Party Animals No. 30: Mother's Day Brunch for Two

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

Not only did we love celebrating Mother's Day with this wildly colorful, fresh, and flavorful intimate brunch, it was some of the easiest entertaining we've ever arranged, leaving most of our attention devoted to our guest. We whipped up ice cream and cheesecake the day before and sailed into brunch with little more than some chopping and a bit of searing required.

To start, a sparkling wine cocktail. We don't have an ice cream maker, so super-creamy homemade ice creams just can't happen. But since the purity of texture doesn't matter as much when you're making a float, we're getting into it in a pretty serious way as the weather heats up (stay tuned for another float coming in the near future). To make this drink, drop a large melon baller's worth of strawberry ice cream into a flute, pour over half an ounce of orange liqueur, top with bubbly of choice, and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice.

Next up, food. The salad, we winged, but it's one large peeled cucumber, seeded and diced, tossed with a small handful of chopped cilantro and, say, a couple of cups of chopped fresh pineapple. Add half a minced jalapeno, a generous pinch of salt, and lime juice to taste, a tablespoon or so. Let sit for a few minutes to let the flavors mingle before serving.

For the main event, we went with a stack, something in the neighborhood of a Tofu Benedict. Split an English muffin and toast the cut sides. Then follow our instructions here for the tofu and green beans, using only seven ounces tofu (cut into four slices--half the recipe over there) and substituting one dozen trimmed green beans for the asparagus in that post. And be sure to add a generous sprinkle of black pepper to the tofu along with the other seasonings.

To serve, top each muffin half with half a dozen green beans, two slices of tofu, and smother each in this pretty wonderful roasted red pepper-avocado sauce. This makes more sauce than needed for the brunch for two, but you'll be thrilled to have the leftovers.

Dead Simple Roasted Red Pepper-Avocado Sauce

Print the recipe

flesh of 1 ripe avocado

2 large roasted red peppers (jarred or freshly roasted)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dried dill

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp dijon mustard

dash hot sauce

Blend all ingredients until very smooth. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

We wrapped the meal with the Lemon Cheesecake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking, which has never failed to please any of our crowds. We whipped up a simple ginger snap cookie crust for the base and for a topping, sliced strawberries lightly marinated in equal parts orange liqueur and black walnut balsamic vinegar.

Party Animals No. 29: Spiced Almonds Two Ways (from Pure Vegan) for a Birthday Gift

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

When we received the invitation to an (obligation-free) birthday dinner for one of our loveliest friends, we knew we didn't want to come empty-handed.  So out came the cookbooks, and the spiced nuts from Pure Vegan felt like the right fit. We followed directions from the book precisely, but we'll give you the rough outline.

First up, the maple-ginger-tamari almonds. Equal parts grade B maple syrup and reduced-sodium tamari (the book does not call for R-S, but it's all we ever use) are whisked together with olive oil and a dose of powdered ginger. Bake until browned, let cool, et voila.

The vanilla-mint nut recipe is really a recipe for pistachios, but we had extra almonds and no pistachios on hand. (Pistachios do not last long in the MSV kitchen.)

Give the nuts a preliminary toast (about half the total time), and meanwhile, combine one part fine sea salt, one part vanilla extract, and three parts each olive oil and minced fresh mint. Toss together, pop back in the oven for the last half of toasting, and let cool. Or serve warm. Bliss.

Both recipes yield a beautiful nut that isn't too heavily seasoned. They make elegant snacks alone or can jazz up a salad. And don't forget to toss them on top of ice cream. Enjoy.

Party Animals No. 28: Big Ears 2014 Sunday Brunch ftr. Sweet & Spicy Sweet Potato-Prune-Pecan Tamales

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

The Big Ears Festival is a big deal around the MSV house. Since it revived this year after a too-long hiatus, we decided to make it an even bigger deal by hosting brunch on the final morning of the fest. The menu:

• sweet & spicy sweet potato-prune-pecan tamales served with maple syrup and a rich coconut-lime spread
• refried beans served with avocado slices and habanero salsa
• broiled grits cakes
• jicama-grapefruit salad with sweet citrus-mint dressing
• tortilla chips and mild tomato salsa
• ginger-mango agua fresca
• lime-cucumber-mint agua fresca

We cannot get over how great these tamales are. Tons of flavor, but with a fairly short list of ingredients, these little guys hit our homestyle culinary sweet spot. And since the filling is fairly firm at room temperature (it does soften upon steaming), these tamales are some of the easiest to assemble you may ever find.

And note that we had extra dough left, which we formed into plain tamales, and they rival the filled ones for our affections. Like biscuits or tortillas, tamales without fillings make wonderful meal accompaniments, and we found these particularly charming. (Plus, dead simple to form.)

Print the recipes

Sweet Potato-Prune-Pecan Tamales

yields about 30 filled tamales, plus another 6 or so plain

For the filling

3 cups chopped pecans

3 cups (about 60) prunes, roughly chopped

1 ½ tsp smoked paprika

1 ½ tsp chipotle powder

1 TBSP ground cinnamon

For the dough

24 oz sweet potato, peeled, diced, and boiled until very tender

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp freshly ground nutmeg

3 TBSP maple syrup

3 ¾ cups warm water

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 ½ tsp salt

1 TBSP baking powder

5 ¼ cup masa harina

To assemble:

corn husks, soaked for about an hour

Heat oven to 400 and toast pecans until darkened and fragrant, about 10 minutes, being careful not to burn. Transfer to a food processor and grind to a minced texture. Meanwhile, mash prunes with spices in a mortar and pestle (alternately, pulse in a food processor).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cooked sweet potato, spices, syrup, and oil. Mix well. Add water and mix again. Sift together salt, baking powder, and masa harina. Add to the wet ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment until fluffy and smoothed out a bit. The dough will remain a little sticky.

Assemble tamales using 2-3 TBSP of dough and a generous TBSP of filling for each. Steam for 40-45 minutes.

If desired, serve with maple syrup and our Coconut-Lime Spread.

The coconut-lime spread is adapted from Saveur, but we found their version far too sweet for our liking. And that goes double when you're already offering maple syrup on the table. So we put the emphasis back on the richness of the coconut milk and ended up with a silky, totally luxuriant condiment.

Coconut-Lime Spread

yields 3/4 cup

1 can coconut milk

1 TBSP natural cane sugar (evaporated cane juice)

1/8 tsp pectin

zest of ½ lime

Simmer coconut milk and sugar until reduced to 3/4 cup, about an hour. Stir in pectin and zest. Cool and chill.

Next up, a note on our savory components. Our refried beans aren't actually refried at all, but simply well done and pulsed with an immersion blender and some added oil before serving. Many a meal has been made from them. And while the grits cakes are pretty irresistible handheld munchies, our favorite way to dig into both is to top the grits with the beans, then avocado, and a drizzle of spicy salsa.

