The Best Chickpea Salad EVER!

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I wish I could tell you this creation was mine, that it's intense variety of flavors and textures that will wow you were dreamed up by my desire to have a superb chickpea salad recipe to add to my arsenal, but I can't. That desire, though, deserves serious kudos because it DID make me try out Mel's recipe here. I have never tried a recipe of hers I didn't like, but this one really wowed me...chickpeas with lemon pepper and chipotle, oh my! I made it no less than five times in about two weeks and ate it as you see here, on freshly sliced cucumbers (sometimes then topped with a little slice of cherry tomato on that!) or, even better, in a sprouted grain wrap with a bunch of greens and some chopped tomato. It also was fantastic on other raw veggies, my favorite of which was little boats of fresh red bell pepper. I love food that you don't have to turn your oven on but that still satiates you, one batch feeds me for many meals, and this gem of a salad is cooling but full of hot flavors that really sing. So, if you want to break out of the same ol' same ol' chickpea salad recipe, try out this one and send your tastebuds on a mini vacation from the ordinary!

Seitan Wellington...Swellington!

I was perusing the blogs today when I stumbled upon seitan wrapped in puff pastry on Joni's. I, naturally, immediately purchased the new cookbook that she and Celine put out because I was sure this would be great, as would the other 499 recipes inside.

The only logical next step was to run to the store to pick up the puff pastry and get to making dinner!

I had an idea to just toss together some almost duxelles (i've never actually made beef wellington or duxelles in my life, but the combo sounds heavenly, sans beef, so I sauteed some mushrooms in earth balance with garlic and shallots, and red wine until the wine reduced and everything was brown and smelling wonderful) and throw that on top of the seitan loaf before wrapping it in the pastry. Seitan Wellington!

My puff pastry lattice weaving skills are seriously lacking, but I'm totally blaming this one on the little person who had pretty much had it with my paying dinner all the attention at this point. Thankfully, it goes in the oven for another twenty-five so she and I could spend some serious mommy/daughter time!

I was leary of the setian when it was baking. Baking uncovered in the oven for over half an hour? I was sure it would be too dry. It was a bit dry on the end pieces, but the middle bite of my portion from three cuts in was perfection. I think I may add a bit more liquid next time just to make it a tad more moist, or I may throw it all in a loaf pan and just top with pastry. The presentation won't be as fancy but it may cook more evenly and stay a little moister? I've also toyed with the idea of portioning the seitan dough into a mini loaves pan and topping each with it's own pastry, creating mini, individual serving wellingtons . If I do that I'm sure I'll have to keep an eye on the cooking time to ensure that they don't dry out.
The flavor was really great, and I like the use of whole wheat flour with the gluten flour making it a bit more firm in texture. Speaking of texture, tho...if you compare my pictures to Joni's you'll notice that the two pictures are nothing alike. I was really hoping for mine to be like hers, but it just wasn't. I'm not sure what I could have done wrong or differently. I followed the recipe to a tee. I didn't knead the seitan dough much because the recipe didn't say to. Anyone try this and have similar/dissimilar results?

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Served with some steamed carrots with thyme and my new favorite kale (dino, boiled and then tossed with olive oil, shoyu, and lemon juice).

Either way, I did love this and am not only excited to try it again and maybe tinker with it a little, but also to get their book and try some other amazing vegan recipes!

Seitan Mignon, MoFo!

Well, if I'm gonna attempt to blog all month for Vegan MoFo and fall short, totally not making my goal of blogging daily, at least I'm going out with a bang!

This is a recipe that I've been drooling over for a while from Tracy's blog. She came out with a cookbook* that I didn't realize she'd put together so, naturally, I bought it immediately (five bucks for a dowload? a STEAL!). Those of you who've frequented her blog may know that she does spectacular things with seitan. This recipe? No exception!

The seitan is boiled in this recipe and the texture is spot on. The au jus is wonderful. My only complaint really has to do with the fact that I've no knowledge of the bouillion she uses (Nutri-Max?) and used the one I have on hand (Better Than Bouillion) in the same ratio, not really knowing if it would make it too salty. It did. It was just this side of edible as is after reducing some of the au jus to spoon on top. I'm thinking that when I make the leftover 'steaks' I can thin the juices out with water and I'm dreaming up a wine based reduction to glaze them with. I'm hoping that will help get rid of some of that salt.

