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

This is a recipe I developed more than 10 years ago, but it's still a great one for this time of the year, when fresh corn is available (though you can make it with frozen sweet corn kernels, of course).  It's an easy make-ahead main dish for a company dinner, colorful and delicious, but it makes an elegant brunch dish as well. The components of the dish, the "ricotta", vegan Bechamel, and crepes can be made well ahead of time, and the sauce (Coulis) can be made early in the day and reheated-- and the Coulis is the easiest sauce in the world to make. The crepes can be frozen well before you use them.

One crepe is filling, but hearty eaters can probably eat two. (These crepes are a little larger than the ones I usually make.)
































Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S CORN CREPES WITH RICOTTA-"HAM" FILLING AND RED PEPPER COULIS
Serves 6-12

Crepes: (makes 12 large crepes)
2 1/4 cups nondairy milk
3/4 cup wholewheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
6 oz (3/4 cup) extra-firm SILKEN tofu or medium-firm tofu
1/3 cup corn flour (finely-ground yellow cornmeal, NOT cornstarch)
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
Optional:
3 pinches ground nutmeg
1 pinch turmeric
Filling:
1 recipe Bryanna's Vegan Ricotta (see 2 recipes here) -- you might have a bit left over.
285 g or 10 oz. vegan "bacon" or 'ham" of your choice
2 cups frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed, OR fresh corn kernels, lightly cooked and drained well
3 green onions, chopped
Red Pepper Coulis:
4 large roasted red peppers, peel removed, rinsed (can be from a jar)
3/4 cup Bryanna's Vegan Béchamel Sauce or this bean-based version
2 Tbs dry to medium sherry (or a nonalcoholic white wine, if you prefer)

To Make the Crepes:
Process all ingredients in a food processor or blender until very smooth. No need to "rest" the batter first. Tofu crepes are made just like ordinary crepes. Heat a nonstick 10-12" skillet over medium-high heat and wipe it lightly with oil before making each crepe. Use about 1/4 cup of batter per crepe (stirring the batter before you make each crepe), rolling and tilting the pan until it evenly covers the bottom. Cook for a few seconds, or until the top looks dry. Carefully loosen the crepe with a spatula and flip it over. After a few seconds the other side should be dry. Fold into quarters or roll like a jelly roll and place on a plate (or leave them flat if you are going to stack them with filling). If you are going to use the crepes shortly, cover them with a clean tea towel.


If you are going to store the crepes for later use, let them cool and place in a plastic bag or rigid container (with pieces of waxed paper in between each crepe) and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze them for future use (thaw thoroughly before filling).

To Make the Filling: 
Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

To Make the Sauce (Coulis): 
Mix together all the coulis ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Heat gently in a microwave-proof bowl, or in a saucepan over low heat.

To bake and serve the crepes:
Divide the filling into 12 equal parts. Place each portion of filling down the center of one crepe and roll it up. If it seems like too much filling, cut it down to your liking, but I like these well-filled. Place the filled crepes in a large rectangular baking dish (in one layer-- use another baking dish, if necessary) lined with cooking parchment.

The crepes can be filled ahead of time and refrigerated for a few hours or overnight, well-covered. When you are ready to serve, heat the oven to 400°F. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes if the crepes have not been refrigerated, or 30 minutes if they have. Serve the crepes hot with the reheated Red Pepper Coulis.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per 1 filled crepe with sauce): 251.2 calories; 23% calories from fat; 7.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 449.3mg sodium; 513.5mg potassium; 30.9g carbohydrates; 3.7g fiber; 5.2g sugar; 18.3g protein.

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S CHEESE-Y VEGAN KALE & SUMMER SQUASH TORTA (ITALIAN-STYLE SAVORY TART) WITH CRISPY LOW-FAT OLIVE OIL PASTRY
Serves 4-6 (depending on appetites!)

