Truffled Wild Mushrooms Over Whipped White Beans

Sometimes some of the best recipes can be found in those free fliers at your local grocery store. This dish is a perfect example.

I found this in the March/April 2009 Whole Foods flier and immediately thought "DAMN! That looks good..." And, as usual, I was right.

The beans are an excellent source of protein, and unless you've been living in some sort of cave, you know that mushrooms are a great immune booster, which at this time of the year, we could all use a little help in that department.

I, of course had to make a change. Instead of the fresh thyme I used fresh rosemary because I'm more of a rosemary fan, but also because I like to be difficult. There, I said it Josh. You win.

Anyway, what makes this so unique is the truffle oil. Here's your opportunity to get the truffle flavor without paying the truffle price. So, call your agent, put on your sunglasses, and enjoy this dish like the true movie star you really are!

Truffled Wild Mushrooms Over Whipped White Beans
Serves 4

2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 medium leek, white and pale green parts chopped (1/2 cup)
2 15-oz cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme (or rosemary. There I go...Being difficult again)
1 lb wild mushrooms, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp truffle oil

Heat 1 tsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add leek, and saute 2 minutes. Stir in beans, broth,garlic and thyme (or rosemary...Ahem). Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to food processor; blend until smooth. Return to skillet, cover, and keep warm.

Heat remaining 1 tsp oil in medium skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms, and saute 8 minutes, or until soft and brown. Season with salt and pepper and stir in parsley.

Spoon whipped bean mixture into shallow bowls, Top with equal portions of mushrooms. Drizzle each serving with 1/2 tsp. truffle oil, and serve.

(Gratuitous Nutritional Chart: per serving: 299 calories; 15g protein; 7g total fat (1g sat fat); 46g carb; 0mg chol; 691mg sodium; 17g fiber; 2g sugars)

Roasted Root Vegetable Enchiladas with Chipotle Cashew Cream

That's right ladies and gentlemen, ENCHILADAS.

You may have been asking yourself how you could create delicious, flavorful enchiladas without the cheese, and I assure you, I had the exact same concerns before I tried this dish for myself. The sweetness of the yams, along with the spiciness of the parsnips and earthiness of the beets topped with the smoky chipotle sauce gives flavor and depth far above and beyond and traditional enchilada I've ever had.

The only problem I have with this recipe is that whenever I prepare beets for roasting, my kitchen is instantaneously transformed into what appears to be a gruesome crime scene. Therefore, if you want to minimize the mess, you can replace the beets with a can of black beans, which, in my opinion, is just as good.

Now, let' talk about this cheese sauce. Awesome. The nutritional yeast, which will add a "cheesy" flavor to the sauce is an excellent source of B vitamins and is also a complete protein, so you can feel good about eating it! This sauce is so versatile that you will find yourself making it for other dishes as well...It's just that good.

As an added bonus you can make the Cilantro-Lime Brown Rice that was featured with this recipe. Honestly, the enchiladas are usually enough for me, but if you want to impress your friends and your family, I'd throw it in. Ole!

Roasted Root Vegetable Enchiladas
Makes 10 Enchiladas
From VegNews Nov/Dec 2008 issue

2 1/2 pounds yams, parsnips, and beets, peeled and diced
1 large yellow onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups Chipotle Cashew Cream (see recipe below)
10 corn tortillas
14 ounces mild green or red enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss vegetables, onion, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper.

Spread veggies evenly on prepared sheet pan. Roast for 50 minutes, or until soft and lightly browned, flipping mixture after 25 minutes.

Remove from oven, let cool for 10 minutes and in a large bowl toss roasted veggies with 1 cup of cashew cream. (It is here I add the black beans if I am using them). Turn oven down to 350.

In a shallow plate, pour roughly half the enchilada sauce. Dip a tortilla into sauce to coat each side, spread 1/4 cup of roasted veggies into the tortilla, roll up tightly, and place into a 9x13-inch glass baking dish, seam side down. Continue with remaining tortillas, fitting two rows of five enchiladas each.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolled enchiladas, and drizzle with remaining 1/2 cup cashew cream. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes to heat and lightly brown the cashew cream.

Chipotle Cashew Cream
Makes 1 1/2 Cups
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup water
1 canned chipotle pepper
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

In a blender puree all ingredients until smooth

Cilantro-Lime Brown Rice
Makes 5 cups

1 medium white onion, chopped
1 cup cilantro, leaves and stems, rinsed and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Zest and juice of two limes
3 cups water
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups long-grain brown rice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a blender puree onion, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, lime zest and juice, and water.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil and rice, and lightly toast for 3-5 minutes. Stir in cilantro mixture. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.

