Chow Vegan

While at the Palo Alto California Avenue farmer’s market today, I picked up a tamale from The Oaxacan Kitchen booth. That was the extent of my Cinco de Mayo activity for the day. It’s not much compared to whipping up a tableful of Mexican dishes or hanging out at a party, but it sure was tasty.

There’s only one vegan tamale, the Roasted Butternut Squash – Fresh corn, guaillo salsa, big chunks of butternut squash and zucchini. Really good flavor. Available mild, spicy or extra spicy. I got the middle spice level, spicy but not mouth-on-fire kind of spicy (at least for me), $4.00 for one.

I haven’t tried anything else there but while waiting for my food, I spotted the lady making corn tortillas to order. She would grab a bit of the dough from a giant pile, flatten it out in a large hand press and then cooked it up. Man, she was fast.

And all this in basically the middle of the street (a section is closed down for the farmer’s market). Next time, I going to have to try to get something that has those handmade tortillas.

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With the weather bouncing back and forth between warm and cool, I’m taking advantage of the cooler days to use the oven before it really warms up around here. Not that it ever gets that hot in Northern California, I just don’t use the oven much in the summertime. Until then, I’m enjoying these mini savory lentil cupcakes (I’ve also made normal lentil loaves with a regular square pan, if you’re over the whole cupcake thing).

I’ve come a long way with lentils. In the past, I didn’t care much for the little guys, but now, I’m liking them more and more. I haven’t advanced to cooking them myself just yet, so I’ve been using the Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils for a fairly easy recipe.

The hardest part is mashing the lentils as I don’t have a masher and had been using a dinner fork which wasn’t quite doing the job. Frustrated, I squeeze the bejesus out of those little lentils beans with my bare hands and that actually worked out great.

Mini Savory Lentil Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 small leek, white and some of the green part, chopped
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups cooked and seasoned lentils
1/8 cup walnuts or almonds, crushed
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 small carrot, chopped
1/2 cup petite peas (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup white corn kernels (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a wok or sauté pan to hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the leeks and cook until translucent then add the mushrooms. Stir-fry until cooked and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the lentils. Add in the nuts, breadcrumbs, tomato paste and vegetables. Mix well.

In a well-oiled muffin pan, portion out the lentil mixture and pack into the pan, tightly pressing into the bottom. Top with ketchup. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until browned and pulling away from the edges. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

While the lentil cupcakes are baking, make the optional mashed potatoes beet frosting. Just add a small beet to your favorite mashed potato or caulipots recipe. Pipe on the mashed potatoes and sprinkle with crushed kale chips.

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I’ve been anticipating the arrival of the new Earth Balance Vegan Aged White Cheese Puffs at my local Whole Foods for what seems like forever. That day has finally arrived. With great relish, I opened the bag.

I thought they would be fluffier, like the super bright orange cheese puffs. Those were a favorite childhood snack that I was sad to leave behind. Although the Earth Balance puffs are a bit crunchier, they more than fill that snacky void with their cheesy goodness.

Covered in a powder that I’m guessing is the aged white cheese flavor, I love them. Sometimes I like to eat the puffs with chopsticks so I don’t get powder all over my fingers. The only bad thing is I can easily eat a whole bag all by myself.

Besides the puffs, there’s also Vegan Aged White Cheese Flavor Popcorn. A bit more subtle in taste than the puffs as there’s not as much powder covering the popcorn. Still very good. Another popcorn is Vegan Buttery Flavor (not pictured) which I didn’t find to be all that buttery, more like regular popcorn with a hint of butter.

I prefer the aged cheese flavor, the butter flavor I can just make at home. If I’m going to pay $3.99 for a bag of popcorn, it’s going to be for something I can’t easily make myself.

The only one I haven’t tried yet is the peanut butter popcorn, P.B. Popps. I can’t wait to see that one in the store.

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In a previous cookbook review, I toured Europe. This time, it’s around the world with Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero. Packed with 300 recipes spanning the globe, there’s something for everyone from the familiar to the I had no idea such deliciousness existed in the world. Let’s go.

Ever since my epiphany on savory pumpkin dishes, I’ve been on the hunt for a good pumpkin curry recipe. Delighted to see Pumpkin Coconut Curry on page 136, that’s the first thing I made.

It was a bit of a challenge locating a couple of the ingredients. I found fresh curry leaves at the Asian supermarket but I never did find the pandan leaves. I’ve eaten curry leaves before in restaurants, I just didn’t know what they were called. I see myself making this curry again and again.

Since I haven’t made jackfruit anything in awhile, Sweet and Savory Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos page 105 with Pickled Red Onions page 62 was another must make. It is not to be missed. It’s easy and don’t forget the pickled red onions, they’re the perfect topping and easy peasy too.

