As many of you know, about once every two months we get a major fiendin’ for Mexican food. Our local options aren’t great, and among those, the vegan selection is pretty much bean flautas. So. We scratch the Mexican itch by making one of several different feasts, almost all involving guacamole, (homemade) refried beans, and then some variation on tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas, quesadillas, or the infamous taco salad. On a good day, the feast involves Mexican rice. As you’ve learned by studying the Soymilk Flowchart, we’ve been on a crazy okara seitan chik’n kick lately. So we decided to switch things up and make spicy chik’n tacos–with refried beans, guacamole, and Mexican rice!

These things rocked a camel’s ass! Don’t get me wrong–I love a good tempeh taco any day–but these were a really nice change of pace. The beans and rice were probably the best we’ve made as well. This, I think, owes to the more traditional kitchen food chain we employed. Beans are usually made with some sort of fat and or stock and rice is almost always made with chicken stock. We used the leftover stock from our batch of seitan. We cook the seitan in Frontier ™ brand unchicken stock, which (a) gives the seitan a more chicken-y flavor and (b) produces a really nice stock–more robust than the unchicken stock on its own. What started way back with our soymilk is now working its way into the finer flavors of our Mexican feast.

You may already be familiar with our guacamole and refried beans. And you should definitely acquaint yourself with seitan chik’n: ours or Zoa’s okara seitan recipe.

Spicy Chik’n

To make the chik’n, follow one of the recipes above. In a bowl, mix up some taco seasoning. Add about 1/4 cup of water–just enough to make a medium thin paste–like a thin smoothy. Toss the chik’n patties in the mixture–one patty per person (the mixture will cover about 4 patties)–coating well. Store in a sealed container and refrigerate–the longer the better, for deeper marinade penetration (dirty!). When your beans and rice are just about done (or are just finished and on low heat) toss these guys on the grill, cooking until you get delicious grill marks on both sides. They should probably also be cooked thoroughly, but hey, you know what you like. Cut into cubes or strips, as per your preference.

Mexican Rice

We researched a ton of authentic Mexican rice recipes and cobbled this one together out of what seemed to be the common ingredients: rice, onion, garlic, tomato, stock.

• 2 cups long-grain rice (we used brown basmati)
• 4 cups chik’n stock (ideally from seitan)
• 1/2 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1/2 large tomato, de-boogered and chopped coarsely
• salt, to taste
• green onions, cilantro, and/or lime to garnish (optional)

In a medium-sized saucepan, saute the rice in oil over medium heat, until it begins to brown (or turn browner, in the case of brown rice). Add in the onion, garlic, and tomato, then the stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover, cooking until the rice is soft and the stock has cooked in. If the rice finishes before the stock has cooked off completely, you can remove the cover and turn the heat up briefly to evaporate the remaining stock.

We served these in home-baked corn tortillas, with sides of refried beans and Mexican rice, and with a green onions, cilantro, lime, and a Corona ™, to garnish.

Mark and I have been a schosh wary of attempting certain ethnicities of foods- some Chinese and Thai, some Mexican, etc.  We can just get better food at a restaurant that has people of that particular ethnicity preparing the menu and food.  Or so we thought.  Score a huge point for IV tonight for whipping up a dern good stir fry in as copy-cat authentic a manner as possible.  The veggies were crispy!  The tofu firm and yummy!  Ironically, I did not learn how to make tonight’s meal from someone from China or Thailand.  No.  I learnt it by observing the cooking prowess of a Spanish-British-Canadian in Iceland.  That’s right.  Thank you Juliana España Keller for showing me how to make a decent Asian dish.  Here goes nothin’!

