Blackened Tofu - Seasoning Review

Today for lunch I wanted something spicy, and I also had a few spare cubes of tofu. Blackened tofu came straight to my mind. I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for Blackened Chicken. That is my favorite website to look up recipes I can't find in cookbooks and veganize them. This is how I get most of my ideas for my vegan recipes. It usually takes cooking a few failures, but in the end, I always get a very nice finish! Give it a try!

This seasoning mix was very spicy. If you are not a fan of something really spicy, then just leave out the cayenne pepper. Adjust the cayenne to how much spice you want. The recipe's suggestion of 1/4 tsp. had my mouth burning for a while, so keep that in mind while mixing this.

Overall, this recipe is quite tasty, but it is only for those who can handle a little spiciness. It is definitely not a recipe you make for guests. There are many people with an allergy to cayenne pepper, so exercise caution when serving this dish.


I rate this recipe with 3 Onigiris!

Chipotle Chili-Black Bean Burger Review

Last night I made Chipotle Chili-Black Bean Burgers from a recipe in the Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook. This recipe also comes with a sweet corn relish recipe, but I opted out of that. This recipe came together really quickly. I bought a can of black beans, even though I won’t buy anything but tomato paste in a can, and I made sure to rinse them extremely well to get all of the salt off that I could. In no time, I had my burger mixture, and it turned out perfect with very little work. The recipe calls for rolled oats, but I eat steel cut, so instead I processed unsalted saltines in a blender. It still molded perfectly.

They cook up nicely, and get a little crispiness on the outside. It’s not really a recipe to cook dry, so I sprayed the pan with a little bit of olive oil so they wouldn’t stick and burn. I really need more hard-anodized cookware! We had them on double fiber whole wheat bread with the Vegan Cheddar Cheese. They turned out great and even pleased an Omni! I think these burgers tasted much better than the frozen black bean burgers you buy at the grocery store. This is definitely a recipe I add to my repertoire.

I rate this recipe with 4 Onigiris!

Drumroll Please. . . Homemade Vegan Cheddar!

Ta-da! I have been wanting to try making my own cheese at home, because it always looked so easy. Not to mention that it is much cheaper than trying to buy the packaged cheeses at the health food store (and probably healthier too!). This recipe is from The Uncheese Cookbook. I only found this book on the internet, received it for my birthday, and finally got around to use it.

This recipe was surprisingly easy to make. I had all the ingredients on hand, because it uses a lot of vegan pantry staples. It contains raw cashews, miso, nutritional yeast, agar agar flakes, and some other spices. The video below shows what it looked like when I put it into the container to set up.

I let this set up overnight. The next morning I flipped the container, and it came out easily with just a few taps. It slices nicely just like the store bought vegan cheeses. It doesn't taste like them however. The store bought vegan cheeses are usually made from either tofu or rice. It tasted a little sharp like cheddar tends to, but doesn't taste exactly like real cheddar. I think that most vegans understand that you can't find an exact match for real cheese, but you can get close enough to sate your craving.

We had black bean burgers a few nights later and I put slices of this cheese on them. It tasted great. It melted nicely, but I found melting it in the microwave has an uneven melt, so it is best to melt it while the burger is in the pan. Another way is to very briefly stick it under the broiler in your oven.

I rate this recipe with 4 onigiris!

Update for C&R

I am adding some new features to the blog. I want to be as informational as possible, and when the blog gets bigger, I still want it to be easily navigated. I want my readers to be able to find as much of the info they need on this blog as they can. In my posts on recipes, I will be hot-linking some of the ingredients in order to give more information about that particular item. I am also hoping to add nutritional information. These changes will occur over the next few months.

One of the other new features coming to the blog is a rating system. When I review a recipe I will rate it based on a 5 point system. The system rates as follows:
5 Onigiris – This is a recipe that everyone should have! I could eat this everyday!
4 Onigiris – This is a really good recipe. I suggest that you try it out!
3 Onigiris – This recipe was decent. If you have the extra ingredients on hand, you might try it.
2 Onigiris – This recipe was not good. I wouldn’t attempt it if I were you.
1 Onigiri – Can we say EWW? This recipe is gross!

