Seitan Milanese with Panko & Lemon

"Seitan Milanese with Panko and Lemon" (page 308) is a quick and easy dish found in the Main Dishes section, but would also make a great appetizer or meal starter. The biggest challenge was figuring out how to prepare this without frying the seitan. Of course, anything can be baked instead of fried, but you won't end up with the same crispy golden crust obtained when you fry something.  In this recipe, chunks of seitan are breaded with seasoned panko crumbs, then pan fried (per the recipe), or, as I modified the recipe, baked (to omit the oil, yet retain the crumb topping). Instead of moistening the seitan chunks with water before breading, I used soymilk so they would brown a little better in the oven. Lemon wedges are served on the side to be used as desired once the seitan is cooked.  I also mixed up a cocktail style sauce, using ketchup and prepared horseradish, which made a wonderful dipping sauce. This is fun food!

Rotini Remoulade

As you may have noticed, I am not averse to substituting pasta varieties in recipes, based on what I have on hand, and personal preferences.  Such was the case with the "Rotini Remoulade" (page 93), where I used bow tie pasta instead of rotini. This is a simple salad that combines cooked pasta with small amounts of onion, celery, and bell pepper, then dresses it with remoulade, a mayo based sauce livened up with capers, relish, lemon juice, ketchup, mustard, and Tabasco sauce. Normally I find I need to cut back on the amount of pasta called for because I prefer a smaller ratio of pasta to sauce or dressing, but in this recipe 8-ounces (as written) worked perfectly. This is very easy to keep within McDougall guidelines if you choose an oil-free mayo. If you can stop yourself from eating all four servings in one sitting, the leftovers are delicious, too!

Rustic Cottage Pie

If you like shepherd's pie, you will adore the "Rustic Cottage Pie" (page 316), the vegan version of this fantastic comfort food.  Mixed vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, peas, and corn) and seitan are mixed with Mushroom Sauce (reviewed on this blog), spread into a casserole dish, topped with mashed potatoes, and baked in the oven. Not only is this a delicious and warming dinner, it is very healthy, chock full of colorful vegetables. It's easy to leave the oil out when sautéing the veggies, and instead of margarine, mash the potatoes with broth and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.

Ribollita

This time of year there is nothing I enjoy more than a hot bowl of soup. "Ribollita" (page 153), which literally means "re-boiled", is a Tuscan soup very similar to minestrone.  Chock full of veggies - onion, carrot, cabbage, kale, and potato - simmered in a tomato based broth, made hearty by the addition of white beans, and finally, ladled over pieces of toasted Italian bread. For the sake of the photograph, and to appease my husband, I floated the pieces of bread on top of the soup, rather than covering them, as you can see in the picture. The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of oil, 2 for sautéing the veggies, and 1 to drizzle over the individual servings.  I omitted the oil in both instances, and still had fabulous results.

Drunken Spaghetti with Tofu

Usually my husband prepares any recipe that calls for a wok, as he is the stir-fry king in our house.  But since the "Drunken Spaghetti with Tofu" (page 240) could technically be prepared in a wok or a large skillet, I decided to try this dish myself - in the large skillet, of course! Sautéed onion, bell pepper, garlic, and snow peas are combined with previously cooked strips of tofu, then tossed together with the prepared noodles, spicy Asian sauce, and fresh basil. According to the recipe notes, these noodles are called "drunken" due to the spiciness of the dish, since hot chiles are said to be a hangover remedy. To keep this dish McDougall friendly, I omitted the oil when sautéing both the tofu and veggies, using my non-stick skillet with excellent results.

Butternut Soup with a Swirl of Cranberry

The abundance of butternut squash available this time of year makes the "Butternut Soup with a Swirl of Cranberry" (page 170) a healthy and delicious way to enjoy this vegetable powerhouse.  The soup is a blend of puréed squash, onion, potato, and carrot, in a broth seasoned with allspice and ginger. It's so easy to make, and the cranberry swirl (a mixture of cranberry sauce and orange juice) is an especially pretty touch, offering a bright spot of contrasting color and flavor.  This soup would make a wonderful first course at a holiday meal. The only change I made to was to omit the oil when sautéing the veggies, thus keeping the dish virtually fat-free.

Seitan & Potato Torta

"Seitan and Potato Torta" (page 315) is a layered casserole, and a perfect dish when warm-out-of-the-oven food is what you want.  Sautéed onion and spinach are mixed with sliced seitan and seasonings, then layered with sliced potatoes in either a deep or shallow casserole dish. The final layer is a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese, right before popping into the oven for around one hour.  This gives you plenty of time to prepare any other dish(es) you might be having with the torta, or to clean up from the preparation.  To keep this McDougall compliant, I omitted the oil both when sautéing the onion, and when called for to brush the layers of potatoes (here I used a little broth instead).  Leftovers where just as good the next day.

Potatoes Stuffed With Fennel & Peas

Any kind of stuffed potato is bound to be a hit with me, and the "Potatoes Stuffed With Fennel & Peas" (page 342) didn't disappoint. Sautéed onion and fennel, green peas, green onions, and spices are added to previously baked and mashed potatoes.  All this is scooped back into the potato skin shells and baked for a while longer to heat everything through. The recipe calls for sautéing the onion and fennel in olive oil, but I just used a little water instead.  It also calls for drizzling more oil on top of the potatoes before the final bake, but I skipped that altogether, and sprinkled a little paprika on them for color.

Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans

Converting the "Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans" (page 159) to an oil free dish presented a bit of a challenge. You are supposed to fry the fideo noodles in two tablespoons of oil before adding to the soup, and having had traditional fideo dishes in the past, I'm quite sure the frying step is integral to the intended outcome of this dish.  However, I decided I would be content with the altered texture of the non-fried noodles, and proceed with the recipe using boiled pasta instead of fried.  That being said, I followed the rest of the recipe as written and ended up with a very tasty Mexican style soup, replete with the rich flavors of chilies, cilantro, oregano and cumin.

Chickpea & Vegetable Loaf

The "Chickpea and Vegetable Loaf" (page 265) is one of the few recipes I've come across so far that did not include oil, and required no changes to keep it McDougall friendly. I was more than pleased about that!  The loaf is a mixture of shredded vegetables (carrots, onions, potatoes), combined in a food processor with chickpeas, flour (gluten or chickpea - I used gluten to give the loaf more chew), seasonings, and spices. The only moistener in the recipe outside of the chickpeas, is 1 tablespoon soy sauce, which was not enough liquid to hold all the ingredients together.  As I have had to do with other burger and loaf recipes from this book, I ended up adding a small amount of broth to the dry ingredients to help pull everything together. The end result was a delicious veggie loaf that was wonderful served with potatoes and gravy the night I made it, and just as satisfying as a vegan "meatloaf" sandwich filling later on.

Chickpea & Fennel Soup

The "Chickpea and Fennel Soup" (page 156) is a delicious, warming soup that uses fresh fennel, both the bulb and the fronds, as well as ground fennel seed.  The tomato based broth uses canned crushed tomatoes, and with the addition of orzo, the final outcome is a little minestrone-like (only much simpler).  The only change I made to keep this soup within the McDougall guidelines was omit the oil when sautéing the onions. A sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese at the table is a nice addition.

Pear Crumble

Trying to convert most desserts to an oil-free, whole-grain version can be quite challenging.  By nature, dessert tends to be sweet (lots of calories), dense (processed grains), and usually include some sort of oil or fat that can't be easily replaced with another ingredient. For that reason, I don't indulge in them very often. But when pears came into season this Fall, I got the urge to try one of the fresh fruit desserts in this book.  I chose the "Pear Crumble" (page 473) and made a few adjustments to keep it on the healthier side.  I replaced the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, the ½ cup margarine with 2 tablespoons each of cashew butter and baby food prune puree, and I cut the sugar down by ½ cup. Sliced fresh pears are sprinkled with sugar and spice, topped with a crumbly mixture of flour, oats, and sugar, and baked in the oven until done.  Even with my adjustments, this was a wonderful dessert, not too sweet, not too fat, but still tasted very rich and satisfying.

Three-Bean Chili

Chili is such a vegan friendly dish.  With all the different beans, veggies, spices, and optional meat substitutes to chose from, the combinations are endless.  The "Three Bean Chili" (page 249) combines black, white, and red kidney beans along with onion, garlic, tomatoes, mild green chiles, plus a little zing from chili powder and canned chipotle.  If you used canned beans, you can have chili on the table in about an hour, and the flavor improves over time (a good thing, since this makes a very large pot of chili for just two people).  The only alteration needed to keep this within the McDougall guidelines was omitting the oil when sautéing the onion.

Red Pepper, Mango, & Avocado Relish

The "Red Pepper, Mango, & Avocado Relish" (page 571) just bursts with flavor and color.  I can't think of anything you couldn't put it on - chips, grains, crackers, chilies, veggie burgers - you name it!  The directions say this relish is best if used shortly after it's made, and I had to agree.  The ingredients start to break down rather quickly in appearance and texture, although the flavor remained vibrant when I ate what was left over the next day.  The other ingredients include red onion, ginger, jalapeno, cilantro and fresh lime.  Happily, I didn't have to make any changes to keep this relish McDougall compatible.