Korean Tacos

A year or two ago I read a New York Times article about Korean taco carts taking over Los Angeles. It's been in the back of my head ever since. This week I saw another article, and I decided to veganize them using tempeh. They are reminiscent of the Veganomicon baja tempeh tacos, but the flavors are very different.

Korean Tacos

Tempeh Bulgogi
¼ c tamari
¼ c white wine
¼ c unseasoned rice vinegar
1/8 c sesame oil
1½ T brown sugar
3 green onions, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz pkg soy tempeh

Whisk together all ingredients except tempeh. Place in shallow dish or plastic bag. Slice tempeh into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. Steam in a shallow layer of boiling water for ten minutes. Remove from water and cool to room temperature. Add to marinade. Refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours. Remove tempeh from marinade. Pan-fry in a little peanut oil for three to four minutes on each side, till golden.

Asian Slaw
3 leaves romaine lettuce, thinly sliced
¼ purple cabbage, thinly sliced
¼ Walla Walla onion, minced
1 ½ t sesame oil
1 ½ t peanut oil
1 T unseasoned rice vinegar
1 t soy sauce

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Add romaine, cabbage, and onion. Allow to sit at room temperature one hour to allow flavors to meld.

For plating
lime wedges, corn tortillas, black sesame seeds, lime zest

For each taco: Warm a tortilla. Place two pieces of tempeh in center of tortilla. Top with a couple of tablespoons of slaw. Squeeze a generous wedge of lime over the taco. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and lime zest.

Panelle with Tomato Sauce

No, it's not polenta: it's panelle, a traditional Sicilian street food. Chickpea flour is cooked with water, parsley, and salt until thickened, then cooled, sliced, and fried. In Sicily, the fried slices are placed in a semolina roll and sprinkled with lemon juice. My version amps up the batter with garlic and fresh herbs. I brown the slices in oil instead of deep-frying, and top with tomato sauce for a sweet and pungent counterpoint to the creamy interior and crunchy crust.

Panelle with Tomato Sauce
serves six

1 c. chickpea flour
4 c. water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. fresh herbs, chopped (I used 1/8 c. basil, 1/8 c. oregano, and 1/4 c. cilantro)
1/2 t. salt, or more to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Whisk chickpea flour and water in medium-sized saucepan. Simmer 20 minutes over medium heat, until thickened. Stir in fresh herbs. Pour into oiled 7 x 11 inch rectangular dish. Cool. Chill two hours or longer, up to overnight. Cut into squares. (I did twelve squares.) Heat one t. olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add half of the squares to the hot oil. (It will crackle.) Allow to brown for five minutes, shaking pan periodically to keep the squares from sticking. Carefully flip squares using one or two spatulas. Add an additional teaspoon of olive oil and brown for four to five minutes.

Tomato Sauce

16 oz. crushed tomatoes
1/2 medium onion, diced medium or small
1 t. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping t marjoram
1/2 t salt, or to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
fresh basil for serving

Heat oil in small pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for five minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and sauté an additional minute. Add tomatoes, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut basil into chiffonade. Arrange two squares of panelle on a plate and top with tomato sauce. Arrange chiffonade over sauce. Serve immediately.

Brunswick Stew with Corn Dumplings

My college roommate used to bring canned Brunswick stew with her from North Carolina. I became obsessed, and now I've veganized it. I used Gardein for the protein. Seitan or soy curls would work well also.

Ingredients:

serves four

1 t. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 16 oz. can of tomatoes, crushed or diced
2 c. strong vegetable stock, or more to taste (depending on how brothy you like your stew)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 c. chopped parsley
3 red potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 16 oz. can of corn, divided
1-2 c. of vegan protein, rehydrated if necessary (amount refers to post-hydration)
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1 T. tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

1 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2-3/4 c. nondairy milk

Directions:

Saute diced onion in oil. Add tomatoes, broth, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, and potato. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the potato is soft, about ten minutes. Add protein, half of the corn, smoke, tomato paste. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in enough milk to make a fairly loose batter--think muffin texture. Fold in corn. Spoon over stew in 1/8 c. scoops. Cover and simmer for fifteen minutes. If the dumplings look dry on top, they are done. You may need to turn some of the dumplings over and cook a bit longer. The stew and the dumplings will not suffer.

note: If desired, add in 1/2 c. lima beans and/or 1/2 c. chopped okra with the potato. Both are traditional. If you do add these in, you may want to use more broth.

UK Vegan 100

This is from efcliz's blog. I wasn't vegan when I was living in the UK, but am interested to see what I'm familiar with anyway. I hit 34.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

If you don’t have a blog, just let me know your total in the comments. I’m going to post it first in its naked glory so you can copy and paste it without reformatting and messing about, then next week I’ll add my own crossings out and bolds, so you can see my total!

All items on the list refer to the vegan version. Please don’t contact me to tell me that butter isn’t vegan, for example. I mean a vegan version of it!

