Vegan Recipes for the Cash-Strapped & Cooking-Impaired

I recently wrote this blog about a new vegan cookbook for cooking-impaired, cash-strapped college students. It's been a long time since my college days, but I flipped through a co-worker's copy of the cookbook anyway. Although it's geared toward college students, it's also helpful for frugal, overly-busy "working stiffs" like me who don't always have time or patience to make "grown-up recipes" with extensive (and expensive) ingredients. The blog includes easy recipes for chickpea salad and a melon berry smoothie, but I've included a few more recipes below, for those of you in college as well as those of you who are just young at heart. Enjoy!  

 Tofu, Or Not Tofu, That Is The Sandwich

8 ounces tofu, mashed

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 tablespoon roasted sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise

1 tablespoon relish

2 teaspoons mustard

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

4 slices toast

4 leaves lettuce

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

Mix the tofu, onion powder, sunflower seeds, mayonnaise, relish, mustard, soy sauce, and garlic powder in a bowl. Spread onto the toast. Top each with a lettuce leaf and 4 tomato halves.

Super Quickie Peanut Sauce

3 tablespoons peanut butter

5 tablespoons hot water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce

Combine the peanut butter, water, lemon juice, soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce in a medium-sized bowl and stir until combined. (Add more water if you want a thinner consistency.) Nuke for 30 seconds. Serve over steamed veggies and fried or steamed tofu, or use as a dipping sauce for veggies and tofu.

Finals Week Fudge

3/4 cup vegan margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Put the margarine in a bowl and nuke for 30 seconds, or until mostly melted. Stir in the peanut butter right away, while the bowl and margarine are still warm. Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time, mixing well. Pour into a greased 9 × 9-inch pan and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Freshasauras Mex Ramen Casserole

6 cups water

3 packages vegan ramen noodles

2 (15-ounce) cans vegan chili

1 (15-ounce) can tomatoes

4–8 ounces shredded vegan cheese

Put water in a 3-quart casserole dish. Cover with a lid and nuke for 3 minutes. Remove from the microwave. Crush the ramen inside the packages, throw out the seasoning packets (you won’t be needing them), and dump the noodles into the dish. Cover and nuke for 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove and drain. Put the noodles back in the casserole dish, add the chili and the undrained tomatoes, and toss well. Cover and return to the microwave, nuking for 5 minutes or until hot throughout. Remove from the microwave, sprinkle with the cheese, replace the cover, and let stand until the cheese melts.

Seven-Layer Mexican Dip

1 8-oz. package vegan cream cheese

1 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix

1 15.5-oz. can vegetarian refried beans

1 cup guacamole

1 cup chunky salsa

1 cup shredded lettuce

1 cup shredded soy cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. dried chives

1 small can sliced black olives

Mix the "cream cheese" and taco seasoning. Spread onto the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate or other dish. Layer the beans, guacamole, salsa, lettuce, "cheddar cheese," chives, and olives over the "cream cheese" mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

Tips & Recipes to Help You Pack a Vegan Picnic

A few days ago, I wrote about the connection between charred meats and pancreatic cancer, and suggested a few vegetarian cookout ideas. But you don't have to fire up the grill to enjoy a tasty—and healthy—outdoor meal. (Barbecuing—and cleaning up—can be a lot of work, after all.) One of my favorite things to do in the spring is to go on a picnic—even if I'm only going as far as my deck!

PB&J is fine, but sometimes it's fun to pack picnic foods with a little more pizzazz. Hummus wraps are an easy and popular option; it only takes a few minutes to spread hummus on a whole wheat tortilla with chopped tomatoes, romaine lettuce or spinach, sprouts, shredded carrots, and green onions.

To make mini burritos, spread tortillas with Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese or Follow Your Heart vegan cream cheese; add diced veggies or olives, roll up, and cut into bite-size pieces.

For nutritious no-cook kabobs, slide cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, sweet peppers, and baked tofu cubes on a skewer. Dip into a tasty vegan ranch or Thai peanut butter dressing.

Make a mock chicken-salad sandwich with Worthington’s Chic-ketts or Morningstar Farms veggie chik'n strips and Vegenaise. (Or check out the recipes for vegan coleslaw, potato salad, couscous, and more, below.) If you're feeling more "adventurous" in the kitchen, you can also make mock fried chicken using chopped Chic-ketts and one of Shake N’ Bakes’ several vegan mixes.

