Vegan Cheesecake á la Ala (with bonus vegan whipped cream!)

So, my coworker-slash-friend is a bit of a fitness fan. She's tiny but can probably break me in half. She's known for finding ways to sneak good for you things into stuff that's typically not so good for you. Anyway, today's recipe is brought to you by her. I made this the other day for a vegan potluck and it was gone before I could get a picture. I'm hoping to make it again soon because it was pretty damn tasty and tis the season for eating ALL THE BERRIES. So, once I have a pic I'll add it here. 

Edit: I've now made this a couple of times, and I've changed the recipe to reflect my tweaks. Mostly just adding more fruit.

Vegan Lemon-Berry Cheesecake á la Ala

• 1 graham cracker pie crust (store bought or home-made)
• 1.5 cup silken tofu (because I like to fill that crust ALL the way up)
• 1.5 cups strawberries, fresh or thawed frozen
• 1 cup mixed berries (I used blueberries and raspberries)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a food processor, combine silken tofu, mixed berries and strawberries. Process until smooth. Scrape down the sides a few times to make sure everything is combined.

2) Add cornstarch and lemon extract, then blend until smooth. 

3) Pour in the sugar and combine until smooth.

4) Pour the tofu/berry mixture into the pie crust. Put the pie into the heated oven and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. 

5) Chill for at least 5 hours, then slice and serve! Feel free to garnish with vegan whipped cream.

Vegan Whipped Cream

Take a can of coconut milk (full fat) and put it in the fridge overnight or the freezer for an hour (try not to shake it up before that if you can avoid it) and then open it and just use the top layer. It should be pretty separated and you don't want the watery part. Use an electric mixer to whip it until it's fluffy. Add any flavor extracts or some powdered sugar, or just use as is.

Our CSA is BACK! (aka Thai Chicken over salad with Pea Shoots)

Hurray and huzzah! Our CSA is back in action. It being early yet, we mostly got greens, but you all know how I feel about greens. :) Carrying on with the trend of getting at least one thing I'm confused about each time, I have now made the acquaintance of pea tendrils aka pea shoots. They sound tiny like sprouts, but they're more like a bunch of spinach. The internet tells me you can eat them raw or cooked and that they're delicious. The internet never lies, obviously, so they were definitely meeting their demise in dinner the very night we received them. Struggles and I had a thing to go to, and my errands took longer than expected, so rather than the elaborate thai chicken stir fry over mixed sautéed greens I had planned on, I opted for this quick and dirty salad version. This time the only thing I used from the CSA was the pea shoots but I'm thinking about all those greens languishing in the fridge for dinner later...

Not my best photo but it's all I got.

Thai Chicken over salad with Pea Shoots

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
• 3 tablespoons thai chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons canola oil 
• 1 heart of romaine, rough chopped
• small handful pea shoots/tendrils, rough chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, rough chopped
• 2-3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch green onions, diced

(in retrospect, the bottom of the salad was a tiny bit dry, so I would probably mix up a little more of the sauce I used for the chicken as a dressing.)

1) Mix chili sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and canola oil in medium bowl til well blended. Drop in chicken strips and stir until it they're coated. Let marinate for 10-15 minutes.

2) In the meantime, prep your salad bowls. I put romaine in the bottom first. Then I put the chopped peppers and mushrooms around the sides. Pile the pea shoots in the middle.

3) Heat up a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until done but still juicy. This took 10-15 minutes-ish.

4) Arrange the chicken on top of the pea shoots and sprinkle the green onions on top. Eat it way too fast.

Uncle's Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Ah the holidays. All that stress and eating like you're actually going into hibernation! In all seriousness, I'm not particularly religious but for reasons too complicated to go into here, I do enjoy the holidays. For me it's an excuse to get together with my friends and family and make a big mess of delicious things. Feeding people is, for me, a sign of affection. So, if I've cooked for you, it means something. 

