I think we can all agree that the weather outside if frightful but here’s to pot pies to make it delightful….

I like putting them in individual pie tins, but you can buy the standard aluminum tins or even mini loaf tins. Just make the stuffing and top with the various mashed topping in lieu of a crust. You can make a whole bunch and freeze, reheating in 350 oven until hot.

This is basically a loose mushroom stuffing without the bread crumbs, topped with a cauliflower mashed potato crust
1 cup of celery, carrot, onion, parsnip, cremini, shitake or portobello mushroom, medium dice
2/3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3/4 sprigs fresh sage, finely chopped
6 sprigs of thyme, desprigged
s/p to taste

Toss all ingredients in a baking tray with coconut oil or butter, roast in preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

To make the mashed cauliflower “potatoe”, add florets with an inch of water, boil for 20 minutes till stems  are soft. Strain and puree in blender with s/p, add pat of butter if desired.

I don’t know how this happened; I am not a baker. I roasted beets in the oven and removed the skins while it was still hot. The beet skin had caramelized and the natural earthiness of the beets deepened and I got a whiff of dark chocolate. I make beet sorbet ice cream; awesome but still not considered baking.

Hmmm…So in the blender goes 2 medium gorgeous glossy roasted beets (I said farewell to them thinking it will wind up in the trash) a heaping spoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, two drizzles around the blender of agave nectar and a squirt of liquid stevia. The zest of a clementine and pinch of sea salt finished it up the madness and the whirring began. We can stop right here. Perfect. Warm. Chocolate pudding. It’s neutral, goes with any type of meal unlike the avocado or sweet potato based chocolate puddings and I have a feeling it’s gonna be on the fast track going out; roasted beets have a reputation of doing that.

I stare at my beet pudding and it is deep and dark and rich like velvet. RED VELVET CHOCOLATE CAKE! (I think the pudding might have up and smacked me) But I am not a baker.

But I have millet flour and I vaguely remember a vegan recipe for chocolate cake…. So here we go:

2 CUPS ROASTED RED BEET PUREE
¼ CUP OF AGAVE NECTAR (more or less is adding stevia or not)
½ CUP MILLET FLOUR
1 TBS BAKING SODA
1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
ZEST OF AN ORANGE, ANY TYPE
1 TBS RED VINEGAR (or apple cider vinegar)
PINCH OF SALT

Combine all the wet ingredients and mix with dry. (Work quickly because the baking soda and vinegar starts bubbling and whilst the cake bakes, it makes it moist and fluffy).

Put in mini loaf pan greased with a little coconut oil or a cupcake tin and bake in preheated 350 degree oven. 25 to 30 minutes. You want it slightly soft in middle.

I normally juice until dinner but I ate it while I was typing this. It is was warm and rich and with the texture of sweet earth . No pungent beet flavor but definitely a richness that might warrant more agave nectar or stevia but I liked it just the way it was.

Happy baking!

I used to make Almond Dofu which is a store bought pudding like Jello that you find in Asian markets. The “Dofu” refers to the tofu like quality of the pudding which is misleading because there is no tofu involved, only agar agar which a vegetarian gelatin substitute made out of seaweed.

My son saw the box at the store the other day and reminisced about it. (It was during his early child hood years) I forgot all about agar agar! It is a great product and will bind foods and you can make puddings, cream, even savory dishes with it like corn pudding….

But here is a healthy version of the Almond Dofu:

4 cups unsweetened almond milk
4 tablespoons of agar agar flakes
2 tablespoons of almond extract
Sweetener of choice (I used 1 whole dropperful of vanilla stevia)

You have to simmer the above for at least 5 minutes to dissolve flakes. Once it is fully incorporated you can let it rest and it will thicken at room temperature or you can throw it in the fridge to expedite it. I pour my mixture into individual ramekins for portion control.

Want Coconut Pudding? Use coconut milk and coconut extract instead….

How about Chocolate Pudding? Are we sick of it yet?

