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Butternut Squash Latkes

12/21/2014

Happy Chanukkah! Latkes, potato pancakes, fritters, whatever you want to call them, they're delicious. Unfortunately, most recipes call for egg as a binding agent, making them not vegan.

I had a lot of squash that I needed to cook, so I thought since it was Hanukkah I would make a vegan version! This is decidedly not a healthy recipe. I made them the old fashioned way - cooking them on the stove with a ton of oil. It's my first time making vegan latkes so I wanted to make sure I had the ingredient ratio down before I started messing with the cooking method.

Jay thought that the big pile of latkes looked more appetizing than the single latke so he had me take this pic as well

I used Ener G Egg Replacer and was a bit nervous about how good of a job it would do since it normally seems pretty liquidy to me, but it worked great! You could also use flax or chia seeds. I'm interested in how well quinoa or beans would work in place of the bread crumbs and egg replacer as a binding agent. Stay tuned for a recipe using those ingredients! What's your favorite way to make latkes?

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash
1 Onion
4 eggs-worth of Egg Replacer
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
Olive oil

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Instructions:
Grate butternut squash into a large bowl. Dice onion and add to the bowl. Prepare egg replacer and combine with squash and onion. Add bread crumbs and mix all the ingredients together well.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan over medium heat. Grab about a quarter to a half cup of the squash mixture and form into a patty-like shape in your hands. Place on the pan. I was able to get three latkes on my pan at a time, but put whatever fits so that you have room to flip them. Cover and let sit for about 3 minutes. Check the latkes to make sure they are not sticking and are getting crispy on the bottom. Depending on the thickness of your latke you may need to adjust the heat of your stove so that the inside can cook without burning the bottom of your latke. Once you have gotten a desired about of crispness, flip over and do the same on the other side.

Continue until all of your batter has been cooked. Top with some apple sauce or vegan sour cream and enjoy!

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Falafel King, Boston

12/20/2014

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Jay and I grabbed a quick bite last night at Falafel King in downtown Boston. I had heard good things about it wanted to give it a try. They have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options - falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, grape leaves, and tabbouleh. You can get everything as a wrap or on a platter.

The falafel was nice and crispy on the outside and not too dry. Although they were pretty big so you needed to eat them with some hummus or baba ganoush. Everything was great. A good quality meal if you're looking for something quick!

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Sake Hana in Westborough, MA

12/17/2014

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Last week I didn't have anything to eat for lunch so I got takeout from a place near my office in Westborough called Sake Hana. They had some great lunch specials! I got everything you see below for 10 dollars! Miso soup, salad with ginger dressing, rice, veggie gyoza, avocado and cucumber sushi (California minus the crab stick), and teriyaki tofu (the teryiaki sauce is on the side).

It was so much food I saved the sushi and miso soup for dinner! The tofu came with a piece of carrot and broccoli and some cooked onions. The onions weren't cooked very long so they were pretty intense, I only ate a couple.

They used a bit too much styrofoam for my liking, and it was a lot of packaging, but its hard to find places out here that don't use styrofoam.

I'm sure teriyaki sauce wasn't the healthiest thing I could get. But it was delicious! I probably should have gotten one of the other lunch specials that came with just sushi, soup, and salad. They had a lot of veggie sushi options so maybe I'll get that next time!

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Bigham Tavern, Pittsburgh

12/16/2014

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The night before Thanksgiving I went out with my friends from college back in Pittsburgh. One of my good friends lives up on Mount Washington so we went to a place down the street from her - Bigham Tavern. It was super fun! They have a great beer selection and a really interesting menu - not just your normal bar food.

They have a lot of veggie options - veggie and hummus flat bread, veggie burger, a ton of salads, and a veggie wrap. I went for the veggie and hummus flat bread. It was great, loaded with vegetables, and definitely filling. It came cold and the vegetables raw, not what I was expecting, but still good. It would have been nice to know that it was going to come cold - I might have gotten something else. I really wish I could've gotten the pretzel stick - I'm a sucker for soft pretzles - but unfortunately theirs (like most) comes with an egg wash. I can't wait to go back and try something else!

