Tag Archives: recipe

Nearly Raw Reuben Bites

17 Feb

Today I’m doing a guest post over at Fork and Beans.  If you’re not familiar with Cara’s fun and creative blog, you should get acquainted!  Today I’m posting over there with a recipe for Nearly Raw Reuben Bites.  They have the most prominent flavors that we love about a reuben on a fresh, raw cabbage leaf.  I hope you’ll join me!

Collard Leaf Tacos with Walnut Taco Filling

11 Feb

You know how it is when you settle in to a big plate of tacos…  You savor every ingredient and the mixture of salty, creamy, pungent and sweet.  And after every crumb has been licked away, you feel like pulling on a pair of tennis shoes and bolting out the door for a run.  What?  A plate of tacos doesn’t make you feel so energized that you need to get up and move?  Well, this batch of collard leaf tacos could change all of that.  It’s a balmy 20 degrees where I live right now, but there’s something about this time of year that makes me crave raw foods.  Maybe it’s my body’s way of crying out for sun through plant-based chlorophyll.  Who knows?  In place of corn or wheat tortilla shells, raw collard leaves hold all of the taco goodness in place.  (If the leaves are large enough, you can have one leaf equally torn into two shells after the thick, center rib has been removed.)

I decided to play with a recipe of my own for walnut taco filling.  I’ve made Ani Phyo’s taco walnut meat in the past and really enjoyed it, but my curiosity was piqued earlier this week when I saw that Rose over at the Dandelion Vegan Blog uses sun-dried tomatoes in her taco filling.  The sweet, chewy texture of sun-dried tomatoes is the perfect companion to the salty umami of tamari-seasoned raw walnuts.  I recently wrote about my favorite sun-dried tomatoes from Trader Joe’s, which are sealed and bagged like raisins.  They’re not packed in oil, and they don’t need to be rehydrated.  But this recipe could easily utilize rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes or oil packed sun-dried tomatoes that have been rinsed.

Collard leaf taco shells

All the fixings

This has been my lunch for two days in a row.  It’s that good.  Best of all, this meal comes together quickly with only plates, a food processor, cutting board, and knife to clean afterwards.  No heavy pans or pots to clutter up the dishwasher.  That leaves more time for going on a hike or turning on a workout DVD if you live somewhere cold like me.  Get your tennis shoes ready.  You’re going to need them.

Collard Leaf Tacos 

Serves 2 hungry people

Walnut Taco Filling with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

  • 1 cup raw walnuts (unroasted and unsalted)
  • 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 tsp tamari
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin

Process all of the taco filling ingredients in a food processor until crumbled into small pieces.  Take time to stop and scrape down the sides, if necessary, as you process.

Taco Shells and Fixings:

  • Collard leaves, rinsed and patted dry with center rib removed (to be used as shells)
  • Red bell pepper, diced
  • Cilantro, chopped
  • Kalamata olives, sliced
  • Red onions, chopped small
  • Avocado, chopped
  • Cherry tomatoes, quartered

Fill collard leaves with taco fixings and a scoop of walnut taco filling.  Grab a napkin.  It’s going to get messy.

Easy Breakfast Polenta

19 Jan

Cold mornings require something hearty, something warm, something cozy.  After shoveling the driveway, hand me a spoon and let me shovel something infinitely lighter and more pillowy.  Polenta, please.  Sauté garlic, add a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, a sprinkling of cheesy nutritional yeast flakes, and let me dig into a bowl.

My favorite brand is De la Estancia.  It’s a fine grain polenta that cooks extremely quickly and is smooth in the mouth, unlike some coarse polenta brands.  My current favorite sun-dried tomatoes are from Trader Joe’s and come in a resealable bag.  What I like most about them is that they aren’t covered in oil in a jar and don’t have to be rehydrated before use.  They still have their moisture – like raisins or dried figs.  They come in julienne slices that can be cut down to a dice, if preferred, with kitchen scissors.  The only negative is that they aren’t organic.

The polenta cooks in a minute with a process that’s similar to making boxed mashed potatoes.  If I’m in the mood for a larger breakfast, I top it with beans, sautéed greens, or roasted vegetables.

