veganmofo - obama + paella bowl

Today is the big day for me! Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) is being released today!  Yikes!  *-*

The release of a cookbook is exciting and apprehensive and all other kinds of emotions all at once! How will it be received? Will people like the recipes? Like the format of the book? The ingredients chosen? So many things to wonder and worry about!

I really loved making this book and was trying to create a variety of bowl recipes that are all complete meals. I was also trying to make them a bit familiar and worked on basing the recipes on some well-established and honed flavor profiles. I wanted to create recipes that had some root in traditional meals, but made into complete meals that were convenient to serve and eat.

The original bowl recipes began simply with a grain (rice), vegetables (steamed), protein (tofu or beans) and a sauce. Simple bowls such as the Budha Bowl, quinoa bowls, Mexican bowls and other Asian-inspired bowls are the natural evolution of the original bowl, but I wanted to go beyond that.

I wanted to take "traditional," and therefore oft-tested dishes, and make them into bowl meals. Hence, there are three kinds of bowls in this book:

1. traditionally bowl meals
2. almost bowl meals - just a few additions or tweaks make them into bowls
3. original bowls - perhaps inspired by flavorful dishes that have no business being bowl meals, or off-the-cuff bowls of ingredients that play well because of flavor harmony

So there it is - my impetus for writing this book: fast, complete meals that are flavorful, healthy and nutritious. My goal was to bring you recipes that in turn bring you complete meals quickly. No brainers, no need to supplement with other dishes - just grabbing ingredients, following the recipes and sitting down to eat. Period.

Now for the #vgnmf15 part of the post. The prompt today is to make a meal for the POTUS - Obama. During yesterday's post, I shared with you the (assumed) fact that President Obama enjoys Chicago THIN-crust pizza, topped with tomatoes, basil, cheese, olives and red onion slices. Basically, that's a Margherita Pizza plus olives and onions.

All fine and dandy, but let's serve the Prez something that is usually made with meat because there is not even any question that the man is nowhere near a vegetarian, let alone a vegan.

I decided to serve something pretty and still delicious, but something that typically uses lots of seafood - his favorite animals to eat, it seems.

I share with you my Paella Bowl recipe, in honor of Vegan Bowls' book release. Which calls for another peak into a chapter of the book - this time the Sauteed Chapter:

One more thing before the recipe: Last week's giveaway of Vegan Bowls was nice but I noticed that there were some international folks missing out on the deal.

This week I will give away two copies of the Kindle edition of Vegan Bowls, one international and one US. Please enter only the contest that represents your location and not both.  To be eligible to win you must be following this blog via email or RSS feed (link). Contest ends next Monday night at midnight, September 21. Good luck!

Paella Bowl
SERVES 4 TO 6
The saffron threads are responsible for the beautiful orange-yellow color of this dish. Once the rice and broth are added, the dish is no longer stirred. It cooks uncovered while the rice absorbs the broth. As the rice cooks, it develops a flavorful crust on the bottom of the pan called socarrat – a welcome result of not stirring the rice. Using a nonstick pan will prevent the socarrat from forming, but the dish will still taste great. (Recipe from Vegan Bowls, copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)

BROTH
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

SAUTÉ
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 artichoke hearts, quartered
1 medium yellow squash or zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 small red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small Roma tomato, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups frozen lima beans or edamame, thawed
1 cup paella or Arborio rice

GARNISH
1/2 cup green peas, thawed if frozen
1 jarred roasted red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1/4 cup minced parsley
Lemon slices

BROTH: Heat the broth, paprika, salt, and saffron in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

SAUTÉ: Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the artichoke and squash and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the bell pepper, tomato, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes. Add the green beans and lima beans. Add the rice, spreading it evenly over the vegetables. Add the broth, taking care not to disturb the rice too much, but ensuring that the rice is submerged in the broth. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the rice is al dente, about 14 minutes. Arrange the squash and artichoke hearts on the paella and continue to cook until the rice is tender and the broth is absorbed, about 4 minutes longer.

