Eggplant Walnut Meatballs

Looking to cut out some meat from your diet? Why not try something that will be sure to please your whole family? Meatballs!

I've never been a big fan of greasy meatballs, and I never succeeded in frying them or baking them evenly - mine always turned out looking like flying saucers. And you have to admit it's a bit barbaric to touch all that meat with your hand and form the little balls. What about the giant meatballs? Are you a fan?

Basically what I did with this recipe is add 1 C ground walnuts to my already delicious eggplant balls. The nuts added body, texture, flavor, and protein.

Tracy's Eggplant Walnut Meatballs

1 ½ pound of firm, small, peeled eggplants, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 T olive oil

½  t salt

½ C fresh parsley

1/3 C fresh basil

1 C panko bread crumbs

2/3 C vegan parmesan cheese(recipe below)

2 eggs (I used 2 flax eggs)

1 C walnuts

Roast the eggplant cubes and garlic cloves in the oil and salt.  (Foil covered baking sheet, 350 degrees, 30 minutes.) When cool, transfer to a food processor and process till chunky. Remove to a large mixing bowl. Next, grind the walnuts, parsley, and basil in the food processor until chunky. Add to the eggplant bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon. Form small balls with wet hands and bake on a parchment lined sheet at 375 for about 25-35 minutes. 

These freeze very well, so make plenty! They reheat well by lightly frying them just before serving. I do not recommend mixing them in the sauce - they retain their delicate shape and taste better if you simply serve them atop your pasta and sauce. 

Best Vegan Parmesan

¼ C nutritional yeast      

1 C raw cashews              

1 t salt

Here’s what you do:

Process in a high speed blender until a powder is produced. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Asparagus and Mushroom-Walnut Pate en Croute

Vegan Month of Food 2017

"Lines and Light"
(a line of original poetry or a photo of light every day for the month of October)

Day 4: Worst Catered Meal
(click HERE to see what others are sharing today)

"Light on a Thankful Bounty"
(October always makes me thankful.)

The worst catered meal I was ever served was many years ago. I was a new vegan, and the hostess kindly requested that the kitchen make a special meal for me. Great, I thought! We sat down to eat and everyone tucked right into their chicken breasts, their roast beef, their salmon fillets and I just sat there, waiting. I was pretty excited to see my 'special meal' because their plates were piled high with veggies - salad, baked potato, asparagus, etc. 

When my meal finally arrived, it was (and I am not even exaggerating one tiny bit) only a thin layer of puff pastry with three (THREE) pieces of asparagus tucked in it. No salad, no potato, no extra veggies on the plate....no sauce, no dressing, no condiments whatsoever. 

I can remember feeling super embarrassed, but now I realize, this meal had nothing to do with me. The chef simply was not prepared to handle a vegan meal. His fault, not mine. 

Because I've had that meager meal in the back of my mind for all these years, today's topic was a cinch for me. Check out MY vegan asparagus in puff pastry! NICE! Fit for a vegan or a king. 

Here's what you need:

2 pieces puff pastry - thaw according to package (only about 40 minutes, I think)

1 lb button mushrooms, diced

1 lb shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, discarded. Dice the tops

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T non-dairy butter

1 C walnuts

1/4 C panko bread crumbs

2 T dried parsley

1 lb fresh asparagus, lightly steamed and set aside

4-6 thick slices of roasted tomatoes (probably NOT store bought.... fresh might work well also)

Here's what you do:

Saute the mushrooms in the butter until quite juicy and soft. Then add the garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes. 

See how chunky?

In a food processor, add the walnuts, mushrooms, bread crumbs, and parsley. Process just a bit - leave it kinda chunky. The moisture in the mushrooms will be enough for it to form into a type of 'pate.' 

Build your creation on a parchment lined cookie sheet. 

Serve lots of veggies on the side.

Spread the mushroom mixture on one piece of puff pastry, extending about 1/2 inch from the edges. cover the mushrooms with roasted tomatoes, and then place the asparagus over it all. I got fancy with my second layer, but just plopping it on the top would be equally delicious. Use a fork to seal the two layers. 

Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. 

Allow to cool a bit, use a serrated knife, serve with pride! I'm pretty happy with this meal! 

Asparagus and Walnut Lasagna

Here is a very simple and elegant lasagna based on a recipe found in the tiny gem of a cookbook: “Vegan…Made Simple.” I have mentioned this book before and I can’t recommend it enough. (As I write this, I see there are used copies on amazon.com for $.01…..no kidding!)

Check out how simple the ingredient list is. The method is equally simple. The result is very sophisticated.

