Family Lasagna

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 20: Veganize an old family recipe.

If our family has a "recipe" it has to be lasagna. We had this lasagna every Christmas and Easter, many times during the year for Sunday dinner, and it was always what I requested for my birthday meal. Everyone in our family loves it, and my brothers and I all make our own versions to keep the recipe alive.

I've never seen a written recipe for it, because I don't think there is one. My paternal grandmother showed my mom how to make it when my folks were married and that was that. It's straightforward, and doesn't need much explanation, and it's also very easy to veganize.

Of course it's versatile. I often layer other vegetables into it and add other bells and whistles, but this  is our quintessential family version: just homemade sauce, ricotta filling, and either parmesan and/or mozzarella on top.

The original filling consists of ricotta, egg, grated parmesan, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper. I make mine by blending ground almonds, extra firm tofu, lemon juice, garlic granules, salt and pepper in a food processor and then stirring in parsley leaves. As a kid, it was always my job to pick the parsley off the stems to put in the filling.

More often than not, I use nut parmesan for the topping. It's how my mom makes it--no mozzarella, just parmesan--this contains ground blanched almonds, minced garlic, and kala namak salt. 

There's a bit of rivalry between us siblings as to who makes the best version...as far as I'm concerned mine wins, if only for being vegan.

I'm bummed for having missed several MoFo prompts; I was thinking of going back and making up the ones I missed, but then I'd fall even further behind. Well done to all the MoFoers who have been posting everyday. It's difficult to do--your efforts are appreciated!

Curried Tofu Salad on Sourdough

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 5 & 6: Best Sandwich Ever/Recreate a restaurant meal.

This is the sandwich I wanted to post yesterday, but was thwarted by a leaking kitchen sink. However, it worked out fine because this can also double as a recreated restaurant dish.

This is my version of Wayward Vegan Cafe's curried tofu salad. I haven't eaten in the cafe yet, but they sell pre-made sandwiches to a neighborhood grocery store and I bought one of these in the deli section. The sandwich is called the Tofu Curry Bomber, and it is a taste bomb for sure; full of texture, spice and creaminess. I don't think the sandwich itself is on the menu in the restaurant, so it must be something they only sell wholesale.

The salad consists of extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into small cubes, and finely diced red onion, celery, jalapeno, green apple, and raisins (whole, not diced). (Grapes are good in this too.) I season it with a couple teaspoons of curry powder, about 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala, a teaspoon of turmeric, and salt and pepper. I also add a splash of apple cider vinegar, a splash of hot sauce, and chopped cilantro.

I just use cashew yogurt instead of mayo, to which I add some finely minced garlic, a pinch of dry mustard, and a small bit of agave syrup. Although, I don't always eat this as a sandwich (it's good thrown on top of a kale salad too), when I do eat it this way,  I think the sourdough is essential; it adds an extra tangy-ness.

Happy Mo-Foing everyone!

Quick and Easy Thai Salad with Tofu

Vegan MoFo 2015 Day 3: Quick, easy and delicious.

 

What's quicker than tossing a bunch of veggies into a yummy salad? This isn't as much of a recipe for a salad as it is for the dressing, which is inspired by Thai flavor combos. 

Toss in any veggies you want. I used red and green cabbage, mixed greens, green onion, cucumber, chili pepper, radish, and carrot. With some baked tofu cubes and a sprinkle of ground peanuts, this makes a sweet and spicy meal with plenty of crunch. Garnish with cilantro and Thai basil, and serve with lime wedges.

Sub the tofu out for anything you like; a beef-style seitan would work well, as would tempeh or beans. If you want to bulk it up some more, add chunks of sweet potato or kabocha squash.

 

 

 Thai-inspired Dressing or Marinade

2 Tablespoons lime juice

2 Tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar 

2 Tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sambal oelek

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 Tablespoons oil (a neutral-flavored oil works best)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.  Have a taste of the dressing and adjust to your preferences if necessary.

Happy Mofo-ing everyone!!

