Month: April 2017

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Posted in Baked Treasures, Breakfast Ideas, Delightful DessertsTagged , , , , , , , 4 Comments
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Today is a double whammy of a day. It’s the National Oatmeal Cookie Day and at the same time the National Raisin Day. So I just had to join in the celebrations by putting those two together into these lovely, healthy and chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that use couple of very simple ingredients and take no time to make.

I decided to start with some naturally sweet ingredients in order to completely omit using added sugar. So I went for a combination of carrots and raisins, both with an amazing amount of sweetness that baking brings out to an amazing extent.

For my oatmeal, I decided to toast some of it to add extra dimensions of nuttiness to the flavor of these cookies without the need to use any nuts. Additional trick I used is to grind most of the oats which made it easy to skip using flour. Still, I did add a bit of corn starch to help the cookies along, and “flax egg” to bind everything together.

Of course, you can’t have a good batch of moist cookies without adding a bit of fat and in this case I decide to use solids out of the can of coconut cream. I used all the liquid and couple of tablespoons of solids for my Bread Fruit Curry, so I had some solids leftover. You can also use coconut oil in this application as well. The oil does not need to be fully melted but it does need to be softened so that can mix well with the rest of the ingredients.

So without any further ado I give to you on this special day gluten-free and dairy-free, no sugar added Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, No Sugar Added Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, No Sugar Added Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

What you’ll need (for 24, 2 in (5 cm) diameter cookies):

3 large carrots

1 cup raisins

2 cups oatmeal

1/4 cup flax meal

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup corn starch

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

What you’ll do:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
  2. Place raisins into a large cup and cover with hot water. Let them soak for 30 minutes.
  3. Add flax meal to a large cup and mix well with 3/4 cups of hot water. Let stand for 15-30 minutes.
  4. Toast 1/2 cup of oat meal in a toaster oven until they begin to slightly brown and start smelling lovely and deliciously toasty, which should take about 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on the toaster oven though as the oats will burn quickly. You can toast the oatmeal on the stove top, using a frying pan. I recommend dry toasting them, although you can use a drop of oil or cooking spray to help the toasting along.
  5. Add the toasted oats to a food processor and grind to a fine meal. Pour the toasted oatmeal into a large mixing bowl.
  6. Add another 1 cup of oatmeal to the food processor and grind as finely as the previous batch. Combine with the ground toasted oatmeal.
  7. Add reminder of the oatmeal (1/2 cup) into the mixing bowl without grinding for added texture.
  8. Grind carrots finely using the food processor and add to the oatmeal mix.
  9. Drain the raisins well and add to the oatmeal and carrots.
  10. Add “flax egg” and mix well. The mixture should be moist but not runny.
  11. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. If your coconut oil needs a but of melting, put it in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds. Keep an eye on it because you don’t want it to be completely melted, just soft enough to be able to mix well.
  12. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spoon out the cookies with a tablespoon. This should yield 24 cookies, 12 per baking sheet. Use your fingers to shape the cookies into nice, flat rounds or any shape you like. Their final thickness is about 1/2 in (1 cm) and they will not spread or rise much so make sure that you do actually flat them out before baking.
  13. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. The cookies will be soft to touch but will firm up a bit as they cool.
  14. You can frost them with simple sugar frosting if you like, but I did want to keep this recipe “added sugar” free and they are delicious as is. Enjoy!!!

  15. Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks

Posted in From the Grill, Meat ReplacementTagged , , , , , 7 Comments

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
It’s that time of year in New England when we jump out of our winter lairs and onto our no-longer-snow-covered decks to fire up the grill. I love grilling, and if anyone ever told you that grilling is a guy thing, don’t listen to them as grilling is for everyone! There is something very primal that comes to forth when you find yourself outdoors, standing in front of the fire and flames, and you hear the sizzle of delicious food getting caramelized, charred and transformed into the mouth watering delights.

