Vegan MoFo: Butternut squash soup

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: orange/yellow

Today was cool and rainy, which always puts me in the mood for soup and bread.  Add to that the butternut squash I got on sale (88 cents!!) and dinner was a no-brainer.  I've made this both on the stovetop and in my slow cooker, and it works equally well both ways.  Today I left it chunky, but sometimes I'll puree it with my immersion blender.

 2 c. butternut squash, peeled and cubed

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

1/4 c. onion (or more to taste), diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 tsp. ground thyme

1/4 tsp. ground sage

1 c. red lentils, rinsed and picked over

4 c. vegetable broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil, thyme and sage in a dutch oven or pot over medium-low heat.  Add onion and cook for 3-5 minutes, until onion begins to soften.  Add squash, carrot and garlic.  Cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes until squash and carrots begin to soften (stirring occasionally to prevent sticking).  Add lentils and broth.  Simmer for 30 minutes or so, until lentils are cooked.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

I served the soup with these biscuits.  So delicious and perfect for a cool, rainy day!

Vegan MoFo: Zucchini-chard tamales

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: green

I have a Swiss chard plant this year, and right now it's providing me with lots of leaves.  So I thought I'd take advantage of that with today's recipe.

I used Thyme & Love's tamale recipe, subbing chard for the kale.  It was my first time making tamales, and they were delicious!  It is a little labor-intensive, so I probably won't be making these weekly or monthly but this is a recipe I'll make again.

Vegan MoFo: Oven-roasted tomatoes

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: red

Happy Friday the 13th!  I know yesterday I talked about enjoying the last bit of summer before it's gone.  And yet here I am today, posting about canning oven-roasted tomatoes - both processes that generate heat at a time when I'm trying to stay cool.  But what can I say, heat wave or not, fall is on my mind.  Plus I wanted to preserve my tomatoes before they went bad.

Here's my canning setup.  The tall pot is the one I actually do my canning in, while I keep water simmering in the smaller pot in case I need to add more to the canner while processing.  And when you're canning tomatoes (which need to boil for at least 85 minutes - yes you read that right, almost an hour and a half), you're going to need more water.  Random aside: Also note my Kitchenaid mixer in the background.  I just got it running again, yay!  I'll post about that little resurrection after MoFo.  :)

The tomatoes, just out of the oven.  I had just under 2.5 pounds, which gave me 4 pints canned.  I used the Pick Your Own instructions, except I left the tomatoes whole since they were cherries.  I roasted them at 450F for about 40 minutes.

My jars, boiling away in the pot.  I don't yet have a trivet (silicon thingy that keeps the jars from actually sitting on the metal bottom of the pot, thus keeping them from accidentally shattering while processing), so I put a dishcloth on the bottom of my pot.

One of the finished jars.  I can't wait to open them in the middle of the winter!

If you've never canned before (and even if you have), you should check out this post on canning safety.

Vegan MoFo: Because one juice just isn't enough

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: blue/purple

It's been so hot lately (Monday we had our latest-ever-recorded 100F day) that what I really crave is juice.  Cold, refreshing, delicious, wonderful juice.  Even though I still have some kiwis left from Monday's recipe, I decided to use up the last of my blackberries instead.  I threw them, some apples and half a cucumber into the juicer and this is what came out.  And it tasted so good!

When the calendar says September I want to start putting away my tank tops, trading them for scarves and boots and sweaters, and I want to start drinking hot cider and thinking about putting up my fall decorations.  This stifling heat has squelched that desire so far, and since I may be moving further north (snow in October north) soon, I'm trying to enjoy the heat while it lasts.

Vegan MoFo: Tater tot casserole

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: white

I'd never had tater tot casserole before I met Mr Pescador.  I was introduced to it as one of his family's Sunday dinners.  They don't happen every Sunday, but pretty regularly his mom and her husband have their kids (and significant others and/or children) over for dinner.  One week they had tater tot casserole.  Mr Pescador really like it so I agreed to try and replicate it, vegan-style.

