Caramelized Brussels sprouts with corn, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
So you hate Brussels sprouts, do you? And you really think that there is no way you will ever change your mind on that account?
Well, I have a recipe for you to try. First of all, you will have to find some fresh Brussels sprouts – I don’t think frozen will work. But, on the other hand, although I do think that fresh corn works best, you can cut yourself some slack and use frozen corn kernels or whole corn kernels from a can.
The recipe is super simple – so there’s not much to add really. I made this recipe with adding some dried cranberries and it is delicious! But, I made it without cranberries and it works just as well. This can be a yummy side dish to add to your Thanksgiving and/or Holiday (Christmas) feast, and in that case cranberries (especially for those of you in North America) are a must!
Note: using a cast iron pan is recommended but not required. I like using a cast iron pan for a recipe like this because it does help things caramelize nicely. And it also allows you to pop the pan under a broiler if you like your top to get extra crunchy, which can be a nice touch especially if you have guests that you are trying to impress. But you can achieve similar level or caramelization in almost any other type of a pan. CAUTION: you should not attempt placing just any pan under the broiler as most of them are not oven safe!!!
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Corn, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Corn
What you’ll need:
1-1.5 lbs (400-600 g) Brussels sprouts, cleaned and quartered
1 yellow onion, diced
2 ears of corn, just the kernels (frozen or canned corn is OK, but fresh is the best)
1/2 cup sliced dried cranberries (optional)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
What you’ll do:
Place a heavy cast iron pan over the medium high heat. Add the oil and onion. Let the onion brown for 5-8 minutes.
Add the Brussels sprouts and let them brown for another 5 minutes or so.
Add the corn, sliced dried cranberries if using, add salt to taste, mix well and cook for another 10 minutes, with occasional stirring.
Vegan Onion and “Bacon” Tart, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Savory tarts are a great source of comfort during long, and cold, winter months, so fall seems like a perfect time to stock pile great savory tart recipes. One of the favorite topping combinations for this type of tart is onions and bacon. There can be little mystery about why this is so. Caramelized onions are sweet and juicy, and browned bacon is crispy and salty. Putting those two together makes for a sweet, salty, juicy yet crispy topping. Add to that a thin tart crust – and you get the picture!
In this recipe I wanted to recreate a bit of that onion-bacon dichotomy, by combining thinly sliced onions caramelized to perfection with marinated, thinly sliced, tempeh that has been browned until crispy on the outside. The trick with onions is to slice them into thin strips and then let them caramelize for a long time over medium heat. If you are counting calories and trying to stay as oil-free as possible, you can use just a bit of cooking spray to get your onions going – I did it, and it works just fine! But if you regularly use oil, starting with a tablespoon of olive oil will work well here. I recommend using a well-seasoned cast iron skillet here – not only will it help caramelize the onions and brown the tempeh bacon, it will also go straight from the cooktop to the oven, making this a one pot dish.
To prep the tempeh, first boil it for couple of minutes, pat dry it, cut into thin strips, and let it marinate for couple of hours. I used the same basic marinade that The Buddhist Chef used for his Tofu Bacon. It’s made of oil, maple syrup (I did skip maple syrup in this case since caramelized onions are plenty sweet), soy sauce, liquid smoke, and nutritional yeast. I prepped the tempeh ahead of the onions, so when the onions were done I could remove them from the skillet and cook the “bacon” immediately afterwards.
My version of the tart is crustless, so there is no fancy pastry making required. What holds the tart together is the mix of almond milk and corn starch that comes in last, as the veggies are finishing cooking. And speaking of veggies, one other ingredient here is jackfruit. I use canned jackfruit and for this tart you will want to rinse it out well, drain it, then shred with your fingers, and remove any tough core bits. I can’t comment on using raw jackfruit since I’ve never done it, but I am guessing that it would be better since canned food does come with a bit of that canned taste/flavor.
The tart will spend some time in the oven, and to finish it off I recommend turning on the broiler at the end for five minutes or so to crisp up and brown the top. Let the tart cool for about ten to fifteen minutes before serving, and enjoy as is, or with some yogurt – I used a drizzle of cashew yogurt and a sprinkle of thyme. The tart is rich, fragrant and fantastic!
Vegan Onion and “Bacon” Tart
What you’ll need:
2 large onions
8 oz (225 g) tempeh
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (or more, depending on your taste)
2 20 oz (570 g) can young green jackfruit in brine
3/4 cup almond milk (plain, unsweetened)
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon dry thyme
Cooking spray
What you’ll do:
Bring 2 cups of water to gentle boil in a pan that’s large enough to hold the entire piece of tempeh flat without cutting. Lower the tempeh into the boiling water and let it boil for couple of minutes.
While the tempeh is boiling mix together the marinade by combining oil, soy sauce, liquid smoke, and nutritional yeast.
Take the tempeh out and pat dry. Let it cool for a moment, until it feels ok to handle. My heat tolerance is pretty high so I usually wait only a few minutes, but depending on your comfort zone when it comes to handling hot things you may want to wait longer before slicing the tempeh into relatively thin slices. Lower the slices down into the marinade and let it stand for an hour or two.
While tempeh is marinating, prepare the jackfruit. Rinse the canned jackfruit well and let the excess water drain. Using a fork or fingers, pull the jackfruit into shreds. Discard the hard core, if present. Set aside.
Slice the onions thinly into fine strips.
Turn the oven to 400 F (200 C).
Heat a heavy skillet, like a cast iron skillet, over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray (or add a tablespoon of olive oil if using), and add the onions. After about 5 minutes at medium high heat, reduce the heat to medium to medium low and cook for another 10 minutes, until onions are soft and golden brown. Transfer the onions into a separate dish.
Increase the heat to high and add tempeh “bacon” strips. Let the side brown then turn over and brown on the other side.
Add back the onions, and jackfruit, mix the “bacon”, onions and jackfruit well, and continue to brown.
In a small mixing bowl combine almond milk and corn starch. Whisk them together so that there are no clumps. Pour over the rest of the ingredients and let it start to bubble.
Sprinkle the thyme and nutmeg, mix again and place the skillet into the oven for 20 minutes.
To brown the top, turn the broiler on and broil for 5 minutes, until the top is browned and crispy.
Take the tart out of the oven and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with a side of salad, or drizzle some yogurt over the top for a delicious meal.
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:
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Once ready, put the pie crust in to pre-bake for 15 minutes.
Cut the onion into fine, thin slices.
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.
While the onion is caramelizing, clean and slice the mushrooms, or you can always buy sliced mushrooms and skip this step.
Add sliced mushrooms to the onion mix and cook until mushrooms soften, which will take another 5 minutes or so.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eat the Vegan Rainbow 