Recipe: Pumpkin pudding

(Painting by Bierstadt Albert)

It's not technically the fall for a few more days, but if you live in Canada (and not on the balmy west coast) then you know that the real first day of fall is September 1st. This recipe is a celebration of the beginning of fall. It's like pumpkin pie filling, minus the crust and with some extra protein thrown in.

A few of my fellow grad students at my new campus invited me to join their "lunch club". I told them that I'd love to... but I'm vegan. To my surprise and great delight, they decided that we would have a vegan lunch club! On a rotating basis each of us will prepare lunch for everybody else in the lunch club. Today was my first day being the cook for our lunch club. I brought delicious thai-inspired sweet potato burgers and this pumpkin pudding. I think they were both a hit!

Recipe: Pumpkin pudding
Serves 8

1 can of pure pumpkin puree (796 ml)
1 package of soft tofu (350 g)
1/3 cup maple syrup, or to taste
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 tbs orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1. Put the coconut oil in the microwave for a few seconds to melt it. Alternatively, you could make a hot water bath to melt the coconut oil.

2. Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until very smooth.

3. Serve immediately or allow to chill in the refrigerator before serving. The cooler its temperature, the thicker the pudding will be. Enjoy!

Easy recipe: Grilled refried bean sandwich

Back when I was vegetarian instead of vegan, I used to love grilled cheese sandwiches. The oily crunchiness of the fried bread and the gooey cheese just provide so much satisfaction. I liked dipping my grilled cheese in ketchup, with the contrast of the hot salty sandwich and the cool sweet ketchup. There's a grilled cheese sandwich restaurant near my new place. That's right -- a restaurant that sells only grilled cheese sandwiches. I would say that it's cruelly taunting me, except that I know a secret. Shhhh, come close and I'll whisper it to you: you can make a grilled anything sandwich. It doesn't need to be cheese. There are plenty of other things that taste just as amazing in a grilled sandwich. And plenty of other things that don't. Trust me, I've done a lot of grilled sandwich experimenting. So far, I've hit on three different grilled sandwiches that I keep coming back to. (1) Avocado, (2) peanut butter, and (3) refried beans. The last one on that list is the one I want to tell you about today.

Grilled refried bean sandwiches are every bit as good, in my opinion, as grilled cheese sandwiches. They satisfy all the same needs, emotional, nutritional, and spiritual. They feature oily crunchy bread, soft satisfying insides, and are very dipable in ketchup. They would be served in every diner worth mentioning if we lived in a world where every diner was vegan.

Recipe: Grilled refried bean sandwich
Yields 1 sandwich -- multiply recipe as needed

 2 slices of bread
1/4 cup refried beans (homemade or from a can)
1 tbs salsa
1/2 tbs margarine or butter
1/2 tbs vegenaise or mayonaise (optional)

1. Butter one side of both slices of bread.

2. On the unbuttered side of one of the slices of bread, spread the mayonaise (if using). On top of this, spread the refried beans. Finally, spread the salsa on top of the beans.

3. Close the sandwich such that both buttered sides of the bread are facing outwards.

4. Fry the sandwich lightly, about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

5. Enjoy served with ketchup or more salsa as well as a side of pickles!
 

Cooking with Dr. Mom: Wakame cucumber salad

Here's a simple and refreshing salad from my mom:

*  *  *

Wakame is a type of seaweed that can be purchased chopped and dried in Asian grocery stores.  It resembles loose leaf green tea when dry and it increases by about 8-10 times its size after being soaked in water for 20 min.  Wakame has a very subtle flavour, slightly salty, that pairs very well with cucumber.
This salad could be turned into a vegan salad meal by adding cubed tofu and cooked, cooled transparent vermicelli noodles (mung bean noodles).

 

This is dried wakame seaweed. It can be found in many Asian grocery stores.

 Check out these before and after photos of soaking the wakame! After only 20 minutes, the wakame completely absorbs the water.

Recipe: Cucumber and wakame salad
1 large field cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup dried chopped wakame
Japanese style dressing
1/4 cup soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Soak the dried wakame in 3 cups cold water for 20-30 minutes.  Drain the soaked wakame to remove any excess water.  Toss together the cucumbers, red pepper and wakame.
Mix together the dressing ingredients then pour over the cucumber mixture and toss. Allow to sit for 15-30 minutes before serving.  Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Serves 6 as a side dish.

 Enjoy!

Recipe: Black bean and sweet potato tacos

I love the combination of black beans and sweet potatoes. I think their textures go great together. I made some black bean and sweet potato tacos that were really delicious and satisfyingly filling. I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while. This would be a great dish for a party or for picky eaters because everyone can just put whatever they like in their tortilla. Feel free to mix up the toppings however you like. I always have the problem that I put way too much stuff in my tortilla and then I make a mess. A delicious mess that I don't regret one bit.

As you can see, this tortilla is never going to close! I got over-excited about the toppings.

Me, excited to eat a taco.

