Kasha Varniskes

This is one of those dishes that is way more delicious than merely the sum of it's ingredients. It's also a lot prettier than a brown and white dish has the right to be. Purists will tell you that chicken broth or even chicken fat is necessary to make this, but it's really not. The secrets are a generous quantity of good, fruity olive oil and caramelized onions. We had this with this tomato soup. It's adapted from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook.

I'm sending these Kasha Varniskes over to Presto Pasta Nights, created  by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. and hosted this week by Helen of Fuss Free Flavors. Check Helen's site on Friday for the roundup!

Kasha Varniskes

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large yellow onion
4 ounces bow-tie pasta
1/3 cup kasha (buckwheat groats)
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Slice onion into the thinnest rings possible. Cook over medium heat until onion becomes translucent. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook until onions are golden and very tender, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep onions on the heat, continuing to stir now and then.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil (don't turn on the heat under your pot until onions have cooked as above - you can't cook the onions too much for this dish.) Cook the pasta and kasha together according to pasta instructions. Drain in a wire mesh strainer. Add to the onions. Stir in poppy seeds and additional 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Serves 4. 

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

This is a recipe that I've been making variation on for years. It's one of the richest tomato soups out there, thanks to the balsamic vinegar. To neutralize the acid in the vinegar, you add some baking soda, which makes the soup foam up briefly like a science experiment, so it's a fun soup to make, too.

I'm sending this over to Souper (Soup Salad & Sammies) Sundays, created and hosted weekly by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. 

Soup, soup, soup and a big pot of soup courtesy of Tylertronic.

 Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, preferrably imported from Italy
1 14.5-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (or some of these tomatoes, if you have them)
1/3 to 1/2 cup minced basil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup non-dairy creamer or milk*
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and cook until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute.

Add all the tomatoes, the basil, and the vinegar. Bring to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add baking soda and watch the chemical reaction. Stir in the creamer or milk and add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a blender and purée, or use an immersion blender. Heat through and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

*I use Better than Milk soymilk powder and mix it double strength. 

Broccoli Tofurkey Quiche

The holidays left me with a whole wheat pie crust and some Tofurkey in the freezer, and of course, a couple of new cookbooks on the bookshelf. A few years ago, I tried a vegan quiche recipe from a random website and wasn't very happy with the results, but I knew I could trust the one in Vegan Brunch. I tweaked the broccoli quiche I found there by adding my Tofurkey and some carrots and changing up the spices according to what I was in the mood for. 

This quiche was great - we could have happily eaten a much bigger pie. It doesn't set up as firm as an eggy one; the filling is more like a custard. It's also extremely rich. Leftovers keep well.  

I am linking this up with the Hearth 'n' Soul blog hop.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Broccoli Tofurkey Quiche 

Instead of Tofurkey you could use seitan, and instead of saffron you could use 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, as in the original recipe.

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced - about 6 ounces/1 cup
1/3 cup minced carrot - about 2 ounces
1 medium broccoli crown, cut into small pieces - about 8 ounces/2 cups
1/2 cup raw cashews
14-16 ounces firm or extra-firm tofu
1 teaspoon prepared mustard (I used a heaping teaspoon of Dijon)
a pinch saffron, crushed between your fingers
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed between your fingers
1 teaspoon salt
a few grindings of black pepper
3/4 cup (about 5 oz) diced tofurkey
1 9-inch deep dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion, carrot and broccoli until very tender, about 10 minutes.

Grind the cashews to a powder in a food processor or blender. Press some of the water out of the tofu*. Cut tofu into chunks and add to the food processor or blender. (If you're using a blender, remove the powdered cashews to a medium bowl first.) Process or blend the tofu until creamy. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in saffron, thyme, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir in tofurkey and broccoli mixture.

Transfer mixture to the pie crust and smooth out the top. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is golden. Vegan Brunch suggests letting this sit for 20 minutes or more before serving and I agree, although I like this warmer than room temperature.

Serves 6

*If your tofu is in a sealed package, an easy way to press the water out is to use the package. Rinse the plastic sealing the top, then hold the package over the sink. Cut the seal on three sides, drain off the water, then use the attached plastic piece to keep your hand dry while you press out more water. Cut the tofu into chunks in the package. 

