Posts filed under 'sauce'
Seitan Wrap w. Cashew Dill Sauce
Yeah this is the same picture from my last post. Sauces are hard to photograph on their own so I’m reusing this pic just to show you a use for the sauce. Makes sense?
I originally set out to make a Cashew Ranch sauce but came up short due to lack of herbs and spices that I didn’t have/couldn’t find…whatever. I still plan on making that Cashew Ranch one of these days but I was really happy with what I made and I basically put it on everything I made last week. From the seitan wrap above, burrito’s for lunch and some sauteed potatoes another day this stuff was delicious. I made it the same night I made the seitan wraps and the raw onion in it wasn’t subtle at all but I was fine with that. As the days went by that it sat in the fridge waiting for it’s next appearance in one of my meals the raw onion taste melded perfectly with the rest of the ingredients and it wasn’t so in your face. The sauce just kept getting better and better as the week went on. So I highly recommend making this and letting it sit in the fridge for a day or at least overnight before using.
Cashew-Dill Sauce
makes 1 1/4 cups
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least one hour or overnight
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
pinch of red pepper flake
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, lightly packed
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
Drain the cashews and pour them into your blender (I use a Vita Mix to get a true creamy texture, if not using a Vita Mix or other high powered blender you might need to add more water) along with with the garlic, onion, lemon juice, dill, red pepper flakes, parsley and water. Blend until smooth adding more water in necessary until you achieve a nice, slightly thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
October 21st, 2011
Chickpea-Almond Brown Rice Stir Fry with Tamari-Peanut Sauce
This was the very first meal I cooked for us since we brought Miles home from the hospital. Up until then we have been well taken care of food wise from friends and family. My non-cooking husband even cooked a meal for us one night. Of course when the time came for me to have to start making dinners again we pretty much had nothing in the fridge/pantry. After standing in the middle of the kitchen wondering what the hell I was going to make for dinner I all of a sudden remembered that I had a whole container of brown rice from some Veggie Heaven take out a few nights before, then I saw a can of chickpeas in the pantry and found some broccoli in the fridge. The rest of the dish just kept evolving while I was cooking.
I first sauteed some onions and garlic in oil then added the broccoli and chickpeas. While rooting around the fridge I found a bag of almonds so I chopped them up and tossed them into the pan along with the leftover take out brown rice. While this was all “stir frying” together I was trying to think of way to get Reno to eat this meal. I knew by the looks of it she wouldn’t eat it at all. I have in the past gotten her to eat similar dishes, usually with noodles instead of rice, if I put peanut sauce on it. We were running low on peanut butter, thanks to all the smoothies I’ve been making, so it was heavier on the tamari then on the peanut butter. Which is better for a stir fry anyway. The sauce was made with: tamari, peanut butter, water, orange juice and ginger powder. I added it to the stir fry right towards the end of cooking it and cooked it for a minute more just till it was heated through.
By then…Reno had emerged from her bath and declared that she would NOT be eating this dinner. I informed her that she WOULD be eating it and if she didn’t want to eat it then she was welcome to go straight to bed. If I know that she’s not going to like something I’ve made I’ll always give her another option but I knew she would like this. She complained through the whole thing. First that it was made with rice and not noodles and I always make peanut sauce with noodles. Then she was fine just eating the rice but that there was all “this stuff” in the way of her doing that…that “stuff” was the chickpeas. Oh and she also wasn’t going to be eating the broccoli which is actually a vegetable that she likes. After she had basically eaten 1/2 of her bowl she claims that her belly is full. Which was too bad because that’s when I decided to announce to Peter that there was some ice cream in the freezer for me and him when we were done with our bowls. Well wouldn’t you know it…Reno wanted some ice cream…she quickly ate the rest of her meal. 
The meal was delicious and I can’t wait to make it again. I hope to have the time and mental capability to write the measurements down so I can post the recipe for you all.
June 17th, 2011
Miso-Teriyaki Seitan with Grilled Onions and Chipotle-Dill Mayo
This sandwich is a take on one I had at the Cinnamon Snail late last year. It was so delicious that I wanted to eat it over and over and over again so I whipped up my own version. The Miso-Teriyaki sauce was easy to do. I just whisked together some tamari, mirin, maple syrup and white miso together. I marinated the seitan slices for at least an hour and then seared them in a non stick pan. At the end of their cooking time I poured a bit of the marinade over them to make them extra juicy. The grilled onions were just what they say they are. The original sandwich had arugula on it but I subbed spinach just because that is what I had. The original had a Wasabi type of mayo, since I don’t keep wasabi powder stocked in my kitchen I made a Chipotle-Dill Mayo out of Veganaise, chipotle powder (magical stuff!), dried dill and a touch of lemon juice. Its my go to spiced mayo for any burger or sandwich I make. The combo of chipotle and dill is weirdly delicious. The only item on the Cinnamon Snail version of the sandwich that I didn’t try to recreate was the 5 spice fried sunflower gomasio. I loved it. I love anything 5 spice, fried and sunflower but I didn’t feel like trying my hand at it. Perhaps next time I will.
