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!

Cookies!

Everyone loves cookies no matter who the hell you are. These are a great rendition that incorporates all the ingredients of an almond joy candy bar into a vegan, chewy, crisp, and soft cookie that puts your average old double chocolate chip cookie to shame. Grab some of these for a snack, or breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or dessert). 

Almond Joy Cookies

1/2 cup earth balance
1 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp water 
4 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup whole almonds

Mix together the earth balance and agave nectar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, water and potato starch until its perfectly mixed together. Sift all the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine. Add the chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds. Scoop golf ball sized mounds of dough onto a prepared baking sheet (covered with parchment paper). Bake at 350F for about 18 minutes.

 

vegan pot roast with homemade tagliatelle

I made a seitan pot roast tonight with some roasted vegetables because the best part of a pot roast has always been the caramelized vegetables that soak up all the basting broth and juices from the roast. For this meal I kind of went the traditional route by using potatoes, carrots, and onions to go along side the roast. The seitan was based on a simple recipe I made which uses white beans and spices as the base, then it is steamed, then roasted. A similar recipe can be found here.

The pasta was homemade with white whole wheat flour. Here is the recipe.

Homemade Tagliatelle
 
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup warm water
4 tbsp flaxseed meal
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsps salt

Mix everything together to form a ball. Knead dough for a bit then cut it into 2 equal pieces. Add a bit more flour to the board and roll out the dough until its about 1 cm thick. Add some more flour then fold the pasta in half then half again. Cut into 2-3 cm thick noodles. Cook pasta in boiling salted water while you get your sauce ready.


2 cloves garlic
5-6 scallions, sliced lengthwise
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp Earth Balance 
salt and pepper
fresh parsley
vegan parmesan

Get your pan on over medium heat and splash the oil in there. Add your sliced garlic and scallions. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add your butter to get it melted, then add your pasta and about 1 cup of pasta water. Cook for about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper, parsley and Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Green Salad with Green Goddess Dressing and Blackened Tofu

This was a really great dinner. The green goddess dressing is tangy and creamy and works perfectly with the mix of crisp and tender lettuces, sliced cucumbers, and shredded snap peas. I topped the salad with diced avocado, toasted almonds and blackened tofu. A nice piece of crusty bread topped with sauteed mushrooms made for the perfect compliment.

Green Goddess Dressing

1/2 an avocado
juice of 1 lemon
4 green onions
1/2 cup soft tofu or vegan mayo
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh dill
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
splash water to thin if needed

Puree everything in the blender or food processor.  Let flavor meld for a bit before tossing in your salad. You could leave this dressing thick and serve it as a dip as well.

For the salad. Toss your lettuces, cucumbers, snap peas and other goodies with the dressing. Top with diced avocado and blackened tofu.

Creamy Zucchini Soup topped with Sauteed Creminis

This soup accompanied a bagel with cream cheese last night. It is quite thick and creamy so make sure you loosen your belt buckle for this one. Enjoy warm or cold like a vichyssoise.

 Creamy Zucchini Soup with Sauteed Shrooms


2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 med onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
salt 
pepper
fresh herbs(parsley), chopped
.5 cup raw cashews
1 cup water

handful of chopped mushrooms
olive oil
3 cloves garlic
salt 
pepper
splash white wine
fresh herbs (parsley and dill) chopped
lemon, ready for juicing


For the cashew cream puree the raw cashew with the water until you get a creamy smooth consistency.


For the soup, sweat the onions and garlic over medium heat to bring out the sweetness of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. After about 5 minutes add your chopped zucchinis and cook until soft. Season again with salt and pepper and some fresh parsley. Add the cashew cream and cook for another 5 minutes until warmed through. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or scoop into a regular blender and puree that way. Serve topped with the sauteed creminis or other mushrooms (just not god awful white buttons, the absolute worst of all mushrooms. It's honestly a disgrace to all edible fungi. I think they should kick it out of the family).

