Low Fat Vegan Cooking

May 29, 2010

Spinach Quiche Revisited

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

Spinach Quiche with Herbed Bread Crumb Crust

Spinach Quiche Revisited

You might remember this quiche from last December. This time i made individual ramekins and put the crust on top after the quiche had baked. I sautéed the breadcrumbs with fresh herbs in 1 T. almond butter to give it a little crisp. The crust i put on the bottom of the quiche got brown before the tofu was really firm enough. This method avoids that problem.

Quiche is a traditional part of many teas. Give this a try and tell me if you miss the cheese!

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Cherry or Berry Triffle

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

Cherry and Raspberry Triffle

Cherry or Berry Trifle

When i was a really little girl, my mom was going to college, and she left me with my Great Aunt and a little table set for a tea party with my stuffed animals. I remember the absolutely exquisite table she set that kept me busy and not missing her the whole time she was gone. In fact, i am not sure i really noticed she was gone.

We had grown-up teas all my life. There was a tea shop that my mom and i loved to go to when we lived near enough to see each other regularly. I began to make my own teas when i became vegan. I didn’t find it difficult. Most teas are easily made vegetarian, and most food with dairy in it easily translates into vegan with soy cream cheeze, vegan cheeze, vegan margarine, and soy whipped cream.

I had intended this tea for the first day of spring, but, well, things got away from me for a while with other more urgent projects.

It’s a little harder to make a low fat tea, and although the tea i am presenting here is not extraordinarily low fat, it’s lower in fat than i used to eat, and is quite tasty. And pretty.

I actually wasn’t overly fond of trifle as it is traditionally made with rich pudding and brandy laced cake. But trifle is so traditional for an English tea, i made a vegan one, and i loved it. Pudding, fruit, and cake go quite nicely together, and if you layer them in a tall glass, it can be quite elegant.

I had planned to just use cherries, but i ran out, and got some raspberries out of the freezer, and i thought the bright red raspberries contrasted well with the dark sweet cherries.

Instead of brandy, i used a little bit of Amaretto, which i find a lot less harsh. Another way to go would be to use a small amount, maybe ¼ t. of raspberry or orange extract, or a different liqueur.

It is best to make trifle well ahead of when you plan to serve it, both to get it to the right temperature, and to let the flavors blend. But i did not do this, and it was quite delicious.

Cherry or Berry Trifle

Makes 4 servings

Preparation about 1 hour

Can be made ahead about 1 day, but is not as pretty

Cake can be frozen, nothing else

Vanilla Cake

Vanilla-Almond Pudding

Liqueur or fruit extract

About 3 c. Fresh or Thawed Frozen Berries

Creamy Sauce

Recipes follow.

Make the cake first and cool. While the cake is baking, make the pudding and sauce.

To assemble:

Cut the cake or crumble into small pieces. I made cupcakes and cut one cupcake for each individual trifle into about ¼ inch squares.

Drain the berries well, if necessary.

Put about ¼ c. pudding in the bottom of a tall glass, or pretty bowl(s), either individual or one large bowl. For an individual serving, add about 6 T. berries, which you might like to first mix with a little sugar, say about 3 T. for 3 c. fruit.

Top with half the cut-up cupcake. Sprinkle with 1 – 3 t. liqueur. Some people spread the cake with jam before it’s cut. I don’t think this adds anything, but it is more authentic, and gives you another chance to contrast flavors, with say, an apricot jam with fresh strawberries.

Repeat. End with the creamy topping. Gauge how much to use for each layer depending on how big your glass or bowl is.

Top with one to three perfect berries or cherries.

Refrigerate until a half hour before serving.

Vanilla Cake

Makes about 12 servings

Preparation about 20 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

1 ½ c. whole wheat pastry flour

2 t. baking powder

1 ½ t. Ener-G Egg Replacer

¼ t. salt

¾ c. vegan sugar

¾ c. vegan milk

2 T. water

2 t. vanilla extract

1 t. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix just until mixed.

