Interest Gauge

Hello Dear Readers! 

It has been a hot minute since I've posted on the blog and I was thinking of starting to post again regularly (at least weekly), but I wonder if there is any interest out there.

If you want to hear from me again and see what I can conjure in the kitchen, leave a comment or shoot me an email. [zsu (at) zsusveganpantry (dot) com]

As you know, to post quality snippets is no small effort and I'd like to know if there are some folks who are even interested! 

Since I am still in school, about to graduate and get a JOB, my kitchen is now on stream-lined mode and everything has to be prepared and cooked with the least fuss and muss - but we still like food to taste great and be healthy. 

With that in mind, do you want to see more?

In the meantime, it has been a tradition of ours to make Sin Carne Asada Tacos for Memorial Day and since my son is in town for a few more months (Covid school "break"), and it is his birthday, it's doubly appropriate. Use any seitan or even slabs of tofu, if that's your calling, but if you have time to make the SteaK, I highly recommend it!

As always, thank you for your time!

Zsu Dever

       

Sin Carne Asada Tacos

Makes 6 to 8 servings

www.ZsusVeganPantry.com

 

Marinade:

3 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari

4 scallions, coarsely chopped

10 garlic cloves

2 serrano or jalapeno chiles

½ teaspoon sea salt

Ground black pepper

2 pounds SteaK Seitan

2 onions, cut into ¾ -inch thick rings

Oil for the grill, as needed

Other:

Small (3-inch) corn tortillas, as needed

Arbol Salsa, recipe below

Guacamole, recipe below

Vegan cheese, crumbled

Vegan sour cream

Pickled jalapenos

Cilantro leaves

Lime wedges

1. Marinade: Combine the oil, juices, tamari, scallions, garlic, chiles, salt and black pepper in a blender. Blend well and transfer to a large baking dish. Add the seitan and mix well to coat. Set aside to marinate overnight.

2. Heat your grill or grill pan. Oil the grates or pan. Grill the seitan, basting with thesauce as needed, and onions until lightly charred, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a work surface and cut into slices. Heat the tortillas on the grill, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes.

3. Place two tortillas on top of each other and fill with seitan, onions and choice of toppings. Enjoy!

Arbol Salsa

2 to 6 dried arbol chiles

2 California chiles (also known as dried Anaheim peppers)

2 medium ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges

½ medium onion, cut into ½-inch slices

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

Sea salt and black pepper

2 to 3 splashes sherry vinegar

1. Remove the stems and most of the seeds of the chiles. Heat the chiles in a pan (or grill pan)  until soft and lightly colored. Transfer to a bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside to rehydrate for 20 minute. Drain the chiles and transfer the chiles to a blender.

2. Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Grill the tomatoes, onion and garlic until lightly charred. Transfer the tomatoes and onion to a blender. Peel the garlic and transfer to the blender.

3. Blend the mixture until smooth. Season with salt, black pepper and vinegar. Blend again and adjust seasoning.

4. Salsa will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.

 

Guacamole

5 medium ripe Hass avocado, mashed

1 small ripe tomato, diced

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 medium bowl using a spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, black pepper and lime juice.

 

 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

"vegan reset" + giveaway

Bet you didn't think I'd post again this soon, did ya? I didn't think so, either, but I wanted to let you know about a cookbook coming out this week that is pretty amazing, as a matter of fact. Vegan Reset (Amazon) was written by Kim-Julie Hansen of Brussels Vegan (though now the site is KimJulieHansen.com).

Kim-Julie explains that "reset" is just like it sounds; think of restarting a machine that's been malfunctioning or not working the way it should and pressing the magic button to send it back to the reset stage. 

She explains that the book is about giving your body the love and attention it needs to survive and thrive. 

There are a few things I love about the book. 

She does a reset section, which is roughly half of the book, that covers 28 days (4 weeks) of menus, breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack, and she gives you the menus, the shopping lists and the bulk cooking strategies (along with all the recipes for everything!) of each week. Now reread this paragraph because it is packed.

Did you get that? She is basically holding your hand and walking you through each day of each week, for a month. The menus are there, the shopping lists are provided and the methods and process of bulk cooking twice a week is spelled out. All the recipes are with the weeks and everything has a photo. Each meal and each menu item.

Great, you say, but I don't want a reset. I just want to cook and eat. In addition to all the recipes and menu ideas for the weeks, for each meal, she also provides regular menu items that help you along, either after the reset, or just as a regular dinner or lunch or breakfast dish.

Let me be clear. Although this book can be used as a "reset," complete with 84 meal dishes and their recipes, it can also be used just as a regular cookbook of great meals, including drinks and desserts. Or you can choose a few days in a row that sound good to you and cook those meals. The reset part of the book is a bonus; the entire book is a gem.

Here is a sampling:

This is a Beet Salad with Miso-Ginger Tempeh and Red Quinoa.  This salad bowl is a composition of other parts of the meal of the week, on Day 22. The other meals this day are: Oatmeal with Papaya & Brazil Nuts for breakfast and Creamy Butternut Noodles for dinner.  

This Spinach Pasta with Zucchini-Nut Sauce is a recipe out of the fourth part of the book, named "Beyond Reset: Additional Recipes." This was a perfect summer dinner.

This Zucchini Bake was an ideal addition to our lunchbox. Because the potatoes were creamy, there was no harm done to the texture as it sat in the fridge the night before, and in the lunch box all day. Cashews are the base to this cream sauce. The other meals on this day, Day 26, are, for breakfast, Sunflower Seed & Berry Toast and for lunch, Heart of Palm & Kale Salad.

I doubled these recipes because, while the book is great for 1 person resetting, the recipes are made for 2 servings (or so) and we are a family of 5.

Now, you know the drill: test the recipe below and enter the contest to win a copy of the book Vegan Reset, US residents only, please. The contest ends on September 17, 2018. Good luck!

Excerpted from VEGAN RESET © 2018 by Best of Vegan LLC. Photography © 2018 by Best of Vegan LLC. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

CHERRY PANCAKES
MAKES 2 SERVINGS

¼ cup regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
¾ cup soy milk
3 tablespoons maple syrup,  plus more for serving
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut, for serving
Fresh cherries or other fruit,  for serving

1. Mix the flour, cornstarch, flaxseed, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the soy milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

3. Combine the wet and dry mixtures and whisk together thoroughly.

4. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, then scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake into the skillet. Cook on each side until brown.

5. Serve with the coconut, cherries, and additional maple syrup.




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