For the mushrooms, get some oil in a hot pan. Add the mushrooms and let cook for about 3 minutes, getting browned. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper. Let get slightly brown and then splash with white wine. Cook until wine reduces and then sprinkle with fresh herbs and drizzle with lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Sesame and poppyseed bagels with scallion cream cheese

I really had a craving for some good chewy bagels and wanted to try my hand at making my own. It was actually a fairly easy and quick (compared to many bread recipes) method and the results were great. I put this whole thing together in just a couple of hours.

Seeded Bagels

4 cups WWW flour
2 tsps salt
2 tbsp gluten flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1.5 cups warm water
2 tbsp agave nectar
2 tbsp canola oil 
pot of boiling water with a bit of sugar added
seeds for coating


The first thing you want to do is make the dough by mixing the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients together, except oil, then combine them to get your dough started. Knead the dough together until you get an elastic and soft ball, about 10 minutes. the dough should be pretty wet but not too sticky. Coat the dough ball with oil and let rise, covered, in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, cut into 12 equal size pieces. Shape into thin logs, then make a ring (a bagel shape, duh) and press the two ends together until they stick. Now get your oven preheated to 450 degrees, prepare a cookie sheet with oil and dust with cornmeal, and then get your water for the bagel bath on the stove. Keep your bagels covered until you are ready to put them in the boiling water and sugar bath. Boil your bagels for 30 seconds on each side, then roll in seeds, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes. Enjoy with vegan cream cheese mixed with fresh scallions and garlic.

Please note that this recipe is approximate due to the effects of humidity, flours used, etc.

beer braised carnitas tacos

I busted out a quick and delicious dish tonight utilizing soy curls and an amazing method for braising them to create a rich and delicious sauce. I think this is probably the best thing I have ever stuffed inside a warm corn tortilla. You could substitute seitan or tofu for the soy curls but these offer the best texture for a vegan carnitas.

Vegan Carnitas Tacos

1 cup dried soycurls, or about 2 cups sliced seitan
1 cup water
a bottle of Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp chipotle puree
2 tbsp maple syrup 
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

diced cooked sweet potato 
shredded lettuce
shredded vegan Monterrey jack cheese
pico de gallo salsa
vegan sour cream 
corn tortillas

Start out by getting your soy curls hydrated. Then get a pan on medium high heat with a touch of oil and toss your onions in. After a bit add your garlic and toss in the soy curls. When everything starts to get brown add your beer and all the rest of the ingredients. Let braise over medium high heat for about 15 minutes until most of the liquid gets absorbed. Stuff your corn tortillas with a bit of the carnitas, a bit of sweet potato, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and pico de gallo. Enjoy!

seitan piccata with cauliflower parsnip mash and broccoli pesto

I got pretty excited to cook tonight after reading a bit of the conscious cook by tal ronnen earlier today. In the cookbook he has a really good looking gardein piccata recipe, amongst several others, that I wanted to try. I didn't get a chance to write down the recipe or even remember it very well but I gathered the basics and started to make the dish anyways. After drinking some of the white wine I deliberated a good side and knew that mashed potatoes of some kind would definitely be the best pairing for this one. I mixed together parsnips, a head of cauliflower and a few potatoes together and boiled them with eight cloves of garlic and salt. When they were finished I smashed them up with a pat of vegan butter and seasoned them with salt and black pepper. To top the potatoes I made a simple broccoli pesto with a small blanched head of broccoli, a clove of garlic, a handful of almonds, a pinch of nutritional yeast, a squeeze of lemon, some olive oil and of course salt and pepper to taste. The real gem of the meal was the piccata sauce with is based around white wine, lemons, and capers. Check out my take on this classic and repeat it in your own kitchen because its really good.

