sun-dried tomato pesto
January 16, 2012
Everyone should have a few pestos and sauces loitering around in their fridge. They are so versatile and adaptable. We try to keep romesco, tapenade, and hummus on hand to spread on sandwiches, to snack on with a cracker when we’ve got the afternoon munchies, or to dollop on soup and stews like the fabulous Tuscan ribollita. This sun-dried pesto version is another option with either basil (on the right) or straight-up (on the left). With all the health benefits of basil – it being antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, and “king of the herbs” as some like to call it – why wouldn’t you throw in a handful? But, the minimalist version is beautiful as well.
2 cups sun-dried tomatoes, plain or smoked
1 cup pecans
1 cup basil (optional)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste
Throw all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until the pesto reaches your preferred consistency. Adjust salt and serve.
zucchini bread
January 4, 2012
Bekah’s friend Emma came to visit from Massachusetts after Christmas with a gift bag in hand from Kripalu, a yoga retreat centre where her mom works. The gift bag contained lots of goodies including the Kripalu breakfast cookbook. I found this recipe for zucchini bread which makes me happy because my mom used to make zucchini bread all the time when I was younger but I haven’t had a homemade version in ages. I increased the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg because I think it can hold it. The rest is straightforward and easy peasy on a Saturday morning for breakfast. It would also be good for afternoon tea.
1/3 cup flaxseed meal (this is simply flaxseed ground into a fine powder)
1/2 cup water
2 1/4 cups grated zucchini (about two medium zucchini)
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 x 4″ loaf pan.
In a small bowl, combine flaxseed meal and water and let soak for a few minutes.
Combine zucchini (if the grated zucchini is very wet, place it in a strainer and press gently with a towel to remove some of the excess moisture) and soaked flaxseed meal in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Add to the zucchini mixture and stir to combine. Add brown sugar and mix until nearly dissolved.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add to the zucchini mixture and mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake until the bread is well browned, edges begin to shrink form the sides of the pan, and loaf is firm when pressed, about 1 1/2 hours. This is a moist loaf. When you insert a toothpick in the centre and pull it out, it should come out not quite clean an dhave moist crumbs stuck to it.
Let cool in pan. To remove from pan, turn pan over and tap lightly to release. Slice and serve.
creamy triple mushroom gemelli
January 2, 2012
Every winter season should have its own favourite mushroom dish. Last January it was the winter portobello stew; this January I think it might just be this creamy triple mushroom gemelli. Rich, creamy, saucy, and earthy, with a hit of spice, it warms the soul on a chilly day. I haven’t decided whether the triple mushroom refers to the three main kinds of mushrooms I used – shiitake, enoki, and cremini – or to the three mushroom-based components of the dish – mushroom roux, mushroom sauce, and the crispy mushroom topping. But who cares? It’s all good in the name of comfort food, especially for funghi-lovers the world over.
Crispy mushrooms
8 oz wild mushrooms, enoki, baby king, shiitake, cleaned and chopped
2 – 3 tbsps olive oil
1-2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
sea salt and black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
small bunch thyme, leaves picked
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss all the ingredients in a mixing bowl so the mushrooms are well coated with olive oil and balsamic. Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until mushrooms are cooked through, rich in flavour, and crispy in texture.
Mushroom Gemelli
1 small handful dried porcini or other dried mushrooms
2 tbsps flour
1 tbsp olive oil
4 or 5 cups mixed mushrooms, shiitake, cremini, portobello, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, coursely chopped
1 1/2 cups soy cream (a soy-based cream available at any specialty shop)
1/4 cup red wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp white miso
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp turmeric
chopped fresh rosemary
sea salt and pepper
parsley for garnish
1 lb pasta, gemelli, fettucine, or another other shape of choice
Grind dried porcini mushrooms in a spice grinder until the consistency of a fine powder. Mix with the flour and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan. Add chopped mushrooms and saute until they begin sweat and brown a little. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and cooked through but not brown. When the garlic and mushrooms are done, sprinkle them with the flour and porcini mixture. Stir well until the flour is well moistened and the mushroom powder is fragrant. Keep stirring and scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan for 2 – 3 minutes.
