Caribbean Peas and Rice...with Kale!

I love the combination of beans and rice and this recipe was a great opportunity to make a new dish using those healthy ingredients. This one is reminiscent of past travels in the Caribbean and dining on local cuisine. Peas and rice are a staple there, and it just happens to also be vegan! This recipe is from Happy Herbivore and also uses an ingredient that's a fan-favorite...kale!

The recipe calls for jerk seasoning, which I did not have on hand. However, I had all of the spices required in order to make a jerk spice blend, so I was able to make it from scratch! I used this one from Allrecipes, minus the oil:

2 tbsp dried minced onion
2 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all of those ingredients together. Any extra seasoning that you don't use could be stored in a small jar for next time!

Here's the recipe - this one makes enough to serve 4, or you can save it for lunch the next day like I am if you're dining solo!

1 bunch scallions, white parts sliced thin
2 whole celery stalks, minced
4 whole garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger root, minced
4 whole fresh thyme leaves
1½ tsp hot sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
¼ tsp turmeric
1 bunch kale, chopped into small pieces
15 ounces black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
2½ cups vegetable broth
2 tsp Jamaican dried jerk seasoning (using recipe above)

Combine rice with 2 cups of vegetable broth in a large pot and set aside. Line a skillet with a thin layer of broth and add scallions, celery, garlic, ginger, thyme, hot sauce and 1 tsp jerk seasoning. Cook over high heat, adding additional broth as necessary, until the celery is soft, about 3 minutes. Add remaining jerk seasoning, stirring to coat. Transfer to rice, add 2 squirts of ketchup and turmeric, stirring to combine. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to low and simmer 40-50 minutes, until rice is cooked.  You might have to add more broth as the rice absorbs the liquid. Once rice is fully cooked, stir in black-eyed peas and greens. Let the greens wilt slightly. You can serve with hot sauce or add a little bit of salt, if needed.

Miso-Maple Sweet Potato Tacos

In my never ending search of delicious food and recipes to try online, I came across this one at The Kitchn that caught my interest. I'm always up for trying new Mexican-inspired recipes since some of my go-to meals include burritos, tacos, and eating as much re-fried beans and rice as I can. This one included one of my favorite foods, and one that I'm trying to eat more of since they're so good for you...sweet potatoes! Plus, the words...miso....maple syrup...sweet potatoes...really, how could you go wrong!

This recipe was delicious and perfect as it was - I didn't feel the need to alter any ingredients and the quantities were bang-on! It was pretty easy to make, especially since I bought my sweet potatoes pre-cut and pre-washed. I doubled the amounts of the miso-maple glaze since I think I had double the amount of sweet potatoes on hand, which truly shows since I have a lot left over. This would be fantastic re-heated for lunch tomorrow though, which I'll be doing!

Sweet Potatoes, fresh from the oven

Here's the recipe!

Glazed Sweet Potato Filling
2 tablespoons miso paste
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 medium sweet potatoes, unpeeled and chopped into small cubes
1 small red onion, chopped
Olive oil

Toppings
whole wheat or corn tortillas, to put everything inside 
red pepper, chopped
green onions, chopped
hot pepper or jalapeno, chopped
cilantro 
toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
sprouts or greens

Cilantro-Coconut Sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup basil leaves
1 scallion, green and white parts, chopped
1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 small garlic clove
Splash of Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
Pinch of sugar (optional)
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 400°F. Whisk the miso paste, maple syrup, and vinegar together in a small bowl. Spread sweet potatoes and onions in a single layer on a baking sheet (you might need 2 baking sheets). Drizzle with a little olive oil, and then liberally brush the glaze over the vegetables.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes (it took me 40-45 minutes to get the potatoes soft since my sweet potato cubes were a bit larger). The time will vary depending on the heat of your oven and the size of your sweet potato cubes. The onions will likely be done first so be sure to watch and take them out when they're nicely browned but not burnt. When the sweet potatoes are finished, remove from the oven, taste and add another brushing of glaze if you wish.
Serve on warm corn tortillas with cilantro-coconut sauce (see below) and fixings such as avocado, sprouts, cilantro, and pepitas.
In a food processor, pulse all cilantro-coconut sauce ingredients together until just combined. Serve alongside the tacos.

