Mini Vegan Quiches

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Mini Vegan Quiche with Gluten-free Crusts

(Margaret’s tried and true version)

This can be made with various ingredients, but here’s a start!

1 12.3 oz package firm silken tofu, drained

¼ cup plain soymilk

2 tbs nutritional yeast

1 tbs cornstarch (or potato starch or arrowroot)

1 tsp tahini or cashew butter (I use more like a tbs)

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp turmeric

½- ¾ tsp kala namak salt—gives an eggy flavor (or regular salt)

1 tsp minced garlic (can use powdered if needed)

1 tbs minced fresh chives

1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (or ½ tsp dried)

black pepper to taste (I omit)

1 cup finely chopped broccoli or other veggie or (2 cups spinach, etc)

1 cup chopped mushrooms (I rehydrated dry, or leave out and use more veggies)

Opt: ½ - 1 cup grated non-dairy cheese

1 package GF crust mix. Make per directions (divide in two and chill), then divide into the number of muffins cups you are going to use as you line the cups.

The conundrum here is numbers—one recipe of the quiche makes about 12 quiches. One recipe of a GF crust mix (for two pie crusts) makes about 16-24 quiches–about 16 if you spread the crust to the top, or stretch it to 24 if you just go halfway up the muffin cup. You can underfill the cups with quiche or do a double recipe and stretch. Or just make some without the crust. Or make fewer and roll out extra crust and cut out adorable shapes to stick on top…chicks/bunnies for Easter, etc.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray (or use liners) 12 muffin or cupcake sized cups with non-stick spray...or grease lightly with vegan butter.

Mix tofu and soymilk in blender or food processor til smooth. Then add in next 10 ingredients. Pour this mixture into large bowl of chopped veggies/mushrooms and stir well.

Fill muffin tins (already lined with raw crust) with this tofu mixture. Bake in oven about 20-35 minutes. Cool slightly and serve. They are nice with some vegan butter. Also good cold. Freezes well.

Vegan MOFO Mash-it-up Monday: These Aren't Your Mother's Scrambled Eggs

For the month of September, Mash-it-up Monday will have recipes for things that are...mashed, blended or maybe things put together that you normally wouldn't think of putting together. Like two songs in a "Mash-Up." Or Sea Salt with Dark Chocolate. (We know now this goes together...but three years ago?) Maybe smoothies or blended soups. Or mashed potatoes or mashed .... you name it!

Today's recipe is a favorite of my daughter's...she routinely asks for my Tofu Omelettes and Scrambled Tofu. Makes me happy. (It's not always easy to please a 12 year old.)

This is an easy breakfast to make, and you can use whatever veggie you have in the fridge–you don't have to use broccoli. But to really impress a vegan, you do need to do a little planning if you don't regularly have tofu and turmeric on hand.

The secret these days to a great vegan "egg" dish is the salt. Not just any old sea salt or Himalayan Pink. This is India Black Kala Namak Salt, by The Spice Lab (available at their website or via Amazon). It really does have that "sulphur" smell and taste, which gives tofu eggs that special egg-y flavor. (Great for making vegan deviled eggs, too.)

These Aren't Your Mother's Scrambled Eggs
(Unless you are my daughter!)

1     Package Firm Tofu (the kind in water, not vacuum packed, about 15 oz)
2     baby carrots, grated
3     broccoli florets, grated or chopped very finely
1/2  tsp turmeric
1     tsp granulated onion*
1/2  tsp garlic powder*
1/4-1/2 tsp India Black Kala Namak Salt
1     tsp dried parsley (or 1 Tbs fresh)
1/2  cup vegan cheese, grated (I use Daiya Mozzerella)**

1-3  Tbs water or non-dairy milk (opt)

1-3  Tbs oil/margarine or water for frying

Serving suggestions:
Serve with vegan sour cream, vegan margarine or ketchup.

* If using fresh onion and/or garlic, chop finely and saute in large frying pan first in oil/margarine or water.

** The cheese is optional, but I found that using it helps the mixture stay together and it browns better, like the photo. If you like your scrambled "eggs" really soft, then omit the cheese or melt it on top later.

Directions
1. In a large bowl, crumble the tofu with your hands or with a masher. Grate carrots into bowl, then grate broccoli into bowl. Mix well.

2. Add turmeric, onion, garlic, salt, parsley and vegan cheese. Mix well. Don't worry that it doesn't look very yellow yet. It "colors up" when it cooks.

3. If mixture seems too dry, add water or non-dairy milk a tablespoon at a time until wet. Mix well.

4. Place the mixture about a 1/2 cup at a time in a hot pan (med high) with your choice of oil/margarine. Pat it down with your spatula so it is flat and not too thick. Let the bottom brown before you turn it. When you go to flip a section, try to flip one spatula-full at a time. Don't stir this up like you would a real egg scramble (unless you like your eggs softer). I like the browning it since it adds a little mouth-feel, and you won't get it if you keep stirring it. There will be plenty soft "egg" inside still.

