Tofu Vegetable Pie

Date: November 3, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Mushrooms, Tofu
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Let Them Eat Pie!

 

There are times when which tend to be most of the time that I need to make something that I don’t have to stand over. Or involved constant attention. Something that I can throw together quickly and walk away for at least thirty minutes.

All that’s needed to do is scramble some tofu with onions, garlic, ginger, bell peppers, maybe some celery if you like,  and  mushrooms. Enhance those natural seasoning flavors with some umph — gochujang or black  pepper. A splash of soy sauce or tamari. Add some leafy greens to the mixture placed into a lovely pocket of filo. Serve with a salad of fresh goodness and you are set to have a great evening of television viewing, book reading, whatever delights your soul!

 

Also, you can add other vegetables like the basics of onions, celery, bell peppers, and garlic. Then add ginger, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms. If you really want to go wild once you’ve added you greens of choice, you can add some sea vegetable or some black olives. Add some turmeric not only for color yet for it’s medicinal uses. One popular way is for the treatment of arthritis.

Sweet potatoes and Korean radish can even be included in this dish. The possibilities of ingredients are endless and making this one of the most versatile meals anyone could possibly prepare. The mixture is then all bundled up in filo. Really the filo can be changed out for another vegetable like zucchini or eggplant thinly sliced.

 

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Tofu Vegetable Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 cup onions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, diced
  • 2 gloves garlic, minced
  • 1 package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari, divided
  • 2 cup kale, sautéed
  • 12 sheets phyllo dough
  • 2 tablespoons vegan margarine melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375.
    2. Kale
  2. Wash, de-stem and chop into bite-size pieces.
  3. Water sauté half the onions, garlic and kale for 5 minutes or until wilted.
  4. Set aside.
    5. Tofu
  5. Heat skillet to medium-high.
  6. Water sauté celery, bell pepper, remainder of onions, and carrots for 3 minutes.
  7. Add mushrooms, garlic, tofu, and turmeric. Sauté until there isn't anymore liquid from the tofu.
  8. Stir in kale. Set aside.
    9. Phyllo
  9. Lightly oil a pie plate with a touch of vegan margarine or oil to prevent phyllo from sticking.
  10. Overlap the 12 sheets of phyllo in pie plate.
  11. Spoon in tofu mixture into pie plate.
  12. Fold phyllo dough over tofu mixture. Lightly brush phyllo with mellted vegan margarine.
  13. Place into oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until phyllo is golden brown.
  14. Serve with salad and roasted vegetables.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/tofu-vegetable-pie/

 

 

 

Amande™ Yogurt

Date: November 1, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Breakfast
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Almond™ Yogurt? Huh?

 

On a recent visit to one of my local Whole Foods Market, the search of the soy yogurt that is so loved by my daughter. She usually eats her yogurt for breakfast with fruit and a cup of green tea.

We purchased fruit flavors to have as a nice treat after dinner instead of for breakfast. the sweetness of fruit yogurts these days makes it very easy to consume them as a healthy dessert instead of sweet goodies.

The packaging drew me in – bright vibrant color coded containers with pictures of the fruit within the container. Inside a nice creamy texture. Upon the first taste, I wasn’t sure if it was pleasure or confusion. I just didn’t get an almond taste. It was more of a fruit then something else. Mostly that something else has a super sweet taste. As well as the mouth feel just came across flat.

I am going to have to give it another try. I just didn’t enjoy the flavor. Maybe it was just that I was expecting one flavor and my mouth obtained another, causing me to react in a not so positive way.

Next time I will try a different flavor. I’m not exactly ready to give up just yet on this product. I like to give all vegan products that I come across a chance. Simply because those who take the time to develop these products are doing so to fill a need that isn’t being filled in the mainstream grocery market. There are more people out there than just omnivores.

I’m not saying no to this product, I’m just saying we’ll see.

Vegan Mofo #31 Vegan Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)

Date: October 31, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Soup, Vegetables
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Bubble Bubble Red Hot and Delectable

 

 

It continues to be cold outside and the need to warm up. On this Halloween night something a bit spicy and devilish is in high order. Not only will it light you up, it will surprise you with  all the simple complexity within this dish.

 

 

In the past, this was one of those dishes that Koreans made and still do because they used the kimchi they made to use all through the winter. The dish generally consist of aged kimchi, kimchi liquid, pork, beef, or seafood, tofu, garlic, green onions, doenjang and gochujang (both optional). Because this is a vegan kimchi stew, we won’t be using pork, beef, or seafood.  It still will be very flavorful because of the kimchi itself.

You can make it thick or thin depending on whether you use onion and the type of tofu you use. Whatever you choose to add to your kimchi stew, whether thick or thin, this warming traditional dish will bring comfort and great health because of the beneficial bacterial in aged kimchi. As well as, every ingredient added to the dish adds even more benefits because each ingredient is fresh and made with top quality ingredients.

