Tag Archives: food

Aquafaba Cheddar

3 Nov Aquafaba Cheddar

“But how do you live without cheese!”

If you’re vegan (or lactose intolerant) you’ve probably heard that at least once, or a thousand times. Thankfully, there’s been some really amazing vegan chefs who have made our cheeseless existence quite tolerable. Miyoko Schinner, Jay Astafa, Somer McGowan, and Skye Michael Conroy, have all taught me some valuable tips on vegan-cheese making. I actually took the inspiration from this from Richa Hingle at Vegan Richa.  Her vegan cheddar cheese ball came across my feed around Halloween and I knew the flavors would be perfect for an adaptation of my mozzerella aquafaba cheese. The original recipe that I drew inspiration from for the cashew mozzarella was developed by Jay Astafa. You can watch the YouTube video here. I noticed he uses soy lecithin as an emulsifier, which aquafaba has been shown to do in recipes like Nina’s butter and Peanut Butter and Vegan’s mayo. This inspired me to make the cashew mozzarella using aquafaba as the emulsifier.
Aquafaba Cheddar

Vegan cheese doesn’t create casein protein strands like dairy cheeses do, which is why we use tapioca starch to create that stretchy texture. Some places may have it labeled at tapioca flour, but they should be interchangeable. I find mine at an international market for a cheaper price. I use vegan lactic acid powder to create that dairy-like tang in this recipe. It’s definitely worth the purchase, but if you cannot buy it, substitute a tablespoon of lemon juice instead. Since cheddar has a significant tang to it, I include apple cider vinegar as well as miso paste. Nutritional yeast also adds to the cheesy flavor. Refined coconut oil helps with firmness upon refrigeration and improves the mouthfeel and melt.

Most vegan cheeses use either agar or kappa carrageenan as a binder to be sliceable and shreddable. I choose to use kappa carrageenan, as I prefer the melt and mouthfeel it imparts. I am well aware that many people choose not to consume it and I completely respect that; this recipe may be possible with agar powder, but I have not tested it. If you do test it, please contact me with your results!

Aquafaba Cheddar

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these other vegan cheese recipes:
Cheddar Cheese Ball
Another Cheddar Cheese Ball
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Cultured Cheddar

The Vegan Meringue group on is a great place for more aquafaba recipes as well.

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Speculoos Cookie Bars

22 Oct

I developed a slight addiction to a Trader Joe’s product called Cookie Butter sometime last year-if you’ve ever tasted it, you can understand why. There are secret underground communities dedicated to worshiping the stuff. I’m dead serious, just look up cookie butter on Tumblr and browse for about 30 seconds. It combines everything that is good about gingerbread and peanut butter and cookies into one addicting jar.

Speculoos Cookie Bars

All love fades eventually, though and then you are left with the remnants of your broken relationship. In my case, that’s about 4 jars of cookies butter hiding in a cabinet. I had honestly forgotten about them until the past weekend. I was forced to move everything out of my pantry to make space for a washer and dryer (yay!). Our recent 14 inches of snow inspired me to make a warm, comforting dessert and I knew I could find a use for all that cookie butter.

Speculoos Cookie Bars

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Three Mushroom Stroganoff

9 Oct Three Mushroom Stroganoff

Beef stroganoff was one of the first recipes I tried as a young woman living on my own. It failed pretty miserably and was only deemed “okay…but too sour” by my then-boyfriend. Since then, I’ve improved my recipe and gone vegan. This dish is even more delicious due to my addition of extra mushrooms in the vegan version.

Three Mushroom Stroganoff

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Salt and Pepper Tofu

5 Oct

When I was in 6th grade my teacher, Mrs. Dagle, gave the class a get-to-know-you survey. She asked for everyone’s favorite color, book, food, etc. I remember answering my favorite food as “anything except tofu.” I hated the texture of tofu for years-I would often buy it and leave it in the fridge for weeks until I finally cooked it, only to throw half away. Salt and pepper tofu was the first recipe I tried where I really enjoyed the texture and the taste. Something about frying tofu to give it a crunchy texture made it more palatable to me.

I bookmarked this recipe years ago and it’s become a favorite for busy weeknights. I’ve also experimented with cooking the tofu in sauce afterwards, but I prefer to leave it crunchy just the way it is. Feel free to use it in other dishes or as a beginning step to making barbeque tofu.