Low-Fat Olive Oil Pastry Dough (make this first!):
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup ice-cold water
Filling:
12 ounces kale leaves (weigh after taking stems off), thinly sliced
12 ounces summer squash (I used a combination of zucchini and pattypan squash), sliced about 3/8" thick (cut pattypan squash into thin wedges)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. dried mint, or 1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh mint
Cheese-y Mixture:
12.3 ounce box extra-firm silken tofu
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons cornstarch, wheat starch or oat flour, OR egg replacer powder
1 tablespoon light miso
OPTIONAL TOPPING:
a handful of shredded vegan melting cheese
a generous sprinkling of vegan Parmesan (We like GoVeggie! brand.)

To make the Dough:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl.  Drizzle in the olive oil and mix with a fork or your fingers -- there will be some small lumps, and that's fine. Drizzle in the cold water slowly, mixing with a fork.  When it comes together, knead it gently into a ball and cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth.
Refrigerate while you make the filling.

To make the Filling:
Heat a large pot of water over high heat until it boils.

Add the sliced kale and boil for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat and place the lid on the pot. Let stand while you place the zucchini rounds and/or pattypan squash wedges and sliced onion on a baking sheet, and sprinkle them with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and mint.  Mix gently with your fingers and spread the mixture out again.  Place the the  baking sheet under your oven's broiler on High, about 4 inches below the heat source. Broil, watching carefully, until the vegetables begin to brown and are softened.

Immediately remove them from the oven and turn off the broiler. Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Now drain the kale from the pot  in a colander and run cold water over it. Squeeze as much water out of the kale as possible. Combine the kale and zucchini/onion mixture in a mixing bowl.

In a blender or food processor, mix together the silken tofu, nondairy milk, nutritional yeast, starch or alternate, and miso until smooth.  Pour this into the bowl with the vegetables and mix gently. If you like, add some vegan Parmesan to taste-- a couple of tablespoons, if you like.

Spray or lightly brush a 14” pizza pan with oil and sprinkle lightly with flour.

On a floured surface (I use a large sheet of baking parchment sprinkled with flour) flatten the ball of Dough a bit and, using the “roll from the center forward, quarter turn, repeat” method, and flouring lightly as necessary, roll the dough out into a 18”-in-diameter round (doesn't have to be perfect!). This dough will roll out thinly quite nicely, but watch for tearing.

To transfer to the pan, sprinkle the round lightly with flour, fold loosely in half and then in half again. Transfer the dough carefully to the prepared pizza pan and carefully unfold the dough, which will overlap the edge of the pan by a few inches. (OR roll it up around the rolling pin, loosely, and transfer it to the pan by starting at the top of the pan and unrolling the pastry over the pan.) Evenly spread the Filling into a 12-inch circle in the center of the dough.


If you like, sprinkle the Filling with a handful of shredded vegan melting cheese.


Carefully bring the overlapping dough up around the filling, to make a freeform pie. Pleat the edges of the dough over the filling, leaving an open circle in the center. Brush or spray the dough lightly with oil.

Bake about 35 minutes, or until the torta is golden and starting to brown. Place the pan on a cooling rack. Cut the torta into 6 or 8 wedges and serve hot or at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 377 calories, 136 calories from fat, 15.5g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 521.5mg sodium, 649.5mg potassium, 47.6g carbohydrates, 4.8g fiber, 2.9g sugar, 14.6g protein.



Enjoy!

I have alot veggies to use up this week, so I was busy this morning!  The first thing I made was a lovely soup from Nava Atlas' wonderful book, "Wild About Greens". It's called Italian-Style Potato & Escarole Soup, but the recipe notes add that broccoli rabe (rapini) can be used instead of the escarole-- just the thing to use half of the big bunch of rapini in my fridge.



This veggie-full soup is easy to make and so delicious!  We're having it for dinner tonight.  You can access the recipe from Nava's website here. I followed it exactly, but used broccoli rabe (rapini) for the greens.  Do give it a try (and check out the book, too). Thanks, Nava!

