Meatless challenge: Shepard's Pie

I think eating vegan is a very difficult transition. As the name of the blog suggests, I am not 100% committed to the vegan diet. Growing up around fresh farm produce, meats, and dairy created a preference for these foods in me that I just don't think I will ever shake. After reading the China Study and heading on this path to eating more vegetables and pant based proteins, I caught on to the fact that some recipes are easier to turn into vegan recipes than others. For example, taking a bite of a BBQ tofu sandwich is a pretty far leap from pulled pork. However, replacing ground hamburger or turkey with crumbled tempeh results in very little to no noticed difference.

The recipe this evening uses crumbled tempeh in place of hamburger. Tempeh, mixed with veggies and topped with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes, is a meatless challenge all of you meat eaters can take-on with ease. You save money, calories, and especially fat intake by doing this simple switch.

The prep time does take about one hour, so this recipe is great for Sunday dinner.

A Shepard, without his sheep, pie
Prep 1 hour
Bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees

Step 1a: Turn tempeh into ground meat, well, you know
I will repeat this process in many other recipes. This is an essential staple in the vegan diet!
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 packages tempeh. I use the soy type of tempeh.
1/3 C soy sauce
1/2 C veggie broth
Salt, pepper

Heat oil on medium in a saute pan. Add garlic and saute for one minute. Crumble into fine, pea sized pieces, two packages of tempeh. Stir and cook two minutes. Pour in soy sauce and veggie broth and bring to a boil. Stir frequently. Once the liquid cooks off, add pepper. Taste before adding salt. The soy sauce can make it just salty enough for some tastes. Scrape all tempeh into a large metal bowl.

Step 1b: Get the mashed potatoes started
While the tempeh and veggies cook, wash and cut into 4 pieces 6 red skin potatoes. Place into a stock pot with water and get the water boiling. Boil potatoes for about 15 minutes or until a fork can pierce the whole way through a piece of potato. Drain.

Step 1c: Saute veggies
I take the easy route here and use a bag of organic mixed veggies. Shepard's pie traditionalists can use frozen peas.
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small bag frozen mixed veggies, thawed
1 8 oz container white mushrooms
1 Tbsp thyme
1/2 Tbsp coriander
1 bunch parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Heat oil and cook veggies for one minute. Add spices.

Step 2: Gravy time
1/4 C flour
2 C veggie broth

Whisk together flour and veggie broth until flour dissolves. Pour over veggies and bring to a boil until liquid reduces and creates a gravy like texture to the veggie mixture. Stir frequently. Add to the bowl of tempeh and mix.

Step 3: Mash the taters 
Since the base layer of this is so rich, I keep the mashed potatoes very light.
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 C Veggie broth, plus more as needed
Salt
Pepper
Mash the potatoes, olive oil, veggie broth, salt and pepper. Add veggie broth to desired consistency of mashed potato

Step 4: Layer and bake
In a greased 9" x 11" glass dish, pour in the tempeh and veggie mixture. Scoop potatoes on top. You should get 9 dollops of mashed potatoes. You can use the back of a serving spoon to spread the mashed potatoes across the tempeh layer for a more traditional shepard's pie. Though, this is pretty far from tradition to begin with! Bake at 375 for at least 20 minutes. The potatoes will be lightly brown and the tempeh layer will be bubbling when ready. Let stand for 15 minutes before eating.

Bottom rack patties and roasted veg

The recipes tonight cover sweet, salty, and savory tastes. These cooler Fall nights definitely conjure up hunger for slow cooked meals. This meal does have quite a long cooking time, but it's worth it! Roasted sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli, chickpea patties topped with mushroom sauce are featured this evening. I love playing with sweet and salty combos, and the sweet potatoes in this dish really satisfy the sweet/salty craving.

