Seasoned Tofu and Veggie Wontons

During the month of November, Hubbs and I had the amazing opportunity of running a pop-up organic, vegan cafe inside of an amazing bar called The Little Fleet in downtown Traverse City, Michigan.  It was called Koko's Cafe Pop-Up.  I worked for the owner of the bar during the summer season, running his food truck, and he decided to bring his food truck inside during the winter to be able to serve his customers delicious food and allow entrepreneurs to test the market with their new products.  We had an amazing month and feel very blessed to have been able to do that.  We had many great customers - a lot of whom cannot wait until we open our physical location.  And neither can we!  We are shooting for late spring to early summer.

At the end of the month we made a delicious homemade wonton soup stuffed with tofu, veggies and some awesome seasonings.  It sold very well and people were raving about how tasty it was.  It's something I have been making for a couple years at home.  I'm so glad people loved it the same way I do.

I can't give out the recipe since it will be used for our business, but I can say what the ingredients were (all being organic): tofu, green local cabbage, scallions, bok choy, carrots, tamari, toasted sesame oil, black pepper).  Check out the process below

One batch of many of the tasty wontons.

Close-up of the delicious filling.  Yum!

The finished wontons, before freezing

Koko

Vegan Chop't Salad

My birthday is coming up at the end of this month.  Yay!  Hubbs and I have always gone out to dinner and most times a movie afterwards to celebrate.  When we lived in NY we could go anywhere, have an amazing meal then walk over to one of the many theaters.  What a blast!  Now that we've moved to Michigan, the options are slimmer, but still great.  

Hubbs and I were talking yesterday about where we would go for my bday this year, and I'm still deciding.  You see, even though everything I put on this blog is vegan, I have not been vegan for several years.  I have been vegetarian for almost 13 years, but I haven't been vegan for a while.  So, eating out was quite easy.  Now that I have decided to be vegan again (about two weeks ago), the pickings will be slimmer, which is even more motivation for us to get our vegan cafe up and running next year!!  

Several years ago for my bday dinner we went to this place in Union Square in Manhattan where the Hubbs' cousin worked, called Chop't Creative Salad Company.  That place is awesome! They have a giant line of literally hundreds of items you can put in a salad to make it all your own.  Seriously delicious!  And a vegan salad can be made literally hundreds of different ways.  Check out their menu!  First, you start off with the size of the salad (we got the biggest size), then choose your base: romaine, iceberg, arugula, kale or mixed greens (we chose mixed greens).  And you choose from tons and tons of additions.  Then they put everything in their big bowl onto a fresh cutting board (every customers order goes onto a fresh, clean board), use these huge knives and chop away.  Once it is chopped to your desire, they put it in your bowl and send you off.  It's a bit expensive though - for two salads and two waters, it was over $25.  Thank goodness Hubbs' cousin worked there and we were able to use his discount - it ended up being about $13!

Hubbs and I raved about the salads we ate for a long time afterwards, so I decided to start making them at home, using any and everything I had in my fridge to make it even more interesting and tasty.  

Koko's Chop't Salad:

So tasty!

Place the following ingredients into a large mixing bowl:

several handfuls mixed greens
shelled edamame
diced tomato
sliced red onion
diced smoked tofu
chopped carrots
chopped cucumber
Diced cooked beets
couple tablespoons dried fruit and nuts
handful diced seitan or other vegan protein
diced apple or other fresh fruit

Add a hefty amount of vegan chipotle ranch dressing and toss together with your hands (I never bother with chopping up the salad - it's delicious as is).  That's it!  Change up the ingredients and dressing and you'll have a new salad every time!


Koko

Polenta with Mushroom Sauce and Sauteed Spinach

Hello everyone.  Today is the first chance I've had since beginning my job earlier this year running a food truck to sit down and open my blog back up.  I admittedly haven't been doing as much cooking or baking outside of my two jobs in the past several months, simply because I haven't had a lot of time.  Hubbs is also working two jobs, so it's been ok - we've both been crazy busy.  I think it's safe to say that the summer season has come to an end in Traverse City - I am seeing a lot less tourists, and business has slowed down considerably.  But that's ok.  Everyone has been running nonstop since the season began, and it is a nice break.  I have a lot of things coming up to work on relating to the vegan cafe hubbs and I are going to open, so we will definitely be staying busy!  Hopefully I will have time here and there to do a few blog posts and put a couple recipes up.  Until then, enjoy this tasty recipe I made a few weeks ago with the over-abundance of organic spinach I had in our garden.  

Grilled Polenta with a Mushroom Sauce and Sauteed Spinach with Pinenuts

Seriously so delicious!

