Scallion and Sesame Marinated Tofu (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

July 21, 2014 by theleafycauldron Leave a Comment

Here’s a simple and very tasty way to enjoy some firm or extra firm tofu. It takes a little forethought, but after the initial bit of prep, it’s on the table in a snap. I love tofu, but I don’t often blog straight-up tofu recipes because I have it so down pat, I don’t even think of them as recipes anymore. I’ll try to get pictures more often, because everyone deserves to learn how to prepare tofu.

There’s a spicy option and you could also bake the tofu slices, so do what you like.

Scallion and Sesame Marinated Tofu
Serves 4

1 lb firm or extra firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup cold water
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, sliced thin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Sesame seeds, for garnish
Sriracha, for garnish

Cut the block of tofu in half. In a sealable container, place the tofu and the rest of the ingredients. Shake to combine and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. I did mine for 48, but that’s because I forgot about it. When ready to cook, cut into thin slices and heat over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet. Add the red pepper flakes, if using and allow the marinade to reduce until all the liquid has evaporated. Serve hot over rice or noodles and with whatever vegetables you like. Garnish with sesame seeds and Sriracha.

Chocolate Chip Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-Free and Soy-Free)

July 21, 2014 by theleafycauldron 5 Comments

I don’t know, homemade muffins are usually hard little disappointing things. On the other hand, store-bought muffins are sugary cupcakes without the frosting. So, where is the answer to satisfying muffins? Oversized, I think. Or maybe it’s mini. Anything but regular-sized, then.

These aren’t too sweet, though they are chocolate chip, so I don’t know what you want from me. They’ve got a great crumb, a hint of vanilla and they’re big enough to make people think you bought them from a bakery!

Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 8 large or 24 mini

1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour (Mine; I use brown rice flour because it is not gritty. Sorghum is also nice)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons boxed egg replacer + 2 tablespoons water, well mixed
1/3 cup canola oil (or other neutral oil)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla and set aside. Add the egg replacer, canola oil and milk to the bowl and stir to combine. Unlike glutenous muffins, you need not worry too much about overmixing here. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop into prepared muffin tins (lined or greased) and fill until they are stacked up high. I used three small ice cream scoops, which is about 3 tablespoons. Bake for 22 – 25 minutes, until the tops are gold brown and they spring back at your light touch.

Monday Vegetable Spotlight: How to Cook Leeks!

July 21, 2014 by theleafycauldron 2 Comments

Oh, goodness. Leeks are delicious. The somewhat milder cousin of onions, it doesn’t take much to bring out their subtle sweetness. I don’t remember really eating a lot as a kid because my mom only used them in split pea soup, which I had refused to eat. Sometimes I just sub leeks for onions because my stomach tends to be a little less bothered by leeks. Never mind, the advantages of the fresh, bright flavour of these often forgotten aromatic vegetables.

Look for leeks that are nice and firm, with no droopy bits and that have dark green tops. Cleaning them can feel harrowing, but once you know where that pesky sand hides, it’s a breeze to get rid of it. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, they’re not even sandy. I’ve found the best way to clean them is to make sure you’ve cut them lengthwise before submerging them in cold water. Look especially carefully at the part where the green goes white, as that’s generally where the most dirt and grit is hidden. You might have to use the force of your fingertips to get it out of there.

Like all other vegetables features, I have two quick ways for you to try out leeks today. Don’t forget to let us know on our Facebook page if there’s anything you want to see here!

Creamed Leeks
Serves 2
Based on Martha Stewart’s

1 tablespoon non-dairy margarine
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1 leek, ends trimmed, cut lengthwise and trimmed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white wine
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

In a skillet, heat the margarine and olive oil over medium heat. Thinly slice the leek, on a bias. Add the garlic and rosemary to the margarine and olive oil and stir. Add the leeks and salt and keep them moving, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Sautee for serveral minutes, until the leeks start to lose their water. Add the wine and water, bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes. Take the lid off, turn the heat back up to medium and let all the liquid evaporate. Add the non-dairy milk and let it reduce for several minutes before taking off the heat, tasting for seasoning and serving warm.

Balsamic, Herb and Chive Roasted Leeks
Serves 2

2 leeks, cleaned, trimmed, quartered and then sliced lengthwise
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
Small handful fresh chives, chopped (~2 tablespoons)

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400 F. Lay the sliced leeks out evenly on the baking sheet, with the sliced ends facing up. You can simply group the green ends together in small bundles, as they will come loose when you slice them. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, herbs and chives until well combined. Brush the mixture over the leeks, as evenly as you can. Roast the leeks for about half an hour, until they have started to caramelize. Serve hot or cold. You might put them in a sandwich or on a salad, if that strikes your fancy.

Some other things you might consider doing include:

– Your own split pea soup. It doesn’t take much to make split peas really yummy. I have a recipe that makes it for two, if you’re interested.

– Toss your scalloped or au gratin potatoes with leeks, for a fun and green twist.

– One day, I’ll have my friend Beth guest post with her easier than easy Leek and Potato soup. In the meantime, maybe try Jaime Oliver’s.

No-Bake Chocolate Silk Tarts (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

July 18, 2014 by theleafycauldron 2 Comments

Chocolate pudding is actually one of things I learned hot to make with tofu. I couldn’t believe it was as simple as blending silken tofu with a dark chocolate bar. I’ve been wanting to make a chocolate cream pie for a few months now, but I’ve just not had the motivation to test out the chocolate pastry I really want to develop. Well, this is the lazy version of that dream. Get out your food processor, we’re using it twice today.

Chocolate Silk Tarts
Makes 12 mini tarts

Chocolate Silk Filling

225 g soft silken tofu
226 g (8 oz) dark chocolate, melted

In a food processor or high powered blender, combine the two and pulse until smooth, creamy and chocolatey. Set aside until ready to use.

Cookie Crust

10 gluten-free Oreos, middles removed, crushed to a fine powder in your food processor
3 tablespoons non-dairy margarine, melted, plus more for greasing the pan

Combine the cookie crumbs with the margarine. Grease the tin. Press the crushed cookies into and up the sides of your tart pans or mini muffin tin. Refrigerate until the crust has hardened.

Assembly

Fill each tart with the chocolate pudding and top with your favourite vegan whipped cream and a small piece of fruit.

Berry Black Iced Tea

July 17, 2014 by theleafycauldron Leave a Comment

Every time I bring raspberries home from the store, they somehow get completely crushed. That means I have an extra excuse to create refreshing drinks full of fruit! It’s really easy to pull together and you can substitute frozen fruits, if you’d prefer, as you might when berries go out of season.

Berry Black Iced Tea
Makes 2 litres

1 cup fresh raspberries, crushed
1 cup granulated sugar
4 cups cold water
4 cups black tea, brewed double strength
8 strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Juice of 3 limes
Ice

In a small saucepan combine the raspberries, sugar and one cup of water and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute and then set aside to cool. Brew the tea, double the strength you usually like and take out the tea bags after 5 minutes. Add the tea to a pitcher along with 3 cups of cold water, the raspberry syrup, the fresh berries and ice to the top of pitcher. Stir before serving and pour over ice into cups.

Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free and Rice-Free)

July 17, 2014 by theleafycauldron Leave a Comment

Get your roasting pans out, we’re doing more vegetables in the oven! When you’re cooking for someone who can’t eat raw vegetables, in addition to being allergic to many in any form, roasted vegetables just might be your saviour, like they are mine. I grew up eating corn tortillas and making them in my press, so they taste like comfort to me. I don’t have the knack for making them by hand anymore, but hopefully some practice will bring me back there eventually. For this round, I simply bought the best store bought ones I know of. Feel free to sub some regular wheat or gluten-free tortillas, but you do lose some flavour when you do that. If you end up making these without vegan cheese, I guess they aren’t really quesadillas anymore, are they? I’ll just leave you to ponder that and get on with the recipe. Roasted Vegetables for the Quesadillas Makes 12 small corn tortillas’ worth 1 medium sweet potato, skins on or off, diced 1 sweet onion, such as Vidalia or red, peeled and diced 2 cobs of corn, kernels sliced off 10 cremini mushrooms, diced Half a green pepper, diced Half a red pepper, diced (or the colour of your choosing) Half a jalapeno pepper, diced (optional) 2 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon coriander 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoon canola oil Preheat oven to 400 F. Lay the vegetables out over a large rimmed baking sheet and season. Drizzle the oil over and toss everything together so they are as evenly coated with the spices and oil as possible. Roast for about a half an hour, moving around the vegetables a couple of times to ensure even cooking. Set aside until ready to use. Assembly 12 corn tortillas, heated until soft and pliable1 cup refried beans + 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for serving 1/4 cup vegan cheese shreds, your choice (optional) Heat a skillet over medium high heat. On each tortilla, place a spoonful of refried beans in the middle. Add a sprinkling of cheese, if using. Place a rounded tablespoon of roasted vegetables on top of that, fold the side over and push down so the beans hold it together. Place in the skillet and let brown on each side for a couple of minutes. Serve warm with more refried beans, a boston lettuce salad and a nice fresh salsa, such as my mango-pineapple salad.