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Slow Cooker Vegan Lasagna

12/15/2014

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What a winning recipe! I like making slow cooker recipes when I'm home on the weekend. I was looking through my cookbook Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Patalsky and was inspired to make a vegan lasagna. I used tofu to make the ricotta and added tempeh to tomato sauce to make it resemble a meat sauce. Jay loved it! Here are some of his quotes while finishing his plate:

"Definitely Jay Approved!"
"I can't tell that this is vegan at all!"
"The tempeh tastes exactly like ground beef!"
"One of your better ones!"

He kept on raving on the texture of the tempeh and how it worked perfectly for ground beef!

This lasagna has tofu and tempeh in it - so it's packed with protein! Definitely a hearty meal. It doesn't serve quite as easily from the slow cooker since your slices will be taller than from a lasagna dish, so not every piece will include every layer. You can also cook this in the oven if you prefer.

Ingredients:
1 small onion
1 package tempeh
1 teaspoon vegan Worcester sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 large bunch of fresh cooking greens (I used kale) or two packages frozen
2 jars tomato sauce
1/2 package no boil lasagna noodles

Tofu Ricotta:
1 package firm tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Servings: 6 generous portions

Instructions:

To make the tempeh meat sauce: Dice onions and cook over medium heat until translucent. Crumble the tempeh and add to the pan. Add the soy sauce and Worcester sauce and stir to coat the tempeh. Combine with the tomato sauce.

To make the tofu ricotta: Press the tofu to remove excess water. Crumble it into a bowl and add the nutritional yeast, minced garlic, and onion powder.

If you're using fresh greens, chop them up and heat them in a pan with a little water just to wilt them a bit.

Oil the bottom of your crock pot and layer the ingredients inside. Start with the tomato sauce, then a layer of noodles, followed by the tofu ricotta and greens and then start over again with the sauce. After you've placed the top layer of noodles pour the rest of the sauce on top. Cook on high for 1.5 hours or on low for 3 hours. Serve and enjoy!

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Cashew Chik'n and Vegetable Stir Fry

12/14/2014

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Jay had been saying how he wanted something with peanut sauce after I made the spaghetti squash with peanut sauce the other day. I thought that I would mix it up a bit and use tahini to make a sesame sauce. I wanted a recipe that would use my winter vegetables and all the cooking greens that I had and I thought a stir fry would be great.

I used bean starch noodles, also referred to as cellophane or glass noodles. There are other varieties made with potatoes or starches. You can find them in the Asian food aisle at the grocery store. They are normally packaged in three bundles of dried noodles. I normally use one bundle at a time. The package says it has three servings, but once you add in vegetables that one serving goes a long way. Jay has always been creeped out by them and this time was no different. If you don't like glass noodles you can use any other type of Asian noodle.

I used the rest of the seitan from the stew I made last week, about a half a cup. Jay thought it did a good job of filling in for chicken and was pleasantly surprised by the texture.

Ingredients:
1 bundle bean starch (or other Asian) noodles
1 carrot
1 medium sweet potato
4 oz mushrooms
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 apple

1 bunch cooking greens (kale, chard, mustard greens, collards, etc.)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Sauce:
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon sambaal oleek or sriracha or red pepper flakes (optional)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Instructions:

Cook the noodles to package directions.

While the noodles are cooking, chop up all your vegetables in the order you'll cook them - garlic, onion, carrot, sweet potato, apple, mushrooms, greens. I like to start cooking the heavier vegetables while I chop the rest. Heat the garlic and onion over medium heat until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the carrots and sweet potato and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the apples, mushrooms, and seitan. Finally, add the greens and let them wilt.

To make the sauce combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. This makes enough sauce for a light coating, so if you want more you can increase the portion size of each ingredient. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and stir to evenly coat the dish.

I generally find that cellophane noodles tend to be very long, so after I drain them I like to put the whole pile on my cutting board and slice them once or twice. Combine the vegetables with the noddles. Serve and top with cashews. Enjoy!

