vegan “chicken” biryani

Posted on by Postmodern Rachel

This is a super easy and delicious one-pot meal. I found it when going through old recipes the other day. Another plus is that you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand. It’d be a great postpartum meal for a friend home with a new baby, or for anyone on a chilly night. Enjoy!

 

vegan chicken biryani

Vegan “Chicken” Biryani

adapted from Cooking Light, January 2009

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 1 package vegetarian “chicken” pieces for cooking (like Beyond Meat, Tofurkey, Quorn, or Gardein). Tofu (drained, pressed, cubed) would work well, too.
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala or curry powder of your choice
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • one 15 oz can chopped tomato, or 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup uncooked basmati rice (or whatever white rice)
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins (or whatever raisins)
  • 1 (14-ounce) can low sodium veggie or “no chicken” broth
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (if you have and like)
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • one lime, cut into 4 wedges

 

Method:

  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add “chicken” to pan; sauté 3 minutes.
  3. Add onion and jalapeño; sauté 3 minutes.
  4. Add ginger, garam masala, cumin, salt, and garlic; sauté 30 seconds.
  5. Add tomato, rice, raisins, and broth; bring to a boil.
  6. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
  7. Stir in cilantro. Plate, and sprinkle with almond slices; serve with lime wedges

(I’m sure you could use brown rice, but you’d probably have to simmer the rice for 40 minutes.)

cardamom coffee cake

Posted on by Postmodern Rachel

I’d been meaning to make this for a while. We have a neighbor who’s been unwell and once upon a time he told me how much he loved cardamom. I love cardamom, too, so when I finally got around to making this, I made a double batch. I took the leftovers to the office, and it was a hit! So, for my colleagues and everyone else, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

vegan cardamom coffee cake

Cardamom Coffee Cake

adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking

ingredients- cake

  • 1 cup nondairy milk
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
  • 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

ingredients- crumble

  • 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar or granulated sugar
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts and/or hazelnuts
  • 1/3 cup nondairy butter, melted or canola oil

method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish/cake pan.
  2. For cake, combine the milk, oil, and vinegar in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, ginger, and salt. Add the milk mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the baking dish.
  3. To make the crumble, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cardamom, ginger, salt, and nuts. Add the butter or oil, and use your hands to thoroughly combine it with the dry ingredients. Spoon it on top of the batter in the cake pan, covering the entire area.
  4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool slightly, serve warm or at room temperature.

Some notes:

  • For a stronger cardamom flavor, I grind up cardamom seeds in a coffee grinder right before adding to the recipe. I was tempted to add a drop of cardamom essential oil, but wasn’t sure if it would be too much. Let me know if you try!
  • The original recipe is for a cinnamon coffee cake, so just replace the cardamom with cinnamon if that’s your preference.
  • The Joy of Vegan Baking was just put out in a new edition for its 10th anniversary! Everything in it is delicious.

C is for Cookie

Posted on by Postmodern Rachel

That’s good enough for me… 

 

I cannot make or eat cookies without this song in my brain. Thanks, Sesame Street!

vegan-cookies-peanut-butter

The boys wanted to make holiday cookies over the winter break, but we made these instead. We’d never made peanut butter cookies before. Jonah loves them, Leo does not. Clearly, there is something wrong with him. Oh, well. I tried. At least the cookies turned out perfect. I should know, I’ve eaten most of them.

vegan-cookies-silpat

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Adapted from the recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

yield: about 3 dozen

Ingredients:

  • 1¾ cups white whole wheat flour, sifted (or all purpose flour)
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent of 1 egg)
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1¼ cups firmly packed brown sugar (I used dark)
  • ¾ cup natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy; “natural” meaning it’s only peanuts)
  • ½ cup nondairy butter
  • 3 tablespoons nondairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup nondairy chocolate chips (optional)
  • ½ cup peanut butter chips (or chopped peanuts) (optional)

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375º F.
  2. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or use nonstick, or silpats.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  4. Whip the egg replacer and water together (by hand in a new bowl, or with blender or food processor) until thick and creamy.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat with hand mixer until well blended. Add the egg replacer mixture and beat until just blended. Add the flour mixture and blend in. Finally, mix in the chips/nuts, if using.
  6. Use your hands to gently roll chunks of batter into pieces about golf-ball sized and place on cookie sheet.
  7. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until set and just beginning to brown. Do not overbake! Remove from oven, let cool on sheet for a few minutes before cooling further on wire rack.
  8. Try not to eat all at once, although who can blame you, really.

speedy slaw

Posted on by Postmodern Rachel

With a rare day off from doula work in New York City, I was running errands when I spied a package of shredded cabbage and had a sudden craving for coleslaw. Not at all seasonal (no pumpkin spice?!), to be sure, but since my cravings are usually for sugary treats, I decided to roll with it. I bought a package of the shredded veg (green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots), and did an internet search for coleslaw dressing when I got home. Five minutes later, I was satisfying my craving.

speedy slaw

adapted from easy coleslaw dressing

all measurements are approximate suggestions—you can eyeball it, this is hard to mess up

Ingredients:

  • one package pre-shredded cabbage and/or carrots
  • fresh baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped (optional, about a large handful)
  • sliced almonds (optional, about 1 – 2 tablespoons)
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise (Just Mayo is the best)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I keep a bottle in the fridge)
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
  • salt and pepper to taste (I like lots)

Method:

  1. In a large bowl, combine the mayo, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Whisk until combined.
  2. Add the shredded cabbage, and spinach and almonds if desired. Toss. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
  3. Eat it up.

