Isa Test Kitchen: Oven Baked Onion Rings

Andrew LOVES to cook. He gets such joy out of it. Especially when you have to painstakingly dredge onion rings in batter ONE by ONE. It's the most fun one could possibly have, right?

I'm lying. Obviously, no one likes battering stuff like that. It takes forever, and it's boring. Andrew and I tried to tag in and out so we could rest our minds from the bland abyss. But it doesn't help a whole lot. So, if you're ever going to a potluck and think making onion rings for 100 people sounds like a good idea -- don't. It's not really a good idea. I mean, it is. But it's a lot of work.

We made do though. MAYBE everyone didn't get onion rings. But I don't think I'll lose any sleep over it.

This recipes comes from www.theppk.com. I think they have a new low-fat, weight-lossy vegan cookbook coming out to counter the years we've all been cooking from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. And rightfully so. The recipe was super easy. We used Italian bread crumbs instead of just plain ones. We thought it'd be a little bland without all the oil and fatty deliciousness. We also cut the salt a little since a few commenters thought they were too salty. Give 'em a try!

Spicy Tomato Quinoa

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I started a second job, which means more take-out and Amy's meals, less cooking, and thus less blogging. We were sick during the Thanksgiving meetup so I have nothing to show for that. It's been quiet here. But I'm trying to regain momentum.

I'll start with quinoa. When I eat rice, it's usually with a stir-fry or accompanied by beans and guacamole. And recently, I've been trying to re-invite quinoa back into my life in place of brown rice-- we've been shopping more at Kroger than the community market lately, and the market is the only place I know of to get quinoa. It's one of the best ways to get most of your essential amino acids, and my favorite food to mention when people ask how I get complete protein. It's probably the perfect food.

So, instead of using it in the standard ways we use rice, I decided to make an awesome spicy tomato quinoa that can stand alone. And it can.

This is spicy tomato quinoa, topped with garlic sauteed kale, cornmeal crusted tofu marinated in little lime juice, a garlic cream drizzle and a little chili powder.

[[Spicy Tomato Quinoa]]
1 cup dry quinoa
1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth, plus an extra 1 1/2
1 tbs tomato paste
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 Roma tomato, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp chipotle powder

-- Rinse the dry quinoa through a fine sieve. I let it soak for 10 minutes to an hour and then rinse it to remove any bitterness.
-- Add cold or room temp. vegetable broth [[1.5 cups]] and the quinoa to a large pot. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer until the the vegetable broth is absorbed. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
-- In a separate pan, heat the olive oil on medium. When heated, add the garlic and allow to become fragrant -- about 30 seconds. [[You can test the oil with a small piece of garlic. If it sizzles, it's ready. If it starts to smoke, it's too hot.]] Add the onions, tomato, and bell pepper. Cook in oil for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent.
-- Check the quinoa. If it's still firm, add another 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and allow that to absorb. Continue doing this until the quinoa is tender. This may be more or less depending on how long you let your quinoa soak.
-- When tender, add the onion, tomato, and bell pepper to the quinoa including any excess oil from the pan. Add the tomato paste and chipotle powder and mix thoroughly.
-- You can eat it alone, or like I did - with garlicy sauteed kale and cornmeal crusted tofu.

Tofu with Warm Cactus Relish

So, I dropped the ball and missed the last day of the Vegan Month of Food. But I did a lot better than I expected and posted nearly every day. I was having some camera difficulties and instead of just posting some recipe with no picture, I decided to wait. Yesterday I was at the dentist getting hacked and filled so I wasn't really in the mood to post. BUT, I'm back and hopefully I can keep up the momentum of before.

I bought a jar of cactus yesterday on a whim. I've had it before, never worked with it, but have always liked it. It seems to be in mostly Mexican dishes with eggs and I suppose it would pair nicely with a tofu scramble, but I didn't do that. I decided to pair it with a cornmeal crusted tofu and a creole sauce [[I used no-chicken broth instead of wine and halved the recipe for this]]. It's a little Southern-Cajun-Mexican fusion. And it's amazing. The cactus is a bit slimy at first, which is off-putting to me, but it picks up flavors nicely and pairs really well with onions and peppers.

[[Warm Cactus Relish]]

1/3 cup jarred cactus, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup red bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup coarsely chopped red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
a dash of cayenne pepper, more to taste
1 tbs olive oil

-- Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, except for the olive oil. Toss to coat.
-- Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Cook mixture in olive oil until the onions and bell pepper are soft.
-- Serve hot on top of seitan, tofu, tempeh, a salad, tofu scramble, etc. Anything!
-- Optional: At the end of cooking, at about 1 tbs chopped green onions.

[[Basic Cornmeal Crusted Tofu]]

1/4 cup chickpea flour or white flour
1/3 cup water

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
a pinch of salt

4-5 1/2 inch slices of tofu, pressed
2 tbs vegetable oil

-- Mix the water and chickpea flour into a thick paste.
-- Mix the spices and cornmeal in another bowl.
-- Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
-- After pressing the tofu, rub the tofu in the wet mixture. You may need to massage it onto all sides of the tofu. Then press firmly in the cornmeal mixture on all sides. Repeat with all slices.
-- When all tofu is breaded, cook each slice on each side for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Place on a paper towel or paper bag to drain.
-- Top with creole sauce and cactus slaw.

