Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Odd. . . my Google Reader seemed to be filling up at an alarming rate, sort of like the rising waterline in The Poseidon Adventure.  Then I remembered:  Not only is October the official World Vegetarian Month, it’s also the Vegan MOFO (Month of Food)!  This is the 31-day period in which vegan food bloggers worldwide pledge to blog at least 20 days of the month about, well, vegan food.  And blog they have!

Given my vida loca schedule these days (and The Girls do make me put my clothes on and go walking in the rain), as well as the imminent festival of the harvest here in Canada, I accepted that I simply couldn’t commit to that esteemed blog event, for fear of ending up committed myself as a result.   Instead, I thought I’d bring to you some highlights of recipes I’ve tried and enjoyed from other vegan and vegetarian bloggers in the past while. 

Every now and again, I scroll through my photos and realize there are dozens of dishes I’ve cooked and photographed, but never blogged about.  It may be that they were less than stellar in their final form, or that my woeful skill as a photographer resulted in a photo that, ahem, didn’t quite do the dish justice.  More often than not, however, it’s just that I ran out of time and went on to blog about something else–and then, weeks (or, in some cases, months) later, I stumble upon the photos and rack my brains to remember what the heck it was.  And so, here’s but a brief sampling of some of the things we’ve been sampling here in the DDD household.

Happy Vegan MoFo, everyone!

Caramelized Tofu (101 Cookbooks)

As Heidi mentions in her post about this, this deceptively simple dish is incredibly addictive.  I made it once to try it out, then repeated the venture three days in a row.  Stupendous.  (And this is one of those aforementioned cases in which the photographer is not up to par with the quality of the recipe!).

Crumb-Topped Brownies, sans topping (My Sweet Vegan): 

Hannah’s Crumb-Topped Brownies are everything you’ve heard they are, and more.  As I mentioned a while back, I recently found myself with some soy yogurt in the house, so I finally had the means to try these out.  They were superb–soft, gooey, and with a moist, almost custard-like texture that literally melted in the mouth.  Even without the white sugar or flour, these were fabulous, and irresistibly decadent.

Curried Tofu Scramble (Moosewood New Classics):

My favorite scrambled tofu recipe. With just a touch of curry paste, a hit of jalapeno, the requisite turmeric–this dish provides a spicy, juicy, eggy and convenient scramble.  I could eat this every day (and I do, for about 3 days after I make it, since the HH will no longer indulge with me).

Broccoli and Rice Salad (Jean Lemlin’s Quick, Simple and Main Course Vegetarian Pleasures):

Got broccoli?  Got rice? With the addition of a tangy dressing and chopped almonds, Lemlin elevates the basic rice and veggies to a step beyond the quotidien.  And gluten-free! 

Nori Condiment-Baked Potatoes (Nourish Me):

As Lucy mentioned in her original post about this condiment, it may be just a tad too pungent for some tastes on its own; but these taste buds thoroughly enjoyed it roasted with russett potatoes. Yes, it does sound quirky, and yes, it does resemble the habitat of plankton, but it is, nevertheless, uniquely appealing!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies (Destiny’s Vegan Kitchen):

Rich. Chewy. Chocolatey. Totally indulgent.  All that, even though I made my usual substitutions of Sucanat for sugar, spelt for regular flour, coconut oil for margarine, etc.  The HH almost scalded his tongue eating four of these babies straight out of the oven.  What are you waiting for?  Go bake some, pronto!

And coming up. . . .got any coconut of your own?

I deliberately ended this list with these coconut cookies as a segue into my next post, which will introduce a new Lucky Comestible series–on coconut!  I’d love to include any recipes you may have made featuring this ingredient as well.  While I’m not quite ready for my own blog event, I will happily provide links to your posts at the end of each Lucky Comestible recipe in the series. 

So feel free to send along those URLs for your coconut-based recipes (and I’m already planning to feature at least 2 of your recipes in the batch. . . but you’ll have to wait to see which ones!).

“Oh, Mum, talk about MoFo!  You’re so cruel to keep us all waiting. . .especially when you’re cooking all those yummy coconut dishes just a few feet away. . . *sigh*. . . “

“Chaser, don’t you use such language!  And don’t worry, when she’s done, we’ll get to polish off the extra coconut milk.” 

