Vegan Week: Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip

As mentioned in the first post of the current vegan week, I'm having to rely a lot on the recipes of others to make it a success. This is a recipe I tried from Rachel who writes the awesome blog My Naturally Frugal Family. Be sure to check it out. It's a treasure of lots of vegan recipes. She posted this recipe for vegan Spinach-Artichoke Dip, I had to try it to see if it could be done! But first, let's report in on the vegan diet for Thursday, Friday and Saturday (last day):

Thursday:

• English muffin with spinach-artichoke dip
• dark chocolate
• baby carrots
• barbecued tofu
• Tortilla soup
• ginger cookie**
• coconut cookie**
• chow mein noodles
• Drinks: coffee, tea, water, coke, soy nog, red wine 

Friday:

• Oatmeal, with dried fruit and almonds
• Tortilla soup 
• Dark Chocolate
• Barbecue tofu
• Gardein strips with mustard & hot sauce 
• To drink: coffee, tea, water, diet coke 

Saturday:

• hash browns
• winter minestrone over pasta
• barbecue tofu
• olives
• Tofu steak entree at local Japanese Restaurant. Included tofu, sauteed veggies, rice, and vegetable maki
• To drink: Coffee, water, tea, Plum wine

Because of this vegan week, we were able to be more mindful of not overindulging before Christmas. We also felt less guilty of any indulgences we partook in on Christmas Day, though truthfully, we ate fairly light for a holiday.

Well, now on to the fun part. Rachel's kickin' vegan spinach-artichoke dip. This recipe is totally hers, with the smallest of modifications based on what was available to me. Recipe is posted in my own words.

Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip (makes about 2 C)

• 1/2 C vegan mayo (I used nayonaise) 
• 1/2 C silken tofu
• 1 10-oz package frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and moisture pressed out
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 C soy Parmesan (I used "shaker" style)
• 1/2 C artichoke hearts (I used canned, not marinated)

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Place all above ingredients in a food processor. Pulse about 15 times, or until fairly smooth. 
2. Pour the contents in a small casserole dish. Place in oven and bake 15 mins, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. Serve immediately, or for a thicker dip, make ahead and reheat in oven or microwave. 


Kitchen Notes: Rachel's original recipe called for 5 oz kale and 5 oz spinach; I think this would be super tasty, but I didn't have any on hand. It also calls for a slice of lemon (I like a strong lemon flavor) and 1/4 more Parmesan. I limited the amount of soy Parmesan for my attempt at it because the soy Parm I have is very granular and I didn't want the dip to have a gritty texture.

Verdict? I was seriously impressed with how similar to the real thing this tasted! You could easily fool someone into thinking this was dairy, it has all the richness, texture, and creamy zing of the full-fat version. A total keeper. Fresh out of the oven, it's a bit runny, but reheated it's the exact texture of the traditional version. The spinach flavor is quite assertive--it would be milder with fresh spinach. I might bump up the artichoke ratio a bit. I've been serving it as a sandwich spread, as a topping for breakfast English muffins and with pita. I'm super excited about this recipe!

A Trio of: Party Snacks. Oven-Fried Cajun Chickpeas

 This recipe comes with 2 warnings: 1) Prepare to become addicted to this tiny treats; 2) Symptoms of this addiction include a tongue made raw by crunchy chickpea bits and cajun heat, AKA a condition known as "Cap'n Crunch Tongue".

I've been quiet with blogging as I've been busy preparing for a Christmas party that we hosted last night. Since (ehem!) I had to focus so many efforts on housecleaning, I wanted to enjoy experimenting with simple, yummy party foods.

Two restaurants in town feature a little fried chickpea appetizer, both featuring smoky paprika seasoning. The fried chickpeas at Radio Maria and Carmon's Bistro for me, frequently overshadow the main course. After reading a lot of reviews that fried chickpeas made an easy, crowd pleasing appetizer, I figured I'd give it a go. Since every recipe I looked up stated they needed to be made more or less immediately before serving, and I didn't want to mess with frying oil in a party dress, I looked for an alternative. Steamy Kitchen offered up this recipe, which I followed more or less as directed. As an added benefit, I got to use my new bottle of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub and a new baking pan designed to make oven fried foods crispier. Here are pictures of them:

And the pan:

Cajun Oven-Fried Chickpeas

• 2 cans chickpeas
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Cajun seasoning, or other spice blend to taste (I used 2-3 Tbsp)
• salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400, 325 if using convection. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
2. Line a baking pan with paper towels. Pour the drained chickpeas on the towel in single layer and place a paper towel on top. Let sit for 10 mins.
3. After 10 mins, rub the palm on your hand on the top paper towel to remove the outer skins of the chickpeas. Discard the skins that remove easily.
4. Dispose of paper towels. Pour chickpeas in a bowl. Add the olive oil, and stir until the chickpeas are well coated. 
5. Return the chickpeas back to the baking pan in a single layer. Cook for 20 mins, stir. Cook for about 20 mins more, or until chickpeas are crispy.
6. Pour chickpeas in a bowl, gradually adding/mixing in salt and seasoning to desired flavor. Serve immediately. 

