Super Bowl: Pulled Pork Sandwiches & Loaded Nachos

I do not follow football, but I do cook! These are a few things I whipped up just in case other people actually watch football and would like to eat vegan grub. Also, check out Mercy For Animals blog post on what one can conjure up for the big day: Score Big by Hosting a Vegan Super Bowl Party.


Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Bourbon BBQ Sauce

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: 30 minutes (without cooking seitan - make ahead of time)
* Ingredients (for pulled pork):

• seitan pieces, cooked according to these directions, pulled a part
• 2 tbsp brown sugar*
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• hamburger buns, for sandwiches

* Ingredients (for bourbon BBQ sauce):

• 1/2 small onion, chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup water
• 5 tbsp bourbon*
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp tobasco
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tsp prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tsp butter, softened*
• 5 tbsp brown sugar*
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne

* Recipe (for pulled pork): 

1. Make the seitan according to the directions given in a previous post. Squeeze the juice that the seitan cooked in out of the seitan pieces.
2. In a bowl, pull a part the seitan so it resembles "pulled pork". 
3. In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (aside from the buns!). Throw it in the bowl with the seitan and mix well. 
4. Place the seitan mixture in a pot on low-medium heat. Let the seitan brown a bit (not a lot) so that the spices set in on it sort of like a rub, if you will.
5. Keep warm while you make the BBQ sauce.

* Recipe (for BBQ sauce):

1. Chop up the onions and mince the garlic. In a small non-stick pan, cook the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients and put on a medium sized pot on the stove. Add the onions and garlic. Stir on low-medium heat until reduced, about thirty minutes.

* Recipe (for sandwich):

1. Mix the BBQ sauce with the seitan.
2. Put pulled pork on hamburger buns, serve. 

* Note: For the bourbon, make sure it is vegan on Barnivore. I used Earth Balance for the butter. For the sugar, make sure it is vegan!

Loaded Nachos


* Prep Time: 5 minutes
* Cook Time: 30 minutes (with cheeze sauce)
* Ingredients (for nachos):

• 1 (14 oz.) can vegetarian refried beans, warmed
• cheeze sauce, cooked according to these directions
• 1/2 package (4 oz.) Upton's Naturals ground beef style seitan, crumbled*
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• several dollops vegan sour cream*
• 1/2 jar salsa*
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 stalks green onion, sliced thin
• tortilla chips, to serve

* Ingredients (for guacamole):

• 2 avocados, pits remove
• 3-4 limes, squeezed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1/2 one poblano pepper, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup, fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt, to taste

* Recipe (for seitan):

1. Crumble your seitan and mix together the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and chili powder with it.
2. Brown in a non-stick pan on medium heat.

* Recipe (for guacamole):

1. In a bowl, mash the avocados and add the lime juice. Mix.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

* Recipe (for building nachos):

1. Lay chips on plate.
2. Layer order: seitan, beans, cheeze sauce, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, garnishments.

* Note: Upton's Naturals is a local Chicago seitan company. They sell their faux meats here in Chicagoland. You could use other seitan-style meat crumbles such as Boca Ground Crumbles,Gimme Lean Sausage by Lightlife, or Yves Meatless Ground Round Original. I used Tofutti vegan sour cream. For salsa, my favorite brand is Green Mountain Gringo with medium spice.


For good measure, you could also make my cheeze stick recipe, my chili cheeze fries, stuffed crust pizza, deep dish pizza, stuffed cheese and bacon burgers, or horseshoe sandwich dishes! Phew, so much vegan fast food!

Eggless Egg Salad

This was a request from my friend, Pam. It turned out pretty good! I've never had real egg salad (never ever liked eggs before I was vegan), so I don't have much to compare it to. But, I'd say it's awesome! 

Eggless Egg Salad

* Prep Time: 10 minutes

* Ingredients:  

• 3  tbsp onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 tbsp dill relish
• 3 tbsp stone ground mustard
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp agave nectar*
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 package medium grade tofu (14 oz.), pressed and drained, mashed*
• 3/4th jar vegan mayonnaise*

* Recipe: 

1. In a bowl, mash the tofu well.
2. Add the onion,celery, parsley, and dried dill to the tofu. Mix well.
3. Next, add the dill relish, mustard, lemon juice, agave, salt, and pepper. Combine well.
4. Lastly, add the mayonnaise. Combine well.

