Vegan Quiche + A Pear Tart

Today, after a languid Sunday morning complete with Stumptown coffee, a bagel and a long walk in the snow I came home to tackle my produce box. After a long afternoon in the kitchen I now have a beautiful quiche cooling on my stove and batches of potato leek and lentil soup in my freezer. I used the second crust for the quiche, which kept the recipe simple. This is a veggie-loaded recipe that is SO much lower in fat than traditional quiche and perfect for all three meals.

Spiced Pear Tart with Cashew Custard
1 unsweetened spelt crust, 9"
3 firm, but ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4" pieces
2 t brandy
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/8 cup granulated sugar
2 T lemon juice, divided
1 c raw cashew pieces, soaked in water for one hour
1/4 c maple syrup
1/3 c filtered water
1 vanilla bean

Preheat the oven to 350. Toss the pears with the spices, brandy, sugar, and 1 T lemon juice. Drain the cashews and blend them into a smooth paste with the water, syrup and the scraped out inside of the vanilla bean. Spread the cashew custard evenly in the crust and then top with the pear slices. Take about one spoonful of the liquid from the pears and drizzle it over the top of the tart and bake for 30 minutes, or until the pears are soft. Serve warm.

Vegan Quiche with Leeks, Shallots, Mushrooms, Chard and Fresh Herbs
1 9" spelt tart crust
1 12 oz container of Firm Silken Tofu
4 oz Extra Firm Tofu
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/8  c corn starch
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t smoked paprika
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 leek, sliced into thin half moons
2 shallots sliced in thin half moons
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
1 bunch chard, stalks rinsed and diced, leaves chopped into bite-sized pieces and well washed
1/2 c fresh parsley well chopped
5- 6 large basil leaves, well chopped
1- 2 T white wine
Olive oil

In a large skillet, heat about 2 T of olive oil and sauté the shallots and leek until lightly caramelized, set them aside in a large bowl. Sauté the mushrooms until browned and set them aside with the leeks and shallots. De-glaze the pan with a splash of white wine and sauté the diced stalks of the chard until soft, add the chard and allow it to wilt. Drain the chard in a colander and squeeze all of the extra liquid out. Add the chard to the other veggies and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a food processor or blender, purée the tofu, nutritional yeast, corn starch and turmeric until totally smooth. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the tofu mixture to the bowl of veggies, add the chopped herbs and lemon juice and stir until the ingredients are well-combined and evenly distributed. Spread the mixture evenly in the crust and bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Warm-up Cream of Carrot with Ginger Soup

Oh, Chicago you are a cold, cold place to live and your winters make me eat like a champion to survive the cold, to stay awake in the face of never-ending darkness and lately to compensate for my "I can't write my thesis" guilt. Despite only making it a week on my no-drinking plan, and only 10 days on my no sugar plan, I'm doing my best to keep the winter munchies healthy...And trying to make a jar of almond butter last longer than 7 days. Almond butter is like crack to me, it's a sick, sick addiction. Today when my produce box arrived, I discovered about 2.5 pounds of big winter carrots in the bottom. I'm not a fan of eating the big ones raw because they lack the intensity of flavor that I value in a summer carrot, but I have been craving ginger flavored soups. So, I threw together a quick carrot-ginger soup to keep those carrots from languishing in my produce drawer. In the summer, I like to make carrot ginger soup without anything creamy and enjoy it on lazy evenings with a big salad dressed up with orange slices and avocado. But, look, I'm cold all the time, I'm strapped to my space heater, and I'm up to my eyeballs in my own mediocre writing so I thought it might be nice to take my summer recipe and winterize it with the addition of a little cashew cream and a hint of toasted sesame oil. What results is still a fresh, light bowl of soup...But, with a little more commitment and depth. This soup is emotionally available. And, when garnished with a quick chop of fresh mint and cilantro and set up next to a simple spinach salad it makes a simple, warming lunch or dinner.

