Vegan MoFo

This has been Vegan MoFo--Vegan Month of Food where vegans all over the world blog what they eat so people can see we don’t just eat sticks and leaves and that compassionate eating can be delicious.

Things I have learned this month:

I really need to learn to use the new camera. Spiderman took all the lovely pictures and was getting a wee bit testy by the end snapping pix while the food was getting cold.. Thank you Best Beloved for all your help!

I really like broccoli. A lot. I didn’t even think I did like broccoli but in August we ate some tenderstem broccoli and it was love at first bite. I cannot get enough of its greeny goodness. Then I discovered roasted broccoli and it was all I thought about. I even dreamt of its crunchy goodness. We have eaten broccoli 7 times in one month. That may be a record.

That my food is beautiful food. That the colours and flavours are exciting and everything tastes so fresh and delicious when there is no suffering on your plate.

That we eat well. We eat a diet high in fruit and vegetables-we get way more than our 5 a day. That we eat a diet high in whole foods--not processed foods and that we eat home cooked meals 99% of the time.

When you know about animal suffering--it just makes sense to follow a cruelty free diet. There are people who say to me “I don’t want to know because I don’t want to give up foods I love.” well let me tell you, there are plenty of foods out there that are delicious and way better for you than animal products. They don’t cause suffering and taste great. Hope you’ve enjoyed the recipes and see you next Vegan MoFo!

BBQ Tempeh with potatoes and roasted broccoli

We had a bit of tempeh hanging around in the fridge as well as some broccoli that needed to be used up. There were local new potatoes I had bought on the weekend that wanted using as well so I threw this together with a bit o’ BBQ sauce for a tangy, down home flavour. I also slow cooked some onions until they were brown and caramelised to go with the boiled potatoes and roasted broccoli. I threw a yellow pepper in to quick roast as well as it was just hanging out in the crisper feeling lonely. 

A word about BBQ sauce. Everyone has their favourite brand that can be squeezed from a plastic bottle, but I have yet to find one that didn’t have lots of High Fructose Corn Syrup or Glucose-fructose syrup or loads of unnecessary fillers. It is just about as easy to whip this one up in the time it takes for you to dig around in your overcrowded fridge or pantry and find that bottle with the crusty screw top because the last person who used it didn’t wipe it down only to discover that the bottle expired last summer..

This recipe is adapted from a tiny book called Vegan A Go-Go by the lovely tattooed Sarah Kramer that was a Christmas gift from our friend Karen. Here is a picture of it sizzling in the pan in front of my beloved vita-mix blender. Doesn't it look scrummy?

BBQ Sauce

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

3 TB tomato puree (paste)

3 TB maple syrup (I cheated and did 2 TB maple syrup and 1 TB agave cos I ran out of MS)

2 TB molasses--preferably blackstrap as it is a bigger source of iron

1 TB Dijon mustard

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp liquid smoke

I can’t find liquid smoke here so I just shook in about 10 shakes of smoky Chipotle Tabasco.

Stir together and heat until bubbling. That’s it. I poured it over tempeh that had been browned and had the onions, potatoes and roasted veg on the side. BBQ sauce makes it feel like summer instead of these “arctic winds” and snow we’ve been having. Finger lickin’ good.

Walnut Crusted Quiche with Roasted Broccoli

I loved quiche in my omni days. We used to visit a restaurant called La Madeleine that had all this gorgeous, rustic French food. They also served strawberries Romanoff which we have veganized --but that will be a post for summer when the strawberries are in season.

But you can’t make quiche without breaking a few eggs, I hear you cry. Fear not, dear reader, Spidergrrl to the rescue with a quiche made from silken tofu. Seriously. Silken tofu is great when you want a thick pudding-y type texture. You can make a silk pie with it that is to swoon over as well as this quiche. This recipe was adapted from the blog Fat Free Vegan and her post on crustless tofu quiche. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/12/mini-crustless-tofu-quiches.html  I like a bit of a crust and this wholemeal walnut crust delivers a healthy and savoury punch to hold up the delicious quiche. I served it with roasted tender stem broccoli because I love it and can’t get enough of its roasty goodness.

Wholemeal Walnut Crust

Preheat your oven to 180 C/350 F

1 cup wholemeal pastry flour (not bread flour--it’ll be too tough--I used spelt)

½ cups walnuts

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2 TB olive oil

¼ cup “milk” I used oat milk

Pulse the flour and walnuts in your food processor until the walnuts are like course crumbs. Then add the baking powder, salt and oil and milk and mix until a stiff dough forms. Press into a greased pie plate (important to grease it!) and bake for 5 minutes.

When you take it out to cool bump up the oven to 190 C/375 F.

Wash out your food processor and let it dry. Then start work on the quiche.

