Applesauce Cake

2 cups flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Measure dry ingredients into a mixing bowl & stir together.  Add the rest of the ingredients and
stir together until moistened. Spread in 9" square greased pan. Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick
comes out clean.
I added raisins and baked in a loaf pan. It takes about 1 hour

Cornbread Muffins

Yum! Quick, easy, tasty, savory cornbread muffins to go with chili or gallo pinto or black bean soup or on their own with just a little agave nectar on top.

Dry ingredients:
3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c medium ground (i.e. not coarse, not masa harina) cornmeal
1/2 c coarse ground cornmeal
1/4 c sugar
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Wet ingredients:
1 c soy milk
1 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 c apple sauce
1/4 c canola oil

Preheat oven to 400 F. Whisk soy milk and vinegar together, let sit for 10 minutes to make soy "buttermilk". Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, stir gently to combine. Put batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden-brown on top.

Cashew-Tofu Spread for Lasagna

I have been playing around with variations on the theme of a tofu and cashew based spread, having been inspired by various vegan ricotta and cream cheese recipes that rely on these ingredients. I have quickly come to wonder how I ever lived without a recipe like this. Adding cashews to the tofu makes it wonderfully creamy and rich without being oily, and it has a nice little tang from the garlic and lemon juice. The first version I made worked wonderfully on a pizza, and the leftovers were great on a tomato sandwich. This particular version was used in a transcendental batch of vegetable lasagna. I'll post other variants as I continue to experiment.

4 T olive oil
3 T soy milk
2 T lemon juice
2 T rice vinegar
2 t salt
3/4 c cashews
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1.5 lbs tofu firm tofu, crumbled
1 T nutritional yeast
1 t dried basil

Blend liquids, salt, and cashews on low speed in a food processor until they form a thick, mostly smooth, paste.
Add tofu to food processor, blend on high speed until tofu is creamy and mostly smooth (it can still be a little grainy, but you don't want any big lumps). It may be best to add the tofu 1/3 at a time if your food processor can't handle all of it at once.
Add nutritional yeast and basil, blend until totally mixed.

Tempeh Stir Fry with Gingery Black Bean Sauce

Black bean paste is a Chinese condiment made from fermented soy beans. It is salty and quite pungent. This recipe results in a somewhat mild black bean sauce, not as strong as some I've had at restaurants. I think broccoli or green beans would be an excellent addition to this stir fry if you have some on hand.

Stir fry:
Canola oil
1 T sesame oil
3 red Chinese chilies, 2 whole and 1 crushed
1 large yellow onion, sliced into thin quarter-moons
1 package tempeh (12 oz), cut into thin slices or cubes
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced med-thick
2 T ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 green onions, sliced into long diagonal pieces
1 more green onion, thinly sliced, for garnish

Sauce:
1 c water
1 T cornstarch
3 T black bean paste
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar, preferably Chinese black vinegar
1 T sugar

Whisk all sauce ingredients together. Heat a little canola oil in a large skillet. Add chilies, cook over med-high heat for 1 minute. Add onions, cook until they begin to become transparent. Add sesame oil, tempeh, and carrots, stir fry until tempeh starts to brown and carrots are just starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and celery, stir fry until vegetables are just barely done. Add garlic and ginger, stir fry for 2 minutes. Add sauce and green onions, cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Serve over brown rice with extra green onions as garnish.

Freedom Toast Three Ways

Here are my three favorite recipes for eggless french toast.

#1: Cashew Freedom Toast
1 c soy milk
.5 c cashew butter
.5 t cinnamon
.5 t vanilla
1.5 T sugar (optional)

#2: Banana Freedom Toast
1 c soy milk
2 med-large bananas
.5 t cinnamon
.5 t vanilla
a pinch of salt

#3: Banana-Cashew's Love Child
1 c soy milk
.25 c cashew butter
1 med-large banana
.5 t cinnamon
.5 t vanilla

6 slices bread
Margarine
Maple syrup

Blend everything but the bread until completely smooth and mixed.

Pour liquid into a pie plate or similar shallow container. Dip bread into liquid, allowing each slice of bread to soak for a minute or so.