Kitchen Notes: These will store for a day or so, but some crispness is lost. I think these would be excellent on a salad.

Verdict? It's a good thing that this blog is written, rather than spoken since my tongue is so sore from eating too many of these. These are almost as good as the fried ones, but easier to make, and possibly healthier. I'm really excited to make these again and again and I think they'll be a fabulous substitute for a lot of commercial salty snacks.

Caramelized Onion-Spinach Hummus

This recipe is dedicated to my friend Carrie, who has eagerly been requesting it.
My co-op recently started churning out caramelized onion & spinach hummus. Some friends recently brought it to a picnic. It was good stuff, it sort of tasted like a less decadent version of spinach artichoke dip (even though it has no artichoke), so I thought I'd try to make it myself.

Caramelized Onion-Spinach Hummus (makes about 2 C)

• 1 can chick peas, drained
• 1 heaping Tbsp tahini
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 C onion, chopped
• 2 C raw spinach, loosely packed 
• vegetable oil
• olive oil

1. In a food processor, puree the chick peas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and a bit of salt and pepper until smooth. It will be a bit dry--that's OK at this point.
2. Heat about 2 Tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan at medium high heat. Begin sauteeing the onions, stirring frequently. When the onions begin to brown, turn the heat down, continue to caramelize for another 5-10 mins. Turn off the heat and set aside.
3. Start some water boiling for the spinach, cook the spinach for about 2 mins or until the leaves are wilted. Drain the spinach.
4. Add the caramelized onion, including the oil drippings from the pan, and spinach to the chickpea mixture. Process until smooth. If too dry, add a drizzle of olive oil.
5. Add additional salt & pepper if desired. If underseasoned, add paprika or cumin. 


Kitchen Notes: This hummus is a beautiful bright green shade the day it's made. It dulls to a more muted green as it sits.

Verdict? This didn't taste a thing like the co-op's hummus, but it was pretty delicious. The caramelized onion flavor is a welcomed hummus variation, and this is a quick, easy way to get a bit more spinach in your diet.

Vegan Fried Green Tomatoes with Creamy Tomatillo Salsa

...with bonus fried pickles! Monday marked day 2 of vegan week. Here's a reminder. Monday, I ate the following:

• almond milk yogurt
• to drink: coffee, seltzer, coke, & water
• vegan chocolate cake**
• vegetable pizza*
• pepita-cranberry snack mix
• campanelle with garlicky broccoli**

*exempt leftover item that would spoil during vegan week if not eaten
**recipe to follow

This recipe was especially challenging for me. My husband and I had purchased some green tomatoes at the coop before vegan week with the intention of frying them. This was challenging because I had never made fried green tomatoes, and I wasn't sure how to compensate for the egg bath or buttermilk bath I had seen in most fried green tomato recipes.

I used the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que An American Roadhouse for guidance on prepping the tomatoes, but the recipe is my own. I searched online for a vegan buttermilk substitute, and the general consensus is 1 C soy milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar, allowed to sit for 10 mins. The tomatillo recipe comes from Kevin at Closet Cooking, however the adaption into a creamy version is my own. Here we go!

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce (makes about 1 1/2 C--try to make in advance)

• 3/4 lb tomatillos, husked
• 2 jalapenos, stemmed and sliced in half longways
• 1/2 med-large onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice & zest of 1 lime
•  1/2 C cilantro
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 4 oz soy cream cheese

1. Put the broiler on high. Arrange the tomatillos, jalapenos (skin side up), and onion in a single layer on a baking sheet. 
2. Broil until the jalapenos are darkened, and the tomatillos blackened all over. The tomatillos release a lot of juices, be careful when removing from oven. 
3. In a food processor, place the tomatillos, jalapenos, onions, garlic, lime juice and zest, and cilantro and mix until it's reached the desired consistency. Add a bit of salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
4. Remove half of the tomatillo sauce and save for another recipe. Add the soy cream cheese and pulse til smooth. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to use.