Today's recipe is one that gets me right in the feels and makes me feel like I'm not 3,300 miles away from home. It's my Uncle's homemade cranberry sauce with orange. Now, I know some people don't like orange in their cranberry sauce because it's easy for the sharp citrus to mask the wonderful tart and sweet of the cranberries. Uncle's secret is using the fruit of the orange, as opposed to dumping a bunch of zest in there. The result is much more subtle and complementary. I love this stuff and will keep it in the fridge as long as humanly possible and put it on everything. Toast, sandwiches, ice cream- go crazy! 

(The raw materials.)

• 1lb (4 cups) cranberries washed and inspected (fresh is best)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 whole orange (peeled, deseeded, food processed to mush)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Sprinkle of cinnamon

1) Bring sugar and water to a boil.
2) Add cranberries, orange, and cloves.
3) Simmer over high flame stirring frequently.
4) When the berries start to pop then you're getting there. 

(I know you can't hear it, but they ARE popping. Trust me.)

5) When they stop/ slow down it pot will foam up. (I didn't get a picture of this because it happened REALLY suddenly.)
6) Turn heat off and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir and let cool before storing.

A couple notes:
- You can add chopped nuts for a variation. 
- If you're using frozen berries then you pretty much will have to blend the sauce, either in a blender or using an immersion blender.

Fall Veggie & Sausage Sauté

Have I mentioned lately how much I love getting a CSA? Because boy howdy do I love it. I'm already despondent thinking about trying to get anywhere near the quality at the market once the CSA shuts down for the season. This dish was, yet another, example of "what can we make with what we have on hand?" As I was eating it I realized that, sausage aside, this flavorful dish was actually really healthy. No butter, no cheese, only a handful of pasta to the mound of sauté... this could become a recurring guest on our table.

A couple of notes: the squash I roasted a couple days prior and put in the fridge. I under-roasted it slightly so it would stand up to being sautéed without becoming mush. Also, the sauteé is hefty and filling, so you could forget the pasta base entirely if you wanted to avoid carbs. Me, I like starchy bases, so it stays :) The large sausage links I bought at McKinnon's, a local meat shop. Struggles and I have been loving their garlic-cheese ones for just about everything. (There'll be another post about mushroom soup and how I punched it up the second time around with these delicious meat tubes.) I pre-cooked the sausages a bit so they'd hold their shape when I sliced them. Oh, and as always, anything marked with a * came from the CSA!

(so good, even the picture makes me want to eat it again)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 large red onion, large dice
• 1/3 medium butternut squash, roasted and cut into inch cubes*
• 3 small bell peppers, rough chopped*
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4" half rounds*
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1.5-2" pieces
• 3 large sausage links, slightly precooked and cut into 1/4" slices (see notes above)
• 1.5 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• salt & pepper

• 1/2 pound pasta, cooked and tossed with:
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme

1) Olive oil, garlic, and red onion go right into the pan to sauté over medium heat until they're translucent. Throw the not-entirely-cooked sausage medallions in there. (I'm using a LARGE, flat bottomed skillet, by the way.)

2) After 2-3 minutes, toss in the zucchini, peppers and asparagus, along with the spices. Cover. Open and stir every 90 seconds or so until the asparagus is BRIGHT green.

3) Push everything around to the sides, leaving an empty spot in the middle of the pan. Fill the empty spot with butternut squash cubes. Cover and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Open and stir very gently so you don't squish the squash.

4) Serve over pasta. Dust with parmesan, if you want.

So we're trying to eat healthier AND more frugally

Struggles and I spent a week in the desert recently, followed by a week in my beloved Portland. If you've never been to PDX, the most you know is probably from that one show or the apparently unrequited love the New York Times has for the city of roses. At any rate, while Portland is a mecca for vegans and vegetarians, we also really REALLY love meat. And we do it well. Our time there was thusly summed by Struggles, "Every day we ate until we hated ourselves. And then we ate some more." So, upon our return to the East, we agreed that frugal and healthy was the plan. We're still getting our farm share, so that's a big help. I'm a protein machine though, so eggs and beans are about to be my best friends. Here's round one.