I have quite a few recipe reviews coming up for recipes I have found in either cookbooks or online. I have been getting cookbooks from the library to try new recipes. I will either suggest you go to your library to check it out, or tell you to steer clear! My next few posts today are pretty exciting (well, at least for me!), so I hope you enjoy them!

TVP Sausage Gravy

This is a perfect compliment to my drop biscuit recipe for a hot breakfast! The great thing about this recipe is that it is much cheaper than buying the pre-packaged sausage from the grocery store. TVP is usually very cheap in bulk at health food stores. It is also healthier than the grocery sausage like LightLife, because it doesn't have all the preservatives that are needed to keep it fresh. I am not trying to dis the LightLife sausage, but this recipe is a great alternative to it when you want something a little different!

Note! I actually add 1/4 of a cup of ground flax seeds to this gravy to give it a boost in nutrition. Flax seeds are powerhouses of nutrition, and I always try to get my daily dose early in the day!

TVP Sausage Gravy

2 cups TVP
2 cups soy milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup arrow root powder
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cumin seed
1 tsp. sage
Salt and black pepper to taste

1. In a large sauce pan, saute 2 cups of TVP with water, cumin seed, and sage.
2. After about 2 minutes, add soy milk and stir.
3. Slowly add arrow root powder while stirring. Use a whisk to break up chunks if necessary.
4. Cook on medium until the mixture has thickened. Add salt and black pepper.
5. Serve on fresh baked Drop Biscuits.
   

Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits

There is nothing like a hot biscuit for breakfast, or as a side to a hot dinner. Biscuits are always the first thing to fight over at a family dinner. It seems that there are never enough of them. So we vegans should not be left out of the delicious aroma!

This is a recipe for drop biscuits. The two main types of biscuits that are often served at breakfast and dinner are baking powder and drop biscuits. Baking powder biscuits are the type you roll and cut out, and drop biscuits are exactly what they sound like; you drop them on your pan and bake them.

Drop biscuits are great for when you don't have time to make the flaky layers of a baking powder biscuit. They are a soft, fast biscuit to make when you are in a hurry or are making a last minute dinner.

Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup melted vegan margarine
1 cup soy milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Stir flour, gluten, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Stir milk into dry mixture 1/2 cup at a time.
4. Stir in melted margarine.
5. Drop a heaping tablespoons of dough onto dark coated cookie sheets.
   
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Mediterranean Spread

I had an old friend over today, and decided to make a light snack. I used the flatbread recipe to put a Mediterranean spread over. This spread is great warm or cold, and has a fresh but savory flavor. It's easy to make, and will impress any guest.

Mediterranean Spread

1 chopped tomato
1/2 chopped cucumber
1 chopped medium sized yellow onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbsp. canola oil or water
Salt to taste

1. Warm a medium to large frying pan with canola oil or water over medium heat. If you use water, use a non-stick or better a hard anodized pan.
2. When the pan is warmed, add onions and garlic.
3. Cook the onions and garlic until they are caramelized (or a nice brown color) stirring often.
4. Add cucumber and tomato to pan. Cook until the cucumber starts to look a little transparent.
5. Turn off heat, and let the pan cool for a few minutes.
6. Pour the vegetables into a food processor, and blend until smooth.
7. If you want your spread to be a little thicker, pour the blended mixture back into the pan and add 1 tbsp. of arrow root powder, or cornstarch if you do not have any. Heat until it thickens to desired consistency.

I put this spread over the Mediterranean flatbread. The flatbread was hot and fresh with the hot spread, and even as it cooled it was great. This recipe is a great crowd pleaser.

Flatbread on the run!

I was recently browsing the Vegan Kaleigh blog when I happened upon her recipe for flatbread. It includes three ingredients. That's it! So simple. So easy. So why shouldn't I complicate it, right? Her great original recipe can be viewed here - Flatbread Lunch. If you would like to see my 'I have to complicate everything' version, then read on!

Another great thing about these flatbreads is that they are freezable. Even though they are fast and easy to make, sometimes you have 5 minutes to eat before you have to run right back out the door. So making these beforehand can still be a benefit!

