Kimberly Steele's Blog, page 14

Daily Vegan Lunch for 11 September, 2013: Raw Summer Squash Pasta with Walnut-Tomato Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 summer squash, julienned, spiralized, or shredded

1 cup walnuts, soaked 4 plus hours and drained

1 tablespoon onion

1 clove garlic

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup tomato, roughly chopped

Soy sauce or salt to taste

Chopped green onions (optional) garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Soak nuts and drain off water.  Julienne or spiralize summer squash and set aside in a bowl.   Reserve a little chopped tomato for garnish.

Combine soaked nuts, garlic, lemon juice, and tomato in a food processor and blend to a chunky texture.  Add soy sauce or salt and pulse a few more times until it is a slightly chunky paste, taste test it to see if it needs more salt.  Toss walnut mixture with spiralized squash.

Garnish with green onions and chopped tomato.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 10 September 2013: Mushroom Barley Chickpea Stew

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tablespoon oil

1 portabello mushroom, chopped small or 2 cups button mushrooms, chopped

1.5 cups onion, chopped

1 summer squash, cut into small pieces

1 can chickpeas, rinsed

6 cups vegetable broth

1 cup barley

1/4 cup flour for thickening plus 1 cup water

SPICES/HERBS

1/4 teaspoon fennel

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon dill

1 teaspoon paprika

 

DIRECTIONS:

In the bottom of a large stockpot, fry mushrooms and onion in oil on medium-high heat until the mushrooms brown and the onion is translucent.  Add  spices and herbs, allow to fry 30 seconds.  Add broth, turn heat to high  (I usually add water, 1 vegan broth cube, and then salt it to taste  with sea salt instead of adding actual broth).  Add squash, chickpeas, and barley, cook for about 20 minutes until barley is cooked and chewy.

Once barley is done, mix 1 cup water and 1/4 cup flour until well blended.  Add to soup and stir until soup thickens, about 2 minutes.

 

Daily Vegan Lunch for September 9, 2013: Caprese Salad

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups kale (I used baby kale) massaged or fresh spinach leaves

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 cup olives, pitted and sliced

2 cups basil leaves

6 blobs buffalo mozzarella, chopped roughly

DRESSING:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar plus 2 tablespoons olive oil or

2/3 cup prepared balsamic vinaigrette

Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Chop basil leaves.  Massage and shred kale and toss to mix thoroughly with basil.  Mix with chopped tomatoes and olives, then gently add buffalo mozzarella balls and sprinkle with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper before serving.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 8 September, 2013: Portabella Mushroom Burger

INGREDIENTS:

1 bun (I used a bagel)

1 portabella mushroom, washed and stem cut off

1 teaspoon oil

Sliced tomato

Sliced onion

1 tablespoon chipotle sauce from can of chipotles plus 1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise

Lettuce

Slices of buffalo mozzarella, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Cook mushroom by frying it in one teaspoon oil on medium heat for about 3 – 5 minutes. Flip and fry for a minute more: mushroom will shrink and give off a little juice.

Mix chipotle mayo (mayo plus chipotle can sauce) in a small bowl. Assemble burger with bun, mushroom, chipotle mayonnaise, tomato, and onion. If I made this again I might grill the onion.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 7 September, 2013: Vegan Buffalo Mozzarella Caprese Salad

What to do with so many end of summer tomatoes?  I made Miyoko Schinner’s brilliant buffalo mozzarella out of cashews!  You CANNOT tell the difference between it and real cheese.

BUFFALO MOZZARELLA INGREDIENTS:

1 cup plain (unsweetened) almond yogurt or other plant-based yogurt such as coconut or soy

1 cup cashews, soaked for 8 hours and drained

1 cup water, divided

1.5 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons tapioca powder

1 tablespoon agar powder

 

Bowl of ice water

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

Handful of fresh basil leaves

1 ripe tomato per serving

4 – 5 blobs of cheese

1 teaspoon olive oil plus 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar per serving

Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Make the cheese base by combining soaked cashews, yogurt, and 1/2 cup water in a blender until very, very smooth and creamy.  If 1/2 cup isn’t enough water to get the cashews to blend, add water by 2 Tablespoonfuls at a time until it blends.  Scrape down the sides of the blender frequently during  the process.  Alternately, use cashew butter in the place of soaked cashews.

