Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms
Rib-sticking, French-inspired, hearty goodness here. What could be bad? Classic soup/stew stalwarts (carrot, celery, onion, leek, thyme, garlic, onion) plus beans and mushrooms. It's just simple and straightforward.
But wait, tomorrow changes everything. Stay tuned....
SFO: 10
Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato, and Fennel
I love the idea of this soup, lots of summer goodies working together to create a vegan chowder. But as promising as the ingredient list may be, I didn't find the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Fresh corn, carrots, celery, fennel, potatoes, garlic, onion... all lovingly sauteed and then simmered in a fresh corn stock (see below), with a last minute kick of chopped fresh tomatoes and basil - sounds like a summer dream, right? Well, there are some dreamy qualities, but first let's discuss the prep.
It's intense! Lots of chopping, and let's not forget the homemade stock! This is a labor-intensive soup, and I wish I could say it was worth all the fuss, but in the end, it was simply nice. Sweet. Literally. All that corn will sweeten a pot!
The flavors of summer are certainly present, the most predominant being the corn and the tomatoes. The fresh tomato add-in is an interesting touch. I think we're used to our soup tomatoes being either cream of tomato, i.e. cooked to death, or gazpacho, i.e. raw with a lot of kicky flavor. Here, the tomatoes are a fresh, sweet accent, i.e. a very distant cousin to either of those other soups.
But I think the sweetness is the issue here. It's a very sweet soup. And it's thin. I pureed the small amount I&T directed me to puree, but it didn't really bring too much creaminess to the pot, so I pureed some more. And even with the extra blending, the creaminess is barely noticeable. This really seems more like a brothy soup than a creamy one.
The flavor is pleasant, but I'm left feeling there's no there there. My favorite vegan recipes are the ones that feel complete, as if nothing is missing. Here, I find myself longing for clams, or some other complex flavor to interrupt the sweetness of this summer bowl and take center stage. Alas, the corn is running the show, but I wish it had stayed in the ensemble. (One acting gig, and all of a sudden, all my metaphors are theatre-related....)
SFO: 7
There's nothing wrong with this soup, it's just not the greatness I was hoping for.
Fresh Corn Stock
I love the concept of this recipe. Use the scraps from the main ingredients of your soup to create a flavorful base stock. This underlines and supports the flavors in your soup.
There's just a couple of issues.
The first is timing. You sort of have to work backwards. This stock needs to cook for 60-90m. So effectively, there are no scraps yet. You have to start prepping your ingredients for your soup long before you're going to use them. For example, I cut the corn off the cobs long before it was time to add them to the pan because I needed the cobs for this stock. Same with the fennel fronds. Alright, that's actually no big deal.
The other issue is that because of the relatively long simmer, my stock reduced a lot, by half! I started out with 2 quarts of water, and I ended up with one quart of stock. And the chowder recipe calls for two quarts. So I ended up using half stock and half water.
Granted, the stock was very sweet, so watering it down was maybe not a bad thing. It certainly did lend the soup a solid corn flavor.
SFO: 10
Hey there! Remember me? Yup, I disappeared for a bit, but I'm back!
A few months ago, I was cast in a show, rehearsals for which required every bit of my spare time and energy, so I put my cooking on hold for a spell, until the show was up and running. And now that it is, I'm happy to be back in the kitchen with I&T and you all!
The aforementioned show is Murder for Two, playing though August 25 at Second Stage Uptown. It blends murder mystery, musical comedy, and crazy hijinks, with a cast of two, including me and today's special guest taster, the insanely talented and adorable Brett Ryback!
Brett and I were offered a pair of tickets to the Shakespeare in the Park production of Love's Labours Lost, so we made plans to have a picnic beforehand, which gave me a great excuse to pull out the cookbook and make some spreads!
Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Dip
Well, this packs a tomato wallop! Two cups of dried tomatoes are reconstituted for this recipe, then added to 1/2 cup of ground almonds and 1/2 cup of white beans and pureed with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper. Now that's 4 parts tomato to 1 part almonds and 1 part beans. The flavor here is a tad overwhelming, I have to say, maybe nice as an accent on a sandwich, but as a dip, it's almost hard to take. I think if the beans had been ramped up and the tomatoes reduced, this would have been more palatable.
