chimichurri sauce

copied from here

1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1 hot pepper, de-seeded
lemon zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
large pinch of salt
1 - 3 large glugs of olive oil
1 shallot, roughly chopped
water, if needed to thin things out

Whizzz up all ingredients in a blender. Taste and adjust seasonings & measurements if necessary. Done. Makes almost a cup of sauce.

Walnut-basil (and spinach) pesto

This is an adaptation of an adaptation of an adaptation, so at this point I think I'll just call it my invention! We used it as the base for a pizza, with tofu ricotta, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and some minced roasted red pepper.

makes about 1 1/2 cups

3 cups fresh spinach (I used a full package of baby spinach)
3 cloves garlic (2 might be better)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 cup walnut pieces or more
½ c fresh basil
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil or walnut oil

Wilt the spinach and fresh basil over boiling water for 1 minute, or in a covered bowl in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Mince the garlic with the salt in a food processor. Squeeze any moisture from the spinach and basil, and add to the food processor along with the dried basil, flax seeds and walnuts. Puree until smooth. Add the olive oil gradually and process to a smooth paste.

peanut sauce & variation

The Moosewood Cookbook recipe (by Mollie Katzen) is really good.
http://recipes.redding.com/recipe.cfm?recordID=349

1/2 cup good peanut butter
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. sugar
3 medium cloves garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. cider vinegar (I use balsamic vinegar)
1 to 2 Tbs. minced fresh cilantro
cayenne, to taste
salt, to taste (if peanut butter is unsalted)

Instructions:
1) Place peanut butter in a small bowl. Add the hot water and stir patiently with a spoon or a small whisk until uniformly mixed.
2) Sir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Let come to room temperature before serving.


I sometimes like my dipping sauce a bit more salty and use this peanut-miso sauce.


Peanut-Miso Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sweet white miso
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

terrific mayo-based sauce

I think I saw this recipe on Vegan Dad's blog, but I'm not sure - I'll go check later. We love his burgers (they really are wonderful!) and this sauce, together with slices of onion and tomato on english muffins, is absolutely incredible. juicy, flavorful, addictive. I promise. and you don't even have to be all that careful about the amounts.

4 T vegannaise
1 T pickled jalapeno, diced (or to taste)
2 t lemon juice

mix. that's it! now slather and drool..er, whatever it is you do with a burger!

Miso gravy

Miso Gravy from here


Makes about 1 ½ cups

Here's a gravy that's as savory and pleasing as my mother's creamy gravy made from pan drippings. The primary difference is that this one is cholesterol free and low in calories. And protein-rich miso is a potent healing food. It's an anticarcinogen and it reduces the effects of radiation, smoking, air pollution and other environmental toxins. This gravy is great over mashed potatoes, steamed cauliflower, a grain entrée or biscuits.

1 tablespoon mellow white miso
1 cup unflavored soymilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
3 tablespoons whole wheat or barley flour
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Place the miso and 2 tablespoons of the soymilk in a small bowl and purée with a spoon or fork. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until the onion is lightly browned. Add the thyme and flour and sauté, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes until aromatic and the mixture is lightly colored and creamy rather than grainy. Reduce the heat if necessary to prevent browning.

Whisk in the remaining soymilk all at once, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the miso purée and cook an additional 2 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or keep the gravy warm until ready to use.

May you be well nourished,

Rebecca Wood

esme's special sauce

copied with gratitude from the postpunk forum

esme25 wrote

i make a sauce for pasta that's equal parts:
tahini
miso
soy sauce
olive oil
nooch or mustard
lemon juice or vinegar
and a few cloves of garlic.
eta: if i have mirin i sometimes throw that in, too.

mix it all up and add to hot pasta. it usually winds up being about 2 T. of each item. sometimes i add some spinach or something.

i usually use the sweet white [miso], but any kind will work.

it's really good with any kind of green veggie thrown in (like spinach, arugula, brocolli, scallions - that kind of stuff).

eta: when i say 2 T. of each, i don't measure. i get out my big soup spoon which i use interchageably with a tablespoon in non-baking recipes and use heaping tablespoons of everything.

and a quick trick. since the sauce is so easy to make, i boil the pasta, drain it, put the pot back on the warm stove, make the sauce in there, then add the hot pasta back to it. the heat of the pan and the pasta helps melt down the tahini and miso so that it works through the pasta better.

Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce

1 to 2 cloves garlic
1 long fresh red chili (like Holland, Fresno or cayenne), or 1 tablespoon bottled chili paste (sambal oelek)
3 tablespoons lime juice (3 key limes)
Pound the garlic and chilies in a mortar and pestle, or pulse in a small food processor, until a coarse paste forms. Add lime juice and mix well.
http://theasiangrandmotherscookbook.wordpress.com/

Thai Peanut Sauce

Generously shared by Hedge at the PPK Forum and altered to US measures, plus my notes.


