I need to Spelt it out

Recently my roommate became a part of a food-buying club. Smaller than a co-op, but basically the same concept: buy from local farmers in bulk and split it amongst a group of interested individuals. Being an avid baker, flour was number 1 on my list when he asked me what I would like in bulk ... however, the only flour on the list was Spelt ... therefore, I now have 10 lbs. of spelt flour, something I've never used before in my life and have no idea what to do with it .... help?!?

Purusing the web searching for spelt recipes, I came across a blueberry spelt pancake recipe from Eatn Vegan in Toronto. It's a super easy recipe, and the pancakes turned out great!

From Eatn Vegan:

Ingredients

2 cups of spelt flour

1 tsp of baking soda

2 cups of soy milk

1 cup of fresh blueberries

Maple Syrup

1 banana, and chopped strawberries (optional)

Method

Mix flour and baking soda in a bowl, add in soy milk (you could also use almond milk, or non-dairy milk of choice) and mix well.

Drop in your blueberries and stir.

Heat a pan to medium heat (I used a non stick pan, otherwise use a bit of oil to prevent sticking).

Drop 1/4 of a cup of the batter at a time into the pan. When you see bubbles and the edges beginning to to golden, flip the pancake. Continue on making pancakes!

I didn't use the banana's or strawberry's but just covered the cakes in earth balance and pure maple syrup :) 

If anyone out there knows of some awesome spelt recipes, please, SEND THEM MY WAY!!

Enjoy.

Cauliflower ... its the new Creamy

Cauliflower (or should we say Transformaflower) is a vegetable that has taken it upon itself to be the new creamy substitute... sorry tofu, you can't have all the glory. Steamed and blended cauliflower transforms into a delicious creamy medium that is suitable for soups, casseroles, sauces, dips, etc ... if the creaminess factor needs to be turned up a notch, call cauliflower in for the job. I recently used cauliflower as a creamy addition to a "cheesy" sauce for macaroni and cheese. Along with some soaked cashews this dish was delicious and dare I say it ... nutritious!?!
A half cup of tofu contains 10 grams of protein while half a cup of cashews is 18 grams!! (and who says vegans don't get enough protein?) Now lets look at the nutritional bennies of substituting cauliflower for your creamer shall we ...
The cauliflower in this recipe is steamed, then blended, so a half of cup only adds a whopping 14 calories, no fat, 46% of your daily vitamin C, and is high in phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin B6. Not too shabby.
If you're looking for an awesome Mac N' Cheese recipe for those days when you just want to curl up on the couch, or need a kick a$$ dish to share at those ever so lovely potlucks, give this a shot ...

ENJOY!
the new and vegan improved ...

 Mac N' Cheese
-1 lb. elbow macaroni
-pinch o' salt
-2 cups soaked cashews (soaked at least 1 hr.)
-4 cloves garlic, peeled
-1 cup Rice milk
-1 cup nutritional yeast
-1 tbsp red miso
-swirl o agave nectar
-1/2 cup cauliflower florets, steamed
-1 tbsp crushed red pepper
-1 tbsp dried basil
-1 tsp salt
-1 cup bread crumbs
-2 tbsp earth balance

Preheat oven to 350.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil with a dash of salt. Add in the macaroni and cook for approximately 7-8 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Drain and set aside.
In a food processor combine soaked cashews and garlic, and pulse until well chopped.
Add in remaining ingredients and blend until very smooth and ... creamy ...
Place noodles in an 8 x 13 baking dish and stir in cream sauce, covering every noodle. With a spoon evenly spread noodle mix in dish and cover with bread crumbs, while throwing little dollops of earth balance on top.
Place uncovered in oven and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until macaroni has reached a nice golden brown.
Serves 10 or more!
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Friends + Food = Potlucks!

Potlucks: Joyous occasions when great friends and great food meet. Who could ask for anything more? For many years now potlucks have been drizzling down and I'm delighted to say that this years forecast calls for rain.
Last week I was invited to a potluck which gathers every Sunday. A wonderful weekly tradition to gather round, meet people, eat, drink, and to sound cliche, be merry!
Although this potluck wasn't strictly vegan, the vegan options were plentiful and delicious.
I contributed homemade focaccia with white bean aioli and BBQ Tofu. One vegan dish that blew my mind was a curry that featured butternut squash!
I have to say the Focaccia turned out amazing. The recipe I used comes from Dynise Balcavage's recent book, "The Urban Vegan". I'll admit, so far I haven't given this book much of a chance, to me the voice of the book is a little pretentious and who publishes a book without pictures ... !?!?!
But, tell you what, her foccacia recipe is simple, extremely easy, and completely dresses to impress.

My plate  = focaccia, aioli, bbq tofu, squash curry, bok choy with ginger, garlic, and tamari 

citrus salad

apple cake from Vegan Bites!

