Kind of like a creamy pesto dip. I’ve made this a few times, a bit different each time but always yummy! Great with fresh veggies for dipping – cucumbers, sliced red/orange peppers, carrots, or blue corn tortilla chips.

Blend the following until smoth:

The leaves of one bunch of basil – rinsed and dried 3/4 of the small [...]]]>

Kind of like a creamy pesto dip. I’ve made this a few times, a bit different each time but always yummy! Great with fresh veggies for dipping – cucumbers, sliced red/orange peppers, carrots, or blue corn tortilla chips.

Blend the following until smoth:

The leaves of one bunch of basil – rinsed and dried
3/4 of the small container of silken tofu (8 oz)
One clove of garlic, pressed
Juice of half a lemon
1 Tablespoon vegan mayonnaise

Kale is apparently a super super-food. Check this out, Kale scores highest (tied with Collards) on Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutrient Density Index (ANDI). 1,000 points to walnut’s 34! This is an easy way to prepare them, and it’s so delicious I can eat an entire bunch (head?) with dinner.

Soak and then rinse every nook and cranny [...]]]>

Kale is apparently a super super-food. Check this out, Kale scores highest (tied with Collards) on Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutrient Density Index (ANDI). 1,000 points to walnut’s 34! This is an easy way to prepare them, and it’s so delicious I can eat an entire bunch (head?) with dinner.

Soak and then rinse every nook and cranny of a bunch of kale (nothing is worse than gritty kale)
Trim out coarse center vein in each leaf of kale, roughly chopping the remainder of each leaf
In a soup pot or good sized pan, spray cooking spray and sizzle one or two cloves garlic (diced) for a few minutes until they start to brown
Optional: also add diced fresh ginger (an inch or so)
Add kale to pot
Splash with a good amount of white wine (1/2 cup?), a few shakes of soy sauce and juice of one lemon
Cover and cook over medium heat until well done… 10-15 minutes.

If you are not serving right away, hold off on adding the lemon – as it will cause the kale to turn it a little brown.

Blend the following until you reach a hummus-like consistency. Serve with sliced vegetables – cucumbers, red peppers, etc.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed or 1 1/2 cup cooked black beans 1 Tbs peanut butter 1 clove of garlic, pressed Juice of 1 lime a little [...]]]> Delicious, even if not necessarily photogenic. Eating this right now with sliced cucumber. Aaaahhh….

Blend the following until you reach a hummus-like consistency. Serve with sliced vegetables – cucumbers, red peppers, etc.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed or 1 1/2 cup cooked black beans
1 Tbs peanut butter
1 clove of garlic, pressed
Juice of 1 lime
a little hot water if it’s not getting to hummus consistency

A variation on trail mix bars. With a deep chocolate flavor this time.

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup rice syrup, 1/4 cup almond butter, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder. Stir over medium/low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour 3 1/2 cup puffed cereal [...]]]>

A variation on trail mix bars. With a deep chocolate flavor this time.

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup rice syrup, 1/4 cup almond butter, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder. Stir over medium/low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour 3 1/2 cup puffed cereal (I found puffed kamut at my Safeway) into a large bowl and mix with syrup/chocolate mixture.  Add more cereal as needed to make a good bar consistency. Spray a 8 inch square pan with cooking spray. Press bar mixture into pan and let cool before cutting into 9 squares.

I moved to California from Austin almost six years ago and still long for the Tex-Mex breakfast and brunch options from places like Trudy’s or the former Las Manitas. The closest I’ve found in these parts is Papalote. Their salsa is excellent and they have great grilled veggie tacos (zucchini/eggplant) or seasoned tofu tacos. When I [...]]]>

I moved to California from Austin almost six years ago and still long for the Tex-Mex breakfast and brunch options from places like Trudy’s or the former Las Manitas. The closest I’ve found in these parts is Papalote. Their salsa is excellent and they have great grilled veggie tacos (zucchini/eggplant) or seasoned tofu tacos. When I was there last weekend, I bought a jar of their salsa and that has me fired up to use it as often as possible. Here’s what I put together to approximate their offerings.

Caramelize an onion by slicing into thin half moons and heating in a skillet over high heat for about 10-15 minutes, lower heat and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or longer until very well done. Set aside. Chop up 4 small zucchinis and cook in the skillet until brown. Combine with the onions. Season and bake some tofu from this recipe here. Heat some refried black beans, and serve with onion/zucchini mixture. Add sliced avocado and salsa if you’ve got it! You can also serve with corn or flour tortillas or I enjoyed this with blue corn tortilla chips.

This is my first experiment with baking tofu. It’s a nice change in texture from raw or stir frying, a bit chewy and the seasoning give it some kick. I used Penzy’s Medium Hot Chili Powder, which I love love love, and got the chipotle powder from Rainbow Grocery which has great bulk spices.

Ingredients: 1/2 [...]]]>

This is my first experiment with baking tofu. It’s a nice change in texture from raw or stir frying, a bit chewy and the seasoning give it some kick. I used Penzy’s Medium Hot Chili Powder, which I love love love, and got the chipotle powder from Rainbow Grocery which has great bulk spices.

