Tamari Roasted Chickpeas

From Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. A book I've made a few things from, but should really break out for more often! The broccoli burritos have been calling me for too long.

I've made this a few times now, and I like how simple it is.
Roasted chickpeas were one of the first easy recipes I tried as a new vegan, years ago. I remember dumping Emeril's spice mixs, sea salt and oil onto them and hoping for the best.

I added a little nutritional yeast this time around, and tend to bake them for an additional 15 minutes because I like them really crispy. I used a bit of misted olive oil instead of the called for oil.

Great on their own as as snack, or over salad greens. Cheap bulk chickpeas, cheap spices, you're set.

"Farm Cafe" Rosemary Roasted Hazelnuts

nibble.Recently I was talking about how much I wanted to recreate the roasted hazelnuts from The Farm Cafe at home and I have! And I didn't have to do any of the work, either!

Julie Hasson pointed me in the direction of the recipe, that was featured in Bon Appetit Magazine. Because it's so easy, and makes sense with this post, I have reposted it below.

Please note that I made a half batch, and husked most of the hazelnuts ahead of time. I used fresh rosemary and a rich organic dark brown sugar I buy in bulk from People’s Coop.

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Hazelnuts (The Farm Cafe/Epicurious.com)

Servings: Makes 4 cups.

Vegetable oil (I used canola)
4 cups hazelnuts, toasted, husked
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh rosemary (I used organic, local)
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt (I used sea salt)
5 dashes of hot pepper sauce*

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush 13x9x2-inch baking pan and large rimmed baking sheet generously with oil (I used my oil mister). Mix hazelnuts, brown sugar, rosemary, salt, and hot pepper sauce in large bowl to blend. Transfer to prepared baking pan. Bake until sugar melts and coats nuts, stirring every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cool completely. Break hazelnuts apart and store in airtight container at room temperature. (Can be made 5 days ahead.)

Test-kitchen tip: It's important to keep the hazelnuts hot during the entire baking time so the glaze doesn't clump. To prevent the hazelnuts from cooling off, don't remove them from the oven when stirring — just pull the oven rack out slightly.

*I used Frank's Red Hot the first time I made this, and Chihlua the second - definitely use a spicy one and don't be afraid to use more than 5 dashes. It wasn't quite as spicy as the restaurant's version both times I made this - they use Tabasco brand sauce on theirs. The nuts may smell hot and sour before roasting, but don't let that scare ya off.

Entertaining...

Thomas and I ended up hosting a PPK New Year's Eve Party last week, and it was a blast. We maybe had 9 or 10 people at most, which included Susie of Parsnip Parsimony, Webly of Fueled by Popcorn, Maeve of StrawberryRock, Rory of the PPK and more.

Here are some food pics..

The full spread, featuring Susie's (and her hands and camera) Boozilicious Rummy Booze Cake, and the excellent Chestnut Pate from Nomicon that Webly brought.

Baked gyozas. I bought pre-made wrappers at fubonn, and the filling is mixture of sauteed nomicon baked seitan (with asian flavors), garlic, ginger, yellow squash, carrots, maiitake mushrooms, veg. mushroom oyster sauce, hoisin, tamari and crushed red pepper, lightly sprayed with oil and baked for 15-20 on each side at 375F.

Miso Grilled Tofu and Seitan - based on the The Artful Vegan recipe for miso broiled eggplant

Tofu Dill Sour Cream - based on the Voluptuous Vegan recipe available here
It was alright, but I added some garlic and more spices, and I still think it needed more, but I also knew I was out of touch on what sour cream should taste like
(I was aiming for more of a dip, though sour cream was appropriate for what it went on).

Baked Potato Skins - scooped, brushed with a garlic butter (obviously Earth Balance), baked for 15 minutes, plopped on some zestied nomicon cheezy sauce, smoky crumbled tempeh and black olives, baked another 15 minutes.

Coconut Red Curry Peanut Sauce

Eggplant Caviar served over fresh chard - the The Artful Vegan. I wasn't too crazy about this, but it was pretty.

Tamari Roasted Chickpeas - Eat, Drink & Be Vegan.
So easy, and at least the 4th time I've made them.

Thomas made some Hunch Punch, aka Jungle Juice, aka Booze Juice.

VWAV Chocolate Chip Cookies - with butterscotch chips and chocolate lentils.
I picked up a ton of pastel chocolate, mint and coffee lentils in NYC and Brooklyn.....
(The .... meaning more to come!)

Tis the season.

Season's Greetings!

Thomas officially gets the award for best xmas gift giver ever with me - because you see how crisp, and clear these photos below are?? New camera!!
Amazingness.
I am the proud owner/parent of a Canon Powershot 750 Digital Elph - the same camera I was admiring my sister use recently.

