Olive Basil Cheese Spread

by Nina Posted on April 30, 2012

I’m sure you all know how much I love feta by now. Here is but another delectable recipe for feta in my arsenal. I have adapted this recipe only slightly from a wonderful cookbook called Kitchen classics Gourmet Vegetarian by Jane Price. It’s such a simple easy recipe that you can make ahead of time or last minute. It only takes maybe 5 minutes to prepare and very little materials. Great for last minute guests or even just you and your family. I usually make this for a party and IF there are left overs it spreads well on toast and sandwiches.

Ingredients

  • 225g/8oz/~1 cup cream cheese, softened or whipped
  • 227g/8oz feta cheese
  • 20 g/ ~1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 15 kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
  • bruschetta or pita chips to serve

Directions

Combine the cream cheese, feta, basil and olive oil in a bowl until smooth. Fold in the olives and spoon into a serving bowl. Smooth the top with the back of the spoon and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Garnish with cracked pepper and basil leaves or olives. Serve with warm bruschetta or pita chips.

Posted in Dips and Spreads, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Vegetarian Empanadas

by Nina Posted on April 19, 2012

Recently my friend and I tried to make empanadas for the first time – we were not very successful. What we made was edible, but not amazing. So recently I set out on my own to find a vegetarian empanada recipe. There’s really not a lot out there that appeals to me, so I decided to try it for myself. I’ll admit that I cheated a little. I wasn’t interested in making dough from scratch, so I used some vegetarian store bought pie crust. This is one of those few recipes of mine where you will see “fake meat” in the ingredients list. I normally don’t go for the stuff, but I wanted to try it for this because my boyfriend make me his famous tacos with this stuff once and it turned out really well. As far as I can tell if you don’t have access to this particular brand you can use the same amount of soy or vegetable protein mixed with taco seasoning.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 large onion, chopped finely
  • olive oil for cooking onions
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 1 package (12 oz/340g) Yves Meatless Taco Stuffers
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
  • 1 cup Fresh salsa (I used medium)
  • 1 red potato, chopped into small cubes (optional)
  • 1 recipe for pie crust
  • egg white from 1 egg for brushing pastry
  • salt to taste
  • sour cream for garnish

Directions

Saute chopped onions with olive oil on medium-high heat until onions are translucent. Add small potato (I cut cubes about 1/2 cm thick) and let potato cook for a couple minutes, stirring so the onions don’t burn. Turn down heat to medium-low and add drained black beans, and Meatless Taco Stuffers until mixed well. Add finely chopped garlic and 1 cup fresh salsa. I used more of the “saucy wet” salsa so the empanada filling won’t become dry. Remove from heat once it’s all mixed together.

Preheat oven to 375F and prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. For the rolled out pastry I used a cut out that was 4 inches in diameter. I filled each empanada with about 2 tbsp of filling. Brush the outer edge with the egg and fold in half, sealing in the filling with a fork. Brush the top with egg white and place each empanada about 1 inch apart from one another on the baking sheet. I made about 3 dozen empanadas with this recipe. Bake for 15-20 minutes, you may need to turn the baking sheet at the half-way point depending on your oven.  Feel free to serve with or without sour cream, they’re delicious and moist either way. Enjoy!

Posted in Vegetarian | 3 Comments

Chocolate Cut Out Cookies

by Nina Posted on April 9, 2012

Phew it’s been awhile! Sorry about the hiatus. Recently my cat got sick, and he needed surgery. Thankfully he’s alright now!

I wanted to do something nice for all the doctors and technicians that worked on my little guy, so I decided to make these cute little chocolate cut out cookies (chocolate, because he’s a black cat!). These cookies were so buttery, flaky and not-too-sweet-delicious! I got in the habit of always adding very finely ground coffee to my chocolate baked goods. A lot of those recipes call for instant coffee, but I never have that in my cupboard, and I find that if I just grind my regular coffee very finely it has the same effect.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp instant coffee or finely ground coffee
  • 2 sticks butter (room temperature)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Directions:

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until just combined. Sift flour, cocoa, coffee and salt together and add the wet mixture slowly. Wrap the heavy dough in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.

Roll out on a lightly floured or nonstick surface and cut out with your favourite cookie cutter. Dip the cookie cutter in flour before cutting!

