Scraps and Snippets ~ Quinoa Thai Salad

Perfect summer meal salad. Yum.

QUINOA THAI SALAD

• Dressing
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (low sodium is what I used)
• 1/2 cup  peanut butter
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
• Zest from 2 fresh limes
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2-3 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (or to taste)
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp onion powder

• Salad
• 1 cup quinoa cooked in coconut milk (1 cup dry quinoa to 2 cups coconut milk. Bring to boil and simmer covered for 15 minutes.) (Rinse quinoa first unless the package says pre-rinsed.)
• 1 package broccoli or cole slaw or cabbage as preferred. You could also use prepared noodles, too.
• Additional add-ins or sides to toss onto the salad - bean sprouts, spring pea pods, cucumber slices, chopped red, orange or yellow peppers, chopped green onions, dry roasted peanuts, cilantro washed and long stems removed and chopped, toasted unsweetened coconut, hot pepper flakes.

In a food processor, puree the dressing ingredients.

Prepare add-ins and slaw, cabbage or noodles. If making a large salad toss everything together. If doing individual salads just set out the different ingredients in bowls.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Thai Coleslaw

Thai Coleslaw

1 16 ounce bag of coleslaw shreds (this is about 5 handfuls if you like to shred your own cabbage)

½ Red pepper thinly sliced and chopped into 2 -3 inch pieces. (So slice pepper lengthwise then chop in half.)

2-3 TBSP finely chopped fresh cilantro

3-4 (use all of it, not just the green part) green onions/scallions, chopped

1 tsp lime zest

1 TBSP lime juice

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

⅓ Cup Vegan mayo

¼ Cup peanut butter

1 Cup coconut milk (I used canned full fat without chilling)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (use to taste, I used 2 and it was a nice burn)

Optional:

1 Cup peanuts

1 Cup chopped meatless chicken if desired

Prep, rinse, chop all your veggies.

In a large bowl pour in coconut milk, add peanut butter and mayo and stir until combined. Add salt, garlic powder, pepper flakes, lime juice, vinegar and lime zest. Finally stir in all the vegetables and add-ins and mix until coated.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Peanut Thai Soup

I needed to take soup to a church event and had some coconut milk that needed a home. So this is what I came up with. And well, to quote an omnivore teenager. "If I could eat this soup every day, my life would be complete." 

So maybe I paid her in Smores cookies to say that, but still. (Not really, no money or favors were exchanged in this transaction. Her enthusiasm was real. For reals.) (And if you refrain from snarky comments, I'll post the Smores cookie recipe, too.)

Peanut Thai Soup

serves 6+

1 medium onion small dice

3 cloves garlic minced

1 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped (additional for garnish) 

1 TBSP coconut oil

2 stalks celery, small dice

5 Cups vegetable broth
1 Cup broccoli slaw (or a diced broccoli stem)

1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro (with additional for garnish) 

Juice of one small lime (or to taste) (additional lime for garnish) 
1/3 Cup soy sauce
2 TBSP sriracha (with additional for garnish)
1-2 Cups coconut milk (unsweetened)
4 ounces Udon noodles (1 sleeve, broken) 

Saute the garlic, onion, peanuts and celery in the coconut oil in a dutch oven or larger saucepan.  When onions grow translucent add the vegetable broth, broccoli slaw sriracha, soy sauce, lime juice and noodles. Simmer 20 minutes or so. Add the coconut milk and cilantro 5 minutes before serving. 

Provide extra sriracha, peanuts, shredded coconut, lime wedges, Vegan sour cream, and minced ginger if desired for garnish. 

I'm posting this recipe at Ricki Heller's Wellness Weekend. Click to see all the other recipes available there. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Asian Slaw Salad of Deliciousness....

One of my favorite salads of all time is a tie between Applebees and Panera. Same salad, just different versions. However. It contains meat and dairy, and well, it's a thing of the past. Goodbye Asian Chicken Salad. I do actually miss you. A little. Enough to try to create you Vegan style at home. 

If you've not tried the orange glazed Vegan chicken sub nuggets at Trader Joe's (Chicken-less Mandarin Orange Morsels). Get there and get some. Crazy good. Omnivores accused me of stopping by McD's and picking up a 20 pack of the dreaded mcnuggs...shudder...when they peeked inside my oven.

You bake em, you put glaze on them and then you put a few on top of this beauty. Oh YUM!

This makes a good sized salad. Enough to feed 8.

1 bag broccoli slaw  (standard sized)
1 bag cole slaw  (standard sized) (or shredded cabbage and carrot)
1 larger head of romaine (chopped)
1 bag pea sprouts

Rinse and drain and mix together in a big bowl. 

Add sides of the following for people to doctor their own salads custom style. I put some of the dressing on the salad and mixed well.

