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Olive Dip
Jose and I were invited to a New Year’s party at a friend’s house. She asked me to make some appetizers and sweets. I decided to make hummus and cookies. Then I realized I had a whole jar of olives left over from a recent dinner party, so decided to make an olive dip too. My friend’s parents are in town for the holidays. They are from Bulgaria so I thought the Mediterranean appetizers would be a hit. I’m not sure what happened with the hummus, but it sucked. I was very disappointed. Fortunately, the olive dip was fabulous !
1 cup green olives, pitted
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup ground pine nuts
1 tbsp dried basil
1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1. Place the olives in food processor and process for a few seconds, until they form a rough paste with some chunks of olive here and there. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients in food processor and process until creamy.
3. Combine the mixture and olives until you have a thick paste glistening with oil. Serve with toast or pita bread.
I will make this again in the future with black olives.
Blondies
We are house sitting for a friend while she is away for the holidays. She has a big house with a very nice and spacious kitchen. I feel like a kid in a candy store. My kitchen is the size of a walk-in closet. Although it is much bigger than the kitchen in my previous apt, is still too small to comfortably prepare elaborate (and sometimes not so elaborate) meals. I wanted to take advantage of being in such a nice place. Here’s one of the many things I’ve experimented with so far.
2 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz firm silken tofu
1/4 cup soy milk
1/3 canola oil
2 cups sugar or substitute
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup raw macadamias, chopped
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8×8 baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a blender, blend the tofu and soy milk until smooth. Add oil, sugar and vanilla and blend again.
4. Pour tofu mixture into flour mixture. Mix well.
5. Fold in the macadamias and chocolate chips.
6. Spread batter in the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.
These turned out really well ! Jose loved them !
Fancy Quinoa with Tofu
I usually ask Jose what he’d like to have for dinner. I don’t always make what he wants, but most of the time he gives me great ideas. He asked for quinoa which we haven’t had in a while. So I made a fancier version of a basic recipe I posted earlier.
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
2 tbsp olive oil
16 oz extra firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into cubes (*)
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 orange pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup raisins
salt and fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1. Bring water to a boil and add quinoa. Cover and simmer for 8-12 minutes until quinoa has absorbed all the liquid. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add peppers and zucchini and cook for 2-4 minutes.
3. Stir in tofu and cook for another 2-4 minutes.
5. Add soy sauce, cumin, coriander and ginger. Mix well and cook for another minute.
6. Remove from heat and add to quinoa. Stir in almonds, raisins, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
This was really yummy. Jose had seconds !
it was a very good year
for injuries, but not so much for me and marathons…
some of you are not familiar with my injuries earlier this year. here’s a recap in case you missed it. i was in Europe for most of December last year. i returned from my trip and couldn’t fit into any of my shoes. i went to the podiatrist after much resting and icing which is not typical of me. the podiatrist said the sesamoids in my right foot were bruised and sent me off with a few dancer’s pads. i started to train for the San Diego marathon as soon as i felt better.
a few weeks into my training, my ankles started to hurt. eventually, it became impossible to run so i saw my sports medicine doctor. his diagnosis was chronic ankle instability and i was sent off to physical therapy for 10 weeks. i stuck to my training plan until the first week in April. my last run was a painful 8 mile recovery run after (what i thought had been) a great 14 mile long run. it appears that i fractured several metatarsals during that run. ouch and no marathon.
i started to run again in September. building my base was hard. i was terrified that i might break something else. with time, i gained a little more confidence and got back in the groove. it felt good. i plotted out my next training regimen and started to increase my mileage. about 3 weeks ago, i had to go back to my podiatrist because my left foot was hurting so much that it was painful to walk. i had a fractured sesamoid in my left foot this time.
i had a follow up appointment yesterday. my foot is doing better and i am off the soft cast now. i am scheduled for a bone density test on friday. i am scared. i know it is something i can work on, but i can just imagine how my parents and other non-vegans will react. some like to blame everything on the lack of calcium (milk) or iron (meat). i dread having to go through that dilemma, but at the same time, i want to find out why my body has had such a rough year. most of all, i want 2006 to be a great year !
Split Pea Dahl
I simply love Indian food. I’ve actually been on an Indian kick this week because we had a cold front in South Florida. The temperatures actually dipped well into the 50′s. This semi-cold weather always makes me crave hot and spicy food, like curries. I decided to make Dahl.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, cut into small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
8 cups water
14 oz dried yellow split peas
1. In a large pot, saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until translucent.
2. Add the garlic, ginger, spices and salt. Saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the water and split peas. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Once water starts to boil, lower heat and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
I try to keep all my meals low on sodium, so feel free to add as much salt as you like. Jose and I both loved this this. You can serve it with brown rice, whole wheat pitas or both.
Banana Nut Pancakes
I decided to make Banana Nut Pancakes this morning. Jose looked surprised. Apparently, he’s never had Banana Nut Pancakes before. He really is from another planet. That or he’s been very, very deprived. Somehow, I knew he’d love them.
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp sugar or substitute
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup soy milk (*)
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana, mashed
1. Combine dry ingredients and walnuts.
2. In a separate bowl, combine soy milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add to dry mixture.
3. Add mashed banana. Mix until lumps disappear. Don’t overmix ! A couple of lumps are OK.
4. Cook on preheated, lightly oiled pan. Turn when bubbles form on surface and edges begin to dry.
(*) For thicker pancakes, use less soy milk. For thinner pancakes, use more soy milk.
I was right ! He loved them and asked me to make them again. 
Lo Mein
As you already know, I like to make stirfries. I especially like the concept of Lo Mein, minus the egg, of course ! Jose came back from a business trip tonight and I wanted to have something yummy waiting for him. I decided to throw together some veggies and make a vegan Lo Mein.
4 oz noodles
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 green pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 red pepper, seeded and sliced
1 small summer squash, halved across and sliced
2 cups bean sprouts
Sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dry sherry
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp agave nectar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.
2. Blend together all sauce ingredients and set aside.
3. Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat.
4. Add onion and stir fry for one minute.
5. Add peppers and summer squash. Stir fry for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the drained noodles, bean sprouts and sauce.
7. Stir fry for another minute or until the mixture is thoroughly heated through. Serve immediately.
If you want to make your Lo Mein spicy, add 1/2 tsp of chili oil to the sauce.
Fettuccine Alvegan
I followed a recipe for what was supposed to be vegan Fettuccine Alfredo last night. It was more like Fettuccine Alfreako if you ask me. It tasted NOTHING like Alfredo. I hate to let Jose down, so I promised him I’d make a vegan version of Alfredo that was as close to the real thing as possible.
16 oz fettuccine pasta
Sauce: (updated 4/20/09)
1/4 cup raw cashews
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp olive oil
6 oz silken tofu
1 tbsp miso
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp vegan parm cheese (optional)
1 tsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1. Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
2. Place all sauce ingredients in blender and process until very smooth.
3. Drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in the sauce, cooking over medium-high heat until it thickens. Serve immediately.
Delicious. I can’t wait to make this dish again !
Chocolate Chip Brownies
I’ve been busy trying to create a good brownie recipe. I finally got it ! Veganizing desserts takes time. Fortunately, there is (literally) a sweet prize at the end.
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 oz extra firm silken tofu, pureed
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar or substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 8×8 baking dish and set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine tofu, oil and sugar. Mix together for about 3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract and melted chocolate.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add to tofu mixture and mix for 3 more minutes.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Spread brownie batter evenly into baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Serve these warm with a big scoop of Soy Delicious ice cream.
