Recipes shared in full or in part, at home or from friends. They are all vegetarian and if not vegan will strive to have vegan modifications suggested.
Based on the video below, I veganized the recipe for baked pineapple. Instead of egg whites, I used 1/4 cup tapioca starch and moistened the salt and spice mixture with vegan cognac. You really need to watch the video to understand the rest of the recipe and procedure.
My pineapple was a much larger one so I used about 20 cloves and baked it a full hour at 350°. It came out just right. I quartered it and used two of the sections as suggested. Instead of the marscarpone and basil, I used 1/2 cup Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss and mint.
The other sections I chilled and served with salad the next day. The cloves and spiced salt gave the whole pineapple a great infusion of flavor. It was worth the effort and a lot of fun. The only thing I would change would be to wrap the leaves in foil while baking so they might not get as dry and would perhaps look more attractive when serving.
It has the right amount of crunch and saltiness and flavor without that odd aftertaste a lot of soy bacon gives. The slight coconut flavor is very pleasing!
I tried it as toppers on a salad an then a recipe my friend Jan shared with me. I have yet to mix it in to see if it hold up to moisture or cooking but I have my doubts that I will have enough. It is great to snack on too!
Here is a terrific recipe that it compliments and called for real bacon on top. It also called for shrimp and I subbed tofu instead.
Old Florida Style Soup
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. garlic
1 (1 lb. 12 oz) can Ro*tel tomatoes with chili peppers
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, sliced thin
2 med. Celery sticks, sliced
2 med. Potatoes, cubed
2 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. cubed extra firm tofu (pressed and seasoned with old bay)
1/2 cup Coconut Bacon
DIRECTIONS:
Sauté onion and garlic. Add tomatoes, and add rest of ingredients to onion. Bring to boiling point, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add tofu and heat through. Garnish with Coconut Bacon.
Since it was only for the two of us, I halved the roast recipe, swapped lentils for pinto beans and dried mustard for the paprika. In the center, instead of stuffing, I put about a dozen cloves of peeled roasted garlic before rolling it and crimping the seam together.
I baked it the same length of time (90 minutes @ 350°) but before wrapping it in the foil, I sprayed the foil with olive oil because I decided to brush a little mustard glaze on it.
Mustard Glaze:
1 Tbl brown mustard
1 Tbl brown sugar
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp crushed rosemary
a pinch of powdered cloves
It turned out very nicely, did not need any gravy for seasoning nor moisture and went well with beets and steamed broccoli.
What’s a vegan to do with an overly ripe couple of bananas, the dregs of the peanut butter jar and not enough vegan bacon bits to make anything out of? Take care of business and get rid of all of the above by mixing up a batch of Elvis inspired:
TCB Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup soy/rice/your favorite milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
For the glaze
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/8 cup vegan powdered sugar
1/4 cup vegan bacon bits
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and get your cupcake liners of choice ready.
In a bowl, mash bananas and peanut butter until very smooth. Add wet ingredients: canola oil, soy milk, vanilla extract and liquid smoke, and use an immersion blender until smooth-ish. Don’t ruin the chunky peanut butter texture.
In a larger bowl, sift together dry ingredients–flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients. Fold wet into dry until just combined. Never overmix your cupcake batter!
Fill liners two-thirds full with batter.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until knife inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before…
The Glazing:
Place the maple syrup and powdered sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Boil for a minute. Turn the heat off, add vegan bacon bits and stir the glaze for another 30 seconds or so.
Use a pastry brush to apply glaze and bacon bits to the tops of the cupcakes.
As was evident in my Expectations, Culinary and Otherwise post, I am a little picky about cornbread. Yesterday was one of those days when hot soup and a wedge of cornbread sounded just right. Jimbo rose to the challenge and, with the inspiration of a Skillet Cornbread recipe from Veganomicon, veganized an old recipe we had for Aunt Dorothy’s Cornbread.
Jimbo’s Cormsbread
Ingredients
2 Cups plain soy milk
2 teaspoons chili infused vinegar
2 Cups yellow cornmeal
1 Cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 Cup diced banana pepper rings
8.25 oz can of cream-style corn (most are vegan)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease cast iron skillet and place in oven to pre-heat. Combine the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Sift together dry ingredients. Create a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix together until just combined, fold in any additional ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet. Bake for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Optional broil to add golden color on top. Remove from oven, let cool a bit before serving.
Hopefully you have had a chance to cook up a few of the recipes from our most recent Virtual Vegan Potluck like I have. I am about to enjoy a bowl of VegCharlotte’s Rajma for lunch. Join me?
Even if you haven’t started cooking your way through the great offerings, you can give good vegan food a shout out and enjoy browsing the recipes at the Virtual Vegan Potluck. Please read through and pick out your favorites and give a vote for your favorite recipe(s).
