Vegan MOFO Day 23 - Jackie's Stuffed "Andouille Stuffed Jalepenos

My friend Jackie is a self described chile fiend. She is also a fantastic cook, so I knew I needed to be on my game to veganize one of her favorites.

Most of the recipe looked pretty easy to veganize. I used Toffutti brand non-hydrogenated cream cheese for the regular cream cheese and daiya Italian blend for the Mozzarella in the original recipe.

The challenge for me was how to make an Andouille substitute that was not made from vital wheat gluten. I don't have anything against making seitan style sausages, mind you, as a matter of fact I love them. However, I let my day get away from me and didn't have time to make the sausages and give them proper sitting time. I decided to use marinated tempeh as the substitute. It went a little something like this:

Jackie's Stuffed "Andouille" Jalepenos

14 fresh jalepenos, halved and cleaned of seeds and pith
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon canola oil
8 oz Toffutti brand non-hydrogenated vegan cream cheese
1 - 8 oz package tempeh, diced in 1/4 inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese

For the marinade:
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon gumbo file
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (important that it is smoked)
1 chili tepin, crushed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme

Steam tempeh for 10 minutes. While tempeh is steaming mix all of the ingredients in a container just large enough for the tempeh to cover the bottom in one layer. Pour hot steamed tempeh in marinade. Marinade for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight. The longer it is marinated the more flavorful it will be.

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake jalepeno halves for 10 minutes. Let cool.

In a large iron skillet or saute pan over medium heat, saute red peppers, red onion, and minced garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add tempeh and all of the marinade, if there is any left (marinade may be soaked up by tempeh) and saute until liquid is gone, tempeh is just browned and mixture is a bit sticky, maybe 10 minutes. Remove from heat and put in medium sized bowl. Cool down to room temperature. Stir in cream cheese, liquid smoke and salt (to taste).

Stuff jalepeno halves with about 2 teaspoons mixture each. Sprinkle top with mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted and just starting to get golden.

Vegan MOFO - Day 22 - Tortilla Soup

The recipe for easy Chicken Tortilla Soup has been traveling around the internet for a long time. The original versions were designed to be an easy, quick, out of the can experience. This is why my girlfrend Piot and my sister serve this one when they have a bunch of hungry teenagers hanging around the house.

This one requires a bit more work than opening cans, but is still easy to whip together. The cans of chicken in the original are replaced by re-hydrated soy curls. The ranch style beans in the black can (which contain animal fat) are replaced by Heinz brand vegetarian beans. There is a suggestion for making your own spice blend if you cant find that brand at the end of the recipe. The original suggests using Rotel Mexican style tomatoes and diced tomatoes with green chili, which you sure can use. I prefer Muir Glen organic small diced tomatoes with chipotle. I have a confession to make. While I do enjoy making my own vegetable stock on occassion, it takes time and space that I don't always have. I often use Better than Bullion vegan bases rather than making my own stock. They are so convenient and the flavors are very good. They make an excellent organic vegetable version. In this conversion I used the chicken version pictured below.


Tortilla Soup


Make 14 servings

2 cups Butler Soy Curls
1 1/2 cups hot vegetable broth (chicken style)
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 cups chicken style vegetable broth (total using liquid from re-hydrating soy curls)
2 cups cream of mushroom soup (condensed version)
2 cans Heinz Vegetarian beans*
2 cans Muir Glen small diced tomatoes with chipotle
1 small can diced green chilis (optional)

Pour hot 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth over soy curls. Let sit for 10 minutes to re-hydrate. Drain liquid and reserve. In large soup pot heat canola oil over medium heat adding the soy curls to brown*. Once browned add remaining ingredients. Bring to simmering and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve garnished with limes, salsa, tortilla strips, sour cream, and/or vegan cheese (all optional).

If you cannot find the Heinz beans Add the following seasoning mix when browning the soy curls:
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Also add:

2 teaspoons white vinegar.

Vegan MOFO - Day 21 - Memories of My Estranged Father

Today is my seventh day of work (well 6 technically, but I was home sick the 7th day). I work 12 hour shifts, so every once in a while I feel the need to take a night off in the kitchen. Tonight will be that night.

Last night some of my lovely friends sent me some great dishes to veganize. I am going to take a little time to soak in the recipes and contemplate how I can convert them into compassionate cuisine while maintaining their essence. There are a couple of very challenging conversions coming your way soon. They won't be challenging for you, dear readers, but they will be challenging for me to convert. I start my days off tomorrow, so I will have more time to play around in the kitchen. This makes me excessively happy.

For some reason, I have been haunted by memories of my estranged father's odd eating/driking habits the last couple of days. I haven't spoken to him in over 20 years, so I'm not sure why he keeps popping into my head. He was a very eccentric man with very odd habits, food related and otherwise. I remember getting grossed out by some of his favorites; beet greens with vinegar, pork chops thickly topped with sage (I mean thickly!), baked potato flattened and slathered with sour cream and completely covered with paprika - this one actually sounds good at this point in life.

He would not drink milk on its own...which at the time seemed so very odd. He would, however drink it mixed with rootbeer. He had a very specific proportion that he would mix up in the milk jug. He'd wait until the milk in the gallon jug was at the magical level. Then he would add rootbeer slowly to the top. This milky foamy concoction was ALWAYS in our fridge. He usually had it in a specific glass and NEVER had ice in it.