Polenta:
4 cups filtered water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons earth balance

Place all ingredients in a medium sized pot and whisk together well.  Cook over medium heat till thickened, stirring frequently.  Pour into an oiled pan and refrigerate until set up (several hours).

Once the polenta has set up, slice it into pieces and either pan fry or grill (I used our panini grill).

Mushroom Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
 4 tablespoons white wine
3 tablespoons tamari
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups filtered water mixed with 3 tablespoons arrowroot

Place the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and mushrooms and saute till softened.  Deglaze the pan with the white wine - be sure to scrape up all the tasty little bits that have stuck to the pan.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook till well seasoned and thickened.

Sauteed Spinach:
1/2 cup pinenuts, toasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
8-10 cups baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons white wine

In a separate large saute pan, add the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook till fragrant, but not browned.  Add the baby spinach and white wine, allowing it to wilt.  Once the spinach begins to wilt, add the sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.  Right before serving add the pinenuts.


Enjoy!

Koko

Country Fried Seitan Sandwich with Coconut Cheddar Cheese & Organic Baked Fries

I started a new job about two weeks ago.  It is a very interesting and fun job!  I am working at a food truck downtown and having a great time with it.  It is something I have really missed about NY - working for a place that doesn't have a ton of structure and allows me to do what I need to do, but without a ton of supervision and demands.  It's a pretty cool gig.  I am still working part time as a vegan pastry chef, which is good, but doesn't include a lot of hours.  This past week I definitely made my hours, which was great.  

The place is called Ez Cheesy, which is basically a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich truck.  Pretty cool and different menu.  Obviously it is not all vegan, but all but one of the sandwiches are vegetarian and the rest can be made vegan with the inclusion of daiya.  I love that!  This is part of the menu this year:

Tampopo: Ramen Noodles mixed with Kimchee, topped with Brussel Sprouts and Cheddar/Daiya

Old Mission Torta: Smashed Beans, Avocado, Queso/Daiya, Pickled Jalapeno Peppers, Shaved Radish, Spicy Mayo

City Middle: Local Made Donut with Goat Cheese and Fig Jam (would be great with vegan cream cheese)

Sweet Caroline: Shaved Carrot, Goat Cheese, Walnuts & Honey

There are more items on the menu, but I thought I would put a couple so you could see how different and cool this place is!

Making sandwiches all week, you would think I would get tired of them, but it actually inspired me to work more on the menu for our upcoming cafe and make a couple different sandwiches at home.  I made this tasty one as well as a couple veggie paninis.  Yum!  I found a really interesting recipe for vegan cheddar cheese, using coconut milk as the base.  It's very meltable and cheesy in texture, but I really didn't care for the flavor.  I definitely think it is something that warrants more testing and playing around with.  How cool would it be if it were actually that easy to make a meltable vegan cheese?!

This was Hubby's plate.  So Good!

To make the Sandwich:

- Country Fried Seitan

 - Fresh Baguette, sliced into portions and cut in half, toasted

 - Veganaise or other topping

 - Sliced Veggies: tomato, green pepper, red onion

 - Coconut Milk Cheddar Cheese or other vegan cheese

 - Baked Fries or side of choice


1.  Toast baguette.  Slather veganaise on both sides of the bread.  Place veggies on the bottom, followed by the seitan.  Layer the cheese in there somewhere.  (I should have put it next to the seitan so it could have melted slightly.)
2.  Add fries or other side and eat!

You can barely see the vegan cheddar peeking out from underneath the veggies!

Enjoy!

Koko

Pesto Pizza Pinwheels

Hubbs and I both love pizza.  I mean, who doesn't?  We definitely love the convenience of buying out, and when we lived in Brooklyn, we bought pizza out a lot.  Most of the pizza places we frequented were just small local stores using homemade, good ingredients, so we didn't have to worry about it. I know there are places here in Michigan, but they are not as convenient to get to as we would like.  We have to get in our car and drive to get the pizza (we just walked there on the way to our house from getting off the subway in Brooklyn), and we might as well just make it ourselves - control the ingredients and use exactly what we want.  

We end up making pizza about once every week to week and a half.  This time when I made it, I decided to try something different and fun - pinwheels.  I've seen them for years, but have never made them before.  I had some extra pesto in the freezer from last summer when we had our bountiful basil crop, so decided to use that.  These turned out really good!  We dipped them in hot marinara sauce.  Yum!  My little brother came over when I was making them and hinted that they looked great.  I gave him several of them, which he promptly dipped in ranch!  He literally puts ranch on everything - even in the sauce when he makes his lasagna.  Funny kid!  These could work with any combination.  They would also be great for a party or a get together.  

 

 

 

Freshly baked pesto pizza rolls

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough (I use this recipe.  Use half for these rolls and freeze the remaining half for later.)

