This is my most recent bow in the direction of my beloved Indian cuisine: tender black soy beans in a creamy golden sauce redolent of cardamom. I am decidedly not a fan of cardamom in most sweets, but I simply adore it in savory Indian dishes. When I was creating this recipe, I started with a mere teaspoon of it, but ended up adding a full tablespoon. Bear in…
Vegan Southern-Style Cashew Cheese Grits with Kicked-Up Kale Yield: 4 servings By Betsy DiJulio I’m a southern girl who grew up eating grits on a weekly basis. In my pre-vegan days, cheese grits were a Sunday breakfast staple. But what is a vegan supposed to do? It is true that vegan block-style and shredded “cheeses” are continually improving in flavor, texture and melting point. But, I think they are…
White Bean and Pesto Tart Yield: 4 main dish or 8 appetizer servings From humble beginnings as an emergency lunch cobbled together from leftovers comes this elegant and easy vegan main dish sure to make any cool-weather occasion—even a Monday night dinner—feel special. White beans meet their perfect match in a flavorful spinach pesto along with sundried tomatoes and fragrant caramelized onions. A garnish of bright red bell pepper strips…
One of my favorite aspects of cooking—and there are many—is coaxing unexpected flavors out of fruits and vegetables. Often, that transformation is a mere function of cooking method. For example, butternut squash, which is fairly sweet on its own, is made even more so by roasting. So, if you don’t want those natural sugars to overwhelm your palate or the other ingredients in a dish, perhaps sautéing is a better…