GARNISH: Scatter the peas over the paella, arrange the strips of pepper on top of the paella and sprinkle with the parsley. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for 5 minutes before serving. Serve in bowls with lemon slices.


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veganmofo - sharing is caring + thin-crust obama pizza

Day 14 #vgnmf15 begs us to share food with non-vegan friends. We are getting all friendly up in this year's mofo!

As much as I'd love to really dig in and invite people over for meals (and believe me, I've had really good intentions on doing just that!), my kids always trump me. I suppose that's just the way I want it for right now; one is out of the house away at college, another is in community college and the third is right behind her. It is definitely their time to get out, make friends and show just how normal vegan young people are. 

So, instead of me sharing some vegan food, it was my daughter who shared. Very coincidentally, the young lady that shared our meal last week was a vegetarian, looking into becoming vegan. 

My knowledge base of what young ladies at that age like to eat is vast and I knew that the mysterious foods of that age are pizza, pasta, nuggets and burgers. 

Seeing as she was thinking of going vegan (and I only found out after my food plans were deeply rooted), the most natural choice was to make pizza. After all,  pizza (at any age, really) and cheese are one food group, no? Hit them where it counts! 

My girls and I were searching for foods that Obama likes (for tomorrow's post) and we discovered that the POTUS digs his thin crust pizza (not deep dish?!?) topped with veggies. As sweet as that is, he should really be cutting his other meat-eating habits by a ton, but that's a post for another day, like the morrow. 

Back to the sharing story (I do go off on tangents quite a bit), we had great thin-crust vegan pizza topped with all of Obama's faves. She loved it and asked me for more vegan info. I handed her my cookbook, Everyday Vegan Eats (I keep a few copies around for just such emergencies!) and told her that all she’ll need for now is right in there.

The young lady obviously has a great head on her shoulders and compassion in her heart. Like most of you out there doing your very best to do all you can for the animals, I’ll be here to help her when she needs it. A lifelong vegan in the making, for sure!

A note about making vegan cheese pizzas, and I say this every single time – the best cheese to use is a mixture of brands. Each brand has its own advantage – some melt better, others taste better – and when you mix them you are capitalizing on all the different positive aspects. 

We use Follow Your Heart mozzarella and Daiya mozzarella. We finely grate the FYH because it has a higher melting point and we use it to cut the sharp flavor of the Daiya. Cook your pizza on a high temp on a pizza stone (the cost ($20) was worth it for us because we have pizza night twice a month).

Form your pizza on a cutting board on top of a parchment paper, then slide the parchment with the pizza onto the stone. Cook for 4 minutes and then pull out the parchment, which will have detached from the pizza. Continue to cook until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is crisp.

Last call for entering to win Vegan Bowls! Contest ends midnight tonight, September 14. Enter HERE.

Margherita Thin Crust Pizza
Makes 3 large pizzas


Crust:
¾ cup warm water
2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour (you can use up to half spelt flour)
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl

Toppings:
Pizza Sauce
Shredded vegan cheese (mixture of brands is best)
Black olives
Thin slices red onion
Basil

1. Crust: Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside 5 minutes to bloom. 
2. Combine the flour, salt and oil in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the yeast mixture and process until dough comes together in a ball. Oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour and a half. 
3. Preheat the oven to 475-degrees F with a pizza stone. Deflate the dough and divide into 3 pieces. Press the dough into a thin disk (as thin as you can without puncturing the dough) on a parchment paper set on a board.
4.  Add your sauce and toppings (except the basil). Slide the parchment and pizza onto the stone and bake for 4 minutes. Slide the parchment out from under the pizza and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 6 to 7 more minutes. Remove the pizza, add the basil, slice and serve.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - kitchen tour

#vgnmf15 Day 13 is all about touring our kitchen.

Here goes! And since this is a tour, I will let the pics speak. I introduce you to the kitchen that created, wrote, tested and edited two vegan cookbooks:

Back of my kitchen:

Front of my kitchen:

Side view of the kitchen:

My kitchen cookbook library is not part of the kitchen, but I do need to do research, right? Of the 300 cookbooks shown, 250 are vegan and the rest are non-vegan, for research. The small tabs on the bottom of the books is my system of categorization.

