VeggieTalk

Dear readers,

I am about to leave for more than 4 weeks for a trip to Israel, England, Paris, and Amsterdam with my family. We decided not to take laptops, since we will be moving around a lot, so I will not be able to blog during that time, though I will be checking e-mail and I will be able to respond, maybe even to posts.

PLEASE come back around July 20, and you will be amply rewarded with photos, food notes, restaurant reviews and recipes from all of the above locations. Until then, have a wonderful summer and I look forward to reconnecting then!

I don’t like hot weather, but I do love summer tomatoes. I find spicy tomato juice quite appetizing at times like this. The other day, I decided to augment it with some fresh veggies for a tasty drink that is kind of like a liquid gazpacho. You can vary it by using other fresh veggies of your choice.

Spicy Tomato Juice with Fresh Veggies

3 to 4 servings

• 1 large, ripe summery tomato, cut into large chunks
• 1/3 large flavorful cucumber, peeled *1/2 medium red or yellow bell pepper, cut into large chunks
• Handful of spinach (regular or baby) or other tender greens, rinsed stemmed
• Spicy tomato juice, as needed
• 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon horseradish, or to taste, optional
• Celery stalk for garnish. optional

Combine the tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, and spinach in a food processor, blender, or the container of an immersion blender. Process until smoothly pureed.

Transfer to a quart pitcher. Fill the rest up with the tomato juice, then season with lemon juice and the optional horseradish. Serve over ice and garnish with a celery stalk, if desired.

My family and I saw An Inconvenient Truth last night (for those of you who haven’t heard about it, the movie made by Al Gore about global warming, or as it is now sometimes called, climate change). I thought the film made a difficult subject quite accessible, though of course, much of it was pretty disturbing. Gore is so passionate, engaging, and personable, that it made me wonder how these last few years in the U.S. might have been different with him as president. But that’s another subject.

I hope Gore isn’t merely “preaching to the converted.” The movie theater, one of these alternative cinemas, was filled with old hippies like me. But I suppose it can’t hurt, and the message was a positive one. The hole in the ozone layer, a couple of decades ago, was repaired, and with effort, this trend can be reversed, too. Everyone can make a small differnence.

Once again, though, I was disappointed that there was no mention about how much animal agriculture contributes to greenhouse gases (which is quite significant), something I addressed in an earlier post, referencing an article from Earthsave. See the movie! Tell your friends!

A few posts ago, I mentioned one of the new books I received, The Nut Gourmet by Zel Allen. I have been anxioius to try one of the “cheezy” dips in the book, and today presented the perfect opportunity. After a swim, my younger son Evan and two friends, all young teens, were hungrier than the usual, which is to say, ravenous.

So, I decided to try out Zel’s “Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts.” Wow, this insanely good. I wouldn’t want to be in the room alone with this dip, in fact—it would be more dangerous for me than chocolate. Though a 1/4 cup serving—which is ample—contains only 122 calories and 9g fat, according to the analysis. Oh, and the boys liked it, too. They had to break open a bag of tortilla chips to use, once the pita chips were gone.

Zel has several sandwich suggestions with the recipe, including spreading on bread, topping with tomato and vegan cheese and melting under the broiler (yum!) or in a sandwich with lots of veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, onion, avocado, etc. I think this would be fantastic chilled, on a warm bagel, as a cream cheese substitute. In fact, I’ll try that tomorrow.

The only changes I made to the recipe were to use rice milk instead of soy milk, and I added a sprinkling of paprika to the top. I’m sure Zel would not mind if I reprint the recipe here:

Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts

From: The Nut Gourmet

Yield: 2 cups

• 1 pound extra-firm tofu
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened soymilk
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons red miso
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Stop the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Serve immediately or thoroughly chilled. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts will keep for one week.

Yesterday, we had a spontaneous guest for lunch, so I made what I usually do for these occasions—my world famous (well, locally famous) Tofu “Tuna” Salad. This amazing concoction consists of all of three ingredients: Soy Boy Tofu Lin, vegan mayonnaise, and diced celery. If you want to get fancy, add some minced scallion or chives, and a touch of curry powder. It takes about 3 minutes to make and everyone loves it.

A few years ago, doing a booksigning for The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet at a local bookstore, I brought and served a few spreads from the book with breads and crackers. A few women insisted that I should make the above spread to sell. “But,” I protested, “anyone can make this. It has only three ingredients.” No matter. They pressed the issue, predicting that I would make a fortune. Well, I really doubt that. And I don’t really want to make my living smooshing tofu. Still, I was concerned. Are people so busy (or lazy) that they won’t even try making something with three ingredients?

One note, for this to come out really well, you do need to use Soy Boy Tofu Lin, a kind of baked tofu that is very flavorful but softer than other varieties of baked tofu like White Wave (which are delicious for stir-fries, salads, or wraps). It comes in cellophane packages and is available in most any natural foods store.

This recipe is adapted from The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet.

“Tuna”-Style Tofu Salad

6 servings

• One 10-ounce package Soy Boy Tofu Lin (baked tofu)
• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 1 large celery stalk, finely diced
• 1 scallion, minced, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, or to taste, optional

Using your hands, crumble the tofu finely in a serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and serve.

I fully believe in global warming, but it sure isn’t happening here in the Hudson Valley. It has been gloomy, rainy, and in the 60s for what seems like a week and a half. I don’t mind the 60s part, as I detest heat, but a bit of sun would be nice. This kind of weather makes me feel like baking, no matter what the calendar says, and no matter that I declared baking season over on April 13.

