Brazilian Kale/Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts Salad

When family gathers for a big meal, I like to bring more than one item. Must be a mom thing - I always want to make sure everyone gets enough to eat!

Brazilian Kale

One bunch of kale, sliced thin
2 T. coconut oil (or whatever oil you have)
5 garlic cloves, minced
One onion, diced
1/4 c. vegetable broth
1/2 t. liquid smoke
Salt to taste

Saute the garlic and onion in the oil until softened. Add a handful of kale and stir until wilted. Continue adding handfuls of the kale until you've cooked all of it. Sprinkle it with the broth and liquid smoke and let it steam for about 5 minutes. Season with salt, as desired. Serve. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts Salad

3 c. Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, sliced in half
Olive oil
Salt to taste
1-1/2# butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
Olive oil
3 T. maple syrup
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 c. pecan halves
1 c. dried cherries

Lightly grease a cookie sheet with oil. In a separate bowl, mix Brusssels sprouts with 2 T. olive oil and salt. Spread the Brussels sprouts on the cookie sheet cut side down, and roast at 400F for about 20 minutes. After about 10 minutes, flip them over for even roasting.
Lightly grease a second cookie sheet with oil. In a separate bowl, mix the squash with 1 T. olive oil, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Spread the squash on the cookie sheet and roast at 400F for about 20 minutes. After about 10 minutes, turn it over for even roasting.
In another large bowl, combine the Brussels sprouts and the squash with the pecans and cherries. Mix well. Serve. Enjoy!

Tabbouleh with Cantaloupe and Pecans

I like tabbouleh, but it's hit or miss with my family. I'll be honest, I think this would have been better without the addition of cantaloupe, but hindsight is 20/20. Make it and decide for yourself.

Tabbouleh with Cantaloupe and Pecans

1 c. bulghur wheat
1-1/2 c. boiling water
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 t. salt
Pinch of cayenne
1 c. chopped cilantro or parsley
Cubed cantaloupe
Chopped pecans
1 t. black pepper

Mix the bulghut, boiling water, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne in a large bowl. Mix well, then set aside for about an hour. The bulghur will absorb the water. Stir in the cilantro, cantaloupe, pecans, and black pepper. Chill for about an hour. Serve. Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Relish

A new Whole Foods opened in town recently, and we all piled into the car to check it out. While there, my daughter informed us of another, slightly similar but not as cool, store located just across the street from the new Whole Foods. I had friends who had been employed at this other store, so I had a knowledge of its existence, but had never visited. So, we did.

While there wasn't anything  new or exciting about it, there was one exception. A lady was giving out samples of foods to entice people to order complete dinners. We got to sample a cranberry orange relish and it was fabulous! I have always made a cranberry dish for Thanksgiving, but its always the same dish, every year. This recipe was quite different. I had to find a way to make it.

Cranberry Orange Relish

One navel orange, unpeeled and cut into chunks
One bag of fresh cranberries
3/4 c. stevia (see note)
Chopped pecans

Place everything except the pecans in a food processor and chop until finely chopped but not pulverized. Place the mixture to a bowl and add the pecans. Stir to mix well. Cover and chill overnight. Serve. Enjoy!

Note: As much as I love stevia, it did not sweeten this very much. In fact, it was quite a tangy dish. I later added a can of pineapple to it, and it greatly improved the sweetness.

Tofu in Pecan Sauce

If you aren't a fan of tofu, it's probably because you've never had it made well. Those squishy, marshmallowy squares really aren't very enticing, I gotta admit. I never make it that way.

Tofu in Pecan Sauce

One package extra firm tofu, frozen, boiled, pressed, sliced
One onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. thyme
1/4 t. oregano
1/4 c. chopped pecans
Vegan butter
3 T. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. vegan sour cream

In a frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in the butter until softened. Add the pecans. Into the sour cream, mix the flour and seasonings. Add this to the onion mixture. Lay the tofu on top of this sauce, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for a few minutes. Turn the tofu over to get sauce on the other side. Cover again and let simmer a few more minutes. Watch the sauce doesn't burn. Serve over noodles. Enjoy!

I admit I was a little worried the tofu would be bland, not having marinated beforehand, but it absorbed this sauce readily and was absolutely delicious! The only thing I would do differently is to double the sauce.

Pecan Fried Tofish

I am one of those types of people who loves, loves, loves nuts. I like to cook with them, add them to salads, bake them into desserts. I eat them raw by the handful. Did I mention how much I love nuts? My family has become accustomed to my adding them to as many dishes as possible, and humor me by eating them.

Pecan Fried Tofish

One package extra firm tofu, frozen, thawed, pressed, sliced
Flour
1 c. bread crumbs
1 c. chopped pecans
Non-dairy milk
Olive oil

Place some flour in a Ziploc baggie and add the tofu slices, two at a time. Give a good but gentle shake to coat the tofu. Repeat until all slices have been dusted with flour. Pour plain, non-dairy milk into a shallow bowl. Dump the flour from the baggie and add the bread crumbs and pecans. Lay slices of tofu in the milk to coat, then add to the baggie and give another good but gentle shake to coat with breadcrumb mixture. Fry these coated pieces in olive oil until nicely golden brown. Serve alone or with vegan tartar sauce.

