The Magic of Tofu

I am constantly amazed at how versatile tofu is. Today I made a quick tofu sour cream to go with my lunch of black bean dip ( a can refried black beans, canned fire-roasted tomatoes, fresh onion and lots of cilantro and a squeeze of lime) and organic corn chips. Does that sound skimpy ? Not if you make it your meal ! I ended up using a half a can of the refrieds, half a can of the tomatoes, and about 1/3 of a carton of the tofu. Loads of protein, taste and fun to eat !
The picture shows Mori-Nu tofu...in an aseptic, or Tetra-pak package. This kind does not need to be refrigerated before it is opened, but is sometimes found in the chilled veggie section in grocery stores. The other kind of tofu usually found in grocery stores is the kind packed in water. But this Tetra-pak type is really great when you want a very smooth creamy texture. The tofu is draining in an old yogurt screen...meant to reduce dairy yogurt by removing the excess moisture. Worked fantastically for the tofu ! One whole carton fit into the cone, and was weighted down with a can of beans for an hour. Almost a 1/2cup of liquid drained off of it. I tossed the drained tofu into the container that came with one of those electric blender sticks ( way better than hauling out a food processor or blender )that my Mom left with us during her last visit ( thanks, Mom! )along with the juice of one lemon, a spoonful of nutritional yeast, several spoonfuls of olive oil, some salt and pepper, blended it up, and, wow...something way better than dairy sour cream and far cheaper and healthier than the commercial non-dairy version. A handful of cilantro tossed into it at the end of blending would be a nice touch !

Little Raviolis

My husband and I made made these cute little raviolis stuffed with a tofu ricotta (and served with a spicy tomato sauce and Field Roast's Smoked Apple Sage Sausages), in celebration of my brother Kurt's 54th Bday, and his daughter coming out to visit, all the way from San Francisco ! The cookie cutter is about 1 1/2" across. Sorry that there's no picture of the final product...we all fell into it so fast that I forgot the photo-op !

The recipe for the dough is slightly altered from Bryanna's suggested pasta dough recipe
...I did as follows:

1 Cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 teaspoon slat
2/3 cup water
Mix the dry ingredients together till well combined. Add the water and knead well with your hands or stand mixer, or a food processor, until firm and springy. Cover and let rest at least one hour, or up to several days ( refrigerate after several hours ). We passed our dough through a hand-crank pasta machine several times, and ended up on number 5 on the dial. Too thin and it'll split, too thick and it won't cook properly, but it could easily rolled out by hand. So satisfying to make our own pasta...and vegan to boot !
I'll post the recipe for the ricotta in the next day or so.

CCAN's Polar Bear Plunge Recipes

The following are the recipes for the muffins and cookies that came to Chesapeake Climate Action Network's Polar Bear Plunge in Annapolis on Jan 10th, 2009.
New Leaf's own Jamie plunged ! Many thanks to all the others who cared enough to plunge, pledge, or otherwise help support the efforts of CCAN, and a special thanks to Lori Hill ( lorihillevents.com ) for including us !

Applesauce-Oatbran Muffins ( with a hint of orange )
( adapted from Veganomicon , by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero )
3/4 cup soy or other plant milk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
3 tablespoons canola ( or other )oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries ( optional )
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin. In a large bowl whisk plant milk and vinegar together and set aside for a few minutes to sour the milk. Add the next 5 ingredients and whisk together well. In another, smaller bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together. Then fold the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring only to moisten, do not overmix. Fold in the dried fruit, if used. Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full and bake 25-30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 12-16.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
( from Vegan With A Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero )
1 cup vegan margarine, room temperature
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Cream marg and sugar till fluffy. Add molasses and vanilla and beat a little more. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; and then add to the creamed mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add a tablespoon or two of water if dough is too crumbly. Chill dough for a few hours. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet about 2" apart and bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Mkaes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

No Bake Chocolate-Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 stick ( 1/2 cup ) margarine
1/2 cup soy or other plant milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal ( 1/2 old fashioned, 1/2 quick works well )
Stir first 4 ingredients together in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil this together for a full two minutes, continuing to stir constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla,mixing and melting the peanut butter in till it's nice and smooth. Add all the oats and mix well till. Let cool enough to scoop spoonfuls out onto oiled cookie sheets or waxed paper. Do not let mixture cool too long in the pan or you will end up with one giant cookie. Let cool and then store in the fridge. Makes about 24.

Corn Muffins or Bread
1 cup all-purpose flour or wholewheat pastry flour
1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
2 tablespoon sugar ( optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
4 tablespoon warm water
1 cup soy or other plant milk, room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 425. Sift together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat together the Ener-G powder and water till thick and frothy in another medium bowl, and then whisk in the milk and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry till just combined and spoon into greased muffin tins or a 9x9 square pan. Bake muffins for 12-15 minutes, and 20-25 for the square.