Though I really like to bake, especially for my sons, I’m a lazy baker. If it’s not a “mix and dump” recipe, I simply won’t make it. Prime example of the mix and dump school of baking is this chocolate chip peanut butter cake, which had its beginnings in my first book, Vegetariana, oh so many years ago. I have since veganized it, and it’s even simpler that it was back then. Though rich-tasting, with natural peanut butter and cane-sweetened chocolate chips, the cake has good food value, made with whole wheat pastry flour and applesauce.

With the mid-June events coming up (Father’s Day, graduations, etc.) this is a useful cake recipe to have on hand, something to make quickly for last-minute guests, or to bring to a celebration. If you are feeding a crowd, make sure to double the recipe and use two 9-inch pans!

Chocolate Chip Nut Butter Cake

Makes 9 to 12 squares, or 8 wedges

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup natural granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup plain rice milk or soymilk
• 1/2 cup natural style peanut butter, or other nut butter like cashew or almond, at room temperature
• 1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup raisins, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and stir together.

Combine the applesauce, rice milk, and peanut butter in another bowl and whisk together until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and stir together until fairly well blended, then use a whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Stir in the chocolate chips and optional raisins. Pour into a lightly oiled 9-inch round or square cake pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden on top, and a knife inserted into the center comes out with chocolate, but no batter.

Allow to cool to room temperature or just warm, then cut into squares or wedges to serve.

I get a fair number of books from publishers and authors who send them to me for review in my monthly newsletter. I love food-related books, though these days, it’s difficult for me to make things from other cookbooks while working on one myself. Yes, I am writing a new one, and often, I use you, the readers of this blog, as guinea pigs for new inventions (like the Mediterranean Tofu, previous post). Some of these new experiments may not make it into the book, so please—if a recipe is not credited to one of my books, I’m more than open to critique!

By the close of the weekend, I’m often left with little bits and pieces of leftovers, none of which is enough to go around again. But when combined with other leftovers, they can make a fun meal for which everyone composes their own plate of whatever they want. Her are this week’s leftovers, starting at about 9:00 and going clockwise: vegan macaroni and cheese, chana masala (a simple spiced chickpea, onion, and tomato dish), broccoli, the leftover spicy tofu filling from my younger son’s weekly breakfast burritos; in the center is curried quinoa with peas and dried cranberries; and in front are not big chocolate chip cookies, but “Zesty Black Bean Patties” from one of the new books, The Nut Gourmet by Zel Allen. Even when I’m serving leftovers, I can’t stand not to serve at least one thing I’ve made fresh.

Here are the books I’ve received most recently: Blithe Tomato (by Mike Madison, brother of Deborah Madison) is an account of an organic farmer’s life told in bite-sized essays; The Nut Gourmet, as mentioned above, is a cookbook, and Veggie Revolution by Sally Kneidel, Ph.D. and Sara Kate Kneidel, which looks at the benefits of a veg diet, with a strong environmental angle. I just ran an excerpt from the latter in my June newsletter.

I really like The Nut Gourmet, and it will be especially useful to me this summer, having to get a lot of calories into my two active teens. Nuts are such fantastic, nutrient-dense foods, and I’d like to use them more creatively. So far I’ve made Peanut Butter Carob Pie (though I used the chocolate variation she lists), which was heavenly and completely outrageous (perfect for the boys), and the bean patties, pictured above, which were a nice complement to all the other little dishes. The patties are very easy to make—basically, everything goes into the food processor—and the combination of ground walnuts, pine nuts, and black beans works very well and is surprisingly low in fat, according to the nutrition data. By the way, Zel Allen and her husband Reuben run the Vegetarians in Paradise monthly on-line magazine, where you’ll find lots of fascinating and fun news, and of course, recipes.

As you can see, I’ve put post-its on pages with recipes I’d like to try, like Sunny Carrot Cashew Soup (a completely raw soup that just needs to be blended) and Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts. I will likely be running a full review in my newsletter, with a sample recipe, in August.

Another great use for beans is in bean bags, used to make comfortable bean bag furniture of various shapes and sizes. You may find that bean bag chairs make a more interesting conversation piece than if you didn’t use bean bags to replace your chairs.

A big bunch of basil and some great local tomatoes inspired me to make a Mediterranean-flavored sauce for tofu—something that I haven’t tried before. This is quick easy, and a great main dish for summer. Serve it with pasta or roasted potatoes and a big salad. This recipe is featured in my June newsletter (What? You haven’t subscribed yet? You can do so from any page of Vegetarian Kitchen), and I thought it would be great to be able to show readers what it looks like, now that I can do so!

Mediterranean Tofu

4 servings

• Two 16-ounce tubs firm tofu, drained
• One tablespoon light olive oil
• Salt
• One tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups diced ripe tomato (make the dice fairly small)
• 1/4 cup oil-cured sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips, with a little of their liquid
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• A few leaves fresh basil, cut into strips

1. Cut each block of tofu into 6 equal slabs. Blot very well between layers of clean tea-towel or paper towels.

2. Spread the light olive oil over the surface of a 12-inch square griddle or extra-wide skillet and heat. Arrange the slabs of tofu in a single layer, and cook over medium-high heat until golden on both sides. Sprinkle the tofu with a little salt.

3. Meanwhile, heat the extra-virgin oil in a smaller skillet. Add the garlic and sauté over low heat until golden. Add the fresh and dried tomatoes and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat just until the fresh tomato wilts a bit and is well heat through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. To serve, fan out 3 slices of the tofu on each place and divide the tomato-garlic sauce over them. Top each serving with a few strips of basil. Serve at once.