Showing posts with label basil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basil. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2015
GARDEN GREENS; VEGAN PECAN PESTO FROM HOMEGROWN BASIL
 |
| Freshly-picked chard and Kale from our garden |
We are NOT great gardeners, by any stretch of the imagination. We live on an island of fabulous gardeners, so we don't even try to compete. But we manage to grow kale and chard, summer squash, herbs, lettuce and tomatoes. No tomatoes yet, of course, but it's so nice to be able to run out and pick enough veggies for a salad or a vegetable dish.  Lettuce growing in a long planter on the deck (the lighting looks odd because I took the pics late in the evening)    Today I made my second batch of vegan pesto this summer, but I changed my recipe a little. I decided to use pecans for the nuts because they have such rich flavor. I used a combination of miso and nutritional yeast instead of vegan Parmesan, and a bit of lemon juice to preserve the lovely color. Printable Recipe BRYANNA'S VEGAN PECAN PESTO Makes 3 cups 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings 1 cup pecans 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes 2 Tbs. light miso 8 large cloves garlic, peeled 1 Tbs. lemon juice (this helps keep the color green) 1 tsp. salt 8 oz. fresh basil leaves (about 8 cups, packed down) Place the ingredients, except the basil, in a large food processor (or a VitaMix) in the order given. Add about 1/4 of the basil and pulse until it starts making a paste. Continue adding basil, 1/4 at a time, until it is all mixed in. Then turn the machine full on and let it run until the pesto is relatively smooth.   Pack the pesto into containers-- preferably several small ones. Place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment directly onto the pesto and fasten the lids over that. Refrigerate for a few days-- after that freeze them, but use it up within a month or so, or the pesto will lose flavor. Pesto can be stirred into minestrone (soup), and used on pasta (wide flat pasta or gnocchi are preferred in the Italian province of Liguria, where pesto originated). I use it in summer vegetable salads and on grilled mushrooms, too. To use it on pasta, be sure to save the pasta cooking water. Add a bit of this cooking water to a glob of pesto and stir it into the hot pasta (and cooked veggies, if you're adding them). Keep tasting and adding until it tastes right to you-- serve immediately  Dinner last night-- pasta and kale from the garden, with pesto Other ideas for using pesto: Here's a recipe for a hummus-based pesto sauce for pasta.  And try this recipe for a Vegan Creme of Artichoke and Mushroom Soup with Pesto 
Pesto makes this lowfat vegan creamy Artichoke and Spinach Dish special.
  Enjoy!  |
Saturday, June 27, 2015
I'M USING HOME-GROWN BASIL ALREADY, AND IT'S NOT JULY YET! 2 EASY, YUMMY RECIPES
It was such an early spring and summer, and the weather has been so warm, that my basil is doing wonderfully well. I had to use some of it, so I thought I'd share the two easy recipes, a spread and a salad dressing, that I came up with-- both use a whole cup of fresh basil leaves, packed down.
PS: We had the basil dressing on our whole-meal lunch salad toda. The salad was comprised of home-grown freshly-picked lettuce with snap peas, oven-broiled Crispy Tofu (or B of T- recipe at the end of this post but this time I crisped it under the broiler instead of sautéing in a skillet); sliced baby cukes, grape tomatoes, oven-grilled corn, with our first pattypan squash and onions. Mmmmmmm!
Here's the dressing recipe:
BRYANNA'S FRESH, CREAMY VEGAN BASIL SALAD DRESSING
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves, sliced
6 oz. (1/2 a tetrapak) firm or extra-firm silken tofu (OR 3/4 cup well-drained cooked or canned white beans)
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (I use my homemade)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 clove garlic, peeled
Run all of the ingredients in your blender until smooth. If it's too thick, you can add a bit of water or non-dairy milk. Store in a covered jar in your refrigerator.
And here's the spread:
BRYANNA'S SUNDRIED TOMATO, BASIL AND KALAMATA OLIVE VEGAN RICOTTA SPREAD
Makes about 2 cups
1 lb. (2 cups) plain (no herbal seasoning) vegan ricotta (See my Tofu ricotta and Almond Ricotta recipes here-- at the very bottom of the post; and my Okara-Cashew Ricotta recipe here.)
