Eggless Egg Salad

Yum-o!

Polenta time!

Polenta has become a favorite staple in my diet because of its versatility as well as its ease in preparation. It can be served soft, hard, grilled or fried. It can be topped with a myriad of sauces and vegetables and can have various ingredients folded in while it's still soft. Italians often spice-up their polenta by substituting water with broth. It is easy to make from scratch, but I find the Trader Joe's pre-packaged polenta is great. It has all-natural ingredients and is packaged similarly to sausage in a plastic "tube" sort of thing. This form of polenta is a little on the firm side, which I enjoy, and can be sliced into individual medallions.

My favorite way to cook this type of polenta is to layer it in a baking dish with fresh basil and my favorite vegan red sauce and sauteed mushrooms. Heat it through in a 375 oven for about 30 minutes and a tasty treat ensues. Not quite vegan? Add a high quality parm/reggiano and you have one delicious entree!

A good polenta dish with a Mexican twist can be made by layering it with chili or black beans, sauteed onions, salsa and cheese, if you're not a vegan, or vegan cheese sauce if you are.

This is a good recipe for Vegan "Sharp Cheddar Cheese" that calls for agar agar, (easily located at a natural foods store such as Whole Foods....or "the Food Hole" as we like to call it) :

Ingredients

• 5 teaspoons powdered agar-agar or 5 tablespoon agar-agar flakes
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup pimientos
• 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice, depending on how sharp you want it
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard

Directions

1. Begin by combining the agar and tap water in a small sauce pan.

2. Heat over a medium flame, stirring often.

3. When the mixture boils, reduce the heat a bit.

4. Allow the agar to boil gently for 5 minutes.

5. Stir often to prevent burning and to make sure that all of the agar dissolves.

6. Meanwhile, measure all of the other ingredients into a blender container.

7. When the agar is finished boiling, carefully pour it into the blender container.

8. Blend on high for about 2 minutes.

9. Stop, scrape down the sides, replace the lid and whizz again, for about another minute.

10. The mixture should be very smooth and the same orange color as dairy cheddar.

11. Pour the mixture into a small, lightly oiled loaf pan.

12. Refrigerate overnight and allow it to chill until firm.

Couscous with Lemon, Mint and Garbanzo Beans

This nummy delight is what we had for dinner at my house tonight. Try it! You'll love it!


Couscous with Lemon, Mint and Garbanzo Beans. Created for BUSH’S ® Beans by Connie Guttersen, R.D., Ph.D., nutrition instructor at The Culinary Institute of America, mom and author of "The Sonoma Diet."

Ingredients:

• 1 10 ounce box couscous
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups water
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 16 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 cup seeded and chopped red bell pepper
• 2 cups chopped cucumbers
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Prepare couscous per directions on the box.

Place couscous and raisins in a large bowl, set aside.

Combine water, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small pot. Bring to simmer, pour over couscous mixture and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, let sit for 15 minutes.

Remove plastic wrap, gently fluff with fork. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine beans, red pepper, cucumber, and tomatoes. Pour in lemon juice and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Combine fluffed couscous, garbanzo bean mixture, parsley and mint in a large serving platter. Gently toss to combine. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Its Vegan Muffin Time! ...and they're GOOD!!!

I find that it is incredibly simple to use egg replacer and soy or almond milk to make egg-free and dairy-free vegan muffins, and no one ever complains about the substitutions. They vanish just as quickly as the ones made with dairy products.

Here are a couple of my favorite recipes:


Stacy's Yummy Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins










INGREDIENTS:

* 3 ripe bananas, mashed
* 3/4 cup light brown sugar
* Ener-G egg replacer for 2 eggs
* scraped seeds from 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp. good vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
* 2 1/4 cups flour
* 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* dash nutmeg and cinnamon
* dash sea salt
* 1 cup diced organic strawberries (for some reason frozen works best)

PREPARATION:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease or line a muffin tin.

Beat together the bananas ( I let them get really soft and overripe first) , brown sugar, egg replacer, vanilla bean or extract and vegan margarine.

In a separate bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder and baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Add to the banana mixture and stir just until combined. Gently fold in the strawberries.

Fill each muffin about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

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Stacy's Tangy Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Muffins




This is both a sweet and tart muffin recipe, chock full of zesty lemon flavor - just the way lemon poppy seed muffins should be! Be sure to use a vegan margarine when making this vegan lemon poppy seed muffin recipe.


INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp lemon juice
* 1/2 cup soy milk
* 1/2 cup margarine, slightly softened
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tbsp Ener-G egg replacer
* 1/2 tsp vanilla or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
* zest from one lemon
* 1/4 cup poppy seeds

PREPARATION:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk together then lemon juice, soy milk and vanilla.

Add the margarine and sugar, then add the egg replacer. Stir in the lemon zest and poppy seeds.

Gently combine the flour mixture with the soy milk and margarine mixture just until mixed.

Pour into prepared muffin pan. For extra sweet muffins, sprinkle the top of each muffin with a pinch of extra sugar.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.


Ta daaaaaa! Vegan muffin goodness!
Mmmmmmmmmm! Good!

Squash Pie

Squash Pie

8 Servings

The glowing colors and the smooth texture of cooked winter squash are evocative of winter feasts, home and the holidays. These sturdy gourds have been around since long before the Pilgrims shared their first Thanksgiving with Native Americans. Squash is believed to have been eaten as long ago as 5,500 BC. The winter squash family boasts a bewildering number of varieties, from acorn to Hubbard, the most recognizable of which is probably the pumpkin. But despite great differences in shape, size and the external color of their hard skins, most can be treated the same in the kitchen -- baked, pureed, or as a component of soups and stews. Perhaps best of all is the rich nutritional value they have in common. Beta carotene, potassium and fiber are just some of their most notable assets. With a nutty and often sweet taste and a smooth texture, winter squash is good and good for you.

