Sonoma Chick'n Salad

I never really cared for chicken salad prior to being vegan as I did not like mayonnaise. As such, I decided to spruce things up a bit with a vegan Sonoma chick'n salad. This is really easy and quick to make. Perfect for a summer picnic.

Sonoma Chick'n Salad

 * Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: 10 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz.) bag chick'n strips*
• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise*
• 1/2 cup seedless red grapes, sliced in half
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tsp agave nectar
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• salt and pepper, to taste

* Recipe:

1. Fry the chick'n strips over medium heat until cooked, about 10 minutes. Chop them up into bite size pieces.
2. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients then add the chick'n. Mix well and serve.

* Note: For vegan chick'n strips, I used MorningStar Farms Meal Starters Chick'n Strips. For vegan mayonnaise, I used Vegenaise with grapeseed oil. 

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Santullo's Eatery

Santullo's Eatery in Wicker Park has some great vegan options. If you are looking for a vegan pizza pie, look no further (especially if you don't feel like dealing with the Wrigleyville crowd to go to Ian's Pizza but of course, there is always Pie Hole Pizza Joint, Mista, or The Boiler Room). They use Upton's Naturals seitan products and Daiya cheese for their vegan delights. Vegan menu items include a house salad, the vegan Santullo sandwich, spicy buffalo chicken seitan sandwich, veggie sandwich, build-your-own-sandwich (choose from vegan cheese, various seitan styles, veggies, and condiments), linguine portobello (no cheese), vegan potato salad, vegan pasta salad, and of course, pizza. The pizza options are veggie flat iron barbeque (seitan chicken, barbeque, veggies, vegan mozzarella), veggie brickhouse (seitan pepperoni, seitan sausage, veggies, vegan mozzarella), and spinach to the finish (veggies and sub vegan cheese). There are a couple more pies on the menu that can be subbed to have vegan cheese and you are set. 

The pizza pies are huge! Bring at least 3 people with you, if not four. My friends and I shared the spinach to the finish pizza gone vegan. As you can see from the picture, it is covered in Daiya. While this was a nice treat, it was a lot of cheese for me. I think I would prefer to get something with either extra veggies or more seitan products next time. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious! Definitely going back to try other menu items. I'm also mighty curious about this vegan potato salad and pasta salad.

One of my friends came late and she ordered the spicy buffalo chicken seitan sandwich as well. She liked it but said it could use more sauce as it was kinda dry. 

Super excited about this place. There are so many options in Wicker Park to choose from! Native Foods, the Handlebar, Sultan's Market, Penny's Noodle Shop, Estelle's Cafe 'n Lounge, and of course, most places in this neighborhood have a vegan-friendly option or two.

Paella

So, I got the idea of making a vegan paella one day and just sort of ran with it. This is what I came up with. I used short-grain brown rice instead of white rice for a more healthy option.

Paella

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 2 cups short-grain brown rice
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small Spanish onion, sliced 
• 1 box (7 oz.) of chick'n strips*
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium red pepper, sliced
• 1 package (12 oz.) vegan chorizo*
• 1 package (12 oz.) vegan shrimp*
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1/4 cup dried lobster mushrooms, rehydrated, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried oyster mushrooms, rehydrated, chopped
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 small lemon, zested
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning*
• salt and pepper, to taste

* Recipe:

1. In a medium pot, combine vegetable stock, rice, bay leaf, saffron. Cook until rice is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
2. While the rice is cooking, in a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. 
3. Once onions are cooked, add the chick'n strips, garlic, red pepper, chorizo, shrimps, peas, and mushrooms. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until everything looks nicely browned or tender.
4. In a blender, combine the remaining ingredients. Add to the pot and stir well. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. When rice is done, remove bay leaf and add to the pot with paella mixture. Stir well to combine. Serve with lemon wedge if desired.

