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The best yellow split pea soup I’ve ever had comes from Harvest & Rowe in downtown SF. In fact, with one exception, the only place I’ve ever had YSPS is at Harvest & Rowe. But never tried to make some myself until last night, and I’m pretty happy with the results.
Ingredients:
One crushed clove of garlic or about a teaspoon of minced jarred garlic
One large carrot, chopped
Half an onion, chopped
1/2 a pound of yellow split peas
2 roasted red peppers
4+ cups of water
2 low salt bullion cubes
Directions:
Prep a large soup pot with cooking spray, over medium heat cook garlic and onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add split peas, carrots, water and bullion. Cover, turn down the heat to more of a simmer and cook FOREVER. Seriously, the key is to get the split peas totally melted. I probably cooked the soup for about one hour, fifteen minutes, and probably could have gone about another 20 minutes as there were still some firm peas in there. I started with 3 cups of water and kept adding, so keep an eye on it and add water as you need to. I added the red peppers at about the one hour mark.
This amount is about four servings. Double it if you want a bunch of soup.
Wow, was this good. Barely feels like a recipe, but I need to share. I think the trick was to brown the onions over a pretty high heat and then they got all caramelly and gooey. Mmm.
Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, or I used about a teaspoon of jarred minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 lb fresh asparagus, with the tough ends snapped off and cut into short pieces
Juice of half a lemon
Generous splash of white wine
Directions:
Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray. Over medium high heat, add garlic, then onions. Cook for about five minutes, tossing/stirring regularly so onions get a bit browned. Add asparagus, lemon juice and wine and cover to simmer (I added just a little water as well) about 5-10 minutes or until the asparagus is al dente. Serve!
I had a lovely ladies brunch to attend last weekend and wanted to tackle the challenge of making a savory dish that was still vegan and easy. A friend suggested something with polenta and a lightbulb went off… I had some Whole Foods roasted red peppers in a jar, a can of black beans… and a trip to my fantastic local market, Bi-Rite to look for something like pesto but not quite like pesto yielded a small container of their house-made Chimichurri sauce. Not familiar with Chimichurri? Me neither. I asked what it went well with, and got “it’s great on steak!” Hmm. I muttered something about polenta and trusted my instinct that it would work with my idea, and I was right. I’ll try to make my own someday, but for now, Bi-Rite has me hooked on their version. Ingredients: Italian parsley, Champagne vinegar, garlic, serrano peppers, EVOO, S & P. If you don’t have access to or feel like making the sauce, the rest of the ingredients can stand on their own. Try with a bit of fresh pepper, olive oil and balsamic instead. Maybe some chopped fresh basil?
Ingredients:
Polenta – I used one of those long shelf life tubes and cut it up into 3/4 inch rounds
2 roasted red peppers, chopped
1/4 of a red onion, diced
1 can of black beans – drained and rinsed
Chimichurri sauce - about 1/4 cup or to taste
Directions:
Slice polenta and place on a cooking-sprayed cookie sheet. Broil on both sides (took about 10 minutes on each side). Keep a close eye on it, you don’t want it really browned. You can either serve the polenta with a pepper/bean/onion mixture on top, crowned with a bit of sauce, or cube the polenta and mix everything up. Option one has more curb appeal, but for the brunch I went with option two and it was easier to serve and still worked. If going with option two, however, it occurred to me later that it might have been better to roast the polenta in cubes, rather than cutting up the rounds post-roasting which was less clean looking.
This is my attempt to bring the cookie dough flavor of my favorite holiday cookies into a warm oatmeal breakfast. I may still tinker with this a bit more, but I’ve been pretty happy the with this balance of spices.
Ingredients:
Oatmeal (instant or stovetop)
1 Granny Smith apple
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Molasses
Vanilla soy milk – optional
Directions:
Prepare a bowl of plain oatmeal. I like instant and make about a half a cup. In a small jar mix cinnamon, ginger, cloves. Shake to combine. NOTE: This spice mixture is enough for many bowls, so it is a good idea to combine it in a container you can put back on the spice shelf for the next time. Sprinkle some of the spice mixture onto oatmeal, to taste – about a teaspoon or less. Mix. Drizzle molasses over oatmeal, about 1-2 teaspoons. Chop up the apple and stir into oatmeal. Pour in soy milk (I like about a half a cup). Breakfast is served!
Option 2: In place of the apple, microwave frozen peaches and strawberries until hot and add to the oatmeal instead.
This dish started out as quesadilla filling from one of my first vegetarian cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking at the Academy. I like it as a stand alone dish but it is also good in a whole wheat tortilla, with a generous spread of vegan sour cream (future post to follow, but basically, silken tofu, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, dijon mustard and a little mayo or soaked cashew nuts).
Ingredients:
Two cloves garlic, pressed
One medium onion, diced
Two medium zucchinis, grated
Chili powder
Taco seasoning mix – optional
Directions:
Prep a frying pan with non-stick spray. Cook garlic over medium-high heat, until it starts to brown, add onion and cook until it also starts to brown (5-10 minutes) Add zucchini and sprinkle in chili powder and taco seasoning mix (to taste, I used about a heaping teaspoon of very flavorful Penzy’s Medium Chili Powder, and a teaspoon of taco seasoning mix) and cook about 10 more minutes. The more the zucchini is browned, the better.
