Gotta love Asian Pears

I have officially started going through my archive here and I've found out that a lot of my recipes are already vegan. A bunch more are very easy to convert. Happy News!

In September 2006, I wrote about Asian Pears. I love those things, and I was delighted to find that I can still use most of my recipes. Here we go:

Ginger Asian Pear Salad
Already published - just need to substitute Agave Nectar for Honey

Steamed Asian Pears
Already published - also just need to sub Agave Nectar

Pae Yang Num Jang (Seasoned Asian Pear Sauce)

Already vegan :-)

This sauce is great with egg rolls and tempura or poured over steak or pork chops. It also makes a great salad dressing over spinach or leaf lettuce.

6 tablespoons soy sauce

5 tablespoons grated Asian pear

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

3 medium green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon hot red pepper powder, or to taste

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Asian Pears Poached in Raspberry Sauce
Already Vegan :-)
These poached pears are a pure delight. They will still be firm when cooked.

4 Asian pears

1 cup apple juice

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup water

Few strips of lemon or orange peel

Raspberry Sauce:

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed

2 tablespoon sugar

Core the Asian pears. In a saucepan, combine the apple juice, wine, water and lemon or orange peel. Place pears in the liquid. Bring to boiling and reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes, spooning liquid over pears frequently during cooking. Chill pears in liquid. Put the raspberries in a blender or food processor bowl. Cover and process until smooth. Add sugar and process again. If desired, strain sauce to remove seeds. Cover and chill sauce until needed.

To serve, spoon some of the raspberry sauce onto 4 dessert plates. Place a pear in the center of the sauce in each plate. Pass any remaining sauce to spoon over pears.

Asian Pear Slaw

Easy to convert to vegan

This makes a nice change to regular coleslaw at the family picnic.

3 Asian pears, cut into thin wedges

4 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced

1 cup carrots, shredded

3⁄4 cup raisins

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

3⁄4 cups toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped

1⁄2 cup mayonnaise - Substitute Vegan Mayo

1⁄2 cup 1% buttermilk - Substitute thick soy milk with about 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Gently mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and chill before serving.

16 Servings

Curried Asian Pear Yams

Already vegan - just make sure the margarine is non-dairy

Try these yams at Thanksgiving dinner and the family will take notice.

8 Asian pears

4 yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1⁄4 cup margarine

1⁄4 cup red onion, chopped

1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon curry powder

1⁄4 cup walnuts, chopped

Boil yams until tender; drain and set aside. Peel and cube Asian pears. Melt margarine in a skillet, add onion and cook until tender. Add brown sugar, cornstarch, curry and cinnamon and cook and stir until sugar dissolves. Add Asian pears and yams and cook, stirring constantly, until heated. Sprinkle with walnuts and serve.

10 servings

Asian Pear Pecan Cookies

Already vegan :-)

2-3 Asian pears peeled, cored and sliced

1⁄2 cup sugar

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup finely ground pecans

1 cup rolled oats

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

Place the Asian pears in a blender and puree to make 1 1⁄4 cup of pear puree. Pour into a bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes. Place the pecans in the blender and chop until the nuts are flour texture. Add all dry ingredients to your mixer and mix about 30 seconds. Add the oil and Asian pear puree. Mix well on high speed 2- 3 minutes. Using a tablespoon, place spoonfuls of the mixture onto greased cookie sheets, 2 -3 inches apart. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the edges turn dark brown. Remove the cookie sheet and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Bul-go-gi (Korean grilled beef)

Not vegan. I'll have to experiment a bit with Gardien beef or some other meat substitutes

This can also be used with pork or chicken.

1 pound lean beef cut into bite-sized slices

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 medium Asian pear, cut into thin slices

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for grill or pan use only

Bul-go-gi marinade sauce:

1/ 2 cup green onion, chopped

2 cloves crushed fresh garlic

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice wine or red wine

1/ 2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/ 2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine ingredients for the marinade sauce in a large, non-metal bowl and mix well. Add the meat and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Add about 1 tablespoon oil to a fry pan and heat to grilling temperature. Add the meat and stir for about one minute. Add the onion and continue stirring for a few more minutes until the meat is cooked.

Serve over rice.

Serves 4

Asian Pear and Raisin Clafouti

Not vegan. I'll have to experiment to see if egg substitute and soy milk will work as substitutes.

This is a wonderful dessert that is sure to please the whole family.

4 Asian pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1⁄4 inch sliced

2 large eggs

1 1⁄2 cups heavy cream

1⁄4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/3 cup raisins

1 1⁄2 tablespoons brown sugar, more for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch round dish; arrange the pear slices in the bottom of the dish. Combine eggs, 1 cup cream, flour, sugar and nutmeg in a bowl and blend until batter is formed. Pour batter around pears and sprinkle top with raisins. Bake about 10 minutes or until the top begins to set. Sprinkle with the light brown sugar and continue to bake for about 8 minutes until set and golden brown on top. Whip the remaining 3⁄4 cup cream. Remove clafouti from oven and serve with whipped cream and more brown sugar.

4 servings

Morning scramble

I am slowly getting into the swing of this vegan thing. One thing I've noticed is that in general I don't like vegan foods that pretend to be non-vegan foods. For instance, vegan cheese just doesn't do it for me. I'd rather go without it at all. There are a couple of exceptions - meat-free bacon, for one - but I am finding I generally prefer the food to just be itself and not pretend.

That said, one of my new favorite breakfasts is a tofu scramble. I don't flavor the tofu to make it taste like eggs, I just let it be itself. I prefer firm tofu cut into cubes instead of silken scrambled up. I like the texture better. I then add in just about anything I feel like to make kind of an omelet, scramble kind of dish. Sometimes I add cubed potato, sometimes onions or fresh tomato. I've thrown in squash and carrots. I just throw in whatever I have on hand.

This morning's scramble turned out particularly tasty. I've been anemic lately and really wanted an iron and protein boost. This is what I put together - and I wanted to write it down so I wouldn't forget.

3 slices SmartBacon meatless bacon, cut into pieces
3 medium crimini mushrooms, sliced
4 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes (1/4 of a 16-ounce package)
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
olive oil
sea salt, optional
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the SmartBacon, mushrooms and tofu and saute a couple of minutes until the mushrooms start to release their moisture and the bacon and tofu start to brown. Add the spinach and basil and continue to saute until the spinach cooks down. Add a little sea salt if desired. Serve hot. Make one serving.