Apricot-Glazed Cauliflower for One

Do you ever have a hankering for barbecue sauce and you’re allergic to tomatoes (on which most such sauces are based)? Try sloshing this sweet and tangy sauce on tofu, slabs of seitan, steamed veggies, or, as seen here, on cauliflower florets. Yum!

2 cups cauliflower florets

3 TBLSP apricot preserves

2 TBLSP miso (yellow or white)

2 TBLSP rice vinegar

2 TBLSP soy sauce or tamari

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for quick clean-up).

1. Place the florets on the baking sheet and heave it in the oven while you mix up the sauce, about 5 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (preserves, miso, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic and ginger powders.
3. Pull the baking sheet from the oven and slather the florets on all sides with the sauce.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
5. Pull the baking sheet out again, flip everyone over, and bake for another 10-12 minutes. The florets should be fork tender and the sauce should be golden brown and bubbly.

Serve with a refreshing salad. Seen here is a purple rice and zucchini salad, recipe coming soon! 

Buttermilk Biscuits for One

These little charmers are surprisingly delicious and fluffy. I used ‘em to make a sandwich (wasabi-ginger coleslaw—recipe coming soon—roasted asparagus, and melted vegan mozzarella), but they’d be great slathered in vegan butter or doused in some mushroom gravy too! (Makes two biscuits.)

½ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch baking powder

Pinch salt

Pinch baking soda

1 TBLSP vegan butter

¼ cup non-dairy milk (I like almond)

1 TBLSP apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
2. Cut the butter into small cubes and then work it into the flour with a fork. The mixture should be crumbly.
3. In a small bowl, glass, or measuring cup, add the vinegar to the milk. It will curdle almost immediately, but if it doesn’t, give it a little help with a stir or two.
4. Dump the buttermilk that you just made into the flour mixture and combine with a fork until it’s combined. It will be a wet and sticky dough.
5. Shape the dough into two disks. You can use a cutter If you like, or go for something more organic. I like to think of the shapes I make as “round-esque.”
6. Put the rounds on the baking sheet and make a thumbprint in the middle of each.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, until browned.

Eat as soon as they’re cool enough to handle. They taste nice when they’re cold too, but you’ll have a dreadful time waiting that long. 

Broccoli and Kale Burger for One

This burger is quite delicate and nearly falls apart when you touch it with the fork. But don’t let that dissuade you—a soft burger is a delight to the palate as well as to the tummy.

½ TBLSP olive oil

2 TBLSP chopped yellow onion

2 chopped green onions

1 clove garlic, chopped finely

4 teaspoons coarsely chopped button mushroom (about 2 large-ish ones)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup broccoli (florets and stems)

¾ cup kale

½ slice bread

1 teaspoon peanut butter

2 TBLSP walnut pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for frying

1. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and sauté the onion and green onions. This should take 3-5 minutes, just until the onion begins to soften. Toss in the mushrooms and cook until most (but not all) of the water has released and evaporated, about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the garlic and let it cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant.
3. Remove the onions and mushrooms from the heat and stir in the cumin. It will smell fabulous.
4. In a food processor or blender, whirl the broccoli, until it’s broken down into little pellets but isn’t mush. Place this in a bowl. Repeat the blender-to-bowl activity with the kale and the bread. They don’t need to end up in separate bowls because you’re about to mix them.
5. Add in the peanut butter and walnuts and mix it all together. Taste it and add salt and pepper, if needed.
6. Form the mixture into a patty (or two, depending on your mood) on top of a piece of plastic wrap. Cover with wrap (wrap with wrap) and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Otherwise, it will be too soft to fry.)
7. In a small skillet, heat the olive oil and fry the patty for about 5 minutes on each side.

Serve with carrot salad, on a bun, with a side of rice and corn (as shown), or break it up to put on top of a nice crispy salad.

Variations:

• You could make the same kind of patty using equal amounts of spinach, chard, or whatever your favorite green is.
• Stuff a pita bread with the broken-up patty and some veggies. Tahini sauce is pretty good with this.

Zucchini and Corn Fritters for One

It’s summer, and I’ve got zucchini coming out of my ears! And I’ve got ears of corn! (See what I did there?) After I’ve had my fill of it steamed and raw, it’s time to start playing with my food. Here’s the result of one such happy moment in time.

½ cup plus 2 TBLSP shredded zucchini

1 ½ TBLSP corn kernels (frozen and thawed is fine, fresh is better, canned will do)

2 ¼ TBLSP almond butter, tahini, or peanut butter

2 TBLSP flour (I use all-purpose, but any gluten-free will do just as well)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

Pinch sea salt

Ground black pepper to taste

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Place the zucchini in a strainer and put a couple of paper towels on top. Press down hard, and squeeze out the water. When it seems dry, wrap the zucchini in more paper towels and squeeze some more. You’ll be surprised how much water is in there.
2. Put the dried zucchini in a small bowl. Add the corn and nut butter, stirring to combine.
3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper, and stir until it’s well mixed.
4. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini and moosh it together until it forms a nicely homogenous glob. The result should be moist and sticky.
5. Divide the resulting glop into three or four balls and flatten them into patties, about ½-inch thick. Place on the prepared baking sheet and set them to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

This is a good time to make the sauce. I’ve used a nice lemon and pepper sauce (recipe below) for this photo, but ranch dressing, pineapple salad dressing, pesto, or just about any savory sauce or salad dressing would be nice.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Bake the patties for 20-25 minutes. Use a spatula (because these little guys are delicate still), and flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, depending on whether you want them crispy or not. They will be a lovely golden brown color.

Let them cool for a few minutes before serving to increase their sturdiness.

Creamy Lemon Sauce for One

This tangy and creamy sauce goes great with fritters, but try it on noodles or rice, as a dip for crudités, onion rings, or chips, or on a pile of steamed vegetables.

2 TBLSP raw cashews boiled in water for 20 minutes

½ TBLSP fresh lemon juice

1-2 TBLSP water, as needed

Pinch onion powder

Pinch ground black pepper

Pinch sea salt

1. Place the drained cashews in a blender or food processor, add the remaining ingredients, and whirl until it’s a smooth sauce. This will take a couple of minutes, with several pauses to scrape down the sides and such.

This sauce thickens if you put it in the refrigerator. That’s a good thing if you want your sauce thick. If you want it thinner, or to re-thin it after a refrigerator adventure, just add a little water and stir.

Sweet Potato and Cabbage Scramble for One

This quick stir-fry takes advantage of things you probably have in your refrigerator right now. It’s earthy, it’s filling, it’s quick, and it’s oh, so yummy!

½ large sweet potato, cut into ½-inch cubes

Slosh of olive oil

¼ cup large dice green cabbage

2 slices yellow onion, diced

2 mushrooms, halved and sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, diced small

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Slosh tamari or soy sauce

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

¼ cup cubed baked tofu

1. Stir-fry the sweet potato in the oil for about 5 minutes, until it starts to soften.
2. Add in the cabbage and continue stir-frying for another 5 minutes until the cabbage is a bit wilted and the sweet potato is nearly soft.
3. Add in the onion and mushrooms, and keep right on stir-frying until the onions are a bit transparent.
4. Now, toss in the garlic, rosemary, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and pepper and keep right on stir-frying until the garlic disappears a bit.
5. Add in the tofu, and fry until the tofu is warmed through.

 Serve over toast for breakfast, on its own for lunch, or over rice for dinner.