Creamy Creole Pasta with Crispy Seitan & Broccoli [[Revisited]]

I posted this recipe about 9 months ago. It's easily my favorite thing to make. And since posting it, I've really updated this recipe a lot. And my camera. So here is my creamy creole pasta, again. With some prettier pictures and new twists...

Veganism can't do a lot of things well in way of replication. Vegan cheese by most standards, sucks in high quantities-- macaroni and cheese will be a life long battle for some. Tofu scramble is awesome, but really doesn't shine a light on actual scrambled eggs. You'll never get a fried egg again.

At the end of the day, though, we're a bunch of freaking wankers. We chose to not eat dairy and meat [[and honey for most of us]]-- we signed up knowing our food will never taste the same.

But as vegans, your taste buds adapt. Some days I crave nutritional yeast cheese. I love the chewy, delicious texture of a fake chicken patty. And tofu scramble speaks the words of my heart.

Last night I made a creamy creole pasta. It's been a while since I had a dairy cream pasta, but to me this was reminiscent of those delicious, creamy pastas I once enjoyed. And while dairy products seem most difficult to replicate, I think this does an amazing job of it.


[[Creole Cream Pasta with Crispy Seitan & Broccoli]]
This made a butt load. Like two large dinner plates, plus two decent sized lunch plates. And the more I work with chickpea flour to thicken my sauces, the more I believe that white flour is completely unnecessary.

About 2 cups whole wheat rotini
-- Cooked per packed instructions
-- I like to cook the pasta, then set it in a strainer in the sink and use the same pot for the cream sauce. Then add the pasta back to the pan and stir so it warms up again.

1 cup seitan, cubed
oil
creole seasoning
-- Dust the seitan with the seasoning and brown in a pan with some oil.

1 cup chopped shittake mushrooms
1/2 red onion chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 cup spinach
2 roma tomatoes chopped
olive oil
-- Lightly sauteed in olive oil until soft. Add mushrooms, onions and tomatoes first. Then add spinach for last 30 seconds.

3 heads of broccoli, chopped
a drizzle of olive oil
-- Baked broccoli at 450 F in a glass dish for 15 minutes until tender and crispy.

Cream Sauce Ingredients:
2 tbs earth balance
4 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
4 tbs brown rice flour
1 1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 1/2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tbs creole seasoning [[tony chachere]], if you make your own creole seasoning be sure to add salt and pepper!
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cream Sauce Instructions:
-- Melt earth balance in a medium sized sauce pan on medium heat. Add garlic and seasoning. Cook for two minutes allowing the seasoning to brown a little and the garlic to become fragrant but not burnt.
-- Then add brown rice flour*. Whisk it quickly until you have a roux, like a thick goop. Let it bubble for 30 seconds or so.
-- Add the white whine. Whisk for a while on medium heat until it's thickened up again [[like a cream sauce, not like the goop you had before]]. Let this bubble too to remove some of the alcohol flavor.
-- Then add the milk and whisk again, allowing it to thicken like a velvety cream sauce.
-- Once thickened again, add your nutritional yeast and continue to whisk until fully combined.
-- Add the grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach to the pan along with the noodles and stir to fully saturate the noodles.



*If you don't have brown rice flour, that's fine, you can use chickpea flour, corn starch, or any thickener like flour. Brown rice flour is found at whole foods, kroger, anywhere really.

Tofu with Warm Cactus Relish

So, I dropped the ball and missed the last day of the Vegan Month of Food. But I did a lot better than I expected and posted nearly every day. I was having some camera difficulties and instead of just posting some recipe with no picture, I decided to wait. Yesterday I was at the dentist getting hacked and filled so I wasn't really in the mood to post. BUT, I'm back and hopefully I can keep up the momentum of before.

I bought a jar of cactus yesterday on a whim. I've had it before, never worked with it, but have always liked it. It seems to be in mostly Mexican dishes with eggs and I suppose it would pair nicely with a tofu scramble, but I didn't do that. I decided to pair it with a cornmeal crusted tofu and a creole sauce [[I used no-chicken broth instead of wine and halved the recipe for this]]. It's a little Southern-Cajun-Mexican fusion. And it's amazing. The cactus is a bit slimy at first, which is off-putting to me, but it picks up flavors nicely and pairs really well with onions and peppers.