My version is still fast, but requires a lot more ingredients, but because of her super easy recipe, we can revise it to make different flavors of her original. I made a sort of Italian flavored flatbread for dinner this evening. I did the following:

Italian-Style Flatbread


1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup water

1. Mix dry ingredients well.
2. Mix in water. The longer you let this sit, the more the vital wheat gluten activates. It should be completely finished in 30 minutes. It will act more like white dough, which is fabulous to work with, but still be as healthy as whole wheat.
   
3. Divide dough into 4-5 pieces.
4. Roll out long flatbread pieces on a well floured surface with a rolling pin.
5. Put into a dry frying pan and cook on one side until it starts to puff. Turn over and finish cooking. The whole cooking process should only take about 2 minutes.

I topped my piece of flatbread with fresh spinach leaves, Not Chicken Salad, carrot shavings, and sliced black olives.












Want to make some different flavors?

For some Mediterranean flair, replace the oregano with rosemary, then top the flatbread with a Mediterranean spread.

Want some Asian fusion? Replace the oregano and salt with 2 tablespoons of light miso. Top with sauteed shiitake mushrooms and bean sprouts!

How about spicy Mexican flavor? Use 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, 1/4 teaspoon of red chili pepper flakes, reduce oregano to 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon of ground toasted cumin, and 2 tablespoons of garlic powder. Add black pepper to taste.

Or maybe you liked the idea of a bit of Italian, but want more Italian toppings. Top this with Bruschetta which you can make by mixing a chopped tomato, 2 tablespoons of basil, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of garlic, and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

What's for lunch? - Not Chicken Salad Salad

Today I experimented on lunch and made a not chicken salad on top of salad. It turned out pretty well, but it is not something to make if you have little time. It is definitely a meal you can make the night before and take to work or school with you the next day. Here is the recipe for Not Chicken Salad:

Not Chicken Salad

2 tsp. Vegan Chicken Better than Bouillon
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1/2 cup TVP
3/4 cup water
2-3 tbsp. Veganaise

1. Combine TVP, yellow mustard, and bouillon in a small mixing bowl.
   
2. Add water and mix well.
3. Make sure that all the TVP is covered in the liquid. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Check at 20 minutes to make sure there is enough water for the next 10 minutes. TVP can sometimes soak up more than normal.
4. Prepare desired salad ingredients while the TVP soaks.
5. Stir Veganaise into TVP mixture and spoon onto salad.

This should make enough for your salad and a salad wrap for later. I will probably make a salad wrap tomorrow, so check back soon!

Know your flours!

Flour is a big part of making things homemade, and to be completely honest, making things homemade is the best way to eat vegan. Yes, we all love the instant microwaveable vegan treats you can get in the frozen food section, but can you compare that to something hot and fresh out of the oven? I rest my case.

Before venturing into the world of baking without your armory of ingredient knowledge, let’s go over some basics. There are several types of flours out there. I’m not just talking about white and wheat flour either. There are flours like white, wheat, oatmeal, chickpea, semolina, rice, rye, tapioca, potato, and many, many others. Within each type of grain, there are different consistencies, species, and textures of flour. The most popular types are all-purpose, bread, pastry, cake, and bleached.

White flour is actually made from the wheat plant. The difference is that white flour is made from the endosperm of the grain. This is only utilizing the starchy part of the grain and leaving the protein and bran part behind. Whole wheat, on the other hand, is made using the whole grain, so all three parts of the grain are present.

Bleached flour is every health nut’s enemy, because the grains are artificially aged and “whitened” using chemical processes. It takes away some of the protein content in order to get a whiter product. It is usually suggested for pastry products, but there are healthier choices to make.

Other flours like oatmeal, chickpea, semolina, rice, rye, tapioca, and potato have their own usefulness. They can add unique flavors to recipes that call for regular flour, and they also have some unique uses. Semolina, for instance, usually not to be used in place of regular flour, is used for making pasta.

If you are conscious about your health, the best common flour to use is whole wheat or working with whole grain. Whole grain in recipes is an entirely different set of cooking, so let’s stick with whole wheat at the moment. When using whole wheat, you are getting all the health benefits of the entire grain. For those of you who have CD (Celiac Disease), the next best alternative would be brown rice flour. Most rice products at health food stores are more in your interest.

