Grillin'

I have been grilling up a storm since May. Below are some photographic evidence of my skills, or lack there of.

Cous cous, broccoli, tofu, and garlic:
Tofu and Cauliflower:
Tofu and Greens:

Green Beans and Avocados:

I was inspired by a show on the food channel. They had a bunch of not-ripe-enough avocados and decided to grill them with lemon, olive oil, and garlic. I gave it a try and stuffed them with a carrot, bell pepper salad. It was okay, but not as good as I was expecting. It was a good way to use up unripe avocados.
Tofu and Brocolli:
Onions, Zucchini, eggplant, tofu:
Tofu and Greens:

I have some pineapple, corn, and zucchini waiting to be grilled this week.

Roasted Eggplant Risoto

It's been awhile since a recipe from me - time to share what I've been working on.
This is a nice, lighter tasting rissoto where the flavors really shine through in a subtle way.

Roasted Eggplant Risoto:
1/4 cup maragrin
1/2 onion, diced
3/4 teaspoon rosemary
2 cups risoto rice
7 cups vegetable broth
1 eggplant, roasted
1/2 bulb of garlic, roasted
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450. Cut the eggplant in half, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. If you have garlic oil, all the better. Do the same with the garlic. Roast in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until tender.
Saute the onion and rosemary with the margarin. Once the onion starts to brown add the rice and stir until coated.
Add 1/2 cup of broth at a time stirring until absorbed.
Remove the eggplant from the oven and scrape out the smooshy eggplant and squeeze out the garlic. Add the eggplant and garlic with the 6th cup of broth. Continue adding broth as normal until complete.
Once complete sprinkle with chopped basil and a finishing salt, a smoked salt would be best.


Garlic Oil:
Olive Oil
Garlic, smashed

Smash the garlic and place in olive oi.
I am really looking forward infusing more oils and using them for popcorn. Now I just need some more bottles for storing these oils!

Lemon Garlic Brussle Sprouts

Normally I eat my brussle sprouts roasted with a bit of garlic, today I was looking for a different flavor and decided on lemon and garlic.

I started with a roux - soy milk, flour, earth balance and a bit of lemon juice. I added the garlic and stirred until it thickened. I poured over my broiled brussles and served with rice.

This was a simple meal that added much more flavor than normal, though I added a bit too much lemon. The sauce was a nice touch with the nutty tasting broiled vegetable.

Harvest Moon Roast

I honestly thought life would slow down after we bought the house and after the wedding, but I guess it's not in my nature. I took on four freelance jobs which has been really exciting helping make the world's first Vegan Mini Mall come to life. It's been great working with Food Fight Grocery, Scapegoat Tattoo, Sweetpea Baking Company and Herbivore Clothing and Magazine. When your clients are fun, it makes working fun. Problem with these jobs was that I was also working my full time day job. Note to self - don't take on four freelance jobs at the same time, specially when they all have the same deadline.

When those jobs started wrapping up I ended up getting hit by a car on my bike! Nothing too major, just some major bruising and a few deep cuts. But the limping around kept me out of the kitchen, thus - me not posting.

This is a bit more personal I normally am at this blog because I was tagged by Pauline to do the name meme. It stressed me out. My name is Webly. I could think of words to describe me, but I didn't have all those letters in my name: Driven, Loyal, Trickster, Creative. See, it doesn't spell anything!

Enough with the personal, on to, the Harvest Moon. It's beautiful tonight. I celebrated by making a wonderful fall meal.

Harvest Moon Roast:

1 squash of your choice. I forget which one I used, a dark orange one.
1 medium potato
1 medium fuji apple
1 or 2 ears of corn
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 teaspoons rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Cut the squash in half, scoop out the guts. Peal the squash with a good peeler or a sharp knife. Cut it into 1/2 to 1/4 inch cubes.
Spray a pan with olive oil spray and lay the squash out and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Peel and cut the potatoes into a similar size as the squash.
Add the potatoes to the squash, spray with olive oil, and roast for 10 minutes.
Chop the garlic and set side.
Peel and chop the apple into the same size pieces as the squash and potato.
Add the apples to the roasted squash and potatoes. Add half the garlic and the rosemary. Mix and roast for 10 more minutes.
De-cob the corn.
Add the corn and garlic to the roast and cook 10-20 minutes longer - depending on how you like your roast.
Add salt and pepper to taste, toss.