* Note: For chick'n strips, I used Gardein brand. One could also use Morningstar Farms. For vegan chorizo, I used Frieda's brand Soyrizo. The vegan shrimp I used was VegeUSA brand. Lastly, Old Bay Seasoning is a seafood seasoning that is often use. You can find it at any grocery store in the spice section. It is great for faux crab cakes. Don't worry - it's vegan! 

As a side note, you could also opt to add celery into this dish or use regular white short-grain rice. The lobster and oysters mushrooms were added to give a more seafood-y taste (plus, I love fungi). You could opt to leave them out if you like or use a fresh variety of both.

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Ethiopian Diamond

Spinach, Lentil, & Potato + Carrot Sambusa

Yatkilt Watt

If you have never had Ethiopian food, you must try it! I always take guests to Ethiopian Diamond for their first taste of this delicacy. While there are other Ethiopian restaurants in the city such as Demera and Ras Dashen, I primarily go to Ethiopian Diamond. When I lived in Roger's Park, this was so close that I never really ventured further to Edgewater and Uptown to try the other two places. Ethiopian food is very naturally vegan-friendly. They serve food in a communal-style way. Everything is eaten with your hands by using a certain bread called injera bread (it is somewhat like crepe sourdough bread). Greens, potatoes, and lentils are a big component of vegan Ethiopian cooking. Another must is the Ethiopian spice mix, berbere. I have tried making injera on my own and it was a total disaster. Luckily, if you want to have your own Ethiopian feast at home, there are a number of African groceries in Roger's Park & Edgewater where you can buy injera.

Quosta

Towards the end of the menu at Ethiopian Diamond, there is a whole page of vegetarian selections. They are all vegan! One can choose any of these entrees, a combination, or a "Taste of Ethiopia" for one or two people. To start, I love to get the veggie combo sambusa. If you've never had sambusa, they are basically like a flat, triangular samosa. The veggie combo includes the lentil, spinach, and the potato and carrot sambusa's.

Veggie Combo with Injera Bread

For entree's, I usually go with a friend and get two orders of the veggie combo. It is cheaper than getting the "Taste of Ethiopia" for two people. We get six of the seven options to choose from on the combo. The options we usually get are the yemisir watt (spicy red lentils), kik alicha (split peas in sauce), gomen (collard greens), tikel gomen (cabbage and carrots), yatkilt watt (string beans, carrots, and potatoes in sauce), and dinich alicha (potatoes and carrots in sauce). The seventh option is quosta (spinach). This whole dinner comes on a large platter a top of injera bread with a salad in the middle. I love the salad dressing at Ethiopian Diamond! They also bring extra bread to eat the dishes. My favorite is the gomen. I really love greens, though. My friend's favorite is the yemisir watt, but he loves spicy foods.

There is also a special dish on the vegetarian menu which I have never tried. It is the shimbra assa. It is chick pea dough that is formed to look like fish watt (stew). There is also the tofu tibs which is grilled tofu with vegetables in a sauce. I'm usually way too full for dessert, but I believe all the desserts have honey in them.

Tikel Gomen

Dinich Alicha

On Friday's and Saturdays, there is usually a live band playing Ethiopian music at the Broadway location. There is another location on Clark St. near the Howard Red Line stop (Ethiopian Diamond II).

I give Ethiopian Diamond a 4.5/5 stars. They loose half a star because it can be really busy sometimes and the wait staff suffers in service. If you get the chance to try Ethiopian food, I strongly recommend it! It is one of my favorite types of food, for sure.

