Zesty & Spicy

If you like food, we'll get along *^_^*

My ultimate vegan sandwich

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This is another amazing way to use the seitan we’ve created the other day.

Lately, it’s my go to sandwich at either breakfast (I ate one a few minutes ago), lunch or dinner when I don’t feel like breaking my head much and want something that will keep me full for hours.  It’s honestly massive and kind of hard to bite through it but, obviously, nothing worth having comes easy in life right? XD

Joke aside, when I get sandwiches this high in restaurants, it makes giggle because there’s no way to look proper while eating this and it becomes a great exercise of “no giving a shit” because nobody looks cute trying open their mouth way too wide to fit an enormous sandwich in it.  You clearly don’t have to make it that big but, like they say…. go big or go home!? XD

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Under 20 minutes seitan pasta for one

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After throwing you in to the seitan world, it would be a good idea to give you a little inspiration on what you can make it it.  If you’ve made a batch of my homemade seitan recipe already, this super quick pasta dish might be right up your alley.  It literally took me under 20 minutes to get everything ready and it was also eaten in a record time.

Some things in life shouldn’t be complicated and this is the perfect example.  Hope you enjoy this dish.

20 minutes seitan pasta for one
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Quick & Easy
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Serves: 1-2 portions
Ingredients
  • ½ tablespoon of oil (I used avocado)
  • 1 green onion, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons of fresh cream
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ⅛ cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes
  • ½ heaping cup of small cubes of homemade seitan
  • 1 tightly packed cup of cooked buckwheat penne (or any cooked pasta you like)
Instructions
  1. - Start with heating the oil in the pan and drop the seitan cubes. Grill for 3 minutes.
  2. - Add the onions and garlic, keep grilling for another 3 minutes
  3. - drop the rest of the ingredients, cook for an extra 3-4 minutes
  4. - serve and enjoy!
  5. makes 1 big portion or 2 small ones

 

Basic, baked seitan recipe

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If you’re an adept of vegetarian or vegan dishes, you’ve probably came across seitan at least once in your life.  It’s a very versatile animal free protein made with vital wheat gluten (basically straight gluten flour) and it can be flavoured countless of ways to make it taste like chicken, beef, unicorn (lol)…you name it.

This is my personal baked seitan recipe that I use in almost everything but, I don’t think I could classify the taste under “beef” or “chicken” because it really has it’s own flavour profile.  It’s beyond amazing in a vegan gyros, in stir fry and even as a bacon replacement.  You can freeze it easily and it will keep for a decent amount of time in the fridge.  If you’ve already made a batch of my homemade vegetable broth, you’re already half way there for this one.

The classic way to make seitan is to boil it in the broth but I’ve had better results doing it this way because the end result is nice and soft compare to many other recipes out there who give you a very hard like rock seitan.

So let’s start!

Basic seitan recipe
 
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*As you mix, time is important because the flour will start absorbing the liquid and you want to make sure that all the flavours are well mixed in and there's no more white clumps of flour. It's totally ok to use your hands, at the end, to really mix everything in.
Author:
Cuisine: Vegetarian / Vegan
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • Spice mix:
  • - the seeds of 1 black cardamom pod
  • - ½ teaspoon of dried, minced onions
  • - 1 teaspoon of dried, minced garlic
  • - ½ teaspoon of dried marjoram
  • - 1 teaspoon of dried basil
  • - 1 teaspoon of regular paprika
  • - 1 teaspoon of smoked Spanish paprika
  • - ½ teaspoon of salt

  • 1½ cup of vita wheat gluten flour
  • 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
  • 2 cups of homemade vegetable broth
Instructions
  1. - Pre-heat your oven at 325F, line a GLASS loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. - In a mortar, crush the spice mix until powdered.
  3. - In a mixing bowl, add the vital wheat gluten flour and mix in the crushed spiced BEFORE adding the last two wet ingredients.
  4. - Add the tomato paste and the broth, start mixing*
  5. - Transfer the mixture in the loaf pan and press it gently with your hands to form the loaf and remove as many air pockets as possible. This is not an exact science but you just need to shape it a bit. The mixture will keep a very soft like texture and will harden once cooked.
  6. - Bake for 1h covered and then an extra 30minutes uncovered.