To add a fresh element to the table, we combined crispy, juicy, earthy, gently sweet jicama with brightly colored, tart grapefruit and tossed it all in a dressing of mixed citrus and mint. Totally simple and a total winner.

Grapefruit-Jicama Salad with Sweet Citrus-Mint Dressing

2-3 large jicama, cut into matchsticks

4 grapefruit, peeled and segmented

¼ cup + 2 TBSP orange marmalade (bittersweet preferred)

¼ cup + 2 TBSP lime juice

¼ cup apple syrup

finely chopped mint leaves from about 3-4 sprigs, or to taste

Whisk together marmalade, lime juice, syrup, and mint. Pour over jicama and toss well. Add grapefruit and toss gently to distribute.

Since a pal was generous enough to offer to bring the day's cocktail--a tasty ginger-tequila-lime concoction we're bummed we didn't take a shot of--we had time to whip up a couple of refreshing and festive non-alcoholic options. The lime-cucumber-mint agua fresca seen above is total heaven alongside the habanero salsa. Highly recommended for the warm months when you find yourself with a stack of grits, beans, avocado, and salsa. Which we expect we often will.

Also on the table was a ginger-mango agua fresca (which we also failed to shoot) that can certainly be had alone, but mixes well with bubbly, which another guest was kind enough to provide. For an even lighter alcoholic drink option (because seriously, some of us have things to do after brunch), it mixes beautifully with light beer when garnished with a squeeze of lime. Summer in a glass.

Do note that both of these recipes offer guidelines when diluting the mixtures. Add as much or as little water as you like to get a light, refreshing result that you feel like you could drink all day. And finally, we really prefer turbinado sugar for these. If you choose to use white sugar, you'll likely need less than called for.

Lime-Cucumber-Mint Agua Fresca

24 oz cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced

1/2 cup lime juice

6 TBSP turbinado

3 cups water

3 sprigs mint

Puree all ingredients except mint. Add mint to a pitcher, pour the agua over it, and chill. Serve over ice.

Ginger-Mango Agua Fresca

20 oz thawed frozen mango

1/4 cup lime juice

2 oz ginger

1/4 cup turbinado

20 oz club soda

Puree all except sparkling water. Strain. Chill the liquefied mango and club soda separately. Add soda just before serving and mix well. Serve over ice.

And since it was also(!) another friend's birthday, we'll leave you with a little shot of a ganache tart we made using our cornmeal-bourbon shortbread recipe for the crust. Cheers!

Party Animals Nos. 26 and 27: Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Day Brunch 2013

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

We celebrated Christmas Eve this year by putting together a comforting spread of homemade foods inspired by some of the U.S.'s favorite bits of Japanese cuisine. We kicked off the evening with a cocktail, which we found here.

This Shiba Dog, as they're calling it, is a lovable, dead simple drink. We made one adjustment to the suggested recipe by using nigori sake. We suggest you make an additional adjustment by forgetting the salted rim altogether. It was an overwhelming nuisance. But by all means, mix equal parts nigori sake and grapefruit juice at every opportunity. (And check Barnivore before buying your sake. We somehow failed to back when we bought this bottle, and ended up with a brand that isn't vegan-friendly.)

Next up, Miso Soup with Mushroom Wonton Dumplings. We're working to nail down MSV's official dashi, so the soup recipe isn't quite ready to share. In the meantime, we're enjoying every last test bowl.

For this special occasion, we added some gorgeously salty and savory mushroom wonton dumplings using our gorgeously salty and savory mushroom filling recipe. We omitted the cashews, so the only crunch in the soup would come from the spring onion garnish, and we substituted for the morels the shiitakes we used to make the dashi. Feel free to use nothing but button mushrooms, and you'll still have tasty morsels on your hands.

With time running out after a quick look around town yielded not a single commercial vegan wonton wrapper, we decided we'd have to make our own pasta for the dumplings. Method here, but we used a dough much easier to work with by using roughly 1 1/3 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup warm water. The great little folding tutorial we used is here. Adorable.

Vegan nigiri sushi trio: roasted red pepper (jarred, and we looked for a variety that, contrary to our usual preference, contained added sugar to make sure we got a lovely shot of sweetness); sliced avocado; and blanched, pressed tofu marinated in a simple, addictive soy-miso sauce from Kansha. (Knoxville readers, remember that Lawson-McGhee has a copy of Kansha you can check out--highly recommended.)

And finally, for dessert, we continued the theme by using both matcha and ginger, but also included a nod to the common Western European-American Christmas tradition by including a heap of sorghum (in lieu of molasses) and other spices. The result was a dense, moist, terrific gingerbread cake with a matcha glaze. (Cake veganized from Tartine, matcha glaze spotted in Pure Vegan.) You can see the cake at the very top of this post. It wasn't very pretty, but it was incredibly tasty. And paired beautifully with straight nigori sake.

The following morning, brunch! The MSV kitchen doesn't host this brunch, but we do make a few contributions.

Almond-crusted zucchini strips. So incredibly good. You can find our coating recipe here, but instead of using mushrooms, we cut one giant zucchini into 6 1/4-inch-thick planks. Bake on one side for 15 minutes, flip, and bake another 10-15 minutes, until golden (more golden than this shot indicates, sorry) and mind-blowingly fragrant.

On the side, fluffly little corn muffins seasoned like hush puppies. Yum. This was a first test of this recipe, and we have some ambitions for it, we think. It may reappear before long, depending on our progress with these.

And, finally, Apple-Blueberry Doughnut Cobbler. This bit of ridiculousness comes from BHG. Be warned, the mini doughnuts got a little too crispy in spots (they tasted fine, but were a bit difficult to cut), so we suggest using either full-size doughnuts or covering the cobbler for the first half of baking. And, if you hadn't already guessed, this is only for the serious sweet tooth.

Our version is different from BHG's a little, so here goes:

We made old-fashioned doughnuts the day before to make this a snap to assemble. For the filling, we used two Granny Smith apples, two Honeycrisp apples, and one cup of frozen blueberries. First, measure out the blueberries, but keep them in the freezer. Slice the apples, and cut those slices in half. Toss them with the juice of half a lemon (or lime, of course, but juice the whole lime, if substituting). Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg. Toss the apples with that mixture, then carefully stir in the blueberries. Top with the doughnuts, drizzle with 2 TBSP of melted nondairy butter or coconut oil, and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

See you all next year.

Party Animals Nos. 24 and 25: Post-Thanksgiving Party 2013 and a Christmas Party

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

Talk about festive. To get everyone started at our post-Thanksgiving party (held annually at the MSV house on the Friday after Thanksgiving) this year, we offered a pitcher of Cranberry-Rosemary Sangria. Really good. We recommend topping off each glass with a bit of dry bubbly to make this drink perfect.