Note that this did not happen overnight. It has been in the making over the past 15 years.

Please understand, I feel it is my moral obligation to support vegan cookbook authors. That is exactly what I tell my husband. #truthtalk

The left side of the shelves:

The right side of the shelves:

If you haven't entered the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to Tuesday's post HERE. Good luck!

veganmofo - fave cookbook

Day 12 #vgnmf15 asks us the question: "What is your favorite cookbook?"

Let's see...that could be Tamasin Noyes' Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day or American Vegan Kitchen?

or perhaps, Isa's Vegan Brunch or Isa Does It?

maybe, it's Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet or More Quick Fix Vegan?

While all the above named books will be on many mofo lists, I tell you truthfully that the one that I turn to almost day in and day out is Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N), by moia. And now that Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) is finally in my grubby little hands, I actually have TWO faves:

Let me show you why Everyday Vegan Eats is such a daily-used book in our house.

The night before last we enjoyed this recipe from EVE, Lima Bean Bake (page 184). We served it with the Garlicky Greens (page 196) - this time made of kale and watercress, and crusty bread to sop up the delicious gravy.

This is a quick-to-assemble dish that bakes in the oven for a few hours. Yeah, I know, we fired up the oven in the summer for this dish...and it was so worth it!

And then there's this pasta dish, Coco Loco with Dulse and Kale (page 146). I would start with about one tablespoon of dulse if you've never had sea vegetables before, but our family is up to about a quarter cup of dulse in this really tasty dish.

This dish marked the first time my kids asked for dark, leafy greens and it was thanks to this recipe, oh, about eight or nine years ago. We still love this really quick-to-make meal.

This next particular dish is one of my absolute favorites! It is Tandoori Tofu and Vegetables (page 124) and is served with naan (page 126) and raita (page 126). A complete Indian feast, all in this cookbook!

Of course, the bakery section is not anything to sneeze at; it has the recipe that produces the tallest vegan biscuits you've ever made, the softest chocolate chip cookies, the fudgiest brownies, the flakiest scone, and the crispiest Apricot and Raisin Rugelach (page 228), plus a whole lot more in this one chapter alone.

There are hidden gems in this seemingly only transitional cookbook, so you should really check it out. Not only are the recipes delicious, but they are also as authentic as it gets in the vegan realm. Really good vegan versions of old favorites, as well as creative original dishes.

As for Vegan Bowls, which just arrived this Friday evening, in addition to the previously mentioned reasons (#1, #2, and #3) I offer up reason #4 why I love this book: it is versatile.

Out of the 97 recipes in the book (87 are bowl meals, 10 are basic recipes), 83 are gluten free or have gluten free options and 91 are soy free or have soy free options. You can also easily substitute store-bought commercial vegan protein choices (such as Beyond Meat or Tofurkey) in many of the recipes.

** 23 recipes are both GF and SF without any substitutions
*** this is NOT a nut free cookbook as nuts are used in sauces, used as extra nutrition or used for texture in many recipes


How about a peak at the contents of the Grilled Chapter?

Here are a few highlights from Vegan Bowls.:

There you have it. My two favorite cookbooks to date!

If you haven't entered the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to Tuesday's post HERE. Good luck!

veganmofo - nutrient + carb load

Day 11 at #vgnmf15 is brought to you by the Nutrients of Veganland.

This is another mofo prompt that was a collaboration among the womenfolk of the family. My son is away at Berkeley and hubby wasn't able to be part of the plan; he just reaped the rewards.

The girls and I have been thinking that carbohydrates have been getting a bad reputation. It's low-card this, Atkins that, paleo here and there and everywhere. And, of course, bacon.

Most people are not aware that carbs are an essential nutrient for brain function and it is your main source of energy for your cells and organs.

Therefore, we devised a beautifully Carb Load supper for last night: corn/quinoa pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce, my Carb Load Balls made with polenta and white beans, breaded in panko and baked, served with garlic bread. It was carby-licious!