Pesto Sauce
Vegan Cheese

Toppings:
 - Green Peppers
 - Onions
 - Baby Spinach
 - Kalamata Olives
 - Pickled or fresh Jalapeno Peppers
 - Pignolis

Filtered water to seal the dough. 


1.  Prepare the dough according to the attached instructions. 
2.  After the dough has risen, punch it down.  Place the half you are not using in a freezer bag, label and freeze for later use. 
3.  Roll the pizza dough out into a large rectangle-ish shape on a floured surface. 

4.  Liberally spread pesto over the surface of the dough - leaving about an inch of space at the top bare.

5.  Sprinkle the vegan cheese over the surface of the pesto, followed by the veggies and other toppings, as desired.

6.  Top with baby spinach.

7.  Slowly roll the pizza into a cigar shape.  Sprinkle a little water onto the top of the pizza to help the dough seal together. 

8.  Use a sharp non-serrated knife to slice the pizza into rounds.

9.  Place the pizza rounds onto an oiled sheet tray.  At this point, you can decide to place a towel over the prepared rolls, place in a warm place and allow them to rise some more, then bake them.  Or you can put them in the oven right away at 375 degrees for about 15-22 minutes - which is what I did.

10.  Let them cool just until you are able to handle them safely.  Dip into warm marinara sauce or whatever else you like to eat with your pizza.  Depending on my mood, I may drizzle some sriracha over the top.  Yum!


Enjoy!

Koko

Vegan Spicy Cheesy Potato Patties

On Sunday I made lasagna for lunch and also a full dinner, including mashed potatoes.  Hubbs always takes the leftovers from dinner with him to work for his lunch the next day.  But since he had two choices, he of course chose lasagna (who wouldn't?).  I convinced myself that I would eat the potatoes over the next couple days, but there they have continued to sit.  We have a rule that we don't eat any cooked food 7 days after being prepared and even though it has been only 4, I knew if I didn't do something with those potatoes soon, they would get thrown out.  Hubbs and I both hate wasting food, so I decided to use them to make something tasty, if a little unusual, for breakfast this morning.  How about potato patties?  I made some when we were in Brooklyn, but with sweet potatoes.  They were amazing!  Of course "regular" potatoes would be just as delicious, so that's what I did.  And they were crazy delicious!  Super simple too since the main component was already prepared.  This came together in like 10 minutes, and was on the table within half an hour - good for the hubby since he had to be to work early.  I think this would be a nice accompaniment to a dinner also.  Super quick and tasty!

 

 

 



Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside.  Yum!

 

 

 

Spicy Cheesy Potato Patties:

 

2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes

1/4 cup minced red onion

1 jalapeno, minced

1 roma tomato, seeded and minced

handful cilantro leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon ground golden flax seed

2 tablespoons superfine ground rice flour

sea salt and black pepper

unsweetened almond milk, as needed

1/2 cup shredded daiya cheese

 

 

Canola or refined coconut oil to fry

 

To Serve:

Vegan Sour Cream

Sriracha

 

 

1.  Place the potatoes and the remaining ingredients into a large mixing bowl: red onion, jalapeno, tomato, chopped cilantro, flax, brown rice flour, sea salt and black pepper.  Mix well until all the ingredients are combined.  Add enough almond milk so that the mixture is easily moldable, but not too thin.  Season to taste and add the shredded daiya.

2.  Place a layer of refined coconut oil or canola oil in the bottom of a saute pan over medium heat.  Allow the oil to become hot.

3.  In the meantime, portion the the potato mixture into small patties, setting on a clean plate until ready to begin frying.

4.  Once the oil is hot, place 3-4 of the patties carefully into the pan.  Cook for several minutes, or until crispy and browned.  Carefully flip and cook the other side for several more minutes.

5.  Remove the cooked patties from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate. 

6.  To serve, place a spoonful of vegan sour cream on top and drizzle with sriracha. 

7.  Continue with remaining patties. 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Koko

Vegan Enchilada Casserole, Roasted Vegetables, Salad

I follow several vegan (or mostly vegan) food blogs on a regular basis, including OhSheGlows, NeverHomeMaker and FatFreeVegan, among others.  I have made many recipes or used the recipes as a basis for dishes I make.  This idea for an enchilada casserole, or a Mexican Lasagna came from FatFreeVegan.  I made the casserole with a few changes that I think made the dish delicious.  This is definitely a fun and interesting change of pace as far as lasagnas go.  Hubbs keeps telling me of a Dominican Lasagna that he wants me to make, utilizing ripe plantains, a layer of "beef" and cheese with sauteed onions and garlic.  Sounds great to me.  The only issue with making that is waiting patiently for the plantains to ripen fully without eating them first.  ;)

 

 

 

Such a fun and tasty dinner!

