Zucchini Cakes

Earlier this week, I saw a recipe online for "crab" cakes made from zucchini rather than . . . y'know, crab. The recipe was vegetarian, but not vegan -- and I was lacking a couple of the key ingredients (like Old Bay seasoning). So I winged it a bit.

The results were delicious. Looking at the picture now, I am making myself hungry again. I can see why the recipe called them crab cakes, even though the taste isn't the same; the texture is very crab cake-like. I had already shredded the zucchini and summer squash the same night I made the Chocolate Summer Squash Bread, so there was hardly any prep work involved; the cakes made a fast and tasty meal before I went off to teach class.

After class, we picked up some Old Bay seasoning at the store; I'm going to definitely make these again once we get another batch of squash (which will undoubtedly be this week). I will try them with the Old Bay and then post a definitive recipe here. For now, the picture is all I have to offer.

(Update: finished recipe for vegan crab cakes now available!)

Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cake with Orange Glaze

Any birthday celebration needs a birthday cake, so I decided to make Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World . . . except as a cake instead of as cupcakes. To convert from cupcake recipes to cake, just add about 10 to 15 minutes of extra time. The recipe says to bake for 20-22 minutes; the cake came out at 35 minutes perfectly cooked.

The only snag with the cake was that my dad was out of normal flour and I used what he had -- pastry flour. It wasn't until the cake was finished and I tasted it that I realized there was even more to it than that; it was whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is fine for many baked goods, but the agave nectar cake has a very subtle flavor that was overpowered by the whole wheat taste. If I'd realized, I would have added cocoa powder and made a chocolate-y cake that could stand up to the taste of the flour.

The orange glaze that covered the cake was made simply from cornstarch and pure orange juice. I whisked together the cornstarch and orange juice, then brought it to a boil -- still whisking. Once it reached a boil, I turned off the heat and whisked a bit more. It had a nice consistency, very glaze-like. And no need for any added sugar, since oranges are plenty sweet on their own!

All in all, this sugar-free cake was dandy; moist, sweet-but-not-too-sweet, and flavorful. The only thing I'd change next time is the flour -- or I'd add another flavor to compensate for the flour.

Black Bean Burgers

My brother's friend arrived from England today -- and is staying at my dad's for the next month or so; in part to recognize her arrival and in part to celebrate my brother's birthday, we grilled at my dad's house for dinner. I made black bean burgers, which my dad threw on the grill along with some corn on the cob.

The black bean burgers were tasty and super easy to make, but a little on the squishy side for grilling; next time, I will probably modify the recipe a bit to make them sturdier and a little more grill-friendly. They stood up fine to the grill as is, even if they got a bit misshapen in the process.

I had mine with red chile, soy pepper jack, lettuce, and tomato on an onion roll. I made a double batch, so there are still a whole bunch of burgers in my dad's freezer waiting for our next barbecue!

Chocolate Summer Squash Bread

With the exception of the pancakes we had last weekend, I haven't made any breakfasty foods so far. And I really like breakfast, so that needed to change. Last night, I made two loaves of chocolate summer squash bread -- one to leave with my dad and brother and one to bring home for me and P.

The idea for the bread came from here, but I made a fair number of changes to it. I would have made slightly different changes in my own kitchen, but I was at my dad's house so I had to work with what he had. My modifications left out the eggs, oil, and sugar -- and added a tsp of baking powder and a mashed up banana. I also used a 10 oz bag of grain-sweetened chocolate chips in place of all of the chocolate in the recipe. I was at first planning to use the same quantity of chocolate as the original called for, but that left only a few chips in the bag . . . so I tossed the rest in. I originally bought the grain-sweetened chocolate for a recipe I planned to make for Karen's memorial, from a macrobiotic dessert cookbook called Love, Eric. I ended up making my own recipe of ice cream instead, which meant I had this chocolate around to use up! I also added an extra cup of flour at the end, because the batter looked much too liquidy -- I'm not sure if I would do that again in the future, but the squash I used was very juicy.

We had slices of the chocolate bread for breakfast this morning -- actually, a few pieces disappeared even before this picture was taken! The bread was dense and fudgey; maybe without the extra flour it would've been a bit lighter. The density wasn't a bad thing though! The bread was sweet but not too sweet -- perfect for breakfast -- and definitely very chocolatey.

