tamale-inspired bowl with pinto and black beans

This tamale-inspired dish is made with cooled polenta, which is much easier to prepare than the traditional corn husk encased filled masa dough.

Prepared logs of organic polenta are now readily available eerywhere and make this meal ready for the table in less than 30 minutes. If, however, you want to make your own polenta, simply cook it and cool it on a baking sheet spread to about 1-inch thick. Once cooled, slice as needed.

The polenta roll (or log) is sliced and sauteed lightly. It is then topped with a combination of black beans, pinto beans, fire-roasted tomatoes and vegan cheese. Because vegan cheese melts easier on the stove-top than in the oven, there is no need to bake this dish and thus makes it even speedier. 

The beans are a bit spicy and a bit piquant. Add some vegan sour cream, salsa fresca, cilantro and more fresno pepper, if you wish.

This meal was a hit with the family and the cook. Not much beats a quick, easy meal that also happens to be delicious. 

And if you need a fast and equally fabulous Salsa Fresca recipe, there is one in my upcoming cookbook, Everyday Vegan Eats, which hits bookstores in a matter of weeks!

TAMALE-INSPIRED BOWL WITH BEANS PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

If you haven't entered, yet, to win Robin Robertson's updated Vegan Planet cookbook, your days are few, so get to it!

I am linking to these recipe parties: The blogs hosting Healthy Vegan Fridays are Suzanne at Hello Veggie, Anna at Herbivore Triathlete, and Kimmy at Rock My Vegan Socks.  

The blog hosting Gluten-Free Fridays is Vegetarian Mamma.

I’ve also decided to submit this dish to What I Ate Wednesday hosted by Peas and Crayons.

food trucks! roxy's grilled cheese

James, Mike and Marc

Little compares to biting into a grilled cheese sandwich. The perfectly grilled, crispy crust, the deliciously melting vegan cheese, the sweet ripe heirloom tomatoes -- it all comes together as a juicy mess that you can't wait to gobble all up.

The folks at Roxy's Grilled Cheese food truck from Boston know this and capitalize on it. They entered the contest on The Great Food Truck Race  in Season 2 and left in Week 6, despite having won that week's Truck Stop which gave them $1000 advantage in the final tally. Moral of this story is that grilled cheese might be all that and a bag of rocks, but it isn't perfect unless it's vegan. Unfortunately, this lesson fell on deaf ears because Roxy's still hasn't converted to - or even offer!-  vegan cheese. 

Perhaps this'll help: my Heirloom Tomato and Kale Grilled Vegan Cheese Sandwich.

Roxy's carries their own version of it, the Rookie Melt. Rookie?? Maybe they can rename it Veteran Melt if they use my recipe, utilizing farm fresh heirloom tomatoes and vegan cheese.

I used Daiya jack-style cheese and swiss-style cheese for my melt. The sandwich needs a bit of heat, which is perfectly contributed by the jack. I used three different versions of tomatoes and grilled sourdough bread. I added some kale for health, wealth and color. OK, not for wealth. But it made me feel wealthy!

The key to perfectly melted grilled cheese is low heat and a lid toward the end. Covering the skillet with a lid allows the cheese to perfectly melt and the bread to attain amazing crispness. And unless you like warm tomato slices, add them toward the end of the cooking time, right before you introduce bread slice 1 to bread slice 2.

frito chili pie with authentic vegetarian texas chili

Authentic Vegetarian Texas Chili Recipe

FRITO CHILI PIE PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Have you become tired of hearing that "authentic" chili has no beans in it, only beef? I certainly have had it! It might be true that back in the "good ol' days," while our forefathers were rustling cattle, there were no beans to be found on the range, only the animals who were being herded to be in the stockpot in the first place. But does that really mean that we should stop the progression and evolution of the chili? I think not. As times, tastes and even the human species evolves, it is time to redefine what "authentic chili" means. After all, we don't have live birds flying out of pies in the civilized world anymore either. Authentic, maybe; desirable, not.