[[Warm Cactus Relish]]

1/3 cup jarred cactus, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup red bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup coarsely chopped red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
a dash of cayenne pepper, more to taste
1 tbs olive oil

-- Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, except for the olive oil. Toss to coat.
-- Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Cook mixture in olive oil until the onions and bell pepper are soft.
-- Serve hot on top of seitan, tofu, tempeh, a salad, tofu scramble, etc. Anything!
-- Optional: At the end of cooking, at about 1 tbs chopped green onions.

[[Basic Cornmeal Crusted Tofu]]

1/4 cup chickpea flour or white flour
1/3 cup water

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
a pinch of salt

4-5 1/2 inch slices of tofu, pressed
2 tbs vegetable oil

-- Mix the water and chickpea flour into a thick paste.
-- Mix the spices and cornmeal in another bowl.
-- Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
-- After pressing the tofu, rub the tofu in the wet mixture. You may need to massage it onto all sides of the tofu. Then press firmly in the cornmeal mixture on all sides. Repeat with all slices.
-- When all tofu is breaded, cook each slice on each side for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Place on a paper towel or paper bag to drain.
-- Top with creole sauce and cactus slaw.

Vegan MoFo Day 20: An Old Favorite

Last night we had mounds of dishes to do, and it being Monday, we were a little beat. So instead of bringing new, awesome food-- I'll show an old faithful. The creamy creole pasta. It's basically earth balance or olive oil and any type of thickener [[all purpose flour, chickpea flour, brown rice flour]] mixed in a pan in equal parts. Plus, one cup of soy milk and a half cup of vegetable broth or wine. Then some seasoning and sauteed vegetables. Check out the complete recipe.

We probably eat this creamy creole pasta once a week. I'm not sure how this ended up being our go-to meal, but it did. I guess it's a no-hassle way to get protein, carbs, and vegetables all in one meal, glued together with some creamy spice. And you don't really need a certain assortment of vegetables. I'll use spaghetti squash for pasta, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, varying types of onions, bell pepper, spinach, kale, tofu, seitan, tempeh, fake chicken patties-- you name it, it works.

Anyway, Andrew's birthday is this Sunday and the plan is vegan lazagna and a cheesecake that I will be decorating. I'm pretty excited about it and hope to get some good shots for you all. If you're on twitter, give @andrewwarner2 a birthday shout out. Happy Tuesday.

Vegan Mofo Day 15: Trifecta Tofu with Spaghetti Squash

I wasn't really able to go grocery shopping the other night so I had to do a bit of a pantry raid. I had a spaghetti squash lying around, and with that I made some creamy creole sauce with spinach, onions, and red peppers. I love spaghetti squash. It's really easy to prepare and takes to flavors just as easily as spaghetti, I almost feel stupid for ever using spaghetti.

For a protein, I wanted to do something really different but all I had was a few blocks of tofu. I'm always trying to mix up my tofu breading to find the best one, so I did a trifecta of breading. It's actually mostly because I was out of my whole wheat bread crumbs and had to mix in other stuff. But it turned out really good-- a thick hard crust with a lot of crunch. Unfortunately, the crispiness didn't carry over to lunch the next day.

[[Trifecta Tofu]]

1 block pressed tofu
1/4 cup crushed spicy blue corn chips, you can get these at whole foods
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
a little pepper and onion powder

1/3 cup brown rice flour or chickpea flour
1/3-1/2 cup water

2-3 tbs of vegetable oil

-- Press the tofu.
-- Mix the crushed chips, cornmeal, and bread crumbs with spices. If you can't find the spicy blue corn chips, you can use regular chips and add more seasoning.
-- Whisk together water and flour. It should be a thick paste.
-- Cut tofu into triangles.
-- Heat vegetable oil on medium high.
-- Coat tofu in slurry, then press each side into the trifecta mixture.
-- Cook in heated oil on each side about 2 minutes.
-- Serve over awesome pasta. :)

The Burger

Sorry it took me a minute to post this. I got a little overeager with some spaghetti squash I bought and completely neglected to post this recipe. Have you ever tried spaghetti squash? You should.

There isn't much to say about this burger. I summed it up in my last post [[check it out for pictures]]. I'm a little ashamed of how frantic I became in the final hours. Mostly because I won. But maybe the "franticism" is necessary. Time constraints weigh on the best of us, anyway, so I shouldn't be too ashamed. If you don't believe me, watch the food network. Those people go nuts.

[[Spicy Seitan Burger]]
I really like this burger. It packs some heat, and a lot of flavor. I would recommend dressing it how I did: fried onions and Creole cream sauce. Tomatoes would be great, too.

