Monday, February 25, 2013

Dinner Recipe Rut

This post is inspired by a friend who posted on Facebook last night that she was in a dinner rut and needed some recipe ideas. Well, the Tempeh Shepherdess Pie that I made for dinner last night is a GREAT recipe rut buster, not to mention a healthy and hearty vegan and gluten-free meal that tastes like the wonderful home-cooked meals that a lot of us had as children. 

Here is my adapted version of the recipe, original recipe can be found in the Veganomicon cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Their recipe is a little more time-intensive, my version is the shortcut (although still not a quick meal by any means!). 

2 packages of tempeh, crumbled or cubed (make sure it's the 'normal' kind, not the 5-grain, which has gluten)
Veggies!! - I used a red onion, white onion, 5 carrots, 2 zucchini, and about a half pound of spinach. I was also going to add peas, but I forgot. Edamame would be pretty tasty too
A few tablespoons of coconut oil 
4-5 cloves of roasted garlic 
One 15 oz. can of white beans (cannellini or navy beans are ideal) - optional

2-3 lbs of potatoes and/or squash 

2 cups of vegetable stock
1/4 cup cornstarch

~1/4 cup of tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos (I prefer Bragg's - it imparts a GREAT smokiness to any dish)
Basil
Thyme
Pepper
Coriander

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Chop up the potatoes and/or squash and throw those all in a pot. Fill with enough water to cover everything, add a few pinches of salt, and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to a medium-high and boil for about 20 minutes. 

Next, chop up all of your veggies and tempeh and throw them together in a large saute pot or pan with the coconut oil. I put the tempeh, onions, and carrots in the pot at the same time, but reserved the zucchini until later so that it didn't get too mushy. 

Also at this time, whisk ~1/4 cup of cornstarch into 2 cups of vegetable stock and set aside. It's okay if it's a little lumpy. 

As your veggies are cooking, be sure to break up the tempeh into smaller pieces so that it cooks thoroughly. I LOVE the taste of tempeh, but it can taste slightly bitter to some people, so you don't want your tempeh chunks to be too large. Once your carrots and onions start to soften, add whatever spices you want - I like basil, thyme (a little heavy on the thyme for that really "country cooking" feel!), and a bit of coriander. You can also add any other softer veggies at this time, like the zucchinis. 

Once the zucchinis start to soften, add about 1/4 cup of tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Bragg's imparts a wonderful smokiness to dishes, but can be a bit overwhelming if you don't like too much smokiness. A tamari/Bragg's combo might be the way to go the first time you make the dish, and then you can adjust the next time. Give the veggies a few stirs, and then add your vegetable stock/cornstarch mixture and turn the heat up to high. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-high and let boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Once the liquid starts to thicken, remove from heat. At this time, gently stir in your white beans, if using. 

By this time, your potatoes and squash should be done boiling, so drain those and then return to the pot for some mashing. I like to add some Earth Balance and soy milk during mashing, and for an extra special treat, if you're using butternut squash, add some maple syrup! It'll bring out an incredibly yummy sweetness in the butternut squash that is a great balance to the earthiness of the tempeh and veggie mixture. 

I typically prefer really smooth mashed potatoes, but because these will be the topping for your shepherd's pie, it's kind of nice to leave them a little lumpy. Otherwise, the whole dish can sometimes get a little too gooey and mushy and all have the same texture. 

Dump your tempeh/veggie mixture into a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Next, top with your mashed potato/mashed squash and spread it around so that it completely covers your tempeh and veggies. You can use a spatula, but I find that using your hands works the best! 

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. If you want it to be a little extra crispy (and extra delicious!) on top, then put it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes. Just keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn those yummy potatoes! 

Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving, or else it'll be way too runny and difficult to serve. 



VARIATIONS

I actually made my mashed potatoes and mashed butternut squash separately, and then just alternated between a dollop of potatoes and a dollop of squash for a cool, checkerboard-topped pie. That way, I could put some yummy maple syrup in the squash, but not make my potatoes weird and sweet. But, that all depends on how many dishes you want to have at the end.

I'm pretty convinced that any veggie would work in this dish. Have fun with it! 

You could also put ground beef in there instead of tempeh if your family isn't vegan. Or, leave out the tempeh and put an extra can of beans for a cheap family dinner. 


The possibilities are endless. I bet a sweet potato topping would be pretty tasty too! Let me know if you come up with any good variations - I'd love to hear about them!

Monday, February 18, 2013

My Go-To GF Flour Mix

Well, it's the end of a 4-day weekend (one of the perks of working for the government - you get every other Friday off, so Monday holidays sometimes result in 4 day weekends!), the kitchen is clean, there's bread rising in the oven, and I just opened up a bottle of wine. Seems like a good time to get caught up on the blog. 

