vegan recipes: a list thread

I made a delicious eggplant salad, dressed with kecap manis and sesame, a few weeks ago. The recipe was a variation of one from the Bitten site; details on Is That...Pie?. Also, summer or salad rolls lend themselves well to vegan contents - a crispy sliver of jicama or a narrow piece of broken rice cracker adds great texture variety.

There's also a great recipe in here somewhere for eggplant/mushroom vegan chili, which works great as a hot stew or warm as a dip.

I don't have any specific recipes, but, like a lot of ilxors I've seen, I can't recommend Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian enough. It's excellent, and does a really good job of both explaining the simplest kitchen techniques and of including lots of interesting 'exotic' recipes. It's not a vegan book, but most recipes include instructions on how to make them vegan.

I'll look through and post a few from it here in a day or two, I'm distracting myself from franticly doing homework right now.

Don't, on the other hand, get Vegan with a Vengence unless you have serious exotic ingredient connections. I don't think I ever once managed to find all the right ingredients when I was trying to cook from that.

thanks guys!

yeah, nick, i want fairly simple recipes, nothing where i have to go hunting through five different supermarkets to find the ingredients ;)

i'd definitely invest in a copy of how to cook everything veg.

what foods/ingredients do you dislike, r?

oh man.... i'm actually embarrassed to say! ....

mushrooms
olives
capers
anchovies
corn
coriander
hot hot food

to name a few...

peanut sauce:
1/4 c natural (no sugar) peanut butter
2 t soy sauce
1 T light brown sugar
1 T lime juice
1/4 c coconut milk (lite is fine, if you prefer or substitute water)
red pepper flakes or chili sauce or whatever hot condiment you prefer, to taste

mix everything, adding the water last, and heat it gently over med-low heat in a saucepan until it's blended.

serve it with noodles topped with tofu and shredded carrot and cucumber. it's also a good dipping sauce.

Here is a recipe that I sent to Abbott that she seems to like:

Sweet Tater Stew

Boil a bunch of cubed sweet taters, maybe 4 big ones. Use just enough water to cover them, and no more. If you don't like the skins, peel them first. When they start to get soft, add the following: 1-2 big cans of stewed tomatoes, chopped; 4 or so cloves of garlic, chopped; bunch of chopped peppers (poblano, pasilla, or just sweet peppers -- I like it spicy, so I use sweet and spicy peppers both); 1 cup peanut butter; salt to taste. Add enough curry just to give it a little kick, but not to make it taste like Indian food (which isn't a bad thing, but just wrong here). I usually add maybe 2 tablespoons, and perhaps a little cumin for extra kick.

The whole thing needs to cook for about one hour. Optionally, you can cook some of the sweet taters separately and blenderize them when soft and add back into the stew. This makes the stew nice 'n' thick, which is how god intended that it be. If not, cook long enough so that the sweet taters are super duper mushy and stir the soup plenty so that they fall apart a little bit. This is where using only enough water is very crucial: Too much water and the soup will be soupy.

this is my favorite marinara recipe:

1 medium to large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
1T fresh thyme (can use dried; use a bit less)
1/2 carrot, shredded
2 28oz cans crushed or whole tomatoes w/ liquid

saute onion and garlic in 1/4 C olive oil for 8-10 minutes over medium/medium-high heat. add thyme and carrot and saute for another 5-6 minutes, then add tomatoes and simmer for at least 30 minutes. i like to run the immersion blender through after things are done cooking for a smooth-ish sauce.

these are great recipes!!

http://theurbanhousewife.blogspot.com/2008/02/jackfruit-carnitas-tacos.html

ok this is the one me and my gf (she is vegan) do as a staple

put this in a frying pan:
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp passata
2 tomatoes skinned and chopped
3 tbsp capers
3 tbsp olives
pepper

cook pasta (linguine is best) and while cooking pasta, rest the frying pan on top of the pot... when pasta cooked, run sauce through pasta and add peppe + handful of basil, serve

probably best not to add salt, esp. if you salt your pasta water

lauren's peanut sauce can also be used as a base for a potato and peanut curry

add this to a blender:
handful of rocket/arugula
cup of pistachios
tsp white miso paste
tbsp olive oil
black pepper

pulse 3/4 times, should still be bitty

meanwhile take brocollini / brocolli, cut up and blanche for 3/4 minutes till bright green. take these out and flash fry in some olive oil with salt and pepper, when almost done add 1/2tsp of balsamic vinegar and toss to coat

cook pasta, run the pistachio pesto through pasta when cooked and top with brocolli/brocollini

tip: add a tsp of cocoa powder and half a stick of cinnamon to chilli

tbsp of cocoa powder rather; gives the chilli a deep, earthy taste

co-sign nick's take on 'vegan w/a vengeance'. wtf are half the ingredients she uses?