Base:
2 cups finely chopped seitan
1 can black beans, drained and smashed
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
dash of salt and pepper
Puree:
5 Serrano chilies, chopped and seeded
1 large Chipotle chili in adobo marinade
1/2 tbs adobo marinade from canned chilies
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
1 tbs safflower oil

-- Preheat over to 375 F.
-- Combine all base ingredients in a bowl. Be sure the seitan is finely chopped. If the pieces are too large, the burgers won't hold well. You can leave some whole beans, but try to smash the black beans thoroughly. You may need slightly more whole wheat flour if your mixture seems excessively wet still.
-- Combine all puree ingredients in a blender. Be sure to remove the white part of the Serranos. You can find canned chipotles at Whole Foods.
-- Add the puree ingredients to the base ingredients and combine until they come together. You can test the patties, form some in your hands, and see if they are too wet or dry. If they are too dry you can add more water or oil.
-- Place them on a greased baking sheet and bake them for 30 minutes. Flip them over half way through baking.
-- You can then remove them from the oven and cook them on the stove with a little olive oil. They should be slight solid and easier to handle. If not, leave them in the oven for a little more.
-- Lightly brown each side in an oiled pan, about five minutes each. I wouldn't recommend placing these on a grill as they are slightly fragile.

I'm No Veggie Burger Cook

I can't tell you how many times I cursed this contest, wanted to quit and not show up, thought about punching Andrew in the face for getting me into this. It's one of the most discouraging things when patty after patty crumbles in a pan, won't adhere, or what's worse-- when it works out and tastes like crap.

Vegan burgers have the unique issue of trying to form patties without eggs to hold them together. And from that, I've discovered it's damn near impossible to make a vegan patty without beans. They're the vegan magical clue that binds all. Unless you're a big corporation with isolate soy protein and fancy chemicals. But I'm not.

My first burger was the black bean potato that I posted about a few days ago. I loved that burger, but I think Andrew was right to point out it was too soft. Coincidentally, one of the other contest entries was a Masala Potato Burger, so I'm glad we opted out of this one.


My second burger was suggested by a commenter [[Chris]]-- the vegan dad burger. I've only used this burger as gyro meat, and for whatever reason it failed for me as a burger. They were falling apart, and didn't get that stretchy, meaty texture I enjoy. I topped it like my Gambit hot dog: with creole sauce and fried onions.


Ultimately, I stuck with the gambit hot dog toppings, and made a seitan black bean burger. The road to this burger, however, was paved with many failures.

The night before I had tried making a straight sausage style seitan burger, but my ghetto homemade steamer wasn't getting the job done. I took the ghetto steamer off the stove, and stormed out of the kitchen. I told Andrew I quit and refused to go back for a good 10 minutes. It was about 11 at night, and I wasn't really in the mood for sudden apparatus failures.

I eventually came back, finished cooking the "sausage" seitan, instead boiling it in water like regular seitan. All the flavor and peppers were drained from the it while cooking and it wound up tasting like regular seitan when it was all done. At that point, I was really getting frustrated.

I didn't know what to do. All I had was a can of black beans. For some reason, I didn't want to do a black bean burger. I wanted to do something different. Alas, I chopped up all the seitan into tiny pieces, mashed up some black beans, and pureed a chili paste, pattied them, and baked them.

When they were done, my first two burgers just fell apart in the pan. I was about done with this contest, and began to satisfy myself with the idea that I was just not going to bring a burger. But I couldn't do it . . .

So, in the end, I made second batch, had Andrew help [[because he's awesome]] and he chopped up the seitan super tiny this time, and voila. I could only make 5 burgers, because I was out of ingredients, but they adhered and tasted great.

The contest itself was awesome. I won. I beat what I consider to be three very formidable opponents -- a masala potato, a meatless griller, and an artichoke burger. Check out the Cincinnati Beacon for more on the contest. Thanks again for all your help. The black bean/spicy combo conquered all.


[[I'll post the burger reciple tomorrow, too]]

Burger Test Kitchen 1: Cajun Potato Black Bean Burger

Thanks for your advice yesterday, everyone. With your suggestions, I decided to do a little twist on the black bean burger. I shredded some potato and added some cajun flavor. I really liked the flavor, but since I don't know what I'm up against, I'm going to keep working so I have several burgers to choose from.

