I Love You More Than Food

Category: vegetarian

Recipes in the Vegetarian category are either already vegetarian or can be made so very easily.

Ginger-Miso Soba Noodles with Crisp Tofu & Red Cabbage Recipe

A recipe for a quick and healthy weeknight meal; this isÂ versatile, feel free to swap scallions for chives or spring onions, tofu for a tablespoon or two of raw cashews, red cabbage for arugula, napa cabbage, spinach, turnip greens or any other thing you’ve got hanging around.

Ginger-Miso Soba Noodles with Crisp Tofu & Red Cabbage Recipe
Serves 2

2 rolls dry soba noodles (pre-bundled by most manufacturers)
1/2 pack tofu (enough for two people), cubed
1/4 head red cabbage, shredded thinly
2 scallions (green onions), sliced thinly on the diagnoal
2 T golden or light miso (just not the really really dark mugi type stuff)
1 T fresh grated ginger
2 tsp mirin
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil or toasted sesame oil
sesame seeds
olive oil

In a skillet, heat olive oil to medium high heat. Press dry your tofu and cube it, fry it in the oil turning every minute or two until golden all around. Set side if you’re done with it ahead of time.

Bring a big pot of water to boil, add a tablespoon of salt and boil the soba. Plunge them into a bowl of room temp water when they’re cooked to rinse. Â It’s important to rinse the starchy coating off soba.

Whisk together the miso, mirin, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil until smooth. Add a touch of salt if needed.

Add the soba to the fried tofu pan (while it’s still hot or you bring it back up to temperature), tossing. Add the sauce and toss until warm, in the hot pan over a medium flame, mixing in half the cabbage.Â SeparateÂ two servings into bowls, top with remaining cabbage and scallions, and a touch of sesame seeds.

March 2, 2012
Meatless “Meat” Raw Burger Patties

I love to serve these warm from the dehydrator with sundried tomato puree (with garlic and some vinegar), or broken up into raw chili.

Meatless Sprouted Seed Vegan Raw Protein Patty Recipe
Makes about 10

1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked 4-6 hours or sprouted
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked 4-6 hours or sprouted
1/2 cup raw walnuts
Juice of one lemon
3 cloves garlic
2 T sweet and/or barley miso
Pulp (from juicing) of 6 carrots, 2 apples, 1 big bunch spinach (about 1/2-1lb)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 T mustard any kind
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1T dry oregano or sub fresh herbs, chopped
2 T capers, rough chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced

Puree soaked seeds and walnuts (can sub other nuts for the walnuts), lemon juice, garlic, miso, salt, mustard, pepper, herbs in a high powered blender. Mix resulting pate with vegetable pulp from juicing and remaining ingredients. Form into patties using a can with both ends cut out or a cookie cutter. Dehydrate on nonstick mats for 3 hours, then flip onto mesh screens and dehydrate 4-5 more hours. Eat warm or store in refrigerator for 5-7 days max. They freeze ok but defrost and then re-dehydrate.

You can break them up into wraps or on salads, into sauces, you can serve them whole like a burger with or without a bun, on cabbage, with sour cream, etc. In this instance break them up loosely in a bowl of raw chili, recipe below.

February 16, 2012
Raw Vegan Chili Recipe and Raw Sour Cream

I know what you’re thinking, but it’s really not that bad. It’s possible someone slipped some patchouli or some hemp seeds or some godknowswhat into my breakfast smoothie, but this stuff is seriously tasty, and it’s good for you, and it’s better for the environment than the alternative. And I’m going to keep making it.

Raw Vegan Chili with Vegan Ground Meat and Cashew Sour Cream

Great served with Raw Burger Patties (meatless/vegan).

Raw Cashew Sour Cream

Makes about 1.5 cups

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 hours
1 cup water
juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Puree all ingredients in a high speed blender. Chill to achieve thicker consistency. Can be used as a base for creamy dips and sauces. Good for about a week in a mason jar sealed tight.