* Note: Agave nectar is a natural sweetener that is used to replace honey. You should be able to find it at your grocery store with the jams and honey. I used medium tofu in this recipe. If you wish, one could try this recipe with soft (not silken) tofu. Let me know how it turns out! I am not sure if it would be too "runny" which is why I opted for medium. For vegan mayonnaise, I prefer Vegenaise. 


Once you combine all the ingredients, if you feel the salad needs a little bit more of one of the ingredients, feel free to add more.

Po Boy Sandwich

Many moons again, I had a Po Boy Sandwich for the first time at the Chicago Diner. It was SO good. Alas, they took it off their menu. This is my attempt to recreate it, although the Diner's is better (as always!).

 Po Boy Sandwich

* Prep Time: 30 minutes
* Cook Time: 3 1/2 hours (2 hours for seitan, 1/2 hour for au jus)
* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1/2 block tofu (5 oz.)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp red wine
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 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 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, to taste rubbed on the seitan loaf

• 1 cup vegetable broth, add more if runs out while steaming

* Ingredients (for au jus):

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 cup vegetarian chicken broth*
• 1 cup vegetarian beef broth*
• water, if necessary
• 2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

* Ingredients (for building sandwich):

• 4 hoagie buns
• vegan mayonnaise, to taste on each sandwich

* 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. Blend well.
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 to a medium sized pot. Do not turn on stove yet.
5. Form the wheat gluten mixture into a log and rub the top with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Wrap the seitan log in foil.
6. Put the seitan into the pot and now turn on the stove to low heat. Place pot cover on, but allow some room for the steam.
7. Steam seitan for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Make sure you don't run out of broth as you steam. Add more if you need to as you steam.
8. To store, keep the seitan in the foil you steamed it in.

* Recipe (for au jus):

1. In the pot you steamed the seitan in, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and carrots.
2. Once the onions begin to brown, add the rest of the au jus ingredients. After you add the broths, add enough water to cover 3/4th of the seitan log.
3. Baste the top of the seitan log and rotate here and there. Keep on extremely low heat during this time. You may choose to just let the seitan "soak" in the broth rather than have it on low heat.
4. Remove seitan after about 30 minutes. Take out the bay leaf then blend the onions, carrots, and broth in a blender.
5. Return back to pot and add in bay leaf again, let heat on medium heat for 30 more minutes.
6. Take out bay leaf before serving.

 * Recipe (for building sandwich):

1. Split hoagies 3/4th of the way, leaving a hinge. Slather on vegan mayonnaise on both sides of bun to taste.
2. Slice the seitan log into thin deli style slices. Add to hoagie and top with generous amounts of au jus.

* Note: I used Frontier vegetarian beef and chicken broths. 

Vegan Horseshoe Sandwich

The horseshoe sandwich is native to Springfield, IL. Read the Wikipedia page on it here: Horseshoe sandwich.

Vegan Horseshoe Sandwich



* Prep Time: 45 minutes
* Cook Time: 2 hour

* Ingredients (for vegan burgers):

• 3/4 cup textured soy protein granules
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tsp of egg replacer (arrowroot or EnerG)
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup white onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup carrot, shaved
• 1/3 cup green onion, minced
• 1/3 cup red pepper, minced
• 1/3 cup mushroom, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sage

* Ingredients (for cheese sauce):

• 1 large red pepper roasted, peeled, and seeded
• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp vegan Worcester sauce
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup beer (lager)

• 1-2 tbsp cornstarch with 5 tsp water (combined)
• soy milk (to desired consistency)

* Ingredients (other):

• olive oil
• 1 bag of frozen crinkle fries, cooked as package describes, add kosher salt while cooking
• white bread, sliced
• 4 vegan burger patties (see above)
• 1 cup vegan butter, melted
• kosher salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 5 cloves garlic, pureed
• dash of paprika, top the dish!

* Recipe (for vegan burgers):

1. Simmer water and textured soy protein in a small pot until it becomes soft and water evaporates.
2. While the textured soy protein simmers, combine all remaining ingredients. Heat skillet on medium heat with olive oil.
   
3. Add the soy protein to the ingredient mixture until well combined.
4. Form into patties and place in skillet.
5. Fry each side until cooked (will take several minutes per side). Add more olive oil as you go.

* Recipe (for cheese sauce):

1. Roasted red pepper on broil until it is soft.
2. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
   
3. Add seeded, peeled, roasted red pepper to cheese sauce mixture. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into pot on medium heat.
5. Add cornstarch and water mixture, bring to boil. Add the milk in slowly ; depending on how thick or runny you want the sauce, add more or less.
6. Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer. Keep stirring the mixture.
7. Continue stirring until you pour over sandwich.

* Recipe (for building sandwich):

1. Place crinkle fries on a baking sheet. Bake in oven as directed by instructions on fries.
2. Meanwhile, combined melted butter, garlic, salt, and pepper into bowl. Take piece of white bread and spread this mixture onto each side.
3. Place the bread with mixture on skillet with medium heat. Toast each side until brown.
4. Plate 2 pieces of bread, two patties, pile of fries, top with cheese sauce and dash of paprika.
5. Enjoy!

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

* Prep Time: 10 minutes
* Cook Time: 30 minutes

* Ingredients:

• seitan (from recipe in previous blog entry), sliced, fried
  
• 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
  
• sea salt, to taste
  
• ground black pepper, to taste
  
• olive oil, to taste
  
• vegan mozzarella cheese, sliced
  
• hoagie bun (or a French bun, in this case)

* Recipe:

1. In a skillet, sprinkle on some sea salt. Place on medium heat. When hot, add olive oil and black pepper. Place green pepper and onion in pan and cook until translucent.
2. While the onions and peppers are cooking, fry up the sliced seitan in another skillet. See the recipe in the previous entry to make the seitan. In this case, use the leftover seitan from last recipe.
3. When everything is done in both skillets, layer seitan, then onions and green peppers into a hoagie bun and add sliced mozzarella cheese.
4. Microwave to melt cheese (if you have a better way to melt, go for it!)

Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing

I've been experimenting with different seitan recipes that I have created from scratch. This was the first one I started with. Beyond changing the ingredients, I've also been trying different forms of cooking it such as steaming then baking or cooking it in a pot.












Vegan Reuben Sandwich with Russian Dressing

* Prep Time: 30 minutes
* Cook Time: 1 day and/or several hours


* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth
  
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek
• 1 tsp sage
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan Worcester sauce
  
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour

* Ingredients (for Russian dressing):

• 1/2 cup Vegannaise
• 1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  
• 1/4 tsp dry ground mustard seed
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
  
• 1/4 tsp paprika
  
• 1 tsp agave nectar
  
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped dill
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped chives
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  

* Ingredients (for sauerkraut):

• 1 cup sauerkraut, squeezed dry
• 1 tbsp vinegar
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• kosher salt (to taste)
• cracked pepper (to taste)

* Ingredients (for filling of sandwich):

• Olive oil, to taste
  
• kosher salt, to taste
  
• 1/3 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cups spinach

* Ingredients (for building sandwich):

• sliced rye bread
• vegan butter, to taste
  
• vegan monterrey jack cheese, sliced
• dill pickle, on the side

* 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. Form the wheat gluten mixture into a log. Wrap it in tin foil well.
5. Steam the tin foil wheat gluten log for 45-60 minutes.
6. Bake the now steamed wheat gluten log for 60 minutes at 350 degrees. After an hour, take out the seitan and check it.
7. If the seitan is still too mushy, leave it in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Different oven temperatures vary, so this recipe may take longer in one oven than another.

* Recipe (for Russian dressing):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for sauerkraut):

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Set aside.
   

* Recipe (for filling of sandwich):

1. Heat skillet with salt. Once hot, add the olive oil, onion, and green pepper.
2. When onion starts to become translucent, add the spinach and mushrooms.
3. Once all ingredients are cooked, set aside.

* Recipe (for building sandwich):

1. Butter each side of the rye bread and toast each side on a skillet.
2. Take once piece of bread and put three slices of seitan as the first layer. Next, put the sauerkraut mixture and then the filling mixture. Lastly, put two slices of monterrey jack cheese. Place another slice of the rye bread on top.
3. Microwave the sandwich until the cheese melts.
4. Once melted, take the top slice off and add Russian dressing to taste. Place the top piece of bread back on the sandwich.
   

