"Eggs" and potatoes for breakfast

Now that I know I can tolerate Non-GMO soy, I decided to take a stab at tofu scramble.  I always enjoyed scrambled eggs in the mornings, and tofu scramble is as close as vegans can get.

When I picked out my tofu at the store on Monday, I decided to go with Mori-Nu brand silken extra-firm tofu, rather than regular tofu.  My only reason was that the package size was smaller, and since I'm currently the only tofu-eater in my house, it seems less wasteful.

The difference between silken tofu and regular tofu is mainly in texture.  I feel like I see silken tofu more often in dessert recipes - it's allegedly more creamy than regular tofu.  When I opened the package, it definitely looked like a block of cream cheese - less little pockets than regular tofu.  When I handled it, I felt like the texture resembled hard-boiled eggs, which, to me, was perfect for this tofu scramble experiment.  My guess is that silken tofu might also make an excellent "egg salad."

Since I tend to oversleep in the mornings, I need a breakfast which doesn't take a lot of time to prepare (aka, why I usually default to toast).  So I decided to prep my tofu-scramble and some roasted potatoes Monday late afternoon to reheat for today's breakfast.  First, I pressed the tofu for 15 minutes.  While the tofu was pressing, I chopped a small amount of red onion finely.

I heated a little under a tablespoon of olive oil for a minute or so, and then sauteed the onion.  I then crumbled the tofu into the pan, breaking it up further with a wooden spatula.  A number of blogs I've read have suggested adding tumeric to the tofu to give it an "eggy" color, so I stirred in a teaspoon of tumeric, along with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.  I let the mix cook for about minutes, stirring it frequently to keep it from sticking to the bottom of my pan.  When the tofu was lightly browned, I took it off the heat and stirred in some dried parsley, and then put it in a glass container. This morning, I reheated it in the microwave with a touch of mozzarella daiya, along with some leftover cooked broccoli.  I think next time I will need to be more aggressive with the seasoning, but it was tasty.

What goes nicely with "scrambled eggs"?  Breakfast potatoes!  I had some leftover mini red, purple and gold mini-potatoes, so I chopped them up small and tossed them in olive oil, dried minced onion, sea salt and pepper.  I let them roast in a single layer in a pyrex dish at 425 for 30 minutes, stirring them at one point so they wouldn't stick.  I reheated them this morning in the toaster, rather than microwaving them, so they'd stay crispy.

What are your favorite vegan breakfast treats?

Vegetable Soup with Navy Beans

Wow, was my last blog December 18?  Holy cow.  Let me give you a quick recap of the past few weeks - our niece arrived December 19, then it was Hanukkah, husband's birthday, making a few meals (nothing I haven't blogged before) for my brother & sister-in-law, volunteering on Christmas Day at Washington Hebrew Home, a road trip with the in-laws and grandmother-in-law to visit the new baby, home yoga practice and lots and lots of naps to recover from it all.

With all this busyness and craziness, we decided we could use some serious comfort food.  And what's better comfort food in the winter than homemade soup?  Better yet, a hearty, vegan friendly vegetable and bean soup?

I've been wanting to play with dried beans for awhile.  Sure, they're a heck of a lot less convenient than canned, but the trade-offs are worth it, especially when it comes to texture and flavor.  Also, the variety of dried beans at our local Whole Foods is amazing.  They have a number of heirloom beans that I'm really looking forward to trying.  So, if you are able to plan your meals ahead, I really encourage you to give dried beans a try!



For this soup, we decided to go with a simple navy bean.  Fun fact - these beans got their name not because of their color (they're off-white), but "because they were a staple food of the  U.S. Navy in the early 20th Century."  Like other legumes, navy beans are an excellent source of fiber and protein, and are also a "good source of folate, manganese and vitamin B1 as well as the minerals phosphorus, copper, magnesium and iron."

Beans soaking

Beans cooked

I used VeggieTable.com as a guide to preparing the beans .  After picking through the three cups of dried beans, I soaked them for eight hours in nine cups of water.  I then boiled them in the soaking liquid for ten minutes, skimming foam off the top.  After ten minutes, I reduced the heat to a simmer, added a generous teaspoon of salt, and simmered the beans covered for one hour.  My husband and I tasted the plain beans when they were done and agreed that we vastly preferred them to canned!  We then put them in the fridge to use in today's soup.

