Archive for October, 2007
It’s easier than you might think to throw together an elegant, delicious meal without any complicated recipes. I’m even tempted to call this a recipe-less meal, because there are so few ingredients–ingredients you don’t even have to measure. These recipes are safe for “eyeballing” and throwing a little bit of this or that into the mix, even if you’re not the type of person who normally feels comfortable doing that.
This is my favorite type of cooking. Simple, fresh ingredients put together with a minimum of fuss, with results that would please anyone who enjoys their veggies.
Roasted Delicata Squash with Thyme
Roasted squash is nearly impossible to mess up. Your only danger, I think, is undercooking it. Any winter squash will work, but I love delicata squash because they’re pretty, delicious, and not a total pain to cut open.
Halve the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut each piece in half again. Drizzle the squash with olive oil. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and sugar. Top with cracked pepper and fresh thyme sprigs. Bake at 425º for 30 minutes. These will hold well in a warm oven if they finish before you are ready to serve them. If they look dry, you can “refresh” them with a little drizzle of olive oil. Plate them with the roasted thyme sprigs and it’ll look fancy!
Lemon Pepper Broccolini
Broccolini is like baby broccoli. It’s sweet and best eaten lightly cooked. It’s a little more elegant than regular broccoli, but regular broccoli will also work here. An alternative but simiar preparation for sauteed balsamic broccolini can be found here.
In a pan, add a tablespoon or so of olive oil with a pinch of sea salt. Add about 1/2 tsp or so of red pepper flakes and a bit of black pepper. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)
Place the pan over medium heat and add the broccolini once it’s hot. Use tongs to coat the broccolini in the oil and spices. If your broccolini has slender, tender stems, you can cook it fully this way. If the stems are a little thicker (like these are), you can add a couple tablespoons of water and cover the pan with a lid. This will quick-steam the veggies, but the water will evaporate off so you won’t have to drain them.
Once the broccolini is bright green and tender crisp, squeeze some lemon juice over the stalks and serve.
I also served some simple mashed potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce that I prepared the other day. I think the key to a meal like this is making sure you actually like the vegetables you’re serving, since they’re not going to be smothered and overpowered by some sauce.
October 4th, 2007
I try to sneak kale into as many dishes as I can. I didn’t eat a lot of kale in my pre-vegan days, probably because I assumed it was something only vegans eat. Now, as a vegan, I eat it all the time. I guess I was right!
Everyone should eat more kale, vegan or not. When I was trying to figure out the least painful way to add it to my diet in my first, uncertain weeks of veganhood, I decided to slip it into mashed potatoes. As if I was trying to trick myself into eating it, I cut it up really small, steamed it until it was very tender, and mixed it into salty, creamy mashed potatoes.
And it was good! Turns out I accidently invented a dish the Irish have been fond of for about three hundred years: colcannon.
Food historians generally agree that colcannon was traditionally made with cabbage, not kale. Modern recipes online will call for one or the other, so use whichever green you favor more. I always use kale.
I added little bits of seitan to this to take the place of salt pork. But just as you can make non-vegan colcannon without the pork, you can make this vegan version without the seitan. I only toss it in when I happen to have it on hand.
If you want to make a different amount, I find these proportions work well: 4 parts potatoes, 4 parts uncooked, chopped kale, 1 part seitan.
Colcannon
Serves Four as a side dish
4 Cups Chopped Potatoes, I like Yukon Gold
4 Cloves Garlic, minced (optional)
3 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
4 Cups Chopped Kale
1 Cup Chopped Seitan
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast (optional)
2-4 Tbs Soy Milk or Soy Creamer, warmed
3 Sprigs Thyme, leaves leaves only (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chop your potatoes into 1″ cubes and bring them to a boil in some salted water. You can peel your potatoes if you like, but I keep the skins on for added flavor, texture, and nutritional value. Meanwhile, add Earth Balance and garlic to the bottom of a pot. Cook until the margarine is melted and the garlic is fragrant, then add kale and toss well to coat. Add seitan and soy sauce and cook over medium heat until kale is tender and reduced in size. If you think it’s cooked enough before the potatoes are finished, reduce heat to the lowest setting to keep the mixture and pot warm. When it comes time to add the potatoes, the warm pan will ensure they won’t get cold while finishing the dish.
Drain potatoes when they’re fork tender but not waterlogged. Add well-drained potatoes to the warm kale and seitan mixture. Mash as you usually would. You can also rice or mill your potatoes directly into the warm pot; this prevents lumps if you worried about that kind of thing.
Mix in the nutritional yeast (if using), herbs, and 2 Tbs of the warmed soymilk. Add more if needed for a smooth and creamy texture, but not so much it loses its fluffiness. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
October 2nd, 2007
I love cranberry sauce. To be more specific: I love jellied, mass-produced, slurps-out-of-the-can-as-a-ridged-log cranberry sauce. But you know what that stuff is sweetened with? High-fructose corn syrup. Yummy, huh?
Making your own sauce isn’t hard. In fact, it’s really really easy. However, I find when people make their own sauce, they mess with it. There’s nothing wrong with that. The benefit of making your own food is that you can make it exactly however your heart desires. If you like whole berry cranberry sauce spiced with cinnamon, cloves and orange peel, by all means make that version.
I, however, like the no-frills plain-jane jellied version. Who’s with me?
To get the jellied goodness liked the canned stuff, you’re going to have to strain your cooked cranberries to remove the skins. I used a food mill, but a mesh strainer and a spoon will work just as well. You can also just mash the cranberries up while they’re cooking and leave the skins in. The sauce will still jell, it’ll just have more texture than the strained versions.
Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Serves Six
1 Bag Fresh/Frozen Cranberries (14 oz to 1 lb)
1/2 Cup Water
1 Lemon, Zest (optional)
1 Cup Sugar (or more to taste)
Add cranberries, water, and lemon zest to a pot. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, covered so a small amount of steam can escape. You’ll start to hear the berries popping as the skins split. Check on them after about 10 minutes. If they’re softened and mush easily, place them in your food mill or strainer over a bowl. (You can skip this part if you want a chunkier sauce.)
Mill until all the sauce has gone through, leaving you with only skins. It should look something like this once you’ve milled it as much as possible:
Don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the mill/strainer. Your cranberry mixture should be smooth, but it’s okay if it has some seeds in it. Mine did, but you can’t taste them and they just remind you that the sauce is homemade! A finer strainer will get the seeds, too.
Return the sauce to the stove (this is why I like using a food mill - it’ll fit right over a pot so you can easily put your milled food back on the stove) and add the sugar. I like 1 cup of sugar, but I think even that doesn’t make it quite as sweet as the canned stuff. I think 1 1/2 cups of sugar would achieve that, but I leave it at 1 cup.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes.
Now you just need to chill the sauce in a lightly oiled mold of some sort. I used a cupcake tin, as I thought it’d be cute to have individual rounds of jellied sauce. If you have the neat silicone cupcake pan, use that; it’ll make it really easy to unmold the sauce.
And that’s it! Now chill it for a few hours. It’ll keep for 2-3 days, so you can make it in advance of a big meal (Thanksgiving, anyone?), but you can also make it during the day and it’ll be ready for dinner.
A special note of thanks to Inna for the food mill - it was such a sweet and thoughtful anniversary gift. I know I’ll be using it and appreciating it for years to come! Thank you!
October 1st, 2007
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