Tofu Halloumi

The success of the feta and my tried-and-true tofu cream “uncheese” made me want to try and recreate another cheese favorite – halloumi, the gummy, salty cheese you can bake or grill to perfection. Turns out someone has already thought about this – the awesome Nada from One Arab Vegan has a great recipe! I made a few modifications to prepare it as follows:

Half a block of extra firm tofu–Hodo Soy extra-firm has the perfect consistency for this dish. It’s firm and springy, just like the cheese, and requires very little squeezing.
1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-2 tsp of sea salt (halloumi is a fairly salty cheese, but we found it a bit too salty for our taste, though after grilling it the flavors worked really well)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Nada’s original recipe calls for dried mint, which would’ve been preferable, but oregano was a tasty substitute)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Press the tofu (though not essential for Hodo Soy). Mix up all other ingredients in a little bowl into a thick, pasty marinade. Slice tofu to 1/8-1/4 inch slices. Layer the slices in a shallow dish and rub the marinade on both sides of each slice. Leave for 20 mins to absorb the flavors.

Nada uses a waffle iron to cook them, but I don’t have one. Fortunately, years ago, before I knew anything about cooking, my mom gifted me this amazing grilling pan, and I suspect any pan or griddle will do. Grill the slices for about 5 mins on each side, and you’re good to go.

Another idea I had was to do cubes in lieu of slices and put them on mediterranean-style skewers with mushrooms and tomatoes. I’ll do that for my next bbq party!

Banana-Peach Cake

Another one of our contributions to the upcoming baroque workshop!

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 mashed banana
3 finely diced ripe peaches
2 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp flax seeds
3 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup almond-cashew yogurt (or other vegan yogurt.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grind flax seeds and mix with water in a little cup to create a vegan “egg”. Then mix first five ingredients in a bowl. Combine all other ingredients in another bowl, and then add wet ingredients to dry ingredient, mixing until fully combined. Pour mix into bundt pan or loaf-sized pan. Bake for about an hour, or until a fork inserted into the middle comes out dry.

Cantaloupe-Ginger Mini-Cakes

Next week we’ll participate in a baroque music workshop, and participants have been invited to contribute homemade baked goods to our “sherry hours” in the afternoon.

Enter cantaloupe-ginger mini-cakes!

I got this recipe from Sangeetha’s blog Spicy Treats, with a few small changes.

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup pureed cantaloupe
2 tbsp agave syrup
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp coconut flakes

Heat up oven to 375 degrees and oil a muffin pan. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients in the other. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix till combined. Add sunflower seeds and coconut flakes and mix until just combined, fill muffin holes, and bake for about 20 mins or until fork inserted into middle of cakes comes out clean. Wait until the cakes cool to invert and place on drying rack.

My Inaugural Pizza: Whole Wheat/Millet Crust

I made my inaugural pizza! It was delicious! I had homemade tomato sauce that I made for the previous day’s ravioli, and a fresh batch of Miyoko’s Kitchen vegan mozzarella. The crust was improvised (with some changes from Bobby Flay’s basic recipe) and rolled very thin, and the toppings are whatever I had left in the fridge before getting the delivery from Albert & Eve today.

The result was great, but I think in future pizzas I’ll lay off the salt, either partly or completely, and add a teaspoon of sugar. The salt, I’m told, prevents the yeast from doing their thing to the dough, and it definitely didn’t double in size as I had hoped. Part of it might have been the whole grain substitution, but just in case, I’d make a less salty dough.

Crust

2 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups millet flour
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in a bowl and mix with a whisk. Gradually add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and continue mixing–and then kneading–until the dough forms into a nice firm ball.

Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it rise, about 1 hour. Divide into two pieces; freeze one for the pizza of the future and let the other one sit for 10 mins.

Sauce

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 small container Pomi or similar tomato product
small handful dry oregano
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat up olive oil in wok and add cloves and onion. Sautee until golden and translucent. Add tomato product and spices, and cook until it reaches desired consistency and taste.