5. Serve and eat!

Winter White Chili

Gluten-free

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 4-ounce cans chopped green chiles (opt)
• 1-4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 can each great northern beans, white lima beans
  and navy beans, rinsed
• (or use 2 ¼ cups dried beans, soaked)
• 4 cups reduced-sodium broth
• 1-2 cups diced soy strips
• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped up
• salt, to taste (after beans have cooked)
  
  Add after cooking:
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, chiles, oregano, cumin and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in beans, cauliflower, soy strips and broth; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add soy strips and vinegar; cook for 5 minutes more.  Add cider vinegar. Serve.
   
   
2. Pressure Cooker method: Use dried beans. Soak in water the night before, pour off water and rinse before adding to soup. Cook onions in oil in bottom of pressure cooker, add garlic, stir, add herbs and spices. Add other ingredients, cook on high pressure for 10-12 minutes, slow release.
   
   Either method: For a thicker soup base, use an immersion blender in the pot or take some out and blend it.

Tofu Stir-fry

Sometimes I forget that a stir-fry is my best choice on a busy day when I haven't planned much. I threw this together quickly, especially since I had extra cooked rice on hand (Tip #2 of the day: always cook extra rice to get you through a few days!)

Tofu Stir-fry

2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 cup sliced carrots
2 cups spinach
1 package firm tofu, cubed
soy sauce

oil of choice (used coconut oil today for extra flavor for the frying, and a little toasted sesame seed oil)

Heat your pan, then add oil to coat pan.
Add carrots, cook for a few minutes. Add the tofu and brown it. Add in rice. Top with spinach, stir it in until it wilts. Ready to eat!

And of course, this is the kind of meal you can just about any left-over to. Just cut them up to nearly the same size and put the denser ones in first so they can cook longer. You can also make this oil-free by frying in water, not oil.

Easy White Beans

I bought a pressure cooker earlier this year and I've been having a lot of fun with it. I had to be convinced that it would not fulfill my mother's stories of her mother exploding a pot in her kitchen.

Jill Nussinow, the Veggie Queen, has a great pressure cooker cookbook out and this is based on one of her recipes.

These days, however, I don't always follow recipes, but just throw in some soaked beans, the right amount of water, some veggie broth powder, some onions and garlic and there you go, you've got tasty beans. On this day I added some spinach at the end to wilt it and tossed it over some pasta.

Yes, this is where I get my protein. (One of the many places...)

BBQ Tofu "Wings" & Vegan Ranch Dressing

I got inspired to make something for Superbowl Sunday that was semi-traditional, but easy. I got the recipe for the BBQ sauce off the internet, but when I looked up BBQ Tofu (for how long to bake the tofu) in my Veganomican, I realized the recipe came straight from there! These are tasty, especially if you haven't eaten BBQ much since it's usually just slathered on poor little dead animal parts. The "wings" here are a nod to our "new" 1959 Shasta Travel Trailer, which, sadly, has lost her wings. We'll get them back for her! I'll post recipes shortly.

This is what our girl could look like once we are done. Notice the shape of her wings on the top left.

Choriza Pizza

Vegan. Gluten-free. Yummy. Easy. One pan.

Cornbread base
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free flour mix + 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
(or 1 cup regular flour)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup vegan milk
1 egg replacer
1/4 cup vegetable oil  (or 1/8 cup oil + 1/8 cup apple sauce)

Toppings
1/2 cup or more corn kernels (can be fresh or frozen)
1 package Soy Chorizo
1/2 cup or more of vegan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients of cornbread base. Combine wet ingredients. Mix the two. Pour in lightly greased 8x8 pan.

Spread corn on top. Spread soy chorizo on top of corn. Layer cheese on top of chorizo.

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Let sit a few minutes before serving.

You can make this easier to make if you use a packaged vegan or gluten-free cornbread mix, but this one is pretty easy as it is.

 I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Flour Mix and Daiya Cheddar Cheese.

Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe is based on the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes found in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I made it gluten-free and substituted what I had on hand. Here's my version.

Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
1 cup of canned Pumpkin Pie Mix
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
(I used 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Mix and 1/2 cup Millet flour)
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (not needed if using regular flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Topping
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup sugar


Directions
Makes 12 muffins
Preheat oven to 350 F

1. Mix Pumpkin, oil, sugar, milk and vanilla. 
2. I sifted in the flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Stir together with a  fork, but do not over-stir.
4. Fold in chips and nuts.
5. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full.
6. I sprinkled a little sugar and chopped nuts on top.
7. Bake for 22-24 minutes. Check with toothpick for doneness.

