Galaxy Vegan Cream Cheese

It is spring (actually it has been for a month, but I'm behind).
The flowers are blooming, our lawn is literally a jungle out of
control, and all sorts of new veg products are hitting the shelves
faster than you can say 'march hare'.

One of the newest vegan cheeses on the street is Galaxy Nutritional
Foods cream cheese, which I got the pleasure of trying out for
all of you!

Not only is there an 'original plain' flavour, but there is also a
'chive and garlic' flavour much to Monkey-man's delight.



I can't lie, I love my bagels. But I wanted to do something a little
nicer than bagels to try out something new.

So with the 'original' we made some crepes and stuffed them with
the cream cheese, diced apples, spice and drizzled it all with
agave.



The flavor is milder than it's dairy counterpart without that
gross sour aftertaste. The texture is cross between any other vegan
(or nonvegan) cream cheese out there and sour cream. It is soft and
perfect for spreading. It doesn't turn your toast to crumbs while
you're trying to spread a layer of goodness.

We got a little spicy with the Chive and Garlic and made some
jalapenos poppers for Monkey-man's Bday.



Because it was already seasoned with just enough garlic and chives,
all we had to do was fill some halved and seeded peppers, sprinkle
with paprika and bake. Oh, yeah-- And eat to our heart's content!

We still had a little bit of each left over so we had a little European
meal the other night for dinner. Monkey-man made some classic borsht...



And I made some dumplings to go in it.



To fill the dumplings I cooked 1 cup TVP in enough vegetable
broth to make it soft, then added some salt and pepper, sage,
soy sauce and a little bit of molasses. A little plop of
vegan cream cheese and some wonton wrappers later... Deliciousness!



I really dug Galaxy's new product, I liked how smooth and versatile
it was. And the chive and garlic addition? Very nice, tasty and
savory, but not overwhelming or artificial tasting. And I just saw
it stocked in my little health food store! What a coincidence!

Good on ya Galaxy!

P.S. We just back from Paso Robles, CA and I have some great wine
stories to share with you all!

Beet Bejeweled Risotto

Since we had recently gone a little over the top with bread, we hit up
some standard burritos and tacos, and then I had to move on
to a different starch for my meals.

I’ve recently developed a love affair with risotto. There are so many
myths surrounding risotto, telling people it is too hard to make
unless you’ve got Gordon Ramsey screaming over your shoulder,
telling you what to do. I’m here to tell you that risotto is super easy.
If you can pour broth into a pan and stir rice around for a half
hour, you can make risotto.

Of course I like twisting the flavours around. You’ll usually see
some tomato and basil risottos-- anything you might find replicated
from a pasta recipe. Most of all I wanted to change the colour of
the actual dish, so what better than beets? The beets are steamed,
peeled, and chopped before hand so that they are ready to go when
you’re making the risotto.

Its perfect because I wanted to start up some themed dishes to get
you all ready and in the mood for St. Valentine’s Day.

Yes, I know a lot of people really hate St. Valentine’s Day.
Especially, if you’re single or sometimes with a really annoying person.
Well if St.Valentine’s Day is about love, what about loving yourself
a little? Love yourself with a special meal, some dark chocolate,
a glass of wine, and your favorite movie.

Or throw a little dinner party and then you won’t be alone. Maybe
invite all your single friends so no one feels alone out there in
the world of candle light couple events... I honest have never seen
St. Valentine’s as something corporate or designed to make you feel
bad for not having a significant other. I always used it as a day to
remember all the people I love. I’d make cards, cookies, or candy for
all my friends and family. Later on in life, I got little things here
and there from boys and that was nice too. But I wasn’t expecting it,
so it was even better.

Getting back to cooking.... If you are trying to multi-task while
making risotto, good luck. I mean forget it. You’ll probably end up
with some hard, sticky rice. You can hardy leave the pan alone for a
minute without it drying out.

So make sure everything else is set and ready to go. Feed the cats,
take out the dog, avoid interruptions. And enjoy~

Bejeweled Risotto



3 medium beets, cooked, peeled and chopped
1/2 large onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp earth balance or olive oil
1 cup vodka
6-8 cups of vegetable broth
or water with a few bouillon cubes dissolved
2 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup daiya moz cheese
black and white pepper
sea salt
sage, thyme, lemon zest

First heat the oil in a large frying pan or saute pan.
Add the onions and garlic and cooking in the oil for a few minutes
at a medium to low high heat.