Not only are legumes a welcome culinary and nutritional addition to chili, they are darn tasty to boot. 

So what makes my chili "authentic?"  In a thought, it isn't the animal products that make an authentic chili "authentic," but the spices, the chilies and, heck, I'll even agree to excluding tomatoes that have come to muddy down the chili flavors. But beef? Doesn't make the chili.

This chili has 7 different dried chilies, black beans, coffee and Tex-Mex spices such as cinnamon, allspice and cumin. Not a single muted chili powder in sight. That is what makes a Texan Chili authentic - not the cruelty.

And all this to make Frito Chili Pie, as requested by hubby. Frito chips are vegan and interestingly only contain around three ingredients. Healthy, maybe not, but really good. You can melt vegan cheese over the casserole or use my Cheese Sauce, which is the option we went with. Toss some jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes and other taco ingredients on top and have a Tex-Mex feast.

king ranch casserole + "nut butter universe" winner

King Ranch Casserole Recipe

The above is a King Ranch Casserole, a Tex-Mex favorite, typically made of well-seasoned chicken, layers of cheese, and tortillas all in a creamy sauce. 

I used black beans instead of a chicken substitute because I thought it would work well -- and it does. It has layers of cheese, beans, tortillas, onions, chilies and sauce. Then to finish it off, it is topped with tortilla chips and baked until it is hot and bubbly. 

Really good, partner.  Overall, this is a very flavorful, quick and easy casserole to assemble. 

Cost Breakdown

beans: $4
tortillas: $2
cheese, tomatoes, onions, milk: $4
seasonings: $.25

Total to make 6 servings:
$10.25

As for other business...

As some of you know, today is the day Random.org chooses the winner of Robin Robertson's brand new cookbook, "Nut Butter Universe," published by Vegan Heritage Press. You have got to love a publishing company that is vegan run! 

Here are a few more pictures from "Nut Butter Universe," 

in addition to the pics on the last post:

Power Ball Energy Bites

Peanut Butter Biscotti

Creamy Mushroom Soup

Pasta with Cauliflower-Cashew Alfredo

West African Peanut Soup

Mouthwatering, right?!?

If you are not the winner, please check back in case the first winner doesn't respond. 

Also, FYI, this book is available on Kindle as well! Neat!

I have to say that vegans have got to be the most creative commentators around! It must be all the BS we have to put up with daily defending the animals. You guys rocked with your nutty comments; I was literally laughing my head off. Well done!

Without further delay, the winner out of 45 comments is...

Comment Number 33 - Sambycat!

"A peanut sat on a railroad track,
His heart was all a-flutter.
The five-fifteen came rushing by--
Toot toot! Peanut butter!"

Please email me by March 3rd at veganaide at yahoo dot com.

Congratulations!

Robin Robertson is also hosting a Nut Butter Universe Blog Tour! Head over to this link and be sure to check out other ways to win a copy of the book or get more inside info!

greek chopped salad + pickled onions and creamy dressing

GREEK CHOPPED SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Creamy Greek Dressing Recipe

The beauty of a chopped salad is that you get to have everything that is in the salad in every single bite. And the joy of a chopped salad is that you personally prepare every single of those bites as you dice all of the ingredients. 

A bowl of love. 

The roasted pepper here is freshly roasted. I love the aroma the house assumes as a fresh pepper is being charred. And really, it is so easy. This recipe calls for a roasted red pepper. You can use jarred, but the time it takes from stove-top burner to bowl is just enough time to cook the pepper yourself.

 Roast the pepper on your burner, turning it a few times until it is charred, throw it into a bowl, cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and allow it to steam for 15 minutes. Remove wrap, place pepper on wrap and, using your hands, peel and seed. Place pepper in the now empty bowl. Head to the sink to wash your hands (not the pepper!), return to the plastic wrap, fold it over a few times and toss. Chop pepper.

 See how simple? 

