Orange You Glad....

you can make this stuff at home?! I'd been thinking for some time about a recipe I'd seen on Chris and Darlene's Eat Air blog for Tangerine Seitan. Last night I finally whipped it up, using orange instead of the tangerine for some seriously Crispy Orange Seitan with Broccoli. Wow! This stuff is incredible! I already cannot wait to make it again! It comes together quite easily (I opted to use La Dolce Vegan's beef style seitan recipe) and I didn't have a problem with the crispiness of the seitan likely because I used a bit more peanut oil in the cooking of the seitan and let it get rather crispy before removing it. I also used an extra teaspoon of agave in the sauce to suit our tastes. My method was to cook the broccoli, remove it, cook the seitan, remove it, make the sauce and then dump it all over the veggie/seitan combo and serve with some brown rice. Great stuff! This satisfied a Chinese food craving I didn't even know I was having! Thanks, you guys for sharing such a tasty recipe!

Next up, a sinful treat at our house this past week....Linguine with olive oil and garlic. I say sinful because it's a rare event that we'll consume any pasta whatsoever much less a non-whole wheat variety. But, at our latest trip to the grocery store, the Cap'n gave me those eyes when asking if we could puuuulllleeeeease do the garlic and oil thing with 'real' pasta. ha! my Italian momma would be so proud. I caved and boy, was it decadently good! I topped mine with Parma! (and don't think we were all bad, this was served with my beloved vegan Caesar complete with sundried tomatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, and roasted port. mushrooms).

Not stopping there, the leftover non whole wheat pasta had to be consumed somehow. There was only about a 1/2 c. of it leftover and I was dining alone that night. Using leftover roasted Portobellos and sauteing some spinach turned into this delight
with a touch of vegan organic Smart Balance and lots of nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. Leftovers can prove to be sometimes even tastier than their original incarnations!

and what week at DGMGV's house would be complete without a lunch of Amy's non-dairy bean burrito? none that I'm aware of. here's this week's with Tofutti, Zapata's roasted salsa verde, a bit of fresh cilantro, and some sweet grape tomatoes.I'm telling ya, this is my FAVORITE vegan 'fast food'.

Say Hello To My new Little Friends....

I've always been a huge fan of Silk's Plain Lite Soy Milk. It was the only choice for me...until now.
I came across Silk's newest variety, Silk Plus, at my last trip to the grocery store. This Silk Plus is fortified with Omega 3's and DHA, and the taste is great!

In this same trip I found myself searching for my vegan margarine staple, Earth Balance, and stumbled upon this, insteadAfter a quick comparison of the two, I opted to try this version as it's lower in sodium and in fat. The true test will come, I'm sure, when it's time to bake up a vegan confection. Stay tuned for that!

Next onto an experiment that was NOT my friend...cornmeal coated chicken style seitan, baked not fried.

I know that you can bake the seitan instead of frying it with great results, but I DO NOT recommend doing such after coating it with white cornmeal. The cornmeal just stayed powdery and never fully browned, even though I lightly sprayed it with oil before putting it in the oven.
Live and learn! The sides were fab, though...mashed sweet potato and spinach with wild rice. yum!

For a lazy dinner, I defrosted some of the Bean 'n Barley stew I made a while back. This stuff is reeeeally great. Served with a bunch of sauteed spinach with garlic and the last of my whole wheat biscuits.
I've finally found the package of barley that I adopted this recipe from and will post it below. I really love the flavor of this stew and how the barley just pops when you bite into it. Amazing all over again out of the freezer, too!

With the biscuits all gone it was time for another baked item in the house. This time? La Dolce Vegan's Kissin Cousins Oat Bread.
Think corn bread without the corn but with oats instead. It's a bit crumbly but not terribly so, a little sweet and all kindsa good. I made it with the intention of using it as sandwich bread but have been enjoying a thick slice lightly toasted with a bit of Smart Balance instead.

Craving Mac UnCheese, I thought I'd venture away from our usual variety (from the Nutritional Yeast Cookbook) and test one out that uses tofu in the sauce and doesn't rely on flour, either. This one was from Veg Web
The claim was that this was the Best Mac and Cheese in the Entire World....Seriously, and many reviews said the same. The verdict? blech! we didn't like it. The tamari was too overwhelming and it just didn't measure up to our favorite. I like the idea of adding protein by way of tofu in the sauce, but the flavor was all wrong for our palates.

even a side of our favorite broccoli didn't make it easier to get down.
the worst part? it makes a TON!

