Dinners Archives - Page 26 of 31

Portobello Burgers

July 12, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This is my kind of burger! They took no time at all to prepare—you can saute or grill the portobellos and use your favorite toppings. I went with Hawaiian-style.

INGREDIENTS:
4 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and patted dry
1 avocado, smashed
4 Tbs Tofutti cream cheese
4 pineapple rings
4 burger buns
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Coat portobellos with oil and salt and pepper. Saute in olive oil for 5-7 minutes on each side over medium heat.

Spread 1 tablespoon of cream cheese on one bun and about a 1 tablespoon of avocado on the other. Top bottom bun with a portobello and then a pineapple ring. It’s that easy! Enjoy!

Field Roast with a Coq Au Vin Sauce

July 8, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Not only do I love the taste, I have always enjoyed the smell of coq au vin when it cooks. It goes beautifully with a sliced Field Roast and served with a mushroom and herb pilaf.

INGREDIENTS:
6-8 mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs butter, divided
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 C red wine
1 C vegetable broth (plus more for thinning out sauce, if needed)
3 Tbs flour
3 Tbs water
1 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 one-pound Field Roast, thawed if frozen

DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until it starts to pop. Add onion and cook until tender. Add mushrooms and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add broth and simmer until it reduces a little, then add the wine. Cook for about 5 minutes until it, too, reduces a little. Combine water and flour (it will be pretty thick) and stir into the mushroom mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and stir in parsley.

I then transferred the sauce to a saucepan and kept it warm over low heat. It may thicken up more, so you might want to add some broth to it until you’ve reached the desired consistency. In the same skillet (wipe out with a paper towel) add remaining tablespoon of butter.

Place slices of the Field Roast in pan and brown on both sides, about 3-5 to minutes per side. Ladle sauce over a slice or two of the roast and serve with the pilaf. Enjoy!

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

July 7, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This recipe is tofu-licious! Even though the recipe has a long list of ingredients and you’ll need 3 pans and a bowl, it was extremely easy and it was done in about 25 minutes. I recommend doubling the sauce. As it is, it makes a great glaze for the tofu, but I would have liked it a little more saucy. It made about 5 servings and as I was eating the final pieces of tofu, I was thinking that these would be great toothpicked (minus quinoa and kale) and served as a hot appetizer. Yum!

INGREDIENTS:
Quinoa:
3/4 C quinoa, rubbed/rinsed, drained
Zest from one lime, divided in half and slice lime for garnish (use 1/2 the zest)
2 bruised cardamon pods (optional–I used a dash or two of dried cardamon)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tiny cinnamon stick (optional)
1-1/3 C water
Sweet Chili Lime Sauce:
3 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs tamari
1-3/4 Tbs lime juice
1/2 zest of the lime
1/2 tsp red chili flakes (I didn’t have this, so I used 1/2 tsp of Ancho chili pepper)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
4 mint leaves, sliced thinly
The Greens:
1 bunch collard greens, washed with middle veins removed (I used kale)
2-3 Tbs water
1 tsp lime juice
1 pinch salt
The rest:
14-oz extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
Lime slices for a garnish (optional)
Mint leaves for a garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the quinoa, 1/2 the lime zest, cardamon, cinnamon stick, salt, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes, then remove from heat and don’t remove the lid. Let steam for 10 minutes.

Sweet chili lime sauce: Whisk together the sugar, tamari, lime juice, lime zest, red chili flakes, garlic, salt, and mint until the sugar and salt and dissolved. Set aside.

Tofu: Slice the tofu into 7-8 rectangles:

Then cut each rectangle in half to make two squares, and then each square into four triangles:

I sauteed the tofu in a dry skillet for about 10 minutes on each side. The recipe says to add it a “well-seasoned” skillet. Add the chili lime sauce and stir to coat the tofu. Turn off the heat. The sauce will bubble up, reduce, and form a glaze.

While this is happening, slice up the kale. In a wok (which I didn’t have, so I used a small skillet) add water, lime juice, and salt. Cover with a lid and steam until tender. (The other thing to do, is just add the greens to the quinoa and steam them that way).

To serve, layer plate with a scoop of quinoa, kale, then tofu. Garnish with lime slices and mint. Enjoy!