Vegan MoFo Day 29: Italian Spinach Salad

Almost every day for lunch, I'll eat something small with a side salad of spinach and shiitake dressing. And that gets boring every day. So the other day for dinner, I decided to make something a little different, but still simple, so I don't get off the spinach bandwagon completely. A little variety to help me keep going strong.

And it's basically this: baby spinach, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted and salted pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh pepper. The cool thing about this side salad is that you could easy eat this as a giant salad for lunch-- the pine nuts give you some protein and the artchokes are rich enough to fill you up. Plus, it's super tasty.

I found marinated artichoke hearts at Kroger-- it's hard to find ones not marinated, but they're really good. They are lightly seasoned with some Italian herbs and sit in a jar of olive oil. They really gush with flavor. Roasted pine nuts are pretty easy to find. I think you can get them in bulk at Whole Foods, or Kroger has little bags of them in their baking section. Anyway, try it out. It's a great salad.

OH! P.S. That top chef challenge was VEGETARIAN, not vegan. I always thought Natalie Portman was vegan!?! Sell out.

I read since then she's become vegan, though.

Vegan MoFo Day 27: Brussels Sprouts!

Honestly, until this year, I've NEVER had brussels sprouts. They're one of those things that I think my parents even hated so we never got subjected to them. And I think my parents' were just so happy that I liked one green vegetable -- green beans -- that they bought cans of them by the crate. My older sister liked broccoli with cheese. Shelby, the youngest, still won't eat anything green.

Since having them at Mi Lah's in Philly, I've craved them. I like the nice crunch they get and they pair so well, like most green vegetables, with a little earth balance. One cup has about 3-5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, and about 50 calories. Another score for veganism. Protein from a vegetable.


[[Spicy Brussels]]

one container of brussels sprouts
2 tbs earth balance
1 minced clove of garlic
1 tsp fine sea salt
a dash of pepper
cayenne pepper to taste, I used about a 1/2 tsp

-- Chop off the brown stems of the brussels sprouts, remove any loose, browned leaves and slice in half.
-- Heat butter and garlic in a skillet on medium heat until garlic is fragrant. Add the brussels, cut side down. Cook until crispy and golden. Add the larger ones first, then the smaller ones, since the smaller ones require less cooking time.
-- Flip over and cook the other side until crisped. Spinkle with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Vegan MoFo Day 7: Sweet Potato Hash Browns!

The only kind of hash browns my little sister will eat are the weird egg shaped ones from McDonald's. She's almost 16.

But I can understand that. They're more like mashed potatoes with a really greasy, crispy outside. When I first ordered hash browns at a place other than McDonald's, I was pretty disappointed. Still greasy and crispy, but they didn't have that golden tater tot look and smooth inside. Instead they were more like a crispy, spider-like blob on my plate TOUCHING my eggs [[I didn't like mixing food too much back then]].

Since then, I've eaten the spidery hash browns on the regular, covered in everything, touching everything. But being vegan makes it hard to find hash browns I can trust. I'm convinced they're all covered in beef and butter.

THESE hash browns are extra special, though-- sweet potato hash browns. I can't express to you how amazing these turned out. And I can trust them.

[[Sweet Potato Hash Browns]]

1 sweet large potato, shredded
2 tbs vegetable oil, plus more for frying
Seasoning: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder

-- Shred one large sweet potato. Using a clean dish towel, wrap up the shredded sweet potato and press to remove excess moisture. Return to table, and then press the shredded sweet potato in handfuls in the dish towel. You want the potato to be pretty dry.
-- Place dried out sweet potato in a large bowl. Add 2 tbs oil and seasoning. Stir to coat.
-- In a large skillet, heat about 1/2 inch of oil on high heat. Spread the shredded sweet potato in one thin layer and cook until browned. Cut into four sections. Flip each section over and cook the other side.
-- Serve with ketchup or sour cream and top with some cilantro.

Cooking by Numbers: Garlic Cheesy Bread

My mom didn't cook much growing up. It's one of those things she developed later in life. Probably out of boredom like most people.

We did have a lot of "dinner parties", though; usually on holidays or when family came into town. She'd get a bunch of wine, lay out salami with cheese and crackers, and make this phenomenal cheesy garlic bread. I don't actually know how she made it. I can only guess from years of subconsciously watching her during mindless kitchen chit chat. But it tasted spot on. Considering that it's vegan now, I think that's pretty good.

I'm not going to lie to you either. It's pretty fatty. But, like I said, she made this for holidays and special occasions. And if it's just a little appetizer, it's not that bad.

Right now, we're staying at his parents place-- house sitting while they're in Italy. I didn't have my light box or tripod, so the pictures will be slightly less than excellent. But I think they get the job done.