Why I’m Breaking Up With Foodgawker

July 17, 2014 by theleafycauldron 3 Comments

This is going to be a very short, non-recipe post. I’m not in the habit of talking about negative things here at The Leafy Cauldron, but I want to make sure it’s very clear for bloggers who are just starting out – Foodgawker is entirely biased and don’t let their quick defensive jump to near-belligerence make you think any different.

Huge food bloggers will stay the top of the page for sometimes up to twelve hours. All kinds of beautiful photos I’ve taken have been rejected for a variety of reasons – none of which are helpful or, usually even true. One time a picture was rejected for being too manipulated and it was nothing but all natural daylight? As for the vegan aspect, is it any wonder their Facebook page likes something called “Use Real Butter”?

Anyhow, the point is, I’m doing something here that I pour my heart into every single day and Foodgawker (for what piddly traffic they generate) make me fall into a pit of self-hatred and self-doubt that is so unnecessary and unwarranted. I’m cultivating a warm, inviting food blog that strives to photograph food is a way that shows a deep understanding of the finished product and that hopes to show you the textures you’re trying to achieve. I can’t do that and continue to try to court a monopolistic food aggregation site that doesn’t seem to understand food at all.

Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Ice Cream Sandwiches (No Ice Cream Maker, Vegan, Gluten-Free and Soy Free)

July 16, 2014 by theleafycauldron 1 Comment

Renee, two desserts in one day?! Here I am. I’m sitting looking back on today, and I realize I’m the proud creator of my very first no-maker cashew ice cream. Is it yummy? Yes, it is. Is it exactly like your old childhood scoop of strawberry ice cream? No, I’m not going to be the person who tells you that. However it’s not far off and that isn’t necessarily a disadvantage! I’m convinced this is the path to non-dairy ice cream glory.

Raw cashews make for a wicked dairy substitute and I’d seen some recipes floating around for cashew ice cream but they needed an ice cream maker (and were from sources I do not like nor trust). I found this one here, which is what I based mine on, which had a simple solution of just stirring every twenty minutes until it sets. I really didn’t want to make a sugar-free one, so I decided to stuff it full of fruit so I could use just a little sugar in it. I braced myself for this to take all day, but was pleasantly surprised when the ice cream set in just a couple of hours. The exact time is going to depend on your particular freezer, but just note it’s not as arduous as I thought it would be. Let your cashews soak for longer, the less powerful your blender or food processor is.

Peanut butter and jam are one of the most legendary pairings, so that led me to sandwiches using a simple peanut butter cookie recipe. Feel free to just make the ice cream; it definitely stands alone! You can expect more homemade ice cream in the future because I think this has a tremendous amount of potential, even possibly something without what can be prohibitively expensive: cashews. Given the delicate nature of peanut butter cookies, you can very easily sub any other kind that sounds good to you, but allow me to suggest my Movie Star Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Strawberry Ice Cream
Makes 4 cups

1 3/4 cups raw cashews, covered with cold water and refrigerated for up to 24 hours, drained
2 1/4 cups cold water
2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 maple syrup (sub for sugar in the strawberry mixture)
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Strawberry jam or preserves, (optional) for additional strawberry punch!

