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

A vegan diner meal!

I'm testing some exotic recipes for the coming Vegan Feast Newsletter, but we were kind of craving simple, old-fashioned North American-style food the other day, so I made one of my vegan "meatloaf" recipes. I originally made this with ground seitan, but found that it can be made with a variety of "burger" substitutes. It can also be made gluten-free, just by accident, if you use the second version made with TVP (textured soy protein) or crumbs of Soy Curls (read about this product here), because it's the oatmeal and grated potato that keep it from falling apart, not gluten flour. It's also pretty high fiber and yummy in a low-key, familiar way. Give either of the following two versions a try!


Printable Recipe (both versions)

BRYANNA’S GOOD VEGAN “MEATLOAF” WITH POTATO AND OATS, VERSION #1, MADE WITH YVES "GROUND ROUND" OR GROUND SEITAN   Servings: 8

This recipe makes a good all-around vegetarian “meatloaf”, and the leftovers can be used as vegetarian “crumbles”. You have the option of using veggie “hamburger crumbles", or ground seitan, or TVP, Or a mixture. The scrubbed potato, oatmeal, optional flaxseed and onions make it a fairly high-fiber protein dish. And, by the way, you can halve the recipe, if you like.

The "hamburger" part:
4 c. vegetarian “hamburger crumbles”
OR
ground seitan (NOT ginger-flavored) mixed with 1/4 c. hot vegetarian broth in which you have dissolved 1 tsp. Marmite yeast extract or 2 tsp. dark miso)

The rest of the ingredients:
1 c. raw oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick rolled oats)
8 oz. potato, scrubbed or peeled and grated (this is about 1 1/3 cups grated, or a potato about 4 x2 1/2")
2 medium onions, finely minced (a food processor does this best)
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. nutritional yeast flakes
OPTIONAL: 1/4 c. ground flaxseed
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic granules
1 tsp. EACH dried thyme and savory
1/2 tsp. EACH dry basil, oregano and sage
1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
(you can use your own seasonings)
Topping: (optional)
1/2 cup low-sodium ketchup, barbecue sauce, or tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

NOTE: If you want a fine-textured loaf, grind the “crumbles”, the seitan, or the reconstituted soy protein in a food processor or a food mill until ground quite fine. If you want a rougher texture, leave it “as is”.

Mix all of the ingredients together well in a large bowl with your hands.

Press the mixture into an oiled or nonstick 9x5" loaf pan (you can line the bottom with cooking parchment, if you like). Cover with a thin layer of ketchup, barbecue sauce, or tomato sauce, if you like. Bake for 1 hour, covering the pan with foil for the first 1/2 hour. Let the loaf stand 15 minutes; turn out on a plate. This firms up as it cools and can be reheated. Great on sandwiches!

Nutrition Facts (calculated using Yves plain "Ground round" and the optional flaxseeds and tomato sauce topping)
Nutrition (per serving): 217.0 calories; 13% calories from fat; 3.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 910.0mg sodium; 786.2mg potassium; 28.6g carbohydrates; 9.3g fiber; 5.2g sugar; 19.3g net carbs; 21.5g protein; 3.8 points.

Nutrition Facts (calculated without the flaxseeds)
Nutrition (per serving): 196.2 calories; 7% calories from fat; 1.7g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 910.8mg sodium; 750.4mg potassium; 27.9g carbohydrates; 7.9g fiber; 6.0g sugar; 20.0g net carbs; 20.8g protein; 3.3 points.

***********************************

(GLUTEN-FREE VERSION)
BRYANNA’S GOOD VEGAN “MEATLOAF” WITH POTATO AND OATS, VERSION #2 MADE WITH TEXTURED SOY PROTEIN Servings: 8

This recipe makes a good all-around vegetarian "meatloaf", and the leftovers can be used as vegetarian "crumbles". The unpeeled potato, oatmeal, and onions add fiber to a normally low-fiber protein dish. Note: All vegetarian loaves are firmer and more appetizing if you let them cool thoroughly, then slice and reheat them, so make this the day before, or early in the day. Good with Rich Brown Gravy, or just ketchup. Leftovers make good sandwiches.

