Rustic, Warming Cabbage and "Beef" Stew

Going with my trend of these amazing mock meats, I picked out this recipe by Fat Free Vegan for my next round of cooking.  I kept pretty much everything the same, with only a few changes- namely, nixing the celery and adding bell pepper because I think it tastes better.  I had half of a humongous head of cabbage to use up, and this seemed like the perfect dish to throw it in. 

And I was right about that- this is another winner.  It's healthy to the extreme, and is so rich in flavour and filling.  A most appropriate thing to make when the weather took a turn for the cooler.  It's now in the 80's!  It's soo cold...

But, really, I loved the deep flavour of the broth, and the onion and cabbage seemed to marry so nicely.  M had it one night over rice.  I never did, but she said that it was great that way too, because of all the sauce. 

Yay!  Fall has arrived, and so has this bounty of all these delish foods with it.  Halloween.. Purmpulnickens- what I call pumpkins.  I can't wait!

Rustic Cabbage and "Beef" Stew

Serves 6-8

Adapted from Fat Free Vegan
2 medium onions, sliced thick
1/2 head medium cabbage, shredded
4 carrots, coined
1 bell pepper, chopped into strips
2-3 cups water

2-3 tbsp Better Than Bullion Ham Flavouring (the BEST stuff ever)

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

1 teaspoon Chinese mustard (or just normal ground mustard)

Generous teaspoon and wasabi

3 tablespoons cooking sherry
salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz package fake beef
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat with a bit of water. Saute the onions for 5 minutes, until tender-ish. Add the carrots, mix, and then add the cabbage and bell pepper. Add the water and flavouring in order to get the consistency you desire. Add through the salt and pepper, and mix. Cover and cook at a simmer for 15 minutes, stirring on occasion.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir again, and cook for atleast 10 more minutes. Serve.

The Cutest Thing I Have Ever Seen... And a Sweet Stir Fry

I love my cookbook Wok. It is like an Asian food bible- I think it’s pretty authentic, too. So many good looking recipes… So much to eat… so. Much. FOOD! But that’s a good thing for a chef, is it not?

Here’s yet another odd recipe that I gave a whirl last night, when there was really nothing else to cook. I really ended up improving the veggies, and the combination turned out really good. And the sauce was a total impromptu invention, too. But that seemed, as M put it, “to hit the spot” that night. You could barely taste the apricots, but they were there, adding a nice touch of sweetness along with the mirin.

And the chicken… Ok, when I opened the package, I was amazed. Those Asians are weird. No offense if you are Asian- I would love to be Asian, I think that ethnicity produces some of the best people, and best food a person can find. It tasted like the frozen bean curd sheets (aka yuba), and I really love that taste and texture. I have nothing to say about what shape came out of the package though. Just that it was adorable. Super, super, super, cute. And one of the oddest things that I have ever seen in my whole life. Just look at the picture, and I highly recommend getting this exact product, if you can get your hands on it. Just for a good laugh, if nothing else.

Mock Chicken Stir Fry with Sweet Apricot Sauce

Serves 4

Inspired by Wok

1 Veri Soy vegetarian mock chicken, defrosted and chopped

2 baby bok choy, chopped

2 carrots, coined

1 bunch green onions, chopped into 1 inch lengths

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 can straw mushrooms, drained

1 large onion, sliced thick
2 cups broccoli florets
3 cloves garlic, pressed

1 inch piece ginger, grated

Chili sauce, to taste

Juice of 1 lime

5 tbsp sugar free apricot jam

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Ham Flavouring

Mix together the chili sauce through the ham flavouring.

Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the onions and carrots. After two minutes add the broccoli, ginger and garlic, and cook for two more minutes. Add the bell pepper and green onions. Mix thoroughly, and add the mushrooms. Cook for another minute or so, and add the chicken, then bok choy, and sauce. Make sure there is enough sauce at the bottom to suite your taste- I had to add a bit more soy sauce, but I think the amount is pretty accurate! Saute until the bok choy is wilted, and the chicken is completely heated through. Serve over rice, noodles, or whatever suits your fancy.

