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vegan infusion

Vegan Mayo and Egg-free Salad

I've never made mayonaise before! Why is this? Hmm, maybe because I don't like mayo, except as an ingredient in other foods once in a while. And that is what prompted me to try J.J.'s Vegan Mayonaise in Vegan Fusion--I wanted to make Amaya's Egoless Egg-free Salad, which calls for the vegan mayo. Anyway, it turns out making mayonaise is rediculously quick and easy, and the best part? When made from this recipe, it even tastes good! Frankly, I was astonished at how much I liked it.

J.J.'s Vegan Mayonaise

2 1/4 cups safflower oil (I used canola)
1 cup soy milk (the unsweetened kind, of course)
1 Tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar (I used agave)
3/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
2-2 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar, or fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Combine all the ingredients except the vinegar or lemon juice in blender, blending until smooth. Slowly add vinegar or juice until the liquid thickens. (I think I only added about 1 1/2 tsp vinegar and it was plenty thick.)

So, off to a good start, I assembled the ingredients for the egg-free salad, which is also a quick and easy recipe. My husband and I have been big fans of Toby's tofu pate for years, and I hoped this would be similar. I was not disappointed! If you like egg salad, or potato salad, you'll probably like this as well. It can be as thick and chunky or as smooth and creamy as you decide to make it, so it could be a sandwich filler, or a dip, or (as the book suggests) a stuffing for tomatoes. At first I wished I had stirred it all up and tasted it before adding the shoyu, because I didn't really think it needed it...but after letting it sit overnight I changed my mind. I would add a LOT more dill, just because I love dill...but there is a very sad story of slugs in my garden that has resulted in me not having much dill on hand just now. Boo. It would also be good with a minced jalepeno, if you like a bit of spice.

My husband and I gave this 4 carrots; the kids declined to try it.

^^^^

~Sophie

Thousand Petals Tempeh Stir Fry

As I’ve mentioned before our family is fairly typical; two omnivores, one pescatarian (or, veg-aquarian) and one vegetarian.  Two adults, two kids.  Despite our differences, I never make separate meals, never have.  Tonight I broke that rule. 

It’s the fishmonger’s fault.  I had to buy fresh clams at the Farmer’s Market.

So tonight I made a tempeh stir fry for all of us to share, and a big bowl of steamed clams for the three of us who eat seafood.

To make things a little easier on myself, I used the same basic seasonings for both recipes, the Lotus Curry Paste that I’ve used before to make Gift of Govinda Curry.   I had some on hand making the meal that much easier.

Lotus Curry Paste

• 1 small Lime Leaf
• 1 Tbsp shallot, minced
• 1 Tbsp chili pepper, hot variety, minced
• 1 Tbsp lemongrass stem, minced
• 2 tsp ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp Garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2Tbsp Sesame oil

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender, adding sesame oil until smooth consistency is attained.  Store in refrigerator in a jar and use as needed.  Lasts up to a week or longer if refrigerated.

For the Thousand Petals Tempeh Stir Fry, I marinated the tempeh in shoyu then roasted it for about 30 minutes.  The vegetable mix included red bell pepper, broccoli, asparagus and swiss chard.  I added the Lotus Curry Paste to the onions, garlic and ginger at the beginning of the recipe.

My family was pretty iffy on both the tempeh and the chard.  I usually used chard in soups or stews so the sharp flavor wasn’t doing it for them.  Contrast that flavor with the relatively flavorless tempeh and, well, no.

Our little family gave the stir fry 

 

dawn

PS  for the steamed clam recipe, click on over to my blog.

Rahim’s Rasta Pasta Primavera

The local farmer’s market is now open and the kids love it.  Mostly because they can get Hawaiian Shave Ice, but they do like picking out fruits and vegetables and just wandering around, seeing what’s new. 

Today we came home with whole wheat spinach pasta, asparagus, a sweet Walla Walla onion, cherries and 1/4 pint of raspberries (okay, we started with a pint, but that was all that was left by the time we got home).  Oh, and a packet of radish seeds. 

What we really came home with was pasta primavera for dinner with fresh cherries for dessert.

The basis for Rahim’s Rasta Pasta Primavera is simply your choice of pasta and vegetables along with a few other yummy ingredients such as bell peppers, Kalamata olives, red onion, parsley, basil and garlic. 

And hemp seed, which I don’t have on hand today but the more I read about it the more I need to get some on hand (but I digress).

The main “sauce” is a balsamic dressing:

Uma’s Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 1/2 Tbsp shoyu
• 1 Tbsp stone ground mustard

1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well.

