One of my favorite cookbook authors and long-time friend of the Veg Blog, Nava Atlas has just released her newest collection of recipes titled Vegan Express. While I admit to being a little skeptical of another “quick vegan meals”-type book, I knew that Nava has experience in that realm with The 5-Ingredient Vegetarian Gourmet. Plus, her Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons is still one of my favorite cookbooks.

I’ve only had the book for a week, and I’ve gotta say, Vegan Express may unseat Vegetarian Soups… as my favorite Nava cookbook. We’ve made a few recipes with good luck, including Broccoli Salad with Yellow Peppers, Pine Nuts, and Cranberries (see below) with a simple homemade Sesame-Ginger dressing and just tonight we had a hearty pink bean, quinoa, and spinach soup. I’m looking forward to trying the Berry-Apple Skillet Crumble and the Very Green Veggie Pesto Pizza.

Another thing I enjoy about this cookbook: Nava has put together a list of her favorite recipes, two from each chapter. That helps those have trouble deciding where to start when getting a new cookbook.

Nava has given permission to share a recipe from the book, so here’s one we had a week or so ago that I really enjoyed:

Broccoli Salad with Yellow Peppers, Pine Nuts, and Cranberries

Ingredients

• 2 large broccoli crowns, cut into bite-size florets (about 4 heaping cups)
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup Sesame-Ginger Salad Dressing (elsewhere in the book) or equivalent store-bought dressing

Instructions

1. Steam the broccoli florets just until bright green. Drain and rinse under cool water until room temperature or slightly warm.
2. Combine the broccoli and the remaining ingredients in a serving bowl, toss well, and serve.

Nutritional Breakdown:

Calories: 170, total fat: 11g, protein: 5g, carbohydrates: 15g, fiber: 4g, sodium: 55g.

I’ll be doing a more thorough review once we’ve tried a few more recipes, but for now, go make that salad!

This recipe is one of those happy accidents brought about by my own inattention to detail.  See, I started with a good, simple recipe for buckwheat pancakes from the Chicago Diner cookbook.  I was prepacking the dry ingredients to bring with me on a trip with the intention of just adding the liquid ingredients the next morning.  But after I mixed the dry ingredients, I realized I had grabbed teff flour from the fridge instead.  Fortunately, both flours say you can substitute it for up to a 1/4th of white flour in any recipe, so I decided to leave it in there and see how it came out.

Lo and behold, it tasted better than the buckwheat!  I tweaked the recipe a little bit more and that’s what we have below.  We’ve gotten quite addicted to it over the last few weeks.  Teff flour is a nutrient-dense whole grain.  In fact, it’s the smallest grain in the world.  It’s high in protein and fiber and is gluten-free.  Fans of Ethiopian cuisine will note that teff is used to make Injira.  Of course, if you don’t have teff on hand, go ahead and use buckwheat flour instead.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/4 cup teff flour (or buckwheat flour)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar (preferably turbinado)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. each of ground cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg

• 1 1/4 cups vanilla soy milk (or regular soy milk with a splash of vanilla extract; vanilla soy milk tends to be a little thicker and thus results in fluffier pancakes)
• 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Whisk in wet ingredients until relatively smooth.  A few lumps are OK.  Don’t overmix, as this can make the pancakes a little tough.
3. Brush some oil onto a pan and heat over medium heat for about 30 seconds.
4. Drop the batter onto the pan.  How big do you like your pancakes?  When the top starts to bubble just slightly, flip it and heat for a short while longer until both sides are light brown.  Brush the pan with oil before each new set of pancakes and note that cooking time will get progressively shorter as the pan heats up.
5. Serve adorned with fresh fruit and good quality maple syrup.  Throw some veggie sausage on the side and some fair trade coffee or tea and you’ve got yourself a breakfast.

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A biting pesto that has a sharper flavor than you’d expect. Absolutely perfect spread on a piece of toasted crusty bread with a slice of fresh tomato on top.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch garlic curls (scapes)
• 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts or walnuts or pine nuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese

Directions

Chop garlic, puree in food processor or blender. Add nuts and puree. Add oil and cheese and puree.

Adapted by Potomac Vegetable Farms from Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables — A Common Sense Guide by Elizabeth Schneider.