I'm going to show my age here, but back then we had a drive in (similar to Sonic) called Dog N' Suds. It was only open in the summer. They had the most delicious rootbeer. It was creamy and full of spicy rootbeer goodness. It probably tasted even better because you could not get it year 'round. We'd get the platic barrel shaped jugs and stash them in the fridge. I was a notoriously picky eater/drinker as a child. It was so good, even I would indulge in a frosty mug here and there.

Dear Ol' Dad's Rootbeer

3/4 cup cold rootbeer
1/4 cup cold almond milk
Chilled mug.

Pour in chilled mug. Let sit for a couple of minutes to let the chilled mug do it's thing. Do not add ice! Enjoy.

I must need daddy therapy today because now that I have written this, many more kitchen/dad/childhood memories are flooding into my memory. My dad was a tinkerer. He could fix and build a wild array of things. One of the things he created for my mom was this incredible chopping blade. I wish I had one today! My mom had this awesome wood bowl. It was probably about 4 inches deep and about 14 inches wide. Our garage was a crazy machineshop where many of his inventions and creations came to life. He took to the task of making a 1/2 circle chopping blade that fit perfectly into the bowl. I remember the excitement I felt the first time my mom let me chop the celery and onions for her potato salad. (which I will post my veganized version of later now that I am thinking of it). That thing rocked! He kept it razor sharp by using the grinder in our garage. OK, If someone took my Globals to a grinder, they would end up with it in their leg! But these were simpler times.

I have to thank him for giving me my first cooking experience (warning-it was not vegan). As I mentioned he was eccentric and very non-traditional. He worked nights and my mom worked days. When I was around 5 years old, he decided he was hungry and asked me to make him something to eat. Now most normal, responsible parents would not let their small child loose unsupervised in the kitchen with a gas stove. I have to admit, at that point in life, I would go to great lengths to make him think I could do things that may have been a bit out of my range so that I could get some of his attention. He was more than a little detached.

I marched to the kitchen and promptly set about the task of making him lunch. Things started out pretty well. I knew where the pans and spatula were. I grabbed the eggs and butter out of the fridge and got to work. I hopped up on one of our burnt orange vinyl chairs (this was 1970 folks) so that I could reach the stove. I figured out how to turn on the stove. Heated up the pan and started cooking him what were to be eggs over easy. Of course as a beginner I promtly cracked the yolks when I flipped them, but no biggie they were still edible. I turned the oven off and hopped off the chair. Here is where things went a little south. As a vertically challenged 4 .9 year old I wasn't sure where to put the hot pan while I scooped the eggs out and put them on the plate. Hmmmm. I decided the chair was the perfect working height for me. As I set the pan on the chair, I realized this might be a bad idea as the smell of burning vinyl hit my nose. When Mom got home she was furious...thankfully at my dad for leaving me unattended in the kitchen, not for ruining that hip chair. My dad seemed to really like the eggs by the way....and so my lifelong love of cooking began.

Vegan MOFO - Day 19 - Gail's Buffalo Chickn Dip

My friend Gail always says she can't cook. She lies like a rug. She has hidden talents that pop out when she thinks you aren't paying attention. Sometimes I think she just tells me that so I'll cook for her (or just to make me feel better)!

Before I shunned the chickies Gail busted out this incredible dip at one of her and John's famous Halloween parties. It tasted like wings in a dip. I have to admit, wings were one of the things that almost made me break down more than once. I love the smell of the hot sauce steaming. I love the way the heat makes my nose run. Ahhhhhh! I no longer crave the fleshy version. This dip will take the edge of when I need a fix.

Tonight it was Monday Night Football. What better time to make something wing-esque? Another dish you want to eat in moderation as it is full of calorie rich ingredients.

Gail's Buffalo Chickn Dip

1/4 cup vegan blue cheese dressing (I made my own, still needs some tweeking, use your fav)
4 oz. toffutti non-hydrogenated cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons Louisianna hot sauce
1 tablespoon Ta Patio hot sauce
2 oz shredded blue sheeze (vegan blue cheese)
1/2 cup chicken style seitan, chopped small (could sub Butler soy curls rehydrated in chix broth)
1 stalk celery, finely diced

Makes approx 1 1/2 cups

Preheat oven to 325.

In medium size bowl cream together the blue cheese dressing, cream cheese, and hot sauces until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed. Pour into 1 1/2 cup pyrex or other ovenproof dish. Bake for 25 minutes, until hot and just bubbly. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. This would also work well in a mini crock pot. They usually have only one temperature. Heat in mini crock for 1-2 hours until bubbly and hot. This recipe will double nicely for a larger party.

Blue Cheeze Dressing

Makes approximately one cup

1 cup vegannaise
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon tahini
1 teaspoon mellow miso
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon blue sheeze (optional)
Black pepper to taste
If you like a thinner dressing, thin with a small amount of unsweetened soy milk

In small bowl mix thoroughly. Best if it can chill for at least an hour.

