Your Vegan Mom

Your Tuesday Tip: Freezing casseroles

Today's tip comes from The Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook.  While this book is not remotely vegan (nor is it easily adaptable), it's still a useful source of tips and recipes for stocking your freezer for busy nights.  I am totally using this method to freeze a lasagna to take to my family's Christmas.  The author, Candace Anderson of Frugal Mom, writes:  

Casserole Method

    This method of freezing is perfect for when you make meals in a casserole dish but do not want to tie up your dish in the freezer.  The idea is to flash freeze the casserole in the shape of the pan so the pan doesn't need to stay in the freezer.  Before adding food, line your casserole dish with aluminum foil, and on top of the aluminum foil layer add a layer of plastic wrap*.  Leave enough foil and plastic wrap hanging over the edges of the dish to competely cover and seal the dish.  Add your food to the dish, wrap it tightly with the wrap and foil, and place the entire dish in the freezer.  After several hours, remove the dish from the freezer, take the frozen, wrapped casserole out of the dish, and place the casserole back in the freezer.  Your casserole is now frozen in the shape of the dish.  When you are ready to defrost or reheat the meal, unwrap the frozen casserole by removing the foil and plastic wrap.  Place the frozen casserole in the same dish used when freezing, and defrost or cook.

*I use so little plastic wrap that I'm not going to feel guilty about doing this.  

Cooking Light: Way to Cook Vegetarian

  This photo is used with permission from the book.  That's cheese there on top.  I obviously skipped that garnish.  Diced avocado would be a nice vegan replacement.  

I was skeptical.  I assumed that most of the recipes in Cooking Light's new vegetarian cookbook would be filled with non-fat milk and light cheese products.  And there are a number of these sorts of recipes, but there is also a ton here to recommend this book to the vegans.  From Malaysian Noodles to Tempeh Fajitas, there are loads of crowd-pleasing healthy recipes for realistic meals.  I've made the Mexican Bean Soup with Corn Dumplings three times now, for five different families, to universal raves.  It's a simple, flavorful, hearty winter meal of a soup, with an ingenious twist in the form of masa harina dumplings.   You essentially make tiny balls of corn tortilla dough and plop them into the simmering soup near the end of cooking.  I just love this idea.  And it turns out as delicious as I had hoped.

The book is also filled with appealing photos and really informative step-by-step photo diagram how-tos that make this a great introductory cook book.  There's one on how to saute tofu and another on how to prepare spaghetti squash.  Yet another teaches you how to properly roll maki which I plan to study before my next sushi making adventure because, man, my rolls are sloppy.  

I have a list of a dozen recipes from this book that I still want to try and leafing through the pages right now I find myself getting excited about it all over again.  I had forgotten about the flaky dinner rolls that look just perfect for a holiday table and oh! the stuffed Moroccan flatbreads.  The baking recipes list ingredients by both weight and volume.  Thank you.  And it's this sort of attention to detail and recipe precision that really sets this book apart.  

Here have a taste -

Mexican Tomato-Bean Soup with Corn Dumplings 

Soup:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 cups organic vegetable broth (I used the cooking broth from the chickpeas.)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

Dumplings:

• 1/3 cup masa harina
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons hot water
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Remaining Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1. To prepare soup, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven (or big pot) over medium-high heat.  Add onion; saute 3 minutes or until tender.  Add chili powder and garlic; saute 30 seconds.  Add broth and next 6 ingredients; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

2. To prepare dumplings, combine masa harina and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl.  Add 3 tablespoons hot water and 1 teaspoon oil; stir until a soft dough forms (dough will be dry).  Divide dough into 24 pieces, shaping each into a ball.  Add dumplings to soup; cook, uncovered, 3 minutes or until dumplings float.  Stir in cilantro and juice.  Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 4 bowls.  

Yield: 4 servings

Pumpkin Pie Milk Shakes

You could also call this a fairly healthy seasonal smoothie if you prefer.  The rich creaminess comes from the combination of toasted pecans soaked overnight in soy milk (or almond) and the frozen pumpkin.  It had never occurred to me to use pumpkin in this fashion, until I read about it on this blog (Thank you Dawnie-Q!) and became totally smitten with the idea.  Such a clever use for leftover frozen pumpkin!  Though I'll be honest, I went ahead and dedicated two whole cans to the milk shake cause.  You freeze it in ice cube trays and then pop it into the blender.  So you could even call this breakfast as you start to peel potatoes (or not) and make pie crust.  And I guarantee it will make a perfect accompaniment to your tofurkey and cranberry sauce sandwich on Friday.   Cheers.

Pumpkin Pie Milk Shakes

Makes 3 cups of shake.  This will make 2 large servings or 3 or 4 smaller ones.  

