Scalloped Potatoes And Eggplant Bacon
Serves 8
Time: 1 1/2 hours || Active time: 30 minutes
It’s casserole season! Time to spend a little more time in the kitchen, time for potlucks and gatherings, time to sit in front of the TV watching Little House On The Prairie reruns and eating an entire casserole by yourself, am I right?
The original inspiration for this was my boyfriend’s description of Scalloped Potatoes and Ham. Not something I ever had as a child, but I can see the appeal. Cream of celery soup, tender layers of thinly sliced potato, browned on top, what’s not to love? Well, besides that ham. This casserole is creamy, dreamy, rich and made smoky with the addition of Eggplant Bacon.
I actually see a world of possibility here…swap the potatoes out for root vegetables or sweet potatoes, add roasted red peppers or fennel, use tempeh bacon instead; this casserole is your template! And if you’re simply just searching for a perfect scalloped potato recipe, this might be it, so go ahead and leave the bacon out. These would be perfect for any holiday table, or anywhere mashed potatoes would be appropriate.
The key to perfectly cooked potatoes is to slice them thinly – aim for between 1/8 and 1/4 thick. And seal the casserole in tinfoil until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, then (and only then) do you uncover the casserole to let everything get nice and brown.
Other notes for this recipe:
~Slice the potatoes when the onions are cooking, that way they don’t turn brown while you’re waiting for everything else to be ready.
~You can actually use roasted cashews here if you like. I usually use unroasted to make cashew creme, but I was out of it and the roasted ones worked just fine!
~If you’re making the eggplant bacon, this will take considerably more time, so add 30 minutes to your cooking time.
~If you’re looking for a gluten-free option, I love to make breadcrumbs out of gluten-free pretzels. You can also sub the breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
~If you don’t have a rectangular 2 quart casserole, square will work, too.
1 cup whole cashews soaked in water for 2 hours or up to overnight
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup store-bought breadcrumbs (if using homemade, increase to 1/3 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced (about 3 large)
1 recipe Eggplant Bacon
Chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish (optional)
Place the drained cashews and vegetable broth in a food processor and blend until completely smooth, scraping the sides of the food processor with a spatula occasionally to make sure you get everything. This could take 5 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat a large pan over medium heat. Saute the onions and celery in the oil, along with a dash of salt. Cook until onions are nice and brown, about 10 minutes. Add the breadcrumbs and toss to coat onions and celery. Cook until the breadcrumbs turn a few shades darker, about 3 minutes.
Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 F.
Pour the cashew mixture into the pan and lower heat a bit. Mix well. Add lemon juice, several dashes black pepper and salt. Let cook for 2 minutes, it should begin to thicken. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning if needed.
Now we’ll put this baby together!
Lightly spray a 2 quart casserole rectangular with cooking spray (or lightly grease with olive oil). Pour half of the sauce into the casserole. Now arrange potatoes and eggplant into the casserole, dredging potatoes in sauce a bit as you layer. They should be in slightly overlapping layers, with a slice of bacon in between each potato.
Pour the remaining sauce over the potatoes. They should be mostly submerged. Use a rubber spatula to spread the sauce on if needed.
Seal tightly with tin foil and bake for about 45 minutes, or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until nice and brown.
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve!
Eggplant Bacon
Serves 8
Time: 30 minutes
These are the perfect little morsels to tuck into a BLT, or a Caesar Salad. Anywhere delicious smoky saltiness is warranted! The perfect slice has varying textures from crisp and browned in some spots, to tender and chewy in others. To that end, hand slice these babies instead of using a mandoline and aim for 1/8 inch slices, but don’t worry about perfection. The varying degrees of thickness will work to your advantage here. Just don’t get too thick, the eggplant needs to crisp up and slices that are much thicker will just get soggy.
This recipe is so easy you’ll be making eggplant bacon in your sleep! It was originally published in Appetite For Reduction, but this version is doubled. If you don’t feel like dealing with two pans, feel free to half the recipe.
1 pound eggplant, cut into 1/8 inch thick strips
1/4 cup soy sauce (or tamari if you’re gluten free)
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Prep the eggplant while the oven is preheating. Eggplants vary in size, so if using baby eggplant that is 2 inches wide at its widest, just slice into 1/8 inch thick circles. If using large eggplants, first cut in half lengthwise, then slice the halves into 1/8 inch thick halfmoons. Now what we’re going to do is bake it at a high temperature with just a bit of cooking spray oil, then let it cool, then give it smoky salty flavor and reheat.
Cover baking sheets in parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Arrange eggplant pieces in a single layer and spray lightly once more. Place in oven and bake for about 8 minutes, keeping a close eye. Rotate pans about halfway through baking.
Remove from oven and flip slices. They should be browning already, and if any are slightly burnt, don’t worry. Just move them to a plate to cool. Return remaining strips to the oven for about 3 minutes.
Remove from oven. Eggplant should be dark brown to burnt in some places, and yellowish white and tender in some places. Transfer to a plate to prevent further baking.
Lower oven to 350 F. Mix soy sauce and liquid smoke together in a large bowl. Dip eggplant slices in mixture a few at a time and return to the baking sheet. Bake for about 3 more minutes, until heated through. Serve! Keeps well for a few more hours, but definitely use these the day of.
Apple Pie Pancakes
Serves 4 (makes 12 four-inch pancakes)
Time: 30 minutes
Maybe Vegan Pie In The Sky has me dreaming of pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but woman can not live on pie alone! Or can she?