Toasted almond slivers. (ten minutes in a 300 degree oven does it.)
Toasted sesame seeds (ditto)
Sesame sticks
chopped green onion
grated fresh ginger
soy sauce
additional things that sound good to you
dressing
Chicken-less Mandarin Orange Morsels

Dressing: 

3 1/2 TBSP rice vinegar or mixture of rice and orange vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 TBSP sesame oil
2 TBSP orange juice (Juice a fresh orange)
1 TBSP maple syrup or sugar

Mix well.

Scraps and Snippets - Sesame Roasted Eggplant

Sesame Roasted Eggplant


1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

1 TBSP sesame oil

1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon agave

I'd also have added a few teaspoons of sesame seeds but I was out.

Preheat oven to 350

Peel and slice eggplant into planks. (soak slices in salt water for 20 minutes) Then blot dry and lay on a large cookie sheet. (I used a stone so I didn't grease the pan so I'd suggest spraying or using parchment paper if you don't have a stone.) drizzle or brush 1/2 the sauce on the top side of the slices.

Place in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the slices over. Coat each slice with the remaining sauce. Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes. 

When I was done baking I did run it through the broiler to give it an extra nice browning.

dessert = kiwi and mango...pretty and yummy.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Asian Quinoa Lettuce Cup Filling or Quinoa Fried "Rice"

Asian Quinoa Lettuce Cup Filling or Quinoa "Fried Rice"

3/4 Cup Organic Quinoa
2 TBSP sesame oil
3 organic celery stalks chopped/diced

3 TBSP slivered almonds
2 TBSP rice vinegar
1 1/2 TBSPs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Cup veggie broth

In sauce pan toss non-cooked quinoa and almonds and 1 TBSP of sesame oil. Heat until almonds begin to brown and the mixture grows fragrant, stirring frequently. Add celery, broth, garlic powder, vinegar, soy sauce and rest of the oil. Bring to boil. Decrease heat and cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.

Serves 2-4 depending on whether it's used as main or side.

Scraps and Snippets ~ No Bake Cookies Vegan Style, and Mouth Nirvana "Chicken Salad"

Insanity. Making cookies a half hour before needing to be on the road. This kind of sums up my life. Sadly. The insanity and the cookie parts. Ha.


Before the cookies let me share the "Chicken Salad" Recipe.

I had a love/hate relationship with Chicken Salad when I ate meat. Biting into gamey or bland Chicken Salad was the worst!!! GAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But every once in awhile you could find one that was a party in your mouth. Texture, flavors, YUM. I've been trying for the past few months to find that mouth Nirvana.


This is pretty flippin close for me. Rob even said I should make it again. Trust me. High praise. Ha. Ha.

This is the One - "Chicken" Salad

Bread of choice. ( : ) ) Or not. Eat it out of the bowl if you want.

3 TBSP Veganaise

1 TBSP rustic mustard (just not the yellow plain)

Add:

1 small diced apple (firm sour is best)

a handful of chopped pecans

1 Cup of small diced, nicely flavored Seitan (if your Seitan is bland, (I used the lemon/garlic one) you could add some seasonings)

1 Celery rib finely chopped.

Finely chopped onion to taste, I didn't add this and it would be the final blast of taste I was looking for. I'm thinking a small wedge would do.

Mix all together and enjoy! Loved the texture/taste combo.

And finally, the cookies. Here's the thing about me of late. I have come to the understanding that taking favorite recipes and Veganizing them is almost easy. Doi!!!! After months of trying to create from the ground up, I figure this out. Anyhoo. I took the No Bake Recipe my mom used to make and tweaked it Vegan style. (NOT TOUGH, Sheesh!) and the cookies were awesome. Didn't take pictures, they didn't last that long. Ha. Ha.

No Bake Cookies (Veganized)

1 3/4 cups Vegan sugar

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup Earth Balance

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup dried cranberries

Combine sugar, milk, coconut oil, Earth Balance, and cocoa in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oatmeal, and vanilla, when mixed add cranberries and stir well. Drop blobs onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

Just like my Mama used to make. Kind of, mostly. I want to try decreasing the sugar to see if I can't make them a wee bit less sweet. But that may throw off the chemistry and make them not harden.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Mixed Ethnicity for Dinner? Why Not?

So. We needed dinner. What to do? 

Armed with this recipe (which is two thumbs up with nary a substitution) and a bag of broccoli slaw, we began creating. 

Broccoli Slaw

1 bag broccoli slaw

1 T rice vinegar

1 T sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

2 T sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon sweetener of choice (I used agave)

1 teaspoon dried cilantro

3 T raisins

3 T sunflower seeds

Mix and chill. 

I love the homey touch in the picture, the pen and the back of the bank receipt that I scribbled measurements on. Ha. Ha.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farm Sighs

What a delicious day at (and off) the farm.

Perfect temperature. It might have hit 82, the sun was shining in the big, bright blue sky. An occasional cool breeze fluttered among the corn stalks where I harvested ear after ear of corn. The rows of corn cocooned me and I was very glad I was alone and not sharing space with snakes and bugs. Though I did nervously check from time to time. Our co-volunteer offered up her Smart Car as pack mule and we packed the trunk with three hundred ears.