Like what?? Now I'm curious.

me too. moskowitz is nyc-based, so i'm assuming that there are perhaps spices or other ingredients that would be readily available to someone with access to hundreds of specialty stores but might otherwise be kind of esoteric.

oh, I never answered that... I can't remember off the top of my head all the ones I boggle at - maybe it's just cos her recipes seem to be ingredient laden more than anything. tho nutritional yeast is one I always struggle to find

don't suppose you could post up a recipe for the eggplant/mushroom chilli you mentioned, jaq?

i should send you a vegan care package. i can think of 5 places off the top of my head within spitting distance of my office that sell nutritional yeast, for example. and i'm like 10 minutes away from one of the best spice emporiums.

oh, i have a recipe on is that... pie? for a really simple eggplant/chickpea/tomato stew that could be easily made more chili-like:
1 large (about 1.25lbs) eggplant, cubed

1 large onion, chopped

garlic to taste, chopped

1tsp each cinnamon and cayenne pepper

2tsp garam masala

1 can (or equivalent) chickpeas

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1.5 cups veg. broth

maybe use cumin instead of garam masala, add some fresh peppers (mixture of sweet and hot), some oregano, black or pinto beans instead of chickpeas...

awesome, was just reading "is that... pie?" and noticed that recipe! : )

I'll try dig out the vegan vengeance book, see what other weird and wonderfuls she uses : )

here's the chili I made: So what have you cooked lately? (Year three!)

There's no real subs for the chipotles in adobo - I buy them canned, maybe you can find? Epazote is a minty, oregano-like herb: could just increase the oregano and add a pinch of dried mint. Masa is the lime-treated cornmeal used to make tortillas. If you can't find, I'd throw in strips of corn tortilla or even tortilla chips.

beetroot w/green sauce

take fresh beetroot and boil it

meanwhile in a bowl add chopped garlic, onion, capers, dijon, parsley, mint and mix, stir in olive oil to combine

when beetroot prepared cut into healthy chunks and dress with the mixture in the bowl

mmmmmm

non-vegans can add chopped anchovies to the dressing for some more funk!!

The tassajara cookbook is full of awesome vegan recipes especially soups, particularly the curried zucchini and corn and tomatillo.

oh and awesome, thanks jaq!!! I am totally making that or a variation on it tonight

I shall dig out the recipes and post later.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/post_26.php

made this last night. very tasty, and VERY cheap (esp. if you already have a big bag of red lentils).

looking forward to trying this recipe. i think you could get rid of the yogurt, or perhaps use some coconut milk instead. also, i think you could play around with the spices a bit to get around using cardomom pods and coriander seeds.

Sweet Potato and Tempeh Stew
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
6 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
3 cups water or vegetable broth
8 ounces tempeh, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup plain yogurt, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan. Sauté onion and garlic until onion is translucent.

Add ginger, cardamom pods, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and sauté for another minute.

Add sweet potatoes and water or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add tempeh and simmer for about 10 more minutes, until tempeh is cooked through and potatoes are tender.

Remove from heat, season to taste, and stir in 1/2 cup yogurt. Serve garnished with the remaining yogurt and pumpkin seeds.

Breakfast Couscous (appealing to both vegans and non-vegans alike!)
feeds 4, or 3 or even 2 if you're reaaaally hungry; can easily be halved, just do the math
use 3/4 cup of liquids if you like drier couscous; 1 cup if you like moister couscous. I prefer drier.

3/4 or 1 cup orange juice
3/4 or 1 cup vanilla rice or soy milk
lots of cinnamon, to taste
1 cup french style couscous
lots of dried fruit (raisins, craisins, etc.)

Bring liquids and cinnamon to a boil. Stir in dried fruit and couscous, and remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

It's so tasty and so easy!

do you think a chocolate version of this could work? still using oj, but maybe choc soy milk and a little cocoa powder? or is that totally wrong?

Injudra

1/2 pound dry brown lentils
1 cup long grain rice
3 - 4 large onions
1/2 cup olive oil
salt, pepper and cumin to taste (i use a lot of cumin)
if you want more vegetables add some cabbage or carrots or have something on the side.

good for casseroles w/noodles or rice and peas or whatever

mock bechamel sauce

1 onion chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup water/veg stock
soy sauce/sea salt

saute onions on medium heat...add garlic...add flour while stirring and cook 3-5 minutes...add water/stock+salt soy sauce and keep cooking and stirring

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/post_26.php

made this last night. very tasty, and VERY cheap (esp. if you already have a big bag of red lentils).

― lauren, Saturday, October 4, 2008 12:31 AM (2 weeks ago)

lauren, i was going to post this link, i make this often, it is very very good. i sometimes use persian red lentils for it, they take longer but they are delicious.
i love all lentils, they are one of my main foods.

the injudra looks great, artdamages, do you slow cook the onions first to sweeten them?

yeah i didnt give instructions for that recipe. i cook the rice and lentils seperately (ive experimented w/cooking them in the same pot, but it doesn't ever work out) and cook up the onions by themselves on medium heat adding the garlic and cumin later then mixing that into the lentils when they are done.

i dont like crunchy onions so i tend to cook them to death and use huge amounts of them to make up for it

i'm going to make that.

yay for lentils!

is injudra another name for mujadarah? it seems like the same thing. so tasty, esp. if you used caramelized onions. i'm really into caramelized onions lately.

looks like it is the same.

xpost to rubyredd:

OMG that sounds to DIE; I'm going to try it next time I have choc soymilk!! OJ + choc is heaven.

or orange + choc, i mean.

