Epicurean Vegan

Healthy eating for discriminating palates

Vegan Mushroom-Onion Quiche September 2, 2011

Filed under: Breakfasts — epicureanvegan @ 9:19 am
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Yes, you can make a quiche without eggs. Which also means it comes without cholesterol and bird embryos. Ok, I won’t get all crazy-vegan on my non-vegan readers . . . :) But have you seen Forks Over Knives yet? We watched it last night. Please watch it—I guarantee you will come away from it wanting to make positive changes in yours and your kids’ diet.

So onto the quiche . . . I got the recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. This is so simple to make and tastes rich and creamy. You can also use regular firm tofu for a more scrambly-egg texture–just don’t blend as smooth.  The cookbook offers several variations such as adding spinach, broccoli, or vegetarian bacon bits. I went with the mushroom quiche.

INGREDIENTS:

1 prepared 10″ pie crust

3 C (2 12-oz pkgs) firm silken tofu, mashed

3/4 C plain non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

1/2 C flour (any kind; I used brown rice flour)

1/4 C nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/8 tsp white pepper

1 Tbs olive or organic canola or safflower oil (I used olive oil)

1-1/2 C finely chopped onions

2 C sliced mushrooms

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400. Bake the pie crust for 10-12 minutes; let cool. (Mine was done at 8 minutes, so check often). Reduce oven temperature to 350.  In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the onions; cook for 3-4 minutes, or until they soften. Add the mushrooms and cook another few minutes.

In the meantime, combine the tofu, milk, flour, nutritional yeast, salt, nutmeg, turmeric, and pepper in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. You’ll probably need to scrapes the sides once or twice and continuing blending.

Pour into a large bowl and stir in the mushrooms and onions. Pour mixture into the prebaked crust. I accidentally picked up a 9″ pie crust, so I poured the extra batter into two ramekins.

Remember, make sure you reduce the heat on the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes. The top will be firm, browned, and slightly puffed up. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

 

Strawberry Cupcakes August 16, 2011

Filed under: Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 3:53 pm
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I was in a baking mood today, but I couldn’t decide between these, chocolate chip scones, or lemon madeleine cookies. Obviously, I went with these cupcakes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking. If you love to bake, vegan or not, this is a fabulous cookbook to own. Not only is it filled with easy and delicious recipes, it also is filled with lots of valuable baking tips, especially if you are new to the world of vegan baking. I found that these cupcakes are really more like muffins, but if Ms. Colleen says they’re cupcakes, then I’ll go with it. Cupcakes, muffins, whatevs—you’ll love them!

INGREDIENTS:

1-3/4 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 C granulated sugar (I used about 3/4 C)

1/2 C canola oil

1 Tbs white distilled vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz frozen or fresh strawberries, crushed or pureed (I used fresh)

For the frosting, I didn’t go with her Butter Cream Frosting. I used confectioners’ sugar mixed with almond milk.

Strawberries to garnish the tops

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease or line a muffin pan with muffin cups. I only had 9 muffin cups, so I greased the last three. Both methods worked fine.I pureed the strawberries in the food processor.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir in the strawberries. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it.

Stir to combine, but don’t overstir. You’ll be left with a light and fluffy batter:

Evenly fill the muffins cups with the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool.

Let them cool completely before icing them. I just mixed a few cups of confectioners’ sugar with just 1-1/2 to 2 tsp of almond milk to reach a very thick consistency. If you’d like, you can add a dash of extract flavoring to it. Drizzle the tops of the cupcakes with the icing and top with a few strawberry slices. Enjoy! Makes 12.

 

Vegan & Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake May 16, 2011

Filed under: Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 8:38 am
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Some of you may recall when I made this cake about a year ago, I put in way, way too much of the flour mixture and a friend, who I had served it to, joked that I made him eat a brick. The cake was a disaster and apparently, it took me a year to get over it, but here it is. Wow, what a difference correctly following the recipe makes! ;) This cake is outstanding! You’d never know it was gluten-free AND vegan! The cake was soft, moist, and not too sweet. (The icing will sure make up for that)! This is now going to be the family birthday cake for a while—it’s that good! Plus, I’ve completely redeemed myself and my friend told me he can no longer tease me about serving him a brick!

