Vegetarian Frugal Housewife

Well Thanksgiving without turkey is different, at least for the eater, but I did still have to manage the cooking of a bird (for the meat-eaters who came to dinner.)

I had a choice for the veggie heads of either Tofurky or Quorn Turk’y Roast

The ingredients listed in the Tofurky, though completely vegan, led me to believe that I would not like the taste of it very much.

Now, the Whole Foods didn’t carry the Quorn turk’y, oddly enough they carried other Quorn products though.

I continued looking until I actually found it at a more mainstream grocery store, on sale too…Frugal Bonus!

The ingredients, though not vegan in any way, were at least a bit more tasty-sounding than the Tofurky. So, purely for research purposes, I decided to give it a try.

The main ingredient in Quorn products is Mycoprotein. According to the Quorn website is, “Mycoprotein (“myco” is Greek for “fungi”) is a nutritious member of the fungi family, as are mushrooms, truffles, and morels. The fungus used in all Quorn™ products is Fusarium Venenatum.”

Well it sounds interesting enough to me, so I’m trying it for all of you. ;)

On first removing it from the package I thought two things. 1) “Dude, that looks like a big sausage” and 2) “This is overpackaged.”

I like very much that it only takes about 55 minutes to cook. The only thing that I found disconcerting, given the fact that most vegetarians are trying to detox and not re-tox, was that you cook it in a plastic sleeve. I mean tightly wrapped in plastic while sitting in a 425° oven.

You can’t tell me with a straight face that there isn’t some leeching occurring into the food. I just can’t truly believe that.

The directions say to poke some holes through the plastic sleeve before cooking, which I did. Only one word to the wise, don’t poke them on the sides or the bottom. This causes juices to leak out of the package and smolder in a smoky fashion on the bottom of your cookie sheet.

As for flavor and texture, I did not expect to be all that wowed by either of them.

I cut the slices rather thick and paired them with mushroom gravy. The flavor was surprisingly turkey-like. The texture was relatively palatable, though something about it reminded me of lunch meats or high school cafeteria food.

Overall it left me only slightly envious of the meat-eaters with their steamy, glistening hunks of turkey breast.

The Quorn Turk’y Roast: I would recommend this product, on a 5 star scale, at about 3.5 or maybe even 3.75….worth trying and, with some creative modification, should please most dinner guests.

I would suggest slicing it thin for better texture and using a very yummy gravy along side of it. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Never, in all the years that I have been in love with Thanksgiving (and addicted to cranberry sauce) have I attempted to make homemade cranberry sauce.

That all changed this year when the November/December issues of Vegetarian Times Magazine arrived in my mailbox.

Their recipe for Jellied Cranberry Molds seemed so easy that I decided to give it a try.

Fresh cranberries in hand, I made the molds this evening in preparation for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving meal.

The recipe called for Port wine which I definitely do not have around (too dry for me) but I substituted Cabernet Sauvignon. I know, I know. I can already hear you saying: “Oh, and THAT’S not a dry wine?” LOL. It was an experiment, I won’t buy it again either.

So anyhow, while the sauce was cooking I took the top off so that I could stir it. I nearly got drunk off of the faceful of fumes that hit me. I think it should be called Drunkards Cranberry Sauce. “Lay off the sauce Granny.” ;)

After it all cooked down a bit and I worked feverishly to press it through the sieve, I had something that darn near resembled Cranberry Sauce.

As suggested in the article, I used mini bundt cake molds, except for Papa’s helping (the one with all the skins and stuff left in the sauce.) I placed that one in a heart-shaped mini mold. Awwwww, how sweet!

Surprisingly, the mess was minimal, just a couple of sticky red blobs on my counter….no more than making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Those who licked the remains from the mixing equipment seemed to be impressed with the flavor and a check into the fridge an hour later showed the molds to be jellifying nicely.

Kudos to Vegetarian Times for coming up with such a great a no-sugar, no-gelatin vegan treat!

THANKSGIVING UPDATE: When they say that you should use cooking spray to grease the molds, I guess they mean it.

I refused to use that stuff and since my molds were non-stick I just poured the cranberry mixture right into them.

They looked quite jellified but came out, with prodigious shaking, as a cranberry blob. No pretty mini-bundt shaped jelly here, just mush.

Suggestion: use either spray olive oil, or switch the agave for sugar which makes a more solid jelly.

Woohoo! Papa and Mama have finally given steamed dumplings a try.

Papa, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but grew up in Ukraine, has very fond memories of steamed dumplings from his childhood. On special holidays the whole family would get together and make over two-hundred dumplings within a 24-hour period.

I only recently fell in love with steamed dumplings, during our feasts in Toronto’s Chinatown. But I have been aching to learn the mastery of them ever since.

A little online exploration on the topic gave me some much-needed courage in the undertaking. I compiled the simplest instructions from 7 or 8 great recipe-sharing websites and came up with my own filling combinations in an effort to recreate those that we ate in Chinatown.

Today we made an Asian feast which, in the end, resulted in Sweet Oolong Tea, Steamed Dumplings, Fried Wontons and Hot-n-Sour Soup, all homemade! YUM!

We made dumplings wrapped two different ways (one Chinese and one, that Papa knows how to do, which is from Kyrgyzstan) and with two different fillings.

Check them out…

Dark “Meat” Dumplings

Ingredients:

Large Wonton Wrappers
Water (in a bowl)
*Scrambled Egg (in a separate bowl)

*: optional

Filling:

Lightlife Smart Ground (Regular Flavor)
Scallions (chopped)
Onions (diced)
Portobella or Shitake Mushrooms (diced)
Soy Sauce
Nutmeg






Light “Veggie” Dumplings

Ingredients:

Large Wonton Wrappers
Water (in a bowl)
*Scrambled Egg (in a separate bowl)

*: optional

Filling:

Carrots (diced)
Asian Cabbage (sliced and diced)
Ginger (grated fresh)
Extra Firm Tofu (sliced tiny)
Black Pepper


Other Necessities:

A round Dough Cutter (I used the lid to a jar)
A stovetop steamer, the more layers the better
A cheese grater or garlic press, for the ginger

1. Make sure that all ingredients are diced as small as possible, you may even use a blender or food mill to get them cut up very, very small.

