Apr 08 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Recipes, Snacks

Curry Spiced Potato Wedges!

This is the simplest recipe I could think of for when I had a spare hour before the guy got home from his work out ( he was worried that I was chopping by myself since amputating the tip of my pinkie a few weeks ago… oopsie!). I only spent about 10 minutes doing preparation, the rest was baking for 45 minutes at 350C/175F. They’re great with a sandwich, soup or salad. If you’re looking for a non-curry version, try this one from A Tablespoon of Liz. Do keep in mind that even slightly green potatoes contain a toxin called solanine and should be discarded. Now that this important detail is out of the way, this is all you’ll need:

10 fist sized potatoes, sliced into wedges

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp corn oil (or any oil with a suitably high flash point)

salt and pepper to taste

Toss the wedges in the oil and spices to coat evenly. Adding the jiuce from one whole lemon will bring out the flavors from the spices but is optional. Place on wax paper and bake for 45 minutes.

I couldn’t stop my guy from putting his hands all over them.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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Apr 07 2012
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Thoughts

Baaaaa.

I am celebrating Easter with my family tomorrow. I’m not terribly religious, but Easter would be a BFD if I was. I loved Easter as a kid and I still kind of do. It symbolizes springtime, white and bright colors, and bunnies (of the chocolate variety). Growing up, it meant that I got to wear one of my fancy dresses to church. My Mom usually prepared a lamb. It’s a big deal because we don’t often have lamb. In addition, as a family, we usually don’t eat any meat for at least a week leading up to Easter.

Easter, 1982. When else will I get away with wearing that fabulous head accessory?

I won’t be eating lamb this year, obvs. But… the little Catholic girl in me is all like, “Hello? Jesus? Are you there? DUDE, what am I supposed to eat to celebrate your rising from the dead?” There’s this expectation that I’ll get to eat something special on Easter. Well, I won’t be eating anything special — I’m not about to use Easter as an excuse to eat poor little lambs, no matter how delicious I remember lamb to be, but it’s hard for me to get excited about a tofu entree when everyone else will be eating pork chops and lamb. All that said, I CAN get excited about all the vegan appetizers and sides we’re preparing:

White bean hummus with freshly toasted pita bread and tortilla chips
Cucumber and tomato salad, with red onion and feta on the side
Cauliflower and carrots, cooked in this style — I’m also making a dairy version since my sister is allergic to soy
Roasted fingerling potatoes with garlic and rosemary
Grilled asparagus
Steamed broccoli
Lots of fresh fruit for dessert, and I’ll probably whip up ‘mousse’ for myself using silken tofu and cacao powder; the non-vegans are having a chocolate mousse cake
Vegan chocolate bunnies (I got them for my nieces but they better share)

The fact that I’m excited about the veggie smorgasbord proves how much my eating philosophy has changed in the past several months. It also poses an interesting challenge that I wasn’t prepared to meet this holiday: Start new holiday food traditions that are vegan. Will I cook something that’s especially difficult or time-consuming? Will I choose more exotic ingredients? These traditions are mine only, for now anyway, so I’m in complete control. To make the challenge more, uh, challenging, I want to avoid having my own plate of vegan food that doesn’t mesh with everything else on the table.

What vegan holiday traditions have you started? Share, share, share! And whether or not you celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful day eating vegan chocolate bunnies and vegan marshmallow chicks. –Melissa

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Apr 06 2012
1 Comment
Cooking, Recipes, Snacks

Tropical Spring Rolls!

It’s raw night again in the Alldestroyers’ household and tonight we’ll be preparing vegan spring rolls. You’ll need the following:

2 medium zucchini, shredded
5 average sized carrots, shredded
1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut (sweetened is fine)
1 tbsp ponzu sauce
1/2 tsp lime juice (optional)
1/2 tsp flaked red pepper
a pinch of salt
8-10 rice paper sheets (mine are bahn-trang)
greens or spinach, washed and dried

Start by combining all the vegetables (except for the greens), liquids and seasonings in a bowl. Substitute shredded parsnips if you have a coconut allergy. Mix well and set aside.

Add 1 to 2 cups warm water in a deep plate or shallow bowl. Place a rice paper sheet into the water making sure to dampen both sides thoroughly and remove before it loses it’s stiffness.

Take it out and place it on a clean plate. Don’t worry if it’s still stiff; it’ll soften as it absorbs the water.