Bundle up, serve on bright colored plates, and eat outside under the Harvest Moon with your favorites.

Grains

Since I haven't been to the farmers market in a few weeks the house has been lacking many vegetables. Below are some simple meals with mainly grains.

Garlic Israeli Cous Cous:
1 cup Israeli couscous
1 cup vegetable broth
4 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch garlic scapes

Cook couscous in broth until tender.
Saute 4 cloves of garlic for 1 minute before adding the small chopped garlic scapes.
Sprinkle with your favorite salt and serve warm.


Shells and Fresh Herbs:
Since visiting a great new Italian joint in my neighborhood I have been craving pasta - something I've stayed away from for years.
It also helps that my little herb garden is growing into a medium sized herb garden.
Here I used a similar mixture as I did with the popcorn, but with the special inclusion of garlic, and lots of it. Shells are easily my favorite pasta.


Roasted Corn and Rice:
1 cup rice, I used a mix of brown and black
2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 cup corn
1/2 cup frozen spinach
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato

Cook rice as normal.
Saute corn on high until it looks like it's burning a bit, just give it a good char. Add garlic and spinach and stir until the spinach is hot.
Mix the cooked rice and corn mixture. Add more powdered vegetable broth, pepper and salt to taste.
Serve warm with a side of tomatoes and sprinkling of salt and chopped parsley. This mixture held together really well and were almost like burgers so it went perfectly with the tomatoes.


Raspberry Lime Fruit Salad Dressing:
Juice of 2 limes
1/8 tsp guar gum
2 Tablespoons seedless raspberry jam/jelly
1/8 round of fresh ginger root, or to taste
1 teaspoon toasted poppy seeds

Juice the lime, add the minced ginger, guar gum (it acts as a thickener, if you don't have it, don't sweat it) and raspberry jam. Blend together until well combined. Add toasted poppy seeds and toss with the fruit.
I used grapes, cantelope, cherries and apples. This dressing was wonderfully tart, and spicy and a little bit smoky with the seeds. Enjoy this salad on your deck with good friends on a warm day.


My life no longer lacks a food processor. My kitchen feels complete. For the salad. I was able to use my food processor to juice the limes, mince the ginger and blend everything together. It was so quick and simple. I can't wait until I can whip up my favorite carrot salad in just a few minutes.

Summer Salads!

It's been getting hot again - my favorite weather, so I've been making some salads to cool us down.

Chili Lime Salad:
Marinated tofu with lime, garlic and chilis; broiled, then chilled.
Mixed with some cold glass noodles, chopped carrots, ginger and garlic.
Garlic Bean Salad:
Briefly saute a lot of garlic with oil and a sprig of fresh chopped basil; mix with cooked beans and set aside.
Steam garlic scapes.
Mix with some shredded carrots and serve cold.
I sprinkled mine with black sea salt and pepper.

Sesame Noodle Salad:
Julieanne a large handful green beans and 1 carrot.
Saute 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 inch of ginger in some peanut or sesame oil. When the garlic is just about clear, add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
Mix sauce, glass noodles and veggies. Add more oil if it needs it.
Serve cold.
Chocolate Mint Cookies and Cream Cupcakes!
Disaster struck as I was creaming the earth balance and remaining powdered sugar for the frosting and reached for the other box of powdered sugar and it wasn't there!
To make up for it I had to chop (I can't wait until I get my food processor) lots of cookies to make a nice earth balance and cookie crumb frosting.

Tofu, Salad and Pie

My posts have been lacking because either my photos have not been turning out or my recipes have not been. Below are a few of the things that have turned out.
Tandoori Tofu:
My mother bought me a jar of tandoori marinade awhile ago and it's been such a treat to use with tofu. Here I marinated the tofu for two days before broiling. I also made a red bean and onion side to go with the tofu and rice.


