November 18, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Lemony Parsnip Puree

Yield: 4 servings (easily doubles)

It was with my creation of this vegan dish of deluxe creaminess that my love affair with parsnips began. It’s beautiful on the holiday table or just on a T.V. tray!

4 parsnips, peeled, ends trimmed, and cut into ½” thick slices
Unsweetened soy milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled, and diced
2 medium-large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegan butter
1 tablespoon vegan sour cream
Zest of one lemon
Coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Optional garlic salt or powder to taste
Optional onion powder to taste
Optional Garnish: parsley and additional lemon zest

Lay parsnip slices into large cast iron skillet and pour in enough soy milk to just barely cover the slices. Heat over medium-high to simmering and continue simmering until parsnips are tender and milk has cooked down and thickly coated the parsnips; this may take about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, in a medium cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion, garlic and a pinch of salt, and sauté until vegetables are softened and golden. Place parsnips, any remaining milk, onion and garlic into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add remaining three ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down bowl with a spatula as necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and optional garlic salt and onion powder. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with parsley sprigs and additional lemon zest. If you are not serving the dish immediately, cool puree to room temperature, cover and chill without garnishes. When ready to serve, reheat in microwave, garnish and serve.

November 18, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Yield: 6 servings

An old holiday or any day favorite gets a lightened-up vegan make-over.

9 ounces frozen green beans, thawed in colander, drained and patted dry
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 green onions, thinly sliced
3-4 stalks celery, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
2-3 medium-large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast (available at health food stores and some grocery stores near the flour)
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 ½ cups unsweetened soy milk
Coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Optional garlic salt or powder to taste
Optional onion powder to taste
1 2/3 cups French’s Fried Onion Rings in a can, divided into 2/3 cup and 1 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 1 ½ quart casserole dish. In a large cast iron skillet or heavy saucepan over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt, and sauté, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften. Add mushrooms and sauté, stirring frequently, until softened. Meanwhile dissolve flour in a few tablespoons of the milk. When vegetables are soft, sprinkle with nutritional yeast and stir well to coat. Add flour and milk mixture plus remaining milk, stir well, and cook for about 3 minutes or until mixture thickens and flour loses its raw taste. Season to taste with next four ingredients. Remove from heat and stir in green beans and 2/3 cup onion rings.

Spoon into oiled baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, gently stir, sprinkle top with remaining onion rings and return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately, if possible, so that onion rings are crispy. To do ahead: bake casserole for first 30 minutes, cool to room temperature, and store, covered with foil, in the refrigerator. Reheat in a 350 degree oven, covered, and, when hot, uncover, top with onion rings and bake an additional 5 minutes.

November 18, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Pumpkin Flan

Yield: 8 Servings

Enjoy this luscious-but-reasonably-lite vegan fall flan any time, but especially for the holidays. It couldn’t be easier or tastier, and it won’t weigh you down though it will up your protein. Plus it’s so pretty in that homespun casual elegance kind of way.

1-12 ounce block of firm Silken Tofu (drained)
½ of a 13 ounce can pureed pumpkin or about ¾ cup
1 cup unsweetened, plain, vanilla or lite vanilla soy milk
2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch (you may alternatively use 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, but the result may be slightly more cakey than custardy)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup brown sugar (this is not a really sweet custard, so add another ¼ cup brown sugar if you prefer)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

1 teaspoon vegan butter
½ cup pecan pieces
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons water
½ cup brown sugar

Optional Garnish: 1 box Soy Whip

Custard: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil an 8-9 inch round glass or ceramic pie dish. Place all filling ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until smooth and completely combined. Scrape into the pie dish, gently smooth top, and bake 45 minutes (but check every 5 minutes beginning at 30.) Let cool to room temperature and, if not serving right away, chill, covered. Serve chilled or at room temperature with warm topping.

Topping: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter, add pecans and salt, and toast, stirring frequently, until light golden brown which should take a very few minutes. Remove from heat and scatter nuts over the top of custard. In a small microwave-safe cup or bowl, mix together water and brown sugar. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and pour evenly over the top of custard. Serve immediately with or without dollops of Soy Whip.

Optional Garnish: Pour Soy Whip into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat until soft peaks form.

November 16, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Layered Fudge and Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Yield: one 9 x 13″ pan

Okay, these are hardly “lite,” but my tofu-based peanut butter cheesecake lightens them up just a smidge so that you don’t go into overload quite as early in the experience of swooning over these three-layered beauties as you might otherwise.

