veganatalye

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Peanut Butter Cookies.

I always found it advantageous in my childhood having a father who is allergic to most nuts, and who, in addition to being allergic to peanuts, doesn't even enjoy the taste of peanut butter. What this means is that, although I loved to share baked goods with other people, peanut butter cookies have always been special because I didn't have to share them - or at least, not with so many other people.

Yet when I became vegan, suddenly peanut butter cookies were one of the most difficult things for me to make. Without egg to hold them together, it seems as though every recipe I tried out was too crumbly. That is, until Katie stepped in.

Katie is not only a friend, but also my former boss. She has been vegetarian for ages and went vegan around the same time I did. Well, she turned me on to this recipe for vegan peanut butter cookies, and they're perfect. Since the first time I tried it, it's the only recipe I use.

Furthermore, I made these for the boyfriend, who, like most Germans, had never had peanut butter cookies before. Now, these are gone in a matter of days, and when they aren't in stock, he's begging for me to make them.

This recipe is particularly great because it's easy to double if you want more cookies. It tends to produce anywhere from 24 to 36 cookies, depending on the size. Additionally, sometimes I skip rolling them into balls and make them into shapes. This step merely requires a floured surface to keep the dough from sticking.

I also used Dutch peanut butter, which is available at literally every Asian shop here, and tastes way better than the generic American-style brand sold at major grocery stores.

Directions:

-Cream 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter together.

-Add in 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg's worth of egg replacer and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

-Sift 1 1/4 cup flour and 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, then blend the dry ingredients into the wet ones.

-Shape into one-inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and criss-cross the top with a fork (unless, as stated above, you wanted to get creative and use cookie cutters on them).

-Bake at 350 F (~175 C) for 10-12 minutes.

P.S. And if you really want to impress your fellow, in addition to cat shapes, make your own romantic gesture, like so:

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French Toast.

I woke up a couple weeks ago with a mad hankering for french toast. More specifically, I was craving the vegan french toast from Fellini (R.I.P.), and this made me realize that I've never actually attempted vegan french toast on my own. That said, I had to try it.

After scouring the web for a recipe that sounded good, I opted to use the one on About.com as a base and modify it slightly. First off, I didn't use pumpkin pie spice. Secondly, the recipe on its own produced soggy bread. So at the suggestion of boyfriend, I dipped the bread in flour before frying and that seemed to fix the problem.

Last night, we made this recipe for the second time, but instead of flour, used bread crumbs from a box. This seemed to be the secret ingredient we were missing, and I'd definitely recommend using this if you can (although the flour is a suitable substitute).

Finally, the amount of soy milk can vary, between 3/4 cup to 1 full cup, depending on the consistency preferred. And while the fellow added a pinch of salt, I didn't really notice a difference in taste either way.

Directions:

-Mix 2-3 ripe bananas, 3/4 to 1 cup soy milk, 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

-Take bread and dip both sides in the mixture, coating it completely. Then dip both sides in the bread crumbs (or flour).

-Cook the bread with vegan butter in a frying pan over low heat. Flip when one side is browned, and cook the other until reaching the desired brownness.  

-Top the completed pieces as desired and store any leftover batter in the refrigerator.

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Kohlrabi Risotto.

After last week's find of five kohlrabi for a euro, I suddenly found myself faced with the fact that I had a lot of kohlrabi and not very many innovative ways of eating it. However, a quick Google search and I remedied that. And while I came across a lot of incredibly boring recipes for kohlrabi, one awesome find was a blog in the New York Times from earlier this year with information about and five different recipes for kohlrabi.

It took very little deliberation to decide on what to make, and after sending the boyfriend to the store to pick up the extra items we didn't have (arborio rice and white wine), we hunkered down on the day after Easter and made kohlrabi risotto.

Although I was the "kitchen manager" this time around, I put M. in charge of all the chopping, since he (like my brother) thinks my "technique" is atrocious.

There were only a few modifications made this time around. For one, we made 8 cups of vegetable stock and found that we only needed about half that. We also had the greens pre-removed from the kohlrabi, so they weren't included in the dish. We didn't use parmesan cheese, although I bet that would have been what made the dish, but oh well. And finally, to give it a little extra kick (and some protein), we fried and cut up a vegan chorizo bratwurst and added that to the mix.

Directions:

-Peel 1 pound of kohlrabi (equal to about 2 or 3), taking care to remove all of the thick skin. Then dice it up into 1/2-inch pieces, bite-sized.

-Heat up 4 cups (~1 liter) of vegetable stock (the recipe calls for double that, which you can also make, and use leftovers for something else if you want). Allow it to simmer over medium heat, eventually turning it down to low.

-Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan.

-Add 1/2 cup minced onion and cook for three minutes, but don't allow it to brown.

-Add in the kohlrabi and 2 minced garlic cloves. Cook for five minutes, stirring regularly.

-Add 1 1/2 cups arborio rice and stir until the grains separate and crackle (about five to 10 minutes). 

-Pour in 1/2 cup white wine and stir until it dissolves in the mixture.

-Begin pouring in the vegetable stock, a ladle or two at a time, and stirring occasionally until it is absorbed. Continue this process for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and at the desired consistency.

-Add another ladle of stock, and then mix in 3 tablespoons chopped parsley. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

-Serve immediately (or add in vegan chorizo bratwurst, like we did).

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Baba Ghanoush.

For years, I've been somewhat of a hummus-making expert, but for whatever reason, never tried my hand at its close relative, baba ghanoush. 

Something made me change my mind though, recently. I'm not certain what exactly gave me the idea to make it, but I think it was a mixture of being totally bored during the boyfriend's absence for most of March as well as being surrounded by wonderful looking eggplant at produce stands and grocery stores and outdoor markets throughout the city.

Because it's not a particularly unique or tricky recipe, I simply took one from AllRecipes, which is a relatively basic and reliable recipe site. The only substitution I made was using peanut butter instead of tahini, because I didn't have any of the latter on hand. Honestly, it turned out good, but I think the tahini would have been better. I also didn't use sesame seeds and am pretty certain the recipe would be just fine without.

Directions:

-Lightly grease a baking sheet and place 1 whole eggplant on it, first poking holes in the skin with a fork (to avoid it exploding in the oven, which it can and will otherwise do). 

-Roast the eggplant for 30 to 40 minutes at 400 F (~205 C), checking in a few times to turn it.

-Place the eggplant in a bowl of cold water to cool. Then remove and peel off the skin; the insides will be somewhat mushy and hot.

-Puree the eggplant along with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup tahini, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and 2 cloves minced garlic.

-When blended to the desired consistency, add salt and pepper to taste, and mix the baba ghanousch with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil.

-Refrigerate before serving.

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Shopping Schnäppchen.

In general, the cost of groceries in Germany is particularly cheap. Compared to what I'm used to spending in California, and even accounting for the conversion between dollars and euros, the overall cost of shopping at a supermarket is significantly less.

Something that's an even better bargain than grocery stores is farmer's markets. Farmer's markets in Sonoma County brought together the organic growers of the local community, which was good, except they were often a bit bourgeoisie. In my experience, the items offered were fresher and even tasted better than those in stores, but they also cost a lot more. The only time it ever seemed possible to really get a bargain on quality produce was to hit up highway stands.

But here in Berlin, we have Turkish markets, such as the one that takes place every Tuesday and Friday on the border of Neukölln and Kreuzberg. These places have the selection, the quality and the low prices. Yesterday I went there with a good friend, and while there were plenty of things I wanted to buy, I only purchased what I needed for meals this week. That's one thing I am learning about living here in Germany, and that is that it's better to buy fresh produce and ingredients as they're needed, instead of stocking up on things that might later on go bad.

Here's what I got:

Kohlrabi - this is a turnip vegetable that is sold in produce sections everywhere. While many stores remove the leaves and sell only the bulb, I actually use the leaves in making a variation of kale salad. As a vegetable, kohlrabi is particularly sweet and is both low in calories and high in fiber. Normally one of them sells for about .79 at a grocery store. I paid 1 euro for 5 of them.

Pide Ekmeği - this is Turkish flat bread, which can be found at Turkish grocery stores and bakeries throughout the city. It's large and round and typically sprinkled with sesame seeds on top. Unfortunately, while wondering how difficult it was to make, I looked up recipes and learned today that often it's made with either a milk or yogurt spread put on top before it's baked, making it not vegan. Who would have thought? That could easily be remedied by brushing soy milk or water on top instead, but I doubt anyone would take kindly to my suggestion. While these are typically sold for 1,20-1,50 euros in the store, I got this for 1 euro.

Almonds - like most nuts, almonds are not entirely cheap. Additionally, they always are on sale pre-packaged; I've yet to find a grocery store in Berlin with a nut bar like at the newer Safeways in California. But the advantage of the market is choosing exactly how much I want and still getting a good price. Although I later saw some stands with slightly lower prices, for 100 grams of almonds, I paid 1,40 euro, which is still good.

Oregano - I don't use oregano on a regular basis, but it's always an herb that's good to have on hand, just in case. Typically, grocery stores and markets sell 100 gram packages of spices for anywhere from 1,50 to 2,50, and sometimes even more. This bag? 1 euro.

