Best Seitan

I have been making my own homemade seitan for years, but I found a significantly better recipe than the one I posted previously.  It's the base for HellYeahItsVegan's fried chicken, which is how I first encountered it, but I also use it sliced up in stir-fry, ground up and stirred into marinara for spaghetti or lasagna, and pretty much any time I would use seitan.  The spicing is amazing.

Ingredients

• 1½ c vital wheat gluten
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 c cold water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (Annie's brand makes a good one, and Whole Foods tends to carry at least a couple brands)

Broth:

• 5 c water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1.  Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2.  Mix together wet ingredients in a measuring cup and add to dry ingredients.

3. Knead and mold dough into a ball.

4.  Divide dough into at least 6 pieces, pull and shape them into thin patties (as thin as you can -- they thicken substantially during cooking).  The more you knead the dough, the better the texture since this is gluten.  Don't be too gentle.

5.   Mix together broth ingredients.  Add patties to the broth, bring to a boil, boil for ten minutes, then cover and simmer for one hour, flipping them halfway through.

Drain the finished product.  You can dredge them in flour and fry them, bake them, slice and stir-fry them, or grind them up and use like you would ground beef.  They also freeze well.

Vegan Meatballs

I like having something in my spaghetti sauce, like ground seitan or vegan meatballs.  I've already tried one vegan meatball recipe from myvegancookbook.com, but despite how impressed I was, Simran didn't care for it, so now I'm trying the other.  I like to make such things in advance and throw them in a ziploc bag in the freezer for later.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Cooked Lentils
• 1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
• 1/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• 2 Teaspoons Molasses
• 2 Teaspoons Dry Mustard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Measure out 2 tablespoons of mixture for each meatball and roll into a ball with your hands. Spray cooking sheet and place meatballs on it.

3. Place into oven and cook 15 minutes on one side and roll over and cook 15 minutes on the other side. After they are out of the oven, let stand for about 10 minutes to allow them to firm up.

[Edited 3/12/2014:  These had far too mustardy a taste.  The ones in the link above are much better.]

The Best Black Bean Burgers

This is my third or fourth stab at a black bean burger recipe.  I've made so many changes since the last one that I thought I'd start over with a new post instead of amending the recipe again.  I'm still making adjustments on this until I master the spices and grains necessary to make it the right taste and consistency.  It always tastes good on a pretzel roll with chipotle mayo and avocado though.  And red onion and lettuce and tomato.  And provolone. 

Ingredients
2 (16 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 cup dried black beans, cooked in a slow cooker)
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup Old-Fashioned rolled oats
2 tbs flaxseed meal
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 tsp hot sauce

Directions

1. [The first 5 steps can be done in advance.]  Run old-fashioned rolled oats through a food processor until at least half of it resembles flour.  Add chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt.  Pulse a few more times to combine, and set the mixture aside.

2. Run onion, green bell pepper, and garlic through food processor.  Set aside and stir in hot sauce and flaxseed meal.  Let sit for 10 minutes while the flaxseed meal gets a little gooey so it can bind everything together.

3. Put (well drained) black beans in food processor and pulse a few times until most of the beans have been broken down, but not completely smooth. 

4. Move beans to a large bowl, add vegetable mixture, and incorporate.  Then add spiced oat mixture and stir until everything is incorporated.  Then add cooked brown rice, small amounts at a time, until mixture is the right consistency to mold into burgers.

5. Mold into 8-10 small patties.  If freezing for later, place patties between sheets of wax paper, stack, and seal in a plastic container or ziploc bag.

6. When ready to cook the burgers, preheat oven to 375 degrees, place patties on a baking sheet (a few sprays of Pam first help to make them flippable), and bake about 15 minutes.  Turn burgers over and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

Black Bean Burgers

I found this recipe on AllRecipes and it has lots of really good reviews.  Sameer and I recently had a really amazing black bean burger at a local restaurant and I'm hoping this recipe might be a good start toward replicating it at home.

Ingredients
1 (16 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cumin
1 tsp Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.

3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.

4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.

5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.

6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.    

