Pumpkin Saag with Scallion Flatbread

I am a huge fan of anything spinach so it saddens me that most Indian restaurants put cream in their Saag (a spinach, curry based dish). This recipe came from the Veganomicon cookbook. I made it a day early to let the flavors really do their magic.

The flat bread is like a traditional paratha. It is flour, peanut and sesame oil, sugar, salt, water and scallions. It is also from Veganomicon.

On the side, Basmati rice.

Vitamin Wheel

Seitan Piccata with Olives and Green Beans

It is ridiculous how delicious this meal was. I feel like I have run out of adjectives to describe really good food but if I had a great new word, I would use it for this meal!

The only thing I did that isn't described in the recipe is to dice up the capers. I was really nervous that I wouldn't like them, so I figured smaller would be better. They complimented the sauce so perfectly that I had nothing to worry about.

Here is the seitan I used. The grocery store down the street finally started to carry it!

Spinach and Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms

After an excellent turnout of the stuffed bell peppers last night, I decided to try stuffed mushrooms today.

I googled many recipes but didn't find one that really stood out to me so I made this one up, combining bits and pieces of things I liked from the other recipes.

Here is a list of the ingredients I used:

14 baby bello mushrooms, stems removed and diced

1 chopped leek
1 Tbsp vegan butter
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 diced Shallots
1 bunch of spinach
1/4 cup white wine
Salt and pepper

1/4 cup crumbled Cheshire style Sheese
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems. Dice and save for the filling.

2. Melt the butter in a pan, add leeks and cook until soft. Add garlic and shallots, diced mushroom stems and spinach, wine, salt and pepper. Cook until everything is soft and the liquid is all gone. Slightly cool.

3. Add to a food processor the Cheshire sheese, nutritional yeast, walnuts, and the mushroom mixture. Blend until only slightly chunky.

4. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. I was chatting on the phone with my mom and overcooked mine a bit! Be careful! They dry out if cooked too long

Here is the Sheese I used.

Banana Pecan Pancakes

My freezer is about the size of a long shoe box, a boot box I guess. So storing things is not easy. I have 3 bananas in there right now and they have to go! So, one is being used for Banana Pancakes today. I am following this recipe from VegWeb.com. Instead of 1/2 banana, I am adding a whole. The pancakes are topped with vegan margarine, toasted pecans and coconut, and agave syrup.



I added closer to 1 cup of milk to make the batter pourable and used rice instead of soy.

Sweet and Sour Chili Stuffed Bell Peppers

I got this recipe from the Vegan Planet cookbook. I purchased a red, green, yellow, and orange pepper for the recipe and it looked so pretty! Each pepper was cleaned, boiled for 5 minutes and stuffed with a combo of chili con soja (store bought), vegan cheddar cheese (smoked cheddar Sheese), and pre-cooked quinoa (the recipe calls for rice but I had a lot of rice last night). The sauce is tomato sauce (the recipe calls for tomato juice), apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and mexican chili powder. This is poured around the stuffed peppers. It is all baked at 350 for about 30 minutes. I then sprinkled chives on top.

John made a salad to go with which consisted of mixed greens, beets, avocado, balsamic and olive oil dressing.



It all came together quickly and was such a fantastic combination of flavors. I don't use this cookbook much, but want to start. The author, Robin Robertson, has a cool blog here.

Breakfast Scramble

I haven't posted a scramble in a long time and this one was very eclectic in flavor. I had leftover spring roll sauce from last night so I pressed tofu and marinated it in the sauce.

The rest of the scramble is a combo of the following sauteed in olive oil: a leek, a 1 inch piece of ginger diced, mushrooms, 2 carrots, and green beans. When this was cooked down appropriately, I added the tofu (mashed up a bit) along with the remaining marinade and a few black olives sliced in half. John picked out these olives for a recipe that I will be making in the near future. They are amazing (if you love olives) and seasoned with Herbs de Provence.



On the side, I sliced an avocado and it was a perfect addition because of its neutral flavor alongside the sweet and sour flavor of the tofu. John did not care for the olives in the scramble. Too salty, he said.

Coconut Rice and Spring Rolls

With John still not feeling 100%, a late and filling lunch of leftover pasta still in our bellies, and movies to watch, we settled on a light dinner consisting of spring rolls and a new rice recipe.

Usually I set the spring rolls up buffet style and let everyone make their own. It can get quite entertaining! But, a buffet seemed less appealing with a sick person in the house so I made them all ahead of time. To make sure they were still moist when we were ready to eat, I sat them on and covered them with wet paper towels. This is extremely important because they dry out fast.

