Roasted Vegetable Terrine with Arugula Pesto

A few days ago, I whipped up this gorgeous beauty for a special weeknight dinner. It's the "Roasted Vegetable Terrine with Arugula Pesto" from The Artful Vegan, one of Millenium Restaurant's two cookbooks. It took some time to grill up all the veggies, and they didn't quite all fit in the cake pan, but the end result was truly beautiful, not to mention totally delicious. This is a make-the-day-before dish, because after putting in all the veggies, you pour in a little agar dissolved in water, to bind the whole thing together. I couldn't believe how perfectly it came out of the mold!

As the book suggested, I served it up with some socca (aka farinata, aka cinque e cinque), a lovely little flatbread made with chickpea flour. By luck, it was a very hot day and a warm night, and it was just perfect to have some grilled veggies. I'm not generally much of an arugula fan, but this arugula pesto is really superb and was great with the veggies and cinque e cinque. All that zesty bite that arugula has was a perfect complement with the sweetness of the veggies.

Here's a slice the next day, with better lighting. You can see all the pretty colors: red onion, yellow summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper.

Incidentally, it really made a LOT of roasted veggies... so for the next two nights we used up the left overs of both veggies and arugula pesto in some grilled panini (along with a big slab of fresh heirloom tomato). These sandwiches were served up with some kale and cannelini beans, roasted brussel sprouts (our first of the season!), and a big bowl of watermelon and white peaches for dessert. SO Freaky Good!!!

Applesauce and Apple Jelly!

My aunt L gave me this big box of beautiful Gravenstein apples from her tree. Her tree has made so many apples this year, it's just crazy. My own apples won't come in for another 3-4 weeks, but hers have been going strong for a while now. She has an equally big box of beautiful and perfect apples, but these are the buggy and blemished ones, perfect for cooking into applesauce!

Naughty little Dottie Bonkers sniffing the apples...

The first step is to prepare the apples. Preferably with a good TV show or NPR or a fancy podcast to entertain you. Peel and core the apples, cutting out any wormy or rotten bits. I ended up with a huge pot full of apples, a small bowl of icky bits, a big bowl of nice peels and cores, and still a fair number of apples in the box, as you can see!

Here are my pretty peels and cores. This year, I decided to do something I've been wanting to try for a long time - make Apple Peel Jelly in addition to my applesauce. A new culinary adventure is always a thrill ride, and the Apple Peel Jelly ended up being a bit of an ups and downs roller coaster!

The pot is totally full of innocent little apple chunks, ready & waiting to turn into applesauce.

On the stovetop. Add in a little bit of water to the bottom of the pan (no more than 3/4", with the apples in there). Turn the heat to medium-high, stirring occasionally, and cook until the apples soften. I sometimes add in a little bit of cinnamon &/or a dash of maple sugar, but this time I went for straight-up 100% apples.

Meanwhile, in another big pot, boil your jars and lids.

Once the apples are all soft, I use a potato masher to mash them up. These Gravenstein apples really mashed into such a light and creamy texture - perfectly classic applesauce! The apples off my tree make a chunky applesauce, which is also good, but less traditional. Isn't it beautiful!?

Canning Tip #1: if you are interested in canning, get some canning tongs. They are totally awesome and make the job much easier and safer. I like how easy it is to pour off the boiling water when removing the empty jars with these tongs. This used to be a fairly un-nerving task with my old regular kitchen tongs.

Canning Tip #2: Also, get a canning funnel. This thing RULES THE WORLD. My awesome friend JJTWH gave me this years ago, and I love it like a first-born. Just look and see how easy it is to pour huge heaping scoops of boiling hot applesauce into a little jar!!

End result: lots of beautiful jars of applesauce. I made some small ones and some medium-sized ones. The small ones will be great for baking recipes when I want to sub out some oil for applesauce, without having to open a big jar of applesauce.

Meanwhile, I was also working on Project Apple Peel Jelly: here's my big pot of apple peels and cores cooking up...

After about 45 minutes or so (? don't remember precisely) of boiling all those apple bits, I ended up with this absolutely gorgeous batch of rose-colored, apple-scented liquid. So beautiful!

I found a few different recipes online, all of which were disconcertingly different... So, I picked one that didn't require adding in any additional pectin, and went for that. But after adding my sugar and lemon juice, and keeping my pot at a rolling boil forEVER, I just couldn't get the temperature past 210 F (apparently 220 will cause it to set). So, I finally gave up and added in some fruit pectin (which luckily I keep on hand in my cupboards).

In the end, I came out with about 8 jars of truly beautiful apple peel jelly. I got a nice gentle set, so the jelly is soft but not liquidy. Very nice! It was worth the anguish! The color is so beautiful, it reminds me of stained glass windows.... I might explore other uses for that amazing pink apple-y liquid for my next few batches of apple processing though... I absolutely hate to waste potentially tasty goodies, but I'm pretty sure I don't need more than 8 jars of apple jelly this year!

