Vegan Mofo #13: Avocados Stuffed with Peruvian Chicken Mayonnaise 2 Ways...

When we were in Peru last September we ate a lot of really good vegan food. Vegan food is not as easy to come by in Peru as it was for us in other places in Central/South America but when you can find it, it’s very good. We enjoyed a lot of simple stews, lima beans, butter beans, corn, and definitely avocados. We took full advantage of the popular ‘plate of the day’ set up that most Peruvian restaurants have around lunchtime. Usually for a few bucks you get a nicely portioned meal with all the staples.

We didn’t have a Vegetarian version of Chicken Mayonnaise while we were in Peru, but I found a recipe for it in a Peruvian cook book that I found intriguing. There is certainly no shortage of Avocados in Peru, and they’re a lot bigger then the ones you buy around here. Anyway, since avocados are one of my favorite foods, and everyone loves a good ‘chicken’ salad, I thought I’d try my hand at making a more compassionate, chicken friendly version of this dish.

I think this would make a great starter to a dinner party, but it’s just as easily enjoyed as a main course along with a side salad. You’ll be surprised at how filling these little avocado boats are!

Avocados Stuffed with Peruvian Chicken Mayonnaise 2 Ways

Beyond Meat Version 

2 tsp Olive Oil
2 Ripe Avocados Peeled, Sliced in Half, Pits removed
1 Box Beyond Meat Chicken Strips Diced
1 Small Carrot Minced
1 Celery Stalk Diced
4 Green Onions Sliced
4 Kalamata Olives Minced
½-1 tsp Smoked Sea Salt
1/3 Cup Vegan Mayo
Black Pepper to taste
Strips of Red Bell Pepper to Garnish (Optional)

Chickpea Version 

2 tsp Olive Oil
2 Ripe Avocados Peeled, Sliced in half, pits removed
1 15oz Can Chickpeas rinsed and Drained
1 Small Carrot Minced
1 Celery Stalk Diced
4 Green Onions Sliced
4 Kalamata Olives Minced
½-1 tsp Smoked Sea Salt
1/3 Cup Vegan Mayo
Black Pepper to taste
Strips of Red Bell Pepper to Garnish (Optional)


Instructions - Beyond Meat Version 

- Heat the Olive Oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the diced beyond meat and cook for 6-8 minutes until nicely browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and place into a large mixing bowl.

- Add the carrot, celery, and half the onion. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the carrot is soft. Add a dash more oil if needed. When the veggies are soft remove from the pan and place into the bowl with the beyond meat.

- Add the remaining raw onion, olives, smoked salt, pepper, and vegan mayo to the bowl, stir thoroughly to combine.

- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

- Spoon the beyond meat mixture into the center of each avocado half. Place the halves on a serving plate, and garnish with red pepper strips. Add a dash of sriracha if you like things spicy!

Instructions - Chickpea Version.

- Place the drained, rinsed chickpeas into a serving bowl and mash with a potato masher. You do not need to mash every pea, just get a somewhat mashed consistency.

- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, and half the onion. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the carrot is soft. When the veggies are soft remove from the pan and place into the bowl with the mashed chickpeas.

- - Add the remaining raw onion, olives, smoked salt, pepper, and vegan mayo to the bowl, stir thoroughly to combine.

- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

- Spoon the chickpea mixture into the center of each avocado half. Place the halves on a serving plate, and garnish with red pepper strips. Add a dash of sriracha if you like things spicy!

Christmas 2014...

My Amazing Cook Book Haul from this year!

Christmas this year started out the way that Christmas usually does in my house. I got up early - although not as early as I normally do, this year I slept till 7am - and started cooking. By 9:30am or so It was present time! I got some lovely stuff, a toque and money from my mother, a TON of awesome Vegan cook books from my Parents-In-Law and Brother-In-Law, and some delicious tea, a really great loose-leaf tea thermos, and some cool DVD’s from my husband - but the gift that really made Christmas was my husband - despite us setting a $60 limit - bought me a 5 Quart Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer! Man I have wanted one of these things for years and years and I always put off buying one because I say “It’s too expensive.” It’s always next time, next time, next time and then I can never bring myself to actually spend the money because I figure at this point my whisking arm is so strong why bother. Still, every time I pass by one in the store, I think “Some day kitchen aid, some day” and This Christmas was that day! I can’t wait to use it on something!

I have the best husband in the world!!!!