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Brussel Sprout Casserole

12/12/2014

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Ingredients:
Brussel Sprouts
1/2 Cup Dry Millet
1 8 oz Package Tempeh
1 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
Orange Rind

Cranberry Sauce:
1 Pound Cranberries
Juice of 2 Oranges
5 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup Water (as needed)

I made this casserole for Thanksgiving this year. Since there's not much else at Thanksgiving that I can eat I wanted to make something that was substantial with vegetables and protein. A casserole seemed like the perfect way to combine everything together. I thought that brussel sprouts and cranberries would be a nice seasonal touch. I added millet and tempeh for some protein. My brother recently went gluten free so I decided to pick items that he could eat.

I hadn't had millet before, it's a gluten free grain from northern Africa, and it reminded me a lot of couscous. Tempeh is fermented soybeans so its a great source of probiotics. The fermentation process forms the soybeans into a loaf that then can be sliced or crumbled. When I used it sliced I like to slice it very thinly because I find it can sometimes be dry and ensure the rest of my recipe has enough moisture to make up for it - hence the cranberry sauce.

The cranberry sauce ended up being more involved than I thought. I wanted it to simply be cranberries and oranges so I didn't have too much sugar, etc. added in but cranberries are way more sour than I thought. I added the agave to temper the sourness and the coconut milk and water to thin it out (the coconut milk adds some sweetness as well). My original reasoning for adding the orange was because it was the featured ingredient in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, but it really adds a lot to the dish, especially the zest at the end. It's a finishing touch that often gets left off, but I urge you not to!

To go back to the previous post in the Virtual Vegan Potluck click here: A Journey with Tiffany
To move on to the next post click here: Coconut & Berries
To go to the beginning of the Virtual Vegan Potluck click here: Virtual Vegan Potluck

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 8 as a side

Instructions:

Prep your brussel sprouts by cutting the end off and slicing them in half. Steam them on top of the stove for about 5 minutes, so that they get soft but aren't cooked too much. If you don't have a steamer then put them in a pot with about half as much water as sprouts. Stir them a bit to even out the cooking, so the ones on the bottom are not super mushy. Coat the sprouts in balsamic vinegar.

Cook the millet according to package directions - bring 1 cup of water to a boil, add the millet and reduce to a simmer until the water is absorbed.

Combine the cranberry sauce ingredients in a sauce pan on the stove over medium heat. It will cook for about 10 minutes. You should hear the cranberries popping. Stir it throughout to prevent the sauce from burning. If the sauce is too tart add more agave or coconut milk - note that the agave will act as a thickener while the coconut milk will thin it out. If you want the sauce thinner but without adding more sweetener, then just add water. You want the sauce to be thin enough that it will drip down to coat all the ingredients in the casserole dish.

Slice the tempeh in thin strips. I find that tempeh can be dry, so I like to cut it thin in order to allow the sauce to soak into it as much as possible.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the sprouts and millet and add to the casserole dish (reserve some sprouts to put on top of the casserole). Cover with the strips of tempeh and pour the cranberry sauce on top. Cover and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Thinly slice the remaining sprouts. Remove the covering from the casserole and top with the thinly sliced sprouts. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the sprouts are browned. Top with orange zest and serve. Enjoy!

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Veggie Burger over Sweet Potato

12/11/2014

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I needed something quick to eat for dinner the other night so I threw this together. I used a veggie burger that I had in my freezer. This isn't one I made myself, although I've tried man times I have yet to perfect the art of the homemade veggie burger, they're always too mushy and fall apart. I used the best grocery-store bought veggies burgers I've ever had - Blue Mango Burgers. They're hand made in Maine with only 7 ingredients. For the longest time I could only find them at my local New England Whole Foods', but now they're sold by Something GUD so I can add them to my weekly vegetable orders whenever I need to, which is great because Jay loves them also so I like to always have some on hand.

I didn't have any bread on hand and have amassed quite a lot of root vegetables so I thought I would saute up sweet potatoes and use that as a setting for the burger. I figured this was a good time to use some more of my purple carrots and not have to worry about them turning everything purple! I still had some of the great baba ganoush that I had gotten with my previous Something GUD delivery.

Ingredients:
1 Veggie Burger
Sweet Potato
A Hand full of Salad Greens
1 Slice of Vegan Cheese (optional)
Half of a Carrot (shredded)
Dollop of Baba Ganoush

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 1

Instructions:
Slice the potato so that there is enough for the veggie burger to sit on. I had a rather wide sweet potato so I went with 4 large slices, but it depends on the width of your potatoes.