Kik Alicha

ETA: Oddly enough, I decided to use my Groupon I had for Demera last night (was going to Drew's Eatery, but it has sadly closed). We had the veggie sampler sambusa which were spinach and lentil. They were more flaky than the ones at Ethiopian Diamond and the sauce was spicier. Overall, I think I liked Demera's more. The entree was similar to what I get at Ethiopian Diamond - a mix of six different dishes with a salad in the middle. I finally had shimbra assa! I really loved it. Definitely a fan. Overall, I prefer Ethiopian Diamond's entree dishes to Demera. The ones at Ethiopian Diamond are much more flavorful and robust. The salad dressing is better there too (I really like salads!). It wasn't bad by any means, just comparing the two, I did not prefer it. The Groupon came with a dessert, so we had a dessert sambusa. Be warned it comes with raspberry sauce and a load of white chocolate sauce and whipped cream which I didn't realize. I was told the sambusa was vegan, so I had a few bites of it with raspberry sauce. It was also very flaky like the appetizer sambusa's. It was filled with an almond paste type thing which was the perfect amount of sweet. I give Demera a 3.5/5 stars. If Ethiopian Diamond is super busy (which it tends to be on a weekend night) and you don't want to drive all the way to the Howard stop, I would check out Demera. Plus, The Green Mill is just across the way. Love that place!

Gomen

Also, I stopped by Tai Nam Market last night after I wrote about how many mock meat options they sell in my previous post. Wow, Yelp was right! They had three freezers full of all kinds of faux meat. Be warned, some of it has eggs and whey powder in it. So, not everything is vegan, though it is vegetarian. I ended up getting a bunch of things because weird mock meats kind of make my laugh and hey, it's vegan. I got "chicken", "pork", and "shrimp". They also had vegan pork belly, salted fish fillets, tuna slices, etc. It is worth going there just to check out the crazy selection they have. Vegan mutton, anyone? It's there.

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Urban Vegan Chicago

Before I being my review of Urban Vegan Chicago, I'd like to let you all know that they have a benefit going on throughout the entire month of December. If you order take-out or dine-in and mention Mercy For Animals, 20% of the proceeds go to MFA. This is a great opportunity for vegans (and non-vegans a like) to try out this newer restaurant in Chicago! It also helps with MFA's life-saving work in farm animal protection. Plus, it is nom.

I've heard many great things about this Thai vegan restaurant since it opened. I've been to and seen a few mock meat Asian restaurants before like ChuChai in Montreal (which I blogged about here), Golden Lotus in Oakland (there are a number of Asian restaurants in the Bay Area that specialize in faux meats), and Red Bamboo in NYC. Based off my previous dining experiences, I figured the place would be either fancier (like ChuChai and Red Bamboo) or sort of just a hole in the wall. It's the latter. That doesn't mean it is bad, it just means it is a small establishment and more reasonably priced! I would recommend making reservations because from how I counted, there are only 8 tables in the whole restaurant. It is also BYOB.

As far as having an Asian restaurant with an extensive mock meat menu, I'm glad Chicago now has one! It is definitely an interesting dining experience. If I wanted to get a veggie cashew stir-fry, I would just go to any Thai restaurant and tell them to hold the fish/oyster sauce and add in some tofu. I think the primary reason to go to Urban Vegan (or any of the other places I mentioned, really) is to eat the faux meat with vegan pride. It just isn't worth it to go for Buddha's Delight (other than to support a vegan restaurant). That being said, I'm curious as to what vegan meat company they use. There is always the ever popular May Wah based out of NYC. I'm pretty sure this is what Red Bamboo uses. The "fish" in the Tom Yum I had at Urban Vegan tasted a lot like the fillets they sell on May Wah. If anyone knows where Urban Vegan gets their mock meat, I'd love to know. I'm curious!

Grilled Veggie Dumplings

This isn't the best starting line for a review, but the food was cold which was really disheartening. I was looking forward to this dining adventure. I will go again to see if I receive a better experience as when I went, it was on a Sunday night and every table in the restaurant was taken. I'm assuming this had something to do with it.


The menu is very extensive. They have all the usual Thai foods gone vegan as well as veggie sushi, wrap, burgers, and smoothies. There is also a lunch and dinner combination menu. They include steamed brown rice, a spring roll, salad, and a choice of an entree with either tofu, soy chicken, seitan, pepper steak, or soy fish ($9.95/lunch and $11.95/dinner). Addition of bacon, shrimp, or chicken nuggets is extra ($11.95/lunch and $13.95/dinner). For those of you with gluten allergies, there is a wheat-free menu available.

