walnut burgers

one of my road trip vacation stops last year was at beans & barley in milwaukee, wi. there was a really delicious walnut burger on the menu, and our server kindly explained that it was inspired by a little hotel in trempeleau, wi. the next night, on our way to minneapolis, we decided to stop in trempeleau. it was the quaintest little hotel - no tv, no phones, shared bathrooms etc. it was almost like a bed and breakfast (without the breakfast). it was the coolest little place to stay, and home of the apparently famous walnut burger. although their version isn't vegan, i came home with the express intent to re-make it vegan friendly.

the finely ground walnuts replace bread crumbs in this recipe and give it a serious flavour boost.

• 2 cups cooked short grain brown rice
• 1¼ cup finely ground walnuts
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1½ tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

it's important that you use short grain brown rice in this recipe as it provides a much stickier texture than long grain rice. make sure it's cooled down to room temperature. combine all ingredients except for walnuts and rice into a medium mixing bowl. mix into a dry crumbly paste and incorporate the rice. the rice and paste should combine to be a pretty thick and sticky mash. last, fold in the ground walnuts.

you should be able to create about 5 1/2-inch patties.  these don't really firm up like a standard veggie burger, but the flavor is phenomenal.  just be gentle when cooking them and you shouldn't have any problems.

fry: grill in a non-stick skillet with about 1 tablespoon oil for about 10 minuets on each side.
bake: on a greased cookie sheet, bake at 375°f for 15 minutes on each side.  i've also baked them in an oil-rubbed cast iron grill pan.
grill: heat grill to medium and use a non-stick olive oil spray to prevent sticking. grill for 10-12 minutes on each side.

vegan mofo: cheeseburger casserole

it's amazing what sounds good after a LOT of beer.


status: drunk food.

why i'm including it: i have no idea what spawned this idea, but i think it was another fourth meal concoction.  we whipped up some sort of red bean burger crumbles, topped with some nooch sauce, french fries and bacon bits on a big hoagie bun. 


would i make it again:  my arteries hurt just remembering it. 

spicy adobo vegan burgers

i thought i made the ultimate spicy burgers back with these puppies.  but the second i was in the store and spotted the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, i knew i had met my match.  we've only grilled them up a few times, but if you are looking for some serious heat, bookmark the recipe below. i found the can of peppers in the regular market, but i've also seen it in ethnic grocers as well.  these burgers are spicy - no lie - so be sure to use lots of condiments to help temper the heat.  and if you are heat lover like me, i promise you'll appreciate the extra kick (and yes, i did add extra jalapenos).  happy independence day!

• 1 cup cooked millet
• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1 can black beans (2 cups)
• 3/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/3 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 can (3.5oz) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 tablespoons ground flax
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs

simmer 1/3 cup dry millet in about 1 cup of water for about 25 minutes (stirring occasionally and adding water as needed).  after the millet is done, put it in the fridge to let it cool for at least an hour. it really enhances the stickiness of the grain. if i plan ahead, i usually cook it the day before i make these burgers and just leave it in the fridge overnight.

once millet has cooled, combine all ingredients in the food processor.  check your peppers for stems first, and be sure to add about half of the adobo sauce as well.  if your millet is still slightly warm, you may have to add a little more flax or bread crumbs.  after pulsing for 10-15 second, use the mixture to make about 6 normal sized burger patties. then prepare your favourite way - i like grilling mine for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat so the outsides get all crispy. yum!  be sure and spay or rub a little oil on the grill first to prevent them from sticking.

lentil and tempeh stroganoff

stroganoff is one of those dishes i never had growing up... so my recipe mimics what i *think* it should taste like. luckily, i had a another tester who agreed that it was pretty similar to the traditional one. i've been on a major tempeh kick lately. i don't purchase it that often since it can become a costly ingredient, but i recently made my own homemade batch and have been swooning over some new recipe ideas.

