Spinach Stew

Today is the International Day of Non-Violence, so it seems appropriate that I should adapt a recipe from The Peaceful Cook. It was one of the first cookbooks I ever bought when I became vegan (even though the book is lacto-vegetarian and not vegan) and the first time I ever heard of Braggs Aminos.

Spinach Stew

One bunch of organic spinach
Olive oil
1/2 t. dry mustard
2 t. Dijon mustard
One can diced tomatoes
2 T. dill seeds
1 T. Braggs Aminos
2 c. pasta
Water

Dice the spinach and saute in olive oil until wilted. Add remaining ingredients and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour. Check periodically to see if you need to add more water to make it soupy. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Potato Soup

With fall days slowly moving in, the desire for soup increases. There is something that says *all is well* about a homemade soup.

Cauliflower Potato Soup

One onion, sliced
Five potatoes, cut into chunks
3 stalks of celery, sliced
3 carrots, sliced
One head of cauliflower, cut into florets
One bunch of collard greens, center rib removed and leaves chopped
4 c. vegetable broth

Add all of the ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer about 30 minutes. When potatoes and carrots and fork tender, it's done. Serve with a generous splash of Bragg's Aminos and buttered bread. Enjoy!

Fettuccine Alfreda with Gomasio

Today is National Pasta Day! What better way to celebrate it than with a cruelty-free alfredo? We renamed it alfreda.

Fettuccine Alfreda with Gomasio

Fettuccine

One onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 c. vegetable broth

2 t. mustard

2 t. Braggs Aminos

2 t. chili powder

1/2 c. toasted pine nuts

1 c. nutritional yeast

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. black pepper

Cook the fettuccine according to package directions. Saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add onion and garlic and remaining ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour this pesto like mixture over the drained fettuccine and mix well. Serve with a sprinkle of gomasio.

Gomasio

1/2 c. toasted sesame seeds

1/2 t. sea salt

1/2 t. kelp flakes

Blend in a food processor until well mixed.

This would probably lend itself well to the addition of some seitan chunks, but I didn't consider that until after I was eating it. I have no leftovers; it was completely devoured.

Scarborough Fair Meatloaf

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel and its possible 1670 origins, it was this ballad that came to mind as I was making this meatloaf.

Scarborough Fair Meatloaf

2 stalks celery, chopped
One onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
One block of firm tofu, frozen and thawed, drained and crumbled
1/4 c. walnuts, chopped
12 oz. vegetarian meat crumbles
1-1/4 c. quick cooking oats
3 T. Braggs Aminos
2 T. ketchup
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 t. parsley
1/2 t. each - sage, rosemary and thyme

Saute the celery, onion and garlic until soft. In a large bowl, add the sauteed vegetables and remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Here's where I confess my sins.

The original recipe said to spray a loaf pan, but this made more than my loaf pan would hold, so I sprayed a casserole dish instead. Dumped it all into the dish,  covered it with a coating of ketchup and baked at 375 for one hour.

Came out tasty, but definitely not a loaf. More of a hash. We dished it on top of the mashed potatoes and gobbled it up. Not sure how to make this more loafy - my son suggested going ahead with the loaf pan and maybe pressing it down a bit to compact it. Not sure if that would work, but we liked it well enough for me to give that a go. If anyone has a suggestion, or has tried the packing technique and it works, let me know, would you?

My non-vegan cousin teased me about using the term *meat* in the recipe, but another friend pointed out that the word *meat* is defined as the the edible part of something as distinguished from its covering (as a husk or shell), so can be used to describe both plant and flesh. So there!

The word meat comes from the Old English word mete, which referred to food in general. The term is related to mad in Danish, mat in Swedish and Norwegian, and matur in Icelandic, which also mean 'food'. The word "mete" also exists in Old Frisian (and to a lesser extent, modern West Frisian ) to denote important food, differentiating it from "swiets" (sweets) and "dierfied" (animal feed).

Shredded Veggie Rice

I have several vegan cookbooks. There isn't a one I don't love. So I'm going to trip through some of them and introduce others to the fantastic variety out there!

Shredded Veggie Rice

This tasty and very simple dish is courtesy of Rice & Spice by Robin Robertson, one of my favorite vegan cooks. This fried rice is loaded with veggies - squash, zucchini, onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, etc. She suggests using tamari, but I used Braggs Aminos instead. The ginger gives it a really nice kick. I didn't mince the garlic, I just allowed it to be shredded with the rest of the veggies.