I did the basil variation because it's summer and basil is so plentiful. Alas, the basil got lost in the tomato tornado.
SFO: 9
Safe for omnivores, but not for those with sensitive taste buds.
Walnut-Mushroom Pâté
We liked this one much better. The woodsiness of the mushrooms worked great in combination with the ground, toasted walnuts. And the nut and bean to mushroom ratio was much more even here. This is a really well-designed recipe, and quite easy to prepare, assuming you have a food processor. Again, the salt in the recipe is modest, and I had to add more to bring the flavor of the spread to life, but come to life it did.
I'm not sure if pâté is the best word for the consistency I ended up with. It really behaved more like a spread or dip.
Now this, I would make again.
SFO: 10
It's Tony® Night, and I've got some peeps over to watch, i.e. guinea pigs for my latest vegan adventures! That's David and Trey and Trey's friend Rachel with the Spaghetti Squash, and Tracy with the Bread Pudding.
Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca
I love spaghetti squash. It's such a freak of nature, that it can do that stringy thing. But I never know what to do with it. Here's a great solution. Combine it with a mixture of corn and beans and the flavors of Mexico, and cover it with a fruity avocado salsa!
There's quite a bit of spice in the bean mixture, but don't be scared: there's also so much squash that by the time you've blended it all together, the spice level is perfect. And the salsa is nicely refreshing. I love fruit in savory dishes!! Although I will say (again!), the salsa needs salt.
My only complaint here is that the dish is ultimately on the dry side, even with the topping of salsa. But the flavors are so good that the dryness is forgiven. Viva spaghetti squash!
SFO: 9
Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
OMG, there is nothing lacking in this vegan bread pudding. Hard to imagine bread pudding landing without lots of eggs and dairy, but this one does, no problem!
The pound of bread called for in this recipe seems like it's going to be way too much, but it's actually the perfect amount for the 9x5 loaf pan. It will, however, require a lot more soy milk than the recipe calls for to saturate all the bread.
I daresay this recipe is a lot lighter than your average bread pudding, so my suggestion is that we all just use this when we're looking for a dose of naughty. It's completely delicious and satisfying!
SFO: 10
It's always a sunny day when Celia's here. She's so game to eat my vegan creations, even when they're as poorly combined as they were in this meal. (This is not meant to be a reflection of the recipes, just a criticism of my pairing starchy with starchy.)
Panko-Stuffed Mushrooms
The concept here is very traditional - make a stuffing, then press it into mushroom caps and bake. The flavors of the stuffing are what is unique here. It's very Japanese: mirin, daikon, sesame, scallions. I'm not sure if the mirin I'm using is particularly sugary, but this stuffing leaned waaaay over to the sweet side. Not unpleasant, but strangely prominent.
We're using large mushrooms here, and I'm not sure how "done" I&T think they're going to get after 20m in a 350° oven, but I thought they were crazily underdone. I put them back in for about that long again, which seemed much more appropriate for this dish.
Overall, these were interestingly savory/sweet with not the best texture to the mushroom or the stuffing, but definitely tasty and edible.
SFO: 8
Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto
I wasn't sure how risotto would behave in vegan land... there'd be no butter or cheese mounting at the end to ensure a deluxe result. Turns out, vegan risotto works just fine, thank you.
My disappointment with this recipe resides in the broth. The promise of this homemade lemongrass broth is big - fresh ginger, garlic and lemongrass should deliver vibrant flavors, right? Well, my broth came out dull, with an off smell. Hmph. And the lemongrass that was so fragrant on the cutting board essentially disappeared by serving time. Where did it go??
That said, this is a respectable risotto, with interesting Asian-slanted flavors. There's a notable absence of saltiness (again!). Those three tablespoons of soy sauce in the broth just don't provide much. We liked the lime-i-ness, and anything that's garnished with peanuts is a winner in my book.
