Pasta and Peppers

It is currently 39 degrees according to the weather man on our balcony. I don't doubt it... It's so hot that my greedy cats haven't asked for food since 11am...












...and my poor nasturtiums on the balcony have gone from being all perky this morning to wilted and cooked this afternoon.






What a perfect time to make a cold supper. Unfortunately, the cold supper I decided to prepare required boiling and baking which are not the best activities on the hottest day of 2015 so far! Oh well, hopefully it will be yummy.

I have two bags of mini peppers and while I love them raw, I decided to roast a few. The result is delicious!

Roasted Mini Sweet Peppers





20 mini sweet peppers
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put parchment on a baking sheet and place the peppers in a pile on the parchment. Drizzle olive oil on them and mix them around so they all glisten. Spread them out, sprinkle with salt (I used the new trendy Maldon salt flakes and proceeded to spill the container all over the counter and floor while I had oily fingers), crack black peppers over top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Take them out and eat hot or let cool but be forewarned that they will be very hot inside! When they are in the oven, they will still be all puffy but they will collapse once they start to cool.






I baked tofu at the same time as the oven was on as we needed something more than just roasted peppers! Tofu bakes for 60 minutes.

I also decided to make a pasta salad since Corey had been saying how much he was craving pasta salad and the one at IGA is certainly not vegan (or really that good in my opinion.) Why not just boil water while the oven is on??

Creamy Pasta Salad (it never makes a good photo!)





In a large bowl, mix:
4 cups cooked pasta
Celery
Peppers
Carrots
Any other raw veggies you like

In the Nutribullet or blender, blend:
1 pkg soft silken tofu (although medium or firm would be fine but not the banana flavoured kind)
3 tsp chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Pour over the pasta and veggies, mix, and put in the fridge until you eat! Pasta salad always tastes better the longer it sits. Well, not weeks but hours or a day.

And while the oven was on for the extra half hour for the tofu, I decided to make the rhubard loaf I wrote about last week except I made into muffins. They took 40 minutes to cook.

Not my proudest energy-conscious day as now the air conditioner is going full blast.

Have you tried this olive oil? It smells delicious and has a nice flavour.






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Roasted Veggies

It's not quite officially fall but the fall veggies are coming out so we made our first batch of roasted veggies tonight for dinner. The temperature is supposed to drop below freezing at the airport so the gardens will soon be cleaned out. It did snow in Calgary yesterday... That is a little depressing as it is only September 9th.







The beauty of roasted veggies is that almost any veggie can be used. Our mix today had baby potato, patipan squash, zucchini, carrot, celery, baby eggplant, garlic, and broccoli. Normally we would have added cubes of onion but we suddenly realized that we had none! We also often add cubes of tofu.

I roasted an acorn squash and beets at the same time to eat with the roasted veggie mix. Corey doesn't like beets so I keep them separate and the acorn squash tends to get too mushy.







Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Get the root vegetables you want. No need to peel unless you are adding beets directly to the mix in which case I would peel those. Cut them into cubes about 1 inch square.

Mix all the veggies together in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the veggies and several pinches of salt, cracks of black pepper, and shakes of italian herb mix. You could use any spices you like.

Mix, mix, mix then spread the veggies out over one or two cookie sheets. You don't want the veggies crammed together or else they won't cook properly. Put them in the oven and wait. After 15 minutes, stir the veggies, switch the trays if you have two on separate levels, then leave them to bake some more.

Total cooking time is about an hour depending on the type of veggies and the thickness of your trays. Darker cookie trays take less time to cook.

As for the squash, I cut it in half lengthwise, then half widthwise, then into two pieces each to end up with eight pieces. Cut out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place skin side down on the tray. Leave in the oven with the veggies, about an hour or so, depending on the size of the squash.

My beets I just top and tail, rinse, and put directly on the bbq. Once they are black all around and I can stick a fork in them, I take them off the bbq, let them cool and peel them. You can do the same in the oven but they won't turn black. You'll have to test them for when they are soft enough to peel. I've heard that when they are soft you can take them out and put them into a paper bag to sweat for a few minutes and the peel comes off very easily. I've never tried.




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Baked Beans

So Corey and I have started griping about our limited and boring repertoire of food. Maybe it's the grey days but we are both uninspired when it comes to cooking and both of us are starting to crave pizza on a daily basis. However, we are trying our best to fight against this cooking lethargy and we are attempting new recipes from our plethora of cookbooks.

Tonight I tried a recipe for baked beans and we ate them on top of pasta (one thing to note - rice pasta does not freeze well as I found out when I reheated the pasta we had in the freezer... ugh! I just cooked a new bag.)

Baked Any Type of Beans

5 cups cooked beans (I used my frozen black-eyed peas but you could use kidney or pinto or other beans)
1 cup water
5 cloves garlic, gently crushed with the side of the knife
3 tbsp minced ginger
4 tbsp soya sauce
3 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup smoked tofu in small cubes
4 drops liquid smoke (or more or less depending on your smoked tofu or preference for the smoky flavour)

Preheat over to 375. Mix all the ingredients together and put into a bean pot or deep casserole dish with a lid. Bake for 45 minutes. Easy!

