Dinner from a weeknight.
Barly and purple rice cooked together.
I tried Kashmiri before, but this was my first time to try this Madras Curry sauce.
This, just like the Kashimiri one, also needed some kind of sweetener.
It’s a bit spicier than Kashimiri, but it was as good.
When I made the lentil balls, I froze some.
They are great to have in the freezer because they are easy to thaw in the microwave, and they can be the main part of your meal.
Cucumber yogurt sauce.
It seems obligatory to make a pepperoni pizza when you have awesome pepperoni.
Well, to tell the truth, I don’t know any other dish where I can use my pepperoni (lol).
You usually do not see me make a pizza like this.
I usually like a lot of toppings including some veggies for sure, so you can imagine how hard it was for me to stop here.
But again, I made this pizza to show off my vegan pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.
It turned out great!
The Mozzarella did not melt the way the regular one melts, but it melted in its own way, and I was fine with that.
It was creamy and complemented the pepperoni so well.
I liked this vegan version so much better than the regular pepperoni and cheese pizza I had in the past when I was still eating meat and dairy.
I’m feeling pretty good about this.
Well, good enough to be boldly thinking about making this for my 15-year-old nephews next time they are over and see what they think!
Remember I had some time to spend in the kitchen last weekend, and I got to try a new recipe for vegan Mozzarella.
Well, I also decided to try another recipe.
This was my first time making vegan pepperoni, and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make it and how tasty it turned out.
The recipe is from “Cratfng Seitan” by Skye Michael Conroy.
To tell the truth, I was never a big fan of pepperoni before we started the plant-based diet, but it was still quite fun to make vegan pepperoni that tastes just like the regular pepperoni (I actually think this vegan version tastes better!).
My husband is a big pizza lover, and he does like pepperoni as a topping, so it was definitely worth making it.
And now I know it tastes good, so I have a feeling that I will make it again in the future as well.
Well, when you succeed in making great vegan mozzarella cheese, you have to make this!
I think this popular but simple salad really showcases the deliciousnsess of the cheese.
So that’s why I went to the local farmers market to get heirloom tomatoes.
Luckily, we live within a walking distance, and I love walking there every Saturday morning.
This turned out so good!
I’ve been quite busy at work, and I haven’t had a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.
But this week I was able to make some time, so I wanted to tackle something new.
Well, I’ve made vegan fresh mozzarella before using the recipe from “Vegan Cheese” by Jules Aron ↓
https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2019/05/05/earth-lovers-cheese-plate
It was fun, but I wanted to try a different recipe this time.
They looked great.
I let them rest in the refrigerator overnight, and apparently that helped the texture.
I really liked this one.
Texture ✔
Taste ✔
Look ✔
The process was pretty similar to the other one’s.
It involves a few steps, but you can certainly manage them after dinner, which I did on Friday night.
I think this one is better in terms of texture and taste than the other.
I will show you how I enjoyed it in the next few posts.
This is the recipe I used ↓
I flavored my favorite super simple banana pancakes (bananas, rice flour, baking powder, salt) with cocoa and cardamom.
They turned out perfect!
(By the way, this pancake tower fell right after this shot.)
The pancakes were served with banana slices, cacao nibs, vegan butter, and maple syrup.
Lately we like to eat a salad for at least breakfast and dinner every day.
We usually start with mix leaves and then add whatever vegetables we have that week and sprinkle roasted sunflower seeds.
Today I added cucumber and fresh white mushrooms.
I love raw white mushrooms in my salad, but not my husband, who does like them cooked.
Are we doing this wrong?
Or is it simply a bad design?
I was in the mood for ramen.
When I thought I got everything to make a couple of bowls of ramen, I realized I was out of ramen noodles!
So I decided make noodles myself.
By the way, this is the noodles I usually keep in my pantry.
I get them either at a local Asian grocery store or from Amazon.
I’ve done made this type of noodles before, so I was pretty confident.
But still I was so happy when they turned out well.
For the toppings I chose Ikea ground “meat”.
