Vegan and Vegetarian Cooking and Living

Colorful Salad with Homemade Herbed Croutons

You know how when you go to buffets or dining halls or salad bars the salads are always SO good? There are so many choices and textures and flavors. There are croutons and veggies and fruits and seeds and peas and dressing and it’s all so crunchy and wonderful. When I moved off my college campus and away from those salad bars, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and create a salad just as exciting and versatile. 

I have figured out that they key components to creating a successful salad are: croutons, good dressing, lots of colors, and small juicy items like peas or corn. I prefer making my own croutons to buying them (cheaper, healthier, more fun). I save the ends of bread (yeah, I don’t eat the ends, so what) and freeze them. When salad time rolls around I pop them in the microwave, chop them up and sautee them til they are crispy and greasy and delicious.

In terms of dressing, I love tahini dressing or sesame-soy-ginger, but an easy and still yummy way to go is olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, salt and pepper, or all of the above. 

I made this salad with my wonderful best friend, A. She is just getting into cooking and it’s so much fun to teach her what I know and watch her get excited as she invents new and delicious meals. 

You can really put in almost any vegetable and your salad will taste great, but here’s what we did:

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
• Frozen peas, cooked and let to cool
• Canned corn, drained
• Broccoli (raw, or slightly steamed)
• Bell pepper 
• Carrots
• Celery
• Several pieces bread
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary and thyme
• Dressing

Directions:

1. Defrost bread if necessary, cut into crouton size pieces
2. Heat olive oil in a pan, add bread and mix around so all the pieces get oily
3. Add herbs and oil as needed (it takes a bit of oil to get them crispy)
4. Sautee until croutons are crispy and flavorful (this tends to take at least 10 minutes)
5. Meanwhile, wash and chop veggies into bite size pieces
6. Mix veggies and croutons together in a large bowl, add dressing and toss
7. Serve and enjoy

-N

Farmer’s Market Stir Fry

This is a yummy “everything but the kitchen sink” stir fry inspired by a basket full of fresh veggies from the farmer’s market. I kept the flavors simple to highlight the veggies’ sweetness and crunch, then topped the dish off with potstickers and tofu so I would actually get full. Modify using whatever ingredients you have lying around. 

You’ll need:

• Oil (olive, coconut, etc.)
• Green (or traditional) garlic, chopped
• Delicious fresh veggies- I used red cabbage, yellow onion, carrots, swiss chard, and (frozen) peas
• Tamari or soy sauce
• Rice vinegar
• Nutritional yeast
• Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce
• Plant protein of choice (I used tofu cubes)
• Frozen potstickers (TJ’s makes some tasty veggie ones that aren’t too full of junk)

To make:

• Sauté onion until translucent.
• Add green garlic, cook one minute or until fragrant.
• Add slow cooking veggies (i.e. carrots and cabbage), cook until crunchy-tender.*
• Add quick cooking vegetables (chard, peas).
• Add a dash of Tamari, a splash of vinegar, and a little water.
• Cover with a lid for a minute or two until veggies soften. Remove lid and stir frequently until veggies are just under-cooked. They will continue to soften in the hot pan.
• In the meantime, fry up cubes of plant protein in a separate pan. When they get crispy and golden brown on the outside, add a little Soyaki and nutritional yeast. Cook until liquid evaporates.
• Cook frozen potstickers.
• Add potstickers and plant protein to veggies. Add more Tamari, vinegar and nutritonal yeast to taste. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

*What the hell does that mean? Well, kinda what it sounds like. You want your veggies to be soft enough that you no longer sound like a dinosaur crushing bones beneath its teeth when you bite down and your little sister screams at you that you’re a “mean old chew-loud”, but not so soft that they get mushy while you cook the rest of your vegetables. So… ya know… crunchy-tender.

-E

Vegan Grilled Cheese

I grew up on soy cheese. We had every kind of gushy, soggy, strangely colored ‘cheese’, all with that weirdly bitter aftertaste. This lasted until my sister and I refused to eat one more bite and demanded our cheese come from cows.

This is why, when I went from vegetarian to vegan about half a year ago, I silently swore never to eat fake packaged cheese. I didn’t see the point, it didn’t taste like dairy cheese, it doesn’t have much nutritional value, and I was perfectly happy with my diet.