I'm still working on a massive Boston post - coming next!

Part of our xmas lunch spread: Italian Baked tofu (VWAV/Nomicon), molasses candied almonds, roasted cremini and maittake mushrooms, chipotle yumm spread and wheat baguette. I also served quinoa with beans, steamed kale and red wine marinara.

Thomas tossed the salad. Badabum.
Peach champagne & white balsamic viniagarette.

This was the first picture I took with the new camera - not as steady as I'd like - but flipping great cinnamon rolls. TJ's pizza dough + cinnamon + melted earth balance + organic sugar + raisins + icing = must be christmas.

Hohoho.

Dra-ma

You know what sucks? When the sides of sauce with your vegan "eggrolls" from a vegetarian restaurant include fish extract. No apologies, Van Hanh Vegetarian, I just don't trust you now.

This happened a few weeks ago. I decided to pick up a to-go order of the rolls after a shopping trip at nearby Fubonn. Van Hanh is supposed to be 100% vegetarian, and I didn't notice the note until I was on my way home. I certainly haven't been back, and yes, it was just a side of sauce and 'just' extract, but who knows what else? It could have been in the rolls, or in the peanut sauce...
I couldn't bring myself to eat them and Tommy nervously ate them, not wanting to waste. I don't want anything else to do with this. It's funny because on my walk there, I was thinking about how I used to not actually understand the full concept of a vegetarian restaurant and was worried at the first one I went to. sigh.

Vegan Hazelnut and Red Wine Stuffed Mushrooms

Our home computer has been having issues, so no new uploading yet from me - so how about a recipe? Stay tuned for forthcoming Stumptown Vegans reviews on Tour de Crepes, Paradox Cafe and Half & Half as well...

Hazelnut and Red Wine Stuffed Mushrooms


By jess of Get Sconed!

Ingredients:

12-14 white or cremini mushrooms
1 tablespoon extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil
1/4 cup of raw hazelnuts 
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon vegan red wine (use one you like!)
1 – 1.5 tablespoons tamari, soy sauce or shoyu

2-3 cloves of garlic (to your personal preference)

Dash sea salt

Dash fresh ground pepper

3/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

Optional:

Olive oil spray
Pinch nutritional yeast

Extra:

Olive oil
Vegan red wine
8x8 baking pan
Frying pan or small wok

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Toast whole hazelnuts on a non-greased baking sheet for 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes.
2. Change heat to 400F.
3. Coarsely chop the nuts or pulse 3 times in a food processo
4. Move the nuts to a small bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs, a dash of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a very small pinch of nutritional yeast, if using
5. Remove mushroom stems with a firm but not too firm joystick wiggle. Scrape out fins (black part) with a spoon if desired. Set the caps aside. Finely chop the stems, or pulse 2-3 times in a food processor.
6. Preheat a pan on medium heat with the olive oil. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn.
7. Add the chopped caps and sauté for 2-3 minutes more; you will see the mushrooms start to juice.
8. Add the herbs, tamari or soy sauce and red wine. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed.
9. Stir the sautéed mixture into the breadcrumbs, mixing well with a fork to form a new consistency.
10. Lightly grease a small baking pan (that will fit your shrooms!) with olive oil. An 8x8 pan works well for this.
11. Using a small measuring spoon (such as a ½ teaspoon), scoop the mixture, holding one mushroom at a time over the breadcrumb/nut mix bowl, into the center. Pat the mixture with the back of the spoon or your finger, so it is tightly packed. Depending on the size of the spoon, use 1-3 scoops.
12. Place each stuffed mushroom onto the lightly greased pan, next to one another.
13. Once assembled, drizzle over the mushrooms in the pan with more extra virgin olive oil and red wine, enough so a very small amount of liquid is on the bottom of the pan.
14. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until browned. Broil for one minute, if desired.
15. Enjoy with a glass of the red wine as an appetizer or side dish. This works accompanies garlic roasted asparagus and pasta wonderfully.

Pre-bakedVariation: marinade de-stemmed caps overnight in a mixture of the following: red wine, garlic, freshly chopped basil and olive oil.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

This recipe also appeared in the online edition of Herbivore Magazine.

Vegan Gyoza makin' on a Sunday night

I still have a bunch of random-ish food porn to post, but I wanted to post something else that is cohesive. This weekend I wanted to pick up some groceries to inspire/keep me busy for the week, and didn't feel like a typical Trader Joe's trip, so I went to Fubonn, which is conveniently on my bus line. I also shop at New Season's and People's Coop, but they're not much of a 'trip', and don't serve bubble tea.

While there, I was inspired to pick up gyoza wrappers, and I got to it Sunday night. I also picked up vegetarian chicken patties, vegan chicken things, sesame chili oil, a bamboo spoon, vacuum packed silken tofu, water packed silken tofu and firm tofu.