(Also, note that we had the wrong apples on hand when we made the test run, which is what was photographed. We did use the Granny Smith apples called for in the recipe the day of the party.)

The post-Thanksgiving party is mostly about leftovers, but we always provide a couple of soups and a couple of loaves of crusty bread to supplement. This year we made miso soup with a shiitake dashi from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites. (This also made for the best possible breakfast the morning after the party) and a carrot-ginger soup from The Curry Book.

And now this weekend is our first Christmas party of the season, and to it we're taking a pitcher of Horchata White Russians. This is a genius idea for a dairy-free, gorgeous, and winter-ready mixed drink. Our recipe came from Pure Vegan, and the sweet, cinnamon-packed horchata, like everything else we've tried from that book, is pretty stunning in this drink.

But it's not the only ingredient, of course. To assemble the drink, add a half-cup of horchata to an ounce each of vodka and coffee liqueur. We made our own liqueur using this super-fast recipe. Ready in days, not weeks. Bring on the cheer.

Party Animals No. 23: Thanksgiving 2013

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

For you new readers, the MSV kitchen hosts a real, live Thanksgiving every year. Now that that's out of the way, this is the post that needs no introduction.

But we will add two notes. Recipes below call for both nondairy milk and nondairy butter. This year, for the first time, we used Miyoko Schinner's homemade butter recipe (from the October 2013 VegNews). Our doughs this year were both the fussiest raw and the loveliest finished products we've ever had. Because our kitchen is a home kitchen and not a controlled test kitchen, we can't guarantee either of those were due to the change in butter, but it's the only thing we altered from previous years. But we think it's the combination of that with the cold weather. So you know. As ever, our nondairy milk of choice is our homemade almond-oat.

The recipes for biscuits, cranberry relish, and roasted apples with balsamic drizzle are unchanged from last year.

For our main dish this year, we made a shepherd's pie filled with earthy, meaty Puy lentils, tender eggplant, and rich toasted pecans further flavored by a pile of garlic and given a touch of sweetness and a bit of color from grated carrots.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Print the recipes

serves 8

For the potatoes:

1 1/2 lb white or gold potatoes, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1/2 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

2 TBSP olive oil

freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

2 TBSP nutritional yeast

1/2-1 cup nondairy milk, warmed

For the lentils:

8 oz eggplant (half of a medium), peeled and cut into 1/4-1/2-inch dice

1/2 cup unsalted pecan halves

1 cup dried Puy lentils

2 1/2 cups water

2 TBSP olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots (about 2 oz total weight), minced

6 oz carrot (2 large or 3 medium), peeled and grated

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried marjoram

2 TBSP low-sodium tamari

1 tsp liquid smoke

1/4-1/2 cup vegetable broth, divided

1 TBSP chickpea flour

To prepare the potatoes, boil them in enough water to cover by a couple of inches until very tender, about 30 minutes. Drain well and quickly transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the beater to mash the potatoes thoroughly on low speed, a minute or two. Add the salt, oil, pepper, and nutritional yeast, and beat another half-minute to incorporate, adding nondairy milk to reach your desired consistency. Switch to the whisk attachment and whip for five minutes, until fluffy. (Alternately, use any method you like to mash to the potatoes.)

To prepare the lentil mixture, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the eggplant in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast 20 minutes, until browned on the edges, tossing halfway through. After tossing, add the pecans to the oven and toast them for the remaining 10 minutes, checking occasionally to avoid burning. Let cool, then process into crumbs in a food processor.

Reduce oven to 350.

Meanwhile, place the lentils in a medium pot with 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, 20-25 minutes. Set aside in a mesh sieve to allow to drain thoroughly.

Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a large skillet. Cook the onion, garlic, and grated carrot until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the basil, parsley, marjoram, tamari, and liquid smoke. Stir thoroughly and cook for another couple of minutes.

Whisk together 1/4 cup vegetable stock and chickpea flour to make a slurry. Add the lentils to the skillet, stir to combine, and add the slurry. Stir well and cook until warmed through. The mixture should be very moist, but not saucy. Add more stock, if needed, or continue cooking to let excess moisture cook off, if needed.

Remove skillet from heat, stir in eggplant and pecans, and adjust seasoning. Transfer the lentil mixture to a deep 9-inch-round pan. Scoop the mashed potatoes on top in large dollops all over the surface and gently smooth out to cover. Bake 20 minutes, until potatoes are lightly browned.

This is pretty much the same old beloved dressing we've made each year, but we streamlined the process and went with a chunkier, looser assembly. If you prefer a tighter, more sliceable dressing, simply skip the oven-drying of the cornbread, crumble it rather than cube it, and press the final mixture tightly into the dish before baking.

And finally, we left it out of the recipe this year, but you can add 1/2 tsp of fennel seed along with the walnuts, if desired.

Spiced Walnut-Fig Cornbread Dressing

Print the recipes

serves 8-10

1 loaf (generous 1 lb) cornbread, cut into 1-inch cubes

2/3 cup dried mission figs, quartered

2 TBSP oil

1 large yellow onion, very finely chopped

2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

8 oz walnut halves, finely chopped / crumbled in a food processor

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried rubbed sage

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 TBSP low-sodium tamari

fine sea or kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup nondairy milk

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2-1 cup vegetable stock

Preheat the oven to 400. Spread the cornbread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook until dry and barely toasted, 10-12 minutes. Set aside to let cool, then transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Reduce oven heat to 350.

Meanwhile, place the figs in a heatproof bowl and pour in hot water to cover. Let stand 20 minutes, drain, and add them to the cornbread.

Heat 2 TBSP oil in a large skillet. Saute the onion and rosemary until the onion turns translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the walnut crumbles and all spices, including tamari. Stir and cook until warm, fragrant, and no liquid remains in the bottom of the skillet, about 3 minutes.

Add the contents of the skillet to the mixing bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate, breaking up any large cornbread pieces, but being careful not to reduce it to crumbs.

Whisk together the milk, 1/4 cup oil, and 1/2 cup of the vegetable stock. Pour over the mixture and stir well. The mixture should be very moist, but not wet. Add more stock, if needed, and transfer to a lightly oiled baking dish. Bake 45-60 minutes, until golden on top.

So, those are biscuits, because we failed to get a shot of the spaghetti squash. But it tastes way better than it looks, anyway, so don't skip this one (and do feel free to reduce the oil to make it friendly for any weeknight meal). In fact, go ahead and double the Savory Nut Crumble recipe when you go to make it for this dish, because you're going to want to have some on hand to sprinkle on other meals throughout the week. In fact, even if you never make this squash, take five minutes to make a batch of the Savory Nut Crumble. It's a green salad's best friend.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with a Savory Nut Crumble

Print the recipes

serves 6-8, adapted from The Cheesy Vegan

1 small-medium spaghetti squash (about 2 1/2 lbs total weight)

1/4 cup olive oil, plus additional 2 tsp, for roasting

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Savory Nut Crumble, recipe follows, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Split the spaghetti squash lengthwise, discard the seeds, rub the cut sides with 2 tsp oil, and roast, cut-side down, until tender, 45-60 minutes. Let cool.

