The Veganette for Earth Eats: Baby Bok Choy, Fresh Bean Curd, and Kombu Dashi

There have been a few tofu experiments since the January day when Peter Berley opened my eyes to the world of homemade tofu. Here's a batch, served up in a kombu dashi broth with sesame baby bok choy and scallions. I may get a bit too specific about how to properly use your frying pan in this week's Earth Eats post, but you will not regret the process when you are digging into these delicately seasoned, crisp, wilted delights. Find the sesame garlic bok choy recipe here- http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/custom-stirfried-baby-bok-choy/

Enjoy,
NRG

Springtime Crepes Two Ways

Start your weekend right with these savory and sweet crepes. Remember to chill your crepe batter before frying up these golden brown pancakes! It may seem superfluous, but it will increase the quality of your crepes and is completely worth the wait. 

1/2 cup plain soymilk 

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup melted margarine

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. brown sugar/ agave nectar/ maple syrup

Whisk all ingredients together until very smooth. Let sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. During this time, prepare the fillings. The above sweet crepes are stuffed with homemade applesauce and blackberries and the savory stuffed with crispy baked tofu, marinated mushrooms, avocado, and fresh dill. 

To make the crepes, heat a large pan over medium heat for five minutes, dry. Spray with oil or rub with a bit of margarine and pour 1/2 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Coat the bottom of the pan by tilting the pan and letting the batter run to all sides. Flip once browned on the edges. This takes some practice, so be patient with yourself. You might need to add a bit more soymilk or water if your batter gets too thick. 

I usually double this recipe as the smell of these golden delights are known to pull many hungry mouths from their caves of slumber! 

Happy weekending,

NRG

Soy-Free Chocolate Cake with Mocha Mousse Filling and Cappucino Buttercream

TB

Happy birthday SM! We celebrated his twenty eighth year of life with brunch on the long meadow. KM cheered on the life of her man with two world-famous quiches, GY mixed up an amazing rainbow fruit salad, and mimosas abounded.  A few kids and dogs turned their heads as I paraded this uncovered cake down Prospect Park West, a trail of chocolate mousse drips and pink flowers following behind me. Honored as always to be the birthday cake maker in this crew of lake-swimming, sun-bathing, bike-loving, story-telling, New Yorkers.

TB

With celebration,
NRG

Black and Blue Lemon Berry Muffins

MA and I shared these sweet and light muffins on our early morning Easter escape from the city. I rarely get to ride in cars and so enjoyed this journey from my park-side apartment across the Brooklyn Bridge, cruising along the entire length of Manhattan on the traffic-free West Side Highway to the George Washington Bridge. It felt good to be on the other side of the Hudson. We found a slice of the Appalachian Trail and hiked up and up and up to a point where there were no trees or buildings to obstruct the wind and sun from hitting our faces. These muffins aren't good for you,  but they are surely good company on bright mornings such as this one. This recipe is adapted from Isa's Bakery Style Berry Muffins recipe printed in Vegan Brunch.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup soy yogurt

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup frozen blackberries

1 Tbs. lemon zest

For the lemon glaze

juice of 1 lemon

confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a muffin tin. Stir together dry ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Slowly mix the wet into the dry and stir until only a few small clumps remain. Fold in the berries and lemon zest. Fill tin and bake for 27 minutes, or until browned. While the muffins cool, prepare the glaze. Slowly stir confectioners’ sugar into the lemon juice until you reach the desired consistency. Drizzle over the muffin tops and serve! 

Happy Spring!

NRG

Bagel Story: Kale and Mushroom Tofu Scramble with Shallot Hash Browns and Avocado

My initial plan for Sunday's breakfast was to make Rösti, a traditional Swiss dish consisting of a golden potato cake the size of a frying pan. What's not to love about waking up to a plateful of fried potatoes? But when a friend showed up with a dozen beautiful Brooklyn bagels, these open-faced breakfast sandwiches emerged, piled with kale and mushroom tofu scramble, avocado slices, shallot hash browns, and tomatoes. Someday I will provide detailed instructions on how to flip a giant potato pancake but until then, these leaning-tower sandwiches will be sure to weaken jaws and melt hearts in every borough. 

Components

seeded bagels, halved and toasted

vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly

ripe avocados, sliced thinly

tofu scramble and hash browns (recipes below)

parsley, chopped finely

black pepper

Scramble
1 lb. firm tofu, pressed
1 yellow onion, chopped finely 
3-4 cloves garlic, minced 
2 Tbs. olive oil 
handful of grape tomatoes, quartered
handful of mushrooms, sliced 
3 cups kale, sliced thinly 
1 tsp. crushed red pepper 
1/2 tsp. thyme 
1/2 tsp. rosemary 
1/2 tsp. turmeric 
1 tsp. salt  
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (more or less) 
fresh ground pepper

In a large frying pan, heat oil to medium heat. Add onions and saute for 2 minutes. Proceed with the garlic and spices, stirring often to keep anything from burning. Crumble tofu into medium sized pieces and add to the pan, stirring the melange to sure the spices and oil coat the tofu. After 5 minutes or so, add the tomatoes, kale, and mushrooms and saute for another 10 minutes. Add nutritional yeast and fresh pepper and stir.

Shallot Hash Browns

3 lbs. boiling potatoes, shredded
2 shallots, sliced finely
2 tsp. sea salt
freshly ground pepper
high grade vegetable oil

The thing about making good hash browns is that you have to try to get rid of as much moisture in the potato as possible. If you have a potato ricer, I envy you! I used a strainer and a few towels but was only mildly successful. Mix the strained potatoes, salt, pepper, and shallots in a large bowl. Form medium sized cakes and fry on each side. Store in a warm oven until serving.

Open wide!
NRG