April « 2010 « Low Fat Vegan Cooking

April 24, 2010

Ten Green Things Soup

Filed under: Gluten Free, Low Calorie Density, Soups — admin @ 1:04 am

Ten Greens Soup

Ten Green Things Soup

In my two low fat vegan discussion groups, i recently read a couple of different people talking about Green Soup. I had never had it, though i had read about it, and i decided to try my own version of it, and got several different green things to put in it. Then i Googled it and found the soup was pureed. I may have known that, but it is not what i had in mind for this soup. In my version, you can still see the different green things that make up the soup.

I include fresh marjoram, but in actual fact, i have never had it, as i cannot find it in the stores, but perhaps you have a garden… I used dried marjoram and the rest of the herbs fresh.

Makes about 8 c. total, or 4 -2 c. servings

Preparation about 60 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

4 c. vegetable broth

2 T. low sodium tamari or bouillon for 4 c. liquid

1 bunch kale, dino or red winter, about 3 c. chopped

1 bunch chard, about 2 c. chopped

2 stalks broccoli, about 2 c. chopped

2 medium zucchinis, about 1 c. chopped

4 stalks celery, about 1 c. chopped

1 onion

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried basil

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried marjoram

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried rosemary

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried thyme

½ c. scallions, thinly sliced

Have ready and warm (optional):

4 large potatoes, cooked and chopped, or

4 c. cooked brown rice or

3 c. cooked quinoa

Put the broth in a large pan with the onion, and cook about 10 minutes after the water comes to a boil (about 7 minutes on my stove), then turn off the burner until you are done chopping the vegetables, so the water doesn’t reduce any more.

Wash and chop all the vegetables and herbs. I put them in a large bowl as they were finished, to get them out of the way.

Put all the vegetables and herbs, except the scallions and a few sprigs of any fresh herbs, in the onion broth and cook about 7 minutes, until they are wilted, but not overcooked.

Add the starch of your choice, if any, and mix.

Serve garnished with the scallions and sprigs of fresh herbs. Zucchini Bread is good with this, and has green in it, too.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per serving without starch – 107 calories/6.7 g protein (24.8%)/.9 g fat (7.5%)

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Zucchini Bread or Muffins

Filed under: Breads, Breakfast, Higher Calorie Density — admin @ 1:02 am

Zucchini Muffins with Applesauce, Raisins, and Walnuts

Zucchini Bread or Muffins

I didn’t grow up on zucchini bread, although my stepfather grew huge zucchinis that my mother tried to find creative ways to use. I know i had it a few times before, but it wasn’t until my good friend Melissa made it for me that i grasped that it was delicious. Until then, i thought of zucchinis as something to add to other vegetables, not as a star of a recipe. Of course i had to make my own version, although hers was great and vegan too!

I made zucchini bread (which has little flecks of green) to go with the 10 Green Things Soup i also made.

Makes 1 loaf or about 16 muffins

Preparation about 70 minutes, including making applesauce

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

3 c. whole wheat flour

3 ½ t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 T. ground cinnamon

1 T. Ener-G egg replacer, dry

1 c. raw sugar

2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce

2 t. apple cider vinegar

2 t. vanilla extract

3 c. zucchini, grated

1 c. raisins

½ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

½ c. vegan milk (i used soymilk)

If you need applesauce, and i prefer homemade, cut up about 3 medium sized apples and cook them over medium heat with about ½ c. water until soft, and water reduced by at least half, about 10 minutes. Cool. Put the cooked apples in a blender and process. Measure out 2/3 c. of the puréed apples and save the rest for another recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Mix dry ingredients together.

Mix the wet ingredients together, except the vegan milk, and add to the dry ingredients, and mix briefly.

Add the grated zucchini, raisins, and optional walnuts, and stir these in well.

Add the vegan milk and mix briefly.

Pour into an oiled loaf pan or paper baking cup lined muffin tins.

Bake the loaf about 45-50 minutes, when the top is browned and a knife comes out clean. Use a knife to get a bigger sample of the inside, as it can be hard to tell if it is really crumbly or still too moist.

