Maple Cream Carrot Bread [v.]

Despite my confidence that restocking my college pantry would inspire me to bake, assignments and exams swept me up and the only things I managed to make last semester were muffins and a terrible batch of spicy oatmeal cookies. The muffins were acceptable, but not post-worthy, and I don’t want to talk about the cookies. Let’s just say, don’t add spicy granola to oatmeal cookies…or at least do a better job of meshing the flavors than I did.

I’m finally back home for winter vacation, and besides practicing the art of doing nothing (also, I should really start training for the 15k I have in a couple of weeks), I’m finally with a kitchen of my own. The first thing I did when I got home was make this carrot bread. It’s a hearty and lightly sweet bread that is filled with the most delicious cashew cream filling and studded with caramelized walnuts. It’s loaded with fiber and free of refined sugar or flour, so try it out if you’re looking for a quick and filling breakfast or snack.

Cream Filled Carrot Bread

To make maple cream filling:

In a high powered blender combine:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 tbs maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum

Blend until smooth and set aside. (On a side note, I bet 1/8 tsp almond extract would be perfect in this.)

To make carrot bread batter:

In a bowl, whisk together:

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 2 tbs coconut flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbs ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (2/3 cup if you prefer sweeter breads)

Add:

• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp molasses [optional, but good flavor]

Stir together, and fold in:

• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup caramelized walnuts*

To make the bread:

Spread half the carrot bread batter into a bread pan. Pour the cream filling on top and swirl into the batter with a butter knife (gently). Spread the rest of the batter on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before serving. If you have extra time, store overnight to let the flavors and textures better mesh.

* To make caramelized walnuts, add 1/2 cup walnuts + 1 tbs coconut sugar in a nonstick pan. Cook until the sugar is melted and coats the walnuts, careful not to let the sugar burn. Let cool completely before using.

 

 

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Pistachio Smoothie [v.]

The weeks are flying by at a terrifying pace. As a senior in college, right now is when I’m supposed to be figuring out my future by applying to graduate school or finding a job. Lately, every conversation I have seems to comes back around to, “so what are you planning to do after graduation?”

Meanwhile, I’m trying to remain calm, and continue on with my schoolwork and extracurriculars. Calmness is vibrant pistachio smoothies and warm bowls of oatmeal with blueberries and granola. It’s listening to my Discover Weekly playlist in the morning as I sip hot coffee. I hope that you try out this recipe, and it brings you the boost it brings me.

The latest non-dairy milk I’ve been enjoying is pistachio milk. Oddly, rather than tasting like pistachios, it’s super almond-y, way more than any almond milk I’ve tried. For this reason, I’m willing to bet any nut milk plus a tiny dash of almond extract would produce the same overall taste.

This smoothie is perfectly sweet and creamy, has an extra nutritional punch thanks to leafy greens, and can be made in literally any blender (I use a 14 dollar blender from amazon). Feel free to add a little extra nut milk if the smoothie seems too thick, and if you’re a granola fiend like me, definitely sprinkle some on top and eat with a spoon.

Pistachio Smoothie

• 1 cup pistachio milk or any nut milk + 1/8 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup packed spinach leaves (be generous, you won’t taste spinach I promise)
• 1 sliced and frozen banana
• 1 tbs coconut flour
• optional: 2 tbs soy protein powder or 2 tbs cashew butter

Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Enjoy! Oolala.

 

 

Vegan Chocolate Silk Pie

I was seven when my dad switched to an entirely raw food diet. Being seven, I ate what he ate, which included raw tomato sauce (ick), zucchini noodles (love ’em now, but with a quick sauteé please), and different types of dehydrated flatbreads. Needless to say, his diet changes prompted me to learn how to cook and bake.

In the past years my dad has relaxed his diet and now will eat soft-boiled eggs, cooked fish, and yogurt occasionally, but he still shies away from most desserts. This chocolate silk pie was my father’s day gift to my dad and the rest of my family. By the end of dinner, there wasn’t a single slice left. Success.