While I love peanut sauce, peanut soup was unfamiliar to me. But I imagined the Ginger Peanut Squash Soup page 129 would be similar to the sauce, just more of it. That’s a good thing, right? For a moment, I was a little skeptical while making it but it all came together in the end for a deliciously peanutty soup.

For the 15th day of the Chinese New Year celebration, I made Chinese Sticky Rice page 305 with Tempeh Sausage Crumbles page 53. As I’ve made sticky rice on numerous occasions, I didn’t quite follow the recipe step-by-step. I cooked it as I normally make sticky rice but it’s nice to try different ingredients and flavors in a familiar dish.

Not pictured is the Chorizo Tempeh Crumbles page 52 which I liked better than the Chinese Tempeh Crumbles. Basically they’re the same recipe but with different marinades. I’ve been using the chorizo crumbles to make burrito bowls for a speedy and tasty lunch.

Obsess with pickling lately, especially the quick refrigerator variety, I zeroed in on the Fast Lane Cabbage Kimchi page 56. Alas, I couldn’t find the Korean red pepper powder called for in the recipe. Luckily, there’s a variation without the red pepper, Cool Ginger Kimchi.

My favorite though is the Star Anise Daikon Pickles page 62. I love the licorice flavor of the star anise combined with the tangy and the sweet. I confess I’ve always been a bit scared of pickling, never knowing how easy it really is to make fresh refrigerator pickles. Now, I can’t get enough – I’ve been trying out the pickles on top of everything.

Just a small sampling of the deliciousness that awaits you in Vegan Eats World. I have many more recipes bookmarked with scraps of paper like little flags of the world beckoning for a visit.

Star Anise Daikon Pickles
Makes about 1 pint

1/2 pound daikon radish (about one slender 10-inch radish)
1/4 pound carrots (about 2 large carrots)
6 large green jalapeno or serrano chilies, stems removed
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, black or mixed color
4 whole star anise

1. Scrape the daikon and carrots to remove the outer peel and slice into long matchsticks no thicker than 1/4 inch: I use a mandolin for this but you can take your time and use a chef’s knife. Or even better, use a Y-shaped julienne peeler. Slice the chilies in half, remove the seeds (or keep them in for really hot pickles), and slice into very thin slivers. Toss everything together and pack into a clean, dry, 1-pint glass mason jar.

2. In a small saucepan, bring to a gentle boil the vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, and star anise and boil for 2 minutes. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and then pour everything over the vegetables in the jar, including the star anise and peppercorns. Cover very tightly and chill for 30 minutes before using. Store tightly covered and chilled.

From the book Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright (c) 2012. www.dacapopresscookbooks.com

Disclosure: I received the cookbook free of charge from the publisher to review. The opinions and experience with the cookbook expressed herein are my own. There was no pay to say.

This post also contains Amazon links, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on any of the links and make a purchase of anything.

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Have you ever tried black tofu? No, not blackened tofu. Not tofu with black bean sauce. Black tofu. Made from black soybeans. Though the color of the tofu is more of a greyish hue. It’s high in fiber and protein but relativity low in carbohydrates and may help reduce the risk of diabetes.

I tried a pan-fried sample at the Asian supermarket. Yes, they have food samples just like at Costco but only on the weekends and sometimes the sample person doesn’t speak English. I bought a package of the stuff home.

Instead of pan-frying though, I roasted the tofu. But I’m not convinced that’s the best preparation for black tofu. The pan-fried version seemed creamier; the roasted seemed drier.

The orange part comes from an adaptation of the Ginger Orange Stir-Fry recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Eating Appalachia. As soon as I saw Cara Cara orange in the ingredients, knew I was going to try it. It makes a beautiful vivid orange color. And it’s spicy. And it’s sweet without any additional sweetener.

I’ve made it several times now using regular white tofu and with various vegetables. I’ve even made it without vegetables, I like the sauce so much. I’ve also tried run-of-the-mill Navel oranges, it’s good but nowhere nearly as good as a sweet Cara Cara.

Below is the adapted recipe using roasted tofu. To pan-fry the tofu, click here for the original recipe.

Roasted Tofu in Orange-Ginger Sauce
Serves 2

1 14-ounce block of extra-firm tofu
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 small carrot, sliced on the diagonal
2-3 cups snow peas or other vegetable such as broccoli
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Corn starch mixed with a bit of water

Sauce
Zest of 1 Cara Cara orange
1 Cara Cara orange, juiced
3/4 inch ginger, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce or to taste

To roast the tofu, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine the oil, salt and paprika. Cut the tofu into cubes and gently toss to coat with the mixture. Place each tofu cube in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Roast for 15 minutes on one side, flip over and roast another 15 minutes.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Heat a wok to hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the carrots and stir-fry a bit and then add the snow peas (if using broccoli, parboil it first). When the snow peas are crisp-tender, toss in the roasted tofu. Add the sauce and cook for about a minute. To thicken the sauce, dribble in the corn starch mixture and stir until it’s the desired thickness. Plate and serve with rice.

