Mongolian BBQ--Seitan Style

Mongolia is a land of high desert studded with
mountain ranges. Perfect for the contry's meat and dairy
industry.

I confess that I've never eaten any kind of food called Mongolian--let alone had it barbecued. The only thing I ever heard about Mongolia was that some parents threatened their kids with being sent to Outer Mongolia for misbehaving, though I never knew any kids who ended up there. At least I don't think I do as none of my pals growing up ever disappeared overnight.

Now I'm pretty good in geography, but I'm going to tell you that I had to get down my globe to find out where Mongolia is. I know, I know, you're all laughing because you know it's a country bordered by Russia and China. Truthfully, I think I must not have been paying attention in geography class the day that part of the globe was being discussed.

So I Googled the country and found out more than my brain wished to remember. All of that research just because I came across a recipe for Mongolian BBQ made with Seitan--a faux meat product made of protein-rich wheat gluten. The dish sounded like something I'd like eating. Spicy. Sweet. Crunchy. Chewy. The accompanying photo made me drool. Well, not really, but almost. And then I discovered that the recipe I was so crazy about wasn't even from Mongolia. Some clever chef once fried up a bunch of beef and put a hot, spicy sauce on it and called it Mongolian BBQ.  That's been it's name ever since. And from what I've learned, the dish is now served in that country, even though it didn't originate there. Figure that one out.

It doesn't matter what you name this recipe. It would taste great if it was known as "Gunk". But I warn you. It is warm on the tongue and the back of the throat, though it doesn't make my mouth hurt or my lips swell in pain. And while the food is spicy, it's a good kind of heat that I found addictive and I wished I'd doubled the recipe. By the time my guests and I finished eating, all that remained was a bit of the steamed rice I'd served as a side. Everything else was gone. Which only means I'm going to have to make it again. And soon. Because yes, it was that good.

MONGOLIAN BBQ

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/4 cup water

1 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. agave nectar

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. sirracha

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

8 oz. mushrooms of your choice

8 oz. package of seitan, cubed or cut into strips

2 tsp. grated ginger, fresh

1 good pinch of cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 big handful of snow peas

2 green onions, sliced thin

1/4 cup diced cilantro

3 cups steamed rice

Make the sauce by combining the first six ingredients together in a small bowl.

Place a large wok or skillet on medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and stir fry the mushrooms and seitan until they are lightly browned. Add the snow peas, scallions, and cilantro and and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and stir fry another 3-5 minutes.

Add the sauce to the pan, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the sauce has thickened. Serve over the steamed rice.

Try not to smack your lips while eating.

Serves 3-4, depending upon how many sides you have.

Vegans are always ready to try something new and tasty.

This recipe has been adapted from the cookbook, Chloe's Ktichen.

Crock-Pot Chowder For Busy Days

I have mixed feelings about my crock pot. Sometimes I absolutely love it; sometimes I hate it. The love part comes in when I know I have a busy day ahead and won't feel up to dealing with dinner. That's when it's good to toss a bunch of odds and ends into its great abyss, set the cover in place, and turn it on to do its thing while being ignored by me.

The hate part comes about because after a while everything begins to taste the same. That's when I relegate the vessel to the large cupboard that sits on my back porch. It's been residing there nearly two years now.

But then the rain rolled in and decided to stay. I wanted soup, but figured I wouldn't feel like going to all the trouble at the end of the day and began thinking of a way I could indulge my senses without having to spend much time in the kitchen. It was then that the light came on. Crock pot something. So I brought the unwieldy appliance into the house, cleaned it all up, and set about throwing things into it that I thought might go together. Nobody was more surprised than I was that the resultant chowder actually tasted great.

Next time you want dinner without much work, give this recipe a try. Let me know if it works for you. I want to warn you in advance that this soup isn't the prettiest one on the block. But it sure tastes great. Happy Slurping!

CORN, BEAN, & COLLARD CHOWDER

Place into the crock pot:

2 cups of frozen corn

1 can of any favorite bean, undrained

1/2 cup diced onion

1 diced Anaheim chili or chili of your choice

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

1 cup frozen collard greens

1 cup soy milk

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup of quinoa, millet, amaranth, or grain of choice

1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
2 garlic cloves, minced

Few drops of your favorite hot sauce

2 Tbs. agave nectar

Salt and pepper to taste

Turn the crock pot to low and ignore it until you get hungry. I served this tummy-filling chowder with biscuits, but any bread of choice will be good for sopping up the last bits of juice. Serves 4

Happy Slurping!