1 cup (packed) fresh basil, sliced or chopped
2/3 cup drained and sliced pitted kalamata olives
3 oz. sliced sundried tomatoes in oil (squeeze most of the oil out, or rinse with warm water and drain well)
3 tablespoons vegan parmesan (I use Go Veggie!)
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
Optional: a little bit of vegan milk or plain vegan creamer
Combine all of the ingredients (except Optional) in a food processor and run until mixed to your satisfaction. If it seems too thick, add a bit of nondairy milk or plain vegan creamer. Pack into a shallow container, seal and refrigerate.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
TWO HEARTY VEGETABLE SALADS DEBUTED AT VEGAN DINNER PARTY
Our
vegan dinner group of 5 couples convened at our house last week for another
great vegan meal. (We were also celebrating 3 Gemini birthdays-- me,
DH Brian, and Rob.) It was a bit of a squish in our little house, but nobody
minded-- it has been a while since we got together and even longer since we hosted a dinner. On the menu, we had Fireweed's yummy vegan quiche with potatoes
and veggies in it; a delicious lemony cauliflower and potato curry on yellow
rice from Gordon and Sarah; Pelka's aromatic focaccia and wonderful green salad
with Sunshine Dressing; and Ellen's beautiful wild rice salad with black beans.
( My contributions were two vegetable salads and a Chocolate/Almond
Tiramisu for dessert.
I
changed my plans for what to make for the dinner at the last minute because I
thought we weren’t going to be enough vegetables on the menu. (It turned out that we had plenty of veggies in
the end, and it was all delicious.) Because we live on an island, I had to use what was in my freezer, fridge and pantry,
and inspiration was just not coming to me (probably due to the fact that I was
trying to get the house spiffed up at the same time). I turned to a book that I’d just borrowed
from the library, “Fine
Cooking in Season” (Tauton Press, 2011).
Two salad recipes jumped out at me because, not only did they sound
delicious, but I had most of the ingredients, and with a little substituting
here and there, I judged that I could make them- and make them vegan and lower
in fat at the same time.
One
recipe was a roasted corn salad with edamame (green soybeans), fresh mint and
cherry tomatoes, in a basil/yogurt dressing with honey and lemon. I had frozen sweet corn and frozen shelled
edamame in the freezer, fresh mint in the garden, frozen basil paste from last
year’s crop, and soy yogurt and agave nectar to use in the dressing.
The
other recipe consisted of quickly-braised kale or Swiss chard, escarole or frisée,
and spinach with roasted hazelnuts, in a dressing flavored plum preserves. I
had hazelnuts, kale and spinach on hand, and figured that the rapini in the
fridge could stand in for the escarole.
I had no plum preserves, but I did have some plum butter that I’d made
last year from the plums on the wild plum tree near our back deck, and I
figured that would do in a pinch. (Polish plum butter is available in some supermarkets, gourmet stores and online-- amazon carries it, too.)
In
both recipes, I could substitute some of my lowfat oil substitute for some of
the olive oil, in order to lower the fat content. (The plum dressing called for a whole cup of
oil!)
For
the celebratory dessert I made a Chocolate/Almond Tiramisu, adapted from the
tiramisu recipe in my book "World Vegan Feast", but, instead of the vegan sponge cake, I used the cake
layers from the Mocha Cafe Latte Cake in the same book. Besides the boozy vegan
mascarpone layer called for in that recipe, I added a layer of Italian
Chocolate Mousse (from my book "Nonna's
Italian Kitchen"), laced with ground roasted almonds. The whole thing
was topped with my Almond
Whipped Cream Topping, ground dark chocolate and slivered roasted almonds. (I
used Kahlua for the liqueur.)
There wasn’t much left at the end of the night,
of either the salads or the dessert! All
in all, another enjoyable evening with great conversation and company and
excellent vegan food! Here are my versions of the salad recipes (I also streamlined the methods a bit), just in case you's like to try them.
BRYANNA’S VERSION OF WARM
SALAD OF AUTUMN GREENS WITH PLUM VINAIGRETTE
Serves
8
Adapted
from a recipe in “Fine
Cooking in Season” (Tauton Press, 2011).
