Radish Leaf Pesto

To prove the authenticity of this "vegan country kitchen" blog, my hot gardener brought me these home-grown radishes the other night. Actually, he happens to be my hot hubbie and these radishes are from our gorgeous little country garden. 

While washing the radishes, he mulled that "there must be something we can do with all these radish leaves". This was our first official home garden product, and it seemed a horrifically sad waste to chalk half of it up to being trash. 

While I'm rather adverse to using recipes, I had to admit I was at a loss for how to use these slightly prickly and quite bitter large leaves. I cheated, and visited the Chocolate & Zucchini website and found a killer creative pesto recipe for these babies. 

Drop a couple handfuls of radish leaves (no stems) into your food processor, along with some vegan parmesan cheese (or even any other white vegan cheese). Add a handful or two of cashews or almonds, and a clove or two of fresh garlic. Pour in an ounce or so of lemon juice, and about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle in a rather generous amount of salt and grind in a bunch of black pepper. Pulse in your food processor for a while, turning off to stir as needed. Taste test along the way and add in ingredients as needed. If it's too thick, add extra oil. Serve with several varieties of your favorite crackers! Keeps in the fridge for half a week. 

Country "Sushi"

So this is actually simply a cleverly designed and sliced wrap. 

- Start with your favorite large-sized wrap. I used a spinach wrap. Lay it flat on a plate. 

- Spread vegan cream cheese on the top 2/3 of the wrap. This will be your "stuffing" area. 

- Lay about three slices of faux deli meat (I like oven roasted Tofurky slices) on top of the cream cheese. 

- Next, layer on several large slices of avocado, and then tomato, and then vegan cheese slices. Try to make all "stuffings" cover the cream cheese foundation.

- Finally, place a few spinach leaves on top. Grind on fresh black pepper and sea salt. 

- Start rolling! This is the tricky part. Start rolling on the stuffing side. The "naked" side is rolled up last. Your roll will be pretty fat, so don't freak out. Notice in my picture that my rolls are big, and not completely stuck together. They may look perfect, but I arranged them so that they'd look nice. :) Roll tightly, but not so much that the wrap busts open. 

- After you have the roll, carefully slice into about 1" pieces. I started my slices in the middle of the roll, rather than the ends (so as not to push out the stuffings).

- The pieces wont hold together perfectly, but feel free to eat them with chopsticks if you're a sushi expert! I did, and had a blast. :)

- For my side, I served a can of black olives and created a simple dip: 2 parts vegan mayo to 1 part Grey Poupon (original deli style mustard). 

Parmesan Encrusted Tuscan Tofu

I was feeling especially creative tonight. In the foreground, we ate boiled bi-color corn on the cob with pink Himalayan salt and light Smart Balance. I also served my Iron Skillet Mediterranean Veggies (with the corn) and my famous Summer Chop Salad (on the left). 

But the highlight of the meal was my new and now signature (vegan) Parmesan Encrusted Tuscan Tofu. 

- Start with a block of extra firm tofu. Drain and press out the excess water. Slice into very thin squares. 

- Lightly oil an iron skillet (or frying pan) and drop in a couple cloves of minced garlic, and half a sweet onion (also minced) if desired. Let that sauté for a couple minutes. 

- Place each tofu square into the skillet individually (with the garlic and onion still in there), so each is laying flat. Sprinkle the tofu - while in the pan - generously with pink Himalayan salt, Tuscan (or Italian) seasoning, and vegan parmesan cheese.

- Allow it to sauté for about 5-7 minutes, until brown on the bottom. When brown, flip the squares over. Repeat the seasoning again, on the other side of the tofu that is now facing up. 

- Allow it to sauté again for about 5 minutes. When this other side is brown, flip over for a third and final time, to allow the newly seasoned side to brown with the cheese and seasonings. 

- If desired, after serving, sprinkle additional vegan parmesan and fresh cracked salt to bring out the full flavor. 