4 cups unsweetened almond milk
4 tablespoons of agar agar flakes
2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
Sweetener of choice
tiny pinch of seasalt

Of course, I like chocolate puddings with a bit of orange zest so I throw that in too…
Just simmer as above and let it rest. But I like to throw it back in the blender when it has thickened to make it lighter and more like whipped chocolate cream (add a couple of tablespoons of water while blending)

BEST TIP FOR PUDDINGS ALL WEEK LONG….
You can also keep a stash of the liquid (4 Cups) and agar (4 tablespoons) ratio on hand, already simmered for 5 minutes. Throw it in an ice cube tray in freezer and use a couple of cubes of this gelatin per pudding. Just add in your main flavor ingredient (try fruits like bananas too) and your sweetener of choice. Experiment with extracts. This is a perfect vessel for it.

My husband’s favorite salad of all time is my version of a Caesar salad but I make it with escarole instead of romaine because it is heartier and slightly bitter. With raw anchovy dressing made out of raw egg yolks and anchovy, it really packs a punch and satisfies both our larger than life palates.

I hand tear the escarole and use as is or I will grill the escarole, quartered with core intact to keep it fairly together and I char it lightly to get a smoky flavor. The dressing is an emulsion of raw egg yolk and olive oil, 3 to 4 anchovy filets, white wine vinegar (or lemon), 2 to 3 garlic cloves and a handful of parsley. The salad is topped with shredded raw sheep pecorino; not an everyday salad, for sure but sometimes we’ll have a family sized salad bowl each, share a bottle of wine and call it a day. (chocolate doesn’t count)

But Natalia has a great raw Caesar dressing in one of her earlier books that I recently fell in love with again. I revised it a bit and added a Japanese twist. The recipe is as follows:

3 to 4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 to 3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of miso (I like the mild white miso)
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
Drizzle of olive oil if desired (it was in the original recipe as well and although not necessary, it does bind the dressing very nicely, making it smooth and glossy)
Sea salt/ pepper to taste

I add crushed toasted nori flakes or even better, 2 ounces of hijiki seaweed. Hijiki is available dried and you rehydrate it in water. Let it sit for 15 minutes, drain and season with salt and pepper before use.
This dressing is rich and creamy and the miso and garlic combination is a complete knock off of anchovies without it being too overwhelming. Romaine, green leaf or red leaf lettuce all work equally fine in this recipe.

If you opt for this salad, make miso glazed eggplant as the main entrée. Look for Japanese or Italian eggplants, cut in half and smear it with a thin layer of miso (add a bit of water to thin it out and a drop of stevia to balance out the miso) and a sprinkle of chopped scallions. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

A roasted Japanese yam for dessert will really make this meal complete. (I scrub the yams and cut into ½ inch rounds and dry roast in oven at the same time as the eggplants; taste like chewy cookies!)

This was one the best recipes to come out of the Culinary class last week. We had leftover roasted kabocha squash from our Vegetable Green Coconut Curry Stew. So the next day, we whipped up the kabocha squash with coconut milk, agave nectar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, maple extract and vanilla. We put in in a ice cream machine and within half an hour, we had vegan ice cream that was so complex in taste and reminiscent of butterscotch. But it needed to be a bit smoother, maybe a bit sweeter, maybe more cinnamon-y because the allspice dominated a bit, maybe forget the maple extract and add real maple syrup…and a drizzle of maple syrup with some star anise flavored sea salt! That was Amanda’s contribution, thank you, so brilliant! It was a lot of fun brainstorming and tasting this dessert that clearly had lots of potential.

So taking everyone’s advice, I made it again today. The trick is to STEAM the kabocha so it is velvety smooth. I cut it in half and put it in a steamer for 40 minutes. I let it cool and then scraped it off the skin. I nixed the agave nectar and maple extract and used maple syrup. .The finishing touch was a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of maple syrup on top of the ice cream just like we did in class. It is really amazing.

3 cups steamed kabocha squash puree, chilled
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup maple syrup plus stevia to taste
2 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sea salt

Blend in high speed blender, adding water if needed for a smoother silky texture. Put in ice cream machine and follow directions.

I introduced this recipe at my Culinary class. I’m not into making plant based foods taste like “meat” or “fish” so this was really extraordinary because my intention was really pure:)
But it is really uncanny how the texture, taste and overall appearance is spot on like the real thing.

