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Spices, Pastes, Extracts

Tofu Scramble Spice Mix

 

It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken​

  • ½ cup nutritional yeast

  • 4 teaspoons black salt Kala Namak

  • 3 teaspoons onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon turmeric

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Modifications:

  • 1/4 tsp pink peppercorn from garden

  • 1/4 tsp chili powder

  • 1/2 tsp coriander powder

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Add all of the ingredients into a sealable jar and shake well or stir to combine. Store in your pantry until ready to use.

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How to use for Tofu Scramble

  • 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil 

  • 1 block block medium-firm, firm, or extra-firm tofu

  • 2 tablespoons Tofu Scramble Spice Mix

 

Add vegan butter or oil to a pan and heat. When hot add your tofu of choice. Medium-firm tofu will result in a creamy and tender scramble, firm tofu will be a bit less tender, and extra-firm tofu is perfect for a drier scramble. Crumble the tofu of choice into the pan, and sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of the tofu scramble spice mix. Stir to evenly distribute the spice and heat through.

Black Bean Paste

 

DaringGourmet

  • 3 tablespoons fermented black beans ,soaked in water about an hour then rinsed and drained (if you prefer a stronger and saltier flavor, use more beans)

  • 2 tablespoons oil

  • 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic

  • 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger

  • 2 green onions finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth

  • 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (substituted sake)

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 1 teaspoon sugar (substituted honey)

  • 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce or sambal oelek for heat (optional)

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons arrowroot powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

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Mash soaked and drained fermented black beans with a fork and set aside.

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Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two until softened and very fragrant. Add the green onions and cook for another minute. Add the mashed beans and cook for another minute.

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Add all remaining ingredients, except for the cornstarch mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 10-12 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer for another minute or until thickened.

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Let the black bean sauce cool and store in an airtight glass container. Will keep for up to 2 weeks.

Vegan Curry Paste

Featuring kaffir lime and no fish sauce.

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ConnoisseurusVeg.com

  • 4 garlic cloves

  • 6 jalapeno chilies (Thai chilies or serrano peppers, seeded and stemmed)

  • 2 shallots

  • 2 kaffir lime leaves or 2 tsp. lime zest

  • 1 lemongrass coarsely chopped

  • 3/4 cups fresh cilantro (stems and leaves, packed)

  • 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed)

  • 1 tablespoon galangal grated, or sub ginger

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice (kaffir, or regular old lime juice)

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend to a paste, stopping to scrape down sizes of bowl as needed.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

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If you make this and would like some recipe ideas to put it to use, try my Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Veggies or Easy Green Curry Potato Soup .

Vanilla Extract

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The Italian Dish

  • 1 1/2 cups organic vodka

  • 3 organic vanilla beans

 

Vanilla beans are extremely fragrant. Very. Very. Fragrant. Split the pods and scrape out most of the seeds and place pods and seeds in the jar with the vodka. Give them a shake every week or so. Soak for a month or more. Strain through cheesecloth into two ounce glass bottles.

Ginger's Turmeric Paste

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  • 1/2 cup turmeric powder

  • 1 cup water

  • 1/4 raw honey

  • 1/2 cup coconut oil

  • 1 tsp black pepper

  • 1-2 tsp spices (nutmeg, garam masala, cinnamon, cardamom)

  • Himalayan salt

 

Whisk water and turmeric, simmer. Add pepper, spices and salt. Whisk 4-5 minutes. Add oil last and whisk to incorporate.

Coconut Butter 

 

  • 4 cups coconut flakes

  • 2 tbs cococnut oil

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Place the coconut in the bowl of a food processor and let it run for 20 minutes. Check every few minutes to scrape down the bowl. Add to Vitamix with coconut oil and proocess a few minutes more. The extra step in the Vitamix did not make it much smoother - instead, just process in the food processor a bit longer with the coconut oil. Let cool, then refrigerate.

