Easy peaches-n-cream scones

So, it’s full-on holiday season for a lot of people around here. Many parties and so on. We had an fun party this weekend where a lot of sweet friends came over and became even sweeter after being coated in royal icing and candy to decorate gingerbread houses.

I don’t know about you, but I can feel pretty tired the next day, even if I haven’t had much to drink (probably comes from no longer being in my 20s, too). A lazy post-party Sunday can call for a slightly rich breakfast with very little effort. That’s when you should make these scones.

Peaches and Cream Scones

An original recipe by Agent Minty

Makes 12 large scones

Ingredients:

• 2 cups + 1 Tbsp  (250g) all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (about 130g) drained canned peach segments, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 6 Tbsp coconut cream from a can
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp (45g) cold Earth Balance or hard margarine
• 3 Tbsp (45g) shortening
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine peaches, milk, coconut cream, and extracts.
4. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut fat into the dry ingredients until the crumbs are the size of peas.
5. Pour wet ingredients in and fold/stir gently until everything is combined. Dough will be quite wet!
6. Plop the dough on the cookie sheet approximately 1/3-cup at a time, with 2 inches between each mound. Divide any remaining dough equally between all 12 scones.
7. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over scones.
8. Bake for 11-12 minutes, rotating sheet once.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Perogies for Thanksgiving

Perogies, Pyrohy, Piroshki, etc., etc. Delicacy of Eastern Europe, particularly of Ukraine. Western Canada is perogy-land, having been settled by a large number of Ukrainians over the last century.

They often make an appearance at old-school buffets, and many community halls hold perogy dinner fundraisers. Many people I know also include them at the Thanksgiving table.

I learned to love perogies when our family moved away from the prairies to the maritimes, and my mom had to make them from scratch. It was a special-occasion meal because it was more labor intensive. When we moved to Alberta when I was a teenager, perogies beam a convenience food, cooked from a bag from the freezer aisle.

It wasn’t until I lived on my own that I tried making perogies from scratch myself, but they’re worth the effort (I say that a lot on this blog!!). This recipe is one loosely based on a recipe from the Vegetarian Times cookbook. It’s also a good recipe to make with friends, as many hands speed the assembly stage. Our friend Matt came over when we last made these, and is the lovely hand model in the photos.

Vegan Cheddar and Chive Perogies

An Agent Minty original recipe

Makes approximately 45 perogies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked 4 hours to overnight
• 2 large baking potatoes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp almond milk
• 1 Tbsp miso paste
• 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 + 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 sundried tomato, soaked in water and cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh chives

Instructions:

Prepare components:

1. Peel and cube potatoes, cover with water and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, process together drained soaked cashews, until coarse.
3. Add almond milk, miso, and vinegar and puree for 3-5 minutes until perfectly creamy.
4. Set aside cashew cream for now.
5. Once potatoes are cooked until very tender, drain, reserving potato cooking liquid in a bowl.
6. Mash potatoes until smooth.
7. Combine 2 1/2 cups of flour with cream of tartar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
8. Mix 1 3/4 cups of mashed potato with 3/4 cups of potato cooking water and the oil.
9. Add mixture from step 8 to the flour-salt mixture and stir well.
10. Either kneading in the bowl by hand, or using your mixer’s dough hook attachment, start kneading the dough.
11. Add remaining flour in 1/4 cupfuls every minute or so, until the dough is no longer very sticky.
12. Continue kneading for about five minutes.
13. Cover dough with plastic wrap to rest while you prepare the filling.
14. Blend together 1/4 cup of cashew cream from step 4 with remaining mashed potato. Add in remaining ingredients and puree or stir until creamy.

