Vegan BBQ

Now that the weather is warm, people often comment to us about how much we must miss having a bbq. Umm, actually no, we don't miss it at all because we bbq at least  once a week. But what? Tofu dogs? NO WAY! We bbq vegetables and tons of them. It's my favourite way to eat the summer bounty from the local gardens.

This is not a recipe but more of a methods page for bbq-ing a variety of yummy veggies. If you have another favourite, let me know and I will add it to this page.

Forget the meat! Searing meat on a bbq is toxic anyway. Try these yummy vegetables instead. We have a tiny Weber Q100 BBQ that we use on high but if you have a a big bbq, medium will probably be high enough.

Beets
So easy! Cut off the tops (you can eat those greens like spinach or chard), trim the root, give the skin a quick wash and place on a the grill. No need to peel. The size of the beet will determine the amount of time it will take to cook. As the outside blackens and blisters, turn the beet to cook all the way around. It's cooked when a skewer goes through. You can peel them while they are hot or let them cool, leave in the fridge overnight, and then peel them even more easily. They are sugary sweet!

 Asparagus
Corey's favourite way to do asparagus is to give them a quick rinse and dry, snap off the bottom (the thicker the asparagus, the better it will be - thinner asparagus is not better), place in a shallow pan and drizzle olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper on the spears. Place the thicker stems on the bbq first and leave them to cook until they are almost charred - they turn an olive green and get soft. Flip and leave on the other side for a couple minutes. You really want the first side to be well cooked before flipping.

If you ever have leftover grilled asparagus, check out my corn soup which will be posted soon!

Yams
We ate giant yams in China that were cooked inside oil drums filled with coals. These you can do like potatoes on the grill - just leave on the grill and turn as the skin goes black and blistered. Just like the beets!

Eggplant Version 1
If you are making something like Baba Ganouj (an eggplant dip) or an Indian roasted eggplant dish, you just buy a big eggplant and put it on the bbq to blacken and blister (like the beets again!). The eggplant will swell and burst as it cooks and will need to be gently lifted onto a plate or else it'll just ooze a mushy mess onto your grill.


Eggplant Version 2, Zucchini, Pattypan Squash
Cut the veggies in half and toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on the grill cut side down and leave to grill until soft for the eggplant and al-dente for the summer squashes. You can flip them if you want but I don't always do the flip.

Onions
Peel but don't cut the ends off. Cut the whole onion into 4 pieces. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and grill on all three sides. If you do cut the ends off, just put on a skewer to grill or else the pieces will fall apart.

Tomatoes, Green Onions, Mushrooms
Yuck. Hot tomatoes. Why waste them? Eat them raw. Green Onions are just as yucky bbq-ed as they are raw but Corey really likes them. Toss in olive oil and salt and grill whole. Same goes for mushrooms. These will shrivel and become even worse tasting as they cook.

Portobello Mushrooms
These are my yummy exceptions to the yucky brown mushroom rule (they are, after all, just overgrown brown mushrooms.) Remove the stem and scrape out the gills under the cap. You can grill these whole and eat them like a burger or you can slice them. They marinate beautifully and take well to bbq sauce while you are grilling them. If you can press them will a panini cast iron press that you've heated up, that makes them even fleshier.

Garlic
Take a whole head of garlic. Cut off the top to expose the cloves. Place on a piece of foil. Drizzle olive oil over the top into the cloves, sprinkle in coarse salt and pepper. Bring up the sides of the foil and twist it together like a Hershey Kiss. Place on the grill for 30-45 minutes on low to medium. If the grill is too hot the bottom will burn. 

So there you go! You can add sauces, marinades, fresh herbs or flavoured salts to your veggies before or during the grilling time to play with the flavour. You don't need a bbq wok or veggie cage like you see at the local stores, nor do you need to wrap anything in foil except the garlic.

Rhubarb Bars

I love stewed rhubarb poured over ice cream. It's a spring treat for me. Vegan ice cream is yucky however so that limits my indulgence. (If you have a favourite vegan ice cream, please let me know!) I bought rhubarb last week and then realized that I didn't know what to do with it anymore. Rhubarb is not a common ingredient in recipe books but I found this one recipe that I decided to try.

I found it a bit sweet so I will cut the sugar I half next time to see if that makes a difference. It ends up like a fig newton type bar. Don't worry if the dough seems too crumbly to actually become one solid piece; it does come together in the oven.

