Stuffed Peppers!

-4 ripe red peppers
-3/4 c. TVP
-1 can diced tomatoes (i got "italian seasoning" flavor)
-1 small onion, finely minced
-5-6 cloves garlic
-1 c. cooked rice
-1/2 chopped spinach (frozen type)
-1/2 c. cheddar daiya (or any cheese alternative), optional
-1 T. oil
-1-2 T. vegan worcestershire sauce to taste (annie's or wizard's are vegan)
-1 veggie boullion cube
-1/2 c. water
-oregano, salt, pepper, chili powder, basil to taste
-breadcrumbs as topping (optional)

Reconstitute the TVP with the can of tomatoes and about 1/2 c. hot water. Dissolve the boullion cube in the water before mixing it in. While that is reconstituting, sautee the onion in the oil over medium heat, adding the garlic once the onions are translucent and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 5 more minutes. Mix onions and garlic in with TVP, add chopped spinach, cheese, rice, worcestershire, and seasonings. Add more water as necessary. Season liberally as TVP and rice are both quite bland.

Cut the tops off 4 red peppers, remove the guts. Spoon the mixture into the peppers and cook for 55-65 minutes at 350. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

I served mine with a side of steamed kale.

Onion/Spinach Pakoras

Sam's sister got him this "Indian Street Food" book that is very, very tasty and most recipes can be veganized without too much trouble. The book is by a photographer, and I didn't read enough of it to see where she got the recipes. The pictures are great as well as the recipe.

We adapted the pakora recipe as follows:

-bag of frozen spinach, thawed
-onion large onion, coarsely chopped
-1.5 c. chick pea flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-2 t. chili powder (to taste)
-1 t. salt
-1 t. curry powder
-dash of cayenne to taste
-water
-vegetable oil for frying

mix the flour, seasonings, baking powder together. Add water until it is the consistency of cake batter (runny). Preheat the frying oil in a small pot over low-medium heat (depending on your stove... ours seems to be directly connected to the earth's core so we have to set it very very low since magma is very hot). Test the oil by dipping an onion in the batter and then holding it in the oil. It should sizzle around the edges immediately. Take some spinach and onion, about a pingpong ball size, and coat it in the batter. Drop it in the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

The biggest challenges were getting the dough on the inside to cook thoroughly. if yours are raw in the middle, try 3 things: 1) reducing the heat on the oil, 2) making your pakoras a bit smaller, 3) watering down your batter a bit.

We dipped our in Sri Rocha with some curry powder and garlic salt mixed in.

Vegan PF Chang's Orange Peel Beef Seitan aka "crappy mall Chinese Food"

Crappy mall food is one joy in life that was ripped from me in my silly decision to become vegan. BUT LO AND BEHOLD. I have made Crappy Mall Chinese Food-- specifically a rip of PF Chang's Orange Peel Beef.


1 package WestSoy Seitan
Sri Rocha Hot Sauce to taste (I used about 1 t.)
3 T. Bragg's (or any soy sauce)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 c. flour
1 c. oil for frying

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Mix the seitan with the hot sauce, Bragg's, and garlic. Use a fork to separate any big pieces. Toss them in flour, dump them in the hot oil (dip the corner of one piece in to see if it starts to bubble to be sure that the oil is hot enough). Deep fry for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a metal strainer, and set on paper towel to cool/crisp up.

1 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 c. mushrooms (any kind), chopped
1 c. frozen peas
1-2 t. chili garlic sauce (to taste)
any brand of "mandarin orange sauce" from the grocery store (avoid the "marinade" with soy sauce in it)
1/2 c. plain tomato sauce (secret ingredient)
3 T. Bragg's
1 T. oil

1 package of spaghetti, soba, or udon noodles (or rice)

Saute the garlic in the oil, add the onions and reduce heat. Saute until translucent. Add the vegetables in the order that you normally stir fry vegetables (carrots, then peas, mushrooms last). Add the Bragg's and the chili garlic sauce and let the stew for a few minutes. Mix in the orange sauce and the tomato sauce and the cooked noodles. At the VERY LAST COUPLE MINUTES add in the fried seitan. If you add it to early, it'll get soggy.

SO GOOD!

