Vegan Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancakes)

my vegan Okonomiyaki

"Okonomiyaki, is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a random variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like/want" and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked". Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region."

some get creative with toppings

Most Okonomiyaki recipes require eggs and seafood. However, I found this great recipe for vegan Okonomiyaki on the blog Your Vegan Mom (reprinted from the cookbook - Japanese Cooking: Contemporary & Traditional [Simple, Delicious, and Vegan]). I love the use of veggies and whole wheat pastry flour (making it a healthy meal).

2 cups water (I used a vegan bouillon cube)
1/4 pound regular tofu (or about 1/2 cup)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 or 5 cups thinly sliced vegetables (I used broccoli, onions and mushrooms)
Puree the water and tofu in a blender until smooth.
Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl, and mix well.  Pour in the liquid mixture, and mix lightly.  Add the vegetables and mix well to combine.

Cook large pancakes on a lightly oiled skillet or griddle over medium-low heat until browned on both sides.  Serve while hot with soy sauce or tonkatsu sauce (I used sweet chili sauce)

Yield: 4 - 6 servings

Homemade Almond Milk (part II - how to blanch almond)

Last week I made almond milk using store brought blanched almonds and coconut water (read about this deliciousness here). This week I decided to save money and use only raw almonds (the blanched ones cost ~$2 more), water and 4 dates. So I Googled and learned how to blanched almonds myself!

How to Blanch Almonds:
~ Place almonds in a bowl

~ Pour boiling water to barely cover almonds
~ Let the almonds sit for 1 minute and no longer (or they lose their crispness)
~ Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again
~ Pat dry and slip the skins off

Truth be told the whole process took about 20 minutes for 2.5 cups of almonds. It's quite time consuming to take all the skins off. They slip off super easy but when you have a lot of almonds the seconds add up. Next time I'm going to try using a garlic peeler to try to speed up the process.

I did discover that although almond milk made with coconut water scores a 9.5/10 (taste bud wise). Homemade almond milk with water is still really good....and much better than the store brought variety.

Now if only I could find a cheap organic supplier of raw almonds. Any suggestions????

PS. I highly recommend buying a nut milk bag if you plan on making almond milk frequently. It cut down the straining time significantly.

Homemade Almond Milk (with coconut water)

Almond coconut milk

This article in Veg News magazine inspired me to try making my own almond milk. Mylkman founder, Jeff Leaf delivers fresh almond milk made with almonds and coconut water to customers in the Los Angeles area ($14 for 32-oz delivery). Since I don’t live in LA and was really curious how the mixture of almond and coconut milk would taste, I made my own!

The whole process is relatively easy. The most time/labor is spent straining out the almond bits with cheese cloth. The taste is super delicious. Next week, I’m going to try making plain almond milk (sans coconut) to determine how much of the deliciousness is because it’s homemade vs. because I added coconut water.

Ingredients:
2 cup blanched almonds
water for soaking nuts
2 cups filtered water
2 cups coconut water
2 dates

Preparation:
Soak the almonds in water overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Drain the water from the almonds and discard. Blend the 4 cups of coconut/water, almonds and dates until well blended and almost smooth.
Strain the blended almond mixture using a cheesecloth or other strainer.
Homemade almond milk will keep well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Cheese cloth straining

Read my part II - how to blanch almonds

Quinoa Cranberry Salad

Quinoa Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
Quinoa
Dried Cranberries
Spinach
Salad dresssing

Bring water to boil (about twice the amount of quinoa), add quinoa, simmer for ~25 minutes or until tender
Chop spinach
Top spinach with quinoa, dried cranberries, salad dressing
Eat!

Spaghetti Squash

Healthy meal with minimal prep =  Spaghetti Squash topped with pasta sauce, sauteed Smart Ground veggie protein crumbles and daiya mozzarella cheese.

Spaghetti Squash has 1/5 the calories of regular pasta and 1/4 the amount of carbohydrates. You can read more about the nutritional comparison here.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cut squash in half (lengthwise), scoop out and discard seeds
Lightly grease a baking sheet
Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet
Bake for 30 minutes or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance
Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled
Spoon out spaghetti strands and add toppings

Baked Zucchini Fries with Sriracha Sauce

Baked Zucchini Fries

Fry making station

We had a lot of zucchini left over from last week's CSA so I googled the words "zucchini" and "bake" to figure out what to do with them. I found a great recipe on Vegan Happy Hour's site for Zucchini fries. I decided to bake them instead and made a spicy dipping sauce.....