In a small sauce pan, combine 1/4 cup water, strawberries and sugar and heat until the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries have started to break up. Set aside and let cool. After you’ve drained your soaked raw cashews, combine all ingredients, except jam or preserves, in a high-powered blender or food processor and process until completely smooth. This is going to be a little loud and take a while in a run-of-the-mill food processor, but it can definitely be done. Pour into a shallow baking dish and put into the freezer. Every twenty minutes, take it out, stir it and break up any of the bits that are starting to set. Repeat until the whole mixture has set. Cover and (surprise!!) keep frozen until ready to eat.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 18 cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter (this will not work with natural peanut butter)
1 flax egg, cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour (Mine; use brown rice flour, it’s less gritty than white)

Preheat oven to 325 F. In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat all ingredients until smooth. It will be a little crumbly, but hold together when pressed. Roll out 1 tablespoon into a ball. Flatten out with the back of a spatula and then make the classic fork marks on top of each one. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

Assembly

The cashew ice cream is a little softer than hard ice cream, so this should be easy. Using a small ice cream scoop sandwich a scoop between two cookies and lightly press to evenly spread out the ice cream. Shape the ice cream around the edges, if you want to. Wrap individually with plastic wrap and freeze until ready to eat.

Movie Star Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free and a Rice-Free Option)

July 16, 2014 by theleafycauldron Leave a Comment

You know in movies there’s this certain kind of idealistic chocolate chip cookies that kids seem to have after school? They look flat and soft and chewy, but also crisp on the outside and perfectly studded with chocolate chips? Well, after many years of trying out different things, I’m happy to have accidentally stumbled on what I was always looking for in chocolate chip cookies. The thing about so many vegan cookies is that they kinda look like what you know and they kinda taste like what you know, so you often settle for too-heavy treats. This has none of that going on.

The dough didn’t have the texture I was expecting; it was light and airy and really benefited from the refrigeration. They puff up in the oven and promptly become what I was hoping for once they’re out. I’m not going to say it was the addition of molasses that bumped these up, but that is the only thing I really hadn’t tried before. Be careful, it’s strong, so don’t go for more than what I used.

If you’d like to make these with regular all-purpose flour, I think that would work splendidly but I really do recommend adding the xanthan gum, as it’s the most helpful thing I’ve found in getting the right texture for vegan cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes ~4 dozen cookies
Adapted from this recipe on Canadian Living

1 cup non-dairy margarine, softened
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon high quality vanilla extract
1 tablespoon boxed egg replacer + 1/4 cup water, mixed well
2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour (Mine; I used a combo of brown rice and sorghum for the rice flour portion)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gun, in addition to the xanthan gum in the flour mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, using a hand or stand mixer on high, beat the margarine until fluffy. Add the sugar and molasses and beat until fluffy again. Add the vanilla extract and egg replacer and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate for a half and hour. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop the dough by the rounded tablespoon onto the baking sheet. Flatten out ever so slightly with the back of the spoon. These will spread out, so don’t crowd them. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Take out from the oven and let continue cooking for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to cool on a baking rack.

Copycat Starbucks’ Cinnamon Dolce Boozy Milkshake (Vegan)

July 14, 2014 by theleafycauldron 4 Comments

OK, I’ve cracked the code for alcoholic drinks that taste like they’re made of heaven and Starbucks’ Cinnamon Dolce syrup. Never mind that, it’s also easy to do. Do you want a cocktail that goes down like silk? You probably do.

I used two DIY liquors, but you can get away with using Kahlua for one of them, if you prefer. The cinnamon infused vodka is only going to take one minute of preparation and a couple days in the cupboard to complete. Most alcohol infusions take at bare minimum 6 months (high quality, professional ones take years) so we’re really ahead of the game here. Did I mention it tastes of heaven?

Cinnamon Infused Vodka
Makes 2 cups

2 cups vodka
2 cinnamon sticks
Pinch of granulated sugar

Combine all ingredients in a seal-able container (I used a mason jar), shake to dissolve sugar and leave in a cupboard to infuse for at least 2 days. It will smell of candy when it’s ready to drink.

Cinnamon Dolce Boozy Milkshake
Serves 1 (~500 ml)

2 oz cinnamon infused vodka
1.5 oz coffee or espresso flavoured liqueur (I used my homemade espresso liqueur)
1/4 cup cold coffee or espresso
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate milk
1 scoop non-dairy ice cream (chocolate or vanilla)
1/2 cup crushed ice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Put all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Garnish with your favourite non-dairy whipped cream, coffee beans and a cinnamon stick. Be careful.

Alternatively, you might want to add a frozen banana in place of the ice cream. It makes for a less rich and slighly less thick milkshake – with none of the to-die-for silkiness lost. It has a mild aftertaste of banana, but it’s not strong at all. I like it better this way.

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