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The second thing I made (which we're also having for dinner) was Tabbouleh. Tabbouleh should be vibrant and flavorful.  A Lebanese friend told me that an authentic tabbouleh must have LOTS of parsley—it’s not supposed to be just a bulgur salad with a little parsley in it.  It should be very green. Italian parsley is the tastiest, but you can use ordinary curly parsley, or a combination.   Fresh mint and dill add delightful fresh flavor.  Today I made the following Tabbouleh recipe, my standard, in order to use up some ripe tomatoes.  But, I soon realized that I was out of parsley! I decided to go ahead with it and try using minced chard instead, since I have lots in the garden. At the last minute I decided to add a 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas to make a full-meal salad. It's delicious! (PS: I found that the dressing needed more lemon juice than usual with the chard.) I give you the directions for using chard instead of parsley in the recipe intro.



The traditional (and very attractive) way to serve Tabbouleh (see photo above-- probably my most artistic presentation ever! ) is to mound it  in a serving bowl or platter with a rim and surround it with crisp Romaine lettuce leaves to use as scoopers.  Decorate the top of the salad with tomato wedges or halved grape tomatoes, sprigs of fresh mint and parsley, and black Kalamata olives.

Chard and Chickpea Variation of Tabbouleh

Printable Copy

BRYANNA'S TABBOULEH (WITH A VARIATION)     
Serves 8 to 12  
ALLERGY NOTE: If you are allergic to wheat, use cooked and cooled quinoa instead of bulgur.

This popular Middle Eastern salad has long been a staple for vegetarians, but it often contains 3/4 cup or more of olive oil for a salad of this size.  My version contains far less oil, but none of the flavor is missing.
CHARD AND CHICKPEA VARIATION: I cut 2 big bunches of chard and cut off the stems before processing the green leaves to use in place of parsley. At the last minute I decided to add a 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas to make a full-meal salad. It's delicious! (PS: I found that the dressing needed more lemon juice than usual with the chard.)

1 cup dry bulgur wheat (medium or #2)
1 cup boiling water
2 large bunches parsley. stemmed and minced  (Before chopping, parsley should be dried well in a lettuce spinner--  I mince it in  a food processor.)
2 ripe, firm tomatoes, diced (or use 2 cups diced grape tomatoes)
1/2 a large European or English cucumber (the kind with an edible skin), diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped green onion
 3  tablespoons  fresh, chopped dill (or 1 tablespoon dried dill weed)
OPTIONAL: 1/2 a large green pepper, seeded and chopped
Dressing:
1/2 cup aquafaba OR Oil Substitute for Salad Dressings 
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil  (or more aquafaba or Oil Substitute, for a no-fat dressing)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
Garnish (optional):
crisp Romaine lettuce leaves  (you’ll probably need 2 heads in order to have enough large, well-formed leaves)
2 firm, ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
parsley and mint sprigs
about 12 Kalamata olives

In a large serving bowl mix together the bulgur and boiling water.  Let stand while you prepare the vegetables and dressing.

Add the olive oil (if using), lemon juice, salt and pepper to the Oil Substitute and whisk  or shake together well. Set aside (or chill, if you used the Oil Sub while hot) until time to add to the salad.

When the bulgur has absorbed all of the water, add the remaining salad ingredients and the dressing.  Toss well.  Taste for lemon juice, salt and pepper, adding more if needed (I found that I needed more lemon juice when I used chard in place of parsley).  Refrigerate until serving time, or allow to come to room temperature, if you prefer.

