Articles

KALE AND VEGAN SAUSAGE LASAGNA

Posted on:

We have such beautiful kale this year and such alot of it!  I’m trying to incorporate it into as many dishes as possible.  (Fortunately, we both love it!).

Last night we had our friend Brenda over for dinner and I made a kale lasagne, using up 1 1/2 lbs of fresh kale, and some tofu ricotta and homemade spaghetti sauce that I had in the refrigerator.  It was delicious and definitely a keeper!  I served it with some lovely roasted beets from my friend Holly, just sprinkled with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fresh parsley.
We ended the meal with some tea and organic green grapes– very satisfying!

BRYANNA’S KALE AND VEGAN SAUSAGE 

LASAGNE

Serves 6-8

12 whole wheat lasagne noodles OR GF lasagne noodles (not the “no-cook” type)

About 1 1/2 lbs. fresh kale (weighed before stripping the leaves from the stalks), washed and cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

2 large onions, thinly sliced

About 12 oz. slightly spicy vegan sausages, crumbled (I used Tofurky Italian, but you could use Field Roast Italian or your own homemade)

OR, for a GF or homemade alternative , use 2x this recipe for TVP pepperoni crumbles
4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. red chile flakes (omit if you sausage is very spicy)

Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

About 3 cups homemade vegan plain tomato-y spaghetti sauce or your favourite storebought variety

1 recipe Ricotta di Soya (Tofu Ricotta) (There’s also an Almond Ricotta recipe at that link, too, but you’ll need to make about 1 1/2 times that recipe.)

About 1/2 cup soy parmesan (such as Go Veggie!) or your favourite parmesan sub

Cook the lasagne noodles according to the package directions—don’t overcook!  Rinse and drain them and lay them out flat on a baking sheet.

Place the sliced kale in a large pot.  Boil about 1 quart of water (in an electric kettle, if you have one—it saves energy) and pour it slowly over the kale, mixing with a long spoon until it is all submerged.  Cover and let it sit for about 10 minutes while you slice the onions, etc.  After 10 minutes, drain the kale in a colander, rinse briefly with cold water (until cool enough to handle), and then squeeze as much water as possible out of the kale.  Fluff it out a bit with your fingers after squeezing it.

Heat the oils in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add the sliced onions and sausage crumbles. Sauté them, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened and the sausage browned a bit.  Add the garlic and red chile flakes (if using) and sauté briefly. Add the kale to the pan and sauté again briefly.  Season the mixture to taste with salt and freshly-ground pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400°F, if you are going to bake immediately after assembling the lasagne.

Oil a 9 x 13” bakingpan or dish.  Lay 4 of the lasagne noodles to cover the bottom of the pan. Spread the noodles evenly with 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce.  Add half of the sausage/kale mixture and spread evenly.  Cover that with half of the ricotta, spreading evenly.  Sprinkle evenly with 1/3 of the soy parmesan.  Lay 4 more of the lasagne noodles over the casserole. 

Repeat the layering as before.  Cover with the remaining 4 lasagna noodles.  Spread evenly with the remaining 1 cup of spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with the last of the soy parmesan.  Cover the pan loosely with foil or baking parchment.

Bake at 400°F for 40 minutes.  Remove the foil or baking parchment and let sit for about 10 minutes before cutting.
 Enjoy!

The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer…For the 21st
century we need to learn to cook for ourselves again,
and learning to cook vegan can be a bit intimidating.
I’d like to help with that, from my kitchen to yours.

Bryanna Clark Grogan, author of 8 published vegan cookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly cooking newsletter. Moderator of the beginners’ vegetarian forum on vegsource.com.

Articles

CHARRED CORN, BLACK BEAN, VEGETABLE & QUINOA SALAD WITH PEACHES (OR NECTARINES)

Posted on:

This is a different take on the Charred Corn, Black Bean & Toasted Barley Salad from an excellent book in my cookbook collection called “Spilling the Beans” by Julie Van Rosendaal and Sue Duncan.  My husband doesn’t like barley in salads and I had no mangoes or red onion, so this is my riff on this colorful full-meal salad. It is filling, colorful and delicious! I made this for lunch last week when we had guests and it was very well-received.