 

Mango & Persimmon Smoothie

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I bought a pack of rock hard fuyu persimmons, a few days ago, thinking it would take at least a month before they start to softened.  Surprisingly enough, they only took a few days leaving me with 10 ripen juicy and custardy persimmons to bake with.  One of Max favourite way to start the day is with a fresh smoothie that is both sweet and filling so here we go!

The mango really balance the extreme sweetness of the persimmon while adding a little “zing” to it.  The softened oats are there to add a silky texture and give you enough consistence to make it a perfectly filling way to start your day.

Hope you get to try it *^_^*

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Vegetable soup with ginger & lemongrass

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The inspiration comes from a vegetable soup my grand mother used to make.  She used to cut all the vegetables in super small pieces and I always enjoyed the aesthetic of her presentation.  You could probably chop everything finely by hand but, if you’re in the lazy club (like me), a hand blender or a food processor work wonders.

This recipe isn’t the soup she used to make but, I would like to think it is as good or at least pretty close.

 Delicate, slightly sweet and made with our homemade vegetable broth.  The fennel leaves used as garnish but also as a component in the soup really shine with the star anise in the broth.  The ginger giving it a nice kick and the lemongrass as the last taste hitting your palate.  When it comes time to buy fennel, I always try to get the complete plant with the long rods and a lot of bright green leaves.  Back home, I’ll cut it up in “parts” and keep the leaves in a separate container to use them like any other fresh herbs.  Next time, I’ll probably add a little extra lemongrass because the taste could have been more pungent and, I would encourage you to do the same if you’re a big fan of lemongrass.

Makes three big portions or four smaller ones. Bon appétit!

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Vegan “Ground Unicorn Meat”

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Trying to eat less meat, sometimes it gets a little complicated because you wished you had some sort of “ground meat” type like protein but those store bought versions often contain too much salt, carrageenan or even worst, ingredients we can barely pronounced.

This is my own version for vegan “ground beef” which obviously isn’t beef but has some sort of beefy flavour although I like to call it unicorn meat since they are kind trendy right now and it always make people smile when I present them a dish made with this little concoction.  Use it pretty much like you would use ground meat, it’s perfect for taco, stuffed peppers, spaghetti sauce, lasagna and more!  Get creative, this recipe wont disappoint.

The only small detail to remember is when you shred your tofu block with your hands, make sure you keep decently big pieces or reduce the cooking time a little, if you have a lot of small pieces, so they don’t burn.

Have fun!

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Cloud 9 Eggs with a “Garlicy” Roasted Tomato

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Such an easy and interesting recipe the Cloud 9 eggs.  A leaky yellow ready for you to dip your toast in and a fluffy, almost like a perfect cloud textured egg white is my second favourite way to eat eggs after being poached.

So either you’re searching for a new fun way to jazz up your mornings before work or to impress a conquest… This neat little trick might make you look more skilled in the kitchen than you actually are.

Enjoy  *^_^*

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Spinach & Tomato Galette with Hard Boiled Eggs

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It was my first time making a galette of any kinds and like the girls from Food52 said in their video for the NY Times, making a galette is super easy and it’s one of those meal where you don’t really need a recipe and, once you understand the principles, and/or you already have your dough recipe ready, it’s only a question of filling.

A few days ago, without any recipe but with a head full of ideas, I gave it a shot.  The dough came out hard and cracky like I wanted and although it was a “win”, I promised myself to make a different crust for each future galettes because… well… they are worth it!

I sincerely hope you get around to try this one.  We ate it as a breakfast with a hard boiled egg but by all mean be creative and eat it for lunch and dinner as well.

SpinachTomatoGalette01

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The Green Soup

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This is a nice example of simple who met amazing.

For you, an humble green soup made with fresh, seasonal ingredients and a dash of love.  I hope the creamy taste and texture of the end result will comfort you while you’re cuddled up in a warm blanket looking outside at the colour of the leaves dancing in front of your eyes.

Fall, a time for cuddles and great soups.

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