These pie-inspires pancakes are actually a recipe that I created for Appetite For Reduction (but forgot to put in the manuscript), so they’re deliciously healthful with no added oil. Applesauce and a few tablespoons of flax seeds make them moist and fluffy. Laced with fragrant spices and topped with sweet, luscious cinnamon apples, they’ll satisfy any sweet craving and time of day.
Choose whatever average sized red apples look best to you; honeycrisp, gala and fuji are all good choices. I would stay away from super tart green ones for this. Prepare the apples first then start the pancakes while the apples cook, and you should be able to get everything done in 30 minutes or so.
And just a pro-tip about prepping here: Apples are kind of my culinary nemesis. I love eating them and cooking with them, but for some reason prepping them drives me crazy. The peeling, the coring…if ever I’m owed a favor, you know that person is gonna’ be peeling my apples. If you feel similarly, rest assured that you don’t need to be too meticulous with your peeling. Just get most of the skin off, a few surviving strips here and there is fine and actually looks pretty. I also don’t bother with apple corers because those devices are made in Satan’s workshop. Just slice around the core and you are good to go.
For Apple Topping:
4 apples, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon organic cornstarch or arrowroot
1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
For Pancakes:
1 cup plain almond milk (or preferred non-dairy milk)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (sold as flax meal)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour, but not regular whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground allspice
pinch ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons apple sauce
2/3 cup apple juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Prepare the topping:
Toss all topping ingredients in a medium (4 quart) pot, sprinkle on the cinnamon. Mix it up so that the corn starch dissolves. Use an angled wooden spoon to do the mixing since it reaches the bottom corners of the pot.
Cover pot and bring to a boil, keeping a close eye. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Once apples are nice and tender, smash a few of them to thicken sauce. Remove from heat and keep covered until ready to serve.
Prepare the pancakes:
Pour almond milk into a measuring cup. Mix in apple cider vinegar and ground flax seeds with a fork. Set aside; mixture will thicken.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, spices and salt. Create a well in the center and add the milk mixture and the apple sauce, apple juice, vanilla and maple syrup. Use a fork to mix until relatively smooth, a few lumps are okay. Let the batter rest, and preheat a large, non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat.
When pan is hot, spray with a thin layer of cooking spray and use an ice cream scooper or scant 1/4 cup measure to pour batter and form pancakes. If you can fit three at a time that’d be great. The pancake should start to form little air bubbles, but not as much as pancakes with oil do, so don’t worry if they don’t bubble too much. Cook until the edges are dry and the tops of the pancakes are only slightly wet, about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Keep warm on a plate covered with tin foil until all pancakes are ready to serve.
Serve hot with apple topping.
Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie
Makes one 9 inch pie
You know how vegan recipes are always like “This ain’t your grandma’s puddin’ pie!” Well, this is your grandma’s puddin’ pie, only it’s vegan! Smooth, cool and creamy pudding in a classic graham cracker shell.
Because of its classic simplicity, this is a great recipe for the pie making n00b. To make life even easier, you have our permission to use storebought crust here. For added grandma love, serve with vegan whipped cream and shaved chocolate. You can make your own whip, but there are also two brands that I can recommend. There’s Healthy Top, which is nut-based and shelf stable, so it’s perfect if you need to have it shipped. And there’s also soy-based Soyatoo, which you can find in the dairy case at most Whole Foods stores. I recommend the boxed kind, though, not the bottle. The nozzle sometimes doesn’t work and there’s nothing more disappointing than a bottle of whipped topping that doesn’t work.
You can use a pastry bag fit with a wide tip to pipe perfect little swirls around the perimeter of the pie, or simply top each slice with a dollop. Strawberries or raspberries make the perfect sweet garnish.
If you’re making your own crust, use 1 3/4 cups cookie crumbs (chocolate, vanilla or graham), add 4 tablespoons oil or melted margarine, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk of your choice. Press into a shallow 9-inch metal pie tin and proceed with the recipe.
This recipe is in Vegan Pie In The Sky. Amazon just put up a preview, so click to look inside!
1 prepared 9 inch cookie crust, storebought or homemade
3 cups almond milk, divided
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.
In a small (2 quart) sauce pan, combine 1 cup of almond milk and the cornstarch. Use a fork to whisk until the cornstarch is good and dissolved. Whisk in the remaining milk, the sugar, cocoa powder and salt. It’s okay if the cocoa is a bit clumpy at first, it will dissolve eventually.
Bring mixture to a boil, whisking occasionally. Keep a close eye because once boiling, you want to lower the heat and bring to a slow rolling boil. Whisk consistently until mixture is thickened, which should be about 7 minutes.
Add chocolate chips and mix to melt. Stir in vanilla. Pour the pudding into the prepared pie shell and let cool for about 15 minutes on the counter, just until it stops steaming like mad. To keep a skin from forming, place a circle of parchment paper over the filling. Refrigerate and let set for at least 3 hours.
Blackened Scrambled Tofu & Garlicky Grits
Serves 4
Active time: 30 minutes || Total time: 30 minutes
Maybe it’s because I’m watching too much Food Network and True Blood lately, but I’ve been craving Southern food like mad. Or it could be that I just feel like I’m in the country, what with my garden and bird feeder, so it makes me want to sit on the porch with some sweet tea, just like in the movies! That’s all people in the south do, right?
