Beet & Bulgur Salad

I've been quite attuned to the New York Times "Dining & Wine" section for a variety of reasons lately, and one trend I've noticed is a lot of healthy (and tasty!) vegan recipes. I've been having a lot of fun trying some of them out.

This recipe  for beet & bulgur salad was featured in an article by Melissa Clark in the Restaurant Takeaway section. The recipe is from Bill Telepan of Telepan Restaurant on the Upper West Side. It immediately caught my eye, particularly because I was looking for a way to incorporate the last of my winter CSA beets into a spring-appropriate dish.

Never heard of bulgur? It's a whole-wheat with a high nutritional value, often used in Middle Eastern cooking. Beet juice is used to infuse the bulgur, making for a truly bright and beautiful salad!




Beet & Bulgur Salad
What You'll Need:
1/2 pound beets
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (plus more, as needed)
Black pepper (as needed)
1 cup medium bulgur wheat*
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons chopped dill
3 tablespoons chopped parsley


What You'll Need to Do:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place some foil under the beets and drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, a couple of tablespoons water and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover beets with foil, place in a baking pan and bake until tender when pierced with a knife (30 to 60 minutes, depending on how small or large they are). Allow the beets to cool, then peel and dice.

Place bulgur in a large bowl (or heat proof container).

Add the beets and two cups of water to a medium pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Strain the beets and reserve the liquid. Take 11/2 cups of the beet liquid and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Pour over the bulgur. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap (or tight lid) and let sit until liquid is absorbed, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare your beet vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard and a large pinch each salt and pepper. Whisk in remaining 1/3 cup olive oil and the canola oil; add more salt and pepper if needed. Add beets to a blender, and pour dressing over them. Pulse until the mixture forms a coarse purée.

Once bulgur has absorbed all of the beet liquid you had previously added (above), add half of the beet vinaigrette to the bulgur and toss well. If bulgur seems dry, add a little more dressing, to taste. Toss in parsley and dill and more salt and pepper if needed. Serve or refrigerate for up to 2 days.



My Thoughts:
This dish makes more beet vinaigrette than you'll actually need to dress the bulgur.  You can add the remaining beet vinaigrette to salads or even spread a small amount as a bit of a beet relish onto a sandwich, if you're feeling adventurous.

Although I roasted the beets myself (and they were delicious!), you could buy pre-cooked beets if you are looking to save some time (just skip the first paragraph of the directions above).

I've been experimenting with lots of beet recipes this season. In the fall and winter, roasting is one of my go-tos. Before tackling this recipe, I tried a stellar recipe for beet burgers with lentils and brown rice, from the Post Punk Kitchen. My boyfriend was a bit hesitant, as he's not usually a fan of beet burgers, but he and our omnivorous dinner guest both devoured their burgers!

A final note:
*I used coarse bulgur wheat for this salad since my local supermarket did not have a "medium" grain. It worked great!

Making a Cookbook

Looking for a way to share your new favorite recipes with your friends or family?

Last year, when my brother began eating a vegan diet for health reasons, I wanted more than anything to be able to share some of my favorite recipes with him. Sure, I could have just emailed him a few...but those would easily have been lost in the email netherverse. And besides, I wanted to create something more concrete and special, a true cookbook that he could use for years to come.

I discovered the Tastebook site somewhat by accident, but was thrilled to discover that it had everything I was looking for. On Tastebook, you can start by choosing a theme for your book (I went with "Meatless Masterpieces"), and the site will create a template with recipes that fit within that theme. You can choose to include all or only some of their suggestions, and add as many of your own recipes as you like as well.



If you've been using a recipe manager like Paprika, let's say, it's very easy to copy and paste your own recipes into Tastebook and include them in your book. Tastebook includes wonderful images for you to use with their suggested recipes, and they make it very easy to upload your own images as well. The site also allows you to save your recipes in a personal online database, so that you can easily access them whenever you like. With links to the Food Network and Epicurious cooking sites, among others, they offer a wide range of truly excellent recipes for you to comb through.