Recipe source: Vegan Yum Yum

Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

June 21, 2010 by epicureanvegan

These have always been a favorite of mine and are great for a big crowd. I won’t lie—there is a bit of prep work. Fortunately, you can chop up ingredients either earlier in the day, or even the day before. It also doesn’t hurt to enlist some help. The recipe is inspired by The Vegan Table, but I deviated off her recipe a bit and made some changes. These are definitely worth the work and can be served as an appetizer or light meal (depending on how many you put away)! 😉

INGREDIENTS:
20 rice paper wrappers
8-oz rice noodles
14-oz extra firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into strips
1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into strips
3 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 can water chestnuts (I steamed them for about 10 minutes, but that’s optional)
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 C fresh mint leaves
1 cup chopped peanuts
2 avocados, sliced thin (optional)
Peanut Dipping Sauce:
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C water
3 Tbs tamari soy sauce
2 Tbs lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs ginger, minced

DIRECTIONS:
Saute the tofu in a pan with a bit of oil:

Cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse with cold water. In a pie plate or other large plate, add some warm water and place a rice wrapper in it–let it absorb the water for about 30-45 seconds. Lay it onto a clean, dry surface and add another sheet to the plate of water so it’s ready to go when you’re done making the first roll.

Layer on noodles, carrots, tofu, cucumber, peanuts, water chestnuts, avocado (if using), 2 small basil leaves, and one mint leaf.

I found that it’s best to tightly fold over one side (top), then fold each side (on the left and right), then fold remaining side (bottom). Place onto a large platter. I got roughly 18 rolls.

Peanut Dipping Sauce:
Blend all ingredients. I used a food processor. The sauce is a little thick for my taste, so I added some more water. I think it’s easiest to spoon the sauce onto the rolls, otherwise, the innards will fall out. Slice in half to serve as appetizers or enjoy as they are!

Sauce recipe: The Vegan Table

Southwestern Tofu Burgers

June 6, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This recipe is from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Vegan Table and she recommends freezing the tofu for at least 48 hours and thawing 6-8 hours before using. It apparently makes a more chewy, enjoyable burger and I think she’s right! They were delicious. Incidentally, I’ve read in other places that freezing tofu before making patties, nuggets and other “meaty” meals, is a must. So if you can plan for that, it’s well worth it. Anyway, these burgers were tasty and full of flavor and better than any veggie patty I’ve had.

INGREDIENTS:
1-16oz pkg extra firm tofu, frozen and thawed
2 Tbs ground flaxseed
6 Tbs water, plus extra for binding
1-1/2 C bread crumbs
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 C corn kernels
1/4 C vegetarian refried beans
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
Canola oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS:
Squeeze out water from thawed tofu and crumble into a large -sized bowl. Leave some large chunks, but crumble enough so it will bind well with other ingredients. (I think a pastry blender works great for this).

Combine ground flaxseed and water in a small food processor bowl or blender (I used a blender) and blend until thick and viscous. Add flaxseed mixture to tofu, along with bread crumbs, bell pepper, corn, refried beans, tomato paste, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, and salt. Combine everything with a wooden spoon, and then with your hands to feel the consistency. Make sure spices are thoroughly combined and that you can create patties from the mixture. Taste and add salt, as necessary. Add water to help bind patties, as needed. (I didn’t find that I needed more water).(oops…I didn’t use a wooden spoon)!

Using your hands, form mixture into patties. (I got 9 patties out of it).

In a saute pan lightly coated with oil, fry over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and crispy. Be careful to keep patties in tact.

I served these on hamburger buns with lettuce and tomato. I think avocado slices and salsa would be great, too. Enjoy!

Breaded Seitan Nuggets

May 28, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Kids will love these! These resemble chicken nuggets, just not with the uh. . .nasty chicken odds and ends and in betweens. I served these with vegan ranch and BBQ sauce. So delish! And don’t worry about not getting protein. Per serving, seitan has 18-22 grams of protein and .5 grams of saturated fat—now when it comes to giving these to my family, I think that’s pretty important!

INGREDIENTS:
2-8oz pkg chicken-style seitan, broken into chunks
2/3 C nutritional yeast
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 Tbs tamari
Vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine nutritional yeast, garlic powder, coriander, cumin, and black pepper. Dip seitan in tamari, then in the yeast and spice mixture. Set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry seitan in batches until browned on all sides—this happens pretty fast, so keep on eye on them. Enjoy!

Recipe source: All Recipes

Creamy Macaroni and Cashew Cheese

May 23, 2010 by epicureanvegan

You’re probably thinking. . .how many non-dairy mac and cheese recipes can there possibly be? Turns out, quite a few, but as most of us know, they’re not all that tasty. This one, however, from The Vegan Table, is the first cashew cheese sauce I’ve tried (but close to the Hurry Up Alfredo) and I really, really, love it. I ate way too much of it, too. 🙂 I’ve made some minor alternations such as less oil and milk. By the way, if you need to omit the miso because of a soy intolerance, you can use a chickpea (garbanzo) miso or a barley miso. Another alternative is to use tahini mixed with a bit of salt.

