I feel like a horrible secular Jew and a horrible non-secular vegan. It’s the middle of Hannukah and I haven’t posted a latkes recipes yet. Well, better late than never. These are in Veganomicon and are the most irresistible fried potato concoction  there is. Serve with apple sauce, if you’ve got VwaV the roasted applesauce in there is great with these. But any apple sauce will do, really.

Potato Latkes

Makes about 18

Image stolen from Tofu666 

2 1/2 pounds starchy white potatoes, peeled (russets, idaho, et al)
1 small yellow onion, peeled
1/4 cup potato or corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups matzoh meal

Lots of vegetable oil

If using a food processor:
Use the grating blade to shredd the potatoes and the onion.

If shredding by hand, use a grater to shred all the potatoes. Dice the onion as finely as possible.

Have ready brown paper shopping bags or paper towels for draining the oil from the latkes. You may also want to have the oven on at 200 F to keep the latkes warm until you’re ready to serve. If serving immediately then just have a baking pan covered with tin foil ready to keep the finished ones warm after they’ve been drained.

In a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon or your hands (I use my hands, it’s faster)  mix the potatoes and onions with the potato starch until the potatoes have released some moisture and the sornstarch is dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Add the salt and pepper to combine. Add the matzoh meal and mix well. Set aside for about 10 minutes. The mixture should get liquid-y but sticky.

In the meantime, preheat a large preferable cast iron but definitely non-stick skillet over medium heat, a little bit on the high side. Add about 1/4 inch layer of vegetable oil to the pan. The oil is hot enough when you throw a bit of batter in and bubbles rapidly form around it. If it immediately smokes then the heat is too high and you should lower it a bit. If the bubbles are really lazy then give it a few more minutes or turn the heat up a bit.

With wet hands (so that the mixture doesn’t stick) roll into small golf ball sized balls. Flatten into thin round patties. I do about 4 to six at a time. Fry on one side for about 4 minutes, until golden brown. Flip over and fry for another 3 minutes.

Transfer to the paper towels and proceed with the remaining latkes. Once latkes have drained on both sides, place in a baking pan to keep warm.

When I do a low-fat or fat free recipe I feel like it needs to come with a disclaimer. I’m a feminist. I love how women look in all shapes in sizes. I don’t think women should spend their lives constantly counting calories and striving for society’s idea of perfection. To be blunt, I like fat girls!

That said. I gained a lot of weight over the past 2 years. I’m at a point where I’m not feeling healthy and getting winded walking up my stairs. None of my clothes fit and I am feeling kind of crappy. This doesn’t mean that I hate myself or think I’m ugly, it just means it’s time to lose some weight.

What I do to lose weight is a bastardized version of the Weight Watchers Core program. In a nut shell, it’s limiting refined carbohydrates and fat, and eating high fiber whole foods like grains, legumes, fruits and veggies. Easy enough if you’re vegan, but my biggest issue is baked sweets. I love apples and cantelope as much as the next girl, but I love to bake. I need the smell of brownies in my apartment at least a few times a week or I feel deprived, especially during these dreary gray winter months.

These Brownie Bites are perfect because they are portioned in mini muffin sizes so that when you eat too many, you know exactly how many that is. They’re ready to eat in about 45 minutes, so your craving can be met almost immediately. To bolster their health factor without giving too much of a “health food” taste, I use whole wheat pastry flour. Prunes are pureed with coffee to give the brownies moisture, gooeyness and depth of flavor as well as extra fiber. The prunes give the brownies a backdrop of fruitiness that I think complements the chocolate nicely, and using coffee as the liquid is not only fat and calorie free, but it accentuates the chocolaty-ness as well. I do still use regular sugar because I make them often and agave or maple syrup would be really expensive and I don’t like stevia or splenda so don’t even try to sell me on it. The point for me is not to be a perfect little angel, but to be a perfect little angel that can still eat brownies.

Low Fat Brownie Bites

Makes 24 

1 cup fresh brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup prunes (about 12)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine coffee, prunes and flax seeds in a blender. Blend until relatively smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Mix in sugar, canola oil and vanilla until well combined. I just use a fork for this.

Sift in pastry flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each tin most of the way.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, tops should be firm to the touch and rounded.