As I mentioned in my last post, college has been pretty chaotic and I haven’t had time or the supplies to cook, but I did make a pretty delicious pistachio smoothie the other day, so I’ll try to remake it and share that soon. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Vegan Chocolate Silk Pie

Easiest pie ever. So silky, so delicious.

Makes 1 pie, which is about 12 normal servings (the cake is super rich ah) or 8 super generous servings.

Crust:

• 1/2 cup dates
• 2 1/2 cups assorted nuts (I used: half almonds, quarter pecans, quarter walnuts; salted nuts are ok, but will introduce a sweet salty element to the crust)
• 2 tbs coconut oil

Filling:

• 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight or boiled for 4 minutes
• 1 3/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 6 oz dark chocolate, melted
• 2 tbs dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extact
• 1/2 tsp salt

To prepare the crust, pulse the dates, nuts, and coconut oil in a food processor until the mixture is crumbly, but beginning to stick together. Press into the bottom and sides of a greased springform pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, combine all the filling ingredients in a high-power blender and blend until completely smooth (no lumps or chunks!).

Pour into the crust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. If desired, press fresh raspberries into the top of the pie before serving. Serve as is, or to be extra fancy, add a dollop of coconut cream to the top of each slice.

 

Carrot Crumb Cake Oatmeal [gf. v.]

Hello again! Long time no talk. College has started up again, and that means 3 square meals a day and a whole lotta food “study” breaks. As a result I haven’t been doing much cooking besides a smoothie here and there. Since my school doesn’t serve Sunday breakfast, I made this oatmeal last night and ate it cold out of the fridge this morning.

This oatmeal has plenty of shredded carrots for texture and bulk, and I also added coconut flour and almond butter for flavor and body. Oatmeal normally doesn’t keep me full (I’m a scrambled eggs or breakfast taco gal at heart), but the extra fiber from the coconut flour and fat from the almond butter does the trick.

One last thing, now that I’m looking at these pictures, I’m thinking that a nice dollop of vanilla greek yogurt (“cream cheese frosting”) would have been great on this. Try out that route if you’re adventurous.

Carrot Crumb Cake Oatmeal

• 1/4 cup shredded carrots
• 2/3 cup water or milk
• 1 packet Quaker lower sugar maple & brown sugar oats*
• 1 tbs almond butter
• 1 1/2 tbs coconut flour
• 1 1/2 tbs raisins
• granola, to top oatmeal**

1. In a mug, or in my case, a paper cup, add the shredded carrots and 1/3 cup of water or milk.
2. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is hot and the carrots are beginning to soften.
3. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of water or milk and the packet of oats. Microwave for another 2 minutes, or until the oats are beginning to foam up.
4. Stir in the almond butter, coconut flour, and raisins. Add a bit more water or milk if the oats seem too thick.
5. Serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight and serve cold. Top with granola, and a drizzle of maple syrup if desired.

*Or, replace with 1/3 cup quick oats + maple syrup, to taste.

**I used crumbled nature valleys bars (I can get it at my dining hall) and the pieces added a nice crunch and sweetness, but most plain granolas should work. If your granola is chunky, pulse it in a food processor before serving.

 

 

Dairy-free Biscoff Ice Cream [v.]

My favorite ice cream is the Biscoff flavor at this local ice cream shop in my hometown. It’s not what I would describe as a luxurious ice cream. It’s not exceedingly rich or overwhelmingly complex, but each bite is like a refreshing bite of chunky cookie butter. When I order it with friends, we get it sundae style, topped with chocolate shell and oreo crumbs. While I didn’t have oreos when I took the photos, chocolate shell was a must.

The ice cream’s base is lightly spiced, and there are copious rushed cookies added for texture. I’ve tried Trader Joe’s cookie butter ice cream and while good in a “how-can-you-screw-up-vanilla-ice-cream-and-cookie-butter” kind of way, it couldn’t compare to the biscoff ice cream at this shop.

