Vegan Beef Wellington

Jon & I have really been into the show “Master Chef Junior”. The talent of those young kids is ridiculous! Along with being amazed at their skill, some of the challenges have also been inspiring. In one of the early episodes, the contestants had to take on Gordon Ramsey’s specialty, the Beef Wellington. They fared pretty well – their dish looked amazing – and I got to thinking it’d be a fun dish to create at home.

Now, usually there are recipes for Vegan _____ all over the internet. I was pretty surprised when the few recipes I could find just involved sticking a Field Roast into a puff pastry. A Beef Wellington has so many more layers of flavor than that! So I decided to come up with a recipe on my own eek!

I've never had actual Beef Wellington, but the omnivore in the household seems to like my creation. I thought the Wild Mushroom quarter loaf from Field Roast would play well with the rest of the flavors in the dish. I also made mushroom gravy to top off everything, but you could do a simple turkey-style gravy as well. I can’t say that this tastes exactly like Beef Wellington, but I can tell you the leftovers don’t last long at our house!

Ingredients
1 Wild Mushroom Field Roast Quarter Loaf
1 Sheet Aussie Bakery Puff Pastry
4 slices Peppered Tofurkey Slices
1 recipe Mushroom Duxelle (recipe below)
Mustard (for brushing)
Non-dairy milk (for brushing – I used almond)

This is a time-intensive recipe, but there are a few things you can do to cut down on the time, like making the mushroom duxelle ahead of time and leaving the puff pastry out to thaw while you catch up on your episodes of Scandal :)

Pre-heat your oven to 375 & make sure your puff pastry is thawed or is thawing. Pan-sear the quarter loaf in a thin layer of oil. While warm, brush with a layer of mustard and set aside.

Prepare the mushroom duxelle: Sauté 1/2c onions in oil until translucent. Add 1 tsp of minced garlic and 8oz of mushrooms. I prefer a mix of cremini and portabella. After the mushrooms have released their juices (about 5 minutes) add 1/4c red cooking wine. Continue to simmer for an additional 3-4 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and process until the mixture becomes smooth. You should now have what looks like a mushroom paste. Transfer the past back to your sauté pan and cook the paste for 5-7 minutes until it has reduced. This may seem like a silly step, but it will cook off the extra moisture and prevent your Wellington from getting soggy during baking! Set the duxelle aside to cool.

Roll out the puff pastry into a thin layer. I usually use about 2/3 of the sheet (and make mini cinnamon rolls with the remaining sheet for dessert!). Layer first with the Tofurkey Slices and then the Mushroom Duxelle. Place the quarter loaf in the center and roll up tightly. Use non-dairy milk or water to seal the edges.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown. While the Wellington is baking is a great time to make your gravy.

Slice and serve with your choice of side – we’ve done mash potatoes, cheesy potatoes, as well as a hearty side of greens!

I did my best to explain my method, but I referenced this site a lot while I was making this for the first time. Great explanation of the technique!

French Toast Attack!

One of my favorite restaurants in GR has always been Electric Cheetah. Since going vegan however, I've found a lot of their dishes I have to pass on since they contain cheese & other dairy. I haven't been to EC in a while, but my in-laws were in town this weekend and wanted to hit up EC for brunch.

Auggie in the Cheetah Chair

I was reminded how much I love their "Donkey Kong Toast"...and their Ze Fronch Toast...basically,  french toast in general. And we all know traditional french toast is not vegan friendly. Hey, that sounds like a challenge to me!

I did a little googling and miraculously had all ingredients on hand (including over-ripe bananas!) to recreate the Donkey Kong Toast. It is french toast using banana nut bread. Brilliant! I topped it off with sliced strawberries (I used up all the bananas) and chopped walnuts. Yummy!

Banana Bread
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2c brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
~ 4 ripe bananas (I only had 2.5 and this still worked out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a small bowl, combine milk and apple cider vinegar, set aside for a few minutes
2. In a larger bowl, mix flower, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt & cinammon
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, along with the vanilla and the bananas. Mix until combined, but do not overwork the batter
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan and cook for 45-60 minutes (check every 5 minutes or so to prevent burning)

Allow banana bread to cool completely (I used the refrigerator, I was impatient). Slice into 8 pieces


French Toast Batter
3/4c almond milk
1/4 c flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp cornstarch

Cooking up the french toast!

