Galaxy Nutritional Foods Blog

Out of this Galaxy Cheesecake

Crust:
1 box Mary’s Gone Crackers gf Double Chocolate Love Cookies
1 Tbsp. Earth Balance non-hydrogenated spread, melted
1 tsp. Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Blue Agave

Filling
3-1/2 pkgs. Galaxy Classic Cream Cheese
1-3/4 cup Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Granulated Sugar
2 Tbsp. liquid lecithin
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup Jules Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
1-1/2 Tbsp. egg replacer dissolved in ½ cup water
1 tsp. lemon extract
1/4 cup SoyaToo! Whipping Cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

1. Process cookies in the bowl of a food processor. Pour in melted spread and agave and pulse briefly to combine.
2. Spray bottom of 8 or 9” round cake pan (not springform) with vegetable oil. Place a piece of parchment paper, cut to size, on top.
3. Add crumbs and press down using the bottom of a drinking glass. Bake 5 minutes. Let cool.
4. Combine cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy.
5. Add remaining ingredients, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Pour mixture onto baked and cooled cookie crust.
7. Place a baking pan, larger than the cheesecake pan, in the oven. Place cheesecake pan in larger pan. Add hot water to large pan, about ½ way up the sides of the cheesecake pan to create a water bath for the cheesecake.
8. Bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until the cheesecake is firm in the center.
9. Remove cheesecake pan from water bath and place on cooling rack. When cooled, transfer cheesecake pan to the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least 10 hours.
10. To unmold: Using a sharp knife, go around the edges of the cheesecake to loosen it. Cover the pan with a large plate and turn the cheesecake upside down. Peel off the parchment liner.
11. Place a serving plate over the bottom of the cheesecake and flip it over so that the cake is sitting upright. Decorate with additional SoyaToo whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 8

©2011, Mimi Clark.

Veggie Gourmet
www.veggourmet.wordpress.com

We invited home cooks to send us their best recipe for a dish using Galaxy’s Vegan or Veggie Classic Plain or Garlic and Chive Cream Cheese. The First Place Winner, Julie Ann Zserdin, will receive $50 worth of Galaxy product. The Second Place Winner, Regina Weiland, will receive $15 worth of Galaxy product. Each winner will also receive a copy of Eating Well magazine’s new cookbook Eating Well: Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals.

First Place: Julie Ann Zserdin

VEGAN STROGANOFF

Ingredients:
2 cups plain soy milk
2 8 oz. containers of plain or garlic Galaxy Cream Cheese
1 8 Oz container of vegan sour cream
2 large onions
2 large green peppers
1 large pkg. fresh mushrooms or lg can of mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves (2 Tbl. garlic powder)
1 bag of vegan crumbles
salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp allspice
2 cups vegan all wheat flat noodles ( or vegan noodle of choice)

Lightly brown onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil. once translucent add milk, cream cheese, sour cream, crumbles, and spices to pan. Let simmer for an hour. Cook noodles in large saucepan with a tsp. of sea salt and 2 TBL. olive oil. drain when soft and rinse. Top noodles with vegan stroganoff.

The best part of being a vegan is the purity and peace of mind one experiences and the strong connection I feel to the animal kingdom. - Uri Geller

Second Place: Regina Wieland

STUFFED JALAPENOS

Ingredients:
6-8 large jalapeños
1 tub Galaxy Vegan Cream Cheese
8 oz vegan sour cream
2 Tbsp vegan mayo
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
4 Tbsp southwest seasoning
2 tsp chili powder
¼ cup olive oil

Wet mix:
½ cup flour
½ cup soy milk

Dry Mix:
¼ cup flour
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup breadcrumbs
½ tsp chili powder

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut slit in jalapeños leaving the stem. Scrape out all the seeds. Whip together the Galaxy Cream Cheese, sour cream, mayo, and spices. Pipe mixture into the jalapenos. Mix the flour and soy milk together for the wet mix. Mix the flour, corn meal, bread crumbs and seasonings in a large bowl. Coat peppers in the wet mixture and then coat in the dry. Place peppers on a baking stone and bake for 15 minutes. Coat peppers with oil and cook for 10 minutes to brown.