Vegan MOFO - Day 18 - Gourmet Pasta

This recipe was sent to me by my lovely friend Julie. This Casserole is a ridiculously rich and over the top dish not to be taken lightly. As a matter of fact, this could easily de-rail my biggest loser efforts, thank you very much. But holy mama is it freaking delicious. I am truly amazed at how many of the family favorites are laden with high-fat and normally big time dairy ingredients. C'est la vie. I left my camera at my friend's house (along with the leftovers LOL), so I will post the pics when I get them uploaded. Even the totally omni kids chowed down on this. When you have some calories to spare, make this one.

Gourmet Pasta

2 cups TVP
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons kitchen bouquet
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 - 14.5 can diced fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
5 oz ribbon noodles
1 cup toffutti sour cream
4 oz. toffutti cream cheese
6 green onions, chopped
1 cup Daiya cheddar cheese
1 cup Daiya Italian blend

Preheat oven to 350.

Stir kitchen bouquet into vegetable broth. Heat mixture and pour over TVP to rehydrate. In a large skillet heat olive oil. Brown TVP. Once browned add minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes more. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Lower heat to simmer. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain pasta. While pasta is still hot, stir in cream cheese, sour cream, and green onions. Mix well. Coat 4 quart casserole with canola oil (I prefer spray canola). Layer 1/2 of noodles, then 1/2 of tomato mixture, then 1 cup of Italian cheese mix, remaining 1/2 of noodles, remaining tomato mixture, then 1 cup of cheddar.

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Turn oven off without opening. Let sit in oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately. Can also be refrigerated and re-heated at 350 for 25 minutes.

Vegan MOFO Day 17 - Iron Chef - Spicy Sour Soup

This week's iron chef challenge ingredients were lemon and ginger. I have a cold this week, so these ingredients were just what the doctor ordered. The citrus of the lemon coupled with the anti-oxidant power of ginger should get me well on the road to recovery. I was craving a healing, soothing, spicy soup to knock out the nasty germies that are invading.

I have to be honest, this one was truly "iron". I wanted to make something tonight and had no idea what I had to work with. We have let many lovely veggies go bad this week. I scoured the fridge and the pantry and came up with this kind of fiery, flavorful, yet simple soup.

Spicy Sour Soup

8 Servings

1 package extra firm tofu, pressed for an hour or longer
3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 hot red Thai chiles, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
1 cup snow peas
3 cups rich vegetable stock
8 oz. package cremini mushrooms
Juice of 1 lemon (approx 2 tablespoons)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons red miso
1 14 oz can light coconut milk

In a 10 inch iron skillet heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil over med-high heat. Dice the pressed tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Saute tofu cubes in oil until browned and slightly crisp, stirring occassionally.

While tofu is browning, add remaining oil to large soup pot. Over medium heat saute onions, garlic, and ginger until onions start to soften. Add Thai chiles and saute for another 2 minutes. Add snow peas and 5 spice powder and saute for 3 more minutes. Deglaze with mirin. Add vegetable stock and heat to boiling. Reduce to simmering and add thinly sliced mushrooms. When mushrooms are slightly soft, 5-10 minutes, add lemon juice and stir. Make sure the broth does not come back to a boil. Dissolve miso in water. Add this mixture and coconut milk to soup pot. Stir in Sriracha (if you like it really hot add more to taste). Let simmer without boiling for about 5 more minutes so that flavors will come out. By this time the tofu should be nicely browned. Stir browned tofu into soup. Ladle and serve.

Vegan MOFO - Day 16 - "Turkey" Surprise

Thanksgiving for my sister's family was spent for years at her in laws in San Diego. Grandma G spent hours and probably even days prepping for the feast. Of course, there was always some leftover turkey. After a few days you knew you were going to get tired of turkey sandwiches.

As was the yearly tradition, the day after Thanksgiving, no one wanted her to spend a lot of time in the kitchen...especially her. I'm not sure when this fun packet of yum was conceived, but both of my sister's girls always raved about Grandma's turkey surprise when they were little. I had the opportunity to finally try one when I was invited for the feast. They are a sinful little treat.

The original version was made with a filling of cream cheese, broccoli, and of course, turkey. The filling was then encased in crescent rolls that come in the cardboard can. In this remake the turkey is replaced by chicken style seitan, the cream cheese by toffutti brand non-hydrogenated cream cheese, and the crescents with vegan puff pastry.*

"Turkey" Surprise

4 servings

2 - 8 x 8 sheets of vegan puff pastry thawed and quartered
1 - 8 oz tub of toffutti non-hydrogenated cream cheese
1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 head broccoli crowns, chopped small (Approx 2 cups)
6 oz chicken seitan, chopped to approx 1/4 inch pieces (or leftover thanksgiving vegan roast)

Preheat oven to 350.

With mixer, blend onion powder and garlic powder into cream cheese in medium sized mixing bowl. Saute broccoli and seitan in about 1 tablespoon of liquid (cooking liquid from seitan or vegetable broth is perfect) until broccoli just turns bright green. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature (this is very important, see note below). Stir into cream cheese until completely blended. Divide filling evenly over 4 of the squares of puff pastry. Top with other four squares. Pinch to close. Place two of the pouches each on a cookie sheet. Bake for 28 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

**Note**

To avoid sticking issues with the puff pastry, do not let it get too warm.

Vegan MOFO - Day 15 - Chicken Cacciatore

I had a couple of suggestions for this conversion. My friends Julia and Jerry both requested this one. Neither of them had a specific recipe, but gave me some basic ingredients. I also remember my mom making this. I didn't like it much as a kid, but as my palate matured, I came to appreciate it more.

There are as many version of this as their are Italian men hitting on unsuspecting women in lounges all over the world. I took what my friends mentioned, what I remember my mom's version being, and ideas from the internet for inspiration. The result was stick to your ribs yummy.

Seitan Chicken Cacciatore

6 Servings with pasta

12 oz chicken style seitan chunks
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil divided
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
8 oz white mushrooms thickly sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper or to taste
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
1 - 28 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes

In saute pan brown onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once browned, remove from pan. In same pan add two tablespoons of olive oil to pan over medium low heat. Dredge seitan chunks in flour and add to pan. Saute until browned, turning once. Turn off heat. In large pot heat remaining olive oil. Add minced garlic and saute about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add green peppers, mushrooms, herbs, salt, and pepper. Saute until peppers are slightly soft and mushrooms have released their juices. You may need to add a bit more liquid if vegetables start to stick (use veg broth or a bit of the wine). Once the liquid starts to reduce, deglaze with wine. Saute for 2 minutes and stir in tomato paste until combined. Add diced tomatoes and onions. Saute for 20 or 30 minutes. Add seitan and saute for 10 more minutes.

Serve over warm cooked pasta of your choice. If you like, you can sprinkle with vegan parmesan and crushed red peppers.

Vegan MOFO - Day 9 - Durty Rice Cakes

I'm doing tomorrow's post a little early. I am going to be on the road and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get online. I also didn't want to forget how I made these. The flavor is really good. I still want to tweak the cooking method a bit to get the perfect texture, but they are pretty good as written. Give them a try and let me know how they came out.

I made these to go with the stuffed okra. They still need a little tweaking to make them perfect, but they were damned tasty.

Durty Rice Cakes

Makes 10 cakes

1 cup uncooked short grain brown rice
2 cups filtered water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 green pepper, diced fine
1/2 medium onion, diced fine
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons catsup
2 teaspoons Tony C's Creole seasoning
6 oz seitan bacon
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
1 Tablespoon unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unseasoned breadcrumbs

Place brown rice in small saucepan with water. Bring water to a boil and cook rice 45-50 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Let rice cool completely.

In medium sized iron skillet or saute pan, saute pepper, onion, an garlic until softened. Add catsup, creole seasoning and saute for about 3 more minutes. Add seitan bacon and black beans. cook until most of the liquid is gone. Take half of the mixture and puree in food processor. Add back to saute pan. Saute for 3 more minutes. Turn off heat.

Mix flax meal and soy milk together in small bowl. Let sit for a few minutes until flax seeds start to thicken. In a large bowl mix black bean mixture, cooled rice, bread crumbs, and flax mixture (flax egg). Stir until completely combined.

Form into 3-4 inch patties about 1/4 inch thick. Put on baking sheet lined with parchment. Let patties chill for at least an hour or they may fall apart when you cook them. Before cooking, coat both sides with bread crumbs.

Here is where they need a little tweaking. I baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes per side. They were still not quite the texture I wanted them. After baking, I sauteed them in a small amount of oil, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I haven't tried just sauteeing them yet. They are delicate, so make sure to use caution when flipping. Cook for about 4 minutes per side. Gently remove from pan and drain on paper towels or paper bag.

Vegan MOFO - Day 8 - Iron Chef/Okra and Horseradish

Today I am straying from my there. I love iron chef! Did I tell you how much I love iron chef? It gives one a chance to see how creative they can be. It also opens you up to the possibility of ruining some perfectly good ingredients. This is my favorite arena. I love trying to figure out to how I can wing throwing together a great dinner with ingredients someone else picks out.

This challenge was a bit daunting for me because I can't really stand okra normally, especially the frozen stuff. The first challenge was finding fresh okra this time of the year. Score one for my friend Daphne! One of her neighbors had okra in her garden. I couldn't decide whether to use fresh or prepared horseradish, so I bought both. Now with the chosen ingredients in hand, I needed to get creating.

I had a theory that the pith in the okra is what gives it to that nasty slimy texture I despise. So I decided to clean out the seeds and pith and stuff those bad boys. Okra seems to show up in cajun/creole cuisine. This made me think I should put a cajun twist on things. Here is what I came up with.

Cornmeal Crusted Stuffed Okra served with Durty Rice Cake and Creole Sauce

Cashew Horseradish Cheese

1 cup raw cashews (measured before soaking)
1/2 package Mori-nu silken firm tofu
1 Tablespoon fresh grated horseradish
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of white pepper.

1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup corn meal
3/4 cup corn flour

Soak cashews in filtered water overnight. Drain. Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of processor once or twice. Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. This cheese is excellent as a spread on crackers too!!

Get 12 medium sized fresh okra. If it is too large it will be very woody and stringy. If it is too small, it will be hard to stuff. Make a slit down the length of the okra. Carefully remove the pith and the seeds. Gently stuff the okra with the cashew cheese. Refrigerate stuffed okra while you prepare the creole sauce.