Once the rice boils, place saucepan into oven and bake for 50 minutes. Remove and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Remove cover and fluff rice with fork before serving.

Portobello Mushroom Benedict

Brunch. For those of us that are gluten-free and vegan the word “brunch” in the conventional sense can be equated to “there’s nothing here I can eat.”

I remember most recently meeting my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law at the local Original Pancake House for a Sunday afternoon brunch. After examining the menu and asking a few questions I discovered the only thing I could eat was a grapefruit and a cup of hot tea. Not exactly what I had in mind. I had inquired about the hash browns and after some checking the manager came over to tell me that they used “clarified butter” and that should be O.K. for people with dairy allergies. Obviously the man had no idea what he was talking about so instead of arguing with him, I opted for the grapefruit . Yay.

Thankfully, I’ve found a wonderful little location for a weekend brunch that caters to vegans and gluten free folk like me. It’s a little restaurant called Pizza Luce located on Selby Ave in St. Paul. Not only do they have delicious dishes like tofu scramble, jalapeno hash browns, and vegan sausage patties, they also have $1 mimosas and a Portobello Mushroom Benedict that I have come to absolutely love and have made myself at home.

The only thing I do differently is I leave out the English muffin. The Portobello mushroom and hash browns are more than enough to fill you up, and if you’re really hungry you can substitute a veggie patty for the muffin, placing it under the mushroom. (Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.)

I searched for a recipe for the vegan hollandaise sauce and all I could find where recipes that used silken tofu as a base. They didn’t taste very authentic, so instead I created my own using raw cashews and it turned out fantastic.

So, here’s to brunch the way it’s supposed to be eaten! Enjoy!

Portobello Mushroom Benedict
(Serves 4)

4 large Portobello mushrooms
1 bag raw spinach
2 green onions, sliced
4 veggie gluten free veggie burgers (if desired)
1 large bag frozen hash browns
Vegan Hollandaise Sauce (recipe to follow)

Begin preparing hash browns according to the instructions on the bag.

Remove stem and gills from mushrooms, wash thoroughly. Place veggie burgers on a heated grill pan and begin to cook. This will take about 8-10 minutes if they are frozen. Meanwhile, drizzle the mushrooms with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place on heated grill pan cooking about 5-6 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
Place the hot mushroom on a handful of spinach leaves and cover with the veggie patty. Drizzle with hollandaise sauce and top with sliced green onion. Add hash browns to the dish, season to taste and serve!

Jenni’s Vegan Hollandaise Sauce

½ cup raw cashews
½ cup water
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp canola oil or grapeseed oil

Place all ingredients into the blender except the oil. Blend until smooth. Slowly add the oil while mixing on low for about 1-2 minutes to combine thoroughly.

You may want to heat the sauce in the microwave for a short time before serving, but be careful, it will burn easily!

Spicy Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Although I am not one for "New Years Resolutions" (mainly because I do not enjoy setting myself up for failure), I will support those who make them and want to try to stick with them.

With that being said, if you're one of the many people that has decided to take advantage of a new year, a fresh slate, a point for new beginnings, and made that oath to "eat healthy" have I got the recipe for you!

It's simple, fast, yummy, and most importantly; It's healthy.

Before you start, I suggest you try to drain as much water out of your tofu as possible. To do so, I cut it in slices and put the slices between a few sheets of paper towel, then I set a heavy cast iron pot on top of the tofu to press the water out. This makes it so the end product isn't watered down.

Spicy Tofu Lettuce Wraps
Makes 16 wraps
Recipe from Vegetarian Times Magazine

Filling

2 tsp vegetable or canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbs. minced lemongrass
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. extra firm tofu, crumbled
1 8oz. can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
4 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
4Tbs. hoisin sauce
1 to 2 tsp vegetarian chile sauce, such as vegetarian sriracha
16 butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce leaves

Garnishes
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
Hoisin and chile sauces

1. To make Filling: Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, ginger, lemongrass, and garlic, and cook 7 to 10 minutes, or until onions are soft and beginning to brown. Add tofu and water chestnuts, breaking tofu into small crumbles; cook 4 minutes, or until heated through. Stir in soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and chile sauce. Transfer to serving bowl.

2. Place lettuce leaves on platter, and set out garnishes in small serving bowls. Let guests wrap tofu mixture in lettuce leaves, and top with their choice of garnishes.

Caprese Salad

For those of you who would think that it's impossible to enjoy a Caprese Salad without the mozzarella, think again. I have found an excellent substitution to the "C" word in the form of a pignoli ricotta.

