Vegan Roux

Need a vegan roux for a non-dairy recipe? Try this vegan roux recipe which uses soy milk and vegan margarine. As an added bonus, a vegan roux is much lower in fat than a traditional roux, and is cholesterol-free as well! A roux, sometimes called a white sauce, has many uses in cooking, such as thickening a gravy, soup or stew or as a base for a French cream sauce.

Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk (unsweetened and unflavored is best)
2 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp flour

Preparation:
Heat soymilk in saucepan over low heat.

Once soymilk is hot, add margarine and flour, whisking vigorously to incorporate and avoid forming lumps.

Allow to simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce has thickened.

Sausage and Mushroom Étouffée

FROM: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/02/vegan-sausage-and-mushroom-etoufee.html

A quarter teaspoon each of the cayenne, white, and black pepper will probably provide enough heat for most people, but if you like your food fiery, add more to taste, but try to keep the amounts balanced. If you don’t like spicy dishes, start with 1/8 teaspoon of each pepper and build up from there.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 cups “no-chicken” or other vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and halved
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 14-16 ounces vegan sausage (such as Tofurky or Fauxsages), sliced thickly
• 4 green onions (scallions), sliced

Instructions

1. Put the flour in a small skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until it is the color of light brown sugar, about 15 minutes. Be very careful–it burns easily if not stirred. If it burns, throw it out and start over again. When it reaches the right color, transfer it to the blender, add the broth, and blend it until smooth. Set aside.
2. While you’re stirring the flour, you can begin cooking the vegetables. Heat a large non-stick skillet. Add the onion and cook for about three minutes, adding water by the tablespoon if needed to prevent sticking. Add the celery and bell pepper and continue to cook until the onion is beginning to brown. Add the mushrooms and a tablespoon of water and cover tightly. Cook until the mushrooms begin to exude their liquid, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
3. Give the flour mixture another quick whirl in the blender and add it to the vegetables. Add the soy sauce and all the seasonings and cook, stirring often, until sauce has thickened. Reduce heat and add the sliced sausage. Cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the gravy seems too thick, add a little more vegetable broth.
4. Check the seasonings and add more pepper and salt if needed. Stir in the green onions and serve over rice.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s) | Cooking time: 45 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Nutrition (per serving, using Italian Fauxsages): 305 calories, 51 calories from fat, 5.9g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 1158.8mg sodium, 377.7mg potassium, 32.9g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, 3.4g sugar, 34.4g protein, 8.4 points. Nutritional analysis will vary depending on the type of sausage used.

Etouffée

http://weeklyveganmenu.blogspot.com/2011/01/etouffee-december-30.html

Ingredients:

½ recipe Sea Seitan

1 t paprika

1 t thyme

½ t fresh ground pepper

1 t basil

3 T oil

3 T flour

1 c onion, chopped

½ c celery, chopped

½ c red pepper, chopped

1 link vegan sausage, sliced

2 T garlic, chopped or 1 T minced

½ t sage

2 T tomato paste

2 c vegan chicken-style broth or vegetable broth

1 T vegan Worcestershire sauce

½ t hot sauce, or to taste

salt to taste

green onions, sliced on diagonal

parsley

First slice your sea seitan into bite-size chunks. Toss the seitan with the paprika, thyme, fresh pepper, and basil. Set this aside while you make the roux.

Heat a large pan (I used a large cast-iron skillet) on medium and add the oil and flour. Combine them well. Cook them over medium, stirring constantly to prevent it from burning, until the roux reaches the chocolate roux stage (meaning it looks like chocolate milk). This will take about 20 minutes.

When the roux is this dark, add the onions, celery and pepper. Stir to combine and keep cooking for another 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, sage and the sea seitan.  Stir again and cook until you can smell the garlic.

Add the tomato paste, stir well and cook until the paste is a darker red.

Add the broth, the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Mix well. Add salt to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes, covered, to marry the flavors.

Serve with rice, garnished with green onions and parsley. Take more hot sauce to the table for diners to add at their leisure.

Sea Seitan

From:

DRY:

1 ¼  c vital wheat gluten

¼  c tapioca flour (available at health food stores)

¼  c rolled oats

1 t onion powder

1 t garlic powder

1 t paprika

½  t sea salt

WET: 

1 c plus 1 T plus 1 t  cold water (not warm or hot)

1 T crushed arame seaweed or your favorite kind

COOKING BROTH: 

7 c water

7 cloves garlic, crushed

1 bag of crab boil

½ t salt

For Bread Machine Kneading: Mix your dry ingredients (unless you are using a mix from a mason jar from storage - no need to pre-mix then). Mix your wet ingredients, using blender if needed. Put the wet in the machine. Put the dry in the machine. Turn on ‘Dough’ cycle. After the machine is done, remove, try not to break it, form into a loaf slightly, and let rest while you heat the cooking broth.

