Teleportation Pineapple Smoothie

The idea of teleportation, moving from one place to another without moving through physical space, was first mention in fiction in the 1930s.  Since then, many authors and screenwriters have incorporated elements of teleportation into their work. 

Most familiar is probably the transporter room technology of Star Trek in which people stand in a designated area and then are dematerialized into energy matter and reassembled at the destination location.  Author Stephen King has written a couple of short stories using the idea of bending physical space to travel faster.  The Twilight Zone television series also used the concept of magical ports that, when passed through, would transport people to other worlds. 

Today's recipe is very simple to make but has almost the same effect as being teleported to the beach.  Making any kind of drink and drinking it from a pineapple gives you the feeling of enjoying vacation in a tropical setting.

Ingredients

• 1 whole pineapple (small to medium)
• 1/2C crushed pineapple (extracted from the whole pineapple)
• 6-8 whole strawberries, frozen
• 1 ripe banana
• 1C milk
• 1T sugar

Directions

1. Cut the top off the pineapple and set aside.
2. Hollow out the pineapple taking care not to puncture the sides or the bottom (don't want a leaky cup).
3. Take the flesh was was removed and cut away the core.  
4. Combine the strawberries, banana, and 1/2C of pineapple to the blender.
5. Add milk and sugar.
6. Blend until smooth and pour into the pineapple.
7. Add straw and drink umbrella.

Tofu egg salad that chickens will love

Egg salad is versatile because it works as a sandwich spread, spread for vegetables, and deviled eggs.  Tofu egg salad works for all of these. 

If you live in near a metropolitan area where there is an Indian grocery store, it will definitely be worth your while to stop by and pick up two items:  Indian black salt (kala namak) and an Indian curry.

Ingredients

• 16oz pack, extra firm or firm tofu, well-drained
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced
• 1/3C vegan mayonnaise
• 3T nutritional yeast
• 1t prepared yellow mustard
• 1t curry powder
• 1t Indian Black salt

Directions

1. Place the tofu in a mixing bowl and mash well with a potato masher.
2. Add the diced celery.
3. In a small bowl, combine and mix well mayonnaise, mustard, curry powder, and nutritional yeast.
4. Pour the mayonnaise mixture into the tofu and stir until well-combined.

Emergency Mayonnaise

When I was a child, I used to watch the show Emergency!  Centered around a fire hall, every week the team would encounter a variety of critical fire and paramedic situations.  Of course, they always saved the day.

This week I had a little kitchen emergency of my own.  In making a sandwich spread recipe, I discovered that I was out of mayonnaise.  I quickly search for "vegan mayo" recipes online and found this one.  It is easy to make, and works well on sandwiches or in salads, such as potato or macaroni salad.

Ingredients

• 8 oz extra firm tofu
• 1/4C raw cashews, ground into a fine powder
• 1T lemon juice
• 1T sugar
• 1 1/2t Dijon mustard
• 1t apple cider vinegar
• 1/2t salt
• 6T extra virgin olive oil or grape seed oil

Directions

1. Rinse and squeeze the tofu to remove excess water.  Crumble the tofu in the food processor.
2. Add other ingredients to the food processor and pulse until well combined.
3. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  Many food processors have a small hole designed just for this.
4. Once the oil has been added, remove the mayonnaise from the food processor and transfer to a small bowl.

Second chance almond crackers

At home we use almond milk as a substitute for dairy milk.  In a previous post I shared my recipe for homemade almond milk, which is quick and easy, inexpensive, and delicious. 

Each time that I make almond, there is about a 1/2 packed cup of almond pulp left over.  At first, I just threw it away.  Then I discovered that you can use it to make crackers that work well with Guilt-free Vegan Cheese Ball.  Rather than being waste, the almond pulp has a second chance to make a tasty contribution to our kitchen table.

A online search for almond pulp crackers yields many recipes.  However, some of these require baking the crackers at low temperatures (around 150 degrees) for 20 hours.  Crackers that only include almond meal without some kind of binder - like flour - tend to be crumbly.

The recipe below is a modification of Serendipity Sesame Crackers and only requires an acceptable 30 minutes of baking time.

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients

• 1/2C packed, almond meal
• 1C whole wheat flour
• 1t salt
• 1/2C water
• 3T olive oil

Directions

1. Combine almond meal, flour, and salt.
2. Stir together and blend using a pastry cutter.  My almond pulp is moist so the consistency and blending is similar to biscuits.
3. Add oil and water and mix until a dough forms.
4. Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter and place your dough on this.  Put a second sheet of parchment paper (or wax paper) on top of the dough.
5. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
6. Peel off the top parchment/wax paper and place the rolled out dough on a baking sheet.
7. Using a knife or pizza cutter, score the crackers.  I make 2-inch square crackers.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.