As time has progressed however, I have become increasingly curious about all the vegan products out there, and my judgements that they won’t taste like the ‘real thing’ have faded. When you go long enough without ‘real’ cheese or ice cream or yogurt, the vegan version tastes just as good, better even because you feel morally sound about what you’re putting in your body. I now go nuts for a bowl of coconut bliss ice cream, or nachos with vegan sour cream, and as of this morning, for Daiya vegan cheese. Let me tell you, vegan cheese has made leaps and bounds since I was 12 years old grimacing at pale orange-almond-soy-mush in my parents fridge. This snack takes about 5 minutes to make, and is absolutely delicious. 

Ingredients:

• Bread (I used whole wheat)
• Daiya (I used mozzarella style. You can find it at natural food stores for $6 a bag)
• Optional: Earth balance or oil

Directions:

1. Put earth balance/oil in a pan or turn on a panini maker
2. Spread Daiya on your bread, place in maker/on pan
3. Cook on both sides until the Daiya has melted and the bread is slightly crispy
4. Serve immediately with some veggies on the side (I had cucumbers) and enjoy thoroughly :)

-N

Zesty Lentil-Veggie Salad

This is my new favorite super easy meal. I like to think of it as healthy vegan fast food. It’s fresh, crunchy and packed full of protein. It takes about 3 minutes to prepare and saves well. I used Trader Joes pre-cooked lentils, from the refrigerated vegetable section. I added cubes of tofu, canned chick peas, organic green beans and cucumber, and mixed it up with tangy delicious tahini dressing from New Leaf (small yummy/overpriced chain of natural food stores in the Santa Cruz area). This is a great meal when you don’t have much time but need a nutrient-dense meal. It’s also great for when you want to eat something delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/4 cup chick peas
• Uncooked tofu cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cucumber
• Handful of green beans cut into bite size pieces 
• Tahini dressing or dressing of choice
• Lemon juice to taste

Directions:

1. Put all the beans, tofu and veggies in a bowl
2. Add dressing and lemon juice, stir well
3. Serve, or put in a container for a meal on-the-go

Enjoy!

-N

Fried Tofu with Steamed Lemony Kale

You know how when you go to Thai or Chinese restaurants the tofu is all perfectly cooked so its crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, and you think you could never make it as yummy? Well it turns out you can, and it’s easy and cheap. 

I paired this with steamed dino kale, which is so fresh and green it balances the fried tofu nicely. It takes about 10 minutes to make this whole meal, and it saves well so it’s great to take to work or school. 

Ingredients:

• Tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• about 1 TBS Oil (olive, canola, sesame, any will work)
• Dino Kale (dark green and more textured than regular kale)
• Lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste
• Optional: Rice vinegar and soy sauce 

Directions:

1. Put oil in the pan and heat, add the tofu
2. Let tofu cook until brown, rotating so every side gets browned and crispy (be careful, the oil may spit out of the pan)
3. Meanwhile, chop kale and put it in a pan with a little water
4. Cover and let it steam until its almost all the way cooked
5. Remove lid, let any excess water cook out, and add lemon, salt and pepper
6. Optional: Mix 1 TBS rice vinegar and 1 TBS soy sauce in small bowl, use as dipping sauce for tofu
7. Enjoy :)

-N

Lemon Honey Sautéed Brussel Sprouts

I love brussel sprouts. They have such a terrible reputation, for which we have the 1950’s to thank (I have heard many a tale of cold canned brussel sprouts, which lets be honest, sounds awful). These days, however, we can get our brussels pre-washed and ready to cook, prepicked and spilling out of little green baskets, or even a whole stalk of brussels and pluck them ourselves. With this many options we have no excuse not to take part in their rich flavor and endless cooking possibilities. Just cut open one of these beauties and you will see layer after layer of dark to bright green leaves, ending in a softer, paler middle. Brussels are great as a side dish, served over noodles, baked, added to a stir fry or soup, boiled and put on a salad, you name it.

I decided to sautee these with just a few flavors so I wouldn’t lose that scrumption brussely taste. This gives them a hint of sweet, sour and salty, and they provide that hint of bitter. I used honey as a sweetener (not vegan, I know) but they taste just as delicious with other natural sweeteners such as maple syrup or agave nectar. 