Authentish Summer Stir-Fry

• 1.5 cups uncooked brown rice
• 3 cups water for the rice
• 1 large white or yellow onion, cut into petals
• one head of garlic, each bulb peeled and cut into thin slices
• a smallish chunk of ginger, sliced finely
• a head of broccoli, chopped into florets
• a handful of snowpeas, whole
• about 1/2 cup Chinese cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 2 small to medium-sized carrots, cut into thin diagonal slices
• about 1/4 cup fresh coriander, leaves only (no stems)
• 3/4 of a 1 lb. block of tofu, frozen, then thawed
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp chili sauce/paste
• 1 tsp thai curry past (any flavor)- we used red
• tamari to taste
• sesame or peanut oil to taste (for sauteing)

Start brown rice cooking first.  It takes about 40 minutes to cook and that’s about how long preparing the meal took, so it was ready right on time.  Next thaw the tofu in the microwave and press.  Cut into slices as pictured and set aside.  In a saute pan, drizzle a hefty amount of oil and about half of the chili paste, curry paste and hoisin sauce.  Add a touch of tamari.  Throw in a little bit of the garlic, onion and ginger and bring up to medium/hot and add tofu.  Allow tofu to brown on both sides, checking it periodically.   I would cook at about low-to-medium heat.  You can start the veggie part of the stir fry while the tofu is browning on one side, but be sure to keep an eye on it and flip it in time.  Once tofu is finished, remove from heat and put pieces on a plate.  Pour remaining oil/sauce onto cooking veggies.

While the rice and tofu are cooking, have all of your veggies ready to go.  Add the rest of all sauces (and a little tamari) and some oil to a wok or large saute pan and bring up to high heat.  Add veggies in batches, starting with onions, ginger and garlic.  Toss them in oil/sauce mixture on high heat, adding a small amount of water to create some steam- about a minute.  While they’re still very crisp, add the broccoli, carrots and snow peas.  Stir them continually for about two minutes or so.   Add a little more water to create a little more steam to cook the broccoli to al dente.  Next add the coriander and cabbage.  Toss in with the rest of the veggies, adding a bit more oil or water or both if necessary.  Add a little tamari.  These last ingredients barely need time on the heat, as they will continue to cook once the wok is removed from the heat source.  Be mindful that the veggies should remain crisp and the stir fry is finished when the broccoli and snow peas are a very bright green.

Place stir-fry in a large bowl (to stop the cooking process) and add the tofu.  Pour any remaining sauce over the mixture and stir.  Serve with the brown rice.  Hooray!

Taking a brief break from my solitary bachelor existence, I had my mom over the other night and we cooked it down. Over the last year, we’ve opted to cook at home more and more, to the point where we rarely go out. My mom loves to cook too and over the years has come to enjoy a lot of the same foods as Amy and me.

We were in the mood for something Mexican-ish, largely because my mom wanted guacamole. We also wanted to do something low fat. While fate would have it that nary a ripe avocado was to be had, the taste for Mexican food lingered–and we had to improvise a little. Beans are low fat, so refried beans were a no-brainer. I would often do a Spanish or Mexican rice, but rice is high carb, and I’ve been on a quinoa kick lately, and my mom is addicted to quinoa…so that too, was a no-brainer: zesty far South quinoa, with onion, poblano pepper, and garlic. This was rocked with a scosh of carbs, in toasted pita form, and fresh heirloom tomato (it looked like a Cherokee Purple). We had it with grilled asparagus, which I eat almost every other day, for the brief time it’s in season.

But wait, here’s how you too can enjoy this delicacy:

Refried Bean & Zesty Quinoa Tostada

• 1.5 cups uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups veggie stock
• 6 – 8 cloves of garlic, cut into thin slices
• 1/2 medium-large white onion, diced
• 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 serrano/jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (optional)
• 2 cups (or 1 can) refried beans (note, our recipe for refried beans is already spiced)
• 1 tbsp chili powder (we used a combination of smoked and standard)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 pita per person
• 1/4 tomato, diced, per person
• shredded lettuce (optional)
• diced cilantro (optional)

If you’re doing the refried beans homestyle, start those first. When the homemade beans are done, or the canned beans are warm, add in the spices: chili powder, cumin,  oregano, and salt to taste.

In a medium-sized  to large saucepan, saute the onions, pepper(s), and garlic in high heat oil. Once they’re tender, stir in the quinoa coating well, and cook for a minute or two. Add in the veggie stock (or water and powder/cubes) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all of the water has cooked off.

In an oven or toaster oven, toast the pita until just crispy. Spread on a generous layer of beans, then an even more generous layer of quinoa. Top with fresh tomatoes.

I had this the next night with lettuce and cilantro from our garden. Delicious!

Most people don’t know this, but spicy vegetable couscous is an indispensable staple of the Norwegian diet.