Fry bread in a little margarine over med-low heat, flipping once, until golden on both sides.

Serve with maple syrup!

Tofu-Vegetable Pot Pie with Miso Gravy

This dish needs no introduction. Pot pie! Miso gravy! Yes!

Veggies:
1.5 c onion, chopped (about 1 med)
1.5 c potatoes, chopped (about 2 small)
1.5 c turnips, chopped (about 2 small)
1.5 c carrots, chopped (about 2 med)
1 c celery, chopped (2 stalks)
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
3 c broth
1 c peas
1 lb tofu, cut into small cubes

Gravy:
2 T red miso
4 T nutritional yeast
2 T Braggs
2 T cornstarch
1 T dried parsley
1/4 t pepper
salt to taste

A single pastry crust

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Fry onions in a little margarine for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, turnips, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add broth, simmer until vegetables are just barely soft. Remove 1 c of the broth from the pot and whisk it together with the gravy ingredients in a separate container. Mix gravy mixture back into vegetables. Stir in tofu and peas. Bring mixture back to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, until the gravy thickens. Taste to adjust salt, and add more broth if the gravy is too thick or more cornstarch if it is too thin. Put vegetable mixture in a deep pie plate, top with crust, slice a few vents into the crust and make cute little patterns around the edge of the crust with a fork. Bake until crust is lightly browned, 30-40 minutes.

A Wild Mushroom Stroganoff

After discovering that mushroom hunting is the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon, we made our mushroom stroganoff recipe (without seitan) and topped it with our wildcrafted violet cort, fluted elfin saddle, angels wing (aka osyter mushrooms), belly button hedgehog, chanterelle, pigs ear, shrimp rusula, and winter chanterelle mushrooms. Despite what it sounds like, no animals, elves, or angels were harmed in the making of this eight-mushroom stroganoff.

Kung Pao Tofu (updated!)

Soft tofu in a spicy, sweet sauce with crunchy peanuts. This is so good it's become almost a weekly feature in our kitchen. Don't be scared by the number of chilies, the ones you leave whole add more flavor than spice, just be sure to avoid eating the whole chilies unless you're really tough! This is best served over rice with a simple side of stir fried leafy greens such as bok choy or napa cabbage.

Sauce:
4 T brown sugar
1.5 T cornstarch
5 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
3 T balsamic vinegar
2 T water (or sake)

Marinade:
1.5 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 t salt

Everything else:
1 lb firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1.5 T canola oil
10 whole dried red chilies (the kind sold as Chinese or Thai chilies)
1-2 crushed dried red chilies (vary the amount to suit your desired spice level)
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced into thin circles
6 cloves garlic, diced
2 T fresh ginger, grated
1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
1 generous handful peanuts

Whisk together marinade ingredients and pour over tofu cubes in a small bowl. Allow to marinate while you prepare the vegetables and sauce.

Whisk all sauce ingredients together.

Heat oil, add whole and crushed chilies and cook on med-high heat, stirring frequently, until chilies are a little blackened and very fragrant.

Reduce heat to medium and add tofu. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes.

Add carrots, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add bell pepper, garlic, and ginger, and stir fry until carrots are cooked but still crunchy, about 3 minutes.

Add green onions, cook for 1 minute more.

Add sauce, cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in peanuts. Served garnished with a few extra slices of green onion.

Butternut squash - red lentil dal

This is a perfect soup for cold January evenings. The butternut squash is blended to create a thick, slightly sweet broth with just a hint of curry and the red lentils give it a hearty and creamy texture. It is good over rice or served with garlic bread.

1 large (3 to 3.5 pounds) butternut squash, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
8 cloves garlic, diced or put through a garlic press
1 T fresh ginger, grated
4 c water
4 c broth
1 T Indian curry powder
2 c red lentils
salt to taste
cilantro or parsley to garnish (optional)

Combine butternut squash, onion, garlic, ginger, water and broth and simmer until squash is very soft. Transfer to a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender, and puree until smooth. Return to pot, add curry powder and red lentils. Simmer until red lentils are soft, about 20 minutes. Add salt to taste and serve garnished with finely chopped cilantro or parsley.

