Buffalo Chicken Pizza

By Monica on February 27th, 2008

I’ve been wanting to try this forever, my craving for Buffalo ‘Chicken’ not at all satisfied with the mock meat wings in the frozen foods section. So I gave it a whirl, using Isa’s crust recipe in VWAV, a basic seitan recipe, and lots of hot sauce.

Naked pizza, before I decided it needed some dressing up:

Topped with plenty of shredded romaine lettuce:

I was afraid the sauce would be too hot, but the crust and lettuce dilute it nicely so it’s just the right amount of spice. Dipping it into some vegan ranch dressing also takes the sting away nicely! I used Frank’s Hot Wings Sauce, which I absolutely love, but be careful because some varieties have milk derived “natural flavors” listed on the ingredients label.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Crust
Your favorite crust recipe for 2 pizzas.

Toppings
1 large yellow or white onion, diced
1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
4 Roma tomatoes, diced

Seitan - Dry Mix
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2t onion powder
1/2t garlic powder

Seitan - Wet Mix
1 cup cold water
3T soy sauce

Seitan - Cooking Liquid
1 1/2 cups hot sauce
1 cup water
1 Chicken-less chicken bouillon cube
(note - this will become your pizza sauce later, don’t discard!)

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In a measuring cup, mix the wet ingredients together. Combine the two and mix just until moistened. Do not knead at all!
Divide the seitan into four sections and form each into a relatively flat patty or pancake.

Mix all of the cooking liquid ingredients, dissolving the bouillon cube. Place the four seitan patties into a shallow baking dish and cover with the cooking liquid. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

When cooked, remove patties from cooking liquid and let cool. Pour the cooking liquid into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and add 1-2T cornstarch to thicken. This is now your pizza sauce!

Cube as much of the seitan as you’d like for your pizzas, and assemble: sauce, onions, tomatoes, seitan. Bake at 475 for 12-14 minutes, or following the directions of your crust recipe. Add the shredded lettuce when the pizza comes out of the oven, and serve with some vegan ranch dressing for dipping.

Depending on how much of the seitan you use on your pizzas, you should have enough left over for a couple of Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches too.

I took the remaining seitan patties, dipped them in even more hot sauce, coated them in panko, and baked them for a few minutes until crispy. Absolutely delicious with some Vegenaise (though really, what isn’t delicious with Vegenaise?)

Heart Attack Specials

By Monica on February 22nd, 2008

I’m pretty sure if I walked into my cardiologist’s office and told him I’d been eating spare ribs, meatloaf, pastrami sandwiches, and French fries all this week, he’d advise me to check myself into the mental ward and have my head examined.  But then he would remember that I’m vegan and I can actually eat all of these things without compromising my cholesterol levels.  Ah yes, pity the poor, deprived vegan, mwah ha ha…

Up first, Not Your Momma’s Meatloaf, ala Vegan Vittles.  It uses peanut butter as the binder and is presently at the top of my list for “best mock meatloaf”.  Come on, peanut butter AND meatloaf, how can that be bad?

And then we move onto Bryanna’s Hard Salami.

The consensus at my house is that it came out more pastrami-like than salami, but it was a really fantastic lunch meat analog either way.  Given that Ray survives on lunch ‘meat’ and cereal in my absence, this was a big hit.  The whole peppercorns make this complete, add lots if you try it!

A much healthier alternative to traditional French Fries, these are a Caribbean Sweet Potato French Fry from one of Sarah Kramer’s books.  (I can’t remember which book, sorry!)

And finally, Spare Ribs, also from Vittles.  This uses a homemade BBQ sauce, so there isn’t even much sugar in it!  Is it possible to eat like this guilt-free?!

Something fishy

By Monica on January 30th, 2008

I may open the floodgates with this one, but today I’m going to poke fun at fish eaters. Everyone knows a pescatarian or two, everyone knows one who calls him or herself a vegetarian (much to our horror). I have a friend who calls pescatarians “fishocrites”. Perhaps you were a pescatarian at some point? I was, for about a week when I first began my journey to veganism.

In any case, here are some good reasons why eating fish stinks, and tasty ways for you to get your fish craving on, sans cruelty, PCB’s, or mercury poisoning.

Reason #1, Meal #1 - If current rates of overfishing continue, our seas will be barren by 2048. “100% of [fished] species will collapse by the year 2048. (…) In addition, ocean ecosystems will be unable to recover from shrinking populations of so many species of fish and other sea creatures…”

And for the tasty meal to eat instead of adding to the global overfishing crisis? Cornmeal Battered Tofu Phish Phillets. I was pleasantly surprised at what a great fish replacer this turned out to be. The texture was amazingly fish-like, they’re simple to make, and really inexpensive. Serve it up with some uber-simple vegan tarter sauce.

Reason #2, Meal #2 - Factoid: Some fish tend well-kept gardens, encouraging the growth of tasty algae and weeding out the types they don’t like. Cool, eh? In 2008 it seems silly to have to say this, but fish do feel pain. They have social structures, talk to one another, build nests, and have cognitive learning abilities matching or exceeding mammals. In short, they deserve our respect and compassion too, fishocrites.

Ok, the meal is kind of a cheat, I admit. I’ve personally never had a “Fillet-o-Fish” from McSucks, but I have to wager that this version tastes better. It’s certainly healthier for you, and absolutely healthier for the fish. Look, you can even throw it on a cheap white bun for authenticity!