Ingredients:

• Brussel Sprouts
• Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
• Honey or other sweetener
• Lemon Juice
• Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water (with enough water to cover brussels)
2. Wash brussels well, peeling off outer leaves if they look gross
3. Chop into halves or quarters, depending on their size
4. Put brussels into boiling water and cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until they are pretty cooked but still a little hard
5. Strain and put brussels in a large pan with olive oil
6. Add lemon juice, honey and herbs to taste (it tend to take a good amount of lemon and honey to be flavorful enough) 
7. Continue to sautee until they are tender
8. Serve immediately
9. Enjoy :)

-N

Dino Kale with Veg Sausage and Fried Egg

Once again, I found myself hungry and low on food after a morning rehearsal- this is what I scrounged up for brunch. This will work with any kind of greens, but the rough texture of the Dino kale absorbs flavor particularly well.

Ingredients:
•1 bunch Dino kale, chopped
•veg sausage (Tofurkey beer brats are yummy)
•1 egg, if you roll that way
•1 stalk green garlic, chopped
•Rice vinegar to taste
•nutritional yeast to taste
•salt and pepper
•coconut oil

To make:
• Sauté green garlic in a tablespoon of coconut oil for a couple minutes.
•Add kale, vinegar, and a dash of water. Cook until kale softens.
•In a separate pan, cook sausage until crispy. Fry an egg.
•Add salt, pepper, sausage and nutritional yeast to kale, cook another minute.
•Serve with hot sauce.

-e

Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

This is a wonderful cookie recipe passed down from my Godmother, through my mom, to me. I have asked for it over and over again through the years because I seem to misplace things to say the least. I recently had dinner at my Godmother’s who, is a master macrobiotic chef. When I walked into her house, a plethora of delicious smells wafted from the kitchen. There was a hearty minestrone soup on the stove, a beautiful salad laced with pomegranate and persimmon and multiple trays of my favorite cookies. I made sure to get the recipe for the cookies once again, along with two other cookie recipes. She also gifted me with a lovely Vegan cookbook called Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas, I am sure I will be experimenting with many more recipes in the near future.
I was also gifted with another wonderful vegan cookbook from my step-mom titled Veganomicon, The Ultimste Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, my step-mom has made many wonderful dishes from this one, I have yet to try them out myself. 

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup rolled oats
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (can also be made with gluten free flour)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely 
• ½ cup chocolate chips (optional)
• ½ cup canola oil (or any oil vegetable or nut oil that does not have strong flavor)
• ½ cup maple syrup 
• 2 tablespoons vanilla (I used hazelnut extract which is very nice)

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Oil cookies sheet
3. Place ground oats, flour, salt, baking soda, nuts and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Mix well. 
4. In a smaller bowl combine, oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Wisk together
5. Stir wet ingredients into dry
6. Shape dough into golf ball sized balls and place on baking sheet. Flatten dough to a thickness of 1/3 inch. 
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy and share with friends and neighbors!

-L

Yum Yum Alexandria Sandwich

E and N come from a lineage of vegetarians. I’m their mom, and have been a vegetarian since 1974, and a vegan for many of those years. My sisters are also long term vegetarians. Between the five of us we have almost 160 years of vegetarian living!

When I eat in vegan restaurants and find something I love, I go home and try to recreate it. That is how Yum Yum Alexandria Sandwiches were born. While visiting my sister in DC, we rode bikes on a cold and rainy day to Alexandria, Virginia and ate some very delicious sandwiches, which I recreated and we have been eating and enjoying for many years now.

Ingredients

• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Some type of ridiculously processed plant protein such as Tofurkey roast beef slices, vegan chicken or vegan turkey slices
• Vegan mayonnaise
• Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Broth
• Vegan Cheese
• Vegan Bacon (optional)
• Deli Rolls or Dutch Crunch Rolls

Preparation

1. Slice onions and sauté slowly in pan with a little olive oil until caramelized.
2. Add sliced mushrooms, any herbs you want, along with undiluted  “Better than Bullion” veggie broth, and cook till all the liquid is gone.
3. Slice your ridiculously processed plant protein and then pan fry.
4. Mix  vegan mayonnaise with some of the Better than Bullion” veggie broth, and spread on both sides of the  bread
5. Add the pretend meat, onion-mushroom mixture,  vegan cheese, and melt in oven.
6. Remove from oven, add avocado, and optional vegan bacon, close and eat. Yum Yum.

-A

The Devil’s Tofu Scramble

N and I apparently share a brain. At the same exact time she was writing a rant about her disdain for tofu scramble, I was returning home after a morning dance rehearsal with a growling belly to a fridge full of… tofu. And not much else.