Add the thyme, basil, rosemary, and paprika to a skillet with 1/4 cup oil and warm gently. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh into a serving dish. Remove the oil from heat, grate in 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and toss thoroughly with the squash. Top generously with the Savory Nut Crumble and serve.

Savory Nut Crumble

1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup raw walnut halves

2 TBSP nutritional yeast

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

Process the almonds in a food processor until broken up into small pieces. Add all other ingredients and process into crumbs. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Oh, hi, pie. We never use anything but Gesine's pie dough. It just works. (Unless we're making a cookie crust, of course. Because those are just dead simple.)

Sorghum-Maple Pecan Pie. We used Isa's recipe, replacing half of the maple syrup with sorghum syrup. We also whipped up a batch of vanilla salt (made by stirring the contents of 1 vanilla bean into 1 TBSP fleur de sel) to sprinkle on individual slices, as desired. Ridiculously good with the vanilla salt. Expensive, but good.

Pear-Cranberry Pie. To our tongues, this pie tastes exactly like the season. To fill our pie, we stirred together the following:

2 pears, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

6 TBSP natural cane sugar (evaporated cane juice)

2 TBSP quick-cooking tapioca

To finish it off, we suggest milking the top and sprinkling with a cinnamon-sugar mix (we use 1 part cinnamon to 2 parts sugar). Then bake until golden and bubbly.

Party Animals No. 22: Infused Gin, Carrot Butter, and a Double Peanut Butter Tart for a Potluck with Pals

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

The gin, from the ever-handy Vegan Food Gifts, was infused with fresh ginger, cinnamon, and orange zest. This was our first infused booze--a gift for the host--and we were fully romanced by the results. The added flavors came through both smoothly and deeply. We can't think of a better gift for the cocktail enthusiast in your life than infused liquor.

Carrot Butter Bread Spread from the Candle Cafe cookbook: We served this with baked pita crisps made from Flour Head pita. Both this spread and the double peanut butter tart, we're afraid, suffered from what we like to think of as an uncharacteristically heavy hand. The tart was a total guess, and it turned out to be indiscriminately rich, and some of the nicer notes we hoped to feature were drowned. 

The carrot butter, on the other hand, was very nice on its own. Lightly sweet, and light all around, we tried giving it a nudge with an extra dash of salt and a generous addition of fresh thyme. We should've let the essence of carrot be what it was. Next time, we will, and rather pair this with a separate dip to add contrast and heft. Cook and learn.

Party Animals No. 21: Jumbo Chocolate Cream Puffs for a Birthday Celebration

Hey, welcome. Consider following us on Twitter and subscribing to our RSS feed, or sign up for email updates from the Home Page.

So, these are pretty fun. We made these cream puffs using the eclair recipe from Miyoko Schinner in the October VegNews.  We're not certain how much this recipe totally "works," but it's worth pursuing. And the flax gel is pretty exciting. 

Note also that Miyoko's homemade vegan butter recipe in that same issue is really great. The flavor beats out the leading vegan margarine, easy, though the nondairy milk you use probably makes a difference. We used homemade almond-oat milk, which we assume helped the flavor of the butter to be fresher. 

To fill these cream puffs, we used a variation of our dead simple peanut butter mousse, substituting almond butter for the peanut butter and strongly brewed coffee for the lemon juice.

Party Animals No. 20: Polenta Chiles Rellenos with Pineapple-Chipotle-Pepita Salsa for Grilling with Pals

Hey, welcome. Consider subscribing to our RSS feed and following us on Twitter.

Stuffed vegetables are a great, filling grilling option. Here, creamy, savory polenta poured in tender peppers is served on a saucy-chunky blend of sweet seared pineapple, chipotles en adobo, and toasted pepitas. Brunch, dinner, whenever. Using our standard healthy skin-on, top-loaded stuffing method, along with quick-cooking yellow corn grits, makes the peppers a snap to assemble. Have a cocktail and chips with salsa to nibble while you wait for the peppers to cook. Serve with refritos and rice for a seriously satisfying and spicy meal.

And, naturally, they can be roasted in the oven, too. 

Grilled (or Roasted) Polenta Chiles Rellenos with Pineapple-Chipotle-Pepita Salsa

Print the recipe 

serves 4 

 For the peppers:

4 poblano peppers, 5-6 inches in length (2-3 inches wide) 

2 cups water

1/3 cup quick-cooking yellow corn grits / polenta

3 TBSP nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pimenton

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried marjoram

1/2 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (optional) 

For the salsa: 

1/4 cup raw pepitas

4-5 ounces large pineapple chunks (about 1/2 cup chopped) 

2 chipotles en adobo

1/4 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

Heat your grill, or heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Cut a hole around the stem of a pepper. Remove the stem, reserving, and pour all the seeds out of the pepper (shake off loose seeds, if any, from the stem, but mostly these will be anchored tight--don't worry about those). With a knife, scrape/cut out any thick membrane from the inside of the pepper, being careful not to cut through. Set aside with the top so you can match them up later and repeat with remaining peppers. 

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. While it heats, whisk together the polenta, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, pimenton, oregano, marjoram, and salt in a bowl. When the water begins to boil, whisk in the mixture in small, steady stream. Bring back to bubbling, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and cook, stirring, one additional minute. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil, if using (it adds a touch of richness, but isn't necessary). 

Spoon the polenta into the peppers, filling 1/2-3/4 inch from the top, and place the stem firmly back in place--it should create a pretty good seal. Grill until blackened and tender, about 20 minutes, flipping carefully halfway through (if you squeeze them, you'll lose filling). If roasting, transfer to a baking sheet and bake until tender and darkened, 30-40 minutes.

While the peppers cook, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the pepitas. Toast, tossing frequently, until they begin to pop and turn golden, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool a bit. Add to the hot pan the pineapple chunks and sear until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on both sides. Transfer the pineapple to a mortar and add the chipotles (remove the seeds first for a milder heat, if needed) and salt.  

Use a coffee grinder to grind the toasted pepitas to a powder. Add to the mortar and pound with the pestle until saucy, but still chunky, making sure the chipotles are well broken up. Alternately, pulse in a small food processor. 

Divide the salsa evenly among four plates and top each with a pepper. 

Party Animals No. 19: Pocky

Hey, welcome. Consider subscribing to our RSS feed and following us on Twitter. 

