Veganomicon: Chickpea Cutlet, Brussels Sprouts, and Broccoli Polenta

Tonight's dinner was Chickpea Cutlets from the Veganomicon with Miso Gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance, broccoli Polenta from Veganomicon, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts. We love Brussels sprouts, they are a staple of our holiday meal planning. I also love broccoli, and the broccoli polenta is very good, and wicked simple. I have made the broccoli polenta twice so far, and I must say that the first time I made it using baby broccoli and the Imagine No-Chicken broth and I think it came out far superior than this time when I made it with mature broccoli and generic vegetable broth.

Tonight's dinner was also a little experiment. I made all 4 chickpea cutlets according to the recipe, except that I pan-fried 2 in Paul's grandmother's cast iron skillet, and I baked 2 in the oven, both methods are listed in the book and I wanted to see if it made a substantial difference. The pan-fried cutlets came out darker and crispier on the outside, while the inside of the cutlets remained quite moist and squishy. The baked cutlets were more uniformly brown, cooked through evenly though a bit tougher and required an actual knife to be cut rather than cutting easily with the edge of the fork tines. Overall I greatly preferred the oven baked cutlets over the pan-fried. I liked that they were more evenly cooked through, I liked their resistance to being bitten, and I liked that it was much more fool proof to set the oven to specific temperature, set the timer and do something else without having to keep an eye on them, which clearly the pan-fried cutlets required.

The chickpea cutlets themselves are a brilliant combination of chickpeas and wheat gluten, with all the benefits of the latter without the time commitment of making seitan from scratch. Not that making seitan isn't a worthwhile endeavor, but for a weeknight, this meal comes together quickly and easily. I think the one miss here was that the Miso Gravy was just far too overpowering for the chickpea cutlets. I think it was the wine that I used and perhaps a different white wine would make a more subtle gravy, though I haven't had any problems with using this wine in other recipes, so perhaps it isn't the wine but just a poor pairing of sauce and entree. This was a very Meat & Potatoes kind of meal, which I think Paul definitely enjoyed. I am more of a one-pot-wonder type of girl, but variety is the spice of life!

Rice Noodle Stirfry

I haven't posted much in the last week because I've been feeling rather nauseous. For you nosey gossips: no, I'm not pregnant, and yes, I'm sure. I think it must have been a stomach bug and all I've wanted to eat is starchy things. Tonight is the first night since V-Day that I've felt like cooking, and I wasn't really feeling terribly adventurous. I wanted comfort food. I mentioned before that I grew up on PBS cooking shows including Yan Can Cook! My first ever kitchen implement was a wok set and I made lots and lots of stirfries. I could live on stirfries alone if Paul were game for it. Luckily for him I've branched out a bit since then.

This is my standard stirfry with rice noodles. I don't claim it to be authentically ethnic in any way, in fact I'm pretty sure that it's authentic in absolutely no way. I like my stirfries to be on the dry side. I'm not a big fan of brothy sauces on stirfries, even sauces that are thickened with starch, so expect none of that.

In this recipe I fry the tofu. I know that I've talked about not needing all the oil in the Veganomicon recipes, so you might have gotten the idea that I take after the Fat Free Vegan herself. Well, that's just not the case. It's not that I have anything against using fat in cooking, I just like to make it count. Unless you're the sort of person who is always trying to gain weight (which I'm not) I think that fat should have a significant impact on the flavor or texture of whatever you're using it in, or else it's just meaningless calories, and I have no need for meaningless calories. I don't fry every day, in fact it's less than once a month, so I think it's reasonable to splurge.

ingredients:
enough oil for frying
1 lb firm/extra-firm tofu
4 servings of a pad thai style rice noodle
2 leeks (white parts only, or 1 leek if using both the white and green parts), sliced thinly
2 small carrots, sliced diagonally
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 package baby broccoli, sliced on the diagonal
1 tsp thai green curry paste
1 tsp pureed ginger
1-2 clove garlic, pressed, smashed, or minced
2 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar/sushi vinegar
Bragg's liquid aminos or soy sauce (to taste)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Drain the tofu and press it between two plates weighted with something heavy while you go prep everything else to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Once the veggies are chopped, come back to the tofu and drain off the extra liquid. Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes and pat them all as dry as possible.

Go put on your rattiest long sleeved shirt and fill your wok with about 2 inches of oil. Heat it until you get tiny bubbles when you insert a bamboo chopstick. Fry the tofu cubes in very small batches. I like to use a long-handled slotted spoon to gently stir the tofu cubes in the oil to get all 6 sides as evenly as possible until they are light golden brown and then drain on paper towels or a cooling rack.

Once all of the tofu cubes as toasty and golden, drain off all the used oil into a heat-safe container and wipe out any burnt-on bits.

