Rice noodles and rice paper

Posted on September 25, 2012 by moviewitz

So I’ve been on a bit of a rice paper/noodles kick of late, as the title above suggests. Our Rosh Hashanah dinner started off with crystal rolls, inspired by the wonderful Candle Cafe cookbook. The Candle Cafe is one of my favourite vegetarian restaurants. Alas, it’s in New York, so not a place I get to go to all at that often.

The Candle Cafe’s recipe calles for tofu; instead, I used the Gardein “crispy tenders”, baked, cooled, and then sliced thinly. I used the Candle Cafe’s delicious peanut thai dressing, which lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge (and was used to dress an udon noodle stir fry a few days after its creation, and another round of these rolls the other day).

Admittedly, these crystal rolls don’t photograph that well…. what is that blob on them? Oh yes, the sauce — but it truly was delicious.

Crystal rolls can be a little intimidating; my suggestion is to chop up all the vegetables well in advance of assembling them, so that you’re not rushing around while people are at the door expecting to be fed. Soak more of the rice paper sheets than you think you’ll need.

 

I also made the Candle Cafe stuffed mushrooms, which were excellent. Here’s another photo.

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Yellow and Green Vegetable Pasta

Posted on September 11, 2012 by moviewitz

aka Whatever was left in the fridge pasta….This isn’t a recipe, per se, but hopefully some inspiration for a really quick dinner.

I opened a can of organic yellow tomatoes the other night by mistake. I thought it was a can of hearts of palm, until I looked inside and realized that instead, I had a lovely  assortment of yellow tomatoes.

So last night, I made this for dinner, also a great way to get rid of vegetables heading quickly past their prime in the fridge.

Ingredients (for two):

85 grams of dried whole wheat penne

1 12 oz can of yellow tomatoes (or red…)

a bunch of kale, cut into chunks (with the hard spine/stem removed)

1/2 cup fresh shelled peas

1 cube frozen parsley (or fresh)

1 tsp. dried chopped basil (or fresh)

1 pinch pink himalayan salt

2 tbs. rice parmesan (or the real thing)

How:

Prepare pasta. In another pot, cook the tomatoes on med-high heat, add the vegetables and seasonings, cook until the kale is soft, and serve. Top with rice parmesan and enjoy!

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Udon noodle stir fry

Posted on August 29, 2012 by moviewitz

This was way too easy, thanks to pre-packed udon noodles….

Ingredients (for two servings):

1 package Udon noodles (I used Presidents’ Choice soft udon noodles, which made this dish very quick t0 make. The PC brand comes in packages of four; I used one portion for two servings. Not sure if you can buy these outside of Canada…)

1 cup broccoli, cut into small chunks

1 sliced carrot

1/2 cup cauliflower

1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tbs olive oil (but next time, I’d use sesame oil)

1 tbs tamari sauce

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp fresh or frozen ginger

1 clove chopped garlic

1 tsp agave

How:

Heat the oil on medium heat in a large frying pan or wok

Add broccoli and lightly sautee until tender, then add the ginger and garlic and tamari sauce

Add mushrooms, carrots, and cauliflower, and continue cooking over medium- to medium-high heat

Move the vegetables to the sides of the pan, and add the noodles, turning the heat up slightly (package directions say to heat over high heat, but I was afraid of destroying the vegetables)

Add the dijon mustard and agave, stirring everything together to make sure the noodles and vegetables are covered with the sauce/seasonings

Heat a few more minutes, until noodles are hot. Let stand for a minute or two to let the flavours settle and enjoy!

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Zucchini Lasagna

Posted on August 23, 2012 by moviewitz

I’ve been away for a couple of months teaching at a summer camp, where I admit that my eating habits have gone from 95% vegan to vegan with the occassional Dairy Queen raspberry sundae and camp chef Serge’s chocolate chip cookies.

So, now that I’m home, I decided it was time to make something so blatantly healthy, so absolutely vegan that DQ would be no more than a faint memory. Here goes — my take on lasagna that uses thinly sliced zucchini as the filling, rather than cheese or even tofu.

Ingredients for two servings (all organic when possible):

4 no-cook lasagna noodles (yeah, I know, but I’ve been away and just getting back into cooking)

1 cup tomato sauce

1 medium size zucchini, sliced lengthwise

10 white mushrooms

3/4 cup mozzarella-style Daiya cheese shreds

Fresh basil leaves (which I forgot to add, but would be great in this!)

1 tsp olive oil

How:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Slice the zucchini and in a lightly oiled frying pan, sautee until tender, adding the sliced mushrooms. Simmer the tomato sauce

I use a Le Creuset loaf pan, which is perfect for two servings of lasagna, although you do have to break the lasagna noodles to fit.

Put a bit of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan, then add one of the noodles. Top with a strip of zucchini, a few mushroom slices, a pinch of Daiya cheese shreds, and another lasagna noodle. If using the no-cook noodles, make sure you use enough sauce.  Continue layering, and then, use the rest of the cheese shreds as the final topping.

Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minute, then remove the foil, and cook for 2- 3 more minutes. Let stand for a couple of minutes before serving, and enjoy!

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Quick cauliflower

Posted on June 20, 2012 by moviewitz

This is another one of those dishes that I ate before I had a chance to snap a photo with my iphone.

Ingredients (for two):

1 half fresh organic cauliflower, cut in chunks

1/2 cup frozen organic corn

1 cup fresh (or organic canned) sliced mushrooms

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs chopped fresh organic ginger

1 tbs tamari sauce

How:

Heat oil on medium heat in saucepan

Add the chopped ginger, and cook for a couple of minutes

Add the vegetables and tamari sauce, stir, and cover, checking a few times to make sure the vegetables don’t burn. When the vegetables are cooked, serve, and enjoy!
(We had this with the previously mentioned steamed buns from the really good take-out vegan restaurant.)

