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White Seitan

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.

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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Tags: dinner, food, gluten, meat substitute, recipe, seitan, vegan, vegetarian, wheat

Comments 12 Comments
Categories breakfast, grains, vegan

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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Tags: chickpea, dinner, food, gluten-free, recipe, salad, sandwich, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 1 Comment
Categories dips, gluten-free, vegan

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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Tags: birthday, cake, chocolate, dessert, food, recipe, vegan

Comments 3 Comments
Categories desserts, vegan

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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Tags: chickpeas, curry, dinner, eggplant, food, recipe, thai, vegan, vegetarian

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Categories asian, gluten-free, thai, vegan

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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Tags: food, lunch, minestrone, recipe, soup, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Italian, soups, vegan

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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Tags: cheese, coconut, dinner, food, recipe, vegan

Comments 62 Comments
Categories dips, gluten-free, personal, pizza, vegan

Vegan Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Soup

29 Oct

The weather is slowly getting colder and closer to winter, making me crave warm, comforting food. I had plenty of leftover squash from my butternut squash ravioli and I wanted to make something with a twist. I found a few copycat recipes of Panera’s autumn squash soup, which seemed like a delicious, rich, savory-sweet combination. This recipe is very easy, especially if you’ve made the squash beforehand, and only really requires a quick blend to make it come together. If you want something a little more savory, just add more curry powder and vegetable broth, but I think it’s perfect just the way it is.

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Tags: butternut squash, copycat recipe, dinner, food, soup, vegan, vegetarian

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Categories soups, vegan

Butternut Squash Ravioli in Sage Butter Sauce

27 Oct

Well, it’s been quite the hiatus. In the past six months, I’ve gotten married, gone on a fantastic honeymoon, started work as a massage therapist at a great salon in town, spent 5 days in New York City, and celebrated my 24 birthday. I’d love to catch you up on it all, especially some the drool-worthy meals I’ve eaten, but it would simply take too long. So instead, I’m going to share a new recipe I’ve been working on today.

In the month of September, Ken and I attended 3 weddings, with one weekend off to relax. Being vegan, we don’t usually expect to be accommodated at large events like this, but surprisingly at all three we had something to eat. I’ve been craving another taste of one of the meals-a butternut squash ravioli. I’m guessing it was Rising Moon brand, just by the size and shape. My local natural food store usually carries it, but homemade ravioli sounded like a perfect endeavor on this cold Sunday.

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Tags: butternut squash, dinner, food, homemade ravioli, pasta, ravioli, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 13 Comments
Categories grains, pasta, vegan

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

1 Apr

As I’ve previously mentioned, I can spend hours reading through new cookbooks. Over the past week, I’ve been reading Betty Goes Vegan. Ken’s family held a bridal shower for me last weekend and it was part of an adorable gift basket I received. If you’re looking for a new vegan cookbook, I would definitely suggest it-unless you’re not a fan of vegan meat and dairy substitutes. There’s a lot of fun history tidbits and traditional American recipes, which made me reflect back on some of my first recipes.

The first cookbook I had was a collection of recipes from a fire department-you know the kind, where they all put together recipes in a book to try to raise money? Anyway, any recipes I happened to print out or scribble down in the first few years on my own are stuffed into the front page. In flipping through my many pages of chicken scratch I stumbled upon my mom’s cream of broccoli soup recipe. I always enjoy an attempt to veganize an old recipe and it’s especially gratifying when it still tastes the same as I remember it.

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Tags: broccoli and cheese, daiya, food, recipe, soup, traditional american recipes, vegan, vegetarian

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Categories soups, vegan

Chickpea, Broccoli, and Brown Rice Casserole

8 Mar

Hello everyone! It’s been a while!!

I recently graduated from school and began a new job at a large local salon, so I’ve had less time to focus on blogging. I’ve also been devoting a majority of my time to couponing, which has result in a plethora of free groceries. With all this free food, I’ve had to come up with creative ways to use it (because who really needs eight bottles of barbeque sauce?)

Today was sunny and beautiful; the type of spring day that makes me want to wear a skirt and cook a casserole. Yes, the type of casserole your mom used to make with condensed cream of chicken soup and fried onions (those were free too.) However, this recipe replaces the cream with soymilk and the chicken with chickpeas. The brown rice will make you feel less guilty when you top it with extra cheese and fried onions. Feel free to adjust this recipe to your dietary preferences.