Ingredients
(Serves 6)
1 T olive oil
1/2 T toasted sesame oil

1 sweet onion roughly chopped

2.5" piece of ginger, peeled and chopped into rounds

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

About 2.5 pounds of carrots, peeled and chopped. Don't worry about dicing them too fine, I find 1/4" rounds to be about the right size.
1 large apple, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2- 1 t red pepper flakes
4 cups water
1 vegan bouillon cube (alternately, use a favorite veggie stock in place of the water + cube)
1/2 cup cashew cream (equal parts soaked cashews and water, puréed until smooth)
Sea salt, shoyu or Bragg's to taste (I like Braggs)
1/2- 1 t rice wine vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped mint and cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion until translucent and then add the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook for one minute and then add the carrots and apple stir to coat in the oil and let sauté for about five minutes. Add the water and bouillon cube and bring the soup to a boil for 5 minutes. Add the cashew cream. Reduce to a simmer and cook with the lid on for 30 minutes. The carrots should be soft, but not mushy. Remove the soup from the heat and purée with an immersion blender until totally smooth. Taste for salt/salty substance and add the vinegar or lemon juice. Serve garnished with chopped mint and cilantro.

Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Pictures coming soon...I ate all the ones I baked off before I could take a photo :)

These are the perfect little bites of oats and raisins, a little crunch on the outside and soft in the middle...Try them with tea while snuggled up with someone sweet.

Ingredients
1 T ground flax
3 T water
1/2 c unrefined coconut oil
3/4 c brown sugar
1/8 c granulated sugar
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t mace
zest of one orange
1/2 c raisins
1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 375. Blend the flax and water in a small food processor until thick and creamy. Cream the solid coconut oil, sugars, vanilla, orange zest and flax mixture until thoroughly blended. In another bowl sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mace together. Mix the flour and sugar/oil mixture thoroughly. Add the oats and raisins and stir to mix. You may need to knead the dough with your hands to get it to come together. Use a 2t scoop to measure the cookies out onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and press them lightly with a fork because they will not spread. Bake for 12 minutes and then cool on a rack, if you can somehow avoid eating them all as they come out of the oven...Makes about 36 small cookies.

Black Eyed Peas, Greens + Biscuits...Mmmm, biscuits.

Despite only having lived in Dallas for the first and least remembered five years of my life, I retain a strong attachment to the rituals involved in celebrating the new year. So, every January 1, for as long as I can remember, I have eaten spicy black eyed peas and a pile of greens, regardless of how harrowing a hangover I might have and without thought of whatever disappointments or excitements happened the night before. Despite a few small complaints, I've led a rather charmed life until this point, so I'm not one to mess with fate by skipping out on the meal that at least 20% of me believes might have some small part in preserving my quality of life and persistently Pollyanna-ish nature.

Yesterday afternoon a small, comfy clothes clad, pack of my nearest and dearest sat on my living room floor, reading cookbooks, playing with the cat and munching our way through a delicious first real meal of 2011. I'm not one to sit around and share resolutions...yet...maybe when I get a real table and some chairs?!  But, I really can't think of any better way to spend the first frigid day of any year.

My first serving...

Hoppin' John 
I've never quite figured out exactly what spices are supposed to go in Hoppin' John...I make it up every time and my version tends to be a little more Southwestern than Creole. But, I've yet to receive any complaints on that front.

3 cups cooked black eyed peas
1 cup long grain brown rice, soaked over night
1 large red onion, diced
2 shallots, diced
5 stalks celery, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 fresh red chile, diced (pick your heat level)
1 package of Tempeh bacon, crumbled
1 t red pepper flakes
1 t smoked paprika
1 t dried thyme
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 bay leaf
1 T brown sugar
3 cloves of garlic, roasted
~3 cups vegan stock
3 T olive oil + 1 T earth balance buttery spread

Heat the oil and earth balance in a large stock pot. Keeping the heat at medium-low, add the onion and shallot and sautée until translucent. Then add the chopped chile pepper, bell pepper and celery. Stir to coat and then cover the pot and let the veggies sweat for about 10 minutes. Add the spices, bay leaf, and sugar and stir for about 1 minute until fragrant. Then add the rice, and stir int he oil for about 2 minutes. Add the beans, tempeh and stock and cover the pot. Let the Hoppin' John simmer for about 30 minutes before removing the lid to reduce the liquid over low heat. When the rice is done cooking, taste for salt and pepper and season to your taste.

Rosemary Cashew Gravy
1 cup raw cashews
3 cups veggie stock, divided
1/4 c earth balance butter spread
2 heaping T all purpose flour
2 large shallots, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, minced
2 sprigs worth of rosemary leaves, minced
1.5 t nutritional yeast flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Soak the cashews in enough veggie stock to cover them for at least an hour. Drain the cashews (I drain the stock into a measuring cup so I can keep using it in the gravy.) and place them in the blender with 1 cup stock. Purée until totally smooth.