Kitchen Notes: Kevin's original recipe called for 1lb tomatillos. I only had 3/4lb, so I reflected that here. I was concerned that the flavor of the sauce would be very charred tasting, but it isn't. I needed to remove the jalapenos before the tomatillos. I use Tofutti brand Better Than Cream Cheese.

                                                                  Waiting for the oven

                                                             Before Cream Cheese...

                                                             And After!

Vegan Fried Green Tomatoes (serves 3)

•  3 green tomatoes
• 3/4 C soy buttermilk (see instructions above)
• 1/2 C cornmeal
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning (or more, or less to taste), plus extra
• 1 tsp chili powder (or more, or less to taste)
• pepper to taste
• peanut oil 

1. Slice the tomatoes into 1/2 in slices. Blot on paper towels to drain and dry out the tomatoes a bit.
2. Begin heating the peanut oil to 350 degrees. You'll need at least 1/2 inch of oil for a 9 inch heavy skillet. Sprinkle a bit of Old Bay seasoning on each slice of tomato, each side. 
3. Mix together the corn meal, Old Bay, chili, and pepper in a large bowl. 
4.. Set up a work station: buttermilk, bread, fry, drain, warm. Dip a slice of tomato in buttermilk, shaking off excess. Next, heavily coat the tomato slice in the corn meal mixture. 
5. Fry the tomato 2-3 mins on each side. Several tomatoes can be cooked at once, but don't crowd the pan. 
6. Drain the tomatoes on a paper towel, and keep warm in low oven. 
7. Continue frying tomatoes, but ensure that oil returns to 350 before adding more. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! 

Kitchen Notes: The Dinosaur Bar B Que cookbook recommends breading the tomatoes then allowing them to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Verdict? Kevin's tomatillo sauce recipe was spot-on, I'll try to never buy commercial salsa verde again. The addition of the soy cream cheese made for an outstanding dip, but without the heaviness of cream based dips. The breading was delightful, but the tomatoes were not very crispy, but they were not soggy either. I'm exciting to make these again.

Harissa Hummus

The weather cooperated long enough today that I was able to go on a picnic with a couple of friends. Yesterday, the temperature reached 100 degrees. While picnicking it was 72. I'm embarrassed to say I was cold.

I had to work a bit today, so I didn't have times to make anything elaborate for the picnic (nor should picnic food BE elaborate, but I digress). I pulled together some hummus featuring the harissa I made yesterday.

                                                Packed up and ready to go on a picnic

Harissa Hummus (makes about 2 cups)

• 1 can chick peas, drained (~15 oz )
• 1 heaping Tbsp tahini
• juice of 1 lemon
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp harissa (or more, or less)

1. Combine all ingredients except for the harissa in a food processor, pulse til smooth.
2. Taste, add additional seasonings if needed, add harissa. Blend again. Taste, adjust again as needed.


Kitchen Notes: Don't try making this hummus without the harissa. It's too bland by itself, but well seasoned with it. For me, this hummus was initially very hot. When I served it later, it had mellowed significantly. If not serving immediately, taste again to ensure additional harissa is not needed.


Verdict? A yummy, spicy hummus. For this however, I wish I had a milder version of the harissa. This hummus is very good, but it more or less tastes like spicy hummus, it doesn't have a lot of the harissa flavor. A milder harissa would really transform the hummus into something a bit more unique.

Tomato-Pesto Broiled Goat Cheese Dip

I became introduced to broiled goat cheese dips at one of my favorite local places, Radio Maria. There's is a pureed pepita version, which I've replicated before and will probably pop up on this blog when I tried it again.

I quickly learned that broiled goat cheese dips are mega-tasty, impress easily, and are a great way to use up leftovers. Here we go:

Tomato-Pesto Broiled Goat Cheese Dip (serves 2-4 as an appetizer)

• 5 oz tomato almond pesto 
• 2 oz goat cheese, sliced into medallions (I used sundried tomato-basil goat cheese)
• baguette
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half

1. Slice the baguette into thin slices. Rub the cut side of the garlic on each slice of the bread. Toast the bread slices.
2. Turn the broiler on high. In a 6 oz oven proof ramekin (ideally one that is long and shallow), add the pesto. Place the goat cheese slices on top of the pesto.
3. Heat in the oven under the broiler, watch closely, and carefully remove when the goat cheese is toasted brown. Serve with the toasted bread.  

                                 

Verdict? My strong conviction is that goat cheese dips are a nice crowd pleaser. This combination worked well. The warm tomato and creamy goat cheese are very satisfying. Enjoy!