Beefless Wellington and KFC (Kentucky Fried Cauliflower) Re-create a restaurant meal #veganmofo day six #vgnmf15

Wow, here we are at day six already, time is flying by as usual. There should be a term “mofo time” kind of like tropical island time, but the opposite. In mofo land, time speeds up and flies by before you know it.

Beefless Wellington

Anyway back to mofo day six and our prompt “Re-create a restaurant meal”. I have two restaurant meal recipes for you. The first is Beefless Wellington. You see this at high end restaurants and I wanted to try and replicate the concept of roast beef smothered in a mushroom garlic pesto then wrapped in puff pastry and baked to perfection.

KFC (Kentucky Fried Cauliflower)

The second is a take on KFC, but this time it is Kentucky Fried Cauliflower. Now, there could be a debate on whether KFC is a restaurant, but I am not going there. Last summer I did a post on this and explained how I live one block “down wind” of a local KFC and the aroma that greets me almost on a daily basis has me drooling in my driveway. So for this post, I will link back to that post for the commentary regarding KFC and here for a recipe to satisfy your “finger licking good” cravings.

Enjoy,

 

 

Beefless Wellington

Beefless Wellington

Serves 4

• 1 beefless roast
• 2 Tblspns Dijon mustard
• 2 Tblspns olive oil
• 1/2 lb mushrooms cleaned and sliced
• 4 Tblspns dry red wine
• 3  cloves garlic crushed
• 1/2 tspn thyme
• 6 – 8 slices vegan chicken or turkey
• 1 packet vegan puff pastry
• 2 Tblspns non dairy milk

Beefless Roast

• 1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
• 4 Tblspns chickpea flour
• 4 Tblspns nutritional yeast
• 2 tspns onion power
• 2 tspns garlic powder
• 1 Tblspn vegan worsteshire sauce
• 1/4 tspn ground pepper
• 1   cup water
• 1 Tblspn olive oil
• 1 Tblspn tamari
• 1 tspn browning liquid (optional)
• 8 cups vegetable broth for simmering

Combine all liquid ingredients. In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients to dry and mix well. If necessary add a little more chickpea flour to make a dough like ball. Knead for 5 mins to develop gluten.  Form into a loaf. Wrap in cheesecloth loosely and tie the ends.

Bring vegetable broth to a boil, lower dough in and bring back to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer (do not boil) for  on hour turning occasionally. Allow to cool in broth. When cool, remove from broth and put in a Ziploc bag with 1/4 cup of broth and refrigerate overnight,

Brush roast with mustard on all sides.  Preheat oven to 400 F,

Place mushrooms, garlic and thyme in food processor and process into a pesto. Add to frying pan with olive oil. Sauté for 10 mins until mushrooms have released their moisture and most of it has cooked down. Cool.

Lay out piece of plastic wrap on counter. Place turkey/chicken slices on top overlapping to make a square that is slightly wider than your roast and long enough to wrap completely around.

Spread mushroom pesto on top of turkey slices. Place roast in the middle and wrap with turkey slices using the plastic wrap to help you roll it up. Tuck in ends as you go. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 mins.

Lay pastry down on lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle slightly larger than the previous turkey square.

Place roast in middle of pastry and roll up inside pastry, securing the ends and making sure the roast is completed encased.

Place seam side down on a  baking tray. lightly score the top with slits to allow steam to escape. Brush with milk, bake in oven 25 – 25 mins until golden.

Beefless Wellington

Let sit 10 mins before slicing and serving with your favourite gravy.

Beefless Wellington

Quick, easy and delicious, Zucchetti with Sundried Tomato Marinara Sauce #veganmofo #vgnmf15

Day three of MoFo and all is well……. Well, sort of.

Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

I was browsing around the internet, soaking in all the wonderful vegan posts, and wham, go attacked by a computer virus. Basically the virus attached a secret encryption to all my files and the only way to get my files back was to go to a website and pay to get the secret code…………..I think not……. fortunately I do regular back ups, so a quick loading of the original dvd’s that came with the computer, everything is wiped off and reloaded. Thank goodness for external hard drives and backups. A little inconvenient but nothing too serious.

Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

Continuing on with the theme of quick and easy (didn’t take too much time or effort to restore my computer) and delicious, todays recipe is for Zucchetti with Sundried Tomato Marinara Sauce. You could sub out they zucchetti (spiralized zucchini) with a pasta of your choice if you prefer.

This meal can be totally raw or if you like (as I did) you can add in fried mushrooms.

Enjoy,

 

 

Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

Serves 2

• 2 or 3 zucchini spiralized (or 2 cups of cooked pasta of choice)
• 1 Cup sun dried tomato’s soaked in 1/2 cups hot water for 10 mins (reserve water)
• 1 Tblspn olive oil
• 2 plum tomato’s
• 1 handful fresh basil
• 1 garlic clove
• Sauteed mushrooms and nutritional yeast if desired to garnish

Place spiralized zucchini on paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

Combine drained sun dried tomato’s, olive oil, plum tomato’s, basil and garlic in a blender or food processor. Process until fairly smooth. Add reserved tomato soaking water a tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Place zucchini on two plates. Spoon marinara sauce over top and sprinkle with sautéed mushrooms and nutritional yeast if using.

You may also gently heat the marinara sauce in a small pot before serving if you prefer a cooked sauce.

I like the sauce “raw” and it avoids one more pot to clean, adding to the “quick and easy” part of the recipe…….and it truly is delicious.

Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

Mushroom-Burger Soup with Soft Pretzels #veganMoFo

Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels

Well, it is hard to believe it is already the second last day of MoFo. Time has really flown by. I have enjoyed reading all the new blogs I have discovered and have a list a mile long of recipes I want to try.

I am ending the traditional soup recipes with a vegan version of a favourite of my children. When they were young, my son and daughter loved Hamburger Soup. This soup was filled with tasty vegetables, barley and ground meat.

This vegan version is equally tasty with finely diced mushrooms replacing the ground meat. The soft pretzels are fantastic. They are soft and light with a slightly sweet taste. Perfect for dipping in the soup.

My last post for September tomorrow will be a dessert.  Strawberry Champagne Pearl Soup with Cashew Creme and Palmiers. A fitting finale for this years Vegan MoFo.

Enjoy,

 

Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels

Mushroom-Burger Soup

Makes 6

• 1 Tblspn olive
• 1 Tblsp vegan butter
• 750g white mushrooms finely diced
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery ribs, thinly diced
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
  2 cups water
  3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tblspn parsley
• 1 tspn minced garlic
• 1/2 tspn dried thyme
• ground black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in  large soup pot over medium-high heat, add mushrooms. Cook stirring until the mushrooms have softened and released their liquid.
Stir in the onion, carrots, celery, and barley. Pour in diced tomatoes, water, broth, and tomato soup. Season with bay leaf, parsley, garlic, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and cover; simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels

Soft Pretzels

Makes 6

• 1 cup non dairy milk
  1 package active dry yeast
  3 Tblspns packed light brown sugar
  2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
  2 Tblspns vegan butter, plus more for greasing
  1 rspn fine salt
  1/3 cup baking soda
  2 tablespoons coarse salt

Warm the milk in a saucepan until it’s about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450  and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 527 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 391 Calories from Fat 62

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6.9g 11%

Saturated Fat 2.0g 10%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 3mg 1%

Sodium 6834mg 285%

Potassium 990mg 28%

Total Carbohydrates 68.1g 23%

Dietary Fiber 7.6g 31%

Sugars 12.9g

Protein 16.4g

Vitamin A 80% • Vitamin C 33% Calcium 9% • Iron 45%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Very low in cholesterol
• High in iron
• High in niacin
• High in riboflavin
• High in selenium
• High in thiamin
• Very high in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6

Bad points

• Very high in sodium

Mushroom-burger Soup with Soft Pretzels

Won Ton Soup with Jin Bing (Chinese Flatbread) #veganMoFo

Won Ton Soup with Jin Bing

MoFo recipe # 9 is a Won Ton Soup. The bread for this pairing is called Jin Bing which is a Chinese Flatbread.

I used Spring Roll Wrappers for my Won Tons, as they were the only vegan option I could find. Depending who you listen too, and what you read, spring roll wrappers and won ton wrappers are the same, similar or totally different. The ones I used were made of flour and water and worked perfectly.

For the won ton filling I used finely chopped mushrooms in place of the traditional pork and they tasted wonderful. This totally satisfied my craving for Won Ton Soup.
Enjoy,

Won Ton Soup with Jin Bing

Won Ton Soup

Serves 4

•  12 won ton wrappers

Filling:

• 1 Tblspn sesame oil
  •1/2 pound mushrooms finely chopped
  •1 tablespoon soy sauce
• •1 green onion, finely minced
  •1 teaspoon cornstarch
  •2 dashes of white pepper

Other:

• •Water for boiling won tons
  •4 1/2 – 5 cups vegan chicken stock or vegetable stock
• •2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 Tblspn sesame oil

Heat sesame  oil in pan over medium heat. Add finely chopped mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have released their juices and the juice has evaporated. Add the remaining filling ingredients and cook gently for 2 mins.

Lay one won ton skin in front of you. Cover the remaining won ton skins with a damp towel to keep them from drying out.
Filling the won tons: Moisten all the edges of the won ton wrapper with water. Place a heaping teaspoon of won ton filling in the center.
Fold the won ton wrapper in half lengthwise, making sure the ends meet. Press down firmly on the ends to seal. Use thumbs to push down on the edges of the filling to center it. Keeping thumbs in place, fold over the won ton wrapper one more time. Push the corners up and hold in place between your thumb and index finger. Wet the corners with your fingers. Bring the two ends together so that they overlap. Press to seal.

Alternate method: Place the teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper and twist to seal. The final result should resemble a money bag or drawstring purse.

Boiling the won tons: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the won tons, making sure there is enough room for them to move about freely. Let the won tons boil for 5 – 8 minutes, or until they rise to the top. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon.

To make the soup: bring the stock to a boil. Add the won tons and bring the soup back to a gentle simmer. Add the green onion, remove the pot from the heat and add the sesame oil, stirring. Ladle into soup bowls, allowing 6 won tons per person.

 

Won Ton Soup with Jin Bing

Jin Bing (Chinese Flatbread)
Ingredients:

2 Cups Plain flour

1/2 cup water

Oil and salt

Preparation:

Mix 1 1/2 cups plain flour with a 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 tablespoon of salt, knead it into a dough. Allow it rest for at least 15 minutes.

In a heated saucepan, pour in around 2 tablespoons of oil, then add in 1/2 cup of dry plain flour, stir the flour with oil immediately, let the flour have the full contact with oil. Add some oil if it is need it. In the end, the flour is no longer in its ‘powder’ form, and allow it cool down.

Roll the  dough into a thin flat sheet.

Put ‘stir-fried’ oil flour in the top of the sheet, it does not have to be evenly covered up the whole surface.

Roll the sheet up.

Hold the roll upright, and twist it as much as you can, then press it down to flat.

Roll the ‘flat dough’ again into a sheet, say around 0.5cm thickness

Shallow frying:

In a heated flat saucepan, pour in 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil.

When the oil gets hot, place a pre-prepared ‘sheet’ in the sauce pan.

Turn side to side until both sides turn ‘golden’ colour and get ‘crispy’.

Remove from pan and slice into thin strips.

