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

Coconut Tofu Recipe

Lentil Pecan Pate Recipe

Onion Confit Recipe

Oaxaca Taco with Black Bean Stew Recipe

Smoky Muenster Recipe

soup nazi (MoFo 3)

Hopefully everyone has seen the Seinfeld episode with The Soup Nazi (or was that more than one?) otherwise my play on this restaurant is useless. You remember, the soup guy who won't give you the soup unless you follow proper protocal for ordering? Well, the soup guy actually exists, but not as Soup Nazi - but, as the Soup Man - and he is still selling his soups in Manhattan, and takes great offense at any refernce to being called you-know-who.

I couldn't really tell you if any of his soups are vegan or even vegetarian, but it seems to me that unless you live close by or have the mula to ship it, you and I are out of luck anyway.

Not only that, but I am darn certain he does not make Mexican Chicken Chili or Crab Bisque vegan. Luckily, making the Chili vegan is doable, but the crab thing is a little more challenging. I am, however, willing to wager that his is not any better than my version: Golden Beet Bisque. 

Both soups require 4 hours of cooking. Let me say that again: 4 hours of simmering. Yeah, I know. BUT, so worth it! Just make one and let it hang out on the back of the stove on a lazy Sunday afternoon and by dinner you will be thanking me.

I used Tender Seitan in my Chili, but you can use tofu that you have wrapped or pressed and marinated in some nutritional yeast and sage and salt. Or use another can of beans.

The Bisque has some Earth Balance and a cup of cashew milk and is blended. This was so good! It tasted like beets but not overwhelmingly so - I didn't think I was digging in the garden after having a bowl - but, it certainly was rich.

To accompany the soups, I baked a lovely loaf of whole wheat bread. It is 100% whole wheat and tastes great, not to mention not costing $5.

And don't forget about the cookbook contest staring tomorrow. And if I forget, remind me!

Cost Breakdown:

Bisque:

beets: $3

onion, celery, garlic, tomato, spices: $3 

cashew: $1

Earth Balance: $.25

Total to make 5 serivngs:

$7.25

Chili:

seitan: $1

carrot, onion, celery, pepper, tomato: $2   

spices, herb: $1

beans, corn: $3

Total to make 5 servings:

$7.00

Bread:

flour: $1

maple syrup: $.50

olive oil: $.25

salt, yeast: $.25

Total to make one large loaf:

$2.00

Golden Beet Bisque Recipe

Mexican Chick'n Chili Recipe

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

applebee's (MoFo 2)




We all have one of these in our neighborhood, don't we? Well, maybe not everyone, but then I didn't exactly research the number of these fine establishments that are dotting the planet. I guess I chose Applebee's, not for their super fabulous menu, but because I worked at one. In fact, I thought I was just hired to work at a place that was going to put a bunch of $$$ in my pocket and drove 90 minutes each way to go to work.

I quit within a month. It wasn't the gold-mine I was expecting.

I never really understood Applebee's phenomena; every time we ate there (pre-veg), they never managed to get the order right and we got some pretty awful food because of it. That is a good enough reason to make it at home.

We made two of Applebee's signature dishes... the Asian Chicken Salad - cleverly omitting the 'fried' part from the name and...the more-famous-than-Houdini Applebee's Ribs. No need to have Babe on a plate, we have seitan all ready to transform a plate of something my daughter called "eww, gross,'' as she gazed upon Applebee's website, to "this is really good, Mom," as she was chowing down on her Seitan Rib.

Finger-licking good.

The Oriental Salad has fried Tender Seitan on it and a mustard-maple sesame dressing. It never ceases to amaze me that someone can transform a perfectly healthy plate of greens into a heart-attack on a plate fare. And, yet, that is what seems to be happening across the board in restaurants - veg or not, fried tastes right. This was no exception; it was really good.

So, while you dear reader, can pick and choose wisely when or if to indulge in these fried delicacies, my family will need a good detox in December.

The sacrifices we make for the blog.

