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.

Easy Tomato Sauce

I have to admit, I'm not really a fan of tomato sauce anymore. Somewhere in my 40s my digestive system began having a difference of opinion with my palate. This is sad, especially since a nice marinara sauce on pasta used to be a stand-by for me at non-veg restaurants. But alas, wheat pasta is a no-no these days, too!

But, I do still serve a red sauce to my family, and especially to my daughter, who loves her pasta with either red sauce, pesto or just veg butter and yeast.

Since no one here really eats a lot of red sauce at any one time, we ended of up wasting most of any jar we would open up for either a meal or a snack. I dislike wasting food and I dislike wasting money even more!

I think I have finally found a solution to my problem! After buying a pressure cooker recently, I realized I could easily make a simple red sauce with the canned tomatoes I have on hand and dried and fresh spices. I could control the sugar and the oil. And, I had just purchased a box of vintage jam jars and lids at a garage sale (thinking I would make some jam from the crazy cherry-plum trees that line out driveway). I soon realized, though, that those jars were the perfect size for how much red sauce we might use, even over the course of a few days. (Experience has borne this out. They are perfect!)

I whittled down a recipe I found on the internet (she must have been making pasta sauce for a huge Italian family) and simply put this in my tiny jars (which have sort of been sterilized), let them cool, and then stuck them in my freezer to pop out only when needed.

Here's the recipe I came up with. Of course, like any good cook, you can add things you like. But if you suddenly find yourself trying to feed a veg'n and all you've got in the pantry is some old cheesey or meaty jar of sauce, you can whip this up in an instant for a fresh "chef made" taste. (You don't really even need to pressure cook this, you could also just blend fresh or canned tomatoes and your herbs. Really. It works. I've done it.)

Simple Tomato Sauce
(Make this "Raw Vegan" by using fresh tomatoes and no bay leaf)

3 cans tomatoes (I used diced)
1 can water
1 small can tomato paste or sauce
1-2 tbs dry veggie stock
1-3 tsp of fresh or dry herbs/spices: basil, oregano, chives, onion
1-2 cloves fresh garlic or 1/2-1 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

Optional:
Some red or white wine, vodka, veggies, olives, etc. Saute some onions first in oil or water.

Instructions:
Fresh raw: Just blend this in a blender. Serve.
Cooked on stove: combine all in a pot, simmer til hot or longer if you really want to reduce it and blend the flavors. Take out bay leaf before serving. (I used my pressure cooker. Around 15 minutes at pressure. Natural pressure release. Open lid away from you.)

I poured my sauce into small jam jars that I had boiled to sterilize. Since I wasn't being extra careful, I froze them instead of considering them "canned." Don't over-fill if you are freezing to allow for expansion.

Serve over regular pasta or rice or corn pasta for a fully gluten-free experience.

Easy Garden Wrap

My daughter attended a school with a terrific garden program from Kindergarten through 5th grade. The amazing teacher, Laurel Anderson, made sure the kids weren't just planting seeds or watering flowers. She had them FIXING and EATING the food that they grew. Once a week for two years, I had the pleasure of helping out with my daughter's class. Each week's class ended with a snack made by half the group and served to everyone. Because gardening is not just about plants. It's about food, cooking, sharing, serving, enjoying, discovery, health and community. Laurel got all that in in a 50 minute class.

One of the last meals we shared, and apparently one of the class' favorites, was the "Garden Wrap." It's presented here in a regular tortilla, but if you are gluten-free, you could use a rice wrap, nori or even just roll this up into a big piece of lettuce.

My daughter requests this dressing now. Laurel's original dressing called for yogurt, but I've veganized it to a soy or other-based yogurt with no problem. And because we now grow our own herbs at home, I can make this myself in the blink of an eye.

 

A wrap lends itself to any ingredients you have on hand.

These are my daughter's favorites. 