Hot Off the Press

My love affair with my panino press continues... with Tempeh Reubens! I more or less followed the directions from Vegan With a Vengeance, minus the avocado & margarine, and with a slightly different take on the 1,000 Island Dressing. I love that that "old" book still has undiscovered joys in it for me to fall in love with. It was my first time ever making a reuben and my first time ever buying sauerkraut. Yummy yum yums! Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats was chowing down on his sandwich and urgently declaring his love for me, so this was pretty much a hit. I'll definitely make these again, soon!

The very next night after our reuben success story, we had my dad over for more dinner panini! My mom was off on a quick jaunt to Japan (fancy!), so we invited my dad over to revel in the glory of the panino press... (which, incidentally, was a gift from my parents). I cleverly re-used the tempeh marinade from the night before for some tofu, summer squash and eggplants. Then I busted out my marvelous pesto stash, and some giant green heirloom tomatoes from the garden and made up some perfect summer sandwiches.

Mmmmm! I brush a tiny bit of olive oil on the bread before pressing it... for that "just perfect" crunch when you bite into it.

My mom always makes a salad with dinner, and I didn't want my Dad to feel neglected, so I made up this beautiful summery salad to go with our sandwiches. Lettuce, watercress, red tomatoes, orange tomatoes, corn, bell peppers, cukes, radishes, and I don't even know what else... lots of good stuff!

Freezer Full of Carbs

I am like a little squirrel, tucking away food for the cold winter ahead. In addition to canning tomatoes and jarring pickles and freezing corn kernels, I have also been packing the freezer full of carby-goodness. I can hardly fit much more in there, but you can be sure I'll try.

First I made a quadruple batch of pesto. That was very satisfying. We found a farmer at the market selling 3 huge bunches of organic basil all for only $2.50. Clearly, it was pesto time! Armed with a mighty supply of pesto, I made a double batch (8 bagels) of Pesto Bagels from 500 Vegan Recipes. There are many lovable things about my special Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats, but there is a dark side too: Mr VE&T does not like pesto. Also, he does not like kale. Somehow, I have managed to stay together with him for all these years despite this great lack in his moral character. When I saw this bagel recipe, I immediately realized that this would be a wonderful way for me to get my pesto fix and leave the mister out of it all together. They are just perfect! Cut in half, packed up, and squeezed into the freezer.

Next, I made a double batch (16 bagels) of the Pumpkin Bagels from 500 Vegan Recipes... except, as always, I used cooked-down persimmon and added raisins and pecans. YUM. I cut them all in half and put them into two big bags and wedged them into the freezer.

Then I made a double batch of the World's Most Bestest Seitan Ever, which also goes by Steamed White Seitan from Viva Vegan. Seriously, I love this recipe. So, I made a bunch, which came out perfectly - as always! After eating one little loaf for lunch, and setting a couple aside for an upcoming dinner, I packed up the others and popped them in the freezer.

Then, my little nephew (Hey, dude!) came over for a sleep over. We have a tradition about always having a special breakfast and this time he picked waffles. I made my most favorite waffle recipe: Raised Waffles from Vegan Brunch. Always delicious... light and crispy and full of flavor. Also convenient because I can make the batter the night before after the little guy has gone to bed, and then it's all ready in the morning. Just the three of us couldn't (or at least, didn't) eat a whole batch. So, I took the remaining 6 waffles, put them in a nice little baggie and hunted down the last few available inches of real estate in my freezer.

Lest you grow concerned... the breakfast table with my little nephew also included this huge platter of strawberries and watermelons. :)

Putting My Tomatoes to Good Use!

Well, finally the tomatoes are starting to come in. We have had so much fog this summer, it's just crazy. I've nearly lost my long-range vision! Luckily, I only need short-range vision to pick tomatoes. Here you see some of my Stupice (red ones), SunGold (little orange babies), and Aunt Ruby's German Green (the green ones, duh!). Aren't they just beautiful!?
First things first... PIZZA! Yum! Using Vicolo corn meal pizza crusts, I added crushed garlic, fresh basil (lots!!!), fresh tomatoes, a dash of olive oil, and a sprinkling of coarse salt. This is one of the best foods I have ever eaten and I love it so so so much. Maybe I will marry it. Sorry for the dark picture, but we are too busy desperately enjoying the afternoon sun* to eat while it is still light out.

*(before the fog comes back in)

This simple salad was a HUGE German Green tomato with chickpeas and salad dressing. Perfect and crazy delicious. Served with green grapes, and some tamales which somehow escaped photo-documentation.

