Robin Robertson

After weeks of sweltering heat, we’re finally enjoying some slightly cooler weather today. Cool enough to make me actually want to sit outside and enjoy some fresh air. I was thinking it might be nice to enjoy something delicious with a glass of white wine later this afternoon and the gorgeous red bell peppers I got at the farmer’s market this morning helped seal the deal.

I’m going to make the Artichoke and Bell Pepper Tapenade from Quick-Fix Vegan (the photo above was taken by recipe tester Elaine Trautwein). Instead of roasting the pepper in the oven, I plan to grill it for extra flavor. You can instead use a jarred roasted bell pepper if you’re pressed for time. The bell pepper combines with marinated artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and of course, capers for a bold and flavorful topping for toasted bread. It also makes a great pasta sauce, though you may want to double the recipe if using it for pasta, depending on how saucy you like it.

Here’s the recipe — if you don’t want to make bruschetta or tapenade, you can enjoy it with crackers or chips. It’s also good over grilled vegetables.

Artichoke and Bell Pepper Tapenade
Bold Mediterranean flavors combine in one zesty tapenade. Serve it as a topping for crostini or bruschetta. It also makes a fabulous sauce for pasta. Adapted from Quick-Fix Vegan.

1 large roasted (or grilled) red bell pepper or 1 (6-ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, well drained and blotted dry
1 (6-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, well drained and blotted dry
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons oil-packed or reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes, blotted dry
1 to 2 tablespoons capers, drained
Black pepper

In a food processor, combine the bell pepper, artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and black pepper to taste. Pulse until well combined and finely chopped, but not pureed. Transfer to a bowl. The tapenade is now ready to use.

For bruschetta: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Use a serrated knife to cut a baguette or Italian bread loaf into 1/2-inch slices and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until toasted on both sides, turning once, about 10 minutes total. To serve, spread the tapenade onto the toasted bread and serve immediately.

For pasta: Cook 8 ounces of your favorite pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain well and return to the pot. Add the tapenade and toss to combine.

This is one of the most fun recipes I’ve made in a long time.  And it all happened because of some leftover popcorn.

A few nights ago, the plan was to kick back with a bowl of popcorn and watch Serenity for the umpteenth time.  Turns out I made enough popcorn to last through practically all of the episodes of the entire Firefly series. I hate to waste food almost as much as I dislike day-old popcorn, so I wanted to repurpose it in some way. That’s when I remembered one of my brilliant recipe testers, Barbara Bryan, telling me about her popcorn focaccia recipe.

Well, in this heat, I wasn’t about to bake focaccia.  But the idea of using popcorn in recipes inspired me to come up with these popcorn patties that turned out even better than I imagined they would, especially because of the luscious pineapple peanut sauce I made to top them with.

I served the patties on a bed of lettuce with some fresh fruit, all topped with the creamy sauce.  It was a light, yet satisfying, and totally delicious lunch.  Because I didn’t want to turn the oven on, I sautéed them in a skillet, but you could certainly bake them if you prefer.  We enjoyed them as you see in the photo, but for a heartier meal, you could scoop everything into a tortilla or other flatbread and enjoy it as a wrap sandwich.

The sauce is so good, you could almost drink it.  I only put a small amount of sriracha in it, just to give it a little dimension, rather than letting the hot sauce take over.  If you prefer the sauce spicier, just add a bit more sriracha and even a bit more vinegar, if you like.  For us, however, the recipe below proved to be perfect as is.

If you try my popcorn patties, be sure to let me know – I’d love to hear what you think of them!

Popcorn Patties with Pineapple Peanut Sauce

4 cups popped popcorn (remove any unpopped kernels)

1/4 cup chopped yellow onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup peanuts, almonds, or cashews

1 cup cooked white beans, well drained and blotted dry

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

Pineapple Peanut Sauce (recipe follows)

Process the popcorn in a food processor until ground — it doesn’t need to be too finely ground.  Remove the ground popcorn from the food processor and set aside. You should have about 2 cups ground popcorn.

In the same food processor, combine the onion, garlic, and peanuts, and process until finely ground.  Add the white beans, nutritional yeast, parsley, 1 3/4 cups of the ground popcorn, and salt and pepper to taste, pulsing to combine well, while leaving some texture. The mixture should be firm and stay together when pressed. If it isn’t firm, add the remaining 1/4 cup of ground popcorn and process again.  Divide the mixture evenly into 4 balls and shape the balls into 4 patties.

If baking the patties: preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the patties on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes, turning once about halfway through.

If cooking on the stovetop:  heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the patties and cook until nicely browned on both sides, turning once, about 10 minutes total.

Serve with the Pineapple Peanut Sauce.

Makes 4 patties

Pineapple Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple chunks, blotted dry

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon sriracha

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

Pinch salt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.  The sauce is now ready to use.

Makes about 1 cup

 

 

Because Friday night’s crazy storm caused us to lose power, our Internet was down until today.  That means, among other things, that I missed out on posting about my latest pizza creation in honor of Vegan Pizza Day on Saturday.  Since it now seems anticlimactic, I’ll save the pizza post for another time.  What I really want to talk about today is the 4th of July!

I want to serve something light, fun, and easy for dessert this year — and also red, white, and blue. I think I came up with the perfect solution with these Red White and Blueberry Bites.  I had some dehydrated strawberries and blueberries in the pantry and also some coconut powder.  After grinding the strawberries and blueberries separately in a dry food processor to make a powdery “dust,” I had my three colored coatings ready for the bites.

The bites themselves are made with only 3 ingredients. Because the white chocolate in the bites is so sweet, these don’t need any added sugar. They’re quick, easy, and taste fabulous.  We’ve already gone through two batches — and it’s not even the 4th of July yet!