Baked Zucchini Fries
~ 2 medium sized zucchinis cut into spears (leave the skin on)
~ 1/2 cup flour
~ 1/2 tsp salt
~ 1/4 tsp pepper
~ 1 cup breadcrumbs
~ 3/4 cup water
~ 1 tbsp ground flax seeds combined with 3 tbsp water microwaved for 45-60 seconds (mimics an egg)
Preheat the oven to 350*F degrees.

Put the cup of water/flax mix in a bowl, the flour, salt and pepper into another bowl, and the bread crumbs in a larger bowl or shallow dish.

Dip the zucchini spears into the water/flax mix, letting the excess run off, then dredge in the flour mixture and let dry for about 2 minutes.  Dip the zucchini spears into the water/flax mix once more then dredge in the breadcrumbs until the entire surface of the spears are covered.

Oil the baking dish with vegetable oil. Place the zucchini fries in the dish and bake for 45-55 minutes.

Dipping Sauce: mix Vegenaise (I used Follow Your Heart's reduced fat vegan mayo) with Sriracha.

Veggie BBQ

Clockwise starting top right: Marinated portobellos, bean salad, grilled corn

The hubbie, dog and I traveled to Westchester to spend the Fourth of July with my family. We had a great time enjoying the fresh air, eating BBQ food that we made, sitting by the pool, playing with my nephews and watching our dog run around the backyard high on life.

Here's the recipe for the delicious marinated BBQ portobello mushrooms I made:

Busu enjoying Westchester life

Ingredients:
-1 sweet onion
- balsamic vinegar (glaze or dressing is better because it's thicker)
-Gorgonzola cheese
-1 garlic head
- 5-8 portobello mushrooms

Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400*F
- Cut off the top of the garlic head, wrap in foil with olive oil and bake for 20-30 mins until roasted
-Saute cut onions in a pan
- Add garlic, vinegar and cheese to the onions - - Simmer all ingredients until cheese melts
- Remove from heat and pour over mushrooms
- Marinate mushrooms overnight in the fridge
- BBQ

Strawberry Nut Shake

My friend who follows a Paleolithic diet recommended a few smoothies that involve soaked nuts/seeds for me to try. Although the Paleo diet which restricts carbs would never work for me, I like the smoothies...natural protein and sweetness 

Berry Nut Shake
2-3 cups pure water (depends on what consistency you want)
3 tablespoons almonds
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Stevia (didn't use)

Soak flax seeds and almonds in pure water overnight. Process the nuts on high in food processor or blender until ground. Add water slowly and process. Add berries, vanilla and nutmeg. Add stevia to sweeten to taste. Blend well

Yield: 2 servings

Omega VRT350 Juicer over Breville, lettuce over carrots

Omega VRT350

After a year of debating if it made sense to purchase a juicer and as my love of Blue Print Cleanse's Green Juice (at $10 a pop) grew, I decided to buy an Omega VRT350 Juicer.

I posted "What juicer should I buy?" on Facebook and 2 teams quickly emerged: Team Breville (centrifugal juicers) and Team Omega (masticating juicers). After reading tons of reviews and speaking to my friends/relatives here's the recap:

Team Breville: Juices 2-3x faster (65,000 - 125,000 RPM), $100 cheaper, awesome for fruit based juice, can handle leafy greens but you need to ball them up, wastes more pulp, fast speed causes the juice to oxidize (not a problem if you drink the juice right away, but not good it you want to refrigerate leftover).

Team Omega: Much slower but also much quieter, gets more juice out (less and drier pulp), more expensive but longer warranty, handles leafy greens better, slow speed (80 RPM) means no oxidation allowing juice to be stored for up to 72 hours without degradation.

My husband and I decided we prefer quality juice over speed. The first juice we made I went a little kale crazy and ended up with bitter tasting juice. Note to self: do not put more kale then carrot & celery. The second time I learned my lesson and made a delicious lettuce-kale-apple blend (1 head of lettuce, 1/2 bunch of kale, 2 golden apples). The whole process (set-up, juicing and cleaning) takes about 20 minutes and makes 20oz. Next time I'll probably double the ingredients to have some for storage. I also learned that carrots produce tons of pulp/waste whereas lettuce is extremely efficient for a base.

the Omega VRT350 makes 24 oz with little waste

Tuscan Vegetable Tart & Black Bean Sunburgers

Cooked up some more tasty meals from Quick Fix Vegan cookbook.
 

Tuscan Vegetable Tart

Whole wheat pie crust filled with a layer of crushed cannellini beans then sauteed cherry tomatoes, zucchini, garlic and spices. All topped off with crushed pine nuts.