• 8 oz. tempeh
• 1¼ veggie broth
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1¼ tablespoon lemon juice, divided
• 1½ cups cooked green lentils
• 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 6 oz. silken tofu
• 2+ tablespoons reserved marinade

first break tempeh into smaller strips or cubes and steam for 12 minutes. mix vegetable broth, garlic and onion powders, paprika, black pepper and 3/4 tablespoons lemon juice in a flat bottom bowl or dish. marinate the steamed tempeh for several hours (at least 2).

after tempeh has marinated, drain and reserve liquid. in the magic bullet or food processor, combine tofu, apple cider vinegar, the rest of lemon juice and two tablespoons of reserved marinade. pulse until tofu mixture is thick and creamy... if needed, add a little more marinade by the teaspoon.

heat olive oil in skillet on medium and add cooked lentils. sauté until they start to brown and get a little crunchy, much like a lentil hash. after crunchy bits have formed, add in rest of the marinade broth (at least 1 cup) and simmer on low for 2-3 minutes. do not let all the liquid evaporate. finally, kick heat up just a notch and add in the creamy tofu mixture. cook for approximately 2-3 minutes, until it's a nice stroganoff consistency (like a thick gravy).

server over flat pasta noodles, or brown rice.

frito pie

so it's not the healthiest dish in the book, but when i made soyrizo breakfast burritos i was reminded of this childhood dish. frito pie: a simple culinary concept the likes of which make every child to college student coo with delight. is it just me, or does it seem like after our early twenties this dish disappears from our conscious? maybe because it's full of processed foods, but i say that even the healthiest of adults has to indulge their inner child every once in a while. go buy a bag of fritos, and you too could be enjoying the satisfying crunch of corn chips, loaded with nice warm chili beans, and topped with cool vegan sour cream.

• 1 bag original fritos
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 soyrizo link
  
• 1 can (15 oz.) fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 can (11 oz.) southwest style corn
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin powder
• vegan sour cream

to make your soyrizo chili, crumble your soyrizo and place a large nonstick skilled on medium heat. drain the chili beans and add to the skillet along with the garlic, cumin, and onion powder. use a spatula to sauté for approximately 2-3 minutes. drain corn completely and slightly drain fire roasted tomatoes and pour both into skillet. (to slightly drain the tomatoes, open the can but keep the lid on. turn over in the sink one time, but don't compress the lid to force liquid out.) continue simmering chili mixture for approximately for about 5 minutes, or until liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated.

sometimes i buy tofutti vegan sour cream, but i found this recipe for tofu sour cream on vegweb.com. with a couple extra dashes of lemon juice, it really makes a nice cheap substitute for mexican dishes.

even though my pictures shows a plate, take my word for it - use a bowl. place a nice thick layer of fritos (original and bbq are vegan) on the bottom and spoon several scoops of the chili mixture on top. top with a few dollops of sour cream and chow down on some yummy nostalgia.

roasted garlic mashed potatoes

recently i was making the delicious chickpea cutlets from veganomicon for a little down home dinner. i was trying to come up with good comfy side, and i thought mashed potatoes sounded super comforting. to make them a little more sexy, i decided to add in some roasted garlic. if you have never had the pleasure of roasting your own garlic (and then eating it), you are missing out on something dreamy.

• 8 baby red potatoes
• 1 bulb roasted garlic (see below)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for garlic roasting)
  
• 1/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
• 3 tablespoons vegan margarine
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• gravy (optional)

first you will need to roast the garlic. peel off the outer layer of papery skin and then cut approximately 1/4 inch off the top. you should be able to see the exposed cloves all packed neatly in the bulb. place on a 6'x6' piece of foil, and pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the exposed cloves. using your fingers, massage the oil into the crevices and on the outside. wrap the foil up around the garlic into a closed pouch and put on a baking sheet. bake at 400°f for approximately 35 minutes. once cooked, the individual cloves will slide out of the remaining skin. wait for it to cool a bit before you remove the cloves. :)

while the garlic is baking, chop and boil the potatoes for 20 minutes. drain, and combine all ingredients including the garlic cloves (skins removed). using a potato masher, mash them until they are chunky and no whole cloves of garlic remain. if you don't like your mashed pots chunky, you could add in a little more soy milk and margarine and whip them until they are creamy.

if you want to top with gravy, try jessy and dan's white bean gravy. i kid you not, this is my go-to gravy going forward. it is so tasty and has a nice little bite from the miso. the only thing i did different was to mash the white beans up a little before adding them. this would also rock with some vegan mock meatloaf.

chipotle tabasco thick burgers

as i have blogged about before, i am a huge heat-freak. i love spicy food and usually have at least three or four different kinds of hot sauces around. recently, tabasco has come out with a couple new sauces, and i'm totally addicted to the chipotle one. it's not as spicy as the original, but it lends fantastic flavour to these veggie burgers. also, be sure and use short grain brown rice, as it is much stickier - i'm not sure how well these would hold up with the regular long-grain.