Easy Breakfast Polenta

Serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a side

  • 2/3 cup fine grain polenta
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups vegetable broth or 2 cups water + ½ vegetable bouillon cube
  • 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped small
  • ¼ cup rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
  • 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Optional toppings:  fresh basil, red bell pepper chunks, beans, sautéed greens, or roasted vegetables

In a small pot, sauté garlic in oil over a medium heat.  Once garlic is translucent and fragrant (about 3 minutes), add broth (or water and bouillon cube, if using).  Bring broth to a boil.  Once it has reached boiling, lower to a simmer and slowly add polenta, stirring constantly.  Once polenta is thick and pulls from sides (about one minute), add rice milk, nutritional yeast flakes, and sun-dried tomatoes.  Stir to combine and add salt and pepper.

Smoky Black Bean & Delicata Squash Tacos

15 Jan

My husband and I have been watching a lot of movies lately – many more than usual for us.  He’s a member of the Screen Actors’ Guild, and it’s the time of year when studios mail movies that are up for the SAG awards to members for consideration in voting.  A lot of movies that we just haven’t seen or that haven’t made it to our small town are now available via download or sent to our mailbox.  With only a vague awareness of what the films are about, we sit down in the evenings to watch them.  I enjoy watching movies like this, without preconceived ideas of how the plot will unfold or even what the basic storyline is going to be.

However, there are some things that would have been good to know beforehand – for example, how difficult it is to eat dinner while trying to keep up with what’s happening in a silent movie.  It’s much trickier than you’d imagine.  (Finish your dinner and then watch The Artist.  Thus far, it would be my pick for best picture.)  With a couple of the films – Beginners and The Descendants – I had imagined they were going to err on the side of light hearted, quirky comedy, when in fact, both of them were dealing with death, loss, intimacy, and the way we continue to renegotiate our closest relationships.  They were both well done, but more Kleenex was involved than I’d anticipated.  After the last tear fest, I turned to my husband with a stuffy nose and red eyes and said, “We have to start looking at these plot synopses more carefully.”  If only movies came with warning labels in addition to ones for violence, nudity, and adult language.  They could be things like, “Prepare for catharsis.”  Or “Get ready to clear your sinuses.”  Or “It’s going to get ugly.  You may just want to watch this one alone.”

The best movies have a combination of both ends of emotion – sweet and bitter, pain and joy.  In a way, it’s like the best meals.  It’s all about balance.  Which brings me to my recipe for Smoky Black Bean and Delicata Squash Tacos.  There’s no reason why sweet potatoes should get all of the love when it comes to orange vegetables in tacos.  The chipotle chili pepper and smoked paprika in the beans pair up beautifully with the natural sweetness of delicata squash.  While they’re both lovely on their own, when they come together they inform the other’s best attributes.  Top them with guacamole, salsa, jalapenos, and kale for colorful and mouthwatering tacos.  (If your heart doesn’t beat for kale, consider shredded purple cabbage or romaine lettuce instead.)


If you’re unfamiliar with delicata squash, you’re in for a treat.  It’s an easygoing squash that doesn’t have to be peeled and isn’t too difficult to chop in half to seed.  It roasts in 20 minutes, and one squash is usually just the right size for a family of two.  (For a video on how to work with delicata squash, check this out.)

Smoky Black Bean & Delicata Squash Tacos

Serves 2-4

  • 1 small delicata squash, ends removed, deseeded, and cut into medium-sized chunks
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil + extra for light drizzling
  • ½ medium red onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ cups black beans (1 15 oz can drained and rinsed)
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp chipotle chili pepper
  • ¼ tsp coriander
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • Salt, to taste
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • Warmed hard or soft corn shells or whole wheat tortillas
  • 1 leaf curly kale, rib removed, chopped small and massaged
  • Cilantro, chopped (garnish)
  • Guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, and/or sliced jalapenos (optional toppings)

Heat oven to 420 degrees.  Put seeded and chopped delicata squash on parchment sheet covered baking sheet and top with a light drizzling of extra virgin olive oil.  Toss to cover evenly and spread the pieces across the sheet.  Roast for 20 minutes, stopping once to toss for even roasting.

