Author Archives: Kinenchen

May 04 2012
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Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Sea Scallops, BEGONE!

I love sea scallops. Brent does not. Fortunately we both like daikon radish and we had a giant one hanging out in our fridge like a pale behemoth obscenity. I decided to cook it the same way I used to prepare sea scallops.You’ll need the following:

1 daikon radish, sliced thick

1 pinch turmeric

1 pinch sweet red paprika

juice from 1 lemon

olive oil

1/2 cup of veggie broth

additional water as needed

If you want to deglaze the pan after for a delightful sauce, I recommend using a cup of veggie broth and white wine with a pinch of herbes de provence, but that’s optional.

I sliced my daikon into 1-1.5 inch thick slices, they really look like sea scallops to me. That’s what inspired me. You don’t need to remove the skin.

I put the rest of the ingredients (only half the lemon juice) into my sauce pan and heated to a simmer. Then I put my daikon slices into the pan.

I turned them periodically with some awesome bamboo tongs that my sister got me for my birthday. They have been indispensable in my kitchen since I got them. The daikon slices will start to take on the color of the turmeric and soften.

When they’re suitably soft, let the water evaporate and allow the daikon slices to brown around the edges. The awesome thing about daikon is that they get more tender the longer you cook them. Sea scallops become tough and rubbery, bordering on inedible and approaching unpalatable if you cook them too long and that’s just sad. Also, all seafood contains cholesterol. Daikon has none and will keep in your refrigerator for longer than 2 days. WIN!

Serve them up with a sprinkle of sea salt and the rest of the lemon juice. The sweetness of the tender daikon balances beautifully with the tart lemon and herbal flavors the sea salt brings out, all without any of the fishy smells that make me think twice about putting something in my mouth. If I had this dish to do over, I would use the fond made from deglazing the pan over some steamed fennel and mashed potato.

This is Brent, jealously guarding the plate of daikon. Don’t worry; he shared.

This is Christie, signing off.

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May 03 2012
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Cooking, Dining Out, Links, Snacks, Thoughts

Third World Vegan? Challenge Accepted!

We took a short trip to Nicaragua to visit an old friend and enjoy some sun and surf over the last weekend. I usually travel with snacks because you never know what kind of restaurant you’ll end up at but this is a whole different ball of wax. We managed to eat vegan and eat well the whole time we were there but there was certainly some difficulty. I’m pretty happy about the outcome.

Nicaragua is not a rich nation by any standard. The water isn’t safe to drink. The toilets won’t process paper. The power is more likely to go out than not. This being the status quo, the locals were surprised that someone would turn down good food of any sort. This highlights that being vegan or vegetarian is a choice and one that I’m lucky and grateful to have.

Beer is usually vegan but some varieties are filtered with isinglass, otherwise known as fish bladders. I’m a big fan of Corona. My gluten sensitivity is (fortunately) limited to wheat and typically not wheat hybrids. This being the case, most beer doesn’t bother me though I do drink it sparingly and avoid hybrids like rye and barley in food. If you’re curious I recommend checking Barnivore’s website for your favorite alcoholic beverage. The local rum, Flor de Caña, is both delicious and vegan so that was on the menu.

Fortunately, lentils are readily available and delicious along with the local rum. Brent and I concocted a hearty and spicy lentil chili, curried chickpeas, split red lentil soup, and a gigantic shepherdless pie (above). Each dish was enough to satisfy several hungry surfers and compliment the local rum. We cooked on a propane powered double burner and used whatever tools and spices were lying around. It was definitely a challenge but now I don’t have an excuse for not eating vegan when I’m traveling and have access to a kitchen. I find when I’m faced with the option of eating something non-vegan, it really comes down to whether or not it will taste good enough to keep me from feeling guilty later. The answer is (up to this point) “No,” but I also don’t always know what I’m missing (like raw fish versus the avocado nigiri and veggie roll, pictured below).