Now, enough about gifts, what you really came here for was the food right? Well, as I said we did our Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve this year, and so on Christmas Day we were just planning on munching finger foods and dessert. Our breakfast was light, Stollen as is tradition in my house. I believe I mentioned last year that my Oma is normally the one that bakes stollen in my family and she gives one to all her kids and grandchildren. However since she past away last year at Canadian Thanksgiving there was noone to make Stollen anymore, and so I took it upon myself last year to make some. I used the same base recipe this year and made my substitutions and while I think it turned out well, it somehow wasn’t as good as last year. I think I was too cocky this year. Last year I hovered and I was fussy about it because I wanted them to turn out perfect. This year I was preoccupied and busy and I paid less attention and so the bottoms got a little over-cooked. Not burnt but just more brown then they should have. Overall they still tasted great, but I learned a valuable lesson about patience and baking!  I made two stollen again, one with almonds for me, and one without for my husband. I actually also made 3 gluten-free stollen. One for myself, one for my gluten-free friend D and one for my friend NB. At first I thought the gluten-free version wouldn’t be able to hold water to the original, but it surprisingly turned out pretty good, more dense then a traditionally stollen but just as tasty! So that was a nice surmise I only wish I’d remembered to take a picture of them. Sorry!

Almond Stollen

Almond-Free Stollen

So, with breakfast done, and peasants done, and the cleanup taken care of I went back to working on the finger food, which inevitably took longer then initially expected. I did however have enough down time before guests arrived to shower, change, and take a few peaceful breaths. Then the family was over and after a bit of mingling it was time to eat!

Stollen - Sliced and Buttered

I was quite excited to try out this Korean BBQ Satay from Joni Marie Newman’s book “Fusion Food In The Vegan Kitchen” It’s a simple broiled tofu recipe, but what makes it special is it’s marinated and slathered in Korean BBQ. The sauce is made with roasted red peppers, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, green onions, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar. At first the combination seemed strange but it was amazingly delicious. Not a single one of these slices was left over.

Korean BBQ Satay

I couldn’t resist making the Caramelized Onion and Apple Tart which is one of the few savory options from Hannah Kaminsky’s book “Easy as Vegan Pie”- I’ve been wanting to make this for forever and so I’m glad I finally got around to it. It’s very simple, you caramelize red onions, add sliced apple, thyme, white wine, and balsamic vinegar then spread it onto some puff pastry and bake. The recipe also calls for chopped walnuts but I left those off since my husband doesn’t like them. This tart also went over like gangbusters and almost none of it was left.

Caramelized Onion and Apple Tart

I also made the Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings from Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg’s book “Spork-Fed” this is another one of those recipes that I’ve been wanting to make for forever, but I so rarely have cause to make buffalo wings, and whenever I’m actually in the mood for such a thing I typically get it at a favorite vegan restaurant in the city. The seitan I made in advance using my standard go-to chicken style seitan recipe. I tried to shape the pieces into ‘wings’ but they came out looking more like cocktail sausages. Oh well! These were delicious. I liked the Spork-fed girls buffalo sauce which was hot but not too hot, and this was a pretty simple preparation. These also went over super well and I served them with the Creamy Vegan Ranch from Lane Gold’s wonderful little book “Vegan Junk Food” Seriously this was probably the best vegan Ranch dressing I’ve ever had - homemade or otherwise. Actually it just might be the best Ranch ever. It is so rich, so creamy, so decadent and so delicious. Everyone agreed!

Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings

Creamy Vegan Ranch

Next up I made a platter of delicious crostini. On the left is the Butternut Bruschetta with Caramelized Onions and on the right is the Smashed Avocado and Roasted Beet Crostini both from Chloe Coscarelli’s book “Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen.” Both of these appetizers were delicious and both went over very well. The beet Crostini even won over a few avid beet haters and people who were previously indifferent to beets! Both recipes were also super simple but packed loads of awesome flavor, it’s hard for me to decide which one I liked better but I’ll say it never would have occurred to me to use squash on crostini or to pair avocado and beets together in this way. I really love all of Chloe’s books for their simplicity, originality, and deliciousness, she never disappoints me or my guests!

