Holy Hot! Sauce

Andrew's mom grew these really hot peppers this summer.. too hot to eat on their own, even without the seeds. I may have mentioned this once before, but I put hot sauce on everything. I blame my friend Nikki, who always had a bottle in her dorm room, and put it on everything from pizza to popcorn. So when I saw these peppers going uneaten, I had to step in and make them into something that I could handle.

I made this hot sauce late one night while on a cooking kick. It made the kitchen HOT. I don't mean take off the apron (not that I wear one) and turn on the fan hot, I mean all my senses were burning. My eyes were watering, nose was running, and my throat was burning. But oh was it worth it. Move over Franks Red Hot, there's a new hot tamale in the pot!

Holy Hot! Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 13 cow horn peppers
• 1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp. salt

1. Cut the stems off the peppers and scrape out the seeds.
2. Put them in a small sauce pan along with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil, them simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.
4. Blend the mixture in a blender until everything is mixed and finely chopped.
5. Filter out the solids by pouring the sauce through a cheesecloth.
6. Store in a closed jar in the fridge.
7. Eat on everything!

Simmering

Filtering out the solids.

I used leftover garlic packaging to filter, but a cheesecloth
or any fine mesh will do.

You're going to have to scoop the solids  out of the
top occasionally to keep things flowing through the mesh.

It should look like this when done.

Creamy Coconut Basil Sauce

I. Have. So. Much. Basil.

Andrew is a big pesto fan, so besides winter squash, his only garden request was lots of basil. I planted it everywhere, in containers, pallet rows, and right in the ground. I lost track of how many seeds I actually planted, and now it's cropping up everywhere. It's not going to waste though! I've been making vegan pesto, dehydrating it, and freezing it.

Basil in the dehydrator.

Once the basil has dried (after a long run in the dehydrator),
I chop it up in the baby bullet so that I have dried basil through the year.

Taking a suggestion from my parents friend on a recent camping trip,
I froze basil in zip locks full of water. The leaves stay bright green and fresh
looking this way. Freeze two cups in each bag, so when you're ready to use them,
just defrost the bag, drain, and use the leaves in your recipe.

I found an on-line recipe for a creamy basil sauce. I've talked before about the value of coconut milk in vegan cooking, and it worked great for this recipe, too. Served over whole wheat pasta and roasted squash, this sauce was delicious.!

Creamy Coconut Basil Sauce

Serves 6-8

• 2 packed cups of basil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast   
• 2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
• 2 cans of coconut milk

1. Blend basil and garlic together in a blender or food processor.
2. Add olive oil, and blend for a minute or so until everything is fully combined. 
3. Add nutritional yeast and arrowroot powder, and blend again.
4. Add the mixture to a sauce pan and pour in the coconut milk.
5. Simmer over a low flame for a few minutes until the sauce is thickened. You could skip this last step to keep it raw, but it won't be very "creamy".

Squash from the garden, tossed in oil and roasted at 400º for 20 minutes.

Squash: 20 minutes 400

Vegan Penne A La Vodka

He's obsessed with wearing glasses.

Penne a la vodka is one of my absolute favorite meals, and is one of my go to comfort foods. It was also one of the first meals I learned to make. It was the beginning of my kitchen adventures, transitioning me from someone who hated cooking, to someone who realized how fun and satisfying it could be.

I've often shelved my craving for the pasta dish because I didn't want to make a separate meal for my son with the dairy allergy. While strolling down the beach recently, thinking about food (shocking), I had a stroke of culinary genius. I've used coconut milk in place of heavy cream before, like in chocolate mousse and whipped cream, so why not use it in penne a la vodka? The dish came out wonderful. I served it to Logan, Andrew, and my brother who was here for dinner. They said they could barely tell the heavy cream was missing, and they all loved it. I also added nutritional yeast and arrowroot powder to thicken the sauce and make a creamy texture.

I never realized how essential coconut milk is in vegan cooking. Using it has allowed me to make things that I thought would have to be given up in a dairy free diet. My favorite brand is the Thai Kitchen, but it's not available at my local supermarket, so Goya is the next best. But seriously, go stock up on cans of this stuff. They'll come in handy. I promise.

Vegan Penne A La Vodka

Serves 6

• One 24oz. jar of marinara sauce or canned tomatoes.
• One 13.5oz. can of full fat coconut milk.
• 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast.
• 3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder.
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced.
• 1 garlic clove, minced.
• 1 Tbsp. each of dried or fresh basil, oregano and parsley.

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Simmer over a low flame for about 30 minutes, or until onions are soft and the sauce is warmed.
3. Serve immediately over whole wheat pasta.

I also roasted squash from my garden to serve with the penne. It made for a quick and delicious side dish. Just cut in half, rub with oil, salt and pepper, and roast in 400º oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.

Salsa

This salsa and I, it's love.