This is probably a good follow up to Melissa’s post about the leniency we allow ourselves in matters of dietary restriction. I would sum it up in an anecdote. My Dad once asked me if he’d live longer if he eliminated cholesterol from his diet completely. I told him, “I don’t know about that, but it’ll certainly seem longer.” Do what works for you, use your own conscience, and don’t forget to enjoy your life. That’s the most important thing as far as I’m concerned.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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May 01 2012
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Snacks

Kohlrabi: refreshing and mellow

Kohlrabi is one of the coolest vegetables you’ve never heard of (probably). It’s a relative of cabbage and the waxy appearance gives it away. These are purple and green cultivars.

I would describe the flavor and texture is being like an apple without the tart and sweet flavors. Brent describes it as being a radish without the spice. Either way, my favorite way to prepare it is skinned, sliced and dusted with salt.

This is the purple one.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Apr 29 2012
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Cooking, Recipes

Sauted Spinach with Garlic and Nuts!

I eat spinach just about every other day and while the iron and vitamin K is important for women, it’s not as important for men. Fortunately, Brent likes spinach too so we added spinach as the third element to our BBQ dinner. We used the following:

3 cups spinach (one package frozen is fine)

1 tbsp sun dried tomato, minced (opitonal)

2 tbsp vegan margarine

6-7 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup nuts or squash seeds, toasted

Melt the butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and nuts or seeds and heat until it becomes fragrant.

Add the spinach and stir until it wilts.

Butter and garlic make anything delicious. Fortunately spinach is delicious all by itself. We served it up with tangy BBQ butternut squash ribs, savory mushroom wild rice and it was a great meal.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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Apr 27 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Recipes

Mushroom Wild Rice: What’s not to like?

We served this along with Brent’s BBQ butternut squash ribs and the savory earthy mushroom wild rice was an excellent addition to the sweet, spicy, smoked tartness of the “ribs”. You’ll need the following for the rice.

1 1/2 cups of wild rice blend

1 cube of vegetable bouillon

3 cups of water

salt and pepper to taste

Brent did this part while I made the mushrooms because I’m too impatient to make rice. We buy our rice at our local farmer’s market and I like to add extra long grain wild rice to a basic wild rice mix but any rice will do. I collected the following veggies to saute:

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 small red chilis, minced

2 cups mushrooms

1/4 cup fiddleheads or chopped asparagus (optional)

1/4 tsp sage

1/4 tsp thyme

I sauteed the garlic, onion, peppers and herbs in olive oil over medium heat until it became fragrant and then I added the mushrooms.

I stirred until the mushrooms were reduced and then I added the fiddleheads and turned the heat to low to allow the fiddleheads to soften lightly. They can turn brown quickly, so be gentle.

We mixed the mushroom mixture into the rice and served. The herbal flavors of the thyme and sage brought out the earthiness of the mushrooms and complemented the flavors in the fiddleheads. The nutty and savory flavors in the rice rounded the whole thing out and made it really rich and decadent.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

 

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Apr 24 2012
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Cooking

Fiddling Romping Quinoa

We’re still awash with fiddleheads and ramps so we’re finding ways to add them to things we already love to make them more exciting. This was a night when we were in a hurry so we did something quickly. Brent prepared quinoa with the following ingredients.

1 1/2 cups of quinoa (he used red and white, but any sort will do)

1 cube of veggie bouillon

salt and pepper to taste

He made it in the microwave, microwaving at 2 minute intervals, stirring between heatings, until the liquids were absorbed. Meanwhile I collected the following:

15-20 fiddleheads

10-15 ramps, washed, bulbs, stems and leaves separated

1/2 cup edamame (any beans will do)

1 medium onion, diced

1/4 cup cilantro (use parsley if you’re not fond of cilantro)

3-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp vegan margarine

1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise

I sauted the onion and garlic with Earth Balance buttery spread until the onion began to caramelize. I added the fiddleheads, edamame (white Northern beans would be a great substitute for those with a soy allergy) and ramp bulbs until they began to soften.

I added the ramp leaves and cilantro and stirred until they wilted. We combined this with the ramp stems, mayonnaise, and quinoa and devoured it. I put a sliced avocado drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with garlic salt on the plate too for even more omega fatty acids: nourish your brain!

You can do this with spinach, asparagus and scallions instead of ramps and fiddleheads. There were no leftovers and only 2 survivors.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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Apr 22 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Who needs beef stroganoff? Not this girl.

