Hippy Blackberry Cake

This turned out pretty tasty, if a little weird.

2 cups frozen blackberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon blackberry wine
1/2 cup scottish oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup crystallized ginger
1/2 cup young coconut (frozen)
approx. 1 cup whole wheat flour


Mix everything but the flour. Make sure to break apart the blackberries. Add the flour a little at the time until the batter just comes together.

Press into a greased 8-inch round cakepan. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes.

It makes a dense, heavy cake, but it's pretty yummy.

Apple Compote

Per person:

1 apple, cored and chopped (I leave the peel on)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 or 2 Tablespoons dry fruit of your choice or 1 teaspoon honey or other sweetener
1/2 oz. chopped nuts (optional)

Simmer covered over low to medium-low heat until the apples are soft. I prefer to still have apple chunks, but a little most liquid and a little more cooking time will reduce this to a chunky apple sauce if that's your preference.

I prefer to add the nuts pretty late in the cooking, after the apples are already fairly soft.

Serve over pancakes or oatmeal, or on its own.

Pears can be substituted for apples, any sort of fruit juice or wine for the lemon juice, spices can be added, etc. to vary this dish pretty much ad infinitum.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki weren't a part of my growing up experience, but the first time I had them I knew that they were going to be a part of my adult life. They're easy to put together, reasonably healthy (or at least full of veggies), and really tasty.

The Batter:
2 cups flour (whole wheat)
2 cups water
1 egg (I suspect this can be cut but I wasn't feeling that brave)
1 small napa cabbage, minced

Mix together, trying not to overstir.

The Toppings:
Almost anything you can think of, including:
Carrot slices
Green onions
Mushroom cake (didn't try it, but thought about it)
Daikon sprouts
Marinated tofu (another one I didn't try)
Tonkatsu sauce
(Non-veg suggestions include pre-cooked shrimp or pork. I'm sure you can come up with others.)

The Method:
Heat a nonstick skillet with a little (sesame) oil. When the pan is nice and hot, pour in one scant cup of the batter. Lay the toppings of choice on the raw side while the cooking side cooks. When the edges look brown and bubbly (just like pancakes), give the whole thing a flip.

You may need (I did) to press down on the flipped pancake to ensure that it cooks through in the middle.

No pictures as we were too interested in the eating to snap one.

Menu for the Week

Okonomiyaki
Marinated tofu w/ broccoli
Beets & mushrooms stroganoff
Stirfry (details TBD)

Tofu Haiku

None of my haiku were amongst the winners...
http://tofuhaiku.com/

Gelled Poke Salad

Poke Salad is a Hawaiian dish seasoned with Hawaiian red salt. I took the basic veggie ingredients and put them together for a funky vegetarian aspic.

The Stock / Gel
2 cups water
1 or 2 teaspoons Hawaiian red salt
1 piece kombu
2 dried hot peppers
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tablespoons agar-agar flakes

Bring water, kombu, peppers and sesame oil to a boil. Whisk in the agar-agar and continue whisking until all of the agar is dissolved.

The Veggie Cups
This is a little more mix and match. Fill 1/2 cup molds with combinations of the following:
cucumber, sliced
tomato, sliced
spring onion, minced
fresh hot pepper, minced
sesame seeds
fresh or reconstituted seaweed

Remove the kombu and hot peppers from the broth. Fill the molds with broth. Allow to cool to room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator. The agar should set up fairly quickly, but if you want these for an event they should probably be made the day before.

My molds just required a little wiggling and the whole thing popped out perfectly.

Here's a picture with the gelled salad in my bento along with red leaf lettuce (top - the bottom contains green bean cookies and baked tofu). It got a little mashed before lunch, but was still pretty tasty.

Buffalo Wings

Shown on a bed of romaine lettuce w/ ranch dressing (with avocado slices)! I have successfully made Buffalo Wings! Yay!

These rely on a couple of name-brand products. VegeUSA also makes vegetarian drumsticks and I'm sure they would be just as good. Frank's is the traditional hot sauce for Buffalo wings, so I make no promises if you use another brand.

1 pack Vegefarm Smoked Drumsticks
2 Tablespoons butter/margarine
3 Tablespoons Frank's Red Hot

Bake the drumsticks at 400F for 15 minutes, until golden. I didn't even grease the pan.
Meanwhile, melt the butter together with the hot sauce, stirring often. I ignored it a little too long and the butter separated, but was otherwise fine.
When the drumsticks are done, remove from the oven and dump the butter-hot sauce mixture over them. Step back and don't breathe the pepper fumes. Toss the drumsticks around in the sauce until most of the sauce has been absorbed.

Yay!