So peeps, my two "OMG CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT" foods before going vegan were mac n cheese (R.I.P.) and steamed pork dumplings. The former is all but hopeless in recreating accurately, but the latter I think I could get down pretty damn close with seitan and proper herbs and spices. Anyone ever tried this?

p.s. real dumplings, NOT that cabbage-filler bullshit. cabbage sucks.

i really hate the texture of seitan, so i never tried cooking with it when i was vegan. with that in mind, i'd try using finely-crumbled tempeh mixed with herbs and a tiny bit of a cornstarch/soy mixture. sadly, though, nothing tastes like pork.

Cabbage rocks!

U guise i need some tofu recipes that will bring the house down. All the ones I've made so far range from "eh" to "pretty good the first few bites" but I need something mind-blowingly delicious.

i just came across this recipe the other day:

http://www.monsoonspice.com/2008/08/sweet-chilli-lime-tofu-with-wok-steamed.html

it sounds delicious.

yay for this thread!

i just purchased How to Cook Everything Veg AND the Veganomicon recently, but haven't had a chance to put them to work yet. But Bittman's great, in my experience.

You absolutely HAVE to try the Penne Vodka in Veganomicon--it's the best thing I've made vegan. The Black Beans in Chipotle Adobo sauce was killer too, the black beans were absolute perfection but the chipotle sauce was a bit too sweet and oniony for my tastes.

made the sweet chili lime tofu! it's awesome.

tell me about quinoa? I have never heard of it. does anyone know how hard it is to find in the UK? would something else do for that recipe? cook's thesaurus has suggestions: http://www.foodsubs.com/Grainoth.html

I am quite fond of quinoa and can get it here in the US in both white and red varieties at Whole Foods and health food stores. I mostly use it as an alternative to rice/couscous/other grainy type thing as a side dish for meat/fish/chicky. But for a light vegan dish you could toss it with any sort of cooked veg with some sort of dressing (a lemony vinaigrette is good), maybe chuck in some toasted almonds or other nuts, maybe some raisins or currents or dried cranberries if you are into that sort of thing. Basically you can treat it exactly the way you would couscous, although the cooking bit is different.

quinoa's easy enough to get in the uk: it'll probably be in your supermarket, albeit perhaps in some kind of confusing ethnic food/vegan diet/special items aisle. that said, i never saw the red variety. learning about bulgar and quinoa really expanded my grain-based-meal horizons.

Quinoa's great for breakfast too - a nice crunchy change from oatmeal, etc.

Thanks guys. Like I say, I had never heard of it until I read the tofu lime chilli recipe, but it turns out they sell it in Tesco.

I just started using it a week or so ago - apparently there are brands that are pre-washed and others you need to rinse before using. Some kind of bitter stuff (natural protective coating?) has to be washed away.

for real, for breakfast? just quinoa with milk on?

Nope, with a little butter and brown sugar or jam, like I do with Malt-o-meal.

which, ya know, isn't vegan. Do vegans use margarine instead of butter?

i get vegan margarine. i can't remember what it's called; whole ... garden or something. i am not vegan but have vegan aspirations, though.

Margarine isn't vegan? I thought it was just vegetable oil and water whipped up smooth.

earth balance is a good butter substitute, i think

would something else do for that recipe?

oh, definitely! in fact, since we were out of quinoa i used basmati rice. it's less about the type of grain and more about the spices you cook it with, i think. and, speaking of spices, i didn't have cardomom pods so i used dried whole star anise. not the same flavor, but it worked very well.

"Tempeh" has started looking like internet-speak to me..

OMG EARTH BALANCE IS MY LIFE. It's got such a rich buttery taste. They've also got the Soy Garden variety, which is still tasty but less OMG BUTTER, which I like to use in some things instead of the original buttery spread.

Also I don't think I've posted it here yet: Google Books has a "preview" of Veganomicon that seems to half the entire book, if not more:

http://books.google.com/books?id=tjN8uJETBpIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=veganomicon

I had a "melted chocolate and pumpkin spice" sheet-cake on Friday that was vegan and OMG delicious, and I do NOT make a beeline for the vegan goods in general. Wow my mouth. I think it's still tingling a little.

The only downside, vegan-wise, was that the richness made me want a glass of milk on the side.

veganomicon looks pretty great. there are some kind of lasagne noodles involved in the lasagne - is there a vegan substitute?

i think i need pictures in recipe books to get me excited enough to cook. i might try kosheri (rice + lentils + onions + stuff) tonight; at the moment i just want to eat things i can scoop with a spoon.

hey, vegan/veg people (and anyone else who enjoys tofu) - you know about the freezing thing, right? if you freeze your block of tofu (firm/xtra firm), then thaw and squeeze out before cooking, it gets really "meaty" and super-absorbent.

do I need to do that for the sweet chili lime thing? I have my tesco.com order set up and am getting ready to pull the trigger on this.

don't be nervous! i didn't freeze it this time around bcz i was lazy, and anyway it's not specified in the recipe (which is SO forgiving - don't be afraid to customize it). it's just something to keep in the back of your mind.

Ooh here's that cake recipe: I can highly recommend it: http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/10/chocolate-pumpkin-pudding-cake.html

that does sound good. if all vegan baking focused on stuff like this that can be done really well without dairy, then it wouldn't have such a bad rep.