Country Vegetables

It was hot today, and to top it all off, my air conditioner is on the fritz. Argh! I came upon this recipe in my files, and thought, what the heck. It looks easy and I won't have to spend too much time in the kitchen! The picture is from the recipe. I didn't get to snap a picture, it got gobbled up so quick!

Country Vegetables

Olive oil
One package of sliced mushrooms
2 stalks celery, sliced
One pint of cherry tomatoes
One package frozen broccoli and cauliflower
One onion, sliced
One c. water
2 T. Braggs Aminos

Saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in the olive oil until softened. Add broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, water and Braggs. Heat to boiling, cover, reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.

This was really nice, and like I said above, got gobbled up by my family. The original recipe listed carrots and snow pea pods, but since I had neither of those, I used celery instead. The vegetables came out tender with just a slight crunch, which I liked. I cooked up some mixed wild and regular rice just to go alongside it. Nothing left for leftovers for tomorrow's lunch!

Juicy Portobello Steaks

I live in cattle country. You can find steakhouses and barbecue places everywhere. Seriously, they are darn near spaced about a mile apart. And if not those, burger joints. I swear, I can hear the mooing as I pass. Makes me sad, makes me angry. When you are surrounded by all that death, the very least I can do is come home and make my dinner cruelty free.

Juicy Portobello Steaks

1/2 c. almonds
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. Braggs Aminos
1/2 c. water
2 T. balsamic vinegar
3 cloves, garlic, chopped
1 t. dried rosemary
1 t. dried oregano
4 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed
1 onion, sliced

In a food processor, whir the almonds until powdered. Add oil, Braggs, water, vinegar, garlic, rosemary and oregano and blend until well mixed. In a baking dish, lay the mushrooms upside down. Pour the sauce over the top, lay some onion slices on each mushroom. Bake at 250 for 25 minutes.

OMG, these are so juicy and delicious! It makes a wonderful gravy that you can pour over rice or mashed potatoes.

Since hubby had grilled some potatoes recently, I took a few of those and scooped out most of it, leaving the skin intact to form a shell. I mixed in some green onions, Daiya cheese, vegan butter and some herbs until it was all mixed well, scooped the mixture back into the potato skins and baked them alongside the mushrooms.

This was very elegant and would be perfect for dinner guests. Throw together a salad or cook some greens of your choice, and you truly have a winner here.

Happy New Year!

Today is 1-1-11. Doreen Virtue says the calendar date of 1/1/11 in Angel Numbers means: "Keep your thoughts positive, as this is a gate opening of energy for the fruition and manifestation of your dreams. Only think about what you desire and intend." You can call upon the angel of beauty and beautiful thoughts, Archangel Jophiel, to elevate your thoughts to Love.

What better way to keep your thoughts positive than to go vegan! And one of the best ways to start off your new vegan year is with some Hoppin' John!

Hoppin' John

3 c. cooked rice
1 T. olive oil
dash of Liquid Smoke
One green pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
3 c. cooked or 3 cans black eyed peas, drained
2 T. Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
1/2 t. onion powder
2 T. Braggs aminos
10 oz. box frozen chopped collards

Saute green pepper, red onion and black eyed peas in olive oil and Liquid Smoke. Add seasonings and collards. Heat through. Add rice and Braggs. Let heat on low - medium until everything is nicely mixed and hot. Top with some Bacos for a smoky crunch. Serve with some good old fashioned, homemade cornbread. Enjoy!

Throughout the coastal South, eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck. The peas are symbolic of pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the pot or left under the dinner bowls. Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale etc. along with this dish are supposed to also add to the wealth since they are the color of money. On the day after New Year's Day, leftover "Hoppin' John" is called "Skippin' Jenny," and further demonstrates one's frugality, bringing a hope for an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year. During the late Middle Ages, there was a tradition of eating beans on New Year's Day for good luck in parts of France and Spain. The European tradition mixed with an African food item to become a New World tradition.

One tradition common in the Southern USA is that each person at the meal should leave three peas on their plate to assure that the New Year will be filled with Luck, Fortune and Romance. Another tradition holds that counting the number of peas in a serving predicts the amount of luck (or wealth) that the diner will have in the coming year.

