Grilled Seitan and Vegetable Kabobs

Sometimes our non-vegan friends assume we no longer cook anything on the grill, since we eat no meat. So, they would really be surprised to find we had “Grilled Seitan and Vegetable Kabobs” (page 314), a delightful and delicious vegan version of this normally meat based preparation.  In addition to the seitan chunks, the recipe includes mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, and cherry tomatoes, but I think any vegetable you like grilled would also work fine.  We included pearl onions, and eggplant would be another good choice.  The marinade called for olive oil, but using the broth the seitan comes in makes a great substitution.  We had several skewers left over, so the next day I chopped everything up into small dice and made a breakfast “hash”.  Good stuff!

Jerk-Spiced Red Bean Chili

"Jerk-Spiced Red Bean Chili" (page 251) is a dish that will definitely warm you up.  How warm depends on the heat of the barbeque sauce and green chilies, not to mention the cayenne pepper. So, if spicy isn't your thing, you can still enjoy this dish by adjusting those ingredients down the heat scale to your liking.  The "meat" of this chili is seitan, and the jerk spices include chili powder, cumin, allspice, oregano, black pepper, and of course, the cayenne. Crushed and diced tomatoes bring everything together.  Are you starting to get a picture of the myriad of flavors in this dish?  The only change I made to keep this McDougall friendly was to sauté the onion in a bit of seitan broth instead of oil.  The chili was even better when we had the leftovers a few days later.

Chipotle-Tomato Salsa

If you like the smokey hot flavor of chipotle, you will really like the "Chipotle Tomato Salsa" on page 568.  A very simple and fresh salsa, it uses tomatoes, onion, and cilantro flavored with fresh lime, a sprinkle of salt, and a canned adobo chili.  (You can make this more or less spicy according to your tastes.) Easy, quick, and McDougall friendly as written.

Corn Relish

Akin to salad, not quite as zippy as chutney, the "Corn Relish" (page 569) makes a nice side dish, an interesting topping for veggie burgers, or something to dip a baked tortilla chip into.  Sautéing the onion and bell pepper (omit the oil and use water or broth instead to keep it McDougall friendly) decidedly tames the zestiness; next time I might opt to keep these veggies raw, or just barely cook them to retain both crunch and zip.  I ended up adding fresh minced garlic and a dash of cayenne pepper to perk things up a bit. Since I didn't have a red bell pepper handy, I used a yellow one instead.  I'm guessing you would have good results using any colored pepper, or even a combination.

Miso-Tahini Sauce

The "Miso-Tahini Sauce" on page 554 is quick to put together with just a few ingredients (miso, tahini, lemon, soy sauce, water).  Although it is cooked, no blender is required, and very few utensils.  The most important instruction to follow is not to allow the mixture to boil as you heat, stir, and gradually add water to the sauce as it cooks on the stovetop.  Like me, you might initially find it hard to believe that the sauce will be thick enough when you look at the ratio of ingredients to water, but somehow, it all works out! No changes were required to make this McDougall compliant.  This is a rich sauce, and a little goes a long way.

Pecan-Lentil Burgers

Even if I never make it through all 1000 recipes, I know for sure I will eventually try all eleven of the burger recipes.  I am always looking for veggie burger recipes, and the more I can find that do not rely on isolated soy protein, the happier I am.  Today I tried the "Pecan Lentil Burgers" on page 119.  A blended mixture of pecans, cooked lentils, vital wheat gluten (for a nice chewy texture), oats, breadcrumbs and seasonings, these burgers can be served on a bun with all the trimmings (as suggested in the recipe), or on their own as part of a dinner plate, topped with gravy, BBQ sauce, or ketchup.  The instructions call for sautéing the formed patties in olive oil, but I used a dry non-stick skillet with excellent results. I'm guessing you could bake them as well. This recipe will yield 4-6 burgers.  (I easily got six very delicious patties.)

Versatile Vegetable Soup

"Versatile Vegetable Soup" (page 148) is your basic and comforting veggie soup, the one you will turn to when nothing else will do. With onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, peas, and bell pepper as a starting point, you can change this up with whatever you are in the mood for, or whatever is in your pantry or refrigerator.  You can use the broth of your choice or water for the liquid, and vary the vegetables as you see fit.  I used a light tomato based broth and the vegetables as listed in the recipe.  The chickpeas add a little oomph to the soup, as well as a little chew.  A very satisfying soup all the way around.  I omitted sautéing the veggies in oil, using a little of the broth instead (no other changes needed to make this McDougall friendly).  I also added a teaspoon of Italian seasoning since it seemed to go so well with the veggies and tomato based broth.

Baby Spinach with Lemon and Garlic

Spinach has been a favorite of mine as far back as I can remember.  Long before I knew the delights of fresh spinach, I enjoyed the frozen variety, and even (gulp!) the questionable stuff from a can they served up in our elementary school hot lunches.  But now I will always go for the fresh green leaves, as I did in the "Baby Spinach with Lemon and Garlic" on page 382.  Another very simple way to prepare fresh food, the title pretty much says it all.  The recipe instructs you to sauté fresh garlic in olive oil, but I left the oil out altogether, and sautéed the spinach and garlic in a non-stick skillet with no added liquid, just tossing the leaves as they cooked and released their own juices.  Flavored with fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, this was so good, I would have consumed the entire recipe myself if I didn't have to share it with my husband!