That gorgeous pink-ish red onion on top of the salad is quickly pickled, thereby removing the "bite" of a raw onion, and is ready by the time your salad and pepper is also done, around 30 minutes.

The dressing here is a cross between creamy-style and a vinaigrette --- really the best of both kinds of dressings.

The "feta" is homemade. It is turning out better and better each time I make it, so look for the recipe real soon. Incidentally, it is raw, using the same technique that rejuvelac-inspired raw cheeses are based on, so just use one of those raw cheeses (or any creamy cheese - diced Daiya Wedges would be great!) as your feta replacement.

The salad is packed with protein, including beans and kale, in addition to cucumbers, olives, tomatoes, romaine and carrots.

We loved this salad!

Cost Breakdown

lettuce, kale: $3

cuke, tomato, onion, carrot: $3

dressing: $1

beans: $2

olives: $.50

Total to make 6 servings:

$9.50

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

longhorn make over

I couldn't omit from my list of warm, relaxing restaurant environments a western-themed one. Yes, in other words, a casual dining establishment. Another one. It seems the restaurants in American have been sequestered into two categories: fast and casual. Longhorn Steakhouse, no surprise, is supposed to be reminiscent of a Western rancher's home, complete with oil paintings, photos and Western memorabilia.

Story goes, that the original place was fairing poorly, and was about to go under, when a freak snowstorm blew into town, stranding commuters and tourists. The restaurant immediately offered $1 drinks and saved the business! Almost like a miracle! The only thing I am sure of regarding this story, is that this is one article on Wikipedia that might need a little fact checking. Or perhaps the story just leans toward hyperbole.

Longhorn Steakhouse offers as an appetizer a tortilla, rolled around a spicy filling of chicken and cheese, fried and served with an avocado-lime sauce, the Firecracker Chicken Wrap. I replaced the chicken with black beans, still within the theme of the joint, and used vegan cheese instead of the dairy.

This turned out to be one very tasty appetizer. The combo can be baked instead of fried, just as with a taquito or flauta, which, in fact, is what this concoction is. 

Cost Breakdown

tortillas: $1

beans: $.75

cheese: $1

dip: $1

pepper, cilanro: $.75

oil: $2

Total to make 6 flautas:

$6.50

Their cost per flauta:  $2.20

Make Over cost per flauta: $1.10

FIRECRACKER WRAPS PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

creamy summer chowder + camping

I am not one to indulge in fancy camping food, but I will say that camping food should not be boring. Camping food is doubly challenging in that while it should be delicious, it should also be easy and quick. The two are not necessarily always the same thing. Not sure if others have the same problem, but my teenagers are not thrilled to go camping, so the only card I have up my sleeve is the food one. At times, their stomach is the only reason they feel it is even bearable to go camping. I know family outings will give them some great memories, even if those feelings won't manifest until they are grown up and moved out.

A great way to make sure you have great food and easy prep at camping (after all who wants to be chopping vegetables on a rickety table?) is to prep everything that is practical and possible at home. 

One of the meals we had this trip was a Creamy Summer Chowder. It has a little almond milk, but the bulk of the creaminess is derived from blended corn and the cooked potatoes releasing some starch into the dish. Prepping this meal involved cutting all the vegetables in your nice clean kitchen. Separating the onion, pepper, celery and tomatoes allows the cook to saute them before adding the content of the second prepped bag - blended corn, potatoes and seasonings. After cooking the chowder over the fire for about 20 minutes, the dish is ready. It is a sweet-tasting summer-flavored smoky soup that involves very little prep time at camp and an abundance of flavor. 

We served the chowder with  grilled sandwiches. Anyone remember Pie Irons? Loads of fun and easy to use. The kids loved it and they cooked great sandwiches.. as well as pies. 

CREAMY SUMMER CHOWDER PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

FNF + reuben meatball sliders

Ground meat formed into a patty = burger

Ground meat formed into a loaf = meatloaf

Ground meat formed into a ball = meatball

Ground meat formed into small balls = polpettini

Ground meat stuffed into a casing = sausage

Any other way to name or make something that is essentially just ground meat?