Heat a skillet on a medium heat.  Add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to skillet.  Set aside 2 Tbsp of raw red onion to use as a taco topping.  Sauté the remaining red onion and garlic a few minutes, until fragrant and translucent.  Add black beans, lemon juice, cumin, chipotle chili pepper, coriander, paprika, smoked paprika and salt to pan.  Combine and add water to deglaze pan (if necessary).  Remove from heat and add black bean mixture and roasted delicata squash to warmed corn shells or tortillas.  Top with raw kale, cilantro, salsa, hot sauce, and/or sliced jalapenos.

This month’s Iron Chef Challenge secret ingredient was squash.  To see how others used this versatile winter vegetable, visit www.veganmofo.com.

Beets: How to Like the Vegetables You Hate

4 Jan

I know some people feel down about New Year’s resolutions.  They think they’re a waste of time or that people use them to set unattainable standards for themselves, only to be disappointed when they fail.  For myself, I like the tradition.  I like having a holiday that invites us to look at our lives and reflect on where we’d like to improve.  It’s a chance to revisit the last year and see the places where we’ve progressed and the places where we haven’t.  And it’s a chance to take some steps that we might not otherwise without an excuse.  It’s an opportunity to plan.

For some people a New Year’s resolution might include juicing, eating more fruits and vegetables, and/or making a renewed effort at exercising.  I know I feel a real pull right now to eat more fresh, raw foods and start the morning with just-pressed juice followed up with some cardio and weightlifting.  In this clean slate time of year, it feels good to refocus.

If you have it on your to-do list for the year to add more fruits and vegetables, a good place to start is in the produce section.  We’re always hearing that despite all of the healing and protective antioxidants and phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables, people aren’t eating them in anywhere near the recommended levels.  Variety counts too.  To get all of the goodness that plants can give, it can’t be all carrot sticks and iceberg lettuce.  That’s why I’m starting a new series called How to Like the Vegetables You Hate.  I think the real key in convincing people to eat more vegetables is finding preparation methods that make even the most unloved produce palatable.

I’m starting this series with my old nemesis, beets.  Too many times I was tricked by beets.  They come in a variety of beautiful colors – orange, deep red, white, and even a variety called Chioggia that has a candy cane striped center.  I wanted to like them.  But whenever I’d have them, thinking this would be the time that beets would win me over, I’d be treated with a mouthful of dirt.  Okay, not literally, but to my taste buds, beets were bright red dirt.  There was dirt soup (borscht), roasted dirt, and worst of all, dirt burgers on a whole wheat bun.

I knew that beets were good sources of folate, fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and iron.  I knew that they’ve been shown to be protective against heart disease and even certain types of cancer, particularly colon.  However, I couldn’t get over their earthy flavor.  Then I discovered the beauty of raw beets.  So simple, so easy.  Plus, beets are sensitive to heat, which can kill its antioxidants.  All the more reason to use them raw.  Best of all, raw beets taste much more mild with a less pronounced earthy quality, especially when mixed with other flavors.


Grated beets are a colorful addition to everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salads.  I am not a three or four ingredient salad kind of person.  I like grated carrots, slices of celery, persimmons, cucumbers, radishes, different colors of bell peppers, tomatoes, roasted chickpeas, diced onion, avocado, broccoli and cauliflower florets, and artichoke hearts on a bed of massaged kale.  Whatever produce I can find in the refrigerator makes its way into my bowl with my favorite dressing.  Now added to that mix is a very vibrant beet.  To use beets in a salad, cut off the ends and peel them.  Then use a grater or chop them into bite-sized chunks.  One word of warning – red beets may make your salad kind of pink, especially if you save it until the next day.

Another way to add some beet-fueled color and nutrition to your day is by juicing it with other favorite fruits and vegetables.   Unlike the green juices that generally grace our kitchen, you might have an easier time getting someone to drink juice in a shade they’re used to enjoying in a glass.  When I’m making juice, I don’t bother peeling any of the vegetables, including the beets.  Since I use all organic produce, I just clean them thoroughly with a vegetable brush and pop them into the juicer.  Lately I’ve been enjoying this Calm Morning Juice.  It has a mild flavor with celery and cucumber, along with a little bit of sweetness from the orange, carrot, and beet.  It’s a pleasant drink for sipping and easing into the day.