For the plum
vinaigrette:
5
Tbs. plum butter
1/4
cup apple cider or red wine vinegar
1
Tbs. Dijon-style mustard
1/4
cup extra-virgin olive oil
1
tsp. chopped garlic
Kosher
salt and freshly ground pepper
For the greens:
10
oz. baby spinach
1
bunch young kale
1
bunch rapini
2
Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4
cup (about 3 oz.) roasted, peeled hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Whisk
together the plum butter, vinegar, and mustard until smooth. Add
the olive oil, broth and salt and pepper to taste; mix again briefly. Refrigerate in a jar or bottle. This can be made a few days ahead of time. Shake before using.
the olive oil, broth and salt and pepper to taste; mix again briefly. Refrigerate in a jar or bottle. This can be made a few days ahead of time. Shake before using.
Stem
the kale and slice it into strips about 1/4-inch wide. Cut the tough bottoms
off the rapini stems and slice as for the kale. Mix all the greens, wash
thoroughly, and spin dry. (If you prepare the greens ahead of time—1 to 4
days--wrap them loosely in paper towels and store refrigerated in sealed zipper-lock
bags.)
In
a very large sauté pan, stir-fry pan or skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add
one-third of the greens, and a bit of salt and pepper. Sauté 1 to 2 minutes,
stirring all the time, until the leaves are slightly wilted. Repeat twice with
the remaining greens in two batches. Scoop the greens into a bowl and add the
roasted hazelnuts and the dressing to taste.
Toss well and spread on a large serving platter. Serve at room temperature.
BRYANNA’S VERSION OF TOASTED
CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, AND EDAMAME SALAD
Serves
8-12
Adapted
from a recipe in “Fine
Cooking in Season”, Tauton Press, 2011.
2
cup frozen shelled edamame
1
Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
4
1/2 cups frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed, OR fresh corn kernels (from about 6
medium ears)
1/4
cup plain soy yogurt
1/4
cup fresh lemon juice
2
tsp. agave nectar
1
tsp. minced garlic
1
Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher
salt
Freshly
ground black pepper
2
heaping cups quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2
cup very thinly sliced fresh mint
1/2
cup very thinly sliced fresh basil OR a cube of frozen basil paste, thawed
Boil
the edamame in water to cover by 2 inches for 4-5 minutes. Drain and set aside
to cool completely.
Mix
the corn kernels with 1 Tbs. of the oil on a large baking sheet. Spread the
corn out on the sheet. Place about 5
inches under the broiler of your oven and broil until the tops start to brown a
little (about 4-5 minutes—watch carefully).
Remove from the oven.
To make the Dressing: whisk together the yogurt, lemon
juice, agave, garlic, and 1/4 tsp. salt in a small mixing bowl. Slowly pour in
the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil and the aquafaba or Fat-Free Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings, whisking constantly
until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In
a medium serving bowl, combine the edamame, corn kernels, tomatoes and herbs.
Toss gently. Add the dressing and toss gently. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve at room temperature.
Enjoy!
Monday, June 4, 2012
A SPUR OF THE MOMENT PASTA/VEGGIE DISH COMES UP A WINNER
This dish was a happy accident that I threw together for a quick lunch the other day. DH went crazy over it—for good reason, if I do say so myself. It is a very tasty mixture!
Here's how it came about: I had some Soy Curls™ already reconstituted in the fridge (leftover from making another dish), and the asparagus and red bell pepper seemed like a good combination for both flavor and color. I had some huge garlic cloves that needed using, so I ended up with 1/4 cup chopped garlic and thought, what the heck, I’ll just dump all of it in—we like garlic! For the broth, I used some of the broth that the Soy Curls™ were soaked in (poured through sieve), and I had 2/3 cup of my homemade tofu sour cream leftover in the refrigerator. I also had a bit of vegan mozzarella leftover from another dish.
Lastly, I still have frozen cubes of basil paste (see recipe below) that I made last fall and I am trying to use them up before I make this year’s batch, so I thought I’d throw in a cube of that. The ingredients seemed like a good combination to me.
Soy Curls™ soaking in vegan broth
I decided to broil the Soy Curls™ and veggies together with a little olive oil for three reasons— 1.) for convenience (no standing at the stove sautéing—you can prepare other ingredients, set the table, whatever); 2.) to get away with using only 1 tablespoon oil; and 3.) to add that “grilled” flavor to the dish. I wanted to use a short pasta in the dish, and the package of bowtie pasta (or farfalle) in my pasta drawer (yes, I have a dedicated pasta drawer in my kitchen!) caught my eye. (It's pretty, has grooves to catch sauce in, and has a nice bite to it.)