Bake the muffins about 35-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Inspired by Melissa’s Zucchini Bread and adapted from Zucchini Bread in How It All Vegan by the greatest cook i know Sarah Kramer, and her friend, Tanya Barnard.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 1 muffin or 1/16^th loaf with walnuts: 188 calories/4.2 g protein (8.9%)/ 3 g fat (14.4%)

Per Serving – 1 muffin or 1/16^th loaf without walnuts: 163 calories/ 3.6 g protein (8.9%)/.6 g fat (3.3%)

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April 17, 2010

Spinach Tofu Pie with Brown Rice Tahini Crust

Filed under: Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Main Dishes — admin @ 1:05 am

Spinach and Tofu with Basil and Nutritional Yeast on Brown Rice with Tahini and Tamari

Spinach Tofu Pie with Brown Rice Tahini Crust

I was never disgusted by fat. My husband will never let me forget a favorite dish from the local Chinese restaurant which was a few shrimp on lettuce with deep-fried walnuts in a mayonnaise sauce. A slice or two of orange accompanied this.

I didn’t have spanakopita growing up, but as soon as i discovered it, swimming in butter, and later, as a vegan dish, swimming in oil, it was a favorite entrée. I have been thinking for some time how to make it lower fat. I read a lot of sites on making phyllo dough, but i decided that though it didn’t look hard to make, it would not be possible to have anything resembling the crispy layers of thin phyllo without fat. I have had no luck making decent pie dough with nut butters, and i absolutely refuse to use oil of any kind. So i decided this was one of those dishes that could not be a very exact copy, and that freed my mind to start thinking of other things that could go with the delicious filling. Mixing the tahini and tamari from the filling into brown rice was a happy solution. I like to make this as a pie, with the rice as a crust, but the rice mix and the spinach mix certainly don’t have to resemble a pie to be tasty. The spinach-tofu mix would be good with pasta, for instance, either layered as lasagna or topping brown rice spaghetti, or mixed up with whole wheat macaroni… You might want to mix the tahini and extra tamari in with the spinach mix if you use pasta.

Makes about 4 servings

Preparation about 45 minutes

Can be made ahead a few hours

Have ready:

4-6 c. hot brown rice

2 onions

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 T dried or ¼ c. fresh basil

1 t. dried or 1 T. fresh thyme

1 t. dried or 1 T. fresh marjoram

½ t. ground nutmeg

¼ t. or more ground black pepper

14-16 oz. firm tofu

2 lb. spinach, fresh or frozen

¼ c. lemon juice

¼ c. nutritional yeast

1 ½ T. low sodium tamari

¼ c. tahini (optional)

Start cooking the rice.

Get out a big pan and sauté the onion and garlic in ½ c. water. The water should reduce to ¼ c. or less. Add the herbs and spices. Crumble the tofu and stir in. Add the spinach.

Watch as the mixture cooks so it doesn’t burn. You don’t want any extra water, but you need enough to cook the spinach, and it will make some broth too. Turn off the burner as soon as the spinach is done, and stir in the tamari.

Stir the tahini and tamari into the rice.

To serve: make a layer of the rice mixture on a plate or bowl. Top with the spinach-tofu mixture.

To reheat: Layer the rice and spinach-tofu mix in an oven-proof casserole or baking pan, or individual dishes that you can serve the dish in. Heat the pie in a 350&deg oven about 20 minutes, depending on how cold your food is.

Adapted from Spanakopita in May All Be Fed by John Robbins.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 539 calories/38.2 g protein (28.3 %)/16.2 g fat (27.1%)

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Salad with Pears Sautéed in Caramelized Raw Sugar and Lemon Dressing

Filed under: Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Salads — admin @ 1:03 am

Salad with Lettuce, Carrot, Pears, with Walnuts and Lemon and Caramelized Raw Sugar Dressing

Salad with Pears Sautéed in Raw Sugar and Lemon Dressing

Fruit always makes a simple salad more elegant, and even in winter, you can have fresh pears. I prefer D’Anjou or Bartlett pears. Pears ripen in their own time, and then stay perfect for a day or two at most, although refrigerating them sometimes can hold them a little longer. To make the salad lower fat, you could forgo the walnuts, or use less.

