Showing posts with label seaweed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seaweed. Show all posts

Jul 24, 2017

new orleans vegan shrimp bbq

I've always wanted to try a New Orleans BBQ shrimp dish, but because the ingredients to one is so basic - shrimp, butter, spices and lemon - I was leery of giving it a go.

Then I got The Gentle Sea Cookbook by Skye Michael Conroy (the Gentle Chef) and had my excuse to drown homemade sea food in vegan butter.


This is not a review of the book, but I do have to say that I am loving the recipes from it, so far. I made the Whitefysh Filets for a visiting friend from Norway (who loves seafood) and he liked it! I was very thrilled because he is my daughter's friend (and therefore young) and therefore is quite opinionated about food, especially vegan food. Which means that he was exactly like my kids: a bit picky and not in love with vegetables.

As a quick overview of the book, Skye offers 7 sea foods (shrimp, lobster, whitefish, tuna, scallops, calamari, and clams). He also has a few recipes for caviar, lox and the like. In addition, the book has plenty of recipes for cooking with the sea food you create.

The recipes need a few odd ingredients, but they are available on Amazon, at the least: agar, glucomannan powder, pickling lime powder, kombu and wakame.

For my sandwich, I sauteed my shrymp in garlic oil and added white wine, broth, paprika and lemons. Once you have the shrimp, this is a super easy sandwich to make.



The bread is homemade 100% sourdough rolls (my son has IBS and Jo Stepaniak recommends this in her book Low-Fodmap and Vegan.), but if you don't have homemade rolls (no reason why not if you use my Fridge Dough recipe) get rolls that are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.

In case you aren't ready to dive into making your own shrimp (it's actually very easy) then use seitan or cubed tofu. Baked tofu would be the best way to go, but I'm not picky - unlike young adult.

And then, you don't even have to make it into a po' boy - just use the bread to soak up the sauce as you dive into all the goodness.





New Orleans Vegan Shrimp BBQ
Serves 4 

2 tablespoons garlic oil (or olive oil)
16 to 20 (1-inch) vegan shrimp (I made my own using The Gentle Chef’s recipe)
1 teaspoon paprika
4 garlic cloves, minced (if not using garlic oil)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth or seaweed broth
1/4 cup vegan Worcestershire sauce (preferably homemade)
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 lemon, sliced
Fresh ground coarse black pepper
2 to 4 tablespoons vegan butter

Other:
4 crusty rolls, toasted first then split
Vegan mayonnaise
Scallions
Tabasco sauce

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the vegan shrimp and cook until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes. Add the paprika and garlic, if using, and cook another minute. Add the wine and cook until evaporated. Add the broth, worcestershire sauce, scallions, oregano and lemon. Add plenty of black pepper and season with salt. Add the butter. 
2. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Toast the bread, split it almost through, add mayo, shrimp with some sauce and scallions. Pass the tabasco at the table. 


© 2017 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.




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Sep 29, 2014

nothing fishy burgers



Day 19 Vegan MoFo is the final burger in this burger marathon and it is my Nothing Fishy Burger. This is in lieu of salmon burgers, crab cakes and other sea animals, that are best left in the ocean and not piled onto a sandwich.

This burger utilizes oyster mushrooms, which have an awesome texture for this type of a filling and it is accented with a hint of seaweed. I use my absolute favorite sea vegetable: dulse flakes. They are just a reminder of the sea instead of a harsh sea flavor, and therefore, they are perfect for the uninitiated.




I top this burger with a Caper-Relish Sauce, which is a kicked-up tartar sauce (because we can't have any repeats this month!) thanks to the capers and chipotle peppers. To cool things down, the Cucumber Slaw is a welcome addition for its effect and it's crunch.

I've made a crab-cake like sandwich before: Crabby Cakes, HERE, which we loved, too. Those are made with tofu and these Nothing Fishy Burgers are soy free. Oh, the choices!





Now that the burgers are all done, what will tomorrow bring, the final Vegan MoFo Day of 2014? A Round Up, of course, and ...perhaps some tips and advice on how to make your own vegan burgers. Let me, one whose made the mistakes, let you in on a few tips of the trade.