After the creole sauce is simmering. Heat canola and peanut oil to 350. Make a breading station with two shallow bowls. One with 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk. In the other bowl mix corn meal and corn flour. Place stuffed okra in milk, then dredge in flour mixture. Repeat one more time. Place breaded okra in hot oil carefully. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Can keep warm in 250 degree oven while preparing side dishes.

Serve over Durty Rice Cake. Drizzle with creole sauce. (Recipes for these will be posted later as another MOFO entry. I have to pack for my trip!!!)

Vegan MOFO - Day 7 - Piot's Cheezy Potatoes

Day seven and I'm wishing my friends and family had low fat favorites. It just is not the American way. My Biggest Loser challenge is very challenging with recipes like this one.

This recipe is busted out regularly during our combined family get togethers. My friend Piot sent me her recipe for Cheezy Potatoes. Her daughter Rachel loves these and requested them for her birthday dinner last weekend. This is a very quick and easy dish to put together. It packs a very high-cal punch, so proceed with caution. Whenever these are busted out, there are never many leftovers.

The original version includes lots and lots of dairy and butter. The butter is replaced by Earth balance, the cheddar is replaced with Daiya cheddar style, and the dairy based cream of mushroom soup is replaced with this vegan recipe.

Piot's Cheezy Potatoes

1 pound frozen hash browns, partially thawed

1 1/2 cups cream of mushroom soup

4 tablespoons Earth Balance, melted

1/2 onion, chopped

4 oz. shredded vegan cheddar (I highly recommend using Daiya for the right texture)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Plain potato chips to crumble on top

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter in small saucepan. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except for potato chips. Pour mixture into oiled 8 x 8 pan. Crumble potato chips over the top. Bake for 35 minutes.* Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

****Version Dos****

My friend at work is very allergic to onions. But I didn't want her to miss out on potato goodness. I decided to modify the cheezy taters so she could enjoy them. As a bonus I think this version is just as good or better!

1 pound frozen hash browns (preferably O'brien style, chunks rather than shreds)

1 1/4 cup Tofutti Sour Cream

1/4 cup strong vegetable broth

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

4 oz vegan cheddar (again I recommend Daiya)

4 tablespoons Earth Balance, melted

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste.

Plain potoato chips to crumble on top.

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter in small saucepan. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients well except for potato chips. Pour mixture into oiled 8 x 8 pan. Crumble potato chips over the top. Bake for 35 minutes.* Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

* cooking time will vary slightly depending on how frozen the potatoes are. Begin the professional that I am, I use the finger test to see if it's done. You can also use a thermometer inserted into the middle most portion of the taters. They should be at about 150.

**As another side note, this recipe doubles nicely. Just use a 9 x 13 pan and up the baking time 5-10 minutes.

Vegan MOFO - Day 6 - Fred's Tuna-ish Helper-ish

First I want to start off by talking about communication breakdown. Many times I am running at a frenetic pace for no apparent reason. I think I have to fit a million things in to each day. To add to this I have this tendency to hear things one way when they are actually said another way. I can't remember what Myers-Briggs pesonality type this is: but I tend to jump right in and do something, then correct things later if I screw something up.

Such was the case with this conversion. Fred described this favorite from his childhood to me. Somehow I got it in my silly clutered head that he was describing tuna casserole. I promptly went on the internet and found a vegan recipe for said casserole. I got to work and did some tweaks and got that bad boy in the oven. As kitchen karma would have it, it was an utter disaster. While it looked picture perfect, it was anything but. The texture was like thick paste and had no flavor. Fred hates to waste anything, but even he wouldn't eat this. Major FAIL!




Two lessons here. Lesson one: listen carefully when people speak to you. It is uncool when you half listen. It can save you a lot of time and grief in the long run. Lesson two: trust your inner chef. When you read a recipe and it looks like it won't work, trust your gut. Modify that bad boy so you don't end up with something so nasty even the wild javelinas won't eat it.

I've ranted long enough about my failings as a communicator and kitchen disasters. On to what Fred really wanted! This is an easy, quick, filling recipe. It won't win any culinary awards, but hopefully it will make your family happy and full.

Fred's Tuna-ish Helper-ish

6 Servings
1 1/2 cups dried pasta (elbows or other small-ish pasta)
Water for cooking Pasta
1 cup Butler soy curls
1 cup vegetable broth, hot
1 Tablespoon Kelp powder
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or other vegan butter
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cups cream of mushroom soup (vegan of course)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pour hot broth over soy curls to re-hydrate. Let soak for 5-10 minutes. Drain. Dice soy curls and sprinkle with kelp powder. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and transfer to large mixing bowl. Add earth balance to HOT pasta. Mix soymilk and nutritional yeast in small saucepan. Heat until slightly thickened. Pour onto hot pasta. Heat cream of mushroom soup in same saucepan and add heated soup to the pasta mixture. Add soy curls and mix. If pasta has cooled of it can be re-heated quickly in large pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Update: Fred has spoken. He says this is supposed to be soupy. Easy enough. To eat this Fred style you will have to add more cream of mushroom soup just before serving to your liking. If you add the soup ahead of time, the noodles will soak it all up and it will be very sad. Hee hee.
Now this is the recipe in it's original form. For me, I like to get more of a nutritional bang for my buck. As an option you could add some steamed spinach or kale to up the nutritional value.

