Vegan SIN-amon Rolls

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I wasn’t sure if I should share this recipe or just keep it to myself so I alone look amazing when I waltz into a potluck brunch with these babies in tow.  Alas, I want to eat them more often, so I thought if I can get this out there to my vegan friends, they also would develop a mild addiction and want to make them frequently as well thereby getting them into my face more often.

I’ve had this cookbook Vegan Brunch on my bookshelf FOREVER, and never even cracked the binding.  Honestly, when is the last time you attended a brunch?  Yeah, me either.  A few months ago however, my friends Kolene and Jon hosted, you guessed it, a VEGAN BRUNCH!  I made curried tofu scramble, but Jon….he made these rolls and probably other delicious things-but THESE I was frankly obsessed with and had to get more of.  When I asked for the recipe he directed me to Vegan Brunch, you know the book collecting dust on my shelf.  I went home and made them that night, pigged out on them at midnight with Mr. Wonderful, then brought a batch to work the next day (the recipe made a TON of rolls) to test on my coworkers.  In case you were wondering how to score serious favors at work for a while, bake cinnamon rolls in your office kitchen, then serve them to your friends.  They become even more helpful in their sugary comas.

Caution, these take a while to make.  You are MAKING cinnamon rolls-like “from scratch”, not just baking them off from the frozen food section at Meijer, so there are steps involved.  Do not skip them, do not rush them.  And by all means….MEASURE, this is baking, you know…like chemistry and crap, so you need to be precise.  If you haven’t worked with yeast before, check out this link to keep you from throwing in the towel prematurely.

Dough

• 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/3 c sugar + 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 c lukewarm water
• 3/4 c non-dairy milk, room temperature (I used coconut milk)
• 1/3 c canola oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 1/4 – 4 c flour

Filling

• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 2 T flour

To roll

• 1/4 c Earth Balance (soy margarine, non-hydrogenated)
• also, a great deal of patience and an uncluttered work space

Icing

• 1 C powdered sugar (10x)
• 1-1/2 – 2 T non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk here too)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Proof yeast by putting yeast into half the lukewarm water with the 1 tsp of sugar. Let sit, make sure it bubbles so you know your little organisms are hungry, alive and well.  Mix the rest of the dough ingredients together, add proofed yeast mix. Knead for 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and let rise 1 hour. Punch the dough down and let rest 10 more minutes.

Make the filling (mix together ingredients above for filling).

Roll out dough to 12″ x18″ (or whatever you get frankly-mine was a little larger) on a floured clean, flat surface. Sprinkle filling over the dough evenly, dot with small chunks of the Earth Balance.

Roll from the long side. Go slowly and get it as tight as possible.  This for me is the most difficult part. I can’t even roll up my yoga mat without having it all cock-eyed, so this dough rolling part is torture for me.  Do the best you can.  When they bake, no one will know you had edges that were not perfect as they will be too busy cramming the final product into their pie-holes.

Oil or spray any kind of pan you like really. I used two pie plates so I could bake one now, and take one to work in an unbaked state later. Cut the roll into half to one inch pieces pieces and place close together in the prepared pan. I used dental floss to cut through the dough so that I didn’t smash the dough.

Cover with towel, let rise for 30-45 minutes in a warm location. I usually put it on the stove, above the pilot lights.  These can also be stored in the fridge overnight without losing any of the yumminess to be baked off the next morning, just cover in plastic wrap. The next morning when you are preheating the oven (below) leave on the counter until they hit just about room temp.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 18-2o minutes-the smaller your rolls when they go in, the less time you need, check them regularly to make sure they aren’t burning, they should be lightly browned. Make icing while it bakes.

Drizzle with the icing as soon as you remove from the oven.

Adapted from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Featured on The Mode Life.

Garlic, Chickpeas, Broccoli and Politics

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Previously, the only thing that George HW Bush and I had in common was our dislike of broccoli.  I’m proud to say that after eating this dish from Appetite for Reduction, I can distance myself a little  more from HW, with only a slight dislike of broccoli and have narrowed it down to  when it is 1) overdone or 2) raw.  I love broccoli in this dish.

Warning, this is one ugly dish.  I mean, there isn’t a food blog around that would claim this dish a beauty.  So maybe not on the top 5 of dishes to serve when say the Queen is coming to dinner, but certainly a fail-safe dish for a busy week day dinner.  After you roast this off the possibilities are endless, it would make a great soup with some veg broth added, perhaps toss it on a piece of naan for a sandwich, over rice, lentils, quinoa, etc.  Or do as I do and just eat it off the baking sheet as you don’t want to dirty another dish.  I won’t judge you.

