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Showing posts with label coleslaw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coleslaw. Show all posts

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Tofu Krab Cakes with Vegan Tartar Sauce...New and Improved!!!

So I've been tweaking my Tofu Krab Cake recipe for a couple of years now....it was good before, but with a few improvements, I think it is now PERFECT!!! I have even improved the Vegan Tartar Sauce recipe! I like the serve these with rice, as the texture and flavor combination just works really well together; so I came up with this flavorful and light Lemon Tarragon Rice side dish. Add some coleslaw, and you've got a pretty awesome meal!! I think you'll love this as much as I do. New and Improved Tofu Krab Cakes (serves 12, with 2 cakes per person)
2 cups breadcrumbs, preferably homemade
3 blocks extra firm tofu (3 lbs)
2 Tbs dried hijiki seaweed, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and drained
1/2 cup red onion, minced
1 large celery stalk, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp kelp granules
2 Tbs ground flaxseeds
1 1/2 Tbs Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 Tbs hot sauce
1/3 cup vegenaise
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 Tbs olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 Tbs canola oil, divided into 3 tsp

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 2 sheet pans.
In a large bowl combine the breadcrumbs, tofu, flaxseeds, vegenaise, and dijon mustard. Use your hands to crumble the tofu into chunks and incorporate the ingredients together. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine; this works best with your hands. Mix together until everything is well incorporated, but not too mushy. You still want some good sized chunks of tofu. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup or scoop, form into 24 patties, approximately 3 inches in diameter. When forming, pack each patty tightly to ensure they stay together while cooking.
Place on prepared sheet pans and sprinkle with a little extra Old Bay seasoning over the tops for texture and color. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes; this helps them bind and stay together much better. Heat about 1 tsp canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add cooled krab cakes to the pan, and brown lightly on both sides. Repeat until all the patties are browned. Serve with Vegan Tartar Sauce and garnish with scallions.
Note: These freeze extremely well! Place leftover patties in an airtight container, before the browning steps, and freeze until ready to use. Brown in oil after thawing.

Vegan Tartar Sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 box silken tofu
2 cups vegenaise
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
2 Tbs capers
1/2 cup dill pickle relish, or chopped pickles
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 Tbs olive oil

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients. Puree until smooth; a few chunks of capers or pickles is fine. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Lemon Tarragon Rice (serves ~12)
2 1/2 cups brown rice
5 cups cold water
1/2 tsp salt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 bunch fresh tarragon, minced

In a large pot, bring rice, water, and 1/2 tsp salt to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low; allow to simmer for 45 minutes. Do not lift the lid during this time
After rice is done, gently stir in the lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic powder, olive oil, and tarragon, using a fork; fluff rice as you stir. Serve hot.

Serve meal with coleslaw and garnish with lemon wedges and scallions....Enjoy your faux seaside feast!!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I Love Testing!!

I cannot stress enough how much I looooove being a recipe tester!! With Terry's Vegan Latina/Viva Vegan! finished testing, I am so glad there was Queen V's Vegan Bakesale cookbook testing to take its place! I am also still working on testing recipes for Bianca's (of the awesome Vegan Crunk blog) southern cookbook, Cookin' Crunk. Both are tons of fun, and have been providing me with dinners and desserts to keep me....and my guests....happy!

Last night I made recipes from Cookin' Crunk testing for dinner: BBQ Tempeh and Carrot Sandwich with Poppyseed Coleslaw. It was delicious! To give the "pulled pork" texture, there are carrots mixed in with the bbq sauce and tempeh mixture....genius!! I love slaw on sandwiches, to add that messy, crunchy, cool, tasty element to something warm and spicy. Yum!!! The sauce was the Memphis BBQ Sauce, also from Bianca's test recipes...very sweet and tangy, which is simply awesome!!!!Dessert was a Vegan Bakesale test recipe: Espresso-Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake, drizzled with Chocolate Ganache. Ooooooh my goooosh was this good!!! A great balance of cakey-ness and crumbliness in the cake portion, perfect Coffee Struesel Topping (!!) and double perfect chocolate-y goodness poured all over the top. And it was not too sweet at all, which can sometimes happen in a lesser coffee cake. This was, of course, enjoyed with some fair trade, locally-roasted Broadway Cafe Coffee! Yay for good dessert and good coffee!Another test recipe from Vegan Bakesale I made this week was the Spelt Jam Thumbprint Cookies. The dough has jam baked into it and is made with spelt flour, so it has a very distinct flavor that is almost healthy tasting...and it's good! Then, there's the double whammy of jam (jammy? no, too much.) in the thumbprint. These tasted a bit like the Girl Scout Cookies that had raspberry jelly in them, but better of course! :)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Local Food Bonanza!!

This week has been a celebration of the last of the summer produce, especially of local summer produce!! The Kansas City Farmers' Market was bursting at the seams this past weekend with all the bounty mid-September has to offer! I was even more excited for the KC Vegan Crawl this past weekend since I got to showcase all the goods...

