Ten-Minute Tofu

I needed to use up some tofu in the fridge, and paging through Vegan Express at the bookstore, I saw what wasn't even called a recipe: it was simply a little paragraph on a page about simple tofu preparations.

Needless to say, I tried it with the tofu in the fridge, and it was super tasty. And super simple. I didn't even spend time pressing the tofu - all I did was blot it dry.

What was it?
Easy. Cut the block of firm tofu into 1" slices, blot dry, and cube. In a pan, heat about a tablespoon each of maple syrup (or agave nectar), soy sauce, and olive oil. Toss in the tofu, stir to coat, and continue to cook until browned.

See? Super easy. Serve with something (atop a salad, noodles, etc).

Delayed Vegan Valentine

A month or two ago one of my friends decided she was going to be vegan after reading a book about something. She never said what the book was. This was not too long before valentine's day, and since I usually take the treats I make to lunch with me, I felt bad if I took treats I couldn't share with everyone at the table (since they all eat nuts, I don't worry about those like I did in the past when I ate lunch with a nutty anti-nut friend).
I checked out Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World from the library last year because with a title that cute how could I resist? However, being anti-margarine and shortening, as well as an omnivore, I never did anything but flip through it. But I'd tabbed pages that lacked offenders and wanted to try them. But then I returned the book. So when my friend mentioned being vegan, I figured it would be a nice surprise. So I checked out the book again, picked out my recipe for an icing (Super Natural Agave Icing), and bought everything for either vanilla or chocolate cupcakes. Then I reread the recipe: soy milk powder. And I began a three-week quest for the stuff short of ordering ten pounds of it from the internet. I only needed 1 1/2 cups. So then I gave up, but the plain soymilk was still sitting in the basement fridge. In the past I've enjoyed soymilk in my cereal, but that's because vanilla soymilk is sweet and I didn't want to open the soymilk until I knew I could finish it. Unfortunately, it's almost March 11th, the date on the package.

So it was time to make the cupcakes, and the chocolate ganache to match.

(Coincidentally, I also started reading Vegan Virgin Valentine - or more accurately, listening to, on my iPod today. The character's name is Valentine though.)

Golden Vanilla Cupcakes
adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero
makes 12-15 cupcakes
My dad said these seemed like corn muffins to him. They weren't patient enough to wait for them to cool or for me to ice them this morning. When I had one, I pinpointed the flavor. It was a mild flavor from the soy milk.


1 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or more vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line muffin pan with liners.

Whisk the soymilk and vinegar together in a measuring cup and set aside a few minutes to curdle.

Whisk together the soymilk mixture, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract and other extracts in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until no large lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 way full and bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until done. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Rich Chocolate Ganache Recipe
adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Note: It makes more than enough for 12 cupcakes, so I made truffles, like suggested in the book, with the leftovers. It suggested using a chocolate with up to a 60% cacao content, but the lowest vegan chocolate I had was 70%, and I wasn't about to compromise the vegan value of the cupcakes after getting this far. And one of my friends said she likes the ganache topping better than a buttercream anyway, so I guess it was worth it.

1/4 cup soymilk
4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

In a small saucepan bring soymilk to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate and syrup. Stir until smooth and set aside until ready to use.

Tart Simple Green and Red Salad

When I made butternut squash risotto earlier this month, I wanted something easy and simple to go along with it since I am not known for my efficiency in the kitchen. If a recipe comes with a prep time, I usually have to double or triple it to get a good estimate of how long it is going to take me to make it. So I wanted my salad to be something that I could make so I wouldn't have to rely on the rest of the family to make half of dinner for me like I normally do, and so that it would be different from our everyday salads that my aunt makes. That isn't to say that those aren't spectacular, but they consist of whatever vegetables we have on hand and usually oil, herbs, and vinegar or lemon juice in the dressing. I just wanted to mix things up a bit. And do no chopping.

I will admit though that the only reason this was super simple for me was because my aunt did end up helping me. I'm really mean and when someone offers to help, I usually give them the hardest job. (My grandfather grated the ginger and squash for a cake when he offered to help, and my aunt got to peel and remove the seeds from the pomegranate when she offered to help me. See what I mean. But they're also tasks that I need to get done and easily become frustrated by.)

But I digress. So, if you aren't the one to deal with the pomegranate this salad is really easy, really simple, and, despite the toasted pecans, takes no time at all and can be made and then just tossed right before serving. Though the pomegranate juice wasa bit of a splurge at the grocery store. I guess I've never bought Pom juice before.

Mixed Greens and Double-Pomegranate Salad
adapted from Cooking Light November 2007
serves 6 as a small salad

1/4 cup pomegranate juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 5-ounce bag mixed greens*
2/3 cup pomegranate seeds
a hanful of toasted pecans, finely chopped

Whisk together pomegranate juice, vinegar, shallots, oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add greens and pomegranate seeds and toss to coat. If plating, sprinkle each serving with about 1/2 teaspoon chopped pecans. (I prefer topping with pecans because it keeps them from getting soggy.)