While picking I noticed how absolutely satisfied I felt. The crack of the corn as I broke it from the stalk. It's sweet, earthy scent, released all around me while I was hiding in the Iowa jungle. All of this, and knowing that I was picking food to feed the body fed my soul. I'm guessing this is why one would "retire" by working ten and twelve hour days in all sorts of weather and back-twanging work.

For dinner we dined on corn just a few hours off the stalk, cantaloupe still warm from the sun, fresh tomatoes and peach basil lemonade. (eight fresh basil leaves, three cups of lemonade, two TBSP of peach jam and two handfuls of ice, blended.)

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Perfect Day on the Farm and Vegan Broccoli "Beef"

Couldn't have been a nicer day on the farm. Mid to high 70's with a sight breeze blowing. The ground was steamy and wet and odoriferous with green, growing life. At times, when I crouched low to snap a buried Swiss Chard stem, the heat from the ground was almost sauna hot. Picking was silent some of the time, just the pop of snipped greens, and the rustle of leaves. Other times easy conversation punctured the steamy silence.

My fingernails are stained olive drab and my fridge is full of produce.

Satisfying, satisfying, satisfying. Sigh.

The packing went quick and the boxes were pregnant with delicious offerings. Pictured are some of the gorgeous offerings... a handful of purple beans, garlic, broccoli and cabbage.
BROCCOLI "BEEF"
We made a stir fry out of just picked broccoli and snap peas. It maybe was the best stir fry I've ever had. I was starving...that always helps, but, yum.


We had Trader Joe's "beef" seitan in the freezer so we tossed that in. (Highly recommended!) 
with the broccoli, 
snap peas, 
some frozen peppers, 
onions and 
brown rice that we had cooked previously and frozen. 
Quick and delicious.

I made a sauce out of :   1/4 cup sesame oil,
1/4 cup plus 1 TBSP soy sauce,
1 minced garlic clove,
1 tsp sesame seeds,
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes, and
3 TBSP slivered almonds.

Poured it over and stirred it up.
Yum!

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Menu Ideas

X-ta asked for more menu ideas.

So here are a few....





Cashew no-Chicken
over prepared brown rice or quinoa
Chop Salad with Asian dressing..
Purple Cabbage, Edamame, diced celery, onions, bits of ginger if you like fresh ginger, chopped almonds or peanuts and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Or here's a recipe I think I need to try...


Another favorite

TJ's has tasty falafel in their freezer case.
We have a great Dhal recipe over rice. Served with Vegan Naan bread.

1 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 teasp cinnamon
1 clove garlic minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dried lentils
1/4 cup cilantro (fresh) or 1 tsp dried

Heat olive oil, saute chopped onion, garlic. Add spices and vegetable broth. Add lentils. Bring to low boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool a bit, blend to a chunky gravy.

And a link to another version.


Have a terrific weekend.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Thirty Day Vegan...Day 27

Last night was pretty tasty.

Here's the recipe if you have a hankering for a Vegan version of Cashew Chicken.



Cashew No-Chicken, No Kidding.

1 cup diced celery
1 minced garlic clove
6-7 green onions (use the whole thing except the hairy tail) chopped.
Melt 2 TBSP of dairy free butter substitute in a pan (EARTH BALANCE) or coconut oil would work.
Saute the veggies in the "butter".
Stir in 5 TBSP flour of your choice. Until pasty.
Add 3 TBSP soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos (less sodium in the liq aminos)
Stir.
Pour in a 32 oz package of Vegetable Broth and begin simmering.
Toss in 2 cups of cashews (I used unsalted and salted would be overkill!!!)
Chop half of a red roasted pepper, toss in.
Simmer until thickens to the consistency you want. 15 minutes or so.
Add 2 tsp of sesame seeds
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

Serve over rice, noodles or quinoa.

Tasty.

I am finding that there are loads of Vegan recipes out there. However, again, I have to admit I just can't leave it alone and make a recipe exactly as directed. There is always an item I want to switch out, or one that needs to be added or tweaked.

I googled Vegan Cashew Chicken and found very few and the two I found had some really complicated stuff. I want tasty AND easy. I had no idea how I'd come up with the texture and flavor. But I considered the strongest flavors in the cashew chicken I've enjoyed and figured out how I might be able to pull off the flavors and the mouth feel. This was pretty close.

I didn't share the recipe exactly how I made it. I put together, tasted, added, scribbled down more details and finally served it. Our meal did not have the garlic clove and the three of us decided that's exactly what was missing. The heat, the texture and the overall taste were there but the garlic would've made it.

And EER, you cracked me up. Don't make me say "no crumbs for you!" And DO NOT bring me your plate!!!

And I need to hear the kefir story. Was your kefir grain from the famed Caucasus Mountains ? I must know this. You will tell me the story or your crumb supply will be cut off!