Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

Potatoes are so ridiculous. Have you ever had a variation of potatoes that you didn't like? Because I really don't think that I have...Red-skinned, yukon, gold, purple peruvian, russet, deep-fried, baked, mashed, au gratin, scalloped, potato salad, tater tots...It just doesn't matter. I love them any style, any time.

Today's recipe is a creamy, cheesy-tasting, too-rich-to-be-vegan dish that should not be missed. Karina Allrich (the gluten-free goddess) highlights my favorite vegan "cheese" sauce to date, and I use it in dishes other than these potatoes.

Enjoy!

You'll need:
4 medium gold potatoes, scrubbed (the first time I used gold potatoes, this time I used red-skins. Both turned out awesome)
Sea salt

Boil a pot of salted water. Slice the potatoes very thin and parboil them for 5 minutes; drain.

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 tablespoons millet (or rice) flour
2 1/2 cups unsweetened plain hemp milk- I use Tempt
4 rounded tablespoons good tasting nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons sesame tahini (or almond/cashew butter)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or more, to taste
A good dash or two of Simply Organic Garlic Powder, to taste
A good dash or two of Simply Organic Minced Onion, to taste
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free Dijon or honey mustard
1 tablespoon golden balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, or lemon juice- to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup white wine, to taste
1 cup frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, chopped

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and stir in the millet/rice flour (I like to use a whisk to do this). Cook and stir the flour for about 30 seconds- it will make thick paste- and continue stirring to cook the raw flour taste out of it. Slowly add in the hemp milk, whisking to blend the flour paste and hemp milk. Bring the mixture to a bubble (it will thicken as it heats) then reduce the heat to low. Add the nutritional yeast, sesame tahini, sea salt, garlic and onion powder, mustard, vinegar, nutmeg, paprika or turmeric, wine; whisk to blend. Add in the chopped artichokes. Continue heating and stirring the sauce over gentle heat for about five to ten minutes till thickened. Remove from heat.

Assemble your dish: Rub a clove of raw garlic in a gratin style shallow baking dish or casserole. Layer about half of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish. Pour half the sauce over this layer. Press down a bit, making sure the sauce seeps in and around all the slices. Add in the remaining potatoes and pour the rest of the sauce all over the top. Press down a bit and shimmy the edges to allow the sauce to sneak in all around the edges. (I like to add a light dusting of nutritional yeast on top to give it a crisp, cheesy finish) Cover and bake for 50 minutes. Then uncover and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Serves 4.

original recipe source: http://karinaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/vegan-scalloped-potatoes.html

Falafel Salad with Lemon Sesame Vinaigrette

When I walked into my kitchen last night, I had no agenda. No plan, no recipe...I just knew that I was hungry and I had somewhere to be in an hour.

I took a peek into my freezer and found these falafel style patties (Sunshine Patty brand) and quickly decided that I wanted to incorporate one into a salad.

As I was considering what type of dressing I should make, I started thinking about other Mediterranean-style food, which led me to hummus. I thought about the components of hummus, which led me to lemon juice and sesame seeds, which led me to sesame oil--and that sounded delicious.

First, I grilled one falafel patty according to the package directions.

While, the falafel patty was grilling, I juiced 1 lemon into a small prep bowl, then slowly whisked in sesame oil to taste. I added a few drops of agave nectar to cut the acidity.

Next, I grabbed a generous handful of arugula and tossed into a mixing bowl. In the future, I am not sure that I would use arugula if there were other options, but it is what I had in my house, and it was quite good. Romaine or spinach would also be good choices.

I poured what I considered to be an appropriate amount of dressing onto the greens (which left me with a fair amount of dressing for later), and tossed.

Next, I threw a handful of cherry tomatoes and a tablespoon of slivered almonds into the bowl, and tossed.

Finally, I arranged the salad onto my plate, cracked a bit of black pepper and sea salt over the salad, then crumbled the falafel patty over the top of the salad.

The finished product took less than 15 minutes and turned out to be very tasty!

Healthy Home Tips | Environmental Working Group

This is a great article about creating an eco-healthy home for children and adults. Tons of great information!

Healthy Home Tips | Environmental Working Group

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Black Bean and Rice Burgers

My refrigerator is in a sad state right now. Honestly, I should probably go to the grocery store once I am finished with this blog...

This recipe is of the random-pantry-items variety--at least for me. I almost always have at least one can of black beans, some rice, an onion, and certain condiments...even if I don't have much of anything else.

So, for the barren days like this one, black bean and rice burgers are the answer!!



1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 and a 1/2 tsp Ener G Egg replacer and 2 tbl of water, lightly beaten (equivalent to 1 egg)
two chopped chipotle peppers
2 TB of the adobo sauce
handful of Glutino bread crumbs
bun/bread of choice (I used Food For Life English Muffins)

lettuce/leafy green of choice (I like arugula because it's a spicy green, and I thought it would mesh well with this recipe)
cheese product of choice (almond pepperjack cheese was money!)

1/4 cup Veganaise
4 tbl chunky salsa

In a bowl, mash the black beans with a fork. Add the rice, onion, egg replacer, chopped chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Drop by 1/2 cupfuls into a skillet coated with olive oil, or oil product of choice. Flatten with a spatula to roughly 1/2-in. thickness. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until the first side is firm and browned. Flip, then top with cheese slices so it can melt while the other side is cooking. While the burger is grilling would be a good time to grill, or toast your burger bun.

