Curried Couscous Salad

You know that feeling when you finally are getting back into your groove, back into the swing of things? It is pretty great and I feel it right now! In between working and cross country family visits and vacations, this poor little blog has been a bit lack-luster as of late. But no longer! Hurray for cooking and photographing again!

It has been pretty hot around these parts lately (which I love, I am not complaining!) and I have been daydreaming about something that is served cold, yet filling...slightly sweet, yet tangy...and really yummy. And after thinking about this long enough, I finally made it a reality. So here we go, back on the food cookin' band wagon.

what you will need:
2 c. couscous
2 3/4 c. water
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 c. red onion
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted
1/3 c. raisins
1 c. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt/pepper to taste

Start out by cooking your couscous, since it will have to cool after cooking. Add your curry powder to the 2 3/4 c. water that you cook your 2 c. couscous in. Cook until the liquid is boiling, take off burner and set aside, covered. Fluff and stir after 5 - 10 minutes.

Finely dice your red onion, yellow pepper and red pepper. Chop your parsley. Toast your pine nuts in a pan over medium heat, just until they start to get ever so slightly golden. They will also have somewhat of an oily sheen to them.

Toss your couscous into a large serving bowl, add your veggies, raisins, chopped parsley and pine nuts. Coat this mixture with the olive oil, red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar. Stir to evenly coat all of the veggies and couscous.


Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want it a bit more tangy, add more red wine vinegar. If you want a bit more sweetness, add some balsamic vinegar. If it seems a bit dry, but the tangy sweetness ratio is in check for your taste, add a tbsp. or so of olive oil.

Set aside in the fridge to chill completely for about an hour or so. Eat on a hot day and enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

I have really been into going berry picking at local farms here, which are plentiful here in the Northwest. And this past weekend, I went berry picking yet again (....but can you blame me, its around $1/pound!) and I was pleasantly surprised that the blueberries were in full swing! And let me tell you, blueberries grow on the most adorable little bushes! I got a little over 2 pounds in maybe 10 minutes. It was such an amazingly sunny day, and I knew I had to make something special with these berries.

It was a hot weekend, and all I had on my mind were the follow things in no particular order: ice cream, cookies, refreshing, and cold! Immediately, the idea of ice cream sandwiches jumped to mind. And almost like magic, I was struck with the taste of bright, refreshing lemons with blueberries....in ice cream form! And cookies, lemon cookies...! And so began the long journey of making ice cream sandwiches from scratch, every step of the way.

For the ice cream, you make a blueberry compote first, which will get swirled into the lemon ice cream. Then you make cookies, and then you assemble. A little note, making everything in one day was quite the project. I think it would be much more manageable splitting it into two parts. But I needed my fix of ice cream sandwiches, stat! So, right after berry picking I got to work.

Here is what you will need:
blueberry compote
2 c. blueberries
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. corn starch

ice cream
2 - 13.5 fl oz cans coconut milk (not the low fat kind!)
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. arrowroot
4 - 5 tbsp. lemon juice

lemon cookies
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
12 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 Ener-G egg equivalent

First thing first, you want to make the blueberry compote. That way you can put it in the fridge to cool while you make the lemon ice cream mixture. Start by rinsing 2 c. blueberries, put into a medium pot and add the sugar. With a fork or a potato masher, start to crush/smoosh the berries until they release their juice and there are no more whole berries left. Simmer for 5 - 7 minutes. You should have a dark sauce with smooshed up berries that look pretty mushy as well. Add the tbsp. of lemon juice to the 2 tbsp. cornstarch, mix and add to compote. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. It should have thickened up a lot, and be like a thick blueberry syrupy sauce almost. Set aside in fridge to cool.

Next up, the lemon ice cream. Reserve a 1/4 c. of the coconut milk, and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the rest of the coconut milk along with the sugar. Cook on medium high. While this gets up to temp, take your 1/4 c. coconut milk and incorporate your 2 tbsp. arrowroot. When the sugar/coconut milk just starts to boil, take it off the burner, add the arrowroot mixture, and stir to combine. You should notice this getting a bit thicker as well. After everything is incorporated, add 4 tbsp. of lemon juice. Taste, and if you like it a bit more zingy, add another tbsp. of lemon. Stir, and set aside in fridge to cool completely.

For everything to come together in your ice cream maker, your lemon mixture really needs to be cold. Even just "cool" can be too warm and it will not work. Trust me on this, I too once was anxious to have my ice cream and threw in a cooled mixture into the ice cream maker and it never quite got where it needed to go. So you have two options at this point: 1. make the cookies or 2. take a nice, long break! I left my mixture in the fridge about 3 hours, stirring every once in a while.