Pour into cupcake paper lined muffin tin, or lightly oiled 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes for cupcakes, or 25-30 minutes for cake.

Cool. If you’re in a hurry, you can stick the cake you need in the freezer for about 45 minutes. You will have leftovers, which can be frozen.

I invented this cake recipe when i was first a vegan and did not have any vegan cookbooks. I later discovered Sarah Kramer, who in How It All Vegan, had a very similar recipe, but instead of 1 ½ c. sugar and ½ c. margarine, she had half those amounts. Well, that is just like me to want more fat and sugar. But i decided she was right, until i started baking low fat, and found the cake was fine without any fat, except what’s naturally in the flour and so on…

Vanilla-Almond Pudding

Makes 4 ½ c. servings

Preparation about 20 minutes

Can be made ahead

Keeps refrigerated about 2 days

¼ c. arrowroot or cornstarch, stirred into:

½ c. vegan milk (i prefer soymilk for this)

1 ½ c. more of the same kind of vegan milk

1/3 c. vegan sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

Mix arrowroot (which gives a milder flavor and gentler thickness) with ½ c. vegan milk. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, mix the 1 ½ c. vegan milk and sugar. Heat until bubbles form, but don’t let it boil.

Stir in the arrowroot/cornstarch and over medium heat, cook and stir until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in the extracts.

Cool. If you’re in a hurry, you can put it in the freezer for about half an hour, but set a timer so it doesn’t freeze, which would ruin it. The water in soymilk freezes and separates from the creamy soy part. I don’t know about other vegan milks, but i would think they would be similar.

I’ve made this pudding for so many years, i don’t even look at my recipe card, but originally i adapted a recipe from Laurel’s Kitchen.

Creamy Sauce

Makes 4 servings

Preparation about 15 minutes

Can be kept refrigerated about 2 days

7 oz. silken tofu (fresh is better)

¼ c. powdered sugar

2 T. vegan milk

1 t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

1 t. lemon juice (optional, gives more of a sour cream flavor)

4 t. cashew or almond butter (optional, makes the sauce richer, but with trifle you don’t really need that)

Put everything in a blender or food processor. My blender works better for this sauce. Mix until smooth.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

This is my own recipe, but the first creamy vegan sauce i made was from a recipe from Vegan Planet, and i am grateful to Robin Robertson for it.

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May 22, 2010

Japanese Stew

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

Japanese Stew with Carrot, Daikon Radish, Burdock, Cauliflower, and Onion

Japanese Stew

One of my first vegetarian cookbooks was Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown. I read it a lot, and though i never made many of the recipes, it helped me to feel creative in the kitchen, to try things, and see what happens. When i came upon a copy after several years away from it, i burst into tears, thinking of those early years of cooking a then totally new cuisine. Yeah, well, i love cookbooks, but none ever made me do that before. So i still own a copy, and looking at it makes me smile.

This Japanese Stew seemed a little less wintery than my traditional Irish type stew with potatoes and hardy vegetables. Here also are root vegetables, but they are Japanese type vegetables, and seasoned with kombu and miso or tamari. This stew would be good of course on a cold day, but it would also be good on a summer evening with a cool breeze, especially after a day at the beach or sailing.

Miso is said to be very good for us, and you are only supposed to add it at the last moment, and never cook it, which would kill the good Lactobacillus acidophilus or whatever it is that makes people feel healthier, get over hangovers, and even heal from radiation poisoning. However, Mr. Brown puts it in the stew and bakes it. After hesitating several times, i decided that it would flavor the stew quite differently if it were baked with it, so i put it in. It did make a savory sauce, which was different than miso added at the last, but either way would be good, or you can add tamari.