A summery lunch: 1 apple from my aunt's apple tree, 1 carrot, 1/2 yellow bell pepper, 1 green tomato, 4 cracker, 1 nectarine, 1 basket of strawberries, 1 giant blob of soy yogurt. All adds up to one happy belly!!! Also, I like to arrange my food in rainbow order whenever possible. This joy/affliction goes back many years to my early days of ravenous JellyBelly eating and organizing.

Finally, the piece d'resistance, "Coconut Crusted Tofu with Lemongrass and Peppers" from The Urban Vegan. WHOA. This recipe caught my eye the other day, and the book promised it was easy to make... Well, she was right! It was a pretty quick recipe (other than marinating the tofu), it was definitely under 1 hour from start to finish, but looks and tastes like a million bucks. Comments from Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats included "This is an instant classic!" "I don't like this. ... I love this!!" and "I used to just have affection for you... now, I love you!" Clearly, he is an enthusiastic eater.

The flavor combinations in this dish were really wonderful, I especially loved the sweetness from the coconut flakes on the tofus. I made a couple of tiny changes - I only pureed about 1/2-2/3 of the sauce, and left the rest chunky. Also, I turned the heat up to 425 at the end and gave the tofu an extra 5-7 minutes in the oven. Final bonus - Not only did this recipe call for some of our homegrown tomatoes, but I also finally got to use the lemongrass from my very own garden!! Super exciting!

I'm A Happy Camper!

I just returned from a beautiful week in the High Sierras with my family - 7 days in glorious Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite National Park. This annual trip has been a tradition for many years now, and Tuolumne is a very special place for me. I love the giant granite peaks, the thin mountain air, the wildlife, and even the joy of eating simple camping food after a long day in the mountains.

This year was a little comical, because by various twists of fate, I ended up eating the same thing for lunch (baked tofu sandwich) and the same thing for dinner (veggie burger) for all 7 days in row. However, this didn't really bother me, and I only sort of noticed it in an off-hand way on the last day of our trip. I guess camping makes me feel pretty agreeable.

Here is the sandwich making station, set up on top the big "Bear Baffles" - large metal boxes with complicated locks to keep the bears out. Our daily sandwiches included: bread, mustard, Wildwood aioli, baked tofu, avocado, red onion, tomatoes, and lettuce. You know, I don't make sandwiches all that often at home, but every year I really look forward to these delicious camping sandwiches. Stuff it in a little sandwich bag, grab a granola bar of some sort, a handful of trailmix and throw it all in the pack. Now you're good to go!! (but don't forget to fill up your water bottle)

Baked Tofu Sandwich at Upper Cathedral Lake. Yum!

Baked Tofu Sandwich enjoying the sun and refreshing water at Lake Tenaya.

Baked Tofu Sandwich up the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. You can see that I am always so impatient for lunch that I have to take at least one bite before I can think about taking the photo.

Moving on to dinner... Here was our regular appetizer section at the campground, while we enjoyed the dusk and the campfire: sliced red bell peppers, rice crackers, cherry tomatoes & homemade hummus (brought from home in the cooler). So nice to have fresh veggies after a day in the mountains! And just look at that huge pot of green beans ready to go on the camp stove!

Cooking up some Amy's California Burgers and buns over the fire at the campground.

Delicious Amy's burger with delicious broccoli (cooked on the camp stove).

Another night at the campfire, another delicious veggie burger. We were all out of buns, but that's nothing a nice little loaf of bread can't fix. And man, those green beans were downright perfect!

The family that eats veggie burgers together, stays together! That's my mom and her two sisters... happily enjoying burgers and green beans around the campfire...

This veggie burger was a bit special... so even though it's a terrible picture, I wanted to include it. This burger is from the Mobil Gas Station in Lee Vining (just over the Tioga Pass, down by Mono Lake). Instead of a burger patty, it's got a bunch of marinated and grilled veggies, and it was really, really yummy. That Mobil Gas Station is really a trip - it's a gas station, a souvenir store, a mini-grocery store, and a 3-star restaurant, all in one!

It was getting dark out, but check out this salad that came with my burger... seriously, that's a genuine salad! I was stoked!

I know this is a food blog, but I have a rule that cute animals are allowed on vegan food blogs. Isn't veganism all about the cuteness of animals anyway?! Yosemite is full of wonderful animals, and we had many special sightings this year... including a bald eagle, many deer, bears, a falcon, and countless little cuties of the bird and rodent varieties. This little fellow is a Belding Ground Squirrel, and they really are running a racket on cuteness. Don't you just wish you could pick that little guy up and give him a cuddle?

A lovely lady deer grazing on grass and wildflowers. This year, all the deer we saw looked very robust and healthy, which made me very happy for them.

Yes, we saw this adorable little baby fawn. In fact, we saw a grand total of 5 little baby fawns during the week, all hanging out with their mommies. It was pretty much wonderful and awesome and good. As you might have suspected, baby deer really are cute.