This burger wasn't very spicy at all, in spite of my efforts. The potato gave it some fluffiness like a potato cake which I liked. It tasted more like a black bean burger though. The first burger I tried to cook, I just pattied and cooked in a pan. It worked well, but it was soft in the center, so the next patty I decided to bake it for about 1/2 hour and then cooked it in a pan to give it some crispiness. These would be really good on a grill, too.

It's not winning any beauty contests, but it's pretty good for my first time pattying.

I'm getting sort of burned out on burgers already. After having them for dinner and lunch. Thanks to some great suggestions, I think I know what I'm doing tonight. I want to dress up the burger a bit, too. The patty is a big part of taste, but toppings go a long way too. I'm not sure if this is a pure patty challenge or not. If I can work some topping though, I think I'll do alright.

[[Cajun Potato Black Bean Burger]]

2 medium sized red potatoes, grated
1 can of black beans, cooked, drained
1/4 cup zucchini and carrot, grated
1/2 cup red onion, grated (about 1/2 of a small onion)
1/4 cup finely chopped baby bello mushrooms (about 4-5 mushrooms)
1/4 cup frozen corn
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tbs cajun seasoning
1 tsp cajun hot sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs tomato paste
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbs yellow corn meal

1 tbs freshly chopped cilantro
a dash of chili powder

-- Pre-heat your oven to 375 F.
-- Cook and smash the black beans. You can leave some whole black beans, but you want to get a little black bean paste.
-- Add the first set of ingredients to the bowl. You can grate the vegetables using a cheese grater. Mix until fully combined.
-- Divide burgers into 5 patties. Using the palm of your hand, scoop some of the black bean mixture into your hand and work into a flat disc. It will be fairy wet and difficult to mold. Place your formed disc onto a GREASED cookie sheet. Bake on one side about 15 minutes. Flip over and bake the other side for another 15 minutes.
-- When you are done, they should be fairy firm but still soft. You can now grill them or cook them on the stove top to give them a crispy, greasy exterior.
-- They freeze well, too. [[We had them for lunch today!]]

I Know Weiners Better Than Dirty Frank....

... well, vegan dogs at least. I wanted to create some hot dogs that you will probably never find as a vegan, or a meat eater. I hate the cheeky naming of food, but it seems to be hot dog culture so, I give you "The Reubenio" and "The Gambit". "The Reubenio" is a Mexican-styled, Reuben fusion dog topped with a Mexican thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, chopped red onion, and avocado slices. "The Gambit" is a southern, creole dog with cornmeal crusted onions fried in vegetable oil with a creole cream sauce.

I hate soggy, crappy buns so I got some fluffy, thick whole wheat buns and toasted them slightly. We also bought some chipotle dogs from Whole Foods. They aren't rubbery at all like other vegan dogs. They were hardy and when cooked right, get a delicious crispiness on the outside.

There's nothing like some fried onions and a spicy, creamy sauce. It just feels so southern. For the onion rings, I battered and fried the onions just like my fried green tomatoes. The creamy sauce was just the sauce from my creole pasta.

Please excuse how phallic this dog looks. I tried my best to photograph it in the best possible way possible. This also has a bit of a kick-- it's like a crunchy hot dog burrito sandwich of doom. For the Mexican thousand island, I mixed up 1 tbs. vegenaise and ketchup, a squirt of lemon, about 6 pickled jalapenos chopped, a dash of cholula seasoning, and 1 clove garlic. I topped it with sauerkraut, chopped red onions, and avocado slices.

Alfredo Pizza and Garlic Bread Sticks

I remember when all the pizza places started coming out with crazy pizza toppings. Specifically, Round Table came out with this "white sauce" chicken pizza that sounded god awful to me. I was a plain sauce and cheese kinda girl, and the thought of combining two perfectly good dishes together -- chicken alfredo and pizza -- seemed so stupid. Anyway, the point being -- I tried it and loved it, and it quickly became my favorite kind of pizza. Nothing beat a "white sauce" chicken pizza with some garlic bread sticks. Plus a pepsi of course.

But alas, I no longer enjoy the fruits of suffering, and pepsi is my vice. So these days I enjoy a vegan alfredo sauce pizza topped with creole seitan. Plus water of course.

For the pizza I used my standard whole wheat crust recipe, topped it with my alfredo sauce and creole seitan recipe, with one crown of broccoli finely chopped, 1/4 white onions chopped, and a handful of chopped baby bellas sauteed lightly in oil seasoned with a little chili powder, and finally some chopped scallions, chopped tomatoes and shredded Follow Your Heart mozzarella.