While the wok cools off a bit from the frying, break the rice noodles up into a lidded, heat-safe bowl, and boil enough water to cover the noodles. I like to use my electric kettle for this because you are just steeping the noodles rather than boiling them like you would wheat noodles. This way they cook gently enough that they don't turn to mush in the pot or dry into clumps in the strainer while you're trying to get your veggies just right in the wok. Once the water boils, pour over the rice noodles, give them a quick stir, to make sure they're all submerged, cover and let sit while you stirfry in your wok.

Now, the rest of this goes together quickly (less tan 10 minutes), despite my lengthy description. In the wok, add back the tiniest bit of oil to stirfry the veggies, really if the wok is hot you only need a tsp or less. The wok should already be pretty hot from the frying, if not let it warm up on high/med-high heat. Into the hot wok, add the sliced leeks and toss until they are shiny and starting to go limp, then quickly add the sliced carrots. This should go fairly quickly, just adding the next vegetable once the previous veggie has made a couple laps in the wok and has started to go shiny from the oil. Next is the bell pepper, and then the baby broccoli.

Once all the veggies are in the wok, I like to give it a toss, turn the heat down to medium and cover with a lid for a brief steam. I check it after just a minute, give it a toss, the veggies should still be a bit undercooked so that they can finish when you add the noodles.

Next, move the veggies up the sides of the wok to leave a space in the bottom center to make the sauce. Add the curry paste, ginger, garlic, and rice vinegar and stir together vigorously until the curry is dissolved in the liquid before stirring the veggies back into the center and adding the fried tofu cubes. The liquid will evaporate very quickly if your wok is hot, so work fast.

Now it's time to drain the noodles and add them into the wok. Don't worry too much about excess liquid because it'll help keep the noodles from sticking to the wok. Now it's time to add the Bragg's / soysauce slowly while stirring the noodles, tofu, and veggies to make sure that everything is seasoned evenly. This is where it's important to taste. Once your stirfry is seasoned to your taste, stir in a splash of sesame oil to finish, and serve immediately before everything goes limp and the noodles start sticking.

Veganomicon: Pasta della California

OK, so I'll admit that this isn't my first time with the Pasta della California, but it is my first time blogging it. I made it once before when my sister and her husband were over for a game night, but I was too carried away in the moment to stop to take pictures. I just want to say that this is a fabulous dish if you take the time to get the right ingredients. The first time I made this I went the 30 miles to a Whole Foods market to get arugula because none of our local stores carried it, and everything was fresh and it was wonderful. This time I used baby arugula from the local store and used a lemon because my limes were beyond sad. Tonight's dinner is a pale imitation of the delicious dinner we had on game night. The lesson here: go get full-grown arugula, it makes a huge difference. In my heart of hearts I knew this would be the case, but sometimes you just don't want to drive 30 miles to get $1.99 worth of produce. I think the other splurge in this dish is to use a nice light broth like Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth rather than a boullion or a darker broth. Otherwise, if you love avocado, garlic, lime and pasta, then this is definitely the dish for you.

Veganomicon: Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle

This dish is unctuous -- in a good way. Paul described it as tasting like sundried tomato, but the fennel and red pepper flakes give it a taste reminiscent of sausage. The tempeh is triple cooked: simmered, steamed, and fried leaving the texture both firm and yielding with a very pleasant tooth. I used baby broccoli since I don't have ready access to broccoli rabe at my local stores, but I think that's a minor concession that many people outside of urban America might need to make.

This dish was so tasty that Paul went back for seconds and that rarely ever happens. I will definitely be making this again, though hopefully I can figure out a way to reduce the oil from 1/4 cup to something a little healthier without compromising the flavor or texture. Also worth noting, I think the recipe may have been the victim of some improper editing as the ingredients list the red wine vinegar twice but the instructions only call for it once. I simply added it once at the end where it was called for in the instructions.

Basic Stir-Fry

1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 onion, cut into thin moons
12 oz fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 crown broccoli cut into small florets
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1 T freshly ground ginger root
sushi vinegar
toasted sesame oil
hot oil
tamari

The keys to a good stir fry are fresh ingredients, prepping everything before the oil hits the wok, and only adding 1 ingredient at a time.

Heat the wok on high and add a small amount of a high heat tolerant oil like canola or peanut oil. Add the onion, breaking up the moons into strips. stir til coated with oil and starting to wilt. Add carrots and stir to coat with oil and if you like your carrots softer than crunchy, cover the wok with a lid to trap steam for 15-30 seconds. Uncover, stir and add the mushrooms, stir until mushrooms reduce in size and release liquid, then add the broccoli, stir, and cover again for a few seconds. Uncover, stir add garlic, ginger, and sushi vinegar, sesame oil, hot oil, hot oil and tamari to taste.