I love using my grill, especially during the summer months, because it gets the food cooked fast without heating the kitchen and makes clean up a breeze. Add to that a delight of summer evenings and eating outside, and it can hardly get better than that. I make piles of grilled vegetables and have even developed an awesome way of making grilled pizza, which I’ll share in another post.

Here I’ll share how to get the perfect Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks as grilled steaks are the quintessential example of this type of cooking. For this recipe to work you do need to use very large portobello mushroom caps. The ones I found in our local grocery store are about 4 to 5 in (10 to 12 cm) in diameter, and that’s the size I recommend for a recipe like this as the bigger portobello caps will hold up to grilling much better. Most of the really large portobello mushrooms will come without stems, but if the ones you get include the stems I recommend using the stems to make your own vegan “scallops”.

The recipe is really very simple and the mushroom steaks cook very quickly. The most time consuming step is putting the marinade together and letting the mushrooms soak up some flavors, which will take anywhere between one to two hours. If you are pressed for time you can skip this step and simply apply the same marinade liquid to the mushrooms as they grill.

Are there any tricks to getting a perfect grilled portobello mushroom steak? Yes, there are a couple. The first one is really more of an universal grilling advice than mushroom specific: make sure your grill grate is clean, hot and well oiled (for more on how to prepare your grill for perfect grilling results check this post out). This will help the food go on and not stick to the grates. I recommend using paper towel dipped in oil and a pair of long kitchen tongs to do this. The second trick is mushroom specific as I recommend grilling the mushrooms cap side facing up first in order to allow for all the excess moisture to drip out, before flipping the cap over. Finally, if you are into the grill marks you need to remember to rotate your cap by 90 degrees half way through the cooking.

Following these easy steps will bring delicious grilled mushroom steaks to your plate!

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks Step 1, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks Step 2
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks Step 3
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks Plated

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks

What you’ll need:

(for 4 servings)

4 extra large portobello mushroom caps

2 tablespoons A.1. steak sauce (or any other steak sauce, homemade or store-bought)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons chili powder

Some oil to brush your grill

What you’ll do:

  1. Wipe the portobello caps with a paper towel to remove any dirt. Set aside.
  2. Whisk together all the rest of the ingredients in a container large enough to hold all four mushroom steaks.
  3. Place the mushroom steaks into the marinade and make sure they are fully coated and covered. Marinate for 30 to 60 minutes. If you decide to skip this step simply coat the mushrooms with the marinade before placing on the grill.
  4. While mushrooms are marinating, prepare your outdoor grill for medium high heat grilling. If you have any questions on how to do this, Whole Foods Market has a post that can help. Don’t have an outdoor grill? You can use the indoor grill or a grill pan for this recipe as well. In that case simply follow whatever steps you usually take when grilling indoors over medium high to high heat.
  5. Place your mushroom steaks on the grill top side up, spread some marinade over the steaks, and grill for 4 to 5 minutes.
  6. Spread some more marinade on top, turn the caps over and grill top side down for 3 minutes, then lift up and rotate by a very rough quarter turn, and grill for another 2 minutes. You can skip this rotating step. It does not change the flavor of the steaks, but it does make for those well-known (and loved) grill marks.
  7. Enjoy the perfect grilled portobello mushroom steak with your favorite sides, like Cauliflower Mash and a field greens salad!

    8. Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Quick Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Tofu

Posted in Baked Treasures, Breakfast Ideas, Tofu CreationsTagged , , , , , , , 4 Comments
Quick Quiche with Tofu and Mushrooms
Quick Quiche with Tofu and Mushrooms, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Eating pie for lunch sounds so decadent, doesn’t it? And that’s what makes quiche so appealing. I usually stay away from making quiche because I can’t deal with making my own crust. The crust takes time and effort that is beyond my capacity. Luckily for me, and I am guessing many of you, stores carry pre-made pie crusts that are ready to use.