Stuff I Never Posted

Season's Greetings everyone! I haven't been too active here lately, so I thought I'd shake off my blog paralysis with some blasts from the recent past, some stuff I never posted. All the way from August, this was a white gazpacho: lemon cucumber, fennel, garlic, white onion, celery and blanched almonds. Seasoned with salt and white pepper and topped with smoked paprika and basil oil, it was very summery and refreshing, but I prefer tomato gazpacho.

From not quite so long ago, this was the main course I made for our Thanksgiving dinner. We were at my bro's house, and I brought these along for our vegan dinner. My niece, who's vegetarian ate them too. What are they you ask? 

Why, they're cashew, leek, and mushroom stacks of course. These were inspired by a recipe from a vegetarian cafe I worked at back in 03/04. The base is sprouted bread crumbs and cashews sauteed with garlic, onion, and herbs. The filling is the part I tweaked. I don't remember exactly what went into the filling at the restaurant, but I made this one by blending tofu, white miso, ume vinegar, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and some mushroom powder. The powder I made by grinding up some dried forest mushrooms; it imparted a great umami flavor, but a little goes a long way.  Then I stirred in some sauteed crimini and maitake mushrooms, shallots, and parsley to the tofu mix, and topped off the stacks with sherry-braised leeks and raw cranberries.

Once the cashew crust, tofu, and toppings were layered in these nifty open-bottom molds, they went into a 350 F oven for about 30 minutes. The cranberries cooked down, and once out of the oven, garnished with some ground hazelnuts or walnuts, these make a flavorful and festive little main course.

We also had some vegan stuffing: herbed walnut baguette, sourdough baquette, walnuts, apples, and wild rice along with the usual stuffing seasonings: onion, celery, thyme, parsley, veggie broth and Earth Balance. I served in a baked buttercup squash, which turned out kind of cute:

On to a quick mid-week lunch: one of MeloMeal's 3-ingredient bean burgers in an eggplant "bun" with sweet onion and ginger-tomato chutney.

The next item is truly a blast from the past: spaghetti squash casserole, based on the recipe from one of the first Moosewood cookbooks. One of my college roommates and I used to love this recipe and made it a lot. We were vegetarian back then, not vegan, but the recipe was easy to veganize by using olive oil instead of butter and cashew cream and tofu ricotta instead of the cheeses. 

It totally looks like a piece of carrot cake, especially with the extra cashew cream and ground walnuts on top. 

Finally, this was a fairly recent meal. I started of by sauteeing loads of sliced garlic, (like a full heads-worth) some red pepper flakes and oregano, then added collard greens, crushed tomatoes, and oven-fried tofu and let it simmer for about 40 minutes.

 It was simple, but so tasty.  Next time I make it, I'll use two bunches of collards instead of just one, just can't get enough of it! 

Happy holiday season to all! 

Thai Curry-Coconut Squash (and other eats)

This is such a simple and tasty dish. It's one of our favorites, and it makes a great side dish or a meal in itself along with a bit of brown rice and tofu or what have you...toss in some greens even. We like to eat it chunky, but you could also puree it into soup if you prefer.

Start with a kabocha squash...butternut would work too, but you want a nice sturdy squash that will hold its shape while gently braising. Cut  the squash into big chunks (if it's organic, I leave the skin on; it really becomes quite soft and palatable with braising, but it's up to you). Whisk together 2 parts unsalted veggie broth, 1 part full-fat coconut milk, and some Thai curry paste to taste. Bring the broth mix to a simmer then add the squash and let it cook gently over low until the squash is nice and soft, but still holding its shape.

Just in passing, I like Chaokoh brand coconut milk; it's good stuff, sumptuously thick and creamy. The only way it could be better is if it were organic...but hey, it's not a perfect world. Of course it's up to you, but, if you're inclined to buy light coconut milk because of fat/calorie concerns, my advice is: don't. Just buy full-fat and dilute it; you get twice as much for your money. (It stores fine in the freezer too.)

Use whatever type of curry paste you prefer. Green curry would be good too, but I prefer  a yellow or red curry paste. Heck, you could use more of an Indian style curry or whatever suits your fancy, so long as it's tasty.