This sauce is really my interpretation of beef stroganoff. Stroganoff is a Russian dish of sauteed beef served with sour cream. I’m not a fan of beef and dairy and nor is my digestive tract so I’m using mushrooms and tofu for a light version that’s loaded with protein and flavor. I particularly like this recipe with sweet potato or squash gnocchi, but it’s great with regular pasta or over a burger for a new twist on sandwich time. You’ll need the following:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 scallions, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms (any kind will do)
1 tablespoon herbes de provence
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup white wine (recommended)
1 tofu sausage, chopped (optional)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 box of Mori-nu soft silken tofu
soy milk

Put the tofu into a blender and blend it until it’s smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.

Put the olive oil into a large fry-pan. Add the scallion, wine and herbs; saute for 7-8 minutes until the onion is soft.

Add the mushrooms. We actually used dried mushrooms because they were around: reconstituting them with distilled water in the microwave.

Add the sausage [if you’re using it.I actually find it boring against the other flavors… and that’s saying something] and the blended tofu. Add soy milk to adjust the texture.

While I was doing that, Brent was making the rice pasta. I imagine serving this over braised seitan would be fabulous!

Apologies for those of you who know I say this just about every time I cook with wine: I often see people using ‘spoiled’ wine for cooking. Those flavors will end up in your food so I can’t recommend cooking with wine you wouldn’t drink: buy a fresh bottle and try it to see if you like it. If you’re not much for wine, this recipe is definitely delicious with just a mushroom herb sauce but I do love the flavors it brings out in the herbs and mushrooms. If you do leave out the wine, I’d add a medium diced onion and 3-4 minced cloves of garlic.

This recipe is a decadent creamy high protein sauce that’s great over vegetables, pasta, on bread or whatever. We like it because it takes so little time to prepare for how delicious it is. Brent even licked the spoon. We hope you get to try it and love it as much as we do.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Apr 20 2012
1 Comment
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

SunDried Tomato Mac & Cheese

This is a similar dish to the nacho mac and cheese that Brent and I concocted not long ago. This is sundried tomato mac. You’ll need the following:
1 14.5 ounce can of chickpeas, drained or 1 cup dry chickpeas, soaked
1 lemon
1 pinch chili powder
1/4 cup sundried tomato, minced
olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
1/4 cup chopped basil (optional)
8 ounces of vegan cheese (we used Ste. Martaen colby)

I started by sauteing the chickpeas with olive oil, lemon juice and chili powder. When the chickpeas started to steam and soften I added the onion, and dry herbs and stirred until the onions became translucent.

Add the cheese and tomato, then stir until it’s melty. When the pasta is ready, stir in the sauce and basil. It’s an incredibly simple meal and delicious.

The tomato gives this dish a richer color than it would have otherwise and it’s flavor is made to match. We love easy, quick decadent dishes like this one after an intense exercise session.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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Apr 18 2012
5 Comments
Recipes, Thoughts

Fiddleheads and Ramps: Wild Harvest!