[Edited 5/5/13: Based on somehighly ranked reviews I made a few changes for my first try on these burgers -- tried to squeeze dry the beans (I used 1 cup dried beans cooked in slow cooker, which is a bit more than the can worth of beans listed in the recipe) and onion, bell pepper, and garlic.  I also reduced the cumin to 1 tsp and chili powder to 2 tsp because I would rather err on the side of blandness since I'm cooking for a baby (and I plan to make chipotle mayo for Sameer and me anyway, again based on reviewer suggestions).  Instead of 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, I used rolled oats run through my food processor and I used 3/4 cup of them to make the burger a bit less runny.  If I'd had cooked brown rice on hand, I would have included that too because that's what the restaurant in our town uses in their amazing black bean burgers.  I used Frank's Red Hot sauce for the hot sauce because it's what I had on hand.  I mushed the beans by hand and molded patties on wax paper, then popped them in the freezer until I cooked them tonight.  They were pretty fantastic, but next time I will try adding a little garlic salt to the mixture.  I think 1 tsp hot sauce might have been a little much for Sim, so maybe 1/2 tsp next time.  Next time I'll also plan to have leftover brown rice to put in the patties, as well as avocado, some kind of interesting cheese, chipotle mayo (it made the sandwich this time), and pretzel rolls to serve them on.  Lettuce (or arugula), tomato, and red onion are also a must.]

Whole Fruit Sorbet

I don't remember where I first read the idea to blend frozen bananas and eat them like ice cream, but it works really well.  You get the sweetness of the bananas but you also get all the fiber and nutrition, with none of the added sugar or fat of ice cream.  It's nice if you want to binge on something sweet without worrying about weight gain.  Sameer and I like to use frozen strawberries, ripe bananas, and just enough "Very Vanilla" Silk brand soy milk to make the blender function.  Even my BFF Jackie, who hates fruit, loves that.

In honor of Simran's first Valentine's Day, I'm making a sorbet based on one of her baby foods:  Banana Peach Raspberry whole fruit sorbet.  It should be a pretty pink color and will be a dessert even Sophie (the dog) can enjoy since it's nothing but fruit.  I found organic peaches and raspberries in the frozen foods section at the grocery store, so I'll be using those.  I plan to thaw them in the fridge overnight, puree everything, and then run it through the ice cream maker.  It's more work than the just-blend-frozen-fruit method, but it should make for a smoother, more baby-friendly consistency.

Ingredients
2 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup raspberries (I originally said 2 cups, but after making this a few times, I find it's better with significantly less.)
4 medium ripe bananas (the riper the better, as long as they aren't rotten -- it makes them more sugary and less starchy -- if you ever have bananas that are riper than you care to eat, instead of just throwing them away, peel them and put them in a sealed container in the freezer to use in this recipe later.  FYI: Frozen bananas will look completely disgusting, as do bananas put in the refrigerator, but they are still good and have the perfect consistency to make into other things.)
Alternately, use any fruits you want.  The inclusion of bananas helps make it creamy, sweet, and mild.  Straight berries might be a little too intense.

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until blended thoroughly.

2. Place fruit blend in an ice cream maker and run it according to the machine's instructions.  For a soft-serve consistency, serve immediately.  For a harder sorbet, put in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 24 hours before serving.

[Edited 5/29/13:  This stuff is fantastic.  However, Simran prefers her sorbet completely melted, possibly because the speed at which she likes to eat it can induce ice cream headache.]

Zucchini-Spinach Soup

Zucchini and spinach are two vegetables that are relatively cheap and easy to find at the store, even in winter, so I'm making this soup from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease to accompany Creamy Avocado White Bean Wraps (which I'm pretty sure will be tasty regardless of how this soup turns out).  Sameer doesn't tend to approve of sandwiches for dinner, so I try to make sure any I feed him are extra special sandwiches and either hot or served alongside something hot (such as this soup). 

Ingredients
9 medium zucchini (about 3 lbs), chunked
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth, or water, or a combination of wine and broth or wine and water (I'll be using broth or broth and some water.)
2 tbs miso, Bragg Liquid Aminos, or low-sodium tamari (optional) (I'll use Bragg's because I keep it on hand.)
8 oz (or more) fresh spinach, coarsely chopped, or 1 box or bag of frozen spinach
2 cups frozen corn
pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine zucchini, onion, garlic, and 3 cups of liquid in a soup pot.