1. Combine all ingredients in a shallow container.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of earth balance (non-dairy butter) in a large pan on medium heat
3. Dunk a slice of bread in the batter, making sure to cover all sides and let the milk soak in a bit. This will prevent your french toast from being dry
4. Put slice of bread in the pan and let cook about 1 minute each side (4 sides total). Repeat if you want your french toast a bit more done.

Note - because this is banana bread, it will look a little darker than normal. It still tastes great!

Great Any-day Brunch!

♥L

Enchiladas - A New Staple

Let's agree on something - enchiladas are the bomb. The filling is usually quick to make (not to mention you can make it whatever you want!), it gets rolled up in tortilla yuminess and then smothered in a red sauce that can be as spicy as your taste buds can handle. YUM-O.

Sweet potato & black bean enchiladas were a part of our vegan freezer exchange this past month, and both the hubby & I enjoyed them. After those were gone I wanted to make some of my own and was inspired by this recipe. Bonus that it uses a butternut squash (I totally had one sitting on my counter top!)

I think the recipe is a little complicated if you read it all at once. I also didn't make the enchilada sauce (used a can - eek! I know...) or cashew cream sauce (next time!). But if you roast the butternut squash ahead of time, this really comes together pretty quick.

Souce: Edible Perspective (see recipe link)

Ta-da!

So my challenge to you this week is to experiment in the kitchen a little - come up with a filling that you think would ROCK. Try out the cashew cream sauce (I guarantee you will be hooked). Take some time out this weekend and make a nice, hearty meal for your family!

I hope you all are staying warm. The snow here has had me in hibernation mode lately! I promise to try to be better about posting :)

♥ L

Nut Butter Waffles

I'm normally a smoothie-for-breakfast kind of girl, but sometimes (especially in the winter) I just want something a little warmer, hearter even. Not that smoothies don't keep me full, but sometimes I guess I just want to chew my food!

I take part in a vegan freezer exchange with a small group women. I was planning on making my black bean burgers this month, but someone else mentioned they were making black bean falafel, so I decided to make waffles instead!

I'm all about quick breakfasts in the morning - probably why I rely on smoothies so much. These waffles are easy enough to make in a big batch, you can freeze them, and then either toast them or microwave them in the morning while you are rushing out the door!

I used almond butter (crunchy) this time around, but I have also had luck with peanut butter (crunchy). This recipe comes from Isa's "Vegan Brunch" and as she mentions, the batter is pretty forgiving! It is also THICK so don't try to thin it out - you may end up with waffle breakage!

These are great topped with some Earth Balance & Maple syrup, or with bananas & chocolate chips! I didn't have any chocolate chips on hand, so I made a quick chocolate drizzle sauce using some left over Christmas chocolate :)

PB Waffles

3/4c chunky nut butter
3 Tbsp maple syrup
3 Tbsp canola oil
2c non-dairy milk
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c AP flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix nut butter, syrup and oil together well.

Mix milk & cornstarch in a separate bowl, until cornstarch is well dissolved. Add, along with vanilla, to nut butter mixture

Add remaining ingredients and mix until batter is smooth. Be careful not to overmix.

This yielded 6 square waffles for me! Enjoy!

L ♥

Burger Crisis Adverted!

This weekend I decided to make a couple batches of burgers so I could freeze them and have them over the next few weeks (convenience people!). I made cooked a pound of beans, which was perfect for making 2 batches of Black Bean Burgers with some beans to spare (still trying to figure out what to do with those).

I also tried out a recipe for a more 'garden burger' veggie burger. So instead of beans being the base, veggies & rice were the base of this recipe, called the Karma Burger, from my latest obsession, The Karma Chow cookbook.

Missy's recipes are SO simple and require minimal ingredients. Also, no exotic way-out there ingredients. Just whole-food, plant based fun!

Karma Burgers
1/2 red bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into chunks
1/2 med onion, cut into chunks
2c baby spinach leaves
3/4c cooked brown rice
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained
1 tsp chile powder
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp sea salt
1.5-2c plain bread crumbs
EVOO

Puree the red pepper, onion, and spinach in a food processor until liquid. Set aside in a mixing bowl.

Ready to blend!

 Mix the chickpeas and brown rice in a food processor until they form a paste (you don't have to clean the food processor in between - its all going to mix together anyways!)

Add paste to the bowl containing the veggie mix. Add the chili powder, tomato paste and salt. Stir together to mix well - use your hands! Mix in the bread crumbs until the mixture sticks together. Form into patties (makes about 8) and cook on a skillet with EVOO until brown on both sides.