Also, this is a great dish to make if you trying to limit the amount of meat in your diet because the patties substitute for chicken, pork, or veal cutlets. The basic chickpea patty base is one I make often. The herbs and spices can be changed to fit your taste. I went for an Indian feel by adding curry powder to the chickpea patty mixture. I recommend altering the mushroom sauce to compliment the spices in the chickpea patty. So, for this recipe, I added coriander to the mushroom sauce to compliment the curry powder. Other combinations that work well are French influenced by using thyme and garlic in the chickpea patty and thyme and dijon mustard or mustard powder in the mushroom sauce. You could also do an Italian take on it and add parsley, basil, and oregano to the chickpea patty and tomatoes, garlic, and oregano to the mushroom sauce. Be creative!

There are several components so, let's jump right into the recipes.

Sweet Potatoes
4 large sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes. Dice into 1.5 inch cubes and place into large mixing bowl. Pour olive oil over potatoes and toss. Add brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper. Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake for 1.5 hours. Stir occasionally to prevent brown sugar from over caramelizing.

Broccoli
2 - 4 heads of broccoli
3 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Wash broccoli and cut it into bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic. In a bowl, toss together olive oil, broccoli, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes

Chickpea Cutlets 
1 C wheat gluten flour
1 C bread crumbs
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tsp salt
1 Tsp pepper
1 8 oz can of chickpeas
1/2 C veggie broth
1/4 C chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves minced

In a large mixing bowl combine the wheat gluten flour, bread crumbs, curry powder, salt, and pepper. In a tall liquid measuring cup, add the chickpeas, parsley, minced garlic, and veggie broth. Use an immersion blender to combine ingredients. Pulse the immersion blender as to not completely turn this mixture into liquid. You still want the pieces of the chickpeas visible. This will give the chickpea patty texture. Pour this liquid mixture into the dry. With clean hands, mix and knead about 5 times. You should get an elastic ball of chickpea doug. Pull off a handfull and form into a patty. This should yield 6 patties. Spray or brush each side of the patty with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Bake on the bottom rack and flip once so that the outsides get a nice golden crisp.

Mushroom Sauce
I just came up with this tonight, so if it doesn't remake well, sorry! I probably need to remake it a few times!

1/2 Tbsp vegan butter or canola oil
1 container sliced white button mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp vegan or canola oil mayo
4 Tbsp veggie broth

Saute onion and garlic in the vegan butter or canola oil until onions are fragrant. Add in mushrooms and cover for 10 minutes. Add spices, salt, and pepper. Cook for two minutes. Stir in mayo and veggie broth. Use immersion blender to combine.

Part of the class I teach includes a lesson on plating food, and I am in total violation of color choice here. Beige on beige ugh, but I swear the mushroom sauce NEEDS to go on top of the patty. Delish!

Stick to your ribs chili and cornbread

Chili is one of our favorite dinners. It is cheap, easy and filling. The perfect chili should make you sweat, just a little bit. This recipe definitely accomplishes that goal! I know there is a large culture  of chili enthusiasts out there. I heard that the only true chili is red sauce and cubes of meat. I beg to differ, and I offer this meatless version as a hearty, healthier alternative.

The BF cooked the chili and provided the recipe. Family secret not included! The peppers did come from the BF's mother's garden. Fresh produce packs a much bigger punch in terms of flavor and texture, and in this case, heat. The chili would not be the same without those peppers.

I made the cornbread, and it is a modified recipe from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I highly recommend taking a look at this book. It really helped us expand our knowledge of vegan cooking techniques. Eating tofu stir fry for three years was getting a little boring!

Chili:
Serves 8
15 minutes to prepare
30+ minutes for cooking

Olive oil
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow onion
1 jalapeno
1 cayenne pepper
1 8 oz can kidney beans
1 8 oz can black beans
1 8 oz can pinto beans
1 24oz can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can tomato paste
1 back spicy chili seasoning
Bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour a tablespoon or so into a large stock pot. Heat over  medium heat. Dice all the veggies and add to the pan. Stir occasionally until onions become translucent. Meanwhile, rinse the beans. This helps to remove added sodium and any preservatives that accompany canned beans. Add beans to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chili seasoning and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer on very low for at least half an hour.

