General Tso's Seitan

Served over quinoa with steamed broccoli.

This original recipe has come out a bit differently every time I make it. Honestly, it's still a work in progress, but again, it's been too long since I shared a good recipe on here. Feedback/ suggestions welcome!

General Tso's was always one of my favorite Chinese dishes and one I was bummed to give up on becoming vegan, but of course, I didn't really have to give it up. Veganizing my favorite dishes from pre-vegetarian days has been instrumental in developing my cooking skills. It is so fun and rewarding, even if it does sometimes take a few tries to get it just right.

A note about the photos: I accidentally doubled the sauce and slurry, so don't be surprised if yours looks way more reasonable than mine. I will update this post next time I make it.

Ingredients:
- ½ kg seitan, diced into 2cm cubes
-2 C scallions (white onions pictured)
-8 small dried hot chilis
-½ Tbs flax sees
-½ tsp crushed red pepper
-1 Tbs sesame oil
-3 Tbs veggie oil

"Slurry"
-2 Tbs soy sauce
-2 Tbs water
-¼ C cornstarch

"Sauce"
-¼ C orange juice
-1½ tsp minced ginger
-¼ C soy sauce
-2 Tbs white vinegar
-2 Tbs sherry or white wine
-½ C broth
-2 tsp hot sauce
-1 Tbs white sugar
-¼ C cornstarch

To make:
1. Prepare the sauce first: Mix ginger and all wet ingredients, then briskly stir in sugar and conrstarch. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan to Med - Med High heat.
3. Prepare the slurry: pour water and soy sauce into a medium bowl. Then, stir in cornstarch. It should form a thick paste.

4. Dredge the seitan cubes through the slurry. Let them drip a bit and add them one by one to the oil, frying in batches, about 2 minutes to a side. They should get mega crispy. After they're done transfer them onto a plate with a paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Set aside.

So thick and pasty.

5. Drop heat to Medium. Pour excess oil out of the pan until just enough remains to saute the onions/ green onions and chilis. Saute onions and chilis a bit, maybe 5 minutes. Add crushed red pepper flakes and stir, cooking about another minute.

6. Pour in sauce and stir immediately, or else some might burn on the bottom. Stir continuously until sauce begins to thicken.

7. Add seitan cubes and give a few brisk stirs to coat, cooking until desired thickness is achieved.

8. Garnish with flax seeds. Serve with steamed broccoli over quinoa or brown rice.

Stove Top Popcorn

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I promise to have some good ones coming up, but to be honest I haven't had a lot of time to cook a lot of great meals. I have, however, been eating a lot of snacks. Today's recipe is so simple I almost feel guilty sharing it, but consider it an "appetizer" for some upcoming great meals! I did make seitan earlier this week so stay tuned.

This yielded the massive portion seen throughout. I'll admit it: I ate it all in one sitting. By myself. But I was definitely pretty full by the end.

Stove Top Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. It is a great alternative to the bland and rarely vegan microwaveable version, free of preservatives, and available at Whole Foods in bulk for incredible prices considering how much bang you get for your buck. Seriously, just a handful or kernels fills a great big bowl.

Even when I was a kid I liked to put black pepper on my popcorn, but since I started making stove top popcorn I've really gone nuts, as you can tell from this recipe. That's the other great thing about popcorn: you can really season it however you want to depending on what you're craving for a snack, whether it be sweet, salty, or spicy. For myself I usually just go with all three.

Not pictured: white sugar.

Ingredients:

-1 handful popcorn kernels

-vegetable oil to cover bottom of a large saucepan

-spices and flavorings of your choosing

To make:

1. Coat the bottom of a large saucepan with vegetable oil. Add just one kernel, cover, and heat over Med High heat.

2. When that kernel pops, quickly add the remaining kernels (~1 handful equals one generous serving) and re-cover the pot. If you dilly dally at all those kernels are going to go everywhere, which I regrettably know from experience. (Optional: again, working very quickly, at this point I also sprinkle on maybe a quarter to half teaspoon of white sugar before I cover the pot. This way the sugar will stick to the kernels when they pop and give it kind of a "kettle corn" sweetness.)

Illustrating the point of how quickly you need to get this covered: I wanted to take a picture before any kernels had popped but by the time I turned my camera on I was too late.

Shake shake shake... shake shake shake...

3. Swiftly shake the covered sauce pan over the burner until you don't hear anymore pops. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl as quickly as possible, otherwise some kernels may burn to the bottom.

Taking the time to add all the seasonings is a wonderful exercise in impulse control.

4. Add whatever spices you like to the bowl, shaking vigorously to ensure maximum dispersal. As pictured above, I used salt, black pepper, cumin, tumeric, ancho red chili pepper, nutritional yeast, and curry powder. But feel free to use whatever you like/ are craving. Queue up some Star Trek and chow down!

Vegan Ballin' Yaze

Served over homemade whole wheat French bread with EZ Cheez sauce and side salad.