The result was "Wow!"-- a flavor-packed and satisfying whole-meal dish that I'm going to use it as a template for future pasta combos. Other types of vegan protein could be used—seitan, for instance. Other vegetables could be substituted—mushrooms, broccolette, artichokes; sundried tomatoes, etc. Onions of any sort (including leeks, shallots) could be used instead of, or in addition to, garlic. Other fresh herbs could be used instead of basil. Other varieties of short pasta could be used. You get the idea...have fun!
BRYANNA' S BASIL BOWTIE
PASTA WITH GRILLED ASPARAGUS, BELL PEPPER AND SOY CURLS™ (OR ALTERNATIVE)
(can be GF
or soy-free)
Serves 4
2 cups reconstituted Soy Curls™ (or other vegan chicken sub, such as commercial vegan "chicken" strips or "tenders", chicken-y seitan, etc., cut into thin strips)
(NOTE: read more about Butler Foods Soy Curls™ here.)
1 lb. asparagus (fairly thin stalks), tough ends cut off,
stalks cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
kosher salt
kosher salt
12 ounces farfalle (bowtie pasta; can be whole wheat or GF)
1/3 cup vegan chicken-style broth (I like better than Bouillon Vegan No-Chicken Broth Base)
1-2 tablespoons basil paste OR about 1/2 cup chopped fresh
basil, packed
(NOTE: See Basil Paste recipe below. I used 2 tablespoons,
or 1 cube, because it’s last year’s batch and, consequently, not as strong as a
newer batch would be.]
2/3 cup tofu sour cream (commercial or homemade) or cashew sour cream
1/2 cup dry white wine (can be non-alcoholic)
1/3 cup grated vegan mozzarella-style cheese
1/4 cups Go Veggie!Vegan soy parmesan or other vegan parmesan
sub
freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Set a large pot of salted water on the stove to come to a
boil.
On a large baking sheet, mix the Soy Curls™ (or alternate), asparagus
pieces, bell pepper slices and garlic with the olive oil and spread the mix out
over the pan. Sprinkle with a little bit of kosher salt. Place about 6 inches under
your oven’s broiler and broil until the Soy Curls™ start to brown a little
(this will probably take only about 5 minutes, so watch carefully). Stir the mixture around and broil again until
the asparagus is just tender when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and set aside.
While the Soy Curls™/veggie mixture is broiling, whisk
together the sour cream and wine and set aside. When the pot of water comes to a boil, add the
pasta to the boiling water. Boil until
just tender (about 10 minutes). Drain in a colander and set aside.
Add the broth and basil paste or basil to a large skillet, stir-fry
pan or wok. Bring to a boil. Lower the
heat to medium. Add the wine/sour cream to the pan. Whisk briefly and add the broiled Soy Curls™ and veggies, stirring well. Add the drained
pasta to the pan, along with the two vegan cheeses. Toss well, salt to taste, and grind plenty of pepper over the
top. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per
serving): 551.8 calories; 16% calories from fat; 10.1g total fat; 0.0mg
cholesterol; 218.7mg sodium; 578.3mg potassium; 82.4g carbohydrates; 7.2g
fiber; 4.8g sugar; 75.2g net carbs; 25.1g protein; 11.1 points.
Basil Paste frozen in ice cube trays: each cube= 2 tablespoons
BRYANNA'S BASIL PASTE
FOR FREEZING
Makes 1 1/2 cups
This is an easy way to prepare large quantities of basil for
freezing, and it keeps the bright green color. You can make pesto with this
paste, and I prefer doing this to making large quantities of pesto for
freezing, because the flavors are better preserved.
In a food processor, blend the following ingredients to a paste:
8 c. loosely-packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
TO STORE:
Method #1--
Pack into containers measuring the size you will use most
often, or freeze in ice cube trays (placed inside plastic bags), then pop the
cubes out into storage bags. One cube contains about 2 T. paste, so each cube
is equal to about 2/3 c. of loosely-packed fresh basil leaves.
