Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

I'm mixing the Far East with the Middle East today! It's almost a year since I did a blog post on baby bok choy-- they are so tempting this time of year! The flavor is much sweeter than in mature bok choy and I didn't want a sauce that would compete with or overpower that sweetness. So this stir-fry is a mild Cantonese-style dish. We ate the whole thing between the two of us!




Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S STIR-FRIED SOY CURLS® (OR OTHER CHICKEN SUB) AND BABY BOK CHOY (WW Core Plan Compatible)
Servings: 3

Baby bok choy are appealing and delicious, as well as nutritious, in this quick stir-fry. Serve with steamed brown basmati rice for a satisfying meal!

Have Ready:
1 lb baby bok choy, washed, drained and sliced in half lengthwise (purchase the kind that are only 2-3"long for this recipe)
2 cups (2 oz. dry) drained, reconstituted Soy Curls® or other vegan chicken sub, in slices (see here for info on Soy Curls® and how to reconstitute)
Aromatics:
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and thinly-sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Cooking Sauce: (whisk together in a small bowl)
1/2 cup vegetarian broth
1 tablespoon Vegetarian "Oyster Sauce" (such as Lee Kum Kee "Vegetarian Stir-fry Sauce"-- see here for info and a homemade recipe)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon organic granulated sugar
Thickener:
1 tablespoon cornstarch (organic is available) mixed with
1/2 cup water

Heat the oil in a large nonstick wok or skillet. Add the Aromatics (chopped green onions and garlic) and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Add the Soy Curls® or other sliced vegan chicken sub and stir-fry for a few more minutes over high heat.

Add the prepared bok choy and stir-fry until the bok choy starts to wilt. Add the Cooking Sauce and stir to coat all of the ingredients and to heat. Quickly add the Thickener and stir quickly. Remove from heat and serve immediately with hot rice.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 169.1 calories; 43% calories from fat; 8.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 449.6mg sodium; 500.0mg potassium; 14.9g carbohydrates; 4.5g fiber; 4.8g sugar; 10.4g net carbs; 10.3g protein; 3.2 points.

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NOW, ABOUT THAT LOW-FAT BAKED FELAFEL THAT DOESN'T TASTE LIKE SAWDUST......



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S QUICK AND EASY LOW-FAT FELAFEL WITH CREAMY TOFU/TAHINI MINT SAUCE

This is a "cheat" recipe-- it uses a mix! But it's worth it if, like me, you rarely eat felafel because of the oil involved. There is an excellent felafel mix made by a Lebanese company, Cedar, that I like. However, if you can't find it, it seems that there are any number of Middle Eastern brands out there. Use one that just soaks in water for an hour before cooking. All you do with these mixes is add water and let it stand for an hour. Then you form the mix into patties and fry. The trouble is, I'd rather not fry if I don't have to! So, I found a way to enjoy these without the oil-- steaming them, and then oven-frying! (Unfortunately, I don't have the nutritional analysis for these.) The steaming cooks them thoroughly and makes them moist inside. Not quite as good as fried, but almost!

1 box or package of your favorite felafel (falafel) mix (whatever brand you like-- I'm not crazy about the Fantastic Foods brand; I prefer the Cedar brand)
water (the amount instructed on the box or package)

Creamy Tofu/Tahini Mint Sauce:
2/3 cup (5.25 oz.) firm or extra-firm SILKEN tofu
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh or organic bottled)
2 tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried mint (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch sugar

Mix the felafel mix and water in a large bowl. Let stand for an hour (it can sit longer).

While the mixture stands, make the Sauce.

Mix the sauce ingredients until VERY smooth in a blender or food processor. Scoop the sauce into a serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate until serving time.

When the mixture has soaked for an hour or more:

Make small patties out of the mixture (these are easier to cook than balls).

Place the patties, not touching, on oiled steaming plates or baskets, with small holes in them, not grates. You can also use a collapsible metal steamer; a Chinese stacking steamer pot in stainless steel; or Chinese bamboo stacking steamers to use in a wok or stirfry pan.  If using bamboo baskets, line them with cooking parchment cut to fit, or parchment steamer liners.

If you have no streaming apparatus, place the patties on dinner plates lined with cooking parchment. The plate can be balanced on two chopsticks placed across the inside of a wok or stir-fry pan (or 4 chopsticks, "tic-tac-toe" style). (You'll have to steam one plate at a time.) Cover with a domed lid while steaming.

You can improvise a steamer using a large pot with a tight lid. An electric skillet with a collapsible steamer basket also makes a good steamer. The lid should be 1 to 2" above the food so that the steam can circulate around the food. The food should be supported at least 1" above the simmering water.