Once totally cold, follow your ice cream maker instructions accordingly with the lemon ice cream. After it is done, I layered the lemon ice cream and the compote. For every couple of scoops of lemon ice cream I put into my container, I would add a big, heaping spoonful of blueberry compote. After filling your container in this fashion, simply take a knife and make swirly figures in your ice cream. Place in freezer to harden.

Ok, if you are brave, you will venture onto the cookies. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix to combine all ingredients. One tbsp. at a time, mix in your butter. After all of your butter chucks are well combined, add your vanilla, lemon, and Ener-G egg equivalent. Mix until the dough comes together. Take it out of the bowl, and knead for a 2 - 3 minutes. Roll it into a log, wrap in saran wrap and stick it in the fridge for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. You will notice the dough is super soft, similar to sugar cookies. Freezing the dough a little will make it easier to handle the dough.

Fast forward 1 hour or so, take out your cookie dough log, slice off cookies in 1/4" slices. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place on a non-stick baking tray or onto a tray lined with a Silpat mat. Bake cookies until slightly golden brown, 12 - 14 minutes. You want your cookies slightly softer than normal, this will make it easier to bite into your delicious ice cream sandwich. Let the cookies cool completely.


Ok, now for the fun and tasty part. Finally, right!? If you are not worried how nice and neat the sandwiches look, take the ice cream out of the freezer and set it on the counter for 20 minutes or so to soften up a bit. Scoop several spoonfuls onto a cookie, place a cookie on top, with the edge of the spoon, smooth out the edges a bit. You can eat this now, or freeze it a bit to firm up the ice cream again. Firming up the ice cream is what I recommend, but I have to admit I had one right away. After all of this work, I had to do it, okay!?

If you want really neat, pretty sandwiches, you can do what I did. Simply take some softened ice cream, fill a little ramekin with about 1" of ice cream, throw the ramekin in the freezer for 20 - 30 minutes. Use a knife to line the edge of the ramekin, this will loosen the ice cream circle. Turn upside down and tap onto cutting board. Out should pop a neat, little circle you can simply place onto the cookies to make the sandwiches.

Eat lots of these and enjoy! You have earned it!

Happy B-Day Herbivore Dinosaur!

I just realized that it has been a whole year since I made up my mind to keep a vegan food blog. At first, it started off as this kind of, hey...let me post one or two things then forget about it kind of thing. But something changed this last time around. I decided to be a bit more dedicated and take this blog more seriously. And here we are, a full year later and I just wanted to wish this little blog a (tad late) Happy Birthday! So thank you all again, for those of you who read and enjoy this little blog of mine, it is a pleasure.

It's funny, but I was reminded of this last weekend, when I went berry picking. I realized that it was around this time last year that I went berry picking, made a vegan version of my Oma's strawberry cake, and posted it as a new beginning and a more focused direction for myself. And here we are, a year later, and I am berry picking. Again.

I have been working on a really refreshing and yummy raspberry ice cream recipe, but I need remake it (darn....!) and take better notes along the way. The taste is delish, and reminds me of the ice cream shop down the road where I grew up. I would always order at least one ball of Himbeere ice cream (raspberry). I think it is delightfully refreshing, a tiny bit of tartness and lots of cool yummyness needed on these hot summer days. Hopefully I will have this up by the end of the weekend, I just need to get more raspberries!

Here are a few highlights of my berry picking adventure! I got a total of 2 lbs. strawberries and a whopping 4 lbs of raspberries! And what did that set me back? Six bucks....not bad...not bad at all. And what happened to all of those yummy berries? I made strawberry shortcakes but with cupcakes, made raspberry jam, raspberry ice cream, AND raspberry lemonade!

me finding a rather adorable strawberry

my whopping loot of raspberries totaling 4 pounds!


Rachel's tiniest, cutest l'il berry

delicious raspberry lemonade


playing with Wunder Kerzen (aka german spaklers)

Potstickers

About every 3 out of 4 Fridays per month, I find myself standing in front of what has become a very familiar section of the grocery store. The frozen natural food section where I grab a bag of these dumpling/potsticker snacks. I always think I will be motivated to come home after a Friday afternoon, cook something delicious, but it never fails...there I am. Again. Grabbing another bag of those damn frozen potstickers.


