February 11, 2015February 10, 2015 by betsy

Coundown to Valentine’s Day 2015: Day 3–Vegan Chocolate Heart Cakes with Hazelnut & Apricot Ganache Filling and Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: a Baker’s Half Dozen (7) Mini-Heart Cakes

I’m not sure how or why I dreamed up these particular concoctions of rich chocolate, espresso, hazelnuts and dried apricots, but I’m so glad I did! I went through a number of iterations in my mind, but these are what emerged. As delicious as they are exquisite, they are also stupid-easy. They just looks ultra-special.

As a dress rehearsal for Valentine’s Day, I created the recipe and whipped up a trial batch for Principals’ Appreciation Week a couple of weeks ago, giving the 7th one to my Pilates/Barre instructor. An A+!

Though these mini-cakes would be beautiful for a dinner party (and certainly don’t have to be heart-shaped), for my presentation needs, I simply packaged them in patterned cardboard boxes with clear peek-a-boo lids from the craft store, placing each one on an opened-out cupcake liner before carefully setting it inside the box. To transport them, I just lined up the boxes on a jelly roll pan. The generous size and low sides of the pan were perfect for moving them from home to school.

Wherever you serve yours, they are sure to be loved!

Chocolate Heart Cakes

1 cup soymilk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup vegan butter

1 1/2 cups demerara sugar (or any granulated sugar)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use white whole wheat for virtually everything)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 10 x 15″ sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line with parchment paper, pressing into corners and edges, and spray again. In a small bowl, whisk vinegar into soymilk and set aside to curdle, whisking again before using. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter. Add sugar and continue creaming for about 3 minutes. (When using a natural sugar like demerara, it will not fully dissolve, so expect some pleasant grittiness, but will melt during cooking.) Beat in cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then, with mixer on low, beat in flour in three batches, alternating with soymilk mixture. Beat only enough to combine ingredients, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Transfer batter into prepared pan, distributing batter into corners and gently smoothing the top. Bake for 18-20 minute or until top of cake springs back when lightly pressed and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a metal rack. Then cut out 14 heart shapes using a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter. Mash cake scraps together to make cake balls (dip in chocolate and serve with vegan ice cream) or reserve them in a zip-lock bag or other airtight container in freezer to make crumbs for another use.

Hazelnut-Dried Apricot Ganache Filling

1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I like a darker chocolate, but use your preference)

1 tablespoon vegan butter

1/4 cup vegan sour cream

7 dried apricots, finely chopped (be sure they are moist and plump)

3/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts (I toast them over medium-high in a dry skillet for about 4 minutes, until fragrant; watch closely as they will burn quickly)

Melt chocolate, dip apricots for garnish (see below), and then whisk in sour cream, dried finely chopped apricots, and toasted hazelnuts.

Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup vegan butter

1/4 cup vegan cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon espresso powder (or instant coffee, ground to a powder in a spice grinder)

3 1/2-3 3/4 cups powdered sugar (adjust to create desired consistency)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in extracts and espresso powder, followed by powdered sugar in half-cup increments. Be sure to start the mixer on low and gradually increase it so that you aren’t dusted with powdered sugar!

Chocolate Dipped Apricots with Sea Salt

7 dried apricots (moist and plump ones, but not too large)

Melted vegan chocolate (from filling recipe)

Maldon or other large flaky sea salt

Before adding sour cream to melted chocolate, dip each apricot, halfway up and set on a plate covered with parchment or waxed paper to dry. After chocolate is cool, but not completely set, sprinkle liberally with Maldon sea salt. Refrigerate until needed.

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 by betsy

Coundown to Valentine’s Day 2015: Day 2–Vegan Peppermint and Chocolate Patties

Each day this week, I am featuring 4 of my favorite Blooming Platter Valentine’s treats from the past and one brand new one which I’ll post about mid-week, as it may require a quick trip to the grocery store.

I am always surprised when someone says they don’t care for peppermint and chocolate together, as I think it is a divine marriage of flavors, perfect for Valentine’s Day.