My go-to vegan brownies provide the base for a thick layer of vegan peanut butter cheesecake which is capped with a rich peanut butter-fudge frosting. A garnish of peanuts, whole or halved, provides the perfect crunchy contrast to all of that chewy-creamy goodness.

Vegan Brownies:
Scant (or stingy) 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water or coffee
1 1/4 cups canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: approximately 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips and 1 cup of chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13″ baking pan. (A light coat of canola oil seems superior to vegetable shortening.) In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add water or coffee, vegetable oil, and vanilla; mix with a wooden spoon until well blended, approximately 100 strokes. (For some reason, the results seem superior when the liquid and oil are added about one-quarter cup each at a time.) Spread evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make Vegan Peanut Butter Cheesecake.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cheesecake:

1 box of Silken firm tofu
1 cup of smooth or crunchy natural peanut butter
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate or chocolate lite soy milk
1/2 cup chocolate soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary to combine all ingredients. After brownies have baked for 15 minutes, quickly remove them from the oven, spread evenly with the peanut butter cheesecake filling and return to oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is slightly puffed and set. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Frost with Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting and garnish with chopped or whole peanuts.

Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting:
1/4 cup vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
1/4 smooth or crunchy natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (you may use vegetable oil instead but, if you do, mix it with cocoa powder before adding)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2-3 cups powdered sugar
approximately 1/4 cup chocolate or chocolate lite soy milk

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together first three ingredients on high speed. Add cocoa powder with mixer turned off and then slowly bring the speed up to high to completely incorporate it. Do the same with the powdered sugar and chocolate soy milk, adding approximately 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk at a time until desired consistency is reached. If too thin, add more powdered sugar; if too thick, add more chocolate soy milk.

Garnish:
Approximately 1/2 cup chopped or whole peanuts

November 14, 2009February 10, 2011 by betsy

Vegan Parsnip-Cardamom Soup with Vegan Hazelnut Gremolata

Yield: approximately 4 servings (these aren’t large servings, but the soup is filling)

Parsnips are my new favorite vegetable. I didn’t grow up eating them, and somehow I always associated them with turnips and rutabagas, the only two known vegetables to which I have an aversion. But how wrong I was. The flavor is, to me, a cross between carrots, potatoes and, odd as it sounds, corn.

Lately, these quite beautiful, pale yellow carrot-looking veggies have been turning up in the fall culinary magazines, so when they also turned up in my grocery story, I bought some. The first ones ended up as a creamy lemony dish with the consistency of perfect mashed potatoes. One taste, and I was hooked. That dish is part of the Thanksgiving menu soon to be published in my monthly column in the Virginian-Pilot and, immediately following, here on The Blooming Platter.

My next experiment with them resulted in this silky soup. Perfumed with ground cardamom, fresh ginger, a pinch of nutmeg, and both lemon juice and zest, the soup enhances the parsnips while allowing their flavor to shine through.

As I’ve said on The Platter before, I am not a big fan of cardamom in sweets, but I love the way it infuses savory dishes such as this with an enchanting taste and aroma, and I hope you do too.

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

November 12, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Baked Stuffed Peppers with Lemon-Artichoke Filling

Yield: 4 servings

Inspired by that non-vegan hot artichoke dip that everyone seems to love, this vegan filling/dip/spread is a lightened and brightened version thanks to a creamy tofu base and fresh lemon juice. Nutty, cheesy nutritional yeast helps make sure that this skinnier cousin still satiates. It is beautiful and tasty in a red bell pepper shell, but try it any way you please, and do share your creations. Be sure to check out one way I use it as a tarte filling. Just search “Vegan Lemon-Artichoke Tarte” on this blog.

2 red bell peppers, halved, seeded and stems carefully removed and set aside
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, cut into small-medium dice
3-4 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
Coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 box Silken firm tofu
juice of one-half to a whole small-medium lemon (start with one-half)

2-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 can artichoke hearts, drained (or 8 frozen-thawed or fresh artichoke hearts)
1/2-1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves to taste
pinch paprika or more to taste

Garnish: lemon zest, fresh thyme sprigs, lemon wedges or slices and/or a sprinkling of paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a small baking dish or 4 small au gratin dishes. In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion and saute, stirring frequently, until softened. Add garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper and continue sauteing and stirring until mixture is golden brown. I like to add just a little water to speed up the process and remove caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan. Place tofu in bowl of food processor fitted with a metal blade and process with lemon juice and nutritional yeast until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients and pulse until artichokes are chopped and all ingredients are well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Fill each pepper half with one-fourth of filling. Bake for 20 minutes or until filling is hot through and fairly set. Remove from oven and insert stem into filling near where it naturally grew. (I don’t leave them on during baking lest they burn.) Sprinkle each with lemon zest and serve immediately with fresh thyme sprigs, lemon wedges or slices, and/or a sprinkling of paprika.

