lentil soup.

It is COLD in chicago. The high today was 9 degrees. When I saw smitten kitchen post this recipe today – and I just happened to have everything on hand to make a vegan version of it…it was a sign that I needed to make it for dinner!  It’s the perfect comfort food when the weather is as cold as it is. Were going to serve it up with some crusty garlic bread and spend the rest of the night under the covers!

Here is my take on it!

olive oil
half a package of uptons italian sausage seitan
1 medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced or diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into half-moons or diced
4 cloves garlic
Kosher salt
A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 cups water
Freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 cups shredded or thinly ribboned  kale

Heat olive oil  in a large pot on medium heat. When hot, add the seitan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it starts to cook a little bit (maybe 2-3 minutes). Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, a pinch of salt, and if you like your soup spicy, a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook with the seitan until the vegetables soften a bit, another 5 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes, water, more salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. (It might be necessary to add more water if the soup gets too thick.)

When the lentils are cooked, add the kale and cook until the leaves are tender, just a few minutes more.

VEW: pad thai with avocado and spicy greens.

I’ve been cooking like crazy from this book, and I plan to keep going at it, So I have a new category for this blog – hence the VEW seen above. Everything has been so well worth it! Tonight’s dinner was no exception. Pad thai. One of my favorite dishes to eat. However, when I make it at home, I dont see to have much luck. The noodles are always mooshy and dry. Tonight’s dinner was delicious. There are some things I will change for next time – but overall THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME!
I used the savory tofu from the book, which it calls for, but I think next time I will just use plain tofu and fry it up. I made this savory tofu for the bi bim bop in the book (which is awesome by the way), and it was SO perfect for that, but this dish already had alot of flavors, so it came off kind of salty.

I especially loved the addition of kale to pad thai! I was kind of scared of veering off the traditional path – you didnt really even notice it was there, so you have all that added nutrition. As for the avocado….I didn’t really feel like this was a necessity. I will be leaving it off next time.

I changed the recipe up a bit, so I’m going to write out my version here.

I used
16 oz rice noodles
1 package tofu, pressed and fried up into cubes
a few handfuls of shredded kale
4 cloves garlic, minced (i would have done more if i had more!)
4 shallots, thinly sliced
4 scallions trimmed, white and green parts seperated
Peanut or vegetable oil ( i used olive oil b/c it was all i had on hand)

Sauce:
1/3 cup brown sugar
juice from 2 limes
3 T soy sauce
2 T ketchup
1 tspn white miso
2 tpsn tamarind concentrate
1/2 tspn coriander

Toppings:
Cilantro
shredded carrots
ground peanuts
lime wedges for squeezing at the end
sprouts ( i didnt have any but they would be good)

Here is what really worked for this recipe: Fill a large pot with about 6 inches of hot/warm water and put the noodles in there for about 20 minutes (!!!!)

When you are making the pad thai plates, you will be doing one serving at a time (this recipe makes about four servings) This helps from everything getting really mooshy. Everything cooks up really fast though.

Heat a wok or large pan to medium high heat with a little oil. When the pan is nice and hot….Throw in 1/4 of the shallots, white parts of the green onions and the garlic. Let cook for about two minutes, then add 1/4 of the noodles, tofu (its already fried, remember?!), green onion and carrots and stir around for another minute or two. Top with crushed peanuts, cilantro and peanuts and serve with a lime wedge.

do this for the other three servings, each one at a time. Its good stuff I tell ya!

364. pumpkin kibbeh.

I got Vegan Eats World for christmas, and as excited as I am too cook from a new book, I’m also extremely overwhelmed by it. It calls for alot of  ingredients I don’t normally have on hand, as well as take a little bit more elbow grease than my usual recipes. And alot of the things in there I have never even heard of – but thats not going to stop me! I decided I need to just pick a recipe and cook it. And tonight my cousin came over and we chose the pumpkin kibbeh. I never even heard of kibbeh, but we followed the directions and went to town. And it was good! It is two layers of pumpkin/bulgur/onion mixture, with an onion/walnut filling sandwiched between the two layers. It called for a cashew yogurt sauce that I didn’t make because I didn’t have any soy yogurt -  we did some research later to find out what exactly is kibbeh, how do you say it, and how is it normally prepared. We learned that it is sometimes fried like falafel, which I can see, because all the bulgur reminded me of falafel. Which also made me think this would be good with something creamy – like hummus. AND we read that it is traditionally served with hummus! So i wasn’t too far off.  This took a bit more time than I would usually spend on dinner, but it was a saturday, im on staycation and it was worth it. I also think this would be a great potluck dish! Oh, the recipe called for pumpkin, but I had butternut squash on hand, and that seemed to work just fine.

have you ever had kibbeh before? what is it like? is this far from the real thing?

