Yield: 4-4-inch tartlets or 1-8 or 9-inch tart

These tartlets are the result of co-influences: beautiful photographs on Pinterest and finding the remains of frozen mixed fruit in the bottom of bags in our freezer. I had purchased them to make smoothies, but I prefer my ritual of popping into Starbucks on my way to school and buying an unsweetened green tea soy frappuccino. The fruit was still good, but needed to be used quickly, so an idea formed.

My mother and my grandmother were excellent bakers and I am not opposed to rolling out a pie crust. But I am also not opposed to shortcuts when they are just as good and when I am remarkably busy teaching from home during this pandemic. So, I turned to my never fail press-in pie crust. The original recipe contained quite a bit of oil and a little bit of non-dairy milk. I have basically reversed those proportions with no ill effect on the end result.

For the filling, I wanted a gel-like consistency, but I had no agar. I had a hunch that if I thawed the fruit, pureed it, cooked it down just a bit, and thickened it further with a cornstarch slurry, I would have the jewel-like color and firm-ish texture that I desired. And I was right!

For the topping, I planned to make aquafaba meringue. But I didn’t have chickpeas and trips to the grocery store are more infrequent these days. The same went for a coconut cream whip. What I did have was about half a can of a surprisingly tasty prepared vanilla buttercream frosting. Normally I would never put frosting on a pie-type dessert–that’s just odd!–but I needed something that would work for the photo shoot at the very least and food stylists are known for their trickery.

It turns out that these tartlets are appealingly “tart” and that the sweet creamy frosting offsets the flavors beautifully with exactly the right consistency. Who knew?

Again, I was inspired by Pinterest for the asymmetrical piping design. I had never thought of not covering the top completely, but it is visually exciting, and it certainly saves on both product and, more importantly, calories, adding just the right amount of color, flavor, and texture contrast.

These beauties were a hit with me and the friends with whom I shared them, handing them off from a safe social distance. I hope you find the same to be true and that you are safe and well.

Mixed Fruit Tartlets with No-Fail Press-In Crust

Crust:

1 and 1/2 cups flour (all purpose, whole wheat, or white whole wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Approximately five tablespoons non-dairy milk (I use soymilk)

Preheat oven to 350°. Place tartlet or tart pans on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Make a well in center and add wet ingredients. Stir together with a fork, using your fingers if needed to create a crumbly but very moist dough that holds together beautifully when you squeeze a bit between your fingers. Add more non-dairy milk or flour, as needed. Crumble dough into bottom of pans or pan and press evenly onto bottom and sides. You might find it helpful for pressing to use the bottom of a sturdy glass sprayed with non-stick spray or floured to prevent sticking. Prick bottom with tines of a fork and bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Meanwhile, make filling.

Pureed Fruit Filling:

Approximately 4 cups frozen fruit, thawed (I used blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, mango, and pineapple)

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar or your favorite sweetener (I used granulated monkfruit with zero calories)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons vegan fruit liqueur (I used peach and the De Kuyper brand is vegan, probably among others; Google on Barnivore)

Topping: vanilla buttercream, whipped coconut cream, etc.

Place fruit and sugar in medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until heated through and some of the juice releases and evaporates. Carefully transfer into bowl of food processor and puree until very smooth. Return to saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a small cup, whisk together cornstarch and liqueur. Drizzle into simmering fruit, whisking thoroughly. Allow to simmer for two or three more minutes or until very thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Divide evenly among tartlet crusts or pour into large tart crust. Decorate the top with frosting or your favorite vegan whipped topping. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, until serving time. Tarts will remain good in refrigerator for several days, but the crust does begin to get soggy after a couple.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #veganfruittartlets #plantbasedfruittartlets #pressinpiecrust

The ‘Rona has us eating light and irregularly. And this was what I craved for Easter Dinner. It was more like Easter apps, but it was perfect on the deck as a storm began to gather.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, slice thin tri-color carrots in half lengthwise, lay on a baking sheet, spray lightly with cooking spray, and sprinkle with panko bread crumbs and vegan parmesan. Roast exactly 20 minutes.

Miso Aoili: whisk together equal parts yellow miso and (zero calorie) mayo with a little bit of garlic and ginger pastes. Fresh dill is the garnish.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #roastedcarritfries #veganeasterdinner

I am ready for a an Easter repast fit for a King Rabbit!

And yes, I wanted those sweet potatoes to look like the rabbit ears on the label.

(To be completely honest, I researched and could not determine if this wine, favored and sold by Whole Foods, is vegan in it’s “fining” process.)

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Yield: 6 servings

Lightened up comfort food from my childhood is one of my favorite categories of recipes to veganize. This one a combination of a hot chicken salad and a chicken and rice casserole, only it contains neither chicken–or even a substitute–or rice. I substitute riced cauliflower for the rice and meaty mushrooms for the chicken.

I’m always looking for ways to boost the color and nutrition of recipes. So I use mirepoix instead of just celery and onion to infuse some carrot into the mix. And curly kale leaves seemed the perfect green addition, along with the green peas which are mandatory in chicken and rice casserole.