Look, pocky. Or something like it, anyway. Regardless, these pretty much sell themselves. The dough is easy to work with, they're clearly adorable, and the flavor addition options are endless. We kept our coatings light because these were not the main attraction for the party we were taking them to. In fact, it was only at our friend's generous invitation that we made these to support her spread of inspired frozen desserts.  (Did you see those? So great.) At this particular party, she offered two(!) vegan options, Aperol granita and chocolate-chile gelato. Both incredible. Do not hesitate to commission her to make your vegan frozen treats. She's incredible.

For the pocky, we made three lightly sweet drizzles/sandings/glazes:

Dark chocolate with vanilla salt

Cinnamon

Maple caramel with smoked salt

Naturally, feel free to go wild with dips and glazes and serve them as the star of your own party. They won't disappoint. And if you're in the mood for something even more minimal, triple the amount of orange zest called for in the recipe and snack on them plain.

A note on kneading: Because this is such a small amount of dough, we found it pointless to fool with our stand mixer. When we tripled the recipe (it triples like a dream, by the way) for the party above, we used the mixer for convenience to free up our hands. Use your judgement, but for a single recipe, we really recommend using your paws. 

Pocky

Print the recipe 

makes 80-100 sticks , adapted from Pier via here

2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup bread flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 TBSP tahini

3 TBSP maple syrup

1 tsp orange zest

2 TBSP unrefined coconut oil, melted

1-2 tsp water, as needed

Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl and set aside to proof.

Sift the flours and salt into a mixing bowl. In another small bowl, combine the tahini and maple syrup.  

Add the yeast mixture and the maple-tahini mixture to the flours and stir to form a dough. Add the zest and melted oil and combine again. Add 1-2 tsp water as needed to get a cohesive, firm, kneadable dough. (If your dough is too wet, add a bit of flour.) Knead the dough by hand for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350. Dust a clean work surface with cornmeal.

Divide the dough in half, form one half into a ball, sprinkle a little more cornmeal on top, and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Slice the dough into 6x1/8-inch strips. You'll end up with 40-50 strips per half. Place the strips on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 5 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees, and bake another 5 minutes. (While the first batch bakes, roll out and cut the other half of your dough, as above.) After that, begin to watch the progress carefully as you bake them a few minutes (2-5) longer. The sticks need to be golden brown (anything less and they won't be crispy), but be careful not to let them burn. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and repeat with the other half of the dough. 

Seriously Crowd-Pleasing Vegan Sandwiches: Tuscan Tofu Sandwich (a la Tomato Head) and Party Animals No. 18: Tofu-Pecan Meatball Sub

Our first approach to sandwiches is to begin loading them up with vegetables. But not today. Both of these tofu sandwiches showcase pesto and tomatoes, so it's no surprise they're both hearty and delicious. Both are  suitable for beginning cooks, but the Tuscan Tofu Sandwich is faster to prepare, especially if you have the pesto already made. The Tofu-Pecan Meatball Subs require more time, but people go insane over them. Take them to any cookout this summer, and watch them disappear. Really.

There's a lot to love on The Tomato Head menu, but we just had to veganize an old favorite using our basil pesto (TH's vegan pesto is not at all a classic basil pesto) and a simple, tender, delicately flavored braised tofu that works great on sandwiches. A real winner of a lunch, and dead simple to make. Best served, naturally, on Flour Head buns. 

Tuscan Tofu Sandwiches (a la Tomato Head)

Print the recipes 

yields 8 sandwiches 

1 lb extra firm tofu (Twin Oaks brand recommended) 

1/2 cup water

1 no-salt-added vegetable bouillon cube

8 sandwich buns

1 recipe Classic Vegan Pesto Genovese

8 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (about 1/2 cup), julienned

scant 3 TBSP Legumaise or other vegan mayo (optional)

Cut the tofu in half with your knife parallel to the cutting board so that you have two squares stacked on top of each other. Separate, wrap them side-by-side in a clean kitchen towel that won't leave fibers in the tofu (not terry cloth), and place a heavy object on top. Press for 20 minutes.

Take each square of tofu and cut each on both diagonals so you have a total of 8 thick triangles.

In a large, shallow skillet, combine the water and bouillon cube over high heat. Dissolve the cube and bring the broth to a boil. Add the tofu in one layer, reduce to a simmer over medium to medium-low heat, and cook, undisturbed, for 5 minutes. Flip the tofu and cook an additional 5 minutes. By this time, most of the liquid will be gone. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside until cool enough to eat. 

While the tofu cooks, heat the oven's broiler, cut the buns in half, and toast the cut side of the buns until gently toasted.

To assemble, spread about 1 tsp of legumaise on the cut side of the bottom of the bun, if using. Place a triangle of tofu on top, and top with one julienned tomato. Spread a generous tablespoon of pesto on the cut side of the top bun and sandwich together.

We owe an enormous debt to the tofu-pecan meatloaf from The Vegan Slow Cooker for this recipe (though we had to adjust the tofu recommendations, which we've had to do with several recipes in that book). The flavor is satisfyingly savory and a little nutty with an unbelievable texture. The meatballs are totally fun, and these subs are phenomenal, because pesto, but don't forget to hang onto this recipe to make wildly popular vegan burger patties. Plus, you can make them in a slow cooker, which means no oven necessary. See? Perfect for summer.

A note on tofu: All we've ever used for this recipe is unpressed Twin Oaks extra firm. We normally recommend it, because it's a great product, but the texture of these meatballs/burgers is so spot-on that we just can't vouch for the performance of other brands of tofu in its place for this recipe. If you can't get to Three Rivers to get Twin Oaks, which has a much lower water content than other tofu we've bought, try pressing a different brand of extra-firm tofu for 20 minutes, and then weigh your tofu for the recipe.

Tofu-Pecan Meatball Subs

see [Note] on yield , meatballs adapted from The Vegan Slow Cooker

For the meatballs: 

1 cup water

1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein) 

1 lb Twin Oaks brand extra-firm tofu

1/2 cup pecans

3 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped

2 TBSP low-sodium tamari

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1 cup oat bran

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried marjoram

For the tomatoes: 

1 TBSP olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted

To assemble: 

12 sandwich buns [or about 6 hoagie rolls]

1 recipe Classic Vegan Pesto Genovese 

Boil the cup of water in a small sauce pan, remove from heat, stir in the TVP, and let sit 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, roughly crumble the tofu into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade. Add the pecans, sun-dried tomatoes, tamari, and liquid smoke. Process well, until uniform with no large chunks of pecans. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oat bran, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, basil, oregano, and marjoram. Stir to combine, add the tofu-pecan mixture, and stir (hands are easiest). Add the TVP and mix until incorporated. 

Note on yield: for smaller sandwich buns, form the mixture into about 40 ping-pong ball-sized meatballs for a 12-sandwich yield, with 3 meatballs per bun. (We cut these in half for a party, for a total of 24 smaller servings.) [For larger hoagie rolls, form the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs. Yields a generous 2 dozen.]