 

 

 

Enchilada Casserole:

12 organic corn tortillas

2 1/2 cups homemade or store bought Enchilada Sauce

3 cups homemade or store bought refried beans

2 cups cooked black beans

Vegan Daiya Cheese

Sliced Black Olives

 

Veggie Layer:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, julienned

1 green bell pepper, julienned

1 jalapeno, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 roma tomatoes, diced

sea salt and black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

 

 

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Oil a 9x13" baking pan and set aside until ready to use.

2.  In a saute pan over medium-high heat add the olive oil and allow it to become hot.  Add the onion, green pepper and jalapeno.  Cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and tomatoes.  Cook for a couple minutes more, until fragrant.  Add the seasonings: sea salt and black pepper, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper.  Stir to coat.  Season to taste.

3.  Place a layer of the corn tortillas on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Spread a layer of enchilada sauce, followed by refried beans, sauteed veggies, black beans and vegan daiya cheese.  Continue with the same layers until all of the ingredients have been used.  Top with the sliced olives.

4.  Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes, or until warmed all the way through.

5.  Serve with roasted veggies (I used broccoli and cauliflower) and a simple salad. 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Koko



 

 

 

 

 

Sesame Seitan Using Homemade Seitan

I love trying to replicate recipes.  Especially those that I really miss being able to order since moving away from NY.  I used to get this awesome sesame vegan chicken recipe from a place called Zen Palate which would deliver directly to my apartment on my days off or whenever I felt too tired to make dinner.  Since coming back to Michigan, the ability to purchase vegan "meats" isn't as easy, so whenever I get the chance, I stock up.  I've also been making several batches of seitan and freezing small portions of them so I can prepare a quick, tasty meal.  This meal came together very fast thanks to that prepared seitan.  Yum!

 

 



Tasty, Crispy Yummy Sesame Seitan


2-3 Servings of seitan, homemade or store bought
Canola or refined coconut oil for shallow frying

Broccoli or other veggies to have on the side, steamed

White or brown rice to serve.

Sauce:
1/2 cup filtered water
1 cup unchicken broth
2-4 tablespoons rice vinegar (I used 3)
1 tablespoon tapioca starch
1/2 cup organic sugar or agave
2 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons sesame oil (un-toasted)
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, plus additional to garnish
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder


1.  Prepare the sauce: in a medium sauce pan add all of the ingredients.  Whisk together well. 
2.  Turn the heat on medium and cook until the sugar dissolves and the sauce thickens considerably.  Set aside to cool slightly until ready to use.
3.  Cut the seitan into small pieces, dry well.  Briefly pan fry in a small amount of canola or refined coconut oil until crispy.  Place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
4.  Once all of the seitan is cooked, place in a bowl with a generous amount of the sesame sauce.  Toss well.
5.  To serve, place a portion of the rice on the plate, followed by a serving of the sesame seitan and the steamed vegetable.  Top the seitan with additional sesame seeds.  That's it!

A close-up of the deliciousness.

Enjoy!

Koko

A Passing in the Family & a Simple Vegan Meatball Sub

Today my Grandma on my father's side passed away rather suddenly.  She had been living in a nursing home for probably the last 3-4 years and my mother was taking care of her for two years before that.  She has not been in good health for many years, but did not seem to be doing too badly.  Very much a shock.  I'm very sorry to say that we were not close.  None of my siblings and I were too close with her.  I saw her about four years ago, then probably not for ten years before that.  I feel terribly for my dad and feel sad for the relationship we never were able to have with her.  My dad was able to take off three days from work for bereavement to take care of all the details - he is the oldest sibling and in charge of the details. 

 

I felt an overall sadness today, not really inspired to do too much.  I had a lot of things I should have been doing, but really never got around to them.  I spent most of the time with my dad and other siblings that stopped by to support him.  When he left to look into my Grandmother's affairs, I realized it was midway through the day and that I should eat something.  I decided on the quickest thing I could think of: a sub.  I had just bought some nice, fresh bread with the hubbs and had a package of Gimme Lean Ground Beef in the freezer for a couple months that I bought on discount at the local food coop.  I also had some homemade marinara sauce hanging out in the freezer so I knew a meatball sub would come together nicely.  Super easy and satisfying. 

 

 



Easy and delicious - before being toasted

1/2 package Gimme Lean Ground Beef, rolled into balls
olive oil

Fresh Rolls/Baguette
Marinara sauce
Vegan Sliced Cheese
Vegan Cashew Parmesan Cheese

Toppings:
Sliced Green Peppers
Sliced Onions
Fresh or Pickled Jalapeno Peppers
Sliced Dill Pickles
Kalamata or Black Olives

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Cook the meatballs in a small amount of olive oil until crispy and heated through.
3.  Slice the roll/baguette in half, spoon some marinara sauce on top, followed by the meatballs, the vegan cheese(s) and the toppings.
4.  Place the loaded sub on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the bread is toasty and the cheese is nice and melty.
5.  Cut in half and serve with additional marinara sauce on the side for dipping.


