Roasted Carrot Waffles

Happy World Vegan Day, which also signifies the first day of the 2012 Vegan Month of Food. This is my fourth year attempting a tally of 20 posts, this time waffle-themed. Why waffles? As author John Green says, “Waffles are just awesome bread.” And as I say, just try to eat a waffle without smiling. When faced with a waffle, you will smirk at the very least.

Itchy with insomnia last night, a bollix of thoughts split me asunder. And between pining for Scandinavia and lingering anxiety over a possible job offer, the idea of roasted carrot waffles stuck.

Every food blogger’s seen a waffle flecked with raw, grated carrot, but my tepid Googling scavenged no roasted carrot waffles inked in internet. That is, until this morning when I made a mess of my kitchen, sundress, and supplicating dog creating these little flour monsters. They’re decadent and appropriately filling. The subtle sweetness of roasted carrot makes for happy waffle times at breakfast, brunch, or brinner.

And you know what else? I got that job. Waffle on, October, waffle on.

Takes approximately 1 1/2 hours including roasting time.
Serves 3-4.

4 medium carrots or 1 cup roasted carrot puree
1 tsp olive oil
3-4 T unsweetened almond milk or water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 T unrefined sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or other unsweetened non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup coconut oil (or canola/vegetable oil)
Grated carrot, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 275 °F (135 °C). Cut carrots in half and halve each section length-wise. Coat in oil and place cut-side down on a baking sheet. Roast for 30-40 minutes, flipping once half-way through. Carrots should be browned and tender when pierced with a fork.

2. In a food processor or Magic Bullet*, puree carrots 3-4 minutes or until no chunks remain. Gradually add the 3-4 tablespoons of almond milk or water for easier blending.

3. Oil and preheat your waffle maker. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the carrot puree, sugar, and almond milk. If your carrot puree is still chunky (as mine was), blend the mixture again in your food processor or Magic Bullet until smooth. Return to the bowl and whisk in the coconut oil well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined.

4. Spoon 1/4-1/2 cup batter onto the hot griddle, although this amount will vary based on the size of your waffle iron. Cook according to waffle iron instructions; mine took 5 minutes. Open waffle iron carefully, using a fork to gently pry the waffle off the griddle. Serve hot with Earth Balance, agave nectar, and grated carrot.

*If you use a Magic Bullet, please let your carrots cool 15-2o minutes before blending. Overheating a Bullet is easily done and burnt rubber is a smell uneasily forgotten.

Road’s End Organics Dairy Free Shells & Chreese: Cheddar Style

Did you spend your formative years peaking around the kitchen corner in trepidation, faux-praying your ‘rents wouldn’t flash-glimpse the slit of your eye and forthwith beacon you to finish your untouched, congealing bowel of Kraft mac & cheese? Siiiiiigh. Although I consistently detested the radioactive, orange goop, I was forced to eat my dinner’s share until I gradually grew accustomed to its myriad sins against pasta. So while I realize many vegans would diligently test dozens of recipes (Google count: 1, 860,000) on a culinary quest for that elusive cheddary sauce, I am a happier person without it.

On the up side, Road’s End Organics Dairy Free Shells & Chreese in Cheddar Style (brevity ain’t their jang, I gander) is one boxed vegan mac & quote unquote cheese that I can get behind. Or in front of. Or to the side of. Or planked upon. (<False as I roll my eyes at such nonsense).

The long-awaited point being that this stuff doesn’t suck.

The preparation caters as much to the cookphobic as the blue box variety: boil pasta, mix sauce ingredients in pot, dump pasta back in, heat to thicken sauce. Don’t be a fat-fearing pansy and nix the suggested tablespoon of vegan butter; with Earth Balance I adopt the ancient Eastern philosophy of  WHY THE HELL NOT.

Taste-wise, the flavor is predictably nooch-based and perhaps erring on uninspired, but that didn’t stop me from consuming a lumberjack’s portion. Except I’d wager all of mi’ gold that lumberjacks are probably too vegetable-averse to add steamed carrots. Th’arr carotene-loss, I declare in pirate-speak, for the combination is sublime. And food-guilt-reducing.

