Noodle Casserole

I make this with Tuno brand mock tuna and it's so tasty, but you can also leave it out (esp if you're scared of it) and it's still quite nice. We had an unusually cold day and this dish was perfect for it. With toasted breadcrumbs on top, it's time to crank up the ac in LA and pretend it's January.

Noodle Casserole
1 can Tuno (you can omit if you want)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4-1/2 cup sliced pitted black olives
Rotini or penne pasta, enough for 2 large or 4 small servings
2 cups soymilk
2-3 tbsp Earth Balance or margarine
1-2 tbsp flour
1 cup shredded vegan cheese OR 1/2 cup nutritional yeast + 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
breadcrumbs or crushed croutons
salt and pepper

1) Boil pasta.
2) Heat milk and butter in saucepan, gently bubble for 10 minutes to reduce liquid.
3) Slowly add cheese (or yeast) till melted.
4) Wisk and sprinkle in flour to desired thickness, add a dash of salt and pepper.
5) Combine drained pasta with cheese mixture.
6) Stir in drained tuno, peas, and olives.
7) Dump everything into a casserole dish and cover with breadcrumbs.
8) Bake at 350 till warm and bubbly (about 20-30 minutes).

Notes:
DON'T BURN THE MILK! If you do, wash it out and start over.
Sprinkle the flour as you wisk, don't dump it in at once, you'll end up with a huge lump of blesh. (that's a technical term)
Cook the flour after you wisk it to get rid of the powdery taste. Just a few minutes of stirring over the heat will do it.
I toss the casserole dish in the toaster oven when i don't feel like heating up the big oven and go for a bike ride. 20 min on 350, and it's perfect.

Thick & Hearty Cornbread

Saturdays are reserved for Omni Evan and i to spend time with each other. This means of course, that we sleep late, roll out of bed around 11 and feel too lazy to cook up a storm. So i pulled out our cast iron pan (unused from the days of bacon) and whipped up this thick and hearty cornbread recipe. It sticks the ribs, isn't exceptionally sweet, and satisfies the tummy all day long.

The Dry
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal (yellow or even blue!)
2-3 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
good pinch of salt

The Wet
2 tbsp ground flax
2 tbsp water
1-1 1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 4 oz container of unsweeted applesauce

also:
1 Tbsp Earth Balance
1/3 cup frozen or canned corn kernels

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Put Earth Balance in skillet, pan, or whatever you'll be baking in
3) Place skillet in oven to heat
4) Mix The Dry
5) Separately mix The Wet
6) Combine the two, stirring till moist and combined (batter will be thick)
7) Fold in the corn kernels and mix evenly
8) Carefully take skillet out of oven, use pastry brush or paper towel to spread melted EB up the sides
9) Pour in batter, cook for 17-20 minutes

CAUTION: SKILLET WILL BE EXTREMELY HOT!!!

I love serving this warm with some Earth Balance on top. It could work well as a dessert too, warmed up with some "ice cream" on top or with maple syrup. I packed some up for our hike later that day and it kep exceptionally well. Be sure to cut it like a pie so everyone gets a piece of the crust!

Tested Recipe: Crispy Sweet and Sour Seitan

When i saw this on Vegan Yum Yum, i knew that the Seitan O' Greatness would be perfect. I decided to go with the garlic sauce, as i am a garlic fiend! Here is the original recipe. (I apologize for the poor pic quality, my camera is very retarded.)
Starting the sauce, ooh look at all that lovely garlic! I added some red pepper flakes for kick and a dash of onion and garlic power for some more flavor. Cause you know, you can never have too much flavor.

Frying up the seitan in the peanut oil, it's so fragrant. The oil is the only part i don't like of the recipe. I'll try frying with some water next time, cause i had to drain them on a lot of paper towels.

The finished sauce, thick and glossy. I subbed arrowroot powder for cornstarch as i have a pound of it. The garlic released some great oils as it heated, and i added another dash of red pepper.

With some carrots and broccoli added right in, topping of sesame seeds.

This was really good, the perfect blend of spicy and sweet. I realize now that i used sushi vinegar instead of seasoned rice vinegar but it still came out great. I had to drain the seitan a lot to get the oil off, and i forgot that my vinegar had msg in it (i got it in chinatown, what should i expect!?), but this will be in my regular rotation for sure.

