Vegetarian Muffaleta

I rarely prepare a recipe twice. There are just too many recipes, too many tastes, and too many foods. But we loved the Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich from the July/August 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times. The meatatarian suggests I serve these sandwiches to vegetarian skeptics, to company even. They are that delicious. I used homemade pesto made with basil from our garden, homemade wheat bread, and homegrown eggplant.

The saltiness of the tapenade counters the grassy, heady garlic pesto. The eggplant and squash are smoky and meltingly tender.


Ingredients

• 1 small eggplant, 1 small zucchini, and 1 small yellow squash, all cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
• 3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 large loaf of ciabatta bread, halved or 4 slices of thick homemade bread
• 1/3 c. pesto
• 1/3 c. olive tapenade
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers, sliced
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions
Brush the vegetable slices with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Grill the vegetable slices over medium high heat until tender and just charred, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the slices to a plate. If using the ciabatta bread, slice it in half lengthwise and hollow out each side. If using sliced bread, grill it lightly then spread one side of the bread with pesto and one side with tapenade. Layer the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and roasted red peppers on one side of the bread. Drizzle the vegetables with the balsamic vinegar and the remaining 1 tbps. olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Press the two slices of bread together. Wrap the sandwich tightly in wax paper or a clean, soft towel. Place it on a baking sheet and weight it with a cast iron skillet or two large cans for a few hours or overnight. Unwrap the sandwhich and cut into slices.

We skipped the pressing part and ate these fresh.

Bon appetit!

Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup

For a whole year once, every time I went out for lunch and ordered the soup of the day, I was served broccoli cheese soup. I love broccoli cheese soup, but I never imagined I would make it at home until my VitaMix arrived along with its companion recipe book, Recipes for Better Living. I am partial to my VitaMix, affectionately known around here, as the Vitameatavegamin in honor of I Love Lucy. Allow me to wax on  here a moment about it. My dear friend Bruce quipped about the $400 blender, "that's a big commitment to a kitchen appliance." Yes, indeed it is. But, it really is so freaking wonderful, I mean, wonderful. I can . . . 

• grind coffee
  
• make powdered sugar from white sugar
  
• make incredible smoothies
  
• juice mounds of fresh veggies without hardly peeling them
  
• whip up homemade nut butters
  
• blend everything and anything hot or cold
  
• make tasty broccoli cheese soup
  
• among many other thousands of things I'm sure that I have never bothered to try

This soup tonight is surprisingly rich, so rich I can barely finish the whole bowl. It is shockingly green. Imagine the green ectoplasm from Ghost Busters if you're old enough to remember that or the green slime from Nickelodeon. The soup is that green: puce. Just imagine now all those good for you vitamins and micronutrients that must be in there. Eat colorful food is my second favorite food mantra. The first is eat dessert first, but that's another post. Onto the soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. plain soy milk, steaming hot
  
• 3 slices or 1/3 c. vegan cheese (I used cheddar flavored Rice Dream slices and they taste like honest to goodness cheddar cheese. Who knew?
  
• 1 c. broccoli, steamed until tender
  
• 1/2 tsp. vegetable bouillon or soup base (try Better Than Bouillon)
  
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
  

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in the order listed in your VitaMix or powerful blender and blend for 3 minutes until smooth and piping hot. I suppose you could also use an emulsion blender for this, but I haven't got one so you'll have to let me know.

And that's it. This was so easy and really very delicious.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Vegan Chili

I'm from Western Pennsylvania, better known for pierogies than chili, but my mom is famous for her chili. She has won several chili cook-offs with it. I have never liked her chili, however. Mostly because it had lots of meat and not much else besides tomato juice. A few years ago, I stumbled across a vegetable chili recipe in a free cookbook that came along with my newspaper subscription. The music reviewer is veg and this is my riff on Rick deYampert's Vegetable Chili.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. red or yellow onion, chopped

1 large red or green bell pepper, chopped

10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 package soy crumbles (I use Ives)

3 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes with juice

3 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (I know it sounds weird, but trust me; the cocoa gives the chili depth and complexity)

2 tbsp. ground cumin

salt to taste

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 large zucchini, diced

1 10 oz. package frozen corn or fresh

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, pepper, mushrooms, and soy crumbles. Cook on medium-high stirring frequently un

til vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, chili pow

der, cocoa, cumin, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Add the beans, zucchini, and corn. Cook at a simmer until thick, about 60 to 90 minutes.

My husband loves this chili and he asks for it frequently. I serve it often to guests and especially to people who think that vegetarian chili is an oxymoron. I always serve homemade corn bread with chili. I substitute soy milk or rice milk and the corn bread comes out cake-like. SO good. We slather it with Earth Balance and eat half the pan. I also sometimes offer up a bowl of Lays Organic Blue Tortilla Chips for dipping.