Here’s What You Need:

1 pound of fresh asparagus
2 T olive oil
2 T non-dairy butter
½ C minced onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ C flour
4 C soy milk
1 T soy sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce (optional because this is not a vegan ingredient)
1 C chopped walnuts, divided
8 lasagna noodles

Here’s What You Do:

Prepare the lasagna noodles as directed on the package. Set aside.

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough ends of the asparagus. Lightly steam it. Set aside.

Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until they are very soft, but not brown. 

Add in the flour and incorporate it into the melted fats. Add the milk, a bit at a time, whisking it thoroughly. When the milk has all been added, continue to cook over medium high heat until it thickens. Season with soy and optional Worcestershire.

Layer ½ of the asparagus, ½ of the walnuts and 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish. Arrange 4 of the lasagna noodles over the sauce. Make another layer, ending with sauce. Sprinkle 1 few table spoons of walnuts on the top of the casserole. Bake for about 20-30 minutes until warm and bubbly.

Allow to cook for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving. 

Salted Caramel Nuts from Ina Garten

I have not fallen in love with Windows 10 yet, especially the part where I attach my camera and WOOSH my pictures are gone! Well, not gone, but ‘downloaded’ somewhere (SOMEWHERE) *somewhere* on my computer.

For example, I found these photos in a file named ‘casseroles’. Sigh. I think I’ll need to re-organize that file. ….. or leave it alone and check there first for all my sauces, burritos, jams and jellies, pasta, casseroles, AND candied nuts. And these nuts were great! Salty and sweet, easy to grab a handful every time you pass by. Perfect for a gift. Kinda Christmassy, but who cares about that?

This recipe comes from Ina Garten and she makes everything look so dang easy. For example, nowhere in the recipe does it say that the sugar literally goes from solid to liquid in 2 seconds and also that is goes from golden to burned in another 2 seconds. Mine were just on the edge of being burned and ruined. 

Follow Ina's recipe carefully and keep the heat low under the melting sugar. It's like a chemistry experiment.  Basically, you melt sugar, add vanilla, and pour over roasted nuts. Sprinkle with sea salt. Find the original recipe HERE. 

Retro Pineapple Cheeseball

I call this Retro Cheeseball because it totally reminds me of the 1970s. In fact, anything with pineapple and green pepper reminds me of the 70s. Lawry's Season Salt, too. I don't know why. Now that I think about it, a cheeseball reminds me of the 70s. Cocktail parties, church potlucks, open houses. Well, it's time to being back the cheeseball - this one is super.

As I was struggling with this mound of cheese, trying to roll it in the walnuts, I realized that this might be the very first cheeseball I have ever made. I served it at lunch on Thanksgiving Day and we polished it up the next day for leftovers.

Here's what you need:
8 oz cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand vegan cheese - it's excellent!)
1/3 C crushed pineapple (drained well)
2-3 T minced green pepper
1-2 T minced green onion
1-2 t Lawry's season salt
1 C chopped walnuts

Here's what you do:
Bring the cheese to room temperature. Using a fork, mash in the pineapple, green pepper, green onion, Lawry's, and 1/2 C of the walnuts. Place cheese mixture in fridge to completely chill.

Spread the remaining walnuts on wax paper and plop the completely chilled cheese on the nuts. Carefully, press the mass into a ball and place on a serving plate.

Celery Salad with Miso Dressing (deliciousliving.com)

Celery is surprisingly nutritious.  It's loaded with vitamins K and C. It's great in all kinds of soups and stews; I even put it in my chunky spaghetti sauce sometimes. I never really ate much celery as a kid and I often forget about eating it as a snack or raw vegetable now-a-days too. But I feel as if I have found the BEST way to eat celery! I made this salad about a dozen times this summer: small servings for my husband and me and large amounts for potlucks. Always rave reviews. 

The best thing about this salad is how unusual it is -  uncommonly delicious. Plus, it's gorgeous on a plate or large platter.

2 cloves minced garlic (or use a garlic press)

1 T light miso

1 T dijon

2 t agave

4 T olive oil

8 stalks celery, sliced diagonally into very thin slices

1/4 C toasted walnuts
coarsely ground black pepper for garnish

baby lettuce or bib lettuce

Whisk the dressing ingredients and pour over sliced celery. Mix well. Arrange celery over leaves of soft lettuce. Garnish with toasted walnuts and cracked black pepper. 

Lentil Walnut Loaf

 Day 2: Recreate a meal from your childhood (This photo is my second helping.) 

