Vegan/Vegetarian Thread (discussion, recipes, laughs)

[Linus]

As a vegan (and sometimes vegetarian -- we have slips off sometimes when tempted with things that we grew up on), I always look for new recipes and discussions on things vegetarian/vegan. I'm actually looking for a red velvet vegan recipe if anyone knows of a good tried-and-true recipe.

[GinaSofia]

*subscribing

Sorry,I don't have the recipe you're looking for but I'd love to add some new veggie recipes to my collection.Thank you for this thread.

[nycfem]

**subscribing**

[Mitmo01]

I love vegetarian food. I love tofu. Bread is my meat, i have tried and failed to achieve a vegetarian lifestyle but i love to eat and I have been introduced to many great vegetarian things. def subscribing

[Linus]

I think I found one. I'm going to make it this aft and surprise K with it. It calls for round pans but I'm going to see if I can find some heart-shaped ones at the dollar store.

[Linus]

I found it! And it was easy to make (although I had to adjust a couple of things: the store didn't have any vegan cream cheese and I forgot to get baking powder). It seems fine otherwise.

Here's the recipe (I'll post pictures once it's frosted and we've cut into it):

What you need:
2 C soy milk
2 t white or apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 C flour
2 C vegan sugar
4 T cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt

1/2 C vegetable oil
2 1/2 T unsweetened apple sauce
2 oz red food coloring
4 t vanilla extract

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 round cake pans. Set aside. Then, in a small mixing bowl, mix the soy milk with the vinegar and allow to curdle.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Once the soymilk has curdled, add the veg oil, food coloring, vanilla, and apple sauce to the milk and stir.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until there are no lumps and the batter color is blended thoroughly. Evenly distribute the cake batter into the 2 round baking pans and place them in the oven.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until completely done. You can use a toothpick to test whether or not the cakes are finished.

Once they are done, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool.

Use the following for the frosting:

What you need:
1 C vegan butter
1 C vegan cream cheese
4 t vanilla extract
8 C vegan confectioners sugar

Beat the butter, vanilla, and cream cheese until smooth. On a medium speed setting, mix in the sugar about 2 cups at a time. You don’t have to use all 8 cups, but I wouldn’t use more than 8. Refrigerate until its time to frost.

When you are ready to frost the cakes, make sure you have plenty of room on your counter top. I like to make this a 4-layer cake, and you can do this by cutting each cake in 2 with a serrated bread knife. You have to be very careful in doing this, because the layers will be thin, but it looks fantastic when where is a nice layer of frosting between each layer of cake.

Once you have done this, ice the top and the sides and you’re ready to go! Enjoy with a big scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream!

[Novelafemme]

Linus, I was a vegan for about 10 years and have many great tried and true vegan recipies...specifically baked goods and deserts. I would be more than happy to share them

[chefhottie25]

i am not vegan or vegetarian, but i do make a vegan chocolate cheesecake at the restaurant where i work. i wouldn't call it an easy recipe, but the work is not extremely difficult either. i will share it with y'all...it is a great dessert.
i have only made it in a 9-inch springform pan, so i am not sure how it turns out in a different pan.

For graham cracker crust:
1 1/4 cups chocolate or regular graham cracker crumbs (from nine 5-by 2 1/2-inch graham crackers)
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan buttery spread, melted and cooled, plus additional for greasing pan

For chocolate tofu filling:
2 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/3 cup water
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao), chopped
2 (1-pound packages silken tofu, drained
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2 (8-ounces) containers soy cream cheese at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt

preparation:

Make graham cracker crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in middle and lower third and put a baking sheet on lower rack. Flip bottom of springform pan so lip is facing down, then lock in place. Grease bottom and side of pan.

Stir together all crust ingredients, then press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes, then cool completely, about 45 minutes.

Make chocolate tofu filling:
Heat 1 cup sugar in a 1 1/2-to 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling pan occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber. Remove from heat and carefully stir in water (mixture will bubble up and steam and caramel will harden), then cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until caramel has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate until smooth. Cool fudge sauce slightly.