Place a handful of greens on one end of the paper closest to you. Add 3-4 heaping spoonfulls of filling onto the greens (if it’s particularly wet, let it drain, squeezing it out between your hands – your kids might like this job).

Dry your hands and start rolling the filled end of the sheet away from you using the greens to control the filling, folding in the sides. Rest it on that edge after closing it until you’re ready to eat it.Try not to place them so close that they’re touching because they’ll stick together and might tear when handled.

This takes some practice but it doesn’t really matter what they look like, right? You should end up with some lovely light, nutritions, filling and delicious spring rolls.

We made a dipping sauce out of basically the same ingredients as in our pakora with some minor changes which complemented the coconut in the spring rolls brilliantly. The proportions were about like this:
1/4 cup of tamarind (we used frozen)
2 tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp cinnamon
chili paste to taste

When mango comes into season, we’ll probably make this sauce with pureed mango. I’m monitoring the little baby mango growing on the trees between my train stop and apartment closely. Soon, my friends… very soon.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Apr 05 2012
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Main Dishes

Vegan Buffalo Tacos: not an oxymoron

Brent and I wanted a quick easy meal so we did what any reasonable vegans would do: we made Buffalo tacos. Now, you might be thinking, “buffalo isn’t vegan.” Of course buffalo isn’t vegan, but Buffalo sauce is. This particular marinade hails from Buffalo, New York and typically includes some sort of chili, vinegar and butter or margarine mixed to creamy spicy perfection. In my college days we referred to the sauce’s namesake as “B-lo”, TMI? We’re using Moore’s because it’s made with margarine.

We decided to bake up some soy curls the same way we did for our quesadillas but chickpeas, beans or tofu prepared with a light dusting of chili pepper and soy sauce would be a perfect substitute. While they were cooking, Brent sliced up some bell pepper and onion. When they were done I heated up some corn tortillas in a fry pan; you don’t have to but they taste better. We used corn tortillas but wheat is fine if that’s what you’re into.

Then we dressed up the tortillas with greens, onion, bell pepper, soy curls and a generous dose of Buffalo sauce. This was definitely worth the 20 minutes of prep time; look how happy the guy is!

Next time we might add some sliced tomato and cilantro but it’s totally not a big deal if you don’t have them.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Apr 04 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Recipes

Fantastic Falafel

I talk to myself when I’m driving. Here’s what I said to myself on my drive home from work: What will I have for dinner? Hmm. There’s eggplant in the fridge. And there’s tahini. I can make baba ghanouj. But then I have to pick up pita bread. Oooh! Falafel! I’ll make falafel!

And so I did.

I tried making falafel once before, and I was also recently very intrigued by Christie and Brent’s Pakora. I really wanted something simple and fried — been craving fried stuff lately — so I decided to try improving on the recipe I used before, which was straight from the good folks at Bob’s Red Mill.

Melissa’s Fantastic Falafel (that’s not too braggy, right?)

1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I added a hefty 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp fresh cilantro, minced
2  garlic cloves, minced
1/3 to 1/2 cup hot water
oil for frying

I put all my dry and fresh ingredients into a bowl.

I added the water, mixed it all together, and this lovely ball of dough formed. After my traumatizing baking experience over the weekend, I was cautious with adding the water, and found that 1/3 cup was the perfect amount I needed (probably due to how I measured the flour).

I wanted the dough to sit for awhile so the flavors could meld together, so while it was chillin’ like a villain, I made my baba ghanouj.

Melissa’s Baba Ghanouj for People Who Live Alone

1 eggplant, roasted and skinned, but keep the skins on if you want
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp tahini
1tsp lemon juice
fresh parsely leaves from 3 sprigs or so

Stick all that stuff in a food processor. Tip – you might want to mince the garlic. I didn’t. You may also want to cut down on the garlic. Let me just say that I have kickass breath right now. Hhhaaahhhhh. See?! That, along with the fact that this only serves one, is why I named the recipe the way I did.

Going back to my falafel dough, I formed some falafel balls, rolled them in some sesame seeds, and then fried them until they were golden brown — about 2 -3 minutes on each side turning 3 times for luck. These look fine but were kind of a fail: my intention was to make falafel ‘bites’ so I should have formed smaller balls. *pause for laughter* Tip: You can bake instead of fry if you wish.

Oh hi! It’s my face! If you had been here after I took this first bite, you would have heard me exclaim a bunch of “OH MY GOD”s. Finally: falafel that I can be proud of! It is 300% better than my last attempt. If my favorite falafel place ever closes, I won’t cry because I know I can make some that are just as tasty.