A few words about this frittata. You can really put whatever you want in it. That's kind of the beauty of something like this. Also, if anyone says "Oh that's like a crustless quiche" punch them square in the mouth. By definition they are the same thing except for the crust issue. Anyway, I used our big ass cast iron skillet for this, which is the way to go if you've got one. In any case be sure that your skillet can go from stove to oven without a meltdown. I ended up just serving this with corn on the cob, but next time I'm definitely having some sort of greens on the side. I had a kale caesar salad in Portland I've been itching to mimic, so maybe that. 

Veggie Frittata with a Kick
(things with an asterisk are from our farm share!)

• 2-3 tablespoons oil (if you're using a well seasoned cast iron you can err on the conservative side)
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot diced*
• 1 medium bell pepper, large chop*
• 3-4 white or crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 a small zucchini, in thin half rounds*
• 1/2 a small yellow squash, in thin rounds
• 1 medium-large red potato, scrubbed and sliced thinly*
• 12 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1 medium tomato, sliced*

1) Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the carrots; cook for another 5. Next are the pepper, mushrooms, squash. Sauté until the carrots are not crunchy, but not total mush, another 5 minutes-ish. Undercook them just a little because baking will finish them off.

2) Turn heat down to low. Scoop half of the pan's contents out and level the rest. Put a layer of potatoes down. Don't make it a totally solid layer, just scatter them around. Put the rest of the sautéed mixture on top, followed by the rest of the potatoes.

3) Beat the eggs with the spices thoroughly. Turn off the stove. Gently pour the egg in, make sure to get it all around. If it's trapped and pooled in one area gently move the pan back and forth to help it even out. With the amount of veggies I had, the egg *almost* covered them. I had to poke a few potato slices into submission.

4) Lay the tomato rounds on top all pretty like.

Before the oven. Not pictured: my skeptical face that it'll look this nice when it comes out.

5) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. You want the egg to be totally set, but not dried out.

6) Some schools of thought on frittata demand that you flip the finished product out of the skillet onto a platter for serving. Mine looked so pretty on top that I skipped that. I cut wedges with a sharp knife and just used a cake/pie serving spatula to get it out. Garnish with grated parmesan if you like.

Holy shit. Look at the glory!

Food Dreamin': Rice and Bacon and Greens, Oh My!

Struggles and I have been getting a weekly farm share. This has been all sorts of interesting. For one, it's a LOT of veggies to consume on a weekly basis. 

For another, there's things in there that I'm totally clueless about what to do with (or don't even know what it is. I'm looking at you, kohlrabi.)  Anyway. We always get tons of greens. I *love* greens. Kale is probably my favorite, but I've yet to meet a green I don't like. Proper usage/preparation of said greens are key though.

So, the other night I had a food dream. This is pretty rare for me. In fact I can't even think of the last time I ate in a dream. But this came to me fully formed. It was so beautiful, I knew that it was going to be dinner. A savory rice pilaf type base, a beautiful emerald nest of greens, onions and bacon all topped with a blindingly bright poached egg. In fact, it looked like this:

A note, there are a lot of awesome greens in this dish, but other than that it's not really super healthy. You can certainly make it so (see ingredient notes) but the way I initially envisioned and prepared it is with emphasis on what sounded awesome. I wanted something kinda pan-Asian, but I have little experience there, so I just seasoned simply and put an emphasis on toasted sesame oil. Also of note is the punch in the greens from the crushed red pepper. It was definitely noticeable, but not too much for my less-spicy palate. Your mileage, as usual, may vary. Finally, anything with a * next to it means it was from the farm share. Eat local!