Quiche

5 sun dried tomatoes (not oil packed) soaked in a bit of hot water

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 small pepper (or half a large one) finely diced

Large pinch dried rosemary

Lots of grinds of black pepper

4 strips smoked tofu, diced--I used Taifun smoked tofu with almond and sesame

In a greased pan saute the onion and pepper until soft and add the black pepper and rosemary and drained sundried tomatoes and tofu. Stir to coat with spices and then set aside.

In the mean time while the above stuff is sizzling in the pan work on the quiche.

1 box firm silken tofu put into a clean tea towel and squeezed over the sink to get rid of some of the water. Squeeze until it looks like crumbly ricotta. I used Mori Nu brand

¼ cup “milk”

2 TB nutritional yeast

1 TB arrowroot or cornstarch

1 tsp sesame tahini

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp turmeric (for colour)

Psst salt

Whiz all this together in your handy dandy food processor until it looks completely smooth and custard-y. Pour this into the pan with the rosemary onion, pepper, sundried toms and smoked tofu and mix well. Spoon into the crust and bake for 40 minutes.

Then you can work on your broccoli. Drizzle a bit of olive oil (I used garlic infused olive oil to ring the changes) and black pepper and sea salt. When the quiche comes out it needs to sit for 10 minutes to firm up so crank up the oven to 220 C/ 425 F and roast that broccoli for 8-10 minutes until it’s all sizzle sizzle and roasty toasty. Then serve!

Sticky Asian Buffalo Tempeh with Roasted Veggies

Have I mentioned how much I love my Vita-mix blender? Yes, we paid nearly a month’s salary for it, but it has something like a 2 horsepower motor and it does everything. I mean everything. Besides just heavy duty blending it can make soup and ice cream (not at the same time obviously) and we use it at least twice a day. We make a power smoothie for breakfast and I use it for cooking dinner in the evenings. I love my vita-mix and as Spiderman always says, the vita-mix loves me too. This is a recipe from the cookbook that came with my blender. This Asian Buffalo Sauce is a low fat but flavourful twist on traditional Buffalo wing sauce. That’s according to the blurb at the bottom of the recipe. When I was an omnivore I never ate Buffalo wings so I can’t say how this compares, but I can say it is delicious. I wanted something quick so I made it with barley couscous and roasted broccoli and carrots. Done and on the table in about 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to  220 C/ 425 F

To prepare the tempeh:

Cut an 8 oz packet tempeh into strips and boil for 10 minutes in water with a splash of tamari soy sauce and a blop of marmite to take out any bitterness and infuse the tempeh with a bit of flavour. While that’s boiling make your sauce in your blender.

Asian Buffalo Sauce 

¼ cup tamari soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp (or more) Tabasco or hot sauce of your choice

2 TB agave syrup

1 orange peeled and pulled into segments

Piece of peeled ginger as big as your thumb (I used 2 tsp BART ginger paste)

1 clove crushed garlic

2 inch strip orange peel

Stick it all in your blender and blend until the orange is completely pulped. I guess you could use a food processor for this if you don’t think your blender can hack it.

When the tempeh is done drain it and let it cool while you get your vegetables sorted. I just wanted some broccoli and carrots. I drizzled them with olive oil and massaged it into the broccoli. Then I  ground on some pepper and sprinkled on some sea salt.

Heat a non stick skillet and when it is hot enough for the tempeh to go in put the vegetables in oven and set the timer for 9 minutes. Cook the tempeh on medium high until browned. Keep flipping so all pieces get browned. In the mean time pour some boiling water over your couscous and set aside. Use whatever kind (we like barley) and however much you want. Just do it like it says on the packet, ya dig?

When the tempeh is browned then pour the sauce over it straight from the blender and let it heat up and bubble. The agave will caramelise in the hot pan and go all gooey. It will look a bit runny, but it thickens up as it cools. Remove from the heat and wait until the timer goes off and the veg are smoking hot and roasted and all brown and crunchy/crispy. Fluff your couscous with a fork and you’re good to go. Quick and easy and tangtastic (there’s that word again. If I use it enough the OED will adopt it, I feel sure) Enjoy!

Chipotle Corn and Black Bean Soup

This is a favourite recipe because it is a cook once/ eat twice meal. The soup makes 6 generous servings so perfect for busy weeks when all you want to do is heat something up when you get home. This soup is smoky and spicy and dare I say it--gumbo-esqe?  It is adapted from Dreena Burton’s wonderful cookbook Vive Le Vegan.