You can organize and insert your recipes as you'd like. The book comes with suggested categories which are separated into sections with tabbed dividers; you can organize and rearrange these as you see fit. You can also easily generate a table of contents, and create a dedication page, if you'd like.

The book itself can be on the pricey side--if you go with their suggested book it will be $39.95. They do, however, offer the option to order pages individually which can save you some money. If you order more than one book at a time they will also discount the price. And if you join the site (it's free) they often have promotions around major holidays, etc. The quality is truly excellent, and with their "binder style" presentation, and the inclusion of several blank pockets in the back of the book, you can add recipes as you like (the book will store up to 100 recipes comfortably).

I think this is a great gift idea for birthdays, Mother's Day, etc. My brother couldn't believe how professional the cookbook looked, and neither could I!

Soups

Looking for some hearty soup ideas to see you through these last few chilly evenings?

I've recently posted a couple of recipes for some asian soups (miso and asian noodle), but a great way to add thickness and heartiness to your soup stocks is to simply infuse them with lots of veggies!

I have been experimenting behind the scenes with a couple of different ideas, and although I haven't put together a post just yet, I'll start with these photos and suggestions to offer some inspiration!

If you're looking for a recipe to follow, I would recommend this carrot bisque from Vegan with a Vengeance:

This was one of the first straight vegetable soups I'd ever tried making. I have to admit that many years ago I was a bit doubtful about the idea of a bisque without dairy, but the coconut milk that this recipe calls for adds just the right amount of richness, while the rest of the soup's complex flavors mask any trace of actual coconut flavor. 

If you're looking for something even heartier, look no further than Veganomicon's Baked Potato Soup.

With lots of kale, and potatoes prepared three different ways, this soup is truly a whole meal unto itself.

As for my own experiments, I've been dabbling with all kinds of variations.

Earlier in the winter I made a broccoli soup with a bit of jalapeño cashew cheese infused into it! It may sound like a bizarre combination, but a spicy broccoli-cheese soup (with a little daiya cheddar) was actually quite delicious. I'll try to post the recipe for this soon (unfortunately my notes were lost, and I haven't had the chance to re-make it).



I also made some orange carrot ginger soup (following a recipe that came with my Vitamix). It was an intriguing combination, but I tried substituting clementines for the orange and this wasn't such a success...the flavor wasn't quite as strong as the orange. Also, after about a day or so the soup developed a very acrid flavor, not so great. Here's a picture anyhow; I have to say it did have a really great thick and almost frothy texture, and I'd like to experiment with it some more:



Adding a little bit of fruit to your soup (like citrus or apples) can provide a nice subtle contrast to the rest of your flavors.

More on soups to come...and soon enough I'll delve into some lighter, "summer" ideas...

Miso Soup with Udon Noodles

When I was in college one of my favorite things to prepare was udon noodle soup (usually the instant kind), with some tofu, enoki mushrooms, and an egg thrown in. The instant packets available at the supermarket typically contain fish, and aside from that are filled with all kinds of things that aren't altogether too healthy. These days I like to make my udon soup from scratch. For a little added flavor and substance in my broth, I just add a little miso.

Miso Soup with Udon Noodles
What You'll Need:
8 cups water
6 tbsp white miso
1 bunch baby bok choi (or pak choi), sliced thinly (you can include both stalks and leaves)
4 scallions, sliced thinly
1 14 oz. package firm or extra-firm tofu
20 oz. udon noodles, prepared according to package directions
1 tbsp sesame oil
Asian hot sauce (like Sriracha, optional)
white or black pepper, to taste

What You'll Need to Do:
Put your water in a large pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Add in the miso, stirring until it is well dissolved (be sure not to boil the miso!). Add in the bok choi and scallions, and allow them to simmer and soften for approximately 10-15 minutes. While the vegetables simmer, chop your tofu into 1/2-inch cubes. After the bok choi stalks are sufficiently soft, add in you tofu and noodles, and stir in the sesame oil. Season to taste with pepper, and hot sauce, if desired.