Variation: increase curry powder to 2 T, add .5 c roughly chopped cashews during last 10 minutes of cooking, and serve with a generous garnish of finely chopped cilantro.

Dal Chawal (Indian lentils and rice)

Traditional Dal Chawal (Indian lentils and rice)
Makes enough for a 3
Active time: 20 minutes.
Start to finish (including soaking): 1.5 hours

For the lentils

½ cup masoor dal, tiny split "red" lentils (really the color of orange soda)
5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (for dal)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
7 cloves garlic, cut slightly smaller than pea-size
Dash of asafetida (also called hing)
6 (or to taste) mean hot chilies, short and green, halved lengthwise
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon salt (for spice mix)
½ cup chopped cilantro (about ¼ bunch, stems partially removed)


1.Soak the dal in cold water for 45 minutes to an hour. "You soak the dal to get rid of the starch, or it'll be sticky," Seema says, scrunching her face in displeasure. Now would be a good time to get your rice washed and soaking (see below).

2.Drain the dal, give it a quick rinse, and bring it to a boil with the 5 cups water and the 1 teaspoon salt. Skim the foam off the top if you want. (I do out of habit, Seema doesn't. It doesn't taste like much.) Turn it down to a moderate bubble and cover, leaving a crack for evaporation. (The amount of water doesn't actually matter, Seema says, because if it's too loose for you, you can always just uncover it and let it reduce, and if it's too thick, you can just add more water.) Take a peek once in a while to make sure it's not bubbling violently, but pretty much you can just hang out for about 40 minutes, uncovering it for the last 10. Give your mom a call. She misses you.

3.Check on the dal, which by now will have lost its Sunkist sparkle and be a mustardy yellow. If most of the lentils have dissolved and you're looking at a loose soup roughly the texture of a thin batter, get ready to make your entire house smell amazing.

4.In a heavy-bottom pan, get the oil hot enough over medium-high heat so that it just barely shimmers and flows as quickly as water. Add the black mustard seeds. When you start hearing them pop, add the cumin. As it sizzles, add the garlic and swirl the pan to coat it in the oil. Seema says, "I like it when the garlic cooks slow," which toasts it evenly, bringing out its sweet notes without burning it. She does this by lifting her pan half a foot above her flame and swirls it, but you can just turn your heat down a little and stir, until the hissing turns into a slow sizzle. Cook it until it turns even golden brown, and you begin to wonder if you're going to smell like this food for the rest of your life.

5.Once the garlic is ready, add a few dashes of asafetida. Note that the name of this spice contains the word "fetid." That's not a mistake. It stinks like brimstone. But when you cook it in hot oil, the funk disappears and leaves a mellow, oniony flavor that accents the garlic and undergirds all the spices. So use it! Just bear with it for a second. Then add the chilies until they wilt, the turmeric, the ½ teaspoon salt and cilantro.

6.When the cilantro is wilted, dump everything in the pan into the dal. Seema likes to make sure it all gets in there by actually dunking her pan into the pot, but unless your pans are scrupulously clean on the bottom, maybe just use your spoon. "Now turn up the heat and boil it together so it looks like one," she says, pointing toward the slicks of oil floating to the top. I gear up in my head an explanation about emulsification, the starch helping to bind the oil and water as the oil slicks start to disappear, but then she says, "See, it thickens it a bit, too." And I realize there's nothing more that need be said about that.

For the rice


1 cup basmati rice
2¼ cups water for cooking
½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ghee or butter
½ teaspoon salt

1.Wash the rice by soaking it in a big bowl of cold water and swirling it with your hands. The water will cloud with starch. Pour it off and repeat until the water is clear, around five or six times. Now drain the rice well -- using a strainer -- and soak it in the cooking water for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

2.Pour the rice soaking water into the rice cooker and turn on. When it's boiling, add the rice, salt, and ghee or butter. Put cumin seeds into the palm of your hand, and with the heel of the other, crush them into the rice lightly, as if wringing your hands with worry. But don't worry. This is going to be great. Cover and let the rice cooker do its magic.

