Dinner

I had some finely shredded cabbage left from this weekend's Food for Life class and decided to make a waterless dish. I  put garlic, ginger, broccoli stalk cubes, onion, seitan, the cabbage, Roma tomato cubes, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes. I served with some freshly chopped cilantro. I also served Madagascar Pink rice, as well as heirloom tomato slices. Results Wow, we all enjoyed dinner. Frankly, I was a little concerned when the dish was underway as the batch of seitan that I had purchased wasn't as tasty as I had hoped. But the flavor combination was excellent and it didn't need any additional spices. Ideas for the future I love the results of waterless cooking and should more regularly cook this way. I don't cook w...

My wife and daughter are traveling this week, so I was on my own for dinner. I coated seitan in panko bread crumbs and jerk seasoning, but the coating didn't stick so well (I should experiment with vegan "egg" additions in such situations), so I also coated a piece of tofu, which takes coating well. I air fried for 5 minutes at  375°F. I had some small sweet potatoes and pressure steamed them for only 9 minutes in my Instant Pot ; I could have gotten away with perhaps only 6-7 minutes! Results Dinner was good and I should replicate this for my family. The seitan, not nearly as moist as the tofu, was just a bit overdone but actually still quite good. If there were some lemon, it would remind me of my signature lime marinated jerk seitan dish. The tofu was good but could have been air fried for a few more minutes. It was fun to eat three sweet potatoes! Ideas for the future I might experiment with adding lemon zest to the breading of seitan - and mix in  some yogurt, a vega...

I made a simple dinner tonight in two cast iron pans over medium heat. The side dish was easy - I just sauteed shishito peppers, turning occasionally until mostly blackened. I served with salt as a nice side dish. For my main course, I made a saute starting with onion and garlic. As they started clarifying in color, I then added two chopped golden zucchinis. A minute or so later, I added seitan chunks. When everything was reasonably well cooked after another 4 or 5 minutes, I added a little ginger and baby arugula. The arugula quickly cooked down, and I repeated with two more handfuls of the greens. I served with leftover rice. Results Pending Ideas for the future Pending

I recently found vegan smoked "mozzarella " from Miyoko's Creamery I had some brown rice manicotti shells  and decided to make manicotti. The vegan cheese is a bit high in fat (it's an 8 ounce package and has 5g of fat per ounce), so I thought I'd make manicotti with half the cheese, but ended up needing about 3/4, so the total fat from the cheese (and nothing else contributed significantly more fat) was 30g of fat. The 9"x13" baking dish was heavy with the 16 filled shells and sauce; I anticipated that we'd each eat 3 shells, so have about 30g of fat x 3/16 = about 6g of fat. Here is what I did. Ingredients 7 ounce box of manicotti shells , prepared according to directions (I used a gluten-free brown rice shell that had 16 shells that I boiled for 4 minutes) About 40 ounces (I used 25 ounce jars, so went through almost two) of a favorite marinara sauce 6 ounces of vegan smoked "mozzarella cheese" roughly cut into 1/2" or smaller piec...

I had a little potato leek soup leftover and had purchased a head of cauliflower today. I thought I'd make a soup with cauliflower and seitan (I had some chorizo seitan from Upton's that I also bought today). I steamed about half the cauliflower, cut into florets, for about 3 minutes, covered, then removed the water, put about a cup of the soup base in, as well as 1/4 of the seitan package (about 2 ounces), 3/4 of a bell pepper cut into strips, a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, a pinch of salt, 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper, and 1/2 t garlic powder. I simmered, uncovered, for 7-10 minutes, then served, along with cucumber slices and crackers. Simple, fast, and nutritious! Results Dinner was good. I like thick soups, but this also would have been good with more of the soup base. nding Ideas for the future Chunks of potatoes would have been good, as well as chives. I was in a bit of a rush to put dinner together, so something more "interesting" than crackers, su...

