VMF 13: potato sesame pesto soup, a new kind of garlic bread

Pay no attention to the clearly visible sink full of dirty dishes. I may have made a mess, but I also made this delicious soup. Focus on the soup. Actually, focus on the garlic bread. Any-way.

Here's what you need: 3-4 cloves of garlic, 2 onions, 1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, a turnip, 4-5 cups of vegetable broth, a huge bunch of basil, a little olive oil and a little toasted sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Chop up the garlic and onion, cook with a little oil in your soup pot until they are soft. Add peeled and diced potatos and broth; cook until very soft. Ladle into a food processor in batches and puree with handfuls of basil and a little toasted sesame oil. Transfer back into the soup pot. Bring back to a boil and simmer for a bit.

Meanwhile, toast your sesame seeds for the garnish in a dry pan. And make this garlic bread.

For the bread, I made a compound butter with earth balance, a little olive oil, a little sesame oil, a little soy sauce, a few cloves of pressed garlic and a handful of sesame seeds. Weird but good.

VMF 12: rotelle with sundried tomato, rabe, white beans and tempeh

I have mixed feelings about tempeh. The pasta dish you see here has made me want to try to like it more. It all comes down to braising it in a very flavorful liquid for a long time. The recipe for this dish is basically Isa's with just a few modifications. (Thank you, Veganomicon strikes again!) The big thing here, and the point worth making, is that judging by her recipe, she must like her tempeh really tempeh-y. If you think you don't like it, try braising in more water for more time.

Put water on and cook a 1lb box of rotelle.

Next, start your tempeh. I like the Lightlife organic garden veggie variety, 8 oz package. Cut it into little cubes and put them in a sauce pan. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cup water, 1/8 cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp anise seeds, 11/2 tsp dried oregano, 3-4 cloves of pressed garlic, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a few grinds of black pepper. Pour the mixture over the tempeh. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer until all the water is gone.

Now for the rabe- In a large saute pan (one with a cover) heat a few tbsp olive oil and cook one small, diced white onion and 2-3 cloves of sliced garlic. Add your chopped rabe and a cup of water (I give myself extra points if I remember to use pasta water). Lower heat, cover, steam the rabe until it's bright green and tender. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Open a can of small white beans and dump them into a big serving bowl. Chop a big handful of sundried tomatoes and throw those in there. Add the tempeh, pasta and rabe. I pour a little balsamic vinegar over it, grind some black pepper and sprinkle salt until it tastes right. This also makes for awesome lunch as it is equally delicious hot or cold.

VMF 11: tortilla soup, magic

A long time ago, a roommate once brought me take out chicken tortilla soup when I was very, very sick with a cold. It made me feel one hundred percent better almost immediately. I think this version is also kind of magical.

Here's what you need for the soup: 2 white onions, 3 jalepenos, 5-6 cloves garlic, 1 1/2 tbsp cumin, 1 1/2 tbsp oregano, 6-7 cups of vegetable stock, 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 pound very firm and pressed baked tofu, 1 cup black beans, 1 cup corn, salt/pepper.

For the garnish: 3-4 soft tortillas (make more than you think you need), avocado, sour cream.

Dice the onions, jalepenos and garlic. Put in your soup pan with a little olive oil, cumin until very soft and little brown here and there. Add the oregano, stock, tomatoes and paste. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a lively simmer so it can reduce. I let this go on for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your tortilla chips. I sliced whole tortillas into strips, and in a small non-stick skillet just fried them in batches with olive oil. Drain on a paper towel, sprinkle with some salt. You could bake them if that was your prerogative. I am not giving the green light on using bagged tortilla chips. It won't be the same.

Chop and add baked tofu, beans, corn. Taste for salt and pepper.

This soup needs good vegetable stock to reach its potential. And, when you are serving it, put a couple of the tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl in addition to the garnish. When they dissolve in the soup, they have a sweet flavor and still keep their shape despite being mushy. Magical.