INGREDIENTS:

1 C gluten-free vanilla rice milk

1 tsp cider vinegar

2-1/2 C Betsy’s Baking Mix (recipe below)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/2 C palm oil shortening

2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1 oz red food coloring

1/4 C + 3 Tbs unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs distilled white vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

1 recipe butter cream frosting (below)

Betsy’s Making Mix: this makes 7-1/2 cups–remember, use just 2-1/2 cups of it.

3-3/4 C garbanzo bean  flour

2-1/4 C potato starch

1-1/2 C tapioca starch/flour

Buttercream Frosting:

1 C Earth Balance margarine

4 to 4-1/2 C confectioner’s sugar

Vanilla rice milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Make your baking mix first: Combine all the flours in a large zip-lock bag. Using a whisk, blend them well. Then seal tightly and shake it vigorously for 1 minute. This mix will stay good for up to 3 months.

Grease 2 9″ cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the rice milk and cider vinegar to create “buttermilk” and set aside. In a small bowl, use a spoon to combine the cocoa powder and food coloring. (Keep in mind that 1 ounce is a full-sized bottle of food coloring). It will form a paste:

In a large bowl, combine 2-1/2 cups of the baking mix, salt, and xanthan gum. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and palm oil shortening. Add the applesauce and vanilla and cream everything together until mixture is light and creamy. Add the cocoa paste and mix well.

Alternately, add the dry ingredients and the “buttermilk” mixture to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Pour the white vinegar into a small cup and sprinkle the baking soda over it. Immediately pour the fizzing combo into the cake batter and thoroughly mix it in. Evenly divide the batter into the two cake pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely on a rack before turning them out of the pans.

Once cooled, turn over the pans and remove the parchment paper. Take a large plate and place it upside down on the bottom of one of the cakes (that will be upside down on the rack). Flip over so the cake is face up on the plate.

To make the frosting cream the Earth Balance until smooth. Little by little, add the confectioner’s sugar. Add the vanilla rice milk 1-2 tablespoons at a time until you reach a thick consistency.

Frost the top and sides of the cake that is on the plate. Lay it pretty thick, especially on the top. Carefully place the 2nd cake on top and frost that one.

Slice and enjoy! Cover the leftovers and store in the refrigerator.

Recipe source (cake only): Living Without

 

Savory Asparagus Tart April 28, 2011

Filed under: Appetizers — epicureanvegan @ 6:01 pm
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When I open my own vegan restaurant, this tart will be a signature item on the menu! And look, I’m sharing my secret recipe with all of you now! The Husband was on a conference call when I took this out of the oven and took a bite. You have no idea how difficult it was to not eat his portion; he would have never known. But of course, I couldn’t do that to him—it’s a recipe you’ll want to share and enjoy with others.

INGREDIENTS:

1 puff pastry dough, thawed

1 C Daiya or other vegan cheeze, shredded

1 bunch asparagus

2 Tbs olive oil

1-1/2 tsp truffle oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400. Roll the pastry sheet out to about 11″x7″. Place onto a baking sheet. Using a fork, puncture the dough all over.

Bake for 5 minutes, or until it begins to brown. You may need to press down on the dough with a spoon if it puffed up in places.

Sprinkle the cheese onto the dough, then line the asparagus—close together—on top. I just cut the stalks in half (after cutting of the thick ends) and placed them like so:

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, truffle oil, salt, and pepper. Brush the mixture onto the asparagus , thoroughly coating the tops. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges of the tart begin to brown. Remove from the pan (I used two spatulas on either end) and transfer to a large cutting board. Cut into squares and enjoy!

 

Guest Post: Banana Blueberry Muffins March 29, 2011

Filed under: Breads,Guest Bloggers — epicureanvegan @ 8:22 am
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Today, I’m bringing you a recipe from Patricia Stoltey, a delightful friend, writer, and fellow critique group member . We’re both original members of the Raintree Writers, formed in 2003, which continues to meet every two weeks.  Pat has two published mystery novels, The Prairie Grass Murders and The Desert Hedge Murders, both excellent reads with fun and quirky characters. You can visit Pat at her blog and see why I call her “Bad Ass Pat.” In the meantime, check out her yummy vegan muffins that she kindly took the time to share with us.