All you have to do is email An Unrefined Vegan with your pick from each course – remember just one recipe per course. She will tally the results and the winner from each category will get a Virtual Vegan Potluck t-shirt! The winning recipes will be posted on the VVP website.
Rules of the contest are:
1) please vote only once – choosing one selection from each course;
2) if you participated in the Potluck, please do not vote for your own recipe; 3) VVP participants, blog readers and total strangers welcome to vote;
4) please do not vote for An Unrefined Vegan’s amazing recipe no matter how much you want to – she happens to know the person giving out the t-shirts;
5) voting closes at midnight (U.S. Mountain Time) on November 12; winner announced November 13.
For me it’s always about the t-shirt, so if you enjoyed my Pennsyltucky Griddle Crêpes, give me a vote in the Desserts category. Most importantly, enjoy all the efforts these great bloggers have put into making a successful vegan potluck. Check out the sponsors too!
Yesterday was such an exciting day, being the 2nd Virtual Vegan Potluck. I made my way from Appetizers to second helpings of the Desserts and loved every blog along the way. Today felt kind of dull, kind of a let down. Then I thought, “Why should it end?” Silly me, all of those recipes were waiting to be made. I shopped for a few recipes and, for our lunch, made the very first one that came to mind, Tuscany Stew.
Do go out Cheerfully Vegan‘s blog for the whole recipe. I will note that I added a couple of small potatoes since Mom shared that the soup she enjoys at Olive Garden has those in it. I also chose to use 4 cups of veggie broth.
I love kale like it is a member of my family and it got nice and tender after I simmered the soup for about an hour. It’s mellow flavors felt so wholesome on this chilly and gray day. I have to say that it was only gray outside and life was no longer dull as I cooked and listened to my Marathon Training Academy podcast. I could then slurp my soup and look through even more Virtual Vegan Potluck recipes to brighten the days ahead.
Welcome to the Virtual Vegan Potluck’s dessert tray! My vegan Pennsyltucky Griddle Crêpes are filled with regional goodness that represent what my blog is all about, exploring vegetarianism in central Pennsylvania of the United States of America. For another helping of Lou’s Creamy Beetroot & Coconut Tart with Chai Spices and Fresh Mint on her fridge scrapings blog, press the “go back” button.
If my recipe and demonstration video don’t demystify vegan crêpes, nothing will.
I haven’t made anything that has required a lot of cooking skill in months with all of my energy having gone into marathon training. The race is over but the big hungry appetite lingers on. I awoke early one Sunday morning with the hopes of trying out the new restaurant downtown that offers vegan crêpes. They don’t open until 11 AM and I got the crazy notion to just use what I have in my pantry and cupboard to make my own.
Taking on vegan crêpes seemed like a huge deal when I read all of the other recipes that highly suggested the use of special non-stick crêpe pans, thin round tipped metal spatulas or wooden crêpe turners and spreaders.
I only have cast iron griddles/skillets so vegan crêpe success seemed highly unlikely. Let me share the ingredients I had and *the advice I used that lead to a complete success.*
Pennsyltucky Crêpes yields six 9″ vegan crêpes
Ingredients
1 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 Cup tapioca starch (got mine at a local Asian market)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 Cup plant-based milk (I used coconut)
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
spray oil for griddle
1/2 Cup plant-based whipped topping (I used MimicCream’s Healthy Top that I got from Spencer’s Market)
1/2 Cup apple butter
ground cinnamon for topping
Directions
Sift first the 4 dry ingredients together. Add them as well as the milk and maple syrup to a blender. *Blend together for about 30 seconds and scrape sides down to make sure all ingredients are smooth. Refrigerate batter for 1 – 2 hours.*
Pre-heat skillet over medium-high heat until a light sprinkle of water sizzles and dances away. Pour one serving of the chilled batter into 1/3 Cup measuring cup and allow the rest to remain in the refrigerator. Give the griddle a very light spray of oil (my cast iron is well seasoned) and pour the 1/3 C batter into the center of the hot skillet. Immediately tip the skillet in a gentle circular motion so that the batter spreads into an ever increasingly large and thin round crêpe (see video clip below). You can see the outer edges will be wafer thin as you set it back onto the heat.
Small bubbles will form on the surface over the next minute or so as the top starts to dry out. You will notice it will lose its glossy wet look and you can actually touch it without leaving a fingerprint. The crêpe will be close to being ready to be flipped when the papery edges are lifting away from the skillet. Use a spatula to lift an edge, or as I did gently with my fingers, and peek to see if the center is golden. The crêpe may even start to shift on its own and can be flipped with a spatula or by hand. A dear Pennsyltucky grandfather I knew, Pup Pup Deihl, said flipping pancakes more than once makes them go sour. Stick with his advice and allow about 30 second for the finishing touches on the second side your crêpe.
