Korean Noodle Stir-Fry and Soy-Glazed Tofu

Anyone who knows me knows that Korean food is one of my favourite cuisines. Unfortunately, it's not a very vegan friendly cuisine so I end up making my own dishes including cabbage kimchi, chajang myun/jajang myun and jap chae/chap chae. So when I saw that Robin had a recipe for Korean Noodle Stir-Fry (page 242) a.k.a. jap chae, I had to put that on my list of recipes to make. Instead of the seitan called for in the recipe, I made Soy-Glazed Tofu (page 283).



For the tofu, I used firm tofu pressed overnight in a Tofu Xpress (I think it is totally worth the money) and then marinated and baked. The marinade ingredients were well balanced and tasty and the tofu baked up perfectly in the time alloted. It is great hot or cold and worked great with the noodles. This recipe is super easy so give it a shot and quit buying pre-marinated tofu!

Now on to the noodles. Since I make a lot of Korean food, I had the specific noodles (dang myun which are made from sweet potatoes) on hand. Unless you have a Korean grocer or an Asian grocer that stocks Korean food, chances are you won't be able to find it. I buy mine online from HMart. You could substitute mung bean noodles or rice vermicelli but it really won't be the same since dang myun is firmer and chewier. Also, mung bean or rice vermicelli are a lot more delicate and could easily turn to mush if you're not careful.

My package of noodles was 12oz so I adjusted the other ingredients accordingly. Also the recipe says to soak the noodles for 5 minutes. That may be fine with bean noodles or rice vermicelli, but dang myun need to be cooked for about 5 minutes, then drained and rinsed with cold water. Well, I rinse them at least. Also if you're using uncut dang myun, after it's cooked, cut it with kitchen shears to manageable lengths so it won't be unruly.

For the vegetables I used everything called for an also threw in some sliced cloud ear fungus which doesn't taste like much but adds texture. Since it's a stirfry, add anything you'd like. Sometimes I add red pepper and spinach.

The dish itself is pretty easy to throw together, but there is prep work involved with cooking the noodles and slicing the vegetables. You'll want to have everything prepped before you start. Taste-wise, everything was perfectly balanced for me, but you can adjust any of the seasonings to your liking. Some people like sweeter jap chae, so taste it as is and then add more sugar if you lean towards the sweet side. This recipe makes tons, especially if you use 12oz of noodles, but fear not, the leftovers hold up really well when using dang myun noodles and are also great in lettuce wraps too.

If you are new to Korean food, this is a great dish to make because it doesn't have any flavours that you would be unfamiliar with (like cabbage kimchi), isn't spicy, but still very flavourful.

— Ms. Veganorama

Drop Biscuits

I got the cutest email the other day while I was at work. It was from the Ninjahusband and Supertoddler. It said something to the effect of "We wanted biscuits, and we thought we'd help you out with your project, so we made Drop Biscuits {page 407} from 1000 Vegan Recipes. There are several pictures of the finished project attached." Apparently my food blogging is so ingrained in my life that my husband and toddler continue it on, even when I'm away from home!

Ninjahusband said that the biscuits were easy to make, although the dough was a little stiffer than he'd expected for drop biscuits. It could be because of our dry climate. The biscuits had a great flavor and texture, and paired perfectly with Earth Balance and jam. Apparently both of them liked the biscuits a great deal, as there were only a few left when I got home from work. I was able to try one of the leftover biscuits, and they were quite delicious, even cold. I particularly enjoyed their flavor.

These were easy, quick, and delicious, and will likely become my go-to drop biscuit recipe going forward.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl {and Ninjahusband + Supertoddler by proxy}

Vanilla Walnut Cookies

I am a shy vegan. Although I believe strongly in animal rights, and the abolition of the property status of non-human animals, I am rarely vocal about these topics unless directly asked. My "activism" exists mainly in the practice of showing people how easy and "normal" it is to be vegan, and how delicious vegan food is. Along that vein, I bring treats to work with me nearly every Tuesday to share with my coworkers. Vanilla Walnut Cookies {page 432} were last week's pick.

