Recipes

ChapaDragon (Homemade Chajangmyun w/Seaweed and Steamed Tofu)

Date: April 23, 2013
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Noodles, Tofu, Vegetables
Comments: 3 Replies

The Simple Late Night Snack Becomes A Meal

I LOVE noodles almost as much as I LOVE rice with kimchi, some soup, greens, and some kim.  MMM, did I mention sushi and French cheesecake? I just love to eat really good food.

One really late night (early morning), a Korean program called THANK YOU was brought to my attention. The first time I watched it in Korean from beginning to end, understanding about eighty percent of it. I’m not fluent in Korean, yet I’m starting to really understand it more. The second time I watched it, there were subtitles which let me know that I had correctly interpreted eighty percent of the show.

During my late night viewing of THANK YOU, I became hungry and wanted a snack. Yet, I did not want to stop watching the show. One of the stars who goes by the stage name of G DRAGON, decided to prepare a meal for the other stars on the show. He was making a very popular dish in South Korea called CHAPAGURI. It is a cross between CHAPAGETTI and NEOGURI instant noodle dishes.

He began boiling noodles and chopping veggie seasonings like onions and chillies. I cringed as I watched him using the knife, I was afraid he’s cut himself. Once he drained most of the liquid, added the flavor packets, noodles, onions, and chillies; the dish looked quite appealing. Until the other stars mentioned that it was salty. Not his fault of course, instant anything tends to have lots of sodium for flavor and for preservation.

He also made a second dish called GYERANJJIM or steamed egg. The stars told him that it was not seasoned enough. Someone had the idea to mix the two together to basically create a new dish – CHAPADRAGON.

As I watched the stars eat, ideas on how to make the dish not be so salty, take great, and vegan! I stuck with making it as he did except I did not use the flavor packets and the steamed eggs became steamed tofu – DUBUJJIM. Which you can try the recipe for here.

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ChapaDragon (Homemade Chajangmyun w/Seaweed Steamed Tofu)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 med onion (1 cup), halved and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes
  • 1/4 cup black soybean paste
  • 2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 heaping tablespoons minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon miyeok or wakame
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1 red chile, diagonally thinly sliced (optional)
  • 1 green chile, diagonally thinly sliced (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon gochujang (optional)
  • 8 ounce ramyun or ramen noodles
  • 1 quarter piece cucumber, julienne

Instructions

    Vegetable Flavorings
  1. Prep all vegetables.
  2. Set aside.
    3. Noodles
  3. Boil noodles according to package instructions in a saucepan with a pasta insert.
  4. Lift cooked noodles from liquid.
  5. Pour out liquid.
  6. Set noodles aside.
    7. Preparation
  7. Using the same saucepan, add onions.
  8. Stir constantly to keep onions from burning until onions brown slightly.
  9. Slowly add ice and continue stirring. *Be careful of steam.
  10. Add black soybean paste, garlic, ginger, miyeok or wakame. Stir.
  11. Add chilies and/or gochujang.* Stir.
  12. Add water to create a sauce.
  13. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  14. Add noodles, stir, remove from heat.
  15. Place in bowls. Top with cucumbers and chillies.
  16. Serve.

Notes

Depending upon how much heat you like, you can add the gochujang and the chillies. Or you can leave out the gochujang and use the chillies as garnish.

https://www.beyondnfinity.com/chapadragon-homemade-chajangmyun-wseaweed/

 

 

 

 

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Chestnut Sweet Red Bean Ginger Cookies

Date: December 14, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Cookies and Bars
Comments: Leave a reply

Fresh From the Oven and Ready for the Journey

“Vegan Gremlins – The Second Cousin to the Monster Cookie” from Happy to be a Table of Two

We were so excited to be receiving cookies!

First up was the “Vegan Gremlins  – The Second Cousin to the Monster Cookie” from Happy to be a Table of Two. The combination of chocolate, dried fruit, and oats, served with a cup of vegan nog and a Christmas movie and I was in heaven.

“Vegan Gingerbread Biscotti” from My Naturally Frugal Family

Second, came the “Vegan  Gingerbread Biscotti” from My Naturally Frugal Family. Oh boy, my ginger that I love so much was ever present. Those lovely treats with a hot cup of carob, really hit the spot.

