Flour's Fabulous Vegan Spring Risotto

Ingredients:

• Arborio or Carnaroli rice....2 cups
  
• Olive oil....3/4 cup
  
• Onions....one medium, diced small
  
• Garlic...6 cloves, 3 minced, 3 smashed
  
• Water or vegetable stock....4-5 cups
  
• Fresh morel mushrooms....1/4 pound of fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
  
• Asparagus: tough ends snapped off and cut into one inch pieces....one pound
  
• English peas, fresh or frozen....3/4 cup
  
• Ramps, cleaned....1 cup
  
• Lemon zest....1 tbsp
  
• Lemon juice.... 2 tbsp
  
• Salt and pepper...to taste
  

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. 
   
2. Sauté the onions and garlic until soft. 
   
3. Add the rice with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently until fragrant. 
   
4. Add 4 cups of water or vegetable stock and bring to boil. 
   
5. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. ( this is different than the usual risotto method but it's faster and yields the same result! ) 
   
6. Cook for 15 minutes. Checking after ten, and adding more liquid if necessary.
7. While the risotto cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and fill a large bowl with ice and water. 
   
8. Add the asparagus and peas to the water and blanch for 3-4 minutes. Immediately transfer them, with a slotted spoon, to the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. 
   
9. Next add the cleaned ramps and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the ramps to a colander and place under cold water until chilled. 
   
10. In a sauté pan over med-high heat, heat another tablespoon of olive oil. 
    
11. Add the mushrooms and quickly sauté them for about two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a small plate to cool.
    
12. Check the risotto. If the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, remove it from the heat, keeping the cover on.
    
13. In a blender, add the three cloves of smashed garlic, lemon juice, and ramps. (squeeze the ramps in a kitchen towel to remove any excess moisture and chop them roughly to remove any excess moisture.) Turn on the blender and puree. 
    
14. Slowly add the olive oil until a smooth texture is achieved. Taste, and season with salt and pepper.
    
15. Remove the cover to the risotto pot and add the ramp pesto, stirring until fully incorporated. 
    
16. Next add the mushrooms, blanched vegetables and lemon zest. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper.
    

That's all there is to it! Easy, fresh and a delicious way to celebrate the arrival of spring. Enjoy!

Joanne Chang's Vegan Chocolate Ganache

2 more V02 Exclusive Recipes!!!!!!

Joanne Chang is the owner of Flour Bakery and Myer's and Chang. Flour Bakery is an amazing bakery and sandwich shop located on Washington Street in Boston's South End, and on Farnsworth Street in Boston's Fort Point district. I myself frequently have lunch there! They feature Vegan soups and dinner specials as well! Myers & Chang is "a funky indie diner setting offering Chef/Owner Joanne Chang and Executive Chef Matthew Barros's very personal interpretation of Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese specialties." Imagine Asian/Fusion Tapas: fantastic small plates of extraordinary asian cooking. There are plenty of Vegetarian and Vegan options that you will adore!

Check out Joanne's pending cookbook, due in 2010: Click for information

Joanne Chang's Chocolate Ganache (for frosting chocolate cakes or just eating from the bowl!):

Ingredients: 

• Four 3 oz. bars of dark organic chocolate
  
• 6 oz. organic soy milk 
  

Directions:

1. Heat milk almost to a boil. 
   
2. Chop chocolate BARS and place in a bowl. 
   
3. Pour milk over chocolate in bowl and stir until chocolate is melted. 
   
4. Adjust to desired taste and thickness accordingly....and enjoy!
   

Joanne Chang's Vegan Lowfat Chocolate Cupcakes

A V02 Exclusive Recipe!!!!!!

Joanne Chang is the owner of Flour Bakery and Myer's and Chang.  Flour Bakery is an amazing bakery and sandwich shop located on Washington Street in Boston's South End, and on Farnsworth Street in Boston's Fort Point district.  I myself frequently have lunch there!  They feature Vegan soups and dinner specials as well!  Myers & Chang is "a funky indie diner setting offering Chef/Owner Joanne Chang and Executive Chef Matthew Barros's very personal interpretation of Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese specialties."  Imagine Asian/Fusion Tapas: fantastic small plates of extraordinary asian cooking.  There are plenty of Vegetarian and Vegan options that you will adore!

Check out Joanne's pending cookbook, due in 2010:  Click for information

Joanne Chang's Vegan Lowfat Chocolate Cupcakes (or Cake!)

Yield: one 6 inch cake that serves 6-8 [or 24 cupcakes or 48 mini-cupcakes]

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  
• ½ cup granulated sugar
  
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (finely ground espresso beans)
  
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1 cup cold water
  
• ¼ cup oil
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 tablespoons molasses (some kind lighter than blackstrap)
  
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional - for dusting the top)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease (vegan "butter") and flour a 6-inch cake pan [or two 12-cup muffin pans, or four 12-cup mini-muffin pans].
   
2. In a medium bowl mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder and chocolate chips.  
   
3. In another bowl whisk together water, oil, vanilla extract, and molasses.  
   
4. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth and homogeneous.  
5. Pour batter into prepared cake pan [cupcake tins] and bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the middle, about 60-65 minutes [20-25 for cupcake, or 10-12 for mini-cupcakes].  
   