Tahini - because I love having freshly-made hummus on a regular basis, and because I love Mediterranean and Turkish cuisine in general, having tahini around the house is necessary. Although peanut butter can be used in some recipes as a replacement, there's still nothing quite like the real thing. Unfortunately, it's expensive. Tiny jars of about 125 grams sometimes go for 3 or more euros in conventional supermarkets here in Germany. Because they're expensive and don't last long, I hesitate to buy them. But at the Turkish market, I got this 600 gram jar for 4 euros! Definitely not regretting this purchase, which is certain to last a long time.

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Grilled Vegetables.

One of the simplest and most surprisingly delicious meals is having grilled vegetables. It can be any kind of assortment, but usually those leftover bits and pieces on the verge of going back make for the best kind of ingredients.

In this particular bath, I combined cucumbers, onions, garlic, potatoes and eggplant. To mix things up, I even threw in a few pieces of chopped up apple. I laid them all out on a baking sheet and drizzled it with olive oil, and sprinkled it with salt and some spices. Then I baked it in the oven, checking in at 10 minute intervals to find out when it looked done. The nice thing is that they can be cooked to a desired consistency, depending on if you like your veggies hard and crispy or soft and mushy or somewhere in between.

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

Making cinnamon rolls is something I've had in my mind to do for awhile, and so when I finally decided to look up recipes, and stumbled across one for vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls, I knew I had to try it out. All the props go directly to Eat Live Run for a recipe that I followed nearly to a T and which produced delicious results.

There were two changes I made in this recipe. First, instead of using almond milk, I used whatever non-dairy milk I had on hand, which was either soy or rice milk. The other thing I did differently is I omitted the chia seeds. These were meant to stand in as eggs, but I simply used the equivalent of one egg's worth of egg replacer, and that worked just fine.

Granted, mine didn't turn out as lovely and picturesque as the originals, but they never do. Still, they tasted fantastic - particularly when paired with a cup of coffee - and that's all that matters.

Directions:

-Heat 1/3 cup non-dairy milk with 2 tablespoons margarine in a pan. Once it melts and blends together, remove it from heat and allow it to cool slightly.

-Add in 1 package yeast and stir it into the mixture. Let sit.

-Combine the equivalent of 1 egg with 1/3 cup pumpkin puree. (The best recommendation for this is to use fresh pumpkin, which will need to be steamed or heated in the oven beforehand, and then blended up, in order to create the necessary puree).

-Mix together 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger.

-Add the mixture of dry ingredients to the pumpkin, and pour in the yeast/milk/margarine combination.

-Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface until it's smooth and elastic. Place it in a bowl, cover it with a dish towel, and let it rise someplace room temperature for at least an hour.

-After it's done rising, roll the dough out on a floured surface into the shape of a rectangle. 

-Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons margarine and 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and spread it on top of the rolled-out dough.

-Roll up the dough into the shape of a log, or a long cylinder. Then slice it into 1/2-inch slices, or into between 10 and 12 rolls.

-Place the rolls next to one another in a casserole dish. Cover them and allow them to rise for 45 minutes.

-After rising, bake the rolls at 350 F (~176 C) for 25 minutes. Then allow them to cool.

-Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, then pour this mixture over the rolls.

-Eat right away, or store in an airtight container to be reheated and enjoyed the following morning.

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Roasted Tomato Soup.

Up until 2009, I never liked tomatoes. I liked ketchup, and I liked tomato-based sauces, but never the fruits themselves.

But tastebuds change, and I've loved tomatoes for nearly three solid years now. In addition to eating them regularly, two tomato products that I've also incorporated into my diet are bloody marys and tomato soup. As for the latter, there is not much better than homemade varietals of it.

Back in California, I made soup from scratch regularly. Now, I can't remember what recipe I always used, so I simply found one close to it, on Love Food Eat. The only modification I ended up making here was nixing the inclusion of corn, which is all well and fine, I'm sure, but the idea of corn in my soup sounds weird. It's supposed to make it creamier though, so maybe I'll try it another time.

As for the ingredients, Plum Tomatoes are always good for making soup, but you can choose whatever kind you have on hand. I also had a bunch of Cherry Roma Tomatoes on hand, so I threw them in the mix to spice things up.

Directions:

-Cut up 6-12 tomatoes (depending on the amount of soup you want to make) and arrange them on a baking pan.

-Drizzle a few tablespoons olive oil on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle them with the desired amount of salt and thyme (other spices can also be substituted, if you're going for a different flavour).