I actually didn't do too much baking (or cooking) this weekend. Friday was a simple butternut squash and sweet potato soup - we were watching a friend's dog for the night, and trying to cook and patrol the cat/dog interaction can be a little overwhelming. Saturday night we grabbed a quick bite at the Coop before going to Beautiful Creatures (it was just okay - I wouldn't really recommend it), and then last night, we went to one of our most favorite places ever...Tesuque Village Market down in Tesuque, which is about 2/3 of the way to Santa Fe from Los Alamos. 

Scott and I love TVM - they are a very local, sustainable restaurant that serves only local stuff and returns all of its organic waste back to the farms. Very cool! It can be a bit of a challenge to eat out as a vegan, but TVM has a few viable options - a homemade black bean burger, veggie tamales, and then a wide variety of burrito/taco/enchilada options that can be made with beans and/or veggies. But most importantly, they have AMAZING margaritas! I have a mild obsession with their blood orange margaritas, but the prickly pear margs are quite tasty as well. Since we were sitting at the bar, we got to watch the margs being made, and I was surprised to see how many grapefruit margs the bartender was churning out. We've been making homemade margs with grapefruit for quite some time now, I guess we were ahead of the trend! 

So, back to the bread that's rising in the oven - this is a variation on my most recent favorite bread recipe called the 'Egg-free Bean Bread'. It doesn't sound very exciting, but this was the very first recipe that I made from The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread cookbook, and it has turned out wonderfully every single time. I have been adding pepitas and walnuts to it for a little extra nutrition and crunch, and it really is delicious. Even non-GF friends love it! 

The main flour mix that is used in this bread is a mix of garbanzo-fava bean flour, sorghum flour, cornstarch, and tapioca starch. I have been making up a double batch of this flour whenever I start to get low, as it has become my go-to flour mix for all things GF. So, here's the recipe (copied from The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread by Bette Hagman): 

Garbanzo-fava bean flour: 2 cups
Sorghum flour: 1 cup
Tapioca starch: 3 cups
Cornstarch: 3 cups 

Makes 9 cups total. 

A word of caution - starches seem to go EVERYWHERE when you are mixing these up, so I would suggest mixing the garfava and sorghum flours together, and then slowly adding the starches, whisking gently as you go. If you dump all 6 cups of starches into the garfava/sorghum mix at one time, odds are you'll lose at least a cup of it! 

I would recommend buying these flours in bulk if you have the room to store them. They really should be stored in the fridge or freezer, which can be problematic if you already have a packed refrigerator! But, it is significantly cheaper to buy in bulk from Amazon or your local Coop market as opposed to buying each flour individually. So, our freezer currently has a whole shelf that is full of various GF flours.

This is what our freezer looks like - GF flours and Tofutti cuties!
I have had really good luck with substituting this blend in to any recipe that calls for all-purpose flour. The only trick is that you need to add the correct amount of xanthan gum as well, but beyond that, you can follow a recipe as-is with no other adjustments in order to make it gluten-free. The basic guidelines for xanthan gum use can be found on the back of the xanthan gum package from Bob's Red Mill. I have used this blend in brownies and muffins so far, and they have both turned out quite tasty! I also recently made a lava cake with this blend, which didn't turn out quite as well, but I think it was more a matter of undercooking and recipe adjustments (I was trying to only make half the recipe) as opposed to the use of the GF flour blend. 

I plan on experimenting around with some of the other flour blends, but this one seems to be the best so far, especially since it is a 1:1 substitution for all-purpose flour. A lot of GF mixes are not a 1:1 substitution for non-GF flours, which can be a pain. 

In the meantime, here's a picture of the bread the last time I made it. 


It actually turns out really nice and springy, and the pepitas and walnuts are a great addition for some added texture. I'll get the recipe printed up soon! 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Vegan Seafood?!


First, a quick plug for a sweet new cookbook that I just ordered from the Queer Vegan Food blog. It's only $15, with lots of recipes from well-known vegan and vegetarian chefs. And the best part is that 100% of the proceeds go to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Very cool! 

And, one other nice thing - it's digital! Pay your $15, get the cookbook almost instantly. Just be warned of drooling at your desk while looking through recipes. I'm already excited about the blueberry avocado salsa and the chocolate-covered potato chips. They also have recipes for corn, black bean, and cherry tomato cupcakes as well as peanut butter and tomato sauce. Plus the number of dessert recipes is almost equal to the number of appetizer, side, and entree recipes combined, so it's gotta be good!

So, on to the main reason for this blog post...

Last night, Scott and I tried the Sophie's Kitchen brand vegan crab cakes. You can check out their website here: http://sophieskitchen.net/html/home.html

The basic gist of the company is that the owners' daughter (and namesake of the company) has a seafood allergy, and so they developed this company as a vegan substitute so that their little girl could still enjoy seafood.

The main ingredient in a lot of their products is the konjac root or elephant yam. The elephant yam has traditionally been used across Asia for a very long time, and is considered a health food because of its high fiber content and relatively low caloric count. After a quick scan of the Wikipedia page on konjac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konjac), I was surprised to learn that konjac is commonly made into a popular Asian fruit jelly snack, but can pose a choking risk because it doesn’t readily melt in your mouth. Because of these ‘gelling’ properties, it can also be used as a vegan substitute for gelatin.