Is there a fruit or vegetable that you want to like but so far haven’t been able to enjoy?   

Calm Morning Juice

Serves 2

  • 1 beet
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 1 carrot
  • ½ medium-sized cucumber
  • 1 orange, peeled

Juice all ingredients.  Pour into 2 glasses and serve.

Melted Snowman Soup

21 Dec

I don’t know that I’ve ever been prepared for Christmas this early.  I picked up some wonderful, vintage Christmas books at a local thrift store with old timey illustrations, removed their staples, and used them to adorn my presents.  Everything is wrapped and ribboned.  This leaves plenty of time for sitting by the tree, which is the first non-plastic one I’ve had in my adult life.  My husband and I play tunes and watch the twinkling lights and revel in the season.  Maybe best of all, there’s no white Christmas in sight.  I’m no Scrooge.  There was a time when I thought the shiny lights could only be made prettier with a blanket of snow outside.  But now, I think there’s nothing lovelier than a December day in an open coat, no scarf, no gloves, and no hat.  But what about riding down the hill in a sled?  What about hot cocoa on a cold, winter’s day?  What about building a snowman?
Oh, no worries about that.  I’ve built a snowman…  I peeled his body of potatoes, gathered a hat of red bell pepper, a scarf of cilantro, eyes of cloves, and a tongue of sun-dried tomato.  After he was standing tall and proud, I basked in the reflection of the thermometer reading nearly fifty degrees and readied the snowman for Melted Snowman Soup.

While children may be the predominant audience for building your classic snowman, this Melted Snowman Soup is geared towards adults.  It’s a creamy soup with the round flavors of roasted garlic and vermouth.  Still, you can appeal to the child in all of us by dressing it up with a carrot nose and two eyes made out of olives.  For the mouth, a sun-dried tomato works beautifully since it can easily be shaped into a frown.  (Out of sun-dried tomatoes?  A sliced red bell pepper also works.)  Add buttons of green peas or pistachios, and even arms of rosemary sprigs, if you please.  Mmm, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed the snow so much…


Do you ever wonder about the wisdom of snowmen smoking corncob pipes with two eyes made out of coal? It's suicide, man.

Melted Snowman Soup

Serves 2

  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil + a little extra for roasting garlic
  • 1 head garlic
  • ½ medium-sized yellow onion, chopped small
  • 3 Tbsp extra dry vermouth
  • 2 cups water or vegetable broth*
  • 4 small to medium-sized russet potatoes (~3 ½ cups), peeled and diced into medium-sized pieces
  • ¼ tsp smoked salt
  • Salt, to taste

Snowman accoutrement

  • 2 black olives, sliced (eyes and eyebrows)
  • 2 small pieces of a carrot, sliced into triangular shape (nose)
  • 1 sun-dried tomato, sliced (mouth)
  • 6-8 green peas, steamed (buttons)
  • 4 Rosemary sprigs (arms – optional)

Start by roasting the garlic.  (For a recent post on the how to’s of roasting garlic, click here.)  Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.  Separate the garlic head into cloves and remove skin from them.  Put them in a small covered container with a light drizzling of extra virgin olive oil.  Cover the garlic and roast it for 30 minutes, stopping once to stir it.  Once the garlic is fully roasted, set it aside to use later in the recipe.

Heat one teaspoon extra virgin olive oil in a soup pot on medium heat.  Add onions to the pot and sauté until translucent and fragrant (about 5-6 minutes).  Add vermouth to the pot to deglaze it.  Once the pot is deglazed, add water or vegetable broth and potatoes.  Bring the liquid to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer, and partially cover the pot with a lid.  Cook the potatoes until they are tender and easy to pierce with a fork (about 15 minutes).  Add roasted garlic to the soup and blend with an immersion blender.  (Because of the relatively small amount of liquid, you may have to tip the pot to blend fully.)  Stir in smoked salt and salt to taste.  Decorate soup with olives, carrot, sun-dried tomato, peas, and rosemary sprigs (if using) and serve.

