July 3, 2013July 3, 2013 by betsy

A “New” Twist on 4th of July Potato Salad: Vegan Roasted “New” Potato Salad with Smoky Fresh Pea Mayo, Fresh Peas, Lemon Zest and Roasted Almonds

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

If you live in the US and this sounds good for your July 4 BBQ, I hope I’ve left you enough time to purchase the ingredients–or maybe you will have them on hand, as Independence Day snuck up on me this year!

The inspiration for this summer salad is that popular Italian dish of pasta with peas and, if you’ll excuse me, bacon and cream.

I substituted red-skinned “creamers” (small potatoes) from the farmers market for the pasta, and added fresh cooked peas, also from the market, along with roasted red onion and chopped roasted almonds for crunch.

My version gets its smokiness from smoked paprika. To reduce the amount of mayonnaise required, I pureed some of the fresh peas with the mayo for a beautifully textured and flavored creamy dressing.

Lemon zest brightens the salad like summer sunshine. So, when trying to decide on a garnish, a big golden slice of lemon seemed the perfect touch. And that made me think of a cup of tea, so I decided to serve this salad in one of my Nana’s tea cups. But it would look just fine–and a bit more masculine–on plain white plates at your next (vegan) barbecue!

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 pound small potatoes, quartered (like new potatoes; our farmers market calls them “creamers”)

Sea salt

1 small red onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slivers which you can halve again (I used an enormous bulb from a red spring onion at our farmers market)

1 1/2 cups fresh peas, simmered in lightly salted water just to cover for 20 minutes, drained

1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (prepared or homemade; I used Vegenaise)

1/2 teaspoon yellow or Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Zest of one-half of a large lemon

1/2 cup roasted almonds, coarsely chopped

Garnish: thinly sliced lemon, whole roasted almonds, pinch of smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pour oil in the bottom of a large cast iron skillet or roasting pan, add potatoes and a pinch of salt and toss to coat. Roast for 10 minutes, toss gently, and roast 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, add onion, gently toss again, and roast for an additional 10 minutes. Transfer potato and onion mixture to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Set aside one-half cup peas and gently fold the remaining cup into the potato mixture along with more sea salt to taste. Puree the half-cup peas with the mayonnaise, mustard, and paprika. Spoon over salad, add lemon zest and chopped almonds, and gently toss to distribute dressing evenly. Check for seasoning, and serve garnished as desired.

November 26, 2012November 26, 2012 by betsy

Vegan Roasted Garlic Whipped Cauliflower

Yield: 4-6 servings

I’ll just confess right off the bat that I have no specific proportions for this dish inspired by my dear friend Yvette Hetrick. For some of you, the lack of a precise formula may come as a great relief, as you can ad lib to your heart’s content.

I started off keeping track of what I was adding for flavor. However, since I was working in 3 batches for the number of guests we had for Thanksgiving–and since I kept adjusting–I gave up at some point. (And, by the way, a double recipe would have been plenty for 8 people; I enjoyed lots of leftovers!)

So, following is all you need to know to veganize this old “Weight Watchers” standard to suit YOUR taste. Don’t let the dish’s dietary “roots” turn you off; it’s just that, ounce for ounce, cauliflower has far fewer calories than potatoes. However, by the time I get finished doctoring it up, I’m not sure how many fewer calories it actually has. But it does have it’s own unique flavor somewhere between cauliflower and potatoes. And for that reason alone, it’s a keeper. By all means, feel free to go easy on the ‘butta, sour cream and such, and then you can reap the low-cal benefits.

Be forewarned: cauliflower is LOADED with fiber, so it is very easy to feel overly full after a moderate portion of this dish. Of course, you could just exercise some portion control, but it is so tasty that that is easier than it sounds!

4 cups water

Sea salt

1 large head of cauliflower, cored, broken into florets, rinsed and drained

1 head roasted garlic (rub whole head with olive oil and roast at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until very soft)

Any or all of the following in whatever proportions you desire; let taste be your guide: vegan butter, vegan sour cream, vegan cream cheese, and nutritional yeast (do NOT omit the cheesy “nooch”!)