Some of these casseroles are topped with cheddar and some with mozzarella. I just think of cheddar with broccol–or with southwestern or Mexican dishes–so I chose mozzarella. Whatever you do, don’t leave off the potato chip topping. This casserole is so nutritious and low in calories that you can splurge on the rich buttery crunch of the Ruffles.

Note: I cook the vegetables in the microwave for ease, but feel free to simmer/saute stovetop if you prefer.

Hot Chicken-un Salad Casserole w/ Crushed Potato Chip Topping

8 ounces cauliflower rice
1 cup mirepoix (approximately 1/3 cup each diced onion, celery, and carrot)
8 ounces sliced baby Bellas or other white mushrooms
7 to 8 ounces curly kale leaves, thick stems removed
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme or thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I use no calorie mayo from Harris Teeter) OR vegan sour cream
1/2 cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 to 2 cups crushed Ruffles potato chips

Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish and set aside. In a medium-large bowl, place riced cauliflower and mirepoix. Cover with water and microwave for 10+ minutes or until veggies are VERY tender, as they will not cook much in oven. Drain and return vegetables to bowl. Place kale in another similarly sized bowl and microwave for approximately 3 minutes or until wilted and bright green. Add to other vegetables along with all remaining ingredients, except cheese and potato chips. Fold vegetable mixture together until completely mixed. Transfer to grease casserole dish and sprinkle top evenly with vegan mozzarella and crushed potato chips. Bake for 30 minutes.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #veganchickencasserole #veganchickensalad

We all need a little comfort now in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, yes? My comfort food recipe is less recipe and just suggested ingredients, only.

What looks like a huge bowl of calorie-rich mashed potatoes is actually a huge bowl of flavor-rich pureed cauliflower with only one tablespoon of vegan butter, a drizzle of unsweetened soymilk, and salt and pepper. My secret weapons? Grated lemon zest stirred in and a sliced scallion garnish.

I enjoyed the entire bowl for dinner and it fit within my daily 1,500 calorie allocation…even if I hadn’t walked 7 miles here in the neighborhood and at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

Spring–and low-cal comfort–personified.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #mashedcauliflower

Yield: 1 6-inch cookie cake

In the midst of this pandemic, you can inject a little party vibe into your socially responsible social distancing with my simple, but festive recipe. I even cheated and used canned vanilla frosting. But the cookie cake is homemade and goes together in a flash, although it seems like we all have more time these days. I hope you agree, the texture is the perfect hybrid of cookie and cake.

Note: you can bake the cookie cake in the larger cake pan, but you would need to adjust the cooking time down.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

1/2 cup vegan butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons water
1/2 to 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips 1/2 to 3/4 cup plain or roasted broken pecans
Approximately three quarters to one cup vegan vanilla or chocolate frosting
Sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 6-in cake pan or spray with baking spray. Using an electric mixer, cream butter together with brown sugar. Beat in vanilla extract, baking powder, and baking soda. With mixer on low speed or start in by hand flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with about 3 tablespoons water. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Scrape into prepared pan and gently smooth top. Bake approximately 37 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean when inserted near the center. A little melted chocolate may cling to toothpick and that’s fine. Cool on wire rack in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife and then invert onto wire rack to cool. Frost as desired, either with your favorite vegan buttercream or canned frosting, many of which are vegan. Decorate with sprinkles. Or serve warm with vegan ice cream.

#chocolatechipcookiecake #vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #vegan #chocolatechipcookiecake

Light and Flavorful Mushroom and Spinach Soup with Cream Sherry (plant-based/vegan)

This soup will become a go-to any time, but in this age of Coronavirus “shelter in place” orders, it is especially comforting to have on hand. Low in calories and fat, but high in appeal, it nurtures with beauty, warmth, nutrition, and hydration.

(It is so pretty, in fact, that one of my students is creating an oil pastel painting of it for one of her “school closure” sketchbook assignments.)

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup each diced carrot, celery, and yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon veggie base
1/2 teaspoon roasted garlic base
(or 1 veggie bouillon cube substituted for both bases)
8 ounces sliced mushrooms like baby bella
1 bunch fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
4 cups veggie stock
6 big handfuls fresh baby spinach leaves (as much as you want, actually)
1/4 cup or so unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 or more tablespoons cream sherry
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Garnish: shredded vegan mozzarella and roasted or smoked almonds

Heat oil over medium high in large soup pot. Add mirepoix (carrots, celery, and onion) and veggie bases and saute, stirring frequently, two or three minutes or until tender. Add mushrooms and thyme and continue sautéing until mushrooms are tender and release juices, a couple minutes more. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Begin adding spinach, a handful at a time, stirring and allowing each to wilt before adding the next. Stir in non-dairy milk, and heat through, followed by sherry. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Remove and compost thyme. Serve soup topped with shredded vegan mozzarella and roasted or smoked almonds if desired.