• 1 can black beans (15oz)
• 2 tablespoons hickory bbq sauce
• 3 tablespoons chipotle tabasco sauce
• 3/4 tablespoon vegan hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons beets, minced
• 2 teaspoons beet juice
• 1 tablespoon jalapenos, minced
• 1/3 cup oat bran or ground flax
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups cooked short grain brown rice
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

in a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cups uncooked brown rice and 1¾ cups water to a boil. stir once, cover, and turn the heat to low. simmer for approximately 35-40 minuets, keeping an eye on the water level. when finished, pull the rice off the stove and uncover. *note: this will make just a little over 2 cups. i actually measure out 2 cups for the recipe, but you could add it all in, with maybe a dash more liquid.

while rice is cooling, drain black beans and put in a large mixing bowl. mash the beans with a fork or potato masher - they should be mashed well enough to stick together. add rest of ingredients except the rice and wheat gluten. mix thoroughly, and then add the rice and wheat gluten. mix once or twice more, just enough so it's incorporated.

spray a 8x11 casserole dish with non-stick spay. using the mixture, form individual patties and place in dish. the mixture will be wet and may seem like it won't stick together well. if you can't get patties formed, you may need to add some more bread crumbs. try to keep the mixture fairly moist for cooking though.


preferably, place the patties in the refrigerator to set up. you can baste them with bbq sauce or more tabasco if you'd like. it's best to let them chill for at least a half an hour before you bake or grill these.

to grill: if patties are chilled (preferable), first bake patties in casserole dish at 350°f for 10 minutes. then grill on top rack of grill for 15 minutes on medium grill heat. if patties are at room temperature, you can move straight to grilling.

to bake: place casserole dish in the oven and bake at 400°f for 35 minutes, flipping once.

grilled pizza

this was a fun foodie experiment that turned out awesome! i had heard of grilled pizza sometime in the past year, and was determined to make it this summer. i was not disappointed. nice crispy pizza with a wonderful grill flavour - you can't beat it! the timing on the grill is the most difficult part, and i've typed up detailed instructions below.

• 1 batch of pizza dough
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• yellow squash
• zucchini
• green bell peppers
• red bell peppers
• marinated artichoke hearts
• mushrooms
• black olives
• banana peppers
• vegan cheese (optional)

for the pizza sauce (makes two):

• 2 small cans tomato paste
• 1/3 cup water
• onion powder
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• pinch of salt

make your sauce and dough first. the sauce is super easy and thick. for the dough... well, i'm not going to lie. i used a package mix, which is usually not my style. however, my kitchen was torn up because i'm getting new counter tops and a new sink, so there wasn't any working room and everything was covered in dust.

while your dough is resting, prep your toppings by chopping them into pizza-sized bits. put them in a vegetable grill tray and cook over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes. if you don't have a grill pan, you can create a pouch out of foil and cook them in there, but they won't have as much of the "grilled" flavour.

when your toppings are done cooking, roll out your dough into a circle or square, about 9 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick. if your tough gets too thin, it will tear on the grill. put some flour on a plate and lay your dough on top. coat the top with a thin layer of olive oil - about one tablespoons worth. keep your grill on medium high heat and spray with olive oil or another nonstick spray. in one quick motion, flip your plate over so the crust lands oil-side down. while it's cooking, coat the top side with the other tablespoon of olive oil. check the bottom often for burning and flip as needed. you will likely only need to cook the crust for 1-1½ minutes on either side.


once crust has cooked, remove from grill. spread sauce, toppings and whatever cheese substitute you are using. i opted to forgo the cheese during this test run since i typically have a hard time getting it to melt. once pizzas have been assembled, carefully place them back on the grill on low heat this time. to really accentuate the grill flavor (and melt any cheese you are using), close the lid. continue to cook on low until they start to brown a little on the outside of the crust, approximately 4-5 minutes.

it may seem a little complicated for pizza, but the flavour is so worth it.

vegan explosion: the diablo dog

as a child, i always had an aversion to the taste of hot dogs. and a kids in the hall skit confirmed my distaste when they claimed that hot dogs were composed of yucky animal parts, mixed with old phone books and wieeeeener flavour. (i still firmly believe this is the original recipe for hot dogs). and truth be told, i've never liked the vegan hot dogs all that much either. then behold, the diablo dog. ms. jewbacca and ms. crunk both had me intrigued, then salivating, and then running to the store. i snatched up the jumbo dogs and some seriously awesome vegan hoagie buns. i kid you not, this is a little (er, huge) piece of sinful heaven.