But I think it’s also just that as the weather changes I begin to crave heavily seasoned foods and the feel of my cast iron skillet. So Southern cooking fits the bill!
I’ve always loved the look of shrimp and grits, with all those dark spices against a shimmery canvas of grits. So I thought I’d try it the hippie (or is it yuppie?) way…but does tofu and polenta have the same ring? Probably not.
In any case, these were easy and fun to make. Tofu is scrambled in big chunks with lots of onion and garlic, and then coated in dried herbs and spices, including two different kinds of paprika. I threw some cherry tomatoes in to bring a little moisture back to the scene. And like I said, the grits are actually polenta, with lots of sauteed garlic tossed in at the end. But feel free to use grits, too, I just didn’t have any at the time. This made a great brunch, but I think it would be good for dinner, too. And as you can see, I served it with a side of sauteed kale. Any greens will do!
Oh and a note: the polenta definitely makes more than you need, so poor the excess into a square tupperware while still hot. When ready to eat, slice into squares and panfry.
For the tofu
Spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional, if you want it spicy)
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, quartered and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 block (12 to 14 oz) extra firm tofu
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half (I used sungolds)
Scallions for garnish
For the grits:
1 cup polenta corn grits (such as Bob’s Red Mill brand)
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste, depending how salty your broth is)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
To make the tofu:
Combine the spice blend in a small cup or bowl.
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Saute the onion in olive oil for about a 5 minutes, then add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom and don’t let it stick to the pan, that is where the good, crispy stuff is. Use a thin metal spatula to get the job done, a wooden or plastic one won’t really cut it. The tofu should get browned on at least one side, but you don’t need to be too precise about it. The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the pan. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate.
Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and saute a minute more. Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are warmed through and slightly broken down, about 5 minutes. Taste for salt and seasoning and keep warm until ready to serve.
To make the polenta:
Bring vegetable broth and salt to a boil in a 2 quart pot. Lower heat to simmer. Add the polenta in a slow steady stream, stirring constantly with a whisk. Whisk for about 5 minutes, until polenta is thickened. Keeping heat low, cover and let cook for 20 more minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
When polenta is almost done, preheat a small pan over medium-low heat. Saute the garlic in oil just until it begins to sizzle, being careful not to burn. Stir for 30 seconds, then transfer to the cooked polenta and mix well.
To serve:
Spoon some polenta onto a plate and scoop on some tofu, overlapping a bit. Complete the plate with greens, then garnish with scallion.
Pear Frangipane Tart
Makes one 10 inch tart
Our newest baking book Vegan Pie In The Sky will be out next month, just in time for pie season! You can preorder on Amazon now. We’re so very excited to give you a few previews and get you ready to tie on that apron, turn up your oven and sink your teeth into some luscious pie. Here’s a pic of the entire bookflap: front, back and inside. And here’s the cover. Yes, we put a bird on it!
OK, now on to the recipe! It’s the perfect addition to your autumn table.
Delicate and ever so fancy, there’s so much to love about this classic tart stuffed with a fragrant baked almond custard filling and tender pears. The top is brushed with a bit of melted apricot jam for even more flavor and shimmer.
A few tips:
To melt the jam, gently heat in a small pot for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Or melt in a microwave for a minute or two (depending on the strength of your machine), stirring every 30 seconds. It should be liquid enough to brush on top of the pie.
Pears will brown very rapidly once peeled. Rubbing peeled pears with a little lemon juice will halt the process and allow you to slice and layer them at your own pace.
One Shortbread Shell or Almond Crust pressed into a 10 inch tart pan and parbaked for 15 minutes at 350 F
6 tablespoons cold non-hydrogenated vegan margarine, cut into pieces
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup blanched sliced almonds, pulsed in a food processor into a fine meal
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup plain almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 pears (Bartlet or Bosc), peeled, cored and sliced into thin rounds
1/4 cup apricot jam, melted
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor pulse together margarine, sugar, ground almonds, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, and salt until crumbly. Continue to pulse and stream in almond milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract to form a thick batter. Spread frangipane mixture into tart shell.
Peel the pears, remove the core and slice in half. Slice each half into 1/4 inch thin slices and lay overlapping slices on top of the frangipane, gently pressing the pears half way into the batter. Bake the tart for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is golden brown, then move the tart onto a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes, then brush top of pears with melted jam. Cool tart for at least another hour before slicing with a thin, sharp knife dipped in cold water.
Okra Gumbo With Chickpeas & Kidney Beans
Serves 6
Time: 1 hour || Active time: 25 minutes
At the farmer’s market this weekend there was some beautiful organic okra and these sweet-hot red creole peppers, and I knew what I had to do. Gumbo!
A thick and tangy stew filled to the brim with veggies straight from the garden and two kinds of beans. This is a great weeknight meal that is perfectly suited to my taste, because as I learned, that’s what gumbo is all about. A toasty roux, fresh tomatoes, plenty of onion and garlic, fresh thyme, and of course, okra. If you’re an okra newbie, or maybe just afraid to cook with it, this is a great recipe to start with. I use lots of veggie broth to thin the roux and cook the okra, and then reduce it with a long simmer, making for a thick velvety sauce that is not at all slimy.
But let’s start from the beginning, because Southern cooking doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s not something I grew up with, besides maybe fried chicken, and I was probably in my twenties before I even ever had a po boy. There is a gumbo recipe in Veganomicon, and it’s delish, but that was all Terry.
