Blue Corn Bread (Vegan)

This corn bread doesn't use flour and it doesn't really rise. I bet there are plenty of good recipes on the web, but I really liked this one tonight with our chili. Maybe it is less than a real bread, and more of a thick pancake. Whatever it was, it was yummy and I am sure we will make it again.

11/2 cup blue cornmeal
2 eggs worth of egg replacement
3 Tablespoons dried maple syrup (less would be fine too)
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/4-1/3 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup of soymilk
1/4 cup olive oil

Cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees in an oil cast iron skillet for 25 mins. 

Squash Pizza (Vegan)

Pizza is my one of my Favorite Foods and we have it every week during the winter cold. Yummy.

Cornmeal Crust (Frozen section of the market)*
1 Butternut Squash
1-2 Leeks or in a pinch onion
Olive Oil
Some Tomato or apple
Squash seeds pan roasted or Walnuts/Pine nuts/Almonds

Slice one or two leeks and heat in Olive Oil until wilted. Add chopped, peeled Butternut quash (seeds removed).
Cook for 10-15 mins. Meanwhile, preheat oven (425) and pan dry roast nuts, and make salad.

Blend in blend squash and leaks in blender. Most of the squash will be thinned down for soup tomorrow. Spoon enough squash to cover the crust.  Put some tomato or apple slices on the squash. Add nuts. Cook in preheated oven for 13 mins at 425 Degrees.

*Vicolo brand Ingredient has Organic Wheat, Organic Cornmeal, Organic Soybean Oil, Yeast, and Salt. Whole Foods carries it.

 

Creamy Tomato Bazil Soup (Vegan)

Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 2:57pm

It's a great quick meal out of the pantry. It is also a good" make a head"  meal since the longer the flavors have to mingle, the better. It's even good cold in summer.

I tend to make cornmeal pizza the same night.  I  cook the garlic for the pizza at the same time I am making the soup and  I use some of the tomatoes and pinenuts for pizza.

Creamy Tomato Bazil Soup
32 ounce of Organic Tomatoes.(ex. crushed with Basil in the can, frozen or fresh)
1 can of Organic Coconut Milk
3-7 cloves of garlic
Good Virg. Olive Oil
Basil if you have it.
Roasted Pinenuts (optional)
Saute the garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes and some of the basil along with the coconut milk. Simmer until hot or dinner time. Add pinenuts and basil as garnish right before eating.

Parsley & Strawberry Icecreamy (Vegan)

1 cup Eden or non-sugar soy milk
1/4 cup honey makes it sweet. I think it would be good without the honey.
10 oz bag of Organic Strawberries frozen
1/2 cup (more or less) of parsley.  If you want, copy it up a little before hand.
( Mint would be good too.)

Why Parsley? Well, those who know me well know that is my cure all and one of my fav things. It keeps me going when skies are blue. (I love the gray.)

That is because it has:

+ beta carotene
+ vitamins B12
+ folate,
+ "more vitamin C than the equivalent amount of orange."
+ "contains immunity-enhancing phytonutrients like luteolin that curb inflammatory processes in the body," + and other organic compounds, including myristicin and folic acid.

Information is from Parsing Parsley. Psychology Today. March/April which is quoted on:
http://achsnews.blogspot.com/2010/03/health-benefits-of-parsley-featured-in.html

Olive Tapenade (Vegan)

4 Clove Fresh Garlic crushed
8 oz of Capers (1/2 a jar)
12 oz Olives – chopped
Olive Oil - Enough oil to mix it up and then to cover the top of the jar.

Either chop by hand or use a food processor.

Shepherd's Pie (Vegan)

Another modified version of a recipe. This one is “Shepherd’s Pie” from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman.2011, pg. 127.

I made it for Thanksgiving without the red pepper flakes and it was a crowd pleaser. I froze the extras and warmed it in a skillet and also in an electric steamer at work for lunch and it freezes great!

Gravy:

1 vegan bouillon cube *

½ cup red wine *

2 tablespoon soy or Tamari sauce *

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 cloves garlic *

¼ nutrional yeast

2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the Filling:

½ lb tofu (previously frozen)*

½ lb seta (homemade, or use more tofu) *

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1.25 pound veggies * I used fresh carrots, celery, onion & peas (frozen).

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon rosemary

For the potato topping:

6 medium potatoes, cubed, boiled

½ cup or less of non-dairy milk  (non-sweetened Eden Soy)*

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) *

Olive oil. No more than ¼ cup plus some to brush on top. I used 1/8 a cup. *

Gravy: Whisk the ingredients together. Set aside.

Filling: You’ll need a fairly large pan. Sauté in the following order:  Oil, onion (until clear). Add garlic, tofi/seitan.  Brown a little. Add celery, carrots, salt, pepper, and celery seeds to the point where it is getting cooked a little. Add the gravy, and cook until a little thicker. About 3-5 mins.

Use a 9in square pan. I lined the pan with parchment. Put the Filling/gravy in the pan. 

Topping: While the potatoes are hot, mash all the ingredients together.  You may want to keep the red flakes aside to sprinkle on top.  I kept the skin on the potatoes. Taste, and add more milk or oil if needed.  Put on top of the filling. Brush olive oil on the very top.

Bake 25 mins. You can brown it using the boiler at the end to brown the top if you would like.

Seitan in the Crockpot + French Onion Soup (Vegan)

Seitan can be simmered on the stove for about 1 hour. When I cook it on the stove, I use a large pot and no onions. 

In the slow cooker, it is a tight fit and the onions help keep the seitan from burning on the bottom of the pot.

Some people like soy sauce in their seitan, but I don't like it very much which means I don't like the store bought seitan much. Seitan freezes well.

Seitan:

1 10 oz box of Vital Wheat Gluten. I used Arrowhead Mills.

1/8 cup or so of nutritional yeast

2 cups water

Or less water, and add some soy sauce (1-2 tablespoon).

2 tablespoons olive oil + 1 more tablespoon of olive oil

1 bouillon cube or vegetable broth

Water to fill the crockpot

2-3 onions sliced.

Soup: Tamari sauce (or soy sauce) to taste. Or, vegan worcestershire sauce.

Add toast rounds or vegan cheese if desired. We use a brand of  vegan cheese call Daiya. Or, make a different type of soup with the onion base.

Mix the wheat gluten with the nutritional yeast. Add about 2 cups of water, and 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Kneed about 5 mins until elastic.  I finish mine by making a mound. Wipe the olive oil on the mound.

Slice the onions. Wipe the inside of the crock-pot with olive oil. Add the sliced onions to the bottom of the crock-pot. Place the mound on top. 

I usually heat water in a kettle, then mix a little water with the bouillon cube. Then add it to the crock-pot.  Lastly, I fill the crock-pot within an inch of the top of the crock-pot with the rest of the hot water.

Cook for about 4 hours on low.

Take out the seitan. Add tamari, soy, or vegan worcestershire sauce to the broth for French onion soup.