Grubbin' down.

Chana Masala with Yellow Split Pea & Peanut Cakes

Curry n: any dish that consists of either meat, fish, poultry, legumes, vegetables, or fruits, simmered in or covered with a sauce, gravy, or other liquid that is redolent with any number of freshly ground and very fragrant spices and/or herbs. -Raghavan Iyer. 

To me, Indian cuisine had always seemed like an unattainable art. Many years back I attempted to make dahl, it turned out terrible and ever since I've steered clear of the dahls and masalas to avoid failure. Indian cuisine is definitely in my top 3 and it killed me that every time a hankering came on, I was forced to spend mucho $$ at restaurants or take-out. What was a girl to do??

Enter 660 Curries; the book that has changed my sad non-indian cuisine cooking life! This year for christmas my wonderful sister-in-law gave me "660 Curries" by Raghavan Iyer. This book is deemed "the gateway to Indian Cooking". And let me tell you, it is!!!! It's an awesome cookbook, not only are there 660 curries but also biryanis (rice-based dishes), breads, pickles, relishes, raitas (yogurt sauce), pastes, appitizers and sooo much more! This is an Indian Cuisine Bible and I just have to give a huge shout out to Mr. Iyer who was IACP's award winning teacher of the year. Now it's not geared towards vegans , and there are many poultry, beef, and seafood dishes.. . however, I bet they are easily substituted with tofu/seitan/tempeh and dairy of coarse can always be substituted by alternative milks and yogurts.

I decided to start with something simple (given my history) and a classic favorite ... Chana Masala. Then for a fun twist (and they sounded easy enough) I made Yellow Split Pea & Peanut Cakes with an awesome aioli that my dear friends and sous chefs whipped up.

I couldn't believe how simple and delicious the Chana Masala (chickpeas w/ a spicy tomato sauce) turned out. Basically it boils down to ginger and garlic sauted, throw in some coriander, turmeric, cayenne, cumin, and cilantro - add your chickpeas with tomato paste and water - cook on high until the sauce boils off and thickens and bam! Who knew?!!?!!?!

The Yellow Split Pea and Peanut Cakes (dal sengdana vadi) were a little on the dry side, but thanks to the awesome chef Lauren from Vegan Royale and our good friend Amy for their aioli saved the night. It was a perfect match and enabled us to wipe the plate clean. I don't know exactly what they put in it but it was a combination of just about everything we had lying around in the kitchen (coconut milk, ginger, garlic, cilantro, veganaise, tahini, carrots ... I know I'm missing some things, but you get the picture). The main ingredients in the cakes were yellow split peas (chana dal), raw peanuts, coconut, chilies, and ginger. Blend all together with more spices, fry up and voila! The author uses this recipe as a vegetarian answer to crab cakes. The greatest part is that the peanuts act as a binder so no flour or egg substitute is needed.

If you're into Indian Food, I highly suggest picking up a copy of 660 curries. It has tamed my fear of cooking indian cuisine and I can't wait to see what other amazing dishes will come out of it!!! I've got 659 to go!!!

The New year called for a New Look!!

This year for my low-budget christmas gifts, I decided to make a cookbook. The best of the best kind-of thing, recipes that I knew (or hoped) couldn't fail to impress even the meatiest of meat heads (brother-in-law). My amazing cutie-pa-tootie roommate Jameson Murphy agreed to illustrate my cookbook with his adorable drawings!
I named the book "Vegan Bites" and it consists of three different parts; little bites, big bites, and sweet bites, each only containing about 3-5 recipes. I don't mean to brag but the book came out awesome (with some help from the Howell Family) that I decided to re-name my blog, add Jamie's cute drawings, and continue to add to it for hopefully a future sequel (More Vegan Bites!).

So, Im sorry for the confusion, its the same great blog, just a new look, and a new name. Im not changing the web address which may be even more confusing, but I think yo-a'll can figure it out.

Below are some pics of the book. Let me know if any of you dear readers would like a copy - I am more than happy to share the love. (and get feedback, recipe testers, and the like.... )

table o' contents

apple cake recipe

How cute right?!

More lovely vegan food sharing to come!

A New Butter's In Town .... Spread it Around!!!

20-10: My first post of the new year! Please, please, hold your applause ... 

I am so excited about this first recipe that I have to share with you!!

A friend of mine sent this along to me and immediately after reading it, I knew exactly what was going to be for dinner that night. 

It starts with a butter. Yes, a new, beautiful butter in my now perfect world: Basil Cashew Butter. Of coarse, this in itself is delicious on anything - crackers, bread, sammies - you name it. But, not only did I get this recipe in my inbox but along with a tip for putting it on pizza! (butter and pizza, my two favorite things!) with asparagus brushed with olive oil sprinkled with koesher (I used Celtic Sea Salt) and fresh tomatoes! YUM! I also topped it off with garlic and fresh cilantro..... mmmmmMMmmmm 

So far for vegan cooking in the kitchen, the new year has been fantastic! Lets give a big thanks to the beautiful Lindsey in Minneapolis for sharing this 'pie with me and you! THANK YOU LINDSEY!

