Seitan vs. tempeh vs. tofu

Into month 10 now and I'm starting to get bored with tofu so I'm starting to look at other protein substitutes. I use protein powder pretty much every morning in a protein shake, and beans are just getting boring.

Possible alternate choices? Seitan or tempeh. Tried to find either of these products in a grocery store. HAH!

I did find some pre-flavoured tempeh in the grocery store. Some sort of fake chicken strips. I chopped then up to make some "crab cakes". They turned out a bit on the mushy side; I think mainly because of the pre-processing. On the lookout now for some "plain" tempeh. My local health food store claims that they usually carry it but they were out when I went. Guess time will tell. In the meantime, this recipe for vegan crab cakes posted by Olivia Wilde, is truly yummy!


Seitan

Seitan is actually wheat gluten. It is chewier, higher in protein and lower in fat than tofu. Apparently you can make it yourself but for now, I prefer the convenience of buying it. I managed to find some at a local Asian market. It came frozen, in small three small rolls, and was packaged inside a freezer bag. I think that the market owner makes it herself (I'll have to ask her).

My first recipe using seitan was a great success. It's texture was similar to cooked chicken (when slicing it). It smells like bread dough (surprise)

I wasn't too hopeful that anything tasty was going to made that night, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Seitan Stew
3 Tbs peanut oil
2 minced garlic cloves
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 tsp each oregano and thyme
splash of hot sauce or 1/8 tsp cayenne
8 oz seitan, drained and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup vegetable stock

Heat oil. Add onion and garlic. Cook until just starting to brown. Add tomatoes. Cook for a couple minutes until tomatoes are soft. Add the spices, seitan and stock. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Serves 2
Nutritional Breakdown Per Serving:
  773 Calories
  31g Fat (35.3% calories from fat)
  96g Protein
  31g Carbohydrate
  5g Dietary Fiber
  1mg Cholesterol
  995mg Sodium

On the menu today—Grilled Zucchini and Tortellini Salad with Feta

This is another LCBO recipe. I typically make this to bring to dinner parties if I know the hosts are not used to cooking vegetarian meals. Can be made a day before serving.

Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) red wine vinegar
2 tbsp (25 mL) balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp (25 mL) finely chopped fresh oregano
1 tbsp (15 mL) grainy Dijon Mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Salad:
3 green zucchini
3 yellow zucchini
1 lb (500 g) fresh cheese-stuffed tortellini
1/2 cup (125 mL) Kalamata olives
1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
6 ozs (175 g) Feta cheese, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup (75 mL) coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley


1. Combine oil, red wine and balsamic vinegars, oregano, mustard and garlic in a bowl; season with salt and pepper.

2. Cut each zucchini into three length-wise slices, about 1/2-inch (1-cm) thick. Place on a baking sheet and brush with 1/3 cup (75 mL) of the vinaigrette. Place on greased grill over medium-high heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until just crisp-tender. Let slices cool slightly; cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) thick chunks.

3. Meanwhile cook tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain; rinse under cold water to chill. Drain well.

4. Combine tortellini, grilled zucchini, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and parsley in a large bowl; pour remaining vinaigrette over and toss. Cover and refrigerate until serving.


Serves 7
Nutritional Breakdown Per Serving:

  480 Calories
  30g Fat (55.6% calories from fat)
  16g Protein
  38g Carbohydrate
  4g Dietary Fiber
  70mg Cholesterol
  864mg Sodium

On the menu today—Mushroom Risotto

This is a recipe from the LCBO and makes an great main dish for vegetarians. For non-veg it can be served with meat on the side.

1 cup (250 mL) boiling water
1/2 cup (125 mL) dried porcini mushrooms
8 oz (250 g) mixed fresh wild mushrooms
2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter
1 tsp (5 mL) chopped garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped parsley
Risotto:
5 cups (1.25 L) vegetable stock, approximately
2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter
1/2 cup (125 mL) finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) Carnaroli or arborio rice
1/2 cup (125 mL) white wine
1/3 cup (75 mL) feshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper


Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain mushrooms and reserve liquid and mushrooms separately.

Remove stems from fresh mushrooms and slice. Heat oil and butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sliced mushrooms. Sauté until mushrooms exude their liquid. Season with salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Leave in skillet for reheating.

To make risotto, bring stock to simmer on stove. Heat oil and 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter in a heavy pot on medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes or until softened. Add rice and sauté until rice is coated with oil.