Rice Pilaf:

• 2 cups long grain white rice (Could sub brown, for healthier option.)
• 4 cups liquid (I used 3 cups water, 1 cup chicken broth. You might want veggie. Always go low sodium if using pre-made broth.)
• 3 cloves garlic, small diced
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup carrot, diced*
• 2 tablespoons butter (Could use some sort of oil, olive, etc.)
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• pinch kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated garlic (Why? When I taste tested at the end, it seemed bland.)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1) Sauteé the garlic, onion and carrot in the butter over medium heat, along with the spices, until the aromatics are translucent.
2) Turn up the heat to medium high and add the rice. Toast for 1-2 minutes.
3) Add the liquid. Bring to a boil. Cover and turn down to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the water is all absorbed.
4) After removing from heat, stir in the sesame oil.

Sautéed Greens with Bacon:

• 6-8 cups assorted greens* (Seems like a lot, but they cook way down. I used mostly mizuna, along with some red chard and kale.)
• 1/4 cup cippolini onions, sliced* (Including the green tops!)
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter (Again, could use some sort of oil.)
• 1/2 lb bacon, cut into 1-2 2inch pieces)
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper 
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup chicken broth (or water)

1) In large, flat-bottomed skillet, over medium-high heat, fry up bacon, along with pepper and granulated garlic. (I'm all about flavoring my bacon.) You DON'T want it super crispy. Remove cooked bacon with slotted spoon to drain on paper towel and drain off most of the fat.

2) Add onions, sliced garlic, and crushed red pepper to the pan and sauté over medium low heat until translucent. (Don't burn them!)

3) Add the bacon back in. Turn back up to medium heat.
4) Carefully pile the greens in, then add the chicken broth. Cover and do not disturb for 2 minutes
5) Take off the lid and stir the greens. I found it easiest to do this with tongs. Sautée for several (5ish) minutes, until the greens are bright and wilted.
6) During the last minute or so, add in the sesame oil.

Poached Egg:

• 1 egg, cracked into a small dish
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• medium saucepan with 4 inches of water

(I literally hadn't poached an egg since home ec class in high school, so I'm going to write out how I did it, in case you're in the same boat.)

1) Add vinegar to pan with water and bring up to *almost* boiling. It should be at that stage where the entire botton and sides of the pan are covered in tiny little bubbles.
2) Using a rubber spatula, stir the water in the pan into a whirlpool. Gently slide the egg from the dish into the center of the whirlpool.
3) DON'T touch it, for at least 30 seconds. Give it time to set up. If you think it might be sticking to the bottom, after 30 seconds, gently slide the spatula under the egg. Be careful!
4) Let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
5) Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the egg and let it drain a few seconds. You can set it on a paper towel if you aren't putting it directly onto the dish.

Assembly:

• Rice in the bottom.
• Using *tongs* make a nest of greens on top of the rice. Make sure there's a bit of a divot in the center.
• Gently slide your freshly poached egg into the divot.
• Drizzle toasted sesame oil over the egg. 
• Dust with black pepper.
• Nom.

Making it up as I go along: Moroccan Quinoa/Kale/Carrot Salad

Struggles has inspired me to go out of my comfort zone cooking-wise lately. He's got a big love for Moroccan, so most of our dishes lately have featured the flavors of pomegranate, apricot, cumin, coriander, etc. This salad we came up with based on random stuff we had lying around. I took to the internet for some guidance on the dressing, but it's all ad hoc. I'm pretty pleased with the result. The dressing has a little kick and the salad is healthy but hearty, thanks to the heft of the kale and quinoa.

1) For the salad, mix together, in a large bowl, the following:
4 cups fresh kale, hand shredded to bite sized pieces
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
3/4 cup dried apricots, diced to pom seed size

2) In a small frying pan, toss 1/3 sliced almonds with the following and cook over medium heat until the almonds are toasted.
     - 2 tablespoons olive oil
     - ground coriander
     - ground cumin
     - garlic powder
     - allspice
     - ground black pepper
     - salt

3) Spicy Moroccan Dressing*:
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons paprika
fresh ground black pepper
salt

4) Whisk it all together and toss the salad thoroughly.

* As with many things, spiciness is a personal preference, so be sure to taste the dressing before mixing it in. It's okay for it to be slightly spicier than you actually want since it'll be distributed over a lot of salad ingredients.