Tag: vegan recipes

5 Must-try Recipes for Beginner Vegans

Posted in Tips & TechniquesTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Rainbow of Fruits and Veggies
Rainbow of Fruits and Veggies, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow
Half a year ago I made a decision to ditch meat, and dairy, and eggs, and honey, and fish, and seafood. What I was left with was a whole bunch of plants that all of a sudden went from being a side dish to being the star ingredients of everything I was cooking.

Six months in I have to admit that cooking have never been more fun. Every single recipe is still an adventure because it offers an opportunity to experiment and challenge my preconceived views of what a dish should look and taste like. Additionally I have also discovered that many others are curious about plant-based eating and interested in learning more how to replace meat and cheese in their diets. I never expected that sharing my experiences and cooking tips and tricks would be so enjoyable but it is! I love blogging about the recipes I develop and I love engaging with those interested in vegan cooking techniques and strategies.

So, in observation of World Meat Free Day today, I wanted to help anyone who is still thinking whether to take the plunge into plant-based cuisine waters and share five recipes that will make your transition much smoother. These are the recipes that changed my views of what plants can do, and I hope they’ll help you as well!!!

  1. Tofu Bacon – this recipe is so fantastic that you may want to make a double batch as one will not last long. Shared by The Buddhist Chef, this recipe not only tought me how to make crispy tofu, but introduced me to liquid smoke, an ingredient that I know use all the time, especially when grilling as it gives grilled food, like this Grilled Eggplant, an extra edge.
  2. Cashew Cheeses – I approached cashew cheese with disbelief but recipes like this Easy Garlic & Herb Vegan Cheese, developed by Minimalist Baker, and this Cashew Ricotta Cheese, by Simple Veganista, completely changed my mind and my pallet. They also introduced me to nutritional yeast, something I know use pretty regularly for that pleasant cheese flavor.
  3. Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos (Pulled Pork Tacos) – this recipe by The Edgy Veg opened my eyes to the world of jackfruit, a fruit (or a vegetable, not sure which) that I’ve never heard of before. It turns out jackfruit is an absolute must have ingredient for vegan cooking and my crab-less Jackfruit “Crab” Cakes remains one of my favorite things to make and eat!
  4. Vegan Substitute for Ground Beef – this recipe by Glow Kitchen has been truly transformative as it convinced me that homemade meat substitutes are feasible, tasty, and super affordable, thus definitely worth an effort.
  5. Healthy Chocolate Pudding – this was the first vegan dessert I made and I am still amazed that some brave soul at some point said to themselves: “Enough is enough – I am putting avocados and bananas together and lets see what happens!”. Credit for this recipe goes to Whole Foods Market.

All in all, the most important thing you should do in order to be a great vegan cooking success is to keep an open mind. As these five examples show vegan recipes combine unexpected ingredients so don’t talk yourself from trying just because you were not raised eating jackfruit or combining bananas and avocados. For example, my most unexpected recipe is Vegan Popovers – who knew popovers don’t need milk or eggs?

Happy World Meat Free Day and enjoy your plant-based existence!!!

 

Copyright © Eat the Vegan Rainbow, 2017

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup

Posted in Soups, Salads & Side DishesTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup with Tofu Bacon, via Eat The Vegan Rainbow
Sweet Potato and Leek Soup with Tofu Bacon, via Eat The Vegan Rainbow
Soups are part of all cultures and culinary traditions. So it is no wonder that I make pots and pots of soups each week. My absolutely go to soup is Vegan Split Pea Soup or variations of it made with lentils, but over the last few months I have also shared with you a colorful and fabulously satisfying Bean & Leek Soup with Soy Chorizo, and even a vegan version of the New England Clam Chowder.

Why such a soup passion? Well, I grew up eating soup almost every day, and the soups my mom made came in many different shapes, forms and sizes. Soups are a great way to combine different bits and bobs into a one pot to create a satisfying meal for a family. In general, soups are easy to make, very inexpensive, and they store and reheat very well. So, what’s not to love?

This Sweet Potato and Leek Soup is my take on a standard soup that is usually made with potatoes, leeks, butter and heavy cream. I got rid of butter and heavy cream and replaced potatoes with sweet potatoes, making this version a bit sweeter. But, I did not remove all the fun – I made some tofu bacon to top this soup with. The Buddhist Chef makes the most fabulous tofu bacon and I’ve been using his recipe to make crunchy and delicious vegan bacon that works as a snack, in sandwiches and now on soups.

You can top this soup with couple of other toppings if you don’t have time to make the tofu bacon. Chives or green onions (scallions) will work, as will cashew sour cream like the one Angela Liddon shared on her Oh She Glows site, or simple croutons aka piece of toast cut in smaller pieces. Regardless what you put on top of your bowl of Sweet Potato and Leek soup what’s inside it is a tasty, creamy and healthy soup.

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup

What you’ll need:

5 sweet potatoes

2-3 large leeks

2 carrots

4 cups vegetable stock (optional)

3 cups water (or 7 cups if you decide not to use stock)

1 cup almond milk

2 tablespoons potato starch

2 bay leaves

Cooking spray

What you’ll do:

  1. Peel and cube sweet potatoes and carrots into a rough chunks. The size of the chunks does not really matter because you will use a blender at the end to create a smooth and creamy soup. But, the smaller the chunks the quicker the cooking so decide for yourself if you would like to spend more time simmering or more time chopping.
  2. Prepare the leeks using the cleaning method of your choice. The leeks are very often full of send and dirt that gets inside the leek so you will need to open them up and wash everything out. I described my preferred cleaning method in one of my previous posts.
  3. Spray the bottom of a large pot with the cooking spray and place it over the medium high heat. Add leeks and sauté for 5 minutes. The leeks should soften and start to brown.
  4. Add sweet potatoes, carrots, bay leave and potato starch. Mix well and sauté for another 3 to 5 minutes.
  5. Add vegetable stock and/or water. mix well and turn the heat on high. Stirring occasionally, bring the pot to boil then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on whether your vegetables were chopped into smaller or larger chunks.
  6. Take the bay leaves out and add the almond milk. Using either a counter top blender or a hand held stick blender to blend the soup together and create smooth soup. Top with any topping you like and enjoy!

    7. 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

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