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I Can't Believe It's (Mostly) Vegan! - Soyrizo and Cabbage Rolls

Tonight, in front of the fridge, in the throes of reviewing what was left of last week's groceries to make for dinner, I found things were looking pretty bare: a packet of wonton wraps, 2 large heads of cabbage, and some soyrizo. Hmm...not a whole lot to go on.

Imagine my surprise when I ended up with something so tasty it inspired me to start a new category: I Can't Believe It's (Mostly) Vegan! These are those rare treats that you can serve to a meat-fanatic crowd and casually forget to even mention that they're mostly vegan, because chances are good that nobody will notice.

These sound greasy, but were surprisingly light compared to the real thing, since the only fats are vegetable-based. They were definitely a hit, and felt like a super-decadent treat (but still largely vegan - the wrappers do have egg in them, but we still eat eggs around here) of the sort that I feel I rarely get to have any more because restaurants only make this sort of thing out of meat. I served them with a big pile of lettuce as a salad, and used a mix of vegan sour gream and salsa verde as a topping.


Soyrizo and Cabbage Wraps

1 package Soyrizo imitation chorizo
1 head cabbage (I used half purple and half green for color), finely shredded
1/2 t poppyseeds
1 package wonton/egg roll wrappers
24 oz. vegetable oil


Heat 1 T oil in large skillet until shimmering; stir-fry cabbage until just beginning to soften, 3-4 minutes. Place in large bowl and mix with Soyrizo and poppyseeds.

Place 3-4 T of mixture in the middle of each wrapper. To assemble, fold bottom corner up over filling, roll; then fold over corners on either side, and continue rolling to form egg-roll shape. (I used a little egg white to hold the seams shut.)

Deep fry in vegetable oil until golden brown; drain on paper towels. Serve warm with your favorite Mexican condiments.

The Protein Myth

I promise, more recipes are coming. It's been nearly too busy this week to cook anything, much less anything worth sharing. Forgive me, Father, for I have eaten popcorn and canned soup at dinner this week at least once. Each.

I did, however, get to read an informative page at The Veggie Table which has a very straightforward breakdown of some of the myths about protein - namely, that it's difficult for one to obtain complete proteins in a vegan or vegetarian diet. Not only do we not need as much protein as many of us think, but it turns out there's a long list of food combinations that a lot of us already eat by choice that provide perfectly complete proteins. Cool. (Please pass me the tortillas and refried beans!)

I'm bookmarking the page, because I haven't yet memorized these combinations, being that I'm a relatively new 90 Percenter; now that I've gotten to eating low on the food chain again, I know the trick to staying with it will be making sure I'm careful to stay on top of nutritional needs on a daily basis so I never "crave" my old friend meat in the first place.

And indeed, my small, simple can of pea-based soup from tonight wouldn't have given me what I need on its own, but with the slice of wheat bread recommended alongside it, what do you know? I'm totally sated.

90% Notes

A few quick notes on this fine evening about how I plan to develop this site:

- The aim I have in mind is to share recipes for others who may love meat, but who don't love being meat eaters...or who are just trying to eat meat a little less. I may share information about the health benefits of a vegan or vegetarian diet, but as you might have guessed from the title of this blog, I'm not 100% vegan and I don't aim to be.

There are definitely times that I will eat animal proteins, even some occasional meat. I have tried, and I found it very hard to keep a 100% vegan/vegetarian diet; I always ended up abandoning it because I thought I was a terrible vegetarian whenever I craved the foods I had been raised with...and inevitably fell off the wagon.

But when I stopped looking at the "low on the food chain" diet as an abstinent, all-or-nothing proposition, something happened. After that, I gave myself permission to just be a better consumer of food, if not precisely a perfect one. I wanted to reconcile the meat-lover in me with the parts of my heart, instincts, and intellect that tell me quite clearly that meat is not a sustainable choice, not in the Western diet's current level of consumption, so I started out vegan and worked my way to where I felt my mind, body, and soul were in alignment.

I've discovered that a good balance for me was eating just a little animal protein as a small portion of a healthy and flavorful diet based mostly on vegetables and grains. I still eat eggs, because I buy from the farmer. And I won't freak out if a dish I'm served has some cheese in it (though mostly cheese just makes me feel awful when I eat it, anyway).