Happy happy happy! –Melissa

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Apr 03 2012
8 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Nacho Mac&Cheese: Not your Ordinary Mac and Cheese.

This was an evening when the man-meat and I just wanted to chill out so we made something super fast. Brent prepared the pasta (as I’ve noted in previous posts, I can’t be trusted with parts of a meal that require patience) and I added a tablespoon of olive oil and about 2 cups of chickpeas (1 cup of dry beans, soaked or 1 can, drained) and fried them lightly with some chili powder.

To this I added a tin of diced tomatoes. I used a tin of “Rotel” mild with diced green chilis.

After this was looking and smelling amazing we shredded some basil (cilantro would have been better but we didn’t have any) into it and then added the cheese. You can also add some nutritional yeast for a flavor boost and nutrients.

This cheese is called “Ste. Martaen” and we used their pepperjack variety. I don’t like this cheese for eating: I find the texture disturbing. It’s great for cooking since the flavors are fabulous and it melts well. It’s made with an agar base (that’s a seaweed based gelatin, very sustainable and low calorie) As you can see, we’ve got a cheesy mass of chickpeas and tomato that’s still very low in calories, cholesterol free and high in nutrients like protein, vitamin C, and fiber and we haven’t even added the quinoa pasta yet!

This is the finished product. We devoured it and vowed to make it again. The creamy sauce was spicy and cheesy and the bite of the peppers was balanced by the smooth chickpeas and mellow tomato.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Apr 02 2012
6 Comments
Cooking, Desserts, Thoughts

Hopia Experiment #1: Hope-less-ia

Hopia is a Filipino dessert that is typically made with mung bean, but is also made with ube (purple yam) or baboy (pork, which I found nasty even in my pre-vegan days). Hopia is very possibly my favorite Filipino dessert. The only thing that makes traditional hopia non-vegan is the egg wash that is brushed on the pastry before it is baked. I bought some yellow mung beans and decided to try making my own hopia. I’m very much not thrilled with how it turned out so I won’t go into specifics on ingredients, but I’m posting this because I like seeing how my cooking skills improve (or not) and want to learn from my mistakes. Someday, in the next 40 years or so, I will get over the trauma of this experience and try making it again.

First, I got my mung beans and soaked them for about 4 hours. Three hours in, I started working on my dough. I despise flour and dough and proportions and mixing.

Two doughs are required for hopia. Pictured above is Dough #1. It’s flour and oil, proportioned and mixed into loose crumbs. I honestly don’t know if this is how Dough #1 was supposed to turn out. Dough #2 was more traditional. By this time, I was so tired and annoyed (it took two tries to get both doughs right) that I didn’t bother to take photos. Basically, you’re supposed to flatten Dough #2, sprinkle it with Dough #1, and then roll it into a log. Uh, yeah. That didn’t happen. I just ended up mixing the two doughs together.

Four hours passed. I drained and rinsed the mung beans (yes, the water turns yellow).

Then, I put the mung beans in a pot, added enough water to cover it, and brought it to a boil, mixing until the beans got soft and it started to get pasty. Keep an eye on the beans!

I took the beans out, added salt, and then tried mooshing them into a paste. That did NOT work, so I put them in a food processor, which did the trick. I added the agave nectar and then microwaved the filling to dry it out. I dried it out until it was about the consistency of mashed potatoes. I thought I was a genius, but I had to keep in mind that I would still be baking this; my filling ended up being pretty dry. Note: I could have just eaten this with a spoon at this point.

I took an ice cream scooper and formed the filling into balls so that I would know how many piece to divide my dough into.

Now it was time to make the pastry. In theory, you’re supposed to flatten the dough into a very thin layer, place the filling on top, and then pick up the rest of the dough to cover it up in a ball and flatten it. I tried! They did turn out pretty, in my humble opinion. I brushed the tops of the hopia with almond milk and then put them in the oven.

Here are the finished hopia, done and baked. I added some almond slivers to a few of them, and put almond slivers on top to indicate so. The hopia were OK – the filling tasted sweet enough but could have used more agave nectar. I’m reluctant to try stevia and I even have some reservations about agave nectar, but I didn’t want to use regular sugar.

Coincidentally, my Dad showed up with real hopia, so here’s a comparison. It’s a little hard to tell, but the real hopia has a flakier pastry and yellower filling.

