Posts filed under 'fake cheese'
I’m kind of embarrassed, because I’m excited. I’m excited about rice and beans. Who gets excited about rice and beans?
Me, apparently.
I’ve been playing with the dish recently. Perhaps you’ve seen or tried the Rainbow Rice and Beans, our standard, or the Tahini Rice and Beans. Well, two rice and beans recipes are simply not enough! I must have more ways to eat rice and beans, so people can laugh at me for being a vegan and eating rice and beans all day long.
I loved the way this dish turned out. I especially love the lemon zest on top. It really does something magical. But I must warn you, I think a microplane grater is absolutely necessary. A friend of mine bought me on as a present recently, and my word. It makes the finest, lightest, fluffiest zest I’ve ever had. It practically melts in your mouth. I almost want to tell you to skip the zest altogether if you don’t have a grater like this. Is that ridiculous?
Italian Rice and Beans
Serves One Hearty Meal
1/2 Cup Brown Rice, uncooked
1/2 Can Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 Cup Oil Packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced into strips
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
1 Large Handful Baby Spinach
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1-2 tsp Italian Herbs of your choice, (basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, etc)
Zest from 1/2 Organic Lemon
Almond Cheesy Sprinkles, optional
Start your rice, I use a rice cooker. When nearly finished (or actually finished), heat 3 Tbs of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add herbs, tomatoes, and pine nuts. When pine nuts start to turn golden brown, add the beans. Toss gently, trying your best to keep the beans whole. Add salt and vinegar, stir gently. Turn down heat to low.
Place spinach in one layer on top of the beans. Place hot, steaming rice over spinach and leave for 30 seconds or so, until you see the spinach start to wilt. Mix gently and plate.
Grate lemon zest on top of rice and beans, and finish with a sprinkle of almond cheesy sprinkles if desired. I ate lunch alone today, so I only made enough for me. I’ll test the recipe in bigger portions sometime soon, but if you want to double it before then, keep an eye on the vinegar and salt levels - they may not double exactly.
April 3rd, 2007
This is another test recipe for the Post Punk Kitchen’s forthcoming cookbook, Veganomicon. Her first book, Vegan with a Vengeance, is my all-time favorite cookbook. I can tell you honestly that this one will be every bit as useful, dependable, and amazing as the first. I swear they’re not paying me to promote the books. They’re just all so great!
This recipe, man, I can’t even tell you how much I liked it. It’s basically breaded, fried eggplant, stuffed with tastiness and tofu ricotta, then smothered with a delicious marinara sauce. I’d buy the cookbook for this recipe alone.
I know there are a lot of people who dislike eggplant, but I wonder how many of them have tried it fried or baked with olive oil. Eggplant really takse on a different character when cooked this way - it’s really quite divine. It’s buttery, soft, almost creamy, but it does take a lot of oil to get it that way. I think it’s worth it.
I’ve been making some other test recipes that I haven’t told you about yet. Here is a dessert and a quick bread:
Tea Poached Pears
Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Millet and Currants
February 18th, 2007
I promise you, this is the last time I’ll subject you to risotto for a while. Baked risotto is just such a revelation. I had to try it again with a tomato base. I also had an eggplant and some mushrooms to use, and didn’t feel like being all that creative. Stewart and I were hungry and it wasn’t time for me to start playing around in the kitchen without a plan. Risotto? In a half hour? Done.
January 29th, 2007
Quick post, which you’ll probably appreciate since I’ve been rather long winded as of late!
Last night Stewart and I had stuffed shells, which is only slightly more complicated to make than pasta, but is a lot more interesting (and looks more impressive!). If you want to get even fancier, you could pick up some manicotti and fill them using a piping bag.
All this meal takes is a basic pasta sauce, some jumbo shells, and some easy tofu ricotta. I changed the tofu ricotta recipe slightly, and possibly for the better. After I crumbled the tofu, I squeezed at much water out of it as I could and replaced it with some soy creamer. It really helped the tofu ricotta taste much richer, and I’d do it every time if soy creamer was something I kept stocked in the fridge. If you happen to have some on hand, add it and see how you like it. If not, don’t worry about it!