My quiche recipe uses one of those and that really makes it come together relatively quickly. One tip when using the store bought frozen pie crust is to bake the crust by itself first for ten to fifteen minutes while you are mixing and preparing the other ingredients. This pre-baking will help make the crust nice and crunchy and help it hold the filling.

Filling is definitely the star of any quiche and it is traditionally made of eggs and cheese, often with mushrooms, ham, spinach, artichokes or other meat and vegetable components thrown into it. So, the result is usually light in texture but heavy on your stomach and very calorie dense.

In my first attempt to veganize quiche I decided to keep it simple and start with mushrooms, red onions and tofu as main ingredients. Most of the cooking actually takes place in a pan on the stove top as both red onions and mushrooms need to be fully cooked before they hit the pie crust. I recommend taking the time to caramelize the onions nice and slow, as well as let the mushrooms cook most of the way before adding tofu. In this case, the tofu needs to be drained and crumbled but you can skip the “pressing tofu” step that almost all tofu recipes have making this a really quick dish!

Quick Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Tofu

What you’ll need:

1 store bought pie crust, vegan

1 red onion

10 oz (300 g) white mushrooms

14 oz (400 g) extra firm tofu, drained

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 teaspoon dry basil leaves

1 teaspoon dry oregano leaves

Cooking spray

What you’ll do:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Once ready, put the pie crust in to pre-bake for 15 minutes.
    2. Cut the onion into fine, thin slices.
    3. Spray the bottom and sides of a frying pan with cooking spray and place it over medium high heat. Add the onion and let caramelize for 5 to 10 minutes. The onion should be nicely browned and soft.
    4. While the onion is caramelizing, clean and slice the mushrooms, or you can always buy sliced mushrooms and skip this step.
    5. Add sliced mushrooms to the onion mix and cook until mushrooms soften, which will take another 5 minutes or so.
    6. Drain tofu and crumble it into small crumbles with a fork or with your hand. The size of the crumbles should be similar to scrambled egg.
    7. Add crumbled tofu, nutritional yeast, corn starch, basil and oregano. Stir well the quiche filling, let brown for another 1 to 2 minutes, then turn the heat off and let sit until your pie crust is done pre-baking.
    8. Pour the filling into the crust, spray the top with some cooking spray and return to oven for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
    9. Take the quiche out, let stand for 5 minutes then serve with your favorite salad or top with some sun dried tomato shreds like I did on this occasion.

Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Chocolate Bon Bons with Dates, Walnuts and Apples

Posted in Delightful DessertsTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Chocolate Bon Bons with Dates, Walnuts and Apples
Chocolate Bon Bons with Dates, Walnuts and Apples, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
It is Easter Sunday, so you might as well kick back, relax and have some bon bons. So I wanted to share with everyone who observe Easter today and everyone who are just looking for a simple, nutritious and adorable dessert recipe this super-easy and kids-friendly recipe for Bon Bons. This recipe was my entry into Food52 contest Your Best Recipe with Dates.

Dates, especially Medjool dates, are fabulously sweet fruit of date palm trees and have been used in Middle Eastern and North African regions for centuries. Growing up in Serbia (ex-Yugoslavia), dates were a special, almost candy, treat we’d get especially for Christmas Eve.

You may have seen dates in your dried fruit aisle, and that is exactly where you’ll find Medjool dates as well. Some stores have also been featuring them around the produce stands, but don’t expect to find raw dates – at least I’ve never seen them raw. Not to worry though, dried dates work really well in a recipe like these bon bons with a little help of warm water and thirty minutes of rehydration.

Bon Bon Mix, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Bon Bon Mix Comes Together, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Bon Bons before Coating, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

The bon bons come together really quickly and there isn’t much to making them really. But, in order to make them easier to handle in the last stage where they meet the melted chocolate you should let them sit in a freezer for half an hour. That will help them hold their shape during their chocolate bath.

Not fan of chocolate? You can skip it and roll the bon bons in coconut flakes, chopped walnuts, slivered almonds or anything else that will make your taste buds jump for joy!!!

