KZCAKES: weekend

November 01, 2015

Since our move to NYC, we've been present at the monthly shop-up markets in Bushwick nearly every month. By now, we've had a chance to meet and become friends with a bunch of people there, and always look forward to hanging out on a Saturday with a bunch of cool, smart, vegan-minded people. I think the winter shop-ups are my favorite, when you trek all the way out there in a blizzard, and inside you just sit at the bar and drink some great beers and eat a bunch of chocolate and get toasty/toasted. This Saturday it was perfect fall weather, with a tiny bit of rain that we seemed to be lucky in missing. People kept walking into the bar soaked and we were dry walking in, and dry walking out. I scored some Mac and Cheese from Cake Thieves, some macarons from Sweet Maresa's, and a chocolate from Lagusta's Luscious. I was unable to eat the large quantities of food that I usually consume for whatever reason yesterday. It was probably for the best, considering the celebratory drinks we had for Alex's birthday on Friday.

Just two more couldn't hurt. Plus Pumpkin Beer is Back!

I have been putting off making stock for a long, long time. The thought of boiling a bunch of vegetables in my kitchen this summer made me cringe, and I accumulated 3 or 4 gallon-sized freezer bags full of vegetable odds & ends by the time fall arrived. I have this really giant stock pot that I like to make huge batches in. I filled it to the brim.

It's really huge. When it boiled, it boiled over and I had to put some in a separate pot. Now, I have 30 cups of stock, which means I have ten mason jars in my fridge. Do you want some?

Alex had a stroke of brilliance and suggested we make chowder for dinner. I love the Glam Chowder recipe from Isa Does It, and so does he. Plus, it's one of the only ways to get him to eat a ton of mushrooms happily. Me? I will eat my weight in mushrooms happily, in any way, any kind of mushroom, on any vehicle, so you can gather that this chowder is my jam. Plus, I'm from New England, where the chowder is abundant. But you don't have to be from New England to love this chowder. You don't have to be vegan to love this chowder either, but I heard that if you love it, you should go vegan, because it will taste better. Someone told me that.

April 05, 2014

Lasagna Lifestyle

I think if you went to a party where you didn't know anyone, or maybe one of those meet-and-greet mixers, or some vulnerably awkward situation where you needed to quickly find something interesting to talk about with strangers, you should start talking about lasagna. Every American child of the 90s has a soft spot for lasagna. Lasagna night was awesome. Lasagna filled with something creamy and tangy, or something fresh like tomatoes, or chewy like mushrooms, or meaty, like lentils... there are so many possibilities. As long as you have that doughy pasta bite covered in salty red tomato sauce, it doesn't matter if it's lasagna rolls, lasagna soup, or stuffed shells. You can't really go wrong. You could start by saying, "I made this vegan lasagna last night!" Then, "Yeah, it's vegan!" Then, "it had spinach, artichokes, lentils, Oh and this crumbly parmesan-style topping!" And eventually, "Oh you have to try it, I'll give you the recipe..."

The best thing about lasagna is that it makes a TON. You won't have to cook for a week. And you get to eat lasagna for a whole week. So that's like a bonus.

The TLC required in lasagna-making might be a touch laborious for a weeknight. So on a Sunday or whatever day you don't work, put on some calming tunes, and relax yourself while you dive elbow deep into lasagna and make it everything you ever wanted lasagna to be like. Make it with your best bud and it can be a team effort. A long cooking task isn't always unenjoyable. Sometimes I emerge zen-like from my kitchen after a Sunday cooking marathon.

There would be more peace in the world if we all made lasagna a little more often. Vegan lasagna, that is.

1 box lasagna noodles

Filling:

1 lb soft tofu

3/4 cup cashews

1/3 cup nooch

1 can or 1 1/2 cups lentils

1 can or 6 artichoke hearts, chopped into 4 pieces

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups baby spinach

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1-2 teaspoons salt

1 bunch chopped fresh basil

1 bunch chopped fresh parsley

4-5 cups tomato sauce, jarred or homemade

Topping:

1/2 cup almonds

zest of 1 lemon

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon nooch

Boil the lasagna noodles and lay them out on a large cutting board or workspace. If they are sticking, spray with a little olive oil cooking spray.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat with a little olive oil if you like, and sauté the onion until light brown. Add garlic and stir around for a minute or two, then add the lentils and artichokes. You can wilt the spinach in now, or you can layer it fresh into the lasagna before baking. Stir around and add the dried spices and salt. Saute for a few minutes. and turn off the heat.

If you're super savvy you can make the tofu-cashew filling while you sauté the lentils and veggies. All you have to do is crumble the tofu into a blender with the cashews and nooch and blend it really well. I have a high-speed blender so it only takes me about a minute, but I never had any problems when I had a tag-sale blender either. I just blended an extra minute or two.

Scoop this mixture out of the blender and into a mixing bowl. Rinse the blender out because you're going to use it again to make the topping.

Once the lentil-veggie filling is not totally burning hot, add it to the tofu mixture in the mixing bowl, and fold in. Fold in the chopped basil and parsley.

Preheat your oven to 400ºF.