As the mushroom mixture cooks, mix together the cream, red wine, tomato paste, miso, nutmeg, cayenne, turmeric, and rosemary. Start to slowly add the liquid ingredients to the mushroom mixture. You want to create a smooth, creamy sauce so add the liquids about 1/4 cup at a time stirring well as you go along. Let it simmer for a few minutes while you add sea salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta. When the pasta is done, toss with your creamy mushroom sauce and top with crispy mushrooms and a healthy dose of parsley. Serve piping hot and raise a toast to a job well done.
cauliflower steaks with apple shallot purée
December 17, 2011
Christmas is quickly approaching and I’ve been working on my holiday menu. My good friend, and most avid v:gourmet fan, Glenn, sent me a recipe awhile back for cauliflower steaks which I’ve kept tucked away until now. Good thing I pulled it out and experimented with it because it’s going to be on the table on the 25th for sure. The cauliflower steaks themselves give you something “meaty” to cut into, with a great “mouth-feel” as they say. The accompanying purée adds a wonderful complexity and depth of flavour with a combo of apples, shallots, leeks, and thyme. Put it next to mixed quinoa – red, black, and white – and some rosemary tomato skewers and you’ve got a gorgeous plate full of goodness. I’ll be amping it up a bit (’tis the season) with wild mushrooms parcels, roasted squash, and other goodies.
1 large, or 2 small, head of cauliflower
olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
1 leek, chopped coursely
2 small apples, peeled, cored, and chopped coarsely
1/2 cup dry white wine or sherry
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
sea salt and pepper
At the largest part of the cauliflower heads, cut a cross-section to create four to six 1-inch steaks. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. BBQ steaks over medium-high heat or sear the steaks in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Add chopped shallots, leeks, the remaining cauliflower “off-cuts” from the steaks, apples, and thyme. Sauté until everything is tender and cooked through. Add white wine or sherry and reduce for 5 minutes or so on low-heat. Add sea salt and pepper to season. Purée in a blender until smooth.
Serve the cauliflower steaks bien-placé on the apple shallot purée and accompany with quinoa, vegetables, or whatever else tickles your fancy.
rosemary tomato skewers
December 17, 2011
These couldn’t be simpler, or more colourful and flavourful. They are a wonderful accompaniment to a holiday meal, especially with the pungency of rosemary which is welcome at any Christmas table of mine. And they are so easy to make – and are totally conducive to making head of time – thus allowing you to concentrate on everything else going on in the kitchen.
8 – 12 rosemary sprigs
32 – 40 small tomatoes
2 tbsps dijon mustard
2 tbsps olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
sea salt and pepper
Soak rosemary sprigs in water to ensure they are well hydrated. Meanwhile, combine mustard, olive oil, garlic and sea salt and pepper. Toss tomatoes in the mustard dressing. Feed tomatoes onto the rosemary skewers with 4 or 5 tomatoes on each. Grill over medium heat on the BBQ or roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
barley pea red pepper salad
December 10, 2011
We are full-on into the holiday season with parties and lunches and general merry-making. I love it and am always a sucker for taking full advantage of the season. Problem is that sometimes it just gets a bit too much with heavier, richer food, and lots of it. When I need a reprieve – a light lunch before getting all dolled up for a Christmas party – I pull out this very simple, elemental barley salad. The simpler the better. And with the red and green it still feels festive.
1 1/2 cups barley
1 1/2 cup peas
2 red peppers, diced
2 green onions, sliced
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsps olive oil, lemon infused if you can find it (I got mine from the Brickworks farmers’ market for any Torontonians out there)
sea salt and pepper
Cook barley until done. Let cool. Meanwhile sauté red peppers in a little bit of olive oil. Set aside. Cook peas in boiling water until tender and then plunge them in cold water when done to seal in the colour. Toss cooked barley, peppers, and peas with green onion, lemon zest, juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. It’s really that easy.
raspberry blueberry cornmeal muffins
November 27, 2011
Packed full of fresh berries, these muffins are a perfect Sunday morning breakfast to accompany the sweet, aromatic flavours of cinnamon earl grey tea. The cornmeal adds a nice crunch and the lemon zest sugar has always been a long-time favourite since my mom first started dousing her blueberry muffins with this zingy zangy topping. And they are so easy to throw together you don’t have to worry about getting up early. Sleep in and still get them in the oven by noon. Oh sorry, that’s someone else’s life … but the point still stands. 30 minutes start to finish. On your mark. Get set. Go.
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 cups cane sugar
3 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 cups almond, rice, or soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cups sunflower or safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups berries (fresh or frozen; if frozen don’t thaw)
2 tbsps cane sugar
zest from 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your muffin tin with either paper baking cups or oil and flour.
Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking power, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add apple cider vinegar to the soy milk and let sit for a few minutes until milk curdles slightly. Once curdled, add oil and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to dry and gently fold mixture together. Then add berries and gently fold into batter.
In a small bowl combine lemon zest and cane sugar.
Fill muffin cups to about 3/4 full with muffin batter, and then sprinkle with sugar/zest combo.