Cost Breakdown

Salad:

lettuce, cabbage, carrots, onions: $4

chow mein, almonds, cashews: $1.50

maple, vinegar, mustard, veganaise: $1.50

seitan, corrnflakes, flour: $4

Total for 4 servings:

$11.00

Ribs:

seitan: $5

ketchup, spices, herbs, vinegar, sugar: $2

potatoes: $3

Total for 5 servings:

$10.00

Asian Chick'n Salad

Applebee's Style Ribs

Asian Chick'n Salad Recipe

Applebee's Style Ribs Recipe

herbivore (MoFo 1)

Gnocchi with Creamy Marinara Sauce

Herbivore was one of our favorite places to eat at in San Francisco. Of course, being in San Fran after living in Virginia was like the difference between the Amazon and the Sahara. There wasn't just Herbivore to indulge our palate, but many other delicious culinary excitements.

Herbivore is casual dining, like a vegan Applebee's or Chili's. They serve pastas, sandwiches, soups, things along those lines. They actually have three locations now, so does that make them a 'chain?'

Cat's favorite thing there was the Gnocchi in Creamy Marinara Sauce. Since I've already made a creamy tomato sauce, all that needed doing was the gnocchi. It has been a looong time since I've made gnocchi and it wasn't much fun, as I recall. Luckily, I caught Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on Food TV back a few months ago and all of a sudden I felt like a gnocchi pro. A few important 'secrets' Ms. Anne tells her viewers is that the potato must be hot when put through the food mill, but cold before adding the flour. Another one is that just because your gnocchi floats does not mean they are ready! They must boil for a few minutes until they puff up and are light as air. Good as her word, my gnocchi was a success.

I chose the Ceviche to recreate because it was David's and my favorite appetizer...salad...whatever. They use oyster mushrooms, but not having any at my Whole Foods, I just used button mushrooms. They also include tofu in this, so I wrapped my extra-firm tofu to draw out the moisture and then marinated the vegetables, tofu and fungus in a lime-garlic-olive oil dressing. Really good! Doesn't matter if you use oyster, button or no mushroom at all.

Shawarma is a Middle Eastern street-food - a wrap of meat, hummus, pickles, hot sauce and/or onions. Herbivore's version uses either soy (I used Soy Curls) or seitan (so can be soy free), has potatoes, avocado, tomato, pickles, onions, hummus and hot sauce, all wrapped in a flat bread - pita, tortilla, lavash, etc. This was an instant family favorite the first time we had it.

All in all, I was quite successful in making these dishes; even the kids said it was better than the real-deal (although I'm pretty sure that is because it has been years since we've been in California) - quite a compliment from a bunch of young people who criticize everything!

I have made a How-To Breakdown and wrote recipes for all of the dishes.

Cost Breakdown:

Gnocchi:

1/2 recipe of creamy tomato sauce: $3

potato, flour: $4

Total for 4 servings:

$7.00

Ceviche:

cuke, tom, onion, pepper: $2

cilantro, lime, olive oil, garlic: $1

mushroom: $2

tofu: $2

bread: $1

Total for 8 servings:

$10.00

Shawarma:

lavash: $3

1/2 bag of soy curls: $3

potato: $2

avo, tomato, pickles: $3

garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon, tahini: $1.50

spices: $1

Total for 4 servings:

$13.50

Ceviche




Shawarma

GNOCCHI PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Creamy Tomato Sauce Recipe

Ceviche Recipe

Shawarma Recipe

How-To Creamy Tomato Sauce

How-To Gnocchi

How-To Shawarma

MoFo-ing!

Welcome to Weekly Vegan Menu's Month of Vegan Food Blogging!

For this month, we are changing the name to

"Weekly Vegan Menu Take-Out."

For the following month we are recreating restaurant food for your home. Don't live near Millennium? No problem. Applebee's uses meat? We got it covered.  Desserts use eggs and dairy? Sink your sweet tooth into November.

This month we are traveling all over the U.S. making signature meals - yes, not dishes, but meals! - from top vegan, vegetarian and popular restaurants.

We'll travel from the East Coast's Anchor Bar to the West Coast's Cafe Flora and stop along the way at Chicago Diner, Olive Garden and even Outback. We'll dip down to sunny Florida to visit Sublime and not even ignore Benihana.

Yup, that is how confident we are that not only will we bring you vegan food from far flung places, but make many meatless meals possible from the cross section of Americana.

Here is the line up, not necessarily in this order.