1 head lettuce or bag of mixed greens

2 carrots

2 cucumbers

¼ c. walnut halves

2 ripe pears

¼ c. raw sugar

1 c . lemon juice – divided use

A couple of hours before you plan to eat:

Wash and spin or dry the lettuce. Set aside.

Slice or chop the pears. I prefer bite sized pieces you can pop in your mouth, but the slices are prettier. I skinned them, but you don’t have to.

Put the walnut halves in a medium sized heavy skillet such as cast iron and heat them over medium heat, watching carefully and stirring constantly, until browned on both sides. Remove from the heat and take them out of the pan, and set aside. Have extra walnuts ready in case the first ones get too brown, which is easy to do. You also could toast them in the oven, which gives you a little more time between done and burnt, but all that opening the door, checking and stirring, not to mention all the energy you use to heat the oven, seems like too much work to me. Of course if you’re using the oven for something else, it might make more sense.

When the walnuts are cool, chop them into tiny pieces so they go farther in the salad.

Put the raw sugar in the skillet. Add 2 T. of the lemon juice. Heat over medium flame until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pears and sauté, stirring frequently, until the juice is released and then mostly absorbed and the remaining sauce is caramelized – thick and brown. Remove from heat and add the rest of the lemon juice to the pan, stir it gently, and set aside to cool.

When you are almost ready to eat, chop or tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces. Vitamins are lost once the leaves are cut or torn, so it’s best to do that at the last minute.

Grate the carrots and chop the cucumber.

Mix the vegetables and put into bowls or on plates. Arrange the pears on top of the rest of the salad, and pour the dressing over.

Inspired by the recipe for Grilled Pear, Walnut, and Cabbage Salad in the cookbook Vegan Yum Yum by Lauren Ulm.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 201 calories/4 g protein (8%)/5.3 g fat 23.5%)

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Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Filed under: Cookies, Higher Calorie Density — admin @ 1:01 am

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

My daughter gave me some Ceylon cinnamon for my birthday. It is very much more cinnamon than ordinary cinnamon, like a dream of cinnamon. The little plastic bag i had smelled up the whole kitchen with an overpowering cinnamon smell. You could even smell it when you walked in the front door, some distance away.

I wanted to try it right away, but what would benefit from intense cinnamon? The only answer to me seemed to be Snickerdoodles. When i was about 7, my mother made them for the first time. I couldn’t decide if i liked them or not. They seemed strange, because i had never had them, and at that age, that seemed in and of itself like something i maybe didn’t want to eat. But my mother seemed to think they were a real treat, and not something strange. Sugar, cinnamon and fat, what’s not to like? Although they never became a favorite of mine, i made them from time to time, half out of nostalgia, and half as a way to eat a lot of cinnamon and sugar, which i also had on toast sometimes. Last year, when i was still sometimes baking with margarine, i found a really good Snickerdoodles recipe in my favorite vegan cookbook (my favorite cookbook, period!) La Dolce Vegan. I realized this must be what people were raving about when they talked about how good Snickerdoodles were. While they would never replace chocolate chip cookies as a favorite for me, i put it in my file of recipes to repeat regularly (which would be every 2 years or so).

I recently wrote on how i had given up on cookies without margarine. I completely forgot about that as i plotted how to use my new Ceylon cinnamon. But these cookies did not come out wonderfully, even with the perfect recipe. They were dense little balls that needed to be flattened before baking. They did not spread out like the ones made with margarine. As i usually do, i used half the fat of the original recipe, but i don’t think even the whole ½ c. would have made these less tough. They would be fun to dip in tea, though.

Also, the cinnamon sugar you roll them in burns easily, and you have to watch for that magic moment when the insides are cooked, but the outsides are not yet overdone.

But they were wonderfully sweet and cinnamony, and for that reason, i would make them again. Next time, i think i will try adding ¼ c, pureed plums, which i freeze in the summer. (If you use prunes, cook them first and take the skins off before you puree them.) The fruit would make the cookies rather cake-like, but maybe that would be a good thing in this case.

Like many things, the cookie is a vehicle for the particular food taste i want, in this case, cinnamon. Of course, there’s always oatmeal to have with cinnamon.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Makes about 16 cookies

Preparation about 25 minutes

Can be made ahead

Can be frozen

Topping:

3 T. vegan sugar

1 ½ t. ground cinnamon

Cookies:

1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour

¾ c. vegan sugar

1 t. ground cinnamon

2 t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

1 T. ground flaxseeds

3 T. water

¼ c. nut butter such as cashew butter

¼ c. pureed plums or other fruit?

