19 posts tagged “veganmofo”

The chopped vegetables are just a beautiful sight.  The "after" picture of the soup doesn't do justice to the wonderful smell and taste it has.  But, try cooking it and you will be hooked too.

I made a little adjustment to the recipe.  I didn't have fresh coriander so used much more dried coriander than required by the original recipe.  I also added some ground mixed peppercorn.  This move certainly didn't hurt the soup.

This week is turning out to be a VwaV week.  I made another 3 things from this awesome cookbook - Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy, Sesame Asparagus, and Mexican Chococlate Rice Pudding.

 

For Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy, I didn't do much different.  I just added fried tofu and sliced button mushrooms in addition to the recipe.  Also, I used an expensive Chardonnay in cooking because I didn't get white cooking wine.  The stew surely turned out fantastic, probably because of the extra Chardonnay I accidentally poured into the stew. :-)

 

Sesame Asparagus was so easy to make too.  However, I didn't have toasted sesame oil, so I sort of just dashed some sesame oil in olive oil and sauteed everything.  I sprinkled black sesame seeds on top in the end, which produced a very striking photo.

 

Finally, let me come to the big flop of the day.  I started making this Mexican Chocolate Rice Pudding full of enthusiasm but I ran out of white rice in the beginning.  I only had less than 1/4 cup.  I was already hard bent on making this pudding though.  So I foolishly started cooking brown basmati rice instead.  The 30-minute fun turned into a 3-hour saga of fighting with the hard-ass basmati rice.  In the end, my husband had to put all the cooked stuff in the blender to get the smoothness.  Amazingly the pudding turned out great!  I was so glad that it wasn't a wasted effort altogether.  Subsequently and naturally I ate too much of the pudding.

 

 

I made three different things on the same day.  Oh boy, I loved them all!  I am still daydreaming about these dishes.  The first thing is the Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans adapted from Isa's VwaV recipe.  Instead of roasting the vegetables in the oven, I cooked them in the pan straight through.  The result was amazing!

Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans

1. Cook potatoes and string beans in water in a pot.  You want to start with just potatoes and 10 minutes later add string beans.  When done, strain.
2. Mix all the other ingredients (soy sauce, pure maple syrup, extra strong Dijon mustard, unsweetened soy milk, olive oil) in a bowl until mustard is all dissolved.
3. Saute diced yellow onion and finely chopped garlic (about 7 minutes).  Then add sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 5 minutes).
4. Add potatoes and string beans.  Pour the sauce over everything.  Mix very well.  Cook for another 5 minutes.

The second thing I cooked is the old favorite of almost every vegan - scrambled tofu.  I pretty much just followed the recipe.  But since I didn't have ground turmeric at hand, I used some curry powder instead.  Also, I added more vegetables like celery, green pepper, and mushrooms.  I made the Asian-style scrambled tofu but I used both thyme and thinly sliced scallions and mushrooms.  It was worth the risk.

Scrambled Tofu

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks
2 cups thinly sliced cremini mushrooms

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 carrot, peeled and shredded (for color)

For Spice Blend:

2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1/3 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 tablespoon ginger in white wine vinegar
1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

Just follow the recipe in the book and you will arrive at this amazing result below.  I will definitely make this once every two weeks or more.

Lastly, I have improved the coconut-banana pancake recipe.  I used rasped/shredded coconut in the batter in addition to everything else.  The coconut shreds absolutely added more texture to the pancakes.

Coconut Banana Pancakes

Japanese hot cake mix (or your favorite plain pancake mix)
Vanilla soymilk
Vanilla extract
100% organic coconut cream
Coconut rasped
Banana (mashed)
Maple syrup
Olive oil

Mix everything above in a bowl to make the batter.  Feel free to adjust the amount of every ingredient according to your own preference.  You can't go wrong.  You can shredded coconut in the pancakes below.

I hope you will enjoy your cooking day as much as I do.  Good luck!

This risotto recipe is heavily adapted from "Mushroom and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto" in Vegan with A Vengeance because I made it right before running out of almost everything essential and basic in a vegan kitchen (I'm talking about a no-oil-no-veggie situation).  I had no cremini mushrooms, no sun-dried tomatoes, no thyme, no arborio rice, no veggie stock.  I used everything I had in the kitchen and made my own veggie stock, and amazingly this risotto tasted so good that I had to share this recipe with everyone who's willing to give it a try.

