I have always thought I hated salad. I would eat it sometimes when I was out to dinner, but I never made it at home. However, I recently tried making my own vinaigrette, and now I am throwing together a salad with dinner a couple times a week.
You could make this using a whisk, but using one of my favorite pieces of equipment, an immersion blender (thanks again, Mom!), makes the vinaigrette frothy and creamy.
Here's what you need, this is just a guess of the measurements, it's really a judgment and preference call. It's pretty tangy-tasting, so if that is not your thing use less lemon and garlic.
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, pressed
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
Put everything together in a bowl or the handy-dandy cup that comes with your immersion blender. Blend until creamy. Toss together with some mixed baby greens. Perfection!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Lazy Cupcakes
Clearly, I am in desperate need of a better camera.
Anyhoo, this recipe for vegan banana cake is a favorite in my family, and has become my go-to cake when I want to bake something quick for desert on a weeknight. I always keep a couple of bananas in the freezer to make this cake, and I am beginning to think my obsession with it is preventing me from exploring other cake options. Oh well.
So, on Friday night after a long work week I decided to make cupcakes, but did not want a big production. So, I made the banana cake into cupcakes, filling each muffin cup almost to the top. I then baked them for about 25 minutes.
For the top, I melted some semi-sweet chocolate together with some soy creamer to make a ganache. The result looked like a delicious bowl of chocolate soup I could have eaten right then, but I proceeded with my plan and dipped and swirled each cupcake in the ganache.
The whole process took a couple of hours (cupcakes must cool completely before topping) but I only had two dirty bowls to wash! I have no dishwasher, so when I am tired and just want a cupcake, that is the best news ever.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Holy Hamantashen!
Today was one of my most favorite kind of days, a SNOW DAY! Apparently people who work in offices don't get to take snow days, so I had the apartment all to myself. I needed a project. After giving it some thought, I decided to attempt to make hamantashen, delicious three cornered cookies eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim.
Why hamantashen you may ask? First off, I have never made them before. Second, I know I will be tempted with many a non-vegan hamantashen cookie at school in the week ahead, and I thought it might be a good idea to be armed with my own vegan version. Unfortunately, my beautiful baby-pink Kitchenaid mixer in currently in-transit from Colorado to Brooklyn, so this project proved to be a little more difficult than I had intended.
The dough recipe is hodge-podged from a few different places, but mostly inspired by a Barefoot Contessa recipe for rugelach I have veganized and used in the past which is so good it's addictive, with a few modifications (mostly because I was running low on some ingredients).
Hodge-Podge Vegan Hamantashen
(makes a dozen cookies)
The Dough
3/4 cups Tofutti Cream Cheese (at room temp)
1/2 cup Earth Balance or any vegan margarine (at room temp)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5-6 tsp. vanilla soy milk
Cream together tofutti, earth balance and sugar in a mixer (I had to do this in the food processor, which was a bit more tedious but worked). Mix in flour, salt, and vanilla until combined. The dough will be crumbly, so just as you would when making a pie crust, add soy milk one tsp. at a time until it just comes together. Dump onto a floured surface, knead until it sticks together in a large ball, and throw in the fridge or freezer for an hour or so. While it is chilling, you can make the poppy seed filling.
Poppy Seed Filling
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp. corn starch
2 1/2 tbs. agave nectar
1 tbs. earth balance
zest of 1/2 lemon
Simmer soy milk and poppy seeds together in a small sauce pot for about 10 minutes. Add cornstarch and earth balance, whisking to prevent as many clumps as possible. Simmer for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and add the lemon zest, and let cool.
Other (and easier) fillings include jellies and jams. In addition to the poppy seed filling, I used some raspberry jam I picked up at the farmer's market last week.
Take dough out of the fridge, and roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut circles a couple of inches wide out. Put a teaspoon of whatever filling you are using in the middle of the circle, and fold three sides up to form a triangle. Pinch the corners closed very tightly (especially if you are using jam) and put on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-50 minutes until just brown.