3 1/2 T crunchy peanut butter (if all you have is creamy, this is fine too)
2 L cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 can (8 oz) of light coconut milk
half L onion, chopped roughly
5 or 6 fresh basil leaves, in slivers
1 carrot, sliced into thinnish 'coins' or ovals
1 c frozen peas
1/2 c green bell pepper, chopped medium-small
1 teaspoon of chili powder*, or to taste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons of peanut oil

*note that this is not the same chili powder we use in the US to make the soup, chili, but rather a ground hot pepper flake. I suspect you can also substitute cayenne here.

Finely chop the onion and fry it in the peanut oil until soft then add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Stir in the peanut butter and chili powder. Then add the coconut milk and continue to stir for about five minutes.
Finally, stir in the soy sauce and take off the heat. You will want to taste it at this point and maybe add more soy sauce.

For seitan satay, the original author's notes: I always make satay with this by slicing baked seitan into long strips about half an inch wide and placing in a lightly greased oven proof dish. Pour over the peanut sauce and heat through in the oven for 5-10 mins.

My note: I will be using soy curls, marinated first in vegetable broth with a touch of soy sauce, then sauteed in olive oil, until it starts to get a bit crusty. From there I will add in carrots, bell pepper, and (lastly, just to heat through) frozen peas and the slivered basil - and serving over basmati rice, garnished with a few more basil slivers and (if you have it) a sprinkle of chopped, roasted peanuts. Serve with a size of steamed broccoli or sauteed bok choi.

tortellini with 5-minute sauce

At this point, this is just a fantasy meal. But hey, it's got to start somewhere, right? I'm on the heels of a very frustrating soup-making experience (more about that in a minute) and need something truly delicious to cheer me up.

I found a yummy-sounding 5-minute tomato sauce - simple, pure, and I have all the ingredients on hand. I mean, look at it! If you have any love at all for tomato sauce, it's a must-try. Perfect for topping a simple tortellini (once I make it - I have to do some recipe-hunting, first). I am not satisfied with what I've seen of whole wheat pastas - too thick, too crumbly. Here, I'm a traditionalist: al dente, beautiful smooth semolina-based pasta. And then there's the filling. I'll keep working on this. I'm thinking about: the vegan tofu ricotta I've seen, with basil; the small tin of mushroom Tartex I'd ordered from Food Fight along with other stuff, and haven't opened yet; other ideas (spinach with mushroom).

So, back to my previously mentioned soup dilemma. We had a (very) large bundle of collards that were getting long in the tooth, and thought - hey, soup! So I carmelized several onions, adding in lots of garlic for the last few minutes, and slow-roasted up a bunch of veggies in order to get that wonderful sweetness that only comes that way - carrot, rutabaga, 2 different sorts of squash. Chopped up half the huge batch of collards, and threw it all in my big dutch oven, where I'd just done a large batch of veggie broth, heavy on the leeks.. Added in bay leaves. Simmer simmer simmer simmer (about 2 hours); blend with stick blender. Add Bragg's, tahini (about 1/4 c), hot pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, several tablespoons of brown sugar. It is bitter. The topnotes are delicious, but there is an overwhelming bitter taste and I know it's from the collards. Damn it. Hopefully I can rescue it - there's a lot of it! Pretty frustrating experience. I have learned from it, though - a) old collards can be bitter, and b) old collards, in particular, have a very assertive taste, best used in small amounts as part of something like a soup. I think it would've been a lot better if I'd added 1/3 as much as I did.

Coconut tofu with curry dipping sauce, basmati rice & fresh peas

After seeing the delectable-looking coconut tofu on the Postpunk forum by the inimitable Tofu666, I just had to try this! So I stuck it in my recipe sidebar (under recipes to try) and every so often would look at it, think 'hmm...' and then go make something else. It's not low-cal, mind you. Finally I had a what-the-hell moment or two and proceeded to follow his recipe to the letter. Oh my my my - this is not something you want every day, but when you do make it, you'll savor every crunchy, flavorful bite. This would be lovely as 'grazing' food, especially with the wonderful curry sauce (no wrong curry, in my lexicon!)

From the original source:

1 block of extra firm tofu cut into 32 pieces
1 tbs. tamari

Marinate the tofu strips in tamari for 15 minutes.

Then we used the three pan method.

