Roasted potatoes

ROASTED POTATOES

Ingredients:

Potatoes
Oil
Salt

Take anywhere from 6 to 8 potatoes, don’t skin them.  Just chop them to the size you want–for instance, sometimes I make them long like French fries.  Then toss them in the pan with 3 T. of vegetable oil and salt to taste.  Bake in a 425 oven for half hour, toss them once, then let bake another half hour.

Swedish Vegan Nutballs

I originally made these for the INSANITY Podcast of Horror.  They are really good.

SWEDISH NUTBALLS – Vegan soy meat balls with walnuts in an almond milk gravy

1 tube of vegan sausage, I use Gimme Lean Sausage Style
4 cups reconstituted “beef flavor” TVP (about 3 cups before reconstituting)
1 cup shelled walnuts
1 medium sized onion, minced fine (I chop it and put it in the food processor) then pre-fried in 1 T. oil or vegan butter like Earth Balance
3-5 cups of panko or bread crumbs
1 heaping teaspoon of sugar or 2. t. maple syrup
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1 squirt Sriacha (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Small pan with shallow layer of olive oil for frying

Directions for the nutballs:
Soak the TVP in enough water to cover for about an hour.  TVP will absorb all the water and expand.  Pre-fry the minced onion and toss in the walnuts during the last minute over medium heat until onions are transparent and walnuts are fragrant.  Scoop onion mixture directly into the food processor along with reconstituted TVP and blend until the mixture is thick and sticky-smooth.  Using a rubber spatula, spoon TVP/onion/walnut mixture into a large bowl with the sausage flavor Gimme Lean or other veggie sausage mix.  Mix in panko, flaxseed meal, sugar, spices, and Sriacha if using.  Mixture should be very sticky.  Roll into small balls and fry in the shallow layer of oil at medium heat until the nutballs develop a crunchy outside.

 

VEGAN TUNA

Vegan tuna is a recipe I’ve covered before on this blog–it’s especially good as a sandwich spread with a slice of tomato and lettuce.

Ingredients:

2 sticks organic celery
1 can of organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
Just a touch of onion (no more than a tablespoon, minced)
2 T. sesame tahini
1/2 a lemon’s juice
Salt to taste

Whirl everything in a blender or food processor until smooth.

VEGAN TACOS

True confessions: I used store-bought pico de gallo, salsa verde, and one that was a little too hot called Salsa Diablo but still very good.  Thank you, Michael’s Fresh Market.

Ingredients:

Veggie meat:
3 cups Texturized Vegetable Protein, soaked overnight in equal parts water (expands to about 6 cups TVP).  TVP is brown, dry crumbles made of soy meant to resemble ground meat.  Often it is flavored with “beef” or “chicken” –quotes added as it’s not really chicken or beef– I’ve only encountered TVP in health food and bulk stores.  TVP is great though because it has very little fat and it takes seasoning extremely well.  Once soaked, TVP is chewy and crumbly like ground beef or turkey.

One packet of taco seasoning or any blend of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt.
1/2 a large onion, minced

Directions:
Fry onion in a pan in a tablespoon of oil, add pre-soaked TVP and spices over medium heat.

More taco ingredients:

Salsa, shredded lettuce, guacamole, chopped tomato, chopped onion

CHERRY PIE WITH STREUSEL TOPPING

Don’t forget the non-dairy vanilla ice cream!
More true confessions: I was having quite a week and I totally copped out and bought a store bought crust.  How unfortunate, I know.  Next time I have vowed to make the crust from scratch, though it wasn’t bad, homemade is always better.  Nevertheless, if you use a store bought crust, this pie is really fast to make.

2 bags of frozen cherries, thawed and drained (5-6 cups, can also use fresh or canned)
1 pie crust
3/4 cup sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel topping
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup nondairy butter, chopped into small bits
dash cinnamon

Directions:
Line a pie pan with pie crust.  Spread a thin layer of non-dairy butter on the bottom and sides of crust, this helps prevent it from getting mushy.  Stir cherries, sugar, lemon, and vanilla together in a bowl.  Dump cherry mixture into pie crust.  Mix up the streusel, leaving it crumbly.  Spread streusel over cherry mixture.

