German-Style Potato Salad with Vegan Bacon

 

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German-style potato salad differs from the usual mayonnaise-laden variety with a dressing that is vinegar- and mustard-based. It’s got a little more zing to it, and the bacon lends some added smoke and savoriness.

Author: Leinana Two Moons

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds yellow or red potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup chopped tempeh bacon or your favorite vegan bacon
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot with enough salted, cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoes, and when they are cool enough to handle, cut them into 1-inch chunks. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bacon and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the bacon is browned and the onion is softened.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, mustard, agave, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir in the onion and bacon, including any oil still in the pan. Add the potatoes and toss to coat. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve at room temperature or (even better) slightly warm.

Notes

From Baconish © 2016 by Leinana Two Moons. Used with permission from Vegan Heritage Press.

3.5.3226

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Brussels Sprouts with Vegan Bacon and Shallots

 

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Shallots and vegan bacon are caramelized with a bit of brown sugar to add just a touch of sweetness to the earthiness of the Brussels sprouts in this recipe.

Author: Leinana Two Moons

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 6 large shallots, sliced paper thin
• 5 to 6 slices of your favorite vegan bacon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1½ pounds Brussels sprouts, stems trimmed, halved (quartered if large)
• ⅓ cup dry white wine

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and bacon and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are translucent. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and continue cooking until the shallots are browned and caramelized. Set aside.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Brussels sprouts to the pan in a single layer, cut-side down. Leave undisturbed 2 to 3 minutes before stirring, to help them brown and caramelize. Continue to cook and stir occasionally until the Brussels sprouts turn bright green. Add the white wine to the Brussels sprouts, cover immediately, and steam for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the Brussels sprouts are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the shallot-bacon mixture and serve hot.

Notes

From Baconish © 2016 by Leinana Two Moons. Used with permission from Vegan Heritage Press.

3.5.3226

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Butternut Squash Carbonara with Bacon and Sage

 

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Author: Leinana Two Moons

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 slices tempeh bacon or other vegan bacon, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 2 pounds butternut squash or kabocha squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 12 ounces fettucine or linguine

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp and browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the sage and toss to coat. Transfer the bacon and sage to a small bowl and set aside.
2. Add the squash, onion, and garlic to the same skillet over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the squash is soft and the liquid is reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes. Let the squash mixture cool for a few minutes then transfer it to a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside and reserve the skillet.
3. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
4. Combine the pasta, pureed squash, and about ¼ cup of the cooking water in the skillet. Toss and cook over medium heat, until the pasta is thoroughly coated. If the sauce is too thick, add more of the pasta cooking water as needed. Serve the pasta topped with the tempeh bacon and sage.

Notes

From Baconish © 2016 by Leinana Two Moons. Used with permission from Vegan Heritage Press.

3.5.3226

The post Butternut Squash Carbonara with Vegan Bacon and Sage appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Baconish: Sultry and Smoky Plant-Based Recipes from BLTs to Bacon Mac & Cheese

If you love bacon but want a better alternative for your health, the planet, and, of course, the pigs, this is the book for you!

Leinana shows how easy it is to make vegan bacon from ingredients such as tempeh, tofu, carrots, chickpeas, eggplant, texturized vegetable protein, seitan, coconut, and mushrooms.

One of the most versatile recipes is the Baconish Bits. 
You can use these to make recipes in the book including Loaded Potato Soup with Bacon, Wedge Salad with Vegan Blue Cheese, Spinach and Fresh Fig Salad, and Chocolate-Peanut Bacon Truffles, which Vegan Heritage Press has allowed me to share with you. Is your mouth watering yet?

You can also enter the giveaway below to win a copy of the book!

Chocolate-Peanut Bacon Truffles

Makes 28 truffles

Peanut butter. Chocolate. Baconish Bits. These are like a grownup version of peanut butter cups. They are surprisingly easy to make and super fun to box up and give as gifts.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons Baconish Bits (recipe follows)
• 2/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
• Additional Baconish Bits and/or Coconut Bacon, for garnish

Preparation

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Use an electric mixer to combine the peanut butter, melted butter, and confectioners’ sugar. Fold in the Baconish Bits. Scoop out 1 teaspoon of the mixture, roll into a ball with your hands, and place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining mixture. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Place the chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Dip the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate. I find it easiest to use 2 small dessert forks to roll the balls in the chocolate and then lift them out, letting the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Place the truffles back on the parchment sheet. Sprinkle a few Baconish Bits or place a flake of Coconut Bacon on top of each truffle while the chocolate is still warm.

Chill the truffles in the refrigerator another 20 minutes to set the chocolate. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat—the truffles will soften and melt if left out too long.

Baconish Bits

Makes about 1 cup

It’s fairly easy to find accidentally vegan bacon bits at the grocery store, but they may contain preservatives and other questionable ingredients. These bits are easy to make yourself, healthier, and taste so much better than the store-bought kind.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1 teaspoon ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 cup texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
• 2 tablespoons safflower or other neutral-tasting vegetable oil

Preparation

In a medium bowl, whisk together the boiling water, tamari, maple syrup, liquid smoke, ketchup, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix in the TVP and stir until it is evenly coated.

Heat the oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron). Add the TVP and cook until it is dry, dark brown, and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Remove the skillet from the heat and allow the TVP to cool. Store Baconish Bits in an airtight container about 1 week.

From Baconish © 2016 by Leinana Two Moons. Used with permission from Vegan Heritage Press.