Vegan MOFO Day 5 - Tracey's Spaghetti Extraordinaire

Fred's sister Tracey sent me her and her daughter Nicki's alltime favorite spaghetti recipe. The original is chock full of beef and sausage, so she was not sure if it could be veganized. Well, thanks to my friends at the PPK, I no longer fear the meaty recipes and find them quite fun to veganize. I'm not going to kid you, the texture and flavor are slightly different, so you won't fool anyone into thinking this is the greasy, unhealthy, factory farmed meat used in so many dishes. But it is a hearty, delicious homage to the original.

I did have to make a few modifications to the original recipe. Of course I had to replace the ground beef. I did this by re-hydrating TVP with vegetable broth and kitchen bouquet to give it that deep "beefy" hue and flavor. Next the Italian sausage. This was a no brainer using Julie Hasson's Spicey Italian Sausage recipe. I always find that when I use meat analogs I must increase the liquids used in the original recipe. In this recipe I had to add a 15 oz can of crushed fire roasted tomatoes to the original recipe. The order of adding ingredients changed just slightly as well. All in all, this was pretty easy to veganize. As you can see from the picture below, it came out very nicely. It has that rich tomato flavor and a hearty meaty texture. I fed this to Fred last night. He inhaled it in no time. Great recipe Tracey! Thanks for sending it to me.

Tracey's Vegan Spaghetti Extraordinaire

1 Cup TVP (sub for 1 lb ground beef)
1 Cups Vegetable broth
2 links vegan Italian sausage
1 teaspoon kitchen bouquet
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
½ medium onion, chopped
½ chopped green bell pepper or 1 Anaheim pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz white or cremini mushrooms sliced
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
¼ teaspoon crumbled rosemary
32 oz can diced tomatoes (I prefer fire roasted)
16 oz can tomato sauce
15 oz can fire roasted crushed tomatoes

Spaghetti or Angel Hair pasta cooked, drained, and rinsed

Grated vegan parmesan for garnish (optional)
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Combine vegetable broth and kitchen bouquet. Re-hydrate TVP by pouring hot vegetable broth over it. Let sit for 10 minutes to re-hydrate. Dice Italian sausage into small chunks, approximately ¼ inch. This can also be done by pulsing in the food processor.

In a 4 quart saucepan brown TVP and sausage in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once browned, remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan sauté onion, pepper, mushrooms and garlic in remaining tablespoon of olive oil until soft and mushrooms release their liquid, about 10 minutes minutes. Add dried herbs and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, crushed tomoatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add browned TVP and sausage and simmer for about 10 more minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste if desired.

Serve over warm pasta and sprinkle with vegan parmesan if desired.

Vegan MOFO - Day 3 - MMmm MMmm Cream of Mushroom Soup

I'm pretty certain most of the people who grew up in the US in the last few decades have a family recipe that included the famous red and white can of Cream of Mushroom Soup. Over the years this pantry staple has shown up on millions of Thanksgiving tables as part of the ever-popular green bean casserole. A dear friend of mine uses it in her cheezy potato dish - which I plan on veganizing later this month. My mom used to make a giant pan of pork chops and simmer them in cream of mushroom soup. It made them fall-off-the-bone (I know gross) tender. Fred made some type of tuna concoction with it. This was the experiment that failed miserably for me the other day. I'm hoping that with this creation, I can perfect that dish and re-claim my kitchen dignity.

I don't want to break my arm patting myself on the back, but this was teh bomb. It was darn close to the original. The parsley makes it look slightly different, but the flavor is just about spot on. I'm still doing my Biggest Loser Challenge, so sadly I only had a little taste. I don't know how long I can hold out. I may just need to hit the gym for an extra hour or two this week.

Without further ado, I bring you:

MMmm MMmm Cream of Mushroom Soup

6 - 1 cup Servings

2 Tablespoon Earth Balance or canola oil (Earth Balance will give a richer flavor)
1 medium onion, diced fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
2 cloves garlic minced
8 oz sliced white or cremini mushrooms
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
½ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Pinch nutmeg
¼ cup all purpose flour
(if you like your soup thicker use 1/3 cup)
(if you are substituting in a recipe that calls for condensed undiluted, use 2/3 cup)
3 cups vegetable broth, hot
1 cup soy creamer

Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

In a 2 quart sauce pan heat Earth Balance or canola oil and add onion, celery, and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until liquid is released, about 5-10 minutes. Make sure there is still a bit of liquid from the mushrooms. Add dried spices mixing thoroughly. Sauté for about another minute, until herbs are fragrant. Stir in flour and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, adding a small amount of the broth if needed. Slowly pour in hot vegetable broth, whisking frequently. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes until thickened. At this point you can use an immersion blender to puree if you like a smoother soup before adding soy creamer. Add soy creamer and simmer for 5 more minutes being careful not to boil.

**If you use this recipe for blogging or posting, I just ask that you make sure to link to this post.

Vegan Bridal Shower Brunch and Hawaiian Quinoa Salad

I had the pleasure of coming out of catering retirement and catering a lovely bridal shower this weekend. The hostess (and a very dear friend) agreed to keep the fact that it was all vegan a secret from most of the guests until after everyone had a chance to try the goods. It was a great success. There were many happy tummies and requests for recipes. It was fun to serve food to such a nice bunch of people, who were very open minded about the vegan menu. The lovely bride seemed to enjoy the food too, which is the most important thing!! So for those of you who asked for the Hawaiian Quinoa Salad recipe, I am posting it here for you.