NOTHING FISHY BURGER PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE


Nothing Fishy Burger
Makes 5 burgers
3 tablespoons neutral oil, divided
1 large onion, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt and black pepper
1 pound oyster mushrooms, trimmed
2 teaspoons dulse flakes, divided
¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs, divided
¼ cup chopped parsley
Cucumber Slaw, recipe below
Caper-Relish Sauce, recipe below
5 burger buns, toasted


1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and season with salt and black pepper. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from skillet to a large bowl.
2. In the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon oil, increase heat to medium-high and add half the mushrooms. Cook, stirring infrequently, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to work surface and chop well, but do not mince. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and mushrooms.
3. Add the chopped mushroom to the large bowl with the onions. Add 1 teaspoon dulse, mayo, Old Bay, ½ cup bread crumbs and parsley. Mix well and season with salt and black pepper. Divide into 5 portions and form into burgers. Handle them carefully. Just like crab cakes, these are delicate and will fall apart if handled with a harsh hand. Gentle dredge each burger in the remaining bread crumbs.
4. Heat the skillet again, add a little oil the remaining dulse flakes and cook them until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
5. Assemble the burgers by spreading the bottom bun with the sauce, adding a burger and topping with the slaw. Serve.


Cucumber Slaw
½ large cucumber, cut into julienne strips
1 medium carrot, cut into julienne strips
1 tablespoon white vinegar (such as white balsamic or coconut vinegar)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
½ teaspoon natural sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt


1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Sti well. Adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper


Caper-Relish Sauce
¼ cup vegan mayo
¼ cup vegan sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon drained capers
1 tablespoon sweet relish
2 teaspoons minced chipotle
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste


1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well and season with salt and black pepper.


© 2014 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved

Jan 3, 2013

tempeh-no-tuna salad





Back in the 80's, when I still ate fish, Tuna Melt was at the top of my favorite's list. Tuna Salad is one of those meals that if you once had an affinity for, a substitute might be welcome. For that matter, if you like tempeh, this is a kick-butt tempeh sandwich. For event that matter, if you don't like tempeh, this might convince you that you might be missing something. 

It is popular to "fake" tuna salad using chickpeas or tofu, but after making Tempeh Filet Meal a la Long John Silver's, I discovered that the very best substitute for tuna is tempeh -- especially one that is prepared with a tiny bit of dulse. Really tiny, just enough to hint at the sea, not take a dip in the ocean. 

Preparing the tempeh in this way is really rather hands-off -- simmering it in a flavorful broth and cooling it in the same broth while you attend to other matters. After that, it is a simple matter of combining the flaked tempeh with vegenaise, dill, onion and carrot or celery. A splash of lemon juice and your Tempeh-No-Tuna Salad is ready. 

Since I love tomatoes, it makes sense that I added them here, making this salad into a melt in the process, but you certainly can omit them. This was one of the best tuna-free sandwiches I've had. Any tempeh lovers out there?

Cost Breakdown

tempeh: $3
vegenaise, spices, lemon: $.75
bread: $2
tomato, onion, carrot: $1.25

Total to make 4 servings:
$7.00

Oct 23, 2012

joe's crab shack make over







Joe's Crab Shack (warning: the link is decidedly UN-appetizing). Not a place any vegan in their right mind would head to. Although my husband, poor dear, had a business meeting at just this place a month or so ago. He ate leafy greens and talked a lot to mask the emptiness in his stomach. Joe's hasn't heard of the restaurant rule that states that given a group of people, the vegan chooses the restaurant. That is, unless it is a business meeting and the boss chooses the joint so he can write it off as a business expense.

While crabs are about as easy to make vegan as eggs are, given that they are the entire animal on a plate (truly, how horrifying that is!), crab cakes are absolutely doable. Joe's signature dish is a huge crab cake, either served as an appetizer, dinner plate or a sandwich. Either way, they are served with a Sriracha Remoulade. Any good vegan will pounce on the word "Sriracha" and beg the question why it is being muddied by being served with animal parts. 
Let's change that.

This Crabby-Cake is made with a seaweed (don't leave!) infused shredded tofu. Shredding the tofu allows the marinade to permeate the tofu more effectively, thus giving it a hint of sea-flavor - in a really good way. It is formed into a cake, breaded and sauteed.
They serve their sandwich on a brioche bun, so if you want to go authentic, you can have it all by making the brioche recipe in Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! (and return later this week to check out this leg of the blog tour). 