- Serve with a side of original Grey Poupon for dipping.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

My husband and best friend both swear these are their favorite peanut butter cookies. And lucky for you, they're one of the simplest things I make, though, I can't really take credit for this recipe. Various versions of it are floating around the internet, I've just added a couple things to make it all the more delicious. 

You'll need: one cup of your favorite peanut butter (smooth or crunchy), one to one and a half cups of your favorite sweetener (I like Sugar in the Raw or Stevia), and egg replacer equaling one egg. Mix it all up, and spoon the now cookie batter onto a non-stick baking sheet. It's your choice whether you make the cookies small and thick, or big and thin. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies just start to brown. 

If you'd like, you can add some dark chocolate squares to each cookie for an antioxidant boost. And a walk down  peanut butter cup memory lane! 

Sunny Power Salad

This is one of my favorite quick salads. It's loaded with protein, fiber, and just the right amount of fat. A great lunch option for a busy day, and will keep you full so you're not searching for a mid-afternoon snack.

Grab a few handfuls of fresh organic spinach and after washing, throw in a large salad bowl. Cube up half a block of extra firm tofu and drop that in next. Tear up a couple slices of vegan cheese slices and layer on top of the tofu. Sprinkle on roasted sunflower seeds. Drizzle on a bit of your favorite light dressing. 

Seven-Layer Taco Cups

Kudos to one of my best friends, for dropping this yummy idea into our laps on a recent visit to their South Carolina home. 

- Find a muffin pan. Press either filo dough or wonton wrappers into each muffin slot. 

- Prep either faux ground beef or extra firm tofu. If tofu, cut into teeny tiny cubes and season with low sodium taco seasoning. If faux ground beef, brown in a frying pan, also with taco seasoning. 

- Plop whatever meat substitute you chose into the bottom of each wonton or filo dough muffin section. 

- Top each with vegan shredded cheese. 

- Bake at about 375 degrees for around 10-12 minutes. 

- On the side, prep fresh pico with chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt. 

- Also optionally prep fresh guacamole with the same ingredients for pico, plus avocado.

- Once the taco cups are through baking, top each with guacamole, pico, and a dollop of vegan sour cream. Add a whole black olive to the top of each if you'd like. 

Seitan Stir-Fry with White Sauce

The first time I tried seitan, I'd been vegan for about half a year and freaked out, thinking that Whole Foods seriously screwed up when they told me I was buying mock chicken salad. I spit the bite into a napkin and read the ingredient label, only to find Whole Foods indeed was not a no-good, low-down, lying scumbag of a company. In fact, they introduced me to this mysterious seitan (not to be confused with Heaven's arch-nemesis), which actually is simply wheat gluten, prepared in a fancy manner to cook, taste and look just like chicken or beef.  

For this stir-fry, I broke up a package of seitan and threw into a wok. But... DON'T THROW OUT THE SEITAN WATER!!! We'll use it later. Let the seitan fry in the wok (with or without a bit of oil or water to keep it moist). While the seitan is in the wok, cut up and toss in a bunch of asparagus and a head or so of broccoli. Stir it. Fry it. Let it sit there for up to 10 minutes.

While that's cooking, pour the seitan water into a microwavable container. Stir in 2-4 teaspoons of cornstarch. Microwave for about 2 minutes. This mixture will turn into the white sauce gravy. If it's not thick enough, add in another teaspoon or two of cornstarch and microwave again. Once you've reached a thin gravy consistency, pour it into the wok with the seitan and veggies. Stir-fry it all for another few minutes to allow the flavor to soak into the seitan and veggies, and the excess liquid to steam off. Serve alone, or over your rice of choice. 

Shake n' Bake Tofu

I missed my days of victorious one-toothed grins on TV ads, proclaiming "It's Shake n' Bake and I helped!!!" Okay, that wasn't really me. But I strove to be that kid at one point in my life.

