Vegan Crab & Veggie Pasta

A recent 'find' has been Match Meats imitation crab 'meat'. Match Meats is located in St Louis and makes a variety of 'ground meat' substitutes for vegans - chicken, ground beef, sausage, pork and crab. I've used the crab for crab cakes and in sushi and had about half a pack left over in the freezer. So, this pasta dish was born.

Before I was vegan, I wasn't that mad about crab.  We lived along the Louisiana coast at one point and ate a lot of fresh seafood then, but  crab always seemed more trouble than it was worth.  So, I don't know if this really tastes like crab or not.  But it does have a good taste, and I've served it to both vegans and non-vegans and everyone liked it.

I made my own kamut pasta but you can buy it or substitute your favorite ribbon-like pasta. You need however much the box says is 4 servings.

Note that there is no added salt to this dish. The pasta water is salted and that seems enough. If you do want more salt, I'd suggest adding a little of your favorite soy sauce to the crab mixture rather than actual salt.

As an alternative preparation, you could eliminate both the broccoli and arugula, and substitute blanched, chopped broccoli rabe.

Vegan Crab & Veggie Pasta

Pasta - enough for 4 servings

2 Tbs olive oil

8 oz (half pack) of Match Meat Imitation Crab

1 zucchini diced

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/4 c white wine or vegan broth

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbs Old Bay seasoning

1 tsp sumac powder

2 cups loosely packed baby arugula leaves

3-4 c broccoli florets

Daiya Mozzarella 'cheese' to taste

Start the salted water for the pasta and broccoli

Heat a 10" skillet on low-medium heat

Add the broccoli to the boiling water and cook 2 minutes

Using a slotted spoon, remove the broccoli to a bowl

Add olive oil to the skillet

When the oil is hot, add the crab and break up with a spoon

When the crab is broken up, add the next 5 ingredients, cover and simmer until the zucchini is done to your liking.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until barely done

Add the broccoli and arugula to the crab mixture and heat until the arugula wilts.

Combine pasta and crab mixture and mix.

Serve, topped with Daiya Mozzarella sprinkled over the top.

Daiya Eggplant Parmigiana

This recipe is a vague offshoot of a Mario Batali recipe. In that recipe, he bakes the eggplant first before assembling the parmigiana, thus eliminating the frying step. I personally find eggplant parmigiana with fried eggplant to be far too greasy and this technique eliminates the problem.

This is a fairly simple recipe and shows the excellence of Daiya cheese to real advantage. This would also work fine with Teese vegan mozz, but I think the Daiya is as close to real mozzarella as you could get here.

The red wine in the sauce is optional, but recommended. I used a California zinfandel in this dish and it was excellent. Any dry red wine that isn't heavily oaked should work fine.

A salad goes very well with this dish. I had an organic herb salad with Amy's Tuscan salad dressing. Any of the Amy's vegan dressings would be fine, but the sharpness of their Tuscan is especially nice with this. Eggplant parmigiana has a very rich mouth feel and the vinaigrette cuts that nicely.


Daiya Eggplant Parmigiana

2 medium eggplant
salt
pepper
ground coriander
olive oil

1 small onion diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano chile, minced, optional
1/2 t marjoram, dried
1/2t thyme, dried
1 t raw sugar
3 c vegetable juice (low sodium)
1/2 c red wine (optional)
1 t salt
1/2 c panko bread crumbs
1 c Daiya 'mozzarella' cheese
2 T vegan parmesan cheese
1 Tbs cornstarch
3 Tbs water

Preheat oven to 450F.

While oven is heating, wash and slice eggplant into 1 inch slices. If you prefer it peeled, peel before slicing.

Lay eggplant in a single layer on a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with salt, pepper, and ground coriander seed.

Drizzle very lightly with olive oil.

Bake eggplant for about 10 minutes

While eggplant is baking, sweat onion and garlic and chile, if using, in a 2-3 qt saucepan until translucent.

Add marjoram and thyme and stir.

