Vegan yogurt at last, baby!

VEGAN YOGURT...

I like yogurt, but I have struggled with the brands of vegan yogurt out there.  Silk makes a pretty good blueberry yogurt and I'm okay with the plain coconut yogurt by So Delicious.  However, I think they cost too much.  When things cost too much and I'm just iffy with the flavor, I get motivation to make it myself.  I'm that type of person.  I don't want to pay too much for things that I consider staples (things I eat more often than not) and I want to love what I'm eating!  

Last year, I began the process of making vegan yogurt.  It was a complete fail.  I used almond milk and added probiotics to culture it, but it was a complete flop. I threw the whole thing out.  This year, I bought Miyoko Schinner's book "Artisan Vegan Cheese" and I love it!  It has a cashew yogurt recipe in there (you'll have to buy the book for the recipe) that I tried to make three separate times this month (the first two times I did not stick with the recipe and they were a complete fail), but the last time was a charm!

I highly recommend Miyoko's book.

So, cashews and soy milk are not all that cheap, especially if you buy certified organic products. Making mistakes can be costly.  So, just like when life throws you lemons, make lemonade, I've learned to make vegan buttermilk from my flop yogurt experiments.  Instead of using a nondairy vegan yogurt to culture the milk, I tried using probiotics again, but again it was a flop.  Instead of throwing the whole thing out again (like I did last year), I decided to drain the clumped probiotics off of the milk, which had considerably thickened, but not cultured.  This left a thick buttermilk-like vegan milk, which I will use in various ways.

Vegan homemade yogurt on the left with a
failed attempt, now vegan buttermilk,
on the right.

Now, one of the main reasons to eat yogurt is for the probiotics.  Active cultures, such as L. Acidophilus, B.Bifidum, L.Bulgaricus,  and S.Thermophilus, are in most vegan yogurts. These cultures help give the body good bacteria to fight (or eat) the bad bacteria.  Probiotics also help in digestion and relieve constipation.  Google the many splendid benefits of yogurt cultures!

Now you may also buy probiotics in other forms (pill form, drink form), but I love variety.  Also, after so many failures in making yogurt from the pills, I'm beginning to think that the bacteria in pill form may have deactivated.  When trying to make yogurt from the pill form, I had failures.

I've finally used the nondairy vegan soy yogurt to culture and that worked.  Praise God!!!  If you're dying for the recipe, though I can't give it to you, Miyoko has a YouTube video regarding this recipe (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMJZkbDH9g).  When I made it just like she did, it worked.  I did not change a thing, but maybe in the future.  For now though, I'm going to stick by the original recipe until I'm sure I can do it by changing the ingredients!!!  This yogurt is delicious and creamy and I have not even added any sweetener to it yet.  I have a whole 32 ounce quart jar of it.  I'll be using this yogurt as my starter for my next batch.  I'm thrilled.

Cashew yogurt with a bit of agave drizzled on top with one
little lonely blueberry.

One of the main reasons I'm making yogurt is so that I can make vegan cream cheese.  I can tell this will be a tasty cheese.  I look forward to it in the days ahead, but first, I have to make my second batch of yogurt.

If you have made vegan yogurt, I would love to hear of your success or challenges.  If you love Miyoko as much as I do, chime in as well. 

Eggplant Dip that makes you flip!

EGGPLANT...

Yes, I write about a bunch of things I like to eat.  In truth, I have to have a taste for it before I'm motivated to make it.  Today, it's all about the eggplant.  I love eggplant and I eat it in various ways, but in the summer nothing is better than light foods.  Eggplant dip to the rescue!  You may know it as Baba Ghanouj.  It's a Mediterranean dish and I love Mediterranean foods.  So, decided to make some today for lunch.

When I was little, I could not imagine why they called this eggplant.  I remember looking for the egg in this plant. I knew that folks breaded it, dipped it in egg, and fried it up, but why they called it an eggplant, I did not know.  However, I came to find out that we can thank the 18th century Europeans for that name because they thought that a whitish variety of the eggplant resembled goose eggs.  Another little known fact is that there is some confusion of whether eggplant is a fruit or a vegetable.  Though we often think of eggplant as a vegetable and generally consume it with other vegetables, botanist label it as a fruit.