Scoop into a bowl and allow the mixture to ferment from anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.  It will thicken into cream cheese and you can stop right there if cream cheese is what you wanted.   Stir tapioca flour into the cashew mixture.

I did this: made a big double batch of 2 cups worth of cashews and yogurt, then fermented half for cream cheese (no tapioca flour) and half for buffalo mozzarella.  My blender blends large amounts better than it does small ones so this was a winning strategy.

In a small pot, heat reserved 1/2 cup of water and agar, bringing to a boil.  Once it boils, turn the heat to medium-high and simmer the agar water for 3 – 4 minutes.   Add the tapioca floured cream cheese.  Whisk in and stir continuously until the mixture thickens dramatically and takes on a glossy, stretchy texture.  When it seems as thick as it is going to get,  scoop out the mixture with an ice cream scoop into the ice water.

Allow the cheese balls to set up for about 20 minutes.

SALAD DIRECTIONS:

Assemble cheese balls, basil, and chopped fresh tomatoes on a plate, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 6 September, 2013: Potato, Barley, and Vegetable Curry

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups onion, chopped

2 teaspoons oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 – 3 potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

6 cups water

2 vegan broth cubes

1/2 cup Massaman curry paste or other prefab curry in a packet OR tomato paste for non-spicy version

DIRECTIONS:

Fry garlic and onions in the bottom of a large stock pot on medium high heat until they become translucent.  Add curry paste and allow it to melt.  Add water, broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.  Turn heat to high.  Bring to a boil and turn down the heat.   Simmer at medium high heat until potatoes begin to soften, about 10 minutes.  Add the barley.  Cook for another 20 minutes and serve.  Like most soups/stews, it is better the second day.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 5 September, 2013: Smoky Cream Cheese, Avocado, & Cucumber Sandwich

This cream cheese is so realistic, if I had not made it myself, I would swear it was made with cow’s milk.  I learned the secret from Miyoko Schinner and her Artisan Vegan Life recipes and Artisan Vegan Cheese cookbook.  Just blending soaked cashews with a little water, lemon juice, and salt makes a very convincing cream cheese to begin with, however, if you add Miyoko’s stroke of genius a.k.a. almond milk yogurt and allow the cream cheese to culture/ferment over the course of a day, the results are a dead ringer for dairy cream cheese.

This is a godsend for the lactose intolerant as well as vegans.  I recently wrote Panera Bread about carrying more vegan options — imagine if Panera provided vegan cream cheese!

Which begs the question, why does anyone ever need to torture a cow and take away her babies for cream cheese when you can just make an exact replica cholesterol-free out of cashews and vegan yogurt?

CREAM CHEESE INGREDIENTS:

1 cup cashews soaked in water 9 – 24 hours

1 tablespoon lemon juice

4 drops liquid smoke

1/2 cup almond or other non-dairy yogurt, plain flavor

1/4 cup water

Salt, to taste

1 green onion, minced

SANDWICH INGREDIENTS (FOR ONE):

1-2 tablespoons vegan smoky onion cream cheese

2 slices whole grain bread, toasted

1/2 a small avocado, sliced thinly or smashed

4 slices of cucumber, peeled and seeded

DIRECTIONS:

Soak cashews and drain.  I have noticed that with my Vitamix blender, it is far easier to blend cashews in large batches of 2 cups or more.   A good strategy is to make this cream cheese in bulk by doubling the recipe and then freezing the excess.  I used the cream cheese without onions as a base for Mozzarella Basil Caprese Salad from Artisan Vegan Life.