I can’t leave a recipe alone, no matter how good it is.

The first time I made these Mountain Biker’s Banana Muffins from the Simply Colorado: Nutritious Recipes for Busy People cookbook by the Colorado Dietetic Association, I thought they were delicious. But I couldn’t help it. I tinkered with the recipe until I made it mine.

If you find a copy of the original, you’ll see I changed the balance of whole wheat flour to white, replaced the skim milk with soymilk, and ditched the raisins (which I don’t really like) for blueberries. Here’s how it goes:

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Pat’s Variation on Mountain Biker’s Banana (Blueberry) Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 c. sugar (or slightly less)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. flour

1 c. whole wheat flour (I use high altitude flour in Colorado)

1/3 c. oil

1/4 c. soymilk

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. blueberries (I use frozen berries to keep the batter from turning totally blue)

Cooking Spray

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375⁰. Measure sugar, baking soda, salt and flours into bowl. Add oil, soymilk, bananas and vanilla; mix just until flour is moistened. Gently fold in frozen blueberries. Fill standard size muffin cups coated with cooking spray to 2/3 full with batter. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Because of the frozen berries, it’s best to test the center of the muffins with a toothpick to make certain muffins are done all the way through. Immediately tilt the muffins in the cups or remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

Although I have to tell you, at my house muffins tend to disappear from the pan minutes after they’re removed from the oven. I was lucky to get this photo.

Looks delicious, Pat. :)   Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!

 

Lemon Almond Cookies March 6, 2011

Filed under: Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 8:40 pm
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These cookies are pretty darn easy to make, soft, and aren’t overly sweet—my kind of cookie. If you have a bigger sweet tooth, use honey (which isn’t vegan) instead of agave, or these would be ideal to sprinkle with powdered sugar.

INGREDIENTS:

1 C Earth Balance margarine

3/4 C agave

1/2 tsp almond extract

3 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Zest from one small lemon

1/2 C ground almonds

1/2 C chopped almonds

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and agave. Add the almond extract, lemon juice, lemon zest; combine well. In another bowl, combine the ground and chopped walnuts with the flours and add to the margarine mixture. The batter will be sticky—it’s supposed to be, so don’t add any more flour.

Roll dough into 1 to 1-1/2″ balls and place onto a lightly greased cookie sheet; press down slightly.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the bottom edge of the cookies begin to turn a golden brown.

Enjoy!

 

Tomato and Cheez Souffle March 2, 2011

Filed under: Dinners — epicureanvegan @ 5:23 pm
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We’ve all heard about disasters involving souffles, but this is one souffle that’s pretty difficult to screw up. This comes from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook and it really can’t get any easier than this. The recipe calls for a 2-quart baking or souffle dish. A square 8″ baking dish is 2 quarts, but I soon realized that the sides need to be higher. I ended up using less bread and tomatoes, but the same amount of sauce. Next time I’ll use a bigger baking dish,  but it still came out amazing. The taste and texture is a lot like lasagna and I think adding some spinach and mushrooms would be ideal!

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 C water

1/2 C roasted red peppers (skins and seeds removed) or pimento pieces (I used a mixture of both)

1/2 C raw cashews

3 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes

3 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs nonalcoholic white wine (I used white cooking wine)

1-1/2 tsp onion powder

1-1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Black pepper, to taste

6-9 slices whole-wheat or rice bread (easily make it gluten-free)!

3 ripe tomatoes, sliced

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375. In a blender, combine all the ingredients except the bread and tomatoes. Lightly oil a 2-quart souffle dish. Layer 2-3 slices of bread on the bottom, followed by sliced tomatoes. Pour 1/3 of the sauce on top and repeat layers two more times.

Bake until lightly puffed and golden brown, about 45-50 minutes. It’s that easy!