One last thing: this recipe is super kid-friendly and if you are looking for something you can make together with any little chefs in your life this is it. There is a bit of mixing and a bit of hands on digging into a mix and making bon bons with your hands, which is sure to please. Plus: as the recipe is no-bake everything is safe to try and lick for those without tree nut allergies. If you are looking to make this recipe tree nut free, you could try doubling the amount of oats and skipping the walnuts. I am not 100% sure this will work, but I am about 95% sure it will – I hope this is good enough for you to give these bon bons a try.

Chocolate Bon Bons with Dates, Walnuts and Apples

What you’ll need:

5 medjool dates

1 cup oats

1 cup walnuts

1 Granny Smith apple

1 teaspoon cinnamon

8 ounces chocolate, vegan

1 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened

What you’ll do:

  1. Remove the pits and soak medjool dates in warm water for 30 – 60 minutes.
  2. Place oats and walnuts into a food processor and grind them into a fine meal. Pour out into a large mixing bowl.
  3. Core the Granny Smith apple, but don’t peel it. Add it to the food processor and processes it until very fine. Add the apple to the walnut and oats mix. Add the cinnamon.
  4. Drain the dates. Using a small food processor or a hand held (stick) blender, blend the dates into a fine paste. Add the paste to the mixing bowl. Mix everything together using a wooden spoon or a spatula.
  5. Using a measuring spoon, measure out 1 tablespoon of the mix out into your hand. Form a ball (a bon bon) and place it on a freezer safe tray covered with wax paper. The recipe should make 18-24 bon bons.
  6. Put the bon bons in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  7. Just before 30 minutes is up, melt the chocolate either in the microwave or using a double boiler.
  8. Place 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes at a time in a flat dish. Take the bon bons out of the freezer, dip them into the melted chocolate and roll them in the coconut flakes. Alternatively, you can skip the chocolate and roll the bon bons in coconut flakes only!
  9. Leave the finished bon bons on the kitchen counter for about 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden.
  10. Enjoy!

    11. Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Mushroom “Scallops” with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Posted in Condiments, Sauces, and More, Fish and Seafood Alternatives, Tips & TechniquesTagged , , , , , , 2 Comments
Mushroom “Scallops” with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

“Waste not, want not” is how the saying goes, encouraging us to not to waste what we have and conserve resources. Well, I may be extrapolating here, but it is not a bad maxim to cook by, if not live by. I’ve been struggling for number of years now to find use for mushroom stems, especially the big, almost woody stems of large white button mushrooms. The caps are fabulous for stuffing, and I’ve already shared my Mashed Potato Stuffed Mushrooms with Cashew Sour Cream recipe, but stems are a bit trickier. I usually chop them up and combine them into the stuffing, or don’t even bother removing them if I use mushrooms in a soup or stew that will simmer for a while. However, big stems just don’t work well in some of the quicker recipes.

That’s why I got really excited when I found out that mushroom stems can be used as a sort of replacement for large scallops. For example, Cara, the person behind a fabulous blog called Fork & Beans, used king oyster mushrooms to make a “scallop” pasta. That got me thinking: why not use the large stems I got to create a vegan “scallop” dish?

There is one major trick to transforming mushroom stems into scallops – you have to soak them in hot water 1-2 hours to overnight. I soaked my batch overnight, actually for almost 24 hours, which is totally an overkill but I just had other things to do the mushroom stems had to wait happily soaking in the refrigerator. The mushroom stems I had were pretty long so I had to cut each in half, so my scallops were about 1 in (2.5 cm) thick. That worked well in terms of cooking too! Before using, drain and dry your mushroom scallops.

Mushroom “Scallops” Soaking, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Another advice I can share is to make mushroom scallops the same way you would make scallops, which in my case means simply browning them on both sides, using a bit of oil or cooking spray and sprinkling with Old Bay Seasoning on one side as the first side is finishing cooking. The cooking itself takes no time at all: three to five minutes per side should do the trick!