Red Robin

Millennium

Sublime

Suma

Enjoy Chinese

Chicago Diner

Herbivore

Greens

Olive Garden

Pizza Hut

Anchor Bar

Mother's Cafe

Benihana

Cinnabon

Annie's Pretzels

Cafe Flora

Soup Nazi

Applebee's

Outback

TGI Friday's

Native Foods

Follow Your Heart

Not to be outdone by super cool blogs like Vegan Appetite, we, too are giving away cookbooks. One per week, so check back often. Only one cookbook per wining address or family. We are shipping anywhere in the US and if the post doesn't charge UK and Canada more than the book's cost, we'll ship there, too.

This is promising to be an exciting, fat-filled (maybe we'll try to health it up a bit!), delicious month of vegan food.

I can't wait! 

jerk chickpeas and potatoes

When you hear of food being jerked, it is usually chicken. Please don't jerk the chicken around! Not here! We are kind to chickens and needed something else to jerk. Chickpeas became a natural because of its firm texture and ability to actually get crisp in the oven. Adding a few potatoes to the jerking also became a no-brainer.

You can also add carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes (I did) or a winter squash (it's that time of year, again) to the jerking pan. If you add any of the less denser veggies ( i.e. sweet potatoes) add them later in the cooking so they don't over cook.

The jerk marinade is made with garlic, jalapenos, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne, brown sugar, vinegar and a few other ingredients. Make it as spicy as you like it, but remember that cooking takes some of the edge off the raw version.

I made a cilantro-yogurt sauce to tame the heat. This really was an easy meal to make and very satisfying to my jerk-tooth.

Add a side of greens and this meal is complete.

Cost Breakdown:

potatoes: $2

chickpeas: $4

onion, garlic, peppers: $2

spices: $1

vinegar, lime, sugar: $1

carrot, sweet potatoes: $2

yogurt, cilantro, parsley: $2

Total to feed a family of 5:

$14.00

JERK CHICKPEAS AND POTATOES PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

magic coconut cookie bars

Another Lit Group, another cookie. My kids are really digging my new found baking enthusiasm! Kate chose the cookie for this meeting and because the book was "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," another very appropriate selection. These are Magic Coconut Cookie Bars. Another one out of VCIYCJ, by Moskowitz and Romero.

This one had to be gluten and nut free as well, so I had to omit the nuts and I used a ginger snap cookie (not graham cracker - didn't find any GF) that was gluten free for the called-for base. If you are making these gluten free, add another 15 minutes to the baking time. And note that there is a setting time - overnight.

I have no real idea why my ten year-old would choose this for her 'cookie' selection since it doesn't look like a cookie - and the other girls actually gazed with skepticizm at the bars. They did turn out really well, though, and they all liked it.

Cost Breakdown:

ginger snaps: $5

coconut milk: $1

Earth Balance, sugar: $1.50

chocolate chips, coconut flakes: $3.50

Total to make 24 bars:

$11.00

NYC black and white cookies

 Lit Group selection this week was "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Given that the protagonist is also the antagonist, it seemed fitting to bake a cookie that embodied close to the same quality. Of course, Jekyll and Hyde are not complete opposites, although many do consider them to be - the good v. the bad, to use a cliche. Hyde is a part of Jekyll, but not an equal part. Therefore, my cookie being half black and half white does not serve the book accurately, but the teens certainly enjoyed them.

These are not small cookies - they each use a 1/3 c of batter, and I made 26. Except for the one I managed to hide in the oven for David, there remained only a lonely half-eaten piece by the time Lit Group was over.

Out of  Moskowitz's and Romero's "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar " cookbook, another success! These are citrus cookies with chocolate on one side and glaze on the other. And, in case you've missed past cookie posts - no  eggs or egg-replacers are needed. Occasionally some recipes use flax seed as a replacer, but no commercial egg-replacers are used by the authors.

Cost Breakdown:

powdered sugar: $2

chocolate: $2

nut milk: $.50

citrus juice, zest; $1

oil, sugar: $2

flour, arrowroot, baking powder and soda: $1.50

Total to bake 16 large cookies:

$9.00

chicken fried seitan

Happy Birthday, David! 

His Birthday has finally come! He certainly has been taking advantage of this week - but, that's okay. 

