A Cool Appetizer for the Hot Summer

Summer is in full force. It's that time of year when turning on the oven is much akin to shoving splinters under your nails. When the temps heat up, I crave cool and easy dishes.

The other night, I needed a quick and easy appetizer to take to a potluck after work. It was my first time bringing food to this group, so I wanted it to be impressive, but also follow my mood for keeping cool. We have started getting some really nice big cucumbers. I knew those had to be a part of the plan. I plunked around Pintrest and found some very cute cucumber appetizers. One of my favorites was a cucumber-hummus cupcake. But I felt with the heat, even hummus might not hold up.

Then I went to the pantry and fridge to see what I could see. I had a few left over fresh shiitake mushrooms that were about at the end of their viable life. The pantry had some soba noodles and that did it for me. I was inspired to make a cool, asian inspired, easy to eat with your hands appetizer.

Soba and Shiitake Cucumber Cups

4 large cucumbers (about 2-2 1/2 inches wide)

Dressing ingredients

1 tablespoon red miso
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon low sodium tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated or finely minced

Filling ingredients

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup diced fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 red jalapeño or fresno pepper minced
1 tablespoon finely diced sweet onion
1 large clove garlic minced
4 oz. soba noodles, broken in half and cooked according to package directions*

Black and/or white sesame seeds for garnish
Thinly sliced green onion tops for garnish (optional)

*IMPORTANT NOTE: make sure to rinse noodles under very cold water until completely cooled or they will get very gummy.

Peel cucumbers. Score the cucumber lengthwise with a fork all the way around. Slice into inch slices keeping thickness as even as possible. Using a small melon baller or small paring knife, carefully scoop out most of the seeds and flesh of cucumber to create a little bowl. Make sure to leave a little cucumber on the bottom for the bowl. Place in a single layer on serving platter and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk dressing ingredients together and set aside.

In a 10 inch iron skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Heat sesame oil until just warm and not smoking. Add shiitake mushrooms, jalapeños and onion. Saute until shiitake mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

In a medium mixing bowl gently combine the chilled soba noodles, dressing and mushroom mixture.

Using a fork, twirl soba noodles to make a small and fairly tight "nest" of noodles**. Carefully place the "nest"inside the cucumber bowls. Repeat with remaining cucumber bowls and noodles.

Sprinkle each cute little bowl with sesame seeds and green onion for garnish. Serve immediately or they can be refrigerated for an hour or two before serving.

**NOTE: The mushroom mixture may fall out while twirling the noodles. Use a small spoon or your fingers to sprinkle some of the mixture on top of filled cucumbers.

Iron Chef - Potatoes and Sesame

The fine organizers of Vegan MoFo chose two awesome ingredients for this edition of Iron Chef: potatoes and sesame. Potatoes are one of my all time favorite foods. I can't think of any way I don't like to eat them. I have to say fried potato products are like crack to me. I am trying hard not to eat a lot of fried foods these days, so when this challenge came up I had to muster all of my will-power not to fire up the fryer.

Sesame has several forms that are awesome in many types of cuisines. I just happened to have whole sesame seeds, tahini and toasted sesame oil in my pantry. So many options went through my head: sushi, sesame potato cakes, curry, gyoza, soup, Asian potato skins, lettuce wraps. They all sounded sooooo yummy, however, none of these came to be for this challenge. Instead I opted to make a salad; not just your run of the mill salad. This salad has it all; protein, starch, vegetables, savory mushrooms and lots of flavor!

It has several components and lots of ingredients, but it is actually pretty simple to make. I recommend making the dressing and marinating the tempeh and mushrooms a day ahead of time. Make sure to read the recipe all the way through before starting so you can decide on your plan of action. The day of assembly, I recommend starting your potatoes first. They will need some time to roast and cool. You don't want them to be super hot, just warm.

Sesame Crusted Tempeh Asian Salad with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Makes 4 entree portions

Prepare Tempeh and Mushrooms for marinating:

1 - 8 oz package tempeh, cut into 12 thin rectangles
4 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

Marinade:

1cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon low sodium tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon red miso
3 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce
1 teaspoon dried thai basil or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced

Steam sliced tempeh for 15 minutes. While tempeh is steaming, whisk marinade ingredients together in a 11" x 7" rectangular non-reactive pan, or any pan that will hold the tempeh in one layer. While tempeh is still hot, place in single layer in the marinade. Add shiitake mushrooms to the pan. Marinade 8 hours or overnight, turning tempeh once about half way through.

