Welcome back to another #MeatlessMonday.  For this week’s post, I thought I would again review a product from Gardein, who was nice enough to send me several coupons to try their product free of charge.

Now, the WellDone family is quite the connoisseur of vegan faux meat replacements, stemming back from the time that we were vegan or vegetarian.  Even though we have started to eat meat again, we still love faux meats because they taste good, but have far less fat and many fewer calories than the real thing.  That’s a good thing.

So, how did Gardein crispy tenders stack up?

The Good

When grading vegan faux meat products, I tend to grade them on two factors (also known as the BlogWellDone Vegan Meat Product Dual Index Rating System™…okay that’s not true.)  The first factor takes into account how tasty the vegan meat product is overall.  In other words, it measures the product on its own merits.  The second factor is how pleasing a non-vegetarian/vegan would find the product. 

All in all, Gardein crispy tenders are probably my favorite vegan chicken nuggets on the market.  Gardein’s chick’n has a nice, sweet flavor like good white meat chicken and it has pretty good texture for not being the real thing.  Plus, the breading that has been deep fried on (yes, I said deep fried) and is slightly salty with a nice hint of pepper.  We cooked them in the oven according to package direction and they were decently crispy, especially for frozen chicken nuggets.  So in the overall factor, they do very, very well.

How do they do as a meal for non-vegan/vegetarians?  Of all the Gardein and Morning Star Farms and other frozen faux meats, the Gardein crispy tenders rate as my fave for non-vegetarians.  In fact, if you serve them with a dipping sauce, most of your carnivorous eaters will have no idea that there’s no meat in them there tenders.

The Bad

Actually, there wasn’t that much bad about Gardein crispy tenders.  If anything, it might be the shape.  They’re too long to be nuggets and not long enough to be chick’n fingers.  Visually,  my son was more than able to tell that the crispy tenders weren’t his usual nuggets and this caused a whole slew of issues.  But that’s more my son’s issue than anything else.

In Conclusion

Buy them, they are good.  What, you were expecting something poetic? 

In all seriousness, the Gardein chick’n tenders were really good and could be eaten by themselves, in quesadillas, in sandwich wraps, on salads, coated in buffalo sauce, however you like.  They are BlogWellDone approved!

So, yeah, in the end, give them a try.  They are perfect for this Meatless Monday or next week’s or the week after or the week after…

Photo from Gardein.com.

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So for this #MeatlessMonday post, I thought I’d review Gardein‘s Chick’n Good Stuff.  The nice folks at Gardein were nice enough to send me some review coupons for their products.

I was really appreciative of them doing so, so much so that I didn’t even think about the fact that you can’t get Gardein in Kansas City (that I know of.)  So, on a trip to St. Louis, Mrs. WellDone was able to land the mother load of frozen Gardein products.  For this post, I will talk about the Chick’n Good Stuff and in future posts, we’ll talk about the “beef” tips and their “chicken” fingers (both of which were really good.

What is Chick ‘n Good Stuff?

Chick ‘n Good Stuff is basically everything you want in a vegan meal.  They take their garden/plant-based chicken and stuff it with marinara and vegan cheese.  The outside is breaded with a flavorful coating.  You bake, you eat, you enjoy.  End of story.

The Good

Of all the Gardein products I’ve tasted from Mrs. WellDone’s mother load, these are probably my favorite for one reason: the marinara.  Sure, everyone at Gardein just winced a little because I didn’t say the chicken, but that’s not a knock against the plant-based chicken at all.  I really did like how moist and tender it was.  But the marinara was like… amazing.  I would have eaten it all by itself.

Don’t get me wrong, Gardein makes a mean vegan chicken.  It has all of the texture and most of the taste of real chicken.  (Gardein chicken has a slight aftertaste that was less than chickeny, but that’s common to all plant-based chicken products.  It’s also a little harsh because I was paying careful attention to any difference between Gardein and real meat for this review since I think it’s important faux meat products get close to what they are emulating.)  So really Chick’n Good Stuff gets high marks in the flavor and the “I’d drive to St. Louis and buy it again even if it means buying less Match Meat category.”  Two thumbs up.

The Less Than Good

I’m not labeling this “the bad” by any means, but there was one part of the Gardein that was less good than the others: the vegan cheese.  Not that Gardein doesn’t get an A for effort, but as a non-vegan, I could tell it wasn’t real cheese.  It just didn’t feel right.

Is that fair of me to judge Gardein on?  Maybe not, but I rate vegan food on two scales:

1) Would I eat this as a vegan?  The answer is everyday.