One of my favorite soups is minestrone, which traditionally includes vegetables, beans and pasta.  According to Wikipedia, minestrone translates to "the big soup" and is usually made from whatever ingredients you have in the fridge.  What I ended up making was minestrone inspired, as we used up a lot of what we had in the fridge.  But, I elected to leave out the pasta at the last minute, so I'm hesitant to call it a true minestrone.

Behold the aftermath of the chopping!

To start the soup, I diced one large white onion, half a bunch of celery, three yukon gold potatoes and two zucchini.  I also sliced up several handfuls of baby carrots and minced four cloves of garlic.  I sauteed all the veg in olive oil until it was translucent, about ten minutes.  When the good brown bits started to stick to the bottom of the pot, I poured in a little bit of vegetable broth to deglaze the mix.

I then added in a large can of whole tomatoes and their liquid, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon.  Then, I added three cups of the cooked beans.  Using the neat little herb mill my sister-in-law gave me recently, I ground up some sage and rosemary and mixed that in, along with fresh thyme, dried oregano, sea salt and black pepper.  Finally, I added a carton and a half of veggie broth.  Once the soup came to a boil, I let it simmer for an hour, which made our entire apartment, and probably the hallway, smell like yummy vegetable soup.

We had the soup for lunch today with some crusty bread.  It was warm, hearty and had a nice kick from the garlic and pepper!  Better yet, we have tons of leftovers, and I think it will taste even better reheated, as the flavors will continue to combine.

My Very Vegan Hanukkah: Sweet Potato Latkes and Cauliflower Latkes

Last week was a bit of a challenge on the eating front - husband and I got hit with a particularly nasty bout of stomach flu, so we subsisted on ginger ale, pretzels, dry toast and gatorade for the beginning of the week.  Vegan?  Technically, yes.  Nourishing. Not at all. So, of course, with our early observed  celebration of Hanukkah taking place this Saturday, I was going to have a chance to get back to some actual fruits and vegetables appearing on my plate.

For those of you not familiar with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, it is the celebration of a miracle that occurred after the destruction of the temple and it's rescue by the Maccabees.  There was only enough oil to light the Ner Tamid, the eternal light, for one day.  But, the light lasted for eight days.  To celebrate Hanukkah, Jewish families light a menorah, a candleholder with nine branches - eight branches to hold candlesto recognize each day the Ner Tamid remained lit, and the ninth, the shamash, holds the candle that lights the other eight.  On the first night, you light one candle, the second two, and on and on through the eighth night, when the entire menorah is lit.   In my family, on the first night, we also say the shehechyanu, which is a prayer said on holidays or other occasions you with to note the significance of.

What, you may ask, does all this have to do with vegan food?  Well, Jews like to eat fried things on Hanukkah.  It's said to be eating anything fried in oil is a tie back to the miracle of the Ner Tamid.  Some people (aka not me, who can't tolerate the soy) celebrate by eating, I kid you not, jelly donuts.  But, I think the fried food most folks think of most when it comes to Hanukkah is latkes.

Latkes are potato pancakes that are fried in oil until they're crispy.  Traditionally, latkes are made with grated white potato, flour and egg, perhaps with a little onion for seasoning.  My versions were veganized, and also quickly pan-seared and baked to cut the grease factor.

The first recipe, the sweet potato latkes, was made was a riff on a recipe that came from what I call my mother's Jewish recipe envelope collection.  When my mother saw a Jewish holiday recipe (or any recipe) she liked, she would cut it out and stick it in an envelope.  Somehow, I ended up with the envelope full of Jewish recipes, so I can't credit the source of this recipe other than to tell you it was cut out of a pamphlet, judging by the condition of the paper, sometime between 1982-1995.

Look at all this parsley.  Nanny Sadie would be proud!

The sweet potato latke recipe called for one sweet potato, two yukon gold potatoes, one onion, four eggs a quarter cup of matzo meal and salt and pepper to taste.  I actually added a third potato and, in honor of my great-grandmother, who wouldn't dream of making a dish without parsley, a healthy handful of chopped fresh parsley.  To replace the eggs, I used Ener-G egg replacer, which, as I mentioned before, binds these types of patties more firmly than eggs in my opinion.  I also used a cup of whole wheat panko in place of the matzo meal.

To shred the potatoes, I used the shredding disc on my food processor.  I took out the sweet potato, the three yukon gold potatoes and the onion in approximately thirty seconds.  If that's not a Hanukkah miracle, I don't know what else might qualify.  After browning the latkes on both sides in some cooking spray, we decided they weren't quite crispy enough, so we threw them in a 375 oven for 20 minutes. 