It can be difficult to find vegan wrappers, and I've found my best bet to be asian markets. The fewer the ingredients the better your chances of not reading whey or egg whites.

What I did: The filling for these consists of half a chopped yellow bell pepper, one chopped carrot, handful of bean sprouts cut in half, handful of chopped spinach, 5 or 6 diced mushrooms and 6 or so diced fake chicken things. This fake chicken was from Food Fight!

I pan fried the chicken in little bit of my new sesame chili oil in my wok, added 3 cloves of chopped garlic and a pinch of ginger powder, added the carrots, peppers and mushrooms and cooked for a 3 minutes or so. I added a small squeeze of hoisin sauce and a small amount of tamari. I'm really liking tamari lately. Next I added the bean sprouts and spinach, cooked out the moisture, removed from heat and filled my defrosted wrappers. I put 1/2 tablespoon of filling in each wrapper, making 30 total, with unused wrappers stored in the freezer, as well as extra gyozas I did not cook.

I half steamed/half pan fried these guys.


Tommy had vegetarian chicken patties with them, and I had some pad thai. But I'm sick of rice noodles now. The dipping sauces were shoyu/sesame chili and a bottled thai sweet chili. And Tommy actually said "I don't like dumplings" before eating a plateful of the gyozas...


The end. (more photos and honeyball recipe on the way)

Vegan Brooklyn Pad Thai, Vege Thai dinner, Mushrooms and Tulips

Hell yea, I finally made (aka picked up the ingredients for) the Brooklyn Pad Thai in VWAV.

I used Trader Joe's new rice noodles (99 cents!), and left out the onion and lemongrass, which I didn't see a need to pick up, as I was already buying bean sprouts, rice noodles, chili sauce and peanut oil. I did not garnish with cilantro, as I hate it. I also julienned carrots but forgot to add them. Regardless of the changes, it was still fantastic! The noodles were a bit annoying to stir fry, but they made it through all saucy and gave me dinner and lunch. Even my 'I don't want to eat Thai food, specially pad thai' at home boyfriend said it looked and smelled like the real thing (he had already eaten).

I've only cooked with peanut oil a couple times before, and I'm really pleased I picked it up - cooking with it smells just like Vege Thai. Greasy goodness of a treat (addiction?) that Vege Thai is....

I really, really love Vege Thai, and the downtown Veggie Express food cart. In particular, the food cart has given me opportunities to try different menu items that I probably would not try at the restaurant. Above, though at the restaurant, is something I've ordered twice now, the pineapple curry with tofu, medium heat.
Thomas' favorite - Pad Sei-iew with mock pepper steak. This one is great as well, made with a dark soy sauce. I am constantly asking to his plate.
If you go, do remember to ask for the 'vegan' chicken if you are vegan, as they have both vegan and vegetarian chicken.
The other night I was just feeling mushrooms for dinner, and made this balsamic galzed (VWAV) cremini, cherry tomato, field greens, avocado, roasted garlic and vegenaise sandwich on a ciabatta roll from New Seasons. I used white balsamic vinegar for the shrooms, since that's all I have right now, but I intend to pick up some red soon. The white just isn't as deep a flavor to me.
This is a Veganomican test recipe that I made for the second time on Monday night -
Spicy tempeh with broccoli and whole wheat pasta.
I'm a big spicy, and tempeh, garlic and broccoli and whole wheat pasta fan, so yum.

One of my favorite things to make and eat - stuffed mushrooms. This was my first time marinading the caps beforehand. They were in a mixture of red wine, shoyu, garlic, white balsamic and olive oil for over 24 hours. A similar recipe of mine, Hazelnut and Red Wine mushrooms, is currently up on the Herbivore website in the subscriber section (so subscribe!).


A little pile of Italian-y foods. Baked and bread tofu, roasted eggplant and garlic, baby spinach, and sundried tomato marinara (variation of a Veganomican test recipe).
The eggplant slices were rubbed with garlic and baked for 10 minutes on each side at 400F, and the tofu was dipped in soymilk, and then seasoned breadcrumbs and baked for 15-20 minutes at 400F on each side on parchment paper.


On Saturday night Thomas and I dined for the first time at The Farm Cafe. It was a special, fancypants excursion for us, but absolutely worth it - dinner and cocktails to celebrate our 4th anniversary, blah blah!
We both highly recommend the herb crusted tofu with mashed potatoes and mushroom Marsala sauce, as does everyone else we know who's tried it. The dish was $10 and worth every penny, every bite - and it's a place that focuses on local/organic!
Thomas had the wild mushroom (vegetarian) lasagna special. Unfortunately, no photos of the meal, but here are some lovely tulips:

Somehow, Zelda has not managed to eat these yet.