*Note that vegetable broth may slightly darken the soup, depending on the brand and strength, which may give it a little less of a snow-like appearance.

Hickory Cheddar Cauliflower Soup

16 Dec

Update:  Great news!  I entered this soup into Wayfare‘s Great Cheese Swap Event, and I won the Grand Prize – a year’s worth of We Can’t Say It’s Cheese!  I envision many crackers in 2012.  ;)  Now back to your regularly scheduled blog post…

Cozy slippers, new pajamas, hot tea in the afternoons and chamomile at night…  I’m very much a warm weather person, but this December is wooing me with certain benefits for sure.  Of course, the twinkling lights and promises of presents don’t hurt its case either.  Another benefit of dipping temperatures and long evenings?  Hot soup and crackers.  I recently made this non-dairy version of the cheesy cauliflower soup I grew up eating.  It has an echo of hickory with the full-bodied mouth feel that I’ve always loved.  It’s a rich and hearty soup that’s good for filling the bellies and warming the bones.

This recipe is only for two, but it could easily be doubled or quadrupled if you’re serving a larger group.

Hickory Cheddar Cauliflower Soup

Serves 2

  • ½ head cauliflower, cored and chopped into medium-sized pieces
  • 1 cup vegetable broth or 1 cup water + ½ vegetable bouillon cube
  • 1 carrot, chopped small
  • ¼ red bell pepper, chopped small
  • ¼ medium-sized red onion, chopped small
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 Tbsp We Can’t Say It’s Cheese hickory-smoked cheddar spread
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • Parsley for garnish (optional)

Bring cauliflower and broth to boil in a soup pot.  Lower heat to simmer and cover with a cocked lid.  Once the cauliflower has softened (about ten minutes), blend with an immersion blender.  Add We Can’t Say It’s Cheese to cauliflower, stir until fully blended, and salt to taste.  In a separate pan, sauté carrot, bell pepper, onion, and garlic until the onion and garlic are translucent and fragrant (about five minutes).  Add vegetable mixture to soup pot and continue cooking until the carrot has softened.  For a chunky soup, it is ready to serve once the carrot has reached its ideal softness.  For a creamier soup, blend the soup again with an immersion blender until it has reached your preferred consistency.  Top with fresh chopped parsley and ground pepper.

It’s the Green Pumpkin Smoothie, Charlie Brown

6 Dec

What are you looking at?

I have not done any of the following.  I have not visited two art sales under the guise of looking for Christmas gifts and then purchased for myself a cutting board, a wooden fork and knife, a ceramic container, stoneware bowl, and garlic grater.  I have not celebrated the promo code deals on the Vegan Cuts Holiday Shopping Guide by buying myself a new glass straw.

Of course I haven't already given my husband this dinosaur-shaped tea infuser. Christmas is still three weeks away.

I didn’t encourage my husband to open a Christmas present early, after it had already been wrapped, because I was too excited about the presents we’ve been accruing to wait any longer.

I haven’t already watched Scrooged with Bill Murray, The Muppet Christmas Carol, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott.  After all of that, I most certainly do not have plans to spend this evening watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol.  I mean, that would be ridiculous.

Finally, on this cold and snowy day, I did not make a chilly Kale and Pumpkin Smoothie and drink it with the straw I did not purchase while I wrote out my holiday cards.  These are the things I did not do.  You’ll have to take my word for it.  Or not.

It’s the Green Pumpkin Smoothie, Charlie Brown

Serves 2

  • 3 leaves curly kale, stems removed (about 3 cups)
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk (Vanilla soy is especially good, but any will do)
  • 2 Tbsp flax seed, ground
  • 3 bananas, frozen in chunks
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup canned organic pumpkin (not pie filling)
  • 6 ice cubes

Blend kale and non-dairy milk in a blender until it is completely smooth.  Add ground flax seed, frozen banana chunks, cinnamon, and pumpkin.  Blend until fully blended.  Add ice cubes to blender and blend until the ice cubes are fully broken down.

