Fresh Garden Broccoli Stir-fry Over Quinoa Pasta

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

It seems like just yesterday I bought teeny tiny broccoli plugs for 25 cents each from a farmers market vendor. They looked so small and helpless I couldn’t believe they’d survive the rabbits and other predators of tender young plants. The first week I bought four plants, and they did so well in the garden that the next week I bought four more. All have survived and grown huge and one has just yielded a large head of broccoli. It may be just a broccoli plant to you, but to me it was a gardening milestone. The broccoli got planted. The broccoli survived. The broccoli will be eaten by me and not the rabbits! I was practically hysterical with glee. I couldn’t decide if I should do something simple or fancy with this ultra-fresh vegetable but decided I really wanted to focus on tasting, not disguising, the broccoli. I made a simple but delicious stir fry with artichoke hearts and lemon zest adding a special punch. Since I have lemon thyme and chives growing in the garden, I added some of those herbs, too.

The Ancient Harvest quinoa spaghetti that we used is gluten-free, and although we’re not intolerant of gluten, this noodle has become a favorite of ours. The noodles are bright yellow and have a very good texture and taste. I think the only thing in the dish that wasn’t gluten-free was my husband’s home-made seitan sausage, and that could easily be substituted with cashews, mushrooms or beans.

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Ingredient list

• broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
• garlic, minced fine
• vegan sausage or substitute a gluten-free item
• artichoke hearts
• shredded carrot
• Quinoa pasta
• lemon zest
• lemon thyme
• chives
• fresh ground black pepper
• crushed red pepper

First, I steamed the broccoli gently in a covered wok until almost tender. Then I removed the cover and added some oil to the wok, and added finely minced garlic to cook for a minute. Thin slices of homemade seitan sausage were stir-fried in, then artichoke hearts, shredded carrot, lemon zest and lemon thyme. The cooked veggies were placed on top of quinoa spaghetti, and crushed red pepper, fresh ground black pepper and chives were added.

Garden tour (of our garden) on July 20.

Dill © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Basil © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

This has been eaten. © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Three kinds of lettuce. © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

One of the tomato plants. © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Tumbling Tom. © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Swiss chard. © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Asian lily. © 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Swiss Chard With Raisins, Garlic and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

First, I should mention that I’ve never really liked Swiss chard. It’s just too beety tasting, and I’m not thrilled with beets. That said, I will eat these things if I come upon them at the table. My son and d-i-l in Seattle are very fond of Swiss chard and when they cook it it always tastes much better than I think it will. It tastes good, and makes me think I don’t dislike it after all. But it’s not something I would buy on purpose at the store. I’d rather have kale.

The garlic is added to the wok.

However, this year when we planted the garden – a garden that will be beneficial mainly to our renters since we’ll be gone before most of it is ready to eat – I decided to plant Swiss chard because it grows fast, and the thought that I might be able to actually eat something from the garden other than lettuce, was enough to get me past my true feelings. Well, yahoo, the chard is indeed ready, and today I gathered a huge bowlful of thinnings. (The pole beans are also doing well and who knows, maybe we’ll get a few of those. And the broccoli plants have tiny broccoli heads forming. And the Tumbling Tom tomato is covered with green cherry tomatoes, so there’s a glimmer of hope that we might get to harvest something besides Swiss chard before August 15.)

The Swiss chard gets stir-fried in the wok.

Anyway, faced with this giant bowl of fresh greens, I had to cook something. I made a simple dish from the chard with crimini mushrooms, lots of garlic, raisins and toasted pumpkin seeds, and it wasn’t too bad. It was seasoned with Shark brand sriracha. (I read that Shark sriracha is a more traditional chili sauce than the commonly used rooster brand. It’s what is used in Thailand, and unlike Rooster sriracha, it has no preservatives. Now if only it didn’t have 20% sugar. In Australia, my husband was able to find chili sauce that contained neither preservatives or sugar, but we haven’t found anything like that here. If you know a good brand, please let me know.)

This is a very flexible recipe, and in keeping with that theme (and because I didn’t measure), I’m going to be a little vague with ingredients and cooking directions. It’s the basic idea that counts.

