Recipes

August 20, 2017 Ingredients

Eclipse Burger

Who is excited about the US total solar eclipse that will happen on Monday?

For those of you who aren’t able to travel to that narrow strip path the cuts diagonally across the US, I have a way for you to experience a special eclipse at home. This is an Eclipse Burger with a Totality Bun, Sunny Chickpea Patty and Corona Sauce. The burger is surrounded with Purple Galaxy Sweet Potato Fries!

I had been planning on making an eclipse burger after I learned about the 2017 eclipse this past Spring. I saw a gluten-free charcoal bun in a Japanese vegetarian magazine called veggy. I translated the recipe using my mad Katakana reading skills and with the help of Google Translate! I changed some of the components and converted all of the metric units to standard ones, thanks to my handy kitchen scale.

The gluten-free charcoal bun is little more like a black English muffin. The texture was surprisingly chewy and not crumbly and dry like other gluten-free items I’ve tried and it held up quite well with the other ingredients. I also made my regular wheat bun recipe but added activated charcoal to make it black.

There are many kinds of activated charcoal. I haven’t found a big difference but it’s great if you find one that is vegan, gelatin capsule free, and food-grade. I was about to use my charcoal tooth powder but then remembered there was also mint essential oil. I like this coconut shell powder: Activated Charcoal Powder – Coconut Shell Derived Food Grade (1.5 oz glass jar)

Here are the recipes to the 2 different TOTALITY BUNS!

Totality Bun – Gluten-Free

Author Cristina Carolan – veggiebytes

Yield 4 buns

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 cup rice flour

2/3 cup oatmeal powder

3 TBSP tapioca flour

3 TBSP potato starch

3 tsp psyllium husk powder

1 tsp activated charcoal powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients

1 cup or 225 mL lukewarm water
2 tsp coconut sugar
1 tsp dry yeast
2 TBSP neutral oil (I like avocado)

Topping

2 tsp black poppy seeds

Instructions

Put lukewarm water in a glass measuring cup and the sugar and yeast.
Stir to mix and leave for 5 – 10 minutes.
Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and sift together.
Add contents of measuring cup and oil to the dry ingredient bowl and mix with a spatula until a ball forms.
Cover the bowl and place in a warm place for at least 30 minutes to rise.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces, make in to flat, circular shapes.
Place on an oiled,large ceramic non-stick skillet or a well-oiled cast iron skillet.
Sprinkle poppy seeds on top and let rise for another hour.
Heat skillet to medium high and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium, them switch to low for another 10 minutes.
Flip with a spatula, and cook the other side for another 10 minutes on low.
Then bun is done with the sides are no longer sticky or have any moisture.
The bun should feel firm.

Totality Bun – Wheat

Author Cristina Carolan – veggiebytes

Yield 8 buns

You would think that this bun would have a weird flavor on account of the charcoal, but it actually tastes great and can be just as fluffy as a white bun.

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

1 TBSP dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 TBSP coconut sugar
2/3 cup almond or soy milk
1 TBSP golden flax meal
2 TBSP neutral oil (I like avocado)

Dry Ingredients

3 cups organic all-purpose flour
2 tsp activated charcoal powder
1 tsp sea salt

Topping

2 tsp vegan butter
2 tsp poppy seeds

Instructions

Using a stand mixer, put on the kneading hook, and add the water, yeast, and sugar to the mixer bowl and wait 5-10 minutes.
In a liquid measuring cup, mix together the milk, flax, and oil and then add to the yeast liquid in the mixer bowl.
In a metal bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and charcoal powder.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the liquid in the mixer bowl and mix on low speed.
Knead for about 10 minutes and then cover the dough and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm area.
Place a silicon mat on a baking pan or oil a baking pan for the buns to bake on.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces and pull the dough under each piece to make a round ball.
Place each ball of the baking pan, cover, and let rise for 30-45 minutes.10 minutes before the rise is done, begin preheating your oven to 375 degrees.
Brush melted vegan butter on the tops and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. You will not be able to tell if they are browning because they will be black!
Let the buns cool and then slice them in half and serve with your favorite patty.For an Eclipse burger, use the Sunny Chickpea Patty.

I wanted the patty to be a bright yellow color. The ingredients I chose were either naturally tan or yellow and combined created a bright flavor.
Combined with a mottled red and yellow tomato, a super hot homemade Corona sauce (see recipe below), and a slice of Parmela’s Pepper Jack Cheese, you can imagine the fiery sun beneath the black shadow of the Totality Bun.

Here is the recipe for the Sunny Chickpea Patty!