If you are serving the mushroom “scallops” as is, I suggest you sprinkle them with some lemon juice. I decided to serve them with a Cilantro Yogurt Sauce which I made from homemade soy yogurt, fresh cilantro, crushed garlic and lime juice. The homemade soy yogurt was simple to make and I recommend you try making your own, but if pressed for time store bought plain soy yogurt will do the trick. Here, the tangier the yogurt, the better the yogurt sauce so choose the brand with more tang – I can’t recommend any here because none of the store bought yogurts I tried were really all that good (thus the decision to make my own!). You can adjust the tang with adding a drop of apple cider vinegar or a bit more lime juice.

You can serve these mushroom “scallops”, and the sauce, with pasta or polenta, but I plated them as an appetizer over some fresh baby spinach leaves. The “scallops” were hot when plated, and their heat wilted the spinach a bit as well. I let them sit for few minutes before layering on cold yogurt sauce and serving immediately!!!

In case you were wondering, these don’t really taste like scallops but they are delicious and I love the idea so I will definitely be trying to get the flavor closer to the original, perhaps by trying a different mushroom variety.

Mushroom “Scallops” with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

What you’ll need:

20 large white button mushroom, stems only

2-3 teaspoons, Old Bay Seasoning

1 cup plain soy yogurt, homemade

1 cup cilantro leaves (about 1 bunch)

2 teaspoon garlic, crushed

2-3 teaspoons lime juice

Baby spinach for plating

Cooking spray

What you’ll do: 

    1. Cut large white button mushroom stems into 1 in (2.5 cm) pieces. Soak in water overnight, or in hot water for 1-2 hours.
    2. Prepare plain soy yogurt according to the instructions on VegCharlotte site. The method I used takes advantage of a crock pot, slow cooker, but it does take at least 14 hours to make so give yourself enough time, or get a tub of store bought soy yogurt. So this recipe is a bit of an overnight flight and you’ll need to get the mushroom “scallops” and the yogurt going one day ahead.
    3. In a food processor, mix yogurt, cilantro, garlic and lime juice. Your yogurt might be more or less solid, mine was more of a kefir than yogurt, but that really does not matter much in this application. At the end you will have a beautiful, aromatic, vibrant sauce regardless of your yogurt consistency. Put your sauce to the side and proceed to deal with the mushroom “scallops”.
    4. When ready to cook the mushrooms, first drain the liquid and pat the mushroom “scallops” dry with a kitchen towel.
    5. Spray the bottom of a large frying pan with cooking spray and place it over the high heat. Brown the mushroom “scallops” on one side for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle the top with Old Bay Seasoning then turn over for another 3-5 minutes. Plate on the bed of baby spinach that has been generously topped with cilantro yogurt sauce. Serve and enjoy immediately!

Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Soy Yogurt Cilantro Sauce, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Cilantro Yogurt Sauce, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Posted in Main Course, Tips & Techniques, Tofu CreationsTagged , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Basic Pad Thai is a simple noodle dish, where wide rice noodles are mixed with eggs and chopped peanuts, then sprinkled with crushed red pepper flakes, lime juice and chopped scallions (green onions) and sometimes fresh cilantro. The whole dish comes together in five to ten minutes and can be eaten as is, or customized with a range of toppings so it is definitely a very popular dish found in every Thai restaurant.

Although it is relatively straightforward to find the right type of rice noodles that are typically used in Pad Thai, I decided to explore whether spaghetti squash would work. Spaghetti squash is a squash that, as the name suggests, has a stringy flesh structure that can be forked into a noodle-like structures. The texture of these noodles is softer than the regular pasta, and they are usually shorter but the flavor is rich and delicious, and the nutritional facts are definitely on the side of the squash when compared to either rice noodles that one would use in Pad Thai or any other pasta.

