Our Veggie Kitchen

It seems I'm getting swept up in holiday preparations. And I'm trying to get work done so I can take a couple weeks vacation. I've been doing a lot of quick stand-by dinners; lots of pasta, stir fries and tacos, and a few burgers peppered in when things get hectic. I tried tempeh for the first time in two years, with mixed results. I also found my new favorite sweet and sour sauce. The fatfreevegan's Seitan Baked Seitan in Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce tasted great, but i thought the texture was a bit chewy. I had the same issue when I tried her ribs and I think I'll play a bit to fix it. It is worth the effort.



I also made Eggnog Bread. I found the recipe here on discusscooking.com (Thanks Glorie). I veganized it and made a loaf of bread. I blended egg replacer with water and the bread turned out a little heavy ... and it fell apart a bit. Maybe it would have held together if it cooled but it was gone before that happened. So I waited until after the kids were in bed and made some muffins. I mixed the egg replacer with the egg nog (and no extra liquid) and that made the difference. I actually got to eat two muffins from that batch. The bread was sweet and rich and holiday, umm holiday-ey. I'm going to buy some boxes of rice nog so I can make this year-round.



Eggnog Muffins/Bread
8 tbs Earth Balance Margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs rum (or 2 tsp rum extract)
1 cup Soy Egg Nog (or rice)
1 tbs Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/3 cup vegan sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

With a beater, cream the margarine with the sugar until fluffy. Combine the wet ingredients and whisk in the egg replacer powder. Blend the liquid and sour cream in with the margarine and sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and blend until somewhat sticky (like a muffin or banana bread batter).

For Bread: Pour into a 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until a knife an be inserted and pulled out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and remove from the pan.

For Muffins: Spoon Batter into a muffin tin, fitted with muffin cups, about even with the tin. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, until a knife can be inserted and pulled out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and remove from the pan.

12 Servings: 245 Cal (9g fat, 36g carbs, 3g protein)

Traditional Bolognese Sauce is made with butter and milk and pigs and cows and calves. It's a vegan nightmare. At its essence, though, I think Bolognese is the interplay between various fats and that, I can reproduce. I added celery and portabella mushrooms for flavor and texture. Celery is an amazing substitute for meat in pasta sauce. I also added a little extra tomato sauce just because I like my Bolognese a little more tomato-ey.

I served it with my first ever attempt at french bread. It was pretty good the first day . . . can you screw up fresh breada? . . . the second day, well, maybe I should have made stuffing cubes.



Mushroom Bolognese
4 tbs Earth Balance Margarine
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 portabella mushroom, minced
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 tsp Better than Bouillon No-Beef Base*
28 oz whole tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 lb spaghetti or other pasta

* No-Beef base can be substituted for 1 tbs vegan Worcestershire sauce

For the dried porcini mushrooms, put in bowl with a little water. Cover loosely with saran wrap and microwave for about a minute. Set the bowl aside until needed.

Melt the margarine in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic and porcini mushrooms. Saute until the onions are soft. While the mixture cooks, mince the porcini mushrooms and add to pan, along with the liquid. Add the soy milk and simmer briskly until the milk has mostly evaporated. Add the wine and, again, simmer briskly until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and bring back to a boil. Cover and simmer, beaking the whole tomatoes apart with a wooden spoon as it simmers. Simmer for 20 minutes to an hour. Stir into or pour over cooked pasta.

5 Servings: 592 cal (12g fat, 91g carbs, 20g protein)

There's veggie coffee house in town that serves 'Silly' Cheesesteak. How can you not like that? Well, Shortly before I discovered this phenomenon, they decided to close their kitchen for a remodel. They've been closed for about a month and I've wanted cheesesteak ever since. Last night, I finally took matters into my own hands and made my own. Later, I spoke with my dad on the phone and I could hear his eyes blink as he tried to comprehend vegan cheesesteak.



Philly Cheesesteak:
This really isn't a recipe. Basically, take 4 beefy seitan cutlets from the freezer and allow them to partially defrost. Keep them as frozen as possible, though. Slice each cutlet as thinly as possible, then roughly chop the pile of seitan. Saute about 1/4 cup diced green pepper and half an onion (sliced in half rings) in a little oil and, when soft, add the chopped setian. Cook, stirring frequently, until the seitan is hot. I added a little of the cooking liquid from the seitan, but I don't know if it made any difference.