Since my stomach has been rebelling against dairy as of late, I thought I’d try to make a dairy-free version of my favorite ice cream. I used a coconut cream and cashew milk base which I sweetened with brown sugar and plenty of crunchy cookie butter. I won’t lie and pretend you can’t taste any coconut because you can, but I thought the flavor paired perfectly with the cookie butter. I normally don’t like the taste of coconut, especially chocolate with coconut, ick, but the coconut flavor was mellow and if anything, enhanced the overall flavor of the recipe.

Dairy-free Biscoff Ice Cream  – gluten free. vegan.

• 1 can coconut cream
• 1 can’s worth cashew milk (measure with the empty coconut cream can)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup biscoff spread or trader joe’s chunky cookie butter
• (optional: 2 tbs plain vodka, to improve scoopability)
• 5 ounces biscoff style cookies, crushed into a mix of crumbs and chunks

To make the ice cream base, whisk together the coconut cream, brown sugar, and biscoff spread. Once smooth, whisk in the cashew milk, and vodka, if using.

Refrigerate the ice cream base until cold, and then churn in an ice cream maker according to the machine’s directions. Right as the ice cream’s finishing, add in the biscoff crumbs and let the machine go for a few more seconds until the crumbs are mixed in.

Scoop into a tupperware container and freeze for at least several hours. Or if you’re feeling impatient, eat soft serve style straight out of the ice cream maker.

No-knead Cranberry Walnut Carrot Bread

Have you watched the Food Network show Chopped? I’m sort of slightly addicted. When I’m at college, I only have cable at the gym so the amount of TV I watch is limited to how long I’m willing to run, aka not that long. Now that it’s summer break I’ve developed this horrible habit of getting home from work, microwaving whatever food I cooked the night before, plopping my ass on the couch, and letting Food Network run in the background while I browse the internet on my laptop. 90% of the time this means watching Chopped.

The premise of the show is that four competitor chefs compete for three rounds (one chef is eliminated per round), where they have limited time to create an appetizer, entrée, and then dessert using “basket ingredients”. Each round has a different basket, but this usually means 3-4 unrelated and unusual ingredients. Sometimes the chefs absolutely kill it and create beautiful dishes and meals, and other times the clock or ingredients get the better of them.

While I am far too unqualified to ever compete in a show like Chopped, I am a huge fan of its premise, and am constantly trying to incorporate unusual ingredients into the foods I make. Mostly for fun (see sweet potato brownies)…and sometimes due to impulsive purchases. This carrot bread is because of the latter.

One day I found myself driving home from Trader Joe’s with a bottle of carrot juice, and a craving for a carrot cake smoothie. I made the smoothie (it was pretty good), and put the remaining juice in the fridge, only to find it a week and a half later when I was scrum-aging for ketchup. I didn’t want to let it spoil, and I had recently begun a no knead bread kick, so I decided that although I had never heard of yeasted carrot bread, it would probably taste alright. Turns out someone had the idea before me, and yeah, it’s a delicious combination!

If you’re not already a confident bread maker, my recommendation would be to learn how to make no knead bread before proceeding with carrot bread. No knead bread only has 4 ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast), so it’s super cheap to make, but the dough can be a bit finicky so it’s best to develop some intuition before spending money on extra ingredients such as walnuts and carrot juice.

I kept the bread savory and didn’t add any sweetener besides the naturally sweet carrot juice, but I think an eight to quarter cup of brown sugar, either added at the beginning or folded in before baking would be delicious. Lastly, you can add the walnuts and cranberries with the initial ingredients, which is what I did, but they’ll absorb water and lost their chew and crunch. For this reason I recommend adding them later.

No Knead Carrot Walnut Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour [400g] (I used all purpose. ymwv)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed carrot juice
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup roasted walnuts
• (optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon)

Baking process:

Combine in a large bowl:

• 3 cups bread flour [400g] (I used all purpose. ymwv)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed carrot juice
• (optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon)

Stir together until a shaggy dough forms. The dough should be moist, but have some shape. Add a few tablespoons of water if the dough looks dry.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set on a warm counter to rise for 12-18 hours. It should double in size and be dotted with bubbles.