One down side to using spaghetti squash in a recipe like Pad Thai is that squash needs to be roasted first, which means that a five to ten minute recipe all of a sudden becomes a sixty to ninety minute recipe. Still, I recommend you give it a try especially as the hands on time is not as intense.

Are there any tricks to spaghetti squash? No, not really. The only two tips that are worth mentioning is to roast the squash cut side down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and to let the roasted squash cool as it will help with handling the squash as well help the squash noodles come out better defined.

Cut Spaghetti Squash, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Cleaned Spaghetti Squash, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Spaghetti Squash Ready for Roasting, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Roasted Spaghetti Squash, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Forking the Spaghetti Squash, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Spaghetti Squash Bowl of Spaghetti, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

To make this into vegan Pad Thai, I recommend using extra firm tofu instead of eggs. You don’t need to press it, but do let it drain for just a bit. Otherwise it may make your Pad Thai too mushy.

One final modification to the traditional Pad Thai recipe I made is using peanut butter in the sauce and some chopped cashews for the topping. Reason for this? I ran out of peanuts!

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

What you’ll need:

1 medium spaghetti squash, 1 to 1.5 lbs (about 500 to 700 g)

2 tablespoons garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2-3 tablespoons lime juice

14 oz. (400 g) extra firm tofu

7 scallions (green onions), finely sliced

1/3 cup cashews, chopped

Cooking spray

What you’ll do:

    1. Preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C).
    2. Wash the spaghetti squash, wipe dry and cut in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to clean out the seeds.
    3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place spaghetti squash on the parchment paper, cut side down. Place in the oven and let roast for 25 to 30 minutes. Check with a knife and it goes in without resistance your squash is done. Take it our of the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Be patient because the squash needs to be cool to handle.
    4. Once cool, take half of the squash, flip over and using a large fork go in and pull the flesh to make the “spaghetti”.
    5. Spray the bottom of a large pan or wok with cooking spray and place it over medium-high heat. Add garlic and let the garlic aroma develop, which will take about 1-2 minutes.
    6. Add soy sauce and peanut butter. Stir well and cook for 1-2 minutes.
    7. Add spaghetti squash and mix with the sauce. Here, I recommend using a pair of tongs to gently fold the squash into the sauce. Once the two are well incorporated add tofu that you have crumbled to small bits that look like scrambled eggs.
    8. Mix everything well together and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
    9. Turn the heat off, add the lime juice, scallions and cashews.
    10. If you like to add some heat you can use crushed red pepper flakes, or a dash of sriracha sauce. You can also top with fresh cilantro for some added freshness.

Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Clams-free “Clam” Sauce

Posted in Fish and Seafood Alternatives, Tips & TechniquesTagged , , , , , , , , 7 Comments
Jackfruit Clam Sauce with Black Bean Pasta
Jackfruit Clam Sauce with Black Bean Pasta, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Cooking is in many ways similar to doing experiments in a research lab. In a lab we start from a protocol, or a recipe (oh, yes… we use recipes in science big time!), and more often than not we change things up to see what happens to our experimental results under a new set of parameters or conditions. We make observations and jot them down. The main and the biggest, actually a life and death, difference between cooking and science is that you don’t taste results of your science experiments, while tasting cooking experiments is recommended.

Why do I mention experiments? Well, although seldom talked about most experiments actually give negative results or even fail. Now this happens in cooking too, but I have to say at this point in my life not very often. So, it is with a bag of mixed emotions that I am jotting down this recipe – the Clam-free Clam Sauce with Black Bean Pasta – as this did not turn out the way I was hoping it would.

The sauce itself is actually spot on, creamy and delicious. It uses jackfruit as a stand in for clams, similar to what I’ve done in my New England “Clam” Chowder, and a batch of homemade vegan mozzarella, recipe for which I found on a fun vegan cooking blog site it doesn’t taste like chicken. This vegan mozzarella, combined with the jackfruit, some almond milk, lemon juice, and a dash of Old Bay Seasoning gave a beautiful, rich, and creamy sauce.