Some of these Vegan Month of Food themes are easier than others.  Day 10's theme is Something Blue. That's a fun food theme. I'm planning on either blackberries from my garden or Le Puy lentils. I'm having a mental block over the theme for Day 5: Best Sandwich Ever. Seems like that'd be easy, but I don't want to simply say BLT and be done. (Although a vegan BLT can be killer.) The most daunting day is Day 23: Fusion Challenge! The exclamation point was not added my me; it's included in the day's challenge. That's a toughie for me.

(This photo is my first helping. Obviously I didn't let the loaf cool enough.... not too pretty!) 

Today was simple for me (and probably lots of other VeganMoFo participants who grew up in the 60s). Meatloaf. Meatloaf improved. Meatloaf x 10 on the flavor scale. Meatloaf that can be served to company. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas.

(This photo is lunch the next day. Pretty, right?) 

I used *this* recipe and a modified fancy ketchup . (I loved ketchup as a kid and I love it more as an adult.)  I also found the same recipe *here.* Both sites give credit to Forks Over Knives for this recipe, but I could not for the life of me find the original recipe on the web or in any of my Forks Over Knives cookbooks. (If you have not viewed the Forks Over Knives movie, you MUST.) 

Here's what you need:

3 C cooked lentils

1 16 ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained

2 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped parsley

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled

2 C raw walnuts

2 C oats (not instant), divided

2 T tomato paste

1 t salt

1 t pepper

1/2 t cumin

1 t poultry seasoning

Fancy Ketchup

1 C ketchup

1/2 C dark brown sugar

1/2 t allspice

1 t dry mustard

Here's what you do:

Mix the lentils, veg, onion, parsley, walnuts and 1 C oats in a food processor. Work in batches. In a large bowl, add the remaining 1 C oats, tomato paste, salt, pepper, cumin and seasoning. Mix well. Put mixture in a standard loaf pan. There's plenty to make two loaves. Mix all ketchup ingredients well and slather liberally over each loaf. Bake for about 1 hour.

Flourless Chocolate Tart (From “The Vegan Table”)

Apparently everyone else has their mind on pumpkin …. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin lattes and so forth. 

 I have my mind on chocolate. I made this for a dessert buffet and it was killer. Gotta plan some sort of dinner party so I can make this again.

I lifted up the tart so you can see the nutty crust. Delish! Look carefully and you
can see my new orange purse in the background....vegan, of course! 

 Thanks to the awesome Colleen Patrick-Goudreau for the recipe from “The Vegan Table.”  

Nut Loaf – Vegan Month of Food

Poesy and Plate
 Vegan Month of Food  2014

(check out the hundreds of VeganMoFo blogs HERE)
My goal: cook and blog about vegan food 20 times
  during the month of September. 
My theme: words and food

Night is My Sister, and How Deep in Love, by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Night is my sister, and how deep in love,
How drowned in love and weedily washed ashore,
There to be fretted by the drag and shove
At the tide's edge, I lie—these things and more:
Whose arm alone between me and the sand,
Whose voice alone, whose pitiful breath brought near,
Could thaw these nostrils and unlock this hand,
She could advise you, should you care to hear.
Small chance, however, in a storm so black,
A man will leave his friendly fire and snug
For a drowned woman's sake, and bring her back
To drip and scatter shells upon the rug.
No one but Night, with tears on her dark face,
Watches beside me in this windy place.

Day One - Delicious!

I’m pulling out the big vegan guns today with a nut loaf. This is the type of recipe I usually tip-toe around for about a year, glancing at the recipe from time to time, wondering when my husband will be out of town so I can try it – alone, in the privacy of a plate hovering over the garbage disposal in case of a gastronomic disaster. For an entire year, I ask myself, “Too vegan? Too many nuts? Where are the beans? Will I gag? Just plain old too weird?”

Well, first let me say that there is no such thing as ‘too vegan’ cuz ‘vegan’ just means ‘real food in its natural state’. I mean, for example, an apple is vegan.  Let me also say, there’s truly no thing as ‘too many nuts’ is there? Besides, these are pulverized so much that it’s not like eating a mouthful of walunts….crunch, crunch, crunch….no, not at all.

Next I want to say that I did not gag and I did not hover over the garbage disposal. Just the opposite.  I ate the entire 3 nut loaves all by myself. Mr. Living Cookbook never ate a bite. (Maybe I secretly DO harbor a smidge of ‘too vegan’ deep inside? Gotta get over that…..)

Leftovers the next day - still delicious! 

I include the touching poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay because the owner of this delicious recipe is one of three sisters – all three vegetarians their entire lives. I believe this was their mother’s recipe, originally called ‘Mother Eastlund’s Nut Roast.” I was fortunate enough to be given a copy by her son in law. He told me that the sisters were raised near a slaughter house and therefore became vegetarian. (I pause here to wonder what might happen if we all had a glimpse into a slaughter house….hmmmm.)