Sunny Chickpea Patty

Author Cristina Carolan – veggiebytes

Yield 6 patties

This bright yellow patty will really shine with its sunny flavors.

Ingredients

Ingredients

2 cups finely chopped cauliflower or one 12 oz bag frozen riced cauliflower
2 TBSP olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
1 tsp turmeric
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place parchment paper on a large baking pan and add the cauliflower, olive oil and salt.
Mix cauliflower until well coated with oil.Bake for at least 20 minutes or until the cauliflower has browned on edges.
Add the cauliflower and remaining ingredients to the bowl of the food processor and process until it is well mixed and there are no longer whole chickpeas.
Form the mixture into patties that fit your hamburger buns.
Cook the patties in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet with a little olive oil on medium heat, about 5 minutes on each side.
Serve on a bun of your choice, but a Totality Bun would be even better!

Notes

These patties can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Here is the recipe for Corona Sauce! Get ready for some heat from habanero. No eclipse glasses can shield you from it’s power!

Corona Sauce

Yield 2 cups

Ingredients

Ingredients

3 medium carrots
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 habanero
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Cut carrots in to 1/2 inch coins and them steam for 8-10 minutes until they are fork tender.
Saute the chopped onion in a little water until cooked but not brown.
Add the carrots, onions, and all the other ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth.
Add more water if needed, 1 TBSP at a time.If it is too hot for your liking, reduce the habanero or add more carrots!

Let me know if you try making this burger! I suggest making the patties the day before and making the buns in the morning.
Enjoy the US Total Eclipse wherever you are. If you feel like you missed out, the total eclipse to hit the US will be in 2024 and will pass through Texas. Start planning and have this out-of-this-world burger in the meantime!

December 10, 2014 Appetizers

TexaSweet Rio Star Grapefruit Recipes

Grapefruit was not one of my favorite fruits and I always thought of them primarily as something people ate with their breakfasts. I have eaten quite a few bitter grapefruits and never felt quite right putting extra sugar on them. My opinion has changed since I received beautiful and juicy Rio Star grapefruits from TexaSweet. These sweet red grapefruits are just about the best grapefruits out there! Amidst all the comfort food that people eat once them temperatures drop, these grapefruits brighten festive plates with a crisp and fresh flavor that reminds me of summer. Rio Star grapefruits are high in Vitamin A & C and a nutritious alternative to processed treats available this time of year. Of course, they can also be incorporated in your favorite dessert recipes that call for citrus.

These delicious red Rio Star grapefruits have made me into a grapefruit lover! Along with other citrus, these grapefruit are in season and are grown in Texas! I would add these happy globes to your holiday shopping list!

When I received my box, I started thinking about how I was going to use them creatively. TexaSweet also sent some other gifts including a grapefruit-size juicer and some spoons. I didn’t realize how what a difference a juicer makes, I was under the impression that it was all the same, blender, juicer, whatever. Here are some comparisons between juicers and blenders for those under the same spell I was, get informed!

Grapefruit Kombucha
A friend of mine who is also into fermenting, gave me a kombucha SCOBY and I thought to make some grapefruit kombucha.
I have made kombucha in this glass cookie jar with no problem.

Cultures For Health has an awesome PDF file on their website that I recommend that explains how to make kombucha. You can also buy a SCOBY from them, but it’s a lot easier to get a SCOBY from a friend. When I bottled mine, I used 80% kombucha and 20% Rio Star Grapefruit Juice (even some pulp got in). The secondary fermentation process makes it fizzy! If you are looking for the glass flip top bottles, you can find these green glass Ginger Brew bottles at Trader Joe’s for $2.99. I think they are seasonal, so I’m going to stock up on them!

Candied Grapefruit & Cocktails
There are lots of recipes online on how to make candied grapefruit. If you are going to take the time to supreme your grapefruits for recipes, make sure to save the peels to make candied grapefruit. You can also save the simple syrup if you strain the syrup after simmering your peels in it. Candied Grapefruit is like a natural gum drop, can be used in baked goods and as garnishes in cocktails.

Here are a couple cocktail recipes using Rio Star grapefruit!

Paloma
2 oz tequila
2 oz Rio Star grapefruit juice
4 oz sparkling water
juice of 1/2 a lime
Mix together in a tall glass.
*candied ginger as a garnish

Old Fashioned
2 oz whiskey
1 oz grapefruit simple syrup
2 dashes of bitters
lump of ice
Mix in a small glass.
*candied ginger as a garnish

Grapefruit-Avocado Bites with Bergamot Olive Oil
This is a very simple recipe for an appetizer or even an open faced sandwich. The first time I had bergamot olive oil was at Bi-Rite in San Franscisco. Sam’s Sundae has chocolate ice cream with this fragrant oil on top. It was such an interesting combo!
The base for this appetizer could be anything: bread, cracker, rice ball, beet slice. Make it special and fit everyone’s dietary restrictions by changing it up!
I brought these to a ladies clothing swap and the women liked the melding of different flavors.