Ingredients:
1/2 block firm tofu
1 teaspoon chipotle powder, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon medium chili powder, or to taste

Directions:
Cube tofu into about half inch squares, toss with spices. Taste and add more seasoning if you like. Cook at 400 for 40 minutes tossing every 10 minutes or so.

I’ve wanted to see about “veganizing” some of the Joy of Cooking recipes for a while. This morning, I made my first attempt and am calling it a total success. I don’t think I can print the recipe here, but I used the “corn meal pancake” recipe and made substitutes for all the animal products. [...]]]>

I’ve wanted to see about “veganizing” some of the Joy of Cooking recipes for a while. This morning, I made my first attempt and am calling it a total success. I don’t think I can print the recipe here, but I used the “corn meal pancake” recipe and made substitutes for all the animal products.  Instead of milk I used unsweetened vanilla soy milk, in place of the egg, I used one Tablespoon well-ground flax seeds shaken up a jar with two Tablespoons additional soy milk and one Tablespoon water. Vegan margarine instead of butter and voila, it’s vegan. And still REALLY good. Nicely buttery. I used canola oil spray for the skillet and re-sprayed between each batch.

If you are curious about eating fewer eggs (I was spurred on to do so after reading the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Saffran Foer) and making substitutions in your baking recipes, the flax seed and water/soy milk combination works really well.

Fake meat….can be hit or miss. I struggle with vegan “turkey” slices, but with some vegan “cream cheese” and dijon mustard, this can be quite a nice little treat. And it’s cute in that 50’s appetizer kind of way.

Ingredients: vegan turkey slices vegan cream cheese dijon mustard

Directions: Spread each turkey slice with cream cheese.  Squeeze dijon mustard in [...]]]>

Fake meat….can be hit or miss. I struggle with vegan “turkey” slices, but with some vegan “cream cheese” and dijon mustard, this can be quite a nice little treat. And it’s cute in that 50’s appetizer kind of way.

Ingredients:
vegan turkey slices
vegan cream cheese
dijon mustard

Directions:
Spread each turkey slice with cream cheese.  Squeeze dijon mustard in a line down the middle of each slice. Roll up the slices and pin together with a toothpick. Enjoy!

Yum. I can’t stop making this. Another winner from Vegetarian Times. Total Eclipse Chocolate Cake.  I keep telling myself I just need one more sample to figure out how this combination of ingredients could possibly turn out so rich. So chocolaty. Love. Can you see where I ate the corner off before I took the [...]]]>

Yum. I can’t stop making this. Another winner from Vegetarian Times. Total Eclipse Chocolate Cake.  I keep telling myself I just need one more sample to figure out how this combination of ingredients could possibly turn out so rich. So chocolaty. Love. Can you see where I ate the corner off before I took the photo? : ) This is half the recipe which fits into a 8″x8″ pan. Double and you can use two 9″ round pans and make a more traditional birthday like stacked cake.

Cake Ingredients:
3/4 C white flour
1/4 C + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp flax seeds, ground very fine (a coffee grinder works well)
1/4 C pitted dates (about 5 dates)
3 oz silken tofu
1 1/2 tsp vegetable or corn oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C maple syrup

Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Soak dates in half a cup of hot water for 30 minutes. Spray a 8″x8″ pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle in a little bit of cocoa powder and shake pan to distribute/coat sides. In a large bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda.

In a small blender mix the ground flax seeds with half a cup water for about 30 seconds until frothy. Add dates, their soaking water, oil and vanilla and continue to blend until smooth. Add to dry mixture with the maple syrup.  Stir until just combined. Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until springs back to touch on top or a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 5-10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool further.

Recipe for frosting to follow!

I wish I were in Austin this weekend! It’s SXSW and I would love to be filling up on Trudy’s breakfast tacos and then heading out to hear some music. To fill the taco void, I made a satisfying tofu scramble for breakfast. And now I will throw on some L’il Cap’n Travis and finish [...]]]>

I wish I were in Austin this weekend! It’s SXSW and I would love to be filling up on Trudy’s breakfast tacos and then heading out to hear some music. To fill the taco void, I made a satisfying tofu scramble for breakfast. And now I will throw on some L’il Cap’n Travis and finish my taxes. Sigh.

Ingredients:
1/2 block of firm tofu, drained
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1/2 a small onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
vegan american cheese, about a half a slice
chili powder

Directions:
Crumble tofu with your hands into a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle in turmeric, garlic powder, taco seasoning and mix with a fork. Prep a skillet with non-stick spray. Over medium-high heat, cook onions, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and brown for another few minutes. Add tofu mixture and peppers. Stir in chili powder, to taste. I like a few teaspoons full. Continue to cook over a high heat until slightly browned, about another 5-10 minutes. Add american cheese and stir until melted. Serve with salsa, a side of black beans and some vegan sour cream if you’ve got it. I added a handful of blue corn tortilla chips. Avocado slices would have been a nice addition as well.