Vegan Bao Buns

 I really like steamed Bao Buns.  I was first introduced to them at a small Taiwanese restaurant near my house. You can get frozen bao at most well stocked grocery stores, but not vegan ones, so I set out to make my own.  I found the recipe for the bread part of the bao at the King Arthur Baking Company website, and only altered it by exchanging milk with unsweetened soy milk. For the filling I made up my own recipe, including the water chestnuts to give it a little crunchy texture. 

Bread dough
1 cup unsweetened soy milk or other nut milk

6 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast (using the fast-acting yeast is important, regular yeast won't work)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

3 cups flour

Heat soy milk until warm but not hot (you should be able to hold your finger in it without discomfort). Add the sugar, oil, yeast, and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast is dissolved. In a separate bowl (use a sand-up mixer if you have one) mix together the salt, baking powder, and 2 cups of the flour.  Pour in the liquid mixture, and mix thoroughly.  Add enough of the rest of the flour to make a soft but workable dough. Switch to the bread hook or turn the dough out on a floured board, and mix/kneed for another 5-10 minutes until the dough springs back when poked. 

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour or a little more).  Meanwhile make the filling.

Filling

1 16 oz package of firm tofu

1 small can water chestnuts, chopped
1 bunch green onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp vegetable broth base
1/4 cup soy salt (reduced salt kind is OK if you are worried about your salt intake. 

1/2 tsp dry ginger

Pat the tofu dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.  Cut into small pieces, or coarsely mash. 

Heat a frying pan or wok on the stove and add a little olive oil.  Slice the green onions and put them in the pan to sauté. Add the garlic. Add the tofu and water chestnuts and cook, stirring often, just until it starts to brown. Add the broth base and stir and cook for a few minutes until it is absorbed into the tofu. Add the soy sauce and ginger and stir and cook to blend flavors. 

When the bread dough has risen double, punch it down and let it rest for a few minutes.  Cut it into 12 equal pieces.  Taking one piece at a time (and leaving the other pieces covered) roll each into a 4-5 inch circle.  If you can, try to make the outside edge thinner than the center.  This will make it easier to pleat. 

Pick up the piece of dough in your nondominant hand and spoon in a heaping tablespoon of the filing,  Then pleat the outside edge like a fan, and pull them together to make the Bao bun shape. (As you can see from the picture I am not 100% great at this.  You can find tutorials about how to pleat it on youtube.) Let them rise for 15-20 minutes.

Steaming

You can use a traditional bamboo steamer, but I don't have one so I just use my vegetable steamer. Place the steamer in a cold pan and add about 1/2 inch cool water. Place each bun on a  3x3 inch piece of parchment paper, and carefully place them on the steaming rack. Don't crowd them as they will expand while cooking.  Place a lid on the pan and put it on the hot plate.  Turn the heat to medium high.  When the water heats enough to produce steam, set a timer for 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes is up, remove the pan from the heat and let it rest, without removing the lid, for another 5 minutes. Then you can remove the bao and serve. If you need to cook a second batch, pour the hot water out of the pan, and run the pan and the steamer under cold water until cool.  You have to start with a cool pan and water for each batch.

Serve the bao buns hot with your favorite dip. (I like a sweet and sour dip or a sushi sauce dip.) Leftover bao buns can be frozen.  Store in a zip-lock bag in the freezer for up to a few months.  To reheat, repeat the steaming process above, but only steam for about 10 minutes. 

Pearl Couscous with Garbanzo Beans

 This is an adaptation of a recipe I found at the vegetarian cooking website, Grateful Grazer. It has a very authentic middle-eastern flavor. In my version I decreased the amount of coriander (I found the coriander a little soapy tasting) and increased the amount of raisins because I like how the sweetness of the raisins balance out the spices.   

1 cup dry pearl couscous (I used the tri-color variety)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 can garbanzo beans (drained)
1 tsp coriander
1 Tbsp za'atar (a Mediterranean spice mixture.  I found it on Amazon)
1/2 cup (or more) baby spinach
1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)
1 Tbsp olive oil 
1/4 cup raisins
1 Tbsp lemon juice 

Combine couscous and broth in a sauce pan, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the couscous is tender and the water absorbed (add more water if needed to make sure it doesn't scorch before it is tender).

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the garbanzo beans, spices, raisins, oil, and lemon juice. Toss to blend, and serve.

Dilly Carrot Soup

 Here is another carrot soup recipe.  I found this one in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison and is reproduced here with only a few minor changes.  It is more savory and aromatic than the other two Carrot Soups in this blog, and it might be my favorite so far. 

2 Tbs olive oil
1 red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups diced onion
1 pound carrots, sliced thinly
2 Tbs uncooked white rice, or 1/2 cup leftover white rice
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs dried parsley
1 1/2 Tbs dried dill
1 Tbs orange concentrate
6 cups water
1 Tbs vegetable soup base 

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large pot and then add the onion and pepper.  Sautee until softened. Add the sliced carrots and salt and cook a few minutes more.  Add the parsley, dill, orange juice concentrate, water and soup base. Simmer for 25 minutes until the rice and the carrots are cooked through. 

Remove the pot from the stove. Transfer half of the soup into a blender and blend until fairly smooth.  Return blended portion to the pot and serve. At the table allow diners to season with salt and pepper to taste.