Thanksgiving 2010

Tempeh and Wild Mushroom Fricassee 
This is from an article the New York Times ran this year, but I'm having trouble finding the exact link. This is pretty much the recipe. It's super easy and so delicious and healthy and something like 320 calories in a whole cup sized serving. Not that anyone I know cares about that.
12 oz (1.5 packages) of tempeh
2 c. button mushrooms, chopped
2 c. crimini mushrooms, chopped
2 c. shitake mushrooms, chopped
2 portobella caps, degilled and chopped
2 large leeks, chopped finely
20 cloves of garlic, minced (seriously 20)
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. flour
1/4 c. white wine
12 oz (1 can) veg broth
salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley to taste
2 T. oil

It helps if you chop up all the veggies first, because things get moving pretty fast once you start cooking stuff, and it helps to have everything ready to add all at once. Chop the tempeh into small cubes and cook in the oil in a dutch oven until browned evenly. Medium-high heat is desirable. Once the tempeh is browned, pour in the white wine and the soy sauce and stir it up with the tempeh til everything boils off. Remove tempeh from pan and set aside. Put the sliced leeks, all the mushrooms, and the garlic in the dutch oven and simmer for a little, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour, then the seasonings, and finally the veg broth. Cover and let everything simmer in there for a little while, when it's nearly done, add back in the tempeh and simmer for about 5 minutes uncovered until some of the liquid evaporates/thickens. Make it the night before and reheat it about 20 minutes before it's time to eat.


Family Recipe Vegan Stuffing
1/2 a log of the "gimme lean" fake sausage, cooked and chopped up small
1/2 a loaf of stale white store brand bread, ripped into pieces
1/2 c. celery, sliced very thin
2 small yellow onions, sliced thin
2-3 T. earth balance stick
1 c. veg broth
salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley to taste

Sautee the onion in the butter on medium heat until translucent. Add in the celery and sautee for 5 more minutes. Add in the fake sausage, the bread and the seasonings. Slowly stir in the veg broth, using more or less based on the staleness of the bread. This is best as a "drier" stuffing. Reduce heat to low, so nothing burns to the bottoms and cook for about 10 minutes stirring frequently/constantly.

Creamed Spinach
1/2 a package of frozen chopped spinach
1/3 a tub of tofutti better than creame cheese
1 T. earth balance
1-2 T. plain unflavored almond milk
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper to taste

Thaw the spinach in a skillet with the earth balance over low-medium heat. Use a plate to cover the skillet so it defrosts more quickly.  Add the cream cheese and the seasonings. Slowly add the milk until the desired consistency is reached. I love the kick the cayenne gives it.

I also made my "usual" roasted garlic mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, both can be found in the way beginning of this blog with the tvp meatloaf. I also made a pecan pie which turned out really soupy and not that good, so I'm not posting it here. But thanksgiving was awesome this year.

Enchiladas

I swear I posted this before, but I can't find it, so I'm posting it again. This is one of my favorite things because it's easy, well balanced, full of fiber, not full of fat, and you can eat this for dinner and lunch for like a week. They reheat well, but if you're a gynecologist like me, people might get weirded out if your cuticles are stained with orange enchilada sauce, so be careful with that.

-1 pkg large flour tortillas
-1 can of black beans (I use spicy), rinsed
-1/2 can corn, rinsed
-frozen chopped spinach
-frozen tri-color peppers, I suppose you can use fresh.
-really any vegetables you have laying around, I often use up the almost-empty bags of everything I have in the freezer
-2 cans enchilada sauce
-oil to coat baking dish
-one box spanish rice, prepared according to the directions on the box
-optional: a fake meat: tofu, crumbles, tempeh, whatever.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I like to wrap the tortillas in a wet towel and put them in the oven while it's heating up in order to soften up the tortillas. Prepare the rice. Thaw all the vegetables, they don't have to be thoroughly warmed, just not in icy chunks. I use a handful of frozen spinach, and a generous amount of the frozen peppers. Mix them in a bowl with the beans and corn and half of one can of the enchilada sauce. Add some salt, pepper, cayenne, fajita seasoning, whatever you have. Fill the tortillas with 2 spoonfuls of rice, and several spoonfuls of the filling. Roll up the tortilla and place it on the oiled baking dish, seam side down (so they stay closed). Repeat with all the tortillas. Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes, removing the foil for the last five minutes.

pizza pockets

Trader Joe's-heavy recipe for pizza pocket/calzone:

-a thing of Trader Joe's pizza dough
-a half of a piece of the Trader Joe's "spicy chorizo" (or any pepperoni/italian sausage inspired meat alternative)
-pizza/spaghetti/marinara sauce of choice (1/3-1/2 jar)
-half an onion, chopped
-1/2 c. chopped peppers (i used the rainbow frozen assortment)
-1/2 c. chopped mushrooms
-3/4 c. frozen chopped spinach
-any other ingredients you like on a pizza (pineapple! black olives, whatEVER!)
-one clove chopped garlic
-tsp of olive oil
-oregano/basil/salt to taste

preheat oven to 400 degrees. in a skillet sautee onions and garlic in olive oil. add vegetables. chop up chorizo (peeling it first, which is nasty). warm everything up, mix in the pizza sauce. warm all that up. divide the pizza dough into 4 pieces, and stretch them out the best you can (flour will help here). scoop the filling into the dough and pinch them shut like a little pocket. place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes until brown. even my picky non-vegan dad liked this! you won't even miss the cheese!

Crock Pot Minestrone

Copycatted of the Minestrone from Lelli's in Detroit, MI. My weird exbf from when I was 18 (that found jesus so we broke up) made this for me once, but I've altered it to be vegan.

-1 large onion, chopped and sauteed until translucent in some oil
-1 clove garlic, chopped
-2 16 oz cans of veg-all (or a bag of frozen veggies)
-2 cans/28 oz of veg broth or fake chicken broth
-20 oz of great white northern beans
-1 can chick peas
-1 can (14 oz.) whole tomatoes, chopped
-1/2 pkg. frozen spinach
-2 T. tomato paste
-2 T. garlic powder
-2 T. chopped parsley
-1 t. salt
-1/4 t. pepper
-1/2 t. basil
-1/3 c. cooked small macaroni
-1/3 c. almond/soy/rice/hemp milk in the plain flavor (i use almond or hemp)

1. Saute onion and garlic
2. Put Veg-All, chicken broth, northern beans, whole tomatoes and all liquids from cans into the crock pot
3. Add spinach, tomato paste, garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper, basil, sauteed onion and garlic.
4. Cook slowly for at least 2 hours (on high, or all day on low).
5. Take 1/2 of the soup and blend in food processor.
6. Pour it back in the soup pot.
7. Add macaroni and milk.
9. Stir.
10. Cook slowly 1/2 hour.

A google search told me this recipe is from he book "Best Of The Best From Michigan", published by Quail Ridge Press.

Sweet And Sour Vegetables

-bag of frozen stir fry vegetables. or fresh
-couple squirts of braggs amino acids
-1/4 c apple cider vinegar (I really like apple cider vinegar so I use a lot, if you don't like it you might want to use less. but you should like it because it's insanely delicious and good for you) I use Bragg's brand, again.
-about 2 T. sugar (i use sugar in the raw)
-cornstarch as thickener
-cooked rice

1. Cook the vegetables. Don't cook the crap out of them though. Just stir fry. Quickly.
2. Add the liquids to make the sauce.
3. Mix a few T. of cornstarch in some cold water and dump that in. I like cornstarch better than flour because a) it doesn't change the flavor, and b) in this case it gets to have a lovely gelatinous consistency that reminds me of the really crappy mall-chinese food I don't eat anymore
4. Fast, tasty, sorta crappy. Whatever.

As-Indian-As-My-Last-Name Curry Dish

Inspired by the disappointingly nonvegan Navratna Curry I accidentally ordered from ekta, ate anyways, and have been dreaming of recreating authentically. Not even close, but fast and cheap and delicious in its own way.

-1 bag of frozen vegetables of your choosing. I used Target's Archer Farms "Harvest Blend"(broccoli, carrots, onions, baby cob corn, sugar snaps, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and red pepper), along with some frozen peas, and some frozen chopped spinach. Harvest Blend mix was fantastic, and my brother works at Target so you should shop there.
-1 can of coconut milk
-1 can of water
-tumeric, curry powder, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, sri rocha, salt to taste... plus any other seasonings you want
-1 little cup of plain soy yogurt
-1/2 c raw cashews
-1/2 c raisins

1. Dump everything except the yogurt and the raisins and cashews into a pot and simmer it for like 20 minutes
2. add the raisins and cashews for the last few minutes
3. add the little cuppy of yogurt at the end
4. eat plain or have it over rice or quinoa. I eat it plain.
5. For added protein, add some tofu or tvp. if you get firm tofu and cut it into big squares you can pretend it's paneer.