My Sunday supper club/underground restaurant/get-together meal:
Vegan Krab Cakes, made with local tofu, veggies, and breadcrumbs
Classic Coleslaw made with local cabbage!
Brown Rice and Local Roasted Corn (not pictured)
And for dessert: Local Peach Cobbler!! This was my first time making cobbler, but it certainly won't be my last...it was amazing! Especially warm, topped with some vanilla soy ice cream!Juicy local peaches under a thick pastry crust made with local whole wheat flour, and toasted almonds...what's not to love??My friend, Dane, had his Sustainability Sunday dinner as well. Here's his spread: Wild Rice topped with Creamy Mushroom Sauce and White Beans, Herb-Roasted Potatoes and Butternut Squash, and Radishes & Carrots baked with coconut oil and ginger...with all locally-grown veggies....mmmm...
And last night for dinner, I FINALLY made something I had been craving aaaallllll summer: Fried Green Tomatoes!! The tomatoes came from my momma's garden, of course! They were breaded with a flour-cornmeal-spice mixture and fried until golden brown. These hit the spot! I just had them as a side with dinner, but I am looking forward to making more of these babies and getting creative!
Before I go, a local restaurant review! Last week my friend, Gabi, and I went to the Blue Nile Cafe here in Kansas City. This is an Ethiopian restaurant in the City Market district which has been around for a while, and I can't believe I hadn't made it there before!! About half the menu is vegan...it even says "vegan" on the menu for those items! whaaat?! AMAZING food, great atmosphere, and delightful service--I will definitely be heading back soon. They were out when I went, but they sometimes have vegan cupcakes! I must go for those.

Gabi and I shared the Vegetarian Combination Platter, which gave you a little bit of everything on the vegetarian menu, so we got to try a lot of different items. I can't remember what they all were, but check out their website for details. And they gave us plenty of injera, the Ethiopian flatbread used for dipping/eating; spongy teff bread that is super addictive. Done!! I have only good things to say about the Blue Nile Cafe. If you are in the KC area, check this place out for sure to get great vegan ethnic food!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Black-Eyed Pea and Corn Cakes

Who doesn't love a good fritter?? Well, I certainly do...which is why I was so excited when Bianca of Vegan Crunk posted a fritter made of black-eyed peas (yum) and corn (double yum) as a tester recipe for her Cookin' Crunk cookbook! These little gems are served with a Roasted Red Pepper Creme as a garnish, which compliments them oh so well. These Black-Eyed Pea and Corn Cakes can be served as an appetizer or along with a few sides as a main dish! Can I just say how deeply I am in love with corn?? wow.
I served them as a main dish, with some awesome organic coleslaw on the side....what a great hot summer night's dinner!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I'm A MoFo Burnout.

Man, am I the only one who has a little Vegan MoFo burnout?? I mean, I really loved the excitement it brought and the push to be more creative in cooking and blogging, but it made me a little bit exhausted, too! I have been cooking a lot, though...just not totally psyched on blogging about it much. Also, I feel a little out of new ideas from the recent surge of creativity, so I have been making a lot of old standards...they are still delicious and beautiful, though!
This weekend we had our traditional Sunday breakfast at the wonderful Cafe Berlin...this is a must to make my week run smoothly! It is pretty much the only time Steven and I go out to eat, so this is a really special treat to be served and relax for a whole meal! Tofu-Veggie Scramble with Roasted Potatoes and Whole Wheat Toast
One of my favorites!!!
Like I said, I have been making a lot of things that I have made before...it looks like it's time for me to delve into some of my dusty cookbooks and find some new ideas! Here are some dinners from this week, about which I have been to busy to blog!
Tofu "Crab" Cakes with Vegan Tartar Sauce, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Crunchy Coleslaw

Indonesian Tempeh Stew with Broccoli (from Student's Go Vegan Cookbook), and Coriander Brown Rice

Pumpkin Pancakes with Toasted Walnuts, Sweet Potato Homefries, and Tempeh Bacon
(yes! Brinner is the greatest!)

I am now leafing through Veganomicon...if I can't get ideas from there, I can't get them anywhere!! :)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Vegan Mofo Day #9: Tofu "Crab" Cakes!

On this momentous 9th day of Vegan MoFo, I made my favorite meal: Vegan Tofu "Crab" Cakes! I am serious, these are strangely good! Perhaps it can be attributed to the Vegan Remoulade (aka tartar sauce) on top which is made from Vegenaise, my true love. Who knows! I wish I could emphasize this point more, but I just don't know how: these "crab" cakes could end the world with their deliciousness. I won't waste space to re-post the recipe, but here it is from a post I made a few months ago:Tofu Crab Cakes
I highly recommend serving these with some dirty rice (basically, brown rice with some Cajun spices and hot sauce) and my Crunchy Coleslaw, like I did! Here's my coleslaw recipe...I think you'll like it, too!
Crunchy Coleslaw (serves 6-8)
1 small head white cabbage, thinly shredded
1 small head purple cabbage, thinly shredded
2 shredded carrots
1/4 c minced red onion
2 stalks diced celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs dijon mustard
1/4 cup Vegenaise
pinch salt and pepper
1 tsp paprika
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to coat everything with the dressing. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving. Yum!
This is Laura, and I have approved these "Crab" Cakes! :)