vegan

Smoky BBQ Veggie Burgers from 'Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking'

Smoky BBQ Veggie Burgers from 'Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking'

After flipping through and highlighting the recipes that I need to make immediately (which is basically all of them), I knew that I wanted to share with you guys her Smoky BBQ veggie burger recipe. These burgers aren't your typical heavy bean-y veggie burger.

Blood Orange and Avocado Salad with a Citrus Tahini Dressing and Salty Pistachios

Blood Orange and Avocado Salad with a Citrus Tahini Dressing and Salty Pistachios

This salad is a compilation of some of the most vibrant and colorful produce available in the dreary month of February. I figure we might as well take advantage of things that are doing and looking their best right now while we gear up and prepare ourselves for summer berries!

Zucchini and Fennel Salad with a Spicy Honey Dressing

Zucchini and Fennel Salad with a Spicy Honey Dressing

This is recipe #4 in the #TABASCO10 third annual 10 Ingredient Challenge - creating 5 different recipes in 5 days with the following 10 ingredients: TABASCO® Original RedGreen Jalapeño or Chipotle Sauce, Chicken, Eggs, Mozzarella, Fennel Bulb, Zucchini, Rice (Brown, Basmati, Jasmine or Wild), Rigatoni, Ciabatta, and Honey (Salt, pepper, oil are 'free' ingredients).

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Corn Salad with a Maple Lime Dressing

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Corn Salad with a Maple Lime Dressing

Now, this salad. I think half the reason I like it so much is that of the dressing, which is everything to me right now. It's light, sweet, fruity, with a touch of tang. I had originally created it for a taco salad, but now I eat it on everything.

Crispy BBQ Tempeh Caesar Salad Wraps

Crispy BBQ Tempeh Caesar Salad Wraps

My favorite way to prepare tempeh is soaking in some marinade and grilling or frying in a little oil. It's a nice substantial addition to these highly crunchy vegetable based wraps. The vegan Caesar dressing that I use knocks any thick creamy eggy anchovy dressing out of the park.

Spring Salad with White Beans, Avocado, and Radishes + Saveur Nomination

Spring Salad with White Beans, Avocado, and Radishes + Saveur Nomination

In the mean time, I will leave you with my favorite spring salad. It's fresh and colorful and the perfect pop of color for this time of year. I got this crazy awesome mandolin at Christmas, and it slices the radishes into such perfectly beautiful thin strips.

Winter Tabbouleh

Winter Tabbouleh

This dish falls into the category of a wonderfully satisfying, nutritious and flavorful meal. I have taken some of the traditional tabbouleh flavors and combined them with a few seasonally appropriate ones of my own. I'd be hard-pressed to find a decent tomato this time of year, so it only seemed natural to put the traditional version on the back burner until next summer.

Grilled Orange Teriyaki Tofu Skewers with Aromatic Coconut Rice

Grilled Orange Teriyaki Tofu Skewers with Aromatic Coconut Rice

In the theme of trendy food items that have lost their popularity, what about skewers? There was a period, I remember it clearly when you would show up at a barbecue, the kids would be eating burgers, and the classy folk eating skewers. What happened to those days?

Tofu Dumplings


There are some boxes left, scattered around the apartment, waiting for a few final items to top them up before sealing. My dishes are packed, the fridge is almost empty. I have eaten my way through jars of pickles, mustard, and ketchup, because I am too lazy to pack them into a box. Meals have consisted of pizza mostly, and wine. The last meal to be had in this apartment was dumplings. A meal to remember. I made a few extras, stored them in the freezer. I will pull them out next week, when I have eaten all the pizza my body can handle. By then, I will be a little sad to have left a place once called home, but excited to start a new journey. A new home.




I'd like to tell you about a time, my first real experience with dumplings. Mother's Dumplings in Toronto's Chinatown district, a special place. It was a cool winter's afternoon, famished from a day of walking, drooling over merchandise gently laid out in the store front's on Queen St. Rummaging through the racks of clothing, looking for treasure, poking my head down alley ways in Kensington market. Excited by new things, forgetful of basic physical needs such as eating, I found myself woozy and seeing stars. A recommendation from my sister-in-law, a few blocks away, we sat down at a large round table, eager to fill our bellies and warm our hearts.


Passing around the hot and sour soup, steamed buns, pan cakes, and dumplings, I am surrounded by family, it is a nice treat. I can't help but fidget with the chopsticks while trying to gracefully pick up a dumpling, my patience wears thin and I grab it with my fingers. I dip it into a bowl of extremely delicious sauce, sweat and savory. Covering it from head to toe, people don't mind that I've left a trail of sauce from the bowl to  my dish, I am in good company. That day, I fell in love with dumplings. Ever since, I have been imagining, well dreaming really, about dumplings. The soft chewy exterior, stuffed with tofu, asparagus, and mushrooms. A perfect vessel to soak up the dippings sauce, which also needs to be discussed. Rice wine vinegar, lime juice, Tamari, honey, and Sriracha. I'm not sure there could be a better combination of flavors. Immediately after I dipped my first dumpling, I started to wonder about other foods worthy of its dipping. The filling is delicious on its own, and I enjoy pouring on a bit of sauce and eating it as is, sans wrapper. 


TOFU DUMPLING RECIPE (print)
makes 60 dumplings

INGREDIENTS
16 oz firm tofu
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 large shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
14 small asparagus spears, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
60 round wonton wrappers

DIPPING SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp Sriracha Hot Sauce

Remove the tofu from its package and drain off any excess water. Wrap the tofu in 4 or 5 paper towel sheets and place under a cutting board or something similarly flat. Place a heavy object, like a cast iron frying pan, on top of the cutting board. The weight will help press the tofu and drain the excess water. Let the tofu press for 30 minutes and then discard the water.

Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan on low. Remove the tofu from the paper towel and crumble with your hands. Place into a frying pan with the shallots, garlic, asparagus, and carrots. Fry for 5 minutes, or until the carrots have softened. Drain any excess water. Add the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, salt and combine. Remove from heat and set to the side.

Remove the wonton wrappers from their package. Place a wrappers in your hand and then place 1 tbsp of filling inside. Here is a great tutorial demonstrating different dumpling folding techniques. Make sure to moisten the edges with water before folding, this will ensure that the filling does not spill out during steaming.

Place the dumplings onto a cutting board or tray and cover with a cloth to prevent them from drying out while you are making the rest. At this point you can place any extra dumplings into a ziplock bag and freeze them for up to 6 months.

You can use a bamboo steamer to steam the dumplings, or make your own steamer by using a small colander elevated inside a lidded pot or pan, with an inch of water in the bottom. Bring the water to a simmer and then cover.

Place a few dumplings into the steamer at one time, with enough room so that they do not touch. Steam for 6 - 8 minutes. Remove from the steamer and serve immediately.

To make the dipping sauce, combine the tamari sauce, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, honey, and Sriracha.