For Hand or Stand Mixer Kneading: Mix your dry ingredients (unless you are using  a mix from a mason jar from storage - no need to pre-mix then). Mix your wet ingredients, using blender if needed. Put the wet in the machine. Put the dry in the machine. Knead in the mixer for 10 minutes. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Knead again for 10 minutes. let rest for 30 minutes. Turn out onto board, shape into loaf slightly, and let rest while you heat the cooking broth. (Gluten should be shinny and smooth.)

For Cooking Cutlets:  Form the gluten into one giant mass and slice a thin piece off. Slice as many pieces off an you have room for. Allowing the pieces to rest between cutting (and stretching a bit) and rolling lets the gluten relax and you can make the pieces thinner because the gluten won’t want to stretch back, like a rubber band. Place this between parchment papers and roll them out as thin as you can. Have the broth prepared and poured into a baking dish. Place each piece you roll out into the warm broth. You make overlap pieces but make sure that each piece is wet before adding another one. Cover tightly with foil and bake in a preheated 300 oven for 1 1/2 hours.

YOU MUST LET YOUR SEITAN COOL BEFORE USING. It needs to firm up. Make the seitan the night before, while watching TV, or writing emails or working or studying. Each seitan makes enough for 1 and 1/4 meals. Freeze the other 1/3 of your seitan and you will be one-third the way to another meal. Or refrigerate in the broth whatever you did not use in the recipe and make a sandwich during the week. Pan fry and put between bread. Dice and pan-fry, put in salad. Slice into thin strips and make a stir-fry. Mix and match your flavors, too. For example, thaw both Firm and Tender Seitan, etc.

Red Beans and Rice

FROM: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/11/easy-red-beans-and-rice.html

In traditional recipes, long slow cooking breaks down the beans and gives them their creamy texture. I shorten that cooking time by using pre-cooked red beans and pureeing half of them in the food processor. The food processor also shortens the time it takes to chop the vegetables that give New Orleans red beans their characteristic flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 green pepper
• 2 ribs celery
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 15-ounce can cans red beans (no sugar added), drained and well-rinsed
• 1 15-ounce can can fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 – 1 teaspoon red (cayenne) pepper (to taste)
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce, plus more to serve
• Smoked salt or Liquid Smoke seasoning (optional)
• cooked brown rice, to serve

Instructions

1. Begin heating a large, non-stick pot over medium-high heat as you use the food processor to chop the vegetables:
2. Cut the onion into quarters and pulse it in the food processor to mince; add it to the heated pan. Cut the pepper into quarters and chop it finely in the processor; add it to the pan. Cut the celery into 2-inch long pieces and chop it and the garlicin the processor; add it to the pan.
3. Stir the vegetables well and add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook until soft, about 6-10 minutes.
4. While the vegetables are cooking, rinse the beans well. Put half of them (1 1/2 cans) into the food processor with half of the can of tomatoes. Process until all the beans are coarsely chopped, just short of pureed.
5. When the vegetables are soft, stir in the blended beans, remaining whole beans, remaining tomatoes, and all seasonings except smoked salt. Cover tightly, reduce heat to very low, and cook for at least 30 minutes. Stir every 5 or 10 minutes and add water as needed to keep beans moist but not soupy. Like regular red beans, these taste better the longer they cook, so consider 30 minutes the bare minimum and cook them longer if you can, adding water as necessary.
6. Just before serving, sprinkle with smoked salt or a little Liquid Smoke. Stir well, and serve atop rice with more hot sauce on the table.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s) | Cooking time: 45 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

Nutrition (per serving, without salt or rice, using salted red beans): 218 calories, 8 calories from fat, <1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 767.1mg sodium, 678.6mg potassium, 41.2g carbohydrates, 13.6g fiber, 7.6g sugar, 12.7g protein, 6.3 points. (Most of the sodium is from the beans and fire-roasted tomatoes; using unsalted products will reduce the sodium greatly.)

Pita Bread

From: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread

Makes 8 pitas

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.

When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. I use canola spray oil, but you can also just pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.

When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.

After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.







If you have a spray bottle in the kitchen, spray a light mist of water onto your baking surface and close the oven for 30 seconds. Supposedly this step reduces the blistering on the outside of your pitas. I've skipped it many times in the past and still been pleased with my breads, so if you don't have a bottle handy it isn't a big deal

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Gluten Free Pita Bread

From: http://www.weareglutenfree.com/gluten-free-pita-bread-recipe/

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon oil or melted butter
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour, firmly packed – firmly packed is very important
• 1/4 cup almond flour, firmly packed
• 1/8 teaspoon salt – use a good quality salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Whisk together egg, oil and water.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well to form batter.
4. Pour two equal portions onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.
5. Spread each pita 5-6 inches round.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.