November 12, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Chocolate Mars Cookies

Yield: approximately 36 cookies

In undgraduate school at USM in Hattiesburg, MS, I worked for Lewis and Carolyn Hitt at The Frame Market on Hardy Street. With aspirations of becoming a chef at one time, I was enrolled for about a year in my university’s hotel and restaurant administration program. So, while the topics of conversation at work ran the gamut–the Hitts were so bright, funny, compassionate and informed–they often included food.

One day, Lewis and Carolyn came to work with the most astonishing chocolate cookies that a friend of theirs had made. The cookies were deep, dark, rich and, best of all, chewy. Lewis, especially, took great pleasure the rest of the day in teasing me by saying that they couldn’t give me the recipe as it was their friend, Theresa Ball’s, “secret family recipe.”

Ultimately they did share the recipe which didn’t include eggs–hence the chewiness over cakiness–so all I had to do was replace the butter with vegan butter and the condensed milk with the substitute that I devised not so very long ago: Cream of Coconut. (To date, it has worked brilliantly in any vegan recipe calling for condensed milk by not noticeably changing the texture or flavor of the end result.) I also like to make these cookies with white whole wheat flour for a tiny “+” in the health-conscious column.

The original recipe calls only for chopped nuts as the “mix-in.” But I’ve made them with combinations of additional vegan semi-sweet, dark or white chocolate chips; Oreo pieces; and dried cranberries. It seems practically not to matter what quantity you add as long as they are well distributed and there is more dough than mix-ins.

So, Theresa, I hope I’m not divulging any family secrets. But if I am, I trust you will forgive me, as these cookie are too special to keep to oneself.

1/2 cup vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
12 ounces vegan chocolate chips
14 ounces Cream of Coconut (not coconut milk), or about 1 1/4 cups
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts
1-1 1/2 cups unbleached white whole wheat flour (or unbleached all-purpose flour)
1 cup chopped nuts
Optional: 1/2 to 1 cup of additional mix-ins such as more vegan chocolate chips, vegan white chocolate chips, Oreo Cookie pieces (they are vegan!), dried cranberries, or some combination

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a baking sheet(s) or line with Silpat. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips together. Remove from heat and stir in Cream of Coconut until well combined. Cool mixture for a few minutes and then stir in remaining ingredients in the order listed, adding any optional mix-ins with, or in place of, the nuts. The dough should be somewhat stiff and usually requires the larger amount of flour. Using a small scoop, deposit equal-sized mounds of dough about two inches apart in offset rows. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they have achieved the degree of “done-ness” you prefer. If using two baking sheets, rotate halfway through baking time. Cool for a few minutes on sheets and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

November 12, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Lemon-Artichoke Tarte

Yield: 4 large or 9 small servings

This is an ultra-quick and tasty vegan appetizer or side dish that was inspired by that non-vegan hot artichoke dip beloved of so many. Tofu provides the creamy base and controls the calorie count while nutritional yeast imparts a cheesy flavor and lemon juice a bit of brightness. This spread has many uses such as a filling for this simple tarte which makes good use of prepared puff pastry sheets–what a happy day it was when I discovered that Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry is vegan! But try the spread also as a filling for stuffed baked mushrooms or stuffed baked peppers. See my recipe for the latter. Just search “Vegan Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers with Lemon-Artichoke Filling” on this blog.

1 sheet of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (remove from box and bag and thaw for about 40 minutes, covered, on the counter top)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, cut into small-medium dice
3-4 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
Coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 box Silken firm tofu
juice of one-half to a whole small-medium lemon (start with one-half)

2-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 can artichoke hearts, drained (or 8 frozen-thawed or fresh artichoke hearts)
1/2-1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves to taste
a pinch of paprika or more to taste

Garnish: thyme leaves removed from the stems, paprika and lemon slices

Make crust: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil a baking sheet or line it with Silpat. Carefully unfold the pastry onto the baking sheet. With a knife, gently score a line about one-half inch from the edge of the crust all the way around, making sure not to cut all the way through the dough. Using a fork, generously but gently prick inside the scored line. Place baking sheet on the center rack of your oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes (check after 15) until golden brown and very puffed. After crust has baked, remove from oven, reduce temperature to 350 degrees, and use the back of a spoon to gently crush down the puffed area inside the scored lines leaving a raised half-inch rim all the way around.