As a vegan, I searched for something to Shake n' Bake. Duh, you can do anything with tofu. Like the nasty dead animal parts I used to use, I tossed cubed (big or small, your choice) extra firm tofu into a ziplock bag with the Shake n' Bake mix, a handful of tofu at a time... AFTER dunking the tofu in almond milk (which makes the mix stick to the tofu). Carefully lay out all the coated tofu cubes onto a non-stick baking pan. Bake at about 425 degrees for around 10-15 minutes, until a warm brown color. 

I served with a bowl of generic brand beef stroganoff mix (sans the beef) and baked baby asparagus spears (dusted with olive oil, sea salt and pepper before baking for about 5-8 minutes). 

Sautéed Summer Veggies & Portobello Sandwich

I had the BEST portobello mushroom hoagie at  Mellow Mushroom in Hickory. I immediately dragged my husband to the grocery store and purchased a ton of gloriously huge portobellos.   As an elementary school kid, I was the oddball geeklet who ordered mushrooms and olives on my pizza. All the cool 8-year-olds thought I was gross. Yeah, laugh it up after all that cholesterol, fat, and slimy rotten meat you guys used to slather on your nasty pizzas. I'm veggie and I know it. :) 

So for this incredibly delicious adult meal, I found vegan potato buns. Add a couple thick slices of avocado, some iceberg lettuce, and raw onion. Toss the portobello cap (or slices) into a lightly oiled skillet and pan fry for a few minutes until well-browned. Sprinkle a bit of sea or pink Himalayan salt on the portobello if desired, and layer into the sandwich.

For the beautiful side dish, slice up three or four (preferably local) squashes, three zucchinis, a vidalia onion, and more portobello mushrooms. Season with the salt and a bit of oil after dumping into a skillet or wok. Pour a little water in while lightly sautéing if the veggies appear to be drying out. Sauté (or stir-fry) lightly, until everything is minimally browned, but still rather crunchy. The color and crunch denote the presence of vitamins and minerals! 

Diet A&W root beer optional. Mandatory for those of us addicted to it. ;)

Cauliflower Popcorn

I'm just a tad iPad-obsessed, and as a holistic nutrition consultant, I'm always monitoring the app store for new wellness apps. My favorite is Superfood HD, which focuses on simple snack ideas for whole foods, and incorporates an incredible amount of nutrition info for each fruit and veggie. 

My favorite little snack of the moment is cauliflower "popcorn". Grab an entire head of cauliflower. Wash it and cut it up into little florets. Toss it all into a good quality ziplock bag. Trust me... not a cheapo generic brand. I tried that once and POOF!!!!! Cauliflower on my hardwood floor and four happy dogs getting a great dose of vitamins and fiber. Anyhow, with the cauliflower, dump in about three tablespoons of nutritional yeast and grind in some fresh sea salt, along with an optional dash or two of cayenne pepper. Shake shake shake your bootie (and your ziplock bag). Taste test to make sure it doesn't need more salt. Also experiment with some fresh grated pepper. Pour into a popcorn bowl, pop in a movie, and enjoy know ing you're loading up on fiber instead of fat. As a huge popcorn lover, I had to admit that I prefer this to popcorn! Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Fancy-Shmancy Grilled Cheese

This creation is credited to my hubbie. He taught me how to make the unbelievably scrumptious grilled cheese sandwich his dad made for him as a kid. When I'm particularly stressed by graduate school work, he makes this to warm my heart and tummy. 

We buy fresh sourdough bread, or sometimes make a loaf of sweet country bread in our breadmaker machine. But for grilled cheese, I find tangy sourdough to be the yummiest. Drop some Light Smart Balance or other non-dairy butter substitute onto an iron skillet (preferably) or frying pan. Take two pieces of bread. On one, spread a bit of vegan mayo. On the other, place some vegan cheese of your choice. You don't need tons of cheese, because the mayo adds a lot of depth to the sandwich. Place the two slices of bread in the skillet and allow them to pan fry, mayo and cheese sides up, of course. Check the bread every minute or so until you reach the brown color you're looking for (I prefer mine just lightly browned so as to retain the bread's full flavor). If desired, add a fresh slice of tomato before smushing the sandwich together! A true country version of the grilled cheese sandwich. 