These are rough estimates, but for ~2.5 lbs of chopped squash, I'll use 2 cups veggie broth, 1 cup thick coconut milk and 1 generous Tablespoon curry paste. (Adjust the paste to taste.)  Saltiness of prepared curries differ, so I recommend using unsalted veggie broth and then adding salt to the coconut/broth/curry mix if need be.

Serve with generous amounts of fresh squeezed lime juice, and garnish with chili sauce if you want more heat. Lime rounds out the flavor nicely. 

In other news, I don't blog about everyday eats very often, but here are some recent weeknight meals:

Big salad of lacinato kale, chard, and romaine along with shredded carrot, red cabbage, sweet onion, and cherry tomato, topped with some oven-roasted buffalo-style tofu. I made the buffalo sauce starting with tomato paste, vinegar, and coconut palm sugar, and garlic, then added water and a generous amount of Tapatio sauce. It was spicy!

After the pic, I dressed it with some vegan ranch dressing, (plain soy yogurt, cider vinegar, umeboshi vinegar, a pinch of kala namak salt and lots of garlic and herbs)...don't know whether ranch tastes like that dressing, but it was rich-tasting, garlicky and herby, and I thought it suited the spicy tofu well.

Another pile of greens, this time with roasted apple, brussel's sprouts, and Japanese sweet potato, green beans, pomegranite, hemp seeds, and tomato. Yam would have been nicer visually, but I can't resist Japanese sweet potato, they're so sweet and good. I think this was dressed with nut yeast, Bragg's aminos, and cider vinegar.

Very plain, but delicious nonetheless, lentils with Field Roast Italian-style Vegan sausage and kale. Saute base was celery/onion/ garlic and spiced with fennel seed, bay leaf, chili flakes and oregano.

And the true star of the bunch (in spite of being photographed in the drear of my kitchen) this sandwich was the farthest thing from dreary. It was one of the many sandwich creations sparked by Maud's enticing offering a while back. Seriously, versions of her sandwich did the rounds on the the blogs. My version ended up as balsamic-roasted eggplant, smoky white bean spread (basically hummus made with cannelini beans instead of garbanzos and a few drops of liquid smoke added), sun dried tomato pesto, baby greens, and sweet onion on a wheat/herb/walnut baguette. 

I'm really looking forward to the holiday season this year...(unlike in past few years for various reasons). The time for cozy nights and delicious harvest meals is upon us! What are any US vegans planning for Thanksgiving? I always look forward to seeing the many ingenious, sumptuous creations that end up on the holiday tables and shine at mixed gatherings!

Talk to you soon! 

Stuffed Mushrooms and Spicy Squash

The seasons have changed since the last time I posted, so I figured it was high time to move on to something more in keeping with them: hearty mushrooms and winter squash just seem to say autumn. 

Portabella steaks with vegan feta and savory stuffing, runner beans, and spicy caramelized squash

This meal was inspired by Michelle at Lovinlivinvegan, who has been posting about portabella steaks recently, and she pretty much convinced me it was high time to bring on some 'shrooms. She linked to Happy Herbivore's recipe, which includes a nice gravy.  I followed the recipe faithfully, except that I upped the sherry and reduced the balsamic in the gravy, and thickened it with a little arrowroot powder.

After I simmered the mushroom steaks, I decided to go a step further and stuff them with some of Happy Herbivore's vegan feta combined with a savory bread stuffing.

Happy Herbivore's Fat-free Vegan Feta

I really liked the feta recipe and that she included white miso in it. I added a little umeboshi vinegar to the mix. I'll definitely make this again, but next time I'm going to try it with a little less red wine vinegar and more lemon juice.

For the stuffing, I sauteed some onion, garlic, and celery; tossed in some sprouted grain bread crumbs and herbs, salt and pepper and a bit of veggie broth. I should have added walnuts and parsley, but I forgot.

After they were stuffed, I baked them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375 F, until the tops started to brown and turn golden. 

