abracanabra | Entries tagged with vegan

Since I can't eat pork, and maybe not even preserved meats*, I've been experimenting with bacon alternatives. Hence, recipe!

I used store-bought seitan bacon and marinaded it in this recipe for several hours. It added a lovely smoky-sweet-spicy-umami flavor to the otherwise bland "bacon."

Seitan Bacon and Egg Bagel Sandwich

Marinating Seitan Bacon

Marinade:

4 Tbsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste
6-8 drops liquid smoke
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle powder

Combine all marinade ingredients. Add seitan and flip a few times to make sure it is thoroughly coated. Let sit for at least 20 minutes and up to a couple of days.

Pat dry with paper towels. Fry in a nonstick skillet with a little oil. Enjoy anywhere you would normally put bacon.

* I have had bad reactions to "all-beef" hot dogs, which seems to indicate a problem with processed meats. Though it is also possible that they used a natural hog casing and I am just. that. sensitive. Who knows!?! Finding out (painfully) is part of the adventure!

There is a much more detailed explanation of this technique in the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book, but this is for my own use, mostly, since I have to return the book to the library today and have not yet purchased a copy for my very own.

Mix together all at once:
3 c. lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt
6 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (or 1 c. whole wheat, 5 1/2 c. all-purpose)
Cornmeal

In mixer bowl, combine water, yeast and salt.

Add flour and mix in.

Put in large, large bowl and cover with (non-airtight) lid. Allow to rise at room temperature for about two hours, then put in the fridge until ready to bake.

Pull out grapefruit-sized lump of dough and place on cornmeal-covered pizza peel or cookie sheet. Smooth top out and tuck under, rotate quarter-turn, and repeat until it's all smooth.

Let rise about 40 min. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees with empty pan on bottom shelf.

Dust dough with flour and use serrated knife to slash loaf.

Dump big mug of water into heated pan in oven and put loaf on pan into oven.

Bake about 30 minutes.

I now have a "rice side-dish that goes with everything" recipe! It's pretty, it's easy, it's mildly flavorful--enough to eat leftovers on their own, and you could probably add other veggies or meat to it and turn it into a proper meal. In fact, I should try that some time. Anyway, this recipe's a keeper.

Ingredients:

2 cups white Thai jasmine rice
2 carrots, diced small
1 can/2 c. good-quality coconut milk
1+3/4 cups good-tasting chicken or vegetable stock
2 +1/2 Tbsp. dry shredded coconut, unsweetened (optional--I didn't have it)
1 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. saffron threads (optional)
2 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (OR soy sauce if vegetarian)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
small dried crushed chili (available in the spice aisle)
fresh chives for garnish

Preparation:

Place stock in a pot and set over high heat. Add the turmeric, saffron threads (if using), garlic, fish sauce, lemon juice, cumin, and chili. Stir well and bring to a boil.
Add the rice, shredded coconut, plus coconut milk. Stir continuously (to keep rice from sticking to the bottom) while you bring liquid back to a gentle boil.
When liquid is gently bubbling, add carrots, reduce heat to low (just above minimum) and stop stirring. Cover pot tightly with a lid and cook about 15 minutes, or until liquid has been absorbed (use a fork to pull rice back so you can see to the bottom of the pot).
Turn off heat, but leave the pot on the burner (covered) to steam for another 5-10 minutes, or until you're ready to eat. Rice will stay hot in this way for an hour or more (great if you're having company!).
Before serving, fluff rice with a fork and taste-test for salt. If not salty enough (this will depend on the saltiness of your stock), add a little more fish sauce OR a sprinkling of salt if vegetarian. If too salty, add another squeeze of lemon juice.
Garnish if you like

I made this using tat soi from our CSA instead of bok choy, and it was pretty good. This is a basic noodle dish. The recipe could work with other veggies pretty well--next time I think I'll try adding slivered carrots or chopped mushrooms. Vegetarian. Could easily be modified to be vegan by using another sweetener in place of the honey. Original recipe had tofu added raw, but I think I'll fry them first next time to add texture. From the CSA: tat soi, onion, garlic

( Read more... )

Tamarind-Teriyaki Stir-Fry Sauce
Make with vegetable and protein sources of your choice, but this is a good sauce.

2 c. tamarind drink (we used off-brand tamarind kool-aid)
1/2 c. garlic teriyaki sauce
3 dried red chilies, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cubes bouillon (I used chicken, but it depends on what your protein source is)

I baked a large quantity of vegan cookies for

gunn's birthday party. As Phil kept commenting while I made them, I may have gone a bit insane. In case of future need for vegan cookies, I'm making my own notes here. Oh, and the best part about vegan cookies? Being able to eat the dough without fear.

Vegan Chocolate Spice Cookies - I thought these were the best of the lot. I doubled the amount of cocoa powder called for. Might make these again just using regular butter. (Note that making small chilled balls of the dough, perhaps with oatmeal added, might work well as a delicious no-bake cookie.)

Spiced Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies - I might not have tasted these. Can't recall. Think they were pretty good. I swapped in 1/4 c. of pomegranate molasses + 1/4 c. of soy milk for the called-for 1/2 c. of soy milk.