*I was going to use two, but my dad stopped me. I couldn't find any of the large 16 ounce clamshells. It would have been fine with more greens, there was enough dressing. the original recipe calls for 6 cups

Bites o' Pumpkin

Usually I read the Good Eating section of the tribune on Wednesday mornings. That didn't happen this week. Instead, I skimmed it Thursday evening. And, one day later, for the first time, I've actually used a recipe I've clipped from it. I've been wanting to make pumpkin muffins and just hadn't gotten around to finding the recipe I copied two years ago from a book in the summer and never made (it was June, pumpkin didn't feel right then.) But upon finding this recipe, or the precursor to this recipe, which I thought I had everything for, except the flaxseeds, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I then proceeded to not even read the instructions. Surprisingly enough, they turned out well despite changing the ingredients (upon running out of granulated sugar), the procedure, the temperature, and the size of the muffins. They were loaded with a bit too much chocolate (and no nuts), but since I took them over to my friend's house where we watched Brazil and Monty Python's Now For Something Completely Different, they worked out nicely. Somehow, my container had 1 1/2 mini muffins, which resembled little balls, left it in when I brought it home.

Expect to see a full size variation of this, chock full of cranberries and pepitas, soon. (Which goes with this disclaimer: muffins shows above are not exactly the recipe below-they have pecans, as well, and are "normal" sized.)



Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Loaded Muffin Bites
based on Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Muffins in 10/24/2007 Good Eating
Makes about 24 mini-muffins

1 cup whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 heaping Tablespoons flax seeds (about 7 teaspoons)
1/2 cup water
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.

Place flaxseeds and water in a blender and whir until foamy. Add pumpkin puree, oil, and vanilla and process on high until well blended. Stir into the flour mixture until combined. If it appears to dry, add a little water. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter evenly (I use a small scoop with a release) into the prepared tin. Bake in oven about 15 minutes or until an indentation doesn't stay when pressed or a toothpick comes out just about clean. Let cool a few minutes in pan; remove and eat or cool completely on wire racks for later.

Herbalicious Creamy Bean Dip

I wanted to make some sort of a dip, and with fresh herbs in the garden going unused, why not an herbed white bean dip? I stopped at the store on my way back from showing Ame around near our house, and picked up a can of cannellini beans.
I can't take all the credit though for coming up with the idea. I had been paging through Fast, which came in the mail last month for having entered the F&W Kid Cook contest (the winners are in the August issue, and the 6-year-old with his beet risotto!), and saw a white bean dip with herbs and took a cue from it.


Herbed Garlicky White Bean Dip
makes about 1 cup

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle on top
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons rosemary leaves pulled off stem (about 2 small sprigs)
1 1/2 tablespoons thyme (pulled off stems, about 5 small sprigs)
1 (15-oz) can of cannellini beans
salt
cayenne pepper, to taste

Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, rosemary, and thyme and cook until garlic is browned and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add beans and toss to coat. Let cool a few minutes and transfer to a food processor; add salt and a pinch of cayenne. Process to a puree and transfer to a bowl. Drizzle olive oil on top. Serve with bread, chips, or vegetables.

Ready for Sorbetti?

Okay, so it wasn't true sorbetti (whatever that may be), but I did make sorbet.
Dad bought a box of mangoes, so we had nine RIPE mangoes in the house. He used some on Sunday night for dinner, but on Monday I decided I'd try my hand again at frozen treats. I flipped through the books I checked out from the library and found a two recipes for mango ice cream, one for mango sherbet, and one for mango sorbet. I asked Dad which he'd like, and he said sorbet (then sherbet, but I'm not a sherbet fan so I went ahead and made sorbet anyway.)

Since the first thing I'd made in the ice cream maker was a custard based ice cream, sorbet was a breeze. The only hard part was pureeing the mango with the orange juice because I was using too small of a food processor. Dad loved the sorbet, as did the other five people eating it. I'm not sure about the sixth because they took theirs to go.
I think I'll try it again, but see what happens if I make the syrup without corn syrup and omit the liquor, because it lowered the freezing point a bit TOO much. But it was good, so maybe no changes are in order.


Mango Sorbet
makes two quarts
from The Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Cookbook by Mable and Gar Hoffman

3 cups water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 large ripe mangoes
1 cup no-pulp orange juice
1/4 cup orange liqueur (such as Triple Sec)

In a medium saucepan combine water, sugar, corn syrup; stir until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.
Cut up mangoes and remove peel and puree in a food processor with the orange juice. Stir the mango puree into the cooled syrup. Stir in liqueur and freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions