Tasty Tangy Lemon Spinach

This is, by far, one of the quickest and easiest recipes for a side dish.  When I visit an Italian restaurant I always look for this simple dish on the menu.  It's light and perfect for the summer months when there are ample amounts of fresh spinach in the stores and at farmer's markets.  Also, spinach is a great antioxidant, a good source of folic acid, and vitamins, and whether you are a vegan or not it's an important nutritional source. 

Tools
skillet pan
hand juicer
garlic press

Ingredients
3/4 bag fresh spinach
1 1/2 small lemons
4 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
black pepper medley

The trick with fresh spinach is: do not allow the spinach to sit idle in the pan, move it around, and don't leave it over the heat too long. 

Often I rely on practicality in the kitchen, so if you find yourself without a juicer, don't sweat it!  I don't own a juicer of any sort, which has neither stopped me from cooking nor extracting the bejesus out of citrus fruits. 

Over the sink, pop the seeds out of the lemons and then proceed to squeeze the juice into the pan-creates a lovely sizzle.  Next, add the garlic, salt, and pepper. 

This dish, fully prepped, serves about 2. 

Spinach doesn't go a long way, so if you are making this side for a group you might need several bunches of spinach from the market to do the job properly.

Calzone Amore

Sometimes, but not very often, The Hungry Vegan Bear becomes restless with her pizza recipes.  This past weekend, for a bit of inspiration, I turned on some Dean Martin (yup, I went old, old school for this) and suddenly "That's Amore" motivated me to stop thinking about pizza and start thinking about calzone's, which was how Calzone Amore came about.

 

When I was a ski school instructor (pre-vegan days) I remember consuming a few calzone's at a local restaurant in Dillon, CO, but I was never really crazy for their calzone's.  There was too much cheese-hard to believe such a thing coming from a Wisconsinite.  And, now, as a vegan, I've tried several variations on the calzone and, again, too much vegan cheese.  Most vegan calzone's are too sticky, too bland, and too gummy.  These are calzone's not bears!

In my humble opinion, it's fun to play with Calzone recipes, so I created a meatless cheese calzone and a potato and jalapeno recipe granting some variety for my taste testers.

Tools

baking sheet

knife

cutting board

garlic press

bowl

spoon

cheese grater

gloves (might need them for the jalapeno)

If you have time, I suggest making your own pizza dough, but if you don't have time, no worries.  Once again, I used Trader Joe's pizza dough.

Calzone Sauce for the Meatless Calzone

This is the meatless cheese calzone fresh from the oven.

3 oz tomato paste

1/4 c water

1 tsp olive oil

3 lg garlic cloves

1 Tbsp oregano

1 tsp basil
dash of Cayenne pepper
2 dashes of hot sauce
1/4 crushed red pepper

1 Tbsp vegan Parmesan cheese

12 minced lg black olives

1 tsp brown sugar (optional)

I created the sauce separate from the stuffing and once I had this prepared I mixed it with the stuffing.  I decided to keep them separate in the beginning, because I did not want to squash the living daylights out of the fresh veggies, because that would be vegetable abuse and that would just be wrong.

Meatless Calzone Stuffing

1/2 Roma tomato

2 mushrooms

1/2 handful of fresh spinach

1/2 c yellow onion
1/4 c vegan mozzarella cheese
1/4 c meatless meat crumbles

Add the sauce to the stuffing and mix together until the veggies and meatless meat is coated. 

Once the calzone's are cooking in the oven for about 6 minutes, slice about three holes in the top of the dough.

Creates 1 large and 4 medium size calzone's.

Cook at 450 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.



These potato calzone's were surprisingly light.



Potato and Jalapeno Calzone Stuffing

1/2 Roma tomato

1 lg Russet potato

1/4 c yellow onion

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh chives

1/2 jalapeno

salt to taste

black pepper

1 lg garlic clove

1/2 lemon

1 Tbsp vegan cream cheese

The potato was leftover from my potato salad on the 4th of July and it was already boiled and sitting in the refrigerator just waiting to be used.  I peeled the potato and then grated the potato into a glass bowl.  Then I chopped the tomato, onion, and jalapeno.  Once you have the stuffing fully prepped in the bowl, mix everything together until it blends together.

