Tempeh Nacho Dip

A lot of people say that nutritional yeast tastes like cheese, but I don't think so. When it's in a sauce, it tastes more like a meaty gravy to me. However, if you add salsa, it tastes just like queso dip or nacho cheese. Here's a fairly typical recipe.

I wanted to make an extra hearty version, so I added tempeh and ramped up the spices. It is definitely a keeper. I'd feel confident serving this at a party to just about anyone.

We had this with tortilla soup, but I have a couple of plans for it in the future. First, I'd like to deconstruct it a bit and make nachos, and then I want to add some vegetables and layer it with tortillas in a casserole, to make something similar to King Ranch Casserole. I'm just warning you now - you're probably going to see this recipe again!

I'm sending this soybean tempeh dip to My Legume Love Affair, hosted this month by the event's creator Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, and to Sangeetha's HITS, hosted this month by Prabha of Prabha's Cooking.

Tempeh Nacho Dip

Steaming the tempeh is optional, but I like to do this as it reduces tempeh's slight bitterness and makes it easier to crumble. The optional red wine vinegar gives this a bit of a chorizo vibe.

1 (8 ounce) package tempeh

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

1-1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (hot) or smoked paprika (mild)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 cup water

1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes and chilies, or 1-1/4 cups salsa

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (optional)

Cube tempeh. Steam for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mash. Stir in garlic, paprika, chipotle chili powder or smoked paprika, salt, cumin, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper.

Combine flour, nutritional yeast, and water in a medium sauce pan. Heat to medium, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens. Stir in tomatoes and chilies, olive oil, and spiced tempeh. Add red wine vinegar, if using. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 3 cups. 

Split Pea Pulao

I found this in Vegetarian Planet, where it's punningly titled Split Pea-laf. It's an Americanized version of an Indian pulao. The recipe originally called for ground cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, but I de-Americanized* it somewhat by using garam masala instead. I kept the original green split peas in the dish, though, because I like them.  The nice authentic touch in the original recipe is the tadka, a mix of aromatics and spices fried in a little butter or oil and stirred into a dish just before serving.

The brown rice and split peas make this quite filling and a nice way to round out any Indian-inspired meal.

I'm sending this pulao to My Legume Love Affair, hosted this month by the event's creator Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, and to Priya's Healthy Diet - Vegetarian Side Dishes, hosted this month by Vardhini of Cooks' Joy.

 

Split Pea Pulao

1 cup brown rice (preferably basmati)

3-1/4 cups water

6 cardamom pods

A 2-inch cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

1-1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 cup split peas

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 cup onion, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon garam masala

Add rice, 2 cups water, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt and red pepper flakes to a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring water to a low boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the split peas and water to the saucepan without stirring. Bring the water back to a low boil, reduce once again to a simmer, and cover. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes or until rice and split peas are tender.

During the last 10 minutes of cooking the rice and split peas, heat the canola oil in a skillet to medium. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low  and cook until the onions are golden, about 5 minutes. Raise the heat back to medium and add the ginger and garlic. Cook 1 minute, then add the garam masala and cook another minute.

Pick out the cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, and cardamom pods from the rice and split peas and discard. Stir in the spiced onions/tadka.

Serves 4 to 6.

*Is de-Americanized even a word? I guess it is now!

Old Vines for Black and White Wednesday

Old vine tendrils on a barbed wire fence, Lone Oak Winery, Burleson, Texas

We just got back from a trip to a couple of wineries near Fort Worth, Lone Oak (aka Lost Oak) and Barking Rocks. If you're ever in the area, both are worth a visit. This picture is for Susan's Black and White Wednesday.

Farfalle Salad with Asparagus and Mushrooms

The asparagus has been gorgeous this year. Skinny and tender, it requires just the tiniest bit of steaming, then a hint of lemon and salt. Every time I would normally have a salad, I've been serving asparagus instead. I'm saving up some in the freezer for soup later, and I'm also trying to incorporate it in as many main dishes as possible. This week, I put it in pasta salad.

I'm sending this over to Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Gillian of So So Simple Food.

Dressing:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 fat clove garlic, minced

Freshly ground black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.

Salad:

5-6 ounces button mushrooms, sliced

8 ounces asparagus

8 ounces farfalle

3/4 cup sliced yellow bell pepper (about 1/2 a pepper)

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup minced parsley

3 large pepperoncini, stemmed, seeded, and minced

Toss the sliced mushrooms with 2 or 3 tablespoons of dressing and set aside. Snap the woody ends from the asparagus and cut into 1-1/2 to 2 inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. During the last 3 minutes of cooking time, add the asparagus and stir. Drain the pasta and asparagus. Toss with remaining salad dressing. Add the bell pepper, onion, parsley and pepperoncini and toss again.

Serves 4

Strawberry Mango Margaritas and Smoothies

The day was perfect for hanging out on the patio.  It was sunny and warm enough to wear shorts and sandals, and there was a light breeze blowing.  Butterflies were flitting among the blooming shrubs and perennials in the yard. It was a typical sunny, South Texas November Day.

If I had published this pair of recipes the day I created them in late November, would you have been mad at me? Maybe not, but I'll bet that by the time most of you had the weather to enjoy your own frosty drinks on the patio, you'd have forgotten about these.  So, I hung on to the recipe and photos until nice weather rolled around for us again in the Northern Hemisphere.

The idea for these came about when I found a bag of mango in my freezer that I had forgotten about. After casting about for ideas, I couldn't decide whether to make alcoholic Margaritas or non-alcoholic smoothies, so I made both. One bag of fruit wasn't enough for both recipes, though, so I mixed in a bag of frozen strawberries. I have also made the Margaritas with 100 percent mango, and I imagine 100 percent strawberries would be tasty too, and that the same would go for the smoothies.