"The roles of carbohydrate in the body includes providing energy for working muscles, providing fuel for the central nervous system, enabling fat metabolism, and preventing protein from being used as energy. Carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy or fuel for muscle contraction and biologic work.

Foods containing carbohydrate are in the grains, fruit, and legume groups. Vegetables have a small amount of carbohydrate.

After carbohydrate is eaten, it is broken down into smaller units of sugar (including glucose, fructose and galactose) in the stomach and small intestine. These small units of sugar are absorbed in the small intestine and then enter the bloodstream where they travel to the liver. Fructose and galactose are converted to glucose by the liver. Glucose is the carbohydrate transported by the bloodstream to the various tissues and organs, including the muscles and the brain, where it will be used as energy."


Chew on that!

If you haven't entered the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to Tuesday's post HERE. Good luck!

Carb Load Balls
Makes 13 to 15 portions

Polenta:
2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup medium-ground cornmeal

Beans:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 ¾ cups cannellini beans 

Breading:
¼ cup unsweetened plain vegan milk
3 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
1 ½ cups panko crumbs
½ teaspoon garlic granules
½ teaspoon sea salt
Oil spray

1. Polenta: Combine the broth, oil, and salt in a medium pot. Bring to boil and whisk in the cornmeal. Bring to simmer, stir and reduce the heat to low. Cook, covered, until the cornmeal is tender and thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes. 
2. Beans: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, fennel and oregano. Cook until golden, about 1 to 3 minutes. Add the beans and cook until heated through. Mash the beans and remove from heat. Mix the polenta mixture with the beans mixture and transfer to a shallow pan. Spread the mixture out to about 1 ½-inches thick. Set aside to cool until firm but not completely hardened.   
3. Breading: Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Oil a baking sheet. Combine the milk and starch in a shallow pan. Combine the panko, garlic and salt in a separate shallow pan. Cut the stiffened polenta mixture into about 1 ½-inch cubes. Form each cube into a ball. Do not piece the mixture together from separate parts as the balls may fall apart; form each square into a sphere. First, dredge each ball in the milk mixture and then in the panko mixture. Press the panko lightly to adhere. Transfer the balls to the prepared baking sheet, spray with oil and bake until golden, about 30 minutes, turning the balls as needed. Serve.

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - blue + blueberry parfait

Day 10 #vgnmf15 is probably the most difficult in the sense that the prompt is "something blue." If we consider this at face value in the sense of food - it is an impossible task as there are no blue foods occurring in nature.  Even "blueberries" named as "blue" are, in fact, purple. Blue potatoes: purple, too. Unless you use food coloring, I'm afraid we are left with just these close-enough-to-blue ingredients or photoshop.

I went with Blueberry Parfait, using a quick compote and homemade soy yogurt. This is not an overtly sweet concoction, so depending in how sweet your granola is, you might wish to add some extra sweetness to the actual parfait.

I mainly went with this to, again, encourage you to make homemade soy yogurt. And if you have an Instant Pot (one with the yogurt function), there is just simply no excuse not to make soy yogurt (unless you don't eat soy, that is.)

If you don't have the Instant Pot, I have a tutorial for you right HERE. It really is easy and I make a batch at least twice a month. The starter (your saved yogurt from the previous batch) is freezable so there should never be a reason that you don't have a starter.

If you need a very first starter, you can get it HERE at Amazon. Once you make it, you can (and should) store 1/4 cup of the fresh yogurt for your subsequent batch.

Let me know if anyone needs a run down of how to make yogurt in an Instant Pot. It's much easier than making it without one, but a little run-down might help.

If you haven't entered the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to Tuesday's post HERE. Good luck!

Blueberry Parfait
Serves 4 

Compote:
2 cups frozen blueberries, slightly thawed
Zest of 1 orange (optional)
1 tablespoon sugar or maple syrup
1/4 cup water

4 (1/2 to 2/3 cups) yogurt
1 cup granola
Fresh blueberries

1. Combine the frozen blueberries, zest, sugar and water in a medium pot. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the sauce is lightly thickened. It will thicken more as it cools. Cool thoroughly before using.
2. Layer the compote in the bottom of 4 glasses. Add 1 portion of yogurt to each glass and top with 1/4 cup of granola and some fresh berries. Serve immediately.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - retro + cauliflower fricassee

Day 9 #vgnmf15 prompt is "most retro recipe."