Hampshire watercress

Haggis

Montezumas chocolate

Melting mozarella Cheezly

Tartex

Granose Mock Duck

Sosmix

Churros at Terre a Terre

Yorkshire pudding

Beans on toast

Crumpets

Mushy peas

Aldi croissants

Bourbon biscuits

Holland and Barrett fruit flapjacks

Linda McCartney sausages and chips

Marmite on toast

Kent black cherries

Marmite breadsticks

Beanfeast

Sunday roast at The George

Anything at Birmingham’s curry mile

Rhubarb crumble with Swedish Glace

Paskin’s full breakfast

Jersey Royal potatoes swimming in butter

Evesham asparagus

Potato farls

Bubble and Squeak

Sticky toffee pudding

Irn Bru

Bacon buttie with tomato sauce

Marigold bouillon powder

Booja Booja truffles

Scones and jam

Bird’s custard

Anything at Dandelion and Burdock

White chocolate

A bought pizza with cheese in the UK

Hot cross buns

Staffordshire oatcakes

Bread and butter pudding

Summer pudding

Pickled onions

Potato from the Baked Potato Shop in Edinburgh

Wetherspoons curry

Irish stew with dumplings

Mashed carrot and swede

Pease pudding

Christmas pudding

Cranachan

Blue Sheese

Faggots

English muffins

Pringles

Scotch broth

Walker’s prawn cocktail crisps

Mildred’s mushroom and ale pie

Masala dosa

Realeat fishcakes

Worcestershire sauce

Mushroom ketchup

Pickled walnuts

Ribena

Anything at Vbites

Co-op donuts

Picalilli

Ryvita

Anything at Saf

Chip shop curry sauce and chips

Parmezano

Warehouse Café bangers and mash

Innocent Smoothie

Vimto

Eccles cake

Semolina pudding with jam

Linda McCartney country pie

Scallop (potato fritter)

Elderflower cordial

Spotted dick

Victoria plum

Marigold braised tofu

Clive’s pie

Wagamama Yasai Chilli Men

Sarsaparilla

Spring cabbage

Holland and Barrett Porkless Pie

Henderson’s relish

Scottish raspberries

Scouse

Colcannon

Fry’s Peppermint Cream

Hobnobs

Roast parsnips

Booja Booja ice cream

Champ

Pimms

Rice pudding

Nuttolene

Beef and Tomato Pot Noodle

Sesame Snaps

A Post? Yes, A Post.

A Vegan MoFo Survey.

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Soy. Hemp tastes funny and almond is too thin. I'm terribly sad that Vitasoy is no more; that was my favorite.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Right now, pizza, hot and sour soup from Veganomicon with some variations, and tacos. Ooo, and tempeh bacon. And scalloped potatoes.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Salt! I'm slowly becoming a nooch convert.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I made some pretty disgusting pancakes recently. Somehow I thought I wouldn't need a recipe.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Asparagus! I love pickled anything though: cucumber pickles, pickled beets, sauerkraut, anything.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
In my head? There are recipes in my files somewhere, and in my email, but I have trouble finding any. In my head.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Trash and garbage disposal.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
Strawberries, spinach, and chickpeas.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
My mother's stew. She is still mystified that I liked it as much as I did. I'm going to have to make some seitan and try to veganize it.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss, strawberry lemon love, now retired, so let's say cherry amaretto.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
I am kind of in love with my immersion blender.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Cayenne, nutmeg, cumin, and oregano.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
The Silver Palate and the Silver Palate New Basics.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
I don't really LIKE jam or jelly. I guess strawberry or cherry.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Moroccan vegetable stew over lemon couscous with toasted almonds.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
All three. What a question. Tofu omelets, tempeh sausage crumbles, and Joanna nuggets.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Lunch!

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
A basket of winter squash (celebration, sugar pumpkin, and pink banana) and shallots, and a platter of cippolini onions and organic garlic.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Chickpea flour, frozen strawberries, and homemade vegetable broth.

20. What’s on your grocery list?
I'm out of fresh ginger and low on sea salt.

21. Favorite grocery store?
There is a gorgeous little grocery store in Manzanita called Mother Nature's. In Cambridge, I loved Harvest Coop.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
My mama's stew.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Lagusta's Luscious, Vegandad, Vegan in the Sun, Stumptown Vegans, Get Sconed, Year of the Vegan

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Mambas!

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
The coconut milk yogurt I bought yesterday was ridiculous, but I think the prize goes to dried mushrooms and to truffle salt.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Natto, and after an extremely bad experience, tapioca flour. It made me nearly throw up.

Blog in Prog

Welcome here! I am jocelyn, and I am starting this blog because Vegan Mofo (month of food) is coming up in October and I want to play. My camera is off being serviced, my ingredients are in the cupboard, and cat hair is everywhere. Pictures will be either non-existent or cameraphone-quality until I get my camera back, so apologies.