Blueberry Sauce

Although not quite as easy as Fresh Strawberry Topping (see review below), the "Blueberry Sauce" on (page 498) is still a very simple approach to preparing fresh berries (or frozen, if fresh aren't available).  Sweetened blueberries, sprinkled with cinnamon, are heated on the stove, which causes their juices to release, and then thickened with a mixture of cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla. That's about it, unless you want a smooth sauce, in which case the recipe gives the option of puréeing in the blender.  I opted to leave the sauce intact this time, maybe I'll try blending it next time.  Even though this sauce falls in the Desserts section of the cookbook, I used it to top my morning oatmeal, a tasty breakfast treat.  No changes were required to keep this McDougall friendly.

Fresh Strawberry Topping

Really, what could be simpler than sliced fresh strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar?  That's exactly what the "Fresh Strawberry Topping" (page 501) consists of, nothing more, nothing less.  After a trip to the Farmer's Market, I was ready to go with fresh strawberries, ripe, juicy and sweet.  Adding the sugar allows juices to form after setting aside for a while, but you can accomplish the same thing by crushing the berries slightly (however, you won't end up with intact slices).  I used this on top of my morning breakfast of raw oats, Grapenuts, and ground flax seed, with a splash of soymilk, and it was just as the recipe promised - ambrosial!

Spicy Black Bean Orzo Soup

"Spicy Black Bean Orzo Soup" (page 160) is a puréed mixture of black beans, sundried tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, chili powder and oregano which is ladled over pre-cooked orzo is.  A sprinkle of cilantro is added to each bowl for a little color and extra flavor.  Depending on how spicy you like your food, you could increase or decrease the amount of jalapeno pepper; I found one whole pepper to be perfect for a nice warm glow.  The slight texture of the orzo offsets the creaminess of the puréed soup, making for a nice contrast.  Once I realized everything was going to be put into the blender after cooking briefly on the stove, I didn't bother chopping up the sundried tomatoes, and only broke the pepper into a couple of pieces.  I did not sauté the garlic ahead of time; rather I threw the whole cloves into the blender when it was time to whip it all together.  This allowed for a stronger garlic flavor, which I prefer.  To keep this McDougall friendly, use the non-oiled sundried tomatoes (the recipe calls for the oil cured variety), and don't sauté the garlic in oil.  If you can, use whole wheat orzo as well (that might be a little hard to find).

Spaghetti and T-Balls

Spaghetti and meat balls is something I gave up long ago, but I'm always on the lookout for a tasty vegan alternative to the meat ball portion of this old favorite.  The "Spaghetti and T-Balls" (page 194) are just the thing!  The dish consists of spaghetti and marinara sauce (recipe on same page - see my review on this blog), topped with tiny vegan balls made primarily from tempeh (thus, the "T"-Balls).  Gluten flour is used to help bind them together, and they are seasoned nicely with fresh bread crumbs, soy sauce, garlic, parsley, oregano, and nutritional yeast.  Everything is ground together in the food processor, then formed into 1 ½" balls.  The recipe gives you the option of browning the balls in oil, or baking in the oven.  Of course, I opted for the oven baking method, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, so no oil needed.  I also omitted the oil in the T-Ball mixture, adding a tablespoon of water instead. The T-Balls came out chewy, tender, and made the perfect topping for a plate of spaghetti.  I used the 50-50 whole wheat blend spaghetti, not 100% whole grain, but a nice compromise, and moving in the right direction.

Baby Greens with Pear, Pecans, and Ginger Dressing

One of the things I really like about this cookbook is that with so many recipes to choose from, I can almost always find something to do with the ingredients I have on hand.  I just look in the index under a particular ingredient, and I find a recipe I can easily put together.  So it was with "Baby Greens with Pear, Pecans, and Ginger Dressing" on page 54.  Although I didn't have baby greens on hand, I did have fresh spinach, which I figured would work just as well, and it did.  This salad reminded me of a Waldorf salad, with the nuts, fruit, and celery.  But the dressing was definitely the star of the show.  Slightly sweet, zingy (ginger), and mildly spicy (cayenne), the flavors were more than vibrant, and a perfect topping for delicate greens.  The recipe calls for sherry vinegar, but I thought my Asian Blackberry Balsamic, which is sweet and fruity, with a hint of ginger, would be even better, so I used that.  The only challenge was how to replace the 1/3 cup of olive oil, which made up more than half the volume of the dressing.  Since the dressing had so many strong flavors, I decided I could just use water instead, and add a pinch (1/4 teaspoon) of guar gum to help thicken it up.  This worked like a charm.  I like this salad and the dressing, and will put this on my list of repeatables.

Soba and Green Lentil Soup

It's probably my fault for making substitutions without knowing what to expect.  I thought I had soba noodles, but it turns out I had somen noodles.  But, I decided they might be enough alike that it wouldn't make a difference in the "Soba and Green Lentil Soup" (page 162).  All I know is that rather than a soup, and rather than a stew, I sort of ended up with a casserole.  Like I said…it was probably my own fault…!  However, this was a very tasty soup/casserole!  Along with the lentils and noodles, there is onion, carrot, garlic, crushed tomatoes and broth.  I omitted the oil for sautéing the vegetables, and that was the only change necessary to make this McDougall friendly.  I will try this again using soba noodles.  (Are somen noodles known for expanding to 10 times there original size and soaking up all the liquid they are exposed to?)