Okara French toast

2 cups soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 tbs. okara
8 slices bread
butter, soy margarine or vegetable oil

In large bowl, whisk together soymilk, seasonings and okara. Grease skillet and bring to low heat for several minutes. Dip a slice of bread into the mixture and immediately transfer to skillet. Cook until browned, turn and cook until browned. Repeat with remaining slices. Serve with syrup, applesauce, or fruit.

Reproduced from the Q'Tessence blog, which looks really interesting!

Old Bay seasoning

OLD BAY SEASONING

1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
6 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon whole cardamoms
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
4 whole cloves
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 teaspoon mace

In a spice grinder or small food processor, combine all of the ingredients. Grind well and store in a small glass jar. Best if used within 6 months (date your jar).

Okara 'Crab' Cakes

on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Fresh Spring Rolls

copied from culinate, an interesting omni blog

From the book Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by Moosewood Collective
Serves 6
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 12 rolls
Introduction
\s.
Ingredients
Rolls
3 oz. rice vermicelli
2 to 3 cups lettuce, shredded
1 cup scallions, minced
1 cup carrots, peeled and shredded
1 cup red bell peppers, thinly sliced
\1¾ cups tofu strips (about 6 ounces)
½ cup fresh basil and/or cilantro, chopped
¼ cup toasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
12 rice-paper discs (see Note), each 8 to 10 inches in diameter
Dipping sauce
~ Hoisin sauce, thinned with a little water, or a combination of:
1½ Tbsp. brown sugar
¼ cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice-wine vinegar or lime juice
Steps

1. Place the rice vermicelli in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water, and set aside for 10 to 12 minutes, until soft. Drain well.
2. Assemble all of the filling ingredients, then dampen a clean dishcloth and lay it flat on a work surface.
3. Fill a large bowl with hot water. Holding a fragile rice-paper disc by the edge, gently lower one side of it into the hot water; it will soften as it absorbs water. Slowly turn the disc in the water until it has completely softened, taking care not to force it or it may crack. Place the disc on the damp towel and flatten it out (see Note).
4. Using about 3 tablespoons of noodles, make a small bed of rice vermicelli just below the center of the disc. Top the noodles with 1 or 2 tablespoons of lettuce, a pinch of scallions, a sprinkling of carrots, 1 or 2 bell-pepper strips, and finally a few tofu strips. Sprinkle on some basil and/or cilantro and chopped peanuts, if desired.
5. Fold the two side edges of the disc over the filling to form a rectangular shape with curved ends. Roll up from the bottom to make a neat little package. Place, seam side down, on a platter.
6. Soften and fill each of the remaining rice-paper discs, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until ready to serve.
7. Serve with either, or both, of the two dipping sauces.

Notes

To soften several discs of rice paper before beginning to fill them, soften each one individually and arrange on the towel side by side; don’t stack them, because they will stick together.

Culinate editor’s notes: Other potential filling ingredients include fresh mint leaves and long, thin matchstick slices of cucumber.

This content is from the book Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by Moosewood Collective.

My note: these are SO good! try them with the peanut sauce on this blog, or a chili sauce!

Basil-Tofu Ricotta (Non-Dairy)

Basil-Tofu Ricotta (Non-Dairy) Recipe #269020
From Vegan with a Vengeance. Great substitute for dairy ricotta.
by Serah B.
10 min | 10 min prep | 2 cups
1 lb firm tofu, pressed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash fresh black pepper
10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1. In large bowl, mash tofu with hands until crumbly.
2. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Mash with hands until mixture reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese.
3. Add olive oil; stir with fork.
4. Add nutritional yeast and mix all ingredients well with fork.
5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

© 2007 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Sausage

choices, choices... today I'd like to try making some sausages (and some hotdog buns to go with) from a recipe on Isa's PPK blog. Maybe I can make them more hot-dog sized.


Spicy Pinto Sausages

Makes 4 big sausages
1/2 cup pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, grated (with a microplane, or very finely minced)
1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Several dashes fresh black pepper

Before mixing your ingredients, get your steaming apparatus ready, bring water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.

Have ready 4 sheets of tin foil. In a large bowl, mash the pinto beans until no whole ones are left. Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed and mix with a fork. Divide dough into 4 even parts (an easy way to do this: split the dough in half and then into quarters). Place one part of dough into tin foil and mold into about a 5 inch log. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome.

Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes. That’s it! You can unwrap and enjoy immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. I refrigerated some of mine in wrappers and some out of wrappers to see if there would be a difference, but there really wasn’t. They’re really great sliced up and lightly sauteed, and this weekend I’ll be trying them on pizzas.

another variation is here (well, actually this is the original, and the inspiration). I had been thinking I needed that 'chicknish' seasoning called for on Julie Hasson's excellent site, but after seeing Vegan Dad's variation, and Isa's, I'm really pleased at the thought that I can go ahead with this! I don't have a steamer - I will have to rig something up. hmmmm.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just made this terrific variation - next time I'll add some hot pepper flakes, though, or a T of whole grain mustard - it needs some 'punch'. I steamed these and then grilled them, basting with garlic-infused olive oil, topped off with carmelized onion and grilled tomatoes with fresh lemon sage, served on crusty grilled French bread:

2 1/2 c. vital wheat gluten
1/2 c. nutritional yeast
4 T. chickpea flour
4 t. unchicken broth powder (I used chicken seasoning, and you could just use sage)
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. allspice
1 t. salt
ground black pepper

2 c. grated sweet potato (1 medium sized)
2 chipotle chiles, minced
4 t. adobo sauce
2 T. canola oil (I used olive oil)
2 T. black strap molasses
2 c. cool water

I realized when I posted the quinoa salad recipe that it's been far, far too long since I posted here (must be a malady peculiar to bloggers, postus interruptus). It's not as if I haven't been cooking, either! In fact I've made 4 batches of bread from the book I mentioned below, Artisan breads in 5 minutes a day, but for the most part I seem to have found a number of favorites for when I'm super-busy. I managed to use the aforementioned bread recipe to make some wonderful hamburger buns for broiled tofu with backyard bbq sauce (from Veganomicon); just tried crispy sweet and sour tofu (verdict: General Tao's Tofu is miles better for our tastebuds! but it is super easy to make, which is nice. not enough spice, too sweet). And pizzas, cutlets, awesome gravy (love the bechamel!) etc etc etc - a good groove, accompanied by absolute truckloads of kale and collards, as well as buckets of beans.

I am anxiously awaiting delivery of a Soyabella soy milk maker! We appear to go through lots of soy milk, about 2 gallons per week, so this struck me as a good idea on several levels. First is cost, though with the machine racking up over $100, it will take a while to pay for itself (1/2 gal. soy milk = around $3 X 4 = $12 per week, or nearly $50 per month, versus $100 for the machine, 1/4 c soybeans per quart (5lb bag of these cost $6 - I'm too tired to do that particular math!) As well, apparently you can make your own tofu (I'd love to try this) and a byproduct of soy milk prep is okara, which from all reports is a super healthy add to various recipes, having even more nutritional wallop than the soymilk.

So there you go. All that and I haven't even talked about the new grant project, my lit review, or - so much else. Well, hey. This is a vegan food blog, eh? Still, it's been pretty wild. I work part time in Second Life, a virtual community whose participants include thousands of researchers, educators and others (and more than 700 librarians!) - as a consumer health librarian, funded by grants from the National Library of Medicine. One project has just ended, and another began directly on its virtual heels - this one, to mentor people with disabilities and chronic illnesses into Second Life. Along with this I'm mid-lit review, and have been struggling - repeatedly - with issues of self-confidence and motivation, something I think must be quite common. Cooking is a relief from this. Or maybe we can file it under procrastination.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

posted by Damzifly at the PPK
Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes - from Women's Health

My note: this is delicious! Easy, super-tasty, a real top favorite in this house.

Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried red chile flakes
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed
juice of one lime
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
1. Place quinoa in a small-mesh sieve and rinse thoroughly.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet (be sure you have a tight-fitting lid for the skillet).
3. Add sweet potato, scallion, and chile and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
4. Add quinoa; toast for 2 minutes.
5. Add water and salt.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cover. Simmer until quinoa and sweet potato are tender, about 10 to 12 minutes.
7. If liquid remains unabsorbed in the pan, raise heat to high and cook for 2 minutes until it boils off.
8. Stir in black beans and lime juice and cilantro.
9. Serve warm or chilled.

bread!

I'm playing with my new cookbook - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Let me tell you, it really DOES take only 5 minutes to do this. We haven't tried it yet, but are waiting (very unwillingly) to let it cool. More later!

Later: oh yes, this works very well. given the absence of a baking stone, a peel, and a questionable oven - the bread is (and nearly was, since it's almost gone!) lovely: fine-crumbed, solid, chewy, excellent sandwich bread, tasty all by itself. I'd used a cast iron skillet (14") to bake it in, thinking it might make up for the lack of a stone, but I am thinking next time (tomorrow, because it is, yes, exactly that easy) of baking it on the upturned skillet or just a cookie sheet. The crust is not quite where I want it - crusty.

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.