The sauce was a bit gritty (as most nooch-based are cursed to be), but creamy enough to please this taster. Fat-comforting, relatively healthy, and surpisingly addictive: I ate ’till the stomach pains grievously halted my unstoppable eye-petite.

Reheated leftovers were just as appealing as freshly-made, which definitely whoops Monseur Kraft’s fluorescent keister.

I think I handed over 3ish bucks for this box at my local (overpriced) Co-op and the algebra splits nicely when yielding 3-4 servings. Take note: because I’m a committed pasta-hound who welcomes a meal-induced stomachache like an old chum, I emptied the box’s contents in 2 meals . Realistically, 3 adult-eaters could smoothly share a box laden with an add-in of tempeh or steamed vegetable.

I plan to buy all 5 varieties of Road’s End Organic pastas and host a mac & cheese tasting to rule them all. Why? In the venerable words of Ron Swanson: because I am a free American.

Wacky Curried Borscht Stew

As I stared into my produce bin, all I could think was: “Beets, there has to be another use for you than in my (world-famous, I’m sure) Two-Grain Beet Salad“  And then a bolt of inspiration struck: I’ll throw them in a pot, add some of my orange babies (carrots, derrr) and see what happens! When added with a very neglected jar of red curry paste taking refuge in the back of my fridge, ambrosial delights happen, that’s the whut whAAAt.

Fun fact: I was on an intense Dexter procrastination sesh a few minutes before I made this weird, blood-red borscht-ish stew. So when a pot of bubbling red guck was staring me in the face, all I could see in my mind’s eye was my future as the Bay Harbor Beet Butcher. And this dish was great for my kitchen, let me tell ya: little bubblets of pink lava are *fantastic*accent points for white walls. Sponge(bob), to the rescue!

Turns out, eyes lie. This is one of my favorite stews yet and I like me a warm bowel of hearty goodness to comfort me in these dark winter days.  It would have been a soup, but I added too much rice until the whole thing went kaput (or in plain speak the rice soaked up all the water). This is a great soup for using up leftovers as I was staring into my fridge with a half-empty–NOT half-full, you optimistic assholes–tupperware of lentils and a week-old batch of sticky rice. Thus, out of humble (almost about to go bad) ingredients a palatable stew was born.

I didn’t measure the amount of rice I used (dump,stir, and taste is my preferred cooking method) so add in slow amounts to see what you like best. If you have a bigger pot, you might want to add another 1-2 cups of water as well. My little IKEA pasta pot can only hold so much.

Splash liberally with lime juice and enjoy this odd Russian/Asian/scrumptious dish. My batch of leftovers is calling my name: “Emiiiiiiilyyyyyyy…..”

Wacky Curried Borscht

olive oil for sautéing (as much or as little as you want)
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium-sized beets, peeled and chopped
3 cups water
1 T red curry paste
3 T soy sauce
1 T siracha (start with 1 tsp if you dislike the heat)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
¾ cup cooked lentils
½-1 cup cooked rice
1 package firm silken tofu, drained and cubed

Heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté carrots and beets for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the water and bring to a boil. Add red curry paste, soy sauce, siracha, and spices and stir to incorporate. Taste-test the broth adding more or less spice as necessary. Add lentils, rice, and silken tofu. The silken tofu will crumble and disintegrate and that’s okay, just go with it. Bring the mixture to a boil. Serve hot with lime wedges for a nice pucker.

Makes 4-5 servings

Pizza & a Winner

But with pizza involved everyone is a winner, right? I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to try Daiya on a pizza, but suffice it to say my bout of negligence is officially over. I haven’t had a truly decadent pizza experience in many moons, but Daiya has filled that gaping chasm in my foodie soul forever. It was melty and rich and fatty with only a slight touch of ”commercial vegan product aftertaste”. In my defense to the ubiquitous vegan police, I do NOT miss cheese in the slightest but sometimes find pizza a bit monotonous without it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a nice cheese-less veggie pizza but, as the cliché goes, variety is the spice of life. Ugg, how I despise clichés.