Ear wood mushrooms (sauteed).
And my homemade vegan egg!
If you have time and do not mind cleaning up the floured kitchen later, I definitely recommend making noodles yourself.
Just like homemade pasta, homemade ramen noodles are sooo good!!
I saw cucumber boats like this but made with the regular American cucumber, so they were huge.
I just didn’t think that would work for us, so I got these mini cucumbers from the local farmers market.
I grew up cucumbers that were skinny like this (but longer) in Japan, so I really enjoy them.
Two main things I like about them are 1) the seeds are smaller, and 2) the skin is thinner.
I hope this picture gives you an idea how small they are.
First I made this sweet miso tempeh.
I usually get my tempeh from Trader Joe’s because they always carry it, and also their package is so fun (packaging is important!).
By the way this is one of my favorite Japanese dishes.
Love the organic look.
I thought I made a lot, but they were gone no time!
On the cucumber boats you will find homemade vegan cream cheese, sweet miso tempeh, and fried jalapeno.
They look so elegant, and I think they will be great at a cocktail party, carried around by a server wearing a bow tie.
This type of “Oyaki” is popular in the certain region called “Shinshu” in Japan which is in the middle of the main land.
Remember the Nagano Winter Olympics?
Nagano is in the Shinshu region.
This Oyaki has a chewy kind of texture.
The ingredients are extremely simple (flour, salt, water), yet, super tasty.
For the filling, you can use really anything, from sweet to savory.
This time I decided to go with one of the popular fillings, sweet beans.
Traditionally, sweet beans in Japan are made with Azuki beans (also called red beans).
You cook them with sugar over hours.
I have done that myself even here in the U.S., but often times I don’t have the time or motivation for spending that much time in the kitchen.
I used to buy prepared sweet beans from local Asian grocery stores, but recently I’ve found out that the two stores I frequent have both discontinued carrying them.
So I decided to make it in a rather “radical” way.
First of all, I start with canned beans.
And it’s not even Azuki beans.
I used black beans because they are easier to get in the U.S., and cheaper.
Quickly drained and rinsed.
Now you can add sugar and cook them for a bit.
But this time I decided to use something different to sweeten them.
Dates!
I took a few pictures of the dates for this post, but the pictures didn’t turn out well, so no pictures of dates, but you know what I’m talking about.
The super sweet dried fruit.
It is supposed to be packed with all the good nutrients.
This (above) is something I call date caramel.
It’s super easy to make.
Combine dates (pitted) and water and puree until smooth, and add a little salt
It’s creamy, sweet, and delicious.
You can use this for a lot of things, such as toast (with butter), yogurt, etc.
This time I simply combined the date caramel with the black beans which have been drained and rinsed.
You can mash the beans if you like a smoother texture.
I mash a little but definitely keep most of them intact because I like that texture.
They turned out great!
I like that you can make these in a frying pan.
So easy.
No need to preheat the oven, etc.
This makes a great snack, but I ate them for breakfast this morning.
My husband and I both enjoyed these fresh warm Oyaki very much.
Another idea to use my air fryer came to me.
Egg rolls!
I like egg rolls, but I don’t like using a lot of oil and I don’t like deep-frying in my kithcne either.
So, this was exactly the type of food I should make with my air fryer, but the air fryer solves both problems.
I just happened to find beautiful fresh ear wood mushrooms, and I thought they would be great for my egg roll filling.
The Asian grocery store, United Noodles, carry them, and I love their package.
This is how they look after quickly rinsed.
They have a unique but pleasant texture, and I enjoy them very much.
They don’t have a strong taste themselves, so I like to use them for many Chinese dishes where you use rich strong sauce.
For the filling, along with the ear wood mushrooms, I used carrots, clea noodles, and plant-based ground “meat” from Ikea.
I like many vegan products at Ikea, and this is one of them.
Ready to be cooked!
The air fryer is amazing!
These egg rolls turned out great.
Perfectly crunchy, just like deep-fried, but with much less oil!
I hope you can see how crispy they are from this picture.