BRYANNA’S CHARRED CORN, BLACK BEAN, VEGETABLE AND QUINOA SALAD WITH PEACHES (OR NECTARINES)

Serves 8

2 heaping cups fresh or frozen (thawed) sweet corn kernels, thawed and drained
2 teaspoons olive oil

2 cups canned (19 oz. can) or cooked black beans, rinsed and drained

1 yellow or orange bell pepper (or a combination of both), seeded and chopped

1 cup diced red grape tomatoes

4 ripe peaches or nectarines, peeled and diced

1/2 cup chopped green onions (both white and green parts)

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (some chopped fresh mint would be nice, too, if you have it)

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup fresh lemon or lime juice

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon agave nectar

2 cloves garlic, crushed
a generous 1/2 teaspoon salt
1. In a medium saucepan, toast the dry quinoa over medium-high heat for a few minutes, or until golden and toasty-smelling. Immediately pour in the broth, bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.  When it is done (it should have absorbed all of the broth and be fluffy), transfer it to a large serving bowl to cool completely. (If you’re in hurry, spread the quinoa on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the freezer for a few minutes.)

2.  Mix the corn kernels with the 2 teaspoons olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet and spread it out evenly.   Place it on your oven rack about 6 inches below the broiler coils.  Broil under the heat source (I turned my broiler on to High) until the kernels start to brown and get charred a bit.. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool. (If you’re in hurry, spread the charred corn on a fresh rimmed baking sheet and place in the freezer for a few minutes.)
3. In a small bowl or jar, combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk well to combine.
4. Add the cooled corn, beans, peppers, tomato, peaches or nectarines, green onion and parsley. Add the dressing and toss well.

5. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a few hours before serving.

Enjoy!


The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer…For the 21st
century we need to learn to cook for ourselves again,
and learning to cook vegan can be a bit intimidating.
I’d like to help with that, from my kitchen to yours.

Bryanna Clark Grogan, author of 8 published vegan cookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly cooking newsletter. Moderator of the beginners’ vegetarian forum on vegsource.com.

Articles

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES– CRISPY SOY CURL OVEN-"FRIES"

Posted on:

I’m sorry I haven’t blogged for so long!  This is company time on the island, so we’ve been super-busy entertaining. I haven’t had time to devise anything new lately– I’ve been cooking up tried and true recipes for my guests! So, I’m posting an old favorite family recipe this week.

This was a spur of the moment recipe that I devised several years ago. I wanted to do something different with Butler Soy Curls® (see this post for info), but any “chicken-style” seitan cut into strips or commercial vegan “chicken” strips will work, too. Kids of all ages love them! Serve them with any favorite dip,barbecue sauce, or chile sauce (I mixed half ketchup and half tomato salsa), and enjoy!

BRYANNA’S VEGAN “CHICKEN” FRIES

Serves 4

4 oz Soy Curls® (pick out and use the longest strips), reconstituted in hot chicken-style
vegan broth OR use 4 cups “chickeny” seitan cut into “fingers”
1 cup soy or nut milk
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Coating:

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Tbs paprika
1/2 Tbs dried oregano
1/2 Tbs salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
freshly-ground black pepper to taste
In a large flat baking dish, mix the reconstituted, drained Soy Curls®, or the seitan
“fingers”, with the soymilk, lemon juice and garlic. Let it marinate for 1 to 4 hours in the
refrigerator.
Mix together the Coating mixture ingredients well in another flat baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Have ready two large dark-colored baking sheets which have been  
sprayed with oil from a pump sprayer bottle.
Just before serving, dredge each strip in the Coating mixture, covering all sides. Place
the strips, not touching, on the baking sheets. Spray the tops with a bit of oil from a
Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the strips over and bake 5 more minutes, until golden and
crispy. Serve hot with your favorite dip or sauce.
Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 214.0 calories; 24{ae720e0b436026f867bfa0c31185c2252a138f27e85f5f152ec5acc1c10a8cc9} calories from fat; 5.9g total fat; 0.0mg
cholesterol; 887.4mg sodium; 201.5mg potassium; 27.6g carbohydrates; 6.2g fiber; 2.9g

sugar; 14.4g protein. 

Enjoy!


The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer…For the 21st
century we need to learn to cook for ourselves again,
and learning to cook vegan can be a bit intimidating.
I’d like to help with that, from my kitchen to yours.

Bryanna Clark Grogan, author of 8 published vegan cookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly cooking newsletter. Moderator of the beginners’ vegetarian forum on vegsource.com.

