Archive for December, 2006
Roasted Butternut Squash, Hashed Brussels Sprouts, and Sauteed Cremini Mushrooms
The squash is simply roasted with some olive oil, cinnamon, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and sugar. I sliced it diagonally before baking, letting the spiced olive oil seep down into the cuts.
They were baked at 350º until soft, then held in a 200º oven until I was ready to plate. The sugar creates a nice sweet crunch, and the slices make it cook a bit faster.
The mushrooms were cooked in olive oil, salt, oregano and thyme over high heat. They were finished with a splash white wine (since I already had it open for the sprouts), and a drizzle of balsamic and some cracked black pepper.
Everything went over well, but Stewart said that he prefers my other sprout recipe over this one. Since I’m an equal opportunity sprout lover, I’ll take ‘em any way I get ‘em.
December 28th, 2006
Lemon Gem Cupcakes
Apparently I while away the hours filleting lemon peels with a sharp, sharp knife.
What? Why are you looking at me like that?
The recipe calls for a very tasty lemon glaze, but have had trouble in the past making those look good. You can’t go wrong with piped frosting, so I made a batch of the Lemon Buttercream from VCTOtW for these puppies. But then what? I wanted to use the lemon peel, and my crazy brain kept saying, “use the paper punch!”
It was such a bad idea, I had to try it. Of course, the paper punch was made for, you know, punching paper. The lemon peels had to be thinned a bit or else it wasn’t going to happen. So I filleted them.
Pretty huh? I cut the lemon in four quarters, and got four flowers out of each piece. It wasn’t even a large lemon! I’m definitely going to use this technique again, and I think it’ll work equally well for limes and oranges. Ooohh, the just think of the possibilities. I need to buy more paper punches, stat!
December 26th, 2006
Chipotle, Corn, and Black Bean Stew
I also added a bunch of baby spinach at the end to wilt into the soup once mixed. I think that this not only preserves the nutrients in the spinach since you’re not cooking them directly, but it also looks pretty for serving. We almost always have a package of baby spinach sitting in the fridge, so we throw it into a lot of the things we make.
It’s almost as if we make soups and stews as an excuse to have Jessica’s Brick Oven sourdough round. We discovered this bread at our local food co-op one day, and it’s quickly become our favorite. I’m not exactly sure where else Jessica’s breads are sold, but if you see them, do bring home a loaf. You won’t be disappointed!
I think I’m going to make a sourdough starter and see if I can convert the No Knead Bread recipe to use a sponge instead of commercial rapid rise yeast. As good as Jessica’s is, I’d love to be able to make a loaf of sourdough at home with the ease of the No Knead recipe.
December 26th, 2006
Peanut Baked Tofu with Spiced Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Mustard Greens and Brown Short Grained Rice
I made a peanut-soy marinade for the tofu that was something like:
3 Tbs Soy Sauce
2 Tbs Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Water
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar
30 Drops Hot Chili Oil
I’m pretty sure this was the marinade, but I neglected to write it down as I was cooking, so who knows what I put in there. I marinated the tofu in it then baked it along side coin-sliced sweet potatoes.
The sweet potatoes were drizzled with olive oil, then sprinkled with sugar, kosher salt, and some pav bhaji masala. After they got soft and started to brown on one side, I flipped them and sugar/salt/spiced them on the other. When they were done they were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and deliciously salty-sweet. Stewart said they were some of the best sweet potatoes he ever had. I think I found a winner here!
The mustard greens were just quickly stir fried in a tiny bit of olive oil. While the potatoes and tofu were baking I was making some short grained brown rice, and the leftover marinade from the tofu became a satay sauce with the addition of more peanut butter, sugar, and rice vinegar.
Everything was great and I’m definitely going to keep those sweet potatoes in mind for the future.
December 25th, 2006
Cheesy Rice and Broccoli
Vegan Cheesy Sauce
1/2 Cup Earth Balance
1/2 Cup White Flour (whole wheat also works)
2 Cups Soymilk
1/2 Can Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 Tbs Stoneground Mustard
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Tahini (optional)
Black Pepper to taste
Melt the earth balance in a sauce pan, then whisk in flour to make a roux. Let the roux bubble for a few minutes, then add half the soy milk and stir vigorously until no lumps appear, then add the second half of the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and stir over medium heat until thickened. This sauce needs to cook for a few moments or else the tomato paste will taste raw.
It will become very thick if you allow it, so take it off the heat when it reaches the desired consistency. If I’m making it for pizza or a dip, I’ll let it get quite thick, but if I’m making it to put over pasta or rice, I’ll make sure it’s thin enough to pour.
If you reduce this recipe by half, it will generously cover enough rice for two people (1 cup of rice, dry). We usually make a full batch so we can have leftovers to use the next day.
It probably won’t fool a cheese eater, but we find it to be tasty anyway! And besides, we know a few non-vegans who like the sauce, too.
December 23rd, 2006
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