Nothing screams spring to me quite like fiddleheads and ramps. Fiddleheads are the newly budding tips of ferns that are common to the Northeast and ramps are wild leeks. The two make a fabulous pair and can make any meal visually stunning and delicious.
Fiddleheads are the easier of the two to recognize. They can be harvested from several different varieties of ferns: cinnamon fern, royal fern, zenmai and vegetable fern. These grow all over the world but aren’t cultivated by farmers. If you decide to harvest your own, the rule is to harvest fewer than half the fiddleheads from any one plant to allow the plant to survive the assault and produce again the next year. Be careful that you know your ferns, some are thought to be carcinogenic; specifically ostrich fern and royal fern. That being said, this isn’t quite as harrowing as hunting wild mushrooms. Note which varieties of ferns grow in a particular area when they develop fully and then you’re set for the next spring when you go fiddlehead hunting! Caveats being made, these vegetables are an incredibly tasty,  nutritious and filling addition to any meal and they also can be stored by freezing.
The flavor in ramps varies from root to tip. The bulbs have an intense and unique flavor that marries the best elements of onion and garlic. The stem is reminiscent of scallions and the leaves remind me of spinach with a touch of asparagus flavor. Subsequently, I advocate using as much of the plant as possible since the entire plant is harvested and the whole thing is delicious.
When I was a kid we would make this dynamic duo into a salad with chicken and toasted nuts. I loved the flavors but was terrified of chicken and egg products that sat at room temperature for hours and hours. Horrifying thoughts aside, Brent and I decided to try it with soy curls instead and were delighted with the result.
To start you’ll want to gather the following ingredients.
1.5 cups dry soy curls
3 cups water
1 cube veggie bouillon
15 ramp bulbs, peeled and ends chopped off
chopped ramp greens
ramp stems, the red sections, chopped
1/2 cup fiddleheads
1/2 cup vegenaise
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp flake red pepper (optional)
1/4 cup chopped toasted nuts (optional)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
Prepare the water and bouillon in your microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Heat the water at one minute intervals until the bouillon dissolves with light stirring. Add the soy curls. Heat as before until the water is mostly absorbed. Saute with olive oil until lightly browned and crispy. I like to refrigerate this dish in order to cool it, but this salad is also delicious when warm.

Separate the bulbs, stems and greens from the ramps. Saute the bulbs

and fiddleheads until the fiddleheads start to get tender.
Add the greens and stir until they wilt. Refrigerate to cool, if desired.
Combine the soy curls, greens and red stems with the rest of the ingredients. We used Follow Your Heart grapeseed vegenaise. It’s pretty awesome. We also omitted the cranberries. Serve on toasted bread.If you don’t have ramps and fiddleheads, substitute asparagus for the fiddleheads, spinach for the ramp greens, green onion for the ramp stems, and leeks for the ramp bulbs. Wow… that’s way more complicated. If you’re sensitive to soy, seitan or chickpeas would make a great substitute for soy curls. If you’ve got an allergy to pecans, toasted sunflower seeds have a great flavor and crunch.

Really, this stunning and delicious. It was crisp herbal flavors married to the nutty savory soy curls all mellowed out by lemon and vegenaise. We had it with a crisp glass of red wine and savored a lazy Sunday.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!
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Apr 16 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

Cuban Inspired Shepherdless Pie

After working with plantains more often, I wanted to try a vegan shepherdless pie using ingredients popular in cuisine from our island neighbor to the South. Cuban food commonly has a lot of interesting vegan elements: plantains, yuca, beans, rice and bananas. I’m a big fan of those things so this dish made sense. This is what we started with for the mashed plantains:
8 plantains (8 fist sized potatoes would work too)
1/4 cup of Diaya cheese
1/2 cup of soy milk (any non-dairy milk will work, almond if you’ve got a soy allergy)
2 tbsp vegan margarine

I peeled the plantains and put them into water to boil. Plantains and potato have similar nutritional profiles except that plantains have a significant amount of vitamin A, where potato has none. They’re both starchy, provide vitamin C, and are free of fat and cholesterol. Getting back to business, while that was happening I prepared the filling with the following ingredients:
1 white onion, diced
1 jalapeño, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of black beans, soaked overnight or 1 can of beans, partially drained
1 can of diced tomato
10 okra, ends removed and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 lb. frozen corn kernels
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and chili powder to taste

I browned the onion, garlic and jalapeño along with the cumin until the onion became translucent. Then we added the okra, tomato, beans, corn and cilantro and stirred until everything was steamy and sticky from the okra.

Brent took the plantains and combined them with the milk, cheese and margarine and mashed them until they were gloriously creamy. They were really dry so you might need to add more soy milk depending on your plantains (or potatoes).Check out that radical dedicated mooshing face.

He also prepared a base layer in our baking dish of tortillas and daiya to aid in scooping but it’s not necessary.

He spread the mashed plantains over the hot veggies and we put it into the oven for 20 minutes at 350C/175F until it was bubbly and delightful.

It was a hearty filling meal, loaded with vegetables and flavors. It made even better leftovers after everything had a night to marinade in it’s own juice.

Next time I might tweak the seasoning but overall it was a success. We ate half the tray and the rest is disappearing fast.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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