Making the dough was… well… an experience. I’ve never worked with yeasted bread before and now I know why. Oh the heart ache, the worry, the apprehension and that was just waiting for my yeast to proof! My first batch of dough was too dry and then the second was a bit more kneadable, but far from perfect. To make matters worse, I waited in vain for my first batch to rise to no avail. Feeling defeated and inadequate, I started a second batch and that one rose fine, of course. Murphy, you are illogical and a coup d’état to upheave your unjust system of law is in the works. Pitchforks will be involved and it’s gonna be ugly.

Anyway, you don’t care. Long story short: the dough rose (sort of) and made an “ehh” pizza crust. I’m definitely not on the path to open a pizzeria anytime soon, but it works for now.

I had none of the usual pizza toppings, so I chose my two favorite veggies instead: broccoli and carrots. The pizza sauce I got at the gluten-free store down the street was just as amazing as the owner said it would be. As Lorelai Gilmore would say, I want to take a bath in that sauce.

In case you’re wondering, I ate the whole thing. Gluttony is one of my best attributes, thank you thank you…

Finally, a meek call of thanks to all those who entered the muffin giveaway after my pathetic “pay attention to me” pity post. Each entry made me smile, so thank you again! And the lucky winner chosen by Random.org is…. Poopiebitch as comment #3! I will get in touch with you so I can send those pumpkin muffins ASAP aka as soon as I get my lazy ass to the grocery store to buy canned pumpkin. Ta!

Curried Eggplant Stew

I formulated this recipe last year and it’s made an appearance on the blog before, but never in proper recipe form. I thought I would finally set that straight because people should try it out. It’s vegan comfort food at its finest and the best part is that it’s totally customizable. Adjust the spices and veggies to your liking and most likely you will still have something fantastic. Who are we kidding, it’s probably better! I like my recipes to be more like “guidelines” so people can trust me as much or as little as they want to. I know I’m personally incapable of following recipes to a T. Damn the man and all that.

This is not a pretty dish and there’s just no denying it. Lawwwd knows I tried it all: ridiculous plating techniques, natural lighting, garnishes, messing with the settings on my wonky camera… all for nothing. It’s proud of its resemblance to particular unmentionables, almost as if it’s protesting, “I’m a dark brown blob of gunk… I’m colored, you stew racist.” ANYWAY. Enjoy the goo, the tasty tasty brown goo.

Curried Eggplant Stew

1 large eggplant, cut in 4 slices

1 medium onion, chopped (I used Vidalia)

1 cup dried lentils

2 cups water

3 tsp Better than Bouillon No Chicken paste

1 T vegan Worcestershire sauce

2 T curry powder

1 T garam masala

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic (or a few cloves roasted)

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 carrot, chopped

½ head cauliflower, chopped into florets

½-1 cup water, less if you want a thicker stew

1/2 avocado, sliced (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°. I always recommend waiting at least ten minutes to allow the oven to fully heat, more if your oven’s, to put it kindly, “temperamental.” Place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet with parchment paper/aluminum foil. You can also grease it with oil/EB if you prefer. Roast for 30-45 minutes, flipping halfway through. You want the skin to be tender when pierced with a fork so it will be easily blendable.

Meanwhile, in a large stockpot sauté the onion over medium heat in a tablespoon of oil. If you’re out of oil like me, use a thin layer of water. It takes a bit longer, but it makes the recipe almost fat-free (the chicken paste has a small amount of canola oil). When the water is evaporated or the onions are sufficiently browned, add the lentils, water, chicken paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and spices. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The eggplant should be ready soon. When the eggplant is soft and oozy, scoop the insides out into a blender and blend until smooth. Discard the skin. Be careful to allow steam to escape from the blender every now and then or the top might blow off, transforming your kitchen into an eggplant mess. This has never happened to me, but I’m still paranoid it could.

Use a rubber spatula to get every last bit of eggplant goodness out of the blender. Add blended eggplant, carrot, cauliflower, and water (I used ¾ cup but adjust as necessary) to the lentils and bring the mixture to a boil.  Simmer for at least 15 minutes more, but the longer it stews the better it gets. I was impatient so the carrot and cauliflower were still fairly firm. If you want your veggies tender cook for at least 30-45 minutes.

Serve with your favorite rice. Garnish with avocado for extra fatty fun.

Makes a ton of stew- I would guesstimate 4-6 servings.

HAPPY WORLD VEGETARIAN DAY!