Salt and Pepper Tofu

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Vegan Calzones

2 Oct

We’ve been watching a lot of Parks and Recreation lately and there’s a lot of talk about calzones. Personally, I was never a huge fan of calzones. I think this picture sums it up.

I may have changed my mind after last night. These were delicious and VERY filling. Try drinking a brown ale with these-since it’s autumn, I’d suggest Sierra Nevada’s Tumbler.

Vegan Calzones

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Peanut Butter Cookies

30 Sep

Cookies are delicious. This is a known fact of the universe.

Peanut butter is delicious. This is another known fact. (Unless you’re allergic, in which case, avoid this recipe at all costs.)

Peanut butter cookies?
Peanut Butter Cookies

Let’s just say these are best for a day when you are leaving the house, otherwise you will eat the entire container. Or bring them with you and share with your coworkers, because shared calories don’t count. That is another known fact.

Aquafaba is a great binder in these cookies. In fact, these are better than any other vegan peanut butter cookie I have tried. They are crunchy with a bit of give, like a perfect cookie should be. But don’t just listen to me, try them yourself!
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P.S. Check our the Vegan Meringue Facebook group for more great aquafaba recipes!

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Eggplant and Spicy Tofu Spring Rolls

28 Sep

I love spring rolls. I love eggplant. And I love tofu. The combination of all three is pretty much the perfect meal for me.

This recipe is definitely a fusion of many different cuisines so don’t take it as anything authentic. It was basically born out of my attempt to use up a bunch of different bottles in my fridge. I used the same marinade I use in my baked tofu on the eggplant, and I still LOVE the flavor. Black vinegar is just something else!

You can definitely change any of the fillings in this recipe. I would highly recommend adding rice noodles as well, because we can all use more carbs. Carrots would be really tasty too, but only the good carrots, not those ones that taste weird. Does anyone else ever get weird tasting carrots?
Now I’m rambling. Here’s the recipe!

Eggplant and Spicy Tofu Spring Rolls

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Eggplant Stacks

6 Sep

Our local farmers market runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays and I like to take my daughter with and pick out a few vegetables for meals during the week. Last week we found this pretty purple and white striped eggplants.
Eggplant Stacks

Tonight I wanted to combine the remaining eggplant and my favorite cheese recipe, from here.
It’s not quite eggplant parmesan, but you could easily fry these during the saute step! I served them with fettucine, but angel hair or capellini would be equally as beautiful here.
Eggplant Stacks

Our garden is still producing massive amounts of cherry tomatoes, so they’re making another appearance here. Substitute regular tomatoes if you don’t have cherry tomatoes.
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Ham and Cheese Quiche

2 Sep

To tell the truth, I’ve only ever eaten quiche once in my life. I remember it’s silken fluffy texture well, but I haven’t thought about it in years. I saw this recipe from Minimalist Baker and I thought, “well, I have an hour before work, might as well.”

Ham and Cheese Quiche

I changed my filling a bit and decided to make the entire thing in a cast iron skillet, because I often think I should cook in cast iron more. Thinking back on it, I should have doubled the filling because of the increase in size. I bet this would work really well in a pie pan as well; it would come out quite a bit thicker. I’d also like to petition that all quiches be made with a hash brown crust, because that stuff is delicious. Pastry crust would work to, but the only downfall is it’s not potatoes.

Ham and Cheese Quiche

This makes a perfect meal for demolishing before work or when you baby wakes you up at 4 a.m. or breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire day.

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Yuba Ribs

31 Aug Yuba Ribs

I saw this recipe for vegan ribs and knew I was going to have to try it. We’ve had it twice since, because I purchased a massive package of yuba sheets from my local International store. Miyoko calls for dried bean curd sticks in her recipe, but yuba sheets are an easy substitute and you can control the size of your ribs.
Yuba Ribs

I subbed a barbecue sauce a client of mine gave me. She finally got back to me with the recipe, so I’m able to share it here! There’s a bit of spice and Asian flavor which make this recipe awesome with a good IPA. However, if you’re lazy, use your favorite bottled sauce.

Yuba Ribs

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