Chopped Vegan Style: This Is How We Do It!

Pistachio Toasted Coconut and Mint Crushed Tempeh with a Drizzled Blackberry Mint Reduction, Lemon Mint Sugar Snap Peas and Mojito Black Eyes Peas, Topped with Shaved Bittersweet Chocolate

Vegan Chopped Competition

     Just one short year since I started this thing and I'm entering a cooking competition. That's just how I roll. But before I began and no matter how this turns out, I want to thank some people. Of course, my mom for showing me how delicious vegan food could be in the first place. Kevin & Brett of veganbrew.com for inspiring to cook with their awesome meal ideas, even if their site is lacking in updates. Beth for being my arch-nemesis (and sending me award-winning cupcakes) in our informal cooking competition and telling me about this awesome competition. The special one for allowing me to cook for her and try out new meals, not to mention cleaning up my mess! Thanks! Most importantly, however, I wanted to thank Isa. It was her cookbooks, specifically Vegan Brunch, that really made me a believer in cooking. And now, she's the reason, I'm entering this competition. Thanks, Isa! 

     Mystery Ingredients: Blackberries, Mint, Black Eyed Peas, Bittersweet Chocolate 

Organic And Fair Trade Ingredients!

    When the ingredients were announced, I must have bite my nails down to the cuticle. I was so nervous thinking about how to combine everything into one entrée. It happens whenever something "creative" is required. I've had some practice combing different recipes together for what would be an awesome meal, like THIS and THAT. After some brain simmering, I had that aha moment. The results? I was definitely impressed by how everything went together. The blackberry mint reduction went perfectly with the crusted tempeh.
     The biggest question mark was how the black eyed peas would work as a rice replacement to serve the tempeh over. Needless to say, even I was impressed. It's exactly what I expect when I go out to a meal, but sadly only Vedge/Horizons (I'll post my review soon! I promise!) exceed that expectation. Since I adapted some of the recipes, I'll post them below in case you want to give it a whirl. As for getting to the 40 minute mark which this comes right up against, I switched out tofu for tempeh to avoid the pressing and used one of those food choppers to save time on chopping because I take forever with a knife.You'll also have to be quick and have three burners and a stove going at the same time! I also made blackberry mint mojitos to serve with the meal as well, but this took outside the 40 minute time, but it's worth it! Oh, and I had to use jam that I acquired from the farmer's market, instead of the fresh berries that I wanted. To be honest, the plating and picturing taking took me over the 40 minutes, but plating and photographing doesn't count, right?

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Pistachio Toasted Coconut & Mint Crusted Tempeh

Adapted from Mark Reinfield's 30 Minute Vegan

Ready To Be Cooked

Ingredients: 

8 ox box of tempeh ( I recommend Turtle Island's/Tofurkery

1 tbs Shoyu, Soy or Tamari (I used Shoyu)

1 tbs Toasted Seaseme Oil (don't substitute!)

1 tbs Water

Tahini Marinade:

2 tbs Tahini

1 tbs Shoyu, Soy or Tamari

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbs water

Crust:

1/2 cup pistachios

2 tbs toasted shredded coconut

2 teaspoons cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon seal salt (I recommend Realt Salt from Redmond, Utah)

1/4 black pepper, freshly ground

1/4 teaspoon dried majoram

2 tbs chopped fresh mint

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Now, slice the tempeh in half, then hold the blocks up again and slice those in half so you have four equal sized blocks. Place them on a cookie sheet and combine the marinade of oil, soy sauce and water and brush onto the tempeh cakes. Let stand for 5 minutes, flipping sides. Now, prepare mix the marinade ingredients together and set aside. Place the tempeh into the oven for 6 minutes, per side. It should have a nice carmelized color when it's ready. When it's cooking, prepare the crust. Use the food chopper (or a knife if you have the time) to chop the pistachios. Combine everything else. Now move onto getting the Black Eyed Peas together. When the tempeh is ready (12 minutes), dip both sides into the marinade and then into the pistachio mixture and then cook for 5 minutes each side. 

Mojito Black Eyed Peas

Adapted from Kathy Hester's The Vegan Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

1 Can Black Eyed Peas ( I recommend Eden Organic or Fig Foods, both are BPA Free!)

1 small onion, maybe a cup or so

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup rum

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1-2 teaspoon of veggie stock powder

1 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste

Juice on lime (2 tbs of lime juice)

zest of a lime

1/4 cup of mint leaves, plus more for garnish, if you wish.