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First, slice the the bread in half hot dog style. I got a whole grain mini loaf from Kroger. They're so little!

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.










Melt [[<--that much]] earth balance in a pan. It's about two large tablespoons. Add about 1/4 tsp garlic. Cook each half in the butter until slightly crispy. Only cook the cut side. About 2 minutes.









Grill each half in the earth balance, cut face down. Do not grill the back side. Remove after about 2 minutes when saturated and crispy.
















Get about 1/2 tsp minced garlic.














Add 1/4 cup vegenaise.












Add about a handful of shredded Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella cheese. Mix together with some fresh black pepper.

Spread on the grilled bread [[cut side]]. Top with dried or fresh basil and bake for about 15 minutes.

Check on it at 8 minutes. It should be melty and sizzly and crispy [[like the picture at the top!]].

Twice Baked Red Potatoes

Somehow, Andrew has gone his whole life not knowing what a twice baked potato is. Which was cool for me, because he thought I was freaking awesome for "inventing" these.

The meat and dairy based twice baked potato uses Russet baking potatoes, bacon bits and grease, lots of butter, sour cream, and milk. Plus more butter [[I feel like that stupid Julia Child movie now]]. Topped with lots of salt. And then some green onions. With a side of sour cream for dipping.

They're not the best thing for you. And as a vegan, it'd be really easy to make these just as bad, sans the cholesterol, but just as bad still. I think we forget that sometimes.

So, in an attempt to make these still taste awesome, but not feel so guilty, I used red potatoes and tried to keep it light on the other stuff. I wouldn't go out and eat these every day. But they're not that bad.

[[Twice Baked Red Potatoes]]

Potatoes
4 russet potatoes, washed and halved
1 tbs olive oil
2-3 tbs earth balance
2 tbs vegan gourmet sour cream [[it's the best and healthiest]]
3-5 tbs soy milk, unsweetened
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Cheesy Sauce
1 tbs earth balance
1.5 tbs chickpea flour [[or all purpose flour]]
3/4 cup milk
3 tbs nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Optional: a dash or two of chipotle powder

Garnish
vegan gourmet sour cream
fresh cilantro
finely chopped red onion

Preheat oven to 400 F
-- Wash the outside of the potatoes and slice into halves along the longest part. Coat in olive oil, and bake face down on a baking sheet or in a glass baking dish for 30-45 minutes. A fork should easily pierce the center.
-- The last 20 minutes of baking, make a cheesy sauce.
-- Heat butter on medium heat. Once melted, with the heat still on, slowly whisk in flour.
-- When it becomes a creamy paste, add milk. Whisk thoroughly together on medium high heat. After 10 minutes, it should start to bubble and thicken.
-- Add the nutritional yeast and seasoning, stir, and set aside.
-- For the last 2 minutes of potatoes baking, put the broiler on low to make the "shell" crispy and slightly tough.
-- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Don't turn the oven off yet.
-- With a small spoon, gently remove the inside potato, so you are left with a little potato lining the skin, like a potato bowl.
-- With a potato masher, add the butter, sour cream, and milk and mash into a smooth, creamy texture. It should be slightly creamer than mashed potatoes. Add seasoning and mix.
-- Then, with a small spoon, scoop the mashed mixture back into the shells. Top with 1 tbs cheesy sauce and sprinkle some finely chopped red onions on top.
-- Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
-- Remove, top with 1/2 tbs sour cream, and some cilantro leaves.

Lemon Pepper Vegetables

Today Andrew is at his first interview with a newspaper to discuss his sleep deprivation stunt. We've decided on September 2nd and it will be held in Columbus. He'll be hanging out in front of Liquid in the Short North while he stays awake for more than 11 days. As the date fast approaches, we're scurrying to finish all these last minute details while simultaneously getting Andrew in the right frame of mind for it all. My job during the whole thing is feeding him the right stuff so he doesn't fail-- keeping his blood sugar level, keeping him adequately nourished-- all while having no idea what I'm doing really. I can only guess based on the scant research I've found which all point to what I see as obvious. Keeping it raw and natural.

For now, we're slowing transitioning away from the fried green tomatoes and delicious Alfredo pasta I've been making. Lately it's been lots of spinach salads and bean/rice nights. Luckily, Summer brings in beautiful produce that make the transition easy.

For a long time, squash seemed strange and overly complicated to me. I've discovered it really isn't though. You can literally just chop and saute it. While I was staying with my parents in California, they turned me onto lemon pepper seasoning. It's zesty with a little spice that pairs beautifully with zucchini and squash.


[[Lemon Pepper Vegetables]]

one medium sized yellow squash
one medium sized zucchini [[organics are much smaller, unlike the regular, mutant ones-- they're HUGE!]]
about 10 slices of pickled jalapenos
2 tbs olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

-- In a medium sized saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and let it cook for about 2 minutes.
-- Add the jalapenos, chopped squash and zucchini -- coat with oil in pan. Add the lemon pepper seasoning. Cook until squash and zucchini are slightly translucent and soft. About 6 minutes.
-- Remove from pan and serve.