Follow the instructions below for a chance to win a copy of Baconish. U.S. residents only, please. Contest ends at midnight eastern time on May 9th. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Portions reposted with permission from Veggies Save The Day.

The post Cookbook Review and Recipe: Baconish by Leinana Two Moons appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Chic Vegan: What motivated you to become vegan? Was it an overnight switch or more gradual shift?
Leinana Two Moons: For me, it was definitely a gradual transition. I married a vegan guy, and we ate vegan at home, mostly for convenience so that I wouldn’t have to cook different meals. If we went out to eat, I would still order seafood, eggs, and dairy for a couple of years after we were married, but I found that I was always more interested in whatever my husband ordered. Gradually, and without really planning to, I cut more and more animal products out of my diet, and at some point I noticed how much better I was feeling. Health issues I’d had my whole entire life were disappearing. And then one night, after watching the movie Earthlings, I gave up all animal products and declared myself vegan from that point on.

CV: When people learn that you are vegan, what is the #1 question they ask and what is your response?
LTM: Surprisingly, it’s not, “Where do you get your protein?” The question I probably get the most is, “Isn’t it hard?” Well, I have to admit, living in NYC, we’re very spoiled with a wealth of vegan restaurants to choose from, and vegan ingredients are widely available even in local grocery stores, and so it’s actually pretty easy to be vegan here. I have traveled to other parts of the country were it was certainly a lot more challenging to find places to eat. But non-vegan people really tend to over-think how complicated vegan food needs to be. I mean, we’ve all eaten an apple! That’s a vegan snack! We’ve all had pasta with marinara sauce, also vegan! I think people think it’s all weird stuff that they don’t know how to pronounce, like seitan and quinoa.

CV: Your children are vegan. What are the challenges you’ve come across in raising vegan kids?
LTM: I’ll be honest, it does take more planning and work raising vegan kids. You have to communicate with their school to make sure the teachers and staff know not to give them any food with animal products. I pack my son’s lunch every day, and it would certainly be easier to just send him off to school and let him eat whatever they are serving, for free, at lunchtime. And then there are the birthday parties. We are lucky enough to have a wide circle of vegan friends with children close to the same age as ours, and it is amazing when you can go to a birthday party and not have to worry about any of the snacks or the birthday cake. And we’ve also been lucky to have some very thoughtful non-vegan friends, who have provided a vegan cupcake or other treat as an alternative to the main birthday cake. But of course there are other parties where you have to plan ahead and bring your own snacks and treats so they will have something to eat, or you bring a dish to share with everyone.

CV: Tell me a little bit about your new book Baconish and what inspired you to write it.
LTM: Baconish has recipes for several different types of vegan bacon, using ingredients like tofu, tempeh, seitan, mushrooms, coconut, eggplant, carrots, and even chickpeas. And then it also includes a lot of recipes in which to use those vegan bacons, everything from BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers to Bacon-Topped Veggie Loaf to even Elvis Cupcakes (Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting) topped with Coconut Bacon.

Several years ago on a trip to Montreal, my husband and I ate at an amazing vegan place called Aux Vivres. It was there that I first tried coconut bacon and I immediately became obsessed with it. I posted a recipe on my blog, and everyone went crazy over it. I started seeing all kinds of vegan bacon popping up on blogs, everything from the usual tempeh bacons to the more unusual ones, like carrot bacon. I started thinking how fun it would be to have one book that compiled all these different vegan bacon recipes, but then I also started thinking about this larger bacon mania all around us, and how often I’ve heard people say, “I could never go vegan because of bacon.” I started thinking about how a book like this could show people that you can still enjoy all those delicious smoky, savory, baconish flavors, without destroying your health and without any harm to pigs or other animals.

CV: Do you have any favorite recipes in the book?
LTM: So many! I can’t help but love the Coconut Bacon BLT, as that was really the recipe that started this whole book. I also especially love the Quiche Lorraine, Smoky Split Pea Soup, Tofu Bacon Carbonara, and the Pineapple-Glazed Seitan Ham. That last one’s not bacon, but it’s one of a few bonus pig-friendly recipes that I included.

CV: What inspires you to create a new recipe?
LTM: Hunger! A lot of my inspiration is based on memory, from travels, from family recipes, from something I ate somewhere that was memorable, and I will want to “veganize” and recreate that. I’m also completely addicted to food magazines, cookbooks, and food shows on TV, they all give me many ideas for dishes to veganize and make on my own.

CV: What advice would you give to aspiring cookbook authors?
LTM: My advice would be to be extremely organized, to make a production schedule for yourself and stick to it, and to make sure that you are really committed to seeing the project through, because cookbooks are very much a labor of love. And to have hungry family, friends, and neighbors who will help you eat all the leftovers you will have from all your test recipes! And, as much as I loved writing Baconish, I would probably advise against writing a cookbook focused on one main ingredient. By the end, you will be very, very tired of that ingredient!

CV: What is your favorite vegan indulgence?
LTM: It would have to be doughnuts from Dunwell Doughnuts. I have no will power when faced with their Peanut Butter and Jelly doughnut. And soy chai lattes.

CV: What vegan product could you not live without?
LTM: Unsweetened vanilla almond milk. My kids drink so much of it, we should have it on tap.

CV: In your wildest dreams what will your life look like in 5 years?
LTM: In my wildest dreams, I will be hosting a vegan food show on TV, and it will require traveling to lots of great places just to eat all their delicious vegan food. Oh, and my kids will LOVE eating ALL of their vegetables.

The post Interview Series: Leinana Two Moons appeared first on Chic Vegan.