Bake at 350F (preheated) for 8-10min. I preferred 8 minutes in my oven. Cool completely. If you wish, decorate with some icing and sanding sugar. For this batch I decorated some of the cookies by dipping the top side in chocolate sprinkles before placing them in the oven.

Posted in Dessert, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

Tuna and Artichoke Sandwich

by Nina Posted on March 13, 2012

I probably used to make my tuna sandwiches like most people, mayo, scallions, and maybe some dried dill. Don’t get me wrong, that’s still a yummy sandwich but since I concocted this recipe I have never looked back. It’s not difficult. Who would have thought artichoke hearts in canned tuna would be so delicious? I’m totally obsessed with marinated artichoke hearts. My local Costco used to have these HUGE jars of them that I would buy and I’m kind of ashamed to say that they didn’t last long in my house. That’s part of the reason I tried artichoke hearts in tuna (because I had so many of them!). The fresh basil also adds an incredible flavour to this sandwich. I know it’s just a tuna fish sandwich, but it tastes too delectable; this is no ordinary tuna fish sandwich.

Ingredients

(Serves 1)

  • 1 (5 oz/142 g) tin of Tuna in water
  • 4-5 slices of marinated artichoke hearts (roughly chopped)
  • 4 leaves of Fresh Basil (finely chopped)
  • 1 tbsp of Veganaise or Mayonaise (my bf and I prefer the Veganaise, but mayo works just as well)
  • 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Two large slices of italian bread or ciabatta bread (toasted)
  • Lettuce (I use red leaf lettuce or baby spring lettuce mix)

Directions

Begin by toasting the bread in your toaster. Drain the tuna and smush the large chucks of tuna in a bowl with a fork. Add the finely chopped fresh basil, roughly chopped artichoke hearts, veganaise/mayonaise and dijon mustard. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the tuna mixture over the toasted bread, top with lettuce and enjoy!

This sandwich works well as a tuna melt too!

 

Posted in Pescetarian, Sandwich | Leave a comment

Spicy Lentil Wrap with Tahini Sauce

by Nina Posted on February 21, 2012

Inspired by Trader Joe’s Spicy Lentil Wrap I created this recipe to get my fix of this delicious wrap. It’s great because it can be made ahead of time and it doesn’t make the bread too soggy. The dip is lemony, garlicy, spicy goodness and you can dip a lot or a little. It’s a guilt free food with little calories and no cholesterol (it’s vegan, shhhh). The ingredients on the wrap called for red lentils, and I would have used those, but I forgot to pick them up when I went to a different grocery store, so I used green lentils instead (forgive me?). They are definitely less pretty than red lentils, but just as yummy, I assure you. It’s all rolled up with lavash bread, which I love. I’m able to buy it at Trader Joe’s, but I’m sure if you have a middle eastern or russian market near you will have no problem picking up this delicious bread. Flour tortillas would work just fine as well. The cabbage can be replaced with lettuce if you wish, but the cabbage keeps longer than the lettuce. I love making things ahead of time because I have such a busy schedule, and I’m sure you do too!

Ingredients for the wrap:

Serves 1 person

  • 1/2 cup cooked lentils
  • 1/4 cup cooked bulgur
  • salt to taste (~ 1 tsp)
  • 1 sheet of lavash bread (9×12 inches)
  • 2 tbsp spicy roasted red pepper paste (I purchase this in the Middle Eastern section of the grocery store – and I’m not making any money referring you to the link I just love this line of Bulgarian made foods)
  • 1/2 cup shredded cabbage or lettuce
Directions for the wrap:
Cook the lentils and bulgur separately. When cool blend in food processor until smooth.  You may need to add a small amount of water. Add salt to taste (about 1 tsp).  Spread the red pepper paste in the middle half of the lavash bread, lengthwise.  Top with chopped cabbage then spoon lentil mixture evenly down the middle leaving a couple inches off the ends (this is to ensure the lentils don’t spill out the edges while you’re eating).  Roll lavash bread tightly and slice down the middle.

Ingredients for the tahini sauce:

  • 1/4 cup tahini (crushed sesame seeds)
  • 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/4-1/2 cup water (depending on how thin you want the sauce)
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley

If you want it to be a dipping sauce add 1/2 cup of water, if you want to have it inside a wrap you’ll want it to be a thicker sauce so only add 1/4 cup of water.

