Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

Last Sunday I realized that I (gulp) hadn't made a potato salad yet this summer!  What is wrong with me?  I've made all sorts of grainy/beany/vegetable-y/fruity salads this summer, but no potato salads.  I needed to take something to a potluck meeting the next day (and DH needed something portable to bring for lunch)-- potato salad would be just the thing, I thought.  So,while we were walking our new doggy resident, Pheobe (see picture below), through the winding, up-and-down path in the woods, I was devising a new potato salad in my head.  I wanted it to be a-meal-in-itself, not too high in fat, to be lemony and have some Greek components, including something with a pleasant crunch (I thought that fennel would work well here, with it's pleasant anise-like fragrance).  As soon as we got home, I set to work on it with what I had in the house, scribbling down ingredients, measurements and instructions as I went.


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S LEMONY GREEK-INFLUENCED POTATO SALAD WITH ARTICHOKES, WHITE BEANS, OLIVES AND FENNEL 
Serves 12 (approximately)

Fennel bulbs

4 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes
1/4 cup dry white wine OR dry white vermouth
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups coarsely chopped fennel bulb
One 19 oz. can white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups sliced marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup whole pitted kalamata olives (smallish ones)
1/2 cup chopped green onion bottoms or chives
4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill weed OR 1 tablespoon dried
handful of chopped fresh Italian parsley
Lemon Salad Dressing (see below)
1 cup vegan mayonnaise (preferably reduced-fat) OR my homemade low-fat vegan mayo (hemp version here and new VEGG [yolk substitute] version here)  OR Tofu Mayonnaise
freshly-ground black pepper to taste
grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Lemon Salad Dressing:
1/3 cup aquafaba or Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 small clove garlic, crushed

Scrub the potatoes, but don't peel.  Cut into 3/4" chunks (more or less) and steam, pressure-steam or micro-steam them until just tender-- not mushy.  (Pressure-steaming or micro-steaming are the most energy-efficient [and nutrient-saving] methods, BTW.  Regular steaming is preferable to boiling because it conserves nutrition and uses less water, and.thus, less energy to heat up the water.)  Place the potatoes in a colander rinse briefly and let drain.

When well-drained, place the potatoes in a large bowl and toss with the wine and salt.  Add the fennel, beans, artichoke hearts, olives, green onions, dill and parsley, and toss gently.

Mix up the Lemon Salad Dressing and toss it with the salad.  Then fold in the mayonnaise, mixing evenly.  Taste for salt and add a liberal grinding of pepper and the zest and juice of the lemon.  Mix well.

It's best to let this sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving, so that the potatoes soak up some of the flavorful dressing.

Nutrition Facts (calculated using Reduced-Fat Vegenaise-- it would be lower in fat and calories if you use my lowfat vegan mayo, or the Tofu Mayonnaise, and slightly lower if you use the Spectrum reduced-fat mayo)

Nutrition (per serving): 417.9 calories; 28% calories from fat; 14.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 772.1mg sodium; 1648.2mg potassium; 62.0g carbohydrates; 12.6g fiber; 1.4g sugar; 49.4g net carbs; 14.8g protein; 8.7 points.

Enjoy!

Coffee Coffee Cake (recipe below), the traditional Christmas breakfast cake in my family.

Because our family get-together, which is usually today, on what we call "Boxing Day" here in Canada, is delayed until early next week due to the weather conditions, I'm blogging! Here is a soup I made for lunch-- very delicious! (Sorry about the blurry photo!)


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S VEGAN CREME OF ARTICHOKE AND MUSHROOM SOUP WITH PESTO
Servings: 4
An easy and delicious soup utilizing some of my favorite ingredients.

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh crimini or white mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons white unbleached flour
6 cups nondairy milk (I used soy)
2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken Soup Base
(OR enough good-tasting vegetarian chicken-style bouillon cubes or powder for 6 cups liquid)
2/ 14 oz. cans artichokes hearts in water, well-drained and chopped
(OR use two 9 oz. pckgs. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained and chopped)
2 tablespoons non-dairy basil pesto
salt and finely-chopped black pepper to taste
a little more pesto to swirl on top for a garnish

Heat the olive oil in a 2 quart pot. Add the mushrooms and onion and stir-cook over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir in flour and stir-cook for 1 minute.

Vigorously stir in the nondairy milk and bouillon and let it come to a boil, stirring. Cook 1 minute, stirring consistently. Add the artichokes, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Stir in the Pesto and taste for seasoning. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 285.1 calories; 27% calories from fat; 9.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 3578.0mg sodium; 1272.9mg potassium; 44.1g carbohydrates; 12.9g fiber; 14.5g sugar; 31.2g net carbs; 22.3g protein; 5.6 points.



Printable Recipe



Happy Holidays!

I'm crazy for artichokes. I grew up in California and in May, artichoke season, my mother would often just cook a platter of artichokes for dinner and we would just eat artichokes until we were full! We dipped the "meaty" part of the leaves and hearts (after scraping the "fuzz" away with the side of a spoon) in melted butter if they were hot, or mayonnaise if they were cold-- nothing fancy. By the time we were all satisfied, each of us would have a heaping bowl of artichoke leaves, scraped clean by our teeth, beside our plate. Heaven!

