Good Karma Collards with Baked Tofu Hock

Something about Collard Greens always puts me in the mood for southern cooking...and while soul food and vegan cooking may not be the most intuitive combination, I assure you it can be delicious!  For this dish we will make a tasty, smoky, meaty baked tofu that we add to our equally smoky and also garlicky and a little feisty collard greens.

I will show you how to get a really fool-proof and satisfying flavor and texture from your tofu and I'll even show you how to shred those collards with a simple technique that will save you tons of time with all your leafies.

Serves 4-6 as a side, or 2 as a main.

What you'll use from your bag:
Collard Greens (I used all of them, about 10 medium-large leaves)
Garlic Scapes (I used 3, but 4 could be good too)
Spring Onions (I used them all, about 5)

Optional: The turnip greens from any turnips would be a welcome and traditional addition

What else you'll use:

For the marinade:
Liquid Smoke - 1 tsp
Coffee Grounds (used or fresh) - 1 tsp
Tamari - 1/4 cup
Smoked salt - 1/4 tsp (I used Alder, but applewood any is fine)
Balsamic Vinegar - 1 Tbs
Fresh Oregano, a few leaves
Crushed Red Pepper - 1 tsp
Firm or Extra Firm Tofu - 1 pack

For the collards sauté:
Smoked Paprika - 2 tsp, and more to dust
Vegetable Broth - 1/2 cup
Sea Salt - to taste
Lemon - 1/4 peel and the juice of 1/4
Blackstrap Molasses - 1/2 tsp
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil - 1 Tbs
Tomato- 1 small to cook and


First, you'll press the tofu
If you aren't used to cooking with tofu, you should know this is an essential step!  Wrap your tofu block in paper towels or a thick dishcloth, and place between two plates with a couple cans on top to drain the liquid out. Do this while preheating your oven to 350 degrees, and mixing your marinade.

In a gallon sized zip-top bag, add the marinade ingredients listed above and shake.

Then, when the tofu has compressed and looks more dense (or has tossed your cans on the floor and taken an new shape!)  then slice the tofu like this:

The smaller the cubes the happier you will be, and the faster is will bake.  These cubes are just under 1/4 inch cubes

Then you're going to toss the tofu in the marinade bag and let it sit until the oven has reached the temperature you want, turning the bag over every other minute to ensure even coating.

Spread your marinated cubes out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for 25 minutes, stirring the cubes to expose different sides to the heat every 8 minutes or so.

Now, chop your garlic scapes and spring onions.

Heat up the oil in a sauté pan and add the garlic and onions.  While they cook, take the peel from one lemons and maybe thin slivers and then add that directly into the pan with the garlic scape, spring onions and coconut oil.

Next, get your collards ready while the aromas develop.

Remove any stems that may be sticking out, and roll your collards (al of them at once is fine, or half at a time) into a cigar and cut the collards while tightly rolled up, about 1/3 inch wide.  Once you have them all ribboned, make one chop down the long way through the middle and your collards are chopped perfectly and quickly for sautéing. 

Add the collards in with the vegetable broth and cover for 3-5minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir together until the tomatoes look soft.  When the liquids have reduced, add the tofu and remove from heat.  Stir to combine and dust with the smoked paprika.

Serve with rice for a full meal, or alongside something like these Eggplant Cutlets and with a little sriracha and vegan aioli for a truly decadent flavor combo.

Asian Salad with Choi and Snap Peas

Use this flavor -packed Asian salad as your lunchtime Rx to get over a case of the Mondays.  Now that summer is in full swing, and staying inside during the day is even harder an inspired lunch idea will bring some of that sunshine indoors.

Snap peas and Choi can both be enjoyed raw, but in this salad we will sauté them to bring in a ton of flavor and a variety of textures.  Some of the ingredients will be raw,  like the carrots and radishes, and you can serve this dish fresh from the wok or chilled from your fridge.

Serves 2-3, but can easily be doubled

What you'll use from your bag:

Choi (as much as you can fit in your pan, usually about 4-6)

Snap Peas (one fully packet cup, with peas vertical)

2 turnips 

2 radish

2 spring onions

2 Scapes (and any spring garlic you have leftover from last week)

What else you'll need:

1-2 baby carrots, or 1 small carrot

1 inch Fresh ginger root

1/4 cup Red raspberries (because they are in season and on major sale!, but if you have traditional tastes, small oranges like Mandarins or Clementines are for you)

4-5 fresh Basil leaves

1 Tbs Rice Vinegar

2 Tbs cooking oil (I use safflower oil here)

3 Tbs of Tamari or Soy Sauce, and 1 Tbs of Tamari

Optional: I had some zucchini laying around and it made an excellent addition, any vegetables like eggplant, cucumber,  or mushrooms, make welcome additions here.

