Chow Vegan

Now that I have a dough that I can actually work with, I’ve been making my very own hot pockets. It’s so easy and simple. It’s basically the same dough from VegWeb that I had used for Seitan in a Blanket with just an extra bit of seasonings.

This is totally the dough for me – I don’t have to deal with yeast or anything scary like that. Doesn’t matter if the pockets don’t come out perfect and are sadly misshapen like mine. Let’s just say they’re “rustic”.

The filling can be pretty much whatever you want. I used leftovers, making it super quick as well as getting rid of stuff in the fridge. I made one with pizza sauce, Daiya Mozzarella and sliced seitan dogs. I still had a bit of Cantonese Style Curry hanging around so I used that in the other pocket.

The topping is King Arthur Flour Everything Bread & Bagel Topping – a blend of poppy and sesame seeds, dried onion, garlic and salt. It’s a little bit on the salty side with the topping. So I tried the dough with and without the salt and it works either way if you’re looking to cut down on the sodium.

Super Easy DIY Pockets
Makes 2 pockets

Crust
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
Large pinch of bread topping

Filling
Can be anything from

• pizza sauce, seitan sausage and vegan cheese
• curry veggies
• sautéed spinach and mushrooms and vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all of the crust ingredients, except the water and bread topping, in a bowl and mix until it looks like coarse meal. Add a little bit of water at a time, mixing until the dough comes together in a ball (I added less than a 1/4 cup of water).

Sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on the work surface and rolling pin so the dough doesn’t stick. Divide the dough in half and roll it out into a thin circle. The thinness should be based on what you’re planning to fill it with. For the pizza filling, it can be fairly thin; for something like the curry where it’s a bit more chunky, it should be thicker otherwise you start to get holes poking through.

Place the filling on one side, leaving about an 1/2 inch edge, do not over stuff. Carefully bring the other side over the top and press along the edges to seal. Repeat with the other dough half.

Place the pockets on a well-oiled baking sheet and brush the tops with olive oil. Sprinkle with the bread topping. Bake for about 20 minutes until the top and edges are lightly browned and warmed through.

The winner of the Appetite for Reduction cookbook is number 20.

Congratulations to Stephanie! Please email me your mailing address and I’ll send the cookbook right out to you.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

A few days ago, I got to scarfed down homemade vegan English muffins. They were so fluffy and tender! Of course I didn’t make them, that would be like some sort of crazy baking miracle. Although, technically they aren’t baked. They’re cooked in a skillet.

My sister made a batch of regular English muffins for her kids. But in a separate skillet, she cooked up a couple of vegan ones in olive oil for me. She’s getting to be quite the baker nowadays, with a starter named “Bob” and all.

The recipe for the English muffins came from the bread baking cookbook Tartine Bread, by Chad Robertson of the renowned Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. A beautifully designed cookbook with gorgeous photography by Eric Wolfinger, it’s an in-depth step-by-step guide to making the phenomenal Tartine artisanal bread at home.

Something I won’t be making any time soon, even though it’s specifically designed for the home baker to get professional results from a conventional oven. My sister did offer me some of her starter, but I’ll just wait to be invited over for a slice of freshly baked bread. The most I’m going to do, is remember to bring over my tub of Earth Balance soy-free butter.

Appetite for Reduction Cookbook Giveaway
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway, it ends tomorrow, Monday, February 21st.

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase.

There’s so many tempting recipes in Appetite for Reduction, I can’t seem to put the cookbook down. The thought of trying any one of those 125 recipes follows me around all day like a little puppy. Besides the 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma, here’s what I’ve made so far:

• Pad Thai Salad (pictured above) – one of my favorite Thai dishes but in a refreshing salad form. The Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing that goes on it, totally makes the salad. The dressing is a little bit on the thin side. Blending it in a mini food processor, some of the liquid leaked out, but none of the flavor. I’ve been using the dressing on all sorts of other things.
• Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce – so easy to make. I had it with butternut squash ravioli, but really I could just eat it by the spoonful.

• Scallion Potato Pancakes (pictured above) – it’s hard to find a good rendition of scallion pancakes in restaurants, usually they’re way too greasy. So it’s nice to be able to make a baked version at home out of potatoes. It doesn’t taste exactly like the ones made out of flour but it’s still very tasty.
• Cranberry-Cashew Biryani – not really a brown rice eater, but I like it in this recipe. The yummy flavors helped a lot.

I really liked cooking from this cookbook, I think you’ll like it too. So I’m giving away a copy of Appetite for Reduction.

To enter the giveaway:
Leave a comment in this post with your worst vegan junk food addiction (because you know, acknowledgment is the first step). Comment must be made by midnight PST on Monday, February 21st; one entry per person. No purchase is necessary to enter or win.

One winner will be randomly selected (using random.org) from the comments received and announced in a new post on Tuesday, February 22nd. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be randomly chosen. Prize awarded is the cookbook that I received from the publisher (approximate retail value $19.95). I did not drool on it.