Tonight I made a fresh, cool salad to complement the heat of the chili.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Fauxstess Cupcakes

It's been several months since my last post. The daily ritual of blogging proved more difficult to maintain than I had anticipated. One of the reasons I finally decided to begin my blog was for the practice of writing, everyday: "never a day without a line." But life gets in the way of writing and that is why so many aspiring writers don't write. It is easier to do the laundry, rearrange your sock drawer, talk on the phone, pet the cats than it is to sit down and write, even something as fun as a food blog.

The other reason I very quickly became a lapsed blogger is that there are already so many fabulous vegetarian bloggers. I certainly cannot add much to the blogosphere on this subject. I was surprised such a rich and vast vegan/vegetarian blogging community existed. Not surprisingly, however, this community is close-knit and supportive. I feel privileged to participate in even my own small way.

My most recent adventure with vegan cooking was Fauxstess Cupcakes. These appear on many blogs and Web sites. You can also find the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I found the recipe on an old Live Journal blog by Isa: http://isachandra.livejournal.com/26438.html You can find the recipe here too so I won't type it in.

I made the cupcakes for my friend Jessica's 26th birthday. I punked out on the little white squiggle in the interest of time, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly even seeking out powdered soy powder for $14, black cocoa powder, and a cake decorator's piping bag and tips. I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder. It blends Dutch processed cocoa and dark chocolate cocoa. I also used it to make the Chocolate Stout Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World also by Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. The stout cupcakes, by the way, rock. The stout gives them a musty tang that my friends and I loved.

The fauxstess cakes were rich and tasted much like Hostess Cupcakes minus the off chemically aftertaste of course. The ganache was rich and not too sweet, but the filling was grainy. The recipe calls for superfine sugar which I could not find even in a specialty baking store. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World suggest making your own superfine sugar by whirling it in the blender. I did this, but the sugar did not dissolve in the margarine and shortening. The white filling was fluffy, but it wasn't very sweet either. Still, my husband and Jessica loved them. I'll try again to achieve a smoother, sweeter fluffy white filling.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Sloppy Joes

Tonight is the Super Bowl. Go Eli! I often throw a party for 10 or 12 people on Super Bowl Sunday, but this year the meatasaurus requested a quieter venue so tonight will be just us and one of his eight siblings (yes, my man is the youngest of nine children). For dinner, the meatasaurus requested--meat--but I've opted for Snobby Joes from Veganomicon. They are SO good. My man ate two and said "make these again." I served them on French hamburger rolls with homemade guacamole and Lay's Brand Organic Blue Corn Chips on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. uncooked lentils
  
• 4 c. water
  
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
  
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 3 tbsp. chile powder
  
• 2 tsps. dried oregano
  
• 1 tsp. salt
  
• 1 8 0z. can tomato sauce
  
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
  
• 3-4 tbsp. maple syrup
  
• 1 tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
  
• 4-6 rolls
  

Directions:

Add the lentils and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook lentils for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain the lentils and set aside to get on with the sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and cook the onions and green pepper until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about another minute. Add the chile powder, oregano, salt, and lentils. Stir gently to combine. Next, stir in the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook on medium low for about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup and the mustard. Stir again to combine and take off the heat. Let the sloppy joe rest for the flavors to combine. Spoon onto the buns and serve with pickle relish.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Lentils Braised in Red Wine with Spinach

Last  night was black beluga lentils braised in red wine served with wilted spinach over garlic toast from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers. It was so good and satisfying. The weather is cool and damp in Central Florida and I want comfort food. We ate this seated on the sofa and covered in blankets. We even had seconds.

I am more inclined lately to give Vegetarian Suppers a better review than I have in the past. Although I flip the pages of this book frequently, few things strike me as "gotta make that!" Most recipes are for light suppers too and my 6'3" 200 pound meatasaurus needs hearty meals most nights. Still, the lentils and bread in their winey sauce proved quite hearty enough. Two caveats: Madison assumes the reader is already an experienced cook. She sometimes doesn't suggest cooking temperatures but instead directs us just to "cook" and even the simplest recipe like an omelet will dirty all the pans in your kitchen if you are not careful.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. French green (Le Puy) or black (Beluga) lentils (I can NEVER find Le Puy even at my tres expensive gourmet shop so I often substitute ordinary brown, but I was lucky enough over the holiday to discover Beluga lentils at a tiny wine shop just down the street)
  
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
  
• 1/3 c. each diced onion, carrot, and celery (I only had onions last night and the lentils were still delish)
  
• 2 garlic cloves, 1 crushed and 1 halved
  
• 1 1/2 c. dry red wine
  
• 1 1/2 c. water
  
• 1 tsp. prepared Dijon mustard
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 1 big bunch (or one bag) spinach or other greens like Kale, washed
  
• 1 tbsp. Earth Balance
  
• 4 slices thick country bread
  

Directions:

Pour the lentils in a large glass bowl and then pour enough boiling water over to cover. Set aside while you prepare the sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook for several minutes until just browned. Add the crushed garlic, the mustard, and the wine. Stir to combine. Add the water. Drain the lentils and add them to the pot as well with 1 teaspoon salt. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, season the greens with salt and pepper to taste and then wilt the spinach in a hot pan with just the water still clinging to it. This will take from 3 to 7 minutes or so depending on the size of the leaves and the amount. When the lentils are cooked, stir the cooked greens into the lentil pan, add a tablespoon of Earth Balance and swirl around until it melts into the sauce.

