Author: betsy

by betsy

Vegan Smokey South’ren Butterbean, “Bacon,” and Sweet Potato Tacos

Yield: 8 tacos

Smokey South'ren Butterbean, Bacon, and Sweet Potato TacosI hail from the American South… make that the Deeeeeep South.  Though I have lived in Virginia longer than I have lived anywhere else, my earliest culinary roots were in MS with a side of TX.

Down there, folks like their butterbeans cooked slow and long, just like they tell their stories.  They cook their peas and beans with what will go unmentioned here, but think cute pink snout.

With beautiful local butterbeans and sweet potatoes (kept in cold storage until summer) in my Saturday farm market bag, and having recently dined on vegan Mexican food, I woke up last Sunday morning thinking that a butterbean, sweet potato, and tempeh “bacon” hash stuffed in a taco shell would be some ‘kinda good for dinner.  And I was right!

If I had had corn tortillas, I would have used them for the taco shells as a reference to cornbread, de rigeur in the South for sopping up butterbean “pot liquor.”  But, alas, all I had was flour ones leftover from our restaurant meal, and the end result was still delicious.

While virtually any salsa would be delicious–tomato or corn or why not tomato and corn?–just keep the volume turned down a bit on the heat, so as not to overwhelm the other flavors.  Still, it’s customary for southerners to enjoy their beans and peas with a hot pepper chow-chow, so I recommend some salsa for a little kick-me-up.

This is one heck of an easy and tasty recipe, regardless of where you live!

1 pound sweet potato, diced (I leave the skin on)

2 cups fresh, raw butterbeans

2 large bay leaves (or 4 small)

Sea salt

2 tablespoons canola oil

8-6 inch tortilla shells (corn or whole wheat)

7 ounces tempeh “bacon” (I use a variety called Tempeh Smoked Maple “Bacon”)

1/4 cup vegan sour cream (I use Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream)

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Garnish: 1/4 cup vegan sour cream, 1/4 cup salsa (homemade or prepared), 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Optional:  8 lime wedges

Place sweet potatoes and butterbeans in a large microwave safe bowl, add bay leaves and salt, cover with plastic wrap, and cook at full power for 10 minutes or until tender.  Drain.  (Alternatively, you may simmer the potatoes and beans, partially covered, on top of the stove until tender, adding 5 to 10 minutes to the cooking time, if necessary.)  Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Fry tortillas, loosely folded in half, 3 to 4 at a time for a couple of minutes on each side, or until lightly golden.  Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm while preparing filling.  In same skillet, fry tempeh bacon for a couple of minutes on each side, or until crispy, reducing heat if cooking too fast.  Quickly, with the end of a spatula or even side of a fork, cut each tempeh strip into bite-size pieces.  Add the drained sweet potatoes and butterbeans, and saute, stirring continually and gently, for 2 to 3 minutes to combine flavors.  Fold in the 1/4 cup sour cream, smoked paprika, thyme, and black pepper, and heat through.  Adjust seasoning, including salt, if necessary.  Serve 1/8th of filling in each taco shell garnished with approximately 1/2 tablespoon salsa, 1/2 tablespoon vegan sour cream, a pinch of smoked paprika and, if desired, a lime wedge.

by betsy

Vegan Crabcakes–A Crab-Friendly Chesapeake Bay Classic! (A Labor Day Menu Must!)

DSCN1746

Note: Navitas Naturals no longer has this recipe available on their website and I contacted them to see if they had it in an archive, but they do not. My sincere apologies. I hope to recreate it but I neglected to keep a copy myself. Live and learn.

If you crave crabcakes but not the crab, and if, like me, you haven’t been able to enjoy that particular blend of deep sea flavor, creamy interior, and crispy exterior in far too long, then you have come to the right place!

Navitas Naturals Nori Powder and Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) are my no-longer-secret ingredients for this new recipe for Vegan Crabcakes!  (Just click on the orange link to go directly to the Navitas Naturals website for the delicious recipe.)

So many of my recipes do not try to be anything they are not.  In other words, I was never such a meat/chicken/seafood devotee that, now, as a vegan, I seek to imitate those flavors on a regular basis.  BUT, there are some dishes that I like the notion of–most often because of the texture, a spice blend, or maybe a sauce–but like MUCH better veganized; think buffalo wings, seafood gumbo, chicken salad, egg salad, etc.  Crabcakes fall squarely–or roundly, as it were–into that category.

These crabcakes are held together by a faux mousseline.  Mousseline is a sauce traditionally made with whipped cream.  I snagged this tip from America’s Test Kitchen who recommends making a shrimp and cream mousseline to hold crabmeat together in a cake in order not to “deaden” the flavor through the use of mayonnaise or egg.  I make my mousseline out of TVP and soymilk (but feel free to use your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk.

