no mayo creamy pasta salad

Forget the expensive mayo and use some healthy nut cream to make your favorite summer pasta salad.  (Can be made with gluten free pasta)

Equipment:
heavy duty blender (for the nut cream)
spatula
big storage bowl for pasta salad with cover
cutting board
french knife 
stock pot to boil pasta and strainer

Ingredients...

• 1 pound plus 1/4 pound of cooked pasta, strained and washed with cold water to prevent overcooking (enough for 6-12 people with leftovers)
• 1 - 2 servings of almond nut cream sauce (or cashew, or mixture of )
• 2 TBL yellow miso (if you have on hand)
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3 TBL mustard
• 1 cup washed, minced celery
• 1 cup washed, peeled, minced carrots
• 1 cup washed, peeled, minced onions
• washed, minced parsley to taste
• spices to taste, I used onion powder, a tiny bit of garlic powder, ms. dash lemon pepper, crushed rosemary
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Method:
While making the nut cream, add the mustard, miso and vinegar to the cream sauce.  Combine all ingredients EXCEPT the cream sauce in the huge bowl, then add cream sauce a little at a time, slowly until very set up and covered in sauce (The salad will absorb a bit of this sauce, unlike mayo; therefore, you may want to add sauce until it looks very saucy.  Before serving, after sitting overnight in frig, add a little oil and vinegar and salt to refresh).  Taste for salt, spices and pepper, mix well and refrigerate to let flavors develop, at least 2 hours or more.  The key to these salads is taste, taste, taste.  To offset acidic, add a little liquid sweetener, to offset too sweet, add a little vinegar or lemon juice, don't go too crazy with garlic, add little bits at a time so you don't overwhelm.

raw spring slaw

Its been a long time since my last post.  Decided to post this method of eating raw veggies because the size and slices of the veggies with the homemade sauces are easy, fast, cheap, healthy and delicious.  I have incorporated the raw vegan nut cheese "sauce" into some of the dressings, and will follow soon with the recipes.  I will cover the easy method of making the slaw if you have the right equipment (mandoline).

This slaw is drizzled with raw cheddary mexican sauce

Equipment:
Large ceramic or glass bowl for storage
Tongs (chef hands) to toss and move slices around
Bench Scrapper to get all the slices off of countertop or cutting board
Mandoline (The picture shows the good grips mandoline, which I love,especially for around $40, as of 2013)


cutting board
french knife or cleaver
time to clean up after your prep

Ingredients:
"Any edible raw veggies you desire"
I used...fresh and washed, patted dry

• Carrots
• Red Cabbage
• Zucchini
• Red Onion
• Cilantro
• Spinach (sliced and added before eating)

Method...
*  Clean countertop and work area
*  Have your veggies washed, peeled if necessary, and ready to shred
*  Use the mandoline to make very small long slices of the of the veggies.  Mix all veggies together with tongs (except leafy greens or water heavy veggies like tomatoes, wait until ready to eat to mix those in with slaw). 
*  Store the slaw in ceramic or glass bowl with wrap on top in frig.  Will keep for a few to 4, 5 days.

 This will happen very fast, 1 zucchini takes around 5 seconds to shred.  
*  The biggest part of this is cleaning up the kitchen after all the prep.  Use vinegar and baking soda to clean the garbage disposal if you used that for peels and scraps.  If not, remember to take the compost out (ants can smell a good salad:--))

patience and meltable mozzarella

Here is my first homemade meltable mozzarella on a slice of pizza.   Recipe from "Artisan Vegan Cheese" by Miyoko Schinner.  I bought the cookbook a few months ago, but it takes time and patience to gather some of the cultures and to make soy milk yogurt.  The meltable cheese is worth the waiting and spreads and melts as promised---tastes great too, cheaper and better than store purchased!!  More reviews on this book to come.

I have notes and post it tabs all over this book---its been fun!!

nut extra heavy cream (#2)

The vegan cooking world is a very exciting place compared to a decade ago.  I'm running out of things to post because most of us are getting the hang of veganizing everything.  One of the best food items right now are the nut milks and creams made in a blender (the cheeses also).  I wanted to post this simple heavy, heavy nut cream because it works so well with a pasta dish or any heavy cream-like dish or casserole--only 4 ingredients.

So many great vegan cookbooks and blogs, so little time---keep on veganizing!

Extra Heavy Almond Nut Cream on garlic Pasta Primavera with
Seitan Cutlet strips and mixed veggies 

Equipment:
High power blender
spatula to scrape sides
sauce pan to blanch almonds (you can use cashews, or almost any nut you fancy mixed with seeds, etc.)

Ingredients...
1 cup blanched and peeled almonds
1 -2 cups of water (maybe a little more if yours is too thick)
1/4 cup light fresh oil, I used light olive oil
to taste....salt

Method:
combine nuts, oil and 1 cup of the water and blend until becoming thick, add more water, a little at a time until very, very thick.
taste and add salt to your liking

*Add garlic, spices, fresh herbs, a little white wine or anything you see fit to make your favorite heavy cream dish*