Nutty Grain salad

I recently remembered how much I used to like Trader Joe's (long-discontinued) Nutty Grain Salad. I tracked down an ingredient list in the hopes of recreating it some time soon. I will definitely be leaving out the cilantro. I'm curious what the pomegranate juice concentrate does...

cooked red quinoa, cooked spelt (wheat), edamame

(soybeans), carrots, dry roasted peanuts, canola oil, sweet

chili sauce (sugar, water, pickled red chili, vinegar, garlic,

salt, xanthan gum), water, pumpkin seeds, soy sauce

(water, soybeans, wheat, salt), honey, ginger, sugar, rice

vinegar (rice vinegar, water), white wine vinegar, pistachios,

cilantro, lime juice, pomegranate juice concentrate,

modified rice starch.

 

reformated/simplified ingredient list:

red quinoa

spelt

edamame

carrots

dry roasted peanuts

canola oil

sweet chili sauce

pumpkin seeds

soy sauce

honey

ginger

rice vinegar

white wine vinegar

pistachios

[cilantro]

lime juice

pomegranate juice concentrate

 

(vegan) Fried Green Tomatoes

from https://yupitsvegan.com/vegan-fried-green-tomatoes/

These were really great. I made them in a nonstick 12" skillet and I think that--both the size and the nonstick surface--really helped. 

4 large unripe/green tomatoes, cut into 1/4 or 1/8 inch slices 

flour mixture:

1 cup all-purpose flour  

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp paprika 

1/4 tsp garlic powder 

liquid mixture:

1/2 cup aquafaba  

2 tbsp unsweetened extra creamy oat milk 

breading mixture:

1/2 cup panko-style breadcrumbs 

1/2 cup cornmeal 

2 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Put (well-mixed) flour and breading mixtures on small plates; put liquid mixture in shallow bowl

Put oil in large pan to reach about 1/2". Heat over medium heat to 360 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer you can put one popcorn kernel in the oil at the beginning--when it pops, the oil should be about 360 degrees. 

Lightly dip the tomato into flour mixture. Shake off excess. Dip into liquid, let excess drip off.  Then dip it into the breadcrumb mixture. Press gently to adhere the coating. Let any excess crumbs fall off and place the battered tomato on a plate.

Put tomatoes into hot oil without crowding. Brown on one side (about 2-3 minutes) then flip and fry on other side. Turn/remove with slotted wood spoon. Place on paper towels to drain. 

vegan pumpkin bread

 https://simple-veganista.com/pumpkin-loaf/

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup reg, 1 whole wheat)

• 1/2 – 3/4 cup sugar (i used 1/2 cup dark brown, packed)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 tsp each cinnamon & ginger and 1/2 tsp each nutmeg & allspice and a pinch of clove

• pinch of salt

• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla

• 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk (at room temp)

• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (can also use neutral oil)

• 1 can (15 oz) 100% pumpkin puree 
• 2 tbs ground flax seeds plus some extra splashes of soy milk cuz it seemed dry

baked at 350 in a 9x5 pan

pre-tasting, I think: maybe a bit more sugar, maybe a bit more clove?

vegetarian kishke

I have not made this in over 20 years, but saving the recipe to try it again soon: 

Spice & Spirit vegetarian kishke

1/2 cup oil
2 stalks of celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, quartered
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
pepper to taste

put oil and cut up veggies in a blender until thick paste forms. put in a bowl, add flour and seasonings and mix well.

shape in a roll, on greased foil, roll tightly in foil. place on baking sheet and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350.

for cholent- bake for only 1/2 hour and put in the pot with foil on top.

vegan waffles

This makes 6 Belgian waffles. finally got a ratio that I like. Non-vegan waffles tend to have a ratio of 1/2 cup fat to 2 cups of flour and I don't know why many vegan recipes call for only 1/4 cup. I modified an existing recipe to up the fat & added two flax "eggs" which is what non-vegan waffles with 2 cups of flour would typically contain. 

 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk 

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 

2 cups all-purpose flour (240g) 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

1/2 cup melted coconut oil 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract 

2 TBSP flaxseed, ground 

6 TBSP warm water 

Turn on waffle iron to preheat. Add apple cider vinegar & vanilla extract to (room temp) soy milk and let sit for a few minutes to make buttermilk sift dry ingredients together into big bowl melt coconut oil mix flaxseed & water together in small bowl, let sit for a minute or two add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently spray nonstick cooking spray on waffle iron before each waffle use 1/2 cup batter for each waffle

Roasted frozen cauliflower

 trying this:

-oven preheated to 450

-2 pkg frozen cauliflower (14oz each) dumped into bowl (not defrosted at all, I did this after the oven beeped to indicate it was at temp), generous amount of olive oil poured over, some curry powder. dumped onto an ungreased unlined baking sheet, sprinkled with salt, oven for 15 minutes to start, then maybe turn them. 

Steel cut oats experiment!

OK I'm doing an experiment of approx: 

1 part ground flax seeds 

2 parts quick-cooking steel cut oats 

2 parts reduced fat canned coconut milk (one can = "two parts" in what I'm doing)

5 (ish) parts water 

 and following the cooking instructions for the steel cut oats (except stirring more early on to disperse the flax seeds evenly.) 

Plan is to make this pot of cereal and then heat a small amount each morning combined with frozen raspberries (which will thin it out) 

So far, I think I could have/should have done 6 parts water because the flax seeds make things somewhat gelatinous (which I like, personally, but still.)