Cashew Mayonnaise

I have a love-hate relationship with mayonnaise. I couldn't stand it when I was a kid. Later, I grew to like it, but only in small doses. However, there are some things you just can't make without it - creamy salad dressings and certain creamy dips, and usually a generous serving is more fat than I want.  It's not so much that I'm worried about the calories, as that it makes me feel overly full  and ruins my appetite for other food.

I've seen a few cashew based mayonnaises out there and wanted to make my own.  I started with this one at VegWeb, but I flavored it like the recipe in my Joy of Cooking and then tweaked it a tiny bit. This is so tasty! It's rich and creamy without being heavy. No one flavor predominates; your first impression is "mayonnaise." It's thinner than the store-bought stuff, but all homemade mayos are. The best part is that it only gets 25% of its volume from oil, compared to 80 to 85% for classic egg-based mayonnaise recipes.

I plan to make all kinds of things with this. I'm putting it in some coleslaw this weekend, and the rest might become Ranch dressing. 

Cashew Mayonnaise

3/4 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked for 2 hours or longer

1/2 cup water

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar (I used rice vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt

Tiny pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

1/3 cup neutral tasting oil (I used canola)

Puree the cashews, water, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, and cayenne pepper in a blender until creamy. Remove the center piece of the blender jar lid, and with the motor running, drizzle the oil in a the thinnest possible stream.

Makes 1-1/4 cups. 

Grilled Seitan Gyros with Vegan Tzatziki and Homemade Pitas

I've been holding out on y'all. I've been making these for years, long before I had this blog, but I haven't posted them yet. I'm glad I waited, though, because I only started making the tofu tzatziki  and homemade pitas to have with them in the last year or so, and that makes them even better.

I've mentioned before that marinating and grilling seitan makes it wonderfully flavorful and chewy.

This is yet another delicious way to do that.  Pitas are fun and easy to make, and the tzatziki could not be easier. The herbs in the marinade could be pricey if you had to purchase all three at the supermarket. I'm lucky to be able to grow oregano and mint, and I can get inexpensive cilantro here. If you can't grow your own herbs, another alternative is to pick up the mint and cilantro at an Asian market, where they're usually less expensive, and use dried oregano in place of the fresh.

A note about the pitas: they have much less sugar and virtually no oil compared to typical bread recipes. This helps them puff up, but it also causes them to dry out quicker than you'd expect, so eat or freeze them within a day. We had gyros left over, by which time my pitas were two days out of the oven and wanting to crack in half. I ended up eating a gyro salad, with toasted pita wedges on the side. Still delicious, though!

I am sending this to Meatless Mondays, even though it's probably not something you would put together on a week day. Maybe you could put the ingredients on your shopping list on Monday, make it on Saturday, and have some delicious leftovers for your next Monday's lunch.

Is anyone else grilling vegetarian food this summer? I'd love to hear what you're making! 

Pita Bread 

1-1/4 cup warm water, about 105 F
1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, yeast and 1 cup white flour with a fork. Cover and let stand for about an hour. Add sugar, salt, remaining white flour, and the whole wheat flour. Knead with dough hooks for 5 minutes on low, or turn out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes.

Pour a couple of teaspoons olive oil into a medium bowl. Add the dough and turn it over to coat the whole ball with oil. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.

Heat oven to 450. Preheat a cast iron pizza pan or dark baking pan in the oven while you're preparing the pitas. Divide dough into eight equal pieces and roll into balls with your hands. Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball to about 7 inches in diameter, less than 1/4-inch thick. Transfer two or three rounds, whatever your baking pan will hold, to the oven. Bake for about 3 minutes on a cast iron pan or 4 minutes on a regular pan, until pita puffs up completely. Stack pitas on a plate and continue with remaining rounds.

Makes 8. 

Vegan Tzatziki 

This will keep refrigerated for up to 4 days. It's also great with falafel, on a Greek salad, or as a dip. 

1 medium cucumber
1/2 (14-ounce) package tofu, about 1-1/4 cups crumbled
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Peel and seed the cucumber and cut into a few big pieces. Fit a food processor with the slicing disk and slice the cucumber. Transfer to a medium bowl. Replace the slicing disk in the processor with the regular blade. Process the tofu, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, mint, salt, dill and pepper until smooth and creamy. Stir into the cucumbers. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld.

Serves about 6. 

