Tamar & Greg's Vegan Italy

New assignment for you tv watchers: Lidia Bastianich on Lidia's Italy. Her recipes are always so simple, and more importantly, give great ideas for vegan interpretation!

On one of our typical weeknights on the couch, Lidia was making what she called a "pesto sauce" for her homemade pasta. However, the pesto sauce was not what we had expected - ricotta, walnuts, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. It looked amazing, and given that tofu is often used as a substitute for ricotta, we thought why not? We had tofu in the fridge, a handful of pecans left in the cupboard, and some pasta and veggies.

Tofu Pecan Pasta (vegan)

1/4 cup pecans
1/2 lb firm tofu - equal to half of a vacuum sealed package
non-dairy milk for consistency
1 tsp or more lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 TBSP nutritional yeast
Plenty of salt; pepper to taste
additional suggested spices for sauce: garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano
1/2 lb cooked pasta
Steamed or sauteed vegetables - we sauteed broccoli and tomato in a little bit of cooking spray

Press tofu between two plates and paper towel and set aside to drain. Meanwhile, grind pecans in food processor until fairly fine, but not powdery. Place pecans in bowl and set aside. Crumble tofu and put in the food processor. Carefully pulse rather than turning the machine on; you are going for ricotta consistency, which is not entirely smooth. As you pulse, add rice or soy milk in very small amounts. Tofu should be close to liquid form but still clumpy.
Mix the tofu in a bowl with the pecans, and add remaining ingredients. Since tofu is so bland, we were not shy about the salt quantity - you want to get just the right amount so that you can bring out all the flavors without having to sit with a large jug of water.
Drizzle the pasta, sauce and veggie mixture with a little bit of olive oil.

Our Take on Palak Paneer

Last week, I came home and Greg had made a delicious vegan tikka pizza, which consisted of a yummy tomato sauce and tofu. When both of us tried the tofu, the first thing that came to our minds was that it had such a similar consistency as paneer - Indian cheese. We were immediately inspired and dedicated to creating a vegan version of Palak Paneer (a creamy Indian spinach curry with cheese), and though we didn't master the exact flavor, our dish still came out delicious. It may seem complicated, but it's super simple - you'll make great use of your food processor.

Vegan Palak Paneer

Tofu and Marinade
1/2 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed (see Greg's tip), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium-large tomato
1.5 TBSP plain soymilk
1 clove garlic
a generous amount of salt and pepper

Place tofu cubes in a bowl. Puree the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender until only small lumps remain, and mix in with tofu. Cover the bowl and let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer.

Once the tofu is done marinating, you can start working on the rest of the dish. Here are the ingredients you will need:

1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 onion, diced
1.5 cups soymilk
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander
1.5 tsp cumin
1 TBSP curry paste (we used a Roland's yellow curry paste - cheap and vegan!)

Start browning the tofu cubes (without the excess marinade - you'll use that soon) in a little bit of oil over medium heat. The cubes will take about 15 minutes to brown on all sides.
In a food processor, blend spinach with leftover marinade from the tofu.
In a separate pan, sautee the onion over medium heat until it turns translucent and add in the spinach-marinade mixture. Add in all the spices, and turn down the heat to a low simmer. Slowly pour and mix in the soymilk. You want the spinach curry to be liquidy but still relatively thick.
Add in the tofu and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice (we used basmati).

Spicy Tom Ka

We spent a good 15-20 minutes today looking for vegan tom ka soup recipes online. Though we found a handful, they all included expensive ingredients. Then we remembered that we have a food blog - and that part of having a food blog means experimenting and coming up with our own interpretations of food! We knew the main ingredients - coconut milk, lime, cilantro, lemongrass, tofu, and red chili paste. Since we sadly found out our paste was actually not kosher and had fish and shrimp flavoring in it (disgusting), that went straight to the trash and we decided to give cayenne pepper a go.

So, we present to you our version of tom ka soup. It's not authentic - it probably isn't even remotely thai - but we think it's damn good. And really spicy, so be careful!

Spicy Tom Ka Soup (vegan)

2 TBSP oil - we used safflower
1/2 red onion (yellow or shallot would work too; we had red lying around), diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14 oz can coconut milk - try to use the full fat, it's thicker and the lite stuff will make your soup too watery
2 cans worth of water
1 veggie bouillon cube
3 lemongrass shoots
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 block of firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1/2 medium tomato, chopped
a bunch of mushrooms, sliced
1 or 2 tsp lime zest
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Add in the following ingredients: coconut milk, water, veggie bouillon cube, lemongrass, mustard powder, ginger, tumeric, cayenne, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn heat down to a simmer, cover, and let the flavors blend together for about 20-25 minutes.

While the soup is doing its thing, work on prepping the vegetables and sautee the tofu in a pan until cubes are lightly browned and slightly firmer. Once the 25 minutes for the soup to simmer have passed, add in the tofu, tomato and mushrooms and let cook for another 10 minutes or so. For your final step - add in the lime zest, lime juice, and cilantro and give it a taste to see if you need more salt.

For the Love of Vegan Cooking

This week reminded us that everyone has their good days and their bad days when it comes to cooking, especially vegan cooking.