Steam the patties over barely boiling water, covered, for 10 minutes. You can do this ahead of time and then oven-fry them later, if you like.



Let the patties cool until they are easier to handle. In the meantime, heat the oven to 500°F.

Place the patties on dark cookie sheets (they brown better than shiny ones) sprayed or brushed lightly with olive oil. Spray or brush the tops with olive oil, too. Bake for 5 minutes, or until the bottoms are crispy and golden-brown. Flip them over gently and bake for 3-5 minutes more, to brown the other side.



Serve immediately with the Sauce.

Enjoy!

I made a thin-crust pizza the other night-- always such a treat! Used some leftover homemade spaghetti sauce with a bit of crushed tomatoes added, sauteed mushrooms and red bell pepper strips, slices of Tofurkey's vegan Spicy Italian "sausage", freshly-ground black pepper,and sliced fresh basil. I placed the veggies and herbs OVER the grated vegan mozzarella because it melts better that way and gets nice and creamy. I drizzled the whole thing with a couple of Tbs. of peppery extra-virgin olive oil.  I used 1 lb. 4 oz. of dough for the crust for a 16" pizza.

I made the following white bread loaf (it does have some oat bran in it) just as an experiment to see how little yeast I could get away with (most bread machine recipes call for WAY too much yeast, which does NOT improve the flavor!). For this loaf, I used only 1/2 tsp. yeast in total. I made a sponge (loose batter) with all of the water, yeast and some of the flour and let it rise in the ABM container for 6 hours, before adding the remaining ingredients and baking it. Look how it rose! The crust was nice and crunchy.

It tasted good for white bread, but was actually a little TOO fluffy for my liking! Here's the recipe:


Printable Recipe
BRYANNA’S “NOT QUITE WHITE” BREAD MACHINE BREAD
2 lb. (sponge method)
This can be used as basic bread for many variations. NOTE: This is the machine I have.

Sponge:
Mix for 5 minutes on dough cycle, then unplug and leave overnight, or for 6-12 hours:

1 and 1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. dry active baking yeast (or 1/3 tsp. instant yeast)
2 c. unbleached flour (use bread flour in USA)

After rising the sponge, add:
4 tsp. brown sugar
2 T. plus 2 tsp. oil
1 and 3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. unbleached flour (use bread flour in USA)
1/3 c. whole wheat flour (or oat bran)

Set on the Basic Cycle, Dark Crust. Check the dough during the first knead to make sure that it is neither too dry, not too wet. If it’s too dry, add water by the tablespoonful, letting it knead in, until it looks right. If it’s too wet, do the same with flour.

If you want a more attractive top crust to the bread, 5 minutes before the bread is due to bake (I set my kitchen timer to remind me of this), you can make a decorative slash in the top of the bread with a razor blade, and you can also glaze the bread with some soymilk, using a pastry brush, or sprinkle the top with flour.

Cover the “window” in the top of your machine with foil, so that the top of the bread will brown properly. Remove the bread immediately from the machine when done, placing on a rack to cool thoroughly. This will insure a crisp crust.



Dinner the other night was Swiss chard from our garden (yum!) and tofu kebabs with peppers, mushrooms and onion. I had soaked the extra-firm tofu cubes in the Breast of Tofu (or Crispy Marinated Tofu from World Vegan Feast) marinade for several days, anticipating a meal such as this. I just threaded them on skewers with the veggies, slathered on barbecue sauce (my Bourbon BBQ Sauce ) and grilled them, serving them on a bed of Basmati rice.



I just had to post yet another picture of a wonderful organic, fair-trade soy cappuccino made with my homemade soymilk! I always get such lame foam when I order soy cappuccinos in restaurants!   I'm wondering if it's maybe because I use a cheap plunger-type milk foamer? I'm thinking that maybe foaming with steam dilutes the foam???

















Last, but not least, two incarnations (above)of my experiments with Egyptian Felafel (ta’amiyya), which is made with fava or broad beans instead of chickpeas. Spice Island Vegan raved about the recipe from Canadian author Habeeb Salloum's EXCELLENT books, "From the Lands of Figs and Olives" and "Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa".

I have a hard time getting dried favas, but I often use split yellow peas instead of dried favas in soups, etc., because, when they cook down to a puree they taste very similar. So, I substituted split yellow peas (cup for cup, and I did soak them) in the felafel recipe and it was great. However, next time I go to Vancouver I will get some fava beans and compare. These felafel are very light, quite different than the chickpea ones. Actually, I could not shape the batter-- it was too runny-- so I just dropped little spoonfuls of it into the oil.

Enjoy!