I have to give Jill credit for the name of this recipe, a Vegasaurus Original. Bolognese sauce is a super meaty Italian sauce traditionally served with linguini, but I serve it over all pasta types, also bread, eggplant, in sandwiches, etc. For my vegan ballin' yaze, I do make use of a prepackaged meat substitute because I have not been able to make anything myself that behaves quite as accurately as Lightlife hamburger and sausage tubes.

Plate of meat substitute.

The vegan bacon, however, was homemade. I used a seitan bacon (of course) but feel free to substitute your own favorite vegan bacon recipe.

Also, I guess my recipe is not a traditional bolognese (besides the whole not using meat thing) because it makes use of a large can of crushed tomatoes and bolognese is supposed to be a couple tablespoons of tomato paste at best. Whatever. It's delicious.


Ingredients:
-4 Tbs vegan butter
-3 Tbs olive oil
-1 onion, diced small
-1 stalk celery, diced small
-1 large carrot, diced small
-4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
-1 C chopped vegan bacon
- 1 397g tube of Lightlife Ground Beef style
-½ 397g tube of Lightlife Ground Sausage style
-1 C veggie stock
-1 C dry cooking wine

Oregano fresh from my parents' organic garden.

-1 tsp salt
-½ tsp pepper
-¼ ground sage
-1 Tbs oregano
-½ tsp crushed red pepper
-¼ tsp nutmeg
-1 794g can of crushed tomatoes
-½ C milk (or blended cashews)

How to Make:

1. Heat butter and olive oil in pot or saucepan at Med Lo to Med until frothy.
2. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook until onions are tender and glossy, about 8 minutes.

3. Add the meat in chunks and stir until it begins to firm up. Use a wooden spoon to mash the larger meat chunks into smaller and smaller pieces. Cook this way about 5-10 min, or until meat is firm.

4. Raise heat to Med Hi, add wine and broth. Simmer until mostly evaporated.

5. Add oregano, salt n' peppa, sage, pepper flakes, nutmeg. Stir well and simmer another 20 minutes.
6. Add crushed tomatoes, stir well, and bring to a boil. Drop to a simmer, and simmer covered for at least an hour.

7. Remove cover, add milk or processed cashews, stir, and simmer uncovered 5- 10 minutes. Let cool, and serve or store.

Wheat Flour Tortillas

Who doesn't love Taco Night? With this recipe, you can quickly make your own fresh, delicious wheat flour tortillas to load with rice and refried beans, pico de gallo, maybe some vegan sour cream? Don't forget vegan cheese sauce! I prefer flour tortillas to corn tortillas personally, which is good, since I can't seem to make my own corn tortillas...

Ingredients:
-1 C all-purpose flour
-1 C white whole wheat flour
-½ tsp salt
-¼ C veggie oil
-1 tsp baking powder
-½ C (+) warm water
-cornmeal

To make:

1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder.
2. Cut in oil with a fork, and mix well, using your fingertips to completely combine.

3. Add water, and mix until a sticky ball forms. If dough is still at all dry, slowly add water until it is quite sticky, but not soupy.

This is actually what it looks like after sitting for 30 min.

4. Cover bowl, and rest for 30 minutes to ensure complete water absorption.
5. Divide into 8 pieces, roll into small, loose balls. Cover with a damp paper towel.

So obviously I made a double batch...

6. Dust a clean surface with cornmeal. One at a time, pat the balls flat with your hands, then press flat as you can on the cornmeal surface, pressing out from the center with the heel of your hand. Once it is as flat as you can get it, press it even flatter with a heavy rolling pin. Flip it over and roll flat again.

The flatter the better!

7. Heat a cast iron pan to medium. Put the flattened tortilla on the dry pan and cook until bubbling, about 2 minutes. Flip over and cook until bubbling again, about 2 more minutes. Both sides should be browned and bumpy. What time is it? Taco Time!

Brown and bubbly!

Mango Rhubarb Crumble

Served with Geisha brand full fat coconut milk cream.

Mango and rhubarb, it turns out, is a thing. Don't get me wrong, I remain a huge fan of the classic strawberry and rhubarb combo: so far this season I have made strawberry rhubarb crumble, strawberry rhubarb donuts, and roasted strawberry and rhubarb over rye shortcakes.

However, due to insanely low local mango prices and the huge amount of rhubarb still in my freezer, I was curious: could the sweetness of mango provide a tasty compliment to rhubarb in a dessert?

It turns out I was not the first person to wonder thus, and it also turns out the answer is a resounding yes. I researched several recipes before deciding on Mango and Rhubarb Crumble courtesy of Kevin Lynch at Closet Cooking. It seems I chose correctly: this was a delicious and simple recipe that got rave reviews from everyone who tried it.