Delicious Toppings!

Vegan Baked Tacos

From the photo above, it's hard to tell exactly what this meal is other than a mound of Daiya cheese, jalapenos, and salsa. It's a recipe called Baked Tacos from Vegetarian Times magazine (March 2003). I adapted this one a little bit to make it vegan, and also added a couple more ingredients that I enjoy (mostly the onions). This is a really easy recipe to make and quick to prepare - it is sure to be a new winner for dinner!

It also makes a LOT of food. Unless you have a family of four or more people, you'll probably have some leftovers. These re-heat really well and are really yummy the next day.

I'm not really sure "tacos" is the right word to describe these. They are more like baked Mexican wraps, smothered in salsa and cheese.

Ingredients:

8 - 8" flour tortillas
1 - 15oz can refried beans
1 package of baked tofu, cut into 16 long strips
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
Daiya cheddar shreds
chopped fresh coriander for garnish
chopped green onion for garnish
1 1/2 cups salsa

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray 9x13" baking dish or larger with non-stick cooking spray.
2.  Starting with 1 tortilla, spread half of the tortilla with 2 heaping tablespoons of beans, then 2 slices of tofu, 1 tbsp jalapeno, 1 tbsp red onion, 1 tbsp Daiya. Wrap tightly and place in the baking dish.
3.  Repeat with the rest. Arrange all in the baking dish. Pour salsa on top, sprinkle with Daiya. Cover the baking dish with foil.
4.  Bake for 20 minutes or until filling is heated through. Top the tacos with cilantro and green onions.

Black Bean Burgers with Tempeh Crisps

Black Bean Burger with all the toppings!

The Post Punk Kitchen Top 100 for 2012 alerted me to the fact that archived editions of Vegetarian Times magazine are available to read for free via Google Books! BTW - if you haven't looked through the PPK Top 100 list, you should check it out for all kinds of wonderful vegan things that came out last year! Anyway, while looking through the old magazines, I came across this recipe for Black Bean Burgers with Tempeh Crisps that I decided to try! 

The recipe is also available over at their website, where I also discovered that they post all of the recipes from their magazines (also available for free!). Now, you have hundreds and hundreds of recipes to try out. Only a few of their recipes are vegan or can be made vegan, so watch out for those recipes that have dairy or eggs.

Tempeh Crisps

The black bean burgers were super yummy, but I thought it was the tempeh crisps that totally put this recipe over the edge of deliciousness! Fix these burgers up with the toppings of your choice and on a whole wheat bun and you're all set! We also made the OMG Onion Rings from Appetite for Reduction to go along with them!

All the Toppings

 Black Bean Burgers:

•  3 cups cooked black beans
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup bread crumbs (we used probably 1 1/2 to 2 cups of Panko bread crumbs)
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped scallions
• 1 Tbs. chili powder
• 1 Tbs. ketchup
• ½ to ¾ cup water, or as needed to process

Tempeh Strips:

• 12 oz. tempeh, sliced into thin strips
• 2 Tbs. chili powder
• ½ tsp. pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. To make Black Bean Burgers: Combine black beans, brown rice, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, scallions, chili powder and catsup in food processor, and process, adding just enough water to blend, until smooth. Form into 6 equal-sized patties, and chill 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, to make Tempeh Crisps: Toss tempeh strips with chili powder, salt and pepper. Spread strips evenly on sheet pan, and bake about 15 minutes, or until browned and crisp. Remove from oven, and set aside.
4. Heat skillet over medium heat, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add patties, cooking 5 minutes on each side, or until heated through. Place each burger on whole wheat bun. Garnish with crisps and favorite condiments.

Sesame Soy Soba Stir Fry

Oh, the veggie stir fry. It is one of my go-to meals because it's easy to make, it has loads of veggies, plus it's fairly versatile. Choose your base - do you feel like brown rice, quinoa, couscous, pasta, or soba noodles? Then, the veggies - which ones do I have in the fridge that I'd like to use up? And then the sauce - how about a sesame/soy/ginger, peanut sauce, teriyaki sauce, sweet chili sauce, or coconut curry? Then, you can choose to add a protein of your choice - marinated tofu, tempeh, seitan, or even mushrooms. You can even add peanuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds...the possibilities are endless.  Now, I find myself whipping up various stir fry creations on my own without recipes in the kitchen. This is one of those recipes where you can alter it to your liking!

