Tag Archives: vegan

Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Simple Roasted Asparagus

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I’m constantly on the search for easy, inspiring side dishes.  When you are making use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients, it’s easy to avoid reaching for the bag of frozen corn as a quick accompaniment to your main course.  That being said, I get extremely lazy sometimes.  To the point where I don’t even want to boil a pot of water for anything or anyone.  When I get a case of the doldrums and asparagus is in season, this is my answer to the big question of “What the hell am I going to eat with this?”

Roasted Asparagus © Spice or Die

For you folks that don’t dig asparagus (like my hubby and sis for starters), you can use this exact same preparation to cook string beans and haricots verts.  And also cherry tomatoes on the vine.  All of which are gorgeous and couldn’t be simpler.  There you go – 3 options for those days that you couldn’t possibly peel yourself off the couch to make anything involved.

Simple Roasted Asparagus

1 lb. of asparagus
1/4 c. of olive oil
2 pinches of kosher salt
1 pinch of black pepper

Preheat oven to 450°.  Snap ends off asparagus spears (and save for stock for Cream of Asparagus Soup).  Toss asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper and spread out evenly over a flat baking sheet.  Bake in the oven until crisp and tender (I know, an oxymoron) – about 10 minutes for thin asparagus (cigarette size) and 17 minutes for thick asparagus (cigar-sized).

Variations

If you want to brighten things up for the summertime, mix 2 tbs. of lemon zest and two tbs. of chopped parsley to make a gremolata.  Top asparagus with the mixture and serve.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Recipes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Tomato Bruschetta

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I’m hoping that by posting this recipe, I’ll be making my sister Lexi really, really, really inspired to start making this for herself.  It’s her favorite – probably in the top five things that I make that she loves the most.  And accomplished chef and baker she may be, she always cons me into making it for her.  Maybe it’s like how I feel about a good grilled cheese – I can make it for myself, but it tastes so much better when someone else makes one for me.  Come to think of it, Lexi makes my favorite grilled cheese of all time – Tilamook cheddar, feta cheese and a tomato on slices from a pullman loaf.  Maybe we were meant to be sisters.

Tomato Bruschetta © Spice or Die

There are very few ingredients in this bruschetta, so you have to use the best ingredients possible.  Fresh ripe tomatoes, leafy basil and fruity olive oil make all the difference.  This topper is killer on toasted ciabatta, baguette rounds brushed with olive oil and baked, or even focaccia.  If carbs aren’t your thing, try it atop chicken paillard (or a simply grilled chicken cutlet) and a handful of arugula.  It’s a bistro meal without a ton of calories.  You can also toss this bruschetta with boiled, cooled potatoes and blanched string beans for my absolute favorite salad of all time (similar to my Potatoes Vinaigrette).

Tomato Bruschetta © Spice or Die

This bruschetta doubles and triples easily – make enough for friends, but not enough for leftovers.  It’s best eaten the same day before the tomatoes become soggy and too acidic.  It’s a carpe diem kind of recipe, so tuck in post haste.

Tomato Bruschetta

2 c. of chopped tomatoes
1 shallot, finely diced
3/4 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
5 tbs. of olive oil
2 tbs. of red wine vinegar
7 leaves of fresh basil, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced
toasted bread or crostini

Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, shallot and basil to a bowl.  Toss with olive oil and vinegar.  Taste for seasoning.  Top crusty slices of bread with a few tablespoons of bruschetta and serve with sprigs of basil for garnish.  Or put out the bread and bruschetta and let people assemble for themselves.  For non-vegans, you can serve bruschetta topped with slices of buffala mozzarella as an added treat.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Easy to Prepare, Recipes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Lima Bean Bruschetta

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Luscious Lima Action

This recipe was born of a 100% “oh, crap” moment – I was cooking dinner for myself when I found out that a few good friends were on the way over to share a drink.  My Brazilian/Italian roots are firmly planted in perennial hospitality – if people come over and you’re eating, you absolutely share what you’ve got, small though it may be.  There’s a Brazilian song that says that the more people that come over, the more water you add to your beans to thin them out.  All are welcome.

Lima Bean Bruschetta © Spice or Die

My dinner for one was barely enough to share with 4 hungry ladies, so I found myself rummaging through the freezer and pantry for items to whip into something special.  In a moment of divine inspiration, I threw leftover lima beans, parsley, and lemon into the food processor and blitzed away.  The result, similar to what Cesar Cardini must have felt when he turned lowly anchovies, garlic, eggs and oil into caesar dressing, was majesty.

This recipe is similar to a popular crostini topping that I used to eat all the time in Orvieto – there it was made from fava beans (or broad beans) and drizzled with fruity, golden olive oil.  The lima beans are great because they’re easy to pull out of the freezer in a pinch, and cheaper than fava beans.  That being said, if you see fresh fava beans at the market, grab them and try them as a replacement for the limas – they are so lovely.  I like this bruschetta plain, but for a bit of decadence, you can crumble a bit of ricotta salata over the top for some added salty goodness.  Lowly limas never had it so good.

This recipe is hard to make smooth without a food processor, but you can certainly do it with a mortar and pestle (or a mocajete).  Just make sure to chop your herbs first, and then stage the ingredients in the same order as listed for the food processor in the instructions below.

Lima Bean Bruschetta

10 oz. of frozen lima beans
1 c. of water

1 tbs. of lemon juice, freshly-squeezed
2 tbs. of red wine vinegar
1/3 c. of olive oil
2 – 4 cl. of garlic
4 leaves of basil
5 sprigs of parsley, leaves removed and stems discarded (save stems for stock)
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper

Put the lima beans and water in a pot and cook until tender, about 6-7 minutes.  Drain and rinse with water to cool.

To your food processor, add your garlic, basil, parsley, salt and red pepper.  Pulse until chopped finely.  Add the vinegar, lemon and olive oil.  Pulse until smooth.  Remove to a tupperware and chill.  Serve spread on grilled bread or crackers and drizzled with good olive oil.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Recipes, Sauces and Condiments, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Olive Tapenade

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Like a Dirty Martini. Extra Dirty. Without the Martini…

Back when I fancied myself a writer and a thinker (ha!), I wanted to write a book on similarities and trends in people’s palettes.  I found that the folks that hated olives also hated coconut, avocados and other lovely things that I couldn’t imagine not eating.  It was like a package deal or something.  While my theories have yet to be tested on a larger scale, I definitely do believe that your palette can be trained to taste and eventually love foods that you may not like right now.

Olive Tapendae © Spice or Die

For me, one of the foods that I’ve come around to over the years are green olives.  I’ve always adored black olives – I was the little kid who put the canned ones on my fingers like a fool, only to eat them off – but absolutely abhorred green olives.  In a moment of revelatory tastetastiness (sure, that’s a word), I had olive tapenade at a local tapas restaurant as an amuse bouche.  The chef served it with plantain chips – a fun spin on chips and salsa.  Needless to say, I was hooked from that moment on. Continue reading Olive Tapenade →

Lighten Up, Recipes, Salads, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Sesame Mandarin Salad

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Open Sesame!

This salad is inspired by the delicious concoction that my buddy Maureen used to whip up for all of us working at my old job back in the day.  Perfectly tangy, crunchy, and sweet – it was probably the most requested item at our potlucks and parties.  Remind me to beg her for her recipe sometime.

Right around the time I left for NYC, my aunt gave me a copy of the Junior League of Yakima Cookbook, and lo and behold, they had a version of Maureen’s salad.  Their version had a few unusual additions, to include parsley, candied almonds and tabasco.  They also used a lettuce blend as opposed to the traditional iceberg.

Fast forward a bit, and out of sheer necessity and chronic cravings for interesting salad options, I came up with the following “hacked” version of the two recipes.  I ditched the candied almonds, added some splenda, and used a mix of extra crisp lettuces – frisee became the ace in the hole, adding both crunch and texture.  Topping off the whole shebang is a lovely toss of black and white sesame seeds.  The bright mix manages to make me grin just at the sight of it.  A nourishing enough meal on its own, this salad is also a great accompaniment to slices of Crispy Ginger Chicken.

Sesame Mandarin Salad

6 c. of mixed greens (iceberg, romaine, frisee, green leaf, red leaf)
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 c. of celery, diced
1 15oz. can of mandarin orange segments, drained
1/3 c. of sliced almonds

1/4 c. of vegetable oil
4 tbs. of rice wine vinegar
2 packets of splenda (or 4 tsp. of sugar)
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/8 tsp. of white pepper
1 tsp of white sesame seeds
1 tsp of black sesame seeds

In a large salad bowl, toss the greens, scallions, celery, almonds and oranges.  Set aside.  Mix together in a small bowl the olive oil, rice wine vinegar, splenda, salt and white pepper.  Pour the dressing on the sides of the salad bowl (a Thomas Keller trick to perfectly saturate each green with an even amount of dressing) and toss.  Top the salad with the sesame seeds.  Serve to deserving lovelies.