This month's Food Network Friday, brought to us by the very talented Tami Noyes of Vegan Appetite, is, you guessed it, a form of ground meat, Reuben Meatball Sliders. Now, I can totally see the appeal of this recipe - Reuben. Name anything a Reuben and the folks over at Vegan Appetite will hear its calling. I am no exception and have made my fair share of the sauerkraut sandwich. This 'Reuben' is the ground meat version of our beloved dish.

The chef who created this spin on an old classic, Jeff Mauro, is the latest Food Network Star winner. He has us adding the cheese into the ground meat, along with the rye bread in the form of breadcrumbs. So far so good. Naturally, he loses me at the ground flesh and eggs. No problem. We'll just make our own ground plants in lieu of the animal parts and eat a better burger as a result. 

As a nod to Jeff, however, he did manage to make tofu delicious during one of the Star challenges, which Paula Dean, who is now diabetic and is pushing pharmaceutical drugs to 'treat' the very same diabetes that her diet no doubt plays a huge part in perpetuating if not outright causing, found delicious. If only she'd adopt tofu instead of bacon as a staple.

Tangent!

The sauerkraut and the 1,000 Island Dressing go on top of his meatballs and the whole thing is between slider buns. To veganize the slider, I made a 'burger,' only smaller. I used black beans and gluten in this one because I wanted to take a break from adding tofu to my burgers. Except for adding some pickle relish to the burger, the only thing I changed was the meat, eggs and used vegan dairy. Otherwise, this is a darned fine sandwich and I am getting some really great experience making vegan burgers.  

Reuben Sliders Recipe

seitan parmigiana

First off, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to Post Punk Kitchen for naming this blog, yes, the one you are reading!!, Weekly Vegan Menu, on their 100 List. We are so darned amazed, flattered and any other word that aptly describes being slammed to the floor in awe. I love the list and its other contents and look forward to perusing it myself in the coming weeks. Beautiful job, PPK! And not just because we are on it. The list is great and if you haven't seen it, yet, you certainly should.

Chicken Parmigiana is a classic Italian dish of breaded and fried chicken, baked with layers of tomato sauce and cheese. Interesting to note is that Eggplant Parmigiana was the predecessor of the meat version, not the other way around. 

Way to go aubergine! 

Since I have already created the eggplant recipe, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about the meat version. I had a bunch of non-veg teenagers over for dinner and thought this might be a nice vegan dish to make for them. This was also the perfect way to introduce to you all my brand-spanking-new Simple Chicken Seitan Recipe. 

The Simple Chicken Seitan Recipe uses only 7 ingredients, can be made in any machine or by hand (if you have to) and has no seitan flavor if cooked properly.

What's the catch? 

(1) You have to cook it at a very low temperature. The lower the better, but 225 F works very well. This means that you cook it longer. If you do not care about seitan-y flavor, then by all means, continue cooking it at the regular temperature of 350 F for an hour or using your slow cooker.   

UPDATE:

The slow cooker method has turned out to be a success, and I am so excited because of it! It is actually turning out to be the better of the two methods (oven or slow cooker). The trick is to leave the lid ajar, by about a quarter inch, and only cook the cutlets for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Huge thanks to Nonna for getting me to try it even after I abandoned the idea.

(2) You have to sift your gluten flour. No getting around this. In order to pull off the recipe to an exact tee, maintain proper texture and flavor, you have to measure the correct amount of gluten. The best way to do that is to either sift the flour before you measure it or stir it up before you measure it. This is the same procedure that you use for baking with regular flour; the flour granules settle down and make measuring inaccurate by as much as FOUR Tablespoons per cup of flour! That makes a big difference in the final product.