Won Ton Soup with Jin Bing

 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 525 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 555 Calories from Fat 66

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7.3g 11%

Saturated Fat 1.1g 6%

Cholesterol 0m 0%

Sodium 1625mg 68%

Potassium 306mg 9%

Total Carbohydrates 103.2g  34%

Dietary Fiber 2.6g 10%

Sugars 2.4g

Protein 15.5g

Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 6% Calcium 4% • Iron 42%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• Low in sugar
• Very high in vitamin B6

Bad points

• High in sodium

Won Ton Soup with Jin Bing

Lentil Seitan Roast with Mushroom Sage Gravy and Roasted Harvest Vegetables…..must be Thanksgiving

Lentil Seitan Roast with Mushroom Sage Gravy

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving. Growing up in Australia, we did not celebrate Thanksgiving, but living here, I just love this holiday.

The scenery at this time of the year is just beautiful. Where I live. in Northern Ontario, it is a vibrant mix of dark green, vivid red, burnt orange and bright yellow leaves all mixed in together and situated amongst rocky outcrops and pristine lakes.

While I joke that I hate the Fall because I know Winter is just around the corner (and I am definitely a Summer girl, give me a beach and sunshine and I am happy), the truth is, Thanksgiving weekend is truly magical here.

Last year I tried making a Tofu Turkey, which turned out OK, but not exceptional. This year I am making a Lentil Seitan Roast which is totally delicious. It is stuffed full of mushrooms, leeks, garlic and cranberries and then smothered in Mushroom Sage Gravy…….totaly mouthwatering.

I will also be making  Scalloped Twin Potato’s (white and sweet potato’s in a creamy garlic sauce) and Brocoli with CauliCheez Sauce. Both these recipes will follow in the next day or so.

If you are in Canada, I know this is posting too close to Thanksgiving for you to try, but it is also perfect for the Christmas dinner table. For my American followers, this might be perfect timing for your celebration next month. For everyone else, again, it is perfect for a Christmas dinner, or just because you feel like a wonderful tasty roast.

Enjoy,

Lentil Seitan Roast with Mushroom Sage Gravy

Lentil Seitan Roast

Serves 8

Stuffing:

• 2 tblspns olive oil
• 6 oz mushrooms finely diced
• 2 Leeks sliced finely
• 4 cloves garlic minced or grated
• 2 tblspns fresh thyme chopped
• salt and ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tblspn lemon juice
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

In large pan, saute mushrooms and leeks in olive oil over medium heat until soft, 5 – 10 mins. Add garlic and thyme and continue to cook for additional 2 mins. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add breadcrumbs and mix well. Cook until breadcrumbs begin to toast and mixture is quite dry (make sure to stir often to prevent burning).

Remove from heat, add in broth, lemon juice and cranberries.  Stir to mix well and complete coat breadcrumb mixture. Set aside.

Roast:

• 3 – 6 cloves garlic, minced or grated

  

  

  
  
• 3/4 cup cooked green lentils
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tblspn poultry seasoning
• 3 tblspns soy sauce
• 2 tblspns olive oil
• 2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tspn fennel seeds crushed
• 1 1/2 tspns sweet paprika
• 2 tspns dried thyme
• 2 tspns dried sage
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 F

Place garlic, lentils, vegetable broth, poultry seasoning, olive oil and soy sauce in food processor. Process until fairly smooth.

In large bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Add lentil mixture to dry mixture. Combine well and work into a stiff dough. Knead for a few minutes to make sure everything is incorporated.

Form the “dough” into a flat rectangle that is approx 12 by 10 inches. Place the filling in the centre of the rectangle and form it into a log shape using your hands to squeeze it tightly.  The log should reach to within 2 inches on each side of the “dough”.  Bring the front and back of the “dough” up and over the filling to meet at the top.  Make sure the seam is totally joined by squashing together. Close the ends by squashing the dough togeher.

Lentil Seitan Roast Prep

Place three large sheets foil on workspace. Gently transfer roast to the centre of the foil and wrap up completely, making sure the roast is completely secure.