Butternut Bruschetta with Caramelized Onions
Smashed Avocado and Roasted Beet Crostini

Since a holiday can’t be a holiday without a ‘cheeseball’ of sorts I decided to make the Walnut and Current Veganzola Ball from Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman’s book “500 Vegan Recipes.” I’ve actually wanted to make this for sometime as well but never find reason to. Recently though I saw Joni post about it on her blog and I thought “Yes, this year I’m making it!” it’s a fairly simple recipe using tofu, olive oil, flaxseed, miso, garlic, liquid smoke, walnuts, currents and salt and pepper. I expected this ball to be a little sharper in taste, like a Gorgonzola as the name kind of implies, but it was a very mild tasting ‘cheese.’ In fact I added a touch of lemon juice and a pinch more salt and miso to give it a bit more ‘umami.’ but it was still rather mild. Good, but not what I was expecting. I also didn’t have enough currents, I only had about 1/4 C when the recipe called for ½ C so I subbed in raisins but rather then go with regular old black raisins I used golden and I think this actually worked really well. Even my husband who normally doesn’t like cheese of any kind - vegan or dairy - dug into this ball with enthusiasm. In the book they suggest crumbling leftover cheeseball over salad, and I actually think that’ll taste really good, so I plan to use what I have left over on a kale salad tonight!

Walnut and Current Veganzola Ball

The cheesy trend continues as I decided to make a few dishes from John Schlimm’s book “The Cheesy Vegan” I’ve been eying the Blue Moon Dip for some time now and thought this was the perfect opportunity to make it. This is suppose to be a blue cheese dip of sorts and I think it tastes very much like blue cheese. It’s super simple to make, just crumble some tofu into a bowl of vegan mayo, add lime juice, tahini, garlic, onion powder, and apple cider vinegar. So amazing on crackers or bread and it went so well with the Flying Buffalo Dip - also from The Cheesy Vegan. I just couldn’t resist making the buffalo dip even though I already had buffalo wings on the table. It just looked too good and it seemed to me that the blue moon dip and the buffalo dip were a team of sorts. Can’t have one without the other. This was also a really simple dip to make tofu, vegan cheddar, vegan mayo, lemon juice, cider vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and hot sauce all mixed into a bowl together for yummy, decadent perfection!

Blue Moon Dip

Flying Buffalo Dip

Lastly from I decided to also try Schlimm’s The Sailor’s Spinach Dip. This was also a really easy dip. Cashews are used as the base and they’re soaked in wine and vegetable stock after being toasted. Once that’s done you combine them with frozen, thawed spinach, garlic, onion, lime juice, pepper, and cider vinegar. This dip was a bit more tangy then I normally like my spinach dip and so I added a bit of salt, a touch of miso, and a dollop of vegan mayo to kind of even it out a bit, and it ended up tasting amazing. This recipe made a lot though, and I’m not sure that the omnivores at the party liked it quite as much as their gross store-bought non-vegan spinach dip, but what do omnivores know anyway?

The Sailor’s Spinach Dip

Somehow in the whirlwind leading up to Christmas I decided that one cheeseball simply wasn’t enough and so I decided to make the Sage and Gouda Cheeseball from Namely Marly. Despite the fact that I follow a lot of vegan blogs I rarely if ever have the time to make anything from them, but this just looked too good to pass up. Unfortunately I couldn’t find Daiya’s Smoked Gouda Block anywhere and so I subbed in their Jalapeno Havarti and added some Liquid Smoke instead. That was the only substitution I made here and I think the end result was delicious. Of course my ball isn’t as pretty or well formed as Marly’s but oh well. People dug into this with gusto, and even my husband enjoyed it, which was a shock to me as it contained pistachios and pumpkin seeds both of which he doesn’t like. I also already mentioned he doesn’t like cheese, and this ball unlike the Steen and Newman’s ball was very pungent and strong, Much more cheese-like, but my husband at it up like it was going out of style. His tastes are changing all the time and it constantly amazes me!

Sage and Gouda Cheeseball 

So that’s it for the finger foods portion of this post. We ate a ton, and truth be told I had actually originally intended to make much more. In fact I bought all the ingredients I needed to make about 15 different dishes but it became clear as I was cooking on Christmas Day that I just didn’t have the time, nor did I have the space to store all of them and so I ended up nixing some of the dishes from my list. Of course, since some of them were already half prepared - such as pre-made seitan that was marinating etc.. - and since I had the ingredients on hand anyway my husband and I decided to have a mini Boxing Day Feast. - Boxing Day is the day after Christmas for you Americans by the way.

But, of course no celebratory meal is complete without dessert. This year since I went so crazy with baking cookies I didn’t go to wild with desserts. I only made two pies, both of which came from Hannah Kaminsky’s book “Easy as Vegan Pie” the first pie I decided to make was the Strawberry Cereal Streusel Pie which was phenomenal. It’s your basic strawberry pie filling but instead of a regular flour crust the crust is made with four, walnuts, cornflakes, sugar, cinnamon, and vegan butter. The crust was so good you could have eaten it with a spoon on its own, but paired with the pie filling it was a real treat. This went over pretty well, especially with my husband.