Harmony Garden Wraps

  Dressing (blend in blender)

• 1/2 cup plain soy or other yogurt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 handfuls of French sorrel (or other herbs- any bitter lettuce works)
• 1 bunch chives
• Herbs/salt – to taste
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup -- 1/2 cup oil (optional)

Wrap Instructions:

• Spread dressing on tortilla.
• Sprinkle on sunflower seeds.
• Grate a little carrot over it.
• Add washed spinach/lettuce.
• Roll it up carefully.
• You can eat this whole, cut it in half or into little wheels if you are serving as an appetizer. 

That's a wrap!

Vegan Chocolate Peppermintini Mousse

Vegan Chocolate Peppermintini Mousse
This is a very simple, no-cook (some melting is involved) recipe that really impresses people. You can even use this as a pie filling.

1 aseptic package silken tofu
1/4–1/2 cup Peppermintini mix (or any other liquid)
1 TBS agave (to taste)
a few drops mint flavoring
1/4 -1/2 bag vegan chocolate chips

Sprinkles and fresh mint for garnish

Blend tofu and liquids in food processor or blender until very smooth.

Melt chocolate chips on stove-top or in microwave. Add to tofu mixture in blender, scraping down sides well.

Put in small cups or one large bowl and store in fridge. You can eat it right away or let it get cold and harder in the fridge. Excellent with vegan whipped cream, nuts, granola, etc. Or fold in vegan whipped cream to make it more of an actual "mousse."

Note: You can put in more or fewer chocolate chips. The more–the firmer, the fewer–the softer and more pudding like. You can also use any kind of liquid you like–water, soy milk, Kahlua or other strongly flavored liqueurs. The chocolate is such a strong flavor that it easily overpowers anything you put in!

To Serve Vegetarians, the Birth of a Cookbook

While perusing the Veggie cookbook shelf at Copperfield's Bookstore in Sebastopol, I had a thought....

I should write a cookbook meant not necessarily for vegetarians/vegans, but for their friends, family and maybe somebody wishing to become the friend or family of a veggie. Something about "How to feed those crazy vegetarians," or "What to fix for your nutty vegan friends." And then synchronicity happened. (Oops, there's another idea. This time for a T-shirt ..."Synchronicity Happens."

DH (Darling Husband), DF (Dear Friend) and I were looking for a place to eat in Downtown Petaluma. We were outside the upscale, fresh, organic Central Market restaurant reading the menu, looking for the vegan options. (They weren't really there.) The chef and owner, Tony Najiola, poked his head out in an effort to cajole us in for a meal. When I asked if he could serve vegans, he said yes, especially with a ranch dip. Buh-dump-bump.

While there was no "vegetarian" entree, he promised he would feed me. I had a lovely plate of several sides. Alas, no protein. Unless beets have protein. (I might have consumed about 3-4g total protein by cleaning my plate of spinach, avocado, beets, potato, garlic, french green beans, asparagus and a glass of chardonnay. BTW, check out The Daily Plate to find out all the nutritional information you could ever want to know about any food.)

The titles for this site (It's a Cookbook!) and the eventual cookbook (To Serve Vegetarians) were born.

And just in case you didn't catch the reference to the cookbook title...there was a short story and a Twilight Zone Episode in 1962. "Helpful" aliens land on earth, and leave a book behind titled "To Serve Man." The first chapter doesn't get translated until it's too late. While trying to stop people from getting on the spaceship, the translator shouts, "It's a cookbook!"

So, it's a cookbook! Or so it will be at some point in the future. (A pox on you if you decide to steal this idea or title.)

Until then, it is a Blog about vegan and vegetarian recipes and a notebook of sorts for thoughts on the cookbook. So, tell everyone you know (or who might care) about this site and lets get the public worked up about this wonderful cookbook and and we can tell publishers that we have public demand for it already!

So let's start the conversation! Please send me your favorite recipes (vegan and vegetarian, that is) and I will deem if they be fit for the blog or the book. I'd like to see recipes that are fairly easy for the non-veg to create. More on this later. It's all a work in progress. Chapter titles will come soon to give you a better idea of where I'm going with this.

No, I don't expect to share any profits, but hopefully I'll send you a book and you'll get a credit when it's published.