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

         You'd better be really, really hungry before you eat a meal like this!  

I have to apologize for being so silent during the last two weeks!  I've been wanting to write this post on the new cookbook "Betty Goes Vegan" for a month, but life keeps getting in the way!  I've never met Annie and Dan Shannon, but what a dynamo pair they must be.  This project was a huge commitment (good thing there are two of them, is all I can say!) and they can be very proud of their achievement.

Their fun and slightly cheeky "Betty Goes Vegan" is not only a massive hit, but it's a massive collection (500 recipes) of comfort-food vegan dishes. For anyone who grew up in North America, with a Betty Crocker cookbook of some kind or other (perhaps a tattered and dog-eared one that belonged to your mother or grandmother; perhaps the 2010 version that the Shannons used for this project), this is nostalgia gone vegan.  The Shannons have perfected vegan versions of many all-American favorites, such as biscuits with  gravy, fried eggs (yes, indeed!), brisket and cabbage, German potato salad, Snickerdoodles, and crab cakes, plus numerous international recipes such as the "great English breakfast", Italian Wedding Soup, Ramen bowls, Caribbean black beans with rice, Paella, and lots more.  The dessert section is 100 pages alone! So many choices, so little time!

I wanted cook a whole meal from the book for this blog post, but it was very difficult to choose the recipes.  In the end, I decided to do a brunch menu-- the Denver Omelet (which was a favorite of mine as a teenager), the Creole Potato Wedges, the pillowy-soft-in-the center Garlic and Cheese Biscuits (see photo below).


For the vegetable dish to round out the meal I made the spicy, creamy Old Bay Coleslaw-- a real winner:

I had planned on doing a dessert, but, to tell you the truth, we wouldn't have been able to eat it! Another time (DH will be happy).

The meal was a huge success-- DH loved all of it and everything was quite easy to prepare.  And, honestly, your picky omnivore brother-in-law would be hard-pressed to find fault with this brunch! (That reminds me-- BGV would be a great gift for a new vegan or thinking-about-it friend or relative.) Here are two of the recipes I made from this fabulous addition to the vegan cookbook universe, courtesy of  Grand Central Publishing.

       Crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside Creole Potato Wedges and Old Bay Coleslaw with a creamy, spicy dressing accompanied the Vegan Denver Omelet.

This is my first "Use-It-Up Tuesday" post-- a great idea from the Urban Vegan, Dynise Balcavage.

The other day I experimented with a vegan omelette made with The Vegg, a new egg yolk substitute.  I tried four different versions, two with tofu and two soy-free. The soy-free versions seemed too much like stiff crepes to me, so I abandoned that idea and ended up with a quick and easy tofu-based omelet with eggy flavor-- soft in texture, but strong enough to hold up to folding over a filling (recipe below).  The tofu gives the VEGG mixture more substance-- it's too slimey by itself-- and the flours help the mixture set.

When I was trying to decide how to use leftover omelette (Pheobe the dog is getting some of the "crepey" experiments for treats these days), fried rice came to mind immediately.  I surmised that chopped, cold omelette would be perfect to use in place of the usual scrambled eggs in a fried rice dish-- or, in my case the usual scrambled tofu. I also had some cooked brown basmati and red rice and Chinese vegan "ham" in the freezer, lots of green onions, savoy cabbage (didn't have any bean sprouts), celery and mushrooms (which needed using)... perfect for a fried rice dish with more nutrition than most versions, and a tasty use of leftovers.

Below is the recipe for the new VEGG Omelette and below that is the fried rice recipe.  I hope you enjoy them!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S NEW TOFU AND VEGG OMELETTE (GF)
© Bryanna Clark Grogan 2012
Makes 5 omelettes
TIP: Use an 8-inch nonstick skillet for this recipe.  If you don't have nonstick, use well-seasoned cast iron or hard-anodized, but you may need a little more fat for cooking. Recipe updated December 1, 2013

3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons VEGG powder (egg yolk sub)
12.3 ounce box extra-firm silken tofu, drained and crumbled
1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Per omelette you will need: 1 teaspoon oil or vegan butter (try my homemade palm oil-free Buttah)
Filling: I used some Daiya shreds (use whatever vegan cheese you like) and sautéed mushroom slices with red pepper strips, but use your imagination! Have your filling ready and kept warm before you begin cooking the omelettes, because they cook quickly.

