MoFo 2013 - Day 21 - S is for Spinach Scramble

No plant based diet would be complete without the scramble. This is a great way to introduce friends to tofu. In this role, tofu is very unassuming. I can hardly tell the difference between scrambled tofu and scrambled eggs.

Scrambles are fun too! Like bowls, you can make any themed scramble you choose. They are a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge too. Turmeric is used to give scrambles that sunny yellow color people associate with scrambled eggs and adds some great health benefits as well. Another great thing about scrambles is they are fantastic to roll up in a tortilla for breakfast on the go.  They have no cholesterol. If you are gluten-free, use a gluten free soy sauce and you are set to go!

I like to get all of my ingredients prepped and ready to go before I start cooking as the process goes pretty fast.

Spinach Scramble

Makes 4 Servings

2 teaspoons olive oil
4 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
1/2 orange or red bell pepper, medium dice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce*
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon herbs de Province
1 - 12 oz package extra firm tofu with water gently squeezed out, crumbled
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach

Heat a 12-inch iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, mushrooms and bell pepper. Saute until mushrooms start to soften and release some of their liquid, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for about 30 more seconds. Pour in tamari and saute for about a minute until all of the liquid is gone, about 1 minutes. Add turmeric, thyme. black pepper, salt and Herbs de Province and saute until herbs are just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add crumbled tofu and nutritional yeast. Saute until tofu is heated through, about 3 minutes. toss in chopped spinach and saute until spinach is just wilted, about 2 minutes.

Garnish with chopped chives and grated vegan cheese (optional).

* If you use regular instead of low-sodium, cut back on the amount of salt.

Use GF tamari and this recipe is GF!!!

Mofo 2013 - Day 2 - A is for Artichoke Arancini with Arugula Salad and San Marzano Tomato Sauce

The beginning of the alphabet is a joyous beginning to this year's MoFo. While there were several very worthy foods starting with A (asparagus, avocado, apples, apricots, almonds, etc.), I decided to utilize the noble artichoke and nutty arugula.

The artichoke is believed to be a native Mediterranean plant from the thistle family. There are over 140 varieties of artichoke. If you have been a follower of the blog for a while, you may remember our epic artichoke plant that yielded more than 50 of these beautiful globes. For this recipe, I used canned artichoke hearts. you could easily sub fresh or frozen. Oh man, now I want fresh artichoke hearts!

Arugula lends a nutty backdrop for the rich Arancini. Arancini is a pretty name for friend rice balls. These Sicilian balls of glory are crispy and a touch sinful. The San Marzano Tomato Sauce is the perfect sauce to dip your balls in! Enjoy!

Artichoke Arancini with San Marzano Tomato Sauce

Makes 16 balls

1 recipe Artichoke Risotto
1/2 package Daiya Havarti Wedge Cheese, cut into small cubes (a little smaller than 1/2 inch), keep very cold until ready to use
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 recipe San Marzano Tomato Sauce (recipe below)

10 large basil leaves, chiffonade for garnish

Oil for frying ( I prefer to use grapeseed oil)

Artichoke Risotto

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced yellow onion
1/3 cup canned artichoke hearts, drained, chopped small (measured after chopping)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine, chilled
1 3/4 cups cold vegetable stock
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried

In medium sauce pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced onion and saute for about 3 minutes until slightly softened. Add artichoke and saute for another minute. Add rice and saute, stirring to coat, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to low and add wine. Simmer, stirring constantly until wine is absorbed. Repeat with cold vegetable stock (1/2 cup at a time). Risotto should be cooked through, but not mushy. If all liquid has been added and risotto is still not done, add 1/4 cup cold vegetable stock at a time until proper doneness is attained. Remove from heat and stir in nutritional yeast and parsley. This risotto is wonderful as a side dish on its own. If you want to have it that way, stop here and serve immediately. For the balls, cool completely in refrigerator. This step is very important. If risotto is not completely cooled it will be sticky and difficult to work with. Can be made a day ahead of time.

While risotto is cooling, start preparing tomato sauce (see recipe below).

Using a xx oz. scoop, scoop out approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons risotto. with index finger, make indentation large enough to insert cube of cheese. Insert cheese and cover up hole completely. Set ball on plate. Repeat for next 15 balls. Set aside.

Add oil to 10 inch iron skillet until about 1 inch deep. Heat oil to 350 degrees.

In bowl combine bread crumbs. Roll each ball in breadcrumbs to coat and place back on plate. Cooking in batches of 4, carefully slide arancini into oil. The balls can be delicate, so use caution when putting them in the oil. Fry for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully turn to other side. I find using two forks to gently turn them works really well. Fry for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate. Repeat for remaining balls.

Serve immediately drizzled with warm San Marzano Tomato Sauce. Garnish with fresh basil chiffonade. Serve with Arugula Salad on the side.

San Marzano Tomato Sauce

This is a very simple sauce. The San Marzano tomatoes are key to making the flavor, oh so special. Sauce can be used on pasta as well.

