Savory Chick Pea Dollar Pancakes

This is a super easy snack or side that is so flexible.  You could gussy it up for brunch by topping with sautéed or steamed baby veggies, serve as an hors d'oeuvre with something like this or just serve at dinner with vegan buttery spread.  Don't feel wedded to the rosemary either.  I used this fresh herb because I had it on hand but this recipe would work great with a bouquet of whatever herbs are going nuts in your garden right now. 

You'll need:

1 cup garbanzo/chick pea flour

1/2 cup water (and more as needed)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive or nut oil

Additional oil or oil spray for the pan

several sprigs of fresh herbs

Mix the flour, water, oil and salt until smooth.  Your batter should like pancake batter.  If it is looking too thick, add more water.  Heat additional oil or spray in a pan on medium high and lay herbs on the pan in several spots.  Once your pan is shimmering, pour heaping tablespoons of the batter between the herbs.  Once the edges are firm and beginning to brown, flip to the other side.  Cook until both sides are golden brown.  Serve with vegan buttery spread or something more creative...

What would you serve these with?

Baked Brussels Sprout Leaves

On the Fourth of July, my best friend and her family came over for a barbecue.  They brought some amazing food (her husband is a trained chef) and I added some vegan fare to the menu.  I made a huge batch of grilled brussels sprouts and when I was done skewering the sprouts, I noticed how many of the leaves had fallen off in the skewering process...so I deep fried them!  I mean, why not.  My best friend's husband referred to them "nature's candy".

So tonight, I decided to make a much more reasonable baked version and they were just as delicious, crispy and wonderful.  I prepared the sprouts the same way (see the recipe here).  Then, I sprayed a baking sheet with olive oil spray and spread the leaves that were leftover after the skewering on the sheet.  I baked them at 300 for 15 minutes and they came out as delicious, if not better, and certainly less guilt inducing than the deep fried version.

These were so good I might just make them without the skewers!

Baby Kale Chips

Like regular kale chips weren't good enough, now we need baby kale chips!

Well, actually, they're pretty good so let's not let their immaturity get in the way of some deliciousness.

Here are the details:

5-6 oz baby kale leaves
2 tablespoons pistachio nut oil
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon flaxseeds
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Oil spray
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350

Toss the kale in the oil, add the rest of the seasonings and toss again.

Spray two cookie sheets with oil.  Spread the leaves evenly over the cookie sheets and bake for about 40 minutes.

Now, try not to eat them all yourself.  I dare you.

Peach Sorbet

This post was actually born from a fail!  I made this amazing peach juice a few weeks ago, and then followed a recipe for sorbet that included sugar.  The results were sickeningly sweet.  So, this time around, it's just as simple as possible.

We juiced 11 peaches, yielding about four cups of juice, and then we poured the juice into the ice cream maker and let it spin for about 25 minutes.  The result was so good.

Here's what it looked like in process:

And, deliciously done.

Yum.

PS:  Riv says, "It tastes like a peach."

Make Ahead Monday

Even though it's summer and I'm not spending my Mondays rushing from class to class and then meeting to meeting, I'm keeping the spirit of easy Monday night dinners alive.  This week's Monday dinner main dish is meant to be made Sunday but, it's also good for making early in the day and escaping the kitchen during the late afternoon heat.

The Menu:
Slow Cooker "Special" Adzuki Beans (I know, it sounds like it belongs on a Chinese food take out menu, but basically it's mild chili as named by little miss picky pants)
Millet
Salad

Day Before
Special Adzuki Beans
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 onion diced
1 portabello mushroom diced
1 cup squash diced
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cup BTB No Chicken Broth or another flavorful broth, divided
1/2 cup TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)
30 oz adzuki beans (from dry or from the can, drained)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil one cup broth.  Pour into a bowl over the TVP and set aside.

Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a pan on high, then sauté the garlic and onion for one minute.  Add the mushroom and squash.  Sauté until the squash has browned and the onion is translucent.  Transfer to slow cooker.

Heat the remainder of the oil in the pan on high, then add the TVP and spices.  Saute for three or four minutes but take off the heat as soon as it begins to stick.  Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the beans, tomatoes and remainder of broth, stir and cover.  *Slow cook on low for two to three hours.

Salt and pepper to taste.

*I put the slow cooker insert in the fridge overnight and pull out when it's time to start cooking.  I live about four city blocks from the school where I teach.  So, I run home and start my slow cooker when it's time.  However, I hear on the internet that there are fancy shmancy slow cookers with timers out there.  Sounds like a great option for starting the cooking process so that dinner is ready shortly after you get home from work or the kids' activities.  Note:  leaving the insert in the fridge overnight adds to the cooking time which is why I give an hour range here.  Don't worry about leaving it to cook even longer especially if your beans are al dente when you add them to the pot.