Kombu is flat greenish brown seaweed that gives a salty seafood kind of taste to food. I cut mine up with a pair of kitchen shears into tiny pieces. The first time you cook with it, you might want to use a small piece to see if you like it. We Americans largely didn’t grow up with seaweed, and although i have liked it since my first bite, i find some of my friends find it too strange. But give it a try, especially if as a vegan you liked seafood but never thought to have it again. This is the flavor that satisfies that seafood desire for me.

You can also try wakame, hijiki, or dulse seaweed, or kelp powder.

The vegetables can vary, depending on what you can find. I like burdock, but i couldn’t find it when i made this. I also like daikon radish, but too much gives a strong cooked radish flavor. I also cut it up fairly small, and it gave just the right flavor to the stew. If you have to buy a big daikon, and don’t want to use it all in the stew, it’s good in salad or with a plate of relishes. Grated daikon salad with rice vinegar really sets off the taste of sushi or miso soup.

Makes 4 servings

Preparation about 45 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

4 inch piece of kombu

2 c. vegetable broth or water

1 large onion (about 1 ½ c. sliced)

4 carrots (about 2 ½ c. sliced)

4 inches medium daikon radish (about 3/4 c. sliced)

2 burdock roots

1 head cauliflower

1 bunch kale, any kind

2 T. or more miso or low sodium tamari

Cut up the kombu into small pieces and cook in the broth about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, get out a big casserole with a lid. Slice the onion, and peel and slice the carrot, daikon radish, and burdock. Put everything in the casserole as you finish slicing it.

Chop the cauliflower into pieces similar in size to the carrot and other roots. Remove the center stem from the kale, and chop. Add these to the casserole.

Stir the miso or tamari into the kombu broth. Pour over the vegetables and mix.

Bake 1 hour at 350°, or until the thickest pieces are tender. It’s tastier if you stir it several times, but the lid will help circulate the flavors. With the long cooking time and nothing that needs the full heat to seal in the flavors, you can turn on the oven when you put the stew in it.

There you have it – a simple, filling stew. Serve with bread or brown rice.

A nice dessert if it’s the right time of year is honeydew melon. Many Japanese people are nuts about melon. They sometimes sell for more money than a whole restaurant meal!

Adapted from Miso Stew in Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per serving: 157 calories/7.8 g protein (19.8%)/1.5 g fat (8.4%)

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Potato Scallion Bread

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

Potato Scallion Whole Wheat Bread

Potato Scallion Bread

I never made potato bread before, but i liked the ones i bought. It’s very simple – you just put some mashed potatoes in place of some of the flour and liquid. To make a savory bread, i added scallions, although chives or onions would be good too.

I liked this bread, but something in the back of my mind is thinking of a different way to do it. It’s still largely unconscious, and i know sometimes these things take years to come to light, so meanwhile, here’s what i’ve done so far with potato bread, and i’ll make an addition if i get any better ideas.

Makes 1 loaf, about 12 slices

Preparation about 35 minutes, plus 10 minutes for the yeast to wake up

Can be made ahead, though all bread is wonderful warm

Freezes well

2 ¼ t. /1 package active dry yeast

1 c. warm water (105°)

1 T. vegan sugar

2 t. salt

1 c. mashed potatoes

1 c. vegan milk

About 5 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. minced scallions, chives, or onion

Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature, except the water and vegan milk which you will heat.

If you don’t have mashed potatoes, just cook a large chopped potato in water to cover it about 15 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Drain. Put the drained potatoes back on a low burner for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to dry and fluff them. I learned this secret from the old Galloping Gourmet show. Mash with fork or potato masher. Don’t put it in the food processor, it gets too starchy. If you cook the potatoes just before you add them to the yeast mixture, cool them with the cold measured vegan milk, and mix well.

Heat the water until warm but comfortable enough to leave your finger in it, which is about 105°. Add yeast and sugar and stir gently. Wait 10 minutes until the yeast has dissolved and bubbled and begun growing.

