Mattar Tofu
This recipe from Friendly Foods (by Brother Ron Pickarski) was originally titled “Paneer Tofu”, but it’s really a vegan version of Mattar Paneer (peas and paneer in a creamy tomato sauce), which uses tofu instead of paneer cheese. Read the rest of this entry »
Southern blackened tempeh with tomato-apricot-ginger coulis
This recipe is also from Friendly Foods, but from the last chapter—recipes that won medals in the Culinary Olympics. I decided to make it because it called for soysage, which I was trying to figure out what to do with. Pickarski says that if you don’t have soysage on hand you can use Fantastic Foods instant black bean mix instead. I imagine homemade refried black beans would also work. Read the rest of this entry »
Seitan pepper steak
Derek chose this recipe from Ron Pickarski’s Friendly Foods. Pickarski says it’s a vegetarian version of the classic recipe for “beef pepper steak,” whatever that is. He recommends serving it over jerusalem artichoke pasta, flat spinach noodles, or quinoa noodles, but says that it’s also good over rice or mashed potatoes. Read the rest of this entry »
Tofu swiss steak, or tofu smothered in tomato sauce
I have no idea why Ron Pickarski names this “Swiss Steak”. It’s basically tofu smothered in a vegetably tomato sauce. Is that how the Swiss eat their steaks? It seems more Italian. In any case, Pickarski says that this is one of his favorite everyday foods, so I thought it was worth a try. Read the rest of this entry »
Soysage
I know, I know. The name “soysage” sounds just awful. Blame Ron Pickarski. Soysage is the name he gives this recipe in his cookbook Friendly Foods. He says that soysage is a vegetarian sausage substitute that makes excellent breakfast patties, meatballs, or a filling for other dishes in which you might use sausage. Read the rest of this entry »
Vegan cream of red pepper soup
This is another recipe from Ron Pickarski’s cookbook Friendly Foods. It gets its creamy texture from olive oil, soymilk, and pureed potato rather than cream. Pickarski also adds miso for extra umami flavor. Read the rest of this entry »
Quinoa and pinto bean loaf
I have recently acquired a new cookbook, and so according to my one in, one out policy, one of my old cookbooks has got to go. Scanning the shelf, Ron Pickarski’s book Friendly Foods caught my eye. It’s a vegan cookbook published in 1991, and written by a Franciscan monk. It includes quite a few seitan, tempeh, and tofu recipes, and a whole section on recipes for which the author won a medal in the Culinary Olympics! I used Friendly Foods a few times in college, but (as far as I recall) not since then. It seemed a good choice to pass on. But I couldn’t get rid of it without giving it at least one last chance to wow me. So Derek and I sat down and picked a few recipes to try. The first one I made was this quinoa loaf. It’s mostly quinoa mixed with celery, pinto beans, some other veggies, and seasonings. It sounded a bit strange but I like quinoa a lot and I had just made a pot of pinto beans, so I decided I’d give it a try. Read the rest of this entry »
Spinach Mushroom Tart, Vegan
When I was a kid my mom would occasionally make a vegan spinach mushroom pie. I’m not sure how she made it, but I always enjoyed it. In my co-op days I tried making something similar, starting with a recipe from Ron Pickarski’s cookbook, but it turned out bland and boring. Recently, when looking for something to do with a pie crust that had been taking up precious space in my envelope-sized freezer for about 6 months, I noticed that Peter Berley also has a spinach mushroom quiche recipe in his cookbook Modern American Kitchen. The recipe was even posted on 101 cookbooks, along with a beautiful photo, a rave review, and a discussion of how loooong this recipe takes to make. I decided to try the recipe, using my traditional, non-vegan crust rather than making Berley’s oat/sesame vegan crust. Read the rest of this entry »
Creamy Fettucine with Squash Sauce
I have fond memories of this creamy vegan squash sauce from my co-op days in college. It was a regular on our menu, and always popular. It’s from the cookbook Friendly Foods by Brother Ron Pickarski. Read the rest of this entry »
White bean pate
I’ve had so many versions of white bean pate at vegetarian restaurants, and I generally find them bland and unappealing. I loved this one though. I could just sit there and eat bowls of it with a spoon. It reminds me a lot of the green been pate my mom makes on Passover. It’s pretty darn healthy too. This is a variant of the Pate Francais Recipe from a cookbook by Ron Pickarski. Read the rest of this entry »
The captious vegetarian 