This nut loaf was frozen, uncooked. It turned out great!
 Just the tiniest bit soggy in the middle, as you might see in the photo. 

Mother Eastlund’s Nut Roast
 (note: This make an incredible amount! Cut this recipe in half and it’s enough for 1 ½ loaf pans, or one loaf pan and one smaller casserole for the freezer. This freezes great!)

2 lbs English walnuts (Diamond brand is best)

½ pkg. herb croutons (such as Pepperidge Farm seasoned)

1 ½ green peppers

4 stalks celery

1 ½ medium onions

Some sprigs of fresh parsley

Grind all of the above in a food processor until very fine

Add:

¾ - 1 large can of tomato juice (just keep adding juice till it’s moist but not wet – mine might have been too wet) (Today I added about 8 ounces.)

3 eggs (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer, but I think flax eggs would be better.)

½ t ground marjoram

½ t poultry type seasoning (I used a homemade Chicken-Style seasoning)

Beau Monde seasoning and tobasco to taste

Mix all ingredients and place in a buttered loaf pan

Press 3 T butter (Earth Balance is the best) into the top of the loaf which will create a nice crust

Bake 350 ° for 45-60 minutes or until brown.

Cool before slicing. (Mine was a bit wet in the center, but it didn’t affect the taste. The loaves I pulled from the freezer were also a bit wet.)

Serve with Mushroom Gravy.
(note: double the gravy recipe to have enough to serve over mashed potatoes)

Saute lots of mushrooms in butter until brown. Set aside. In the same pan brown 1 t sugar until toasted, but not burned. Add 2 T butter, and 1 T flour to create a nice brown roux. Add 2 C veggie broth and stir till thick. Return the mushrooms to the gravy.

3 Noteworthy News stories you may have missed – Plus my favorite Tapenade

In honor of the 20^th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, NPR recently interviewed a man who has written his 2^nd book about the man. I had no idea there was even one book about Cobain, but I have since learned there are many, many, many. Why? I don’t know. Nirvana fans, my apologies. What’s so fascinating about this guy?

"Kurt loved plaid."

Well according to the radio interview, Cobain is responsible for the word *grunge* and all that is associated with that term – including, of all things, fashion. You can literally google the term ‘grunge fashion’ and see entire lines of clothing. Thanks, Kurt.

"I'm now going to add a stick of butter....."

And speaking of drug abuse, how about recent news that Nigella Lawson was barred from entering the United States for previous drug use? Seriously? Please compare that to the dozens of American celebrities and politicians (including our current president) who flaunt their drug use in our faces and continue to live very happy and productive lives in the lime light. Rob Ford, anyone? Uh, no thank you. Let’s cut the domestic goddess some slack. Any woman who snacks while standing at the fridge in the middle of the night is all right with me.

"Honey, let's eat in tonight."

Have I upset anyone? Well here’s my last noteworthy news story. I hope you are sitting down. A Michigan couple recently burned down their apartment complex while using a blowtorch to remove the fur off of a squirrel they were planning to eat for supper. More drug abuse? Possibly. They don’t call it dope for nothing.

Here’s what you need for the world’s BEST Tapenade – everyone RAVES about this:

1 lemon – zest and juice

2 small cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces best quality black olives, minced

½ C fresh flat leaf parsley, minced

4-5 green onions, minced

½ C walnuts, minced

1 C fresh parmesan cheese, grated very fine

4 T olive oil

Mix well and serve with crackers. If using a food processor, watch that you do not pulverize anything beyond recognition. Leave it a bit chunky for the best taste.

Outrageous Brownies: Ina Garten

Have you seen this recipe? It’s killer. I mean, really….one pound of butter? While I was melting the butter and chocolate together, I was thinking that there must be some sort of mistake….one pound of butter. … and cups and cups full of chocolate chips. Ina’s unique addition of a small bit of coffee to everything chocolate is not omitted here, she recommends 2 full tablespoons of instant coffee….I only added 1 tablespoon and that’s plenty. This recipe makes an entire sheet pan overflowing with the most decadent and delicious brownies…plenty to share, plenty to store in the freezer and plenty to munch on straight from the oven.

On a personal note: it is very ironic that I am posting a recipe that calls for one pound of butter today because I am actually toying with the idea of joining VeganMoFo for the month of October. Check it out here. Crazy, right? I would LOVE if any of my readers would like to join with me (and 700 other vegan bloggers from all over the world) – what an eating adventure it could be!