Good Ole' Root Beer Float

Those who have known me for more than 24 hours may notice a can of Diet A&W root beer is one of my permanent accessories. When I wake up in the morning. When I eat lunch. When I'm in class. When I'm in the car. When I make dinner. When I eat dinner. When I'm working. When I shop. When I visit my family's house. When I go to bed. While I'm a certified holistic nutrition consultant, I have allowed myself one real edible vice. I drink about 4-5 cans of Diet A&W daily. Please don't lecture me about artificial sweeteners... not only do I know about them, I professionally studied them. I may not be blissfully ignorant, but I'm blissful with my daily liter of frothiness. 

Perhaps the simplest "recipe" on my blog: the root beer float! Plunk about three scoops of vegan vanilla ice cream into a chilled beer mug. Pour in a can of root beer, and enjoy, knowing no dairy cows had to suffer for your guilty little pleasure. 

Iron Skillet Mediterranean Veggies

We invested in an iron skillet not too long ago, after making friends with a local rather famous chef who swears by iron skillets. David researched online how to properly "season" the skillet before using it (a 2+ hour process, but well worth it). Basically, it needs to be oiled and baked for a while so that it will be a naturally non-stick piece of cookware. I refuse to cook with any other pan now except our iron skillet, with the exception of the occasional wok dish. My tofu stays in tact, my food browns evenly, and I can cook on what used to be dangerously high heat! 

For these Mediterranean-style vegetables, I found local squash and zucchini. I sliced these up, along with an eggplant, onion, and a couple giant portobello mushroom caps. Put a bit of oil in the skillet and toss in the chunks of eggplant. Eggplant apparently needs to be cooked for some time to soften it... take my word for it. I tried to lightly sauté it initially, and ended up eating rubber, not figuratively. So, sauté the eggplant by itself for a while on rather high heat, until it begins to soften and brown and turn mushy. Then, toss in some onion and the zucchini, squash, and portobello. Continue browning, turning and mixing. It will be almost done when the zucchini and squash are softer on the inside, but their "skins" are still pretty firm (Don't overcook! Retain the vitamins!)  At this point, toss in some chunks of tomato and a couple big handfuls of olives (I am in love with canned black olives, but use your own favorite). Save the tomatoes and olives until the end so as not to overcook them and keep their nice texture. They'll last fine in the skillet for 2-5 minutes. 

Dump it all into a big mixing bowl when done. Pour a little olive oil over all of it, and sprinkle fresh pink Himalayan salt, Tuscan seasoning, and some vegan parmesan. As with all of my "recipes", everything is approximate, to taste, and to your personal liking. Feel free to tweak. This dish will keep for a good three or four days in the fridge and makes for a great leftover (don't microwave... pan fry it again when re-serving to keep it crisp). 

Baked Peanut Butter Tofu

I heart peanut butter. But as Mary Tyler Moore's Rhoda would say, I may as well apply it directly to my hips. 

So, I try to make it healthy when I do use it. For this easy entree, drain, press, and slice a block of extra firm organic tofu into about half-inch thick squares. Spread your favorite peanut butter (mine is any by Peanut Butter & Co.) on the bottom of a square casserole dish. Place the tofu slices on top of the peanut butter. Then spread more peanut butter on top of the tofu, and around the sides as much as possible. Sprinkle a few peanuts on top. Bake at about 375 degrees for around 15 minutes, or until it all starts browning a bit. 

Feel free to drizzle on a bit of agave or maple syrup to after serving, if you prefer a sweeter dish, or sprinkle on some pink Himalayan sea salt for saltier.