Broccoli Stir Fry with Almond Butter Sauce

Long ago, I had trouble getting started with Asian cooking. The only way I knew how to season a stir-fry was with lots of soy sauce, which made everything taste too salty. The store-bought sauces made things tastes just like the food at the mall (yuck), while purportedly authentic recipes called for so many condiments that weren't in my pantry that I wasn't sure I could afford to make the recipe. What I discovered that I disliked most of those ingredients I had just purchased?

When I found this recipe, and read the good reviews of the sauce, I jumped on it. Lemon juice and peanut butter? I can handle that! It was originally made from broccoli, noodles and sauce and I turned it into a stir-fry with extra vegetables.  Also, I replace the peanut butter these days with almond butter if I have some handy. But the sauce is a keeper either way.

Since I've been making this, I've added lots of Asian ingredients to my pantry; rice vinegar and black rice vinegar, mirin, Sriracha sauce and toasted sesame oil are just the ones on hand right now, added one shopping trip at a time. But this recipe is still one I make from time to time. 

This is my entry for House Favorites this month.

Broccoli Stir Fry with Almond Butter Sauce

1 medium head broccoli

1 small red bell pepper

6 ounces cremini mushrooms

2 medium leeks, white and light green part only

2 tablespoons almond butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon agave nectar

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

2 tablespoons canola oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

Cut broccoli into florets, dice bell pepper into 1-1/2 inch pieces, slice mushrooms in half, and slice leeks.

Mix almond butter, soy sauce, sugar, water or broth, and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat oil in a wok or a large sauté pan.  Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for a minute.  Add broccoli and stir fry for 3 minutes.  Add mushrooms and bell peppers and continue to cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, approximately 4 minutes.

Add almond butter mixture and stir into vegetables.  Cook 1 minute.  Serve with rice.

Serves 3.

Black and White Wednesday - Light Bread

This is the bread I made Monday. It's probably the best bread I've ever baked. It rose so high! I'm sending this to Susan for Black and White Wednesday, the new event at her blog, The Well-Seasoned Cook. She started the event six weeks ago to showcase black and white food photography. I love the idea of shooting in black and white. Without the distraction of color, you can highlight light and texture to great effect. Like anything worth doing, though, black and white photography takes a bit of practice. It's taken me this long to capture an image I wanted to show off!

I apologize for the lack of a post last week; I made something new for the blog, but it was too meh to post. Do you ever find recipes that seem too good to be true, but you make them anyway? It was one of those. However,  I'm making a House Favorite tonight - already on the blog, but I'll update the original post and enter it in this month's event - and another tomorrow, which I will definitely post as soon as I can.

Vegan Lemon Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

There is no such thing as low fat shortbread. Since it's nothing more than flour, fat, and flavorings, there is nothing that you can cut. If you were to replace the fat with something else, say applesauce, you wouldn't be making shortbread.  So, the goal becomes to use a healthy fat.

I've made shortbread cookies with 100% Earth Balance margarine and they were as good as ones made with butter. Some day I'd like to try well-chilled canola oil. This week, I took a middle approach and used half Earth Balance and half coconut oil. I think these are even better than the ones I made with all margarine. 

If you've never had lemon and rosemary together in a dessert, you are in for a treat. The hint of rosemary plays off the lemon zest to create a more vibrant flavor than you would think possible in a little cookie. These are definitely not the same-old, same-old cookie. I've heard that shortbread keeps well for a week, but these won't last more than a day or two.

I am sending this to inaugural Cook.Eat.Delicious-Desserts! event, which this month is all about lemons. I'm also linking this up with Meatless Monday.

Vegan Lemon Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon packed lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

2 teaspoons lemon juice (from about 1/2 a lemon)

1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Combine all ingredients with a mixer on low speed until well-combined (mixture will be crumbly.) Press dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.

Roll dough out to slightly less than 1/2-inch thick (about a centimeter). Cut into circles with a two-inch cookie or biscuit cutter. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to an ungreased baking sheet.  Gather up the scraps and roll out again (chill the scraps in the freezer for a minute or two if they get too warm to roll.) Slip the baking sheets or sheets into the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown.

Makes 20-22.

House Favorites: Vegan - July Wrap Up

This month we've been trying to keep cool with drinks and slow cooker desserts that won't heat up the kitchen, enjoying savory fresh vegetables, taking extra time with delicious snacks, and at least one of us is warily keeping an eye out for summer storms.

Raven of Cook.Eat.Delicious! Is back with savory, umami Szechuan French Green Beans. She can eat a whole pan herself, and I bet I could, too. 

Suvidha of Suvidha's Kitchen sends us Swiss Roll Cutlets, consisting of dough rolled in a spiral around a delicious spiced potato filling. These are good for a snack or breakfast.

 

"Ridiculously easy and nutritious" is how Kathy of Healthy Slow Cooking describes her Slow Cooker Vegan Kheer. This creamy breakfast is made with brown rice and non-dairy milk.

If the heat is too much for you, you need some Citrusy Sweet Tea, Y'all! R&R at Tadka Pasta take tea beyond ordinary with citrus and mild spices like cinnamon and star anise.

Finally, if you need to stock up on canned goods for potential power outages, my Emergency Pasta E Fagioli is a good recipe to shop for, and it's tasty enough for anytime.

 

After savoring these entries, I feel cooler and more refreshed already. Thanks everybody!

House Favorites: Vegan - August Announcement

As food bloggers, sometimes we get so caught up in trying new things that we forget about the dishes that we make all the time. These are the recipes we make repeatedly for house guests and potlucks. The ones our families won't let us skip on the holidays. Our beloved signature dishes. Our house favorites.

What are your house favorites? This is a monthly blog event where you can show them off. It will run from the first day of the month to the last. I'll have a writeup of all the entries by the fifth of the following month. The rules are simple:

    1. Your dish needs to be vegan. This means no meat, fish, dairy, honey or their derivatives.

    2. You should have made this at least three times and consider the recipe "finished." Any course is welcome, from appetizers to desserts. Variations on your favorite dishes are welcome.

    3. In your blog post, please mention House Favorites: Vegan, and link to my main page: http://chezcayenne.blogspot.com.

 4. Use Mr. Linky at the end of the monthly announcement to enter your post.

Of course older posts are welcome, but please limit your entries of older posts to one a month, or reblog about them during the current month to enter more. There is no limit to the recipes you've blogged about during the current month. 

Feel free to enter your House Favorites: Vegan entries in other blog events.

You are welcome to use either of the logos here, but it's not required.

If you have a recipe that's not vegan, but you can veganize it without changing the character of the recipe much, blog about your vegan version and send it in - there's no need to make the vegan version three times. If a vegan ingredient is an option, make sure that you mention it in the ingredients list and instructions. (e.g. Your ingredients list can say something like 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil and your instructions say heat butter or olive oil.)

Non-food bloggers can participate too. Do you have a favorite message board that welcomes vegan recipes with photos? Post your recipe, a photo and a link back to my main page on the message board. Then use Mr. Linky and leave a comment here.