I served this with a quick mashed potato and some dinosaur kale. I have to say that this was the BEST kale I've ever made, hands down. Nothing crazy, totally simple execution. I prepped it(removed stemps and chopped), rinsed it, and boiled it for about twenty minutes. i then squeezed out as much excess water as I could and tossed it with a dressing that was equal parts olive oil, lemon juice, and shoyu. (I made a dressing that was two tablespoons of each ingredient but only used a splash of it in my kale as the portion I cooked was only enough for two people. the rest is in the 'fridge awaiting the next side of kale). I may never eat my kale any other way again. For serious!

Mmmmmm, Kale.

This meal was perfect to end MoFo for me on the eve of Halloween as it was spooky and fun. Spooky in that it eerily mimicked a steak and fun in that it was probably the dreamiest seitan dough I've ever made. I'm looking forward to making this one again and again and just adjusting my broth a bit to get the salt content down.

*I've linked to the post where she offers up this recipe. Make it, you'll be in a hurry to cough up your five bucks for more!

Szechuan Takeout Patties

I get most inspired by leftovers of meals gone awry or just leftovers in general. Evidence of that is abundant on this blog. just look here, here, here and here. I love to have food left over as it means less work the following day, but either a) I am determined not to waste food just because a recipe or idea didn't pan out or b) I just don't want to eat the same thing again and again.

Last night was a case of the former. The night before we were spent from a long day of play. It was a gorgeous day and we took full advantage taking Taylor to the park. Once home, bath time and nightly chores needed to be taken care of so takeout seemed like a GREAT idea. The Cap'n wanted Chinese, and since I was in the mood for tofu, I ordered the Szechuan tofu and a side of veggie Lo Mein. While the Lo Mein was ok (never enough veggies), the tofu was too soft and the sauce for it was passable, at best. I didn't even touch the white that came with it.

Come dinner time last night my leftovers were glaring at me while I prepared to make a quick dinner and I knew I'd have to use them up or just toss them entirely. Heating them in the microwave and eating them that way was not going to satisfy so I created these instead Szechuan Takeout Patties. Certainly not health food they sure were a big improvement. They were actually very good! Basically, I had some black beans and some steamed carrots from part of Taylor's dinner (that kid eats best in the house, she loves simple, unseasoned fare). I mashed up some black beans and added them to the tofu which I also mashed up, removing it from the sauce. Some of the sauce became part of the patties but I didn't really add more than what came along with each little clump of tofu. I tried to get some of the peas and carrots that were in the sauce incorporated into the patties as well. I next grated some fresh ginger because I love the stuff and had some on hand from the samosas. I heated up the white rice and added almost the full pint of that. Once mixed, it was a rather loose and wet mixture so I made a slurry of Ener G Egg Replacer and water (about the amount you'd use to simulate two eggs) and stirred that in.

Having only a flavored Stir Fry Oil to fry them in, I went with that. I think it's peanut and soy bean oil based with garlic, ginger and chili.

I fried them in little patties until really brown. Maybe a couple minutes each side on med/hi heat.

I won't lie and say that they held together fabulously. They didn't. They had to be ever so gently turned and most of them stayed together, but not all of them. The rice got really brown and crispy (yum!) and the flavor of the Szechuan sauce was just barely there, which was nice. Once they cooled they were even tastier! I served them up over some heated leftover sauce and topped with the carrots (like you see above).

I loved them so much that they didn't stand a chance of lasting very long. It was all I could do not to snack on them after dinner. The leftovers were devoured with breakfast cold, right out of the fridge by Taylor and I.

Another leftover success!

Gardein's Chick'n Scallopini, a Product Review

I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for any new product I come across that is vegan and makes whipping up dinner easier. Something to shake things up when I haven't pressed my tofu, don't feel like boiling my tempeh, haven't got the time to make seitan and rice and beans ain't gonna cut it is a nice break from the norm. Because of this, I LOVE Soy Curls, have had love affairs with canned seitan patties, and have shacked up plenty with many, many varieties of veggie 'burgers'.