My daughter picked out a recipe from Ruby Roth 's The Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids , soba noodles with toasted sesame seeds. I didn't have soba but did have udon noodles on hand, and made a simple dish inspired by her recipe by: boiling udon noodles for 8m, sauteeing over low heat for 3-4 minutes or so black sesame seeds on a dry cast iron pan (being careful not to burn the seeds), and using a small  Saladmaster stock pan to cook waterlessly (I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped) for about 15m onion, broccoli, and seitan. I drained the noodles and rinsed them with cold water, then returned them to the pan and mixed in some coconut aminos (or soy sauce). I served, topped with toasted sesame seeds and the vegetable-seitan mix. Results Dinner came out surprisingly well! I wanted to have a flavorful broth for the noodles and wish I had had more time to come up with some so...

I thought that I'd make a dish with seitan and had the idea of combining potato into the main course. I thought I'd chop potato into small cubes and pressure cook, then mix in seitan and frozen peas. I ended up also mixing in mushroom; both peas and mushroom were frozen, so I cooked for another "zero minutes" (i.e., just let the cooker get up to pressure and then stop) at low pressure. Here is what I did. Ingredients 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 3/8" cubes (about 3 cups) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 1/2 cup water 8 ounces of seitan (I used strips but any cut would be fine, according to diner's preferences) 3 cups (about 4 ounces frozen) mushroom slices or pieces 1 cup peas 1/4 t salt 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 1/8-1/4 t (as per preference) oregano or jerk seasoning (I used jerk seasoning) Process I put the potato, garlic, and water into my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker and cooked for 2m. After the cooking was done, I waited a few m...

Happy Halloween! I had a little pumpkin puree on hand and was very happy with my recent ( October 18th ) experiment cooking with seitan and pumpkin puree. I came up with the idea of cooking seitan with vegetables and pumpkin, then mixing in fresh, raw tomatoes when I served. I made the mistake of mixing the tomatoes in with the couscous which I had thought to make as a side dish - and, in hindsight, I think my "mistake" was fortuitous as it nicely elevated the taste and presentation of the couscous. Here's what I did. Ingredients 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous 3/4 cup water (I accidentally used 1 cup) 1 cup frozen Brussel sprouts Vegan bouillon cube 2/3 cup tomato cut into 1/2" cubes (much of a small-medium tomato) 2T minced basil leaves 3/4 cup onion cut into thin half moons app. 1/4" x 1 1/2" 8 ounces of seitan (I used strips, but any convenient size can be used) 1 1/3 cups carrot cut into 3/8" widths (I used two medium carrots) 1 2/3 compressed cups k...

I was thinking of, with respect to the upcoming Halloween season, making a pumpkin dish. I didn't have much time to put dinner together and had hoped to find cubed pumpkin, but I didn't. Instead, I bought organic pumpkin puree. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 clove elephant garlic chopped to about 1/8"-1/4" pieces (or a clove of regular garlic finely diced to about 1/8") 8 ounces of seitan (strips or cubes, as preferred) 1/2 medium green tomato cut into 3/8" cubes (maybe 3/4 cup) App. 1/2 cup roasted bell pepper cut into approx. 1" x 3/8" strips (maybe 2/3 of a medium pepper) 8 ounces pumpkin puree 1/8 t turmeric 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper 1/4 t garlic powder 1/4 t salt Process I put, in this order, the garlic,  seitan, tomato, bell pepper, and pumpkin into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till...

Yesterday we bought of yummy items from the Carrboro, NC Farmers' Market, including fresh bell peppers. They have a wonderful deal that if you buy at least two pounds of any kind of peppers, they will fire roast the peppers right there for you, which is what we did. These roasted peppers are so good, and as they cooled in the plastic bags that they put them in, some liquid accumulated, which I ended up using in today's meal. I also got great oyster mushrooms, baby ginger, a new variety (to me) of heirloom apple, baby bok choy, watermelon radish, Sugar Baby watermelon, elephant and regular garlic, white kale, and more. I used a lot of the ingredients in today's meal. Ingredients 1 clove elephant garlic, chopped into pieces slightly smaller than 1/4" (alternate: 2 cloves regular garlic finely chopped to about 1/8") 2-3 handfuls of oyster mushrooms, tough ends removed, then hand torn into maybe 1" lengths (alternate: other mushrooms can work, such as shiitake or...