We decided a yummy dessert treat was in order that evening.
This was just a simple dish of sliced bananas and fresh strawberries (the berries had been macerating in the fridge with a little sugar during dinner. yum!) topped with a sauce made from Toffuti Better Than Cream Cheese and some Florida Crystals and some shaved 85% cocao dark chocolate.

Adopted from Bob's Red Mill's Hearty Hull-less Barley Soup

Bean 'n Barley Stew

3 T vegan margarine
1 large onion, diced
3-4 Carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 tsp salt
1 T dried Basil
1 T dried Oregano
1/2 - 3/4 c. dried Parsley flakes
6 1/2 c. hot water or veg. stock (I like to use Vegan Planet's basic veg. stock recipe)
2 c. hull-less barley
3 cans crushed tomatoes
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed (I used one Great Northern and one Cannellini, as that's what I had)

makes a ton and freezes really well! i belived i even halved the recipe and still had a bunch to freeze.

Brown the onion in margarine (this reduces the acid of the onion). Add carrots, celery, salt and cook for a few minutes. Add water or stock, herbs, and barley. Bring to a boil and cover. Lower temperature and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Mix in tomatoes and beans and cook for an additional 30 minutes, making sure to not run out of water/ stock and add as needed, if needed.

enjoy!

Difficult To Please? Pulllease!

I know I typically just blog about the foods I eat and steer clear of any sociopolitical ramblings here (trust me, you should be glad I'm able to stay so focused, I've been known to ramble :), but in my blog lurking today I stumbled upon a great vegan website by way of Squirrel's Vegan Kitchen, SuperVegan.

In perusing their many interesting vegan tidbits of info I came across a blurb about personal growth author Kathy Freston. Apparently, she's recently written a few proveg articles. For that, I say, You Go Girl!" Until I read that her latest contribution included the following in regards to dining out at restaurants:

"You'll obviously want to avoid dishes served with meat, cheese, or eggs, but it doesn't really matter if there's a modicum of butter or whey or other animal product in the bun that your veggie burger is served on," she writes. "You may give your nonvegan friends--not to mention the restaurant wait staff--the idea that vegans are difficult to please."

ooooooh, did this make me mad. Now, I'm not one to push my veganism on anyone. I firmly believe that it's a very personal choice. I only ask that my choice be respected in turn. Granted, since becoming vegan I don't dine out much at all, and when I do it's only after careful research and usually many questions directed (politely and patiently!) at the staff. I like to think I'm polite and easy to accommodate as I don't dine at any establishment that I know beforehand absolutely cannot or will not meet my dietary needs. I've yet to have a problem. Hey, I'm also known for sneaking in my own salad dressings, vegan margarine and the like to make sure I get a full meal and can order items off the menu plain to dress myself. I don't do this to not be difficult. I blatantly smack that stuff on the table. I just do it so I can participate in the social event of dining out with friends and family on occasion.

What I don't understand is why this woman, a self-proclaimed vegan, would set us back this way, would belittle my or your conviction. I understand that there are different levels of veganism for everyone. What I don't understand is why this person would suggest her version is one all vegans should adopt so that we don't look 'difficult'. I never think of myself as difficult but one with clear choices and stable conviction to adhere to them.

So, what did I do after reading this article? I followed the link to her website and sent her (or her people) an email. I wanted her to know that this particular vegan was appalled by her standards and that she would share them with her readers under the guise of a proveg platform. After all, if you're going to let 'em slip a little bit of this here and a little dab of that there in your food just so as to not appear 'difficult'? You may as well just eat the stuff so as to not offend anyone either, right?

Anyway, just thought I'd share and see what any of you have to say about it. I suggest anyone who feels so inclined drop her an email as I did to let her know that she does not speak for other vegans out there trying to pioneer a place for ourselves in a nonvegan world.

whew!
ok, now i'm done!

Better'n Hummus 'n Other Great Eats

I love a good hummus as much as the next hungry vegan, but PPK's Lentil Walnut Dip just blows my mind AND it's packed full of not one but TWO great sources of protein. It's also just the easiest thing in the world to whip up.
I think it's best on any fresh pepper and served it with red, yellow, and orange at a recent family birthday dinner. This got a unanimous WOW! from the omni's as well.