Cut and fill perogies:

1. Using a generous amount of flour, roll out 1/3 of dough to 1/8-inch thick.
2. Cut 3-inch circles, and fill each with 1 Tbsp of filling.
3. Moisten the edge of the dough with water, fold over, and press together with a fork.
4. Transfer all finished perogies to a tray covered with plastic wrap to keep them moist.
5. Scraps from cutting dough can be reused.
6. After all perogies have been cut and filled, bring a pot of water to boil.
7. Cook perogies in boiling water for 5-8 minutes.
8. If desired, lightly sauté in oil before serving.
9. Serve with remaining cashew cream, fried onions, and vegan “bacon” bits.
10. Leftover boiled perogies store well in the fridge for a week.

Instant Gratification Strawberry Ice Cream

Want some ice cream immediately? This recipe is great because as long as you have a freezer canister already frozen (I keep mine in the freezer at all times just in case), you can have ice cream from start to finish in about half an hour.

This recipe makes a strawberry ice cream pretty much identical to the stuff you’d find sold by the scoop at your local corner store – sweet, fruity, and bright pink. It uses the same type of secret ingredient that my tiger tail ice cream employed. One more ingredient note: if you don’t have a can of high fat coconut milk/cream waiting in the refrigerator, don’t worry. Just use the lower volume of almond milk to compensate for the extra water that will be in the can of coconut milk.

This is your sweet quick fix when it’s 30 degrees outside and all you want for dinner is ice cream. It’s made with staples most people already have in the fridge or pantry. And it comes out of the ice cream maker firm enough to eat right away. Now you have even fewer excuses to wait!

An original recipe by Agent Minty

Makes about 3 cups of ice cream

Ingredients:

• 1 can’s worth of coconut cream, watery portion drained off if you have chilled it beforehand.
• 1 1/4 cups of almond milk, or 3/4 cup almond milk if the coconut milk was not separated.
• 1/2 tsp strawberry Kool-Aid powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• pinch salt
• 3/4 cup strawberry jam

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients to blender in listed order. Blend on high until completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
2. Transfer to the canister of your ice cream maker and freeze according to the directions.
3. Ice cream should get quite firm within about 25 minutes.
4. Store any leftovers in the freezer.

Make-Ahead Bean Burritos

I have had a crazy schedule this semester. Working late hours in the lab, often followed by evening tutoring appointments as undergrads panic over finals. The only thing I really have the time and money to grab on campus for dinner is a burrito at the place across the street. Unfortunately, the cost of this adds up. After buying a few frozen vegan burritos from the grocery store as a cheaper alternative, I realized (duh) that I should just make them myself.

These burritos have way more protein than your usual store-bought vegan option. I paid about $16 for enough ingredients to make 11 burritos. $4 of that was for store-bought vegan cream cheeze, of which I only used a third of a tub, so if you make cheeze yourself or omit it entirely they will be even cheaper.

I now have a healthy option for dinners at work that will fuel me for my bike ride home. They freeze well, and warm up in the microwave fine whether taken straight from the freezer or left to thaw for several hours in a lunch bag.

An original recipe by Agent Minty

Makes 11 burritos

One note: to make a lower-fat option, use oil to steam-fry veggies, and do not add to beans. Do not, however, remove oil when cooking the ground round.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of black-eyed peas
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 cube vegetable bouillon
• 1+1+2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 peppers, finely diced
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 package (approximately 1lb) of vegetarian ground round/rehydrated TVP
• 1 pouch taco seasoning
• 11 small (8-inch) whole wheat tortillas
• 1/3 package Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese or similar

Instructions:

Prepare fillings:

1. Combine beans, water, bouillon cube, and 1 Tbsp of oil in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Turn heat to medium-low, cover, and allow to simmer.
3. Cook until beans are softened and mostly split, and most of the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes.
4. Using a potato masher, mash beans until most are broken down.
5. Turn off heat from beans, but allow to sit uncovered on still-warm stove.
6. Sauté pepper and onions in 1 Tbsp oil on medium-high until tender, about 8 minutes.
7. Remove vegetables from frying pan and set aside.
8. Without cleaning the frying pan, heat up remaining 2 Tbsp of oil on medium heat.
9. Crumble in ground round and cook, stirring frequently, until crumbles start to separate and dry slightly.
10. Sprinkle taco seasoning over ground round and stir to combine for about 1 minute. If food is sticking to the pan, add a few tablespoons of water and scrape up with a spatula.
11. Remove ground round to the same  dish as the vegetables and stir to combine.

Assemble burritos:

1. Lay out all tortillas on your work surface.
2. Spread each tortilla with 1/2 Tbsp cream cheeze.
3. Divide bean mixture evenly between tortillas.
4. Divide ground round and vegetable mixture evenly between tortillas.
5. Roll up each tortilla and wrap in plastic or waxed paper.
6. Store in a larger bag in the freezer.
7. Thaw by heating at 70% power for about 3 minutes, seam side down.

Nutrition Information: Per Burrito: 317 kCal, 11g fat, 8g fibre, 4g sugar, 13g protein, 50% RDA Vit.C, 25% RDA Iron.

Hot Pink Hot Dog Topper

Spring is here! The snow is mostly melted, I can hear water trickling often, and sometimes it’s warm enough to run errands in only a sweater. The two best things: riding around on my bicycle, and starting up the barbecue again. While I’ve been too busy to make a batch of homemade hot dogs, we have been grilling store-bought ones a few times a week for a quick dinner.

Meet the best hot dog topping: salty, a bit crunchy, and beautifully coloured. Move over, limp sauerkraut. A new favourite garnish is in town.

I did base this on the quick-pickled cabbage I added to the Sunshine Bowl I posted about a few weeks ago, but with a few modifications, and the addition of sliced radishes for extra flavour. I also like this stuff added into garden salads and brightening up tacos. It will last at least a week in the refrigerator.

Hot Pink Cabbage-Radish Slaw

An original recipe by Agent Minty

Makes about two cups of slaw

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp celery seeds
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 cups finely chopped or shredded red cabbage
• 5 or 6 radishes, halved then finely sliced

Instructions:

1. Combine maple syrup, vinegar, celery seeds, and salt in a large non-metal bowl.
2. Stir in cabbage and radishes.
3. Allow to sit at room temperature, stirring every half hour or so, for about two hours.
4. Transfer to a resealable container for storage in the refrigerator. 
   

Enjoy! Is it spring yet where you live?

Winter Sunshine Rainbow Bowls

Six more weeks of winter. Technically, only four until it’s “spring”, but in Alberta we get snow and cold weather lasting until April. However, today was a fair day with lots of sunshine, and it put me in a good mood. I decided to make sunshiny lunch bowls filled with a rainbow assortment of healthy foods to keep me going all week.

Sometimes called Abundance Bowls, these meals have a grain base combined with legumes, vegetables, and seeds. Mine contains steamed broccoli, quick-pickled red cabbage, roasted red peppers, and lentils, topped with a peanut-sesame-lime dressing. For extra protein, I’ve included quinoa and pumpkin seeds. For the calorie curious, one bowl has 395 calories, 57g carbs, 12g fat, and 19g protein. To make ahead for the week, I prefer to prepare each set of ingredients and only combine the night before.

Winter Sunshine Rainbow Bowls – An original recipe by Agent Minty

Ingredients:

• Grains and Lentil Mix (Recipe Below)
• Red Cabbage Quick Pickle (Recipe Below)
• 2 red peppers, roasted, with skins and seeds removed
• 2 heads of broccoli, stems and florets diced and steamed
• 5 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
• Peanut-sesame-lime Dressing

Instructions:

1. Spoon 1/5 of the grains and lentil mix into each bowl.
2. Arrange on top 1/5 each of the cabbage, sliced roasted peppers, broccoli, and pumpkin seeds.
3. Drizzle dressing on top and enjoy.

Grains and Lentils Mix

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dried quinoa
• 1/4 cup dried red lentils
• 1/2 cup cracked wheat

Instructions:

1. Wash quinoa well and combine with 2 cups of water.
2. Bring to a boil on high and simmer with lid on for 7 minutes.
3. Stir in the lentils, and turn down heat to medium-low for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in cracked wheat and 1/4 more water.
5. Allow to return to a simmer for 2 minutes, then turn off heat.
6. Sit, covered with a lid, for at least 10 minutes.

Red Cabbage Quick Pickle

Ingredients:

• 1/3 red cabbage, shredded (about 2 cups)
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and sit at room temperature at least one hour.

Peanut-sesame-lime Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp Sriracha (reduce if you dislike spicy things)
• 1/3 cup water

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

I’m going to enjoy this bit of brightness and sunshine in my days all week – I hope you have a good week, too!

Messy Kitchen!

I’ve been a busy person lately. In the kitchen, too, making some recipes to share with you, but I haven’t had time to finish all of the photo processing and recipe typing. While I work on other things, here’s a recap of some of the mess I made in my kitchen today:

One of my 2015 resolutions is to try to incorporate more vegetables into every meal. Last week I tried making Serious Eats’ Instant Noodles with Miso-Sesame Broth. They were so good I’m making a jar for every workday this week! My version includes pressed tofu pan-fried in olive oil (as the first layer after the sauce base), fresh mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, snap peas, and udon noodles. I switched to using freeze-dried chives instead of chopped scallions after my office was left with a lingering smell of green onions.

I’m also trying to improve my early-morning preparedness. For three breakfasts this week, I made a big batch of high-protein oatmeal that I’ll keep in the fridge and reheat before eating. For two other meals, I’ll make VegMcMuffins – I’ve already prepped the tofu and “meat”, all I’ll need to do is toast an English muffin and add slices of pepper and tomato.

I made a batch of cookies but didn’t take pictures. They were a cashew variation of Nephew Cookies, to give to a neighbour. It was like he was psychic – as I was convincing myself to bundle up and drop them off, he same over with some Vegan chili he had made for us. Awesome!

Finally, I made a big pot of minestrone, like we do every month. This will last in leftovers for a few dinners this week, or be frozen as extra lunches for days when we don’t have time to make anything fresh but want something healthy and delicious.

A few hours of work made me food for at least twelve meals plus more to share, with lots of healthy ingredients and flavour. Yum!

Gramma’s Onion Bread

When I was in junior high, one of my favourite sandwiches was cheddar and dill pickles on onion bread. Yes, it was odorous, but also delicious! These days I prefer my onion bread sliced thick and toasted with plenty of margarine. Or just sliced hot out of the oven – the loaf in the picture here was still warm when I ate my first slice – yum!

This recipe is altered from one my Gramma made to be used in a bread machine. If you want to use it in your bread machine, reduce the yeast to 2 tsp and add it in last, according to the directions in your machine’s manual.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp very warm water
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tsp rapid baker’s yeast
• 1 packet of onion soup mix
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 Tbsp melted margarine or butter
• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Combine warm water with sugar and baker’s yeast in your mixing bowl.
2. Allow to sit at room temperature until fully dissolved and bubbly, about 10 minutes
3. Stir in onion soup mix, milk, nutritional yeast, and melted margarine.
4. Let mixture sit 5 minutes to allow the soup mix to rehydrate.
5. Stir in 3/4 of the flour into the liquid mixture.
6. Start mixing the dough with the hook of your machine, or vigorously with a wooden spoon.
7. Gradually add in all of the flour.
   Dough should be soft and stretchy – not too sticky, but not too dry, either. Add more flour if needed.
8. Knead for about 10 minutes until silky smooth.
9. Place the ball of dough into clean, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
10. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size.
11. Punch down dough, knead on the counter with a small amount of flour about five times, and return to the oiled bowl.
12. Rise for another hour or so.
13. Roll out the dough on a floured counter into a 12×16-inch rectangle, and roll up the long end to make a 12-inch long cylinder.
14. Pinch seam closed and orient at bottom of loaf. Pinch each end of the roll and tuck under. Place in the loaf pan, and cover with a damp towel.
15. Heat oven to 400F.
16. Meanwhile, let loaf rise until the top of dough rises about 1 inch higher than the top of the pan, 10-30 minutes.
17. Slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and immediately place in oven.
    Optional: toss a few ice cubes on the floor of the oven to steam it up and give the loaf a nice crust.
18. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 375F.
19. Bake for 30 or so more minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped with a fingernail.

Scrambled tofu that actually tastes good!

Scrambled tofu is one of those supposedly basic things that a lot of egg-haters eat. I had been trying for years to make it palatable, but the problem was that I often found them runny and bland. I even tried blending tofu with cornstarch and a zillion seasonings and cooking it to firm up into a (gross) omelette. Sometimes it’s better to just keep it simple. This isn’t so much of a recipe, as me sharing my “oh, duh! realization from a few months back that I finally remembered to photograph.

It’s a protein-packed breakfast to have along with veggie sausage and fruit, or toast and jam. The veggies in the stir fry can vary, but I really recommend adding something. Vegetables add colour and flavour, make it even more filling, and the steam they release while cooking keeps the tofu soft on the inside. My favourite combinations are mushroom and spinach, red pepper and asparagus, and green onion and pepper.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 to 1/2 block of medium/traditional pressed tofu
• olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped veggies
• Smoked Salt (Very important for flavour!)
• Nutritional Yeast

Instructions:

1. Press tofu while chopping vegetables.
2. Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan on medium-high.
3. Add in chopped vegetables and sauté until their colours start to brighten, about 1 minute.
4. Crumble in tofu, and sprinkle tofu immediately with smoked salt and a pinch of nutritional yeast.
5. Stir everything together.
6. If desired, add a little more oil.
7. Cook, stirring, until tofu is golden.
8. Eat immediately!

Sick day soup

Ah, the late-winter cold. Charming cousin to the Autumn and Christmas colds I’ve had this year. Despite me taking better care of myself than ever, a little bit of stress and enough germs in the workplace had me down for the weekend, plus yesterday. I felt indifferent to most food, but I wanted to make something healthy and filling, that wouldn’t upset my tummy.

Enter this soup. It’s packed with protein and carotenes, and makes enough to last for days. Think of it as the charming cousin of split pea soup and sweet potato soup. Also, it’s darn cheap to make, and tastes delicious with garlic toasts and plenty of cracked black pepper. Note that you can use a different mix of split lentils and beans, but for the best texture you should choose mostly ones that have their skins removed.

 

 

 

Sweet potato, lentil, and sun-dried tomato soup – An Agent Minty original recipe

Makes eight 1-cup servings.

Ingredients:

• One medium sweet potato, cubed
• Olive oil
• Herbs: parsley, sage, savoury
• 1 cup red lentils
• 3/4 cup moong dal
• 2/3 c green lentils
• 2 veggie bouillon cubes
• 1 small can of V-8
• 1.5 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

Instructions:

1. Toss sweet potato cubes in enough oil to generously coat.
2. Toss with salt and herbs of choice.
3. Bake in a casserole dish at 400F for approximately 40 minutes, until very soft. 
4. Meanwhile, wash your lentils until the water runs clear.
5. Add the lentils to 8-10 cups of water, pus a generous amount of olive oil in a large pot and heat on medium-high.
6. Once the lentils have come to a boil, turn heat to a gentle simmer and add bouillon cubes and V-8. Partly cover with a lid.
7. Add more water as needed to prevent the lentils from sticking, stirring every 10 minutes or so.
8. Simmer lentils for 30-40 minutes until they are very soft and start to break apart.
9. Add in cooked sweet potato, sun-dried tomatoes, and nutritional yeast. 
10. Simmer for another 10 minutes to allow flavours to combine.
11. Using an immersion blender, puree soup until it is smooth.
12. Season with salt as needed.