I used the fresh asparagus, along with some carrots and peas that I already had on hand.  I added more Kalamata olives and garlic than the recipe called for because we all love their flavors.  And some of us sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese.  Really simple, one dish meal.  We all enjoyed it, although my husband and kids said it took some getting used to because it was a “non-traditional” pasta sauce.

Our little family gave this meal

 

dawn

Ammachi's Aloha Pate

I must admit that I did not have high hopes for this recipe - it seemed like a fairly random collection of ingredients, but I had some friends over yesterday and, since it looked really easy to throw together I thought I'd give it a go. And I am SO happy that I did!! It is delicious and everyone loved it. The beet gives it an interesting pink hue that starts out pretty but turned a little brown as it sat - by that time everyone had tasted it and was hooked so it didn't really matter.

We experimented with a variety of crackers, chips and vegetables and discovered a magical combination: spread some pate on a tamari seaweed rice cracker and top with a slice of cucumber. YUM!!

Here's the recipe:

Ammachi's Aloha Pate

1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. cashews or macadamia nuts (I used cashews)
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/3 c. carrot (didn't measure, used a large carrot)
1/3 c. beet (didn't measure, used half of a large beet)
2 T. leek, rinsed well and diced
1/4 c. Daikon radish
1/4 c. green bell pepper (I used red)
1 T. basil, Italian parsley or cilantro (I used parsley, I think cilantro would be great, too)
1/2 t. garlic, minced (says optional, but I think it needs it)
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
dash of Shoyu (optional - I didn't add it)

Throw it all in a food processor and add a little water if needed. It really does need to sit for several hours or overnight, so plan ahead.

Enjoy!

Liz

Radical Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Sometimes I work Saturday night, as in all night. When I do, Sundays in my home are pretty unstructured, with mom asleep and three guys left to their own devices. As a result, it came to pass last night that everyone but me had eaten dinner. "Ah-ha!" I thought. "The perfect time to make something adventurous, something only I would have any interest in eating! Something Raw or Vegan that feeds the body and the soul...." And then I looked around my pantry and fridge and lowered my expectations a wee bit. Red bell peppers, cans of garbanzo beans, a sad-looking lemon...well, at least I could make hummus! And really, there's nothing at all shabby about hummus. It does, indeed, feed my soul.

The step of roasting the red peppers does make Radical Roasted Red Pepper Hummus a little more time-consuming than some other hummus recipes, but roasted red peppers are sooooo good that's it's always worth it. (And I always roast more than the recipe calls for, so now I have extra sitting in my fridge, just waiting to be put in a sandwich, or on a pizza, or in a soup!) As usual, I used liquid aminos in place of shoyu, and I skipped the step of toasting the cumin. I also used canned garbanzos, and I only had the regular, raw tahini, not the roasted variety (which I must get, because yum!)

The result was a very good hummus, although I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it radical. In addition to awesome flavor, the red pepper gives it a beautiful color. I did think it could use a bit more lemon, but sadly, I'd squeezed mine dry just to get as much juice as the recipe called for. And next time, I will toast the cumin. I love toasted cumin, I just don't always have the patience, mid-recipe, to stop and do that step. This is a dish, though, where that smoky flavor would really shine through.

All in all? Three carrots.

^^^

(Ha! Three carets! I crack myself up sometimes...)

~Sophie

Mahatma's Mung Dahl

Mung beans haven't been a staple in my pantry up until now, but I've been hearing about them a lot lately. Not only are they a great source of protein, but they are known to be easier to digest than other kinds of beans. So I gave the Mahatma's Mung Dahl a try and I'm glad I did. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except that (as usual) I didn't bother with the toasting of the cumin seed and powder. I think next time I would add more carrot and celery but not include as much water - it turned out pretty soupy, which was fine with some brown rice to soak up the liquid, but I think 4 or 5 cups of water or vegetable stock would have been plenty.

Great flavor, and really quick and easy to throw together on a weeknight. I will definitely make it again - hopefully as part of a joint effort with Sophie and Dawn to create the Taj Mahal Indian Sampler Platter. :)

Mahatma's Mung Bean Dahl

6 c filtered water or vegetable stock
1 c mung beans (the recipe doesn't specify, but I used split mung beans)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, cubed
1/2 c. celery, thinly sliced
1 T. garlic, minced
1 T. ginger, peeled and minced
1 T. jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 T. cumin seed, toasted
1 t. cumin powder, toasted
1/2 t. curry powder
1/4 t. sea salt, to taste
1/4 t. black pepper, to taste
pinch of cayenne
2 T. cilantro
1/3 c. shoyu, to taste

1. Rinse beans and place in a medium sized pot with water or stock on medium high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, ginger and jalapeno, cook on medium heat until beans are soft, approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add shoyu and remaining ingredients, except cilantro, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add cilantro, remove from heat and enjoy.

Enjoy!

Liz