Recipe: Hot & Sour Eggplant

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe here, so I thought that today I would share my current favorite dinner recipe: Hot & Sour Eggplant. This stuff is AWESOME! If I get a hankering for Chinese food, I make this recipe at home. It tastes as good as anything I can order out and it's so very easy to prepare!  With the exception of the eggplant, all of the ingredients are things that I have as staples all the time, so no difficult shopping lists either. Plus, it's vegan, how about that?

Tastes better than it looks!

Hot and Sour Eggplant

You will need:
6 long Chinese eggplants or 1 -  2 regular eggplants*
2 cups sliced bell peppers (any color) -- approximately 2 - 3 fresh or use frozen Melange A Trois from Trader Joes
1 large onion, cut in half then sliced
4 cloves garlic (optional, but delish!)
(Note: You could also use only eggplants, leaving out the peppers and onions. I like to add them in for variety, plus it tastes great!)

* I have made this with both and haven't noticed any difference in taste. I said 1-2 because it really depends on the size of the eggplants that you have available. If it's a huge eggplant, one should be fine. Smaller ones might warrant two.

For the sauce:
6 T. soy sauce (or tamari)
4 T. rice vinegar (any vinegar will do)
4 T. sugar
4 t. cornstarch
2 t. olive oil (sub vegetable oil as needed)
1 T. Wild Thymes Thai Chili Roasted Garlic dipping sauce (to taste! like it hotter? add more! I prefer slightly milder)

Almost time to buy a new jar!

About the Thai Chili sauce: I love this stuff! When I order takeout Nim Chow from my favorite Thai place (Apsara!), I add a little of this to the peanut dipping sauce for zing. Wow! The original recipe that mine is based on called for green chile pepper and chili oil. (My version uses 4 times the sauce, so alter accordingly.) You can buy the sauce online or look for it at a specialty-type grocery store near you. I bought mine at the East Side Market Place in Providence.

Method:

Cube eggplant (no need to peel) and sprinkle heartily with salt (about 2 T.) Cover with cold water and soak for 30 minutes. Rinse very well and lay out on paper towels to drain. The salt removes some of the bitterness that eggplant can have. I don't recommend skipping this step!

Heat 4 T. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook until softened. Add the garlic (minced) and cook for an additional minute before adding the eggplant. Cook until the eggplant is softened, about 10 minutes.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

When the eggplant is softened, stir the sauce into the skillet. Stir until the eggplant is evenly coated with sauce and the mixture has thickened, about a minute. Serve immediately.

When serving this, I usually serve it over oven-baked brown rice, which if you start it right before chopping and soaking the eggplant, will be ready at close to the same time as the eggplant mixture. Last night, I used a mixture of leftover brown rice and microwaved quinoa. Delicious!

Recipes: Tahini BBQ Kale Chips

If you know me, you probably already know that I am OBSESSED with kale chips.  For months now I've been making several batches of kale chips a week and experimenting with different types of kale and different flavors for the chips. Every week, I pick up a bunch or two of kale at the local farmer's market. I've completely stopped buying potato chips and other snack foods. Kale is where it's at! Yum! My newest favorite flavor is Tahini BBQ kale chips (see the recipe below), but I wanted to share some tips before I get to the recipes.

I knew that you could make kale chips in a food dehydrator, but I haven't really experimented much with that because fifteen minutes in the oven is way faster than overnight in the food dehydrator. Plus, any time I've had leftover kale chips, which ain't often, they've turned soggy and wilted overnight. I've tried storing them in a sealed container and uncovered on the countertop, and it didn't matter, they were gross the next day. Until now...

You wanna know the trick to storing kale chips? Keep them cold! I keep them in a snap-top plastic container in the refrigerator. Perfection. I don't know if they keep longer than a day, because none of mine have made it that long, but I can tell you that they are just as crunchy and delicious the next day when refrigerated overnight. Hurray!

Next tip? I have discovered that kale chips made in the food dehydrator taste way better than those done in the oven! Big surprise! I still recommend the oven method if you want a quick snack, but if you are planning ahead, the dehydrator is the way to go. My dehydrator is a Snackmaster Express, which has a temperature dial on the top. I dry the kale chips spread out in a single layer (usually 3 or 4 trays) for 1 hours at 135 degrees F, then 2 - 3 hours at 115 degrees F. The kale chips don't seem to shrink as much and don't turn brown. They are crazy good.

Here are two kale chips recipes for you to try. Please note that all measurements are approximations, since I never measure, just eyeball it. You should start with 1/2 bunch (approximately 3 large leaves of curly kale) with the center stems removed. Rip the leaves into 2 inch pieces. (Note: any type of kale works for kale chips. I like the curly because it holds the flavor best, but in terms of taste, they all taste the same to me.)