The mixture bound together nicely, but was difficult to flip in a skillet, and required way too much oil, mess and calories.  So, I baked my second batch and found them perfect.  No flipping is involved, and they hold together beautifully when moved by spatula from pan to plate.  They also have a very appealing mouth-feel that is not unappetizing due to a texture that is too soft.

I hope you find my Vegan Crabcakes to be deeply satisfying in every way!

Many thanks to Navitas Naturals for publishing this recipe on their website…and for offering such a spectacular product!!

Note: you may substitute 2 Nori sheets for the 2 teaspoons Nori Powder in the stock if the powder is difficult for you to access, though it is sold online.  If using Nori sheets, let them steep for about an hour in the hot stock before straining out, returning the stock to a simmer, and proceeding with recipe.)

by betsy

Seeing Red: My Vegan Red Velvet Ice Cream Takes the Cake!

DSCN1904Yield: 1 1/2 quarts

My all-time favorite cake now as vegan ice cream!

So, move over Duff Goldman and Blue Bunny brand…there’s a new Red Velvet Ice Cream in town!

Red Velvet is the signature cake of my Aunt Bessie of Dallas, TX.  She honestly makes one like no other.  It was, in fact, the recipe used for the groom’s cake at Joe’s and my wedding.

After veganizing Aunt Bessie’s recipe so that I could still partake, I have gone on to create recipes for vegan Red Velvet Pancakes, whoopie pies, shortbread cookies, and more, but never ice cream.  Never, that is, until now!

Several years ago, Ben and Jerry’s was running a competition for the next great ice cream flavor and I decided to enter with Red Velvet.  Contestants had to submit a video, so a friend came over and shot it, but then she encountered technical difficulties and, alas, I was unable to submit it.  Since then, Red Velvet ice cream has been made available commercially, but not in a vegan version, at least not where we live.  Recently, I got a powerful craving for it and set out to recreate that inimitable cake flavor in an ice cream.

And, oh my goodness, my recipe really does taste like the cake!  My secret?  Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese as a substitution for the buttermilk in my aunt’s recipe–tangy but with the kind of body one wants in an ice cream.  And, are you ready?  Vinegar!  My aunt’s recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of white vinegar that lends to the cake its signature flavor.  And the same is true for the ice cream.  I add it while churning so as not to curdle the custard.

This beautiful concoction really does take the cake!

Thanks to Tofutti for posting it on their website!  Just click HERE for the quick and easy recipe.

 DSCN1908

by betsy

Jerusalem Post Features Blooming Platter Cookbook/Recipes in Corn Salad Article by Award Winning Cookbook Author Faye Levy

Jerusalem Post--Corn ArticleWhat an honor and a thrill!

Last Thursday, Faye Levy, author of the award-winning International Vegetable Cookbook, along with Yakir, featured The Blooming Platter Cookbook in their Jerusalem Post article on salads made with summer’s gold: corn!

The Jerusalem Post is Israel’s best-selling English daily and most read English website.  Wow!  Thank you, Faye and Yakir.

An excerpt from their article:

“Small oval tomatoes and a chili-seasoned citrus-cumin dressing flavor the roasted corn and black bean salad made by Betsy DiJulio, author of The Blooming Platter Cookbook. She serves this main-course salad on a bed of baby spinach and tops it with spiced toasted pecans. In another summertime salad, she combines corn with diced tomatoes, blackberries, onion and fresh basil, and dresses the salad with lime juice mixed with pomegranate molasses.

To cook the corn for her salads, DiJulio rubs the husked ears with olive oil, sprinkles them with sea salt and roasts them in a 200°C (400°F) oven until just a few brown spots appear; it takes about 15 minutes.”

 

by betsy

Earth Balance Vegan Aged White Cheddar Popcorn–Perfect for School Lunches!

Earth Balance Vegan Aged White Cheddar PopcornHow disappointing to learn that one bag of this habit-forming treat is not a single serving!

Alas, a bag of one of my favorite two new snack foods–the other being  Earth Balance Vegan Aged White Cheddar Puffs that I shared recently–serves 7.

It is a tasty way to infuse your diet with more whole grain and, like the Puffs, it doesn’t have have tons of nutritional value, but it is vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, low-fat, absent of any trans-fat, and contains a little fiber and protein without being disastrous in the sodium department.  Though it has a few more calories than the puffs, it is nothing too dramatic at 150 vs. 130 per serving.

So, grab a few friends or family members and share a bag…occasionally.

by betsy

Vegan Fresh Fig Upside Down Pancakes

Fig Upside Down PancakesYield: 8 servings (16 small pancakes)

The other morning, for some reason, I was thinking about pineapple upside down cake and how nicely that translates into pancakes.  Suddenly, I had to have pancakes, though I am not much of a breakfast eater, unless I have breakfast for lunch.  I didn’t have pineapple, but I did have fresh figs and Vegan Fresh Fig Upside Down Pancakes were born!