Again, cut about three holes in the top of the calzone's about 8 minutes into the cooking process.  The potato calzone's take a bit longer to cook, but are very much worth the extra effort. 

Creates 1 small and 1 medium sized calzone.

Cook at 450 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Veganpendance Day Extravaganza!

 Frozen Vanilla Soy Dessert Topped With Toasted Coconut Doused In Cognac And Drizzled With Warm Chocolate

The Hungry Vegan Bear couldn't help but
have seconds of this cool tasty treat.

Ingredients

1/2 bag of coconut

frozen soy dessert

1/2 bar of dark chocolate

I toasted a half a bag of coconut in the oven on broil, stirring the coconut until it was golden brown.  Once the coconut was ready I added it to a skillet on a medium high setting on the burner.  Next, take the cognac and add in enough to cover the coconut.  Make sure that you are not standing directly over the skillet as a high flame will shoot up once the cognac hits the pan. 

Remove the skillet and coconut from the burner.  The flame will die out once the pan is off the heat.  Top the cognac doused coconut to the frozen soy dessert.  I used a dark chocolate and warmed it over the stove top.

This recipe will serves three, of course, all of us had seconds.

Cactus On The Grill

Ingredients

1 lb cactus

salt

black pepper medley

Ceyanne pepper

First, use a knife or peeler to strip the cactus of all the needles.  I managed to stab myself in the paw with one of these buggers, which lodged itself under my skin, but was quickly popped out like a splinter with a tweezers.  I don't recommend getting one of these prickly spears in your paw, so be carefull as you are working on these nifty plants.

I used a pound of cactus and boiled it on the stove for about a half hour.  Once the cactus is boiled, handle the cactus to ensure that all of the needles have been extracted from the plant.  After the cactus was tender and ready to serve, I squeezed lime over the top of the cactus and then added salt, black pepper medley, and Ceyanne pepper to the cactus while it was on the grill. 

Veganpendance Day!

When the 4th of July comes around I'm always excited.  And this year I'm especially happy, because I've created a few menu items to celebrate our independence in style.  This is part one of my 4th of July Vegan Extravaganza on The Hungry Vegan Bear.

The Menu

The Hungry Vegan Bear's badass barbecued steak skewers

potato salad with a violet kiss

cactus on the grill

corn on the cob

watermelon
frozen vanilla soy dessert topped with toasted coconut doused in cognac and drizzled with warm chocolate

I love the 4th of July, because it brings with it so many great family memories, celebrating at the cottage, dad blowing up the fireworks...dad blowing up the grill.   My father, who passed away in March, was a kid when the 4th rolled around each year.  He would always get the work out of the way first, mowing the lawn, dumping and grating gravel down Kuehlman Lane, and sometimes tinkering on some quirk or another on the fishing boat.  Then at some point, he'd light his pipe, and grab a Miller from the refrigerator.  Once he did this we all knew that he was about to start the grill.  We used charcoal and dad had an affinity for using an obscene amount of lighter fluid.  But, you have to give him credit, he only ever had to use one match.  This style of grilling he most certainly past down to me as I still find myself using charcoal and an over abundance of lighter fluid, of course, using only one match.

In honor of my father I came up with this menu for the 4th of July, which I think he would have appreciated.

Happy 4th of July!

-The Hungry Vegan Bear

All right, not everyone has time to make barbecue sauce, but I had some free time and I'll admit it when I have a beer or six I tend to get my ass in some trouble.  During this trouble makin' time I conjured up a little recipe for a badass spicy BBQ sauce that I think my dad would be proud of as he had a deep appreciation for bbq sauce.

Once the sauce is complete you can brush it over the skewers or, if you so desire, over your corn on the cob.  The recipe below makes about a cup of sauce.

Badass BBQ Sauce Ingredients
5/8 tsp black pepper medley
1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp chili powder
3oz tomato paste
1 Tbsp Jack Daniels
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp molasses
2 dashes hot sauce
2 dashes salt
1 clove garlic
1/4 water
1/2 tsp pepper flakes
1/3 crushed sweet onion


The Hungry Vegan Bear had her paws full with these vegan delights.