Stir together the sugar and cinnamon topping and set aside.

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the flaxseed and water and set aside for a few minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Add the nut butter and mix well. An electric mixture makes this easy. Add the flax seed mixture, and fruit, if using.

Shape dough into 1 ¼ inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, and flatten slightly. Bake 7 – 10 minutes.

Adapted from Snickerdoodles in La Dolce Vegan by the incomparable Sarah Kramer.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per cookie – 107 calories/2.5 g protein (9.2%)/2.4 g fat (20.1%)

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April 10, 2010

Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread

Filed under: Breads, Breakfast, Higher Calorie Density — admin @ 1:06 am

Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread

Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread

The little loaf pans in the photograph are a birthday present, and came from Emerson Creek Pottery.

This is a favorite and quick bread to make. It goes with many things.

I’ve also made it with rice and sorghum flour and oatmeal, with great success, though many people with gluten sensitivities can’t handle the oatmeal.

If you want a less calorie dense bread, you can make it with water.

This bread is also good with about 2 T. poppy seeds, or Italian herbs, ½ c. fresh or ¼ c.dried. Or try it with cinnamon and sugar, about 1 T. cinnamon and ¼ c. more sugar.

Makes about 12 slices

Preparation about 15 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

2 c. rolled oats

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

¼ c. vegan sugar

2 c. vegan milk

Preheat oven to 450°.

Mix dry ingredients. Add vegan milk. Pour into a lightly oiled loaf pan or three mini-loaf pans. Or, this would make about 24 muffins.

Bake about 30 minutes for the loaves, 25 for the muffins. Check with a toothpick to see if the inside of the loaf is still wet.

Adapted from Kissing Cousins Oat Bread by the terrific Sarah Kramer.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – using almond milk – 146 calories/5.1 g protein (13.9%)/1.7 g fat (10.2%)

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Potato Corn Chowder

Filed under: Low Calorie Density, Main Dishes, Mexican Cuisine, Soups — admin @ 1:04 am

Potato Corn Chowder with Red Pepper, Chilies, Broccoli, and Carrot

Potato Corn Chowder

A simple soup sometimes is more satisfying than a complex dinner, and this is the case with this Mexican influenced chowder. I made it without thinking that my husband would like it, but, as i usually do, i gave him a bite to taste, and he quite liked it, which surprised me, as he does not like plain boiled potatoes, let alone anything mixed up. But, Ah! The difference here is wonderful!

Makes 4 small servings

Preparation about 45 minutes

Can be made ahead

2 c. vegetable broth

1 onion

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 c. potato, chopped

1 ½ c. fresh or frozen corn

¼ c. fresh or canned chilies, mild or hot

1 carrot

1 red pepper

1 stalk broccoli

¼ c. fresh basil

Chop onions, and cook them with the garlic and potatoes in the vegetable broth about 10 minutes, until the onions are tender and translucent.

Meanwhile, chop the rest of the veggies into bite sized pieces, and if necessary, cut the corn off the cob. Put the corn, chilies, carrots, peppers, and broccoli in with the onions, garlic, and potatoes and cook about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the potato is done.

Add the basil, and serve.

You might want to serve this with warm tortillas or no-fat corn chips.

Adapted from Chipotle Potato Corn Chowder from Vegan Yum Yum Cookbook by Lauren Ulm.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 195 calories/6.7 g protein (13.6%)/2.4 g fat (2.7%)

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April 3, 2010

Not Egg Drop Soup

Filed under: Chinese Cuisine, Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Soups — admin @ 1:04 am

Not Egg Drop Soup with Mustard Greens, Carrot, Scallions, and Tofu Curd

Not Egg Drop Soup

Now here’s a strange phenomenon. A soup that’s mostly broth with an egg stirred around in it. Classic Chinese cooking, but when you think about it, not that much food.

Well, i’m never one to ignore an opportunity to put more vegetables in something.