Remove from oven and serve when cool enough to handle.

I used recipezaar to get the nutritional info.

The first time I had pasta puttanesca I was waitressing at a restaurant in Park Slope. A fellow waitress told me that it was the pasta that Italian whores ate. She was always saying things like, “I spilled ketchup all over my tits,” and pronouncing “mimosa” in a really suggestive way. I just figured she was telling me that so she could say the word “whore” while slurping down linguine, but it is actually true, pasta putanesca is the pasta of whores. And I can see why.

If you’re anything like me you always have a gigantic thing of capers and olives in your fridge (not to mention great bone structure and an impressive unicorn collection.) Puttanesca is a really quick way to put together a complex tasting - passionate even - dish with pantry staples. Succulent, salty and a little spicy, the ingredients and method are simple enough that you can prep it, cook it and clean up after yourself in a leisurely 30 minutes, and then get back to the matter at hand, whether that be sex with strangers for money or updating your blog.

I’m always on the look out for ways to incorporate quinoa and other grains into my lunches, so it’s pretty brainless to just make a traditional pasta sauce and toss it on a grain instead. I like to make a big batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week and store it for a few days. If you don’t have a few cups of cooked quinoa around then see directions below* and start your quinoa before starting your sauce.

Quinoa Puttanesca - The Quinoa of Whores

Serves 4

2 to 3 cups cooked quinoa

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

generous pinch each tarragon and marjoram

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped (sliced in half is great)

1/2 cup capers

20 ounce can crushed tomatoes

fresh black pepper

Preheat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic and stir for about a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add herbs, spices and wine; cook for about a minute.

Add olives, capers and tomatoes. Cook for about 15 minutes. You can serve either by scooping quinoa into individual bowls and pouring the sauce over it, but my way is to just mix everything into a bowl together and reserve a little sauce to pour over my serving, because I like it extra whore-y. There is no rosemary in the recipe, but my food porn was looking a little naked so I garnished it with some.

For some reason, Jason Das named all the capers in the photo on my FlickR, so if that thought entertains you then you can go check that out.

*Mix one cup dry quinoa with 2 cups water, bring to a boil then lower heat and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until grain is tender and water has been absorbed.

You know how with sex there’s a couple of things that you simply won’t do? That’s how I am with cooking, although sometimes my “rules” feel like they have a lot more to do with ethical objections than personal preference. I’m not talking about vegan ethical objections, which are obvious, I’m talking about culinary ones. I’m talking about including Gimme Lean Sausage or Tofutti Sour Supreme as part of a recipe. And I am conscious of being just a little ridiculous in calling it ethical but that’s just how it feels.

My main problem with that kind of cooking, is that it stops being “cuisine.” It starts being 30 minute meals or semi-homemade cooking. And that is fine for a weeknight in front of the TV or just to get something on the table, but it doesn’t foster respect for vegan cuisine. And there is a difference between cuisine and food; cuisine is a style of cooking and food is stuff we eat. I don’t want vegan cuisine to be thought of as fake, or as that stuff that comes from the freezer section next to the frozen hamburgers or the weird dairy case. (Every supermarket has that weird dairy case filled with stunt meats and casein cheese, right?) I want vegan cuisine to be a real force, a real style - a contender.

When it comes to vegan cream sauces my “won’t” list expands. I won’t use soymilk, because it tastes like soymilk, not cream. I won’t use coconut milk in something savory unless I want it to be a bit sweet. I won’t use nooch for everything. I won’t use Tofutti brand anything because that is just plain cheating. So, my options are limited. But I am trying to broaden them.

The thing I will use is nuts; cashews, pine nuts, almonds, sometimes walnuts. But I still try to be careful, because even though vegans know not to exactly expect cream when they hear the word cream, omnivores don’t. And I really, for the most part, try to make my recipes omnivore-friendly. This usually means not using the word cream at all, unless it’s a dessert thing where I completely cheat and use Earth Balance, but that’s another story.

So when I set out to make Tofu Paprikas in honor of my friend Jason Das’ Hungarian heritage, I was a little nervous. Paprikas is nothing if not creamy, and god am I sick of everything tasting like nutritional yeast. I knew that I was going to have to work with the dreaded tofu cream sauce.