I found a salsa on Pinterest that used fire roasted tomatoes. How delicious does that sound? If I had more ambition/time/hands I would have roasted my own tomatoes, but I found a can at Pathmark, and it did the trick. The Pinterest recipe called other assortments of cans and jars, but I found fresh substitutes that worked, too. I found fun little peppers at a great little produce place in my neighborhood. I'm not sure what kind they are, the sign just said "mixed peppers", but they were a great addition to the salsa. They look like jalapenos, but are red, yellow and orange, and they're sweet. I guess any kind of sweet pepper would work here, so if you want to reproduce this recipe and can't find them, a bell pepper would do the trick. The great part about salsa is how versatile it is. You can add more of what you like, leave out what you don't, and experiment with different ingredients. I've tried other salsas before, but this one is my best to date. I've made it catered to my taste (more jalapeno and cilantro please!), and it's totally me.

Salsa

Makes 3 cups-ish

• 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 tomatoes on the vine, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• Juice of one lime
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 5 small mixed peppers (or 1 red bell pepper), seeded and diced
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until you've reached the desired consistency. 

The makings of a perfect salsa.

This jalapeno seeder was perfect for this recipe, and it's fun to use!

Blurry picture, but I liked the way everything looked layered in here. 

Tacos and Kumquats

Sounds dirty.

I tried my first kumquat the other day. Tiny, orange citrus fruits that taste as exotic as they sound. To eat, roll one between your fingers to release the oils, and pop the whole thing in your mouth. Before I googled this helpful bit of info, I thought you had to peel them. Big mistake. The pulp inside is so tart! After peeling a little bit off of the end, I squeezed the juice onto my tongue and was not prepared for that. I had to pass it around the table to Andrew and our two friends, who all made hysterical faces after trying the juice. Too bad I didn't have a camera ready! As tart as the inside is, it's balanced by the sweetness of the peel.


It's not my favorite fruit, but I had a whole package that I had to do something with. I googled recipes, none which sounded appetizing. The only one seeming palatable was a salsa, but even then I couldn't imagine it being appealing with chips. Tacos came to mind, so I got to work making kumquat salsa. Since I wanted a thicker, more simple version than the recipe online called for, I made some changes and had dinner made in about 10 minutes.

The salsa still had somewhat of a tart taste, but it was masked pretty well by the earthy flavors of cilantro and the sweetness of the pepper and red onion. The juice of the kumquats marinated everything together to create a delicious, unique blend. It tasted even better wrapped in a tortilla with refried beans. The original recipe had the kumquats sliced, but I had to dice them even further since they were kind of tough to chew. I've been known to put unconventional topping on tacos, but this salsa takes the cake.

Kumquat Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

• 2 cups of kumquats, sliced and diced
• 1/2 cup of red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup sweet red pepper, seeded and diced
• Loose handful of cilantro, chopped.

1. Mix everything together and let sit for at least an hour to blend the flavors. 
2. Serve over tacos with refried beans. 

Homemade Italian Dressing

This recipe came to my rescue a couple years ago when I was pregnant and craving a salad. I was tired of dressing up my plate with plain old oil and vinegar, so I created a blend of spices to replicate Italian dressing. After checking out some online recipes to see what other people use in their dressings, I raided my pantry for further inspiration and chose a few spices to be part of the mix. This dressing is by far the most flavorful Italian dressing I have ever tasted. I haven't bought dressing since discovering this, and I never will again!

Homemade Italian Dressing

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. organic sugar
• 2 Tbsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. celery salt
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. water

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Combine the vinegar, oil and water in a large measuring cup.
3. Add 2 Tbsp. of the spice mix to the measuring cup. Save the rest of the spice mix in an airtight container for future use.
4. Mix everything in the measuring cup and transfer to a container made for dispensing dressing. You can buy one of these or use a recycled condiment bottle.
5. Store at room temperature and shake well before each use.

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

The mild weather we've been having this week really has me looking forward to summer. Traditional pesto is one of my favorite summer meals. I've been craving it, but fresh basil is hard to come by this time of year (summer please hurry!). A quick Internet search turned up a recipe for a pumpkin seed pesto. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I searched for a few more similar recipes and decided to combine them using what I already had.

The result was very interesting. At first all I could taste was the cilantro. Like swamp soup, this is a recipe for cilantro fans. After I few seconds I started to taste the pumpkin seeds. The nutritional yeast and garlic added a kick to the flavors to give this dish a unique taste. It's no basil pesto, but it'll do until I get those basil plants growing!

I planned on eating this with spaghetti squash, assuming I had one. It was actually a butternut squash that I had, so I served this over pasta instead. I ate this cold, but it was just as good warm when I ate the leftovers the next day.

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

Makes 4 servings

• 2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 bunch of cilantro, thick stems removed
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 garlic clove
• Dash of salt
• Roasted red peppers for garnish

1. Combine all ingredients (except the peppers) in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash, and garnish with roasted red peppers and extra pumpkin seeds.

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach "Cream" Sauce

I can't believe how beautiful it is today! It's hard to believe it's the first day of February when it feels more like April. I took Logan to the park so he can run wild while I update my blog. It's hard to focus when he's being this cute though!

My little tree hugger

I've been digging through raw food blogs for some recipe inspiration, and came across something called nut cheese. Basically it's a mixture of nuts and other ingredients to make a food with a cheesy texture. A lot of these recipes contain raw cashews, which I was having trouble finding- until yesterday. I went to the grocery store promising to only buy fresh produce since Andrew and I are still on our 2 week grocery strike of non produce items. The cashews were right there in the produce section. I couldn't help myself.