Meanwhile, gently heat the vegan milk to the same temperature, unless you use it to cool the potatoes.

Add salt and mix. Add potatoes, the vegan milk, scallions, and flour. A mixer makes bread making easy, but kneading is its own kind of peaceful, creative, and meditative activity. Knead about 10 minutes, adding flour if it gets too sticky, until dough is elastic and stretches thinly when you pull a piece apart.

Place in a clean bowl and cover with a damp towel, and leave in a warm place for about an hour, until dough has about doubled. Punch it down (gently) and knead a few minutes, then shape into a loaf. You can bake in a loaf pan, or on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can form your bread into one or more round loaves or flatten it like focaccia, or make individual rolls. If you use a loaf pan, you will need to oil it slightly to be able to get the bread out in one piece. Cover whatever loaf or rolls you made, and let rise about 45 minutes, until they are about one third bigger.

Preheat the oven to 400° about 15 minutes before you’re ready to bake the bread.

Bake the loaf about 40 minutes and a smaller bread about 10 minutes less. Cool before you peel the parchment paper off, and slice.

Adapted from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson

http://www.globalvegankitchen.com/

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 1/12^th loaf: 200 calories/8.3 g protein (16.6%)/1.3 g fat (5.9%)

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May 15, 2010

Tofu Benedict with Roast Beets and Asparagus

Filed under: American Cuisine, Breakfast, Gluten Free, Higher Calorie Density, Main Dishes, Sauces, Side Dishes — admin @ 1:05 am

Tofu Benedict with Roasted Beets and Asparagus

Tofu Benedict with Roast Beets and Asparagus

My special treat for breakfast was Eggs Benedict. It turns out this was probably an American invention, which was either invented from scratch several times, or adapted without noting the original dish that the chef knew about. I see chefs often do this if they change the dish. I know that recipes can be invented in more than one place, as i have invented something myself, and then found other quite similar recipes.

In any case, i saw several recipes for Tofu Benedict which didn’t differ much from the recipe i originally tried, which like so much else, was by Sarah Kramer, and was far superior to any other version. I wanted a special occasion breakfast, and pulled out my notes on that recipe, and then made it lower fat, and here is the result. I must say, i did like it with the veggie bacon as well as the tofu of the original version, but it is satisfying both from taste and from knowing you are eating a relatively healthy dish.

Tofu Benedict would be good for supper or lunch, too.

My tofu comes in 14 oz. packages, though i often see recipes for 1 lb. I think either amount works, if you don’t want to waste food, although the smaller amount is fine, if you want to use it.

If you are going to serve roast vegetables, start them first, as they take longer to bake.

Makes 4 servings

Preparation about 45 minutes

Tofu can be marinated and sauce made ahead

14-16 oz. firm tofu, drained and pressed

¼ c. apple cider vinegar

¼ c. low sodium tamari

4 slices whole wheat or gluten-free bread

4 large or 8 small slices tomato

Sauce:

½ c. nutritional yeast

2 T. whole wheat flour, or brown rice

½ t. salt (optional)

1 c. water or vegan milk

1 t. low sodium tamari

1 t. Dijon mustard (optional)

Whisk together vinegar and tamari. Pour this into an 8 x 8 baking dish. Slice the tofu and put it into the pan, then turn it over. Marinate at least15 minutes, turn the tofu, and marinate at least 15 more minutes.

Preheat oven to 450° the last fifteen minutes you marinade the tofu.

Bake the marinated tofu in the marinade about 20 minutes, until it is browner and a little firmer, and the marinade is largely absorbed or evaporated.

Meanwhile, stir the nutritional yeast, flour, and optional salt together. Add water or vegan milk and tamari and stir well. Stir in optional mustard. Simmer on low heat, stirring frequently, until ready to serve.

Toast the bread a few minutes before the tofu is done.