Salad:

1 small head savoy cabbage, thinly sliced, washed and drained (approx 7 cups)
1 large red bell pepper, very thinly sliced
2 green onions, both green and white parts, thinly sliced
1 recipe dressing (see recipe below)

marinated tempeh and mushrooms from above
Spray oil for pan
1/4 cup each black and regular sesame seeds, combined in a shallow bowl
Roasted potatoes from above


In a large bowl, toss savoy cabbage, red peppers, green onions and dressing until vegetables are evenly coated. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Spray a 10 inch iron skillet or non-stick skillet with spray oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add shiitake mushrooms and sauté until just browned, about 4 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside to cool to room temp (a little warmer is actually even better).

Re-spray pan with oil. Dredge marinated tempeh in sesame seed mixture until evenly coated. Place coated tempeh in preheated pan. Sear for 3 minutes. Gently turn tempeh and sear other side for about 3 minutes. Turn heat off and leave tempeh in pan to keep warm.

Assemble the salad:

Divide salad mixture evenly among 4 plates or large shallow bowls. Arrange 3 slices of sesame coated tempeh on each plate. In the center of the salad place 1/4 of the sauteed shiitake mushrooms. Add 1/4 of the roasted potatoes evenly around the edge of the plate.



Dressing:

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon red miso
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or more if you like it really hot)
1 large clove garlic, minced
salt to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth. Will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

Yesterday was such a full day for me, I barely got my post up. I did not include the winner of American Vegan Kitchen. I won't leave it out today. The winner is...

#5 - Jeni!!!

I agree Jeni! No diner experience would be complete without pie. There are a couple of great pie recipes for you to try in your brand new copy of AVK! Please make sure to contact me with your shipping information at vegintraining at g mail dot com. Congrats!!

Make sure to come back tomorrow. It's going to be an exciting day! I will be reviewing the upcoming Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero and yes I will also be giving away a copy to one lucky winner.

Mushroom and Chickn Fried Rice with Spicy Asian Greens

Fred had surgery on his knee this week. I wanted to make him something tasty, healthy, and full of veggies. I had some leftover rice from the other day. The farmers market has had some excellent produce. Put them together and you've got some great stuff to work with. I've been craving some fried rice, but most don't have enough veggies for my taste. I thought I'd get to work and create something we'd both enjoy. Here's what transpired.

Mushroom and Chickn Fried Rice

4 servings

2 tablespoons low sodium tamari

1 tablespoon mirin

2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

4 ounces chicken Gardien or Chicken Seitan, diced

1 large carrot brunnoise (small diced)

1 cup snow peas, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

 1 - 8 oz package cremini mushrooms sliced

3 cups brown rice, cold

1-2 additional tablespoon low sodium tamari

In small bowl, mix tamari, mirin, ginger, sesame oil. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to marinade. In wok or large deep saute pan on high heat, pour chicken and marinade into pan. Saute for 2  minutes. Add garlic and carrots. Saute until "chicken" browns. Add snow peas and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms release their liquid. Add additional tamari. Heat until rice is heated through.

Spicy Sauteed Asian Greens

8 cups Asian greens

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon mirin

2 tablespoon low sodium tamari

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

In large saute pan or wok over med high heat, heat oil. add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add greens, mirin, and Tamari. Saute for a couple of minutes until greens start to wilt. Add sriracha and saute for another minute. Serve immediately.

Happy New Year 2010! NYE Food Extravaganza - Course 1

A few years ago a friend of mine came up with a great idea. Instead of going out and dealing with the amatuer night that is know as New Year's Eve, why not have a night in with good friends cooking great food. The first couple of years we did this together. Unfortunately there were some conflicts with a couple of the husbands. Around the same time Fred and I stopped eating meat. Sadly the original crew has kind of disippated.

The tradition is a great one, so we wanted to carry on with it. Happily, we have other friends who embrace the challenge of cooking incredible vegan food. Each couple picks a course they want to prepare and a wine they want to pair with it. This is our second year doing it completely vegan. It was a great success! Over the next couple of days I will be posting details on each course. No baby animals were harmed making any of the incredible dishes you are about to lay your eyes on. Grab a napkin for the drooling you are about to experience.

For the first course my good friend Jerry, who is also an avid foodie, embraced the spirit of culinary adventure. His lovely wife and dear friend of mine, Beth, told me he had been experimenting with a few different recipes over the last couple of weeks. He is truly a foodie after my own heart!!! He even found a way to veganize a very un-vegan sauce. For this I am grateful and truly impressed. I am hoping he will share the recipe! If he does, I will post it here for you. It is a really beautiful dish and the flavors were just fantastic.

Here he is having a great time creating in the kitchen.

Jerry's Fabulous Singapore Bok Choy Rolls with

Exotic Mushrooms and Vegetables

Served on a Bed of Crispy Bean Sprouts

with Char Siew Sauce and a Drizzle of Sriracha

With wine paring and the lovely Beth