Silken tofu is great for texture but the taste has ruined many an otherwise scrumptious sauce for me. Some people describe the taste as bean-y, but it just translates as bitter for me. At some point in working on Veganomicon I stumbled on a possible solution that I used in a couple of dips and sauces; Horseradish Dill Sourcream, Cilantro Cream and Creamy Kalamata Spread. If you look at the titles of those recipes I bet you can figure out what the trick it. I suppose it isn’t such a trick at all, it’s simply overpowering the tofu with flavors that are strong enough to cover up the bitter taste, basically beating the tofu into submission.

Another thing I learned is to use the silken tofu that comes in a fresh package (like Nasoya) and not the vacuum packed kind (like Mori-Nu). It has a better taste and the beaniness isn’t as apparant. I also prefer the texture. As a bonus, it’s easier to find.

Finally, it needs a little heat and a little sweet. No heat and it tastes like blended tofu. Too much heat and it tastes like rubber. I found that sauteeing garlic in oil and adding it still hot to the sauce gave just enough warmth, with a little wiggle room for a gentle heat through at serving time. And since sweetness counteracts bitterness, just a touch of agave or maple syrup will do the trick. Although I didn’t actually end up using any in this recipe because the sweetness of the onions worked wonders.

From looking at a few Paprikas recipes, I deduced that the dish was really rich, calling for not just cream but sourcream as well. I decided to toast a few pine nuts to blend into the sauce, not only because I have 5 pounds of pine nuts in my freezer but I thought that would give the sauce some body and “depth of flavor.”

Justin and I ended up really enjoying this, maybe a little too much as there were no leftovers. I honestly meant to save some that I could give to Jason the next day. He lives only a few blocks away so I could even have walked it over. But I didn’t! I would consider it a cream sauce success, although I think there are a few more things I’d like to try before I declare it perfect. It’s definitely good enough to share, though!

I made this with frozen thawed tofu for a chewier texture, and I really wanna’ get to the recipe so let me just quickly tell you what I do for frozen tofu. Freeze overnight then thaw on the counter the next day. Don’t heat it up to thaw, just leave it out. It usually takes 10 hours to thaw. Once completely thawed, wrap it in a kitchen table towel and press it overnight in the fridge. That makes it really nice and chewy but without the freezer burn, discolorization or sponginess sometimes associated with frozen tofu.

Click below for the recipe. And damn you VeganMoFo, for making me write so much!

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Why is it Peruvian? Maybe because purple potatoes are from Peru or maybe because I love alliteration. Either way, this soup made me feel like I was somewhere exotic, or at least anywhere besides my torn up corduroy couch in front of the TV. This is the kind of soup you can only really make after visiting a farmers market because although it’s super simple, regular supermarkets just don’t carry the ingredients. But I suggested some substitutes if you would like to try it.

I get big eyes at the Union Square Farmers market and tend to lug home more than I can use in a week, so because they stay fresh, tubers and squash are good (albeit heavy) choices for me. Last week I bought these gorgeous “purple beauty” potatoes. When I sliced them open I expected the color to be a little faded, but they were a vibrant Prince purple. The kind of purple you want to paint your room on a Saturday evening when you’re 15 and have no Cure concert to go to.

I also came into some Delfino cilantro. It’s a little different than the common parsley-looking cilantro, it looks sort of like dill, with thin stubby leaves. The taste was a bit different, too - more lemon-y and stronger. Pick some up if you can find it, but use regular cilantro for this recipe if you can’t.

The last hard to find ingredient was Czech black chili peppers. They were mild and fruity and absolutely gorgeous, but I think that jalapenos would be a fine substitute.

After boiling the potatoes the color did fade just a tad, so I cheated and grated in some beet. Unless you’re a food photographer that probably isn’t exactly necessary.

Peruvian Purple Potato Soup

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

6 czech black peppers, seeded and thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups water

2 pounds purple potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks

1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)

1/4 cup Delfino cilantro, chopped

Juice 1/2 a lime, or to taste

Optional: a little grated beet for color

Preheat soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, chilies and bay leaves for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and saute 3 minute more.

