Tag Archives: soy curls

May 15 2012
3 Comments
Recipes

“Chicken” Caesar Wraps

This is a post that I’ll alternatively title “things I miss from ‘before'”. Chicken Caesar wraps and chicken Caesar salads contain the big “no-nos” as far as my digestive tract is concerned: gluten, dairy and eggs. This is an incredibly simple recipe and delicious as well as being higher protein and lower fat than the traditional stuff.

I was inspired because I got some rad chili tortillas from the YummyMunch Bakery and decided we needed to have some Caesar wraps. Now, you might already know I’m not a fan of greasy oily things or fish smells so no cups of olive oil or anchovy paste in this recipe. In your blender or food processor combine the following:
juice from 1 lemon (at least 3 tbsp)
1 tsp to 1 tbsp Dijon mustard depending on the variety
1 block of silken tofu
2 tbsp garlic salt
1 tbsp onion salt
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 heaping tbsp nutritional yeast
syrup or sweetener as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Blend until smooth, adjust the seasonings as necessary. Be careful you pick Dijon mustard for your Ceasar dressing: some mustards will make your dressing taste weird. This is a low fat, no cholesterol and high protein version of your favorite with all the creamy texture and great flavor.

We combined it with soy curls prepared according to the package directions and baked until crispy, spinach, tomato and Eat in the Raw vegan parmesan and wrapped it up in Hayle’s red chili tortillas for a healthy vegan dinner. It was quite a treat!

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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Apr 18 2012
5 Comments
Recipes, Thoughts

Fiddleheads and Ramps: Wild Harvest!

Nothing screams spring to me quite like fiddleheads and ramps. Fiddleheads are the newly budding tips of ferns that are common to the Northeast and ramps are wild leeks. The two make a fabulous pair and can make any meal visually stunning and delicious.
Fiddleheads are the easier of the two to recognize. They can be harvested from several different varieties of ferns: cinnamon fern, royal fern, zenmai and vegetable fern. These grow all over the world but aren’t cultivated by farmers. If you decide to harvest your own, the rule is to harvest fewer than half the fiddleheads from any one plant to allow the plant to survive the assault and produce again the next year. Be careful that you know your ferns, some are thought to be carcinogenic; specifically ostrich fern and royal fern. That being said, this isn’t quite as harrowing as hunting wild mushrooms. Note which varieties of ferns grow in a particular area when they develop fully and then you’re set for the next spring when you go fiddlehead hunting! Caveats being made, these vegetables are an incredibly tasty,  nutritious and filling addition to any meal and they also can be stored by freezing.
The flavor in ramps varies from root to tip. The bulbs have an intense and unique flavor that marries the best elements of onion and garlic. The stem is reminiscent of scallions and the leaves remind me of spinach with a touch of asparagus flavor. Subsequently, I advocate using as much of the plant as possible since the entire plant is harvested and the whole thing is delicious.
When I was a kid we would make this dynamic duo into a salad with chicken and toasted nuts. I loved the flavors but was terrified of chicken and egg products that sat at room temperature for hours and hours. Horrifying thoughts aside, Brent and I decided to try it with soy curls instead and were delighted with the result.
To start you’ll want to gather the following ingredients.
1.5 cups dry soy curls
3 cups water
1 cube veggie bouillon
15 ramp bulbs, peeled and ends chopped off
chopped ramp greens
ramp stems, the red sections, chopped
1/2 cup fiddleheads
1/2 cup vegenaise
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp flake red pepper (optional)
1/4 cup chopped toasted nuts (optional)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
Prepare the water and bouillon in your microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Heat the water at one minute intervals until the bouillon dissolves with light stirring. Add the soy curls. Heat as before until the water is mostly absorbed. Saute with olive oil until lightly browned and crispy. I like to refrigerate this dish in order to cool it, but this salad is also delicious when warm.

Separate the bulbs, stems and greens from the ramps. Saute the bulbs

and fiddleheads until the fiddleheads start to get tender.
Add the greens and stir until they wilt. Refrigerate to cool, if desired.
Combine the soy curls, greens and red stems with the rest of the ingredients. We used Follow Your Heart grapeseed vegenaise. It’s pretty awesome. We also omitted the cranberries. Serve on toasted bread.If you don’t have ramps and fiddleheads, substitute asparagus for the fiddleheads, spinach for the ramp greens, green onion for the ramp stems, and leeks for the ramp bulbs. Wow… that’s way more complicated. If you’re sensitive to soy, seitan or chickpeas would make a great substitute for soy curls. If you’ve got an allergy to pecans, toasted sunflower seeds have a great flavor and crunch.

Really, this stunning and delicious. It was crisp herbal flavors married to the nutty savory soy curls all mellowed out by lemon and vegenaise. We had it with a crisp glass of red wine and savored a lazy Sunday.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!
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Apr 17 2012
6 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Soy Curl-dereta

I decided to add a new item to my Veganized Filipino Dishes collection: Caldereta. I think of caldereta as a Filipino pot roast or beef stew of sorts. The traditional dish is made with goat meat, however, beef is usually used. In general, the meat is cooked in a tomato sauce with potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, peas, and green olives. A lot of people add liver or liver paste, or raisins; my family doesn’t. (Side note: raisins in my food? *gag*)

I was originally going to make the caldereta the usual way but with no meat, but then I remembered that I had a bag of soy curls. This is my first time making anything with (or eating) soy curls, so there was a bit of an unknown here. I’ll admit that I worried that the soy curls would ruin the whole thing, but I decided to take the risk.

Soy Curl Caldereta

1 cup soy curls
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 cup carrots, cut into chunks (or 1 cup whole baby carrots)
1 cup potatoes cut into chunks
1/2 to 1 bell pepper, sliced
1/2 cup peas
handful green olives (add as little or as many as you’d like)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 packet Mama Sita’s Caldereta Spice Mix (yeah, yeah… I’m lazy)

First, I prepped all my veggies. Then I threw some olive oil into a medium pot, browned the garlic, and then added the water over medium heat. When the water started to boil, I added the potatoes, carrots, and the seasoning and covered until it started to simmer.

I uncovered the pot and added the tomato sauce. I mixed it around a bit and then lowered the heat and covered the pot. While that was simmering, I took my cup of soy curls and rehydrated them in a bowl of water.

By the time the dish was simmering nicely, the soy curls were ready. I don’t know what I was expecting when it came to the soy curls. I knew they would be soft, but I wasn’t prepared for the smell. It was as if I had been instantly transported to a grocery store in Argyle.

After the soy curls were heated, I topped off the pot with the rest of the ingredients, covered the pot, and let it sit over low heat for about 5 minutes. You can leave over the heat for longer; I like wanted my peppers to retain some of their crunch.

Serve the dish over rice. Some things to note:

  • The Mama Sita mix contains garlic powder, onion powder, and other spices; it’s vegan.
  • This turned out very sweet. I”m not sure if it’s because of the tomato sauce, the amount of carrots I used, or what. It’s sweet.
  • Red peppers are usually used. I happened to have green in the fridge.
  • Because the traditional version uses meat, this tends to simmer for much longer with the meat, which I’m sure has a lot to do with the flavoring and the final texture of the dish. I might add some beef broth next time I make this.

This was a fun experiment! –Melissa

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Apr 05 2012
3 Comments
Main Dishes

Vegan Buffalo Tacos: not an oxymoron

Brent and I wanted a quick easy meal so we did what any reasonable vegans would do: we made Buffalo tacos. Now, you might be thinking, “buffalo isn’t vegan.” Of course buffalo isn’t vegan, but Buffalo sauce is. This particular marinade hails from Buffalo, New York and typically includes some sort of chili, vinegar and butter or margarine mixed to creamy spicy perfection. In my college days we referred to the sauce’s namesake as “B-lo”, TMI? We’re using Moore’s because it’s made with margarine.

We decided to bake up some soy curls the same way we did for our quesadillas but chickpeas, beans or tofu prepared with a light dusting of chili pepper and soy sauce would be a perfect substitute. While they were cooking, Brent sliced up some bell pepper and onion. When they were done I heated up some corn tortillas in a fry pan; you don’t have to but they taste better. We used corn tortillas but wheat is fine if that’s what you’re into.

Then we dressed up the tortillas with greens, onion, bell pepper, soy curls and a generous dose of Buffalo sauce. This was definitely worth the 20 minutes of prep time; look how happy the guy is!

Next time we might add some sliced tomato and cilantro but it’s totally not a big deal if you don’t have them.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Mar 09 2012
4 Comments
Recipes, Snacks

Cooking Challenge: Buffalo (Chicken) Dip

I must confess that:

  • I was never a fan of Buffalo anything.
  • I never tried Buffalo Chicken Dip until last New Year’s weekend aka My Weekend of Debauchery.
  • I kind of forced my sister to take part in this cooking challenge and now we have a crapload of leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip.
  • there is no more vegan Buffalo (Chicken) Dip left. I ate it all. /burp
  • my loneliness is killing me now don’t you know I still believe that you will be here and give me a sign… hit me baby one more time.

I don’t know where my sudden craving for buffalo chicken dip came from. All I know is that I had to have it this past weekend. As a bonus, it would be a good vegan vs. traditional cooking challenge. I found a lot of vegan recipes online and liked spabettie’s the best (check out her blog for amazing recipes that I can’t wait to try). I didn’t have soy curls, which probably would have taken this to another level, so this is what I ended up using:

Vegan Buffalo Dip

1/2 cup Franks Buffalo Sauce
8 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
1/3 cup Tofutti sour cream
1 cup vegan cheddar, grated (use Daiya if you’ve got it)
5 stalks celery, diced

Combine all the ingredients in an oven-safe bowl or dish. I used two small bowls. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, covering with foil at the 20 minute mark. Serve with celery, tortilla chips, eat it with a spoon… whatever tickles your fancy. The dip might seem soupy but don’t worry: it’ll have a good dipping texture to it after it cools off a bit. I got so excited while making this and then stuffing my face with it that I didn’t get any good photos. I suppose I could make some more this weekend, but having “everything in moderation” still applies to vegan junk/snack foods.

This dip is totally potluck-worthy. I don’t think non-vegans would be able to tell the difference, but you should caution anyone you serve it to in case they have a soy allergy, which my sister has. This is something that should be shared and not completely devoured by oneself while in the midst of a stress/PMS-induced craving attack. Trust me: you might regret it, even though the dip is delicious.

Let me know if you try this out with soy curls. And be sure to check out spabettie.com! xoxo… Melissa

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Jan 28 2012
8 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Quesadillas… you know you want some.

Tonight I’m making quesadillas, vegan style. For the basic recipe you only need 5 things:

tortillas, corn or flour

hot sauce

onion, diced

bell pepper, diced

vegan cheese (I use Daiya pepperjack but their cheddar and mozzarella work fine too)

I’m dressing things up a little tonight and adding soy curls.

They’re a lot like chicken except that all by themselves they’ve got a nutty flavor and no gristle. I prepare mine by reconstituting in water in my microwave, draining, and spreading out on a foil lined baking sheet. I sprinkle them with a little soy sauce, flaked red pepper, nutritional yeast (optional), and a spray of olive oil. I bake them at 300F/150C for 30 minutes or until the edges start to brown. This is what they look like before baking.

Now comes is the easy part. Place a tortilla in a lightly oiled nonstick pan, add some “cheese” and a light sprinkling of  onion and bell pepper. I added a few strips of my soy curls and then put a little more cheese on top.

You don’t need a lot of cheese: just enough to get things to stick together. Add a few drips of hot sauce as your personal taste dictates.

On medium heat, wait until the cheese starts to melt (use your nose to avoid scorching), then add that second tortilla and flip. Push any fillings that fall out back into the quesadilla. The cheese will hopefully trap it as it melts.

This is such an easy meal or snack. I literally keep a container of mixed bell pepper and onion in my fridge. It looks like this.

I made some guacamole to go with it and sliced up some tomato and cilantro to go with my vegan quesadillas.

This is Christie, signing off!

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