Raw Vegan Chili Recipe
Makes about 6 servings
1 portabello mushroom, diced finely
1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
1/2 sweet onion, diced finely
2 stalks celery, diced finely
1 cup raw almonds, soaked 24-36 hours
2 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch coins or so
1.5 C sundried tomatoes, soaked in water 5-12 hours
1.5 C fresh water or water from soaking tomatoes
2 T tamari, namu shoya, or soy sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt

Chop carrots and almonds in a food processor until chunky. Add to diced veggies.

Puree tomatoes, tomato juice or water, and all spices/seasonings in a high speed blender until smooth. Mix everything together and warm in dehydrator or let sit room temp for a few hours to soften. Serve warm (if possible) with cashew sour cream. If you made the meatless meat patties, tear one apart for each serving and mix into 1 cup of raw chili to make “meat.”

January 8, 2012
Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate

About six months ago I switched to a new CSA/Farm Shipment service–Eatwell Farms. I’ve been fantastically happy with them, and lately I’ve given a few of their suggested recipes a try. Most CSA services give recipes with their products, which I’d assume is mostly to help those who have never eaten kohlrabi, or don’t know what to do with an eggplant. That said, the recipes from Eatwell have been especially tasty ideas and have been great at combining multiple things from the shipment into one dish.

This romesco recipe is adapted from one of their more recent blog entries.

Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate Recipe

1 head romanesco, green cauliflower, or cauliflower, chopped smartly and evenly
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
1 tsp Balti seasoningÂ or a bit of garam masala; if you can’t get either, use more cumin and maybe a bit of paprika
1/2-1tsp kosher salt
1/2 C whole milk yogurt (I used the thin, Russian style Pavel’s)
2-3 tsp Turkish SeasoningÂ or a mixture of oregano, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, sumac and a pinch of cayenne
1/2 a pomegranate’s seeds (about 1/3rd cup)
2 T white truffle butter or 1 tsp truffle oil
olive oil

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet to medium high. Add the romanesco or cauliflower and the salt. Cook until some brown bits occur and the cauliflower is mostly soft. Add the cumin, balti, and caraway seeds and toss. Add the truffle butter and turn off the heat, stirring to melt.

Transfer to an oven-safe serving dish and either keep warm for up to 1 hour or place immediately under the broiler for 1 minute to carmelize the top and make it crispy. Mix the Turkish seasoning with the yogurt and add salt to taste. Upon serving, pour the yogurt over the dish and add pomegranate seeds on top.

I like to share this one as an appetizer over wine and a block of good sheep or goat’s cheese.
[schema type=”recipe” name=”Truffled Romanesco with Yogurt Sauce & Pomegranate” author=”Caroline Cadwell” image=”http://iloveyoumorethanfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/romesco.jpg” description=”A fresh, easy, and impressive way to use romanesco or cauliflower, served family style, with a mediterranean edge.” ingrt_1=”1 head romanesco or other variety of cauliflower, chopped in nice size slices” ingrt_2=”1/2 tsp ground cumin” ingrt_3=”1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed” ingrt_4=”1 tsp balti seasoning or garam masal” ingrt_5=”1/2-1tsp kosher salt” ingrt_6=”1/2 C whole milk yogurt” ingrt_7=”2-3 tsp Turkish seasoning” ingrt_8=”1/2 a pomegranate’s seeds (about 1/3 C)” ingrt_9=”2 T white truffle butter or 1 tsp truffle oil” ingrt_10=”olive oil” instructions=”Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet to medium high. Add the romanesco or cauliflower and the salt. Cook until some brown bits occur and the cauliflower is mostly soft. Add the cumin, balti, and caraway seeds and toss. Add the truffle butter and turn off the heat, stirring to melt.