Last night was my first experience with nut cheese. I made spaghetti squash with a creamy spinach sauce. The cashews gave the sauce it's creamy texture. The original recipe, which I got from The Sunny Raw Kitchen, was a little bland for my taste. This could have been because I used frozen spinach instead of fresh. Next time I'll definitely use fresh, but I wanted to use up what I already had, and that was frozen. To make up for the blandness I added some onion and doubled the amount of spices. It came out pretty good, and tastes great with the spaghetti squash. I'd say my first nut cheese experience was a success!

To make this dish, start by roasting the squash. Cut in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Roast in the oven at 400º for about an hour, or until easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and flip the squash over. Scrape a fork along the inside to create "spaghetti". This is a very versatile squash. It can be eaten hot or cold, and you can top it with just about anything you would put on top of regular spaghetti, it's even good with brown sugar if you're looking for a sweet fix.

Creamy Spinach Sauce

• 1/2 cup of cashews
• 1/4 cup of water
• 4 cups of spinach
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. of safflower oil (or whatever type of oil you have on hand)
• 2 Tbsp. of finely chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. of thyme

    1. Blend the cashews and water until a cream forms. It should look like this:

     2. Add the rest of the ingredients until smooth and creamy.

I also made a whole wheat loaf to go with the meal. To make this, just follow the recipe for whole wheat burger buns through step 5. Once the dough has doubled, punch down and knead for a couple more minutes. Form the dough into a loaf shape. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled again, about 30 minutes. If you're having trouble making the dough rise, place it on the stove towards the back and preheat your oven. Dough needs warm temperatures to rise. Brush the top of the loaf with a mixture of 1/2 Tbsp of water and 1/2 Tbsp of almond milk. Top with sesame seeds if desired. Bake for 20 minutes in a 400º oven.

We ate this bread dipped in a peach balsamic vinegar that I bought from a vendor at the organic Garden of Eve's Garlic Festival. If you're in the Long Island area in September I highly recommend checking out this festival. Last year I bought the most delicious sicilian garlic and made a vegan roasted garlic soup. It's on my to-do list to make again soon, so stay tuned for that post!

Sweet Potato Fries with Home Made Ketchup

As of yesterday, Andrew and I challenged ourselves to 2 weeks of no grocery shopping. Our fridge, freezer and food pantry are filled with... well we don't know exactly what's in there. This is our time to get creative and use what would normally have gone to waste. It's like a detox for our cabinets. The exception to this hiatus is fresh produce, which we buy on an as needed basis.

I'm not sure how or why we accumulated so many sweet potatoes, but I decided to use them for lunch today. Tired of the same old baked potato, I got to work on sweet potato fries. Then I realized we didn't have ketchup. Andrew is a ketchup fiend, and fries without ketchup is like cookies without milk to him. Using the allrecipes.com app on my iPhone, I searched ketchup recipes. I couldn't find one that I had all the ingredients for, so after gathering an idea of what's supposed to be in ketchup, I put together my own. Wow. I'm normally not a fan of the viscous red condiment that's full of high fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes, but this was amazing! It had a smooth texture and a spiced, almost smokey taste. I didn't have molasses, so I used organic brown rice syrup from Whole Foods. To compensate for the lack of sweetness I added a little extra brown sugar. The only thing Andrew (the ketchup expert, apparently) had to say about it was that it was too sweet. So next time I'll cut back on the brown sugar. Sorry Heinz, but I'm never going back to store bought again!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Serves 4 as a side

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
• 3 Tbsp. safflower oil
• 2 tsp. paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until fries are crispy.
4. Serve warm.

Home Made Ketchup

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
• 5 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. brown rice syrup
• 1 Tbsp. safflower oil
• A pinch each of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground black pepper
• 3/4 cups of water

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes, until you reach the consistency of ketchup.

Logan's a fan!

Quinoa Salad with Honey Lime Sauce

I just made the tastiest dish. It was my own creation, so I better write it down before I forget. This might be the first dish I ever created using just my imagination and the ingredients already in the kitchen.

Quinoa Salad with Honey Lime Sauce

Serves about 4

Quinoa Salad:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 acorn squash; seeded, skin removed, and diced
• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans; drained and rinsed

Honey Lime Sauce

• 1/4 cup honey*
• Zest from 1 lime
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. Combine oil and squash in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
3. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.
4. Combine the quinoa with the water in a covered pot and cook for about 18 minutes.
5. When the squash and quinoa are done, combine in a bowl with the black beans.
6. Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl.
7. Serve the salad and drizzle with the sauce.

This recipe for the sauce only makes a small amount, but a little goes a long way. You can always double the recipe if you don't think you have enough. I hope you enjoy my creation!

*There is some debate over whether honey should be considered vegan. I agree that technically it is an animal product. The honey I use comes from a neighbor, who I know treats her bees very humanely and harvests the honey sustainably. So yes it is an animal product, but I don't feel bad using it. Especially since it works wonders on my allergies!