352. baked risotto.

I usually steer clear of risotto. Seems like way too much work for a weeknight meal.
I saw that Joy the Baker had a recipe for a baked risotto, where you just put everything into a pan, stir once, and done. Sounded intriguing.
I veganized her recipe and gave it a go. And it worked! I think I’m for sure going to tweek this and try making different kinds of risotto using this method! If you have a good risotto combo/recipe, let me know!

1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 cups Arborio rice
32 ounces veggie broth
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
salt to taste

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until transluscent and browned, about 5 minutes.  Just as the onions are done cooking, add lemon zest, thyme leaves, and black pepper.  Toss to heat through and set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss together uncooked rice, nutritional yeast, and the onion mixture.  Place in the prepared baking pan.  Pour stock and water over the rice mixture.  Stir gently to ensure even cooking.

Place in the oven and allow to cook, uncovered,  for 37-40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes.  Rice is done when liquid is absorbed and mixture is cooked through and creamy.  If rice mixture is still crunchy, add more hot water or hot chicken stock about 1/3 cup at a time.

When cooked thought, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before tasting.  Add salt to taste.

321. roasted brussel sprouts, butternut squash and cauliflower.

So its official. Im crazy for brussel sprouts. Like, I can’t get enough of them. I spend my days daydreaming of what I’m going to do with them next.
When Dj called to tell me he wouldnt be home for our usual friday-night pizza dinner, and I was on my own, I was thrilled because this meant brussel sprouts were on the menu instead!  I researched some recipes on the way home, and of course came across this one from Shutterbean!

I used that one as my starting point, but veered off it a little bit. I added cauliflower, because I had some leftover from earlier in the week. The seasonings were SO good. I ate mine over french lentils and made it a complete meal.

So basically I cut up my brussel sprouts, squash, onions, 4 cloves garlic (i love garlic) and cauliflower. I mixed together in a bowl – 1 T olive oil, 2 T balsamic, and 1/2 tspn curry powder. I sprinkled in some salt and pepper as well and coated my veggies with it. I sprinkled brown sugar on top (about 1 T or so) I baked it at 400 degrees, for 20 minutes, then mixed it around, and baked it for about 20 minutes more.  I ate it over french lentils and was very very happy! YUM.

317. portabella pizzas.

I had these pinned for a while on pinterest and have been dying to make them. This weekend when I was grocery shopping I finally remembered to buy portabella mushrooms to do so. These were so so yummy. And I had everything else on hand to make them happen. I forsee alot of these in my future.

You can find the recipe here.

First make the cheese sauce: this will make enough for about 5-6 portabellas.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1 T flour
• 1 t lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• ½ t salt
• ¼ t garlic powder

Directions: add all ingredients to a saucepan on medium and whisk vigorously until smooth. Keep watching the mixture as it starts to thicken, whisking occasionally so that it doesn’t stick to the pan.

Then, fill each mushroom cap with sauce and cheese sauce, then top with veggies. I baked mine at 450 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, then broiled them on low for about 4 minutes.

 

315. pretzel dogs.

 

I have been wanting to make these for a while now. I thought they would be perfect to make ahead and freeze and send with milo for lunch once in a while. Dj came home with package of tofurkey veggie dogs this week, and no buns, so I thought this afternoon would be the perfect opportunity to make this happen.

I am AMAZED at how good these turned out. Seriously! Who knew making pretzels was so easy…. I’m dying to make a batch of these sans dogs soon! Yum.

I used joy the bakers recipe here.
And if you’ve seen the tofurkey veggie dogs and was wondering if they are any good…the answer is YES. Hands down the best veggie dog I have had.