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Last, but certainly not least, I made a pineapple salsa to go with a recipe idea from my friend Betsy DiJulio, innovative cook and author of the wonderful cookbook "The Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes" and blog of the same name.  It's a simple idea for dressing up veggie hot dogs (she has a few really great ideas for making ordinary veggie hot dogs scrumptious on her blog).  She called them "Sassy Vegan Sausage and Salsa Roll-Ups (Stupid-Easy and Simply Beautiful)". My husband loves any excuse to eat a veggie dog, so he was thrilled to try this for lunch.  The recipe is here and you will see that her version looked a lot prettier than mine!  But we loved it anyway.  Here's my version:

I must confess that Julie Hasson inspired this dessert with her scrumptious-looking creamy vegan chocolate-crushed vegan "Oreo"-topped pie that she shared at a demo we did together in Portland OR several years ago.  However, it was so popular that I never did  get to taste it! So, I devised a recipe of my own (for my old Vegan Feast subscription newsletter) 10 years ago. I'm going to share the slightly revised and updated recipe with you here.  It makes a fabulous summer celebration dessert-- for a birthday, perhaps?

Printable Copy

BRYANNA'S VEGAN ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE "OREO" ICE CREAM PIE
Serves 12   UPDATED July 31, 2019
I do love "Oreo"type cookies, though we only indulge once or twice a year. And there are vegan (and organic) Oreo-type chocolate sandwich creme cookies on the market that make this possible. This pie is definitely an indulgence, but it's actually very easy to make if you have made the gelato ahead of time, or if you make it with your favorite commercial vegan chocolate and coffee "ice cream".
See Cooking Tips below for  vegan, palm-oil-freebrand of vegan "Oreo" cookies, and vegan graham-type cookies.

CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST:
1/2 cup organic dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/4 cup vegan butter (see my homemade palm oil-free recipe here)
1 cup vegan graham cracker crumbs (see Cooking Tips below)
1/2 cup finely-chopped nuts of your choice
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
1 cup full-fat soymilk or nut milk
8 oz organic dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1 Tbs (2 little packets) espresso powder or use 1 Tbs. instant coffee powder
2 Tbs Kahlua , other coffee liqueur, or 1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
FILLING AND GARNISH:
2 cups Bryanna's Revised Vegan Chocolate Gelato OR 1 pint commercial vegan chocolate "ice cream" (premium variety)
2 cups Bryanna's Vegan Coffee Gelato (see recipe below) OR 1 pint commercial vegan coffee" ice
cream" (premium variety)
GARNISH: (see Cooking Tips below)
8 organic vegan chocolate sandwich creme cookies, broken up
10 intact vegan chocolate sandwich creme cookies
OPTIONAL:
Your favorite vegan whipped topping



To make the Crust:
Melt the chocolate and vegan together in the top of a small double boiler over simmering water, or in a microwave-proof bowl in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Add to the crumbs and nuts in a bowl and mix well. Press into pie pan 1-inch up sides. Chill.

To Make the Chocolate Sauce:
Bring the soymilk to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate; whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in espresso powder and Kahlua or vanilla. Let the sauce cool.

To Fill the Pie:
1.) Microwave the Coffee Gelato  on low setting at 10-second intervals until slightly softened. Spread this evenly over the crust.

2.) Spread 3/4 cup of the Chocolate Sauce over the Coffee Gelato.

The Coffee Gelato spread over the chocolate crumb crust

3.) Sprinkle the sauce-covered gelato evenly with the broken cookies. Freeze until gelato is firm, about 20 minutes.


4.) Arrange the Chocolate Gelato in side-by-side scoops around edge of pie.

5.) Wedge 1 whole cookie between each scoop. Freeze pie until firm (covering it with plastic wrap if it's going to be in the freezer for more than a few hours), at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Cover and chill the remaining sauce.


To Serve, cut the pie into 12 wedges. Drizzle each serving with a little of the Chocolate Sauce. Add whipped topping, if you want to "gild the lily".

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 588.0 calories; 36% calories from fat; 25.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 275.1mg sodium; 183.7mg potassium; 90.9g carbohydrates; 3.5g fiber; 49.5g sugar; 7.2g protein, 13.2 points.

