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Recipes

Some of my tried and true recipes I’ve perfected over the last decade or so. I plan to add more as my continued experimentation in the kitchen pays off.

Enjoy!

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

With the advent of pinterest I’ve been posting a lot fewer recipes here and just trolling there for new menu ideas. I do have a simple favorite that I’ve been making again and again. Modified from this recipe. I’ve cut out the things I don’t really care for and added a few that I do.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup dry quinoa
  • 1 orange, peeled and segments chopped
  • 1 avocado, chopped
  • 1 cup canned black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
  • salt & pepper

For the Lemon Vinaigrette

  • 2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice)
  • 2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced
  • dash of sweetener (agave nectar, cane sugar, what have you)
  • salt & pepper
  • 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.
  2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or, add lemon juice, garlic, sweetener, salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk in oil.
  3. Combine cooled quinoa with orange segments, avocado, beans, corn, lima beans, (optional cilantro), salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Eat as is or top with the protein of your choice. Enjoy!

Squash Scones

My son didn’t like these scones because they weren’t as sweet as he expected. They’re far more subtle and earthy. Perfect for Fall breakfasts, or as a replacement for dinner rolls or biscuits.

Friday morning's savory breakfast

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups leftover yellow squash, such as acorn or hubbard, mashed
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons margarine, cut up into chunks
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons soy or rice milk

Preparation:

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Make sure squash is drained well, let sit on paper towel to absorb any moisture.
  • Sift flour, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large bowl.
  • Add in margarine and mix with fork or pastry blender.
  • Stir in sugar, squash and minced ginger.
  • Stir in soy milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until you have soft dough. Combine all ingredients gently.
  • Turn dough out onto floured surface. Press dough down until it’s flattened out to about 1″ thick, using hands.
  • Using a knife or 2″ diameter glass, cut out scones in triangles or circles.
  • Place on parchment paper or silpat on baking sheet.
  • Bake for 10-15 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.
  • Serve warm and enjoy!

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Spicy Tomato Jam

I used this jam on the squash scones I made - delicious! - and in place of ketchup on my hash browns. Super tasty.

squash scone with spicy tomato jam

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds plum tomatoes, peeled, cored, coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, more or less, as desired for heat
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice (note: I was low on lemon juice and threw in some white vinegar to cover the rest - worked just fine

Preparation:
Drop the tomatoes in boiling water and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until skin begins to split, then drop in ice water and let cool slightly. Skin should be easy to remove.

Combine the tomatoes, spices, sugar, pepper flakes, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce heat to low. Cook, uncovered, until very thick, about 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally to check for thickening and to prevent scorching. Makes about 2 to 2 1/2 cups.

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Sweet and Savory Butternut Squash Soup

makes about 4 servings

vegan butternut squash soup

Ingredients:


  • 2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

  • 1 or 2 tart apples, peeled and cubed
  • 1 medium vadalia onion, diced
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • some fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 
4 cups vegetable broth
  • 
salt
  • 
2-4 tsp nutmeg

  • 2-4 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400° F and place squash and apple in a roasting pan. Bake for 40-60 minutes until soft. In a large pot heat the oil until hot, add the onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Add the squash and saute for another 30 seconds. Add ½ to 1 cup broth and puree with a hand blender (a blender or food processor works too). Then add the remaining broth and soy cream, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon and stir. Simmer until desired consistency is reached. 

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Zucchini Bread

makes 2 loaves

making batter

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat together:

  • 1 1/2 T egg replacer powder
  • 3/8 C water
  • 1 C canola oil
  • 2 C sugar
  • 2 t vanilla

Mix well.

  • 2 C coarsely shredded zucchini
  • 3 C flour
  • 2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 3/4 t nutmeg
  • 1 c walnuts (optional)

Pour into 2 greased and floured 5×9 bread pans. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. For muffins, bake 1/2 hour.

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Summer Vegetable Latkes

For fans of fried things.

yellow squash
  • Some combination of zucchini, yellow squash and/or eggplant, shredded, to total about three cups
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, diced
  • egg replacer to equal 1 egg (1 1/2 tsp of egg replacer powder mixed with 1 Tbsp of water)
  • 2/3 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp paprika (or curry or chili powder)
  • salt & pepper
  • oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together, except for the oil, and let rest about 10 minutes. While it is resting, heat the oil over medium heat. Shape mixture into patties and fry, one at a time, for about 4 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels and serve with your favorite sauce.

