Archive | October, 2014

Buffalo Seitan

26 Oct

Football on Sundays is a tradition in my house. I usually serve nachos, but some weeks I want something different.  We love spicy foods and finger foods:buffalo wings are an easy answer. Obviously we don’t eat wings, but seitan is an easy substitute. I’d love to try wrapping the seitan around skewers so you get the “handle” for eating. Something like this from Meet the Shannons would work great.

I was curious as to why they are called buffalo wings, and Wikipedia gave me this answer “One of the more prevalent claims is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, by Teressa Bellissimo.” One more question I will no longer have to wonder about.

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(Hopefully you think ahead before you make these and don’t run out of hot sauce like I did.)
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Review: Hampton Creek Just Cookie Dough

23 Oct

We received a package on the front porch today…Ilyana was very intrigued by the labels on the side, I was quite curious to see what was inside. I’m currently waiting on another package, so it could have been either one. I won a contest on the Hampton Creek facebook page, so they were sending me a jar of cookie dough to try, but I’m also waiting on a hoodie from their “justashelfie” promotion. I’ve talked about Hampton Creek in my recent posts, so if you need to catch up, please look back to the mayonnaise cake and chipotle chickpea salad.

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It’s cookie dough! It was packaged in a cold pack and I could feel how chilled it was when I opened the box.

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She was just as excited as I was.

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I love their simple packaging-good food doesn’t always need excessive labels.

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White Seitan

20 Oct

I tried pre made seitan a number of times before I realized how easy it was to make myself.  We’ve cut back on our soy consumption so seitan has been a good protein source for many of our favorite recipes. The first recipe I tried was chicken seitan by PPK, but despite following the instructions perfectly, I ended up with the dreaded “brain” texture. I made it multiple times, with only one success.

Then I learned about steaming seitan and I’ll never go back to boiling. I haven’t had one bad batch since! So if you’ve had terrible seitan before, there’s hope!

This seitan is a perfect stand in for chicken in most recipes and I’ve even ground it to use in chili and “meat” sauce. Always cook it before use in any recipe, otherwise you may end up with mush. I always season it during the second cook, so the seasoning you use before steaming isn’t hugely important.

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I make using the dough hook on my Ninja blender, but if you don’t have that, just stir and knead by hand for 5 minutes. I also use my pressure cooker to steam this, so I only steam it for about 20 minutes.

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Chipotle Chickpea Salad

17 Oct

I’ve already expressed my obsession with Just Mayo in my previous post, and I was excited to find the Chipotle mayo in a nearby store. I should be receiving a jar of their new product Just Cookie Dough in the mail next week, so I plan on doing a review here. Check back for it!

I wanted to use the Chipotle mayo for something more exciting than just a sandwich, and I couldn’t imagine a better application than in chickpea salad. I love recipes for chickpea salad as a tuna salad/chicken salad replacement because I grew up eating those for lunch over the summer. The chipotle mayo adds a really nice kick; I would love to try this with some chopped cilantro or in a lettuce wrap.  You could even serve this as a warm dip with hot sauce and chips.

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Vegan Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

16 Oct

Mayonnaise cake seems like something someone who was hoarding for the apocalypse would invent while trying to use up their food stash. It definitely tastes better than you would expect most post apocalyptic meals to taste, especially since it’s full of chocolate.

I made this for my husband’s birthday, and didn’t tell him there was mayonnaise in it until he finished his piece.  This recipe definitely beats out my old chocolate cake recipe; I have to thank Hampton Creek for the original. I’ve posted it below if you’re too lazy to click the link, but I didn’t make any changes beyond pan size and it came out perfect.

If you haven’t tried Just Mayo yet, you need to leave your house and go buy some right now. There’s even a $2.50 coupon on their website, so you’re basically getting it for free. This stuff is better than regular egg based mayonnaise and way more sustainable. I’ve tried it on sandwiches, in chickpea salad, with sambal on sushi, and straight off the spoon. Granted, I tend to get over enthusiastic about new products, but Hampton Creek is a really great company and worth a try, even if you’re not vegan.

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Chickpeas and Eggplant in Red Curry Peanut Sauce

14 Oct

Thai curry is a pretty common go to in our household – just a few ingredients and you have a rich, filling meal. This recipe features my favorite vegetables, eggplant and mushrooms, but I often use anything in the refrigerator that needs to get eaten.

I started adding peanut butter recently, as we both love peanut noodles, and we really like it. It’s just as good without the peanut butter, so feel free to leave it out. Try to use a natural version if you can; the flavor and texture is better. I also use coconut oil, because I’m addicted to the stuff, but any neutral oil will work. I used Black Beauty eggplant,  because that’s what is growing in our garden, but if you use Asian eggplant, there’s no need to salt. Chickpeas are my current protein of choice, but tofu, seitan, or tempeh are all equally good here.

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Lentil Minestrone

13 Oct

I promise this tastes better than it looks.

With that said, this is my go-to soup recipe.  I love thick hearty soups as the weather cools down, so I tend to overfill my soups with vegetables and pasta. Feel free to reduce any amounts here if you prefer something a little lighter.

As an added bonus, cute baby pictures included:
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Our favorite sliceable, meltable vegan cheese

9 Oct

Since I’ve been spending more time at home, as I only work part time since the birth of my baby, I’ve been experimenting with different recipes for vegan cheese. As much as I love Daiya, it gets expensive, even with coupons.

I’m a big fan of Vedged Out’s foxy moxy mozzarella, but I wanted something that held up to slicing and grating. I tried a recipe with cashew cheese, but without investing in a Vitamix blender (hint hint family members:Christmas is coming) the consistency was too grainy for my taste.

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