Chipotle Corn and Black Bean Soup

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ tsp sea salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

2 ribs chopped celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 pepper, chopped

4 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes (not oil packed) soaked in ¾  cup hot water

2 tins black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups vegetable stock --I like to use marmite in my stock for a rich flavour

1 ½ cups water

2 TB balsamic vinegar

2 tsp tamari soy sauce

½ -1 tsp Smoky Chipotle Tabasco

2 bay leaves

1 ½ cups frozen corn, defrosted

Juice of 1 lime

She garnishes with sliced avocado which is clearly out for me as I am allergic to it.

In a large pot over medium heat cook your onions, garlic and salt and pepper--use oil or what ever you use. I use FryLight. Let cook a few minutes.

Add the celery, peppers, carrots and spices and stir again and cover and let cook for 6-7 minutes until everything starts to soften.

Add the beans, vegetable stock, water, sundried tomatoes and their tomato-y delicious soaking liquid, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, Tabasco. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf--don’t be like those mad old lunch ladies who used it leave it in, plonk it on your plate and then ominously warn small children “Don’t eat the leaf” and scare them making them think it was poisonous. Or was that just me then?

Any way, as I was saying. Remove the bay leaf and then add ½ cup of the corn and using an immersion blender or stick blender as I call it, puree the soup until it is smooth but still has some texture. Add the rest of the corn and cover and simmer for a few more minutes then add your lime juice.  Serve over brown rice or whatever grain you fancy. When we eat part 2 we’ll probably use quinoa. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

We interupt this programme for an important weather bulletin

We have snow! Granted, not very much--more like a dusting of powdered sugar on the grass---but it is snow! It snows every year here, but usually waits until February or early March to do it. Those snows are deeper--often a day off from school sort of snow. This was just like a little dusting that melted when the sun came out. By the time you woke up and found the camera it was starting to melt away. But this might mean there is more, heavier snow on the horizon. Will keep you posted. I leave you with a favourite poem by Robert Frost that perfectly reminds me of our sprinkle of snow.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Secret Ingredient Blondies

Spiderman and I definitely have a sweet tooth, but over the years as we started eliminating ready made processed baked goods and started baking our own vegan ones with wholemeal flour and lower sugar we discovered that commercially made stuff is just too tooth achingly sweet--not to mention that they were most likely sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup or artificial sweeteners. We like our stuff sweet--but not too sweet. When I saw this recipe on No Meat Athlete’s blog  I knew we had to try it. You can see by the photo that we couldn’t wait and had to try it before we photographed it.

Rich, decadent, wholemeal blondies that were not overly sweet and fat free aside from the nuts--a dream come true. Plus they are full of fibre and protein from the secret ingredient that replaces the fat and makes these babies moist and tender. What’s the secret ingredient? Guess. Come on, guess. You’ll never get it in a bajillion years. Give up? OK, lean in close because I’m about to whisper it to you. It’s a tin of white beans.  Seriously. And you’d never know it. All you know is they are dense and moist and chewy and yum.

I cut back the sugar even more that their recipe suggested--from 1 cup down to ½ cup and it was plenty fine as it also had dates in it which are sweet as well. Their recipe called for ¼ cup of rum to give it a butterscotch feel. I didn’t have any rum just laying about because my Pirate friends nicked it  before sailing away somewhere (OK--that’s a lie. I just wanted to say Yo Ho Ho and Bottle of Rum in a Pirate-y voice.) so I subbed ¼ cup maple syrup which also gives it a buttery, sweet flavour. Another reason to reduce the sugar. And when I say maple syrup I mean the good stuff that comes from a tree in Vermont and not that Aunt Jemima rubbish that you put on pancakes, ya dig? They used macadamia nuts but I used walnuts as that was what I had and they were delish. The recipe just said white beans so I chose haricot beans --the kind cowboy beans (baked beans) are made from--because they are a bean high in calcium. Here is a link to the original recipe--if you want to make it their way, but my way was really good too.  http://www.nomeatathlete.com/vegan-blondies/ 

Vegan White Bean Blondies

1 ½ cups wholemeal flour--I used wholemeal spelt

1 ½ tsp salt--I used lo-salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup Demerara sugar

1 15oz tin white beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup dates--I did ¾ medjool and ¼ deglat noor

¼ cup maple syrup

1 TB apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F

Sift flour, salt, baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and set aside.

In your food processor whiz the beans with the dates and maple syrup. Add the water and vinegar and blitz until it forms a smooth puree.

Fold the bean mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Grease a 9 x13 (my pan was 9 x 12 and they came out fine) and spread the batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes turning the pan around half way through to ensure even cooking. A knife through the centre shouls come out clean. Mine took 28 minutes to get nice and brown on the edges and golden on top.

This is the hard bit: let cool then slice into squares. Ours made 15 squares. We ate 2 while still slightly warm because we were greedy guts and couldn’t wait, as you saw in the photo.

Make them for your friends but don’t tell them the secret ingredient until after they have raved about them.