These little cookies were easy to throw together, and quite unique, having ground walnuts in the dough itself. Robin recommends decorating each cookie with a walnut piece, and I took that recommendation.

The cookies themselves were sweet, but not too sweet, with a pleasant mouthfeel. They were a touch biscuity, but who says that cookies can't be biscuity? I thoroughly enjoyed both the flavor and texture, and so did my coworkers. They disappeared very quickly. Which, after all, is the best compliment a cook can get.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Tempeh Tantrum Burgers

Like a lot of vegans I know, I'm always on the search for a good vegan burger recipe. Not of the grainy/vegetabley/healthy variety, but the hearty, "meaty" kind which also includes tofu burgers and bean burgers. Pretty much a patty that is uniform in texture with blended ingredients. Anyhoo, when I spied the Tempeh Tantrum Burgers (page 118), I knew I had to try the recipe.

The ingredients are easy to find with tempeh being the most "exotic" ingredient in the recipe. This is a bonus for those who don't really like buying specialty items for just one recipe. The burgers were also super easy to put together. After simmering the tempeh, you just throw everything into the food processor (the cooked tempeh provided the right amount of moisture), shape and fry. They fried and browned quite nicely, BUT with any homemade vegan burger (at least those that don't use vital wheat gluten or some other form of thick binder like flour) they have a tendency to be tender and can fall apart. No biggie though as I'm sure you're all used to that. I actually doubled the recipe and put 1/2 of it in the fridge to fry up the next day. The stuff from the fridge shaped and fried better I think because the oats had a chance to absorb everything overnight.

Taste-wise, they were good but they could have used more salt and seasonings. Maybe some smoked paprika, onion and garlic powder and a few dashes of cumin. You'll want to taste the mixture after you process it and adjust the seasonings to your liking. If you don't like tempeh, don't make this. Because there aren't any strong flavours, the burgers taste like tempeh with nothing to mask that distinct tempeh taste, which you may or may not like.

Robin suggests using dijon on the burgers which I know would pair nicely, but I went with ketchup, yellow mustard and vegenaise (under the lettuce) on homemade buns with lettuce, onion and some sad looking, out of season, grocery store tomatoes.

All in all, this was a new take on a vegan burger for me and a nice change from my usual tempeh dishes. The Mr., who is really picky about tempeh, said "they were pretty good." If you like tempeh, give this a try but adjust the seasonings before you shape the patties.

— Ms. Veganorama

P.S. With this post, we have cooked through 200 recipes!

Quick Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is one of the first things I ever learned how to make back in the olden days of junior high school Home Ec class. I fell in love with the dessert instantly, with its rich crumbly topping and soft sweet apple pieces. Plus...it has apples, so it's "healthy", right? Right! Or something. However, for all the apple crisp I've made in my life, I've never made an apple crisp quite like Quick Apple Crisp {page 472}.

I was drawn to this recipe because of my love for apple crisp in general, and because of a couple of unique ingredients in the recipe. The apple layer is sweetened with maple syrup, which sounded like a genius idea to me. Also, there were walnuts included in the topping.

The maple syrup turned out to be not such a great idea. I generally make the apple layer by tossing apples with sugar, cinnamon, and flour {to help create a "sauce" out of any extra liquid that is exuded from the apples during cooking}. However, adding maple syrup just added to the liquid factor. The bottom layer was basically apple soup when it came out of the oven. It was not the end of the world. I just used a slotted spoon to serve the portions, and dumped the "soup" out of the bottom of the pan at the end. I think that the maple syrup would have been a good idea if some corn starch or flour were included in that part of the recipe, as it gave the apples a really lovely flavor.

The walnuts in the topping were DYNAMITE. The Ninjahusband decreed that I should never make apple crisp again without including walnuts in the topping.