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Easy salad dressing

Posted on June 3, 2012 by moviewitz

I didn’t have time to take a picture of this, because I ate the salad immediately after adding the dressing.  A friend is visiting from out of town, so I whipped up this salad for the two of us for lunch.

I’ve been playing around with different ingredients, and noticed that most of the dressings I like have maple syrup. I thought I’d write this one down today, so I don’t forget how I made it.  It was perfect for a salad that included baby spinach, mixed greens, some left over beans, sliced hearts of palm, a few pumpkin seeds, and some raisins.

Ingredients

1 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tbs dijon mustard

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp maple syrup

Mix well — and enjoy!

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Collard greens, cauliflower, and other stuff…

Posted on May 22, 2012 by moviewitz

I had some leftover quinoa in the fridge (see below, vegan burgers), and used it up last night with this great stew-type dish.

I’ve been reading about collard greens for some time; they seem to pack a similar nutritional punch as kale and other such vegetables, and so I was eager to see what I could do with this great leafy vegetable.  The only time I’ve had them to date was at one of my favourite vegan restaurants, “Live”, in Toronto, where they were used as a raw wrapping for a tasty tortilla-type concoction.

Here’s the recipe, for three or four people:

Ingredients:

2 – 3 leaves of collard greens, sliced up thinly

2 – 3 cups of cauliflower, cut up into small pieces

1 can organic mushrooms — or fresh

1 28 oz can organic diced tomatos

2-3 stalks diced celery

basil, pepper, garlic

1 tbs olive oil

Here’s how:

Put a small amount of oil into the pot, add the collard greens and cauliflower, and cook on medium heat

Add the spices/seasonings, and celery.

Add the mushrooms and diced tomatos

Cover and cook until all the vegetables are soft.

Serve over cooked quinoa.

Enjoy!

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Really good vegan bean burger

Posted on May 22, 2012 by moviewitz

This one was inspired from a seemingly unlikely source, the current issue of Men’s Health.  My husband left the issue around the apartment, open to the page featuring vegan bean burgers, and I took the hint.

Men’s Health often has healthy recipes, by the way. Without all the ingredients on hand, I modified their recipe a little, but the results were delicious. Please note, the burger falling apart in the picture is not representative of the burger’s ability not to fall apart. This was strictly a case of me attempting to flip the patty too early! As well, I made four burgers out of the recipe, which says you can make 6. Alas, I ended up with three, because apparently, I’m not as good as I thought I was at balancing a vegan patty on a spatula and walking across the kitchen to a badly-placed plate.

I’ve never made a veggie burger before; always thought it was too hard and there are so many good veggie burgers on the market. But this is a great recipe. One day, I’ll try it exactly as listed in the magazine. We ate the third burger for lunch the next day. It was excellent.

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1 and 1/4 cups of rinsed cooked (canned) kidney beans (recipe called for black beans)

2/3 cup whole oats (recipe specifically said not to use quick-cooking oats; that’s all I had on hand, so that’s what I used)

then add seasonings, as you wish.

I added a teaspoon of tamari sauce, and a tbs of dijon mustard, and some freshly ground pepper.  Other options include bbq sauce, or whatever you think would work.

Blend in a food processor until the consistency of play-doh (Men’s Health description. Very accurate). Transfer to a bowl and form into patties.

Heat 1 tbs of oil in a frying pan, then fry the burgers until each side turns brown and crispy. Serve with whatever fixings you desire.

Enjoy!

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And the secret ingredient is…

Posted on May 17, 2012 by moviewitz

Dijon mustard.

Well, I guess it’s not that secret…. but in my quest to do something interesting with pasta and vegetables, here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients (for two):

2 servings spaghetti (I used the recommended 75 gr per person)

1 half of a head of cauliflower, cut into chunks

8 asparagus spears (because they were in the fridge)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tbs dried basil (or fresh)

1 tbs olive oil

1 – 2 tbs dijon mustard (the secret ingredient)

dash of freshly ground pepper

How:

Prepare the pasta. In a saucepan, add the olive oil, the mushrooms, cauliflower and asparagus. Cover and cook over medium heat. (This has become my too simple way of cooking vegetables.) Uncover, add the basil and the dijon mustard, stir it all around, drain the pasta, add it to the vegetables and toss lightly, serve (add a little black pepper, if you want) and enjoy!

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Really easy cabbage borscht

Posted on April 15, 2012 by moviewitz

The other day, I had the idea to make cabbage borscht, but not much time to do so. Here’s what I came up with; it was excellent, and definitely hearty enough for a full meal.

Ingredients (for four hearty servings):

1/2 head chopped cabbage

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 28 oz can diced organic tomatoes

1 chopped onion

1 small potato, cut into wedges

2 small cloves garlic, sliced

Pepper, paprika

Fresh dill

1 cube dried organic vegetable broth (or 1 cup organic vegetable broth)

1 bay leaf

How:

Sautée the onion in a little bit of olive oil, in the bottom of the pot, with the garlic and the celery.

Add the cabbage and a few grinds of black pepper

Add the diced tomato plus one can of water and vegetable broth cube (or vegetable broth).

Add a dash of paprika, a bay leaf and a small handful of fresh dill and the potato. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about half an hour or so.  Note: I didn’t add sugar, although some would (I kept remembering my mom’s cabbage borscht, which was sweet and sour, probably made with sugar and a little vinegar and lemon).  When I make this again, I’ll try adding a teaspoon of brown sugar.

Enjoy!

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