I love lasagna!

I used to make lasagna quite often but gave this wonderful one-pot meal up when we became vegan. I really don't like many of the soy cheese products and I try to avoid as much wheat as possible but when I came across this recipe in the Accidental Vegan cookbook I just bought, I could not resist (with a few modifications of course!) I was having good friends over for dinner so I decided they could be my guinea pigs. That's what good friends are for!

There are several steps for this recipe because you make all three sauces but each one is made quickly so the overall time is not a big deal. You could melt soy cheese on top but as we have recently discovered, some brands have casein from milk in them. Check your labels carefully.

I use the instant lasagna noodles because I hate fighting with lasagna noodles that stick in my pot when I am boiling them and then fall apart as I transfer them into the lasagna pan. It limits my options for "flavours" of lasagna noodles but for these rare occasions, I don't mind just eating plain white semolina flour noodles.

Spinach Pesto Lasagna

1. Spinach Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano (been to Abby's yet?)

2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6-8 large tomatoes skinned and chopped or just chopped fine
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add onions, garlic, herbs, spices and salt. Fry on medium heat until the onions start to become translucent. Add the tomatoes, lower heat, cover and let simmer 30 minutes. (This is when you make the other sauces.) Squeeze the water out of the spinach and mix it into the sauce. Let it heat through.

2. Pesto
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted in boiling water
2 cloves garlic
3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup shelled walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Put the garlic cloves in the food processor and chop finely. Drain the tomatoes and add all the ingredients to the food processor. Process until finely chopped and well mixed.

3. "Cheese" Sauce - nothing like cheese at all really except the creaminess of a cheese sauce
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (great source of B12 - one of the only sources for vegans)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp prepared mustard

Gently heat oil over medium-low heat. Add flour and yeast and whisk until it is all mixed together. It will be a combined crumbly mixture. Add the water, raise the heat to medium and whisk continuously until the sauce boils and thickens to the consistency of pea soup. It will burn fast so it is important to whisk it all the time. Remove from heat and whisk in the salt and mustard. 

LASAGNA

1 pkg express lasagna
1 pkg soft tofu, drained and crumbled into a bowl
the 3 sauces above

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the pesto into the bowl with the crumbled tofu. In a 9x13 pan, spread 1/3 of the tomato-spinach sauce. Layer noodles onto the sauce. Spread 1/2 the tofu-pesto sauce on top. Add another layer of noodles. Spread 1/3 of the tomato-spinach sauce on top then cover with the rest of the tofu-pesto sauce. Another layer of noodles. Cover with the rest of the tomato-spinach sauce. Pour the "cheese" sauce on top, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Each of the sauces are good on their own for pasta. I boil macaroni then fry onions and tomatoes together, toss in the macaroni, add the "cheese" sauce, put it in a baking dish, cover it with breadcrumbs and bake it for 20 minutes. Makes a great lunch!

Chocolate Pudding

This comes as a request from a friend who is apparently turning into a muffin because she is making my "instant yummy muffin" recipe all the time. I love this pudding recipe because it's fast, easy and yummy. I've served it on top of frozen blueberries and raspberries as a dessert for guests and no-one has complained that it tastes like tofu. That's the beauty of silken tofu. I buy mine at Superstore or Save-on-Foods.

Firm or Soft - whatever you can find.

Chocolate Pudding (adapted from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson)

1 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 12oz package of silken tofu
1 tsp vanilla extract
raspberries and blueberries

Melt the chocolate chips with the maple syrup in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave. Heat 30 seconds, stir, then heat again. Don't let it burn! Stir it and let it cool slightly.

Place the tofu and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Blend until it's smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture and blend until it's well combined.

Put blueberries and raspberries in the bottom of individual glasses or in a serving bowl. Cover with the pudding and refrigerate for 2 hours until it's firm (or eat it when it's more liquidy if you can't wait!)

Xi Nian Kuai Le

Or Gung Hei Fat Choy if you are from Hong Kong but as we celebrated Chinese New Year on the mainland, we learned the Mandarin version of the new year wish. Happy Year of the Dragon! It officially started on Monday but the celebrations go on for 14 days and end with the lantern festival.

To celebrate, Corey and I had a Huo Guo (Chinese Hot Pot) with Kim last night. Anyone who has had a Chinese fondue has had a type of huo guo. In China, a huo guo restaurant has tables with holes in the middle, large propane burners inside the hole, and steaming pots of spicy broth are placed on top of the burners. The pots are 24" in diameter and a rotating platform surrounds the pot has all the little dishes of yummy bits that are put into the soup to cook. Then there is the solid table where each person has a scoop, a set of chopsticks, a small plate and a bowl of garlic and sesame oil for dipping.