A few days ago when shopping, my daughter suggested picking up some whole wheat pearled couscous. I had a portabello mushroom left over from yesterday's Food for Life class (Kickstart Your Health class 2, where I served oatmeal with apple, a chickpea - quinoa salad, and portabello fajitas). Here is the meal that I put together tonight. Ingredients 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") dieced 1/8 cup onion cut into 1/4" cubes Dozen artichoke heart quarters, frozen Medium carrot cut into 1/4" slices then quartered 2/3 cup whole wheat pearled couscous 1 cup water 1 vegan bouillon cube 1/4 t garlic powder 1T nutritional yeast 1t fennel seeds 1/4 cup leek, thoroughly washed (washed, cut into quarters, and carefully washed again) and cut into 3/8" cubes (most of the white portion of a medium leek) Portabello mushroom cut into 1/2" slices and then halved 8 ounces of seitan 1/2 t lemon or lime juice 1/2 t salt (optional) 1t jerk seasoning Process I put the garlic and onio...

I found nice purple and yellow waxed beans in the store and thought I'd cook them with seitan. Initially, I was going to cook the beans on a cast iron pan, but then I decided to make a waterless dish. I put, in this order, a chopped shallot, maybe 25-30 beans (half yellow and half purple), and most (6 ounces?) of a package of seitan chunks into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 15 minutes, then opened the top and mixed in a little salt, garam masala , freshly ground black pepper, and salt. I also made a salad with shredded cabbage, kalamata olives, freshly ground black pepper, salt, a generous amount of lime juice, a little balsamic vinegar, and maybe 15 small freshly picked oregano leaves. I serve with quinoa. Results Dinner was better than I had expected! It seems quite consistent that ...

We have been getting good organic peaches from the store and yesterday I tempted my family with the idea of grilling some peaches, something I've not done in a while. As I prepared to work on dinner, I decided instead to try waterless cooking. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1/4 cup onion cut into approx. 1/4" x 3/4" strips 8 ounces of seitan (I used pre-cut strips but any size cut would be fine) 2 cups mixed frozen mixed vegetables 1T finely (1/8") minced ginger 1 medium peach cut into approx. 3/8" cubes (about a cup) 1/4 t salt 1/2 t garlic powder Process I put into a large Saladmaster stock pan these ingredients, in this order: onion, seitan, vegetables, ginger, and, finally, peach. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes. I then mixed in the salt and garlic powder, and served, along with bro...

We're so lucky - we have new neighbors a few houses down. We enjoyed starting to get to know them a few weeks ago when they were quite pregnant - and they had their baby a few days ago! I wanted to bring a meal over so made a larger quantity of tonight's dinner, knowing we'd be sharing. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 cup onion cut into half moon slices approx. 1/4" x 1" (app. 1/2 or a bit less of my medium Vidalia onion) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") minced 1 cup thin okra (I found beautiful about 3/4" length thin red locally grown okra and cut a few pieces that were bigger into halves; if using thicker okra, try 3/8" slices) 15-20 small crimini or button mushrooms sliced into thirds (about 1 cup) 16 ounces seitan as thin strips or cubes up to 3/4" thick 1 medium green (unripened) tomato cut into 3/8" cubes (about 1 cup) 1 cup bell pepper slices (approx. 1/4" x 3/4") (I might have used 1 1/2 cups but pepper can cause gas, and ...

We had a visitor from Mexico City coming tonight to spend two nights with us. He's not vegetarian, so I thought I'd make something with seitan to let him try a food he likely hadn't had before. I made a waterless Brussels Sprouts dish. Here is what I did: Ingredients 1 cup onion cut into approx. 1/4" x 3/4" half moons (I used about half of a medium Vidalia onion) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") diced 2 cups (12 small-medium) Brussels Sprouts, halved 1 1/2 cups button or crimini mushrooms cut into quarters (I used 8 crimini) Kernels stripped from one cob of corn (maybe 3/4 cup?) 3 leaves bok choy, each leaf halved and then cut into 3/8" pieces 8 ounces seitan, slices or cubes 10 leaves fresh oregano, roughly chopped into approximately quarters 1/2 t salt 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper Process I put, in this order, the onion, garlic, Brussels Sprouts, mushrooms, corn, bok choy, and seitan into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I...