Chop up the onion and pour everything else into a pot and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes or until everything else is ready. You're just trying to reduce to liquid. Now that this is set, move onto the blackberry mint reduction sauce.

Just What Summer Ordered!

Blackberry Mint Reduction Sauce

The Perfect Couple, Mint And Blackberry!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of blackberry jam (I used Utah's Weeks Berries of Paradise)

1/2 cup of packed mint, the more the merrier

3/4 cup vegan beef broth (I used Edward's & Son's Not-Beef)

1 tbs of balsamic vinegar (optional, I forgot it and then added it afterwards and liked it without)

1 teaspoon of corn or tapioca starch 

mix everything together and simmer for just a few minutes until the mint wilts or until everything else is ready. Now move over to the sugar snap peas.

Meal With Mojito

A Very Minty Meal

Sauted Lemon Mint Sugar Snap Peas

From Bell Organic

Ingredients:

1 bag of sugar snap peas from your CSA (or 1lb from the farmer's market)

3 tbs of fresh chopped mint

juice and zest of a lemon
3-4 green onions

olive oil for cooking

salt and pepper

sugar, maybe 1/2 teaspoon

heat up the oil over medium heat, throw the sugar snap peas in and toss to coat. sprinkle with some salt, then some sugar. cook for a minute or two. Turn off the heat then throw in the mint and the lemon juice/zest and toss to coat. 

One Dirty Kitchen

Controlled Chaos, I Say!

Now plate everything up, make it look pretty top it all with a beautiful sprig of mint and a few bodacious blackberries and then shave some bittersweet chocolate over the tempeh and beans. now eat and enjoy! hopefully, you exhibited more controlled chaos than I and ended up with less burns! I have lots to learn before taking stone from master, Isa! 

Just Two Burns

Battle Scars!

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Scraping By With Garlic Scapes!

Garlic Scape Walnut Pesto with Braising Mix, Soy Curls, Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta and Lemon

Pesto Pasta Power!

     I love Bell Organic. Not only are they the nicest people in the world, but they grow the best produce in the Wasatch Front. And just like the name implies, it's all certified organic! Last year was my introduction to joining a CSA through Bell Organic. Not only did I get an education of in the wide world of veggies, but I learned about and fell in love with new plants, like arugula. Now, I can't get enough of this spicy salad green! 

Soy Curls and Braising Mix

What More Could You Ask For?

      I feel pretty confident around greens. When collards are in the bag , I'll be making citrus collard greens with raisin redux. Green beans means pad prik king will on the menu. However, every now and again, the Bells like to switch things up with a curve ball.  Last year, I had a choice between kohlrabi or beets. Feeling adventurous, I went with the kolrabhi (I ended up making THIS). This year, garlic scapes appeared, along with a recipe for the garlic scape pesto. Garlic scapes are these snake like plants that resemble a more curvy, less rigid green onion. The taste is a much milder version of bulb garlic. Unfortunately, I didn't grab a photo before grinding them up so I'll have to rely on the internets. 

Garlic Scapes

Photo from Floyd The Guy (floydthefoodguy.com)

     While the original recipe called for chicken and Parmesan cheese, I decided to veganize it with soy curls. I've already written about how much I love soy curls. Quick, easy to use and versatile, they are my go to for making meals. Plus, I have a 12 lbs box that I'm cooking myself through. Yup, I don't mess around. For the Parmesan cheese, I went with the Galaxy foods one, however I bet it would be amazing with the new Parmesan cheese alternative from Parmela, It got a glowing review from Vegnews saying it was "dead on".

Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta

No Semolina Flour Here!

      Just one more tip before I post the recipe. It does call for extra-virgin olive oil, something that I skimped on. I went with walnut oil because I was out of olive and had it in the cupboard. It's about what you have, folks. So don't judge me! Plus, I was using walnuts as the base, so in my defense, I thought it would complement it. It wasn't bad, but it would have been banging with some organic unfiltered cold-pressed olive oil. More modifiers make it more better, right? Even plain ole extra-virgin oil would have been better. Just learn from my mistakes or at least stock your cupboards better.
     Oh, one final tip, if you're lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe's pick up these spices below, the lemon pepper and south african smoke, they go perfect with everything, especially this pesto. My mom showed me the light on my last visit and I was able to smuggle some back to our Trader Joe's less state. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that they will last until the end of the year when we'll get our own Salt Lake Trader Joe's! I'm craving some of that cookie butter, too! 