In a small bowl, combine veganaise and salsa. Place lettuce on the bun, followed by a burger and cheese, and top with salsa/veganaise mixture. Garnish with a touch of parsley.

The recipe that inspired this one can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-rice-burgers/detail.aspx (however, I have changed it to almost unrecognizable)

Quinoa Linguine with Pine Nuts and White Wine Vinaigrette

This was an easy dinner I quickly threw together with some produce that was going to go bad very soon. I definitely try to avoid wasting produce I spent good money on.

I cooked half a box of quinoa linguine according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, I poured a tablespoon of olive oil into a bowl. Next I, very slowly, poured a thin stream of white wine vinegar into the bowl while whisking rapidly so that the mixture emulsified. Every person you talk to has a different oil to vinegar ratio they use. A lot of people say 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil. That certainly will work, but there is nothing wrong with doing it to your personal taste--which is what I did for this recipe.

Once the oil/vinegar combination tasted balanced, I whisked in just about a 1/2 tsp of dijon mustard, and a little agave nectar to balance out the acidity.

Next, I cut up an heirloom tomato and threw the pieces into the bowl with about 3 ounces of fresh spinach, and a quarter cup of pine nuts.

After the linguine was cooked, and drained, I added it to the bowl with the sliced tomatoes and the spinach. Toss it all together, then serve!

Makes 2 servings.

Interesting note:

After I ate this meal, I had a horrible, bitter, medicinal taste in my mouth for about a week and a half. I googled the symptoms and came across an article about taste disturbances after pine nut ingestion. This is, apparently, a common problem. Many user comments specifically mentioned pine nuts from Trader Joe's (which is where mine came from...). Apparently, this taste could last up to 2 weeks from the last time pine nuts were ingested. Here is the link to the website for more info, and be careful with what kind of pine nuts you eat!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1184261/Pine-mouth-puzzle-Why-nuts-leave-bitter-taste.html

Maple Grilled Tempeh

After I grilled this tempeh, I found myself snacking on it sporadically throughout the day. It was so tasty!! I imagine there are quite a few ways to enjoy it. I served it over a bed of quinoa and asparagus, but I bet it would taste awesome on a sandwich with balsamic-glazed portabello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and arugula. Or you could use it as a breakfast "meat."

This is another recipe I found on the website 101 Cookbooks.

8 ounces tempeh
3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
3 tablespoons grade a or grade b maple syrup
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon powdered chipotle or a couple pinches of cayenne

optional:
2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice
a handful of blanched green beans or asparagus

Cut the tempeh diagonally into 4 triangles. If possible, thin those triangles out by slicing each in half horizontally - 8 triangles total. Set the tempeh aside while you make the maple marinade by combining the soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, garlic, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Reserve a few tablespoons of the marinade to use later as a drizzle.

Place the pieces of tempeh flat in a large zip-lock bag. Pour the remaining marinade over the tempeh. Make sure the tops and bottoms are coated and marinate for anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 days, flipping occasionally.

Grill the tempeh on a medium hot grill for a few minutes on each side - Brushing all the while with the marinade remaining in the bottom of the baking dish. When the tempeh is a toasted, deep, maple-y, golden brown remove and enjoy on a sandwich, over rice, or however you like. If you want to try the preparation shown in the photo, serve over a bed of warmed quinoa (or rice) and barely-cooked green beans, asparagus, or broccoli. I then drizzled with the reserved marinade.

Serves 2 - 4

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/maple-grilled-tempeh-recipe.html

Tofu Hash

This morning's breakfast recipe was, essentially, an accident. I wanted a tofu scramble, but my tofu hadn't thawed yet. Then I decided on a gala apple and some tempeh bacon (which I forgot to pull out of the freezer). I really wasn't feeling a protein shake.

I had a single tofu burger patty in the fridge that I got from Trader Joe's. I am really digging this product! They come 2 to a pack, they are super inexpensive, and 100% organic tofu and veggies. They are also delicious. I am so glad that there are companies creating things like tempeh bacon strips (Lightlife) and the aforementioned burger patty--options that aren't processed from soy protein isolates, or full of pesticides. Anyways...

I washed and grated 1 red skin potato. Next, I minced two spring onion stalks, chopped the tofu burger into cubes, and minced a quarter of a jalapeno (cored and seeded). I drizzled a bit of olive oil in a saute pan and added the onions, potatoes, jalapenos, and the tofu cubes all at once. I sauteed until the potatoes started to brown, then I added sea salt and cracked black pepper. Finally, I garnished with just a touch of cayenne pepper.

This was just enough for a single, delicious, and balanced serving.

Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa

I have been having trouble keeping up with my blog over the last couple of weeks. My hope is that the current busy streak is over, and I can go back to devoting time to writing about things I love. I actually have a surplus of pictures of things I have cooked. I just have to come up with the words to accompany them.

This was a quick and delicious breakfast treat I made about two weeks ago. The original recipe came from the website 101 Cookbooks, however, I changed it around quite a bit to reflect what I had in my kitchen at the time. Quite frankly, the original recipe, should you have all the components, is probably better. However, mine was also quite satisfying!

1 cup hemp milk
1 cup water
1 cup quinoa
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons grade a or grade b maple syrup

Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in blueberries and cinnamon. Drizzle 1 teaspoon maple syrup over each serving.

Serves 4.