And yet again, more vegan recipes in the ''news''

Hungry?

The Welland Tribune offers up Vegetarian Chili Pie (easily veganized if the cheese is switched to a dairy-free soy cheese).

The Orillia Packet & Times has a recipe for a dill-seasoned Tofu ''Egg'' Salad (Nayonaise or Vegenaise can be used instead of the real stuff).

The Atlantic's Megan McArdle features recipes for Mushroom Crostini and decadent Chocolate Pancakes w/ Berry Sauce.

The Daily Dispatch has recipes for Nearly Instant Thai Coconut Corn Soup, Tortilla Casserole from Nava Atlas' Vegan Express, as well as Macaroni and Four ''Cheeses'' from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.

The Killeen Daily Herald has a great article on vegan nutrition that features a recipe bonanza: Smokey Curry Veggies and Basmati Rice, Mediterranean Vegetable Pizza for starters, then Penne Vodka from Veganomicon, (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero) and a Scrambled Tofu recipe from Vegan With a Vengenace (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz).

More vegan recipes ''in the news''...

The Toronto Star has a Sesame Lime Soba Noodles w/ Shiitakes & Snow Peas recipe from Canadian cookbook author Dreena Burton's book Eat, Drink & Be Vegan (which a vegan friend of mine who is remarkable in the kitchen recently recommended to me). From the same book, they feature a Chipotle Lime Two-Bean Hummus recipe. Vegan Freak Radio interviewed Dreena about her book last November; you can listen to it here.

The Guardian (UK) has a short article on another Canadian cookbook author (one of my absolute favourites!), Sarah Kramer, and features a Portobellos Mushroom Bake that sounds delicious, as well as Brainless Banana Pancakes and Sarah's Blueberry Dilip (which is a kind of crumble).

Vegan recipes in the ''news''

A quick Google News search brought these up this morning. It's neat seeing vegan recipes popping up in mainstream media.

The Canadian Press featured a Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe (it's vegan if you omit the cheese) created by Toronto chef Massimo Capra for a Food Network Canada series.

The Baltimore Sun featured an Indian Pumpkin and Lentils recipe by self-published cookbook author Sukumaran Muralidharan.

The Shreveport Times offered up Tofu Super Scramble and Raisin Bread recipes.

Recipes: Desserts!

I've never been much of a sweets fanatic, with the exception of adoring chocolate and cheesecake (or the sublime and permanently addictive food group created when I combined the two back when dairy wasn't an issue). Because of this, I've never spent a lot of time experimenting with desserts. I think I've only ever baked one single cake from scratch (no kidding), and I'm sure that the last time I baked a pie was over seven years ago. And should I mention that my last experiment with brownies -- from a mix out of a box, is still mocked good-naturedly by a couple of good friends who witnessed the outcome?

With all this confessed, I have to add that I've resisted attempting to learn to bake tofu-based cheesecake out of fear that I'd succeed (I'm weak, I tell you).

Thankfully, I've been able to dabble with some really simple (in terms of ingredients, time and cost) and relatively healthier dessert recipes over the years. Here are a couple of them. I'll post more over the next week.

Adapted from Kathy Cooks Naturally by Kathy Hoshijo:

Gingered Bananas

4 bananas, sliced
2 lemons, juiced
2 scant tsp of freshly-grated ginger

Toss everything together and serve. (I like to chill the lemon juice ahead of time.) Serves 2.

Pears In The Surf

2 cups of diced pears
1/8 to 1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs of agave nectar
1 tsp of freshly-grated ginger
1 tsp grated lemon rind
fizzy water (e.g. Perrier, San Pellegrino)

Mix juice, agave nectar, ginger and lemon rind and marinate the diced pears in it for a minimum of a half hour, chilling it and mixing it occasionally to ensure pears get covered nicely.

Spoon into serving cups immediately before serving and pour fizzy water over the fruit to fill the cups. Serves 2.


(Watching: The Sound of Music. Quit yer snickering!)

Recipe: Kasha and Veggies

Kasha is toasted buckwheat groats (which are just buckwheat kernels stripped of their outer coating and cracked into smaller pieces). In Eastern European countries, the term ''kasha'' is more generically used to refer to a sort of porridge (either sweet or savoury) that can be made from oats, buckwheat, rye or wheat.

If you can't find kasha at the supermarket or health food store (which is where I usually get it), you can substitute regular buckwheat groats, which have a more bitter taste. You can even toast up regular (dry) buckwheat groats in some oil in a pan until they've browned a little. Toasted groats aren't as bitter as the regular groats and have a bit of a distinctive nutty taste.

Here's another favourite recipe of mine, adapted from The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals, which I hope to track down soon.

Kasha and Veggies

Step 1:
2 cups kasha
4 cups water

Boil water and cook kasha for 15-20 minutes.

Step 2:
2 Tbs oil
5 onions, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup tamari
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
3 Tbs tahini

Heat the oil and sauté the veggies for around 6-7 minutes (until tender), then add the cooked kasha, seasonings and tahini and cook an additional 8-10 minutes.

I usually serve it up with steamed greens tossed with a bit of balsamic vinegar, virgin olive oil and crushed garlic, or sometimes with a tossed green salad.

Yum!

Recipe: Lentil Soup

This one's a variation of the ongoing basic green lentil soup recipe I've been slapping together forever. The tarragon addition started up a few years back when I first began growing it in my garden. It's optional, but is really worth it.

Lentil Soup

1-1/2 cups lentils, washed
1-1/2 quarts veggie stock or water
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs nutritional yeast
2 stalks celery & tops, chopped
1 Tbs celery seed, ground
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1-1/2 to 2 cups tomatoes, stewed (I often just use the canned and diced)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 or 1 tsp fresh tarragon, shredded (optional)

Place lentils in pot. Add water / veggie stock, salt and yeast. Cover and simmer until almost tender. Add remainder of ingredients. Cover. Simmer until carrots are done (about 15 minutes or longer). Add the tarragon during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

This soup is great with fresh whole grain rolls smeared with Tofutti "cream cheese" or a bit of Earth Balance margarine sprinkled with nutritional yeast.

Serves 5-6.

Recipe: The Most Amazing Lentil Burger Ever

The recipe is adapted from The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt (ca. 1971). It was the first mostly-vegetarian cookbook I ever bought, back in 1990 or so when I picked it up at a used bookstore in Ottawa. I've made these for over fifteen years and they're still my favourite homemade veggie burgers.

Lentil Burgers

2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup of whole grain bread crumbs (e.g. whole wheat, spelt, etc.)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp salt (I use a little less)
1/2 Tbs celery seed
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp garlic powder (or 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced)
1/2 a large onion, grated
whole wheat flour

Mix all the ingredients but the lentils and flour. Mash the lentils only a wee bit more than lightly and mix with other ingredients. Form palm sized patties, just under an inch thick. Dredge 'em through the flour and then fry on both sides in hot olive oil until they've browned.

Serving suggestion: Melt slices of vegan mozzarella on patties and serve with tomato slices. lettuce and onion sprouts in a whole grain bread sandwich. The recipe makes around 5-6 patties.