Veggie Miso Udon Soup

Confession time...I've been perusing the rescue shelter website again. I know, I know. Don't judge! I'm trying to talk Todd into getting an older, smaller dog. He's seven years old and his name is Oreo and he's been there since July 31st! So sad. Plus, Bailey needs a friend. Cross your fingers that he'll come home with us soon! I have a feeling that soon after this post goes up, I'll be in trouble...heh heh.  Anyways, besides stalking the rescue site, I've been craving some udon soup. Big time. There's this place in the mall in Anchorage (yes, we only have one mall...okay that's a lie, but it is the mall) called Souper Bowl and they have the most wonderful udon soup and sometimes, a few times a year, I get a crazy-cracked-out-craving for it! So, I decided it was finally time to try to recreate it. I think I did a damn good job, too.

This soup could not be easier, and it's "udon" healthy...udon...uber...get it? Oh nevermind. It's packed with steamed veggies, cubed silken tofu and a healthy dose of miso. Udon noodles are my favorite noodle. I don't really know what it is exactly about them  but I just love 'em! I could not wait to make this soup and once it was done, I couldn't stop eating it! It was an extra exciting day in addition to this soup, because Todd got me a surprise gift! See the bottom of the post to see what!

Veggie Miso Udon Soup 

Inspired by Souper Bowl and No Whey No Cow

Serves 6-8

• --For The Broth--
• 1o cups water
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp. erythritol (or sugar)
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste (or finely minced ginger)
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 4 green onions, sliced thinly
• 1 sheet of Nori seaweed, chopped
• 1/2 cup miso paste (I prefer red)
• --Goodies--
• 1 head of broccoli florets, chopped
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 2 8 oz. packages of udon noodles (sauce packet tossed, eww)
• 1 12 oz. package silken tofu, cubed
• 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach

First, steam the chopped broccoli and carrots so they are just tender. Once done, set aside for use later. 

In a large soup pot, bring the water along with all the broth ingredients, excluding the miso paste, to a boil. Once boiling, turn to a simmer and once it stops boiling, add in the miso paste. Whisk well to incorporate. 

Now, add in the udon noodles and allow to cook for about 5 minutes, or until they have separated. Add in the cubed tofu and stir gently to combine. 

Serve in a giant normal-person, reasonable-sized soup bowl and add in the spinach, steamed broccoli, and carrots. Allow a few minutes for the spinach to wilt and then eat up!

Holy closeup! Helllllo spinach.

How did I get those macro photos? With a macro lens of course! Todd bought me one and Lightroom, as well! Hurray! We He has a 20mm wide angle as well as a 50mm 1.4.

Oh, it's Oreo! Look at him, he really needs some love! He must have put this on the blog...what a clever little guy.

On repeat, Wild Child – Someone Else

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Cheesy Pumpkin Sage Penne with Sausage

I questioned whether I should really post this recipe or not. For one, I've seen like a bazillion pumpkin pasta recipes in just the last three days alone. However, I'll have you know that I made this like a week ago, okay!? And second, I adapted it from...Rachael Ray. Disgust. Apparently my distaste for Rachael knows no bounds. That, and I couldn't get any good photos. Yes, the odds were definitely against me on this one, but this pasta was much too delicious not to share! It'd be a crime, and rather selfish. Plus, I wanted to share photos from our first ski of the Winter with you! There's currently no snow around here, so we had to go seek it out in the mountains. 

And we were not disappointed. Alaskan beauty at it's finest! Winter is the best time of the year. You can see those photos below the recipe, but first, it's pumpkin time! 

I said, "It's pumpkin time!" This pasta is creamy, cheesy and packed with pumpkiny goodness. The sage lends depth and the sausage...well, you have to have some vegan sausage right? Yes.

Cheesy Pumpkin Sage Penne with Sausage

Inspired by Food Network

Serves 4-6

• 18 oz. penne pasta, dry
• 2 Field Roast Smoked Apple and Sage Grain Sausages, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil 
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves,  minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella, shredded 
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast  
• 3 Tbsp. fresh sage leaves, minced

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside until ready to use. 

Bring a medium frying pan to heat with a bit of nonstick cooking spray and brown the sausage slices, for about 5 minutes. Set aside when done until ready to use.

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Bring a medium frying pan to heat with a bit of nonstick cooking spray and brown the sausage slices, for about 5 minutes. Set aside when done until ready to use.Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes, until the onions begin to turn translucent and the garlic becomes fragrant. 