INGREDIENTS:
1-1/4 C raw cashews
1/2 C nutritional yeast
2 tsp onion powder
1 to 2 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp white pepper
3-1/2 C nondairy milk (I use 3 cups)
3 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 C canola oil (I use about a 1/4 cup and will often use olive oil instead)
1/4 C light (yellow or white) miso
2 Tbs lemon juice
12-16oz macaroni, cooked (I used about 16 ounces of both small shells and rotini)
I added 1-1/2 tsp of truffle oil, but it’s optional (I recommend it)!

DIRECTIONS:
Place cashews in a large-sized bowl of the food processor and finely grind–just don’t let the cashews turn to a paste. Add nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in spices.

In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, cornstarch and oil(s). Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease heat to low-medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until cornstarch dissolves.

With the food processor running, gradually add milk/oil mixture to cashew/nutritional yeast mixture. Blend for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Next blend in miso and lemon juice.

Combine cashew cheese with macaroni noodles and serve. You may also bake it: Preheat oven to 325 and place macaroni mixture in a 8 or 9″ square baking dish (I recommend a 9″x13″ one). Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with 1/2 C herbed bread crumbs. Continue baking, uncovered, for 15-25 minutes until topping is golden brown. (I’m going to do this with the leftovers)! Enjoy!

Recipe source: The Vegan Table

UPDATE: I baked the leftovers and it was good, but I think I like it better unbaked.

Creamy Macaroni and Cashew Cheese

This recipe, from The Vegan Table, is the first cashew cheese sauce I've tried and I really, really, love it. I ate way too much of it, too. 🙂 I've made some minor alternations such as less oil and milk. By the way, if you need to omit the miso because of a soy intolerance, you can use a chickpea (garbanzo) miso or a barley miso. Another alternative is to use tahini mixed with a bit of salt.

Author: Epicurean Vegan

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1-1/4 C raw cashews
½ C nutritional yeast
2 tsp onion powder
1 to 2 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp white pepper
3-1/2 C nondairy milk (I use 3 cups)
3 Tbs cornstarch
½ C canola oil (I use about a ¼ cup and will often use olive oil instead)
¼ C light (yellow or white) miso
2 Tbs lemon juice
12-16oz macaroni, cooked (I used about 16 ounces of both small shells and rotini)
I added 1-1/2 tsp of truffle oil, but it's optional (I recommend it)!

Directions

Place cashews in a large-sized bowl of the food processor and finely grind--just don't let the cashews turn to a paste. Add nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in spices.
In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, cornstarch and oil(s). Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease heat to low-medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until cornstarch dissolves.
With the food processor running, gradually add milk/oil mixture to cashew/nutritional yeast mixture. Blend for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Next blend in miso and lemon juice.
Combine cashew cheese with macaroni noodles and serve.
You may also bake it (I prefer this unbaked) Preheat oven to 325 and place macaroni mixture in a 8 or 9" square baking dish (I recommend a 9"x13" one). Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with ½ C herbed bread crumbs. Continue baking, uncovered, for 15-25 minutes until topping is golden brown. (I'm going to do this with the leftovers)! Enjoy!
Recipe from The Vegan Table

Asian-Inspired Lettuce Wraps

May 21, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This meal reminds me of Thanksgiving—lots of prep and then devoured in ten minutes! Not that the prep time took all day–more like 20 minutes, just lots of chopping. The recipe is from The Vegan Table cookbook, but I made a few minor alterations and added some ingredients. Despite the prep work, I’ll make these again and again.

INGREDIENTS:
4 Tbs water, divided
2 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs finely grated or minced ginger
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped (I used 1/2 of one)
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 pkg (16-oz) extra-firm tofu (I used just a 14-oz pkg)
1 Tbs chili paste
2 Tbs light brown sugar
2 Tbs light miso paste
2 tsp sesame seeds
10 Boston bibb or butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry
10 basil leaves (I accidentally left these out)
2 small cucumbers, peeled and julienned (I found that one was plenty)
Optional ingredients:
1 can bamboo shoots, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
5 mushrooms, diced (these also make up for the 2 ounces of tofu I didn’t use)
Drizzle sauce:
1/2 C soy sauce
1-2 Tbs rice vinegar

Light miso paste

Chili paste

DIRECTIONS:
Heat 2 tablespoons of water in a saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger, and cook for 2 minutes, until they softened. Add red pepper and carrot and cook another minute. This is where I added the bamboo shoots. Meanwhile, crumble the tofu in a separate bowl until pretty small–like bread crumbs (I diced it up ). Add to pan and cook for 10 minutes, thoroughly combining with vegetables (this is also where I added the mushrooms and green onions).