The rolls are wrapped in rice paper (actually made with tapioca) that is soaked in warm water until completely soft. For the filling, I used random groupings of the following ingredients: baby spinach, baked tofu (marinated in spicy thai seasonings), cooked rice noodles, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, avocado, red pepper, carrot, and green beans.

I normally make this sauce but felt lazy and didn't want another pan to wash. Instead, I mixed light and dark soy sauce, a smashed garlic clove, a splash of apple cider vinegar, water, and a squirt of Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce and a squirt of agave syrup. It was fantastic, so easy, and gained permanent status in my world of spring rolls.

The rice was a new recipe I have wanted to try forever and it was delicious. I sprinkled toasted coconut on top.

Cinnamon Apple Walnut Brownies

The cinnamon and chopped walnuts were sprinkled into the batter pre-bake. The apple is really apple sauce in an attempt to use less oil than most of the recipes I found called for.

The recipe is in the comments section of this allrecipes.com webpage. It is NOT the actual recipe on this page.

Oil an 8x8 pan. Combine 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup vegan white sugar, 6 TBS cocoa, ½ tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, ½ cup water, 2 TBS veg oil, ½ cup natural/unsweetened applesauce, and 1 tsp vanilla. I also added 1 cup chopped walnuts and 1 tsp cinnamon. Pour the batter into the oiled pan. They took around 30 minutes to bake at 350 degrees. They were rich, gooey, fudgy, but not overly sweet.

Ginger Lemon Tea

Despite the Vitamin C, Echinacin, Zinc, Mucinex, cookies, and wife-love, John is still sick, coughing, and not feeling well. I found this recipe for a tea that consists of ginger, lemon, and agave syrup (really, it calls for honey but I substituted agave). He asked for seconds and I haven't heard as much coughing! I made a cup for myself and it was quite enjoyable and relaxing!

I boiled a full pot of water. To this, I added a 1 inch diced piece of fresh ginger, 1 Tbs fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbs agave syrup and let it sit in a thermos for about 15 minutes. I let a few ginger pieces escape into the mug when pouring it from the thermos because we both love ginger!

Gnocchi with Roasted Pepper Cream Sauce and Brussels Sprouts

I needed something yum to use up the leftover Roasted Pepper Cream Sauce that I made for the tortellini/ravioli a few days ago.

John and I used to eat at a restaurant in Tampa called The Laughing Cat. They are not vegan but this was when I was not vegan either. They had the most amazing gnocchi and cream sauces but I think our meal tonight could compete!

Here is the recipe I followed. I only made a half batch and it was perfect for two people. Here are the gnocchi pre-boiled.



This was my first attempt at gnocchi and I am amazed at how easy it was! I can't wait to try it with sweet potatoes. One thing to note, do not overcook! The first batch turned out perfectly. The second, I let sit in the boiling water a bit longer than the first and it all started to break apart and get very mushy. They cook very quickly. Take them out when they start to float.



On the side, brussels sprouts. John noted this was my best batch ever and that says something because we LOVE brussels sprouts. I pour a combo of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper on top and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. They absorb the balsamic vinegar and get really crispy on the outside. Heaven!

Hot Chili Soy Curl and Roasted Potato Tacos

I found this recipe in the October 2009 VegNews magazine and originally made it exactly as the recipe calls for. It is really called Chipotle Seitan and Roasted Potato Tacos but I had to make a few adjustments this time around. First, I can't find seitan in stores here and haven't found wheat gluten to make my own. Secondly, I can't find chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

So, this time around, I used a spicy, green pepper and sriracha hot chilli sauce (yes, they spell chilli with 2 L's!). I also substituted lemon for lime juice and sunflower oil for peanut. I topped the tacos with diced tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, and guacamole instead of the salsa, cabbage, onion, jalapenos combo they recommend.



Instead of seitan, I used soy curls. They never achieved the crispy texture that seitan does but did a nice job of absorbing the flavor of the marinade and giving the tacos texture and made the tacos very filling.



The recipe is posted at this blog site exactly as it is in the magazine.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

John is home sick today. He is actually not one of those seriously annoying people when sick, so I enjoy taking care of him! I asked him what he wanted and his response was cookies. Normally, he gets a little hissy when I bake too much because he claims I am responsible for his little, protruding belly. So, when requested by him to bake something, I get really excited! I have made this chocolate chip cookie recipe many times before and have never had it fail. This time, I substituted 1/4 cup of the flour with this dry oatmeal/flax seed granola mixture. I originally bought it to make granola cereal but haven't been doing that much lately. I used pecans for the nuts and chopped a bitter sweet chocolate candy bar (80% cacao) into chunks. I ran out of liquid vanilla so I substituted it with Vanille Zucker (sugar soaked in vanilla beans). Here is a picture below that also includes the egg replacement that I use.

