Recipes

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 #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/

Vegan Mofo #25 Kimchi No-Fried Rice W/King Trumpet Mushrooms

Date: October 25, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Grains, Mushrooms
Comments: Leave a reply

Fried Rice For EVERYONE!!!

No, no egg on it please. Yes, the trend in this country now is to put a fried on egg on many dishes for richness and protein. Blah. You can do the same thing with tofu believe it or not does the very same thing.

Now mushrooms on the other hand, well, that is a bonus. Yes, please. I want lots of mushrooms. Koreans love their mushrooms. There are many varieties of mushrooms in Korea. They are used in multiple ways in Korean cooking.

Which brings me to the King Trumpet mushroom or King Oyster mushroom.

 

I do all my shopping for Korean ingredients at my local Korean market WooSung Oriental Food Mart. I love that store. The people who own and run that store are amazing. The music playing throughout the store is great as well; it’s not that Muzak stuff that you hear in some stores.

Now back to the mushrooms. The mushrooms I bought were organic, fresh tasting and from an excellent grower of speciality mushrooms.

 

I have this thing for kimchi fried rice. It’s so good anything, yet late at night when you need a quick pick-me-up, it’s THE thing to get you through until the next day. However, I chose to make it for dinner and pair it with King Trumpet or King Oyster mushrooms.

 

King Trumpet or King Oyster mushrooms have a meaty texture and supposed to be quite firm. They also pair well with butter. So in our – VEGANS case, vegan margarine.  Sauté up the mushrooms in vegan margarine or even a little coconut oil. Put them over rice and you have the makings of a great meal. I decided to make kimchi fried rice. Except the rice isn’t fried.

 

 

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Vegan Mofo #25 KIMCHI FRIED RICE W/KING TRUMPET MUSHROOMS

Ingredients

  • 1 package of King Trumpet or King Oyster Mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup onions, diced
  • 1 1/2 cup kimchi, chopped, plus 3 tablespoons kimchi juice
  • 4 cups cooked rice, warmed
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

    King Trumpet or King Oyster Mushrooms
  1. Heat skillet to medium-high. Add 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
  2. Add King Trumpet or King Oyster mushrooms.
  3. Sauté mushrooms until lightly brown.
  4. Stir in tamari or soy sauce.
  5. Remove from skillet. Set aside.
    6. Kimchi No-fried Rice
  6. Add onions. Sauté until slightly brown. Add a 1/2 teaspoon spoon water at a time to water sauté if needed.
  7. Add kimchi and cook until hot.
  8. Remove from the heat and place into a bowl.
  9. Heat rice in microwave. Add to bowl along with remaining teaspoon of sesame oil and kimchi juice.
  10. Fold to combine.
    11. Presentation
  11. Place kimchi no-fried rice into a bowl.
  12. Top with King Trumpet or King Oyster mushrooms and greens.
  13. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/kimchi-fried-rice-wking-trumpet-mushrooms/

Vegan mofo #24 Vegan Grilled Cheese

Date: October 24, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Bread
Comments: 3 Replies

Simple Childhood Memories!

Do you remember those rainy days at lunch time or those times when you needed your mom or dad to pour their wonderful love on you with that classic favorite – grilled cheese.

 

 

Sometimes, when it was a little rainy out or the weather gets a little chilly, a great vegan grilled cheese with a roasted garlic tomato soup or a ginger carrot soup and a simple garden salad. That is pure pleasure.

 

Grilled cheese is one of those great comfort foods that just soothes simple cravings and brings in the those wonderful memories from childhood like a warm blanket and hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night while watching holidays movies.

There are plenty who have a difficult time transitioning to becoming vegan  simply because they are unable to let go of cheese. In steps DAIYA. This product is not only dairy free, soy free, gluten free, and cholesterol free. I try not to use too many faux products; however, vegans like everyone else wants convenience as well. I thought that I would use just a touch to try and for richness use my all-time favorite –  avocado. Along with a touch of dressed up gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) and you have a serious mouth party! Spread on some solidified coconut oil and oh my God, you’ve got a serious heavenly mouth party. Plus let’s not forget the choice of adding either a roasted garlic tomato soup or a ginger carrot soup (a recipe for another day).