Yeah, except for the soy milk it's not really substituting anything. It does call for oil instead of any other shortening, I think C used coconut oil? Anyway, whatever, it was awesome.

i have to say, though, that there is a vegan bakery in chicago (or maybe evanston) that produces the most amazing, rich, homestyle vegan birthday cakes - "buttercream" icing and all.

I think tofu is a bit more exotic here than it is in the U.S. I like it, but I don't think I've ever had it outside a restaurant, and I didn't even realise Tesco stocked it. I was all ready to go to the Chinese supermarket. I will steel my nerves by getting good and drunk when I cook it, which will hopefully be later this week.

i think selling souls to the devil was involved somewhere down the line.

xpost - srsly, don't sweat it! it will be awesome. is there anything in particular you're worried about re: cooking?

that I will not be drunk enough

haha, no it will be fine. I gather the problem with tofu is it can be too sloppy, but it probably ends up tasting the same whatever.

that's why you need firm or extra firm.

i really like this method because i've always had reservations re: cooking tofu for stir-fry, etc. http://hubpages.com/hub/How_to_Cook_Tofu_Like_the_Pros

it consumes time but it's easy to do ahead of time

I was JUST looking for a good pumpkin dessert recipe! Hooray!

I made vegan lasagna tonight. I really wish I had a working camera so I could start my own food porn blog

That tofu thing worked! Hunh. I need to come up with a good marinade though.

I made vegan lasagna tonight.

i would like to know about this.
i've never been sure whether making the sauce is one of those things that needs the exact physical constitution of milk to succeed or whether using alternatives is o k. needing lasagna replacement confuses me further.

are you talking about the freezing thing, cas? it's a great trick. i'm pretty sure that's what the "natural" pizza place i love does to make their vegan "feta cheese."

my tofu is being delivered tonight but I am too tired to cook and will eat pasta. this weekend though!

A+, would eat again. Next time I will use less lime zest (I didn't have a zester so I was trying to cut up peel with a knife, which is retardé). The tofu was fine though, and quinoa is good stuff. And the tofu marinade sauce stuff -- high intensity.

isn't the sauce delicious?? i'm glad it worked out

the sauce is fierce!

Oh, no, not the freezing, the frying thing from harbi's link. My freezer situation right now is not idea.

'm pretty sure that's what the "natural" pizza place i love does to make their vegan "feta cheese."

where's the natural pizza place? i'm not vegan but am kind of shying away from dairy and consequently pizza.

viva herbal, on 2nd ave near 10th street.

a bit pricey, due to the fact that they cater to vegans, gluten intolerants, and kosher folk, but it really is great (even though those restrictions sound dire).

thank you, it sounds good. i'd like a deli where that kind of thing was a given, because then wondering about vegan margarine or separate cutting knives isn't going to feel like an affront in the name of culture war.

White bean and roasted garlic soup--delicious!! Except next time I won't add the fennel seed. And for some reason, unlike every other soup ever, it's much better right when you make it than it is when you reheat it.

post recipe plz!

I made the tofu/sweet chili sauce/quinoa! It was grebt! Mr. Que liked it, too.

i found out about it from somewhere else on ilx, BUT, on the subject of quinoa this looks pretty great.

i am looking forward to the onset of soup-making season. i've never really eaten pumpkin apart from squash, so maybe i'll experiment.

Vegan lasagna (add the nutritional yeast!)
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8013.0

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup (originally from Vegan with a Vengeance)
http://www.recipezaar.com/White-Bean-and-Roasted-Garlic-Soup-76175

this is an old standby i forgot about for a couple years http://www.zawaj.com/recipes/rice/koshari_pasta.html

i made it just now, using a can of garbanzos mixed in with the sauce instead of squash. i also ignored the stuff about layering and just mixed it all together.

What's on your menus for VEGAN THANKSGIVING??

Nothing? Really??

I just made Julie Hasson's now legendary Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages (everyone and their mom who had a vegan food blog seemed to rave about them): http://www.everydaydish.tv/index.php?page=recipe&recipe=109 . The texture is sublime, but I'm not crazy about the flavor. It's not BAD, but there's certainly room for improvement. Next time I'm going to omit the 1T of fennel, up the oregano to 1t, and possibly add some tomato paste. I think I also added a bit too much garlic (6 or 7 enormous cloves)

although i love a good vegan recipe, i'm not vegan anymore. plus, i'm not cooking this year. all of this = no vegan thanksgiving. i have a great savory cranberry sauce recipe that i can try to dig up, though.

I am thankful that, this year, no vegetarians are joining us for thanksgiving dinner, so I don't have to modify any recipes for once. Ours will be a wholly omnivorous table.

YA FUCK U GET OUTTA MY THREAD

Suck it up, tofu breath. I'm cooking pumpkin pie with eggs and tasty rich heavy cream, crust flaky with lard from happy pasture-raised pigs, and sweet potatoes whipped with real butter. Take your faux ersatz processed-beyond-belief crap and wallow in it.

do you fry up your cranberries in bacon fat?

thanksgiving fav: corn pudding

this looks great:

http://www.veggiemealplans.com/archive/1-recipes/1232-roasted-pumpkin-and-lentil-soup-with-pomegranate-molasses

i might cook up a batch for lunches tonight while making dinner. i even have the pomegranate molasses (assuming it hasn't gone off).