In a large bowl, add the ingredients (below) and mix to coat with your hands. You could use a spoon, I guess, but it's best if you get in there and mix it with your hands. You'll be able to feel when all the leaves are coated. I usually use one hand to mix and hold the bowl steady with the other. This way, too, I have a clean hand to turn on the faucet when I'm finished. Once you've added your ingredients, either follow the food dehydrator instructions above or spread out in a single layer on two baking pans (sprayed with cooking spray if not non-stick) and bake at 400 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when the kale starts to brown. Burnt kale chips = not nearly as yummy as unburnt ones.

Traditional Kale Chips

1 T. olive oil

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. sea salt

1/8 cup nutritional yeast (no nooch? try parmesan cheese... yum!)

Tahini BBQ Kale Chips

1/4 c tahini

1/4 c. BBQ sauce (I used a smoky Kansas-style)

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. smoked salt

1 t. sesame oil

I don't pre-mix the ingredients. I just throw the ripped kale pieces in a big bowl and put the ingredients on top. They get mixed will I moosh everything around with my hand. So, so good.

Enjoy!

Recipes: Basic Kale Chips & Oven-Roasted Corn

Sometimes, I just don't feel like cooking, so I end up eating stuff that's bad for me because it's easy and fast. So I've been working lately to build up a repertoire of delicious, fast, and easy dishes. Here's are two of my all-time favorites:

First, kale chips. OMG, do I love kale chips. My sister, Fiona, introduced me to Kale chips, and I have to admit, they didn't sound that great, but if my sister was raving about them, I figured I ought to at least give them a try. The first time I made them, I wasn't that impressed. For one thing, they were way too salty, which, I found out later, came from a typo in the original recipe that I used. Ugh. All, they were kind of, well, weird, but I decided to try them again, and I've finally come up with a "recipe" that's really yummy.

Oven-Roasted Kale Chips

Preheat your oven to 350 d. F.

1 bunch fresh kale, any kind will work, but I like the curly kind

Tear the kale off the stems and into smallish pieces, maybe 1 - 2 inches big? They will shrink a lot when you cook them, so don't be afraid to keep 'em on the larger side. Put the kale pieces into a large bowl or pot.

1 T. olive oil

1/2 t. vinegar (any kind, I've used balsamic and white)

Drizzle the oil and vinegar over the torn kale. I'll confess: I never measure, so use more or less as needed. Use your hands to get in there and smear the kale with the oil and vinegar. Try to make sure that every leaf is covered. You'll be able to feel when it's all mixed right.

Lightly spray a cooking sheet with cooking spray. (Not necessary if you have non-stick pans, but I don't). Spread the kale mixture evenly all over the pan. It really doesn't matter if the leaves overlap a bit.

1/2 t. salt

1/8 cup nutritional yeast

Sprinkle the tray of kale with salt and nooch (nutritional yeast) to taste. If you don't have nooch, it's totally optional, but it really makes the chips taste awesome. You can buy nutritional yeast in the bulk foods section at most Whole Foods. It's about $8 a pound, but you only need a small amount. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, turn with a spatula or tongs, and return to the oven for 8 - 10 more minutes. Depending on your oven, you might want to start checking the tray after 15 minutes. The kale will shrivel up and when you touch it, it will be crunchy. You want to stop cooking when most of the kale is crunchy, being careful not to let it burn or turn too brown. I tend to have some non-crunchy pieces, but I think they taste delicious and don't worry about it too much.

Here are some additional recipes for flavoring your kale chips. I haven't tried any of these yet, but I definitely will sometime soon. These all call for dehydrating the chips instead of doing them in the oven, but I'm going to stick with the oven method, just add the new flavors.

Smokey BBQ Kale Chips & Tomato Tahini Kale Chips.

I'm totally eating a bowl of kale chips as I write this entry. Yum-um!

Another favorite of mine is oven-roasted corn. Since the oven was already hot from today's batch of kale chips, I decided to make corn to go with dinner tonight. Oven-roasted corn is probably the easiest recipe ever.

You need:

Fresh ears of corn, enough to serve whoever's coming for dinner

(Okay, I know it's winter, so corn might not be the best -- save this for the summer!)

Oh, yeah, that's it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the fresh corn husks in the oven, directly on the rack. There's absolutely no need to pre-husk the corn or remove the silks before cooking. Just chuck 'em right in the oven, wander away for 30 minutes (perhaps to work on your blog, like I'm doing), and go back to the most succulent, mouth-watering corn you've ever had. No need for butter. No need for anything. Just peel back the husk to use as a handle, remove the silks, and eat. Oh my gawd.

(If you really must put something on your corn, check out this recipe to Mexican Street Corn from America's Test Kitchen. It is amazingly good. I saw it on the show and had to try it the next day for dinner. Wow!)