Purely Decadent !

Wow...This is the best ice cream I've had in years !!!! My sweet husband picked it up at a mainstream grocery store ( tomorrow he's going to look for more flavors ! ) I've seen it around, but had not tried it yet. The chocolate flavor is smooth and rich, and blends seamlessly with the incredibly silky coconut milk. I can't wait to try the other flavors...no more making excuses or apologizing for vegan ice creams ! The ingredients read : Organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup,chicory root extract, cocoa, carob bean gum, guar gum, natural flavor. What baffles me is if such a good product can be made from such simple, pure ingredients without harm to the animals, why on Earth would you have it any other way ?

For The Birds

This morning I made 10 "suet" cakes to give away as gifts, and to feed to the wild birds that visit our feeders. I used tofu tubs as molds. Last Spring I used tofu tubs as seedling starter trays.
the recipe I found online and then adapted, using some older wheat germ and buckwheat kernels to bulk it up a little. I hope they hold together ! They're all in the fridge, chillin down and firming up right now.
I'd followed an older thread online about making vegan suet cakes for birds and someone chimed in and said that the vegan was "self-righteously imposing their warped values on the natural order of things"......as if using animal suet rendered from farmed animals was not imposing on nature, or , the very animals who had to endure very unnatural conditions and then slaughter. Jeez !
I'll post the recipe later :>

Gingerbread Peace Activists

The results from the flurry of baking for CCAN's Open House at Mike Tidwell's home in Takoma Park on the 13th of December included these guys, ready for action and totally vegan !

Mike graciously lets us set up our vegan advocacy tables and tent during the event to offer plant-based food information and bake sale goodies to compliment their message of reducing our impact on the planet. Chesapeake Climate Action Network promotes individual actions such as eating lower on the food chain, replacing old lightbulbs with CFLs , installing solar panels, collecting rain from your roof in barrels for the garden, and writing to our representatives in government demanding clean renewable energy. Check out their website and get involved :>

Mike Tidwell is a tireless, informed and engaging speaker and writer for the cause and can be heard hosting Earthbeat Radio, along with Daphne Wysham and on Jay Tomlinson's excellent podcast, The World On Fire , as well as appearing on numerous television shows. He's written essays for Orion, Audubon, Grist and others as well as authoring the prescient book Bayou Farewell and a follow-up of sorts, Ravaging Tide. It is an honor to be associated with him, CCAN, the small army of dedicated interns, and of course, Jay!

Here's the recipe for the cookies. Of course, use organic ingredients when ever possible....it's better for everyone . The dough is easy to work with, and does'nt spread out or puff up too much while baking. Makes 10-12 4" delicious Agents Of Change.

GINGERBREAD FOLKS ( adapted from a Vegetarian Resource Group recipe )
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup evaporate cane brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses ( not blackstrap...use a mild molasses )
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oat flour ( grind some oatmeal in a blender till is is finely crumbled...some bigger particles are ok...you don't need it as fine as wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest ( optional but nice :> )
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon orange juice
Beat together the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl ( or bowl of stand mixer ). Sift together all the rest of the ingredients except for the orange juice. Add the dry, sifted ingredients to the sugar and oil mixture, alternating with the orange juice. Refrigerate dough for several hours. Roll out dough no thinner than 1/8", cut out shapes, transfer to baking sheets and bake at 350 for 8-12 minute...depending on shape and thickness. The thinner they are rolled the crisper they will be when baked. Don't over-bake ! Cool on racks. These also freeze well.

Vegan Baking Musings

It has recently occured to me that there seems to be two major reactions to vegan baking, as a subject.
The predominant one : " How could you possibly bake without eggs, butter, milk ? ! ", and then there is, " What ? Why would there be any animal "product" in this bread, cookie, pie, cake..." I was of the first opinion before I became vegan. But pretty quickly I came to (and after two years of baking, sampling, reading, talking about, sampling some more....) the second opinion...why would you want to sully sweet baked goodness with the pain and suffering inherent in animal abuse and slaughter ? Especially when easy effective alternatives abound.

Maybe that's what is so wonderful about vegan baking...every cookie, cake, pie or loaf of bread that gets baked without using the animals is a silent offering to them.

I'm getting ready to go into bake-sale mode for an upcoming event and look forward to introducing more people to the joys of vegan baking ( and eating ! ).

So many great vegan cookbooks out there now..including this fantastic one by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: The Joy Of Vegan Baking.