On each slice of toast, place 1 tofu piece, 1 or 2 slices of tomato, and 1/4^th of the sauce. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Faux Eggs Benny in How It All Vegan by Sarah Kramer.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 346 calories/38.2 g protein (11.1%)/10.1 g fat (26.2%)

Roast Beets and Asparagus

Makes 4 servings

Preparation about 10 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

4 large beets

2 bunches asparagus

salt and/or spices such as barbecue spices

The secret to roasting vegetables without oil is to cover them. You still get most of the roasted flavor, but without the dryness that you can easily get with roasting without a moistening ingredient.

Slice the beets about 1/3 inch thick, and either leave the asparagus whole or cut it into bite sized pieces. Break off the tough ends of the asparagus. Just bend it and it will break along where the tough part begins. Or you can cut it off about where it gets thick, if you want straight ends.

Put the vegetables on a baking sheet in a single layer. You might want to use two separate pans so the asparagus doesn’t turn beet red. Sprinkle with the seasoning of your choice, and cover with parchment paper. Seal this in with aluminum foil. The parchment paper stops any aluminum from contaminating the veggies.

Bake at 450° about 45 minutes, or until tender. Serve warm or room temperature.

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May 8, 2010

Black and White Bean Soup

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

Black Bean and Butter Bean Soup with Tomato Lemon and Herbs

Black and White Bean Soup

I wanted to try a soup recipe from my favorite cook, Lauren Ulm. I bought a can of butter beans for it, but when it came time to start cooking, i realized it was not enough. I generally spend a couple of hours cooking midday for lunch, breakfast the next day, lunch for my husband the next day, supper for Mellon, our dog, and starch and salad or raw veggies for my supper. Then breakfast and supper go pretty fast to just heat up and cut some fruit. So i need to make enough for at least two meals for myself (my husband doesn’t like most of my cooking so i just make him a plain vegetable). I also cook enough during the week to have some of the weekend cooking done, so i can work with my husband on our handmade, unfinished house in the mountains. Got all that? So i needed more beans. Hey, i thought, instead of just a white bean, how about a black and white bean soup? I got out a can of black beans and made the soup. Then i Googled black and white soup, and i guess it is no surprise that i was not the first to think of it. Anyway, here’s my version.

If you want, the soup is nice with some dense bread cut up and used as croutons, or toasted bread croutons. You don’t need oil, just toast the bread. Exquisite croutons would be from a Scarborough Fair or other herbed bread.

I prefer fresh herbs, which are easy to buy where we live. If you can’t find, or grow, fresh herbs, you can use dried herbs. Any of the savory Italian type herbs would be good in this soup. With fresh herbs, you don’t want to overcook them, but with dry herbs, you want them to release their good flavor, so put them in at the start of the soup.

Any kale is good. My favorite is dino kale. For this soup, i had red winter kale, so i used that.

Makes 4 small servings

Preparation about 45 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

2 c. vegetable broth or water

2 T. or less depending on salty seasoning used: bouillon, tamari, or Braggs liquid aminos

1 large onion (about 1 1/2c chopped)

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 ½ c. white beans (cannellini, butter beans, navy beans, white beans, etc.) or 1 14 oz. can, drained

1 ½ c. black beans, or 1 14 oz. can, drained

1 bunch kale, chopped into bite sized pieces

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried thyme

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried sage

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dried oregano

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 T. lemon juice

Cook the onions and garlic in the broth and salty seasoning about 5 minutes after the broth comes to a boil. Add the beans, kale, and herbs and cook about 5 minutes until kale in tender but bright green. Add the tomatoes and lemon juice, stir, cover, and turn the heat off. Let the soup sit about 5 minutes to soften the tomatoes.

Serve with whole wheat or gluten free bread croutons, toasted, if desired.