Apple Cake for Weekie

Picture by Tylertronic.

In the summer of 1998, my family and I visited the SPCA planning to adopt a couple of kittens. As we walked past the glass-front cages admired all the cuties and wondering how we could choose just one or two, a tiny gray tabby, who had just been curled up with her equally tiny brother, stood up and reached her paw to toward us. We asked to take her and her brother into a "meeting room" to play with them. The boy kitten was so scared he was trying to crawl under the bench, but she seemed right at home on each of our laps.

Later, after we took the kittens home, we named them Jasmine and Storm. It was about then that we realized that we didn't adopt them, they had adopted us. As they grew up into cats, we discovered that they were both extremely frightened of strangers. Almost no one ever saw them except us. Jasmine also didn't learn to meow until she was about 6 years old. She just squeaked instead. We ended up calling her "Weekie" for the squeaky way she tried to meow.

One thing about being a vegetarian is that your cats aren't interested in your food. Weekie also hadn't been interested in cat food much recently either, although numerous veterinarians hadn't been able to find out why. She had been slowly eating more and gaining weight back after the worst of the anorexia a couple of months ago, but she was still underweight. So, when I cut myself a piece of this cake I didn't think twice about setting in on the arm of the sofa next to her while I sat down and picked up my laptop. Imagine my dismay to turn around and discover that she was chowing down on my cake! My dismay turned to happiness, though, as I realized that she must have been truly getting her appetite back.

This wasn't at all what I intended to write about. Last Thursday, Weekie had a seizure that she was never recovered from. We had to put her to sleep that afternoon. Rest in peace, Weekie. We're glad you picked us out. I hope you enjoyed the cake, my dear little girl. 

 

Apple Cake

The cornstarch ended up in this cake by mistake, so you probably don't need it; I left it in the write-up just in case. Since this is made with whole wheat and oatmeal flour, this is pretty heavy and rustic for a cake. It's more of a giant muffin, but the caramel sauce makes it dessert, I think.

 
2 cups whole-grain baking mix
3/4 cup sugar
1 -1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg*
1/8 teaspoon allspice*
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom*
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 20-ounce can sliced apples, undrained
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest or 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, baking mix through corn starch, with a fork. Add remaining ingredients, apple slices through canola oil, and stir just enough to combine.
Pour batter into an oiled 9-inch round pan - a springform pan if you have one. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Drizzle slices with Brandy Caramel Sauce. 

*If you don't have one or more of these spices, you can replace them with more cinnamon.

Brandy Caramel Sauce

Late last summer I came across an interesting ice cream recipe on a blog, a veganized version of something that had been in a well-respected cooking magazine. As an afterthought, I made this sauce to go with it. I only made the sauce because I had some brandy in my liquor cabinet that I thought was too harsh to drink and I wanted to use it up.

The ice cream was sort of gross. In retrospect, I might have seen it coming, as the creator was new to both creating recipes and veganism (I suspect half the problem was the original recipe). It was a brave effort, though. I've had my share of weird experiments that didn't turn out as planned.  Hopefully I have the wisdom to know when something isn't bloggable and I need to go back to the stove and try again.

The sauce, though, was a success.  I think it could be made with bourbon, whiskey or rum just as well, or even cognac, if you can spare some. This would be a good thing to make if you're not a drinker and someone left a bottle of one of the aforementioned at your house. I'm pretty sure that 100% of the alcohol cooks off this. I put this away in the freezer until I had could decide what to do with it. Tomorrow, I'll post the dessert that I ended up serving this with. 

I'm linking this up with the Hearth 'n' Soul Blog Hop.

Brandy Caramel Sauce

Use the heaviest saucepan you have to avoid burning the sugar. Also, make sure it's at least 2 quarts, as this sauce foams up like mad at one point.
3/4 cup brandy
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance margarine
1 tablespoon corn starch

In a 2-quart or larger saucepan, bring brandy to a boil. Simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup. Pour into a bowl and set aside. Add sugar to the nearly dry saucepan and heat over medium hot. Stir frequently until sugar begins to melt, and then stir constantly until all the sugar is melted.