Transfer to an oven-safe serving dish and either keep warm for up to 1 hour or place immediately under the broiler for 1 minute to carmelize the top and make it crispy. Mix the Turkish seasoning with the yogurt and add salt to taste. Upon serving, pour the yogurt over the dish and add pomegranate seeds on top.” ]

November 16, 2011
Zucchini & Purslane Soup

Quick, healthy, and delicious zucchini soup recipe. Works best with a high powered blender, but a stick blender or regular one will work too, with a little finesse. Can be served chilled as well.

Zucchini & Purslane Soup Recipe
Adapted from Food & Wine
Serves 2

1.5 lb of zucchini or mixed summer squash, washed, trimmed, and sliced evenly*
1/2 medium or large yellow onion, diced roughly
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1.5 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 cup purslane (or microgreens, which can be tossed with a little lemon or orange zest as well)
Salt to taste

In a 3 quart pan or larger, warm your vegetable stock over medium heat. Add onions, cooking until almost transparent. Add garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and zucchini, cover and cook about 5 minutes at medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but still firm. Add the water and cover. Cook about 10 minutes, until soft.

Using your preferred blending method, puree the soup until smooth. Taste and season with salt, or salt at the table. To serve, do so immediately warm, reheat later with a little more vegetable broth, or add several ice cubes to the fresh puree to bring the temperature down, then store in the fridge up to two days and serve chilled. Garnish with generous purslane and raw zucchini strips.

*Make some thin strips for garnish if you like, before chopping it all up

September 7, 2011
Thai Cucumber Salad and Generous Friends

It’s probably been five weeks since I posted here. I’ve been cooking plenty, but it’s been of the utilitarian type–meals my friends would (and sometimes are) still delighted to join in on, but that I’ve either posted before, or that I didn’t plate well, or that we were in a hurry to eat. That’s the true life behind a food blog–very little of what is produced makes it on here.

I’ve made Tutto Mare (for my man’s parents while they visited for three weeks in my house–another reason I’ve been absent), eggplant parmasean (without frying the eggplant but with a stick of butter in the sauce), flank steak with chimichurri sauce (for which I already owe you a recipe–noted!), cookies, Chinese desserts involving potatoes and ginger, pesto, and a million other things. Between the house guests and my day job and my latest quest to drink only disgusting green purees of things, there’s not much time to write or much worth writing about.

Now about generous friends. Usually when I post to Red Blossom Tea I’m talking about P. This time I’m talking about his sister Alice–I owe her big time. Every time I drop into the shop she seems to have some treat to share with me, we talk cheese, we talk travel, we talk food and wine. I took the visiting pseudo-in-laws to the shop and came home with a gigantic bag of washed, ready to use, beautiful mature arugula which I’ve put to several uses over the last two weeks–yes, it’s lasted two weeks and still looks gorgeous!

I’ve made arugula pesto, added it to one of my disgusting green smoothies, mixed it into bruschetta, blanched it and served it with eggs poached in tomato sauce, and even used it in this thai cucumber salad recipe. Thanks Alice!

This is why I haven’t been posting. While writing this enry, I drank this green smoothie of apples, carrots, spinach and a dash of whole lemon and tried really hard to pretend it was baked french toast with mascarpone cream.

Thai Cucumber Salad
Serves 4-6 with possible leftovers as a side

2 medium cucumbers, preferably unwaxed persians
1/4 red onion
1 large watermelon radish or other radish totaling the size of a small peach
1/2 C arugula, chopped
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 C seasoned rice vinegar
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt

Mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt and microwave for 30 seconds, stir to combine. Set aside.

Prepare your cucumber- if waxed/thick skinned, trim the ends, and peel most of the skin off leaving bright green behind, cut in half and remove the seeds with a spoon from each side. If using edible peel, simply remove ends and cut in half, removing seeds. Using a mandolin or a very patient hand, slice into 1/8th inch thick slices. Place in a serving bowl. Next, slice 1/8th or thinner slices of red onion using the mandolin. Peel off any tough outer layers before doing so. Add to cucumber bowl. Peel the watermelon radish (no need to peel other types), cut in half, and slice thinly with the mandolin.

Toss everything with the vinegar mixture, add sesame seeds and arugula at the end. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to two weeks, so long as everything is coated in vinegar. Makes a quick refrigerator pickle that is tasty right away or later on. You can also store in jars with more vinegar up to a couple months if refrigerated.

August 28, 2011
Biggest Food Secret EVER: Gourmet Popcorn At Home

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Turns out, I’ve been fooled my entire life. You can pop corn kernels in a paper bag in your microwave. Like normal microwave popcorn. For the same amount of time. Without all the hydrogenated shelf stable oil crap. And you can totally reuse the bag (like, from bringing two pints of ice cream home from the corner store and then several times as a popcorn bag)!

I don’t know if anyone else has been torn about giving in to this trend in restaurants lately– $6 or more a pop for specialty popcorns like maple-bacon, chipotle caramel, truffle butter, and more variations with bacon. I imagine ones with curry and indian spices, meta-gourmet (you know, we’re so gourmet that we serve sweet breads even though they are totally ghetto? the gentrification of food?) powdered cheeses and whatnot have been done too. I have to admit, I’ve given in to it. Woe was me spending $8 on a small bowl of popcorn and a $10 cocktail.

So I’ve been making healthier things lately (have you noticed?), and so I looked into air-popped popcorn. I was convinced without a $30 contraption I’d be forced to eat fake butter flavor and pay $4/a packet for Newman’s Own popcorn (or Orville, let’s be real).

Air popper? Totally obsolete and never necessary in the first place. And yet, my family had one in the early 90’s during the low-fat craze. We’re smart people; somehow that slipped past us. So, don’t feel bad, just go get that thing out of your cabinet and rejoice in the new space you have made for a paper bag to call home. Or a new Staub pan.

I’ve been known to hoard glass jars that can be reused. This goes from jelly jars to tomato jars to salad dressings to anchovies and spices. As you can see, it comes in quite handy. Because I live in a 100+ year old house, and mice are unavoidable if you tempt them, I swapped to all glass and steel containers about a year ago to deter them from my rather large stockpile of food (we won’t go hungry from an earthquake). I also use these jars when shopping bulk at the stores around SF, for leftovers, and for taking my food to work each week–I don’t like to reheat in plastic, so having glass makes things easier to store and then eat.

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Fire Roasted Pepper Popcorn Recipe
Makes 4-5 Cups
1/4 C popcorn kernels (multi colored, white, or yellow-your choice)*
1 Tbsp butter (plugra if you have it around), melted and warm
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 paper bag (bigger than lunch size but not grocery size–two bottles of wine size)

Add the popcorn kernels to the paper bag and fold the top of the bag several times to halfway. Put the bag in the micro and set it for 5 minutes. You’ll probably only need 2.5, so stay close and stop it when the pops are 1-2 seconds apart.

Add the spices to a old spice jar with a shaker lid and mix.

Place popped popcorn in a large bowl, and season it in two batches:Â drizzle butter over the first half and add half the seasoning. Toss, add the rest of the popcorn and repeat.

* If you are having trouble finding popcorn kernels where you live (they are normally sold in bulk) and have access to a Whole Foods Market, they usually have them in their self-serve bulk section. You can also buy them on Amazon.

April 24, 2011
Age Dashi Tofu with Tempura Dipping Sauce

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I’ve mentioned this before–when you start cooking Japanese food at home, it makes sense to just keep doing it. The ingredients effectively make you stock an entirely new kitchen, and while each step of most dishes is very simple, they almost always require making ingredients to be used–layer upon layer. So you may as well make extra stock, extra sauce, and repurpose it later in the week.

On that note, I have found several new Japanese cookbooks that I adore. I’ve mentioned the fabulous Washoku before, but the new ones I am in love with are more like encyclopedias of Japanese cooking, with huge selections of traditional hot dishes, allowing you to perhaps recreate something you’ve eaten in a quality Japanese restaurant. Japanese Cooking: a Simple Art &Â perhaps now my all-time favorite, The Japanese Kitchen–it lacks photos, but provides great instruction and is excellent for those of us who know roughly what we want to make.

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Age Dashi Tofu (Fried tofu with broth sauce)
1 10-oz block tofu; you can use firm sprouted tofu for full flavor or silken tofu for a nice play on soft-vs-crunchy
1/2 C potato starch (can sub corn starch if you must)
A lot of frying oil such as sunflower or safflower oil
2 green onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Drain the tofu well and pat dry, using some firm pressure but not breaking the tofu. If using firm or extra firm tofu, wrap in paper towels and place heavy dinner plate on top, letting sit 30 minutes. Next, slice along each axis of the block and then several times more to end up with 8 even rectangles. Dredge the rectangles in potato starch , tap excess off and let sit 5 minutes while your oil heats. Fry the blocks until slightly golden, about 5 minutes and then drain on a rack or paper towels. Serve half covered in sauce with green onion on top, and the tempura sauce’s ginger or daikon.

Tempura Dipping Sauce
1 C dashi (kelp/tuna flake stock)
5 T soy sauce
3 T mirin
1 T sugar
1/2 C katsuo bushi (tuna flakes)
2 tsp grated ginger or daikon, served with the sauce

Combine all ingredients except ginger/daikon, and bring to a boil. Add the katsuo bushi and turn off the heat. Let stand 2 minutes, strain and reserve. Lasts up to 1 week in refrigerator. Serve Warm.

February 26, 2011
Easy Sunday Brunch

No-stress Sunday Brunch

– Almond Beignets using Cafe du Monde mix and adding 1 tsp almond extract

– Baked eggs in dandelion greens & collards with nutmeg & cream (modified from smitten kitchen)

– Arugula salad with yogurt-citrus dressing, cara cara oranges, watermelon radish & ruby grapefruit

– Butternut squash-lentil hash with goat cheese (make ahead)

– Lots and lots of mimosas

– A bit of coffee to straighten up

January 18, 2011
Watermelon Rind Pickle Recipe & Their Applications

My mother loves using these as appetizers by wrapping bacon around them, tooth-picking them and cooking in the oven until crispy, salty, sweet.

They’re relatively annoying to find in local markets and for a variety of reasons I expect them to be better made at home–organic watermelon, spices hand carried back from India, quality control. In a market, a jar half this size will cost about $4-5.

Pickled Watermelon Rinds with Water Bath

These will keep at least a year assuming a seal is made upon canning.

Rind from an 8lb watermelon, peeled, flesh removed and cubed
Lots of kosher salt
Lots of water
2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
4 cups sugar
1 T whole cloves
6 cinnamon sticks, 3 inches or so long
1-2 T star anise, whole
Optional: whole mace, tied in a cheesecloth bag (do not can it)

Peel and chop your watermelon rind and place the pieces in a briny water overnight, up to 24 hours, at room temperature.Â You should use 3T kosher salt to every quart of water. Let it sit a few minutes then give it a stir to dissolve.

Drain the rind and put it in a large pan, such as a pasta pot. Fill with water, just covering the pieces. Simmer until becoming slightly translucent, about 40 minutes.

Drain again and set aside. Use the same pot to combine the vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil, add the spices and the watermelon rind, reduce to a simmer and continue cooking about 20-30 more minutes, until all pieces are translucent.

Immediately transfer the rind pieces into clean mason jars or canning jars and have new lids ready and clean. Once the rind is distributed, pour the spices and spice syrup (less the mace packet in cheesecloth) in over the rind until about 1/4 inch from the top, covering the pieces.

Screw the lids on with moderate force and place into a large pot (maybe the same one, cleaned?) filled with warm/hot from the tap water, and bring it to a gentle boil. Once boiling, continue for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and leave until cool enough to handle.

If you force the jars to cool more quickly, they will likely crack or break. Within about an hour, all of the seals will probably sink to show that they are pasteurized and ready for storage. If they have not sunk by 24 hours later, you’ll need to repeat the water bath process.

August 15, 2010