rutabaga fondue...a la Fancy Radish

Have you ever had the pleasure of eating rutabaga fondue at the Fancy Radish (DC) or Vedge (Philly)???? Yum. It's the best thing on the menu. At the restaurant it's served with hot pretzel bread and some pickled veggies. Yum! I really like this dish... but who can afford to go to the Radish each week? No, I had to learn how to make it. I did a lot of research and it was Your Veggie coach who produced a recipe that mimics the dish. I also found out that Whole Foods in Rockville sells a small pretzel bread baguette.
We served our fondue with cut up apples, tiny sweet gherkin pickles and the warmed pretzel bread. Perfect winter dish served by the fire.

1 1/2 lbs rutabaga peeled, in small cubes
1 cup waxy white potatoes peeled, in small cubes
2 Tb vegan butter- Earth Balance (divided)
3/4 cup red onion diced
2 TB apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups hot cooking water
4 TB white miso

 Place rutabaga in large pot and cover with water. Submerge by 2"
Add salt and boil for 15 minutes.
Then add potatoes and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Both rutabaga and potato should be soft.

While these are cooking melt 1 TB earth balance in large 5 quart pot of Dutch oven. Add onions. Cook till translucent. Add apple cider vinegar and deglaze the pot.

When potatoes and rutabagas are cooked take them out with slotted spoon and place in pot with onions.  Save cooking water. Add nutritional yeast, wine and 1 1/2 cups of cooking water. Bring to boil for 1 minutes and then reduce heat to simmer.

Take another 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and place in small bowl. Whisk the Miso into it till dissolved.

Turn off fondue veggies and use and immersion blender or old fashioned potato smasher and blend till smooth and lump free. Add Miso mixture to veggies. Add the last TB of earth balance.

Cover to keep warm for serving.

(We used the leftover fondue over tiny potatoes like Raclette.)

absolutely delicious sour cream- vegan of course

The other night I made that amazing baked enchilada recipe from the Oh She Glows cookbook.Yum! It provided three nights of dinners for hubby and me so on the second night I improved it with some sour cream. The trick for making good sour cream is in the soaking of the cashews. Soak for at least 8 hours for a creamy version. It also gets thicker if left in the fridge for awhile.

1 cup soaked cashews
1/2 cup water
2 Tb freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt

Rinse cashews and place in vitamix. Add other ingredients and give it a whirl! Chill in fridge for at least an hour for extra yumminess. Last about a week in the fridge... but not in my house.
Than you to Cookie and Kate for the recipe.

roasted pear, cranberry sauce, no SUGAR!

Believe or not, my husband still likes meat. To appease this monster I will sometimes make a Gardein Roast. Today it was the holiday roast.

Along side this roast I  made the roasted pear cranberry sauce. I found the recipe in Chef AJ's most recent book.In the recipe she uses no sugar in the sauce- a minor miracle.  I share the recipe here. Paul loves it. I can eat it straight from the bowl and  like to put it on oatmeal!

2 cans pear quarters.   (it says halves but I couldn't find them....instead I used the pear quarters. The only thing that is important is that there is no sweetening added.)
2 large navel oranges plus their zest (I used Cara cara)
12 ounces fresh cranberries

In an oven heat to 400 roast the pears. I placed them on parchment paper and roasted till golden brown on the bottoms. 35-45 minutes
Wash and zest the two oranges.
Peel and section the oranges.
Add zest, orange pieces, pears and cranberries to food processor. Leave t chunky not liquified.

peanut butter pad thai

The base:
1 pack firm or extra firm tofu, pressed in tofu x-press
8 ounces rice noodles (I used brown rice noodles)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bundle of green onions
2 or 3 carrots, use carrot peeler to make the curls of carrot
2 cups broccoli florets (very lightly steamed)

Sauce:
2 -3 Tb salted peanut butter
3 TB Tamarind paste (got it on Amazon)
4 1/2 TB Tamari
3-4 TB maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. Thai chili garlic sauce

unsalted peanuts and squeezed lime juice for garnish

Preheat oven to 400. Cut squeezed tofu into small cubes. Cook in oven till firm. 28-30 minutes
Make sauce- In small skillet add peanut butter, tamarind, Tamari, maple syrup and chili garlic sauce. Only use 1 tsp of chili at this time and 3 TB Tamari. Heat oven medium heat till bubbling. Simmer 5 minutes Adjust taste.