“Pumpkin Pie Cookies and “Almond- Cardamom Cookies” from Bites and Bytes

Third, I received a choice of two cookies. A pumpkin pie cookie and an almond – cardamom cookie from Bites and Bytes. Both cookies had great flavors. The pumpkin pie cookies were moist, bursting with pumpkin and chocolate. While the almond – cardamom cookie was light yet held it’s own as a slight almond citrusy flavor with a hot cup Lady Grey tea.

Chestnut Sweet Red Bean Ginger Cookies

Once again, I’ve joined many Food Bloggers to flex my baking muscles to create a cookie recipe for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012.

Every year, I must have the wonderful spicy taste that ginger cookies bring. Yet, when I sat down to come up with the cookie my mind went blank as to how would I make a great ginger cookie. With a roasted chestnut cracked and primed for my mouth.  Slowly, I  took a bite  of the chestnut as I closed my eyes and savored the smooth creamy nut. A vision of sweet red bean paste in a sweet gingery bun called to me.  So, I set out to bring them to life in the form of a cookie to share in the cookie swap.

Chestnut Sweet Red Bean Ginger Cookies

Enjoy Happy Holidays!

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Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Chestnut Sweet Red Bean Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

  • ½ cup brown sugar or Wholesome Sweetner Coconut Palm Sugar
  • ¼ cup chestnut paste
  • 1 ½ teaspoon egg replacer + 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 2 tablespoons raw blue agave
  • 2 tablespoons rice milk
  • 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup adzuki beans
  • ¼ cup agave
  • 3 ½ cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

    For Sweet Read Bean Paste:
  1. Place washed adzuki beans into a saucepan. Add agave, water, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 ½ hours to 2 hours. Once cooled place into blender or food processor and puree until smooth. If the mixture doesn’t taste sweet enough for you, add more agave to sweeten to your taste. Place into refrigerator until ready to use.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°.
    3. For Cookie Preparation:
  3. Beat together sugar and chestnut paste. Whisk together egg replacer and warm water until frothy, add to sugar chestnut mixture, along with agave and rice milk. Beat until smooth. Mix together flour, baking powder and soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon with a whisk. Beat together sugar chestnut mixture and flour mixture until blended. Place into refrigerator until firm.
  4. Using a tablespoon measuring spoon or melon baller to scoop out dough. Roll into balls. Put an indention into each dough ball with your thumb. Add ½ teaspoon of bean paste into the indention. Seal dough around the paste. Flatten cookie in your hand. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove cookies and place on wire rack to cool.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/great-food-blogger-cookie-swap-chestnut-sweet-red-bean-ginger-cookies/

 

Farewell Vegan Mofo: Smothered Cabbage and Tofu/Korean Radish and Green Beans

Date: November 7, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Tofu, Vegetables
Comments: Leave a reply

It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye

 

It has been such a blast doing Vegan Month of Food again this year! I love vegans, plant based eaters/supporters, animal loves and omnivores alike. I suppose I love everybody. What I desire is to show as people as I am able that being vegan isn’t cardboard and sawdust tasting. It is my desire to educate as many as I can, as well as remind as many as I can from all over the world of some of their veggie roots.

I have been deeply touched by those who reached out to me and humbled at how difficult this entire process of composing recipes considering that I don’t measure anything. I basically eyeball and dump how ever much I believe she go into the dish. With that being said, I offer two recipes that can be used as banchan or side dishes.

The first dish is simply Smothered Cabbage and Tofu.

 

 

 

I took from my Cajun roots and simply smothered cabbage with baked tofu that’s seasoned with onions, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Smothering is basically cooking an ingredient in it’s juices. Cajuns tend to do a lot of smothering basically Koreans do the same thing in a faster amount of time simply because their cuts of meat are cut smaller as well as there’s high heat involved in stone pots.

The second dish is Korean Radish and Green Beans.

 

 

 

 

This is just a simple sauté of Korean radish and green beans seasoned with red bell peppers and gochujang. Both recipes also have been kissed by soy sauce or tamari and sesame oil.