Bake at 425 for half an hour, then reduce temperature and cover the pie with tented aluminum foil to prevent burning.  Cook for 30 minutes longer.  Turn off oven and allow pie to sit in the oven for 20 more minutes.

TWISTED NOODLE SALAD – hot or cold noodles with rosemary

Did you know rosemary is a superfood?  It has been shown to prevent cancer and memory loss!

Salad:
6 cups cooked spiral noodles (3 cups before cooking)
1/2 cup green onion, minced
1 cup of sweet yellow, orange, or red pepper, chopped

Dressing:
2 T. Olive oil
Salt
2 T. Chopped rosemary (fresh) or 1 t. dried

Boil water in a large pot.  Drop in noodles when water boils, cook until al dente, then remove from heat and strain.  Mix noodles together with all other ingredients in a large bowl, toss well, add more salt if needed.

SWEDISH NUTBALLS – Vegan Swedish meatballs with walnuts in an almond milk gravy

1 tube of vegan sausage, I use Gimme Lean Sausage Style
4 cups reconstituted “beef flavor” TVP (about 3 cups before reconstituting)
1 cup shelled walnuts
1 medium sized onion, minced fine (I chop it and put it in the food processor) then pre-fried in 1 T. oil or vegan butter like Earth Balance
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
3-5 cups of panko or bread crumbs
1 heaping teaspoon of sugar or 2. t. maple syrup
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1 squirt Sriacha (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Small pan with shallow layer of olive oil for frying

Directions for the nutballs:
Soak the TVP in enough water to cover for about an hour.  TVP will absorb all the water and expand.  Pre-fry the minced onion and toss in the walnuts during the last minute over medium heat until onions are transparent and walnuts are fragrant.  Scoop onion mixture directly into the food processor along with reconstituted TVP and blend until the mixture is thick and sticky-smooth.  Using a rubber spatula, spoon TVP/onion/walnut mixture into a large bowl with the sausage flavor Gimme Lean or other veggie sausage mix.  Mix in panko, flaxseed meal, sugar, spices, and Sriacha if using.  Mixture should be very sticky.  Roll into small balls and fry in the shallow layer of oil at medium heat until the nutballs develop a crunchy outside.

ALMOND MILK GRAVY

1 vegan boullion cube
2 cup water
2 t. cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup almond or other non-dairy milk
1 T. soy sauce

Cook the broth cube in 2 cups of water in a pan until it melts.  Stir in the cornstarch water in the broth until mixture thickens.  Lastly, add the almond milk and soy sauce if it’s not salty enough.

Spreading the dry cocoa before pouring the water over the cake.

After pouring the water on, before putting it in the oven.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING MELTDOWN CAKE  - An adapted recipe from Jeanne Lemlin’s book Vegetarian Pleasures, decadent molten vegan brownie cake that forms its own layer of pudding at the bottom of the cake

1 1/4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups brown sugar – divided
1/2 cup cocoa – divided
2 t. baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup nondairy milk
2 T. melted vegan butter, I used Earth Balance
1/2 t. vanilla extract
2 cups hot water
Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together flour, 3/4 cup ONLY of the sugar, 1/4 cup (half) of the cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Add nondairy milk, vanilla, and melted butter and mix until just blended, do not overmix.  Spoon into 8×8 pan, spreading evenly.

Combine the reserved 1 cup of brown sugar with cocoa, blending well.  Sprinkle over the brownie dough.

Now the weird part: Heat the water to near boiling and gently pour it over your dough & brown sugar cocoa.  I know this seems wrong, but DO NOT MIX, carefully place the pan in the oven.   Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  The brownies will look like a dark brown lava landscape.  Once the brownies cool, you can spoon the pudding sauce on the top.  We had it with vegan vanilla ice cream.

Go listen at my podcast page

My brand new podcast, Kimberly’s Vegan Podcast of Horror, has arrived! I’m SO excited for you to listen to it. Keep in mind the podcast is rated Explicit so I advise not allowing kids to listen.