Adapted from Cannellini Bean Soup with Pan-Fried Croutons from the wonderful Lauren Ulm’s Vegan Yum Yum.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 259 calories/15.6 g protein (24.1%)/1 g fat (3.6%)

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Banana Bread with Optional Walnuts and Chocolate Chips

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

Banana Bread with Walnuts and Chocolate Chips

Banana Bread with Optional Walnuts and Chocolate Chips

My daughter has been making gluten free banana bread with chocolate chips recently, and i decided to try a version myself.

The plate you see the result on was made by laying a piece of lace cloth on the wet clay, and glazing in two different colors. I found it at a crafts fair some years ago.

There are many versions of low fat banana bread. You might like a more sweet or a less dense loaf, both of which are attained by adding more bananas. But i think this amount balances best with the chocolate chips, if you are going to use them. Walnuts relieve the sweetness, but you don’t need a lot to do that.

For some reason, raw sugar crystals don’t melt well in this recipe. Whole Foods carries granulated vegan sugar.

Makes 1 large loaf or about 12 muffins

Preparation about 30 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

2 ½ c. whole wheat flour

1 ½ t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

¾ c. granulated vegan sugar

3 medium bananas, about 1 ¾ c. chopped

½ c. almond or other vegan milk

2 t. apple cider vinegar

1 t. vanilla extract

½ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

½ c. vegan chocolate chips or a fair trade chocolate bar, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare baking pans or tins with oil or paper liners.

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Add optional nuts and chocolate and mix well.

Bake 50-60 minutes for a loaf, or 40-45 minutes for muffins, until top is browned and toothpick comes out clean – you may have to try several times not to hit a chocolate chip.

Adapted largely from two recipes:

Banana Split Tea Bread in Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson.

Banana Bread from Post Punk Kitchen by Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero.

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Plain 1/12th recipe: 155 calories/3.5 g protein (9.2%)/.6 g fat (3.6%)

With walnuts: 187 calories/4.3 g protein (9.3%)/3.8 g fat (18.4%)

With walnuts and chocolate chips: 233 calories/5 g protein (8.5%)/6.4 g fat (25.2%)

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May 1, 2010

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Brown Rice Pilaf

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

Delicata Squash with Brown Rice Carrot Celery Onion and Italian Herbs served with Fresh Broccoli

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Brown Rice Pilaf

Last year my good friend Melissa made a vegan version of a Sunset recipe for stuffed squash. It was wonderfully delicious, and i have been meaning to try a lower fat version of it. There were a lot more nuts in her squash, and in reducing them, i needed something else, and I thought rice would be good. When i Googled the word pilaf to see if i could use that for my rice concoction, i read that it was originally a Middle Eastern dish, most likely starting in Iran/Persia. That really tickled me, as i had already found that the cardamom in the cakes i made was also a Middle Eastern ingredient, and i already knew that the hummus i modeled my salad dressing after was Middle Eastern. So i guess I just intuitively put these three things together, that actually all had origins in the same part of the world.

Melissa used acorn meal as part of the nuts. It was great, and if you ever have a chance to use some or even make some acorn meal, by all means try it! Acorns are said to not be hard to process, and they’re free! Acorns are lower in fat than most other nuts, although they are still too high for every day use. The meal is good in baking, too.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay79.html

Any squash would do in this recipe, although Delicata is a nice, mild, sweet squash that is particularly nice. I included this recipe in the category Holidays as i think it would be perfect for a fall/winter holiday such as Thanksgiving, Equinox, or Christmas.

The fresh herbs are better, if you can get a hold of them. You probably can only find fresh marjoram if it is in your garden. I can’t even find the nutritional information for it online. But i had fresh sage in my freezer, and can get most of the Italian herbs year round at our produce market. Any herbs would make this nice, i think, and next time, I want to try it with Middle Eastern spices, like cardamom, cumin, maybe even apricots.

There probably will be more rice than will fit in the squash. I just piled it on my plate after i took the picture. But if you are cooking other starches, as for a big feast, you might want to increase the number of squashes, or reduce the rest of the recipe by about half, so that you just have the stuffed squash on the plates with other dishes.