3.If you don't have a rice cooker, reduce the water to 1¾ cups. Boil the water in a heavy oven-safe pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the rice, salt, ghee and cumin as above, and bring back to a boil. Cover and pop into a 300-degree oven for 10 minutes, then take out and fluff lightly. (By the way, for Luddites and other rice-cooker-free folk, cooking rice in the oven really is the way to go. For more on that, look here.)

To serve

Mound the rice into a bowl or plate, and spoon the dal over it. Have enough dal to sauce the rice but still be dry enough to eat with the hands, which you do by holding your fingertips together to form a beak, pulling your thumb back toward the palm. With a twist-and-scoop motion, pick up a bite with the fingertips, the rice resting now on your upturned fingers, and use your thumb to push it into your mouth. Some people can do this with utmost grace. I usually resort to a spoon halfway through dinner.

Chinese Chili-Orange Stirfry Sauce

Simple ingredients, scrumptiously complex flavour.

Ingredients:
3 T orange marmalade
2 T soy sauce
2 T sake
2 T water or orange juice
2-3 t Chinese chili paste
2 t cornstarch

Whisk all ingredients together with a fork. Pour over an almost-done stir-fry and cook, stirring frequently for five minutes, or until sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.

I made this tonight to go on a stir-fry composed of:
1 small onion, sliced in half moons
1 garnet yam, sliced in matchsticks
2 ~8 oz packages seitan
3 stalks celery, sliced medium-thick
6 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 bag frozen (shelled) edamame

Cook the onion in a little canola or sesame oil until just soft;
add the seitan and sweet potato, cook on high med-high heat until the seitan is lightly browned;
add the celery and garlic, cook for 2 minutes;
add edamame, cook until edamame is heated through;
add orange sauce, cook five minutes.

The Superior Pancake

Try adding ground ginger and cinnamon, fresh grated nutmeg, fresh orange zest and vanilla to your reg. pancake batter. Viva la difference!

Bunny Cake.

For the icing:
2 packages Tofutti cream cheesey goodness.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
2 teaspoons orange zest.
5-6 tablespoons Agave sweetener.

Mix all the ingredients together. I heated the tofutti in the microwave for 35 seconds to help it melt.
Then stir in ¼ cup melted chocolate, to taste.

Tofu as an Egg Replacer

I got this book, Tofu 1-2-3 by Maribeth Abrams, out of the library to try tofu in baking as an egg replacer. I made brownies, corn muffins and oatmeal cookies. They all came out great in texture and taste. The brownies were made with a sinful & expensive amount of maple syrup (1 cup), cocoa and melted chocolate chips, with 1/3 cup soft silken tofu. They were moist and delicious. They did need a lot more cooking time than stated in the book
The corn muffins were excellent! The recipe was a basic one for most corn muffins using apple juice for the liquid and maple syrup for sweetener and 1/4 cup tofu. The batter was quite thin. When they were baking I could smell the apple juice, but I really couldn't taste it in the finished product. They also took extra time cooking.
The oatmeal cookies were tasty, but chewy in texture. Of course, we ate them all!
The book had lots of other recipes to try. The author gave nutritional information for each recipe and clear instructions for preparation.

Tasty Pancake Tips

Adding a little corn meal to organic whole wheat pastry flour makes a more complexly flavored pancake - and - adding finely shredded coconut to the batter is one more step towards a superior pancake. Then of course, having Aquila, Branden, and Marcy's hand picked black/blue/berry/peach jams as toppings is pretty darn scrumptious! (This meal savored and approved by Marcy and Stephen on a Silent Sunday with only humming allowed to express appreciation. Hummmmmming Hum Hum Ming !)

Thai Brownie Cookies

The problem with Thai food is a distinct lack of brownie cookies. Thus:

1/2 can coconut milk
1 t red Thai chili paste
8-10 oz dark chocolate (I used 72%)
1 cup raw sugar
1 medium-large banana, smooshed
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 t real vanilla
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 3/4 cups flour

Heat the first three ingredients gently until chocolate melts. Remove from heat, then add everything else in order. Bake at 325F for 12-13 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes before serving.