Sunday prep hint:  one of Kordelia's teachers told me to soak the millet overnight and it does make a difference so I recommend soaking the millet overnight as well.

Evening Of
Millet
1/2 cup millet, soaked overnight if possible
1 1/2 cups BTB No Chicken Broth or another flavorful broth
2 cloves garlic finely diced
1 shallot finely diced
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauté garlic and shallot in oil over high heat until browned.  Transfer to a pot.  Add the broth and millet and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn heat to low.  Simmer for about a half hour.

Serve beans with the millet and a fresh salad from whatever you have on hand.  Pretty good for a Monday (and even Rivers eats it up, no meat on the side!)

Lemony Chick Pea Broccoli

Oh this is just so good...

I am exhausted from our early AM garage sale this morning and the landscaping that followed but I have to share this recipe because it's one of my new favorites.  Seriously, make this now and rejoice.

You'll need a maui onion or several shallots, a lemon, lots of broccoli florets, a can of chick peas aka garbanzo beans, BTB No Chicken Broth, Earth's Balance, sunflower seeds, salt and pepper.  Nothing requiring a trip to Whole Foods here.

Here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons Earth's Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1 cup maui onion or shallots chopped
3 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 1/2 pounds broccoli florets
10 oz chick peas/garbanzo beans
1/2 cup (or less) BTB No Chicken Broth or other flavorful vegan broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Red pepper flakes

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet (or your favorite wok).  Add onion or shallot, grated lemon peel, salt and pepper.

Sauté for 5 minutes.  Add broccoli and beans and stir until just before the onions or shallots start to stick, at that point, add the broth and cover for 5-10 minutes until the broccoli is tender but not soft (err on the side of al dente here).  Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with sunflower seeds and, if using, red pepper flakes.

Yum, seriously, yum.

To bee or not to bee: my vegan manifesto

It's the Fourth of July and yesterday, as we were hanging the bunting and flag, my husband said that the Fourth of July was not a military holiday.  I argued that it was a military holiday as we declared our independence from England, and then fought them for it.  

But, I was wrong.  At the writing of the Declaration of Independence, we were already embroiled in the Revolutionary War and had been for about a year.  The battles of Lexington and Concord happened on April 19th of the previous year.  Jefferson, tasked by the Continental Congress to draft up the statement, holed up in a room, away from his family and home, was really writing about why we were already at war.  I wonder if that in someway helped him to articulate the national sentiment...this wasn't writing about something we were going to do, it was about what we were doing  and why.  

That national sentiment included the idea that, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Did I mention I teach English and History? 


Today I'm thinking about the concept of Liberty.  According to Merriam Webster, liberty is: the quality or state of being free...the power to do as one pleases...the power of choice.  For me, being vegan came out of, and is empowering, because it is an expression of liberty.  And because of this fundamental belief and orientation toward practicing veganism, I don't expect or suggest that others should become vegan...even those who are in my immediate family.  

Take, for example, my daughter who will tell you at lunch that she is vegan and then eat a hamburger (see above photo).  My husband will eat vegan food with a steak on the side.  One day, maybe either or both will choose to join me, but it's okay if they don't.  If they do, if anyone takes up the practice of being vegan, I hope it comes out of this liberty, this freedom that I experience. 

For me, it's about the power of the choices I can make.  Also, it's about the liberty inherent in a modern lifestyle that affords me the health benefits of nutritional science, including supplements, so that I can be vegan and still be very healthy.  

Interestingly, within the choice to be vegan I find there is a whole host of freedoms.  I have freed myself from the feeling of carrying in my digestive system, animal products.  Animals and insects, unlike plants, are sentient beings and their by products, milk, eggs, honey, are imbued with something different than the wheat stalk or strawberry.  I didn't realize this until I stopped eating milk, eggs and yes, even honey.  I felt powerfully different.  Also, as I began to explore the world of vegan food, I found so many new ideas and options.  So many, in fact, that I started this blog a few days ago to keep a record of this discovery process.

For me, being vegan is a real and profound way to experience liberty.  I wonder why you make this choice or other food choices.  Please leave me a comment and tell me why you make the food choices you do....

Chocolate Banana Almond Milk Ice Cream

I've been searching for an alt milk ice cream recipe that I actually like and, like all my favorite vegan recipes, I like this one for it's simplicity and lack of frou frou ingredients (well, ones I don't already have in my pantry).  

This one from the PBS radio and television station I grew up with in Lodi.  I augmented it a bit by using my store bought sweetened vanilla almond milk.  It occurred to me once it was already spinning in the ice cream maker that I probably should have adjusted the sugar but it turned out perfect which makes me think that the sugar amount should be adjusted if using unsweetened almond milk.

Here's all it takes:

almond milk

bananas

coca powder

sugar

and, of course, an ice cream maker....

I use a Cuisinart 2 quart Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker.  I've used it for about two years and I love it.  There's probably fancier models out there, but I'm really happy with this machine.