Seafood Tom Yum Soup

For starters, my friend and I had the grilled veggie dumplings, the house salad, and seafood tom yum soup. The portions are big! The dumplings were about what we expected - your everyday vegan frozen dumpling that was grilled. I think next time, I'd like to try the crispy chicken or chicken satay instead. They sound interesting! The house salad was filled with lots of veggies and I went with peanut sauce for the dressing. There is also tahini and Italian dressing. I've never had a Larb salad before since they aren't vegan, but that's the next salad I'm going to try here. The tom yum soup with seafood was interesting, to say the least. I've had vegan fish fillets before and vegan shrimp... but never the fish in a broth. Personally, the best preparation I've ever seen of vegan fish was in a light sauce and the fillet slightly seared. The seaweed wrapped around it to be the "skin" gives it that fishy taste quality. Vegan shrimp, for me, isn't really worth it. It's chewy and doesn't add much to the mix.

Garlic Pepper Steak

Our dinner entree's were the garlic pepper entree with pepper steak and the pad won zen with soy chicken. The pepper steak was pretty good and it came with rice, though I would have appreciated a few more veggies tossed in there. I liked the pad won zen very much (it has more veggies), but it was cold which kind of ruined the appeal (was looking forward to hot noodles!). Next time, I think I'd like to try the P.E.T. (pumpkin, eggplant, tofu) and the wonton noodle soup (I've missed wonton soup since being vegan - it was my staple at Chinese restaurants since I was a wee one). 

Pad Won Zen (w/ Soy Chicken)

Overall, I think Urban Vegan is a nice change from the normal Thai vegan dining experience (no fish sauce! no oyster sauce! no egg! tofu!). I'm definitely going to come back and try it again. It seems to be doing great thus far and the Chicago vegan community loves it.

If you want to pick up mock meat in Chicago and make your own food, there are a couple of grocery stores in the city. I personally like the Uptown neighborhood stores to get this stuff. Broadway Supermarket is my favorite. If you go to the very back corner near the produce, you'll find all the veggie meats in the freezer. Golden Pacific Market has faux meats too. Lastly, Tai Nam Food Market seems to carry a lot of products as well, though I've never been (and now I must!).

Urban Vegan Chicago's Facebook Page here. 

Product Review: Sophie's Kitchen Vegan Seafood + Sauce Recipes

Hidden within the vegetarian section of the freezer aisle of my local health food store, I found Sophie's Kitchen mock seafood. I was surprised by the fact that they make vegan calamari and fish fillets, but also that it was randomly at this health food store! You can't blame me for being skeptical. But, I thought I would give this stuff a shot, if not just to purely say I've tried vegan calamari. I'm pretty open to crazy veg food, but there are some things that should be left not re-made cruelty-free (like vegan haggis [if you don't know what haggis is, please Google it] or mutton, anyone?). Once upon a time, I made a retro vegan salmon mousse mold. To the horror of everyone, it... turned out a lot like salmon mousse mold. Scary recipe best used for Halloween gags. 

Now, I know Sophie's Kitchen is a legit brand, so I had some hope. The calamari was really impressive mostly because it had the same chewy consistency of real calamari. Weird. I hated the real thing prior to being vegan, so it doesn't surprise me that I did not like it at all. But, if you liked calamari before, this is definitely worth trying. I sort of thought it might be like an onion ring, but nope, very chewy. The fish fillets were quite a bit better. It was flakey and would have been good to make a sandwich out of. I made various sauces for each, so below are the recipes. For the mock seafood, just follow box instructions to cook.

For the calamari, I made an aioli and a remoulade. For the fish fillets, I made a lemon dill tartar sauce. These all came out great. I would recommend on something other than mock seafood, though. The tartar sauce would be good for mock crabcakes (with tofu or otherwise), the aioli would be good with a veggie burger, and the remoulade good with fried green tomatoes.