Within whole wheat there are many different flours, but the most commonly found are all-purpose, bread, and pastry. Bread flours are made from harder wheat grains, pastry flours are made from softer wheat grains, and all-purpose is made from a combination of the two. My rule of thumb at home is to always have bread and pastry whole wheat flour on hand. The bread flour is what you will want to use in any recipes where you are using yeast. When using baking powder, baking soda, or crème of tartar it is best to use the pastry flour. Cake flour is also good to have on hand if you plan to bake a cake since it is more finely milled than pastry flour, but otherwise, pastry flour will do just fine.

Be careful of what recipe you are making. The more you knead dough, the more of the gluten that is activated in it. If you are making a recipe that calls for more rubbery dough, then knead away! Otherwise, be very careful not to over process the flour as you are working with it.

Sometimes people are very disappointed when using whole wheat, because they expect it to look just like the white flour except be wheat. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is best to use recipes designed for whole wheat instead of just substituting for the white. This is because white flour has more gluten content in it since it does not contain the protein and bran that whole wheat does. The best solution for this is to add vital wheat gluten that can be found in most health food stores and using additional leavenings. This means more egg replacer, yeast, baking powder, or whatever your recipe is using. Egg replacer acts like eggs do in your baked good giving it more structure and binding your ingredients together better.

With a good bit of flour knowledge, you should be ready to traverse the beginnings of home baking. So put up your apron shield and break out your mixing spoon to get your cook on! Ok, so that was cheesy. Go bake, have fun, yay. . .

Soon I will be posting a video of making homemade whole wheat bread, so check back soon!

Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes

I love pancakes, and yes, there is nothing better than those starchy white, fluffy pancakes we have all ate in the past. Think you can't have healthy pancakes without buying the Heart Smart Bisquick? That is blasphemy, I say! Ever since I was a kid I always thought those shaker jug pancake mixes were the devil; or their even worse counterparts, frozen waffles! I was positive that Eggo was made to trick families into not cooking. Little did I know it was either laziness, lack of interest, or never having the taste of homemade. Maybe a little of all?

Anymore, no one makes anything homemade. Yet, I find there are many in the vegetarian and vegan communities who are practicing more cooking. This could be because pre-made vegan foods are outrageously expensive, but I think it is also an awareness of what we put into our bodies. With this economy, it is actually much cheaper to buy foods in bulk at a health food store than it is to buy normally from Wal-Mart.

I say unto all you vegetarians, vegans, or aspiring health nuts, "Throw away those frozen discs of high fructose flavorlessness, and pour out those jugs of Bisquick. It's time to cook!"

Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup pureed extra firm tofu
• 1 cup soy or rice milk
• 1 tbsp. salad oil
• 1/2 cup water

1. Blend all dry ingredients together.
2. Separately, mix tofu, soy milk, canola oil, and water until thoroughly mixed.
3. Slowly add the dry mixture to the moist mixture making sure to beat out all the lumps between additions.
4. Pour out desired amounts onto a medium heated pan. (I usually make them around 6-7 inches wide.
5. When the bottoms look lightly browned, flip the pancakes.

I suggest using Earth balance margarine to butter the tops with. The fats in it are omega-3 which is extremely important in anyone's diet. I would also try brown rice syrup as a very healthy topping for these pancakes. I am going to try some the next time I hit the health food store. I'll post my findings on that.

You should have a lot left over unless you are making this for several people. I take the leftovers and individually wrap them in plastic wrap, then put them in a freezer bag with all the air removed. Viola! I have frozen pancakes for busy mornings without the unhealthy trade-off!

Until next time!

Intro

I decided to start this blog to have a log of my progress and discoveries in veganism. I've been taking different animal ingredients out of my food since I was 14, and now at almost 24, I am finally making the transition into veganism. I have been doing my research and have discovered things I did not know, and hope that maybe I can share with others.

I hope to post recipes and results, books, videos, and other tidbits that might be helpful to anyone in the vegan community.

To give an introduction about myself, I am a happily married, newly converted vegan. I am married to an an omnivore which can make dinner time a hassle. I am currently attending college, but I also work and dabble in cooking and baking. Hopefully I'll grow as a cruelty-free eater and cook!

Happy Eating!