Month: January 2017

Vegan Mushroom Walnut Pâté

Vegan Mushroom Walnut Pate
Vegan Mushroom Walnut Pate

I’ve been really hungry lately, Truthfully, I’m always really hungry, but it seems especially bad lately. I think it’s because I’ve finally started working out again post baby. Being hungry is good and bad for me. I love to eat, but I actually hate snacks. I pretty much never want to eat snacks. More often than not they aren’t very good, and then you can’t eat something you really want to eat because you’re full. Also, rarely are snacks good for you, at least the ones that taste good. So, I don’ t like snacks. If I do snack (and I do, several times a day) I usually eat a small portion of leftovers because it’s just better food. I’m ranting about this because this Pâté is an exception. I made it for guests, and then ended up eating it for days and looking forward to it!

This delightful Pâté -originally from the Veganomicon– is super easy, and you probably have almost everything in your pantry. I used fresh herbs in mine because I happened to have them hanging around. The original recipe calls for dried so I’m sure that would be fine if it’s what you have on hand.

 Vegan Walnut Mushroom Pâté

Originally from Veganomicon

 Ingredients

  • 3 TBL olive oil
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 TBL fresh tyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 TBL fresh tarragon or 1 tsp dried
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 LB cremini mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup lightly toasted walnuts
  • 3/4 cup cooked cannellini beans
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • up to 1/4 cup vegetable broth (I didn’t use any)

Instructions

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add the onions and saute for 3 to 5 minutes until translucent,
  3. Addthe garlic, thyme, tarragon, salt, and pepper, and cook another minute.
  4. Add the mushrooms and cook for 7 to 10 minutes until they are very soft, lowering the heat if necessary to prevent them from burning.
  5. While the mushrooms are cooking, place the walnuts in a food processor or blender and process until very fine.
  6. Add the cooked mushroom mixture to the walnuts in the food processor, along with the balsamic vinegar, beans, and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Process until smooth, adding the vegetable broth 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to make a smooth puree. Note: I didn’t need to use any.
  7. Continue to puree the ingredients until the pate resembles a smooth, thick and spreadable paste.
  8. Scrap mixture into an airtight container and chill for at least an hour before serving, to allow the flavors to meld.

Simple Kale Chips

Simple vegan kale chips
20 Simple vegan kale chips

I was going to buy kale chips the other day, and then I was like  “why would I do that?” They are so simple, and quick to make at home, and wayyyy cheaper. So here is your very simple kale chip recipe. Feel free to add other seasonings of choice to jazz them up a bit, though they are delicious as is. My toddler loved them! She kept asking for the “crackers” how could I say no? The picture above is her sneaking a few as I was attempting to shot a legitimate photo. I couldn’t keep her out of them long enough to get a good picture, so you have proof these are irresistible to toddlers.

Kale Chips

 Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of curly kale de-stemmed and roughly chopped
  • 1 TBL olive oil
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 200F.
  2. Place the chopped kale into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Using your hands massage the kale with the oil until each leaf is coated with oil.
  3. Place kale in a single layer (very important!) on a baking sheet, or two if needed.
  4. Sprinkle lightly with salt and bake for 15-20 minutes until the kale is crispy to the touch and the edges are just starting to brown. Start checking around 10 minutes and check every few minutes after to make sure it isn’t burning.
  5. Allow to cool before consuming.

Vegan Thai Stuffed Peppers With Peanut Sauce

Vegan Thai Stuffed Peppers With Peanut Sauce
Thai Stuffed Peppers With Peanut Sauce

So this is not authentic Thai food, but there are some delightful Thai flavors going on. These stuffed peppers have a mixture of rice, lentils, and vegetables set off with some Thai red curry paste, and topped with a comforting peanut sauce. Super tasty, gluten free, vegan, easy, and comforting.

This recipe was developed in my quest to try new things and was inspired by my wonderful mother-in-law makes super yummy stuffed peppers (and has made me vegan ones because she’s awesome). I wanted to do a stuffed pepper, but take it outside the box a bit.