My Thoughts:
This is a great, super-simple soup base, and you can throw anything in that you like! I used extra-firm tofu because that's what I had on hand, but it's especially good with firm silken tofu. You can also use red or brown miso for a stronger flavor (white miso is the most mild). I'd also recommend trying this soup with seaweed (just simmer it in the water first thing, for about 5 minutes, before adding the rest of the ingredients) and enoki mushrooms.

Dinner featuring "Green Cheese"

Looking for a nice dinner idea for next weekend? My suggestion here is a bit involved, but all of the recipes are actuality quite straightforward. The cheese and bruschetta can be prepared in advance, and the gnocchi recipe I went with was very simple!

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, so I thought I'd try a green twist on some cashew cheese!


This is an adaptation of the recipe from the Fork & Beans blog, which has some really terrific gluten, egg, and dairy-free recipes.

I followed the recipe on the site, leaving out the sun-dried tomatoes, and adding some pesto and spinach for color (I used about four leaves of each, but you could add a bit more for an even deeper green color). I lined the bottom of a ramekin with plastic wrap, then added some of the pine nut pesto, as well as chopped rosemary and thyme (this layer became the top once released from the ramekin). I added a bit more pine nut pesto towards the bottom, and topped with a thin layer of cheese. I found that the original pesto recipe called for too much salt; I would have used just 1/4 tsp rather than 1 tsp. Otherwise, it was perfect!

Although the green cheese was my "St. Patrick's Day dish..." I actually used it to accompany an Italian meal. It was a great appetizer! It went along perfectly with some bread and bruschetta (I can try to post a recipe for this sometime in the future--but it was just two tomatoes, half an onion, some basil, garlic, salt and pepper!).

For the main course I made gnocchi, along with some garlic spinach.

If you're looking for a gnocchi recipe, you can try VeganYumYum. She has a particularly good recipe for a thyme vinaigrette and lemon cashew cream. Although I made the cream and vinaigrette, I actually tried the gnocchi recipe from the Candle 79 Cookbook this time around. The recipe was fantastic: quite quick and very easy to follow. It really just involves baking your potatoes, mashing them, throwing in some flour, oil, and salt, and then shaping. Then you just put them in some boiling water for a few minutes and you're good to go!

The gnocchi were delicious--light and (like all good gnocchi) pillowy.

And for dessert? I tried the tea-poached pears with chocolate sauce from Veganomicon. This recipe was also very easy (pretty much just soak 'em in tea and sugar!)--next time I'd love to serve them with some ice cream!

Creamy White Pasta with Crispy "Ham"

Although it's somewhat rare for me, I do occasionally find myself craving a creamy white pasta sauce. There are several different avenues to go down if you're in the mood for a rich vegan pasta with white sauce. I tend to find that sauces with a nut base are the most satisfying (and protein-filled!). I decided the other night to use a cashew cream sauce. Sound crazy? I promise that once you infuse it with some sautéed onions and garlic (and a few other ingredients), you'll be pleasantly surprised with this rich, flavorful sauce!


Creamy White Pasta with Crispy Fried "Ham"
What You'll Need:
2/3 cup raw cashews (soaked for 2 hours*)
olive oil for frying (about 2 tbsp)
4 slices of vegan sliced deli ham, cut into 1/2" squares (optional**)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 cup unflavored almond milk
1 tbsp + 1tsp lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)***
several leaves basil (optional)
nutritional yeast and toasted walnuts (for topping, optional)
1 lb of your favorite pasta (I like fusilli for this recipe)

What You'll Need to Do:
Prepare pasta until just al dente (then drain, and place back in the pot). Meanwhile, prepare your sauce!

