Vegan MoFo!

Post #3. Vegan MoFo! 2010! Get pumped!

This post is a celebration of doing it yourself because it's really not that difficult at all. I made a baguette, seitan, and cashew cheddar cheese from scratch using only a short time (~1.5 hours). What does this equal? Yeah that's right. Vegan. Philly. Cheesesteak. Epic! Crazy delicious and made all by hand from scratch. But, you're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the completed dish and recipe. For now, please settle for a seitan recipe.

Mori patiently waiting for his serving of the seitan roast.

1.5 hour homemade baguette

Basic Philly Steak Style Seitan


2 cups gluten flour
2 tbsps garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp coriander
.25 cups nutritional yeast
1 tsp black pepper


0.75 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsps soy sauce
2 tsps vegan beef broth powder


Mix all the dry. Mix all the wet. Combine the wet and dry and knead for a minute. Form into a loaf or cylinder. Wrap in aluminum foil like its a big tootsie roll or other candy. Steam for 25 minutes. Flip and steam for another 25 minutes.  Enjoy in any number of dishes. Slice it thin for a philly cheese steak.

Vegan MoFO!

Post #2. Vegan MoFo. Get pysched!

Tonight I made pizza. An old stand by. I could easily eat pizza everyday. There are so many different variations and it's always delicious. The revelation of Daiya vegan cheese has really made pizza even better. I have used all sorts of vegan cheeses, but this one surpasses all in its far superior stretching and melting capabilities.  Tonight I made gluten-free dough and tomato sauce. One pizza used the pesto cheese from last night with spinach and Daiya cheese. The other pizza has roasted portabello mushrooms and onions with tomato sauce and Daiya.

Before the oven.

After the oven.

I decided that the only recipe worth posting is the gluten-free pizza dough because the rest is self explanatory. So here is my dough recipe.

Gluten-free Pizza Dough


1 cup tapioca flour plus more for adjustments
0.5 cups quinoa flour
0.5 cups brown rice flour
1/4 tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp salt


0.75 cups warm water
2 tsps yeast
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp olive oil


Proof the yeast by mixing all the wet ingredients together. Let sit for 5 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients into the wet. Combine and check dough for moisture/consistency. It should look and feel like normal pizza dough. Let sit for about 15 minutes while you make the pizza sauce and prepare the toppings. Divide dough in half and make two smallish 8-10" pizza rounds. You can roll by hand or with a pin. Place on a cookie tray sprinkled with cornmeal. Coat the dough with olive oil to help it brown. You can prebake this or not. Parbake for about 5 minutes at 400F. Finish pizza  by cooking for ~10 minutes in the oven at 400F. 

Vegan MoFO!

For this first post in the vegan MoFo I decided to write about this old gem of a recipe/method. I say method because it is really much less of a recipe than it is of a method of throwing things together. Its basically a one pot wonder meal that has always gotten me fed on those weeknights when school has dragged me into the dark narrow corners of the library into the wee hours of the morning. Quick, easy, and delicious.

So the dish is basically pasta with potatoes and vegetables and pesto, but really it could be any sauce you want. I just prefer pesto. For this particular dinner I made a parsley pesto using pistachios in place of pine nuts.

Delicious, quick, and easy.

Pistachio-Parsley Pesto (hows that for some alliteration)


1 bunch of parsley, trimmed but keep the stems because they're delicious
0.5 cups shelled pistachios (w/out shells)
0.25 cups nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic
1/2 a lemon's worth of juice
0.5 cups olive oil
salt and pepper


Put everything in a food processor except the oil then let her rip. Get it all chopped up really well then slowly add the oil while the food pro is whizzing. Let it combine but don't let it get too smooth. 


Quick Meal Method


In a pot of boiling water add some of your favorite potatoes chopped into a dice. Let that boil for 5 minutes then add the pasta. Wait another 5-7 minutes then add your chopped broccoli. Let boil for another 3-5 minutes until everything is tender. Drain. Return to pot. Drizzle with olive oil and then add the pesto. Season. Top with nutritional yeast. Use the proportions that you want so that you get most of what you like the most. Enjoy!




I'm pumped to see what everyone else is doing for this year's mofo!!

Homemade Health Food: French Fries, Nachos, Pizza, Caramel Oat Bars, Donuts

This is just a simple photo essay of the healthiest foods on Earth.... because you know how vegans just eat raw fruits and vegetables and salads. So I thought I would just showcase some of the delicious comfort foods that I have made in the recent past that maybe not everyone knows that vegans do eat.