If you agree, you will love my Vegan Peppermint and Chocolate Patties. I created these easy and beautiful treats in 2011 to share with our beloved IB and fine arts assistant principal.

I apologize that my photography wasn’t better way back then, two cameras ago, but I think you can get the delectable idea.

February 9, 2015February 9, 2015 by betsy

Coundown to Valentine’s Day 2015: Day 1–Vegan Chocolate Truffles

Beginning today and for four of the next five days, I am going to link to some favorites from Valentine’s past on The Blooming Platter.

About mid-week, I will post my new 2015 creation to give you time to shop for the few ingredients you may not have on-hand like dried apricots, hazelnuts, and espresso powder.

First up are my beautiful Vegan Chocolate Truffles.

February 4, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Chickpea, Sweet Potato, and Peanut Stew

Chickpea, Sweet Potato, and Peanut Stew

Seriously, this soup will make you ‘wanna ‘holla…for more! This is, quite honestly, one of the best soups–flavor, texture, color, etc.–that I have ever eaten…of mine or anyone else’s.

My recipe was inspired by a couple in recent culinary magazines. Only, one of the recipes called for a whole cup of peanut butter. I love peanut butter as much as the next gal but, honestly, that made me feel a little queasy just thinking about so much of such a rich ingredient.

So, I use a mere 1/4 cup. That same recipe–or was it the other?–called for a making a sweet potato broth and using that in the stew. If I can skip a step, I do, so I just made aromatics like onion and garlic plus the sweet potaot part of the soup.

Love!

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion (half a medium onion), diced

Sea salt

1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 cups vegetable stock

1-14.5 ounce can fire-roasted diced tomoatoes with juice

1-15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1-15 ounce can coconut milk

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Freshly ground black pepper

2 lightly packed cups coarsely chopped mustard greens

Juice of 1/2 medium lime

Garnish: lime zest and roasted and lightly salted peanuts

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add onion and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until softened and translucent. Add bell pepper and garlic and continue to saute and stir for about 3 more minutes. Add sweet potato and stock and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add all remaining ingrdients except greens and lime juice, bring to a simmer, and stir until peanut butter is melted and soup is heated through. Stir in greens and cook just until wilted, but still bright green. Add lime juice and serve hot garnished with lime zest and roasted and lightly salted peanuts.

February 1, 2015February 9, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Tailgate Taters–A Super Bowl Hit!

Today seemed like the perfect day to repost a recipe I recently developed for Tofutti even if Super Bowl Sunday finds you sitting on your sofa rather than your tailgate: Vegan Tailgate Taters–Game On!

Vegan Tailgate Taters

January 31, 2015February 1, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Buffalo Wings with Creamy Blue “Cheez” Sauce and Celery Sticks–My Annual Super Bowl Post

(Vegan) Buffalo Wings and the Super Bowl go together like Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz!

I wouldn’t touch chicken wings many years ago when I ate chicken, but my vegan version is a slam dunk…hmmm, wrong metaphor. But you know what I mean.

Find my delicious recipe here and may the Seattle Seahawks, er, I mean, may the best team win.

🙂

January 25, 2015January 26, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Southwest Mac-n-Cheese (with Go Veggie! cheeses)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

(If you want to skip the backstory and product review, just scroll down a little bit to the creamy-cheesy recipe!)

Recently, I received a big box of Go Veggie! vegan products to test. If your preferred grocery store, like mine, only stocks Go Veggie! vegetarian products (made with casein and such) and you thought it wasn’t the brand for you, I have good news: they make quite a range of vegan cheeses and, so far, I have found them very tasty with beautiful melt-ability. Look for the purple packaging and click here for a store locator.

Just prior to receiving the bountiful box, I had seen two unrelated shows on the Food Network in which the hosts made mac-n-cheese, so that seemed the perfect dish in which to test several of the products all at once. Both recipes were made with a veloute sauce instead of a bechamel. Of this pair of French “mother” sauces, bechamel is a classic white sauce and veloute exactly the same, only made with stock instead of milk or cream. I liked the idea of a veloute since so much “dairy” is used for mac-n-cheese anyway. But if you are a non-dairy “Dairy Queen,” then, by all means, substitute your favorite non-dairy milk for the vegetable base/bouillion and water.