And then something happened. I stumbled upon these vegan, circular wrappers that are used to make things like wontons and potstickers! I had been wanted to make my own version of these frozen delights I instinctively grab almost every week, but I had been having trouble finding wrappers that did not contain milk or eggs. And then I found them and knew what had to be done.

So it finally happened. I broke the cycle, and made my own version of the snacks I was used to buying Friday nights. The recipe is easy to adjust, the filling can consist of anything you really want, but the follow recipe is simply what hit the spot for me. Also, disclaimer here...I am in no way saying this is authentic, it simply tastes like those little frozen gems of deliciousness that I used to buy. But no longer! These dumplings are so much faster than you would expect. Especially if you can find a bag of pre-thinly sliced veggies (I think mine technically is called "Broccoli Slaw"), then you do not even have to worry about slicing everything up super thinly. Now onto the good!

What you will need:

1 1/2 c. broccoli slaw (very thinly sliced broccoli, carrots, and purple cabbage)
1/3 block of firm tofu
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
3/4 tsp. Braggs liquid aminos
1 pack circular potsticker wrappers
1/2 c. water + a little on more on the side to seal the wrappers

Add 1 tbsp. of oil to a non-stick pan, add your ginger and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add your cubed tofu. The tofu should be cut into fairly small cubes, about 1/4" cubes. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add your veggies aka broccoli slaw. Add the seasoned rice vinegar and Braggs, stir to make sure everything is coated evenly. Cover and let steam for another 6 - 8 minutes, depending on how soft you like your veggies. I cooked mine until somewhat soft, but it still had a bit of bite. This was a nice contrast to the soft shell that the potsticker filling is in.

(a little close up of the yummy filling)

Set the filling aside, and now it is time to play with these potsticker wrappers. The first few turned out a bit funky, but then I got into a groove and they looked nicer and nicer as I went along. Also, you want to have a little bowl of water handy at this point. You will dip your finger in the water, then line the edge of the wrapper with your finger. This allows the wrapper to stay sealed, almost line you have added "glue" to make the edges stick to one another.

Begin by laying out a wrapper. Add about 1 tbsp. of the filling to the center of your circular wrapper, line the edges of the wrapper with water, gently fold in half. I press the top center together first, which sets up the wrapper for the rest of the folding. Now you can go two directions. One: simply press the edges together, forming a semi-circle. Two: you can try to be all fancy schmancy like I did, and press the wrapper together while pleating the edges about 4 - 5 times. Either way, this is simply an aesthetic decision and didn't effect my love for these little semi-circles of yumminess.

Ok, moving on. The filling makes about 12 - 15 postickers, depending on how talented you are in getting the filling to stay in the wrappers. Add another tbsp. of oil to your pan and heat to medium high. Set your potstickers in the pan, as many as it can hold. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the bottoms of your potsticker begin to turn golden brown. Turn down the heat to medium low, that way the bottom will not burn and also because next you will be adding a 1/2 c. water. And as we all know from experience probably, hot oil and water equals splattering oil everywhere, probably somewhere on yourself as well. Ok, let this cook on low for a few minutes to give everything a chance to lower in temp, while still crisping up the potstickers. Add the 1/2 c. water, cover the pan and let cook for an additional 5 - 7 minutes or until all of the water is gone.

See...that was easier than you thought, right? So easy in fact, I have already made them at least 5 times already. And I am so happy to know these are quick, easy and I am no longer tied to getting my fix from the frozen section. Now go make these, throw on a movie and enjoy!

Mexican Stuffed Portobellos

I don't know if it is the never ending rainy spring here in the Pacific Northwest or what, but if feels like I am stuck in some sort of time warp where it seems to stop and fly by all at the same time. Weird, right? Anyways, onto this tasty little dish. I had a craving for some sort of filling meal with a really bright, freshness to it. And the Mexican Stuffed Potobello is what came of my craving within my black hole time warp. Also, my love affair with daiya cheese has officially reached epic proportions.

Here is what you will need:

Salsa Freso
4-5 medium tomatoes
1 small - medium onion (about 3/4 c.)
1 serrano pepper (or whatever pepper that suits your spice level)
1 lime
1 c. lightly packed fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar

2 portobello mushrooms
1 avacado
1 c. daiya cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro for garnish
(optional: a side of rice)

Start by making the Salsa Fresco, so all of the flavors have time to mingle while you prepare everything else. Chop your tomatoes, onions, and pepper. Add to a bowl, stir to combine. Squeeze the juice of one lime over tomatoes, onions, and the serrano pepper. I left the membrane and seeds of the pepper and added everything to the salsa, because hey, we can take the heat, right?! Roughly chop your cilantro and add to the salsa. Sprinkle the 1/4 tsp. of both salt and sugar over the salsa, and again, stir to combine. The sugar will cut down on the acidity of the tomatoes a bit, but not enough to make it taste sweet at all. Set aside. Try not to eat all of this before you make the mushrooms, it will be difficult because it is so yummy just with chips alone!