Add the rice, coating well with oil. Cook for about two minutes,
stirring. Add the vodka, making sure that it is warm or room temp
to not shock the rice leaving it unable to cook properly.

Once the vodka is almost absorbed and the liquid looks sparse,
add a 1/2 cup of warm or room temp broth. You will continue to do
this. Add broth, stir, cooking it just at a light simmer until the
liquid is not quite gone, add more broth. Don’t let it get too dry.

Once it starts to look puffy and sticky, start testing it to see if
the center is cooked. Once it is near al dente, add the seasonings
and chopped beets. Continue to cook until the beets are hot and the
colour has distributed nicely. Add more broth still as needed.
Finally, add the daiya and stir until completely melted. Serves 4-6

I had mine with some garlic-chili grilled tofu! Yum!

Plethora of Panini: Polish Panini

The original idea that we started out with was to do a 'meat'ball
sub. I wanted to make some seitan balls and it sounded good, but
then I realized we had nothing to make a red sauce.

I still made some seitan, but more in the shape of large patties.
I wanted to see if by adding beets you could get a different color
than the usual broth color of seitan.

I blended about a 1/2 cup of cooked beets, a can of soybeans, some
polish herbs/seasonings (or even just some sausag'y seasonings like
sage or rosemary), some vegetable bouillon, a few tablespoons of oil,
diced raw carrots, a few cloves of garlic (minced), sea salt and
lots of black pepper.

Then I added the wheat gluten, just enough to form a firm ball,
which I split up and steamed for over an hour. We sliced the patties
in to thirds and grilled to finish the cooking process. No, the color
didn't hold. It still ended up the usual light brown color.

To round out the paninis we added some dill pickles and sauteed
shredded cabbage and onion cooked with cumin seeds. But you can use
sauerkraut. I had to add veganaise for good measure and we were
happy campers.

Paninis are pretty easy goes or anything goes, really. It mainly
just knowing what theme you want to go with, pair spices and herbs,
having a good sauce/dressing, cooking the wetter vegetables before-
hand, and getting the hang of your own grilling technique.

I'm done with paninis for now, hankering for a burrito or some tacos.
I always said I could live on bread, but now I'm second guessing that.
Hope you enjoyed the ride!

Plethora of Panini: Beet on the Brat

One of Monkey-man's Christmas presents was a cast-iron panini press
that I seriously had to hunt down. He's been ogling cast-iron pans
for awhile and next to pizza I am pretty sure sandwiches are his
favorite. Finding it was a hassle. I knew Macy's carried them and after
dealing with countless, stupid employees-- I found one at the Macy's
on Lake. Thank goodness my Monkey-man enjoys the more practical
gifts because this has certainly opened us up to a new series as we're
breaking in the ol' cast-iron.

Cast-Iron takes pampering. You should never wash it with soap, leave it
wet or use metal utensils on it. If you cook things on it that require
cleaning after-- something that sticks-- than clean it with very hot
water and a scrubber. Dry immediately afterward and oil to prevent
rusting. It may seem scary, but if you're cooking something like plain
toast, etc. you just brush it off, re-grease it and leave it. This
will age and season your pan.

I've seen people that cook meat just leave their pans with the fat, crap
and everything. Yeah, gross. Many argue that you should NEVER clean
your cast iron, but I do not agree. I say that you should try to never
use soap on it-- or at least don't use a lot and only when you really
need to. I believe in caring for your dishes properly, but I also
believe in not getting sick from bacteria festering on a pan.

Having said that, cast-iron is great because you can cook on the stove
and then stick it straight into the oven or actually use it as a baking
dish for things like corn bread or roasted vegetables. Our has ridges,
so it wouldn't be entirely ideal for that, but it is a possibility.

On to the food!
Panini, or Panino, is basically an Italian Sandwich. More accurately it
is a bread roll. A stuffed Panino is a roll stuffed with sandwich fixings.
This is derivative of the Italian word for bread: Pane. Often they are
served hot or grilled on ciabatta or focaccia. Americans refer to any
grilled sandwich as a panini, as being grilled is the deciding
characteristic. Whereas any sandwich is called a panini in Italy.