Anyone have any advice for my next try? I am completely baking-challenged! Thankfully, I know an awesome lady who makes wonderful hopia, so I will happily eat hers for the time being (removing the top later to avoid the egg wash).

I hopia have a great day! –Melissa

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Apr 01 2012
1 Comment
Snacks, Thoughts

Adventures in Fruit: Guava!

I’ve never seen guava fruits in real life. These were grown by a lady who has managed to corner the market on weird fruit lately.

These were about the size of baseballs and smelled fragrant when they were ready to eat. Apparently the fruits from these natives of Central and South America can range in size from ping pong balls to softballs depending on the variety. The seeds are inedible though I think I swallowed a few. They were really hard, but the pulp of the fruit itself tastes lightly acid and very much like a mix of mango and papaya. The flesh was a pale pink and the skin was a rich yellow. I think the next time I find some nice sized ones I’ll spread it on toast.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Mar 31 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

The Enigmatic Butter Bean

Butter beans are new to me. I was desperate for something ‘meaty’ to eat this past week: I realized that I was eating a lot in the way of cauliflower, asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cabbage, but not much in the way of beans or legumes or soy protein. I explored my parents’ pantry and found a can of butter beans. Hmm… what can I do with this?

At the risk of sounding like a complete bonehead, I was shocked when I saw the butter beans out of the can. I mean, there’s a picture of the beans ON the can… but I still wasn’t prepared for what looked like mutant, non-green lima beans.

I sauteed the beans – they heated up really quickly and also got mushy pretty quickly. But they are meaty and have a nice texture – a little crunchy on the outside and quick to pick up the flavor of the garlic I cooked with it. I added some tomato paste and ate it with some garlicky fried rice and fresh grape tomatoes and cucumber:

I had leftovers, but I was already bored. So, the next day, I made myself a butter bean burger. I added a little flax meal, nutritional yeast, fresh chopped parsley, and herbs de provence, mixed in a little water, and then mashed it into a burger patty and pan-fried it in safflower oil. I had a ripe avocado, so I mashed it into a spread with some cilantro, and topped my burger with it:

I still had a chunk of beans leftover, so for my next dinner, I cooked some whole wheat pasta in a tomato pesto sauce that I made. I topped it with the beans and some Parma and capers:

One can of butter beans. Three hearty and satisfying meals. I like this bean and I look forward to cooking it in many other ways… including making a butter bean cookie! Nah, I had the worst baking experience today (will blog about that later) so I don’t think I will be making cookies anytime soon. But, just so ya know, butter bean cookies are a thing!

Hope you’re having a great weekend! –Melissa

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Mar 30 2012
4 Comments
Snacks

Pumpkin Seed Salad Sandwiches

I was never a fan of tuna salad: a lot of the ingredients creeped me out, particularly tuna and mayo. Mayonnaise is a creamy mix of oil and eggs which never comforted me conceptually. This was even before I became obsessed with microorganisms starting in high school, afterward, anything containing animal products, mixed up and possibly left out for hours and hours at room temperature turned my stomach. Even so there are a lot of things about tuna salad that I like, other than the promise cruelty and fishy smells. We decided to make pumpkin seed salad sandwiches for dinner today taking all of the things that are awesome about tuna salad and omitting the parts that stink… literally. We combined the following in a food processor:

1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds (soaked 8 hours)

1/2 cup of flax meal (more if you want a dryer mix)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 generous tbsp tahini

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 dash hot sauce

juice from 1 lemon

I ran my food processor until the mixture was still chunky but relatively uniform and then I added a generous bunch of dill. I ran it until the dill was all mixed in and then added 2 stalks of celery that Brent chopped.

We put it on some bread that we toasted with some Follow your Heart gourmet cheddar cheese. This cheese was okay. The texture was pretty good and the flavor was reminiscent of the cheap orange cheddar that I was never particularly fond of anyways. It got soft when toasted but didn’t really melt like dairy cheese.

Back to the issue at hand, we smothered our sandwiches with our lemon dill spread and I have to say they were fabulous. If I had this to do over again, I might add a few tablespoons of veganaise  but it doesn’t need it. I might also try substituting sunflower seeds for pumpkin seeds but that’s also an arbitrary change.

We also included some sprouts that we started on Sunday. They’re usually ready by Thursday and make a difference for any wrap, salad, or sandwich by adding texture and spice. I also found some delicious multi-grain bread at a local farmer’s market so the guy was able to have a simple sandwich for the first time in a while. It was definitely a welcome change.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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