NEW WAFFLE IRON! Woo!

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So I've been lusting over this waffle iron for ages ever since seeing it on Joshua Katcher's blog (The Discerning Brute; Food, Fashion and Etiquette for the Ethically Handsome Man).
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I tell you, more guys need to do blogs. Not that I don't love all my blogger girlfriends out there, no, no, no. I just enjoy the perspective that guys like Joshua and other vegan men can provide.

OK, so, I don't need a waffle iron. I own three. Yes. Three. But NONE of them made waffles in the shapes of cows, chickens and pigs.
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And as a vegan, dedicated to eating NO ANIMALS for breakfast or any meal, I thought it was delightfully ironic that I could enjoy waffles in the shape of those animals I cared enough not to eat!
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So, even with the screaming-tight budget this household is on, I set pennies aside until I had enough for my precious waffle maker.
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The one I don't REALLY need. But everyone needs to treat themselves to something special once in a while. Right? Others might choose a manicure or new shoes or a power tool. HA! I chose a waffle maker!
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And without further ado, here is the wonderful waffle iron I ordered from Amazon a few weeks back. And here are some of the WONDERFUL Sunday Morning waffles we enjoyed today.
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My waffle recipe is HERE.
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The waffles are topped with real maple syrup, and others with fresh berry sauce and whipped coconut cream. (1 can COLD coconut milk whipped with hand mixer, sweetened to taste.)
As you can see, I didn't whip it long enough - certain people (*cough*Shaun*cough*) were WAY too impatient!
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Fresh Berry Sauce

(I dislike "cooked" fruit so this sauce has the berries gently folded in at the last to preserve their bright flavor)
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Bring to a low boil stirring with a wire whisk as needed:
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
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In a separate bowl, mix:
2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup cold water until there are no lumps

Pour cornstarch mixture into boiling sugar water. Reduce heat to medium high but keep just boiling. Mix with wire whisk until mixture thickens and starts to turn clear-ish.

Remove from heat. If it wants to scorch, remove from heat sooner.

Set aside until ready to serve.
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Just before serving, mix in thoroughly:
2 - 3 cups fresh berries of your choice, stemmed, rinsed (and if strawberries, cut into chunks).
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This will give you a beautiful, bright and very fresh-tasting fruit sauce for ice-cream, waffles, shortcake, whatever sounds good...

Mandarin-Ginger Glazed Tofu and Coconut Rice

Tonight's simple, but yummy, supper. It appears I had rather a sweet-tooth, and since I'd just scored some super-cheap coconut milk and tofu at the local Asian Market, here's what I made:

Coconut rice. (recipe follows, but I only know how to make it in a rice cooker. I do not cook rice any other way).

Steamed baby zucchini from the garden (and there are some greens underneath) with lemon.

And sticky, spicy ginger-orange tofu that will have you licking out the baking dish...I make the glaze pretty intense and the flavors mellow a bit as the tofu bakes and absorbs the sauce.

Coconut Rice

2 cups Thai jasmine white rice (other types of rice, such as brown rice, don't work for this)
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (not "lite" or coconut water)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
Place rice in rice cooker. Add the water, coconut milk, salt, and sugar. Stir well.

Cover and set to cook.
Once your rice cooker switches to "warm" mode, allow another 8-10 minutes for rice to finish "steaming". This will ensure your coconut rice is fully cooked and sticky. Garnish with grated coconut or chopped peanuts if you want.

Mandarin-Ginger Glazed Tofu

1 block extra firm tofu, patted dry and pressed for a while, if needed, to make it VERY firm and almost "dry" - cut into 3/4-inch cubes.
2 tsp. peanut (or canola) oil
1+ Tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger - use a microplane grater if you have it (Can I just interject here, YAY for microplane graters!!)
1 Tbsp. pressed (or minced) garlic
2 Tbsp. cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey (*gasp*) OR agave syrup or maple syrup or rice syrup or even plain old CORN syrup
3 small satsuma or mandarin oranges, peel zested with microplane grater & juiced (you should have 1/4 cup or more, of juice and about 2 T zest)
1/4 cup rice wine or apple juice
1 teaspoon Sriracha hot chili sauce or to taste
2 T lemon juice

To make the glaze: Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add oil, and when hot, add the garlic and the ginger. Cook another minute. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until heated thru.