The tofu ricotta can easily be made in advance, but I threw it together while the shells were boiling. (In fact, the whole meal could be made in advance and refrigerated until you’re ready to toss it in the oven.) Whenever the shells, sauce, and ricotta are ready, place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a shallow casserole dish. Drain the shells gently, or they’ll rip! I used a slotted spoon to remove them from the water since I was nervous about it.
Using a spoon, fill each shell with ricotta and place in your casserole dish. When all the shells are all in, cover with the rest of the sauce and bake at 350º for about 20 minutes, or until bubbly and hot. I found that five or six shells was a good serving size for one person when also serving a salad and some fresh bread.
January 26th, 2007
It turns out I’m a snob when it comes to hash browns. If you have strong feelings about them, I might just offend your potato sensibilities today. I’m sorry if it comes to that, but I need to fight for all those people out there who ask for a crispy hash brown, like myself. I know they’re out there!
The worst offense against hash browns, in my mind, is confusing them with home fries. Home fries have never excited me the way glorious, crispy, hash browns do. Home fries are made from chunks of potatoes. They are usually mushy, kinda slimy, and covered in a mishmash of spices, unlike their delectably lacy and crunchy cousin which are not made from chunks at all; dare I point out that they are, well, hashed?
See. I told you I was a snob about this. Relax, I’m sure you’re home fries are wonderful. I just haven’t had the pleasure of trying them.
The two lesser offenses against hash browns (but offenses nonetheless!) are 1) an inappropriate ratio between crunchy outside and soft inside and 2) general under-cooking. I have ordered hash browns from restaurants many times and had them arrive at the table sort of browned on the outside with unbelievable amounts of a soggy white mass on the inside. I end up eating all the crunchy parts and sadly digging through the rest of it hoping to find another golden bite.
After doing some research online, it seems that preparing hash browns is like curing the hiccups; everyone has their own method that they absolutely swear by. Most everyone, including myself, agrees that you need to remove excess water from the potatoes. Suggested methods include drip drying, squeezing, pressing in a ricer, and spinning dry in a salad spinner.
This is my preferred way to dry them. Place a clean terry cloth towel on your counter. Place two sheets of paper towels on top of that, then spread out your shredded potatoes evenly on top of that. Place another two paper towels over the potatoes, and roll the entire thing up as tightly as possible. Squeeze with all your might. Unroll and sprinkle with salt.
I should mention that potatoes oxidize quickly. If you don’t work fast, you’ll have purple brown potatoes before you know it. Make sure you have everything ready to go before you shred your potatoes, including a heated pan on your range. That way, you should be able to get them in the hot pan before they start to discolor.
Once dry, toss them in hot pan with some canola oil. Don’t overload the pan! You actually want to see through to the bottom of the pan in some spots. Spread the potatoes out evenly and press down with the back of a spatula. Heat is key here. I find a medium or even medium-low heat works best. This will brown the potatoes fairly slowly, which is a good thing. If you brown them too fast, they’ll be raw in the middle.
Besides pressing on them occasionally, don’t touch them until you can actually see that they’re turning brown on the other side. If you try to move them or flip them too early, they won’t fuse together. If you think they’re ready to go, lift up the corner and peek to make sure.
You’ll need to cook them on the other side for another few minutes. This is where I add “cheese.” Vegan cheese is notorious for many things, not the least of which is its melting capabilities (or lack thereof). I use one slice of Tofutti “American Style” cheese. If you decide to use cheese, chop it small and sprinkle it evenly over the hash browns. To help it melt, turn down the heat and cover the pan.
Once the other side is sufficiently browned, remove it from the pan and drain for a moment on a paper towel. Slice into wedges and serve with ketchup and/or hot sauce if desired. You’ll never want them any other way.
January 25th, 2007
Next Posts
Previous Posts