Aioli

* Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
* Cook Time: n/a
* Ingredient:

• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise*
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp olive oil

* Recipe:

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

* Note: For vegan mayonnaise, I used Earth Balance olive oil based brand.


Remoulade

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: n/a
* Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup spicy mustard
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup celery, minced
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tbsp white onion, diced
• 1/2 tbsp green onion, minced
• 1 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp capers

* Recipe:

1. Combine all ingredients well.

Lemon Dill Tartar Sauce

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: n/a
* Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp dill pickle relish
• 1 tbsp white onion, minced
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp capers
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

* Recipe:

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well. 

Happy sauce making!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Ian's Pizza

Ian's Pizza has several locations. One is here in Chicago while the others are in Milwaukee and Madison, WI. I love this place because it is one of the few places one can get a vegan pizza without going to a vegan restaurant specifically (they even deliver seasonally!). Other places I know of that carry vegan pizza are Mista, Moonshine, Pie Hole Pizza Joint, Piece, and Pick-Me-Up Cafe. These places all have vegan cheese and some carry vegan "meats" to top.

Ian's is known for their odd variety of pizzas like mac 'n cheese pizza and lasagna pizza. For vegan options at Ian's, there are a slew of veggies such as artichoke hearts, onions, spinach, basil, portobello mushrooms, button mushrooms, roasted red peppers, sliced tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, kalamata olives, pico de gallo, and pineapple. Other toppings include french fries and pasta noodles (penne, lasagna, macaroni). Ian's proudly carries local Chicago vegan companies, Chicago Soydairy and Upton's Naturals. They have Upton's Italian-style, chicken-style, and soy-pepperoni style seitans. They also carry CSD's mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Lastly, Ian's has a build-your-own salad option with all of the said veggies above.

For the pizza we ordered, we got the Italian-style seitan, mozzarella cheese, basil, onions, artichoke hearts, and button mushrooms. This was really good! The crust was a bit try for me, but I added some homemade giardiniera. Ian's is a great place to either sit down and get a pie or take it to go. I also love that they support local vegan companies!


This week is World Vegan Week. Ian's is having a special in honor: Chili Cheese Fries. Everyone in Chicago should go out and get an order to support vegan week and this great pizza joint for their continued vegan options!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Munch

Outside

Vegan Chicago is a vegan network for like-minded folks to get together and have fun on various outings like dining at restaurants or bars. I've been to a few events in the last couple years. Truthfully, big social events like that are just not my thing. I'm much more of a lone wolf, if you will. But, I saw that they were having a dine-out at a newer vegetarian restaurant in Oak Park, IL (suburb just outside Chicago) called Munch. I was excited to see this as I have been looking for an opportunity to go out there and check it out. My friend who lives in Oak Park came with and we had a great time trying several items off the menu. Here are some photos from the meetup on Vegan Chicago.

Spicy "Beef" Nachos

To begin, we had the spicy "beef" nachos made vegan. It was topped with Daiya and Upton's Naturals chorizo. It could have been a bit warmer, but there were probably 30 people at this little cafe so I don't blame them for the heat factor. It was a pretty filling appetizer so I would get again. The radishes were a bit confusing, though. I'm not sure why they were on the nachos.

Vegan Lasagna

Soup of the Day

For entree's, my friend had the vegan lasagna with the soup of the day. I had a bite of each. The soup was excellent. Perfect for a fall day. The lasagna was also very good! I would definitely get this again as it looked like a filling entree portion. I ordered the Philly "steakless" sandwich. They use Upton's Naturals gyro style seitan which one can only get wholesale through the company. I've had it before by ordering bulk and freezing with the Chicago Vegan Co-Op. I really love Upton's Naturals wholesale products (even more than the retail seitan they have). You don't see it too often in restaurants, so I was really excited to see it on Munch's menu. I'm also glad that they're supporting a local vegan company like Upton's. The sandwich was a bit salty for my taste. Again, this could be because they were rushing to fill so many orders. It was filled with Daiya and sauteed mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. The side I got was sauteed greens. These were really exceptional. I'm a bit of a dark leafy green freak (I eat raw kale salad 4-6 times a week), so I always go for the greens when I see 'em on the menu. The meal was so big, I took half the sandwich home for later. We were much too full for dessert, but the cafe offers vegan milk shakes, cookies, and brownies. 