Cornbread
Bake at 350 for half an hour
Cut into 8 or 16 slices

2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 C soy milk
1/3 C canola oil
3 Tbsp honey
2 C cornmeal
1 C flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 C frozen corn

In a small bowl, pour in the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let stand for a minute or two so that it curdles (you just made vegan buttermilk!). Pour in the canola oil and honey. Whisk to combine. In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Create a bird's nest with the dry ingredients so that the center bottom of the bowl is exposed. Pour in the liquid mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until dry ingredients blend into the wet mixture. Stir in the frozen corn. Pour a little canola oil to a cast iron skillet or cake pan. Spread oil to coat. Pour in cornbread mixture and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Am I the only person who crumbles cornbread into chili? Is this another offense to the chili kings?

Game day za

Pizza pizza!

Eagles afternoon games provide the perfect opportunity for a pizza lunch. Skip the greasy over-priced takeout options and make your own! You can make your own vegan pizza dough (just google it, there are many great recipes) or if you are ok with eating yeast, purchase pizza dough from your local bakery or grocery store. Usually you can find pizza dough near the deli or grocery store made foods section. The topping options are endless. This is one of my favorite combos. The bf helps out by putting his college pizza job skills to good use, and he tosses the dough.

My attention span doesn't last more than a few plays, so preparing the za fixings is a great way for me to keep busy and still grab some of the game highlights. Most of the play-by-play action I can infer from my bf's highly charged commentary in the living room, so I don't miss much anyway.

Ingredients:
Ball of pizza dough
Olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 large yellow onion
8oz cannellini beans
2 8oz cans diced tomatoes
Olives, mushrooms, whatever toppings you prefer
Red pepper flakes
Basil
Oregano
Balsamic vinegar



Garlic salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour 1 to 4 Tbsp olive oil into a sauté pan, and turn on heat to medium low. The more oil the deeper the flavor, but if you are watching fat intake, this is still great with only a Tbsp or two of oil. Mince 4 cloves of garlic, and thinly slice the yellow onion. Place into the sauté pan and toss so that every onion slice is coated in oil. Let this sit and caramalize. Low and slow is the way to go. Go back and catch up on the game or prep your za toppings.

After half an hour, or when the onions get a golden color to them, stir in a can of cannellini beans. Add salt, pepper, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and garlic salt to taste. Heat and stir occasionally for 15 minutes. Meanwhile spread out your so dough to fit your pizza pan. We use a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with canola oil and dusted with flour or cornmeal.

Once your dough is on your pan, brush it with olive oil, and spread on the onion/garlic/bean mixturer. Add your toppings. We used drained diced tomatoes, kalamata olives, and mushrooms. I highly recommend at least drizzling balsamic vinegar, or making a balsamic reduction for this pizza. The balsamic balances the sweetness of the onions really nicely. Slide into your oven on the middle or bottom rack and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for five minutes before slicing. Grab a slice and a seat on the couch to cheer on your team! What's the score anyway?

BTW I typed this on an iPad, and I am having a hard time scrolling to proof read. Why can't apple and google be friends?

So much Hummus among us!

Hummus 

Vegans, vegetarians, meat-eaters, your standard omnivore all agree on hummus. It is a dish that spans many cultures and traditions. The BF and I eat an absurd amount of hummus on a weekly basis. We usually just buy the Whole Food's brand, which is very tasty, but really unreasonably priced. Hummus is very inexpensive to make. The base is always the same, oil, garbanzos, lemon juice, tahini sauce. Additions to this base give you the opportunity to be creative and play with flavors.