With these ingredients, the muffins were very moist and took forever to bake, easily 5-10 minutes longer than the recipe suggested. I made regular size muffins as well as mini-muffins, which take about half the time to bake. Don't over-fill, especially the mini muffins. They are a little crumbly and a big "muffin-top" doesn't hold up well. But eating your mistakes in this regard is not bad thing!

Next time I will reduce the oil and add some apple sauce instead.

The original recipe called for plain canned pumpkin, but all I had on hand was a canned pumpkin pie mix so I reduced the original sugar from 1 cup to 2/3. (I think I could reduce it further, either way.) And I left out the 1/2 tsp cinnamon. The original recipe also called for regular wheat flour, but I needed to make it gluten free so I used what I had left and added the xanthan gum. I also reduced the chocolate chips from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup.

My family (including the finicky 9 year-old) loved these muffins as did my organizer friends at my meeting. I'm making these again very soon!

It's truly a toss-up whether these are muffins or cupcakes. I opted not to icing them, but just sprinkle some sugar and chopped nuts.

Miner's Lettuce Salad with Orange-Sesame Vinaigrette

Miner's Lettuce (AKA Indian Lettuce), is a wild lettuce found here in California and in my back yard. It is totally edible and is even showing up on the menus of shi-shi restaurants around town. (See below for info on where you can buy seeds to grow your own. Mine reseeds itself, although we have reduced its habitat in our yard since we have landscaped!)

Isa's Chandra Moskowitz's Orange Sesame Vinaigrette couldn't have been easier to make (I used orange juice instead of fresh squeezed oranges and had some lovely fig vinegar instead of red wine vinegar.) I normally don't like vinaigrettes, but this one doesn't have too much vinegar and the orange juice really sweetens it. The toasted sesame oil really makes the flavor pop.

Of course if you can't get your hands on Miner's Lettuce, you can use any kind of lettuce you like!

The salad is my recipe:

Miner's Lettuce Salad

2 cups Miner's Lettuce
2 cups chopped Romaine
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (pine nuts or sliced almonds would be fab)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (dried cherries would be good)

1/2 Recipe of Orange Vinaigrette

Indian Lettuce/Miner's Lettuce

Claytonia perfoliata

You can buy a packet of Miner's Lettuce Seeds from Larner's Seeds in Bolinas, CA for only $5.50. Be sure to check out all the other native plants and flowers they have seeds for!
http://larnerseeds.com/_pages/wildflower_annual.html

Interesting Native American salad trivia: Native Americans would eat this green like a salad as we do today. Instead of a fancy dressing from a bottle or recipe from a cookbook, they would just let ants crawl all over their greens. From the Almaden Wildflowers website:

"Lettuce? Yes, you can eat it--raw in salads or boiled like spinach. Early settlers and Indians collected and ate it. It is said that California Indians used to place it by red ant hills to pick up formic acid as a dressing. I would be worried that the ants would eat it. I rarely pass the young plants without pulling off a leaf to nibble on. It tastes a lot like raw spinach to me, not as delicate as lettuce. It has none of the peppery kick of the the somewhat similar garden plant (weed?) nasturtium Tropaeolum majus, which is also in the Purslane family."

Pad Thai

This was my first attempt at Pad Thai at home. It came out pretty well, I think. I enjoyed it and it wasn't that hard. You just have to remember to buy the sprouts and use them before they go bad!

Recipe coming soon!

Green Potato Soup

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day! I don't even measure or use a recipe for this soup anymore. Just throw stuff in–it's bound to turn out great!

(Based on two recipes from the McDougall Cookbooks.)

Green Potato Soup

1 onion
2 tsp oil or water
1 clove garlic, minced
6 cups of water + dry veggie stock or
6 cups veggie stock
5-6 potatoes. cut into cubes
couple big handfuls of spinach

Optional:
a little salt
a little soy sauce
a little vegan margarine when served
wild sorrel for garnish

Saute the onion in water or a little oil. Add the garlic, saute a little longer. Add the water+veggie stock  or veggie stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add spinach and cook a few minutes. Use a hand blender to blend the soup in the pot or transfer (carefully) to a blender and whir it up! If you like a few chunks, take some potatoes out before you blend and put back in after you have blended. Also great without the spinach, but not as fun for St. Patrick's Day!

New Year's Black-Eyed Peas

This is my own creation after reading a number of recipes. No, I didn't make any cornbread, but next time I will.

I didn't measure a thing, so this is all approximate.

First I soaked overnight about 1.5 cups of the black-eyed peas I found in my pantry. (That was lucky!)

Then I drained off the water, rinsed and added enough water to cover by an inch, added about 3TBS of no-salt veggie broth powder, 2 tsp salt and simmered for about 30 minutes.