Add juice and red wine, if using, and bring to a low boil.

Boil juice until it is reduced by 1/3 to 1/2 of its volume, reduce to simmer.

Mix cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl.

Add to the juice and stir until juice mixture starts to thicken, maybe 30 seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Remove eggplant from oven and reduce heat to 350F.

Put 1/2 the eggplant into a layer into an 8x11 pan.

Sprinkle the layer with 1/2 the Daiya cheese, half the vegan parmesan cheese and several ladles of sauce.

Make a second layer and repeat. it is not necessary to use all the sauce. Use as much as you like, but it is excellent with bread.

On top, sprinkle the panko bread crumbs. Optionally, lightly drizzle some olive oil over the top.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until sauce is bubbling and the top is turning golden and crunchy.

Serve with a salad and plenty of good bread to sop up the sauce.

Rustic Blue Corn Tamal

I love tamales but nearly all of them have meat or lard in them, so, I learned to make my own. They are a fair bit of work but really not difficult. However, there is an easier version that Rick Bayless calls a 'rustic tamal'. These are like a 'super tamale' and are traditionally baked wrapped in banana leaves. I don't know about you, but I have never even seen a banana leaf for culinary use, so I'll stick to good old aluminum foil.

I have often seen Bobby Flay using blue corn masa on Iron Chef but have never seen anywhere to buy it. Blue corn masa is not the same as blue corn meal. Masa is dried corn which has gone through a process involving lye/wood ash and it removes the outer skin and releases some of the nutrition of the corn that would otherwise not be available to your body. I was happy to find some from NM, at Jane Butel's Cooking School.

The day the masa arrived, I had already planned to make a dish based on Missouri Native Americans' use of corn, squash and beans together in a stew. Why not mix the two ideas and have a native type stuffing for the tamal?

The Native Americans also used buffalo fat, but we're vegan here, so that is definitely out... In fact, most tamale/tamal recipes call for quit a bit of lard, which, even when you substitute vegetable shortening is, in my opinion, way too much fat. The normal recipe for this would call for at least a cup of shortening. I have trimmed that down to about 1/3 of a cup.

You only need a small winter squash for this, or you could use leftover squash. I used a Sweet Dumpling, but delicata would also be excellent in this, or Heart of Gold.


Rustic Blue Corn Tamal

dough:
2 c blue corn masa
2 c stock, divided
1 t baking powder
1/4 c shortening
2 T olive oil

Filling:
1/2 c corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1 c cooked beans, drained
1 c small winter squash
1 t salt
1 t chile powder
1/2 c Daiya cheddar cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C

Spray a 5x7 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Hydrate your masa by adding the masa to a mixing bowl with 1 1/4 c cool stock. Mix well so all the corn is damp. Set side 5 minutes.

Take your winter squash and cut it in half lengthways. Remove seeds and place halves cut side down on a microwavable dish.

Add 1/4 c water, cover with plastic wrap and poke 2 or 3 slits in the plastic. Microwave for about 6 minutes until fully cooked. Uncover and set aside to cool a little.

While the squash is cooking roll your masa into a ball and set on the chopping board. Add the shortening, oil and baking powder to the bowl. On a low speed, use your mixer to froth up the fats and baking powder. Add the masa back to the bowl as your beat it together, adding more cool stock as needed to keep it soft. Continue until all the masa is incorporated.

Put masa in the fridge until it is needed. Leave the mixer out.

Heat a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Add the beans and corn and a little of the leftover stock. Take the cooked squash and using a spoon, dig out about a cup of small bites or balls of squash. When the beans are hot, add the squash, chile powder and salt, mix well, and turn off the heat.

Remove the masa from the fridge. If it has firmed up some, add a little more stock and beat it some more. Corn doesn't have gluten, so you don't have to worry about over-beating it. The masa mixture should be soft and not quite as runny as a muffin batter.

Take half the masa and put it into the loaf pan. Using the back of a silicon spatula or spoon, spread the masa all along the bottom, into the corners, and start pulling it up the sides. You want it to look like a masa bowl inside.