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Easy Fruit Crisp

Make with your favorite fruit.

fruit crisp preparation
  • 4 large tart apples, or some combination of apples, blueberries or whatever fruit is on hand
  • 3/4 cup turbinado sugar or other sweetener
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1-1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/3 cup vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Peel the apples, then core and thinly slice them. Toss with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and cinnamon. Spread evenly in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

Mix the rolled oats with the remaining flour and sugar. Add the margarine and work the mixture until it is uniformly crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit.

Bake for 45 minutes, until lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. My son is particularly fond of it served warm, with some Soyatoo whipped cream on top.

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Individual Mock Chicken Pot Pies

This is adapted from someone else’s Tofu Pot Pie recipe. I prefer it with seitan, so it’s more like the comfort food I grew up with. Make it in a regular-sized pie plate or casserole dish, or, for fun, make individual pot pies in a muffin pan.

mini savory pie

Preheat oven to 350F. Dice and fry one package of chicken style seitan. I lightly fry it in canola oil, turmeric, paprika, coriander, and a bit of chili powder.

Boil, and save the cooking water from:
- 1 c potatoes (cubed)
- 1 c carrots (sliced)

Have ready:
- 1 bag o’ frozen corn and/or frozen peas

Saute together:
- 1-2 med onions, diced or spring onions (I prefer the latter)
- some garlic
- salt
- oil

When the onions are soft, add the other stuff.

Gravy
Let bubble together for a few minutes:

- 6 T oil
- 6 T flour
- 6 T nutritional yeast flakes

Whisk in:
- 1 1/2 C cooking water that you saved earlier
- 1 1/2 C soy milk
- 1 t salt
- 1 t sage
- 1/2 t thyme
- 1/2 t garlic powder
- 1/2 t black pepper
- 1/2 t paprika

Heat and stir until it’s boiling and thickened. Mix it with the filling and dump into the crust that you prepared (you….did prepare the crust, right?) then cover it with yet more crust, make some holes in the top with a knife or fork or something, and bake for 30-40 minutes or so.

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Potato and Leek Soup

In 2008 I got half a share in a CSA for the first time ever, and I’m glad I did. It forced me to try all sorts of produce I never would’ve gotten around to otherwise. And because of that, this soup recipe is one of my new favorites.

lovely leek

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled (or scrubbed) and cut into small cubes
  • 2 or 3 leeks, white and light green parts only, well washed, and sliced into thin rings
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 quart vegetable stock or water (stock is better)
  • Fresh parsley, coarsely chopped (for garnish)
  1. Put the oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 or 3 minutes.
  2. Add the stock and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
  3. Adjust seasoning, and add fresh parsley before serving

Variations: Add shredded cabbage or diced carrots for some more color and texture. For more flavor add some garlic or onions when you add the vegetables. If you like your soup a little creamier try adding some plain soy creamer (Silk, Wildwood or Soyatoo). Or try pureeing half, or all of the soup in a blender.

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Seitan Stew

Today marked the first snow of the season. Even though the sad dusting was sort of fake-looking and mostly melted right away, I think it still makes it the perfect time to bust out this hearty (read: carb-laden) stew. And the recipe looks more complicated than it really is, I swear.

Ingredients for stew:

Once all the ingredients are set out begin by putting on some appropriately dancy/motivational music, like Mates of State or New Order. Now you are prepared for food preparation:

  1. Peel and cut up potatoes and carrots
  2. Open and drain seitan package, tearing chunks into bite-sized pieces as needed.
  3. Dice onion and garlic to your liking.
  4. Heat large sized kettle/pot with a couple tablespoons of canola oil. Saute onion and garlic until fairly translucent, but not burnt.
  5. Add seitan to pan and stir in. Season with 2-3 tsp mustard powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp turmeric, some salt & pepper and stir until seitan and onions are evenly coated.
  6. After the seitan and onions seem fairly coated with seasoning add 8 cups of water, 3 Tbsp of worcestershire sauce, and 1 tsp of sugar.
  7. Put lid on pot and bring to a boil.
  8. Once boiling, add potatoes and carrots. Replace lid and simmer on medium-high for 30-35 minutes, but set timer for about 20 minutes. At that point add the frozen corn and/or peas and stir. Then get your dumpling batter ready.