Heat the potato slices and veggie burger on the stove over medium heat, using either oil or water to keep it from sticking. About 5 minutes on each side should be good. If you have vegan cheese you can put that on about a minute before your burger is ready.

Plate the sweet potatoes and lay the veggie burger on it. Top with buba ganoush, some salad greens and shredded carrot. Enjoy!

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Ma Po Tofu from Sesame Inn

12/4/2014

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Last week while I was at home my lovely aunt treated me to Chinese food for dinner. We chose Sesame Inn, my favorite Chinese restaurant in Pittsburgh. Their original (or at least I think it's the original...) location is in Mount Lebanon, near my house, and my family has been getting take out from there for years.

I used to get the Garlic Chicken or Orange Chicken because I liked the combo of vegetables and spiciness. Since I became vegan I was turned on to Thai food - I would now say that when I am in the mood for Asian food I pick a Thai noodle dish. However, most Chinese noodles like Lo Mein and Chow Mein are made with egg noodles. Most Chinese vegetarian dishes that are a combination of tofu and vegetables don't come with a spicy sauce, so i generally have to pick between a spicy sauce or some vegetables with my tofu. I've heard many bloggers talk about how much they love Ma Po tofu and how they've made their own recipes for it, so I thought I would give it a shot!

It was great! I good combination of tofu and vegetables. I do have to say that it was very spicy. I needed aaaaaa lot of rice, water, and wine to calm it down - and I like spicy stuff! I don't know what it was but there was something in the after taste that had a ton of spice in it. I don't know if this is typical of all Ma Po dishes, but it is of this one! Anyway I love Sesame Inn and you should all give them a try!

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Purple Carrot Stew

12/3/2014

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Purple carrots? yep! Purple is actually carrots original color - orange didn't become the standard color until the late 1600s when the Dutch bred them to be orange in honor of William of Orange. While there are slight difference in flavor based on the color of a carrot, they all generally taste like carrots, so don't be cautious about trying different colors - it'll just add more nutrient variety into your diet, which is something we should all strive for. Since I was using sweet potatoes I thought I would use purple carrots instead of the typical orange to balance out the color in the dish - instead I just turned the whole thing purple.

So you can thank purple carrots for the lovely color of this stew, which turned my sweet potato stew into purple carrot stew. There is something about purple vegetables (I'm looking at you beets) that dyes everything they come in contact with more so than the pigment in any other vegetable. Next time I prepare purple carrots I'll have to cook them on their own, like grilling or roasting.

I added seitan into this dish as a protein source. If you don't have any, fear not, you can easily use beans, tempeh, tofu, or a grain instead - I actually got them all out and deliberated over which I wanted to use. For those who haven't had it before, seitan is an ancient Chinese protein source made with wheat gluten, water, and spices, in it's most basic sense.

Ingredients:
1/2 Onion
1 Cup Almond Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 Cup Water
2 Large Carrots, chopped
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes, chopped
1 Sprig of fresh Thyme
1 Cup Seitan (sub beans, tempeh, or tofu to make it gluten free), chopped to the same size as the carrots and potatoes
1/2 Cup Lentils
2 Cups Kale, chopped
2 teaspoons Ginger
1 teaspoon Garlic

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Servings: 4

Instructions:

Dice the onion and heat it in a large sauce pan on medium heat with a little bit of water or oil until it becomes translucent. Add the milk, water, carrots, potatoes, and thyme. Cover and cook on low heat for about an hour.

Add the seitan and lentils and cook for another 45 or until the lentils have absorbed enough water to your desired consistency. I prefer stews over soups, which is why I added in the lentils (to absorb the water), so you can add more water or cook for less time if you water it to be soupier.

Add the kale, garlic, and ginger and stir until the kale is wilted. Serve and enjoy! Store any leftovers for lunch!

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<<Previous

Butternut Squash Latkes

Falafel King, Boston

Sake Hana in Westborough, MA

Bigham Tavern, Pittsburgh

Slow Cooker Vegan Lasagna

Cashew Chik'n and Vegetable Stir Fry

Brussel Sprout Casserole

Veggie Burger over Sweet Potato

Ma Po Tofu from Sesame Inn

Purple Carrot Stew

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