 

 

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup string beans (both ends cut and discarded, and cut into 1-inch pieces)
1 cup cauliflower (chopped into small pieces)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup finely chopped shallots
2 Tbsp. mushroom paste
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. coriander
1/2 teaspoon dill
1 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
a few dashes black pepper
1/2 salt
1 1/2 cups white jasmine rice
2 Tbsp. coconut powder (if you like coconut flakes, it's OK too)

1. Cook white jasmine rice in water (1:2) in a big pot.  Add dried shiitake mushrooms (coarsely chopped) and cook together.  Bring to a boil and then cook on low-medium heat.
2. Cut string beans into 1-inch pieces and add into the pot to cook together with the rice.  Keep stirring and if necessary, add some warm water.
3. Continue to cook on low heat for 10 minutes.  Add coconut powder and stir in well.
4. Cook for another 10 minutes and stir in some mushroom paste and continue to cook.
5. Saute in a sauce pan minced garlic, chopped tomatoes, cauliflower, and finally shallots, for around 7-10 minutes.  Add coriander, dill, rosemary, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt.  Continue to saute for another 2 minutes.
6. Pour everything in the sauce pan into the pot and mix well with the rice.  Continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the rice absorbs all the water and gets really creamy.

I've been really into curry dishes recently so I made a curry soup yesterday.  It's wonderful and satisfying and packed with veggies and whole grains.  The recipe below makes a big pot.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups barley
4 1/2 cups water (keep adding if the soup gets too thick)
15-20 dried Shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
8-12 black fungi (optional)
5 medium-sized potatoes (cut into small chunks)
8-10 button mushrooms (finely chopped)
1 green pepper (finely chopped)
1/2 cauliflower (cut into chunks)
1 package frozen green peas
1 package spinach (leaves only)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. coriander
3/4 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 1/2 Tbsp. yellow curry powder (adjust according to your own preference)
2 Tbsp. 100% organic coconut cream
2 Tbsp. ginger in white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. white miso
1 Tbsp. mushroom paste
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce
Sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cook barley in water (1:3) in a large pot.  (You can keep adding some warm water during the whole process when the soup gets too thick.  Don't let the barley stick to the bottom.)  Also throw in dried Shiitake mushrooms (sliced) and black fungi in the beginning to cook with barley.

2. After the water boils, continue cooking on low-medium heat for another 10 minutes before adding potato chunks.  You can also cook potatoes in another sauce pan and add into the pot later.  Stir once in a while.

3. After barley is cooked (about 35-40 minutes altogether), add finely chopped mushrooms and green pepper.  Stir once or twice.

4. Continue cooking for 15 more minutes and add cauliflower and frozen green peas.  Stir again.

5. Continue to cook on low-medium heat for another 10-15 minutes.  Finally, add spinach leaves into the pot.  Stir every 5 minutes to make sure barley doesn't stick to the bottom.  Cook for 10 more minutes.

6. Add olive oil, coriander, garlic powder, paprika, yellow curry powder, 100% organic coconut cream, ginger in white wine vinegar, white miso, mushroom paste, and hot chili sauce.  Stir thoroughly to mix everything well.

Serve with pasta/wholewheat bread or alone.  Enjoy!

I was craving for some curry last night so I finally made a curried vegetable dish today.  It was done within 15 minutes and was amazingly satisfying.

Curried Spinach and Fried Tofu

1. Start boiling some water (around 1/3) in a sauce pan.
2. Slice fried tofu and toss tofu pieces into the water.  Bring to a boil.  Cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Put fresh spinach into the sauce pan and continue to cook for another 2 minutes until spinach is done.  Don't cook for too long unless you like really soft spinach.
4. Drain.
5. Add yellow curry powder, 100% organic coconut cream, olive oil, coriander, paprika, garlic powder, and sea salt.  Mix really well.  Serve immediately.

This is a mild curry dish.  If you really like hot food, add some hot chili sauce too.

I experimented making some really chocolaty pancakes today.  They turned out to be really fine.  The dark chocolate version of pancakes.  They are very easy to make too.  You can see on the right that the batter looks really like liquid chocolate.

Chocolate Lover's Pancakes

Japanese hot cake mix (or other plain pancake mix you love)
100% cocoa powder
100% organic coconut cream
Vanilla soymilk
Vanilla extract
maple syrup
2 drops of olive oil

Combine all the ingredients above and mix well in a bowl to achieve the desired consistency.  Spray a pan with olive oil and pour some batter in the center of the pan and begin cooking your pancakes.  You will be amazed by these dark chocolate pancakes.

Feel free to adjust the amount of maple syrup in the batter according to your own taste.  I love that slightly bitter taste of dark chocolate so I didn't use much maple syrup.

I was still in the mood for some more Asian noodles.  Maybe because of the season.  I often crave for warm soups and noodles in autumn.  In winter I want to eat chocolate fudge cakes.  Of course, I had some more pumpkin polenta squares together with the noodles.