Finally, toast the bread and while it is still warm, rub the cut garlic over it. Cut each piece into thirds and arrange the pieces on the serving plates. Top with the lentils and greens.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Vegetable Pot Pie

Saturday night I made the most delicious vegetable pot pie from Moosewood Celebrates. The pie is part of the Christmas menu which includes (weirdly) Salmon Baked in Parchment, Brussels Sprouts with Chestnut Beurre Blanc (sounds yummy minus the brussels sprouts), Stuffed Yams, Pearl Onions Braised in Red Wine, Roasted Chestnuts, and a Chocolate Cranberry Tart. If I made all of those recipes, Moosewood promises me I would spend 10 hours in the kitchen. Based on my experiences with Moosewood Celebrates I would double that. The Vegetable Pot Pie should take 1 1/4 hours to prepare, 50 minutes to bake, and 15 minutes to cool according to the Moosewood Collective. I spent 3 hours in the kitchen that day chopping vegetables, making a sauce, and rolling out pie dough (a slight disaster but more on that later). The recipe will serve 6 as a main course not the 8 it might as part of the ensemble. Still, my meatasaurus raved over it Saturday for dinner and Sunday for lunch. The pot pie was creamy and rich and warming for a very dark and stormy night we had here in Central Florida.

Be prepared for lots of ingredients, lots of steps, and lots of time in the kitchen with Moosewood. The results are worth the effort, but effort it is indeed. In a fit of irritation a year or so ago I flung my Moosewood Celebrates into the give-away pile of books and passed it on to my friend Kim. I was missing it though and found a used copy for $4 and so here we are. Moosewood recipes are usually filling and satisfying and perfect for special occasions rather than weeknight cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  
• 1 1/2 c. chopped onions (about 1 large, not huge onion)
  
• 3 bay leaves
  
• 2 1/2 c. cubed potatoes
  
• 1 tsp. salt
  
• 1 1/2 c. chopped celery
  
• 1 c. vegetable stock
  
• 2 c. cut green beans about 1 in. pieces
  
• 3 c. peeled cubed butternut squash (peel the squash with a vegetable peeler)
  
• 2 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
  
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  
• 1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill or 2 tsps. dried (I didn't either but didn't miss them)
  

Cheese Sauce:

• 1/4 c. butter or Earth Balance
  
• 1/3 c. unbleached white flour
  
• 2 c. vegetable stock
  
• 1 1/2 c. grated cheese (the recipe calls for havarti, but I used goat gouda)
  
• salt and ground pepper to taste
  

Pastry:

• 1 3/4 c. unbleached white flour
  
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
  
• 1/2 c. butter or shortening (I used Earth Balance and this might be where I ran into trouble)
  
• 1/4 c. ice water
  

Okay, get ready for the lengthy directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and the bay leaves and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, salt, celery, and the vegetable stock. Cover the pot and bring to a boil then lower the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. This is the pattern for all the vegetables. Add the beans and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the squash and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, parsley, dill, and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Keeping the pot covered will cook the vegetables faster, but just be sure they don't burn. Once the vegetables are just tender, not too mushy here because you will be cooking them again a long time in the oven, remove the bay leaves and add them to your compost bowl. Cover the pot and set the vegetables aside while you prepare the sauce and the crust.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter or Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook for a couple minutes stirring the whole time so the roux doesn't burn. Whisk in the stock and cook on medium heat, stirring often until the sauce thickens. This won't take long at all. Stirring is important for a smooth sauce, but it's no bother really. You don't have to stand there slavishly stirring like you might for risotto. Whisk in the cheese and stir it all together until the cheese melts. 

Pour the filling into a 9 x 12 x 2 inch baking dish or a 10 inch deep dish pie plate and set the pan aside.

For the pastry crust, mix together the flour and rosemary in a large bowl. Work in the butter or shortening with two forks or a pastry cutter until the dough resembles course meal. Sprinkle the ice water over the dough 1 tablespoon at a time and lightly mix it in. Form a ball with the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the crust to fit your pan or do as I did and make cut outs. The only cookie cutter I own is a heart (given to me my 82 year old mother-in-law the year I was married). Align your cutouts or crust and then pop the whole thing in the oven and cook for 40 or 50 minutes. If you are using one crust, cut vents in the crust for the steam and the sauce to escape. The filling will get bubbly and the crust should turn golden and puff just a little.

Bon Appetit,

Heather