Grapefruit Avocado Bites with Bergamot Olive Oil

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

1 pkg Puff Pastry or bread of your choice
1 Rio Star grapefruit
1 ripe, but firm avocado
1 bottle Bergamot flavored extra virgin olive oil (Etruria is the best!)
-OR- 1 drop organic bergamot oil in 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Instructions

Thaw puff pastry according to instructions.
Cut puff pastry into bite size squares, place on baking sheet with parchment paper and bake in preheated 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Cool puff pastry squares. Place on serving tray.
Supreme the grapefruit and cut the segments into small pieces for placing on the puff pastry. You will have more grapefruit than you need, so save the rest for a salad or snack.
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and slice the avocado into 1/3 inch slices.
Cut bite size pieces of avocado and place on puff pastry squares.
Place the grapefruit slivers on top of the avocado.
Drizzle the bergamot olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt.

Thanks again to TexaSweet for the lovely gifts and inspiring me to find new ways to enjoy sweet grapefruit!

November 7, 2014 Fermentation

Fermentation Friday – Fire Cider and More

It’s Fermentation Friday again! We have just about finished all of our fermented items from late September and it’s time to ferm up a bunch of new things. I still have a bit of kimchi left and lots of different brines – red onion, sauerkraut, kimchi. I made a killer simple ramen with just kimchi brine added after my final boil.

In my search for more local places for fermentation finds, I found out about SoCo Homebrew on S. Congress near Stassney. They are a relatively new store. They have a small fermentation area near the front and offer some crocks and an airlock system.

They have various cultures from Cultures of Health. I purchased a San Francisco Sourdough culture and I’m hoping to make bread again soon.
Remember that bread is a fermented product…you just happen to kill off the cultures when you bake it.

Finally I got some pickle weights. I needed a few after my green bean failure in September. There are lots of different ones online but they seems quite pricey. I did like some of the hand-stamped ceramic ones I saw on Etsy. Cultures of Health also has ceramic pickle weights which I picked up for a decent price – $4.99 each.

If you are into beer and fermented beverages and live below the river, this will be a convenient South Austin location. They have lots of rubber stoppers, airlocks, growlers, bottles etc. The staff is super helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. Thanks guys…I’ll be back for water kefir grains!

So here is what I have started this week:
You would think that pepper season was long gone, but in Central Texas they are still growing. We have lots of jalapenos, Thai bird chilies, and Tabasco in our garden. Tecolote Farm has been sending beautiful red Italian sweet peppers, habaneros, pecan smoked New Mexican chilis (What a treat!!!) and much more! I am so thankful for this farm!

Giardiniera – Organic cauliflower, carrots, celery, garlic, cayenne peppers from local farm, basil from our garden.
To keep the small bits from floating up, I put larger cauliflower pieces at the top, held down by 2 celery sticks wedged in in a cross formation.

Escabeche – Jalapenos from our garden, Toro red bell peppers from Tecolote Farm, organic onion, garlic and a white carrot. I am using my new pickle weight here!

Mustard – I’m trying out black mustard seeds to see how the flavor compares to brown and yellow. Right now the seeds are soaking in sauerkraut brine.
After the seeds are soft, I will blend it with some fresh turmeric and let is sit another couple days.

Fire Cider – fresh turmeric, ginger, garlic, bottled shredded horseradish, local cayenne peppers, and apple cider vinegar.
This is an old folk remedy. The strained liquid is then mixed with honey for an immune system tonic. My goal is to let it sit until the end of December.
Maybe it will be a holiday gift to me!

Doesn’t that look like it’s full of some potent goodness! Fresh turmeric is such a gorgeous color!

What are you fermenting lately?
Warm Wishes,
Cristina

October 30, 2014 Appetizers

Goblin Fingers

Halloween is almost here and I hope you have your costume planned and almost finished!
I’m just going as Marceline again this year. She’s just so moody and funny at the same time.
See my post from last year about how to make the best oven fries with ghost pepper salt.

On to this year’s recipe! GOBLIN FINGERS!

I have been dehydrating lots of tasty morsels for our camping trip to the Smokey Mountains in November. My goal is to not use any prepackaged meals from REI or camping stores. Tecolote Farm’s CSA also started at the beginning of October so I will have ample produce to make our meals special while on the trail. Last week we got a happy surprise in our basket: the last OKRA of the season! I love, love, love Okra! Have you ever seen an Okra flower? It is stunning!