-Roast the tomatoes at 350 F (~175 C) for 30 minutes, or until they're soft and browned.

-Puree the tomatoes using a blender or food processor.

-Meanwhile, heat olive oil and pressed garlic in the bottom of a pot. When they're slightly cooked on the edges, add the puree to the pot.

-Bring the mixture to a boil and let simmer until you're ready to eat. If the soup isn't sweet enough, consider adding a slight amount of honey or agave nectar. Add garnish (I used fresh thym) and serve. 

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Carrot Gnocchi.

I've been following UNO Cookbook because the recipes on the site are fairly unique and interesting, but not until now have I attempted one on my own. In this instance, I opted to try out carrot gnocchi, for two reasons. The first is that, while I am fairly neutral about pasta in general, I love gnocchi specifically. The second is that, in contrast to many of the other recipes, all the ingredients were things which I had on hand.

Now, a few modifications. I made the celery and lemon sauce, but upon tasting it, opted to use it for something else, because I didn't care for it with the gnocchi. Also, because of the fact that I actually had more carrots than the recipe called for, I doubled it. And finally, due to the necessity of conversion, I learned that the average carrot is 2.5 ounces.

Directions:

-Peel and steam 10 ounces of carrots (roughly 4-5 carrots).

  -Mash up the carrots and mix them with a bit of salt and 270 grams flour until it forms a thick dough. Then let it sit.

-Roll out pieces of dough into long sticks on a cutting board.

-Cut the pieces into the desired size of gnocchi, and either roll them into balls, or use a fork to make a lined pattern on them.

-Set the gnocchi pieces on a floured tray.

-Add the gnocchi to boiling water and remove it when it begins to float. If you don't want to eat it right away, storing it in tupperware or zip-lock bags and freezing it also works great.

-Pour sauce on top (I opted for vegetarian bolognese) and eat!

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Pizza Crust.

I've always been a pretty good baker, but for whatever reason, I've fallen short with making pizza dough. I always get the consistency wrong, or the taste, or I just totally fail at rolling it out into any sort of pizza-like shape.

So when my flatmate made delicious pizza crust, I asked her if I could have her recipe. She has a piece of paper hanging in the kitchen with the ingredients, and no other instructions aside from that. However, where it calls for milk, she puts in water. And when I make this, I put in all the dry ingredients and then the wet, although letting the yeast sit in water is also not a bad idea. To each their own.

Directions:

-Mix together 500 grams flour, 1/4 liter water, 100 milliliters olive oil, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 packet (7 grams or 2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast.

-Cover with saran wrap or a cloth and let rise in a warm place for an hour.

-Use right away or save for later!

I've found that rather than trying to roll out the pizza crust after rising, it's better if I refrigerate it, and then the consistency is much more pliable and much less sticky. It's also smart to make the whole recipe, or double or triple it, because that way there's always pizza dough available for pizza to be made. Or, depending on how you look at it, that could be a bad thing, although pizza for every meal is likely something the boyfriend would not disapprove of...

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Mini Pies.

After being on a total pumpkin kick a couple weeks ago, I ended up with leftover pumpkin. So I did the most logical thing I could think of, which was bake a pumpkin pie. I used the same recipe from Thanksgiving, except instead of using canned pumpkin, I steamed my own.

The lack of a personal food processor at the boyfriend's place (something which I remedied today) made it so the contents of the pie tasted good, but the consistency was not as smooth or pureed as I would have liked.

And even after I made a pie, there was still extra filling. So with that, I decided to take a page from a friend, who recently made mini pies of her own, and utilize my silicon cupcake forms.

And you know what? They turned out amazing! This is an idea I'll definitely use in the future, particularly because they're the perfect snack size. And while the first one out of the oven fell apart when I tried to remove it, after letting them cool in the fridge for a few hours, they were spot on.

Continuing in the spirit of mini pies, I bought a new Backform (or baking pan) today. It's bigger than a cupcake, but still a small size that can feed one or two. And since I didn't get to taste it the first time around, I remade the apple pie recipe to test it out.

I haven't tried it yet, but maybe that will be breakfast tomorrow. In any case, I'm excited to be making more mini pies.

[veganatalye]

Potato Wedges.

For the past few months, potato wedges have been a staple in my diet. This should come as no surprise to those who know that potatoes are basically my favourite food. But the reasoning for the potato wedges? Well there are three reasons. One, they're easy to prepare. Two, they taste delicious. Three, they fill me up.

In preparing the potatoes, it doesn't really matter if you peel them or not; it's simply a matter of preference. I typically peel them, but if you want to keep the skins on, just make certain to remove any blemishes or growth, and always wash them under running water.