Note: soup may appear to curdle slightly upon reheating, but stir it well and the little flecks will reincorporate. Alternatively, you can omit sherry, add let each person add his or her own.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #mushroomsoup #mushroomspinachsoup

Lavender-Earl Grey Layer Cake with Lavender-Earl Grey-Cointreau Cream Cheese Frosting and Lavender-Blueberry Preserve Filling

I created this cake today for my sister’s birthday. I live in Virginia, she lives in Mississippi, so we celebrated long distance. As a high school art and art history teacher with schools ordered closed by our Governor, I have been trying to work about 5 hours and then treat myself with some other activity. Today, it was baking, a second set of dog walks, and Prosecco sipping while bundled up on the deck.

Yield: one two-layer 6 or 7-inch cake

Note: an 8- or 9-inch pan is more traditional, but I like a smaller taller stack. If you only have an 8- or 9-inch pan, you will need to increase batter by about 1/3 or so.

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened soy milk)
2 generous tablespoons Lavender-Earl Grey loose tea
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons vegan sour cream
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Optional:1/2 to 1 teaspoon lavender extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup natural sugar
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Lavender-Earl Grey-Cointreau Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
1/4 to 1/3 cup lavender-blueberry preserves (or plain blueberry with optional 1/4 teaspoon lavender extract stirred in)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 6- or 7-in round cake pan or spray with non-stick baking spray. Pour non-dairy milk into a small saucepan or microwave-safe cup or bowl. Stir in loose tea and heat stovetop or in microwave until simmering, steep a couple of minutes, and then strain through a fine strainer into another cup. Cool.

Whisk together 1/2 cup tea-infused milk and remaining wet ingredients in large mixing bowl. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and stir into wet ingredients in thirds. Whisk just until batter is smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in cake pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run knife around edges, invert onto wire rack, and cool completely. While cake cools make Lavender-Earl Grey-Cointreau Cream Cheese Frosting.

Lavender-Earl Grey-Cointreau Cream Cheese Frosting

3 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons vegan cream cheese, softened
1 to 2 tablespoons tea-infused milk
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Triple Sec
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon lavender extract
3/4 pound confectioners sugar (3/4 one-pound bag)

With an electric mixer, cream together vegan butter, shortening, cream cheese, tea-infused milk, Cointreau, vanilla, and lavender extract. Beat in confectioners sugar, a half cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. Using a serrated knife, cut cake in half crosswise. Spread 1 tablespoon frosting on cake plate and center bottom layer over it to anchor in place. Spread about 1/3 cup frosting on bottom layer. Place all but about 1/3 cup frosting in piping bag fitted with a large star tube and pipe a ring around the edge as a dam. Fill with blueberry preserves. Place top layer over and press down gently. Frost top with remaining 1/3 cup frosting in bowl and decorate with piped frosting swirls.

Refrigerate until serving time, but allowed to come to room temperature before serving for best flavor.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #lavenderearlgreycake

I am cooking the pantry and fridge amidst the Coronavirus pandemic trying to make the cheap staples last, but spiffing them up with judicious amounts of garnishes: garlic-herb lentil soup with homemade line crema, Chimichurri, halved grape tomatoes, and smoked almonds.

This isn’t much of a recipe; more of an approach: when Bob went to the grocery store–what I am starting to call the fringe of the frontier–he found a bag of brown lentils, rather than the red ones I had requested, that came with a little vegan herb and garlic pack. (We may have strong supply lines in America, but the runs on the grocery stored are making it look and feel an awful not like food scarcity.)

So I just cooked about 1/3 to 1/2 cup each diced celery, onion, and carrot in a tablespoon of olive oil, added the rinsed lentils and 10 cups of water, cooked them until they were soft, then stirred in four handfuls of baby spinach and about a couple of tablespoons of ketchup because I didn’t have tomatoes. Oh, and a little white wine went in with that broth. They are honestly delicious.

To serve, I dolloped a little vegan lime crema on top along with hree dabs homemade chimichurri, a halved cherry tomato, and a sprinkling of smoked almonds.

Here’s to not hoarding but having plenty!

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #lentilsoup #coronavirus

It turns out my new recipe for No-Knead Homemade Boules makes beautiful naan!

As the recipe indicates, you can store the dough in the refrigerator covered for days. When you are ready to make a piece of naan, simply do this:

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat, and melt about 2scant tablespoon of vegan butter in it as it heats, swirling it around. With flowered hands, pinch off a golf ball piece (or slightly larger) of dough, form into a ball, and then press, pat, and pick up and gently stretch it into an oval or round shape–irregular is great–about 1/4-inch thick. Don’t even worry if it tears, as you can just press it back together. Gently lay the shaped dough into the melted butter in the skillet and cook about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and golden brown. Repeat for additional pieces of naan. Keep warm inside a folded dish towel or napkin.

#vegan #veganrecipes #veganfoodshare #veganfoodporn #plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedfoodshare #plantbasedfoodporn #vegannaan #indiannaan #naan