(and it looks like a good thanksgiving soup, i'd say.)

as mentioned on the thanksgiving thread, i am going to entirely vegetarian/some vegan thanksgiving at my boyfriend's family's place. it is also my first ever thanksgiving, so it should be... interesting!

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/11/tgving-veg-mains

i made the sweet potato-tempeh stew mentioned way upthread. it's pretty good, but next time i'll just cook it with coconut milk instead of water and not bother adding yogurt at the end. i forgot how much i like tempeh. it's been ages since i last had it.

i did this simple, boring soup last night (modified madhur jaffrey recipe to use stuff i had):

cooked some garbanzos, saved the water
chopped up a pound of spinach
14 oz. can of diced tomatoes (not drained)
like a teaspoon of sambal oelek

dump it in a pot w/ some salt, heat it up

saute one onion and 5 cloves of garlic until slightly brown, put that in the pot, stir, heat a few more minutes, eat it

was so good! recipe said to add celery but i didn't have it and don't like using it. it doesn't add anything (taste or nutrients) and can get pretty mushy after reheating.

this looks good: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/11/mushroom-lentil-and-wild-rice-timbales.html

though i enjoyed a huge burger when we went out for dinner on saturday, i managed to cooked some good vegan dishes this weekend to even things out. a huge pot of split pea soup (which i HATE if made with ham/pork - totally ruins the sweetness of the peas), and tofu with black bean sauce. i never realized how easy black bean sauce is to make. now that i've got a jar of fermented black beans, it's become a menu staple.

ZOMG OMG OMG You guys!!

For dinner the other night, I had roasted garlic mashed potatoes (an easily veganized version of Emiril Lagasse's recipe), and I finally found THE tofu recipe that made my brain explode: Bryanna Clark Grogan's "Breast of Tofu" recipe, which can be found at http://www.everydaydish.tv/index.php?page=recipe&recipe=105 . I did the "Make crispy slices" method, but for the seasoned flour I used half flour and half panko. I am now so so excited about tofu--it came out so crispy and crunchy, and the flavor is supreme.

I must mention that libcrypt's upthread sweet tater soup is not only NOM++ but also gives you perfect bowel movements. It's perfect in every possible way.

Today for breakfast/lunch I had mirepoix cooked in lotsa soy garden over a bed of white rice made with a cube of Rapunzel veggie + herbs + sea salt boullion. Is delish!

the other day: trader joes soy chorizo w/gravy over rice + side of spinach = v.good

Ho. ly shit. Made another inCREDible vegan thinger that I'd been craving for weeks and hadn't gotten around to making: tomato pie (the pizza kind, not the pie kind). It turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Will post recipe if people actually want to make it.

dirt

helpful recipe thanks man see u

Okay the crust was from:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jays-Signature-Pizza-Crust/Detail.aspx
you'll likely need much more than 3 1/3 cups flour, though

For the sauce, just make a good marinara: saute a bunch of cloves of minced garlic in olive oil a medium sauce pot (NO onion), and then add a can of crushed tomatoes and herbs and spices to your liking (I like lots of rosemary and some basil). Bring it to a simmer and simmer for about 20 minutes to thicken it up a bit.

lately made some roast tofu and sweet potato salad (dope) and aubergine, fennel and farfalle (not so dope but still ok)

I finished my semester off and went back to college nad have been eating garbage. Nice things I've made:

Another vegan lasagna
Tofu/eggplant stirfry (yum!)
Falafel (which I now love making)
Vegan chili

Oh oh!! I made a vegan epperoni bread with Yves pepperoni and Vegan Gourmet mozzarella. It turned out gross but with lots of room for potential (it was underdone, had too much cheese, and not enough pepperoni). Next time I will do better!

if i had a vegan friend over, what's a vegan entree i could make to go with roasted fingerling potatoes?

I've just started dating a vegan. Oh yay. As someone who hardly eats meat myself, the general dishes I'd structure are fine already but the idea of having to adapt to things that dont use eggs, cheese, cream etc (or MUSHROOMS HOW CAN HE HATE MUSHROOMS ARGH) is doing my head in. So this thread has been a great help already.

The main problem for me is I really dont like to resort to prepackaged foods as a way of getting around the problem. I'm proud of making things from the base ingredients. All those Sanitarium soysages and whatnot look disgusting.

this thread is better: http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=40&threadid=85061&action=showall&bookmarkedmessageid=2454540

and honestly, as someone who is a terrible and unimaginative cook, if i can cook vegan 24/7 with v few problems, you're gonna be fiiiiine. there are plenty of recipes out there for pseudo-meats from scratch.

eg:

Vegan "Chicken" Style Seitan

“Chicken” Seitan Dough:

1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
1 cup Water mixed with 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon® No Chicken Broth Paste
1 1/2 TBSP MimicCreme

“Chicken” Seitan Broth:

8 cups Water mixed with 9 tsp Better Than Bouillon® No Chicken Broth Paste
1 cup MimicCreme
7 Whole White Button Mushrooms
1 tsp Shallot Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Roasted Garlic Powder
2 Bay Leaves
Pinch of Celery Seeds

First, take all of the Seitan Broth ingredients, and mix them together in a very large pot. Bring to a boil.

