Mexi Veggie Tofu Scramble ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

An easy Sunday and it's supposed to look a little like summer today.  Even though it hasn't lately, the farmer's market is starting to look like the sun was shining somewhere.  I picked up some fresh zucchini and Walla Walla onions yesterday and they've already made it into a couple meals.  This morning I put together a really simple, but tasty Mexican veggie tofu scramble.

I diced up a box of firm silken tofu and threw it in a medium frying pan with 1 TB hot coconut oil.  While that was working, I roughly chopped a Walla Walla, including the green tops, diced a red bell pepper, and sliced two small zucchinis.  I added the onions and red bell pepper to the tofu and let that sauté until the onions were translucent, then added the zucchini slices.

I keep a Mexican spice blend around that makes it easy to flavor anything quickly.  I sprinkled about 1 tablespoon of the spice blend in the pan and added about a ¼ cup of filtered water and let the mixture simmer until the liquid was absorbed.

Warmed some corn tortillas and served with some fresh pineapple. Filling, very nutritious, and tasty!

Mexican Spice Blend
    A Vegan Fusion blend

Makes 7 TB

¼ cup chili powder
2 TB cumin powder
2 tsp oregano, dried
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well.  Store in a glass jar.


Now, off to play in the garden.

Vegan Pizza with Sunflower Seed Crust

These little goodies were a delightful treat for dinner last night.  There are two more crusts left, I think I'll make two more and use the rest of the sauce in some whole grain pasta with some greens for dinner tonight.

This is an easy crust that can be made in the oven or a dehydrator.  Making the marinara sauce and crusts on the weekend and storing for up to a week in an airtight container, makes for a quick, nutritious, and tasty meal during the week.  Just pour on some sauce, a couple slices of zucchini or whatever veggie that happens to be around and bake for 10 minutes.  You can use raw sunflower seeds or soaked and dried sunflower seeds.  I buy my seeds and nuts in large quantities, soak them, and dehydrate them so they're handy.

Sunflower Seed Pizza ~ Vegan & Gluten Free
This is my version of a recipe from Deliciously Organic.

Makes about 6 – 6″ pizzas

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds (I used soaked and dehydrated seeds, but raw or toasted seeds will also work well)
2 roasted red, orange or yellow bell peppers
1/2 teaspoon dried basil and oregano
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

For the Marinara:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (24-ounce) jar crushed tomatoes (I used home canned organic tomatoes)
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, rosemary, and oregano

Any other toppings of your choice: mushrooms, tempeh, basil, greens, etc.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300ºF, adjust rack to middle position, and place a pizza stone or pizza baking sheet in the oven (the stone/pan needs to preheat along with the oven). Place sunflower seeds in the bowl of a food processor. Process until finely ground. Add bell peppers, Italian seasoning, sea salt and cheese.

Process until smooth.
Place a small sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Place a 1/4 cup scoop of dough on the parchment. Spread dough into a 6″ round. Bake on the preheated pizza stone for 20 minutes.  I used the dehydrator at 115º flipping after about three hours.  They were ready to use in about two to three more hours, crisp, but still a bit pliable.  They are going to bake in the oven for another ten minutes, so not quite crispy is desirable. I don't know, is there an 'al dente' for seeds and nuts?

Meanwhile add the marinara ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Remove crust from the oven. Top with 2 tablespoons marinara and sprinkle with a few tablespoons of toppings of your choice. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve.

I used simple toppings, thinly sliced yellow zucchini, some of the roasted peppers I used for the sauce, and Daiya vegan cheddar and mozzarella style cheese.

I can't believe it's Tofu ~ Tofu Quiché

I made some awesome tofu quiché in muffin cups yesterday.  I created a variation of my friend Felicia's recipe.  She brought some to the last potluck and I always have some tofu and fresh veggies around. Thought I'd give it a try this weekend. This is an easy meal and can be made with just about any vegetables.  She did find out while creating her recipe that the vegetables that contain the most moisture, like zucchini, should be dried a little or sauteéd first. I sliced a yellow zucchini very thin and weighted the slices between paper towels for about 30 minutes.  I had some fresh asparagus spears and just chopped them in about 1/2 inch sections. I also chopped some green onions to add to the vegetable mixture.  I didn't use mushrooms this time, but that's OK, my honey doesn't care for them much.  I also didn't have soft tofu, but I did have some vegan cream cheese in the fridge, which is made with tofu.  It worked great.  The little quiches came out firm, but fluffy. For my gluten intolerant friends, it's not only vegan, it's also gluten free.

Tofu Quiché

      by Felicia Divina

2 tsp minced garlic
1 c chopped vegetables, spinach works best for me but anything low moisture, if you use zucchini saute first to get moisture out or dry it with paper towels. (I used asparagus, green onions, & sliced yellow zucchini.)
1 1/2 c chopped mushroom, sauteed (add the rosemary here if you are using dried)
tsp chives
tsp rosemary
1 box firm tofu
1/2 c soft tofu
3 or 4 TB nutritional yeast
2 TB cornstarch  (I omitted the cornstarch)
2 tsp tahini (heaping, I love the stuff)
1 tsp tamari (Tamari is my addition to her recipe)
pinch freshly ground black pepper
pinch turmeric (I used big pinch turmeric, about a teaspoon)

I also added a sprinkle of cayenne to the top of each and a little Daiya cheddar and mozzarella style vegan cheese.