King oyster mushrooms are long woody looking mushrooms, bit phallic, if you ask me. I like to grill them with a teriyaki glaze (nama shoyu, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, agave nectar). But I overcooked a puny one by accident and it deflated a bit and got very spongy and soft in middle (we’re still talking mushrooms here) Just like scallops!

The best way to eat regular scallops is in brown butter so I treated the mushrooms the same. Just cut the mushrooms into 3/4 inch slices and saute in a pan with a tiny pat of butter. Let the butter foam and sizzle out first before adding mushrooms. Let it heat up a bit and then add a tablespoon of water to keep the heat going. You also need the water to steam up the mushrooms so it is cooked all the way through. I keep adding water and flipping until I get desired softness and also the “seared” look. It’ll take less than 3 to 4 minutes. It really does sear up nice and brown! Add s/p to taste.

You can eat the scallops over anything like steamed spinach or kale. I like to saute finely diced carrot, onion, celery, garlic and thyme and eat it on a bed of the aromatics with a handful of arugula and a hint of balsamic vinegar….

PLEASE TRY THIS! I got great feedback from students making it for their friends and family. 

The following recipe is really great and versatile. You can use it a base for thin crust pizza, as pita chips, sandwich bread, etc…. Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice blend usually with thyme, oregano, sumac & sesame seeds. Plain oregano is also fine.

8 cups cauliflower rice, al dente
1 cup goat or sheep feta, crumbled
2 eggs
1 tbs za\’atar
1 tsp paprika
s/p to taste

To make cauliflower rice, steam cauliflower or blanch in hot water. I cut my cauliflower heads in half and put into my XXX Large steamer 🙂 You might need 1 or 2 heads depending on the yield. You can pulse it a food processor till it resemble short grain rice; 4 to 5 pulses max. (A cheese grater works great too)

Whip up 2 eggs and add the crumbled feta and spices. Layer a baking sheet with parchment paper and form batter into a large rectangle (or circle for pizzas). you want it 1/3 inch thick since it will flatten out a bit. Sprinkle a bit more spices on top and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven till slightly browned (20 to 30 minutes).

I like my flatbread with a roasted red pepper sauce, marinara sauce or as pita chips. Really, it is super easy and delicious!

Everyone that knows me, knows I am hopelessly addicted to Potato Chips. I have no problem juicing till dinner, then having a big salad, some cooked veggies or fish, eschewing nuts, grains, goat cheese or chocolate for days on end but every couple of days, I end my meals with a bag of potato chips. I like it. No excuses. Even as a chef, I can’t find a decent replacement. (Not talking Terra style chips either; Salt and Vinegar kettle chips, to be frank). Also, I don’t want to be perfect. What will I give up then? (Yes, that was excuse #1)

Well, I have been making this for months now and I have managed to keep my chip craving under control by replacing it with this recipe. Originally it was a Pizza Kale Salad but I made too much so I dehydrated the rest. So make a lot and eat half and chip out the other half!

1 head of kale, remove stems but keep leaves intact as possible(shrinks up in dehydrator)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup sundried tomatoes, rehydrated
3 to 4 garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
sea salt/pepper to taste
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Put both type of tomatoes and garlic in food processor and pulse a few times keeping it rustic, not smooth. Massage the kale with the tomato spread and add in the dried herbs and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast but DO NOT let it get absorbed and disappear into the kale. You want it touching the surface of the kale so when it dehydrates, the cheese flavor is pronounced. This also allows you to use less yeast……if you don\’t like or do nutritional yeast, you can use 1/2 cup cashews instead (throw it in with the tomatoes) …if you don\’t do cashew, just omit entirely but then consider a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to make it all cohesive….

I use cherry tomatoes because I like how the tomato skin dries and clings to the leaves. Sundried tomato is optional but it does make the tomato flavor more intense. You do need to rehydrate it although you wind up dehydrating it only because you don\’t want the sun dried tomatoes all pruny while everything is still losing moisture.