Years ago, when I taught a course called “Feeding Body and Soul,” students were asked to contribute a recipe that had been handed down in their family as a way to illustrate the power of food through the generations.  One young woman (who, in her words, had been “raised by hippies”) gave me a recipe for Navy Bean Muffins, made from the usual ingredients but using pureed navy beans instead of flour.  I thought this twist was just groovy, man, and resolved to some day make them myself. 

Well, that day hasn’t yet arrived, but I did think of beans as the perfect addition to my GF brownies, about which I posted last Monday. This recipe for Gluten-Free Brownies is one of three for chocolate treats with hidden healthy ingredients, just up today on VegFamily magazine. To see the other two as well, check out the entire article. 

The hidden gem in these rich, chocolately squares is pureed beans.  Now, before you go running to the hills, consider that many gluten-free recipes contain bean flours (such as chickpea, gram, soybean, etc.), so this recipe just takes the concept a step back, to the unprocessed, whole beans before they’re dried and pulverized.  And beans add a great boost of protein to any recipe, along with both soluble and insoluble fiber, and a host of minerals. 

Initially, I thought that pureeing the beans in a food processor would be sufficient, but found the final product a bit grainy that way.  But cooking the beans really well, then pureeing in a blender, did seem to do the trick.

Because of the added loveliness of the legumes, I’m going to submit this recipe to My Legume Love Affair, hosted by The Well-Seasoned Cook.  

Oh, and Sally, this one’s for you!

Gluten-Free Chocolate-Walnut Brownies  

These brownies are everything they should be:  fudgy, moist, and very chocolatey.  The beans are not detectable in the final product, but their health-enhancing qualities will be! 

NOTES:  I used chia rather than flax in this recipe.  In general, chia tends to retain moisture a bit more than flax, so the recipe may be a tad dryer if you use flax. I also wouldn’t substitute other beans for the white beans, as they may cause the brownie to taste gritty. [Edited, September 20: Since posting this recipe, I've heard from a few people who had different results when they changed some of the ingredients in the recipe.  I've found with other baking that subtituting flax for chia requires a 3-to-1 ratio (3 times as much flax as chia), and the results are a bit different.  I also can't vouch for using different flours--I think the sorghum is fairly essential here, as it's a soft flour that absorbs quite a bit of moisture.]

2 cups well cooked, drained white beans or navy beans

1/2 cup chocolate or vanilla soymilk (you could probably use almond milk as well) 

2 Tbsp. tahini (sesame paste) 

1/3 cup sunflower or other light-tasting oil 

1 Tbsp. finely ground chia seeds or 3 Tbsp. finely ground flax seeds  

2 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract 

1 tsp. tamari soy sauce (this brings out the chocolate flavor–trust me) 

1 cup Sucanat or UNrefined evaporated cane juice 

1/2 cup sorghum flour 

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder 

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder 

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. sea salt 

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped, if desired (or use chocolate chips if you leave the brownie unfrosted) 

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Lightly spray a 9 x 9 square pan with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.  

In a blender (a food processor is not suitable for this recipe), blend the beans and soymilk until you have a perfectly smooth puree. Add the tahini, oil, salba, vanilla, tamari, and Sucanat, and blend again.  Set aside for a few minutes while you prepare the dry ingredients.  

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.  Blend the liquid mixture again and check to see that the Sucanat has all dissolved (if it hasn’t, continue to blend until it dissolves).    

Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir to combine.  Gently stir in the walnuts, if using. Turn the mixture into prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake 45-55 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through, until a tester inserted in the center comes out barely clean (a few moist crumbs may stick to it).  Cool in pan and frost if desired.  Cut into squares.  Makes 9 large or 16 smaller squares.   

Variation: You can also bake the batter in well-oiled mini muffin pans for “two-bite” brownies.  The minis bake about 20 or 25 minutes.

[An updated and slightly revised version of this recipe is featured in my cookbook, Sweet Freedom.  To find out more, check the "Sweet Freedom" button at right, or visit the cookbook blog.]