Cooking Tips
VEGAN "OREO"-TYPE COOKIES:
Country Choice Organic Chocolate Sandwich Cookies: This is the brand I use-- it's also Fairtrade Certified and free of palm oil. It is a Canadian brand, owned by Nature's Path. Find Canadian retailers here. Country Choice is also available in the USA http://us.naturespath.com/about/stores (amazon.com carries them, too) and the UK http://naturespath.co.uk/where-buy

VEGAN GRAHAM CRACKERS (without palm oil): (Updated Nov. 27, 2016)

Some bulk graham cracker crumbs are vegan-- check the label on the bin (if it's visible) or ask your grocer to let you see the original bag.

The following crackers are "accidentally vegan" and not made with organic or whole foods ingredients (but no palm oil):
Keebler Original Graham Crackers
Keebler Cinnamon Graham Crackers
NOTE: Sweet & Sara's brand contain palm oil.

Another option I have used is to make crumbs out of "animal" crackers-- here are some vegan ones made with organic and/or healthful ingredients.  They are often easier to find than vegan Graham crackers and usually not expensive:
Barbara's Bakery Snackanimals Animal Cookies 
and
Trader Joe's Organic Animal Crackers
(Both of the above are organic, whole grain, palm-oil-free, HF-corn syrup-free, but they do contain soy lecithin)
Annie's brand Bernie's Animal Farm Cookies

Another option: there are numerous vegan (including GF) graham cracker recipes on the 'Net, if you are into making your own.

BRYANNA'S VEGAN COFFEE GELATO
Serves 8

1 3/4 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup or brown rice syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup soy, almond or cashew milk
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
(If you are allergic to nuts, use 1/4 cup more  non-dairy milk and 1/4 cup oil.)
1/2 cup light unbleached organic sugar
2 Tbs (4 little packets) instant espresso powder (If you can't find this, use 1 cup liquid espresso or strong brewed coffee instead of 1 cup of the water.)
1 tablespoon Instant Clearjel® OR 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum
OPTIONAL: 3 Tbs Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until VERY smooth and frothy (make sure that it doesn't feel grainy).

Chill the gelato mixture and then freeze according to directions for your ice cream machine. Scoop into a quart plastic container, cover and freeze for several hours before serving.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 220.9 calories; 15% calories from fat; 4.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 102.4mg sodium; 108.7mg potassium; 48.1g carbohydrates; 0.4g fiber; 38.6g sugar; 3.2g protein.

Enjoy!

 I was lucky enough to get a copy of Miyoko's new book to review and to participate in the "blog tour" for the book.  Miyoko Schinner is well-known for her ground-breaking book "Artisan Vegan Cheese" (2012), which I own. (I must confess, though, that I haven't made very recipes out of it due to all the nuts required-- a bit too rich for our way of eating, and I lack the space to air-dry cheeses--but I love her easy Meltable Mozzarella recipe!) In any case, I've been following Miyoko since her first book, "The Now and Zen Epicure" (now out of print), was published in 1991, and I have her "The New Now and Zen Epicure", published in 2001, as well.

Her new book, "The Homemade Vegan Pantry", is a  guide to creating vegan versions of staple ingredients for the fridge and pantry.  There is something for everyone in this book, I'm sure! I'm looking forward to trying her yogurt recipe, since WholeSoy is no more and I'm having trouble getting my vegan yogurt the way I want it right now. I'm also intrigued by the Flakey Unfish, Unfish Sticks, and San Francisco Fab Cakes with Capers. and many more recipes.

I chose the Unribs recipe to make for this blog tour, mainly because my husband loves all kinds of vegan ribs! I found it easy to make.  Yes, there are a few steps, but they are simple and you can go put your feet up or do something else while they bake for 90 minutes. And you end up with a large pile of delicious vegan Unribs!  You also have the option of using oil, or not-- I used a little. We ate them hot and cold, and one day I sliced some into thin slices and made a sandwich with them on my husband's special homemade white sandwich bread with a little of my homemade mayo-- yum!