While the broth’s starting to heat up, make your Seitan Dough by mixing and kneading the vital wheat gluten, water/bouillon blend, and MimicCreme until it’s completely mixed. It will be a little more wet than most seitan doughs. Squeeze out the excess liquid, and form the mixture into a ball. On a cutting board, flatten the ball out, and use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut into six pie wedge “Chicken Breast” shaped pieces. Before putting in boiling broth, flatten each part down by pressing it firmly between your hands, then drop each part into the pot.

Cover the pot, reduce heat to simmer, and let the seitan cook for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes.

Don’t throw out the broth! Use a slotted spoon to remove each “Chicken Breast,” and place into a colander to drain. Let both the “Chicken Breasts” and the broth cool. Allow the “Chicken Breasts” to marinate in the broth until ready to use, if time allows you. Drain again before using.

BUSTED:

http://www.quarrygirl.com/2011/04/13/rant-veg-news-is-putting-the-meat-into-vegan-issues/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeZlih4DDNg

being vegan is not a big deal

There are four tricks to hummus. One, the proper name is hummus bi tahini. The tahini is equally important, and should be in at least a 1:6 ratio with the chick peas. Enough tahini, and olive or other oils become unnecessary. Two, the creaminess comes from the emulsion of the sesame oils from tahini with lemon juice/water. Don't add other ingredients until these have the consistency of a creamy salad dressing. Three, food processors aren't great for this, and like normal blenders are a pain to clean. Immersion blenders are the ideal tool here (as in most kitchen blending tasks). Four, the base is always the same. Other ingredients (I've tried sambal oelek, Italian gardineria or olive salad, chopped cilantro/coriander + jalepeno pepper, and Jordanian za'atar, all with good effect) can all be optionally stirred in or used as toppings. Basic hummus:

1/2 cup tahini, 1/4-1/2 cup lemon juice, water as needed: blend to a creamy emulsion, preferably with an immersion blender in a wide and tall sided storage container/serving vessel.
28 oz can chickpeas (drained), 1 large clove garlic, 1/2-1 tsp salt (less if not adding other salty ingredients): add at once, and blend in with a bit of chomping with the immersion blender.

yeah, Sanpaku, i agree that aerating the tahini first is absolutely key, as is using a good amount. i do think olive oil is a key flavor component though. one thing that bothers me in the wild is hummus pronounciation. in Hebrew there is no short "u"-sounding vowel. and i'm certain the same is true w Arabic. it's hoo-moose, not an organic component of soil. not sure why it bugs me so much

hey can we not have this thread on something called "The Cheese Board"?

Dried chickpeas are best for hummus. Questioning whether those instruction above accidentally left off taking the chickpea skins or you don't believe in it. I can't deal with using an immersion blender for hummus.

I've been binging Sauce Stache's YT channel, and its mostly applying "molecular gastronomy" techniques to making faux meat/cheese from absurd things (daikon bacon!). And if you're past the faux animal products stage, not so useful.

But it did introduce me to something I always walked past at the Asian grocer: mushroom seasoning. Basically dried shitake powder, salt, and mushroom "extract", sometimes other ingredients like E627, and it is great. I may never buy Marmite, Better than Bullion, or MSG ever again. Its found its way into two soups this week, I'm looking forward to making a faux-loaf with it this weekend, and its just plainly a better source of general purpose umani than other things I've tried over the past decade. Hooray Taiwan and the Singaporean and Vietnamese knockoffs.

that seasoning sounds interesting. what's in yer faux-loaf? did you make the daikon bacon? i've made rice paper bacon before and it was a little tricky to work with. seitan bacon is so far my fave homemade one. second is tempeh, but for some reason that has vanished from shelves recently :(

xxp I'm with you on the immersion blender in a tall sided serving vessel thing but would quibble over your ratios (half a cup of lemon juice??!!)

One, the proper name is hummus bi tahini

In Arabic, yeah. But I'm pretty sure it's just "hummus" in Hebrew. So my question for outdoor miner or whoever else is: how does the Hebrew language distinguish between chickpeas ("hummus") and hummus ("hummus"). Is it all context or what?

Questioning whether those instruction above accidentally left off taking the chickpea skins or you don't believe in it.

Yerac really dealing with the elephant in the room right there, I mean take a fucking stance.

how does the Hebrew language distinguish between chickpeas ("hummus") and hummus ("hummus"). Is it all context or what?

i would say context. like in Japanese ( i believe) the word rice (gohan) can mean either "meal" or "cooked rice". (i don't speak Japanese, but i know inflection has a lot to do with meanings, so this may not be a perfect analogy?)

Thx, guess i was wondering about situations where it could go either way. Say you're in a supermarket in Israel and you ask for "hummus" (or a can/container thereof), and the shopkeeper isn't sure whether you want chickpeas or hummus. What would be the conversation that follows? How would it go...

