Vegan Wholewheat Lasagna Type Thingies

I use the word 'thingies' here because these aren't exactly traditional Lasagnas, but rather a bunch of dishes I invented based on the same basic principle - sheets of pasta layered with an ensemble of sauces and fillings and then baked.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets layered with Spinach Babycorn Béchamel Sauce, Spicy Tomato Mint Sauce, Grated Carrots, Sliced Green Bell Peppers and topped with Sesame Seeds and Rosemary

For the Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets:

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 t Oil (olive oil or coconut oil work best but any other plant based oil should be fine too)
Salt to taste

Mix together the above. Add a little water at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. Keep aside.

When the fillings are ready, pinch off large balls of this dough and roll into thin sheets. Cut to roughly fit the baking tray that you're using.

The sheets are the only common factor between these Lasagna dishes. All the other components are flexible. You can use the recipes below for the fillings and sauces or use your imagination and create your own combination. :)

Whole Wheat Homemade Pasta Sheets layered with Basmati Rice, Mint Béchamel Sauce, Grated Beets and topped with Sliced Tomatoes with Nutritional Yeast sprinkled on

For the Vegan Spinach Babycorn Béchamel Sauce:

Wash and chop as much spinach as you like (I do about 3/4 C).

Blanch and slice 8-10 babycorns into thin circles.

Finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic (can use more or less depending on your taste).

Lightly toast 1/4 C wheat flour in a dry pan until very slightly browned. Keep aside.

Place 2 C plain, unsweetened soymilk (or other vegan milk) in a pan and heat it on a low flame.

Add a few spoons of soymilk, a little at a time, to the toasted wheat flour and make a smooth paste. (You can optionally mix a dash of olive oil into this paste for an extra creamy end result).

Pour the paste into the soymilk slowly and keep stirring constantly. Continue to stir and heat on a low flame (sauce should not boil) until it thickens. The continuous stirring is very important to keep it smooth and distribute the heat evenly.

Add the chopped spinach, sliced babycorn, chopped garlic, freshly crushed pepper and salt and mix. Heat for another minute or so (still stirring) and turn off the flame.
Your creamy, vegan béchamel sauce is ready! :) (I love to eat spoonfuls of this thing just on its own!)

Note: If you're using this sauce for pastas or any other dish where it's not baked, then cook the baby corn well rather than blanching and lightly fry the garlic in a little olive oil before mixing them into the sauce.

PS: I found out much later that coconut mylk is an even better thing to use in this same sauce in place of soymylk.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets layered with a mix and match of Plain Béchamel Sauce, Special Mashed Potatoes, Small Chick Peas, Coconut Milk and Marinated - Tofu, Tomatoes, Broccoli, Zucchini, Green Bell Peppers

For the Spicy Tomato Mint Sauce:

3 large, ripe Tomatoes diced
1 C chopped Spearmint leaves
3-4 cloves of Garlic
1/2 C raw cashews
2-3 spicy Green Chillies
1 T Nutritional Yeast
Salt to taste

Blend everything, except the tomatoes, together into a paste. Add the tomatoes and blend again to reach a saucy consistency.

Pour into a pan, bring to a boil, reduce the flame and simmer for about 3 minutes while stirring continuously.

For the Baked Beans Sauce:

1 1/2 C White Butter Beans - washed, quick soaked, cooked, drained (water kept aside) and cooled
2 large, ripe Tomatoes
2 cloves of Garlic
Red Chilli Powder/Flakes
1 t Olive Oil
Spicy Green Chillies chopped
Whole Spices - Cinnamon, Cloves, Bay Leaf
Tamarind Paste
Nutritional Yeast
Salt to taste
Ketchup

Place half the cooked beans, tomatoes, garlic, tamarind paste, red chilli powder/flakes and salt in a blender and blend into a smooth paste using some of the beans cooking water as required.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the whole spices and green chillies and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining cooked beans and stir fry.

Add the tomato/bean paste and mix well (adding more of the beans cooking water if required). Stir and simmer this sauce on medium heat for a few minutes.

Turn off the heat. Add a splosh of ketchup and the nutritional yeast and stir.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets layered with Mint Béchamel Sauce, Baked Beans Sauce, Sweet Corn, Sliced Green Bell Peppers and topped with Sliced Tomatoes with Nutritional Yeast sprinkled on

For the Special Mashed Potatoes:

5 medium sized Potatoes - boiled and peeled
Olive Oil
Marinade Liquid leftover from the Marinated Tofu/Veggie Topping
Coconut Milk (small splash)
2 T Nutritional Yeast
Dried Herbs - Thyme, Chives, Rosemary etc...
Salt to taste

Mash the potatoes, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Building the Lasagna:

Layer your home made whole wheat lasagna sheets with your choice of sauces and fillings - crumbled tofu, grated carrots, grated beets, sliced tomatoes, sliced bell peppers, sweet corn, marinated tofu/veggie mixture, coconut milk, cooked small chick peas etc...



