Recipe #15: Michigan Winter Beer Fest Snack Mix

Salty?  Yes.  Sweet?  Just enough.  Spicy?  Yep.  Healthy?  Well, not really but WAY better than chips or festival food.  I have packed a bunch of this yum-stuff up for the Winter Beer Fest tomorrow.

1 cup plain Cheerios (or use a generic version)

2 cups pretzel twists

1 cup salted peanuts

1 cup wasabi peas

1 cup dried cranberries 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Mix all ingredients in a large oven safe pot or baking dish.  Bake for 15-20 minutes then let cool.  Baking plumps up the cranberries and somehow makes the flavors go together even better.  Mix again and pour into a container with a tight fitting lid.  Easy! 

 

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Recipe #14: Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes

Warning: These are not like traditional pancakes.  They are not light and fluffy and overly sweet.  They are hearty and dense and filling.  They will also make you feel great, not bloated and headache-y with that icky throat feeling that you get from traditional pancakes with fake syrup.  Lemons and blueberries have been friends forever and when you put them together in this breakfasty treat they are truly bitchen.  This is another adaptation of a recipe from the Engine 2 Diet Book which itself was an adaptation of a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.   

Yay! Blueberry pancakes that WON'T make you feel like this.

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 c. cornmeal

2 cups almond milk

1/2 cup vanilla flavored soy yogurt

The juice and zest of 2 lemons

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen & thawed blueberries

Cooking spray

Real maple syrup

Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl and stir very well.  It will look weird and watery but it is supposed to.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl (if you have one with a pouring lip- use it) and stir very well to combine.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until there are no lumpy parts.  Keep in mind that cornmeal is very grainy and whole wheat flour is, y'know, brownish, so the batter is not going to have the same texture or color that you may be used to with traditional pancakes.  Do not panic about it, just fold in the blueberries and stir.  Spray a large skillet/frying pan with cooking spray and heat over a low-medium flame.  When a drop of water sizzles in the pan, it's go time.  Pour batter into center of the pan and swirl it around to make it thinner and even.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes until pancake is very easily lifted with a spatula--don't rush it or you will have a broken pancake.  Flip and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes.  Keep going until you have used up the batter.  Respray the pan as necessary.  If you want to serve them all at once, keep them warm by putting a glass plate in a 200 degree oven.  As you finish the pancakes, add them to the plate.  Serve with real maple syrup-- I know it is expensive but it is so much better (and better for you) than the fake stuff and you don't need very much at all to take these over the top.   

 

Recipe #13: President's Day Tempeh with Lentils and Barley

Hear ye, hear ye!  I declare this dinner to be AWESOME!

Folks, when you eat lentils or barley you are quite simply taking a bite out of history.  According to my sources, barley has been around since about 10,000 BC and archaeologists have discovered 10,000-year-old lentils in Greece.  Soooo old!  This recipe also includes tempeh, which is fermented soybeans.  So basically, tempeh is old before you even bring it home from the store!  OLD!  So, on this eve of President's Day 2011, let us honor history by eating some really old foods.  

1 package tempeh (8 oz)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup uncooked yellow lentils

1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley

3 carrots, peeled and shredded

1/3 c. minced red onion

1/2 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons Bragg's or tamari 

1 Tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce (I recommend Annie's Naturals)

1/4 teaspoon (plus an extra pinch) sage 

1/4 teaspoon (plus an extra pinch) thyme

Pinch rosemary

Black pepper

Pour broth into a large pot with carrots and onions.  Bring to a boil, add lentils and barley and 1/4 tsp each sage and thyme and the pinch of rosemary.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer uncovered for about 40-50 minutes until almost all liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender.  During the last 25 minutes of cooking time, get the tempeh going.  First, cut tempeh into very small chunks or just crumble it with your hands.  Steam tempeh in a covered steamer basket over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet and when a drop of water sizzles in the pan, add steamed tempeh chunks.     Stir fry the tempeh for about 5 minutes then add the Bragg's or tamari, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, pinches of thyme and sage and cracked fresh pepper.  Stir fry about 5 minutes more.  Serve tempeh on top of barley and lentil mixture.   A simple spinach and tomato salad with Three-Two-One Blast Your Face Off Dressing, is a nice compliment.   

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it".  ~Abraham Lincoln

       

 

           

Recipe #12: Chocolate mousse

Here is another recipe adapted from the Engine 2 book.  This is truly awesome and so easy!  The cinnamon was my touch.  I think adding a little natural peanut butter to the mix and then topping the mousse with sliced bananas would really take it over the top.  It is seriously outta sight just like this though.  Please note: it is important that you use silken soft (not firm) tofu otherwise you will have chunky mousse.  I used Mori Nu which is available at most grocery stores in the produce section.   

1 package silken tofu
2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 c agave nectar or pure maple syrup or a combination of both

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and break up tofu with a fork.  Beat with a hand held mixer on high until ingredients are well blended and there are no lumps.  Chill until ready to serve. Makes 4 servings.      

Recipe #11: Valentine's Day Chili

I didn't have dinner with huzbers on Valentine's Day since he was at work.  To be honest, we don't really care much about Valentine's Day.  If we do anything it usually involves something silly like giving each other joke presents (tacky light up roses from the gas station or something).  Yesterday turned out awesome though because huzbers made me dinner from my favorite cookbook Appetite for Reduction and it was waiting for me when I got home.  He even left little lime wedges out!  Adorable. 

Eating Chipotle Chili with sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts by yourself while watching Unites States of Tara is not most people's idea of romance but to me it pretty much ruled.  The recipe calls for crushed coriander seed.  He admitted that his first his plan was to smash the seeds with a hammer.  He ended up using a rolling pin instead.  

Yum! Not too shabby for someone who says they can't cook.

Recipe #10: Three Two One: Blast Your Face Off Dressing

You'll find this recipe in the Engine 2 Diet Book as "Beam Me Up, Scottie" Dressing.  Of course I don't know the Scottie it is named after so I don't get the inside joke.  You can call it whatever you want.  This is so easy I kinda feel like a fool for not coming up with it on my own!  I served it over a bean and brown rice salad that I took to my first ever vegan potluck (with strangers) last week.  I was a little nervous but everyone was really nice and the food was ridiculously good.  What a great experience to go somewhere and be able to try EVERYTHING without asking questions and not having to hear things like: "Whoops- that has beef broth in it, does that count as meat?" after you have started chowing down.     

3 parts Balsamic vinegar

2 parts Dijon mustard

1 part Agave nectar

Black pepper to taste 

Whisk it up.  If you want it a little thinner just add a few drops of water.  

You'll find more Engine 2 marinades, dressings etc. here. 

Recipe #9: Drunk and Lazy Chili

Last winter we brewed a smoked porter that so smoky we couldn't drink it.  Fortunately, we found some great ways to cook with it!  This is a lazy chili because there is little chopping, a lot of cans and only one pot.  The porter adds a great depth to what otherwise might be a pretty typical veggie chili.        

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can corn

3 cans chili ready chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon each:

                cumin

                chili powder

                Sriarcha hot sauce (optional)

                garlic powder

1/2 c. (4 oz) smoked porter (Stone Smoked Porter would be perfect)

10 oz of veggie sausage style crumbles (or microwave patties and break up into small pieces) 

1 red onion diced

Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast- optional 

Rinse and drain beans and corn.  Put all ingredients except porter into crock pot and stir well.  Add porter very slowly while stirring so it doesn't get too foamy.  Cover and cook on low for 3- 5 hours, stirring occasionally during cook time.  Stir one more time before serving and adjust seasonings.  Top with cilantro and serve with corn bread or chips if desired.