And once every few weeks, I even enjoy the indulgence of a little bit of animal protein in the form of meat. I try to verify the source of the animal if it's possible, though I'm claiming no sainthood in vegan heaven, to be sure. And even though "90% Vegan" is my catchy-ish name for it, the truth is that my diet includes less than 10% of its proteins from animal sources. Now, from what I am able to discern on the 'nets, we Americans eat way more of it than we need to -- and certainly more than is healthy, so when you figure in the resource-hungry, cruel act of factory farming to the mix, you seal the deal for me: I just don't want to eat much meat or cheese.

So yes, I probably still eat lots of trace animal products in my mints (Altoids have gelatin, did you know? If you like Altoids, thank a pig!) and a true vegan might reject my favorite fake cheese (which has some casein in it). But my goal is to reduce my environmental and moral impact as best I can, because as an honest-to-gosh meat lover, I'm not sure I will ever eliminate that impact completely in my lifetime. We'll see, especially as I learn how to cook so well that I forget what meat tastes like, but for now I will never be the role model for the militant vegan lifestyle, and that's okay by me.

I will say that it's rarer and rarer (hey, a steak pun!) that I ever crave anything so high on the food chain as beef now, despite the fact that good beef was always my meat of choice. (I'm not sure I recall the last beef I had, actually. My wedding...?) Anyway, my recipes here will limn toward being as vegan as I know how to make them, but I encourage you to improvise too, to give feedback, and make your own (educated) decisions about what you eat and what cruelty or environmental impact may be underneath your plate.

Some other thoughts...


- I'm making the commitment to fewer updates in favor of better results. I made an almost-completely-awesome vegan Tom Ka Gai soup/noodle hybrid tonight...but the thing is, the results, while incredibly tasty, were not-quite-100%. Before I post it in haste, I want to do another run ( with more chilis and better purple basil, if you must know right away!) here in the test kitchen. This site is just a hobby for now, so before I go sharing any half-arsed recipes, I'm going to make a good attempt to perfect them.

- I am monkeying with the Blogspot layout within an inch of its life (er, rather, my abilities) and I'm still not happy, so I may just have to get some hosting for real. Sorry if the color changes are giving you a headache, and thanks for reading anyway.

- Here is a picture of a celery root. Lest you think that's nonsequitir, I'll tell you that I learned last week from my friend Molly that these things are fantastically tasty, and I aim to explore their mysteries in a future recipe.

Meanwhile, tell me it's not amazing that this homely little buddy could be edible AND tasty, and I'll call you a cynic. It's amazing.
Thanks for reading!

(Recipe) Tofu with Chili Glaze

I like tofu - but only certain ways.

Friends in California, I bet you're nodding with me. Sis-in-law in Utah, I bet you're laughing and thinking, "She thinks I'll get this bunch to eat tofu!" And I wouldn't blame any longtime meat-eaters for rejecting it the first time they tried cooking with it themselves. Tofu can be awful.

Specifically, I cannot abide by slimy crumbs of tofu lolling around my stirfry, looking less like food and more like fallen drywall from the ceiling on my plate. The first hundred or so times I made stirfry with tofu, when I was a young midwestern vegetarian wanna be whose one Chinese restaurant experience didn't include exposure to tofu, I kinda thought that crumbly and sorta bland was just how it was meant to be, and decided I didn't like it - for years.

Since then I've indeed learned that tofu doesn't have to be slimy and crumbly. In fact, in addition to its highly adaptable mild flavor, it turns out it can be chewy and firm and have a "skin" on it that provides the same kind of tooth that meat lovers enjoy on a browned piece of meat. Glory be: tofu doesn't suck!

The trick is to press tofu between paper towels to remove the water content, which helps with its structural integrity in the pan. Browning the tofu in oil (olive works fine, but your final dish happens to be, say, a Thai or Chinese one that would welcome it, peanut oil is also nice) firms it further, and a chili or honeyed glaze seals the deal - the tofu is now firm and toothsome, and holds up to the other ingredients in a stirfry. You can also keep the tofu in slices (below I've cubed it) and cook it in slabs to serve like a tofu steak, but for beginning tofu-eaters, that can be intimidating -- a larger slab-o-tofu's center can still be a little too, well, too much like tofu for some. These smaller cubes add the protein and the tooth but also cook through enough that the slime factor is nil.