 

 

Kimchi Jigae or kimchi stew can be served in a communal manner if there is more than one person enjoying it. Serve with rice and banchan (side dishes). It can also be served in the pot it was cooked if using a stone or cast iron pot. Enjoy, party people!

 

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Vegan Mofo #31 Vegan Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups ripe kimchi, chopped in bite-size pieces
  • 1/2 cup onions. diced
  • 3/4 cup kimchi juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 green onions, one cut into 1 pieces and one thinly sliced
  • 3 1/2 cups water
  • 1 package of firm tofu, cut into small rectangles

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients except the one green onion cut into 1 inch pieces and the other thinly sliced.
  2. Bring to a boil for 20 minutes.
  3. Add thinly sliced green onions and continue to boil for another 10 minutes. The long it cooks the more flavorful the stew gets.
  4. In the last 5 minutes of however long you choose to cook it add the 1 inch pieces of green onions.
  5. Serve with rice and banchan (side dishes).
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-kimchi-jjigae-kimchi-stew/

Vegan Mofo #30 Korean Cabbage Soup (Baechu Doenjangguk)

Date: October 30, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Soup, Tofu, Vegetables
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BRRR! Must Get Warm! Soup!

 

This is one of those times where soup will hit the spot. One of the best soups that many Koreans consume is cabbage soup. It’s such a quick simple soup. You can make it in less than thirty minutes, while a pot of rice is bubbling away.

Cabbage soup isn’t served in restaurants, it’s a tried and true Korean wife’s go to soup. A great favorite of Koreans everywhere. The liquid used in this soup is traditionally the rice water from during the rice cleaning process. That water has starch so it helps to thicken it without adding flour. Some wives use anchovies or beef broth as a base. Well, because this is a vegan soup, we will not be using neither one of those ingredients.

 

Instead just having cabbage, garlic, and doenjang, I chose to also add carrots , gochhujang and tofu to the mix. I don’t have childhood memories of Korean cabbage soup like most Koreans do because I didn’t grow up Korean. I grew up in Louisiana where we do have our own cabbage soup as well due to the Germans and the Cajuns. We eat just as much cabbage in Louisiana as the Koreans do. As a matter of fact a lot of the ingredients used in Korean cooking are very similar to ingredients used in Louisianian cooking. That will be for another day. For now, enjoy this wonderful mama’s homemade soup.

 

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Vegan Mofo #30 Korean Cabbage Soup (Baechu Doenjangguk)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 medium napa cabbage, chopped
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 4 tablespoons doenjang (soybean paste)
  • 1 teaspoon gochujang (red pepper paste)
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 package of tofu, drained and cubed
  • 5 cups water (or 2 1/2 cup water + 2 1/2 cup vegetable broth)

Instructions

  1. Cut napa cabbage in half, save the other half. Cut into bite-size pieces.
  2. Wash and dice carrots. Mince garlic.
  3. Add cabbage, carrots, garlic, brown rice flour, doenjang, and gochujang to a pot.
  4. Sauté on medium-high until both paste blend into vegetables.
  5. Drain, rinse, and cube tofu. Add to the vegetable mixture along with the green onions. Stir.
  6. Add water or vegetable broth.
  7. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 20 minutes.
  8. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/korean-cabbage-soup-baechu-doenjangguk/

 

 

 

Vegan Mofo #29 Vegan Korean Gardein™ Sliders

Date: October 29, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Alternative Proteins
Comments: 1 Reply

Vegan Korean? Huh?

I know I have said it many times. I LOVE Korean food! Always have. Yet once I became vegan, eating Korean became difficult due to the blinders of the protein aspect instead of thinking to the times when meat was not the major for every family before Korean were able to afford it and it was plentiful.

Every now and then I use vegan alternatives for proteins out of convenience and to try what’s out there. Gardein™ makes these burgers yet now they also have sliders. So I bought to try. Then I got creative and added some cucumbers to my tomato and cooked some kimchi in the liquid that was released from the burger. Finished it with green onions and it was happy time.

 

The flavors the kimchi brings is awesome. I wondered how it would taste if I used zucchini instead. Oh man! Really good. The possibilities would be awesome. I even added some soy sauce to the sliders as I browned them in the skillet and a touch of gochujang. Happiness!!!

 

This is one I will bring out again and again for others to try. Maybe try it with scallion salad or even sprouts salad. Or maybe some King Oyster mushrooms with caramelized onions would be nice. Some shredded Korean radish or even radish kimchi will have a very pleasant taste. Give it try. Jump into Korean flavors!