The cake does fall a part a bit while being eaten as a sandwich, but my hubby, a pre-vegan Joe's customer, informs me that even ones made with crab fall apart; it's just the way it goes. Grab a napkin and dig in, because this really is good enough to put up with a little mess. Even my youngest, who hates with a passion messy food, has resigned herself to the fact that one tends to equal the other.
Make sure to enter the cookbook giveaway for Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!
Cost Breakdown:

tofu: $2
seaweed, vegenaise, spices: $2
mustard, breadcrumbs: $.75
buns, lettuce, tomato: $4
sauce: $.75
fries: $3
Total to make 4 sandwiches:
$12.50

Their Cost per Order, with fries: $11.00
Make Over Cost per sandwich and fries: $3.15






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Oct 3, 2012

applebee's make over


Applebee's is another of those casual-dining chain restaurants. Very much like Chili's, T.G.I.F and The Cheesecake Factory. Applebee's was among my first make overs in my first year of MoFo. That time I recreated their Oriental Chicken Salad and Ribs. This time around I took up the challenge of Grilled Shrimp 'n Spinach Salad. This salad tosses shrimp, peppers, onions and spinach in a hot bacon vinaigrette. 

Bacon and shrimp are the problem children here. I could have replaced the shrimp with tofu or seitan (more cost effective), but I decided on hearts of palm. I marinated the palm with a little dulse, a seaweed, and used Bac'uns for the bacon. Typically tvp doesn't stand up to cooking in liquid because it looses the crunch, but because this was a hot dressing, I cooked the Bac'uns in the oil before adding the vinegar. This worked out perfectly.


After the hearts of palm marinated, I sauteed them to a golden brown.


Disclaimer. The result was not shrimp. But it was delicious. The palm was a bit vinegary because it is pickled and the dressing was smoky and the bac'un in it crispy. The almonds add another crunch to the dish and the veggies are just right. Nothing is overwhelming and there is a hint of the taste of the sea. 


Applebee's charges $10.99 for a serving.


Cost Breakdown


spinach: $3

hearts of palm: $8
tomato, pepper, onion: $3
almonds, dulse: $1
spices, oil, vinegar, Bac'uns: $2
mustard, smoke, sugar: $1
Total for 4 servings:
$18.00


Their charge per Serving: $10.99
Make-Over cost per Serving: $4.50




GRILLED HEARTS OF PALM AND SPINACH SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Jan 10, 2012

manhattan chowder

It keeps astounding me that my daughter, who is an absolute mushroom-phobe, continues to ask for this soup - a soup that is laden with oyster mushrooms. 

Unlike its counterpart, New England Clam Chowder, Manhattan Chowder, the 'red one,' as it was commonly referred to at "Captain's Nook," a seafood restaurant my parents owned in Hollywood, FL, is not cream based, but tomato based. 

Mikel loves the New England Chowder and Catt digs this one. Not difficult to make and quite delicious, especially with some saltine crackers. Old Bay, a popular seafood seasoning, and seaweed make another appearance in this soup, as it is my habit of including them in anything that requires seafood - sans the animals. 

The mushrooms are a great touch, giving the soup a more 'clam-y' texture, but it can be ignored or another mushroom subbed. We adore oyster mushrooms at our house (well, at least those who actually eat any mushrooms at all), and if it isn't Manhattan Chowder that gets 'em, then it'd be the Po' Boys. Lucky for Catt we recently had Po Boys and it was her turn at the coveted 'shroom.

Cost Breakdown

oyster mushrooms: $6
oil, garlic: $.75
onion, celery, carrot, green pepper: $2
roasted tomatoes: $2.50
spices, Tabasco, seasoning: $.75
seaweed: $.75
potatoes: $1
Total to make 8 servings:
$13.75





Mar 3, 2011

FNF - ligurian fish stew

Another round of FOOD NETWORK FRIDAY!

It is again that time - time for Tami to remind me that another month has passed. This time around the American Vegan Kitchen author and her cohorts have chosen Lingurian Fish Stew by Giada de Leurentiis.
A fish stew!
A vegan fish stew?!
Who's smoking what over there?

To omit the 'fish' part would be like making a vegetable tomato stew, so that, as tempting as it was, was not an option for me.

To make vegan fish, there are two approaches: either go for the texture or the flavor of fish. I chose to do both.

On another FNF challenge, I made a seitan fish, but this time I wanted to use tofu. The texture of the fish in this dish I am imagining would be flaky and tender - tofu was the best option. I needed to get the tofu to hold together well enough that I wouldn't wind up with broken bits and pieces of tofu floating in the stew.

