Southern Food Gone Vegan

For this blog post, I made quite a variety of different southern foods (of course, gone vegan). This posts includes recipes for country fried seitan steak, my mom's mashed potatoes, southern greens, biscuits and gravy, and coconut rum cake. A lot in one post, but I had a theme going on!


I also forgot to mention regarding my travel abroad in the summer that I attempted to find a vegan restaurant in Brussels, Belgium, but it was only open for lunch! Disappointing, I know. It is called Den Teepot and is only open from 12-2 p.m., Monday-Saturday. The downstairs is a small, natural, health food store. I ended up getting some sushi instead that night in Brussels.


One other important thing to note before moving on with the recipes is that this week (Oct. 24-31st) is the 5th annual World Go Vegan Week! So, for all you fellow vegans out there, Happy National Vegan Week! Eat with plant-based pride. :D


Country Fried Seitan Steak


* Prep Time: 24-36 hours
* Cook Time: 3 hours
* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp red wine
• 2 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground fennel seed
• 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek seed
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour  
• 10 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup soy sauce 

* Ingredients (for country fried seitan steak):

• seitan steaks
• 1 cup bread crumbs*
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning*
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• flour*
• almond milk* 
• vegetable oil

* Recipe (for seitan):

1. Combine wheat gluten and nutritional yeast flakes in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a blender.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix well. Let the wheat gluten mixture rise for a few minutes.
4. While you wait, add the vegetable broth and soy sauce into a big pot. Mix. Do not turn on stove yet.
5. Form the wheat gluten mixture uneven semi-round masses. You want it too somewhat resemble a "steak" for the rest of the recipe.
6. Put the seitan into the pot and now turn on the stove to medium heat. Place pot cover on, but allow some room for the steam.
7. Cook for 2 hours, rotating the seitan here and there.
8. To store, keep the seitan in the broth mixture and refrigerate.

* Recipe (for country fried seitan steak):

1. Combine the bread crumbs and all the spices in a bowl. In another bowl, place the flour. Lastly, place the almond milk in a third bowl.
2. Dredge the seitan steaks in the flour, then dunk in the almond milk (make sure all the flour was saturated), then in the bread crumb mix. Repeat with all the steaks.
3. Wrap the now seasoned steaks in tin foil and put in the freezer for at least 4-6 hours but preferably up to 24 hours. This helps the seasoning stick better when you fry it.
4. Heat up a semi-deep skillet with vegetable oil. Once hot, place steaks in the skillet, enough that they all fit (if you have to do batches, do that). Fry each side until golden.

* Note: For bread crumbs, I used Whole Food brand crumbs. Any brand is fine, but check to make sure it's vegan. I can't stress this enough. You'd be surprised just how many bread crumb brands contain milk. Old Bay Seasoning is a poultry and seafood seasoning that is often used in making crab cakes and fried chicken, etc. The seasoning itself is vegan, don't worry! It is just a nice extra touch to add to this seasoning to give the flavor profile an extra uumph. You can find it in the spice section of most grocery stores. I used plain old all-purpose flour for this, but feel free to use whole wheat flour (especially if you use whole wheat bread crumbs, which I did not). The same goes for the almond milk. Feel free to use soy or rice or even hemp! Almond milk is just what I keep in my fridge. :]

My Mom's Mashed Potatoes

* Prep Time: 5 minutes
* Cook Time: 40 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 8 (or more!) red creamer potatoes*
• 7 tbsp soy butter
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp parsley flakes
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• fresh rosemary, to garnish

* Recipe:

1. Place washed potatoes in a pot of water and boil until tender.
2. Once tender, strain the potatoes until warm (but not cold or extra hot!).
3. Place potatoes in a large bowl and mash with fork until thoroughly mashed. Add in the butter and spices. Combine until well mixed. Taste to see if you need any more butter or other spices. It should be buttery and one should get a hint of that garlic salt and nutmeg.
4. Garnish with fresh rosemary.. 

* Note: Feel free to use any type of potatoes, but I find these to be the most tender and tasty for this recipe.

Southern Greens

* Prep Time: 5 minutes
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 bunch collard greens, chopped
  
• 1 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 tbsp soy butter
  
• 1/2 small white onion, chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, more to taste
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke*
• 1 cup vegetable stock

 * Recipe:

1. Wash the collard greens and chop them up into bite site pieces. Set aside.
2. Heat up skillet with the olive oil. Place the onions in and let them sweat until they start to get translucent. Add in the garlic and then the butter. Now add in the collard greens.
3. Once all vegetables are in, add the spices, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, and vegetable stock.
4.  Let simmer until most of the liquid is gone. I prefer my greens a little crunchy, so I let them become almost over done. It is up to the chef as to when one wants to stop cooking. If you prefers them just tender, watch the greens until you can pierce with a fork.