Directions for the tahini sauce:

Easy peasy! Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Enjoy the wrap immediately or the next day!

Posted in Sandwich, Vegan | 4 Comments

Six-Minute Chocolate Cake

by Nina Posted on February 19, 2012

This is one of my favourite cakes to make for friends and family on their birthday. One because it’s so delicious, two because it takes SIX MINUTES TO MAKE! Three because it can easily be vegan, yeah, that’s right. This delicious, spongy, moist, chocolatey, creamy cake is totally vegan. Don’t believe me? Well you have six-minutes to try it and prove me wrong.

(originally adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home)

Ingredients for the Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water or brewed coffee
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp vinegar

Ingredients for the Glaze

  • 1 lb. Dark chocolate
  • 3/4 cup hot water, milk, soy milk or half and half
  • 1 tsp finely ground coffee or instant coffee (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

For the Cake: 

Preheat oven to 375F. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into an un-greased 9″ round baking pan. In a 2-cup measuring cup, measure and mix together the oil, water or coffee, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk. When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the batter where the baking soda and the vinegar are reacting. Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow cake to cool before removing from cake pan.

For the Glaze:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the coffee, vanilla and milk. Stir until smooth.

- Once the cake as cooled, remove from cake pan and place on a plate of your choosing. I will allow the glaze to cool until warm to the touch before putting it on the cake. This ensures that it thickens up a little so it holds to the cake better. Drizzle the chocolate glaze over the cake with a large spoon. Serve immediately or enjoy in a few hours.

Posted in Dessert, Vegan | 2 Comments

Mediterranean Pizza

by Nina Posted on February 5, 2012

No cheese pizza? Pile on the veggies! It’s delicious!

This is another one of my vegan creation for this month. I know some vegans include yeast as an animal by-product and therefore non-vegan. I am not one of those. I love pizza. I love non-traditional pizza (that is pizza with little or no cheese). Especially when Trader Joe’s sells fresh pizza dough for $1.29! I especially love vegan pizzas. It forces you to get a little creative. You don’t need to feel so guilty after eating it either because there’s no cholesterol, very little fat, and you get a ton of veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1 pizza dough
  • 5-6 tbsp basil pesto (be generous!)
  • 2 roma tomatoes, sliced thinly
  • 5-6 mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/3 yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 1/3 red bell pepper, diced
  • 3oz (85 grams) drained, sliced black olives (yum)
  • 1/2 -3/4 cup of roughly chopped marinated artichoke hearts
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

Roll out pizza dough into desired shape. I’ve finally become pretty decent at making a pizza dough by spinning it with my hands (there have been a lot of failures in the meantime). I’ll shape mine to stretch to the edge of the pizza stone (I love the pizza stone, I don’t know how I got along without it, but if you don’t have one just use a cooking sheet). Lather up the pizza dough with the pesto. Slice up the tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and olives.

Layer the pizza! I usually start with the tomatoes, then mushrooms, then peppers and olives. Now for the artichoke hearts, I’ll spoon them out of the jar and rip them in half and quarters with my hands to spread them evenly over the pizza. I like it when some of the marinade inadvertently drizzles the pizza while I’m working. If you don’t like any of the ingredients, feel free to omit or replace with an item of your liking. These are my favourite pizza toppings. I’ll also sometimes top it off with some feta or goat cheese for some more flavour. Top with freshly grated salt and pepper.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust turns a golden brown.

*note – carnivore boyfriend friendly – this smelled so good, my boyfriend was hovering waiting for me to finish taking my pictures so he could dig in!

Posted in Pizza, Vegan | Leave a comment

Quinoa Corn Edamame Salad

by Nina Posted on February 1, 2012

I wish I knew about quinoa when I was vegan 5 years ago. I honestly never heard about until about three years ago. How is that possible? It’s so good for you! High in those amino acids which can be evasive to vegans and vegetarians… Can I just put it out there, I don’t like brown rice, I don’t hate it, but I definitely prefer white rice. If I knew about quinoa when I was vegan it would have made my life a whole lot easier!