Black Bean Sunburger

A vegan black bean burger that uses blended sunflowers seeds instead of eggs.

Tastey Vegan Mac & Cheese

I was previously relying on Amys Kitchen's frozen vegan mac and cheese whenever I wanted to indulge. However, juzi (Swahili for the day before yesterday) I tried making it myself......this made all the difference.....the combo of bread crumbs and baked Daiya make for a delicious meal.

I used the recipe found on Daiya's website. Note: I did not use nutritional yeast.

 

Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 30 mins

8 ounces gluten-free or regular pasta, any shape 3 cups Daiya cheddar 3 tablespoons vegan butter 2 cups unsweetened (soy / rice) milk product 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (I omitted this) ¼ teaspoon black pepper ½ cup gluten-free bread crumbs ¼ teaspoon paprika

Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain thoroughly when done.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare the cheese sauce while oven is warming. In a small pot melt the butter. When melted, add the pepper and nutritional yeast.

Stir in the milk or crème product. Add the cheddar, and cook over low/medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Stir in the macaroni and mix together. Transfer to an 8x8 casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs and paprika.  Bake for 15 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is bubbling and top is starting to brown.

Energy Bites: vegan snacks full of goodness

Another winner from Quick-Fix Vegan cookbook... these energy bites are the perfect midday snack and have just the right amount of sweetness. Also great for a small dose of protein/carbs before a run.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 pitted dates
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cocoa, shredded coconut or finely ground nuts for coating (optional)

Combine cashews and sunflower seeds in a food processor until finely ground. Add dates, tahini, cranberries, maple syrup and vanilla and process until well combined. Spoon out a small amount of the mixture roll into a 1-inch ball and arrange on cookie sheet. Repeat until all the mixture is used. If desired roll balls in cocoa, coconut or nuts. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up then serve.

Sloppy Portobellos

My husband and I prepared this Sloppy Portobello recipe for our New Year's Eve dinner. So far I'm really liking my new cookbook Quick-Fix Vegan.

It was my first time using Liquid Smoke and I am very impressed by much taste 0.5 teaspoon provides. Great fast and simple recipe! We are already planning ways to convert it into an appetizer using baguette slices :)

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz portobello mushrooms, shredded or finely chopped
1 (4-oz) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 tbs soy sauce
2/3 cup ketchup
2 tsp yellow mustard
1 tbs chili powder
1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 toasted burger rolls

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until softened, 4 mins. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 secs. Stir in the mushrooms, chilies, and soy sauce and cook until lightly browned, 2 -3 mins.

Stir in ketchup, mustard, chili powder, Liquid Smoke, salt and pepper. Mix well, adding a little water if mixture is too dry. Simmer to blend flavours, 5 mins.

Spoon onto rolls and serve hot.

Vegan Nog

Tried out two vegan "egg" nogs this week.....

• So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog- My favorite: thick, deliciously blended, coconutty with a hint of nutmeg.
• Earth Balance Soy Nog - A reasonable Nog alternative, however the sweetness tasted oddly artificial.

Since we liked the Coconut Nog better we used that one for drinking and made vegan french toast with the Soy Nog. Earth Balance's recipe was absolutely delicious. 

Vegan French Toast
Ingredients: Serves 6
2 very ripe bananas
2 cups Earth Balance® Organic Soy Nog
1 tsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. vegan butter or oil, divided
12 slices day-old multigrain bread

Directions:
Blend first four ingredients in a blender. Pour into a shallow bowl.
Melt 2 Tbs. Buttery Spread in pan over medium heat.
Dip bread into mixture, so both sides are covered.
Cook both sides until golden brown. Repeat until the bread is gone.

Tempeh Maple Bacon sandwiches, my new favorite quick lunch

In general I don't like tempeh. I've tried it numerous times and the only time I liked it was when I tried a sandwich with tempeh bacon. So I decided to try Tofurky's Smoky Maple Bacon Marinated Tempeh. You just saute the slices in oil for 2-4 minutes for deliciousness. Add some vegenaise on toasted bread and it's done (or add some tomato and lettuce for added measure).

I like it so much I made it for lunch 3 times this week. Then I quickly went to whole foods to buy another package. Mmmm.

Mango Crumble (vegan)

Randomly wanted something sweet that was fast to cook. Then I realized I had the ingredients for mango crumble. 10 minutes later the dessert is in the oven cooking into delicious goodness.