* Note: Liquid smoke is used to give it the greens an almost bacon-y feeling. Obviously, we are not using bacon, so look for Colgin's Liquid Smoke in your grocery.

Biscuits and Gravy

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients (for biscuits):

• 2 cups flour*
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp kosher salt
  
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
  
• 3/4 cup almond milk (+ 1 tbsp)*
• 1/4-1/3 cup soy butter
• 1 tsp distilled white vinegar*
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

* Ingredients (for gravy):

•  3-4 tbsp soy butter
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 small white onion, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup Upton's Naturals Italian Sausage-Style Seitan (1/2 package), crumbled well*
• 1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 4-5 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1-1 1/2 cup almond milk, more to taste*
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp sage
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground corriander
• 1/4 tsp ground oregano
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

* Recipe (for biscuits):

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in one bowl. Place in the fridge.
2. Combine the almond milk and the vinegar in a bowl. Place in fridge and let sit alone for at least 5 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  
4. Combine the almond milk mixture with the dry mixture, then add in the butter. Do not over kneed! Combine to get most (if not all) of the lumps out but don't go over board. Only use a fork!
5. Place in the fridge until the oven is ready. In the mean time, grease a baking sheet.
6. In a small bowl, combine 1 tbsp almond milk with 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
7. Form the dough into small balls and place on baking sheet. With a brush, lightly brush over the dough. This will give it a golden look when it comes out of the oven.
8. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Some ovens take longer. Check on them after 8 minutes and see where they are at. The biscuits should look golden brown with firm tops.

 * Recipe (for gravy):

1. In a skillet, add the soy butter under medium heat. Place the onions in the pan and stir-fry until translucent. Add the garlic, sausage-style seitan, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Cook until tender.
2. Add in the flour. The vegetable should look like a flour-y crumbled mess. This is good right now!
3. Next, add in the almond milk. If you do this step the other way around (adding the milk before flour), you'll get a lumpy disaster. Not good.
4. Add in all the spices and mix well. The gravy should be relatively thick, but not too much so. It also should not be like a dressing, thin. If too thin, combine a little more flour in a bowl, add soy milk, mix well (get those lumpy's out), then put it in the gravy. If too thick, add more almond milk.

* Note: It is incredibly important that the ingredients of the biscuit dough stay very cold before going in the oven. This is how they become fluffy. Make sure the dough stays in the fridge until you are ready to bake it! For the biscuits, I used all-purpose flour. Again, please use any non-dairy milk you prefer (for both biscuits and gravy). Instead of vinegar, you may also use 1 tbsp of lemon juice, if that is easier. For the gravy, I used a local Chicago seitan company called Upton's Naturals. If you have a grocery near you that carries flavored seitan, use that. Tofurky makes an Italian sausage that would work in this recipe. Just cut it up into tiny pieces.
 

Coconut Rum Cake (with Coconut Frosting)

* Prep Time: 20 minutes
* Cook Time: 40-50 minutes
* Ingredients (for coconut rum cake):

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 cup light coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz silken tofu
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1/4 cup coconut rum*
• 2 cups vegan white sugar*
• 1/2 cup soy butter

• coconut shreds

 * Ingredients (for frosting):

• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup soy butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp cornstarch (mixed with water)
• 1 1/2 cup coconut shreds
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp coconut extract

* Recipe (for cake):

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine coconut milk, vanilla extract, tofu, rum, and soy butter in another bowl. Mix well. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Combine well until no lumps are present.
3. In two greased baking pans, place half of the batter in each tray.
4. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
5. Cool to frost. 

* Recipe (for frosting):

1. Combine coconut milk, butter, shortening, extracts, and salt in one bowl. Mix well. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with just enough water to make it dissolved entirely when you mix. Add this to your wet ingredients.
2. In another bowl combine sugar and coconut shreds. Add the wet ingredients. Mix well.
3. Put covered in fridge until ready to frost your cake.

* Cake Assembly: 

1. Take one cake and frost it entirely. Place the second cake on top of the frosted cake and now completely frost this second cake. Cover the layered cake with coconut shreds.