Purple Kale Salad

If you read this blog regularly, you already know I’m a big fan of kale. Its health benefits are high, it’s easy to cook, and –most importantly– it’s downright tasty. Recently, I discovered some purple kale at the supermarket and was too enchanted by its beauty not to pick up a bunch. While it was more expensive than plain ‘ol green kale, I found the taste to be superior (read: less bitter) in almost every way. While I don’t normally care if my food is “pretty” sometimes it makes all the difference.

Purple salad is rad.

Besides using the kale in a few sandwiches, I threw together this easy salad to enjoy on a hot summer’s day. At the time I was feeling anti-oil so I opted to make an oil-free balsamic dressing by taking the oil out my usual vinaigrette and compensating with a few extra squirts of stone-ground mustard. Nothing ground-breaking, but worked like a charm.

Crisp, clean, and cool

Sunflower seeds, grated carrots, and thinly-cut broccoli were the perfect accompaniment. But really, how can you go wrong with kale salad?

One little kale leafie wants to say hi.

**Be sure to enter One Frugal Foodie’s awesome giveaway of four fabulous vegan cookbooks. Contest closes August 23rd!

Eat your greens, Davie.

I eat a lot of salad during the summer, partially because summer produce rocks and partially because I can’t bring myself to turn on the oven–a.k.a the hellfire monster of heat–anymore. Kale has taken over my meals, making me a little green vegan kale monster. I was a doubter at first, but it’s now making regular appearances in my green smoothies, salads, and even sandwiches. These super-healthy greens may be a bitch to prepare, but it’s mucho worth it. It’s hard to complain with all those vitamins, yet only 36 calories per cup.

My basic salad most often includes: greens (*if using kale, marinated for a few hours in homemade vinaigrette), whatever veggies are in the fridge, sunflower seeds (for the crunch), and marinated tofu/tempeh. Here’s a few from the last two months that I’ve been meaning to blog.

Tempeh bacon (from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan Brunch), shaved carrots, and kale

Pretty enough for another picture, no?

This is a salad very loosely based on the BLT salad by Vegan Yum Yum, but I opted to make my own tempeh bacon, substitute extra-virgin olive oil for the Vegan mayo in the dressing, and add shaved carrot instead of icky cherry tomatoes. I mostly just used her method of cutting kale, which includes helpful, high-quality pictures of the process. And I have to say, my version was awesome! My mom said it tasted “gourmet,” whatever that means.

No dressing and still delicious

I’m quite proud of this veggie slaw, which consists of shaved carrot, shaved zucchini, boiled corn cut off-the-cob, and boiled edamame (a.k.a soy beans). Because I used no dressing, fresh, in-season corn is a must as it sweetens the entire salad. The zucchini shavings add moisture and the carrot shavings give crunch. This is one dish that proves less is more.

Made with love <3

Props to my mom who made this arugula salad (based off a Cooking Light recipe) with onions, white canellini beans, and finely chopped red peppers in a mustard vinaigrette. My parents never have any idea what to cook for me as a vegan, but this salad wasn’t half-bad. While arugula may not be my favorite and the sharp aftertaste of raw onions isn’t my thing, it’s the thought that counts. So thanks, Mom.

*It’s very important to marinate the kale for as long as possible–at least an hour–to allow the kale to soften and absorb the flavors of the vinaigrette. The longer it sits, the better it gets- trust me!

I’m Back…?

You know what surprised me today? The fact that I might actually have readers, people who actually follow this silly little blog I started. When a recent friend (you know who you are) berated me for my lack of posting, I felt… guilty.I think I suffer from postpartum: I nurtured my little baby blog and now it’s a neglected sadface bloggie. So from now on, I’m going to post, post, post, post until you get sick of me. Like that could ever happen, psh.

This is life right now: film set, class, essay, french comp, russian cinema (DISLIKE!), food. I’ve pretty much been a zombie for the past week, and March has been a blur. I mean, when your roommate has to remind you what night you went to bed at 2 versus 4 you know that life sucks. Let’s just say spring break (T-minus 6 days!) could not be more welcome.

On to the food!

Nothing mind-blowing, but good all the same.