Now, a few Laura notes. First off, I miss read the instructions and only add 1/2c of bread crumbs to start and couldn't figure out why my mixture was so wet! I started adding flour, realized I misread the instructions, but I still feel like I had to add a lot of extra bread crumbs/flour to get these to not stick to my hands trying to make patties.

Also, the texture reminded me more of falafel than burger. I'm not saying that is a bad thing. Considering how wet this mixture was, I'm not too surprised. I was really worried that these were just not going to cook through or end up burnt. I think the extra flour helped me from having to throw away the whole mix. Softer texture than I was originally planning on, but still yummy/ If you are looking for a 'meaty' burger though I suggest you go with the Black Bean Burger recipe. Otherwise, serve up the Karma Burger over some greens and top with a dab of chiptole mayo!

Chiptole Mayo - 1/4c nondairy mayo, 1/4tsp chile powder, 1/2tsp agave nectar (and mix!)

Karma (Falafel) Burger!

Another recipe I wanted to share from the Karma Chow cookbook is the Chiptole Cashew Cheeze Sauce. What is it with me and Chiptole lately? :)

2c cashews, soaked in water for at least 4 hours
1/4c nutritional yeast flakes
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chiptole chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Water

Drain the water from the cashews and put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor. Add just enough water to cover and blend until smooth (may take a few minutes).

This sauce is really versatile! I used it at our Mexican-themed Vegan Thanksgiving a few weeks back in a casserole dish and had the left overs in some nachos I whipped up. This time I used it as a sauce on some noodles to make some yummy Mac n Cheeze!

Mac n Cheeze & Greens

Some days, you just crave comfort foods. Yesterday was that day for me! I used some of the cheeze sauce on left over noodles I had, and made a serving of Coconut Greens for a quick meal. Super yummy and filling.

Now you are equipped with some great burger recipes! And a few sauces too! Go out and try the recipes & tell me what you think!

Stay Positive,
L ♥

Black Bean Burgers

A friend of mine has decreed I should start posting recipes of the food I post pictures of and make people drool all over Facebook and IG. As I mentioned yesterday, I had a bunch of black beans left over from Thanksgiving and decided to make some burgers from scratch. I used the recipe in Veganomicon as start and played around with it a bit to make my burgers:

These were actually pretty easy to make & cook up quick. A much healthier & cheaper alternative to veggie burgers offered on the market!

Black Bean Burgers
2 c cooked black beans (or 1 15oz can)
1/2c flour (I used a little less)
1/2c bread crumbs
1 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp smoke paprika
1/4 - 1/2 c water
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic

1. Mash up the beans using a fork or potato masher until only a few whole beans remain
2. Add flour, bread crumbs, spices, 1/4c water, tomato paste & garlic
3. Mix everything together first with a fork and then knead with your hands. Add more water if the mixture feels too dry
4. Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan.
5. Divide the mixture into 6 balls and then press flat to make a patty
6. Cook burgers, 3 at a time, for 5 min on each side

See, simple! While I was making these, I had some "Ranch Potatoes" in the oven. Its a variation on something my dad used to make. Basically you cut up a bag of baby red skin potatoes, add ranch dressing until they are just coated, and also add 1/2 packet of lipton onion soup mix (dry). Shake it all up in a bag to make sure the potatoes are well coated. Then you bake them for about an hour at 350 degrees on a flat baking sheet. Of course, I don't eat ranch dressing anymore - but I make my own vegan version!

Vegan Ranch Dressing
1 c vegan mayo
1/2c almond milk (or less, if you like your dressing thicker)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
garlic powder
pepper
salt
dill
parsley

Mix the mayo, milk, and vinegar together until you get a dressing consistency you are happy with. I kind of wing it with the spices usually, but you won't want to use more than 1tsp of anything.  I like my dressing to be more dill-y and garlic-y so I add more of that, but just find a balance you like!

It is best to let the dressing sit for an hour or two before using, to let the flavors come together, but if you can't wait, that is ok too!

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I hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday. The weather is still great here, so I took my dog for a long walk & then did some yoga for my workout today!

Stay Positive,
L ♥

Experimenting in the Kitchen

I took some vacation time this week from work since I had a few more days to use before the end of the year. With my extra free time I've been able to sleep in, go to the gym with Jon (a nice change from going by myself) and do something I love - experiment in the kitchen!

Being a vegetarian since early college, and more recently a vegan, I can't tell you how many times I've heard "so where do you get your protein?" Depending on my mood you'll get a sarcastic or informative answer! Truth is, I have no issues getting enough protein from my diet, because I eat a variety of whole foods. Yes, protein makes up a lower % of my calories as opposed to protein or carb percentages, but I promise I am in no danger of a protein deficiency!