Assembly

Roll dough very thinly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Coat with sauce, then add slices of vegan mozzarella and toppings. This version included Tofurky peppered slices, a fresh asparagus (it’ll bake in the oven) and fresh basil. Since we’ve received our weekly delivery, and it includes curly kale, leeks, and Russet potatoes, as well as Hodo Soy Tofu, the next batch will be even better! Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 15 mins, or until the crust is golden in the edges.

Mushrooms Stuffed with Polenta and Pesto

This odd photo depicts my contribution to our upcoming choir potluck: large-sized crimini mushrooms stuffed with creamy polenta and topped with sundried tomato and walnut pesto. They are in the fridge now and I plan to grill them shortly before heading out there.

Making these babies was a multistep process, but it was very worthwhile. The first thing to do is obtain 20 mid-sized crimini mushrooms, separate the mushroom caps from the stems, and marinate the former in some diluted soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos. Then, move on to Step Two, which is:

The Making of the Pesto

This pesto recipe comes from Psalm Lewis‘s wonderful vegan protein workshop. It tastes surprisingly flavorful and pesto-ey, despite having very different ingredients than the original. You’ll need:

1 little jar of sundried tomatoes
1 medium-sized tomato
1/2 cup walnuts
the mushroom stems from Part I
1 date
handful of basil leaves
spooonful of chopped garlic (3-4 cloves)
a drizzle of olive oil (I use the oil that the tomatoes come packed in)
salt, and zest from one lemon

Mix all ingredients in a food processor, save for the salt and zest, by pulsing until they become a chunky paste. Add salt and zest and combine. Set aside, and move to Step Three, which is:

The making of the Polenta 

For this, you’ll need:

1/2 cup cornmeal
2 cups water
1 spoonful vegan butter
1 spoonful of the pesto you made in Step Two
a bit of salt

Follow the instructions for kalenta, except with no kale, and add our special pesto in lieu of the regular one. Then move on to Step Four, which is:

The Stuffing and Refrigerating of the Mushrooms

Place mushrooms on baking sheet that can fit in your fridge. Spoon polenta into each mushroom to completely fill the hole, then spoon a bit of the pesto on top (you’ll be left with some polenta and pesto, and that’s not a bad thing at all.) After a period of refrigeration, the polenta will harden and the mushrooms will travel better wherever you’re taking them. Which brings us to Step Five, which is:

The Grilling of the Mushrooms

Place them under the grill for 5-10 mins, or as desired, or just bake in a 350-degree oven until the mushrooms feel cooked but still solid.

Pasta Bake

Today’s the day we get our fresh vegetables from Albert and Eve, and before the shipment arrives I try to make something fabulous to use the leftovers. This time I had a package of chard and four zucchinis, so here’s what happened:

5 cups dry short pasta (ziti, elbows, etc.–I used brown rice elbows and lentil spirals)
1 tbsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves, chopped
4 zucchini
1 package of chard
1 cup crushed canned tomatoes or Pomi
1 heaping tbsp dry oregano
6 basil leaves
2 big handfuls cashews
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 more garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp vegan mozarella (I use Miyoko’s)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil water in a big pot and cook the pasta until al dente. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, in a big wok, heat up olive oil and sautee garlic. Cube zucchini and add, sauteeing for three or four more minutes. Meanwhile, cut chard into little pieces. Add chard, tomato, oregano, and basil, and cook until soft.
In a blender, place cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast, garlic cloves, and vegan mozarella. Blend until creamy.
Drain pasta and mix with vegetables. Add white sauce and mix well to coat. Pour into two baking pans (for quiche or pie) and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top is a bit crispy.

Spiralized Zucchini Pasta with Tomato-Walnut Pesto

The day after Passover is always a good reason to eat something light, and by “light” I don’t mean anything that includes matzot (which, with their dryness and sharp edges, land Jews worldwide in hospitals during the holiday.) If you are of the kosher-for-Pesach persuasion (I’m not, but by all means, enjoy), of if you’re gluten free or paleo (I’m not, but whatever makes you happy) this recipe includes no grains or beans, only vegetables and nuts. If you’re of the raw persuasion (I’m not, but by all means, you do you), everything here is raw. And if you just like tasty food (I do, and so do you), this here thing is delicious. Think about it as a weird and unusual way to eat your salad.