So instead of cooking it up for our regular Indian night, I decided to dehydrate them. I’m so glad that I cut them in half lengthwise because when they dried, they became these creepy curls. I’ve had to keep my daughter’s fingers out of this stash. They are that tasty!

Speaking of fingers, okra pods are sometimes called lady fingers. Maybe a green lady like Elphaba from Wicked! When they are dried they look like little goblin fingers to me. My daughter wanted to call them sea monster tentacles. I’ll let you decide! They make a great edible decoration on the side of a bowl. I made an easy Indian-inspired dip for them. The okra would also taste good tossed in a little coconut oil and some Chaat Masala.

Since I’m working on my Indian pickle recipes I still like to buy pickle occasionally. I really enjoy the Ashoka brand as they have a line of pickle made with olive oil instead of weird vegetable oil blends that contain cottonseed oil. Cottonseed oil is a byproduct of the cotton industry and may have a lot of pesticide residues. You can find the Ashoka line of pickles online or at Man Pasand and Gandhi Bazaar in Austin.

Goblin Fingers

Prep 5 mins

Total 5 mins

Author veggiebytes

Yield 40 fingers

Ingredients

Okra
Your choice of white dip (Non-Dairy Yogurt (coconut is good), Vegan Mayo, Cashew Creme etc)
Indian Pickle (Mixed, Lime, Mango, Red Chili)

Instructions

Wash and dry as much okra as you like!
Cut off top and slice in half lengthwise.
Place on dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 130 degrees 6-12 hours until crisp.
Store in an airtight container.
Make a dip for your goblin fingers with 5 parts yogurt/creme and 1 part pickle.
Take a bowl and put in your dip and place “fingers” all around the edge!

Courses Snack

Cuisine Indian

I hope you have some savory food planned for Halloween before the sugar fest begins. I know it’s better to have a belly full of healthy food to keep away the creepy crankies! If your kids are young and you want to start a new tradition of keeping only some candy, you can always mention that the Pumpkin Fairy will take it and leave them a little surprise instead. Lots of dentist offices will take candy and send it off to military troops too.

Have a Happy Halloween!
Cristina

September 24, 2014 Entree

Bisi Bele Bhath

I love South Indian food! The coconut, spices, rice, dal, tropical veggies, and tamarind make for magnificent combinations.
I started making my own sambar powder 10 years ago and I like that I can customize the spices, amount of chilies, and know the freshness of the powder.
My curry leaf plant has to survive the winter and I’m growing a drumstick tree (Moringa) in hopes that I will have my homegrown drumstick in sambar some day.

Bisi Bhele Bhath is a yummy all-in-one dish that comes from Karnataka. It is rice and lentils cooked together and is much like a South Indian kichidi, but with a sambar-like flavor. I’m an advocate of using a pressure cooker. If you are vegan and cook lots of beans and grains at home, you HAVE to get one. I have 4. *wink*

I’ve seen lots of people like to use the red or masoor lentils in Indian dishes to save time, but they just aren’t the same texture. Go to an Indian store and buy these dals: split mung (peeled), split urad dal (peeled), split chana dal, and toor dal (non-oily). You’ll have the 4 most common dals! Gandhi Bazar here in Austin even carries organic dals by 24 Mantra from India.
There are a couple steps in making the dish, but I believe it’s part of the fun.
I love to mix up spice blends and also make the chaunk (Hindi for tempering of the spices).
You know you make a lot of Indian food if you find random mustard seeds that have popped from your chaunk.

Bisi Bele Bhath

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

Spice Paste
1 TBSP coconut oil
1 TBSP chana dal
1 TBSP urad dal
5 Indian red chilies
2 TBSP coriander seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 cloves
1 in cinnamon stick
1/4 cup coconut flakes, dry
Dal/Rice/Veggies
1 TBSP coconut oil
3 cups chopped vegetables (potatoes, red bell peppers, green beans, drumsticks!!!, carrots, winter squash)
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 cup basmati rice (soaked in water for 15 minutes, drain)
3/4 cup toor dal (soaked for in water for 15 minutes, drain)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 TBSP tamarind concentrate (find one with sugar or preservatives)
1/2 TBSP or salt to taste
Tempering
1 TBSP coconut oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 red chili
Curry Leaves (1 sprig – 6-8 leaves)
Cilantro for garnishing

Instructions

Making the Paste

Take a small pan and heat the oil on medium and slowly cook the dal until it has changed several shades darker. Add the remaining items and cook until all are well toasted.
Set aside to cool and then grind in a blender or better, a coffee grinder used just for spices.