Lemon Pepper and South African Smoke 

Trader Joe's Awesome Spice Grinders

Garlic Scape Pesto with Braising Mix, Soy Curls, Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta and Lemon Recipe (adapted from Bell Organic)

Ingredients:

1 lb pasta, choose your favorite shape, silly. whole wheat or regular

10 large garlic scapes

1/3 Cup nuts (walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, or pistachio)

2-3 TBS vegan parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt (I recommend Real Salt from Redmond, Utah)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 Cup extra-virgin olive oil (try not to substitute)

4-6 oz of Soy Curls, rehydrated and drained

1 bag of Braising Mix, preferable from Bell Organic (though you could get away with a bunch of another bag of greens, like Bok Choy, Collards, Arugula or even Kale)

1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon Italian herbs, your choice.

1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Lemon Pepper or Smoked Grinders from Trader Joes (optional, but not really).

     Directions:
     Okay, now start boiling the water. Throw some salt in and cook the pasta according to the directions. But really, you can cook pasta, right? You could use the leftover water to hydrate the soy curls, if you wanted to be ecologically conscious. Next get out the food processor or if you're like I used to be, thinking that I could just use a blender for everything, you can get away with that, too. You're life will be easier with a food processor, though. trust me. Well, unless you have a high-powered blender like a Blendtec or Vitamix. Anyway, throw the garlic scapes (I didn't even cut them up), nuts, vegan parmesan, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 pepper and get crazy. Blend until smooth. This will be your pesto. Love it embrace it.

     Now, get out a large cast-iron skillet (another worth while investment, trust me) and heat that sucker up. Saute the braising mix and hydrated and drained soy curls together until the greens are wilted, maybe 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle some salt, red pepper flakes and the Italian herbs while it's cooking. Once, it's done combine it with the pasta then combine that with the pesto and then juice a lemon into the mixture. Depending on your level of pesto loving, you could just use 1/2 to 2/3 cup of the pesto and freeze/save the remaining pesto or be like me and just use it all. Choose your own adventure, folks! Top it with some tomatoes, a sprinkle of more vegan paremsan and a twist or two of the grinders. Enjoy and share!

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Kickin' It Korean Style

Spicy Korean Tofu with Pear Slaw

Over Brown Basmati Rice Surrounded by a Broccoli Forest

      My mom used to get Vegetarian Times way back when in a pre 9/11 world, but I was always unimpressed with the recipes because they mostly replaced animal flesh for milk and eggs, mainly eggs. It wasn't until they featured my now deceased favorite restaurant Philadelphia's Horizon and some of it's recipes that I got to have a second look. I was impressed! They seemed to make an effort on the vegan front with maybe half or more of the recipes being vegan. Lately, they have been focusing on cooking techniques such as braising in the latest issues. I'm lucky enough to have an awesome mom, who subscribed me for two years so I have a slew of recipes that I'm looking forward to. Thanks, Mom!

Spicy Korean Tofu

Triangles Make The Tofu Taste Better!

     Originally, I made this the way I made the tofu like I did for the Peanut Sauce recipe for my Cooking With Bell Organic Post, which uses soy sauce and vegetable stock instead of oil, but I think it made the recipe too salty. I would pan fry this recipe in the future. If I had more time, i would try to locate gochugaru, which is a red pepper powder. The Pear Slaw was an interesting twist that balanced the heat, which I might turn up a notch.      

  Spicy Korean Tofu Recipe 

(from Vegetarian Times' 2011 September Issue)

*****try to use organic and fair trade ingredients*****

1 TBS roasted sesame oil

1 package of extra-firm tofu (try to find one of the four bean brands HERE)

3 TBS low-sodium soy sauce or tamari

1 TBS gochugaru or (1 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes, I used the flakes)

2 tsp maple syrup (or fair trade sugar)

1 tsp rice vinegar 

2 green onions

2 cloves minced (about 2 tsp)

NOTE: If serving over rice, start it right away because the recipe comes together quick, maybe 20 minutes

1) Press the tofu, and cut into 8 or so rectangles and heat the oil in a pan, add tofu and cook 7-9 minutes each side until golden brown.

2) Whisk together soy sauce, gochugaru (or red pepper flakes), maple syrup/sugar, vinegar, and 3 TBS water in a small bowl. Stir in onions and garlic. 