Recipe: 

About 6-8 tacos

-Two medium-sized sweet potatoes

-1 can of black beans, drained

-1 large onion, chopped

-2 cloves garlic

-2 tbs vegetable oil

-1 tbs chili powder

-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

-1/4 tsp dried oregano

-1/4 tsp paprika

-1-1/2 tsp cumin

-1 tsp sea salt

-1 tsp black pepper

-2 avocados

-1/4 cup fresh lime juice

-8 flour or corn tortillas

-Toppings: salsa, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, diced sweet peppers, shredded cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, etc.

1. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes. Boil them until they are soft, about 10-15 minutes. Drain and mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth, although a few chunks can remain.

2. Heat the olive oil and add the chopped onion. Saute for 5 minutes. Add 1 clove of garlic, minced, along with the seasonings. Saute on low heat until the onion is translucent. Mix in the black beans with 1/4 cup of water. Continue to cook until the liquid is absorbed. Transfer the bean mixture to a bowl and mash with a potato masher until the bean mixture sticks to itself.

3. To prepare guacamole, cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Add 1 clove of grated garlic and the lime juice. Mash and mix the ingredients together with a fork, leaving a few chunks of avocado. Add salt to taste. 

4. Heat the tortillas briefly in the oven, if desired. To prepare the tacos, spread a layer of sweet potato, a layer of black bean mixture, and a layer of guacamole down the centre of the tortilla. On top of these, add any additional toppings, as desired. Fold or roll the tortilla and eat!

Recipe: Easy vegan pesto

I love fresh herbs! They make any recipe taste fresh and flavourful. One of my favourite herbs is basil. Basil in bruschetta, basil in thai curry, basil with balsamic vinegar on tomatoes... basil tastes like summer! Here's a simple way to make a vegan basil pesto. I tossed this with cold pasta and vegetables for a delicious pasta salad, but it would also be good in a veggie burger, or in a sandwich, or with hot pasta, or in a potato salad.

Recipe:
Yields about 1.5 cups

-2 cups loose fresh basil leaves
-1 cup walnuts (traditionally pine nuts are used in pesto, but they're pricey and walnuts taste just as good)
-1/2 cup olive oil
-2 garlic cloves
-3 tbs nutritional yeast (optional)
-salt and pepper, to taste

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Enjoy!

Recipe: Vegan Anything-Goes muffins

Here's a flexible muffin recipe that can fit whatever flavour of muffin you're craving or the ingredients you have on hand. It's based on Canadian Living's Anything-Goes Blueberry muffins recipe.  It's one of those recipes that's really really hard to mess up. My favourite version is carrot muffins because the carrots make them deliciously moist.

You can tell how often I make this by the terrible shape the paper is in!

Recipe: Vegan Anything-Goes muffins
Makes 1 dozen muffins

2 cups whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Optional: nutmeg, cardamom, orange rind, almond extract, grated ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 mashed banana
1 cup non-dairy milk (almond, soy, coconut, etc)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 cups anything*

*Some ideas for your "anything" (any combination of the following): chocolate chips, grated carrots, grated zucchini, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, chopped almonds, raisins, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, chopped dates, more banana, chopped apple

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. Mix together the wheat, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon (plus any other dry spices) in a large bowl.

3. Mix together remaining ingredients (expect for your "anything") in a separate bowl.

4. Pour the wet ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and mix gradually. Don't overmix; there should still be a few streaks of dry flour.

5. Fold your "anything" into the batter and separate the batter into muffin tins.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are domed and golden. Allow to cool before eating.

Enjoy!

Simple recipe: Almond and date energy balls

Here's a quick recipe that's so simple it shouldn't even be called a recipe: almond and date energy balls. It's perfect for a snack or a healthy dessert. I made them tonight because my girlfriend has night shifts this week and I thought it would be good for keeping her energized through the night. It has fruit sugars from the dates for an immediate fix of energy as well as almonds to give some longer-lasting energy. It also has cocoa to give these energy balls a delicious fudgy taste, reminiscent of brownies. They aren't the most attractive-looking snacks (my dad, who introduced me to this recipe, likes to call them "poo balls"), but I've tried to make them a little prettier by rolling them in shredded coconut.

Recipe:
2 cups dates
2 cups raw almonds
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1-2 tbs peanut butter, if required

1. Place the dates, almonds, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract in the blender. Blend until smooth. Depending on the strength of your blender, this may take a couple minutes.

2. Try to roll a bit of the mixture into a ball. If it doesn't stick together add a bit of peanut butter and blend it again until the mixture becomes just sticky enough to roll into balls. 

3. Roll the mixture into balls. They can be any size you like, but I like mine about the size of a timbit (a "doughnut hole", for any non-Canadians). Roll the balls in the shredded coconut.

Enjoy!

Video: How to sprout

For your edu-tainment, here's a video I made a couple years ago about sprouting. It's a brief instructional video about how to do your own sprouting. I made it as part of an assignment for a sociology course I was taking. I don't really remember how it relates at all to sociology, but I do remember it was fun to do. I was in the middle of a sprouting craze at that time. I haven't sprouted in a while, but I've been thinking I should get back into it. It's very easy, cheap, and required no special equipment. And the sprouts taste delicious! I love sprouts in sandwiches, on veggie burgers, or in salad. Sprouting lentils and other legumes can be a good way to make them more digestible for those of you who like beans but don't like the side-effects!