Thursday, June 30, 2011

First garden harvest...seitan satay...peanut butter balls...kale chips

I made Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos for dinner last night - got to use cilantro from my patio garden so I had to share my cute Keith cutting the first bunch of it! The recipe and pictures of this meal can be found by doing a search on my blog (as I have made them before).

Though there is not a picture, the seitan satay was quite delicious. It didn't look very good so I didn't take a picture but it is something I would make again for sure. It reminded me of a peanut chicken recipe my mom used to make. Quite easy and filling.


Seitan Satay with Peanut Sauce (Everything Vegan)
Satay:
¼ cup soy sauce
2 T toasted sesame oil
1 ½ t grated fresh ginger
1 lb seitan, cut into chunks

Sauce:
½ cup peanut butter
2 T tahini
2 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 t hot sesame oil
1 t fresh minced ginger

Satay: Combine all ingredients in a bag and marinate 1 hour or overnight. Preheat oven to 375. Spray cooking sheet with cooking spray. Drain seitan and thread onto skewers. Place on baking sheet and bake 10-15 min or until browned.
Sauce: Blend all ingredients and ½ cup water in blender until smooth. Serve skewers with sauce.

I made these little delights for Life Group last night - I modified the recipe with ingredients I had on hand and they turned out very yummy. A very easy, no-bake recipe that is perfect for a hot summer day when you don't want to turn on the oven. The original recipe comes from Urban Vegan but the following is my version. I must admit, I did use the non-vegan ingredient honey but agave or brown rice syrup can also be used.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Balls
16 vegan graham crackers (I used homemade ones)
1 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup agave or brown rice syrup (or honey for those who don't mind using)
1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
Crush graham crackers in food processor. Place crumbs and remaining ingredients in bowl and mix until well combined. Form into balls and refridgerate until ready to serve.


I haven't made kale chips in a long time and after making them for dinner last night, I was reminded of how delicious they are and how I need to make them more often!! I have never made this particular recipe before but it is the one I will use from here on out! WOW! So yummy - how can anyone not like kale?!


Kale Chips (adapted 500 Vegan Recipes)
12 oz kale, stems and ribs removed and torn into pieces
1 T oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T nutritional yeast
sprinkling of sea salt
Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, toss kale with oil, vinegar, nutritional yeast and salt. Spread kale on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 10-15 min or until crispy.
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Crispy Herbed Potato Stack

Crispy Herbed Potato Stack
I was going to try a recipe for herbed scalloped potatoes and at last minute decided to do something fast and easy. I made up the recipe and it was yummola! I layered sliced russet potatoes in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper, basil, rosemary, paprika, and garlic powder. Then I baked them at 425 fr about 45 minutes. They were crisp and very flavorful!

My thrown-together salad today - after discovering I had no leftovers for lunch!

Tamale Fixings

Tamale Fixings
Plain pintos (for Keith), pintos, corn and onions; corn, jalepenos and Daiya; mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and chard

Making these was a bit time-consuming but kinda fun! They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped - the outer tamale part (not the filling) just wasn't as flavorful as tamales I have had in restaurants. I have another recipe I will try for the dough next time. Tamales are one of my favorite foods so I won't give up on this one!

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes
I modified one of my favorite pancake recipes to make it vegan and then I added blueberries. Turned out quite yummy. Soymilk sours and thickens well - very similar to buttermilk. I have been really impressed with it's ability to substitute for real buttermilk.

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

Egg replacement for 1 egg
1 1/4 cups soured soy milk (put 2 T vinegar into a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Add enough soy milk to equal 1 1/4 cups)
2 T canola oil
1 cup flour (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat or whole wheat pastry - it really takes away from the fluffiness of these pancakes)
1 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Blueberries, optional

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Heat griddle pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Sprinkle blueberries on pancakes after ladling onto griddle. Cook just until golden on both sides.

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein
Overall, this was fabulous! However, I don't think the seitan added much so I would just leave it out next time. The lo mein also needed about double the sauce so I would simply do that next time for added flavor. This was especially spicy and yummy with some Sriracha drizzled on top. I made our favorite veg egg rolls to go with this and it was truly a Chinese treat!!

Veggie Seitan Lo Mein

I really did my own thing for this recipe so I am just going to outline the instructions and include the sauce recipe. I heated oil in a large skillet and added 3 minced cloves of garlic and about 1 cup of half-moon cut onions (I was out of green onions but next time I would use green onions as I like them a lot in Chinese food) and about 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots. After about 5-6 minutes, I added about 1/4 lb of whole green beans. I cooked these veggies until tender. Meanwhile, I cooked a 16oz package of chow mein noodles. Once the veggie mixture was cooked, I poured the sauce on the veggies, heated through and tossed with the noodles. Next time I would double the amount of sauce and have adjusted amounts below to reflect double recipe.

Sauce (Source:Adaptable Feast)
3 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine (I used 3 T rice vinegar and 1 t sugar as I didn't have any rice wine)
3 t sugar
4 T black bean garlic sauce
Mix all ingredients and toss with above mixture.





Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth
Pretty yummy. I found that steaming the wontons worked much better than the recipe suggestion to boil them. The broth was very mild and a bit too mellow for us. Still pretty yummy though. I added extra veggies to the wontons and scallion to the broth. The seasoning in the wonton filling was quite tasty!

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth (Source: Vegan Yum Yum)

(As usual, I modified several things so it's not exactly the recipe in Vegan Yum Yum!)

1 cup chopped broccoli
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 T oil
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 clove fresh minced garlic
1/2 t hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 t hot Chinese mustard
2 T plus 1 t soy sauce
4 cups water ( I think this might have been more flavorful had I used vegetable broth or faux chicken broth???)
6 slices fresh ginger
1 T mirin (I used a splash of cooking wine as I didn't have mirin)
1 1/2 t sugar
2 t rice vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup chopped scallions
16 wonton skins

For filling: Heat oil in skillet and add broccoli, ginger, garlic, carrot, onion and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Add chili sauce, mustard, 1 t soy sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make wontons, take one skin and place in diamond shape. Fill with 1-2 t filling. Fold in half to make a triangle and moisten edges with water and pinch sides to seal. Set triangle in front of you with point up and take the 2 side points and bring them together in front to cross. Set aside and prepare remaining wontons. When finished, place wontons in a steamer basket and steam over pot of boiling water until translucent.

Meanwhile, in a pot, combine remaining ingredients (except wontons) and simmer 10-15 min.

Place 3-4 wontons in bowl and ladle broth over wontons. Serve.