When all meatballs are formed, place them in a lightly oiled slow cooker and cook on low for 4-5 hours [5-6 for golf-ball size]. Or bake in a 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes, until warmed through and lightly golden. 

For the sauce, heat the oil over medium heat, add the garlic and cook for a minute, until fragrant, then add the can of tomatoes with their juices. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.  Add the meatballs to the sauce and stir gently to coat. Keep warm.

Cut the buns and, watching carefully, toast the cut sides until golden brown under a broiler to keep the buns from getting soggy. Add 3 meatballs with sauce, spread a scant TBSP of pesto on the top of each bun and sandwich together.

With well toasted buns, these travel well wrapped in foil. They can be reheated in the foil in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes, if needed.

Finally, we'll be back next week with a fresher recipe (because seriously, summer produce is on), but the subs were one of two things we took to our first party of the summer a couple weeks ago. Part two of the party fare will be up week after next, but we'll leave you with a preview:

Party Animals No. 17: (Birthday) Vanilla Layer Cake with Dead Simple Strawberry Chia Jam

  Cake. Frosting. For those with a serious sweet tooth.

Notes: Omitted the turmeric from the cake since we weren't making a yellow one.

For the frosting, we substituted refined coconut oil for both fats. After one cycle of melting and refrigerating trying to whip it on a warm day, this ended up working beautifully for the event. We also splurged by substituting the contents of one freshly scraped vanilla bean for the vanilla extract.

Because the frosting will melt at warmer room temperatures when made with coconut oil, leftovers must be refrigerated and then brought back to a warmer temperature before attempting to serve it again. But it was worth it, for us, so that we didn't have to buy additional specialty products just for this.

Spreadable strawberries. Plus fat. Makes exquisite toast.

Dead Simple Strawberry Chia Jam

1/2 lb fresh strawberries, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/4 cup apple syrup  [see Note]

1 TBSP chia seeds

Bring the strawberries and apple syrup to a boil in a small sauce pan, then simmer over low to medium-low heat until the strawberries break down, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, grind the chia seeds to a powder in a coffee grinder.

When the berries are ready, remove the pan from heat and stir in the chia powder. Let sit at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick. 

 [Note: If you don't have apple syrup, try using 2-3 TBSP natural cane sugar and 1 TBSP fresh lemon or lime juice.]

Party Animals No. 16: Happy Hour at Home with a Raspberry Yerba Buena Recipe

When we invited a handful of people over for happy hour at our place, it seemed like the perfect time to test drive Pure Vegan . Yowza. The title is dumb and the conceit (proud hedonist) discomfiting, but the recipes are aces.  We prepared five dishes from the book for this gathering, and every one was exceptional.

We also adapted a syrup from the blissfully useful Vegan Food Gifts  to make a pitcher of Raspberry Yerba Buenas (recipe way below). We took her treasured idea of premixed booze for gifts and applied it to parties. Not only does it simplify drink making once the party is underway, it also allows you to know in advance exactly how much liquor you're handing out, so you can budget your party to the penny.

Top: Fig Paste (seriously next level--the flavor balance is nailed down tight), Right: Pear Chips (beautiful), Left: Chile Peanuts (we skimmed an 8-oz mason jar's worth of these off the top for a thank-you gift, even) 

Left: Muhammara (gorgeous and kicky), Right: Vegetable Ceviche (MSV's pick for Official Summer Dish of 2013, but we subbed capers for the called-for olives). These were served with crudite and a stack of fresh tortillas (not pictured, but always highly recommended).

Bright, beautiful, and refreshing at any warm-weather event. Or make the Raspberry-Ginger-Lime Tequila for a gift.

Raspberry Yerba Buena

Print the recipe 

syrup adapted from Vegan Food Gifts 

 For the Raspberry-Ginger-Lime Tequila:

1 heaping cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries

1 1/2 limes, sliced

1/3 cup ginger root, sliced

1 1/2 cups natural cane sugar (evaporated cane juice) 

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup, plus 2 TBSP lime juice

3 cups tequila blanco

 To serve: 

mint

club soda

lime slices or wedges, for garnish

In a medium sauce pan combine the raspberries, lime slices, ginger, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour. Let cool completely.

Strain and discard the solids from the syrup, then combine the syrup with the lime juice and tequila.

To serve, crush a sprig of mint in the bottom of a serving glass with the back of a spoon. Top with ice, pour in 1/3 cup of the Raspberry-Ginger-Lime Tequila and 1/3 cup club soda. Garnish with lime and serve.

Party Animals No. 15: Nut-and-Seed Psyllium Loaf with Herb Jam and Butter Bean-Dijon Hummus for a Potluck with Pals

1. Loaf from here. ​This has been really handy to keep in the freezer, though if you opt to keep it fresh, we still recommend toasting before serving to improve texture and aroma. And not only of the nuts and seeds. Toasting also teases out the maple syrup and coconut oil (the most heavenly combination of foods ever), which is nice since you don't get to dig into the loaf while it's still warm from the oven. We've been putting it to work in other ways, too. Last time we made it, we added 1/3 cup dried apricots and 1/2 cup dried cherries. After slicing the loaf, dehydrate the slices at 125 degrees for something like 15 hours, et voila: granola biscotti.

2. We wish we'd thought of herb jam, but since we didn't, we're glad Paula Wolfert did. That said, this recipe results in a fatty consistency something like creamed spinach, which we weren't crazy about. Next time, we'll decrease the fat and likely increase the acid. In fact, the first time we tried this loaf with a green accompaniment, it was spiced pickled kale. Incredible pairing. Because the loaf is so rich, it really benefits from acidic garnishes.

3. Finally, we made Dreena Burton's white bean hummus, substituting creamy butter beans for the cannellini. So great.​ The dijon in this is genius.

Grain Chemistry No. 2; Party Animals No. 14: (Mostly) Homemade Vegan Double Chocolate Stout Mallomars

While whipped farina certainly has its limitations, it turns out that making a fluffy, if relatively airy and delicate, marshmallow creme to be piped on vanilla cookies and covered in chocolate is not among them. To offset the effort of making the creme at home, we went for convenience in the base cookie by grabbing a bag of Mi-Del brand vanilla snaps from the grocery.

We made our creme with Young's Double Chocolate Stout for a St. Patrick's Day gathering, which dramatically deepens the chocolate flavor in the finished treat. A lighter, more traditional vanilla mallomar can be made by simply replacing the beer with water.  For yet another variation, you can double down on the lemon note in the creme  by replacing the vanilla snaps with Mi-Del brand lemon snaps and garnish with lemon zest before the chocolate sets.