Pinch white pepper

Optional garnish: snipped fresh chives

In a 4-quart covered saucepan, bring generously salted water to a boil. Add cauliflower, loosely cover pan, and gently boil for about 6 minutes, reducing the heat if necessary. Drain cauliflower and WHILE IT IS STILL WARM (that is very important), add half the head of garlic and season to taste with vegan butter, sour cream, cream cheese, nutritional yeast, additional salt, and white pepper. If desired, add some or all of the remaining roasted garlic. Serve warm garnished if desired.

October 29, 2012October 29, 2012 by betsy

Go Dairy Free Re-Features My Vegan Savory Black Bean Cupcakes with Whipped Sweet Potato Frosting Just in Time for Halloween

If you’ve not visited Go Dairy Free in a while, I recommend you click on the link and head on over, as I think you’ll love the new format. New look. Same great information, ideas, recipes, and resources that is continually expanded.

In a recent email, GDF creator, Alisa, wrote “I’m slowly updating old recipes with our new format, so I just refeatured one of your recipes from last year!”

The recipe is for my Savory Black Bean Cupcakes with Whipped Sweet Potato Frosting. Sound odd? Well, they are pretty unique, I have to say. Sort of like a bread, protein and starchy vegetable in one. In a word: delish, if I do say so. And so very pretty.

Please enjoy them with my wishes for a very Happy Halloween!

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012 by betsy

Bloomin’ Best Vegan Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Butter Muffins

Yield:12 regular size (not super size!) muffins

I received such rave reviews on my recently created Bloomin’ Best Vegan Peanut Butter and Apple Muffins that I decided to try my luck with a sweet potato version.

I know, I know…for a seasonal cook to be using sweet potatoes in May seems anethma. But, our farmer’s market leaves their spuds in a cold cellar over the winter so that once the market opens again in the spring, its customers are treated to beautiful golden sweet potatoes.

I planned to make the sweet potato version of the muffins exactly like the peanut butter and apple inspiration, but I needed a substitute for the creamy moisture of the peanut butter. Fortunately I remembered a gift of some unopened pumpkin butter (which contains no dairy despite the name) from my sister-in-law. Its moisture content is even higher than peanut butter, though both are thick and creamy, so these muffins are more delectably moist than their forebears. Both are delicious.

Enjoy whenever sweet potatoes are in season–or brought out of the cold cellar–in your neck of the woods!

1/2 cup pumpkin butter

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk (you can use plain, but you might want to slightly decrease the sugar)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup natural sugar

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch ground allspice

Pinch ground cinnamon

Pinch ground cloves

3 cups finely grated sweet potatoes, skin on (fine like food processor-fine)

Line muffin cups with papers or oil well with nonstick spray. In a large mixing bowl, stir together pumpkin butter, canola oil, soy milk and vanilla until well combined. Stir in sugar, flour, baking powder and baking soda just until a smooth batter forms. Then stir in grated sweet potatoes only until incorporated. Divide evenly among prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 minute or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Allow to cool about 10 minutes in the pan and then remove to cool completely or to enjoy while warm.

June 19, 2011June 19, 2011 by betsy

Vegan Indian Samosa Potato-Pea Salad on a Poppadom

This salad combines all of the ingredients that I love about Indian Samosas into a much lighter dish because I substitute poppadoms for the fat-and-flaky crust that encases all of the spicy potato and pea goodness. I roast the potatoes for extra flavor and I stir the traditional cilantro and mint dipping chutneys and spices into the dressing, dolloping a mango or fruit-type chutney on the top.

Don’t you think the salad look enchanting served in its poppadom cup? As you probably know, poppadoms are very low-calorie/low-fat Indian chickpea wafers with a high level of flavor. They puff up magnificently in the microwave in a mere 45-60 seconds. The shape into which they morph is not always predictable, so you might end up with something rippled but flatter and less cup-like, but no worries. The dish will still look beautiful and taste divine even if presented as more of a tostado.