Add chili paste and stir to combine. To make sauce (not the drizzle sauce) place brown sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan and dissolve over low-medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in miso paste and sesame seeds. Add to tofu mixture and combine well.

To make sauce: combine soy sauce and rice vinegar. To make wraps: trim edges of lettuce leaves to make them uniformly circular. Add a basil leaf and a julienned cucumber to each “cup”, add tofu mixture and drizzle with soy sauce/rice vinegar sauce. Enjoy!

Vegetable Panini with Pesto

May 19, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This was certainly a learning experience seeing as this is the first time I used my new panini maker. (Try Cuisinart’s Griddler –it was only $50 at Bed Bath & Beyond–and be sure to use their 20% off coupons to save even more–thought it was good deal and I really like this panini maker). So here’s my tip (which you probably can already guess…) slice everything super-duper thin, otherwise, you’ll have way too much spillage (see my pic). Live and learn. Anyway, I can’t wait to try out other ingredients–even a dessert variety! (Stay tuned). . .

INGREDIENTS:
1 large loaf of ciabatta bread will give you about 4 sandwiches:

But try flat bread, or any other kind of thick bread you want
Remember . . . slice very thin:
Red bell pepper
Roasted red peppers
AvocadoMushrooms
Red onion
Tomato
Vegan mozzarella
Other stuff:
Basil pesto, jarred or homemade
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Lightly brush the outside of each slice of bread with the oil. Pile on the veggies in an order that makes sense to you then drizzle with balsamic vinegar and add the salt and pepper. On the other slice of bread, spread on the pesto and then top the sandwich with it. Place in the panini maker and press down. Obviously, you can easily make these sandwiches on the stove or even on the grill–just don’t overload them with stuff—they’ll be too hard to flip over.

Other combinations:
Portobello mushrooms with vegan mozzarella, pesto and roasted red peppers
Roasted zucchini with pesto, roasted red peppers and muchrooms
Smart Deli Turkey with vegan cheese, horseradish, tomato and avocado
The ideas are pretty endless—you can’t go wrong with your favorite ingredients!
Great served with sweet potato fries:

Vegan White Sauce and Pasta

May 17, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This is probably my favorite vegan white sauce—it doesn’t taste fake and I think even non-vegans would have a tough time complaining about this one. It’s simple to make and versatile. I added diced mushrooms, but feel free to add other veggies, or just serve it plain over pasta. I like to serve it with a little sprinkle of Daiya cheese and I made garlic toasts out of leftover buns—a great meal!

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 C Earth Balance
1/2 C minced shallots
3 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 Tbs dry white wine
1 C vegetable broth
2 C unsweetened soy milk
Dash ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf
Salt and ground white pepper

DIRECTIONS:
I recommend having all the ingredients measured out and ready to go–it’ll be a lot easier. In a medium sauce pan, heat the margarine over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Do not brown. Stir in the flour until it is absorbed. Stir in the wine, broth, soy milk, nutmeg, and bay leaf and cook, stirring until thickened, about 5 minutes. (For me, after about 12 minutes it had not thickened, so I resorted to ever-trusty tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 C of broth mixture–worked immediately). Remove the bay leaf and discard. Here, the recipe says to transfer to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, which baffled me since the sauce was pretty smooth already. If the shallots weren’t minced finely enough, I could understand, but after thinking about it, I opted to not have to clean the food processor, too. Maybe something spectacular was to happen and I missed out, but I decided to take my chances. It turned out great. I added about 1-1/2 C of diced mushrooms and removed from the heat. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

During all this, I cooked up some fettuccine and made up some garlic toast with some leftover sandwich buns by spreading them with some Earth Balance, sprinkling on some garlic salt and Daiya mozzarella cheese. Under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes, they came out great. Enjoy!

Recipe source: 1000 Vegan Recipes

Portobello Burgers

Field Roast with a Coq Au Vin Sauce

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Southwestern Tofu Burgers

Breaded Seitan Nuggets

Creamy Macaroni and Cashew Cheese

Recipe source: The Vegan Table

Asian-Inspired Lettuce Wraps

Vegetable Panini with Pesto

Vegan White Sauce and Pasta

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