The Vegan Kids Kitchen

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Bagel Sandwiches!!!

Yummy!!

Up Close

Lunchtime!!

Kids version

Hungry Boy!!

Now these truly take me back to my Bruegger's Bagel days when I used to work there in high school. I had never even heard of putting cream cheese with a deli meat, but when I first tried this I was hooked!! So... After making a couple of vegan adjustments, me and the family can enjoy these delicious and quick lunches!! We always buy our bagels at Trader Joe's, one because they are Vegan and two they are soooo good, and it doesn't hurt that they are reasonably priced too!! There I go selling Tjoe's again, but really when I find a good deal or great product I want everyone else to enjoy it too!! I usually buy these in bulk and pre-slice and freeze them. Then when you are ready to use, toast and enjoy. We go for the everything and mini plain for the kids, they are perfect size too! My son loves to top the sandwich off with jalapeno peppers (yes that is my three year old, they are no heat, so I think he just likes the flavor:) For the adult version we top with a spicy Dijon mustard that is also from tjoes and its produced in France, so this stuff is legit too!!! This is so easy and quick and its a nice change up from the everyday sandwich, and perfect for the kids lunch box too! You can find vegan "cream cheese" just about anywhere, I prefer the tofutti brand for the best taste and the tofurky is a "fake meat", this is so like the real thing, they have all different types, smoked, hickory, peppered, you name it they got it, and you can find this pretty much anywhere too, in the natural food section usually!! You'll have a deli style sandwich in no time and for half the price of a bagel shop too!!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Lentil Loaf!!!

Ok, so its been awhile... Life in our house has been not only busy but very crazy from our dog being diagnosed with diabetes:( I didn't even know dogs could get this, but he was genetically disposed to it and has gotten very sick, but he has leveled out for the time being, keep him in your thoughts and prayers!!) to work, work, and more work!!! We are not complaining, just explaining:), but happy to be back. We have been really busy while we've been away, I have gotten my hands on this amazing cookbook called "The Vegan Diner" and let me tell you this book rocks, everything that I have made from it, has been sooo yummy!! I can't wait to share all the goodies from it too!! I thought I would go ahead and tell you about an oldie but goodie in this house, the Lentil Loaf!!! This is a great dish to serve with mashed potatoes and green beans, but it is also super delicious the next day in a wrap or sandwich with some veganaise and lettuce! The first time I ever made lentils, I was a bit nervous, but they are so easy and you just have to boil until tender, there is no way to mess it up!
This dish takes no time at all besides chopping up the veggies and mixing it all up, so it can be done in an hour or better yet, done the night before!! The one step that I do instead of leaving the veggies big is to process them in the food processor, just so that I get a more consistent texture, but if you are wanting that chunky feel, then leave them big.

Lentil Loaf:
3/4 cup drained lentils (about 1/2 dried)
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats (processed until course)
1/2 Block of Tofu
1 cup Onion
1/2 cup Carrot and Celery
1/2 cup Bell Peppers
3 TBSP. Cornmeal
2 TBSP. Nutritional Yeast
1 TBSP. Ketchup
1 TBSP. Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP. Braggs Amino Acids
1 TBSP. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Vegan Worcheshire and Hickory Smoke Seasoning
1 tsp. Chili powder, Parsley, Sugar
1/2 tsp. Cumin, Garlic, Salt
1/4 tsp. Onion powder, dried Mustard,Thyme

Begin by boiling the lentils in water until tender, about 15 mins (depending on the type of lentil you use, I usually just use the brown lentils, but you can definitely experiment:) While these are cooking, saute the onion, carrot, and celery in a little oil or water. Tip: If you get the pan hot enough you can add your veggies and only add a small amount of water to saute with no oil, you will still get that flavor without the fat, just be careful not to add to much water or it will steam the veggies instead, so just add a couple drops of water at a time! In a mixing bowl mash the tofu with all the seasonings, balsamic, braggs, cornmeal, and ketchup, Let this sit until you are finished with the veggies and lentils. Process the oats until course and wait to add until the end. After you are finished with the veggies add them to the tofu mix. Drain the lentils when tender and add into the mix with the oats, mix well and then form two loaves onto parchment paper or silpat to prevent it from sticking. Top with Ketchup if you so desire (I always do because it reminds me of my mom's!!) You want to bake at 375 for 20 mins, then cover with foil and bake for additional 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately!!