My First Ever Vegan Omelette

Okay - it is not the prettiest picture! But I did learn a lot making this omelette and feel very confident that in the near future, I will be able to post a much prettier version. First, I only had flavored tofu and no turmeric, which is vital for the coloring! Second, either my pan is smaller than the one the recipe calls for or I made to much batter because it was too thick! I put it under the broiler for a while to cook the top because it was not happening on the stove. The flavor was great but I think because it was so thick, it was a little bit mushier than it should have been. I stuffed it with soy curls and mushroom gravy, a sauteed leek, mushrooms, spinach, a green pepper, and garlic. It was a sort of "everything but the kitchen sink" omelette but did the trick of cleaning out the fridge! I like the recipe because of the simple ingredients I already had in the kitchen.

Crackers and Dip

I had leftover cheezy sauce and white bean aioli from cooking earlier in the week. I decided to make crackers to use up these leftovers. I have made this cracker recipe before and love it because it is simple, tasty, and versatile. I divided the dough into two and gave each a different flavor. The first is sprinkled with dried rosemary and Himalayan salt. The second has nutritional yeast kneaded into the dough and is sprinkled with fresh cracked pepper, more nutritional yeast, and onion powder. Yum.

Tortellini and Ravioli with Roasted Pepper Cream Sauce

I decided today was the day to make the tortellini John asked for last week. I followed this recipe from the Vegan Dad blog for the dough. My dough turned out a bit dry so I was constantly kneading drops of water in. Next time, I will add more water in the beginning.



As posted a few days ago, I got a new pasta machine for a steal of a price. I won't go into great detail about this situation, but I will be returning the janky thing. So I had to roll the dough out by hand which would have been fine if I had a rolling pin! I ended up using a wine bottle. It worked, but I got tired pretty quickly making the tortellini so I switched to ravioli. This is the website I used to get the cute shape of the tortellini right.

The tofu ricotta stuffing was amazing and the Roasted Pepper Cream Sauce was out of this world! It is also from the Vegan Dad blog.

Neapolitan Bars

I know, Spring is for Strawberries (that is the name of the article the recipe is found in, in the March/April 2009 issue of VegNews) but after my cookie disaster yesterday, I had to make up for it with something chocolate and fruit! These definitely did the trick. The recipe is easy to follow and quick to make. I substituted rice milk for soy.

Here they are right out of the oven.



And the final product, chocolate topping included!

Cauliflower Leek Pie with Chickpea Crust and Green Beans

A huge hit! I got the recipe from the Comfort Food Vegan blog. The directions are very simple but I did google "how to blanch a cauliflower" just to make sure there were no surprise techniques to improve the outcome. I used the boiling water to then blanch a batch of green beans! I marinated the green beans post-blanch in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and let them sit in the fridge until dinner time.



My favorite part of the Cauliflower Leek pie is the crust. It was crumbly and buttery and nutty. Here is the crust, the tofu and Parmesan substitute that I used.




I baked the pie for about 35 minutes at 350. The top is sprinkled with salted pumpkin seeds and more Parm. substitute.

Caramelized Onion-Butternut Roast with Chestnuts

From Veganomicon, this recipe put my "left-over from Thanksgiving" chestnuts to use. I purchased ready-to-eat to save time but incidentally, there is a guy across the street that sells them hot and fresh. I will keep it in mind for next time!



I did not have ground coriander but googled a coriander substitute and settled on a mixture in the same amount of tarragon and dill. Yum.

My squash needed double the time in the oven to cook. Maybe my oven is off?!

Pistachio Rosewater Cookies

I was feeling a little sad that I did not bake any cookies this year for the Christmas holiday. We were out of town, busy, excuses, excuses. And, because it is Sunday and NOTHING, I repeat, nothing is open in Vienna on Sunday, I have all day to spend in the kitchen! I would have originally chosen a cookie with chocolate because I am obsessed but didn't have any in the house (except for a chocolate bar of John's that, lucky for him, had some kind of butter product in it).

I bought a container of rosewater in Portland a while back and intended to use it as a body spray but don't actually use it much. So, these cookies came together quickly and easily.



Unfortunately, they never quite turned out perfectly. Each batch had its own issues.
When I took the first batch out of the oven, they looked white and slightly raw. I let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking stone (as instructed by the recipe) and they firmed up nicely but were a bit flat. I decided for the second batch to use a smaller amount of dough and flatten it out less. It worked but I burned them (do NOT let them burn! They are so hard, impossible to eat). The third batch was better but still flat (pictured above).