Vegan Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, and Banana Cookies - I didn't like the sugar-free part, so I added 1/4 c. of brown sugar. These were remarkably dense wedges. They didn't change shape at all during baking.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe - I omitted the optional walnuts. These were tasty and chewy and crisp at the edges. Might make again as a regular cookie. However, they spread out insanely much during baking and became really thin. Still tasty, though.

Ingredients:
1 block extra-firm tofu
1 Tbsp black sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. onion, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced

Take 1 block extra-firm tofu. Drain. Slice up into whatever size you want.

Put tofu in (NOT shallow) bowl. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over tofu. Let marinate for about 12 hours, stirring very gently once to move tofu from top to bottom. Tofu is rather fragile once chopped.

Fry in vegetable oil until lightly browned.

Is excellent used in sushi rolls.

Eggplant Caprese with Grilled Tomato and Basil Vinaigrette

Although grilling eggplant made me very nervous because I wasn't sure whether it should be over high heat or low or for how long (and now I've forgotten, so it'll be the same adventure next time), this turned out really well and tasty. Grilling eggplant kept it from getting that slimy texture that often occurs. I made this at xcorvis's barbecue, and the reception was favorable. Original recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/EGGPLANT-CAPRESE-WITH-GRILLED-TOMATO-AND-BASIL-VINAIGRETTE-238764".

( My version of the recipe )

This looks kind of gross, but it tastes surprisingly good. The crumbled tofu absorbs most of the flavor and sauce. Original recipe: Simply in Season. From the CSA: Cippolini onions, fresh Italian garlic, and green beans.

( The recipe )

Fennel and Garbanzo Bean Stew

We modified the original recipe slightly, just so we could use what we had on hand. It was very spicy and really tasty (again, we don't like black licorice, which is what fennel tastes like). Phil wondered if it might taste better a little less spicy, but I doubt it. The biscuits are just a basic buttermilk drop biscuit recipe with a huge bunch of basil sliced and added. Yum. The basil flavor carries through really nicely when they're eaten cold, without butter or anything. From the CSA: green beans, fennel, onions, basil.

( The recipe )

Braised Fennel and Saute Mix, originally uploaded by aswiebe.

Using a Chardonnay as the wine gave this a strong lemon-pepper flavor, which I thought stood up quite well against the black licorice flavor of fennel. Phil didn't like the wine, and so wasn't as pleased with the dish, but he found it edible after adding some soy sauce (abomination!). Original recipe from Harmony Valley. Used from CSA: fennel, saute greens.

( The recipe )

This was mostly okay, and I like the adaptibility of the recipe, which is why I'm noting it here. There was something unpleasant about the flavoring, though. It was probably because we chose too strongly flavored a wine (Bull's Blood) or because the vinegar wasn't a good addition. Next time, I'll try using fresh ginger instead of dried, and I'll add some red pepper. Original recipe from Harmony Valley. Used from the CSA: broccoli, carrots, garlic, yellow summer squash, yukina savoy, onions, and chard.

( The recipe )

This is my standby recipe to use any vegetable I don't have other plans for. Except parsnips. Parsnips do not work well in Thai curries. I'm not sure why--the types of sweetness clash, I suppose. I'm only copying this "recipe" down because I finished the jar of Thai red curry paste, checked the next jar--and it has a specialized recipe on it! Horror! (Yes, I use LJ in part as my recipe collection, if you hadn't figured that out.) Keep a can of coconut milk and a jar of Thai curry paste on hand and you'll never not be able to cook your CSA. Unless it has parsnips. This recipe can be vegetarian or even vegan if you omit the fish sauce.

( The recipe )

From the CSA: broccoli, asparagus, green garlic, bok choi, and hon tsai tsai. Original recipe from our CSA, Harmony Valley Farms (and they sourced it from http://www.Epicurious.com). I mostly followed the recipe on this one, just left out peanuts (didn't have any), peanut oil (didn't have any), Asian sesame oil (didn't have any), swapped red pepper flakes for "dried chiles," and swapped mock duck for chicken. It was very tasty.

( The recipe )
The raw fixings looked really pretty stacked up on a plate, too:

( Some veggie pictures )

Based on Penzeys Spices' Spiced Potato Salad recipe, modified to a) be vegan, and b) use ingredients from our first CSA delivery! Did I mention we got our first CSA delivery! Squee!

~~No picture because I was too busy rushing to go to the potluck to take one. Le sigh.~~

I was wrong! There is a picture! Sort of. Way in the background.

( Curried Potatoes, Parsnips, and Wild Ramps Recipe )

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Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Being the journal of an all-too-human writer, reader, and eater of deliciousness

Recipe: Smoky Seiten Bacon Marinade

Recipe: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Recipe: Saffron Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Recipe: Udon Noodles with Bok Choy and Tofu

Recipe: Tamarind-Teriyaki Stir-Fry Sauce

Vegan Cookies

Recipe: Asian Marinated Fried Tofu

Recipe: Eggplant Caprese with Grilled Tomato and Basil Vinaigrette

Recipe: Thai Green Beans

Recipe: Gaea's Fennel and Garbanzo Bean Stew with Yogurt-Basil Biscuits

Recipe: Braised Fennel and Saute Mix

Recipe: Harmony Valley Summer Vegetable Stir Fry

Recipe: Red Thai Curry

Recipe: Spicy Stir Fried Mock Duck and Greens

Recipe: Curried Potatoes, Parsnips, and Wild Ramps

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