I chose to revamp a fricasse, which has been documented to as far back as the 1300 - I'd say that's pretty retro.

Fricassee is a meat and vegetable braise in a white sauce of some such or another. While originally thought to be of French origin, fricassee has gone through a gamut of adaptations anywhere from Spain to the Caribbean Islands, a version that includes Scotch Bonnet peppers.

I've stuck as close to the original as possible because I have a type-A personality and things need to be as close to "perfect" as is veganly doable.

Replacing the typical chicken, this fricassee features roasted chickpeas (which are, btw, stunning all by themselves and make an excellent snack) and large pieces of cauliflower that are braised in an onion-thyme gravy.

I served these with retro green beans and corkscrew pasta.

If you haven't entered the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to yesterday's post HERE. Good luck!

Cauliflower Fricassee

Serves 4 to 6

Marinade:

1 medium to large head cauliflower, cut into large florets

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 lemon, juiced 

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Fricassee:

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Sea salt and ground black pepper

2 medium carrots, cut into large chunks

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup whole wheat pastry or all-purpose flour 

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup unsweetened plain vegan milk

1. Marinade: Steam the cauliflower until par-tender. Combine the onions, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, paprika, salt, tarragon and cayenne in a large bowl. Add the par-cooked cauliflower and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and and cook the chickpeas until golden and crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and set aside in a medium bowl. Heat the other tablespoon of oil and add the cauliflower florets, leaving as much of the onion in the bowl as possible. Cook the cauliflower until golden, turning as needed. When browned, remove and set aside in the bowl with the chickpeas.

3. Add the marinade, including the onions, the carrots and bay leaf to the pot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until golden, about 5 more minutes. Add the flour and stir until the flour is well incorporated. Add the broth and stir well. Add the milk and the reserved cauliflower and chickpeas and bring to boil. reduce to simmer and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. 

4. Season to taste and serve with pasta and steamed green beans.

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - book/film inspiration + schnitzel (chickpea brine)

Day 7 mofo challenge is brought to you by the compassionate side of the Von Trapp family. Again, I was assisted by my teen girls to plod my way to this musical inspiration, The Sound of Music.

We are pretty big into musicals at the Dever household and it's pretty unusual to not hear at least one family member singing. As I write this, my youngest is busting out a Sweeny Todd song as she is getting ready for work.

So, we could have chosen other musical inspirations, but collectively we went with The Sound of Music, as much for the musical itself as for the inspired meal from it: the schnitzel.

Some might remember from last year when I was in my burger throes and made like 20 really kick-butt creations, that the Schnitzel Burger was the first in that list - another one on a homemade bun.

That was all fine and tasty, but then the magic of the chickpea brine was brought to our arena and now the Schnitzel needs a remake.

A regular schnitzel is made using an egg bath which actually adds a unique texture to the breading. It isn't really like breading with just a sticky substance (such as flax or cashew milk) that is then dredging in bread crumbs. The egg bath for this dish puffs up and creates a tender, fluffy texture.

I wanted to see if the magical chickpea brine would enhance the texture of the breading, so I made one batch with the whipped brine and another with just starch+liquid combo, acting as the glue that binds.

Verdict: the chickpea brine produced a noticeably different texture! The breading was indeed lighter and fluffier than the one without. I believe the schnitzel pictured above had some of the breading fall off a bit [which is where there is no fluffy breading], but you can see where the breading adhered that it is puffed up, just as in the egg-based schnitzels. Score!

To fix the falling off dilemma, I wound up chilling some of the cutlets in the freezer for about 10 minutes to help make them stick  to the seitan; that worked well, so chilling it first will be my procedure hence forth.

As for the seitan, I used the Simple Seitan from Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N), but instead of making cutlets, I cooked the gluten as a roast and sliced the seitan about 1/4-inch thin. This resulted in a really crisp, but fluffy coating.