So when I saw Gardein at Publix I was intrigued. It plainly said it was vegan (score!), and appeared to be a versatile product. Low in fat and carbs was a bonus, even if the sodium content wasn't that low (something I try to look for). For an occasional dinner I figured it was worth trying.

The first variety that caught my eye was the Scallopini. Like thin chicken cutlets with a light seasoning and a simple serving suggestion on the back they looked promising.

I decided to follow their serving suggestion on the package, but I didn't have capers (I thought I did!), so I added a bit of brine from a jar of olives. In retrospect I should have tasted as I went because, as the sauce reduced HELLO SALT! these were almost inedible. Totally my fault. I couldn't really vouch for whether the product was good or a bust until I tried them again.

This time I did my go-to marsala but without the mushrooms. I basically heated them in hot smart balance and added a good amount of marsala wine and lemon juice and let it reduce down until it was thick and sticky. I served the two cutlets over just barely heated zucchini pasta that I had tossed with basil pesto.

Pretty good! Basically, these are like Morning Star Farm's Chik'n Meal Starters, but not in strips, in cutlets. They reminded me so much of them that I was tempted to Google as to whether or not this company had anything to do with MSF. I'm not a huge fan of those to begin with, so it's not a total win, but anything in a rich marsala sauce for me is just fine, so it's not a total loss either. I imagine that the sauce makes it for me with this one. Just make a rich sauce or something with a lot of flavor and the flavor will be great, the texture a little soft but overall pretty good for a quick meal.

I did try the Chick'n strips that were breaded also. I made them for my daughter who, as a toddler, could take 'em or leave 'em but that's basically how she feels about most foods. I, on the other hand, thought they were tasty, but devoid of ketchup or agave mustard they have a flavor not unlike veggie dogs which I find odd as they're supposed to mimic a white meat, not hot dogs.

Again, not great, not bad!

I do have the Beefless Tips in the freezer that I still want to try. I'm thinking they'd also be great as marsala or in a stroganoff. If they're great, I'll likely try another variety, if they're just so-so like Chick'n options that I've tried I'll likely just not buy them again.

Sorry I've totally dropped the ball with Vegan MoFo. I've been swamped bridal showers and weddings, oh my! I am an ordained minister and writing the ceremonies is such a labor of love for me to totally labor intensive. I've spent so many hours at the computer that blogging has not been something I've wanted to do. I also spent a LOT of nights making samosas a la VWaV, three dozen for a bridal shower and then six dozen miniature ones for a wedding last Saturday. SIX DOZEN! They're really fun to make up to about three dozen, I say. ;) They were a hit and I'm really glad I could help round out the happy couple's menu, but whew! I'm glad that's over. I don't have a picture of them (tho I just may take one of the dozen or so that ended up back in my refrigerator), but I do have this...

this is what I snacked on while making them. I threw a couple scoops of the filling in a warmed pita and Mmm Mmm Mmm! was able to keep chuggin along. If you haven't tried these babies yet, get to it! They're incredible!

When Life Gives You Dry Seitan, Make Gravy!

So, I've posted about how my attempt at Kittee's scrumptious looking steamed seitan log was a bust (literally, that thing busted right through my foil wrap!) in that it was pretty dry. Okay for slicing really thin and using for sandwiches, okay for nibbling on right out of the fridge, but what I wanted was something hearty and seitan-y for dinner. What to do?

I decided to cut some 1/2 inch rounds and place them in mushroom boullion overnight and all day. My hope is that they would just rehydrate a bit and if that didn't work they'd at least be less dry and Hello! Mushroom Flavor! Yum!

Tonight I dipped those cutlets in soy milk laced with a bit of tabasco, then coated with a mixture of panko, almond meal, tapioca starch, nutritional yeast, garlic salt, and black pepper. Naturally, I fried them to a golden brown after that and served them up to myself and the Cap'n over a bed of steamed spinach and a side of roasted cauliflower and yellow squash.

What's that? I said something about gravy?

Oh yes I did! I have a thing for gravy. I'm a firm believe that basically anything can taste better with a healthy dose of creamy, rich, brown, salty gravy. Luckily, vegan gravy is easily the best gravy I've ever had (or made!). I've posted about it before, I'm not really a recipe kind of girl when it comes to gravy, I just get all the necessary ingredients out in this case, olive oil, flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, shoyu, salt, Gravy Master, and about two cups of heated soy milk or a mixture of soy milk and boullion broth (tonight I used the mushroom buillion that I had been soaking the seitan in. come to think of it, broth used to boil seitan would be fantastic here).