Hawaiian Quinoa Salad

Makes 8-10 Servings

1/2 medium white or yellow onion, diced small
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 cup red inca quinoa (if you can't find red use regular)
1 1/4 cup quinoa
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup light coconut milk

1 1/2 cup large red bell pepper, diced approx 1/4 inch
1 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, diced approx 1/4 inc (can sub canned but fresh is much better)
1 cup toasted macadamia nuts, coarsely choppped
6 green onions, sliced thinly

Dressing ingredients

1 1/2 Tablespoons white mellow miso
1 1/2 Tablespoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce
3 Tablespoons pineapple juice
1 1/2 teaspoons mirin
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned rice or sushi vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

In medium size saucepan saute onion and garlic in sesame oil until onions are softened (about 5 minutes). Add quinoa and saute until just toated. Add vegetable broth and coconut milk. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until all liquid is absorbed and quinoa is cooked through (about 25 minutes). Make sure all liquid is absorbed or the salad will have quite a bit of liquid at the bottom. Let quinoa cool completely. While it is cooling dice the red pepper and pineapple. Chop the macadamia nuts. Slice the green onions. They look very pretty if you slice them at an angle. Fold these into the cooled quinoa until evenly distributed.

Stir together all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Pour dressing slowly into the salad Let chill in the refrigerator at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Just a little FYI: The Coffee Chip Muffins, Toasted Coconut Mango Muffins, East Coast Blueberry Coffee Cake and both the Broccoli and Cauliflower Quiches were from the Vegan Brunch cookbook. The Mushroom and Leek tart was a recipe from the Voluptuous Vegan cookbook.

Cool Salad - Black and White Sesame Edamame Salad

We've already broken a record in May for the most triple digit temps. That said, turning on the oven has zero appeal. What is an obsessive cook to do? Make cold salads!!! This one is high protein, but feels light and cool. With the use of vegetable stock for much of the oil it isn't too high in fat. It is also pretty darn easy to put together.

Makes 6 portions or 4 cups

2 1/2 cups thawed, shelled edamame
1 can or 1 1/2 cups black soy beans rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons hot chili oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mirin
3 teaspoons red miso
1/4 cup vegetable stock
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
2 garlic cloves minced or microplaned
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, toasted

In a medium sized bowl mix all ingredients from hot chili oil through garlic to make dressing. This can be done easily by hand or in a blender or processor. In a larger bowl toss dressing, edamame, and soy beans and mix well. Toss in both types of sesame seeds. Marinade overnight for best results stirring once or twice to re-distribute marinade/dressing. Serve plain or on a leaf of radicchio.

Mediterannean Quinoa Stuffed Portobellos

I've been meaning to post this since February. Sorry for the delay for those of you who asked for the recipe. I was beyond busy with the 3rd Annual Joanne Wood March Madness for Mammaries Hike that I put on each year to benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and the Wellness Community - Arizona. The hike was a great success, raising over $27,000 for the two charities. Woot!!

On to to the food. For Valentine's Day I created a tasty delicious side dish that ended up being more like a main dish really. It is very tasty and packs a pretty good protein punch from the quinoa.

Mediterannean Quinoa Stuffed Portobellos

4 servings

4 medium sized portobello mushrooms

Marinade

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon tamari
2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste

Filling

1 Cup Quinoa
2 Cups Vegetable Broth
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large red onion or 1 small, diced small
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil choppped

1/2 cup coarsley chopped kalamata olives
2 teaspoons capers

Mix marinade ingredients in shallow baking pan. Add mushrooms and marinade for at least an hour turning once.

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake or grill portobellos for about 5 minutes until they just barely start giving up their liquid. Remove from oven or grill.

Prepare filling. In medium saucepan add quinoa to cold veggie broth. Bring to a boil cover and cook for 15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Remove cover and fluff. While quinoa is cooking heat oil in iron skillet or saute pan. Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are transluscent. Add oregano, red pepper flakes and salt. Saute for 3 minutes. Add sun dried tomatoes, olives, and capers and saute for another 3 minutes. In mixing bowl toss this mixture with quinoa. Salt and pepper to taste. Stuff each portobello cap with approximately 1/2 cup of mixture. Bake mushrooms in covered pyrex dish for 20 minutes.

As you can see, I garnished mine with a roasted pepper cut in a heart shape. You can also garnish with chopped fresh italian parsley.

Hail to the Chief and See ya El Diablo Bush!

Today is a very historical day in history. For the first time I can remember I was actually excited about voting. It feels like real change is coming...good change. OK I'll stop spewing my political joy and get down to the real business of this blog...FOOD.