Nutritionally, eggplant has a host of vitamins (B-Complex vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin K), minerals (copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium), and antioxidant phytonutrients, which include phenolic compounds (caffeic and chlorogenic acid) and flavonoids (nasunin). Nasunin if found on the skin and protects the body from free radicals.  It has also been called brain food because it helps the cell membranes in the brain.  Eggplant is also beneficial in cardiovascular health and is a good source of fiber.  Google the amazing nutritional properties of eggplant for yourself!


The original recipe I used came from Mama's Lebanese Kitchen ... I usually stick to the recipe (http://www.mamaslebanesekitchen.com/dips/baba-ghanouj-recipe/).  The only thing I tweaked was the white vinegar.  I used about 1/4 cup of lemon juice instead.  I also used large eggplants and so I do not use as many.  Two large eggplants would suffice for this recipe in my humble opinion.  I do not remove as much of the seeds (only the very noticeable large clumps of seeds, which I generally eat), but feel free to remove them to your heart's content.  Though I think it highly unnecessary to remove all of the seeds, removing some will make it less seedy.  The more seeds you remove, the more eggplant you may need.

Also I cut the eggplant lengthwise and put olive oil on it and sea salt and roast in a 375 degree oven for an hour.  I let them stand for about 30 to 40 minutes before taking a spoon and scraping it out into the food processor.  Well, I guess I did tweak the original recipe more than I thought, but when I'm cooking, it has to be my way of doing things.  You can make it your way too.  However, I must say that I have messed up a few dishes by tweaking things too much on my first try.  Because of this, I suggest sticking to the recipe the first time and then changing things up after you know the process.

One eggplant sliced down the middle sprinkled with olive oil and salt
to roast for about an hour.

Garnish the Baba Ghanouj with whatever you like, I used chili powder, olive oil, and pickles.  I usually eat these with dry toasted bread (similar to zwieback) or toasted pita chips, but veggies are good too.  Enjoy!

Baba Ghanouj with dry toasted bread.

If you like Baba Ghanouj as much as I do, I'd love to hear from you!  Again, enjoy!!!

Cucumber mint sandwiches....all vegan!

CUCUMBER SANDWICHES...

You may find cucumber sandwiches as an edible fare at daytime socials for genteel women; however, I eat them when I want something light even at night. I've discovered a recipe by the Paupered Chef that makes this sandwich with mint and I love mint.  So, I decided to veganize it by substituting the dairy butter and cream cheese with vegan alternatives, which seem to work VERY well.  The original non-vegan recipe is found: http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2006/02/cucumber_sandwi.html

It's summertime and it's hot.  I often want something cool.  Lately, I've been pretty busy and so I also wanted something easy to pull together.  Cucumber sandwiches are light and easy.  However they require cream cheese.  Vegan cream cheese must be made ahead of time. Lately, I've been experimenting with vegan cheeses from the book "Artisan Vegan Cheese" by Miyoko Schinner.  Perhaps if I ever followed a recipe to the "T," I would have had success, but I'm always substituting something not in the recipe and ended up with failure.  So far, I've failed on making the vegan cream cheese but I will make it again in the next few days sticking strictly to Miyoko's recipe.  I've learned my lesson and it was an expensive one.  So, what's a girl to do!?!....

Instead of using the homemade cream cheese for my cucumber sandwiches, I settled on the trusty processed non-GMO vegan cream cheese store version along with some diced mint and earth balance.  I also used an English cucumber and the sandwiches were light and wonderful.  The sandwiches came out wonderfully tasty, light, and so refreshing (mint makes everything refreshing!). I could truly eat this everyday.

Lonely cucumber mint sandwich (I'd eaten its buddy already)
made from showcased vegan ingredients (left) with a side of grapes. 

Now, cucumbers are a low calorie food, which serve as a mild diuretic.  It has an abundance of potassium as well as antioxidants that help rid the body of free radicals that damage our skin and health.  It is a great source of fiber and it helps rid the body of constipation.  Cucumbers are also well-known for their anti-aging properties.  In another blog, I've already cited the great benefits of mint.  Google both for more information as always!

If you like this sandwich as much as I do, holla!  I'd love to hear from you!  By the way, I'll update this post once I perfect the cashew cream cheese recipe in Miyoko's book.  Until then!...