Delicata Squash with Brown Rice Pilaf

Makes about 4 servings

Preparation about 45 minutes, but you need to start about an hour and a half before you want to eat

Can be made ahead

4 Delicata or small squash

3 c. cooked brown rice

2 large onions

8 medium carrots

10 stalks celery, leaves are okay

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dry sage

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dry thyme

¼ c. fresh or 1 T. dry marjoram

½ t. salt (optional)

6 oz. plain soy yogurt

1 T. whole almonds

1 T. walnut halves

1 T. shelled pistachios

It isn’t really necessary to preheat the oven for this, but i like to time things carefully, so i usually do, so i know just how long a dish has been cooking. This saves me checking the oven a few times, but of course it is more expensive not to use every bit of the heat once you turn it on.

Prepare the squash by cutting in half and scooping out the seeds, which some people wash and bake with salt and/or spices. Place the squash halves on a baking sheet and bake about 30-45 minutes, until tender, but not too brown.

Meanwhile, cook the rice, if necessary.

Toast the nuts in the oven, watching carefully, or on the stovetop in a heavy pan like cast iron over medium heat. Stir the nuts frequently, and i never leave the stove or oven when I have nuts toasting, as i have burnt so many – probably half of all i ever have tried to toast! Until i learned that stir constantly means stir constantly – or at least do not leave unattended… they burn so fast! Take the nuts off/away from the heat and out of the pan as soon as they are lightly browned. They will still cook as long as they have heat, so you want to cool them down quickly by putting them on a cutting board.

When the nuts are cool, which doesn’t take long, chop them pretty finely. You don’t chop them until they are toasted, because chopped nuts burn incredibly fast!

Chop the onion, carrots, and celery, and herbs, if necessary, and salt, if using, and cook in about ½ c. water until just tender. You want the water almost all absorbed, but you don’t want the vegetables over-cooked, as they will cook further in the oven.

Stir the soygurt into the cooked vegetables and herbs and set aside until the squash is done.

When the squash is done, fill each half with as much pilaf as you can stuff into it and put the stuffed squashes back on the baking sheet (you may need to wash it first). Bake about 20 additional minutes, until the top is lightly browned. This step isn’t really necessary, but it makes the whole thing a little nicer.

Top with a sprinkling of 2 t. of the nut mixture just before serving.

Adapted from a recipe from Melissa, from Nut-stuffed Delicata Squash in Sunset Magazine, October 2008

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – using acorn squash, as i couldn’t find accurate nutritional information specifically for Delicata squash – 431 calories/12.4 g protein (11.5 %)/8.2 g fat (17.2%)

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Hummus Dressing

Filed under: Gluten Free, Low Calorie Density, Middle Eastern Cuisine, Salads — admin @ 1:03 am

Hummus Dressing on a Salad of Grated Zucchini, Carrot, and Jicama with Tomatoes

Hummus Dressing

This is for my friend Heidi who wanted a creamy dressing but maybe not with tofu… so beans! Any bean would be good in this, i think. I saw a black bean hummus recipe i want to try! But i would have made this with white beans if i had them.

The main difference between this dressing and regular hummus is that this has more vinegar and lemon. You could also use water if you didn’t want such a tart flavor, or if you want the dressing to be thinner.

I usually give the ingredients for 4 servings, but in this case, the recipe serves 6, because 2 cans of drained garbanzos is 3 cups, and i thought most of us would be using canned garbanzos. I actually went back and put another half cup on my salad after the photo, which gave me my full day’s serving of beans.

Makes 6 normal servings of about ½ c. or 3 large servings

Preparation about 15 minutes

Can be made ahead

Freezes well

3 c. drained garbanzo beans

½ c. lemon juice

½ c. red wine vinegar

2 t. ground cumin

1 t. ground paprika

½ c. finely chopped scallions (about 5 medium scallions)

1/8 t. or more ground black pepper

Put everything in a food processor or blender. You might have to add some water in the blender.