Add the remaining ingredients to the onion and garlic, excluding the sage and sausage. Whisk well to combine and allow to simmer over medium-low heat for about 5-10 minutes, or until the sauce begins to thicken. Add additional cornstarch as is needed. 

Once thickened, add to the pasta and toss to coat, along with the sausage slices.

Serve hot, with additional sage and cheese to top it off!

Now onto those Alaskan Winter photos I promised! 

I'm listening to Wild Child – Crazy Bird

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Spiced Cinnamon Rolls + Pumpkin Icing

So the other day Todd tells me that he wants to make a snack for "Boss's Day"...and by snack he tells me, "I mean treat." And by him...he means, me. Okay, that's only sort of true. He's a pretty darn good kitchen helper. Bringing something to a non-vegan food fest is really your chance to say, "See? I eat real food. Good food! Delicious food. And it doesn't have to have any animal products in it." But mostly it's a cry of, "See? I'm not a weirdo! Everyone all up in this joint asking me for the recipe and I'm the weirdo. Yeah, riiight. Hah!" Well, at least that's how it goes for me anyway. Somehow I still end up the weirdo, but I'm certain that's due to my unmistakable discomfort in all social situations. I'm off track. Anyways, I pondered and pondered about what I could make that: A) I wouldn't have to go the store for to get some random ingredients and B) omnivores would enjoy, wholeheartedly.

I came up with cinnamon rolls. This is a pretty strange idea for me for several reasons. One being that most people buy cinnamon rolls from the store (I think). Two, I certainly had never made them before (case in point about my ignorance regarding cinnamon roll acquiring). The third reason, I had to learn the hard way. It's that after making fresh cinnamon rolls...you really, really don't want to part with them. I'm mean, just look at the them! Gah! 

These easy rolls are layered with pumpkin pie spice instead of regular ol' cinnamon and the Autumnal (yea it's a word) icing is infused with pumpkin puree and topped with finishing salt. Oh so snobby! After Todd and I split one, I turned to him and said, "Well that was one of the dumbest things I've ever done." Next time I think I'll just make cookies or something...

Spiced Cinnamon Rolls + Pumpkin Icing

Inspired By Minimalist Baker

Makes 9 rolls

• --For The Rolls--
• 1 cup vanilla coconut milk (carton, I like Silk)
• 3 Tbsp vegan butter
• 1 instant yeast packet
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp. vegan sugar
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 5 Tbsp. vegan butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• --For The Icing--
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Kahlua or vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla coconut milk (carton)
• 3 Tbsp. pumpkin puree 
• sprinkle of salt
• flake salt to top (finishing salt) - optional

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and the butter together until the butter has melted and the it has reached 110 F. Do not let it boil. The milk should be about a warm bathwater temperature. If it gets too hot, allow it to cool slightly or it will kill the yeast. When the milk is 110 F, transfer to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk (do not stir) and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Then, add in the salt and 1 Tbsp. of sugar and stir gently to incorporate. 

Now, add in the flour in six steps, never stirring too much. Once combined, lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough a few times until it becomes a round ball. Wash out that large mixing bowl, dry it, and then coat with a small amount of grapeseed or canola oil. Place the ball of dough in the bowl, cover with saran wrap and place in a warm area to rest for 1 hour. It should double in size. 

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Lightly flour your work surface again and when the dough is done rising, punch it down once or twice and then roll it out into a large, medium-thin rectangle. 

Brush evenly with the melted butter, then sprinkle on the pumpkin pie spice, followed by the sugar. Make sure it's scattered evenly across the entire rectangle. 

Coat a 8 in. x 8 in. clear baking dish with a nonstick cooking spray. Wait to preheat oven. Gently and evenly roll up the dough into a long log.

Using a serrated knife, gently cut it into 9 even slices. Then, place each slice into the greased baking dish and cover with saran wrap. Okay, now preheat the the oven to 350 F and place the dish on that spot on your stove where the heat from the oven likes to emit. It's where I have exploded a can of Pam, and most recently where Todd melted a purple onion shaped onion keeper. You know the spot. Let the dish sit there while the oven preheats.

Once the oven has reached temperature, unwrap the dish and place in the oven to bake for about 25 minutes, or until the tops of the rolls are just barely golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before glazing. 

To whip up the icing, combine everything excluding the flake salt in a small bowl or pyrex measuring cup and whisk well to incorporate. Add more milk as is needed.

If the icing begins to harden by the time the cinnamon rolls are ready, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls and finish with flake salt.

Enjoy! Horde them all yourself or be super nice and share like I did.

 I'm totally listening to my beloved Zee Avi – Honey Bee

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