Kordi helped (which involved licking the spoon quite a bit).

Here's the recipe pretty much straight from the website:

1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 ripe bananas
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar

In a glass bowl or cup, whisk 1/2 cup almond milk with the chocolate cocoa and sugar until fully incorporated. Microwave for 40 seconds and then stir.
Place bananas plus the remainder of the almond milk into a blender along with the cocoa mixture and puree for about 10 seconds.
Place mixture in the ice cream maker and process for 20 minutes or until thick.

I used my Vitamix, because if you have one, you use it.  It occurs to me that I've used quite a few gadgets in the past few posts.  I might have to do a post about gadgets, good and bad, soon.  Especially when it comes to nut butters.

 Here's what it looked like going in...

...and once it reached the right consistency (right at 20 minutes).

Little Miss Picky Pants loved it which is saying a lot as she's pretty well versed in diary ice creams.  

Yum.  Yum.  Yum.

Grilled Polenta Triangles

The other day I said I would do something with the "creamy" polenta left overs so here's my method for grilling polenta triangles...

I spread the leftover polenta on the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch glass pan (or 9 x 13 depending on how hungry everyone was), cover and refrigerate.  When I'm ready to grill, I loosen the sides of the polenta cake from the pan and turn it over onto a cutting board.  Sometimes it takes a few taps on the pan to get the polenta cake to come loose.  Cut the cake into squares and then cut each square into triangles.  Spray the grill with olive oil spray and grill the triangles for about five minutes on each side.  Grill time will vary depending on the thickness of your triangles.

Easy. Peasy. Yummy.

Vanilla Pistachio Nut Butter

Today I'm messing around with pistachios because I have a big container of them so why not...I mean besides the fact that they are terribly expensive, even here in California, the land of the pistachio.  Also, these are already shelled which kind of makes my imagination run wild.

Nut butter is the obvious choice but I wanted something a little more daring so I added vanilla bean seeds.

1 1/2 cup roasted pistachios
2 vanilla beans scraped and the shell discarded
salt to taste (if you buy them already roasted and salted you probably won't need to add any salt)


Blend all of the ingredients in your food processor until the nuts take on a buttery consistency.  This may take a while and you may need to scrape the sides once or twice.

I made a few small sandwiches for little miss picky pants and she demanded seconds so that's saying something...this is a keeper.

Monday Night Dinner

The Menu:

Seitan Curry Kabobs 

Grilled Brussel Sprouts Skewers

Salad with Dijon Dressing

"Creamy" Polenta

This is one of those meals that could be very difficult but, because I'm using premade elements, it's doable for a Monday night.  I make it a point to cook a healthy vegan (mostly) dinner every night, even if I have to take short cuts here or there.  Usually, my Monday work day goes until 5 or later so getting home and getting dinner on the table before bedtime is a small miracle.  The same meal on a Sunday might get the star treatment with homemade seitan and curry sauce not out of the jar but on Mondays we do what we can.

Seitan Curry Kabobs 

Serves 3

16 oz cubed Setian 

1/2 cup curry sauce...I prefer Seeds of Change Madras Sauce

Mix ingredients, skewer and grill for ten minutes turning occasionally.

Grilled Brussel Sprouts Skewers

Serves 3

1 pound Brussels Sprouts trimmed

1 tablespoon hazelnut oil (or other nut oil)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon mashed garlic

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the trimmed brussels sprouts in the microwave on high for 2 minutes (or quickly steam them on the stovetop).  

Mix all of the ingredients with the cooked brussels sprouts, skewer and grill for ten minutes turning occasionally.

Note:  This recipe is inspired by this Alton Brown gem.

Salad with Dijon Dressing

Serves 3

3 tablespoons white wine

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

The juice of 1 lemon + 1 teaspoon zest

1 shallot very finely diced

1 tablespoon pistachio nut oil or other nut oil

1 small bag salad mix, I like to use "super foods" salad mixes with kale and broccoli slaw

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup roasted pepitas (aka pumpkin seeds)

Whisk together the first four ingredients.  Add the oil and emulsify.  Then, pour dressing over the salad greens.  Top with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds.  Toss.

While I'm thinking about it, I've found that the best way to juice a lemon on the fly without too many seeds crowding your dressing is to make an "X" cut into the lemon and squeeze.

"Creamy" Polenta
Serves 3
3 cups broth (Use Better Than Broth No Chicken Broth - it's seriously a life changer)
1 cup polenta
2 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast
Bring the broth to a boil, turn down the heat to low and slowly stir in polenta.  Add nutritional yeast.  Stir constantly (as much as you reasonably can with the kids running through the kitchen and the dog trying to steal the kabobs off the counter).  When thickened, around five minutes, remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for five minutes covered.

 I'll do something interesting with the leftovers tomorrow...

Happy Cooking!