Thai Stuffed Peppers With Peanut Sauce

 Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup brown rice
  • 1/4 cup brown lentils
  • 2 cups mushroom or vegetable broth
  • 4 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers cut in half lengthwise and seeded
  • 2 TBL olive oil
  • 1 medium onion diced, about 1 cup
  • 1 cup diced yellow squash of zucchini
  • 1 cup diced mushrooms
  • juice from half a lime, about 1 TBL
  • salt to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 TBL minced fresh cilantro
  • 2-4 tsp red curry paste

Instructions

  1. Mix rice, lentils, and mushroom broth in a medium pan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until rice and lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375.
  4. Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with a silicone mat, parchment paper, or aluminium foil. Place peppers on baking sheet cut side up and bake for 20 minutes until starting to soften.
  5. While peppers are cooking cut your vegetables.
  6. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
  7. Add olive oil, onion, squash, and mushrooms sauteing until tender, about 7 minutes.
  8. Add lime juice, salt, and garlic cooking 1 additional minute and remove from heat.
  9. Stir together the cooked rice and lentils, the vegetable mixture, cilantro, and the red curry paste. Add the curry past a teaspoon at a time and taste adjusting to your preference.
  10. Once peppers have cooked remove them from the oven and fill with rice mixture to overflowing.
  11. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes until cooked through.
  12. While peppers are cooking make peanut sauce.
  13. Serve hot with peanut sauce and garnished with cilantro.

Peanut Sauce

 Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 TBL brown sugar
  • 2 TBL tamari -Gluten free if needed
  • 2 tsp lime juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 chopped cilantro (optional)

Instructions

  1. Boil water in a small saucepan.
  2. Once boiling whisk in peanut butter until smooth and remove from heat.
  3. Stir in brown sugar, tamari, lime juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
  4. Taste, and adjust seasoning to your liking.
  5. Add in cilantro if using and serve immediately.

Vegan Italian Tofuballs for Pasta-Toddler Approved

Vegan Italian Tofuballs
Vegan Italian Tofuballs

In need of some comfort food? I feel I am most of the time in the winter. I just want warm, filling, soul satisfying food. These delightful little nuggets fit the bill perfectly, especially when paired with whole wheat pasta and either your favorite sauce, or my favorite sauce.

Wolfie loved to help with these. She does everything from mashing the tofu to help form the balls. She also ate them! I mean, why wouldn’t you? They are a bit crisp on the outside, a bit salty, faintly “cheesy”, and heavy with Italian seasonings. These also freeze well if you feel like making a double batch.

Tofu Balls

 Ingredients

  • 1 lb water packed extra firm tofu
  • 1 TBL Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 cup grated zucchini (optional)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes to taste
  • 2 TBL nutritional yeast
  • 1/4-1/3 cup vegan bread crumbs
  • Neutral flavored oil for cooking

Instructions

  1. Mash tofu in a large bowl with your hands of a potato masher.
  2. Add Italian seasoning, salt, garlic, zucchini, pepper, red pepper, and nutritional yeast and stir together.
  3. Add bread crumbs a few tablespoons at a time stirring to combine. The mixture should start to stick together.
  4. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings to taste.
  5. Heat about a 1/4″ of oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet to about 350 degrees. I never actually check this with a thermometer, but you should. It should be hot, but not smoking, and when you flick a few drops of water into the oil it should sizzle and pop.
  6. Form the tofu mixture into walnut sized balls with your hands. Pack them a bit, but don’t worry if they feel loose as long as they hold their shape in your hand. If they don’t add more breadcrumbs until they do.
  7. Carefully place the tofu balls in the hot oil, and cook until one side is golden brown (3-4minutes), flip them and cook on the other side another 3 minutes or so until golden brown.
  8. Unless you have a super huge skillet you will need to work in batches. You might need to add more oil between batches. If this happens don’t forget to reheat the oil before frying.
  9. Once cooked remove the tofu balls and place on a plate lined with paper towel to drain.
  10. Serve hot with pasta and sauce.
  11. You could also bake these on an oiled baking sheet at 375 for about 20 minutes. Still good, but not quite the same.