While at Natural Products Expo West in Los Angeles in March a few of the Galaxy Nutritional Foods staff met with some of the editorial staff from Vegetarian Times. These trade shows are always a lot of work, as one can imagine, but the results are hard to beat. We get to talk to other people making and selling natural foods we enjoy (after all, as much as one might like, you can’t live on our cheese alone…you at least need some fruit and crackers). We also are able to engage in conversations with editors like those from Vegetarian Times, a publication several people in the office read and at least one subscribes to for their recipes. What we learn from interactions such as these are not just what is working (thankfully a lot), but where we can improve, how people use our products, and what people want (one way our Facebook page is great, all those comments asking for a soy free item or placement on a shelf in a natural food store in a small town in Colorado…).

A big thanks to the kind person at Vegetarian Times who enjoyed the Classic Plain Vegan Cream Cheese and then turned us on to the recipe Linguine in Lemon Cream Sauce, which she had used light cream cheese in and we agreed could easily be swapped out for ours. Well, we did (swap it out that is) and oh the pasta dish was so so good. In advance of giving you the recipe we are going to encourage you to get pen and paper ready to write down what you need (should you not have everything in your house, pretty short list so you might) and let the family know you’ve got dinner tonight. Oh, and serve with a nice salad on the side with some fresh greens and tomatoes dressed in a nice light extra virgin olive oil based dressing with Hawaiian Sea Salt (sold at gourmet shops, Whole Foods Markets) and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

For once dinner will come out just as pretty as in the picture. Just visit this page of the Vegetarian Times website for the recipe.

Just one more itsy bitsy little item Vegetarian Times just announced their 2011 Foodie Awards. Galaxy’s Vegan Classic Plain Cream Cheese made the short list of products!!! We are featured under the Soft Cheese category (section #23), http://www.vegetariantimes.com/2011foodieawards Added bonus, just because the publication is so cool, by voting you are eligible to win a $250 grocery shopping spree. The magazine will announce readers’ top choices in their October issue.

The Galaxy team loves to cook, and some of us really enjoy baking. Glancing over at the bookcase, the titles read Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Soul Kitchen, The Kind Diet, Babycakes. There are several on canning and preserving. Binders of recipes and beautiful (inspiring) photo essays torn from magazines and supermarket newsletters. Then the numerous cookbooks including Flo Braker’s The Simple Art of Baking, Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, and Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. There is a belief in not living without, but living with and substituting. Finding diet/lifestyle friendly alternatives for ingredients including dairy and meat products. We want this blog to be a resource for recipes, a creative center from which you will leave with ideas for everything from late night baking to after school snacks. From time to time we will also use this blog as a place to post about farmers’ markets, farm stands, opportunities for you to pick fruit (known as places “u-pick”), gardening tips (yes, city dwellers you too can have fresh herbs), and simple sustainable life “how to” lessons on things like composting. If we make a particularly good jam that goes nicely with say our Vegan Cheddar Block then we’ll post that recipe here too.

Now, without further ado…this past weekend our Marketing Director took to his kitchen with his children and made a vegan version of the Black and White Muffin recipe he found on food.com.

Vegan Black and White Muffins as adapted from food.com.

Ingredients:
4 oz. vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup and 3 Tbsp sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 cup fair trade cocoa, sifted if lumpy
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 banana
1 cup Rice Dream
1/2 cup margarine, melted

Directions:

Beat cream cheese and 3 Tbsp sugar in small bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Measure next 6 ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt) into large bowl. Stir. Make a well in centre.

Combine remaining 3 ingredients (banana, Rice Dream, margarine) in separate small bowl. Add to well. Stir until just moistened. Fill 12 greased muffin cups 1/2 full.

Make small dent in batter with back of spoon. Spoon about 2 1/2 teaspoons (12 mL) cream cheese mixture into each dent. Spoon remaining batter over top. Bake in 375°F oven for 18 to 20 minutes until firm to the touch. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.

Yield: 12 muffins