So, this morning, having literally not cooked all week–we dined out for dinner a lot with a guest in town, meaning there was also plenty of leftovers for my school lunches–I eagerly woke up and dove into what turned out to be my very simple and satisfying project. Since the cheddar-like package of “shreds” I was sent was called “Mexican Flavor,” I decided to nudge my recipe slightly west of the Missisippi River without making it overpoweringly Mexican.

The award-winning Go Veggie! Dairy Free Cream Cheese Alternative added just the right amount of body to my veloute, which is definitely a bit thinner than a bechamel, due ot the lack of butterfat. Their cream cheese has a pleasantly mild flavor and creamy texture, though a little liquid had separated, which may have been due to shipping and really didn’t present a problem, regardless; I simply poured it off before using.

The Go Veggie! Dairy Free Mexican Flavor Shreds melted beautifully, though I could barely detect any Mexican spices in the mix of both Cheddar- and Jack-style shreds, which is probably just as well because that allows the cook to better control the spices and resulting flavor. I chose a mere half teaspoon of ground cumin and a quarter teaspoon each of chili powder, dried oregano, and smoked paprika, along with onion, garlic and roasted poblano peppers.

For the topping, the Go Veggie! Dairy Free Grated Parmesan Style Cheese was tasty–nutty, pungent and appealingly dry–and browned just perfectly mixed with vegan butter and Panko bread crumbs. I could have used crushed corn chips, but I was trying to merely suggest the Southwest, not hit anyone over the head with a sombrero!

Speaking of heads, I am head-over-heels for this one, and hope you are too! My finished dish is just perfect to me: not a thick, “gloppy” cut-it-with-a-knife mac-n-cheese, but pasta noodles bathed in a rich, silky, deeply flavorful and golden sauce with plenty of cheesiness, though far less cheese than many recipes call for.

6 tablespoons vegan butter

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I use white whole wheat)

2 rounded teaspoons powdered vegetable base (or 2-3 bouillion cubes; not the extra large ones for 2 cups of liquid)

Pinch sea salt

2 cups water (or your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk)

1/4 cup Go Veggie! Dairy Free Cream Cheese Alternative

1-8 ounce package Go Veggie! Dairy Free Mexican Flavor Shreds

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon chili powder (mile or hot, your choice)

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/8 teaspoon freshly gound black pepper

2 poblano peppers, stemmed, seeded, halved, roasted under the broiler until skin blackens (about 5 minutes), skin removed, and finely diced

8 ounces rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions, drained, rinsed, and drained again

Crunchy Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onoins are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, and cook and stir for another minute. Whisk in flour to make a roux, cooking and whisking for a couple of minutes to remove raw flour taste. Slowly whisk in vegtable base and water. (Note: you may substitute vegetable stock for vegetable base and water.) And cook for about 7 or so minutes or until sauce is quite thick. Add cream cheese alternative and whisk until melted, followed by shreds and all spices. Check for seasoning, and adjust if necessary. Stir in poblano peppers and then fold sauce into pasta and spoon lightly into prepared dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over the surface, covering completely, and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to reabsorb back into the pasta.

Crunchy Topping:

1 tablespoon vegan butter

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup Go Veggie! Dairy Free Parmesan Style Grated Cheese

In a small saucepan, melt butter overmedium high. Remove from heat and stir in crumbs and cheese until all ingredients are well combined.

January 20, 2015January 26, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Tomato-Pumpkin Bisque–“Souper” Quick and Easy

Yield: 6 serving

Necessity was definitely the mother of invention with this soup: I was hungry for dinner and there was a can of diced tomatoes and pureed pumpkin in the pantry, and lemons and Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese in the fridge. Voila: soup! I was drinking a glass of wine while I was cooking, so in went some of it and, honestly, not a whole lot more save some aromatics, spices, and veggie stock.