Tonight I am attending an inauguration celebration. I wanted to bring food that was Obama - esque, but hadn't a clue what to make. I plunked around the internet and read that the Obama's are fans of Rick Bayless. Easy enough. I set out to find a good Bayless recipe. I found quite a few that would be easy enough to veganize. The one that kept catching my attention was his Tequila-Infused Queso Fundido. I have grown to love nooch based "queso" so this is right up my alley. I wanted it to be flavorful and spicy and a little special for such an occasion. I think I may have come up with my favorite queso to date. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Tequila Scented Queso with Hatch Green Chiles

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 medium red onion diced small

1 large heirloom tomato diced small

2 hatch green chiles, roasted, peeled, and diced (seeds left intact if you like the heat)

2 Tablespoons of your favorite tequila

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 Tablespoon Earth Balance or other vegan butter

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

Heat oil in saute pan. Add onions and saute until just soft. Add tomatoes and chilies and saute for about 5 more minutes. Deglaze with tequila. Cook down until mixture is slightly sticky. Turn off heat and let cool while preparing the rest of the queso.In a medium sauce pan whisk dry ingredients into water. Turn heat to med-low and cook while whisking frequently. Don't leave the pan unattended or you will end up with a glop of yuk. Once it has thickened turn off heat. Add Earth Balance and stir until melted. Add tomato mixture. Finely chop cilantro and stir into queso.

Serve warm with chips.

Vegan MOFO Day 30 - Re-making a classic Coq au Vin

I was very inspired by Vegan Hezbollah (sp?). I didn't get in on the fun of converting some very meaty recipes then, so I thought I would take a shot at it now.

My grandma was an incredible cook. When I was very young I remember her making, what to me, were very fancy dinners. One such dinner was Coq au Vin. This is a pretty sophisticated dish for a little girl, but I instantly fell in love with it. Years later while in culinary school, I was re-introduced to this classic dish. Again...total love! I have this incredible yearning to re-create a vegan version of this dish.

I am working 12 hour shifts for the next few days, so for this experiment, I am enlisting the help of my man, Fred. Poor guy is going to be the guinea pig for yet another kitchen expriment. He is ususally an incredibly good sport about being the victim of my experiments. I'm hoping this one doesn't put him over the edge.

I'm posting the recipe preemptively as I may not get to post later today. I'm hoping it will be successful. I will post the results, pictures and any tweeking that may have happened in the process as soon as I can.

Koq au Vin

Serves 4

1 cup Butler soy curls
1 cup vegetable broth
¼ cup inexpensive red wine
5 tempeh bacon style strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 cocktail onions
1-8 oz package cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley, reserve about 1 tsp for garnish
1 cup inexpensive red wine
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup flour
2 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper

Re-hydrate soy curls by heating vegetable broth and ¼ cup wine to just barely starting to boil and pouring over soy curls in medium sized bowl. Let soak for 10 minutes. Once re-hydrated, drain and squeeze out liquid. Make sure to save the soaking liquid. In an iron skillet sauté soy curls until browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

Slice tempeh strips into matchstick sized slices. In same iron skillet, add olive oil and sauté tempeh strips until they are golden and crispy. Be careful not to break up the pieces. When golden, remove from pan and set aside.

If there is no more oil in the pan, add a bit more oil. Add cocktail onions and sauté until dark golden brown. Once the onions are browned, add the mushrooms and sauté until they just start to release their liquid. If needed add more oil. Add thyme and fresh cracked pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Stir in flour until well incorporated. Add 1 cup of red wine to deglaze pan making sure all cooked bits are released from bottom of pan. Add reserved soaking liquid and 2 cups vegetable stock. Add bay leaves. Simmer until reduced by half and sauce is thickened. Add chopped parsley and soy curls. and tempeh. Simmer for 10 more minutes. If sauce is too thick, add small amount of vegetable stock until desired thickness is achieved. Carefully stir in tempeh. Simmer on low for 5 more minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve over roasted or mashed potatoes, or wide noodles.

I made a few tweaks as we were cooking. The recipe is updated to reflect the changes.

Holy moses this is delicious! I'm not kidding. This was rich flavorful bliss. Fred did an awesome job with the prep. He did most of the work. I did a few tweaks to get a good final product. I really loved this dish. My grandma would be proud.

Vegan MOFO Day 26 - Iron Chef - Stuffed

Earlier this month I posted about stuffed stuff. Then this week the iron chef challenge ended up being stuffed stuff this week. No matter, I love stuffing stuff.

For quite some time I have been intrigued by kittee's stuffed tofu, so last night I thought I would give it a whirl. Here is my interpretation.

Stuffed Tofu Parmesiana Style

Makes 6 servings.

2 packages extra firm tofu, pressed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced small
1/3 tube gimme lean sausage style (or homemade)
8 oz package cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1/2 cup soy milk

Basic Marinara

1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can roasted crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste

Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400.

Press tofu for at least 30 minutes. In the mean time make filling. In a heavy skillet on medium heat add olive oil. Saute garlic and onion until onion is just soft. Add sausage and cook until slightly browned. Add mushrooms, spinach, and spices. Cook over low heat until liquid is almost gone. Add toasted pine nuts. Saute for a few more minutes. Let cool.

Once the stuffing is cool, slice tofu. Slice each block into thirds width wise. Cut slits in the middle of the side of each piece being, making a pocket. Be careful not to cut all the way through. To coat the tofu, put each piece one at a time in soymilk. Then dredge in bread crumbs to coat. This may take two times to get it proper coating. Place coated tofu in oiled glass baking dish. Ladle marinara sauce over each tofu pocket. Sprinkle vegan mozzerella over the top. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until heated through. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve over noodles or risotto.