Deflate the dough by folding in:

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup roasted walnuts

Flour a flat surface. Scoop the dough onto the flat surface and folding the edges of the dough to the center to create a ball.

Wash out the bowl used originally, and grease with a thin layer of oil or cooking spray. Place the dough ball seam-side down into the bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for 1-2 additional hours.

Half an hour before baking, place a 4-5 quart dutch oven on the center rack of your oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

After 30 minutes, gently dump the dough into the dutch oven (seam-side should now be on the top), and cover the dutch oven with its lid. Bake for 25 minutes, remove the dutch-oven lid,and bake for 10-20 minutes more. The crust should be dark golden bread.

Cool on a wire rack and serve with cinnamon butter or cream cheese.

Sweet Potato Brownie Adventures

Want a tray of brownies without my delirious rambling?

Click here for my melt-in-your-mouth sweet potato brownies recipe.

Otherwise, prepare to read about my adventure in sweet potato brownies™.

Earlier this year I posted a recipe for Sweet Potato Brownies. It was an on-the-whim type of recipe that I made once, decided was good enough, and posted. They were good brownies, super melty and soft with lots of chocolate flavor, but they had a notable starchiness from the sweet potato that I couldn’t get over. Eventually I put the post on private and forgot about it.

Then yesterday I was hit with an uncontrollable and explainable desire to make the damn best sweet potato brownies, so I picked myself off the couch and went to the store to buy sweet potatoes.

Batch 1:

• “These taste really good but they’re a bit…I don’t know…gummy?” my mom says

My motivation grows stronger. I decide some kind of fruit puree might add moistness, better yet, carrot puree which I find more mild than applesauce, and that the food processor likely overworked the sweet potato. Fork mashing it is.

Batch 2:

• Much better texture….but what was that I tasted…..a hint of….gumminess?

They are good, but I am on a quest for the best. By this point I am also running out of maple syrup. I decide to start making half batches.

I go to sleep, dreaming of sweet potato brownies.

The next day I start immediately after work. I double the oil to 2 tbs (1/4 cup if I were making full batches), and mash the sweet potatoes with it, like when making mashed potatoes, thinking this will prevent the starch from “developing”.

Batch 3:

• The dough has that characteristic starchy pull to it. ‘Oh no’ I think.
• Maybe there’s too much sweet potato in the batter?
• I am pleasantly surprised, despite 3.5 ounces of sweet potato in the batter, the final brownies have a great texture: soft, fudgy, and a bit chewy (in a good non starchy way)
• “Oh I like these ones”my mom says

But I’m not finished yet. I decide to see what happens when I reduce the amount of sweet potato. I reduce it from 3.5 to 1.5 ounces and mash the sweet potatoes with a tsp of oil. I reduce the oil in the batter back down to 1 tablespoon.

Batch 4:

• The dough is much more liquid-y than the other batches.
• The middle still looks wet after baking for 10 minutes, so I have to bake it about 5 minutes more.
• The brownies are just the way I like ’em. Soft, melty, and gooey. Probably too gooey for the average joe. Was it a fluke? Why was the dough so liquidy?

I decide to recreate a new version of Batch 4 to see whether I screwed something up that led to its liquidy batter consistency. I’ve made so many sweet potato brownies that I’m not even sure I remember how exactly to make them.

This time I add 2 ounces of sweet potato, which I mash with 1/4 tsp of oil. Probably not necessary, but who am I to question this convoluted method I’ve developed? I’ve run out of good chocolate chunks and am using shitty chocolate chips. I learn that chocolate quality really matters in brownies.

Batch 5:

• The batter is liquidy, but slightly less than batch 4. Does .5 an ounce of sweet potato make that much of a difference? Fairly believable.
• I add 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar to the sweet potatoes. I’m not sure why.
• It’s also 10 pm and I’m too impatient to let the sweet potato fully cool so most of the (shitty) chocolate chips melt
• I decide to go to Trader Joe’s the next day and buy some chocolate chunks because Nestle chocolate chips taste janky, which I try to rectify by adding a splash of vanilla extract
• They’re less gooey than the last batch, but still very fudgy…it still might be a bit too much for the average person.