Tofu scramble with chickpeas, carrots, nutritional yeast (hipster vegan translation: nooch) and whatever else I decided to throw in there. Lots of smoked paprika on top because I’m addicted to the stuff. I’ve discovered there is no cure except to put it on everything possible- potatoes, scrambles, stir-fries, your dog…

Tofu- you know, that boring stuff vegans eat.

Falafel from King Falafel Palace in PARIS, France. Half of me thought it was amazing and the other half was just jumping for joy not to be eating pasta for the 8th time in a row.

HELL YES.

Stir-fry! This is what I live on. Beets (they make going to the bathroom a fun… surprise. Sorry, TMI?), carrots, onions, broccoli, and zuchini. I liked how the onions turned beet-pink

Veggies gettin' friendly in my wok

Sesame seed sprinkled

Polenta fries made from leftover polenta chilled in the fridge. These were quite a treat, and they’re even better coated with Panko breadcrumbs (sorry, no pic). I dipped mine in barbeque sauce because that’s how I roll.

They look like wet, yellow alien fingers. YUMMY wet, yellow alien fingers

Trivia of the Day: The world record for time without sleep is 264 hours (11 days) by Randy Gardner in 1965. Kudos, Randy! And I thought I had it bad…

TV(P) Dinner

I feel a little weird calling this baby a taco, but it’s taco-like in its inspiration. What’s going on is basically a mixture of TVP seasoned with Mexican spices, sauteed carrots and onions, and lettuce atop a hot tortilla. Sadly, no salsa because there’s none in my apartment. But, you know, it tasted good and that’s all that matters in the end. I am quite enjoying my cooking experiments with the big bag of TVP I got at the farmer’s market.

TVP Taco deliciousness

I want to interject here with a short(ish) boasting of how awesome the catering was on-set this weekend. On a student film the crafty usually consists of bagels with a tub of cream cheese for breakfast, lame supermarket sandwiches for lunch, Red Vines to snack on throughout the day, and a bag of chips for dinner. Being a vegan on top of that means even more limited choices- you can request vegan meals but usually they’re pretty lame/non-existent. Not so this weekend!

Aaaaand that's lunch! I'm the freakish looking one mid-drink on the left. Our fantastic caterer is the lady near right.

The caterer made a special effort to cater to me (the crazy vegan) and the DP who had gluten and nut allergies. She sure delivered! Gluten-free “meatballs” and pasta, EB-slathered garlic bread, Veggie Grill salad, beans and rice tacos, HOMEMADE potato chips, vegetarian club sandwiches, vegan stew and much more! I have no pictures, but trust me when I say I gained several pounds after gorging myself at crafty all weekend. Sometimes people are so accommodating you almost feel bad… well, not that bad

I'm on the left, behind my friend Joy in the purple shirt. Yes, this was the silly picture!

“A Brighter Palette” was such an amazing group of talented people. Good times were had by all. Great environment, fun conversation, and good food. What more can you ask for?

“Just order a salad”

I remember talking about veganism once with a few “friends” in my freshman public relations class and how skeptical they were about the whole concept of a diet free of animal products. “But, what do they eat? Salad?” said one girl as the other (sorority bimbo) laughed in agreement. Needless to say I didn’t take that opportunity to explain the merits of a vegan diet to these two disrespectful critics. Honestly, comments like this are hard to hear. It’s amazing how omnivores think vegans only eat bits of twigs and bark when really the culinary delights of animal-free food is endless! All you have to do is look at the thousands of vegan food blogs on the interwebz for proof.

But, sometimes I like to take stereotypes and use them for my own purposes. When someone informs me that I can “just order a sald” at a restaurant it usually makes me want to throw very large objects in that person’s general direction. But my salads are a far cry from the pathetic ice-berg salads minus chicken they serve at Applebee’s.

I had some beautiful brussels sprouts just begging to be used so I figured sauteeing them with some garlic was the way to go. Add some sauteed zucchini and other various salad stuffs and you’ve got a quick and filling nutritious meal. So I say, let them eat salad! as long as the salad always looks like this…

Sauteed brussels sprouts and zucchini with carrot shavings, alfalfa sprouts, and Goddess dressing over a bed of dark leafies

And when in doubt, add Goddess dressing! That stuff is like vegan crack.