Now I’ve seen a lot of tofu scramble recipes floating around the vegan blogosphere of late. I’ve been ignoring them because, like my sister, I generally think tofu scramble tastes like turmeric-flavored glop. What is it with the turmeric, people? I swear, go to any breakfast joint in California hip enough to throw a tofu scramble on its menu and you will receive a pile of squished, undercooked soy product mixed with tiny shreds of carrot and celery and a healthy dose of that ubiquitous golden dust.

In any case, due to my lack of other ingredients, I decided to reverse the trend and make my own, totally delicious tofu scramble with what I had lying around the kitchen. Here are the ingredients I scrounged:

• Tofu (duh)
• Coconut oil or other greasy substance
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 stalk slightly wilted green garlic, sliced thinly
• Dino kale, chopped
• Tamari (soy sauce or Braggs would work too)
• Brown Rice Vinegar
• Hot sauce (Off-brand Sriracha, to be precise)
• Nutritional yeast
• Salt n’ peppa
• Turmeric (I know I know, I’ll get to that)

Here’s what I did with them:

1. Sauté onions in a couple tablespoons of coconut oil on low heat until translucent. Add a pinch of salt.
2. Add green garlic, cook another minute or two.
3. Add kale and a splash of water, cook until kale begins to soften.
4. Meanwhile, smash up tofu in a bowl. I should note somewhere that although I am normally a fierce advocate for medium-firm tofu, in the rare case of tofu scramble, extra-firm actually works better. Add Tamari, rice vinegar, hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add tofu to pan of veggies, cook for a WHILE. As in, until liquid starts to evaporate and it starts smelling good. I think a lot of tofu scramblers just don’t cook it long enough, and it’s their downfall- nobody likes raw, mushy tofu.
6. Add a dash of nutritional yeast, cook for one more minute.
7. So I got to this step, and my scramble tasted pretty good- the roughness of the dino kale was a nice complement to the squish of the tofu, and the green garlic did its job of giving the dish a great flavor. However, the hot sauce had turned my breakfast a disturbing shade of pink. I can’t say whether it was nature or nurture that made me want to add it (do people put turmeric in tofu scramble because it tastes good, or do people put turmeric in tofu scramble because they think they’re supposed to?), but without thinking my hand reached for the little yellow jar, and before I knew it I had joined the ranks. Jumped on the turmeric bandwagon. Insert one more turmeric-themed cliche here. My breakfast turned yellow. I scarfed it down. And it was damn good.

Sauteed Breakfast Potatoes with Spinach and Black Beans

As a vegan, I don’t like going out to breakfast. Your choices are between a 5 dollar cup of fruit-that has spent 3 weeks traveling from every corner of the earth, only to arrive as a mealy flavorless pile of gush-or if you are somewhere with a little consciousness, a tofu scramble. I’m sorry if I offend vegans everywhere, but I do not like tofu scramble. Tofu was not meant to be scrambled. Curry powder or whatever they use does not make it taste like an exciting flavorful party in my mouth, it makes it taste like an overeager 6 year old just cooked me a mud pie.

However, this morning I woke up wanting a nice hearty breakfast, so I decided to make things happen for myself. I used all locally farmed veggies: an irish butterball potato, a white onion and some spinach, sided with trader joes black beans. It was quick and easy to make, tasty, and had a balanced combination of veggies, proteins and carbs. Best of all, it felt like I was eating at a restaurant without spending the money.

Ingredients:

• One large potato
• 1/3 white onion
• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• 1/2 can black beans
• Canola or olive oil
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
• Optional: ketchup, hot sauce, lemon wedge

Directions:

1. Chop your onion into bite size pieces, and put in a large frying pan with some oil
2. Chop your potatoes into thin bite size pieces (if you cut them too large they will take a long time to cook)
3. Sautee potatoes and onions together ,adding oil as needed
4. Cover with a lid and let it steam for a few minutes
5. Add your spices
6. Meanwhile, heat up the black beans
7. When your potatoes are pretty much cooked through, add the spinach and cover again
8. Remove lid, let any moisture cook out, and serve with beans on the side
9. Squeeze some lemon on your potatoes or add ketchup and hot sauce on the side

Happy vegan breakfasting! 

 -N

Broccolini and Mushroom Risotto with Sautéed Bell Peppers

This is my own interpretation of two recipes from my Veganomicon cookbook. This is warming and hearty risotto dish. The original recipe calls for asparagus, but it is out of season now so I worked with what I could find. The whole process took about 1 hour. I recommend you recruit a friend, or dad in my case, to help out; it will go faster and be more fun.