 

Joy to the Fishies in the Deep Blue Sea: Vegan “Tuna” Salad

Posted on by Postmodern Rachel

tuna deconstructed

Well, this is a pretty anticlimactic return to the ole blog, but for whatever reason, it inspired me. Lucky you.

I grew up on tuna salad and tuna melts and it was a major comfort food to me, and just one of my favorite things ever. I ate it at least once a week for most of my life. Several years ago at a work event, I had the opportunity to get my mercury level tested for free. I figured it would be high, but it came back at 5 times the “acceptable” high number. Eeks. I didn’t change my behavior too much at that point, but when I was ready to start a family, I went off fish and got tested again and I had brought the level to “undetectable.”

As I moved toward veganism, I knew that tuna salad was one thing I’d miss terribly. So I was thrilled to find easy peasy vegan options. This one is simplified down to the things I like best. While living in the UK for 3 years, I got into the idea of sweet corn instead of celery in the salad and still love it this way.

There are a bajillion vegan “tuna” salad recipes out there, and I’ve tried several. Here’s what I’ve settled on at the moment as my favorite, inspired by the “better-than-tuna salad” recipe in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau‘s The Vegan Table. Amounts are just a suggestion, as this is all very tweakable.

I’ll also mention that my very skeptical husband liked it enough to ask for seconds. Give it a shot.

Vegan “Tuna” Salad

  • chickpeas (a 15 oz can, drained and rinsed)
  • mayo (tofu cashew or Vegenaise or my current fave, Just Mayo) (2 – 3 tablespoons)
  • grainy mustard (1 – 2 tablespoons)
  • sweet corn (1/2 cup or so, I use frozen, no need to thaw unless eating it immediately)
  • dulse flakes (2 – 3 tablespoons)
  • Old Bay seasoning (1 – 2 teaspoons)

Method:

Mash up chickpeas with a fork. Throw in everything else. Stir. Chill for a bit. Try not to eat the whole thing in one sitting but I won’t judge. I’m eating some right now with baby carrots!

tuna mixed

Others you might like:

 

Again with the meal planning.

Posted on by Postmodern Rachel

I’m still trying to get a handle on this, a a meal planning system that works for us. Now that I have 4 people to please, I want to try and keep it simple, healthy, and make stuff everyone will actually LIKE and EAT. I also genuinely enjoy cooking most of the time. It brings me pleasure, I do wish I had more time for it, and that it didn’t necessarily feel like a chore to squeeze in so we could shove some food down our gullets.

We all have our childhood favorites– meals that we’d have over and over that bring back fond memories. I’d like that for my boys, rather than frustrations at the table. At the same time, I also want them to occasionally try new things. But I’ve decided that I’m ok with mostly making the same thing over and over.

Some childhood memory meals of mine include:

  • macaroni with meat sauce (spiced with fennel seed which gave a unique flavor)
  • baked chicken
  • chicken and rice casserole
  • pork chops
  • fish sticks
  • meatloaf, god I loved meatloaf
  • spaghetti and meatballs

Sides included: ‘candied’ carrots, broccoli drowning in cheese sauce, potato patties, applesauce, sweet potatoes, corn…

There were other items, too, but those were my favorites and meals I recall having again and again.

Since I’ve recently been transitioning to a fully vegan diet, I’ve been trying out a lot of new recipes. This is hit or miss, and when it’s a miss, that means I am the one trying to eat a whole lentil loaf within a week. There is also, of course, the time issue. Working full time + kids + rest of life means that carving out time for meal prep is challenging. When I’m on the ball, I can do some prep before bed or in the morning while we’re all starting the day. When I’m not, that means frozen veggie burgers and frozen veg for dinner (which honestly, is pretty much how we survived Leo’s first year!).

So, in an effort to be more on the ball with meal planning, I am attempting to sort out our favorite meals and come up with some sort of schedule. 

Maybe something like:

  • Sunday: pasta/noodle dish (spaghetti, mac n’ cheez, lasagna, eggplant parmesan, etc)
  • Monday: rice dish (rice and curry, stir fry with rice, beans and rice)
  • Wednesday: tortilla (fajitas, burritos, ‘mexican lasagna’)
  • Thursday: soup/salad/sandwich day (any 1 – 3)
  • Friday: pizza night

I know I’m not going cook every day, so I think even 5 nights is plenty. We can have leftovers sometimes, and I also like to take leftovers for lunch at work which saves me a lot of money and plastic waste. I’ll also go nuts and throw in an occasional wild card recipe.

Now, I can fill in a few recipes under each category that I know we like. Hopefully, this will increase our home cooking and healthful eating, and decrease whining. Win-win!

Please share what works for you, or your favorite recipes! How do they compare with the meals you grew up with?

Wish me luck!