Official Rules:
Open only to U.S. residents age 18 and over. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Void where prohibited by law. Any tax is the sole responsibility of the winner. Winner releases Chow Vegan from any liability arising out of participation in this giveaway or the acceptance, use or misuse of the prize.

Disclosure: I received the cookbook free of charge from the publisher to review. The opinions and experience with the cookbook expressed herein are my own. There was no pay to say.

This post also contains Amazon links, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on any of the links and make a purchase of anything.

Eating vegan doesn’t necessarily mean healthy eating (shocking, I know). Sure there’s fruits and veggies galore, but there’s also plenty of vegan junk food to go around, not to mention high fat, high sodium and any number of highly processed vegan food. I’m guilty of eating all of these things.

But then, I received a review copy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s latest cookbook, Appetite for Reduction. Hallelujah.

There’s so many yummy sounding recipes, covering a range of cuisines and dishes complete with nutritional information for each one. Having never really cooked Indian food before, I decided to make the 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma – a rich, creamy, mildly spicy curry with vegetables.

Super easy to make and so flavorful and it only took about 30 minutes. Can you tell I used an orange cauliflower? Also known as “cheddar” cauliflower, it’s just like a regular white one except it has extra beta-carotene (hence the brilliant orange color and 25% more vitamin A).

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma
Serves 4

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small red onion, quartered and sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 pounds cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
1 pound zucchini, cut on a bias in 1/4-inch slices
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut on a bias in 1/4-inch slices
3/4 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup light coconut milk
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Extra chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Use a little nonstick cooking spray if needed. Add the garlic and ginger, and sauté for another minute.

Add the broth to deglaze the pan. Mix in the spices and salt. Add the cauliflower, zucchini, and carrots. They won’t be completely submerged, but that’s okay. Cover the pot and turn up the heat to bring the broth to a boil. Let boil for 7 to 10 minutes, until the veggies are tender.

Add the peas, coconut milk, agave, and cilantro (if using). Taste for salt. Turn off the heat and let the flavors meld for about 5 minutes. Serve the korma in bowls over rice, garnished with cilantro.

From the book Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright (c) 2010.

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.

Forget Valentine’s Day candy. How about little bite-sized morsels of ice cream covered in chocolaty goodness? You know I’ve always had a thing for mini food. Almond Dream Bites are basically a non-dairy, gluten-free version of a bon bon with no trans fat or highly refined sugars.

Spot-on and so very good – the almond milk ice cream has a smooth and creamy texture. The taste is just like vanilla ice cream with a hint of almond flavor. The chocolate covering is rich with a really nice crunch. It’s everything you would expect in a frozen novelty treat.

One serving is 15 pieces for 230 calories; about three servings in a container. That’s a lot of bites. I usually only eat about five of them at any one time, as that’s more than enough for me. So if I did my math correctly, that’s only about 77 calories, not too bad on the waistline.

Currently on sale at my local Whole Foods for $3.49 until February 15th, regular price is $4.29. There’s also a $1.00 off any two Dream beverage or frozen products coupon on their website. I’ll definitely be stocking up.

Related Links
Cherry Jubilee Ice Cream From The Vegan Scoop
Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Ice Cream Review
So Delicious Ice Cream Sandwiches

When I was little, I remember these humgunous grapefruit-looking things just sitting around the house at this time of year. I’m not fond of grapefruits. Their sour taste lands them one step below the much dreaded bell pepper which I dislike even more.

I don’t recall how or why, but I must have given pomelos a try at some point, because I sure like them now. They don’t have the bitterness of a grapefruit, they’re way sweeter. I can totally eat them – it’s like a sweet, very mild version of grapefruit.

Largest of the citrus fruits, pomelos are about the size of a small watermelon. Called boo look in Cantonese, they’re also known as Chinese grapefruit and are popular for Chinese New Year as it symbolizes abundance.

In season from mid-January to mid-February, I’ve spotted pomelos at farmer markets, Costco, Whole Foods and Asian supermarkets, about two fifty to three bucks for one. The color is a light green and turns yellow as it ripens. You know it’s ready to eat when you can smell its floral scent from a mile away.

To eat, cut off a bit of the top and then make vertical cuts going into the extra thick skin with a sharp knife (be careful not to actually cut into the flesh). I find it easier turning the pomelo upside-down and going from the bottom to the top. Pull the sliced peel away from the flesh.

Pull the fruit in half to make it easier to handle. The membrane and pith is very thick and very bitter. Do not eat any of that, just pull it all off to reveal the coral pink fruit segment. I like to eat mine cold so after peeling off the outer skin, I stick it in the fridge to chill for a refreshing, sweet treat. Just in time for the Lunar New Year, which is tomorrow, February 3rd.

Best wishes for health, wealth and happiness in the Year of the Rabbit.
Happy Chinese New Year!

Related Links
Chinese New Year Feast
Buddhists Delight