Bake on the middle rack for about 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
winter kale salad with lemon dill tahini dressing
November 22, 2011
We’ve been totally spoiled this fall with sunshine and warm temperatures. We’re heading toward the end of November and you can still get tender greens at the farmers’ market. That will all be over soon I’m afraid and the homegrown greens will have to wait until next spring. The tender ones that is, but we’ve still got kale and chard and the hearty greens that work so well steamed, in soups, and in salads like this winter kale salad with a lemon dill tahini dressing chock-a-block full of other goodies like cranberries and pecans.
1 bunch winter kale
juice from 1 lemon
3 tbsps olive oil
sea salt
tamari pumpkin seeds
dried cranberries
currents
toasted pecans, chopped
1/2 apple, shredded
lemon dill tahini dressing
Wash and dry the winter kale. Cut it in thin slices. Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, and sea salt. Massage the lemon juice, oil, and salt into the kale with your hands to tenderize it. Go for it. It’s therapeutic. Then let it sit for 20 minutes or so.
Add the pumpkin seeds, cranberries, currents, and pecans. Toss. Place in individual bowls or plates. Drizzle liberally with dressing and then top with shredded apple.
For the Dressing:
This is a must-have for every refrigerator out there. Make a big batch and keep it handy because it’s fabulous on salads, winter kale, steamed veggies, falafals, sandwiches, or even a dipping sauce for whatever tickles your fancy. Make it a bit thicker and just thin out what you need with a little water for salads when you want to use it as a dressing.
3/4 cup tahini paste
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup dill
sea salt and pepper
In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients. Let it rip until everything is blended well. Adjust taste with salt and pepper if needed. Add a bit more water if it’s too thick. Store in a jar in the fridge and use it liberally whenever the mood strikes.
tempeh bourgignon
November 19, 2011
In my pre-vegan days I gravitated to the sublimely saucy French fare like Beef Bourgignon, Coq Au Vin, and Bisque de Langouste. The base of most of these stews is, of course, meat, chicken, and fish so adieu, adieu to yieu and yieu and yieu. I was thrilled when I tripped over this recipe for Tempeh Bourgignon in the Moosewood Cookbook. They hit the nail on the head when they say that not only is tempeh low in fat and high in fiber and protein, it also has the wonderful ability to soak up flavours. You mean like mushrooms, red wine, garlic, and thyme? I say bring on the tempeh in this bourgignon classic.
3 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 cups onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
4 cups mushrooms, coarsely chopped
8 oz tempeh, cut into cubes
1/2 cup red wine
15-ozs of stewed tomatoes
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsps minced fresh thyme
sea salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley for garnish
In a saucepan on medium heat, warm the olive oil and cook the onions until tender and browning. Add the garlic, bay leaves, and salt and saute until the garlic is fragrant, about another 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, fennel, and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms being to release their juices, about 10 minutes.
Deglaze with the red wine. Let simmer until the wine reduces slightly. Add the tomatoes and tempeh and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the dijon, thyme, additional sea salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for another 5 minutes or so. When the stew is done, stir in chopped parsley and serve over garlic smashed potatoes, with a crisp kale salad on the side.
celery root parsnip soup with porcini toasts
November 13, 2011
Nothing says fall quite like root vegetables and soup. Try this earthy concoction of celery root and parsnips infused with porcini to ground you in the season as the leaves fall, the days get shorter, and we start to naturally turn inward and hibernate. The toasts on top are an extra, but an absolutely essential one in my books as they add texture, flavour, and substance.
For the soup:
a large handful of dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
3 tbsps olive oil
4 medium onions, sliced
3 large parsnips, cleaned and cubed
1 small celery root, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
6 cups veggie stock
a couple sprigs of thyme, destemmed
sea salt and pepper
For the toasts:
a handful of dried porcini mushrooms
a small bunch of parsley, destemmed
1 garlic clove, peeled
a small handful of roasted pecans
sea salt and pepper
bread
Bring the wine and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat. Add the handful of dried porcini mushrooms and let sit until rehydrated.
Meanwhile, heat up olive oil in a large dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and let simmer until soft and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Add cubed parsnips and celery root and sauté until parsnips are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add porcini with their soaking liquid, garlic, veggie stock, sprigs of thyme, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 40 minutes until vegetables are very soft and cooked right through.
While the soup cooks, prepare the topping for your toasts. Soak a handful of dried porcini in hot water. Once done, remove them from the water, squeeze out excess liquid and chop them with parsley, garlic, pecans, and a little sea salt and pepper.
When the soup is done, pureé in a food processor and return to the dutch oven, adjust seasoning. You can add the left-over porcini liquid from the toasts if you want to adjust the consistency as well. Toast some interesting bread and then cover liberally with your porcini, nut, garlic topping. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Serve the soup piping hot with the porcini toast floating on top.
v:gourmet 