* Note: For rum, I used Malibu Coconut rum. You can feel free to exclude this from your recipe if you choose. Make sure you are using vegan white sugar! Whole Foods carries marked vegan white sugar, but if all else fails, use raw cane sugar.

Phew, done typing all those recipes! I hope you try some out and enjoy them! In other news, I adopted a new kitten about a month ago and named her Lucy. She is 100% blind (missing both eyes) and is very sweet and active. Popeye, my other blind cat (3/4th blind or so), has gotten used to her and they play with each other now. My house is one blind kitty central! ♥ to special needs pets. 


A couple weeks ago was Chicago's annual vegan celebration, Chicago VeganMania. It is an all day, free event where vegan vendors, musical artists, restaurants, authors, doctors, etc. come to sell their things or speak about whatever it is they do. It is an event you don't want to miss as a vegan in Chicago. This year's was super fun! I got the shirt I've wanted for a while, screen printed by the talented Dan Dunbar, which says, "Vegan Cupcakes, Fuck Yeah!". After the event, Mercy For Animals held the official after-party which I spent over a month helping to plan. It was at the Funky Buddha Lounge. Good times raising money to help the animals.

Lastly, I started using Chicago Vegan Co-Op and I received my very first order on Saturday. I bought Upton's Naturals gyro seitan, pastrami seitan, bacon seitan and Ste Martaen (another local Chicago vegan company) colby and smoked gouda cashew cheeses, along with a spinach quiche from them. My freezer is packed! I'll be eating sandwiches for months (not complaining). Check out the co-op if you live in the Chicago area. The picture is of Upton's Naturals pastrami and bacon with Ste Martaen colby cheese on fresh French bread from Whole Foods.

Vegan London: Part Three

Finishing my blogging about my adventures in veganism in Western Europe... I give you Vegan London: Part Three. Part's One and Two are posted from 2009. In 2007, I lived there for a time. It is hands down my favorite city in the whole wide world, plus it is super vegan-friendly! 

My first night, I went to my favorite vegan-friendly restaurant in London, Mildred's. It is located in the always fun Soho district. For starters, I had the special vegan salad, the quinoa salad. It was really good! For my entree, I decided to try something British - mixed mushroom, porcini, and ale pie served with fries and mushy peas. Mmm! For dessert, I had a real chocolate-y delight: raspberry chocolate truffle.


On Sunday, I went to Spitalfields Market. It is a vintage and one-of-a-kind mecca. I <3 Spitalfields. They have, literally, arena size marketplaces with all sorts of neat DIY vendors and vintage stores all around. Near the markets is Brick Lane which is a famous Indian and Bengali neighborhood. Therefore, it is super vegan friendly! I had a cheap lunch in a restaurant on Brick Lane and spent the afternoon in Spitalfields and walking down Brick Lane, trying street food as well. Those cupcakes and yummy desserts are not vegan, but boy were they cute to look at!


Covent Garden is a very touristy area of London. Trying to find Neal's Yard in Covent Garden is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It's hidden somewhere in the midst of old cobblestone side streets and between tall buildings. After much searching, you will find it tucked away and be inspired by its vegan and organic goods! In Neal's Yard, there is the famous Neal's Yard Salad Bar, World Food Cafe, and Neal's Yard Remedies. Neal's Yard Remedies has many great vegan, organic skin and hair products, soaps, oils, etc. I use them myself and I love it. I first found them when I lived in London and have been using it since. They have sellers in the United States too. When I lived in Japan, to my surprise, I ran into a Neal's Yard Remedies store in Shibuya!



I love having lunch in the park. It is especially fun in one of London's many beautiful parks. I chose to have some Japanese take out (Wasabi - it is a popular chain in London) and eat my lunch on a park bench in Green Park. I had curry tofu and noodles.





While wandering around Soho trying to find a good veggie place for dinner, I ran into a newer vegetarian restaurant that was not there three years ago. It is called Zilli. There was the restaurant and they have a smaller cafe next to it. The food was really good, but the service was awful. To begin, I had organic bread with olive oil and hummus and a mixed green salad. For entree, I had tofu sausage with spring onion mash, mushroom gravy, and mushy peas. To finish, I had organic tofu & limoncello cheesecake with chocolate ice cream. 

Afternoon tea is a must in London. I was determined to find a vegan afternoon tea place. The Flemings Hotel was just across the street from me and guess what? They had vegan afternoon tea! It wasn't that great, but it was a good start.