***A little note about the cost of vital wheat gluten flour.*** 

I've seen some comments on different sites about the expense of gluten flour. If you purchase a small box of it from your local health food store, sure, you are going to pay an arm and a leg for the stuff. Been there, done that. But, if you buy it from the bulk section of, say Whole Foods, you are way better off. I buy 25 pounds at a time from WF for around $80. That is around $3.25 per pound. A pound of gluten flour yields more than 3 cups. 1 cup of gluten makes 8 cutlets. 

Therefore, 1 pound of gluten, at $3.50, makes around 30 cutlets of Simple Chicken Seitan.

No Whole Foods or other super-awesome store like that near you? No problem. Hitting Amazon, you would still be paying a lot, around $5/pound for Bob's Red Mill or $6/pound for Arrowhead Mill. But that is still not even close to the $9/pound that you pay at a local health food store. 

(There are other companies that sell on Amazon, but I don't have buying experience with them.)

On the brighter side, Barry Farm , a place I have shopped from, sells vital wheat gluten for $3.50/pound. Discounts for larger (5 pounds or 25 pounds) orders. Great place to get it. I purchased 30 pounds and the total, including shipping, was $85. That is less than $3/pound, including shipping. 

The other ingredients for the Simple Chicken Seitan are chickpea flour (very important), salt, VA Chicken-Style Broth Mix, garlic and tahini. If you don't have tahini, add 1/2 Tablespoon of a neutral flavored oil.    

_______________________________

A note about eggs and binding. What makes the Parmigiana family of classics especially off the menu for vegans (even if you ask for it without cheese) is the egg batter. The consensus still remains that you need eggs for binding crumbs onto things, when all you need is wet flour. It doesn't matter if you use soy milk, nut milk, water, broth or eggs to make your flour wet - it all does the same thing - turn flour into glue (papier mache anyone?) The one difference is that vegan milk, water and broth won't cost you a million karma points. 

There it is. Get cooking.

Cost Breakdown

seitan: $3

panko, breadcrumbs, flour: $1

spices, garlic: $.50

pasta: $3

tomato sauce: $3

Total to make 5 servings:

$10.50

Simple Chicken Seitan Recipe

VA Chicken-Style Broth Mix Recipe

seitan divan

Seitan Divan is a classic American casserole consisting of bread, meat, broccoli or asparagus and then topped with Mornay Sauce.

Mornay Sauce sounds exotic, but it is actually just a cheese sauce made using a simple Bachamel Sauce (a white sauce of thickened milk) with cheese melted into it. Nothing complicated but the name there.

Toast is typically used for the Divan, but I used English Muffins. I sauteed the seitan cutlets until they turned golden brown and layered the casserole: English Muffin, seitan thinly sliced, cooked broccoli florets and Mornay Sauce.

While you could simply make the Mornay Sauce with the Bechamel and melt 1/2 cup of vegan cheese in it to create the sauce, I also made the Mornay using Bechamel with no commercial (or difficult to make) cheese.

We all loved it! It really was easy to make and not at all a conventional casserole.

The pragmatic in me thought this was a great dish not just because it was good and easy to assemble, but because I was able to clean up after the initial cooking while the casserole baked for the required twenty minutes. Had the baking required a longer time I might have left the kitchen, and the mess, behind. Bonus.

Cost Breakdown

broccoli: $2

seitan: $1

English Muffin: $2

tahini, nutritional yeast, flour, lemon, milk: $1.50

Total to make 4 servings:

$6.50

Seitan Divan Recipe

bennigan's (MoFo 24)

Before Norman Brinker took over Chili's, he was the founder of Bennigan's, an Irish-inspired restaurant and pub. They serve American food with an Irish twist. Some of the most popular end enduring menu items have been the Monte Cristo and Broccoli Bites.

The company was later abandoned by Brinker for greener pastures. Pillsbury, the original owners, passed the restaurant chain onto other conglomerations, among them a huge liquor distributor. Over the years, the company has degraded due in part to a lack of rolling with the times and following trends. Basically they remained stagnant in a fluid restaurant environment. The company declared bankruptcy in July 2008 and wound up closing hundreds of stores. Among the only remaining stores that stayed open were franchise-owned ones. In October 2008, the dregs of the parent company, Steak and Ale, was bought up and the new owners are now trying to turn the tides and revamp Bennigan's image, food and the establishments themselves.    

