Sunday Eats! Summer Rolls (or Tauntaun Guts Rolls, if you’re feeling extra geeky)

Time has gotten away from me and this recipe has been sitting here in the queue for ages. I made these delicious summer rolls for our Lost Finale party (way back a zillion years ago) representing the Kwons (we had a dish representing most of our favorite characters). Yes, I know these rolls aren’t exactly Korean. Or really Korean at all. However, I did use quite a bit of mint, which is often used in Korean fare. If I wanted them to be more authentic, I should have used pickled vegetables for the filling and seaweed for the wrapper, but I wasn’t in the mood for that, so I cheated. Anyway, they’re delicious, and despite their appearance otherwise, they’re quite easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• rice paper spring roll wrappers
• thin vermicelli-style rice noodles
• tofu
• mint leaves (2 each per roll)
• vegetables, sliced into thin sticks or shredded, pickled or fresh

Equipment:

• shallow pan filled with hot water
• bamboo rolling mat (optional)

Boil some water in your kettle and leave it on to keep the water hot while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cook the rice noodles as per the package instructions (most likely boiling them for three to four minutes). As soon as the noodles are cooked, drain them immediately and rinse them under the cold tap to stop them from cooking and to make them easy to handle. Drain the noodles and set them aside.

Slice, peel, or shred your veggies, and set them aside. I usually stuff my rolls with sliced cucumber, avocado, or shredded carrots. Slice the tofu into thin-ish sticks as well, and set aside.

Once you’ve got all your ingredients prepped, you’re ready to roll. (Hah. Punny.) Fill the shallow pan with hot water. Slide one of the wrappers into the pan, making sure the water covers it. After about 10 seconds (or less) it will be dramatically softened. Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Carefully lift the wrapper from the pan and place on your bamboo mat, or other surface. It will probably stick together like cling film. It takes a bit of practice to figure out a way to handle it so it doesn’t stick and tear.

Once you’ve got it on your mat, plop down a handful of noodles near in the lower third of the wrapper. Top the noodles with the sliced or shredded veggies, tofu, and two mint leaves. Using the mat to assist you (optional) bring the lower edge of the wrapper over the top of the pile of filling. Bring the sides of the wrapper up over the ends of the filling. Make sure the ends of the roll are secure as you roll it up, using your fingers to tuck in any stray filling. The stickiness of the wrappers will allow it to adhere to itself and seal in the filling nice and tightly.

It’s a bit tricky to get at first, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be whipping these out in large quantities in no time flat. I like to enjoy mine with sesame ginger or peanut sauce. (And if you are making these in large quantities, it’s best to cover them with a damp cloth or some cling film so the completed ones don’t dry out.)

I have also been known to refer to these as “Tauntaun Guts Rolls” because when you cut them in half, the noodles kind of look like, well, you know. But they smell good on both the inside and the outside, so there’s that at least.

Sunday Eats! Potatoes Faux Gratin

This is one of my favorite dishes to make, because it’s super tasty and very easy to prepare. The oats thicken up the sauce and the cashews add a wonderful creaminess.

Ingredients:

• 3 large potatoes (or 5 medium potatoes)
• 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
• 1/2 c. cashew pieces (preferably unsalted)
• 1/3 c. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a casserole dish.

Scrub up and de-eye the potatoes. Slice them to 1/4 inch thickness or thinner if you can. If you’ve got one of those fancy mandolin thingies, try that, but they don’t need to be transparently thin or anything. I prefer to think of them as “rustic slices.” Give them a quick rinse under the cold tap to get rid of some of the excess starch. Drain and plop them in your casserole dish.

In your blender or (if you’re a lucky gal like me) Super Vitamix 5000 combine the remaining dry ingredients and a cup or so of water. Add more water so the whole mixture is about 2 1/2 cups or so. You want it good and liquefied, with an even consistency. No bits of nuts or oats floating about- you don’t want gritty potatoes. If you don’t think your blender is powerful enough, and if you’ve got a food processor, grind up the cashews, oats, and nutritional yeast, before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. If you are using salted cashews, don’t add the salt until after it’s blended and you’ve tasted it. Once you’ve got it flavored to your liking, pour the liquid over the potatoes in the casserole dish. Give it a quick shake side to side to get the liquid between the potato slices. Bake for about 45 minutes. It’s done when the potatoes are soft and the liquid has thickened. If you cut your slices fairly thick like I do, you’ll probably need to bake it for another 10 minutes or so. Once it’s out of the oven, remove the lid and let it rest for several minutes so it sets up a bit. You can also take the lid off a few minutes before it’s done so the top gets a little brown.
I like to serve it with toasted sesame seeds on top. Or for a variation, you could blend a tablespoon or two of toasted sesame seeds in with the liquid before baking. Enjoy!

Next time on Sunday Eats! Summer Rolls!

Sunday Eats! Crumb Cake

This has become one of my favorite cakes ever. I could eat this for every meal. Not healthy for the long term, but at least I’d die blissfully happy.This is from My Sweet Vegan. You really need to buy this book. It’s amazing. And Hannah Kaminsky is very charming and fun. I started with her Plum Good Crumb Cake and altered it a bit to suit my tastes and the fact that I don’t have a stand mixer. (One day I’ll be posh enough to own a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. If you’re buying for me, I’d like one in “Yellow Pepper,” please.)

I veered from the original in the following ways: bit more butter and less salt in the crumb topping, more vanilla in the cake batter and I omitted the fruit. Oh and I mixed the wet and dry stuff separately and then combined.

For the crumb topping (my favorite part)

• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 Tbs. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. margarine

For the cake

The wet stuff:

• 1/2 c. almond milk
• 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 c. margarine
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 c. vegan sour cream
• 3/4 c. soy yogurt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The dry stuff:

• 2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an angel food cake tin (tube shaped tin).

Make the crumb topping: In a small bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine, making sure to break up the brown sugar lumps. Melt the margarine and drizzle over the top of the flour mixture, stirring with a fork as you go. This will form crumbs of various sizes. If you accidentally over-mix and end up with a buttery dough, fear not. Just use your hands to crumble it up. Set aside.

Whisk the almond milk and vinegar together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate, large bowl cream together the sugar and margarine. Stir in the almond milk mixture, vanilla, sour cream, and yogurt until combined and nice and creamy. (Try to resist licking up too much of this stuff. I’ve thought of mixing up a batch of just this bit and adding some agar to make a lovely custard for custard tarts. But I digress.)

Gradually stir the dry stuff in to the bowl with the wet stuff. Be careful not to over-mix, but be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the dry stuff is incorporated.

Glop it into the cake tin. It’s a thick batter, so you’ll probably have to gently spread it out with the back of the spoon or rubber spatula. Top with the crumble mixture, making sure to spread it ’round evenly. Bake for 50 minutes. If your oven heats unevenly, you may want to spin it ’round half way through baking. It’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

It will be difficult, but leave it in the pan to cool completely before you begin devouring it. Wouldn’t want to spoil the presentation by letting it fall to pieces as you attempt to take it out of the pan while still hot.

This cake is a delicious accompaniment to tea (Earl Grey. Hot.) or with a chilled glass of almond milk. Enjoy!

Next week on Sunday Eats! Potatoes Faux Gratin.

Sunday Eats! Veggie Oat Casserole

I was trying to think of a way to get myself to blog more often. My crafting is so intermittant that I didn’t want to rely on a weekly crafty update. But what do I do every day? EAT!

Lunch is my favorite meal of the day. It’s the one meal that I actually sit down to eat and the one meal that actually gets planned ahead, since Jesse and I make food and pack lunches the night before. My lunch paraphenalia is always really bright and cheerful. I’m a sucker for cute lunch boxes and lunch bags and colorful cloth napkins. (Spoiler alert: Been sewing like mad lately. Napkins and lunch bags soon to be added to my Etsy shop! I know, I hear you say, “She has an Etsy shop?” Yes. Just, ahem, never used. But I digress.)

I spend most Sundays cooking dishes that will be used in our lunches throughout the work week. So I thought for this first installment of “Sunday Eats” I’d give you the recipe for one of my new favorites, the Veggie Oat Casserole. (It’s a very loose adaptation from several recipes I saw for veggie haggis.) I tried to think of a more clever name for it, but I’m stumped. If you think of a better one, please leave a comment!

I’ve put up the occasional recipe before, but I’m always such a slacker when people ask for my recipes. I rarely measure things and everything I use is based on what’s in my fridge or pantry at the time. Then I stress out about perfecting the recipe before I put it online. And I never get around to it because it’s never quite ready.

Yeah, then I got over myself. What you get here is basically a running commentary of how I put together this dish. I try to give approximate measurements so you can at least have a starting point before you tweak it for your own tastes. Really, any measurement I give is just a guess after the fact.

Enough babbling! On to the food! I was going to take pictures but I got distracted. I even had things out in little bowls like on those cooking shows! Ah well. Next time.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped veggies. Rough chop is fine, as long as they’re in very small pieces. I used onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms.
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 Tbs veggie bouillon paste
• 1 Tbs miso paste
• Water
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 (F). Lightly oil a large casserole dish.

Sautee the veggies with a bit of olive oil in a stock pot. I started with the onions and celery, then when those got a bit translucent I added the carrots and mushrooms. Stir and cook for few minutes.

While the veggies are cooking, throw the kidney beans and the bouillon and miso pastes into a blender. Add water and blend until the whole mess measures about 3 cups. If you can’t find bouillon paste, use veggie broth instead of water. Taste it several times, and add whatever seasonings you want. It should be a bit salty, as it’s going to balance out the plain oats. Once you’ve got it to suit your taste, add the bean mixture to the stock pot. Stir and bring to a boil.

As soon as it starts to bubble, turn the heat down and stir in the oats. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. It will start to thicken up as the oats cook.

Glop everything into the oiled casserole dish and cover. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. It’s done when the liquid is absorbed and the edges around the top start to pull away from the sides. Let it stand for a few minutes so it sets up a bit before serving.

Enjoy!

Next time on Sunday Eats: Crumb Cake! With pictures, I promise.