Seitan, Mashed Potatoes, Cajun Collards, and Brown (Diner) Gravy

You do realize that the seitan and mashed potatoes are simply an excuse to make gravy? Gravy that is so flippin’ good, you could very well drink it. Or put it in a bowl and eat it as soup. Mmmmm, gravy soup. I’ll get on that. In the meantime, I’ll share one of my favorite gravy recipes. And if you want to health it up, which you will, because the healthy part is just as awesome, make some Cajun Collards to go with. In fact, I command you to make the collards to go with. You won’t regret it!

Brown (Diner) Gravy (from the Chicago Diner Cookbook)

This recipe is made in three parts: the dry spice mix, the roux, and the final gravy. The dry spice mix will last several months stored in an air-tight container. Having it already prepared makes gravy-making quick and easy whenever you’re ready for it.

Spice Mix:
2 1/2 cups nutritional yeast
1/3 cup dried parsley
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. dried dill
2 1/2 Tbsp. celery seed
2 1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. rosemary

Mix all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Store in an air-tight container.

Roux:
1/3 cup mild vegetable oil
1/3 cup flour

Heat oil in saucepan, then add flour, stirring constantly with a whisk until flour browns and develops a nutty aroma. Roux burns easily, so be very careful not to over-cook.*

Gravy:
4 cups light vegetable stock
1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup spice mix

In a medium pot, bring vegetable stock and soy sauce to a high simmer. Gradually whisk in roux and whisk until desired thickness.**

*Maybe it’s cheating, but I often cook my roux in the microwave: Put the oil and flour in a glass measuring cup, stir, and heat on high for 2-3 minutes. Stop. Stir. Then, heat in 30 second increments until browned. You can do this ahead of time and let it sit until you’re ready for it. Much easier!

**Sometimes I like my gravy super-thick. When that’s the case, I cut the vegetable broth in half, remove the soy sauce from the recipe completely, and use the same amount of roux and spice mix. Be careful though, because this version has the potential to be too salty. You might try using a low-sodium broth and adding salt to taste.

Cajun Collards (from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson)
(Serves 4)

1 1/2 lbs. collard greens
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
1 celery rib, minced
1/2 large green bell pepper, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained*
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. filé powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the collards in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, 20-30 minutes. Drain, then coarsely chop and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cover and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, thyme, filé, and cayenne. Add the collards, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir to coat the collards with the onion mixture. Simmer until the flavors are blended, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Two-Sisters Chili (steamin’ hot)

I named this recipe Award-winning Two-Sisters Chili, because it has won an award, and because I have two sisters, one of whom gave me this recipe. I also like the name Two-Sisters, because my version* of Two-Sisters chili uses two of the Three Sisters or the MesoAmerican Plant Trilogy**.

The award for this chili was bestowed upon me by the omnis at my office when they voted it second place in our annual chili cookoff. And we don’t categorize our chilis at work. All the chilis get equal treatment vegan or not. So imagine an office full of omnis and what they’d probably prefer in a chili. The only one to beat out this Two Sisters had meat and beer in it. That’s how damn good this chili is! It took a freakin’ Guinness to beat it out in a contest. Damn good!

Award-winning Two-Sisters Chili

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup corn (frozen or fresh) or carrots (chopped or shredded)***
2 large tomatoes (or 1 can whole tomatoes, with liquid)
1 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
3 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 - 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cans red kidney beans, with liquid (or 2 cans kidney and 1 can other bean, like pinto or black)

Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add corn or carrots, continuing to saute until soft. If using fresh tomatoes, add here and cook until softened. Add vinegar, chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, and cayenne, and stir until well-mixed and mimics a thin paste. If using canned tomatoes, add here. Add beans. Stir well, turn heat down to medium-low and continue cooking for 30 minutes. May cook longer, but turn heat down to low after 30 minutes. Serve over rice.****

*My sister’s version called for carrots; I prefer corn instead, so I gave you the option. Both add a sweet contrast to the spicy chili.
**I learned maize, beans, and squash to be the MesoAmerican Plant Trilogy. When I taught geography, I taught it as the same. I never heard of Three Sisters until I encountered it outside of academia.
***I used corn instead of carrots, as I mentioned already and as the picture shows.
****I can’t figure out if it’s a family thing or a Louisiana thing, but I’ve always preferred eating my chili over rice. So does my sister.

Cream Gravy

By now, you must know the one and only rule of this site: I have to love it before I’ll post about it. It’s not enough to give something a shot, decide it was so-so, then post here about how I gave it a shot, so here’s the not-so-thrilling recipe. But, see, I gave it a shot, so love my blog anyway. Nope, not how it works. So realize my dismay when I had this incredible craving last night for cream gravy and it turned out to be a wreck. A gravy trainwreck.

But you throw it away or feed it to the dogs or put it to compost, then pick right back up and start over again. And, lo and f’in’ behold, it was all worth it. My gravytrain just pulled into the station.

Cream Gravy*

1 T. canola oil
1/4 cup flour
1-1/2 cups rice milk** (do not use soy milk)
salt and pepper to taste***
dash of white pepper (optional)

Place iron skillet on medium-high heat for about one minute to heat it up. Add oil and swirl to cover bottom of skillet. Add flour and stir briskly with whisk. While stirring flour, slowly add 1 cup of the rice milk. Stir continuously working lumps to the side and bottom of the skillet until few or no lumps remain and gravy thickens. Add last 1/2 cup rice milk, stirring continuously until thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add white pepper for an extra kick.

*Sometimes called Milk Gravy or White Gravy. This gravy is used to top fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, and biscuits in Texas and other parts of the deep south.

**Soy milk changes properties when heated and gives the gravy a sweet, nutmeg flavor that is simply wrong. Plus, it looked odd. Rice milk makes this gravy taste and look just right.

***I used 10 twists of my salt grinder and enough black pepper to make it “look” right (see pics). White pepper in addition to black pepper adds an extra bit of awesome.

Cream Gravy over seitan

Creamy, Southern Potato Salad

I’m a snot. I admit it. In fact, I’ve admitted it more than once just today. Being a snot means that I frown on recipes that take the easy way out (”egg replacer for one egg”). C’mon, gimme a meaningful substitution. Or several. Subs that are so subtle, my un-culinary self doesn’t even know what they’re doing, or how they work, or which part of the recipe is a substitute for the properties I’m omitting. Like the binding agent, the fluffing mechanism. Keep me guessing, because “one egg replacer” isn’t gonna make me guess at all. It makes me 100% certain you were a lazy bum. C’mon.

So after almost two years of being a substitution snot, I decided to veganize one of my favorite recipes. And guess what? There is just one, simple, easy substitution - that’s right, just one - that takes this fave-o-mine straight to vegan-licious.

Now I’m thinking, in all fairness, I probably have to take all that snobbery right back. Or. Do. I?

Creamy, Southern Potato Salad* (PotSal**)

8 redskin potatoes, boiled and cut into chunks
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 c. dill pickle relish
3/4 c. mayonnaise substitute (I used Vegenaise)
3-4 tsp. mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c. sliced green olives, optional
paprika, optional

Mash potatoes in large bowl until desired consistency. Add onion, bell pepper, dill pickle relish, mayo substitute, mustard, and salt/pepper. Mix until combined. Smooth and layer top with green olives and/or sprinkle with paprika. Both are optional and both are delicious either alone or in combination. (For a more tangy PotSal, add more mustard; creamier, add more vegan mayo.)

*Recipe altered from high school BFF’s sister’s recipe
**I call Potato Salad, “PotSal”, because it’s fun and makes people take a second look.