For his birthday meal, he requested Country Fried Steak...or is that Chicken Fried?

Well, no real difference between the two, except that Country Fried can be served with brown gravy (with onions) and can be simmered in the gravy before serving. Which means I made Chicken Fried Seitan.

Yes, this is a repeat , but I have made a few variations and they should be noted! This is, after all, a learning process.

First off, the seitan is just vital wheat gluten, nothing extra added. Mix 1 c gluten with 7/8 c water (1 cup of water with 2 T of water removed). Cook it in any seitan simmering liquid.

Then cut the seitan thin - about 1/4 inch thin. This makes the final product even crunchier without drying it out. We aren't going for shoe pleather.

Third,  the coating liquid could be cashew cream, making this dish soy free. In the original recipe I used yogurt to replace the buttermilk, which still works, but try to make sure it is the thickness of buttermilk by thinning it out with a nondairy milk.

Fourth, I double-dipped it this time. I didn't last time because I think I made my yogurt too thick and double -dipping it in the flour created too much of a coat. Having the dipping liquid be thinner allowed two coats of flour and a crunchier crust.

This turned out even better than the last time and again, no surprise, another fried meal came out on top.

Happy Birthday, my love!

Cost Breakdown:

seitan: $3
flour, oil, cashews: $4

potatoes: $4

almond milk: $2

Total to feed 6 people well:

$13.00

sweet potato topped with chili

Sweet potatoes and black beans together is so natural, that I am sure many folks have combined them already. So, baking a sweet potato and then topping it with this easy black bean chili is not exactly going out on a limb!

The chili takes about thirty minutes to cook so the flavors meld well and the sweet potatoes tend to be ready faster than regular baking potatoes, anyway. A dollop of Tofutti and maybe a little heat for those folks who like it a little spicy and lunch is ready in a snap.

Cost Breakdown:

sweet potatoes: $5

beans: $2

tomatoes: $2

onion, garlic, pepper, spices: $1

Total to feed a family of 5:

$10.00

Sweet Potatoes with Black Bean Chili Recipe

japanese noodles and steamed buns

Asian Night

Cat is responsible for tonight's meal. She asked me to make some kind of Japanese Steamed Bun. She called it Nikuman.

This steamed bun is filled with ground pork (TVP) and Japanese spices - ginger, tamari, etc. I was very happy to make this for her since what teenager is not immersed in the Japanese culture in some way thanks to video and computer games. That is all very well, but I needed something else to make with it since steamed buns just didn't seem to be enough.

Caramelized Japanese Noodles with vegetables also came to the meal. Now caramelizing something that is moist is a little challenging and while given more time I'm sure I would have been able to get the job done better, three hungry kids just wanted food - caramelized or not!

The buns weren't all that difficult to make, but when there is a dough involved it can seem a little much. What is easy about this dough is that it comes together in a bowl and doesn't need to be rolled out, just spread out with your hands, sort of like a pizza dough being worked by hand.

The noodles were very easy - soba, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots (or any vegetable you want), and the caramelizing sauce - sesame oil, vegetarian stir-fry sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic and brown sugar.

Everyone loved tonight's meal.

Cost Breakdown

oil, stir-fry sauce, vinegar, tamari: $1

bamboo shoots, ginger, garlic: $1

broccoli, carrots, mushrooms: $4

flour: $.75

nut milk, brown sugar: $1

TVP: $.75

noodles: $2

Total to feed a family of 6:

$10.50

JAPANESE CARAMELIZED NOODLES PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

JAPANESE STEAMED BUNS PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

witch fingers + brew

Alright, so it isn't really "witch fingers or brew," but green bread sticks with Cheezy Broccoli Soup.

The fabulous thing about this soup is that it is cheesy without soy. Yes, it is soy free and no processed cheese substitute is used. In fact, the cheesiness comes from nutritional yeast, carrots and potatoes. All very good for you, accessible (nutritional yeast should be on your shopping list constantly) and easy. Make sure to use the stems of the broccoli, too, since they are sweet and tender once peeled.

