“Cooking with Cultures“, the book would be called. Because lord knows the Internet is over run with tutorials on how to *make* fermented foods (Am / I / right?), but there’s not a whole lot of direction regarding what to *do* with said foods, once they’re made.

And that’s what I’ve been dreaming about for the past few years. Unexpected, creative ways of incorporating cultured foods into every kind of meal. Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Sauces, desserts, and beverages. And this recipe, when it first came to me . . . well that was the spark that ignited the whole idea.


Tempeh + Pesto = Tempesto

Ingredients:
4 cups packed basil leaves
1 cup crumbled tempeh (steam it first if you care to cut the bitterness)
1/2 cup olive oil, more if needed
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons white miso
2-5 cloves garlic, as preferred
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

I served this batch of tempesto over rice spirals, with home-roasted tomatoes and green olives.

Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until completely combined. Adjust oil and seasoning, and serve – over pasta, as a sandwich spread, atop tofu or seitan, in a bean salad, as a party dip, or any other way you can conceive of using pesto.

The taste of the tempeh is completely masked (Damian is *not* a tempeh fan, but I serve this to him and he never notices). However if you’re concerned, you can replace half the tempeh with your favorite pesto-friendly nut (walnuts are my favorites, while pine nuts are traditional).

It keeps well and makes great leftovers!

Enjoy!

I was super stumped for the longest time, days actually, but I was having fun pondering. I would think of a food, and then imagine how that food made me feel. That’s how it finally came to me.

There is nothing, not even close, nothing else in this world, that gives me the same warm-and-fuzzy safe-at-home comforting feeling, as my OtherMother’s homemade chicken and matzo ball soup. Hot, salty broth (with plenty of parsley), generous pieces of fork-tender carrots and celery. And of course, those delicate, fluffy, oh-so-soft dough balls.

That is my dying wish of a meal.

And so I set about recreating it – veganized of course! – just in time for Hanukkah. I know that matzo ball soup is more often eaten for Passover, but I really associate it with this holiday. If you’re more of a traditionalist, just bookmark the recipe for spring.

Also, I know that there’s quite a few vegan matzo ball recipes floating around the Internet. I know because I’ve tried most of them over the years, and unfortunately, I’ve had nothing but failures. My matzo balls always disintegrate into matzo fluff! Figuring out an egg-free matzo ball was not an easy task, but I finally did it, and these babies are well-bound. They’ll stay together, I promise!



Ingredients:
1 cup matzo meal (matzo ball soup mix is pictured, but I recommend buying plain matzo meal)
3 egg replacer “eggs” (flax eggs work, but will change the flavor)
6 oz silken tofu (1/2 package)
1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil, like canola

16 cups vegetable broth, either homemade or salted bouillon cubes (NOT boxed broth)
medium yellow onion, chopped large
3-5 carrots, cut into thirds
3-5 ribs celery, cut into thirds
oil for sautéing
small bunch parsley, diced (a few sprigs reserved for garnish)

1 cup soy curls
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 21-seasoning salute, Spike, or other similar spice blend



Instructions:

The night before or morning of: Make your “eggs” according to instructions on the package (for flax eggs see here) and place in the refrigerator to set up. In the meantime, place the tofu and oil in a food processor and combine until smooth. Add the matzo meal and “eggs” and blend completely. Place this mixture in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

To make the soup: Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper. Using water-wet hands, form the chilled matzo dough into balls, roughly 1-2 inches in diameter. Pace them on the parchment paper-lined tray, then put the tray in the refrigerator to keep the matzo balls chilled.

In a big soup pot, heat the vegetable broth, bringing to a boil then reducing to a slow simmer. Meanwhile, set a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil for sautéing, then add the onion. Sauté until glassy. Add the carrots and celery and continue cooking, but be careful not to burn the onions. Reduce heat if necessary. When the carrots have brightened nicely, transfer the entire contents to the soup pot. Stir in the parsley as well.