In a medium soup pan, heat the earth balance over low heat until melted. Whisk in the flour and keep whisking for one minute. Add the shallots and garlic and then slowly pour in the cashew cream. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking regularly to avoid clumps. Reduce the heat to low and keep whisking as the gravy thickens. Add veggie stock until the gravy reaches your desired consistency. When the gravy is where you want i, add the rosemary, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper. Whisk well and add another small glug of veggie stock. Serve as immediately as possible.

Southern Style Flaky Biscuits
2 c all purpose flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t nutritional yeast
1 stick earth balance
1/2 cup plain unsweetened soy milk

Sift the flour, baking soda, nutritional yeast and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles the texture of small peas. Do not over mix and be sure to use cold margarine. Stir in the soy milk and form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill for one hour. When the dough is chilled roll it out to about 1/2" thick on a heavily floured counter. Using a water glass or a biscuit cutter with a 2" diameter, cut out your biscuits and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Stick the whole sheet in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 450 and then bake the biscuits for 10 minutes. Serve as immediately as possible.

Holiday Treats

I've been having a really good week. I finished my final papers last Thursday, spend Thursday night in a cozy mess of kittens, Friday getting my haircut and napping, and Saturday baking all day in preparation for my holiday party...I may have gone a teensy bit overboard as I made four kinds of cookies, a chocolate tart, pizzas, brussels sprouts, roasted mushrooms, fresh bread and a 2 gallon jar of my Christmas punch (i.e. highly brandied sangria with cloves, cinnamon and cointreau)...But, the payoff was well worth the nearly 12 hours in the kitchen. There really is nothing like cramming all your friends into your house, feeding them, watching your cat be the belle of the ball, and sending everyone home a little bit drunk and a little high on sugar.

I've shared my take on the PPK's double chocolate cookies before...But, for the party I dreamed up these Whole Wheat Maple Sugar Cookies and a Dark Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Crust to accompany the little chocolate bombs and a batch of PPK "gingervegans." I also made the butternut squash pizza that has become my go to party snack, garam marsala crusted sprouts, and wine roasted mushrooms. The food was a big hit...And given that I made 8 dozen cookies and have less than 2 dozen left...I'd say we all gained about 10 pounds this weekend. Now, to go home, hang with the family and enjoy the slightly balmier weather in Southern California for a few days before coming back to ready myself for all-writing, all the time in January!

Once again, please pardon the pictures. I swear, I need to just hire a food photographer because I cannot keep a digital camera in working order to save my life and the things I make are actually quite pretty!

Whole Wheat Maple Sugar Cookies

1 T ground Flax Seed + 1/4 c Plain unsweetened Hemp milk

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1 1/2 cup stick of Earth Balance baking shortening

(heaping) 3/4 cup maple sugar

1/2 t vanilla

In a small bowl, whisk the flax seed and hemp milk. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together.

In a large bowl, cream the shortening and maple sugar for 5 minutes until fluffy. Add the flax "egg" and vanilla and mix well. 

Using a rubber spatula, work the dry ingredients into the wet. (This will be a little bit of a workout!) At some point you'll want to get your hands in there and knead the dough lightly to help it come together. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to 1/4" thick on a well floured counter. Use cookie cutters to cut whatever shapes you like...I used a heart because I <3 Maple-anything. Bake the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 6 minutes. Cool completely before frosting if frosting them is your intent. Unfrosted they're slightly savory, frosted they're totally decadent and super-mapley. 

Super Intense Maple Frosting

1.5 c grade B maple syrup

1/2 c non-dairy butter

In a small sauce pan (non-stick!!!) bring the maple syrup to a boil. Boil the syrup very carefully until it reaches the "thread stage." I don't have a candy thermometer, this is about 235 degrees, but you can smell and see when its ready...It will smell like caramel and the bubbles will be thick. The convection currents in the pan will stir the syrup for you, so watch and don't touch. Carefully transfer the hot syrup to a mixing bowl, cover and refrigerate until it is about room temp. When the syrup is cool, cube the non-dairy butter, toss it in the syrup and cream with a hand mixer until the frosting is soft and fluffy. Keep in the fridge until you're ready to frost your cookies.

Dark Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Crust

Filling

16 oz Dairy Free Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped (I like this one.)

4 T good quality brandy

1 t freshly ground cinnamon

15 oz can coconut milk (not lite!)