Dal & Rice & Veggies

In a large pressure cooker pot, heat the oil and add the vegetables, and soaked dal and lentils. Add the turmeric, tamarind paste and 1/2 the spice paste.
Add 5 cups of water.
Lock on your pressure cooker lid, cook at high pressure for 12 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let cook under pressure 10 more minutes, then release pressure. (I use a Fagor pressure cooker, so i am not familiar with whistles 🙂
Mix the in the remaining spice paste.

Tempering

In a small pan, add the oil and temper the spices until the mustard seeds pop.
Add chaunk to the dal/rice/veggie mixture.
Also add salt to taste.
Mix thoroughly and garnish with cilantro leaves

The coconut okra recipe I made a couple weeks ago would be a great complement.

See you on Friday for my last fermentation post during Vegan MoFo. I’m going to keep with that theme for Fridays but it won’t be officially Vegan MoFo anymore!

September 17, 2014 Entree

Vegan MoFo – Hot & Sour Soup

Happy Recipe Wednesday! It’s about halfway through the month and Vegan MoFo.

Did the weather change at all in your area? We received some much needed rain and the temperature was in the lower 60’s.
It’s back in the 90’s again. I think the atmospheric pressure changing and some late night dancing all sweaty in air conditioning, lowered my immunity. So I was a little off my game and missed my Monday blog post.

The good thing is that I’ve been making lots of soup. I was even able to make this particular soup for one of my personal chef clients yesterday.

It’s full of wonderful stuff and is very flavorful but low in fat. It’s a vegan soup that doesn’t require any non-dairy milk or nuts or noodles. I find the ample amount of garlic and ginger makes it soothing for any respiratory illness. It’s also super fast to cook! Full of fun ingredients like young bamboo shoots and woodear fungus, this is not a boring soup! You can find dried woodear fungus in Asian markets. Young bamboo can be found in the refrigerated or frozen section. Since it is fresh frozen, these shoots do not have the metallic taste like the rectangles you find in cans. The shape is also very satisfying to eat.

Vegan MoFo – Hot & Sour Soup

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

3 wood ear fungus (sliced, soaked in water for 20 minutes, remove hard part that attaches to a tree)
1/2 cup fresh shitake mushrooms
(or 1/4 cup dried, soaked in water for 20 minutes)
1 carrot (sliced on the bias then sliced in to strips)
1 cup Napa Cabbage (sliced in to strips)
2 young bamboo shoots (sliced into rounds)
1/2 pkg of extra-firm tofu (cut into long strips)
1 TBSP sesame oil (can be omitted for oil-free)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 inch ginger, shredded (I like to use a ceramic ginger grater or microplane zester)
7 cups vegetable broth (or 7 cups water with 1 1/2 TBSP Better Than Bouillion -not chicken flavor)
2 TBSP shoyu or tamari
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp Szechuan pepper
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1/4 cup Non-Gmo Cornstarch or Potato Starch
1 1/2 cups water
Garnish: Chopped scallions, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, baby corn, more pepper

Instructions

Soak the woodears and dried shitake.
Cut up all of your veggies, garlic and ginger, and tofu.
In a soup pot, heat sesame oil on medium and add garlic and ginger.
When heated through, quickly add the broth.
Then add the shoyu, vinegar, and both pepper.
Add the vegetables and mushrooms. Cook until carrots are tender.
Bring soup to a boil and dissolve the starch in water in a large liquid measuring cup.
Pour the starch in the soup and stir. It should thicken.
Ladle soup into individual bowls and add your desired garnishes.

Doesn’t that bamboo shoot look fun to eat!

See you back on Fermentation Friday! I have 3 new things that are ready to come out of jars!

September 12, 2014 Entree

Muffaletta with Fermented Giardiniera

It’s Fermentation Friday! I have a recipe that’s over 4 weeks in the making!

In my first post last Friday about kimchi, you see a jar of rainbow colored veggies. That’s my giardiniera hanging out on my counter for about 4 weeks of time. Here’s the layering: basil, small sweet red pepper, purple carrots, cauliflower, garlic, yellow carrots, broccoli, orange carrots and red onion.
You can see that the color from the red onions and purple carrots has made the cauliflower turn pink!
I got the recipe from the Farm Curious Fermenting Kit. You basically cut up your veggies, layer them in a very clean glass mason jar, and add a 2.5% brine.
I put a small cabbage leaf on top to keep the onions from floating above the brine. Having a fermentation airlock is helpful.
The number of tablespoons you use can vary due to the kind of salt you are using. Generally, stay away from iodized salt and any salt with chemical additives. Kosher salt, Sea Salt, Real Salt from Utah, and Himalayan salt are great choices. Figuring out how much salt to add is a great way to remember some math skills and also use your kitchen scale.
I like the Probiotic Jar’s Himalayan Salt info sheet and also Pickle-It’s online calculator.

