Tempeh in a Hearty Mushroom Lager Sauce

This recipe is from Vegetarian Time's March 2009 issue.  We made it last week, but it would be a great meal for a cozy winter night as well.  It's soooo yummy!!  I've never cooked with beer or millet before, but I'm an official fan of both.  And grab an extra beer or two to serve with the meal!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 7-oz package of tempeh, cut into bite size cubes
1 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce or tamari (which is what I used)
2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced and chopped in thirds
6-8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1⁄2 cup lager (we used Lobotomy Bock and it was awesome)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp agave nectar
2 green onions, white and green parts finely sliced

Directions:
 1. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large frying pan or skillet.  Cook tempeh cubes 8-10 minutes or until browned  on all sides, stirring frequently.  Add soy sauce and cook 1 minute or until pan is almost dry.  Transfer tempeh to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Add remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil and all mushrooms to pan, and sprinkle with some salt.  Sauté mushrooms 10 minutes or until browned and slightly caramelized, stirring occasionally. 
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in flour.  Cook 1-2 minutes, or until flour begins to brown, stirring constantly.  Increase heat to medium-high, add beer, mustard, and agave and bring mixture to a boil.  *If sauce is too bitter for your taste, add a little more agave.  Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened.  Stir in tempeh cubes and simmer 5 minutes more.  Serve sprinkled with green onions.

Enjoy!

Dog Beach

We took the kids to the dog beach in San Diego.  It smelled like pee but Gumba  and Beezy didn't seem to mind...

Berry Easy and Delicious Cobbler

(not the most amazing picture..)

This recipe is a collaboration of a recipe I found online and my mom's apple crisp.  I pretty much ate the entire thing in one night.  This is a great dessert when you need to quickly throw something together and really want to impress your guests, or yourself :)

Cobbler

Ingredients

7 cups frozen berries, thawed and drained (to save time, I put them in a strainer and ran  warm water over them.  It will be around 5-6 cups when thawed.  I used blackberries,  cherries, and blueberries.)

1⁄4 cup flour

1⁄4 sugar

juice of 1⁄2 a lemon

zest of 1 whole lemon

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and spread in a greased pie dish.

Topping

Ingredients

1 1⁄2 cups brown sugar (packed)

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon

2⁄3 cup butter, softened

Mix all ingredients well in a medium bowl (a pastry cutter works great - or a fork) and spread over berry mixture. 

Bake 25-30 minutes or until berry mixture is bubbling and topping is golden brown.

Enjoy!

My Perfect Smoothie

Finally....the moment my family has been waiting for.  My perfect smoothie.  Michael and I drink these after almost every workout.  A great source of protein, fiber, omega-3, potassium, good fats, complex carbs (those are the healthy ones), antioxidents, and a little special happy powder called Maca, this is a super duper healthy, hearty, creamy and absolutely delicious smoothie.  There are a couple special ingredients like cacao nibs, Maca powder, and hemp protein that are great investments.  They are a little pricey, but a little bit goes a long way and they'll last a very long time - I think we've had our Maca for over 6 months and we're just about half way through it.  Go to my "intriguing ingredients" page for more info on these not-so-common ingredients.


Ingredients:
1 1⁄2 cups milk (we use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1 banana
1⁄2 cup almonds
1⁄4 cup walnuts
2 Medjool dates (pronounced me-(like the e in hemp) jool(rhymes with drool...or cool)
2 1⁄2 Cups frozen fruit:
    I used: 1 cup (about 10 whole frozen strawberries), 3⁄4 cup pineapple, 1⁄4 cup
               blueberries, 1⁄2 cup sliced peaches (about 6 slices)
1 tsp. Maca powder
1 Tbsp Hemp protein powder
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 Tbsp sweetened or unsweetened cacao nibs
2 tsp. agave or maple syrup

Starting with the milk, blend all ingredients until smooth.  If your blender isn't that powerful, slowly add the ingredients and blend a little at a time.

I know there are lots of ingredients, but I've made this so many times, that it takes me about 7 minutes so cheer up Charlie - you'll get better with practice.  And don't be afraid to play around with different types of fruit or the amount of sweetener.  Michael likes them a little thicker so he adds about 1⁄2 cup more nuts.

Your body thanks you :)

Gluten Free!

French Toast Doughnuts!

My favorite memory of doughnuts has to be when we were "down the shore" (Ocean City, NJ) and my dad would get up early in the morning to get fresh doughnuts and Mallon's sticky buns.  It was blissful waking up on a warm and muggy East coast morning to the sweet smell of pastry heaven.  This recipe is courtesy of Vegetarian Times September 2009 issue.  These are not the type of dougnuts you'll find at a pastry shop like the jelly doughnuts I made in November.  They're heartier like the boxed ones you find at the grocery store.  But better.  Much much better. Not to mention they're so easy!


