MoFo Day 24 - W is for Wingz and Wasabi Mayo

W is for Watching Football, Wingz and Wasabi

I'm writing this post during Monday Night Football. The reason I mention that fact is that Wingz to me are the quintessential football snack. They were the thing that was hardest for me to give up when I stopped eating meat. I'm so happy I didn't really have to give up anything, but have gained a new friend in these tempeh wingz. Fred is not a fan of tempeh, so I got to eat more. He did love the sauce, so I will be making a seitan version for him in the future. But I wanted to make something gluten free for those of you who must abstain. I had to keep one toe in Asia for this one!

Wingz with Wasabi Dipping Sauce

Makes 2 football sized servings (8 pieces)

1/2 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon tapioca starch

3/4 cup oat flour or your favorite GF flour
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 - 8 oz package tempeh torn into 8 similar sized pieces

Grapeseed or other mild oil for frying.

4 tablespoon Earth Balance butter
2 tablespoons Louisiana Hot sauce
1 tablespoon Chile Garlic Sauce

In case you were wondering about what the chile garlic sauce and Wasabi looked like:

1 recipe Wasabi Dipping Sauce (recipe below)

Wasabi Dipping Sauce

Makes about 2/3 cup

1/2 cup vegan mayo
2 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk
2 teaspoon wasabi paste
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Steam tempeh for 10-15 minutes until softened a bit. Let cool enough to handle.

While tempeh is steaming, whisk soy milk and tapioca starch together in wide shallow bowl. In another wide shallow bowl combine oat flour (can sub your favorite GF flour), granulated onion, granulated garlic, smoked paprika and salt.

In a 12 inch iron skillet or heavy bottomed skillet (not non-stick) heat enough oil to come up the side of the pan about 1/2-3/4 inch to 350. Soak each piece of tempeh in the soymilk mixture. Dredge in flour mixture until covered on all sides. Gently place coated tempeh in oil. Fry for about 4 minutes each side until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel to remove excess oil. In a large bowl, combine melted Earth Balance, Louisiana Hot Sauce and chili garlic sauce. Add fried tempeh wingz to sauce and gently stir to coat. I lots of sauce, so it will be messy! Serve immediately with celery sticks, carrot sticks and Wasabi Dipping Sauce.

Go Bears!

Love Those Hot Wingz

Going veg wasn't really super hard for me, except for the haunting smell of wings. In the first few months after I stopped eating meat, I would get this crazy intense craving for wings. It was the one dish that almost made me revert back to the meaty side. It only took me a short time to realize, that I could indeed have my wingz and eat them too.

This version can be made with either tempeh or seitan. Honestly, I prefer seitan, but if I don't have any made up, it is super easy to pick up a package of tempeh at the store when I just can't wait to have me some spicy goodness. It may look like a lot of ingredients, but most of the ingredients are spices.  These are really pretty simple to throw together. The bulk of the time is inactive marinating the "wings". These are gluten free if you use tempeh.

Wingz of Fire

Makes 8 Wingz

1 - 8 oz package tempeh, torn into 8 rectangular pieces
(can also substitute 8 oz seitan)
1 recipe marinade (see below)
1/4 cup tapioca or corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 tablespoon Earth Balance vegan butter (from the sticks), melted
2 tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce (or your favorite)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional for those who like 'em suicide hot)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying

Marinade

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 Tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
3 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Place tempeh pieces in steamer and steam for 10 minutes. While they are steaming, mix together marinade ingredients in an 8 x 8 or smaller non-reactive pan, large enough to fit tempeh or seitan in a single layer. This doesn't make a lot of marinade, just enough to get soaked up by the protein. Add tempeh while it is still hot or seitan and turn to coat both sides. Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours*.

In a shallow bowl, combine the tapioca starch, salt and smoked paprika.

In a small saute pan, melt vegan butter and stir in hot sauce. Keep warm.

Heat enough oil to come 1/2 inch up the side of a 10-inch iron skillet (or other skillet but make sure it is not a non-stick type) to 350 degrees. Dredge marinated tempeh or seitan in tapioca starch mixture. Carefully slide into hot oil. Cook for about 3 minutes per side until golden. Drain on paper towel.