The bread sticks are just a great bread recipe with green food coloring. I used natural coloring ( yellow: turmeric, blue: blueberry) and I had to use quite a bit to get the bread to have the green hue (I used a product I bought at Whole Foods), but if you are using the food coloring that is available at any grocery store, you will certainly need lots less. The finger nails are almond slices and the hair is a sprinkling of Daiya. Just roll a bread piece into a rope about 10 inches long and cut it in half. Stick the almonds on (and cheeze if using) the tapered ends and let it rise for another 30 minutes and bake.

The kids got a kick out of it and they even enjoyed the soup.

There is a How-To Breakdown for the Cheesy Broccoli Soup .

Cost Breakdown

broccoli: $3

potatoes, carrots, onion: $3

flour: $2

finger accents: $1

spices, nutritional yeast: $1

Total to feed a family of 6:

$10.00

 4 out of 5 stars

Cheesy Broccoli Soup Recipe

How-To Breakdown for Soup

benedict

It is David's birthday week and he had run of the menu for this weekend and next week.

Almost always requested is Benedict, but since I've made it twice for this blog already, I wanted to make it differently. Instead of regular "Canadian Bacon" and Hollandaise Sauce, I decided to make it with Vegan Chorizo and Chipotle Hollandaise.

Although one would expect it to be ubber spicy, it had just enough spice to make it delicious and different.

Another difference with this Benedict post is that I made a How-To Breakdown for Benedict. If you choose to make it as a regular Benedict, I included appropriate instructions.

Cost Breakdown:

tofu: $2

nutrtional yeast, spices: $1

English Muffin: $3

Chorizo: $3

veganaise, lemon, Dijon, turmeric: $2

Total to make 12 Benedicts:

$11.00

cordon bleu

I have been on a roll lately!

First the Twice-Baked Crispy Gluten, then the Braciole, and now

"Chicken" Cordon Bleu. Cordon Bleu has a thin slice of Prosciutto and Swiss or Gruyere Cheese rolled in a pounded chicken breast, then breaded and pan-fried.

This is very easy to veganize and the result is extravagantly exquisite.

Using the Tender Seitan Recipe (recipe is coming), roll out the gluten and place a slice of Tofurkey and a slice of vegan cheese (I used Daiya and Follow Your Heart) in the middle. To make this soy free, use a recipe from the Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak, maybe the Buffalo Mostarella or the Muenster Cheez (use 1 T less fresh lemon juice than the recipe calls for) and skip the Tofurkey unless you have a soy-free cold cut.

Roll the gluten up and sear the packages. If you do not sear it on all sides, the gluten will unravel. Not good. If you want to see a How-To, check out the Braciole How-To Breakdown for the rolling and searing instructions, scroll down to The Seitan part.

After searing each gluten roll, cook them in the simmering liquid from the Tender Seitan Recipe and bake them for two hours, just like the recipe says to do for the whole roast, just use the seared rolls and cut the cooking time to 2 hours.

When they are cooked, cool them and bread them in (1) flour then in (2) cashew cream (soy free!), then in (3) fresh bread crumbs and pan fry them until golden brown. The cashew cream is just as effective as using soy yogurt

or eggs (BAD- never use eggs!!)

to stick the crumbs to the rolls.

Cost Breakdown

gluten: $3

Tofurkey: $3

Cheeses: $5

fresh bread: $1

coconut oil: $1

cashews: $2

bok choy: $3

polenta: $2

Total to feed a family of 7:

$20.00

swedish vegan meatballs

Swedish Meatballs!

Swedish meatballs are supposed to be light and fluffy on the inside. Since I am not using meat, I made a  version of Bryanna's Neatballs. These are made with TVP and gluten. I am positive that they can be made with bulgur instead of TVP to make it soy-free. These are first baked, then cooled and then simmered in the gravy or tomato sauce. These little guys stay together really well and are light and fluffy - just as intended.

The gravy is a cashew cream based gravy with a dark rich stock to replace the veal stock in the original recipes. 

My husband commented that he had not realized how much he had missed Swedish Meatballs until I made these. He also said that they kicked-butt.

Serve these with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce in lieu of the authentic, but hard to locate, lingonberry jam. 

Cost Breakdown:

TVP, gluten: $4

cashew: $1

onion, garlic, veg stock: $3

bread: $1

potatoes: $5

cranberry: $.50

Total to feed a family of 6:

$14.50

Swedish Meatballs Recipe