   Stuffed Portobellos pre-baking

Thanks to both Michelle and HH for the recipes and inspiration! 

Now, on to the squash. I got three mini hubbards out of the garden this year...that's it! Three. Pitiful. There were lots of squash on the vine, and I hand pollinated them just to make sure, but the squash just kept fading as if they hadn't been pollinated. I've grown squash and the like many times and done the hand pollinating, so not sure what went wrong. Any ideas? 

But, I'm moving off topic...I talk about the hubbards because that's what I used to make some spicy, garlicky, caramelized, oven-roasted squash.

I drizzled some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the squash chunks and sprinkled it liberally with red pepper flakes and some coconut palm sugar (wanted to use maple syrup, but I was out). Then, I baked the squash at 375 F for about 20-30 minutes. The squash chunks kind of look like avocado, because they  were slightly immature and still a little green under the skin. 

About 10 minutes before I took them out of the oven, I poured a mixture of soy sauce and water blended with about 8 cloves of garlic over the top. The result was some spicy, garlicky, caramelized squash.

Last but not least, hats off to all you Vegan MoFoers out there! I participated in '09 and in 2010, but I'm sitting this one out. That's partly because I didn't think I'd have the energy or time to blog that much this year, but mostly because in years past, I was so busy doing my own posts that I didn't have anywhere near as much time as I would have liked to read and explore other blogs. So this year, I'm cheering from the sidelines and reading to my heart's content.

Talk to you soon, and Happy October everybody!
Rose Tobin
Roseann LaPonte
Rosanne Marie Tobin

Birdhouse Mania and Into the Garden

I must have a secret love of birdhouses that even I didn't know about, because while rummaging through the gardening tools recently, I came across three birdhouses..."Where did these come from?" was what crossed my mind.

Most likely, they came from impulse purchases at the garden center, which I put away upon getting home and promptly forgot about. Anyway,  a stash like that shouldn't go to waste, so I hung them out.

The northwest corner of my garden seemed like a good place; the houses are facing south/southeast, so they'll get the first rays of light in the morning, and when the leaves come on the trees, that corner of the garden is shady throughout the afternoon.

You can just barely make them out; it'll be fun to see whether there'll be any takers:

I think I'm probably a little late for this nesting season though. Some chickadees already have their nest well underway in the neighbor's nest box.

As for the rest of the garden, I had a nice surprise when I removed the row cover from the main bed. The greens I planted last autumn overwintered pretty well and have started growing again over the last few weeks:

There are some turnip greens, some parsley, a few kale plants, a few collards and a little bit of chard and mustard, as well as a few rows of beets...











and some raddichio.

They've been under 2 layers of row cover and a poly tunnel all winter, and along with the fact that we didn't get a lot of really cold weather, they faired pretty well. I got a pretty good harvest, and should get a couple more before I start spring planting in another 10 days or so. 

The garlic is doing its thing. This is a hard neck variety, and I'm looking forward to garlic scapes, come June:

If you're wondering what all the drinking straws are about, most of them have fallen over, but I stuck them in the soil upright when I planted the garlic to deter the cats from digging there. They seem to love smooth, freshly worked soil, but once there's an obstacle course of straws or sticks, they lose interest. As the plants grow, they become their own obstacle course...if that makes any sense. 

As I mentioned, I'm waiting another 10 - 14 days to plant the bulk of my spring crops, but I've put in peas, favas, and potatoes already. 

I haven't had much success with potatoes in the past.

Two years ago, I built a potato cage, which was fun and rather spectacular, I had high, high hopes, but I got a small harvest.

Last year I switched to these "grow bags", which are containers made out of a thick black cloth that allows some air and moisture circulation. I got a very small harvest.


But, I'm trying again...who knows maybe third time's a charm. Anyone have any potato-growing tips?

The good thing about the grow bags it that they save on real estate in the garden beds.