The reason they don’t know this is that I just made it up.

Our new friends and fellow adventurers, the Norwegian artists Torgeir Husevaag and Catrine Thorstensen adapted this from a meal they often prepare, kindly subbing veggie stock for chicken stock. After a long day inside making art and avoiding the ash cloud (did you know there’s an official weather condition on weather.com, “ash cloud”?), we ventured out briefly to the vinbudin to grab some beer and wine. Shortly after returning, Tor and Catrine started preparing this delicious dinner, over which we hatched the next day’s plans to hit the hot springs (or “hot pot” as everyone seems to like calling it).

These hot springs, in Hveragerdi, aren’t to be confused with the now Disneyfied Blue Lagoon (I’ve not been, but I have it on reliable authority that it’s a total tourist trap)–these are the real deal. You hike in a small, beautiful mountain range for around 2 hours to get to get to the point where a geothermally heated spring meets a cold spring, producing bath-water like conditions–naturally! Along the way, we encountered various small lagoons of boiling water and mud–volcanic heating produces very hot water–as well as geysers of steam.  Amy posted about the experience on her blog, if you’re interested in seeing photos.

But I digress. We were talking about delicious couscous. So without further ado, I give you:

Couscous Somi Oslo

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into medium-length strips
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into disks
• 1 zucchini, cut into half-disks
• 2 tomatoes, diced (or 1 can)
• 2 cups of chick peas (or 1 can)
• 2 red chili (or fresno/serrano) peppers, seeded and minced
• 4 – 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 – 2 tsp ground cumin
• 6 – 8 cups veggie broth
• a dash of cinnamon (to taste)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 – 3 cups dry couscous (cooked in 4 -6 cups of water)

Like our vegetable soup, this looked pretty straightforward. Saute the veggies in oil in a large pot over medium heat until they’re tender, then in add in the tomatoes, veggie broth, chick peas, and spices. Bring to boil and then let simmer. Meanwhile prepare 2 -3 cups of dry couscous in 4 -6 cups of water (bring the water to boil, add the couscous, reduce heat and cover, cooking until the couscous is soft and the water is soaked up). Serve the veggies over the couscous. This is excellent nourishment for a long day of hiking and thermal bathing!

Up next: Julie and Nina make a fabulous Volcanic Eggplant Quinoa!

So, everybody loves breakfast for dinner, right? Like when you were 8 and you got to have Fruity Pebbles ™ for dinner?

Well, this is like that–but the opposite! It’s about taking regular dinner-y foods, and converting them into something palatable for breakfast. So, we’re not talking about firing up the grill at 7am and cooking up a black bean burger; we’re talking about the breakfast burrito–with which you’re probably already acquainted–which consists of a tofu scramble, soysage, and potatoes, all wrapped up in a lightly toasted tortilla, and the breakfast pizza–a delicious new treat–which consists of a toasted pita, topped with the same tofu scramble, soysage, and potatoes, but with the addition of pinto poblano/refried beans & chilis.

Truth be told, I’m not sure what relegates these to breakfast. The tofu in your scramble is the same as the tofu in your stir fry. We’ve used tempeh/tvp soysage/soyrizo in soups and all manner of Mexican delights. So what makes this any different?

Thusly, you have our blessing to indulge in dinner for breakfast for dinner.

For both recipes, you will need the following scramble:

Dinner-for-Breakfast Scramble

• 1 batch of tempeh soysage (or the same recipe, using 1 cup dried TVP, rehydrated in 3/4 – 1 cup water)
• 1 lb of extra firm tofu, drained
• 3 medium-sized red potatoes, cut into small cubes
• 1 medium – large yellow or white onion, diced
• 2 – 4 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)

Prepare the tempeh/tvp soysage as instructed in the above link, and let sit, allowing the flavor to soak in. In a large pan, saute the onions in oil over medium heat, until they start to get tender. Add in the soysage and cook until the soysage starts to brown on one side. Crumble in the tofu and add in the potatoes, stirring well. Cook for about 5 minutes, then lower heat to medium-low and cover, stirring occasionally. Cook until the potatoes are tender.