On Wednesday, as Greg posted earlier that day, we had our friends Cristina and Dave over for dinner. We had planned a vegan meal consisting of asparagus crepes, mushroom and tofu ricotta crepes, a tomato and peach salad, and an appetizer of homemade french bread and olive tapenade. It all sounded so good and easy to make, especially since the only things that needed to go on the burner were the veggies and the crepes for a few minutes each. By 7:20 - 10 minutes before C & D were set to arrive - our kitchen turned into a food network show, with Tamar scrambling around the kitchen trying to figure out what to make, and Greg silently focusing on quickly chopping vegetables before heading out to the grocery store to buy a frozen pizza or pierogies that we could serve instead of what was turning out to be a disastrous meal.

Somehow, by the time Greg returned from the grocery store, I had 4 plates on the table, each showcasing a crepe stuffed with mushrooms and vegan ricotta, alongside sauteed asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Turns out, like those 20 page papers in college that I used to write the night (or morning) before, I do much better under pressure.

We pulled it off, just barely, but not without a slight nervous breakdown, a few muttered swears, and a deep hatred for vegan cooking. Needless to say, it was comforting to hear that Cristina, who so wonderfully took her first shot at vegan baking and made delicious cupcakes as a result, had a similar experience only a few hours earlier.

Recipe for the tapenade to come later on, perhaps once the white sox vs red sox game is over. Below, I am posting the recipes for things that came out, so the awful crepe recipe that we used is most definitely excluded. I have lost my faith in vegan crepes, but maybe one day when we own proper equipment, we'll give it another go.



Tomato and Peach Salad (vegan)
(Mark Bittman's recipes for 101 simple salads: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html)

2 medium-size tomatoes
2 peaches
1 very small red onion (probably between 1/4-1/2 reg size onion)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 TBS olive oil
1-1.5 TBS lemon juice (we usually used fresh, but had concentrated LJ in the fridge)
a dash or two of red chili pepper flakes

Cut the tomatoes and peaches into similar size wedges. Sliver the red onion, and toss everything in a bowl. Pretty darn simple.

Sauteed Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce (vegan)

We sauteed about a lb of asparagus, stems chopped, in olive oil for 4-5 minutes and then slathered it with a tablespoon of Earth Balance and some salt and pepper. For the sauce, I found a great blog - www.veganyumyum.com; one of the better vegan sauces I have had.

1/2 cup silvered almonds
1/2 cup hot water
2 TBS Earth Balance
2 tsp lemon juice
2 TBS nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp mustard
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

Mix ingredients in food processor or blender and season to taste.

Sauteed Mushrooms and Tofu Ricotta (vegan)

We used about a 1/2 lb mini portabella mushrooms, sliced into quarters. Sautee the mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil for a few minutes until pan is fairly dried out. Grab a swig or two of white wine and use it to deglaze the pan and give some mushrooms a meaty flavor. Season with salt, pepper, dried herbs, and various powders to your liking!

The tofu ricotta pretty much follows a recipe from Veganomicon, our vegan bible by Isa Moskowitz.

1 lb extra firm tofu
2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt, pepper, tumeric, garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, and we like to add a little bit of heat - whether it be red chili pepper flakes, cayenne, or hot sauce.

Crumble tofu (roll up those sleeves and just dig in there with your recently washed hands), add lemon juice and garlic and continue to smush. Once it's seemingly close to ricotta appearance, add olive oil, nutritional yeast, and spices and mix and mash with a fork.

Vegan Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Squash "Blossoms" are a really great versatile shell for stuffing, and more importantly, act as the eponymous donor to the finest supper club in all of Brooklyn (the Mayim Bialik Supper Club, of course). The blossoms have a very light flavor, while adding a wonderfully tender and subtle outer skin. This stuffing recipe is very easy, inexpensive, and delicioso.

Tofu Filling (vegan)

1 package of flavored extra-firm tofu pressed and drained* (we used garlic and pepper)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (use more as needed)
1/2 cup chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper or paprika
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

After the tofu has been drained and pressed, mash well until there's a mostly smooth consistency with small chunks throughout. Add nutritional yeast and stir. Continue with other ingredients, tasting small amounts throughout to ensure the balancing of flavors.

Stuffing the blossoms was tricky. We thought we could use a makeshift "pastry bag" (which was a sandwich bag with a small hole cut out on the bottom corner), but turns out using your fingers works best... Once they're stuffed, spray a frying pan with some cooking spray and fry the blossoms for about 1.5 min on each side. Season with a little salt and pepper.

This recipe can have endless variations, so if you find one that works and tastes good, please share.

*Greg's 15min drained and pressed tofu works wonders if you don't have time to wait: Take one clean cloth or paper towel and place it on a plate. Fold the cloth/towel into a square and lay the tofu on top so it sits about 1 inch in all directions from the outer edge of the folded cloth/towel. Take a second plate and flip it so the top-side is facing down and then place it on top of the tofu. Now use a heavy object (ie phone book or whateves) and gently place it on top of the second plate so a balanced pressure is upon the tofu. After 10min remove cloth/towel, drain bottom plate, and squeeze out excess water from cloth. Replace towel and repeat pressing for 5 more min.