Eggplant Bacon and Roasted Red Pepper Mayo

I saw a recipe for eggplant bacon that required liquid smoke. This seems to be an ingredient that crops up a lot in vegan cooking, to mimic the smoked flavor of various meats (read: bacon). I have yet to buy a bottle, because I'm too suspicious of it. It is the liquid run-off from smoke. Hm. If I really wanted to ingest that, I'd still be hacking up whatever it was I produced in the morning after an evening smoking mentholated cigarettes. "Genotoxic under an acceptable level?" Mmm, pass.

So, without consulting a recipe, I marinated eggplant strips (cut thinly into planks) in soy sauce, and a little molasses and smoked paprika, which appealed to me a bit more as a stand-in for the smoke flavor.

I broiled the strips on each side on foil in the oven, watching them closely, until they were crispy.

While standing around the kitchen, I put a peeled, roasted red pepper in my food processor with some Vegennaise. This also works well with sun-dried tomatoes: you just cover the tomatoes for a few minutes with boiling water, then drain, then add to the food processor. I seasoned it, too, to taste.

Wish I'd had some fresh tomatoes on hand, but this makes a great ELT sandwich with the sun-dried tomato mayo as the "T," and of course some avocado. The salty, smoky and crunchy eggplant was great in the balance with the other elements of the sandwich, and I had plenty left over.

Kale and Avocado Salad

I love kale. I've been eating it pretty much every night. My prediction is that I live forever. I think that's realistic.

I found a simple raw kale recipe on Pinterest, that called for cleaning the kale by holding the stem in your dominant hand, and pulling off the leaves with your non-dominant hand. It uses just enough force this way. (Why did I ever doubt? It was ON PINTEREST.) I was the kale (which is often sandy) in my salad spinner. And then I spin it! Spin it! Spin it!

The recipe I found called for sprinkling the kale with vinegar next, and that works well... But I found that I like to use the juice of a lime. Then squish a ripe avocado on it, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Then you rub it. Massage that kale. (I envisioned this step taking longer than it actually does, rubbing avocado into each individual leaf, and having to answer the kids, "What do you want? I'm massaging the kale!" But squishing it all together actually takes about a minute.) Keep squishing it all in your hands for a moment until all the kale is covered. The avocado becomes the fat in the dressing.

I like it on its own, or mixed in with romaine or other mixed greens. I've also put nuts and dried fruit in it, or put blackened tofu on top, as in the above picture. Great on its own, or because of the avocado and lime, it's also great on tacos.

Lasts two or three days in the fridge, dressed. Once a week on my produce run, I buy two heads of kale, and one ripe, and one under-ripe avocado. That way, I can make it twice a week with only one trip to the store (I told you I love kale!)

Vegan Pasta Alfredo

I know, you read the title and you're already, "YOU LOST ME. DO NOT PUT THOSE WORDS TOGETHER." And writing as a vegan AND former cream and butter-lover is so funny, because I get that. Those who are vegetarian have probably tried this already, and those who are not will probably never try this. I really don't know for sure who I'm writing to any more. But I carry on. Because I love this stuff.

This alfredo sauce came out so well that I think it would fool anyone. Really. You make cashew cream, which is very easy - you need raw cashews, not roasted or salted. You soak them overnight in water. You don't have to measure the water OR the cashews. If pressed for time, you can bring them to a boil, and let them steep for an hour instead. Then, you drain them, put them in a blender and cover them with enough water to rise an inch over the cashews. Blend it up, and you have cashew cream. That's your base.

I added garlic cloves, and kept tasting it. Raw garlic can get too powerful rather quickly, so keep tasting. I added salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of nutmeg. Put a nice big puddle of that sauce in the bottom of a bowl, and add pasta that you fish out of the cooking liquid right into it (don't rinse the pasta off!) and toss it. Add your parmezano sprinkles, and some roasted or steamed broccoli if you want the total package. Fantastico.

This made a really large batch, since I, well, made a really large batch. I froze family-sized sauce portions in baby food containers, and it thawed beautifully in the fridge. If you really want a rich experience, finish the sauce with a bit of vegan butter - but I really didn't find it necessary - the sauce is very luxurious on its own.