I liked this, but I don't see myself making it again.
SFO: 8
Tofu Ricotta
I'm fascinated by the concept of cheese substitutes. I mean, cheese is just so distinctive and amazing. How can you possibly imitate it?
Well, many vegan magicians out there have come up with some pretty great ideas, and here's one of them from I&T. Evidently, this is from an earlier book, Vegan with a Vengeance; I guess it's just too good not to include here again.
Since I was making some more sourdough pizza crust, I thought I should have some vegan cheese for my pizza. (Confession: I also had some Yves Meatless Pepperoni on hand, so I really wanted to go to town with these pizzas.)
I think I made a bad call, though, with the tofu I used. There's a Trader Joe's product called Super Firm High Protein Tofu, and I think this was a little too firm for this recipe. The "ricotta" was incredibly dry. In fact, I had to add some extra oil to compensate for it. Next time, I'll just use your garden variety extra firm tofu.
Turns out this ricotta is so tasty, I just wanted to eat it right out of
the bowl. I don't even feel that way about real ricotta! The subtle combo of flavors: lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, olive oil, and nutritional yeast, is just delicious! And while it doesn't taste like cheese, per se, it evokes the same feelings I have about cheese - salty, fatty, comforty goodness.
The pepperoni pizza was pretty great - My friend Rena tried it. She's the one who coined the phrase "Vegan My Ass" to describe my eclectic and irreverent eating habits. And Rena, who's decidedly UN-vegan, thought it tasted great, although she said it didn't taste anything like pepperoni pizza. :-)
SFO: 9
One tiny point off for total lack of meltiness.
Greek-Style Tomato-Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Herbs
This is not an easy recipe, but it is definitely worth the effort! Even with my mistakes, it still delivered a pretty yummy result.
My big mistake had to do with liquid removal. You're basically dealing with a lot of liquidy things, like chopped tomatoes, grated zucchini, and tofu. And if you don't drain them really well, I mean REALLY well, you're going to end up with an overly wet batter. Which I did. Which is not ideal when you're about to roll it in bread crumbs and fry it.
That said, they held together, and even though they were quite soggy, they were really delicious.
I also tried baking a few to see if I could improve the situation, but no, the batter was just too wet to ever be crispy.
If you make these, don't give up until you've gotten every last drop of water out of the tofu, tomatoes, and zucchini. You will be rewarded, I'm sure!
SFO: 9
You'd never know there was any tofu in here, the other flavors are so vibrant!
Mediterranean-Style Cashew-Cucumber Dip
This is a perfect accompaniment to the fritters! Again, there's water removal, this time from the cucumbers. I love the whole concept of using cashews for creaminess. And it's quite effective, although one issue I have with this dip is that upon sitting, it tends to separate a bit, i.e. creamy patches and watery patches.
As I&T say, it's delicious enough to serve on its own with pita bread, but with the fritters, it's heaven.
SFO: 10
Rib-sticking, French-inspired, hearty goodness here. What could be bad? Classic soup/stew stalwarts (carrot, celery, onion, leek, thyme, garlic, onion) plus beans and mushrooms. It's just simple and straightforward. 
The flavor is pleasant, but I'm left feeling there's no there there. My favorite vegan recipes are the ones that feel complete, as if nothing is missing. Here, I find myself longing for clams, or some other complex flavor to interrupt the sweetness of this summer bowl and take center stage. Alas, the corn is running the show, but I wish it had stayed in the ensemble. (One acting gig, and all of a sudden, all my metaphors are theatre-related....)
The pound of bread called for in this recipe seems like it's going to be way too much, but it's actually the perfect amount for the 9x5 loaf pan. It will, however, require a lot more soy milk than the recipe calls for to saturate all the bread.
I wasn't sure how risotto would behave in vegan land... there'd be no butter or cheese mounting at the end to ensure a deluxe result. Turns out, vegan risotto works just fine, thank you.
That said, they held together, and even though they were quite soggy, they were really delicious. 