I tried to stick pretty close to the original, but I couldn't resist adding some veggies.  So far my favorite is mushrooms and green beans.  You can try whatever combination you like and even up the quantity of veggies, but you may need to decrease the amount of TVP so everything still fits in the casserole dish.  Sometimes I make it in a single 9x9 casserole, and others I split it into 2 smaller casseroles and put a layer of cheese slices between the TVP mix and the tater tots (non-dairy for me, regular for Mr Pescador).  And I add broccoli to mine because he hates broccoli, and I love it.  

4 oz. cremini mushrooms, chopped
2 Tbsp. diced onion (or more, to your taste)
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic (or more, to your taste)
1 Tbsp. + 2 Tbsp. non-dairy butter or margarine
1/3 c. flour
3 c. non-dairy milk, unsweetened plain
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
2 c. TVP crumbles
1 c. frozen green beans
Cheese, optional (slices or shreds)
Frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease your casserole dish(es).  Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a large/wide saucepan.  Saute mushrooms, onions and garlic until softened.  Put in the casserole dish (or divide between dishes).  Add TVP and green beans, and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, in the saucepan melt the remaining 2 Tbsp. butter.  Whisk in flour and cook for a few minutes, to get rid of the raw flour taste.  Slowly whisk in milk and garlic salt.  Cook until thickened and bubbly.  Pour into casserole dish(es) and mix well.  Add cheese layer, if using, then top with the tater tots.  Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until tater tots are golden brown and crispy.

Vegan MoFo: Pina colada cupcakes

Today's Cooking the Rainbow color: orange/yellow

If you like pina coladas... Sorry, I can't think about these cupcakes without singing the Jimmy Buffet song.  Last week I mentioned I made several of the desserts for my wedding reception.  Look for a post with all the recipes and how I timed everything so it wasn't completely overwhelming next month, but in the meantime here's a little teaser.

I used the recipe from Love Like a Vegan with a few changes:
For the cupcakes, I used only vanilla extract.  When I made my test batch back in June, I felt like the coconut extract overpowered the pineapple.  Also, I increased the amounts by 1/3 to make a full dozen:
1-1/3 c. flour
1-1/3 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt
2/3 c. crushed pineapple
2/3 c. canned coconut milk, shaken to combine
1/3 c. canola oil
2/3 c. + 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. sugar
1-1/3 tsp. vanilla extract
For the reception, I made these as mini cupcakes - I aimed for all the treats to be 2-3 bites so people could try multiple things.  As minis, this recipe makes about 3-1/2 dozen, and I baked them for 22 minutes.  They bake up kind of dense; not quite muffin-dense but close.  I think I may try this recipe with some baking soda and vinegar to see if I can get it to fluff up.

And the adjusted frosting recipe:
1/3 c. non-dairy butter or margarine (if you're avoiding palm oil, Blue Bonnet Light is an affordable option - as far as I know it's only the Light)
1/3 c. shortening
1-1/2 c. powdered sugar
2/3 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 tsp. coconut extract
about 1-1/2 Tbsp. coconut milk
After everything was mixed in, I let my mixer beat the frosting for 5-7 minutes to make it light and fluffy (and awesome!).  Then I used an icing bag and this tip to frost the cooled cupcakes.  Just squeeze a dollop onto the cupcake and lift up, releasing the bag as you go.

I'll leave you with a photo of the dessert spread of my reception.  I ended up with 5 cupcake flavors, 8 other desserts, and one 6" cake for Mr Pescador and I to cut, plus a fruit platter.

Vegan MoFo: Juice

Today's Cooking the Rainbow theme color: green

Kiwi apple pear juice!
1-2 kiwi, peeled
2 pears, washed and cored*
2 apples, washed and cored*
1/2 cucumber, washed
Run everything through the juicer and enjoy!

*I core my apples and pears before juicing because the seeds contain small amounts of cyanide.  I also usually add half a cucumber to all my juices - it makes sure the juice doesn't get too sweet or thick, and I like how refreshing it makes things (who knew fresh juice could be made more refreshing?).

Nutrition Benefits
kiwi: vitamin E, potassium, copper, vitamin C, and vitamin K
apple: vitamin C
pear: vitamin C
cucumber: magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, vitamin C, vitamin K, and potassium