Recipe #22: Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Chutney

This soup will kick any other soup's ass anytime, anywhere, any place.  Coconut chutney is made with Serrano peppers--that little bit of heat is what makes this the most deliciously badass squash soup I've ever come across.          

1 large Butternut squash

1/2 red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press

1/2 Tablespoon Earth Balance vegan butter

3 Tablespoons Swad brand Coconut Chutney (available in the Indian section of most larger grocery stores or in any Indian Market) 

4 cups water 

1/2 Tablespoon sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut squash in half and place cut sides down in a large baking pan (or use two smaller pans) with about 3/4" water.  Roast for 45 min to 1 hour.  While squash is roasting, heat Earth Balance in a small frying pan and sautee onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until garlic is light brown.  Set pan aside.  Check squash after 45 minutes by pricking with a fork in several areas- it should be very soft all over before you take it out of the oven.  Let it cook longer if needed. When it is done, carefully remove squash  from the pan and let the halves cool down on a wire rack or large plate for about 20 minutes.  After they've cooled, place them on a large cutting board and peel off the skin  with a butter knife.  Remove seeds and stringy parts using a large spoon or an ice cream scoop.  Once peeled and de-seeded, cut squash into large chunks.  Put squash, cooked garlic and onion, chutney, salt, and 2 cups of water into a blender.  Blend until everything is combined and there are no chunky parts left.  Pour mixture into a large pot over a medium-low flame.  Add the remaining 2 cups of water and stir continuously until water is completely combined and the soup is heated all the way through.  Do a taste test and add some black pepper and a little more salt to taste.  Stir again.  

Congratulations! You just made a killer good soup.                  

Recipe #21: Ultimate Farmer's Market Pizza

Holy. Crap. 

I really didn't expect this pizza to turn out this awesome.  It was a wacky idea that somehow totally worked!  Basically, I took almost everything that I bought at the Fulton Street Farmer's Market yesterday and baked it on a pizza crust with a mashed bean spread instead of a traditional pizza sauce. Weird, huh?  

Here's the deal: 

1 large pre-made large pizza crust - I used Bova Bakery's Roasted Garlic crust

1 medium size leek, sliced

1 cup radicchio, shredded (It was so pretty I almost didn't want to chop it up--Trillium Haven Farm rules.)

1 1/2 cup kale leaves, torn into pieces

1 large tomato, diced (I used a cool-looking heirloom tomato)  

2 cloves garlic, put through a press or very finely minced

1 large carrot, shredded 

2 cans of beans, rinsed and well drained (I used 1 pinto and 1 garbanzo but 2 cans of cannellini beans would be great too)  

1-2 Tablespoon water or veggie broth 

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

1/2 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

sea salt

black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix together leeks, radicchio, kale, carrot, tomato, and garlic.  Add 1 tablespoon each olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.  Mix well to coat evenly.  Stir in oregano, sage, 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast, and salt and black pepper to taste.  Set aside.  In another large bowl, mix drained beans with 1 tablespoon each olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and nutritional yeast.  Mash bean mixture with a potato masher until no whole beans remain.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of the water or veggie broth while mashing to get mixture to a consistency that will make it easy to spread.  It may not be a pretty color, but it will end up getting covered up with the veggie mix so don't worry about that too much.   Spread bean mixture evenly over pizza crust using a rubber spatula.  Leave about 3/4 an inch of crust uncovered around the edge.  Stir your veggie mix once again and then spoon it evenly on top of the bean mixture. 

Carefully place your pizza on the middle oven rack and bake it for 10-12 minutes.  It's done when the crust is golden brown.  The veggies will still have a slightly raw flavor and be a little crunchy.    

I took this with my Blackberry so it is blurry and grainy but you get the idea.

   

Recipe #20: English Muffin Bread

Who bakes bread when it is 85 degrees out?  Apparently I do.  This bread is SO GOOD.  When you take a bite of this stuff when it is still warm and has a little vegan butter on it, you are totally going to freak out.  I feel really proud of myself when I bake something awesome.  I think it is because people who don't bake tend to be really impressed by it-- "You made this?!  Wow!"  This bread is sure to impress the pants off everyone you know.    

Of course there are many healthier breads out there that you could choose to bake instead of this one.  However, this is a great one to start with if you have never baked bread before and want to give it a try.  It is easy, there are only a few ingredients and all of them are cheap and easy to find.  Truth be told, this is an old Better Homes and Gardens' recipe, the only real change is substituting soymilk for dairy milk.  