Is this what obsession is? Will I ever make the perfect sweet potato brownie? That day I go to the store to pick up a new bottle of maple syrup. It reads “16 1/4 cup servings”. I read “16 potential attempts at sweet potato brownies”.

I want to determine if 2 tablespoons of oil are necessary for 3.5 ounces of sweet potato, or whether I can get away with only one. But I’m going to be a bad experimenter and reduce the sweet potato to 3 ounces at the same time. I’m starting to think this is a concave problem with no absolute maxima, but I’m still hoping to stumble upon a local maxima. If only I could apply stochastic gradient descent to cooking.

The fridge has been taken over by brownies. I eat sweet potato brownies for breakfast. I’ll probably eat sweet potato brownies for lunch. I get back from work and begin measuring out ingredients. It feels like muscle memory.

Batch 6:

• I’ve developed a batter intuition. Glossy is good. Dull means too much starch. The thinner the batter, the more gooey the brownies.
• 3 ounces of sweet potato and 1 tbs of oil gives the most beautiful batter I’ve ever seen. Angels are singing in my head, but maybe that’s from the past restless nights of sleep.
• After I remove the brownies from the oven (they’ve lost their shine and are matte now, I take a nap to clear the angels from my head. Post nap hunger leads me to the brownies. Cold from the fridge they’ve regained glossiness. I hesitate before I take the first bite, but as soon as I taste chocolate I realize I had been nervous for no reason.
• The brownies are soft and fudge-y with a complex chocolate taste, and there is exactly zero gumminess to be found. They don’t taste healthy in the slightest, despite being low-fat, vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free.

I’ve found the recipe, the quest isn’t quite over. Perfection is one thing, but repeatability and scalability (I had been working with half batches) is a whole ‘nother beast.

The next day I prepare for the final and most intense battle: baking a full pan of sweet potato brownies.

Batch 7:

• The batter looks as it should: pourable and glossy, but thick enough that I have to scoop out the last bits of batter with a spoon. The batter is a bit less glossy than batch 6, which I blame on some chocolate chips melting (hey you, let the sweet potatoes fully cool).
• I bake them for 22 minutes. They’re matte when I take them out of the oven but I’m not too worried. I leave them on the counter to cool and transfer them to the fridge before I go to sleep.
• The next day I try them. Angels are singing again.

In conclusion, I’m completely nuts, but hey, I have the most incredible tray of sweet potato brownies in the fridge right now. I’m going to go hibernate for a very long time, only waking occasionally to stuff my mouth with brownies (maybe not a good idea considering the instant espresso, but based on what I’ve written, it’s safe to assume my judgement’s muted). Meanwhile, you should go make some sweet potato brownies so we can bask in their glory together.

You can find the full recipe here.

Avocado, Hummus, and Chimichurri Sandwich [vegan]

Man oh man oh man oh man. This sandwich has revolutionized my life.

It started with a recent discovery. Chimichurri sauce. It’s similar to pesto, but tastes more fresh and herb-y, and I want to put it on everything. 

I’ve made two variations of this sandwich–first with chimichurri marinated zucchini, and again with  chimichurri marinated tofu [pictured]–and both had me cackling with disbelief because there’s no way a sandwich this simple should taste this good.

I recommend fresh ciabatta bread for optimal chewy crispy goodness, but I used frozen ciabatta rolls because they were calling to me from the freezer. Finally, because the flavors of this sandwich are so refined, I recommend finding a perfectly ripe avocado to avoid the unpleasant flavors that unripe and overripe avocados have.

Avocado, Hummus, and Chimichurri Sandwich [vegan]

Makes 1 sandwich.