Pour in wine and simmer steadily until wine is absorbed. Pour in mushroom soaking liquid and dried mushrooms and cook, stirring until most of liquid is absorbed. Add 1 cup (250 mL) of stock, stirring until most is absorbed. Continue to add stock in 1 cup (250 mL) quantities, stirring most of the time until rice is creamy with a slight bite in the centre, about 18 to 20 minutes. Reheat mushrooms and stir in to rice.
Remove from heat, stir in remaining 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter and Parmesan cheese. Season well with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 4
Nutritional Breakdown Per Serving:
  777 Calories
  32g Fat (38.0% calories from fat)
  18g Protein
  100g Carbohydrate
  6g Dietary Fiber
  39mg Cholesterol
  2295mg Sodium

Vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian...??

I never realized how many different variations there are on the "vegetarian" diet until I started researching it.

• Vegan—eats no meat/chicken/seafood and no dairy
• Pescetarian—eats veggies and seafood; no meat or chicken
• Flexitarian—a "flexible" vegetarian—a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat (Seriously!!??)
• Pollotarian—veggies and chicken; no meat or seafood

Do people actually use these terms to describe themselves? These sub-catagories seem a bit ridiculous to me...

As I've started talking to people about vegetarianism, I'm finding a lot of people have tried it for a while (me included) and then turned away from it. I haven't asked people why they loose motivation, but I suspect that it could be that they get bored with their choices or maybe they didn't have access to a variety of products where they live.

I am also hearing a lot people say that they are vegetarian, only to see them crack open a can of tuna or eat a piece of pepperoni pizza a few weeks later.

PEOPLE:  If you eat animal, bird, or fish flesh you ARE NOT a vegetarian!!

Trying to figure it all out...

Almond Breeze Milk
only 40 cals per cup

So I definitely decided not to go vegan (for now anyways)! Milk, eggs and butter seem to an ingredient in a lot of recipes and pre-made products (bread and pasta noodles) so it's really is too much effort to try and figure out what has non-veg ingredients.  I don't mind soy, rice or almond milk and I drink them daily (plus almond milk is half the calories of skim milk!!); eggs are something that I have maybe once a week; and butter, I don't use that often, but I definitely trust the "ingredients" more than I do margarine.

I've already discovered that a lot of yogurts have gelatin in them-an animal product-so I've been mindful of which yogurt to choose.

For baking, I now have agar on hand in the event that a recipe calls for gelatin.

Cheese is another story. Not all cheeses that you buy have the ingredients listed so its a bit confusing to know which ones contain animal rennet. Apparently a lot of hard cheeses these days are made with genetically manufactured (GM) rennet and therefore considered OK for vegetarians

Palm Sugar

White, and to some extent brown sugar, is also considered off limits for some vegetarians. The manufacturing process uses charcoal to filter out impurities. This charcoal can sometimes be derived from animal bones. The preferred substitute is maple sugar ($$$!!), corn syrup (meh) or palm sugar. I've used palm sugar, and once you get the stuff ground (or pounded down) it's a great, inexpensive alternative to brown sugar.

Why go veg?

So why go veg? Everyone has their own stories and reasons. Mine involves a memory from years ago when I was 17 and visited a slaughterhouse (or abattoir for those who prefer the less visual term).  I remember the blood, the butcher wiping his hands on his bloody smock before shaking our hands and the cows hanging from hooks...memories that caused me to not eat meat for a year following this experience.

Although this memory remains with me, my conviction faded and my priorities in life changed—family, house, career.

Now, many years later, I am re-visiting my beliefs and convictions after a re-newed interest sparked by discussions with a coworker.

In October 2009 I started researching and experimenting with meat alternatives, and in November I consciously decided to remove meat from my diet.

So back to the question of why?

Although I have eaten meat for many years I have always been uncomfortable in accepting the fact that animals are being killed for us to eat.

1. Although I would never criticize people for killing animals to eat (it's a personal choice), I certainly feel that I can't feel disdain for the slaughtering process while continuing to eat meat myself.
2. Under ordinary circumstances, if given the chance, I would not be able to kill and butcher an animal (even fish) in order to eat—unless I was absolutely starving.
3. In today's society there are many alternate products that would make a vegetarian diet more interesting.

I am now in my third month and counting...

What the heck is that?

Have you ever walked through the produce section of a supermarket, looked  at some of the unfamiliar fruits and vegetable and thought—"what the heck is that"?

Chayote Squash

A few years back when a fruit and vegetable market moved into our neighbourhood, I had just that experience. The market carried a wide variety of  Asian, Caribbean and South American foods—some of which I never seen before. The curiosity built until I took the plunge and bought a green, wrinkly fruit that I had no idea how to eat or prepare (or more importantly what it would taste like).  A few Google clicks later and I was newly educated on how to cook "stuffed chayote". It was delicious...and it started a passion for hunting down and trying new (unusual) ingredients in my cooking.

A couple of years of exposure to eating new foods has led to me to expand into trying vegetarian, vegan and raw food recipes.

This blog will be a way for me to share my experiences, musings and recipes as a newly converted vegetarian.