The use of TVP or Soy Curl crumbs (read about Soy Curls here) instead of veggie "ground round" or ground seitan makes this loaf gluten-free.

3 cups dry textured soy protein (TVP or TSP) granules, OR Soy Curl crumbs (see this post about this option)
2 1/2 cups hot water
2 small or 1 large low-sodium GF vegetarian bouillon cube
4 teaspoons gravy browner, such as Kitchen Bouquet (GLUTEN-FREE NOTE: SEE BELOW) 
1 tablespoon Marmite yeast extract, OR 2 tablespoons dark miso
1 cup GF old-fashioned oatmeal (rolled or quick oats)
8 ounces new or red potatoes, scrubbed and grated
(this is about 1 1/3 cups grated, or a potato about 4 x2 1/2")
2 medium onions, finely chopped (a food processor does this best)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (USE WHEAT-FREE TAMARI FOR GLUTEN-FREE)
1/4 cup low-sodium ketchup
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
OPTIONAL: 1/4 c. ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic granules
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon savory
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Topping: (optional)
1/2 cup low-sodium ketchup, barbecue sauce, or tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

NOTE: If you want a fine-textured loaf, grind the reconstituted soy protein or Soy Curl crumbs in a  food processor or a food mill  until ground quite fine. If you want a rougher texture, leave it "as is".

Mix the textured soy protein with the hot water in a large bowl, and let stand for about 10 minutes to rehydrate.

Mix all of the rest of ingredients into the textured soy protein or Soy Curl crumbs. Mix it well with your hands.

Press the mixture into a 9 x 5" loaf pan, sprayed lightly with oil from a pump sprayer, or with cooking spray, and lined on the bottom with cooking parchment. Cover the loaf with the ketchup, barbecue sauce, or tomato sauce, if you like.

Bake for 1 hour, covering the pan with foil for the first 30 minutes.

Let the loaf cool thoroughly in the refrigerator before slicing. Reheat if necessary, in the microwave, or by steaming or baking in a covered dish.

Nutrition Facts (calculated using the optional tomato sauce topping)
Nutrition (per serving): Nutrition (per serving): 210.4 calories; 5% calories from fat; 1.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 562.6mg sodium; 489.1mg potassium; 29.6g carbohydrates; 3.5g fiber; 4.2g sugar; 26.2g net carbs; 21.6g protein; 3.6 points.

Nutrition Facts (using the optional ground flaxseeds as well)
Nutrition (per serving): 236.2 calories; 11% calories from fat; 3.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 564.4mg sodium; 525.0mg potassium; 31.4g carbohydrates; 4.9g fiber; 4.2g sugar; 26.5g net carbs; 22.6g protein; 4.2 points.

NOTE ABOUT KITCHEN BOUQUET:
There evidently are trace amounts of gluten in Kitchen Bouquet and other brands of liquid gravy browner. You might like to try your hand at making it yourself:

BRYANNA'S HOMEMADE "KITCHEN BOUQUET-STYLE" LIQUID GRAVY BROWNER (GLUTEN-FREE, SOY-FREE)

Kitchen Bouquet is a browning and seasoning sauce. It is typically next to the Worchestershire sauce in most stores. Here's how to make it yourself:

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups vegetable broth

Put brown sugar in a heavy pan (like a cast iron frying pan) over medium-low heat and let it scorch, slowly stirring all the time. When it turns a dark brown, add the broth and stir well, and then bottle and keep refrigerated..

Yield: 2 cups (32 Tbs.)

Enjoy!

A new version of my old Christmas cookie recipe "Chinese Chewies", which I'm calling "Pecan-Cranberry Chewies"-- these were gluten-free, but you can also make them with wholewheat pastry flour. I made these just before the power went out! This photo shows the cookies cut and un-sugared, cut and sugared, and cut, rolled, and sugared. UPDATE, Dec. 2011: here is a page about the origin of "Chinese Chews" and the original  recipe from 1917. "The origin of the name “Chinese Chews” for a snack with dates and English walnuts is a mystery that has not been explained."