The results received raves from three friends who were recipients: my yoga teacher (who is a foodie and cooking instructor in her own right), and two others who are nursing some kind of bug that is going around, both also excellent cooks and, as it happens, artists, one of whom took the photo at right before she and her husband tucked into it. Her photo has an artist’s touch no? She said I should describe this recipe as, “The soup that briangs you back!”

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1-28 ounce can diced tomatoes

1-15 ounce can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

Optional: 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

4 cups vegetable stock

1/2 cup dry red wine

4 ounces vegan cream cheese

1 teaspoon lemon zest (do not omit–adds such a lovely freshness!)

Heat olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high. Add onion and 1 teaspoon salt and saute, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Add garlic and spices and continue sauteing, stirring constantly, for another minute. Add tomatoes and pumpkin and stir until well combined. Whisk in stock, 1 cup at a time, followed by red wine. Heat through and then add vegan cream cheese in pieces, whisking until completely melted. Stir in lemon zest and serve.

January 19, 2015January 20, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Smoky Cheddar Spread–Ultra Quick and Easy (Made with Go Veggie Cheddar Flavor Vegan Rice Slices)

I haven’t used Go Veggie products in years, ever since I discovered that the Go Veggie products sold at the Kroger where I shop are not vegan.

So, I had no idea that the brand produces quite a selection of vegan products, including slices, shreds, and cream cheese in a variety of flavors plus parmesan style sprinkles until they contacted me and asked if I would like to sample some of them. Yes, please!

A big box arrived last week and today, a holiday in honor of MLK Day, I am home from school with a little extra time to experiment. So I did. A girl’s ‘gotta eat, right?

Having seen a couple of different preparations for Mac-n-Cheese on the Food Network this weekend–both made with a broth-based veloute style sauce and only a little dairy–I decided that I would use the Go Veggie Mexican Flavor and Mozzarella-style Shreds for my own rendition using veggie broth and soymilk. That left the Cheddar Flavor Vegan Rice Slices for the Smoky Cheddar Spread I had in mind. I could have used the shreds in my spread and the slices melted into my sauce this evening, but I wanted to see if the slices would shred since I really don’t make sandwiches or other recipes that call for slices of cheese. And they shred nicely…keep reading!

First, I broke off a strip of one of the slices to taste. The mild flavor was very pleasant and the texture quite nice. The slightly damp and slippery exterior was a tiny bit off-putting, but not a big drawback. With the rest of the strip, I performed a quick melt test, simply laying it on a plate and microwaving it. It was beautifully melted in less than 10 seconds. Brilliant!

Next, I fitted my food processor with the grater attachment, stacked the eight unwrapped slices together, folded them in half, fit them down into the feeder tube, flipped the switch, and pressed them down with the plunger. In seconds, I had lovely shreds. The cheese is quite soft, but it didn’t “mash” except at the very end as the last little bit went through the chute. No problem.

I made my Vegan Smoky Cheddar Spread by adding chopped smoked almonds, a little bit of vegan mayo, a pinch of garlic and onion powder, and a hint of smoked paprika. But the grated slices would make a beautiful pimento cheese spread as well.

Go Veggie is not paying me to endorse their products(!), but I would definitely purchase and use these Cheddar Flavor Vegan Rice Slices again. Very low in calories and fat, but high in calcium, they are a keeper.

For the vegan versions of Go Veggie products, look for the purple packaging. To find them at a store near you, click HERE.

Stay tuned for more Go Veggie taste tests and recipes. And thanks Go Veggie for enlightening me!

Vegan Smoky Cheddar Spread

Yield: 1 1/2 cups spread

8 ounces Go Veggie Cheddar Flavor Vegan Rice Slices, unwrapped, stacked, and grated (I used a food processor with grater attachment)

1/2 cup smoked almonds, finely chopped

Optional: 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/8 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Optional Garnish: whole smoked almonds and a sprinkling of smoked paprika

Lightly combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until completely combined. Serve immediately with crackers or celery sticks or refrigerate in an airtight container until serving time. Garnish if desired with whole smoked almonds and a sprinkling of smoked paprika.

