A Weekend for Crepes

I know I am always telling you to make crepes on weekends, but it really is a good idea. Wake up before everyone else, leave your stoop in your pajamas and crazy hair, get a nice coffee, and return to your range to flip and plate up a stack these fancy and delicious golden suns. You won't regret it.  Here's the recipe one more time in the rare chance that you forgot about the magic of whisking almond milk, earth balance, flour, salt, sugar, and vanilla together.

1/2 cup almond milk 
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla


Whisk all ingredients together until very smooth. Let sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so while you prepare your fillings. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray, and fill with 1/2 cup of batter. Swirl the batter around in the pan, heat till golden and flip! Fill with fruits and spreads.


Enjoy,
NRG

Shooting with Film

It has been so good to return to shooting with film on my dad's old Minolta SR-T 101. I love this camera. I started experimenting with it in high school, learned to develop film on it in college, and have shot weddings and road trips and babies and rock bands with it. Sure, it has a few beauty marks. The eyepiece is crusty and there is a big light leak in the back that gets covered up with wide, blue strips of tape. I have never been very interested in my DSLR and have some serious aversions to the way it handles, leaving it's use exclusively dedicated to food photos. This film camera makes much more sense to me. It is heavy, focuses well, and puts out some surprising (sometimes successful) results. Yesterday I bought a bunch of recently expired film on the cheap so hopefully I'll get some more photos up on the blog soon. For now here are two, the above a red coconut curry with potatoes, peppers, and broccoli, and below, an arugula and white bean salad on a patio in Greenpoint.

Looking forward to the coming weekend!
With one good eye,
NRG

The Veganette for Earth Eats: Basil Quinoa Salad

A new, quick and easy recipe is up on the Earth Eats blog! In the summer I make many variations on this salad, substituting available grains, fresh herbs, and seasonal vegetables. Here's one take on a quick quinoa salad that rings in the summer days with handfuls of fresh basil, sweet red pepper, and crunchy cucumber. Serve warm or cold! 


2 cups quinoa
3 cups vegetable broth (I suggest Better than Bouillon Mushroom stock)
2 cups fresh basil (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped finely)
1 cucumber (sliced finely)
1/2 red onion (sliced finely)
salt,  pepper, crushed red pepper to taste


After rinsing, combine the quinoa and vegetable broth in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to boil. Lower heat and cover for 15 minutes or until soft. Remove from heat. During this time, slice your vegetables into perfect shapes. Toss to combine, adding salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. It's as easy as that!

Enjoy,
NRG

Berry Frangipane Tart

Frangipane is a lovely almond custard that is perfect for tarts. In the past I have reverted to a tofu based filling but I am saying goodbye to silken tofu thanks to Post Punk Kitchen. Vegan Frangipane blew my mind! It was a perfectly delicate and sweet custard base for the mound of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries I heaped upon it. Start with the old basic oil pie crust recipe, fill with frangipane filling, bake, brush with apricot preserves, top with fresh fruit, and brush with more melted preserves for a shiny finish. Voila! I also made a mini gluten-free version and it turned out quite well! Just substitute a gluten free all purpose flour mix and add xantham gum to hold it together.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix up the crust ingredients in a large bowl and press into tart pan.
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil mixed with 2 Tbs. almond/soy milk
Parbake for 15 minutes while you prepare your filling.

Follow Isa's instructions to prepare your fragipane filling- http://www.theppk.com/2011/09/pear-frangipane-tart/!  During this time, heat up a cup or so of apricot preserves in a small saucepan.
Fill the crust with fragipane and bake for 35 minutes. remove from oven and let cool. Brush with apricot preserves, top with fresh fruit, and brush with the remaining preserves. Then dish it out to your lucky friends!

Here's to the summer of tarts!
NRG

Chickpea Sliders

I'm not exactly sure what a slider is but I think it is just a disgusting name for a tiny burger on a tiny bun. These weren't very slippery but they were small and seriously good and adorable. The chickpea patties are a mini adaptation of Veganomicon's chickpea cutlets- a longtime holiday favourite of ours. This recipe is amazing because it is delicious but also easy, fast, and cheap. Even my dad approves! The whole family was in town last weekend and we set up a massive picnic in the park on top of a hill under a huge tree. I served up basil quinoa salad, kale avocado salad, and a fruit tart (recipes to come). These little sliders were part of the feast- chickpea patties served up on slices of whole wheat french loaves topped with veganaise, spicy greens, and a grape tomato nestled in a basil leaf.

Enjoy,
NRG

A Big Cake

It was with great joy and gladness that we celebrated the wedding of Karis y Samuel last weekend. There were a few busy weeks before the event, teams of creative friends making huge paper garlands, slicing avocados, fashioning giant to-do lists, arranging flowers, curling hairs, and sharing secrets. K has been my closest comrade in our New York days. Almost two years ago we moved in together, leaving our comfortable opposing southern cities to try our hands (and feet) in this frustrating and cool cool cool place. Many pairs of hole-y shoes later, we were all three cheers, celebrating the union of this bright gal with her man, S. How do we seal and cheer these vows? With rings and smooches of course, but also with cake. I was honored to make the Big Cake and it was just that, Big. The height of each slice was so many inches that the ends touched the edges of each plate. Needless to say, cutting this four-tiered mammoth was a bit of a disaster but everyone was so happy and full of wine by the time the first slice was sliced that there were no complaints about the messy layer of coconut lemon cake, zesty curd, and buttercream in front of them.

Photos by TB

It's the first of the month!
Happy June, Happy Friday, folks!
NRG