Remove pan from heat and stir in margarine. Mixture will bubble up some. Continue stirring until margarine has melted. Add brandy back to the saucepan. Mixture will bubble up a lot. Stir until sugar, margarine and brandy are well mixed.

Place pan back on medium heat, add cornstarch and stir until sauce is clear and slightly thickened. Sauce will continue to thicken in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 cup.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate (Recently)

Val at More Than Burnt Toast has a fun challenge going on through February 15 called The Best Thing I Ever Ate (Recently). She is asking bloggers to post about the best thing they ate this year.

I've always loved cooking new things. Sometimes I want to recreate something I had in a restaurant, sometimes I want to make a healthy version of something from my childhood, and sometimes I want to explore new cuisines. Whenever you stretch yourself, whether it's in the kitchen or out, you are bound to make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes become triumphs.

These tacos started with a mistake - a dish I should never have made. They became one of my family's best-loved dishes and something I cook for guests frequently. I've even taken little bags of kasha and quinoa with me to cook at someone else's house when I'm a guest.

Earlier this year, I was struggling to find ingredients for a cookbook I was testing. I blew off the recipe and decided on these tacos as a fall-back. Since I was still in an experimental mood, I came up with a homemade taco seasoning for them. And, since we had just had guacamole a couple of days before, I made a lime crema with some dairy-free sour cream instead.

Whether I have these with homemade taco seasoning or some from an envelope, or the lime crema or guacamole, these are always the best thing I ate recently. 

 

Three-grain Crispy Tacos

1/2 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa this time)

1/4 cup buckwheat

1-1/2 cups water

1 cup corn, canned, fresh or frozen

taco seasoning (recipe below)

1/2 cup water

18 taco shells

shredded lettuce

lime crema (recipe below)

salsa

In a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine quinoa, buckwheat and 1-1/2 cups water. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook 15 minutes.

When the water is absorbed, uncover and stir in corn, taco seasoning, and 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium heat, carefully stirring, until water is absorbed, 3 or 4 minutes.

Crisp taco shells according to package instructions.

Serve with lettuce, lime crema and salsa. Serves 4-6.

Leftover filling will freeze and makes a nice burrito filling.

Taco Seasoning

This substitutes for an envelope of store-bought taco seasoning. It's fairly hot - you'll end up with two-alarm tacos. Double the cayenne for four-alarm tacos (I dare ya!), or leave it out for false-alarm tacos.

1 tablespoon corn meal

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons vegetarian chicken or beef broth powder

1-1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon oregano

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Lime crema

2/3 cup sour cream (such as Tofutti Sour Supreme)

juice of 1 lime

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk all ingredients together.

Presto Pasta Nights #196 Roundup

Presto Pasta Nights, the weekly event deliciously started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast is a showcase pasta dishes that creative bloggers have cooked up in the last week. As I read over the amazing entries this week, one theme begin to emerge: renewal in the new year. Some of you have made resolutions to eat healthier or cook at home more. Some of you adamantly do not make resolutions.  (I don’t make resolutions; I make plans. Plans, I can keep.) Some of you are just wanting to get back to normal after the holidays. I’m right there with you on that one.

Debbie of Debbie Does Dinner made a lighter-style macaroni and cheese that was “comfort food at its finest.”

Jennifer of A Such a Time as This is challenging herself and her family to eat at home all month and made a simple chicken-noodle soup.  

At Green Gourmet Giraffe, Johanna is introducing her little daughter Sylvia to as many different homemade dishes as she can. A few have been a miss, but her Kiddie Veggie Bolognese was a hit, probably because it “combined two of her loves: pasta and forks.”

Andrea has resolved to make more meals with ingredients she has on hand for Nummy Kitchen, and she was able to make  Giada’s Spicy Baked Macaroni without having to buy a single thing. 

Juli at Pictures of a Princess made Roasted Chicken Soup with Homemade Noodles. I’m impressed that she made her own noodles.  

    

Simple, fast and tasty is how Sarah of Taste My Plate describes her Spinach Fettuccini with Pesto and Sautéed Mushrooms. Can you believe it only takes 10 minutes to make?

At Couscous and Consciousness, Sue made her own noodles and ricotta for Whole-Wheat Fettucine with Green Beans, Ricotta & Lemon. She does not, however, make resolutions.