I always take the chickpea skins off for houmous (no idea why we spell it this way) but two days ago I forgot and it made zero difference and now I don't know what to think. A lot of effort, but it's best with homemade tahini which somehow tastes way less acrid than shop-bought stuff.

xp deflatormouse:

Never the skins. I've done the whole raw chickpeas in a pressure cooker with baking soda, followed by removing all the skins, a couple times, and it turns a 5 minute task into a two-hour task. Fine (and to be expected) in a restaurant setting, but cooking for 1-2, I can't justify the effort. Canned chickpeas (at least the Middle Eastern brands I buy) come skinned, its one of their principle advantages.

Having joked about offerings to Ọya this hurricane season, I'm planning on making some of the traditional offering akara (black eye pea fritters). That will be the next time I remove legume skins by hand.

I've done the whole raw chickpeas in a pressure cooker with baking soda, followed by removing all the skins, a couple times, and it turns a 5 minute task into a two-hour task. Fine (and to be expected) in a restaurant setting, but cooking for 1-2, I can't justify the effort.

same

it made zero difference and now I don't know what to think

blasphemy!!

srsly tho it's a much smoother and creamier consistency without the skins.
i think removing the skins is associated more with "Israeli hummus" while leaving them on results in something more like "Arab hummus" so there may be identity politics in play here, which is why i said that about Yerac's post, picking a side.

I leave the skins on mainly because laziness.

(i was joking, to be absolutely clear)

I'm sure I'd have noticed the difference if I was eating the two types side by side, but I was simply very hungry so I noticed nothing. The recipe first instructing me to remove the skins was for Turkish hummus.

Best flavour of houmous besides the original? I almost always make it with red peppers, but there was a pea version once that turned out great.

xp haha I know

Fine (and to be expected) in a restaurant setting, but cooking for 1-2, I can't justify the effort.

This makes zero sense to me. A restaurant isn't gonna have like 6 people that do nothing but peel garbanzos all day every day. used to make hummus in nice, famous vegetarian restaurant in sf before. beans were cooked in pressure cooker and industrial sized immersion blender were the tools involved

I've often thought that's why the food at Iranian restaurants seldom compares to homemade. They would have to employ like 6 people to do nothing but stalk herbs all day every day.

Instead they do the sensible/economic thing of using dried herbs wherever they can possibly get away with it

last time i went to a Persian spot and tried to order sabzi khordan off the menu the server basically said 'no, we can't be bothered'

Persian cuisine is very long-winded. even just all that pomegranate husbandry must be tiring

Deflatormouse, i asked a Israeli friend who said if you want the dip you typically ask for "hummusim" (the plural of hummus), or "gargeeray hummus" (no idea what this translates to. when i tried putting it into a translating machine how i think it may be spelled the meaning comes out "grain" ::shrug::)

wait i **cked that up. "Hummus" refers to the dip and the other two refer two just chickpeas. LOL, that makes sense now

woah you rule. thank you so much for finding this out, my curiosity is now well satisfied. hummusim makes more sense for chickpeas- idk any Hebrew really but sounds like a plural form of hummus :)

Xps seriously, why is there a tempeh shortage right now?? It’s been weeks.

According to Yotam Ottolenghi, soaking dried chickpeas overnight, draining them off and sautéing with baking soda BEFORE simmering in water, does some of chemical magic that breaks down the skins so you get a smoother consistency without having to peel

My tj's and local Sprouts has been sans tempeh for weeks. Cld be a opportunity to learn how to make, but we go from too hot in summer to freezing in winter so I just don't wanna bother with learning curve rn

Hi dere, I'm technically a vegetarian but am an accidental vegan most weeks. Anyway, Rainbow Plant Life has yet to steer me wrong, and this stew is next on my list: https://rainbowplantlife.com/vegan-west-african-peanut-stew/#wprm-recipe-container-5657

I don't actually have peanut butter but I'll probably substitute with tahini.

Made this for the second time again: https://rainbowplantlife.com/wprm_print/5540

Absolutely a keeper -- the nut butter gives it an excellent smoky taste.

That Gambian peanut stew looks amazing, and I think I might actually be able to pull it off despite my haplessness when it comes to cookery

It turned out pretty well! I'm thinking of adding actual peanuts to it next time for some added crunch.

After much inner debate about what I'm in the mood for tonight's dinner, I'm going to try this: https://www.pickuplimes.com/recipe/one-pot-creamy-mushroom-pasta-98

I forgot to pick up the chili pepper (arrgh!) but otherwise it turned out really well!

dang, looks good. and one-pots are nice. reminds me of a one-pot mac & cheese that i like to make. one thing i would do different in that recipe is saute the shrooms and try and get a bit of a sear on 'em instead of throwing them in raw. anyways. . .

Persian cuisine is very long-winded. even just all that pomegranate husbandry must be tiring

― here comes the hotstamper (jim in vancouver)

Pomegranate molasses is used more than fresh pomegranates. For a lot of recipes that call for both, like say ash'e anar, you can easily get away with using just the molasses.

I need to drop a few quarantine lbs. so I'm eliminating gluten and sugar from my diet for a bit. I did this for a few years and it led to all kinds of GI health issues, so it's not a long term solution. 'Paleo' diets are not for vegans imo. But I'm going to have to cook every single goddam thing i eat now, hooray!

The peanut stew does sound pretty nice, too bad I'm allergic to sweet potatoes.

Aw man, that sucks! Would it be possible to switch to regular potatoes? Personally, I would've preferred a less sweet version.

