Sunday, March 21, 2010

Soy-Free Homemade Vegan Ice Cream!


So this is by no means a health food, but it's a little healthier than dairy ice cream, and relatively easy to make, since most of the time is inactive or just giving it the occasional stir/churn/whirl. One of the big differences between making smooth coconut based ice creams and smooth almond, soy, or rice milk based ones is that you have to heat it first. Coconut oil (the fat that gives this ice cream a creamier mouth-feel than most nut milk varieties) is solid at room temperature, as you'll see when you open your can of coconut milk. You're still going to get a less than commercially 'perfect' consistency (a rant on the value placed on cosmetically perfect manufactured foods as perpetuated by food marketing may come another day,) but melting it first allows you to blend the oil into the rest of the ingredients easily.


Basic Coconut-Based Vegan Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can Coconut Cream (a Goya invention as far as I know, it's sweetened)
-OR- 
1 (15 oz) can Coconut Milk (the higher the fat content the better)

Sugar, ONLY if using coconut milk, 1/4-1/2 cup to taste
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Almond milk (the kind that's refrigerated in the store is the best for this, it's a little thicker)
Optional additions (don't go overboard):
1 1/2-3 tbs cocoa powder
2-3 tbs high quality vegan chocolate, diced or shaved
1-2 tsp instant coffee 
Whatever else you want in your ice cream!

Directions:
  1. Empty the can of coconut milk/cream into a small pot or microwave safe bowl, heat on low or in a microwave, stirring frequently until the oil is melted. 
  2. If you're using cocoa powder mix it with enough almond milk to wet it all, you'll probably need to use a fork or small whisk. If you're adding instant coffee, dissolve it as much as you can in a few tbs of heated almond milk or hot water.
  3. Whisk the coconut milk/cream, sugar if needed, vanilla, and any additions together. If you're using coconut cream and it's too sweet, slowly add almond milk to taste. 
  4. Whisk the mixture every 5-15 minutes (use your best judgment,) until cooled to keep the fats from solidifying together. DON'T put it in the fridge.  ~You can skip this step if you want, but it will take your ice cream a little longer to set up, and if your ice cream maker is the kind with the bowl you freeze first, the bowl may heat up too much initially for the ice cream to set.~
  5. Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.** You may need to stir or churn more frequently than they tell you to, especially if you skipped step 4, since coconut oil solidifies at higher temperatures than the fat in dairy and you want to keep the oil from forming chunks (or, more accurately: large globules.)
It's done whenever you want it to be, and you can let it solidify more on it's own after it's thickened considerably as long as you've stirred it continuously to keep the ice crystals from getting too big, but it's not going to be as creamy as dairy ice cream and will eventually harden into a pretty solid block if you're not careful. That's also why this recipe is only for about a pint, it's best eaten the night it's made.

**If you don't have a little ice cream maker, there are a lot of alternatives, I'll do my best to describe a few. 

If you have an immersion blender: put the liquid ice cream mixture into a glass baking pan and pop it in the freezer. Once crystals start to form at the edges/on the bottom use a rubber spatula to scrape off the pan. Blend the mixture being careful not to splash/fling partially frozen ice cream all over the place, smooth the mixture in the pan. Repeat this process every 5-15 minutes (depending on your freezer, how big your pan is, the fat/water ratio of your mixture, and how much you're willing to work for smooth ice cream.) Until it's the consistency you want.

If you have a regular blender: This is a bit more time consuming, and I haven't personally tried using one to make ice cream, but you have two options. 
  • For the Impatient-People (who like doing more dishes): Follow the instructions for the immersion blender, but scrape the mixture into the blender each time instead of blending it in the pan. Don't blend it for too long, especially if you've got a good blender, or it'll take your mixture forever to set up. Pour/dump it back into the pan, spread it out with the spatula if necessary, put it back in the freezer, and repeat until it's done. 
  • For those with Time-on-Their-Hands (and an aversion to extra dishes): Put the mixture in the blender, and put the whole container portion in the freezer. Once ice crystals start to form, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, put the container back on the base and blend. Repeat as you see crystals form. If you blend too much/too often and your ice cream will take forever, which it's already going to do with this method since there's not as much surface area to freeze. I've never tried this, and every blender is different, so be careful and use common sense. I don't think you'll run into any problems freezing the container, just make sure the bottom is tightly on every time you put it back in the freezer. But don't come crying to me if you somehow break your blender.
With your (cold) bare hands: Pour the mixture into a heavy duty plastic zip top bag that your mixture fills about half way or less, get most of the air out (don't worry about getting it all out) and seal. Put another bag over it, so the opening of the second bag is at the bottom of the first, get most of the air out between layers and close it.  Put the bag in the freezer and take it out every 10-20 minutes after ice crystals start to form, and squish the bag around, mixing it up and crushing the ice crystals. Try to do your squishing quickly, so you're melting the ice cream as little as possible. Keep at it until your hands freeze or the ice cream reaches your desired consistency, whichever comes first.

And if the consistency doesn't come out the way you want it to? It's still going to taste delicious, worst comes to worst you get to make smoothies!

Tangy Tuscan Couscous Salad


Tuscan Couscous Salad
(Note that this makes 6 cups or so of couscous salad)

Dressing Ingredients:
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs water
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs fresh or frozen basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Salad Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous or couscous blend*
1/4 cup coarse bulgur wheat
1/2 cup quinoa
1/8 cup millet
1/3 cup pitted black olives, sliced
1/4 cup manzanilla (green) olives pitted or pitted and stuffed with pimento, sliced
3 tbs olive oil (less will work if you want)
1/2 small onion
4 artichoke hearts
1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes (the kind that come in oil)

  1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar or dressing bottle, shake vigorously and set aside (the dressing is better if you make it ahead of time so the flavors can meld)
  2. Boil 2 1/4 cups salted water, add couscous, bulgur, quinoa, and millet, return water to a boil, immediately cover and turn down to a simmer for ten-fifteen minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Take off heat and set aside, covered.
  3. Roughly chop the artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. Dice the onion.
  4. Sautee the onions and sun dried tomatoes in the oil over medium heat for 2 minutes, add the artichokes and continue sautéing until unions are slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
  5. Combine the olives in a large bowl, add the onion mixture and couscous, mix to combine.
  6. Drizzle the dressing over the couscous salad and stir well. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. 


I tried it with half a sliced avocado, sprinkled on a little lime juice, and added salt and pepper. (And yes, it was delicious.)

This is a HEAVILY altered rendition of Wolffie’s Pasta Salad from Sarah Kramer’s “La Dolce Vegan!”

I recommend letting your grain and pasta mixture sit for at least ten minutes after you take it off the heat so the millet will have a little more time to soften up. The pasta will get a little sticky during this time, but since the dish is heavy to begin with, and served cold I don’t think it negatively effects it. Also this would be a great addition to wraps or green salads, since you’ll probably have leftovers.

* I used the ‘Harvest Style Grain blend’ from Trader Joes for this recipe, which adds a little color as well as texture by way of orzo, baby garbanzo beans, and red quinoa (there’s not much quinoa in the blend, it’s about 90% pasta (couscous and orzo) so plain old Israeli Couscous will work about the same.)

Friday, March 12, 2010

Hot Umami Eggplant


I'm always on the lookout for new eggplant recipes. It's such a great base for a variety of flavors, way beyond the oil soaked fried variety, though that certainly has it's place in my life. This particular creation is great served with some brown basmati rice and a spinach salad with citrus dressing or oranges tossed in it. 
I know the ingredients list looks long, but it's worth it, and most of the prep work can be done as you go if you play your timing right.
My eggplant came from haymarket, so it definitely needed to be salted, even if your eggplant is really fresh, salting or at least squeezing a bit of liquid out of the eggplant will help it absorb more of the flavor of the sauce.
 
Hot Umami Eggplant

Ingredients:
     1 eggplant, cubed
     1/4 cup water
     1/8 cup white vinegar
     1/8 cup rice vinegar (sub white vinegar if you don't have any, or water if you don't want it to be quite as tangy
     3 tbs sugar or equivalent of sweetener of choice
     1 tsp salt
     3/4 cup red wine (separated into fourths, roughly 3 tbs each, or you can just eye it as you go, and no need to worry about quality here, I've used box wine (we're obviously overflowing with class) and it still turns out well)
     1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes
     6 green onions (scallions, spring onions, same deal)
     1/2 tbs crushed or pureed ginger
     2 cloves crushed garlic (minced works too)
     1/8 cup vegetable broth
     1 tbs cornstarch

Directions:
  1. If the eggplant isn't the youngest finest thing, salt the cubes and let them drain in a colander for half an hour, rinse off the salt, and squeeze the excess water out of them.
  2. In a small bowl wisk together the water,  1/4 of the red wine (about 3 tbs,) the vinegars, sugar and salt. Set the mixture aside.
  3. Thinly slice the green onion, and separate the white and green portions.
  4. Heat 1/4 of the red wine and the red pepper flakes in a large skillet or sauce pan over medium heat for a minute or so, stirring as needed.
  5. Add the white part of the green onions, ginger, and garlic, cook until fragrant
  6. Add the eggplant, 1/4 of the red wine, and vegetable broth, cover and cook 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is done. It will be slightly browned and soft.
  7. Add the vinegar mixture, and cook and additional 2-3 minutes
  8. Whisk together the cornstarch and remaining red wine.
  9. Add the cornstarch mixture and green portion of the onions, stir frequently and cook until sauce has thickened, probably less than a minute.
Aren't these pretty? They're so curvy and... green. If your green onions have been living in your crisper drawer for longer then they probably should have been, remove the outer leaf and trim off the ends as far in as you need to so only firm parts are left. If you don't have green onions, you could substitute regular onion, just saute them first, but the taste will be very different.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Lessons in blogging


Notes to Self:

1) Don't be a heinous procrastinator. (Your friends, who you've expressed all of your fears to and thus goaded into encouraging you, will be sad.)
2) Don't forget to take pictures of your food. (Epic fail if you manage to take pictures of the prep, but not of the finished product. Seriously, who wants to stare at cubes of raw eggplant?)
3) Measure your spices! (How can you expect other people to make the damn thing if you can't even replicate it?)

I'm through being a blogging bum. If I write it down, so it shall be, right? Riiiiight?

Anyways, I really have been keeping track of what I've made, I've even been taking pictures of some of it. Some of it not so much, but anything worthy of posting I'll probably make again, so I'll amend photos to things eventually!
In the meantime, hopefully a picture of Nala will be enough to fill the current food porn void.