Potato Kugel

I cut my vegetarian teeth on Recipes for a Small Planet by Ellen Buchman Ewald many, many years ago - back in the day when everyone was concerned about getting complete proteins at every meal. Well, that's no longer true but still there are a few recipes from that book that I treasure. One of them is for potato kugel. The original recipe called for eggs, milk powder and cheese and/or yogurt. Here is my veganized version.

Ingredients
3 average potatoes, peeled and grated
3 medium carrots, grated with the carrots
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1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TB olive oil
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1/3 cup silken tofu
2 TB arrowroot powder
1 tsp salt
2 TB fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup bread crumbs
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1 cup grated vegan cheese
plain vegan soy yogurt

Directions
Heat overn to 350 degrees. Grate potatoes and carrots into salad spinner. Rinse and spin to dry. Set aside.

Heat oil in small pan and saute onions and garlic until limp. Set aside.

Combine tofu and arrowroot in small bowl, stirring to mix well. Set aside.

Into large bowl add potatoes and carrots. Add sauted onions and garlic. Add salt, tofu mixture, parsley and bread crumbs. Mix well.

Place into oiled pan (I like to use a 9 x 14 glass pan) and press down firmly along top. Bake for about 40 minutes until starting to brown. Add cheese and bake until melted. Serve with soy yogurt if desired.

Warm German Potato Salad

A variation of the recipe on Vegetarian Times website. Lip-smacking tasty potatoes on a bed of spinach. Serves 2. Four Stars.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. baby red potatoes, cut into 1- x 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 oz. green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2-3 green onions, white and pale-green parts chopped (1/4 cup)
• 2 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
• 4 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves

Directions

1. Cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water 8 minutes, or until tender. Add green beans during last minute or so of cooking.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar.

3. Drain potatoes and green beans. Toss with olive oil mixture and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm on bed of spinach.

Breakfast Tofu and Vegetable Hash

The best of all worlds to start your morning - tofu, potatoes, and peas! Four Stars.

Ingredients
8 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
1 tsp tamari or Shoyu
1/2 tsp curry power*
1/4 tsp dried dill weed
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2 medium red-skinned potatoes, diced
2 tsp olive oil
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1/2 cup diced green peppers
1/4 cup diced red onion
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
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1/3 frozen peas
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1 small tomato, finely diced
fresh parsley to taste
1 TB nutritional yeast
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Crumble the tofu in to small bowl with the first 3 spices. Mix and let sit. Heat olive oil in pan and cook potatoes over medium heat until lightly browned around the edges. Add bell pepper, onions, and garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Add peas and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tofu and the rest of the ingredients and cook for around 2 minutes.

*If you're not too wild about curry powders, substitute with 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp tumeric powder, and 1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Mexi-Tatie Nuggets

Never met a potato I didn't like. This is quick and easy and goes great with the Scrumptious Seitan Tacos (see post).

Ingredients
4 small potatoes, washed and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of red chile powder
1 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Put all the ingredients into a plastic bag and shake until potatoes are coated. Put on prepared cookie sheet and bake at 425 for around 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Hash Browns VitaMix Style

I finally sprung for a VitaMix, which is basically a blender on steroids. It's pretty sweet. So far I have made a couple of soups and hummus. I adore hash browns so I thought I'd try out their recipe for it. It's very fast! The potatoes are in small chunks instead of shreds but that's okay with me. You might want to add enough oil to make it crust up better than mine - I tend to be stingy with the oil.

Hash Browns VitaMix Style
Ingredients
1 tablespoon or more olive oil
2-3 potatoes, chopped in large chunks
onion to taste, in large chunks (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Put the potatoes in blender. Cover with water to about the 6 cup mark. Blend on high for 10 seconds. Pour into strainer, rinse, and press dry. Heat up pan with oil and add potato mixture, pressing down. Add salt and pepper.

Cook on low-medium heat until brown on bottom. Loosen the bottom. Place plate on top of skillet, hold it tight and carefully flip the skillet so the potatoes are on the plate. Slide potatoes back into the skillet and cook until brown.

Potato Kale Patties

This goes nicely with the Carrot Tahini Soup. With its green hue, I think kids would like it or it would just be fun for St. Pattie's Day.

1-1/2 pounds potatoes
6 ounces kale (organic is best*)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
2 scallions, chopped (optional)
1 serrano chili, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons potato starch or corn starch
1 tablespoon olive oil

Cut the potatoes into small cubes (about 1/2-inch), put them in a large pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, remove the center stalk from the kale and slice the leaves into strips. When the potatoes are done, lift them out with a slotted spoon and place in a large mixing bowl. Put the kale into the potato water and cook for 6 minutes or until kale is tender. Remove kale with a slotted spoon to a food processor. Add about 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid and pulse to chop fine.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Mash the potatoes and add the kale and all remaining ingredients. Stir well. Using a well-rounded tablespoon, form into balls, a flatten into patties. Place them on an oiled baking sheet or, preferably, a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully turn over and bake for 20 minutes more, until lightly browned.

*There are 12 fruits and vegetables that are considered to be "the dirty dozen" in terms of pesticide load. Kale is one of them. I live in Alaska and organic kale is easy to find. "They say" that if you feel you cannot afford to buy organic, at least buy organic for the "dirty dozen." For more information http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214

Aloo Paratha (Potato and Pea-Stuffed Flatbread)

This is another recipe from "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day." I made the Aloo Paratha with the cracked wheat bread recipe. These bread recipes are the ones where you make a large batch of dough (NO KNEADING REQUIRED) and you can leave it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. It's ready when YOU are. This particular batch of dough was rather "wet" compared to the others I've made; I figured maybe because of the cracked wheat? Anyway, when I rolled the dough out I had to add quite a bit of extra flour to manipulate it into a workable round. I added the potato pea fillling and here it is before baking.
The filling was super simple: 1-1/2 pounds cooked, mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup frozen peas and a teaspoon of your favorite curry. I used a teaspoon of gram masala. Fold it over, brush with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with some more curry, coarse grain sea salt, slash a few slits in the top and bake in a 450 degree oven on a preheated baking stone for 25 minutes or until golden brown. This recipe also used one of the author's "fancy" techniques of adding 1 cup of hot water to another pan in the oven. This creates a steam that makes for a DELICIOUS crust. Check it out:
I am so impressed with this book; it has done so much for my overall baking success. Today I'm going to finish off the rest of the dough and make some pita bread and perhaps a pizza for dinner. Mangia!