Rhubarb Bar (adapted from Extra Vegan Za)

3 cups rhubarb cut in 1/2" pieces
3/4 cup organic sugar (I will use only 1/2 cup next time)
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups spelt flour (or regular flour if gluten isn't an issue)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (these are not gluten free)
3/4 cups organic sugar (to be reduced again next time)
3/4 cup hard margarine (not the tub - Earth Balance is vegan)

Put the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and the rhubarb becomes mushy. This mixture will become thick. Remove from heat and let cool while you make the dough.

Heat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Cut the margarine into chunks and drop into the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, work the margarine into the dry ingredients until you have a crumbly dough once all the margarine is mixed in.

Press 1/2 the dough into a greased 9x13 pan. You want to press this dough together as much as possible so that it's like a big flat cookie. Spread the rhubarb mixture on this layer. Crumble the rest of the dough on top to cover the rhubarb. No need to press this down.

Bake for 40 minutes and then let cool completely before cutting.


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Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes

Corey has found that wheat is spiking his blood sugar so I am attempting to try different flours that are gluten-free to see if that helps.

I bought buckwheat flour which is quite a dark flour that the Japanese use for soba noodles. I tried making my muffins with them and they turned out like large sandy dark brown shortbread muffins. They sucked any moisture in our mouth completely out making the muffin rather difficult to swallow. Not the right type of flour to use for baking!

I found a recipe for gluten-free pancakes that uses a variety of flours but I decided to try them with my buckwheat flour. Nothing to lose! They were really yummy and we will have them again. They actually have some flavour and they aren't too sweet either. I'm sure any gluten-free flour would work but you may need to play with the moisture content.

Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the middle and add all the wet ingredients. Use a fork and mix the ingredients together for a minute. Leave the batter to rest for about 10 minutes while you get the pan ready.

Pre-heat a frying pan on medium-high heat. Give it a quick spray with cooking spray. Use 1/4 cup batter per pancake. I got 3 pancakes to cook at once in my pan. Turn the heat down to medium. Leave to cook about 3 minutes. The pancakes will bubble a little but not like normal pancakes. Flip and cook the other side for another 3 minutes.

Put the pancakes in a warm oven while you cook the rest of the batter. This recipe made 9 pancakes which was plenty for Corey and I. Eat with fresh raspberries or other berries of choice. I also drowned mine in maple syrup.




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Slow Cooker Spicy Tofu and Mushrooms

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post... School is keeping me busy as is general life for some strange reason! Maybe it's because it's getting sunnier and warmer and I want to be outside or in the garden instead of inside! I can see that some of my posts may be done sitting in the park with my iPad on my lap. Sounds lovely eh?

I made this last week for dinner and it was yummy. The recipe is called MaPo Tofu but it reminds me nothing of the MaPo Tofu we ate in China so this is my modified recipe for:

Spicy Tofu and Mushrooms

1 can of straw mushrooms or a handful of any fresh mushrooms you like
2 packages of medium/firm tofu cut into cubes
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp black bean paste or red bean chili paste
2 tsp sriracha or sambal oelek or other hot sauce of your choice
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
3 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup water
1/4 cup white wine

Mix all the sauce ingredients in the slow cooker then stir in the tofu and mushrooms. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you want to thicken the sauce, turn the heat up to high 30 minutes before the end and mix 3 tbsp of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of the sauce then stir it into the slow cooker. Cover and leave it for the 30 minutes left. You can also add broccoli or green beans or peas at this point as well to add some green.

Happy meatless Victoria Day Monday tomorrow!


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Yummy Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are a sure sign of spring for me. I always look forward to my one feast of fiddleheads which usually coincides with the start of local asparagus. Last week Urban Harvest offered fiddleheads and this week is the first fresh local organic asparagus. I LOVE spring!!

Fiddleheads are unfurled fern tops that look like the top of a violin. In French they are called tête de violon or violin heads.

Fiddleheads are very toxic if not prepared properly. If you eat them al dente or worse yet, raw, you will have an upset tummy, you will vomit and all sorts of other gastric nasties will befall you. Trust me, you do not want to go there and there is even a health warning by the Canadian Health Bureau about fiddleheads. It's serious!