Cornmeal 

Cooking spray

6 cups all-purpose flour 

2 packages active dry yeast 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

2 cups soymilk 

1/2 cup water 

1 Tablespoon sugar 

1 teaspoon salt 

Spray two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.  Lightly sprinkle the insides of the pans with cornmeal and shake the pans around so that the cornmeal coats the bottom and sides.  Set them aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir together 1/2 of the flour (3 cups), both packets of the yeast, and the baking soda.  Set the bowl aside.  In a medium saucepan, heat and stir soymilk, water, sugar, and salt over a low flame until just warm (about 5 minutes).  Stir the soymilk mixture into flour mixture and slowly add in the remaining 3 cups of flour and continue stirring until everything is well combined.  It should be thick and sticky (that's what she said). 

Pull apart the dough with your hands to divide it in half.  Plop each half into a loaf pan.  It is not going to look anything like bread at this stage.  Keep in mind that the dough will rise and fill up the pan eventually.  If it just looks like a blob in the middle of the pan right now, you are in good shape.  Sprinkle the tops with more cornmeal and set the pans side by side.  Find a clean kitchen towel and drape it over both of the pans.  This keeps the heat in and helps the yeast start the party that gets the dough to rise.  Leave the dough alone in a warm place for 45 minutes, resist the urge to lift the towel and peek at it while it is rising.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  After the rise time, take the towel off the pans and put them in the oven to bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove pans from the oven and turn them upside down onto a wire rack to get the loaves out.  I don't have a wire rack so I just used the bottom of a large colander and it worked just fine.   Let the loaves cool for a few minutes before slicing then it's yum-time.      

This recipe and this picture were shamelessly ripped off from bhg.com

    

Recipe #19: Sweet Corn Chowder with Cilantro

The time to buy corn is now!  Do it!  It is so cheap it is insane.  I paid 19 cents an ear!  Michigan sweet corn is so good that this recipe really doesn't need much else.  I think that the mixture of cooked and raw veggies in this soup really takes it over the top.  You will need a working blender and a pot big enough to boil 4 ears of corn at a time to pull this recipe off.  I know you can do it.      

 

4 ears of fresh sweet corn, husks removed

4 green onions, sliced thin

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 Tablespoon olive oil 

1/2 of a red pepper, diced

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 teaspoon salt

3- 31/2 cups plain soymilk

Put the ears of corn in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover them.  Add a little salt if you want.  Heat water to boiling and then cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  While the corn is cooking, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and add the green onions and garlic.  Sautee for 3- 5 minutes until they are soft then set them aside.  You can use the remainder of the corn cooking time to dice the red pepper and tomatoes.  

When the corn is done cooking, use tongs to remove the cobs from the pot and put them into a large colander in the sink.  Run cold water over the cobs until you are able to touch them with your bare hands without hurting yourself.  Once cool, set the cobs on a large cutting board and begin cutting off the cooked kernels with a sharp knife.  To do this, hold the corn vertically on the cutting board with the flat end of the cob on the board.  Run a knife down the length of the cob to remove the kernels.  If this makes you uneasy, try cutting them into a bowl or pan.   Put the kernels from three of the cobs into the blender but reserve the kernels from the fourth cob for later.  Add the cooked onions and garlic, half of the cilantro (about 1/4 cup), salt, lime juice, and 1 cup of soymilk to the blender.  Blend mixture for about 30 seconds (I used the "milkshake" setting on my crappy blender).  Add another cup of soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds.  Do a taste test and add some freshly ground black pepper if you want.  Add another 1/2 cup of soymilk and blend for about a minute more.  

Rinse out the pot that you used to boil the corn.  Set the pot on a burner over a low flame and pour the contents of the blender into the pot.  Stir in the diced tomatoes and red pepper, the reminder of the cilantro, and the reserved corn kernels.  Your mixture might be foamy from all the blending at this point but if you stir it slowly and heat it on low for about 20 minutes, it will calm down and the flavors will get a chance to blend together.  If the soup is thicker than you'd like, you can slowly add the remaining soymik (up to a cup) to get it to the consistency you'd like.  Continue stirring until it is heated all the way through and add more black pepper if you are feeling it.  Done!         