Swiss chard with udon noodles

• about 2 cups crimini (or whatever) mushrooms, sliced
• handful of raisins (1/4 cup?)
• olive oil
• lots of fresh garlic, minced fine (at least 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce (more or less to taste)
• handful of grape tomatoes, halved (I would have added these but we didn’t have any!)
• BIG bunch Swiss chard, leaves and stems, roughly cut
• 10 ounces udon noodles
• fresh ground black pepper
• handful of pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds), toasted
• chopped green onions might be nice added at the end, though I didn’t add any

1. First toast the pumpkin or sunflower seeds in a wok until browned and fragrant. Set aside in a small bowl.
2. Cook the udon. Drain it, rinse it well with cold running water and drain again. Place it in a bowl and toss with toasted sesame oil.
3. Cook the mushrooms and raisins for a minute or two in oil in a wok. As they begin to soften, add the garlic and cook for a minute. (Add a little more oil if needed.)
4. Mix in the sriracha and tomatoes, then add the chard and stir fry briefly until the chard is wilted, mixing ingredients together.
5. Add the noodles to the wok and toss for a minute until noodles are heated.
6. Place in serving bowl and grind pepper over the noodles.
7. Sprinkle the toasted pumpkin seeds over all.

We had our chardy noodles with Basic Oven-Baked Marinated Tempeh from Crescent Dragonwagon’s “Passionate Vegetarian.”

Katrina’s Cold Chinese Noodles

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

We had been lately treated to some dinner at the house of Katrina, 1 of my husbands graduate students. The food was all fantastic (I forgot my camera, obviously) but I especially desired to share 1 of the recipes – a cold noodle dish – with you. It is ideal for summer time, tastes fabulous and is so simple to create. I utilized Ancient Harvest quinoa noodles that are created with corn flour and quinoa and are gluten-free. I had regarded producing this with udon noodles or entire wheat spaghetti but opted for the quinoa rather, and it was ideal. I also believe buckwheat noodles will be a great option.

Katrina, who’s from China and therefore understands the greatest elements to utilize for this traditional Chinese dish, gave me a package of specially seasoned nori to utilize in the recipe, but I believe you can use plain toasted nori too. When she gave me the noodle recipe, Katrina told me what elements she utilized, but did not give me any quantities, so the quantities I’m listing are what I made the decision to utilize. The completed dish tasted fantastic, but really feel free of charge to create adjustments should you disagree with my quantities.

Katrina’s noodles

• 8 ounces spaghetti (I used Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (or brown rice vinegar)
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili sauce (sambal oelek)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, cut fine (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced very fine
• few grinds black pepper
• 1 sheet seasoned or plain toasted nori, cut with scissors into small rectangles
• chopped cilantro, optional

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions al dente. When cooked, drain and rinse under cold running water to cool quickly. Drain noodles again and place in a bowl.
2. Add the oil and toss to coat the noodles.
3. Add vinegar, tamari, chili, garlic, ginger, sugar and pepper, and mix well.
4. Just before serving, add the nori. Mix some in and transfer the noodles to a serving bowl. Arrange the remaining nori over the top of the noodles.
5. Optional: Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Makes two average, or three to four very small servings.

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

We served the noodles with barbecued seitan and steamed kale. The seitan was supposed to be barbecued, but since we don’t currently have a barbecue, we marinated it in sauce and pan fried it in a small amount of oil. You could also broil it.

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Eating raw garlic doesn’t agree with my digestive system, but these noodles are so good I was willing to feel a little sick in order to eat them. Maybe next time I’ll try drinking a big mug of peppermint tea with my raw garlic.

Nasoya Silken Creations / banana cream pie / FTC targets blogger freebies

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Several years ago I came across a recipe for vegan banana cream pie and I was so excited I couldn’t wait to try it. I didn’t make a single change to the recipe – just followed the directions exactly. That pie was gorgeous, and it was with great anticipation that we waited until dessert to try it. Let me tell you, you could have bounced a ball off that pie. Couldn’t crush it with a sledgehammer. Couldn’t dent it with a crowbar. Couldn’t eat it with a fork. That pie could have stopped a speeding bullet faster than Superman. And it didn’t taste good, either. We stared at the pie in horror and disappointment for a brief moment, then collapsed in hysterical laughter. We laughed about it for days, and even now someone might occasionally say, “remember the banana cream pie?” Have you cooked something that brings back memories like this?

