jazzy vegetarian + giveaway

Jazzy Vegetarian is on the Create Network and some PBS stations! In fact, the 5th season began in May, but it is never too late to catch the show being rebroadcast. I checked my local (local, yes, but not where I live, sadly!) Create Network and even Jazzy Vegetarian Season 1 is being aired, so, yes, you can catch Laura Theodore almost twice a week, if not more.

Laura Theodore is the Jazzy vegetarian who brings healthy, accessible and easy meals to every table. This season's theme is Vegan-easy meals and the season has an accompanying cookbook: Laura Theodore's Vegan-ease: An Easy Guide to Enjoying a Plant-Based Diet [AMAZON, B&N]. I reviewed this book last year; check it out.

"This fifth season of the award-winning Jazzy Vegetarian show is filled with fabulous, ved-ucational guests, and plenty of jazzy-licious, plant-based recipes. From Sunday Brunch to a Garden-Fresh Dinner, Laura Theodore — with help from celebrity guests like Lidia Bastianich, Julieanna Hever, and Rickey Medlocke, (lead guitarist of the legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd); — cooks healthy, delicious food for family and friends."

So, what kinds of dishes does Laura prepare on the show? Recipes like:

This delicious salad was a breeze to make and tasted really delicious. Laura suggests that you can use tamari almonds, which gave me the idea to use wasabi almonds. So good! Watch Laura prepare this dish on Create right HERE!

Then I made these amazing crabcakes. They are so simple to prepare, but deliver big. Laura makes this recipe into 8 cakes, but I'm from Texas - everything needs to be bigger, so I made 4 cakes, extra thick:

While flipping through the book I noticed an(other) easy salad recipe, but this one with a quick feta. I had to try it!

So very easy and yummy! The tofu feta is surprisingly delicious, given the simple recipe that it is. I threw in a few slices of jalapeno, simply because I love spice and I used fresh herbs since they are growing in my garden; a small garden, but herbs it does have.

Finally, I wanted to make something I knew my family would love - seitan! You can watch Laura make this dish on Create Network right HERE. Laura uses easily bought seitan, but I like making my own seitan (recipe in Everyday Vegan Eats [AMZON]) because it is more flavorful, tender and moist. And since we like our Seitan Piccata with a bit of sauce, I tightened it up with a bit of cornstarch/arrowroot slurry (mix 1/2 cup broth with 2 tablespoons starch and add it at the end; cook for 30 more seconds).

Of course, we had to have a side with this delicious meal and we chose another caper dish - Cauliflower, Broccoli and Caper Medley.

If you would like to make any of these recipes, get yourself Laura's Vegan-Ease cookbook [AMAZON, B&N]! All these recipes are in the book, plus menus, tips and tricks and plenty of vegan-ease recipes to keep you well fed.

Make sure to catch Laura's Jazzy Vegetarian show on Create Network or PBS stations on Wednesdays and Sundays. Check the schedule for Create Network right here at the link.

What? You don't get Create Network in your area, either (just like me) and Jazzy Vegetarian hasn't been brought to your PBS network, yet??? First, write to your cable network to get Create Network and then pen an email or letter to your local station to start airing Jazzy Vegetarian. The more people ask, the quicker we can get Laura to be broadcast everywhere.

In the meantime, head over to Laura's website and pick up a few Jazzy Vegetarian DVDs. You can get the 3-disk DVD collection HERE. If you would like other combo packs of DVDs or cookbooks, head over HERE to check out the selection.

Because I really love Laura and what she is doing to help the animals and people, and because I love her recipes, I am giving away her 3-disk DVD collection (the one I linked to above), so be sure to enter below by commenting on this post. If you go and check out Laura's Jazzy Vegetarian Facebook page, come back and post a SEPARATE comment for a SECOND chance to win the DVDs! Score!

I will be picking the winner on August 9th, midnight. Only US entrees, please. Thank you and good luck!

Laura is sharing a recipe from the show and it is just in time for summer: Strawberry Mountain Pie! Thanks to David Kaplan for taking the great photo of the pie. 

Photo by David Kaplan

Strawberry Mountain Pie
Makes 6 to 8 servings / Ease Factor 2        

This delightful and delicious pie provides the perfect showcase for seasonal organic strawberries. The filling is so creamy you will not believe it’s based in raw cashews and tofu. Easy to assemble and super yummy!

CRUST

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegan cookie crumbs or vegan graham cracker crumbs (see note)
3 to 5 heaping tablespoons sesame tahini
1½ tablespoons nondairy milk

FILLING

16 ounces extra-firm regular tofu
8 ounces soft silken tofu
1⁄3 cup raw cashews
1⁄3 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegan white sugar or your preferred dry sweetener

TOPPING

16 ounces organic strawberries
2 tablespoons strawberry preserves
2½ teaspoons filtered or spring water


 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the crust, put the cookie crumbs, 3 heaping tablespoons tahini and 1 1⁄2 tablespoons nondairy milk in a medium-sized bowl and combine using a large fork or dough blender. Add more tahini until the crumbs are moistened, but still crumbly in texture (up to 5 heaping tablespoons of tahini in all). Press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 5 minutes. Put the pie plate on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.

While the crust cools, put the extra-firm regular tofu, silken tofu, cashews and sugar in a blender and process until smooth. Pour the tofu mixture over the cooled crust. Spread in an even layer and smooth the top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top of the pie is slightly firm to the touch (center of the filling will still be very soft). Put the pan on a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes.

While the pie bakes, trim 1⁄8- to 1⁄4-inch off the wide end of each strawberry. Then, when the pie is out of the oven but still warm, arrange the strawberries, flat end down, in a pleasing pattern on top of the pie, gently pressing the end of each strawberry into the filling so it stands upright. Put the preserves and water in a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Spread the preserves evenly over the top of the strawberries using a pastry brush or small spoon.

Refrigerate 4 to 8 hours before serving. Carefully cut the pie into slices (the filling will be soft). Stored tightly covered in the refrigerator, leftover pie will keep for about 2 days.

Chef’s Note: To make cookie crumbs, put  1 1⁄2 to 2 cups of broken-up vegan cookies in a blender, and process to coarse crumbs. Add more cookies, as needed, to make the amount of crumbs needed for this recipe.

Amount per serving, based on 8 servings:  166 Calories; 6g Fat; 1g Saturated fat; 7g Protein; 57mg Sodium; 23g Total Carbohydrate; 12g Sugars; 2g Fiber

Recipes from Laura Theodore's Vegan-Ease: An Easy Guide to Enjoying a Plant-Based Diet © Laura Theodore 2015, Jazzy Vegetarian, LLC. Reprinted by permission. More information at www.vegan-ease.com and www.jazzyvegetarian.com