Broccoli Polenta

I'm thinking you could serve this as a soft Polenta as well, a stand in for mashed potatoes.  Either way, it's a nice twist on regular old polenta.

Broccoli Polenta

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

3 1/2      cups vegetable broth or water

1/2         teaspoon salt, depending how salty your broth is

1            cup polenta corn grits (polenta)

2            tablespoons olive oil

4            cups very well-chopped broccoli, stalks and tops (pieces should be no larger

                     than 1/4” inch)

**I added a tablespoon of Nutritional Yeast

Prepare an 8” square baking dish and set aside.

Bring the water/broth and salt, if using, to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add the polenta in a slow, steady stream, mixing with a whisk as you pour it.  Add the broccoli and olive-oil, and lower the heat to low.  Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often.  Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  **I added a tablespoon of Nutritional Yeast for extra flavoring.

Spoon the polenta into prepared dish, spread it out evenly.  Refrigerate for about an hour. Cut into squares and cook.

You can pan fry or broil – I pan fried.

Preheat a nonstick pan over medium heat.  Pour a very thin layer of olive oil into the pan.  Place the polenta slices in the pan and cook on both sides for about 5 minutes each, until lightly browned.  (Mine took a bit longer to brown).

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh

I wasn't sure if I could handle 1/4 cup hot sauce so I made mine with half salsa and half hot sauce - it worked out well and was plenty spicy.   I' will definately making this again and will add a side of Cilantro Slaw to go along with the Tempeh and Rice - yum.

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh

By Isa Chandra Moskowitz (VEGANOMICON) cookbook

Ingredients

8 ounce package of tempeh
1/2 cup wine (whatever kind you've got on hand, just nothing sweet, or use vegetable broth and a touch of wine vinegar) 
1/4 cup hot sauce **(I did a mix of hot sauce and salsa)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice from 1 lemon)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

*** Green onions for serving

*** Jasmine brown rice on side

Directions 

1.              Bring a pot of water to boil.

2.              Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to fit the tempeh slices.

3.              Cut the tempeh in half width wise then cut each of those squares diagonally to form 4 large triangles. When the water is boiling, add the tempeh, lower the heat and steam for 10 minutes.

4.              Use tongs to remove the tempeh and then immediately place them in the marinade bowl for 1 hour, flipping them every now again to cover with the marinade.

5.              Preheat a greased grill pan over medium high heat. Brush lightly with olive oil 

6.              Grill each side for 5 minutes. When the second side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let cook for 30 more seconds.

***I fried in cast iron skillet in thin layer of oil, sauté on each side until start to brown.  Cooked the remainder of the marinade and heated with a touch of cornstarch and teaspoon of sugar, just until thickened.  Added  sauce to pan at end of frying then turned the tempeh a couple of times for a nice coating.

Tuscan Pasta Salad with Lemon Garlic Herb Vinaigrette

I’m a huge fan of cold pasta salads and love the Lemon Garlic Herb Vinaigrette dressing in this particular salad.  I didn’t have vegan feta in the house so I added pieces of herbed Miyokos cheese (found at health food stores – Trader Joe’s is carrying their vegan Cream Cheese).  I added chickpeas to our salad for an extra bite and burst of protein.

Tuscan Pasta Salad with Lemon Garlic Herb Vinaigrette

Veganricha.com

https://www.veganricha.com/2018/07/tuscan-pasta-salad-with-lemon-vinaigrette.html

Miyokos Cheese:  https://miyokos.com

Tempeh Satay

These were super yummy and could be presented as an appetizer, even for your non-vegan friends.  I marinated Tempeh over night in the fridge then pan fried to give a bit of crispiness to the outsides.  I also added a teaspoon of my favorite jarred Garlic Chili Sauce to the Peanut Sauce to give it a bit more zing.  Recipe can be found on blog link below.

Tempeh Satay

Simple Vegan Blog

  

https://simpleveganblog.com/tempeh-satay/

Blueberry-Peach Buckle

Blueberry-Peach Buckle

Food Network Mag – adapted

4            tablespoons unsalted vegan butter, at room temp., plus more for the dish prep

1 & 2/3        cups all-purpose flour

1 & 1/2        teaspoons baking powder

1/4         teaspoon salt

3/4         cup granulated sugar

1/4         teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1            egg replacement (I used 1 T. ground flax mixed with 3 T. water)

1/2         cup vegan milk

2            cups blueberries

1            large peach, chopped

For the Topping

1/4         cup granulated sugar

2            tablespoons packed light brown sugar

3            tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4         teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of salt

2            tablespoons unsalted vegan butter at room temp.

Make the cake:  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare an 8-inch square baking dish.  Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Beat the vegan butter, granulated sugar and orange zest in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the egg replacement until combined.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually beat in the vegan milk (it may look curdled).  Add the flour mixture and beat, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until smooth.  (The batter will be thick.)  Stir in the blueberries and peach and spread in the prepared dish.

Make the topping:   Mix the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl.  Work in the vegan butter with your fingers, until clumpy, scatter over the batter.

Bake until the top is golden and set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  Let cool at least 30 minutes.

Tex-Mex Skillet Mock Chicken and Rice

There are many different brands of Mock Chicken, in fact, Target now carries a brand in their frozen section.  For this dish I used Beyond Meat and diced into medium pieces.  I ended up making a bit more of the salsa/vegan sour cream sauce and added a teaspoon of garlic chili sauce to give it an extra kick.

Tex-Mex Skillet Mock Chicken and Rice

Food Network Recipe – adapted

3/4         cup salsa verde – I used our favorite store bought salsa

1/2         cup vegan sour cream

3/4         cup water

2            tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1            12 oz. bag small broccoli florets (about 4 cups)

1            large red bell pepper, diced  (I used yellow)

3            scallions, sliced  (I used red onion)

3            cloves garlic, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1            teaspoon ground cumin

2            cups diced Mock Chicken (I used Beyond Meat brand)

3            cups cooked brown rice

1 3/4      shredded Mexican vegan cheese

Preheat the broiler.  Whisk the salsa, sour cream and 3/4 cup water in a bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the broccoli, bell pepper, scallion whites and garlic; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes.  Add the cumin and stir until toasted, 30 seconds.

Stir in the mock chicken, rice, salsa mixture and 1 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until heated through and saucy, 1-2 minutes.  Fold in half of the vegan cheese, top with the rest.  Broil until the vegan cheese melts,  2-4 minutes.  Tope with the scallion greens.