All in all, definitely the way to go when you splurge and make a schnitzel. Reminded me of my days in the restaurant [minus the cruelty]. Yippee!

Schnitzel [using chickpea brine]

Makes about 6 cutlets

½ cup dry fine bread crumbs

½ teaspoon paprika

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup chickpea brine

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pound seitan loaf (Everyday Vegan Eats has a great one!), cut into ¼-inch slices and gently squeezed of excess moisture

Neutral oil for frying

Lemon slices

1. Combine the bread crumbs and paprika in a shallow pan (cake pans are awesome). Season with salt and black pepper. Add the ¼-cup flour to a separate shallow pan and season with salt and black pepper. Whip the chickpea brine into stiff peaks using a stand mixer, if possible. Gently fold in the 2 tablespoons flour. 

2. Dredge each seitan slice first in the flour, then in the chickpea mixture and finally in the breadcrumbs. Set the cutlets in the freezer for 10 minutes to help the breading to adhere.

3. Heat ¼-inch oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 popcorn kernels. When the popcorn  pops, the oil is at the correct temperature.

4. Cook the cutlets in the hot oil until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Do not crowd the skillet; cook the cutlets in batches. Drain the cutlets on paper towels.

5. Serve with lemon slices.

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - restaurant + guacamole bacon burger

Following right on the heels of yesterday's best sandwich post, comes this burger from Red Robin, yet another sandwich. At our house, mofo tends to be a family affair, and one of my daughters suggested we try making Red Robin's Guacamole Bacon Burger for the "restaurant recreation" prompt.

I agreed, but I didn't think it would be that great because, after all, it is just a burger with some toppings, bacon and guacamole. It's not like we've never put guacamole on a burger!

In addition, well, bacon. While I'm all for vegan bacon on many dishes, such as BLT, Mushroom Carbonara, Club Sandwiches, etc., I do get just a tad tired of people putting bacon on EVERYTHING.

Enough already!

...and here's the but: this burger is so freaking good! The combo of the guac, with all the toppings and the crispy, salty vegan bacon is amazing!

I used the bacon from Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N) because it is crisp and salty and just so good. You could also use the mushroom bacon from my earlier post of Stuffed Cabbage-style Bowl. Of course, whatever is your favorite bacon would be equally good on this burger.

The guacamole in the recipe is our own that we make all the time, minus the tomato. Since the burger has tomatoes on it already, I felt omitting it this time would be wise.

And if you are new to this site, you would not know that for my first three mofos, Restaurant Recreations was my theme for the entire month.

Let's take a little trip down memory lane. The links are to my previous mofo posts with the recipes.


California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Pizza:

Chicago Diner's Radical Reuben:

Chili's Cajun Steak:

Pat's Cheese Steak:

Joe's Crab Shack Crab Cakes:

Thanks for coming along! If you want to see the rest of the recreations, search the label #veganmofo below.

Public Service Announcement:

If you haven't enter the contest to win Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) yet, head over to Tuesday's post HERE. Good luck!

Finally, today's creation is Red Robin's Guacamole Bacon Burger:

Guacamole Bacon Burger
Makes 6 burgers

Burgers:
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 cup frozen corn kernels, frozen
1/2 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2/3 cups vital wheat gluten (Stirred before measuring)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Assembly:
4 burger buns, toasted
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese or slices of vegan cheese
Vegan mayo
Red onion slices
Tomato slices
Shredded lettuce
Vegan Bacon
Guacamole, recipe below

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the corn, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt and black pepper, to taste and stir and cook until the corn is golden, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, stir and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool thoroughly.
2. Add the cooled mixture to a food processor and pulse just to break up the beans, about 6 (1-second) pulses. Transfer to a bowl and add the gluten flour, lime juice, tamari, chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Knead until the mixture forms gluten threads. Form the mixture into 4 burgers.
3. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with oil and arrange the patties evenly. Bake for 30 minutes-flipping after 15 minutes.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the burger patties and cook for 2 minutes. Flip, add 2 tablespoon cheese to each burger, add 1/4 cup water to the skillet, cover the skillet and cook until the cheese melts.
5 Assemble the burgers by spreading mayo on the bottom buns, add a few onion rings, top with the burger, add a few tomato slices, add bacon, add shredded lettuce, add a good amount of guacamole and add the top bun. Serve.