Look for dehydrated fruit online or in natural food stores or well stocked supermarkets.  I’ve even seen them at Target!  Coconut powder is available in Asian markets in small packets, but you could instead grind some dried coconut too. If you don’t care about the red white and blue idea, you can just roll the bites in ground nuts, shredded coconut, or cocoa.

Red White and Blueberry Bites

For the bites:

1/2 cup vegan white chocolate chips

1/2 cup raw cashews

1 cup vegan dry rice cereal (such as krispies, chex, or flakes)

For the coating:

1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries, finely ground

1/2 cup freeze-dried blueberries, finely ground

1/3 cup coconut powder

Melt the white chocolate over low heat or in the microwave.  Set aside.

In a dry food processor, grind the cashews to a powder.  Add the cereal and scrape the melted chocolate on top, then process until well combined.  The mixture should hold together when pinched between your fingers. If the mixture is too crumbly, add about 1 teaspoon of vegan butter or melted white chocolate and process again.  If the mixture is too moist, add a little more cereal and process again.  Roll the mixture between your hands into 1-inch balls and set aside.

Place the coconut powder and the ground dehydrated strawberries and blueberries into three separate shallow bowls.  Roll one third of the balls into each of the three coatings.  Transfer to a serving plate.  If the balls need firming up, refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Serve at room temperature.

 

On hot days like the ones we’ve been having lately, I prefer to do any cooking that needs to be done early in the morning to save me from heating up the kitchen later in the day.  Among my favorite “hot day” dinners are one-dish salad bowls that contain all the elements needed for a satisfying meal.

The Soba Slaw in Quick-Fix Vegan, with its chewy noodles and crunchy cabbage and carrots, is a nice refreshing salad on its own. To make it a heartier meal, however, I usually add some cooked shelled edamame or some diced baked tofu, and a little sriracha sauce to give it some heat.  Lately I’ve been using less oil, so I’ve cut back on the amount of oil from the original recipe and add a splash of orange or mango juice to brighten the flavor.  Here’s my slightly revised recipe:

Soba Slaw — Plus

This recipe is adapted from Quick-Fix Vegan.  For additional variations, see below.

8 ounces soba noodles

3 cups finely shredded cabbage

1 cup grated carrot

3 scallions, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 cup cooked shelled edamame or diced baked tofu

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons orange or mango juice

1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon sriracha (optional)

1/2 teaspoon natural sugar

Salt

2 tablespoons chopped peanuts or cashews

Cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water according to package directions.  Drain and run under cold water, then transfer to a large bowl.  Add the cabbage, carrot, scallions, cilantro, ginger, and edamame.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, sriracha (if using), sugar, and salt to taste.  Stir until well blended.  Taste the dressing to make sure it has the desired balance of flavors.

Pour the dressing over the noodles and vegetables and toss gently to coat.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve at once or cover and refrigerate until needed.  If refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before serving and toss again.  Sprinkle with peanuts or cashews just before serving.

Serves 4

Change It Up:

Using this salad as a template, there are dozens of ways you can customize to your personal taste or according to what’s on hand in the fridge.  Here are some examples:

 Instead of soba: substitute a few cups of cooked pasta (any kind).  You could also use a cooked grain such as brown rice or quinoa instead.

Instead of (or in addition to) the slaw: substitute any variety of cooked and/or raw vegetables you may have on hand.

To change the flavor: omit the Asian dressing and substitute a garlicky vinaigrette, a pesto dressing, or another type of dressing.

Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts or walnuts instead of peanuts or cashews.

Add diced avocado.

Other ideas??

 

 

 

I want to make Jon something special for Father’s Day this year. After all he is the cat-father to our two wonderful felines, a step-dad to our outdoor kitty, and and a dedicated foster father to the countless ducks, groundhogs, squirrels, birds, deer, and other wildlife who share our property.

I thought it would be fun to make him an ultimate “guy-food” pizza and so the idea for the Cheeseburger Pizza was born. Originally I had planned to make it from scratch (and I still may on Sunday) but for my first try (pictured above), I wanted to see just how easy it would be to make one using prepared ingredients. That way, the pizza could easily be prepared by kids who want to make something special for their dad on Father’s Day (or by a mom who is too busy to cook from scratch!) Just assemble and bake! (and then devour….)

Feel free to substitute homemade versions of each ingredient used in this pizza: for example, you can use a homemade crust; substitute ground seitan, tempeh, or TVP for the burger crumbles, use a homemade cheesy sauce instead of Daiya, and so on. (You could even make homemade ketchup and pickles, if you want!) Next time, I think I’ll include some cremini mushroom bacon (recipe here) as one of the toppings, too.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

Easy Cheeseburger Pizza

This recipe uses ready-made ingredients for ease of preparation, but you can substitute homemade ingredients for any or all of the components. You can also add additional (or different) toppings as desired.

1 prepared pizza dough (I used Trader Joes), at room temperature

Tomato ketchup, as needed

3/4 to 1 cup vegan burger crumbles (I used Yves Meatless Ground Round)

1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese (I used Daiya)

Baked onion rings (optional topping) (Ore-Ida brand is vegan)

Sliced pickle chips (optional topping)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Stretch the dough onto a 12-inch pizza pan. Lightly drizzle the top of the dough with a thin line of ketchup, then sprinkle with the burger crumbles. Top the crumbles with a sprinkling of vegan cheese. Place the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until browned and crisp on the bottom, 12 to 14 minutes. At the same time, if using the onion rings, arrange several rings on a separate baking pan and place on the upper rack of the oven to bake while the pizza is baking. When the pizza is ready to serve, cut the pizza into 8 slices, drizzle with a little more ketchup, arrange a few pickle slices on top, if using, and mound the baked onion rings in the center. Serve immediately.