Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

I have a lot of hummus. They keep putting it on sale. Even though the grocery store is short of a lot of things, hummus is wonderfully abundant. I thought that it's creamy texture and high flavor content might make a good addition to bread. What dedicated vegan doesn't love a fresh made bread? I practically live on the stuff. Flatbread is so much simpler than a yeast bread. You can bang some out in no time at all. Flatbread Ingredients 2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 tbls nutritional yeast 2 tbls ground flax seed 2 heaping tbls of your favorite flavor of hummus 1 tbl olive oil 1 tbl salt 1 tbl garlic powder 2 tps aleppo pepper flakes 1/2 cup water Cooking Oil Ingredients 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced into, but still intact 1 tbl olive oil Mix together bread ingredients into a loose dough. Knead with your hand to finish. Knead for a few minutes to get a smooth dough. Cover and set aside. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet. Add garlic clo...

There's a vegan trend of taking veg and kind of preparing and serving it in a similar way that one might do with meat products. Cauliflower steak, roasted cabbage quarters, carrot steak, etc. So with fresh broccoli florets on sale, I figured I'd try to do broccoli chops. If you cut them right they kinda resemble the shape of lamb chops or pork chops. As far as taste was concerned, I just wanted deep, umami flavor and broccoli's natural roasted texture. It's a rich and satisfying bite. It has outer crunch and inner chew. The crust on the outside is sweet, salty and smoky. Broccoli Chop Glaze 3 tbls olive oil 2 tbls hot sauce 2 tbls soy sauce Trim the ends off of the bottoms of the florets. Cut the florets down the center and into quarters to get a chop like shape. Out of two florets I got 6 chops. Brush generously all over with the glaze and then season judiciously with salt and pepper. Char in a high heat skillet on both sides and the tops.

Some people get cravings for veggie burgers. I get cravings for veggie balls. Something about the shape satisfies me. You can pick them up and eat them with your hands. You can dip then in purees and sauces. You can plant them as the apex of a hearty salad. The most appealing thing is probably that they're fun to make and taste as good as they look. I've done a few vegan meatball iterations in the past. This time my inspiration was hummus. I had a lot in the fridge and it occurred to me that it might help produce a more moist, tender, meaty ball. I was right. It worked exactly as I had hoped. These little guys have a slight crunch on the outside and are moist and tender inside. In keeping with the spirit of hummus as my guiding force, I used its regional origins as the focus for my spice profile. Ingredients 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 2 heaping tbls hummus 1/2 cup uncooked old fashioned oats 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1 tbl caraway seeds 1 tbl olive oil 2 tsp...

Red peppers were 99 cents a pound, so I had the idea of a red pepper based curry sauce. It's similar, yet different from a classic tomato based curry. Sweeter. Can take more heat. I added tofu for protein and creaminess. But it was still pretty chunky, so I added some coconut milk as well. It really doesn't feel like a curry without it. This is a protein rich curry sauce that works well with rice, vegetables and beans. You can go traditional and pour it in a bowl to pair with rice. You can also utilize it similarly to a puree and plate it on the bottom of crisp veg and additional beans. Ever since I first discovered curry, I've been fascinated with how it can be transformed beyond classic applications. I think this iteration is a perfect example of how a complex curry sauce can be paired with whatever fresh beans and veg you're hungry for at the moment. Rice optional. Ingredients 1/4 cup cooked lentils 2 large red bell peppers 1/2 package silken firm tofu 1 ja...

Fresh made bagels are pretty much the best thing you can put in your mouth. Fresh bagels packed with additional protein are orders of magnitude better! Ingredients 1/2 package silken firm tofu 1 packet dry yeast 2 1/2 cups ap flour, more for kneading 1/4 cup ground almonds or almond flour 2 spoonfuls ground flax seed 2 spoonfuls nutritional yeast 1 tbl baking powder 2 tbls olive oil, more for brushing 2 tsps garlic powder 2 tsps pepper flakes 1 tsp black pepper 2 1/2 tsps salt 2 tsps sugar 1/2 cup warm water (95-110 F) Bloom the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water and sugar. Set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. I like to use glass. It's much easier to clean afterward. Break the tofu into small pieces and add to the dry mix. Use your hands to incorporate the tofu into the dry mixture. Similar to cutting cold butter into biscuit or pie dough. This serves two purposes. It evenly distributes the tofu and it also warms it up so the yeast won't go ...

I'm not a huge fan of pea soup, but I did have a bag of green split peas that I panic bought at the beginning of the virus insanity. Peas are packed with protein. They really fill you up. Quite out of the blue, it occured to me that pea soup might be a lot more interesting if it were given the Indian curry treatment with some garam masala and coconut milk. Turns out, I was right. I am now a fan of split pea soup. I also used this soup as a way to utilize ingredients that were either usually discarded or getting a little old. This is no time to waste anything that might feed yourself or your loved ones. 8 ounces dry green split peas, soaked overnight 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 shallots, diced 1 jalapeno, minced 1 serrano, minced All the not too woody ends from 1 lb of asparagus, sliced small Leftover stalks from 1/2 lb fresh kale, sliced small Few ounces leftover spinach leaves 2 tsps garam masala 2 tsps aleppo pepper 2 tsps garlic powder 1 1/2 tbls salt 2 tsps blac...

I love a good bread. It's absolutely one of my favorite things. Bread can deliver amazing flavor when done correctly. It can also provide exciting texture and plenty of protein. The more you knead bread, the more gluten you create. Those already familiar with seitan know that wheat gluten is total protein. When you add nutritional yeast, flax or other nuts/seeds,  now you have a bread that is also a complete protein. In the interest of doing things a little differently, I decided to do little bread balls because I figured they would offer a unique textural experience to other forms of bread. I also figured they'd make a nice little snack size bite. They're easier to shape than a flat bread, can bake in the oven, and take much less time to cook than rolls or loaves. They're great for dipping into hummus too. As you can see, they're very cute as well. Bread Balls Dough Recipe 2 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour 3 tbls nutritional yeast 2 tbls ground...

I don't currently have the luxury of a lot of ingredients lying around. The coronavirus has turned everything on its head. Still, I'm trying to find comfort in familiar hobbies like cooking and origami. What I did have was half a package of silken firm tofu that needed to be used and a whole head of garlic that wasn't getting any younger. That is the inspiration for this recipe. That, and my love of all things creamy and garlicky. Ingredients 1/2 package silken firm tofu, drained 8 cloves garlic, stems removed 1 habanero, deseeded 1 serrano 3 tbls olive oil 3 tbls white vinegar 1 tbl salt 1/2 can chick peas, drained and rinsed Puree all ingredients in your food processor until a creamy mixture is the result. It's great right away, but you can chill it in the fridge for a few hours to thicken and let the flavors coalesce. This is extremely garlic forward and also hot from the chiles. Because the mayo is tofu based and tofu has no flavor of its own, th...