Strawberry Cereal Streusel Pie

Then because I like to do things that are a little out of the ordinary I decided to make the Chestnut Crunch Pie. I personally love chestnuts I think they’re insanely delicious and so I’ve had my eye on this pie for a while but was never sure about whether or not anyone else would like it. I like weird things, but not everyone feels the same. Somehow chestnuts really seemed to suit this Christmas and I thought ‘to hell with it’ I know another chestnut lover and so if the pie didn’t go over I could split the pie between me and my friend. Lucky for me the pie did go over well, in fact I think people liked it even more then the strawberry pie. At first everyone kind of looked on it as that strange ‘vegan’ thing but after one brave soul tried a bite and began raving non-stop, everyone had to try a bite. This was actually super simple. You make a chocolate cookie crust then a chestnut pudding, pour the pudding into the crust and top it with candied cacao nibs. Then you let it sit and it’s done. Easy, and so, so good. This just might be one of my new favorite deserts and I loved that it wasn’t overly sweet.

Chestnut Crunch Pie

So, that was our Christmas. By the end of the night I was so full I didn’t want to ever look at food again. We ended the night peacefully by watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” which is one of my favorite films and certainly my favorite “Christmas” film. Now, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear all about our Boxing Day Mini Feast.

Randy's Grilled Shishito Peppers with Sriracha Satay...

Shishito Peppers, ever heard of ‘em? Yeah, I hadn’t either until my brother-in-law bought me Randy Clemens “The Veggie-Lover’s Sriracha Cookbook” for Christmas. I flipped through this book with amused interest at the variation of recipes that included Sriracha and then I came across the beautiful photo of grilled Shishito peppers and thought “Oooo, now that looks good!” followed by “Now what the heck are they?” A quick Google search informed me that Shishito peppers are a - generally - sweet, finger sized pepper from Japan. Interesting, I thought. The photo that accompanies the recipe is absolutely mouth watering and the Sriracha Satay Sauce it’s paired with is incredibly drool worthy. I’ve been dying to make this recipe since December, but didn’t think I had a hope in hell of finding Shishito Peppers.

Then last week my husband and I decided to make a spontaneous trip to the Japanese Market - Initially for noodles and miso - and what should I happen to find sitting in the produce department? A huge bag of Shishito Peppers! Wow, I couldn’t believe my luck. Not knowing how I’d like them, I grabbed only one bag with the intention of making Clemens recipe ASAP.

Boy oh boy do I wish I’d bought another bag of these peppers, because they were really fantastic and so unique. To me they weren’t quite as sweet as say a bell pepper, they had a slightly bitter edge - though I can’t be certain if that’s from the pepper flesh, the seeds, or the charring - but nevertheless I liked them. Once I started in on my plate I couldn’t stop until every last pepper had been drenched in Satay and consumed in it’s entirety, and that’s another thing, the Satay!

Look at that beautiful Sriracha Satay!

Now I love me some peanut butter anything, and I sure as hell love me some Satay sauce. In fact, at restaurants when I find a good satay and there isn’t enough food to dip into it I’ve been known to spoon the stuff directly into my mouth.- what? It’s delicious! - So I’ve had a lot of good satay in my time, but Clemens Sriracha Satay is probably one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s creamy, it’s smooth, it’s spicy, it’s garlicky, it’s sweet, it’s fan-freaking-tastic! It’s also not overly peanuty which might be a major plus to any peanut haters out there - my husband, a confirmed peanut hater loved the sauce.

One of the most brilliant things about this satay is that it’s made with coconut milk, that milk gives it an extremely rich, and velvety consistency, and the sriracha packs so much flavor but not an unbearable amount of heat. I also love that this satay is simmered on the stove and served warm, that makes a lot of difference in my opinion, and it’s so good that it would be perfect over any grilled vegetable, tofu, seitan, or tempeh. It would even be good thinned out as a dressing over a grain salad and some steamed broccoli. The Satay made a large batch so I can’t wait to get creative with the leftovers.

If you can find Shishito Peppers in your local Asian market, pick them up, give them a try and let me know what you think!

Birthday/New Years Eve Celebrations...