Recipes, Sauces and Condiments, Vegan Dishes

Sweet Peanut Lime Dressing

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Sweetie Peeties

This dressing is a variation of one of my favorite go-to dressings, a light citrus combo that is sweetened with a bit of sugar and honey.  I use it on my Thai Chopped Salad with Crisp Noodles and Herbs, but if you leave out the peanut sauce, you can use it as the basis for a Mandarin Orange Salad or even as a marinade for meat or vegetables.  The recipe calls for peanut sauce, but if you don’t have any around, substitute a tablespoon of smooth peanut butter.  If you are vegan and looking to use peanut sauce, try to find one without fish sauce.  Or just use the aforementioned peanut butter trick.  Word. Continue reading Sweet Peanut Lime Dressing →

Easy to Prepare, Recipes, Salads, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Thai Chopped Salad with Crisp Noodles and Herbs

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Chopper Style

There’s a time and a place for Applebee’s, and that’s when your dead.  Kidding, but seriously, the salads at all these chain restaurants (I’m talking to you too, Chilis and TGIFridays) are a waste of money.  I’m sure that the dressings are prepackaged with all kinds of preservatives, and heaven knows when the produce last left the garden.  It’s a waste of cash as well.  The only thing that they’re doing right is illustrating the point that salads don’t have to be boring.

This particular recipe reminds me of all of my favorite things about a salad – exceedingly crisp, ultra light, and super refreshing.  Matchsticks of carrot, daikon and red bell pepper give an addictive crunch, and the crisp noodles help to soak up the yummy peanut lime dressing.  Cilantro and mint add spice and sweetness, and the dressing gets a kick from a bit of chili and garlic.  It’s all around goodness. Continue reading Thai Chopped Salad with Crisp Noodles and Herbs →

Appetizers and Small Plates, Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Recipes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Summer Rolls (Goi Cuon)

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Hot Fun in the Summertime

Called goi cuon in Vietnamese, these fresh rolls offer a light and refreshing alternative to their oil-laden spring roll cousins.  Although these are traditionally made with steamed shrimp and slivers of roasted pork, I like mine vegan with lots of crunchy veggies and no meat or seafood.  I even spike them with a few shitake mushrooms sauteed in a bit of oil and then cooled – this addition makes the rolls even more filling as a main dish.  Complete the non-meat meal with a tasty dip in some peanut sauce (find a version with no fish sauce) or hoisin sauce.  Welcome to the ultimate in coolness.

You’ll note that there are no amounts in this recipe – fill the rolls to your liking with the veggies of your choosing and dunk away.  It’s your show and you get to cast the characters.  That means you’re cut, bean sprouts! Continue reading Summer Rolls (Goi Cuon) →

Appetizers and Small Plates, Recipes, Sauces and Condiments, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Fresh Guacamole (and Bean Tostadas)

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Let’s Get Smashed

Apparently, NYC feels a need to charge a premium for fresh guacamole goodness.  They buy a mocajete (stone mortar) and a pestle, have some dude wheel a cart of fresh ingredients to your table, and for the tableside prep, charge you a hefty $12 – 15 depending on how fancy the restaurant.  You can make this guacamole for around $5 at home.  All that’s left is to buy some top shelf añejo and make some fresh lime margaritas to seal the deal.

I add a couple of extra ingredients for both taste and presentation – the shallots and tomato add lovely color.  And I use a shallot because it’s small and I can use it all with no leftovers, but you can certainly use a red onion if you have one on hand.  For this recipe, you are the controller of spice – the version below is mild/medium in heat, but you can amp up the spice quotient by using the jalapeno seeds and dicing it as finely as possible.  The cayenne doesn’t add much heat so much as offer a fuller pepper flavor.  This recipe works doubled and tripled, so if you are having a large group over, make plenty. Continue reading Fresh Guacamole (and Bean Tostadas) →

Appetizers and Small Plates, Impressive Dishes, Recipes, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Vegan Potstickers

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It’s SO Easy Being Green

My family hails from Brazil, a country that prizes meat consumption in all its glory.  And yet, my sister has been a vegetarian (and a vegan when her multiple sclerosis doesn’t give her grief about it) since she was in fourth grade.  Always loving to cook for friends and family (regardless of dietary restrictions), I quickly altered my repertoire to include non-meat alternatives for all of my tried and true recipes.  As time went by, I came across more and more good friends looking for some sweet, non-meat dining (Drew and Briana, especially).  I never felt put out making “two dinners” – it just meant more time in the kitchen.

Two little tips to keep in mind – the green food coloring, aside from aesthetic purposes, is an awesome way to quickly separate between the veggie and meat dumplings on a platter.  No meat eaten by mistake.  I use green food coloring for the dye action, but if you are using frozen spinach at any time, you can save the water from it to dye your dumpling skins.  The other tip is that although I list a slew of veggies for these guys, do experiment and use whatever you’d like.  Try spinach instead of the cress, water chestnuts instead of the bamboo shoots – be creative and use what’s fresh and available.Vegetarian, vegan or no, give these dumplings a whirl.  If you make them at the same time as the chicken or pork versions, not only will you have a veritable dim sum spread in front of you, you’ll be winning the favor of your non-meat eating friends.  And friends are a good thing, I hear 😉 Continue reading Vegan Potstickers →