The Impatient Person’s Roasted Garlic

30 Nov

I can trace my garlic obsession back to about sixth grade.  We were having a big wintertime grilling party in celebration of an aunt’s birthday.  One of my uncles sliced up loaves of bread, slathered them with margarine and garlic powder, and popped them on the grill until they were slightly burnt and toasty.  The tastes of flames and garlic mingling was so simply delicious, I could have made a meal out of a loaf of bread.  It may seem silly that something that basic seemed revolutionary to my 11-year-old self, but it was.  And when I found out that the garlic powder had been lingering in our spice cupboard all along and I was missing out on that delicacy, I was floored.   I wasn’t quite the eleven-year-old who knew her way around a Weber, and so instead after that I was microwaving slices of white bread and garlic powder, and feeling like it was a wonderful unsung treat.

These days garlic powder is generally relegated to smooth gravies and quick sauces, but fresh garlic finds its way into nearly every meal.  My favorite way to enjoy garlic is roasted in whole cloves.  When spread onto hot, toasted bread, it makes a simple dinner of salad and bread infinitely more exciting, and when topped onto pizza with artichoke hearts and olives, it takes an easy homemade pie made from kitchen staples from ordinary to amazing.

Hello, whole roasted head of garlic. You're pretty, but I have no time for you.

I’ve done the typical version, in which a person roasts the whole head, first cutting off the tip of the bulb, revealing the tops of the cloves, and then covering the exposed area in oil.  After that the bulb is put into a covered container or wrapped in foil, and then baked for about fifty minutes.  However, there are two problems as I see it with this method.  The first is that 50 minutes is too long for most nights.  I suppose if I was only enjoying roasted garlic on special occasions, this wouldn’t matter much, but since I like them as part of an easy weeknight meal, I prefer it if the garlic takes about the same amount of time as chopping vegetables and preparing salad dressing.  The second problem is that after roasting the heads of garlic whole, a person is supposed to wait about ten minutes to let the cloves cool.  Since eating the whole heads requires squeezing the smooth and buttery clove out of the papery covering, if you dig in too quickly, you’re apt to burn your fingers.  I’ve experienced this the hard way.  It’s like waiting to drink hot cocoa, sometimes it’s hard to be patient, but that lingering burning on the roof of your mouth makes you regret it later.

That’s why I make The Impatient Person’s Roasted Garlic.

Pick two heads of garlic from the coffers.

Separate the cloves.

Remove the papery covering from the cloves.

Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Bake in a covered container for 30 minutes, stirring once.

Smear garlic onto hot bread.

The Impatient Person’s Roasted Garlic

Serves 2-4

  • 2 heads of garlic
  • Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.  Break two heads of garlic into cloves.  Smash each clove with the flat side of the knife and remove the papery covering.  If there are any huge cloves, cut them into slightly smaller portions, so that the cloves cook evenly at the same rate.  Put the cloves into a covered container.  (The tiny 8 ounce cocotte  from Le Creuset works perfectly.  If you’re feeling like roasting a whole head instead, it’s also the ideal size.)  Cover the cloves in a light drizzling of extra virgin olive oil, just enough so that the cloves won’t burn and stick where they’re touching the dish.  Let the garlic roast for twenty minutes, remove to stir and check that it isn’t burning, cover and roast for ten minutes more.

Serve the cloves with toasted bread and salad or split pea soup.  Looking to add some more omega 3’s to your diet?  The bread is also good slathered with garlic and then dipped in balsamic vinegar, flax oil, and fresh ground pepper.

Cashew Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

13 Nov

I am crazy about all things hot and spicy.  While many people only pull out fiery tongue tinglers for their weekly taco Tuesday, you’ll find me toting these blistering condiments to the table on a day-to-day basis, from breakfast through dinner.  The tofu scramble is better with a dash of hot sauce.  The Thai noodle stir-fry is sassier with sriracha.  Gyoza are best dipped in hot Chinese mustard.  Sandwiches have kick with sliced jalapeno peppers or served with a side of hot pickled asparagus, and of course, saag aloo is divine with the request, “I’d like it hot, please.”  I think the only meal that isn’t improved upon when served with something scorching is dessert, but I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.

