Apple Wrapper Pie

I found this recipe in a children's cookbook a long time ago. It is like a super quick and easy apple pie. I recently made it vegan and loved it equally.
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/3 cup vegan shortening
2 - 3 T cold water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
4 cups apples
1 T butter

Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening. Add water. Shape into a ball and refrigerate 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix the apples, brown sugar and flour.

Roll dough into 13" circle. Top with the apple mixture. Fold edges over apples. Top with butter cut into squares.

Bake 30-35 minutes.

Mushroom and Spinach Strata

I have never made a strata before, or heard of one. But apparently it is traditionally a layered bread casserole with an eggy custard holding it together. Tofu took on the role of the "eggy" part.

6 slices stale bread, cut into 2" pieces (toast them in the oven if they are fresh)
1 1/2 cups shallots (5 or 6 big ones)
3 T olive oil
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t crushed red pepper
several pinches of fresh ground pepper
1 t salt
10 oz fresh spinach

For the custard:
1 lb soft tofu
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 t yellow mustard
1 T arrowroot
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven 350. Cook the shallots in 2 T of olive oil. I used a cast iron pan so I could cook and bake in one. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender. Prepare the custard by putting everything into a food processor. Add the garlic and herbs to the shallots and mushrooms and saute. Add the spinach by handfuls, waiting for it to wilt before adding the next handful.
Turn off the heat and move the veggies to one side of the pan. Add 1 T olive oil and the bread. Mix it up and distribute with the veggies. Pour the custard over everything and smush it all together. Make sure everything is coated without "outright" mixing it all together.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. When finished, should be firm and lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes and eat!

Ginger Apple Coconut Granola

I have been playing around with a basic recipe for granola and found a favorite! I bought dried apples at the Portland Saturday Market. The ginger was purchased in bulk from Capella. It is candied (dried and sugar coated). I added coconut flakes and walnuts to the recipe and they toasted along with the oats. The apples and ginger were added after the granola came out of the oven. I love to eat it with Almond Milk!

Brazilian Dill Cheese

This stuff is amazing! It is very soft but slices and goes really great with ciabatta bread.
2 1/4 c water
3 T agar agar flakes

1 cup brazil nuts
1/2 c chopped onion
2 T lemon juice
3 T nutritional yeast flakes
2t salt
1 clove garlic

1 t fresh dill

Soak water and agar flakes in a saucepan for 10 minute. Simmer, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Add to blender with remaining ingredients, minus the dill. Blend until smooth. Add dill and blend briefly. Pour into a small bread pan and refrigerate until set.
Keep it wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for storing.

Chili

I have made vegan chili in the past but used TVP (textured vegetable protein) as the "meat." This time, I was making it for a family at our school and I wanted it to taste as "real" as possible so I used Boca Burger Crumbles. I think it turned out fantastic. I added a green pepper (as opposed to red) for a touch of brightness. I did worry that I made it a bit too spicy for the kids in the family, but I am very sensitive to spice so maybe it was just me. I used black beans and pinto beans (instead of kidney). Here is the recipe.
I also made mini cornbread muffins to send with the chili. I am not a fan of corn bread but think these, made as little muffins, are delicious (It definitely could be the large amount of maple syrup in the recipe!) It comes from a blog titled Vegan Lunch Box and is at the bottom in the comments section. Here is a copy of it (with my changes in parenthesis).

2/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup canola oil (safflower oil)
1 cup plain soymilk (unsweetened almond milk)

Stir above together. In another bowl whisk together:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup fine organic cornmeal
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt

Mix wet and dry together and pour into a greased 9x9 square pan. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 (or in miniloaf or muffin pans for about 25 minutes), until tester comes out clean.

Hot and Sour Soup w/Mushrooms and Cabbage

The recipe came from the Veganomicon cookbook. I couldn't find dried wood ear mushrooms so I used dried shiitake. I didn't have Asian hot chile oil so I added 2 extra teaspoons of white pepper (as the recipe suggested to do). Next time, I will only add one (or maybe even less) because it became very, very (too) peppery. Regardless, the soup was awesome. If I were to rename it, I would substitute sour for tangy. Edamame on the side was perfect.
1/2 oz dried wood ear mushrooms
2 cups boiling water
8 leaves napa cabbage
4 cups veggie broth
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 teaspoons Asian hot chile oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 cups thick-sliced white mushrooms
1 heaping Tablespoon arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 cup cold water
1 lb extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into match-sticks
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped scallions

Place the dried mushrooms in the boiling water, covered, for 20 minutes.
Cut the napa leaves into thin slices, widthwise.
To a soup pot add: veggie broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot chile oil, sesame oil, and white pepper. Bring to a boil and add the cabbage and fresh mushrooms. Cook until the cabbage is completely wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain and dice the wood ears and add them to the soup. Mix the arrowroot and water until dissolved. Add to the soup along with the carrots and tofu. Cook until heated through. Garnish with scallions.

Lemon Bars

This recipe is from the Veganomicon cookbook. It is easily becoming one of my favorites! I have wanted to make these lemon bars for over a year and finally broke down and gave it a go. On a scale of 1-5 they were probably a 3.5. I would change a few things next time though. They were extremely tangy, which is great for a lemon bar! But, next time I would make sure there was a outer crust around all the bars. My "No Edge" pan worked perfectly except I didn't push the dough high enough to create a crust. The lemon custard part took over the top and was a bit too powerful! We topped the bars with soy whipping cream and this helped mellow it out a bit.
Crust
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used spelt)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch (I used arrowroot)
1 cup non hydrogenated vegan margarine

Filling
1 1/3 cups water
3 Tablespoons agar flakes
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup soy milk (I used almond milk)

Preparing the crust
Pulse the flour, powdered sugar, and cornstarch in a food processor. Add the margarine and pulse until crumbly. Press into a 9x13 baking pan, making sure to raise the edges slightly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven 350. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Preparing the filling
In a saucepan, let the agar soak for 15 minutes. Mix the arrowroot into lemon juice to dissolve. Bring soaked agar to a boil and boil for 10 minutes until dissolved. Add granulated sugar and turmeric. Boil until dissolved, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the arrowroot/lemon juice mixture. Add lemon zest and soymilk. Whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour onto crust. Let cool then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Sift powdered sugar on top of bars, cut and serve!

Carrot Cuppies w/Candied Walnuts

This is the same recipe I used for the carrot cake a few posts back. The only change I made was letting the batter sit for about 15 minutes before pouring it into the baking cups. It allowed the oil to soak in and the carrots to soften more. The recipe made about 2 dozen cupcakes but left a lot of leftover frosting! The cupcakes are so moist, they started to pull away from the paper as soon as I took them out of the pan to cool.
I added candied walnuts to the top. My friend Ariel gave me this recipe.
1 cup walnuts
4 tablespoons Earth Balance Butter
a splash of vanilla
a sprinkle of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix and bake for about 10 minutes at 350.

Granola

My best girlfriend Susan gave this recipe to me a few years ago. I pulled it out to make because I was looking for a good granola cereal at Capella a few days ago and they were all ridiculously expensive. I remembered that I could just make it for a lot cheaper!
I bought Just Fruit Munchies made by a company called Just Tomatoes. They have lots of dried fruit and veggie options. A bit pricey but not compared to the store bought granola cereal!
Mix all ingredients except fruit. (I didn't read ahead and added my fruit before baking...it got a little hard. I will remember next time!)Place on a large cookie sheet on wax paper (I used foil). Bake for at least 45 minutes. I set the oven at 300. Then mix in fruit.
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup nuts
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried fruit