• 1 ciabatta roll
• 2-3 tbs hummus
• 1/4 a large avocado, sliced
• 1/2 small zucchini or 3 ounces firm tofu
• 1 tbs + 1 tsp chimichurri sauce
• lemon juice
• salt

1. If using zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly salt and set to side for half an hour so that any excess water will be drawn out. Pat dry.
2. If using tofu, press the tofu, and then cut into 1/4 inch thick slices.
3. Coat the zucchini or tofu in 1 tbs chimichurri sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or sauteé at medium heat in a nonstick pan for 2-3 minutes per side.
4. Remove the tofu or zucchini from the pan and coat with the remaining 1 tsp of chimichurri sauce.
5. (Optional, but makes the sandwich less messy to eat: Slice the ciabatta roll in half, and scoop out about half of the bread inside. I found it was easiest to cut a rectangle in each side of the roll, leaving a 1/4 inch border between the rectangle and the edge of the bread, and shave away the bread from this rectangle. Freeze the innards to use as bread crumbs in other recipes.)
6. Spread the hummus on the bottom half of the roll, and top with with the tofu or zucchini.
7. Lay 1/4 of a sliced large avocado on top. Sprinkle the avocado with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice. I like adding a sprinkle of garlic powder as well.
8. Close the sandwich and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or cook panini style on a nonstick pan at medium-low heat until the crust of the sandwich is hot and crisp. If planning to eat later, wrap the sandwich in aluminum foil and refrigerate for up to a day (beyond that, the avocado gets a bit icky). Heat before serving. I brought it to work and warmed it up in a toaster oven. It was perfect!

Curried “Meat” Hand Pies (vegan)

This past summer, I’ve finally created a sustainable approach to cooking for one (hungry) person. I aim for fresh meals and zero waste, and so far it’s working well. As a result I’ve been thinking a lot about my food philosophy and approach to cooking.

On one hand, I’m a huge fan of the minimalist approach to cooking. I love simple high-quality dishes with flavors that are bright and true, rather than cluttered and muddled. Think, Minimalist Baker or Budget Bytes.

At the same time, some of the best foods have page long lists of ingredients that combine to form the perfect symphony of flavors. Think, Lady and Pups or Serious Eats.

I’m still trying to figure out where I should focus my cooking with respect to these two extremes, but I’ve found it’s usually better to start simple.

These curry “meat” pies are my take on Jamaican Hand Pies. I combined a few of the recipes I found online, stripping down the ingredients to my kitchen staples (hence, the minimalism). TVP might not be a kitchen staple of yours (yet), but I recommend buying a bag because it’s cheap, an easy protein addition to sauces and soups, and it has a shelf life of over a year. If you’re still hesitant, feel free to replace it with a generous ¾ cup of crumbled tofu or 8 ounces of ground beef.

Until I get a chance to try authentic Jamaican pies, I can’t say how close they taste to the real things, but they are savory and flavorful, and my friends inhaled them. I’m headed back to college soon, but my next kitchen with have a freezer stocked with these for sure (they’re basically a much improved hot pocket). These and this vegetable lasagna. So good.

Curry “Meat” Hand Pies

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup tvp “grains”
• 3 tablespoons butter, margarine, or olive oil
• 3 oz diced yellow onion
• 4 oz sweet potatoes, diced in small pieces
• 2 oz carrots, diced in small pieces
• 4 oz cabbage, finely chopped
• 2 oz frozen or fresh peas
• 3 tsp beef flavored bouillon (3 cubes in my case)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ¼ cup tomato sauce (or ¼ cup water and 2 tbs tomato paste)
• 2 sheets puff pastry (1 box)
• optional: 2 tbs crushed walnuts, salt or soy sauce to taste

Preparation process:

Combine in a bowl:

• 1/3 cup tvp pellets
• ½ cup boiling water

Stir, and let sit for 20 minutes so that the tvp can rehydrate (you can proceed while waiting).