 

Branny at Branny Boils Over hopes her Caesar Pasta with Romaine and Parmesan becomes one of those dishes that gets passed from blog to blog, because it’s that delicious.

When Lana at Bibberche makes Red Wine Pasta with Mushrooms and Nuts, she can’t help but think of her father and his agricultural adventures.

 

Stash of The Spamwise Chronicles used “extraordinarily versatile” chickpeas and his “main go-to herb” parsley in Pasta with Chickpeas, Parsley and Lemon.

 

Needing to please her very demanding clients keeps Katerina at Culinary Flavors searching for new recipes, and her Chicken with Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce over Pasta “is a keeper.”

Claudia at Honey From Rock makes Corn-crusted Panfried Shrimp with Sweet and Hot Caramelized Onions from a cookbook that “gets into all those hot, wild flavors of the tropics, the spice zone.”

Jackie at Crest Cottage Creations, who is participating in Presto Pasta Nights for the first time, has a tradition of making pasta on Mondays, but she likes to make it a new way every time. This week’s pasta was Linguine with Calamari and Garlic. Welcome, Jackie!

Another first-timer to Presto Pasta Nights, Trish at My Slap Happy Kitchen made pasta with her favorite new kitchen gadget and created Pumpkin Fettuccini with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce. Welcome, Trish!

 

Normally, pasta recipes that claim that only 2 ounces will fill a person up make Joanne at Eats Well With Others mad. But she decided to give Whole Wheat Pasta with Butternut Squash, Ground Lamb, and Halloumi a try and says it’s so flavorful you won’t even notice how little pasta there is.

 

I made a recipe I hadn’t made in several years, vegan Pad Thai.

Daphne at More than Words spiced up some plain instant noodles with a favorite ingredient - Tom Yum paste - to make Thai Inspired - Tom Yum Instant Noodles.

Tina at Life in the slow lane at Squirrel Head Manor made a mess when she put together her Swiss Linguine Tart, but it was worth it.

At Pots and Plots, Kait paired rotisserie chicken with fresh and dried mushrooms to make Chicken Pasta in a Three Mushroom Cream Sauce “that’s just bursting with flavor.”

LimeCake at A Food Life for One wrote her post somewhere over the Indian Ocean as she headed toward Southeast Asia. How fitting that dishes like her Dry Tossed Noodles with Crisp Tofu Puffs are ubiquitous there.

Gay at A Scientist in the Kitchen often craves sopas, “a Filipino version of minestroni.” In Leftovers make great sopas she describes her latest version.

Ruth, the founder of Presto Pasta Nights, made a version of her Spinach and Cheese stuffed shells using oven-ready cannelloni at Once Upon A Feast. She writes about it in Pasta, Pasta, My Mind Sees Only Pasta.

Our next entry is from Karishma at Effortless Cooking Easy Baking, who is new to both food blogging and Presto Pasta Nights. She made Pasta & Prawn Bake with ingredients she won in a basket from Katrina, who also entered a pasta dish here. Welcome, Karishma!

Bellini at More Than Burnt Toast recalled a trip to Greece and shared her recipe for Whole Chicken Soup With Avgolemono and Orzo.

Caffettiera at La Caffettiera Rosa has been cooking with what inspires her at her corner fruit and vegetable stall and this week made Pasta Tricolore. 

This was truly an awesome collection of pasta dishes. Thank you for all your entries and another warm welcome to our first timers. I believe there is something to inspire everyone here. Next week, Presto Pasta Nights will be hosted by Heather at Girlichef.

Pad Thai

I used to make this dish years ago when I still ate seafood, way back in the 90's. Back then, I made it with shrimp and fish sauce. When I first made a vegetarian verson I replaced the fish sauce with soy sauce, and it was good, but it was missing that something-something.So, I came up with a way to to make a vegetarian "fish" sauce using the soaking water from rehydrating hijiki, a type of seaweed.

I hadn't made this recipe in ages, and I have had trouble finding hijiki for the last couple of years here. It was even missing from the big Asian market the last time I checked. I thought it would be interesting to recreate the sauce using nori, since I nearly always have some in my pantry and it's an ingredient available to almost everybody. It worked! The flavor is a bit more subtle than the sauce made with hijiki, but it definitely has that something-something I was looking for.