I put my dehydrator on full blast for the first couple of hours and then lower it to 110 degrees for a technically “raw chip” but if that is not an issue, keep it on full the whole way (6 hours).

For conventional oven setting, just put on the lowest possible setting and keep an eye… I can’t say I’ve tried it this way but others have and worked well.

4 plum or roma tomatoes. coarsely chopped
1 avocado, pitted and scooped out
1 tbs of tomato paste (or 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, rehydrated)
handful of cilantro
1/2 tsp of coriander 
1/2 cumin
dash of cayenne
1 garlic clove
juice of one lime
stevia, sea salt and pepper to taste

Puree all in high speed blender, garnish with finely diced avocado and scallions if desired.

4 cups plum tomato, small dice
1 cup hothouse or persian cucumber, small dice
1 cup red or yellow bell pepper, seeded, small dice
1/2 cup red onion, small dice
1/2 parsley, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 to 2 lemons, zest and juice
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, if desired
Tabasco hot sauce or sriracha to taste, optional

Puree 3/4 of the recipe and garnish with the remaining 1/4

1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 thumb size piece of ginger, 2 tbs of yuzu citrus (sold in Asian markets) or 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime
sea salt and stevia to taste

Puree in blender, chill and serve garnished with thai basil, mint or cilantro

I completely knocked this off from Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef but omitted the vodka and substituted sherry vinegar for lemon. Puree everything but the beet root and place contents in a muslin cheesecloth and suspend over a bowl; you can make it into a beggar’s purse and criss cross chopsticks to keep it elevated… or just put contents in a fine sieve over a bowl. Place the beet slice in the bowl. Refrigerate overnight, serve chilled and garnish with fresh basil leaf.

4 lb vine ripe or plum tomatoes. coarsely chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 tbs freshly grated horseradish
2 garlic cloves minced
sea salt/ pepper to taste
juice of one lemon
1/4 inch slice of raw beet (to add color to soup)

This is a traditional Japanese dish: cucumber and wakame marinated in rice vinegar, sugar and salt. To make it detox friendly, substitute for equal amounts of lemon & lime, sea salt and stevia, if desired. I can live without the stevia. To make into a dinner size salad, toss with chopped romaine or red/green leaf lettuce. Add a tablespoon of nama shoyu to make it more like a vinaigrette. I like the cucumber in ribbons (use a vegetable peeler) and also a handful of crushed nori and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds….

You can do two variations; raw or cooked but using the same ingredients. To eat raw just toss all the ingredients together and let marinate for 5 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to balance out the raw garlic and ginger. The steam fry method coaxes out the earthiness of the hijiki and the shitake mushrooms. The vegetables are shredded to minimize the cooking time. Eat this by itself or over a bowl of steamed millet, raw jicama rice or raw cauliflower rice. If so, add the scallions to the rice to make scallion rice.

½ cup hijiki, soaked and drained
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
1 cup shitake mushrooms, thin sliced 
½ cup onions, diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 tbs nama shoyu , soy sauce, or tamari
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 scallion, sliced thinly

To steam fry, have a cup of water handy because you will be adding it a couple of tablespoons at a time. Get your pan pretty hot so the water simmers when the water hits it the surface. Start off with ¼ cup water and add the ginger and the garlic. Let it reduce down by half and then add the mushrooms and onions. Always keep a tablespoon of water going, adding as you go along. When the onion starts to become translucent (2 to 3 min) add the hijiki. Steam fry another 2 minutes and add cabbage and carrots. Let it steam up together another minute or so and then add the nama shoyu. Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil. Garnish with scallions.

2 avocados, pitted and peeled
1 garlic clove, minced
1 ginger (same size as garlic clove), minced
¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
5 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp nama shoyu
½ tsp sriracha or chinese chili paste
2 tbs of lime juice (one lime)
Sea salt to taste

Handful of field greens
Julienned red or yellow bell pepper, carrots, scallions

Mash all the ingredients together to make the guacamole. To assembly hand rolls, take nori sheets and cut in half. Place a mound of field greens on the left half of the nori sheet which should be placed horizontally. Add a dollop of guacamole and a couple of pieces if the julienned vegetables and hand roll them into cones.