Toss tofu cubes in sauce, pour into glass baking pan and bake at 350° for 30 - 50 min. (Depending on how moist tofu was) turning several times until sauce is thick and bubbly and reduced and sticky) Watch carefully at the last, it can harden into a burnt-sugar glaze quite quickly.

Remove from oven, Make sure to scoop out of pan while still hot, the sauce tends to get very solid and candy-like. Serve with veggies and/or rice.

Kidney (Bean) Pot Pie

A recent discussion among friends started out with general puzzlement over the British concoction called "Steak and Kidney Pie". Bleh!
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Don't ask me how a bunch of vegans get to talking about these things! Of course none of us had tasted said pie, or really knew for sure what went in one. Obviously we weren't keen on trying it, what with the whole "kidney" thing - so I can't honestly say if they actually TASTE disgusting or just sound that way. (No offense to the British or those that eat such things.)
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Our conversation then turned to the possible creation of a vegan version... with kidney beans.

Sounds much better, yes? Problem being, I really don't care for kidney beans. AT. ALL. And my friends know that, so the whole Meatless-Kidney-Bean Pie idea moved on to other, more interesting topics.

However, I was intrigued by the idea of a bean pot-pie, and in doing a Google search, found very few ideas - so I decided it must be something the world needed. With our recent cool weather, something warm from the oven sounded good. I even used cannellini beans, which are white kidney bean (or fazolia beans) - just to show I'm open minded enough to cook with things I'm not crazy about.

The end result, I must say, was super easy (mainly because I used leftovers and *gasp* canned beans), and my kids LOVED it. That's the important part, of course. I think it's going to be a winter-time staple!! Obviously you can vary this however you'd like...

Kidney Bean Pot Pie

• 1 box puff-pastry, thawed
• 1 deep dish pie pan (or four individual ramekins)

Press 1 pc. puff pastry into bottom of pie pan.
Make filling:

• 2 cups soymilk
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Heat the soymilk until almost boiling, mix cornstarch with enough water to make a thick mixture. Whisk into soymilk. Stir and bring to a boil, keep whisking, turn down to simmer and add salt and pepper, simmer until thickened. Remove from heat. Set aside.

• 2 cups cooked mixed vegetables of your choice. These can be a frozen mix or leftovers.
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or any beans of your choice)
• 1 medium sweet or white potato, cooked and cubed small
• pinch of thyme
• 1/2 an onion or leek, chopped or sliced and sauteed until just starting to brown
• some mushrooms would be good, though I didn't have any at the time

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine cream-sauce, and vegetables.
Spoon filling into bottom pie crust. Cover with top puff-pastry crust, and crimp edges to seal. You can be pretty rustic with puff pastry and it still looks good, just cut and shape to fit aproximately. Slit top crust.
Bake for 40 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

What's Olivia Up To?

My daughter and "middle Sprout" Olivia has inherited my passion for creating good (and good LOOKING) food. (Actually ALL my kids love to cook but this is her recipe).

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Olivia is very seriously pursuing a Vegetarian/Vegan Teen's Cookbook, probably a bit more ambitious than I am!! Stay tuned for that, my sister is a published author and has been giving her lots of "inside" tips and referrals. And as an added benefit, we get to enjoy lots of "experiments" as she plays with different techniques...

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Tonight's "experiment" is actually pizza specifically for her little sister who LOVES LOVES all things hot and spicy. (And the salad is very pretty too, gotta give her credit there! ) Very simple, but thought we'd post, as she has great ideas when it comes to making vegan food as much like traditional recipes as possible. The "cheese" on this pizza turns out GREAT!!