If you don't have a stove press you can use an electric one. Some
waffle makers double as panini presses. You can use a heavy pan and
a brick wrapped in foil. Just allow the brick to heat with the pan
before adding your prepped sandwich. Or you can just set a heavy pan
on top of your sandwich and plan on flipping it.

Part One: Beet on the Brat Panini

Ingredients

Beets or beet pulp (See Below)
2 cloves garlic, minced
vegan cream cheese
mustard
Miso
1/2 Red Onion
Vegan deli slices: ideally field roast, sliced seitain, or something
similar to yves roast slices. I'm sure Tofurky would be good too...
But stay away from the bologna style stuff.
Olive Oil or Earth Balance

When I make Borsht I blend the whole pot and push it through a mesh.
I usually end up with about two cups of beet pulp that I use to fill
dumplings, spread on sandwiches or mix into something else.

I had some left over beet-pulp from our postponed Christmas Dinner
that I still needed to use. You can steam beets and blend them with
a little broth, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Or you can just
steam a beet and slice it very very thin.

Heat your pan and saute the sliced onion until soft and caramelized.

I made two sandwiches here... spreading vegan cream cheese, mustard,
and light miso on one side of the bread and then sprinkled it with
diced, raw garlic.



Oil or grease the other side of the bread.
Arrange the deli slices on the side with the cream cheese.
Spread or arrange the beets on the other side of the sandwich and
top with the cooked onion. Squish the sandwich together and grill
according to the type of pan you are using.

Cut in half and serve!

Strawberry-Beet Jam

I love experimenting with jellies and jams. Especially because it lets me
pack away a little bit of every season for the rest of the year.
I always make this crazy good pumpkin butter around thanksgiving and
a ginger jelly in the summer to have all year round.

Since I've been getting such great strawberries from a local vendor at
my farmers market I wanted to test out a jelly and if it came out well
I'd get a whole flat and do a big batch.

This is a simple recipe without pectin. I need to go and pick up some
more pectin because I don't like my jellies so sweet. This was pretty
darn good though. I've been spreading it on my toast, puttin' it on
my pancakes, even adding a spoon of the syrup to my cocktails...

Strawberry-Beet Jelly


3 cups strawberries, rinsed-hulled-halved
1 steamed beet, peel and sliced into super thin pieces
1 1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 inch chunk of raw ginger, grated

Combine all the ingredients in to a heavy saucepan over low heat.
After the sugar is dissolved and starts to cook, add your strawberries.
Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes. It
will show signs of thickening. You can drop into a small dish of ice
water and see if it gels or use a candy thermometer (220F).

Transfer to sterile jars, allowing for some headspace. Process if it
is to be shelved or cool and refrigerate if it is to be eaten soon!

Still high on the holidays

Our Christmas, I'm actually glad to say, was very quiet.
Usually I spend the Christmas eve and the later part of
Christmas Day running around and trying to visit with as
many people possible. But this year I got to have a very
peaceful day with my Boyfriend.

We spent our time dozing, eating Christmas goodies,
cooking, and opening presents. All of my favorite things.






























This is our wee little Christmas Tree.




























I love our funny little tree topper. Neither of us are in
to angels or stars, so we improvised a little.
We're both just starting out pretty much in LA again,
so neither of us have much stuff built up.
(except for all the random things my aunt and grandma keep
sending me, but that's for a whole other story)


















Me in front of our wee tree.

I made breakfast before we opened presents.
Or started it rather. We opened while it baked.
I made my traditional Christmas dish, Cranberry-Orange Sweet Buns!























































































Then we opened presents, lots of vegan goodies!
I got some awesome gadgets!







































































I also got a bunch of little do dads from my folks and some
great intellectual reads! Can't wait!

So we watched Elf, my favorite Christmas movie, while eating
some sweet buns. Then I passed out because it was just too
much excitement for me.

Later on we went around Hastings Ranch and looked at Christmas
lights. Each block has a different theme, my favorite block
was the peace dove themed. The design was very pretty and well
thought out. On our way back we drove up Christmas Tree Lane
in Pasadena.




























































After that we came home for dinner of Borscht and quesadillas,
yes a weird combo but very good all the same.



































