Spring Vegan Recipes for Everyone

As winter gives way to warmer weather, many of us look to prepare healthy meals that include vegetables and fruits, foods that are lower in fat and high in nutrition. THE VEGAN COOK’S BIBLE (Robert Rose; April 2009; Softcover/$24.95; ISBN: 978-0-7788-0217-4) by international award-winning, best-selling cookbook author and herb expert, Pat Crocker, is filled with delicious recipes that can be a part of anyone’s healthy eating regimen. And, you don’t have to be a strict vegetarian or vegan to enjoy Pat’s creative recipes.

“My goal with this book was to design recipes so good that everyone who enjoys food — non-vegan and non-vegetarian cooks included — would rush to make them….I created the recipes for this book to celebrate the very best of seasonal fruits, herbs, and vegetables based on honest ingredients with no imitations. Each recipe has a new perspective and a healthy respect for today’s sophisticated palates,” says author Pat Crocker.

Vegan recipes offer the advantage of greater health benefits as they are low in saturated fats and cholesterol, and are high in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Recipes found within the pages of THE VEGAN COOK’S BIBLE include:

§ Sweet Potato Curried Cauliflower Soup
§ Avocado Vichyssoise Soup
§ Green Bean, Pecan and Pomegranate Salad
§ Chickpeas with Kiwi and Avocado Salsa
§ Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable and Lentil Salad
§ Maple and Orange-Glazed Eggplant
§ Mushroom and Sweet Potato Cocktail Quesadillas
§ Succotash and Corn Dumplings
§ Open-Face Black Bean Tostadas
§ Roasted Zucchini Shells with Almond Filling and Red Pepper Sauce
§ Seasoned Chickpeas with Almonds
§ Vanilla Poached Pears with Cinnamon Rice Cream
§ Poached Peaches with Lavender Custard
§ Pomegranate Smoothie
§ Mango Pineapple Mocktail

Pat proves with each and every recipe in THE VEGAN COOK’S BIBLE that healthy vegetable recipes can be rich, varied, and delicious. Perfect for a healthy lifestyle and light warm weather meals.

In addition, Pat educates home cooks with a chapter on Healthy Living and Whole Foods that explains everything from good health guidelines to charts explaining foods that protect the digestive systems, immune, nervous and respiratory systems, to an encyclopedia of fruits, vegetables, soy, grains, herbs, and culinary ingredients.

Eat well and be well with THE VEGAN COOK’S BIBLE.

ABOUT PAT CROCKER

Pat Crocker is an expert when it comes to healthy eating. Culinary Herbalist is the term she coined to describe her work, her expertise, her passion for food, and her love of herbs. As a professional home economist, she has written, demonstrated, and lectured about health issues for over 25 years, specializing in creative presentations with a particular focus on herbs and food and how each affect our health. An international award-winning, best-selling cookbook author, Pat is sought out by food, herb, consumer, and horticultural organizations for her lively, entertaining, and thought-provoking presentations. Her books, The Juicing Bible, The Vegetarian Cook’s Bible, and The Smoothies Bible cookbooks, and three herb books, have sold over 400,000 copies. Pat also writes articles on herbs and spices for various newspapers and magazines.

To learn more about Pat Crocker go to her website, www.RiversongHerbals.com.

Avocado Vichyssoise

Avocados are actually a semitropical fruit native to Mexico and Central America. Now grown in California for export, the Hass variety accounts for up to 85% of the more than 80 varieties known. Rich in dietary fiber, vitamins K, A, B6, C and folate, avocados also provide unsaturated fats containing oleic acid. It is the fats in avocados that lend their creamy texture to this soup and to other dishes such as
sauces and dips.

Serves 4

2 large ripe avocados
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cups (1 L) Mushroom Broth (see below)
Vegetable stock or water
1 potato, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch (1 cm) cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon (1 mL) hot pepper flakes
1⁄2 cup (125 mL) rice milk or soy milk
4 tablespoons (60 mL) chopped fresh chives or Basil Pesto, optional

Peel, pit and slice avocados in half and place in a bowl with lemon juice.

In a saucepan, bring broth to a gentle boil over high heat. Add avocados with lemon juice and potato. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until potato is soft. Let cool.

In a blender, combine rice milk and avocado mixture and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until well chilled. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with chopped chives, if using.

Tip
Avocado Vichyssoise may be made up to 2 days in advance and stored tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Mushroom Broth

This broth is brown and rich, full of earthy mushroom essence.

Serves 4

8 ounces (250 g) shiitake mushrooms
1 leek, white and light green parts, sliced
1 cup (250 mL) chopped onion
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons (25 mL) olive oil
3 cups (750 mL) vegetable stock or water, divided
1 teaspoon (15 mL) pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt

Trim and discard mushroom stems. Slice caps and set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine leek, onion, garlic and oil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until very soft. Add mushrooms and 1⁄2 cup (125 mL) of the stock. Bring to a gentle boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add remaining 21⁄2 cups (625 mL) of the stock, maple syrup and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

For a clear broth, strain through a sieve and discard vegetables. For a thicker soup, using a slotted spoon, lift out half the vegetables and transfer to a food processor or blender. Process for 30 seconds or until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Repeat with remaining vegetables. Keep remaining broth liquids hot in the saucepan over low heat. Return purée to the saucepan and stir into the liquids.

Store stock in clean jars with lids in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze in 2- or 4-cup (500 mL or 1 L) portions in freezer containers for up to 2 months.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

In summer the grill is easy and fast for grilling vegetables. Use an oiled basket or skewer the veggies whole to grill, then cut into serving-size bites. When combined with balsamic vinegar, the plums morph into a tart-sweet self-basting dressing.

Serves 4

• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Rimmed baking sheet, lightly oiled

2 black plums, cut into eighths
1 red bell pepper, cut into eighths
1 carrot, cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into eighths
1 onion, cut into eighths
2 cauliflower florets, thinly sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons (60 mL) olive oil, divided
2 cups (500 mL) packed seasonal greens
2 tablespoons (25 mL) balsamic vinegar
1 can (14 to 19 oz/398 to 540 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

On prepared baking sheet, combine plums, red pepper, carrot, onion and cauliflower. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with 2 tablespoons (25 mL) of the oil and arrange in a single layer. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

In a salad bowl, toss greens with roasted vegetables and pan juices. Add remaining oil, vinegar and chickpeas. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if required.

Tip
You can use 2 cups (500 mL) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed, instead of canned.

Poached Peaches with Lavender Custard

People will wonder what the “spice�� is here as long as you don’t use too much lavender. The fragrant flowery taste complements the bland flavor of the custard.

Serves 4

4 peaches, halved
3⁄4 cup (175 mL) apple juice
1⁄2 cup (125 mL) white wine

Lavender Custard
1�2 cup (125 mL) soy milk or rice milk
1 piece (3 inches/7.5 cm) vanilla bean
1 piece (2 inches/5 cm) licorice root, optional
1 tablespoon (15 mL) dried lavender buds
12 ounces (375 g) silken tofu

In a saucepan, combine peach halves, apple juice and wine. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the tip of a knife meets with some resistance when inserted. Remove from heat and let peaches stand in the poaching liquid until ready to serve or overnight.

Lavender Custard:
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine soy milk, vanilla bean, licorice, if using, and lavender. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until bubbles form around outside edge of pan. Let cool with cover on. Strain and discard vanilla, licorice and lavender. In a blender or food processor, process tofu until smooth. With the motor running, add cooled soy milk through opening in lid. Blend until smooth.

Using a slotted spoon, lift peaches into bowls and top with custard. Custard will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Tip
Use only organic lavender, which has not been chemically treated.

These recipes may be reproduced with the following credit:
Recipes from THE VEGAN COOK’S BIBLE by Pat Crocker
(Robert Rose, April 2009, $24.95/softcover)