Naturally I had to make quinoa on my first day returning to veganism. What a tasty, healthy start it is!

Ingredients

(adapted from Eating Well Living Thin)

  • 2 cups frozen shelled edamame
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup cooked, cooled quinoa
  • 2 green onions
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 tbsp italian parsley
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp dried cumin
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

Briefly boil the frozen edamame and corn, just until tender. Drain and cool.

In a large bowl combine the edamame, corn, quinoa, green onions, red pepper, and italian parsley.

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, thyme, cumin, sugar, and black pepper.

Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Makes 6-8 servings.

Posted in Salad, Vegan | Leave a comment

Basil Pesto

by Nina Posted on February 1, 2012

So today’s my first (intentional) day being vegan in 5 years! I had a whole menu planned and as usual I didn’t make nearly as many recipes as I had intended. But this was my first recipe. I am a huge fan of vegan pizzas. Just pile on the veggies!! I really wanted to try this recipe I found for Thai Basil Pecan Pesto as a base for the pizza instead of a tomato sauce. I changed the recipe a little, and it turned out so well! I’ve never made basil pesto without cheese, and honestly I didn’t miss it! My only complaint is that I should have made a double recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 2 cups fresh basil
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove fresh garlic
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 olive oil

Directions

Place nuts in food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds. Add basil, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sugar, and salt. Pulse to mix, until a fine paste and completely mixed together.

Try on pizza, pasta, sandwich or panini!

Posted in Dips and Spreads, Vegan | 5 Comments

Roasted Vegetable Panini

by Nina Posted on January 30, 2012

My very first job was at a small restaurant/coffee shop/dessert emporium. I had a lot of great memories and made a lot of friends working there. Besides all the delicious cakes, muffins, pies and cookies, they also had panini’s! I got the help make these in during the early morning shift. I was (and still am) absolutely obsessed with these panini’s. When I made this one for the picture, I shared it with my boyfriend, who is a notorious carnivore. From the other room all I heard was, “hmm, this is delicious!” and two minutes later he revealed to me that it was the best sandwich he’s ever had! Another important detail is that he hates eggplant. He ate the sandwich, knowing about the eggplant and still found it wonderful. I, on the other hand, love roasted eggplant.

I still don’t have a panini grill, but my step-mom bought a George Foreman Grill and never used it so she generously donated it to me! It works just as well! I’ll usually make this on a focaccia bread, but I just bought a large italian loaf and decided to use that instead. It turned out really well!

Ingredients

(makes about 4 sandwiches)

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 zucchini
  • 3 cloves garlic (optional)
  • 2 red peppers
  • 1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts
  • 1 cup crumbled feta (bulgarian or greek)
  • 4-6 tablespoons fresh basil pesto
  • 4 tablespoons dried oregano
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 focaccia bread or 8 slices of italian bread

Directions:

For the Vegetables: Slice the eggplant and the zucchini about 1/4 inch thick. Place in a non-metal bowl and coat in olive oil, salt, dried oregano and chopped garlic (optional). Line a cooking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spread slices of vegetables evenly. It’s easier to separate the zucchini and the eggplant. Eggplant will cook faster and it’s much easier to burn. Broil each in the oven until a light golden brown. Slice the red peppers into 6 and place skin side up under the broiler until the skin starts to blacken. Once the peppers are cool, peel the blackened skin.

Assembling the sandwich: Generously coat the first slice of bread or focaccia with basil pesto. I usually buy a fresh basil pesto, not the stuff in a jar. Apply a layer of roasted eggplant, zucchini and red pepper. Break up some the marinated artichoke hearts to apply a layer on top of the peppers. Then crumble the feta on the artichoke hearts, and top with the other bread slice.

Grilling: Lightly spray the panini grill (or George Foreman grill!) with some olive oil and gently place the sandwich down. Close the lid and allow to turn a golden brown. About 3-5 minutes. As you can see with my picture the grill definitely smushes the sandwich together into salty, crispy and flavourful goodness.

I enjoyed this sandwich with a beer for lunch! It was so yummy!

Also I have a recipe for Roasted Vegetable Dip which is very similar and the recipe yields a LOT! If you make the Dip you should consider making this sandwich with some of the leftovers!

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Posted in Sandwich, Vegetarian | 2 Comments