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Last week I tried sofritas, the new shredded tofu option that Chipotle is testing out. I’m happy to report it’s really good. And no wonder, the organic, non-GMO tofu is supplied by a local Oakland-based Hodo Soy Beanery. Maybe that’s why the seven test locations are all in the Bay Area.

I got a burrito bowl with brown rice, fresh tomato salsa, the tomatillo green chili salsa as well as the red, guacamole and romaine lettuce. I pushed aside some of the guacamole and lettuce so you can see the tofu there on the left side. Braised with chipotle chilies, roasted poblanos and spices, the tofu has a very nice savory taste and a meaty texture.

I asked the counter people how long the sofritas will be available but they didn’t know. Just that if it does well, they’ll keep it on the menu. If you’re nearby and thinking of trying it, it’s probably best to do it sooner rather than later.

The chosen Chiptole restaurants with sofritas:
525 Market Street, San Francisco
121 Fourth Street, San Francisco
126 New Montgomery St., San Francisco
2019 Chess Drive, San Mateo
251 East 3rd Ave., San Mateo
180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto
135 El Camino Real, Millbrae

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We got the beet. Yeah. We got it. We got the beet. Remember that 80′s pop song “We Got the Beat” by the Go-Go’s? That’s the tune playing in my head when I made the Quarter Pounder Beet Burgers from Post Punk Kitchen.

I pretty much followed the recipe but made smaller size patties and went with the baked option. And served them in a bowl instead of a bun with mixed greens on the bottom and avocado and caramelized onions on top.

I wasn’t always a fan of beets, I’ll eat them now but I still prefer the beet greens to the actual beet. But I hardly ever see just beet greens sold by themselves and I’ve got to do something with those beets. So… We got the beet burger bowl.

This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.

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Happy Chinese New Year! To celebrate, I made taro root cake. It’s not a sweet, baked kind of cake. It’s a savory, steamed, smooth cake – a dim sum type of dish. Served in Chinese restaurants, it usually has some sort of meat. A packaged veggie version can be found at the Asian supermarket, but it’s quite plain.

This homemade version is packed with flavorful bits of veggie meat, mushrooms and vegetables amidst the creamy taro and rice flour. If you never tried taro root cake before, the texture is like the wide rice noodles used in chow fun, but softer and shaped in a thick block.

It’s not the quickest thing to make but it’s also not very hard. To prevent itchy hands when handling raw taro root, be sure to wear latex gloves. It contains calcium oxalate, a skin irritant that’s neutralized by cooking.

Along the same line, Mom always said to make sure the taro root comes to a full boil before lifting the pot lid, otherwise when you eat the taro, your throat will be itchy. I have no idea if that’s true or just an old wives’ tale. I have no intention of finding out.

Taro Root Cake
Makes 4 mini loafs

1 pound taro root, peeled and cut into 3/4″ dice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked and diced
1/4 – 1/2 cup veggie meat, such as vegetarian ham or sausage
2 pieces preserved salted turnip, diced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup brown rice flour or regular rice flour (not glutinous rice flour)
1 cup water
3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sugar

Optional Garnishes
1 green onion, chopped
2 cilantro sprigs, chopped
Chili sauce

Place the taro root in a pot and just cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, covered, over high heat. Add the 1 teaspoon salt and reduce to low heat. Cook covered until tender about 10 – 15 minutes. Drain and mashed half of the taro, leaving the other half as pieces. Set aside.

Heat a wok to hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the shallots and cook until translucent. Add the veggie meat, salted turnips, and the mushrooms. Stir fry for a couple of minutes, then add in the green onions. Stir to mix in and set aside.

Stir together the rice flour and 1 cup of water in a large bowl until well mixed. Add the 3/4 cup boiling water, potato starch and salt, stir until blended and then stir in the taro and mushroom mixture, soy sauce, oil and sugar. Mix well.

Ladle into four greased mini loaf pans or one 8″ round pie pan. (The steamer must be large enough so that the pan doesn’t touch the sides. I had to use multiple pans as my steamer pot was not very large.)

Steam over medium-high heat for 30 minutes or so until the cake is set and firm. While steaming check the water level, if necessary, replenish with boiling water.

Let cool before unmolding and slicing into pieces. The taro cake pieces can be served steamed or pan-fried in a bit of oil until golden brown. Top with any of the garnishes.

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