Garlic bread sticks are fun. You just get to play with the dough, twist them up, grease, and season-- no need to worry about tossing and stretching and all that. For these, again, I used the other half of my whole pizza dough recipe plus the standard tomato sauce recipe. I stretched out the dough into 6 5 inch strips, and grease the tops with olive oil. I spread some minced garlic on top. Then I twisted them so the oil was tucked inside and the garlic was all embedded in the dough. Then I greased the tops and seasoned with garlic powder and onion powder plus some oregano. Baked these guys at 500F like the pizza for about 8 minutes.

This dinner was originally going to break our fast on Thursday, however, it's important to wean yourself back onto proteins and solid foods. Instead we ate smoothies for a couple meals and made this on Friday night. This pizza was out of this world. I know I probably don't have to tell you what to put on your pizza, but this is one of those things that was so good, you should try it.

Burrito Night Con Seitan

I'm officially obsessed with this creole seitan. It can do not wrong in my mind. Last night, I made some chipotle couscous, creamy guacamole, and creole seitan to make an amazingly delicious burrito.

Some of the best parts of the Mexican cuisine [[and Cali-Mex]] is the use of cilantro and aromatic spices like chili powders. I love getting a mouth full of mild spice on a crispy piece of seitan covered in a creamy, cilantro-heavy guacamole. And there's nothing better than the smokey, hardy flavor of a chipotle. I think people too often rely on fatty things to carry flavor, like cheeses and creams, when you can get a great depth of flavor using the right spices and herbs in the correct moderation.

[[Creamy Guacamole]]
I usually keep mine chunky and very avocado-y, but for this burrito I want it to be a runnier, creamier topping. It worked out nicely.

1 very ripe avocado
1 bunch cilantro, chopped, about 1 tbs packed [[see above photo]]
1 squirt of lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
a dash of chili powder
a dash of crushed red pepper
1 tbs tofutti sour cream

-- Blend all ingredients until smooth


[[Chipotle Couscous]]
That picture is about 2 cups couscous [[too much!]], this recipe will serve about 3 people.

1 cup dry couscous [[check the instructions on bag]]
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbs chipotle sauce from canned chipotle in adobe sauce,
plus one seeded, chopped chipotle pepper

-- Heat vegetable broth to a simmer, add couscous and cook until liquids fully absorbed. About 7 minutes.
-- Remove from heat and add the garlic and chipotle/sauce. Mix well.

[[Burrito]]

guacamole
raw spinach
chopped red onion
creole seitan
chipotle couscous
whole wheat or whole grain or Ezekiel tortilla [[Andrew likes the Ezekiel's]]

--Pack together and enjoy.

Fettuccine Alfredo with Creole Seitan

When I was little, my younger sister and I would make boxed pasta-roni fettuccine alfredo a lot. My sister would always want me to put on a fake cooking show, and pretend I was making some amazing, extravagant plate of food -- when really it was water, noodles, and a seasoning packet. I think she just really liked the stupid, fake Italian accent I would do. I'd add random stuff from our cupboard to it, and it would turn into the strangest concoction that we ate anyway. The point being, I never felt more like a chef [[in my own mind]] as when I was making boxed pasta-roni for my little sister. I don't think any one will watch me cook with that much enthusiasm again.

Last night, trying to create a vegan alfredo sauce, that same "random" feeling came over me. What's the best way to replace a white cheese? I found myself pulling out anything I could find in my cupboard [[complete with random, fake Italian accent in my mind... I'm truly a nerd]]. And what I came up with, I found to be pretty darn close to the alfredo sauce I ate as a kid [[minus my childhood spice combo]]. I don't know how authentic you could call pasta-roni, but I imagine it falls a little short of the real thing. Andrew, who doesn't really understand my love of boxed things, enjoyed it thoroughly as well.

This pasta dish really knocked my socks off, though. The crunchy, creole seitan was a well seasoned substitution for chicken. I think I like it better. I can't really describe the alfredo beyond -- alfredo-y. It's herbaceous and creamy, exactly what you'd want from an alfredo sauce.


[[Alfredo Sauce]]

I'm sick of stupid names for vegan food. Like really. No more "nooch" or "nom nom" or "bad *ss b*tch alfredo sauce". We're vegan, not angst-y babies. Let's use big people words. This is an alfredo sauce.