Philly "Steakless" Sandwich

It's great to see new vegetarian restaurants popping up all over the city. I mentioned in a previous post about other places that have opened: Urban Vegan Chicago, the various new Native Foods Cafe locations, Quesadilla Mexican Vegetarian Cuisine, and Earth's Healing Cafe (raw). New York Deli has started serving a permanent vegan menu at their place too. Items include a vegan chick'n parm, vegan gyro, SLT (seitan, lettuce, tomato), the John Lennon (hummus sandwich), and vegan desserts.

Grilled Romaine with Chick'n and Homemade Caesar Dressing

Again, this was inspired by my new grill pan. I made this dressing a while back for my Dishes Men Like posts (which I should really make another 1950's vegan dish, right?!). It is really, really good! I did change what type of mayonnaise I used, though. I have been trying the new Earth Balance vegan mayo while that original Caesar dressing recipe was made with Vegenaise. If you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of Gardein. These chick'n strips are pretty good. One could have opted to grill one of their scallopini's and slice it too.

 Grilled Romaine with Chick'n and Homemade Caesar Dressing

* Prep Time: 5 minutes
* Cook Time: 10 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 head romaine lettuce, washed, cut in half
• 1/2 package Gardein chick'n strips
• VM's Caesar dressing
• salt and pepper, to taste
• vegan Parmesan, to taste*

* Recipe:

1. In a grill pan on medium heat, cook Gardein and romaine. Toss the chick'n strips here and there to cook each side and flip the romaine after 5 minutes. Cook for a total of 10 minutes.
2. Place romaine on a plate with chick'n strips. Top with dressing, salt, pepper, and vegan Parmesan.

* Note: For vegan Parmesan, I used Galaxy brand.


This recipe will make two servings or a large serving for one. Also, in the picture to the right of the recipe, there is quite a bit of Gardein. I only used half a head of romaine when I made this and then decided that with that much chick'n, it would be best with a full head.

Bangers and Mash with Mushy Peas & Onion Gravy

Last year, I went back to London and dined at a newer restaurant, Zilli. I had bangers and mash there as well as at manna restaurant. I preferred manna's to Zilli's, but either way, I was inspired to make my own. The mushy peas are not traditional as they should be soaked overnight. This is a quick version.

Bangers and Mash with Mushy Peas & Onion Gravy

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
* Ingredients (for bangers and mash):

• 1/2 VM's "My Mom's Mashed Potatoes" recipe
• 4 vegan sausages*

* Ingredients (for mushy peas):

• 8 oz frozen peas
• 1/4 cup water
• salt and pepper, to taste
• pinch sugar*
• 2 tbsp soy butter*

* Ingredients (for onion gravy):

• 1/4 small yellow onion, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour*
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine*
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with water

* Recipe (for bangers and mash):

1. In a grill pan on medium heat, place the vegan sausages and cook each side turning over every few minutes. Cook for a total of about 10-15 minutes. 

* Recipe (for mushy peas):

1. In a small pot, add peas and water. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt, pepper, sugar, and butter. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated.
3. Mash the peas when done cooking.

* Recipe (for onion gravy):

1. Add olive oil to a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
2. Next, add the flour and combine well with the onions. Put in the remaining ingredients.
3. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the gravy is thick.