Method #2--
Spread the paste out thinly on sheets of waxed paper or
heavy plastic wrap and then roll them up like jelly rolls. Pop the rolls into
plastic bags and freeze them. Then you can unroll just a little at a time and
break off small quantities to use in recipes that call for fresh basil.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
SALAD DAYS (AND A TINY, MYSTERIOUS PURPLE FROG)!
Friday evening I came home from work (my "day job"-- managing a small branch of our island library system) and checked our little garden for anything that needed picking. Tomato bonanza! (And some basil, as you can see.) We love the "Black Cherry" tomatoes
that you can see nestled among the red ones!
I found an interesting-looking tiny purple frog sitting under a basil plant! (Or is it some kind of little toad? I don't know much about amphibians, I'm afraid!) We have other tiny frogs that we see often on the deck, but they are bright green. These pics don't do it justice (it was evening when I took these):
I also picked a little lettuce and mesclun for my solo dinner salad. (DH was off in Vancouver to see his youngest son's new Celtic band play.)
For lunch yesterday, DH back home, we had vegan BLT sandwiches on Brian's white bread (an occasional treat!), toasted . The "bacon" part was provided by a generous sprinkling of my Homemade Smoky Veggie Bacon Salt-- recipe on my blog here. The low-fat (and very tasty!) vegan mayo recipe is here . (There's also a Hemp Milk Vegan Mayonnaise.) Yum!
Last night we simply had salad and Denman Island corn (picked that day) for dinner:
I'm keeping things pretty simple these days, due to The Book! BTW, if you're looking for tasty low-fat vegan salad dressing recipes, here are some posted on my blog:
Spicy Vinaigrette
Dijon Maple Balsamic Dressing
Pomegranate Molasses Dressing #2
Creamy Orange Vinaigrette
Creamy Pear-Based Vinaigrette (Tarragon Version)
Oil-Free Creamy Bean-Based "Caesar" Dressing
Low-Fat (or No-Fat) Creamy Pear-Based Vinaigrette
Happy Salad Days!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A GARDEN FOR NON-GARDENERS, IN THE GROUND AND ON THE DECK; AND THE REWARDS
The pattypan squash are blooming-- can't wait for the little beauties!
DH does most of the gardening-- 99% of it-- around here, but neither of us is really into gardening. But you can't live in the country and not grow something in the summer! So here is a picture essay of our conventional garden and our deck garden. It's really producing now! So nice to have fresh greens and herbs, and there is is absolutely nothing like your own home-grown tomatoes! (And our island market and market gardens can provide the rest for us!)
The Conventional Garden:
Lettuce, chard and kale
The tomatoes in the garden, surrounded by chicken wire to keep the cats from digging!
Chard up close
A pattypan blossom peeking out
A volunteer nasturtium cuddling up to a lettuce
BTW, in the front of the house, I have sage and a big rosemary bush, but I forgot to take pics!
The Deck Garden: (We always grow basil and cherry tomatoes on the back because it gets nice and hot, but this year we also have Italian parsley and we used some old dresser drawers to grow mesclun, baby spinach and more lettuce. I can go out and snip off some salad without getting my feet dirty! Evidently, if you cut lettuce about an inch above the soil, it will grow back! And I'm told you can do the same with spinach.)
I never had any luck with ordinary parsley, but the Italian parsley is doing wonderfully!
Dresser-drawer lettuce planter!
Dresser-drawer spinach-- so tender, and so clean when you snip it off!
Spinach and lettuce growing in drawers
Basil on the deck
Black cherry tomatoes-- so good!
The Harvest:
Fresh basil
Lettuce in the colander and spinach in the bag-- picked this morning!
Lettuce DH picked on Tuesday-- we save organic greens boxes and layer the cleaned, spun greens in them between pieces of paper toweling-- they keep quite well that way.
Fresh arugula in the spinner
My favorite lettuce spinner-- the Oxo Good Grips.
It spins so well, it has a "brake" on it!The Eating:
Lunch yesterday-- a "chef's salad" of fresh butter lettuce topped with Soy Curls sautéed in a little olive oil with some homemade bacon salt
(no bacon in it!- here's my recipe), toasted pecans, and some strawberries and blueberries, with my Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette (low-fat). Yum!
Lunch today was a piece of leftover homemade pizza with this salad of fresh butter lettuce and arugula with marinated artichokes and some homemade bean salad.
Boy, don't we vegans suffer (not!)?
Enjoy!
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