Cold Smoked Plants

I’ve been cooking plant based for over 10 years now. Just last year I started experimenting with cold smoking. I initially started with the intent to smoke vegan cheese, but soon found I could put virtually anything into the smoker, and whatever it was, it usually took on a great depth and complexity of flavor after smoking. Eventually I will build out more detailed recipes for all of the below, but in the meantime I wanted to share what I’ve been doing with vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, butters, and oils.

I’m sure the Traeger grill works wonders for any of the below,  but I’ve found great success with my “Poor Man’s Traeger”   which is a $20 dollar smoking tube from Amazon . 

1. Place this tube inside your existing  grill
2. Fill it with Traeger Grill Master Pellets – Signature Flavor,  ($20 dollar supply should last for at least twenty – 4 hour smoke sessions)
3. Light the pellets with a torch. To get a good light I hold the torch on the pellets for about a minute.
4. Let the flame burn on the pellets for about 10 minutes with the grill open to get lots of air. Sometimes the flame will naturally go out, other times you may have to blow out the flame, so the pellets just smoke and don’t burn up too fast. Once smoking you can close and vent the grill.
5. Some grills have built in vents, I just put my grill brush under the lid so it can’t close all the way, creating a vent
6. Walk away……    let it smoke for roughly 4 hours

The key with this technique is that it is COLD smoking so you aren’t cooking the food. I’ve smoked in temp ranges from 20 – 70 degrees.  I think the 40s or below are ideal if you’re doing something like butter that could melt in warmer temps

Vegetables:

• Beets –  I’ve smoked raw beets, then diced them and roasted in the oven with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil for 45 minutes at 400 Fahrenheit. I’ve also purchased the pre-cooked/peeled beets, smoked them, then add them to Salads
  • Recipe Option: Smoked Beet Crostini – toast crostini,  layer with horseradish cream,  add diced smoked beets on top
• Tomatoes – One of my favorites for sure. I like to buy whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes (Costco has 6 lb cans for $3), but any will work. Dump the tomatoes and sauce into a bowl and smoke on the grill.
  • Smoked Marinara / pizza sauce
    • Sauté 4 cloves minced garlic in olive oil
    • Add 28 oz of smoked tomatoes (about 4 cups)
    • Add a teaspoon each of oregano, basil, thyme
    • Add 1 tablespoon salt
    • Cook on low simmer for 30 minutes to an hour to concentrate flavors
    • Add a tablespoon of olive oil and blend with an immersion stick or in the blender (let cool first if putting in blender)
    • This is great as a pizza sauce or just a general marinara
  • Smoked Tomato / Chipotle Salsa  –
    • 2 cups of smoked tomatoes with sauce
    • 4 – 5 cloves of roasted garlic (I break up a bulb, but leave the skins on, and put directly on the grill. Cook until both sides are charred). Remove skins before adding to recipe
    • 1-2 canned chipotle peppers depending on your spice tolerance (these make a great pantry staple, lots of different brands, most grocery stores will carry in the mexican food section)
    • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
    • Juice of one lime
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • Combine all of the above in a food processor or blender and mix util combined
• Corn –  smoke canned or frozen corn (thawed)  and use in recipes as you normally would  (salsas, salads, etc..)
• Cauliflower –  smoke raw, then marinade, then grill or roast –  did this last week and served with smoked mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy…  you could also smoke a pre-cooked cauliflower
• Artichokes – drain canned artichokes into a bowl,  smoke, and use in spinach artichoke dip
• Potatoes / Sweet Potatoes –  similar to beets,  you can smoke either pre-cooked or smoke them raw, then cook them
• Carrots –  smoke raw or cooked –  I sliced some thin on the mandolin, steamed them, then smoked them,  and use for bagels and “Lox”
• Cabbage –  smoke raw cabbage – make into a sauerkraut or just use in a slaw

Grains:

• Rice –  I always keep a stock of smoked rice, all rices work. I smoke them uncooked then simply store as I normally would and use in any recipe
  • Basmati –  makes a great Spanish rice
  • Arborio –  makes a great mushroom risotto
  • Sushi -molds well – works in any Asian flavored dish
• Farro – similar to rice, smoke it uncooked, then cook as normal
  • Smoked Farro Tabbouleh
    • Cook 2 cups dry farrow
    • Add one cucumber (peeled, seeded, diced)
    • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
    • 1 clove of minced garlic
    • Mix 3 tablespoons lemon juice, six tablespoons olive oil, and 1/2 tsp dijon
    • Add salt to taste (start with 1 teaspoon)

Legumes

• Chickpeas – drain canned chickpeas into a bowl, or even better cook dry chick peas
  • Hummus
  • Smoked Chickpea Salad
    • 2 cans smoked chickpeas (drain/rinse before smoking). Pulse in a food processor or mash with a potato masher or spoon (you are going for 1/2 way between whole beans and fully pureed hummus)
    • 1 cup of finely diced celery
    • 3 diced green onions
    • 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat leaf parsley,
    • 1 teaspoon dijon
    • 1/2 cup mayo
    • Salt and pepper to taste (start with 1/2 teaspoon salt)
• Black Beans – smoke and add to Mexican dishes or make a black bean hummus
• Black Lentils  – cook first – then put in a bowl and smoke
  • Smoked Black Lentil Salad –  toasted walnuts, pickled onion, parsley, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt
• White Beans  -smoke,  then make smoked hummus  (garlic, lemon, olive oil, parsley, salt)

Nuts

• Raw Cashews – I’ve found raw cashews to be the best for smoking, smoke them raw, then store them and use as normal
  • Add water to to cover raw smoked cashews and blend in vita-mix to make smoked cashew cream (use anywhere you would use heavy cream). I’ve found they add great flavor to mashed sweet potatoes, or mashed regular potatoes
  • Smoked Vanilla Bourbon Pecan Ice Cream –  I haven’t made this one yet, but it’s on the list. Use smoked cashew cream as the ice cream base, then add in some caramel sauce, and candied bourbon pecans
  • Almonds – smoke raw almonds and use to make various dips. There is a new vegan dip called “Bitchin Sauce” that has taken the market by storm. It is a welcome change from hummus and delivers massive umami. The core recipe is as follows:
    • 1 cup almonds
    • 3/4 cup water
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
    • 1/3 clove of garlic
    • 2 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos (Soy Sauce also works)
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
    • 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon white miso (optional, but a great pantry staples that lasts forever and adds tremendous umami to dishes)
    • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• The base recipe above can take on many different flavors including pesto, spinach/artichoke, buffalo sauce, Bombay, cilantro/lime, chipotle, etc..

Tofu / Seitan / Tempeh

• I haven’t done a lot with these, but they can all be smoked easily

Cheese

• Preferably vegan,  but of course any cheese can be smoked!

Fats / Oils

• Butter (just make sure the outside temp is cool enough)
• Olive Oil
• Coconut oil