Makes about 3 cups

1/3 cup minced sweet onion
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minted
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper
28 oz can pealed whole San Marzano Tomatoes with juice

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 3-5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add garlic and saute until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add salt, pepper oregano and crushed red pepper. Saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Turn heat to low. Break apart tomatoes with wooden spoon. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. I let it keep cooking until risotto is cold, which is sometimes longer. Can be made ahead and refrigerated for several days.

Arugula Salad

6 cups baby arugula
1/3 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons raspberry balsamic or 2 tablespoons balsamic with 1 teaspoon agave nectar

Place arugula and cranberries in large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Toss. Salt and pepper to taste.

Iron Chef: Hot Chiles, Sunflower Seeds and Grapes

Today's Iron Chef entry is brought to you by the foods Hot Chile, Sunflower Seeds and Grapes. As I looked at this list of ingredients I was instantly psyched because hot chiles were part of the challenge. Sunflower seeds, no problem. It was the grapes that had me stumped. The only way I usually tend to consume grapes is in a good wine. I don't usually care for them with savory stuff and I figured a lot of my challengers would go the sweet route. What to do?

At first I was going to tackle a brunch dish. I had planned to make a breakfast sandwich. I thought maybe some type of biscuit with sunflower seeds in it and maybe some type of chile-grape jam. I set about making the jam and it ended up being the texture of applesauce. Had I not been so bummed out I may have thought to use it in a scone or something like that. Instead, I scrapped brunch as it was after 1pm by now.

I decided to get back to my love of the great Southwest and its flavorful and spicy personality. First I made a cilantro-sunflower seed pesto.

Cilantro-Sunflower Pesto

Yields 1 1/4 cups

3 cups lightly packed cilantro leaves (small stems are ok)
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients except for the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine then run processor until well chopped. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and let run until pesto is fairly smooth, scraping the sides once or twice.. Add more salt to taste if needed. Will keep in refrigerator for up to two weeks and will freeze for 6 months. GF

Next I got to marinating some tofu see recipe below.

Cilantro-Sunflower Pesto Marinated Tofu

1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 Tablespoons Cilantro-Sunflower Pesto
1 tablespoon Aji Panca Paste (can be found in some hispanic markets or online)
1 tablespoon low sodium tamari
8 oz. extra firm tofu, drained, pressed and sliced into 8 equal rectangular pieces

In an 8 x 8 baking dish whisk together marinade ingredients. Add tofu in a single layer. Marinade for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, turning once.

Tofu can be grilled or baked in marinade.

Then I set about using those pesky grapes. I have to say the results far exceeded my expectations! This is what I came up with:

Grape-Avocado Pico de Gallo

1/2 cup green and red seedless grapes, quartered
2 medium red tomatoes, diced about 1/4" dice
1/2 cup tightly packed cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 very hot fresno (red) chile pepper, finely diced*
2 tablespoon red onion finely diced
juice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
 1 small avocado, peeled and diced

In a medium sized bowl, combine grapes, tomatoes, cilantro, hot chile pepper, onion, lime juice, cumin and salt. After they are well combined, gently fold in diced avocado. Let sit for about 30 minutes to let flavors meld. Serve immediately. GF

* I feel it is very important to use a pretty hot variety of chile. It contrast the sweetness of the grapes beautifully.

So I had all the players lined up. I first thought I would make a tostada. That was until I realized after two trips to the store this morning, I had no lettuce or cabbage in my house. Two times was enough, so I switched gears. I had some corn tortillas in the fridge and a big ol' bottle of canola oil left over from a cooking class. Have you figured out where I'm going with this yet? Taquitos!!

Pesto Marinated Grilled Tofu and Black Bean Taquitos

1 recipe Cilantro-Sunflower Seed Pesto Marinated Tofu (see recipe above), reserve 1 tablespoon marinade
1 - 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Cilantro-Sunflower Seed Pesto (see recipe above)
12 corn tortillas
1/3 cup Daiya Mozzerella Shreds
Oil for frying

Preheat grill to 350. Oil grill grates. Place sliced marinated tofu on hot grill and brush with marinade. Grill for 5 minutes or until nice grill marks appear and tofu is golden. Turn and brush other side with marinade. Grill for 5 more minutes until tofu is golden and slightly firm. Dice into 1/2 dice and set aside.

In small saucepan, combine black beans, 1 tablespoon reserved marinade and 1/4 cup pesto. Simmer over medium heat until beans are heated through. Gently stir in tofu and remove from heat.

Heat oil to 350. If you don't have a thermometer, use a small piece of tortilla to test heat. If it bubbles slightly, you are ready to go. It is really important to make sure the oil is not too hot or your taquitos will fall apart.

Assemble taquitos.

Take one tortilla at a time and place in oil for about 10 seconds to soften tortilla. It is very important to do this step to prevent tortillas from breaking apart. Carefully place softened tortilla on a paper towel lined plate. On end of tortilla closest to you, sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons shredded Daiya. Scoop approx. 2 tablespoons tofu-black bean mixture over Daiya in a straight line. Gently roll tortilla over filling until it resembles a cigar.