Super Fudge

John's last post mentioned that he had bought a lot of sesame seeds at a co-op. His post stirred up a memory. I knew I had a recipe that called for a lot of sesame seeds. What was it? Where was it?

It is called Super Fudge and the recipe was right where I put it - in the stack of miscellaneous recipes that sit in the corner of my cookbook cupboard.

This is a recipe my mother used to make for us when I was young. She probably found it in a Prevention Magazine or Mother Earth News or one such publication she was reading at the time. We all loved it. I have a copy of the recipe on an 8.5 x 11 piece of regular white paper, typed by Mom, smudged by me.

The recipe calls for honey. I know, I know. Honey is not in a vegan diet. You can substitute agave nectar. Agave nectar is a little thinner than honey, you may need to add a little extra carob powder or nuts to get the texture right. I was gifted two bottles of Wisconsin honey and I couldn't resist using it today. Thank you bees. I honor your efforts. I marvel at your expertise.

Carob Super Fudge

Grease an eight inch square pan liberally.
Assemble these ingredients:
1 cup honey (or agave nectar)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup carob powder
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds or a mix of chopped seeds
1/2 cup dried fruit (raisin, currants, dates)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

heat honey and peanut butter - I used the micro wave
quickly add the carob powder and mix well
add the rest of the ingredients and dump into an eight inch square pan -
spread evenly into the pan with your fingers
refrigerate for about an hour to firm the mixture
cut into small squares

This fudge is very rich. I have seen a fudge that looks very similar sold in small cubes, about 1x1x1 inch. If you have more will power than I have, this recipe will last a long time.

A Seedy Tale

It's just about everyone's favorite snack. But it's also a flower, a vegetable, a clothing dye, an ointment, and a snake bite remedy. It can grow to 20 feet high and produce a flower 2 feet in diameter. It has a brown center that's packed with seeds. What is it?

If you guessed Sunflower, you're right. Although the plant is native to North America, it is now grown all around the world. The seeds are large, sprout easily, and do their best when sown directly in a hot, sunny spot.

The resultant plant does well in nearly any kind of soil, fends for itself during drought, and seldom has disease or insect problems. The large, yellow flowerhead with its center of brown seeds numbering in the hundreds is attractive to birds, squirrels, mice, and any other seed-eating critter poking around the garden--including man.

It's the seeds that man and beast fight over. They are miniature power houses packed with unsaturated fats, protein, fiber, vitamin E, copper, zinc, selenium and high in magnesium and contain absolutely no cholesterol. The seeds are considered to be a great energy source and according to nutritionists, a single handful will temporarily satisfy a person's hunger.

One year when my kids were quite young, I bought a pack of sunflower seeds and sent them out to the garden to plant them wherever they wished. Weeks later, I began noticing sunflowers sprouting all around the house. I suspected more than a few seeds had been dropped on their way to the garden, even though the kids claimed only to have planted them where they'd been told.

Almost overnight I was awash in gangly green plants that hovered over everything else in the yard, and looked more like scrawny scarecrows with bright yellow heads than the prim plantings one would expect in a suburban home. It didn't take the birds long to begin noticing the seed-maturing stage. They checked daily to see how things were progressing, but no more than did my own kids who thought the minute the flower appeared it was time to cut it off and eat the seeds.

It was a daily ritual to check the seed production and I tired of the game way too soon. At my wit's end with all the begging to get the seeds into their stomachs, I finally gave in and cut the flowerheads off.

We were supposed to let them dry for at least a week but the kids wouldn't hear of it. So I spread newspapers on the kitchen table and let them have at it. We had seeds and fluff and a general mess all over the kitchen, but once the seeds were pretty much separated out, we gave them a good rinse and laid them on a cookie sheet.

I sprayed them with salt and olive oil and roasted them to a golden brown. They were crispy and nutty and doggone addicting. All 4 dozen of them. I had told the kids it was too soon to pick them. Sometimes a visual lesson is a better teacher than any verbal argument.

Sunflower, Cranberry & Oat Granola Bars

1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal

3/4 cup sunflower kernels, roasted and salted

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.

Mix the vegetable oil, brown sugar and agave nectar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir till everything is well coated. Press the mixture into a greased 8x8x2 inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with additional sunflower seeds and coconut if desired. Bake 25-30 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven. While the bars are still warm, press the surface gently with the back of a spoon to flatten them. Score into bars with a knife. Let cool completely.  Makes 24 bars that are easy to carry in a purse, pocket, or briefcase.


Copyright 2011 by Sandra L Keith, All rights reserved