Koko

Breaded Seitan, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms, Green Beans

I try to cook everyday.  For at least 1-2 meals.  Sometimes I feel more excited about cooking and sometimes I feel like throwing something together.  For this meal I felt like throwing something together, but had several ingredients to use up before another grocery shopping trip with the hubby.  The meal ended up taking a while to make, but was so worth it.  So tasty and comforting!

 

 

 

Such a pretty and tasty meal!

 

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

2 1/2 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and large cubed

 

4 tablespoons earth balance

sea salt and black pepper to taste

unsweetened almond milk or soymilk

 

1 head garlic, top cut off

olive oil

 sea salt and black pepper

 

Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms:

1 large red onion, sliced thinly

4 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

1/4 cup filtered water

 

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place the head of garlic in a small piece of aluminum foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.  Close the foil tightly.  Roast for about 30 minutes, Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water.  Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the garlic has softened and darkened in color.  Set aside until cool enough to handle.

2.  Place the potatoes in a pot covered with cold water.  Cook until just tender. 

3.  Prepare the sauteed onion and mushrooms: place the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and mushrooms and cook for several minutes.  Add the sea salt and black pepper and cook until the mushrooms begin to release their juices.  Lower the heat and add the filtered water.  Cook until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture is very flavorful.

4.  Finish the potatoes: add the earth balance, sea salt, black pepper and prepared roasted garlic.  Mash very well.  Add the almond milk or soymilk until the desired consistency is achieved. 

5.  Serve with a veggie protein and a side. 

 

 

 

 



So delicious!

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Koko

Homemade Vegetable Stock

I have been making homemade vegetable stock for years.  Years and years actually.  I've gone through different systems of making the stock with varying degrees of success, but I've perfected the stock over my years of living in New York in all kinds of tiny kitchens and spaces.  The best method that I have come up with by far is freezing all of my vegetable scraps in a gallon Ziploc bag and placing it in the upright freezer on top of our refrigerator in our tiny kitchen.  Whenever the bag would get completely full, I would toss it all in a large pot and make stock.  Then I would use whatever stock I needed that day and freeze the rest of it in pint and quart deli containers.  Several food blogs that I follow have suggested freezing in glass jars, but I have never had success, even when waiting for the food/liquids to cool completely, then sitting in the refrigerator for a couple hours and cooling it even more before putting it in the freezer.  I have had too many jars break on me to want to try it again.  So I have been storing it in deli containers and it has been working very well.  It's also super convenient. 

 

 

 

Veg Stock ready to go in the fridge and freezer

 

 

There is nothing better than making homemade vegetable stock.  It is super easy, costs almost nothing and gives tons of flavor and extra nutrients to your soups, sauces, stews, etc.  I also love that you have complete control of what goes in, how you prepare it, and therefore the end result.  There are no unnecessary added ingredients.  And if you are organized about it, you can make different kinds of stock for different purposes.  Several kinds I have made before include:

 

 

 

1.  Roasted Onion Stock for French Onion Soup:  Keep the onion ends, papers and outer layer of skins separate.  If I remember, I throw the ends of garlic in there as well - frozen of course.  Once I have a good amount, I roast the contents of the bag with some peppercorns until golden and dark.  Then I will simmer that mixture until fragrant and use it to make my delicious, super tasty soup.  Yum!

 

2.  Mushroom Stock:  I save all of the stems of the mushrooms I cook with and place them separately in a Ziploc bag in the freezer.  Once it's full, I'll simmer the stems along with a couple dried shiitake mushrooms, black peppercorns, dried thyme (or be even thriftier by freezing the stems from fresh thyme in the same bag with the mushroom stems).  Use the stock to make a killer Green Bean Casserole for Thanksgiving, a crazy flavorful mushroom soup or a delicious sauce to go with tempeh, tofu or seitan.

 

3.  Roasted Vegetable Stock:  Instead of placing the frozen veggies directly into the pot and covering with water, roast for 30 minutes or so at 400 degrees, then simmer.  Add a handful of lentils, black peppercorns and bay leaves for extra deliciousness.  Then use this tasty stock for more strongly flavored soups or a seitan pot roast or something equally amazing!