Bake at 400F/250C for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool for half an hour. Serve and enjoy! :)

(Tastes even better on the next day because all the flavors get incorporated really well!)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Coconut Pecan Cookies

My chinni wanted chocolate chip cookies and my DH wanted coconut ones. The happy compromise? My favorite vegan chocolate chip cookies with a coconutty twist. :)



1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C All Purpose Flour
1 T Baking Powder
1 t Pure Vanilla Extract (if you don't have the pure kind, then don't bother using it at all)
1/2 C Agave Nectar
3/4 C Chopped Pecans
1 C Vegan Dark Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 C Cold Ricemilk or Water
Dessicated Coconut Powder

Preheat oven to 180C/350F

Spread as much coconut powder as you like on a small plate.

Put the rest of dry ingredients (except pecans and chocolate chips) in a large bowl and mix. Make a deep well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients into the hole and mix everything. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

Form cookie dough into little balls and roll them around in the coconut powder and press gently. Place on cookie sheets 1-2 inches apart.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet. Transfer to cooling rack.

Serve hot or cold. Enjoy! :)

These cookies were so yum that the Veganosaurus monsters loved them too! They had a big munching party and there was plenty to go around. They ate and they ate and they ate and in the end they fell over backwards, patted their tummies and fell into a deep, chocolate-y, comatose sleep.

Vegan Masala Crust Pizza with Marinaded Toppings

The most important advice I can give you about this pizza is MAKE LOTS!! I wish I had done so because it melted away into thin air in no time!



For the Masala Crust Pizza Base:

1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1/2 C Oatmeal
2 T Flax Seed Powder
1 C Grated Veggies - Carrots, Radish...
1 t Freshly Chopped Cilantro
1 t Seasame Seeds
1 t Flax Seeds
2 t Mixed Dried Herbs - Chives, Thyme, Dill...
2 Spicy Green Chillies crushed (could be replaced with Serrano Peppers)
1/4 C Sugar
2 T Oil (I used coconut)
2 t Active Dry Yeast
1/2 C Soymilk
Salt

Heat the soymilk, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let the soymilk cool down till it's a little hotter than lukewarm (you should be able to dip your index finger in and keep it there for a few seconds at least). Mix in the yeast and keep aside for about 15 minutes to let it froth and rise. Add the oil and stir vigorously.

Warm up 1 C of water to lukewarm temperature.

Place the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together lightly. Make a deep well in the center and pour the yeast mixture into it. Use your hands and start mixing everything. Add enough of the warmed water, a little at a time and keep mixing until a rough ball of dough is formed. A wetter dough is always preferable to a dry one.

Transfer the ball to a floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top) and knead well, for at least 10 minutes, until it's soft and elasticky.

Form into a ball, place back into the mixing bowl and cover with a warm, wet cloth. Keep it aside in a warm/sunny spot to let it rise.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping...

For the Marinade (use whatever's available and feel free to switch things around):

1 C Peanut Yogurt (any vegan yogurt can be used as a replacement but peanut yogurt tastes most delicious!)
2 Spicy Green Chillies crushed (could be replaced with Serrano Peppers)
1/8 t Powdered Black Pepper
1/8 t Kitchen King or Garam Masala Powder (available at Indian stores)
1 t Nutritional Yeast
1 squirt of Agave Nectar
1 splosh of Tamari
Salt

Whisk everything together until well blended.

Topping Ingredients:

1 Zucchini (sliced into thin rounds)
Florets from 1 small head of Broccoli
4-5 Tomatoes (cubed)
1 Green Bell Pepper (sliced into thin strips)
1 Block of Tofu (cubed)

Place the above in a wide bowl or marinade box and pour the marinade liquid over everything. Toss well. Cover and keep aside.

How to proceed...

After the dough has risen for 1 hour, punch it down and let it rise again for another 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Divide the dough into two and form two pizza bases out of it. They could be rolled out but I prefer to tap them flat with my palms (about 1/4 inch thick) directly onto oiled cookie sheets.

Pick the veggies and tofu out of the marinade liquid and spread them over the pizza bases equally. (The marinade liquid can be reused with other veggies or more tofu for another recipe).

Bake for 25 minutes until the tops of the tofu and the sides of the pizza crust have slightly browned.

Serve hot with pepper freshly crushed over it. Enjoy! :)

Creamy Peanut Milk Curds/Yogurt

A quicky post just to explain the process of extracting milk out of peanuts and turning it into yogurt. Peanut milk by itself does NOT taste good. I put it in my tea this one time and ended up having to pour it down the drain! Highly painful for someone like me who does not like to waste food. But OMG how it changes in yogurt form!! Simply delicious!

