This recipe can be found in the ultimate vegan comfort food cookbook Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson. Steve Legato contributed photos that make you want to try and make every recipe immediately.
Garlic-Dill Potato Salad
(makes 4 servings)
- 2 pounds small red potatoes
- 1 cup Garlic Mayo (recipe follows)
- 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
- 2 large cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, add potatoes and cook until just tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let sit until cool enough to handle. Dice into large chunks.
In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, fresh dill, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the diced potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat with the mayonnaise mixture. Give the potato salad a few good stirs, as it helps the salad become thick and creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve the potato salad right away, or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Homemade Garlic Mayo
(Makes about 2 cups)
- 1 (12.3-ounce) package extra-firm silken tofu, preferably the Mori-Nu brand
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
In a food processor or blender, combine the tofu, olive oil, mustard, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Puree tofu mixture until ultra smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl or blender as necessary. Make sure that there aren't any little bits of unblended tofu.
Taste the mayonnaise, and adjust seasonings to taste. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate for an hour, if possible, to let the flavors meld before using.
I made this recipe for a small, intimate weenie roast and it seemed to please both the omnis and the vegans. We also had...
Broccoli slaw topped with crunchy chow mein noodles made by Big D (back left), baked beans, Kettle Chips - lightly salt and salt and pepper flavors, and garlicky chip dip.
Fixin's for Chicago style hot dogs! Mustard, onion, relish, tomato, pickle spear, celery salt, and pepperocinis. The blasphemous natural ketchup is mine. I know, I know, it's a sin to put ketchup on a hot dog. I'm a sinner!
I asked Chickie Jay to write down the meal stuffed into a bun known as the Chicago style dog. Who can remember all that? I kept referring to this list as reference material like a chump.
In addition to vegan hot dogs we also served Field Roast Sausages - Smoked Apple Sage. HO-LEE K-RAP these are good eatin'! If you are very careful you can slide them up a roasting stick (the long way) and warm them over a cracklin' campfire.
http://www.fieldroast.com/products/food-service/field-roast-sausages/
I have literally been eating variations of this salad for both lunch an dinner throughout our entire Iowa heat wave/drought/tire fire. It's fast, nutritious and requires no blasted oven.
Chickpea & Massaged Kale Heat Beatin' Salad
- 2 to 5 leaves of kale, depending on how much you like kale
- 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 Tablespoon sea salt
- A squeeze of fresh lemon
Add above ingredients to a large bowl and massage kale with your hands until fibers are broken down. You'll be able to feel the softening of the leaves - it only takes about 1 minute of gentle massaging. It's an oily massage. It's fun!
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Add one can rinsed chickpeas and combine.
- Assorted vegetables of your choice such as: cucumber, carrot, baby tomatoes, bell pepper, green onion, etc. chopped. Add as many and whatever variety you desire. Customize!
- 2 to 6 cloves minced fresh garlic - amount to your taste
- Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, or slivered almonds (optional)
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Olive oil to taste
Add assorted fresh vegetables to your own tastes and combine. If desired add nuts and/or seeds. Taste and add salt, pepper, olive
oil to taste.
I make a huge batch and parse out amounts for lunches and/or dinners as desired. I also just add more ingredients as needed throughout the week as the salad dwindles in size.
Helpful Hint: Brush and floss after eating as the black sesame seeds and kale chunks tend to get wedged in the toofuses, and your breath will be hella garlicky!
This recipe is from my favorite new cookbook: BIG VEGAN by Robin Asbell published by Chronicle Books.
Tortilla Soup with Mock Duck and Chipotles
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 8 oz/225 g Mock Duck (page 38) or chicken style seitan, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 qt/960 ml Basic Vegetable Stock (page 49) or mock chicken stock
- 1 small sweet potato, cubed
- 1/4 cup/45 g quinoa, rinsed
- 1 tbsp chopped chipotle chile in adobe sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Six 6-in/15cm corn tortillas
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup/15 g cilantro/fresh coriander
- 1 large lime, cut into wedges, for serving
1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the onion and stir for 5 minutes or so, lowering the heat to medium. When the onion is soft, add the mock duck, garlic, cumin, and cloves. Stir for a few minutes.
2. Add the stock, sweet potato, quinoa, chipotle, and oregano and bring to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp of the salt. Reduce the soup to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. When the quinoa is throwing off its tiny white halos and the sweet potato is tender, reduce the heat to low.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C/gas 5. Stack the tortillas and slice them into strips 1/4in/6 mm wide. Place them on a baking sheet/tray and drizzle with the canola oil and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes until the strips are crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Serve the soup topped with the cilantro/fresh coriander and tortilla strips, with lime wedges for squeezing over the soup.
NOTES:
Working with mock duck for the first time was a little unsettling. It is almost too like poultry - pimply goose skin and all - and it sort of plops meat-like out of the can. I gagged a few times, to be honest. It is delicious if you can get past that resemblance!
Out of my four taste testers, two thought there was too much clove flavor in my soup. I suggest a very conservative, small pinch.
I took the lazy route and used store bought, tortilla chips for the crispy topping. Next time I will set aside more time to make the lower fat homemade version detailed in the recipe.
This was a fun recipe to make and I think meat eaters would like the mock duck, so it would be good for a mixed crowd meal.
This cookbook has been my go-to for the past few weeks. I really like the recipe page set-up, with ingredients on the left in a green box and instructions to the middle/right. The recipes I've made thus far have been quick, easy and tasty. In my opinion, it would be a good cookbook for any vegan to have in their arsenal.