Place the dehydrated soy curls in a big bowl. Ladle some of the hot broth into the bowl, enough to cover. Allow the soy curls to rehydrate for a few minutes, and get the sauté pan hot again. Add the olive oil, allow it to head up, and then transfer the soy curls (not the broth) to the hot pan. Add the spice mix and stir frequently. The leftover broth can go back into the soup pot. When the soy curls are nicely browned you can remove the pan from the heat.

While the soy curls are cooking, remove the matzo balls from the fridge. Drop them one by one into the soup pot. It is very important to keep a LOW simmer. If there’s too much action the matzo balls won’t make it, so no rolling boil! Once all the matzo balls are in, cover the pot and keep that lid tight for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the lid, add the soy curls, stir, and serve. Garnish with a bit of parsley.




This recipe is a *spot on* recreation of my OtherMother’s chicken and matzo ball soup, which I used to eat and eat and eat until I had to unbutton my pants. Comfort food at it’s absolute finest, as far as I’m concerned. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

What would your “last meal” be?

Have you started making your holiday gifts yet? What?! It’s already that time of year again? I know, I know . . .

This is a project that i’ve been meaning to do for years – yes, literally years – but it takes a few weeks to complete, and I’d never had my act together far enough in advance. But this year . . . this year I remembered! And I took myself and my baby to the liquor store, and we got us some vodka, and we went to the herb shoppe, and we got us some vanilla beans, and we got this project started a whole whopping 6 weeks ahead of deadline. Woo-hoo!

And now you, dear friends, have 5 weeks, which is plenty of time to make your own lovely, handcrafted, better-than-anything-you-could-ever-buy, delicious vanilla extract. Such a sweet and simple gift; both practical and charming (the best kind!)

But don’t wait on this one! 4 weeks is really the minimum amount of time required. Here’s what you’ll need:



- Vodka (you can use this website to determine which brands are vegan!)
- Vanilla beans
- Lime (for the cocktail, obvi)

* Note: I used 4 vanilla beans in a standard 750 ml bottle. Adjust the amount of beans to suit the volume of vodka you use; err on the side of extra beans.


To make your extract, begin by pouring off about 2 shots worth of vodka. Maybe pour them over ice into a swanky lowball (or small mason jar if you’re a hippie like me). Maybe add some lime soda and a liberal splash of lime. Maybe . . . wait what? Oh yes, the extract.

Cut the vanilla beans into pieces. Drop them in the vodka.



Out of sight, out of mind. Put the bottle away for 4-6 weeks. When you pull it out again, it will be a dark amber color (I’ll show you mine when it’s done!)

Pour the solution through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth, then transfer to small bottles. Pretty bottles work well if you’re gifting. If you’re just making this for yourself (it’s significantly cheaper than buying real vanilla extract), you can simply use old maple syrup bottles, old salad dressing bottles, or even old mason jars. The end, so easy.

Now, about that cocktail . . .



Here’s some light reading material to keep you and your cocktail company – a little list of past “Homemade Holidays” projects:

Vegan Taxidermy
Vanilla Bean Sugar
Reusable “Java Jackets”
Crock Pot Candles
Custom Tea Bags

And eggs? What of them?

In vegan cookbooks everywhere, and all across the Internetz, you’ll find recipes referencing “flax eggs”. Sometimes they’re actually even written as components, for example “1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water”. Which seems pretty self explanatory, right? You’d think!

But nope, if you want your flax to really approximate eggs – to really achieve that gelatinous, goopy goodness that works so very well as a binder (especially important in gluten-free recipes!) – then it helps to have a few tricks hidden in your pastry case. I’ve been baking exclusively vegan for a while now, and this is how I guarantee the perfect flax egg, every time:



1.
Begin with whole flax seeds. Buying pre-ground flax is a dangerous game, as the oil is very unstable, and once released (via grinding) it will turn rancid pretty quickly. So buy your flax seeds whole and grind them yourself, to spec. It’s easy enough; you can use a coffee grinder, a hand-crank spice grinder, a mortar and pestle, or a high-speed blender. Process into a very fine powder.

Store whole flax seeds in the refrigerator or freezer.