In a blender, process the water and VEGG powder until well mixed and a bit "gloppy"-looking.  Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.  Scrape into a bowl or batter bowl.


Heat your omelette pan (see tip above in recipe intro) over high heat with the oil or vegan butter. 

Use 1/2 cup of batter per omelette. Scoop it into the center of the pan and, using the back of a spoon or a spatula in a circular motion, evenly spread the batter outwards to make a circle that's fairly thin, but with no holes.  Cover and let cook for a couple of minutes, or until the top is set and dry and the bottom is golden and a bit crispy.


Turn the heat down to medium or medium-low and place some of your Filling and vegan cheese (if you are using it) over one half of the circle, then use the spatula to fold the other half over the Filling. Cover the pan again and leave for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Slide onto a warm plate and repeat with the remaining batter.


***********************************************************************
And now, the fried rice recipe...


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S FRIED BROWN BASMATI AND THAI RED RICE WITH VEGG OMELETTE AND VEGETABLES (Recipe updated December 10, 2015)
Serves 6

Rice is normally eaten plain in China, but occasionally a savory (or "fried") rice dish will be made with leftover rice and other bits and pieces. This type of dish was made popular in Chinese restaurants in North America, so, like the flat egg foo yung omelettes in brown sauce, and ubiquitous chop suey, fried rice is really a Chinese-American dish. However, it is well-loved and can be very delicious. Savory fried rice doesn't need to be greasy and it should be seasoned with salt or just a little light soy sauce-- most American versions are too heavy on the soy sauce. You can use the suggestions I have made in the recipe, or change it to suit what you have on hand. Fried rice invariably contains scrambled egg, which can be replaced with scrambled tofu (or the quick version below the recipe), but I think leftover vegan omelette (recipe above) works even better. TIP: The rice should not be freshly-made-- it should be cold so that it is a bit dry and separates easily. 

                                                    INGREDIENTS:

I prefer Savoy cabbage in this dish because it's more tender than regular green cabbage.

1 tablespoon oil 
1/2 a small Savoy cabbage, core and hard spines removed, finely shredded or sliced
2-3 cups sliced mushrooms
7-8 large green onions, chopped 
2 stalks celery, thinly-sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup slivered vegan "ham" or "bacon", or smoked tofu
(Other options might be baked, marinated tofu, smoked tempeh, or any sort of seitan or commercial meat sub)
2 cups cold cooked brown basmati or Jasmine rice
2 cups cold cooked Thai red rice
(OR use 4 cups of the two varieties cooked together and chilled)
1/2 tablespoon dark sesame oil 
1 teaspoon salt 
freshly-ground pepper to taste 
approximately 2 cups of chopped leftover VEGG Omelette (see recipe above, or use your own version)
(Another option would be leftover scrambled tofu or the quick version for fried rice [from my book Authentic Chinese for the Contemporary Kitchen] below this recipe)

DIRECTIONS: Heat a large heavy wok, skillet or stir-fry pan over high heat. When it's very hot, add the 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables, garlic and "ham" or alternate. 



Stir-fry for several minutes, or until the cabbage starts to wilt, scraping the bottom of the wok with a metal spatula and adding squirts of hot water from a squeeze bottle if it starts to stick to avoid the need to use more oil). Add the cold rice, breaking up any clumps. 



Add the sesame oil, salt and a few grindings of pepper, and keep turning the mixture with a spatula until the rice is heated through-- again, scraping the bottom of the wok with a metal spatula and adding squirts of hot water from a squeeze bottle if it starts to stick to avoid the need to use more oil. 

 Add the chopped Omelette to the pan and stir-fry until everything is well-mixed and hot. 



Serve immediately. Any leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated.

Quick Scrambled Tofu for Fried Rice (from my book Authentic Chinese for the Contemporary Kitchen):
1 lb. medium-firm or firm tofu, drained and crumbled
4 T. nutritional yeast flakes
4 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. onion powder
large pinch of onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the crumbled tofu with the other ingredients.  Heat a lightly-oiled nonstick or cast iron skillet over high heat.  Add the tofu and keep turning it with a spatula until it turns a bright scrambled egg color and dries out to your satisfaction.  Set aside.

Enjoy!