Doughnuts:
1 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1 1⁄2 tsp. egg replacer (Ener-G brand)
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1⁄4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2⁄3 cup plain soymilk
4 Tbs. nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
1⁄2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Maple Glaze:
2 Tbsp. soymilk
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1⁄8 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract


Cinnamon Sugar:
2 Tbsp. sugar
1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon


Directions:
1. To make doughnuts: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat doughnut pan (see below) with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, egg replacer, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Combine soymilk, margarine, and vinegar in saucepan, and heat over low heat until margarine is melted.  Cool. Whisk vanilla extract into soymilk mixture.  Stir soymilk mixture into flour mixture.
4. Fill each doughnut mold half full with batter.  Bake 12 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in doughnut comes out clean. Carefully unmold doughnuts on wire rack to cool, and repeat with remaining batter.  Depending on the size of the doughnut pan, you may not have enough batter to make two batches :(
5. To make Maple Glaze (yum!): Combine soymilk, maple syrup, sugar, and salt in saucepan, and  bring to a simmer, whisking constantly.  Remove from heat, and cool 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.  Stir in vanilla extract.
6. To make Cinnamon Sugar: Whisk together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
7. Dip each doughnut into Maple Glaze and sprinkle with or dip in Cinnamon Sugar.  Let glaze set before serving...if you can wait that long...


Enjoy!


You can purchase one of these doughnut pans at Sur La Table for $10.

Blackened Tofu and Orzo Pasta Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

One of my favorite lunches.  It's a long post, and it might look complicated, but if you have some of the ingredients made in advance, it's easy peasy.  This was a left-over creation when I already had extra cooked orzo from the night before, blackened tofu from 2 nights before and Ranch dressing on hand. But the Ranch is really easy and A-MA-ZING!  It's courtesy of our friends Jenny and Heather at Spork Foods and it's a staple for us.  So if you plan your meals a little in advance - have a yummy pasta dish the night before and make a little extra pasta for the next day.  Have blackened tofu, mashed sweet potatoes, and sautéed garlic spinach two nights before and make some extra tofu.  The leftover tofu will be nice and firm too! If you don't have leftovers, I suggest making the tofu and orzo the night before so it's not hot when you serve it.  If you don't want to make it the night before, chill the tofu and orzo for an hour before assembling.  This is better served cold because of the veggies and dressing.

I actually can't believe I haven't posted this tofu yet - I eat it at least once a week.  This is also courtesy of Jenny and Heather, but with a little twist of my own.  I eat it on it's own, or in salads.  Unfortunately, by the time I'm done cooking it, usually only half has made it out of the pan alive...even my non-veg friends love it!

Serves 4 as a side or 2 as an entrée.

Pasta Salad:
Blackened Tofu (recipe below)
1⁄2 seedless cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite size-of-your-choice pieces
1 or 2 tomatoes depending on how much you like tomatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
15-ish baby carrots or 1 or 2 big carrots, sliced
1 Cup cooked Orzo*

*Orzo is a type of pasta that has a similar shape to rice.  If you can't find orzo, any small pasta will do.

**The veggies, tofu, and orzo in this recipe are just a guide.  I'm not sure exactly how much I used, so if you'd like more cucumber - add more! if you like more pasta and less bell pepper, go for it! If you want different veggies, be my guest! Same goes with the ranch dressing - start with less Chipotle and garlic seasoning and add more if you see fit - I like a lot of both :)

Ranch Dressing:
3⁄4 Cup Veganaise
1 tsp agave
dash of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Chipotle seasoning (less if you don't like spicy)
pinch dried celery seed
1 tsp garlic powder
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl (adding Vegenaise first), and let it sit for a few minutes before mixing it in the salad.

Blackened Tofu: 
1 Block of extra firm organic tofu (I use Trader Joe's in the vacuum sealed pack)
Smokin Willies meat seasoning (I think this can only be found at Whole Foods - I couldn't find it online - but trust me; find it.  You'll LOVE it.)
1⁄4-1⁄2 Cup canned coconut milk or soy creamer
2 tsp Jerk seasoning (optional but yummy)
2 Tbsp Coconut oil (or another medium-high heat oil like Safflower. Do NOT use olive oil)
salt, to taste

Heat oil on medium-high heat in a large pan.  Cut the tofu into bite-size cubes.  Sauté tofu until good 'n brown on most sides - this will take some time. Add milk until it just covers tofu with a little extra in the pan and toss to coat.  Cook until most of the milk has evaporated.  Sprinkle a generous amount of Smokin Willies seasoning and a little salt until the tofu is completely coated.  Cook on medium-high heat for 3 or 4 more minutes.  Add the jerk seasoning, a little more Smokin Willies, and toss the tofu until evenly coated.  Remove the tofu from the pan onto a paper towel to remove excess oil if there is any.  Let cool before adding to the salad.

Mix all components together in a large bowl and Voila! You've just made a damn good lunch/side/dinner/snack/bowl of heaven.

Make this with Gluten Free pasta and it's Gluten Free!

Beautiful Bali