Tested Recipe: Tip Top Tofu Loaf

Got this recipe from La Dolce Vegan. Due to copyright protection, i can't post the recipe, but i can tell you that it contains olive oil, tofu, onions, garlic, ketchup, tamari, dijon (i omitted this, bleh, mustardo), parsley (i used cilantro), pepper, oats, and tahini. Here's some lovely pr0n shots:

I glazed the top with some ketchup and vegan worcestershire sauce, per the usual meat loaf. It turned out alright. Omni Evan liked it more than i did, but i think i crubled the tofu too much and it was bland. Next time, i'll cook up a nice gravy and crumble the tofu less or use some gimme lean for meaty heft.
Overall i'm not too impressed. C+

The Seitan O' Greatness

This recipe has taken over the internet in a matter of days, and for a good reason, no boil seitan is a dream come true. This is my second run of the Seitan O Greatness.

Original Recipe:
1.5 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp allspice
3/4 cup cold water
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)
1-3 cloves garlic, crushed well

(1) Preheat oven to 325°.
(2) In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients. Mix the rest of the ingredients (liquid ingredients) in a smaller mixing bowl. Wisk well until mixed.
(3) Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well, then knead for several minutes.
(4) Form into a log (6-8" long), wrap tightly in foil, twisting ends.
(5) Bake for 90 minutes.

Notes:
When done baking, unwrap and leave out to cool all the way.
I tweaked the recipe by adding some liqid smoke, more minced garlic, and onion powder. Here is a shot after a few minutes of kneading and shaping. It started to turn my hands and cutting board orange!

All demure and wrapped up in tin foil...

I used my toaster oven just like SusanV from the Fat Free Kitchen. If you look closely, you can see my reflection on the left, ready to chomp on the tinfoiled (ouch!) seitan.

After 90 mins in der toaster oven, i've never been to delighted to see a warm steaming brown log.

I didn't wait until it fully cooled to slice a yummy piece off. This is absolute perfection, i can see stews, stir frys, sammiches, and the like in my near future.

Rice Puddin'

This puddin' is amazing as a chilled summer treat, or warmed and eaten by fireside. If you can't find sweet rice, regular white rice is just fine (make sure it is cooked through). You can add raisins, whipped "cream", or a sophisticated drizzle of rum.

2 cups dry sweet Vietnamese white rice
2 1/2 cups H20
3 cups soymilk (vanilla if you have it)
extra soymilk
1 Tbsp Earth Balance "butter" (or whatever you use)
3-4 Tbsp pure cane sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (1 1/2 Tbsp if using plain soymilk)
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon

NOTE: DO NOT WASH RICE!!! (you need it gelatinous)
1) Add water to rice and cook in rice maker or on the stove.
2) Heat soymilk on low in a medium pot. Don't burn or let boil!
3) Add warm cooked rice to milk, stir thoroughly.
4) Add sugar and vanilla extract, stir thoroughly.
5) Continue adding soymilk and stirring until desired consistency.
6) Turn off heat and add nutmeg, cinnamon, and butter.
7) Serve warm, or chilled, or whenever!
Makes 6 servings, depending on how much you eat in the process!

Tips:
-Soymilk can, and will, burn. Keep a close eye!
-Add the spices last, after you've turned the heat off so they don't cook or burn.
-If you nix the butter, be sure to add a pinch of salt for the palate.
-The rice will absorb a lot of liquid, so if you want really liquidy puddin', cut rice down to 1 dry cup.

Book Review: La Dolce Vegan

I chose this to be my first vegan cookbook. Why? Well, my local bookstore didn't have the others in stock, but this one has a few things that i know i'm going to like.

I've heard some really great reviews about this book, and some rather scathing ones, and i have to admit, i can see both sides of the story.
While there are a number of "glorified stir-fries", there are also a few recipes that i wouldn't have even thought to try.

Aesthetically speaking, i can't stand a cookbook without pictures of the food. Even a few are enough to get my eyes hungry and get inspired about the dishes. The only pictures here are either wannabe pin-up shots or overly excited head shots with friends. Unimpressive to say the least.

However, i have a few things tagged that look good, and we'll see if la Dolce Vegan is livin' good.