One night, while we were enjoying the campfire after dinner, we also saw a black bear. It was my most up-close bear sighting ever in all the years of going to Tuolumne. It came right through our campsite and my cousin Adam had to scare it off by clanging pots and pans together. After it ran off, we heard something in the woods behind our campsite ... so we turned the flashlight there and saw a little baby bear cub. SO CUTE. I was pretty giddy with joy to see such amazing animals so close, but it's also sad because it was a case of a mommy bear teaching her cub to go looking for food at the campground instead of out in the nature. Sadly, those situations don't usually end well for the bears. I have my fingers crossed for those two that they will see the error of their ways and head back into the forest for blueberries and grubs.

A peaceful view of the Tuolumne River and Lembert Dome. On our last full day in Yosemite, I woke up early and hiked to the very top of the Lembert Dome and did my morning yoga practice in the wind and sun and surrounded with 360 degrees of amazing!!

*Useful info for any vegans actually traveling to Tuolumne Meadows*

Tuolumne Lodge Restaurant:

The Tuolumne Lodge Restaurant now officially has a veggie burger on their menu (after about 15 years of having no veg-friendly entree options!). They use Boca Burgers, and the buns are vegan too. The burger comes with a side of cabbage, and also the whole table is served a pretty decent "all you can eat" green salad before the entrees arrive. It's on the pricey side, but you will leave with a full and happy tummy

Tuolumne Meadows Store:

Each year, this spot becomes more and more of a hippy natural foods store... which is pretty great if you are a visiting vegan. If you came looking for frosted flakes and white bread, you'll be out of luck. But if you want baked tofu, Nature's Path Hemp Plus Granola, almond milk, Gimme Lean fakin bakin, hummus and whole wheat bread, you'll probably find what you need. They even have boxes of Tofutti cuties in the freezer and plenty of packaged vegan cookies (ABC, Annie's, Newman's Own).

Mobil Station in Lee Vining:

As mentioned above, this spot has a veggie burger which is pretty good. Just take off the cheese to make it a vegan sandwich. For $1 more you can get a large and healthy green salad instead of fries. This establishment is definitely pricey, but there you have it. You are in the middle of nowhere, after all. Their mini-grocery-store is really pricier than the store in Tuolumne Meadows, so unless there's something you can't live without, I'd just wait.

Gluten Free Baking

Recently I put together a little gluten-free Care Package of Love for my cousin. Of course there were some store-bought goodies in there... of both the sweet and savory varieties, but you know as well as I do that nothing beats homemade treats.

First up, I made these Maple-Flax Cookies from Ricki's blog. I didn't have any whole flax seeds, so I used a little extra ground flax and a little extra whole oats. Wow, these were so easy and came together quickly. They are crisp, like a ginger snap and have a great flavor. Sweet like a sweetie, but not overwhelmingly so. Sort of a grown-up cookie! Definitely something I'll make again!

I also made a batch of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Mary's blog. This is my absolute favorite "go-to" recipe for GF cookies. I LOVE these little buggers! This time, though, I didn't have a whole cup of peanut butter! Crisis in the homeland! How could this happen? In the midst of baking, I turned desperately to the fridge to see what I could find. In the end I settled for about 1/2 c. peanut butter, 1/4 c almond butter, and 1/4 cup tahini, and 5 scraped empty jars of nut butter. The good news? This was the most delicious and perfect batch EVER of these magical cookies! So next time, I think I'll make this accidental recipe change again. In fact, when the package arrived, I got a sweet message on the answering machine saying how great the package was... but especially those chocolate chip cookies... and that her husband thought they were the best cookies he'd ever had! Happiness!

And, finally, I made the Gluten-Free Blueberry Lemon Muffins, also from Ricki. These were incredible!! I couldn't believe they were gluten-free. This was my first experiment making GF muffins, and the total 100% success was very encouraging! They had a beautiful, light crumb... held together nicely, were moist, and had a gentle sweetness that was just right for a muffin - and not anywhere near cupcake territory. Perfect!

I did make a few of her suggested alterations based entirely on what was already in my pantry: I used sweetened dried blueberries instead of unsweetened. I used more brown rice flour instead of amaranth flour, which I don't have sitting around. Also, I used the agave instead of stevia - because, again, agave is something I keep in the cupboards and stevia isn't. Oh, I also added in about 1/2 tsp xantham gum, because I was a non-believer and wanted to be sure they would turn out. I will totally make these again, and I love knowing that I can make a delicious muffin for any of my GF loved ones.

Many thanks to my bloggy friends Mary and Ricki for doing the hard work on developing these delicious and reliable GF vegan recipes. And, three cheers for homemade goodies for all... even gluten-free vegans deserve a care package now and then!