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.

Beautiful Beets

I haven't done much with my recipe archive since health problems forced me to first go vegetarian, then vegan. It was just too depressing to look at all my faves like cornish hens with rose sauce or cheesy shepherd's pie and know I will never be able to eat them again.

However, a post yesterday on Twitter asking for recipes using beets sent me back to the archive to find one of my favorite side dishes: Stir-Fried Whole Beets. And do you know what I discovered? This recipe is already vegan! And so are a lot of others in my files. And many more can easily be converted.

So I'm thinking of making this blog active again as I go through and find old favorites that I can still eat. And a huge thanks to Happy Herbivore (HappyHerbivore.com) for sending me back to the archive. Here is the first:

Stir-Fried Whole Beets
developed by Kathryn van Roosendaal
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt & Pepper, to taste
4 medium whole fresh beets, including greens
1. Remove the greens from the roots, leaving about an inch of stalk. Scrub the roots and put in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until just tender.
2. Meanwhile, trim the leaves from the stalks. Put the leaves in a sink or large bowl and cover with plenty of cold water. Swish them around to remove any dirt or grit and drain. Pat the leaves dry, chop or shred them into bite-sized pieces and set them aside.
3. Drain the cooked beet roots and rinse with cold water to cool them enough to handle. Scrub off the skins - they will remove easily - and trim off the remaining stalk and tap root. Slice or chop the roots into bite-sized pieces.
4. Heat a large skillet or wok. Add the olive oil and, when it is heated, add the garlic. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, then add the Chinese 5 spice. Stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant, then add the beet roots. Stir fry for about 3 minutes, then remove from the pan, reserving the oil. Add the greens to the pan and stir fry about 2 minutes or until they are the consistency of cooked spinach. Return the beet roots to the pan and add salt and pepper if desired. Stir fry another 30 seconds or so, then remove to a serving dish. Serve hot. Serves 6 to 8.

Christmas Goes Vegan

I have not gone completely Vegan myself, but I have several friends who have. So as the holiday season rolled around I began to search for a decent vegan version of my holiday favorite - Gingerbread.

I looked through some books and recipe sites but finally decided to try to convert my favorite non-vegan gingerbread recipe. The problem was my favorite recipe owes its richness to real butter, real eggs and real buttermilk. What to do?

My first trial used vegan butter sub, rice milk and applesauce in place of eggs. It was OK, but the texture was off. The rice milk was too thin and it didn't have the tang to it that buttermilk has. Trial number 2 used soy milk with some lemon juice to replace the buttermilk and I still used applesauce. The texture was much better and it tasted good, but the applesauce added too much of a fruity flavor. For trial number 3 I tried out an egg sub made of potato starch and tapioca. It worked a lot better. I consider this one a success. It is still just a bit spongy, but the taste is great.

Kate's Vegan Gingerbread
12 tablespoons vegan butter substitute (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Stick)
1 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cup soy milk, regular flavor (I prefer Silk brand. It is a bit thicker) mixed with 2 teaspoons lemon juice
4 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer whipped together with 6 tablespoons warm water
3 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 3 regular loaf pans by greasing well (I use olive oil spray). Melt the butter substitute. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter substitute, the molasses and the brown sugar. Add in the egg replacer and the soy milk with lemon juice. Mix on medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Sift together the dry ingredients and stir into the molasses mixture until just combined. The mixture will be somewhat lumpy. Divide the batter into the loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out with a moist crumb. Makes 3 loaves.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

No, I don't mean peppers stuffed with vegetarians, although that is an interesting idea. The meat should be nice and lean ...

Anyway, I was playing in the kitchen tonight and ended up throwing together a bunch of veggies I had sitting in the crisper. It turned out WAY better than I expected so I hastily (but carefully) wrote it down so I can duplicate it later. Since I know quite a few people who are vegetarians or just plain eat a lot of veggies, I thought I'd share.

Veggie Stuffed Peppers
3 bell peppers. I used green, but red or yellow would be really yummy
3 medium carrots, washed and grated
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
2 Morningstar Vegatarian Sausage Patties, thawed and cut up in little pieces. (a Boca Burger or the Boca Crumbles would work, too)
1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt, to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the peppers in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds. Chop one of the halves into small pieces. Set the other five halves open-side up in a greased baking pan. Put the chopped pepper, grated carrots and chopped tomato in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes or until the carrots start to get soft and the water starts to come out of the tomatoes. Stir in the chopped sausage and seasonings. Spoon carefully into the pepper halves. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the peppers are soft. Serve hot. Top with grated Jack cheese or Soy Jack cheese if desired. Serves 2 to 5, depending on how hungry they are.

I'm thinking these would be delicious with sweet potatoes instead of the carrots as well. It would be a bit sweeter. Potatoes would work, too. Hmmmm ... I need to experiment some more.

Mmmmmm ... Chili

The Chili Cookoff last weekend was a great success. I'm not sure yet how much money they raised for Dixie Care & Share, but I know for a fact the food was good. I'll post the winners and such as soon as I get them.

One of the other Chili judges - James Rillo - had some pics taken at the event. I thought I'd share. Yes, I was running off of 2 hours of sleep and I let my 2-year-old niece, Kassie, help me pick my clothes. Hence the "classy" orange and black socks.

Don't miss this year's chili cookoff!

Don't miss the Scarecrow Festival and the 4th annual Chili Tasting Event coming up on October 24 at the Main Street Plaza in St. George.

This year's tasting will feature chili from The Gun Barrel Steak & Game House, Red Robin, Chili's Grill & Bar, Xetava Gardens, The cosmopolitan and Texas Roadhouse. You get 6 "tastes" of chili for $5 and you get to vote for your favorites. Homemade desserts also will be for sale. And the best part is all the proceeds go to Dixie Care & Share.

I have been asked to judge the Chili Tasting every year since this event started and I can tell you personally that the food is wonderful and the cause is even better. I'm returning as a judge again this year so be sure to stop by the judge's table and say "hi!".

New this year is the Scarecrow Festival. Some incredible 5-foot scarecrows will be up for bid. Proceeds from the scarecrow auction also go to Dixie Care & Share.

Mark your calendars! October 24 starting at 11 a.m. at the Main Street Plaza in St. George. Call 435-652-4243 if you need more info.