rolling veggie swag 2011: veg[etari]ans unite and cook the tastiest food imaginable (omnis u shd get in on this, too)

Well, the original recipe called for 3/4c unsweetened applesauce, and it was *okay* but not amazing. So the second time I made it I filled up a liquid measuring cup with a little less than 1/2c, and then filled the rest with melted organic Smart Balance til it hit the 3/4 line. Also it's got a cup of chocolate chips, it is SO RICH and good.

you guys have me googling tomato bisque. i have no idea who tal ronnen is.

just popped in to review a couple of mini vegan triumphs, lately:

- moussaka, out of veganomicon, with this weird tofu scramble in place of the kind of white source you'd use in lasagne, etc. someone with veganomicon mentioned the degree of trust you have to put in their weird ingredient combos, which is totally true. cinnamon in the tomato sauce, etc.

& secondly, THIS GUMBO.
would recommend trying to find the okra, which was great in it. i think it's out of season atm?, so i bought some tinned, which is weird because okra is generally a nice, tactile vegetable, and seeing it all slimy and pickled is sorta distressing. i also went kinda easy on the extreme observance of making roux/simmering for at least three days etc, but it still came out real good.

cinnamon in tomato sauce is not just a veganomicon thing, that's how moussaka is, i thought

the tomato bisque recipe is a little further upthread

Britishes who want wheat gluten could do a lot worse than visit their local Chinese supermarket, where mock duck and other pressed gluten comes in cans for about £1-£1.50. If I am entertaining vegetarians, I sautee the mock duck in oil until it gets a little bit crunchy, add a splash of soy sauce, mirin and a squirt of hoisin, cook through and serve as crispy fried mock duck in pancakes with julienned cucumber and spring onions and tons more hoisin.

these look good, but i havent made them yet - http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/19/walnut-black-cherry-cookies-recipe

hey thanks justine, i just caught up. the cashew cream is also. i have basically never had patience to soak anything overnight so this is a new chapter for me.

cinnamon/tomato seemed kinda outre to me, who knew. it was also made w/weird tofu scramble rather than white sauce.

it is kind of a pain but totally worth it! i make big batches of the cream and freeze it into 1/2 c containers.

my favorite thing with cinnamon/tomato is koshary, egyptian food with pasta, rice, lentils, chick peas, tomato sauce and carmelized onions

also this http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/health/nutrition/05recipehealth.html

best flavorz

hey guys how realistic can tofu get? i rarely eat it so when i had some take-out the other day w/ tofu, it seemed just, well, like it might as well have been chicken. the treat of poverty meant i had to finish it but it creeped me out enough to not enjoy it. of course it could and most probably was just tofu and maybe i should just stay away from flesh substitutes if i makes me wig out.

lol most ppl have the opposite problem! that is some pretty good tofu if it tasted/felt like chicken.

never heard of tofu even coming close to approximating meat before....most realistic subs that i've heard of involve gluten

tofu hasn't got those muscle fibres that stick in yr teeth

problem was more the thought i was going back on "no eating chickens" rule.

uncanny tofu valley

my favorite thing with cinnamon/tomato is koshary, egyptian food with pasta, rice, lentils, chick peas, tomato sauce and carmelized onions

aw man yeah, kosheri (there are a million spellings i think) is a staple here. there's a real good ottolenghi recipe, with vermicelli, etc. i think the tomato/rice parts being cooked separately made it a different thing for me. active tomato/cinnamon mingling is new.

i made this ~~~amazing~~~ creamy potato and mushroom bake last night!! i was salivating over a non-vegan recipe made with tons of cream and i decided to veganize it and here is my version!

5 medium potatoes (I used red because that was all I had on hand, but the original recipe recommends russets)
1/2 c of really thick cashew cream
1 1/2 c of soy milk (note: the ratio of cashew cream and soy milk was a result of what I happened to have on hand. I probably would have used more cashew cream if I’d had it)
salt
a cube of faux-chicken stock

a big handful of shiitake mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of finely sliced green onions/spring onions/chives

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F. Slice the potatoes about 1/8″ thick. In a large pot, add the soy milk/cashew cream, the crumbled faux-chicken stock and a couple of generous pinches of salt. Add the potatoes and heat till boiling, reduce to medium and cook about 5 mins.

Clean the mushrooms, destem and slice about 1/4″ thick. Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan on medium. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, and cook till the mushrooms start to release their liquid. Add the minced cloves of garlic and the green onion and cook another 30 secs. Remove from the heat. Spoon about half the potato into a decent sized dish. Press the potatoes down with the back of a spoon and the spread the mushroom stuff over top. Add the rest of the potatoes and cream. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 mins., then remove the foil and cook a further 10.

wtf is with those veganomicon chickpea cutlets?? i've made them twice now and they still taste like shit. what am i doing wrong?? last time i didn't knead them enough, this time i got the consistency right but the flavour was so blah.

for harbz:

press out a block of tofu underweight, on paper towels, for 20 mins. bake for 75mins at 175 F. marinate over night in faux-chicken stock (or veg stock w/soy sauce).

lay out tofu on paper towels to drain off excess marinade. dip in egg replacer then in cornstarch. deep fry (i used peanut oil) in pan for 5-7 mins each side, till golden.