Recipe #18: Veggie Coney Dogs

I felt like making these just to be funny.  I grew up outside of Flint and worked at a Gyro and Coney Dog restaurant when I was 18.  I was already a vegetarian by then so I never understood how the people I waited on could order several Coney Dogs at a time, inhale them, and then order more!  People seriously go nuts for Flint Coney Dogs.  Most of the recipes for the Flint style Coney sauce call for ground beef and ground up Koegel hotdogs (ground hot dogs on top of whole hot dogs, weird, huh?).  Other recipes call for ground up cow kidneys and heart cooked in lard...a true nightmare for vegetarians (and even some die hard meat eaters)!  The most famous place in Flint for an authentic Flint style Coney Dog is Angelo's.  You are not likely to ever find a Veggie Coney Dog on the menu at Angelo's and some Flint folks might even take a swing at you for suggesting such a thing.  Angelo's has been serving Coney Dogs in the same location in the same way since 1949.  People get really serious about this stuff! 

 

These were fun and so easy to make.  They aren't the healthiest thing you could have for dinner but they are really tasty and WAY better for you than the original version (duh).  If I counted right, there have less than 300 calories and about 7 grams of fat a piece.  I should note that traditional Flint Coney "sauce" is more of a dry and crumbly meat topping- my version is more saucy.   

Makes 2 Veggie Coney Dogs 

1/2 Tbsp Earth Balance spread

Let's face it: they aren't much to look at.

1 c. Frozen vegetarian ground meat style crumbles   

1/4 c. Tomato Sauce

1/8 tsp Garlic powder

1/4 tsp Chili powder   

Pinch black pepper

1/2 tsp Prepared yellow mustard 

2 Veggie hot dogs (Smart Dogs or Yves' Good Dogs are both good options)

2 whole wheat buns

Diced white onion-about 1/4 c. 

More mustard

Melt Earth Balance in a frying pan over medium heat and add crumbles.  Sautee until warm and heated through.  Add tomato sauce, spices, and the 1/2 tsp of the mustard and stir well.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, prepare your dogs according to package directions- grilling is the preferred method.   

Put cooked dogs in buns and cover each with half the sauce.  Top with diced onions and more mustard.  Eat 'em up and then plan to stay away from other humans until your breath recovers! 

Recipe #17: Carob Chip and Peanut Cookies

You will want to eat all of these but you really shouldn't-- these are 100% vegan but not a diet food AT ALL.  This recipe was adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  The batter is pretty oily- I thought I screwed it up but they turned out awesome.  There are a lot of adjectives out there that are used to describe cookies--- gooey, moist, delectable, lip smacking, sinful etc.  These are words that make me uncomfortable.  All you need to know is that these cookies rule.       

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
2/3 c. oil (I used Zoye -made locally in Zeeland, MI!)
1/4 c. plain rice milk 

1 Tablespoon tapioca flour (I found it at Harvest Health)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour plus a little more if needed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 c. vegan carob chips

1/4 c. lightly salted dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and trim to fit.  

Mix together sugars, oil, rice milk and tapioca flour in a large mixing bowl.  Use a fork to mix it up really well and break up any brown sugar chunks.  Stir constantly--this may take up to 5 minutes.  The mixture should look like dark brown caramel and the oil should be well incorporated.  This step is slightly annoying but really important.  

Mix in the vanilla.  Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt.  Keep stirring.  Mix in the other 1/2 c. of flour.  If mixture seems too runny, add a little more flour--about 1-2 Tablespoons should do it.  Stir in the carob chips and peanuts. 

Grab small handfuls of dough and roll into balls slightly smaller than ping pong size (perhaps eyeball size?  Sorry, that's gross).  Place balls onto cookie sheets in rows.  Flatten the dough balls slightly with the back of a spoon.  Bake for about 8-9 minutes.  They firm up as they cool so don't overcook them even if they look mushy.  Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before handling then boom! It's party time.    

Recipe #16: Roasted Veggies and Garlic

Spring is almost here so it is a good time to pretend that you are a person who has their act together by cleaning out your fridge and cupboards.  Roasting is an easy way to use up veggies that are slightly past their prime.  I served these up with some split yellow peas (chana dal) with curry and some steamed spinach with lemon.  It was damn near outta sight.  

Handful of baby carrots

2 parsnips (peeled and chopped)

1 sweet potato (peeled and chopped)

5 cloves of garlic (whole,unpeeled)

sea salt and cracked black pepper

(Use whatever you have- potatoes, mushrooms, onions etc.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and trim to fit.  Lay out your vegetables on the sheet so they are not touching.  Spray generously with olive oil cooking spray or drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 45-60 minutes- turn them over as best as you can about midway through cooking time.  When they are done, take the pan out and let cool for a few minutes until garlic is cool enough to touch.  The roasted garlic will fall right out of the skin- no need to peel it- just put it through a press and mix it up with the veggies.