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Korean Veggie Chili

Date: November 5, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Beans and Legumes, Soup, Vegetables
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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/

 

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
Comments: Leave a reply

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 #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/