2.
Make egg/s. One egg equals [1 tablespoon flax meal plus 3 tablespoons water], and you do not need to make each one individually. In a small bowl, add flax meal followed by water (not water followed by flax), stirring as you go. I use a miniature whisk because it’s adorable, but a fork works just as well.



3.
Refrigerate. This is key! Place the bowl of eggs in the refrigerator for a minimum of 15 minutes, but up to an hour is best. This will allow your egg to “set up”. Don’t skip this important step!

I always make my eggs at the start of a recipe. That way, I can get them in the fridge, and then work through the other steps while the eggs set.



4.
When the eggs come out of the fridge they’ll have formed a thick sticky goo, just the consistency of egg whites. There’s your binder! Add it to the recipe and proceed as instructed.


Note: Flax has a nutty, somewhat distinctive flavor. It’s pretty well masked in recipes such as whole wheat breads, spice loafs, and other “full-bodied” treats. But for something like white cake or sugar cookies, you may notice the flavor. If this bothers you, try using chia seeds instead! They work just the same and don’t add any flavor (though admittedly, they cost about four times as much).

Happy vegan baking!

Except here’s the thing: Waits is an incredibly active kid. He burns a bunch of fuel and he’s just not so interested in eating much, which means he’s a pretty skinny dude. And that’s okay – his parents are both slender and obviously, he’s inherited our ectomorphic body type. However as the momma, I have to figure out some creative ways of getting extra calories into him.

Which brought me right back to milk. Okay! No problem, I was already making my own plant milk all the time, and I began giving it to Waits as well.



But then, my overactive brain got to thinking. “WELL“, I thought, “If I’m already giving him the milk, am I wasting an opportunity to slip him some extra nutrients? Should I start buying the packaged stuff, since it’s all enriched and full of extra vitamins and minerals?”

I wasn’t sure, and for a while I would go back and forth; one week I’d buy some boxed coconut milk, and the next week I’d make my own almond-walnut-hemp blend. And on. But . . . every time I made my own, I wondered if he was missing out. Conversely, every time I bought the pre-made products, I couldn’t help but grimace at the ingredients list: sweeteners, stabilizers, additives and more. Either way seemed like a compromise, until I realized . . .

HEY WAIT A MINUTE!

And now I just make my own fortified milks. Really, what the hell took me so long, right?!




These days I make my plant milks exactly as instructed here. I usually add a few Brazil nuts for extra selenium, one medjool date to sweeten it up a bit, and a splash of vanilla for flavor. Waits loves it like this.

HOWEVER. Before I blend, I also add a number of supplements. If you’re using a high-speed blender, you can toss pressed pills right into the mix. If you’ve got an older blender or a food processor, then I suggest emptying the powder out of capsules. Make sure you get vegan ones! Most gel-caps are made from gelatin. You can also buy vitamins/minerals in powdered form, such as dolomite.


We all know that calcium is key for bone health, but calcium works in a synergistic relationship with magnesium and vitamin D. Vitamin K2 and zinc are also important for proper development, but can be a bit tricky for vegans to obtain . . . especially for picky toddlers!

So these are the micronutrients that I focus on. I use various products to meet my needs, but I’ve found Deva’s Cal-Mag Plus and NOW Vitamin K2 Vcaps to be especially helpful. Vegan versions of zinc and vitamin D are not as hard to come by. (try: zinc and D)


Here are the stats for a 1-cup serving (these Daily Values percentages are for adults, and I should note that Waits would never drink even close to a full cup in a day):

Calcium: 333 mg / 33% DV
Magnesium: 133 mg / 33% DV
Vitamin D2: 633 IU / 105% recommended
Vitamin K2: 50 mcg / 62% DV
Zinc: 17.5 mg / 116% DV

You could also add B12, or anything else you feel is important.



Also, I feel the need to remind you that I am neither a nutritionist nor a food manufacturer, and this method has not been laboratory-tested, and this recipe certainly should not take the place of proper diet OR professional advisement. Okay?


So there ya go – I hope you like it as much as we have!