Here is my favorite variation:

15 oz can of garbanzos, rinsed and drained
1 TBSP tahini
1/4 C canola oil
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 roasted red pepper
Dash of cumin
salt
pepper

There are many theories to making hummus. I have read that you should blend not food process, or, food process in steps, or use half olive oil and half canola oil, or only use dried beans, or make a wish spin three times and hope for the best tasting hummus ever. I swear, no matter what I do, it always pretty much comes out the same. Now, I throw all the ingredients in my food processor, pulse until perfected creamy texture occurs. Serve with warm pita bread. HuMmmmmmus

Veggie Burrito Strata

We love Mexican food, and this dish is a quick, cheap, and easy way to get a Mexican food fix. This recipe is not vegan. The cheese we usually use has whey protein in it. However, to make this vegan, a quick fix is to omit the shredded cheese. 

Ingredients

5 10 inch whole wheat tortillas 
1 1/2 C brown rice
1 15 oz can of kidney beans 
hot sauce 
24 oz. jar of salsa
2 jalapeños  
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1/2 yellow onion 
1 small bag frozen yellow corn
1 C almond milk cheddar cheese
1/2 can of enchilada sauce 

Spray a springform pan with canola oil, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
Prepare the rice: bring rice and 2C water to a boil, simmer for 25 minutes. Stir beans and hot sauce to taste into the rice. Spread 1/4 C salsa on the bottom of the springform pan. Place a tortilla on top of the salsa. Spread 1 C of beans and rice mixture on top of the tortilla. Layer a tortilla on top of the beans and rice. Spread 1/4 C of salsa on top. Add 1/2 cup corn 1/2 a sliced green pepper, 1/2 sliced red pepper, 1/4 of a sliced yellow onion, and 1 sliced jalapeño  Sprinkle 1/2 C of almond milk cheese on top. Add a tortilla, top tortilla with 1/4 salsa and remaining beans and rice mixture. Top with another tortilla. Spread salsa on top of tortilla. Add remaining corn, pepers, and onion. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Add another tortilla, and pour 1/2 can of enchilada sauce on top tortilla. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy! P.S. I recommend serving with guacamole and hot sauce Mmmm

Meatless meat loaf?!??!

Meatless meat loaf, yes, it does exist, and it's tasty 

It's cold, and raining. The perfect time for some comfort food. Growing up, one of my favorite Sunday meals was meatloaf, baked potatoes, brussel sprouts, and corn. This dish is easily translated to a vegan recipe. You will not even miss the meat. I mean, come on, it's all about the ketchup sauce topping. 

By the way, I have a strange obsession with baked potatoes, and this is the absolute best way to make a baked potato. 

Ingredients for the loaf:

1 TBSP olive oil 
1/2 yellow onion diced
1 clove of garlic minced 
1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans 
1/4 C soy sauce
11/4C veggie stock
2C wheat gluten flour
1/2 C nutritional yeast
salt 
pepper 

Ingredients for the sauce:

1/2C ketchup
3 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP vegan worcester sauce
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar 
2 tsp dried mustard
pepper

Sides:

4 red skin potatoes, poked with fork, rolled in canola oil and salt, bake at 350 degrees for one hour 
1 small bag frozen corn kernels, thawed and sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper
2 C brussel sprouts, halved, tossed with minced garlic, olive oil, salt, peper. Lay cut side down on baking sheet and bake on 350 for 20 minutes 

Making the loaf

Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent. Meanwhile, in a food processor, blend together beans, soy sauce, and veggie broth. In a large bowl, mix together wheat gluten flour, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper. Add the wet to the dry. Add the onions and garlic. Mix with wooden spoon for no more than 5 turns. Knead the dough 10 times. You will get an elastic ball with visible air bubbles. Place into a 1.5 qt loaf pan that has been greased with canola oil. 

Make the sauce, and bake

Stir together the ingredients for the sauce and taste. Keep in mind the loaf is relatively salty, so additional salt might not be needed. Pour sauce over the loaf, place in 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Outside will be brown and a fork will remove clean from the middle of the loaf. 

Picture includes loaf slices, slides, and a surprise appearance by a caramel apple cupcake. Cupcake credit goes to my favorite vegan cookbook, Veganomicon by Moskowitz and Romero.