The recipe comes from Raw Food Real World, an excellent "uncook" book that I use ALL of the time. In fact, that's where I've been the last five or so odd months, tinkering around with my new dehydrator making things like buckwheat pizza crusts, cranberry and maple "grawnola", macadamia cheese, and my personal favorite, "Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagne." This shit is the biz-omb. I've made this so many times that the pages for the book are splattered with pesto and tomato juice. Incidentally, this is where the recipe for the pignoli ricotta comes from.

No dehydrator necessary for this recipe, it's super easy and tastes wonderful on a warm summer's day. Serve it on a bed of greens, or just serve it plain, on a plate with a little olive oil drizzled over the top and a touch of sea salt. YUM!

Caprese Salad:

1 tomato sliced to desired thickness
basil leaves for each tomato slice
pignoli ricotta (recipe to follow)

2 cups raw pine nuts, soaked for 1 hour of more
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (if you don't have this, it's not a recipe breaker)
1 tsp sea salt
6 Tbsp filtered water

Place the pine nuts, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times, until combined. Gradually add the water and process until the texture becomes fluffy, like ricotta.

To Serve:
Place tomato slices on plate, cover each slice with a basil leaf, add a dollop of pignoli ricotta, drizzle with olive oil and add a touch of freshly ground sea salt.

You can store the leftover ricotta in a sealed container in your refrigerator for up to a week.

(In the picture, I added a dollop of the pine nut pesto instead of the fresh basil leaves.)

Black Bean and Yam Ragout with Grilled Polenta

This is the first recipe I actually created on my own. Wait, I should clarify that...This is the first recipe I created on my own after ordering it twice at The Good Earth.

With that being said, I believe that I "created" it because I didn't have a recipe to follow, and the fact that it came out to taste freaking delicious must make me some sort of culinary genius.

For the Polenta, I use Bob's Red Mill polenta mix. I love Bob's products, and you can find them at almost any grocery store, they're natural and priced right.

If you don't like polenta, you can use brown basmati rice...It's your choice, nobody is holding a gun to your head ferchrissakes.

Black Bean and Yam Ragout with Grilled Polenta

For the Ragout:
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/3 cups veggie broth
1 large yam, diced into 1 inch chunks
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup Orange Juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons tamari or gluten free soy sauce
One avocado, sliced
Dried hot pepper flakes

In a large deep skillet cook the onion, the garlic, and the jalapeno in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, add the yams and veggie broth, cover and cook over medium to low heat stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until the yams are soft.

While the dish is simmering, prepare the polenta according to the directions, I like to add a little agave nectar while it is simmering to add a little sweetness.

Mix the corn starch and O.J. in a small bowl. Stir in the tomato paste and the O.J. mixture, along with the tomatoes, black beans and tamari into the the pan with the veggies and bring the ragout to a boil, stirring. Simmer the ragout for 2 minutes and season it with salt and pepper.

Spoon ragout over the top of the prepared polenta and garnish with sliced avocado and hot pepper flakes.

Baked Macaroni and "Cheese"

Son of a bitch.

If I would have known that I could eat macaroni and "cheese" like this, I would have been vegan long ago.

This grub is so good it makes me want to cry...Or quite possibly even plummet myself to the ground in a fit of rage and throw a temper tantrum that would rival that of a three year old girl who just got her favorite toy swiped out of her sweaty palms by her bastard older brother.

It's just that good.

Not only does it taste great, but it tastes great without all the saturated fat and cholesterol of your traditional "Mac and Cheese."

For the pasta, I used my new favorite "Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta" that has a great texture and, as advertised on the package is "not mushy!"

So, if you're looking for a blast from the past, and a dish that will bring you to tears, this is your bag, baby.

Baked Macaroni & "Cheese"
From the Jan/Feb issue of Veg News
Serves 6

4 quarts water
1 tablespoon sea salt
8 oz macaroni
2 Tbsp + 1/3 cup Earth Balance non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
2 Tbsp shallots, peeled and chopped
1 cup red or yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup water
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic, pressed
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika

1. In a large pot, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente. In a colander, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the veggies are very soft.

3. In a blender, process the cashews, salt, garlic, 1/3 cup margarine, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne. Add softened veggies and 1 cup cooking water to the blender and process until perfectly smooth.

4. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta and blended "cheese" sauce until completely coated. Spread mixture into a 9 x 12 casserole dish and dust with paprika. Bake for 30 minutes or until the "cheese" sauce starts to bubble and the top has turned golden brown.