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

So, it was with some trepidation that I decided to try again. The Nasoya company sent me coupons for free samples of three different varieties of Nasoya Silken Creations, a new dairy-free, lactose-free, low-fat, gluten-free pudding-like soy product that can be used as a base for creamy desserts. I meant to use the vanilla for a banana cream pie but Whole Foods was out of vanilla, so I made a chocolate banana cream pie instead. I couldn’t find a recipe for banana cream pie on the Nasoya Website, so I followed their directions for similar pies and hoped for the best. The filling right from the container has a taste and texture similar to very sweet chocolate pudding, and you could layer it as is with fruit and ice cream for an easy parfait dessert. It was a little too sweet for me, but I imagine a “normal” person would find it quite delicious. And it tastes like “real” chocolate pudding. I doubt that anyone would think it was vegan.

Fill the raw crust with sliced bananas
© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

I made the pie with a pressed pastry crust, substituting agave syrup for the Sucanot and whole wheat pastry flour for the white whole wheat, but you could use a prepared crust or whatever crust you like to make. Oddly enough, once the pie was baked, it no longer tasted too sweet – it was really creamy and good. And it was unbelievably easy to prepare. The pie tasted richly of fresh banana with the chocolate taking a complimentary role. I definitely want to try this again with vanilla so I can compare the two. (fyi: I served it as a “birthday pie” for my husband’s birthday and that’s why it has a candle!)

Just out of the oven – still molten and bubbly
© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

All right then. I present you with a chocolate banana cream pie. But first I have to insert a little disclaimer.

The June 22 edition of our local morning paper had a front page headline blaring, “Blogger’ Freebies are Under Scrutiny.” Subhead: “The Federal Trade Commission is expected to issue guidelines for online consumer reviews, which can be tainted by perks.” Gasp. The article goes on to describe how bloggers accept “free laptops, trips to Europe, $500 gift cards or even thousands of dollars for a 200-word post.” Then it describes how a blogger from New Hartford, N.Y. who earns up to $800 per month as well as assorted gifts from her five blogs, now worries that even an innocent review of a product she purchased herself could bring an inquiry if the FTC gets involved in bloggers’ lives. Does this free product thing sound familiar? I have to admit I didn’t realize some bloggers were cashing in to this extent.

Anyway, in anticipation of the proposed FTC scrutiny for every little review we bloggers do, I just want to come clean and say that although Nasoya gave me thousands of dollars, a free laptop, a free trip to Hawaii, a Vitamix and a new car, in addition to three coupons for their product, my review is totally honest and above board. I’m stating only what I truly believe to be truly true. And that’s the truth.

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking

Chocolate banana cream pie

• Crust for an 8- or 9-inch pie
• 4 bananas, sliced (You may need more or less to fill the crust, depending on the size of the bananas.)
• 1 package of Nasoya Silken Creations chocolate flavor
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 banana for decorating (optional)
• lemon juice (if using banana for decorating)

1. Place the arrowroot in a bowl and add the water. Mix thoroughly until arrowroot is completely dissolved.
2. Add the Silken Creations to the bowl and mix until completely combined.
3. Slice the bananas and place in the crust.
4. Pour the Chocolate mixture over the bananas, covering them completely.
5. Bake in a preheated 325˚ oven for 45 minutes.
6. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes and then refrigerate until completely cold.
7. If desired, slice a banana just before serving, and toss with some lemon juice so it won’t turn brown. Arrange the banana slices on the top of the pie.

Silken Creations Dark Chocolate ingredients: soymilk, dried cane juice, cocoa, rice starch, natural flavors, salt.
1/2 cup has 120 calories, 1.5g fat, 18g sugar, 1g fiber, 3g protein, 45mg salt.
The package contains approximately 5 servings. I used one container plus five bananas in the pie filling. The pie contains 6 to 8 servings, depending on the size of a serving.

© 2009 Andrea’s easy vegan cooking