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!
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!
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!
Before becoming vegan, I wasn’t a huge fan of gourds. I wasn’t a fan of the texture or the flavor of those I sampled. But as I say about tofu, I probably didn’t like it because it hadn’t been prepared properly.
The butternut squash we used for this culinary experiment sat in our veggie bowl for well over a week. I’d venture to say more than two, even. What I’m trying to say is it kept really well in spite of our best efforts to ignore it. When it finally came time to disguise the gourd as something delicious, a simple and elegant plan formed in Christie’s brain : enter butternut squash ribs.
Prep for these badboys is deceptively simple:
That being said, the star of the show will be the sauce (pronounced sow-suh). We’d encourage you to make your own. We cheated. We got two sauces from OrganicVille; a tangy and a regular variety. This particular brand’s sauces are tasty. Tasty and gluten-free, that is.
Preheat your oven to 400ºF, and once you have properly covered the ‘ribs’ in sauce, arrange them on a baking sheet and toss them in. The objective here is to heat up the ‘ribs’ so the sauce caramelizes a bit and helps soften up the squash, as this variety is decidedly hard uncooked. So, leave it in there for a half hour or until you are satisfied with the softness as gauged by stabbing it with a fork.
Finally, enjoy dem ‘ribs’. The texture for ours was slightly chewy, but harder approaching the rind. Add more sauce as necessary, of course, and don’t be afraid to spice it up if it doesn’t meet your oral expectations.
Peace out, my vegans.
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.
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.
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.
While this blog has loads of excellent ideas for meals, snacks, and other nomulous goodies, it doesn’t tell you how to survive when what you make doesn’t exactly look/taste/smell as good as expected. This post is to help you when the situation strikes.
A mantra I live by is ‘Enough hot sauce and anything can taste good’ has helped me recover what would otherwise be a disastrous snack or meal. Here are some of my favorites.
Tapatío
Tapatío is there if you want to make something burny spicy. I’ll be the first to admit that doesn’t sound very nice, but I like burny… most times. It can overcome flavors that are otherwise unpleasant. Whether it’s the sauce laying waste to your taste buds or enhancing the flavor is up for debate. Bottom line : It works.
Cholula
This hot sauce is milder than Tapatio, and that’s alright. It adds more flavor as opposed to burning, and that’s pretty badass. It certainly adds spice, don’t get me wrong. But it’s mild enough that it shouldn’t tear your mouth apart when mixing it in with / topping something. Bonus : It also comes in a chipotle variety.
( *m*)
Sriracha
Pronounced ‘cock sauce’,* this chili sauce is divine. It really goes on most anything really really well. It works best with rice dishes, in my opinion, but I’ll reiterate that any food will fall before Sriracha.
Moore’s Buffalo Wing Sauce
This sauce has become my new mistress of sorts. To me, the balance of spice and flavor is excellent. It adds a little salty flavor (from the vinegar), and a good amount of spice that won’t leave you on the toilet the next morning wondering if you dropped the soap on the show Oz. A special note : Buffalo wing sauces often use butter as an ingredient. Moore’s does not, and uses margarine instead. This is very important to look out for if you want to keep your vegan powers.
Salsa
While not really hot sauce, per se, salsa can be the missing ingredient when salvaging a meal. You’ll be getting additional veggies and salt (depending on how you or the manufacturer prepares it), as well as something to enhance/drown the flavor of your food. Keep some on hand just in case.
As you venture forth into the vegan unknown, there are some tools you will want to keep handy so as to save what you will undoubtedly spend what seems like endless time preparing. Granted, this is true for all culinary learning experiences, not just for vegans. However, as a vegan you may find yourself cooking for yourself more than you ever did before. The take home message here is to not throw it out if it’s gnarly; try using some spicy condiments instead. What are some of your tricks to save meals that don’t quite come out right?
*Not really, but it appeals to my inner 12 year-old
Separate the bulbs, stems and greens from the ramps. Saute the bulbs
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.
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.
Turning Veganese 