Over all, the topping was delicious. The apple part could use a little work. It was a good recipe, in general, it just needs a little tweaking.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Chickpea and Vegetable Loaf & Golden (Mushroom) Gravy - Guest Post by Mindy

I decided on the Chickpea and Vegetable Loaf (page 265) for dinner,as it has fairly standard ingredients, seemed pretty easy, and sounded like it might be a nice, hearty meal. The instructions are easy to follow, although I had some issue with it all being too much for my food processor and I ended up dumping it all into a big bowl to finish mixing with my hands. It seemed a bit dry to me but I resisted the urge to add some sort of liquid to it, and I just pushed it all together into the loaf shape and into the oven it went. My changes - less onion (due to an onion-hating boyfriend), 3 garlic cloves, I subbed some thyme for the savory, as I have never been able to find it, and I had no parsley. I also used 1/2 of a large potato, as I had no small, and 2 small carrots, as I had no medium. I really hate instructions that call for things like that. It's so subjective and I do wonder if some of my problem with the dryness could be due to not enough or maybe too many vegetables.

While waiting on the loaf to cook, I decided to make the Golden Mushroom Gravy (page 547) to go with the loaf, as suggested in the book. One problem - it calls for a can of chickpeas and I had just used my last can to make the loaf. So doing what any good vegan would do, I scanned the cupboard for something else, and decided Great Northern beans would work quite nicely. Now one other problem, I detest mushrooms. So yeah, there wouldn't be any of those in my gravy. I decided to just add the rest of the beans (it calls for one cup, leaving about 1/2 a cup from the can) instead, so there would be something there. Again no savory, so I subbed some oregano this time. The gravy was very thin, probably due to the lack of mushrooms taking up space, so I also added some cornstarch slurry to try and thicken it up, but I didn't use enough and it was still quite thin.

I tend to like loaf-y things, but I have a horrible track record in terms of actually making them. I shun pumpkin bread, as it will inevitably fail, and make only muffins. Loafs just don't like to cook for me, so I was of course quite wary going into this. And yes, I did check my oven temperature! So an hour later, I pulled an ugly little loaf out of the oven and just hoped it would be okay. I let it sit for 10 minutes, as instructed, while I finished up the gravy, mashed potatoes and salad I was making to complete our meal. I sliced up the loaf with a little effort (it got pretty crunchy on the sides and bottom) and looked in the middle to see if it looked done. Not too bad, so I plated it all up, as shown above.

Now, I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this loaf. It is definitely a bit dry and dense, although having ample gravy definitely made a big difference with that. The flavors are good, if not that exciting. The boyfriend seemed to like it pretty well, but he's not really a good indicator on food, plus I gave him the end piece, which would have been the most done. As I cut out a little piece further towards the middle, I found it seeming stringier (from the gluten) and a bit less done. It's my loaf failures of the past come to haunt me. But I don't think this loaf is beyond redemption. I think the basic mix would probably work well as patties perhaps, or maybe in muffin tins. I will probably try frying up the leftovers, as I have often had good luck with lackluster loaves from frying the slices. The gravy was very good flavorwise, despite the thinness, and I will enjoy the ease of it in the future.

- Mindy, Guest Blogger

Banana-Blueberry Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Pancakes were another one of those things I first encountered after hopping the pond. In Old Country, we make crepes. And we fill them and roll them up and they serve the same purpose (only they can be made savory as well). Since coming here, though, I’ve fallen in love with all things Brunch.

Enter the Banana-Blueberry Pancakes (page 516) with Blueberry Sauce (page 498). Fluffy and mellow in flavor with the occasional pleasant burst of blueberry, these pancakes are the perfect conveyer for the blueberry sauce. The sauce is very simple to prepare and positively wonderful. It would turn any dessert into a mini masterpiece and works just as splendidly over sweet breakfast fare. I used a blend of three sugars to give it even more character (white, light brown, dark brown).


And because winter isn’t over for some people, behold a snowflake pancake!

Delightful breakfast (actually, rebel that I am, I made this at night). And the sauce is going straight into my repertoire.

- - Ulpia, rebel rebel - -