I looked around to see if anybody had already done the work of creating a vegan egg drop soup. At first, I found nothing. But then i discovered Vegan Mofo who had the answer for the egg: tofu curds. They are really easy, though maybe at first a little daunting if you’ve never seen tofu being made. Fear not! There are pictures.

Not Egg Drop Soup

Makes 4 small servings

Preparation about 1 hour

Can be made ahead, but don’t add the tofu curds until ready to serve

Tofu curds – make first (see recipe below)

6 c. vegetable broth or water

1 – 3 T. tamari

2 – 6 pkg. Savory Choice or other low fat low sodium bouillon

¼ t. sesame oil (optional)

¼ or more t. white pepper

1 bunch greens, your choice, chopped

2 carrots, grated

8 scallions, sliced thinly

Heat the broth, tamari, optional sesame oil, bouillon, and white pepper while you chop and slice the vegetables. Remember to take out the stem of greens like kale and discard, or take out the stem and chop it up into small pieces for chard.

Add the greens and the carrot and cook about 10 minutes until tender and savory. Add the scallions and stir in. Add the tofu curds but don’t stir until you’re ready to eat and the curds have been admired.

Tofu Curds

2 c. soymilk, preferably unsweetened

1 or more t. Epsom salts or other coagulant such as nigari

Measure the soymilk in a medium pan and heat to 180&deg, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, get a little water ready to boil. When the soymilk is hot enough, you will add the coagulant to about ¼ c. boiling water and stir to dissolve. When the soymilk is almost hot enough, boil the water, and add the coagulant. Add this to the soymilk. Getting the soymilk hot enough took a lot longer than i thought it would. The soymilk would boil around the edges, and i would tip the pan and put the thermometer in, and it would be 160. Again and again, still 160. Finally i let it get to a full boil, although everyone says not to do this, ever, with soymilk.

Add the coagulant and stir once. That’s right, just once. Now, put the pan on a heating pad, or if you have an electric stove just turn off the burner and let the heat keep it warm. Let the coagulant work about 10 minutes, then one more stir. Did the milk separate into curds and clear yellow whey? You might have to put on more boiling water, and add a little more coagulant. Stir it in once, and wait 5 minutes. There! Now it should be curds and whey. Pour this through a sieve. You can use the whey in something else or toss it. You should get about 2/3 c. curds. Set aside and make the soup.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 105 calories/7.1 g protein (27%)/2.5 g fat (21%)

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Spring Rolls

Filed under: Feasts, Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Main Dishes, Salads, Thai Cuisine — admin @ 1:03 am

Spring Rolls with Thai Basil, Red Cabbage, Scallions, Lettuce, Cucumber, Mung Bean Sprouts, Daikon Radish, Mint, and Thai Sweet Sauce

Spring Rolls

So far in LFVC, i have only used whole grains, whether milled or whole. But i am making an exception for these spring rolls, as i cannot find anyone who knows how to make brown rice paper or bean threads. For a once in a while meal, i think a little refined rice is okay, as long as you know it is not an ideal food.

Spring rolls as i make them are really a salad, so that is why i put them at 1:03, (did you notice that’s the time for salads?) with salad postings.

Some people seem to enjoy being a guest and doing a lot of work to put their dinner together at the table. If you are serving some of these, or if you are a cook who doesn’t have a lot of time, you can shred the ingredients, and let people make their own spring rolls. Otherwise, you can do them all yourself, or with a friend. These are definitely easier with two people. If it’s just you, be sure to have some happy music to keep you going. Or you might prefer to use the time as a meditation in a repetitive task.

Spring rolls don’t keep marvelously. The rice paper gets fragile, but you can definitely eat leftovers the next day as long as you understand they won’t be so pretty.

I first remember having these Thai type of oil free spring rolls at my daughter and son-in-laws. They are both great cooks.

I tend to just put everything in a bowl and mix it up, but it is nicer to layer the ingredients on each rice paper.

Start with the sauce. You can buy Mae Ploy Thai Sweet Sauce, but it is quite easy to make an almost exact copy. Again, this is for Special, because it’s hard to believe how much sugar there is in the sauce. And yes, i have tried it with just a couple of teaspoons of sugar, and it is not worth the effort, at least to me.