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This recipe has absolutely nothing to do with potatoes, and it’s about as unhealthy as can be. But it was a tradition around our house growing up to have these sweets on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Thankfully, the original recipe veganizes very well. If you’re looking for one of those recipes so sweet that it’ll make your teeth ache, this is the one.

Makes plenty.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. 10x sugar (confectioners)
• 8 oz. pkg. plain Tofutti cream cheese (softened) - the non-hyrdrogenated kind works fine
• 1/4 lb. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine (softened)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Dash of salt
• 3 oz. can of coconut or 3 oz. of dried shredded coconut
• cinnamon to coat

Directions

Blend all ingredients together (mom uses her hands, I used a wooden spoon) until well mixed. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll into round balls. Roll in cinnamon to coat. Store in refrigerator.

Adapted from Mommy Veg Blog’s recipe.

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Nuoc Mam (or fish sauce) is a standard condiment/dressing in southeast Asian cuisine. Indeed, it’s the bane of vegetarians existence when ordering in a Vietnamese or Thai restaurant since many sauces often have fish sauce in it.

The thing is, fish sauce is actually a very concentrated liquid that goes into making nuoc mam (which is Vietnamese; the Thai call it “Nam pla”). If you\’re interested in the actual process of making fish sauce (which is kind of gross, as you might expect), this page has some information.

In any event, when my mother-in-law visits and makes nuoc mam, she always makes a separate batch for me that leaves the fish sauce out of the mixture. “Khong nuoc mam” is how to say “no fish sauce” in Vietnamese, so I figured I’d call this modified version, Khong Nuoc Mam Fish Sauce.

The taste is very similar and can be used in all the same ways regular fish sauce is used. Dip spring rolls in it, add it to curries, etc.

It tastes best if you can let it sit for a day before using it, but it’s also fine using it right away.

Huyen wrote to tell me: “The Vietnamese dipping sauce is actually called Nuoc Mam Cham (fish dipping sauce) which has the nuoc mam (fish sauce) in it. I think people just shorten it but the real fish sauce is raw and unmixed and rather yucky by itself. Hehe, here’s a pronunciation.

Nuoc cham (Google search)

And since yours has soy sauce it would be called nuoc tuong cham (soy dipping sauce). Here are some different sauce recipes.

Hope that clarifies a little bit. I’m sure there are a million and one variations.”

Ingredients

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, mashed
• 1 cup Coco Rico (a coconut soda that can be found in many Latin and Asian grocery stores; it’s OK if you’re using flat Coco Rico you’ve had sitting around)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Maggi sauce, or to taste (standard soy sauce, tamrai, or shoyu can also be used)
• Pinch of dry hot pepper or 1 fresh hot red pepper, mashed
• Dash of MSG or MSG substitute (optional)
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• Juice of half or 1 whole lime

Directions

Mix everything together.

That was easy, no?

Source: VegBlog.org’s mother-in-law

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Ingredients

Topping:

• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. quick cooking or rolled oats
• 1/2 c. vegan stick margarine

Filling:

• Ener-G Egg Replacer equiv. to one egg
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 lb. rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 pieces
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced into halves or quarters, depending on size
• 1 unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. For topping, Mix flour, sugar and oats together in a medium bowl and then cut in margarine with two forks or a pastry blender until crumbly. Set aside. (You may have more topping than you need.)
3. Put egg replacer into large bowl. Add sugar, flour, and vanilla extract and mix together well.
4. Stir the rhubarb and strawberries with the sugar/flour mixture until the sugar has dissolved (about 1 min.).
5. Pour this immediately into the unbaked pie crust and sprinkle the top with crumb topping. It is very important to get the pie in the over right away once you mix the fruit with the sugar; if you let it sit at all, it will produce too much juice and be too runny.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 and cook another 50 minutes or until the filling has puffed up evenly.
7. Cool pie, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Source: Terry Cummings at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary

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The original recipe is a wonderful basic vegan chocolate pudding. This version has a very, very slight change to it: 1/2 a teaspoon of the vanilla extract is replaced with peppermint extract for a mint flavored chocolate pudding. It’s way good and super easy. (And forgiving… I forgot the pinch of salt when I made this and it still came out great.)

If orange is your thing, use a 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract instead of the peppermint.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups crumbled firm silken tofu
• 2/3 cup cane sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened or Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy.
2. Refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.