Where does the name come from? There are almost as many theories as to how Hoppin' John got its name as there are ways to cook the dish. One story attributes the name to the custom of inviting guests to eat with, "Hop in, John." Another suggestion is that it is derived from an old ritual on New Year's Day in which the children of the house hopped once around the table before eating the dish. Whatever its origin, it was definitely a staple for many in the early South, and remains an important dish today. Etymologists suggest the name comes from a Caribbean dish of rice and peas and salt pork called (in French) pois a pigeon, which is pronounced something like "pwahahpeejawng." 

The Oxford English Dictionary's first reference to the dish is from Frederick Law Olmsted's 19th century travelogue, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States. "The greatest luxury with which they are acquainted is a stew of bacon and peas, with red pepper, which they call ‘Hopping John’." There is also a recipe for Hopping John in The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge, which was published in 1847.

One suggestion as to why people eat Hoppin' John on New Years Day is the thought that the black-eyed pea is lucky originated in the Jewish Talmud, and has been believed by some that Jewish settlers in the South spread their beliefs to the locals. Some scholars identify it as a strictly West African dish carried to the colonies by slaves from the Congo.

Whatever the origins of the name or how it came to be associated with New Years Day, the dish quite definately was a staple of the African slaves who populated southern plantations, especially those of the Gulla country of South Carolina. And regardless of who or how or why, it is still an New Years Day tradition for m any, including my family. We eat it every New Years Day and continue to love it and look forward to it!

I hope it becomes a tradition for your family!

Seitan Pot Roast

Nothing says comfort food like a pot roast! The centerpiece of many Sunday dinners, it is soul nourishing food. Placed in a crockpot, it's mouth-watering scent wafts through the home, welcoming all who enter. And the best part is leftovers! So many things you can do with them!

Seitan Pot Roast

1 onion, chopped
1-3/4 c. vital wheat gluten
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1 t. onion powder
1 t. thyme
1-1/2 c. water
3 T. Braggs aminos
1 T. ketchup
3 large carrots, sliced
5 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 c. vegetable broth
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt and pepper

Spread the onion along the bottom of the crockpot.

In a bowl, mix the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, onion powder, thyme and 1/2 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the water, Braggs and ketchup. Pour liquids into the dry ingredients and mix well.  Knead this for about 2 minutes. Mold into a nice shape, and place the raw seitan in the crockpot, on top of the chopped onions.

Arrange the carrots and potatoes in the crockpot around the seitan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the the vegetable broth. Place lid on crockpot, turn to low and let cook 8 hours.
Slice the seitan roast and serve with the vegetables. Enjoy!

If you have never used a crockpot, my first piece of advice is - go buy one! When purchasing a crockpot, look for one with a removable liner. They are much easier to clean. They come in many sizes and shapes, so pick one that suits you. I have two. One round, one oval and both large. I've found the oval shaped one does seem to take longer to cook.

The LOW setting is about 200 degrees, and the HIGH setting is about 300 degrees. In other words, it gets hot! Make sure it sits on your counter away from the edge, to avoid any little fingers accidentally touching. One hour on HIGH is equal to two hours on LOW.

Only fill the crockpot one half to two thirds full. The foods will not cook properly if the appliance is filled to the brim. If the food and liquid level is lower, the foods will cook too quickly. Foods cooked on the bottom of the slow cooker cook faster and will be moister because they are immersed in the simmering liquid. Don't lift the lid to stir, especially if you are cooking on the low setting. Each time you lift the lid, enough heat will escape that the cooking time should be extended by 20 minutes to half an hour. To check progress without lifting the lid, spin the cover until the condensation falls off. Then it's easy to see inside. Liquids do not boil away in the crockpot, so if you are making a recipe that wasn't specifically developed for the crockpot, reduce the liquid by 1/3 to 1/2 unless you are cooking rice or making soup.

Cooking times. Most people want to try adapting their favorite stews and sauces to the slow cooker. The chart below explains how to adjust cooking times.