Ingredients:
two 9" crusts,
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
1 cup water
4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot
6 cups cooked puréed winter squash (buttercup, banana, or Hubbard)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 tablespoons brandy
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a blender, grind the cashew pieces until very fine. Add the water and blend on high speed for 2 minutes. Add the cornstarch or arrowroot powder and blend on low speed for 30 seconds.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the squash purée, sugars, brandy, and spices.

4. Add the cashew mixture to the squash and mix well.

5. Divide the pie filling equally between the two pie crusts. Top with the chopped walnuts. Bake the pies for 50-60 minutes until lightly browned, cracked, and well-set.

7. Remove the pies from the oven, cool, then refrigerate overnight to allow filling to firm up. Serve cool or at room temperature.

Know your labels

Sticker labels on the fruits actually tell you how the fruits have been grown — whether they were organically grown or conventionally grown with pesticides and herbicides or if they are genetically engineered fruits.

Conventional Fruit Labels

Four digits and does not start with 9

** mostly starting with the digit 4

Organic Fruit Labels

Five digits and starts with number 9

Genetically Modified Fruits

Start with the digit 8

If you come across a peach in the store and it’s labels 4922, it’s an conventional peach grown with herbicides and harmful fertilizers. If it has a sticker 99222, it’s organic and safe to eat. If it says 89222, then it has been genetically modified (GMO).

So next time you go shopping, remember these critical numbers and know how to avoid purchasing inorganic and GMO fruits.

Living in Food Porn Heaven

Ok....as a general rule, I try to eat locally grown produce because of the impact that eating imported goods has on the environment. However, once in awhile, I do splurge and go completely off the foodwagon. Yesterday was one of those days.


There are home cooked meals and there are restaurants....and then there is San Francisco. I have attended foodie sections of cities all over the place, but never have I encountered such an abundance of gourmet gastronomic delights as in San Francisco's current offerings. Seems like every time I step off the BART I find some amazing new tasty delight.

There are Farmer's Markets and ethnic eateries galore in this city, but non surpass the Foodie Mecca that is known as the Ferry Market Building on the Embarcadero where we spent the day yesterday strolling from shop-to-shop and booth-to-booth. Every weekend during the spring and summer, the exterior of the building is lined with white tents offering everything from the most beautiful tomatoes you've ever laid eyes on, to the more obscure varietals of eggplant or plantains. Inside, there are specialty shops, each dedicated to its own kind of exquisite gastronomical delight. Food is artfully displayed in bursts of creative, harmonious color and composition. Just looking at it almost makes this writer high!



One shop sells only olive oil and specialty salts and a couple of spices. The salts come with such descriptive monikers as "Micro-Milled Tahitian Vanilla Pink ". Salt restaurants are beginning to crop up here and there as more and more foodies are jumping on the bandwagon. In fact, the latest addition to many of the gourmet food shops is "saltware" i.e. serving dishes made of salt stones. I purchased this wonderful little tin of "Micro-milled Himalayan Fennel Pollen Pink" to go on a fresh fennel salad that I like to make.


I also got some Lavender Salt and these beautiful organic tomatoes.


Additionally, I grabbed two bottles of infused E.V.O.O., one with lemon zest and the other with hot chilis.


To go along with the oil, I chose a spice blend called, "Zhug" (pronounced zzz-hoog, one syllable) to float on the oil to use as a dipping sauce. It is a hot and tasty condiment that contains very high quality cumin, hot chili, garlic, coriander, cardamon, cloves and specialty salt all ground together to create a lovely Roussillon ochre-colored dry mix. Mmmm!

The shop a couple of doors down sells nothing but mushrooms, with the exception this week, of some delicate fiddlehead ferns, one of my very favorite foods. These are only available during a short time span in the spring. I fell in love with this asparagus-like delicacy when I lived in New England and eat them lightly steamed with just a squeeze of lemon and a wee bit of salt. They virtually melt in the mouth and are so delicious!


...but the fiddleheads were not the only thing I bought. Check out these beautiful shrooms! I went nuts and bought Lions Mane, Morels, Golden Chanterelles, Velvet Pioppinis...and others.









Oh, and the pasta! I will be combining mushrooms with these visually striking taste treats, to be sure!







I also picked up some beautiful rosemary bread from the Acme bakery, crispy on the outside and velvety soft on the inside with just a hint of rosemary. This bread is perfect eaten all by itself without butter or other condiments.



And on the way out, we picked up some fresh fennel to use in my tomato, fennel and watercress salad:



Oh...and I can't omit the chocolate...and this is another place where the "edge" gets teetered on and falling to the wrong side! These beauties, unfortunately, are not vegan. However, we just had to stop by Recchiuti Confections and pick up some of these. Each delicious square has these beautiful designs painted on. This "Parisian-inspired shop, softly lit with hand-blown Murano lamps and appointed with a jewelry case chocolate display" has an unimaginable array of chocolates, with flavors such as honey crunch, fresh lavender, lemon verbena or tarragon. Some of them feature artwork by such artists as Michele Carson painted in chocolate on each piece:. These are the ones we chose:



We don't shop like this every day, but once in awhile...it is really wicked and fun. You'll have to excuse me now...I'm off to the kitchen!