When tofu is done cook rice noodles.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot add baked tofu, 1 TB of your new sauce, 1 TB Tamari, and 1/2 tsp chili sauce. Stir frequently and brown the cubes. Remove from pan and set aside.
To the same skillet add garlic and green onion( reserve a small amount for garnish) and 1/2 Tb Tamari. Saute 2-3 minutes. Add cooked noodles and remaining pad Thai sauce. Toss with tongs and heat. Add tofu in last moments( to warm up.)

Remove from heat and add carrots and warm broccoli.
garnish and serve.

With small adjustments, this recipe was taken from the Minimalist Bakers Everyday Cooking cookbook. Love it!

Photos later. It was delicious and very gone.

sweet potato breakfast brownies

sweet potato brownies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sweet potato puree (you will need to cook and mash the sweet potatoes ahead of time, I make a lot and store in the fridge)
• 1 cup peanut or almond butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (or your preference)
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips + more for the top, optional
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar of choice or xylitol
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper or grease well. Gently heat your nut butter until easily stir-able. I used fresh peanut butter so I could skip this.  Whisk peanut butter together with the sweet potato and vanilla extract in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients – make sure that baking soda is evenly incorporated! Pour dry into wet (not the other way around), and smooth into the prepared pan, scooping out all traces of batter and using a second sheet of parchment to really smooth it down evenly. Bake on the center oven rack 20 minutes. It will look a little underdone, but it firms up as it cools. Really really yummy.
From Chocolate Covered Katie's blog. Thanks Katie! 

Leah's Chewy Ginger Cookies

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup xylitol 
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup black strap molasses
Scant 3/4 cup canola oil 
2/3 cup chick pea flour
1&2/3 cups oat flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon 
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 flax egg (1 tbs ground flax meal & 3 tbs water)
1&1/2 tsp baking soda 

Method 
Heat oven to 350. Prepare cookie pans. Make flax egg. 
I’m a medium large bowl, stir together xylitol, coconut sugar & molasses. Add oil & flax egg, stirring until complete combined. Grate in fresh ginger. Add flours, without stirring. Add spices & baking soda & stir in all the dry ingredients until combined. Roll in balls & place on cookie sheets. Space balls apart as cookies will flatten as they bake. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

chai pet muffins

I LOVE the chia muffin at Le Pain Quotidien! Problem is, they are not vegan, plus it's obvious they are not the most healthy breakfast choice. So in comes our friend experimentation. This version is the most true to the taste although it is much less sweet. If you want it sweeter and more moist, add more dates and banana.
I will probably adapt once again soon.

Heat oven to 350.

10-12 large dates
1/2-1 very ripe banana

1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup agave
3TB flaxmeal
5 TB water
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1 cup chia seeds (extra chia seeds for the top)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 TB cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 container soy yogurt (the 5 oz size)
1 tsp vanilla


In a bowl:
10 large dates (maybe 12-13 for super sweet)
add 1 cup boiling water and let sit.

In a separate bowl:
3 TB flaxmeal with 5 TB water- let sit

Next move dates to food processor and give it a whirl till nice and smooth.
Add 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup oil, 1/4 cup agave
Whirl again. Place in large bowl and add 1/2  cup soy milk and 1 cup chia seeds.
Mix. Add flax mix.

In another bowl mix dry ingredients.
Now gradually add dry to wet will adding the yogurt and vanilla
Mine is always so thick I can scoop it out with my hands. I made mini muffins so cooking time was quick 10- 15 minutes