Clean your portobello mushrooms, remove stems, and preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with either a Silpat mat, parchment paper or simply brush it with a bit of olive oil. Grab your salsa, and spoon in enough to fill your portbello mushrooms so you can't see the ribs anymore. Grab your delish daiya cheese, and sprinkle over the salsa. Throw these bad boys into the oven for 15 minutes. Check how things are going along, and then set it to broil for 2 - 3 minutes, just enough to crisp up the melted cheese a bit.


Slice up your avacados, serve with a side of salsa. Alternately, you can serve this with a side of rice, add some salsa fresco into the rice, served it with the portobello on top of the bed of rice/salsa mixture and garnish with avacados and cilantro. The salsa fresco should be enough to either make 4 portobello mushrooms or for 2 portobello mushrooms served with rice where you add the extra salsa into the rice.


Mmmm....here is a little shot of the inside so you can see all of the yummy layers of salsa and daiya cheese! I have my fingers crossed that this sunny meal with bring forth some real sunshine around here.

Enjoy :)

Mini Cashew Cream Fruit Tart

I have been really, really into all sorts of fresh fruit tarts lately. Also, I am hooked on using cashews as a base for any sweet and creamy filling for desserts. It is creamy, and the cashews have a really nice, natural sweetness to them. And it thickens up like mad! I was pretty surprised the first time I tried this.

I have been making full size tarts, but I thought it would be cute so have little personal tarts, because 1.) they are cute and 2.) I am obsessed with "personal" sized servings of food. I don't know why, but I am. So here is my offering in hopes that these summery little tarts will help ward off the rain here in the Pacific Northwest. I guess I just want my fruit tarts and my summer to go along with them.

The recipe makes 10 mini fruit tarts. I had some cashew cream left over, but it is delish tart-less, simply topped with some fresh fruit.

What you will need:
Crust
1 1/3 c. flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. Earth Balance (or your fav butter substitute)
1 1/2 tbsp ice water

Filling
1 1/2 c. raw cashews (pre-soaked for 3 - 4 hours)
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 tbsp. Earth Balance, melted
2/3 c. water
mixed berries, your choice for topping


Start by soaking your cashews in advance, for at least 3 - 4 hours.

Next up, make your tart crust. Add your flour, sugar and salt into a food processor. Pulse once or twice to mix. Add your 1/2 of the Earth Balance, either cutting into small cubes if using a stick of butter sub. or by spooning by the tbsp. Pulse 4 - 5 times to mix. Add the other half of the Earth Balance in the same fashion, and pulse a few more times. Add your ice water. Your dough will almost seem crumbly at first, but go ahead and pulse several more times. Your dough should slowly come together. If a few more pulses don't do the trick, add 1/2 tbsp ice water more to your dough and repeat. The trick to a fab tart crust is to go through this whole process using the least amount of water and the least amount of blending. Once your dough has come together, knead a few times on a lightly floured surface. Form into a disc, and refrigerate for one hour.

After one hour, take out your dough and roll out to appropriate sizes. I used a muffin pan for my mini tart shells, so I rolled out the dough and cut out circles to fit into each muffin compartment. I used a glass with a 5" diameter to cut out each mini tart shell, then rolled each circle out until it was about 1/8" in thickness. Place rolled out dough into each muffin section, gently press dough to fit. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes. Then preheat oven to 375, make a few pricks with a fork into each tart shell and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until shells are lightly golden brown.

While the tart shells are cooling down, go ahead and start on your cashew cream filling. I don't have one of those fancy Vita-Mix blenders, just a regular old blender and it works fine for this. I am sure my blending time is a lot longer than with the awesome Vita-Mix, but hey, whatever works, right? Ok, onto the filling. Add half of your cashews and all of your sugar, vanilla, melted Earth Balance and water into blender. I usually start on a lower setting and work my way up to the highest blender setting. Once I have this blended to a fairly smooth consistency, add the rest of your soaked cashews one handful at a time. This will help in not overwhelming your blender if you just have a little one like I do. There should be no cashew chunks visible, just a smooth mixture that almost resembles pudding or a custard. (I have read about doing this in a food processor and have tried it, results where nowhere near as good as with my crappy little blender.)


