Monday, February 6, 2012

Food For Life

It's meatless Monday! As you all know, we are always on the lookout for new and exciting vegetarian/vegan food blogs, and this time we have found 10 new ones! Courtesy of TheKitchn.com,  these are fantastic and inspiring blogs for vegetarian and vegan cooking!

Chickpea Cakes with Lemon Garlic Aioli and Arugula Fennel Salad:
Courtesy of: Wouldrathergather.com

What you will need for the chickpea cakes:
1 tbsp of Earth Balance buttery stick
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of onion, minced
1/4 cup of of red pepper, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of chili flakes
1 tbsp of nutritional yeast
1 tbsp of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup of bread crumbs, finely chopped
1/4 cup of cashew cream 
1 tbsp of tomato paste
14oz. can of chickpeas, drained and mashed
chickpea flour, salt and black pepper to taste
enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan to 1/4 inch

In a saute pan, over medium heat, bring olive oil and earth balance up to temperature, saute garlic with chili flakes until golden, add onion, red pepper and saute until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

While onion and red pepper mixture softens, combine bread crumbs and cashew cream. Let stand for five minutes, then using a fork mash bread and cream together to create a paste. 

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mash chick chick peas until smooth. Add in onion and red pepper mixture, nutritional yeast, breadcrumb paste, tomato paste, parsley and mix well until combined. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Form mixture into cakes and dust with chickpea flour mixture (1/4 cup of flour with 1 tsp of salt and pepper). 

In a large heavy bottom pan, bring canola oil up to temperature(bread will immediately become golden) and fry cakes for 3 minutes or until golden and crispy on each side. Drain on paper towel and serve over salad with a dollop of aioli. 

What you will need for the salad:
3 tbs of white balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of oilve oil
1/4 cup o f red onion, in fine rings
1/2 cup of fennel bulb, shaved
1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
2 cups of baby arugula 
1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
fresh cracked sea salt and black pepper to taste

Toss together until salad is evenly coated. Salt and pepper to taste 

What you will need for the Aioli:
1/4 cup of veganaise (instead of mayo)
1 tbsp of lemon zest
1 tbsp of lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, cover and place in fridge until ready for use.