 

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Vegan Mofo #29 Vegan Korean Gardein™ Sliders

Ingredients

  • 1 packaged of Gardein™ Sliders
  • 2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon gochujang
  • 1/2 cup kimchi
  • 1/4 cucumber or zucchini
  • 4 slices of tomato
  • 1 green onion, thinly slided

Instructions

  1. Prepare the buns according to the package, which is the use some vegan margarine and toast them off in the skillet. Remove from skillet.
  2. Mix gochujang and soy sauce.
  3. Spread on sliders place into skillet to brown the sliders. Once browned set aside.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons water in skillet. Add kimchi. Cook until heated. Remove from heat. Set aside.
  5. Slice tomatoes and green onions.
  6. Julienne cucumbers and/or zucchini.
    7. Presentation
  7. Place bun bottoms on the plate.
  8. Top with slider.
  9. Next tomato.
  10. Next cucumber or zucchini.
  11. Next kimchi.
  12. Finally top with green onions.
  13. Serve.

Notes

You can add ssamjang (gochujang, soybean paste, sesame oil, onions, garlic, green onions, optional sweetner) to it as well.

https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-korean-gardein-sliders/

 

 

Vegan Mofo #28 Central Florida Veg Fest 2012

Date: October 28, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Veganism
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Happy Little Vegans All Around!

Today was the 7th Annual Central Florida Veg Fest that is like the Food &Wine event of the year for Vegans, Vegetarians, and all those who are curious about the lifestyle and foods.

 

This year, the event was held at Orlando Festival Park near Downtown Orlando on the east side of  town. The crowd seemed to grow larger than it was last year. I credit that to the new location for this year. Parking was ample. The only problem is there was starting to have a chill in the air as well as the wind decided that it wanted to make itself known.

There were a variety of food vendors all located in a very organized manner similar to that of a Food truck set up. It looked like a Vegan/Vegetarians food dream. The participants were: Dandelion Communitea Cafe, Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar, Ethos, Vegan Kitchen, Fantastic Hummus, Infusion Tea, Joe’s Oat Patties, Khasiyat, Lemon Bar, Loving Hut, Midtown EcoVillage. Purely Raw, Sah Nevaeh, and The Spork Cafe.

There were other placed throughout the event because you know vegans love to eat jsut like Koreans. Among those were: Artichoke Red Vegan Market, BabycakesNYC, Coconut Bliss, Glazed & Infused, Hoover’s Market, Living Light Organic, Orlando Food Not Bombs, Pure Sweet Life, Raphsodic Bakery, RAWR! Organic Raw Treats, Earth’s Beast Beverages, and Vegetarians of Central Florida.

 

Dandelion Communitea Cafe

Ethos Vegan Kitchen

Lemon Bar

Loving Hut

There were Speakers, Artist, Bands, Culinary Demonstrations, it was a very full busy day. I was one of those chosen to conduct a Culinary Demonstration. I made one of my previous recipes that is on this site – Korean Kimchi Scallion Lettuce Salad. First I demonstrated how to make a vegan kimchi.

Overall, though there was a chill in the air, the warmth brought by the crowd more than made for an exciting day.

Vegan Mofo #27 Korean Cannellini Bean Soup W/Sea Vegetables

Date: October 27, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Beans and Legumes, Soup
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Here’s To A Warm Stormy Night In

Hurricane season is still going on here in Florida. Even though it isn’t going to hit us directly, we are still getting rainy weather from it. It’s in those nights that having a hot bowl of a hearty bean soup with fresh baked Italian bread or a piece of gluten-free bread would be nice.

 

Now this isn’t just a cannellini bean soup, this one has seaweed in it. I couldn’t resist. I love Asian ingredients – mostly Korean and Japanese. I tend to eat seaweed often. However, being acne prone it isn’t a great thing to do. Still, it’s difficult to resist. Seaweed is so versatile that it can be used in multiple ways. We know that kombu is often used in beans, yet I use nori, wakame, or even miyeok. Miyeok is used for birthday soup. Yum!

 

Usually when you make a bean soup, some kind of green leafy vegetable is used, like kale, mustard greens, or collard greens. Yet because I love seaweed, I thought it would work better and give it a salty aspect without having to add any as well as adding that extra special Asian feel. I also add a touch of gochujang. Always adding a little Korean to the dish in some way. I love Korean flavors. It’s a part of me. Which is strange considering I’m not Korean. Between the creaminess of the beans, the slight saltiness of the sea vegetables, and the kick from the gochujang; it’s pure heaven. Eating is Heaven. – Korean Proverb

 

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Vegan Mofo #27 Cannellini Bean Soup W/Sea Vegetables

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of dried cannellini beans
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves. minced
  • 2 celery rib, thinly sliced
  • 1 sesame leaf (perilla or shiso leaf, if not then 1 tablspoon basil), chiffonade
  • 1 teaspoon gochujang (Korean Red pepper paste)
  • 1/4 cup wakame or nori, broken up
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

  1. Pick through and wash beans.
  2. Add onions, garlic, celery, sesame leaf or basil, gochujang, sea vegetable, and water to a stock pot.
  3. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours. Keep an eye out for if you need tot add any more liquid, if needed.
  4. Once beans are tender, add sesame oil.
  5. Stir and serve
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/cannellini-bean-soup-wsea-vegetables/