Mango crumble (vegan)
serves 6

5 cup of peeled and sliced fruit (I used thawed frozen mango)
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter (I used Earth Balance buttery sticks)
1/4 cup water (if using fresh fruit)

Pre-heat oven to 400*F. Grease a pot and spread the fruit on the bottom. Sprinkle the water on top (if needed). Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter to the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles crumbs. Spread the crumbles over the fruit. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is brown.

Peanutty Pumpkin Stew

Thanks again Vegan on the Cheap cookbook. I love stews/soups because 1 batch can last me 3-4 lunches. I really like the use of peanut butter in this recipe

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 potato, 2 garlic cloves, 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes, 1 (16 oz) solid pack pumpkin, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 2 tbs soy sauce, 2 tsp hot/mild curry powder, 2 cups vegetable stock, 1.5 cups cooked or 15.5 oz kidney beans drained and rinsed, 1 (4 oz) can chopped green chilies, 1 cup thawed peas (I didn't include the peas), 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Directions (4 to 6 servings):
1. Saute onions, garlic, carrots and potato in a large pot. Cover and cook until softened.
2. Stir in tomatoes, pumpkin, peanut butter, soy sauce, curry powder and stock, stirring after each addition. Add beans and chilies stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
3. Shortly before serving stir in peas. Garnish with chopped peanuts.

Vegan pizza

I made vegan pizza, with whole grain rice dough last week. Healthy and delicious, husband approved.

Recipe: sauteed zucchini, onions, garlic, mushrooms and yellow/orange bell peppers. Put tomato sauce on the whole grain rice dough, topped with sauteed veggies and daiya mozzarella cheese

Dark Chocolate Vegan Cookies = a great destresser

Accidentally/serendipitously made way too many dark chocolate vegan cookies on Sunday. It was the last day of the 19-day fast and I think I forgot what an normal batch of cookies should be. However, this has turned into a huge blessing because taking 2 of these cookies with 80% dark chocolate to work everyday has helped me get through this intensely stressful work week.

My friend Kit posted this recipe on her blog and I'm glad I tried them out. She also has this cool blog called The Hungry Honeymoon which will chronicle her and her husband's hike through the Pacific Crest Trail.

Dark Chocolate Vegan Cookies:
1 cup vegan margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses (I used maple syrup)
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose baking flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (I diced up 2 bars of 80% dark chocolate)
3 tsp egg substitute
4 Tbs warm water
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
combine egg replacer, warm water, sugar +molasses, vanilla, and margarine (at room temp) and mix into a creamy paste. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Pour wet into dry and add chocolate chips and nuts. The dough will feel a bit crumbly, but use your hands to work it into small balls and put on a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake for 10-16 min. The cookies won't spread out, and may be hard to tell that they're done, but if you stick a fork into a chocolate chip and its melted, they're fairly well done.

Awesome Lasagna (that happens to be vegan)

Yesterday I made my best lasagna yet (vegan or non-vegan). Seriously, I was so proud of my cooking accomplish. At first I was afraid the tofu/spinach/vegan cream cheese combo in place of ricotta cheese would taste off....but once baked it was the perfect texture and taste contribution. I'll be making this recipe for a long time.

Ingredients
* 2 tsp. olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 5-oz. bag fresh baby spinach
* 12-oz. pkg. firm tofu, drained
* 4-oz. vegan cream cheese (used Tofutti)
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (cheated and used pasta sauce with basil in it)

LASAGNA
* 4 1/2 cups pasta sauce
* 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
* 6 oz. vegan Italian sausage links, cut into thin rounds, or soy
sausage crumbles, broken apart (used Gimme Lean Sausage)
* 1 cup shredded vegan mozzarella (Daiya is the best)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Saute Gimme Lean sausage, crumbling as it cooks. Set aside. Take another pan and sauté onions and garlic in oil 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden. Add spinach, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until wilted. Transfer spinach mixture to bowl of food processor. Add tofu, cream cheese, basil, and purée until mixture is thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

2. Spread one-quarter of Pasta Sauce recipe on bottom of baking dish. Cover with one-third of noodles (4 or 5 noodles), then half of Filling, and ladle on another one-quarter of sauce. Repeat layer of noodles and remaining Filling. Spread sausage evenly over top, and top with one-quarter of sauce. Finish with final layer of noodles and remaining sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

3. Cover lasagna with foil, and bake 30 minutes, or until bubbling hot. Uncover, and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, or until noodles are tender and topping is melted. Remove from oven, and let stand 10 minutes before serving.