I've tasted a lot of different vegan potato salad recipes, but I've always longed for one that was traditional and closer to my mom's potato salad.  This year I opted to combine the traditional with a new twist using purple sweet potatoes.

Potato Salad With A Violet Kiss
3 Russet potatoes
2 sweet purple potatoes
3 lg celery stalks
1/4 lg white onion
3 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 c Vegenaise
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp sugar
couple dashes of salt
1 tsp black pepper medley
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 1/2 handful's of fresh dill minced
1 handful of fresh chives finely chopped

Boil the potatoes for about a half hour and then refrigerate prior to peeling the potatoes.  Cube the potatoes and toss into a bowl with the chopped onion and celery.  Once the potatoes and veggies are chopped and in a plastic bowl, begin the preparation on the dressing.  Begin with the Vegenaise and vinegar and then proceed to add the dry and fresh spices.  Coat the potatoes and veggies with the dressing and then stir together.  Refrigerate prior to serving.  This is a great recipe for potlucks and can serve about 10 to 12 people.

A Summer Salad With A Perky Protein, Quinoa

The Hungry Vegan Bear thinks quinoa is keen!  Please excuse my fork in
this photo, but it's better than seeing me with my paws full of quinoa...
not so pretty on the fur.

Last weekend an ex-flatmate of mine swung by the great metropolis of Culver City for a visit, food, and softball.  It's true that The Hungry Vegan Bear does enjoy a good game of catch even though it takes a lot of work for her paws to fit into a softball glove.

Since we were burning a lot of energy (I'll admit it-mostly me running from the overthrown tosses.  She claimed it was accidental, but I think it was punishment for forgetting to invite her over for my Saucy Stroganoff.), she brought over a coconut to keep us hydrated and I decided that we should have some quinoa for protein lest we pass out at the park.  And, really, The Hungry Vegan Bear had absolutely no desire to spend time at a hospital for dehydration.

Tools
hammer
cutting board
knife
flatware knife
glass

Obviously, The Hungry Vegan Bear has a favorite hammer, but the knife was brought to my apartment via my old flatmate who knew better than to trust the plethora of knives in my apartment.

Use the large knife to shave off the top of the coconut.  Once you are at the shell, use the hammer and knife to crack open the exterior.  Next, pry open the shell with a flatware knife in a circular motion.

After our workout in the park, we decide that the grumbling in my stomach had to cease, so we began to cook dinner with, naturally, a beer or two and some fresh raspberries to tide us over until dinner was prepared.

Tools
knife
cutting board
plastic spoon
1 quart kitchen pot
glass bowl
garlic press

Veggie Ingredients
3 Roma tomatoes
3 Italian squash
1/2 sweet onion

Dice the tomatoes, squash, and onion and toss into a bowl.  Then begin preparation on the quinoa.

Quinoa is a very simple grain to cook.  We opted not to add any oil,  vegan margarine, or salt, but if you are working with quinoa you can improve the flavor as it cooks by adding in one of the above while it simmers.  Also, I like to add spices to quinoa while it is cooking, too.  Basically, I think a way to enhance the flavor of quinoa is to add spices while it is over the heat.  This grain is great for salads, side dishes, or, in our case, a main course.

Dressing Ingredients

3/4 c soy yogurt

1/2 avocado

3 minced basil leaves

2 garlic cloves

sage

thyme

Cayenne pepper

black pepper medley

rosemary

1/2 lemon

Add the soy yogurt into a bowl and then mash in the avocado until it is smooth.  Begin to add in the minced basil and pressed garlic.  I used a couple little fluffy balls of sage into the mix and followed this with a few dashes of thyme and several dashes of cayenne pepper, because, as I may have mentioned before, I love a wee bit of spice.  Next, add in the lemon and black pepper (use your judgement).  I had some fresh rosemary handy, so I plucked off some of the spikes from two twigs.  Again, it is not necessary to use fresh spices, however it does add a POW to the dish that dried spices just cannot accomplish.

Finally, add the quinoa to the veggie mixture and then pour the dressing over the top.  Mix the dressing, quinoa, and veggies until they are coated entirely.

This recipe will serve about 8 people.  Of course, if you were running after a few softballs it might feed less.   