Next, I sauteed some onion (1 whole) and garlic (2 cloves minced). To that pan I added about 2 cups of the beans, some of the simmering broth, a little white wine and some veggie bacon bits (to add that Southern hamhock flavor without killing a pig).

And, heat it all up....serve and EAT!

I had beans left over, I could have added it all to this pan.

Someday I'll remember to take a picture before we eat it all!

Ingredients
1.5 cups black-eyed peas
2 tsp salt
3 TBS veggie broth powder

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 TBS veggie baco bits
1/4 - 1/2 cup white wine

What else would have been good?
Sauteed Mushrooms
Serve it on brown rice
Serve it on corn bread

Vegan Omelette

The term Vegan Omelette sounds like an oxymoron, but you really can make one, and they are quite tasty--as tasty as you'd like them to be!

My mom and I have decided that our new Mother's Day tradition is a champagne brunch of vegan omelettes and onion rings from the local drive-in!

We started by having the house to ourselves. We packed up the DH and the DD to go see the other grandma for Mother's Day. That left us to our own devices!

Here' a recipe I used, gleaned from the "Fatfree Vegan Kitchen" blog. I added some fat! And I made this as a recipe for two instead of one, so I have doubled all the ingredients. I think that's more efficient anyway since you can use a whole box of silken tofu and not waste it--just make two omelettes or scramble the rest and make breakfast burritos the next day if there's only one of you!

1 package silken tofu
2 TBS soymilk
2 TBS nutritional yeast
2TBS potato starch or cornstarch
2 tsp tahini (I was out of tahini--would have been good)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
2 pinches of chipolte pepper or smoked paprika (optional--I used the paprika)

Also needed: Omelette filling of choice (have warm or at room temp)
vegan bacon bits
vegan cheese
sour cream
spring onions, chopped
pesto sauce

Blend all ingredients until smooth. ( I used my food processor.)

Spray a large non-stick skillet with olive oil and heat on medium-high until very hot. Pour the batter into the center of the skillet in a circular patter about 6-8 inches across and use a spoon or spatula to smooth over the top. Place filling ingredients over the batter, and reduce heat to low.

Cover and cook about 2-4 minutes, checking often to see if it's done. When the edges have dried out, lift a small section with a spatula and check to see the the omelette is set. It will be golden in color but not browned. When it's ready, loosen the omelette by sliding the spatula under it from each direction, and then fold one side over the other.

Cook about one minute more. Carefully lift or slide it onto a plate and serve hot.

Margaret's experience: I used sauteed mushrooms and onions with a couple slices of vegan cheese in the middle, and some chopped chives. Topped with vegan sour cream and a couple lavender sprigs for that "Mother's Day" touch. Since lavender is edible, my mom and I tried it--a little strong, but interesting addition to the whole flavor.

I used vegan margarine to cook the omelette and had added a little oil to the batter.

I found it hard to get the whole omelette to cook through--ours were a little "wet" still, inside. I made one the next day with leftover batter and made it more like a pancake and flipped it (not easy) to get it to brown on both sides.

Next time I think I will put more in the batter--like maybe some dry vegan "chicken" broth, and a little more soy milk--the batter seemed a little thick. Maybe put the chives in the batter, too.

You can see how you could make any kind of omelette here, just like in a restaurant--spicy mexican, cheesy greek, vegan sausage, etc.

Margaret's Favorite Nutloaf

Vegan
Difficulty: 2 (1=super easy; 2=easy; 3=moderate; 4=a little harder; 5=challenging)

Loaf:
1 TBS oil or water
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery

2 cups bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups finely chopped (or food-processed) walnuts
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 TBS mustard
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup soy (or other) milk

Sauce:
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup molasses

Garnish:
1 small can mandarin oranges (pineapple rings cut into quarters work, too)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES
Saute first three ingredients until onion is tender. Lightly mix with the rest of the loaf ingredients.

Form into a loaf or ring in a round casserole dish. Garnish top with orange or pineapple slices.
Bake 45 minutes.

While loaf is baking, make sauce. Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Mix and cook on medium heat, stirring until thick. (This can boil over if not watched.) Spoon over loaf after baking 15 minutes. Baste every ten minutes. Make extra or use extra for pouring over grain when served.

Serve with brown rice, couscous, millet or any favorite grain. Even good on mashed potatoes.

Serves 4-6.

Notes:
This is a recipe I adapted from a traditional "meatloaf" that my mother always made me for my birthday when I was growing up. The sauce makes it very sweet and I loved it. Made with walnuts, you can hardly tell the difference between the two versions. I've brought this to potlucks and people question that it's vegan.

I haven't tried it with other nuts, but if someone has a walnut allergy, you could try pecans or almonds.

Gluten-free update: I used some old gluten-free bread that was in the freezer in place of the regular bread crumbs and it's great! I think there is a gluten-free bread crumb item on the market, too.