easy peanut sauce

This makes a small enough amount to make a quick dip for lunches, or pour on some noodles. Multiply as necessary.

Makes about 1/2 cup (tripled measurements below)
3 Tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar or agave nectar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp toasted/dark sesame oil
1 clove garlic, pressed
3 Tbsp warm/hot water (start with less or use less for thicker sauce)
(1/4 tsp+ chili garlic paste)
see directions below.

Roughly tripled from above – Makes about 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar, honey or agave nectar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp toasted/dark sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup warm/hot water (start with less or use less for thicker sauce)
(3/4 tsp+ chili garlic paste)

Put all ingredients but water and chili paste in a jar or bowl. Add water 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing with a fork until smooth, until you get your desired thickness. Add chili garlic paste until desired spiciness.

Sweet & Spicy Mandarin-Cashew Compote

Perfect with greens, broccoli, rice, tofu – anything really. I threw this together and it evolved into a compote/chutney, which was not my original intention. It was so yummy!

The below measurements are rough guesses, since I was throwing things in, so I can try and recreate it in the future.

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp hot chili oil
1/2 cup raw cashews, loosely chopped
1 smallish can of mandarin oranges, drained and rinsed slightly
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sugar

heat the oil in a pan or wok over medium high heat. Add the chili oil. You may want to have a fan on, it got a little smokey. Add the cashews and toss until lightly toasted. Add the remaining ingredients, and cook, tossing or stirring occasionally, until the oranges have disintegrated and the mixture becomes a sauce.

vegan queso

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup water
1 cup mild salsa
1 tsp Goya Adobo
1/4 cup margarine

Whisk together the flour, yeast and water. Add in the salsa and adobo. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally, until uniformly thick. Stir in margarine and whisk until melted.

refrigerator pickled jalapenos

I made these because we had a bag of jalapenos from our CSA…

Essentially, I filled a quart sized glass jar with sliced fresh jalapenos, other assorted peppers that I had, carrots, onion, and garlic cloves. Well, I cut everything up, saw that it would fit in the jar, then poured in a bowl and tossed with a couple tablespoons olive oil and a teaspoon or so of oregano, and then put it back in the jar.

The pickle mixture was 1 cup water, 1 cup white vinegar, 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar, 2 Tbsp kosher salt. Bring to a boil and pour over the veggies in the jar and refrigerate.

We’ll see how they taste in a few days….

artichoke pesto

A pesto with no cheese and no nuts… it’s possible.
Excellent with white beans, bread, polenta or pasta.

1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup packed, whole fresh basil leaves
Juice of 2 large lemons
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (or walnuts or pine nuts, really)
10 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Put everything in the food processor and blend.

tahini sauce

For falafel or salad dressing.

I’ve based this off of this recipe, only added considerably more water and simplified the process.  I used the Arrowhead Mills brand tahini and the results are great for this brand, it may need to be adjusted for other brands.

1 cup tahini
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 – 1 cup water

Put all the ingredients in food processor. Process until smooth and garlic is incorporated.

egg-free, soy-free vegenaise

I essentially used this recipe, noting that I only used 1/2 cup water total (it was listed twice), canola oil (I wanted to use olive oil, but we were out), and bottled lemon juice.  I also added two garlic cloves.

So far – seems kind of runny, yields 1 cup, flavor is good and oil is emulsified.  I put it in the fridge to see if it firms up.  Planning on using it with steamed artichokes.

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notes:

stayed pretty runny, although it did thicken a bit (dressing consistency, not spreadable mayo consistency).  Will try again in the future, using 2x the flax seed meal, reducing the lemon juice by 1/2, and doubling the salt.  Maybe sub some ac vinegar for some of the lemon juice.  May or may not omit the paprika – flavor was good, but might like my mayo with a more normal mayo color.

I think this recipe has a lot of potential; it has definitely worked the best out of the other mayo recipes I’ve tried in terms of emulsification.  Flax seeds were completely integrated, and the result was not-at-all grainy.