That being said, fiddleheads are easy to prepare and yummy to eat. When you buy them, think of them in the same line as asparagus. You want them to be green and crispy, not limp. They must be unfurled. Another warning... they are expensive!

Fill your sink with cold water and dump in the fiddleheads. Cut off the stem to the point where the fern is curled. Rub off the brown beard that these ferns have to leave only green (some brown is okay but the cleaner the better.) Empty out the water in the sink and rinse the fiddleheads again in another bath of cold water.




You can see the brown beards on these unwashed fiddleheads. That long stem will be cut off completely.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Toss in the fiddleheads and leave to boil for 10-15 minutes until they are soft. Not mush but not al dente (see note above about health issues!)

At this point I just toss them with some margarine
and eat them like that. Sometimes I toss in a bit of reduced sodium soy sauce. You can also toss the fiddleheads into pasta or make a stirfry with them after they are boiled I just like to enjoy the nutty flavour of them without anything else.

Yum!


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Meatless Monday goes East Indian

Here are a couple easy recipes for Meatless Monday. I find Indian food always tastes better the next day but these recipes are fast to make and don't use a lot of unusual spices so you can make them as a last minute meal as well. You should have a a good gram masala in your cupboard anyway for any Indian cooking. It's a blend of various spices.

These are one pot recipes too which is always an added bonus as far as I'm concerned.

Saag Paneer uses Indian cheese but in my recipe I use medium firm tofu to replicate the texture of the cheese. Don't mix it too much once you've added the tofu or else it'll just be a mess. Still yummy but not as appetizing to look at!

Vegan Saag Paneer

1 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion chopped into big chunks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping tsp minced ginger (I buy mine in jars and keep it in the fridge. So much easier and convenient! You can also freeze ginger to always have it on hand.)
1/2 large box or bag of spinach or more as desired
1 cup hot water
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp garam masala
1 pkg medium tofu cut into 1" cubes

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger until it starts to brown. Toss in the spinach, stir and cover for a minutes to let the spinach start to wilt. Add the cup of water, puts the lid on again and let the mixture cook until all the spinach is soft and wilted. Using an immersion blender, blend it all to a green pulp. Add the spices and stir to combine. Lastly, gently add the cubes of tofu and mix them into the spinach. Heat it through. Voilà!


No Indian meal is complete without a lentil dish. These are Corey's favourite part of the meal.

Parippu

1 1/2 cup red lentils
1 onion roughly chopped
1 tomato roughly chopped
1 cup coconut milk (I buy the 50g packages of powdered coconut and add that with an extra cup of water)
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander

Check your lentils carefully. Pour a single layer onto a plate and swish them around, looking for debris like little pebbles or seeds. I always check my lentils and find a pebble that needs to be removed. Add all the ingredients into a saucepan. Bring up to a boil, turn down heat to low and leave to simmer about 25 minutes. Stir occasionally. Watch because the mixture may suddenly become dry. If that's happens, add a bit more water. That's it!


For an extra treat, you can make your own chai latté too. This recipe comes from a cooking lesson at a little Indian restaurant on Vancouver Island that Mum gave to Corey for Christmas one year. What a great gift!

Chai

For every cup of chai that you are preparing, put in a saucepan:
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2 green cardamon pods, cracked
4 black peppercorns
1 clove
1 tsp rock sugar
Plus
1 black tea bag per batch (not per cup)

Add equal parts water and "milk" into the pan with the spices and tea bag. Simmer but don't boil or else you'll scald the milk. Strain. Serve immediately!



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Drunken Beans

I like my slow cooker. I like finding recipes that are vegan for my slow cooker. No matter how lousy I feel, it takes little effort to throw things into the pot and turn it on for a cooked meal later in the day. That way if I feel better then the food is cooked and if I still feel lousy the food is cooked. Win-win situation.

This makes a small portion so next time I would double the recipe. That would require a lot of rum but never mind! We ate this on noodles but you could serve it on any starch or even have it on a salad to make like a taco salad or in lettuce wraps or in tacos. It's not very soupy so it won't drip everywhere if you do eat it with your hands.

Drunken Beans (adapted from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester)

1 small onion, chopped
3 cups cooked beans pinto-black-garbanzo etc (or 2 cans of  beans if you don't have your own in the freezer)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rum
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cube "chicken" stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in the crockpot! Mix, cook on low 6-8 hours and enjoy.