Pan one:

3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. black pepper

mix all the ingredients together

Pan two:

1 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs. water,
1/8 tsp. green curry paste

mix together until a slurry forms

Pan three:

1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes (my note: all I could find was sweetened, and it still worked - I've since gotten some unsweetened to have on hand)

Roll the tofu in the seasoned flour, then the cornstarch slurry, finally in the coconut flakes. Be sure to press down a bit on the coconut to make sure it coats the tofu completely.

Deep-fry the tofu in peanut oil @ 385F for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. (my note: I do not deep fry, but this was a sort of shallow fry, about 1/2" of the oil. It still works.)

Green Curry Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup of coconut milk
2 tsp. of curry paste (or to taste)
1/2 tsp palm sugar
1 tsp. tamari

Combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat.

We have been very much enjoying fresh peas and beans from our local farmer's market - boiled til crisp-tender, then tossed with carmelized onion, a bit of margarine, and cracked pepper.

Cashew Garlic Alfredo Sauce

This is copied from Tofu Mom's wonderful blog, here

1/2 cup raw cashews (not roasted)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I don't measure, just a good squeeze)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 clove garlic (or more to taste)
1 Tbsp. extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tb. nutritional yeast (optional)

Pulverize raw cashews in the food processor until very fine. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water. (*The BEST way to do this, is to make the sauce while the pasta cooks - scoop out 1 1/2 cups of lightly salted pasta-cooking water and use it - the starch from the pasta-cooking water thickens the sauce PERFECTLY!) Add water to cashews and process until smooth... this will take several minutes.
Add nutritional yeast (optional - my kids prefer it without), garlic clove, olive oil and squeeze of lemon juice. Process again until smooth, another couple minutes, it'll start to thicken a bit too! Makes a decadently creamy sauce. Serve over cooked pasta.

Esme’s Special Sauce (to try)

In a small bowl mix up the following in equal parts:
Tahini
Miso
Soy Sauce (my note: bragg's?)

Homemade pasta with bechamel, collards, and cannelini (and who knows what else?)

This is experimental. I'm too lazy to go to the store so am forced (oh, sob!) to rely upon my overful pantry and fridge and freezer. What I have in mind is (exactly as alluded to by the title) a simple eggless pasta with a bechamel. However, I want to add some things. I'll write out my ideas, then go back later and amend. This is sort of cobbled-together from various sites, which I'll of course credit.

VEGAN HOMEMADE PASTA (CAN BE SOY-FREE)
Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe, copied from http://www.vegsource.com/mcdrecipes/messages/14031.html
Makes slightly over 1 lb.

1 and 2/3 cups unbleached white flour
OR 1 c. unbleached white flour plus 2/3 c. wholewheat flour
1/2 cup chickpea flour OR full-fat soy flour
2/3 cup water
OPTIONAL: 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt

TO MAKE THE DOUGH IN A FOOD PROCESSOR, mix the flour, chickpea or soy flour and salt, if using, in a dry processor bowl, then add the water (or water and pureed vegetables, mixed together) through the top with the motor running. Process for about 30 seconds, or until a smooth ball forms. (The dough may seem a bit sticky, but you'll be flouring it as you work.) Place the dough in a plastic bag and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

TO ROLL AND CUT WITH A HAND-CRANK PASTA MACHINE OR ELECTRIC PASTA-ROLLING MACHINE, divide the dough into eighths, keeping the portions you aren't working with in the plastic bag. Flour the dough well and run it through the first setting of the machine. Now, flour it lightly again, fold it into thirds, and run it through the first setting again. Do this until the dough looks smooth. Then flour the dough and run it through each successive setting twice, until it is the desired thickness.


BECHAMEL
This recipe is amended from here Post-dinner note: this is an excellent and super-easy sauce to make. Don't overdo the nutmeg. This would go well as a sauce over a baked potato, too,- or layered in a casserole dish and baked. I can imagine it'd work well over those famous chickpea cutlets, too.
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c flour
2 c soy milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add flour and mix well for one or two minutes. Don’t let it burn. Then, slowly add soymilk, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps, until the desired consistency. You can add more soymilk if you find the sauce too thick. Then add the seasonings and let simmer on low heat.

THE VEGETABLE PART
1 med onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 c collard greens
1 15 oz can of cannelini, drained & rinsed
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T red pepper flakes
1 T dried parsley
1 t onion powder
1 L tomato, chopped

Carmelize onion in oil, then add garlic; throw in collards to saute with the onion, then along with the cannellini.
Thrown in spices and may (at the end) serve this with crushed red pepper flakes/nutritional yeast. Add tomato about 10 minutes before you eat, for color.

Assemble plate: pasta, then veggies, then sauce; top with nutritional yeast & red pepper flakes.