Mix ingredients for American style dumplings. In medium sized bowl add:

  • 1 1/2 cups of flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder

Whisk together thoroughly then add:

  • 3/4 cup soy milk
  • 2 Tbsp canola oil

Mix until batter is wettened, but don’t overstir. When the stew’s 30-35 minutes are up remove lid and poke potatoes and carrots with fork to make sure they are well cooked. If they are go ahead and drop the dumpling batter in by spoonfuls. Replace the lid and steam for 15 more minutes. Check that the dumplings have expanded and look appropriately puffy before turning the burner off et voila, soup’s on!

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“Best BBQ Tofu Ever”

Recipe originally taken from an old zine called Bark&Grass (only two issues were put out).

BBQ Tofu prep

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs firm tofu, frozen overnight then thawed
  • 1 cup peanut butter, preferably crunchy
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • Annie’s BBQ sauce
before it becomes BBQ tofu, it's just tofu

Preparation:

  1. Mix all ingredients, ‘cept for the tofu, together.
  2. Squeeze the water out of the tofu, cube it and cover it in mixture. Let sit for about an hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  4. Lightly oil baking pan/casserole dish. Dump tofu in and spread it around as evenly and thinly as possible.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes.
  6. Take tofu out, turn it over, and bake for another 30 minutes.
  7. Take tofu out and pour one bottle of Annie’s BBQ sauce over tofu. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve with rice, corn bread, corn on the cob, or whatever strikes your fancy.

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Lebanese Green Bean Stew (aka Lubeeyah)

This is a recipe that’s been around in my family for a long time, and it even found its way into a cookbook many years ago, contributed by an aunt of mine.

cleaning the green beans

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups fresh string beans
  • 1 medium onion
  • 4 small potatoes
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil (or enough to coat bottom of skillet)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • pinch of pepper
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • pinch of red pepper
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 2 cups of tomato sauce

Preparation:

  1. Wash the string beans. Snip off the ends and break the beans in half. Allow to dry thoroughly on a clean cloth or paper towel.
  2. Chop the onion. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters.
  3. In a heavy dutch-oven type kettle, place a small amount of oil. Add the string beans and onions. Stir fry for 5 minutes, turning often.
  4. After 5 minutes, add the potatoes. Continue cooking the string beans, onions and potatoes — stirring often. While they are frying, add salt, pepper, sugar, red pepper, and ground cumin.
  5. Add the tomato sauce to the Lubeeyah after it has cooked for 25 minutes. Stir well.
  6. Cover and allow the stew to simmer for another 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
  7. Remove from heat and either serve immediately or refrigerate overnight and use as a cold salad.

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Saturday Morning Pancake Batter

Oh how I love the weekends. We usually make pancakes at least once.

Saturday morning vegan pancake batter

J’s recipe:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup soy milk
  • 2 T vegetable/canola oil
  • 1/2 cup fruit (optional)

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Thai Tofu

A friend claims that there are no good recipes on the internet, but I think he had a few too many bad experiences in the early days. This recipe is one I originally found on VegWeb, but then modified until it went from ok, to something that I love and has been a big hit at many a potluck.

thai-style tofu with veggies

Ingredients for the sauce:

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp canola or sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp tamari/soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp turbinado sugar/sugar in the raw
  • dash of curry powder
  • ginger puree
  • crushed garlic
  • crushed red pepper

Everything else:

  • a few carrots, cut into sticks
  • head of broccoli, chopped
  • baked tofu, cubed
  • rice (brown or white) or rice noodles

Preparation:

  1. Start making some rice. Or noodles. Whichever you prefer.
  2. Combine the first set of ingredients to make the sauce. Spice to taste.
  3. Steam veggies until they can be poked with a fork. Mushy vegetables are bad. Broccoli should be bright green.
  4. Cube the tofu.
  5. Toss the veggies, tofu, and sauce in a bowl while the veggies are still hot.
  6. Serve over rice and/or noodles.

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Snickerdoodles

My ex’s specialty, and his recipe.

the last snickerdoodle
  • 1 C vegetable shortening
  • 3/4 C white sugar
  • 3/4 C brown sugar
  • 1 T egg replacer powder
  • 1/4 C water
  • 2 3/4 C flour
  • 2 t cream of tartar
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/4 t salt

Heat oven to 400° F.

  • 3 T sugar
  • 3 t cinnamon

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix the shortening, sugar, egg replacer, and water.

Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

Mix.

Shape into balls, roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture, and flatten a bit.

Bake 8-9 minutes

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