Vegan Double Chocolate Stout (or Vanilla or Lemon) Mallomars

Print the recipe 

makes 30-36 cookes, depending on how much creme you pipe on ; marshmallow creme adapted from here

2 tsp agar powder

3 TBSP cold water

juice of 1 lemon, plus enough chocolate stout beer (or water) to yield a total of 1 1/2 cups liquid (about 1 1/4 cups of beer--we used Young's Double Chocolate Stout) [Note: reserve the lemon zest for garnish if you're making the lemon variation.]

1/4 cup wheat farina (Cream of Wheat brand cereal) 

1 cup natural cane sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

about 3 dozen Mi-Del brand vanilla (or lemon) snaps

10 oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces (we used 71% Equal Exchange brand)

1 tsp vegetable oil

Combine the agar and cold water in a small bowl and set aside.

Bring the lemon juice and beer to a boil, whisk in the farina, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking, until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Transfer the hot mixture carefully to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on medium for two minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 10 minutes.  It will have increased in volume and greatly lightened in color.

Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and 1/4 cup water and heat until it reaches 235 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and agar sludge. Add the syrup to the whipped farina and whip for another 2 minutes on medium-high, until fluffy. Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for 30 minutes.

Layer a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper and lay the cookies out on it. 

When the creme has chilled, transfer  to a piping bag and top each cookie with about 1 TBSP of creme, or to your liking. Let the cookies sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours to let the creme set onto the cookies. 

When ready to coat, gently melt the chocolate in a double broiler and stir in the oil. Place one cookie in the pot with the chocolate, spoon chocolate over the top to coat and remove with a fork, letting excess chocolate drip back into the pot. Return the coated cookie to the paper-lined cookie sheet and repeat with remaining cookies. Store in fridge to let the chocolate set. Remove from fridge half an hour before serving.

Party Animals No. 13: Ancho Chickpea-Tempeh Tamales (or Tacos) with Cilantro Crema

If it weren't for the fact that tamales are wonderfully versatile, and that we're big fans of variety, we could easily call this The Only Tamale Filling You'll Ever Need. The sauce not only has great depth from a combination of bitter anchos, robust coffee, and a touch of sweet mango, but the slow cooker takes care of babysitting the cooking process. And that's before you even get to the ground chickpea-tempeh mix, which gives seriously great texture, and takes about one minute of active time to prepare. And you don't even have to touch a knife. Make your tamale dough (or tortillas) while the tempeh steams, and you're ready to begin assembly in no time.

Note: The filling recipe is a big one. It makes enough for 20-24 tamales, plus a dozen tacos, which can be very handy. Eat tamales one night, freeze the leftovers to eat over the next few weeks, and you still have filling for a taco night that weekend. If you only want to make one or the other, simply halve the filling recipe. 

Ancho Chickpea-Tempeh Tamale (or Taco) Filling with Cilantro Crema

Print the recipe 

yields enough for 40-48 tamales or 24 tacos

For the Ancho Chickpea-Tempeh filling: 

1 1/2 cups water

4 anchos (about 2 oz), trimmed, seeded, and torn into strips

1 large yellow onion

4 cloves garlic

1 TBSP natural cane sugar

1 TBSP vegetable oil

juice of 1 lime

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup frozen diced mango

1 TBSP ground coffee

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1 8-oz block tempeh

1 15-oz can chickpeas

1/4 teaspoon fine sea (or kosher) salt

Heat the 1 1/2 cups water in a kettle on the stove (if you use a press to make coffee--if you use a drip maker, brew one cup of coffee in your machine and heat only 1/2 cup water in a small sauce pan). While it heats, place the ancho strips in a bowl with enough warm water to cover and let soak.

Meanwhile, roughly slice the onion and add it to your slow cooker. Peel and halve the cloves of garlic, and add them to the cooker with the sugar, oil, lime juice, oregano, and mango. By now, your heating water should be hot (but not boiling--if it begins to boil while you're working, remove it from heat and proceed). Pour one cup into your press with the ground coffee, and pour the other half cup into a small sauce pan with the bouillon cube. Heat and stir until dissolved, then add it to the slow cooker along with the ancho strips once you've drained them (the soaking water will be bitter--discard it). When the coffee is ready, pour it into the slow cooker, give everything a quick stir to distribute, and cook on low for 8 hours. When ready to proceed, turn off the heat, and cock the lid to let some heat escape.

Meanwhile, steam the block of tempeh for 20 minutes. While it steams, drain and rinse the chickpeas and transfer them to a food processor.

Carefully puree the hot ancho sauce with an immersion blender until smooth. Return the lid. 

When the tempeh is ready, carefully transfer it to the food processor and add the 1/4 tsp salt. Process until the mixture is ground to your liking (we like a fairly fine grind--you shouldn't be able to identify large chickpea chunks, basically) and carefully stir it into the ancho sauce. 

For the Cilantro Crema: 

1 can navy beans, drained, but not rinsed

1 small clove garlic

1 bunch cilantro (large handful) 

1/4 cup vegetable oil (we like safflower for this) 

juice of 1 lime

1/4 tsp fine sea (or kosher) salt

Puree all ingredients until creamy and very smooth. 

To serve: 

1 recipe tamale dough from Veganomicon 

8 oz corn husks, soaked in warm water for about 30 minutes (we get ours at El Girasol in Bearden)

1 recipe fresh tortillas 

To assemble the tamales, lay a corn husk in landscape orientation in front of you. Scoop about 3 TBSP of dough and flatten it into a large circle on the husk. Place 1 TBSP of filling in the middle of the dough, pull in the top and bottom to cover the filling completely, pull in the small ends as best you can (the loose filling will make this more difficult than with some other fillings) and roll it up in the husk, making sure the husk encases it completely and no dough is left exposed. Tie each end with pieces of husk and repeat until you've used all the dough. Steam for 35 minutes and serve with the cilantro crema.

A note about assembly: Because the filling is so saucy, it doesn't make for the neatest tamale assembly we've ever undertaken. But it does work, and we were beyond thrilled with the final result. If you're brand new to tamale making, or if you simply don't want to spend the effort (even though we believe the reward is more than worth it), rest assured that these make great tacos, too. Alternately, try filling the tamales with only the naked ground chickpea-tempeh mix for easy assembly, and spoon the ancho sauce generously over the cooked, unwrapped tamales at the table.

Party Animals No. 12: Soft Pretzels Two Ways for a Game Night with Pals

Soft pretzel recipe from, of course, The Joy of Vegan Baking. Half were sprinkled with sea salt, the other half brushed with coconut oil and pressed into a cinnamon-sugar mix. Not only are these a sweet offering at gatherings, the dough is easy to work with. And since puffy little pretzels are pretty adorable by definition, the shaping process is very forgiving (and not at all complicated). The best part? Knowing how easy they are to make doesn't make them any less fun to eat.