Next up a repeat with a quick revision, Millet Loaf with Lentils!
As I had some green lentils left over from my dip, and I'd been craving a grain loaf for a while, I threw together the millet loaf I made not too long ago (no real recipe still, just a cup of cooked millet, a couple sauteed carrots, some celery, onion, roasted sunflower seeds, dill thyme, sea salt, and pepper get mushed into a loaf pan coated with olive oil and dusted with cornmeal) and this time added a cup of lentils into the mix.

The result, served over a bed of steamed kale with some quick nutritional yeast gravy and a side of mashed sweet potato...
Serious yum here, folks! The cornmeal kept the loaf from sticking this time and it all held together pretty well without my even adding four or egg replacer or anything. I cooked it in a 450 oven for about 45 minutes. it gets nice and crunchy on the outside and moist but firm on the inside.


I finally came across some Gimme Lean soy sausage and felt the need to try it out. I was never much of a sausage fan before i went veg, but always liked sausage gravy so I thought i'd try this instead of tempeh.
eh, i've used it up now both as shown (the strawberries have been superb as of late!) and in gravy and the verdict? i'll stick to tempeh. this stuff tastes like the real thing, but i guess i've acquired a taste for something else entirely.


Next up, I wanted to do something with buckwheat noodles that wasn't my usual ginger dressed version.
Here I mixed 'em with some fresh red bell pepper, grated carrot, green onion, lots of nappa cabbage and my peanut sauce (crunchy organic raw peanut butter, agave, water, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes all to taste). Super yum! A peanut-y sauce was just what i needed to shake things up a bit. The captain was a huge fan of this one as well.

Lastly, a super easy meal that used up the last of the lentils (whenever i make lentils i tend to make a ton basically because i love them and you can throw 'em in just about anything!).
I just cooked some whole wheat pasta, heated a can of no salt tomatoes with some tomato paste, garlic, basil, and oregano, threw in the lentils to heat while i steamed some kale. Then topped the whole thing with some Parma!

Mmmmmm, speaking of which...i think it's time for me to go heat up the leftovers for my dinner. I think tonight, tho, i'll add a few soy crumbles just to punch it up a bit.

Decadent Banana Bread Recipe, Curry, and Some High-Priced Disappointments

Let's start with the bad news first, shall we? While recently at the grocery store, I came across these beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Pretty no? When I cut up the smaller one for a salad I found it to be very mealy and a bit too tart to really enjoy. As they were quite expensive (i'd never bought heirloom tomotoes before and was too curious to not), I tossed 'em in the salad anyway. but i didn't like it!

After lunchtime's disappointment I was glad I'd thought to defrost some curry that I'd made a while back. It's my simple go-to curry from Veg. Times (you can find the recipe here. i just subbed sweet potatoes this round for some tiny yukon golds as that's what i had and used green lentils instead of brown...well...because they're my favorite!).Whenever I thaw out a batch I can never leave it as it and threw in another can of chopped, no salt added tomatoes, half a can of chickpeas (I want to roast the other half for a snack, yum!), and about half of the largest bunch of organic kale I've purchased to date. The kale I just cleaned, chopped, and boiled for about fifteen minutes, then drained and stirred it into the curry before serving. I was hoping to try my hand at chipatis, but never got around to it. warming a whole wheat wrap in the oven and tearing it to scoop up the warming goodness of the curry was a decent substitute.

That warm oven? Was from baking some of the BEST banana bread I've ever had, in my opionion, and I owe it all to the folks over at Post Punk Kitchen. I took Isa's original recipe, heeded the advice of just about every person who reviewed it (cutting back on fat, adding choc. chips, topping it with nuts), and even gave it a lil dash of som'n som'n on my own. Here's the final product. Totally decadent and not nearly as bad for you as it tastes!
Decadent Banana Bread

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar (Florida Crystals is my fave)
1 T margarine
1/4 c. applesauce, unsweetened
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/4 c. unbleached white flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. lite plain soy milk + 1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
3 T. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 T. unsweetened coconut
1/4 c. toasted walnut pieces

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan (preferably pyrex).
Sift flour, baking soda, spices. Cream margarine, sugars, and applesauce. Add mashed banana, milk mixture, vanilla to wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut. Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle top with walnuts.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and ten minutes, or until wooden skewer or knife comes out clean.

Enjoy!