Basil Cashew Butter

(Straight from the chef...)

3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large bunch of basil
1 can of white northern beans
1 cup of raw cashews
lemon, salt, pepper to taste
------
put everything but cashews, lemon, salt and pepper into your food processor. after well blended, add the cashews slowly until they seem to have minimized down (to your own preference, i like them really blended, makes everything more pleasurable!)

All right - NOW that that's done, Go For it!

I used Isa's pizza crust from Vegan with a Vengeance. Once stretched and ready to go I spread the basil cashew butter as a base, topped with asparagus, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with chopped garlic and sea salt, and cilantro. Baked at 500 for about 9 minutes.  That's pizza #1 -

 for pizza #2 we got the cashew butter, then tomato paste swirled in, topped with olives, garlic, and diced tomato. 

Enjoy! 

It's all about the Bennies -

Since becoming vegan I have developed an addiction for Nutritional Yeast. Its terrible. I can't seem to ever get enough. Any recipe that calls for it, I know I will love, and many a time have ended up putting in more than what's called for.
One of my absolute favorite nooch recipes is Isa and Terry's recipe in "Veganomicon" for Cheesy Sauce. Not only is this amazing drizzled on EVERYTHING, but it works perfectly for a late morning benny. This "ultimate vegan cookbook" also features a Tofu Florentine, a sudo benny that calls for sauted spinach and broiled tofu. This is a great dish that I've found really pleases both omnivores and carnivores alike, however, I've found that using fresh spinach, a big ole' slice of tomato, and blacked tofu instead of broiled really hits home when those benny cravings come crashing in.

I made this a couple of days of ago for the "christmas breakfast" with my boyfriend's family and they loved it (all being very far from veg)! The best part is that it is a snap to make, and really only takes about 20 minutes if you've got a pair of hands helping you ... and did I mention its delicious! All of us (yes, all) went in for seconds and were scraping our plates!! Next time your aiming to please with a breakfast benny give this one a go!!

Cheezy Sauce
-2 cups vegetable broth or water
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-Pinch of dried thyme
-1/4 tsp salt
-pepper to taste
-1/8 tsp. turmeric (i've many a time omitted this due to its non-existence in my cupboard and its completely not necessary, however, it does add a beautiful "cheesy" color to the mix when added!)
-3/4 cup nutritional yeast
-1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
-1 tsp. prepared mustard (i also omit this ... i don't know why ... its just never appealed to me)

Combine the broth and flour in a measuring cup and whisk with a fork until dissolved.
Preheat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Place the oil and garlic in the pan and gently cook for about 2 minutes, stirring often and being careful not to burn the garlic (a very easy thing to do!).
Add the thyme, salt, and pepper and cook for about 15 seconds. Add the broth, termeric, and nutrional yeast, and raise the heat to medium. Use a whisk to stir consistently. The mixture should start bubbling and thickening in about 3 minutes; if it doesn't, turn the heat up a bit higher.
Once the mixture in bubbling and thickening, stir and cook for about 2 more minutes. Add the lemon and mustard. The mixture should resemble a thick melty cheese. Taste for salt. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep it warm until ready to use. The top might thicken a bit while it sits, but you can just stir it and it will be fine - serve warm.

All right, so that's the recipe from the ultimate book.
and like I said, instead of using broiled tofu, I used blackened tofu - check this out

Blackened Tofu
-1 lb extra firm tofu, pressed
-1/2 cup earth balance melted
-1/4 cup flour
-1 1/2 tsp creole seasoning*
-1 tsp pepper

Cut the pressed tofu into long rectangular strips or triangles (cut the tofu block into four sections from bottom - up)
Mix the four and spices together in a large enough bowl to fit a tofu piece
Dip the tofu pieces into the earth balance on both sides, then repeat into the flour/spice mixture
Place the dipped floured tofu pieces on a heated skillet on high and cook for about 5 minutes on each side (until they become nice and "blackened")
*I've never used creole seasoning before, but on this particular morning found it in the cupboard. Turns out, its perfect with this combo! You don't need too much of anything else since it is booming with flavor, but if you don't have any on hand,  use any type of seasoning/spice combo of your choice 

Now, for a Banging Benny ...

Toast an english muffin (be careful, lots of brands contain milk ingredients)
Butter with earth balance
Layer with a nice bed of fresh spinach
Place a big round fresh tomato slice atop the spinach
Add a piece of blackened tofu to the tower
Shower with cheesy sauce!

DIG IN!!

I made this for 7 people and by doubling both recipes, it was enough for seconds, sating all appetites.

Enjoy!!!