Roasted Corn Salad:
Inspired by a Whole Foods salad I saw. This is great for picnics, which I hope to attend more of this summer.
1 bag of frozen corn
1 large handful of baby carrots, chopped
1 cup loose spinach, chopped
1 tsp. fresh chopped herbs of your choice. I used tarragon and a bit of rosemary
2 bulbs of garlic, roasted
1/4 sweet onion, chopped
Spices

Panfry the corn until browned. Turn heat to low and throw in carrots herbs and garlic. Add more oil if necessary. For a more smoky flavor, add 1/4 tsp or less of liquid smoke.
Once cooled added the chopped spinach and onion. This is a good dish to add red pepper if you're into them.
Julie's Chocolate Pie with Webly's Raspberry Topping:
At Vegfest a few weeks ago I attended some cooking sessions and was inspired by Julie's Chocolate Espresso truffle Pie. I love versatile recipes!
1 1/2 box of silken tofu
10 oz. melted chocolate
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup espresso
2 tsp. vanilla
1 9" crust

Put everything but the crust in the blender, blend until smooth, poor into pie crust and let set over night in the fridge.

Alright, I like this because it's easy as pie too!
My version is similar but with raspberry. I used soy milk in place of espresso. Before the pie set I carefully folded in some bone-free (seedless) raspberry jam. I then mixed silken tofu, raspberry jam and powdered sugar to make a thin raspberry topping.


I am currently working on a coconut cream pie, which is odd because I am not sure I ever had the non-vegan version. I'm also still working on the perfect cheesy sauce.
Outside of my cooking experiments I am planning the wedding, trying to fix up the house and keeping up to date on Jess and my other website: Stumptown Vegans.

Savory Vegetables Abound!

My food from this last week all has the same theme but I can't quite figure out the theme.
Here's some random food from this past week:

Cashews Green Beans and Sprouts:
This really wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.
Pan fried brussel sprouts, green beans and cashews with a soy sauce flavoring. As I was pouring the soy sauce in I was even thinking how soy sauce and sprouts just don't seem to go together. And they don't. Don't try this one. Brussel Sprouts and Tofu:
So what does go with brussel sprouts? garlic and lots of it!
Broiled tofu, brussel sprouts, garlic, olive oil and salt! Perfect!Aspargus and a Secret Sauce:
Now I know I don't post many of the Post Punk Kitchen test recipes but I couldn't get enough of this creamy garlic sauce. I salavate just thinking of it.
Have you noticed my theme of keeping the vegetables fairly simple?
Tofu and Green Beans:
This one is a bit fancier so I'll give you some rough directions after the photo.
1. Set the oven broiler to high. Slice tofu slab into 6 pieces and cut into triangle pieces. (Triangles just taste better.) Put a little of soy sauce on each piece before putting it in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. Steam the green beans.
3. Turn the tofu over and put a little bit of tomato sauce on each one, just enough to cover the tops. Broil again for another 10 minutes or until done.
4.Arange tofu on a plate, I used 4 slices. smother with some extra maranara/tomoato sauce. Layer the green beans on top and then coat with your favorite garlic sauce. Serve warm.
If I was to make this again I would maranade the tofu before.


Fried Green Beans and Rice:
Ths was wonderful! Healthy and not to healthy at the same time. Again you see that mysterious creamy garlic sauce! I told you I couldn't get enough of it!

For the breading I roughly followed the directions in The Dirty South Cookbook. I used about 1/3 cup flour and another 1/3 cup glutten flour (I thought it was another flour. I need to label my bulk foods better!) onion powder, lots of soy sauce and enough soy milk to make it a good consitancy. I threw all the green beans in the batter and coated them until frying time.
At first I thought the batter was going to be too soy saucy but it was just enough flavor to be perfect with a bite of rice and green beans.

I'll show you some chocolate pie later, but for now I must finish painting the house. (I keep being asked how I have so much enegry and I guess it's becuase I eat so many dark green veggies!)