In a large saucepan, cook at medium-low heat:

• 3 tablespoons vegan butter or olive oil
• 3 oz diced yellow onion

Continue cooking the onion until it is soft and light golden brown. Then, add:

• 4 oz sweet potatoes, diced in small pieces
• 2 oz carrots, diced in small pieces
• 4 oz cabbage, finely chopped

Once the vegetables are beginning to soften, add the the pan:

• the rehydrated tvp
• 3 tsp beef flavored bouillon (3 SMALL–much smaller than the boillon cubes i’ve used in the past–cubes in my case)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ¼ cup tomato sauce (or ¼ cup water and 2 tbs tomato paste)
• optional: 2 tbs crushed walnuts

Continue cooking for 10 minutes, adding a few tablespoons water if the filling mixture looks dry.

Lastly, fold in:

• 2 oz frozen or fresh peas

Taste, and add a pinch of salt or drizzle of soy sauce if desired (I added ½ tsp soy sauce). Transfer the “meat” pie filling to a bowl and refrigerate until cold.

While the filling is chilling, place a box of frozen puff pastry out to defrost for 45 minutes and preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the two puff pastry sheets (each box of puff pastry should come with 2 sheets) into four pieces each. Put away 2 pieces for later use. I went this route and made peanut butter banana pastries. So good.

Roll out the remaining 6 pieces of puff pastry into thin squares. Place 1/6 of the filling onto one side of each square (each side is a triangle), leaving a ¼ inch border between the edge of the puff pastry and the filling.

Fold the puff pastry over the filling, creating a triangle shape.Crimp the edges with a fork, making sure to not leave any gaps where the filling might fall out.

Now, either bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (~15-25 minutes) OR put the “meat” pies into the freezer. Frozen pies can be baked straight from the freezer at 400 degrees for about 25-35 minutes. The pies are down when they are golden brown and flaky, and the filling is steamin’ hot.

Enjoy!

Seitan BBQ Ribs

So, I go to school in Texas. When my high school friends and relatives found out that I was ditching beautiful NorCal for Texas, most reactions were somewhere between shock and feigned enthusiasm. Can’t say that Texas has the greatest reputation back home.

Three years in, I’m pleased to report that the stereotypes aren’t all true (although Texan pride is a very real and wild thing), and I’ve learned some key facts from living here.

For example, did you know that what Californians classify as a barbecue is considered “grilling” in Texas? All of my life I grew up thinking that a barbecue was veggie dogs and portobella mushrooms roasted over a propane flame. BBQ sauce: what’s that?

Turns out Texans would be outright insulted by that definition. People will wait hours for fresh brisket and ribs, although I don’t blame them because I’ve done the same for sushi.

I’ve tried bits and pieces of barbecued meat (pretty good!), but have never actually sat down to a complete bbq meal. I plan to someday, but there are so many other great restaurants to try that my veggie leaning self hasn’t found the chance to yet.

Meanwhile, I’ll snack on some seitan vegan bbq that, while completely inauthentic, is still hearty and delicious. It’s made with vital wheat gluten which is a great source of plant protein, and brushed with generous amounts of bbq sauce. I already have plans for a vegan BBQ pizza. (edit: pizza was delicious. dough + tomato sauce + fresh corn + bbq ribs + TJ “cheese” + bake + top with arugula dressed with balsamic dressing + ranch on the side = the perfect sweet savory zesty combo)

Here’s the recipe:

Seitan BBQ Ribs

Lightly adapted from Baked In

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ¾ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp natural peanut butter
• ½ tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 cup barbecue sauce, I used this brand

1. In a bowl, mix together everything but the vital what gluten and barbecue sauce. Stir in the vital wheat gluten, then gently knead the mixture with your hands for a minute or two.
2. Press the seitan dough into a greased 8×8 pan. Use a knife to cut a rectangular grid ‘rib’ pattern into the dough (a horizontal mid-line and then vertical lines 1 inch apart). Be careful not to cut completely through the dough. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
3. Next, one option is to brush the dough with bbq sauce and grill for 5-6 minutes per side (generously brushing with sauce each time you flip it). Or, if you don’t have access to a grill, brush bbq sauce on both sides of the seitan and bake for 20 minutes, flipping and recoating with sauce after 10 minutes. Lastly, broil the seitan at high heat until its edges are dark and caramelized.
4. Serve with coleslaw, potato salad, and of course, lots of mac and cheese.