 

 

 

 

Frozen veggies in the pot, getting ready for some filtered water



Suggested Veggies:

Onion ends and peels (get rid of the papery outer-skins: they will make the stock bitter)
Carrots peels and ends
Garlic ends
Celery ends and leaves
Mushroom stems
Parsley Stems
Fresh thyme stems
Tomato cores and ends






Veg Stock Working

Homemade Veggie Stock:

Yields: 1 Gallon Stock


1.  Take the contents of the gallon Ziploc bag and place it in a large pot. Cover with at least 1-1 1/2 gallons of filtered water. Add several black pepper corns, a couple bay leaves and dried thyme if you would like. 

2.  Bring the contents to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 45-60 minutes, or as desired.  The longer the stock simmers, the darker in color and stronger in flavor it will be. 

3.  Allow the veggies to sit in the cooking liquid for about 10-15 additional minutes, or until the stock is more manageable to handle (temperature-wise). 

4.  Strain the veggies out of the stock, pressing to release as much liquid as possible.  Discard the stock veggies - preferably in a compost pile. 

5.  Cool the stock, package and be sure to date clearly.   Don't fill the containers completely full or they may explode in the freezer  - the liquid expands as it freezes. 





Labeled and frozen!
I've been doing this for years!
(And don't worry this picture was taken years ago & the stock long since used up.)



Fresh veggie scraps getting ready to go in the freezer.

Now save those organic veggie scraps and make your own homemade stock!


Enjoy!


Koko

Savory Chickpea Pancake

I found this beautiful looking recipe from the OhSheGlows blog.  It looked so interesting, and I am always trying to find different kinds of recipes to make for breakfast to keep things interesting.  When I tried this the first time, I was surprised by how different it was, but in a good way.  Tasty.  It definitely needed some more spices, and when I made it a second time, it came out great!  This was from the second time I made it - one for Hubbs and one for myself.  Sometimes he is really good about allowing me to take pictures the food I make and sometimes he is pretty impatient and just wants to dig right in.  This was one of those days.  And most of the time I give him the prettier of the dishes.  So his of course was beautiful and I was left to take a picture of the funky looking one. ;(  It was equally delicious though!  Take a look at the one Angela makes on her blog and see what is should really look like!

The cooked chickpea pancake.  Sad looking, but so delicious!

One side cooked, waiting to flip!

Savory Chickpea Pancake

Serves: 1

1/2 cup chickpea flour
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 teaspoon unchicken boullion
1 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup red pepper, small diced
1/4 cup roma tomato, small diced


1.  Place the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, garlic powder, black pepper and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. 
2.  Add the filtered water and the unchicken boullion and whisk together for several seconds.
3.  Add the veggies and unchicken/water mixture to the dry ingredients.  Whisk together until a medium-thick batter forms.
4.  Place a medium sized saute pan over medium-low heat and allow the pan to heat.  Spray pan with nonstick spray and pour the batter into the pan.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the top dries out and is able to be flipped over.
5. Flip pancake over and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.

Garnish with hummus, avocado and sriracha.


Enjoy!

Koko

Vegan Breakfast Sandwich: Tofu Egg Hollandaise

It is definitely no secret now that my Hubby and I plan to open our own vegan cafe here in Michigan.  We are working hard on it everyday it seems like.  In theory it doesn't seem so hard or involved - people open restaurants and other food businesses everyday.  But do they do it well?  Do they open simply because they like to eat?  Or because they see themselves as good cooks?  It definitely takes more than that to open a food establishment!  I have known since I was a teenager that I wanted to open up my own place.  It has certainly evolved over the years in regards to the theme.  I didn't always want to open up something vegan.  But I definitely know what I want now and have been working so hard over the last 10+ years to build experience and make it happen. 

 

 

I test recipes pretty much everyday.  Some days that means baking and decorating like 6 whole cakes, 10 different kinds of cookies, 5 different sandwiches, etc.  Some days that means only testing a smoothie or soup recipe.  Some are very involved, some are pretty simple and straightforward.  This is a recipe I tested recently.  As simple as it may look, it took quite a bit of time because each component was homemade.  And it was very tasty.  Hubbs and I had our own critiques, but both thought it was a great idea and definitely warranted further testing.  After I finish this post, it's time to work on the business some more.  Phew!  A lot of work, but it is going to be so worth it once we are open!  Can't wait!!

 

 





Crazy delicious!  And awesomely messy!
On a fresh baked vegan biscuit.



Fresh Baked Biscuit - it ended up being a bit too big for the sandwich.



Biscuit cut in half  - it looks so fresh!
And a juicy sliced tomato.



Tofu Egg cooking.



Almost done - just needs the sauce!  So pretty!

Hope you enjoyed the pics of the tasty sandwich!