Braided Stuffed Bread

 I now publicly admit that I like watching the British Baking Show.  One episode, the contestants where challenged to make a braided bread, and several of them made savory ones.  I thought to myself that you could fairly easily make a low-fat vegan braided bread. I made mine with whole wheat bread, but you could just as easily make it with white bread.  If you do, use a recipe that makes just one loaf.

Bread
3 cups wheat flour (or 1 1/2 each wheat and white)
1 tsp salt 
1 1/2 Tbsp powder milk
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses, brown sugar or white sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp margarine or olive oil
1 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/4 cup warm water.

1 tsp Italian seasoning, or 1/2 tsp each basil and oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

I just throw all the ingredients into a bread maker and set it to the pizza dough setting. If you don't have a bread maker, measure out the warm water (110-120 Degrees F)  and add the yeast, oil and sweetening agent. Let it sit while you mix up the dry ingredients. Mix 1 cup of the dry ingredients into the liquid yeast mixture and mix on low until the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Mix at a higher level for 2 minutes.  Add additional flour a little at a time. When all the dry ingredients are added, switch to a dough hook and mix on medium for 5 minutes. Take out the dough hook, spray with cooking spray. Let the dough rise until about double, (about 1 hour). 

Meanwhile cook up the filling.

1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes

1 cup grated carrot

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

Other leftover vegetables you might have on hand

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

2 tsp soup base

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a wok.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened. Add the grated carrot and cook until the carrot wilts. Add any leftover vegetables (I used and some leftover baked potato, corn, and green beans) and the sundried tomatoes.  Cook until heated through. Add the spices and stir and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).

Punch down the dough and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then roll it into a long oval (about the length of the cookie sheet you are using). Spray a the cookie sheet with cooking spray, and place the oval of dough on the pan. Use a sharp knife to make cuts about 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long all along both sides of the oval. Spoon the vegetables onto the uncut middle of the dough. Fold the cut strips of dough over the vegetables, one side and then then other, and then tuck in the dough at the ends. 

Set the oven to 350 degrees, and while it is heating let the braided bread rise for 30 minutes. 

If you are not so worried about being vegan, beat up one egg and brush it on the top of the loaf.  (this is primarily cosmetic, and won't affect the taste) Bake for 25 minutes. Slice and serve.

I like to serve this will some simple white sauce (as it tends to be a little dry without some kind of sauce).  Or you could serve it with some pre-prepared spaghetti sauce to pour on top or use for dipping.

Polenta and Tomato Ragout

I found this recipe on Food and Wine, but modified it to meet our family's tastes and to make it lower fat. You can find the original recipe here.

To make the Polenta:

3 cups low-fat milk or your favorite unsweetened nut milk
2 cups water 
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 thyme sprigs or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
1 cup uncooked coarse-ground polenta

Combine the milk, water and spices in a saucepan and heat over medium until it just begins to boil. Reduce the heat and skim off most of the spices and discard.  Add the polenta a little at a time, stirring between each addition. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the polenta is tender and creamy, about 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile make the Ragout

1/4 cup olive oil (or less)
4 cups cherry tomatoes (the original recipe calls for mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 garlic cloves minced (or less)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cups thinly sliced greens (I used spinach, but you could use Napa cabbage, kale or chard)
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil (doesn't work as well with dried basil)
1 tsp lemon juice

 Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high until it starts to smell hot. Carefully add the tomatoes, salt,  and pepper. Reduce heat to medium  and cook, stirring often, until most of the tomatoes have burst and the juices run out, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the vegetable broth, honey and vinegar, stirring occasionally until a glossy sauce forms, about 10 minutes. Add greens and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Stir in basil. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. 

To serve, line a shallow soup bowel with the polenta and then spoon the ragout on top.  Eat the polenta and ragout together in each spoonful. 

Tomato Vegetable Curry

 My husband and I ate at a local Indian restaurant last week and I had a delicious dish that was naturally low fat and vegan.  Here is my best attempt to recreate it.

4 small red or yellow potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
2 carrots, peeled and sliced.
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 curry cube, or 1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp basil (or a Tbsp diced fresh basil)
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes

 Put potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots on to boil. Sauté onions and bell peppers.  Add the spices and sauté briefly to release the aroma. Add the diced tomatoes. Defrost frozen peas and corn in microwave. When the potatoes and carrots are cooked, but still firm, drain them and add all the vegetables to the tomato sauce. Simmer a few minutes until the flavor blends.  Serve over brown rice. 

Note: How hot this dish is depends on what kind of curry you buy.  I like the mild curry cubes, but if you want more spice, use a medium or hot curry. 

Harvest Pilaf

This is a dish that will only really work in July and August when you can get garden fresh vegetables.  I used farm-stand corn, and cherry tomatoes and basil from our garden. What a summer treat!

2 cups cooked brown rice
1 cob fresh corn, cooked

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp fresh basil diced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tsp vinegar

Cook rice in a rice cooker to make 2 cups.

Boil corn in hot water until done, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile sauté onion in olive oil until slightly caramelized.  Add garlic and sauté one minute more.  Add basil and cook until slightly wilted. Cut the corn off the cob. Toss everything together with the vinegar in a large bowl, and serve warm.