The recipe itself is super easy – a “one pot”, er, one food processor, project. Like so:


Raw Pulp Crackers (adapted from Gena’s recipe)

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups juice pulp (packed)
nut pulp from one batch of milk
½ cup water
½ cup flax meal (use a coffee grinder, spice grinder, or mortar and pestle)
¼ cup nama shoyu (for raw) or tamari (for gluten-free)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon black pepper



Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix thoroughly. You want it good and broken down, otherwise you’ll end up with long tough fibers in your crackers! Add more water to thin, if needed.



Turn half of the “dough” out onto a lined dehydrator tray. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can use your oven on the lowest heat, though the final crackers will not “technically” be raw (whatevs, they’ll still be tasty and nutritious!). Just use a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or some wax paper.



Use a spatula to spread the dough evenly over the sheet, then score it into the desired shape/size. Repeat with the second half, on another sheet.

Dehydrate the crackers at 145º for 2 hours, then turn the temperature down to 115º and continue to dehydrate for another 8-10 hours. It helps speed the process along if you flip them after 4-5 hours, removing the non-stick liner. However, this is not necessary and you can totally just dry them overnight.

If you use an oven they’ll take significantly less time, but I’m not sure how much, so you’ll just have to experiment. Keep an eye on them!


And that, my friends, is that. Once they’re dry they’ll keep for a few weeks in an airtight container in the pantry. And the best part about these crackers?



Kid approved!

So obviously, all these things can be veganized very easily. And for a while that’s just exactly what I did. But over time, as I moved away from processed products and transitioned to a primarily whole foods diet, I sort of left the ranch behind. And for a long time I just did without. I ate my raw veggies with hummus like a good vegan (ha!), but I never replaced that cravable, always-applicable, easy “go-to” dip.
Until . . .



Tahini. Dear, sweet, slightly bitter but oh-so-delectable, nutrient-rich and totally unique, tahini from the heavens. I heart thee!

Tahini has filled the void where ranch once resided. Tahini, with its tang and bite, with its high protein and exceptional calcium count, with the sort of ubiquitous zest that will accompany any flavor profile. Tahini is like the “jeans” of the food world!

And this dip, just a little bit different every time I make it (which is why it’s so dang wonderful), is the “perfect pair”. It goes. with. everything.



I slather it on raw crackers. I use it as a salad dressing. I pour it over roasted root veggies and baked potatoes. It’s a great for dunking sandwiches and it’s equally divine as a mayo replacer/bread spread. And of course, it’s my ultimate, go-to raw veggie dip.

The following recipe is written in approximations, because that’s how I roll with it. That’s why it’s fun! You can work with what you have on hand and you can adjust to suit your tastes. Get creative with it and play around!


Ingredients:
1 cup tahini (raw, made from unhulled sesame seeds)
2-4 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, or any combination of the two
2-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-4 tablespoons soy sauce/tamari/nama shoyu, depending on how salty you like it
1-4 cloves garlic OR 1/2 – 2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 – 1 teaspoon cumin
water to thin, as needed

Optional:
- use less soy sauce and add fancy salt, like smoked salt
- add liquid smoke (I almost always do this – SO GOOD)
- add diced jalapeño OR jalapeño powder OR red pepper flakes
- add curry powder
- add diced red onion, or onion powder
- use less soy sauce and add some miso paste



Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend! Add water to thin to desired consistency (runnier for dressing, thicker for dip) (also, it will thicken up some after being refrigerated). This will store for up to two weeks in the fridge.

And that’s all there is to it! The best part about tahini? Totally kid approved:


Enjoy!

But what about people like me? What about people who are, shall we say, somewhat addicted to enamored of their greens? People who can’t go a few hours without wolfing down some kale or rolling up some collards or blending a bunch of spinach ? For us, summer means the end of greens season (they thrive in the cool climate of late spring and early fall), and 3(ish) months of life without local organic green goodness. Summer is a sad time for my blender . . .

Ginormous organic chard for $1/bunch (!!!). I couldn’t turn it down, but how could I use it all up before it went bad? And so began my scheming.