Koko

Mostly Raw Pad Thai

I love the blog Oh She Glows!  I visit it several times a week and love looking at all of the gorgeous photos of tasty vegan food.  Everything Angela makes always looks so beautiful and healthy.  It makes vegan food really approachable and showcases how delicious it is, which I absolutely love.  I have made many of the savory recipes and a couple baked goods from her blog -they've turned out well.  I periodically go on the website and browse through the pictures, saving the ones that look especially delicious, telling myself that of course I'm going to make all the recipes.  When I saw the Rad Rainbow Pad Thai recipe, it was just so beautiful and I knew I had to make it.  Super healthy, light and gorgeous - I just made it.  And it was great.  I made a tasty peanut sauce to go with it and ate it for a couple days - giant bowls of it!  It really did make quite a lot.  So, after a couple days, there was still quite a bit of it and I was a little tired of eating it raw, so I decided to simply saute it in a little bit of olive oil, add a splash of tamari - and it turned out so delicious!  Yum! 

 

 



A tasty plate of the Pad Thai.  Before topping with the peanut sauce.

I made my mostly raw Pad Thai a little different than Angela, just based on the fresh veggies I had in my refrigerator.  I'm not huge on raw zucchini, so I only used a super small one and added more cabbage.  I felt in the mood to use my knife skills so I chopped and julienned everything by hand.  It took a while, but was very rewarding and very tasty! 





It really made a lot!



Mostly Raw Pad Thai:

Serves: 4-6

1/2  head green cabbage, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1 small zucchini, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal
3/4 cup shelled edamame, steamed
2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds

Spicy Peanut Sauce:
2/3 c. smooth organic peanut butter
1/4 - 1/3 cup filtered water to thin out, or as needed
3 tablespoons maple syrup or agave
2 tablespoons tamari
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2" piece ginger, peeled and minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sriracha

1.  Prepare the Pad Thai: place all of the prepped veggies in a large bowl, along with the edamame and sesame seeds.  Toss well to mix.  Set aside.
2.  Prepare the peanut sauce: place all of the ingredients for the sauce in a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk like crazy until everything is well combined.  Season to taste, adding more sweetener or tamari as desired.
3.  To serve, place a giant portion of the Pad Thai on a plate and drizzle with desired amount of spicy peanut sauce. 

So good! Hubbs loves anything with peanut sauce on it.  He was doubtful about eating this because he didn't think it would be substantial enough to keep him full.  He ended up really liking it - and used about half of the sauce on his portion!


Enjoy!

Koko

Potatoes and Broccoli in a Creamy Sauce

This is a recipe I made using up the last of the ingredients I had in the fridge to tide us over until we were able to schedule a time to go shopping.  I just took what I had and came up with a simple, hearty, comforting dish and it came out really tasty.  Reminds me of the peas and potatoes my mom used to make for us when we were kids, that her mother used to make for her children as a way to make an inexpensive meal stretch out to feed many.  It always makes me happy to be eating meals similar to those my grandmother served her children during those difficult times.  Shopping sometime soon and then more creative and fun meals coming up!

 

Hearty and Comforting

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 yellow onion, small diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons superfine brown rice flour 

4 cups unsweetened almond milk

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets, stems peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, medium diced. or other vegetable

 

1.  Place the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water.  Cook until the potatoes are just tender.  Add the broccoli and red bell pepper into the same pot and cook for about a minute, or until tender-crisp.

2.  Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat add the olive oil.  Allow it to become hot.  Add the onion and garlic.  Saute for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned.  Add the brown rice flour.  Continue cooking for several minutes.

3.  Lower the heat to medium.  Add the almond milk, stirring immediately so it does not clump.   Stir until the mixture has thickened.  Season with sea salt and black pepper.
4.  Add the cooked potatoes, broccoli and red peppers.  Season to taste.

I always top this with lots of sriracha.  Yum!


Enjoy!

Koko

Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Steamed Peas, Baked Glazed Tofu

Do you ever have those days when you really need to go to the grocery store, but for whatever reason, you can't?  I'm having one of those weeks!  Since moving back to Michigan, Hubbs and I have had to buy a car to get around, which has definitely been an investment (but such a freeing one!), so we have only been able to afford one for the time being.  It has worked very well for us, especially since both of my parents and my younger brother work within a couple miles of each other downtown, so it's easy to get a ride.  For one reason or another this week, it has not worked out that I am able to take the car and go shopping.  Hubbs has never liked grocery shopping, so I always go.  Which is totally fine since I always have fun shopping.  Needless to say, since we haven't been shopping in a couple weeks (just getting a couple random ingredients from the coop here and there), we just have a couple fresh ingredients, though lots of pantry and frozen items.  That is how this meal came about.  I baked a package of firm tofu, boiled some potatoes, made a nutritional yeast gravy, tossed the baked tofu in some spicy bbq sauce and served it with some steamed frozen peas.  It was simple and tasty.  Now we basically just have a half of a head of green and red cabbage and a couple other random fresh ingredients.  I think I'll make a tasty stir-fry with edamame (frozen) and some black sesame seeds.  Yum!

