Vegan Mayo

Most vegan mayonnaise and aïoli brands use canola oil. Even the sriracha and chipotle-flavoured versions can't hide the funky taste, in my opinion. I love spicy condiments so I was motivated to find a solution.

In my research, I discovered the amazing world of aquafaba. It's magical. I can't believe that I have been recklessly pouring this stuff down the drain for all these years.

Here is a simple recipe that makes about 3/4 cup of plain mayo:

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas, at room temperature)
• 3/4-1 Cup neutral-tasting oil like grapeseed or avocado

Instructions:

1. Using a hand mixer or immersion blender, blend all ingredients except for the oil. A taller bowl or container will reduce oil splatter on your walls :) 
2. Slowly pour in the oil, a bit at a time and keep blending. In a few minutes, all of the oil will be whipped up into a mayo-like consistency. It will thicken up a bit more in the fridge.

For chipotle mayo, I like to add fresh garlic, lime, coconut sugar and crushed, dried chipotle peppers. Play around with different ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, lemon & garlic, horseradish, dijon mustard or fresh basil.

Note about oils: A few recipes warn against using extra virgin olive oil because the end result will be bitter. I tried it anyhow and guess what? It was bitter. Unfortunately, there isn't much agreement on which vegetable oils are reasonably healthy so choose one you feel most comfortable with and eat your homemade mayonnaise in moderation.

Daikon hash browns

I'm still not sure why, but my mother bought us daikon radish recently and I had no idea what to do with it. At first, we shredded it and put it in a salad. It wasn't that good. I found this amazing recipe and had to buy more daikon to make it again! It's the unique combination of mild-flavoured radish and ginger that makes these hash browns irresistible.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 1 daikon (600g), peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 cm piece fresh ginger (10g), grated
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 organic egg
• 1/3 cup (60g) potato starch
• 1/4 cup (30g) all-purpose, gluten-free flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Pepper, to taste
• Olive oil, for shallow-frying

 

Instructions

1. Place daikon in a large saucepan covered with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook uncovered for about 25 minutes or until tender; drain and cool.
2. Coarsely grate daikon into a medium bowl. Place in a nut bag and squeeze out excess moisture.
3. Place daikon back in the bowl and add onion, ginger, parsley and egg. Stir in potato starch, flour, pepper and salt.
4. Fill a cast iron skillet with enough oil to come up 5mm on the side and heat on medium high . Working in batches, drop tablespoons of mixture into the oil. Flatten mixture with back of a spoon or spatula.
5. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden. Drain on absorbent paper and serve.

 

Vegan Corn Chowder

FashionableFoods.com refers to this recipe as a summer chowder but I bet it's just as delightful in the winter.

Use frozen, organic, non-GMO corn if you can't find it on the cob.

 

Ingredients

• 6 ears organic sweet corn, removed from the cob. Reserve cobs for the stock (or about 4 cups of frozen corn)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil, warmed
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 cups coconut milk (I used canned milk, but author suggests unsweetened, refrigerated milk in a carton)
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, grated
• 1 cup potatoes, diced
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 475º.
2. On a baking sheet, toss the corn kernels with warmed coconut oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the corn for 15-20 minutes or until the corn begins to caramelize a bit.
3. In a large pot, add 4 cups of the coconut milk and 1 cup of the vegetable broth. Add cobs. Bring the stock to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for at least 20 minutes.
4. In a soup pot, melt remaining coconut oil over high heat and add in the onion and pepper. Sauté the vegetables for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add in the carrots and potatoes and cook for 1 minute longer; season the mixture with salt and pepper.
5. Discard the corn cobs from the stock and pour the stock in with the vegetables. Add in the remaining 2 cups of coconut milk, 1 cup of vegetable broth, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
6. Ladle into soup bowls and serve.

 

Crispy Tofu Tacos and Spicy Cilantro Sauce

Ever since I bought a tortilla press, we've had a lot of "taco nights". No one is complaining because homemade corn tortillas are ridiculously good. This week, we made tofu tacos with extra firm silken tofu which was a very happy accident and a welcome change. Tonight's meal was superb. A special shout out to Maegan for all of her help in the kitchen!

Ingredients

• 1 package extra firm silken tofu (or firm tofu if you prefer) 
• 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha (use a full TB if you like it very spicy)
• 1 tablespoon honey (or vegan sweetener of choice)
• 1 cup organic corn meal (you can use less but 1 cup will coat nicely)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Recommended filling: avocado, green onion, red peppers, corn.  

Instructions 

1. Cut the tofu into 3/4 inch cubes

2. In a bowl, combine the Sriracha and sweetener and gently toss the tofu in the mixture.

3. In another bowl, combine the semolina, chili powder, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Toss   

    the tofu in this dry mixture until it is well coated.