This one calls for two pieces of special equipment: a food processor and a spiralizer. Even if the latter appears a frivolous appliance, it’s not an expensive one, and it’s not enormous, which means you can easily stash it in your kitchen cabinet until your cuisine takes an architectural turn. I use this one.

Two servings:

4 medium-to-large zucchini
4 roma tomatoes
two big handfuls of walnuts
6 garlic cloves
10 basil leaves
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1 date
a sprinkle of salt or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
a generous splash of olive oil

Chop of ends of zucchini and attach them to the spiralizer, using the blade that produces the narrowest spirals. Carefully spiral all four. Discard zucchini centers (they will be left over) or save for soup.

Place all other ingredients, except for the salt/Bragg’s and the olive oil, in the food processor, and pulse until it almost reaches desired consistency. Add salt/Bragg’s and oil and pulse twice more. Generously spoon atop noodles and eat to your heart’s content.

P.S. Zucchini noodles can also be stir-fried with whatever cooked sauce you have for a warm dish.

Soy Ice Green Tea

There’s a newish joint in town: Boba Guys, on 19th near Valencia. It has become one of my favorite treats, because its list of ingredients is so different from the usual awful ingredients in boba tea. They don’t use awful powders–they have high-quality milks–and they use high-quality teas. Moreover, you can order your tea unsweetened, which is a refreshing and excellent change!

The tapioca balls I could take or leave, so I decided to make myself a homemade version of the tea. It’s very simple: put high-quality green tea (jasmine green is particularly tasty) in a bag or steeper, steep in a small amount of water until you get very concentrated tea, then mix with cold soymilk. Delicious.

Leftover Reincarnation: Chinese Takeout with Kale, Mushrooms, and Kelp Noodles

Cooking at home is usually cheaper, tastier, and more satisfying than ordering in, but we’re all human, and sometimes after a tiring week the last thing you want to do is make something from scratch. Yesterday we tucked into some Chinese takeout that included braised tofu in a light sauce. This morning’s brunch made use of the leftover tofu with some fresh ingredients, and it was delicious! Do this with whatever Chinese takeout leftovers you have, though tofu dishes work really well.

1/3-1/2 container leftover braised tofu, málà dòufu, or other Chinese takeout dish
1 tsp sesame oil
1 package fresh red kale
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
5 white mushrooms, sliced
1-inch cube of ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 splash Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 tsp Sriracha
1/2 tsp Ultimate Umami Spice
1 package kelp noodles

Take kelp noodles out of the package and soak in some warm water with the shiitakes. Meanwhile, heat up the sesame oil in a pan or wok and add chopped garlic, ginger, and sliced white mushrooms. Sprinkle umami spice on top. After a couple of minutes, retrieve shiitakes from broth, slice, and add to pan. Let that sautee a minute, and then add your leftovers. After the leftovers are heated through and mixed with the aromatics, add the kale, Bragg’s, and sriracha. Cook until kale wilts, then drain kelp noodles (reserve a bit of the liquid) and add them to the pan. Stir-fry with the noodles until the kelp reaches the desired consistency (some folks like it with a bit of crunch, some folks like it thoroughly softened). Use some of the shiitake soaking broth if you need a bit more moisture in the pan. Serve hot.

Quince Galore!

One of the happy consequences of a recent business trip was that I got to meet Nan Stefanik, a friend from an online community, in person. We had a delightful visit together, and toward its end Nan very generously regaled me with several products from her fantastic business, Vermont Quince.

For those of you unfamiliar with quince, it is a fruit that grows similarly to apples and pears. It is tough and spongy and cannot be eaten raw, but when cooked it is fragrant and delicious. My grandma used to make quince compote, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else, so this was a delightful discovery.

Among the creative products Nan gifted me were quince vinegar, quince mustard, quince salsa, quince paste, and two types of preserves – jelly and quince-rose preserves. All of those are delicious. I’ve used the vinegar on salads, the salsa to marinate baked tofu (mixed with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos), and the preserves on oatmeal.

On the left is a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal topped with strawberries, nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds, and little slivers of quince paste. It’s absolutely delicious.

Thank you, Nan!