When you have the bottom layer, add the cheese, if using, then pour the filling into the middle of the loaf pan and spread it out. Press it down slightly so the top surface is flat.

Add the rest of the masa and spread it evenly over the top.

Cover with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325F, 165C and bake another 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake another 15-30 minutes until the top feels crunchy and firm and the sides have pulled away from the pan.

Dump the loaf pan out onto a plate for easier slicing. Serve a slice over greens with garnishes of vegan sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or chopped chiles.

Colcannon

Ok, I admit it. I watch Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I avoided it for a season or two but when they went to New Mexico on several shows, I had to watch. I love New Mexico and the food there.

A few shows ago, Guy Fieri was at some joint that makes hash out of all sorts of things. I didn't really care much except that one of the hashes they were making seemed to be a kitchen sink sort of recipe. They tossed in all sorts of things including broccoli rabe and something called colcannon.

The word colcannon was vaguely familiar. I knew it was Irish, but didn't know what went into the dish. The traditional version includes pork, mashed potatoes, and cabbage with onions. Obviously, the pork was out in a vegan version, but the combination sounded nice in my head.

As we wait for the first major snow storm of the season, it seemed like a perfect day to develop a colcannon recipe of my own.

My version uses store-bought cole slaw mix and the entire thing can cook in one skillet and a steamer pot. If you need the pork flavor, you can add Bacon Salt in place of the chipotle powder or paprika that I use in the recipe.

Leftovers can be refrigerated and formed into patties the next day. Fry them in a skillet with a little olive oil until heated through and the outside is brown - delicious!

Colcannon
4-6 servings

4 medium potatoes, peeled and in a 1 1/2 inch chop
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 large onions, sliced
1/2 tsp thyme
3 c cole slaw mix
1/4 c Earth Balance 'butter'
1/4 c soy or almond milk
1 1/2 tsp chipotle powder OR smoked Spanish paprika
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Daiya cheese to garnish, as desired

Bring your pot of water to boil and place the potatoes and garlic cloves in a steamer basket. Steam about 18 minutes or until a fork enters the potatoes easily

While that steams, heat 2 Tbs olive oil in a 12 inch skillet, add the onions, 1 tsp of salt and the thyme, and saute slowly until they carmelize

When the potatoes are ready, remove the steamer basket with the veggies and dump into a food mill. Mill potatoes and garlic using the large holes into a large mixing bowl.

Add 1 Tbs salt to the steamer water and bring back to the boil.

Add the cole slaw mix to the boiling steamer water and cook about 6 minutes. Drain well.

Add the onions and cole slaw to the mixing bowl with the Earth Balance, soy milk, chipotle powder and black pepper. Mix as little as possible to combine. Taste for salt and add as needed.

Serve with Daiya cheese sprinkled on top.

Broccoli Rabe Wraps

The weatherperson said the temperature was heading down well below freezing the other day, so I did my final harvest of broccoli rabe. I left a few of the side shoots from earlier harvests growing, and they produced very attractive yellow flowers.

Either the weatherperson was wrong, or broccoli rabe doesn't mind really cold weather, because the shoots I left are still going strong and today, there was even a honey bee crawling amongst the flowers.

Due to the success and ease of growing my own broccoli rabe, I expect to plant much more of it next year. And I can't eat an entire crop using only one recipe, can I? Well, I probably could since it is one of my all-time favorite recipes (see our Oct 28, 2009 posting) but I probably SHOULDN'T eat it all the same way.

So, I pulled out The Flavor Bible and took a look to see what they suggested with broccoli rabe. There were a few interesting ideas, but not anything I was likely to have on hand, so I decided to do a variation of the classic recipe for it - sauteing it with garlic and olive oil. Then I realised I had no rice or pasta to eat it with, so then it changed to a tofu-broccoli rabe scramble that can be eaten as a wrap.