Breakast Burrito

• dinner-for-breakfast scramble
• 6 – 8 tortillas (or however many you plan on eating–but this should fill 6 – 8 )

In a toaster over or frying pan, lightly toast a tortilla (you want it warm, but not crispy). Generously fill with the above scramble. Top with salsa, if available. Roll up then eat up. Outstanding!

Breakfast Pizza

• dinner-for-breakfast scramble
• 6 pitas (same as above, my friend)
• olive oil OR Earth Balance ™
• ~ 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cups pinto poblano soup OR
  • 2 cups (1 can) cooked refried beans
  • 1 4 oz can of diced green chilis
  • 1/2 poblano or green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin

Prepare the scramble as directed above. If you don’t have pinto poblano soup on hand, add the pepper and chilis in with the onions. When the scramble is ready, mix in either the pinto poblano or the refried beans and spices. Continue heating until it’s heated through and through.

Meanwhile, prepare your pitas. If you don’t have a toaster oven, preheat your over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly brush the pitas with olive oil or slather them with Earth Balance (we used Earth Balance), then sprinkle them generously with dried thyme. Bake in the (toaster) oven until they just start to brown.

Remove them from the oven, then allow them to cool for a few minutes. Dollop the bean-y scramble on them and spread. You can serve these with a fork and knife, or cut them up in advance, pizza-style. Using the latter method, these would make a great brunch treat. Phenomenal!

I may have mentioned this before, but one of my all-time favorite soups is Beezy’s pinto poblano. So, we got a hankerin’ for pinto poblano tonight (which isn’t that weird…I probably hanker for this soup half of my waking hours), but it was 8 o’clock and Beezy’s was closed…so, it was up to us to replicate it, without consulting Bee for a recipe, of course. We always do it the hard way at Irreverent Vegan. I’m not sure how close this was to Bee’s, but (a) it was pretty damn awesome, and (b) we made do with what we had on hand.

Pinto Poblano

• 2 1/2 cups dried pinto beans (or ~3 cans of pinto beans)
• 1 poblano chili, roasted, peeled, and diced
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced
• 1/2 HEAD of garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 4 oz can of diced green chilis (or a second poblano)
• 4 cups veggie stock
• 2 – 4 cups of liquid from cooked/canned beans (or water)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• salt & pepper, to taste

If you’re making the pinto beans from scratch, the first step is to start them; in a pressure cooker, cook 2.5 cups of pinto beans in 8 cups of water for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, start roasting the poblano (using your favorite method or ours). Dice the onion and mince/press the garlic. Toss into a large pot with the diced green chilis (I know, I know, we like it fresh…this probably would have called for another poblano, but we only had one).

Once the poblano is done, peel and seed it, dice it, and add it to the onions, garlic, and chilis.

When the beans are done, add a splash of your oil of choice to the onions, garlic, and  chilis, and begin cooking over medium heat. Remove 2 cups of beans, then mash the remaining beans thoroughly. Add both the mashed and whole beans to the onions, garlic, and chilis, one they’re softened. Add in the veggie stock (we used the remaining stock from our seitan chik’n cutlets). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high and simmer/boil for 30 minutes or more, until thickened to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

Though not exactly like Bee’s, this was still pretty great. Serve with garlic bread!

Disclaimer #1: As is oft the case, I point judicious readers to our ubiquitous confessional “Why I can’t be trusted“. But still, observe:

Gumbos are like unicorns, all alike, but no two exactly alike. There’s a sort of conventional gumbo wisdom that says you need a few common things, but that you are allowed–nay, expected–to play, to invent, to take ownership of your particular gumbo. These things are:

The Southern Soup Holy Trinity: Onion, celery, and green bell pepper. The standard trinity uses carrots instead of peppers.

Okra: Okra.

Roux: This is usually a 1:1 mix of flour and fat (butter, oil, shortening, bacon grease, etc). A gumbo is supposed to be somewhere between a soup and a stew. I find that the natural emulsifier in okra thickens the gumbo to the almost-stew stage on its own, so I ditched the roux in this version. A more authentic version would probably keep the roux and up the stock and/or water.

Meats: These are usually sausage, chicken, and shrimp. We used our tempeh soysage and Joanna/Jennifer’s Seitan Chik’n.