This concept is so simple that I simply can’t believe it hasn’t occurred to me sooner. And I really can’t believe I haven’t seen it elsewhere in the blogosphere! But there you go.

It goes like this:




Procure a large quantity of fresh, local, organic greens (like spinach, collards, chard, dandelion, etc). And I do mean large. In the picture above, I’m holding the entire yield of kale from this year’s garden. That’s about 1/5 of the total greens I used.

Wash and de-rib the leaves. Lay them out flat on dehydrator trays (for a raw powder) or baking sheets (for oven, non raw). Set your dehydrator at 115º and allow to run overnight, or until leaves are completely dried (up to 12 hours). Alternately, you can set your oven at the lowest temperature and use that, but I haven’t tested this method so you’ll have to keep an eye on the timing. Just remember, you’re aiming to pull the moisture out – not to actually cook them. So keep the setting low!

Collards, the morning after.

Next, you’ll need to grind your greens into powder. I like to use an electric coffee grinder which I reserve for things like flax, dried coconut, and other caffeine-free culinary specimens.





You could also use a spice grinder, a mortar and pestle, or a food processor. But this is a LOT of product to work through, and you want to get as fine a powder as possible, so a coffee grinder really fits the bill.


Grind grind grind in batches, until voila! You’ve saved a few months worth of greens.

I had to repeat this entire process four times, and it still barely yielded a couple cups of powder (and I have a 9-tray dehydrator!). But that means this is incredibly concentrated green nutrition. Use it as you’d use any other green powder – for me that means a lot of smoothies. A little bit goes a long way!

This will make a great project for late autumn, when the second crop begins to die back, and once again we need to preserve a stock of fresh local organic greens to make it through the off season.


Enjoy!

As I’ve been up to my ears in writing, working in overdrive all hours of the day, he has been picking up all my slack. Child-care, groceries, errands, child-care, cleaning, child-care – all that stuff. On top of working his tukhus off at, you know, his job.

So now that my books are wrapped and life is slowly returning to normal, as I make my way through the pile up of to-dos and dust residues around the house, one of my main priorities is Taking Care Of Damian. Because he deserves it!

This weekend at the Farmer’s Market, we picked up a few pints of the first organic cherries of the season. And on Sunday night I asked my love, “What do you want for breakfast tomorrow?”, and as he was thinking about it I said “Would you like me to make you a cherry crisp?”, and he didn’t have to answer. The tears sort of said enough.



Well, I had to have one too!

Do you remember last summer’s RAW 101 series? It was a great little feature, where I presented meals in two ways, one all raw, and one cooked, but utilizing the same central ingredients. It’s quite common that only one member of a household is raw/vegan, and it can be difficult to maintain your motivation when you’re cooking two completely different meals every night. That’s a lot of work! (believe me, I know) So RAW 101 is all about lightening that kitchen load, by maximizing similarities in the cooked and raw components. You get to eat raw, they get a nice home-cooked meal, everybody’s eating healthier, and we all win! Look out for many more RAW 101 posts coming this summer.

So anyway, about those cherry crisps. They were spectacular.

Keep in mind that these are both “single serving” recipes, so make adjustments as needed. Also, we ate these for breakfast because we are sinful and decadent folk. I did use a bit less sweetener than you’d find in your standard after dinner crisps, though they’re certainly quite sweet and would make a great dessert.

These two recipes contain many of the same ingredients and are constructed identically, so it’s super easy to make them simultaneously, step by step. Make them the night before so they’re ready to go as soon as you rise.


Damian’s “I Love You” Cherry Crisp

Ingredients:
1 cup pitted Bing or Ranier cherries, halved
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon agave syrup
few drops almond extract (pour a bit from the bottle into the cap, then tip the cap over the bowl – easier to control the flow this way)

¼ cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon Earthbalance™ or other alt butter
pinch of salt

Fresh out of the oven, bubbly and hot!

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375º F. Unless you’re making it the night before. Then, you know, don’t leave your oven on all night. Just preheat in the morning.