April 5th, 2011
Seitan and Avocado Wrap w. Baked Rosemary Fries
Its no secret that I love seitan. To be honest though I haven’t made any in months and months. I’ve been really craving it so I whipped up a batch the other day and made some pretty amazing dinners with it. The first thing I made was Isa’s Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce. I have a pretty well stocked pantry but most of the time when a recipe calls for pantry ingredients I’m usually missing one or two of them so I was pretty pumped that I had everything I needed for this. I made my seitan recipe earlier in the day so when it came time to make dinner I just had to saute the broccoli and onions and mix the BBQ sauce together (plus cook some rice). It came together really fast and is a perfect weeknight recipe for when you are strapped for time and want to eat something nice. The whole meal was really delicious and I’m looking forward to making it again in the very near future. Photo wise I didn’t take any because it wasn’t a pretty looking plate of food but Isa has a gorgeous photo of the recipe up on her site so take a look at it and then make it ASAP!
The wrap before being rolled
The next night I made the most delicious seitan wrap. At my last job before having my daughter Reno over 3 years ago I would make myself seitan wraps a few times a week when my shift was over. They made me so happy and I was missing them so I just had to make them for dinner. First I cut up some potatoes into fries and tossed them in a bowl with olive oil and dried rosemary and then baked them in the oven until done. Then I sliced and sauteed the seitan in olive oil with a ton of garlic and I really mean a TON of garlic until it was all nice and crispy. The fries came out of the oven and I put two large tortillas into the oven for a few seconds to heat up so they would be easier to wrap. I mixed together some veganaise, chipotle powder and mustard and spread it generously on the wrap, laid down some green leaf lettuce, 1/2 an avocado on each person’s wrap and then dumped the seitan on top. Rolled it up burrito style, sliced in 1/2 and then ate the hell out it. I enjoyed it so much that I made another for myself the next day for lunch. Then sadly I was out of seitan so I’ll have to make another batch (or 2) today. Which is a good thing because I’m trying to fine tune my seitan recipe to share with you all!
February 17th, 2011
Lemon Cashew Stuffed Crepes w. Whole Berry Sauce
I’m lucky enough to have a very awesome vegan meetup group to belong too where I live. My friend Dianne had taken over the group a few months ago and we’ve had lots of nice events so far. Some of my favorites are the potlucks. My favorites being the brunch potlucks. Its very rare for a vegan to attend anything brunch related and be able to eat anything on the menu/at the party/event/whatever so having a dedicated VEGAN brunch is just amazing. We can fill our plates up with whatever we want and not have to worry about animal products being in the way. The group has so many wonderful and creative cooks that the food is also always amazing.
For our last brunch potluck I was very undecided on what to bring. It got to a point that I didn’t even have time to shop for ingredients so I had to find something to make that I had all the ingredients for already. While flipping through my copy of Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz I found her recipe for Lemon Cashew Stuffed Crepes w. Whole Berry Sauce. I wanted to make these so bad when I saw them! I quickly scanned the ingredients and amazingly already had everything I needed to make them. So after a lovely dinner out with a few members of said vegan meetup group I got down to business and started on the recipe.
This recipe is so insanely easy to make. The batter? All you have to do is dump everything in a blender/food processor and blend then you put it in the fridge for an hour or so. The Lemon Cashew filling? Pretty much the same thing as the crepe batter…combine and blend (after soaking the cashews for a set amount of time)*** The whole berry sauce? Combine in a saucepan and cook. Simple! Actually making the crepes? Well I would say “simple!” but I had a job in 2 restaurants where I would sometimes make crepes for hours and hours on end so it was simple for me. If you’ve never made crepes before then this part might not be so simple but don’t be afraid to try making them. I promise you’ll get the hang of it and will be making crepes like a pro in no time just make sure you have a really awesome nonstick pan and it’s heated when you pour the batter in. I made everything for this dish the night before. While the batter was chilling I made the cashew filling and while I was making the cashew filling I made the whole berry sauce. The next morning I assembled the crepes and filling and cut them into thirds and plated them on a round plate.
I’m happy to say that they were a hit at the potluck and I can’t wait to make them again!
***The recipe says to soak the cashews for 8 hours or so. I only soaked them for maybe 3 hours. It worked out fine for me.
January 30th, 2011
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