This is very different from a normal wrap filling, but blanching the broccoli rabe tends to reduce some of the bitterness.If you aren't worried about the bitterness, skip the blanching and just cook the broccoli rabe longer when it is added to the mixture in the skillet.

Chile flakes and some heat are an integral part of this dish, in my opinion. If you don't like any heat at all, skip the chiles and instead chop a roasted red bell pepper and add it at the end of the dish, along with the broccoli rabe.



Broccoli Rabe & Daiya Wraps
makes about 6 wraps

1 bunch broccoli rabe
1 Tbs olive oil
1 15oz block of tofu
1 chopped dried red chile (or 1 tsp chile flakes), to taste
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground turmeric, optional
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 c Daiya cheese, divided use

6 tortillas

Bring a pot of water to boil.
Remove tofu from the package, wrap in several layers of paper towels, and set aside.
Add 2 Tbs salt to the boiling water
Add broccoli rabe and simmer 5-6 minutes
Remove broccoli rabe to an ice bath to cool

Heat 12 inch non-stick skillet on low-medium heat
Add olive oil
When oil is shimmering, add the chile flakes and onion and cook until translucent.
Add garlic and stir quickly while it cooks about 1 minute
Add turmeric and soy sauce and stir
Squish the tofu through your hands int the skillet to make it look vaguely 'scrambled'.
Add oregano and salt and 1/4 c water
Chop broccoli rabe into about 1 inch pieces.
Add broccoli rabe to the skillet and cook about 5 minutes until it is all heated through and the water has evaporated.
Heat tortillas and spread with about 1/3c of broccoli rabe mixture.
Sprinkle with Daiya cheese.
Roll the tortilla and drizzle with a few dorps of your favorite hot sauce, if desired.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin with Daiya Cheese

I enjoy watching the Food Network quite a bit. Although it is a vast wasteland for vegetarians and vegans, some of the ideas can be converted. It does give one pause though, or should, when one of the most venerated cooks on TV is best known for laughingly adding a stick of butter or more, to every dish she makes. Is that really funny?

One of the most annoying things of nearly EVERY show is at least one reference to how 'bacon makes everything better'.

Yeah, well, maybe not for the pig.

On some of their competition shows, you just know, as soon as a contestant mentions 'vegetarian', 'organic', holistic' or 'vegan', they are going down in flames. Quickly...

During the series of Food Network Thanksgiving shows, one of the pig mad chefs made a Brussels sprout casserole of some sort. All I remember of it was that it had bacon in it. But it did put me in the mood for Brussels sprouts, and surprise, the store had them on sale the very next day.

Lately, I have been obsessed with using Teese creamy cheddar to make mac & cheese. I demand that the Brussels sprouts MUST comply to my current cheesy madness. So, I thought, gratin topped with some of the Daiya Italian Shreds that I had just bought (5 pound worth...) might work well on a cool November night. They certainly did not disappoint.

I use smoked Spanish paprika and some chile de arbol powder for some smoke and heat. You could substitute some chipotle powder for those if that's what you already have on hand. I also add Bacon Salt directly over the sprouts to boost that 'bacon flavor', but it really isn't needed unless you are looking for a faux bacon hit, or maybe serving non-vegans.


Brussels Sprouts Gratin with Daiya Cheese
Serves 3-4 (see note below)

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and washed
1 Tbs + 1 tsp salt (divided)
1 Tbs Earth Balance 'Butter' or olive oil
1 Tbs all purpose flour
1 c soy or almond milk, slightly warmed
1/2 tsp hot smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp chile de arbol powder (or add some Tabasco)
1 tsp Dijon whole grain mustard
1/2c Daiya Italian shreds
1 tsp Bacon Salt (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F (200C)
If your bakeware can do it, put the baking dish in the oven to get hot. I use a cazuela that is pretty much non-stick. If you need to do so, lightly oil your pan or spray it with cooking spray.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil with 1 Tbs salt.

Boil sprouts for about 7 minutes or until starting to get tender.

Shock the sprouts in an ice bath and set aside.