The last day of the year is always a weird day for me. I’m always sad that the year is over, and always happy and excited that a new one is just about to begin. This year things are a little different though. Since 2013 wasn’t that great a year for me, I’m not so sad to see it go. I’m looking forward to 2014, and know that there are many amazing things waiting just over the horizon. I hope everyone has a lovely New Years Eve, and I wish you all the best for the New Year too. Enjoy your celebrations!

We’ve been celebrating rather quietly this year. Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and so we spent a lovely day together. Each year on his birthday I make him a special dinner of his choosing. Sometimes he wants something elaborate and sometimes he wants something simple - this year it was kind of in between - he requested sushi! We both love sushi, he even more so then me, and while I don’t find it particularly difficult to make it, it is usually time consuming. When I asked what kind of sushi he wanted he shrugged and said “Whatever you want, you always make great sushi.” and so I decided to try my hand at making the Tempeh Nori Rolls from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s book “Veganomicon.” I really don’t use this book enough and so I was happy to try the recipe out.

Tempeh Nori Rolls 

I guess you could say that the Tempeh Nori Rolls are a kind of take on a spicy California roll. You mash steamed tempeh with vegan mayo, and chili sesame oil, and then spoon it over your rice, and topp with green onion and avocado before rolling the whole thing up. I’ll admit after tasting the tempeh mix I added just a touch of garlic and salt to the tempeh and really the final product was fantastic. We loved these rolls, texture-wise I think they were spot on.

Cucumber Rolls 

For our second roll I just made a simple cucumber roll - no recipe required. It’s just Nori, Rice, Thick sliced cucumber, and a smear of Chipotle Vegenaise. Super quick, super easy, but super delicious especially that Chipotle Mayo!

To go along with our sushi I baked up a box of Vegan Calamari. My husband used to love calamari before we were vegan, he used to eat it any chance he got, and so when I saw this vegan calamari at the store I thought I’d get it for him so that he could try it out. Now, I’ve never eaten a calamari in my life - never was one for squid, octopus or anything weird like that, so I can’t say how this compares in taste to actual calamari. I can say that I liked it, and that the texture is about what I’d imagine actual calamari to be like. Chewy, and in my opinion it tasted a bit like what I remember chicken tasting like.  We dipped our Calamari in Follow Your Heart Tartar sauce and the sauce was absolutely delicious. My husband really loved them, but I’m not sure this is something I’d be dying to have again. Great for the novelty factor though.

Vegan Calamari 

Today the celebration continued with a combination birthday/New Year’s Eve party - which is currently still in progress, I snuck away for a few minutes!! - Every NYE we have family and friends over and order Pizza - or in recent years It’s been a pizza/Chinese Food combo. This year the omni’s ordered pizza and Chinese food, and this year I decided to make my own pizza from scratch since I had the time, and since I’ve been really enjoying pizza making lately.

Meatball Pizza 

Pizza is my husband’s other food. I think if he had the choice he would probably live off of sushi and pizza for his entire life, and so It was the perfect food to celebrate NYE. When I picked up that box of calamari I came across a bag of frozen vegan meatballs and decided to try the Meatball Pizza in Julie Hasson’s awesome little book “Vegan Pizza” It’s a pretty simple recipe, Marinara, vegan meatballs, daiya mozzarella, and minced parsley - and it was so damn good. If you want to know a secret I’ve always hated meatball pizza. As an omnivore I thought it was pretty nasty, I think I only ate it once! As a Vegan, I thought it was great, just another example of how my tastebuds have changed since going vegan. I guess it turns out that I was never so much a picky eater as I just didn’t like the taste of meat in the first place.

Caramelized Onion and Artichoke Pizza with
Balsamic Reduction 

For our second pizza I made the Caramelized Onion and Artichoke Pizza with Balsamic Reduction from Lane Gold’s book “Vegan Junk Food.” Again this was a very simple recipe, onions, garlic, daiya mozzarella, artichokes and a balsamic reduction made with balsamic vinegar and sugar. It was so tasty, so oniony, we couldn’t get enough!

And of course, no birthday celebration would be complete without dessert. Every year in addition to a delicious dinner I make my husband a cake of his choosing. Well this year he didn’t want cake, he wanted cupcakes! - Yes more cupcakes, because he apparently didn’t get enough on Christmas. - He requested the Cookies and Creme Cupcakes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s book “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World” and so I was happy to oblige him. Unfortunately I only had 4 candles left, but you get the idea. We sang happy birthday, he made his wish, and now we’re playing board games until it’s time to ring in the New Year.

Cookies and Creme Cupcakes 

Until Next Year! Stay Safe - Be Happy.
Peace/Love