Robin Robertson’s Global Kitchen

Pizza in a Slow Cooker? Yes, and Maybe

by Robin Robertson on October 2, 2011

Puttanesca Pizza from Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker (photo by Robin Asbell)

For those of you who are familiar with my 2004 cookbook, Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, you know that I like to test the boundaries of what’s possible to cook in a slow cooker — from cheesecakes, to seitan pot roast, and yes, even vegan haggis, recipe here.

So it should come as no surprise to learn that I’ve been experimenting with making pizza in a slow cooker for my upcoming new slow cooker cookbook. As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, it is possible to make pizza in a slow cooker. The question is, do I want to? I’m not sure…maybe you can help me decide.

When I served my first slow cooker pizza to Jon, I was mostly just excited that it worked. Sure it was thicker than our usual “thin and crispy” crust, and it was oval-shaped, since it conformed to the shape of my large slow cooker. But still. It was pizza, right? And guess what, it tasted good — that is, if you like a Sicilian style “thick and chewy” pizza.

But the real issue stems from the question Jon posed as he ate his second slice: “Why would you want to make pizza in a slow cooker that takes around 2 hours to cook when you can make one in the oven in 12 minutes?” It was then that I realized my answer “Because I can!” may not be enough of a reason to justify including the recipe in my new book.

So I put it out to you, dear readers. Can you think of a reason why you would want to make pizza in a slow cooker? The fate of this recipe may lie in your hands!

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Tis the Season to MoFo!

by Robin Robertson on October 1, 2011

How appropriate that the Vegan Month of Food begins on World Vegetarian Day! I’m exciting to be participating in this event for the second year in a row. This year, I will be assigning a theme to each day of the week. Here’s what I have planned:

“Slow Cooker Sunday” — Since I almost always use my slow cooker to cook on Sundays, this seemed like an appropriate theme.

“Make My Monday” Cookbook Giveaway — On Monday, Oct. 3 will be the first giveaway, with the winner and next giveaway announced on the following Monday, and so on.

“Tester Recipe Tuesday” — On Tuesdays I will post photos taken by some of my amazing recipe testers, for books past, present, and future, along with recipes.

“Wildcard Wednesday” — from guest posts, to product reviews, to restaurant finds — you never know what Wednesday will bring.

“Food for Thought Thursdays” — on this day you will find cookbook reviews and other vegan food commentary.

“Flashback Friday” — the ghost of blog posts pasts — Fridays will feature some of my favorite blog posts from previous years. If you’re new to my blog, this is a great way to see what you’ve been missing.

“Sweet on Saturdays” — It can mean desserts, or it can mean other things I’m sweet on. It may even include a gratuitous kitty photo because, after all, it’s also “Catterday,” right?

Since today is Saturday, I’ll close with something “sweet.” Here’s a pic (photo by Kamber Sherrod) of a piece of Short-Cut Baklava, a recipe from my new cookbook, Quick-Fix Vegan.

And because it’s also “Catterday” here’s a cute photo of Gary and Mitski (in case you missed it on Facebook):

Happy MoFo-ing and Happy World Vegetarian Day!

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Quick-Fix Vegan Preview

by Robin Robertson on September 27, 2011

It’s almost time!! My newest book, Quick-Fix Vegan will be officially available next week, so I thought I’d give you a little preview of what you can expect. The book contains 150 recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less of active preparation time.

To clarify, Quick-Fix Vegan is a totally different book from my previous book, Quick-Fix Vegetarian. I like to think of them as companion volumes. If you liked Quick-Fix Vegetarian, then you’ll love Quick-Fix Vegan. The photo above is a tester photo of the Asian Vegetable Pancakes (photo by Lori Maffei). Picture below is a tester photo of the BBQ Pinto-Portobello Sandwich (photo by Andrea Weaver).

I’ll post more photos in the coming weeks, and a few sample recipes. For now, though here’s a tour of more of the recipes you’ll find in Quick-Fix Vegan:

APPETIZERS:

Moroccan Pumpkin Hummus

Red Bean-Chipotle Dip

Bruschetta with Sicilian Greens

Curried Puff Pastry Nibbles

Vegetable Fritters

Easy Artichoke Puffs

Jerk-Spiced Kale Crisps

Super Nachos

STOVETOP:

Shortcut Mushroom-Artichoke Risotto

Zucchini Frittata

Green Chile-Tofu Migas

Tofu “Scampi” with Spinach

Ginger-Sesame Seitan with Spicy Basil Snow Peas

Spicy Smoked Portobello Tacos

Chipotle Corn and Quinoa

Seitan Domburi with Unagi Sauce

Korean Hotpot

Smoky Chocolate Chili

PASTA:

One-Pot Pasta Primavera

Rotini with 10-Minute Tomato-Olive Sauce

Ziti with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes

Linguine with Artichoke and White Bean Alfredo

Ziti with Brasciole-Inspired Tomato Sauce

Rotini with Creamy Avocado-Herb Sauce

Orechiette with Puttanesca Pesto

Skillet Lasagna

Spicy Peanut-Hoisin Noodles with Tofu and Broccoli

SOUP:

Quick Vegetable and Quinoa Soup

Island Black Bean Soup with Mango Salsa

Sweet Potato-Spinach Soup

Coconut Corn Chowder

Roasted Asparagus Soup

Creamy Greens Soup

Asian-Style Noodle Soup

Chard and Red Lentil Soup

SANDWICHES:

Chesapeake Chickpea Sandwiches

Sloppy Portobellos

Freeburgers

Vietnamese Tofu Wraps

Burrito Scramble

Seitan Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Avocado, Dulse, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwiches

Nicoise Salad Wraps

SALADS:

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Salad

Panzanella with Grilled Vegetables

Burmese Ginger Salad

Rainbow Rotini Salad

Quinoa Salad with Apples and Walnuts

Sicilian-Style Orzo Salad with Walnuts and Raisins

Deconstructed Bahn-Mi Salad

Corn, Red Beans, and Blueberry Salad with Spicy Mango Dressing

MAKE-AHEAD BAKES:

Mac and Cheezeburger Bake

Pecan-Crusted Maple-Mustard Seitan

Moroccan Vegetable Packets

Tuscan Kale Lasagna

Indian Shepherd’s Pie

Special Spicy Empanadas

Tempeh Normandy

Antipasto Pizza

Snowballs in Hell

SAUCES:

Lemon-Cashew Cream Sauce

Three-Nut Cheeze Whiz

Spicy Tomato Achar

Hoisin Miso Marinade

Oil-Free Mango Dressing

Hoisin-Peanut Sauce

Mix-and-Match Pesto

DESSERTS:

Butterscotch Apple Cookies

Molasses Ginger Cookies with Blueberries

Apple Turnovers

Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Shortcut Baklava
Tiramisu Parfaits

Catalan-Style Crème Brulee

Ginger-Cashew Chocolate Truffles

….and lots more! Quick-Fix Vegan is available for pre-order on Amazon and will be available wherever books are sold on October 4. Please “Like” Quick-Fix Vegan on Amazon and help spread the word about this new book on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter. After you’ve had a chance to enjoy the book, I hope you’ll also post a review on Amazon.

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Fettuccine Alfredo Primavera

by Robin Robertson on September 15, 2011

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Back in May I promised to share with you the recipe for this fabulous gluten-free pasta dish that our friend Francis Janes made for us when he and his family were visiting with us from Seattle. So here it is September and I’m finally getting to it. I didn’t mean to procrastinate, but life has been, let’s just say, more hectic than usual these days.

Anyway, Francis calls his recipe Fettuccine in a White Sauce with Spring Vegetables. I like to call it Fettuccine Alfredo Primavera. (It tastes just as good no matter what you call it.) And despite the “Spring” in its title, it’s also terrific any time of year, no matter what vegetables are in season. (I know firsthand that this is great made with zucchini or broccoli in place of the asparagus.)

As you may know, Francis was chef/owner of Café Ambrosia in Seattle, so if you’ve never sampled his cooking, now’s your chance. Here’s his recipe — better late than never!