Heat 1 Tbs Earth Balance in a small pan.

Add the flour and whisk for a minute until.

Gradually add the soy milk while whisking to incorporate it all.

Add 1 tsp salt, paprika, and mustard and stir well.

Turn off heat.

Dry the sprouts and cut in half from top to bottom.

Carefully remove hot dish from oven and CAREFULLY lay sprouts cut face down into the dish and them evenly distribute what is left.

If using, sprinkle the Bacon Salt over the sprouts.

Pour bechamel evenly over the sprouts.

Top with Daiya shreds.

Bake about 20-25 minutes until the Daiya starts browning and it is bubbly around the edges.

Let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Note - use about 6-8 ounces of sprouts per person you need to serve as a main dish, half that for a side dish. For each person, use about 1/2c bechamel sauce and 1/2 tsp of mustard, 1/4 c of Daiya.

Broccoli Rabe & Daiya Cheese with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Broccoli Rabe is probably my favorite vegetable. When I was living in Manhattan, I saw an article in the NY Times with a recipe for it, but I never cooked it. I did, however, clip the recipe and save it. The description of the slightly bitter greens and the strange small floret reminiscent of broccoli me intrigued.

A while later when I was staying in Hoboken, NJ, the section where I lived was an Italian section of town and every store store I shopped in carried beautiful broccoli rabe, fresh Italian bread from a coal oven, and home made mozzarella. One day, when I had time to cook, I picked up a bunch of broccoli rabe and made a recipe similar to the one below. I also had gorgeous fingerling potatoes, so they went into the oven as well, and my favorite dinner was created...

The NY Times recipe wasn't vegan, and Daiya cheese hadn't even been a gleam in the inventor's eye back then. I don't even have the recipe any longer but I salute whichever chef published it for me to see.

I don't need the recipe anyway, because every time I eat broccoli rabe, I eat it exactly the same way - sauteed with garlic chips and fingerling potatoes in herbes de provence. The only change I've made in 10 years is that I switched from 'real' parmesan cheese when I went vegan. I doubt I have any other recipe that I haven't 'improved' in ten years of usage. To my mind, this dish is absolutely perfect.

No one sells broccoli rabe where I live now. So, this year I grew my own, and this dish pictured is my first harvest!

Broccoli Rabe & Daiya Cheese with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
(serves 4 or more as side dishes)

2 pounds small fingerling potatoes, washed and dried
2 Tbs olive oil, divided
2 tsp herbes de provence
2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1 bunch broccoli rabe
8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced thin
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp red chile flakes
1/2 c Daiya Italian shreds (or vegan parmesan substitute)


Preheat oven to 350F (175C)

Toss fingerling potatoes with 1 Tbs olive oil, 2 tsp herbes de provence and 1 tsp kosher salt. Put on a baking tray in a single layer and bake. These will bake approximately 30 minutes while you do the next few steps.

Blanch and shock the broccoli rabe in boiling salted water. Set aside. Blanch - Submerge the rinsed broccoli rabe in boiling water for 2 minutes then move immediately to an ice water bath

Heat a 10-12 (25-30cm) inch skillet on medium low heat with 1 Tbs olive oil and fry the garlic slices until they are slightly browned Watch them closely, as they go from brown to burnt very quickly

Remove garlic slices to a small plate covered with a paper towel.

Chop the cooled broccoli rabe into 1 inch pieces.

Add the broccoli rabe to the skillet with the garlic oil in it and saute for 2 minutes with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp of red chile flakes (or to your taste).

Add 1/2c water and steam the broccoli rabe until it is cooked to your preference - about 10 minutes. You can add a little extra water as needed. Make sure all the water is boiled off or drained before combining with the garlic and cheese.

When the broccoli rabe is done, remove to a small baking dish. Top with 1/2 c Daiya cheese, then the garlic chips.

When the potatoes feel nearly ready, add the broccoli rabe to the oven for the last 10-15 minutes of baking time.

Serve and enjoy!

Broccoli Rabe ready for the oven: