Vegan MoFo VII, Day 10: Potato Cheese Soup

Potato Cheeze Soup from Cozy Inside

Cheeze?  Oh, geez.

There was definitely a time when I thought it was super cute to purposely misspell the names of foods that were vegan versions of non-vegan foods, like cheeze and creem.

Yeah. I don't do that anymore.

Spelling it wrong, is like admitting that it's not real food, and vegan food is far from being fake.

What's up MoFos? Day 1: S#@! on a Shingle from Cozy Inside

That's right, today is day numero uno of what is going to be one amazing Vegan MoFo.  "What is Vegan Mofo" you ask?  It's only the coolest month on the blogosphere all year long.  A month full of vegan food, pictures, inspriation, stories, and recipes from bloggers all over the world.

Throw Back Thursday! Maple Corn Fritters from Cozy Inside

These little fellas area throwback to my very first ever cookbook, Cozy Inside, that I wrote and published all by myself way back in 2007.  Now I admit, the way this book came out, it was more like a 'zine than a book, but I stand by these recipes, even if the poor grammar, layout, shamefully close up photographs, and typos made that book one helluva mess.

The nice thing about looking back to this book, is it really shows how far both I, and the world of veganism, have come.  Back then it was already getting pretty east to be vegan, but there was not nearly as many blogs, cookbooks, and vegan products on the market as there are now.

Two for Tuesday: TVP

A Word About TVP

"TVP, textured vegetable protein. What the heck is it? Your new best friend, that’s what it is.  TVP is actually a brand name for “hydrolized vegetable protein,” which you see on ingredients lists for many foods. It is produced from soy flour after the soybean oil has been extracted, then cooked under pressure, extruded and dried.  Why is it your new best friend? Because it is the easiest meat substitute to use, it is super low in fat, super high in protein and fiber and can be used anywhere that a recipe calls for ground beef with very little effort. Oh, and it tastes great too.  Okay, on it’s own, it tastes kinda gross, but when spiced properly, damn.  To use TVP, it must be reconstituted.  The standard for reconstituting TVP is 1 cup granules to 7/8 cup boiling water.  BORING!  I always suggest adding a little something to the mix.  Even if its just adding a veggie bouillon cube to the water.  I usually use veggie stock to reconstitute my TVP, and sometimes I will add a little Bragg or Tamari too, depending on the recipe.  TVP makes great veggie burgers, meetballs, tacos and meetloaf, and tastes great added to sauces and chilis.  It really is the easiest way to make fake meat.  It is sold in many forms from small granules, to cutlet sized chunks.   And I will admit, that the larger chunks kind of freak me out, so for the purposes of this book, buy the small granules. And once again, if you can find it in the bulk bins, get it there, way cheaper." --originally published on page 59 in Cozy Inside, 2007

That was five years ago.  And for the most part, I pretty much stand by that statement.  The only things I would change are:

• The larger chunks no longer freak me out (Hello, Soy Curls?)
• There are lots of brands that make or distribute TVP now.
• I no longer use words like "meetballs" or "meetloaf"  (or "cheeze" or "creem")

And since we already traveling back in time to the good old days of Cozy Inside, here are two recipes from the book using TVP as an ingredient.  (I reprinted these here in almost their exact form as they appear in the book.  It's so funny to see the difference in my writing style over the years.)

Spicy 3 Bean TVP Chili and Sweet Skillet Cornbread

Spicy 3 Bean TVP Chili

Originally appeared in Cozy Inside, page 30

Nothing warms my belly like a big bowl of spicy chili.  Add a big ol’ piece of sweet skillet cornbread, smothered in Earth Balance and I am a happy, happy girl.  This chili is so full of flavor that there is absolutely no reason why the omnivores in your life won’t also love this meal.  

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced
1 whole head, or 8 to 10 cloves of garlic, minced
2 (15 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with the juice (No salt added)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons hot chili powder
3 teaspoons cumin powder
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 cup TVP granules
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

Put oil in a large pot. On medium-high heat, add onions and garlic. Heat until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add all cans, stir well. Add spices, stir well. Add TVP granules, stir well. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring every once in a while.  Top with a dollop of easy nondairy sour creem.

Yield: 8 servings

Old Fashioned Meetloaf

Old Fashioned Meetloaf

Originally appeared in Cozy Inside page 49

The first time i made this, the smells wafting through the kitchen made my mouth water and my heart go pitter-pat.  When it was done, and I took my first bite, i actually said, out loud, “Oh my f#@!, This is one of the best things iIve ever put in my mouth!”

3 cups TVP granules

2 ½ cups vegetable broth, or water

2 tablespoons Bragg, Tamari or Soy sauce

1 large yellow onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus extra pepper to taste

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

½ teaspoon cumin

1 cup ketchup, plus extra ketchup for basting

1 ½ cups vital wheat gluten

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Reconstitute TVP granules in veggie broth & Bragg by mixing it together in a large microwave safe bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 6 minutes.  Set aside.  In a skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent and just beginning to brown, about 7 to 10 minutes.  

Mix all ingredients into the reconstituted TVP, except the extra ketchup and pepper.  Mix well.  Use your hands and knead the mixture together.  Make sure everything is well incorporated.  At this point you can proceed, as is, or take half of the mixture and place it in the food processor and process until it is the consistency of paste.  Then mix the two portions back together, very well, with your hands.  The point of this step is to get your meatloaf to stick together better when you slice it.  TVP is crumbly and when you slice your loaf, if you want perfect slices, use this method.  If you don’t mind crumbly meetloaf, you can skip this step.  It tastes the same either way and I have done it both ways with great results.

Press the “dough” into a well oiled loaf pan very tightly.  As tightly as you can pack it in.  Seriously.  Push hard.  Harder.  Okay, now bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Remove and brush a thin layer of ketchup onto the top.  Return to the oven and bake an additional 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, let stand about 10 minutes and turn onto a serving dish.  Serve with garlic smashed potatoes (page 35) and of course garnish with, you guessed it, more ketchup!

Makes: 2 small loaves, depending on the size of your loaf pan

Sorry it's been so long! I promise to make it up to you with recipes for Mango Salsa, Minty Dog Bones, Maple Corn Fritters and Cedar Smoked Tofu.

I apologize for not keeping up with blogging, but I have a good excuse!

I am not even done yet!

Here it is, Christmas Eve, and I still have baking, knitting and wrapping to finish. It seems I do this to myself every year. I think I am on schedule, but I always end up running out of time!

Anyhow, we went to my mom's house over the weekend to celebrate an early Christmas out on her ranch in Tehachapi. She really does deserve a special mom of the year prize for making sure there was enough for me to eat. She also introduced me as "the Vegan daughter" to her friends and neighbors. I guess that beats some other names she could've given me, right? In Tehachapi, in was an average of about 30-40 degrees while we were there. For me, a SoCal native, that was pretty darn cold. But even in the cold weather, my mom's true nativeness came out and she made a wonderful Mango Salsa that I am going to share with you now. It was so very yummy!

Mom's Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa
Ingredients:
1 cup mango, diced
½ cup finely diced cilantro
½ cup red onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt (use more if needed)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 serrano chili, seeded and veins removed, finely diced
Directions:Mix all ingredients and refrigerate overnight to enhance flavor. Serve with tortilla chips.


Since we brought the doggies up with us to her house, she thought it would be a good idea to bake them some treats too. Here is my mom's secret recipe for Yummy Minty Doggie Bones. She even wrapped them in festive little celo bags and made them in the shapes of gingerbread men. Isn't my mom just the best?

Minty Dog Bones

Minty Dog Bones
Ingredients:1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Water
2 ½ Cups Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup Oatmeal
2 Tablespoons Dried Mint
1/3 Cup Chopped Parsley
Directions:Mix oil and water, slowly add flour and other ingredients. Roll dough out on a flat surface.
Cut with cookie cutters. Bake 35 minutes at 325 degrees. I usually turn them half way
through to make sure they don’t brown too much on one side. Makes about 2 dozen depending
on the size of your cookie cutter.

For breakfast on Sunday (aka Christmas) morning, we all gathered around the tree to open presents and then we all had a hearty breakfast of Maple Corn Fritters. Yep, I made the manly men eat vegan fritters. Gasp! They actually liked them!

Maple Corn Fritters

Maple Corn Fritters (from Cozy Inside)
makes 4 HUGE fritters or 8 smaller ones
Ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 cup soy milk
¼ cup pure maple syrup (I use Grade B)
Equivalent of 2 eggs (flax eggs or ener-g works well here)
1 cup frozen or canned corn kernels
Directions
Whisk together corn meal, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix together soy milk, syrup and egg replacers. Add wet to dry and mix well. Fold in corn kernels. Let mixture sit about 5 minutes before cooking. Heat a cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet on high heat with about 1 tbsp of oil. Ladle in the batter. Cook as you would a pancake, flipping when the bubbles are popping and the edges are curling. No longer than 1-2 minutes per side. Serve warm, drowning in Earth Balance and maple syrup. Grade B, of course.


And finally, here is a very easy way to prepare tofu. Cedar Smoked Tofu. So simple.

Cedar Plank Smoked Tofu

First, find yourself a food safe cedar plank. Soak it in water for at least an hour, more if you have time. Preheat your ofen to 200 degrees. Slice up a block of extra firm tofu and arrange it on the plank. Place the plank in the oven and bake for at least 90 minutes and up to 3 hours. The outside of the tofu will brown and become firm. The inside will stay moist and chewy. Use the tofu in any recipe. I just diced mine up and mixed it in with some green beans and garlic. YUMP!

A MonteChristo Reuben?

I was getting the two confused, thinking a reuben was served on French Toast. Apparently I was incorrect, and I was thinking of a MonteChristo, which is served on French toast. Nonetheless, I made this sandwich for dinner tomight. I guess you couls call it a MonteChristo Reuben? I used thw VWAV recipe for Fronch Toast and in between those two golden delicious slices was a pile of thinly sliced and pan fried seitan form Cozy Inside, topped with Sauer Kraut. Super yum!