Crêpes should be moist with just a slight crispiness on the outside and I liked serving them before they lost that crisp exterior. I made a couple at a time and filled them to serve before I went back to the griddle. Use a couple tablespoons of plant-based whipped topping and the same amount of good old dutchy apple butter as a filling and roll them up. Garnish with a dollop of whipped topping, apple butter and/or cinnamon.
This was the first time I have ever made crêpes and they ALL turned out. They made for a really special brunch but will also make a great dessert for our Virtual Vegan Potluck. Be glad you saved room for them, they are delicious! Don’t stop now, hold on to your fork and head on over to K-bobo’sGormandize with Us for a big helping of creativity and flavor and some Chocolate Banana Ice Cream Pie. Just click on the “go forward” button to continue to enjoy the Virtual Vegan Potluck.
Oh hurricane Sandy, you scared us. You ripped through the area and did a lot of damage but didn’t directly impact my family the way hurricane Agnes did back in 1972. Unlike that flood of 40 years ago, we didn’t have to move out of our homes for days to return to months (years really) of clean up. The fine silt that was washed into our home, and eventually dried, is what we called flood-mud. We found it on so many things as we tried to rebuild our lives over the next few years.
To celebrate Pennsyltucky’s dodging the bullet this week because hurricane Sandy didn’t do the damage that was locally predicted, I have crafted a vegan chocolate cream pie:
Sandy Bottom Flood-mud Pie
Ingredients:
1 Shortbread-styled Pie Crust (I used an accidentally vegan Keebler Ready Crust but think it would be awesome to blind bake one out of a layer of Annie’s Peanut Sandies recipe!)
1 carton MimicCream’s Healthy Top, chilled and whipped as per carton instructions
1 Cup Chocolate Silk
2 Tablespoons Hershey’s Cocoa
1 Tablespoon powdered agar
Directions:
Divide the whipped MimicCream Healthy Top into 2 bowls with 1/3 as the topping and 2/3 in a larger bowl. Keep both in the refrigerator.
In a small sauce pan, stir together the Chocolate Silk, Hershey’s Cocoa and agar until it is all blended and no dry lumps. Gently heat it to a simmer then remove from heat. Allow it to come to room temperature – do not rush by putting into the refrigerator, it will make a lumpy filling.
Fold the room temperature chocolate into the larger bowl of whipped Healthy Top. Spread into the pie crust then top with the final 1/3 whipped Healthy Top. Freeze overnight for ease of cutting and serving.
This recipe is another of those I have veganized from an old cookbook, just for fun. I really like taking some old or traditional styled recipes and making it into something edible for Jim and myself.
Part of the attraction is getting the finished product to look just like the original recipe. Having a photo to compare is a lot of fun and I chose to adapt a recipe from an old Ladies’ Home Journal cookbook. It is a 1970 copy of their Handbook of Holiday Cuisine.
Having a nice meal is an even better result of my veganizing escapades. I adapted then split this Steak and Kidney Pie with Oysters recipe into 2 smaller pies so that we could take one to Amy & Arron in NYC. I chose to use 3 different kinds of seitan. You could use homemade but I mixed it up with two different kinds of Lightlife Smart Strips, a couple of packets of Gardein BBQ Skewers and some Upton’s Naturals.
Hearty Seitan Pie
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 gloves garlic, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 5/8″ pieces
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 5/8″ pieces
16 oz. mushroom quartered
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
16 oz. vegan gravy
24 oz. mixed seitan in about 1″ pieces (see note above)
16 oz. package of puff pastry, thawed
2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 425° F
Saute seitan in 2 tablespoons of the oil until the exterior starts to brown slightly. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add remaining oil and lightly saute onions and garlic in oil until onion is just translucent. Add in carrots and potatoes and cook over medium-hugh heat for about 3 minutes. The vegetables will just begin to get tender but centers are still quite firm. Add mushrooms and reduce heat to medium, stirring for another couple of minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir the tomato paste and gravy into the vegetable mixture. Add in the browned seitan and stir until all pieces are well coated. Pour mixture into a large shallow casserole and set aside.
Press together the puff pastry sheets and roll it into a 1/4″ thick piece that will be 1″ larger than the top of the casserole dish (or for 2 smaller casserole as I did). Moisten the edge of the casserole dish and press the pastry to cover the dish. Trim off the excess and set aside (you may use the excess to decorate the top with designs). Crimp edges of pastry top to thecasserole and cut 2 or 3 slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Decorate with extra dough if you like and brush entire top with the coconut milk. Bake for 30 minutes, crust will be a golden brown.