Saucy Stroganoff

The Hungry Vegan Bear is not so hungry after finishing
off a plate of this Saucy Stroganoff.

This ain't your mamma's Stroganoff.

As a kid, when my mom used to make Beef Stroganoff I was pretty damn happy.  It was comfort food, warm, inviting, and filling.  And, I imagine, a quick and easy recipe for my mom, a working woman.

A few years ago when I was visiting my parents I made my own vegan Stroganoff.  The constant question from my mom and dad was, "how are you doing to make Beef Stroganoff without beef?"  I kind of laughed at that, because I've been cooking without meat of any kind for so long that it feels like it's old hat to me, but I think what really surprised them in the end was that it looked and smelled better than their normal Stroganoff.

Tools
cutting board
knife
plastic spoon
frying pan
1 quart kitchen pot


Ingredients
1/2 brown onion
1 red pepper
1 box Crimean mushrooms
2 stems of basil

Stroganoff mix prior to adding the vegan sour cream.

1 stem of rosemary
pinch of salt
2 dashes of turmeric
1/3 c vegan sour cream
noodles

I like to cook the onion, pepper, mushrooms and spices first.  I prefer my veggies a little crisp, so I tend to under cook on a lower setting rather than over cook on a high setting.

While the mixture cooks, bring your noodles to a boil.  This time around I chose a very colorful noodle.  It's up to you what type of noodle you prefer and I also have a habit of adding olive oil to my noodles.  If you're not a fan of adding oil then you can add a dash of salt or vegan margarine.

Once the veggies and spices are cooked, add in the vegan sour cream.

Drain the noodles and add the veggies on top.  Normally, this recipe would feed two, but if you're a Hungry Vegan Bear than it just might only serve one.

Mamma Mia That's A Margarita Pizza!

As many of you will note from the crumbs in this picture,
The Hungry Vegan Bear had several slices prior to taking this photo.

As a young bear cub I had pizza at most of my birthday parties.  Sometimes my mom would make homemade pizza, which only fueled my love for pizza even more than usual, with my mom in mind, I took the liberty of creating my own vegan Margarita Pizza.

Tools
blender
hammer
knife
plastic bag
spoon
cutting board
18 inch pizza pan

Pesto Ingredients
9 Trader Joe's basil stems (pluck off leaves)
1/2 c ground raw almonds
1 c olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/2 c vegan Parmesan cheese

Obviously this is my food processor.

I don't own a food processor, but I really don't need a food processor, because I own a hammer.  Take the almonds and place into a plastic bag, don't seal the bag, because next you'll lie the almonds and bag flat on your cutting board and then proceed to hammer the almonds until they are finely ground.

Add the leaves, almonds, garlic, and Parmesan to the blender, adding the olive oil last.  Begin to blend the ingredients together until you have a smooth spreadable pesto.  You might have a cup of the pesto left over at the end, which I usually keep in a container and hold onto for pasta later in the week/weekend.  It's great on bread, too!

Blended pesto

Grease the 18 inch pizza pan with about a teaspoon of vegan margarine.  If you own a stone then by all means break out the stone! (My sister owns a stone and I love borrowing it when I'm in town, hee hee.)  Take the dough and spread it out to the edges of the pan.  I left my dough out for two nights.  Lemme just say that I barely had to touch the dough to get it to comply to my every whim.

Toppings
1/2 block vegan mozzarella cheese
3 tomatoes
basil (a few leaves for garnish)
vegan Parmesan cheese (enough to sprinkle on top)

Once you have the dough on the pan, spoon on the pesto.  Then proceed to add the toppings.  Finally, top with the basil and Parmesan.

Normally, this pizza will serve 3-4 people unless you invite
The Hungry Vegan Bear to your home...

Dough
Trader Joe's basil/garlic pizza dough

If I had more time I would have made my own dough, but I find that Trader Joe's has a nice selection of wheat, basil/garlic, and plain pizza dough, so I often pick up a pack when I'm in the store.  It's great to have in the freezer if you're in a pinch or if you just don't feel like spending a great deal of time making dough, because, let's be honest, making your own dough is time consuming.

Cook the pizza at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.