Robin Robertson’s Global Kitchen

Gifts that Keep on Giving

by Robin Robertson on February 14, 2012

On a day that is overrun with chocolate, hearts, and flowers, I want to suggest a few gift ideas that are none of those things. They are, instead, amazing (and diverse) books, two of which you can buy in e-book form for instant gratification! These gifts will keep on giving long after the flowers have wilted and the chocolate has been eaten. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The first is a young adult novel that would be a great gift for any adolescents in your life. It’s called The Adventures of Vivian Sharpe: Vegan Superhero. Written by Marla Rose, it is a poignant and inspiring story. I enjoyed it thoroughly and it made me wish there had been a book like this available when I was that age. Thank you Marla for bringing a vegan option to young adult fiction.

My next suggestion is for anyone you know who wants to explore a vegan lifestyle. The Ultimate Vegan Guide by Erik Marcus is the ultimate bargain on Amazon. At only 99 cents, it’s less expensive than the cheapest Valentine’s Day card, but packed with a king’s ransom of information about vegan living, including nutrition, food shopping, nutrition, travel, dining out, and much more.

For all the pizza lovers in your life, consider this brand new book by Mark Sutton: Heart Healthy Pizza: Over 100 Recipes for the Most Nutritious Pizza in the World. Loaded with an astonishing array of sauces, crusts (many gluten-free), and toppings, these all-vegan pizzas contain no added oil and are made with a wide variety of vegetables, grains, beans, and other plant-based ingredients. (Note: this book is not yet available in an e-book format.)

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One More Valentine Post

by Robin Robertson on February 12, 2012

In case you didn’t noticed I tend to get obsessed with “fun” food at various holidays throughout the year. Case in point, are these heart-shaped comestibles for Valentine’s Day: Red Quinoa Loaf; Watermelon Hearts; and Chocolate Cherry Truffles.

You’d think that would have been enough heart-shaped food for any rational person to make. But I must admit to having a few more hearts up my sleeve.

Just to show that Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about expensive dinners, or even chocolate and champagne (not that there’s anything wrong with that, Jon…are you reading this, Jon?), I wanted to take a humble recipe and dress it up for V-Day. So here is Red Flannel Hash:

Red Flannel Hash

This recipe is very flexible: substitute cooked rice or quinoa for all or part of the potatoes; use crumbled or finely chopped tofu, tempeh or seitan in place of the beans. The little hearts in the photo are roasted potatoes, beets, and tofu.

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cooked and diced

2 red beets, cooked and chopped

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed and mashed

Salt and black pepper

1. Heat the oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the cooked potatoes and cook until lightly browned, then add the beets, soy sauce, and beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix to combine well. Cook until slightly browned, turning frequently with a metal spatula. When hot, serve as is, or for a fancy presentation, pack the hash into ring molds and unmold onto plates.

Heart-shaped garnishes:

For beets: Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut out sliced cooked beets and set aside.

For potatoes: Cut a well-scrubbed russet potato into 1/4-inch thick slices. Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut the potatoes into heart-shapes. Arrange the potato hearts on a greased baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees until soft and nicely browned, turning once, about 30 minutes total.

For tofu: Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut slices of tofu into heart shapes. Saute until golden brown.

You thought I was finished with Valentine ideas, didn’t you? Almost…but I have to tell you about a couple more fun ideas for breakfast or brunch:

1. If you’re into oatmeal or other hot cereal, spoon some red (raspberry or strawberry) jam into a heart-shape on top.

2. This is what I made for brunch today: Heart-Shaped Tofu Benedict with Blushing Hollandaise (made with sun-dried tomatoes) and Crispy Kale “Bacon.”

This was really amazing, but I don’t have the recipe written up yet, nor did I take photos because the camera batteries needed charging). Maybe I’ll just save that recipe for NEXT Valentine’s Day!

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Here’s My Heart Chocolate Cherry Truffles

by Robin Robertson on February 11, 2012

If you have a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, you can transform your favorite truffle recipe into a special Valentine treat. To make these, I adapted the Chocolate Cherry Truffle recipe from Quick-Fix Vegetarian to include bits of toasted almond and some cherry preserves. The truffles on each end in the photo are uncoated; the one in the center is coated with finely shredded unsweetened coconut. I’ve included my recipe adaptation below, with instructions for making both heart-shaped and round truffles. The recipe is very flexible — as are most truffle recipes — use more or less of any of the ingredients to get the texture and flavor you prefer.

I plan to post a couple more Valentine’s Day ideas between now and Tuesday, but in the meantime, check out my heart-shaped Red Quinoa Loaf on One Green Planet — (you can also see it on the Huffington Post). And if you’re in a location where watermelon is available, you can make some watermelon hearts with sweet mint pesto from a previous post.

Here’s My Heart Chocolate Cherry Truffles

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

2 tablespoons cherry preserves

1 tablespoon almond butter

1/2 cup high-quality unsweetened cocoa

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Coating of choice: cocoa, crushed toasted almonds, toasted coconut, or melted vegan chocolate

Combine the cherries and almonds in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the cherry preserves and almond butter and process until smooth. Add the cocoa and confectioners’ sugar and process until well combined.

For heart-shaped truffles: Transfer the mixture to a sheet of waxed paper, film wrap, or parchment on a flat work surface and flatten evenly to about 1/2-inch thick. Top with another sheet of waxed paper, film wrap, or parchment and use a rolling pin to flatten evenly to about 1/3 inch thick. Remove the top paper and refrigerate or freeze until firm.

Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut the truffle mixture into heart shapes and arrange on a plate. Refrigerate to firm up again, if needed. Roll the remaining scraps from the cut-outs into balls (for a few round truffles) and refrigerate.

For round truffles: Shape a small amount of the mixture into a ball, rolling with your hands into a 1-inch ball. Repeat until the mixture is used up.

To coat truffles: Place the truffles on a shallow plate containing cocoa, coconut, almonds, or melted chocolate. Roll the truffles in the coating to cover completely. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate until firm.

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Creamy Picatta Orecchiette over Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

by Robin Robertson on February 8, 2012

The sprightly flavor of picatta sauce has long been a favorite of mine, harkening back to my dark pre-vegan days when as a restaurant chef I sautéed many decidedly nonvegan picatta dishes. So strong was my affinity to the lemony caper sauce that vegan picatta recipes using seitan or tofu were among the first that I developed after going vegan.

Recently I wondered what could make a picatta sauce even better and the answer was so simple, I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it before: make it creamy!

Riffing off the lemon sauce in this recipe, I added the picatta-like notes of capers and white wine and then it occurred to me that it would make an amazing pasta sauce. I decided on orrechiette since I knew the “little ears” would do a great job of holding the flavorful sauce. To keep the dish on the light side, slabs of roasted cauliflower served as the base for the sauce-cloaked pasta, resulting in a harmonious symphony of flavors and textures. (I already knew I loved the flavor combo of cauliflower + picatta from this recipe.)

You can serve the creamy sauce over sautéed seitan, tempeh, or tofu, ala classic piccata, or simply serve it over roasted vegetables. I could even see doubling the sauce and using it for a lemony mac and cheese variation. But I do hope you’ll try it the way I made it — tossed with pasta and served over roasted cauliflower — because I found this combination to be, quite simply, perfection.

Creamy Picatta Orecchiette over Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

1 head cauliflower, cored

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise (optional)

1 to 2 cups sliced mushrooms (optional)

4 scallions, chopped (optional)

Olive oil, for cooking

6 to 8 ounces orecchiette or other bite-sized pasta

Creamy Picatta Sauce:

1 1/2 cups cooked or canned cannelini beans, drained and rinsed if canned

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/4 cup dry white wine (see note)

1/4 cup vegetable broth

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon fresh minced basil, parsley, or chives

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the cauliflower on a cutting board, cored side down and cut it into 1/2-inch slices, as if you were cutting a loaf of bread.

Arrange the cauliflower slices on a lightly oiled baking pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast until tender and nicely browned, about 30 minutes, turning once with a large metal spatula about halfway through. If using tomatoes, mushrooms, and scallions, add them to the roasting pan at this point. While the cauliflower is roasting, cook the pasta and make the sauce.

Add the pasta to a pot of boiling salted water and cook until just tender. Drain and return to the pot.

Creamy Picatta Sauce:

In a high-speed blender or food processor, combine the white beans, wine, broth, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne and blend until very smooth. Pour the sauce into the pot with the cooked and drained pasta. Add the capers and basil and toss to combine

To serve, arrange the roasted cauliflower and other vegetables if using on plates and spoon the pasta and sauce on top. Serve hot.

Note: if you don’t want to use wine, just use more vegetable broth (in the same amount).

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Vegan Queso Pizza

by Robin Robertson on February 6, 2012

Guess what I discovered? The White Bean Queso Dip from the previous post also makes a fantastic pizza topping (and I imagine it would be great in quesadillas as well).

For best results, use the queso dip after it has been chilled or at least come to room temperature. Spread it on your favorite pizza dough and top with your favorite toppings. I used halved and pitted kalamata olives and pickled jalapeno slices. After it was baked I sprinkled on shredded romaine lettuce for some cooling and crunchy greens. It was so good: spicy and creamy from the queso; salty from the olives; more spicy from the jalapenos; and totally yum from the pizza crust!

Other toppings that would be good are crumbled vegan chorizo or other crumbled vegan sausage; minced scallions; or bell pepper strips. I could also see finishing it off with some chopped cilantro in addition to (or instead of) the lettuce.

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Easy White Bean Queso Dip

by Robin Robertson on February 3, 2012

Perfect for Super Bowl snacking or anytime you want a cheap, easy, healthy, and delicious snack.

A couple weeks ago we got the craves for a queso-y dip for chips. I wanted to keep it as low-fat as possible and didn’t want to use any commercial products. I also wanted it to be quick, simple, and inexpensive. Here’s what I came up with:

Easy White Bean Queso Dip

I like to use the Rotelle brand tomatoes with chilies because they deliver a nice amount of heat. If unavailable, your favorite tomato salsa (well drained) can be used instead. Serve with your favorite chips.

1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drained, rinsed, and blotted dry
1 (10-ounce) can Rotelle tomatoes with green chilies, well drained
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Sliced pickled jalapenos, for garnish

Combine all the ingredients except the lemon juice and jalapenos in a blender or food processor, and process until very smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until hot, stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick. Reduce the heat to low and continue stirring until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, then taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.

Transfer to a bowl and garnish with sliced jalapenos. Serve hot.

Note: You can spice this up however you like by adding more heat from the optional cayenne or adding some jalapenos or chipotles right into the dip. A little cumin or minced scallions make nice additions as well.

BTW, the cornstarch is added to thicken the dip, but if you don’t mind a texture that is a little thinner (though still creamy and smooth) you can omit the cornstarch.

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