Half my family thought they were a little bland, but the other half loved them as is. Play around with seasonings to find a mix you like.

I served mine up with cole slaw and French fries.

Cheesy Nutty Pizza

Some months back I was cruising along the internet looking for what I don't remember, when I stumbled across a pizza recipe that had me drooling. Thankfully I was wearing a bib at the time! Okay, not really, but I should have been. I saved the recipe to my computer with every intention of making it.

Then I got sucked into Pinterest. Man, I love that place! I went looking once again for that pizza recipe so I could pin it to one of my boards. Success! And then I finally made it.

It was worth it! Absolutely yummy!

Here is my uncooked version:

You can find the recipe here. Go. Make it. My picture does not do it justice.

Sweet Endings

My daughter loves pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins. She has a sweet tooth to be certain. This year she took it upon herself to make dessert, and it was delightful!

She made a vegan pumpkin pecan pie. She got the recipe for it here. The only changes she made to the recipe were buying a readymade pie crust and substituting stevia for the sugar.

Enjoy!

National Junk Food Day

July 21 is National Junk Food Day. Because the next day was my son's birthday, and he loves the occasional night of snack food dining, I decided to wait. Okay, so we didn't celebrate Junk Food Day on Junk Food Day, but doesn't every day hold the honor of being a junk food day? Well, at least in some form? ;)

The good news is my birthday boy loved the snacks, and that's the most important thing!

I can't count how many potlucks or get togethers I've gone to where someone brought tortilla rollups. Such a simple and pretty thing, but I've never made them before. This offered me the perfect opportunity to correct that.

Tortilla Rollups

One container vegan cream cheese
5 green onions, chopped
2 small cans of chopped black olives
1/4 fake bacon bits
2 T. black bean salsa (see below)
1 t. cumin
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Hot pepper sauce, to taste
Flour tortillas

Soften the cream cheese in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the flour tortillas, and blend well. Spoon some of the mixture on a flour tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down on a plate, and stack them on top of each other. Cover and chill. Before serving, slice into rounds.

Black Bean Salsa

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. red onion, diced
One green pepper, chopped
1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Handful of cilantro, chopped
3 T. lime juice
2 T. vegetable oil
1-1/2 t. hot pepper sauce
1/2 t. salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl, stirring to mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips.

Don't buy the canned stuff. This bean dip rocks!

Tex Mex Dip

3 green onions, chopped
One can vegetarian refried beans
One can corn, drained
One package Daiya Pepperjack
1/2 c. beer
One package taco seasoning mix

Mix all the ingredients in a medium sized pot on medium heat. Stir occasionally until everything is mixed well and heated through. Serve with tortilla chips.

Spicy Cheese Crisps

1/2 c. vegan butter, softened
One package Daiya Pepperjack
2 c. whole wheat flour
Pecan halves

Beat butter, cheese and flour together until well mixed. Cover and chill overnight. Shape into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Use a glass to smash the balls into flat rounds. Top with a pecan half. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until browned slightly. Let cool. Enjoy!

Roman Beans and Fried Pecan Okra

I've spent the first half of this year cleaning, organizing and redecorating my home. In doing so, some projects got pushed to the side in favor of more pressing ones, like organizing my craft room and painting my den. One project that has sat on the sidelines for way too long is culling my recipe collection. Four, count them, four boxes of recipes sat in my kitchen, off to the side. I don't even want to mention the four boxes of magazines still to be gone through...

At any rate, I finally tackled the boxes of loose recipes. Sitting beside me was a bag for any I no longer want or can't veganize to be recycled and a file box with labeled hanging folders to file any I want to try. To my satisfaction, more went to the recyling bag than into the folders; proof positive to me that I really can part with unnecessary things!

I decided that I would plan many of my meals around Dr. Neal Barnard's Power Plate idea - dividing a plate into four sections - legumes, vegetables, fruit, grains. It might make for some odd, but interesting, meals, but a bonus is I get to further cull my recipes while also trying out some new ones!

Roman Beans

One onion, chopped
One carrot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Olive oil
One can diced tomatoes
2 t. basil (I used fresh basil from my garden)
1 t. oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
One can kidney beans, drained

Saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper and kidney beans, heat through and let simmer to blend the flavors.  Serve over rice.

Pecan Fried Okra

One c. chopped pecans
Baking mix of choice (I used cornmeal and flour mixed with salt and pepper)
One package of frozen whole okra
Peanut oil

Whir the pecans and baking mix in a food processor to blend well. Thaw the okra. Coat the okra in the pecan mixture and fry in the hot peanut oil in batches.

I thought the beans had a really nice flavor, but the okra could use more seasoning. I will play around with that more next time. To round out the Power Plate, I included fresh blackberries for dessert.