I used my Tofu Xpress to press the tofu for about an hour. It is amazing how well that contraption works in as little as an hour. Then I poached the tofu slices in olive oil on low for 15 minutes. I infused some sea flavor into the olive oil by adding some dulse and Old Bay seasoning. The dulse becomes crispy after a few minutes and then I used it to garnish the stew. Nice flavors! In fact, if you are a seaweed phobe, dulse is the place to start. Out of the many seaweeds I have tried, dulse, when used in moderation, has the nicest flavor.

To finish the stew (after following most of Giada's recipe), I drizzled some of the poaching olive oil over the stew since it was already infused with the sea flavor.

Really very good. Mikel, David and I polished off the stew and were pleasantly surprised at the flavor and texture of the tofu. It was not intense or unpleasant and just right.

Cost Breakdown

tofu: $2
dulse, spices: $1
garlic, onion, carrot, wine: $1
tomato: $3
olive oil: $1
bread: $2
Total to make 5 servings:
$10.00




VEG-Aside: So where have I been? As busy as I have been this year, it seems I have been the busiest complaining. As I recall, I have the same amount of hours per day that Einstein, Newton, King, and Jefferson had; I have no excuse.

I have been quite overwhelmed with homeschooling, pre-teen and teen activities and getting ready for my first vegetarian (shh... really vegan) presentation at our Illinois homeschool conference and a sundry of other minor time-consuming tasks. It seems one thing after another just keeps happening - as I am sure is the case with everyone else.

 I will endeavor to be more consistent here on! I also plan on getting more personal or cover non-food topics in these Veg-Aside sections of posts - ignore if you aren't interested!

Nov 24, 2010

FNF - emeril's fish tacos (MoFo 15)

It is that time of month again - FOOD NETWORK FRIDAY - Let's rumble!

Ms. Tami over at Vegan Appetite (yes, the very same one who will be giving away her cookbook, American Vegan Kitchen, on this very blog next week), hosts Food Network Friday. Anyone is welcome to join in! All you need is imagination and desire. Someone picks a recipe from the Food Network and anyone who wishes to participate recreates it vegan. That's it! Send her your post link and Ms. Tami gushes over the wonderful ways we revise top celebrity chefs' recipes. And do a heck of a better than job than they do!

This month, we are making Emeril's Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Spicy Horseradish Coleslaw.

It has been a while since I've tried making fish (except for the Filet of Tofu), and I wanted something other than tofu (I had a sneak-peek at Tami's version and I knew that she was using tofu. I...must...be...different...).

Naturally something from the sea popped into my head. And as far as I know, the only edible vegan things from the sea are seaweed. There are so many different varieties of seaweed, with many levels of strength, that if you've tried seaweed before and haven't liked it, you should keep at it. I mean, if you don't like sweet potatoes are you not going to try Russets or other tubers?

No, I did not fry up a bunch of seaweed... I flavored my seitan with the seaweed when I was preparing it by adding 1 tablespoon of crushed Arame to the gluten before I mixed it. Then I cooked the seitan in a broth flavored with a sack of crab boil - Zatarain's Crab Boil- finally putting the stuff to some good use!

The batter is a simple beer batter, the seitan is deep fried and the taco is topped with Horseradish Coleslaw.

This was excellent. Even the kids (minus Cat) ate it and loved it. The seitan turned out great - reminiscent of the sea but nothing overpowering, and the crab boil gave it that very different flavor that it needed  - after all, this wasn't supposed to be Tender Seitan. I think I shall call it, Sea Seitan. I love alliterations.

I have created a How-To Breakdown  for the recipe, but you may use the original recipe from Emeril (subbing vegan mayo) and just use the Sea Seitan. Treat it as you would fish, just remember that it isn't. It is already cooked, so you are just looking for a golden color for the crust - you don't have to worry about raw fish.

Cost Breakdown:

seitan: $3
tortilla: $2
dressing: $1
batter: $2
cabbage, green onion, cuke: $3
spices: $1
Total to make 6 tacos:
$12.00








Nov 6, 2010

cafe flora (MoFo 4)


Cafe Flora is a Seattle  based vegetarian restaurant that opened in 1991. They built their restaurant environmentally minded, to reduce the their impact on the world community as well as their neighbors. They claim that part of their job is to help shift the consumption of animals to a more plant-based diet. They do not want, or expect, everyone to switch to vegetarianism, they do want more people to make it a viable and a more frequent choice to include plant-based meals into their meals. This is logical and very doable. Think about it: if everyone ate meatless meals on, say, ...Monday, how many animals would not have to be in the great animal husbandry industry?  How many less animals would have to be killed weekly? How many people would be so much better off with just one day a week of meatless meals? How would the earth be impacted by this one simple action?