Appreciate the separate waves of flavour. Think "cookies" when next you're asked to bring a dessert to a Thai dinner. Try coconut milk next time you run out of margarine for baking.

Orange Cake with Okanagan Preserve Glaze

I wanted to make this for Christmas Eve, but was out voted in favor of Chocolate. Everyone missed out, because this turned out great. It was a moment of inspiration to add the peach preserves.

Orange cake

350 degree oven 30 minutes 9" round or square pan greased or lined with parchment paper

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup orange juice - I used not from concentrate in a carton
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon orange rind
Stir together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients, stir just enough to combine. Pour into pan and bake. Warm preserves and spoon over cake.

Apple Upside-Down Cake

This tasty little cake won 2nd place in the 2nd Annual Apple Bake Off at the UVic Geography Department. Yeah.

Caramel-apple topping (bottoming?):
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T margarine, melted
3 c baking apples, very thinly sliced (1-2 large)
1/2 c pecans or walnuts, chopped

Cake:
1 1/2 c unbleached white flour
3/4 c cane sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 c soy milk
1/4 c oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t vanilla

Preheat over to 350F.
Oil the sides of a 9" cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Mix dry cake ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, set aside.
Mix wet cake ingredients, set aside and let sit for a couple of minutes.
Combine hot melted margarine and brown sugar. Spread this caramel mixture over the bottom of the cake pan.
Arrange apples in a pretty pattern on top of caramel. Top with nuts.
Combine wet and dry cake ingredients, stirring just to mix.
Pour cake batter over apples, use a spatula to gently spread the batter evenly over the apples.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done in the middle.
Let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from the cake pan.

Notes on a "healthier" version:
This morning I made a somewhat healthier version of this cake for breakfast. I replaced 1 c of the white flour with whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar in the cake batter to 1/2 c. I also added an extra cup of apple slices and tried substituting water for margarine in the caramel sauce. It turned out tasty and still quite sweet, however, the caramel sauce stayed thin and ended up making the cake a little soggy in the middle.

Potato Gnocchi

These are exceedingly simple little pasta-like dumplings. The only hard part is deciding how you want to shape them. Serve them with any sauce you would normally have with pasta: pesto, marinara, oil and balsamic vinegar, etc. We had them with an exciting dandelion-greens sauce that Jennie made.

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 c unbleached white flour

Bake, boil or steam the potatoes until they are all soft. Make sure they cook evenly (we had problems with some less-cooked chunks sticking around).
While they are still hot, mash potatoes with salt and pepper.
Gradually add flour, stirring until you have sticky blob (sounds tasty, eh?).
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead dough for about 3 minutes, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.
Pat dough into a rectangle, cut into long strips about an inch wide.
Roll strips into thick ropes (like you're playing with clay), cut into 1/2 inch thick cylinders.
Now the really fun part: decide how you want to shape the gnocchi. We followed a cookbook's directions and pressed the dough between a thumb and fork. They turned out a little funny looking, but that didn't stop them from tasting good!
Drop gnocchi into a pot of boiling salted water in batches small enough that the pot won't be too crowded.
Gnocchi are done when they float to the top.
Drain cooked gnocchi in a colander. If you're making a big batch, you may want to pour a little oil over the waiting gnocchi to keep them from sticking.

This recipe served three of us, but should be good for at least four if Branden isn't there.

Blueberry Crumble

A lovely summery crumble. The addition of pecans in the topping makes it even more special.

Filling:
4 c blueberries
2 T lemon juice
2 T flour
2 T cane sugar
1/2 t vanilla

Topping:
1/4 C margarine, melted
1/3 C brown sugar
3/4 C flour
3/4 C quick-cooking oats
1/3 C pecans, finely chopped
1/4 t salt
1/8 t each allspice and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.
Toss blueberries with remaining filling ingredients until coated.
Place blueberry mixture in a pie pan.
Combine margarine and sugar. Add remaining topping ingredients and mix until an even, but still coarse, texture is reached.
Spread topping evenly over blueberries.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.