Thai Coconut Soup- My Way

I've been wanting to make Thai coconut soup for a very long time, but I never seem to have all the ingredients on hand at the same time. Today was no exception, but I was closer than I'd ever been to having everything that I needed, so I figured "Why not??!!"... haha. I didn't have red curry paste or bamboo shoots, but I was confident I could make it work without those ingredients... well semi confident... Lol. I know the peas aren't a usual component, but I wanted to add some extra nutrition and a little color, and I think they went quite well in the soup :) 

1 can coconut milk

1 cup veggie stock

2 small/med tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 tsp sriracha (or more if you like more spice)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp yellow curry powder

2 tbsp coconut oil 

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced/grated ginger

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup julienne sliced carrots 

6 mushrooms halved and finely sliced ( abiout 2 cups)

10 baby corn, sliced into rounds

3/4 cup thinly sliced red pepper

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1.5 cups bean sprouts

5" piece of lemon grass roughly chopped
3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced

Cheese cloth (optional)

Fresh chopped cilantro to garnish

In a high speed blender combine coconut milk, veggie stock, tomatoes, sriracha, salt and curry powder. Blend on high until smooth. Set aside.
Place large pot on stove on medium heat. Add coconut oil and once heated, add onion. Cook for a couple minutes and add garlic and ginger. Pour the contents from the blender into the pot and add the rest of the vegetables. Place lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in the cheese cloth and tie closed so that they can't get loose. You don't have to do this, but it makes it easier to remove them. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Remove cheescloth pouch. Ladle into bowls and serve with fresh chopped cilantro on top.

Pulled BBQ Seitan Sliders

I had a big piece seitan left over in my fridge from making a double batch, and I had a hankering for some "pulled" seitan... Even though I've never had pulled pork... Lol. My back has been super bad lately and I can't do a whole lot, so I've been thinking up a lot of recipes! I can still cook though, and Jeremy has been nice enough to clean up after me for the most part, so that helps :) I topped each slider with some sriracha sauce, which I think is a must to add a little kick and some contrast in flavor! I made my own buns and BBQ sauce, but you could make this recipe a lot simpler by using your favorite store bought varieties! Bon appetite!

For the seitan I used Chef Chloe's basic seitan recipe. I've made seitan many times, but this was by far the simplest and the best (boiled variety)! It was nice and dense and not spongy! 

You will need:

1 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten

1 cup water (I used just under 1 cup)

4 cups veggie stock

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used braggs all purpose seasoning)

Combine wheat gluten and water and knead for 3 to 5 minutes. This is definitely tough, but I think it adds to the texture the more you knead it. In the mean time, bring the veggie stock and soy sauce to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cut the ball of seitan in half and place in the saucepan. Reduce to low and simmer for 30 min. Remove the seitan from the saucepan and let cool. 

For the buns you will need: 

2 cups all purpose flour

1 envelope of fleishmans rapid rise yeast (8 grams).

2 tablespoons raw cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons vegan margarine

Heat water, milk, and margarine in a saucepan until it is very warm (between 100 and 110 Degrees). Combine yeast, sugar, salt and half the flour in a bowl. Add in the warm liquid and stir vigorously for a few minutes. Add in the rest of the flour a bit at a time until a dough is formed (you may need slightly more or less that the 2 cups). Let rest for 10 minutes, and then knead for about 8 minutes until you have a nice smooth dough. Divide into 10 equal balls and place in an 8" round pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 375 for 18 to 20 minutes. 

Pineapple BBQ sauce

3/4 cups pineapple tidbits (fresh if possible!)

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup agave 

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 Tbsp raw sugar

1/2 tsp onion powder 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses

A couple dashes of liquid smoke

Combine ingredients in a high speed blender and purée until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionly, allowing it to thicken slightly and deepen in color (it will be a strange light color to begin with but don't be scared!). 

And now to put it all together!!

You will need:

1/2 cup of thinly sliced onion

2 tablespoons of oil (I used grapeseed).