Basically, it plays out like so, heat sauce pan and add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil. Depending on how much you wanna make, add, while whisking, up to 1/4 c. flour and then add, again with the whisking, about the same amount of nutritional yeast. It will be a crumbly texture, but the flour and yeast should have absorbed all the oil. Add in very small amounts the heated liquid and whisk whisk whisk away any chance of lumps. It should be very hot. If it bubbles when the bit of liquid hits the pan and you're whisking? GOOD! Once all the liquid is incorporated, add spices, shoyu to taste and Gravy Master to taste (a tsp or so?) This stuff makes the color really rich and adds a hint of flavor and is totally vegan!. Whisking often and keeping an eye on it, bring to boiling until it starts to thicken. Depending on how little flour you've used, it may or may not thicken very well. Tonight mine was not doing so so I whisked a few good splashes of cold mushroom boullion with just under a tablespoon of cornstarch and added that to the boiling gravy. It thickened up immediately (whatever, Martha Stwewart! there's no graininess here, nothin' but INSANE YUM in this gravy!) and I achieved the perfect consistency.

This was sooooo good! The seitan was no longer dry, just really firm. I likened it to the days of old when we would eat shake and back pork chops. The breading was crunchy and satisfying and the gravy...oh, the gravy!

I swear, this was the best gravy I've made to date....but I think I always say that. Proof you don't have to have a recipe or be a seasoned chef to whip up a tasty gravy and make an amazing meal of a mishap!
and Mmmmmm, roasted cauliflower! or roasted any veg really, no gravy necessary!

Steamed Gluten Log

Oh, how I wanted this to work! I have been wanting to steam seitan since Julie Hasson blogged about it here. Not really a fan of the taste of sausage I resisted until I saw Kittee's version here. Look at how plump and juicy that stuff is! Perfection right? Well, mine came out more like this...Dry. It slices well enough and the flavor is great (just enough seasoning to be flavorful but not so much of any one ingredient that it would compete with another in any recipe. very versatile in that way!), but the texture, for me, turned out to be a lot like the Seitan O' Greatness (which I totally had a love affair with, good stuff, just not what I was hoping for texture-wise), only a much larger log. Here are the things I think went wrong with my attempt:

1. the recipe calls for four cups of onion, or two medium sized ones. I had two med-large sweet onions on hand and that's what I used. I diced them fine in the processor and knew they wouldn't measure to be four cups, not even close, two if I was lucky (and I wasn't. sigh), but I didn't really worry about it, just moved on to caramelizing (Mmmmm, at least the house has smelled amazing all day!).

2. once I mixed the wet and dry ingredients, I noticed my dough was super dry and crumbly. It shouldn't just stick together while mixing with a spoon. Adding the last quarter cup of gluten seemed like a really bad idea so I added water until the consistency was better but just adding it and mixing with a spoon wasn't gonna cut it. So, I worked the additional liquid in with my hands and, in the end, felt like the dough was a bit overworked.

2. While I wrapped the seitan up tight and made sure to wrap it in two different directions to make it secure, secure it was not. Somewhere in the last thirty minutes the seitan busted thru and ripped open the foil, leaving it exposed to the steam directly.

So, I used it today for a simple sandwich and Taylor seems to enjoy nibbling on slices of it just fine, but I'm now craving a more moist and juicy variety and I think I'll be boiling some very, very soon.
Until then, I have an idea to revive my dry slabs and will hopefully be sharing the successful outcome in tomorrow's dinner!

oh, and sorry 'bout the lighting in these pics. It's late and apparently the lighting in my kitchen is REALLY yellow. yikes!

Let The Sunshine In....

I have posted about these before (and can I just say, WOW! do I miss the time I once had for creating such elaborate meals and blogging away about them without a care!), but they're one of my favorite things to eat when I have no time to cook so why not throw them into the Vegan MoFo mix?!
Sunshine Burgers!