2. Mix equal amounts of Smart Ground, mushrooms and onions (OR carrots, tofu and cabbage) in a bowl with just a touch of the other filling ingredients.

3. Prepare wonton wrappers by cutting them into the largest circle possible.

4. Fill wontons one at a time, begin by dampening the whole inside of the wrapper with a finger or two of water.

5. Using a tablespoon, fill the center of a wonton wrapper with the stuffing mixture.

6. With your finger, wet entire edge of round wrapper with scrambled egg liquid (or water.)

7. Fold and press or pinch shut along edge, beginning on one side and working towards the other.

8. Repeat until all wrappers are filled, or you run out of filling.

9. Once the steamer water is really boiling, place a single layer of dumplings into a greased steamer pan.

10. Steam 15-20 minutes until the dumplings are translucent, do not turn.

11. Turn steamer basket over and gently tap with a spoon until dumplings fall into your serving dish.

*If the dumplings stick, you can wet the underside of them with a little water or oil to ease them out of the pan.*

~

Of course I like to do things pretty big and fancy sometimes, so we had a large, coordinated place setting for each person at the table and a couple of dipping sauce choices.

I prefer the Nama Shoyu, Soy Sauce. Papa is now thoroughly converted to the Rice Vinegar. He even drank some from the dipping bowl to prove his level of enjoyment. ;)

So we had half-moon Chinese dumplings and some rose-shaped ones from the former Soviet regions, so pretty.

The meal was amazing, and so much more frugal than how I usually get my Asian food fix, take-out style.

Seems like years, actually over a decade, since I first tried Thai food and swore up hill and down dale that I would learn to cook it.

There are several cookbooks on my shelf as a testament to my good intentions about learning to make Thai food at home.

Yet nothing ever came of it. Until now.

After having a couple of nice Thai meals with Papa on my visit to Toronto, and forming some nice sweet memories of those walks together around the Asian neighborhood near Dundas St., I wanted to try and recreate one of those recipes at home.

The outcome was very pleasurable. Papa said that he liked it even better than the soup we had at the restaurant. So I’ve decided to pass the recipe along to you.

Tasty Thai Butternut Soup

Ingredients:

1 large Butternut Squash OR
1 medium-small Pumpkin
1 cup coconut milk
4 cups vegetable broth
1 medium shallot or onion
1/2 cup applesauce
1/8 cup fresh shredded ginger pieces
1/8 cup lemon or lime juice
1 cup soy cream
5 tblspn honey
3 tblspn olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 tsp curry powder
2 tblspn sea salt
1 tblspn (or 1 clove) chopped garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp garam masala
pinch cilantro
pinch chili powder

* You will need a blender or food processor for a smooth soup. *

1. Dice shallots and squash.

2. Saute shallots and garlic in olive oil until shallots soften.

3. Add all liquid ingredients (except honey) to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat.

4. Add honey, bay leaf and spices along with squash chunks.

5. Cook for 15-20 minutes over med-low heat until squash is soft.

6. Using an extra pan, pour portions of the soup into a blender and puree.

7. Replace pureed soup into pan and test for flavor. Respice if necessary.

8. Serve with bamboo shoots or a couple of mint leaves for garnish.

~

This sweet and spicy soup is delicious for a warmer-upper on cool autumn evenings. If you are so inclined you could prepare some Thai Veggie Rolls with chili dipping sauce as a side dish.

When serving, I like to use nice Asian-inspired serving dishes and renge spoons.

A little bit of Thailand right in your very own dining room! :D

I don’t know about you all out there but I absolutely LOVE zucchini bread. That’s one of my favorite things about autumn, all the zucchinis waiting for me to use them up.

There is just something so cool about turning a bright green veggie into a nice, moist, sweet bread.

I figure that Deadheads are also called hippies and the Green Party is consider to be the “hippie” party and since being “Green,” to me, is a sweet thing just like my bread, it isn’t so far-fetched to call this a Deadhead Bread.

Not that I am dead in the head, but there is something about the music of the Grateful Dead that brings a smile to my face and makes life seem just a little bit brighter.

The bread is kinda messy to make but all things worth having are worth working for, right?

This recipe makes two good-sized loaves or several smaller loaves.

Papa thinks I should call it zucchini “muffins” or zucchini “cake” because it is so darned yummy. I have been accused of this recipe originating from the Devil, because it turns even the kindest people into greedy, gluttonous beasts! But hey, the Dead said A Friend of the Devil is a Friend of Mine. ;)

I hope that you all like this bread a lot! Be angelic and share some with your loved ones!

Deadhead Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups of organic flour (regular or gf)
3 cups of freshly shredded zucchini
2 cups turbinado sugar (or brown sugar)
3 eggs (or egg replacement)
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup oil (or 1 1/4 cups butter)
1/8 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

optional:

2/3 cup raisins or
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Combine all wet ingredients in one mixing bowl.

3. Combine all dry ingredients in a larger mixing bowl. (Leaving raisins or nuts on the side.)

4. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.

5. Place mixture evenly in greased baking pans.

6. Bake on the middle rack of the oven. 50 minutes to 1 hour is sufficient for two large loaf pans.

7. Cool until able to remove from pans without breaking.

8. Cut and serve alone or with yummy melted butter on top!!!

~

“Good food is the secret to great health” -housewife, 2007