Adapted from Vegan Vittles by Joanne Stepaniak.

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A very simple appetizer or dessert. Makes 8 servings, though as an appetizer, you can cut the apples into four pieces and get 32 servings out of it.

The recipe doesn’t call for the apples to be peeled, but I peeled them anyway (other similar baked apple dishes on the net called for the apples to be peeled). It helps the flavors to absorb into the apple nicely. I suspect it’s tasty either way.

Ingredients

• 8 apples, cored
• Cherry or strawberry jam
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp mace or nutmeg
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

Place apples in a greased casserole or baking dish (Earth Balance or a little oil will work). Fill each apple with jam.

Blend sugar and mace (or nutmeg) and stir in wine and vanilla. Pour over apples. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before serving.

Source: FoodDownUnder.com

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This is an unbelievably easy way to whip up some vegan french toast. It’s not messy and is quite tasty. It’s made healthier than traditional french toast by using nutritional yeast and whole wheat bread while skipping the eggs.

Makes 6-8 slices.

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy milk
• 2 Tbsps unbleached flour
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch cinnamon
• 6-8 slices whole wheat or sprouted bread

Directions

1. Place soy milk, flour, nutritional yeast flakes, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in mixing bowl and beat with whisk.
2. Mist a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray, or coat with a thin layer of canola oil. Place skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Dip bread slices, one at a time, into the batter, making sure that both sides are covered. When skillet is hot, add the dipped bread.
4. When the bottoms of the bread slices are well browned, carefully turn each slice over using a spatula. Cook the other side until it is a deep golden brown.
5. Serve hot with melted non-hydrogenated margarine (like Earth Balance), maple syrup, powdered sugar, and/or a little sprinkling of additional cinnamon.

Adapted from Fox 2 Detroit

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This is my mom’s recipe and it remains one of my favorites. It’s a light dish that’s great for summer or those unexpectedly warm fall days. The ingredients are flexible: I leave out the olives and my mom substitues 1 cup of steamed broccoli for the zucchini, so mix and match with alternate veggies as you prefer. To make it a little healthier, use whole wheat spaghetti.

The original recipe had feta in it. I have replaced that with a link to a vegan feta recipe, which I have not tried. These days, I usually just add a bit of sea salt to help get the saltiness that the feta added to the dish.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

for the salad…

• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, seeded, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup black olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (or 1 1/2 tbsp dried)
• 8 oz. spaghetti or fettuccine, cooked, drained
• 1 cup crumbled tofu feta (4 oz.) or sea salt, to taste
• 1 small zucchini, chopped

for the dressing…

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. white wine
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Dash Tobasco sauce

Directions

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the dressing, drizzle over salad, and toss. Chill for an hour.

Mommy VegBlog

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This is far from a healthy dish, but it is a nice rich pasta that’s worth treating yourself to periodically. The recipe as printed below serves 4.

This recipe was submitted to, and published at, AllRecipes.com. However, I have modified it here to make it vegan-friendly.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces ditalini pasta
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 1/2 cup chopped leek
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 oz. silken tofu blended until thick and creamy with 3/8 cup plain soy milk (this replaces a 1/2 cup of heavy cream… the heavy cream replacement came from this recipe)
• 1 cup soy parmesan cheese
• a pinch of black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Melt Earth Balance in a large skillet over low heat. Sautée leeks and garlic until tender and translucent.
3. Stir in cream, and simmer until thickened. Toss with pasta and parmesan until evenly coated and parmesan is melted. Season with pepper.

Source: VegBlog.org

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This bright and colorful dish will please the palate of pepper lovers. Served over rice with faux meat strips, it can be a satisfying meal in its own right. It would also work well as a side dish.

Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 13-15 minutes
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 small-medium of each: orange, red, yellow, and green bell peppers, seeded and cut into thin slices
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped into large pieces
• 1/4 head cabbage, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy or tamari sauce
• Basil, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 or 4 scrapes of lemon zest
• 1/4 lemon
• 1 package of faux-meat strips (Smart Strips) (optional)

* Have preferred rice prepared beforehand.

