Monthly Archives: May 2008

by | May 21, 2008 · 10:02 pm

Spicy Hot Seitan…

Over on I Am The Animal, I wrote about a new seitan recipe I created.  The recipe came about because I wanted some spicy asian food, but I didn’t have any sambal or sriracha.  So I used lots of red pepper flake.

Here is the recipe: Red Pepper Seitan.

If you have never heard of seitan (pronounced like our favorite arch demon from Christian mythology), it is a dough formed from the gluten of hard winter wheat.  The dough is kneaded and then cooked in a special broth.

To serve seitan, it needs to be simmered in a sauce (I like either BBQ sauce or tamari…)  The best part is if you put it in a stir fry, you almost can’t tell that its meat.

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by | May 16, 2008 · 9:49 pm

Mmm… Shogun

Tonight we went to my favorite sushi place…Shogun in Overland Park, KS.

(Yes, Kansas seems an odd place for the mecca of sushi, but I’ve eaten sushi in every town I visit.  Shogun is best, though Maki in Irvine, CA isn’t too shabby.)

So there’s only one problem…I’m vegan. 

I do have an ace up my sleeve.  Given that when I was eating fish, I routinely droped $80-$100 a meal there, I’ve celebrated my last 7 birth days there and my son’s birthdays (including the night he was born) there, the chef was nice enough to make me a roll with the following ingredients:

  • Tofu
  • Tempura Asparagus
  • Carrot
  • Japanese Pickles

I highly recommend everyone trying it.

This brings up a question, though.  Would you, my loyal readers, be interested in a short set of posts on making sushi at home?  It’s easier than it sounds, I promise…

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by | May 15, 2008 · 9:32 pm

I Made Ketchup

Okay, there’s a big part of me that feels a certain culinary snobbery should prevent me from being as happy about this as I am, but I can’t help it.  I made ketchup.

My wife was making vegan meatloaf (which was really quite excellent, especially when topped with my ketchup…) when she realized that we were out of the red stuff.  That suited me just fine as store bought ketchup is laden with lots of sugars and preservatives and stuff I don’t really need.  The only real use for ketchup is on burgers and meatloaf and I don’t eat either very often.

So out comes the following ingredients:

  • 1 12.5 oz can of tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of vegan sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of sea salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon of pepper (I would NOT use freshly ground here)
  • 1 tablespoon of garlic poweder
  • 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar

And I took the following steps:

  1. Blend ingredients
  2. Let the mixture sit for ten minutes.  This lets the flavors combine and remove some of the sting of the vinegar.
  3. Smear on meatloaf or fries or burgers or hot dogs or whatever.

I swear this is better and healthier than anything you’ll get in the store.

 

 

 

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by | · 6:50 am

When I Am Sick, I Crave Junk Food

I don’t get it.  I really don’t understand.

At a time when I should be loading my body with fresh fruits and vegetables and all the vitamins and minerals that entails, all I want to do is eat two things: hot and sour soup and friend wontons.  This has been the meal of choice for me no matter how often I am sick or what ails me.  (Yes, I love fried food when I have the stomach flu…)

There’s only one problem… beef (well…when you’re vegan anyway.)

So here’s my solution:

In place of hot and sour soup, I get a big bowl of vegan miso soup and rice noodles.  I’ve tried vegan hot and sour soup and quite frankly, it sucks.

Then for all that yummy vegan fried food goodness:

Vegan Egg Rolls

  • 1 head of cabbage (the smaller the better unless you are feeding a vegan army.)
  • 2 large carrots, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon of black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon of ginger powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder
  • 1 healthy pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce (if the cabbage if sufficiently large, more would not hurt.)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons of water
  • 1 sheet of store bought egg roll wrappers
  • Oil for frying
  1. Remove dry outer leaves of the cabbage.  Rinse what is left.
  2. Because we’re sick, we’re doing this the easy way.  Use the veggie shredder of your food processor to turn the cabbage and carrots in to small shreds.
  3. At this point, depending on crunchy you like your vegetables, you can put the shreds into a skillet with the salt, soy and two tablespoons of olive oil.  Saute for about 3-5 minutes until the cabbage has started to wilt and the carrots soften.  This is optional.
  4. Add the spices (and the soy if you have not done so) with the veggie mixture.
  5. Mix egg and water in a small bowl to form an egg wash for holding the wrapper together.
  6. Place two tablespoons of veggies to an egg roll wrapper.  Straighten the mixture into a line and roll the egg roll like a burrito.
  7. Fry in hot oil (I like non virgin olive oil) until golden brown.

If you are really stuffy…serve with a sauce made of 1 part low sodium soy to 1.5 parts of sriracha hot sauce (which isn’t technically vegan) or better yet sambal olek.  Bring some kleenex.

So that’s what I eat when I am sick, what’s your go-to comfort food when you are sick?

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by | · 6:13 am

Well…Here Goes Nothing

I joined a blog pack last night.  Now…to start blogging.  Welcome everyone from the blog pack.  I promise to be far more active now than in the past.

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by | May 1, 2008 · 5:38 am

New Vegan Blog

Hi everyone, I have decided to go Vegan for 90 days and working out at least 5 times per week during that 90 day period.

I am journeling my missteps, trials, tribulations, and hopefully successes at http://iamtheanimal.blogspot.com

I will still be posting to this here blog, at least as much as I have done recently.

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