in a saucepan: sautee 5 sliced spring onions, some powdered ginger (or fresh) - amount depends on your love on ginger, i probably used a tsp - and 2 tbsp of minced garlic in a little peanut oil. about 3mins. turn up to med-high and add 2tbsp of mirin, stir for a minute. add 2 c of veg broth/stock, 3 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp of rice vinegar, stir. mix 4 tbsp of leftover cornstarch w/ 5tbsp of warm water and stir into sauce to thicken.

serve w/steamed brocc and rice!!

oh, orig recipe used scallions instead of spring onions and added 1/2 tsp of habanero pepper, but i'm a baby when it comes to spice so i left that out entirely.

oh that seems bloody brilliant - slow baking the 'fu, *then* marinating. seems counterintuitive and i've never heard of that but it seems like a revelatory idea mate!

baking it gets out the water - but you have to bake it slow so it doesn't get too dry - and makes room for the marinade, resulting in a much chewier texture. i really like faux-chicken stock, because it gives the tofu a slightly meatier taste, but doesn't clash with any sauce you serve it with.

i tried a alton brown recipe once for tofu that had a marinade of equal parts sherry vinegar and worcestershireshire and a dash of hot sauce (but i'd be afraid to marinate in that for more than a half hour as it's kinda salty and acidic), then into egg then cornstarch and pan fried. even though i pressed the tofu, i thought it still had a little too much moisture.
hence my reaction to your slow baking first step. i like your idea about the faux chicken, too. either way, i know what i'm gonna make tomorrow!

uh, shoulda written: "...reaction to your slow baking second step"

oh i forgot to say: i always ALWAYS freeze/thaw my tofu before using it.

went to this tiny store in chinatown today that has an insane collection of fake meats - bought a couple different kinds of 'chicken', 'scallops' and 'prawns'. pretty excited!

I made the curried braised tofu & peaz from the Bittman 'how u cook all veg.' Shit this shit is satisfying. I always feel like -a cheater- when I squort som sriracha for heat BUT cheat to win in food is ok.

I am a better cook than my spelling would suggest.

tonight's Stevie D is brought to you by

• Silk PureAlmond Dark Chocolate (not v good, ain't got shit on choc Almond Breeze)

• spicy vegan mac with sage-sourdough topping:

In a large pot, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until al dente. In a colander, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In a food processor, make breadcrumbs by pulverizing the bread, 2 tablespoons margarine, sage and garlic powder to a medium-fine texture. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water, and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.

In a blender, process the cashews, salt, garlic, 1/3 cup margarine, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne. Add softened vegetables and cooking water to the blender and process until perfectly smooth.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta and blended cheese sauce until completely coated. Spread mixture into a 9 x 12 casserole dish, sprinkle with prepared breadcrumbs, and dust with paprika. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top has turned golden brown.

mmm that sounds good! i have stopped clogging up this thread with every. single. thing. i cook and started posting them all to my blog instead ^_^

I'm making garlic-sage mashed 'taters tonight and I want something proteiny to go with. I've got a block of x-firm tofu, what should I make to go with this? I was hoping for something w/ a little more flair than yr avg "Italian-marinated tofu". Anyone have any good fried tofu recipes?

like with a crunchy breading NOM NOM NOM

dredge in flour, dip in soymilk, dredge in panko, fry

what abt seasonings? Also I do that but I can never get it to actually be crunchy and shit :(

OH SNAP, this tofu was PERFECT, texure-wise!!! Unbelievably crunchy. Really should have marinated it more/seasoned the flour and panko better, but dredging it in flour + quickly dipping in almond milk + rolling in panko and then pan-fried for ~5min each side in a thin layer of oil was exactly what I was going for.

I also, inspired by Tza, made balsamic-roasted asparagus which was KILLER and so easy; preheat oven to 400, spread asparagus in single layer on foil-covered baking sheet, drizzle w/ olive oil and balsamic, season w/ s+p, roll around to get everythig nice and coated, bake abt 15-20 min or until done to your liking. It was ridic good and i'm v excited bcz I only used half the bunch and will get to make it again this week.

Oh man, and I had a coupon for $2 off 2 Gardeins, which I'd been saving and saving for months til they went on sale, and they were 50c off yday, making them 2/$7 and then 2/$5 w/ coupon (they are normally $4 each so WHOO!!)

I have 4 bags of Gardein in my freezer!

kinda gone off gardein since discovering the fake meat market but should buy more - all that fake meat is soy/gluten and not that good for you. pretty high in sodium as well.

i made this gardein recipe which had a crust of breadcrumbs pulsed w/sundried tomatoes and basil - seemed like a good idea and i followed the instructions to the letter but damned if i could get the fuckin crust to stick to the gardein! and then i fuckin burnt it all bc i set the heat too high :/

newb veggie. i stopped eating meat around a month ago. almost done with fish too. the latter kinda grosses me out now, whereas i couldn't imagine eating red meat or poultry altogether anymore. i'm a lanky streak of piss too, which doesn't help.

welcome jump!

first tip - listen to stevie and co, they are AMAZING.

listen to me, master of being vegan and chubby

i want that balsamic-roasted asparagus like right now omg

Dude it was so simple and so flavorful and just omg nom

i made this tonight and it is crazy delicious

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/quinoa-chickpea-and-spinach-salad-recipe.html

my life is immeasurably richer for having smoked paprika in it now btw

i also don't even particularly like cherry tomatoes or feta and i am devouring this

Yo, smoked pap is off the hook

made the best motherfucking vegan brownies tonight!!!! no applesauce! super fudgey and dense!! totally amazing!!

OMG RECIPE PLZ??