Add potatoes, water and salt. Cover and bring the heat up to boil. Once boiling, lower heat a bit to a slow simmer and cook until potatoes are tender - usually 15 to 18 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to puree half the soup, or transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor and puree. Be sure to let the steam escape in between pulses so that the steam doesn’t build up and explode all over you. But get an immersion blender, it is so worth it. Return pureed soup to pot and mix.

Add cilantro and lime and taste for salt. Grate a little bit of beet in, using a microplane grater if you’ve got one. I used maybe a tablespoon, maybe a little less. Let sit for at least 5 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve!

Way to straighten up for the media. Also, nice dirty apron.

This article features just about everyone in the vegan baking world, but the picture is of me so that’s all that matters. Because I am narcissistic to compensate for my low self esteem. In any case, even without me, it is a really nice article about vegan baking for the Associated Press, which will get lots of exposure. So yay.

That’s quite a manicure, Moskowitz.

There’s also a recipe for Orange Chocolate Chip Biscotti that goes along with the article, but strangely they aren’t in the same news pieces.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I hope to see you at the NYC Walk For Farm Animals on Sunday. And visit the blog on Monday for the next Veganomicon giveaway!

These are for Jill, who was looking for a gluten-free Thanksgiving main dish, and she specifically requested something that could be “molded.” Since I guess vegans are compelled to mold stuff on Thanksgiving.

I think this recipe fits all the vegan stereotypes that we’ll start seeing in the “funnies” over the next couple of weeks, gearing up towards the holidays. It’s made of chickpeas, tempeh and tofu. The texture is meaty but with that characteristically vegan mushiness we all love so much. It’s spiced with fennel, sage and just a little hint of liquid smoke. I couldn’t think of a good name for it but then Verdura on the PPK message boards suggested loaffins, and how can that be denied?

It was a fun meal to make because while creating recipes for Veganomicon we were very careful to make things supermarket and omnivore friendly, so we often had to show restraint with things like tempeh and nutritional yeast. But this recipe was like all-out swinging from the chandelier vegan.

I’ll put the recipe up in a bit, I have to go take these x-rays down to the lab. (That’s what people in soap operas say when they need to end the scene and don’t feel like panning in on the actress’s face.)

Last week sometime I started working on menus for dead people. That is, what I would cook for people that I like who happen to be dead - if they were alive. Because sometimes I’ll take inspiration where ever I can get it. I was halfway through a cabbage gruel menu for Emma Goldman when I realized that there are people among the living who inspire me. People who might actually appreciate the recipes. People who might not live at the turn of the 20th century and live on cabbage and potatoes. And so this is the first of what I’m calling Virtual Dinner Dates.

Today’s dinner was inspired by Pattrice Jones. Chili Pumpkin Cranberry Risotto with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. Pattrice mentioned liking chilies and cranberry and so that’s where the idea came from, but I also had a lot of chilies left over from last week’s Chile Fest and some dried cranberries that were like “Use me already!”

And chilies are very fitting for Pattrice, since she takes care of a bird sanctuary. Chili peppers were able to evolve as they have because birds’ taste receptors are immune to the heat of capsaicin, which is the compound that makes chili peppers hot. To them it’s just a big succulent berry. So if you’ve ever seen chili peppers in a bag of bird feed, that’s why. It’s not because of some sort of bird machismo. (Click here to hear how capsaicin is pronounced, it’s fun.)

Now, I’ll admit that the cranberries sound a little out of place - but they aren’t adding a strong cranberry taste, just a little bit of tanginess, along with the lime, to contrast with the nutty sweetness of the pumpkin. But this isn’t a sweet dish per se, it’s savory with the garlic, onion and pumpkin and pulled together with creamy coconut milk. Top it off with spicy, crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds to fancy it up. I always like to use the seeds from a pumpkin because it feels like you’re a survivalist using the whole animal.

Chili Pumpkin Cranberry Risotto with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

3 lb sugar pumpkin, or any winter squash (butternut, kabocha, acorn, what have you)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 hot red chilies, seeded and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
5 cups vegetable broth, kept warm on the stove top
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (grate it fresh if you can)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of one lime
1 teaspoon agave or pure maple syrup

For the pumpkin seeds, if using:
2 teaspoons paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon salt

First the pumpkin needs to be roasted. I would suggest doing this well in advance of preparing the risotto for two reasons. One, you’ll need it to cool down so you can peel and chop it. And two, that way it doesn’t seem like you’re cooking for so long and the actual risotto takes only about 35 minutes. If you’re using pumpkin you can also roast the seeds to use as a garnish. Yeah, you can roast the seeds of other squashes, I just don’t think they taste very good.

