1/3 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup sake 2 tbs sugar 2 scallions, minced 2 small chunks of fresh ginger, smashed 1 shallot, minced 1/2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sesame oil sesame seeds 2 cups seitan, sliced
1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded 1 red pepper, sliced 1/2 small cucumber, sliced 1/2 small red onion, sliced 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped 2 green onions, chopped sesame seeds
In a saucepan, combine the soy sauce, sake, sugar, scallions, ginger, shallots, salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. Bring to a boil over moderate heat and cook until reduced, 8 to 10 minutes. Strain the sauce into a small bowl. Saute seitan in 1 tbs oil until brown on all sides. Spoon over a few tbs of the sauce and cook until the seitan soaks it up. Combine the salad ingredients and put the seitan on top. Use the remaining sauce as dressing for the salad.
Having fly-infested barley makes barley tabbouleh kind of unappetizing so I got some bulgur to try to make it traditional and flyless. The package told me to get Bulgur #1 for tabbouleh (I wonder what kind of Mediterranean dish #18 Bulgar is used for) and I trust packages of bulgur so I did.
Tabbouleh 1/2 cup bulgur #1
1 cup hot water
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small shallot
1/2 hothouse cucumber, diced
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
a few leaves fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put the bulgur in a large bowl and pour in the hot water. Cover with a dish or plastic wrap and let stand for about 30 to 45 minutes to rehydrate. Drain if necessary.
In a mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, shallots, cucumber, parsley, and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bulgur, lemon juice and olive oil. Fold everything together. Refrigerate for a while before serving.
Red Pepper Hummus 1 red pepper
olive oil for sauteing
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup tahini
3 lemons, juice
salt and pepper
garlic powder
1/8-/1/4 cup olive oil
chopped parsley
Saute the red peppers. Combine all the ingredients except the parsley in a food processor. Adjust seasonings and fold in parsley. Serve with baked pita triangles.
Stuffed Grape Leaves 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup long-grain rice
1 cup broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoons finely chopped dill leaves
1/8 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
15-20 grape leaves
1 lemon, juiced
To make the filling, coat a large saute pan with 1/8 cup of the oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion and lemon zest and stir until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rice, saute for 2 minutes, stirring to coat. Pour in just 1/2 cup of the broth. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes, adding more broth if necessary. Add the lemon juice and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Scrape the parboiled rice mixture into a bowl and add the dill and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool. While it's cooling, drain the grape leaves and carefully pull them apart. Put them into a bowl and cover them with cold water. Let them soak until you are ready to roll.
To assemble, lay a grape leaf on a work surface, shiny-side down. Put 1-2 tablespoons of the rice filling near the stem end of the leaf. Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and roll up. Squeeze lightly in the palm of your hand to secure the roll. Repeat with remaining grape leaves and filling.
Place the dolmades in a wide deep skillet, seam-side down in a single layer. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of broth, remaining olive oil, and the lemon juice over the stuffed grape leaves. The liquid should reach halfway up the rolls.
add some water if necessary. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Serve at room temperature or cool.
If you have to drink flavored vodka, mix it with fresh orange juice, grapefruit juice, and sake. But don't spend $1.50 on an Australian orange, especially when you could walk down the street to what's left of The Valley's orange groves and get one for free. 1 oz sake 1 oz mandarin vodka juice of half a small grapefruit juice of half an orange
Shake ingredients with ice and fine strain into a martini glass.
I was hoping this would be a pretty light green like my Cucumber Radish Soup, but I guess that wouldn't really make sense with so much broccoli and yellowish broth. The taste of the broccoli kind of overpowered the cauliflower too so I'll have to try some cauliflower soup without the broccoli next time. I forgot to add the lemon juice to the soymilk when I made my soup but I'm pretty sure that would make it even better.
1 cup plain soy milk juice of half a lemon 1 tbs olive oil 1/2 onion, chopped 1 small head of broccoli 1 small head of cauliflower 2-3 cups veggie broth 2 tbs (vegan) butter 2 tbs flour salt and pepper green onions for garnish
Add the lemon juice to the soymilk and set aside. In a large pot, saute the onion in the oil until softened. Add the cauliflower and let it steam for a few minutes. Add broccoli and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat until veggies are soft enough to blend. Turn off the heat and blend the soup with an immersion blender. In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of margarine over medium heat until melted. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Gradually add the soy milk and whisk constantly until thickened and smooth. Add the soymilk mixture to the pot and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper and reheat until hot. Garnish with green onions.
This recipe looked absolutely delicious so I didn't make many changes. I marinated the portobellos in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and broiled them instead of sauteing. The walnut pesto is just the basic basil, olive oil, walnuts, and parmesan combination (I left out garlic because raw garlic kills me). The only roll-y bread I could find at Trader Joe's wasn't vegan so I didn't bother trying to veganize the pesto, although I have made some good vegan pesto using miso instead of cheese.