Or, prepare an easy pasta salad by combining cooked spiral pasta with diced cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and chunks of Chic-ketts, mixed with Vegenaise or your favorite vinaigrette.

Pangea, the vegan superstore I often rave about, now sells a tuna-free tuna-salad mix too. It looks pretty good, but I haven't tried it, so I can't "vouch for it" yet.

For "traditional" sandwiches (think bologna and cheese), try the veggie deli slices from Yves Veggie Cuisine, Lightlife, or Turtle Island Foods. Tofutti makes decent soy cheese slices or you can try the delicious Sheese selection from Pangea. (Sheese is also sold at some health food stores.) I'm just crackers about it, to steal the "joke" from Wallace & Grommit Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Add fresh fruit, soy yogurt, or other vegan snacks, and you've got a really satisfying picnic spread. I haven't made the tofu key lime pie recipe below yet, but I tried it at a potluck once and all I can say is "YUM!" (I lifted most of these recipes from www.VegCooking.com. There are many more, if you want to check it out.) .

Creamy Coleslaw

1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 medium-sized carrot, grated
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup Vegenaise

1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large salad bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and serve.

Spinach Dip

1 box frozen spinach
1 container Tofutti Sour Supreme
1/2 cup Vegenaise
1 packet vegan ranch dressing or onion soup mix
1 round loaf of sour dough bread

Thaw the spinach in a bowl in the microwave for about 40 seconds. Get your hands in the bowl and squeeze out ALL the water with your hands. Then mix the spinach and all the other ingredients together, except the bread. Let it sit for a couple of hours for the flavors to blend. Cut the top and middle out of the bread loaf to make a bowl. Serve the dip in the bread bowl and cut the rest of the bread into chunks for dipping.

Tempting Tempeh Ball

1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup Vegenaise
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3-4 Tbsp. soy sauce

Steam the tempeh for 20 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, roast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Set aside.

Place the tempeh, Vegenaise, yeast, and soy sauce in a food processor (or blender) and process until smooth. Refrigerate until firm and chilled. Scoop the tempeh mixture into your hands and shape it into a ball. Roll it in the almonds, then put it on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours more. Serve with cracker

Eggless Egg Salad

2 Tbsp. Vegenaise 
1 tsp. distilled vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 lb. firm tofu
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. celery powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix together the vegan mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, turmeric, dill, and parsley to make the dressing. Place in the refrigerator until chilled. Crumble the tofu then stir in the onion powder and celery powder. Add the dressing to the tofu mixture. Season with the salt and pepper and chill for several hours before serving.

Couscous Salad

5 oz. couscous
3-4 cups water, boiling
3/4 cup chickpeas
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and chopped
1/3 cup black olives, pitted
1/3 cup onions, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt, to taste
Pepper, freshly ground
5-6 lettuce leaves
5-6 fresh mint leaves

Add the couscous to the boiling water. Cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Drain the excess water in the strainer and place into a dish. Add the chickpeas, bell pepper, olives, onions, and mint. Toss the ingredients with the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Lay the lettuce leaves in a serving dish and pile the salad over the bed of leaves. To garnish, make a flower in the center with the mint leaves. Refrigerate until ready to serve

Vegan Potato Salad (recipe from the Vegan Blog Spot)

http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2009/05/picnic-potato-salad.html

8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (3 pounds)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 Tbs. capers
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, diced
4 stalks of celery, chopped

Boil potatoes in their jackets 20 to 25 minutes, until tender but still holding their shape.
As soon as potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel skins off with the back of a knife. Dice potatoes, and place them in large mixing bowl. Add cider vinegar.
Heat olive oil in sauté pan, and cook onion, stirring often, 3 minutes, until barely soft.
Add onions to potatoes along with mustard, capers, bell pepper, and celery. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Key Lime Cheesecake
2 pkgs. Tofutti plain cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup key lime juice
2 tsp. lime zest (grated rind of lime)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 9-inch graham cracker pie crust
Kiwis and/or strawberries, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, lime juice, lime zest, and cornstarch in a blender and mix until smooth. Pour into the graham cracker pie crust. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let set until cool to the touch, and then chill in the refrigerator overnight. Top with sliced kiwis, strawberries, or both.