So what can you do with these Italian pickles beside including them in antipasti platters or in a salad. Use them in a Vegan Muffaletta!

If you haven’t had a muffaletta, you are missing out on this New Orlean’s favorite. Vegans have lots of options with roasted veggies, mushrooms, vegan substitutes like Tofurkey Italian slices and Daiya provolone. One important aspect of the sandwich is the BREAD. You need a large, round and somewhat flat loaf. I have used bakery breads before like a round country French or even a round Italian loaf. However, I wanted my sandwich to be more special this time so I made the bread myself.
Here is a simple recipe that makes 2 beautiful breads. It uses one of my favorite flours: Einkorn (an older non-hybridized wheat from Italy).
The flour is a lovely buff color so the inside of the bread is not stark white. Making bread is fermentation too as the yeast creates all the expansion when it respirates. You just happen to kill off the yeasts when you bake it.

Muffaletta Bread

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

1.5 cups warm filtered water
1 packet yeast
1 TBSP sugar (I used coconut sugar)
1/2 TBSP sea salt
2 TBSP olive oil
4.5 cups Einkorn flour (or 2 cups bread and 2.5 cups all-purpose)
(1 TBSP vital wheat gluten if using Einkorn flour)
sesame seeds
more olive oil for coating

Instructions

In a large bowl (or bowl in a stand mixer), add water and yeast and sugar.
When yeast is frothy, add salt, oil, and flours.
Knead on medium until dough pulls away from side of the bowl but is still a bit sticky. Add 1 TBSP of flour at a time to help.
Coat bowl and dough with olive oil and let rest covered with towel for over 1 hour or until doubled in size
Flour your kneading surface and knead the ball for 1 minute and then split into 2 balls.
Take each ball and flatten into a disk about 7 inches in diameter.
Brush on more olive oil on the tops and press sesame seeds into the dough
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place each disk on.
Let rise covered for another hour or until doubled in height.
Preheat oven to 400 and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Cool completely before slicing and assembling your sandwich.

Here’s how I made the sandwich:

I stove-flamed a bell pepper and cooked some eggplant and zucchini slices in a cast iron skillet.

I took 1 cup of the giardiniera and chopped it up and added some kalamata and green olives and capers.
I put them in a bowl and added a couple glugs of olive oil.

Then I sliced the bread, add the olive salad, and then the fillings.

One sandwich is all veggies and the other looks like a traditional Italian meat and cheese muffaletta, with some fresh heirloom tomato.

After assembly, carefully put the tops on and press the sandwich. Some people like to wrap and press for an hour.
I was too hungry to wait. Since my bread was soft and not like a hard sourdough or ciabatta, I didn’t think it was necessary.

We enjoyed the veggie one the most, so if you have to pick one sandwich I would stick with vegetables. I don’t think we liked the Daiya provolone very much.

I hope that you will try making either the giardiniera or the bread if not both. The sandwiches pack well for picnics if you wrap them tightly. They taste wonderful the next day and there was no problem with sogginess.

See you back on Monday for my latest Vegan MoFo finds!

September 10, 2014 Recipes

Vegan MoFo – Seaweed Salads

It’s the 2nd week of Recipe Wednesdays here at Veggiebytes!

I have been following a lot of principles of Kimberly Snyder’s Beauty Detox Diet since the spring. I’m a super fan and think she’s a sweet yogini. She advocates a plant-based, whole food diet with beauty wisdom from around the world. She encourages proper food combining techniques to optimize digestion, like eating fruits by themselves or before meal. According to Kimberly, if you eat fruit after a heavy meal, say as a dessert, it will ferment and cause digestive distress. She also encourages people to eat some sauerkraut or other probiotic enhancing foods as much as possible. *hint, hint – visit my Fermentation Friday posts*.

Another item she suggests is adding seaweed to your diet. I love all kinds of seaweed! Kelp, nori, dulse, arame, wakame, hijiki and more!
If you are vegetarian and don’t eat seafood, don’t use iodized salt, and maybe eat a bunch of goitrogenic foods like cruciferous vegetables and soy, adding seaweed will help give you the iodine you need. They are a delicious way to give your meals a salty flavor along with other minerals.

Here are 2 of my favorite salads that include seaweed!

