roasted veggies

while this isn't technically a recipe, it's still darned tasty-- and really easy. i've been trying to keep some gall bladder pains under control until i can get things situated (the joys of being uninsured in america), and consequently i've renewed my interest in eating lots of delicious veggies and low-fat foods.

this was my first attempt at cooking beets myself! i'm proud of how they came out and they were requested a second night! here are roasted beets and carrots, with asparagus.

roasted root veggies

in this photo, beets and carrots were roasted! i peeled and cut the beets into about 2cm cubes (give or take), and drizzled with a little olive oil and maple syrup in a glass baking dish. i salted them with sea salt, and tossed them to mix. i baked them at 400f for 45 minutes, turning half-way through. i cheated with the carrots since they were leftover steamed plain carrots-- 5 minutes before the beets were done, i tossed these in to re-heat them. make sure the beets are fork tender (but will still be firm) before serving.

i've since tried this with beets, carrots, and parsnips-- the parsnips take on the color of the beets when roasting together. if you'd like, roast stuff separate, and toss together before serving to keep the colors vibrant. but the purple is pretty and i don't mind.

roasted asparagus

i chop the ends off asparagus and give them a good washing. lay them in a glass baking dish and lightly drizzle with olive oil, salt with sea salt, and toss a bit with tongs. roast at 400f for about 20 minutes, flipping with tongs half-way through.

i served the asparagus, beets, and carrots with pomegranate bbq tofu from vegan with a vengeance, a huge favorite around here. (the bbq sauce is good on the asparagus, too!)

not-the-parmesean

it must be something leftover from my childhood, but a pasta dinner just isn't the same without the "shakey cheese" on top. i'll go without and still enjoy it, but there's something about that fatty salty topping, that's just awesome.

so here are some recipes. i'll update this as i discover more. :)

tofu shakey cheese

ingredients:

1 block of tofu, frozen and thawed, pressed (I used trader joe's extra firm)
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried basil crumbled between your fingers
1/8 c. nutritional yeast
2 tsp olive oil

directions:

in a small mixing bowl, add the tofu, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and basil, and squish with your hands till it's pretty well mixed and crumbly. add the nutritional yeast and olive oil and mix with a fork. store in a sealed container in the fridge for a couple weeks before it gets iffy.

variation: using unfrozen tofu makes this much moister and is a great pizza topping, stuffed shell/manicotti filling, or lasagna ingredient.


not-the-parm 1

ingredients:

1/4 cup peeled almonds
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp sea salt

directions:

grind almonds in mini food processor until coarse crumbs remain. add the other ingredients and process until crumbs are small to very small. transfer to spice jar with a shaker top and store in the fridge. makes about a half cup.

not-the-parm 2

ingredients:

1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp sea salt

directions:

put the walnuts in a food processor and chop until they resemble crumbs or coarse crumbs. add the nutritional yeast and salt, and pulsate a couple more times to mix. i recommend keeping the mixture in the fridge; in there, i think it'll last indefinitely. makes about a cup.

chocolate mint bundt cake

chocolate mint bundt cake
Originally uploaded by broken dolly

tasty and delicious!

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups soymilk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 generous tbsp cocoa powder
2 cups flour

directions:

preheat oven to 350f and grease a bundt pan. mix wet ingredients, sift in dry. mix well. bake 37-40min, until a toothpick comes out clean.


for the icing:

melt 12 oz. vegan chocolate chips in a double boiler, add 1/4 cup soymilk and 1 tbsp peppermint extract. allow cake and icing to come to room temperature before frosting. cake is moist, so take care not to break up the cake.

store cake covered in fridge to keep the ganache/icing from melting.

sugar-free carrot mini-muffins

i was trying to think of a witty or at least more descriptive name for these guys, but nothing comes to mind. they're pretty healthy, as far as these things go, since they use date sugar in stead of regular sugar or artificial sweeteners, have carrots in them, and can be made whole wheat for extra awesomeness. i opted to use white flour because my newfound love of fiber is probably going to backfire on me soon and i don't want to overdo it. (date sugar is ground up dehydrated dates, which are my new favorite food.)

my apologies for the lack of picture, but they seem to have been eaten too quickly for me to get a good one!

ingredients:

1 cup soymilk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup minus 2 tbsp date sugar
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 cup shredded carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
1 tsp orange zest (i buy it in the spice section instead of making my own)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg (fresh or not)
1 1/3 cup flour

directions:

preheat oven to 375f, and spray a mini muffin tin with oil. then mix everything up! in the interest of laziness, i mixed everything in one bowl in the order above (first letting the vinegar curdle the milk a bit). if you are fancier and less lazy than me, you can mix the wet ingredients together, and then sift in the dry. mix well, and spoon into mini muffin tin. bake for about 18-20 min, until a toothpick comes out dry. cool for a moment and then transfer to wire rack.

makes 24 minis! (if you want full-sized muffins, it should make about a dozen, and double the cooking time.)

variations: add 1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, and/or chopped walnuts. to make them less healthy, they'd be awesome with a crumb topping or cream cheese frosting!