Articles

MULTI-WHOLE-GRAIN INARI SUSHI (SUSHI GRAINS IN FRIED TOFU POCKETS/AGÉ)

Posted on:
When I posted this blog post about a recent picnic, I promised to  post the recipe for my multi-grain inari sushi.  It took me a few years to get this recipe right– I had tasted enough bland and either dry or mushy brown rice sushi in my time to make me determined to do better!  I wanted a sushi that was nutritious, and delicious enough so that anyone eating it would enjoy it for what it was and not immediately think ” health food”!
My rice mixture is made from short grain brown rice with some millet or quinoa added, and it is nicely seasoned.  The grain mixture provides variety and extra nutrients, but the texture of the rice predominates, which is what I prefer. (I find the millet or quinoa grains too small and separate to use alone in sushi.) This whole grain sushi mix does not taste heavy or starchy, and I was happy to discover that the seasoned fried tofu pockets or pouches (agé) are less calorific and fat-laden than I had assumed– the seasoned ones contain only about 60 calories per pouch. We love it for summer meals.
BTW, inari sushi is great for anyone (like my husband) who does not like seaweed, and it makes great picnic food.  It should not be refrigerated, since this makes the rice hard, so plan to eat it up in one day (which is not a difficult feat!).

I hope you enjoy this sushi!

This was a batch of my multi-grain inari sushi, tops dipped in toasted sesame seeds, that I made for a picnic with friends a few weeks ago.

Printable Recipe


BRYANNA’S MULTI-WHOLE-GRAIN INARI SUSHI (SUSHI GRAINS IN FRIED TOFU POCKETS/AGÉ)     
Makes 16 pockets
16 storebought seasoned inari sushi pouches (You can buy them refrigerated in Asian grocery stores in small packets, or in cans on amazon and from online Asian food venders.)
OR, if you are preparing your own seasoned inari sushi pouches, you will need:
1 package (80 g– 8 pieces) of abura agé (plain, unseasoned Japanese fried tofu rectangles), cut across in half to make “pouches” (You can buy them refrigerated or frozen in Asian grocery stores and some natural food stores in small packets.)
Flavoring Broth:
2 T. soy sauce or tamari
2 T. dry sherry or mirin (Japanese rice wine) (or a non-alcoholic sweetish white wine)
FILLING:
(To cook the grains, for each one, bring the water and grain to a boil in a heavy pot with a tight lid, turn down to low and cook covered for the time indicated.)

Grain Choice #1:
3/4 c. Japanese short grain brown rice + 1/4 c. toasted millet, cooked together 40-45 minutes in 
1 1/2 c. water 
(Toast the millet in a dry heavy saute pan or skillet over medium heat, stirring all the while, until light brown and fragrant. If the grains start to pop, reduce the heat.) 
OR Grain Choice #2:
1/2 cup Japanese short grain brown rice cooked in 2/3 cup water for 45 minutes
1/2 cup quinoa cooked separately in 1 cup water for 15 minutes  
(Let the quinoa stand, covered, off the heat 10 minutes.)
Seasoning:
3/8 tsp. salt
Optional but recommended: 1 T. dry sherry or mirin (Japanese rice wine)
Additions: (Traditionally, only seasoned rice is used for filling, but I like to add some color and texture with vegetables.)
1/2 c. frozen baby peas, thawed
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely grated
Optional: toasted sesame seeds to taste
If you are preparing your own seasoned inari sushi pouches, cut each piece of abura agé tofu across in half.  Pour boiling water over them, then drain and squeeze them carefully to remove the oil.
In a medium pot, bring the flavoring broth to a boil, add the tofu pockets and reduce the heat.  Simmer for 5 minutes, turning now and then.  Drain and cool until you can handle them.  Gently squeeze out excess liquid.   

Whichever type of seasoned pouches you are using— store-bought or home-prepared– carefully separate one “wall” of each pocket from the other to make the pouches.

Dump the hot cooked rice (make sure it is tender) and the millet or quinoa into a large shallow baking dish.  Mix the sugar and salt with the vinegar and wine until it is dissolved.  Pour this over the hot rice.  Turn the rice mixture with a small spatula (wooden, preferably, or a bamboo rice paddle), using an over-and-under-motion, until the mixture is cool.  (Traditionally, you fan the rice while you mix.)
Add the peas and carrots and a bit of the optional toasted sesame seeds, if you like.  Stuff the pockets carefully and evenly (there should be just enough filling for 16 pockets).  Traditionally the pouches are not stuffed full and the pouch is pinched closed at the top, but, as you can see in the pictures, I usually fill them full full and leave them open at the top. 

If you like, you can dip the tops in toasted sesame seeds.  Serve at room temperature.  Rice gets hard when refrigerated, which spoils the texture of the dish, so the sushi pouches should be eaten the same day they are made.

Enjoy!