I've separated the recipe into three parts for clarity, but don't let that make you think it's complicated. It really goes together easily.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights this week. There is still plenty of time to get your entries to me! See here for more information.

Pad Thai
If you don't want to make the seaweed fish sauce, you can replace it with 1/3 cup soy sauce plus enough water to make 1/2 cup
seaweed fish sauce
1-1/2 sheets toasted nori or 2 tablespoons hijiki (about 4.5 g)
1/4 cup boiling water
1/3 cup soy sauce

If using nori, roll the sheets up as tight as you can and cut into slivers. Steep the nori or hijiki in boiling water for 10-15 minutes (you can steep for longer if you need to). Strain seaweed over a bowl, pressing out as much water as you can. Discard seaweed. Add soy sauce to the seaweed "tea."

Makes 1/2 cup.

pad thai sauce
1/2 cup seaweed fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon paprika

Stir all ingredients together.

Makes about 1 cup.

the rest
6-1/2 ounces thin rice noodles (1/2 a package)
1 pound tofu
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons canola oil
6 ounces bean sprouts
1/3 cup peanuts

Steep the seaweed for the fish sauce.

In a medium bowl, cover the rice noodles in hot tap water to soften. Set aside for 20 minutes (more soaking time is fine).

Preheat oven to 350 F. Slice tofu into 1/2-inch thick slabs and then into triangles. Place on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Prepare pad thai sauce.

Remove tofu from oven and turn heat up to 400 F. Brush tofu with pad thai sauce, then turn over the pieces and brush the other side. Bake for 10-20 minutes until tofu reaches desired firmness.

Heat the canola oil in a skillet. Sauté the garlic for a minute and then add the drained noodles. Toss the noodles to coat in oil, and add the pad thai sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until sauce is absorbed, about 5 minutes, tossing noodles frequently to prevent sticking. Place noodles on serving platter and add bean sprouts to skillet. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until hot.

Place bean sprouts on one side of the noodles and tofu triangles on the other. Top with peanuts.

Serves 3-4.

Announcing Presto Pasta Nights #196

Ruth of Once Upon a Feast, the creator of Presto Pasta Nights, has graciously allowed me to host this week for the second time. This is an awesome weekly event that's been going on for nearly four years, showcasing every delicious thing possible that you can create with pasta.

It's easy to participate:

1. Your dish should contain some type of noodle. It can be any course, from any cuisine in the world, as long as pasta is one of the ingredients.

2. Mention Presto Pasta Nights and link to it here. Also, mention this blog, Chez Cayenne, and link to my main page here.

3. Please email your entries to me at cdmcculloch7 [at] gmail [dot] com and cc ruth [at] 4EveryKitchen [dot] com. You can include a photo of any width between 320 and 800 px, or I will grab  one from your blog post if you like.

I've already received a lot of tasty entries. Keep them coming!

Peanut Soup

I asked for a cookbook for Christmas this year from Jim and got two. The one I asked for was Vegan Brunch. The bonus cookbook was 400 recipes for soup. He admitted that the cookbook was as much for him as it was for me. The man loves his soup.

Soup is an awesome way to eat lots of vegetables. It's also extremely versatile. It's a great way to round out just about any menu, as you can find a soup recipe for just about any ingredient or any cuisine. Nearly any soup recipe will freeze beautifully, making it a go-to for the busiest nights. (Just don't freeze soup with pasta in it, and expect most potato pieces to fall apart when the soup is reheated.) I'm pretty sure I've written a similar paen to soup on this blog before, and I'll probably write one again. I'm not sorry. I'm also pretty sure you're going to see a lot more soup recipes here before too long.

This soup is not from the cookbook I got at Christmas; it's from one of those bargain cookbooks without an author that you find in the remaindered section of the bookstore. This one was just called "Vegan Recipes" and was $2. That's less than half the price of most magazines - who cares that most of the recipes were the same old, same old. It was worth it for this recipe alone. 




I'm sending this over to My Legume Love Affair, the creation of Susan at The Well Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of Briciole. 

