Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Samosa Pie and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I modified this recipe and used phyllo dough instead of a pie crust. The recipe needed salt and I think it would have been better with some sort of sauce as it was a bit dry. Overall it was yummy and very much a meal-in-one (though I did make some cabbage slaw to the side for some added veggies). We topped our slices of samosa pie with peach-apple chutney I made this summer which added a lot of spicy goodness to this dish.

Samosa Pie (adapted from Vegan on the Cheap)
1 lb potatoes, peeled and diced
1 T canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 T curry powder
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t salt (needed a lot more in my opinion)
1/4 t ground cumin
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup thawed frozen peas
3 sheets Phyllo dough
Preheat oven to 400. Steam potatoes for about 10 min. In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion, carrots and potatoes. Cook until softened - about 7 min. Stir in ginger, curry, coriander, salt, and cumin. Remove from heat. Add chickpeas and peas and mix throroughly. Line a pie plate with 2 sheets phyllo. Sread veggie mixture over phyllo. Place one more sheet of phyllo over the pie and fold in edges of bottom sheets (mine kind of fell apart because it wasn't defrosted enough and was crumbly). Bake until phyllo is browned and crisp - about 20 min. Serve with chutney.
I was looking for something new and yummy to try for our Life Group Christmas party and Keith picked these out for me. The recipe was from a Taste of Home so it took some veganizing but they turned out fabulous. The recipe called for peanut butter in the filling but I was out so I used almond butter. Still perfectly yum!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
1 cup vegan butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
egg substitute for 3 eggs
1 t vanilla
3 cups flour
2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Filling
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
5-6 T almond milk

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg substitutes an beat well. Add vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Shape into 1-in balls and place 2 in apart on greased cookie sheet. Flatten with fork. Bake at 375 for 7-8 in or until golden. Cool. For filling, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth (add 4 T of milk to begin with and add more if needed to create spreadable mixture). Spread filling on half of cookies and top with remaining cookies.

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Crispy Herbed Potato Stack

Crispy Herbed Potato Stack
I was going to try a recipe for herbed scalloped potatoes and at last minute decided to do something fast and easy. I made up the recipe and it was yummola! I layered sliced russet potatoes in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper, basil, rosemary, paprika, and garlic powder. Then I baked them at 425 fr about 45 minutes. They were crisp and very flavorful!

My thrown-together salad today - after discovering I had no leftovers for lunch!

Tamale Fixings

Tamale Fixings
Plain pintos (for Keith), pintos, corn and onions; corn, jalepenos and Daiya; mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and chard

Making these was a bit time-consuming but kinda fun! They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped - the outer tamale part (not the filling) just wasn't as flavorful as tamales I have had in restaurants. I have another recipe I will try for the dough next time. Tamales are one of my favorite foods so I won't give up on this one!

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes
I modified one of my favorite pancake recipes to make it vegan and then I added blueberries. Turned out quite yummy. Soymilk sours and thickens well - very similar to buttermilk. I have been really impressed with it's ability to substitute for real buttermilk.

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

Egg replacement for 1 egg
1 1/4 cups soured soy milk (put 2 T vinegar into a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Add enough soy milk to equal 1 1/4 cups)
2 T canola oil
1 cup flour (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat or whole wheat pastry - it really takes away from the fluffiness of these pancakes)
1 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Blueberries, optional

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Heat griddle pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Sprinkle blueberries on pancakes after ladling onto griddle. Cook just until golden on both sides.

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein
Overall, this was fabulous! However, I don't think the seitan added much so I would just leave it out next time. The lo mein also needed about double the sauce so I would simply do that next time for added flavor. This was especially spicy and yummy with some Sriracha drizzled on top. I made our favorite veg egg rolls to go with this and it was truly a Chinese treat!!

Veggie Seitan Lo Mein

I really did my own thing for this recipe so I am just going to outline the instructions and include the sauce recipe. I heated oil in a large skillet and added 3 minced cloves of garlic and about 1 cup of half-moon cut onions (I was out of green onions but next time I would use green onions as I like them a lot in Chinese food) and about 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots. After about 5-6 minutes, I added about 1/4 lb of whole green beans. I cooked these veggies until tender. Meanwhile, I cooked a 16oz package of chow mein noodles. Once the veggie mixture was cooked, I poured the sauce on the veggies, heated through and tossed with the noodles. Next time I would double the amount of sauce and have adjusted amounts below to reflect double recipe.

Sauce (Source:Adaptable Feast)
3 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine (I used 3 T rice vinegar and 1 t sugar as I didn't have any rice wine)
3 t sugar
4 T black bean garlic sauce
Mix all ingredients and toss with above mixture.





Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth
Pretty yummy. I found that steaming the wontons worked much better than the recipe suggestion to boil them. The broth was very mild and a bit too mellow for us. Still pretty yummy though. I added extra veggies to the wontons and scallion to the broth. The seasoning in the wonton filling was quite tasty!

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth (Source: Vegan Yum Yum)

(As usual, I modified several things so it's not exactly the recipe in Vegan Yum Yum!)

1 cup chopped broccoli
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 T oil
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 clove fresh minced garlic
1/2 t hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 t hot Chinese mustard
2 T plus 1 t soy sauce
4 cups water ( I think this might have been more flavorful had I used vegetable broth or faux chicken broth???)
6 slices fresh ginger
1 T mirin (I used a splash of cooking wine as I didn't have mirin)
1 1/2 t sugar
2 t rice vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup chopped scallions
16 wonton skins

For filling: Heat oil in skillet and add broccoli, ginger, garlic, carrot, onion and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Add chili sauce, mustard, 1 t soy sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make wontons, take one skin and place in diamond shape. Fill with 1-2 t filling. Fold in half to make a triangle and moisten edges with water and pinch sides to seal. Set triangle in front of you with point up and take the 2 side points and bring them together in front to cross. Set aside and prepare remaining wontons. When finished, place wontons in a steamer basket and steam over pot of boiling water until translucent.

Meanwhile, in a pot, combine remaining ingredients (except wontons) and simmer 10-15 min.

Place 3-4 wontons in bowl and ladle broth over wontons. Serve.