Add-in options: ¾ cup frozen butternut squash, sliced roasted red pepper, frozen/fresh corn, cubed tofu, meatless crumbles (like Boca Crumbles), black beans.
These are extra fun to make because of a surprise ingredient: avocado! From Vegetarian Times: Glazed Chocolate-Avocado Cupcakes. SUPER rich, shared with friends on Valentine’s Day – positive feedback from all.
Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon. baking soda
1/4 teaspoon . salt
1 avocado, pitted and peeled
1 cup pure maple syrup
¾ cup plain soymilk
1/3 cup canola oil (I only had vegetable oil and it worked out just fine)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
¼ block soft silken tofu, drained and patted dry
3 Tbs. pure maple syrup
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¹⁄8 tsp. salt
4 oz. semisweet vegan chocolate chips, melted
Directions:
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend avocado. Stir together syrup soy milk, oil and vanilla (I have a large two cup measuring cup that everything fit into) and pour mixture into blender to puree with avocado. My mixer did not fit all the liquids so I blended about half with the avocado and then transferred to a bowl to stir together. Whisk avocado mixture into dry ingredients. Spoon into a 12-cupcake pan, lined with paper cups or I used cooking spray instead. Cook 25 minutes then cool.
 avocado mix and cocoa mix
Glaze
Blend together tofu, syrup, vanilla, salt. Add melted chocolate and blend again. Pour into a bowl and dip cooled cupcakes in, pulling directly upwards to form peaks. The frosting tastes kind of sour-creamy to me. It’s good, but I actually like these better unfrosted, and next time might make them as brownies since they are so rich and cake-like.
Note: if you are going to cook cupcakes in the morning, leave in the afternoon to enjoy some wine in the park on a beautiful California Valentine’s Day, and then come home and frost them, you are going to get a photo with a shadow in it. Oh well.
Ike’s Place in the Castro (16th at Sanchez) is having a bake sale tomorrow from 11 am to 4 pm! I’ve been curious about Ike’s vegan sandwich menu for a while and this looks like a good opportunity to stop by and check things out. Vegan cinnamon rolls? Yes, please. Benefitting Harvest Home Sanctuary and Cycles of Change APC Bike Shop. Even better!
Full event details here.
Ike’s Place Website: www.ilikeikesplace.com
I’ve been curious about roasting radishes, and noticing a little traffic coming to LRR via radish recipe searches, thought some experimentation might be in order. Since I had luck broiling chickpeas (and having just soaked/cooked some the day before), I thought it would be interesting to throw some radishes on the cookie sheet as well. I also added some cauliflower.
Ingredients:
1 9 oz bunch radishes
1/4 head cauliflower
chick peas – about a cup
olive oil
salt
garlic powder
juice of half a lemon
Directions:
Prep a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Trim ends of radishes, scrub and quarter. Toss with a quarter teaspoon olive oil. Place on cookie sheet. Cut cauliflower into florets, toss with a quarter teaspoon olive oil and add to cookie sheet. Toss chickpeas with minimal olive oil and add to cookie sheet as well. Broil for 10 minutes, stirring midway through. Lightly salt and combine in a bowl. Toss with garlic powder and lemon juice.
 Lunch! Note: I also wanted to experiment with roasting some in the toaster oven, found this recipe on Recipezaar, and started off another bunch, prepped much the same way as above (minimal oil, cooking spray on aluminum foil). But then…I got sort of curious about what they would taste like really browned (how I like my other roasted vegetables – potatoes, onions, etc.). So I cooked them at 400 for 25 minutes then broiled until brown – about another 5 minutes. I have to say I preferred the batch above, which had minimal browing. Somehow the nutty roasted flavor competed with the simple sweetness of the non-browned batch (or how they probably turn out if I’d followed Recipezaar’s idea to the letter!)
This was inspired by the simplicity of Cream of Asparagus Soup from VegCookingBlog and my love of curry and cauliflower. With a little less broth and the addition of curry and turmeric, this is another creamy, mild, lunch or dinner. The leftovers become even brighter because of the turmeric.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
Four cups vegetable broth
Juice of half a lemon
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 Teaspoon turmeric
½ cup non-sweetened plain soymilk
Directions:
Coat bottom of soup pot with non-stick spray. Cook onion over medium heat, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cauliflower, broth, curry powder and turmeric. Stir and cover to simmer for 25 minutes or until the cauliflower is very soft. For the broth, I used low-salt vegan bullion and water and was very satisfied with the flavor. Blend with a hand immersion blender or blender. With the immersion blender, I found that it did not become completely smooth, but I really liked it that way, with small florets of cauliflower throughout. Stir in lemon juice and soymilk. Serve immediately.
Another tasty treat from VegNews. I have made these several times and they are crowd pleasers. Great to take along on a car ride or for a hike. Super easy to prepare, and I really like the flavor of the almond butter adds.
Ingredients:
2 cups rice cereal (I found Whole Foods bulk puffed rice cereal to have the fewest extra ingredients)
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup cranberries
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup almonds – finely chopped or slivered
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Mix cereal, raisins, cranberries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and almonds together in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, cook the brown rice syrup and almond butter for 1-2 minutes until warm and bubbling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over cereal mix and stir to combine until evenly distributed. Press into a 9″ pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
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