Lentil Seitan Roast Prep

Place on baking sheet and bake for 1 – 1/2 hours. Every 15 mins, turn the roast on the baking sheet so that every side is in contact with the baking sheet at some time (this will allow the entire roast to brown nicely). After 1 hour, check to see if the roast feels solid by gently squeezing with a pair of tongs. If still soft, allow to cook longer.

Once cooked remove from oven and allow to cool in foil before unwrapping and slicing. This will give the best result. I make this the day before it is required and leave it in the foil overnight in the fridge (after cooling) then place back in the oven, still in the foil for 20 mins to reheat prior to serving.

Mushroom Sage Gravy

Serves 8

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 3 tblspns corn starch
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 tblspns olive oil
• 16 oz mushrooms, finely diced
• 4 – 6 cloves garlic minced or grated
• 2 tspns dried thyme
• 1 tspn dried sage
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tblspns nutritional yeast

In large bowl or jug mix together vegetable broth and cornstarch until dissolved. Set aside.

In large pot over medium heat, saute onions in oil for 5 mins until soft. Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, sage, salt and pepper and continue to cook for additional 5 mins.

Add vegetable broth/cornstarch mixture and nutritional yeast. Continue to cook over medium heat for 20 mins, stirring often.

Gravy can be served as it is, or if you prefer a smoother gravy, allow to cool slightly then transfer to a blender and blend gently until smooth. You may need to add a little water or broth if too thick.

Roasted Harvest Vegetables

This is not really a recipe. Just take whatever vegetables you like, cut into serving size pieces, toss in a little olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper and sea salt to taste.

Place in a baking pan and roast in oven at 375 F for approx 20 – 40 mins depending on vegetables used.

Harvest Roast Vegetables Prep

I used  heirloom carrots, parsnips, pumpkin and sweet potato.

 

 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 493 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 490 Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 14.0g 21%

Saturated Fat 2.1g 11%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 972mg 41%

Total Carbohydrates 56.5g 19%

Dietary Fiber 17.0g 68%

Sugars 8.8g

Protein 40.9g

Vitamin A   176% • Vitamin C 44% Calcium 13% • Iron 58%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• High in dietary fiber
• High in iron
• High in niacin
• High in phosphorus
• High in riboflavin
• High in thiamin
• Very high in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6

Edamame Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds, Vegan Mofo Recipe # 6

Edamame Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Happy Saturday everyone. Dont you just love weekends?

We are having a very “Fall” day today, dark, cold and light rain. I am curled up on my sofa listening to the “Easy Listening” channel on the TV, with a cup of coffee in one hand and giving Cooper his neck scratch with other.

Fortunately, I made this recipe a couple of days ago, so it is all ready to post.

I have mentioned before that I have a pasta addiction, every few days, I have a craving for a pasta dish. I love traditional pasta, but try to use a brown rice version more often than not. I love the Tinkyada brand, it cooks up the best of all I have tried, and so far, I have not seen it listed anywhere for using GMO ingredients,

I always make enough to have leftovers the next day and this recipe tastes even better the day after.

Enjoy,

Edamame Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Edamame mushroom and Brown Rice Penne

Serves 4

• 1 cup frozen edamame beans
• 4 tblspns olive oil
• 2 cups brown rice penne
• 2 tblspns sesame seeds toasted
• 3 large Pportobello or equivalent cremini mushrooms
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tblspns rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup roma tomatoes chopped
• ½ c up fresh basil chopped
• ½ cup fresh parsley chopped

Slice mushrooms into thick chunks.

In a large pot bring  8 – 10 cups water to a boil. Add frozen edamame and cook till bright green. Remove immediately and set aside.

Edamame and Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

In the same boiling water, add pasta. Cook till al dente. Drain paste, leaving 1 cup cooking water in the pot. Return pasta to the pot with the water and cover.

Edamame and Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Toast sesame seeds. Place seeds in a dry (no oil)  pan, let cook over medium heat until seeds just start to turn a golden colour and they smell toasty. Remove from heat and set aside.

Edamame and Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft. Add minced garlic and vinegar. Cook covered on low for 5 mins.

Edamame and Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Add edamame and tomato’s and herbs. Allow to just heat through.

Edamame and Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Add this mixture to the cooked pasta, Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Serve

Edamame and Mushroom Penne with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 215 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 337 Calories from Fat 167

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 18.6g 29%

Saturated Fat 2.8g 14%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 32mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates 33.1g 11%

Dietary Fiber 7.8g 31%

Sugars 5.1g

Protein 11.1g

Vitamin A   13% • Vitamin C 46% Calcium 10% • Iron 25%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• No cholesterol
• Very low in sodium
• Very high in vitamin B6
• High in vitamin C

Brown Rice and Lentil Crust Pizza with Tomato, Mushroom and Olives

What a wonderful week. Hot sunny weather, the summer is in full swing.

I really enjoy being outside during the summer. I love pottering around in my garden or sitting on my back deck just watching and listening to everything around me.

Robins taking a dip in the birdbath, “Charlie” the chipmunk coming to get his peanuts, the tiny chickadees flitting to and from the birdfeeder and the squirrels chasing each other through the trees. There is a whole community living out there.

This year I have not planted many vegetables as I am receiving my weekly CSA basket, but I still have my cherry tomato plant. There is nothing like picking a juicy red cherry tomato off the plant and popping it into my mouth. The tomato’s never make it into my kitchen, let alone onto a salad. I eat them right off the plant as soon as they are ripe.

Nothing beats fresh produce. This week we received our third CSA basket filled with kohlrabi, lettuce, field greens, basil, parsley, cilantro, spring onions, broccoli leaves and radish, all from our wonderful farmers, Ryan and Isabelle from Field Good Farms.

CSA Week Three

All that was left from last week’s supply was one kohlrabi, a few basil leaves and some of the tomato BBQ sauce I made.

For the kohlrabi, I decided to make fries.

Kohlrabi Fries with Tomato BBQ Sauce

There is no formal “recipe” for this, I just peel the kohlrabi then slice into fry size pieces. Toss in a little olive oil and herbs of choice (I used oregano) then bake in a hot oven for 15 – 20 mins, turning halfway. Serve with tomato bbq sauce.

The last of the tomato bbq sauce was used for pizza.

Brown Rice Lentil Crust Pizza

The crust is from a recipe from Richa’s blog, veganricha. A mixture of soaked brown rice and brown lentils make a nice base with good texture.
When I looked in my fridge, I had a tomato, a portabello mushroom and some olives. Perfect toppings for pizza. I then made my “cheese” to finish off. The end result was delicious.
Enjoy,

Tracy 🙂

Brown Rice and Lentil Pizza Crust
Makes 3 individual pizza crusts

• ½ cup uncooked brown basmati rice
  ¼ cup uncooked brown lentils
  ½ cup water
  Italian herbs
  ¼ tspn garlic powder
  ¾ tspn salt
  ¾ tspn active yeast
  Generous pinch baking powder

Soak rice and lentils overnight in warm water
Drain rice and lentils and rinse. Blend with water into a smooth batter. You may need to add a little more water. Add salt, herbs and spices and mix well.
Add yeast and baking powder and mix well.
Cover and let sit in a warm place for an hour until batter gets bubbly.
Ladle onto parchment covered baking sheets. Spread out to approx. 7 inch diameter. Keep thickness similar to a pancake.
Bake in oven for 5 mins.
Remove from oven and add toppings.
Return to oven for another 5.- 6 mins. Remove from oven, allow to cool for a min before removing from parchment paper. Slice and serve.

• Toppings:
  1 tomato sliced
  1 portabella mushroom sliced
  12 fresh basil leaves
  12 black olives sliced
  ¾ cup tomato BBQ Sauce
  ¾ cup coco-mozzarella

Coco-mozzarella
Makes approx. 1 cup

• 1 cup coconut milk
  1 tspn Guar Gum
  Pinch salt
  1 tspn apple cider vinegar
  ½ tspn lemon juice
  1 Tblspn cornstarch
  1 Tblspn brown rice flour
  ¼ cup nutritional yeast

Heat coconut milk in pot over med heat until just hot. In separate bowl mix all dry ingredients. Add vinegar and lemon juice to coco nut milk. Very slowly ( ½ tspn at a time) add dry ingredients to wet over low to med heat, whisking continually. Cook for 3 – 5 mins until thickened.
Remove from heat and pour into greased container to set. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
To achieve a more “cheddar” like cheese, add herbs of choice, garlic powder, additional nutritional yeast and a pinch of turmeric before setting.

Coco-mozzarella or Cheddar

Assemble Pizza
Spread 1/3 tomato bbq sauce on each pizza base
Top with 4 slices tomato, four slices mushroom, four basil leaves and four sliced olives per pizza.
Drizzle 1/3 cup coco-mozzarella cheese over each pizza

Brown Rice Lentil Crust Pizza

Hot summer weather means, juicy burgers on the grill

Meaty Mushroom Burger

I don’t know about you, but when the weather warms up, I start craving BBQ food. This could be in part due to the fact that I am Australian, and BBQing is a way of life….you know the classic “Throw a shrimp on the barby..” line.

Being vegan, I dont throw any shrimps on my BBQ (incidentally, we don’t actually call them shrimp in Australia, unless we are talking about the tiny ones used in a shrimp cocktail, we call them prawns, and in all my years living there, I don’t remember too many times where they were cooked on the BBQ). When I light up the grill it is usually for a thick slice of cauliflower, a whole Portobello mushroom or slices of eggplant. All very tasty, but my favourite is a burger. Big, juicy, flavorful burger.

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

I have tried a number of veggie burgers, but most have not been exactly what I was looking for.

This week I was inspired to make my own burgers. This inspiration did not come from burger recipes or photos, but instead from a wonderful bread recipe I found at veganricha.com

If you want to find fantastic vegan recipes with gorgeous photo’s, please visit Richa at her blog veganricha.com

When I saw her recent post, I immediately commented and asked if I could share her recipe, and she very generously said yes.

It was her  Gluten Free Yeast Bread recipe that looked so good and brought me to the BBQ. I made my own loaf and I can tell you it turned out just like she said it would. Soft, tasty and perfect for a sandwich or, in this case burgers. I actually doubled the recipe and made both a loaf and six “slider’ size buns. While my loaf looks pretty good here, Richa’s loaf looks even better.

Freshly Baked Gluten Free Bread

I could imagine my juicy burger sandwiched between slices of this bread. (or as I ended up doing, making little slider buns).

Meaty Mushroom Sliders

One note regarding the burger recipe. It definitely tasted fantastic, but, next time, I would either chop the mushrooms much finer before cooking, or perhaps put the cooked mushrooms in the food processor for a few seconds before mixing with the other ingredients. The larger size of the mushroom pieces made it hard to keep the burgers together.

Other than that, these burgers are wonderful.

Enjoy,

Tracy 🙂

Meaty Mushroom Burgers

Makes four large or 8 slider size

• 3 tblspns olive
• 1 lb mushrooms finely chopped (see note above, photo’s show much larger pieces)
• 1/2 large onion finely chopped
• 6 coves garlic grated
• 2 tblspns ground chia seed
• 6 tblspns hot water
• 3/4 cup oats
• 4- 6 tblspns nutritional yeast
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used the ends from my Gluten Free loaf crumbled to keep everything gluten free)
• 2 tblspns finley chopped fresh parsley
• oregano or other herbs to taste
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add chopped mushrooms and grated garlic and cook 2 mins to soften. Add chopped mushrooms and cook a good 10 to 15 mins until juices have released and mostly evaporated.