This is the sauce, pre-thickening time. It will be very thin. If this is your first time making an alfredo, just be patient. It's not ruined.

1 heaping tbs earth balance buttery spread
3 cloves garlic
2 heaping tbs chickpea flour
1 1/2 cups whole plain soy milk
1/2 cup white cooking wine
a coupe dashes of thyme, oregano, and onion powder
a small pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 heaping tbs sour cream
a squirt of lemon

-- Melt butter and cook garlic about 30 seconds on medium heat. Then, add chickpea flour and whisk until a thick paste forms.
-- Add milk and wine, and whisk constantly. Let sit for a minute and allow to thicken. Whisk some more. Let sit again. About 10 minutes.
-- When thickened, remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk together thoroughly. Keep on low burner until ready to serve.

[[Creole Seitan]]

creole seasoning, Tony Chachere for instance
chili powder
seitan
2 tbs olive oil

-- Chop up seitan into tiny, bite sized pieces. Lightly season with creole and chili powder. Enough to get them lightly seasoned.
-- Heat on medium heat, 2 tbs olive oil. Add seitan and cook until cripy and browned.

You can see that a couple are starting to get a cripy brown coat, I cooked these anouther 5-10 minuntes after this picture was taken.

Creole Kitchen: Maque Choux

I've been on a huge Creole kick lately. Maybe I just need something exciting and new in the kitchen. Maybe the bold flavors entice me. Maybe it's just really f*cking good. I don't know.

Last night I make maque choux [[pronounced "mock shoe"]]-- a traditional creole side dish. It's pretty much just a barrage of vegetables simmered in some fat and seasoned nicely. I like it a lot. I'm not sure what it means in English. I know choux means cabbage, but this is hardly cabbage. That's about all I know.

I didn't get fancy with our main dish. Just a grilled "chicken" patty topped with bacon and vegenaise. The side dish definitely stole the show. It's colorful, flavorful, and really freaking easy. So make it!


[[Maque Choux]]
Traditionally you use bacon fat or butter to simmer, and add bacon or tasso. Since we don't eat that, I went the olive oil/earth balance route and got some fake bacon in the mix. This makes four servings.

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 heaping tsp vegan butter
4 strips fake bacon, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, julienned
2 celery sticks, julienned
1 cup frozen corn
1 tbs garlic, minced
1 14 1/2 oz can chopped tomatoes, drainer
a few shakes of chalula hot sauce
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
a few dashes of salt and pepper
Top with green onions

-- heat oil and butter in a large skillet.
-- add chopped fake bacon and cook until crispy.
-- add chopped onions, celery, bell pepper, and corn. simmer about 10 minutes or until soft stirring often with a wooden spoon.
-- add tomatoes and garlic, stir.
-- add hot sauce and seasoning, heat about 5 minutes.
-- remove from heat, add chopped green onions, and serve.

Vegan Creole Night

I haven't posted anything good in sooo long. I finally got the chance to cook on this vacation and it was awesome. My mom and sister hate most vegan stuff, and they kept stealing bites. I've never tried the Morningstar vegan chick'n strips before, but they were great-- and surprisingly chicken-like.

I wanted to make something creole, which I haven't really done before. So, I did some research on the net and ran to Nugget. We bought some amazing creole seasoning. You can apparently create your own, but my spice cabinet is currently limited while I'm at my mom's house. I was still really happy with the end result.

I loved this dish because it was a nice way to vary our diet in the regiment. Using brown rice in this recipe did not make it taste healthy at all. The flavors are so bold and delicious, you won't even notice. You could sub in white rice if you wanted, but I'd recommend keeping it brown.



[[Vegan Chicken Jambalaya]]
It's spicy and one of the fastest meals I've ever made-- surprisingly. Minute rice rules.

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 celery sticks, chopped
  
• 2 cups dry brown long grain minute rice, cooked
• 4-5 tsp. Tony Chcahere's original creole seasoning, or any one you like
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or more for heat
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  
• 1 cup vegetable broth
  
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 package of Morningstar vegan Chick'n Strips

1. Heat oil and cook the chopped onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic until onions are soft. Don't let it get too dry, add more oil if necessary.
2. Add the creole and cayenne. Cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the broth, cooked minute rice, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Stir. After microwaving the chick'n strips for two minutes, add to mixture.
   
4. Once thickened remove the bay leaf. Add some hot sauce of your choosing and enjoy.