Seitan Piccata

a few good sized pieces of seitan, chicken style
1/2 cup flour season with salt and pepper and a pinch of paprika
olive oil 
1 small onion, finely diced, you can use shallots here too
2 cloves garlic, minced
a few glugs of good white wine
a lemon or two of juice, depending on how juicy they are
1 cup of vegan chicken broth or vegetable broth
handful of capers
pat of butter

Start out by lightly flouring your seitan pieces with the flour mixture and then sear them on both sides in olive oil over medium high heat. Remove then from the pan after both sides get nice and brown. Add the onions and garlic to the pan with a splash more olive oil. Cook for a couple minutes then sprinkle in the remaining flour, about 3 tablespoons. Cook for a minute more then add the white wine to deglaze. It should start to thicken quickly, add the veggie broth and the capers and lemon juice. Cook until thickened and reduced by about a quarter. Add the browned seitan back into the pan and cook with the sauce for a minute. Serve immediately with the smashed potatoes.   Enjoy!

 

Vegan Gyros and Tatziki Sauce

After getting caught in the whirlwind of school, work, reading and all things other than posting on this blog I am back again. I am posting the meal we had tonight because it was real good. I made a simple simmered seitan recipe for the gyro and some tatziki sauce to add a cool creamy element to the sandwich. It tasted even better than how I remembered it at the good ole greasy fast food restaurant I went to so many times as a kid. Some crinkle cut potato wedges completed the meal in a good fried food fashion.

Vegan Gyros

1 batch seitan, thinly sliced
chopped onions
good amount of Greek seasoning (oregano, sumac, basil, thyme, etc)
splash tamari
2 pitas, with pockets
chopped romaine 
chopped tomatoes

Get a pan on over med high heat. Add some olive oil and fry up the seitan and onions to get them a little crispy and brown. After 5-10 minutes season with the Greek seasoning, then splash with tamari.  Throw the seitan in the toasted pita pile high with lettuce and tomatoes and serve with vegan tatziki.

Tatziki (cucumber sauce)

1 box silken tofu
1 med cucumber, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 lemon,  juice it 
1/4 cup canola oil or olive oil
2 tsps salt
black pepper


Throw everything except a little bit of the chopped cucumber into the food processor then add the chopped cucumber for some texture. Transfer to the fridge to let the flavors meld.

The perfect potluck dish

Tonight me and the missus put together an amazing pot pie for a vegan potluck. Vegan potlucks have to be one of my favorite get-togethers simply because there always tends to be good people, good food, and just overall good times. This dish is perfect for this sort of occasion because its simple to make a lot of and it is totally delicious. Bring this one to any family or other gatherings and I am sure you will please vegans and omni's alike.

Traditional Style Seitan Pot Pie

1 1/4 cups gluten flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsps each garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and sage
7/8 cup stock
1/4 cup canola oil

Combine the dry and the wet separately. Then mix together and knead the dough forming it into a round loaf. Make sure you have some simmering broth ready to go on the stove. Cut the seitan into cutlets and place in the simmering broth. Cookfor about 30 minutes making sure the water doesn't boil and remains at a simmer. Remove the seitan from the broth but leave on the stove.

3-2-1 pie dough

3 parts WWW flour
2 parts vegan butter, cold cut into little pieces
1 part ice cold water
1 tsp salt

Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour  until you get a little crumby looking mixture.Add  a little bit of water at a time until the dough starts to come together. Dump out onto a work surface and gingerly form into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for about half an hour.

4 med potatoes, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup WWW flour
2 tbsp vegan butter
2 tbsp canola oil
Salt, pepper
2 tsps each, sage and thyme
2 cups stock
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup corn kernels
you can add more veggies if you want

The first step is to get your potatoes boiling in the seitan simmering broth. Then add the butter and oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes until softened and then add the flour. Mix well to form a light roux. Add the carrots to the potatoes and cook until tender. Add the onion mixture and stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the seitan, cut into bite sized peices, the corn and peas. Cook until the sauce is thick. Put the filling into a greased baking dish. Roll out the dough and shape so that it fits over your baking dish with a bit of dough hanging over the side for crimping. Once you do this, rub the crust with a bit of oil and bake at 425 for about 30 mins. Let cool then slice and enjoy.