I have made the cauliflower latkes before as part of my vegetarian Rosh Hashanah, but my husband's grandmother enjoyed them so much that I decided to make them again.  The last time I made them, I made them with eggs, but I used the Ener-G this time, and I also finished them in the oven.

We used our largest platter (two feet long!) to serve the latkes, and it was completely filled.  After all seven of us ate, there were three latkes left.  Three!  Lack of leftovers = recipe success. 

My personal Hanukkah miracle!

While our guests also enjoyed bagels and lox and other spreads, I was quite content with my light dinner of latkes, whole grain bread with earth balance (my husband's grandmother also opted for the bread) and a big pile of fresh fruit.

What yummy vegan treats will you be cooking up for the holidays?

Blueberry Rhubarb Pie and Vegan Mashed Potatoes

My final two cooking projects for Thanksgiving were dessert and another side, both vegan!

I did an informal poll of my friends on Facebook to see what pie I should make for Thanksgiving.  My friend Matt suggested blueberry rhubarb, and I thought that sounded great.  I found this Cooks.com recipe to serve as my guide.

For the crust, I used the vegan Buttery Double Crust recipe from the November 2011 issue of Yoga Journal, which comes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Vegan Pie in the Sky.  The recipe isn't currently online, but it calls for flour, salt, sugar, vegan margarine, vegan shortening and cider vinegar.  I used Earth Balance buttery sticks and vegetable shortening.  Both of them contain soy, but I'm hoping that the small amount of pie I'll have won't knock me over allergy wise.  I used my food processor to make the dough for the crust, rather than cutting in the "butter" and shortening by hand.  I did cut the "butter" & shortening into small cubes first, and then put those cubes in the freezer for a bit to firm them back up.

For the filling, I essentially followed the recipe above, except I used the converted amount of truvia, rather than sugar.  I used fresh blueberries, but rhubarb is completely out of season, so I used frozen rhubarb from Stahlbush Island Farms.  I've used their frozen rhubarb before and it turns out quite well.  I also omitted the butter dotting on the filling - I was planning to use Earth Balance, but I completely forgot to add it in before I put the crust on top.

As usual, I had issues getting the crust to roll out properly.  I used the pastry board my parents  got me, and put waxed paper over the dough, but it still took me two tries to get it not to stick.  I'm sure someone has a suggestion they would be happy to share with me (hint hint!).  And, as also usual, I had to piece together the bottom and top crusts after the dough broke.  Thus, I refer to this pie as "Franken-Pie," due to the repair job I did on the top.

I did manage to do cut outs on top of the crust.  I have some small leaf cookie cutters that work well for this purpose.  I then used a knife to score the dough pieces to make them more leaf like.  Finally, I brushed the pie with almond milk to help the pie brown.  I used  my pie shield for the first 35 minutes of baking, and then removed it for the final 15 minutes.

Fluffier than they look - they're crammed in this bowl!

For the vegan mashed potatoes, I took 3.7 pounds (yes, a weird number  - that just happens to be what they weighed out to) of red potatoes, quartered them, and boiled them in our giant seven quart pot for 25 minutes.  In the past, when I've made a huge amount of mashed potatoes, I had to use multiple pots, so it was nice to only have to do them in one.  Once the potatoes were done, I used my yoga cultivated upper body strength to drain the potatoes, and then I mashed them with soy-free Earth Balance, plain almond milk and generous shakes of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Mom tasted them and said the almond milk added a touch of sweetness that she liked, and that they weren't as heavy as mashed potatoes made with a ton of dairy products.  I think I may need to re-season them when I reheat them tomorrow, but I'll play it by ear.

So, that's all of my Thanksgiving cooking!  We'll see what the verdict is when our family gets to taste everything tomorrow.  Until then, have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!!!

Labor of Love Pre-Labor Day Dinner: Vegetarian Moussaka

When it's a three day weekend, I like to make a more complex dish for Sunday dinner than I might make during a regular week.  I don't mind spending two or three hours in the kitchen on a Sunday if I don't have to head to work on Monday.

Tonight's experiment was Moussaka.  Moussaka is an eggplant and tomato based dish that's layered and baked in the oven.  I tend to think of it as Greek food, but it also apparently is also a dish found in the Balkans and Middle East.  A number of traditional Moussaka preparations have minced beef, but there are a number of vegan and vegetarian versions out there. After looking at several sources, I decided on this lacto-ovo version from Allrecipes.com, which called for lentils instead of beef.

