Also filed under the category of “Too Simple for a Recipe” is a very basic miso and citrus glaze I use a lot. Well, in interest of not assuming that this stuff is obvious to everyone, here’s a very quick recipe.

The Stuff

• 1/3 c. freshly squeezed citrus juice (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit…)
• 2 T miso
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 t freshly ground ginger, optional
• drizzle of sesame oil, optional

The Making

Whisk together all ingredients in a small dish. Use as a glaze for grilling or a sauce for stir-fries. Also makes a nice dipping sauce.

Yep, that’s as hard as it gets. Get whisking!

A note about miso… red miso will give this a darker, savory note. White or chickpea miso will make this very light, salty and slightly sweet. Go crazy, experiment!

I’ve been wanting to try making a sweeter vinaigrette for some time now. I’m fond of ones like the Annie’s raspberry and mango salad dressings, but they use added sugar and I thought it would be great to replace it with some soaked dates instead. This evening I finally tried it out!

Disclaimer: This is NOT a fully tested recipe yet. I am guessing on measurements of liquid ingredients. I ended up with roughly 2 cups of dressing when this was finished.

The Stuff

• 2 Medjool dates soaked in 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 c strawberries (frozen is fine, in fact that’s what I used)
• 1/3 c water
• 1/4 c brown rice vinegar
• 1/3 c apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 – 1/2 t sea salt (to taste)
• 2 T lemon infused olive oil (optional, skip or use tahini if you’d prefer)
• 1/2 t xantham gum
• 1/4 – 1 t red pepper flakes (optional)

The Making

Process everything except the xantham gum in a blender until everything is blended smooth. While blender is still running slowly add in xantham gum. Keep blending until dressing thickens nicely.

Yes, you can skip the xantham gum, but this is a fairly easy-to-find, not-scary additive that really gives salad dressing a thick, stick-to-your-veggies consistency. In this case there’s a little bit of oil added and the xantham gum further helps by keeping the oil emulsified with the vinegars and fruit.

Pour into bottle and store in fridge. Use up over the next few days.

Cherry Blossom Pink

For some time now I’ve really love the pureed squash sauce used by Hot Lips Pizza on some of their pies. I’ve also seen mention the use of squash as the base for a rich sauce. I’d occasionally blended squash into stews to add flavor as well as thicken things a bit and we liked that a lot, but I’d yet to try making a sauce.

Last week we’d received a small Butternut squash in our box from Organics to You. I’d roasted it, but we found it kind of bland and didn’t eat much. I’d put the leftover squash into the fridge and figured I’d throw it in a soup or something. Since it is VeganMoFo I was feeling pretty inspired to try out some new things.

I put some waxy potatoes into the over in a cast iron skillet. I sauteed some shallot with tempeh and broccoli. While all that was cooking I blended the squash into an awesome sauce that required no starches to thicken to a smooth, creamy consistency.  I’ll have to play around with this again to get the exact measurements down, but here’s a rough outline.

In a blender add 1/3 raw cashews and just cover with boiling water. Let cashews soak at least 10 minutes before adding 2-3 cups roasted squash; begin processing. Slowly add in about 2 cups of rice milk. While processing add 2/3 cup fine flake nutritional yeast, slowly. You may need to add some of the nutritional yeast and then add a little more of the rice milk (our blender is a little under powered). While still processing add in sweet, smoked paprika, dry mustard, granulated garlic, freshly ground pepper and some prepared, whole grain mustard. When thoroughly blended transfer sauce into a saucepan bring slowly up to heat.

This makes enough that we had some drizzled over the roasted potatoes, grilled tempeh & broccoli and we have a generous amount leftover that I’m going to make into scalloped potatoes this weekend. It is rich, creamy sauce, faintly sweet and I can’t wait to use it in more dishes!

Honestly, I really don’t like mushrooms. I may be willing to use some shitakes in making my dashi, but generally I don’t have much like for them. That said, the endless list of mushroom based gravies haven’t exactly inspired me. I like gravy, but I don’t really want mushroomy stuff. This past autumn, in time for all the mashed potato goodness of Thanksgiving I came up with the following gravy. Finally, here is the recipe (didn’t realize I hadn’t posted it yet).

The Stuff

• 1 good sized shallot, minced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup soy milk
• 2 Tablespoons white or red miso
• Fresh pepper

The Making

Heat a sauce pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil. When oil is hot add minced shallot and fry in oil until well caramelized. In a small dish combine soy milk and flour, whisk well to make sure they are combined. Pour slowly into oil and caramelized shallots, reduce heat to medium-low and whisk to incorporate. Add in miso, whisking it in well, and freshly ground pepper. Let continue to simmer, whisking occasionally, until the gravy is a desired thickness.

A nice variation is to add in 1/4 cup of chopped up, fresh parsley at the end. This is wonderfully tasty.

Too thick? Add a little more soy milk, slowly.

Too thin? Sprinkle in more flour, a little at a time, and whisk well until it it the desired thickness.

**Update as of September 22, 2010**

I have made this using brown rice flour in place of wheat as well as rice milk in place of soy – making this gravy both gluten and soy free.

I’ve also tried this using only a little spray canola oil to saute the scallions and no additional oil. This has worked just perfectly as well and makes for a almost fat-free gravy!

So everybody luvs teh Yumm(TM) sauce from Cafe Yumm down in Eugene. Unfortunately, it’s pretty damn espensive, and as much as I believe in supporting local good companies, I support my “make yummy stuff myself and save teh dough” movement more. I was making a chipotle aioli, tweaked it by accident (added “too much” lemon juice) and suddenly went “Hey, this is Yumm Sauce(TM)!!”

• ½ cup Vegenaise 
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp yellow mustard powder or 2 tsp yellow salad mustard
  
• 1 tsp Smoky Chipotle Tabasco 
• ½ tsp Smoky Chipotle chili powder 
• 1 tsp smoked paprika 
• 1-2 tsp garlic powder 
• 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast

I like to add this glaze to grilled veggies, tofu & tempeh. I apply liberally on top then throw into the broiler for 5-7 minutes until it all caramelizes up nicely.

The Stuff

• 3 T. white miso
• 2 T. maple syrup
• 1/2 t. canola oil
• 1/2 – 1 t. sesame seeds
• 2 t. hot water

The Making

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and either brush or spoon onto veggies, tofu, tempeh, etc. Use glaze as either a sauce for grilling or apply and broil food on low for about 5-7 minutes until glaze caramelizes and thickens further.

Tammy, this one’s particularly for you...

I’ve been missing Marc’s / Bob’s Big Boy lately ( ?! ) (as well as George Webb’s, but that’s exclusively a Wisconsin thing). I especially miss the classic messy as hell Big Boy burger itself, and the BBB sauce on it, which was a dill pickle relish based mayo/tartar sauce. Oddly enough, their sauce was really close to (ew!) McDonnald’s fishwich sauce (read the ingredients!) Anyway, this is my go-to tartar sauce recipe that is about as close as a vegan sauce can get to that nasty goodness

• 1 cup Vegenaise (use soy-free version)
  
• 2 tablespoon dill pickle relish
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder or 1tbsp yellow salad mustard
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp dill
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Used this in a “chick’n” burrito last night. This is very “Taco Bell”-ish, which is actually what I was going for.

• 1 cup Vegenaise (use soy-free version)
• 2 tbsp brown mustard (I used smoky brown, which was nice)
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked chipotle powder (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Whisk all together. There you go…

Mexi-Pizza is a favorite here (and there, and there, too). This typically takes the form of a pre-made pizza shell slathered with refried beans, onions, peppers, Field-Roast Chipotle sausage slices, etc. For a vegan topping, I came up with this nacho-y topping that won a seal of approval.

• 2 TBSP + 1tsp Wondra(R) gravy and sauce maker
• 2 TBSP Earth Balance (soy-free)
• 3 TBSP nutritional yeast
• 1 TSP granulated garlic
• 1/2 TSP smoked paprika
• 1/2 TSP cumin
• 1 TSP taco powder
• 1 CUP almond milk

Steps:

First, you make a roux…

Heat Earth Balance in a saucepot on med low until melted. Add in Wondra and yeast make a light roux. Start whisking in almond milk. Add in granulated garlic and other seasonings to taste. Just before pouring over pizza, whisk in an additional tsp of Wondra and pour over prepared pizza. This last bit of Wondra will “set up” in the heat of the oven, not in the sauce pan, thereby allowing you to pour it on, which is handy.

This is surprisingly good, and damn accurate as far as I can remember. The only thing I want to do differently next time is to add in some (read: a dozen or so) roasted mashed garlic cloves, and back off the granulated garlic a bit.

• 2 TBSP + 1tsp Wondra(R) gravy and sauce maker
• 2 TBSP Earth Balance (soy-free, if needed or preferred)
• 1 TBSP nutritional yeast
• 1 TSP granulated garlic
• 1 cup almond milk

Heat Earth Balance in a saucepot on med low until melted. Add in Wondra and yeast make a light roux. Start whisking in almond milk. Add in granulated garlic to taste. Just before pouring over pizza, whisk in an additional tsp of Wondra and pour over prepared pizza. This last bit of Wondra will “set up” in the heat of the oven, not in the sauce pan, thereby allowing you to pour it on, which is handy.