Red and White Quinoa Kale Salad

Quick update: Recently added Forbidden City Bistro to the Vegchic New England Dining Blog. Check out the post and delicious photos over at vegchic2.blogspot.com.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the Rouxbe Plant Based Cooking Course which I have been excited about starting.  It actually began while I was camping up at Acadia.  I broke out my Kindle, wrangled up a wifi connection, and was able to watch the intro videos.  It is nice that the Rouxbe site works on many platforms and I didn't need to bring a laptop with me.

The first homework assignment was documenting the preparation of my go-to dish.  This was designed to get students accustomed to the photo/upload/grading process.  A portion of the grade was based on a photo of our mise en place.  This is a term I had heard before but never really understood.  For anyone who doesn't know, this is a French phrase which means "putting in place."  Gathering all of your ingredients and getting them ready to go before you start cooking prevents rushing around, trying to simultaneously measure, cook, chop, and add ingredients in time.  It also means you don't get half way through a recipe and notice you are out of cashews.

Here's a photo of my mise en place.  Any ideas as to what I am planning to prepare?

Late last year, I was a recipe tester for an upcoming cookbook titled Going Vegan: The Complete Guide to Making a Healthy Transition to a Plant-Based Lifestyle (Available August 2014).  Our absolute favorite recipe from this book is the Red and White Quinoa and Kale Salad.  The ingredients are fresh, the sauce is wonderful and you can enjoy this as a side or a meal.

Here's the finished product.  Normally, I'd steam the kale.  This time I tried massaging in the the sauce.  It is great either way!

Spicy Smoky Toasty Cheeze Sandwiches

The folks over at Daiya posted a grilled cheeze contest and I thought it would be fun to submit an entry.  My girlfriend was also happy about this because she got to taste test.

You can find my recipe over on their site.  Who knows, maybe it will win.

I'm also posting a copy here as blogspot is a bit more flexible with the formatting.

To be honest my tester was a little dubious of horseradish and grilled cheeze, but she was a convert.  Without hesitation, I can say this is one of my favorite sandwiches ever.
 

Spicy Smoky Toasty Cheeze Sandwiches

Smoky portobellos with Daiya Provolone and creamy horseradish aoili to add a little kick = one incredible sandwich.

Makes 2

Ingredients:
2 Provolone style cheeze slices
2 portobello mushrooms
2 slices of purple onion
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1/4 cup vegan mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried dill
1 1/2 tsp horseradish
1 tsp capers
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp tamari
splash olive oil
splash balsamic vinegar
Earth Balance for toasting

Directions:
Remove gills from the mushrooms, then cut portobellos into slices just under 1/4 inch thick. Cut the slices in half so the mushroom pieces are the almost bite size for the sandwich. Throw the mushrooms directly into a pan on medium heat and let them start cooking while you prepare the sauces.

Smoky Mushroom Sauce: Combine tamari, liquid smoke, splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.

Use a spatula to stir the mushrooms. When all of the liquid has cooked off, pour the sauce into the pan. Continue stirring until the mushrooms are coated and again the liquid has cooked away. Turn of the heat and put mushrooms aside.

Horseradish Aoli: Combine vegan mayo, lemon juice, horseradish, dill, and capers. If you like more spice, feel free to add extra horseradish.

Spread Earth Balance or margarine on two slices of your favorite bread. Spoon some aoli onto one slice, add half the mushrooms, some purple onion, 1/2 the spinach, a Daiya Provolone style slice and cover with the last slice of bread. Toast in a pan a few minutes on each side. Repeat to make second sandwich and enjoy.
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Wow! You are still reading this post?  Superb.  This week I'm beginning the plant based certification course over at Rouxbe.  I'm very excited to start with basics and then progress along completing more than 120 hours of course work.  Chef Chad Sarno will be teaching and there will be some high profile students in the class, like Jason Wrobel. I'm hoping to learn and a share a lot which means more frequent posts.  Stay tuned! 

Vegan Reubens

As mentioned in my previous blog post, the leftover corned seitan from the boiled dinner was used to make Reuben sandwiches.  A typical Reuben consists of corn beef, swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and sauerkraut on grilled rye bread. 

The Chicago Diner's recipe for their Radical Reuben (including the corned seitan and Russian dressing) can be found over on the bottom of this page from Vegetarian Times.

We used some vegan rye from our local bakery and Daiya Swiss slices to put together these amazing sandwiches.  While the bread was toasting, I would heat up the seitan in a pan and let the swiss melt over the top.  Assembly was easy, just use a spatula to deposit the melty seitan and cheeze onto the rye.  Then add some dressing, chopped fresh cabbage and/or sauerkraut.

The delicious Radical Reuben

The time investment is worth it, go make same seitan and enjoy your own Reuben or head to the diner if you are in Chicago.  We just got back from visiting a friend in the Windy City, so I'll post some pictures of our meals at the Chicago Diner soon.