Combine the cherries, corn starch, lemon juice, agave, and almond extract in a small bowl and toss to combine. Transfer to a ramekin or mini tart pan.

In another small bowl, combine the oats, whole wheat flour, sugar, and salt. Toss to mix. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Spoon mixture over cherries.

Bake at 375º F for 15-25 minutes, until top is toasty and filling is bubbling. Allow to cool a bit before serving (ramekin will be very hot!). Serve with coffee and big smooch.




Sayward’s Raw Breakfast Cherry Crisp

Ingredients:
1 cup pitted Bing or Ranier cherries, halved
1 teaspoon coconut flour (you can make a DIY version by grinding dried shredded coconut in a coffee or spice grinder)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon agave syrup
few drops almond extract (pour a bit from the bottle into the cap, then tip the cap over the bowl – easier to control the flow this way)

¼ cup sprouted, dehydrated buckwheat “crunchies” (what the heck are those?) (also, see ***note)
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 tablespoon coconut crystals (raw coconut sugar)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
pinch of salt

*** I used buckwheat crunchies because rolled oats are not really raw. However, many raw enthusiasts eat rolled oats, and oats are really good for you, so if you’re not super strict and if buckwhatever crunchimibobbies sound like crazy talk to you, feel free to use rolled oats in the raw version as well. It will still taste fantastic!

Instructions:
Combine the cherries, coconut flour, lemon juice, agave, and almond extract in a small bowl and toss to combine. Transfer to a ramekin or mini tart pan.

In another small bowl, combine the buckwheat, coconut flour, coconut crystals, and salt. Toss to mix. Cut in the coconut oil and mix until crumbly. Spoon mixture over cherries.

Dehydrate at 115º F for 2 hours, then serve warm from the dehydrator with iced coffee and a side of happy husband.




These two treats were such a splendid way to celebrate life on a sunny morning with loved ones. They make great use of the cherries which are ripe right now, but the truth is that they’d be awesome with just about any seasonal fruit. I imagine we’ll be modifying them to accomodate the crop as the summer continues. Enjoy!

However, most raw desserts are centered entirely around nuts: crumbly walnut crusts and chewy almond cookies and silky cashew cheesecake, and on, and on. They’re delicious and they’re nutritious, but nuts carry a few of their own issues. For one, they’re quite high in calories. But more importantly, they can be rough on digestion. I find that too many nuts will disagree with me, especially in combination with fruit. It’s a common phenomenon and many people experience it – Damian calls it “nut belly”. Or more like, “nut belly, groooooan”.

So recently I’ve focused creating amazing raw desserts that are totally nut-free. And I’ve had some awesome success! This recipe, for example, brought to my palate a sensation I hadn’t thought possible to experience while raw: perfectly buttery, perfectly flakey, perfectly perfect pastry crust. It’s magical.



The secret ingredient is coconut flour, my new favorite ingredient. My particular coconut flour was sent to me by Coconut Secret, and not to sound like an ad or something but man, this stuff is revolutionary! It’s completely changed my ideas of what’s possible in the world of unbaking. Seriously life changing! Coconut Secret is a great company and they have an awesome little line of raw products (which I’ll talk about another time), but you can get coconut four from many sources. I’ve seen it in a bunch of different bulk bins. (As a note, not all coconut flour is raw, so double check if that’s important to you).

Strange new ingredient aside, these treats come together quickly and easily.


Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup alt milk
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (more for greasing)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Filling:
2 cups dried apricot halves, soaked at least 4 hours
2 cups water

Instructions:
Use coconut oil to grease an 8″ baking tray. Combine all crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and completely combine. If you need to melt the coconut oil, you can float it in a small bowl within a larger bowl of hot water. Once the batter is mixed, press it into the bottom of the baking tray.

Place all soaked apricots in a blender or food processor. Add enough of the soak water to form a thick but smooth paste – probably just over a cup. When the apricots are fully blended, spread them evenly on top of the crust.

Refrigerate to set for a few hours.



Perfect for tea time. Enjoy!