Whoa- Five Spice Tofu!!

Earlier this week, a friend of mine recommended that I try the five spice tofu that the Asian market sells.  I had had my eye on it for quite a while now, and so, I ended up searching up a recipe to use it.  Oddly, I couldn't really find anything using premade tofu except this one that looked remotely appealing to me, so this is what I ended up basing my recipe off of. 

For some reason, lunch stir frys never seem to turn out really good.  This one was certainly the exception to that rule.  Both M and I agreed- we would certainly make this dish again.  The sauce was especially delish and special.  I think it was the yellow bean paste that added the unique flavour that I find so hard to put words to.  The veggies were really nice this time around too, and they seem to fit very well with the sauce.  And the tofu is really different, too.  If you have never tried pressed tofu, I highly recommend it.   It's kind of firm, and feels a little like tofu, only with more substance.  I thought they looked almost like pieces of mushroom, not tofu, because of the colour.  M said it looked like cheese with that plasitc on the outside.  Whatever.  It was so good, and such a nice change from normal tofu.  Now that I think about it, I really haven't been eating much tofu at all recently.  Have I moved beyond tofu?  Impossible!  There's just so much to explore in the vegetarian frozen section of the Asian market, it's incredible. 

Five Spice Tofu and Yellow Bean Paste Sauce Stir Fry

Serves 4

Inspired by Passionate Eater

2 cups green beans, chopped into 1 inch lengths

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 tsp yellow bean paste

2 tbsp miso paste

3 tbsp soy sauce

Chili sauce, to taste

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp agave nectar

½ tbsp corn starch

1 package 5 spice tofu, cubed

1 very large carrot, coined

2 baby bok choy, chopped into ribbons

Mix together the bean paste through the corn starch. Set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the carrot, and cook for a minute. Add the green beans, and after another minute or so add the garlic. When the veggies are almost tender, add the tofu and heat through. Add the sauce, then the bok choy, and cook until all veggies are done to your liking.

Zesty Salad Dressing

Sooo... I kept forgetting to get a picture of this dressing- that's why the bowl is so empty in the picture.  This dressing came out of the need to use up a bit of cilantro and a whole bunch of basil- our plant is growing to mutant size.  Maybe M gave it steroids... Anyway, I was a huge fan of this dressing.  It was a bit "too vinegary" for M, so I ended up eating all of it, which was perfectly OK by me.  It has a nice zip to it, and livens up a salad nicely.  I bet it would be really tasty on a baked potato, too, or something similar to that.

Zippy Salad Dressing

Makes 2-ish cups

1 cup fat free mayo

Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp raspberry vinegar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
½ - 2/3 cup basil leaves, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until no lumps remain, and chill until ready to serve.

Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew

Ah, lentils.  They seem to be one of the most finicky foods that I have ever worked with.  But a small bag had been sitting in our pantry for quite some time now, and I think fate was calling with I stumbled across this posting on Vegan Dad's blog.  And I'm so glad I did, because it turned out to be something quite different from what I normally end up making.  The first night M and I had it over a bit of rice, because that was all the food in the house that was ready to eat.  (We finally finished off our monster 5 lb bag of rice... and got another one.  It's good stuff, that rice.) Anyway, this stew is a lot like soup.  It gets more flavourful as time goes on, so the first night I wasn't all that impressed.  But the next day the flavour seemed to have doubled, and it tasted so much better.  M was especially fond of the stew- I thought it was good, but nothing to dream about.  I really liked the peas and potatoes, though.  They seemed to go extremely well in the dish- not to mention it looks a whole lot prettier with them.

This is great over rice as a main dish, or just by itself as a side.  Whatever floats your boat...