312. cheesy pasta bake.

As soon as I saw the recipe for this pasta, I knew I was making it for dinner IMMEDIATELY. Its kind of like a cheesy, creamy, lasagna kind of pasta. SO SO good. This is for sure going to be my next potluck dish!

8 ounces elbow macaroni or shells 12 ounces grounds (I used uptons seitan) 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 26-ounce jar marinara sauce ( i used homeade!) 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained ( i used fresh!) 2 cups vegan shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (such as Daiya) 1 cup nondairy sour cream 1/4 – 1/2 cup nutritional yeast 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Cook noodles until al dente; drain and set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, add grounds, garlic, salt, and pepper, stirring frequently until heated through and slightly crisp, about 10 minutes. Add marinara sauce and Italian seasoning, stirring until well combined. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, combine cooked noodles, spinach, 1 cup shredded cheese, sour cream, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. Stir until ingredients are evenly distributed and noodles are well coated. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13×9-inch baking dish. Top evenly with marinara mixture and remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges. Let stand for 15 mins before serving. Serves 8.

310. sweet potato and brussel sprout hash with chipotle seitan.

This is sort of my take on a few recipes mashed into one and a way to use up some ingredients I had on hand.
The chipotle sausages: This is my first time having luck steaming seitan.
The hash: I made sure to cook everything nice and long so everything had a chance to get well done and crispy.At the very end I threw in some israeli couscous to give it add some grain/texture to it.

The recipe for the chipotle sausage: (original recipe here)

• ¾ C. Vital Wheat Gluten
• 2 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast
• 1 tsp. Dried Chipotle Flakes
• ½ tsp. Smoked Paprika
• ½ tsp. Onion Powder
• ½ tsp. Garlic Powder
• ¼-1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
• ¼ tsp. Ground Cumin
• ¼ C. refried beans (or any beans you have on hand)
• ⅔ C. Vegetable Broth
• 1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
• ½ Tbsp. Olive Oil
• ½ Tbsp. Liquid Smoke

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, until everything is distributed evenly. Then, blend wet ingredients with the beans together until completely liquified.
2. Stir the wet mixture into the dry until the vital wheat gluten soaks all of the liquid up.
3. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes and roll it into a log-type shape, about 10” long and 1” in diameter. Cut it into three pieces and roll out some aluminum foil, tear the foil into pieces that are roughly 8”x8”. Place seitan dough in foil and roll up like a tootsie roll/taffy/candy, and set off to the side.
4. Once you are done with those take a large pot with a steamer basket and water, or stacking steamer baskets, and place the foil wrapped sausages into the pot and cover with lid. Have the water boiling/steaming over medium heat for 20 minutes.
5. Once the sausages are pretty firm in their wrappers, take them out with tongs and let them rest for 5 minutes; peel the foil off and set them on a plate to cool while you prep the hash.

   HASH ingredients
   sweet potato, diced small
   1 onion, diced
   6 brussel sprouts, cut finely
   2 cloves garlic
   1 tspn chili powder
   1/2 tspn cumin
   1 tspn coconut oil
   salt and pepper

   Heat the oil in the pan. add the onion and the sweet potato. Cook until almost ready, then add the brussel sprouts, garlic, the seitan, and the seasonings Cook until well done.

   I threw some israeli couscous in at the very end.

304. Butternut squash alfredo pasta.

I saw this posted recently to the PPK blog, and thought this might be something good to make for thanksgiving. I made something similar once though and it was just ok. But this weekend when I saw a butternut squash at the store, I thought I’d pick one up and give it a go.

To my suprise, this was really really good. The sauce had alot of rich flavor, and was so creamy without getting dry, like vegan cream sauces tend to do. It doesn’t use a TON of cashes either, and the sauce makes enough to generously cover a whole bag of pasta. We used brown rice miso, instead of yellow, because its what I had on hand and that seemed to be just fine.

This was an awesome fall dish. highly, highly recommend it! Someone in the comments said they served it up with some apple and sage field roast sausage…that sounds like it would pair perfectly!

Recipe here: http://www.theppk.com/2012/10/roasted-butternut-alfredo/