Hanging bird houses and planting spuds is hungry work. This was a a yummy lunch of curried tofu salad (tofu, curry powder, lemon juice, celery, red onion, green olives, Bragg's aminos, nutritional yeast, 1/2 an avocado and some hot sauce):

Tailor's Collar Soup or Szabógallér-leves

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

Szabógallér-leves is a traditional Hungarian soup: "leves" = soup, and Szabógallér = tailors' collar, which refers to the triangular ravioli-esque dumplings that are in it. This is a rich broth with veggies, dumplings, and in this veganized version, baked tofu.

For this, I made two varieties of ravioli/dumpling fillings (traditionally meat) which were potato-chive-parsley, and walnut-sun dried tomato-paprika. I was torn as to which sounded better, so I made some of each. The dough is just a basic pasta dough...I always use Vegan Dad's recipe, which I highly recommend because it's easy to make and just as easy to work with.

To get started, make the dumplings:

Vegan  Szabógallér-leves Dumplings (Soup recipe follows)

(Of course, these fillings are just my suggestions...whatever mixture that sounds good to you would work.)

1 batch Vegan Dad's pasta dough

Walnut-Sun Dried Tomato-Paprika Filling:
1 cup raw walnuts
6 sun-dried tomato halves, chopped into small peices (if using dry packed ones, reconstitute them in some warm water or broth for about 30 minutes first)
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika (use sweet or hot...whatever suits your fancy)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste)

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until you get a mince-like texture.

Potato-Chive-Parsley Filling:

1 large potato
1 small handfull chives, chopped fine
1 small handfull parsley chopped fine
pinch of salt
Earth Balance or olive oil to taste

Boil the potato, then make a mash with the remaining ingredients.

Once you have your fillings and your dough made, roll out the dough to about 1/16 inch thickness. Cut out circles (~ 4-6 inches in diameter...the bigger the circle, the easier they are to make).

Cut each circle in half and place about 1 teaspoon (or more if it will fit) of filling on one side of the half circles. Make a "glue" by mixing 1 tsp flour with a little water to make a paste. Brush the pastry "glue" around the edges of each half circle. Fold the dough over lengthwise, and press the edges firmly, but gently with your fingers or a fork to seal the dumplings.

Now for the soup:

Vegan  Szabógallér-leves/Talior's Collar Soup
(serves 4)
6 cups rich veggie broth ( I used 1 cup no-beef broth, 2 cups low-sodium veggie broth, and 3 cups water)
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
2 carrots, diced large
1 (smallish) celeriac bulb, diced large
8 oz soy-baked tofu, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (I just marinated a few thick slices in soy sauce and baked them in the oven for ~ 10 minutes)
1 teaspoon whole pepper corns
Pinch of paprika (sweet or hot) to taste
Pre-made dumplings (see recipe above)
Salt if needed: depending on how salty the veggie broth is, you may not need to add any salt...taste and add salt if desired at the end

Saute the onion slowly over medium-low, allowing it to caramelize a little. Add in the garlic and saute for another ~ 2-3 minutes. Add in the peppercorns and veggie broth and bring up to a simmer. When the broth is simmering, add the carrots and the celeriac and continue to simmer gently. About 8 minutes before serving, gently drop in the dumplings and the tofu and continue to simmer until the dumplings float to the top. Taste for salt, add to taste if needed, and sprinkle with paprika to finish if desired.

dumplings and veggies simmering in broth
(The corner where my stove is has to be one of the darkest corners known to man.)

Note: The original recipe called for parsley root, which I didn't have. So, you may also want to add some parsley root along with the celeriac and carrot if you can find it.

This is a hearty and tasty soup; perfect for using autumn vegetables.

In doing some image searches, I see that the Hungarian capital is a beautiful city indeed:

 Source: http://www.budapest-transfers.net/

Széchenyi Chain Bridge over the River Danube between Buda and Pest 

and the Royal Palace Buda

 Source: http://www.destinationguidebudapest.com

Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom)

Source: http://www.destinationguidebudapest.com

Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom) by night

Source: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/

Budapest's Széchenyi Baths

Back in a day or two with another dish from Hungary. (All Hungarian, All the Time)
Rose Tobin Seattle

Roseann LaPonte

Rosanne Tobin