Clam-free Clam Sauce Step 1, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Clam-free Clam Sauce Step 2, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Clam-free Clam Sauce Step 3, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Clam-free Clam Sauce Step 4, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

The main problem was that I decided to pair this delicious sauce with black bean pasta, instead of more traditional linguine pasta, and this DID NOT work at all. The black bean pasta had a strong flavor that interfered with the subtle flavors of the Clam-free Clam Sauce so the final dish was definitely very far from authentic pasta with the clam sauce.

Conclusion of this experiment? When in possession of the clam sauce, even if it is a vegan version of it, just go with linguini, which is exactly what I’ll do next time!

Clam-free Clam Sauce

What you’ll need:

1 can (10 oz, 280 g) young green jackfruit in brine

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

2 tablespoons garlic, crushed

1/2 cup vegan mozzarella

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon corn starch

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon dry basil

1 teaspoon dry oregano

Cooking spray

Fresh flat leave (Italian) parsley

What you’ll do:

    1. Prepare the vegan mozzarella according to instructions on it doesn’t taste like chicken site.
    2. Prepare the jackfruit by draining the brine out and washing the jackfruit off from access brain to make sure that most of the salt is washed off. Pull jackfruit apart into smaller pieces, about the size of clam “meat”.
    3. Spray the bottom of your pot with cooking spray and turn the heat on medium-high. Add jackfruit and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
    4. Add Old Bay seasoning, mix well and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
    5. Add garlic and sauté for another minute, until the garlic releases its aroma.
    6. Next add the vegan mozzarella and mix everything together. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
    7. Add almond milk and decrease the heat to medium to medium-low. Let the sauce come to simmer.
    8. In a small bowl, mix corn starch and couple of tablespoons of sauce to temper the corn starch. Then add it to the sauce and mix well. Let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes.
    9. Add lemon juice, oregano and basil. That ought to do it. But remember: no matter what don’t pair this sauce with the black bean pasta, it’s not worth it!

Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Mushroom and Eggplant Couscous

Posted in Main CourseTagged , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Mushroom and Eggplant Couscous
Mushroom and Eggplant Couscous, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Sometimes you need to throw together couple of ingredients you have on hand and have the meal ready in a blink of an eye. This recipe is your one way ticket to a no fuss meal that is filling and satisfying. When it comes to easy and hands-off cooking nothing comes even remotely close to couscous. I’ve been making couscous for years and all you need to remember is to 1:2 ratio – 1 cup couscous plus 2 cups of boiling water – and to keep your lid on and your hand off.

Basically, once you pour your boiling water over the couscous and give it one gentle stir, all you need to do is put the lid on and let the couscous sit for 15-30 minutes. For best results use a fork to fluff the couscous up and that’s it – a delicious base for your meal is done!

The rest is very straightforward. The eggplant needs to be chopped into good size, 1 x 1 in (2.5 x 2.5 cm), cubes and mushrooms need to be quartered. The cooking begins with browning onions, then adding eggplant and letting it brown for a bit, adding mushrooms and sprinkling some corn starch to bind everything together, especially mushrooms that tend to release a lot of liquid. Another important thing to do is deglaze the pot as a lot of great caramelized flavor will be stuck to the bottom of your pan. Here, just a little bit of vegetable stock will help.

Mushroom and Eggplant Stew
Mushroom and Eggplant Stew, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Mushroom and Eggplant Couscous

What you’ll need:

2 medium eggplants, cubed

2 10 oz. (284g) white button mushrooms, quartered

1 yellow onion, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons garlic, crushed

6 scallions, diced

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 cup vegetable stock

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dry thyme

Cooking spray

What you’ll do:

  1. Prepare couscous according to the box instructions, usually by mixing 1 cup of couscous with 2 cups of boiling water, putting the lid on the container and letting couscous soak for 15 to 30 minutes.
  2. Spray the bottom and the sides of a large Dutch oven or another heavy pot with a good lid with cooking spray. Turn the heat to medium high, add diced onions and scallions and brown for 5-6 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute or so, letting the garlic release its aroma.
  4. Add eggplant and let it brown which will take anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on the size of your pot.
  5. Lower heat to medium, and add mushrooms, corn starch and thyme. Sauté for 5-8 minutes. You want your mushrooms to be soft.
  6. Use the vegetable stock to deglaze the bottom of your pot and let everything cook for 5-10 minutes more, covered.
  7. Fluff the couscous with a fork, then plate the couscous and spread the mushroom and eggplant stew on top. Sprinkle with fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley, and enjoy!

    8. Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Healthy Asparagus Risotto

Posted in Soups, Salads & Side Dishes, Tips & TechniquesTagged , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Asparagus Risotto, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Healthy Asparagus Risotto, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Spring is in the air, although perhaps not yet on the ground, and when it comes to spring vegetables asparagus is it! If you haven’t enjoyed asparagus before, do give it a try. Asparagus is very easy to make as it tastes really good roasted, or in a soup. It is also one of those risotto-friendly ingredients that blends well with creamy rice to add crunch and earthy flavor.

The path to a really lovely risotto goes through picking the right rice and cooking it with patience and with a lot of stirring. My go-to rice for risottos, as well as for sushi and other rice dishes that need a stickier rice variety, is medium grain rice. This is a point of difference with most risotto recipes out there as they recommend using short grain rice variety called arborio rice. Arborio rice will work really well in this recipe too, so if you have it on hand go for it. The kinds of rice that may not work well here are the long grain variety, like Jasmine or Basmati rice.

Cooking risotto does require lots of stirring, and one trick that I use is to add the liquid in batches to let the rice absorb it before adding more. It takes time, but at the end your risotto will be rich and creamy without needing any butter, cream or parmesan, all common risotto ingredients.

My risotto recipe does use on less-common ingredient, nutritional yeast. If you will be preparing vegan recipes often nutritional yeast is definitely worth getting because it is a common add-on that mimics dairy. In the case of this risotto nutritional yeast acts as a substitute for parmesan cheese.

Healthy Asparagus Risotto

What you’ll need:

1 pound (500 g) green asparagus, chopped

1 yellow onion, diced

1 cup medium grain or short grain rice

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2-3 cups vegetable stock or water

Cooking spray

Lemon zest, lemon juice (optional)

What you’ll do:

  1. Wash and trim the asparagus. I don’t peel it because I try to get spears that are thin and less woody, but if your asparagus is thick it will need peeling. Cut into approximately 1/2 in (1 to 1.5 cm) bits. You don’t need to be precise here but just think about what your final spoonful will look like and make sure your asparagus bits are small enough to be in harmony with the rice.
  2. Dice the onion into fine dice.
  3. Spray the bottom of a wide and shallow pan with cooking spray. Turn the heat to medium high. Add onions and cook until they soften and start to brown. This will take 4-5 minutes.
  4. Add asparagus and let cook for another 4-5 minutes with occasional stirring.
  5. Add the rice and stir well. Let cook for 1-2 minutes.
  6. Lower the heat down to medium low. Add 1 cup of liquid. Stir well and let the rice soak up the liquid. Give it time and repeat with more liquid. Risotto is definitely one of those dishes that people fear to approach and many articles and posts have been written about how to get to the perfect bowl of risotto and avoid mistakes. Fear not, because all you really need to do is hang around your pot, watch your rice and add the liquid when the rice tells you its thirsty. The amount of rice in this recipe can take anywhere between 2 and 4 cups of liquid. You also might want to start by adding one cup at a time for first 2 cups and then decrease to 1/4 cup of liquid at a time. Keep going until the rice is soft but not mushy, a shade softer than al dente.
  7. Turn the heat off and sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Mix everything together and let stand for 5 minutes.
  8. Sprinkle with lemon zest and a dash of lemon juice just before serving!

    9. Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017