So. To prepare the pumpkin and seeds: Preheat oven to 350 F. Hack pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy bits with a tablespoon. Reserve the seeds and place them in a colander to clean. Lightly oil a baking sheet and place the pumpkin face down on sheet. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork, but not completely mushy. Once cooled, peel off the skin and chop pumpkin into bite sized pieces.

In the meantime, wash the pumpkin seeds and dry completely with a kitchen towel. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with a little olive oil, toss to coat. You can toast them in the oven while the pumpkin bakes, it usually takes about 15 minutes. Toss once or twice. Remove from oven and place in a bowl to cool. Once cooled, sprinkle with the spices to coat.

And now and only now, are you ready to actually start the risotto. Have your broth ready and warming on the stove before you begin.

Preheat a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies in the oil for about 7 minutes, stirring often so you don’t burn it. Add the risotto and stir to coat with oil. Add wine to deglaze the pot, then add first cup of vegetable broth. Use a wooden spoon to stir until most of the water is absorbed. You don’t have to stir the entire time, just as frequently as you can stand.

Continue adding veggie broth then stirring a few more times, until only a cup of broth is left. When you’re at the last cup, add the pumpkin and cranberries and repeat stirring. When most of the liquid has absorbed, add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and lime juice. Stir in coconut milk. Cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust salt. At this point you can also add a teaspoon or so of agave. This doesn’t make it sweet per se, it just enhances the natural sweetness of the squash and cranberries.

Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving, to let the flavors “marry.” Scoop into bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

This is one of my winter staples, especially if I’m having a busy week, have no one to impress and don’t want to use a million dishes (big ups to the disherwasherless!) You get your beans, greens and grains all in one pot; in this case I used white beans, kale and quinoa. You also get about 10 servings out of it so you can either freeze it or keep it in the fridge for 4 days or so, having it for lunch or dinner. Um, or breakfast, like I did today. Another bonus is that it’s really low fat and high fiber, so if you’re doing any of that Weight Watchers, Eat To Live, McDougall stuff I think it’d be right up your alley.

I’m posting the recipe, but it’s really versatile so make up your own spice blend, use different beans and grains (although cooking time may vary for the grain) and, you know, just do whatever you want. Sometimes I make it with black beans and millet and use chili spices instead. That kind of thing.  Recipe below.

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Buckwheat has a wonderful sweet, earth flavor and aroma that makes everything smell so home-y. And it’s completely gluten free, which is confusing, since the word “wheat” is in its title. I’d been toying around with a gluten free pancake recipe for awhile and nothing really sang to me, but this morning I struck gold with these babies. They’re hearty pancakes for sure, but they’re also light and fluffy. I think the main difference in texture between these and white flour pancakes is that they’re a bit grainier and less flexible. But who cares if they’re less flexible because you’re not gonna’ bend them, you’re gonna’ eat them.

The recipe has quite a few ingredients that you probably don’t have laying around the house unless you’re a compulsive grocery shopper (like me) or follow a gluten free diet, so if you like, you can replace the quinoa and corn flour with whole wheat pastry flour (or regular flour) and leave out the tapioca flour and flax seeds. You may need to thin the batter with a bit of water in that case. The recipe is below.

Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes
Makes 8 five inch pancakes1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup corn flour (NOT cornmeal, corn flour is lighter)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (or flax meal)
2 tablespoons tapioca flour (cornstarch or arrowroot would be okay, too)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all flours, flax seeds, tapioca, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Create a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients. Use a fork to mix well for about a minute. Let the batter rest, and preheat a large, non-stick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat.

When pan is hot, spray with a thin layer of cooking spray and use an ice cream scooper to pour batter and form pancakes. I did two at a time, but do as many as you can fit. The pancake should start to form little air bubbles, but not as much as “normal” pancakes do, so don’t worry. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Keep warm on a plate covered with tin foil until ready to serve.

Serve with Earth Balance, maple syrup and fresh fruit.