The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer…For the 21st
century we need to learn to cook for ourselves again,
and learning to cook vegan can be a bit intimidating.
I’d like to help with that, from my kitchen to yours.

Bryanna Clark Grogan, author of 8 published vegan cookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly cooking newsletter. Moderator of the beginners’ vegetarian forum on vegsource.com.

Articles

VEGAN RICOTTA & GREENS-STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM CAPS AND CREAMY ORZO SALAD (OR PILAF) WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES

Posted on:

This is a meal that I made pretty-much on the spur of the moment last week, utilizing some ingredients that I need to use up.  It turned out to be one of our favorites so far! Lots of veggies and flavors and creamy goodness, and a minimum of effort.

I originally set out to make an orzo salad (my husband loves orzo, the pasta that looks like rice), but I ended up serving it hot because we didn’t want to wait!  It was super-delicious that way, as a sort of pilaf.  The next day, we enjoyed it cold, for lunch, as a salad.  I love making versatile recipes!

CONFESSION:  There is a bit of a sameness about these recipes and I probably would not serve them together again. However, for that particular meal, as I said, I was using up certain ingredients and the idea for the orzo dish came to me partially because I wanted to use up as much of the vegan ricotta as I could!

Printable Copy

BRYANNA’S SPINACH AND (VEGAN) RICOTTA-STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM CAPS
Serves 2 to 4


4 large Portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 cup vegan ricotta (my vegan ricotta recipes, one tofu, one almond)
1 cup (packed down) finely-chopped fresh spinach (OR use chard or tender kale leaves instead), which has been washed and spin-dried
1/4 cup vegan parmesan (your choice—I like Go Veggie by Galaxy)
1/4 tsp. EACH dried basil, thyme leaves and oregano
3/4 cup of your favorite marinara sauce (fresh tomato sauce with garlic and basil)

extra vegan parmesan to sprinkle on top

Sprinkle the inside of the mushroom caps with a little salt and pepper.  Place them on a baking sheet and spray with a little oil from a pump-sprayer.  Place the pan about 6 inches under your oven’s broiler.  Broil (checking often), until the gills look juicy and the mushroom is softer and semi-cooked.  Remove from the oven and set aside. Turn the oven to 450 degrees F on Bake mode.


In a medium bowl, mash together the ricotta, spinach, vegan parmesan, and herbs.  Combine well.  Divide the mixture evenly between the 4 mushroom caps, mounding firmly.  Sprinkle with some of the vegan parmesan. Bake for about 10 minutes.  While they bake, gently heat the marinara sauce, either on the stovetop or in the microwave.  Serve the mushrooms hot with some of the sauce spooned over them.



***********************************************************************



BRYANNA’S CREAMY ORZO SALAD (OR PILAF) WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES
Serves 4


You can substitute any vegetables you like for the ones I used.


1 cup orzo pasta
2 cups vegan broth
Roasted Vegetables:
2 medium zucchini, cut across in half and then length-wise into 3/8-inch slices
1/2 large onion (any color), thinly sliced
3 bell peppers, preferable different colors, but it doesn’t matter if they are all the same
ADDITIONAL:
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup vegan parmesan (your choice—I like Go Veggie byGalaxy)
1/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoon vegan broth
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup vegan ricotta (my vegan ricotta recipes, one tofu, one almond)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Bring the broth to a boil in a small pot and add the orzo.  Bring back to a boil, the turn to Low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. 

While the orzo cooks, place the prepared vegetables on an oiled baking sheet and spray with oil from a pump-sprayer.  Broil under your oven’s broiler, about 4-5 inches from the heat, until they are starting to brown.  Turn them over to the other side and broil again until they are softened and starting to brown. Watch carefully so that they do not char.  Remove from the oven.

Immediately stir the cooked orzo with a spoon and pour into a bowl. 

Blend the Dressing ingredients together until smooth, using a blender or immersion/stick blender.  Add to the bowl with the orzo, along with the roasted vegetables, parsley, basil, vegan parmesan and chopped olives. Combine gently.


Now, you can serve this still hot, at room temperature, or chilled as a sald, depending on your circumstances or preference.


Enjoy!



The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer…For the 21st
century we need to learn to cook for ourselves again,
and learning to cook vegan can be a bit intimidating.
I’d like to help with that, from my kitchen to yours.

Bryanna Clark Grogan, author of 8 published vegan cookbooks and The Vegan Feast quarterly cooking newsletter. Moderator of the beginners’ vegetarian forum on vegsource.com.