That’s why when I saw that this week’s Vegan MoFo-hosted Iron Chef Challenge involved making a recipe using the ingredient breadcrumbs, I knew I needed to bust out a vegan version of an old pregan classic – jalapeno poppers.  Even before I went vegan, it had probably been years since I’d indulged in poppers, but the memory was clear.  There’s the crisp breading with a creamy inside followed by a hit of heat and bite from the pepper.  It’s no wonder that they’re loved throughout diners, sports bars, and anywhere icy cold Mexican beer with lime is served.  Clearly the only thing left to do was to make them vegan-friendly.

Cashew cheese in food processor

Carefully remove seeds from peppers with gloved hands.

Stuff the cheese into each jalapeño cavity.

Then it's time for the breading.

A creamy and salty cashew cheese takes the place of the standard cream cheese, followed by a breading of flour and breadcrumbs, and then baked in the oven. It surprised me how much hotter these fresh poppers are than the frozen ones of yore.  They have a crisp lightness about them and a real no-nonsense sensibility.  They would be an excellent addition to a party appetizer platter or to serve alongside a mild and creamy potato soup.

Cashew-Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

Makes 8 – 10 poppers

  • ½ cup raw cashews, soaked 4-12 hours in water
  • 1 Tbsp mellow white miso
  • 2 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
  • 4-5 large jalapenos, sliced in half length-wise and seeded
  • ½ cup rice milk or other non-dairy milk
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • ½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
  • ¼ + ½ tsp dried oregano
  • ¼ + ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ¼ + ½ tsp granulated garlic
  • ¼ + ½ tsp granulated onion
  • ½ cup breadcrumbs

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Blend drained raw cashews, miso, 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, and extra virgin olive oil in food processor.  Stop occasionally to scrape down sides.  Once smooth, add fresh basil and oregano and blend until fully combined.  For slicing and seeding jalapenos, remember to wear gloves.  After they’re sliced and seeded, fill the cavities of each jalapeno pepper half with cashew cheese.  (Don’t worry too much if the cheese plumps over the top of each half.  It will still cook fine without falling out.)

2.  Prepare the breading station.  Combine rice milk and cornstarch in a shallow bowl.  On a separate plate combine flour and ¼ tsp each of dried oregano, dried thyme, granulated onion, and granulated garlic.  On another plate combine breadcrumbs, 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast, and ½ tsp each of dried oregano, dried thyme, granulated onion, and granulated garlic.

Note:  To bread, bake, and finish the poppers, I give two options.  One is a slightly more virtuous baking and broiling method (3A).  The other version offers a milder appetizer with more breading, but there is some frying at the end (3B).  If you make option 3A, you’ll have leftover flour & breadcrumb mixture.  Just slide them into the freezer in glass containers or baggies for the next time a popper craving hits.

3A.    Dredge a cashew-cheese stuffed jalapeno in the flour mixture, sealing the cashew cheese into the cavity.  Then dip the jalapeno into the milk mixture.  Finally,  coat it in the breadcrumb plate.  Press the crumbs onto the pepper until fully covered.  Set aside and repeat with each pepper until they’re all coated.  Place the peppers on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.  Bake the peppers for 30 minutes.  (Optional) For further browning, after they’ve finished baking move the peppers to a broiling pan and broil them at a medium heat for 2 minutes.  Keep an eye on them to be sure that they brown and don’t burn.  Remove from oven and serve.

-or-

3B.  Dredge a cashew-cheese stuffed jalapeno in the flour mixture, sealing the cashew cheese into the cavity.  Then dip the jalapeno in the milk mixture.  Dip the jalapeno in the flour mixture for a second time.  Then dip the jalapeno in the milk mixture a second time.  Finally, move the jalapeno to the breadcrumb plate and fully coat it with crumbs.  Set aside and repeat with each pepper until they’re all coated.  After all of the peppers are coated, give each of them one final dredging in the flour mixture.  Place the peppers on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.  Bake the peppers for 30 minutes.  When the peppers are almost done, heat a large skillet with a small amount of neutral oil, like canola oil.  After the peppers are finished baking in the oven, move them to the skillet and lightly fry them for 3-4 minutes or until they are browned.  Remove them from the skillet and serve.

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