Grilled Seitan Gyros 

1 pound seitan 
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
6-8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/3 cup fresh oregano or 2 tablespoons dried
1 tablespoon cumin
1 scant teaspoon allspice
1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Lettuce and tomato to serve

Cut seitan into strips about 1 inch by 1/2 inch and as long as you like. Whisk together the remaining ingredients, balsamic vinegar through pepper. Transfer seitan and marinade to a zip-top plastic bag or shallow non-metal container. Coat the seitan well in the marinade and set aside in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for cooking. Drain the seitan, discarding the marinade and as much of the herbs as practical, but keep the garlic. Grill the seitan and garlic until heated through and dry on the outside.

Divide the seitan among the pitas and serve with lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce.

Serves 6.

Tomatoes and Garlic for Black & White Wednesday

I keep a little basket of garlic on my kitchen window sill. When I buy tomatoes or avocados, I put those in the basket, too. I glanced at the basket recently and thought it was cute enough to snap a quick picture for Black and White Wednesday. This is the culinary photography event started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and now overseen by Cinzia of Cindystar. This week Simona of Bricioli is hosting.

By the way, if you ever see tiny bugs on your garlic, try keeping a few dried peppers or a piece of fresh ginger in the basket with them. The ginger will dry out pretty quickly but continue to work to repel the bugs for quite a few weeks. The peppers will work, and be worthy of cooking with, for months. (There are some dried peppers in the basket in the photo, you just can't see them.)

Korean Portobello and Eggplant Lettuce Wraps

I love all kinds of tacos, so when I heard of Korean tacos, I was intrigued.  They're typically made with grilled, marinated steak and served on tortillas with crisp vegetables, guacamole, salsa, and other taco fixings. I made some last fall, grilling marinated portobello mushrooms and eggplant and wrapping them up Tex-Mex style. 

The grilled vegetables were amazing, but unfortunately the dish overall was too close to my portobello fajitas, which we have all the time. I started looking for other ways to serve the vegetables. I kept seeing Bulgolgi, as Korean marinated steak is known, served in lettuce wraps. I grilled the vegetables again, including a sweet onion too, and this time wrapped them up Korean-style, with lettuce, jasmine rice, and herbs. Jackpot!

The marinade is a classic Bulgolgi marinade. The herbs I had handy were chives, mint, basil, and cilantro. I also added radish and cucumber slices. The cucumbers served with lettuce wraps are usually lightly pickled, but we had ours plain, since we like them best that way. 

Korean Portobello and Eggplant Lettuce Wraps 

1 cup jasmine rice

3 large portobello mushrooms, about 3/4 pound
1 smallish globe eggplant, about 3/4 pound
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 cup chopped green onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon ground black or white pepper
1 medium  sweet onion, optional 

To serve: 
Red curly lettuce leaves
Cucumber slices
Sriracha
Soy sauce
Fresh herbs such as mint, basil, cilantro, and chives (or green onion)

Cook rice according to package directions. Or, bring rice and 1-1/2 cups water to a low boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Uncover, fluff up rice with a fork, and let stand a few minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl. You can serve the rice at room temperature or zap in the microwave for 30 seconds before serving.

Cut mushrooms and eggplant in strips about 1/2 inch thick and 1 inch wide, any length you like. Transfer to to a non-metal container or zippered plastic bag. In a small bowl, mix together the sesame seeds, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, green onion, minced garlic, and pepper. Pour over the vegetables and toss. Slice the onion into half-moons and separate the rings. Add the onion to the other vegetables.  Set aside to marinate while you prepare the coals.

When your coals are medium-hot, drain the vegetables. Grill on a grill pan until eggplant and mushrooms are tender (the onions might still be a bit crunchy).

Serve grilled vegetables, lettuce, rice, and condiments separately so each diner can assemble their own wraps.

Serves 3.

Vegan Masala Carrot Muffins

[This is the third of three recipes I provided for the beta launch of Foodie.com in February of 2012. The site has just undergone a redesign. Thus, I’m republishing the recipes here so that they can link to them from the new site. The first is here. Here is the second.]

I was drinking some ordinary tea one day and wishing that it was masala chai, the spiced Indian tea. I was also craving a muffin to go with my tea. As I sat gazing out the window and daydreaming about muffins and tea, it occurred to me that the spices commonly used in masala chai – cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon especially - would also work in all kinds of sweet baked goods. Cardamom has a particular affinity for carrots, so for my first try I made carrot muffins. They were everything I had been dreaming of, fragrant with warming spices.