I will absolutely plan to make this bread again with more of the summer squash we get; the modifications will be a bit different at home though, since I won't have bananas but will have access to other potential egg substitutes.

Beet Greens and Soyrizo with Polenta and Black Beans

Today was Thursday, which means that it was time for another CSA pick-up. This week, our bounty contained kale, beets, chard, carrots, more different beets, lime basil, broccoli, and five different summer squashes.

Thursday and CSA pick-up day also meant that we headed north to my dad's house, so that we could divide up our share and have a lovely dinner together.

For tonight's meal, I sauteed up all of the beet greens with soyrizo. P fried up some thin slices of polenta so that they got a little crispy, and we topped them with refried black beans and New Mexican red chile. It was a fast and simple meal, as my brother and dad both got home pretty late -- but definitely tasty.

Asian Seitan Salad and Scallion Pancakes

Today Zelda had a playdate with her friend who is three weeks older than her -- so we brought over some lunch to share with the other parents. The last vegetables from our share for the week were a head of lettuce and the green part of the spring onions. I decided to make a salad topped with seitan made with Asian spices and a similarly-themed dressing -- plus scallion pancakes on the side.

The scallion pancakes were mostly the same as last time, but with a bit of whole wheat flour used in place of some of the all-purpose flour. I also had more spring onions, so I doubled the recipe to make two big scallion pancakes instead of one.

For the seitan, I used the seitan o'greatness recipe with modified spices. Instead of the listed spices, I used ginger, garlic, Chinese five-spice, and red pepper flakes; in place of Worcestershire sauce I used an additional two tablespoons of tamari. In retrospect, the tomato paste should also have been replaced. The tomato-y flavor that came through in the finished product detracted from the seitan's Asian feel. Still, the seitan turned out deliciously.

The dressing was also sauce for dipping the scallion pancakes, and was made of peanut oil, red wine vinegar, tamari, garlic, ginger, salt, and tonkatsu sauce.

Although there is no sauce in the picture, I did drizzle dressing over the salad -- and deposited a spoonful or two on the plate for dipping my scallion pancakes in. My neglecting to take a picture with the sauce can be chalked up to the two tiny humans and the World Cup game that were serving as serious distractions.

Kalezone

We got back from Massachusetts late last night, so tonight was the first meal I've actually made in a few days. I had been thinking of this as a "kalezone" . . . a calzone filled with kale, that is; but it turned out that I had less kale left than I thought, so it was filled with kale and beet greens.

They were awesome. The recipe made six calzones; I ate one and P ate two, so we have another meal's worth in the freezer for another night. The dough for the calzones -- given below -- came from the recipe in the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. I was not sure if using all whole wheat flour would make the dough be too dense, but it turned out perfectly.

The filling was made of tofu ricotta and sauteed kale and beet greens. The greens were sauteed in a little olive oil with the remaining spring onion bulbs; the tofu ricotta was based on a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomicon -- found here. That recipe is the basis for the tofu ricotta I use with great regularity; I use it so often that I hardly ever come near the original recipe anymore . . . but that is the source and the inspiration. The tofu ricotta and the greens were mixed together to form the filling, and the finished calzones were served with a side of tomato sauce.

Calzone Dough

• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 c warm water
• 1/2 tsp sweetener of your choice
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 - 3 cups whole wheat flour, more or less as needed

Place yeast in a large bowl and pour the warm water over it. Let rest 5 minutes. Add sweetener and salt, then beat in enough flour to make a soft but kneadable dough. Knead 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl and place dough in it; turn dough over so it is lightly oiled on all sides. Cover bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or oil it, or mist with nonstick spray). Punch down dough and divide into 6 equal balls. Keep dough covered with the same towel and work with 1 ball of dough at a time. Place the ball on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 6-inch round. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling on one half of the round. Fold the empty side of the dough to enclose the filling. Seal the edges of the calzone by crimping them with your fingers or with the tines of a fork. Prick the calzones in a few places on top with the tines of the fork. Place them on the baking sheet as soon as they are formed. Mist tops lightly with olive oil (or cooking spray). Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.