Bamboo shoots are also used, and optional. I found some at Giant in the ethnic foods section

You may elect to serve over rice, but otherwise alone, or served on this week's greens are a hearty and low-carb approach to a very light vegetable lunch.

First, you'll wash and prep your veggies

If you don't have rice in your fridge, now is a great time to start your rice, if desired, too (here's a basic chinese-style rice recipe )

Snap peas need a little extra attention. Unlike in the pate, where we blended them up whole, these

need to have their ends removed along with their string. The Choi can either be quartered if they are dense enough, or separated into just leaves. the turnips should be cut into discs and halved. The ginger and basil should be coarsely chopped, separately. The zucchini or other veggies you decide to add should be thick matchsticks or cubed to give easy salad bites.

Chop up the spring onions and the scapes, or leftover spring garlic, and the turnips, and set aside.

Next, you'll put your cooking veggies into a big bowl for a quick marinade

Put the choi, the peas, the bamboo shoots, ginger, and any optional veggies into a large bowl, and pour in 3 Tbs Tamari, 1 Tbs of Rice Vinegar and lightly massage the liquid into the veggies, and let sit.

Then, heat the sauté pan or wok

let the pan heat up until a droplet of water turns into a perfect sphere upon contact, then add 2 Tbs of oil and 1 Tbs of soy sauce, and stand back so the splatter doesn't catch you.

Add the onions and scapes/garlic to the hot pan and let sautee for 1 min.  Add your marinading veggies with their marinade liquid, again standing back to dodge any overly excited liquids, reduce the heat to med-low and cover.

Now, prepare your raw veggies

Get out your raspberries, sliver/matchstick your carrots, and make thin discs of your radishes and set aside.

Now add your turnips and basil to the sauté, mix and keep uncovered for 1 minute.

Then, plate your rice, and spoon some sautee juice onto it 

Once it is nice and juicy, add your cooked vegetables on top of the rice, and decorate with the carrot sticks, radish discs, and raspberries.  

If you'll be cooking for the next day's lunch, only combine the veg and rice when it's time to serve.

Enjoy!

Oh and I promise it's just as delicious when it's messy :)

Sugar Snap Pea Pate

Nothing brings the fresh feeling of summer quite like a fresh and crisp Sugar Snap Pea, and an early summer yield doesn't leave much to feed a full family, so luckily by combining these bursting pea pods to some of the other veggies in this week's bag we can make an early-summer pate!

Pate makes a great fridge snack, as you can combine it with nearly anything else in your fridge or pantry like crackers or celery sticks.  Best of all the bright bright green of the peas makes an excellent contrast, making it an excellent smile-inducing finger food for an outdoor garden party.



What you'll use from your bag:
All the sugar snaps (appx 1 cup)
2 small, or 1 medium turnip
1 Shunkyo radish (oblong), and 2 pink beauty radishes to serve
2 stalks of fresh oregano
1/2 small bulb of spring garlic, reserve green to serve
1 leaf Winter Density Lettuce, to serve

What else you'll need:
1 tsp dried tarragon, or 2 pieces fresh, and a pinch to garnish
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable broth
pinch of sea salt

Optional:
Almonds, Walnuts, Red Bell Pepper, Smoked Paprika


First, you'll wash and pre-chop,
Chopping the radish, garlic, and turnip into smaller pieces helps the mixture blend up better.  If you prefer, now is when you may remove the roots or stalks to any vegetables.

Next, you'll add the pate ingredients to your food processor or blender:
All the snap peas, the turnips, the oblong radish, the oregano, the spring garlic, the tarragon, the ginger, the vinegar, the broth, and the salt, into the processor or blender on high for 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides and mix to ensure thorough blending, and blend for 30 seconds more.  Taste.  If too bitter, try adding a splash more vinegar, or a pinch of your sweetener of choice.  If too light, add a pinch of paprika now and more to garnish.




Now, Serve it your way!
Best if chilled 15-20 minutes before serving.  Here are some ideas:

On a round slice of a Pink Lady Radish from your bag, add a dollop of pea pate, and dress with slivers of the green spring garlic, 1 sliced almond, and dust with smoked paprika.  The finish is complex and the texture keeps you till the last bite.






Or, my personal favorite: Take 1/4 of a Red Bell Pepper and fill with the pate.  This is also dressed with spring garlic and pink lady radishes, and also a flower from this week's Chinese Broccoli :)  The pepper makes a nice boat for the pate, and also tones down the strength of the garlic and turnip.