THEME: TORTURE
MOVIE: AUDITION — 2001, directed by Takashi Miike

RECIPES
Ensalata di Castrati

Salad:
10 cups organic salad greens
15-20 figs, skins on, split in half with nubby stems cut off
1 cup of walnuts, dry-toasted (see below)

Dressing:
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar (if using agave nectar, reduce to 1/8 cup)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all dressing ingredients in a saucepan over low heat or in a bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Stir until sugar is melted and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, toast the walnuts by putting them in a dry skillet on low heat. Mix them around until they are fragrant and ready.

Put dressing into a covered container and shake until emulsified.

Put together the figs, walnuts, and dressing right before serving. Serves 6.

ROASTED SKINNED POTATOES
6-8 potatoes, skinned and chopped to small bite-size
4 tablespoons oil
Salt

Toss together potatoes and oil and salt to taste in a Pyrex casserole dish– any long, flat, oven casserole dish with sides will do. Bake in a 425 degree oven for one hour, tossing once after 30 minutes. You can also leave the skins on, they are still very tasty and the skins do not affect baking time.

TOFU CHEESECAKE (FAIL) WITH CHOCOLATE BLOOD

I’m not going to include a recipe I got from the internet for tofu cheesecake because it didn’t turn out great. Despite following the directions, my tofu cheesecake welded itself to the springform pan I borrowed from my mother. It was okay-tasting (the people that came to the potluck were quite gracious) but I would not make the particular recipe again because it was bland and reminiscent of vanilla pudding. The only good part of my sad tofu cheesecake was the chocolate blood sauce.

CHOCOLATE BLOOD SAUCE
1 cup light Karo corn syrup
2 tablespoons organic cocoa
6 drops red food coloring

I recently rented Stained, a 2010 film written and directed by Karen Lam, through iTunes.

Main character Isabelle is a lovely, shy, intelligent woman who owns cool bookstore in the heart of the city. Isabelle has the sort of life that is the perfect setup for a romantic comedy: she’s got three cats, Jenny (Sonja Bennett) an overbearing childhood best friend/foster sister who is pregnant, and an ex-boyfriend she can’t forget despite her best efforts. Played by the luminously beautiful Tinsel Korey from the Twilight movies, Isabelle’s life seems quite enviable at first glance–hello, her legs are like a mile long!–as long as you don’t dig too deep.

Isabelle is a very high-functioning, gorgeous, Type A obsessive compulsive basketcase, tragically ridden with nervous tics and an inability to relax. The two young, hip employees of White Cat Books don’t quite latch on to their boss’s uptight, stoic approach to romance, which is basically to go without in favor of more agreeable feline companionship. Nevertheless, Isabelle agrees to go on a date with a hottie named Ralf when she gets set up on a date. Isabelle’s date with Ralf is beyond awkward, ending in an upturned tray of delicious butter tarts instead of a hook up.

Serving up butter tarts with a side of lonely sadness

Jenny the pregnant friend doling out advice

James played by Tim Fellingham

Soon enough, James shows his true asswipe colors and upon Jennifer’s phone advice, Isabelle breaks up with him and goes back to her cats. Things only get worse when the bookstore is broken into. From then on, the careful construct of Isabelle’s life comes undone because she’s fundamentally not a stable woman.

I won’t give any more away. It will suffice to say I enjoyed Stained. Stained is, in one word, unique. Though there is nothing out there exactly like Stained, though there are clear references to a 1965 Catherine Deneuve film, Repulsion, where a lovely, psychotic girl alternately fantasizes and dreads rape and leaves maggoty body parts laying around and in the fridge. In other words, exactly my kind of movie. Another all-time favorite film Stained has tinges of Takashi Miike’s Audition (subject of my Vegan Podcast and Potluck of Horror for October 2011). Stained shares Audition’s idea of a stunning, damaged femme fatale who lures in men without trying. Both Tinsel Korey and Sonja Bennett do a fabulous job depicting codependent friends, one pathetically needy and the other drawn like a moth to the flame. I did wish that when James and Isabelle reunited that he offered some more dialogue, like the typical slimy ex-boyfriend line “I’m staying at the no-tell motel, hint hint” just so we could love/hate him a little more. Isabelle turns out to be quite a terrible person by the conclusion of the film, though I can’t say I held out any hope for her after her epic mega-fail date with Ralf.