Directions

1. Heat the oil for a few moments, then add the onions and garlic. Allow them to sautee on medium heat until onions are translucent.
2. Add the cabbage, stir, and allow to cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the carrots, peppers, basil, salt, and ground pepper. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. If using faux meat strips, cook according to package (allow about six minutes preparation).
5. Add lemon zest and tomatoes. If desired, add another splash of soy/tamari sauce. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
6. If using faux meat, squeeze lemon juice on strips, then add to the vegetable mixture.
7. Serve hot over rice. Spoon juices over rice for some extra flavor.

Source: VegBlog.org

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Paella is a spanish rice dish with vegetables, chorizo, chicken, seafood, and saffron. Personally, I’ve never tried paella before, but this recipe sounded mighty good, so I decided to adapt the recipe and make it vegetarian. Since I’ve never had paella, I don’t know what it’s “supposed” to taste like, but I must say that this vegetarian version is incredibly good. The faux chorizo adds a nice kick to the dish. This tastes excellent heated up the next day, too. The recipe below serves six.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 oz. faux chorizo sausage^*, cut into pieces
• 2 faux chicken cutlets (7 oz.), cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 package (12 oz) uncooked Arborio rice
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 sprig fresh thyme (or a few sprinkles of dried thyme)
• 1 pinch saffron
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 8 slices lemon, for garnish

^* I used Sunergia Soy Foods Chorizo (organic and vegan), though Soyrizo or a homemade version would also work.

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in paella pan (I just used a large saucepan) over medium heat. Add in onion, garlic and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes to soften up the vegetables.
2. Add faux chorizo, diced faux chicken, and rice, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently to keep the rice from burning or sticking.
3. Stir in 3 1/2 cups stock, wine, thyme leaves or dried thyme, and crumbled saffron. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, as is required for Arborio rice. Taste the rice occasionally to see if it’s ready, adding 1/2 cup more stock at a time until the rice is ready (up to 2 additional cups). The rice should be firm, but not crunchy.
4. Stir in tomatoes and peas, cooking for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and leave for 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Scatter parsley over the food. Serve in paella pan or in bowls, garnished with lemon wedges.

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

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This recipe is a vegan-adapted version of Alice Waters Simple Tomato Salad. It’s a great summer side dish that’s very easy to make.

Yields 4 servings.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ripe juicy tomatoes
• 1/2 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
• handful fresh basil leaves, torn in half
• garlic croutons or torn pieces of crusty bread, toasted or not (optional)

Directions

1. Wash and core tomatoes. Cut into thick slices.
2. Peel the garlic. In the serving bowl, rub the garlic using the tips of a fork, to make a puree, then add the vinegar and oil.
3. Add the tomatoes, tossing gently to coat with dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Scatter top of salad with the torn basil leaves.
5. Add croutons or pieces of bread, if using, to soak up the delicious juices.

Adapted from Alice Waters Simple Tomato Salad

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Why would a vegan need to worry about hot chocolate? Because almost all standard store brands have milk as one of the primary ingredients. And if you’re going to add whipped cream or marshmallows, that introduces even more animal-derived products (most “non-dairy” whipped cream contains casein, a milk protein, and marshmallows contain gelatin). So here’s a simple recipe (adapted only slightly from the original recipe) to follow for your own cup of vegan hot chocolate. I’ve included a couple of suggestions for tasty add-ons, too. It tastes just great and I’m willing to bet even a hot chocolate connoisseur wouldn’t be able to tell you used soy milk.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 cups soy milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mix water, cocoa, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat at medium temperature until boiling, stirring constantly. Continue for another minute, continuing to stir.
2. Stir in the milk and heat through, but don’t boil. Remove from heat, add vanilla and blend thoroughly.
3. Add vegan marshmallows or vegan whipped cream, as desired. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also make your own marshmallows or whipped cream (I haven’t tried either recipe).

Adapted from CooksRecipes.com

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This is a little creation born from the lack of store-bought salad dressing in my fridge. It’s a very simple dressing, but I was surprised at the kick it had. The flavor comes from the balsamic vinegar, which blends well with the slightly sweet taste of the seasoned rice vinegar.

The measurements are far from exact, so feel free to adjust as necessary. It will coat 2-3 good size salads.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• a splash of balsamic vinegar
• a splash of shoyu (or tamari) sauce
• a quick shake of dried basil
• 1 clove pressed garlic

Directions

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pour just enough on the salad to coat the leaves.

Source: VegBlog.org

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