Oven/Stove Top Time      Slow Cooker (Low Setting)     Slow Cooker (High Setting)

15 - 30 min.                     4 - 6 hours                               1.5 - 2.5 hours
30 - 45 min.                     6 - 8 hours                               3 - 4 hours
45 min - 3 hours               8 - 16 hours                             4 - 6 hours

The crockpot is ideal for working people who must be away from home all day (or for those days when you must run errands or attend meetings, or for when you're entertaining and want to get the food preparation done early). The food will simmer for 10 to 12 hours on Low if you must be gone all day or you may cook the food in 5 to 6 hours on High. It is a very simple appliance to operate and you will find that the cooked food is very tasty. If you are a working person or one who knows they will have a very busy day, you can do most of the chopping and measuring the night before. Then refrigerate these ingredients until the next morning. If your crockpot has a REMOVABLE liner, you can assemble and refrigerate the food right in the liner which will be easy to pop into the crockpot the next morning. Be sure you don't fill the crockpot so full that the food pushes up on the lid.  Protect the crockery liner. Do not subject it to sudden temperature changes. Do not preheat the cooker and then add food. Do not pour cool water into the crockery liner while it is still hot after food has been removed.

CLEANUP: As soon as you remove the food from the crockpot, uplug it and fill the liner with VERY HOT soapy water (DO NOT ADD COOL WATER!!). Let the liner soak while you eat. When the water has cooled, you can swish out the liner and rinse it and put in in the dishwasher. Mine are crockery and HEAVY, so be careful not to drop and break your liner! NEVER IMMERSE THE OUTSIDE PART OF THE COOKER OR LET THE CORD GET IN THE WATER!! Wipe the outside metal shell with a damp soft cloth and dry with a towel.
 
I have used a crockpot for years and have only ever had to replace one, when it quit cooking on LOW. They are a fabulously convenient appliance to use, and make dinner preparation a snap, especially on those days when I am extraordinarily busy. Having dinner ready and waiting is a blessing!

Panko Encrusted Seitan Cutlets

I am always on the lookout for new things to try or new ways to do it. I have numerous cookbooks and have been collecting recipes since I was 15 years old. It's fun to look through some of the recipes I have and sometimes I wonder *what was I thinking* or *OMG this sounds gross!* It amazes me sometimes what some cooks will come up with and think it will be even marginally palatable. And then there are those that I think sound odd but when tasted, are really quite good!

None of that, however, applies to this dish. From the moment I saw it I thought it would be scrumptious. It was!

Panko Encrusted Seitan Chops

Seitan
1 c. panko breadcrumbs
3 T. fresh chopped rosemary
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper

Make the seitan using the Seitan with Satan recipe, except substitute garbanzo bean flour for the nutritional yeast. Also, this time around I used Braggs Aminos in place of the soy sauce. No other reason than I was out of soy sauce! Let it drain after cooking. Slice into cutlets, about little less than 1/2 inch thick.

Mix the bread crumbs and other ingredients together.

Heat oil in a frying pan on medium high. Press the cutlets into the breadcrumb mixture until nicely covered, then place in the oil in the frying pan and cook until nicely brown on one side. Flip and brown on the other.

I served it with apples and dried cranberries baked in maple, ginger and brown sugar. My daughter noted that running her cutlet pieces through the mapley liquid added a really nice additional flavor to the dish.

If you've never had seitan (pronounced say-tahn) before, you are in for a treat. Seitan is derived from the protein portion of wheat and has a chewy texture. If you are a non-vegan or a vegan convert, it is a great substitute for meat, especially if you are trying to limit your soy consumption. According to Barbara and Leonard Jacobs in their excellent book Cooking with Seitan, "seitan has been a staple food among vegetarian monks of China, Russian wheat farmers, peasants of Southeast Asia, and Mormons. People who had traditionally eaten wheat had also discovered a method to extract the gluten and create a seitan-like product."

You can make your own, like I do, or buy it commercially made. You will find it in tubs or vacuum packs soaking in marinade in either the refrigerator or the freezer section of many natural food stores. You may also find frozen or fresh gluten in Asian markets by the name Mi-Tan. As gluten is a low sodium and extremely lowfat protein (containing around 10 mg. sodium, 0 g. fat, and 7.5 g. protein per ounce in its raw state), additional processing is what may add unhealthy attributes. Most of the commercially prepared seitan contains a considerable amount of sodium (up to 100 mg. per ounce). If you choose to deep-fry the gluten, the fat content will jump from virtually zero to the number of grams in whatever oil is absorbed (at 4.5 grams per teaspoon).

Like I said, I prefer to make my own, because then I can change up ingredients (as I did in this recipe) to suit me. I haven't tried changing up to flavors to mimic different meats, like pork, poultry or seafood, but I do happen to have a cookbook that gives the ingredients to do that very thing. Definitely on my list of things to try!

Try this dish. I think you'll like it!

Seitan