2)Would I serve this to my non-vegan friends in order to get them to consider veganism?  This is where the Chick’n Good Stuff stumbles.  I probably would not because of the vegan cheese.  If I had non-vegan friends coming over, I’d make the Crispy Tenders instead because those were almost perfect copies of real chicken.

The Verdict

Buy and try them.  Even if you are not vegan, the marinara is good by itself and the whole experience is worth a try.

Picture from gardein.com

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Let’s Talk Risotto

I don’t know if I have ever gone into the risotto making process, but it was a dish I set out to conqueror when I decided I was going to be a serious home chef.  So, it always has that feeling of being really important, even if it’s not that difficult to make.  Even better, it makes a satisfying, hearty vegetarian dish.

You know, I say that it’s not difficult to make, but it’s not entirely difficult to mess it up, either.  The good news is that I’ve made most of the mistakes one can make when cooking risotto and I’ve boiled them down in the following essay I call “Making Risotto.”

Making Risotto

Okay, so there are a few things to keep in mind when making risottos.  First, no matter how you’ve heard Gordon Ramsey pronounce it on Hell’s Kitchen, it’s “ruh-ZO-toe”, not “ree-SOT-to.”

In all seriousness, the real first thing you have to think about when making risotto, however you pronounce it, is the rice.  You need an Italian short grain rice, which usually means, Arborio rice.  Why?  Because it can hold a lot of liquid (good for flavor) and because it’s full of starch  (good for making the risotto creamy.)  You can still use the risotto technique on other rice grains, but it’s not going to be the same.

The second thing to think about when making a risotto is the liquid you are going to use to cook the rice.  See, the risotto making process includes cooking the rice slowly by adding cooking liquid a ladle or two at a time.  Most of the flavor of the dish is going to come from whatever went to flavor the liquid.

A lot of times you’ll see risottos start with an alcohol (white wine and champagne are my two personal favorites.)  After that, the recipes just call for “broth or stock.”

Balderdash I say!  (I really do say balderdash, actually.)  Yes, you want to use a broth or a stock, but you want to use one that is has a really nice flavor.  This excludes store bought broths.  (They’re good, but they’re not risotto good.)  So, if you bought your broth/stock from the store, you should really think about adding your own flavors (what chefs call fortifying it.)  We’ll be fortifying our stock in the following recipe.

Now you may be asking yourself why we can’t just add nothing but alcohol.  Well, I have it on good authority that a) it doesn’t taste very good and b) it doesn’t cream up like a risotto should.  So, there you have it, we start with liquor, then we’ll use good-old fortified stock.

Now, recipe time.

Mushroom White Wine Risotto

This is a great risotto, made hearty with some lovely mushrooms.

You will need:

• 2 onions, 1 minced, the other roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 8 cups broth or stock
• 1 stick butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound assorted mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• (optional) 1/2 mascarpone cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Yes, I realize the ingredient list is a little convoluted.  That’s because we’re making three things: the stock, the mushrooms, and the risotto itself.

First, the stock.

Put the roughly cut onion, carrots, celery, and cilantro in a pot with the broth/stock.  Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.  Taste the stock.  Is it awesome?  If not, keep cooking it for a while longer.

Next, make the mushrooms.  6 oz (3/4) of the stick of butter goes into a skillet.  Once melted, add the garlic and stir it around in the butter.  Then add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt.  Cook until the mushrooms are brown and shriveled.

Now, it’s risotto time.

In a skillet with high sides, add the olive oil and let it get hot over medium-high heat.  Once hot, add the minced onion and another pinch of salt.  Cook until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes.  Then add the rice and toast for about a minute, stirring so that the rice is coated in oil and onion as much as possible.

Add the white wine.  Let the rice cook until it is completely dissolved.  Then add the 2 ladles of stock, stir, and let the rice cook.  Continue adding stock until the rice is fully cooked through and cannot absorb any more liquid.  (Believe me, that’s going to take a lot of stock.)  Then add in the mushrooms and stir until they are warm.

Stir in the rest of the butter and mascarpone cheese (if you want.)  Top with Parmesan and serve immediately.

As my old culinary teacher Cody Hogan once said, the guests must wait on the risotto, because the risotto will not wait on the guests.  So, what are you waiting for?

Enjoy!

Note: if you find that your rice is too hard, try lowering your heat to either medium or the space between medium and medium-high.

If that doesn’t help, try toasting your rice for a shorter period of time.  I’ve heard it’s possible to overcook the outside of the rice so much it can’t absorb liquid.

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Espinaca At Home

(Quick side note: welcome back to #MeatlessMonday.  It’s been awhile, but the drought is finally over.)