Guacamole
5 medium ripe Hass avocado, mashed 
3/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 to 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and black pepper

1. Combine all the ingredients in a mediuml bowl using a spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, black pepper and lime juice.



 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

veganmofo - sandwich + schlotzky's benedict

Day 5 #vgnmf15 challenge is: The Best Sandwich. Ever.

Now THAT is a tall order! After all, there is a bunch of wonderful stuff in Tamasin Noyes' cookbook Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day, there's a bunch of awesome sandwiches in my book, Everyday Vegan Eats (Amazon, B&N), including a Banh Mi Burger, BBQ Bean Burger, Mushroom Po' Boys (just remembered how awesome those are!), Portobello Fajitas, California Club, GYROS! Forgot about those, too, until now! So many darned great sandwiches out there! ugh! How will I choose?

Naturally, the best way to choose is to pick one that is brand new!

Therefore, for my best sandwich ever, I present to you a Schlotzky's-style Benedict.

I recreated the bread from the restaurant, threw a Benedict tofu and Hollandaise sauce on it, added the requisite "Schlotzky's toppings:" lettuce, tomato, onion, black olives and vegan cheese.

The Schlotzky's bread is a white sourdough loaf, but I don't have the patience to make a good starter - which this would need - and I wanted to make this using whole wheat flour , instead of  with all-purpose flour.

I used apple cider vinegar to lend the "sourdough" flavor, and added vital wheat gluten (stuff you make seitan with) to help lift the dough. I learned that from one of my most awesome testers during testing for Vegan Bowls.

And now I offer you.....

The whole wheat bread you see is more difficult to make than one would think, especially if you want it to be light and airy. I was very happy with the result, which I have actually been working on for quite a while.

There you have it. The Best Sandwich. Ever. {at least for this day}

Whole Grain English Muffin-type Bread
Makes 4 individual loaves

1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain soymilk
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (stir before measuring)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Oil spray

1. Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast and set aside for 5 minutes,
2. Combine the milk and the vinegar in a separate bowl and set aside for 5 minutes,
3. Combine the baking soda and water in a separate container and set aside until needed.
4. Combine the flour, gluten and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
5. Add the yeast mixture, the milk mixture and the baking soda mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour mixture and knead on medium for 5 minutes. Cover with a wrap and set the dough aside to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
6. Form the dough into 4 round loaves and set them on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover and rise for 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Add the risen loaves, reduce the heat to 375 and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven, set on cooling racks and cool.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

Schlotzky's-style Benedict
Makes 4 sandwiches

1 tablespoon vegan butter or olive oil
16 slices vegan cold cut slice, tempeh bacon or other vegan slices
10 ounces firm tofu, pressed, cut into 8 slices
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon black salt (kala namak)

Dijon Hollandaise:
½ cup vegan mayo
6 tablespoons plain, unsweetened vegan milk
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon turmeric
Few pinches cayenne
Sea salt 

4 Schlotzky’s whole wheat bread
Sliced vegan cheese (optional)
Slices of tomato
Shredded lettuce
Sliced black olives
Sliced red onion

1. Heat the butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the cold cuts until lightly golden, cook bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the tofu slices and cook until golden on both sides. Add the water, yeast, turmeric, and black salt to the skillet. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook the tofu for about 10 minutes. Drain the tofu before using. Season with more black salt.
2. Combine the mayo, milk, lemon juice, mustard, turmeric and cayenne in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix well and cook in 30-second increments until hot. Season with salt and set aside.
3. Cut the bread in half lengthwise and toast until crisp. Add optional cheese to the bottom bread slices mid-way through the toast. Layer, tomato, lettuce, olives, onions, cold cuts, tofu and sauce on each bottom halves. Top with the top buns. pass a toothpick through each side of the sandwiches and cut in half. Serve.

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.