Sesame Soba with Bok Choi and Chinese Broccoli

Soba is an earthy, traditionally gluten-free noodle, that is packed with anti-oxidant power from things like Manganese, and relatively low in carb while being high in fiber and protein, unlike our typical white refined pastas!

Bok Choi is the star of this show, providing bursts of fresh moisture, soft leaves, and a crunch, amidst the rich and creamy tahini sauce, while the meaty mushrooms satisfy our craving for a hearty bite.  Last but not least, the Chinese Broccoli (which likes to hide in the soba!) compliments these textures, adding a complex and nutrient dense element beneath the surface of the noodles.

Serves 4- Feel free to use all of the Choi from this shipment, or you can reserve some to steam or sauté on it's own with soy sauce, garlic and ginger.

What you'll use from your bag: 
Choi- 1/4 - 1/2 pound, halved with the base cut off
Chinese Broccoli - 1 plant, chopped into 2 inch long pieces
Spring Garlic - 2 stalks, chopped

What else you'll need:
Soba Noodles - 8-9 ounces (I used King Soba's Sweet Potato and Buckwheat)

Shitake Mushrooms - Sliced, fresh 1 8 oz pack, or 1 dry cup rehydrated
Tamari/Soy Sauce - 6 Tbs, 4 for the sautee and 2 reserved for the end
Rice Vinegar - 1 Tbs, in a pinch you may use white wine vinegar
Sesame Oil - 3 Tbs + 1.5 tsp,  may substitute avocado or safflower oil, but sesame is the best flavor
Tahini - 2 Tbs Tahini, one in the sautee, and one reserved for the end
Ginger - 1/2 tsp powder, or 1/2 inch fresh root minced
Vegetable broth - 1/3 cup, mushroom and onion broths especially work well here
Chinese 5 Spice Powder - 1/2 Tbs, in a pinch combine anise/fennel/tarragon, black pepper and cinnamon to a total of 1/2 Tbs to approximate the flavor
Toasted Sesame Seeds - For serving
Cayenne Pepper - 1/2 tsp, optional



First, set the Noodle to Boil:
--12 cups of water, seasoned with salt and 1 tsp of oil. Bring to a boil and then add noodles, and return to boil, 4 minutes. Drain, and toss with 1/2 tsp oil and set aside.

Next, Prep your sautee:

Sautee mixture
4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Oil
1 Tablespoon Tahini
1/2 tsp or inch of Ginger
2 stalks Spring garlic, chopped

-- Heat the sautee pan or wok on medium heat. Whisk together the mixture vigorously and add to a hot pan. Once it bubbles at
the edges, add the mushrooms, and stir to coat. 2 minutes.

--Add 1/3 cup vegetable broth, and layer the choi and broccoli atop the liquid and cover, 2 minutes.  Stir mixture, and add 1/2 Tablespoon Chinese 5 Spice powder, and the optional cayenne pepper if desired.

--Once the Choi has wilted, and the broccoli has softened a bit, add in the noodles, another 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and a tablespoon of tahini.






Garnish with toasted Sesame seeds, and your favorite hot sauce (such as Sriracha) if desired!

Hooligan Pumpkin Soup

I should admit that I have never made soup with Hooligan Pumpkins! Every week I write these recipes before we actually get the CSA bag but most of them I have an idea of what I'm doing :) But I'm excited to create something new.  Maybe you know what you're doing- if that's the case you can use this as a guideline. I got a few different ideas by checking out some recipes online.  Here we go...

This recipe is for 2 pumpkin bowls, if you have/get more pumpkins you can increase the recipe by the correct proportions.  Or half it if only making one.

With the other great veggies we are getting, I'm planning a kale salad for the side.



What you'll use from your bag:
Hooligan Pumpkins (2)
Garlic (1-2 cloves)
Butternut Squash (about 1lb)

What else you'll need:
Veg Broth or Water (2.5 cups)
Butter (vegan)
Sugar
Thyme (fresh, 1 sprig)
Salt
Almond (or non-dairy plain) Milk (2 Tbs, optional)
Croutons or Pumpkin Seeds (optional, garnish)

First, Prepare:

• Cut the top of the pumpkins and remove the insides
• Sprinkle insides with a little sugar & salt
• Put pumpkins and their tops on a baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees
• Peel and Cut the Squash in about 1 inch pieces/cubes

Next, Make the Soup:

• In a saucepan, melt 2-3 Tbs. of butter. Add the onion and garlic and thyme of the sprig and saute for 3 minutes or so (until onion is tender)
• Put your cut up squash in the saucepan, stir to combine and cook for about 5 minutes- sprinkle with salt
• Add 2.5 cups of Water or Veg Broth. 
• Reduce heat & simmer for about 15 minutes until squash is tender

Then, Puree & Serve:

• With an immersion blender (if you have one) puree the soup to smooth. If you don't have one you can transfer the mixture to a blender or mash with a hand masher for a chunkier consistency. 
• Stir in the Almond Milk if using
• Gently scoop the soup mixture into the pumpkins
• Garnish with croutons or pumpkin seeds & serve

Happy Eating!