First is Kimberly’s Dharma Kale Salad. It includes avocado – LOVE! It just makes everything so much better and is the awesome plant-based fat that is so rich that there is no need to add any oil. The seaweed component is Dulse. A good brand is Maine Coast. It comes from the Atlantic Ocean and is certified organic. You can get it as flakes and sometimes as whole pieces. I like to get whole pieces whenever possible. If you toast dulse pieces in coconut oil, they make a great whole foods bacon substitute.

You can watch Kimberly make Dharma’s Kale Salad on YouTube.

Here’s my Seaweed and Kelp Noodle Salad!

This salad uses kelp noodles. You can find them in the refrigerated section of healthfood stores next to tofu, shiratake, and miso. You can also find them in Asian markets. Hijiki is a sweet tasting seaweed that grows off the coast of Japan and Korea. It usually comes in a shredded dried form. It just requires some soaking time and then it’s ready to be added to any dish. The mung sprouts in this recipe were sprouted at home. Most bean sprouts in the store will be water logged and just not as crunchy at home grown. You can sometimes find these young sprouts in the refrigerated section of an Indian store as they are used in many chaat recipes.

Seaweed & Kelp Noodle Salad

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

1 pkg kelp noodles, soaked and drained
1/2 cup dried hijiki
1 cup fresh mung sprouts
1 large cucumber, seeded and sliced
2 narrow carrots, sliced thin
2 scallions, sliced
1 TBSP tamari (GF is good)
1 TBSP mirin (I like the Eden brand)
Toasted sesame seeds for garnishing

Instructions

Soak and rinse kelp noodles according to the package directions.
Soak hijiki in cool water for at least 30 minutes then drain in a colander.
In a large bowl, add the noodles, hijiki and all the vegetables and mix.
Add the tamari and mirin and mix thoroughly.
Garnish with more scallions.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

I hope you enjoy these salads and add more ocean goodness into your meals! See you on Friday!

September 5, 2014 Entree

Fermentation Friday – Vegan MoFo

It’s Fermentation Friday! I am excited to share with you my fever for ferments!

My science experiments 🙂 I like to put an Asian Pear in my kimchi. I love chilis and use no gloves 🙂 Fermentation airlocks from @farmcurious The little pint is gingered carrots. #vegan #vegansofig #kimchi #nosugar #fermentation #probiotic #lacticacid #n

The ferment I have been making the longest is kimchi. When I lived on a US Army base in Japan as a child, most of my friends were Asian-American like me and it was quite common to have kimchi at potlucks. My mom’s friend Hitomi would often give our family kimchi. When I moved back to Texas for high school, it was hard to find kimchi without long drives to tiny Asian markets. After becoming vegetarian, it was almost impossible to find kimchi I could eat because it either had fish or seafood products, or was packed with preservatives or artificial colors. So I started to make it myself.
A couple years ago some local kimchi came on the market at Whole Foods, but it was not made with Napa Cabbage or with Korean red pepper powder.
Now there is an explosion of kimchi products made with awesome ingredients.
If you are in Austin and don’t think you have time to make kimchi but love to eat it, please support Oh Kimchi so they can expand and make more spicy goodness. I like Abbi’s vegan traditional kimchi and also the daikon.

My first kimchi experiments were done in a huge glass cookie jar you can get at IKEA or Target, with a little saucer to hold the cabbage under the brine.
I have wanted to stay away from plastic coming in contact with the brine and leaching chemicals. I had pinned some very expensive fermentation crocks on Pinterest 2 years ago because that’s what I thought you needed to make lacto-fermented veggies. Napa cabbage is huge and it’s worth it to make a whole bunch at one time. I may still make it like that from time to time, but I’m really excited about this new-to-me way to ferment.

I had been looking on Kickstarter this spring for vegan businesses to support and came across FarmCurious‘s fermenting kits. The airlock system was intriguing to me and looked so easy, so I decided to be a supporter and get a huge number of their Recap lids and airlocks.
When the kits arrived in August, I was so happy and started making stuff right away. I have made kimchi 3 times already!

If you are looking for a non-spicy kimchi, I recommend Maangchi’s Baek-kimchi (White Kimchi).
It is a traditional vegetarian kimchi. The only product I had a harder time finding were jujubes (Chinese dates) so I used some organic dates I had on hand. I think making it in a casserole dish would make for a prettier presentation but I was just jar happy!

So what do I eat kimchi with? So many things!!! Any Asian food with rice, in a burger, on french fries and it’s great as a pickle condiment in a Bloody Mary. But one of my favorites is actually pretty traditional. Bi Bim Bap (my post from 2009)!