Ingredients:-¼ C sugar
-2 Tbs cornstarch
-2 mangoes, cut into cubes about 3 cm square
-2 C rhubarb, cut into 3 cm long slices
-1 Tbs lemon juice
-2 tsp grated ginger-⅔ C flour-⅓ C oats-⅓ C shredded coconut-⅔ C brown sugar-⅓ C vegan butter, melted
-coconut oil to grease the pan




To make:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Add mango, rhubarb, and ginger and toss to coat. Set aside.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients (minus the coconut oil) in a separate bowl.
3. Grease a baking dish (I used a 24 cm round) with coconut oil. Add the fruit, spreading evenly across the bottom,
4. Pour the topping (the stuff from the other bowl) over the top of the fruit. Make sure to evenly distribute the topping across the top. I also used a wooden spoon to gently press down here and there to make sure the top was smooth and even.

5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and fruit is bubbling deliciously.

Seitan Chop Suey

Seitan chop suey with snap peas, scallions, waterchestnuts, and sprouts.

This recipe is an original, and one of my favorite creations. It is my pleasure to share it with you!

This recipe goes great with the chickeny seitan recipe from yesterday, but feel free to use store bought. I bet you could even substitute tofu if you're anti-gluten, but can't say I've ever tried that. For the record, I am rabidly pro-gluten.

I recommend serving with brown rice or quinoa. Quinoa, for those who don't know, is an Andean wondergrain with loads of protein and fiber. Much better for you than rice... unfortunately, it is also much more expensive, to the tune of like 5 times as much. 

Also: the veggies are really your choice. Feel free to mix and match. I recommend always including waterchestnuts, but I also really love waterchestnuts and any excuse to use them. I also would include some kind of oniony vegetable, like scallions (pictured), leeks, or yellow/white onion.

Ingredients:

-1 C broth
-2 Tbs soy sauce
-2 Tbs hoisin sauce (or molasses)
-2 C seitan, chopped into cubes
-1 Tbs olive oil
-1½ C broccoli sliced thin (or snap peas, as pictured, or celery, sliced into angled chunks)
-1 C chopped scallions (or leeks, or yellow/white onion)
-½ C waterchestnuts, sliced into matchsticks
-3 Tbs flour
-3 Tbs cornstarch
-sprouts (broccoli pictured, but feel free to use the more traditional bean sprouts)

To make:

1. Mix broth, soy sauce, and hoisin in a medium bowl. Add cubed seitan, cover, and let marinate while you chop the veggies, at least 15 minutes

2. Mix flour and cornstarch. Toss seitan in the flour mixture, but save the marinade! You will need it later.

3. Sear the floured seitan cubes in a pan over medium heat in the oil. Save the extra flour! Set aside.

4. Coat a pan w/ a small amount of broth. Add vegetables (but not the sprouts) and cover to steam on medium/ medium low for about 2-3 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. Do not over cook, because you are going to cook a bit longer.

5. Pour in the marinade, and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the extra flour from the coating, and continue to cook and stir until sauce begins to thicken. Stir in seitan and sprouts. Serve!

Sauce thickening

Simple Seitan

Seitan chop suey with sprouts,  green peas,  scallions and water chestnuts.

Seitan is my favorite of the Vegan Meat Trifecta (tofu, tempeh, and seitan). It has a very meaty, chewy taste and can be substituted for meat in most omnivorous recipes. 

You can buy it pre-made in health food stores/ whole foods but it is also quite easy to make it yourself! 

Ingredients:
-1 C Vital Wheat Gluten
-3 Tbs nutritional yeast
-1/2 C veggie broth
-2 Tbs soy sauce
-2 Tbs lemon juice
-1 Tbs olive oil
-2 cloves (1 heaping tsp) garlic, minced

For the broth:
-4 C veggie broth
-4 C water
-2 Tbs soy sauce

Optional chicken seasoning:
-¼ tsp onion powder
-¼ tsp garlic powder
-¼ celery seed, ground between your hands
-1 tsp parsley, rubbed between your hands
-dash sage
-dash thyme
-dash marjoram
-dash mint

1. Mix broth ingredients in a large pot. Bring to boil, then drop to a simmer, as you complete the following steps.
2. Mix all dry seitan ingredients in a large bowl, and all wet/damp ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Pour wet into dry, stirring continuously, until well mixed and all moisture absorbed.

4. Knead pretty much until you can't anymore or 3 min, whichever comes first. Roll it into a bit of a log and slice into thirds. Press these chunks a little bit.

5. Place seitan chunks in simmering broth, and partially cover. Simmer for 45 minutes, turning every 15.
6. Remove from heat, let sit 15 minutes or so.

7. Move to strainer with a slotted spoon, and allow to dry for 10 min or so.

8. If I plan to use the seitan for sandwiches, at this point I also pan fry it as a final step in a little olive oil, just enough to firm up the outside a bit.

But what about the optional chicken seasoning?
Right! The other great thing about making your own seitan is you can flavor it however you like. The optional chicken seasoning can be added to the dry ingredients to give your seitan a "chickeny" flavor.