Here's a quick stir fry that uses soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles that you can find at most grocery stores), a ton of different veggies, a sesame soy sauce, and topped with green onions and sesame seeds. The most laborious part of preparing the meal was chopping all the veggies and even then, it doesn't take too long. It also uses a lot of alliteration - sesame, soy, soba, stir fry!

You'll need:

1 package of soba noodles, cooked as per the instructions on the box

chopped veggies: broccoli, bok choy, green beans, red onion, red pepper, julienne carrots, garlic

Garnish:
green onions, sliced
sesame seeds

Sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1" ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch red pepper flakes

Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together. Stir fry all of the veggies in the sauce for five minutes until softened. Don't overcook the veggies - they taste the best a little bit crunchy and fresh!

Serve the veggies and sauce over the noodles, and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Air-Popped Popcorn with Yummy Vegan Toppings

When I was a kid, my family used to always make popcorn using the air popped popcorn machine. I have so many fond memories of curling up on the couch to watch a movie or TV along with my family, with a big bowl of buttery, salty, delicious popcorn. It had been a while since I'd enjoyed some freshly popped popcorn, aside from buying some of the bags of organic salted popcorn at Whole Foods. Finally, I splurged and bought myself a popcorn popper!

I purchased the air popper at Bed Bath and Beyond (using a 20% off coupon, too....woo!) and chose this one by Nostalgia Electrics. It is a bit different than the one I had as a kid, where you pour the kernels into the bottom of the popper and a narrow metal arm moves the kernels around (so they don't burn) until they begin to pop. It wasn't too expensive and it definitely does the job of making a fluffy, crunchy, delicious treat!

When it comes to toppings and making some dairy-free vegan popcorn, it's easy! If you're looking for that classic, buttery popcorn, just melt down some Earth Balance or other vegan margarine in the microwave, and pour it on top. You can also use olive oil on the popcorn. Using the Earth Balance, coconut oil or olive oil allows any other toppings you put on top to stick to the popcorn.  My favourite popcorn right now uses melted Earth Balance, spoonfuls of nutritional yeast (a great way to add a cheesy taste and get your vitamin B12!), Trader Joe's garlic salt grinder (garlic, onion, parsley, and sea salt), and dried dill. 

Here are some other ideas for popcorn toppings!

* Classic - melted Earth Balance and salt
* Noochy - melted Earth Balance, nutritional yeast, and salt
* Spicy - melted Earth Balance with sriracha and garlic powder mixed in, along with nutritional yeast
* Asian-inspired flavors - sesame oil with sriracha and a tiny bit of soy sauce
* Sweet - olive oil and cinnamon sugar on top
* Kettle Corn - olive oil, sugar, and salt

If you don't like the nutritional yeast or other toppings falling to the bottom of the popcorn bowl, you can mix some of them into your melted Earth Balance first! With popcorn, feel free to add any of the spices that you love....smoked paprika, cayenne, chili pepper, thyme, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, curry....the possibilities are endless!

Speculoos (Cookie Butter) Cookies

For those of you who aren't familiar, Speculoos is a delicious cookie butter spread that is sold at Trader Joe's in the USA. It has the consistency of peanut butter, but it is made of crushed up cookies with a gingerbread taste. Since I'm from Canada, I bought a jar of it one time while in the States and found out that it is absolutely delicious on pancakes! I went to the States a second time and bought a jar of the then-new crunchy Speculoos. Now, I discovered that you can actually take the cookie butter spread, combine it with a few ingredients, and bake it back into cookies. This changes everything. Now, I'm almost out of Speculoos having baked this recipe a couple of times and have to go back to Trader Joe's to buy some more!

The recipe that I used is adapted from the one at Have Cake, Will Travel. I used a little bit less sugar the second time around and found that it tasted better. Feel free to use a full cup of sugar if you're looking for an even sweeter treat. These are really quick to make and you'll have homemade cookies in no time!

This should bake up 20-24 cookies.

2/3 cup Speculoos
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp soy milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the Speculoos, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the flour, baking powder, and soy milk. Put 1 tbsp of dough per cookie on a pan and bake 12-16 minutes.