Spray muffin tin, spoon veggies into tins

Blend everything but the veggies in food processor or blender until smooth.

Pour over the veggies. Bake at 350º for about 25 to 30 minutes, they will be firm and golden brown.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

This is the beautiful pie I put together this weekend.  One of the two recipes I tried out of the latest Veg News.  It's very rich, so I don't eat a very big portion of this pie.  It's pretty wonderful though, the chocolate shortbread crust is like a crunchy vegan oreo cookie and the filling is like chocolate candy mouse.  Probably because it is candy, with a little bit of coconut milk cream blended in.  I added some toasted almonds and a nice topping of cherry tamarind sauce.  I warmed some frozen cherries with a little maple syrup, some tamarind water, and a little Agar to thicken.  I used very dark organic chocolate as I like that barely sweetened chocolate flavor.  If you want it a little sweeter, you could use sweeter chocolate and/or add a little Agave to the filling.  I don't have a tart pan, I just used a shallow pie pan.

It's pretty easy and would be a great dessert to bring to a party or potluck.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart

a recipe by:  Beverly Lynn Bennett

Makes one 9-inch tart.

For the crust:

3/4 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup unbleached cane sugar
1/2 cup organic cocoa powder
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 cup vegan margarine

For the filling:

1 1/4 cups vegan creamer (I used So-Delicious coconut milk creamer, my favorite)
1 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 3-ounce dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla or 2 tablespoons alcohol such as rum or whiskey

Topping suggestions:  vegan whip cream,  toasted shredded coconut, chopped nuts, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, sliced fruit, or berries.

Preheat oven to 350º

The Crust:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, sugar, cocoa, and arrowroot powder.  Add margarine and stir well to form a soft dough.  I used my food processor for this, very quick.

Into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, press dough 1-inch deep.  Bake 12-14 minutes, or until slightly puffed.  Allow to cool completely on a rack, and then remove outer ring.

The Filling:

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring creamer to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Add remaining ingredients, and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Cover and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Pour filling into prepared crust and chill for 1 hour or until firm.  Garnish outer edge of tart with vegan whip cream and your choice of toppings.

October Harvest Au Gratin ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

 Yesterday was a lovely day.  We had a sunny day and time to hang in the garden.  It was what we call a sunny day in the PNW, there were still some clouds. We're still getting lots of great produce: potatoes, tomatoes, beets, chard, a couple winter squash, lots of herbs, and even a zucchini.  There are some new eggplant coming out too.  The eggplants seem to like the moist, cool weather.  On the way out there I was thinking about what to do with the squash I had already.  I was thinking of doing some kind of zucchini/winter squash bake.  My granddaughter has been advised to avoid gluten so I want to try to make more and more dishes gluten free. I thought I'd use some brown rice flour or black bean flour and make a roux, but I ended up using par boiled potatoes instead. I came up with a kind of Au Gratin dish.  I think I put a little too much sauce, but it was creamy, warm, colorful, and comforting on a cool fall night.  My son was surprised that I made this up myself and said I should write it down.  He hasn't seen my blog, that's one of the reasons I do this, so I can go back and find dishes I've made like this and make it again sometime.

I made layers of the sliced fresh veggies: butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green and yellow zucchini, fresh beets and chard. I covered them with a sauce I made with a large red potato we dug up yesterday and baked it all until it was tender.  For the sauce I chopped the potato, a couple fresh onions, a shallot and simmered them in about 2 cups water for ten minutes.  I placed them in my Blendtec with a handful of cashews, some coconut spread, nutritional yeast, a dash of tamari, thyme, oregano, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a dash of cayenne.  This made a warm creamy sauce without any milk or flour. 

The sauce:

About 2 cups chopped potato
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small to medium shallot chopped
2 cups water

The following ingredients are estimates, I really didn't measure, adjust to your own taste.

1/2 cup cashews
3 TB Earth Balance coconut spread or vegan margarine
2 TB Nutritional yeast
1 tsp Tamari
1 Clove garlic, minced
1 TB Thyme (dried)
1 TB Oregano (dried)
1 tsp ground sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 cup Daiya Mozzarella cheese

Place the chopped potatoes, onions, shallots, & water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil then cover and gently simmer for ten minutes.  While the potatoes are simmering place the remaining ingredients in a large blender.  When the potatoes have finished simmering let them cool a few minutes then pour the whole thing, including the water in the blender.  Blend until creamy.

Layer the veggies in a 9 x 13 baking dish with a layer of sauce between half of it and on top.  I started with chard leaves, a layer of sliced butternut squash, green and yellow zucchini slices, a couple sliced beets I had from thinning the beets, for the first layer.  The second layer I used sliced sweet potato in place of the butternut squash.

Cover and bake at 400º for about 35 minutes, remove the cover and cook another 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.

I also added some shredded Daiya cheese on the top of each sauce layer.  That was probably overkill, but I wanted my son to enjoy this meal with us and he is still a little leery of all my vegan delights.  It worked, he loved it.  He decided he didn't want any salad with his meal, he might try some later.  Funny, the green salad had most the same ingredients that are in the casserole, they're just raw.