 

Peanut Butter, Chocolate & Cherry Granola Bites February 27, 2011

Filed under: Snacks — epicureanvegan @ 2:27 pm
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Jess at Healthy Exposures posted these last week, and I knew right away I had to try them. I made a few changes, just based on what I had on hand and on my taste preferences, such as subbing brown rice syrup for the molasses, as I’m not big on molasses. You can see her original recipe here.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 C quick oats

2 Tbs brown rice flour

2 Tbs wheat germ

1/2 C peanuts, chopped

1/4 C sunflower seeds

1/4 C chia seeds

2 Tbs flax seeds

1/2 C dried cherries, chopped

1/2 C dark chocolate chips

1/2 a banana

2 Tbs brown rice syrup

3 Tbs almond milk

3 Tbs peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a mini-muffin pan (genius idea, Jess)! Set aside. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, wheat germ, peanuts, seeds, cherries, and chocolate chips.

In a smaller bowl, mash the banana with a fork add the syrup, almond milk, peanut butter, and vanilla. Whisk thoroughly and combine well with the dry ingredients.

Fill the muffin cups with the mixture, pressing down firmly with a spoon. I didn’t fill them quite to the top, but you can—they won’t overflow when they bake. Depending on the size of muffins cups you use, the number you get will be different; I got 15.

Bake 15 minutes, or until the tops turn a golden brown. These make such a great little snack and I imagine, a heck of a lot healthier than store-bought granola bars. As an alternative, you can use a 8″ baking pan and then cut them into squares after they bake. Either way, you’re sure to enjoy them, especially since they’re so simple to make.

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Cake (and don’t give away your heart . . .pan)! February 14, 2011

Filed under: Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 1:42 pm
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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yesterday as The Husband and I were moseying through an antique shop, he asked me, “Did you get me anything for Valentine’s Day?” Having not even thought about this (card company) holiday, I truthfully answered, “Uh, no.” He suddenly looked relieved. “Good! I didn’t get you anything!” Frankly, I was relieved, too. I told him I’d bake him something. So when I got to that today I realized I no longer had my red, ceramic, heart-shaped pan anymore. I think I Goodwilled it because I never used it. I was quite disappointed, as it would have been perfect for this cake. Oh well. The sentiment is still there! This recipe is essentially the same as my muffin recipe from a year ago, but I used raspberries instead of blueberries.

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

1/4 C Earth Balance margarine

1/2 C apple sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 C sugar

2 C flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C almond milk

2 C fresh or frozen raspberries (If using frozen, thaw and drain liquid)

Crumb topping:

1/4 C sugar

1/8 C flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbs Earth Balance butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer, combine all the muffin ingredients, except the raspberries. Mix well. Fold in the raspberries.

To make the crumb topping, combine all the crumb topping ingredients in a bowl and mix well using a fork.

Lightly grease an 8×8″ baking pan. You can also use a bundt pan, just remember to put the crumb topping on first, before pouring in the batter.

Top with crumb topping and bake for 30-33 minutes.

Let cool 5-10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

 

Chocolate Avocado Banana Bread February 3, 2011

Filed under: Breads,Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 4:59 pm
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That’s right. Chocolate. Avocado. Banana. I figured since the Glazed Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes worked so well, why not give it a try with other stuff? I had two avocados a banana begging to be baked into something, so there you go. The Sixth Grader loves this bread and I have to make sure he doesn’t make a sandwich using it–he loves it that much. Unlike the cupcakes, you can taste the avocado, but for one, we love this green fruit over here and two, the taste is subtle. The chocolate really balances the flavors nicely. Now if the green color is off-putting, I suppose you can add about a 1/4 C of cocoa, but I kind of like the Grinchy green!

INGREDIENTS:

1 banana

2 avocados

1 C sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 C flour

2 Tbs canola oil

1 tsp lemon juice

1/8 C almond milk

1 C dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semi-sweet are vegan)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, mash the banana and avocado together. It will look like guacamole . . . yet smell like bananas. Stir in the canola oil and lemon juice.

Add the avocado/banana mixture and almond milk to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Grease and flour a large loaf pan. You can also use an 8×8″ baking dish or even a bundt pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. The top will brown, but insert a knife in the middle to make sure it comes out clean before taking out. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan and slicing. Enjoy!

 

 
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