January 12, 2015 by betsy

Vegan Kale, Sweet Potato and Black Bean Fritter-Cakes

These savory fritter-cake hybrids are made from a trifecta of favorite, healthful, colorful and plentiful ingredients: chopped fresh kale, shredded sweet potato, and black beans. Green onion adds a fresh, pungent, herb-y kick.

A food processor made short order of finely chopping the kale and, with a quick blade switch-out, creating beautiful, consistent shreds of sweet potatoes and no scraped knuckles. For efficiency, I used canned black beans, rinsed and well-drained, mashing about half of them with a potato masher to help the fritter-cakes hold together without a lot of additional ingredients. However, I did use a little flour and soymilk (use the nondairy milk of your choice) plus some baking powder and soda for a hint of lift, but not enough to create a “batter.” The finished consistency of these is somewhat similar to a latke with a bit more body.

For spices, black beans would suggest Mexican or southwestern flavor notes. But, for some reason, I wanted to nudge these fritter-cakes in a slightly Middle Eastern direction. So I did invite cumin, coriander and lime zest to the party, but also smoked paprika and sumac which lends a lovely earthy lemony profile. It is widely sold in Middle Eastern grocery stores, but if you can’t find it, just order it online or leave it out. However, it has been one of my favorite kitchen companions of the last few years.

For cooking, I tried both oil and nonstick spray and found that the calories in the oil were worth achieving a crispier crust, but see what you think.

I love a savory and ever-so-slightly sweet balance, so for a topping, I whisked a little lime juice and tamarind syrup into vegan sour cream. Tamarind syrup lends a heavenly, subtle and distinctively Middle Eastern floral note tempered by the sweetly acidic lime juice. Again, the syrup is sold at Middle Eastern grocery stores and online. But you could substitute pomegranate syrup which is fruity without being floral or just leave out all together and go with a citrus sour cream which would be delicious too.

A little spoonful of the sauce, a thin slice of lime, a few pine nuts and a sprinkling of smoked paprika created a beautiful presentation of these delectable disks, perfect for breakfast brunch, lunch or even dinner, perhaps with a side salad.

3 cups shredded sweet potatoes (slightly over a half-pound potato)

4 cups coarsely chopped or torn kale, finely chopped (I used a food processor)

1-15.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed and well-drained; half of beans mashed with potato masher

6 green onions, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (I use white whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste + a small amount more for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste

1/2 cup soymilk (or an nondairy milk)

Tamarind-Lime Cream (recipe follows)

Garnishes (optional): thin slices of fresh lime, a few pine nuts, dusting of smoked paprika

Kale, Sweet Potato and Black Bean Fritter Cakes--Uncooked — Mixture Before Frying

Line a baking sheet with paper towel and set aside. Set oven to lowest temperature. In a large mixing bowl, toss together with your hands sweet potato, kale, green onions, and unmashed sweet potatoes. In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed beans, flour, baking powder, baking soda, all spices, including salt and pepper, and soymilk. Spoon in roughly even dollops over vegetable-bean mixture and combine well with a fork. The mixture will be very textured and moist, mounding nicely, but will not form a batter.

Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil (or a combination of vegetable and olive oil) in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high. Divide mixture into 1/12ths and, using a spoon or scoop, place 4 evenly-spaced mound into the sizzling oil pressing to about 1/2-inch thick with a metal spatula. Cook for about 2 minutes, flip and cook 2 more minutes, lowering temperature if necessary to prevent scorching. They will turn a rich nutty brown (as opposed to a light golden brown). Remove fritter-cakes and drain on prepared baking sheet, sprinkling each with a few granules of sea salt. Keep warm in oven. Repeat twice more with remaining mixture. Serve immediately topped with Tamarind-Lime Cream and garnished as desired.

Tamarind-Lime Cream

1/2 cup vegan sour cream

1 teaspoon tamarind syrup (or pomegranate syrup)

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Sea salt to taste