Lemon, coconut milk panna cotta with blueberries and a chocolate, teff brownie crust

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Teff is a versatile, nutrient dense cereal grass commonly used in Ethiopian cuisine. If you’ve had injera, you’ve likely had some teff; cooked as a whole grain, it’s also an easy to prepare and flexible alternative to corn meal in many savory, polenta style recipes.

In this application, the grain is cooked whole to give it a soft, chewy cake-like texture. Along with the cocoa powder, the white miso, and the blueberries, it provides a rich but not too sinful dessert. No baking required.

Ingredients

For the teff brownie:
1/4 cup of teff
1 cup of water
3T of cocoa powder
3T of agave nectar
2t of black strap molasses
2T of coconut oil
Pinch of sea salt

For the panna cotta:
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk*
1T of white miso
1T of lemon juice
1T of agar flakes
3T of agave nectar
Pinch of sea salt

For the blueberries:
2 cups of blueberries
2t of lemon juice
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of sugar
1T of arrowroot powder dissolved in 1T of cool water***

Instructions

Prepare the teff, the panna cotta and the blueberries in that order.

For the teff, in a pan with a lid, bring 1 cup of water to a boil.
Add a pinch of sea salt, the teff, and the coconut oil.
Reduce to very low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat, add the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine.
Spoon the teff out into a 6″ pie plate (or similar) to cool and smooth with the back of a spoon.
It will be a little gooey and sticky at this point still — that’s expected.
Refrigerate uncovered while you make the panna cotta.

For the panna cotta, bring the coconut milk to a light boil (you won’t need a lid).
Add all of the ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine.
Simmer lightly for 15 – 20 minutes to dissolve the agar.
Aim to reduce the liquid to one heaping cup.
Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.
Pour over the brownie and return to the refrigerator uncovered.

For the blueberries, warm a pan on medium heat.
Add half of the blueberries, lemon juice and sea salt, and stir to combine.
If the blueberries are slow to start, or don’t produce much moisture, add 1 to 2T of water to the pan.
Once the blueberries have started to lose their moisture, add the sugar.
Stir to combine, and cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the remaining blueberries and cook for another 5 minutes.
Whisk the arrowroot with the water.
Add the mixture to the blueberries slowly, stirring continuously until thickened.
The blueberries should be quick thick.
Let stand to cool 5 minutes.
Pour the blueberries over the panna cotta.
Refrigerate for about 15 minutes uncovered.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

*To reduce the amount of fat from the coconut milk substitute a cup of unsweetened soy milk. The result will be lighter but not quite as rich.

**Although manufacturing processes are changing, some commercial table sugars are still filtered/bleached using animal bone charcoal. As a rule, organic sugar, beet sugar and a number of other types are not filtered using this kind of a process at all. Agave and other liquid sweeteners also provide substitutes, although you may need more thickening agent in this recipe.

***You can use corn starch in place of arrowroot powder if that’s what you have on hand. Add the mixture slowly and no need to add the whole amount if you don’t need it.

Dark beer and tomato braised portobello mushrooms with caramelized onions

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Thinly sliced mushrooms in a flavourful, sweet, full-bodied gravy. These goes well with potatoes, pasta, or as a filling for hot sandwiches.

Ingredients

2T cooking oil separated
(2) 1/4t of coarse sea salt
1 medium vidalia onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
2t dried, ground cumin
1t dried, ground coriander
2T minced garlic
1t of black strap molasses
4 large portobello mushrooms in 1/3″ slices (about 350g)
1T of lemon juice
1T of tamari
3 medium tomatoes, very ripe, cored and seeded (about 500g)
1 1/2 cups of dark beer*
1 cup of vegetable stock
1T of arrowroot whisked with 2T of cold water
2T of nutritional yeast
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
About 3-4″ of scallion green for garnish.

Instructions

Core and seed the tomatoes and chop coarsely; then puree them in a high speed blender.
In a large frying pan with a lid, Bring the oil to heat with the sea salt on medium high.
Add the onions and saute for 5 minutes.
Add the cumin, coriander and garlic and saute for 3 minutes.
Add the molasses and stir to combine.
Reduce heat to medium low.
Spread the onions evenly in the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently until they have browned.
While the onions caramelize, bring the other 1T of oil and 1/4t of sea salt to heat in a frying pan on medium high.**
Add the portobellos to the pan and saute until the portobellos start to lose their moisture.
Reduce the heat to medium low and saute until the pan starts to brown (about 10 minutes).
Add the lemon juice and tamari to the portobellos and deglaze.
Add the portobellos to the onions once they are ready.
Stir to combine thoroughly and return the pan to medium high heat.
Saute together for about 2 minutes.
Add the pureed tomatoes and stock to the pan.
Stir to combine, and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the beer, stir to combine and cook until the liquid reaches a simmer.
Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until until the sauce is thick and has reduced by two thirds or more (expect at least an hour).

Whisk the arrowroot and the water and add slowly to the pan, stirring
continuously until thickened.
Add the nutritional yeast and stir to combine.
Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Plate and garnish with the scallion.

*The quality of the beer is very important to this recipe. Pick a well-balanced one. I use dunkel for the malt flavour. Also, it’s uncommon, but some beers are still filtered using isinglass and other animal products.
Be sure to check!

**Unless you have an enormous frying pan, if you fry the portobellos with the onions in the same pan, you’ll overload it. Your portobellos won’t be quite as soft or rich, but they should still be good and everything will taste fine. You can also try slow cooking the ingredients together if you prefer not to have multiple pans on the go.

Couscous and baby kale salad with apricots and sun-dried tomatoes

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This salad provides a simple light lunch or a solid appetizer.

Ingredients

1 cup of water
1/4t of coarse sea salt
1/2 cup of whole wheat couscous
1 cup of packed baby kale greens
1/4 cup of boiling water
1/4 cup of dried apricots
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

For the dressing

2T of packed sun-dried tomatoes
2T of olive oil
2t of lemon juice
1t of dried thyme, rubbed
1t of dried mint, rubbed
1t of ground cumin
1/2t of ground coriander
1T of garlic, minced
1t of ginger, minced

Directions

Add the apricots and sun-dried tomatoes to a small bowl.
Add 1/4 cup of bowling water to rehydrate.
Let stand for 10 minutes.
In a pan with a lid, bring the water to a boil with the sea salt and add the couscous.
Cook as directed (couscous will often cook without heat if it’s left to stand, but it varies).
Add the soaking liquid from the apricots to the couscous and stir to combine.
Add the remaining ingredients to the sun-dried tomatoes and apricots.
Toss to combine.
Add the baby kale greens.
Toss to combine.
When the couscous is finished, plate and add the kale, apricots and sun-dried tomatoes if you’ll eat immediately or toss to combine to pack up.

If you pack it up with hot couscous, the kale will wilt a bit. If you don’t like wilted kale, toss the couscous in a little olive oil and chill before adding the other ingredients. Additional greens, raisins, figs, walnuts, pepita seeds and other add-ins will give it more flavour, texture and nutrition.

Chai panna cotta with warm marmalade custard

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The chai and marmalade give this simple, no-bake dessert a rich set of complementary flavors.

Ingredients

2 cups of coconut milk, 1/2 cup reserved
2T of agave nectar
1T of white miso
1T of agar
4 bags of chai tea*
1/2t of cinnamon
1/4t of cloves
Additional agave to taste
3T of marmalade (I use a seville marmalade)**
1t of arrowroot powder whisked with 2t of water

For the panna cotta, bring the coconut milk to a light boil (you won’t need a lid).
Add the coconut milk, miso, agar, agave, cloves and cinnamon.
Stir thoroughly to combine.
Add the tea bags.
Simmer lightly for 15 – 20 minutes to dissolve the agar.
Aim to reduce the liquid to around one heaping cup.
Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.
Remove and gently squeeze the tea bags.
Stir, and pour into two ramekins and cool uncovered for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.
Cover and chill at least 4 hours to setup.

When ready to serve, heat the 1/2 cup of coconut milk on medium in a small sauce pan.
Reduce by about 1/3.
Turn out the panna cotta from the ramekins carefully.
Add the marmalade.
Stir until dissolved.
Whisk the arrowroot with water.
Add slowly to the marmalade mixture, stirring continuously until thickened.
Spoon the custard over the panna cotta.

*The quality of the tea is what makes this dish. Choose one you like with a good balance of spices.

**If you don’t keep marmalade on hand, a little vanilla extract (1t) and some agave nectar (2T) will give you a nice vanilla custard instead. In that case, use 2t of arrowroot to compensate for the other binders in the marmalade. And just a reminder that some sugar is bleached using animal bone charcoal. Organic sugar is typically unbleached.

Tofu and red potatoes in coconut milk with cremini mushrooms, savoy cabbage, garlic and ginger

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The tofu, potatoes, mushrooms and cabbage are slow cooked together in broth and then finished in coconut milk to give this very simple, inexpensive dish a rich finish.

Ingredients

About 220g of tofu in .3″ slices
2 medium red potatoes, quartered (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 medium sized cremini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered (about 250g)
3 cups of savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
3 scallions, minced (reserve about 3 – 4″ of one green for garnish)
1 cup of boiling water
2 bouillon cubes
1/2t of coarse sea salt
1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk
3T of garlic, minced
1T of ginger, minced
1t of dried ground cumin
1t of dried ground coriander
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Add the tofu, mushrooms, cabbage, scallions, mushrooms and sea salt to a slow cooker.
Dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water, add to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Cook covered for about 4 hours, stirring here and there.
At the 4 hour mark, preheat the oven to 400F.
You should have about 2 cups of liquid left. If you don’t, add a little water.
Add the remaining ingredients, stir to combine and pour everything out into a shallow oven pan with sides (I use a 9×13″ pan).
Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically, or into the mixture is starting to brown lightly.
Remove from the oven, let stand 10 minutes to cool, and serve.

The scallions are very thinly sliced on an oblique angle to give them good volume. The dish is plated here with lightly sauteed mixed greens and some red pepper, a great way to add some additional colour and nutrition to the plate.

Grilled polenta

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Polenta provides an inexpensive, easily seasoned and versatile base for a wide range of dishes. This version provides a side dish that’s a little crispy on the outside, but moist and flavorful on the inside.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups of boiling water
1/2t of coarse sea salt
2T and 2t of cooking oil (reserve the 2t for grilling the polenta)
2t of garlic, minced
1T of nutritional yeast
Additional seasoning to taste*

Directions

Bring the oil to heat on medium high in a heavy bottomed pan on medium high
Add the sea salt and the garlic and saute the garlic for 2 minutes.
Add the water and bring to a soft boil.
Add corn meal slowly, stirring as you go.
Reduce heat to low and cook for roughly 40 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid sticking.
The polenta will be done when it’s quite thick and pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Add the nutritional yeast and any additional seasonings.
Let stand five minutes to cool.
Spoon the polenta into two lightly oiled ramekins, and smooth the top with a spoon.
Let cool for about 30 minutes uncovered in the refrigerator to setup.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Carefully turn out the polenta.
Lightly oil the polenta and grill directly on the middle rack until the polenta browns a little here and there (about 10-15 minutes, turning once).

*I use sea salt and black pepper, but green herbs, particularly basil, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, and other high flavour seasonings add variety, nutrition and colour.

**If you’re anxious about grilling something directly on your oven rack, use a lightly oiled pan with the drier top of the polenta down.

Lemon, artichoke and caper spread

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When they are emulsified with olive oil, artichokes take on a very fluffy texture, making this a very flavourful alternative to oil-heavy spreads. Shown here with lightly breaded seitan.

Ingredients

2 artichoke hearts, quartered (about 1 cup)
2t of cooking oil
1/4t of coarse sea salt
1T of lemon juice
2T of olive oil
2t of capers
2t of garlic, minced
1T of nutritional yeast
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Bring the oil to heat on medium high, add the sea salt and the artichokes.
Saute until the artichokes are very light browned.
Deglaze the pan with the lemon juice, remove from heat and let stand about 10 minutes to cool.
Puree with the remaining ingredients in a high speed blender, adding the olive oil very slowly to ensure proper emulsification.
Chill covered for about 30 minutes, and then season to taste.

Raspberry Cobbler

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There are lots of variations on cobbler topping, ranging from a doughy, cake-like topping to a something more like an upside-down pie with a flaky crust. This is a simple, rustic and easy to prepare version with lots of room for modifications. This version is also berry-heavy. You can safely change the berry to topping ratio to suit yourself (just remember this will change the cooking time).