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Spicy Jalapeño Pizza

1 package Pizza Crust from Trader Joes (or make your fave crust here)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper,

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (Olivia likes a salty, garlicky crust!)

1 cup of your favorite sauce

2 tbsp. fresh chopped jalapeño

1 cup (or as desired) pickled jalapeño slices

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Olivia's Special Pizza "Cheese" Mix:

FREEZE for 24 hours:

1/2 a block Follow-Your-Heart Vegan Gourmet "Mozzarella" Style Cheese

6 slices Galaxy Foods Rice Slices, PEPPER JACK flavor, unwrapped and frozen (stack together in a "block")

While still frozen VERY hard, quickly shred cheeses. Even the Rice Slices will shred if stacked and frozen. Keep cold until ready to use or it will clump.

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TO MAKE PIZZA:

Unwrap dough and bring to room temp.

On a clean counter, work garlic, salt and cayenne into pizza dough.

Wash your hands VERY WELL! (you don't want hot peppers on your fingers!)

Let dough set another 15 - 20 min.

Spread out on a pizza pan. Using oiled fingers works well here.

Again, wash your hands!!

Mix chopped jalapeño with pizza sauce and spread thinly over dough.

Sprinkle with sliced jalapeños.

Follow directions for crust (on package or per your recipe) and bake until ALMOST done (like 2 min less than full time.)

Remove from oven and IMMEDIATELY sprinkle (as heavy as you want) with the cheese shreds. Turn on broiler, and while you let it heat up, brush crust with olive oil.

Broil under broiler until cheese melts, and remove.

Let set a few minutes so cheese will solidify.

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Eat with a pretty salad!!

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As some of you also know, Olivia also is the author of the very cute VEGGIE BARBIE blog.

Barbie's had several new adventures this summer, check it out!!

Boom Night Burgers

My Fourth of July saga continues...

When my children were younger - MUCH younger - they called the Fourth of July "Boom Day".
This said with just a touch of anxiety, as it usually consisted of a long, hot, expensive, confusing and claustrophobically-crowded day at some waterfront celebration toting my toddlers in strollers or backpacks; concluding with dramatic fireworks exploding out of the dark, accompanied by booming live patriotic music.

All of which scared my poor over-tired darlings half to death, made them cry, sent us home early and ruined the evening's intended effect for those unfortunate souls who chose to "party" next to us...

Great holiday memories. Don't laugh, you have them too...

But my children are older and I'm wiser (or maybe just anti-social) and a "quiet" Independence Day celebration at home sounded like just the thing. But, fickle offspring that they are, two of the Sprouts deserted me at the last minute for better offers, you know... camping, the beach, friends, etc. and "Boom Day" ended up as a pleasantly quiet Vegan picnic lunch in the park.

Late that evening though, as it began to get dark and neighbors for miles around started their personal pyrotechnic displays, my oldest decided we should sit out on the patio, do burgers and corn over the fire and enjoy the free show.
And quite a show it was.

Our back yard and patio overlook a large valley filled with homes, and each of these homes must have had several hundred dollars worth of (often illegal) explosives to burn.

Nevertheless, it was beautiful, spectacularly loud and lit up the sky for THREE hours.
Much better than fighting crowds!
We got to poke sticks in the fire, watch the show, no 'Beer Garden' rules, play with the camera, and dinner was right in front of us! Turned out to be a rare and crazy-fun evening with my oldest 'Sprout'. Cherish those moments when you have them.


Now, back to the food.
Roasted corn is pretty easy over the fire, just peel back the husks, remove the silk, put husks back, wrap in foil and lay in the coals for a bit.
On the other hand, vegan burgers, that will work on the grill, create a bit of a challenge. I tend to prefer homemade, with a bit of actual "vegetables" in them, and I'm not a fan of black bean burgers, so...