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Makes about 8 servings, unless you like a lot of sauce

Preparation about 7 minutes

Can be made ahead

Keeps well in the refrigerator at least a couple of weeks

8 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

4 T. Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste or

8 Thai chilies or

½ c. chilies, mild or hot

2 c. sugar

1 c. rice vinegar

2 t. salt (optional)

Cook the garlic and chilies or chili paste with the sugar and vinegar about 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and sauce thickens. Cool.

Adapted from Thai Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce from She Simmers.com.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 196 calories/.2 g protein/0 fat

Spring Rolls

Makes about 8 servings

Preparation about 90 minutes

Best eaten soon after completing the rolls

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

7 – 14 oz. firm tofu (optional)

2 T. low sodium tamari

1 T. maple syrup

1 t. ground ginger

4 oz. rice vermicelli (bean threads)

32 (more or less) rice papers

2 carrots

1 c. mung bean sprouts

1 large cucumber

¼ red cabbage

3 inches large daikon radish or 8 red radishes

½ head leaf lettuce

1 c. daikon sprouts (optional)

8 scallions

½ c. cilantro

½ c. mint leaves

½ c. fresh basil

About 4 hours before your meal is to be eaten:

Press the tofu by draining and wrapping in a towel and putting something heavy on top of it for half an hour or so (i use a stack of cast iron pans). Chop the pressed tofu into small squares and sauté in about 2 T. tamari and about 1 T. sugar or maple syrup and a little fresh grated or dried ground ginger, until the liquid is absorbed and the tofu is lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Cook the rice vermicelli according to its package or boil some water and put in the noodles for about 2 minutes, until they are easy to bite. Drain and cool.

Wash all the veggies and spin in a salad spinner or dry with a towel and leave on a dry towel to further dry.

About 90 minutes before the meal:

Grate the carrot, daikon, cucumber, and cabbage. A food processor makes short work of this.

Chop the sprouts into 1 inch pieces.

Chop the cilantro, mint, and basil.

Chop the lettuce.

Mix the vegetables together or set out in bowls.

Fill a large low bowl or plate with water to dip the rice paper in.

To Assemble:

Put one rice paper in the bowl with water for about 90 seconds, until it is pliable and soft enough to eat. Take it out of the water and let it drip for a few seconds, then smooth it out on a plate or board.

Spread out a teaspoon or two of the sauce in the center of the rice paper.

Top with a Tablespoon or so of each vegetable. Add a couple of Tablespoons of rice vermicelli and a Tablespoon of the optional tofu. You might want to use two forks to pick up the vermicelli so you don’t have to be constantly washing your finger between each spring roll.

Fold the top of the wet rice paper down to the bottom and center the vegetables and things. Fold in one side and then the other. Push the vegetables back to the fold and roll the two bottom ends over the fold.

See if you need to use more of less of each thing for the next roll.

Set on the plate you intend to serve them on, as they stick to each other and shouldn’t be moved.

Continue on, having a pleasant conversation or music or meditation until one of the ingredients is used up. Then you can make a few smaller rolls or just put the rest together for a salad later. (Not much later: the next meal, hopefully. Or no later than the next day.)

Serve with more of the sauce (that’s why you make so much) and garnish the plate, if desired with sprigs of the basil, mint, and cilantro.

Enjoy, and wait to make them again when you’ve forgotten how much work they are, and only remember how good they are.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving, with 7 oz. tofu and Thai Sweet Chili Sauce – 281 calories/6.2 g protein (8.8%)/1.6 g fat (5%)

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Green Tea Cupcakes

Filed under: Desserts, Higher Calorie Density — admin @ 1:01 am

Green Tea Cupcakes with Marzipan Fox and Dog and Green Tea

Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Icing and Marzipan Cut-Outs

Marzipan is really easy to work with, and it makes a great decoration for cakes. If you can find it, India Tree makes a natural food coloring without any nasty ingredients. I found mine at Whole Foods, although it is rather expensive.

I like the cupcakes without the cashew butter, although it gives a more familiar cake texture and taste to those of you who still remember higher fat cakes. The icing is also good without the cashew butter, although it doesn’t firm up the same, so you might not want to make it this way for company. But you might want to go without the cashew butter, since there’s also nuts in the marzipan. Of course you could leave off the marzipan, but i find the resulting cake not nearly so wonderful.

