The BEST Vegan "ice cream" ever!

I've started to look at trying some vegan products. The main things I need to replace would be cheeses and eggs so my first vegan choice was...Daiya shredded cheese.

This definitely does not taste like cheddar cheese. The up side is that I think I could use this as a cheese replacement for things like salads, sandwiches and any dishes where cheese is more of a condiment.

Another amazing vegan product is So Delicious coconut ice cream. Not made with milk, I tried the product line made from coconut milk. With chocolate in the mix, it was like eating creamy, frozen Mounds bars. Expensive as hell, but friggin amazing.

Curried Banana Flower and Mung Beans

When we were travelling in Africa we saw tons of banana plants. Bananas were served with almost every meal. Oddly enough, the banana flower was never used in any dishes.

Banana Plant with large Purple Flower

When using fresh banana flower, it's important to soak the chopped flower in buttermilk or a water and lemon juice mixture to get rid of the strong, bitter taste. An alternative is to use canned banana flower.
This recipe calls for Asafoetida powder. An alternative to this could be onion salt, garlic powder, or fresh garlic.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dried, green mung beans, soaked for a couple hours
• 2 cups banana flowers, finely chopped, and soaked in watery buttermilk overnight
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. Asafoetida powder
• 4-6 green chillies, slit lengthwise
• 2-3 red chillies, broken into a few pieces
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder
• 1 cup onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut, freshly grated (or dried, unsweetened)
• 1 lime or lemon

Directions:

1. Place the mung beans in a container with some salt and a little water and cook until slightly tender. Drain water if any.
2. Strain out the banana flowers from the buttermilk.
3. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add the asafoetida powder, cumin, and mustard and saute until they start to pop. Then add the green and red chillies and fry for a minute. Add the curry leaves and turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds.
4. Add the onions along with some salt, and saute on medium heat until translucent.
5. Add the banana flowers, cooked moong dal, salt, and a sprinkle of water. Cover and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the flowers are tender.
6. Add the grated coconut and cook for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat.
7. Mix in the juice of half a lime.
8. Serve the banana-flower curry with lemon or lime wedges and plain rice. 

Cheesy Wild Mushrooms and Seitan

This is recipe is modified from a recipe using breaded chicken. I'll frequently cook both the chicken and vegetarian versions to satisfy both vegetarians and non-veg. 


Ingredients:
3 cups mixed, wild mushrooms, sliced
8 oz seitan, thickly sliced
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons pumpkin seed oil
2 1/2 cups of grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup vegetarian broth

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place half of the mushrooms in a 9x13 inch pan. Dip seitan into beaten egg, then roll in the nutritional yeast.
Heat the pumpkin seed oil in a skillet. Brown both sides of the seitan.
Place chicken on top of mushrooms, arrange remaining mushrooms on seitan, and top with cheese. Add vegetable broth to pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until top layer of cheese is melted and crispy.

Mushroom Miso Soup

I like miso soup every once and a while (especially when the craving for something salty hits). The convenience of buying the pre-made, dry version is ruined by the fact that they all contain "bonito"; a type of fish. I haven't been able to find a packaged mix that doesn't contain bonito so I ended up trying this quick and easy homemade recipe for mushroom miso (I used dried shitake, portabello, and enoki)


 

A bundle of enoki mushrooms

The soup is surprising hearty—using enoki gives the texture of noodles in your soup.


Ingredients:
5  cups water
1/2 cup of dried mushrooms
2-3 tablespoons miso paste
3/4 pound assorted, thinly sliced mushrooms (shitake, oyster, enoki, king, lobster etc)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
300 grams tofu, cubed
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:
In a large pot, bring the water and dried mushrooms to a boil. Turn off the element, and let the mushrooms steep for about 15 minutes. Add the miso paste and mix well.

In a skillet, saute the mushrooms in the olive oil. Add the bell pepper and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Add the mixture to the miso broth along with the tofu and green onions.

Serves 4
Nutritional Breakdown Per Serving
  224 Calories
  8 g Fat (29.1% calories from fat)
  12g Protein
  32g Carbohydrate
  6g Dietary Fiber
   0mg Cholesterol
   337mg Sodium

Veganism myths debunked: Infographic

Love this infographic from Mother Nature Network that lists a variety of common myths and false perceptions about veganism... http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/veganism-myths-debunked-infographic

Among them:

1. Vegans don't get enough protein
2. Vegan diets are unhealthy
3. Being Vegan is Expensive

Bet you didn't know these things were made from animals!

As if it isn't enough that you to have to read the ingredients to find hidden animal by-products like lard and gelatin, here's a list of everyday items that surprisingly could contain animals...

1. 1. Toothpaste (eeewww meat toothpaste)
2. 2. Tires on cars or bikes (may contain stearic acid)
3. 3. Stuff made with wood like furniture or wooden musical instruments because they are glued together with animal based glue.
4. Biofuels (there's actually chicken and beef biodiesel)
5. Fireworks (stearic acid again)
6. Fabric softener (tallow is the culprit here)
7. Shampoo and conditioner (wtf!)
8. Plastic bags (again...wtf?)

Add to this list sugar which I previously blogged about and wine (blogged about in Is your wine vegetarian? )

Read the full article here: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-surprising-items-made-with-animal-ingredients.html