* Note: For vegan sausages, I used Field Roast brand. I would say the Smoked Apple Sage would be the best to use for this recipe. Of course, one could always use Tofurky or others. Make sure your sugar is vegan! For soy butter, I like the olive oil based Earth Balance. I used whole wheat flour because I was out of all-purpose flour. Feel free to use whatever you wish. Lastly, make sure your wine is vegan. Frey and Bonterra (their whites are vegan, but their red wine is not, to note) are vegan. 

Homemade Grilled Potato, Onion, & Cheeze Pierogies with Kielbasa

Well, I finally broke down and bought myself a grill pan. I've been meaning to add this item to my kitchen for a long time. Naturally, I am now obsessed with it. The next few posts may all involve a grill pan, be warned!

I ran out of all-purpose flour as I was making this, thus the added whole wheat flour. Please make with whichever flour you choose, though. This recipe is rather involved as one should really freeze the pierogies overnight before you cook them. Luckily, this recipe makes a lot and you'll have plenty pierogies left over in the freezer for a later date to bake, boil, or fry up! They would go wonderfully with a combination of some vegan sour cream, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and minced chive.

Homemade Grilled Potato, Onion, & Cheeze Pierogies with Kielbasa

* Prep Time: 2 hours to make pierogies, then freeze overnight
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients (for pierogi dough):

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp soy butter*
• 2 "eggs", prepared via box instructions*
• 1/8 cup vegan sour cream*
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup water

* Ingredients (for rest of pierogi filling):

• 1/2 recipe of VM's "My Mom's Mashed Potatoes" sans rosemary
• 1/2 cup Daiya Cheddar Cheeze*
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil

* Ingredients (for rest of recipe):

• 2 vegan kielbasa sausages*
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 small yellow onion, finely sliced
• 1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

* Recipe (for pierogies):

1. In a mixer, combine all ingredients for pierogi dough.
2. Form dough into disk and wrap in saran wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.
3. Just before your hour wait is up, in a medium skillet on medium-low heat, add the olive oil. Sautee the onions until translucent and soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Take out of fridge, dust counter with flour, and roll out dough with a rolling pin.
5. Roll out dough to about a quarter of an inch thick and cut into four pieces. Roll each piece out until it is just a couple millimeters thick. Cut circle with cookie cutter that is about two inches wide.
6. When done making mashed potatoes, add the cheeze. and cooked onions. Mix well.
7. Place about a tsp of mashed potato mixture in the center of circle.
8. Dip finger in cold water and wipe more than half around of the edge of the circle.
9. Fold over and press all the air out sealing the edges. Use a fork to crimp the edges.
10. Freeze overnight. Freeze on a wax paper on a baking sheet so they do not stick. Once frozen, one can place them in a freezer ziplock bag. The recipe makes about four dozen pierogies.

* Recipe (for rest of recipe):

1. Heat grill pan on medium heat. Add the kielbasa and cook for about 10 minutes, turning each side every few minutes.
2. While the kielbasa are cooking, combine one tbsp olive oil with the onion in a medium bowl. Coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. When the kielbasa are done, set aside. Add the onions onto the grill pan. Cook until translucent, about 10 minutes.
4. Coat about a dozen frozen pierogies in one tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper.
5. Take the onions off the grill pan and add the pierogies. Cook each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
6. While pierogies are cooking, slice the kielbasa and dice the onions.
7. Combine the mustard, vinegar, remaining olive oil, and parsley in the medium bowl. Add the kielbasa and onions. When the pierogies are done on the grill, toss them into the bowl. Mix well.
8. Serve and enjoy.

* Note: For soy butter, I prefer the olive oil based Earth Balance. For egg replacer, I use Ener-G. The vegan sour cream I used was Tofutti. One can find Daiya at most health food stores now or online. Lastly, the vegan kielbasa I used was Tofurky brand. Personally, I find them rather dry but with the dressing they were not that bad.