Lentils are an excellent addition to a vegan or vegetarian diet. In addition to being high in fiber, they are also a good source of folate and iron.  Dried lentils store for a long time, and, unlike other dried beans, do not need to be soaked overnight before they're cooked.  Lentils can be ready to eat in about 20-30 minutes, so they're also good for quick meals.

This recipe called for canned lentils, but I had some dried lentils in the cupboard, so I decided to cook up a large batch of them and save some for other dishes throughout the week.  There are a number of types of lentils.  The ones I used are French Green Lentils, which I purchased from the bulk aisle in Whole Foods.   

To slice the vegetables, I broke out my mandoline slicer.  This mandoline allowed me to adjust the thickness of the slices very easily, and I was able to slice an entire eggplant, two zucchini, four yukon gold potatoes and one large onion in less than five minutes, including washing the veggies and swapping blades.  It helped to cut the eggplant and zucchini into three or so pieces, and I'm definitely glad for the food guard!  I used the serrated blade for the eggplant and zucchini and the straight blade for the potatoes.

The browning of the veggies took longer, even using my ginormous saute pan, so I was glad to have saved time on the slicing!  I think it was about seven rounds of veg.  I got a little nervous about the veg sticking to the pan, so I gradually added additional tablespoons of olive oil.

While I let the veggies drain on paper towels, I worked on the sauce.  Since I didn't have liquid left over from the canned lentils, I added in some vegetable broth.  I also used half a small bulb of garlic, rather than one clove of garlic.  I mean, really, who only uses ONE clove?

For the roux, I used skim milk and Earth Balance.  I may try and make it with Almond Milk next time.  Also, if there is a next time, I am bringing in minions to help me with the endless browning of vegetables.

Since this was looking to be a fairly hearty meal, I decided to make a side salad with romaine, red pepper, baby carrots and sunflower seeds.  I dressed it with Silver Palate's Champagne Honey Mustard Dressing.


All in all, the start time was 6:25 and the meal went on the table around 8:45.  It would have been longer if it wasn't for the mandoline!  But, it was well worth the effort for something so yummy, as well as something that would give us some leftovers.  Husband and I ate half the pan, and I imagine the rest of the pan will not last so long.

Vegan Comfort Food: Loaded Baked Potato

When I was a kid, we used go to the Cherry Hill Mall Food Court for dinner.  The Food Court had all sorts of delights for an elementary school aged child  - Bain's Deli, Taco Bell, Haagen Dazs, etc.  But, my ultimate favorite was the Potato Pub, where you could get a ginormous baked potato stuffed with pretty much anything.  My favorite was "The Big Cheese."  The Big Cheese was a potato about the size of my ten year old head, a cup of butter and likely a pound of cheese.

I've been making a healthier version of "The Big Cheese" for years now - cutting down drastically on the butter and cheese and adding veggies, either spinach or broccoli.  It's a great dinner option if you want something hearty, but don't want to engage in active cooking time.  Tonight, I decided to see if I could successfully make my already healthier remake as a vegan version.

Yes, this really and truly is vegan!

First, you need to bake your potato. I use a russet potato - it hold up better to the stuffing to come.  I microwave mine.  You can bake it in the oven if you so desire, but it takes 9-10 minutes in the microwave versus, say, half an hour or so in the oven.  Just make sure you stab the potato all over with a fork so that steam can escape.

Carefully remove the potato from the oven and cut it open with a knife.  Fluff the baked part of the potato with a fork.  I added a little bit of Soy-Free Earth Balance.  You can use a bit of butter (if you're not going vegan), or a touch of olive oil, or omit this step.  However, a little bit of Earth Balance or butter/oil will help keep the potato moist.

Next, top with your veggie of choice.  My go to is broccoli.  I usually go with a chopped fresh broccoli, but we already had a mess of steamed broccoli in the fridge, so I used that. But, feel free to use any veggie that suits your fancy! I then topped the whole thing with two kinds of Daiya - cheddar style and mozzarella style.  You can use regular cheese or another vegan cheese alternative, but Daiya does melt quite nicely.

I am giving a thumbs up to the vegan version - it has the same deliciousness as the non-vegan version, but without the heaviness of the dairy.