Recipes: For the Love of (Vegan) Cheese

I'm intrigued with vegan eating, and lately I'm interested in raw food, but if there's one thing that I missed when I was experimenting with eating vegan full-time, it was cheese. I know it's not the best thing for me to eat, especially in excess, but I love the creamy, dreamy yum of cheese. The imitation cheeses that I've tried have been pretty nasty overall, so I just went without. Until I started reading a cookbook (The Conscious Cook) that included a recipe for cashew cheese, I had to try it, especially since I had all of the "important" ingredients on hand. I had to soak 2 cups of cashews overnight, blend them with a probiotic water mix, sit the mixture in a warm place overnight, and when I woke up, I had cheese. Sorta.

When I first tried the mixture, I thought it was okay, but nothing great. Then I added the seasonings, and wow! Now it's this delicious creamy goodness that I had to force myself to put in the fridge so I didn't keep eating spoonfuls of it. Delicious. For dinner, I'm already planning stuffed shells... if the cheese lasts that long.

Here are some other vegan cheese and related recipes that I want to try:

Raw Vegan Cheese

This looks like it has a creamy texture very similar to my favorite goat cheese. Wheat berries are an ingredient I've never experimented with before, but I know I can get them in the bulk bins at the Whole Foods near me.

Truffled Cashew Cheese

This sounds heavenly! This site also details the general process for making cashew cheese as well.

Cashew Cheddar Cheese

This blog entry includes details on how to make some delicious-looking vegan nachos. This would be a good alternative for anyone who doesn't like nutritional yeast "cheese" sauce or wants to mix it up a bit. Agar flakes can be purchased at a specialty grocery store, like Whole Foods, near the Asian foods.

Smoky Vegan Lasagna

Nick loves lasagna, so maybe he'd be willing to try the cashew cheese if I layered it in a lasagna? I tried to get him to try to the cashew cheese this morning, but he refused, saying it scared me. No worries. More for me. :)

The Other Side Dip

In this middle of this article, there's a dip recipe that sounds pretty good. I'm already thinking of all the different dips I could make using the cashew cheese as a base. Mmm....

Flat Bread Crackers

Here are some raw flat bread crackers to go with all that cheese you'll be whipping up after reading this entry. All you need are a few ingredients and a dehydrator. I haven't tried these yet, but I'm sure I will.

Raw Food Recipes

A huge list of raw vegan recipes, from cheese to dips to burgers. Sounds good to me!

If you've tried any of these recipes or you have any to share, please let me know!

Recipes: Red Pepper Jelly

My friend, Jen, had a mexican-themed party called Hola, It's Christmas! this past weekend, and one of the appetizers that she had was a cream cheese and red pepper jelly dip. It was so good that I just had to see if I couldn't make my own red pepper jelly at home. I searched online for recipes, but almost all of them used Pectin. I didn't want to buy anything I didn't strictly have to buy, other than the peppers, of course, so I wondered if there was a way to make the red pepper jelly without pectin: and there was!

I already had a packet of Agar Agar flakes in my cupboard. I'd used the Agar Agar, a type of seaweed, I think, only once: for the most delicious batch of Vegan Cappuccino Chocolate Cupcakes (from an awesome book called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskovitz & Terry Hope Romano). I know that I could use the Agar Agar to thicken my jelly, but I wasn't sure how much to add. So I winged it. It turned out great!

Here's what you need:

5 or 6 red bell peppers (mine were huge so I used 5, if smaller, use 6)
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 t. sea salt
1 t. cayenne pepper (add more if you like more heat, less if you want milder)
2 T. agar agar flakes (look near nori at Whole Foods)

Remove the core & seeds from your peppers. Shred in a food processor until pulverized. I didn't peel my peppers, but I suppose you could blanch and peel them, if you were so inclined. I don't think it's necessary at all though.

In a medium-large pot, add sugar and ACV. Bring to a boil.

Add pepper mixture, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Stir and bring the mixture back to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, about 15 - 20 minutes. You can simmer longer if you want a thicker jelly. I wanted to be able to spoon the jelly out easily.

Actually, when researching how to make the jelly, I did find one recipe on Chowhound that didn't use any pectin or Agar Agar. The poster said they'd just cook the pepper mixture for up to an hour until it thickened to the point they liked. So you could try that if you don't have anything else on hand.

My batch made enough to fill 6 pint-size canning jars. You could definitely sterilize and do the proper canning method, but I know this will go fast, so I didn't bother. Instead, I filled the jars and will keep them in the fridge or maybe freezer for a couple of weeks. If you want yours to last longer, go ahead and can them properly.

The red pepper jelly is sweet with just a hint of heat. I can taste the spice of the cayenne pepper on my tongue, and it's so crazy good with the creaminess of the cheese on a slightly salty cracker.  I know it will be awesome as a pasta sauce, maybe as a pizza topping or on a baked potato. I'm going to try it with everything! Try it and tell me what you think!