Spring Grape Salad

This is a great fresh salad to serve as a side or even have as a dessert. It's improved by slightly sweeter grapes for the sweet-toothed, but if you have slightly tart grapes, the tart & sweet is also delish. I got the original recipe as a bonus with the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor. 

Ingredients:
1 cup sliced red grapes
1 cup sliced green grapes
1/4 cup vanilla Silk soy yogurt
1 tbsp granola

Directions:

1. Toss grapes and yogurt together.
2. Chill for at east 30 minutes.

Notes:

• Serves 4
• You can also top with brown sugar, nuts, or ground cinnamon instead of the granola, or in addition to the granola.
• I also ate it for breakfast. 

Vegan Preston Rolls

As I stated last year, Preston Rolls are a tradition at my house. I love Preston Rolls. However, I became vegan this year, so the standing family recipe would not be suitable. I have been learning vegan baking, and made just a couple edits. Because Preston Rolls are so finicky anyway, I think these turned out just about the same as previously - at least within the variation that one can expect out of Preston Rolls.

Ingredients:

1+ cake yeast
1⁄2 cup lukewarm water


2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons water


2 1⁄2 cups (unsweetened) almond milk
 1⁄2 cup vegetable shortening  
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
8 1⁄4 cups flour


For rolling out:
1 stick vegan butter, melted
cinnamon
brown sugar
flour to coat counter and rolling pin
walnuts 


For icing:
1 cup powdered sugar 
1 tablespoon almond milk  

Directions:

1. Soak yeast in lukewarm water. (I have a hard time with the “lukewarm.” Basically, lukewarm is room temperature, so I take my cup of water at a medium temperature out of the tap, and let sit for awhile on the counter. Then I add the yeast and stir just a tiny bit, lightly.) When dissolved, add 1⁄2 cup flour. Beat well and set aside to rise. It should about double in volume. See photo below for end result.
2. Make your flax eggs by beating your ground flax seeds with the water. Set aside in fridge for 15-60 minutes. 
3. Heat milk and shortening together, stirring to dissolve shortening. Cool to lukewarm. 
4. Add sugar, salt, and beaten flax eggs to milk mixture. (Do this in stand mixer using the low setting with beater attachment.)
5. Gradually add yeast mixture and flour. After 1st two cups of flour, switch to dough hook. Knead well. (Let dough hook continue for 10-15 minutes.)
6. Dough should not be stiff. Allow to rise (takes a few hours). Punch down, rise, punch down, rise, punch down.
7. Set in rolls:  Pat out, brush melted butter, sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts as desired. Roll up, cut up, and put in greased (with shortening, vegan butter, spray, or your favorite method) pans. (The rolls should be crafted within about 12 hours of first starting to raise the dough. Any later and they get a little iffy.)
8. Allow to rise. (Can leave overnight if it's late.)
9. Bake 350º for 30 minutes. Serve warm out of the oven with icing. You can serve straight out of the oven, or microwave individual rolls for about 20 seconds each.
10. Just before serving make icing.

For icing:

1. In a small bowl, stir milk into the sugar until smooth. Should be fairly thick. Add more sugar to thicken, add more milk to hin. Spoon over individual rolls. Icing will harden after a short time. Store in fridge. Stir to continue uese once hardened. Add milk to thin if necessary. 

Notes:

• Makes 1 batch, ~ 4 dozen rolls. Double by adding another yeast cake.

• Where to find cake yeast: Fleishmann's makes cake yeast, which I found in Seattle in the dairy section (next to the Toll House Cookie dough tubs) at a local grocery store (one that is actually a part of a national chain.) When I lived near my mother, she'd procure cake yeast from a local bakery and deliver some to me. Cake yeast is called cake yeast because it is active live yeast in the form of a cake, rather than active dry yeast in the form of granules. Do not substitute other forms of yeast - they will not be Preston Rolls.

This is the end result of step 1 - bubbly mixture about twice the initial volume of the yeast + water + flour.

Side dish or Entree: Pumpkin Creme Rotini

This is officially called Pumpkin "Mac 'n Cheese" with Swiss Chard and Pine nuts, except it doesn't use macaroni noodles, nor dairy cheese, and is not particularly pumpkin tasting. But it was really good. Kids both liked it, and I could have eaten much more than I should. I came across this recipe on Vegan Fling. I thought I knew where I originally found it from, but I must be mistaken because I can't trace that same path. Oh, well. I'm glad I found it. I did modify it.