Vegan Nachos with cashew cheddar cheese, seitan taco meat, salsa, and guacamole

Vegan pita pizzas with seitan pepperoni, FYH vegan cheese, and French fries

Same vegan pizza as above, plated

Caramel oat bars (oatmeal cookie base topped with caramel sauce, chocolate chips, walnuts and chocolate chip coconut cookie dough)

Vegan Boston Creme Donuts and Double Chocolate Donuts

Same doughnuts as above except now they're on a plate.

torta de seitan y frijoles negros con aguacate y queso

This is awesome. A Mexican sandwich with all the fix-ins.

torta de seitan y frijoles con aguacate y queso
good sandwich bread, preferably a baguette
black beans, heated and seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup of seitan, sliced thinly
a few slices of vegan cheese (FYH monterrey jack)
1 avocado, sliced
lime juice
a couple tomatoes, sliced
olive slices
shredded lettuce


This is really easy to put together. Just start by caramelizing your onions in some olive oil and garlic then after a bit add some salt and pepper. Then add your seitan. Get that nice and crispy. Season with some cumin and paprika. Once that is ready take your bread and hollow it out a bit so it can hold all the fillings. Add the seitan and beans and cover with slices of cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted and the bread is a bit crisp. Top with the rest of the junk and enjoy it.

the fix-ins

ready for stuffing

broiled

filled

then it was eaten.and that was that.

potato leek soup with fried shallots and whole wheat baguettes

Tonight I made this delicious soup with some russet potatoes, leeks, onions and garlic. The wonderful thing about this soup is that it is so easy and quick to put together. It goes perfect with some delicious French baguettes from the BreadBaker's Apprentice. 

potato leek soup

3 russet potatoes, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups soymilk, almond milk, or cashew cream
salt 
pepper
olive oil or vegan butter
chives


Saute the onions, leeks, and garlic in a large soup pot. Season with salt an pepper. Cook until the veggies are soft then add the vegetable stock and potatoes. Cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are really soft. Add the cream and puree off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and chives. Heat through for another 5 or 10 minutes. Top with fried shallots. Serve with some delicious crusty bread and vegan butter.

For the fried shallots just chop up some shallots so that you have rings. Dust with flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Heat some oil in a fry pan and shallow fry them. Cook until golden brown.

gnocchi with seitan, lima beans, and lemon brown butter sauce

This meal was thought up on how to use some leftover mashed potatoes. Typically gnocchi is not made with mashed potatoes that have had butter added to them, but I figured this couldn't hurt all that much. I mean c'mon it will just taste buttery and delicious. So this is what I did and they came out fantastic. Heres the recipe.

leftover mashed potato gnocchi

2 cups mashed potatoes, warm them then pass them through a ricer to make them fine and airy

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 flax egg, 2 tsps ground flax mixed with 4 tsps warm water

1 cup thinly sliced seitan

1 cup cooked lima beans

1 clove garlic minced

olive oil

Set 6 quarts of water to boil in a large spaghetti pot. Set up ice bath with 6 cups ice and 6 cups water near boiling water.

Make well in center of potatoes and sprinkle all over with flour, using all the flour. Place the flax egg and salt in center of well and using a fork, stir into flour and potatoes, just like making normal pasta. Once everything is mixed in, bring dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed. Knead gently another 4 minutes until ball is dry to touch. Add more flour if needed. 

Roll baseball-sized ball of dough into 3/4-inch diameter dowels and cut dowels into 1-inch long pieces. Flick pieces off of fork. Drop these pieces into boiling water and cook until they float (about 1 minute). Meanwhile, continue with remaining dough, forming dowels, cutting into 1-inch pieces and flicking off of fork. As gnocchi float to top of boiling water, remove them to ice bath. Continue until all have been cooled off. Let sit several minutes in bath and drain from ice and water. Toss with 1/2 cup canola oil and store covered in refrigerator up to 48 hours until ready to serve.

Get a pan hot, add the seitan, garlic and cooked lima beans. Add the gnocchis and let them crisp up. Meanwhile, get your vegan butter on medium heat let it cook for a bit until it sizzles. Add the lemon. 

Serve the gnocchi covered with the sauce. Enjoy. 

"aged" cashew brazil cheese

This is a recipe for a distinct flavored cheese made from nuts of your choice. I used cashews and brazil nuts in this recipe but feel free to substitute others. I found that these make the best taste and texture combination in the end product. It gets a little microbiological in the discussion of the recipe (not really) but its really simple to make.

cashew brazil cheese


1 cup raw cashews
1 cup raw brazil nuts
2 cups filtered water
4 vegan acidophilus capsules


salt
lemon juice
nutrional yeast or miso (optional for a more cheddary flavor)