Or kabucha pumpkin for more flavor?

As allergies go, it's a ridiculously easy one :)
Good to know it's a tad sweet, kabocha sounds like a good substitution.

Saffron water is really nice in coconut milk and tomato base curries. I would probably tweak the spice blend in that recipe, throw in some black mustsrd seed and asafoetida, nix the curry powder, maybe substitute curry leaves if i had em. Maybe cardamom and cloves.

I almost always use either bahrat or S&B's curry powder from a jar in place of garam masala lately.

https://nataliepenny.com/

This is one of the best vegan recipe sites I've found in ages.
I made her tofu with peanut sauce and sesame greens tonight, it went exceptionally well I must say.

She seems to love cardamom so that definitely catches my attention.

holy cow @ tahini cardamom babka! thanks for link.

xp

holy cow @ tahini cardamom babka! thanks for link.

xp

Her writing is a bit of a shame, enough typos that it takes a little bit of kitchen experience to be able to decipher.

I made the tahini cardamom babka -- it did not turn out well, though I fully acknowledge that my abilities could've sunk the final product.

i tried it too! and underwhelmed. There was not nearly enough filling. The dough was just not right (i did use 1/3 spelt flour) even though i added one (1) egg to enrich it a bit. I have an old tried and true babka recipe i may go back to and make with choc/cardamom/tahini, but is no vegan. I like the matcha/pistachio idea though and have not given up with babka experiments, but something with the recipe was lacking or something

This turned out reasonably well! https://rainbowplantlife.com/fluffy-vegan-gingerbread-cake/

Although I messed a couple things up: it has a strip of uncooked batter that runs under the center line just an inch or so under the surface, I think I remember GBBO saying that trapped air was

I also tried to make up my own frosting without the vegan butter (i.e. solid fats) using olive oil and arrowroot powder -- and in the end, too much of each.

hah to finish that thought: a trapped air bubble keeps the surrounding batter from cooking.

I think I've settled on a decent, easy, and idiot proof fauxgurt recipe.

9 ounces firm tofu
1 cup cashews
1 tablespoon chia seeds

The only prep is to optionally soak the cashews overnight (but I rarely remember to do that), and to make the chia egg. Then, dump everything into a food processor.

Why firm instead of soft tofu? Do you prefer the texture?

Yeah, I wanted something creamier, but I've seen other recipes say that silken tofu works too.

Do you add anything to simulate the tang of yoghurt?

No because I really only use yogurt as a medium to put fruit in, so the sourness isn't something I prioritize.

I'm mostly on board with vegan cooking/baking, but one thing that I'm yet to be convinced of is nutritional yeast. My favorite vegan food blogger calls it "vegan golden flakes" or some such, especially as a way to simulate the savoriness of e.g. cheese, but what I've used it in hasn't elevated my recipes that much. Maybe different brands are better? (I have a bag of Bob's Red Mill.)

I've only really used it to make "vegan white cheddar popcorn". It did have a note of 'artificial cheese flavoring' but it was just one element in a pot pourri of gross.

Sticking to salt and grapeseed oil from now on. Thanks for the reminder to throw that canister of fish food in the garbage.

nutritional yeast alone is not the wave rly, but add it to cashew cream to make a cheesy sauce

It’s def overrated but it does provide some umami that otherwise be lacking in vegan food

i like to use it a few different ways. processing cashews with nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder makes a really good faux parm imho.
Salads tossed with a vinaigrette do nicely with ny added
Thrown into a vegan alfredo sauce in lieu of parm
Have made polenta and replaced parm with the stuff and that worked quite well, too, imho

A family friend who went vegan last year calls it "nooch."

that is the name

TFW you decide you can't make a chickpea dish because your ice cube tray for aquafaba is full.

haha this is a v particular issue to have

For the past couple weeks, I've been experimenting with vegan brownies (well, brownies and brownie cookies) with the added challenge of avoiding coconut oil, and I think that I've figured out a way to use regular vegetable oil without the brownies coming up super dense: add some cornstarch. I'm not quite sure about the proportions as I eyeballed the amount I put in but it was something like 1-3 Tbsp for what ended up being 4-5 Tbsp of oil and 1 cup of flour.

have you ever tried black beans?

or another mild tasting bean like adzuki might work too

Black bean brownies were some of my earliest baking experiments! I guess I should revisit them.

I've hit upon a perhaps even easier fauxgurt recipe: blend one ripe avocado in a food processor, then add one block of silken tofu (along with taste
enhancers .ije juice from a lemon, 1 tbsp apple Cider Vinegar, 0.25 tsp salt), blend till smooth.

I could never quite get the cashews as smooth.

This shakshuka was fabulous when I made it a few weeks ago and I was looking forward to making it again last night, but I was out of tomato paste and when I went to my supermarket they didn't have any in a tube. :(

I've made this about 3 times and it's pretty idiot-proof: https://www.pickuplimes.com/recipe/vegan-gado-gado-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-186

looks good as hell

Yeah I love it! Some of the substitutions I make: broccoli (make sure to peel them) instead of green beans, tahini instead of peanut butter, and srirachi because I don't have sambal oelek. Perfect blend of savory with a touch of sweet.