Get your 9x13 or whatever size lasagna pan you want out and spoon some tomato sauce over the bottom so that there's no dry space. Now add 3 or 4 lasagna noodles lengthwise, overlapping a little if necessary. Actually I think overlapping helps with the integrity of the lasagna after baking, so overlap away! Now add a few heaps of the tofu-lentil mixture and smooth out on top of the noodles. If you didn't wilt in the spinach before, you can lay your spinach leaves flat on top of the filling, just enough of them to cover the filling layer. Now add some more tomato sauce over the top of that.

Keep layering in the same order, and you should get about 3 full layers. Finish by topping off the pan with red sauce.

Now make the topping by throwing the almonds, lemon zest, salt and nooch into your blender and pulverizing them to make dust. If you doubt your blender's abilities, then you can use a food processor.

Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the top of the lasagna, cover and bake for about 30 minutes. You can remove the foil to try and brown the top after the 30 minutes, but it's not necessary.

Let cool a minute, call all your friends, tell them you made a lasagna bigger than an air-hockey table and come help you eat it.

January 25, 2014

Tofu Benedict

Eggs Benedict is one of those fancy dishes that you've probably never had unless you had to go to your rich friend's wedding shower which was probably catered by the Ritz or something. To me, it falls into the Beef Wellington category in which the food is so fancy it needs a last name. Sole Dubois, Oysters Bienville, and even Fettuccine Alfredo always seemed like the kinds of dishes that were so dignified by the 2-part title that you'd have to pay twice too. The phenomenon will need to be researched, but for now, here's a vegan version that can be made on a Saturday out of mostly pantry ingredients and enjoyed without the need to applaud your rich friend on her new expensive juicer.

When I was little, my mom used to make her version of Hollandaise sauce, which, sorry mom, hardly resembled what Hollandaise sauce would look like if you ordered it at a restaurant. We used it on asparagus only, and it was basically miracle whip and lemon juice mixed together and put in the microwave. It sounds unholy but it was somehow enjoyable. I've done worse things with mayonnaise. In her defense, who's mom ever cooked asparagus for them growing up? The funny part is that I thought for years that it was called "Holiday Sauce."

No, I've never had Eggs Benedict, but I have seen Top Chef, season 5 where Lia gets sent home on her birthday for a Hollandaise sauce that was too thin. Apparently, you should not be able to see the egg through the sauce at all. Its consistency is very important. Well, to Wiley Dufresne it is. I ordered this on a recent visit to Champs and loved it! There's little not to love about the sound of a toasty english muffin, some mock ham slices, sauteed greens piled under a seared slab of tofu and drenched in a luscious golden creamy sauce. A side of potatoes couldn't hurt this image.

They didn't have any vegan english muffins at my store today, so I opted for an everything bagel. Vegans love everything bagels. I know that in a perfect world, I would have made a beautiful homemade potato hash to go alongside, but these frozen hashbrowns reminiscent of McDonald's breakfast are as easy to throw in the oven as they are delicious. I'll be an adult someday.

Tofu Benedict:

serves 4

Hollandaise:

2/3 cup cashews

1 cup vegetable broth

1 vegetable bouillon

2 tablespoons coconut vinegar, or white vinegar

juice of half a lemon

1 onion, sliced into half moons

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon turmeric

3 tablespoons nooch

pinch of salt and pepper

1 block tofu, sliced into 8 slabs

cooking spray

1lb swiss chard, or your favorite green

juice of 1/2 a lemon

tomato slices

2 everything bagels

1 pack of tofurkey roast beef, or whatever kind of ham-style veggie meat you dig.

cilantro, optional

Preheat a large cast-iron skillet over medium high heat to cook the onion and garlic for the sauce. Add the 2 teaspoons olive oil and sauté the onion until nicely caramelized, maybe 6 minutes. Add garlic slices and cook 1 more minute. Turn off heat.

Add onions and garlic to a blender along with the cashews, veggie broth, bouillon, vinegar, lemon juice, turmeric, nooch, salt and pepper. Blend on high until super smooth.

In the cast-iron pan we're going to cook the tofu. Heat it up to medium high again, and coat with cooking spray. Once super hot, add the slabs of tofu. Flip after 3 minutes and cook of the other side for 2 minutes.

While the tofu is cooking, chop the chard or greens into manageable sections and wash well. Spin dry. Remove the tofu from the pan once it is nicely browned and add the chard, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Using tongs, flip it around a bit until wilted,which should take about a minute and a half. Remove from pan and spray with a little more cooking spray.

Place bagels cut-side down on the cast iron pan. Let sear for about a minute, pressing down lightly with your spatula.

Now we can assemble the dish. Lay flat one bagel half, and top with 2 folded slices of your veggie meat. Now place a slice or two of tomato. Then add a quarter of the wilted chard. On top, carefully arrange 2 slices of tofu. Now pour over the top some of the hollandaise sauce (The heat from the blades in my blender warm the sauce, but if your sauce is cold by now, you can reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave). Don't be stingy, especial since the other components are only lightly seasoned. The sauce is what's going to bring this dish to flavor town. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, and serve.

Weekend Withdrawls

Weekend Mashup

Saturdays are for Shopping Up

Lasagna Lifestyle

Tofu Benedict

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