VMF 10: molete sandwich

The Cubana Restaurants in nyc have a sandwich like this, and I thought it was some kind of traditional cuban sandwich. After a futile search for some molete-related trivia for this post, I think they might have made it up? If they did, they did a great job. If not, google is keeping their secret really well.

Refried beans + uncheese + salsa + french bread, grilled and smooshed. Instantaneous fiesta.

VMF 9: Breakfast for dinner: baked tofu scramble with uncheese, sundried tomato and broccoli

A few months ago, I came across a great recipe for vegan quiche on Susan V's Fatfree Vegan blog. Ever since, I think I make it about once a week for either dinner or brunch. I hadn't previously been that into silken tofu, but this turns out so eggy it's kind of weird.

She was using swiss chard for the veggie layer, but I've found that you can do any vegetable with consistent results. And with no crust, it's a snap to make.

Basically, you just lightly oil a pie plate and put whatever vegetables you have in the bottom. In this case, I used broccoli florets (raw) and a handful of chopped sundried tomatoes. You combine the silken tofu as she describes here: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/06/savory-swiss-chard-pie.html

Here is where I differ-- I slice up some of my block gooda cheese and arrange it on the top. And while she says it serves four, let's be real and say that it's just for two.

VMF 8: Must go: Taim

Another must for lunching- 222 Waverly Place at 7th Avenue. It's right by the Highline, so make an afternoon of it! Taim serves three different kinds of falafel- one seasoned with parsley, one with red peppers and one with harissa. The sampler plate came with a couple of each, hummus, taboule, isreali tomato salad and fresh whole wheat pita bread. What impressed me most, though, was the trio of condiments which came as well. My favorite was a fenugreek sauce which I believe had mango in it. I've been experimenting with the recipe for adapting this sauce but so far haven't come close... we'll see what happens! The french fries are really, really good. I bet the sandwiches are great, too. Though I wish they'd just use veganaise in their saffron aoili. And a few more tables would be nice. We got lucky and scored one of the four or five stools at the counter overlooking the street. And yes, I heard about this place from Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

VMF 7: Cookbook: The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak

I don't see much talk about The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook on the blogs, but I think it should be a must-read for anyone serious about vegan cooking for a few different reasons.

First, the block uncheeses are really easy to make. You can slice them for crackers, sandwiches or burgers. Grilled cheeses are melty and wonderful for fall (I make mine with mustard, tomato and sage chiffonade). Pieces atop quiche even brown! Add it to grits! Sky's the limit.

Secondly, the introduction to the 10th Anniversary addition is the most compelling and consise argument for eliminating dairy from your diet that I've read. Vesanto Medina, MS RD discusses the political pressures placed on the USDA as the body responsible not only for monitoring health guidelines but also for the success of American agricultural entities. This dual function makes it completely unlikely, if not impossible for their recommendations to evolve past the inclusion of dairy and meat. From there, he explains the medical implications for consuming dairy vs. the medical benefits of uncheeses/nut milks etc. I particularly like the included charts comparing the nutritional values. It's refreshing to see logical arguments that don't rely too heavily on descriptions of the treatment of animals.

On with the show, though--> the uncheeses that I've made from this book are unbelievable. I haven't tried any of the dish-recipes, but reading through them has given me a lot of ideas when cooking my own creamy/cheesy dishes. This one is my favorite:

GOODA CHEESE
Just trust me and when it's ready, make a grilled cheese.

Here's what you need: 1 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 5 tbsp agar flakes, 1/2 cup raw chopped cashews, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, 3 tbsp tahini, 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp mustard, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp liquid smoke (optional).


Oil a 3 cup container/bowl-- this is going to be an inverted mold for your cheese, so pick something without a beveled edge. Boil the water and carrots in a saucepan/reduce heat to simmer. When the carrots are very soft, slowly stir in the agar flakes. Keep stirring it until totally dissolved (about 10 min). Pour mixture into blender along with all the other ingredients. Puree until completely smooth. Pour into your oiled bowl. Put in the fridge, uncovered for an hour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Invert the bowl onto a plate... come up with some ideas for how to use it, you have about a week.