Vegan Fried Green Tomatoes over Zucchini Pasta and a Basil Pesto

In my opinion to be able to make awesome southern classics like these vegan just goes to show you that any thing is possible. Fried green tomatoes are so simple yet have so much flavor. Now the thing to remember is there is no way to to this process neatly so have fun and make a mess. Dry-wet-dry is all you need to remember, keep one hand for the dry and the other for the wet. To make these you will need a flour-bath-breading it's real easy then stage them so they all hit the pan at one time. Your skillet needs to be on med heat with about a 1/4 cup oil and a couple tbsp vegan butter. By using the 2 different oils to cook in really give the flavor more depth, I would not heat it up till you have all you tomatoes sliced and breaded this way your oil don't burn and smoke up the house.

First lets make the pesto cause the longer it sits the better it gets, and the zucchini  pasta only takes a min to cut up now that I have my new slicer its a Paderno triple blade spiral slicer.  I got it from Amazon here. The pesto is real easy here is was I use

Basil Pesto

1 bunch of basil (2-3 cups)

1/4 cup pine nuts

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1/2 to 3/4 cup  Nutritional yeast (depending on taste)

1 tsp sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper 

3 cloves of garlic 

Toss everything in to your blender and wola you got pesto. Now that you have got your pesto using my new toy I will cut my zucchini in to pasta and pour some pesto over top about enough to coat it all very well. Put your leftover pesto in a jar and it will keep for about a week in the fridge. Set your pesto covered zucchini pasta to the side and lets get set up for the green tomatoes.

Now the first thing is to get 3 large bowls and a plate for the staging. Slice your washed green tomatoes in uniform 1/2 inch slices, keeping then the same thickness will help the cooking process they will all cook at the same time. 

Now just go in order 1-2-3 repeat till they are all breaded.

bowl 1

1 cup flour

bowl 2 
2 flax meal eggs (2 tbsp flax meal and 1/2 cup water mixed together)

bowl 3
1/2 cup flour 
11/2 cups cornmeal
1 tsp each of the following
black pepper
sea salt
chipolte powder
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika 

Now they are all breaded up heat up your skillet to a med heat with 1/4 cup oil and a couple tbsp vegan butter.

 Cook for about 5 min and then flip and cook for about 5 more min. 

Place on a towel to dry off excess oil and then plate it all up.

Have Fun and Enjoy.

Vegan Elderberry Pie -Perfect Pie Crust with an Incredible Filling

Very rarely do I ever see elderberry anything be it in a pie or jam. My mother in-law has 6 very large elderberry bushes and they produced a lot of berries this year. In one cut we have cleaned and bagged 17 cups of berries. This is a timely process because they are tiny and delicate but they need to be removed from there stems as they are bad for you.  After reading how raw elderberries ain't good for you I was shocked, I remember eating them raw as a kid. So elderberries need to cooked before you eat them.

Now this pie crust needs to be made prior at least 2 hours it a very simple recipe. I have combined a bunch of ideas from recipes to come up with this crust is very light and fluffy.  I have never even heard of the pastry flour till I read it on the blog Healthy-Happy-Life, wow this blew my pie crust out of the water. Now this is the only way I will make pie crust, the only variation I do is if its a sweet pie I add a splash of vanilla and if a savory pie I leave it out.

Pie Crust

2 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour 

1 tbsp sugar 

1 tsp salt 

1 cup of Earth Balance Vegan Butter(cut into chunks and put in the freezer 30 min prior to using)

1/4 to 1/2 cups of ice cold water

splash of vanilla

Combined all the dry ingredients in a food processor with a dough blade and pulse to combined them. Add the butter and vanilla (if your making a sweet pie) and turn it on adding the water slowly till the dough forms a ball and cleans all the flour off the sides of the bowl. Then separate them into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap and put into the freezer.

Into the freezer for at least 2 hours

Now the filling is very simple only a few ingredients are need to make this pie which is the best way to make any thing. Now this is a basic pie filling recipe that can be used with most fresh fruits.

Pie Filling

4 cups elderberries washed and stemmed

6 tbsp flour

1 1/4 cups of sugar (bump it up a quarter cup if you want a really sweet filling

2 tbsp lemon juice

a sprinkle of cinnamon

All you gotta do is combined all the first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan heat till it starts to boil, now this one of those things that takes your  FULL ATTENTION. The sugar will melt fast and burn even faster before you know it it will be ruined, but this can be avoided by stirring constantly and right after it starts to boil then remove it from the heat source and let cool for at least 15 min before using stirring very couple of min. Now pull out your dough from the freezer and let warm up for about 10 min this will make it easier to roll out.

Pre-heat oven to 450 and roll out your dough one piece at a time after you roll the bottom out place into pie pan and shape into the sides. Place the filling in the bottom crust place the top crust over top and seal the sides by pressing together. Cut vent slots into the top to keep your pie from exploding out the sides. Now I don't like to waste any dough so I will always make little glass dish pies with the leftover filling and dough, perfect size for one person. bake at 450 for 10 min then turn down to 350 degrees and bake for 30 min.

This pie turned out so perfect, the taste was incredible and I loved that we picked the berries ourselves and made it.

Deep Dish Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake-This Rawsome Vegan Life

After the great success that I have had from the recipes on This Rawsome Vegan Life web site, my wifey decided to make this recipe for me. She followed her recipe to the letter making no adjustments or substitutions. We love making raw desserts especially for the weekend that Breaking Bad premieres the final last half of the season.

Now this recipe is copied and pasted from the web site This Rawsome Vegan Life word for word.

deep dish chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake: 

Crust:

1 cup dates

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/3 cup whole flax seeds

3 tablespoons cacao powder 

Filling:

3 frozen bananas
1 cup dates
2 cups cashews
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/4 cups water or vegan milk, as needed
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 tablespoons nut butter (whatever kind you like, I used peanut butter of course)

Optional:
Raw chocolate sauce
Fave nut butter 

To make the crust: pulse the hemp and flax seeds and cacao in your food processor until they become a rough flour, then add the dates and process until it all gets sticky. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a spring form pan. Put in the fridge.

To make the filling: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding water or vegan milk as needed to make it creamy. Spread evenly into your crust, occasionally swirling in nut butter and chocolate sauce if you're using them (soooo recommended). Put in the freezer overnight or until frozen solid, and let it thaw a little bit before serving, so it's nice and creamy. enjoy!

 

As you can see there is no need for any improvement cause it is perfect already.

 

 

Have fun and Enjoy.