Fried Tofu Noodles with Spinach and Zucchini

1. Start boiling half a pot of water.  Throw in fried tofu (sliced).
2. Slice one zucchini and put into the pot.
3. When the water boils, add noodles.  Cook for about 8-10 minutes according to the instructions on the package.
4. Add spinach at the last minute.  When done, drain.
5. Put everything back into the pot.  Add olive oil, sesame oil, mushroom dark soy sauce, pickled tofu (a.k.a. tofu cheese), mushroom paste, hot chili sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, and coriander.
6. Mix well.  Serve immediately.

Let me start by clarifying that we don't celebrate Thanksgiving.  It's no big deal.  (I hope everybody can have a nice day on Thanksgiving though.)  First of all, millions of turkeys are killed for the Thanksgiving dinner.  I happen to like turkeys alive and kicking.  Second, we show gratitude in many different ways so we can do without a big dinner.  Third, it's simply all about food.  So in a way, we celebrate Thanksgiving every day.

 

But I did make something we don't usually eat, pumpkin polenta "squares".  I got the recipe from "Kitchen Ramblings from A Fairly Odd Tofu Mom" and maybe did a little too much modification for my own good.  I'm still loving those squares!  As you can see, the squares don't exactly look square and they don't look like the usual polenta triangles we are so familiar with.  (Tofu Mom's pumpkin polenta triangles look much more beautiful.)  I guess my sweet tooth just took hold of me while I was frying the squares and this was the result.

 

1 cup pumpkin puree (the one I used is actually a pumpkin pie mix already with water, salt, and sweetener)
3 cups water
3 tablespoons soymilk
1 tablespoon 100% organic coconut cream (yeah, I know I'm crazy)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Salt
1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for frying

 

In a medium saucepan, combine the pumpkin with the water and bring to a boil.  Add the soymilk, coconut cream, maple syrup and a generous pinch of salt.

 

Add the polenta cornmeal in a thin stream, whisking constantly.  Cook over low-ish heat, stirring until thickened and cornmeal is cooked - about 20 minutes.  Finally, mix in some olive oil too.

 

Scrape the polenta into a loaf pan and refrigerate until firm.  I waited overnight.  When firm and chilled, run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the polenta. Slice into 1 1/2 -inch squares/rectangles.  Fry the squares in batches, turning once, until deep golden and crisp, about 2 - 5 minutes per side.

 

Transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil and drain.  Enjoy when the squares are still warm!

 

I obviously had more than 5 pieces.  However, I did remember to eat something more fitting for a lunch - Asian-style noodles with bok choy.

 

 

1. Choose your favorite Chinese or Japanese noodles and cook in water (following the instructions on the package).

 

2. Throw in bok choy at the last minute.  When done, drain.

 

3. Add olive oil, sesame oil, mushroom dark soy sauce, coriander, black pepper, and garlic powder.

 

4. Mix very well and serve.

 

The mushroom dark soy sauce was so good that I didn't even need to use extra salt for the noodle.  It was a little on the plain side but I just can't resist the good taste of the mushroom dark soy sauce.  A little hot chili sauce will be a nice addition though.

Have a nice day, everyone!  Gob bless.

I thought of following Fatfree Vegan Kitchen's Double Mushroom Miso Soup but ended up making something quite different.  I used two different types of mushrooms and two types of tofu as well.  The hearty soup turned out to be fabulous.  A very wonderful addition to the autumn comfort soups.  I will try to add some baby bok choy and some Japanese noodles next time.

Ingredients:
(Serves 5-6 people)

 

15-20 dried shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
20-25 black fungi (soaked in warm water beforehand)
A handful of seaweed
2 cartons of silken tofu (cut into small cubes)
9-10 pieces of fried tofu (cut into halves)
2 handfuls of soybean sprouts
2 medium-sized green peppers (sliced)
6 cloves fresh garlic (skinned)
3 sticks of leek
2 packages of spinach
Coriander
3 tablespoons of white miso
5 drops of mushroom dark soy sauce
Plenty of sesame oil
Generous amount of sea salt
Black pepper

 

 

1. Start with 2/3 pot of water.  Add dried shiitake mushrooms and black fungi and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce to low-heat and keep simmering for about 20 minutes.
3. Put in seaweed and continue cooking.
4. Add half a bulb of garlic and plenty of chopped leek.  Also add 2 green peppers (sliced).
5. Continue cooking and add halved fried tofu pieces.  Cook for about 30 minutes.
6. Add sliced button mushrooms into the broth and continue to cook for another 20 minutes.
7. Put in soybean sprouts.  Stir from time to time to make sure everything cooks evenly.
8. Cut silken tofu with a knife into cubes and put into the pot.
9. In the meantime, steam up some spinach (1-2 minutes).  When done, combine into the pot.
10. Add plenty of sesame oil, coriander, 3-4 tablespoons of white miso, 5 drops of mushroom dark soy sauce, some black pepper, and enough sea salt according to the taste.
11. Stir and mix well and allow the soup to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.  Serve alone, or with some Japanese noodles.  Enjoy!