The Jolly Fox
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Braised Endive & Chai Spice Cookies.
I was reading a magazine or something a few months back and saw a very un-vegan recipe for braised endive with prosciutto. Something about that sounded pretty good to me….a vegan version anyway. So last night I decided to braise some endive and make some tofu prosciutto. There is a great prosciutto and pancetta recipe in Veganize This! I went ahead and used that because it’s super delicious. Like with most of the homemade seitan and mock meats from the book, you create a marinade of lots of spices and yummy flavors. Fennel, whole star anise, liquid smoke etc. To cut the tofu paper thin, I use a cheese cutter. There was something telling me not to give it up when I went vegan and I’m so glad i didn’t. Not only do I use it to cut the thinnest, most perfect tofu slices, but I also use it to cut Daiya (in block form) and Follow Your Heart cheese.
After the tofu slices have sat in the marinade for a while, you put them in the oven to get crispy.
After that’s done, now you can prep whatever else you’re eating, in my case, get the endive ready for braising.
Braised Endive with Vegan Prosciutto
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs Belgian endive
3 tbsp Earth Balance
½ c No-Chicken Stock (Better Than Bouillon, Edward & Sons, Imagine Brand)
¼ c plain non-dairy creamer–I like So Delicious
Vegan Prosciutto, tempeh bacon or Smart Bacon
smoked salt
freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Rinse the endive, pat them dry and remove the outer most leaves. Trim the end ad cut them in half lengthwise. Warm the Earthy B in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the endive, cut side down, into the skillet and saute until browned. Do in multiple batches if you don’t have a skillet big enough to fit all of the endive. Place endive cut side up in a 9×13 baking dish or one of about equal size (all of the endive should fit in a single layer on the bottom of the dish). Take your vegan prosciutto or substitute and lay the strips across the endives, tucking the ends. Whatever extra pieces you may have, you can save for later or lay them on top. Add the no chicken broth and the creamer. Cover your dish with foil and braise for about 35 min. After 35 min, remove foil and test the endive with a paring knife. It should be able to cut through quite easily. Braise for about another 6 minutes. There should be no liquid in the bottom of the dish. If your dish becomes dry during braising, just add a few tbsp of water. Season with smoked salt and freshly cracked pepper.
For my dessert, I decided to make up a batch of yummy chai cookies. I added a combination of black and white pepper (among other spices), but a fun thing to do is play around with a chai blend to get it just the way you like it 🙂
The Jolly Fox 
I am sitting here smiling because I made the vegan prosciutto a few days ago. OOO I loved it. Will be making it again.
MMMMM cookies!
This meal looks ridic! 2 weeks in India and I’m still not sick of Chai spices. Lentils and chickpeas, now that’s a whole nother story 🙂
Chai spiced cookies look and sound divine!