Serve on a salad and garnish, if desired, with chopped scallions and/or paprika.

Hope you enjoy it, Heidi!

As usual, i looked up what i was cooking on Google, and i found that everything in the meal was Middle Eastern, more or less!

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per Serving – 96 calories/ 7.5 g protein (31.3%)/1.3 g fat (12.2%)

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Cardamom Cashew Cake or Cupcakes

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

Cardamom Cashew Cupcake with Cardamom Cashew Icing

Cardamom Cashew Cake or Cupcakes

Cardamom Cashew Cake has been about my favorite cake since my first bite. All the flavors in the cake blend together into an indescribable taste sensation! I wrote on my recipe card: “Absurdly good!” I found a recipe for cardamom cupcakes in the wonderful Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which is a great cookbook just for the pictures, let alone the recipes, which usually just need to have the oil replaced with some pureed fruit. I never made these with margarine or oil, as i was already cooking low fat when i found the recipe. I certainly don’t think anyone would miss the oil.

You could make the cake with 2/3 c. applesauce, or most other pureed fruits, (which don’t have to be cooked), and leave out the cashew butter. In the icing, in place of the cashew butter, you might want to add a little orange juice, but put the rest of the ingredients in first, and add it by the Tablespoon at a time. I haven’t actually done that with this cake and icing, but i have done it with similar cakes and icings. The icing would be runnier, and would need to dry before you move or cut the cake.

It’s a funny thing about cardamom. My daughter and i both love it, but i know not everyone does. Maybe there’s something hereditary in who likes it?

Makes 1 – 8 x 8 square cake or 12 cupcakes of about 3 T. batter each, so about 12 servings, if you only want a small treat and taste, otherwise 6 servings or less

Preparation about 40 minutes, plus 20 for the icing

Can be made ahead

I haven’t frozen them, but i think it would be fine

1 c. plus 2 T. whole wheat pastry flour

¾ t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 t. ground cardamom

¼ t. ground cinnamon

1 t. finely grated lemon peel (a microplane works best for this)

2/3 c. vegan sugar (raw sugar works well, giving the cake a richer taste)

1/3 c. cashew butter

1/3 c. applesauce

¼ c. orange juice

½ c. plus 2 T. vegan milk

Make the applesauce, or other pureed fruit, if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare pan by oiling lightly or fill muffin tins with cupcake liners. I usually make cupcakes so i don’t have to use the oil.

Mix the dry ingredients.

Mix the sugar and cashew butter. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the applesauce, orange juice, and vegan milk, and mix until just blended. (If you are not using cashew butter, add the sugar to the dry ingredients.)

Spoon into cupcake liners or pour into a prepared cake pan. If you want the cupcakes to be uniform, measure 3 T. into each of 12 liners (i used a 1/4^th cup measure and scooped out about 1 T before i scraped the contents into the liner). Measure or estimate any leftover batter and fill each liner with the same amount. Or, just guesstimate, and maybe have a couple of smaller cupcakes or less total cupcakes.

Bake about 25 minutes for the cupcakes, and 35-40 minutes for the cake. The edges should be light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of any cake should come out clean. The smell will be heavenly.

Cool.

Ice with:

Cardamom Icing

2 c. sifted powdered sugar

½ t. ground cardamom

1/3 c. cashew butter

1 t. vanilla extract

2 T. maple syrup

Add each ingredient and stir well before adding the nest ingredient.

An interesting garnish might be a whole cardamom pod. You can find them at Indian markets. Some people eat them (my husband). Lemon or orange peel might also look nice.

Adapted from Cashew Butter Cardamom Cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero

Nutritional information – not guaranteed to be accurate:

Per serving (1/12 th of the whole recipe) – 258 calories/4.3 g protein (6.6%)/6.9 g fat (24.1%)

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