Peanut Soup

The secret to good peanut soup is to use peanut butter with no sugar or other sweetener added - this soup should not be sweet. I used blue potatoes this time, but I usually use red-skinned ones. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced, about 2 cups
1 large red bell pepper, diced small, or a mix of red and green pepper
3 stalks celery, diced small
2 carrots, diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon mild chili powder (I used Mexican style with cumin)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2/3 cup frozen or fresh corn
8 ounces potatoes, 3/4-inch dice
3-1/2 to 4 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup unsweetened peanut butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
chopped peanuts, for garnish

Heat oil in a soup pot. Sauté onion, bell pepper, celery and carrots until vegetables are becoming tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder and cayenne and cook for 1 minutes. Add corn, potatoes, vegetable broth and peanut butter. Bring to a low boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add salt and pepper and adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve garnished with chopped peanuts.

Serves 4

Chipotle Agave Vinaigrette

I wanted to make Black-eyed Pea Salad again this weekend and when I went shopping, it seemed like half the city was crammed into the produce section of one store. I had about twice the normal quantites of vegetables on my list, too. Either everyone was tired of rich holiday food like I am, or they've made New Year's resolutions to eat more vegetables in 2011. If it's the latter, I hope they stick with it. Maybe they'll find their way to a few food blogs like this one and become inspired.

I worked my way through the throng and was on my way to the beer and wine at last, whew! Then I realized I had forgotten to get a jalapeño. No way was I going back in that vegetable mayhem. I decided that I could probably figure something else to spice up the peas when I got home.

I nearly always have a jar of Chipotles in Adobo sauce in my refrigerator. When I buy a 7-ounce can, I run entire contents through the blender and store it in a small jar that once held marinated artichokes. I found the chipotles in my fridge and concocted this dressing. This would also be delicious on a green salad or a salad of greens, vegetables, black beans and corn. I added this variation to the black-eyed pea salad, too.

Chipotle Agave Vinaigrette
 
Purée a can of chipotles in adobo in a blender and transfer to a small jar. This will keep for over a year when stored in the refrigerator.

When ready to make the dressing, whisk together 1 tablespoon of the chipotle pepper purée with with:

1/4 cup lime juice, from 2 or 3 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced

Makes 3/4 cup

Bread with Pine Nuts, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and a Basil Swirl

I'm currently testing Vegan Unplugged for a review on VegPeople. I've made five recipes so far, with three more to go, and so far, everything has been great. I live in hurricane territory, really could have used this cookbook in the past, and I'm grateful for its existence now. Preparing for hurricanes is stressful, and this book takes a huge load off your mind with gentle good humor and tasty recipes. I'll write more about it and link up to my review when it has been published on VP.

Testing one of the recipes left me with half a jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes and some toasted pine nuts that I forgot to add to a pasta dish. I pulled out some of my basil bounty from the freezer and made this bread. It's ideal to accompany pasta, and I hope to come up with a sandwich to show it off, too.

Happy New Year, everybody!

I am linking this up to the Hearth 'n' Soul blog hop this week. 

Bread with Pine Nuts, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and a Basil Swirl

I wanted a lighter bread, so I used both white and whole-wheat flour in this, but you could use 100% whole wheat.

1-3/4 cups warm water (about 105 F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups white or whole wheat flour
1/3 cups toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
2-3/4 cups whole wheat flour (or more as needed)
1/2 cup basil leaves, minced

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the water, yeast and 1-1/2 cups flour with a fork. Cover and let stand in a warm place for a hour or two.

Add the pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, agave nectar, salt and wheat gluten and combine with a fork. If you are kneading the dough with a stand mixer, start it now on its lowest setting. Measure out and add the 2-3/4 cups whole wheat flour. Knead in the mixer for 5 minutes, or turn out on a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If the mixture doesn't pull away from the sides of the mixer bowl after 5 minutes, or if it sticks to your hands when kneading, add more flour a tablespoon at a time.

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover and let sit in a warm place to rise until doubled, about an hour.

Oil a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Pat dough into a rectangle the same length as our loaf pan and about 2-1/2 to 3 times as wide. Spread basil over the top and roll up, starting with the long edge. Place dough into the loaf pan and cover. Turn over on to 350 F. When dough as risen again to twice its size, slide into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. To test for doneness, turn bread loaf out of the pan and rap on the bottom with your knuckles. If it makes a sound, the bread is done.