Ingredients:
1 lb penne or spiral pasta
1 Tbsp vegan butter
3/4 C unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1/4 tsp garlic powder
6 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 C canned pumpkin puree
salt and pepper to taste
3-5 leaves swiss chard, chopped
1/2 C pine nuts
optional: red pepper flakes for some spice



Directions:

1. Cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the milk, arrowroot, and garlic powder and then add this into the pan.
4. Add the nutritional yeast and salt & pepper. Continue to whisk until the sauce has thickened.
5. Add in the canned pumpkin and whisk until heated.
6. Toast the pine nuts in the oven for 5-10 minutes at about 250ºF until slightly browned.
7. Combine the cooked pasta with the sauce, and add in the chopped swiss chard. Stir until combined and let sit for a few minutes to let the chard wilt a little.
8. Serve topped with the toasted pine nuts.

Other Details:

• Says feeds 4-6, but I got 8 servings out of it.
• Original Recipe
• It's about 320 Calories/serving for 8 servings, with 71 g carbs, 6 g fat, 17 g protein, and 6 g fiber.

Bread: Pumpkin Bread

Mmm, more pumpkin! I'm always looking for good pumpkin breads. This one is pretty good. It stays moist sitting out over a few days (it lasted about 2.5 days before being gobbled up), although it is a bit on the crumbly side. I saw it over at Cate's World Kitchen. I did alter this recipe from the original and it is a vegan recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp flax seeds
6 tbsp water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup almond milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Spray a 9 x 5″ loaf pan with nonstick spray and preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through brown sugar) in a large bowl.
3. Grind the flax seeds in a coffee grinder or small food processor and combine with the water. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
4. Whisk together the remaining wet ingredients (oil through vanilla), add the flax-water mixture and mix well, then stir gently into the flour mixture.
5. Stir just until all traces of flour disappear, then fold in walnuts. Spread evenly in the pan and bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Other Details:

Original Recipe at Cate's World Kitchen

Salad: Field Club's Strawberry Salad

My good friend Suzanne introduced me to this salad. It is a sweet, yummy, summer salad.

Ingredients:
1 pkg romaine
1 pkg spinach
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1 large container sliced strawberries
½ cup pine nuts or toasted slivered almonds, whichever you prefer
1-4 oz pkg crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
½ cup honey
¼ tsp Worcester
¾ cup salad oil
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
¼ tsp paprika
1 tbsp diced green onions

Directions:
For dressing, place ingredients in a screw top jar and shake. Add to salad when you are ready to serve.

Other Notes:
I don't know how many this feeds, but it's a great salad to bring to a potluck.

Scotch Oat Cake with Broiled Brown Sugar Topping

This recipe came from Jenni Muir's A Cook's Guide to Grains. This cake was a bit more bread-like, but still sweet dessert-y. The topping is really what makes it a dessert.

Ingredients:

1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup Scotch oats or steel-cut oats or bulgur
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar or raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, bring the apple juice to a boil, then add the oats or bulgur. Return to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let cool, uncovered. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Oil a 9-inch springform pan at least 3 inches deep or a 9-inch square baking dish.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt. In a medium bowl, stir the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and oat mixture. Mix into the dry ingredients, stirring until well mixed. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
3. While the cake bakes, make the topping. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, vanilla, brown sugar, salt, and walnuts. When the cake is done, place it on a cooling rack. Turn the oven to broil, and put a rack 4 to 5 inches from the heat. Drop spoonfuls of the brown sugar topping over the cake, spreading it gently and leaving 1/2 inch bare around the edges. Broil with the door open, watching closely, for less than a minute. When the topping is bubbling and melted, take it out to cool. Serve warm, after the topping has set.

Other details:

• Serves 8 

Bread: Preston Rolls

A Christmas tradition at my house is Preston Rolls. The lineage of these rolls, as I understand it, is that a person who helped my grandmother made these rolls. The recipe passed to her girls, who shared it with my mother. My mother said she tweaked the original recipe just a bit. The recipe given here is these. I find these difficult to make. They do not always turn out. Because of this, and because I can't direct you to an original recipe or another link, I've photographed the directions step by step.