The last vegan restaurant I tried was 222 Veggie Vegan Restaurant. It wasn't the easiest place to find or get to by the tube. I had to walk 15 minutes each way from the tube in the pouring rain. The food was homey and good, though! To start I had cream of asparagus soup with bread and garlic bread. For my main dish, I had seitan stroganoff. 

 I <3 London!

Vegan Ireland

When one thinks of Ireland, they do not really think of too many vegan-friendly things. I was determined to have good vegan grub when I was in Ireland. The tour I was on took us around the majority of the Republic and breakfast/dinner was included. If I had to eat one more serving of only potatoes, toast, and beer, I was going to cry. Too much starch! So, before I left America, I did some research on vegan-friendly restaurants in each of the cities we were to stay at. Below are my findings...

HappyCow.net was my friend in this quest. While I was in Killarney, I found the only vegan-friendly place listed, Stone Chat. 

 To start, I had the house salad which was filled with lots of great vegetables! It was very tasty.

For my entree, I had the mushroom stir-fry with tofu. The mushroom sauce was quite good. I really enjoyed this as an entree (huge fan of mushrooms) and it was such a great meal change from what I had been eating for 3 days.


After Killarney, we headed to Galway for two days. I got a terrible cold while in Galway and I think a lot of it has to do with the weather change (90 degrees to 60 degrees via one plane flight) and the fact that I was eating crap instead of the real meals that I'm used to. So, I skipped a day of touring the Irish countryside to sleep and explore Galway on my own. I found the only vegan-friendly restaurant there and had some hearty, cold-curing food. Food For Thought was a quiet, homey sandwich bar where people come in for a bit of food and tea to get out of the rain. It seemed like the perfect place to do some reading or homework.

 Vegetable soup of the day with black bread.

 
Vegan shepherd's pie with side salad. The pie tasted a bit like a breaded ratatouille to me. I really loved the soup and it was so great for my cold. This place changes their menu daily in order to try out new things for customers. I really loved Food For Thought! Definitely my favorite vegan-friendly restaurant in Ireland.

The last big city we stopped in for a few days was Dublin. To my surprise, there are not many vegan-friendly restaurants in Dublin listed on Happy Cow. I would think it being the capitol that there would be more. I chose to try Cornucopia Wholefoods. It was similar in set-up as Food For Thought. It's a lunch type spot where they change their menu daily. It is located in a busy part shopping part of Dublin, just off of Grafton St. Here I chose the curry with two types of salads, a microgreens salad and a cabbage type salad.

For more information on vegan dining in Ireland, check out Happy Cow, Vegan & Vegetarian Guide, and VegGuide.Org.


For good measure...

Me in Ireland at the Cliffs of Moher! Smiles.

Vegan Paris: Part Two

In August, I went on an adventure throughout Western Europe on my own. Over two weeks, I pretty much went around the entire Republic of Ireland (heritage trip <3 ), stayed in my old stomping ground of London for two weeks, and from London took the Eurostar train for day trips in Paris and Brussels. 

A long time ago, I gave my thoughts on vegan Paris, but I did not get to try any restaurants when I was there last. This time I did! Le Passage Obligé is not strictly vegetarian or vegan. It used to be until last year. They are now vegan/vegetarian-friendly. For more information on vegan restaurants and events in Paris, visit the Vegan Paris website. 

I started out with a fried onion salad which was very good!  

After eating part of my salad, I had their wild mushroom roast with blackberry ginger sauce and three vegetable puree. The roast was a bit dry, but the sauce was very good. I burnt my mouth on the puree! It was so hot.

Overall, it was a decent choice of restaurant for vegan options. Their menu is marked "(v)" for vegan and "(vv)" for vegetarian. My onion salad was the only vegan appetizer and there was one other vegan entree. There were no vegan desserts.


I don't know much about vegan things in Paris, but I hope they get more restaurants! With such culinary history, I'm sure they could do wonders in Paris with our lovely friend, the vegetable.


Sorry I have not posted new recipes. I have been very busy with school! I'm hoping to try out a new recipe next week. Until then, I still have vegan Ireland and vegan London (part three) to tell you about!