Crust

1 flax "egg" (1 T ground Flax + 3 T plain unsweetened hemp milk)

2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skins rubbed off and allowed to cool completely

1 cup all purpose flour

3 T sugar

1 t salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cubed

1 t vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. In a small food processor, pulse the hazelnuts, salt and sugar until finely ground. Add the flour and pulse to mix. Add the cubed shortening and pulse until the mixture is clumping into fine pea-shaped lumps. Add the vanilla and "egg" and pulse until the dough just comes together. 

Turn the dough out into a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press it evenly across the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Once the dough has been patted into place, cover the surface of the dough with parchment paper and either weight the crust with pie weights, or use  rice or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the weights and paper and bake for another 10 minutes until the whole crust is golden. If the edges look like they're getting over done, cover them lightly with aluminum foil.

Let the crust cool completely in the pan on a rack.

To make the filling: In a large glass bowl, pour the vanilla and brandy over the chocolate. Bring the coconut milk and vanilla to a boil. Pour the hot coconut milk over the chocolate and let sit for 3 minutes. Then stir slowly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until the ganache is smooth and shiny. Pour the chocolate into the prepared tart shell, allow to cool completely (at least 3 hours) before refrigerating overnight to set. Serve at room temperature. 

 Savory Squash and Caramelized Onion Pizzas (Makes 2 smallish pizzas)

These are my signature party snacks. Super simple, rather healthy, and always a crowd pleaser.

Crust

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 t active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

4 tablespoons dark beer

1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave nectar

2 teaspoons salt

2 T olive oil

Mix the yeast and water in a large bowl. Then add the beer, syrup, salt and olive oil. Stir to combine. Using a fork, work the flour into the liquid until it becomes hard to mix, then use your hands to form it into a large ball. Knead the ball gently on a lightly floured counter, wash the bowl, dry and coat with olive oil. Place the dough back in the bowl and allow to rise for about 2 hours. It should double in size. When the dough is done rising, punch it down on a flour counter and break in half. Form each half into a ball and allow to rest for 10 minutes before rolling and topping.

Topping

4 red onions, sliced into thin half moons

1/8 c olive oil + 2 T

1 3lb butternut squash, roasted

6- 8 sage leaves

3 large cloves of garlic

1/2 c chopped walnuts

Heat the 1/8 c of olive oil on LOW HEAT in a large, deep saucepan with a tight fitting lid. When the oil is hot, add the onions and stir to coat. Cover with the lid and stir every 5 or so minutes. It will take about an hour for the onions to properly caramelize. You do not want them to start to brown up immediately as this will result in a charred flavor. 

In the mean time, chop the garlic and sage in a food processor. Scoop the squash in and purée until well mixed. 

When the onions are done, preheat the oven to 450 and prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper and cornmeal if you like to use it. Place the rolled out dough on the sheets and brush 1 T olive oil over each pizza crust, season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Spread about 1 cup of the squash mixture over each pizza crust, garnish generously with onions and walnuts and bake for about 15 minutes until the crust is crisp and the walnuts are well toasted. 

Thanksgiving Pt. 1: PIE

The last two years I've spent quiet little Thanksgivings gorging on stuffed peppers and chocolate coffee pie with two of my loveliest friends. This year, we're breaking that winning streak and all have different plans. I'm a bit sad, as I've really loved veg-giving as a Chicago tradition! This year I'm going to the home of one of my professors, and I have no idea how vegan-friendly the meal will be...I've already planned to bring a slice of veggie terrine and my favorite (now-veganized!) side-dish just in case!

But, today is about pie. I've also decided to bring a pie...Because once you get past the spicy sweet potatoes, garlicky greens, mashed potatoes, and delicious, delicious rolls, Thanksgiving is a day all about pie. Why aren't there more days that are all about pie? I don't know...Pie, my friends, is a superior dessert and should be eaten more often!

I'm a bit of a pie-junky. Pecan and strawberry-rhubarb are my favorites, though I've never turned my nose up at any pie. And, in my mind there are really only two (well, now three) options for Thanksgiving: Pumpkin or Apple...And, since meeting my friend Joe, vegan chocolate-coffee pie! I wanted to do something a little different from your average pumpkin pie after my friend Corrina (part 3 of veg-giving) made a layered pecan-pumpkin pie last year. So, as I perused my sort of endless blog roll and collection of cookbooks, I cobbled together a coconut-milk based pumpkin pie with a hazelnut base using Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking and Heidi's recipe for Spice-Kissed Pumpkin pie from 101-Cookbooks. I made the crust from Colleen's book, following the instructions to a T (except I used a fork to cut in the fat because I don't have a full-sized food processor...yet!)...And, it is by far the best crust I've made; it's extremely flaky, and didn't burn at all in the hour it took to bake the pie! Because the recipe I put together made a little extra, I also made some "cup-pies" to deliver to friends who have to work tomorrow!