Combine cashews, lemon juice, liquid smoke, water,salt, and yogurt in a blender and blend until very, very smooth.  Alternately, save the blending altogether by replacing the cashews with cashew butter.  Blending soaked cashews into a smooth paste will take longer in a non-high speed blender, however, it can be done.  No matter what kind of blender you have, the sides will have to be repeatedly scraped down.  I use a rubber spatula.    Add water by the tablespoon to get the consistency you want, keeping in mind it will thicken dramatically once it sits out for a day.  Add the minced green onions to the blender and pulse a couple of times until they are incorporated.

Transfer the cream cheese to a container and allow it to sit on the counter for anywhere from 12 – 36 hours.  The yogurt will help the mixture to ferment/culture.  The mixture will thicken as it sits.  The longer you leave it to sit, the more tangy your cream cheese will be.

Chill the cream cheese.  Toast the bread and assemble the sandwich!

Daily Vegan Lunch for 4 September, 2013: Stir-Fried Yuba and Eda Mame

Yuba is bean curd or tofu skin, available at most vegan groceries

INGREDIENTS:

3 yuba sticks or 5 sheets, broken (about 3 cups) reconstituted in water

2 cups eda mame (frozen whole soybeans, a common bar appetizer in Japan) shelled and thawed

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Sauce:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 cup water

1 tablespoon rice wine, sake, or dry sherry

2 teaspoons sugar or 1 teaspoon agave

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Soak yuba for at least 20 minutes and drain it.  Heat oil in a pan to medium heat.  Sauté the yuba in the oil until slightly brown, add water, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar or agave, and sesame oil.  Add eda mame and toss to coat.  Serve with rice.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 3 September, 2013: Peanut Butter Basil Udon

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups udon noodles, cooked

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

1 teaspoon agave nectar (optional)

1 cup peanuts

1 tablespoon chili sauce or 2 teaspoons Sriacha or tabasco

1.5 cups basil, packed

1 cup green onion, chopped

Cilantro, to garnish

Cook udon noodles according to package directions, rinse and set them aside.

Combine peanuts and basil in a food processor or blender.  In a pan on medium heat, melt the peanut butter and mix it with the soy sauce.  Stir the cooked udon noodles into the melted peanut butter sauce and add the chili sauce and basil/nuts from the food processor.  Garnish with cilantro and green onion.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 2 September, 2013: Coconut Curry Basil Noodle Soup

If you like Malaysian or Thai food or spicy, tropical flavors in general, you’ll really want to get to an Asian grocery store or an online grocery store for curry paste. I am very blessed to live close to a big Korean market that happens to sell a lot of Thai, Chinese, and Japanese food along with Korean offerings. In this grocery store, there is a whole wall of curries that are designed to add to soups, stews, and whatever. It’s quite amazing that so many of these curries contain no animal ingredients, however, I take issue that most of them list palm oil as the first ingredient. As a rule, I try to avoid palm oil because its use is destroying the habitats of many beloved creatures like orangutans whose homes are destroyed so palm oil plantations can flourish. After much looking, I found a great red curry paste in a can called Massaman that had no palm oil. It was perfect! If you can find or order Massaman, buy it. It sure beat hunting down all of the ingredients it already contains, like tamarind, lemongrass, and galangal.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups water

1 vegan broth cube

1 tablespoon Massaman curry paste or other prepared curry paste, found in Asian grocery stores

1 handful rice or sweet potato (glass) noodles

1/2 cup coconut milk

1.5 cups fresh basil leaves

1 green onion, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Combine water and broth cube in a large pot and bring to a boil. As it boils, add a heaping tablespoon of curry paste and let it dissolve. Turn the heat down to medium high and add the glass or rice noodles, pushing them down with a spoon. After 5 minutes of cooking in the broth, noodles are already done. This is the joy of rice or sweet potato noodles versus typical Western spaghetti — they cook much, much faster. And they’re gluten free. Anyway, add the coconut milk and turn the heat off. Honestly this did not need coconut milk to be good but I was trying to be authentic.

Chop the basil and green onion and stir into the soup shortly before serving.