Before reading my review, know that I lived in Baltimore for a year and a half. Crab cakes are to Baltimore what burritos are to New Mexico – they are cheap, easy to eat, and every restaurant claims they make the best one. So obviously, you must try them all! But, my review might be a tad bit harsher than the ‘average’ seafood consumer-turned-vegan.

Upon removing the crab cakes from the packaging, they do look pretty real. They have the lumpy type of texture that is common in crab cakes, and the size and density is about right. You have two options for cooking – you can either pan-fry them for a few minutes on each side, or you can bake them. Since I already had the oven on for our cabbage/onion/pasta side dish, I just lightly oiled a cookie sheet and placed them on there for a 20 minute trip into the oven.

I flipped them over after 10 minutes, and the bottom was starting to brown some. I like my crab cakes pretty crispy on the outside, so after an additional 10 minutes, when they weren’t completely browned on both sides, I put them under the broiler for a few minutes, which did the trick. While they were cooking, I made up a quick tartar sauce of sorts, which was just Vegenaise, roasted garlic, some dill, and a bit of zucchini relish that Scott’s mom makes each year.

Scott seemed a little hesitant about the crab cakes after the first bite, but the combination of our pasta side dish and the mock tartar sauce were enough to win him over.I was a little less excited about them, but I have seriously high standards for crab cakes, and with living inland, I really don’t miss seafood because I’ve gotten so used to not eating it.

I’d say that overall, the texture was actually pretty good. It was kind of mushy and a tad bit stringy, like crab cakes can be, and I think getting the extra crispness on the outside is key – it gives a little more added texture to the cake, which might tend to get sort of bland after a few bites otherwise. One of the other main ingredients in the crab cakes is seaweed powder, and so I think because of that, the crab cake is still somewhat fishy. Or at least the seaweed powder imparts a ‘from the ocean’ sort of taste.

These are definitely not going to fool anyone into thinking they are real, but I think the texture is reminiscent enough of real crab cakes to win over any vegan looking for that seafood fix without having to eat a fish. I’m not sure that I would purchase them again, mainly because I’m not really into the meat substitution thing. But, if you are going to a dinner party or get together and feel like you need something more ‘real’ for the non-vegans, the Sophie’s Kitchen items would probably be a decent happy medium for everyone.


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Finding Recipes

I absolutely LOVE browsing through cookbooks for ideas. I am horrible at following recipes (just ask Scott how many times in the last month a story has started with "So, I didn't quite read the entire recipe, but...."), but my experiments usually turn out pretty good! Here are some of my current loves when it comes to vegan cookbooks: 

Veganomicon by Terry Hope Romero and Isa Chandra Moskowitz

If you get one vegan cookbook, it should be this one. The recipe descriptions are detailed, witty, and so much fun to read. And the number of recipes in just one book is incredible! Not many pretty pictures, but is that really necessary when you're just going to devour what you make anyways?? 

Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero

This was a birthday present from Scott, and I LOVE it. The recipes are entirely unique, and you can easily travel the globe with just your taste buds when you make anything from this cookbook. There are some obscure ingredients (Berbere spice, anyone?), but it's worth seeking them out for the yummy results. I am still dreaming of the Flourless Mexican Chocolate Torte that I made last weekend. 

I also get a lot of my recipe ideas from Facebook and browsing around on blogs. Here are some of the blogs I'm loving right now: 

Fork and Beans

A great gluten, egg, and dairy-free blog. Not a vegan specific blog, but most of the recipes are vegan or can easily be made vegan. 

Manifest Vegan

Dedicated to both gluten-free and vegan recipes, this is a great blog. I also have Allyson Kramer's cookbook, which is incredible. Her recipe for macaroni and cheese is amazing! 

Forks over Knives

This is a great site during the holidays, when they typically suggest multiple recipes that pair well together. 

The plan is to post a recipe idea or review at least once a week. I am always trying new recipes, but they don't always quite turn out, especially with the added challenge of high altitude cooking and baking. So, check back for some delicious ideas soon!

Monday, February 4, 2013

2013 Race Season

Well, the blog has been revamped and I'm ready to rock and roll. For the time being, I'm just going to let you all in on my tentative 2013 race schedule. Hope to see some of you out there!

Date
Race Name 
Race Distance
4/28/2013 Atomic Man Duathlon 10k run/40k bike/5k run
5/19/2012 Santa Fe Century  50 miles
5/25/2012 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic 50 miles 
5/26/2013 Narrow Gauge Road Race 10 miles
6/1/2013 Deuces Wild Triathlon Olympic
6/24/2013 Buffalo Springs Lake TriathlonHalf Ironman 
7/22/2013 Cochiti Lake Triathlon Olympic
8/26/2013 505 Triathlon 1 m swim/40 m bike/9.5 m run
12/1/2013 Ironman Cozumel Full Ironman


My fall races are still TBD, pending early race season results!