In a bowl big enough to toss all of the wings, combine the melted vegan butter, hot sauce and peppers (if using). Toss fried wingz in sauce and serve immediately with vegan blue cheese or ranch dressing (recipe below), carrots and celery.

*If you are pressed for time, you can shorten the marinating time, but they are much more flavorful if they get some time to soak up all of that flavor.


Ranch Dressing

Makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup  plus 2 tablespoons vegan mayonaise (I like Veganaise brand)
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients with a fork or wire whisk until completely combined. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. 

Vegan MOFO - Day 25 - Grandma's Potato Salad

The original recipe for this was handed down from my grandmother to my mother. I'm not sure how many generations before that it was born, but it was my all time favorite. The original recipe called for both mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. I was never a big fan of Miracle Whip, so I did take the liberty of changing the original a bit by adding mustard. This would have been cause for being ousted from the family cooking library had it not resulted in an even better version. I didn't think it was possible to make it taste any better. But lo and behold! This is an outstanding dish to take to a potluck or a picnic.

Germany Meets Poland Potato Salad (Lower left hand corner of the plate)

10-12 Servings

2 lbs baby red potatoes quartered

2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, diced to same approx size as red potatoes

4 tablespoons vegan French dressing, separated

1 ½ tsp celery salt, separated

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 med white or yellow onion, finely diced

2 tbsp pimento, finely diced

¼ cup German-style mustard

1 cup Vegannaise, separated

¼ cup tightly packed dill,

Salt and pepper to taste

In two separate pots, boil the potatoes, reds in one and Yukons in the other. I recommend this as they may have different cooking times. Cook until just soft, being careful not to over cook. Drain but do not rinse potatoes. While still hot stir 2 tbsp French dressing and ¾ tsp celery salt into each potato pot. Let potatoes cool completely, this may take an hour or more. Once the potato mixture is completely cool, you can transfer all of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.

Vegan MOFO Day 18 - Iron Chef - Sushi

I love sushi. I love the way it looks. I love the whole ritual involved with eating it. My creation for this week is a departure from the traditional sushi I adore. I didn't have time to go to the grocery store to prepare, so this was pantry digging creativity.


Azuki Sushi Cakes
Makes four 4 inch cakes

1 cup sushi rice
1 1/4 cups cold water
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 sheet nori crumbled

Filling

2/3 cup dried shitake mushrooms
1 c water
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 teaspoon 5 spice powder
3/4 cup azuki beans
2 green onions, green part only chopped
1/2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 Tablespoons veganaise
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
1 cup panko crumbs

In 2 quart saucepan mix rice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to low and cook for about 20 minutes until water is absorbed. When cooked add in rice vinegar and sugar. Let rice cool in large bowl.

While rice is cooling make filling. Bring water, tamari, and 5 spice powder to a boil. Pour over dried shitakes to rehydrate. In a medium sized bowl mix azuki beans, green onions, ginger, sesame oil, veganaise, and wasabi powder together. Salt to taste.

When rice is cool enough, mix in crumbled nori into rice. To make cakes have bowl of cold water handy for hands to prevent rice from sticking while forming. Take about 3 T rice and flaten into a circle. Put about 1 T filling in the center of the cake. Top with approx 2 T more rice. Form into round cake. Put panko in shallow wide bowl. Dredge cake gently into panko. Place in refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour. Preheat large iron skillet. Coat bottom of pan with canola oil adding 1 T toasted sesame oil. When oil is hot, gently place cakes into pan leaving plenty of space between cakes for flipping. When cake is golden flip to the other side* and saute until the other side is golden (approx 5 minutes per side). Drain on paper towels.

Make sauce.

Sauce

1/3 cup veganaise
1 Tablespoon Chinese hot mustard
1 teaspoon mellow miso

Stir together sauce ingredients until smooth.

To serve cakes, place 2 cakes on each plate. Top with dollop of sauce. Garnish with chopped green onion (optional) and sesame seeds.
*Warning - the cakes are very delicate. Flip very gently or they may fall apart.

I had some leftover filling, so I thought I would make some rolls. We had these with hot mustard seasoned tamari.