You’ll notice that I pureed half the carrots with the rest of the liquid ingredients. This makes the muffins very moist and prevents them from being crumbly, which sometimes happens in baked goods without eggs. Fennel is almost never sold ground, but you can grind your own seeds in a dedicated spice grinder, a coffee grinder, or a blender. If you need to grind green cardamom pods, first slice them open across the middle and shake out the small black seeds. Grind the seeds and discard the husk. Finally, if the tiny amounts of fennel and cardamom won’t grind properly, try adding the remaining already-ground spices to your grinder for weight.

Vegan Masala Carrot Muffins

1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

A tiny pinch black pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 carrots, peeled, about 3/4 pound

1 (6-ounce) carton vanilla soy yogurt

2/3 cup water or soy milk

1/3 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 400 F. Oil 12 muffin cups.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel seed, cloves, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Fit food processor with shredding disk. Shred the carrots. Transfer the carrots to a bowl and fit the processor with the S-shaped blade. Add half the shredded carrots back to the food processor, along with the yogurt, water or soy milk, and oil. Process until smooth.

Add the reserved shredded carrots and the carrot puree to the dry ingredients. Stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened; do not stir more than necessary. Spoon the batter into the oiled muffin cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes until the top springs back when gently pushed.

Makes 12 muffins.

Linguini with Spinach, Avocado and Cilantro

[This is the second of three recipes I provided for the beta launch of Foodie.com in February of 2012. The site has just undergone a redesign. Thus, I’m republishing the recipes here so that they can link to them from the new site. The first is here. Here is the third.] 

This is pasta for cilantro lovers. While the cilantro is predominant here, it’s not overwhelming, as it’s nicely balanced by the avocado, garlic, and lime juice. Serve this hot, at room temperature, or cold. 

Linguine with Spinach, Avocado and Cilantro 

2 small Haas avocados
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup packed baby spinach
1/2 cup packed cilantro, plus extra for garnish
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
8 ounces linguine

Cut avocados in half and twist to open. Remove pits and scoop avocado from its peel. You should have about 3/4 cup.

Chop garlic in a food processor. Add the avocado, spinach, cilantro, lime juice, salt and cayenne pepper. Process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the processor bowl and process for another minute.

Cook linguine according to package instructions. Drain and toss immediately with sauce.

Serves 3 to 4.

Cauliflower Rosemary Focaccia

[This is one of three recipes I provided for the beta launch of Foodie.com in February of 2012. The site has just undergone a redesign. Thus, I’m republishing the recipes here so that they can link to me from the new site. The second is here. Here is the third.]

Cauliflower is drizzled with olive oil, rosemary and garlic and roasted atop this addictive focaccia. The dough is part whole wheat, but rises high with the addition of vital wheat gluten. Vital wheat gluten is available in the baking aisle of most supermarkets.

I start this dough by making a sponge using all of the water, the yeast, and a third of the flour, which I let rest at room temperature for an hour before adding the remaining ingredients. This results in a deeply flavorful bread with great rise. If you’ve ever had problems with bread not rising as much as it should, try this method. It does add some time to the recipe, but timing of the sponge isn’t critical. It can stand at room temperature for two hours if needed, or it can be put in the refrigerator for up to a day.

Cauliflower Rosemary Focaccia

1-1/4 cups warm water, about 105 F

1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup bread or all-purpose flour 

3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt plus extra for the top

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus extra for the pan

1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups cauliflower florets, from slightly less than a pound of cauliflower

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

Add water, yeast and bread flour to a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with dough hooks. Combine well with a fork, cover, and let stand for an hour or two. The mixture will bubble up and expand.

Add vital wheat gluten, sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Combine with a fork. If you're using a stand mixer to knead the dough, start it now. Add 1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour, stopping to combine the last of the flour with a fork if necessary. Let mixer knead dough for 5 minutes on low, or turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, add more flour as necessary, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time.

Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for an hour until doubled in size.

Turn a cauliflower floret stem side up and slice into 1/4-inch slices. Repeat with remaining florets. Brush a baking pan (preferably a dark one) with olive oil. Spread dough out into a square about 10 inches on a side. Dimple the tops of the dough with your fingers. Press the cauliflower slices gently into the top of the dough in a single layer. Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil with garlic and rosemary. Drizzle over the top of the focaccia. Scatter a pinch or two of salt over the top.

Set aside to rise for about 20 minutes. Heat oven to 450 F. Bake for 12-15 minutes until bread is brown at the edge and golden in the middle and cauliflower is brown at the edges.

Serves 6.