The ground sumac– a beautiful earthy red powder derived from a berry of the sumac bush–is used in Middle Eastern and Greek cooking.  Since I think of figs in relation to Middle Eastern cuisine, and since I thought that the earthy lemony flavor of the sumac would complement the sweetness of the figs, I chose to add a little to the batter.   It‘s not absolutely essential, but it is delicate, delicious, and adds such a special quality.  Find sumac in Middle Eastern grocery stores and online.

Sage, too, is used widely in Middle Eastern and Greek cooking and I happen to have quite an abundant crop of it this year.  So I decided to garnish the pancakes with some of their most small and tender leaves to add a subtle sage-y flavor.  Eaten together, the trio is transcendent!

2 cups white whole wheat flour (this is what I keep on hand, but unbleached all purpose is fine, as is a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat)

1/4 cup natural sugar

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Optional, but delicious: 1/2 teaspoon sumac

2  cups plain soymilk (I used lite, as that’s what I had)

Nonstick spray or canola oil

8 fresh figs, stemmed, halved and sprayed with nonstick spray or brushed with oil

Accompaniments: agave nectar and a sprig of small tender fresh sage leaves (yes, sage!–sounds a little odd, but is delicious with the figs!)

In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients, make a well in the center, add soymilk, and whisk ingredients together until smooth.  Heat a large well-oiled skillet over medium high and make pancakes, 3 or 4 at a time, using 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter (they should be about 3 inches in diameter).  Cook for about a minute, lay a fig half, flesh side up, in the center of each pancake, pressing very gently.  You don’t want to submerge or for the batter to hide the fig when you flip it.  Cook for another minute or two or until golden brown on the other side, carefully flip, and cook until set, another couple of minutes or so.  Repeat with remaining batter, keeping pancakes warm while you cook the entire batch.  Serve pancakes, fig side up, with a drizzle of agave nectar and a sprig of fresh sage.  Note:  if a very thin layer of the batter has eased over the edge of the fig, just pinch it off to reveal the perfect shape of the fig.

 

by betsy

Vegan Mashed Eggplant (Think Jacques Pepin’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes with a Blooming Platter Twist!)

DSCN1866Have you ever made mashed eggplant, like mashed potatoes?
Oh, my!  I hadn’t–I don’t know if anyone has–but I was watching “Essential Pepin” on the Create channel recently, and his show was devoted to the humble potato.
First up: mashed potatoes.  I thought, “Really?  Who doesn’t know how to make mashed potatoes?”  But there was something about his French accent, his arthritic hands, and his assured grace and facility  in the kitchen that made me think his looked like the best mashed potatoes I’d ever seen.
I had no potatoes, but I had some small white and striated globe eggplants from a local farm that needed used, and I thought,”What if?”  What if, indeed!  You will love this simple take on a favorite family staple.
And, folks, this is NO time to skimp.  This is a decadent dish, so don’t hold back on (vegan) butter and sour cream.  Indulge, would you?
2 pounds eggplant, skin on, cut into pool ball size chunks, placed in a large cast iron skillet, drizzled with oil, and sprinkled with a pinch of salt (it is fine for eggplant to be in about 1 1/2 layers)
3 garlic cloves, drizzled with oil, and wrapped in a small piece of foil
2 tablespoons vegan butter
2 to 4 tablespoons vegan sour cream to taste
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon natural sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano)
A healthy amount of sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place skillet with eggplant along with wrapped garlic in oven and roast for 25 minute or until tender, but eggplant holds its shape.  Remove both from oven and let cool until eggplant is easily handled.  Slip off the skin (compost or discard), and place flesh in a glass or ceramic bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mash with a hand-held potato masher.  Reheat for a minute in microwave, if necessary, as you want butter to melt slowly as you mash.  Serve immediately or cool, cover, and store in refrigerator until just before serving time.  Reheat, check for seasoning, and serve.
by betsy

Vegan Lentil Salad with Grilled Zucchini, Roma Tomatoes, and Pepper Jelly-Sage Vinaigrette

DSCN1851Yield: 6 servings

I discovered a brand new and brilliant way to cook lentils, courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen: brine them to soften the skin and then bake them in a dutch oven so they don’t crash together and break apart while they simmer.  You can find their method HERE, along with some tasty salad ideas. (Note: I obviously didn’t use chicken broth.  I could have used vegetable broth, but water worked yielded lentils full of flavor.)

After trying that method, I had a beautiful bunch of them with which to do something.  I also had local red onion, zucchini and orange Roma tomatoes from my trip to the farm market.  There was nothing left to do but combine everything into a salad!

I wanted a special, but simple, dressing–some kind of vinaigrette–but I wasn’t sure what.  Scanning the door of the fridge, my eyes alighted on an unopened jar–a gift–of pepper jelly made here in Virginia.  Voila!  Then, mentally reviewing the herbs in the garden, sage somehow sounded perfectly earthy and just the right note to counter the heat of the jelly.  Voila again!  But it seemed like it needed one more “warm”  spice.  The barest hint of clove or mace was just exactly right.

This combination of ingredients makes this recipe the perfect celebration of late summer (salad) while looking forward to the cool months ahead (dressing) because I always think of pepper jelly and sage in conjunction with the festive flavors of the winter holidays.

3 cups cooked French lentils

1/4 cup diced red onion (if desired, cover with  soymilk and drain before using to remove a little of the bite)

2 orange Roma tomatoes, diced (red is fine; the orange ones were just so beautiful at the farm market)

1 6-inch zucchini, sliced in thirds lengthwise, lightly salted, grilled 2 to 3 minutes on each side, cooled, and diced (I used my Lodge indoor grill pan over medium-high)

Sea Salt to taste (don’t be stingy!)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pepper Jelly-Sage Dressing (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, toss together all ingredients except dressing.  Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Drizzle with dressing and gently toss to evenly distribute.  Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate to allow flavors to marry before serving.

Pepper Jelly-Sage Dressing:

1/4 cup pepper jelly (I use a locally made brand)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon mustard

6 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch sea salt

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Pinch garlic powder

Tiny pinch of ground clove or mace (a bare hint is all you want but it adds a little somethin’-somethin’!)

3 tablespoons fresh sage, minced or chiffonade (I like the latter, simply stack and roll 3 to 4 leaves and thinly slice into tiny ribbons)

In a small bowl, whisk together pepper jelly, vinegar, and mustard.  Whisk in olive oil in a slow stream and keep whisking until it emulsifies (thickens and comes together).  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and clove or mace to taste and then whisk in sage.

 

 

by betsy

Happy Birthday, Joooolia! Vegan Potato and Beet Salad a la Julia Child

DSCN1837This jewel-toned salad is a real gem!

I admit that the color is a bit shocking, courtesy of some beautiful fresh beets, but it looked right at home on the bountiful buffet at this year’s birthday bash for Julia Child.

For the last 4 years, 10 or so of our foodie friends gather to fete the ‘ole gal on the Saturday evening closest to her birthday, making the 2013 iteration of this favorite pot-luck party on August 10.

My contributions were this salad and my new Vegan Luscious Lavender and Creme de Cacao Ice Cream.  Ooh-la-la!

Guests are asked to bring a French dish (and something tasty to eat too–hahaha), one inspired by Julia Child, or one made according to her actual recipes.  We scarcely do any advance coordination, but the meal is somehow always perfect and so beautifully presented.  The group is made up of one vegan (moi), some vegetarians, and some out-and-out carnivores.  But the food is almost entirely vegetarian/vegan.

Lovely dishes brought by our guests included:

  • Fresh juicy cantaloup slices (with or without prosciutto–sorry!)
  • Broccoli aspic (a recipe from Julia Child)
  • La Salad Hericot Vert (with candied walnuts, arugula and radicchio)
  • Ratatouille
  • Beet (not “beef”!) Bourguignon over Lentils
  • Salmon (sorry again!), courtesy of my husband with my homemade basil Pistou (French pesto)

My Vegan Potato-beet salad, a riff on one of Julia Child’s, was a top favorite among at least two of the guests, though everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Be sure to use a neutral tasting mayonnaise, or it will overpower the other flavors.  I am a fan of Nayonaise for some dishes, but feel it is too strongly vinegary and spiced for this dish.  Vegenaise is a better choice in this case.

4 cups quartered new potatoes (at our local farm market, they are called “creamers”), boiled in salted water, partially covered, until tender, about 20 minutes, and drained

7 beets, peeled and diced (about 2 1/2 cups), cooked until tender, and drained (save juice for another purpose) [I place them in a bowl, cover them with water, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and microwave for 15 minutes, but avoid a steam burn when removing the wrap!)

1 cup haricot vert (green beans), trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces, and simmered just until tender, about 7 minutes, then shocked in cold/iced water, and drained

Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

1/4 cup green herbs, finely chopped (I highly recommend a blend of 2 or more, e.g. basil, chives, tarragon, parsley)

2 cups neutral tasting mayo, prepared or homemade (not too tangy, sweet, etc., I like Vegenaise for this recipe)

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large non-reactive (glass or ceramic) bowl, combine all vegetables, drizzle with vinaigrette, toss well, cover, and chill for several hours.  Sprinkle with herbs, fold in mayo, and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Chill until serving time and garnish with sprigs of fresh herbs.

Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup sherry vinegar (in truth, whatever vinegar you have will be great)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together vinegar and mustard.  Then whisk in olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified.  Season to taste and whisk again.  (Or just combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake well.)

 

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