3) Pour sauce around tofu, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook 5-7 or until most of the sauce is absorbed. Flip tofu halfway through cooking

Pear Slaw

 Pear Slaw Recipe (from Vegetarian Times 2011 September Issue)

1 Bartlett Pear, sliced into matchsticks ( 1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp rice vinegar (I used apple Cider Vinegar)
1 tsp toasted black sesame seeds *

toss pear match sticks with vinegar and sesame seeds. ( I abandoned the match sticks and just cut them into pieces). Serve over tofu triangles, brown rice and whatever veggies float your boat and enjoy!

note: if your sesame seeds aren't toasted, put them in a dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant. With white sesame seeds it's easier to tell, but the black ones make it harder to tell.

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Superlative Cheesesteaks!!!

Philly Seitan Cheesesteak with Daiya Cheddar Sauce, Sweet Peppers, Vidalia Onions, & Vegenaise

 

Superlative (adj)- of, relating to, or constituting the degree of grammatical comparison that denotes an extreme or unsurpassed level or extent 2 a:surpassing all others b:of very high quality (from Merriam-Webster)

    Well, that makes me feel like my English degree was worth while. I could have just said the best cheesesteak ever, but since I already used that for my tacos I needed something fresh, something meta. And I'm not just being hyperbolic. Oh, and I used to live in Philadelphia so I should get some street cred. And not that Pat's or Geno's bullshit. Philadelphia's Blackbird, the owner used to work at two of my favorite restaurants Philly's Horizons and NYC's Blossom, makes the meanest cheesesteak I've encountered until now. (If you go be sure to try the Cubano, which tops the cheesesteak.)The recipe comes from Cooking With the Vegan Zombie.Since the video continues detailed instruction, I'll post it below (as well as the recipe so you don't have to click back and forth). I'll post my results and pictures after the recipe. I know everyone is into the Vegan Black Metal Chef, but this one actually includes a recipe instead of entertainment or concepts. 

The "No-Killy Philly Daiya Cheesesteak" from Cooking With The Vegan Zombie

-Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then mix both together for seitan:

Dry
1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup garbonzo bean powder (or chick pea flour)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp mesquite (I used this Mesquite Marinade because I couldn't find the powder)
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp turmeric

-Wet ingredients:
1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce ( I used Annie's Organic, which Whole Foods had)
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 cloves of shredded garlic
pinch of pepper

-add all ingredients together and form a dough. Cut in half and make two logs and place in casserole dish.

-Stock to cook seitan in:
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 diced onion
4 smashed cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp molasses
2 cups water
-Heat on stove 5- 10 mins
-Pour in casserole dish to cover seitan. Cover dish and place in oven 350 for 1 hour. Then flip seitan and continue to cook for 1/2 hour uncovered. If still too soft, then cook for another 20 mins.

Daiya cheese sauce
1 cup Daiya cheese (cheddar)
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
pinch of pepper
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Stir it all together over med heat and set aside.

Slice up your seitan, and saute it together with a diced onion and diced poblano pepper. Toast a roll of your choice and add Vegenaise and your seitan saute to it. Add Daiya cheese sauce and you're good to go...Enjoy!

D.I.Y. Seitan (Before)

     If you live anywhere outside of the reach of Ray's Seitan or Wheat Meat, then you really need to make your seitan. Ray's is so good, they don't have a website! I know it sounds daunting, but this is a must. Kevin at veganbrew.com gave me my first seitan recipe that I feel in love with, but this one is superb. As far as a local source of vital wheat gluten, I recommend Cali's Naturals. It's the only place in the valley that sells an organic version and for about $5 a pound, which is cheaper than the conventional stuff. This recipe would make a really good pepper steak as well. The secret to this one is all the spices that are added to the broth.

D.I.Y. Seitan (During)

D.I.Y. Seitan (After)

D.I.Y. Seitan (Post)

     I took the seitan logs and shredded them against the weird middle thing on a cheese grater. I've always wondered what that was for. It worked perfectly.

Daiya Cheddar Sauce

     As far as I know, most philly cheesesteak use cheese whiz, which brings back memories, but is kinda gross. This sauce was pretty good especially with the roll slathered in Vegenaise (seriously, don't try another brand). However, this recipe made enough that I was eating a cheesesteak a day for about a week, which was awesome after a long day of snowboarding. After the cheese sauce ran out, I just used regular Daiya cheddar cheese and the result was much cleaner. I can't decide which one was better, but I would LOVE to try both with the new pepperjack Daiya. Oh, and I used regular hoagie rolls the first time, which were okay. For a really good twist, slice up a baguette instead of a roll. The bread seems much studier, too. Oh, and I think I would caramelize the onions, too.

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