I also like to make my own kochuchang, the fermented sauce that spices up your Bi Bim Bap. It contains miso which is a fermented soy/grain product that most people know as an ingredient in Miso Soup. It will be some time before I figure out how to ferment soy and pepper paste, so here’s my DIY vegan kochuchang.

Vegan Kochuchang

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

5 TBSP miso (Aka or red miso is nice)
1 TBSP paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 TBSP sesame oil
1 TBSP brown rice syrup or agave nectar
1-2 TBSP water to thin
sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

Place ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Garnish with sesame seeds.
1 TBSP per serving

Next week Friday will feature a Vegan Muffaletta made with the home-fermented giardiniera you saw in the picture above. These garden veggies have been fermenting for almost 4 weeks and I’m excited to taste them. I’m going to try to make the bread from scratch too!
I also have some red jalapenos I want to make into fermented hot sauce.

Here are some fermenting resources I have been enjoying lately:
Ferm Up & The Everyday Fermentation Handbook by Branden Byers
This book is awesome for begineers and is actually quite a funny read. I love Branden’s take on microbes.

Wild Fermentation -Sandor Katz’s website. His book is like the fermentation encyclopedia!

Punk Domestics
Sean is now the food preservation expert on About.com

Kraut Source – I’m waiting for my sets to arrive as I supported the Kraut Source Kickstarter Campaign – They started following me on Instagram!

Come join me on my Pinterest Board – Ferment Fever

Have a great weekend and I hope to see you next Friday!

September 4, 2014 Recipes

South Indian Coconut Okra

Here’s my first recipe for Vegan MoFo – Recipe Wednesdays! (a day late but you’ll forgive me!)

I have been making this coconut okra for many years and it’s a favorite among my clients. This side dish complements Indian meals, especially those that come from the south, like sambar and dosa. With warm weather still here in Texas, okra is still in season. You say, “I don’t like okra…it’s slimy!” In this dish the okra stays nice and crisp and the initial mucilage helps grab on to the spices. One thing you can do to reduce the ooze is to always wash your okra and then dry thoroughly. Also use a dry cutting board and dry knife.

If you love coconut, you will adore this dish! It satisfies almost any dietary restriction as it doesn’t contain any of the top 8 common allergens and is vegan. It is also considered a sattvic dish from an Ayurvedic perspective as it does not contain garlic or onions.

Here are some of the spices you need: black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, urad dal, asafoetida and freshly shredded coconut. The urad dal and asafoetida (also known as hing) can be found in Indian stores/market. If you know how to shred fresh copra from a coconut, good for you! If you want some extra time, I suggest finding frozen shredded coconut. This is also available in the freezer section of Indian/Asian markets. They typical do not contain preservatives. One special hint for cooking Indian food that requires many different spices: measure them ahead of time, especially if you are working with hot oil. It will save you the frazzle time and keep black mustard seeds from popping all over the place!

South Indian Coconut Okra – Vegan MoFo

Author veggiebytes

Ingredients

1 lb / 1 dry quart of organic okra
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal, split, unpeeled (omit if not available)
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tsp turmeric
1/3 cup shredded coconut (fresh or frozen is best)
salt to taste

Instructions

Wash and dry okra thoroughly with a tea towel.
Cut off the tops and tips of the okra and slice into 1/2 inch rounds.
Take a large skillet (I like cast iron) and heat to medium.
Add the coconut oil and the urad dal and mustard seeds.
When the mustard seeds start to turn gray, add the cumin and asafoetida.
When the seeds start popping, add the okra and stir.
Continue to stir to distribute the spices.
Sprinkle the turmeric evenly over the okra and continue to cook for about 5 minutes on medium.
When the okra is bright green and cooked (not soft) add the coconut.
Remove from heat and mix well. Add salt to taste.
Serve as a side dish to an Indian meal.

I was sent coconut oil by Kelapo some time ago and I have been happy with the quality. It is 100% organic, cold pressed and unrefined. You can find a lot of coconut oils out there with the same quality. What makes it special is that it is Fair For Life certified by the IMO Fair Trade Program. The coconut oil comes from farms in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. I personally like the fact that they have the option for amber glass packaging. I am continually trying to reduce the amount of plastic in my life, and having coconut oil in glass is wonderful.

Kelapo Coconut Oil Giveaway! I have 8 free samples (0.5 oz) to send out!

To enter, leave a comment and send out this post via the social network of your choice (I like Twitter or Pinterest), and get a special letter with the sample from me in the mail! The giveaway will last until next Wednesday, September 10th and I will pick winners randomly. I will contact you via email, so make sure your blog has a way to contact you.