While we were in China, we had all sorts of yummy and more challenging bits thrown into the soup to eat including famous Chinese white broccoli (we were very excited about this new vegetable until we received a plate of cauliflower), various Chinese greens, lotus root, tofu, mushrooms, fish, pork, beef, fish heads, freshly killed eels in their own blood, congealed duck blood, frog skin, and my personal favourite - sheep's brain. No chicken because we were there during the bird flu epidemic and we were rarely served chicken at all.

Obviously the huo guo we made last night was a vegan version (and it's hard to find good congealed duck's blood here - sheesh!) We used our new fondue set that Santa brought for us at Christmas and we each had a little netted scoop that you can buy at the Asian market as well as chopsticks to eat with. Corey made the crushed garlic and sesame oil dipping sauce and we feasted on huo guo for Chinese New Year. Yummy!

Year of the Dragon Spicy Hot Pot

For the Soup:
2 tbsp oil
6 dried cayenne peppers (or 1 tbsp crushed dried chilies)
2 tbsp korean chili bean paste (or other chili bean paste that you have)
1 tbsp sambal oelek
3 star anise
1/4 cup dried mushroom pieces (any type that you have)
zest of 1 orange
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
8 cups vegetable stock

Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the dried peppers, chili bean paste and sambal oelek until they are fragrant. Throw everything else into the pot, bring it up to a boil and then turn it down to simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings as you want to make it spicier or add more stock to reduce the heat. When you are ready to do the huo guo, strain the soup to only have the liquid in your fondue pot.

We eat out food spicy but if you don't want a spicy stock, don't use the cayenne peppers, chili paste and sambal oelek. The important flavours come from the star anise, dried mushrooms and orange zest, garlic and ginger.

Our yummy bits to throw in last night were (from left to right):
- chopped Chinese cabbage (behind the huo guo pot)
- enoki mushrooms
- brown mushrooms (yuck - totally optional)
- lotus root (buy these canned if you want but fresh are divine! Peel and slice THIN so that they soften up a bit. They can be eaten raw so it doesn't matter how crunchy they are but they are QUITE crunchy so be forewarned. They are like crunchier and harder water chestnuts.)
- more enoki mushrooms
- red cabbage
- green onions (not for me as you well know)
- tofu skin (make sure to get the vacuum pack variety that is flexible when you open up the sheets or else if you get the dehydrated variety you will have to reconstitute it first before slicing it. Not a problem, just an added step)
- baby bok choy leaves
- sliced extra firm tofu

You can really use whatever you want. Everyone places whatever interests them into the soup and then lets the soup heat up again and simmer. When you can't stand waiting any longer, you scoop out bits and pieces and put them in the bowl with the sesame oil and garlic. Anything can be eaten raw in a vegan version so you don't have to wait until the soup comes to a rolling boil before you pick out some tasty bits to eat.

Enjoy!

I LOVE TOFU part 1

Many people tell me that they could never be vegetarian and especially not vegan because they can't stand tofu. That's because they haven't had GOOD tofu. I do have to be honest though and admit that I love tofu so much that I eat it raw while I am preparing it for other dishes.

I am going to offer you a variety of ways to prepare tofu so that hopefully you will enjoy this great source of protein. And no, it does not cause breast cancer or man breasts or any other hormonal problems. Look at the Chinese - they are not a culture of breasted men and they eat a lot of tofu. Worried that your tofu might be made with GMO soy beans? Then eat organic tofu. Either way, man breasts aren't going to bud overnight (or ever) if you add tofu to your diet.

Easy Grilled Tofu with Peanut Sauce (or any sauce you want to make!)

one package of extra firm tofu
If you have the time, put the tofu on a a plate with a lip, put another plate on top and put something heavy on top of that (I used a bag of navel oranges today but a big can or cookbook or whatever you have on hand)

Turn on your broiler to high.

While your tofu is pressing, make the peanut sauce:
1 small can of light coconut milk (about 150ml)
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
3 tsp sambal oelek or other chili paste
1/2 tbsp half-salt soy sauce
1/2 tsp tamarind paste (I am sure this can be optional - how much can 1/2 tsp affect the taste?)
1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp ground coriander (go to Abby's Spice and Tea Store on Kirschner for the best and freshest spices)
freshly ground back pepper

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and on medium-high heat, stir while it comes up to a boil. Turn down the heat to just below medium, stir one minute then remove from the heat and let cool. You can add water or more coconut milk if it's too thick when it's cool.

Now for the tofu.

Cut the block into 1/4 inch slices - I can get 16 slices out of a tofu rectangle. You can spray your cookie sheet with Pam or use parchment paper or a silpat mat or if you are not afraid, just place the tofu on the cookie sheet. Place under the broiler. When it starts to turn light brown, flip. The tofu may require a bit of convincing if you've just put it on the sheet but it should be flip-able. Brown the other side. The outside will be crispy and the inside will be soft.

Dip the tofu in the peanut sauce. YUMMY! And if you don't like tofu, you won't even be able to taste it.