Chick'n Scallopini with Wild Mushroom Risotto

Tasty and a perfect romantic dinner. ♥

Chick'n Scallopini with Wild Mushroom Risotto

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 45 minutes
* Ingredients (for risotto):

• 1 cup white rice
• 2 cups water
• 2 5 oz. bags dried wild mushrooms, dehydrated, sliced
• 1 cube vegetable bouillon, follow directions
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 cup basil, chiffonade 
  
• salt and pepper, to taste
• vegan Parmesan, to taste* 

* Ingredients (for chick'n):

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 Gardein chick'n scallopini patties*
• 1/2 small yellow onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup pinot grigio white wine*
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed
• 2 tbsp Daiya mozzarella, split between scallopini*
• 1/2 medium lemon, juiced
• basil, chopped, to top 
  

* Recipe (for risotto):

1. Dehydrate the wild mushrooms in boiling water until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove mushrooms and slice, reserving water to make broth.
3. With mushroom water, add the cube of bouillon and the amount of remaining water needed for two cups. Bring to boil.
4. In a skillet, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and sautee onions with salt until translucent and soft.
5. Add remaining oil and cook the garlic and mushrooms, about 5 minutes.
6. Next, add the rice, parsley, rosemary, basil, vegan Parmesan, remaining salt, and pepper. Sautee until rice starts to brown, stirring constantly. Add a ladle full of broth at a time, stirring until all the liquid has been absorbed.
7. Repeat the process until all the broth has been used.

* Recipe (for chick'n):

1. Add oil to skillet and caramelize onions.
2. Next, add garlic, thyme, and scallopini. Cook through until scallopini is golden brown. Add wine to deglaze.
3. As wine is cooking down, add lemon juice. Allow the sauce to cook.
4. Remove scallopini and slice in thin strips.
5. Top with sauteed onions, wine reduction, Daiya, and bake to melt cheese at 200 degrees.
6. Remove and place atop risotto.
7. Sprinkle basil over dish.

* Note: For vegan Parmesan, I use Galaxy brand. Gardein is a great mock meat company that you can find in most groceries. Make sure your wine is vegan! Daiya is a tapioca based cheeze product that has become readily available at most health food stores. You can also find it online. 

Italian Wedding Soup

I do miss Italian wedding soup a lot. This was pretty taste. I would recommend using the Galaxy brand Parmesan if you can find it. I tried three Whole Foods, but couldn't find anything so I settled for Parm which I do not particularly care for. It has too much of nutty taste for me. The floating bits in the pictures are from the Parm. Apparently that's what happens to it when added to liquids. There is also couscous at the bottom of the soup too which you can not see in the pictures. Some people prefer spiral pasta noodles, though, so pick whichever strikes your fancy! 

Italian Wedding Soup

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
* Ingredients (for meatballs):

• 1 package (8 oz.) Italian style seitan, finely chopped*
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup vegan Parmesan*
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 "eggs", made as directed by box instructions*
• 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs*
• 1 tbsp olive oil

* Ingredients (for soup base):

• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 2 tbsp vegan Parmesan
• pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup white wine*
• 1/2 cup couscous
• 2 tbsp olive oil

* Recipe (for meatballs):

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Form into small to medium shaped balls.

* Recipe (for soup):

1. Over medium heat in a pot, add the olive oil. Brown each side of the meatballs for about 10 minutes.
2. Remove the meatballs and set aside.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 20-30 minutes.
4. When done cooking, place some broth in a bowl and add several meatballs.

* Note: For my seitan needs, I swear by local seitan gods, Upton's Naturals. You can find it online at vegan stores. You could use other seitan-style meat crumbles such as Boca Ground Crumbles,Gimme Lean Sausage by Lightlife, or Yves Meatless Ground Round Original. For ease, one could just use frozen vegan meatballs too such as Nate's. For vegan Parmesan, I recommend Galaxy brand. I basically only use Ener-G for egg replacement purposes. Make sure your breadcrumbs are vegan as they often have dairy in them! I use Whole Foods brand. Make sure your alcohol is vegan.