For the berries:

6 cups of raspberries
2T of lemon juice
1/4 cup of corn starch*
2 cups of sugar*
A pinch of sea salt

1 cup of whole wheat flour
2t of baking powder
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup of plant-only margarine (or 2-3T of coconut oil)
A pinch of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 375F
Toss the berries in the lemon juice.
Add the salt, sugar and corn starch and stir thoroughly to combine.
Mix the dry ingredients.
With a fork, cut the margarine into the flour (or you can put pats of the margarine onto the batter once you’ve poured it — this is a pretty traditional way of doing it).
Add the liquid ingredients and stir to combine.
Put the berries in a baking dish with a lid (a large one in this case, so that you have at least a inch between the berries and the top of the dish).
Pour the batter over the raspberries in an even layer (but don’t worry too much about it — cobbler is a rustic dessert).
Bake covered for about 30 minutes.
Bake uncovered for about another 30-40 minutes until the topping has browned lightly and is cake-like.

*Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste and to the ripeness/sweetness your berries. Some white table sugars are still filtered using animal bone charcoal. Organic, sugar beet, sugar, agave nectar and other substitutes. When the raspberries are particularly ripe, I often replace some of the sugar with dates and dried figs to sweeten the cobbler. If you use other berries, like blueberries, you’ll need a little more cornstarch but a little less sugar.

Shredded cabbage with red pepper, tomatoes and dill

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Ingredients
3T of cooking oil (reserve 1-2t for the peppers)
1/2t of coarse sea salt (divided in equal parts)
2 large tomatoes (about 1/4 to 1/2 pound)
1 large red pepper
2 scallions, minced
1T of garlic
1T of fresh dill, minced
2 cups of cabbage, shredded (I use coleslaw mix)
2T of nutritional yeast
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450F.
Lightly oil the peppers and then oven grill until lightly charred (or use the traditional stove top method if you have a gas stove).
Let stand to cool about 15 minutes, peel, cored, seed, and chop.
Core and seed the tomatoes.
Puree the tomatoes with the red pepper with 1/4t of the sea salt in a high speed blender until smooth.
Set aside.
Bring the oil and remaining sea salt to heat on medium high.
Add the scallions and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the garlic and the dill, and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the cabbage and saute for another 10-12 minutes or until the cabbage has wilted lightly and pan starts to brown.
Add the pureed tomatoes and red pepper to deglaze.
Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce is somewhat thick (about 10-15 minutes).
Remove from heat and add the nutritional yeast, stirring to combine.
Let stand to cool 10 minutes, season to taste and serve.

Fluffy whole wheat pancakes with raspberry compote

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These are a fluffy style of pancakes with warm, sour raspberries. The recipes makes about 8 small to medium sized pancakes.

Ingredients

For the pancakes
2 cups of flour
2 1/4 cups of vanilla plant milk*
1/4 cup of sugar**
2 tablespoons of baking powder
Vanilla extract to taste (1/4 teaspoon or so)
1/4t of sea salt inch of sea salt
Plant-only margarine as necessary (not more than 1/4 cup).

For the raspberries

2 cups of raspberries (reserve half)
2T of agave nectar
2t of lemon juice
1T of corn starch dissolved in 1T of water
Additional agave nectar to taste

Make the compote first.
Heat half the raspberries in the pan on medium with the lemon juice, agave and sea salt.
Cook until the berries are soft and have produced a syrup (about 10-15 minutes).
Add the remaining berries and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Whisk the corn starch with the water, and add to the raspberries slowly and stirring continuously until thickened.
Let stand to cool and spoon over the pancakes when they’re done.

To make the pancakes, combine the dry ingredients, the wet ingredients (except for the margarine), and then the dry and the wet ingredients together.
Whisk thoroughly to combine into a smooth batter.
Heat 2T of the margarine in the pan on medium high until a small drop of water sizzles.
Ladle 1/2 cup of batter into the pan and lightly smooth out to the volume of the pancake..
Fry on one side until lightly browned (the pancake will start to bubble through — usually 2-3 minutes).
Carefully flip and fry until lightly browned on the other side.
Remove from the pan and set aside.
Repeat until the batter is used up, adding 2t of margarine to the pan between pancakes.

The pan temperature for pancakes is very important. You may need to adjust the temperature to suit your pan for the best results. You can keep your pancakes warm in a very low oven in an oven proof dish.

*Soy milk will provide a denser chew, while rice milk, a fluffier pancake.

**The compote will be lightly sour with raspberries. With a sweeter berry, you may want less sugar in the pancake. Many white table sugars are still refined using animal bone charcoal. Organic sugar, beet sugar, agave nectar and other sweeteners make good alternatives.