Through trial and error I concocted a pretty good "burger" that I cook into big, firm patties ahead of time, freeze and then pop on the grill to warm up. They hold together well, look "burger-like" and don't have that charred-oatmeal-bean-vegetable taste when you're done. I've had confirmed omnivores eat them with gusto.

Vegan Burgers That Grill Nicely

• 1/2 cup dry TVP, reconstituted in boiling water (you'll have about 1 cup) OR use about 1 cup some commercial "burger-crumbles"
• 1 large onion, minced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 2 C. grated carrot or zucchini (or a mix of both)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (yes! you heard me! the dreaded molasses)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 C. fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 C. oats
• flax-eggs as needed (3 Tbsp ground flax mixed in 1/2 cup soymilk)
• 1/4 cup besan/chickpea flour
• 2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten flour
• Seasonings to taste (I use sage, lemon pepper and smoked salt)
• olive oil, as needed

Saute onion and garlic in a lightly greased skillet until onion starts to soften, about five minutes.
Add carrots/zucchini and saute about 10 mins more, til veggies have softened.
Stir in the cumin, cilantro, soy sauce and peanut butter (you can also use tahini). Mix. Remove from heat and let cool 5-10 minutes.

Dump veggie mixture in a medium mixing bowl. Add besan flour and breadcrumbs and mix until well combined. Add "flax-egg" mixture as needed to form a firm, wet mixture. Add your preferred seasonings to taste. Let sit 10 minutes until oats and breadcrumbs soften. Mix again.

Finally, sprinkle in vital wheat gluten flour and stir. It should bind together nicely, but add more breadcrumbs or liquid if needed. The mixture should be firm and substantial, somewhat sticky, not sloppy wet or crumbly.
Shape burgers from mixture. They should hold together pretty well.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add burgers, cover and cook over medium-low about seven minutes a side, until browned, firm and cooked through. (I admit I've shaped these with a Mason-jar ring to get that perfectly round, evenly-thick "burger" shape.)

To grill later: Freeze cooled, cooked burgers. When ready to grill, remove from freezer, brush with oil and place on grill. Cook until browned to your liking and heated through, usually turning once or twice. You do have to be gentle with them, but they should hold together. If they're not cooperating (and sometimes, for whatever reason, they don't) place them on greased foil with holes poked through. You might want to do that anyway if the grill has been used excessively for animal products.

Happy Fourth!

Here's hoping all my American friends had a great weekend celebrating our country's freedom!

My friend Anthony organizes the Seattle Area Vegans Meetup group, and I've been meaning to attend one of his events for, oh, several YEARS now... Somehow Seattle can be so close, yet so far away; and intimidating too - I'm not the world's most social butterfly (amazing, but true, I know...).

At any rate, I'd been whining that my kids might be abandoning me for the Holiday weekend, (only two of 'em did) and Anthony reminded me of the group's 4th of July Potluck/BBQ. A perfect way to spend the afternoon.

The Potluck was a lot of fun of course. I discovered I did know several other people there, including Bethany of the awesome blog, and Doh, the manager of Sidecar, my favorite vegan grocery store (OK, the ONLY vegan grocery store I know of, but still my favorite!).
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Several super-cute vegan bebbehs too. I just want to carry them around and smooch their little cheeks. OK, I did that...


The weather was BEAUTIFUL, and the food? It was amazing! Potluck plates are never that photogenic but I tired to give you an idea...
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Loads of grilled awesomeness, dogs, burgers, asparagus, pineapple, peppers, tofu; some lovely and patriotic star-shaped cookies; a lentil salad; oh goodness, much, MUCH other yumminess I can't even remember!

Naturally I couldn't decide what to bring, and overachiever that I am about these things, decided to "narrow it down" to only three salads. My Classic Macaroni Salad, Pesto Pasta Salad, and Spicy Ginger-Peanut Noodles. The containers were literally almost licked clean, apparently someone liked them! Inevitably, when asked for the recipes, I discovered I didn't have them all on my blog.