Add mushrooms to pan

In separate bowl, add ground chia and hot water, mix well then let sit for a couple of mins to gel.

Once mushrooms are cooked, add all  ingredients together and mix well. This is best done with your hands as you want to really make sure everything is mixed thoroughly. Let mixture sit for at least 15 mins to allow flavours to blend.

Mix together well

Form into burgers and lightly fry in a little olive oil to brown both sides.

Serve on buns with lettuce, tomato, onion and any other toppings you like.

Meaty Mushroom BBQ Burger

Richa’s Gluten Free Bread Recipe

• 1/2 cup water
• 2  tspns active yeast
• 1 tblspn raw sugar
• 3  tblspn ground flax

Dry:

• 1 cup ground Oats (use gluten-free)
• 1/4 cup Teff flour (or other flour like sorghum, millet)
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup Tapioca starch
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• Note: instead of the flours listed above, I used 1/34 cups pre mixed gluten free all purpose flour that I make up myself and keep on hand. See my Orange Carrot Cream Muffin recipe
• 1/2 tspn baking powder
• 3/4 tspn salt

Strawberry puree:

• 4 Strawberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 tblspns Oil

Method:

In a bowl mix together sugar and warm water. Proof the yeast by sprinkling the yeast on top of the warm water and letting sit for 5 minutes.

Yeast proofing

Once the yeast is frothy, add ground flax. Mix and let activate for not more than 2 minutes. the mixture will get a bit gel-ly.

Prepare the strawberry puree by pureeing strawberries, water, vinegar and oil into a smooth puree.

In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients until evenly distributed.

Add the yeast mixture and  strawberry puree and mix to make a stiff sticky batter type dough.

Add flax gel and fruit puree

Form into dough

If the dough is dry or too stiff add a tablespoon of water at a time to make stiff sticky dough. Keep the dough on the dryer stiff side(with no dry flour visible) if not sure.Drop the batter/dough into parchment lined or greased bread pan.

Spray water on top and lightly pat down to shape the top to form a loaf. Top with sesame seeds if using.

Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. therise time will depend on the ambient temperature.As soon as the dough rises to 1.5 times it original size, start up the oven to pre-heat.

Bake in pre-heated 385 degrees F for 40 minutes.

Freshly baked loaf

Let cool competely before slicing.

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff (vegan)

Two of my favourite things are mushrooms and pasta, so I thought, why not combine the two. so here is a Mushroom Stroganoff served with linguine. You can use any kind of pasta you like. A penne would be very nice too, maybe next time.

It looks like it is going to be a wonderful sunny weekend, so I will be spending a lot of time in my garden. I also will be visiting our local Farmers Market to see what is available, so you can expect some recipes using local seasonal produce next week.

Have a great weekend.

Tracy 🙂

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff Linguine

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff Linguine
Serves 4
1 block silken tofu
3 tblspns olive oil
1 tblspn apple cider vinegar
1 tblspn lemon juice
1 onion finely diced
4 cloves garlic minced or grated
1 lb portabello mushrooms diced
1 tblspn fresh rosemary finely chopped
1 tblspn fresh thyme finely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable stock
salt and ground pepper to taste
pasta of your choice

Prepare the “cream” first as it needs to refrigerate for one hour to thicken.

Place silken tofu, 1 tblspn of the olive oil, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and process until very smooth and creamy. Refridgerate for one hour to thicken.

Heat remaining 2 tblspns of olive oil in large pot on medium. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add chopped mushrooms, rosemary, thyme and vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer uncovered for 20 – 30 mins or until mushrooms are very soft and some of the liquid has evaporated

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff Linguine

Remove mushrooms from heat, add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir in cream mixture. Toss with cooked pasta and serve.

Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff Linguine