Conclusion: if you are looking for a project to take up half of your day, make hamantashen filled with jam (which I found to be the tastiest anyways). If you are looking for a project to take up all day and drive you slightly crazy, make hamantashen with poppy seed filling.
Why hamantashen you may ask? First off, I have never made them before. Second, I know I will be tempted with many a non-vegan hamantashen cookie at school in the week ahead, and I thought it might be a good idea to be armed with my own vegan version. Unfortunately, my beautiful baby-pink Kitchenaid mixer in currently in-transit from Colorado to Brooklyn, so this project proved to be a little more difficult than I had intended.
The dough recipe is hodge-podged from a few different places, but mostly inspired by a Barefoot Contessa recipe for rugelach I have veganized and used in the past which is so good it's addictive, with a few modifications (mostly because I was running low on some ingredients).
Hodge-Podge Vegan Hamantashen
(makes a dozen cookies)
The Dough
3/4 cups Tofutti Cream Cheese (at room temp)
1/2 cup Earth Balance or any vegan margarine (at room temp)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5-6 tsp. vanilla soy milk
Cream together tofutti, earth balance and sugar in a mixer (I had to do this in the food processor, which was a bit more tedious but worked). Mix in flour, salt, and vanilla until combined. The dough will be crumbly, so just as you would when making a pie crust, add soy milk one tsp. at a time until it just comes together. Dump onto a floured surface, knead until it sticks together in a large ball, and throw in the fridge or freezer for an hour or so. While it is chilling, you can make the poppy seed filling.
Poppy Seed Filling
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp. corn starch
2 1/2 tbs. agave nectar
1 tbs. earth balance
zest of 1/2 lemon
Simmer soy milk and poppy seeds together in a small sauce pot for about 10 minutes. Add cornstarch and earth balance, whisking to prevent as many clumps as possible. Simmer for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and add the lemon zest, and let cool.
Other (and easier) fillings include jellies and jams. In addition to the poppy seed filling, I used some raspberry jam I picked up at the farmer's market last week.
Take dough out of the fridge, and roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut circles a couple of inches wide out. Put a teaspoon of whatever filling you are using in the middle of the circle, and fold three sides up to form a triangle. Pinch the corners closed very tightly (especially if you are using jam) and put on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-50 minutes until just brown.
Conclusion: if you are looking for a project to take up half of your day, make hamantashen filled with jam (which I found to be the tastiest anyways). If you are looking for a project to take up all day and drive you slightly crazy, make hamantashen with poppy seed filling.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Lunch for tomorrow- DONE.
It's another lazy, chilly, gre
y, blegh Sunday day in Brooklyn. I didn't really get around to thinking about lunch until about 2:45ish. Whoops.
When I did get hungry enough to get up and do something about it, I made this. It was simple, easy and delish, and I have enough to bring for lunch tomorrow. Nothing makes me happier than having tomorrow's lunch packed early, I feel accomplished, people (or person I know that actually reads this blog, HI
OMI!).
This recipe from Smitten Kitchen (not a vegan blog, but lovely all the same) is inspired by one at 'wichcraft, which I had in September and have been hoping to have again. Making it at home was a lot cheaper, and dare I say tastier?
It makes me happy to add a new sandwich to my repertoire, I usually stick to pbj, tofutti and avocado, or tofu "egg" salad. I enjoyed this smashed chickpea salad on toasted sprouted whole grain bread (a new favorite, and it packs 5 grams of protein per slice, holla) and it would probably be perfect alongside some of Ashley's tabouli.
y, blegh Sunday day in Brooklyn. I didn't really get around to thinking about lunch until about 2:45ish. Whoops.When I did get hungry enough to get up and do something about it, I made this. It was simple, easy and delish, and I have enough to bring for lunch tomorrow. Nothing makes me happier than having tomorrow's lunch packed early, I feel accomplished, people (or person I know that actually reads this blog, HI
OMI!).This recipe from Smitten Kitchen (not a vegan blog, but lovely all the same) is inspired by one at 'wichcraft, which I had in September and have been hoping to have again. Making it at home was a lot cheaper, and dare I say tastier?
And I used "Lindsay" olives. How many times do I have to tell you people, it's Ey!
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