Reason #3, Meal #3 - “Salmon raised in ocean feedlots, the main source of supply for American consumers, contains such high levels of PCBs, dioxins and other toxic chemicals that people should not eat it more than once a month, according to an extensive study reported in the journal Science.” And it’s not just salmon, do some research into PCBs, pesticides, and methylmercury before chowing down on Nemo.

Meal #3 was an experiment trying to replicate the salmon patties I would make as an omnivore. Back then the salmon was the canned variety. The patties were just firm enough to hold together, and it was always, always served with mac n’ cheese. On my first attempt, I came close enough to the original to call it good. This was also my first time sending tempeh into the food processor, but why not? Complete with a side of Mac N’ Cheez!

And finally, because I know it’s coming: “But, I need to eat fish to get Omega 3 fatty acids!” No, you don’t. Fish do not produce these essential fatty acids, they get them from plant life in their diet. So can you. You can also get them from canola oil, flax, walnuts, soybeans, tofu, etc etc etc ad nauseum. So there.

PCB-Free Salmon Patties
8 oz. tempeh, cubed
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
3T vegan tarter sauce
3T cocktail sauce
1T tamari
4T fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
3/4c cornmeal, divided
salt & pepper, to taste
vegetable oil

Place tempeh, onion, green pepper, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, tamari, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, and 1/4c of the cornmeal into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is a course meal, adding a tad more cornmeal to help it stick together if needed. You’re looking for a loose burger patty consistency.

Divide mixture into 4 portions and shape into patties.

Place remaining 1/2c cornmeal into a bowl, season with salt & pepper, and coat each patty.

Coat the bottom of a nonstick pan with vegetable oil and brown patties on both sides over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.

Cornmeal Battered Tofu Phish Phillets
1 lb. extra-firm tofu, frozen, thawed, pressed, cut into 6 slabs
vegetable oil for frying
Marinade:
4T vegetable oil
1 1/2C water
2T Nutritional Yeast
1t sea salt
1/2t pepper
1T parsley
2t garlic powder
2t onion powder
Dry Mix:
1C cornmeal
1/2C flour
1t parsley
1/2t sea salt
1/2t onion powder
1/2t garlic powder
1/2t pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the tofu and let marinate for one hour.

Mix dry ingredients in a shallow bowl. Remove the tofu from the marinade, shake off most of the liquid, and coat both sides with the dry mix. In a large skillet, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Pan fry fillets until golden and crispy on both sides.

Operation Pantry Clean Out Begins

By Monica on January 16th, 2008

Around the first of this year, I was bitten by the “clean out the pantry bug”.  The chickens delighted in all the stale cereal I threw out, and I discovered that I don’t need to buy lentils or dried beans for at least 50 years.  Short of fresh veggies, I’m going to attempt to use all the old pantry food and old freezer food before shopping again.  Thus, this week began Operation Pantry Clean Out and our first night of mystery meals began.

I have at least a dozen blocks of tofu in the freezer because I only make it to civilization about every other month & tend to stock up, so Chick’n Salad was easy enough.  I’ve finally tweaked a ‘chicken’ salad recipe to my liking, this is pretty darn authentic, I think.

I always have potatoes on hand because I cannot live without them.  But I also have a few winter squashes left over from the farmer’s market; I’m always surprised at how well they store.  How do you combine the two?  Squash Stuffed Potato Skins!  These turned out really well, sometimes mystery meals end up the best.

And finally, Bryanna’s Key Lime Bars (from the July/Aug/Sep ‘06 Vegan Feast).  As you know, I am a huge fan of Bryanna’s recipes, but I think this may be my favorite thus far.  There is absolutely no way anyone would ever know this wasn’t authentic egg-saturated key lime pie.  I’ve been to the FL Keys many times & had all the gourmet key lime pies, I’m telling you - this is better.  You may be asking how this fits into the Pantry Clean Out… I have several containers of frozen key lime juice in the freezer.  I bought a bag of key limes on sale last year, didn’t use them, and thought I’d juice the little suckers and freeze it.  Worked perfectly and I have enough left for many more pans of these amazing bars!

Chick’n Salad
1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
2T lemon juice
1/2t celery salt
1c diced celery
1/2c raisins
1/3c diced green onions
1/2c slivered almonds
1c non-dairy sour cream
1/2t pepper
1 pinch cayenne
1/2t cumin
1t tamari or soy sauce
1/4t liquid smoke

Cut tofu into 1/4″ cubes.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix well.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  (If you have fresh grapes on hand, slice some and throw those in as well!)

Squash Stuffed Potato Skins
~5 medium russet potatoes
2c pureed winter squash
2T EB
1t salt
1/2t pepper
1/2t garlic powder

Bake potatoes using your desired method.
When they are fully cooked, slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the innards, leaving about 1/4″ attached and skins intact.
Place skins on a baking sheet and roast at 450° for 6-8 minutes, until skins are just crispy.
While skins are roasting, combine the potato meat, squash, EB, and spices in a large bowl.  Mix well, to the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Remove skins from oven and stuff with the squash mixture.
Return stuffed skins to the oven and roast for 10 minutes longer.
Serve with non-dairy sour cream and salsa.