 

Strawberry Mango Smoothies

The photo above is of the smoothies.

1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries

1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen mango

1 cup orange juice

Juice of 1 lime, about 1-1/2 tablespoons (optional)

1 cup water

Ice

Place strawberries, mango, orange juice, and lime juice in a blender. Add the water and enough ice to reach the 4-1/2 or 5 cup line on the blender jar. Blend until smooth.

Serves 4.

Strawberry Mango Margaritas

Since alcohol acts as an antifreeze, I omit the water used in the smoothies and add more ice.

1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries

1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen mango

3/4 cup silver tequila

1/4 cup triple sec or other orange liqueur

Juice of 1 lime, about 1-1/2 tablespoons (optional)

Ice

Place strawberries, mango, tequila, triple sec, and lime juice in a blender. Add enough ice to reach the 4-1/2 or 5 cup line on the blender jar. Blend until smooth.

Serves 4.

Grilled Eggplant Muffuletta

I've been eating portobello muffulettas at a deli nearby and dreaming of making my own for a while. The classic New Orleans muffuletta is made on a one pound round loaf of bread, and includes ham, salami, provolone, and an olive salad.  They're so big, they'll feed four people! There are multiple variations of muffulettas out there, like the vegetarian one I've been eating lately. Sometimes, since the bread is hard to find outside of New Orleans, people make them at home on single-serving submarine buns. It's not a muffuletta without the olive salad, though.

It's cookout season here, so I paired my olive salad with sliced, grilled eggplant. Since I wanted something to marinate the eggplant in before grilling, I made salad dressing first. I also made my own bread. This sandwich took me two days to make, but it was worth it - I even dreamed about it last night.  You could speed it up by using bottled vinaigrette and 4 sub rolls. Do make the olive salad a day ahead if you can, though. (Jarred olive salad is also available in some supermarkets, but I've never had it so I can't vouch for it.)

I am sending this giant sandwich to  Heather's BYOB - Bake Your Own Bread and Susan's Yeastspotting. 

UPDATE 6/22/2012: Instead of homemade olive salad, I've been using Boscoli Italian Olive Salad. It's tasty, but packed in olive oil, which can make for a greasy sandwich. So, I drain the portion I need for the sandwich in a wire mesh strainer over a small bowl while I slice the eggplant. Then I use the drained olive oil and some added bottled vinaigrette to marinate the eggplant. If I've already made the bun, the sandwich goes together in a snap.

Grilled Eggplant Muffuletta

Serves 4.

Muffuletta Buns

Makes 2 buns. I made one bun and used the rest of the dough to make bread sticks for soup later.

2 cups white bread flour

2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1-3/4 cups warm water (about 105 F)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for bowl

3 tablespoons agave nectar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Measure white flour, vital wheat gluten, and whole wheat flour into a bowl and combine with a fork. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water, yeast and about 1-1/2 cups of the flour. Cover and let stand at room temperature for an hour (or as long as overnight in the refrigerator.) This mixture will bubble up and expand.

Add the olive oil, agave nectar, and salt; combine with a fork. Stir in the flour. Knead with mixer on low for 5 minutes, or turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes by hand.

Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium bowl. Transfer dough to the bowl and turn over to coat all sides with oil. Cover and let stand at room temperature for an hour to rise. Dough should double in size.

Divide dough into two equal portions. Oil a large pan (or two). Pat and stretch one portion of dough into a 9 or 10-inch circle. Top with 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining portion.

(To make bread sticks, divide remaining half of dough into eight pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 8 inches long. Place the ropes side by side on the pan and top with sesame seeds. As the bread sticks rise, they will stick together, but you'll be able to break them apart after the bread is baked. If you like crusty bread sticks,  place them far enough to stay separate, but do be aware that they'll then cook faster than the muffuletta bun.)

Let bread rise a second time until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375. Bake for 25 minutes. To test for doneness, rap the bottom of the loaf with your knuckles; bread is done when it makes a sound.

Allow loaf to cool to room temperature and slice.

Salad Dressing

Makes about 1-1/3 cup. You'll need about 1/2 cup for the sandwich.

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red or white wine vinegar

1/3 cup water

2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper)

Pinch red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Shake before using.

Olive Salad

Makes enough for 1 sandwich. I accidentally bought olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes instead of pimientos, but they were good too.

3/4 cup green olives with pimientos, minced

1/4 cup kalamata or black olives, minced

1/3 cup minced celery, about 1 stalk

1/3 cup minced carrot, about 1/2 carrot

1 tablespoon capers

2 tablespoons minced and seeded pepperoncini

3 tablespoons salad dressing

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Taste for salt and spices. (I didn't add anything, but I'll probably add big pinches of salt and oregano next time.) Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Grilled Eggplant

1 large globe eggplant, about 1-1/4 pounds

About 1/3 cup salad dressing

Before starting the coals in the grill, slice the eggplant into 3/4-inch rounds. Pour dressing into a non-metal pan, or pans, big enough to hold the eggplant slices in a single layer. Add the eggplant and turn over to coat both sides in dressing. Cover and set aside at room temperature, turning over at least once.

Prepare coals in a charcoal grill. Grill eggplant slices, covered, until fork-tender, about 12 minutes. Turn over and move eggplant around the grill every 3-4 minutes to avoid burning.

To assemble the sandwich, spread about 1/2 the olive salad on a bun. Top with the eggplant and the remaining olive salad. Cover and slice into 4 wedges.