. I want to keep track of some yummy meals from cookbooks we enjoy, because so much of what we eat comes from a few of our favorite books...

Tonight's dinner is Lamb Lentil and Tomatoes from "INDIAN deliciously authentic dishes" p.118 Replace Lamb w/Morningstar Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles and can of chickpeas (14 oz can). Served w/half brown basmati and half Japanese rice.
ISBN 1-84309-273-5

Carrot cake

(Based on the muffin recipe in the previous post.) Dissolve

2 teaspoons yeast,
3 tablespoons honey,
1 tablespoon molasses, and
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

in 1-1/4 cup warm water. Mix

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt

and cut in

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and
2 tablespoons nondairy margarine.

Stir in

1 grated carrot and
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones briefly, and pour into a

well greased 9"x9" glass baking dish. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place about 20 minutes, or until doubled in height. Bake about 20 minutes at 325 deg F, or until a toothpick comes clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the icing": cream

2 cups of powdered sugar,
1/4 cup nondairy margarine, and
2 teaspoons vanilla.

Mix in slowly

up to 1/4 cup of soymilk

until the appropriate texture is achieved. Once the cake is baked, let it cool before icing.