Potato Pelmeni (Delicious Vegan Dumplings)

I tried my hand at making pelmeni at the request of my boyfriend, A. He used to eat potato pelmeni regularly at one of his favorite restaurants. After doing a little research, I used elements of several different pelmeni recipes to create the following vegan dumplings. And boy they were delicious.

They were a big hit with A, our resident pelmeni connoisseur, as well as my family. The cilantro infused potatoes inside of the soft dumpling exterior make for a really excellent meal. These dumplings are especially fun to make with friends and family, or on a date as they require a lot of rolling out, filling and folding. Though it could prove tedious to make them alone, as an activity it can be really fun to form these into their adorable little dumpling shapes. Just recently, I made these with my dad and two siblings and had a blast. So put on a little Christmas music, pull out a rolling pin, and get ready to feel like the cast of a Hallmark movie as you bond with your loved ones while making dumplings.

Potato Pelmeni

Ingredients:

Dough:

3 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups warm water4 Tbs. ground flaxseeds (flaxmeal)

1 Tbs. canola oil or Earth Balance

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. honey, agave nectar, or brown rice syrup

Potato Filling:

4 large potatoes

2 to 4 Tbs. Earth Balance or canola oil

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 of a medium red onion (chopped)

1 to 2 tsp. dill

1 to 2 tsp. curry

salt and black pepper to taste

Begin steaming, boiling or baking the potatoes.

Then, make the dough by whisking together the warm water, ground flaxseeds, oil, salt and honey. Add the flour, stirring with a spoon until the dough becomes thick enough to knead. Knead briefly and then let the dough sit while you make the potato filling (ideally, the dough should rest for at least 15 minutes).

Put the cooked potatoes in a medium-sized bowl with the other ingredients and mash them until they reach a coarse consistency.

Begin boiling water in a medium sized saucepan. Now, you're ready to assemble your pelmeni. You can roll out a large piece of dough on a floured surface and cut out circles with a mason jar. 

Alternatively, you can roll out small balls of dough one at a time.

Either way, be sure to roll out the dough as thin as you can. For the next step, place about a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each dough circle.

Fold the dough over the filling to make a half circle, sealing the edges (you may need to use a few drops of water to seal the edges if the dough is on the dry side).

Next, fold the edge of the dough upward so that your dumpling resembles a crescent moon.

And then fold the ends over each other, sealing with water if necessary.

When you have six or seven, put them into your pot of boiling water. Set a timer for three minutes. As you continue forming more dumplings, be sure to check on your cooking pelmeni regularly. As soon as they float on the surface of the water (typically after about three minutes), pull them out with a slotted spoon and place them in a colander to dry.  

Continue to form and cook your pelmeni until you've used up all your dough and potatoes. You should be able to make 55 to 65 dumplings. If you don't need that many for dinner, simply freeze the uncooked dumplings and boil them another day.

Serve with Tofutti sour cream and hot sauce. In the following picture, I served them with a sauce made out of vegan mayo, hot sauce and horseradish mustard. They're also delicious plain.

Chanukah Challah

Since Thanksgiving this year fell on the first day of Chanukah, I felt it was only fitting to make vegan challah instead of the usual rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe is adapted from a Swedish cardamom bread recipe from the Vegetarian Times. This is probably one of the most delicious breads I have ever tasted. And if you know me, you know that I love bread.
Not only is it delicious, but it's also fairly easy to make. Just be sure to plan far enough in advance to let it sit overnight in the fridge. That's important. The first time I made it, I only chilled it for about 30 minutes because I'm impatient like that, and the finished product wasn't nearly as big and beautiful as the next time I made it when I actually chilled it overnight.

So without further ado, I bring you, challah. Make some in the next few days to celebrate Chanukah! You won't be sorry.

Challah

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond, soy or rice milk, plus more for brushing loaf top
• 2 Tbs. ground flaxseeds
• ⅓ cup agave nectar, brown rice syrup or honey
• ⅓ cup canola oil, coconut oil or melted Earth Balance
• 1 Tbs. active dry yeast
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 5 ¼ cups white whole wheat flour (a whole grain flour made from white wheat, as opposed to red wheat)
• Optional:
• 2 Tbs. organic sugar, for sprinkling
• Crushed rosemary

First, stir together the non-dairy milk, flaxseeds, honey, oil, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix well. You may need to use your hands to mix it thoroughly, but you don't need to knead it. When the dough is mixed, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let stand 2 and a half hours at room temperature. Then chill it overnight in the refrigerator. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or coat with cooking spray). Divide the dough into two halves. Then divide your first half into three equal pieces. 

Roll each piece into a long rope on a floured surface.  

When you've made your three dough ropes, pinch the ends together and braid them. When you finish, pinch the other ends together. 

When I made the loaves pictured, I decided to add rosemary to my second loaf. If you want to get fancy with the spices, then feel free to throw in some rosemary (or other desired spice) to your remaining dough.

Repeat with your second half of dough and cover both with a towel, allowing them to rise for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brush the top of your braided loaves with almond milk or spray lightly with cooking spray. Then follow by sprinkling with organic sugar. In the loaves I made today, I sprinkled one with cinnamon sugar and the other with fresh rosemary from my newly acquired baby rosemary plant.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Banana Bread + Baby Muffins

Tonight something happened in my household that rarely occurs: a surplus of ripe bananas. Normally, we go through bananas like water thanks to my brother, N. I decided to take advantage of this unprecedented plethora of bananas and bake a banana-themed dessert. This recipe is one of my favorites because of its simplicity, and because it lends itself so well to vegan baking. Bananas are a natural binder, which makes them an ideal replacement for eggs in baking. Also, the bananas add a really nice level of sweetness so you don't have to go overboard with the sweetener. Oh, and did I mention that the finished product tastes fantastic? I hope you enjoy this incredibly simple recipe for healthy, delicious banana bread or muffins. (All photo credit goes to the amazing Tori Johnson).

Banana Bread or Muffins
Ingredients:

Wet:
4 ripe bananas
1 to 1 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
1 Tbs. applesauce
1 Tbs. coconut oil
1 Tbs. vanilla

Dry:
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. cinnamon

Optional: blueberries or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350. Mash the bananas in a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir together the dry ingredients in a separate, smaller bowl. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Add blueberries or walnuts, if desired. Measure into bread pans or muffin pans and bake until done (the time varies greatly depending on whether you are baking muffins or bread).

I've found that this recipe works best in mini bread pans or a muffin pan so the inside can bake thoroughly without the outside getting too brown. My absolute favorite thing to make with this recipe? Baby muffins. As Jim Gaffigan would say: "I'll just have one or twelve."

Eggplant 'Parmesan' is #1

This vegan Eggplant "Parmesan" is at the top of my list of impressive vegan foods that everyone loves. It takes more effort than I typically like to put in to an average meal, but for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, or impressing carnivores, it really does the trick.

I first saw this recipe on Susan Voisin's blog, the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen (which I highly recommend, by the way). My version is slightly different from hers after a little adaptation. Also, if you don't want to spend your evening slicing eggplants, just use lasagna noodles and throw in some spinach, sauteed mushrooms and onions and you've got a delicious vegan lasagna. I love turning this recipe into a lasagna because it reduces the prep time a lot for me. And I happened to find that I have a deep hatred for slicing eggplants as I always seem to cut them weird so they're never quite straight. I resent eggplants for that. But I still keep making this dish eggplants and all because those weird purple plants add a little something that is just so dang delicious.
I often double or triple this recipe to make multiple pans.

Vegan Eggplant 'Parmesan'

Ingredients:
1-2 eggplants sliced 1/4 inch thick (too bad they don't come pre-sliced!)
2-3 pieces of whole-wheat bread crumbs (use a blender or food processor to make them)
Vegan Parmesan to taste
Cooking spray
Your favorite Italian tomato sauce (my favorite is Bertolli's Organic Olive Oil, Basil and Garlic Sauce)

Cheezy Sauce:
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable broth (my favorite is Imagine Foods' No-Chicken Broth)
1 1/2 Tbs. nutritional yeast
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt (or salt to taste)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder (or 1/8 to 1/4 of a small onion)
1/2 tsp. mustard
1/8 tsp. chili powder

Blend together all of the ingredients for the cheezy sauce. Add more seasonings to taste, if desired. (Lately I've found myself just flinging random amounts of these spices into the blender or food processor, so know that this isn't an exact science. It's a process of getting it to taste delicious. And you are your own best judge of deliciousness.)

If you want to make sure your Eggplant "Parmesan" is impressive (i.e. cooked all the way), then be sure to place the eggplant slices on an oiled baking sheet and bake or broil them in the oven until they are light brown. If you aren't as concerned or don't mind eggplants that are slightly underdone, then simply begin the layering process.

Preheat the oven to 350°

The layering process is quite simple: put down a layer of eggplants in a 15x10 glass baking dish. Put a layer of sauce, followed by cheezy sauce, followed by breadcrumbs and vegan Parmesan, if desired. Repeat one or two more times and then pop the whole pan into the oven.

Bake it for 30-60 minutes and then allow it to cool for a little while before digging in (the wait is the hardest part for me!)

Enjoy!