Yield: 4 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups quartered new potatoes (mine were white-skinned)

1 1/2 cups fresh peas

2 pinches of sea salt

1/4 cup vegan mayo (the Blooming Platter Mayo in my new cookbook is quite special, if I do say so myself; but any kind will do)

1 teaspoon prepared Indian Cilantro Chutney (available at Indian markets and the International aisle of better-stocked grocery stores)

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon prepared Indian Mint Chutney (also available at Indian markets and the International aisle of better-stocked grocery stores)

4 poppadoms

4 teaspoons or a bit more Indian fruit chutney (prepared or homemade; I used my homemade Blackberry Chutney because I had some on hand)

Optional garnish: 4 petite slices of yellow, red or orange bell pepper or even Roma tomato + 4 sprigs of mint or cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tablespoon of olive oil into a large roasting pan, add potatoes and a pinch of salt and toss lightly to coat. Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes. I like mind to develop a nice caramelization, but roast for less time if you don’t. Just make sure they are very tender. Remove potatoes to a bowl and cool to room temperature.

While potatoes roast, place peas into a 2 quart saucepan. Add water to just barely cover and a pinch of salt. Stir once , turn heat to medium-high, cover lightly, and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Add to bowl with potatoes.

In a small bowl, stir together vegan mayo, the cilantro and mint chutneys, and the coriander, cumin and curry powder. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and peas and stir gently to distribute evenly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Cook poppadoms, a couple at a time, for 45-60 seconds in the microwave. Remove, place on salad plates, fill each with 1/4 of the salad mixture, dollop with about a teaspoon of the Indian fruit chutney, and garnish as desired.

October 30, 2009July 21, 2010 by betsy

Vegan Savory Sundaes (Made with Vegan Tater-Tot Potato Salad)

Yield: 6-8 servings

I recently created this recipe in response to a contest. Regardless of whether I win, I have a super-cute new savory side dish served up like a sundae or banana split. (Don’t worry…it’s not too cute.) The contest sponsors were looking for a side dish to serve with barbecue. When I started thinking about my favorites, I couldn’t choose just one, so I combined all the “barbecue side” flavors and textures that I love into an ultra-easy multi-component dish: potato salad, barbecue sauce, dill pickles, a smoky taste, and, I admit it, I like fried food in moderation, so something fried.

In these vegan sundaes, dill pickle spears replace the banana, a Vegan Tater-Tot Potato Salad the ice cream, barbecue sauce the ice cream topping, vegan sour cream the whipped cream, a cherry tomato the cherry, and chopped smoked almonds the chopped pecans. The Tater-Tots yield that crispy texture of fried foods that I love. Of course, you can substitute your favorite potato salad and barbecue sauce recipe or even purchased varieties.

However, I hope you will try my Vegan Tater-Tot Potato Salad at some point, as I think you’ll love the taste and texture. Though the outer crust of the potatoes isn’t as crispy after the potato salad has sat overnight, it is still appealing and enough different that it doesn’t seem like “the same ‘ole.” (Although, “the same ‘ole” is pretty darn good.)

To serve, I used sundae glasses instead of banana boats, as I discovered I don’t have any of the latter. (If anyone needs any holiday gift giving ideas for me…) Either way, the presentation is as fun as the dish is tasty.

12-16 dill pickle spears (or 6-8 spears, cut in half)
1 recipe Vegan Tater-Tot Salad, warm (see recipe below or use your favorite potato salad)
1/2-3/4 cup Bloomin‘ Barbecue Sauce, warm (search my index for this recipe or use your favorite, including a purchased variety)
8-12 teaspoons vegan sour cream
4-6 cherry tomatoes (or 2-3 cherry tomatoes halved, if large)
2-3 tablespoons smoked almonds, chopped

In 4-6 banana split boats or sundae glasses, place two pickle spears (or two halves). For each split or sundae, nestle on top 1-2 scoops Vegan Tater-Tot Salad. Top with 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce, 2 teaspoons vegan sour cream, a cherry tomato (whole or half) and 1/2 tablespoon chopped smoked almonds. Serve immediately.

Vegan Tater-Tot Salad:

6 servings Tater-Tots (approximately 54 “tots”)
5 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
5 tablespoons vegan sour cream
1 tablespoon sweet salad cubes or pickle relish
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or powder
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea or kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 stalks celery, finely diced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place “tots” on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and transfer to another sheet to cool slightly. (They don’t need the full recommended cooking time.) Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together next 10 ingredients. Stir in celery, green onions and parsley. When “tots” are just cool enough to handle, break in half into bowl with dressing. Stir together well. Serve warm. Reheat in microwave if necessary.