Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

There are two things there can never be enough of in any vegan sauce. Chiles and garlic. Everything else is just a supporting player.  Layering a variety of chiles in a sauce yields a complex flavor profile  that is more than just the sum of its parts. Chiles are more than just heat. Each has their own unique qualities that it brings to the final product. I've found that mixing and matching a variety of chile peppers creates a depth seldom found in other sauces. I don't find it particularly hot. Your opinion may differ.  Ingredients 1 Green Bell Pepper 1 Jalapeno 1 Serrano 1 Habanero 2 Chiles de Arbol 1 Guajillo 5 Cloves Garlic 1/2 Cup Garbanzos, drained and rinsed 1 1/2 Cups Water 2 Tbls Spicy Mustard 2 Tbls Olive Oil 2 Tsps Oregano 1 Tbl Salt 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper Instructions Start by cutting all the fresh peppers and the garlic into small chunks. De-rib and de-seed the chiles to personal preference. Since there is quite an array of chiles, I didn't leave many with seeds

Mushrooms are a divisive food. Some people love them. Others hate them. I was always one of the haters until I gave up meat. Ever since, I love them. They have such umami, but only if you treat them properly.  It's pretty easy though. A little rinse. A little chop. And let them get dark! So with that in mind, I came up with these mushroom and tofu cakes/dumplings.  I was looking to add some pizzazz to my regular tofu consumption. Spice rubbed crispy tofu is awesome, but sometimes you just want a new spin on it.  This was how I came up with these beautiful little guys.  They're tender, moist and deeply delicious.  Ingredients 1 pint pre-sliced white mushrooms, or two cups total minced 3 cloves garlic, chunked 1 shallot, diced 1/2 block extra firm tofu, broken into small chunks 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed 1 tbl olive oil 1 tsp dry thyme 1 tbl salt 1/2 tsp black pepper Instructions I like to cut my mushrooms very small. They cook faster and brown faster this way. Cook

A good puree is pretty easy to make, yet has a huge impact on your finished dish.  A good puree highlights the flavors you put into it, as well as, the flavors you pair with it.  A good puree provides a creamy texture that coats the palate with its flavor and simultaneously enhances the other flavors along side it.  A good puree is  as delicious as it is cruelty-free. Ingredients 1/2 block extra firm tofu, broken into small chunks 14 cup garbanzos, drained and rinsed 2 serrano peppers, chunked 1 jalapeno, chunked 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 2 chile de arbol 2 guajillo 2 tbls olive oil 2 tbls white wine vinegar 1 tbl salt 1 cup water 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp dry basil Add to a medium sauce pot all ingredients except the garbanzos and the vinegar. Simmer covered over medium heat for 15 minutes.  Remove the guajillo and the arbol. Add the remaining contents of the pot to your blender. Add the vinegar and garbanzos as well.  Puree until smooth.  Pictured with vegan mushroom croquett

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.