my diablo dog consisted of:

• huge hoagie buns
• jumbo vegan hot dogs
• jalapenos
• chopped tomatoes
• regular mustard
  
• hot scottish mustard
• chopped pickles
• chopped green peppers
• vegan queso
• chili beans
• hot sauce
• ketchup
• sauerkraut
  

first get your prep out of the way, because when those dogs are done, you aren't going to want to be cutting tomatoes and pickles.

split the hot dogs down the center and pop them on the grill (about medium heat). then split the hoagies and grill them for a minute or two as well so they are nice and crunchy. pile all the fixins on, smush everything together and do your best to get it in your mouth.

definitely a three or four napkin dish.

vegan mock meatloaf

jen of that pain in the ass vegan and i must have been on the same mock meat vibe, because we both came up meatloaf recipes around the same time (i just took a little longer to get mine posted). i've had a couple of tries at mock meatloaves since becoming vegetarian, but i always forget to write down what i put in it. i finally remembered this time, and luckily, the meatloaf was tasty! it seems really wet in the beginning, but once cooked it firms up nicely and you can easily cut it into pieces.

• 1/2 cup cooked lentils
• 1/2 cup cooked yellow split peas
• 1/2 cup cooked green peas
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 2/3 cups short grain brown rice
• 2 pieces of whole wheat toast
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup hickory bbq sauce

cook lentils, peas and rice according to directions. after the lentils and peas have cooled considerably, pour them into a food processor along with the drained kidney beans and jalapenos. after blending, put the mixture into a large mixing bowl, and add the rest of ingredients (crumble your toast) except for the rice and barbecue sauce. mix thoroughly, and finally add in the rice and bbq sauce as desired. i found the bbq flavour really enriched the flavour, so be sure to add your favourite sauce.

preheat the oven to 375°f. if you like a crispy crust, divide the mixture into to loaf pans. cook both pans for approximately 30 minutes. the result will be less thick, but you'll have a nice proportion of crispy exterior and soft inside. i haven't tried cooking it all in one pan, but i imagine you'll have to extend the cooking time.

i like to serve mine with a trio of dipping condiments (see background of picture). i put one dollop of ketchup, one dollop of mustard, and one dollop of bbq sauce side by side. plus this gives it fancy-pants presentation.

barbecue veggie kabobs

i live in the midwest, and have grown up eating grilled barbecue food for most of my life. i love portabello mushrooms, stuffed green peppers, homemade brats, and everything in between. i really love veggie kabobs because you can use a variety of veggies to mix it up each time. this isn't really a 'recipe', per se, but an idea of how us veggie folks grill non-meat style. trust me, it is so filling! pardon my non-plated picture, but i was just too hungry!


veggie varieties:

• mushrooms
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• bell peppers, any color
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• cactus
• corn cob sections

cut all your favourite produce so it is close to bite-sized. find some wooden or metal skewers, and mix and match all your veggies. i use a basting brush, and coat everything heavily in bbq sauce. if you have too many veggies, toss the remainders in a grill basket with seasoning salt. make sure to put things like corn and potato slices on their own skewer as they need longer amounts of time to grill. after starting those kabobs, add the skewers with more tender veggies - they finish up in about 7-10 minutes on grill-medium heat.

when everything is grilled, pull all veggies off and eat up. optionally, serve on a bed of rice.

on a side note, i kept wanting to spell 'kebab' - but i guess that is traditionally more meat oriented. if i would google just 'kabob', it would ask me if wanted to spell 'kebab' instead. but i would google 'veggie kebab', it would ask me to spell 'veggie kabob'. interesting....

sloppy joe lettuce wraps

march 20th is the great american meatout! if you aren't veg, today is the day to give it a shot! below is an easy sloppy joe recipe i created for an upcoming vegetarian cooking demo for kids. for them, i'll be serving the recipe on buns, but i loved the idea of making them into lettuce wraps for myself.

• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard
• 6 oz. tomato sauce
• 5 lettuce leaves
• condiments of your choice

rinse kidney beans in a colander, then transfer to a large bowl. lightly mash kidney beans with a potato masher (or strong fork) - you don't want to turn them into complete mush, but you'll want to mash so there is a binding consistency. stir in the rest of ingredients and either microwave or heat on stove.

spoon mixture onto a leaf of lettuce, and add your favourite toppings... here with kraut, pickles, mustard, and ketchup.. i went a little crazy, but the end result was so yummy. serve with a side of cider cucumbers or cheesy zucchini.