4. In a cast iron pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the tofu and allow the pieces to 

    crisp up on all sides.

5. Build your tacos with *tortillas, sauce and choice of toppings. 

*To make the tortillas, follow these "how-to" instructions but make sure you follow the recipe for your particular brand of masa harina. Bob's Red Mill masa harina is widely available but not organic. Apparently it's GMO-free. Gold Mine makes an organic masa harina with white, yellow or blue corn. While the taste and texture of the tortillas are amazing, the product is mostly sold in specialty stores and doesn't include the recipe for tortillas on the bag! (The recipe is for tamales. Oops. I didn't realize and couldn't figure out why my "tortillas" were disgusting). For Gold Mine, mix 2 cups masa harina, 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1.5 cups hot water.

SPICY CILANTRO SAUCE 

The recipe above includes a yogourt-based cilantro sauce, so we made this mouthwatering spicy cilantro sauce instead. If you're willing to shake things up a bit, you won't miss the more traditional salsa or guacamole on your tacos. It only makes 3/4 of a cup so you might consider doubling it. 

Spicy Sichuan Style Green Beans

Scrumptious green beans by Kalynskitchen.com

Minor modifications were made due to personal preference.  I could eat these every night!

 

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into halves 
• 2 T gluten free tamari or soy sauce (low sodium is better if you don't like things too salty)
• 1 T rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 2 tsp. coconut sugar (or preferred sweetener)
• 1/4  red pepper flakes 
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• 2 T minced garlic
• 2 T peeled and minced ginger root
• 1 T olive oil 
• 1/4 cup water

Instructions

1. Wash and trim green beans 
2. In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweetener, red pepper flakes and pepper.
3. Use a large frying pan with a tight-fitting lid.  When the pan is hot on high heat, add the beans and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until the beans start to get tender.
4. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the water is all evaporated.
5. Add the oil, minced garlic and ginger and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring several times so the garlic and ginger don't burn. 
6. Add the soy sauce mixture, let it come to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes more, until the sauce thickens and coats the beans. You want them tender-crisp.

Note: Recipe works well with sautéed kale too

Creamy Spanish Gazpacho

Gazpacho is my favourite food in the summer. I adore the chunky, spicy, salsa-like variety and object to fancy watermelon and "white" gazpacho soups. More recently, I have opened up to the idea of creamy gazpacho, and may have even become addicted to this more authentic style of cold, Spanish soup. I have even converted a few gazpacho-haters with a slightly modified version of this recipe.

Ingredients

• 5-6 ripe juicy tomatoes  
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 white onion (or 4 green onions for a milder onion taste)
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 cucumber (about 6-7 inches long)
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or more if you like it tangy)  
• ¹⁄₂ tablespoon salt
• 1/2  cup virgin olive oil (or less if you prefer less fat)
• 1 piece gluten-free bread (or more if it is small)  
• handful of chopped cilantro 
• 1 ts of red pepper flakes 
• Optional: Garnish with chopped green onions, green and red peppers and cucumber

 

 Instructions

1. Remove stems from tomatoes and cut into 4-5 pieces each
2. Peel the garlic clove
3. Peel the onion and chop
4. Remove seeds from peppers and chop coarsely 
5. Peel cucumber and cut into several pieces
6. Place bread in a bowl with water in order to soak it. Once soaked, squeeze as much water out as possible, with your hands. Set aside.
7. In a high speed blender, add tomatoes, garlic, onion, pepper, cucumber, bread. Add remaining ingredients and blend at the highest speed and power.  Continue until the soup is creamy and there are no pieces left. 
8. Pour into a glass bowl, cover and let it chill overnight in the fridge.

Charoset (Passover)

My mother always made delicious Charoset on Passover. I didn't like it as a child and still don't eat it, other than what is required of me - a small, matzoh sandwich representing mortar the Israelites used to make bricks while they were slaves in Egypt. Now that the torch has been passed on to me, I feel pressure to make traditional foods "the right way". 

I've used the following recipe from Epicurious for the last few years.  Family members say they like it. Maybe they are just being polite, it's hard to say.   
 

I will keep making it this way until someone complains :) 

 

Ingredients

• 3 medium organic Gala or Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and finely diced

• 1 1/2 cups walnut halves, lightly toasted, cooled, and coarsely chopped
  1/2 cup of sweet red wine such as Manischevitz

• 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon packed coconut sugar

Instructions

1. Use a food processor on pulse for a thicker "paste" consistency (no Vitamix, please). My family likes it this way. Alternatively, you can simply stir ingredients in a bowl for a chunkier texture. 
2. Add more cinnamon, sugar or wine to taste. 
3. Serve at room temperature.

 Makes about 4 cups