Overall it was a very lovely Christmas. Our Christmas Eve
was pretty fun, lots of visiting and driving. We were up
in the Mountains for a night with my Grandparents. I have
photos from there, but sadly I left my camera there, so right
now I'm just bumming off my boyfriend. Hopefully I will get
it back soon and get back to more consistent blogging.
Until then, I hope you all had an excellent Christmas and
have a safe and Happy New Year.

Summer Salads

Alright, so I'm pretty lucky. Its not that hot where I live.

In fact, its usually pouring rain. No matter what the rest

of the island looks like, guaranteed- its raining at my house.

So I don't need to worry about it being too hot to cook

or too stick to make soup for supper. But I pretend.

I have to give myself the illusion of seasons somehow,

or else I'd probably run mad!

Well, hitting the beach is a different matter. We went

yesterday and it was darn tootin hot! So cool watermelon

and fuji apples were the perfect choice.

I also hit up another one of my campus survival foods...

a cool Purple Salad. My buddy used to steal my beets

when I was eating lunch cuz she was crazy for them.

I try to make this for potlucks too. I've convince people

that hate purple potatoes that they love them now,

all thanks to this lovely little dish.

Every time I eat this I forgot how much I loved it and

wonder why I don't eat it more. We all need a little more

of the rainbow in our lives...

Its mostly just a potato salad with beets and purple sweet
potatoes, but I'm working on it. I'm talking about the potato
salads with vinegar, not mayonnaise...

So far? I think the peas have gotta go...

Playdough Pasta!?

I've been craving gnocchi for a while and finally I broke down

and made some. Alright, when am I ever known to follow the

original instructions or recipes &c &c &c.

I had tried to make some sweet potato gnocchi a long long

time ago and it came out terrible. However, that was most

likely due to the fact that I tried to use yellow Okinawa

potatoes, which are much more dry than the typical sweet

potatoes that you and I eat at thanksgiving.

It was also one of the first times I made gnocchi from

scratch, so I worked and worked and finally conquered the

basic gnocchi magic. Now I felt ready to experiment again.

Hey, we're just adding a root vegetable right? Potatoes?

Well why not try another lovely root.

Beets certainly got me through my lunches at school this

past semester. I was always making my purple root salad.

Ah, the best. I think I may have to make some more soon!

Anyway, beets were the choice and here were the results...

Playdough Pasta

1 1/3 cup pastry flour

1 cup of beet puree

a pinch of each salt and pepper

Combine just short of all the

flour with beets and salt and

pepper in a food processor or

a large bowl. Process or mix

with a knife until dough is formed.

Add the remaining bit of flour

and a little more if needed.

Toss it out on to a floured counter

top and knead it until it appears

smooth.

This is the best part and totally surprised me.

The dough looks like a giant lump of bright pink

playdough! Ha ha, I was giggling the whole time

I was kneading away. Who says we can't play

with our food! I demand to know!

Now, let it rest. Seriously, allowing the dough to

rest at this point will yield a smoother pasta in the

end, but if you're in a big freakin hurry than don't

worry about it. But if you are, you probably

shouldn't be trying to make pasta from scratch.

Now here is the tricky part. Making gnocchi

is a kind of art. Split up the dough into however many sections. Roll those pieces out into

1/2-1 inch ropes. Cut ropes in to little pieces about 3/4" thick. Take a fork and roll the little pieces against the fork to make ridges that will hold in some of the sauce. Keep practicing it

took me forever to get the hang of it, but now its a piece of cake...

Now gnocchi is just the shape that I chose. You may follow

any pasta making technique you want and turn this into some

beet linguini or angel hair, whatever!

While this is all going on, have a large

pot of salted water boiling on the stove.

When your gnocchi is prepped go ahead

and drop them in. Give them a little stir

to make sure they don't stick to the bottom

or each other.

Keep it boiling and cook the little guys until

they are tender the whole way through. They

will rise to the top when they are pretty much done.

Remove and place in a baking pan in a warm oven until all are cooked. Toss with your

favorite sauce. Here I used Lindsey Wagner's Orange-Apple Tomato Sauce from

High Road to Health. Absolutely delish.