Vegan Teese Brand Cheese Sticks

Vegan Teese Brand Cheese Sticks

* Prep Time: 2 hours
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 mozarella Teese, ends cut and then cut into 1/4" wide sticks (some will be funny shaped since the Teese is a roll)*
• 1 cup of egg re-placer mixed to liquid as directed (more maybe depending on use)*
• 1 can organic Italian herb breadcrumbs*
• Italian seasoning
• "Parmesan" cheese*
• Sea salt
• Olive oil

* Recipe:

1.  Combine breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, and salt salt on a plate.
2. One by one, dip each stick in egg re-placer then dredge in seasoned breadcrumbs and gently press any loose crumbs. Place aside. 
3. Once all of the sticks have been dredged, repeat the process by placing the first dredged stick in the egg re-placer and dredge a second time. 
4. Place on a cookie sheet or other container so the cheese sticks are not touching each other and place in the freezer until frozen, at least an 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours.
5. In a skillet, place enough olive oil to cover half of the stick while laying down. Fry until golden brown, gently flipping to fry the top side. 
6. Gently remove from oil and place on a wire rack to allow oil to drain and cool.

* Note: If the cheese sticks are too hot, they will just fall apart when you bite into them. Wait a bit for them to cool. One may try baking them too, but I did not. For these cheese sticks, I used Chicago Soydairy's Teese cheese. For egg re-placer, I used Bob's Red Mill Vegetarian Egg Replacer. For bread crumbs, I used Edward & Sons Organic Italian Herb Breadcrumbs. Lastly, for Parmesan cheese, I used Galaxy Vegan Topping.

Vegan Montreal

This weekend, I went to Montreal for a few days. Montreal is lovely; a bit of old Europe in North America. They have a several vegan restaurants and vegan/vegetarian-friendly restaurants. I only got the chance to go to one of them because the others were lunch spots or closed. I tried going to Bonnys Vegetarian and Organic Cuisine, but the owner was sick so it was closed. The other restaurants I heard were good but did not try Aux Vivres, Le Commensal, and Lola Rosa Cafe. We plan on going back to Montreal since it is only a 2 hour plane ride from Chicago, so I'm excited to try these restaurants.


We went to a great Lebanese restaurant on Rue Sherbrooke, but I didn't write down the name of it. Located across the street from the hotel, it was a tasty jaunt over. We had fattoush, tabbouleh, homemade hummus and baba ghanoush, and a chickpea soup type dish with olive oil, onion, radish, tomato, and spices - all with pita.

For the two nights I was there, I went to ChuChai, a Thai vegetarian restaurant. This restaurant is a bit pricey, but worth it! They have a whole line of mock meats including shrimp, fish, beef, chicken, and duck. They also have only vegetable dishes and vegetable dishes with tofu. The menu is truly extensive. Since it is Thai, most of the dishes are influenced by the cuisine. For example, they have several varieties of Tom Yum soup with various types of meat and/or coconut milk, several types of dumplings and spring rolls, and each section of mock meat has their own specialty entrees.


Above is a picture of the peanut sauce chicken with crispy spinach.

 Vegan wonton soup.

Tom Yum soup with vegan shrimp.

Crispy, deep-fried seaweed with tangy sauce.

Vegan duck with spinach in a soy sauce dressing.

My favorite dishes were the wonton soup and the vegan duck. The duck surprisingly tasted a lot like real duck... which was odd, but interesting. Other dishes we tried were bok choy with shiitake mushrooms, Chinese chicken salad, pan fried dumplings, and lychee for dessert. Overall, I am excited to go back to Montreal and try new restaurants!

Bento Box: Take Ichi

I've never made a homemade bento box before. This was my first take at it and it went alright. It isn't as amazing as I wanted it to be, but it will do. I have these neat Hello Kitty presses and other shaped presses. I also didn't have enough room to use the adzuki rice I made for onigiri.


I fried some tofu slices a bit of sesame oil and mirin until brown. For the "scrambled egg" that's in the center of this picture and inside the onigiri, I fried up some smashed tofu, variety of mushrooms (oyster, button, shiitake), frozen peas, minced green onion, chopped ginger, sea salt, black sesame seeds, several splashes of soy sauce, splash of mirin, splash of sake.


 I steamed some carrots to make the shapes, steamed the broccoli and the lotus root. The snap peas are fresh and cut, same with the enoki mushrooms.

  
For the shumai, I fried up some chopped tofu, 2 pieces of minced garlic, tablespoon of minced ginger, tablespoon of chopped green onion, a bunch of chopped mushrooms (oyster, button, shiitake), soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and salt. 


The purple potato Hello Kitty face was steamed in mirin and soy sauce to make it soft.