Hot vegan tamale!

 

Hot Tamale!!

Here's my first attempt at tamales.  I'd never even had a tamale before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but they turned out super good!  I hated paying six bucks for the corn husks given the amount of corn husks I composted last summer.  Definitely going to save some corn husks from the garden this year and dry them.  

 

Ingredients:

4 cups Masa flour

1 pkg dried corn husks 

2 bell peppers, one each red and green, diced

1 chili pepper, diced 

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 pkg ground fake beef, or TVP reconstituted and mixed with taco seasoning

hot sauce 

Tofutti sour cream

Instructions:

Mix the Masa flour with enough water till it is doughy (approx 3 cups) - alternatively you can use veggie broth if you choose.  Soak the corn husks in water for 10 minutes or so to soften them up a little.  Saute the garlic and peppers in 2 tbsp oil for 5 minutes, till softened.  Add the fake meat and cook for another 5 minutes, or according to package instructions.  Take 1-2 corn husks, and place a mound of masa dough in the center and flatten it out. Place 1 tbsp of the meat mixture in the center and roll it up in the corn husk.  Tie with some twine or with a strip of corn husk.  Place them all in a steamer and steam for an hour.  If you don't have a steamer, you can use a colander set into a larger pot with some water in the bottom.  Check periodically to make sure the water doesn't all boil off.  Serve with some hot sauce and Tofutti sour cream! 

 

Vegan taco salad with cilantro-lime vinaigrette

This salad is loosely based on my favorite dish from the Purple Cactus in Jamaica Plain Massachusetts.  Its a flavorful, yet more healthy, alternative to traditional tacos.  The cilantro-lime vinaigrette is way more versatile than just belonging to this salad, and was originally thought up by my friend Liz to serve over roasted leeks.  

      

Taco Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Taco Salad

Ingredients: 

1 bunch lettuce, any variety

1 can black beans

8 carrots, shredded

1 pkg Lightlife ground vegan hamburger

Blue corn tortilla chips

Directions: 

Cook hamburger in oil, according to package instructions (saute for 5 minutes or so).  Season w/seasoning salt if desired.  Set aside.  Chop lettuce.  Shred carrots.  Layer lettuce, then a couple tablespoons black beans, then shredded carrots, and finally the hamburger.  Garnish with a couple of blue corn tortilla chips, or alternatively crumble them over the salad.  Top with cilantro-lime vinaigrette.  Serves four.  Enjoy!  

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (approx 1 c)

1/2 c white wine vinegar

1/4 c water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

Splash lime juice, or the juice of one fresh lime

Pinch salt

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients in blender or food processor.  Blend till smooth, approx 3 minutes.  Serve over salad, veggies, whatevs!  Will keep for 3 days in refrigerator. 

Potsticker Soup

Potsticker Soup

Ingredients: 

4 cups vegetable broth

5 cloves garlic, minced

Small piece ginger root, minced (1/4 inch or so)

1/4 small cabbage (green or Napa), chopped

1/2 cup frozen mixed veggies (optional)

1/4 pkg Asian noodles

1 tsp sesame oil + 1/4 cup water

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tsp chili garlic paste

1 tsp red chili paste

2-3 sprigs fresh cilantro

1/4 bag frozen vegetarian potstickers 

Instructions: 

Saute the minced garlic and ginger in the sesame oil, plus 1/4 cup water for 2-3 minutes.  Add the chopped cabbage and cook for about 5 minutes, or until slightly softened.  Add the vegetable broth, and bring to a rolling boil.  While that's brewing, add the soy sauce, vinegar, chili-garlic, and red chili paste, plus more sesame if needed (to taste).  Once boiling, add the noodles, frozen veggies, and potstickers.  Bring to a boil again, and cook until the noodles are ready (according to pkg instructions).  Serve with a sprig of cilantro on top. 

How to Plant Garlic

How to Plant Garlic!

Garlic.  It's the best.  I love everything about it.  Raw, cooked, pickled, whatever.  I love planting it, harvesting it, chopping it, and eating it.  I put excessive amounts in everything.  Here, however, I'll be focusing on planting it - this is the time to do it.  The worst thing about planting garlic is the planning - you typically want to plant it in the fall or early winter.  That's really the only downside.  Once it is planted, you do nothing to it until it's ready to be harvested. Traditionally garlic is planted on the shortest day of the year, but this is probably symbolic and not totally necessary.  I planted mine early January this year.  In more southern states, you can even plant garlic in early spring.  

Ideally, you'll want to plant hardneck garlic.  Hardneck garlic is a little harder to find (the majority of garlic at your average supermarket is not hardneck garlic), but can be found at farmer's markets and co-ops.  Standard white softneck garlic can totally be planted too, but the best part about planting garlic is the garlic scapes - the top part of the garlic, harvested just before it flowers.  It's soo good.  Slightly sweeter than garlic, but just as versitile.  Well, almost as versitile.  You don't get garlic scapes with softneck garlic, but you will still get a garlic bulb. To tell the difference, look for a hard fibrous stick in the middle of the garlic bulb.  Not there?  Then you have softneck garlic. 

To plant:  

1. Separate all the cloves.  You do not have to peel them. 

2. Plant approximately 4" apart, in rows a foot apart. Plant so that the sprouts will be going upward.

3. Cover with soil. 

4. Harvest the scapes in early spring, just before they are about to flower. To harvest the scapes, cut midway down the stalk.

5. Harvest the garlic bulbs in mid-late summer.  You'll notice the leaves left on the stalk start to die off once it's getting ready to harvest. 

That's it.  Now go plant some garlic!

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

Ingredients: 

2 medium zucchini, shredded 

1 c vegan bread crumbs

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other vegetarian butter)

1/2 c flour

egg replacer (1 egg) 

2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

oil for frying 

Directions: 

Shred the zucchini using a cheese grater. Mix with the remaining ingredients (except the oil) in a bowl. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Form the zucchini mixture into patties, and fry until browned. Flip, and fry until browned on the other side. Serve with vegan tarter sauce!

Vegan "seafood" night!  Zucchini "crab" cakes, "fish" and chips, and fried "calamari" served with vegan tarter sauce and cocktail sauce!  (The fish patties and calamari were Sophie's Kitchen brand - delicious!)

Jackpot!

Canning jar paydirt - 85 Mason jars! Thanks craigslist free section! Bring it on, garden season.

Vegan Gołąbki ("Golumpki" - Polish Stuffed Cabbage)

Vegan Gołąbki

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage
1 pkg vegetarian "beef" (e.g. Lightlife), or reconstituted TVP
3 cups cooked white rice
1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and minced
2 lbs fresh tomatoes, chopped, or 1 32oz can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp oil
Seasoning salt, to taste

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Core the cabbage. Boil the whole cored cabbage for 5 minutes, to soften. Remove the cabbage from boiling water, and allow to cool on a plate. In a separate saucepan, saute half of the minced garlic in oil for 3 minutes. Add the vegetarian "beef" and cook according to package directions. Season the "meat" with seasoning salt, to taste. Remove from heat and mix in the cooked white rice. In a third pan, cook the chopped tomatoes with the remaining garlic for 10 minutes. Peel the leaves from the cabbage, and remove the spine of the leaves with a knife. Spoon 2-3 tbsp of the rice/meat mixture onto each cabbage leaf, and fold the edges in to form rolls. Place in a baking pan. Once all the mixture is used, pour 1/2 cup water and the tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. Bake at 350 F for one hour.