So, you may be wondering what is this espinaca that I speak of.  Alternately, you may have ordered espinaca before.  Either way, let me assure that cardboard or no, if you have not ordered the espinaca from Abuelo’s, you haven’t had espinaca as good as it can be.

See, most of the time espinaca is a white cheese dip that has been swirled with spinach, spices, and sometimes other vegetables like corn or red peppers.  As is, it’s delicious.  However, Abuelo’s took the concept and blasted it to new heights of flavor when they devised the devilishly delicious espinaca casserole which looks a little like what’s pictured above (and looks exactly like the picture in the other link, which I need not display again.)

Either way, what the good folks at Abuelo’s did was take the original cheese dip concept, add some different flavors, spices, etc.,  top it with cheese and finally bake it.  Yes, there are a few steps to make the dish, but it’s not terribly difficult to execute.

And it’s worth it.

Espinaca Recipe

Like I said, there are several steps in this dish, but mostly they can be done simultaneously.  With practice, it should be completed in no time at all.

You will need:

• 2 small packages frozen spinach
• 2 cups heavy cream or whole milk
• 3 cups Monterey Jack cheese (divided)
• 1 chipotle in Adobo sauce, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Adobo sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn

Preheat the oven to 350.

Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover both packages of spinach.  Add the spinach and a healthy pinch of salt.  Bring the water to a boil and cook the spinach until warm.  Drain very well.

In a second saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over medium heat.  Then add 2 cups of cheese, the chopped chipotle, and the Adobo sauce.  Stir until the cheese is well melted.  Keep it warm over low heat.

In a skillet over high heat, add the olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add the red pepper and saute until soft.  Add the spinach and continue cooking until hot.  Pour into an oven-safe container, then sprinkle in the corn.  Top with the cheese sauce and stir.

Top with the rest of the shredded cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes or until melty.  If you want, you can also switch over to the broiler to get the top very crispy.

Thanks to love?janine for the picture.

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Grilled Leeks

This is a follow up to grilled green onions, a post in which I talked about the Well Done family’s desire to find new foods and grill them.  The inspiration for this little gem struck in the grocery store when we were picking up some green onions.

Suddenly, Mrs. WellDone spots some nice, fresh leeks and asks “Would those be good grilled?”

Which then launched us into the following culinary adventure.

Grilled Leeks Recipe

My wife told me she found a two-stage approach online, which worked very well.  All you need to do is blanch the leeks, then get them on the grill.  Feel free to experiment with any spices you like to enhance the leeks flavor.  Salt, pepper, and garlic powder are pretty classic around the Well Done household, but do whatever sounds good.

You will need:

• 2 leeks
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pepper
• Garlic Salt

Preheat the grill.

Cut the leeks in half length wise and then again in half through the middle.  Soak in water for a few minutes to remove some of the sand and grit.

Put into well salted, boiling water for two minutes.  Remove and immediately (but gently) put into an ice bath.

Remove from the ice bath and path dry with paper towels, then drizzle the cut sides with half of the olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Put the leeks on the grill cut side down and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Drizzle the non-cut side with the rest of the olive oil and a bit more salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Eat!  Enjoy!

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Apple, Banana, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Yes, this recipe is very simple, but it’s important to know that there are fun, meatless alternatives we can give our kids that aren’t fried or full of sugar.  Sure, some peanut butters are little more than hydrogenated oil and sugar, but this recipe can be healthy if you use the no sugar added peanut butter.

Besides, if you add enough apples, bananas, and perhaps a touch of honey (or agave), they’ll never know the difference!

Apple, Banana, and Peanut Butter Sandwich Recipe

Get ready for a recipe that requires no cooking at all.  I suggest toasting your bread, but you don’t even have to do that.

You will need:

• 2 slices whole wheat bread
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1/2 apple, diced
• Honey or agave nectar to taste

Toast the bread in your toaster or in an oven.

Spread the peanut butter over the bread, cover with bananas and apples.  Drizzle honey on top.

Enjoy!

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#MeatlessMonday Red Wine Braised Tofu and Seitan

So I got this idea off the Meatless Monday newsletter, which dutifully hits my inbox every week and gives me all kinds of delicious meatless recipe ideas.  On this week’s menu is a recipe for tofu coq au vin, which is mind blowing.

Coq au vin is a traditional French cooking liquid made from wine, lemon juice, lardons (which somehow didn’t make it into the meatless version…), mushrooms and garlic.  This liquid is then used to add a world of flavor to tofu which has been hard seared.  Pretty cool and certainly something I’d never thought of to do. 