Here is the tricky part. These little guys like to unroll when you put them in the oil. I suppose you could use a pick to hold them shut, but they can tear pretty easily, so be careful if you pick 'em shut. If you successfully pick them, you could probably cook 2-3 at a time. I chose to cook one at a time and gently place them in the oil, seam side down, immediately holding the taquito with tongs using very light pressure. Fry for about 3 minutes, then turn over. Fry for about 2-3 more minutes or until beautifully golden. Using tongs drain excess oil from both ends of taquito. Place on paper towel lined plate, and repeat for remaining tortillas.

Serve immediately with a healthy serving of Grape-Avocado Pico de Gallo (recipe above).

Don't forget to comment on yesterday's post by midnight MST tonight (10/28/12) for a chance to win Vegan a la Mode...cuz you need a frozen dessert after this dish! The winner will be announced tomorrow!

Vegan MOFO - Day 6 - Fred's Tuna-ish Helper-ish

First I want to start off by talking about communication breakdown. Many times I am running at a frenetic pace for no apparent reason. I think I have to fit a million things in to each day. To add to this I have this tendency to hear things one way when they are actually said another way. I can't remember what Myers-Briggs pesonality type this is: but I tend to jump right in and do something, then correct things later if I screw something up.

Such was the case with this conversion. Fred described this favorite from his childhood to me. Somehow I got it in my silly clutered head that he was describing tuna casserole. I promptly went on the internet and found a vegan recipe for said casserole. I got to work and did some tweaks and got that bad boy in the oven. As kitchen karma would have it, it was an utter disaster. While it looked picture perfect, it was anything but. The texture was like thick paste and had no flavor. Fred hates to waste anything, but even he wouldn't eat this. Major FAIL!




Two lessons here. Lesson one: listen carefully when people speak to you. It is uncool when you half listen. It can save you a lot of time and grief in the long run. Lesson two: trust your inner chef. When you read a recipe and it looks like it won't work, trust your gut. Modify that bad boy so you don't end up with something so nasty even the wild javelinas won't eat it.

I've ranted long enough about my failings as a communicator and kitchen disasters. On to what Fred really wanted! This is an easy, quick, filling recipe. It won't win any culinary awards, but hopefully it will make your family happy and full.

Fred's Tuna-ish Helper-ish

6 Servings
1 1/2 cups dried pasta (elbows or other small-ish pasta)
Water for cooking Pasta
1 cup Butler soy curls
1 cup vegetable broth, hot
1 Tablespoon Kelp powder
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or other vegan butter
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cups cream of mushroom soup (vegan of course)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pour hot broth over soy curls to re-hydrate. Let soak for 5-10 minutes. Drain. Dice soy curls and sprinkle with kelp powder. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and transfer to large mixing bowl. Add earth balance to HOT pasta. Mix soymilk and nutritional yeast in small saucepan. Heat until slightly thickened. Pour onto hot pasta. Heat cream of mushroom soup in same saucepan and add heated soup to the pasta mixture. Add soy curls and mix. If pasta has cooled of it can be re-heated quickly in large pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Update: Fred has spoken. He says this is supposed to be soupy. Easy enough. To eat this Fred style you will have to add more cream of mushroom soup just before serving to your liking. If you add the soup ahead of time, the noodles will soak it all up and it will be very sad. Hee hee.
Now this is the recipe in it's original form. For me, I like to get more of a nutritional bang for my buck. As an option you could add some steamed spinach or kale to up the nutritional value.

Hail to the Chief and See ya El Diablo Bush!

Today is a very historical day in history. For the first time I can remember I was actually excited about voting. It feels like real change is coming...good change. OK I'll stop spewing my political joy and get down to the real business of this blog...FOOD.

Tonight I am attending an inauguration celebration. I wanted to bring food that was Obama - esque, but hadn't a clue what to make. I plunked around the internet and read that the Obama's are fans of Rick Bayless. Easy enough. I set out to find a good Bayless recipe. I found quite a few that would be easy enough to veganize. The one that kept catching my attention was his Tequila-Infused Queso Fundido. I have grown to love nooch based "queso" so this is right up my alley. I wanted it to be flavorful and spicy and a little special for such an occasion. I think I may have come up with my favorite queso to date. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Tequila Scented Queso with Hatch Green Chiles

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 medium red onion diced small

1 large heirloom tomato diced small

2 hatch green chiles, roasted, peeled, and diced (seeds left intact if you like the heat)

2 Tablespoons of your favorite tequila

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 Tablespoon Earth Balance or other vegan butter

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

Heat oil in saute pan. Add onions and saute until just soft. Add tomatoes and chilies and saute for about 5 more minutes. Deglaze with tequila. Cook down until mixture is slightly sticky. Turn off heat and let cool while preparing the rest of the queso.In a medium sauce pan whisk dry ingredients into water. Turn heat to med-low and cook while whisking frequently. Don't leave the pan unattended or you will end up with a glop of yuk. Once it has thickened turn off heat. Add Earth Balance and stir until melted. Add tomato mixture. Finely chop cilantro and stir into queso.

Serve warm with chips.