I've been using this in more and more recipes lately so figured I'd share how it's made. It's my favorite kind of yogurt to date!

Creamy Peanut Milk Yogurt

Soak half a cup of plain, raw peanuts overnight. Grind them into a fine paste with some fresh water (the soaking water should be thrown out).

Transfer to a large pot, add lots of water (about 2 1/2 litres), bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer for about 30-40 minutes (stir once in a while). Once it has cooled down to room temperature, strain through a fine sieve. The peanut milk is ready! (The peanut grounds left in the sieve can be used in soups and curries or kneaded into chapathi or bread dough).

Heat the milk to a lukewarm temperature, add a wee bit (just 1-2 tsp will do) of soy yogurt and stir it in lightly with your fingers to introduce the cultures.

Cover and keep aside in a warm spot (a turned off oven or microwave is a great place!) and in about 6-8 hours, you'll have thick, creamy peanut yogurt. :)

It can be stored in the fridge for at least one week (maybe more but it's never lasted that long at our home because we finish it up really quickly! LOL). As the days go by, it gets even thicker and creamier.

A note about Starters:

While making vegan yogurt, if you don't have soy yogurt on hand to use as a starter, then take half a cup of soy milk, heat it to lukewarm, squeeze in a little bit of fresh lime/lemon juice, stir and keep aside. This will turn into yogurt after 6-8 hours but the texture isn't perfect. That's why you make this yogurt in a small quantity and then use that as a starter to make more vegan yogurt. Always make sure to save a few spoonfuls of yogurt in every batch to use as a starter for the next batch. I've noticed that when an old line of starter is used like this for 'generations', the texture and taste of the yogurt gets more delicious over time.

Alternately, you can also use rejeuvelac made out of soaked wheat berries.

I have also tried using chilli crowns as a starter as described on Tongue Ticklers and that worked well too.

Update on 23rd April 2013: New blog post showing the step by step process of making peanut curds using Howdo.

Potato Buttermilk Bread

Before I post the recipe, I'd first like to say that as much as it might look like it, the bread doesn't have whole potatoes in it. The top just looks that way because it's just been shaped accordingly. *grin*

Normally, I prefer to use 100% whole wheat (or other whole grains) in my bread recipes. But this time, I gave in and used partly whole wheat flour with mainly white flour. The 100% whole wheat bread is delicious when there are inclusions in the dough like herbs and grated veggies to add interesting textures to the final product. But with plain, untextured breads, just whole wheat makes it too dense.

Well sometimes, I don't mind giving into taste over wholesomeness. Besides, this being a vegan bread, white flour is the only less-than-perfectly-healthy ingredient in there. So indulge away! :)



2 t active dry yeast
1/2 t sugar
2 large potatoes (peeled, cubed and boiled until soft)
1/2 C cooking liquid from the potatoes cooled a little bit
1/2 C lukewarm soymilk
1/2 t apple cider vinegar (regular, white vinegar is also fine)
1 T oil (I used olive in this one)
2 t salt
2 C all purpose (white) flour (maida)
1 - 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour (chapathi atta)

Mix the flours together and keep aside.

Combine the potato cooking liquid (should be slightly warmer than lukewarm), sugar and yeast and keep it aside for about 15 minutes. It should froth and bubble and rise a bit by the end of this time (very important).

Combine the soymilk and the apple cider vinegar and keep aside for a couple of minutes to allow the soymilk to curdle well. This acts as the buttermilk.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the boiled potatoes. Add the oil, salt, soymilk mixture and frothed yeast mixture and stir well.

Now slowly add one cup of flour at a time and keep mixing until it forms into a stiff ball of dough.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead very well until it's smooth and elastic (very important).

Form into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover it with a warm, wet cloth and keep it aside in a warm place or sunny spot for 1 1/2 hours to let it rise (it should at least double in size).

Punch down and again let it rise for 40 minutes.

Form the dough into 12 balls. Place 10 of these balls in two rows in a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan. Break the remaining 2 balls into 4-5 pieces, roll them into little balls and place them randomly on top any way you like.

Cover and let it rise until the dough has risen above the well over the rim of the pan (about 30-40 minutes).

Preheat oven to 205C (400F).

Dust the dough lightly with flour and place the pan in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 190C (375F) and bake for another 40 minutes.

Once the oven goes off, leave the loaf in there for another 10 minutes and then remove immediately.

Let the bread cool in the pan for half an hour, remove from the pan, transfer it on to a cooling rack and let it cool completely before cutting with a serrated knife.

Tastes great served with a big bowl of soup or spicy bean chili.

Enjoy! :)