• 1 lb broccoli, cut into large spears and stems chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (around 9-10 cups) – I really hate the spears, so I used just florettes out of a bag, 2 bags worth.
• 10+ cloves garlic, peeled and smashed-use what you want.  I’ve done up to 20 and an no worse for the wear.
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or a 19-oz can, rinsed and drained)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp lemon zest (zest from 1 lemon) reserve the juice
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano or 3 tsp fresh
• 1 cup vegetable broth

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the broccoli, garlic and chickpeas in a 9×13 inch baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, chili flakes, lemon zest, oregano and black pepper to taste. Toss to coat and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, flipping once.

After 30 minutes, mix broccoli and chickpeas again and add broth, deglazing any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Continue to bake another 15 minutes until the garlic is tender and the broccoli is browned in some places.

I finished this dish with the lemon juice from the zested lemon, and baked for another 5-10 minutes until it was absorbed.

Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

Bonus Find: One Minute Chocolate Cake

I’m not going to talk…just gonna give this to you.  Make it.  You’re welcome.

Via Chocolate Covered Katie

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons spelt flour (or white, or even coconut or peanut flour)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 stevia packet (or 1 more tablespoon sugar)
• 1 tablespoon mashed banana or applesauce
• 3 tablespoons almond milk
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine dry ingredients and mix very, very well. Add liquid, stir, then transfer to a little dish, ramekin, or even a coffee mug. Microwave 30-40 seconds. If you don’t want to eat it straight out of the dish, be sure to spray your dish first (and then wait for it to cool before trying to remove it).

Pasta with Citrus Sauce

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This recipe will blow your mind.  If you followed the same path I did and made that quinoa bowl a few days ago, you should still have around a citrus sauce that is begging to be used up.  Your dinner plan will be as follows:

1. boil water
2. drop in store-bought tortelinni
3. heat up store-bought baguette in 350 degree oven
4. add dressing to cooked and drained tortelinni
5. plate and eat (serve over a bed of arugula if you are feeling fancy)

No kidding…that’s it.  Dinner is served.

Leftovers Pita with Hummus

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I’m rather impressed with myself right now.  I made that delicious quinoa bowl  and had lots of leftovers, so I engineered this dinner the very next night, followed by another quick dinner the night after that, stretching the sauces out over three days AND more importantly using them up, instead of wasting them (which in cooking for 2 people I’m prone to do).

This leftovers pita with hummus, takes the Tahini sauce from the quinoa bowl, and whirls it around in a food processor with 1 cup of cooked chickpeas to fatten it up a bit-making hummus.  I added just a pinch of salt and had a spread to use with the leftover bowl materials (kale, red onion, chickpeas) and pan fried some tofu in sesame oil to add a little more substance.  Served it on a whole wheat pita that I just warmed in the oven while I fried up the tofu.

Quinoa Veggie Bowl with Two Sauces

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Once you become comfortable with having flexible items in your pantry, having no real plan for cooking isn’t very stressful.  You get to bring this kinda stuff together in a pinch.  This is a perfect no-plan panic meal.

Parm + Citrus Sauce/Dressing:

• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (make this Vegan and omit the cheese)
• Zest and juice of 2 oranges
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
• 2T white wine vinegar
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or half reg. + half lemon oil)
• 2 pinches of both salt + pepper

In a medium bowl (or Mason jar) combine the grated Parmesan, orange zest and juice, and the shallots. Whisk in the white wine vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil and finish by seasoning with salt and pepper.

Tahini Dressing:

• 1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
• 1/4 cup tahini
• Zest of one lemon
• scant 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

In a medium bowl or Mason jar combine the garlic, tahini, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil.  Add the hot water to thin a bit and then the salt.

For the veggie bowl:

Cook up quinoa according to package directions.  Pictured here, I made a mix of common white and less common Inca red quinoa.  They cook up the same, I didn’t have a cup of either, but combining them I just made it.  Before I add the water and put it into a pan to cook, I like to rinse it through a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear and then toast it in a saute’ pan until just barely browned.  I think it makes it taste nutty and earthy.  The end texture is also a little fluffier, less mushy like rice sometimes gets with the excess starch still attached.

In the bowl pictured, there is cooked room temperature chickpeas (mine were from frozen, but you could use canned in a pinch), raw red onion, steamed kale and steamed fingerling potatoes.  That’s what I had in my fridge that day but you can use any cooked or raw veggie you like.  The type of bowl you make is only limited by what’s in your fridge really.  Tofu would make an excellent addition to this dish.  I served my bowl room temperature for a simple dinner.

Dressings adapted from 101cookbooks.com