I've been playing with this tofu thing this week and monkeying with different sauces, so I'd love to hear your favorites. This Chili glaze, last night's experiment, gave a spicy but nuanced kick to its vegetable friends in the pan.

CHILI GLAZED TOFU

2 t oil
1 package Extra Firm tofu, sliced 1/2" thin

sauce:
4 T vegetable broth or water
1 T cider, balsamic, or rice vinegar (I've experimented with all of these, and always like the result)
2 T honey or syrup
2 T ground fresh chili paste (future post: I'll share a recipe for making your own)
pinch salt

Press the tofu between paper towels for 10 minutes.

Stir all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

Cut tofu into 1/2" cubes.

Heat 2 t oil in wok or fry pan until shimmering. Cook tofu until golden brown on bottom, about 6 minutes; turn gently once, and brown next side. Turn again gently to brown each side (this is why you cut the cubes larger, but I really don't worry about being patient enough to cook every single piece on every single side - they stay firm so long as you turn them three times, I've found). Don't turn more than necessary - pieces crumble easily until they're browned.

Turn heat down and slip your sauce ingredients into the pan. Stir gently to coat and let cook until sauce firms to glaze (your tofu will be covered with the sticky, syrupy sauce). Remove from pan and reserve; make your desired stir fry or other dish, and toss tofu in at the end.

Niman Ranch and the high cost of meat

When I was a full time meat eater, I was a big fan of Niman Ranch meats. They promised "unsurpassed animal care" and animals raised on the largest network of sustainable U.S. family farms and ranches. Their animals are never given antibiotics or hormones, and are vegetarian-fed. And the meat they raise is, in fact, delicious.

So it's a bummer to learn that Niman Ranch will soon merge with Chicago Natural Food Holdings LLC, its main investor, because the company "never turned a profit." I've remained a proponent of sustainably farmed meat for those that feel they can't do without a good steak (or heaven forfend, bacon) once in a while - but always agreed with Michael Pollan that maybe meat isn't supposed to be as cheap as factory farming makes it, and would pay a little more for the reassurances that are offered by the ranchers in a small independent collective like Niman.

I don't know how other so-called sustainable meat companies are doing, nor do I know the businesspeople behind the company -- but one would think that Niman, which has long been the label of choice at every eco/health-conscious Bay Area market and restaurant I ever visit, ought to have been able to make it work as an independent company.

Or maybe it's just that that the cost of mass-produced meat is too high, period.

Vegan Winter Vegetable Soup

(RECIPE) Vegan Winter Vegetable Soup

1 T Earth Balance
1 pack "Good Deli by Yves" imitation Canadian bacon, cubed

4 T (1/2 stick) Earth Balance
1 c onion, finely diced
2 c leeks, finely diced
1 c carrots, finely diced
1 1/2 t dried tarragon (if using fresh, double amount - for soups, dried herbs can work fine, as long as your bottle isn't terribly old)
1 t dried thyme (ditto)

6 c vegetable stock
2 c potatoes, finely diced
1 c spinach, cut into 1/8" ribbons
salt (to taste - i use about 1/8-/4 t for a large batch - potato absorbs salty taste, so if you're cutting sodium, try a season-all blend instead)
pepper (to taste)

1/2 c Silk brand soy creamer (make sure you don't get Vanilla by accident!)

melt 1 T Earth Balance (EB) in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add Canadian Bacon and cook until it begins to brown (it burns pretty easily, so only cook for about 5 minutes, less than you would real bacon). Remove "bacon" with slotted spoon and reserve it, leaving bacon-flavored buttery bits behind.

Add the 4 T EB to the pan and bacon "drippings"; melt on medium heat and add onions and leeks. Saute for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until your kitchen smells like savory heaven and onions are translucent. Stir, add carrots and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add vegetable stock and potatoes; bring to a simmer for 15-20 minutes until potatoes are mostly cooked, but not soggy. Add spinach and spices; stir in.

One cup at a time, process HALF the soup in your blender and add back to the rest in the pan. (This gives it an awesome half-creamy, half-chunky texture.) Add back the Canadian bacon bites, and the salt, pepper, and creamer. Simmer for 4-5 more minutes, but never let it boil. Serve with warm crusty wheat bread.

Alternatives: replace spices with any you'd use with mashed potatoes: dill, rosemary, parsley, paprika.