This was the heavy, slushy snow coming down last Thursday-- picturesque, but mucky!

Well, the good news is, after 8 days, we finally have power again! The bad news is, now we have no phone access, until about Thursday! I was so depressed about that I could hardly enjoy the good news! I regret to say that I was in a really foul mood about the phone and DH had to put up with alot of whining and whingeing (as they say in the UK!). But, we attended our first Christmas party last night (very reluctantly on my part), and had a lot of fun and good food, and good laughs, so I feel better now. What can you do about it anyway?

Saturday, our close neighbors got their power back, but we had to wait because we were not a "multiple outage". Our neighbors just below us lent us their 1000 watt generator for the last 2 days or so, so at least we could have a lamp or two on, watch TV now and then, or even use the computer or a kitchen appliance. But, to use the computer, I had to bring the whole set-up down to a different spot and it was a bit of a nuisance, so I only did it once for 1/2 an hour.

Now, I can use the computer, but of course, this means we have no internet access because we have no phone line! I was able to download the photos off of my camera to my computer, resize them and put them on a disc, though. So I could put them on Photobucket from the disc here at work and use them on the blog.

Anyway, you're probably getting tired of hearing about it! I'm getting tired of writing about it! I hope that by Thursday, things will be normal, and I can write about Christmasey things!

Thank you all for your comments and good wishes!


Here is a not very good photo of the debris on our deck after the windstorm. It really doesn't do the whole thing justice, but it's all I have.

FOOD:

Here is a photo of the bamboo steamer set-up on the butane burner, reheating leftovers:


Here are some photos of that Breast of Tofu dish I described in my last blog post:






Here are the pyrogies with Soycurls that I mentioned in the last blog entry:


Here's the recipe for the "chewies". They are fat-free except for the nuts-- very sweet, but pretty good for you, and really delicious. Ps: i will add the nutritional info later.

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA’S VEGAN PECAN-CRANBERRY CHEWIES (CAN BE GLUTEN-FREE)
Makes 32-36 squares or balls
(Adapted from a recipe in my book “The Almost No-Fat Holiday Cookbook”)

The original version these bars (called "Chinese Chewies", and I have no idea where they got the name!) have been a favorite Christmas cookie for years. The original recipe contained eggs. I veganized it, and now discovered that a gluten-free version works just fine!

The first time I tasted these was at a Hanukkah party at my cousins' Baba's (grandmother's) house many years ago. Had to try to make them myself! They were originally made with just dates and walnuts.

3/4 c. wholewheat pastry flour  OR Bryanna's Gluten-Free High-Fiber Flour Mix (recipe below)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tsp. (2 T. plus 2 tsp.) powdered egg replacer mixed with 1/4 c. cold water
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 T. vanilla extract
OPTIONAL: 1 T. grated organic orange zest or 1 tsp. orange extract
1 c. chopped pecans
3/4 c. chopped pitted dates
1/4 c. dried cranberries
OPTIONAL: powdered organic unbleached sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a small, deep bowl beat together the water and egg replacer with an electric or rotary beater until like softly-mounded beaten egg whites. (NOTE: You can actually beat this with a hand immersion blender for this recipe, beacuse it doesn't have to get really stiff.)

Beat in the sugar and vanilla briefly. Scoop this into the bowl with the flour mixture, along with the dates, cranberries, and pecans. Mix gently but well.

Scoop the mixture into a nonstick or lightly-oiled or sprayed 8" square cake pan (you can line the bottom with cooking parchment, if you like). Bake for 25 minutes, or until it begins to turn golden (it will be soft).



Cool slightly on a rack, then cut into small pieces (32-36) and roll in powdered sugar, if you like.

You can also take the squares while they are pretty hot and roll them and squeeze them into little balls, and roll in powdered sugar, if you prefer.

Cool thoroughly and store airtight.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per 1 square or bar, recipe cut into 36): 80.1 calories; 24% calories from fat; 2.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 15.9mg sodium; 84.2mg potassium; 15.1g carbohydrates; 1.2g fiber; 8.4g sugar; 13.9g net carbs; 0.7g protein; 1.6 points.

