Chow Vegan

Even though I love my spicy Butternut Squash Soup, I’m still curious about other versions, especially the ones that have fruit in them.

Seeing the Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup from Vegan Soul Kitchen in the latest issue of Vegetarian Times pushed me over the edge and into the kitchen to give it a try.

It’s a much milder, sweeter soup than what I’m used to, but still very good. Preparation and cooking were similar in both recipes. I made a couple of changes as I always seem to do; I didn’t have any coconut milk handy so I used soy milk instead.

I also didn’t have any pumpkin seeds for the garnish and so I cut up an extra piece of pear to sprinkle on top. It worked out well – adding a bit more of the pear taste and a crunch to the soup.

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This is what I want to eat for the holidays. Thanksgiving or Christmas, it doesn’t matter, I just want it. What is it you say?

It’s smoked vegetarian goose. I picked it up from Sogo Tofu, a small vegetarian shop that produces all manner of tofu and soy products in San Jose. Expertly made, it has just the right amount of smokiness so it’s not overwhelming and the taste of the yuba comes through.

That’s right, you read that correctly. It doesn’t look like it but that roll is made from layers and layers of yuba, tightly rolled up with a layer of vegetable filling and smoked. At least that’s how I think it’s made. I’ve been unsuccessful in finding an actual recipe for this particular dish. I’m just happy to be able to get it at all.

Serve with a simple sauté of swiss chard and Cumin-Cayenne Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions from Vegan Soul Kitchen. I’ve been making all sorts of things out of that cookbook (the recipe is also available in the current issue of Vegetarian Times). The mashed potatoes is another winner – it has a spicy, rich taste about it. No gravy needed.

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I meant to experiment with version 2.0 of the Salt and Pepper Roasted Tofu. But since I had a leek to use up, I went with a black bean sauce and threw the poor leek in the sauce.

I prepared the tofu using the method for Rosemary-Roasted Tofu Cubes from Vegan Soul Kitchen. I left out the rosemary but kept the paprika for the beautiful color.

For the sauce, I like to use dried fermented black beans instead of a bottled black bean sauce. Also called preserved black beans, salted or dried black beans and in Cantonese, tau see. The flavor is more intense, stronger and fresher tasting than the bottled stuff.

Not to be confused with the black beans associated with Mexican food, these are small black soy beans dried and fermented with salt and sometimes ginger. The brand I use is Yang Jiang Preserved Beans, it comes in a cylindrical cardboard container at the Asian supermarket. It’s very easy to use, just soak a few minutes to soften, rinse and mash a little with a fork to release their flavor.

And don’t forget to check your teeth after eating anything with black bean sauce. You wouldn’t want to be walking around with black specks all over your mouth. It’s not pretty.

Roasted Tofu with Leeks and Black Bean Sauce
Serves 2

1 16-ounce block of extra-firm tofu
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Sauce
1 medium leek, white and some green part, cut into 2 inch sections
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, mashed with a fork
1 teaspoon oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup water
Arrowroot dissolved in water

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 each side.

Heat a wok to hot, add the oil. Swirl the oil to coat the wok. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and black beans. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the leeks. Stir-fry for a few minutes, add the water and cook until the leeks are tender.

Slowly add the arrowroot mixture and stir to thicken the sauce to desired consistency. Add the tofu and mix well. Serve with rice.

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I needed to pick up some spices and stopped by Penzeys Spices in downtown Menlo Park the other day. It’s their only location in all of Northern California and luckily, not too far away from me.

Penzeys is to cooks, what a candy store is to kids. It’s a visual and olfactory treat to step through the door. You can open sample jars and get a good whiff of each spice. Everything smells incredible and oh so fresh. And the variety of some spices is just astounding.

Who knew there was so many different kinds of cinnamon? I thought there was just the one kind (the one in the supermarket labeled brown cinnamon) but no, they have four different ones there. I got the Vietnamese Cinnamon-Extra Fancy, it smelled so strongly of cinnamon, it made me want to run home and bake something. And you know, I’m no baker.

I also got a free jar of Bangkok Blend (sweet peppers, garlic, ginger, black pepper, galangal, hot peppers, lemon grass, basil and cilantro) from the peel-off free gift coupon on their catalog cover. It was my choice of 1 of 3 turkey seasonings, the other two were Poultry Seasoning or Bicentennial Rub. No turkey here, so I’m thinking of trying it out on an unsuspecting block of tofu.

With persimmons all over the farmers market, I just had to get some. There’s two types: Fuyu is the squat, round, firm, eat-whenever kind and the Hachiya is the soft, pointy end, eat-only-if-ripe-or-you’ll-be-really-sorry kind.

I went with the Fuyu for it’s crispness and because I was going to use it in a salad. Cutting the persimmon crosswise made such a nice round colorful disc, I thought it would be fun if the salad was stacked instead of in a giant heap.

Fuyu Persimmon Salad
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1 head baby romaine lettuce
1 Fuyu persimmon
1/2 avocado
Handful of dried cranberries and/or pomegranate seeds

Dressing
2 tablespoons Vegenaise or other vegan mayonnaise
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon white vine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside. Peel the persimmon and cut crosswise into thin rounds. Slice the avocado crosswise.

Tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Place in a mixing bowl, add dressing to taste and toss.

To plate, place one persimmon round in center of a serving plate. Pile lettuce on top, avocado next and then another persimmon round and repeat, ending with a few avocado slices on top of a persimmon.

Sprinkle the dried fruit around. Spoon extra dressing around the plate in a line. Serve immediately.

Looking through my stash of cookbook recipes, I found one that I haven’t made in a long, long time. Curried Pineapple Rice. I remember how good the dish was but not why I stopped making it. Too lazy? Got tired of it? Misplaced the recipe? I don’t know.

So I made it again. Still tasty and now super easy to make using a fuzzy logic rice cooker. I barely consider it cooking, it’s more like gather and toss into the pot. Can’t get any easier than that.

A variation on rice pilaf with Polynesian flavors, the original recipe is from Pacific Flavors by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison. Over the years, I’ve modified it a bit. Since I’m using the rice cooker, I left out the sauté in butter part and made it a bit healthier.

Curried Pineapple Rice
Makes about 5 cups
Adapted from the recipe in Pacific Flavors by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison

4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water until soft, cut off stems and dice
1 1/2 cups white basmati rice (using the measuring cup that came with the rice cooker)
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
Juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, minced
2 stalks green onion, chopped
1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, diced
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

Cooking directions is for use with a rice cooker with a 5.5 cups capacity. Using the inner pot of the rice cooker, rinse the rice well in several changes of water until the water is clear. Add water to the marked level on the pot according to the rice cooker’s directions.

Add the rest of the ingredients except for the green onion, pineapple and almonds. Select the setting to cook white rice and press start.

When the rice cooker beeps that it’s done, stir in the green onions and pineapple. Turn it off and serve or leave on the “warm” setting until ready to serve. Top with toasted almonds if using.

For a fancy presentation, serve the rice in a pineapple boat.