6. Let cool for an hour [5 - 15 minutes for cupcakes] and invert and cool on a cooling rack.
   
7. Sprinkle with a dusting of powdered sugar and serve at room temperature.
   
8. Cake may be stored in an airtight container for 2 days.
   

Bonnie's note:  These cupcakes are fantastic, and are also available at both of Flour's bakery locations (if you don't have time to bake them, you can go pick some up)!  Be warned though, they sell out quickly!

Braised Celery Root with Chickpeas and Saffron

Living in New England and trying to use local ingredients, one ends up with a lot of root vegetables during the winter (we get ours in the Dogma box from Boston Organics).  One recurrence in our house has been Celery, or Celeriac, root.  But, what to do with these monstrosities???

This fantastic recipe was taken from Vegetarian Times magazine. It is surprisingly easy to make, with only 2 actual cooking steps.  The biggest pain is peeling the Celery root.  Once that's done, everything else is a breeze, and you'll be glad you spent the time.  This is an extremely delicious dish, is great over farrow or brown rice, and tastes better over time (fantastic leftovers)!!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups vegetable broth, low-sodium, divided
• 1 1-gram package of saffron
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1 and 1/2 cups)
• 4 cups celery root, peeled and diced
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 15-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs)
• 2 Tbs. drained capers, optional
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 3 Tbs. pine nuts
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Bring 1/2 cup broth to a boil in a small saucepan.  Stir in the saffron, cover, and remove pot from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes or until saffron has softened and broth is a rich, gold color.  This will smell fantastic
2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, and cook 7 to 9 minutes, or until soft and golden, stirring often.  Stir in remaining 1 cup vegetable broth, saffron broth mixture, celery root, chickpeas, garlic, capers, and red pepper flakes.  Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes, or until celery root cubes are tender when pierced with tip of knife.  Stir in pine nuts and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper if desired, and sprinkle with parsley.

Bonnie and Ian's quick breakfast Smoothie!

Here's a nice simple recipe for a healthy breakfast beverage!

This is not an exact recipe, as its different every time, but the ingredients remain the same:

for 2 people:

2 Bananas

Plain or Chocolate Soymilk (we've been trying Almond milk lately, because there's just so much soy!)

1 scoop Vanilla protein powder

2 - 4 hearty scoops of Organic Creamy Peanut Butter (Teddy is great!)

Ice

Take the two bananas, and break them up into small pieces, about an inch or two long.  Put them in the blender.  Then, put in the protein powder.  Next, add the soymilk (you can try to measure out a pint in a pint glass, but I just dump in a bunch and add more if needed).  Then, add the peanut butter.  For 2 people, I like at least 3 scoops, but we love peanut butter.  Finally, add crushed ice.  

Blend for about 2 minutes until smooth.  Test with a straw, and add more soymilk or ice if needed.  

Pour, and drink.

I've found this order of ingredients to work very well.  The Peanut butter and Protein powder tend to stick to the side of the blender, so if you put in the powder before the soymilk, you can liquify it.  Putting in the peanut butter after the soymilk keeps it wet, and it doesn't stick as much.

yummy

MMmmm Sausage, Potato, and Green Bean Casserole

All right, recipe number one!

I'd like to note that I do not want to infringe on any copyrights with this blog, as it is only a means to share recipe's that we have found, made, and truly enjoyed.  Thus, I may have to do a little abbreviation on a few things!  However, I will list the inspirations for these recipes!

MMmmm Sausage, Potato, and Green Been Casserole:

• 2 pounds of potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces (choice of potatoes is yours, though we like a mix of Red and Yukon Gold)
  
• 1/2 pound Green Beans cut in half (yucky ends removed, obviously)
• 1 Yellow onion, thickly sliced (or 2, if you like onions a lot!)
• at least 3 cloves of garlic, minced (I prefer about 9 cloves, but that's me!)
• 3 tablespoons Organic Tamari
• 1/4 cup pure Organic Maple Syrup
• 3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard (though I like 4 or 5)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 package Tofurkey brand Sweet Italian Sausages, sliced as thick as desired (package comes with 4 sausages.  Use as much as you see fit, but at least 2)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Put all the veggies in a 9X13 casserole dish (glass preferred, metal fine)

In a mixing bowl, stir together everything else (except the sausage) until the mustard is dissolved and you have a slightly thick brown liquid, like so:

Pour this concoction over the veggies, and mix Very well!

Cover with Tin foil, and place in the oven for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven, dump into a big mixing bowl, and mix Very well again!  

Turn the oven down to 350

Back into casserole dish, and back into the oven, uncovered, for another 25 minutes.

Remove, back into bowl, and mix again (OPTIONAL:  You can add the sausage now, if you like, but it is precooked, so its fine to add at the end)

One more time, back into the over uncovered, for another 25 minutes.

Remove.  If you didn't add the sausage, add it now, and stir it up.  The nice hot veggies should heat it up sufficiently!  

Serve, and enjoy!   

This dish is good hot, warm, or cold, and for pretty much any meal of the day.  

I would recommend it with a good beer, such as Allagash Interlude, and extra mustard for dipping (Note: Not all beers are Vegan!!!  I do know that Great Scot, a delicious ale sold at Trader Joe's, is in fact Vegan.  Just wanted to make sure you knew).  We have made it numerous times, and its always good!  Makes me feel very German!

This recipe was inspired (and 90% copied) from Vegan with a Vengeance.  It's a Great Book!