Sweet Potato And Lentil Stew

Adapted from Vegan Dad

Serves 6-8

1 large onion, sliced
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
2" piece ginger, grated
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander
3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 cup crushed tomatoes (or more, as needed)
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 cup red lentils, presoaked
2 cups chopped green beans
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a bit of water in a large pot over medium high heat. Saute onion, garlic, and ginger for 10 minutes, until onion is tender. Add sweet potatoes and red pepper and cook for one more minute.
2. Add the spices, and mix thoroughly. Add both forms of tomato, lentils, green beans, and peas. Bring to a light bubble, and cover. Cook for about 30-45 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and more crushed tomatoes to get the thickness that you want. Serve, either alone or over rice.

Sweet Potato Wrap

So, before I said wraps annoy me because they fall apart.  Not this one!  The mashed sweet potaotes make a nice glue for the wrap... and a tasty one, too.  I think I am on a sweet potato binge or something, because they seem to keep appearing in recipes.  But I guess that's good.  Sure!

The original recipe from Vegan Dad that I based these on had kale in it.  In fact, that was one of the main ingredients.  However, I thought the kale was the worst part- funny, too, because that was the whole reason that I chose to make this dish.  It was just a bit too tough for my tastes.  But, sans kale, these are really tasty, and quite filling.  I suppose you could call  these Mexican.  Whatever.  They're good, and that's all that really matters.  I would recommend a wrap that's not too strong or thick, because it will overpower the mild flavour, and you wouldn't want that.  If you are on a sweet potato binge like me, these will certainly satisfy cravings.  In fact, I think I will not make another recipe with sweet potatoes for quite a while...

Sweet Potato Wraps

Makes 6-8 wraps

Adapted from Vegan Dad

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 large Vidalia onion, diced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups spinach leaves, stems removed, and torn

6-8 wraps

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the chopped potato and cook until tender, about 13 minutes. Drain and roughly mash.

2. In a large frying pan (or the kettle that you cooked the potatoes in- that’s what I did), heat a bit of water, and saute the potatoes for 5-6 minutes, until slightly tender. Add pepper and cook for another 5 mins.

3. Add garlic and jalapeno and saute for two more minutes. Add and mix well. Add tomatoes and spices. Mix and heat through.

4. Add the potatoes and spinach, and stir until spinach has wilted. Add more tomatoes if mixture is too dry.

5. Serve in a wrap!

On Vegetarian Mutton

When I was looking for the shrimp last week, mutton caught my eye.  Absolutely no reason for that, but it just did.  When picking out recipes for the week, I was leafing through my Wok cookbook, and, what do you know- there were several good looking recipes with lamb!  I was pumped, and got the bag of mutton on the next trip to the Asian market. 

And so, I think I died that night and went to heaven.  Seriously.  Literally.  It.  Was.  So.  Good.

That's all that I have to say.  Perfection in every aspect.  The mutton was actually kind of funny- it was this huge brown block, and had to be microwaved for almost five minutes before M and I could crumble it into the wok.  And then we had to wait for the stuff to heat through, but, hey, it was so worth it.  The combo of veggies was just perfect, and the sauce was excellent.  I can't really remember what meat tastes or feels like, and I never had eaten mutton before I turned vegetarian, but it seemed real enough, and had a subtle and interesting flavour.  Just try it- you'll see what I mean.  And then think you have gone to heaven too.

Blows-Your-Sock-Off Vegetarian Mutton Stir Fry

Serves 4-6

Inspired by Wok

1 package vegetarian mutton, defrosted and broken into bits (I think mine was about 3-4 cups)

2 medium-small onions, sliced thick

1 monster carrot, coined
.75 lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped large
.75 lb snap peas, trimmed

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 small baby bok choy, cut into strips

3 cloves garlic, pressed

1 inch ginger, chopped
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
6 tbsp soy sauce
6 tbsp rice vinegar
6 tbsp mirin
Chili sauce, to taste
½ tbsp corn starch

Cashews

Mix together the hoisin sauce through corn starch in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat with a bit of water. Add the onion and carrot, and cook for two minutes. Add the shiitakes, and then after two more minutes add the snap peas and bell pepper. Mix through and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for another minute or so, and then add the bok choy. When that has wilted (and there is room in the wok), add the mutton and sauce, and heat through. Serve over rice, topped with cashews.