So, I was thinking, if tofu could be made coq au vin style, what else could we do with wine and tofy?  And from those ponderings comes today’s recipe.  Well, that and I like seitan.

Red Wine Braised Tofu and Seitan Recipe

The key to this recipe, of course, is the red wine.  First, you definitely want to cook with something you’d like to drink since it will flavor both the tofu and the seitan.  Second, if you’re vegan or trying to eat vegan, make sure you check that your wine was produced without using any animal products.  Last,  you’ll probably want something a little dry for this.

Once you have the wine, all you need to do is add in some flavor and cook the tofu, seitan, and a few veggies.  Then, eat.

You will need:

• 1 package of tofu
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 24 oz seitan
• 1 bottle dry red wine
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

If you can, about an hour before you start cooking, press your tofu, then cut into 1 inch by 1/2 inch pieces about 1/4 inch thick.  If you don’t have the time to press your tofu, cut it into those sized pieces and apply gentle pressure with your hands.

Get 4 tablespoons of olive oil very hot in a high-sided skillet and stir fry the tofu until golden brown.  Then set aside. 

Depending on how much oil is left, you may need to up to two tablespoons of olive oil back into the skillet so that you are starting with two tablespoons.  Set the heat to medium-high. 

Add all the vegetables and saute until the onions begin to turn clear (about 8-10 minutes.)  Then add the peppercorns, thyme, and seitan.  Saute the seitan for 2-4 minutes on each side or until it turns brown.

Add the red wine, lemon juice, and tofu into the pot.  Bring the wine to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium so it is just boiling.  Put a lid over the skillet and braise the tofu and seitan for 20 minutes so that they have time to soak up as much of the liquid as they can.

Serve with noodles and enjoy!

Thanks to access.denied for the picture.

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Magalie L'Abbe's Poblano Peppers

From hunger comes inspiration like

#MeatlessMonday Spicy Vegetable Pilaf

So, as usual, it’s Monday, so happy #MeatlessMonday!!  Hopefully everyone is enjoying their weekly respite on meat.  Or maybe you’re just looking for something tasty for dinner… well look no further.

Anyway, this is a simple dinner that can be done with minimal prep and be ready in about 20 minutes of cook time.  All you have to do is chop up your selection of vegetables, saute them a bit in olive oil, then add some rice and broth.  Cover and come back in 20 minutes.  Boom, spicy vegetable pilaf.

Spicy Vegetable Pilaf Recipe

So what makes it spicy?  Easy, whatever you darn well please.  For my recipe, I went with a nice poblano and some red pepper flake, but if you have some peppers you want to rehydrate, some jalapenos, a serrano, or if you are psychotic, a habanero, then go with that.  Whatever it is, slice it up, toss it in, and eat it up.

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 poblano, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pinch red pepper flake
• (optional) 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 2 cups rice
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth

In a soup pot with a lid or a Dutch oven over high heat, add the olive oil.  When the olive oil is hot, add all of the vegetables, a healthy pinch of salt and pepper, the red pepper flake, and the garlic.  Saute the vegetables until the peppers are soft, about 12-14 minutes.

If you are using the tomato sauce, add it now.  Cook it for about a minute.

Add the rice and toss to coat in the olive oil and cook for 1 minute.

Add the broth and cover.  Bring the broth to a boil, then lower the heat to medium.  Continue cooking until the rice is soft and cooked all the way through.

All that’s left is to enjoy!

Thanks to Magalie L’Abbe for the picture of her harvest.

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#MeatlessMonday Vegan Pork Albondigas with Match Meat and Red Gold Tomato Sauce

Phew.  That’s a mouthful.  This post is like already like NASCAR car.  It’s just covered in ads.  Hrmm…let’s see how much worse I can make it.

Anyway, this is the promised second post in my Saturday Edition of #MeatlessMonday.  I’ve been doing a little catch up on the #MeatlessMonday tip since I missed  a few weeks.  So that’s why this is a #MeatlessMonday post.

Secondly, this is a recipe for albondigas, which is Spanish for “meatballs.”  But don’t be fooled.  Sure, there are some albondigas recipes which are pretty much like your average Italian meatball recipe or exceptional one’s at Jasper’s.  (By the way, he’s having a from snout to tail pork dinner Thursday.)  Others, though, use Latin ingredients like corn or jalapenos to give them a unique flavor.  I used this recipe as a basis for my albondigas from About.com because it stuffed them with rice.