First place about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, and add in your chopped ham. Fry over medium-low heat until just starting to crisp up, about 3 minutes. Remove ham from the pan, and add the onion into the oiled pan, raising the heat to medium-high. Add a bit more oil if needed. Sautée the onions and garlic until the onions soften and just begin to turn golden, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool down.

Put your cashews and almond milk into the blender and blend until relatively smooth. Add the onions and blend until no chunks remain (if the onions are still warm you may need to stop and release the steam while blending so that your lid doesn't pop off!). Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and about 1/2 tbsp of the ham. Blend. Give the sauce a taste and add a bit more salt and pepper, if needed. Add about 5 leaves of basil, and pulse a few times to chop it up a bit and disperse it into the sauce.

Add the sauce to your drained pasta and heat until warm. Top with chopped basil, a dash of nutritional yeast, and toasted walnuts, or any combination of the three!


Tips and Tricks
*I recently invested in a Vita-Mix blender. When I say invested, I mean invested. These incredibly powerful blenders are also incredibly expensive! If, however, you're a very dedicated cook (particularly one who likes to turn whole nuts, vegetables or fruits into liquid form), it may be worth the money. The few people I know who have them can't stop singing their praises. They come highly recommended in practically every vegan cookbook I've come across, and I have to say I have not been disappointed. If you have a high-powered blender like this (the Vitamix has 2hp!), you don't need to soak nuts, or worry about blending hot things, it's literally made for this type of thing. If, however, you do not have a high-powered blender there are plenty of ways to do (most) everything you can with a high-powered blender. When processing nuts, for instance, just soak them in water (in a non-plastic container) for a short while before blending. About 2 hours should be more than enough, but with cashews, even 20 minutes can do the trick.

**I was craving a pasta dish from my childhood when this recipe came to mind. That original dish had ham in it, and I love the way the saltiness of the ham plays off of the smooth, mild taste of the white sauce. I also like to throw a bit of ham into the sauce itself for a little more depth of flavor.  Not everybody likes these processed vegetarian deli meats, however. If you want an alternative, you could easily use tempeh bacon instead. If you're looking for a deli meat substitute, though, I do recommend the Lightlife and Tofurky brands (I love the hickory smoked Tofurky deli slices!). For this recipe I used Lightlife vegetarian ham.

***What is nutritional yeast? Just what it sounds like...yeast (often infused with a B-vitamin complex)! It is usually sold in flake (or powder) form, and can be found in the bulk food section of most natural food stores. It has a cheesy taste to it, and is great on top of (or in) pizza or pasta sauce. You can add it to sauce in much higher quantities to really impart a cheesiness. In this recipe it adds just a little extra flavor, but is barely detectable, and can be omitted if you don't have any on hand. I hope to write more about it in the future, as it really makes a great addition to any vegan diet, but in the meantime, you can read more about it here.

Bon appétit!

Roasted Asparagus, Pine Nut, and Farfalle Pasta

VegNews recently posted a recipe for a Quick Asparagus Pasta. The relatively short grocery list (and especially the pine nuts!), instantly caught my eye.

I ended up making a few changes to amp up the flavors a bit. I added a few dashes of sage and a little bit of Italian vinegar at the end.

I made one particular change that I thought made quite a difference: instead of steaming the asparagus, I roasted it! Does that take the easy out of things? I don't think so.

Never roasted asparagus? Now you've got an excuse to try!

Easy Roasted Asparagus
What You'll Need:
1 bunch asparagus (about 1 lb)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp ground pepper
(if you're using this as a side dish, I'd add a few tbsp of some freshly chopped herbs, like thyme or rosemary)

Preheat the oven to 450F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Chop your asparagus however you'd like it (mine were in 1/4 inch pieces for the pasta, but you could do wholes spears for a side dish), being sure to trim off the tough end of the asparagus (the bottom 1 1/2 inches or so), and arrange on the sheet. Sprinkle the vinegar over the asparagus along with the spices, and toss to coat. Roast the asparagus for about 10 minutes, rotating the spears about half way through. Cook them until tender (but be careful not to overcook!).