I was a server and bartender at Bennigan's for about a year in the early 2000's because hubby was laid off, but the mortgage company still insisted on their monthly payments. You could tell that things were forced and apathetic for the company, even though it was a new store I was hired for. 

As for the food, the Monte Cristo was the signature dish, if you don't count the double burger that had a knife sticking out of it in an effort to hold the monstrosity upright. The Monte Cristo is a three-layered sandwich of ham, cheese and turkey, coated in an egg batter and deep fried. Now I am not exactly sure who looked at a sandwich and thought it would be a good idea to deep fry it, but then I am often confounded at the ludicrous things people choose to deep fry, including a stick of butter. Why?

However, I am not here to ask 'why?' just here to make the food. As anyone knows who has tried to recreate deep fried egg batters, it is not an easy endeavor. And since I figure there might be someone who does NOT choose to deep-fry their sandwich, I have offered a grilled version of it. Not the same, but not bad either...and not as bad for you. The batter is made with tofu and once a light dusting of flour is on the battered sandwich, the batter does not dissolve in the hot oil.

Broccoli Bites is one of those appetizers that I served a lot of, but one that isn't even vegetarian, with the inclusion of bacon bits. I omitted the bacon bits completely, but if you'd like to add some vegan tvp bacon bits or crumbled Fakin Bakin or something like that, the option is there. The broccoli, once pulsed fine in a food processor, is mixed with finely grated vegan cheese and formed into balls. The balls are then frozen to help them stay together during frying. They are coated in milk-flour-bread crumbs and fried. Baking is an option also. The balls flatten a  bit with this process, but the broccoli cooks more and they are still crispy and golden.

Yup, more brewskie is recommended here and perhaps a strong stomach if you dare to try the Monte Cristo as it was originally intended to be eaten by the good folks at Bennigan's.

Monte Cristo

Monte Cristo - grilled

Broccoli Bites

BROCCOLI BITES PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

muffoletta salad

Central Grocery store in New Orleans is the site of the first Muffoletta sandwich, said to have been invented by Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant. In the late 1800's there was an influx of Italian immigrants who found their homes in New Orleans and became sort of Creole-Italians. This sandwich is mainly known for its olive salad, but the bread the sandwich is traditionally served on is itself also known as a mufuletta, a close cousin of the focacccia bread. 

Legend has it that Salvatore's grocery customers would buy some meats, cheeses, olive salad and bread and eat them individually, the ingredients balancing perilously on their knees. Salvatore offered to slice the bread and layer everything into it. And so was born the Muffoletta Sandwich. 

Since this sandwich has earned quite a bit of popularity and since Tami and Celine have the sandwich world well in hand, I decided to convert this sandwich into a salad. The Olive Salad part of this salad is the main component and well made ones are sought after with gusto. My Olive Salad is bursting with green and black olives, pimientos, sun-dried tomatoes (not authentic), garlic, capers, pickled cauliflower and carrots, pepperocinis, olive oil and herbs. I couldn't let the bread just disappear; I made fresh croutons with some Italian bread, laced with plenty of garlic and oregano. 

The Muffoletta Salad is vegan cold cuts, Follow your Heart cheeses, pear tomatoes, grilled onions and the Olive Salad covering shredded lettuce. The dressing is the olive salad itself with the acid coming from the pickled fruits and the olive oil providing the body. Julienne everything, even shredding the lettuce, and you are transported to the Central Grocer, circa 1906, sitting with Salvatore, enjoying a new rendition of his now-infamous sandwich, inhaling a bit of history with each bite.  

Cost Breakdown

3/4 of olive salad: $7.50

lettuce, tomatoes: $2

FYH cheese and Yves: $4

pine nuts: $1

bread: $.50

Total to feed 6 people:

$15.00