• 1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces
• non-dairy milk to cover pecans and make 1 1/2 cups, soak overnight
• 1 cup pumpkin puree, frozen in ice cube trays
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons black strap molasses
• pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Serve.  

Mini Pumpkin Pies with Sticky Pecans

Have you ever made miniature pies?  I love the idea, but not the work involved in cramming tiny pie crust into tiny muffin tins.  About six months ago there were about 312 dainty little chocolate cream pies with tiny dollops of coconut whipped cream that put me off this whole sub-class of baked good forever.  Total pain - take my word for it.

 So I was thinking...I bet Susan V's crustless pumpkin pie would make a perfect bite-sized Thanksgiving treat.  And they do.  The simple spiced pumpkin batter cooks beautifully in either a regular sized muffin pan or a mini one.  Plus, they puff up in the oven and then deflate as they cool leaving a perfect little crevice to cradle some caramel-y-molasses-coated toasted pecans.  (Or without the nuts, serve as the best treat for a small child ever.)  Perfect.  Also, you should know that these are moderately healthy as far as dessert goes, and crazy easy.  Happy Thanksgiving.  

Mini Pumpkin Pies with Sticky Pecans

Makes 48 tiny pies (mini muffin pan) or 24 small pies (regular muffin pan)

pie:

• 1 3/4 cups soy milk
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 15-ounce can)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

topping:

• 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 1 tablespoon black strap molasses

Heat the oven to 350, and grease your muffin pans well.  

In a blender, whiz together the first four ingredients until combined and frothy.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and puree until completely smooth.    

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full, and bake until the edges are browned.  This will take about 25 minutes for mini muffin pans or about 35 minutes in a full size muffin pan.

While the pies are baking, mix the pecans with the brown rice syrup and molasses. 

Let the pies cool completely (an hour or two on the counter or overnight in the fridge) before spooning on pecan topping.  (Spray a teaspoon with cooking spray to make your sticky pecans stick to the spoon less and the pie more.)  And serve.    

 

Coconut Mashed Sweet Potatoes and More Thanksgiving Possibilities

Three weeks ago, my pal came over to bake.  Armed with a new vegan boulangerie cookbook, we set off on the quixotic task of making egg-white-free macarons.  Still not possible.  But over the course of our disappointing (and expensive) kitchen mishap, we had time to catch up and share the details of the meals we'd eaten recently.  She told me about the noodles she loved at Shojin and the pre-Thanksgiving feast she enjoyed at Madeleine Bistro.  I pumped her for details.  She obliged.  And I have not been able to shake the idea for this side dish since.  Much like how other people get songs stuck in their head, and how the German word for breakfast was stuck there for the weeks previous, I have found myself, for the past 21 days, mentally stuck on the idea of coconut mashed sweet potatoes.  

On Tuesday I finally did something about it.  With plenty of time to think it through, here was the plan - mashed potatoes - but with sweet potatoes in lieu of russets, coconut butter for the fat, coconut milk for the creamy liquid, season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.  

But I never got around to it.  Because the first thing I do when I'm hitting the kitchen without a previously proven recipe is to google it.  No point reinventing the mashed-sweet-potato-wheel.  

Especially when Eating Well already published a perfect recipe 4 years ago that turns out to be a traditional Hawaiian dish called piele (Really?  I can find no outside confirmation of this.  I hope I'm not just perpetuating internet misinformation.  But in slightly related news, if you're interested, my Hawaiian dictionary does say that pelena means crackers, piku is fig, and piki is the word for both beet and peach.)  

Coconut Mashed Sweet Potatoes
adapted from Eating Well magazine

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes (or 6 medium - look for ones that are similar in size and shape for even cooking)
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk (light will totally work, and bonus they sell it at Trader Joe's)
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 425.  Wash your sweet potatoes and poke them a few times with a sharp knife.  Place in a baking dish and roast until soft, about an hour. 

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slip off their now loose skins, place in large bowl with the coconut milk, grated ginger, and salt, and mash.  

That's it.  

But I'll add that you might enjoy them with a lentil pot pie (Thank you Julia!) and some simple roasted brussels sprouts:

And homemade jellied cranberry sauce.  (Why didn't anyone tell me how easy it is to make jellied cranberry sauce!?  Well you did, Canal House Cooking, and I thank you.)

As does my Thanksgiving recipe taster.  (He was wild for the cranberries and sweet potatoes, not so much the brussels sprouts or lentil pie.  Desmond snacked on the salty, crunchy brussels sprouts while he watched Kipper and I finished making dinner.  He was not hip to the pie on its own, but when I mixed in some sweet potatoes, he polished it off.)

 And you, what are you making?