Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

I've been making tofu ice cream lately. It started with vanilla. Then went to chocolate. Now I'm onto banana.  Oddly, I'm not normally a fan of banana based desserts. Never have been. However, I felt in this case it could work.  Since the vegan tofu ice cream base lacks a lot of the flavor of a classic egg and cream based kind, I thought that maybe a fruit like banana might give it that depth that the plain vanilla was lacking.  I could totally see where peanut butter would also be spectacular, but I don't eat peanut butter. So banana it was.  While I enjoyed my original vanilla flavored tofu ice cream, it did feel a little one note. I thought it worked better as a dessert sauce rather than the star of the show.  The banana did the trick for sure. It was more complex flavor-wise and it was also a creamier texture. So score one for banana based desserts.  Ingredients 1 package soft tofu, drained and chunked 1 small banana, chunked 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup sugar alte

For no really good reason at all, I decided that I wanted to do mushroom croquettes. As far as what differentiates a croquette from a cake or a ball, I'm not entirely sure. But croquette sure does have a nice ring to it. The secret is to get the mushrooms nice and dark, dark brown. That way they have maximum flavor.  The easiest way to do that is with a cast iron skillet. You can do it with any frying pan, but it'll happen much quicker in cast iron. And in my opinion, they have a deeper flavor using this method.  Ingredients 1 pint sliced button mushrooms (or 2 1/2 cups), chopped into small bits 1/2 cup garbanzos, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed 3 cloves garlic, chunked 1 whole wheat bread heel, torn into small pieces 2 tbls olive oil 1 tbl salt 1 tsp dry thyme 1 tsp crushed pepper flakes Instructions It's easier and faster to brown your mushrooms when they are small. We're going to buzz them up in the food processor anyway, so uniformity is n

Inspired by the fact that habaneros, carrots and turmeric are all orange, I decided they would go together nicely in a puree. I also had an excess of carrots to use before they got too old. The desire not to waste food can be a powerful muse. I'd also once heard somewhere that like color foods pair well with each other. Don't remember where I heard it. Don't know if it's true. But I was willing to find out.  It was hot, so I didn't feel much like using the stove. Instead, I placed  all of the ingredients, except the garbanzos, in a covered container and left them in the fridge overnight.  The next day, the carrots were closer to soft, but still not soft enough.  So everything went into a covered pot to slow simmer for 10 minutes.  Then I turned off the burner on the stove, but left the pot, still covered, on the warm burner another 10 minutes.  From there, it was into the blender, remove the guajillo, add the garbanzos and puree until smooth.  If you like a little s

I love a good puree almost as much as I love a good sauce.  Building flavor is especially important when you're only working with plants.  A little bit of stovetop heat and some blender action easily turn a simple set of ingredients into something wonderful with very little effort. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups water 1 jalapeno, chunked 1 serrano, chunked 1 habanero, deseeded and chunked 2 guajillo, destemmed and deseeded 10 cloves garlic, chunked 1/4 cup chick peas, drained and rinsed 2 tbls olive oil 1 tbl spicy mustard 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions Add all the ingredients to a medium sauce pot. Cover. Bring to a simmer and allow to continue simmering for 15 minutes.  Remove and discard the guajillo.  Transfer to a blender and process until smooth.  If you have a powerful blender or want to simmer the mixture longer you can keep the guajillo in the mixture when you puree it.  Either way, it's an easy to make, plant based puree that's packed with flavor. 

I got an ice cream maker on Amazon for $20 and was excited to try to make vegan ice cream. It was something I'd been thinking about for a while.  Since I was new to this particular process, I decided to start with a simple vanilla. Anyway, I've always been a fan of classic vanilla.  Ingredients One 16 oz package medium tofu, broken into large chunks 1/3 cup almond milk 2 1/2 tsps vanilla extract 1/2 cup sugar alternative Instructions Add all ingredients to a food processor and buzz until silky and smooth.  Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and let it churn.  Every ice cream maker is different. So times will vary greatly. Keep an eye on it.  I removed mine when it was semi-frozen, but still a little soft. It took 20 minutes. Too many episodes of 'Chopped' have given me a fear of over churning. Even though you probably can't over churn a tofu base.  You can enjoy it right away. I tried it and it was very good straight out of the machine. A tender soft serve. 

If you like pesto and you also like garlic puree, then you'll like this. It combines both into one. When it's hot outside I try to limit my heat based cooking. Using the oven or stove in a heat wave is no fun for you and no good for the environment.  This recipes creates a quick broth to extract flavor and then it all goes to the blender to finish.  Recipe Ingredients 3 oz arugula 1 small head garlic (or 7 cloves), peeled and chunked 2 jalapeno, cut into small chunks 1 serrano, cut into small chunks 2 guajillo, stems/seeds removed and torn in half 1/4 cup garbanzos, drained and rinsed 3/4 cups water 2 tbls olive oil 1 tbl salt 1 tsp dry thyme 1/2 tsp black pepper Recipe Instructions Add to a medium sauce pot the garlic, water, chiles, oil, salt, black pepper and thyme. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the arugula. Continue to simmer covered until the arugula is wilted down. About 3 minutes.  Add the contents, plus the garb

This recipe is another exploration of creating vegan sauces using almond milk and beans.  I've sort of spoiled myself with so many different sauces that now, if I don't have one, I feel like the meal is missing something.  So I came up with another.  This one is pretty hot and spicy. But that's how I prefer my sauces.  Recipe Ingredients 1 cup almond milk 2 tbls sriracha 1/2 cup kidney beans 2 tbls olive oil 6 cloves garlic 1 jalapeno 1 serrano 1 habanero 2 guajillo 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper 2 tsps dry oregano Recipe Instructions In a medium sauce pot over medium heat toast the chiles with the salt for 5 minutes.  Add the oil, garlic, black pepper and oregano.  Continue to cook over medium heat for 5 more minutes, stirring often.  Pour in the almond milk and sriracha. Lower the heat to medium low. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.  Remove the guajillo. Add the mixture to a blender. Puree until smooth.