Party Animals No. 11: Dead Simple White Bean Crostini for the Last Party of the Year

When your (lovely) friends throw one last potluck at the end of December, and you've had your fill of cakes, cookies, and planning in general? Retreat to the comfort of simple, unfussy party food marked by a couple of clean, fresh flavors (parsley and lemon, hello) so you can enjoy the night with your pals without tearing out a single hair. Plus, it'll be a surprisingly in-demand palette cleanser for the whole crowd.

White Bean Crostini

Print the recipe

1 baguette (as always, we prefer Flour Head), sliced, plus crackers, for serving (not pictured: we grabbed a box of Back to Nature's Stone Ground Wheat Crackers on the way to the party)

1 handful (about 1/2 bunch) parsley

3 TBSP olive oil, divided

juice of 1 lemon

2 TBSP water

1 clove garlic

2 TBSP pine nuts

1/2 tsp salt

2 15-oz cans navy beans, drained and rinsed

black pepper, to taste

Preheat the broiler and place the top rack a few inches from the heat source. Put the bread slices in to toast. Check every two to three minutes, and remove when golden.

Meanwhile, blend together the parsley, 2 TBSP of oil, lemon juice, water, garlic, pine nuts, and salt. Place the beans in a mixing bowl, add dressing, and mash loosely with a potato masher, fork, or wooden spoon until the mixture is creamy, but still very chunky with lots of visible beans. Pour on the remaining TBSP of oil, stir, and season to taste with additional salt and black pepper.

Party Animals No. 9: Xmas Eve Dinner of Butter Bean-Spinach Risotto with Nut-Crusted Okra plus Whole Lemon and Pear Galettes

We can't get enough of our crusted vegetables. In addition to mushrooms, we've made onion rings, eggplant marinara, and zucchini fritters. Twice. We'll take any excuse to make this recipe, this time in the form of okra, and we found just the creamy, fluffy bed to lay it on.

After the hefty main course, we turned to the famous Shaker lemon pie for inspiration, but cut out the effort of making pie dough. Instead, we served light, flaky phyllo galettes topped with pear slices. If you've never made dessert with whole lemons, you're missing out. The macerated bitter pith and rind give complexity to the overwhelmingly sour juice and pulp. Resist the urge to reduce the sugar called for, and you'll be rewarded with a depth of flavor missing from standard canary-yellow sweet-tart treats.

Butter Bean-Spinach Risotto with Nut-Crusted Okra

Print the recipe 

adapted from Bon Appetit, serves 3-4

For the okra:

3/4 cup raw, unsalted almonds

2 TBSP unsalted walnuts

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper, to taste

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/8 tsp garlic powder

30 fresh okra pods, about 3/4 lb (or use frozen [see Note])

1/4 cup chickpea flour

1 TBSP cornmeal

5 TBSP water

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a chopper or food processor, grind the almonds, walnuts, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder into a coarse meal. Transfer nut mixture to a pie plate. In a medium bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, cornmeal, and 5 TBSP water.

Dip the okra into the chickpea batter, shake off excess, and press into the nut mixture on both sides. Bake for 12 minutes, flip, and bake for 8 minutes more.

[Note: Whole okra pods are easier to use, because they're bigger, but if all you have is cut frozen okra, it should still work. Allow the okra to thaw partially--you want the pieces to remain very firm--dry it, and proceed with the recipe as written.]

For the risotto:

1 tsp olive oil

1 large handful baby spinach (or any large-leafed green, chopped)

4 cups vegetable broth, not tomato-based

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

3/4 cups arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 15-oz can butter beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the teaspoon of oil and wilt the spinach for 2-3 minutes. If you're preparing your broth from bouillon cubes, simply keep it warm after dissolving. If not, warm gently.

Meanwhile, heat the tablespoon of oil and saute the onion until it softens, a couple of minutes, then add rice and stir to coat with the oil, a couple minutes more. Add wine and cook until it has been absorbed (this should only take a minute). Add 2 ladles of broth--about a cup--and simmer until it has been absorbed, another couple of minutes. Continue adding broth one ladleful at a time until each round has been absorbed. This will take another 20 minutes or so.

When the rice is creamy and tender and the broth is gone, stir in the spinach and the beans, season to taste, and serve when warmed through.

Whole Lemon-Pear Phyllo Galettes

Print the recipe 

makes 2 small galettes, serves 4-6

1 lemon (about 4 oz in weight)

1 cup natural cane sugar

2 TBSP coconut oil, melted, plus more for brushing

1/4 tsp salt

4 oz silken tofu

8 sheets thawed phyllo dough

1 small pear, sliced

1 tsp turbinado or brown sugar

With a serrated knife, slice the lemon as thinly as you can, discarding the thick, tough ends. If you concentrate on slicing the rind as thinly as possible, you won't get nice whole, round slices--that's just fine. Some juice and pulp will leak out onto the cutting board, and you can salvage it all, so just make sure you slice the rind very thinly. Stir together the lemon and the sugar and let macerate for 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350. 

Blend together the melted coconut oil, salt, and tofu until very creamy. Stir the tofu mixture thoroughly into the lemon mixture.

Lay the phyllo sheets, long side toward you (portrait orientation), and cut in half. You will now have 16 rectangles. Stack 8 rectangles, brushing each layer with melted coconut oil, and alternating directions (portrait and landscape) with each layer.

Into the center, pour half of the lemon mixture (a generous half cup). The lemon mix will be quite loose, so you'll want to work quickly as you place half the pear slices on top and fold the edges of the phyllo dough in (make sure you fold the dough over so there are no holes for the filling to leak out of in the oven). Repeat with the remaining half of the dough and filling.

Sprinkle the teaspoon of turbinado over the tops of both galettes and bake, covered, for 20 minutes, then remove the cover and bake another 20 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

Party Animals Nos. 6, 7, and 8: Xmas Party, Potluck with Pals, and Holiday Gift Baking

1. For the xmas party we attended, purple potatoes with cashew cream from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table. Happily, this book is also available at Lawson-McGhee (641.5636 PATR).

2. For our semi-monthly potluck with pals, polenta sticks (again, from The Vegan Table, but we omitted the sun-dried tomatoes and sliced our polenta into sticks, which we broiled, instead of cutting out squares and pan frying) with the decadent, thoroughly addictive mojo dipping sauce from Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan!

3. MSV's own baked old-fashioned mini doughnuts with vanilla glaze. For now, at least, this recipe remains a house secret.

And for our closest friends, the truly wonderful crunchy peanut butter bon bons from Spork-Fed. A few notes: we substituted coconut oil for the EB, reduced the powdered sugar to 1 cup, made our own bread crumbs from 4 slices of Flour Head's everyday wheat loaf (just toast well and process into crumbs), and used our go-to dark chocolate bars for the reasons stated in that post. These are incredible, a cross between Reese's Cups and a Butterfinger bar. But with ingredients of a much higher quality.