Purée tofu and cocoa in a food processor until smooth.

Beat soy cream cheese and remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy. At low speed, beat in tofu purée, vanilla, salt, and fudge sauce until incorporated.

Pour filling into crust and bake on middle rack until top of cake is shiny but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave cake in oven 1 hour more.

Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen, then cool completely in pan on rack (cake will continue to set as it cools). Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate. Bring to room temperature before serving if desired.

[squeak]

For those in LA:

Um.

LA VEGAN BEER FEST

11/6/10 at the Roxy in West Hollywood/Sunset Blvd.

If that wasn't enough incentive - Doomie's Homecookin' will be making a cameo. Folks, when I first visited LA a few years ago, after never getting to experience the joy of a fully vegan restaurant, I went to Doomie's in Chinatown. It was... amazing. A good 1/3 of the reason I decided to move to LA. Alas, they closed down and have been a mythical unicorn in the vegan underbelly of LA. They resurface at trendy overnight vegan parties and fundraisers and then vanish again. Oh, Doomie! I miss you! And that's why I'm going. And why you should, too.

xosqueak

[Kenna]

Can anyone help a Gal out?
I have 2 huge paper bags FULL of green tomatoes...if the plants survive the frost, I might have more later.... I need a really good recipe for Green Tomato Relish or Salsa that does not call for hot peppers or bell peppers.

We had dinner at Moe's one evening, and REALLY enjoyed their Relish/Salsa (not sure which it was, but it was YUMMY!!)... I hope to make something similar since it didn't burn my belly like regular salsa. I'd love to can or freeze some.

Calling all good cooks....
THANKS!!!

[Kenna]

Originally Posted by Sweet

Can anyone help a Gal out?
I have 2 huge paper bags FULL of green tomatoes...if the plants survive the frost, I might have more later.... I need a really good recipe for Green Tomato Relish or Salsa that does not call for hot peppers or bell peppers.

We had dinner at Moe's one evening, and REALLY enjoyed their Relish/Salsa (not sure which it was, but it was YUMMY!!)... I hope to make something similar since it didn't burn my belly like regular salsa. I'd love to can or freeze some.

Calling all good cooks....
THANKS!!!

*HAPPY DANCE!!! HAPPY buttwiggle DANCE!!!*
I found a fantastic recipe for Tomatillo Salsa Verde, where I used my green tomatoes instead of tomatillos. It turned out AMAZING, FANdamnTASTIC!!! Very yummy and I think even better than Moe's.

I "tweaked" a few things to get the spices "to taste", added a splash of apple cider vinegar, and I did finally settle to use a couple hot peppers. I'm so tickled with how it turned out!! I made three batches tonight for freezing...but my housemate said it won't be in the freezer for very long!! I have a lot more to make, but just wanted to report back and thank all those who gave me ideas.

It was SO EASY to make. I like it with Wheat Thins....
Here's where I found the recipe... http://www.shewearsmanyhats.com/2010...-verde-recipe/

[WolfyOne]

Torzelli (Deep-fried curly endive)
Recipe slightly adapted from Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen.
Serves 4-6.

1 large head of curly endive
Safflower oil (for deep frying)
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons water
3/4 cup unbleached flour (or more as needed for dipping)
Salt and pepper
Zest of two lemons

Wash endive thoroughly to remove any dirt. If it's a particularly large head of endive, cut it in half and store the rest for later use. Chop the endive roughly into approximately 3-inch pieces.

Drop endive into a pot of salted boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the leaves are slightly softened, but not wilted or mushy. Drain, remove excess moisture with a towel, and allow to dry.

Pour 2 inches of oil in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, beat eggs and water together in a bowl and set aside. Spread flour on a plate and set aside.

When oil is hot, dip endive pieces one at a time into egg wash, then dip in the flour. Slip battered endive into oil in batches and deep-fry for about 3-4 minutes, turning with tongs until golden.