Deliciousness!

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Vegan Mofo #24 Vegan Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

  • 4 slices sourdough bread
  • 2 teaspoons coconut butter (solidified coconut oil)
  • 4 heaping tablespoons Daiya™ Cheddar Cheese
  • half avocado, sliced into 12 slices
  • 2 tablespoons gochujang (red pepper paste)
  • 2 teaspoons agave
  • 1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce

Instructions

    Gochujang sauce
  1. Add gochujang, agave, and tamari or soy sauce to a bowl.
  2. Mix.
  3. Set aside.
    4. Preparation
  4. Heat skillet to medium.
  5. Spread solidified coconut oil on one side of each slice of bread.
  6. Place one side in skillet.
  7. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of Daiya™ Cheddar Cheese, 6 slices of avocado, and a tablespoon of gochujang sauce on each slice of bread.
  8. Top each sandwich with the other slice of bread.
  9. Cook until desired brownness.
  10. Gently flip and cook until desired brownness.
  11. Remove skillet.
  12. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-grilled-cheese/

Vegan Mofo #23 Portobello Mushroom Filets with Kale and Cannellini Beans

Date: October 23, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Beans and Legumes, Mushrooms
Comments: Leave a reply

Hearty Goodness for a Fall Dinner

I love autumn. The slight chill in the air. The exchanging of light summer clothes for warmer clothing and blankets. The preparation for Halloween , Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The aroma of soups and stews bubbling away in the kitchen. It is also a time when heartier meals are in order. One of those meals are are those that involve the great mature “CRIMINO” mushroom – a larger version of the little brown crimini mushroom. These beauties have a dense flavor giving way for both a “meaty” flavor and texture extremely satisfying to plant eaters and meat eaters alike. Which brings me to this dish:

 

 

Yes, I have an entire plate of protein here yet it’s filling, satisfying, and simply delicious. Now you can also make this Korean by adding a bowl a rice, a bowl of soup, more vegetables, sauces, and kimchi; then you have a really satisfying and exciting meal.

 

 

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Vegan Mofo #23 Portobello Mushroom Filets with Kale and Cannellini Beans

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dried cannellini beans or 2 cans cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 medium onion, diced and divided
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced and divded
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced and divided
  • 1 bunch kale, shredded
  • 3 portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed
  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

    Cannellini Beans
  1. If using dried beans, sort through beans to eliminate stones and sticks. Rinse.
  2. Place beans in a pot and cover with at least 2 inches of water or 5 or 6 cups of water, 1/4 cup celery, 1/2 cup onions, 1 teaspoon garlic, and one bay leaf.
  3. Boil for at least 10 minutes, then lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 or until tender.
  4. Remove bay leaf.
  5. If using canned, drain and rinse beans in a colander. Sauté 1/4 cup celery, 1/2 cup onions and 1 bay leaf in a pot until translucent. Add 2 cups of water or vegetable broth (if desired) and 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
  6. Bring to a gentle boil for 10 minutes, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
  7. Remove bay leaf.
    8. Kale
  8. Rinse and take leaves off stem. You can dice the stem and sauté if you like.
  9. Sauté 1/4 cup celery, 1/4 cup onion, and kale. Add garlic and 1 cups water or vegetable broth (if desired). Cook on medium for 20 minutes.
    10. Portobello Mushrooms
  10. Take stems and gills off portobello mushrooms.
  11. Chop one of the three mushrooms,. Set aside.
  12. Add a teaspoon of olive oil or 1 tablespoon of water in with the portobello mushrooms in a skillet (to water sauté) until brown.
  13. Remove from skillet.
  14. Add remaining onions, and garlic to skillet with 1 tablespoon water scrapping all the bits in the skillet until onions are translucent.
  15. Add balsamic. Cook an additional 10 minutes.
    16. Presentation
  16. Place beans on plate.
  17. Top with kale.
  18. Add a portobello mushroom cap.
  19. Top with sauce.
  20. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/portobello-mushroom-filets-with-kale-and-cannellini-beans/