Vegan-Pumpkin Pie with a Hazelnut Base (Yield: 1 9" pie, 5- 6 cup-pies)

2 small pie pumpkins, roasted with olive oil and salt, flesh scooped out (You need 1.75 cups of roasted pumpkin purée for the pie)

12 oz. Silken Tofu

1 cup full fat coconut milk

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 t vanilla

2 t ground cinnamon

heaping 1/4 t ground gloves

heaping 1/4 t allspice

heaping 1/4 t ground ginger

heaping 1/4 t ground mace

1/2 t salt

Hazelnut base

2 cups raw hazelnuts, roasted on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 for 10- 15 minutes, skins rolled off after roasting

2 t brown sugar

1/2 t vanilla

9" pie pan

1 muffin tin

1 "Flaky Pie Crust" from The Joy of Vegan Baking (Halve it as instructed)

You can make the pie filling a couple of days ahead and refrigerate it. Be sure that the pumpkin is COOL when you blend the ingredients together!

In a blender combine the roasted pumpkin purée, tofu and coconut milk. Blend until smooth and then add the sweeteners, spices, salt and vanilla. Purée until well-blended and place in the refrigerator. 

In a small food processor, blend the sugar, hazelnuts, and vanilla until they form a grainy paste. Set aside. 

Roll out one half of the pie crust into a 12" circle. Transfer the crust to the pie tin, press in, and pierce the bottom all over with a fork. Trim the edge of the crust so that you have a 3/4" overhang and roll the extra crust into a ball and return to the refrigerator with the prepared pie-plate.

Roll out the second half of the dough into as large a circle as you can. Cut out 5- 6 4" circles using either a cookie cutter or a sharp knife. Grease 5- 6 of the spaces in your muffin tin and press the crusts into the tin. Pierce the bottoms of the crusts with a fork and then place in the refrigerator. Roll the extra crust into a ball and return to the fridge.

After thirty minutes, remove the extra crust and roll out until about 1/8" thick. Cut whatever decorative shapes you'd like out of the crust and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350. 

To prepare the pies: 

Spread 1/2 of the hazelnut paste in an even layer over the bottom of the pie plate. Pour about 2/3 of the pie filling in over the top and spread evenly. Press the edges of the crust with a fork to create a decorative edge and place however many decorative crust shapes on the top of the pie as you'd like.

For the cup-pies, put about a teaspoon of hazelnut mixture in the bottom of each pie and then fill to the top with pie-filling. Top each cup-pie with a decorative shape. 

Brush all exposed crust lightly with simple syrup.

Both the cup-pies and the 9" pie should bake in the top 1/3 of the oven. The 9" pie bakes for 50 minutes and the cup-pies bake for 20 minutes. Cool the pies on a rack for 2 hours then place in the refrigerator to set. Serve cold or at room temperature. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Winter Slaw: Beets, Carrots, Apples & Raisins

In the Summer I am addicted to beet + carrot slaws dressed simply with tahini, lemon, garlic and a sprinkling of chopped mint. It makes a great stuffing for a pita, base for a chickpea salad, or topper for a mixed green salad. Tonight, after grazing through some maple cookies from Trader Joe's, a pile of arugula, and some lackluster store-bought hummus, I was craving something fresh and crunchy as an antidote. So, I threw together my usual beet and carrot slaw, adding a granny smith apple, a handful of golden raisins, and a dash of cinnamon. It was a great end to a snacking supper, and I anticipate it will make a super sandwich tomorrow.

Winter Slaw
2 medium sized beets, chopped (about 1 cup)
4 large carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 granny smith apple, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 handful golden raisins
3 cloves of roasted garlic
2 T roasted sesame tahini
1/2 T agave
Juice from a large lemon
1/4 t + cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

I usually chop my root veggies in my 4 cup food processor to save time. When you're working with beets this leads to everything turning pink...But, they're going to turn everything pink anyway, so why not save yourself the time?

Toss the chopped veggies, apple, and raisins in a large bowl. In a small food processor, combine the roasted garlic, tahini, agave, cinnamon and lemon juice. Puree until emulsified and taste. Add more cinnamon depending on your preference. Toss the slaw in all of the dressing and garnish with salt and pepper to taste. If you have fresh mint, it makes a great garnish for this salad, but it doesn't rely on it for flavor.