Transfer to paper towels and allow to drain. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and lemon zest and serve immediately.

[kittygrrl]

fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 honey crisp apple
handful of fresh cranberries
handful of red grapes
slices of cucumber (with peel)
a small leaf of rainbow chard

It's not exactly green but even my S.O had to admit (altho it pained hym) it was actually good

[kittygrrl]

Just wanted to share what to do when your Kale/Swiss Chard goes a bit limp at the end of the week. Cut it under water, on the diagonal, remove any gone ick greenery and stick in a glass of cool spring water and it should perk up..this works with parsley too.

[SugarFemme]

There are plenty of recipes out there for mock chopped liver, but this one is mine. There really is no correct way of making it. Just depends on your taste.

4 cups Crimini or Portobello mushrooms cut into slices
1/2 cup shallots chopped fine
1 cup raw or roasted chopped pecans
1/8 cup plus 3 tablespoons EVO (For those of you who don't know-EVO is extra virgin olive oil)
Salt, pepper and Spanish smoked paprika to taste
Fresh finely chopped parsley

Saute mushrooms, salt, pepper and Spanish paprika to taste in 3 tablespoons EVO till soft. Remove from pan and put into food processor. The put a enough EVO in pan to saute shallots just until they are translucent. You don't want to burn them. Add to mushrooms in food processor. Add pecans and 1/8 cup EVO to food processor. Add more EVO if it gets too thick where it wont blend. Take some sort of greased mold or a bowl and put mix in there. Refrigerate over night. Remove when ready to serve, put a plate on top and then gently flip it over. Garnish with finely chopped fresh parsley Serve with crackers or pita bread. It is VERY yummy

[kittygrrl]

Raw Yule Log Recipe...
- Grind one cup of any kind of nuts in blender and put in bowl (We just used almonds).
- Add three tablespoons honey
- Add two tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
- Add two pinches of Celtic Sea Salt
- Add 3 medjool dates chopped finely
- Add any other finely chopped dried fruits if you like (goji berries, apricots, raisins, etc...)
- Add a teaspoon of orange zest (grated orange peel)
- Add several dashes of any of the Christmas Spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and/or cardamom (we just used cinnamon and nutmeg)
- Mix thoroughly in a bowl
- Roll into a log (the kind you burn in a fireplace)
- Pour 1/3 cup raw carob powder on to a plate and roll the log around in it
- Pour 1/2 cup dried-shredded coconut on to a plate and roll the log around in it
- Slice and serve
(Serves 4)

(Taken from The Garden Diet)


You're going to be surprised how really good it is.

[kittygrrl]

In my morning smoothie, I've started putting a spoonful of raw Tahini oMg..it is sensational!

[kittygrrl]

made these this weekned and they was awesome!

Recipe:

makes about 24

1 cup (packed) pitted medjool dates
1 cup chopped walnuts/pecans
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 small carrots, peeled and shredded
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut (for rolling)

Combine all ingredients (except coconut) in a food processor and pulse until mixed but not smooth. Taste and add more spices according to your tastes.

Spread the coconut on a plate

Moisten your hands so the mixture doesn’t stick. Pick up about 2 tsp at a time and roll into a ball between your hands. Roll in coconut and flatten slightly, then place on a plate. Repeat with remaining dough, then chill for at least an hour.

[from Cate's World Kitchen] great blog

[Greco]

Day 69 Day 2 of 5 on green juice

Today's green juice

kale lemon cilantro ginger
celery apple H20

mental clarity energy focus
emotional letting go continues

running/walking now to slow
down weight loss

shopping for new clothes
slowly...I don't like shopping

green juice is drinking the Sun.

Greco

[Licious]

Hi everyone!

I was lacto/ovo veg for over a decade and vegan for a few years. Missed chicken and eggs and dairy *nothing else really* and was eating it but seems am going back towards my veggie roots again for a variety of reasons.

Anyway, this is a great thread and I am subscribing!

Thanks everyone for sharing great recipes and ideas.