Directions:

-Prepare potatoes by cleaning or peeling them.

-Cut the potatoes up into bite-sized or wedge-sized pieces and lay out on a pan.

-Drizzle olive oil on top of the potatoes. 

-Sprinkle spices on top. (I generally opt for lots of salt, rosemary and chili flakes.)

-Place in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes at 350 F (~175 C). This can be modified based on how crispy or not you want them.

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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

With all the pumpkin-inspired recipes I've been dealing with in the past few weeks, I've had a lot of pumpkin seeds on my hands. Luckily, with a few ingredients and a little bit of time, pumpkin seeds can be turned into a delicious snack.

Directions:

-Collect pumpkin seeds and clean off as much of the pumpkin residue as possible.

-Coat the seeds in olive oil and spread them out in a pan.

-Sprinkle them with salt, cayenne pepper or any other kind of spice that you like best.

-Bake at 300 F (~150 C) for 30-45 minutes.

-Eat the seeds right away, or store them for snacking later on.

[veganatalye]

Spinach Quiche.

Over the weekend, I got a hankering for a spinach quiche. After checking out a handful of recipes online, this one seemed like it has the best combination of ingredients, and so I made it for Sunday night's dinner. Needless to say, it didn't make it to Monday morning.

The recipe is fairly straightforward, but there are a few items of note:

-I used the recipe for this pie crust, which - for whatever reason - didn't turn out as good as the first two tries. But it did an acceptable job.

-This recipe called for vegan cheese of the parmesan variety, but I left it out entirely, and its presence wasn't missed.

Directions:

-Wash and then cook 1 pound spinach until it's soft. I usually do this in a frying pan with butter, but it can also be done in any other way desired, such as in a steamer.

-Chop up 2 garlic cloves and 1 medium-sized yellow onion, and cook those, adding them to the spinach mixture when done.

-Use a blender or food processor to puree 1 pound firm tofu, 1/2 cup soy milk, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper until smooth.

-Add the vegetable mix to the puree and combine well.

-Pour into a pie crust and bake at 400 F (~200 C) for 35-40 minutes.

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Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce and Veggies.

Last night, I was busy, and so the boyfriend reluctantly took the helm solo and - using some fresh ingredients and some leftover ones - worked his magic. Admittedly, I kind of just gave him some stuff and was like "make it tasty, yo," but even with my complete lack of direction, he managed to make a delicious meal out of it. No surprises there though... and the guy claims he isn't much of a cook. 

Earlier in the day, I had stopped by Bizim Bakkal, the local produce store around the corner, picking up carrots, zucchini, and more pumpkin (personally, I am loving all this orange!). I chopped those up into bite-sized pieces, which he then baked in the oven, but not before coating them thoroughly with olive oil, salt and pepper, and pizza spice.

While they were in the oven, he then cooked some spaghetti, which is, well, spaghetti. Pretty difficult to not get that one right. Regardless, I'm definitely the al dente type, and without knowing that, he still had it going just the right amount of time.

Next, he cut up some onions and sauteed them a bit, before adding them to the leftover pumpkin sauce from pizza the night before. Included in the mix were more things like spices or garlic, but I'm not entirely sure. What I do know is that this modified concoction was extremely good, and worked well with both the noodles and the vegetables. It also makes for a super good looking meal!

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Tofu Ricotta.

When I lived in California, I relied exclusively on pre-made fake cheeses for any of my "dairy" needs in cooking. Most notably, I used Daiya, which is basically the best vegan cheese ever. I also found myself using Teese from time to time. But what I never did is make my own cheese.

Rather than make the trek to Prenzlauer Berg to the only place I know of in Berlin with vegan cheese options, I decided instead to finally make cheese, and started with the recipe for tofu ricotta from Veganomicon.

I already had most of the ingredients, or else knew where to find them, with the exception of a few. So I headed to Karstadt, purveyor of most everything, for nutritional yeast, which costs far too much for far too little.

I also figured it was about time I had my own basil plant, hence:

Directions:

-Smash up 1 pound (or 500 grams) of firm tofu in a bowl, using your hands or a fork.

-Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 clove diced or pressed garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste and 10 fresh, finely chopped basil leaves.

-Continue working the mixture until it's the consistency of ricotta cheese.

-Pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, and continue mixing.

-Set aside and chill until you're ready to use it.

  This ended up being used as the "cheese" on pumpkin pizza but it also functions great in so many other capacities. Whether you're eating it cold (plain or as a dip or spread) or warm (in filled pastas or vegetable dishes), it fits just about any appetite.