When I set out to make a recipe I’m not familiar with, I bury my face in my hundreds of cookbooks and just research, research, research. Sure, I’m not inventing a cure for any deadly diseases or creating a blueprint for world peace, but I do like to know a little bit about whatever I’m cooking. I bet there’s someone in New Orleans right now doing the same thing with matzoh ball soup!
I started out thinking it kind of funny that a Brooklyn girl in Nebraska was making vegan gumbo, but I came to realize that it wasn’t really that weird. Gumbo is many things to many people, a mish mash of so many cultures, from African to French to Native American. In fact, with the exception of salt I couldn’t even find one ingredient that was absolutely integral to the dozens of gumbo recipes I pored over. I figured there would be something, like, say, celery, but not every recipe even had that. Same for thyme, or meat, or okra. All were common, but not common enough to say that gumbo has to contain them.
So if I were an alien dropped from the sky onto earth for just one day and with just one mission — bring back gumbo intelligence — I would come away from it with a few understandings. Gumbo is a thickened stew with creole herbs and spices and lots of chunky stuff in it. It can be thickened with a roux, or with okra, or with file powder, and sometimes it’s a mix of all three. Most often, it’s served with rice. And of course I would have to report that it’s the official dish of the state of Louisiana!
I used the creole peppers I picked up at the market, which are a nice sweet hot, similar to Italian red peppers. But use whatever not-spicy red pepper you can get. I also think that vegan sausages would be a great addition! Add them towards the end if you like.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1 medium sized onion, diced large
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping cup sweet red peppers, diced large (or one red bell pepper)
2 cups cherry tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes)
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
8 springs fresh thyme (plus extra for garnish)
2 1/2 to 3 cups vegetable broth at room temperature
2 cups okra (about 10 oz) sliced 1/4 inch thick or so
1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans (a 15 oz can, rinsed and drained)
1 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans (a 15 oz can, rinsed and drained)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Rice for serving (I used a pretty pink rice)
First we’re going to make a roux, but it has a little less fat than a traditional roux, which means it doesn’t get as goopy. If you’d like a more traditional roux, just add 3 more tablespoons of vegetable oil. Okay, so, let’s proceed.
Preheat a large, heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat. The wider the pot the better, so that you have lots of surface area to make your roux.
Add the oil and sprinkle in the flour. Use a wooden spatula to toss the flour in the oil, and stir pretty consistently for 3 to 4 minutes, until the flour is clumpy and toasty.
Add the onion and salt, and toss to coat the onions completely in the flour mixture. As the onions release moisture, they will coat more and more. Cook this way for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds or so.
Add the peppers and tomatoes and cook down for about 10 more minutes. If using cherry tomatoes, place a cover on the pot to get them to cook faster and release moisture. As the tomatoes break down, the mixture should become thick and pasty.
Season with fresh black pepper, add bay leaves, smoked paprika and thyme and mix well.
Stream in the 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth, stirring constantly to prevent clumping. Add the okra and beans, then turn the heat up and cover to bring to a boil. Stir occasionally.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stew is nicely thickened and the okra is tender. If it’s too thick, thin with up to 1/2 cup vegetable broth. If it’s not as thick as you like, just cook it a bit longer.
Add the lemon juice, and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and thyme stems (if you can see them) then serve in a big, wide bowl, topped with a scoop of rice and garnished with fresh thyme.
Punk Rock Cookie Jar Mixes
Sending baked cookies in the mail is a super sweet gesture, so long as they arrive on time, and in one piece! A cookie jar mix, however, means that your recipient will be enjoying oven-fresh cookies at their leisure, all the while thinking about how awesome you are.
But sometimes cookie jar mixes can be too rooster, denim and gingham. What about a mix for those of us who only wear black and couldn’t tie a perfect bow to save our lives? Enter the punk rock cookie jar mix!
With cut-out ransom letters as the label, and a safety pin holding together the ribbon, you don’t need to be too precise with the design. And the whole thing comes together in about half an hour, making it a great last minute gift. I sent these Double Chocolate Pecan cookies to my friend Anna Dorfman, because she built and designed such a lovely site for the Teal Cat Project.
What you’ll need:
All of the ingredients for the cookies (below)
A clean empty jar with a lid big enough to hold 3 1/2 cups of stuff (I used a mason jar here, but an empty spaghetti sauce jar works, too.)
Some ribbon, about a foot (somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide)
Some glossy magazines
A used card, or stock paper with a pretty print and a blank side, about 4×3
Small safety pin
Hole puncher
Glue stick
Optional (both of these things are available at craft stores):
Sticker strips of animal print
Small silver stud stickers
1) Gather your ingredients. You’ll need:
1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons ground flax seeds, 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup chocolate chips
2) Wrap jar one inch from the bottom and 2 inches from the top with the animal print stickers. You can make your own strips with some printed paper and a glue stick.
3) Cut out letters from magazines to spell out C-O-O-K-I-E-S
4) Place the “K” first. Because it’s the middle letter it will give you more control in where the other letters are going. Use a glue stick to completely coat the backs of the cut out letters, and stick them firmly in place. Rub them to make sure they stay put.
5) Time to fill the jar! Make a funnel out of paper to get your ingredients in without making a mess. Just roll a sheet of paper into a cone and snip off the bottom.
6) Add the flour first, along with the baking soda, salt and flax. Then add the pecans, and use a spoon to smush them into the sides so that they show through. Add the sugar, then chocolate, then the chocolate chips. Seal jar tightly.
7) Make the card. Use an old card or stock paper with a pretty print and a blank side. I used the May image from the My Zoetrope calendar. Make a rectangle big enough to fit the text. Fold it in half and punch a hole in the upper left side.
8 ) The card can say whatever you want, but it should definitely have the cookie title and directions. It should say “Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies” “Mix with: 1/3 cup veg oil, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla.” “Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten into 1 1/2 inch discs. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F. Makes 20 cookies.”
9) Slide the ribbon into the hole you punched and make sure it’s secure. Wrap ribbon around the lid and affix with a safety pin. The card should be dangling a few inches.
10) Stick a few silver stud stickers on the jar letters, and the card. Voila! Your punk rock cookie gift jar is finished. Makes sure to pad it really well if you’re mailing it. Perhaps throw in an oven mitt?
PPK Handmade Apron Giveaway
With the temperature cooling down enough to start baking again, what better way to celebrate than with a handmade PPK apron? Pulling that pie out of the oven has never looked so stylish! (That vision of vegan loveliness modeling it is my very own sister Michelle Moskowitz Brown. PS She’s taken.)
My summer has been so monumental that Bryan Adams will probably write a song about it. I’ve cooked with my mom, thrown a benefit dinner for kitty cats, baked a million pies and finished up the pie book with Terry, made 50 different kinds of smoothies and prepared some delicious meals from my very own garden. Somewhere in there I hosted Vegan Iron Chef in Portland, attended a few vegan meet-ups in Omaha and started a not-for-profit organization to raise money for cats, called The Teal Cat Project.
So, my question for you is not what did you do over your summer vacation, but what have you cooked over your summer vacation? Answer the question in the comments and I’ll pick someone at random to win the apron tonight! I’ll also send over a personalized postcard, because in 50 years my autograph is going to be worth a bazillion jupos. (In 50 years, our currency will be in jupos, not dollars.) Sorry, but this contest is US only! Please don’t enter if you don’t have a US address to receive the apron at. Oh and keep it vegan, please!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Update:
Thanks for all of the comments, everyone! It’s been fun to read what everyone’s cooking and we have a random winner! It’s Kristie who said: “Having left Portland for hot ol’ Florida, I decided to make the most of the latin farmer’s stands here and cooked up some tofu with guava sauce, tempeh fajitas, mojo yuca, and fried sweet plantains (with lots of help and inspiration from Viva Vegan)!” Kristie, email postpunkkitchen@gmail.com to claim your apron!
Spaghetti Pomodoro With Grilled Tempeh
Serves 2 to 4
Time: 30 minutes || Active time: 20 minutes
You might have noticed, I have a lot of tomatoes. Maybe you do, too? I want to treat them as respectfully, and of course, as deliciously, as possible. Sometimes it seems the most respectful thing you can do is just slice them up and eat them raw, maybe a sprinkle of salt, leaning against the kitchen counter.
I’m not yet ready to make sauce to can, but all the basil in my garden had me craving a light fresh, saucy pomodoro. Of course, that just means “tomato sauce”, but the difference, at least as I’ve always understood it in Brooklyn, is that a pomodoro sauce is from fresh tomatoes. As a teenager I was fired from enough waitressing jobs in Italian restaurants that I must be qualified as an Italian food expert, so let’s just say I’m right.
Keeping the tomatoes in chunks and then cooking them quickly with some olive oil and lots of garlic, preserves all that garden flavor, and then some. The tomatoes are cooked to release their juice, which reduces just enough to make a pretty orange sauce – the perfect segue to fall. Slurp up forkfuls of this spaghetti while leaning against the counter, for the most authentic experience.
I served this with Garlicky Thyme Tempeh. I would say it serves 4 if you’re including a big salad, but more like 2 if this is all you’re eating and you’ve got an appetite.
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Several dashes fresh black pepper
8 large basil leaves, torn into pieces (plus extra for garnish)
First bring water to a boil for the pasta. Prep everything while it’s boiling. Once boiling, cook your spaghetti.
Meanwhile, preheat a 4 quart pot over medium low heat. Saute garlic in the oil for about a minute, being careful not to burn.
Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper and basil leaves and stir. Cover pot and turn the heat up to medium high. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often.
The tomatoes should be broken down and saucy. Toss in the spaghetti and toss to coat. Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes or so, to let flavors meld. Serve topped with extra basil.
Chana Masala
Serves 8 to 10
Time: 1 hour || Active time: 30 minutes
One of the very first dishes I ever tried to recreate at home was chana masala. This was before the invention of vegetables, so when I went out for Indian food in my neighborhood, it was usually chana masala, a samosa and basmati rice. I probably started out with a recipe from somewhere, but I would just adjust, adjust and adjust until it tasted like what I would get on Coney Island avenue. Spicy, tangy, and fragrant, almost perfumed, with sweet spices like cardamom and cinnamon. The jalapenos probably have no place in chana masala, but hey, tell that to me 20 years ago.
I use fresh tomatoes in Indian inspired meals when I can because the clunky canned ones can end up tasting like spaghetti sauce, and luckily my tomato plants have been incredibly generous this year! Let me have a proud tomato mama moment and show you:
And when chickpeas are the absolute star of the show I prefer to cook dried ones, rather than use canned. The taste is fresher and the texture is meatier. I also find that coconut oil gives chana masala a richness that other oils lack, but since not everyone has coconut oil lying around, vegetable oil will be just fine! Same for subbing lime juice in place of tamarind concentrate.
This is one of those recipes that will help fine tune your taste buds. Look for the spicy, the sour, the salty, adjust until you’re thoroughly pleased. Even 20 years later and I’m still adding a little of this or that.
Spice blend:
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cardomom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (optional, and more or less to taste)
For everything else:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large onion, sliced in medium pieces
2 jalapenos, deseeded and thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 lbs tomatoes, diced
Fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or two cans, rinsed and drained) note: 2 cups dried will give you the right amount
1 teaspoon agave
Juice of one lime, or 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
Preheat a large pan over medium heat. I prefer a pan to a pot, because it gets the tomatoes to cook down faster.
Meanwhile, mix together the spice blend in a small bowl.
When the pan is hot, saute the onion in the coconut oil for about 10 minutes, until nicely browned. While it’s sauteeing you can prep the rest of the veggies.
Add the jalapeno, garlic and ginger, and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cilantro and saute until wilted. Add the spice blend and toss to coat the onions, letting the spices toast a bit (about a minute or so).
Add the tomatoes and mix well, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add salt and pepper, chickpeas and agave. Cover the pan and bring heat up a bit. The tomatoes should take about 10 minutes to breakdown and get saucy. Remove the lid, and cook for about 20 more minutes on low heat, so that the flavors meld and the sauce thickens. It shouldn’t be too thick (like a marinara), but it shouldn’t be watery, either.
Add lime juice or tamarind concentrate. Taste for seasoning, you might want to add a little of this or that. Let sit for 10 minutes or so off the heat before serving. Serve with basmati rice and garnished with extra cilantro, if you like!
Maple Pecan Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie or one 11-inch tart
I’ve been there. Trying to make a vegan pecan pie that holds together, with the pecans floating in sweet suspension, somewhere between gel and custard. It comes out of the oven, and you can almost taste the toasty pecans, the caramel, the crust. You let it sit for a few hours, call your friends, tell them you’ve created the perfect pecan pie. You write the tabloids. You quit your job and wait for the pecan pie cash to start rolling in. And then you slice into it, and oh my god, what have you done?
Everything oozes everywhere! It’s a veritable brown rice syrup massacre. Your cats move out, no one will speak to you (after all, there’s agar agar in your hair). It’s just you and this crumbled oozy mess of pecans in what must be a pie plate.
But wait, it doesn’t have to be that way! I am the ghost of pecan past, and we can change all that. You can have a perfect pecan pie. A custardy pecan pie. A pecan pie that demands respect, that garners praise. With buttery hints of maple, a glossy top and caramelly insides. A virtually perfect pecan pie!
The secret is twofold: an easy caramel made with all the usual sugary suspects. And then, some pureed tofu with a little cornstarch, to create the thick custard. For all you tofu skeptics out there: don’t fear the tofu here. No one will know. I should write that again in all caps. NO ONE WILL KNOW. I’ve fed it to farmers in Nebraska who have never even heard the word “vegan” and they didn’t know.
In the picture we have the pecan pie in an 11 inch tart pan, but it works just as well in a pie plate! So try it either way…this is the pecan pie that won’t let you down.
Variation: For a Salted Maple Pecan Pie, sprinkle 1/2 a teaspoon coarse sea salt over the top of the cooled pie.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
6 oz extra firm silken tofu (1/2 of a tetra pack)
1/4 cup cold unsweetened plain non-dairy milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups pecan halves
Prepared Single Pastry Crust, pressed into a tart pan or pie plate (no need to parbake)
First we’re going to make a caramel. In a 2 quart sauce pan, mix together sugars and maple syrup. Heat over medium heat, stirring often with a whisk. Once small bubbles start rapidly forming, stir pretty constantly for about 10 minutes. The mixture should become thick and syrupy. It shouldn’t be boiling too fiercely, if it starts climbing the walls of the pan in big bubbles then lower the heat a bit.
Add the margarine, and stir to melt. Turn the heat off, transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. In the meantime, prepare the rest of the filling, working quickly so that the caramel doesn’t completely set.
Crumble the tofu into a blender or food processor, along with the milk, cornstarch and salt. Puree until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender to make sure you get everything.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
With the caramel still warm in teh mixing bowl, add in the tofu mixture and the vanilla, and mix well. Fold in the pecans to incorporate.
Transfer to prepared pie crust and bake for 40 minutes. The pie is going to be somewhat jiggly, but it should appear to be set.
Let cool for a few hours, slice and serve! No cheating and pulling pecans off the pie.
Chilled Golden Beet & Ginger Soup
Serves 8
I’m going to stick up for conversations about the weather. I like them. I don’t mind listening to your humidity report, in fact I find it fascinating. Sunshowers, hail, tornadoes, and even the not-so-extreme like “Omigod it was really hot today.” I don’t see the big deal or why weather got such a bad reputation. After all, it dictates our lives. And it really really dictates our food.
From practical things, like how the finicky spring weather affects our gardens, to the emotional things, like how rainy days make you crave soup or a sweltering day has you revving up the blender for smoothies. And that’s what makes this soup at first so…confusing.