 

 

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Farewell Vegan Mofo: Smothered Cabbage and Tofu/Korean Radish and Green Beans

Ingredients

    Smothered Cabbage and Tofu
  • 1 package extra firm tofu, drained
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 small cabbage, chopped into bite-size pieces
  • 1 cup onions, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2-inch piece ginger, minced
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
    • Korean Radish and Green Beans
  • 1 small Korean radish, peeled and thinly sliced into squares
  • 1 pound fresh or frozen green beans
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon gochujang (red pepper paste)
  • 1 small red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

    Smothered Cabbage and Tofu
    Tofu
  1. Preheat oven to 425.
  2. Drain and rinse tofu. Slice tofu into 1/4-inch pieces then into squares.
  3. Place tofu onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip halfway through the baking process. Set aside.
    5. Cabbage
  5. Heat pot to medium-high.
  6. Wash cabbage. Cut in half and cut out core. Cut into bite-size pieces.
  7. Place cabbage into the pot with water, onions, garlic, ginger and black pepper.
  8. Cook until cabbage becomes limp or about 15 minutes.
  9. Add soy sauce or tamari, sesame oil, and tofu. Cook 5 minutes more.
  10. Serve.
    11. Korean Radish and Green Beans
  11. Wash, peel and slice Korean radish 1/4-inch square pieces.
  12. Place radish into pot with water, green beans, gochujang, and diced red pepper.
  13. Sauté for 10 minutes.
  14. Add soy sauce or tamari and sesame oil continue to cook for 5 more minutes.
  15. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/farewell-vegan-mofo/

 

Korean Veggie Chili

Date: November 5, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Beans and Legumes, Soup, Vegetables
Comments: Leave a reply

Chili con Tempeh! Huh?

There is nothing like a really good bowl of something hot and filling on a chilly night. Yet sometimes, chili is just good on some chips with vegan cheese for nachos. Over some cornbread. Or some rice crackers. Rice noodles are great. Even over rice. Sorry, I gotta have my rice everyday.

 

Chili is one of those meals like soup that has the protein base with tomatoes in there somewhere. Different vegetables are also tossed in, as well as some kind of broth, beans, and spice choices. All combined and served with biscuits, cornbread, or even tortilla chips.

For something more hearty, I chose to use tempeh instead of just beans or tofu. Usually, I bake the tempeh to help add another depth of flavor. The browning or roasting aspect helps deepens the flavor; it builds a base, a foundation that sets the entire stage for the chili.

Beans add extra protein as well as fiber. I chose black beans for their heartiness as well as their slight sweetness. While adding corn for a hint of sweetness, as well as corn is a good source of vitamin C and fiber. Still, be careful not to eat too much corn, it’s high in sugar content and will blow you up – inflame you, cause you to appear bigger than you really are. Yet when you balance foods, it lessens the effects of a single food on it’s own. That is why when you eat things that are flour, sugar, fat and fried (all inflammatory), it creates a reaction within your body that has damaging effects when eaten regularly.

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Korean Veggie Chili

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon water
  • 1 cup onions, diced
  • 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1-inch piece ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, roasted and ground
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon gochujang (red pepper paste)
  • 1 perilla or shiso leaf, chiffonade,
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 (15-ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can of fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen yellow or white corn
  • 2 cups water
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

    Preparation
  1. Sauté 2 tablespoons water, onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, and ginger in a medium-high heat pot until onions are translucent.
  2. Add ground sesame seeds, cinnamon, gochujang, and perlla or shiso leaf. Continue to sauté to intensify the flavors by caramelizing the onions, peppers, and gochujang for 3 minutes.
  3. Add black beans, undrained tomatoes, corn, and 2 cups water.
  4. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, simmer for 30 minutes. You can cook longer to intensify the flavor. If that is the case then simmer for 45 minutes total.
  5. Serve with blue corn chips, rice crackers, corn bread, biscuits, rice, or noodles.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/korean-veggie-chili/

 

Tofu Vegetable Pie

Date: November 3, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Mushrooms, Tofu
Comments: Leave a reply

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
Comments: Leave a reply

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.