Down Home Country Chicken Fried Seitan

For anyone that knows me, country style cookin' is not my style at all! However, having a husband who is celebrating one year of being a complete vegetarian this month (after eating mostly vegetarian food for 4 years), and who loves all things gravy, I decided to surprise him and make this for lunch today.

I pretty much got the most-awesome-wife award. :)

Scott said he thought he'd never eat chicken fried steak again. Which I thought was quite the compliment in itself. Even though I don't know what he's missing. 

This is what it looked like right out of the frying pan. The only thing I did differently was use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose. They were pretty darn big cutlets. You could either smash them out thinner, or I think I'll go with 8 instead of 5 cutlets next time. Especially if they will be put on a sandwich.

Added some homemade mashed potatoes, collard greens, and white country gravy. 

Definitely a comfort food, especially for those who have gone vegetarian/vegan in the recent past. 

The seitan you get after it's boiled is probably the best flavored boiled seitan I've had. For sure something I can make and use for stir fry, soups, curries, pot pies, etc. Seitan freezes well too!
Find the recipe here!

Homemade Vegan Sausage- Where Have You Been All My Life!?

It wasn't until a few summers ago that I found the lure of the grill. Grilling wasn't something that happened growing up and I often found myself left out when I attended BBQs. It wasn't until I got married and started grilling at parties with my in-laws that I realized there was a grilling world for me! Since then I have craved veggie hot dogs from time to time. Not that they tasted super great, but the smoke and sauerkraut made them delicious. I love sauerkraut and found myself pining for a veggie dog last week. The local grocery stores in my town have stopped carrying my preferred brand of dog and the rest are inedible or very expensive. I came across Vegan Dad's blog and about died when I saw the recipes. After being on a very strict diet for a weight loss competition the last 12 weeks, I'm ready to again delve into my passion for veggie cookin'. 

Vegan Dad got this recipe from Isa Moskowitz. I did borrow her book "Vegan with a Vengeance" from the library and I have a document of the recipes I want to try, floating somewhere in my files. After trying this amazing recipe, I am devoted to Isa! She is a vegan goddess.

Now, this is not a tradition hot dog, but is a sausage. It makes it taste that much better to me!

I couldn't believe how simple this recipe was. Some mashing, crushing, stirring, folding into foil, then steaming. No baking! No crusted pans! No kneading! And the taste is amazing! I can't wait to try it out on the grill.

It is time for the homemade sausage recipe.........here.

I am now going to savor my last few bites.

*Disclaimer: I have never before eaten a real sausage. It is my belief that most sane people will like this as much as I do! If you do not like a lot of spice, reduce the red pepper flakes.

"Ronis" - A Nut-Based Cream Sauce

Call it vegan, call it plant-based, call it healthy! Whatever you call it, this recipe is really yummy.
It has been in our family for years and adapted from a recipe my mom found. It was lovingly called "Ronis" when my brother was little and this was his way of saying "macaroni".

Ronis

• 12-16oz of prepared pasta or spaghetti squash
• 3 cups water
• 3/4 cup raw cashews (Update! I have use whole raw almonds to replace all or part of these. Amazing! For best results soak them for an hour, or at least 5 min in hot water.)
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• 1/4 cup real lemon juice -many times I up this to 1/3 to make it even tastier!
• 2 teaspoons salt
• black pepper to taste

Prepare your pasta or spaghetti squash.
In a blender, combine the water and nuts, blend until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend.

You have a few options at this point.

• You can put the noodles and sauce in a baking dish, cover with bread crumbs (opt. butter) and bake until thickened and bubbly.
• You can combine the sauce and pasta in a pot on the stove top and heat until the sauce thickens a little. It will thicken when cooled even more.
• Or you can put the sauce in a saucepan and heat it on the stove top to a simmer, until it is thickened. Then serve it over your pasta or squash.

We love this recipe and many guest have as well. I hope you will too!

Gluten (Seitan) Roast

We have many different varities of gluten roasts in my family. We use this as a main dish for Thanksgiving. This is my favorite recipe!

Gluten Roast

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

gluten:
3 cups vital wheat gluten
3 cups warm vegetarian chicken broth (can use water)

Mix together in large bowl until just combined. Add seasoning.

seasoning:
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika

Mix seasoning and stretch gluten to get seasoning into every part of the gluten. Use your hands and rub seasoning on gluten. Place in a lightly greased baking dish. Pop in oven for about 50 minutes to an hour, until middle is cooked and not rubbery raw. You may want to take roast out half way, cut it in quarters, and flip it for the rest of the baking time. I use a stoneware baking dish, so it's not needed with that.
After gluten roast is done and has cooled for a few minutes, you may want to slice on a diagonal to serve. Serve with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables.

Vegetarian 'Tuna' Casserole

I also found the base for this recipe on allrecipes.com. I changed it a little and vegetarianized it! Pixie mmmmm'd with gusto throughout the whole meal.

• 1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup of reconstituted chicken style textured vegetable protein (tvp) or equivalent
  
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 4 oz of canned sliced mushrooms (I used shitake) or sauteed fresh mushrooms
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
  
• 1 cup crushed bread crumbs, potato chips, or corn flakes

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. Saute onions in a small amount of olive oil, just until translucent
   
4. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix noodles, onion, 1 cup cheese, peas, tvp, soup, mushrooms, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and top with bread crumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is bubbly.