Vegan margarine 

Garlic powder

Sriracha hot sauce

Thinly slice the seitan and then either rip it or slice it into thin strips. 

Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Add in the seitan and onions. Fry on medium-high heat for a few minutes into a little color shows on the seitan. Remove from heat and place in a baking dish with the whole recipe of BBQ sauce above, or about 1.5 cups of your favourite store bought brand. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. 

Take your buns, slice in half and spread with vegan margarine and garlic powder. Place them margarine side down in a hot frying pan and cook until light golden brown. Place a generous amount of the BBQ seitan on each bun and top with sriracha hot sauce (I highly recommend this!). Serve with coleslaw or any other side that you desire! Whew! That was a lot of typing! I hope you enjoy this recipe :) 

Coconut "Fudge"

I was in the mood for something sweet tonight, but didn't want to put a lot if effort into it! Haha... This is what I came up with! 

You will need: 

3/4 cup dairy free chocolate chips

1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Put the coconut oil chocolate chips in saucepan and melt on medium heat. Add in vanilla extract and stir for a minute more. Remove from hear and stir in coconut and icing sugar. Line a bread pan with parchment or wax paper and pour mixture in. Place in fridge (or freezer if you are in a hurry) and let it set. An hour for the freezer and 4 or more in the fridge. Store in the fridge if the weather is warm, or at room temp if its fairly cool. 

Perogies!

Perogies have been a favourite of mine ever since I was just a little girl. My grandma made THE best perogies with tons of butter, and I would always look forward to eating dinner at her house :) I wanted to make a vegan version, and though they may or may not be quite as good (this I may never know), they are definitely super delicious!  You can pretty much add whatever you want to the filling, this is just one of my recipes. Fresh dill is one of my favorites! Even just plain potato are great. Use your imagination! The sky's the limit :)

You will need:

Dough:

3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil (i used grape seed)

1 cup water (room temp) 

Combine ingredients and knead dough until a smooth ball firms. Add more water, a tbsp at a time, if dough seems dry. You want it to be smooth and elastic, but not sticky. Place in covered container and let rest for 20 to 30 min. If at any time during the rolling process your dough seems tough (especially when rolling scraps etc), just let the dough rest (covered ) for 10 minutes or so.

In the meantime you can work on the filling. 

You will need:

6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 

2 tsp salt 

Bring to a boil and gently boil with the 2 tsp salt for 15 min or until potatoes are tender. Place in bowl and mash with the ingredients below.

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/3 cup vegan margarine

1 tbsp water or almond milk (unsweetened). 

Add salt, liquid smoke, onion powder margarine and water to potatoes and mix with an electric mixer until smooth. 

Next you will need: 

1 large onion, diced (sweet yellow if possible)

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

Heat oil in pan, add onion and cook on low/medium heat for about 30 min or until onions have caramelized. Place in bowl with mashed potatoes.

Next you will need: 

8 slices veggie ham

Lightly fry veggie ham for added texture. About 45 seconds to 1 min per side on medium heat. Chop into small pieces and add to bowl with potato and onion.

Now:

Fold in veggie ham and caramelized onions into your potato mixture with a spoon. Add more water or margarine in the mixture seems dry. 

Next: 

Roll dough out until it is about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch thick. 

Cut dough out into 3.5 inch circles and place about 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of filling in the middle of each circle.

Pick up each perogy as pictured below, and pinch together (pinch hard), and go back and forth about 3 or 4 times.

You basically want to meld the 2 pieces of dough back into one so that there will be no openings for water to get in when you cook the perogy. Your finished perogy should look something like this:

To cook perogies, bring salted water to a gentle boil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. If desired, transfer to a frying pan and sauté with vegan margarine and onions. 

If you want to freeze your perogies, place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place on the freezer for about 30 minutes. Then transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and store in the freezer. To cook frozen perogies, bring salted water to a gentle boil and cook for about 7 minutes.