Third, since I am trying to do this as a #MeatlessMonday, I figured I’d turn to Match Meat since they are my favorite source of meat replacers and I had a package of ground pork vegan Match Meat in my freezer.

Fourth, most of the recipes you find for albondigas are actually for albondigas soup, which is fine, and it’s how the About.com folks got away with using uncooked rice in the albondigas.  I, on the other hand, didn’t want a soup.  So I found this recipe from WhatsCooking.us for albondigas in ancho chile sauce.  And since the recipe called for diced tomatoes, I was more than happy to use the Red Gold tomatoes that I got in the tin I mentioned yesterday on BlogWellDone.com.

So in the end, I took the albondigas recipe and the sauce recipe and combined them together to make dinner.

(Oh, did I mention I went to the Farmhouse for lunch and guest posted on The Bobby Pin?  And congratulations to Chef Michael Smith for his James Beard nomination and to Chef Debbie Gold for being tapped for Top Chef Masters.)

Vegan Pork Albondigas Recipe with Red Gold Ancho Chili Sauce Recipe

Okay, enough silliness.  It’s recipe time.

You will need:

• 1 ancho chili
• 1 package Vegan Match Meat ground pork
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg’s worth egg replacer
• 1/2 onion
• 4 cups vegetable broth divided
• 1 cup Red Gold tomato
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon pepper

Bring a sauce pan of water to boil, add the dried ancho.  Kill the heat and let the ancho get soft.

Mix the Match meat, rice, 2 cloves of garlic, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and egg replacer in a bowl.  Mix with your hands and roll into 1 inch meatballs.

Pull the stem off the ancho and put it in a blender with the rest of the garlic, the onion, 1 cup of broth, and the Red Gold diced tomatoes.  Blend until smooth.

Put the mixture, the rest of the broth and salt, the oregano, the pepper into a skillet and soup pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 

Add the meatballs, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 20 minutes or until the pork has reached the internal temperature you would like.

Serve with rice and guac on tortillas.  Enjoy!

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Le Seuer Pea Pasta with Red Gold Tomatoes

didn’t take one of its ingredients for your famous pasta dish.  But more on that in a minute.

First thing’s first.  Welcome to the first of two #MeatlessMonday Saturday edition posts.  Yes, yes, it’s been well-documented that having #MeatlessMonday on a Tuesday, Wednesday, etc., etc. is just weird.  But I’m making up for lost time.  I missed a few weeks, but I’m back in saddle just in time for lent.  Just remember, on Fridays when you’re not eating meat, you can eat vegetarian.  You’ll love it.  Promise.

Okay, back to the dish.  As I said above, this recipe is in no way an attempt to copy world famous Chef Jasper Mirabile’s Pasta alla Nanni, though I will admit it was a huge inspiration.  In fact, I hadn’t had Le Seuer peas in years until I went to Chef’s restaurant and he served up a  pasta the Pasta alla Nanni to my wife and I.  Now, they’re back to being a pantry staple in the BWD household.

So, to Chef Jasper I give a nod of thanks and I promise that since you won’t give out the recipe for Pasta alla Nanni to anyone (including BWD, Jr.), I won’t publish any guesses on how to make it.  But I bet I can come close.

With that being said, there’s another ingredient to our battle.  The secret ingredient.

Sorry, I channeled Iron Chef there for a second.

In all seriousness, a little while ago, Red Gold tomatoes sent me the coolest freaking tin of product.  It had three cans of Red Gold tomatoes (sauce, diced, and diced with green chilies), a recipe book, a refrigerator magnet, and a model Red Gold truck that my son loved so much he wrote me a thank you card for it.  So cool. 

So I’ve been holding those cans for something special when I realized that my Red Gold tomato sauce would be perfect for a recipe like this.  Seriously, if you have been using generic tomato suace, I highly recommend you try a good quality sauce like Red Gold tomato sauce next time .   There is definitely a dfference with good ingredients.

Le Seuer Pea Pasta with Red Gold Tomatoes Recipe

As far as recipes go on BlogWellDone.com, you’re not going to find one much easier than this one.

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
• 1 can Red Gold tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon basil
• Spaghetti noodles
• 1/2 can Le Seuer peas
• Parmesan cheese to taste

Get some very well salted water boiling for the spaghetti.

In a skillet over medium-high heat heat, add the olive oil.  When warm, add the onion and a pinch of salt.  Cook until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add the garlic, cook 30 seconds.

Add the Red Gold tomato sauce and basil. 

Drop the pasta right about now.

Cook until the sauce has started to boil, then add the peas.

When the noodles are done, toss them in the sauce.  Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Picture taken from RedGold.com

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