 

 

 

Simple tasty dinner!

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Koko

Vegetable Shepherd's Pie with Spicy Vegan Chorizo and Mesclen Greens Salad

For the last two weeks I have been trying to follow the idea of writing down all of the dinners I am going to prepare for the week on a white board I have on my refrigerator.  So far I have followed 4 out of the 5 items for the two weeks I have done it.  The other three days of the week I either didn't make a big "meal" for the Hubbs and I or I ate leftovers, and one of the days we ate out (Valentine's!).  I think it is definitely a good idea and something I can manage to stick to if I don't get too crazy and rigid about it.  This was not one of the meal ideas for the week, but after looking through my fridge, I realized I had tons of miscellaneous items that needed using up (half used onions and bell peppers - thanks to the Hubby for doing that) as well as some spicy vegan chorizo I made for breakfast, but didn't finish up.  So was thinking of making a pot pie, but was feeling too lazy to make a crust.  I have been testing tons of recipes the last couple days, and the last thing I feel like doing is following another recipe to make the crust.  I decided on a Shepherd's Pie - easy and very tasty to make.  I was able to clean up the fridge and make room for preparing the rest of the dishes on the white board.

 

 

 

Delicious Shepherd's Pie with Spicy Vegan Chorizo

Shepherd's Pie:

Potato Topping:
4-6 medium red skinned potatoes, washed well and diced
3 tablespoons earth balance
unsweetened soy or almond milk
sea salt and black pepper to taste
granulated garlic or a couple cloves of roasted garlic

Filling:
1 cup veggie protein - I used spicy vegan chorizo, but could use seasoned tofu, seitan, etc.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, small diced
1/2 bell pepper - or whatever vegetables you need to use in the fridge
2 cloves garlic, minced
Nutritional Yeast Gravy
handful organic frozen corn or peas
sea salt and black pepper to taste

1.  Cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil.  Cook till just tender.  Drain.  Put back in pot - add earth balance, desired amount of nondairy milk, sea salt, black pepper and granulated garlic or roasted garlic.  Mash till desired consistency.  Season to taste.
2.  Prepare the filling: have the gravy ready and set aside.
3.  In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and allow to become hot.  Add the veggies: the carrot, onion, celery and bell pepper.  Cook for several minutes until the veggies begin to brown.  Add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes. 
4.  Place the veggies in a large bowl.  Add the veggie protein and enough gravy to cover the mixture.  Stir in frozen peas or corn if desired.  Season with sea salt and black pepper.
5.  Oil a glass pie plate or baking dish.  Place the veggie-gravy mix into dish and smooth out with a spatula.  Top with the mashed potatoes and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden and the filling is bubbly.


Enjoy!

Koko

 

Testing Recipes: Country Fried Seitan Caesar Salad & Smoked Tofu Sandwich

Now that Hubbs and I have broken our fast and gotten back into eating (yay!), I have been testing recipes maniacally.  Even if it means I only take a small bite of whatever it is.  I am definitely staying away from more refined sugars and trying to use more local maple syrup and agave as sweeteners, plus dates, when that works for the recipe.  I am also trying not to eat anything fried, or at least a very small portion.  Just really trying to keep things healthier. 

 

I was going through a bunch of photos and recipes I have saved as drafts for this blog and have found a ton that need finishing, which I will publish soon.  It's funny how many of them have fried foods and tons of carbs.  I'm not saying that's bad - it's damn tasty, but just how different it is from how I'm trying to eat now.  I also found a ton of photos of recipes I've tested over the years, especially gluten free.  I'm going to do a post soon with all the pictures of the gluten free items I've tested but don't necessarily have a recipe for.  It either got lost along the way or wasn't exactly great, but the pictures are always fun to look at. 

 

 

Here's two recipes I've been working on over the last several days.  One is for a Seitan Caesar Salad and the other for a Smoked Tofu Sandwich.  I liked the Caesar, I just wasn't crazy for the dressing.  I have researched and made tons of vegan Caesar-type dressings, but none of them have been nearly as tasty as I recall a "true" Caesar dressing tasting.  So I've still got to work on that.  The Smoked Tofu Sandwich tasted great, but was too hard to eat with that bread.  It was a locally made organic baguette that was just too crispy and hard to eat.  I ended up with a sore mouth afterwards!  But definitely easy to fix - I'll have to find another, less crispy local baguette and problem solved!  Testing these both another time, but that's the fun part, right?! We'll get to sample them all over again!

 

 

 

Vegan Caesar Salad with Country Fried Seitan

Smoked Tofu Baguette on Local, Organic Baguette



Closer view on that beautiful sandwich!

Enjoy!

Koko