The positive: What a lovely smell I have in my kitchen now!!! But, these cookies are not something I would make on a regular basis, but think they would be nice to serve with tea. Note to self: make friends and have a tea party!!! I did not add zest and used lemon juice instead of lime because I had it. John is not a huge fan of "perfume-y" foods, and I would definitely put these into that category. Oh well, he has his chocolate bar at least!!! :-)

Potato-Shallot-Sausage Brunch Bundles

Inspired by a post on Vegan Dad for a sweeter, apple version of brunch bundles I opted for the potato/shallot savory flavor route. I copied his recipe for the dough, but only made half. I have been cooking a lot lately and although I love leftovers, our fridge is the size of a small cupboard and is hard to close already! I had sausage (vegan Knackwurst) left over from the stromboli. I sauteed a diced onion in a bit of olive oil and added two diced potatoes. I seasoned this with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. When the potatoes were soft, I added the diced sausage.



The prepared dough sat in the fridge while this took place. When the filling was ready, I separated the dough into 4 equal pieces and rolled them out into circles, added a fourth of the filling to each, sprinkled with nutritional yeast and some french fried shallots (slice the shallot into rings, fry in olive oil, and try not to eat them all before you add them to your recipe!), pulled the sides up and pinched it all shut.
It took me forever to find nutritional yeast here in Vienna.



Here is a picture of the bundles pre-baked. John actually did most of the work!



And here they are fresh out of a 350 degree oven, 25 minutes later.

Pasta Maker

I have been picking John's brain for dinner ideas that challenge me and keep me out of a cooking rut. The stromboli from a few nights ago was a total hit, but he stepped it up a notch even further this time asking for tortellini! I have made pasta one time in my life, years ago, and not vegan. I used a rolling pin and round cutter and made ravioli. One of my problems this time was not having a rolling pin. We are temporarily living in Vienna in a furnished apartment provided by John's company. We were only able to move very few things with us, so most of our stuff is in a storage unit in Portland....rolling pin included. So today, in a stroll around town, I found a pasta machine for €16.99 (about $24)!!!!! I also found some organic semolina flour at Mueller. It is a department store that sells perfume, makeup, and oddly enough, many organic staples. Leave it to Vienna!

They also had a product that is basically my beloved soy curls!!!! I have missed them since moving out of the US but to my menu they have returned!!!

So for dinner tonight, soy curls under leftover Mushroom Gravy from our blintzes this morning, leftover Bulgur, Spinach, and Cannelloni salad in endive leaves.
Stay tuned for that tortellini!!!

Potato-Mushroom Blintzes

I haven't made crepes for a long time, so I had forgotten that they can be quite time consuming! I ended up having to make a second batch because so many didn't turn out from the first batch that I had too much filling. A few reasons so many failed include: 1) my fear of the crucial "flip" resulting in a half flip leaving me with a folded crepe, 2) crappy pans, and finally, 3) stingy use of butter in the pan attempting to save calories but resulting in stuck, "unflipable" crepes.
But, this recipe sounded so good and I haven't been making "fancy" breakfast meals much lately. The recipe for the blintzes that I loosely followed is from the Veganomicon cookbook. I did not follow the recipe for crepes that they suggest. Instead, I followed this recipe from allrecipes.com. I think it is a nice recipe for fruity crepes because it is really sweet (I used agave instead of maple syrup). It needs much more than 1/2 cup water though, unless you want pancakes instead of crepes! I think I will give the Veganomicon crepes recipe a try soon. The one I used makes a very soft, chewy version. They are great for rolling up and serving but not so easy to fold and re-fry.
At any rate, the blintzes turned out amazing. The stuffing is mashed potatoes mixed with a sauteed mixture of mushrooms and onion, salt and pepper. On top is Veganomicon's Mushroom Gravy. It made significantly more than what was needed for the blintzes so we will be eating it again in the near future!
Here are the blintzes wrapped and waiting to be fried.

Here they are fried and ready to eat!

Vegan Stromboli

I asked John what he wanted for dinner. He said something boring like roasted veggies, blah, blah. I asked him to challenge me so he requested Stromboli! First, I had to google it because I had no idea what it was. Secondly, it is not only an Italian dish, but a volcanic island. Good to know!
I made the pizza dough in the morning and let it sit in the fridge all day. I took it out while I was cooking the veggies to let it get room temp. The recipe that I followed is from a blog called Vegan Dad. It has become one of my favorites!
We ended up with 2 loafs of Stromboli but could have easily made 4. We overstuffed each one a bit making it more challenging to roll. Next time I will half the veggies and meat....or double the dough.
The only change I made to the recipe was substituting spinach for kale and vegan chicken nuggets for the seitan. I could not find vegan pepperoni or anything close but found a sausage-like product that sort of tasted like ham but was a perfect fit to the meal. I also forgot to put milk on before baking but it came out fine without it. We finished one of the loaves with ease and most of the second one! I can't believe I have lived 30 years without Stromboli in my life!