Lemongrass broth:

• 3 cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled
• 1-inch piece ginger, sliced into ¼-inch slices
• 1 small stalk lemongrass or 1 Tbls dried chopped lemongrass
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 3 cups water
• 3 Tbls soy sauce

 Risotto:

• 1/3 cup cooking sherry (I used rice vinegar)
• 1 pound asparagus (or veggies in season, I used Broccolini and button mushrooms)
• 5 Tbls peanut oil
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 2 Tbls chopped fresh mint
• 6 large shallots, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 serrano red chile, sliced thinly, or red pepper flakes
• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbls lime juice
• Chopped roated peanuts and lime wedges for garnish
• I also cooked bell peppers and onions as a topping for the risotto

Recipe:

1. Slice lemongrass stalk in half lengthwise, cut into sections of 3 to 4-inch lengths, then slice into matchsticks.

2. Lightly bruise ginger slices by pounding them with side of knife. Crush garlic cloves with the side of your knife as well, keep whole.

3. put the lemongrass, ginger and garlic into a porous pouch, such as, muslin or cheese cloth and tie off (I has neither so I put it all in the pot with the liquid and strained it later).

4. Place all the broth ingredients in a large pot and bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10 min. Then strain broth and cover to keep warm for later.

5. This is the part where I went wild and experimented a bit. While the broth was doing it’s thang, I chopped the broccolini, found another large pot, added about a Tbls of oil and sautéed it for about 3 min, added a bit of the vinegar. I then chopped and added the mushrooms, put a lid on and let it all simmer for about 5 min. Then add the basil and mint and let simmer for about 30 seconds more. Remove from heat and put ingredients in a separate bowl.

6. Add the rest of the oil into the same pot, Sauté the shallots and garlic for about 6-8 min, stir in chile pepper and rice and sauté for about 8 minutes until rice smells slightly roasted. Add the sherry of vinegar and stir until liquid is absorbed.

7. Ladle about ½ cup of broth at a time into the rice stirring constantly until each addition is absorbed. Stir and cook until rice is creamy but still a little firm in center. When broth is almost gone stir in sugar and lime juice before adding to the risotto. You may need to add some extra water if broth runs out. This whole process will take about 35 min.

8. This part is optional. While you are stirring with one hand, chop onion and bell peppers with the other, or call a friend to help. I have found the second option to work out better. Chop the onions into half moons, chops pepper into sticks. Add a bit of olive oil to a pan, sauté onions and peppers together, add a pinch of salt, put a top on and let cook together for about 30 minutes.

9. When the risotto is about done, add in the vegetables that you set aside, even the peppers if you would like, or you can spoon this on top as I did. Garnish each bowl with peanuts, a bit of chopped basil and mint and a lime wedge.

Buon Apatito

-L 

Simple Veggie Noodle Soup

When you are sick, you need soup. That’s just how it goes. When you are sick, you also don’t have the energy to make a fancy meal. That’s how this soup came about.

Tomato sauce can be a great soup base; it’s mainly tomatoes which are flavorful and add texture, plus its already flavored with garlic, onions and a few other spices. I used Better Than Bouillon Veggie Broth for extra flavor, which you can find at natural food stores or whole foods. I put in noodles (comfort food) and just a few veggies to keep it simple. I put in a clove of garlic, and actually ate one clove while I was cooking. Garlic is a natural antiviral, as well as antibacterial and antifungal, so it’s great to eat when you are sick. I also made sure to add lots of hot sauce to clear my sinuses. 

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 TBS Better Than Bouillon Veggie Broth
• Tomato Sauce of Choice (I used Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce)
• Half a White Onion
• 1 or 2 Cloves Garlic
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Noodles of Choice (I used rotini, or corkscrew noodles)
• Frozen Peas
• Carrots
• Hot Sauce

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water, add noodles when water is at rolling boil
2. Add Veggie Broth
3. While noodles begin to cook, chop your garlic, onion and carrot into bite size pieces, and add to soup
4. When water returns to boil add frozen peas
5. Mix in several large spoonfuls of tomato sauce, taste and add more as needed
6. Add salt, pepper, hot sauce, and any other herbs and spices you desire
7. Enjoy, and get plenty of rest :)

-N