Eggplant Parmesan

Hi everyone! I hope you have had some chances to enjoy the beautiful weather. Based on the goodies coming in our bag this week I decided to try Eggplant Parm. A couple weeks ago I was with some friends (vegan and not) and someone was expressing their disdain for eggplant parm and was bitter that anyone would try to pass eggplant off as a "meat substitute." Well, I don't know about that, I mean who said anyone was trying to pass it off as meat? Relax...I just think it tastes good!

I got the basic recipe using The Veg Life and Minimalist Baker.

Ok, so here it is. Use the lettuce, arugula, and radishes for a side salad.

What you'll need from your bag:

Eggplant (1 or 2)
Garlic (2 cloves)

What else you'll need:

1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (or other flour of choice)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs (GF for gluten free eaters)
2 Tbsp vegan (or not) Parmesan & more for serving (or sub 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast)
1 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tsp fresh)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or other neutral milk)
1 tsp cornstarch

8 oz Pasta
2 cups Sauce

First, Prepare:

-Slice eggplant into thin rounds slightly less than 1/2 inch thick, and sprinkle each side liberally with sea salt. Arrange in a circular pattern in a colander and place in the sink to draw out the bitter taste of the eggplant.

-Let rest for 15 minutes, then rinse and arrange on a clean absorbent kitchen towel. Top with another clean dish towel and lay a baking sheet on top. Place something heavy on top, such as a cast iron skillet, to thoroughly dry for at least 10 minutes.

-In the meantime, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil and spritz with nonstick spray. Also, if making pasta, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan

What's Next:

-Prepare your dipping stations by placing almond milk & cornstarch in one bowl; flour in another bowl; and bread crumbs & sea salt & oregano & Parmesan (or nutritional yeast) in another bowl.

-Once thoroughly dry, dip eggplant slices in flour, then almond milk mixture, then breadcrumbs. Arrange on the baking sheet and pop in oven to bake for a total of 20-30 minutes.

-IMPORTANT STEP: While the eggplant is in the oven, bring a large skillet to medium heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil (or sub canola or grape seed) and pull 3-4 eggplant rounds out of the oven at a time and sauté to give them extra crisp and texture. Cook for ~2 minutes on each side (or browned) and then return to oven to continue crisping. Do this in batches until all rounds are browned.

Almost There:

-While eggplant is browning in the oven, add pasta to boiling water

-With a bit of olive oil saute a couple cloves of garlic for 2 minutes and then add your marinara sauce to simmer

-Once done cooking, drain pasta, set aside and keep warm

-Serve anyway you like...Plate pasta, then sauce, then eggplant. Add additional cheese if you wish. 

Enjoy

Potato Tomato Frittata

I'm really excited about the recipe for this week. This is a bit of an invention on the vegan end of the spectrum. Frittatas are generally made with eggs, it's always cool (for me) when we can create something so commonly "un-vegan" to vegan. I got some help on this creation from "the kicking kitchen."  I hope you like it!
Here we go...




What you'll use from your bag:

1 cup cubed Red Norland Potatoes
2 chopped Heirloom Tomatoes
2 cloves chopped Garlic
1/3 cup diced Leeks
2 diced Sweet Peppers

What else you'll need:

2 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup fresh chopped Parsley
3/4 cup sliced & quartered Mushrooms
14 oz (1 package)Tofu firm
1/4 cup Soy (or Rice) Milk
4 tbsp Arrowroot/Cornstarch
2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Dried Dill
1/4 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Turmeric
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

What to do:
-Heat oven to 375
-Saute the cubed potatoes in a little olive oil and splash of salt until they are not quite done (maybe 5-6 minutes) Then set aside
-In the same pan, saute the leeks and garlic (about 4 minutes)
-Add the sweet peppers, diced tomato, parsley, and mushrooms and continuing sauteing for 2-3 minutes. Cover and set aside
-Drain and squeeze excess water out of the tofu using cheese cloth of paper towels
-Combine the tofu with: soy milk, arrowroot, nutritional yeast, mustard, dill, paprika, tumeric, salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until well combined
-Place tofu mixture in a large bowl and stir in the potatoes and veggie mixture
-Scoop/pour into a pie plate or baking dish
-Bake for about 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving

Enjoy