Spoon filling into each tart shell and place in freezer for 30 - 40 minutes, or until firm. Slice up fruit and top each tart with a generous helping. For additional, gluttonous yummyness...top each little mini tart with some soy whip cream.

Potato Salad Seitan Sandwich

My mind is on non-stop summer foods. Again. I have already made a huge batch of my Oma's Noodle Salad (veganized, duh), experimenting with black bean burgers and next up...I had to fulfill my need for some good old fashioned potato salad. On a sandwich. With seitan. Oh yeah!!

Also, a lot of the food that I have been making reminds me of when I grew up in Germany. And I find it interesting how different the flavor palate was between the US and where I grew up. When I first moved over to the US, even as a kid, I was repulsed at how sweet everything tasted. Campbells Tomato Soup...yuck! Way too sweet for me. Pasta salad...sweet, no good. I even have memories of bbqs where people brought pasta salad, which literally was sweet tasting italian dressing with some peppers chopped and added. This left me longing for what I grew up with, food with pow. Alot of things that I remember having growing up had a lot of sass, a lot of tang...which is still with me to this day. I much prefer things that way. And this potato salad hits my flavor spot. Zingy, creamy and mustardy with a splash of vinegar to give it that added tangyness that I so love and remember.

So here is my idea of a perfect summer sandwich, cool and tangy potato salad on a layer of seitan and lettuce...Mmmmm.

Here is what you will need:

Parsley & Fennel Seitan
1 c. vital wheat gluten
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. cold water
1/4 c. soy sauce (I've also subbed Braggs for this)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried parsley

Mustard Potato Salad
5-6 large potatos (2.5 - 3 lbs)
1/2 c. diced red onion
3/4 c. diced celery (about 2 - 3 stalks)
1/2 c. vegenaise
1/2 c. spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp. vinegar
salt/pepper to taste
parsley to garnish, optional


Begin with making the seitan, since it takes longer to make. The recipe is loosely based on the recipe out of Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance. I have made many variations based on it, and it always turns out fab. The addition of parsley and fennel seeds make it a nice compliment to the potato salad.

Begin by mixing all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl combine all of your wet ingredients. Using a large spoon or spatula, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined. After everything is incorporated, knead for about 5 minutes and let the dough set for a few minutes. Get a large pot ready, and fill it with cold, well salted water. Shape the dough into a long-ish log, cut into 3-4 evenly sized pieces. Place these in your pot and bring to a boil. Once a boil has been reached, set to simmer, covered with the lid propped open a bit for one hour. Turn off heat and let cool in the broth. The seitan should be much bigger and lighter in color than before. And it will most likely looks like brains. Gross, but tastes to good.


While the seitan cools, start making the potato salad. I left the skins on my potatoes because I like the texture, color AND it saves a whole lotta work. Cut your potatoes into bite sized cubes. Add to boiling water and cook until it is tender enough for your fork to push through, about 10 minutes total. You do not want your potatoes to be mush, but rather slightly undercooked just a teeny bit. Drain and let the potato cubes cool. Spreading them out on a baking sheet is a great way of cooling them down a bit faster. While the hot potatoes cool down, begin by making the dressing. Finely dice your onion and celery, set aside. Mix your vegenaise and mustard until smooth and well combined. In a large bowl, add your diced potatoes, onion and celery. Pour over your dressing, using a spatula, fold carefully until everything is evenly coated. Add your tbsp of vinegar, any salt/pepper to taste if needed, giving one last stir. Set in fridge to let all of the yummy flavors mingle.

Back to the seitan. Take out each chunk, and to the best of your ability, cut it into long strips and slices. Store in a container, making sure to cover it in some of the broth. Now comes an important decision: hot or cold. If you say cold, just layer lettuce, sliced seitan and potato salad on some of your favorite bread and you are ready to rock 'n roll. I made mine with the seitan warmed up. Using a good non-stick pan, you can easily toast the seitan without the use of any oil. Cook on medium heat until each side of the seitan is lightly browned, then layer up your sandwich. Either way, this is really good.

I know know that this is not a mind-blowing new idea, but hey, if it is not broke, why fix it? Why reinvent the wheel? Sometimes, things are classics for a reason and this tangy (not sweet) potato salad is the perfect example. Layered with lettuce and seitan on a sandwich just lets it reach new heights.

Now make sandwichs, go on a picnic, enjoy good foods and the day!