These are an excellent cinnamon roll that took me 24 hours to make this year, but they certainly take all day at the least. Enjoy!

Yeast in lukewarm water with a half cup flour starting to rise.

Warmed milk with shortening dissolved.

The remaining 7 3/4 cups flour, beaten eggs and sugar to go into the milk and shortening.

Mixing in the milk with shortening, eggs, and sugar.

The black mark shows how far the yeast had risen after an hour or so.

You know the yeast is doing it's job when the mixture is bubbling.

The yeast and the 1st two cups of flour.

Switching to the dough hook after the first two cups of flour.

Adding the remaining 5 3/4 cups of flour.

This is the mixing.

After a few cups, the dough starts to form.

Letting the dough hook knead for 10-15 minutes.

Putting the dough in a bowl to rise. 

My method of raising is to put it in a warm place (and block it off from dogs.)

This is the dough after the first rise, which took about 3 hours.

And this is how it looks after I punched it down the first time.

This is the dough after the third and final rise.

Take a handful of dough, put it on a floured surface, flour it up a bit, and roll it out. 

Brush melted butter across dough, sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts.

Roll them up.

Cut into lengths appropriate for your baking dish.

Place the rolls into the dish with about an inch of personal space around each.

Here, all my rolls are placed in baking dishes. Yes, I used random dishes. It's probably better to use all the same type of good pan.

Now the rolls need to rise. Again, this takes several hours. I left mine overnight because it was close to midnight this year.

The risen rolls.

A pan of raised rolls.

After baking for 30 minutes at 350º.

Make some icing.

Serve warm on a plate with some icing. 

1 batch (can double with extra cake of yeast)

Ingredients:

1+ cake yeast
1⁄2 cup lukewarm water

2 1⁄2 cups milk
 1⁄2 cup shortening  
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
8 1⁄4 cups flour

For rolling out:

1 stick butter, melted
cinnamon
brown sugar
flour to coat counter; rolling pin walnuts 

For icing:
1 cup powdered sugar 
1 tablespoon milk 

Directions:

1. Soak yeast in lukewarm water. (I have a hard time with the “lukewarm.” Basically, lukewarm is room temperature, so I take my cup of water at a medium temperature out of the tap, and let sit for awhile on the counter. Then I add the yeast and stir just a tiny bit, lightly.) When dissolved, add 1⁄2 cup flour. Beat well and set aside to rise.
2. Scald milk. While milk is hot, add shortening. Cool to lukewarm. (This step probably hearkens from the days of needing to heat milk, but it remains to dissolve the shortening.)
3. Add sugar, salt, and beaten eggs to milk mixture. (Do this in mix master using the low setting with beater attachment.)
4. Gradually add yeast mixture and flour. After 1st two cups of flour, switch to dough hook. Knead well. (Let dough hook continue for 10-15 minutes.)
5. Dough should not be stiff. Allow to rise (takes a few hours). Punch down, rise, punch down, rise, punch down.
6. Set in rolls:  Pat out, brush melted butter, sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts as desired. Roll up, cut up, and put in buttered pans. (The rolls should be crafted within about 12 hours of first starting to raise the dough. Any later and they get a little iffy.)
7. Allow to rise. (Can leave overnight if it's late.)
8. Bake 350 – 375º for 30 minutes. Serve warm out of the oven with icing. You can serve straight out of the oven, reheat an entire pan at 350 for 30 minutes, or microwave individual rolls for about 20 seconds each.
9. Just before serving make icing.

For icing:

1. In a small bowl, stir milk into the sugar until smooth. Should be fairly thick. Add more sugar to thicken, add more milk to hin. Spoon over individual rolls. Icing will harden after a short time. Store in fridge. Stir to continue uese once hardened. Add milk to thin if necessary. 

Other Details:

• Makes ~4 dozen rolls.
• Finding cake yeast: Fleishmann's makes cake yeast, which I found in Seattle in the dairy section (next to the Toll House Cookie dough tubs) at a local grocery store (that is actually a part of a national chain.) When I lived near my mother, she'd procure cake yeast from a local bakery and deliver some to me. Cake yeast is called cake yeast because it is active live yeast in the form of a cake, rather than active dry yeast in the form of granules.