The downside for me is that the entire month must be vegan only posts (ahhh,,,, good-bye, my beloved cheese). According to the rules you can’t even sneak in an egg. The other really tough thing for me is that they encourage 20 different posts! That’s a lot of cooking, photos, eating, blogging, posting….. hey, some of us have to work for a living!

Anyway, I am seriously thinking of trying it for the month of October…..I have mentioned that I am constantly on the lookout for the perfect veggie burger and this would force me to narrow that search down a bit.

Your thoughts? Would you discontinue reading my recipes if I took a vegan holiday? Does the thought of Red Lentil Enchiladas make your finger hover over the ‘delete’ button?  Would you be curious to see what I come up with for my 20 posts? Do you want me to find that perfect veggie burger, once and for all?

GTG… brownies await! (and then probably grilled cheese for lunch….I have a hunk of gouda from the Netherlands lurking in the fridge….hubby brought it home from his recent trip. How he loves me!)

Arugula Pesto

I’m sure you have seen the zillions of types of pesto out there in recipe-land. I am pretty loyal to basil and pine nuts, but since pine nuts are so darn expensive and my basil is not ready to be harvested, I decided to be brave and try an arugula pesto with walnuts…. It’s a combination of all kinds of recipes; I think I even threw in some almonds from the back of the fridge…..Surprisingly, it was awesome! I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I really like this! Yes, it’s ‘spicy’ and ‘bitter’ like arugula, but that gave it a very pleasant taste. Plus, once you add nuts, garlic, butter, oil, cheese and pasta, who cares what the green part is??? !

Be brave like me. Try a new type of pesto.

Here’s what you do:

Harvest a bunch of arugula from your garden, making sure the resident bunny is not busy eating your green beans.

Place the tender leaves in a Cuisinart along with some garlic, nuts, oil, salt and blend away! At this point, I freeze my pesto in ice-cube trays or baggies and tuck them away in the freezer.

 When I’m ready to use it, I add lots of pasta water, fresh Parmesan cheese and a tiny bit of butter. The classic way to use pesto is on pasta, of course. But don’t forget about using it on a pizza or sandwich. 

Oatmeal Bake

Dear Readers, Can you handle two oatmeal recipes in a row? I think so!

OK people. Admit it. We all need to eat healthier. More kale. More nuts and seeds. More whole grains. sigh…… , but it’s not easy with all the sugary, fatty foods surrounding us. That cholesterol number is looming over our heads like a heavy cloud. And don’t forget about the blood pressure number….. sigh…. talk about stress!!!

Well, I’m one of the lucky people who LOVE kale, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Bring on the leafy greens! I think recently I mentioned that I am leaning more and more toward an entirely vegetarian diet and could probably even dip into the vegan world. Now, please don’t cancel your subscription to my blog just because of this news. Eating green stuff doesn’t mean you must wear tie-dye and dread locks. In fact, I’m not even sure what dread locks are or how to spell it….. dread……dred…... don’t ask me! I just know what tastes good and oatmeal is right on the top of my list.

I love old fashioned oatmeal with a big scoop of dark brown sugar and a tablespoon or so of coconut oil for breakfast….. OMG. Add in some fresh fruit and I am a happy girl.

Please try this and let me know what you think. You will be surprised at how delicious and easy it is. It’s kinda like a wholesome, chewy, chocolaty, healthy granola bar on a plate.

This recipe comes from a vegan blog I follow, Vegan Fazool. See the original recipe here.

Here’s what you need:

1 ¾ C old fashioned oatmeal

¼ C white sugar (you can use less here)

¼ C brown sugar

¼ C chopped walnuts

¼ C sliced almonds

¼ dried cranberries or raisins (here in Michigan we are blessed with an abundance of dried cherries, use ‘em if you have ‘em!)

¼ C – ½ C chocolate chips (original recipe calls for vegan chips, but I use regular ones)

1 ¼ t baking powder

½ t salt

½ t cinnamon

3 T ground flaxseed whisked with 4 T water (this is the vegan equivalent of an egg, I believe)

½ C non-dairy milk (We love Silk. You could use almond milk or any of the many varieties of non-dairy milk out there.)

¼ C applesauce (You may use ¼ C oil here, but it’s nice to keep it low-fat. Any combo of oil and applesauce will work, as long as it measures ¼ C)

½ t vanilla

Here’s what you do:

Whisk the flaxseed and water together and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

Combine the dry ingredients…. Oatmeal through cinnamon.

Add the wet ingredients to the flaxseed mixture and mix well.

Add the wet and dry stuff together and mix well. It will be pretty wet, but that’s OK. Pour into a 8x8 baking dish which has been sprayed with Pam. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

(printable recipe)