Seasoning: These include cajun spice and gumbo file (fee-lay) powder among others. You can buy a premade cajun spice or make your own. Gumbo file is made from ground sassafras root, sometimes with ground thyme as well. The gumbo file may be a little hard to track down. Our local coop had it (so any place with a good selection of Frontier brand spices). You can also look for ground sassafras.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes.

Disclaimer #2: I fully expect Jennifer from Scrumpdilly to correct me if any/all of this is wrong. She’s actually from Louisiana. She’s made gumbo before. I’ve eaten it. There’s no recipe. Real Southerners keep their gumbo recipes in lead-lined wooden boxes, buried beneath their homes, guarded by raccoons. Fact.

Gumbo

• 1 lb okra, cut into disks
• 1 lb tempeh soysage
• 3 seitan chik’n cutlets, cut into strips
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 small – medium stalks celery, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups tomatoes, with juice (1 large can)
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 4 tsp cajun spice
• 2 tsp gumbo file powder

As with most soups, you’ll want to start by sauteing the onion, pepper, and celery in a large pot over medium heat. When they start to soften, add in the soysage and chik’n strips, browning lightly. Add in the broth, water, tomatoes, spices, and okra, in that order. Bring to a light boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or (better) longer.

Serve on its own, over rice, and/or with Vegan Dad’s Cajun Chickpea Cakes.

Perusing Chow Vegan, we stumbled on this post about chili fries. This seemed like just the thing on an unseasonably warm fall day.

Unlike Chow Vegan, we love beans, so we pressure-cooked some up and made our own chili. We followed the recipe for Spicy Baked Potato Chips, but cut the taters into fry shapes and left out the cayenne, since the chili had enough kick on its own.

We topped it with Follow Your Heart cheddar which, while helping to scratch the cheese part of the chili cheese fry itch, wasn’t ideal. Don’t get me wrong–these were awesome–we just don’t eat a lot of processed stuff and these types of cheeses always feel really processed to me. A homemade nacho cheese probably would have been a better choice, but we’ve been a little nooched out lately and most faux-cheese recipes are centered around the nooch.

Cheese aside, the awesome thing about these is that, though they felt like a total indulgence, they’re actually not bad for you. The fries (a bit of a misnomer here) are actually baked (using a high heat oil–safflower) and the chili was made from scratch with canned tomatoes, freshly cooked black beans, carrots and celery from our garden, and onions from a local farm. Once you get over the psychosomatic “I destroyed myself” feeling, you realize you actually feel pretty good after eating this. Huzzah!

This recipe was reverse-engineered from our favorite dish at our favorite restaurant–Alice and Friends in Chicago. I don’t know if they’ve received divine cooking knowledge from the Supreme Master, but pretty much everything they make is awesome–the secret is a small menu with no filler.

This was surprisingly easy to reproduce. Which is surprisingly easy to say, having not eaten there in two years.

• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and cubed/half-disked
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 HEAD, yes, HEAD of garlic, minced
• 1/3 batch (1 package) seitan, cut into bite-size pieces or strips
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups veggie stock (I like to use the seitan broth)
• 2 tbsp soy paste
• 1/2 knob ginger, grated (or 2 tsp minced)
• 3 tbsp chili paste
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

I’ve adapted this to what’s in my kitchen and/or what’s available at the Asian market down the street, but to be really authentic, you probably want: dwaenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste), gochujjang (Korean fermented red chilli paste), and gochugaru (coarse red chilli powder) in place of their more general versions listed above.

In a large-ish pot, sautee the onion, garlic, and ginger over medium heat until soft. Add the water and veggie stock. Dump in the seitan and veggies. Add the spices, chili paste, and chili powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for at least a half hour, but ideally 45 minutes to an hour. It doesn’t take that long at Alice and Friends…maybe that’s what the Supreme Master’s been trying to tell us. I’m sure she’d (you have to admit, it’s a little refreshing that equal rights has finally penetrated the cult leader circle) want me to let to tell you: the secret to Asian food is time. Let it simmer.

Note: Secret not gleaned from actual Asians.

Put on some brown rice (we like brown basmati with this). When it’s done, your Runaway Potato should be too. Serve over rice and with lightly steamed sesame kale. Prepare for Transcendance.