2.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer about 10 minutes until zucchini is tender.

3. Blend soup mixture with an immersion blender until smooth and a rich, green color.

4. Add miso, Bragg's, or tamari, if desired.

5. Add corn and spinach and any other vegetables you wish. Heat until corn and spinach are warm but not overcooked.

6. Add pepper to taste.

[Edited 2/3/13: The flavor of this soup was really good, but the texture was watery and chunky at the same time.  To be fair, I had to add 2 extra cups of water just to cover the 5 chopped zucchini I used, and I did blend it up AFTER adding the spinach to make it easier for Simran to eat (she didn't care for it).  I think in the future I'll either refrain from blending the spinach or add a can of white beans or lentils to make it a smoother consistency.  I'm sure Simran would prefer the latter.]

Lasagna

I made lasagna for dinner tonight.  (I skipped posting yesterday because I made eggs and toast.)  I don't really know the proper way to make lasagna.  I just sort of wing it each time.  Here is what I typically do:

Ingredients
12 lasagna noodles (that's how many I used today anyway -- it was just the remainder in an open box)
40 oz. (about a jar and a half) of marinara sauce
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup seitan, ground
1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup shredded mozzarella (or Italian cheese blend of your choosing)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (the real stuff you have to buy whole and shred yourself -- the garbage from a plastic green container does not count)
1 egg
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 tbs Italian seasoning (or you can use a mixture of dried oregano, basil, and parsley)
garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (you can use regular salt and minced garlic instead of garlic salt, but I don't bother with the mincing since I can't taste the difference in this dish)

Directions

1.  Half-fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Cook lasagna noodles as directed by the box.  (I prefer no-boil noodles because they save time, effort, and an enormous pot, but Sameer insists they don't taste as good.)  When the noodles finish cooking, drain the water, and you can put them in cold water to stop the cooking and keep the noodles from sticking together.  I never bother with the cold water step.

2.  While the noodles are cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3.  While the noodles are cooking and the oven is preheating, heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Add ground seitan and season it with the Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper.  Cook until lightly browned.

4.  Add the chopped onion and thawed spinach to the sauce pan.  Heat through and add a jar of marinara sauce.

5.  Mix the cottage cheese, about 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, garlic salt and pepper, beaten egg, and Parmesan cheese.

6.  Prepare a 9 x 13" baking dish with non-stick spray.  Layer lasagna noodles, seitan mixture, more lasagna noodles, cottage cheese mixture, more lasagna noodles, etc.  Top layer should be noodles, marinara sauce, and then mozzarella blend.

7.  Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes in preheated oven.  Remove foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Vegetable Barley Soup

Ingredients
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked barley
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 zucchini, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I use the vegan kind by Annie's since the real deal typically includes anchovies, but if you can't find this at the store, a dash of red wine vinegar also adds the appropriate tang.)

Directions
Pour the vegetable broth into a large pot. Add the barley, carrots, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, garbanzo beans, onion, and bay leaves. Season with garlic powder, sugar, salt, pepper, parsley, curry powder, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 90 minutes. The soup will be very thick. You may adjust by adding more broth or less barley if desired. Remove bay leaves before serving.



Tonight for dinner I'm making vegetable barley soup (original recipe from AllRecipes.com) and sandwiches.  I've been wanting to make this soup for awhile since the leftovers make a good lunch and it also freezes well.  This soup is really forgiving in terms of vegetable content, and I have about half a leftover yellow squash and some extra zucchini that didn't get used in last night's veggie fajitas, so I'll throw them in too.

I'm going to make the sandwiches out of leftover crescent rolls I made for a previous dinner, some Gruyère that I bought to make something else I never ended up making, vegetarian ham slices, and Dijon mustard -- I lightly toast the finished product in the toaster oven.  Sameer says only white people eat sandwiches for dinner, but he said he would eat this when I asked him.  Still, he might end up eating off-brand Spaghetti-O's tonight, of which we now keep a stash on hand, just in case.  

Barley seems to be almost impossible to find in any stores around here, so I had to order a massive quantity of it from Amazon.  I'll have to find some more barley-oriented recipes.