I’ve never really gone in for cold soups. Even gazpacho has to get me on a really good day in order for me to enjoy it. But a few elements came together that had me eating a chilled soup and loving it. For one, the beets. I picked them up at the farmer’s market and kind of neglected them. I knew I would roast them, but ugh, turning on the oven! So I decided to roast them at night when it was cooler; they could work away like elves in the kitchen, while I watched my reality TV. Slow roasting them at a moderate temperature didn’t raise the heat in the house too much, and the fact that I didn’t have to check on them very often helped too.
Once they were done it was too late to eat, so I put them in the fridge and planned to slice them up for salads during the week. But who eats that many beet salads? Soup made much more sense.
But it was too hot for a soup! And yet, I was craving one of my favorite combos: coconut/lime/ginger/root veggie. And so I said fork it. And I’m glad I did because now I’ve gotten to have two of my favorite things – a gingery root veg soup and a long-ass conversation about the weather. Plus, I discovered a new love…chilled soup!
This soup is smooth and velvetty is just as refreshing as a run through your neighbor’s sprinklers on a hot summer day. Although beets don’t usually make you think “summer,” they are in season right now, and the tropical flavors just make sense. Golden beets taste like the old reliable red beet went out dancing with a butternut squash way past curfew. It’s got that great earthy backdrop, but a tangy sweetness is the first taste. I like to top it off with a few dots of Sriracha.
2 lbs yellow beets, trimmed and scrubbed
1 15 oz can lite coconut milk
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 1/2 to 2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon agave or pure maple syrup (optional)
For garnish:
Thinly sliced scallions
Sriracha
The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the beets, and that’s not even hard, it just takes a while. Look for beets that are somewhere between the size of a golfball and a tennis ball, so that they roast quickly and evenly.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Wrap the scrubbed beets individually in tin foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about an hour, turning once about halfway through. Beets are ready when very easily pierced with a steak knife.
Let them cool (still in the tinfoil) for about an hour. They’ll keep softening as they cool, and that is good! Place in the fridge to cool completely.
Once cool, unwrap the beets, slide off the peel, and place in a blender or food processor. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and salt and puree until relatively smooth.
Preheat a small pan over medium-low heat, and saute the ginger and garlic for no more than a minute, being careful not to burn. Add 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth to deglaze the pan, and turn off the heat.
Transfer the garlic/ginger/veg broth mixture to the food processor, and puree until very smooth and velvetty. Taste for salt and seasonings, and add a tiny bit of agave or maple syrup if you’d like it a tad sweeter.
Place in the fridge (while still in the blender) and chill for at least an hour. It should be cold all the way through. If it’s too thick, add up to another 1/2 cup vegetable broth and blend again.
Serve topped with scallions and dotted with Sriracha.
Romesco Pizza With Caramelized Onions & Squash
Makes 2 large pies
Since I’m living right in the middle of the country, and right off i80, I become a rest stop for weary, traveling vegans. This weekend, some friends on their way from Pennsylvania to Portland stopped by, bearing gifts from a farmer’s market all the way in Madison, Wisconsin. I had just enough notice to conjure up a couple of pizzas, using some of the fresh produce they gifted me. The grill had run out of gas, so it was an indoor affair, but no one complained.
When it comes to pizza, I’ll make the occasional soy cheese pie, but what I’m really down with, what puts me in that state of eye-rolling bliss that only pizza can, is if you make mine cheeseless.
Now, “cheeseless” does have this dull sounding quality to it, since instead of focusing on what it has, we’re describing what it doesn’t. But even without cheese, I still like a richness to my pie. Sure, I enjoy a simple slice doused in a good tomato sauce and topped with veggies, but the more decadent Brooklyn girl and pizza-lover in me wants to have some fun, especially when I’ve got company. And so I make the base of the pizza thick and rich. It’s sort of reverse of what a traditional NYC pie would be, which is a light sauce topped with rich cheese.
There are so many different bases you can use. A creamy pesto, or a cashew-based alfredo, but here I went with romesco. Romesco is a Spanish sauce, made of roasted red peppers and toasted almonds, with flavors that are at once deep and roasty but still fresh and light.
My visitors brought along some beautiful yellow squash that I knew exactly how to use since I’d been ogling a pizza on the cover of Vegetarian Times in June, which had pretty ribbons of zucchini that looked as light and graceful as petals. I took that idea and used the yellow squash, and while mine didn’t come out quite as flowy, I love the thin veil of vegetableness that you bite through to get to the lush spread underneath. I also added caramelized onions, for another burst of sweet richness.
But there are a million possibilities with this sauce. Something as simple as fresh basil would even make a great topping, but you can pile on heartier items, like roasted mushrooms, tempeh bacon, toasted pine nuts, breaded eggplant…the world is your pizza.
I used a store-bought whole grain crust from Whole Foods, but feel free to use your favorite double pizza crust recipe. Maybe the Pizza Dough from Vegan with a Vengeance if you’ve got that book.
The recipe looks really long, but I’m telling you how to caramelize onions and roast red peppers, so if you’ve got those two things down already, just skip over those parts.