If you haven't included Meatless Mondays into your week, I encourage you to do so this very coming Monday. Breakfast is a no-brainer. Lunch is very easy - soup, salad, sandwich - and for dinner come back here and pick something to make. Recipes are posted, pictures can help you decide and the food is good. Walking to work, changing your light bulbs and recycling are not the only things you can do to help the environment. And a Meatless Monday helps you as well as the animals. A triple whammy!

To help you get started, I am giving away a new copy of a Vegan Cookbook - Joanne Stepaniak's Vegan Vittles. This was one of the first cookbook I picked up ten years ago and it is one of the simplest, easiest to follow, containing very tasty recipes and a great way to introduce yourself to vegetarianism. Leave a comment and let me know what your thoughts are on Meatless Mondays. Contest is open to North American and UK residence and no, you do not have to be an omnivore to enter. Please enter by the end of Monday, Nov. 8. Winner will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 9.



On to today's recipes.

A signature appetizer of Cafe Flora's is the Coconut Tofu with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. This was nice and coconuty, but not quite as flavorful as I was hoping. The tofu was a little bland, but the crust was great. I think making this with seitan would add more to the flavor. The breading is flour, coconut milk and ground coconut flakes.

Another more successful one was the Lentil Pecan Pate Platter. I know that as a vegan it is not likely that a Liver Pate would be on your Top 100 list of foods to recreate, but I am Hungarian and my dad was a great one for mixing together a chicken liver pate or beef tartar...you get the gist. We had pig feet in aspic as the New Year meal... yeah.

So forgive me that I have been looking to make liver pate vegan. If you are one of the other dozen or so people in the known universe who is vying for this very thing, look no further than this recipe. You will need red lentils, mirin (rice wine), umeboshi paste (sour plum paste) light miso (Japanese fermented bean paste) and pecans. This is the real thing without liver.

As their signature dish, Cafe Flora presents Oaxaca Tacos with Black Bean Stew. They only make this veg so I adapted it to vegan. It is incredible how some mashed potatoes and black beans can be transformed to this delectable dish. They use real cheese, but I used a recipe adapted from Stepaniak's Uncheese Cookbook to make this soy-free and processed-free. This meal has many components, but they can all be done separately: Black Bean Stew, Smoky Muenster Cheeze, Mashed Potatoes, Salsa, optional feta adapted from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Feta recipe.

Cost Breakdown:

Coconut Tofu
tofu:$2
ginger, seaweed, tamari, rice vinegar, miso: $1.50
flour, coconut: $1
coconut milk: $.50
oil: $2
chili, sugar:$1
Total to make apps for 5:
$8.00

Pate
lentil: $1
onion, garlic, spice: $1
mirin, umeboshi, miso: $2
pecan: $1.50
onion, garlic, balsamic, sugar: $2
crackers: $2
Total to make apps for 8:
$9.50

Tacos
tortillas: $2
potato: $2
cheeze (cashew, agar): $3
black beans, corn, garlic, spices: $3.50
tomato, pepper, lime: $2
Total to make 5 servings:
$12.50



Coconut Tofu with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce


Lentil Pecan Pate Platter with Onion Confit

Oaxaca Tacos with Black Bean Stew






Jun 15, 2010

coco loco

When we lived in San Francisco we patronized a quaint little cafe, Feel Real, that was open only when the owners decided to open.
There were many times we would show up, but the owners didn't.
Still, the place had awesome food. Two of their most fabulous meals were a veggie burger, that resembled no 'burger' I've seen since, and Coco Loco, a coconut, seaweed, noodle dish with steamed greens.
To die for.
Since we are no longer in San Fran, it was up to me to recreate it. I did. Kate asked for this one; she said it's been too long. I think the last time when the aroma of coconut milk and lime filled the kitchen was last month. Gotta love anything that is green and with seaweed and is being requested by a ten-year-old.

Cost Breakdown:
2 bunches, kale: $5
noodles: $2
coconut milk: $2
garlic, lime, tamari: $1.50
seaweed: $2
 (I bought it bulk from Frontier Co-op)
Total to feed a family of 5:
$13.50