Printable Recipe
 
BRYANNA'S GLUTEN-FREE HIGH-FIBER FLOUR MIX
Makes about 13 cups

7 and 1/2 c. brown rice flour (I grind it from short grain brown rice)
2 and 1/2 c. potato starch (NOT potato flour!)
1 and 1/4 c. tapioca flour
1 c. ground golden flax seed
1 c. chickpea flour (besan) OR soy flour
4 and 1/2 T. xanthan or guar gum

Mix well and store in a moisture-proof container in in the freezer. Use cup-for-cup instead of regular flour.

NOTE: Because non-gluten flours lack the structure that gluten provides, xanthan gum or guar gum (available in health food stores) is often added to gluten-free baked goods. This mixture contains enough xanthan or guar gum for cakes, cookies, pancakes, and quick breads. For yeast breads, you may have to add up to 1 tsp. more gum per cup of gluten-free flour.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per cup): 607.8 calories; 9% calories from fat; 6.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 19.0mg sodium; 399.0mg potassium; 126.2g carbohydrates; 10.4g fiber; 0.9g sugar; 115.8g net carbs; 10.3g protein; 11.9 points.


Enjoy!

All corn cornbread!

Been a long time between blogs! My cousin Chris from Vancouver came for a visit last weekend with my youngest daughter Justine, and my youngest grandchild (and grandson). Despite having to trudge up and down the 1/2-mile long, quite steep driveway covered with snow, we had a great time! LGS (Littlest Grandson) is talking up a storm and is such a doll! At my son's house we had a family party with their 3 girls and my daughter Sarah's family with her 3 girls. Littlest Grandson had all the girls under control, I can tell you!

Saturday and Sunday were the days for the annual Denman Is. Christmas Craft Faire. On Sunday my son Tim's daughters, all budding cooks, had a half-day booth. The oldest, made snowflake shortbread cutout cookies and caramel corn to sell, and the two younger girls made homemade lollipops, mounted on a "lolllipop tree" that my son made. Everything was delicious, and the lollipops, though "freeform", looked beautiful and were very long-lasting. They liked making them so much that next year they plan to make a totally organic version with all kinds of different natural flavorings and colors! Tim already has an idea for a rainbow display, too. They sold lots and made their own Christmas money!

I went back to Vancouver with Chris and Justine to meet my big brother, also Tim, who was coming from California. We had another fun family gathering at my cousin Chris's house, with my sister and her family. (We ate take out from the Chinese vegan Buddhist restaurant, the Bo Kong! (Update-- now the "Whole Vegetarian".)

I brought Tim back home to visit more family, especially our 89-year-old mom. Now we can drive up our driveway-- yay!

Before I left I made this yummy cornbread-- with no wheat flour, so celiacs can eat it! It's nice and corny!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S VEGAN ALL-CORN CORNBREAD (GF and can be SF)
9" square pan-ful

I adapted this from a recipe in "The Best Light Recipe" by Editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine.

1 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal (stoneground, if possible)
2 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. (8 tsp.) organic unbleached sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
another 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup boiling water
1 tbs. lemon juice plus
soymilk or nut milk to make 2 cups
1 Tbs. ground golden flax seed
2 tbs. melted vegan butter (Try my homemade palm-oil-free vegan Buttah or look for Harvest Award brand.)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix together the first cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and soda in a medium bowl.

In another bowl mix together the 2/3 cup cornmeal and the boiling water and stir well. Stir in the lemon juice/soymilk mixture, flaxseed and melted vegan butter.

Pour this into the dry mixture and mix briefly. Pour into a well-greased 9" square baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until it tests done and is crusty on top.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per square [cut into 9 pieces]): 157.5 calories; 24% calories from fat; 4.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 341.8mg sodium; 264.0mg potassium; 27.4g carbohydrates; 2.6g fiber; 5.2g sugar; 24.8g net carbs; 3.7g protein; 3.0 points.


Enjoy!