Monday, May 11, 2009

Study-time Sushi


It's finals time so I don't have much time to try out new recipes, but I think study time is a great time to make sushi. It doesn't take much active time to make it, and I can keep a few rolls in the fridge an pop them out whenever I'm hungry. After taking my second final of three today, I devoured the sushi above- a baked tofu and cucumber roll. Here's my lazy sushi recipe:

Lazy Sushi Rice
4 servings

• 1 cup sushi rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar (eyeball it)
• 1 tbsp sugar (eyeball it)

The instructions on my sushi rice package say to rinse the rice until it's clear and soak it for 30 minutes, but I don't bother. I also don't dissolve the sugar in the rice vinegar over heat before adding it to the rice. Hence why I call it "lazy sushi rice".

Instructions

1. Combine the sushi rice and water in a pan, cover it, and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, stir, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover until the water is absorbed. It shouldn't take longer than 30 minutes.

2. Once it's done pour in the rice vinegar and sugar. Just eyeball it and adjust it to taste.

Sometimes I have this rice with a tofu dish, but most of the time I use a knife to spread 1/4 of the batch on a sheet of nori. My favorite rolls (that I am naming as I write this):

• The Franzenator Roll- baked tofu and cucumber- leave the skin on for more crunch. (Named for one of the ridiculous mnemonic devices I used to study for my exam)
• The Thanksgiving Roll- sweet potato and toasted pecans (goat cheese optional)
• The Mushocado Roll- sauteed mushrooms and avocado (also great with goat cheese)

Below: getting ready to roll a mushocado roll, with a little too much rice (about 1/3 of the batch. Lately I've been limiting myself to one serving (1/4 batch) per roll and leaving an inch at the bottom of the sheet on which to place the filling, and that seems to be a better filling-to-rice ratio.



Friday, May 8, 2009

Seitan O'Greatness


I finally tried the famous Seitan O'Greatness that was first posted on The Post Punk Kitchen forums a couple years ago by Lachesis. It takes no more than 10 minutes of active time (so easy!), although you have to wait an hour and a half for it to bake. It's worth the wait though. The result is a chewy, spicy, pepperoni-esque log of protein. The texture is much better than you'll get from boiled seitan. I haven't tried it in any dishes yet, but I think it would be great ground up or chopped up in a spicy Indian or Mexican dish. Don't have the vegetarian Worcestshire sauce or tomato paste? No biggie- just substitute soy sauce and ketchup, respectively.

Seitan O'Greatness

• 1.5 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1-2 tsp pepper (I used 2 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you don't want it spicy)
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 cups water
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 325°.

In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients (the first 10 ingredients). Mix the liquid ingredients (the rest of the ingredients) in a smaller mixing bowl and mix well.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well, then knead for a couple of minutes. It shouldn't stick to your hands.

Form into a log (6-8" long), wrap tightly in foil, twisting ends. Bake for 90 minutes. When done baking, unwrap and leave out to cool all the way. Then wrap it in foil or plastic and refrigerate. Slice to use as desired.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Simple Tofruity Smoothie

I made a tofu smoothie for the first time recently. I had leftover silken tofu from a Vegetarian Times ceasar salad dressing, so I put it to use. The best bananas are overripe ones (with brown spots on the outside) that you peel and freeze in a plastic bag.

Simple Tofruity Smoothie

Makes 1 serving

• 1/3 package of silken tofu
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 frozen overripe banana
• 1/2 cup soymilk

Put the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth!



Also, give Vegan Yum Yum's pot stickers a try! They're filled with ground seitan, mushrooms, and chilies. You can use any seitan, but I tried the seitan recipe Lolo used, and it was fantastic! (I found myself munching on slices of it while making the pot stickers) I made these using wonton wrappers and, since I was just cooking for myself, I keep the filling in the fridge and I fry up the pot stickers as needed. I'm glad I didn't make them all at once because they'd be gone quickly!