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

Date: November 7, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Tofu, Vegetables
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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/

 

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 #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 #23 Portobello Mushroom Filets with Kale and Cannellini Beans

Date: October 23, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Beans and Legumes, Mushrooms
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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/

 

 

Vegan Mofo 2012!

Date: October 2, 2012
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Eating out
Comments: Leave a reply

It’s that time of the year again!

 

Time to start cranking out beautiful amazing vegan delights, treats, and ideas for everyday life, entertaining, and guilty pleasures.

I’m so excited that I took to Walt Disney World again this year to check out what offerings were to be had at Epcot International Food & Wine Festival for vegans. Boy was I surprised when I opened the weekend event guide brochure to find listed as #1 – TERRA!

 

FINALLY!!!

At first I thought my eyes were seeing things when I saw the all too familiar “Chick’n” term that is usually placed on packaging when referring to vegan chicken substitute. There is was in black and beige – the menu:

TERRA

Trick’n Chick’n Curry with Basmati Rice featuring Gardein Chick’n Breast; Chili Colorado with House-made Chips and Cashew Cheese featuring Gardein Beefless Tips; Chocolate Cake with Passion Fruit Sorbet and Coconut Foam

 

When I I asked if the selections were vegan or vegetarian, I fully expected to hear vegetarian – made with butter and cream. That wasn’t the answer I received. Instead I heard “Everything here is vegan except the wine.” I nearly dropped my camera. I know a look of surprise spread across my face – I’m so obvious sometimes – it was music to my ears. So I jumped into line and ordered one of every food item.

The Chick’n Curry was interesting, not exactly what I was expecting. I fully expected something that included coconut milk with chopped pieces of  “chick’n” throughout placed over basmati rice. Instead, it was something that look and tasted more like a medium spiced tomato puree over the curry seasoned chick’n cutlet with basmati on the side dry. Taste: good, slightly spicy yet a root vegetable puree would have been nicer or some chunks of veggies would have been nice in the curry.

Again, another dish – Chili Colorado with House-made Chips and Cashew Cheese came in a way that I wasn’t expecting. That dish I fully expected to be in a cup with peppers, chillies, onions, some beans or not, and corn in a beautifully spiced thick soup-like broth with chips on the side and s drizzle of cashew cheese on top. Well, the chips did come on the side yet with these chunks of beefless cubes in some sort of sauce and a decorative drizzle of cashew cheese on top. The taste: good just needed sweet potato chips or better yet some cornbread.

The chocolate cake was the typical vegan chocolate cake. The coconut foam – very lovely. Passion fruit ice cream – nice on it’s own yet too sweet – didn’t complement the cake well at all.

Yet, with all that said, I’m thrilled that at least there is something other than what Disney offers in their restaurant as vegetarian options. I’ll have another try at it again. Disney is way behind the rest of the world. Even Seoul, South Korea has vegan eats, what happened Disney. Don’t you think it’s time you meet the 21st century? Small steps are better than no steps I suppose.