Fettuccine in a White Sauce with Spring Vegetables

This great gluten-free recipe was developed by my friend, Francis Janes, a very talented vegan chef. (btw, you can easily make this soy-free as well by using soy-free Earth Balance and a soy-free nondairy milk.)

1 pound thin asparagus, trimmed and blanched until just tender

1 cup sautéed sliced shiitake or cremini mushroom caps

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

1 jarred roasted red pepper, cut into strips

1 green onion (green part only), cut into 1 inch lengths

1 package Tinkyada brand fettuccine (gluten free)

3 tablespoons Earth Balance or vegan margarine

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

5 tablespoons brown rice flour

2 cups vegetable broth (try Imagine organic no-chicken broth)

1 cup soy creamer or unsweetened soy milk

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (Red Star brand large flake)

Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the asparagus, mushrooms, artichokes, bell pepper, and green onion as suggested and set aside.

Prepare pasta as per instructions and drain. Rinse with cold water to prevent from sticking. Transfer the pasta back into the pot and toss with the olive oil. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, combine the vegetable broth and soy creamer and warm over medium heat.

In a large sauté pan, melt the margarine over medium heat. With a whisk, incorporate the brown rice flour into the melted margarine until thoroughly combined. Ladle the warm broth into the sauté pan while constantly stirring with whisk. Add more broth or soy milk in small amounts if sauce is too thick. When the sauce is at desired creaminess, blend in the sea salt and nutritional yeast. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Add the reserved vegetables to the pasta. Pour in the white sauce and mix well, tossing gently to combine, and heating for a few minutes, if needed. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 4

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Hot Dogs Wellington

by Robin Robertson on September 8, 2011

About once a year, usually around Labor Day, we get a hankering for hot dogs. For the most part, we stay away from highly processed foods, and I’m actually not crazy about the vegan hot dogs available in my area anyway. (In fact, I’m working on perfecting my own healthy vegan hot dogs, but it’s still a work in progress.)

This year instead of the usual dog-in-a-bun, I made some fancy-pants hot dogs, or as I like to call them, Hot Dogs Wellington. (You know how much I like to “play” with food!)

First, I grilled the hot dogs and then put them on a plate to cool. I made a small batch of impromptu chili by combining some TVP granules with ketchup, relish and chili powder. After heating the chili to bring out the flavor, I let it cool as well. While the hot dogs and chili were cooling, a sheet of vegan puff pastry was thawing.

To assemble, I cut the pastry into 4 equal pieces and rolled them out a little. I then spooned a line of the chili onto each piece of pastry, topped it with a hot dog, topped the hot dog with mustard, and nestled a thin strip of dill pickle next to the hot dog. The pastry was then wrapped around the hot dog and its toppings and baked until nicely browned.

Served with coleslaw and some extra mustard, this made a very fun — if not exactly traditional — Labor Day meal. I can’t wait until next year — by then I will be using my own hot dog recipe!

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Pistachio-Stuffed Grapes

by Robin Robertson on September 2, 2011

When I saw a pile of humungous seedless green grapes at the store last week, I said, “Wow, those are so big, you could stuff them!” So what else could I do but follow through on the idea to see how they’d turn out.

I happened to have some leftover ground pistachios from the Baklava Palmiers (see previous post), so the base for my stuffing was obvious. Almost like destiny. As if fate had played a hand in making these stuffed grapes a reality.

I wanted to add a little sweetness to the pistachios for the filling so I blended them with an ever-so-small amount of peach jam. I then hollowed out several grapes, and viola.

I was surprised by two things:
1. They’re easier to make than I thought they’d be.
2. They taste even better than I thought they would.

They taste so good in fact, that Jon and I were popping them in our mouths as fast as I could make them. Somehow, I managed to snap a quick pic of a few of them, just to show you how cute they are. I garnished some with mint, others with a whole pistachios. Some had a little grape cap. Fun with grapes!

Notice my “shiitake happens” mug in the background. I love that mug. I got it at the mushroom “museum” in Kennett Square, Pa.

P.S.
More fun with grapes: You probably already do this with grapes, but for a quick and refreshing treat, remove seedless grapes from their stems, wash the grapes well, dry them, then freeze them for a refreshing frozen treat. So good!

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