Makes 12 cupcakes or 12 – 2” x 2.6” squares

Preparation about 90 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

3 t. green tea leaves

1 ¾ c. vegan milk and ¼ c. cashew butter or:

2 c. vegan milk

¼ t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

1 ¼ c. whole wheat flour

1 t. baking powder

¼ t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

¾ c. vegan sugar

Icing and Marzipan recipes follow

Put the vegan milk and green tea in a small pan and bring to just under a boil. Reduce heat to low, and, stirring frequently, cook for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly.

Mix sugar with cashew butter in a large mixing bowl, if you are using cashew butter. Set aside.

Strain the tea leaves and measure the tea-steeped milk. Press down on the tea leaves in the strainer to get as much of the green tea milk out as possible. If you are using cashew butter, measure 1 ¼ c. of the milk, otherwise measure 1 ½ c. of the strained green tea milk. Set the rest of the milk aside for the icing. If you find that the milk has cooked down too much, pour in more vegan milk to make up the difference, plus about 2 T. more, and mix it all together, then measure out what you need for the cake, so that the green tea milk you use for the icing has the green tea flavor in it.

Add the vanilla and almond extracts to the tea milk. Add this to the sugar or sugar and cashew butter and mix well. An electric mixer makes this quick and easy.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and optional salt into the bowl of the wet ingredients, and mix.

Fill a muffin tin(s) with 12 cupcakes liners. Fill each cupcake with about ¼ c. batter, or about 2/3rds full. Or:

Lightly oil an 8 x 8 inch baking pan and pour in the batter. Smooth the batter to the edges of the pan as necessary.

Bake the cupcakes about 20 minutes or the cake about 25-30 minutes, when a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cake comes out clean. Cool.

Green Tea Icing

1 ½ c. powdered sugar

2 T. cashew butter (optional)

¼ t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

Food coloring

1 – 2 T. green tea milk

Mix the powdered sugar and cashew butter, if using. Add the two extracts and green food coloring, if desired and mix. Add a little green tea milk at a time until the icing is spreadable. Discard any remaining green tea milk. Don’t ice the cupcakes until they are cool and the marzipan decorations are done.

Marzipan Decorations

About 1/3 of a tube of marzipan, which i have found at both Whole Foods and Safeway.

Food coloring

Choose some small cookie cutters to use. Or you could cut the rolled marzipan free hand with a sharp knife. Decide what colors you want to make.

Mix the food coloring with the marzipan. I mix the whole tube and give the leftovers to my husband. Or, it freezes well, and would last a year, if you wanted to make these cupcakes an annual event, as i plan to. Sometimes you find an old tube of marzipan that needs an electric mixer or some warm elbow grease and a little vegan milk to make it soft. Hopefully, your marzipan will be pliable. The food coloring i use won’t stain your hands, so i just knead it in. If you use a food coloring that stains, it probably would work best to still use your hands, but wear latex gloves.

At this point, ice the cake(s).

Roll the first colored marzipan out about 1/8^th inch thick. I find i have to pat the marzipan flatter after i’ve rolled it, and then give a final smoothing with my hand. Slip a metal spatula under the rolled out marzipan, and loosen it from the board. This really helps you get the decorations up without being squashed.

Cut out the shapes you want. Using the metal spatula, carefully lift up each cut-out. This may take a few trials to perfect. Put each decoration on a cake. The icing will harden around the marzipan and hold it in place.

What i do with leftover marzipan when all the cakes are decorated is to roll each color out into a snake, and then press all the colors together and carefully roll the big colorful snake a little smooth. Cut into small pieces and give away. Or save it to decorate another cake someday, if you can let that stuff alone in your freezer.

Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Green Tea Cupcakes

The innovation of infusing vegan milk with a fresh flavoring came from The Conscious Kitchen’s Thai Basil Cupcakes.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – with cashew butter in cake and icing: 249 calories/4.2 g protein (6.7%)/5.5 g fat (19.8%)

Per Serving – without cashew butter in cake and icing, but with marzipan: 231 calories/2.2 g protein (3.8%)/2.9 g fat (11.2%)

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