The Unribs that I made

I used Mikoyo's Zippy Barbecue Sauce, also from the book, since I had all of the ingredients at hand and it was delicious and super-easy-- just dump all the ingredients into a blender and whiz it up until smooth. NOTE: Don't be alarmed by the large amount of barbecue sauce used-- it works out!

Mikoyo's Zippy Barbecue Sauce So, here is the recipe, courtesy of Miyoko and Ten Speed Press.  I have included photos within the recipe illustrating the steps in the recipe and the finished product.

Photo credit: © 2015 by Eva Kolenko. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Printable Recipe

UNRIBS
Reprinted from THE HOMEMADE VEGAN PANTRY Copyright © 2015 by Miyoko Schinner. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Ingredients
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (if you are allergic to peanuts, other bloggers have said that almond butter or tahini worked fine)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon white, chickpea, or red miso (I used a dark miso)
4 or 5 cloves garlic
1 1/4 cups water
2 1/2 to 3 cups vital wheat gluten
Oil, for cooking (optional)
Sauce:
3 1/2 to 4 cups your favorite store-bought variety (Miyoko has a recipe for Zippy Barbecue Sauce in the book as well, which I used-- recipe for it here)
2 cups water

Instructions
In a food processor or blender, combine the soy sauce, nutritional yeast, peanut butter, tomato paste, miso, garlic, and water and process until a smooth and creamy slurry is created. If you are using a food processor, just keep everything in there.

If using a blender, pour it out into a large mixing bowl. Add 2 1⁄2 cups of the gluten to the slurry and mix well, either using the food processor or by hand in the bowl. If you’re using a food processor, keep pulsing to knead the dough, adding a little more gluten flour as necessary to form a stiff dough (the more gluten you add, the chewier your ribs will be, so you can control how tender or chewy you want them). It may form one ball in the center or break up into little beads; if the latter happens, all you have to do is push it together with your hands.



If you’re mixing it by hand, knead it in the bowl for several minutes until it becomes smooth.

Roll the dough into a log about 6 inches long. Slice the log lengthwise into four “steaks” about 3⁄4 inch thick.

Now here’s one of the places where you get to decide whether or not to use oil, and how much. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat—if you’re going for oil-free, make sure that it is nonstick. If you’re using oil, add a couple of tablespoons to the skillet and let it get hot. Add the steaks and cook until browned on both sides. They will rise and puff a little.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. If your skillet is ovenproof, you can just leave the steaks in the pan. If not, transfer them to a baking dish. Mix 11⁄2 cups of the barbecue sauce with the water. Pour the diluted sauce over the steaks in the pan and cover with a lid or aluminium foil.

Bake the ribs for 75 to 90 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and just barely coats them and the steaks are chewy and cooked through. They will be relatively tender while hot but will deflate slightly and become chewier as they cool, so fear not if they seem too soft right out of the oven.

Let them cool until they can be handled without burning your fingers. Then slice each steak lengthwise into “ribs” about 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 inch thick.

Heat the skillet over medium-low heat. You’re going to sauté the individual ribs once more to brown or even blacken them on both sides. Once again, you can choose to oil or not to oil. If you like your ribs on the greasy side, you’ll want to use a good 4 to 6 tablespoons of oil to sauté them. Or you can just use a dry nonstick skillet. Cook them all until nicely dark on both sides (I like them almost black). 

Then toss them with the remaining 2 to 21⁄2 cups barbecue sauce. Now you can dig in. Or wait until the next day, when they will have deepened in flavor and become even chewier.

To reheat, just throw them in the oven or on the grill, or eat them cold with some potato salad—yum! Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Enjoy!

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) A little green tree frog beside a pot of basil Freshly-picked basil from potted plants on the deck, ready for pesto making 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. I love to dress grilled or steamed vegetables with pesto: Enjoy!