Spread a little Earth Balance on a hoagie roll and put under the broiler until browned. Pile on some of the steak mixture, then pour on some cheese sauce. I used the sauce from VeganDad's Mac & Cheese, but Nacho Sauce would work too, perhaps even better. I also smeared on lots of horseradish.

Chickpea Romesco:
I also made Chickpeas Romesco from the Veganomicon. I made it straight from the book, hence no recipe, and I must say, I was fairly impressed. It had nice fresh taste and the flavors came together well, which was a concern because I'm not a big roasted pepper fan. I was going to stir in some pasta shells, but, instead, poured it over rice. I think next time I will add some tomato paste, or a mix of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and cook it with pasta.

I like cabbage. It's one of those veggies that I always have in the fridge. I use it instead of lettuce on sandwiches or tacos and I like to sneak into mashed potatoes, stir fries, etc. It's sweet, versatile and adds great texture to your dish. It can be crunchy or soft, sometimes at the same time. It's also a good source of Fiber, Calcium, Iron and Vitamins A, C and many B Complex Vitamins.

Smothered cabbage cabbage cooked in bacon or pancetta and simmered until it's soft, nearly falling apart. I wanted to capture the earthiness of pancetta, so I opted to use some of the spices used to cure it; juniper berries, thyme and peppercorns. I added a few cloves for good measure. It wasn't as good as with the pancetta, but I did lick my plate and load up on seconds - and it was definitely better for the pig.



Smothered Cabbage
4 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
1 head Savoy cabbage (2 lbs)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups vegetable broth (next time I'll use chicken flavored)
1 tsp brown sugar
Bouquet Garni
2 bay leaves
10 juniper berries, crushed
4 sprigs thyme
4 whole cloves
15 whole peppercorns

For the bouquet garni, wrap the whole spices in a piece of cheesecloth and tie up so they won't fall out while cooking. you may also use a spice bag.

For the cabbage, quarter the head, then slice the core off of each corner. Cut each quarter into ribbons, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, and not necessarily uniform. basically, cut into wide shreds.

Melt the margarine in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until the edges begin to brown. Add the garlic, salt and cabbage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage has wilted. Add the vegetable broth and bouquet garni and bring to a boil. Partially cover the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer until the liquid has fully absorbed, about 45 minutes.

Remove the bouquet garni, stir in the brown sugar and season to taste. Depending on the broth you use, it is likely that you will want to stir in additional salt.

6 Servings: 127 cal (7g fat, 14g carbs, 4g protein)

Is it wrong to want comfort food so soon after Thanksgiving? The truth is, we just really like mashed potatoes. I made ten pounds for Thanksgiving, then bought another ten pound bag this weekend. With Shepherd's Pie, I always pile on too may taters and the filling ends up gushing over the sides. Inverting the process resolves that problem and leaves room for some tater tots. This isn't necessarily the healthiest thing that I've made, but it was sure good.



Upside Down Shepherd's Pie
6 cups mashed potatoes
1 lb tater tots (half a bag)
Filling:
3 tbs Earth Balance Margarine
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli florets
1/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 can chickpeas, drained
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Melt margarine in a sauce pan. Add onion and mushrooms and saute until soft. Stir in garlic and broccoli and cook until the garlic is aromatic. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for a couple minutes longer. Add the remaining filling ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and remove from heat and set aside. The sauce should have thickened a bit.

Spread mashed potatoes in a 9 x 13 casserole, spreading some of the potatoes up the sides. Pour in the gravy and veggies. Spread tater tots over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes, until the tater tots are browned and the gravy is bubbly.

This can be made with any combination of veggies that you want and can be as simple as mixing a bag of frozen veggies with gravy and adding a can of beans or seitan strips. Just make sure you have five or six cups of filling. Also, I kept the nutritional yeast to a minimum at my kids' request. I ended up sprinkling some extra over the top for myself. You may just want to add some more.

6 Servings: 607 cal (18g fat, 100g carbs, 16g protein)