So....... I'm posting my Ginger Peanut Noodles in hopes of appeasing people. I get asked for this recipe a lot, and I hesitate to share it ONLY because the ingredient list seems seems horribly long.


(I know I usually look at long recipes like this and say... "Meh, I don't THINK so!".) But this is different. I promise you don't "have" to use every ingredient, I just happen to like LOTS of different veggies here.

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Spicy Ginger-Peanut Noodles

DRESSING

Blend the following in a food processor until smooth:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (any kind works here)
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• Juice from 3 limes
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. honey or agave (not to worry, I used agave for the potluck)
• 1/4 cup Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
• 2 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• One 3+-inch piece fresh ginger or more to taste (I used a LOT more, but taste as you go, younger, fresher ginger will be much hotter)
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 5 or 6 fresh mint leaves
• 5 or 6 fresh Thai (or regular) basil leaves

Blend like crazy. It will be thick and greenish brown and entirely unpleasant looking, but it will taste AWESOME! If it's too thick to blend, add more peanut oil but not much! It will "thin out" when mixed with the salad.

Taste and adjust to your liking: hot, sweet, sour, salty. I admit I "play" with this basic dressing, usually adding more of something. It's pretty intense, rest assured, the noodles and veggies dilute it a good deal.

SALAD:

• 1 16-oz. package ANY type noodle you like: spaghetti, udon, cellophane, ramen, soba... anything works.

Prepare noodles as directed (soak, or cook or whatever they require) and rinse in cold water to chill.
Add any or all of the following veggies as you prefer:

• shredded cabbage
• julienned strips of carrot
• julienned strips of red pepper
• cucumber strips
• scallions
• pea pods
• radishes
• baby corns
• bean sprouts
• lightly blanched broccoli flowers
• seriously - ANYTHING you like!!

Add dressing to your preference, (I tend to like a lot). Mix well, and chill.
Garnish with chopped peanuts (these really do "make" the salad)..


And <<-- here's the Thai Sweet-Hot Chilli Sauce I use.
Just in case you aren't familiar with it.
DEEELISH stuff, and most large supermarkets carry a version of it.

Good Ol' Southern Grits-n-Gravy

Somehow I'm stuck on breakfast blogging lately. Perhaps because summer's laid back schedule allows time for things other than Cheerios and rice-milk.
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Grits, though not exactly a familiar food in the Pacific NorthWest, are, ironically one of my kids long-time favorites...
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For the uninformed, "grits" (or "traditional hominy grits") are somewhat different than cornmeal.

Alton Brown explains it best: Cornmeal (like you'd make polenta with) is made from ground dried corn. Grits are made from ground, dried hominy (which is still corn, but treated slightly different). To make hominy, you start with field corn that's dried. Then the dried corn kernels are soaked in a solution of baking soda, lime, or wood ash ("lye water") for a day or two. (Sounds yummy, huh?) The kernel's shell pops off, and the kernel swells to twice its size. Kernels are rinsed more than once, then dried again, and finally ground into grits.

The directions for grits are on the box. Go buy a box and try them. Very warm, creamy, homey "comfort food" sort of stuff but with more texture and character than, say, Cream of Wheat....

My gravy is the same-ol', same-ol' stuff I make to smother just about every breakfast item I can think of.... COUNTRY GRAVY from a past post, with some of my smashed up, and browned HOMEMADE SEITAN SAUSAGE added in. Sausage is optional, it's good without too!

I'll leave you with this hilarious picture of our cat contemplating life from atop HIS precious pot of fresh catnip... of which he indulges in fairly often!!
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Have a great Fourth of July. I'm headed to the Seattle Vegan Meet-up group's Potluck. Pictures to follow, there promises to be lots of yumminess.