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Ginger Turmeric Paste 

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  • 1 part organic ginger root 

  • 1 part organic turmeric root

  • water 


It is very easy to get fresh organic turmeric and ginger root on Maui. So I do not peel the turmeric and I only lightly peel the ginger. Roughly cut the ginger and turmeric, add just enough water to blend and in a high speed blender, grind to a paste. Freeze some and keep some in the fridge. Use in curries, Bengali veggies, spicy noodle sauce and even in tea. Turmeric will turn your blender bright yellow! Omit if you don't want a yellow blender - simply use all ginger.

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Panch Phoran 

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  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds

  • 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds

  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds

  • 1 tablespoon nigella seeds (also called black cumin or kalonji)

  • 1½ teaspoons fenugreek seeds

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Vegetable Stock with Herbs

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Simple Healthy Tasty

  • 2 cups Nutritional Yeast

  • 1/2 cup Real Salt 

  • 2 Tablespoons onion powder

  • 1 Tablespoon turmeric

  • 2 teaspoons dried dill weed

  • 2 teaspoons marjoram (optional)

  • 2 teaspoons dried powdered lemon peel (optional)

  • 1 teaspoon celery seed

  • 1 teaspoon basil

  • 1 teaspoon powdered thyme

  • 1 Tablespoon dried parsley

 

Place all, except parsley, in a blender or coffee grinder in the listed order. Blend until powered together. Add parsley and pulse to chop. Store in an airtight container indefinitely in the cupboard.

 

I often don't follow the recipe and use whatever I have on hand. Bay leaf is a nice addition. The lemon peel adds lots of flavor. Basics are salt, nutritional yeast, oregano or rosemary, onion powder, celery seed, turmeric, dill. Pepper is a god basic too, but I often don't have it.

 

To make veggie broth, add 1 Tbsp of powder to 2 cups of water.

Vegetable Stock with Flour

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July 2016

  • 2 c nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 c brown rice flour (or garbanzo flour)

  • 1/4 c salt

  • 2 tbs onion granules

  • 1 tbs turmeric

  • 1 tbs parsley

  • 2 tsp dried dill

  • 2 tsp oregano

  • 1 tsp celery seed

  • 2 tsp thyme

  • 2 tsp paprika

  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

 

Grind in coffee grinder. To make veggie broth, add 1 Tbsp of powder to 2 cups of water.

Vegetable Stock with Veggies

Tales of a Kitchen​

  • 2 big carrots, thinly sliced

  • 2 medium parsnips, thinly sliced

  • 2 celery ribs, cut into fine strips

  • 1 big potato, thinly sliced 

  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

  • 2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced and pat dry (try to absorb as much moisture with a paper towel)

  • 4 mushrooms, thinly sliced

  • 2 cabbage leaves, cut into smaller pieces (I used red cabbage)

  • handful or parsley (with stalks)

  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

To season:

  • 2 tsp sea salt

  • 2 tsp dry turmeric powder

  • 1 tsp dry dill

  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

  • 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp chili flakes (optional, if you want it slightly spicy)

  • 1/3 tsp ground nutmeg

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  1. Wash, pat dry and slice all your veggies. Use a paper towel to absorb any extra moisture.

  2. Arrange your veggies on dehydrator sheets, in a single layer. You’ll need about 6-7 sheets.

  3. Dehydrate at 135F (57C) for 1 hour, then continue to dehydrate at 115F (46C) for up to 6 hours. Please bear in mind that some veggies (like potato, carrot, parsnip, parsley) will be ready sooner than cabbage, tomato, celery or onion. Check them after 2-3 hours and take out those that are done (moisture free).

  4. Once all your veggies are done, allow them to cool.

  5. Add them to a blender or food processor and blitz until you get a fine, crumbled mix. You might need to do this in 2 batches.

  6. In a bowl, mix your ground veggies with the seasonings.

  7. Store in an airtight jar, in the pantry, away from light or moisture.

Notes

Try to cut all your veggies to about the same thickness, at or less than 2-3mm. It helps ‘cook’ them in approximately the same time, though some will naturally take less or longer, as they have different moisture levels. To make it easier, you can use a vegetable slicer. I did. IMPORTANT: Make sure you ‘cook’ your veggies until there is no moisture left in them. OVEN ALTERNATIVE: While I haven’t tried to make this in an oven, I reckon it can be done on the lowest setting possible, leaving the oven door ajar. ‘Cooking’ times might be different.

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