|
|
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.
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, vegan 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.
I found this pudding while going through a back copy of VegNews (jan + feb 2008). I’ve made other vegan chocolate pudding before, but this is far quicker and the nut crust makes for a very nice contrast to the pudding. I make a third of the recipe, which fits into a 500 ml ramekin and is the right size to last me for a few days. You can double it to fill another ramekin or three times the measurements can be put into a 9 inch pie pan.
Crust ingredients:
1 tablespoon cocoa nibs (optional)
1/3 cup pecans
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup medjool dates, pitted (about 5 dates). If you keep these in the refrigerator, like I do, they can get tough. I microwave them for about 10 seconds before using so they are much softer.
1 tablespoon water, as needed
Crust directions:
In a hand blender, pulse cocoa nibs until finely ground. Add pecans and cinnamon and pulse again until coarsely ground. Add dates and continue to process. Add water as needed and process until mixture looks like a thick paste. Press into bottom of ramekin.
Note: you can skip the nut crust altogether, or substitute other nuts like walnuts or almonds. I have also added dried cherries which was very tasty.
Pudding ingredients:
¼ cup unbleached cane sugar (I sometimes use a little less)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup unsweetened chocolate soymilk (you can also use regular unsweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pudding directions:
In a small saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch until free of lumps. Whisk in soymilk. Whisk constantly over medium heat for 5 minutes or until very thick (which for me is right at the 5 minute mark). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over crust in ramekin. Chill or enjoy while warm!
These little guys are flavorful and hearty. Easy to prepare, and cute to boot. There are many, many recipes that vary on this theme (see here, and this is hilarious from Cheap Healthy Good) and vary widely in both time and oven temperature. I experimented with cooking them at different lengths of time and temp – at 400 for 50 minutes worked well. Then I found this recipe in Glamour which suggests broiling them. They turned out great, and if there is a faster way, I’m all for it. I’ll be broiling from here out.
ingredients
1 15 oz can chickpeas
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt
chili powder
Directions:
Drain and dry chickpeas well. Toss with oil and spread peas onto a cookie sheet in one even layer. Put under the broiler for 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as burning can happen fast with a broiler. Allow to cool on the sheet so you don’t burn yourself when you pour them into a small bowl. Add salt to taste and chili powder to your preferred level of spiciness.
Note about spices: For the chili powder, I used Penzy’s Regular and Medium Chili Powders. I was new to these powders and found them SO much more flavorful than the normal grocery chili powder I’d had in my cabinet. The smell alone of these Penzy’s powders is mouthwatering and the flavor is really rich. I sprinkled in a little of Regular and then Medium and then Regular again until I found a good level of flavor and spiciness.
Experimentation: These would be great to have on hand for throwing into a salad, or to use as part of a trail mix. I snacked on them with a cup of tea. There are endless possibilities for mixing up the flavors – curry powder, cumin, garam masala, just salt and black pepper, and on and on. I also made this using dried beans (soaking overnight and then boiling for about 40 minutes) instead of canned and they did have a slightly better texture if you are willing to invest the time for a few extra steps.
I brought this to a New Year’s Eve party and somehow… failed to mention it was vegan. People who would not have sampled it if they’d known it was silken tofu based said they really liked it. Although, when pressed, said they could tell it was “lite” but appreciated it wasn’t as heavy as their normal family recipes. It is from Vegetarian Times. I used a can and a half of artichoke hearts and two cups of frozen spinach because I found the ratio of the tofu mixture a bit high otherwise. I took out the cheese from the original recipe, but a sprinkle of vegan parmesan on top is a nice addition. Also, the tofu mixture alone is super delicious. I am working on a separate post for variations and uses…
Ingredients:
12 oz light silken tofu
2 tablespoons veganaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, pressed
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 and a half cans artichoke hearts in water
2 cups frozen spinach
Vegan parmesan cheese
Spicy paprika
Directions:
Set oven to 400 F. Combine tofu, veganaise, mustard, lemon juice, garlic and onion powder in immersion blender beaker, or blender. Puree. Pour into a medium sized mixing bowl. Thaw spinach and squeeze dry (which is fun to do). Chop. Coarsely chop artichoke hearts. Add both to tofu mixture and stir to combine. Pour into a small casserole dish and sprinkle with vegan parmesan. Cook for 20 minutes. Dust with paprika. Serve while hot.
There was a fantastic article in the New York Times this summer with broad-stroke outlines for inventive, minimalist salads. (101 Simple Salads for the Season). The article had sections for both vegan and vegetarian salads (many of which can be made vegan by skipping the additional cheese). I love the simplicity of the salads. The recipes are described in just a handful of sentences; it’s really cooking as an art. I’ve further simplified their #3 Vegan recipe for a cucumber salad.
Directions:
Peel and thinly slice one cucumber, combine with one diced shallot. Mix together Dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar. Toss mustard/vinegar mixture over the salad. Done!
Possible add-ins:
cherry tomatoes, cubed tofu, white beans, avocado
This is inspired by an oceanside lunch I had at Miss Edith’s, an open-air restaurant in Cahuita, Costa Rica. When I asked our server if I could buy the seasoning that was used, I just got a laugh. The kind of laugh that made me suspect it was a mix of curry powder and seasoned salt. Here is the approximation I came up with. At Miss Edith’s this was served with rice.
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3-4 cups of cabbage, thinly sliced
any other thinly sliced vegetables you like: zucchini, carrot, red pepper…
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt to taste
1 cup vegetable broth
Directions:
Prep a frying plan with non-stick spray. Over medium high heat, add garlic until it begins to brown, add onions and cook 5 minutes or until they become translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables, broth, curry powder and paprika. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are to your preference of softness. Season to taste with additional curry powder, paprika, salt and/or pepper. I had some Penzy’s jerk seasoning that I added to good effect as well. Serve immediately.
Most weekday mornings I start off with a smoothie and some tea. It’s winter, so I’m using frozen fruit which makes it even easier to prepare. They key is having a variety of fruits ready in the freezer.
Ingredients:
Frozen fruit – peaches, strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries
Frozen spinach
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
½ cup Light Vanilla Soymilk (or whichever kind you prefer)
Directions:
Fill a cereal bowl to near the top with a mix of frozen peach slices, strawberries, mixed berries. I usually use 50% peaches and the rest according to my mood. Add a handful of frozen spinach. Microwave for about two and a half minutes or just long enough so it’s still a bit on the frozen side. Use a hand immersion blender to puree the fruit/spinach together with the soymilk and the flax seeds. I drink it right out of the immersion blender cup. Thick and delicious!
|
|