Now back to tackling the boxes of magazines...

Vegan Munchies

Ever get tired of the usual chip and dip routine? A bowl of peanuts or pretzels? I know I do. Ugh. I like those things just fine, but sometimes an occasion calls for something more thrilling to the taste buds. For me, that's actually just about any occasion where snack and finger foods are on the menu.

The last family party we went to the offerings consisted of cheese, cheese, cheese, oh, and cheese, and bacon wrapped something. Did I mention there was cheese? Not much there for the conscientious vegan to nosh on. Luckily, I did bring a couple of things, knowing all too well the likelihood of yummy snack availability was low.

Fortunately, I like to entertain. Low key, come as you are, no frills. I much prefer enjoyable, chatty visits than full scale parties where I barely get to see much less talk to anyone. Those have there place, don't get me wrong, and hey, I'm planning one such in a few months to celebrate my birthday. But mostly I like things on a smaller scale.

Take New Years Eve, for example. Hubby and I make up a batch of munchies, the kids invite friends over. Small, yes, but a big way to bring in the new year!  A childhood friend of my son was so enamored of my snacks, he said he could almost convert to veganism. Hey, it's at least a step in the right direction. Winning converts through their stomach!

Cajun Crunchies

Extra firm tofu, frozen in container, boiled to thaw, drained, pressed and cut into 1/4" slices
2 T. olive oil
1 t. Cajun seasoning
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

Toss the tofu strips with the remaining ingredients. Arrange in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, turning over once. When done, let cool before serving.

Make sure you don't cut these slices too thin or they get more crunchy than you want!

Fireballs

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/4 c. minced green onions
1 minced garlic clove
3 T. vital wheat gluten
3 T. unseasoned bread crumbs
4 T. Tabasco
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. cayenne
1/4 c. vegan butter

Press beans to remove any excess liquid. Put beans in food processor with pecans, green onions, garlic, vital wheat gluten, bread crumbs, 2 T. Tabasco, salt and cayenne. Pulse until mix well, but leaving some texture. Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls. Place the balls on a lightly oiled baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350, turning about half way through.
In a small saucepan, combine 2 T. Tabasco with the vegan butter and melt over low. Pour over the fireballs and bake 10 minutes longer. Serve.

Enjoy!

Crispy Tofu

I have been collecting recipes since I was 15. In human years, that was a long time ago! But seriously, I am the recipe queen. When I became vegan, I did start going through my collection and tossing many that were meat based. I stopped doing that when the proverbial light bulb went off, and I realized I could veganize just about anything! Well, most anything, but you get the idea. It has led to some rather tasty new dishes!

Crispy Tofu

1 package of extra firm tofu, frozen in the package, boiled, sliced thin
Plain soy milk
1/2 c. whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 c. garbanzo bean flour
1/4 c. chopped pecans
2 T. flaxseed
1 t. paprika
1/4 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. salt
pinch of black pepper
Olive oil

Pour soy milk into a flat bowl for dipping purposes. Mix up all the dry ingredients in a separate flat bowl for dipping. Heat oil in frying pan.
Dip tofu slices first in milk, then coat well in the dry ingredients mixture. Fry in oil until nicely brown on one side, flip and fry on other side. Serve.

You can serve it with any kind of gravy of your choice.

My family laughs at me, claiming they always know when Mom has been frying based on the amount of smoke in the house. Ha ha. Because this teasing in not unwarranted, I have learned a few things about frying along the way.

•Choose an oil with a high smoke point. The idea here is that there should be as big a difference as possible between the smoke point of the oil and the cooking temperature recommended. For frying at 375ºF, try canola, safflower, or grapeseed oil. If you prefer olive oil, like I do, the olive oil grade "olive oil," is excellent because it has a higher smoke point (410º F) than virgin or extra virgin oils.

•Use a spatter screen to protect you and keep your stovetop clean. Seriously, otherwise you will have little dots of oil on everything in a two foot radius.

•If you are deep frying, leave a margin of at least 2 inches at the top of the pan to prevent oil from overflowing when food is added and help keep spattering contained.

•Just before you start to fry the food, sprinkle about a quarter teaspoon of coarse kosher salt into the oil to keep it from splattering.

•Be sure the food is patted dry before immersing it. Drops of moisture can cause spattering. No kidding! Any moisture will make the oil spit and if you don't want to get popped, watch the moisture! Coat pieces well with dry ingredients to help cut down on any spattering.

•Lower food gently into hot oil; don't drop it from high up.

•If using tongs, keep them pointed downward to prevent hot oil from dripping down the handles. Having done this more than once with boiling water, I can attest to this!

•Work in small batches. The temperature of the oil decreases as soon as you add food to it.

•Monitor the oil temperature carefully and make sure it doesn't go above what the recipe specifies. As particles collect in the frying oil, the smoke point lowers, which increases your chances of fire. I use a metal strainer type utensil to remove as much of the particles as I can.

Frying need not be a scary or even dangerous cooking method, if you follow some simple rules. Enjoy!

Tofu