While crust bakes, make filling: In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion and saute, stirring frequently, until softened. Add garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper and continue sauteing and stirring until mixture is golden brown. I like to add just a little water to speed up the process and remove caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan. Place tofu in the bowl of food processor fitted with a metal blade and process with lemon juice and nutritional yeast until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients and pulse until artichokes are chopped and all ingredients are well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Fill crust: Spread crust with filling; it will make a thin layer. Bake for about 10 minutes or until heated through. Slide tarts onto platters and cut into as few as 4 or as many as 9 squares each. Garnish with a sprinkling of thyme leaves and paprika plus lemon slices.

Note: If not using crust immediately, remove from oven to a wire rack to cool. Wrap and store at room temperature. Keeps for quite a long time. If starting recipe with a pre-baked crust, heat filled shell in oven for 20 minutes instead of 10.

November 8, 2009February 10, 2011 by betsy

Vegan Pumpkin Stuffed Shells with Vegan Sage Butter

Yield: 16 shells or 6-8 servings
(Note: I only made a half recipe for the photo)

I always find pumpkin ravioli with sage butter and similar dishes on restaurant menus utterly seductive but, alas, they are never vegan. Wanting to make a streamlined version at home for weeknight meals, I decided on stuffed shells.

The filling of Silken tofu and pumpkin puree with sauteed onion and garlic bakes into a luscious custard in pasta shell “cups.” A few additional ingredients give the savory-sweet custard a flavor reminiscent of a pumpkin-ricotta mixture. Nestling the shells into my Veggie Marinara Sauce, tangy but tempered by a hint of maple syrup, creates the perfect balance of flavors. Optional sauteed mushrooms deepen the earthy flavor. And a luxurious drizzle of sage butter over the top–with all its salty, nutty, herb-y goodness–is exactly the right counterpoint to the other flavors.

After a half hour, this dish emerges beautiful, fragrant and hearty from the oven, its flavors and textures melded into a nutritional and satisfying main course in need only of a green vegetable to complete the meal.

For this recipe and some 170+ more,
I invite you to purchase my first cookbook:

The Blooming Platter:
A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes

Vegan Heritage Press
Spring 2011

November 1, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Thai Coconut Milk Risotto

Yield: 4-6 servings

Last weekend, we flew to North Carolina. Air travel means lots of time to catch up on the latest and greatest in the culinary magazines, and the Thanksgiving issues are some of my favorites. This fall, it seems that risottos are very popular, especially those made with butternut squash. While that sounds really good to me, somewhere along the line, I got the idea to cook the rice in coconut milk for an ultra-creamy Thai-style rice and I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

My instincts were spot-on, if I do say so myself. This recipe is sure to become a favorite if you like Thai food and maybe even if you don’t! I start with a saute of onion, garlic and red bell pepper, but you could add any Thai-compatible vegetables of your choice, like baby broccoli florets, mushrooms, and the like. Pineapple bits would be tasty too, but wouldn’t require much cooking time–just heated through. Honestly, I don’t think it would be possible to go wrong.

In the past, I shied away from risotto because of the protracted hands-on cooking time. But I found that, as long as I had other things I was doing in the kitchen, stopping to give the risotto an occasional stir was no big deal and the time went by quickly.

For a complete meal, try spooning the risotto onto a serving platter, making a slight depression in the top, filling it with crisp tofu cubes, and garnishing with chives/scallions and cashews.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
3-4 medium garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
1 cup rice (jasmine is nice for an authentic Thai flavor)
1/2 cup intensely-flavored vegetable stock or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes dissolved in 1/2 cup water, warmed on stove or in microwave
1/2 cup white wine (I like something slightly sweet)
1-15 ounce can coconut milk, warmed on stove or in microwave (substitute “lite” if you must)
1-2 tablespoons minced Thai or Italian basil (I used some that was fresh-frozen in my freezer)
1/2-1 teaspoon dried mint (it’s not fresh mint season here right now)
3 tablespoons vegan fish sauce

Garnish:
chives or scallions
chopped or halved cashew nuts

In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion and saute, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic and red bell pepper and saute until softened. Add rice and saute, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes or until it starts to toast. Add vegetable stock and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium if necessary. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. If you haven’t already, reduce heat to medium and add 1/3 of coconut milk. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Repeat two more times until all of the coconut milk is added. Just before the last 10 minutes of cooking, add basil and mint. After the risotto is fully cooked, stir in vegan fish sauce. Garnish with chives or scallions and halved or chopped cashews.