1. Soak the cashews and brazil nuts for at least 4 hours in the filtered water.
2. Drain. Reserve 4 tablespoons of the water. Puree the soaked nuts in a food processor with the reserved water. Once it starts to get creamy add the acidophilus by opening the gel caps and sprinkling the powder into the cheese. Puree even more until super smooth. you may need to add a bit more water to make it work.
3. Next line a colander with cheesecloth. Spoon the nut puree into it and fold over the loose ends to cover. Place a plate on top of the cheese and some sort of weight on top of the plate to act as a press.  Place over another bowl to catch the water that comes out.
4. Let sit at room temperature for about 16 hours. Over this process the acidophilus should have begun to flavor the cheese making it slightly tart. If not let rest another 4 hours.
5. Then puree the cheese again, or just stir in some salt and the other optional ingredients. Wrap in wax paper or place in tupperware and refrigerate.
6. Alternatively you can form the cheese into a log and bake at 300F for a couple hours to dry it out and firm it up a bit more. You could also roll the cheese in fresh herbs. You do with your cheese what you wish, but all I ask is that you just enjoy it.

best ever seitan stew, mashed peas, and homemade crusty bread

This is honestly the best seitan stew ever. I don't know what it is but everything just kind of blends together so that you get the perfect combination of flavors in every bite. This is adapted from Jamie Oliver's recipe available on his website. His method was used as a template for this recipe except the obvious substitutions (no meat in this house!). So good! (and vegan of course). 

best ever seitan stew

olive oil

a knob of vegan butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
a handful of fresh sage leaves
2 cups dark seitan, cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
flour, to dust
2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
4 carrots, peeled and halved
½ a butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced
optional: a handful of Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and halved
1lb yukon gold small potatoes
2 tablespoons tomato purée
½ a bottle of red wine
2 cups vegetable stock
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
a handful of rosemary, leaves picked
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped


Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an appropriately sized pot or casserole pan. I used my cast iron dutch oven. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Toss the seitan in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt. Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the all the veggies are fully cooked and the sauce has thickened and reduced. Sometimes this takes an hour or less. Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 200°F and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat.

The best way to serve this is by ladling big spoonfuls into bowls, accompanied by a glass of French red wine and some really fresh, warmed bread, preferably homemade. Mix the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and garlic together and sprinkle over the stew before eating. Just the smallest amount will make a world of difference – as soon as it hits the hot stew it will release an amazing fragrance. Most of these words are not mine so i cannot take the credit for this incredibly easy adaptation of a carnivorous (cruel) meal. 

dank (seitan) nugg(et)s

Tonight I decided I wanted to have some good old seitan nuggets. I have been experimenting with using combinations of grains and beans in my seitan lately and have found some really good combinations. This one in particular is great.

dank (seitan) nugg(et)s

2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups dried TVP rehydrated with 2 cups no chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1 to 1.5 cups vegan no chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
ground black pepper
4 tbsps olive oil, plus more to coat the pan
dried herbs if you want.

Mix all the ingredients together so you get a semi sticky and crumbly dough. Press into a medium sized cookie sheet pan (with edges about 1 inch high) that has been liberally oiled up. Place in a preheated 350F oven with a tray of water in the bottom to keep the oven air moist and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool then cut into bit size nuggets. If you wish you could bread these then fry them, but i just eat them after the first cooking process. Serve with some bbq and ranch, vegan of course.

Baked Potato Risotto, Sauteed Shiitakes, Breaded Tofu, Broccoli Puree, Roasted Endive

Baked Potato Risotto, Sauteed Shiitakes, Breaded Tofu, Broccoli Puree, Roasted Endive

A bountiful shopping trip led to this meal. The idea was to create a risotto with small diced potatoes in place of the arborio rice and flavor it with all the traditional baked potato toppings. The shiitakes were flavored with liquid smoke to emulate crispy bacon (preferably you would smoke the mushrooms yourself, but who am i kidding, thats not as simple as splashing some liquid smoke deliciousness all over the fried mushrooms). The roasted endive was sort of an afterthought but it turned out to be super delicious.

Baked Potato Risotto

1 small sweet onion, fine dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
splash of white wine
salt
4 starchy potatoes, cut into small dice (a bit bigger than rice)
vegetable stock
cashew cream ( 1/2 cup raw cashews pureed with 1 cup water)
green onions
chives
lemon juice
pepper

Saute the onions in garlic in a few glugs of olive oil over medium heat. After about 5 minutes deglaze the pan with the white wine, reduce for a few minutes, then add the potatoes. Season generously with salt. Then add just enough vegetable stock to cover but have some of the potatoes sticking out. Then let the potatoes cook until they absorb most of the broth, then add more broth and do the same again. Repeat until the potatoes are cooked through and a creamy sauce begins to form. Before serving, add the cashew cream, chives and green onions. Season with pepper and add a bit of lemon juice to cut the richness. Serve with smoky sauteed mushrooms.

Enjoy!