We've been growing oyster mushrooms at home. It's fun when they suddenly start sprouting - they sprout quickly and grow quite large over 2-3 days. I've loved recently using Chorizo Seitan by Uptons Naturals . It is not spicy hot enough to bother my daughter, though she doesn't enjoy this seitan as much as my wife and I do. I made a simple saute of the mushrooms with the seitan. Yum!

A particularly nice cousin of my wife's is visiting for a few days and arrived this morning. I was even more excited than usual about cooking! I thought that I'd make a waterless seitan and vegetable dish. I made some corn off the cob and quinoa; I normally have a salad, so wondered what the main course might be like with fresh tomato. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1/3 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes 1 clove garlic, finely (app. 1/8") chopped 2 cups (most of a 12 ounce bag) frozen artichoke heart quarters (canned artichoke hearts could be used; if so, they should be drained and rinsed and added at the end of the cooking, mixed in, and allowed to sit for 2 or more minutes) 1 1/2 cups mixed mushroom cut into 1/2" thick slices (I used frozen pieces which were cut a bit finer) 1/2 cup, compressed, kale leaves, hand torn (stems excepted) into approximately 1" squares (I used freshly picked kale from our garden; the stems were tender, so I didn't remove the st...

I love ramps and was delighted to find them in the store yesterday! They are difficult to find where I live and I only find them at most a few times a year. I wanted to make a simple dish to let the ramp flavor dominate. Ingredients 10-12 medium crimini mushrooms cut into thirds (or one portabello cut into approx. 1/2" cubes) 6-8 ramps; very ends removed then rest, root and greens, cut into 1/2" lengths 4 ounces seitan (I used a chorizo seitan that was chopped, but larger pieces of seitan chopped or at least cut into 1/2" or smaller pieces would be fine) Process I sauteed all the ingredients together in a cast iron pan with no added oil, except maybe 1/4 t of oil that I put on and wiped off to give a very thin coating. I also served a baked potato (cooked in my Instant Pot ) and charred and salted shishito pepper over a tomato slice. Results Dinner was good. How could you go wrong with ramps?! Ideas for the future I wish that we could more commonly find ramps! It would ...

It's been, I think, almost 10 years since I've made risotto. We quite like risotto, and I make a "conference call risotto" . I had the idea of making an artichoke and potato risotto and thought I'd see what the  Instant Pot  pressure cooker could do in terms of risotto. I readily found one of Laura Pazzaglia's many Hip Pressure Cooking recipes, Easy Pressure Cooker Risotto . Here is my version of it - the first time I've tried a no-oil risotto. Ingredients 1/2 cup onion cut into 1/4" cubes 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") minced 3 medium crimini mushrooms cut into 1/2" cubes (1 cup) 1 cup Arborio rice 1 or 2 T red or white wine (I used port) 1/2 cup frozen (or fresh) artichoke heart quarters 1/4 cup chopped (1/4" squares) bell pepper A bit less than 2 cups of water Vegan bouillon cube 1/2 cup asparagus cut into 1/2" lengths (about 4 thick stalks; it probably would take 6-8 regular thin stalks) Medium baking potato cut into 3/8"...

My wife and I were in Charlotte, NC for the day yesterday. We had lunch at Bean Vegan Cuisine  and a very nice dinner at Fern Flavors from the Garden . My wife had a sandwich with barbecued jackfruit, and I used some leftovers with dinner. I was in the mood for baked potato so cooked medium potatoes, intact, for 20m with the pressure steam function of my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker. I made the "cheese" sauce that I most recently described on March 19 , and a simple seitan and vegetable saute, plus the jackfruit with lettuce. Results Dinner was good. I have had barbecued jackfruit and not liked it - and still don't. But the rest of dinner was good! Ideas for the future I should make the cheese sauce more often.