Yesterday I was admiring my jar of Kirkland Artichoke Hearts (PS: they have water-packed ones, too):



I had purchased two 65 oz. jars last time I made one of my very infrequent trips to Costco. They are so good--the marinade is delicious(not overly-acidic), and there are halves and quarters, nice and plump. I was trying to figure out a dinner to use up some things, a fennel bulb among them. So I came up with the following, in which I could make use of some of those nice marinated artichoke hearts that I was craving. We loved sopping up the tart juices with crusty bread!



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S ARTICHOKE, POTATO, AND FENNEL STEW

1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
32 marinated artichoke heart quarters in oil (or 16 halves), rinsed and drained
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and diced
1/2 lb small red, white or yellow potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges
1 Tbs flour
1 spring fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 cups vegetarian "chicken-style" broth (or use my homemade broth powder)
1/2 lemon, sliced (with peel)
salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a small stew pot. Add the onions and garlic and stir-fry until the onions wilt. Add the artichoke hearts, fennel and potatoes, and stir-fry briefly. Sprinkle with the flour and stir. Add the herbs, and then stir in the broth. Add the lemon slices.

Bring to a boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon slices and cook 30 minutes more, or until the potatoes are tender. Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with crusty bread.

Servings: 3

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 198.9 calories; 21% calories from fat; 5.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 127.2mg sodium; 1126.4mg potassium; 37.4g carbohydrates; 9.7g fiber; 1.8g sugar; 27.7g net carbs; 6.4g protein; 3.6 points.

Enjoy!

Slices of Sundried Tomato/Garlic/Basil/Artichoke Gourmet Tofu drizzled with a peppery extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

I hope I won't bore you with my tofu adventures! Since I tried making the fresh sage, leek, and dried wild mushroom tofu two blog posts ago, I have talked to various other cooks about it, and wanted to try it with dried porcini mushrooms not soaked beforehand, so that the mushroom taste was more concentrated than in my first version (I soaked them the first time, then chopped them and added them to the soymilk). The originators of this recipe, on the wishwewerebaking blog, did not soak them first, but they used dried champignon mushrooms, which are not as strong as porcinis. Another friend used them without soaking, but did not specify the type she used-- she thought the results "screamed" mushroom on the first bite!

So, I had to try it myself. I also wanted to try adding the chopped leeks and sage raw, without sauteing, as I had done before. I figured that this would save time and effort, and that the leeks would cook in the hot soymilk, anyway.

NOTE: There are explicit directions for making tofu, written by my friend Brenda Wiley, at this link. Just follow those directions, with my additions below. If you don't want to make your own soymilk, and you have access to fresh unflavored soymilk , you can use that instead. But make sure it is fresh and unflavored!

To the two soymilk maker batches (3 qts.total) hot, fresh unflavored soymilk this time I added:

about 7/8 cup dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled, so that the pieces wouldn't be too large
3 cups chopped leeks
18 fresh sage leaves
(I chopped the leeks and sage more finely in the food processor)

I added these to the hot fresh soymilk in a large pot BEFORE adding the coagulant, let it come up to over 180 degrees F, and added the coagulant (2 tsp. nigari powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water) slowly, covered the pot and let it sit 10 minutes. Then I stirred gently again and began ladling out the curds as instructed.
(See that last blog post for pictures of the process, and some of the ways I used the results.)

BTW: I made this batch with 1 Tbs. (3 packets) nigari powder for coagulant, but I think I will use only 2 tsp. (2 packets) again next time. The extra nigari made the curds smaller, and I don't think that makes as nice a tofu.


Version #2 of the Mushroom/Leek/Sage Tofu

I thought the tofu was good, the mushroom flavor stronger in a subtle way, but I think I would saute the leeks and sage again next time. I think the leek and sage flavor came through better with the sauteed version, and the leeks did not "crunch".

We just had some for a snack with real tamari (the liquid that drains off miso) from our local miso maker-- a treat!

ANOTHER VERSION:

I made this early last week, just 1 block using 1 batch (1 1/2 qts.) soymilk. I added (for 1 1/2 qts.) :

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil (I rinsed the oil off with hot water and chopped them small after measuring)
1/2 cup marinated sliced artichoke hearts (also rinsed and then chopped pretty finely after measuring)
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried basil (didn't have any fresh-- if you do, use 2 Tbs. chopped)

One thing I noticed was that the acid from the tomatoes (and any residual marinade on the artichokes, I guess) started curdling the soymilk before I even added the coagulator. But I added it anyway. I also noticed that the curds were smaller as a result. The tofu was a bit fragile from all the stuf I loaded into it, but tasted great! I might cut the tomatoes and artichokes down to 1/3 cup each next time.



We ate this cold drizzled with a very peppery extra-virgin olive oil and just a dash of balsamic vinegar. Yum...

As I mentioned before, I did not store the tofu in water, as I don't want to destroy the flavor, and we ate it all up within a day or two. I just placed it in the fridge on a plate, covered with plastic wrap.

Enjoy!