Who Says You Need Mayonnaise To Make Potato Salad?

Ask a vegan to list a few indispensible kitchen staples and he or she will likely mention Vegenaise, an eggless, dairy-free mayonnaise that’s just as rich and creamy as "regular" mayonnaise—but is cholesterol- and cruelty-free.

I often use it on veggie burgers and in spinach and artichoke dip, but now that it’s supposed to warm up again, I’m dreaming about late springtime picnics with heaping portions of red potato salad. I occasionally use Italian salad dressing for a lower calorie potato salad, but sometimes only the creamy kind will do. (I’ve read that Follow Your Heart, the company that manufactures Vegenaise, is coming out with a reduced-fat version with flaxseed and olive oil, so I can’t wait to try it.) 

 My potato salad recipe, of sorts, is below, but I normally just “measure” the ingredients by eye. Potato salad is so simple; it’s pretty hard to mess up.      

Red potatoes, cleaned and boiled for about 20 minutes or until soft
Celery
Red onion   
Vegenaise 
Tiny bit of mustard
Garlic salt
Pepper or Lemon pepper

(sometimes I toss in some shredded carrots for extra veggies too)

You can find Vegenaise in most health food stores or organic food depots. Some stores sell the organic version or the kind made with Grapeseed oil too. There’s an expeller-pressed Vegenaise too, though I’ve never seen it anywhere in my area. If you can’t find Vegenaise where you shop, you can order it from Follow Your Heart or from Pangea.

Another option is Nayonaisse from Nasoya. It’s lower in calories and quite tasty. I used to buy that brand all the time, but Vegenaise won me over.

Neither brand is a “health food” to be eaten all the time, but both are good vegan alternatives to mayonnaise, and they make yummy potato salad!

One Last Fling...In The Kitchen

I despise cold weather, so I’m always glad when March rolls around. I start anticipating warmer weather starting March 1st. It snowed here yesterday though, so that totally put a damper on my spring fever. There is one thing I like (or, at least, manage to enjoy) about winter though: Freshly baked vegan goodies. Not only are cakes and cookies and breads and muffins tasty, turning on the oven helps warm up my apartment. So before spring finally does get here (yay!), I’m going into a baking frenzy and making three of my favorite winter treats: peanut butter coffee cake, banana bread, and pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips and pecans. Mmmm!

Here are the recipes in case you want to have one last baking “fling” before “fruit and hummus” weather gets here. These goodies taste indulgent, but since the recipes call for cruelty- and cholesterol-free, non-fattening ingredients like Ener-G egg replacer, almond milk, stevia, applesauce, and whole wheat flour, you can enjoy them without guilt. Just try not to eat too much at once!

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake (adapted from The Compassionate Cook)

(Don’t shy away from peanut butter—just make sure the brand you’re using isn’t on the salmonella-recall list. Most popular store brands are safe. I prefer peanut butter with just one ingredient—peanuts—so I opt for the natural brands. Crazy Richard’s creamy peanut butter is good for this coffee cake because it’s smooth and easier to work with.)

 Topping:

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup peanut butter

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance spread

 Cake:

2¼ cups whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup Almond Breeze almond milk

½ cup peanut butter

3 tsp Ener-g egg replacer mixed w/ 4 tbsp water

¼ cup Earth Balance spread

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. For the topping, mix the brown sugar and flour. With a pastry knife, a fork, or your fingers, cut in the peanut butter and margarine until crumbly; set aside.

For the cake, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the almond milk, peanut butter, egg replacer, and margarine. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Pour into baking pan and sprinkle with the topping.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips & Pecans (adapted from VegCooking.com)

3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp stevia (or 1 cup sugar)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
pecans and Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips, as desired (You can also try walnuts, shredded coconut, and/or strawberries)

Mash bananas (overripe ones make the best bread). Add applesauce and stevia. Mix well. Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together and add to the banana mixture. Mix until the flour is blended (do not beat). Pour into a non-stick bread pan and bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pumpkin Muffins With Chocolate Chips & Pecans (adapted from VegCooking.com)

3 Tbsp. stevia (or 1 1/2 cups sugar)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup water
3 tsp. Ener-g egg replacer mixed w/ 4 tbsp water

1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl and beat well. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat well. Pour the batter into a nonstick muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. (Makes six large muffins or one loaf of bread)