* Notes: You can make the seitan the night before or the same day. I chose to do it the night before to save time when I was building the sandwich. Also, I have a hard time trying to melt vegan cheese on a skillet. If any of you have a better idea as to how to melt it other than in a microwave, please let me know!

Balsamic Baked Tofu Caprese Sandwich & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Caprese sandwiches are not so vegan. Therefore, I made an original recipe gone vegan!

Balsamic Baked Tofu Caprese Sandwich

* Prep Time: 1 day

* Cook Time: 30 minute








  * Ingredients (for balsamic baked tofu):

• 1/2 block extra firm tofu - sliced into 1/2 in. slabs
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/2 of medium sweet onion - cut in half and sliced thin lengthwise*
• Several sprigs of fresh rosemary plus 2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary
• 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Sea salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste

* Ingredients (for caprese sandwich):

• 1 large tomato - sliced*
• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Sea salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste
• 6 fresh basil leaves - medium size*
• Soy mozzarella - thinly sliced*
• Fresh sourdough bread - sliced*
• Spray cooking oil

* Recipe:

1. Start with balsamic baked tofu. This will need to marinate for at least 2 hour up to 24 hours (which is the best option if you have the time). Take the tofu block and cut into slabs. Take several paper towels, place tofu slabs on them, place several more paper towels on top of tofu slabs. Pat them dry with paper towels to remove most moisture.
2. Sprinkle each side of tofu slabs with herbs (rosemary, sea salt, black pepper).
3. Place rosemary sprigs, onion, and garlic on a medium sized baking tray. Lay tofu slabs on top of vegetables.
4. Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, and vegetable broth. Spoon over vegetables in baking tray. Cover with tin foil and let it marinate for 2-24 hours in the refrigerator.
5. When done marinating, pre-heat oven to 375°. Take tin foil off of baking tray, flip over tofu slabs, and spoon marinade over tofu. Bake for 10-13 minutes.
6. Remove baking tray from oven, spoon marinade over tofu slabs again, bake for another 15 minutes.
7. For additional baking, broil for 2-3 minutes.
8. To make sandwich, begin by mixing vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, and black and pepper in a small bowl. Take sliced tomato and let marinate one side for a bit, then flip to the other side.
9. Take pieces of sliced bread, spray with cooking oil on one side, and toast in large frying pan over medium heat. Flip, spray with cooking oil, and let the other side brown. While this side is toasting, place soy mozzarella on bread and let it melt.
10. Take one piece of sliced bread with cheese, place basil leaves on the bread, then several pieces of tofu slab. Add onion/rosemary/garlic mixture from baking pan to top of tofu slab on the bread. Add tomato slice on top of that. Top with another piece of toasted bread.

* Notes: You can also use red onion. Depending on how many sandwich you make, you will need more or less basil leaves. Same goes with the bread slices and tomato. Make sure to double check that the sourdough bread is vegan and contains no animal by-product. The soy mozzarella I used was Follow Your Heart brand.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

* Prep Time: 15 minutes

* Cook Time: 40 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 5-7 cloves of garlic
• 10 baby red potatoes - peeled, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup soy milk - add more to taste
• Sea salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste
• Garlic salt - to taste
• Onion powder - to taste
• Several dashes of nutmeg
• 3-4 tablespoons of soy butter (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives - chopped (add more to taste)

* Recipe:

1. Place garlic (unpeeled) in baking sheet and bake at 450° for 25 minutes or until soft.
2. While garlic is in the oven, cook potatoes over medium to high heat in pot for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
3. Drain potatoes into a strainer, set aside to dry for a bit.
4. Take garlic cloves and squeeze them out of peel. In a small bowl, mash garlic with a fork until paste-like.
5. Place potatoes in large bowl, add garlic paste, spices, and soy milk. Mash. Add soy butter. Mix well. Add chives, whisk everything several more times.
6. Adjust seasoning and soy butter to taste.

Starting to think about my annual Thanksgiving day feast. This website has a lot of great ideas. Pre-plan consists of these mini pot pies with my mom's original mashed potato recipe along with French onion soup. Possibly homemade cranberry sauce and homemade rolls.

Christmas plans are also in the making. An extensive list of homemade crafts to give has been made, as well as my annual baking extravaganza for the cookie tins. This year will mark my first with vegan dog cupcake tins too. Look for my upcoming holiday blogs! They will be filled with good food, vino, and crafty fun.