Pizzas w/whole wheat crust and Daiya cheese

Lyla and I love making these pizzas lately. She prefers them to pizza with cheese from cow's milk. It's very simple. We just get the frozen crusts from Fresh Direct. Put a little bit of Rao's sauce on it. For Adrian's we only put Daiya cheese. For the rest of us, we have black olives and red onion over the Daiya cheese and sometimes we had some vegan pepperoni! Yum Yum!

Fried Udon Noodles pg 229 The Kind Diet

Last night we made these to go along with the baked ginger tofu! I thought it was delicious. Dave liked it too. I think it was a bit spicy for Lyla. I'm not sure if it was all of the black pepper or the paprika. I might try to tweak it in the future.

Serves 2
1 (8 oz) jpackage udon noodles
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced green cabbage
1 cup onion slices
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
Chopped parsley for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the udon noodles and cook just until al dente; drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, about 15 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water to the pan if the cabbage begins to stick or burn.

Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil over medium heat in a separate pan. Add the onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika and cook until the onions are translucent, again adding water if the onions stick. Add the onions to the skillet with the cabbage and stir to combine. Add the drained noodles and toss together until heated through. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.

Ginger Baked Tofu from The Kind Diet

I made this recipe with Lyla. It was actually super easy.  We might have over extended ourselves because we made quite a few dishes with it. However, going, forward, this is something I could prepare in minutes by starting the marinade early in the day and popping in the oven in the evening. Adrian even loved adding cubes of it to his miso soup. We all agreed it was delicious.

Serves 2-4

1 lb firm tofu
1/3 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
1 Tbspn toasted or untoasted sesame oil
2 Tbspns minced fresh ginger
1 Tbspn finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
2 Tbspns umeboshi vinegar
1/2 tspn crushed red-pepper flakes (optional)
1 tspn brown rice syrup (optional)
Finely chopped scallions for garnish (optional)

Cut tofu in half width-wise, then slice in half again. You will be left with 4 tofu "steaks".

Pour 3/4 cup of water into a bowl. Whisk in the shoyu, oil, ginger, garlic, vinegars, red-pepper flakes (if desired), and rice syrup and pour over the tofu, covering it. An 8"x6" dish works perfectly. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Either drain the baking dish of the majority of marinade, or place tofu on a baking sheet & baste with the marinade. Reserve the remaining marinade.

Bake tofu for 15-20 mins. Turn the tofu pieces with a spatula, baste again with the marinade, bake for 10-15 mins longer. Garnish with scallions & serve warm.

Coffee Fudge Brownies (The Kind Diet)

The Kind Diet’s Coffee Fudge Brownies

I got this recipe from The Kind Diet.We really liked it. I found I had to cook the brownies much longer than the recipe called for because they are really thick, maybe 10-15 minutes longer. I just waited until it wasn't jiggly inside the middle. Also, the amount of glaze is really enough for two batches of brownies if you use a 8-9 inch pan. Next time I might try putting them in a 13 x 9 inch pan to see if the cooking time is more in line with the recipe and then I might need more glaze as well.

COFFEE FUDGE BROWNIES

IngredientsFor the brownies:
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups maple sugar
3/4 cup soy/rice milk blend (or any nondairy milk)
3/4 cup brewed decaf coffee
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1/2 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan) butter

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat an 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan with oil or cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, sift together both flours, the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the maple sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, coffee and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to mix well.
4. Stir in the walnuts, then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
5. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once the brownies have cooled, prepare the glaze.
7. In a small saucepan bring about 1 inch of water to a boil. Set a stainless steel bowl over it.
8. Add the chocolate chips and butter to the bowl and stir until melted and smooth.
9. Pour the warm glaze over the entire pan of brownies, smoothing it over the surface.
10. Chill until the glaze has set, about 1 hour.

Start to finish: 2 1/2 hours (20 minutes active)
Servings: 12

Lyla's New Cooking Interest

Lyla has become very interested in cooking with me. I thought it would be fun for us to try out new recipes, veganize some old ones and see which ones we like! I told her we could start a blog to keep track of which recipes get the thumbs up and which get the thumbs down! I can't wait to get started. I think we'll have a blast.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Description:
Another DELICIOUS soup recipe from my CSA!

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
2 cups vegetable broth
Splash of olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1⁄2 onion, sliced thin
1 teaspoon curry powder (more if you like spicy)
Salt and ground black pepper

Directions:
1 Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and roast on greased pan at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until tender.

2 When squash is done, saute garlic and onion with olive oil in large pot. Scrape out guts and seeds of squash and scrape the flesh (discarding the peel) into the pot. Add broth and seasonings and bring to a simmer (about 10 minutes).

3 Puree the whole thing (an immersion blender is helpful; be careful if pouring hot soup into a stand-up blender!) until smooth. Eat (slowly, and with conviction).

(As a lime creme garnish, you could whisk together 1⁄2 cup reduced-fat sour cream, 1⁄4 teaspoon lime zest, and 1 tablespoon lime juice and dollop on top of soup.)

HEARTY (veggie) SAUSAGE, WHITE BEAN & ESCAROLE SOUP

Description:
I got this recipe from the farmer that is growing the food for the new CSA I'm trying out. It's absolutely delicious. The escarole was straight from the farm and so wonderful I can't wait to have more tomorrow. Lyla like it too. Adrian scrunched up his little face because he was mad I didn't make him miso ramen noodles.

Ingredients:
2 (veggie)sausages
olive oil
1 onion
sage
salt
pepper
1 head of escarole
2 cans rinsed white beans
red wine vinegar

Directions:
Brown two sausage (I used four of the veggie field roast smoked apple sausage) with onions and sage in medium pot with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. When onions have turned soft, add chopped escarole and 6 cups of water to pot. Simmer for a few minutes and then add two cans rinsed & dried white beans. Simmer for another fifteen minutes or so, until escarole is soft and darker green. Finish off by stirring in a splash of red wine vinegar to brighten the flavors. Serve by itself or with toasted baguette.

I was a little concerned about the flavor so I added some veggie bouillon (I'm not sure it was necessary)