When I am working out and trying to build muscle, I will include a protein smoothie into my eating plan. Sometimes though I would love to EAT my protein and not DRINK it...especially in the cooler, winter months. Enter the protein waffle. I first heard of these through Jon, who gets a powder mix for waffles from an bodybuilding store, adds water, and boom - protein waffle. I've also seen other people on Instagram make protein waffles/pancakes, but had never tried myself.

If you know me, you know I bake from scratch. The same applies to waffles/pancakes - I haven't used an Aunt Jemima mix in years. So I just had to figure out how to tweak my own recipe in order to get the right consistency of the batter with the inclusion of my vegan protein powder. My final inspiration came from the blog The Guiltless Life.

Ta-Da!

This was a chocolate chip protein waffle with a peanut butter sauce & bananas. Yum! I found the waffle to be a little sweet (I think from the Stevia) and I had to use a lot more almond milk than what TGL calls for. Next time I think I will omit the Stevia and this should be perfect! I used Vega Sport Vanilla protein powder as my protein of choice - vanilla goes with anything!

Jon and I rented some movies to watch over the long weekend so I thought I would make a snack for us to enjoy while we watched. Remember this post? I love the mix of sweet - salty - crunchy but the marshmallows were a little overwhelming to me. Smaller marshmallows or bigger chunks of chocolate may balance the mix better, but I thought I would try a rice krispie treat concept this time around.

Mega RK Treat!

I think my balance of marshmallow to other ingredients was still unbalanced, but it was a step in the right direction. The cinnamon flavor from the cinnamon toast crunch really pops in this mix! A great evening/movie snack. I ended up rolling the mix into a log and cutting into individual pieces for grab-and-go convenience.

Today my plans include taking advantage of the mild weather we are having here and going for my long run OUTSIDE!! I can't believe it's December 1st and we are getting into the 50s today. Also, I have some black beans left over from Thanksgiving cooking so I'm going to try to make some homemade burgers from those to eat tonight & also freeze for later. I will post on how that experiment goes later!

Stay Positive,
L♥

Snack Time at the Movies

"I don't know about you, but whenever I go to the movies I really crave s'mores!"

Ok, so maybe I was lacking a bit of sleep this past weekend since I was watching after my 1-year old nephew, but I'm pretty sure I heard this quote right. I was expecting "popcorn" or "candy" to come at the end of that sentence. S'mores? I want to know what movie theater this person goes to!

I cannot remember the name of the show or the host for the life of me (I blame a sleep deprived Laura!) however I do remember the concept of her show was to come up with reduced cal versions of foods we all love. Since she loves to have s'mores while at the moves (still trying to figure that one out) she came up with this alternative:

2 c popped kettle corn
10 chopped up tootsie rolls
1/2c cinnamon toast crunch or similar cereal
1/2c mini marshmallows

Basically you put everything in a bag and shake it all up and keep on hand or sneak into the movie theater with you. I made a few tweaks:

2 c popcorn (not kettle)
1 tbsp dark chocolate chips
1/2c cinnamon toast crunch
1/2c mini marshmallows

It is a very tasty treat, not too high in calories if you are watching that sort of thing, and a lot less messy than a real s'more if you would like to indulge while watching your favorite flick! Enjoy!

2 New Smoothie Recipes

"Triple B Smoothie"
(Blueberry Banana Breakfast Smoothie)

1 c non-dairy milk (I prefer almond)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (not instant)
1/2 banana
1/2 c frozen blueberries
1 tbsp flax seed
1 tbsp agave nectar

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend. The frozen blueberries will make it cold enough you do not need additional ice. 

Notes: For a bit better texture, let the oatmeal soak overnight in 3/4c of the milk. Add the remaining 1/4 c of milk before blending

"Supermodel Smoothie"
(Adapted from Niki Taylor's recipe: http://www.thedoctorstv.com/videolib/init/5054)
12 oz water
1 c kale
1/2 c spinach
1/2 c (2 stalks) celery
1/2 a banana
1/2 c frozen berries (I use blueberries)
1/2 scoop cacao powder
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

Put the water, kale, spinach and celery in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the banana, berries and powder and blend again. You can add more water to adjust the consistency, but I find anything more than 12 oz makes this smoothie very watery.

Note: I like this smoothie because it doesn't look like a green smoothie. The cacao powder makes it look like a chocolate shake...no more weird looks at work! :)