Sure, these babies taste something like the hippie-created varieties of old did, but I think what I love about these most is that they don't try to be something they're not. They don't attempt to mimic 'real' burgers or resemble meat in any way. They taste exactly like the list of ingredients: sunflower seeds, brown rice, carrots, and herbs. Heck yeah! All good things in my book. I will say that if you don't love sunflower seeds, the Original variety is not for you, as it's the dominant flavor, for sure. I've yet to try the other flavors, Garden Herb, Southwest or BBQ so I can't attest to their yumminess, but this one is a staple for me (and the first 'processed', prepared food that Taylor ever had. She LOVES them, too!). What I also love about these burgers is that they heat up easily on the stove top with no oil necessary, not even a spray!

I like these best on some earthy whole grain bread with sprouts, avocado, tomato and Veganaise. But I liked this one just fine last night on some oat bread with Veganaise, organic ketchup, and diced pickle. This and some Cascadian Farms Spud Puppies and I had plenty of time to chase down Taylor for bed time!

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut...

or at least just like making dinner with some.

What a weekend! Friday was a whirl of flower arrangements and ceremony writing, Saturday a beautiful wedding and time with family, today was a day of catching up at home, and with dinner came the realization that I have already failed my Vegan MoFo pledge to post every day of October.

Nuts! So why not make dinner with some of my favorites? Tired and fairly uninspired actually led to an easy and scrumptious meal, Almond Meal Crusted Tofu over zucchini pasta and shredded carrot with peanut sauce. SO tasty!

I didn't have the time or energy to drain, soak in something flavorful, and redrain the tofu. No matter, I like a good tasting tofu just as it is anyway. To add a little som'n som'n I mixed the almond meal with tapioca starch and then a fair number of shakes of Five Spice Powder and some salt. I cut the tofu into triangles and dipped into soy milk before coating then in a hot, oiled pan to brown.

Meanwhile, zucchini was sliced in the Saladacco and carrots (I only had baby carrots in the house and shredding them on the cheese grater was a lot easier than trying to get their teeny goodness cut into ribbons with the Saladacco) and plated. I zapped the veggies in the micro for a minute while I whipped together my go-to peanut sauce.

Peanut sauce is an easy mix of peanut butter with water to desired consistency, grate a clove of garlic and about an inch of ginger into that, add a squirt or two of soy sauce and agave to taste. Done!

Quick, easy, and full of flavor. Doesn't get much better than that!

Leftovers, Revived...They're What's For Dinner!

Ever since making the Southwest Corn Pudding from V'con for the potluck, I've had some leftover ears of corn in the fridge. I'd boiled the few extra ears I had in the fridge and cut it off the cob, not knowing how I'd enjoy it, well, aside from just snacking right out of the container.

I stared at the contents of my refrigerator and was not hopeful. Broccoli, an onion, some more zucchini, the usual condiments, tofu. Nothing sparked my interest to go with the corn. Then I dug in the freezer. I waded thru the frozen fruit, the tempeh, the frozen veggies. I was about to give up and go for a stir fry with a side of corn. Then I found these patties from who knows when! Yay!

They're a southwestern themed patty basically made of rice, flour, gluten, black beans, onion, garlic, green pepper, and Emeril's Southwest Seasoning. I don't even know what it's really called but I know his mug is on the shaker and it has a Southwestern vibe. I remember throwing them together thinking that they'd not be spectacular but would be filling and use up some black beans I had been craving. Like most of my throw together patties I'm sure I baked them for about twenty minutes then quickly fried, i mean, sauteed them for about five per side. Turns out they were super tasty, but I'd totally forgotten there were a couple stashed in the freezer after I'd had my fill of them. (I tend to do that, love something and then eat it til I can eat it no longer). Out of the freezer they did great with a quick spray of olive oil a pan and five minutes per side to reheat. The corn also went in the pan the whole time getting nice and brown on the edges.

I wish I could share a formal recipe with you, maybe even more for my sake as that way there would BE a formal recipe, but alas there is not. There is just the above picture of two little glorious patties on a bed of and topped with pan seared corn and a bit of plain soy yogurt and some FYH cheese. I tried to get the cheese to melt by shredding and putting in the hot pan then scooping it onto the patties and it was almost successful, but just almost. The complete meal, however? Awesome!