If you are skeptical that a potato can be good for you, keep in mind that how a potato is prepared is what makes it healthy or unhealthy.  Think about it - what makes french fries and potato chips unhealthy is the oil they're cooked in, rather than the starting product.   Using a large potato like the one I used for this main course dish meant 278 calories.  Figure the other elements added another 150-200 and it's still very reasonable for a main course dinner.  Plus, I got 7 grams of fiber (and even more from the broccoli and Daiya) ,7 grams of protein and a healthy dose of Vitamin C and Iron.  Yes, I eat the entire skin - you should too!  No matter how you're preparing your potato - roasting, baking, etc., keep that skin on to up the fiber count and keep those nutrients in your food.

Seder Cooking Part 1: Vegetable Kugel, Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

We started our Pesach cooking today.  With full disclosure, I did make some non-veg dishes for the guests, namely beef brisket and gefilte fish.  That said, there are plenty of veg sides that will make a delicious meal for me and my non-red meat eating mother.

The three veg dishes I made today were:

Veg cooking away!

Vegetable kugel.  This is one of my favorite Pesach dishes.  Most recipes call for frozen spinach, but I used fresh.  We also added onion, celery, carrots and yellow pepper (the recipe called for green pepper, but we thought yellow would make it prettier).   After letting the veg cook for 20 minutes in broth, we strained it and mixed in an egg & matzoh meal mixture.  It then baked in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Before baking.

The finished product.

Yummy browned potatoes!

We also made roasted potatoes, which were soaked in olive oil and onion soup mix, and then roasted in a 450 degree oven for about 50 minutes.

I also made my roasted Brussels sprouts with shallots.  Tomorrow, when we reheat them, I'll stir in some fresh parmesan.

Tonight, I will make the lemon "cream" filling for my cake, and tomorrow, it's the rest of the cake and Matzo ball soup!

Everything's Better Roasted

Well, not everything.  That said, if there's a vegetable that you're either 1)sick of  or 2)never particularly a fan of, I suggest you roast it.

I am still hacking away at last night's lasagna, but I had some veggies in the fridge that needed to be cooked before they went to waste.

My first veggie - Brussels Sprouts.  Few words seem to strike fear into the hearts of children and adults than Brussels Sprouts.  But, these delicious little creatures have gotten a bad rap.  Chances are, if you've eaten them and disliked them, they were frozen and boiled to death.  But, roasted with olive oil and shallots and a touch of parmesan, they are quite tasty.

Anyway, what is a Brussels Sprout anyway?   According to wikipedia:

The Brussels sprout is a cultivar group of wild cabbage cultivated for its small, leafy green buds, which are typically 2.5–4 cm (0.98–1.6 in) in diameter and visually resemble miniature cabbages. The sprout is Brassica oleracea, in the "gemmifera" group of the family Brassicaceae. . . Brussels sprouts, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties. Although boiling reduces the level of the anti-cancer compounds, steaming, microwaving, and stir frying does not result in significant loss.



If you've never prepared a fresh Brussel sprout, it's easier than it sounds.  Get a good knife, and cut off the woody stem.  Discard any yellowed outer leaves.  I like to coarsely chop mine, mix them with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and roast them for 20-25 minutes at 425.  Halfway through the roasting time, I stir in some chopped shallots, and, with four or so minutes to go, I stir in some shredded parmesan/asiago blend.

Second veggie - the yukon gold potato.  Why is this potato different from all other potatoes, such as a russet, a red, etc.?  There's actually a whole page of potato cultivars if you'd like to learn more.  But yukons have a more golden flesh than a russet and, at least to me, are a bit fimer.  I like to roast them with (again) olive oil, freshly ground pepper, sea salt and fresh rosemary.  The roasting time is 30-35 minutes, depending on how small you cut the potatoes (try and get them all the same size for even roasting).

Now, the roasting treatment doesn't just apply to Brussel Sprouts and potatoes.  I also enjoy roasting butternut squash, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, eggplant and beets.  What do you need to have handy if you're going to be roasting veggies?

1.  Olive oil.  Lots of olive oil.  We go through it so much that I should really buy stock in whoever owns Bertolli.  Olive oil helps seasonings cling to your veg, and helps you develop that nice brown crust that tastes so yummy.

2.  Sea Salt.  Sea salt or other coarse salts give your food a nicer texture than table salt. 

3.   Freshly Ground Pepper.  I like this from a textural standpoint as well.  I use a kind that has multiple types of peppercorns, which adds some interesting visual contrast.

Happy roasting!