Brown Lentils

Veggies

Processed!!

Seasonings

Tofu with seasonings

Adding veggies to mashed tofu mix

Adding in Lentils

Mixing it all up

Oats in!!

Ready to be Loaved!

Bake Me Please!!

Up Close!!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Seitan and Broccoli!!!

This is my version of the classic Asian stir fry that is always a tasty yummy meal, perfect for anytime, and super easy to mix up. This has become one of my favorite meals to make because my kids always eat it up and I really don't have to do much except mix up the sauce. I sometimes cheat and buy store bought seitan, it just depends on my day, but if you have the extra 20 minutes, it is definitely worth it for homemade seitan! I always serve this dish over rice, but you could do over some udon or rice noodles. Seitan is basically vital wheat gluten flour mixed with spices and liquid, in order to get a doughy consistency or its sometimes referred to as "Wheat Meat", but whatever you call it, it really does resemble meat!! You then bake just until firm and add to any dish, it will absorb the liquid and get nice and chewy, you will never know the difference. When I first began making homemade seitan, I really had a tough time to get the taste just right because the wheat gluten can be quite strong, so it is important to season it correctly. I can also adjust the ingredients depending on the type of food I will be using it in, so for any Asian dish, I will always add a bit of toasted sesame seed oil, which really gives it a great flavor!!! We normally eat this with steamed edamame and seaweed with sushi rice, my kids love, love seaweed!! Yes, I know its hard to believe my one and three year old love seaweed, but its true!! It definitely runs in the family... if you go to my moms house, you will see all my nieces and nephews (and my kids) eating up dried seaweed, they fight over the stuff, seriously. I can remember as a kid, for one every night we had rice, actually at any time, there was always rice in our house (one of those perks growing up Asian:), but me and my siblings would just love to have rice rolled up in seaweed, that my mom had just got done toasting,mmm...its taking me back:) Now they have made it easier to have seaweed, you can almost always find toasted and seasoned, just make sure to look out for sodium, some can be way high!!! Anyways, this is definitely a delicious, wholesome meal that is sure to impress the adults and the kids will really eat! Enjoy!!

MaiMai's Seitan:
1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
1/4 cup nutritional Yeast
1 tsp. Thyme
1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning, chili, garlic, onion powders.
1 tsp. Vegan Worcheshire
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1/4 cup Bragg's
1/2 TBSP. oil (for this recipe, use sesame oil)
1/2 cup H20
Preheat the oven to 375. Mix all the wet/dry ingredients separately, then mix together until well mixed. Knead the dough until it gets somewhat elastic (usually a couple of mins). Let rest for 5 mins, then slice depending on the size pieces, smaller is usually better. Bake for 15 mins, flipping halfway between baking. Then add to the sauce and enjoy!!!

Seitan and Broccoli Sauce:
3 TBSP. Cornstarch
4 TBSP. Bragg Amino Acids
4 TBSP. White wine
3 cups Water or no-chicken broth
4 tsp. sugar
2 TBSP. toasted sesame oil
Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

To make the stir fry, you will want to heat your wok up to medium heat. Start out with 1TBSP. fresh ginger and garlic with a tsp of sricha (Asian hot sauce), and use a little sesame oil to saute for 2 mins, then add in 1/2 onion, large chopped pieces; cook until translucent. Then add in the sauce, heat until thickens and clears (it will start out white b/c of the cornstarch). One tip: Make sure to let this cook enough to get all the corn starchiness and flavor out of it, it will need to heat for about five minutes, with you stirring, this will ensure a good flavor and no chalkiness!! Add in the seitan (it will hold its shape) and a pound of frozen or fresh broccoli, cover to let the broccoli get tender and serve over warm rice!! This is a home run dish, go and make soon:))