You’ll need:
2 balls of pizza dough, for 2 large pizzas
Olive oil for brushing
For the caramelized onions:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large yellow onions
big pinch salt
For the sauce:
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
4 red bell roasted peppers (you can also drained, jarred roasted red peppers)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teasoon salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar
For the squash:
1 large yellow squash, sliced into paper thin ribbons (with a mandoline or knife)
To make the caramelized onions:
The basic idea here is that you sweat the onions, which means you’ll be gently cooking them covered over low heat, and a lot of the cooking will be done from the steam as the water is released. You’re coaxing the sweetness out of them and locking it in. It looks like a lot of onion, and it is, but everything will cook down to manageable proportions, I promise. If you’ve never tasted caramelized onions, you might be surprised that an onion is even capable of this deep, sweet complexity, and with only two ingredients.
Preheat a heavy bottomed, preferably cast iron, skillet over low heat. Add the oil and the onions and toss the onions to coat. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, leaving a little gap for steam to escape. Stir occasionally, every 5 minutes or so. Onions should turn a nice mellow amber, but not burn, although a couple of darker spots are fine.
Remove the cover and turn the heat up just a bit, to a medium setting. Stir often for 10 more minutes. Onions should become a darker amber, and some of the moisture should evaporate. Transfer to a bowl until ready to use.
To make the romesco:
If your red peppers aren’t already roasted, then do it now. Just place them on a rimmed baking sheet, into a 425 F oven, and turn occasionally. They’re ready when they’re blackened and collapsed, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove them from oven and immediately place in a paper bag. This will steam the skin off as they cool. Place in the fridge and once cool, remove from bag, peel off skin and remove seeds.
Now toast the almonds. Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium low heat. Spread the almonds out in a single layer and toast frequently until fragrant and honey brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer almonds to a food processor. Now we’ll prepare the rest of the sauce.
In the same pan over medium high heat, saute onions in olive oil for 5 to 7 minutes with a pinch of salt, until lightly browned. Add garlic, several dashes fresh black pepper, dried marjoram and salt, and saute for 30 seconds more, then turn off the heat.
Now pulse the almonds in the food processor until they’re a finely ground powder. Add the roasted red peppers, the onion mixture and the red wine vinegar and agave nectar. Puree until fairly smooth. Taste for salt, and set aside until ready to use.
To assemble pizza:
Preheat oven to 500 F.
This post is getting really long, so it won’t be a treatise on how to perfectly roll out a pizza crust. But I’ll just say, use a lightly floured, cold surface and I’m just fine with using a rolling pin.
Roll dough out onto a large, lightly greased pizza pan. Spread a cup or so of romesco sauce onto the pizza. Place squash ribbons artfully over the sauce and drizzle with a little olive oil. Also, brush the crust with olive oil.
Place pizza on the bottom of the oven (yes, right on the bottom, no rack required) preferably on a pizza stone, but it’s ok if you don’t have one. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until crust is golden. Remove from oven, top with splotches of caramelized onion, sprinkle on some fresh black pepper if you like, slice and serve. Then prepare your next pizza the same way!
Cucumber Avocado Tea Sandwiches With Dill & Mint
Serves 4 to 6
Time: 30 minutes || Active time: 20 minutes
For the new season, I’ve begun a tradition called True Blood Mondays. While the point was to hang out with friends and cook food inspired by the TV show, it’s just too hot to make a vegan human heart pot pie. So tea sandwiches will have to do! And, as someone on Twitter pointed out, you could definitely see Sookie Stackhouse serving these at a party.
But whether or not you’re serving fangbangers, tea sandwiches are fun to mess around with and fill with whatever you fancy. I like to take classic sandwiches and pair them down into tea size – for instance, mini po boys, banh mis, and eggplant parm. But these are my take on tradition: cream cheese and cucumber tea sandwiches. Avocado ditches its guacamole trappings and instead, is infused with lemon, fresh dill and mint. The end result is a nod to the old foil-wrapped cream cheese brick, but a creamy, tangy, silky experience that is all its own.
For my money, white bread is a must, especially if you can get it fresh from a bakery. It provides a bright but neutral backdrop that let’s all the subtle flavors shine through. Layer the avocado spread with cucumber sliced as thin as you can get it, then remove the crusts (sneak a few into your mouth), load up your prettiest vintage plates, and you’re in tea sandwich business.
Oh, and you can’t have tea sandwiches without tea! I recommend Lady Grey. The hints of citrus are the perfect complement to fresh herbs.
Tip: Avocado browns very quickly, so prepare the filling as close to serving time as you can. If you do need it to sit around for awhile, place in a container along with the pits from the avocado, and squirt on a little extra lemon juice. Then place a layer of plastic wrap directly on the mixture. Keep refrigerated until ready to use. But even with this method, I don’t recommend letting it sit around for more than a few hours.
For the spread:
2 ripe avocados, kept cold in the fridge
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
2 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
To serve:
12 slices white bread
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
First prepare the spread. Remove the pit from the avocados, and scoop into a food processor along with the lemon juice and salt. Puree until completely smooth, scraping down the sides ith a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the cucumber and pulse until cucumber is finely chopped. Add the mint and dill and pulse again so combine. You just want them well incorporated into the mid, not pureed.
Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or so to let the flavors marry, and then taste for salt and seasonings.
To assemble:
Arrange the sliced of bread on the counter. Spread the avocado mixture onto all 12 slices. Add a single layer of cucumber on 6 of the slices. Now close each sandwich. Use a steak knife to cut off the crusts. With a gentle touch (so as not to squish the filling out too much), cut each sandwich into 4 equal pieces, either squares or triangles. Serve topped with extra herbs, or lettuce. In this pic, I topped them with pea shoots.
